It was another beautiful day in Ponyville. The sun rose high over the entirety of the Everfree forest. The sounds of birds chirping and bushes rustling could be heard throughout the entirety of the forest. That was until a large rush of air passed through the outer rim of the forest. The gusts of wind that were created were enough to cause trees to sway and even some shrubs to be sent flying. Rodan’s wings flapped hard as he circled around the entirety of the Everfree forest.
“Yeaaaah, baby!”, he exclaimed as maneuvered through the trees. As he neared an open spot of the forest, a cocky smirk formed on his face. “Alright, time for the big one.”
His emblem flashed as scales started to form on his wings. They both grew in size and slowly started to appear more like the wings of a dragon due to their sharper appearance. Rodan slightly flinched due to the strange feeling he felt in his wings, but managed to power through it as he then thrusted himself upward. His wings flapped heavily as he went straight vertical, the amount of g-forces he felt would’ve been enough to tear the wings off of an average bird. He felt the strain as his eyes started to burn from the sunlight causing him to clench his teeth.
‘Hold it, don’t strain yourself. And start…now!’
With that, Rodan threw himself backwards, performing half of a loop de loop before doing a quick aileron roll to right himself. He then started to descend back down to the tops of the trees, keeping his wings stable to help him glide. His descent allowed him to gain tremendous speed as he dropped down hundreds of feet in mere seconds. He flew through the trees, coming so close to them that he caused leaves to be sent flying. The sight of his house coming into view caused him to flare his wings in order to reduce his momentum. He put his hooves forward as several scales and pairs of talons appeared on them. He slowly lowered until he was mere feet above the ground.
Gojira watched with a stopwatch in hoof as Rodan came flying in. With his hooves extended and pairs of claws spread open, Rodan landed on the ground, causing small trenches to be left in the dirt before eventually galloping. His symbol flashed as his wings went back to normal and he stopped in front of his brother. He breathed heavily, both from the extreme workout and from excitement.
“Whew, how was that?”, he asked while wiping sweat from his brow. Gojira looked down at the stopwatch.
“One minute, five seconds. A whole second faster than your previous time”, said Gojira.
“Yes! That’s what I’m talking about!”, exclaimed Rodan as he threw his hooves in the air, which had lost their claws. “I tell ya, bro, the wonderbolts ain’t got nothing on me. Everyday I just get faster and faster.”
‘Which is what should happen. The speeds that you’ll be able to reach are too much for your normal wings to handle. But my wings are strong enough to handle the intense pressure.’
“It feels almost like a crime to be this fast, but I’m not complaining at all”, said Rodan.
“Yeah, I wonder what Rainbow Dash would think about your routine”, said Gojira as he walked over to the tree he had knocked down a few days ago to do some training of his own. As he did so, Rodan couldn’t help but snicker.
“Oh, don’t worry, I do know”, he said to himself. He looked around their training area they set up behind the house. “Where’s Anguirus?”
“He’s up at Sweet Apple Acres, remember”, answered Gojira.
“Oh yeah, that’s right”, said Rodan, followed by a short chuckle. “Still can’t believe that he somehow found a job before us. Which, by the way, should we still try and find some?”
“It would be smart, but I don’t know where. We tried every store I can think of in Ponyville”, said Gojira.
“So, what does that say about the chances of one of us getting employed?”, asked Rodan. Gojira could only shrug.
“I really don’t know. Perhaps when the ponies here become more used to seeing us we can then start finding jobs, and maybe one of us could swap places with Anguirus to work on Sweet Apple Acres for him. But right now, we can only wait and see”, said Gojira.
Rodan nodded. “Okay then, is there anything else that needs to be done?”, he asked.
‘That should be enough for this morning. Though that doesn’t mean we’re done for the whole day.’
“I know, I was just wondering”, said Rodan. He started walking towards the back entrance of the house until a sudden thought flew into his head. “Well, actually, I was just thinking. Could I possibly start doing some…advance training?”
“As in what?”, asked Gojira. Rodan looked a bit weary as he thought about what words he should use.
“Perhaps I could start learning about the…merg-”, Rodan couldn’t get the final word out until he felt a sudden headache come on. Gojira was confused by Rodan’s sudden reaction.
“Rodey, are you ok?”, he asked. Suddenly, Rodan’s emblem flashed and Phoenix appeared from his mane.
‘Don’t even think about that! You absolutely are not ready to handle our full potential! All that you’ve shown me is that you can fly faster than the average pegasus! You can barely even handle my ember breath without suffering from strep throat, what makes you think you can handle any fraction of the merging’s effect?’
The pain in Rodan’s head subsided as he regained his composure. Gojira’s own emblem flashed as Alpha appeared from his mane.
‘It’s far too early to be talking about merging. We’re still on the basics and we may have to stay on them for a while.’
“But we’ve been on the basics for what feels like our whole lives. For how much longer will it be until we finally start learning about merging?”, asked Rodan.
‘Merging comes much…MUCH later. You have no idea what could happen if we started merging now. Irreversible damage to your body, immense amounts of mind loss, possibly even death. It’s something that we’re saving to the very end of your three’s training.’
“Ok, ok, I got it. You don’t have to boggle my mind”, said Rodan as he put a hoof to his temple.
‘If it gets you to understand that you aren’t ready, then actions like that have to be taken.’
Rodan’s emblem flashed again as Phoenix retreated back into his mane. “It was just a suggestion”, said Rodan.
‘We know, but you should realize that it’s a process that takes much more time than trying to learn your abilities. If Phoenix didn’t make it clear, if we tried merging now there would be consequences.’
“Ok, noted”, said Rodan. He grabbed his sunglasses which had been set to the side before his flight. “I’m gonna head into Ponyville to see Lisa.”
“How’s she doing after the whole baked goods incident?”, asked Gojira.
“She says she’s doing fine, but I’m not sure since she still seems to get a bit nauseous”, answered Rodan. “So while she stays at home, I’ve offered to cover her shift at Sugarcube Corner.”
Gojira’s ears perked up and a sly smile formed on his face. “Aww, how romantic of you”, he said. Rodan’s nonchalant face forced a laugh out of Gojira. “I joke, of course, but that’s seriously nice of you to do.”
“I know, that’s what having a girlfriend does for you”, said Rodan emphasizing the girl part which Gojira merely scoffed at. “Anyways, I’ll be off. I’ll be back for either dinner or…”, he held back a sigh, “training.”
“Alright, see ya”, said Gojira as Rodan flapped his now normal wings and flew away, leaving Gojira by himself. Or at least that’s what it would’ve been if it wasn’t for the floating spirit right beside him.
‘I hope we made things clear about the current state of merging.’
“Crystal”, replied Gojira. “Though, he does bring up a point. We’ve been doing the basics for a long time now. How much longer will it be until we start working on the more intense stuff?”
‘You may be ahead of your brothers in terms of training, however that doesn’t mean you have mastered every aspect of my abilities. You barely have the atomic breath under control and we just started learning how to use the pulse. Though you may want to take the leap, we have to stick with the baby steps.’
Gojira nodded in agreement, however he still wondered about the concept of merging. He and his brothers had been told repeatedly that merging would be saved for last and the amount of consequences that would come from it. But they were never told exactly what it was other than that they would receive all of the power that their respective spirits contained. All that vague explanation did was simply make him wonder even more. He didn’t question it further, but his curiosity was higher than he would want to admit.
‘Speaking of, with Rodan’s morning training done we can now start yours.’
“Alright, I know the drill, far into the forest”, said Gojira as he started to walk deeper into the forest. “Same tactics as before?” Gojira’s emblem flashed as Alpha retreated back into his mane.
‘Indeed.’
“Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?”, asked Rodan. He was standing on the front porch of Lisa’s small house as she walked out the door and locked it behind her.
“Of course”, replied Lisa. “I can’t stay inside my house forever just because of some muffin.” Rodan looked her over. Her bright white color scheme and orange mane were slowly coming back, but her colors weren’t as vibrant as he wanted them to.
“I’m just saying, don’t you probably want to wait a little bit longer before heading back into Ponyville”, said Rodan.
“I’ll be fine, Rodey”, said Lisa as she tried to walk down the front steps of her house. As she did so however, she slowly started to sway from side to side and even stumbled down the last step. Rodan quickly ran up to her and stood close to her to keep her steady. “Or, at least, I will be fine if you walk with me.”
“Thought I would already be doing that”, said Rodan. A smile formed on Lisa’s face.
“Thanks for helping me, Rodey”, said Lisa. She and Rodan started to walk to Ponyville with Rodan constantly making sure that she was walking fine. “How’s Sugarcube Corner been treating you?”
“Well, I just met Mr and Mrs Cake who both treated me to a lovely spread sheet of desserts”, said Rodan as he let out a chuckle. “I can see why Pinkie wanted to work their, the amount of sugar that mare consumes on a daily basis is mind blowing.”
“I know, it’s both impressive and scary”, said Lisa as she followed with a small laugh. “But you can’t deny, they’re very nice ponies once you get to know them.”
“Yeah, I won’t deny that”, said Rodan. “How exactly did you get to know Pinkie?”
“Well, as you could imagine, with a party of course”, said Lisa. Rodan rolled his eyes, he felt he should’ve known. “I know Pinkie’s parties can seem a bit overkill, but without them I wouldn’t have had as good of a start here in Ponyville as I did. It was through that party and her which allowed me to meet so many ponies and become friends with them.”
“You must be really good friends with Pinkie then, huh”, said Rodan.
“If me working at Sugarcube Corner wasn’t obvious enough, then yes”, replied Lisa. The two of them shared a laugh as they continued to walk. They soon reached Sugarcube Corner and walked up to the door.
“Now you’re sure that you can get through today without my help?”, asked Rodan.
“Positive, I promised Pinkie that I would always be at work on time and some nausea isn’t gonna stop that”, said Lisa. She tried to walk up to the door without the help of Rodan, but she could only manage a couple of steps before the dizziness took its effect and she had to stop. Rodan walked up to her and helped keep her steady.
“Still positive?”, he asked. Lisa rolled her eyes. “Come on, I’m sure this place has some form of ibuprofen, though they might have been replaced by sugar tablets or something, knowing Pinkie.”
As Rodan opened the door, he expected to be met with the bright smile of Pinkie Pie. But instead was met with nothing. The entire building was vacant of any ponies. No Pinkie, neither Mr or Mrs.Cake, not even the occasional child who was always wanting the most sugary treat they could think of. No one was inside apart from Rodan and Lisa. The two looked around with confused expressions.
“Uhh, hello?”, Rodan called out, “Pinke? Anypony here?” He got no answer. “Is today a break day?”
“No, the Cakes aren’t ponies that close up shop on such a nice day as this”, answered Lisa. She looked around the building until she noticed something on the front desk. “Though, that’s new.”
Rodan looked where she was pointing at. Sitting on the wooden desk was a bright red button with the phrase ‘ring for service’ written on a piece of paper right next to it. Despite being a simple red button, there was a sense of mystique about it as neither Lisa nor Rodan recognized it.
“Should we press it?”, asked Lisa.
“I don’t know, we probably shouldn’t”, said Rodan. The two sat in silence, staring at the button for a whole five seconds before curiosity got the better of them. Or at least one of them.
“Aw screw it!”, exclaimed Rodan.
Without hesitation, Rodan quickly moved forward and pressed the button with his hoof, leaning backward as he did it for the small chance that something bad would happen. But instead the opposite happened, absolutely nothing. The only noise that could be heard was the sound of the button clicking back into place. Both Rodan and Lisa looked around to see if anything had changed about the place, feeling disappointed that nothing had done so. Rodan looked back at the button, its red color didn’t seem so enticing anymore.
“Well that’s disappointing-”
Not even a second later, the sound of some kind spring being sprung filled the quiet room as a demonic looking figure popped up from behind the desk, laughing maniacally. Rodan and Lisa were instantly caught off guard as each of them moved away from the figure. Rodan yelped in surprise and was just about ready to blast the figure into ash with his fire breath. However, he restrained himself once he noticed the spring that was in place of where a body should have been. After a few seconds, the maniacal laughter stopped and the figure stood there motionless with its face unmoving. And as soon as it stopped, the sound of uncontrollable laughter filled the room.
Rodan looked over the desk and hiding behind it was none other than the pink, party-crazed pony herself. Pinkie was rolling on the floor laughing with tears coming out of her eyes. Her laughter was contagious to Lisa who formed a smile, but not to Rodan who glared at her.
“Oh, you think this is really funny, huh?”, said Rodan in a sarcastic tone.
“V-Very”, sputtered Pinkie before going back into laughter.
“Well, what can you do? That’s Pinkie for ya”, said Lisa as she walked up to the side of Rodan. “Also, it was kinda funny.” Though Lisa found it amusing, Rodan didn’t seem to appreciate Pinkie’s joke.
“I could’ve punched that thing to Manehattan, what part of that was funny”, he said. Lisa took it as a joke, but the more Rodan thought about it, he started to wonder if he could.
‘Don’t even think about it.’
After a while, Pinkie eventually managed to calm herself down, even wiping a tear from her eye. “Hehe, it never gets old”, she said. “Sorry, you two, just thought it would be funny to play a little joke.”
“Don’t worry, Pinkie, it was a good joke”, said Lisa. “Especially for this pony, you seemed pretty startled.” She bumped Rodan’s shoulder.
“I wasn’t startled, just…caught off guard, that’s all”, said Rodan, not wanting to admit that he’d been scared by a jack in the box.
“Riiiight”, said Pinkie with a grin. “Anyways, how have you two lovebirds been?” She emphasized the word love in a way that caused Lisa’s cheeks to turn crimson.
“Uh-Uhh, we’re doing…umm”, Lisa’s sentence was cut off when she forced a cough out. Rodan, choosing to ignore Pinkie’s choice of words, answered for her.
“We’re doing well. Lisa wanted to come to Sugarcube Corner and I tagged along with her just in case she got sick”, he said.
“Ahh, that’s sweet”, said Pinkie. Since Rodan slowly started getting used to the teasing he’d received from his brothers about him and Lisa, Pinkie’s teasing was child’s play. At least it was for him, Lisa however wasn’t on the same level.
“Y-Yes, very”, she said. “Ahem, but aside from that, how have you been, Pinkie?”
“Oh, you know, the usual”, said Pinkie. “Taking care of the bakery, feeding Gummy, baking treats, keeping track of parties, the usual sherads.”
“So that’s usual, huh”, said Rodan as he pointed at the demonic jack in the box.
“Yeppers, it’s always fun to pull a harmless prank once in a while”, said Pinkie. “In fact, me and Rainbow Dash had pulled off a bunch of them.” When she finished her sentence she paused for a moment. Though Pinkie still remained joyful, her downcasted eyes leaned toward a slight hint of sadness.
“I could’ve guessed that out of all the ponies you did practical jokes with, it was Rainbow Dash”, said Rodan.
“Yeah, when it comes to pranks, there’s no better pair than you two. Right Pinkie”, said Lisa. She expected Pinkie to reply with a quick witted reply or a cartoonish nod, but instead Pinkie remained silent. Both Lisa and Rodan were taken aback by the lack of reaction from her.
“Hey, is there something wrong, Pinkie?”, asked Rodan. Rodan’s question snapped Pinkie out of whatever daze she was in.
“Huh, oh, sorry. I was just thinking about something”, she replied. “You see, me and Rainbow Dash have fun pulling pranks, or at least we were until…her friend showed up.”
“Her friend? As in Fluttershy or Twilight?”, asked Lisa.
“No, nothing like them”, replied Pinkie. “While friends such as Fluttershy or Twilight are nice and supportive, this one is a bit different.”
“How so?”, asked Rodan.
“Well, for starters, her name is Gilda and she’s apparently half eagle and half lion. I think Rainbow called her a griffon”, said Pinkie until her eyebrows crossed. “And the fact that she’s a big grumpy, mean, meany pants.” A look of remembrance appeared on Rodan’s face, though it wasn’t one of nostalgia but more so embarrassment.
“Yep, now I remember”, he said.
“You know her?”, asked Lisa.
“I don’t know her, I ran into her by accident and she did not give the kindest of welcomings”, replied Rodan. “How can Rainbow Dash befriend someone like that, they have virtually nothing in common.”
“Well, Dash did say that she and Gilda had been friends ever since she was in Speedster Flight Camp”, said Pinkie, the image of the griffon caused her to furrow her brows. “However, she’s an absolute bully who keeps me away from Rainbow Dash and won’t leave her alone for a second.”
“Maybe she isn’t used to being around other ponies apart from Rainbow Dash. Perhaps that’s how her kind treats each other”, said Lisa.
“If that’s the case, then consider me not a fan of them as she did not leave a good first impression”, said Rodan.
“I’m sure over time she’ll start warming up to everypony. Who knows Pinkie, you may be able to become friends with her if you give her time”, said Lisa. For the first time, Pinkie wasn’t the optimistic one.
“I doubt it, she’s so rude. She popped my balloons, knocked me out of the sky, and she keeps telling me to buzz off. I’ve never met a griffon this mean”, said Pinkie. “Well, I've actually never met a griffon at all, but I bet if I had, she wouldn’t be as mean and grumpy as Gilda.” Both Rodan and Lisa watched as Pinkie continued to rant, her tone of voice was very out of character for the pony who was always so happy.
“You know, Pinkie, I’d hate to be the one to disagree with you, but I’d say your a bit jealous”, said Lisa. That word immediately ended Pinkie’s rant and caused her to wear a flabbergasted look.
“Me? Jealous?”, she said incredulously. “I’m never jealous. It’s Gilda who’s the problem. She’s just so…so”, Pinkie couldn’t find the right word so instead she scowled in frustration before storming off to the back of the bakery.
Feeling sorry for their friend, Rodan and Lisa followed suit and found her sitting against the wall. She made no kind of motion as both Rodan and Lisa walked up to her. They had both always seen the roles reversed, in which Pinkie would be the comforting whoever was feeling negative. But now it was the pink, positive, always go lucky pony that needed reassurance as she sat there with a look of neglect and rejection. She thought about what Lisa had said.
“Maybe you’re right, maybe Gilda isn’t a big, grumpy, mean, meany pants. Maybe I’m just a big, jealous, judgmental, jealous, jealousy pants”, said Pinkie.
“No, no, don’t say that about yourself Pinkie”, said Rodan in a reassuring tone. “I understand why you feel this way. I’ve met Gilda before and, admittedly, she absolutely caught me off guard. I don’t blame you on how you judge her.”
“But what if I am wrong about her?”, asked Pinkie.
“Well, do you know her enough to get an idea of what she’s like?”, asked Lisa.
“No, not really”, said Pinkie.
“Then you can’t really form an opinion on her since you haven’t gotten to fully know her yet”, said Lisa. She looked back up at Rodan. “Same with you Rodan, you’ve only interacted with her once. You can’t judge somepony solely on one meeting.”
“I’m just saying, first impressions are very important”, replied Rodan.
“Anyways, the point is, you just need to give her a chance. Gilda might just be a little antsy since she hasn’t seen Rainbow Dash in so long. I’d imagine after a while, she might warm up to you”, said Lisa. She put her hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. “Give her some time.” Pinkie looked down in thought, she could only hope that Lisa was right about this. Not before long, Rodan spoke up.
“How about this”, he said. “The bakery isn’t very busy right now, so why don’t we head into town to find something to eat? I know how much you love sugar, Pinkie, perhaps that will help clear your mind.” The mere mention of sweets was enough to put a smile on Pinkie’s face.
“Okie dokie, I’d love to”, she said before springing back up onto her hooves. The site of her dear friend back to her normal self caused Lisa to smile.
“Then it’s settled, come on”, said Lisa as she signaled for them to walk to the door. “I think I know the perfect place.” Any thought of doubt in Pinkie’s mind had been quickly overshadowed by the thought of indulging herself on something sweet. Despite that, however, Pinkie still couldn’t help but think about Gilda. Was she wrong? Was she not as bad as Rainbow Dash made her out to be? She could only hope.
Anguirus walked through the streets of Ponyville with a pair of baskets hung on his back with both of them filled with apples. He had been working at Sweet Apple Acres for a few days now, but had already become used to the daily routines. At least in terms of apple bucking, other aspects such as taking care of the farm animals he wasn’t so used to. Nevertheless, for it being his first job, it was one he enjoyed. His greater physical strength made some of the more labor intensive tasks less challenging. Though he also made sure to hold back on his strength to ensure that another incident like the one on his first day wouldn’t happen again.
As Anguirus walked, he looked around Ponyville, taking in the peaceful nature of the town. He saw ponies, pegasus, and unicorns either walking or flying to different shops and stands that were scattered throughout Ponyville. He remembered when they first came to Ponyville and how bustling everyone was with the Summer Sun Celebration being that day. But now, with any threat of eternal darkness now behind them, the residents of Ponyville seemed so easygoing. It was a sharp contrast to the musky and small villages that Anguirus and his brothers used to live in. He wanted this to be their home, a place where they could finally live a hopeful life. However, the few glances that he received from wandering ponies weren’t promising.
He was so focused on his surroundings that he wasn’t looking where he was going and accidentally bumped into something, causing a few apples to fall from his baskets. Noticing his mistake he reached to pick them up, only to touch another hoof that was reaching for the same apple. He hadn’t bumped into something, but rather someone. He looked up and immediately recognized who it was. He knew the bright yellow color scheme on her body and wings, along with her long, pink mane from anywhere. Both he and Fluttershy looked at each other for a few seconds before Angurius spoke up.
“Uhh, h-hey, Fluttershy”, said Anguirus as he pulled his hoof away.
“H-Hi”, said Fluttershy as a blush formed on her face. “I’m s-sorry, I didn’t see you there.”
“Oh, no, no, I should apologize. I was the one who wasn’t looking where they were going”, said Anguirus as he pulled his hoof away. They both stood in silence for a while with flustered expressions on their faces from there close moment.
“Umm, h-here, you dropped this”, said Fluttershy as she handed the apple to Anguirus.
“Thank you”, said Anguirus as he grabbed the apple and put it in the basket and then started to grab some of the other ones that fell out of the baskets. Fluttershy awkwardly watched as Angurius grabbed the last of the fallen apples.
“So, how has your day been, i-if you don’t mind me asking”, she said, softly.
“It’s been good, I’m delivering these apples to the market”, said Anguirus. “How has your day been?” As soon as Anguirus finished his question, the sound quacking filled the air. He and Fluttershy looked to see where the quacking was coming from and saw a family of ducks behind her.
“I’m taking mama and papa duck back to their pond. Them and their ducklings must be thirsty after their walk”, said Fluttershy. She turned back around to the ducks and nuzzled one of the small ducklings which replied with a small chirp of its own. The sight of her caring for the small critters forced a smile from Anguirus.
“How cute”, he said to himself. “How far away is it from here?”
“Not too far, just down the street near the entrance of Ponyville”, replied Fluttershy. Anguirus looked to where she was pointing towards. He saw several ponies traveling up and down the street, it would take only one of them to turn this family of six ducks down to five.
“Doesn’t that seem a bit dangerous for these little guys?”, asked Anguirus.
“It is, which is why I’m keeping every precaution to make sure that they get home safely”, said Fluttershy. She looked back down the street. “Though, it’s not gonna be easy.” Anguirus saw the worried look on Fluttershy’s face.
‘She must really care for animals.’
‘She does seem to have a strong bond with them, from what we saw when she calmed down that manticore. After all, that’s what her cutie mark represents.’
Anguirus looked at it, the three butterflies on Fluttershy’s back leg hinted at her being an animal lover. In a way, they were indicative of herself. Kind, caring, gentle, and above all else, shy. The softness in her personality gave Anguirus a positive perspective on her.
“Hey, if you need any, would you mind if I helped you?”, asked Anguirus. Fluttershy looked surprised to hear that.
“Oh, no, it’s ok, I can handle it. You’re busy enough as it is”, she replied.
“No, I insist, besides I’m heading the same direction anyways”, said Anguirus. “Why not have a friend to talk to?”
“Well, ok, if you’re sure”, said Fluttershy.
Soon she and Anguirus were walking through the streets of Ponyville with a line of ducks following close behind. Fluttershy was primarily walking backwards so she could keep a good eye on the duck family behind her. Anguirus walked to the side and made sure that she wouldn’t run into anything. As they walked, Fluttershy started talking to the ducks to make sure they wouldn’t trail off.
“Alright, little ducks, this way”, she said in a soft, caring tone. Anguirus watched Fluttershy talk in a motherly manner to animals that probably couldn’t understand.
“You really love animals, don’t you”, he said.
“Of course, who doesn’t”, replied Fluttershy. “They’ve been so kind to me throughout my life and so I show kindness to them in return.”
“I would’ve imagined so from how you managed to calm down that manticore”, said Anguirus. “Which, by the way, weren’t you at all scared by that thing?”
“I was, quite a lot actually, but once I showed kindness to it then it wouldn’t be scared of me”, said Fluttershy. “Everything deserves love, even something as big and scary as a manticore.” Anguirus remembered that night and how she told him something similar.
“Words of wisdom”, he said. A smile formed on Fluttershy’s face.
The two continued to talk as Fluttershy also kept track of the ducks that were following them. As they were talking, however, both weren’t paying attention to what was in front of them. Fluttershy was focusing more on the family of ducks rather than where she was walking and so she didn’t notice the tall figure behind her until she bumped into it. She at first thought that she accidentally hit a pony, but when she turned around she saw that this was definitely not a pony. She stood taller than Fluttershy, her upper half resembled a hawk with feathers and a beak while her lower half looked like a lion with paws and a long tail, and just from her expression, she didn’t appear to be as forgiving as other ponies.
“Hey!”, shouted Gilda, catching Fluttershy by surprise.
“Oh, please excuse me”, said Fluttershy. Her soft voice made for a sharp contrast to the loud and direct voice of Gilda.
“I’m walking here!”, replied Gilda. Her tall stature caused Fluttershy to back away.
“I-I’m sorry”, said Fluttershy, looking more nervous. “I was only trying to-”, she was cut off by Gilda.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry”, mocked Gilda, exaggerating Fluttershy’s peaceful tone. “Why don’t you just watch where you’re going?”
“B-But…I-I”, stuttered Fluttershy. Her voice felt caught in her throat. Gilda closed the distance between her and Fluttershy.
“You know, another pony just like you bumped into me a few days ago”, said Gilda. She leaned her head down swiftly, catching Fluttershy off guard. “Let’s just say, I did not treat him lightly.”
Fluttershy felt backed into a corner. She tried apologizing, but it was clear that Gilda wasn’t in the mood for it. She was so focused on Gilda that she tripped on her back legs and nearly fell on the family of ducks who immediately flew away. With her now unable to move back anymore, Gilda managed to almost easily close the gap between them. If only it wasn’t for another pony that had accompanied Fluttershy.
“Hey!”, shouted Anguirus, his voice just as loud as Gilda’s. “She apologized, what else do you want, a kiss on your nonexistent boo-boo?”
“And who are you exactly?”, asked Gilda. “Some kind of boyfriend or something? How cute.” Fluttershy was happy that Anguirus was in front of her. Both because he stood up for her and so he couldn’t see the blush forming on her face.
“I’m a friend of hers and somepony who senses a bully when I see one”, said Anguirus.
“That’s funny, because I smell a chicken when I see one”, retorted Gilda.
“Look who’s talking”, said Anguirus. His retort didn’t go well with Gilda who clenched her teeth.
“Why you little”, said Gilda as she raised her paw up in the air, clenching it into a fist.
Anguirus could see where this was going, she was going to punch him. He knew that he could handle the punch of a griffon, however that would require his scales which revealed a problem. With how close he was to both Gilda and Fluttershy, he couldn’t protrude scales on his body without one of them noticing. It especially didn’t help that they had attracted a crowd of ponies who watched the conflict go down. This meant that Anguirus was just gonna have to take the blow head on and hope that griffons weren’t as strong as he’d been told. Luckily for him, the punch never came as a familiar voice spoke up from the crowd.
“Aang!”, shouted someone. Anguirus, Fluttershy, and Gilda didn’t have time to react until a red blur flew in and stood right in between Gilda and Anguirus. Miraculously, all three of them recognized him.
Rodan stood confidently in front of Gilda with a smile on his face. “You really have a thing for starting commotions, huh”, he said to Gilda, who was caught so off guard that she completely forgot about what Anguirus had said.
“Oh great, is this another one of your annoying friends?”, she asked, looking over toward Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus tried to hide behind her rose mane so she wouldn’t be seen. Gilda looked back at Rodan, he looked familiar. Until it hit her.
“Wait a second, you’re that dumb pegasus who ran into me because you couldn’t see out of his sunglasses”, said Gilda.
“You best believe it!”, exclaimed Rodan. “And personally, I’m not a big fan of how you’ve been treating my brother and friend over here.”
“It was your friend here that started this and your brother is trying to act all big and tough when he’s just as big of a pansy as clumsy over there”, said Gilda. Fluttershy didn’t say anything and instead stayed hidden behind Anguirus. She noticed the number of ponies that they were attracting. Seeing their eyes focused on her caused her to hide her face behind her mane, trying to hold back tears. Anguirus heard her sniffling.
“Hey, leave her alone, she already said she was sorry”, said Anguirus. Gilda noticed Fluttershy about to cry, causing her to roll her eyes.
“Oh, boo-who, cry me a river”, she said. Rodan turned around to face Anguirus and Fluttershy.
“Are you both alright?”, he whispered.
“Yeah we’re good, at least I hope Fluttershy is”, replied Anguirus. Rodan looked behind Anguirus and saw the sad and frightened face on Fluttershy.
‘All of this over a fender bender?’, Rodan thought to himself. He looked back at Gilda who appeared so mad that smoke might as well have been blowing from her ears. ‘Actually, that makes sense.’
“Why don’t you two get going, I’ll hold off Mrs.Cockhead over here for a while”, said Rodan. His insults didn’t go unheard.
“What. Did you. Just. Call me!”, replied Gilda.
Rodan mentally cursed himself, he forgot that griffons had better hearing than ponies. Turning back around, he could see Gilda clench her teeth as she rose to her full height, which was around the same as Rodan. She puffed up her chest as she took a deep breath. She craned her head back before thrusting it forward, unleashing a cry that sounded like the combination of the roar of a lion and the screech of an eagle. She let it loose right in the faces of Rodan and Anguirus who both stood their ground. Fluttershy, however, trembled in fear at the sound of it. She had become so afraid of Gilda that she ran away the second Gilda cut off the scream, letting loose a few tears in the process. Anguirus turned around in time to see her run off.
“Fluttershy!”, he called out, only to get no response.
“Heh, wimp”, Gilda muttered under her breath. Now it was Rodan who was furious. He faced Gilda with a glare and clenched teeth.
‘I’ll show her what a real roar sounds like’, he thought to himself. He felt a burning sensation in his throat as he could feel smoke starting to build up. Before the smoke could exit out of his mouth, he was stopped.
‘Rodan! Calm yourself! Not in front of the crowd.’
Rodan looked around, the burning feeling he felt dissipated almost instantly. Their whole conversation had attracted a large group of ponies, pegasus, and unicorns. Though many had backed away when Gilda roared, there were still many onlookers who waited to see what would happen next. Rodan knew that if he retaliated in a way that caused him to use his powers, the secret of the kaiju spirits would be revealed to not just the ponies watching, but the entire world. He stared back at Gilda who waited, also anticipating something to come out of his mouth. But instead, he merely backed away. Gilda scoffed as she started to walk away.
“Oh please, all of these lame ponies are driving me buggy”, she said before flaring her wings and taking to the sky leaving a peeved Rodan and Anguirus behind.
“Little bitch”, said Rodan. The sound of hooves galloping toward them caught Rodan’s attention. He turned to see Lisa and Pinkie Pie with worried expressions on their faces.
“Rodey, are you alright?”, asked Lisa.
“I’m fine”, said Rodan as he looked up to where Gilda flew away. “Can’t believe I just let that jerk fly away like that.”
“I knew it, she’s not just a grump, but also a bully! She’s the biggest, mean, meany pants that I’ve ever seen!”, exclaimed Pinkie Pie. Rodan nodded in a certified agreement, he then turned to face Lisa.
“I know you wanted to stay open minded about this, Lisa. However, I haven’t met somepony that I’ve wanted to punch so badly up until now”, said Rodan with a firm attitude. “And I’ve met Nightmare Moon.”
“No, I completely understand now”, replied Lisa. “I can’t believe that Rainbow Dash would befriend someone so horrid.”
Rodan looked at his younger brother, he wore a look of rejection on his face. “I’d imagine you also hate her too, Aang?”, asked Rodan.
“I actually hate myself more than anything”, said Anguirus. Rodan’s crossed brows rose from his brother’s sentence. “I mean, I could’ve said something to Gilda, or done something to help comfort Fluttershy, but I just mostly stood by. I could’ve even prevented this from happening and instead I did nothing.”
Lisa walked up to Anguirus. “Don’t talk like that, Anguirus. You are not to blame for what happened”, she said.
“Yeah, you didn’t know that Gilda was a meany pants”, said Pinkie.
“And you did all you could do. Honestly, I don’t think you could’ve won against someone as stubborn and prone to anger as she was”, said Lisa. Anguirus felt a bit better from his friend’s words, but he felt that someone else deserved it more than he did.
“Thanks guys” he said.
“No problem, Aangy”, said Pinkie. “If only there was a way to knock that grumpy Griffon down a peg…”, Pinkie trailed off as an idea started to form in her head. Which was obvious from the sudden light blue that appeared from nowhere. “Hey, Aang, can you go find Fluttershy and bring her back to the Sugarcube Corner for me?”, she asked.
“Uhh, sure”, replied Anguirus, a bit wary from the strange bulb that appeared and disappeared. “But I still have these apples to deliver and I’m probably late enough as it is.”
“We’ll deliver them for you”, said Pinkie as she took the pair of baskets off of Anguirus’ back. “Now go find Fluttershy, please.”
Anguirus nodded and ran off, leaving both Rodan and Lisa confused and Pinkie smiling. “Umm, Pinkie, what are you thinking about?”, asked Lisa.
“I have a plan, and if it goes well, it’ll surely make everything right between Gilda, Fluttershy, and you, Rodey”, answered Pinkie.
“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?”, asked Rodan.
“No one treats any of my friends like that! This calls for extreme measures! Pinkie Pie style”, said Pinkie as a large, confident grin formed on her face. Rodan and Lisa looked surprised, but were also curious as to what Pinkie was talking about.
“What exactly is Pinkie Pie style?”, asked Rodan.
Meanwhile, back at the Zawa residence, Gojira huffed as he carried the heavy tree on his back while doing pushups. His legs were covered in scales and his muscles bulged every time he went down and up. Alpha floated to the side, keeping track of how many pushups Gojira was doing.
‘Forty-eight…forty-nine…fifty. Alright that’s enough for now.’
With a mighty heave, Gojira pushed hard against the tree, causing it to topple off his back and land behind him. He took a couple breaths as his scales formed back into his legs. He grabbed a nearby towel and wiped the sweat from his brow.
“How’s that…for a…daily workout”, he said in between breaths.
‘Impressive, however it seems you’ve gotten a bit carried away with your training session.’
“What do you mean?”, asked Gojira.
‘We started at seven in the morning, it’s currently 1:00.’
Gojira eyes slightly widened, his tracking of time couldn’t have been more far off. “Well damn, that is a lot”, he said.
Just then the sound of a doorbell ringing caught the attention of both Gojira and his spirit. Alpha retreated back into Gojira’s mane as Gojira wrapped the towel around his neck and entered the house. He at first expected whoever it was at the door to be probably their crazy mailman who would constantly bump into the roof of their house as if she was blind. But instead he was slightly surprised to find Rodan standing there.
“Hey Rodan, what’s up-”, Gojira was cut off when Rodan showed him an invitation, “uhh what’s tha-”
“We’ve been invited to a party”, Rodan said in the middle of his sentence.
“What”, Gojira replied.
The three brothers found themselves entering the front doors of the fully decorated Sugarcube Corner. The whole place was covered in streamers, balloons, banners, confetti, and ribbons to make this party more festive than usual. Inside the bakery was a table that contained several sugary treats and presents. There were games, a large piñata, music, it seemed Pinkie was going all out for this one. Many ponies had gathered at Sugarcube Corner to attend Pinkie’s party, which included the three brothers who bore faces of confusion and disbelief.
“Guess this is what she meant by Pinkie Pie style”, said Anguirus.
“Are you kidding me?”, said Rodan. “This is supposed to help fix the problems with Gilda? What the hay is a party of all things going to do?”
“I don’t know, but I honestly didn’t expect much else from Pinkie when you said she had a plan”, said Gojira. “In fact, this seems right down her alley in terms of finding solutions.”
“Well, yes, but it’s not the solution we need. Again, what is a party going to do?”, asked Rodan. He hoped to get his answer as Pinkie ran up to them.
“Hello and Welcome!”, she said with a bright smile on her face.
“Umm, Pinkie, I’ve got one question to ask you”, said Rodan before he cleared his throat. “Why are you throwing a party for Gilda? How’s this supposed to make things right between Gilda and Fluttershy?” Pinkie lightly chuckled from his question.
“You’ll see, I have everything planned out. We’ll start off with games, then cake, maybe even some dancing, it’ll be fun”, she said.
“So, this is just a normal party you’re throwing? Is that your plan?”, asked Anguirus. A cheeky grin formed on Pinkie’s face.
“Maybe”, she said. She followed with a small laugh which caused the three brothers to look at each other with confusion and weariness. “We’re just waiting for our guest of honor to arrive so you three can go and have fun.”
“Oh boy, I can’t wait”, said Rodan with sarcasm.
Rodan and Anguirus both had a similar look, they definitely weren’t excited to hear that a party was dedicated to Gilda. A party was one of the last things that she deserved. Gojira didn’t have the same level of hatred for her as he’d only seen Gilda once, but that didn’t stop him from being on guard. When his brothers told him what Gilda was like, he instantly believed it without hesitation. However, despite each of the brother’s grievances, none of them knew exactly what Pinkie had planned. All they knew was that it was in the form of a party and that was it.
“Umm, Pinkie Pie, about this party for Gilda”, said Fluttershy as she walked up to Pinkie. “Do you really think it’s a good idea? I mean-”, she was cut off when Pinkie put a comforting hoof on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about mean old Gilda”, said Pinkie as she patted Fluttershy on the head. “It’s just like I told these three, your auntie Pinkie Pie has got it all covered.” Pinkie Pie’s words did little to reassure Fluttershy, if anything, Pinkie’s remark more so annoyed her than anything else.
“I’m a year older than you”, said Fluttershy, but Pinkie didn’t hear it as she had already bounced away. Her scowl, however, quickly shifted to fear when the front doors of the bakery opened to reveal the guest of honor.
“Gilda! I’m so honored to throw you one of my signature Pinkie Pie parties!”, said Punkie as she greeted Gilda at the entrance. After being here for only a second, Gilda was already sick of it.
The mere sight of the griffon caused Fluttershy to tremble backwards. Anguirus noticed this and felt bad. It had taken a lot of convincing from him to make Fluttershy come, and he was starting to regret it. He walked over to the yellow pegasus, who was so focused on Gilda that she almost jumped when she saw Anguirus.
“How are you feeling?”, asked Anguirus.
“I-I’m ok”, replied Fluttershy. Anguirus could sense the fear in her voice and eyes.
“It’ll be alright, just like Pinkie said, she has everything planned out”, said Anguirus, trying to comfort her. “If you’re at all scared or something, just stay close to me.” Fluttershy still wasn’t sure how to feel, but the reassuring look on Anguirus’ face made her feel a bit better.
“Ok, thank you”, she said.
“Well, look who it is”, said a voice. Fluttershy immediately stiffened up as soon as she heard it. She didn’t even bother to turn around. “What’s the matter, cupcake, aren’t you happy to see me?”
“Don’t start anything, Gilda”, said Anguirus as he stepped forward and in front of Fluttershy. Gilda rolled her eyes as soon as she saw him.
“Oh great, you again”, she said. “I guess your annoying brother is also here.”
“He’s not my only brother”, said Anguirus.
“Oh joy, there’s three of you?”, said Gilda with fake dread. “Is the third one just as annoying as you…two?”
Gilda trailed off as she noticed a pony walking up to them. A pony that wasn’t like any other pony she met before. She was so used to her being taller than other ponies that the sight of one of them being almost a foot taller than her caught her off guard. His dark skin, piercing eyes, and creepy looking cutie mark made her feel intimidated for once. Seeing Gilda menaced brought Gojira slight amusement.
“Hello, I assume your name’s Gilda, right?”, asked Gojira. Gilda merely nodded. “I’ve heard some things about you from my brothers.” He leaned his head down to her eye level. “I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.”
Gilda noticed the many stares they had attracted. Not wanting to be seen as scared, she scoffed in Gojira’s face. “Pfft, y-yeah, whatever”, she said. Gojira didn’t back away.
“Don’t try anything funny with my brothers, you don’t want to know what can come from it”, whispered Gojira. Gilda’s strong hearing picked it up right away, she didn’t appreciate being threatened. But before she could retort, Pinkie Pie practically teleported in between them, catching the two of them off guard.
“Nice to see you two get to know each other. Gilda this is Goji, Goji this is Gilda”, said Pinkie with a bright smile on her face as she turned toward Gilda. “It’s nice to see you become more welcome with us pony-folk.” She extended her hoof out to Gilda who shook it in confusion.
“Uhh, thanks, I gue-” Gilda was interrupted by the extreme stinging pain she felt all across her body. She twitched in place as her eyes went wide and her feathers became upright. Everyone except Pinkie watched in surprise as soon the pain subsided and Gilda stopped twitching. She felt incredibly dizzy as small trails of steam came from her feathery mane.
Pinkie erupted in laughter as she pointed to the hoof buzzer she was wearing. Once it was shown to be a joke, many other ponies started laughing too. Including Rodan who was more so happy that the griffon got what she deserved. The only one who wasn’t laughing was Gilda herself as she glared at Pinkie, but that glare instantly went away as soon as she saw Rainbow Dash walking up to them.
“Hehe, oh Pinkie Pie, the old hoofshake buzzer”, said Rainbow Dash. “You are a scream.” Gilda, feeling embarrassed, forced a smile.
“Yeah, hehe, good one Pinkie Pie”, she said.
The hoof buzzer was only the small tip of the iceberg of humor and pranks to come. As the party went on, Gilda found herself at the butt end of even more pranks. First, she ate some lemon drops that were secretly spicy. Then while trying to cool her mouth down with some punch, she picked up a glass that had a hole in it which caused the drink to spill on her rather than in her mouth. Finally, when she opened a present, several fake snakes popped out, giving the griffon a good scare which was enough to cause her feathers to poof up. Each prank started to chip away more and more at Gilda’s nerves.
As the party went, the number of pranks started to slow as Gilda mainly kept to herself. Anguirus stayed close to Fluttershy just in case she felt nervous, but after a while she eventually calmed down and started to orchestrate a few birds to sing a melody. Gojira stood off to the side holding a glass of punch. He chose to mainly stay away from other ponies, feeling more comfortable by himself. He still didn’t want to take any chances with the kaiju spirits, though he also wanted to keep an eye on Gilda, just in case she were to try something.Rodan primarily hung out with Lisa as they too listened to the soft, peaceful voices of the birds.
“How are you holding up?”, asked Lisa. “I know how you feel about this being a party for Gilda.”
“I am, I’m actually having a great time”, said Rodan as the image of Gilda’s surprised and scared faces came into his mind.
“That’s good, Pinkie’s parties are always fun”, said Lisa.
“Yeah, but this one especially”, said Rainbow Dash as she walked up to the two of them. “I mean, did you see the look on Gilda’s face when she got scared from those spitting snakes.” She couldn’t help but laugh.
Lisa lightly chuckled. “Well, you know Pinkie Pie, she’s always a fan of surprises”, she said. Unbeknownst to any of them, Gilda heard this causing her teeth to clench. Someone was behind these pranks, and there was only one suspect.
Soon, Pinkie Pie rolled in a cart holding a large cake with several candles. “Cake time, everypony!”, she exclaimed as everyone gathered around.
“Hey, can I blow out the candles?”, asked Spike.
“Why don’t we let Gilda blow out the candles, Spike. She is the guest of honor after all”, said Twilight. Gilda sprinted forward in front of everyone, shoving Spike with enough force to nearly send him flying.
“Exactly”, she said. Gojira was lucky to be standing in the back, no one could hear the growl emitting from his lips.
Gilda eyed each of the candles before taking a deep breath and blowing out each of the candles in a single breath. She at first felt proud of herself, until she looked back and noticed that every single candle was still lit. She took another breath and blew, but not a single candle would stay extinguished. By the second attempt, everyone started to laugh as Gilda tried again and again until she was out of breath. Each candle remained lit, looking as though they hadn’t been even touched.
“Relighting birthday candles, I love that prank”, said Spike as he laughed. “What a classic.”
“I wonder who could’ve caused that”, said Pinkie as she looked away with a puzzled expression.
“Yeah, must’ve been somepony pretty clever”, added Rodan with a cheeky grin. Neither saw Gilda’s glare directed at them.
“Yeah, I wonder”, said Gilda. The sound of munching and shuffling caught her ears as she saw what looked like a hole in her cake with a tail poking out of it. The tail then disappeared into the cake before Spike came popping out of the top, catching her by surprise.
“Mmm, who cares, this is good cake!”, he said before shoving a handful into his mouth. Several ponies couldn’t help but laugh, even Gojira snickered a little.
“Spike!”, scolded Twilight.
“What? It’s great, try some”, replied Spike, offering her a handful of cake. His gesture caused the crowd to laugh, except for one. Gilda stood still, trying not to boil over with anger.
“Hey G, you aren’t upset over some silly candles, are you?”, asked Rainbow Dash as she walked up. Gilda’s frown quickly switched to a smile as she laughed the prank off.
“Hehe, no way Dash”, she said. “As I said, I’m all down for a good prank.” Truth be told, she was secretly filled with hate on the inside.
“Come on, let’s eat some cake”, said Rainbow Dash. As she walked away, Gilda’s smile quickly faded as she glared at the party host. She was about ready to walk over to her had another pony not caught her attention.
“Having any fun?”, asked Rodan. Gilda let out a groan.
“Gee, I don’t know”, she said before getting into Rodan’s face. “Does it look like I'm fun?!” Rodan merely shrugged.
“I don’t know, it’s not everyday somepony gets one of Pinkie’s parties dedicated to just them”, said Rodan.
“I know what game you’re playing, I’m not as big of a fool as you take me for”, said Gilda.
“What kind of game?”, asked Rodan.
“Don’t play dumb with me. All of the insulting pranks that have been pulled on me, I know that thing has something to do with it”, said Gilda as she pointed an accusing finger at Pinkie eating a piece of cake.
“Hey, I’m just as confused as you are”, said Rodan. “It’s probably just bad luck that you’ve been pranked so many times.”
“As if! The snakes, the lemon drops, those stupid candles, you think stuff like that happens by coincidence?”, said Gilda.
“You’re probably just very unlucky is all I’m saying. Though, as I was told, Pinkie’s parties are always chocked full of surprises”, said Rodan before he started to walk away. Before Gilda could say anything, Applejack piped up.
“Hey, y’all”, she called out. “It’s pin the tail on the pony, let’s play!” Many ponies gathered to play. Anguirus walked up to grab the tail.
“I call dibs on going first”, he said. However, Rarity got there as well.
“Oh, please, can I go first?”, she asked. “It’s my favorite game.” Before Anguirus could say anything, the tail disappeared in front of both of their eyes. They both looked up to see Gilda swinging the tail in her hand.
“Sorry you two, but I’ll be going first. I am the guest of honor after all”, said Gilda. Both Anguirus and Rarity were visibly unhappy, but decided not to say anything. Anguirus walked back to join his brothers.
“So much for dibs”, he muttered.
“Don’t worry, you both can go next”, said Pinkie. “Besides, I definitely think Gilda should go first, let’s quickly get you blindfolded.” Suddenly, a piece of cloth was draped over Gilda’s eyes, blinding her and catching her by surprise. Spike had jumped on her back and quickly tied the blindfold on her.
“Hey! What are you doing?”, she demanded. Spike snickered as he jumped off. Then she felt someone grab her before forcing her to spin.
“We’re spinning you around and around and then you can pin the tail on the pony”, said Pinkie before stopping Gilda from spinning. Gilda felt a little dizzy as she was guided to the drawing of a pony.
“This outta be rich”, whispered Rodan to Anguirus.
“Now, all you have to do is walk straight and pin the tail”, said Pinkie, but Gilda didn’t move another inch forward.
“Just walk straight ahead and pin the tail”, mocked Gilda. “Yeah right, this is another prank, isn’t it? I’m not falling for it again”, she then turned around to face the opposite direction, “I’m going this way.”
“Wait! The poster is this way”, exclaimed Pinkie, but Gilda refused to listen.
This turned out to be a bad move as Gilda didn’t see the large glob of cake icing on the floor. She yelped as she slipped on it and was sent sliding into the kitchen doors. A loud crash could be heard as Gilda soon stumbled out. Her body, wings, and hair was covered in icing, cake batter, and sprinkles. But the most embarrassing part was that the tail had landed on her beak, making it look like she had grown a mustache. Many ponies looked at her and tried their best to suppress laughter.
“Umm, Gilda, you put the tail on the wrong end”, quipped Pinkie. Her remark unleashed a torrent of laughter from the guests.
“I don’t know Pinkie Pie, both ends look the same to me”, added Rodan. This caused the guests to laugh even more.
That was the final straw. Gilda looked out towards the several ponies laughing at her. It was the one thing she heard throughout this whole party, laughter directed at her and only at her. From ridiculous prank to ridiculous prank, she had had it. This wasn’t a party for her, this was an excuse to insult, embarrass, and humiliate her. Her eyes tightly shut, her teeth clenched, and wings flared up. Her encapsulated anger had finally boiled over. She let loose a loud roar, catching the attention of everyone in the bakery. This roar was much louder than the one from earlier that day, but this time it was directed to everyone. Gilda flew up as she cut her roar off.
“This is your idea of a good time!? I’ve never met a lamer bunch of dweebs in all my life”, she shouted. She then turned her attention to the party host. “And you, Pinkie Pie! You are queen lame-O with you and your weak little party pranks!” While everyone stared in shock and others with frustration, Pinkie kept her smile even while Gilda pointed a claw in her face.
“And you!”, exclaimed Gilda as she pointed at Rodan. “You might as well be queen lame-O’s jester with all those quips and jabs you’ve made at me! Where’d you get those from, a joke book made for depressed fathers by depressed fathers?”
“Hey! I’ll have you know I made them up on the spot!”, retorted Rodan.
“Did you both really think you could make me lose my cool? Well guess what, me and Dash have ten times as much cool as the rest of you put together!”, said Gilda as she wrapped an arm around Rainbow Dash who seemed just as surprised as everyone else. “Come on Dash, we’re bailing on this pathetic joint.” Gilda started to walk to the front door, but Rainbow Dash stood firm in place. “Rainbow Dash! Come on, I said we’re leaving!”, exclaimed Gilda. Rainbow Dash didn’t moved, instead she gave her friend a look of disdain.
“You know, Gilda, Pinkie and Rodan aren’t the only ones who like to pull pranks or tell jokes”, said Rainbow Dash. Gilda looked confused.
“Dash, what are you talking about?”, she asked.
“Gilda, I was the one who set up all those ‘weak’ pranks at the party”, Rainbow Dash blurted out. Gilda stood there flabbergasted at what she heard.
“W-What?!”, she exclaimed. Gilda looked at Pinkie Pie who gave an ‘oh’ face, but Rainbow Dash stood in front of her.
“So I guess that makes me queen lame-O”, said Rainbow Dash.
“Come on Dash, you’re joshing me”, said Gilda, being indaniel.
“They weren’t all made for you specifically, it was just bad luck that you sent them all off”, added Rainbow Dash. Gilda stood slack jawed while Rodan laughed out loud.
“I knew it!”, he shouted. Pinkie Pie smiled.
“I should’ve known, that dribble glass had Rainbow Dash written all over it”, said Pinkie. Gilda looked between Rainbow Dash and Pinkie.
“N-No way! It was Pinkie Pie, she set this whole party just to trip me up! To try and make a fool out of me!”, retorted Gilda.
“Me? I threw this party to improve your attitude. I thought a good party would be enough to turn that frown upside down”, said Pinkie.
“So that’s Pinkie Pie style”, said Anguirus.
“But you sure didn’t need help making a fool out of yourself”, said Rainbow Dash as she stepped forward causing Gilda to step backwards. “You know, this is not how I expected my old friend to treat my new friends. If being cool is all you care about, then maybe you should find some new cool friends some place else!” Both Rainbow Dash and Gilda stared each other down until Gilda took a deep breath and flared her wings.
“Oh yeah, well you…you’re such a…a-a flip flop! Cool one minute, lame the next”, retorted Gilda. “When you decide to not be lame anymore, gimme a call.” She tried to walk to the door, but instead bumped into something. Only to see that it wasn’t something, but rather someone.
“Well, Gilda”, said Rodan as he stepped out of the way while opening the door. “I think I speak for us all when I say, it was a pleasure meeting you.” Gilda glared at him, she knew he didn’t mean it. She slammed the door close behind her before taking the skies, leaving Ponyville long behind.
“Talk about a party pooper”, Spike whispered to Rainbow Dash. Many ponies began to mutter amongst themselves until Rainbow Dash spoke up.
“I’m so sorry everypony for bringing Gilda here, I didn’t know how rude she was”, she said before turning to Pinkie. “And Pinkie Pie, I’m really sorry she ruined that awesome party you put on for her.”
“Hey, if you rather hangout with party poopers, that’s your business”, joked Pinkie. Rainbow Dash smiled.
“I’d rather hangout with you”, she replied before extending her hoof, “no hard feelings?”
“No hard feelings”, replied Pinkie as she excepted her hoof. The two of them then jolted as they felt a stinging sensation throughout their bodies. They both let go of each other's hoof to reveal that they each had a buzzer on their hooves. They and the guests laughed.
‘Dear Celestia, today I learned that sometimes it’s hard to accept when somepony you like wants to spend time with somepony who’s not so nice. Though it’s impossible to control who your friends hangout with, it is possible to control your own behavior. Just continue to be a good friend. In the end, the difference between a false friend and one who is true will surely come to light. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.’
As the party started to come to an end, many ponies left until there were a few members of the mane six, Lisa, and two of the three brothers remaining. They sat outside of Sugarcube Corner and conversed amongst themselves.
“Pinkie Pie, I’m sorry for doubting you about Gilda. I guess I misjudged you”, said Lisa.
“That’s ok, Lilly”, said Pinkie Pie. “Not all of us can be super smart, smart, smarty pants all the time. Just ask Twilight, she thought the same thing.” She wrapped a hoof around Twilight who was writing her letter.
“Yeah, I’m sorry too, Pinkie. Though your party was still really fun”, said Twilight.
“My favorite part was all the pranks you pulled on Gilda”, said Rodan.
“Which ones?”, asked Anguirus.
“Yes”, answered Rodan. The group laughed. Just then, Pinkie thought of something.
“Oh, that reminds me”, she said before rushing back into the bakery and rushing out, “I almost forgot to give this to you, Rodey.” She was about to hand him a present, but Rodan backed up.
“Nice try, Pinkie Pie, but I’m not falling for that trick again”, said Rodan. As he was distracted, however, he heard a loud buzzing noise in his ear, causing him to jolt forward in surprise. When he looked behind him, he saw Rainbow Dash holding a cartoonishly large horn.
“You sure about that?”, asked Rainbow Dash. Before Rodan could say anything, a hiccup escaped from his lips.
“What the hay was- ‘hiccup’…”, Rodan grumbled. The whole group erupted in laughter as Rodan felt slightly embarrassed.
“Don’t worry, Rodan, I know the feeling”, said Spike.
“The face you made!”, laughed Rainbow Dash. Rodan groaned as he reached over and grabbed the gift Pinkie had for him.
“Thanks Pink- ‘hiccup’…”, he tried to say. Pinkie chuckled as she wrapped a hoof around him.
“You’re welcome, Rodey!”, she said.