Meet The Ex-Friend
A/N: To start, I would like to thank MaskedFerret once again for helping me out at Bronycon with brainstorming for this story. Go thank them, not me, for this!
Anyways, thanks to SeventhBrony, SageBrony07, OneOverTwo, TaylorSky, The red knight, Shrinky Frod, OminousBrony, Spectrum Destiny, jlm123hi, SwimmingDalek98, Magthere, Quillin Words, Seether00, Fatboi1000, BoneWolf1, Drgnwolf, CaptainSanchez, hanatoro, hudson, Kenchinryuu, thasbrony, WildStallion, Quillin Words, BenRG, Ebony Stallion, Sky Blazer, Themaskedferret, The Yaoi Mistress, DanteRevolution, Lovepugkate, Paladin Redflare, Shadowwk, Killabyte, Fixit Wrenches, VvendettaV, Graf Zeppelin, Corrupted Spirit, HB_DS2013, Krosis, DragoDog21, Baby Rhino, Bright0Night, themouthofmush, and Commander Rainstorm for commenting last chapter! 
Your support is always appreciated, and I love hearing from you all.
Sorry about the wait, school and life has been painful, but without further adieu, the chapter! I hope you enjoy and that I can hear your thoughts in the comments below!
“Knock, knock. Open up.”
Soarin was just lounging about on his Saturday afternoon, on and off teaching Rainbow how not to create toxic sludge when cooking, when he heard the faint noise of knocking on their front door followed by the semi-annoyed and semi-tired voice of someone Soarin had not heard before.
“Whose there?” Soarin gleefully called out to them as he went to get the door from his position on the couch. Rainbow was quite likely busy trying not to set the house on fire, but hopefully All Thread could manage things for the time being.
“Very funny. Now open up, dweeb!”
Soarin had not reached the door yet, but now he was feeling wholly less hospitable. Who could this mean spirited person be visiting them? They sounded like a punk, and their androgynous voice made it much more difficult for the Wonderbolt to figure out who or what was outside.
When he reached the door, Soarin stood defiantly behind it while still speaking through it, “Not if you are going to be so rude.”
“Who the heck are you, man? I thought Rainbow Dash lived here, not some moron who doesn’t know how to open a door!” the androgynous sounding punk yelled, obviously losing their temper over Soarin’s unwillingness to open the door.
It was then that Soarin noticed that Rainbow Dash had snuck up on him and had managed to get beside him. Her face appeared annoyed, though not the slightest bit confused as to who this might be.
“Soarin, just open the door,” Rainbow grunted, her eyes focused on the door that stood in-between them and their rude visitor.
Soarin relented and pulled the door open, revealing a brown and white feathered Gryphon with a golden beak. She appeared in a state of anger, though exasperation and uncomfortableness could be read in her face by her snarling expression mixed with the averting of her eyes.
Since Rainbow seemed to have a better idea about the situation than he did, Soarin let his fiancé handle the matter.
“Gilda,” Rainbow coolly noted, her voice harsher than Soarin was used to.
The Gryphon, the so called Gilda, looked up to meet Dash’s eyes with her own for a second before looking everywhere but at Rainbow, “Uh, hey.”
Soarin could feel the tension in the air, and given his lack of knowledge he took a step back, “I take it you two know eachother.”
“We used to be best friends,” Gilda explained alongside a angry look at Soarin, though she managed to keep most of her emotion out of her voice.
Rainbow continued to glare at the visitor, making Soarin feel somewhat uncomfortable with the unadulterated anger being held back by his significant other, “Used to. Until Gilda here tried to make me choose between her and all my other friends after she was mean to them.”
Gilda snarled at Rainbow Dash’s statement, anger boiling over the truth being said, “At least I didn’t betray my best friend for some new—”
Rainbow tried to cut off Gilda by speaking halfway through her claim, only to be cut off herself, “At least I didn’t—”
Soarin cleared his throat loudly enough to cut the two arguing females off, “Rainbow, could we talk for a moment?”
Rainbow snorted angrily before retreating back to the living room, not saying another word as she departed as suggested by Soarin. Her tail snapped back at Gilda as the latter tried to get a look at her as she disappeared, only for Soarin to approach the roused Gilda with a fake smile.
“Wait here.”
With that, Soarin slammed the door in Gilda’s face and left to join Rainbow before Gilda could protest.
“Dashie, I know you seem to have a grudge with your old friend, but maybe you should extend the olive branch.”
Rainbow turned around to face Soarin with a confused face, not getting Soarin’s reference, “Olive branch?”
Soarin rolled his eyes, partly amused that Rainbow’s house had architecture from a culture she did not understand a reference about. Still, he was not about to let his fiancé argue with somepony and get upset without first trying a more peaceful alternative. He didn’t want his dear Rainbow Dash to be stressed out over someone who used to be a friend.
“Make peace with her. She’s trying to be tough, but she really seems hurt. You don’t have to be friends with her, but leaving on bad terms isn’t going to do either of you any favors. So let her in and talk things over, okay?”
Rainbow looked at Soarin with some confusion and some anger, though each began to peter out as she slowly came to understand his reasoning. With a sigh she nodded to him.
“Fine.”
Soarin gave Rainbow Dash a reassuring kiss on the forehead before returning back to the door so he could open it for their guest.
“Come on in. Rainbow is in the first door on your right,” Soarin stated to the flabbergasted Gilda, who had not expected for the smiling and nice pony beside Rainbow Dash to slam a door on her face just a few moments ago. The anger that had otherwise grown in her was lost to confusion as she tried to piece together who this stallion was.
Now that she was allowed inside, Gilda entered and took a look around before going any further. As she did this, the voice of All Thread called out to Soarin from the kitchen.
Gilda ignored the two of them to continue on to where Rainbow was. She found Rainbow Dash sitting on a couch, and could see that across from it was a chair. With a quick swoop, Gilda rushed over to take a seat in the vacant chair.
Rainbow just watched blankly as Gilda made herself comfortable. She was not happy with her former friend in any way and, unlike some might feel, she had not felt too much longing to see Gilda again after they stopped being friends such a long time ago.
Gilda was the one to breach the silence, her own voice hesitant and nervous because of her own feelings on their relationship, “Sooooo…” she jabbed a talon over towards the room’s entrance, where Soarin lingered but remained silent, “You shacking up with that Wonderbolt now?”
While Soarin blanched, Rainbow snorted angrily, “He’s my fiancé, and no, we’re not ‘shacking up’ or whatever the street lingo is these days.”
Seeing that her small attempt at humor was not met favorably, Gilda tried to think of something else to say while trying to excuse herself, “Oh. Whoops.”
“What do you want, Gilda?” Rainbow grunted, her face fully displaying how angry she was. Gilda had hurt her friends in the past in petty ways, and Rainbow hated how Gilda made her choose which friends to keep. For the element of loyalty, being forced to take a side hurt more than it might for a regular pony.
Gilda became abashed as her eyes’ gaze fell to the floor, “I just came to…” she swallowed her breath, but more importantly her pride, before finishing, “I just wanted to say sorry.”
Rainbow turned her head away, becoming more stubborn than a mule in an instant, “Apology not accepted. Not until you apologize to everyone else you’ve hurt.”
The flat out rejection caught Gilda off-guard, who gaped at the decree, “Seriously Dash? Don’t you know how hard this is for me? I’m trying as it is! Can’t you meet me half way?”
That drew Rainbow’s attention back to Gilda. The mare growled a little as she pointed a hoof at herself, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Yeah, you did!” Gilda retorted, though she did not follow it up, instead seething in the chair she had sat down in.
On the sidelines Soarin debated whether he should intervene or not. This could either end terribly or end up with the two girls making peace…with a sigh, he decided to wait to see where this was going before making a decision. He hated seeing Dash angry or uncomfortable, but at this point that seemed to be the only direction. Hopefully it could accomplish something though.
Rainbow snarled at Gilda’s accusation, “Oh yeah?”
Gilda crossed her front legs, her talons gripped the opposite arms with fury, “I come and visit you after who knows how long and you blow me off for your new friends who you get to see all the time!” Gilda jabbed one claw at Rainbow Dash from across the room, “Not only that, you let that pink puffball stalk us the entire time we were trying to do our own thing!”
Rainbow instantly went on the defensive in both her words and tone, “Pinkie Pie’s my friend Gilda, and you have to accept that! Sure she’s quirky, but all she wanted to do was have fun with us. You were just being selfish!”
Gilda brought her clawed hand back into her chest, hurt and anger flaring up on her face, “Oh, I was being selfish. Excuuuuuse me for traveling such a long way to see my friend, only to get mad that she doesn’t even want to bother to spend quality time with me! Sorry for feeling a bit betrayed by that, so called Element of Loyalty!”
Rainbow Dash tried to retort her former friend’s claim, only to find that she really had little to fire back. She had spent time with Gilda, but she had not probably spent as much time as her friend would have wanted. And she knew from experience Gilda did not like ponies, so leaving her alone in a town of them was irresponsible on her own part as a host of sorts.
“I…” was all Rainbow could mumble, her resolve lowering as she could witness the hurt in Gilda’s eyes and voice.
Not to be stopped, Gilda continued to yell even as her voice began to be choked by the tears that the tough Gryphon was fighting back, “And oh, forgive me for how after a really aggravating day I lost my cool! I had to put up with so many lame ponies just so I could hang out with you, only to then be utterly humiliated by your own pranks at a party meant to welcome me to Ponyville while not spending almost any time with you!”
Rainbow bit her own lip as she remembered the pranking spree she had gone on that day. Gilda had ended up exploding in anger as a series of pranks all landed on her, and her outburst and anger had caused Rainbow to sever their friendship. She learned later that Gilda had been going behind her back and was rude to her friends there, but it was Rainbow’s own pranking habit that had led to the breakdown at the end.
“You still were rude to my friends before that,” Rainbow tried to rationalize, knowing full well that she had no idea about that at the time.
Gilda began to breathe heavily as she tried to calm herself down, “Yeah, yeah…I know, I know. And that’s what I’m here to apologize for,” after pausing for a moment, she jabbed a clawed finger at Dash again, “But I also came for an apology from you too.”
That wrought a guffaw out from Rainbow, who appeared genuinely surprised about Gilda’s request, “From me?”
Silence hung over them both for another moment before Gilda looked down and nodded her head, her voice straining between trying to sound tough and also cracking.
“Yeah. I…” she sniffled and rubbed a hand across her eyes before pulling each arm in for a self-hug, her eyes shut as they continued to try and stave off tears, “I thought we were always gonna…be together, but it seems like you didn’t—and don’t—feel the same way…”
The emotion on the Gryphon’s face made Rainbow’s heart sink. She hadn’t thought much about the incident since it happened, but it appeared that her friend had been plagued by it ever since. Rainbow could remember all of the good times they had back at the flight academy, at least before Rainbow dropped out. Seeing her old friend and roommate in such a weak state for once was off-putting, since Gilda was usually acting as tough and mean as she could because she could.
Soarin was observing with interest, still only staying so that he could intervene should things escalate. For now though things did not seem to be on a collision course with disaster though, so he just waited as the two talked.
“Gilda…” Rainbow whispered as she got up and approached her former friend, wanting to show through physical touch that she was sorry too.
Before Rainbow could touch her, Gilda swatted Rainbow’s hoof out of the way and made her way towards the door with a strong thrust of her wings, “Know what, too much sappy stuff is going on here. I’m out.”
“Gilda, wait!” Rainbow called as Soarin stepped in the way to block Gilda’s quick exit. Rainbow did not want to have this end here, not when they still had some things to get off each of their chests.
Gilda stopped, her shoulders sagging as she lowered herself to the floor. She was unused to feeling all of these emotions and she had no idea what to do.
With her friend paused, Rainbow approached her again and put a hoof around her, “Gilda, I’m sorry. I…I didn’t put myself in your shoes…Some loyal friend I was,” Rainbow sighed as she realized her own fault in the matter, sighing as she tried to think of what to say. After all, being emotional was not her strong suit either, “And I’m sorry for what I did. That was immature of me, and I wish I could go back and change how I did things then. Maybe then we wouldn’t have…”
Gilda turned to look at Rainbow, and in the next moment the two found themselves embracing as long lost friends ought to. Gilda was blushing heavily underneath her feathers, and she was thankful no-one could see.
“And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you how I…feel,” Gilda had a lot of trouble saying that last word, though once it was said it seemed like she had burst the dam of her emotions as she just segued into a completely unguarded state, “I was totally uncool that day. I’m sorry for causing you all such a hassle. I’ll just go now.”
Rainbow reluctantly let go of Gilda, who seemed determined to leave. Despite beelining towards the exit, Gilda stopped to take another look at Soarin, some recognition forming on her face, “You know, I think I remember you. You’re that hotshot Dash always had those posters of…Soarin, right?”
Soarin remembered hearing something about Dash’s posters about him, “Hehe, yeah. That’s my name.”
Gilda snorted, some of her tough arrogant façade returning, “Boy I hated those things,” she pulled him in close with her claws so she could whisper to him in a threatening voice, “Anyways, you take care of Dash. She’s the only friend I’ve ever really had and, little known fact, Gryphons used to fight and eat ponies. Don’t hurt her.”
Soarin smiled to her, unfazed by her unsubtle threat, “Oh, don’t worry about me. I love Rainbow.”
Gilda nodded, appeased by his answer, “Good. That makes two of us,” she cast her gaze back towards Rainbow, who was giving her a weak smile. Still addressing Soarin in a whisper, Gilda added while looking over Rainbow, “And thanks for getting her to talk to me. You’re not as bad as those other ponies.”
Clearing her throat, Gilda prepared to leave again, “Seeya, Dash. I’ll be around Cloudsdale if you ever want to…you know…” she blushed again, though everybody could tell she was simply because of her embarrassed expression, “visit.”
Soarin looked to Dash and nodded over to the now open couch. It took a moment for Rainbow to get what he was saying before she called out to Gilda, who was now at the front door and letting herself out.
“Hey Gilda, you know…you could stay here tonight if you want.”
The two could hear the door creak shut before Gilda popped back up at the living room’s entrance. She looked over the room to find the same couch that Soarin had gestured to Rainbow about before looking to Soarin as well.
“That cool with you, man?”
Soarin chuckled as he thought about the irony of her question, “I gave Rainbow the idea, so I’d hope so!”
“Mom? Can I go flying before it gets dark?”
All attention in the room turned towards the other entrance to the living room, where Scootaloo was entering with a bright look on her face. She had been sleeping in from the sleepover she had thrown for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle the night before, the other two having been picked up in the early morning by their family members.
While Rainbow and Soarin were surprised Scootaloo was awake, Gilda was surprised Scootaloo existed.
“Aaaaand you’ve got a kid. Really? That why you drop out of the academy?” Gilda snorted, her emotional state recovering now that she was not at complete odds with Rainbow anymore.
“Foals don’t grow up that fast Gilda,” Rainbow groaned as Scootaloo approached her with beaming eyes.
Once beside Rainbow Dash and hugging her leg, Scootaloo brightly piped up to the house guest she didn’t know, “I’m adopted!”
Rainbow patted her adopted daughter on the head while a sigh escaped her own lips, “Yes, you are.”
Gilda looked at Scootaloo for a moment, studying the foal intensely, before remembering what Scootaloo asked when she came in.
“Hey kid, want to learn some flying tricks? I’m as good as your mom, if I do say so myself.”
Scootaloo appeared wowed by that statement, as well as by the fact that Rainbow did not dispute it. After a moment of awe, she looked up to Rainbow Dash with pleading eyes, “Can I?”
Rainbow looked over to Soarin, who gave her a reassuring smile. With this in mind Rainbow nodded yes to Scootaloo, “Go ahead.”
This done, the filly let out a loud “Woohoo!” before dashing out of the house to get ready. This left the three adults, though Rainbow’s previous anger returned as she addressed Gilda.
“Gilda, make her cry and I never want to see you again.”
Soarin quickly chimed in to support the idea, “And my best friend is the leader of the Wonderbolts. Crying might prove fatal to you ever leaving this country, or lead to time behind bars for child abuse.”
Gilda rose an eyebrow at Soarin, having expected this from Rainbow Dash but not the goofy looking guy who she was living with, “Wow, you’re tougher than you look. Alright, no crying,” Gilda turned to leave before coming up with a caveat and turning back to them, “But if she starts crying because she fell on her own face I’m going to just eat her.”
The glares sent her way almost frightened Gilda to death, making her instantly throw her hands up defensively, “Hey, hey, joking, joking!” on her way out again she grumbled, “Sheesh, and I thought I couldn’t take a joke…”
Not about to let this be unsupervised, Rainbow and Soarin both approached the exit as well. As they followed behind Gilda, the Gryphon approached Scootaloo outside and tapped her on the shoulder, “Hey twerp, you ready?”
Scootaloo nodded up at Gilda with a bright smile on her face, “So, I know you’re mom’s friend, but what’s your name? Is it something awesome like Thunderblast? I’ve never met a Gryphon before I don’t think.”
Gilda winced at the mention of being Rainbow’s friend, but she quickly hid it and gave a pseudo smile to Scootaloo, “Name’s Gilda. And for the record, Thunderblast is a dumb name. Maybe if you change it a bit it could work.”
Gilda shrugged, not caring one way or the other, “Eh, better. What’s your name?”
“Scootaloo!” the filly claimed with joy, her wings fluttering as she jumped up a bit.
Gilda rolled her eyes, “Now I see where your naming quality comes from.”
Scootaloo was too innocent to tell she was being insulted, “Naming quality?”
“Nothing, let’s just get to flying,” Gilda deflected. After a moment of preparing to flap her wings, Gilda had a thought. She hated the thought, but she knew it was something that made Rainbow Dash happy. And if it made Rainbow Dash happy, it might make this twerp happy, “Though, first I’d like to show you the chant your mom and I had to do when we were at the academy.”
“I so want to go there when I’m older!”
“Pfft, if Rainbow Dash the professional slacker could get in you should be fine. Just pay attention and you’ll be a shoo in.”
Back at the front door of the house, Rainbow Dash and Soarin looked on at the two with warm interest. Rainbow Dash found herself smiling as Gilda began to do the flight academy chant that Gilda seemed to dislike, though Rainbow herself was always inspired by. Soarin, on the other hand, was glad that Scootaloo seemed to be enjoying herself with a Gryphon who had, minutes ago, been in an antagonistic relationship with them.
“They seem to be doing just fine,” Soarin commented with a smile. Rainbow just nodded as she watched Gilda finish the chant, the Pegasus mare amused greatly by her friend’s deliberate choice of how to start things.
“I’m proud of you, Dashie,” Soarin whispered, “You did the right thing talking to her.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Rainbow blushed as Soarin began to kiss her neck.
Soarin paused his kissing to address a question he had not had answered for him yet, “Why’d she hate my posters by the way?”
All Soarin could think to explain the matter was that Gilda was jealous of them, but that—
A strong collision into the side of his head made Soarin stop all mental activity before shaking his head and trying to get his bearings. After a moment he found himself face to face with a green face hovering in front of him with beady black eyes on it and a large shell behind it.
“Ahhh, what is this thing!?” Soarin yelped as he backpedaled quickly into the house.
Rainbow Dash rose an eyebrow to Soarin, “That’s Tank. Don’t you remember Tank? He’s my only pet.”
“You have a pet!?”
Despite living in the house so long, Soarin had yet to really remember that there were more than four residents technically.
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Nice chapter. I think it was great to read. I think I know why Gilda hated those pictures. you are devious.
Lol, I like that he's been there months now and only just realised Rainbow has a pet. That's hilarious
Nice chapter! As always!
This was a most excellent chapter. Its always nice to see some redemption for Gilda and I really like how you did it. Great job and keep up the great work!
I can certainly relate to not noticing obvious things for months.
Sometimes in fanfic, though, I feel like Scootaloo could act a bit more brash. Just a bit.
Unsaid is that this would be after Gilda spent about a year in a body cast unable to move a bit from the beating Dash would give her.
Add in Soarin and the Wonderbolts.... oh man, Gilda would be lucky to be in the Body cast. And that's not even factoring in Sweetie Bell, Applebloom, and the rest of Scootaloo's friends in Ponyville.... oh yeah, and Luna. Even in Sleep Gilda wouldn't be safe.
Nice chapter, I liked the interaction between Gilda, Rainbow, Soarin, and Scootaloo, and Tank ramming into Soarin at the end was silly.
She obviously wants to change that.
I was going to ask about the green text, but then I realized it's a Zelda-link! Whatevs. Then I watched the vid, much better with context.
That's only going to hurt you Gilda.
Gryphons are very proud.
Was not expecting her.
Too bad no-one adopted little Bruce Wayne.
Ohhh! Riiiight..."Barbie Mariposa?" I can not think of that as a harmless movie. To me it's from the Fallout universe; Mariposa is where the Pre-War govt. experimented with FEV. Then where The Master created his Super Mutant Army. Then the Enclave created their own Super Mutants. Maripony is where some things happened in Fallout: Equestria, talking about them would drop major spoilers.
one thing first: unsure why you linked things in this story. they just seem to go to random places and such. i dunno if it's just happening to me or anything.
now, i liked this chapter. it showed the events of that episode in a light that i kind of thought that wasn't given a chance to be shown. not only that, you also gave her a chance for redemption, in a sense of the word, that actually seemed plausible. that being said, it felt like it "suffered" a little bit from syntax/grammatical errors. not too many, but just a few that someone could diligently find if they tried.
Yay update!!
Do I wanna know what Dash did with those posters to make Gilda hate them??? Hmm I wonder xD
Anyway.... Great chapter.
I have no regrets.
I can't believe I'm saying this but Gilda needs a boyfriend.
Don't worry Sourin
, I've STILL got you beat with MY surperior observational skill
Well said, Articuno
I was gonna give pretty much the exact same reaction, but quoting it was better. I'm not even surprised you went for it. Just...
Kudos to Rainbow and Gilda working on their relationship, though, always nice to have a bit of that thrown in wherever possible and relevant.
Soarin's 'You're S.P.E.C.I.A.L' chart might go something like this
Strength = 6
Perception = 2
Endurance = 8
Charisma = 5
Intelligence = 5
Agility = 9
Luck = 6
And that was solely for the purpose of stating his perception abilities
HOW DID HE NOT KNOW TANK EXISTED!?
Wow,im satisfied with this new chapter,guest im gonna go to winging it now....keep up the good work mate! (i was thinking when gilda said boy i hated those thing then something yadaya blah i was like when she leaves soarin grabs a shotgun and points it at him then dash takes it and hugs him saying "nah,its ok...thanks for being there for me..i love you ya goof.)
My concern? Having Scootaloo look at her with those worshipful filly eyes may go to Glida's head and inspire her to do something stupid... Just like it does with Rainbow.
5179509 Fleetfoot is fun to write
Between here and my other story “Winging It” I get a good dose of writing her opposite Soarin’s more straight up goofiness.
Thank you very much, and I’m pleased to say that there is a new chapter here! And if you haven’t seen it, Winging It has some more good heartwarming Soarin/Dash if you want to check it out!
Thanks again, and hope you enjoy!
5327267 Nice chapter. I think it was great to read. I think I know why Gilda hated those pictures. you are devious.
Hahaha, thanks
And Gilda hates them for two reasons, one of which I think you are onto. Second one is something no-one is gonna guess without a little help, but I’m curious what you think the first reason for her hatred is
5327340 Part of the reason I had Soarin just realize Tank is that I keep forgetting to add Tank into the story, which means Soarin really hasn’t processed the fact that Rainbow has a pet since he hasn’t really met with Tank yet. No guesses what the next “Meet the” is going to be about
5327381 Haha, thanks
5327395 Why thank you
Gilda deserves some kinda chance to redeem herself, just like others like Trixie do. Sure, Gilda was a jerk for no reason, but even jerks can mend their ways.
Thanks again, and I hope you can enjoy my other work as I work on another update for this story! (it’ll be a little while since I have to handle finals in school)
5327495 Haha, poor Soarin probably has annoyed Rainbow by not acknowledging that her pet exists all this time
And Scootaloo here is just in her giddy mode she does around Rainbow Dash 99% of the time, so she isn’t brash since she doesn’t need to be. She’s just happy to be here
5327499 I don’t know? Still kind of haven’t commented on the chapter, having more commented on how you didn’t comment on the chapter
5327562 Of course it is unsaid. This is supposed to be mainly fluffy, and going that dark wouldn’t match the overall tone. Sure things can get angry or sad here, but it’s counterbalanced by all the fluff!
Scootaloo has got a nice little support base around her now. Nobody should mess with her. Diamond Tiara beware
I am very pleased you enjoyed the chapter and its interactions. I tried drawing from some personal feelings about how some friends abandoned me for newer friends much like Rainbow did to Gilda for the Mane 6. People can try to excuse it however they want, it’s kind of selfish to just abandon someone and expect them to deal with it.
Tank being silly at the end was a reference to how I keep forgetting to include him in the story, while also a huge hint at what the next “Meet the” is going to be about
5327772 Of course. That’s kind of the point of the chapter
Things are always better with context, which is why I provided it.
Yeah, it would hurt Gilda but her proud nature won’t let her be too sappy for too long without just leaving and pretending the event never happened at all.
Case and point, Gryphons are very proud.
Haha, Scootaloo lives with them still, you can always expect her presence to be shown in some way
I don’t think someone adopting Bruce Wayne would have helped at all
He’s kind of too self-destructive to be helped.
Thunderblast, another character Gilda’s voice actress has played. Gilda’s making fun of herself in a way, thus the link.
Thundercracker, a legacy name of sorts given to characters across generations of Transformers of the anti-villain who doesn’t really believe in his cause kind of guy. Where I took my username from, and a character who has interacted with Thunderblast.
5328077 One thing first: I linked things for context. They are only random so much as someone is too lazy to actually observe them. Link 1: a joke from Dragonball Z I referenced. Pretty simple. I even made the video start at the precise moment the joke begins. Link 2: Gilda’s voice actress, who voiced a character named Thunderblast before. All one had to do was check the page. So they are not random places.
Anyways, I like portraying things in a different light than how it originally was presented. For example, I look at Boast Busters as a tale about how a poor mare (Trixie) was heckled by some inconsiderate ponies while she was just trying to do her job, and in the end their doubting her publically led to a series of events that left her destitute and humiliated to the point of no longer being able to do her job. So here, it’s Gilda’s turn to show that she has more to her than just being a jerk: she really does genuinely care about Rainbow, and was just pissed that Rainbow wasn’t really appreciating her while also having to deal with the annoying nature of Pinkie Pie. Sure, she snapped and was mean before even snapping, but she didn’t come for the others: she came for Dash and Dash kind of didn’t help her out any.
5328214 Yay, update!
And I am not sure I could actually bring up what Rainbow did with those posters in this semi-G rated story
But that’s only half the reason Gilda hated them. 
Thanks! Hope you continue to enjoy!
5328322 If you said that in reference to Gilda’s subtle/unsubtle affections for Rainbow Dash in this chapter, then good job! You’re the only one who seems to have really picked up on that.
If you said that in reference to something else…then sorry, please try again.
5328573 Sadly, the person Gilda is interested in is taken
5328623 Haha, never heard Gilda called that before
Cutie Catbird 
I got to use that one.
5328803 I don’t see what was well said.
Surprised that, a line or two after referencing a Transformers role Gilda’s voice actress did I referenced the Transformer whose name I get my username from? Of COURSE you shouldn’t be surprised
Too bad for Gilda that they can’t work on their relationship even…more.
It was nice having them hash it out though. I think they’re better off for it!
Actually, Soarin’s chart is more like this: Your number -> My number
Strength = 6 -> 3 (he’s stronger than a human, but he’s not some physical god. Loki doesn’t even have a 6)
Perception = 2 -> 3 (he’s perceptive, but he loses 2 points when it has to deal with certain things not flying related)
Endurance = 8 -> 5 (he’s a horse and tough, but again, he’s not some physical god)
Charisma = 5 -> 6 (he’s nice and people like him because of how good natured he is)
Intelligence = 5 -> 6 (he’s actually really smart in terms of book smarts, he just is a goof when it comes to anything else)
Agility = 9 -> 7 (he’s not the fastest flier, nor are Pegasus the fastest things ever)
Luck = 6 -> 8 (He’s marrying Rainbow Dash and is a born genius and athlete. Lucky? Yes)
5328886 Because I keep forgetting to include Tank.
It’s a joke on myself, really.
5329217 Gilda’s less of a showoff than Rainbow Dash (Not that that is difficult), and she’s only hanging out with Scootaloo to try and win back Rainbow’s friendship. She’s not going to go all out when she can do a flip and amaze the filly
5330812 Oh of course. the next 'Meet the' will clearly be 'Meet the Celestia'
5330843 What'd ya think I was talking about?
5330836
guess that makes sense then. just thought that they were links that just randomly happened. good to see that that was besides the point.
5330841
hehe... well.... the story it's still great, even if we don't get all the details
That ended well.... too well IMHO
5330932 Yes, clearly
5331291 So yeah, Gilda's gay for Rainbow here and has to deal with the fact that they are not only not really friends anymore, but also that Rainbow isn't even playing for the same team. Poor Gilda
5331711 Explain. I think it ended just fine because Soarin let them yell at eachother a bit. I find that the best compromises in my life come from extreme arguments after they simmer down.
5331782
I was expecting more of a fight, also I am a bit disappoint
5331785 Not everything is going to be a giant conflict. Gilda wanted to make things better and Soarin convinced Rainbow to be amenable to improving things as well. Crisis averted. Remember, fluffy story is fluffy.
5332001 I will admit the touch about tank was nice
5332368 Had to set up our next chapter somehow
5332792 oh yea
5330848
Okay, maybe not said, just.. Oh, nevermind.
I can't say I expected it, though. So there's that! I'm just not surprised that the references are what they are.
Yeap, too bad. Unless Soarin's into some really kinky things and Rainbow's willing.
And yeah, they're certainly better off for it! Less problems to come back and bite you in the ass later, yay!
I actually kept in mind Fallout's starting points in each category being 5 as the default for a starting character which is why I put only 6 as strength
You know, average. At least as far as Fallout is concerned. Can't disagree with Agility though, I mucked that up. Luck, on the other hand, I consider him quite lucky, yes but the fact that he hooked up with Rainbow was more dependent on his charisma, no? I mean, his personality is what Rainbow was attracted do aside from the fact that he was a star athlete and good looking.
5331768 Called it
5332836 Nevermind what?
Always expect references in this story
I don't think this Soarin knows what a kink is
Remember the candles scene? 
So it looks like Gilda is out of luck, even if Rainbow was willing to experiment. In the meantime though, they can just appreciate eachother as friends! Provided Gilda doesn't mess up or anything. She's on thin ice 
Oh, I thought you were using whatever the system Marvel uses was, where 3=superhuman and 2=average
For a Fallout system I'd adjust him to:
Actually, Soarin’s chart is more like this: Your number
Strength = 8
Perception = 3
Endurance = 9
Charisma = 6
Intelligence = 8
Agility = 7
Luck = 6 (this would be 1 in Winging It, due to reasons involved with the third chapter
)
Soarin is a stallion, which are big and strong in the pony world, and he's an athlete, so he's high up but not at the top. As for his luck, I kind of see what you mean but he was still born kinda lucky. And he won Rainbow over because of his assortment of traits, not just his charisma. He's not exactly a speaker sort of guy, he's a lovable goof
5332899 (It's gonna be about tank)