Shisno Chronicles: Friendship is Magic

by nightelf37

Chapter 5: Griffon the Brush-Off

Author's Note:

"So you're working on the episode with that meanie griffon Gilda now?"

Yes. You got a problem?

"Nope."

Good.

Disclaimer: I own only the following: Chronicle, the new stallion who will appear later, and anything that doesn't happen in the show proper.

Chapter 5: Griffon the Brush-Off

Daytime in the outskirts of Ponyville…

Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down as she rambled about something. One a bench nearby, Twilight Sparkle was sitting down on it and reading a book.

"Hoof-biting action overload!", the pink earth pony was saying. "She was like a stunt superstar, flying higher and higher, and then Rainbow Dash swooped down, swoosh!" She zipped off, then hopped back. "And right before she hit the ground, shoom!" She floated while doing this, then landed on her hooves "She pulled up! Vroom!"

"Uh-huh." Twilight wasn't paying attention as she replied.

"And then she looped around and around, like woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo!" She mimicked the action with her head, eventually becoming so dizzy that she collapsed to the ground.

"Uh-huh."

The pink pony wound up on her back, giving her a good view of Rainbow Dash soaring overhead. upon seeing the pegasus, she bounded up and raced after the blue flyer.

"Phew!", Twilight sighed in relief as she flipped a page with her teeth rather than magic, and continued reading. "Hmm…I wonder where Chronicle is."

TS—RD—PP—TS—RD—PP—TS—RD—PP—TS—RD—PP

Somewhere at the back of Books and Branches Library…

"Thanks, Cloud Kicker, Lightning Bolt."

Chronicle had requested for the two ponies' assistance in propping up some items for him. Cloud Kicker is a pegasus pony with orchid eyes, light amber hair with a very light yellow streak, a lavender coat, and a sun behind a white cloud as a cutie mark. Lightning Bolt is also a pegasus pony. She had cyan eyes, light cerulean hair, a white coat, and a dark cloud issuing her namesake as a cutie mark.

Finally, they were done and Chronicle looked at the finished product. A medium-sized field has been formed behind the library, its perimeter partly lined with a wooden fence and bales of hay from Applejack's farm, the rest closed off by the library's wall. Old "equinequins" from Rarity, non-stinky trash, toys broken beyond repair, busted pillows, smashed machines, and all sorts of items nopony uses anymore that is safe to destroy were stored in one corner of the area. There were also a couple of clouds as well brought over by the two pegasi with him.

"It's a pleasure, Chronicle.", answered Cloud.

"We saw your request on the Request Board.", said Lightning.

"So you did.", replied Chronicle. "Anyway, here's your pay." He 'procured' two pouches filled with bits and 'passed' it to the two pegasi. "Thanks again!"

"Bye!", they replied as they took the pouched and left. Once they were gone, the stallion turned around to what he would henceforth call his "targets".

"Okay. Time to get started." Chronicle levitated a broken vase up and situated it onto a stand. That was when he realized something. "How should I even start practicing? I'm gonna need some ideas. But where…"

C—CK—LB—C—CK—LB—C—CK—LB—C—CK—LB

A while later…

Chronicle was taking a walk along the town square when he noticed Pinkie Pie trotting happily. Curious, he decided to approach her just as she reached a produce cart where Cloud Kicker, Derpy Hooves, and another pegasus pony were conversing with one another. The third pegasus had a chartreuse coat, dark pink hair, amaranth-colored eyes, three suns as her cutie mark, and her name was Merry May.

"Hi!", Pinkie greeted them just as he came over as well. "I’m looking for Rainbow Dash. Have you seen her?"

"Sorry, no.", answered Merry as she and the others shook their heads. Pinkie then noticed Chronicle and turned to face him.

"Hi there, Chronicle! Have you seen Rainbow Dash?"

"Nope."

"Okay, thanks anyway." She then—with Chronicle following—walked over to Twilight Sparkle, who was just outside a bookshop. "Twilight! Have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere?"

Twilight pointed up. "Isn’t she right up there?"

The three of them looked up to see her rear half protruding vertically from a cloud she was hiding in.

"Rainbow Dash!", Pinkie cried out in a singsong manner.

Up came the striped mane, a wisp of cloud adhering to it over a truly freaked-out face. She looked one way, then another, and took off with enough speed to nearly pulverize the rest of the cloud, leaving only a few tufts. Pinkie, completely unfazed, began hopping along the road after her at a leisurely pace. The two unicorns saw her off in a quizzical manner. Once she was gone, Chronicle turned to his charge.

"Hey, Twilight. Mind if you help me getting those clouds?" he pointed to the pieces of cloud left behind.

"Uhh…sure."

Together, the two unicorns got to work in bringing down the pieces. Luckily, apart from pegasi, magic is also capable of making contact with the clouds. Once they got them all down, Twilight decided to ask her bodyguard something.

"What's with all this?"

"I don't really know. I was thinking of practicing, but I can't seem to get an inspiration as to how I should come about it."

"How about checking the bookshop?"

"Good idea."

With that, the two unicorns entered the bookshop, bringing the tufts of cloud with them.

C—TS—RD—PP—C—TS—RD—PP—C—TS—RD—PP

Three minutes later…

Chronicle left the bookshop in a slightly dejected manner, clouds tufts 'in tow'.

Darn. I couldn't find a thing…, sighed Chronicle. Maybe I should check the library.

As he made his way there, he looked up and realized he had missed something during the first time he, Spike, and Twilight arrived at Ponyville; at the top of the tree attached to the highest limb was an observatory platform and it was outfitted with a telescope.

All of a sudden, however, he felt a whoosh right above him and heard something enter the tree branches. He assumed it was Rainbow Dash hiding from Pinkie Pie. He gave a shrug and made his way to the library's entrance. Just before he could rap at the door, he heard the branches rustle again. He guessed that Pinkie was waiting for Rainbow within the branches.

Chronicle sighed as he then rapped at the door. Spike answered it.

"Hey there, Chronicle." Spike then made his way out.

"Hey there, Spike. Where do you happen to be going?"

"Don't you remember?"

"Oh, right. See ya."

C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S

Five minutes later…

Chronicle left the library, just wandering about, and once again dejected, clouds still 'in tow'.

Again, I'm bored out of my skull. Why doesn't the library have a card catalog?!

"Over to the right!…No, no, a little to the left!…Oh, wait! Back to the right!"

Chronicle started up, and saw that he was at the pavilion. Rainbow Dash was adjusting the position of a nearby cloud. Pinkie Pie was nearby, working her hooves around through several angles, squinching her eyes as well. Apparently, the two were up to something, and Rainbow's patience was wearing thin.

"Now, a little leftish while staying rightly." The assistant did her best to follow this one. "Stop! Hmmm…maybe a few inches to the south! Now a couple of centimeters north! Okay, one more smidge-a-meter to the—"

Rainbow Dash then lost it. "PINKIE PIE!!"

"Uh, I mean, perfect! Now, wait for my signal."

The cloud had ended up almost exactly above the front doors. Pinkie then peeked through a window, and that was when Chronicle realized whom they were gonna do their thing on. He was about to enter the pavilion to give a warning when Pinkie suddenly pulled him away and covered his mouth.

Spike then exited the pavilion, whereupon Pinkie—while still holding Chronicle—threw a quick gesture skyward. Rainbow proceeded to give the cloud a swift buck, causing a sudden flash of lightning that frightened Spike into dropping his scrolls. Pinkie then let Chronicle go and leaned intently toward Spike, who stood stock-still for a moment…before starting to hiccup. Rainbow smiled and Pinkie laughed as the cloud brought the former down to the ground.

Chronicle groaned in failing to 'rescue' Spike as he continued to hiccup.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash, we startled Spike into getting the hiccups!", Pinkie said. Everyone but the stallion laughed with her.

"Good one, Pinkie Pie!", the baby dragon replied in between hiccups. "You’re always pulling a fast one on me." He then picked up one of the scrolls, but hiccuped a lick of fire over it and yelped in surprise. It vanished in a wisp of sparkling pink smoke.

"Oh dear.", complained Chronicle; Spike just sent a message to Princess Celestia by mistake.

"Oh, no!", gasped Pinkie. "You’re not hurt, are you?"

"Nah.", Spike hiccuped. "Don’t be silly. Dragons are fireproof."

"Oh…okay. Good." She and Rainbow then traded a smile and started laughing again while Spike rounded up several other scrolls. Another incendiary hiccup burnt the lot and left him staring haplessly after the inadvertent mass mailing.

"I wish the same thing were true of scrolls."

Chronicle can't help but make a joke out of this one. "And might I say that this is Equestria's first ever…junk mail delivery."

"Junk mail?", both prankster ponies asked as Spike continued to pick up scrolls—and inadvertently send them via hiccups.

"Unsolicited or undesired messages."

The two mares turned to one another, then burst into laughter once again.

"Have you ever seen anything more hilarious?", Pinkie asked before falling back laughing.

Rainbow gave a wicked smile. "I can think of one thing." That "one thing" was to kick the cloud for another lightning flash. It would take more than that to get the jump on Chronicle, but it was sufficient to startle Pinkie—and it left her with the hiccups as well. She started alternating between these and giggles. "I didn’t take you for a prankster, Pinkie Pie."

As the pegasus flew down, the earth pony had stood up. "Are you *hic* kidding? I love to pull pranks! It’s all *hic* in good fun, and Pinkie Pie loo—*hic*—ooves to have *hic* fun! *hic*"

"You know, Pinkie Pie, you’re not as annoying as I thought." Pinkie gave out another hiccup. "You want to hang out?"

As she spoke, she was cut off with hiccups as she was sent flying all over the place. "That’d be—I’d really—when do—I mean—when would you—" Rainbow then stopped her with a hoof over the mouth.

"A simple nod will do."

Pinkie complied and the two conspirators then smiled at each other. Meanwhile, Chronicle had taken up Spike on his back, who had his tongue stuck out.

"Okay, now keep doing that for several minutes.", Chronicle advised. "And hold it with your hand if you need to. If that doesn't work, I'll go get you a sugar cube." He then turned to the two prankster ponies. "Rainbow, mind if I borrow that cloud?"

C—S—RD—PP—C—S—RD—PP—C—S—RD—PP

Later…

Chronicle had remedied Spike of his hiccups and was searching for the library with him for an idea on how to practice his combat skills. Thankfully, one was found and after perusing through it, he left the library with the book just as Twilight made her way in. He then made his way to his "training range", where he 'deposited' his clouds.

"Okay.", he said as he moved stuff around. "First you do this, then you do this, and then you do…what? Okay, hope it works. And then you need—okay, I got this. What do I do with this doohickey again? Darn I can't make heads or tails outta—oh, now I get it. One last touch and… All right! Finished."

After following the set of instructions, Chronicle managed to construct…a training dummy out of miscellaneous items.

"This isn't gonna work.", he groaned. "I think I'm gonna have to buy one from—oh, right. There's no way I can get one of those the royal guards of Canterlot use. Come to think of it, do they really…only one way to find out; the Request Board. But first…"

Chronicle prepared his "magic horn blade" and 'whacked' away at the dummy, dodging its 'counterattacks' and performing parries. It wasn't much, but it'll have to do. Until Mystic Shield arrives at Ponyville, this was his only means of reveling in combat.

All of a sudden, he thought he heard a small explosion and breaking of glass. He then remembered Twilight doing a chemistry experiment. He was sure she was fine, but he created a magic copy and had it check her just in case. After a while of practicing, he 'set' the dummy aside, then took deep breaths.

[screen mode]

{Cut to Chronicle in the center of a circular perimeter lined by fencing and bales of hay. Fade to a close-up of his face and pan slowly to the right.}

Chronicle: (thinking) Okay. Take a deep breath.

{Chronicle takes a deep breath, then lets it out.}

Chronicle: (thinking) Take a few more. Tune out all general distractions. Do not fall asleep. Just clear your mind.

{Chronicle takes another deep breath, then lets it out again. Cut to a view of the blue unicorn as the 'camera' pans around him. Slowly, the following disappear with each deep breath; the landscape, then everything outside the "training range", and then the whole training range itself, leaving only Chronicle as he mentally attempts to meditate. Fade to a close-up of Chronicle's head. All of a sudden, his ear perks as if catching something.}

Chronicle: (thinking) Someone's about to attack. I wonder if—no, I must focus should they strike.

{Cut to an overhead view of Chronicle. The 'camera' then tilts upward and pans down so it then eventually ends at his face. Suddenly, he opens his eyes and turns them to his right.}

Chronicle: (thinking) There!

{Entire background returns to normal as everything goes slow-motion. Chronicle's horn glows as he zips to the area immediately behind him with the "flash-step" spell. As he 'steps' away from the 'camera', a rainbow-colored streak slowly passes across where he was a second ago from the left. Time resumes normal speed as a crash is heard from the right.}

Chronicle: Nice tr—ack!

{Chronicle was cut off by a pink streak catching him from the right, sending him off-screen. A crash is then heard from the left. Camera zips to the left to reveal the pouncer having been Pinkie Pie. They had crashed into one of the bales of hay surrounding the "training range".}

[end screen mode]

"Oww, you got me, Pinkie Pie.", Chronicle said with a smile. "I'll admit I was lucky with Rainbow Dash."

"That was luck?!", Rainbow asked as she zipped over.

"Yeah. You two make for great reflex practice.", he gave a genuine smile. "Thanks."

"You're most welcome, Chronicle!", replied Pinkie. "I don't think we were even trying to prank you." She turned to Rainbow. "Uhh…what were we supposed to do to him?"

"We just did it. I was wondering if he has a sense of humor."

"You really take me for somepony who doesn't know how to have fun?" Neither mare had an answer for that. "I do too. Pranks are just not my thing."

"Is snarking yours?"

"No. Combat practice is."

"You're one strange pony.", Rainbow said, which resulted in the stallion raising an eyebrow. "Sure. I think I can help with that."

"How?"

"I'm a black belt in karate."

What?!, gasped Chronicle mentally. How does a pony learn karate, let alone master it? Or is "equine" karate slightly different from "sapien" karate?

He was shaken off his thoughts by Pinkie waving her hoof at his face. "Uhh…Chronicle?"

"Oh, sorry. What did you say?"

"I said I'm a black belt in karate.", Rainbow Dash repeated.

"Oh, that's nice to hear. Although, I'm not sure if a martial artist and a magical warrior like myself is a good match-up. But better than nothing, I guess."

"Let's duel tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure."

C—RD—PP—C—RD—PP—C—RD—PP—C—RD—PP

A few hours later…

Chronicle decided he had enough solo practice for today and decided he would take a walk. He made his way to a stream bend, where he saw Fluttershy tending to several fish and a couple other water-dwellers that began to gather at the bank. As he caught her in her sights, he decided to make his way to her. But instead of walking around, he cast his water-walking spell and started to trot his way across the lake.

As he did, his foot touched something he knew wasn't from the lake; he turned to the left and saw a turtle…which was an obvious fake. He saw that there was a long tube attached to its rear and it trailed back across the stream. As it squeaked a bit, his eyes followed the tube to where it disappeared over a hill on the opposite bank. A telescope was extended up from behind.

On the far side, Rainbow Dash watched the scene through this telescope while Pinkie jumped up and down, a rubber bulb in her teeth, which was attached to the other end of the tube and was providing the noise.

"Is someone over there?", Pinkie asked. "Who are we gonna squirt? Who are we gonna squirt?"

Rainbow snickered before giving an answer. "Fluttershy."

"What?!?" Pinkie spit out the bulb. "No, no, no, no, no, no. We can’t prank Fluttershy. I mean, she’s so sensitive. It’ll hurt her feelings, even our most harmless prank."

Rainbow backed up from the scope. "Yeah, you’re right." She then blew a raspberry and turned to Pinkie. "Huh. We need another victim who’s made of tougher stuff."

She failed to notice Pinkie’s struggle to contain a laugh and puts her eye back to the scope for a moment. She backed off again, not realizing there was a ring of ink around her left eye, left by the scope’s eyepiece.

"So, who’s it gonna be?"

"Oh!" Pinkie gave a giggle. "I’ve got someone in mind—the toughest around."

"Oh, awesome!" Rainbow Dash looked around. "Who, who? Do I know them? Is it Chronicle? I could swear I saw him walking on the water a while ago."

The two ponies made their way to the bank, but Chronicle wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Oh, yes. You’re very close."

As Rainbow looked into her reflection and noticed her inked eye, Chronicle suddenly popped out right next to them, having walked stealthily as they made their way to the water. "Yeah. Very close to a stern beating. Good thing Pinkie Pie has standards. Nice one there, by the way."

The three had a good laugh from the inked eye, then the earth pony and pegasus stopped upon noticing the unicorn, utterly stunned, and their eyes as small as pinpricks.

"I can be stealthy when I want to be.", he said with a chuckle. "And I know how to have fun too. You should've seen the looks on your faces." He then burst out laughing, and was soon followed by the others. He then put his hoof out for a high five, then yanked it back when Rainbow and Pinkie tried to slap it.

"So that means you're—", Pinkie was about to say.

"No. Pranks are still not my thing, I just happened to be in the area. We should go on home."

"Yeah. It's almost sunset. See ya, Chronicle."

"See ya." As the two pranksters left, Chronicle looked over to the other side of the bend. Fluttershy was now alone with the decoy turtle. She cautiously tried to pet it, only to see the head bounce back and forth on its spring, surprising her. I wonder if I should tell her what it really is? Either way, I should take her home.

C—RD—F—PP—C—RD—F—PP—C—RD—F—PP

Sunrise, the next day…

Just outside Ponyville proper, near Sweet Apple Acres, Pinkie Pie trotted down the dirt path beside Chronicle, wearing a pair of joke glasses with a big red nose and droopy mustache attached and blowing on a noisemaker. The earth pony was also wearing the classic “arrow through the head” over her mane.

The unicorn just rolled his eyes as the two of them approached Rainbow Dash's house. It was a house built of clouds and rainbows, sporting a number of Greek-style columns and floated at a very low altitude, but still above their heads. A stream of the variegated light spilt over the edge as a waterfall. Pinkie was here to greet her fellow prankster while Chronicle was here to invite his temporary sparring partner.

"Rise and shine, Rainbow Dash!", Pinkie called out. "It’s a brand new day, and we got a lot of pranking to—"

A head poked out, but it wasn't of their friend's, but that of a bald eagle with feathers swept forward on top of the head. It aimed a puzzled and slightly hostile yellow eye toward ground level. "Ooh!"

Three seconds later, Rainbow Dash popped her head up from the roof. "Mornin’, Pinks! Mornin’, Chronicle!" She then dropped to ground level and addressed the newcomer.

Good thing she hasn't come up with a nickname for me. If she calls me Chro, I'm smacking her upside.

"Gilda, this is Chronicle and my gal pal Pinkie Pie."

The visitor then descended with a shrill cry, revealing herself to be a griffon—brown-furred lion’s body, tail, and hind legs; eagle’s head, wings, and talons on the forelegs. All of Pinkie’s joke items dropped to the ground when she and Chronicle got a good look at the creature, whose female voice and body language practically screamed “too hip for the room.” in the unicorn's mind.

"Hey, what’s up?", the griffon greeted.

"Pinkie, Chronicle, this is my griffon friend Gilda.", Rainbow introduced.

"What’s a griffon?", Pinkie asked.

Gilda spread her wings in a crouch and jumped toward the three. "She’s half eagle, half lion—"

"And all awesome!", Gilda finished as she threw a foreleg around Rainbow’s shoulders, who playfully pushed her away. After a playful snarl, the two of them laughed and chattered while trading their particular version of a secret shake. As the pink pony stared with some bewilderment, the unicorn (and only male in the area) put a hoof to his chin.

Hmm…now where have I seen her before? …Nah, must be another griffon. Met one or five during my other contracts.

"Gilda’s my best friend from my days at Junior Speedster Flight Camp.", Rainbow explained, then turned to Gilda. "Hey, remember the chant?"

"Sh’yah. They made us recite it every morning. I’ll never get that lame thing out of my head."

"Sooo…?"

The griffon met her big smile with an unenthusiastic little groan. "Only for you, Dash."

Both rose into the air to do the choreography for the chant. Obviously, Gilda looked like she would rather be doing something else.

Now Playing: Junior Speedsters Chant

Junior Speedsters are our lives,♪
Sky-bound soars and daring dives.♪

The two then landed on the ground.

Junior Speedsters, it’s our quest♪
To someday be the very best!♪

End Song

Pinkie’s response was to laugh and stomp one hoof on the ground, prompting both Speedster alumni to turn their heads away in embarrassment for a moment. Chronicle just rolled his eyes once more.

"Oh, that was awesome!", Pinkie said. "And it gave me a great idea for a prank!" She shoved her head into the pile of novelties to put them all back in place. "Gilda, you game?"

"Huh. Well, I groove on a good prank as much as the next griffon." Gilda then elbowed Rainbow, spreading her wings. "But, Dash, you promised me we’d get a flying session in this morning." She then lifted off.

"Yeah, uh, well…Pinkie Pie, Chronicle, you don’t mind, do you?" Rainbow started to hover. "Gilda just got here. We’ll catch up with you later."

"Oh! Um…well, sure, no problem.", Pinkie said as they zoomed off. "Have fun, you guys! I’ll, uh, just catch up with you…" She then sighed dejectedly and sat back on her haunches. "…later."

As the noisemaker in her mouth sounded off weakly, Chronicle was still waving at them. "See ya."

C—RD—PP—G—C—RD—PP—G—C—RD—PP—G

Eyecatch (picture-type) - In the outskirts of Ponyville, Pinkie Pie and Chronicle down on the lower left corner of the screen, and Rainbow Dash and Gilda flying on the top right corner of the screen. The show's logo is seen on the upper left.

C—RD—PP—G—C—RD—PP—G—C—RD—PP—G

Later…

Chronicle was up at the Request Board once again, looking for something to do. Beside him was an earth pony mare with a cyan coat, white mane styled like Bon Bon's, magenta eyes, and two linked horseshoes as a cutie mark.

"Hi, Linky.", he greeted. "What'cha lookin' for?"

"It's Shoeshine.", corrected the earth pony. "And I'm looking for—ooh, here it is!"

Chronicle decided to take a peek and saw that— "It's a requesting part-time help at…moving some crates? Shoeshine, are you sure about this?"

"Yeah. I could use the extra bits."

"But aren't you a little…"

"I'm an earth pony. Physical labor is generally easier for us than pegasi or unicorns."

"That's true, I guess. Well, see ya."

"See ya."

Once Shoeshine was gone, Chronicle was back in his thoughts. "Hmm…now what was I…oh, right." He then 'took out' a scroll of paper from "hammerspace" and 'rolled' it open.

It was a request ordering for a "good" training dummy, preferably one like the type the royal guards of Canterlot use, "if they use any at all". The reward was high as he didn't know how much it may be, if there even was.

Chronicle then 'procured' a nail and hammer, noting these didn't seem to be perfectly (but still) usable for ponies (outside unicorn telekinesis). With the two items, he 'nailed' his request on the Request Board, then 'took out' another.

This one was for a combat session/spar with him. Whoever was interested would engage in combat with him; and they would receive a reward after, with a sizable bonus should they win. Chronicle didn't write down the victory or defeat conditions, but he had them down in his head; if any of them breaks a bone or draws blood, the one with the injury loses. He'll also stop the fight should his challenger be too tired to go on, even if they insist they continue. In that case, depending on how well they fought, he'll also reward them with more bits, but never reaching the 'victory' bonus amount.

After 'taking out' another nail from "hammerspace", and using it and the hammer to nail his second request, another pony came up to the board and looked at the requests. Chronicle turned to see a purple unicorn stallion (a shade darker than his charge Twilight) with lime green eyes, hair in two dark shades of blue, a conservatively-shaped mane, a slightly messed-up tail longer than his own, a red ascot around his neck, and a a cutie mark consisting of a yellow-outlined red knight's shield depicting a white star inside. He seemed to be looking at the job application request Mystic Shield had put up.

Curious, Chronicle walked up to the unicorn and tried to strike up a conversation. "Hey, you seem interested in that job."

The unicorn turned to him and made a face, something Chronicle found suspicious, but couldn't put a hoof on. "Yeah.", he agreed in a deep yet gentle voice. "You too?"

"Uh-huh. In spite of the obvious peace in Ponyville, I have a…slight lust for battle. Also, I'm a little disappointed in how defenseless these ponies can be."

"I know how you feel.", he replied. "To live in a completely peaceful world, a world that can be left completely vulnerable should invaders attack, be they dragons, griffons, beings from the stars, or what have you. I wish for everypony to be capable of defending themselves should that time come. Alas, I am but one unicorn."

"Yeah. Me too. But together, as soon as the Self-Defense Academy is up, we can be at least one step closer to achieving that dream. Ain't that right, …Mystic Shield?"

"Yeah…" Three seconds later, the purple unicorn widened his eyes in shock and shook his head vigorously. "Wait a minute! How do you know my name?!"

"To tell the truth, I just guessed it."

The purple unicorn gave a short chuckle. "Well, you guessed right. I am Mystic Shield. Mind if I ask what's yours?"

"It's Chronicle. Nice to meet you, Mystic Shield.", Chronicle offered a hoof in greeting.

"Mystic works just fine, although Master Shield should be what you should address me once the dojo's up.", Mystic replied as he took the hoof and shook it.

"Aren't we getting a little too early for that?"

"You got a point there. Well, I'll keep the request up in case others wish to help. I'm gonna put an ad once we finish setting up."

"You wanna start now?"

"Tomorrow. The ponies I hired still need to finish unpacking my stuff. I just moved here."

"Well, you better be careful in that case."

"Why is that, might I ask?"

"Two words: Pinkie Pie." Chronicle then turned to leave. "Well, see ya. I live at the Books and Branches Library."

"Nice meeting you, Chronicle."

"You too, Mystic."

C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS

After his talk with Mystic Shield, he returned to the library, where Pinkie Pie was having a conversation with Twilight Sparkle, who was reading a book and flipping pages with magic. Spike was on the stairs, reading a different book.

"So, Pinkie Pie…", Twilight said. "…are you sure that this friend of Rainbow Dash is really so mean?"

"Um, yeah!", Pinkie replied as she continued to pace. "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! Well, actually, I’ve never met a griffon at all. But I bet if I had, she wouldn’t have been as mean and grumpy as Gilda!"

"You know what I think, Pinkie Pie?"

"Hmm?"

"Well, I think…you’re jealous."

"Jealous?!?"

"Green with envy.", Spike put in. "Well, in your case, pink with envy."

"Well, yes, jealous.", agreed Twilight. "Listen, Pinkie. I don’t want to upset you, but just because Rainbow Dash has another friend doesn’t make Gilda a grump."

"I'll have to agree with her.", said Chronicle. "I mean, this is a childhood friend we're talking about here. They haven't met for quite some time, and I'm sure they're just catching up on old times."

"I mean, perhaps it’s you, Pinkie, who needs to improve her attitude."

The sole stallion turned to the pink earth pony and saw that the idea seemed to sit very badly in her brain under that fluffy magenta mane.

"Improve my attitude?", Pinkie said, stammering. "But I—but it’s Gilda that—are you seri—" She then gave up on the discussion with a frustrated yell and stalked out, slamming the library door hard enough to shake the whole building. Twilight sighed as she and Spike traded a very worried glance.

"I gotta go.", said Chronicle as he opened the door. "I wanna know a bit more about Gilda. I want to assure myself that she won't cause trouble as I know griffons to have a general animosity against ponies."

"How do you know about griffons?", Twilight asked.

"Remember, I've been through lots of stuff before I became your bodyguard. Maybe you should read up on them." And with that, he followed Pinkie out of the library, although he nearly lost her. After a while, he found his way to the park and located her.

As he approached the pink earth pony, he heard her say, "Maybe Twilight is right. Maybe Gilda isn’t a big mean grumpy mean meanie-pants. Maybe I’m just a big jealous judgmental jealous jealousy-pants." She then sighed.

"Pinkie.", Chronicle called and she turned to face him. "You obviously didn't tell Twilight everything in your fit of frustration. I'm sure she wouldn't have said what she had said had she understood better." Whoa. I think I almost twisted my tongue there. "Mind telling me?"

"Okay."

C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP

Sometime later…

"So that's what happened…"

The two ponies were now sipping an ice cream soda each at an outdoor table. The table was situated close to a building whose roof resembled a heavily decorated gingerbread house with two cupcakes stacked on top. There were candy-striped columns on either side of its two-part door, and iced-gingerbread fences by the flowerbeds, a sign marked with a cupcake hanging near one window, a water pump and trough stand at the opposite side, a weather vane and violet rock-candy projection at one end of the roof, and two upper stories decorated to resemble a pair of stacked cupcakes, with candles on the topmost one. According to Pinkie Pie, this was Sugarcube Corner, a bakery where she's employed in.

"Yeah."

"Well, judging by your story, it seems to me you're indeed jealous of her taking Rainbow Dash."

"But—"

"However, I can see that Gilda's either really a meanie-pants, or she's also jealous of you taking her. …Hold on. We don't normally wear clothes to begin with, do we?"

Just then, the sound of an overhead flight and two unmistakable laughing voices caused Pinkie to nearly upset both the table and her drink. Chronicle just looked up to see two familiar faces.

"That was sweet!", they heard Gilda say.

"Ugh.", replied Rainbow Dash as they flew among the rooftops. "…I gotta take care of a few weather jobs around here. Shouldn’t take long." They then landed on the ground. "Just, uh, hang out in town and I’ll come find you."

"That’s cool, I guess. I’m gonna go chow down."

"Later!"

After Rainbow has flown away, Gilda looked around, then locked her eyes on a produce cart tended to by Lightning Bolt. Granny Smith was coming over to check out ears of corn. Chronicle then saw the griffon sneak into the cart and pop out her tail from the display, prompting a terrified scream from the old mare.

"A rattler! A rattler!", Granny yelled. "Run for the hills!" She proceeded to flee quickly as her creaky joints will allow—that is, not very. "Everybody run, save yourselves!"

Gilda then put her head up behind the display to see her handiwork, and Lightning gave her a puzzled look. Those looks were shared by Bon Bon and Amethyst Star, who were in the area.

Gilda then patted her tail on a tomato in the stand and said to Lightning, "This stuff ain’t fresh, dude."

Pinkie, at her table, saw the whole thing alongside her friend. "Aw, poor Granny Smith!", she said. "She didn’t know it was a joke. How mean!…No, no. I can’t misjudge her. It was kind of a funny prank…I guess?"

"No matter how I look at it, pulling pranks on seniors is a crime in my book.", voiced Chronicle. "They could get a heart attack and…"

Just then, Gilda stopped at another produce cart. Medley was tending to it and Bon Bon and Shoeshine were customers. With a quick look back and forth, the griffon filched an apple using her tail without being noticed, then quickly consumed it with one chomp as she continued on.

Pinkie gasped angrily at this while Chronicle seemed slightly peeved. "I did misjudge her!", Pinkie said. "She’s not only a meanie mean-pants, she’s also a thief!…No, no, no, no, no. She might give it back. It’s just a joke."

"Is it?", asked Chronicle. "I can tolerate one theft, but if she does a repeat offense, old friend of Rainbow Dash or not, I'll have to bring her to justice."

Just then, they saw Fluttershy walking backwards her eyes fixed on a family of ducks she was escorting down the street. "All right, little ones.", she said "This way, this way. Mama Duck, you’re free and clear."

Surrounding ponies watched from where they stood…and none of them even warned her of Gilda's approach from the opposite direction until Fluttershy's rump collided with the half-avian's white-feathered crest.

"Hey!", the griffon demanded.

"Please excuse me."

"I’m walkin’ here!"

Fluttershy began to back up, scared "Oh…um…I’m sorry…I-I-I was just trying to—"
Gilda cut her off and mocked her tone. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” She then viciously advanced as the ducks scattered. "Why don’t you just watch where you’re going, doofus?"

"But…b-b-but…I…I…"

The griffon sucked in a double lungful of air and let out a deafening roar directly into the meek pegasus’s face. There was dead silence except for a sheep’s bleat, which gave way to Fluttershy’s sobbing as she fled the scene first on hooves and then by wings.

Chronicle could see everypony in the area stare in shock (as well as Cloud Kicker's eyes going askew) from this as something in his mind snapped. Pinkie saw all of this as well, including Gilda’s run up to make sure she was gone.

"Ugh! Please.", Gilda then said as everypony (including Cloud) looked at her in disdain. "All these lame ponies are driving me buggy. I gotta bail." Just before she could fly off, she was tackled by something. As they began to roll along the dirt road, Gilda saw that her attacker was Chronicle, who looked straight up angry.

"Pranking a senior is one thing.", he declared as he stopped right on top of her. "Stealing without needing to is another. But scaring off Fluttershy like that, you've gone too far!"

Gilda kicked him off of her with her lion paw hind-legs. "So what, dweeb? You think you can just take me on?"

Chronicle swiftly got up on his feet in one smooth movement. "I'd love to see what a griffon can do." Quickly, he took out a lasso he borrowed from Applejack the other day and tied up the griffon. He then cast a spell on his legs and enhanced his speed, and then ran in a certain direction, taking the griffon with him and ignoring the reactions from the townsfolk.

In seconds, he made it to his "training range", where he tossed Gilda to. She slammed into the library wall, where she fell to the ground, then proceeded to snap the rope off of her. Chronicle entered the "training range" after her.

"What's the big idea, punk?!", Gilda demanded as she prepared to charge.

"Have you not even looked at yourself, Gilda?!", Chronicle demanded as he readied his "magic horn blade". "Or are griffons generally this nasty to ponies?!"

"What do you care?!"

"What do I care?! I don't know what past you got with Rainbow Dash, but I'm not gonna tolerate bullies of your degree 'round here!"

"…I don't know what kind of gibberish you just spouted right now, but I'm gonna teach you a lesson!"

"It's you who needs a lesson learned!"

Simultaneously, the two quadrupeds charged right for each other.

C—RD—F—PP—G—C—RD—F—PP—G—C—RD—F—PP—G

The fight was very rough, but against Chronicle's expectations, Gilda emerged victorious. The unicorn held back because he did not want to injure her too much, whereas the griffon was extremely relentless and did not go easy in the slightest. It was only after creating some moderate gashes in his body (as well as a scratch in the face) did she stop.

They had exchanged blows in their bout, "horn blade" and talons countering one another, Gilda taking advantage of her flight, Chronicle trying to rack up his memory on what to do against flying foes. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to recall much and was trounced. He couldn't remember what Gilda said to him as he lay on the ground trying to regain consciousness, but he was sure it was an insult. Once she was gone, he struggled to get up.

"Oww…I'm really gonna need that spar with Rainbow Dash.", he complained to himself.

"Chronicle!", a voice called. He struggled to turn and saw that it was Mystic Shield, who wore a pair of saddlebags. They were colored purple and the buckles depicted the white star in Mystic's cutie mark.

"Mystic.", Chronicle greeted back.

"What happened to you?!"

"Picked a fight with a griffon. Ended up regretting it."

"You're hurt!"

"What gave it away, huh?"

"Snarky, aren't we?" Mystic then 'took out' a bandage (which was wrapped in a light green aura) and 'put' it on Chronicle's face.

"I guess."

"Tell you what? I'll take you to my home and perhaps we can talk for a bit."

"Sure. I could use some guy talk."

"Guy talk?"

"Aside from a baby dragon named Spike, the rest of my friends are girls."

"Feeling awkward?"

"Yeah…sometimes."

C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS

Eyecatch (picture-type) - On the left side of the screen is a defeated Chronicle in his "training range" and on the right is a triumphant Gilda in the same place. On the upper right is the show's logo.

C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS

Half an hour later…

Chronicle, was walking beside Mystic Shield as the former found himself telling the latter everything he knows about his friends.

"Oh, so you confronted Nightmare Moon in battle?", Mystic said. "And your friends are the keepers of the Elements of Harmony?"

"Yeah." Chronicle calls them in his head "E.O.H. keepers" for short. "Although only Ponyville and Canterlot Castle know."

"Why'd you confide this information with me? For all you can tell, I might be a spy."

"Uhh…"

"But don't worry. You heard my little monologue back at the Request Board, right? Oh, here we are."

The two unicorn stallions stopped in front of a house. It looked like one of many in Ponyville, except it was bigger, and it had a sign nailed on top of the doorway, which was a pair of double doors. The sign depicted some characters he was familiar with, but couldn't understand them.

Darn. I should've studied my Japanese better. I know that's what it is, but what does it say? How is it that Equestria has the same languages as—

"Come on in.", Mystic said, interrupting Chronicle's thoughts. Just before they could reach the door, he stopped short. "Wait a second."

"Huh?"

"One of your friends, Pinkie Pie. She likes to host parties, right?"

"Yeah?"

Mystic then opened the door, revealing a pitch-black expanse. "And you told me she posted a party for you, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike in the library, right?"

"Right?"

"And you told me earlier to be careful, right?"

"Just where are you going with this?", asked Chronicle as the two unicorns walked in.

"I'm saying that I think something's bound to happen right about—"

He was cut off by the lights being turned on—revealing a lot of ponies, many of whom blew on noisemakers in their mouths. Streamers hung from the upper reaches of the room, which was supposed to be reminiscent of a karate dojo. However, there were now loads of table and a full-on shindig was about to get started.

"SURPRISE!!", they all cried out.

Confetti rained down over the two, and a party favor was blown out in front of Mystic Shield, who gave a small smirk. As the party went in full swing, Pinkie Pie popped out of nowhere.

"Surprise!", she yelled. "Hi. I’m Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you!" She began to hop around. "Were you surprised? Were you, were you? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"To tell the truth, I've been warned a bit, but I still appreciate the party."

"Yippee! I'm glad you like it!"

"Oh, yeah. I remember seeing you when I first came into town. You were looking for somepony named Rainbow Dash. However, upon seeing me, you then zoomed off."

"That's what she did when we first arrived.", Chronicle put in.

Mystic then put a hoof on Pinkie's mouth, stopping her from saying anything else. "You don't have to ramble on how you never saw me, meaning I'm new, because you know everypony in Ponyville. And that if I'm new, I probably haven't met anyone yet, that I probably don't have any friends, and that I probably must be lonely, making you sad. Or on how you then had an idea and decided to throw this welcome party for me and invite everypony in Ponyville so I can have lots and lots of friends. Did I miss anything?" Once he was finished speaking, Pinkie was uncharacteristically silent with shock. "Chronicle here told me all about his welcome party."

With that, Pinkie lightened up. "I see! Wanna party?"

"Be my guest. Wait. Actually, I am a guest."

Pinkie giggled at this and said, "You're so funny. Come on." She then pulled Mystic somewhere as the party continued.

C—PP—MS—C—PP—MS—C—PP—MS—C—PP—MS

A while later…

As the party continued to…happen, Pinkie Pie now stood at the front door, where Chronicle saw Shoeshine enter. The stallion was standing with the rest of his friends, who have been invited as well. He had been patched up with a couple of white bandages thanks to Mystic Shield and was already in better shape.

"Welcome!", Pinkie said to her. "Welcome! Welcome!"

"Who’s this Gilda I’ve heard nothin’ about?", Applejack asked Rarity.

"I hear she’s an old friend of Rainbow Dash, a griffon. So rare."

"Yeah. A rare pain in the—" Chronicle was cut off by somepony bumping into him, hitting right into one of his bandages. He cringed in pain. "Oww…"

"You’ve met Gilda, right?", Twilight Sparkle asked Fluttershy, who seemed to be feeling better. "What’s she like?"

"Oh…um, well…I’ll tell you later, Twilight." The yellow pegasus then approached Pinkie as Minuette and Golden Harvest were greeted. At around the same time, Chronicle did the same thing.

"Welcome!", Pinkie greeted. "Welcome!"

"Um, Pinkie Pie, about this party for Gilda—um, do you really think it’s a good idea? I mean—"

"Yeah.", agreed Chronicle. "Are you really sure about—"

"Don’t worry your pretty little heads about mean old Gilda." Pinkie cut them both off, then knocked them on the head. "Your auntie Pinkie Pie’s got it all taken care of."

She failed to notice that her response has left both of them rather vexed, and she turned back toward the door without bothering to hear their responses.

"I’m a year older than you.", said the pegasus.

"And I'm two years your senior.", said the unicorn.

Just then, Gilda entered and Pinkie jumped over to greet her. "Gilda! I’m so honored to throw you one of my signature Pinkie Pie parties! Well, It's also a welcome party for somepony else. But anyway, I really, truly, sincerely hope you feel welcome here amongst all us pony folk."

Pinkie then held out a hoof and gave a big grin. Gilda reluctantly shook the hoof—and received a full-body electric shock that sent the griffon tottering to the floor—and put an even bigger grin on the pink pony’s face. Chronicle spied a joy buzzer attached to Pinkie's hoof as she laughed over the stunt and Gilda got upright with a scowl.

Rainbow Dash also laughed as she trotted over to the pair. "Oh, Pinkie Pie!", she said. "The old hoof-shake buzzer! You are a scream!"

Gilda forced a smile and chuckled. "Yeah. Uh, good one, Pinkie Pie."

Rainbow began to trot off. "Come on, G. I’ll introduce you to some of my other friends."

"Right behind you, Dash!" Once the pegasus was out of earshot, the griffon turned to Pinkie menacingly. "I know what you’re up to."

Pinkie was still smiling. "Great!"

Gilda gave an exasperated groan. "I know what you’re planning!"

Pinkie just giggled. "Well, I hope so. This wasn’t supposed to be a surprise party. Well, not for you, anyway."

"I mean, I’ve got my eye on you." Pinkie then leaned directly into her face.

"And I got my eye on you." At this line, she bulged her eyes out comically on this line, then backed off to leave one rather bemused bad girl standing alone. Now standing amid the crowd, Pinkie announced, "Everyone, I’d like you all to meet Gilda, a long-time, dear friend of Rainbow Dash." She then zoomed in to hug her. "Let’s honor her and welcome her to Ponyville."

As she zipped away, Gilda shot a hairy eyeball after her, but quickly traded it in for a smile as the other guests cheered and Rainbow Dash threw a hoof around her shoulders.

"Please help yourself." Pinkie said as she stood next to a bowl of candy. Mystic Shield was there, levitating—

"Vanilla lemon drops!", said Gilda as she picked up one with her talons. "Don’t mind if I do."

At the same time, both griffon and purple unicorn tossed their snacks into their mouths. Instantly, Gilda squinched her entire face up in pain as steam whistled out from her ears and sweat sprayed from her face. She promptly let go with a fiery belch akin to a dragon breath. Pinkie then picked up a stick in her teeth so she can roast the marshmallow impaled on it in the flames before they died down.

"Now where did that marshmallow come from?", Mystic asked himself.

"HOT!!", gasped Gilda.

"G!", Rainbow called out. "The punch!"

Gilda raced past her, and took a full glass from one of the tables. She then gulped it hastily…or so she thought; as it turned out, the punch was leaking out of a hole in the glass.

There were laughs from everypony. "Well, what do you know?", said Pinkie. "Pepper in the vanilla lemon drops, and the punch served in a dribble glass!"

Rainbow chuckled. "Priceless. Priceless!" She laughed as Gilda zipped across the room and successfully downed another glass, gasping for breath.

"Yeah. Hilarious.", Gilda said sarcastically.

Back at the lemon drops, Mystic turned to Chronicle. "There was pepper in the vanilla lemon drops?", he asked.

"Yeah. Got my tongue burnt by one of them." The blue unicorn stuck out his tongue in disgust. "I hate spicy foods. And bitter. And sour. That bowl's filled with them. How are you…"

"I can tolerate all things spicy. Just don't make me taste a rainbow, though."

"Huh?"

Before Mystic could reply, they were cut off when they heard Rainbow Dash call out, "Hey, G!" as she stood by a table stacked with gifts. "Look! Presents!"

Greed brought the griffon over in a trice. Mystic trotted over as the griffon grabbed one and pulled its ribbon with her beak, only to have a mass of 'snakes' pop out in her face. Mystic jumped at the “snake can” trick, which left Gilda dazed and disheveled. There was more laughter from everypony in the party.

"Spittin’ snakes!", Applejack said to Rarity. "Somepony pulled that prank on me last month."

"Ha, ha.", said Gilda. "I bet I know who that was."

"You do?", Pinkie asked.

Mystic 'took' another one of the presents, a cube-shaped one, and 'shook' it. It started to rattle, then its top popped off as it revealed itself to be a jack-in-the-box, startling Mystic as he gave a girlish scream. This earned him a collective laugh from everypony.

As Chronicle watched from where he stood, Pinkie suddenly popped out of nowhere. "Hey there, Chronicle!", she greeted as she held a present on her back. "I'd like you to have this! Don't open it until your birthday, okay?" She then tossed it up into the air and zoomed off. The blue unicorn 'caught' it, verified it wasn't a prank, then decided to keep his promise.

"Okay, Pinkie.", he said as he then 'stored' the present into his "hammerspace pocket".

C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—G—MS

A third of an hour later…

Fluttershy had invited a group of birds, lined them up on a ledge, and was directing them in a song. Of course, she asked for Mystic Shield's permission, who granted it as long as she'll clean up any waste or mess they make afterward.

Just then, Pinkie Pie came over with a cake loaded with lit candles. "Cake time, everypony!", she said as she pushed the cake on a wheeled platform to the center of the floor.

Spike, who was late to the party because of some errands for Twilight, walked up to it. "Hey! Can I blow out the candles?", he asked.

"Why don’t we let Gilda blow out the candles, Spike?", Twilight suggested. "She is the guest of honor, after all."

"Don't you mean Mystic Shield?", Chronicle asked. "This is his house we're partying in. And he's the one Pinkie is throwing this party for."

"Oh, I don't mind.", Mystic said. "Give the griffon a go."

Said griffon then flashed over, elbowing Spike away, her feathers back in order. "Exactly!" She then took a deep breath, blew out all the candles—and then is greatly perplexed to see them all relight themselves. Another try left her slightly winded and earned a round of laughs, even Mystic, when the wicks blazed back up. Several more attempts got the same result.

"Relighting birthday candles!", Spike laughed. "I love that prank! What a classic!"

"Now I wonder who could’ve done that?", Pinkie asked herself.

"Yeah. I wonder.", snarked Gilda as Spike gobbled/tunneled himself into the cake.

"Who cares?", asked Spike, his voice muffled by cake. "This cake is amazing!" At the end of this, he popped out through the top, scattering frosting and candles everywhere.

"Spike!", Twilight scolded him.

"What? It’s great! Try some."

"Don't mind if I do.", said Mystic as he levitated a plate and fork so he could serve himself. This bit of gluttony started to work Gilda’s last good nerve as Rainbow Dash came over.

"Hey, G.", she said. "You’re not upset about some silly candles, are you?"

Gilda composed herself. "No way, Dash. Like I said, I’m down with a good prank."

Rainbow then zipped right next to Mystic, who was taking a bite out of his slice. "Come on, then. Let’s have some cake."

"Hey, are you all right?", Twilight asked Chronicle as she stroked at the bandage on his face, making him wince.

"What?", he replied as he gave a sidelong glance at Pinkie, who was now behind the cake. "Only noticed this just now? Relax. It's just a catscratch." He gave a reassuring smile as he lied. "I get these all the time whenever I accept a cat-finding request at the Request Board."

"That doesn't explain the other wounds." Twilight pointed at the other bandages.

"That cat did a number on me. And was much more dangerous than last time."

"Hey, y’all!", called Applejack. "It’s Pin the Tail on the Pony!"

The two turned to see that she's near the door. A paper pony tail lay before her, and a drawing of the tailless animal was tacked up on the wall.

"Let’s play!"

"Oh, my favorite game!", said Rarity. "Can I go first? Can I have the purple tail?"

"No way.", Mystic argued as he 'took' the tail. "This party's for me, so I should very well get it."

Gilda leaped for him with intent to snatch the tail, but was barred by a green force field from Mystic. She quickly got up and walked over to him. "I am the guest of honor, and I’ll have the purple tail.", she said.

"Fine. Here you go." Mystic levitated the tail to Gilda's expectant talon. "You could've just asked."

"Yeah!", Pinkie agreed. "Gilda should definitely go first." Spike then produced a blindfold and walked over. "Let’s get you blindfolded."

"Hey!", Gilda protested as Spike tied the cloth over her eyes and jumped off her back. "What are you doing?" She then gave a snarl as Pinkie grabbed hold of her and gave a heave that set her spinning, then backed away.

"We’re spinning you around and around, and then you can pin the tail on the pony."

Once Gilda stopped spinning, feeling giddy, Pinkie guided the griffon right to the tail. "Now just walk straight ahead and pin the tail."

“Now just walk straight ahead and pin the tail.”, Gilda parroted mockingly, then gave a snort. "Yeah, right. This is another prank, isn’t it?" She then walked away from wall. "I’m going this way."

"Wait! The poster is this—"

One taloned foot came down in a splotch of frosting to send Gilda skidding and yelling across the room, straight through the bat-wing doors leading into what was apparently the kitchen. The resulting crash shook the entire house, and as clouds of flour puffed out, Gilda emerged a weary, bleary wreck, smeared with cake and various other sweet stuff. The blindfold was off, and the tail hung across her beak like a mustache.

"Uh, Gilda?", Pinkie attempted to make a joke. "You pinned the tail on the wrong end."

The ensuing round of laughter was the very last straw for the luckless griffon, who threw off all the gunk with a bellowing roar and hovered above the crowd.

"This is your idea of a good time?", she cried out. "I’ve never met a lamer bunch of dweebs in all my life! And Pinkie Pie…you!" She pointed in Pinkie’s face, then leaned to her. "You are Queen Lame-o with your weak little party pranks! Did you really think you could make me lose my cool?" She then slid to Rainbow Dash. "Well, Dash and I have ten times as much cool as the rest of you put together!" She failed to notice her friend's face hardens. "Come on, Dash." Gilda walked to the door. "We’re bailing on this pathetic scene." The pegasus did not stir a hoof even as her old friend stopped at the door. "Come on, Rainbow Dash! I said, we’re leaving!"

Not a single face was smiling anymore, not even Pinkie.

"You know, Gilda, I was the one who set up all those 'weak' pranks at this party."

This proved to be a direct hit to Gilda. "What?!"

"Ooh!", Pinkie said.

"So I guess I’m Queen Lame-o. "

"Come on, Dash! You’re joshing me!"

"They weren’t all meant for you specifically. It was just dumb luck that you set them all off."

"And I was actively trying to find them before you did.", put in Mystic.

"You were?", Chronicle whispered to him.

Pinkie gave a smile to Spike. "I shoulda known! That dribble cup had Rainbow Dash written all over it."

"No way!" Gilda was in denial. "I-It was Pinkie Pie! She set up this party to trip me up, to make a fool of me!"

Pinkie seemed to be genuinely surprised at this. "Me? I threw this party to improve your attitude." She then turned her head until her face was upside down. "I thought a good party might turn that frown upside down."

"And you sure didn’t need any help making a fool of yourself.", Rainbow added. "You know, this is not how I thought my old friend would treat my new friends. If being cool is all you care about, maybe you should go find some new cool friends someplace else."

The recipient of this tongue lashing snarled to herself and spread her wings. "Yeah? Well…you…you…you are such an…a flip-flop! Cool one minute and lame the next." Gilda proceeded to walk out "When you decide not to be lame anymore, give me a call." The door was slammed and her shrill cry was heard to mark her departure.

"Not cool."

"Wow. Talk about a party-pooper.", said Spike and there were general murmurs of agreement.

"I’m sorry, everypony, for bringing Gilda here. I didn’t know how rude she was. And, Pinkie Pie, I’m really sorry she ruined that awesome party you put on for her."

"A-hem.", Mystic cut in. "It's my party too, you know."

"Yeah, that too."

Pinkie just gave a smile. "Hey, if you want to hang out with party-poopers, that’s your business. "

"I’d rather hang out with you." Rainbow then held out hoof to shake. "No hard feelings?"

"No hard feelings."

The moment they shook, both of them got a jolt that started the whole crowd laughing—save for one pony—and the two pranksters joined in, turning over their hooves to reveal a joy buzzer on each."

"Hey, Pinkie.", Twilight said as she walked over. "Sorry I accused you of misjudging Gilda. Looks like I’m the one who misjudged you.

Pinkie put a foreleg around her shoulders. "It’s okay, Twilight. Even you can’t be a super-smart smarty smart-pants all the time." Pinkie then turned to the crowd, half-rearing-half-jumping excitedly. "Come on, everypony! There’s still a whole lotta party to finish! We still got Mystic Shield as our guest of honor!"

There was laughter and cheers as Twilight gave a thoughtful smile, ideas for her next letter already underway.

The one pony who didn't resume laughing was Chronicle, who seemed to be deeply regretting something. Oh no. What have I done? What have I done? Mystic Shield noticed and walked over.

"What's wrong?"

"You might call me crazy for this, but…I feel like I just ruined someone's life, possibly for life."

"You mean Gilda?" Mystic asked as the two watched Spike ride on Cloud Kicker and tie the blindfold around her eyes.

"Yeah. At first, she seemed to be just a mere obscene jerk to me, but then I realize that it could be as easily just the griffon in her acting up. From what I've managed to learn about them from books and personal experience, griffons have a deep-seated and irrational animosity to ponies that they have to train themselves to control. They also mate for life, and should they lose them, they quickly waste away from longing."

"Hold on. Let me guess where you're going with this; you think Gilda has a much closer bond with Rainbow Dash than we all thought?"

"That's what I'm afraid of."

As the two talked, Rainbow came over. "Hey, Chronicle. Think you're up for a spar tomorrow?"

Chronicle gave a weak smile after realizing that Rainbow had taken into account his injuries that meant he was in no shape to spar for the rest of the day. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"What's wrong?", Rainbow then asked as neither of them noticed Mystic get pulled off somewhere by Pinkie.

"I know this might sound odd coming from me, but…oh, never mind. We'll talk during our spar." It's about Gilda. I want to know more about her past with you, and I want you to perhaps try talking to her again. I don't want any of us to be responsible for wasting away a life we have no clue about.

C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—G—MS

After the party, just before his scheduled spar with Rainbow Dash…

Chronicle was in the library looking up a book about griffons, while Twilight Sparkle was writing her friendship report.

“Dearest Princess Celestia,”, she began. “Today I learned that 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 hang out 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 she then 'rolled up' the scroll, Chronicle noticed her 'take up' a bottle of what he remembered was disappearing ink. As he paused from his reading and walked over, he saw her 'place' a sticker over the disappearing ink to hide the fact that it was so.

"You plan to send that to the Princess?", he asked her.

"Of course. It's Tuesday today."

"I meant the ink."

"Oh, that? Well, I thought I'd try it out after Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie pulled off that one on me yesterday."

"I see. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

Twilight then called for Spike as she 'put' the disappearing ink within the rolled-up letter. She then 'gave' the letter to him and he blew his green fire over it, sending it over to Princess Celestia.

Chronicle could only guess as to what Celestia's reaction was as he continued to read his book.

Comments

[Spirit Shift]

hmm i understand that gilda had to look unscathed but dont you think that chronicle lost alittle too easily givin that he went hoof to hoof with nightmare moon (though she went easy apparently) without so much as an injury and has been suggested to be able to defeat the ursa minor with relative* ease?
or at least ended in some kind of tie?

[Warrior Kitten]

2602950
I agree, at first he seemed overpowered, now he's underpowered