Pinkie Pie doesn't exactly have a high opinion of Gilda after what happened last time the griffon visited Ponyville—it was nothing but a trainwreck of bullying, thieving, being insufferably mean, and of course, topping it all off by committing the cardinal sin of ruining a party. The only thing that went right was when Rainbow Dash finally kicked her out. Good riddance.
Ponies (and griffons) don't always stay the same forever, though. Eventually the time comes to set aside past feelings and take a fresh look at things... especially when it would mean so much to another friend. Could it be worth giving her a second shot?
Chapters (1)
YES! Gilda is best one shot character.
5737425
I've been wanting to write something with her for a while, and I got my chance here.
Yep.
^_^
It's a rare time where I see a fic in my feed that was just released and I decide to drop everything and read it right away. 99% of the time I'll just mark it "Read Later" and then forget about it for a few months until I feel like reading a fic again. And then I'll look in my folder and read ONE fic, but there's tons in there. So I don't often read really good fics like I should. Well...
Winston, after what happened last time, where Seashell got so buried in my "Read Later" list that I didn't read it for a half of a year, I'm not taking that chance with any of your stories ever again. You're one of the best writers on this website, and it's a crime that you don't have the amount of followers you deserve. Here I am, sitting in a restaraunt and waiting for a table when I randomly check my feed and see your new fic. I disregarded it at first until I saw it was specifically from YOU, at which time I immediately read it. And just like every other time I've read your work, I am blown away.
Your characters are so real, and the story is just so good. The conflict even fits and makes sense within Pinkie Pie's character growth, and above and beyond, there's no major details that tell us what time setting this story is in. As an example, you could have said briefly at one point that Twilight shuffled her wings or something, automatically meaning this has to be post season three. But you didn't. This means this character growth for Pinkie Pie is even more real, because it could be happening back in season one or two, when the mane six were still discovering what they truly meant to one another.
And on top of this, your story is just super cute. It's the kind of story that I think could be an actual episode in the show, and that is just a special kind of story that is just ... I don't know. I don't really have words to describe it. You get what I mean though, I think. It's just super cute!
I look forward with immense joy to the next story you write, Winston. Have a good day!
Good on ya, man. I always love the stories where she's forgiven~
5738103 i love gilda stories, but most never feel long enough. I love watching characters like gilda and trixie and even Sunset Get knocked down for what they cause, and trying to get up, stumble then being helped to their feet/hooves by someone then reconcile with the ones they wronged.
5737425
Agreed! Gilda is best
ponygriffon.5739016 *Bro-claw.... I think that's how it works*
5737608 Thanks so much for all your kind words. I'm really glad you like the story.
It's actually my first time writing either Gilda or Pinkie Pie, so it was a learning experience for me as an author, especially since Pinkie Pie is the character I felt like I have the least understanding of how to write out of the mane 6. I worried quite a bit that I wouldn't be able to do it convincingly.
Good catch on noticing the lack of distinct time markers - that was a thing I very deliberately avoided while I was writing for exactly the reasons you said. The feel of an episode, and one from earlier in the series (maybe season two or so) was definitely what I was going for, since this was an entry for the Everfree Northwest 2015 pre-con writing contest. Achieving that kind of cute "episode" feel was helped a lot by leaving out specific time indicators as well as by the 3,000 word limit on entries - it didn't leave a lot of time for going off on tangents exploring moral quandaries and internal monologue and stuff like that. I had to figure out how to examine the conflict while keeping the pace moving through the story and close it up in a thematically suitable conclusion without running out of space. I was concerned that it might leave too bare of a narrative, but looking at it when it was finished, I had just enough to say everything that the story needed and I'm really happy with how it worked out.
Thanks again, and you have a good day too!
Well written story you have here! Totally awesome moral, conventions are great, and characters are in-character. Good job!
5739655
Well you certainly accomplished your goal. Your story reads as well as swimming through silk. ^_^
Now, at the time I read it and commented and all that stuff yesterday, like I said I was at a restaurant, which meeeans mobile phone. -_- I was unable to favorite the story because of that. Or it might have been because my friends showed up and distracted me. >_> Either way! Have the well deserved favorite now. You more than earned it. If I could follow you again, I would.
5740879 Thanks! Glad you liked it.
Nicely done! I always like a good Gilda story!
Nicely done! Good luck in the contest! :)
5781013 Thanks! Good luck to you as well.
Finished reviewing your story for the Goodfic Bin. I'm happy to let this one in.
Details are here.
Good luck with that contest, too.
5781873 Thank you for the acceptance and the review. I agree, it's a little short, out of necessity. Maybe an expanded cut for after the contest could be an idea.
5781948 I know the feeling, I'm in that contest too. 3K words is a bit restrictive. In any case, good luck!
Hello! I'll be judging this piece for the contest, so let's see what we've got.
5793596 Thanks! I'm looking forward to it.
Had gotten about halfway through this before, but hadn't finished it until now. I liked it! Felt very FiM-ey, like it could be an episode.
As far as criticism, it could've been a bit more meaty, say with Gilda needing to grow a bit throughout the story WHILE Pinkie learned to give a second chance. Would've been cute to see Gilda fighting back her old, awful self/intincts in oder to be the person she wants to be.
That said, a concept like that would've taken up a lot more words, and I think this works in the span of a short Slice-of-Life story.
Nicely done!
I'm not a huge Gilda fan and it's obvious (and I see in the comments that it was the case) that the word limit was troublesome for you. It was for me too. However, you hit all the right notes and got Pinkie dead on and let Dash do the explaining instead of forcing it into bald exposition and made Gilda easier to sympathize with while preserving her slightly gruff character as well (instead of making her go totally 180 and ultra repentant). I enjoyed it a lot, so I'll be adding it to my list of recommendations for the Community Choice award!
Good luck in the competition! :)
5827829
Thanks!
Yes, the word limit made me choose what I was going to include and how to do it by showing instead of resorting to telling. I think it's the kind of challenge that helps me become a better writer, though, so it was an interesting one to take on.
Sweet story! And some super-clever and adoracute Pinkie Pie moments to boot! Well played, Sir, well played.
Official EFNW Pre-Con Contest final round review
First of all, you should be proud you made it this far; that means you're in the top 10%.
Where this story does shine a bit is in Pinkie's antics, which are both classic Pinkie and fresh. This isn't some 'random for the sake of random' Pinkie, this is her doing new, funny things that only she could do. That said... I couldn't really get into it. Maybe it was how the prose was often a bit dry and sometimes redundant, or the pacing too fast with too little detail, or just that the plot was so straightforward and predictable. (And I do have to take the fact that double hyphens were used in place of dashes into account... What can I say? I'm a traditionalist.) But still, not bad. It's probably a better Gilda redemption story than mine was.
You know, after watching The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, I find this story very ironic. Have you ever considered submitting this story to Equestria Daily? You can find out how to do so here.
I think ocalhoun gave a better review than I did, which is a bit scary! But it's about time you had the like I owe you, since (despite inevitably having been overtaken by canon) this is a cute little fic.
6739747 Thank you!