Griffon the Brush Off
"Hoof-biting action overload!" Pinkie Pie rambled as she bounced up and down, "She was like a stunt superstar, flying higher and higher, and then Rainbow Dash swooped down--swoosh--and right before she hit the ground--shoom-she pulled up--vrrrmmm!"
"Uh-huh." Twilight said dismissively, more focused on her book than listening. The two of us had decided to spend some time in the park, as there was a beautiful day to enjoy. Come to think of it, nearly every day was like this. However, as we sat down on a bench by the fountain, who should show up but a certain pink menace?
"And then she looped around and around like whoo whoo whoo whoo whoo whoo whoo!" Pinkie continued on, before throwing herself onto the ground.
"Wonderful." I responded, not in the best of moods. I had just been about to have a nice nap in the warm sunlight, and had it not been for her, I would have done so.
Suddenly, Pinkie noticed something in the sky. Looking up, I quickly noticed a familiar looking cyan coloured pegasus soaring through the air. With that, the pink earth pony got up and rushed after Rainbow Dash, leaving just me and Twilight. Twilight gave a sigh of relief and proceeded to continue reading.
Finally! Some peace and quiet. I closed my eyes, lay down on the bench, and drifted off to sleep...
On pleasant nap later, Twilight and I went back into town. As we stopped outside a bookstore, I began to think about Rainbow Dash. After all that had happened with Nightmare Moon, I just couldn't see why she still didn't like me. What am I in her eyes? Still an alien just waiting to take over the planet? Some stuck up prick who's really full of himself? Actually, scratch the latter. What have I done to give her that impression?
"Twilight, James," a voice said, snapping me out of my train of thought. "have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere?" Pinkie asked.
"Isn't she right up there?" Twilight asked, pointing up to a cloud right on top of us.
"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie called up to the cloud. The cloud suddenly dissipated as Rainbow Dash zoomed off, followed by a bouncing pink pony.
"What do you think that was all about?" I asked Twilight.
"I have no idea." Twilight admitted, "Then again, maybe we should leave her to it."
"Agreed." I responded, "So, is there anything else we should do?"
"Actually," Twilight said, "Would you mind if you went with Spike to get some scrolls for me when we get back to the library? I'm going to stay behind and set up a little experiment I've been wanting to do."
"I wouldn't mind at all Twilight." I answered with a smile, and with that we began to head back to the library.
While Twilight stayed behind to set up her experiment, me and Spike went off to the town hall to get the scrolls Twilight had requested. Spike insisted that he carry them all, the reason being that he was Twilight's number 1 assistant and I wasn't. We were just walking back outside, when suddenly...
*BOOM!*
The sudden crack of thunder caused me and Spike yell in surprise. Spike dropped the scrolls he was carrying and stood silent. A second passed, and he was hiccupping. Suddenly, the sound of a snicker becoming full out laughter met my ears. I turned my head in the direction it came from, and my eyes met the sight of a familiar pink mare.
"Oh Rainbow Dash," Pinkie giggled, "we startled Spike into getting the hiccups!"
My ears picked up an amused chuckle right in front of me. In that direction, there was Rainbow Dash, lying on a cloud, most likely the one where the thunder had come from.
"Good one, Pinkie *hic* Pie!" Spike said, "*hic* You're always pulling a fast one *hic* on me!"
"What the hell was that for?!" I demanded angrily. This was so humiliating, falling into that sick little prank of theirs. I can't believe that that just happened!
"Oh come on now James!" Pinkie giggled, beaming her innocent little grin, "It's only a little prank!"
"Oh forget it Pinkie." Rainbow scowled, "How would an alien get the fun in pranks?"
"This again?" I asked in disbelief, "Come on Rainbow, I thought you would have gotten over all this alien crap by now."
"Oh, you couldn't be any wronger buddy." the pegasus mare snarled, "You may be one of the Elements of Harmony, but I know you're game. As soon as we all let our guards down, you're gonna swoop in and call your invasion fleet to take over our planet! Well you know what? That ain't happening on my watch!"
And here I was thinking AJ was stubborn! That girl was fierce, yet at the same time, that was something I respected her for. No one should ever be afraid to speak their mind, and Rainbow Dash was anything but afraid.
Before I could respond, I noticed Spike bend down and pick up one of the fallen scrolls. Suddenly, he hiccupped; causing a green flame to emerge from his mouth, which proceeded to disintegrate the scroll and float away into the distance.
"Oh no," Pinkie called out in concern, "you're not hurt are you?"
"Ne--*hic*--eh," Spike assured her, "don't be *hic* silly, dragons are *hic* fire-proof."
"Oh," Pinkie said, "okay, good."
Alost immediately, she and Rainbow both broke out into hysterical laughter. Spike picked up most of the scrolls, only for them to vanish with another hiccup.
"I wish the same thing *hic* were true with scrolls." I heard him mutter to himself, though I was more concerned about Celestia's reaction to having that many scrolls delivered at once. As he tried to pick up what was left of the scrolls, only to hiccup and send them away, Pinkie and Rainbow continued laughing.
"Have you ever seen anything more hilarious?" Pinkie giggled, before letting herself collapse to the floor and continue to laugh her heart out.
"I can think of one thing." Rainbow smirked. With those words, she kicked the cloud again, causing another clap of thunder. Pinkie cried out in surprise, and after the passing of a second, she hiccupped. She continued laughing, which was interrupted by the occasional hiccup.
"I didn't take you as a prankster Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow declared, fluttering down from the cloud and landing beside the pink pony.
"Are you *hic* kidding?" Pinkie asked, "*hic* I love to pull pranks. It's all *hic* in good fun, and Pinkie Pie lo--*hic*--oves to have *hic* fun! *hic*"
All in good fun? Does she realize how humiliating it is to fall for a prank? I think not.
"You know Pinkie Pie," Dash continued, "you're not as annoying as I thought."
And she's just as annoying as I thought.
"You wanna hang out?" Rainbow asked Pinkie. Suddenly Pinkie jolted upward into the air with another hiccup.
"That'd be..." another hiccup sent her flying to the right, "I'd really..." she zoomed back to the ground, "When do... " she shot up in the air again, "I mean..." she landed back onto the ground, "When would you..." she zoomed forward; only for Rainbow Dash to place a hoof on her mouth, stopping her in her tracks.
"A simple nod will do." Rainbow said.
"Mmm-hmm." was Pinkie's response, accompanied by a nod like requested.
"Yeah, well have fun with all that." I called out to them, though they didn't seem to be paying attention. With that, I turned my attention to Spike.
"Come on buddy" I said to him, "Let's get back to the library."
"But what are we going to *hic* say about the *hic scrolls?" he asked, looking uneasy and the concept of facing an angry Twilight Sparkle.
"Well, we'll just have to tell her the truth won't we?" I answered simply. I didn't like the thought either, but was there a better thing to do?
"Alright." Spike answered, clearly not looking forward to what he believed awaited him, "Let's go.", and thus we headed off back to the library.
"So let me get this straight." Twilight said, "You got the scrolls like I asked, only as soon as you left the town hall, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash scared the both of you, causing Spike to get the hiccups and incinerate them all?"
"That about sums it up." I responded sheepishly. I thought it was best that we didn't tell her about the scrolls being sent to Celestia, so I left that part out. "Look, I'm sorry about this happening, but..."
"What are you apologizing for?" Twilight asked, giving of a small giggle, "It's not your fault that the scrolls are gone. Besides, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow were only having a little bit of harmless fun."
I wouldn't call it harmless, I thought to myself. "But, what are you going to do about them?"
"I can always get some more again some other time." Twilight smiled, "Now come on, we've got an experiment to conduct."
Oh yes, Twilight's experiment! I'd totally forgotten about that. It seemed as though she had set everything up while me and Spike were out, with three vials containing different coloured compounds. I'd done Chemistry back in school, so I this seemed pretty standard, but I didn't know what these compounds were. They could be compounds that can only be found in this dimension for all I knew!
Twilight began by writing on the scroll that she had place on a stand, before quickly turning to back to the vials and pouring the green compound into the blue compound, creating a bubbling purple one... I'm going to repeat that. She combined blue and green, and came out with purple... How does that work exactly? I mean, since when did blue and green make purple? Seriously?
"Huh?"
The sound of Twilight's voice caught my attention. She was staring and the scrolls she had written on, but there wasn't anything there! It was blank! But hadn't she just written something down? Twilight looked back and forth between the bubbling liquid and the blank scroll in confusion, whe suddenly...
*POOF!*
There was a large puff of purple smoke, followed by a pair of familiar sounding giggles coming from outside. Me and Twilight moved to the window, and there was Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, nestled in the tree's branches. I noticed what Rainbow was holding in her hoof, just before she dropped in a fit of laughter.
Invisible ink.
I felt something stir up in my gut. Anger and frustration to be exact. That was funny to them? They just ruined an experiment Twilight was performing, and all the do is laugh? What kind of friend does that?!
"Again?!" I shouted out to nopony in particular, "First the scrolls, and then this?! Who the hell do they think they are?!"
"Whoa, James! Calm down!" Twilight said carefully, "It's just a prank, nothing harmful or humiliating."
"It is harmful and humiliating Twilight!" I retorted angrily, "Have you ever thought about how stupid you must look to other people for falling for even the simplest prank? Do you know how that feels?! Do you?!"
Twilight's mouth was agape. Her eyes were widened in shock, maybe a bit of fear mixed in. I stared into them, and immediately all the anger inside me dissipated, leaving nothing but regret sadness in its' place.
"Twilight," I stammered out, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to lash out at you like that! It's just..." I paused, giving a small sigh before continuing.
"It's just that I don't take pranks very well." I finished quietly.
Twilight was silent. She still had a surprised look on her face, but her mouth was now closed and her eyes held a sense of sadness in them. That look was enough for me. I started moving towards the door leading out of the room.
"J-James?" Twilight asked, her voice full of concern, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going out." I said, not looking back at her.
"Out where?"
I stopped just in front of the door, turning my head to face her.
"I just need some alone time." I answered sombrely.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" she asked. My lips gave off a sad smile.
"I'll be fine." I responded, trying to sound reassuring, though I doubt it did any help. I wanted to leave as soon as possible, so I turned my head back toward the door and went through, walking downstairs and out into Ponyville.
As I walked down the street away from the library, I couldn't help but notice that many ponies were staring at me. They had looks of awe and surprise on their faces, and some were muttering to each other. Why? Why were they all doing that? Was there something on me?
That was when it dawned on me.
There was something on me. Two things to be exact. A horn and a pair of wings. As far as I knew, only royalty had both of these. I'd never really noticed it before, but I guess I did stand out, being the only alicorn in town.
I was so caught up in my thoughts, that I failed to notice the pony right in front of me, that was until I collided head on into them. I staggered back slightly, and managed to get a good look at who I'd walked into. It was actually a quite pleasant surprise.
"Fluttershy!" I exclaimed enthusiastically to the yellow pegasus mare standing in front of me.
"Oh." she said softly, "H-hi James. I'm, um, sorry for bumping into you like that and..."
"It's alright." I interrupted her with a kind smile, "It's my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going, and I walked right into you, so I'm the one who should be apologising."
"O-okay then." Fluttershy all but whispered, returning the smile I had given her. That was when I noticed that she was carrying a brown satchel.
"What's that for?" I asked her, pointing at the satchel in question.
"Oh." she answered, "I've been going around feeding all of my animal friends. I was just going over to the lake and feed the animals there..." then she turned her head to the side with an uneasy look on her face, "If, you know, that's okay."
"Shy." I chuckled, placing a hoof on her shoulder reassuringly, "Nobody's going to say it's wrong to look after animals. And speaking of that, mind if I tag along?"
Fluttershy's eyes widened in surprise.
"Y-y-you... you want to come with me?" she stammered, dumbfounded by my question.
"Why not?" I answered with another question, "I don't really have anything else to do anyway."
"O-oh." Fluttershy said quietly, "Okay then, if that's what you want to do."
"Lead the way then." I responded, and with those words we headed out of town and towards the lake.
So that was where we were. At the lake feeding the fish and turtles that were there. Once we were finished with feeding three fish, we turned to see two fish and a turtle anticipating their turn to be fed. Next to them was another turtle with a thin rubber tube running from its' behind, which led to over a small slope next to a hill on the other side of the lake.
Wait a minute...
Upon closer inspection, the 'turtle' appeared to have been sewed together, with buttons for eyes. Additionally, the tube that ran to the back of the hill also seemed to run through the turtle, and was poking out of its mouth...
My thoughts were cut short when my face was suddenly squirted with water, which came out of the 'turtle's' mouth. As if on cue, and eruption of giggles suddenly caught my ears, coming from the direction of the slope. I recognized the two voices immediately.
It was Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.
I can't believe I fell for another one of their pranks again! Twice in one day no less! God, I felt stupid! There was no way I could live this down! And there laughter, it was unbearable, especially when it was directed towards me!
Suddenly, my ears picked up a soft titter; which, to my disbelief, came from none other than a certain yellow mare.
"It's not funny!" I snapped at Fluttershy angrily. Out of all the people to laugh at my misfortune, she was one of them!
Fluttershy's eyes suddenly widened, her pupils shrinking in fear.
"O-o-oh." she stammered quietly, having trouble finding words, "I- I'm sorry. I- I shouldn't have laughed like that. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
I felt a sharp twinge of guilt in my gut. What had I just done? I had just lashed out the sweetest, most gentle creature I had ever met! How could I have done that? I'd already shouted at Twilight, and now I did it at her!
"Fluttershy." I said softly, trotting up to her and placing a hoof on her shoulder, "I didn't mean to lash out at you like that, and I'm sorry I did. I just don't take pranks very well, that's all."
"O-okay." she reponded, "Are... Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine" I reassured her, "Listen, I think I'll just head home now ok? Thanks for letting me join you."
"You're welcome James." the yellow pony smiled, "It was actually very nice to have you with me, even thought it was only for a short while." I gave her a smile of my own, and with that headed back into Ponyville and back to the library.
"Hello?" I called out as I opened the library door, walking inside and shutting it behind me. By that time, the sun had set, and the moon was now hanging in the sky with the stars.
"James!" Twilight's voice called out, in what I could have swore was relief. Twilight herself suddenly burst in from the upstairs door. "You're back! Are you alright? I was beginning to worry! You'd been gone for a while and I was beginning to wonder if..."
"Twilight, Twilight." I said, unable to suppress a chuckle, "Didn't I tell you I'd be fine?"
Now it was Twilight's turn to chuckle. "You did." she answered, "Why did I even worry about you in the first place. I mean, it's not like you were going to run into any trouble around Ponyville is it?". There was something about how she said it. It seemed kind of... forced, as was her smile, though I decided not to think much of it.
"Well," I said, beginning to head upstairs, "I don't know about you, but I'm shattered after all that's happened today. I'm off to bed."
"Alright then" Twilight responded, beginning to follow me, "I was just about to go to sleep myself. Be careful not to wake Spike though. He's already nodded off."
"If you shouting my name out suddenly isn't enough to wake him up, I think I'm in the clear." I replied, causing her to giggle as we headed up to our beds, ready to sleep through the night and wait for what tomorrow had in store for us...
"So Pinkie Pie," Twilight said as she flicked through the pages of the book she was reading, "are you sure that this friend of Rainbow Dash was really so mean?"
"Um, yeah!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she paced around the room. "She keeps stealing Rainbow Dash away, she pops 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!"
Yeah, this came pretty much out of nowhere for us. Pinkie just burst into the library telling us about someone called Gilda, who was apparently an old friend of Rainbow Dash, being horrible to her. One thing that got my attention about this Gilda was that she had apparently been horrible to Pinkie, and if that was true... well it was great news for me! Maybe I'd found a kindred spirit! I may not have met her yet, but not liking Pinkie Pie was a good enough reason for me to like her!
However, that was not what caught my most attention to. Pinkie had said that Gilda was a Griffon. Now to be honest, that didn't really come as a big surprise. I mean, think about it: a world full of ponies, where the princesses raise the sun and moon, which also had manticores and dragons. Who's to say that there aren't any griffons as well?
"You know what I think Pinkie Pie?" Twilight declared.
"Hm?"
"Well I think... you're jealous."
" Jealous?!" Pinkie repeated, shocked at being referred to as such.
"Green with envy." Spike cut in, "Well, in your case, pink with envy."
"Well yes, jealous." Twilight continued, "Listen Pinkie, I don't want to upset you, but just because Rainbow Dash has another friend doesn't make Gilda a grump. I mean, perhaps it's you, Pinkie, who needs to improve her attitude."
"Improve my attitude?!" Pinkie demanded indignantly, "But I... D... B.. It's Gilda that... D... Are you seri...". She yelled in frustration, and proceed to storm out of the front door.
Twilight and Spike glanced at each other worryingly, the latter letting out a disappointed sigh. I, on the other hand, was more curious than worried. Sure, Pinkie was annoying, but she didn't rub off as someone who could be jealous of someone. Maybe it was here positive demeanor on everything, or something like that. Still, not holding grudges or being jealous of anyone is a respectful trait of character. It's even better if your friends with that person... Wait a moment what am I saying?! This is Pinkie Pie we're talking about, the most annoying and naive person I've ever met. She's not my friend, and she never will be!
Anyway, I digress. Something felt off to me, and I wanted to see this Gilda for myself.
"Hey, Twilight." I said, "I'm going to go for a walk."
"Huh?" Twilight asked, looking up at me. She had a confused look on her face, which then shifted to realization as she processed what I had said; "Oh, okay then." she answered. before continuing to read her book.
I didn't need to be told twice, so I opened the front door and walked outside.
I would say that today was beautiful day, but everyday was pretty much like this, so what was the point? Anyways, I'm sure it was obvious to you all why I left the library. I was trying to find Pinkie Pie and figure out why she had said that about Gilda. Only question was, where was she? I guess the town centre was a good place to start.
And that's what I did, I walked to the centre of town, where Sugercube Corner was. Everything looked pretty normal. Ponies were out and about and talking to each other, and the market stalls were open selling fruit and veg as usual. However, there was something there that completely stood out. A creature stood there which I'd never seen before. It had an eagle's head, talons and wings, but they were accompanied by the body of a lion.
It was griffon, and if I recall correctly, Pinkie mentioned that Rainbow's friend Gilda was a griffon. This had to be her. No doubt about it.
" Alright little ones," a demure voice said softly, "this way, this way. Mama duck, you're free and clear."
I turned in the direction of its' source and smiled. There was Fluttershy leading a family of ducks through town. She was walking backwards so that she could keep watch of the ducks, and not looking ahead and where she was going. As such, she walked right into Gilda, or as I saw it, Gilda was walking right into her.
"Hey!" the griffon shouted, causing Fluttershy to look up.
"Please excuse me." she said.
"I'm walking here!" Gilda retorted angrily.
"Oh, um, I'm sorry." Fluttershy stammered out, beginning to back up, "I-I-I was just trying to..."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Gilda said mockingly, "Why don't you just watch where you're going, doofus?"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing. Here was this griffon yelling at one of the sweetest, kindest creatures I had ever met! Just watching this made my blood boil with rage. Who the hell did she think she was?!
"B-b-b-but I... I..." Fluttershy stuttered out, to afraid to form any words. Gilda took in a deep breath and...
"Oi!" I yelled out, causing Gilda to turn in my direction.
"Yeah?" she sneered, "What do you want?"
I gritted my teeth as I walked dangerously towards her. "I want you to leave her alone." I snarled.
"Really?" Gilda laughed mockingly, "And what are you gonna do about it?"
"Wanna find out?" I asked. I didn't care if I was being stupid by doing this. Nobody, but nobody, screws around with my friends, especially Fluttershy!
Gilda gave a cocky smirk, and breathed in again. Before she could anything though, she suddenly found herself floating in the air, covered by a blue coloured aura. I smirked. Using magic wasn't as hard as I first thought, and I was making good use of it here.
"Listen to me, and listen to me well," I said darkly, "because I'm only going to say this once. Leave. Her. Alone. If you have a problem with that, then you have me to answer to; and trust me, you won't like me when I'm angry.". With nothing left to say to her, I set Gilda down on the ground with enough force to make her stagger, but not enough to leave her lying on the ground.
"You." She declared, pointing at me for emphasis, "You're gonna pay for that."
"We'll see." I responded simply, mentally preparing myself for the retaliation that was bound to happen next.
"Ugh, please," the griffon suddenly scoffed, "all these lame ponies are driving me buggy. I gotta bail.". Before I could react in anyway, she leaped into the air and took off. I felt my anger subside as she disappeared from view. I'd met a lot of people like her before in my life, but none of them had ever made me feel so angry. Maybe that was because they didn't gang up on my friends like she did.
I turned to Fluttershy, and what I saw made my heart shrink. The yellow mare was trembling uncontrollably, and tears ran down her cheeks from her eyes.
"Are you alright?" I asked her, genuinely concerned.
"Y-y-yes," she sniffed out, "Th-thank you."
"Hey," I said as soothingly as I could, pulling her into a small hug and running my hoof through her mane comfortingly, "It's okay. I'm not going to let her or anyone push you or any of my friends around like that. I promise."
"Wow!" a energetic voice suddenly called out, causing me to turn my head in its' direction. Standing there was none other than Pinkie Pie herself, the mare I'd been searching for in the first place.
"You were right, Pinkie." I said grimly (I know that rhymes), releasing Fluttershy from the hug.
"I know!" Pinkie exclaimed, "She's a grump, and a thief, and a bully! The meanest kind of mean meanie-pants there is! I can take it, but no one treats Fluttershy like that! No! One! This calls for extreme measures, Pinkie Pie style!"
"Wait a minute Pinks, slow down." I interrupted, "What did you say about her being a thief?"
"You didn't see it? She scared poor Granny Smith and then took an apple without paying for it!"
All the more reason for me to hate her, I thought to myself. Pinkie was right, something needed to be done.
"Alright, Pinkie." I began, knowing that I was going to regret it, "Have you got any ideas on how we can deal with Gilda."
"Do I?" Pinkie declared, "Of course I have an idea!"
She beckoned me towards her, so I leaned my head forward, to which she put her mouth to my ear and whispered:
"Here's what we're gonna do..."
Note to self: Whenever Pinkie comes up with a plan, don't go through with it.
Her plan: A party.
This was her big plan to deal with Gilda, by throwing a big party and inviting everyone in town . What was I even thinking when I said I would help her with this?! Am I going crazy?! Why did I actually decide to work with that pink retard in the first place?!
"Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!" I heard Pinkie greeting to the ponies who had just entered.
"Who's this Gilda ah've heard nothin' about?" AJ's voice asked. I looked and saw her standing next to Rarity.
"I hear she's an old friend of Rainbow Dash." the white mare answered as they began to walk off, "A griffon. So rare."
I walked over to Twilight, who was talking to Fluttershy.
"You've met Gilda right?" the purple unicorn said, "What's she like."
"Oh, um, well" the yellow pegasus stammered, "I'll tell you later Twilight."
As she trotted off, Twilight watched as she left, a confused look on her face. That was when she spotted me.
"What about you James?" Twilight asked, "What do you think of Gilda?"
"You'll see Twilight." I answered, "You'll see."
Twilight groaned in exasperation, before trotting off and leaving me by myself.
"Gilda!" Pinkie suddenly cried out, leaping in front of the griffon now standing in the doorway, "I'm so honored to throw you one of my signature Pinkie Pie parties, and I really, truly, sincerely, hope you feel welcome here amongst all us pony folk."
She left her hoof out in front of Gilda, who hesitantly took it. Suddenly, her body began to react as if she was having an electric shock. Actually she was. I could see sparks of electricity coming from her body. Once they stopped, she collapsed to the floor, dazed. Pinkie burst into a fit of giggling, and revealed a button strapped to her hoof. The old electric handshake, or hoofshake in this case.
"Oh Pinkie Pie, the old hoof-shake buzzer!" Rainbow Dash laughed, "You are a scream!"
"Yeah." Gilda chuckled nervously, "Uh, good one, Pinkie Pie."
"Come on G," Rainbow said to the griffon as she began to walk off, "I'll introduce you to some of my other friends."
"Right behind you Dash!" Gilda responded, before turning over to Pinkie Pie. Rainbow on the other hand, met my eyes, and her expression soured. She stormed up to me, gritting her teeth while doing so.
"Just what is your problem?!" she demanded angrily.
"What?" I asked.
"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about!"
"What are you talking about?" I repeated, unable to understand why she was so angry at me.
"Gilda came and told me all about what happened earlier today! How you threatened her for no apparent reason! What gives you the right to push my friends around?!"
"Ah," I said in realization, now knowing what she was talking about, "I don't think you've heard the full story Rainbow. You see..."
"I don't want to hear it!" the multicoloured mare snapped at me, "I don't want to hear anymore of your lies! I don't want you to be anywhere near me, or my friends ever again! You can go back to your home planet, your mother ship, or wherever you came from! You're not welcome here on Equestria anymore, alien scum!"
"Again with this alien shit Dash!" I retorted, now as angry as she was, "Will you just shut up with all that crap? What gives you the reason to judge me Dash?! What have I done to make you see me like this?! Because I'd really like to know!"
"Enough!" Dash shouted out, stamping her hoof in anger, "I don't want to hear anything else from you! I want you to get out of here right now, and never bother me and my friends again!"
"Dash, listen to me..." I started to say.
"GET OUT!" she yelled at me, causing everypony in the room to look up in surprise.
I sighed in defeat. There was no convincing her.
"Fine." I said simply, turning and trotting towards the door. As I did so, I glanced over to Gilda, who gave a smug grin as I walked outside.
I don't know how long I stayed there for. It seemed like mere minutes, but It may have been hours for all I knew. After I'd left the party, I had just walked out of town and ended up to at the lake where I had helped Fluttershy feed her animals. I should have realized that Gilda would do that, go and fabricate the story of what happened and paint me as the bad guy. Now that I was on my own, Dash's words had sunk in. I felt like an outsider. She didn't want me around any of her... our friends I mean. They were my friends as much as they were hers.
"Um, James?"
My thoughts were cut off by the sound of a familiar voice calling out my name. I turned around and saw none other than Rainbow Dash standing there, with an ashamed look on her face.
"That's the first time you've called me by my name Rainbow." I said in acknowledgement.
"Can we talk?" she asked awkwardly, moving closer towards me.
"What about?" I asked, getting up and standing to face her. Rainbow smile sheepishly at me, and began to talk again.
" You see... the thing is, at the party, I set up a lot of pranks so that I could get a few laughs when other ponies fell for them. Gilda ended falling for all of them, and she ended up snapping and lashed out at everypony there. She called everyone, my friends, dweebs and said that me and her were cooler than any of them. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. One of my oldest friends was being horrible to my new friends. I realized that being cool was all she cared about, so I told her to leave. After that, Pinkie and Fluttershy told me all about what really happened earlier today. How you'd stood for Fluttershy when Gilda tried to push you around. I felt guilty for believing what Gilda told me, but it also got me thinking.
"I thought about all the times I didn't trust you, judged you, looked down on you; and I realized that there was no reason for it. I was hating you for no reason, and I didn't even give myself a chance to know you better! And I'm supposed to represent the Element of Loyalty! I'm supposed trust my friends and stay by their side no matter what happens, and I pushed you away like you weren't worth anything!". She sat down and hung her head in shame, "I'm no better than Gilda." she muttered quietly, "Some Element of Loyalty I turned out to be."
I was speechless. Here was Rainbow Dash, the mare who had looked down and me at every turn. The mare who wouldn't trust me for anything. The most stubborn pony I had ever met. And here she was telling me how wrong she had been, and how horrible she felt for it! I stared at her slumped form, feeling only sadness and sorrow for her, and approached.
"Dash." I said, now standing over her, "Don't say all that. Don't say it because it isn't true! You were picked as an Element of Harmony for a reason, because you never give up in or abandon your friends or what you believe is right!"
Rainbow looked up at me, surprise filling her eyes.
"But all those things I said to you. How can you just brush them off like that?"
"Because like I said;" I replied, "you, as the Element of Loyalty, will never give up on what you believe is right. Granted, you were wrong, but you stood up for it with no doubt in your mind! That is an admirable trait that few people have, Dash. You should be proud of you are, and I don't think any different of you."
Rainbow Dash looked at me, a smile etched on her face as she let my words sink in.
"So are you we friends?" I asked.
"Friends." she confirmed with a firm nod.
As that word left her mouth, I took out my hoof, spat on it, and held it out in front of Dash. She stared at it with a mixture of disgust and confusion.
"Why did you just spit on your hoof?" she asked.
"Spit on yours now and we'll shake on it."
"Are you serious?"
"What's the matter, Rainbow Dash?" I asked teasingly, giving her a cocky smirk, "Afraid to get your hooves dirty?"
That was all she needed. With those words leaving my mouth she spat on her own hoof, before connecting it with mine with an audible clop. We shook once, and parted our hooves.
"You know James," Rainbow declared, "I'm beginning to like you already!"
"Good to know." I responded. Then something clicked in my mind, "That reminds me. Rainbow Dash, as you know, as an alicorn I have both wings and a horn."
"Yeah?"
"Well, I can work my horn just fine. Only problem is, I have no idea how to work these wings. I was wondering if you knew anypony who could..."
"Say no more!" Rainbow snapped, "You're talking to the right pony! By the time I'm finished with you, you'll be almost as good a flyer as me! Unfortunately, you have to be as cool as me to be able to fly as good as me though. Sorry about that."
Oh, that ego. I certainly wasn't going to miss that anytime soon.
"Great!" I exclaimed, "When do we start?"
"As soon as possible." Rainbow declared, "But right now, there's a party going on, and we're missing it! Let's go now before everyone eats all the cake without us!"
"No argument here!" I said with a smile. And so, together, me and Rainbow Dash walked back into Ponyville. Together. That word hadn't felt so good to me before...
Dearest Princess Celestia,
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 the one who is true will surely come to light.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
What a long, but fulfilling day today had been. I had had a feeling that I would eventually warm up to Rainbow eventually, but not this soon. Now that we were both properly friends, I felt like I was one of them proper. Not someone who joined in, but one of them.
"Hey James." Twilight called out to me, causing me to look up. She had rolled up her friendship report, ready and waiting to be delivered to the Princess.
"Yeah Twilight?"
"Could you pass me that jar of ink over there?"
I turned over to the table in the centre of the room, where a jar of normal looking ink lay. Using my magic I moved over to Twilight, who caught it with her magic and allowed me to release min grip of it.
"Spike," she said, turning to the purple dragon in question, who was ready to send the scroll to its' destination, "Could you send this with the friendship report to the Princess?"
"Uh... Okay." Spike responded, confused at the request. He didn't question it any further though, and he quickly breathed his magical flame on both objects, sending them all the way to Canterlot.
"What was in that jar that you just sent?" I asked Twilight suspiciously, but not in the negative way, more in the curiously amused way.
"I just sent the Princess a jar of invisible ink." Twilight grinned, "If she tries to writh a reply with it, she'll see it disappear before her eyes!"
She started laughing, thinking about Celestia's reaction, with Spike quickly joining her. "Don't worry James," she said between giggles, "it's just a harmless prank."
"Yeah." I said, unable to not join in the laughter with the unicorn mare and the dragon, "A harmless prank..."
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Finally Rainbow sees the error of her ways with James. Nice work on this chapter.
Best chapter so far, and a great improvement in his situation too.
Awesome chapter
Now where have I read this before?
3454026
I don't like Pinkie Pie as a character, but I can't say that I hate her to my OC's extent. I thought that having him hate Pinkie for who she is would be interesting.
3453603 What do you mean exactly? The story in general or the chapter?
3627010
The part where Rainbow Dash chewed James out and then made amends afterwards.
3627112
Yeah, I know; but let's be honest, how can that be avoided?
i read this and made 11 of my friends read this... i am become death, destroyer of worlds.
3839954 Um... what?
Well, at least YOUR self-insert story is liked, MY self-insert story is the TOTAL OPPOSITE
3890916
Sorry to hear that mate.
3890930
BUT I'M NOT QUITING!!!
3890936 Can you think of any reason why people like mine but don't like yours?
3891176
Maybe the Character?
3906537 You seem to have deleted it now anyway.
3906787
...........................
I don't care anymore, I'll let them stay curious about how Star Racer arrived in Equestria
How will The Cutie Mark Chronicles turn out?
Apple Bloom: How did you get your cutie mark, James?
James: Oh, this symbol on my butt? I had it when I got here.
Later...
Twilight: Hey, I just realised! We all had a special connection before we met! Er, except for you, James.
James: Oh...
4086255 Lol
still alive?
4125070 I feel fantastic and I'm still alive!
Sorry, but I've been very busy with college and other stuff (See my account on Fanfiction).
I hope this continues!
4275372 Twilight isn't an alicorn yet....
4559630 Any exact moments?
When James became an alicorn and when he stuck up for fluttershy
4576777 That was all I could think of I'm afraid.
4576777 At least it's better than over names people come up with for a 7th element. There was this one fic on Fanfiction by this guy called Zach Lanson, where the 7th Element was 'Life'. The writing quality was also very poor; I mean, if you can't decide whether to have your story told in the past or present tense, you're in trouble.
4702372 Finally! Someone get's it!
4702382 I'm a huge ME fan, but I'm embarrassed to say that I missed it the first couple times I read it.
5425950 None taken, AlexLoneWolf is a great author, better than me by a long shot. Don't worry, I've got plans for the future (If I ever get down to it).
When is the next chapter coming?
5962256 Let me be honest. I've not been making any progress on the next chapter for a long while now. College is a bitch. To be honest, I'm starting to wonder if I even want to continue this story anymore.
5962564 NO. Your story gave me inspiration and create my own. So please do not stop, it's good.
Yay! Rainbow and James can be shipped now! *starts writing shipfic*
Why was this cancelled?