The Poisoned Barb's Tale

by ManlyDerp


Entry 6, End (Griffon the Brush Off)

Okay, so the party has lasted a good solid hour at this point, and so far all of Rainbow Dash’s attempts to get Guilder out of his shell...

... have failed miserably.

I probably should have checked with the guy ahead of time to see what his plan for this stage was; an hour in and I can already tell that it could have seriously used a second opinion. Mane styling kits, a hoof and claw painting station, and gifts of earrings and ribbons and all sorts of girly accessories? How Guilder has been able to keep a straight face this whole time is anypony’s guess!

That said... his mask has been cracking bit by bit with each passing minute... so maybe the bluntness was well warranted.

It’s been super easy for me to spy the rude griffon admiring the claw painting from afar, hiding his gifts underneath his wings for later usage, and casting longing gazes towards Rainbow’s dress whenever he thought no one was looking. He hasn’t built up the nerve to say anything yet, or to even ask Rainbow why he’s acting the way he is, but the question is still clearly weighing heavily on his mind.

“I wonder when he’ll break,” I ponder to myself quietly as I rub a painted claw underneath my chin...

... I went with two coats of scarlet red nail polish for both my claws and talons, in case you were wondering.

Anywho, once the party started slowing down, after brief introductions were made, Butters decided to bird call in some, well, birds and has since proceeded to focus on conducting them into a pleasant little melody. As I sit back and enjoy the music, I fail to notice Berry's departure from the room until he returned to it with a victorious cry of “Cake time everypony!”

He then wheels in a cake with him… Whoa that looks delicious! Two layers of vanilla and pink frosting, with a hint of coconut shavings? Yes please!

Making my way over to Dusk’s side, I coyly ask him, “Hey, can I blow out the candles?”

Get it? A fire breathing dragon blowing out fire?

I made a joke, hehe.

“Why don’t we let Guilder blow out the candles, Barb?” Dusk answers back, clearly not realizing the brilliance of my bit. “He is the guest of honor after all.”

Genius is unappreciated in it’s time. Eh, oh well. At least I trie-

WHAM!!

Hold that thought.

With a cry of, "Exactly," Guilder seems to have knocked me flying into the air, all so he could blow the damn candles out himself.

...

...

... Oh for the love of, AGAIN with the baby dragon abuse?! Seriously?! Did I piss off the god of physical comedy in a former life or somethin- Actually, wait... now that I think about it; with reincarnation being an actual real thing, that thought might not be all that far-fetche-

SMACK!!

Annnndddd there's the wall.

Lovely.

Hitting the side of the room, thanks to a ‘gentle’ griffon shove, I let out a grunt of pain as Dusk quickly rushes to my side; him being the only pony who was paying attention to me at the time. “Barb! Are you okay?”

“D-did anypony get the licence plate of that speeding griffon?” I sputter back woozily as my eyes twirl in my head.

Dusk blinks back blankly.

“... What?”

With the shake of my head to rid myself of my dizziness, I stare crossly up at my charge.

“... Really dude?” I question him with a voice filled with disappointment. “Even that joke flew over your head? Not even a chuckle? Been feeding you my A material all day long and you've been giving me zilch in return... Ugh! That’s it, you've forced my claw... I'm now totally getting you a book of puns for your birthday this year!"

Let's see if Mr. OCD can avoid reading that one! Hah! I can picture him squirming already.

Before Dusk can reply to this admittedly bizarre statement of mine (or brilliant threat, depending on who you ask), we find our heads turning away as we overhear the crowd cheering the guest for his successful candle blowing. Slices are now being evenly distributed, with the order thankfully being youngest first, so with a fresh plate of deliciousness in claw I decide to temporarily overlook Guilder's bad attitude (and, more importantly, my charge's lack of a funny bone) and just enjoy my just desserts. 

Nom~

Awwwww, it’s even better tasting! For all the downsides being reincarnated as a comic relief character has granted me, and all that I've lost, at least I can still enjoy cake.

You can’t do that while you’re dead, I tell you what!

“... I’m watching you. Like a hawk.”

“Why? Can’t you watch me like a griffon? They have better eyesight comparatively.”

Momentarily distracted from my cake (sacrilege, I know), my ears perk up at the sound of whispering… Like actual whispering, not Butter’s 'whispering'. Standing, I speedily spot the source coming from an ignored corner of the party.

Guilder has one of his claws around the back of Berry’s neck and is snarling.

Bubble Berry, meanwhile, is remaining as peppy and cheerful as ever.

Before I can digest this scene further, Applejack at last speaks up for the first time in an hour and declares with a grunt, “Hey y’all, it’s pin the tail on the pony! Let’s get it on!”

Saved by the cry, Guilder drops Berry and struts his way over to where everypony else is heading.

“Oh,” chimes in Elusive hopefully. “My favorite game!”

Jason once told me he liked pin the tail on the donkey due to it's simplicity and nostalgia factor...

… At this point there’s not a single thing that’ll come out of Elusive’s mouth that will actually surprise me anymore, so whatever. Today's Rainbow's day, not his; I'll deal with him once I'm good and ready.

“Can I go first?” the unicorn goes on. “Can I have the purple tai-”

Before he can finish, Guilder pushes him aside and yanks the tail away. “I’m the guest of honor, dude. I’ll have the purple tail.”

Yeesh.

And I thought I was the only child in the room.

“Yeah...” Bubble Berry suddenly pipes up, all while inconspicuously sliding a blindfold over to me. Huh? What does he want me to do with-

Catching the wink in his eye, and the purposeful pointing of his snout towards Guilder, I quickly catch the hint as well. Oh! He wants me to... gotcha. I nod and use my claws to grip onto the cloth.

“... Guilder should definitely go first," BB declares innocently, seemingly without ulterior motive. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that this was his way of enacting some petty revenge for his earlier mistreatment. Thankfully I know better...

... I think.

"Let’s get you blindfolded!”

Taking advantage of the griffon's momentary lapse in attention, at Berry's cue I jump up onto the guy’s back and roughly blindfold him. I could've honestly done it more softly… but I’d be lying if I said I wasn't a tad bit upset over him pushing Elusive around like he did.

Call me petty all you want; this may be the guy's party, but that doesn't mean that he has the run of the place too.

“Hey what-” the griffon struggles against the binding. “What are yo- Rrrah!”

Bubble Berry probably could've been a tad more thoughtful too with his actions, and have tried to defuse the situation first before rapidly shouting the rules at Guilder while spinning him around in place... but if he had, then I don't know if I could have rightfully still called him Bubble Berry. His one-track mind was what lead him to annoying Guilder in the first place, starting the snowball of events which created this party, so I guess you gotta take the good with the bad sometimes.

“Now just walk straight ahead and pin the tail!” the pink host cheers loudly, hooves still on Guilder’s back.

Now just walk straight ahead and pin the tail,” the blindfolded Guilder mimics back mockingly. “Look, dude, I can see right through your horseapples. I don’t trust you nearly as far as I can drop you!”

BB pauses thanks to this threat.

“... That doesn’t make sense.”

“It means that I, don’t, trust you!” Guilder repeats with a hiss as his head darts around, unable to see BB thanks to his temporary blindness.

“No,” BB corrects him, taking on a tone that almost sounds… lecturing? Huh? “The saying is ‘I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him’, which usually means, since the general census is that it's difficult to move the average pony, that you're unable to trust me at all due to this movement-based stipulation. What you said is that there is some distance that can be traveled, and that you are capable of making me move said distance, but then that also insinuates that you do trust me fundamentally more than a standing state of zero. The trust exists in your scenario, you’re just suggesting that it’s less than some arbitrary state of being you made up in your head that the recipient, me, wouldn't be in the know about…” he then giggles cheerfully. “Your threat doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, silly!”

The room is silent.

Dusk’s jaw is on the floor.

Umm... Looks like the scholar and the baker might have more in common with one another then they initially thought...

... I-I totally knew that already though!

Totally...

...

... Why do I feel the need to lie all the gosh darn time?

“... Well, have fun!” BB then shouts in his usual tone, remembering that he was currently in the middle of hosting a party. Slapping Guilder’s backside has the desired effect, as he’s now heading off in search of the elusive tailless pony.

“Ahhhhh!!!”

The journey, unfortunately, causes him to cross paths with a rogue patch of floor frosting; the deadliest frosting of all next to red velvet! Now sliding across the floor uncontrollably, the griffon’s new track is leading him directly into the kitchen’s closed doors.

“G! Look out!” Rainbow Dash cries out, turning away from the bluish grey pegasus he had been applying eyeliner to this whole time. His voice is full of so much worry for his friend that it seems he's forgotten that Guilder literally can’t look out right now due to his blindfold.

BOOM!!

Even if the griffon could see, Rainbow’s efforts would have still amounted to nothing as, with a crash, our 'guest of honor' still would have found himself unceremoniously lying on the ground in a painful battered heap.

“Ugghhh…” Guilder moans out in agony. I'll admit that the sight is granting me a small smidgen of sick pleasure, due to him having done much of the same with me earlier... but the feeling doesn’t last.

He may be a jerk, one that roughly pushes creatures out of his way without a second thought, but it’s clear to see from Rainbow’s rushing to his side that somepony still deeply cares about him.

“Uh… Guilder?” BB snorts out of the blue. “Sorry, but you, snort, p-pinned the tail on the wrong end!”

Lifting his head up, it’s plain for all to see that Berry is right. In lieu of where a tail is normally supposed to be located on one’s self, in the accidental fall Guilder has managed to stick the gamepiece to the back of his head instead. The image is honestly humorous, so when one pony starts laughing the rest of us can’t seem to help but do the same.

All of us but Rainbow, though, who instead remains sitting by his friend’s side and aids him in getting back up. “Are you okay?” he asks with words laced with concern.

“Yeah, I guess,” Guilder grunts, glaring daggers into Bubble Berry from across the room.

Unaware of this detail, Dash instead sighs with relief. “That’s good to hear…”

His eyes then linger on the piece of cloth still attached to the griffon’s head.

“... Hey wait here for just a second, G. I’ll be right back.”

Obeying the sudden command, Guilder waits patiently in place for his friend to return to his side. Once he does, he does so with a mirror now being cradled expertly in his forelegs.

“Here,” Dash insists. “Take a look.”

With a raised eyebrow, Guilder again obeys by taking the mirror in claw.

“... What am I supposed to be looking at here, Rainbow?” he asks after doing what he was told.

With a chuckle, Rainbow uses a now free wing to move the fabric tail over to the side of Guilder’s head. A great big smile graces his features as he next tells his friend “I think you look good in a ponytail!”

Blinking, Guilder takes another look into the mirror. Now that you mention it… it does kinda look natural on him.

“It matches your highlights,” Rainbow Dash continues on, pointing at Guilder’s head feathers to illustrate. I was just thinking the same thing. “You can probably grow it out this way if you try!”

As with all the earlier attempts at such, Rainbow’s only response from the griffon is the silent treatment…

… up until his beak twitches upwards into something that looks like a smile. Oh my gosh, I think we made a breakthrough!

“D… D-do you really think I can, Rainbow?” the once boastful bird of prey relents, asking his question meekly. “I don’t know…”

“Sure you can!” Rainbow encourages, getting excited. “I can show you how! There’s a lot of techniques and tricks you have to memorize, just like flight camp! I know you can pull it off if you just try, G!”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

“I… I-I don’t know…”

“... Barb?” I’m surprisingly called out by RD. I turn to face him. “Can you be a dear and get us the kit on the table over there?” he gestures with a wing. The one over there? But that’s...

Realizing which one he’s pointing at, I hurry myself over and bring with me the specific kit Rainbow was referring to.

The kit with the eyeliner.

Though the rest of the party continues on without us, the remaining members of the mane six turn to watch as I present the tools to Rainbow who then presents them to Guilder.

The griffon recoils at the sight.

Rainbow pushes the kit closer to him.

“You can do this, G.” Rainbow pleads with all his heart. “I know you have it in you. You taught me how to do this for pony’s sake!”

Guilder’s face turns beet red.

“Rainbow,” he growls. “Don’t bring that up.”

“No,” Dash retaliates. “I'll never stop reminding you of just how awesome you helped me become! You didn’t quit on me when I wanted to quit school, so I’m not going to let you be a quitter either!”

Shoving the tools into Guilder’s claws, Rainbow takes a step back and looks fiercely at his friend’s ensure expression.

“Come on, G,” Rainbow pleads, raising the discarded mirror up so that it’s facing away from himself. “I know you have it in you to be so much more too, you just have to stop listening to the little voice that's telling you junk like 'I don't know' or 'I can't'. Show us that you've still got what it takes to be the best dude, the best you, that you can be; whatever that looks like to you...

“... That is… unless you’re chicken~

THAT seems to have done it.

Now steaming in anger, Guilder grumbles heatedly thanks to this challenge… 

… but he still reaches down, picks up a stencil, and leans closer to the mirror all the same. 

With one of his claws he holds his left eye shut, with the other he brings the tool closer to the lid. Breaths are held as we all watch expectantly. The music halts, and so too does the chatter. The stencil draws closer as the claw holding it shakes harder and harder.

Silence reigns supreme.

“...”

“...”

“.......... RRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

With an angry roar akin to that of a lion, Guilder chucks the pen aside and swipes at the mirror in Rainbow's hooves, knocking it over.

SMASH!!!

The glass shatters into a thousand pieces as soon as it hits the floor.

This is your idea of a good time?!” the griffon continues to rage, causing us all to take a step back away from him as his head darts all around the room. “Stupid games, lame music, and makeup?! Who in Tartarus needs this junk you dweebs?!

He then points an accusing claw at Bubble Berry.

“And you.” Guilder snarls, stomping his way over. “Berry whatever! You are the King of annoying pests!! You and your stupid pranks!!”

“I-it was only the one though,” Berry tries to defend himself, shrinking into a corner. “J-just the tiny buzzer... Did you mean the blindfold thing? I-I'm sorry for that one too; I didn't mean to laug-”

“Oh bull hiney!” Guilder roars again, getting right in the pink pony’s face. “Like that buzzer was your only lame prank! Don't try to trick me... You’re the lamer who brought all this beauty junk here, weren't you?!

“... What?” Rainbow interjects, keeping his tone neutral. He then places himself defensively between the two before they could get any closer to one another. “G, what are you trying to say?”

Guilder's eyes now dart to Rainbow’s own.

Don’t try to protect him, Rainbow,” he growls. “I know that’s your big ego thing, but I’m not going to believe you if you say that you brought this crud!”

“But I did!”

“No!” Guilder sneers. “No… This,” he gestures a claw at Rainbow’s form. “Is just a stupid prank. I like your pranks, Rainbow, but I can tell that this is all that idiot Berry’s idea because I don’t like it!!

His clawed finger again stretches outwards as he points it accusingly at BB.

He’s the one who put you up to this!” G rants and raves. “He’s the pony who bribed all these losers to keep quiet while you paraded yourself around like a blasted mare!

“...”

Now no longer looking concerned, Rainbow’s brows begin narrowing.

A quiet fire is burning within him; vastly different from the one that blazed when he first spoke passionately about his scheme for me.

This was an angry flame instead. Deeply angry...

... as well as hurt.

“You’re wrong, G,” Rainbow speaks softly, not raising his voice. “Crazy and wrong. BB wouldn’t do that, he’s my friend.”

“What the… You’re supposed to be my friend, Rainbow!” Guilder glares in response. “Why aren’t you on my side here?!”

“Because I know Berry,” Rainbow answers coolly. “He can be a bit much at times, sure, and he makes mistakes and gets upset just like the rest of us... But I’m willing to bet that he knows me better than you do anymore, especially if you think I'm dressed like this just for a prank.”

“...”

… With the stomping of claws and paws upon the wooden floor, Guilder slinks his way over to Rainbow Dash until the fluff of his chest is pushing threateningly close to the pony’s face. The griffon then stares right down at his friend.

Rainbow is still and unwavering, facing Guilder head on.

“...”

“...”

“... Hehe… Enough.” Guilder grunts out cockily after a time. “Enough of this hot garbage. I’m your oldest friend, Rainbow. No one here knows you better than me and they never will.”

“... Really?” Dash questions, unimpressed. “Then what kind of lipstick do I prefer?”

“Stallions don’t wear lip-”

“Coral blue, number five, semi gloss matte!”

Guilder's eyes shoot angrily at me for this answer of mine.

I skittishly hide myself behind Dusk’s leg in response.

Eep

Thankfully dragging attention away from me and my spirited outburst, Rainbow continues the quiz. “What kind of purse do I carry?”

“Guys don’t carry purse-”

“A Pish Posh original!” Elusive adds in this time, undeterred. “Brand new too! The stitching is exquisite.”

“Shut up shut up shut up!” Guilder roars, though this time much weaker than before. “I don’t care what Berry is paying you morons to go along with this stupid prank! You… y-you can’t possibly expect me to believe that Rainbow's still… s-still…”

“I never stopped playing dress-up, G,” Rainbow states proudly, puffing his chest out. “I never let those darn bullies tell me what I was allowed to like either.”

The pegasus then gestures a hoof to everypony gathered at this party.

Nopony here can stop me from being me! I’ve been strutting around like the lady I am all party long and none of them have tried to get me to change! If anything, most of them came here expecting me to come a bit gussied up! I love being this! I love being me!

Taking a step closer until he’s facing Guilder’s chest, Rainbow Dash places a single hoof right on his feathery white crest.

“G…” Rainbow speaks quietly in a hush. “Guilder…”

He then gazes upwards into his oldest friend’s scared golden eyes.

“... Gilda… You don’t have to be afraid anymore. The bullies are gone. They’re all gone. They can’t hurt you anymore, I promise.

"He, she, whatever; you can be whatever you want to be... Just please... Please let your anger go. Please stop yelling and hurting everypony around you. And please...

"... Please just be my kindest best friend again."

“...”

“...”

… Guilder begins to huff.

Guilder begins to puff.

Guilder begins to hyperventilate.

Rainbow takes one last step forward, making to hug his friend.

RRRRRRRIIIIIIIPPPPPPP!!!

Guilder slices him with a claw in retaliation.

As the crowd gasps, Dash flutters himself back to avoid getting hurt further from the griffon's sudden attack. Looking down at himself, the stallion is visibly relieved to see that he's not in tatters.

His ears droop, however, upon discovering that his dress was now in tatters in his place.

"Blitz!" Guilder bellows spitefully at Rainbow. “You dumb dweeb! Haha... And here I was wondering why you weren’t a Wonderbolt yet… but now I know.”

The griffon aggressively steps closer, roughly poking the pony’s now bare chest as he does.

“You’ll never be a Bolt because you’ve been too busy pretending to be a filly!"

He pokes again.

“You’ll never be a Bolt because you aren’t serious about anything but your stupid self!"

He pokes harder.

“Be a stallion and get serious already, Rainbow Blitz!" Guilder's poke turns into a full on shove. "Get, bucking, serious, Blit-"

DASH!!

Guilder’s rant ends upon the uttering of this single word.

All eyes turn towards the speaker.

Applejack marches himself determinedly through the crowd as he repeats his words without hesitation. “His name is Rainbow Dash you oversized turkey.”

Guilder trains his sight on the new arrival.

“Back off, cowboy,” he spits back. “This is between Blitz and I.”

“Nope,” AJ counters, channeling his big sister's stubbornness. “Ah reckon it’s not anymore. The moment you started pickin' a fight with our friend, you made it our business.”

“Right,” adds in Dusk as he steps up beside Applejack.

“Indeed,” Elusive punctuates his words with a crack of his neck. Butters silently steps in line beside him shortly thereafter.

“Wait you guys!” BB jumps in front of his angry looking friends. “Let’s not fight! I threw this party to improve Guilder’s attitude, but I was totally being a meanie pants too! W-we can still start all over and get things back on tra-”

“No, BB,” Rainbow interrupts him, placing a hoof on his withers. “It’s… okay,” he adds as he looks forlornly down at his torn gown. “We don’t have to keep this up anymore...”

He then turns one last time to Guilder... and finally returns his glare.

“... I don’t want to be friends with a bully.

To say that Guilder is not pleased by this choice of words would be an understatement.

“B-bully?! Blitz, I’m not a-”

Applejack, being one of the few ponies in the room beside Butters somewhat able to meet Guilder eye to eye, steps in between him and Dash. “You ain’t welcome here no more,” he orders, butting his forehead the best he can against the griffon’s own. “You best be gettin’ on your way now, and don't come back until you cool yourself off... Understood?”

Guilder glares at Applejack,

glares at Rainbow Dash,

… and then at last relents. 

“Rrgh. Yeah?” he sneers as he starts retreating towards the door. “Well you, you, you are such a, a flip-flop, Blitz! Cool one minute and lame the next!” With back turned towards us, and wings spread, Guilder adds, “When you decide not to be lame anymore, gimme a call.”

One bird-like screech, and the flap of his wings later and Guilder The Griffon is completely gone.

Only his discarded gifts of bows and lipstick remain as they clatter to the ground behind him in his hasty departure…

...

... What the hell did he mean by ‘call’? There’s no such thing as phones in Equestria… Did he literally mean call like a bird call? Do pegasus ponies screech like that? Hmmm…

… S-sorry if I’m a bit scattered brained right now. My nerves are still shot from all that screaming.

“Wow, talk about a party pooper,” I try once more to inject humor into the situation, more for my own sake than for others. If my own nerves were this shaky thanks to being a bystander, I can't even begin to imagine how Rainbow is doing right now. Ponies are murmuring and gossiping all around us, trying to decipher what just went down, all while Rainbow looks on sadly towards where his former friend had left.

"..."

... With a quick breath, the pegasus slaps the sides of his face and composes himself the best he can. “I’m sorry everypony, for bringing Guilder here,” he apologizes, struggling with the words. “I-I didn’t know how rude he was…”

He then turns to Applejack, and smiles kindly.

“... Thank you for the save back there, AJ. You were a big help.”

Applejack offers Rainbow a side glance…

... before tilting his stetson downwards and covering his eyes.

“S’no problem, Dash,” the farmer grumbles quietly in reply, not meeting the other stallion's gaze. “... Ah’m sorry about your dress too.”

Applejack's stetson fails to cover his cheek's sudden blush.

“I-It was real purdy and... a-and stuff...”

Though he blinks in surprise thanks to these words, Rainbow Dash chooses not to press the embarrassed pony any further on this and instead decides to leave him be by turning away. I feel that this was a good call on Rainbow's part.

He doesn't have a hat to hide his own cheek’s blush with, after all.

“A-and BB,” Dash moves on, obviously trying to distract himself from his thoughts. “I’m sorry that he ruined that really thoughtful party you put on for him.”

Atypical of usually infallible pony, Bubble Berry sheepishly looks away.

"Eh, it wasn't that thoughtful..." the party pony admits, scraping a hoof against the ground. "... Unless you mean 'thoughtful' as in 'I-thought-this-would-be-a-good-way-to-say-I'm-sorry-for-getting-in-the-way-of-your-hanging-out-time' thoughtful."

"... Um... I... don't... think so?" RD answers back with head tilted.

"... Hehe... Sigh..."

With a defeated whine, and a side hug, BB sags as he at last confesses what's apparently been on his mind.

"After I talked to Dusk about it, Dash," he explains. "I had a nice sober think and realized that I was being a real rude-y crude-y by trying to steal your attention away from your friend like I was... Well ex-friend now, I guess."

Rainbow winces.

Berry does as well. "Opps. Too soon, got it. Sorry. My bad..."

"Nah... It's cool," Dash smiles sadly. "Barb was right; at the end of the day... he was just a big old party pooper."

Chuckling at the crass language, our Element of Laughter bounces back easily into his usual self.

"Hey, no judging here," he continues to giggle. "If you want to hang out with party poopers, that’s your business, sister!”

“I'd rather hang out with you,” Rainbow chuckles back in return, leaning closer into their semi-embrace. “No hard feelings about what I said about you earlier?”

"..."

... Berry proceeds to turn the side hug into a full hug.

“Only if there's no hard feelings for how I acted too,” he adds with his squeeze. "I shouldn't have gotten so hot and bothered back there like I did; that's not how a Party Pony should act.

"I just... I just don't like seeing my guests shoving my other guests around, you know?"

From within his embrace with RD, BB then leans over...

... and offers me a knowing grin.

... Huh. Well would you look at that...

Maybe Rainbow Dash isn't the only stallion whose been attempting to understand my feelings after all.

~Twinkletwinkletwinkle~

“Uh uh uh,” Elusive declares with a hiss, using his magic to abruptly extract BB's hugging form from Rainbow's. “As sweet and dear as this may be, ladies and gentlecolts, I insist that you mustn't injure my patient any further before I have the opportunity to operate on them!”

“Patient?” Dusk asks inquiringly, stepping closer to the group. “What patient?”

Scoffing, Elusive dramatically raises a hoof into the air. “Why…”

He then points it...

... directly at Rainbow’s ruined dress.

“... This patient of course!” the manic unicorn declares heatedly. “Rainbow, I can certainly repair your lovely frock. I have the technology…

“... B-by which I mean a sewing machine, of course.” he tacks on quickly in haste.

My brows narrow suspiciously, but I choose to say nothing.

“I want to help too,” Butters offers next, stepping in closer. “My dad taught me how to sew when I was a little colt. My hooves are too big to hold a needle these days, b-but maybe I can advise?”

“Oh?” Elusive beams in turn. “Really? Why, I’d love to have a second pair of eyes on such a project! You’re hired!”

“Yay.”

Rainbow blinks in surprise as the number of ponies willing to help him out multiplies all around him.

As he stands there in the center of it all in a shredded dress, smeared eyeliner, collapsing mane, and missing glove, a thoughtful look now graces his expression. He may have potentially lost a friend today, but now he’s surrounded by a strong-nit group uncaring about what he’s wearing or who he is.

I may not have an insider's scoop as to what’s really going on in that mind of his right now, but I think I can safely hazard a guess that its full of grateful little thoughts and feelings for those he's grown to love and trust.

“Guys,” Rainbow Dash speaks up, specifically addressing Elusive, Butterscotch, and Applejack; the three ponies physically closest to him. “You’re the best, you know that?” Stretching his wings out fully, he then lays the small feathery arms upon Elusive and Applejack’s backs and brushes them in closer for a group hug. Elusive returns the exchange with a hug and nuzzle of his own. Applejack doesn’t but he's not moving away from the embrace either. Butterscotch steps in closer and places his forehead lovingly against Rainbow’s own.

Dusk and Bubble Berry, meanwhile, have stepped aside in order to talk to one another.

“Hey, Berry,” Dusk starts off apprehensively. “Sorry I accused you of misjudging Guilder. Looks like I’m the one who misjudged you...”

“It’s okay Dusk,” BB answers back just as cheerily as ever, no longer allowing his own poor behavior to weigh him down. “Being a super smarty smart-pants is super tiring sometimes, am I right? Ponies like us have gotta rest these big old noggins of ours every now and then or else they get all overheat-y and mistake-y riddled; trust me.”

“I… I-I don’t think I really can though, BB.” Dusk answers back shyly. “How is a pony supposed to just turn off their brain like that?”

BB hyucks.

“Oooohhhh sweet and naive Dusk Shine,” Bubble Berry slides in slyly. “I think you know exactly how to turn that egghead of yours off, you’re just too afraid to ask me for help!”

“Ask… a-ask you what?” the unicorn questions nervously. 

Bubble Berry grins…

… before reaching into his mane and producing a small hip flask. Giving the container a little shake, swishing its clearly alcoholic contents around, the earth pony’s eyebrows wiggle suggestively.

Seeing that this was to be the answer, Dusk’s nervousness swiftly disappears completely as he utters a flat and unimpressed, “Oh. That.”

“Yes,” BB snickers back. “That.

“...”

“...”

“... Maybe after my last semester of school is done, BB.” Dusk relents with a sigh and a real smile. “Maybe then.”

Seeing this as a complete and utter victory, Bubble Berry pumps a hoof and whispers a tiny “Nice” under his breath, before raising his voice and shouting to the rest of the gathering, “Come on everypony, there’s still a whole lotta party to finish!! Who wants to help Dusk and I try on makeup?! We demand to be made super fabulous like Rainbow Dash!

The stallions in the room cheer for the continuation of the Berry Blast, the mares cheer as they whisk BB and Dusk away with them to one of the stations, my charge screams out a horrified "Wait what?!" as products are forcefully applied to his face,

and I, meanwhile, find myself quietly smiling at the sight of the six boys and the continual growth of their wonderful friendship.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Later that evening Dusk Shine, after cleaning his beautiful mascara off, asked me to dictate a letter about the friendship lesson he learned today. I'm thankfully relieved to report that he indeed learned a similar moral to Twilight Sparkle about accepting that friends are allowed to hang out with other friends, and that sometimes friends can turn out to be false ones too no matter how much you want to deny it. 

In addition to this, Dusk also added a small passage about Rainbow Dash and how far he was willing to go to get Guilder to break out of his toxic shell. He confessed that he admires Dash’s ability to see the good in even the seemingly worst, his determination to defend and help nurture said good, and the unique beauty of the stallion's heart. "There's so much more to Loyalty than I originally thought," were the last words my charge asked me to jot down in the weekly report. "I can't wait to learn more about the rest of the Elements with the help of my friends, especially Berry."

I, meanwhile, am personally of mixed feelings about how things ultimately turned out.

On the one claw I’m happy that Dusk was able to learn another friendship lesson, and grow closer to both RD and BB, but on the other I’m sad to see that Guilder chose to remain stuck in his box. He was clearly enjoying spending time with Rainbow Dash, and maybe in another setting he could have been convinced to give his friend’s unique view on life a second chance, but I guess the stars just didn’t align for him this day. 

I’m certain that nopony is more upset over this outcome than Rainbow Dash himself though; it was pretty clear that he was shouldering the brunt of the blame for the plan's failure all the way up until the rest of his friends stepped in, and reminded him of what real friendship is supposed to look like. He could have easily blamed the party, and perhaps even Berry, for Guilder’s paranoia... but instead he came to recognize that the griffon himself was in control of his own actions, nopony else.

Understanding that there are those who can’t be changed so easily if even at all, no matter how hard we want them too, marks Rainbow Dash as a much stronger willed lady then even myself. I’m certain that he’ll now return to wearing only simple accessories, so that he can focus on his speed, but perhaps one day I’ll encourage him to once again don his well earned mantle of gal pal and join me in a lovely little tea party.

I speak not of the same "tea parties" Prince Solaris and others have ensnared me in over the years, dear reader; filled with ulterior motives, interrogations, and lies.

No... I instead speak of a classier affair filled with beautiful ensembles and talks of books and romance and boys.

Oh and there will be much talk of boys, I assure you. Though he claims to be willing to do “whatever it takes” to become a Wonderbolt, and though I’m certain that his tastes are a bit more varied than the average pony’s, I’m also certain that I saw Applejack blushing today and darn it all if that’s not the second cutest thing I’ve seen on this world so far and I’ll be damned if I don’t nurture the heck out of it while I still have the opportunity to play it off as the machinations of youthful innocence.

I believe that’s all I really need to write for tonight’s entry. I may have played a smaller part in today’s escapades than usual, but in the end this was more of Rainbow’s story than it was mine or Dusk’s. That's just how it'll be sometimes I suppose. My Little Pony may have started as Twilight’s story, but over time it evolved into a story about many different ponies too. It's to be expected that not every episode is going to be centered around him or I.

If I’m remembering things correctly, however, the next episode will be Dusk’s rodeo completely.

Next episode is where he'll get the much needed opportunity to show everypony just how Great and Powerful I know him to be.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~

"Thanks for the ride home, Butters," Rainbow Dash exhaled tiredly, leaning into his companion's generous back fluff as they continued to soar through the night sky. "Being all dainty and civilized really drains a guy. It's fun, but I think I get why Barb says 'buck-it' most of the time now."

"Oh she does not, Dash," Butterscotch argued, not taking his attention off the air before him. The duo had been the last to leave BB's party, having done so to allow Elusive to salvage Rainbow's damaged gown properly. "She just goes about it in her own way, that's all."

Dash grunted in reply; not fully accepting such an answer, yet not denying it's validity either.

"Eh," the sleepy pegasus eventually conceded. "If you say so."

"I know so," Butters went on, insisting. "Remember, I have a sister, Rainbow Dash; I think I have a little better idea about these kinds of things than you do."

This uncharacteristic declaration of authority, needless to say, caught Rainbow completely off guard.

"Whoa whoa," he raised his unused wings up in a showing of surrender. "Where did this come from? Lovin' the confidence, Butters, but I'm a little confused as to what's bringing it on." The dolled up stallion than placed a hoof gently upon his friends head, causing the larger pony's ears to instinctively flatten in shame. "Is there something you want to talk about, dude?"

Though Butters remained quiet at first, it wasn't long before he was sighing and willingly sharing his thoughts with his foalhood friend.

"... I wish I hadn't let Guilder get under my skin earlier, before the party," the canary yellow stallion revealed. "I-I thought I was getting stronger about talking to other creatures, but I guess I haven't."

"Nah, you have," RD encouraged, patting the shy pony's head softly. "Really, but bullies are tricky. Remember, he got under my skin too! I wanted him to turn around so badly that I forgot to keep my guard up..."

"... I'm sorry he didn't hear you out," commented Butters, after allowing a brief pause to pass. "I didn't really like him like you did, but I know how important of a friend he was to you back then. Maybe you can try again someday?"

"... Yeah... well... Sometimes you gotta leave the past in the past," Rainbow answered back, allowing his melancholy to once again wash away into said past.

Ending a friendship such as theirs wouldn't be easy, he knew, but the speedster also knew the secret that would ease his pain and help it to maybe one day disappear altogether.

"I've got plenty of friends right here in Ponyville anyways," Dash snorted cheerily, bouncing back completely. "Who needs a grump like Guilder when I've got you, Dusk, Elusive, BB, AJ, and..."

Suddenly... Rainbow Dash stopped his listing.

A small wince in his foreleg, a phantom pain, had forced him to halt.

This was not due to the pain actually being painful at all, perish the thought. Even if it were, Dash was not the sort to complain about such minor inconveniences.

No... What had caused him to pause wasn't so much the pain itself as it was the thought of who had inflicted it upon him, and for what reason.

"... Barb..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... Say... Butters?"

"Hm?" Butter's tilted his head back, granting his rider a side glance. "What is it, Dash?"

Rainbow continued to stare at his sore foreleg.

"... You said you got to talk to Barb personally when she first came to Ponyville, right?"

"Oh yes," the animal loving pegasus answered happily, his mind ablaze with pleasant memories. "It was quite the interesting discussion! She told me so much about early baby dragon life an-"

"Yeah yeah yeah," RD cut his friend off, uncaring for the details. "I remember you telling me all about it... but... do you remember if she ever mentioned anything to you about... about..."

"..."

"..."

"... About... what?" Butter's pried, unsure why his friend had stopped talking.

"..."

... Piecing the last of his thoughts together, making sure his words would be precise and devoid of stress inducing triggers for his large friend's benefit; RD at last asked his question.

"... Did Barb ever tell you about her assistant training at all, dude?"

"..."

Though Butterscotch's flight path remained smooth and uninterrupted, internally his gears were moving as he tried to piece together what it was his friend was asking for him to remember.

"... Not really," was the eventual answer Butters offered. "She said something about going to a mansion for a few years, but she kinda gave it the brush off... Dusk told us that Prince Solaris himself organized her lessons though, Dash."

"And that he didn't know much more than that," Rainbow Dash completed for him, sighing at the latter's non-answer. "Yeah, I remember Dusk saying that too... Kinda weird how he doesn't know what 'assistant training' even means though, right? Egghead usually knows everything!"

"Maybe he's just respecting her privacy," Butters suggested in turn, shrugging off the oddness. "She's pretty young, Dash. I can't imagine her training was all that hard or noteworthy."

"I'm not so sure."

"... Dash?"

Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty, then stared back down at his phantom pain.

As he did, memories from the day prior came flooding back into him:

Memories of shouts and orders and fire.

Memories of a regiment far tougher than what he had expected.

Memories of lessons he truthfully enjoyed...

... but, at the same time, couldn't imagine a foal surviving through without getting seriously hurt.

"..."

"... Dash... Is something wrong?"

"... It's nothing, Butters," Dash slowly responded, taking his eyes once again off of his foreleg. Instead of on the appendage... Rainbow's eyes now wandered elsewhere.

They wandered towards the far off mountains in the distance...

... They wandered towards the nightly silhouette of Canterlot.