//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 – A Refuge for Audacity // Story: Evenfall // by Yinglung //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash was lying in on a cloud floating above Ponyville, but she couldn’t fall into a nap. She thought of a lot of things. Ever since she met Twilight, she couldn’t stop thinking about her life. Up until then, she was completely preoccupied with her dream of entering the Wonderbolts and becoming the best, awesomest flyer in all of Equestria. That’s what had been driving her forward in her entire life. But now, she’s been blessed and cursed with the burden of foreknowledge and the distant past. She did not choose this, and sometimes in brief flashes of moment she begrudged the purple pony for inflicting this on her and other mares. She cared for her friend regardless, and she did that in order to ensure the activation of the Elements. However, it was also plain as day that Twilight did that to make herself feel less alone. Is this ultimately wrong, though? Rainbow again thought of the little dream illusion that Twilight made her watch before the mind meld. She’s feeling much less fretful regarding the whole nightmarish affair. Was it because joining Wonderbolts was not so important to her anymore? ‘Never!’ She thought, as she was not a mare that just gave up on her lifetime wish. But she had also known much and seen much during these days. She now knew of the lives of countless ponies before her time, and the possibilities and potential a pony possess. But the knowledge of having much more choices does not diminish her own aspirations and dreams, does it? She also saw Applejack, the most tradition-bound of her friends, who turned out to be the one who made the first step in changing her current life. Rainbow Dash had no idea what Applejack’s thinking. But Rainbow Dash was contemplating whether, and how, could she do something similar with her life. Should she continue on her dream of becoming one of the Wonderbolts? How did that fit with Twilight’s big plan? Rainbow gritted her teeth in deep thought, when she was interrupted by a loud and slightly shrill voice. “Hey. What's up with the sour face, Dash?” Rainbow Dash turned around, and see a female griffon looking at her a wry grin on a cloud nearby. “Oh hey! Gilda, my old friend!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, as she smiled at her old Griffon friend. It’s about time, she thought. Still, she said. “What wind blows you over to Ponyville?” “Nah, just want to see an old pal.” Gilda laughed. “Not nearly as enough cool dudes ‘round here. All dweebs, blergh.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. This one was going to need a while to persuade in order not to make a mess. She instead asked. “You went all over from Griffonstone to here? Must be a long way from home!” “Well, I was using my old savings to travel around the world. I also freelance here and there to earn some of the expenses.” “Good ol’ wanderlust, aren’t we?” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Meh, it was so boring and uncool back home, every griffon was like a mindless blabbering fool, on and on about bits and coins and whatnot.” Gilda scoffed. Rainbow Dash remained quiet, as she thought about the curse of Griffonstone. An extremely powerful mind spell must be involved and sealed in the ancient artefact in order to mentally influence an entire griffon nation. Gilda must also be one special griffon to resist its effect. However, that’s not something that can be solved by her and her friends with their current status, so she said. “It is so good to see one of my best friends back then in the flight camp. I’ve missed you greatly, Gilda.” “What’s up with the sentimental bollocks, Dash? This is so unlike you!” Gilda shook her head and laughed. Rainbow Dash joined her and they both loudly laughed, their cheerfulness filled the azure sky. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Wow, you’re not half-bad, Dash,” Gilda admitted. “Your new moves are really impressive. I’ve no idea why the dang Wonderbolts haven’t got you yet.” Raindow Dash chuckled. “You’re quite good yourself, Gilda!” Her expression then turned serious. “… Where are you going to afterwards?” “Uh, I guess I would go south to Appleloosa and Dodge City, after that I would fly to Baltimare and took a ship back to Griffonland. Ugh.” Gilda grimaced at the thought of going back to Griffonstone and returning to her boring old life. “Hey, why don’t you stay at Ponyville for a while? We have very interesting ponies living here! One of them even baked a good hoof of scones, you should check it out!” Rainbow Dash offered. “What? I’m not going around these ground-dwelling dweebs! They are just a bunch of boring ho-hums!” Gilda replied, somewhat annoyed. “Please Gilda, listen to me this once. They are my friends and my friends can’t be too bad, right?” Rainbow Dash pled. “Hmm, alright. I’ll hear to it.” Gilda huffed. “But mind you, if I got annoyed by one of your friends, that would be it and I’ll be going, at once!” They flew towards the bustling town center of Ponyville. Griffons were a common sight in Equestria, as many of them travelled eastwards to Equestria to work and sight-see. It was not too common seeing one in the somewhat rural town of Ponyville though, hence it earned a few glares from passing ponies. “Uh, don’t mind them Gilda. You’re just a bit too cool for them.” Rainbow Dash told Gilda. Gilda harrumphed. “Don’t be such a chicken, Dash. I’m not a landmine that explode whenever someone else touched my feather ever so slightly.” Rainbow Dash shook her head with a knowing grin. “Hah. Alright then, we’re arriving at our destination.” A pink house shaped into a multilayered cake entered the view of Gilda’s eyes. She frowned, but followed Rainbow Dash into the strange house. Almost immediately upon entering, a fluffy pink pony was seen arranging some cakes behind the counter. The pink pony turned and saw Rainbow Dash and Gilda, and her eyes shot wide. She immediately dropped the ingredients onto the table and rushed upstairs, then she rushed downstairs again and straight out of the door. “What was that all about?” Gilda asked quizzically. “Well, Pinkie Pie is one of my friends. She’s our resident party pony and master prankster… Well, not as good as me, but passable. She’d probably run off to arrange a welcome party for you.” Rainbow Dash said. “What a strange pony. She’d better not try to prank me,” Gilda said with annoyed face, “If she dare target me with any annoying horseplays...” She looked to Rainbow Dash. “… No offense meant.” “None taken, Gilda. Pinkie knows it when ponies… or griffons don’t like to be pranked. She would definitely arrange a party that makes you satisfied.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “Huh? How would she know what would make me satisfied if she don’t even know me?” Gilda asked suspiciously. “Now, that’s Pinkie’s magic.” Rainbow Dash said. “Why don’t we take a stroll around Ponyville and maybe have some tea, before we come back and go to the party?” “Yeah alright, Dash.” Gilda nodded. She was a bit annoyed at Rainbow Dash who had forced her to consort with those ‘lame’ ponies, but she’s planning to play along for the moment, if only for the sake of their friendship. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They slowly strolled through the town of Ponyville. They passed by Granny Smith, who was busy selling off one of the richest harvest of apples ever for Sweet Apple Acres. Besides, Applejack was also nearby, squeezing fresh apple juices for thirsty ponies using a squeeze machine. “Hey Applejack, using that squeezy thingy eh?” Rainbow Dash trotted up to the orange pony and leaned in. “By the way, two cup of juices for me and my friend.” “Nice t’ meet you, friend. Name’s Applejack.” Applejack grinned. “Hey Rainbow, your friend looks quite smashin’.” Gilda mentally harrumphed at the act of apple-polishing, but also a little bit glad that some pony recognize her coolness at first sight. She put up a gracious expression, and replied. “Thank you Applejack. I’m Gilda, Rainbow Dash’s awesome old friend.” As they were chit-chatting, Fluttershy appeared from the street corner with a herd of bunnies and trotted across the marketplace. She gently cooed and made sure that the bunnies did not wander into other ponies’ gardens and stalls and chew on their properties. Gilda looked on the bizarre scene of bunny-herding, her eyes twitching slightly. ‘Who’s that pathetic that they herd… bunnies? Pfeh, ponies are a weird and lame bunch after all.’ She thought. Rainbow Dash and Applejack observed Gilda’s expression, and looked at one another. Rainbow Dash eventually spoke up. “Uh, that was Fluttershy, our friend and resident animal caretaker. It was her job to take care of critters, just don’t mind her.” Gilda nodded, but secretly started to think that this stroll to ‘get to know Ponyville’ might be a waste of time after all. They eventually trotted back to the Sugarcube Corner. For some reason, a giant metal tube had appeared in front of the cake shop. Rainbow and Gilda paid it no heed and walked into the sugarcube corner. The inside of the shop was pitch-dark. Then suddenly, strong and forceful orchestral music reverberated the whole place, and the light came up, revealing a completely revamped interior. In addition to standard party set-ups, the place was filled with flight-themed decoration, flight-suits and memorabilia. “Wow, was that the flag and emblem of the Junior Speedsters flight camp… of our year? Where in Equestria do you get your hoof on that, uh, Pinkie… Pie?” Gilda struggled with the pink pony’s name for a bit. “Just call me Pinkie, Gilda!” The pink pony beamed, and then put a hoof to her mouth, “And heheh, that’s my super duper trade-secret as a master party planner!” Gilda looked at Pinkie Pie, feeling a slight sense of amazement on this detour for the first time. Maybe she did somewhat underestimate the resourcefulness of the ponies. She grinned, finally with some genuineness. “Well, thank you Pinkie Pie for this party you threw me. This is cool.” Pinkie Pie smiled and said, “Not so fast, Gilda. Wait till the end of the cake session and see for yourself.” Gilda raised an eyebrow, but she spoke no more and subsequently joined the partying ponies for cakes, food and drinks. She wondered what that surprise Pinkie was referring to was. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow Dash has introduced Gilda to each of her best friends including Spike. Gilda politely nodded at each of them, but in actuality didn’t think much about the ragtag bunch of mares and dragon. As Gilda and the ponies ate their fill and the cake session drew to a close, Pinkie stepped towards the door and gather the partying ponies on the street outside the shop. “As always everyone, thank you for taking time and coming to this impromptu welcome party! This time, I have also planned for a special event, which I now decided to hold in honor of our griffon friend and visitor, Gilda! Some of you already know what that is, but for others, ta-da!” Pinkie yanked away the white cloth covering the front of the shop, and revealed a sign saying “The First Golden Ponyville Flying Race”. “Listen up everypony! Any pony that can somehow make themselves fly in the air is eligible for the race! This includes using natural wings, self-made wings and propellers, unicorn magic and even flying machines!” Pinkie grinned, “… But participants must first prove themselves to the air-worthy but staying in air for 5 minutes! Anyway, the route is from here, the Sugarcube Corner, towards the Town Hall, then to the edge of Ponyville and back to here!” Pinkie then raised her voice further. “… And since this is the first ever Ponyville Flying Race, the winner will not only be treated to a trophy, a moderate sum of bits and free treats in the Sugarcube Corner… They also get to have their name honored in the name of the race, for all the races afterwards!” The assembled ponies loudly cheered. Pinkie noticed that some non-flying ponies seem to be a bit disappointed at not being able to participate, so she added, “And if you’re not participating, don’t worry, we’re still providing seats and catering here in the Sugarcube Corner throughout the race, you can even participate in our lucky draw! The winner gets to eat at the Sugarcube Corner free for a week!” Looking at the rapturous responses of the ponies, Rainbow Dash dragged Pinkie to the side and asked, “…Um, did you ask Mayor Mare about this?” “Pfft, of course Dashie. I’m not some reckless party pony anymore, I’m a super-duper party pony, now armed with thousands of years of experience!” Pinkie smirked, “Actually, I have also discussed this with all other mares, and they all agree that holding a race in honor of the speed-loving Gilda will definitely impress her and melt her icy interior.” “That sounds great and all, but where did you get the bits for this? We aren’t exactly Filthy Rich, not now anyway.” “Silly Dashie, AJ just harvested the apples, remember? We made her the harvester and the mechanical plough, and Granny Smith gave us a share of bits from the Apple Family fund.” As Rainbow Dash talked with Pinkie, Gilda looked on the unfolding event with complicated feelings. For one, she had been strongly convinced that the ground-dwelling ponies were not worth her time. But then, it was very hard to reject hospitality pushed right in her face, especially since she had not really done anything, other than showing up as Rainbow Dash’s friend, to warrant the incredible reception. She’s too stubborn to admit it, but she began to tolerate the ponies’ presence, even grow to somewhat like the strangely prescient and industrious party pony. “Gilda, don’t think too much about this. Just go out and have fun!” Rainbow Dash had come back to Gilda’s side at some point, and patted her friend’s back smilingly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The assembled participants have waited at the starting lines. The vast majority of ponies that participated in the race were pegasi, the only exceptions being Twilight Sparkle, who casted a magic to give herself butterfly wings. The other one, to the ponies’ surprise, was Pinkie Pie herself. It seemed that the mysterious metal tube in front of Sugarcube Corner was Pinkie’s flying machine. Pinkie turned to the ponies, and offered a slight awkward grin, “Well don’t worry everyone, I’m not officially participating in the race. I’ll just follow the participants around and test out my new flying machine!” Pinkie Pie transferred the task of refereeing to Rarity in the audience, who graciously accepted. Then she laid the metal tube very carefully to the ground. There she added some liquid into the trough on the tube, and unfolded a few planks from the tail. When she was finished with her tinkering, a giant rocket appeared in front of a crowd of gawking ponies. After Pinkie wore her goggles and stepped into her speed rocket, Rarity called out to the participants, “Are everyone ready?” She glanced to Gilda, who was by the side of Rainbow Dash, both confident that they would win. Gilda looked to her other side, and was surprised that the timid yellow pegasus she met in the market, called Fluttershy she thought, was also in the race. She glanced at her in disdain, then immediately turned to the front as the race soon began. “… Well? If yes then, I Rarity, as the official adjudicator of the race, hereby declare that the First Golden Ponyville Flying Race will begin in 3…2…1…” Rarity fired off a loud blast with her horn, “Go!” The assembled participants flapped their wings and dashed forward. But the sounds of flapping wings were completely drowned out by a deafening sound of boom. The ponies in the audience turned, and saw the pink pony’s speed rocket emitting bright flame and light from its tail. In a blink of eyes, it shot forth like a fire-breathing arrow, overtaking the majority of the flyers. In the air, Gilda looked to Rainbow Dash, who was flying in parallel to her, “Hey, wanna play ‘catch the pink pony’?” Rainbow turned to Gilda and smiled, “Ha, why not? Just watch out and don’t fall behind me too much!” They both grinned and dashed forward, eventually getting behind the flying metallic tube. By then, most of the participants were trailing far behind the three. They rapidly approached the edge of Ponyville, and below them began the vast expanse of old-growth forest that was the Everfree. Gilda forcefully flapped her wings, and she managed to temporarily get in front of both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. She gave one strong flap of her wings, and rose high in the air. Once she spotted an opening, she retracted her wings and folded back her legs to reduce her drag. Her altitude dropped but she dashed forth and downwards in great speed, and soon she seemed to have outstripped both ponies. Gilda grinned, it seemed that she’s going to win this race held in honor of her, which was doubly satisfying. However, she suddenly realized that she had flown a little bit too deep inside the Everfree forest, and her sense of direction was disrupted by some mysterious forces. Gilda clenched her beak and looked around her. It seemed that, as little as she wanted to admit, she seemed to have lost her bearing in this accursed forest. She wanted to fly further up to see which direction lead back to Ponyville, but she encountered a strong downward gust. ‘Dang, it’s a microburst!’ Gilda mentally cursed. She was forced down by the forceful wind. Gilda avoided some of twisted plant growth with some difficulty, and landed on the forest floor with some stumble. The forest had long not seen civilization for many years, and the ground was barely trodden except by the animal inhabitants of the forest. Gilda again cursed her carelessness and bad luck. Using the rough position of the sun, and her knowledge of the time and the season, she walked towards the approximate direction of northwest, hoping to reach Ponyville, or at least get out of the area of strong gust and take off. Gilda walked for some time, the wind was still blowing strong and the forest scene have barely changed. As Gilda groaned at her situation and began to suspect that her entire stay in Ponyville was a mistake, she suddenly heard a loud cuck from behind the thick bushes. A creature Gilda had never seen ran out of the woods and into the front of the alarmed griffon. It has a head of a chicken and a body of a snake. Besides, it possessed a pair of bat-like wings, as it flew up in air in a threatening stance. Gilda clenched her beak again and clawed tightly at the ground, bracing for an attack from the strange creature. But the creature had taken no action other than staring right at her eyes. As Gilda planned to simply slowly step out of harm’s way, she felt something’s wrong with her feet. Somehow, she could not move her talon at all. She looked down, and to her horror, she was being petrified, as a layer of stone began to creep up on her feet. She looked to the chicken-snake creature in utter terror, as its red angry eyes seemed to stare right at her soul. Gilda struggled, as she began to be unable to feel her lower torso. In a clumsy swerve, she fell to the ground side-way in a ‘thud’. As Gilda bemoaned herself and her misfortune for one last time, she began to think about her life, her home and her estranged family. Regret swelled up in her heart, as she thought about the bad decisions she made in her life… but flying into this strange forest was perhaps her worst one. Still, she would not be so easily defeated, and she resisted the creature’s glare with one of her own. This seemed to have slowed down the progress of petrification, but not much. As Gilda sighed and prepared to resign to her fate, a loud yell suddenly boomed from her behind. She couldn’t turn to look who that was, but it sounded familiar. “YOU! Just who do you think you are, going around turning others into stone?” The soft but somehow determined voice yelled, “You should be ashamed of yourself. I have a mind to find your mother and tell her what you've been up to, young man.” The creature let out a dismayed squawk, as the source of the voice finally walked up into the view of Gilda. To the shock of Gilda, it was the mare that she deemed to be weakest and lamest, the ground-dwelling yellow pegasus Fluttershy. Fluttershy hissed and stared into the creature with a fierceness never seen by Gilda. Even that she was just looking from the side, Gilda could feel an overwhelming presence emanating from the yellow mare’s eyes, which made her rethink her attitude towards the pegasus for a bit. “Now you go over there, and turn my friend Gilda back to normal, and don't ever let me catch you doing this again,” Fluttershy commanded with a determined voice, even as she was slowly turning into stone like Gilda, “Do you understand me?” The creature initially resisted for a while, but eventually it seemed to have no choice but to submit to the strong will of the yellow mare. It squawked with a rattled tone. Gilda wasn’t sure what thing that strange creature subsequently did, but her petrification receded quickly, and soon after she was completely free, so was Fluttershy. The snake-chicken creature fled into the thick dark growth. Fluttershy trotted up to the still somewhat stunned griffon and said, “Gilda! I’m so glad to finally find you here… Are you alright?” Gilda struggled to find words, as she found herself nearly turned to stone and practically saved by a pony she a while ago despised most. She shook her head and simply asked in an aghast tone. “What in the heavens was that monster?” “Uh, it was a cockatrice. A young and very naughty cockatrice. Cockatrices were creatures that resemble half-chicken and half-snake, and they were only found in the Everfree as far as I know. Their stares can turn ponies, griffons and other animals alike into stone.” Fluttershy explained. “Well uh, they’re not monsters, most of them are reasonable if you talked to them.” “Certainly not that little bastard.” Gilda scoffed, to which Fluttershy flinched and made a ‘Shh’ gesture. “… Anyway, I’m just glad you are safe and sound. Rainbow, Pinkie and other ponies are all worried about you.” Fluttershy said. “What’d happened to them?” Gilda asked. “Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie have flew back to the Sugarcube Corner thinking that you have overtaken them, but afterwards they couldn’t find you there, so they knew something was wrong. I was in the slowest flock of pegasi that was closing in to the edge of Everfree, and Rainbow has flew to us and told us the news.” Fluttershy breathed and continued, “… Since I live closest to the Everfree forest and knew around the place, I was selected to scout the area to look for you, as you’ve probably not too deep inside the forest. Twilight also tried to track you using her magic, but it took a little time to fire up. Anyway, I entered the forest and tracked you using your claw prints and asking the animals around.” “You can talk to the animals and critters?” Gilda asked with mild surprise. “To a certain extent, yes. This is what my cutie mark means.” Fluttershy replied with a smile. An awkward silence then persisted between the mare and the griffon, until Fluttershy spoke up. “Um, I won’t go around and tell this to other ponies, I promise.” Gilda looked up and turned to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus was looking a bit nervous awaiting for her response. “Even Rainbow Dash?” Gilda asked. Fluttershy gulped, and she seemed to deliberate for a while. But eventually, she nodded. All of a sudden, Gilda heartily chuckled. “No need for that, pony... Fluttershy, I think?” Fluttershy nodded. “It’s my dang fault that I landed in this forest, got lost and nearly got turn into stone by that accursed cockatrice. If anyone want to think I’m some stupid bonehead, let them. I don’t care a bit.” She continued. “Fluttershy, I thought you were… lame at first, herding bunnies like some sort of weirdo. But you are actually a kind and strong-willed mare. I apologize for looking down on you, and I thank you very much for rescuing my sorry butt.” Fluttershy simply smiled, “You’re welcome, I don’t mind at all. I’m used to ponies giving me weird stares and looking down on me for my, um, shyness.” She gulped. “… So, are we… friends?” “… You betcha!” Gilda grinned genuinely at the pony for the first time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow Dash basically tackled Gilda into the ground, as she and Fluttershy walked into the Sugarcube Corner. “Where have you been, Gilda? I’m worried sick!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Get off me first, Dash.” Gilda struggled out of the cyan pony’s embrace, and said. “I got lost a bit in the Everfree, Fluttershy here found me and pointed me the way out. I’m sorry for letting the rush get to my head, everyone.” “We’re glad as long as you are safe, Gilda.” Twilight walked up to them and smiled. “So Dash, I heard you won the race, did you?” Gilda grinned and asked. “Uh, technically yes, but it doesn’t count since you were…” Rainbow Dash awkwardly replied. “What ‘doesn’t count’? Of course you won it fair and square! You are the first one reaching the goal, aren’t you?” Gilda said. “Gilda’s right y’know, Rainbow,” Pinkie grinned widely. “So, how do you like the name ‘The Rainbow Dash Memorial Golden Ponyville Flying Race’?” “Meh, it’s too long and clunky. And I don’t need the bits that much anyway. The free treats in the Sugarcube Corner are more than enough,” Rainbow Dash shrugged, then smiled at her griffon friend, “More importantly, I really want to name the race in honor of my best friend, Gilda, for it was she who gave me support and company when we were young, and it is she who went from half an Equestria away just to visit an old friend.” Gilda let out a surprise yelp, when Rainbow Dash shove the bag of bits into her claw. “You’ll need that on your way, Gilda.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “I can’t accept that, I—” Gilda was stopped not only by Rainbow Dash, but also her pony friends. “Gilda, you’ve been a dear during your time here. This is just a small sign of our gratitude.” Rarity said. “Yes! Just accept it Gilda! Don’t be shy!” Pinkie chirped, to which Spike yelled, “Yeah!” Gilda went silent, then she said to the assembled ponies in a low voice, “… To tell you the truth, I’d thought you ponies were a bunch of lame-o and dweebs... I was wrong, totally wrong. You all were kind and accommodating, looking out for me even if I was just an outsider. You girls threw cool party and awesome race in the name of me. I—I am ashamed to have thought of you all like some sort of unworthy fools. Please, forgive me for my terrible conceit.” Gilda lowered her head almost to the ground. “… We don’t mind at all, Gilda. We’re just glad that you’re finally able to speak your mind and grow to like us.” Fluttershy said. “Fluttershy’s right, Gilda. I’m just happy that my pony friends are all good in your eyes.” Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. “Hey Gilda, don’t be all mopey dopey and sad! I heard from Rainbow that you baked scones back home. I’ve baked some for you! I hope that they are nearly as good as yours!” Pinkie beamed as she took out a tray of freshly baked scones. “Om, om, om… That’s actually pretty good, Pinkie. Much better than mine, in fact. Would you mind if I ask you how you’ve done it?” Gilda asked. “Sure thing, Gilda!” Pinkie brightly smiled. Twilight looked on from the side, and beamed a satisfied smile. Rainbow Dash walked away from the baker duo to the purple pony, and said, “Whoa, you girls surely planned this thing up to eleven. How did you make sure that Gilda got lost in the Everfree and Fluttershy rescued her?” “Uh Rainbow, we didn’t plan this. I would never approve of placing Gilda in danger just to make her like us. We really thought that the party and the race would be enough to soften your prideful griffon friend up.” Twilight shook her head. “But anyhow, it turns out well after all. Sometimes you have to just raise your hooves and put your faith in destiny, you know?” “Huh? You didn’t plan this? Wow then, it was very fortunate that it went smoothly and no one’s hurt.” Rainbow Dash exhaled. Suddenly, Gilda walked up to the cyan pony in a somewhat sad expression. “Dash, I think I have to go.” Pinkie heard Gilda’s words and gasped. “Gilda, you are going so early?! Oh! By Celestia, that calls for… an emergency farewell party!” She shot upstairs in a blink of the eyes. “What? But you’ve just come here!” Rainbow Dash added loudly. “No need to be loud, Dash.” Gilda covered her ears with her talons. “But yes, I must go. The experiences here really opened up my eyes and changed my perception towards ponies. I must’ve been overlooking a lot in my travel. Therefore, I want to go to meet more new ponies as soon as possible and see what I can learn from them.” “… Well, if that’s what you want, all power to you, Gilda.” Rainbow Dash nodded with a longing look. “Thank you Dash, for everything. And thank you everypony. I was a narrow-minded griffon, but you’ve taught me that friendship and kindness exist everywhere from earth to sky. I’d never forget about you all and your hospitality.” Gilda deeply bowed, “If you ever come to Griffonstone… I can show you around, although I’m just a common griffon who isn’t worth two bits.” She chuckled. “Leb wohl, mein lieber Freund.” Gilda’s eyes went wide, but she then nodded with a grin. The mares and the griffon embraced each other, as they prepared for the farewell party for Gilda and the departure of their new griffon friend. As the griffon began to turn, Twilight thought of something and called to her. “Gilda, I have a small request…” Gilda raised her brow. “Shoot. If it’s within my abilities, I’ll see what I can do.” “Since you’re going to travel around Equestria further, I wonder if you can keep an eye and an ear out for someone.” “Huh, who would be it?” “We are looking for news of a pony named Starlight Glimmer. She was a very magical unicorn who lived in Trottingham.” Twilight took out a rough sketch of the pony and gave it to Gilda. “She had a pale purple coat, and a deep purple mane with light blue streak. She is… let’s say an important acquaintance, but we couldn’t contact her. You don’t have to specifically look for her, but if you see somepony like that on the road and give me a note, I’d be very, very glad. I will give you a small recomp-” “Don’t be stupid, if I’m to do this, I don’t do it for bits.” Gilda huffed. The griffon’s frown turned into a smirk. “I’ll definitely keep an eye out for someone like that, because you all are such good hosts.” “And friends?” Pinkie Pie asked with a hopeful eyes. “Yeah, yeah…” Gilda rolled her eyes reluctantly. “Well, Gilda, since you agree to that, why not also hear me out?” Rainbow Dash grinned. “Don’t push it, kid.” Gilda snapped, but her grin said otherwise. “Heh, just want to see if you would also catch some sighting of creatures we’re hunting down.” “Hunting? You ponies? I never thought I would hear that words from you guys’s mouth. Do they taste good?” The mares widened their eyes, and Rainbow Dash did a spit-take. “Not literally, Gilda! We’re looking for changelings. Ever heard of them?” “No, never heard of ‘em.” “Well, they’re insectoid equines with black shell and blue-green eyes. They are led by a queen named Chrysalis. We caught wind of some of their nefarious plan, so as the Element-bearers, we want to keep the peace of the land and confront them before it got out of hooves. But trouble is, they are an elusive bunch with a scary skill – they can freely change into the appearance of other creatures as long as they are well fed with the emotion of love.” “Some black horsebugs that feed on love and transform at will? Are you making this up to prank me, Dash?” Gilda unamusedly huffed. Fluttershy came forth and said. “Rainbow meant it, Gilda.” Gilda blinked and nodded. “Well, if it’s Fluttershy, she ain’t gonna prank me.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to joke about something this big. We want to contain this, but we are tied to Ponyville for one reason and another. Plus we can’t tell other ponies to look for them, because you know, ponies are a panicky bunch, and the point of early containment is not to disturb the population.” “True, true. So you want me to keep an eye for them also? I’m fine with it, though if they just change into the looks of others, how can I look for them?” Rainbow Dash scratched her cheek. “Well yeah. They aren’t gonna change back until someone hit them hard.” “Are you telling me to punch everyone on sight?” Gilda snorted. Fluttershy gasped with a horrified expression. “No! Um, I think Rainbow Dash meant just to keep an eye out for news of unusual change in behaviors in ponies.” Gilda grimaced. “It’d be a bit hard as I’m going to travel from place to place in quick succession. But I guess I’ll try.” The mares beamed. “Thank you, Gilda! We’ll repay you someday for all your troubles.” Twilight exclaimed The griffon rolled her eyes. “What did I say about that? If you really want to do me a favor, then don’t keep me here any longer.” “O- Okay.” “Goodbye for real this time, everyone.” Gilda shook her feather and took flight swiftly, disappearing in the indigo sky soon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “That went very different than what we’ve expected, didn’t it?” Twilight said. “Well, I didn’t prank her at all this time, although I really really really want to! She was clearly a very good prankster herself!” Pinkie said with a sad smile. “Yeah, we’ve basically handling her with a kiddie glove. But it’s Gilda, she’s a bit short-tampered and prideful, we really needed the extra caution.” Rainbow Dash quipped. “Thank you girls anyway, for not rejecting her even knowing what she’s like from the very beginning.” “… It’s exactly because we knew what she’s like, Rainbow. We knew Gilda is at heart a good griffon.” Fluttershy said. “… We just need to carefully remove some preconceptions, with some of our well-timed actions, in order to befriend her.” Twilight continued. “Even including the accidental cockatrice?” Applejack joked. “That rogue cockatrice’s going to petrify somepony sooner or later, so why shouldn’t we set it straight now? I would rather not be turned into stone myself, thank you very much.” Twilight mockingly scoffed. “It’s great that we’ve now made a friend out of Gilda instead of antagonizing her. It would be greatly useful when we finally have to engage the griffons.” Rarity commented. “Indeed, but allow me to do something first…” Twilight said. She reached back into Sugarcube Corner, and found Spike, who was struggling to deal with the Fluttershy’s headstrong bunny, Angel. “Um, Spike, a moment if you please?” Twilight said, “I need your help sending a friendship letter to the Princess.” “Oh Twilight, hang on a sec.” Spike wriggled himself out of the pile of cake the bunny threw at him and grabbed the quill. “Dear Princess Celestia, Today I learned that it's a noble endeavor to reach out to someone who had a preconceived bias against you. Though it's impossible to simply remove the prejudice of someone you’ve met, it is possible to control your own behavior. Just be considerate and accommodating. In the end, the difference between stereotype and reality will surely come to light. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle” “That sounds vaguely familiar…” Applejack quipped, which earned a glare from Twilight. “A bit too optimistic, even.” Rarity quipped. “Thank you very much, Spike.” Twilight sort of ignored her friends as she watched Spike engulfed the letter in his green flame. “An-y-way, that’s one tough job done. Should we wrap this up with a spa trip?” The mares cheered, but the purple dragon merely groaned, “What’s up with the frou-frou nonsense?” “… Why am I allowing them to listen in when I draft the friendship report anyway?” Twilight muttered to herself.