Gilda stared at the cottage in front of her. The only thought that came into her head was "Mushy to the core...". What Gilda didn't realize was that she had said it out loud to herself, earning a hard glare from Rainbow Dash.

"Be nice G, don't forget what we are here for..." she said, hovering above Gilda with her forelegs crossed. "Yeah yeah, I got it Dash." Gilda replied confidently. Truth be told, on the inside this was eating at Gilda like parasprites eating food.

Just don't say anything stupid, be nice, and don't blush. NEVER blush! Its the ultimate sappy move.

Rainbow gave the cottage door a few knocks. Fluttershy opened the door, smiling a "hello" to Dash. However, when her eyes came to rest on Gilda, she pulled Dash inside her cottage, letting out a large "Eek!" and closed the door in fear. Gilda shook her head and let out a large groan. Why me?

"Fluttershy! She just wants to talk to you. I promise! She won't do anything mean to you..." Rainbow reasoned from inside the door. " Y-you p-promise?" Fluttershy asked in a whisper, her voice shaken with fear. " I promise, she won't do anything. You know I would never leave you hanging!" Rainbow told her proudly.

The door open again, and Fluttershy hesitantly stepped outside. She was now staring straight into Gilda's eyes, they seemed to paralyze Fluttershy in fear, so Gilda decided to just start her speech.

" Listen Fluttershy. I am reeaallyyy sorry for treating you the way I did. To be honest, that day I was the one who wasn't paying attention. I'm sure Rainbow told you all the things I did to Pinkie and her, so I was really frustrated. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me, and we can even beco-"

Gilda's speech was cut short by Fluttershy, who had gone over to Gilda and gave her a hug, nuzzling Gilda's neck in acceptance. No matter how hard she fought it, Gilda couldn't contain the blush that appeared on her face. Darn it!!!!! Stupid affection!!!!

Rainbow Dash noticed the blush, and couldn't contain the giggles that spewed from her, until it turned into full on laughter. " HAHAHA WOW G! YOU?! BLUSHING!??!!!" Rainbow cried out, tears falling from her eyes from all her laughter.

Gilda growled silently, vowing revenge on Rainbow Dash. When she got her breathing under her control. " Hehe, you blushing.. now I've seen everything." she said.

Gilda grew a smirk, and decided to 1up Dash. "At least I don't have a pet name! Dashie!" she teased, which caused Rainbow to shuffle her hooves on the floor nervously, a blush appearing on her own cyan face. " S-shut up!"

Fluttershy and Gilda both chuckled at this, and they all turned to each other smiling. " Oh my Gilda! That wing injury looks pretty bad. Would you mind if I took a quick look?" Fluttershy asked. She grew nervous, and she added, " Don't worry, I take care of animals, I'll make sure not to damage anything.

Rainbow stuck her two bits in. " She's right G, when was the last time you re wrapped the bandages? Its not healthy to keep the same ones on for a long time."

Gilda chuckled sheepishly when Rainbow asked her that question. " You were supposed to change them? Hehe, who knew?"

Rainbow facehoofed, and Fluttershy let out a nervous chuckle. " Oh dear, come here Gilda, lets get you checked out." she said,gaining a sweet motherly tone.

Dash had other plans, she headed towards the door, planning to do some midday flying. " Well I'll leave you two to it, I gotta catch up on my flying. G, make sure you keep Fluttershy company, and try not to act too cool ok? I'll check up on you guys later." Gilda nodded and gave Dash a thumbs up. (Talons up? How in Equestria would you say that? It seems so weird...)

Gilda layed down on her stomach on a rug provided, and allowed Fluttershy to begin her treatment. She carefully unwrapped the bandages from Gilda's wings, making sure to make as least contact as possible. Gilda cringed when she saw the state her wings were in. The feathers were positioned awkwardly, probably due from missing out on several preening sessions. She tried to flex them slowly, to allow Fluttershy more room to examine them. A few winces and small grunts of pain later, she got them fully extended. Fluttershy frowned, and gave Gilda a flat look.

"What? I told you I never took off the bandages before now." Gilda complained. Fluttershy let out a cute giggle and her face softened a bit. " Oh don't worry, gimme a second." she replied, going into the kitchen and into a small cabinet. It was assorted with all sorts of medicines and ointments, no doubt her stash for dealing with her animal patients.

Fluttershy returned with a pink jar under her wing. It appeared to be an ointment of some sort.

Oh man! If she puts that on me?! My wings are hyper-sensitive to stuff like that! Contact is bad enough but... OINTMENT! Dear Celestia help me...

"This ointment does two things. 1) Keeps your feathers clean and neat, since you don't seem to do a lot of preening. 2) It should help your wings heal faster. By the way, what caused your injury anyway?" Fluttershy asked.

" After what I did the last time, I got caught in a bad storm. I got struck by lightning, right in the wings. The doctors said i'm the luckiest being in Equestria. There was no way my wings, or even me should have survived that." Gilda said flatly, the story not exactly entertaining to tell.

Being the kind mare she is, Fluttershy put a comforting hoof on Gilda's shoulder. " Thank goodness you survived, no one deserves to lose their lives, no matter what they do negatively." Fluttershy said, giving Gilda a smile. She had no choice but to return it, genuinely of course.

" Now its warm, just let me know if i'm putting too much pressure..." Gilda nodded, but had to hide a wince of pain in her wings. They were starting to sting for being flexed so long and not at 100%. " Don't worry, this should only take a minute or two." Fluttershy reassured.

Gilda's first reaction to the warm cream was that it felt heavenly. Combined with the sensitivity with her wings, she had to bite her tongue to resist crying out. Fluttershy started with the left wing, making sure to get the pink substance between the feathers, being as gentle as possible. She made sure the cream was fully lathered into the wing before moving on to the next one. Gilda's will cracked at that point, it felt too good at that point. Soooooo Gooooood...

Fluttershy hit a sensitive spot on Gilda's wings, and in response she let loose a high pitched moan. She blushed a deep crimson when she realized the sound she had made, not knowing she was capable of making such a sound. Thankfully Fluttershy had chose to ignore the noise, a pink blush on her own face. I gotta remember to ask about that noise later, it was too cute... she must really enjoy this.

Fluttershy finished soon after, wiping down the substance after letting it stick for a few minutes. Gilda had to wipe the sweat off of her forehead with a talon. Why was I sweating? Its not hot in here.

Re wrapping new bandages around Gilda's wings, Fluttershy sat down next to her, before getting up suddenly, realizing something she had to do. "Oh! Gilda, I have to stop by my friend Rarity's shop to pick up a dress she is making for me. It would be great if you could come along, soften the tension between you and my other friends..." Fluttershy asked pleadingly.

All Gilda could do was let out a small groan of frustration, but for Fluttershy's sake she got up and followed her. "Sure i'll come, just as long as I don't end up wearing nothing frilly. One dress on me and i'm coming back!" Gilda taunted, her voice harsher than she meant it to be, but Fluttershy didn't seem to mind it. In fact, she just gave Gilda a friendly shove on her shoulder and chuckled. " Ok no worries, no dresses for you. I wouldn't want to upset my new friend would I?" she said, opening up her cottage door for Gilda to follow behind.

When they started their walk back into Ponyville, Gilda put a talon on her chest, getting a warm feeling there and a thought stuck in her mind.

"Fluttershy is my friend now..." she thought smiling to herself.

Author's Note

Great feedback so far, and I just hope to receive more. Don't worry, this is just the beginning. Just to recap: Gilda apologized to Fluttershy, and Fluttershy treated Gilda's injuries, a quick moment of pleasure thrown in for good measure, and now Fluttershy considers Gilda a friend. I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter.