Misperceptions v2
By: Winter Quill
Adapted from the original "Misperceptions" by Arbiter Balemead
2: Getting Started
Low lying clouds were drifting into Ponyville in preparation for an evening storm. It provided enough cover that Gilda could slip past the weather ponies without being seen then spin around to come in for a landing in front of the huge tree turned library. She found herself stopping at the door, one forepaw lifted to knock. It took a minute for her to realize what was wrong, she was scared.
She clenched her beak, knowing she had to do this. If she had any hope of getting Rainbow Dash back as a friend she had no other choice. Finally she knocked. The sound was weak through the wood door but it was loud enough as a moment later the door swung open, revealing the face of an annoyed dragon.
"You're late. I've been standing here waiting for you for almost five minutes," he said, crossing his chubby arms over his chest.
Gilda made a show of rolling her eyes. "Five whole minutes? Oh, poor you! I had to fly for half an hour to make sure no pony saw me coming here, but I'm sure standing around doing nothing is just SO exhausting."
The young dragon huffed and gave her his most intimidating look before shaking his head. "Twilight is upstairs."
"Thanks," she replied with a flick of head, then walked past him and into the library. She didn't even bother giving him a second glance as she fanned out her wings and leapt up the length of the stairs, coming down gently on the landing at the top. She found Twilight in her room, reading through a carefully organized pile of scrolls and not even looking up as the griffon came in. It amused her that while the dragon was worried about her being late, the unicorn hadn't even noticed.
She took another step forward, watching the purple pony as she read the scroll, another one was held in the air next to her glowing magenta with her magic. She waiting a few more moments before she finally spoke up "Hey?"
Twilight's head whipped up in surprise, the floating scroll falling to the desk. She had a slightly perplexed look on her face for a moment before her eyes focused on the griffon. "Oh, sorry. I was just looking over some of my old friendship reports to the Princess."
Gilda bit back her first, sarcastic, response and instead took a step closer. "You actually have notes?"
"Of course," she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "How else would I keep tabs on everything I've learned about friendship?"
She looked once again at the carefully sorted collection of scrolls, she couldn't believe that all of the scrolls were just her notes... on friendship. "You put a lot of work into something a silly as friendship."
"Don't get funny with me about my job," Twilight said, picking up the fallen scroll.
The griffon held up her talons. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult your hobbi--"
"Job," the pony insisted.
"Right. Your job. Sorry," she said, oddly finding herself meaning it.
Twilight nodded and placed the scroll with the others. "The first thing we should do is figure out if you and Rainbow Dash can still be friends," she said as she brought out a clean scroll and her quill.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you and Dash are a lot alike, aside from one major detail."
Gilda lifted her wings slightly as she sat down next to the pony, she wasn't sure what she was going on about or what it had to do with winning Dash back. "And what's that?" she asked.
The pony took in a long breath before slowly letting it back out. "You're attitude is appalling compared to hers. She's really quite nice to other ponies, she draws a line with rudeness and even though she isn't good at it she does know how to use subtlety. While she might be caustic at times she is never uses it to be cruel, just dismissive. I had other points I could make but I think I've already insulted you enough."
In many ways that sounded like the Rainbow Dash she went to school with, but it many ways it wasn't. The pegasus had never been one to be subtle, and never held back on a barb if it was a good for a laugh. Back then she hadn't cared about what other people thought, as long as she looked cool doing it. Gilda had been the exact same way, but in the years since Dash had changed where she had not.
"Are you using this as an excuse to trash on someone you hate?"
Twilight shook her head. "I don't hate you Gilda, I'm not sure I like you much either. After all, you haven't given me much reason to."
Gilda's eyes dropped to the floor, her beak pulling into a frown. "I guess not," she said softly.
"And as to whether or not I'm using this situation to trash on you? No, I'm not. I'm just pointing out the differences between you and Rainbow, the same differences that seem to have been behind your falling out. She was obviously offended by the way you treated her friends and she was not happy to see that you weren't willing to accept that her friends weren't that 'cool'."
"I know, I was there," she muttered.
Twilight shook her head. "I'm not sure that you do, take me for example."
She lifted her head up, looking at the pony, the long bang like feathers falling down over her eyes.
The pony continued. "I'm an obviously an 'egghead' right? I live in a library, I've read every book in it multiple times each. I study friendship and send my findings to Princess Celestia on a near weekly basis," she twitched a bit as she said that, but didn't linger. "I might as well have a sign on my flank that says I'm a massive egghead."
Gilda cocked her head to the side, she did have a point.
"Now, can you see ME as a possible friend for you?"
"Um... sure?" she said, not really meaning it.
"Let's be honest. If you didn't think I could help you, you would never talk with me," the pony said, obviously unamused.
"That's not... true," Gilda said, then shook her head. "I could see you as... someone... I know...of..." her voice slowly trailing off.
Twilight nodded, happy to have made her point. "That's going to be a huge stopper in your friendship with Rainbow. She is the Element of Loyalty after all. If you can't get along with her friends then she probably can't get along with you, and she isn't going to drop her other friends for you, just like she wouldn't drop you for us."
She felt herself wilting, her wings dropping down across her back as her tail dropped onto the floor with a thump. "Yeah, probably not," she said, admitted the unpleasant truth.
The librarian was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the rumbling of her stomach. She looked down, her ears dropping slightly. "Would you like something to eat? I forgot dinner last night, and breakfast this morning."
"Okay..."
She smiled and nodded, calling out for Spike. Twenty minutes later they had moved down to Twilight's kitchen, quietly eating some hay fries. Twilight was enjoying herself, but Gilda was sitting quietly, bored with the odd food that ponies would eat. She would have preferred a good steak but she didn't think it would be worth pushing. She still tried to enjoy the fries, which in reality weren't that bad. They had enough seasoning on them to hide the bland flavor of the hay. It reminded her of the food when she attended school in Cloudsdale, edible but unimaginative. She still preferred the taste of meat, especially fresh off the grill and still juicy.
The griffon coughed at the thought put it out of her mind, instead chewing on another fry.
Twilight looked up at Gilda, then down at the half eating plate of food. "Oh... Griffons normally eat meat, don't they?"
"Yeah, but I'm fine with this. Really," she said, taking another fry.
The purple equine cocked her head to the side. "Are you sure?" she asked, as slight look of confusion crossing over her face.
Gilda nodded, munching on one a fry while flicking her tail from side to side behind her.
"Well, if you say so."
They fell back into silence as they continued eating, soon it was getting oppressing as she found herself eyeing Twilight, trying to understand the strange pony. She really didn't get why she was so happy to live in the library, to be surrounded by books every single day. The pony seemed to be obsessed with learning and knowledge. In and of itself it wasn’t a bad thing—even she could admire that—though Twilight seemed to take it too far. It seemed like her whole life was all about learning, moving in endless study… yet she still had her friends and could make time for them.
How could someone like Twilight, a self-professed egghead, have so many friends who were so different from her? How could she and Rainbow Dash be such good friends? What did Twilight see in her, and what did she see in Twilight?
"Gilda?" Twilight asked.
The griffon lifted her head up and dropped the fry she had been mindlessly chewing on. "Huh?"
"Are you okay?"
She nodded and fluffed out her wings. "I'm just thinking about what we are going to do about this 'difference between me and Rainbow' thing. I'm not sure what to do."
Twilight thought for a few moments. "Well, we could try to see if you really can get along with her friends. If that takes too much effort then we know it's a lost cause."
"Lost cause? Because I can't be friends with her friends?"
"You don't have to be their friends, no one is expecting you to be friends with your friend's friends, but there needs to be a common understanding. If they can't accept you and you can't accept them..."
Gilda frowned a bit and shook out her feathers. "What could we do?"
"Well, we are NOT going to change everything about you for the sake of a dead friendship," the pony deadpanned.
"Oh... I guess that makes sense," Gilda replied, her hope for rekindling her closest friendship beginning to fade. It was hard to believe that any of Rainbow's friends would accept her, not after what she did and how she acted. Especially Pinkie Pie.
Twilight moved around the table and sat down next to the griffon. "Looks like you're off to a good start as it is."
She cocked her head slightly to look at the pony with her golden eyes.
A smile crossed over the purple pony's lips. "We seem to be getting along. I don't have any complaints."
Gilda cocked her head a bit more and found herself smiling a bit. She didn't have any complaints either. Twilight was willing to listen to her and to help her win Rainbow back. It was more then she had ever expected from any pony in Ponyville.
"So... what's the plan, then?" she asked, pulling away from the pony.
Twilight stood up on all fours. "First off, I'm going to help you make amends with our other friends for the sake of helping you with Rainbow and maybe even make friends with them. You'll have to make up with them before there is any chance that Rainbow will forgive you."
"You really think?"
"I'm pretty darn sure," the librarian said with a quick nod.
Gilda stood up on her own four paws, her wings fluttering slightly against her back. Twilight seemed so sure of herself, oddly it made her feel better about it as well. "Okay... where should we start?"
"Oh that's easy. Pinkie Pie."
"Oh curd."
* * *
Sugar Cube Corner hadn’t changed in the last year, it was still the same garish building decorated to look like a sugary treat. The roof had the appearance of gingerbread with frosting and the spire on the roof was decorated to look like a cupcake of all things. Just looking at it made her stomach roil from the sweetness.
Twilight Sparkle walked up to the door and knocked on it with the edge one hoof, sending a thump through the wood. A moment later the door sprung open faster than should have been possible, revealing the familiar form of a pink pony with cotton candy hair.
“Hi Twilight, hi Gilda! Oh, are you in town to apologize to Rainbow?” the earth pony asked as she bounced on her hooves.
“Er... yeah...” she replied.
Pinkie cocked her head to the side. “So why are you talking to me... OH! You want to make up for being mad at me, right? Well don’t worry! I forgave you a LONG time ago. Although it wasn’t to your face, so I'm not sure it really counts, so I guess I should say it again.” The pink pony took a few steps forward until she was nose to nose with Gilda.
She closed her eyes, lifted up one hove and said in a formal tone. “I forgive you.” The she broke back into her ridiculous grin. “Feel better?”
The griffon could only look at the earth pony with disbelief. “Yeah... a bit... but why?”
“Because you apologized! Or you were going to apologize, which is almost the same thing.”
Gilda shook her head. “No, I mean... why would you forgive me?” she asked, not quite understanding how things had gotten to this point. While she had hoped to make good with Rainbow, she had never thought Pinkie would be willing to forgive her for how she acted. “After I popped your balloons and yelled at you?”
“And yelled at Fluttershy, tricked Granny Smith, ruined your party and stole that apple,” the pink pony helpfully added.
She pulled her wings closer to her back, her feathers fluffing out along her neck. “Yeah, I had forgotten about that apple.”
“It’s okay, I paid for it after you left,” Pinkie said with another wide smile. “I forgave you because you’re Rainbow Dash’s friend! You must have been a good person otherwise she wouldn’t have liked you. So you might have been kind of a meany and yelled at everyone and called your friend not cool but you couldn’t have always been that way otherwise you would have never been friends. So knowing that you used to be really nice I forgave you.”
“I was always kind of a meany, even at school,” the griffon replied as she smoothed down her feathers. “But I am sorry for how I acted towards you. I shouldn’t have treated you like that. I was jealous that you were Rainbow’s friend and I didn’t want to share her,” she admitted.
Pinkie Pie nodded her head, her curly hair bouncing behind her head. “I understand, and I still forgive you.”
“Thank you,” she replied.
“You’re welcome,” the earth pony replied, and with that she turned around and trotted back into the shop, the door closing half way behind her. A moment later she popped back out and handed both Gilda and Twilight and cupcake before vanishing back inside, leaving Gilda staring at the confectionary in complete confusion.
¬“When I said she would be easy, I thought I would at least have to coach you through it,” Twilight murmured as she ate her cupcake.
“I did too...” she replied, still holding the cupcake in her talon. When Twilight wasn’t looking she opened her beak wide and shoved it in, eating it quickly while enjoying the sweet flavor of the frosting and dense texture of the cake itself. She licked the last few crumbs from her beak just as the unicorn was turning back around.
She didn't seem to notice the quick meal. "I don't think the rest of my friends will be that easy."
"So who's next."
"Rarity," she declared, turning to look across town.
Gilda cocked her head to the side, trying to focus on what Twilight was looking at. She had a vague memory of the pony when Rainbow introduced her at the party. All she could dredge up as a flash of white and purple. She tried to remember more as they walked across Ponyville and by the time they arrived at the round building she had only managed to remember that Rarity was a unicorn.
Twilight walked up the to the elegant looking front door, and knocked on it. A second later it opened to reveal a unicorn. She looked very elegant, with a pure white body and a long purple mane that was curled slightly over one eye. Her pelt had a shine to it but not so much that it looked like she was putting on airs.
"Why hello, darling!" she said, taking a step towards Twilight. "How can I help-- Gilda." she said, her eyes turning to the griffon, her voice growing cold as she spoke. Even so she still stepped aside to allow them entrance.
"Good afternoon, Rarity," Twilight said as they walked into the shop. It seemed like an upscale clothing store with gowns laid out on a number of pony shaped mannequins around the room. Everything seemed to be highlighted by a number of gems but in a very tasteful way.
"Afternoon, Twilight," the white unicorn replied, sounding cheerful again even as cast an apprehensive look at Gilda. "So, what brings you two here today?"
Twilight stopped in the middle of the shop floor, then turned to glance at the griffon. Her ears flicked back slightly against her mane as she motioned with her head.
With a hesitant step Gilda moved past Twilight, her wings dripping down to hang against her back. "I... I wanted to apologize," Gilda said, almost whispering the words.
"Whatever for? I don't recall you ever wronging me," she asked.
Taking in a deep breath, she tried to continue. "At the party... I acted really badly. I was being a complete jerk to everyone. I yelled at your friends and I insulted everyone at the party, even Pinkie Pie and she went out of her way to throw me a party. I was mean and for no good reason. I shouldn't have done what I did and I'm sorry," her voice grew louder as she spoke, gaining confidence in her words.
"Well... I suppose I forgive you. Though you will have a chore apologizing to everyone at the party. The ones you really wronged was Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. You should apologize to them," Rarity replied, her voice losing its cool edge.
The griffon nodded her wings pulling to her side. "I'm going to."
"Right. Well, would either of you like some tea? I have a pot on already," Rarity asked with a smile, turning towards the back of the shop.
"Why thank--" Twilight began.
Gilda blanched, remember the tea from the day before. "No!" she called out, blushing a bit as both ponies turned to stare at her. "I just... I wanted to go talk with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, sooner rather than later," she added, trying to recover, though the words fell rather lame.
"Oh, pish posh. Didn't you tell her that they are in Cloudsdale?" Rarity asked Twilight.
"They're in Cloudsdale?"
"They were going to see a Wonderbolts show, just the two of them," the white unicorn answered with a meaningful look.
A frown crossed over Twilight's face. "Oh, no I didn't know."
"They're not it town? That what can I do?"
Twilight was about to answer, but Rarity beat her to it. "Well for now, you could have some tea with Twilight and I."
Gilda suppressed a groan, maybe this tea would be better. "Sure, why not?"