//------------------------------// // Griffon Meets Alien // Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Out of This World // by Robobrony //------------------------------// Griffon Meets Alien Another day dawns for the two aliens from space. Nova and Starburst rose from their beds and headed over to the food maker. “So what’s for breakfast this time Nova?” Starburst asked with a smile. Nova just walked up to the table and spoke to the panel. “Chester nuts and Rubarb fruit.” “Ooh yummy, I like those.” Starburst said eagerly. The panel came to life, but not before flickering a bit with a few buzzing noises. “What the cosmos?” Nova looked at it confusedly. Black round looking fruits appeared with stems, they were shaped like Equestria apples. “Grogan berries, that’s not right. What the stars is going on?” “Nova, what are Grogan berries? I’ve never heard of those?” “That’s because you didn’t need to, they aren’t edible, they taste bad, are hard to chew, and are very sticky. Looks like the food synthesizer is on the fritz now.” “So what now?” Nova levitated the black food up off the table and went to the side. A thick cylinder came up and a disk on the top swung open. “Into the de-constructor these go.” He said as he dropped them into the tube. “Looks like we’ll have to eat out for breakfast. I’m going to have to try and fix it when we get back. Quasars, and I have a big order from Rarity to take care of too.” “Nova, do you need any help, maybe I could help fix the thing, or help you with work.” Nova smiled at his brother. “Thanks for the offer Starburst, but you don’t know how to fix the food synthesizer, and the gem making I do is too difficult for you. Now come on, let’s put on our disguises and head out.” The two brothers then headed into town to get something to eat. “Ok…..but, can we not get those…..m-u-f-f-i-n-s?” Starburst spelled out, he then shivered. “oooh, I’m still having nightmares about those things.” Nova chuckled at Starburst, but at the same time felt sorry for him. “Don’t worry Starburst, we’ll get whatever you want.” An hour and a half later: Nova and Starburst were now heading back to their ship passing by town hall. The two noticed Pinkie positioning her hooves in front of her face in odd ways and calling out directions to Rainbow Dash as she moved a cloud around overhead. “Over to the left, now just a smidge to the right, now just a little to the leftish while staying rightly.” Out of sheer curiosity, the two went over to her to see what was going on. “Um, Pinkie Pie, what is going on?” Nova asked. “Oh hey Nova, hi Starburst, you two are just in time to see me and Dash pull a prank.” “What’s a prank?” Starburst asked. Pinkie continued. “Just a sec you two. Ok Rainbow Dash, maybe a few inches to the south.” Rainbow was looking very annoyed with Pinkie’s direction giving. “Now a few centimeters North. Maybe a little to the….” “PINKIE PIE!” Rainbow called out of anger. “Oh, um, perfect, now wait for my signal. Come on you two, over here.” Pinkie directed the two brothers to stand to the side of a doorway to the building. “Pinkie Pie, what is going on?” Nova asked. “Shhhh, you’ll see.” Pinkie shushed him. Nova and Starburst took a peek in the window to see Spike gathering scrolls from shelves, he started walking out with a big stack of them in his claws. Once he walked through the door and outside. Pinkie pointed a hoof at Rainbow. She then kicked the cloud with her hind hoof and caused a bolt of lightning to shoot out. “YAH!” Spike, Nova and Starburst all cried out. When Spike did, he dropped all his scrolls on the ground. “Pinkie, what the Ga….I mean, what the hay, what was that for!” Nova asked in anger. Pinkie didn’t answer. She and Rainbow Dash just got close to Spike and watched. He started hiccupping. Pinkie fell over laughing. “Ha ha ha, oh Rainbow Dash, we scared Spike into getting the hiccups.” “N…Nova…wh-what was that?” Starburst asked as he shook. “Pinkie!” Nova called out. “He ha ha, yes Nova ha ha!” “What the hay was that for?” “Oh ha ha, we were just playing a prank on Spike.” “Good one *hiccup* Pinkie *hiccup* Pie, you’re always *hiccup* pulling a fast one on me.” Spike said. They looked at Spike as he picked up a scroll and hiccupped, green flames shot out of his mouth when he did. It set the scroll ablaze and sent it to Celestia. Pinkie and Rainbow got worried. “Oh my gosh, are you ok? You’re not hurt are you?” Pinkie asked. “Na *hiccup a, dragons are fire proof.” “Oh….good.” Pinkie said, then Rainbow and Pinkie started laughing again. Spike managed to gather a large stack of scrolls in his claws. He then hiccupped again and sent the scrolls away. “I just wish the same thing could be said for scrolls.” Nova started scolding. “Pinkie, that little PRANK of yours scared Starburst.” “It did?” She stopped laughing and saw Starburst shaking a little as he hid under Nova. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Rainbow then flew down and landed near them. “Yeah, we only meant to scare Spike, is he going to be ok?” She asked with genuine concern. Nova looked down at his brother. “Starburst, you gonna be ok?” Starburst came out from under Nova a little and looked up at him. “Yeah, but what was that loud bang?” Nova explained. “It was just lighting Starburst, pure electricity discharging from a cloud. Whenever that happens, it makes a loud noise like what we just heard. “Wow, and you can make that happen anytime Rainbow Dash?” Starburst said with interest. “Well, yeah, all us pegasai can do that, didn’t you know?” Rainbow asked. Nova answered. “I……never got around to explaining that to him.” Rainbow then spoke to Pinkie. “I never took you for a prankster Pinkie Pie, we should definitely hang out more.” “Really, great we can pull all kinds of pranks. Nova, Starburst, you wanna join us?” Nova answered. “No thanks, I gotta…” Pinkie interrupted. “Oh please please please pleeeeeaaaaase, let me make it up to you and Starburst for scaring you, I totally promise it’ll be totally fun.” Nova could tell she wasn’t going to let up. Rainbow encouraged as well. “Come on, it’ll be fun.” “*Sight* fine, we’ll pull some of these….pranks….with you.” Pinkie cheered. “YAY!” “Are we really going to get to have some fun today Nova?” Starburst asked. “You be Starburst, trust me, you two are gonna have a great time.” Pinkie answered. After a stop at a joke shop, Pinkie and Rainbow were happily hopping out of the store with baskets full of stuff for pulling pranks, Nova and Starburst were trotting up behind them. “So how does this work again?” Nova asked. Rainbow explained. “Simple, we put sneezing powder in the flowers, we ring the doorbelle, then we hide in the bushes, once Rarity comes out, she’ll sniff the flowers and start sneezing, it’ll be great.” “Seems kinda mean to me.” Starburst said. Pinkie smiled at him. “Awe don’t worry, it’s all in good fun, trust us.” Pinkie placed a bouquet of flowers in front of Rarity’s door and Rainbow Dash put the sneezing powder in it. Pinkie then rang the doorbell and the group went to hide behind a nearby bush. The top half of the door opened and Rarity stuck her head out. She looked around to see if any pony was there, she then noticed the flowers and smiled. She leaned down and gave them a good sniff. She pulled her head back up and her nose was covered in a pink powder which caused her to start sneezing. Pinkie and Rainbow came out from behind the bush laughing while Pinkie held up the can of powder. Nova and Starburst couldn’t help but laugh too. They saw Rarity smile at them as well. They all took off to pull another prank. “Did you see that Nova, she just smiled when she saw us.” Starburst said. Nova responded. “I know, I guess this pranking stuff isn’t bad after all.” The four were now up in Twilight’s tree. “Ok, Nova, this is where you get to get in on the fun.” Pinkie explained. “Ok, what do you need me to do?” Dash explained. “You’re going to levitate that bottle of ink out to us so we can fill it with this disappearing ink.” She held up a bottle of disappearing ink. “Well, all right.” Nova focused his magic, levitated an inkwell inside Twilight’s room, floated it through the window and over to them, Pinkie poured the ink into the inkwell and Nova floated it back into position. The four waited and Twilight soon entered, she started fiddling with potions and wrote something down with the ink. She turned away to look at the potion, then back to the scroll, only to see what she wrote down was gone. She went back and forth from the potion to the scroll until the potion exploded. The four ponies in the tree just laughed. Nova saw Twilight smirking at them through the window. Starburst just waved at her. Next, the four found themselves at Sweet Apple Acres. This time, Starburst got in on the prank as well, he was helping his brother and Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash paint the apples on the trees different colors. Once they finished, they just waited for Applejack to come around. She came walking out of the house and saw the apples. She picked up a few of the multi colored fruit and started tossing them at the four ponies laughing at her. Nova got worried about this though, but then saw her laughing too after she saw the colors wash off one apple that landed in a barrel full of water. Later, the four were now at a lake. Rainbow dash was looking through a telescope while Pinkie had a sqeaker in her mouth with a long tube. “This has been a lot of fun actually, I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun before.” Nova commented. Starburst agreed. “Me neither, this was fun, I especially liked the one we did when we colored all those apples.” “I told you you’d have fun.” Pinkie said with the squeaker in her mouth. “So who’s over there Rainbow Dash, who we gonna squirt, who we gonna squirt?” Rainbow Chuckled. “He heh, Fluttershy.” “WHAT!” Pinkie, Nova and Starburst all said together. Pinkie spat out the squirter. “No no no no no, we can’t prank her, I mean she’s SOOOOO sensitive, it would hurt her feelings.” Nova sighed in relief, he knew Fluttershy was sensitive too. Rainbow reluctantly agreed. “Yeah your right.” She pulled her head away from the telescope. The three others saw a black ring around Dash’s eye and started snickering. “We need someone who’s made of tougher stuff.” Pinkie started. “Oh, heh he, I can think of one pony.” “Oh yeah, who, do I know them?” “Oh, he heh, you’re very close.” Starburst then pointed out. “TCH, Rainbow, you got a little something around your eye there, he he.” Rainbow then went to look at her reflection in the lake and saw the ring, she too started laughing. “He ha, good one Pinkie Pie.” She held out her hoof for Pinkie to slap, she went for it but Rainbow pulled it away. She did it again with the same result, then the two shared a laugh. “Why don’t you all come by my place tomorrow and we can do this again.” Pinkie smiled. “Sounds good to me, what about you two?” “Can we Nova, please please please.” Starburst asked with saucer sized eyes and a smile. Nova was helpless before the look. “Starburst, don’t give me that look……..Ugh, all right, all right, we’ll meet up with you two tomorrow to do this again.” Pinkie and Starburst cheered. “YAY!” Nova rolled his eyes with a smile. The next day: Nova and Starburst met up with Pinkie to go to Rainbow Dash’s house. Upon seeing Pinkie, the two couldn’t contain themselves, she was weaing a pair of green rimmed glasses with black lenses and green swirls on the lenses, a fake arrow on a head band, a big red nose, a fake mustache, and a noise maker in her mouth. She just kept tooting it as they went along. “Pinkie, he he, you look so silly.” Starburst commented. “That’s the idea silly.” Pinkie said happily. They came upon a large cloud with rainbow waterfalls and columns. Starburst and Nova were in awe. Starburst was the first to comment. “Wow, Rainbow Dash lives in there? COOL!” Nova then commented. “Wow, she has quite the place.” Pinkie called out. “Rise and shine Rainbow Dash, it’s a brand new day and we got a lot of pranking to do.” Suddenly, an eagle head popped out and looked down at them with one eye. “Oooh.” Pinkie said. “Whoa, what is that?” Starburst asked. “I have no idea.” Nova answered. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash poked her head out from another part of her house further up. “Mornin Pinks, hey fellas.” She then flew down to ground level with the new creature. She then started introductions. “Gilda, this is my gal pal Pinkie pie, my friend Nova, and his little brother Starburst.” At this point, Pinkie’s stuff had fallen off her head. The creature greeted. “Hey, what’s up?” Rainbow continued. “Guys, this is my griffon friend Gilda.” “What’s a griffon?” Pinkie asked. Rainbow Explained. “She’s half eagle, half lion.” Gilda then flew up to Dash and got her in a playful headlock. “And all awesome. Rawr.” “Gilda’s my best friend from my days at Junior Speedsters Flight Camp. HEY, remember the chant?” She asked Gilda. “Are you kidding, they made us recite that dumb thing every morning, I’ll never get that lame thing out of my head.” Rainbow came up to here. “Sooooo.” She raised her eyebrows. Gilda had a bored expression. “*Sigh* Only for you dash.” She said dryly. The two then began the chant, Dash with enthusiasm, Gilda with none. “Junior speedsters are our life, sky bound soaring and sky bound dives, Junior speedsters, it’s our quest to someday be the very best.” They finished with raised foreleg and eagle claws. “Well, that was……interesting.” Nova commented. “I thought it was pretty stellar.” Starburst commented. Pinkie just started laughing. “He ha ha ha he ha ha, that was great, and it gave me a great idea for a prank.” Pinkie slapped her head on the ground and all the silly things she dropped were back on her face. “Gilda, you game?” “Huh, well I can grove on a good prank as much as the next griffon. But Dash, you promised we’d get in a flying session this morning.” Gilda then flew up into the air. Rainbow looked to Pinkie and the brothers with a disappointed look. “Yeah, well, uh, Pinkie Pie, guys, you don’t mind do you, Gilda just got here and we got a lot of catching up to do. I’ll catch up with you later ok.” Rainbow Dash then flew off. “Yeah, ok, sure, later.” Pinkie’s face dropped. Nova came up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey, we’re still here, what do you say we go do some of that pranking you wanted.” Pinkie gave a sad smile. “Thanks Nova, but it won’t be the same without Dash.” Pinkie then walked off. “Poor Pinkie, she was really looking forward to doing this with Dash.” Starburst commented. “I know, but there’s something about that griffon I don’t like. I can’t place my hoof on it, but something tells me she may be trouble. I’m going to keep an eye on her whenever we’re around her. Later that day: Nova and Starburst were on their way to Rarity’s to drop off another order for her. Nova was wearing his saddle bags. Starburst spoke up. “I hope Pinkie’s feeling better about not being with Dash.” Nova agreed. “Me too, I hate to see her sad.” The two then heard a bouncing sound. “What is that?” They were traveling down a road in an open area, further down, they saw Pinkie Pie jumping up and down on a trampoline. She was jumping so high, she was poking her head through a cloud that Rainbow Dash and Gilda were sitting on. “That looks like fun, I want to try.” Starburst then rushed off to Pinkie. “Starburst, wait up!” Nova called as he ran after him. As soon as the two reached Pinkie, they saw Gilda and Dash fly off. “Hey.” They heard Pinkie say. Pinkie stopped her bouncing and got off. “Oh hey guys, what’s up?” Nova started. “Pinkie, what’s going on?” “Oh, be back in a second.” Pinkie then rushed off and came back in seconds with a bunch of balloons, she blew them up, tied them to her waist and floated up to where Dash and Gilda were. “Nova, what is she doing?” Starburst asked. “I have no idea. But if it has something to do with Gilda, I think we need to stick around.” The two just watched from the ground as Pinkie was talking with the two. They couldn’t hear what was being said. After a moment, the two saw Dash and Gilda fly straight up and left a cloud behind, but when one of them cleared, Gilda was still there. The two brothers saw Gilda pop some of Pinkie’s balloons. “Hey, did you see that Nova?” “I sure did, that griffon just popped Pinkie’s balloons. Why would she do that?” “It sure wasn’t very nice.” Pinkie floated down back to the ground. Nova tried to talk to her. “Pinkie, what happened up there, why did Gilda pop your balloons?” “I don’t know, she just said she thought the high altitude was making me dizzy, then she popped them. Be right back.” Pinkie then rushed off again and came back with a funny looking contraption. The two looked at it curiously. Nova was the first to ask. “Um, Pinkie, what is that thing?” “It’s my flying cycle. I’m going to try and talk to them again.” Pinkie answered. Her machine was a large candy cane, with bike pedals, handle bars, a flower on the front, and a propeller on top. She started pedaling and flew right up to where Dash and Gilda were, but they were much higher up now. The two brothers stayed where they were as they watched what was going on. Rainbow Dash then flew off the cloud, Nova kept his eyes on Gilda and Pinkie. He saw Gilda suddenly grab Pinkie’s machine by the pole the propeller was on and seemed to be glaring at her as she pointed a claw at her. Gilda then released Pinkie’s machine, but then grabbed it by the propeller, causing it to spin out of control and plummet to the ground. “PINKIE!” Nova cried out. “Starburst, wait here.” “But Nova..” Nova didn’t wait, he quickly zapped up his insect wings and took off like a shot, leaving behind his saddle bags. He quickly flew up to the out of control machine and snatched Pinkie out of it. He then quickly came back down and landed softly, then set Pinkie down. “Pinkie, are you ok?” Nova asked. “Nova, you just saved me, you can fly?! That is so cool, I didn’t know you could fly.” Nova dismissed his wings. “Yeah, well, it’s just a simple flying spell I managed to make up. It doesn’t last very long.” “And what’s up with your tail?” Nova’s eyes shot open. He spoke with nervousness evident. “My…my tail….wh-what do you mean?” He gave a nervous smile as he tried to hide his tail from view. His tail was no longer under the influence of his disguise spell. “It seems different.” Pinkie looked at him curiously. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, ha ha.” Starburst then got an idea. “Hey Pinkie, um, I….want to show you a new trick I picked up.” He said as he got Pinkie to turn away from Nova. “Really, cool. What kind of trick?” Nova took the opportunity to reinforce the disguise spell, his tail was back to looking like hair. Starburst stuck out his tongue and touched it to his nose. “TA DA!” Pinkie clapped her hooves together. “Nice trick.” Pinkie then turned back to Nova. When she noticed his tail, she looked confused again. “That’s odd, I could have sworn it looked different.” “Maybe you were just seeing things, you know, from being spun around like that on your flying cycle? So anyway, what happened up there, I saw what Gilda did.” “That grump, she told me to buzz off. That Gilda wasn’t being very nice.” “I’ll say, you could have been seriously hurt there.” Pinkie smiled at Nova. “Thanks for saving me like that.” Nova smiled back. “Anytime.” “Come on, let’s talk to Twilight, maybe she can give us an idea on what to do about her.” Nova put his saddle bags back on his back and the two brothers followed Pinkie, they spoke to one another in a whisper with Starburst starting. “That was a close one Nova.” “Too close, I’m just glad you haven’t had any close calls.” They soon arrived at Twilight’s, after greetings and being let in, Twilight went back to her reading while Pinkie went over the events of the day. Twilight finally commented. “Pinkie Pie, are you sure this friend of Rainbow Dash’s is as mean as you say she is?” “Uh, YEAH, she keeps stealing Rainbow Dash away, she popped my balloons, and she told me to buzz off. I’ve never met a griffon this mean, actually, I’ve never met a griffon at all. But if I did, I bet she wouldn’t be as mean as Gilda.” “Well, you know what I think Pinkie Pie?” “What?” “I think….your jealous.” “JEALOUS?!” “Green with envy, or in your case, Pink with envy.” Spike commented from the stairs he was sitting on while holding a book. Nova stepped in. “Twilight, you didn’t see what we saw, that griffon nearly caused Pinkie to crash into the ground when she grabbed the propellers of her flying cycle, I had to fly up and save her.” “She what?.....wait, you FLEW!?” Twilight’s eyes widened. “But….how, you don’t have wings?” “It’s a simple flying spell I made, it doesn’t last long. Look that doesn’t matter, Pinkie could’ve been seriously hurt here, she’s lucky I was around.” “But….you flew!” “Twilight, focus, what are we supposed to do about Gilda?” “Well, what do you expect to do, she IS Rainbow’s friend. Just because Rainbow Dash has another friend doesn’t make Gilda a grump, perhaps it’s you Pinkie, who needs to improve her attitude.” This set Pinkie off. “Improve MY attitude, but she….but I….she’s the one who…GRRR!” Pinkie then just stormed out. “Twilight, you have to believe me when I say that Gilda may be what Pinkie says, I didn’t hear what was said between them, but I saw clear enough that Gilda nearly caused Pinkie to crash. Come on Starburst, let’s go after her.” The two then went after Pinkie. The three were now sitting at a table with drinks near the center of town. “Maybe Twilight’s right, maybe Gilda isn’t a grump, maybe I’m just being a jealous jealousy judgemental pants.” Pinkie said sadly. Nova tried to console her. “Come on Pinkie, don’t talk like that, I saw what happened. It wasn’t your jealousy that caused your cycle to crash was it?” Starburst chimed in. “Yeah, it was that mean griffon that did it. Your right about Gilda.” Pinkie was still unsure of herself. “I don’t know.” Suddenly, Dash and Gilda were heard laughing as they flew overhead. “Uh, I gotta take care of a few weather jobs around here, just hang out around town and I’ll come back for you, ok?” Rainbow said as she and Gilda landed. “That’s cool I guess, I’m gonna go chow down.” “Later.” Dash then flew off again. They both failed to notice Pinkie, Nova, and Starburst. Nova narrowed his eyes. “Gilda.” He said quietly. “That mean griffon, I’d like to show her a thing or two.” Starburst said. “Easy little brother, just ignore her.” The three just watched her in silence. They saw her go around a fruit stand. Granny Smith was approaching it from the other side. She started sniffing some of the produce, Gilda’s tail then snaked out in front of Granny’s face. She saw it and screamed. “AAAHHH, A rattler, a rattler, head fer the hills!” She slowly walked away. Gilda popped up from behind the stand and saw the mare running the stand looking at her, she tapped a tomato with her tail. “This stuff ain’t fresh dude.” “HEY! That wasn’t very nice.” Starburst said. “Poor Granny Smith, she didn’t know it was a prank, how mean.” Pinkie stated. She then looked in thought. “No no, I can’t misjudge her, it was kind of a funny prank.” Nova disagreed. “Kind of a funny prank, she scared that poor old mare. There is nothing funny about it, that was just plain mean.” They then saw Gilda take an apple with her tail and ate it. Starburst was the first to comment. “HEY, did you see that, she stole that apple.” Pinkie spoke up. “Oh come on, now, I’m sure she’ll give it back.” Nova disagreed again. “Pinkie, she ATE IT, how is she supposed to give it back?” “Well, uh.” Pinkie had no answer. “Um, Nova?” Starburst said. “What is it?” Nova asked. Starburst pointed a hoof in the direction of a little ways down the road. Pinkie and Nova looked in the direction. “By the stars no.” Nova said to himself. Fluttershy was walking backwards, leading a family of ducks through town, Gilda was heading right for her. “Ok little ones, this way, this way, momma duck, you’re free and clear.” Fluttershy said as she led the ducks. The inevitable happened. Fluttershy bumped into Gilda. “HEY!” Fluttershy shyly turned around to face her. “Oh, please excuse me.” “I’m walkin here!” Gilda pressed her face to Fluttershy’s. FLuttershy started backing away. “Oh, um, I’m sorry, I was just.” Gilda started mocking her. “I’m sorry I’m sorry, why don’t you watch where you’re going.” Nova narrowed his eyes. “That’s it, Starburst, stay here with Pinkie.” Nova ran off and placed himself between Fluttershy and Gilda. “Hey, bird brain, back off.” “Well look who it is, what do you want pony boy?” “I want you to leave Fluttershy alone, she didn’t mean to bump into you and she apologized for it, so just let it go and leave.” “Oh yeah, and what if I don’t, you gonna make me?” Fluttershy was cringing behind Nova. “If I have to, I will.” “Oh yeah?” “Yeah.” Gilda took in a deep breath. Nova saw what was coming, so he quickly erected a sound proof shield around Fluttershy, she looked at it confusedly. Gilda let out a large roar. Nova kept his stern look as he closed his eyes while Gilda roared. “RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” Nova just looked at her when she was done. “My turn.” Nova took in a deep breath of his own. “Pinkie, you may want to cover your ears.” Starburst informed. They both did so. Nova then let out an even louder roar, louder than Gilda’s. “RRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!” The mere force of it caused Gilda to start slipping backwards as she struggled to stay in place. Thanks to the shield around Fluttershy, she didn’t hear any of it. Nova ceased and lowered the shield. Gilda’s feathers were now all ruffled. Nova glared at her. He walked up to her and got in her face, he spoke low and menacingly. “Don’t you ever threaten my friends, if you do, I swear by the cosmos it will be the last thing you do, do I make myself clear?” Gilda gave an audible gulp. She tried to recompose herself as she straightened out her feathers. “Yeah, well…..you….you just better watch yourself, you don’t scare me. You’re all just a bunch of lame ponies, I’m outta here.” Gilda then just flew off. Nova’s hard look softened as he turned to Fluttershy. “You okay fluttershy?” He offered a hoof to help her up. “Um, I think so, thank you for standing up for me like that, but who was that?” Nova looked to the side as he said her name. “Gilda, she’s a friend of Rainbow Dash.” “Really, but, why would Rainbow Dash be friends with someone like that, she didn’t seem very nice.” Starburst came running up to them with Pinkie behind. “Nova, that was stellar how you showed that griffon what for.” “Stellar?” Fluttershy said confusedly. Nova laughed nervously. “Uh, he he, you know kids, with their new phrases and all. Anyway, I think we need to do something about Gilda, Rainbow Dash needs to know what a jerk she is.” Pinkie then got an idea. “I think I have an idea, we’ll throw her a party, a good party is a sure way to change her mood.” Nova didn’t agree. “Uh, Pinkie, are you sure that’s a good idea?” “Trust me Nova, I got it all figured out.” Later that afternoon: Pinkie was greeting guests as they came in. “Welcome, welcome, hey there, welcome.” As usual, the party was being held at Sugarcube Corner. Nova and starburst were at the back of the room talking. “Nova, do you really think this party Pinkie is throwing will help?” “I doubt it, but I don’t think we would’ve been able to talk her out of it. I still say the best way to go would have been to tell Rainbow about what Gilda has been doing.” It was then that Rainbow Dash came storming up to Nova and Starburst, glaring at Nova. “Nova, we need to talk.” Nova looked at her with confusion. “Is something wrong?” “Your darn right something is wrong, Gilda told me what you did to her today!” “What I did to her, what are you talking about?” “Don’t play dumb with me, she told me all about it!” “Rainbow, what are you talking about, I really have no idea.” Rainbow took a step closer. “She told me about how you just roared at her and threatened her, and how your little brother insulted her.” “WHAT?” “Did you or did you not do that?” Starburst was now cringing under his big brother. Nova answered. “Well yeah, I did but Starburst….” Rainbow interrupted. “SAVE IT, I don’t want to hear it, I can’t believe you two did that, I thought you were my friends, how could you do that to a friend of mine?” “Look Dash, it’s not what you think…..” “Keep your excuses to yourself, just get out of here, both of you, I never want to see you again.” Nova narrowed his eyes. “Fine….if that’s how it is, then you win. Come on Starburst, we’re obviously not wanted here.” Nova then started walking out with Starburst behind, looking sad. “But Nova, shouldn’t we say something?” “Like what, you heard her, she doesn’t want anything to do with us.” He stopped in front of Pinkie. “Well Pinkie, you got that party you wanted to throw for Gilda, I hope you enjoy it.” Pinkie looked at him sympathetically. “Nova, wait, you two can stay.” “No we can’t, Rainbow Dash made it perfectly clear she doesn’t want us around. I told you a party might not have been a good idea. I’ll see you later Pinkie.” Nova and Starburst then walked out. “Nova, what now?” “What do you mean what now? Dash isn’t our friend anymore now all because of that rotten glorb headed freak griffon. She chose to listen to her over me. guess we might as well head back home.” “Nova, Starburst, wait up!” Came Twilight’s voice. The two stopped in their tracks and turned to see Twilight running up to them. “Nova, is it true that you did what Rainbow said?” “Why should I tell you, you didn’t believe Pinkie or me when we tried to tell you about Gilda before, you just chose to believe whatever you wanted. Just go on back to the party.” Nova and Starburst then continued on. Twilight looked at them solemnly as they left. She then turned and headed back to the party. Later that evening: Nova and Starburst were in their ship now with their pony disguises gone. Nova had a few funny looking tools floating around him as he lay on his back under the food synthesizer. He had on a pair of goggles over his eyes. “Lets see here, circuit board checks out, processor seems to be functioning normally.” Nova levitated one of the tools to him and took hold of it with his hoof. “Lets see, maybe if I….OW!” A spark came from under the table. Starburst was nearby watching as his brother worked on the food synthesizer. “Nova, are you ok?” He came out from under the table to look at his brother. “yeah, I’m ok, stupid thing zoted me though.” “Can you fix it?” “Yeah, no problem, it just looks like the voice print recognizer was a little worn out.” He then stood up. “Good thing we got a few spare parts I can use.” There was a knock at the door. “visitors, wonder who that could be…..wait, VISITORS, great galaxies, we can’t let them see the inside! Starburst, quick, put up your disguise.” Nova said in a panic. “Uh right.” Starburst did just that, as did Nova. Nova removed his goggles and placed them on the table, came up to the door and opened it, doing his best to keep any pony from seeing the inside. “Yes, what is…..oh, it’s you, what do you want?” Nova’s mood dropped when he saw Rainbow Dash standing there with Twilight. Rainbow started with a sheepish grin. “Hey Nova, he he, uh, I just wanted to come by and….well, apologize.” Nova raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, me too.” Twilight said. “Can we come in?” Nova grew nervous at the request. “Uh, no, you can’t, it’s a real mess in there, very bad. We can….talk outside. Starburst.” “Coming.” Starburst came up to his brother, they closed the door behind them once they were outside. Rainbow started. “Look, about what happened at the party, I’m real sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain. Also, Gilda kinda fell for a few pranks I set up and she lost it, she thought Pinkie set them up and started insulting my friends there. It was then I saw what she was really like, then later, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy told me about what happened between you two.” Nova raised an eyebrow at Dash. “Then you know that I did what I did because of how she was acting toward Fluttershy?” “Yeah, Fluttershy told me how you stood up for her, and I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain that. Can you ever forgive me?” She asked with a smile. Twilight then began. “And I’m sorry for not listening to you too, I already apologized to Pinkie for it and she forgave me, but I’m hoping to get the same thing from you. I should have listened to you.” Nova smiled. “Well, I don’t know, do you promise to listen to me the next time I try to tell you something?” “Of course. I promise.” Rainbow said with a big smile. “Me too. We’re real sorry Nova.” Twilight said. “The next time a friend tries to tell you something, I suggest you hear them out before you make a decision on whether to believe them or not.” Rainbow then looked down at Starburst. “Hey Starburst, I’m sorry to you too, I know now that you didn’t insult Gilda like she said you did.” Starburst smiled up at her. “That’s ok, I forgive you too.” “Glad to hear it squirt.” Twilight made an observation. “Nova, why are all the windows on your house blacked out?” Nova practically froze up. “Uh, well, we just….had them boarded up….on the inside, yeah.” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow. “Why?” “Well…..you see, the morning light is so bright and all for my eyes.” Twilight made a suggestion with a smile. “Then why not get some curtains or blinds?” “That is a good idea, I will definitely look into it.” Nova said with a nervous smile. “Ok, and maybe sometime we could come inside for a visit.” “……sure, why not, but…but not now.” Starburst agreed. “Yeah, it’s a real mess in there, you don’t want to see it.” Rainbow then made an offer. “Maybe we could help you clean up?” “NO!” Nova and Starburst cried out together. Nova then continued. “No, um, what I mean is that, this is our mess and we couldn’t possibly trouble you with it, besides, we can handle it.” Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other with confusion on their faces. Twilight then spoke. “Well, all right then, if you say so, we’ll see you later.” “Bye guys, see ya around.” Rainbow said as she started to fly off. Nova and Starburst just stood there with nervous smiles on their faces as they waved goodbye. Once they were out of sight, Nova and Starburst let out a sigh of relief. “*WHEW*” Nova spoke up. “I am getting REALLY tired of these close calls.” “Nova, what are we gonna do, they want to come inside.” “I know Starburst, but don’t worry, I’ll think of something. It won’t be easy, but I’m going to have to do some major rewiring for the whole ship.” “What are you gonna do?” “I’ll have to try and reroute the holo-deck’s image generators to transmit throught the whole ship, or possibly reprogram the matter materializer to make what we need to disguise the inside.” “Or we could just redecorate it by buying furniture and stuff.” Starburst suggested. Nova looked at his brother with a straight face, then smiled. “You are too smart for your own good little brother.” Starburst smiled. “I have a good teacher.” “Come on, let’s head inside and start figuring out what we can do to make the inside look more like one of the local residences.” The two then made their way inside to begin their work.