To Deserve a Second Chance
To Deserve a Second Chance
It was the middle of summer in Equestria, the hottest it had seen in over a decade and all of its inhabitants were feeling its effects. In Ponyville, the townsfolk avoided leaving their homes, and the few that ventured out would only do so out of necessity.
A strange couple of griffons were part of that group. They had come to Equestria as part of the escort and bodyguard service for a councilor that would end up staying for several weeks. They left the group and became stranded in the country. One of the two was less than pleased to be in this little podunk town.
“Claw, for the last time; I want you to tell me what are we supposed to be doing in this town?” the female griffon asked her partner threatening him with her claws in his neck.
“Gilda! Please stop doing that!”
“No until I get a straight answer. I hate being in the heat, I hate being in this town, I hate being in this country and I definitively hate you being so damn secretive!”
“Ok, ok I get it. You see the dark forest over there?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Deep in that forest lives a dragon, and word says that he has a mountain of treasure”
Gilda took her claw away from him “What is it that you are implying?”
“Geez Gilda, the heat is really starting to take a toll on you. What I mean is that we can go there at night, sneak in, and take some of that treasure with us!” he said showing a wide smile.
“ARE YOU INSANE?! How could you even think of doing something so dangerous?”
“Dangerous? Gilda dragons are known to sleep for years, decades even. He is most likely asleep right now, we could easily go there right now, silently grab all the gold and gems we can without being noticed and then we’ll be filthy rich! What do you say?”
Guild thought about it “I think that your family would be devastated when they find out the only thing that remains of you is a pile of ashes; even worse, a pile of dragon excrement.”
“You are cold Gilda. Fine, that means more treasure for Me.” he scowled as he took flight in the general direction of the Everfree forest.
Gilda looked until he was out of sight “I hope you come back alive.”
“Who should come back alive?” a voice asked from behind Gilda making her yelp in surprise.
“Sorry to have startled you Gilda.” the purple mare in front of her said wearing a smile.
Gilda looked at the purple pony in front of her, vaguely remembering that she was one of Rainbow Dash’s friends “You are one of Dash’s friends, are you not? You are… Twinkle Sparks?”
“Twilight Sparkle actually, but thanks for remembering me.”
“Whatever.” she said huffing.
“So tell me, how have you been Gilda?”
“Look here squirt; I don’t like you so stop being so friendly. And second, what do you want?”
“Nothing really, it’s just that it has been so long since I last saw you that I was wondering how you had been. That is what drove me to come greet you in the first place.”
Gilda closed her claws to Twilight’s throat “I told you to stop being so friendly.”
Twilight eyed the claws clearly un-amused “Geez, you should really chill out a little.”
Gilda was surprised at her reaction “How come you are so calm about this?” then she noticed the chilly air emanating from the mare’s body “And how come you are so cold?”
“I used a freshness spell on myself to fight the heat, as for your first question, I have already faced 2 dragons, one Hydra and the embodiment of Chaos and Disharmony face to face, and I am terribly sorry if this sounds rude but you are not that scary in comparison.”
Gilda retreated her claws and even thought she felt somewhat insulted, she was more surprised ‘just who is this mare?’ she thought.
“I can see you are surprised Gilda.”
“You can say that again.”
Twilight snickered, “Well Gilda, if you don’t have anything else to do, I could invite you to my library, we could have iced tea and I could tell you all about my adventures.”
Gilda really wanted to avoid talking to ponies, but she was really curious about all that the mare told her, and she could use the refreshment “Sure thing, I will accept your offer.”
“Then follow me.”
Both mare and griffin arrived at the tree/library where they spent the rest of the afternoon talking.
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The sky was clear as the midday sun took its place above Equestria. Even the dark and imposing Everfree forest seemed somewhat alive despite being one of the most ancient and dangerous area’s in the world.
But even in this forsaken part of Equestria there are those who would venture inside to either prove something or because they don’t know how dangerous it really is.
One Griffon by the name of Feral Claw fits both categories. In his mind there is just one thought. A mountain of treasure that is sitting in a cave ready to be taken.
‘This will be easy. I’ve got to be silent and swift, and soon enough I will be sitting on my new private beach, with my new shack’s balcony with two…no, make that three of the finest females I can find by my side drinking piña coladas, not having to worry about working for the rest of my life!’ or so he was thinking.
So there he stood in front of a dark secluded cave that lead to a fully grown green dragon’s lair which ultimately contained the prize his greedy heart wished to have.
He could hear the massive beast’s snore from there, but he was past the point of no return.
‘It’s now or never.’ he said to himself as he made his way to the dark depths of the cave as quietly as possible.
When he arrived at the main chamber, it was littered with gold coins, gems of all kinds and a massive, sleeping reptile off to one side. The jaw of the griffon almost hit the floor at the sight of the wealth.
Resisting the increasing urge to yell in excitement, he stepped closer to the prize and tentatively, with the utmost care, he started taking the items one by one and carefully putting them in his bag. After hours of putting gems and coins in his bags these were almost filled with treasure always having an eye out for the owner of the pile.
When he started looking elsewhere he finally noticed a sword, glinting heavily and adorned with gems. It appeared to be made out of gold and what seemed to be platinum in the hilt. He didn’t know how did he made it over it so fast, but he couldn’t care less. He grabbed the blade and yanked it from the pile of riches it was buried in sending a long stream of coins and gems falling in a cascading fashion creating an enormous echo that woke the owner of said treasure.
Without thinking Claw took off as fast as his heavy bags allowed him, he was in such a fearful state of mind that he could not even register the roar the dragon made in anger.
Once out of the cave, Claw tried to fly over the forest. He noticed the night sky and the moon that barely showed its face over the edges of the eastern sky when he turned his gaze to the cave he had just escaped from. Soon after, the hulking green dragon exited his home and started following him.
Claw flew as fast as possible, the dragon always hot on his tail feathers breathing massive amounts of fire at him.
Soon Claw opted to fly low in order to hide his presence in the forest and made a mad dash through the foliage that was sure to protect him.
The fire breathing reptile went into a fit of rage; the thief had escaped. He wouldn’t stand for such a transgression, not again. He circled the forest, from west to east, passing near a cottage, and finally stopping his breath near an apple farm, he was hungry and could use a snack while the robber either burned in the forest or he emerged; either way he would have his treasure back.
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Gilda had actually been enjoying her time with the purple mare. She had a lot of stories to tell, she could barely believe for how much she had gone through that it made her feel bad about herself. Now she was envious for how mature and impressive Twilight Sparkle was. Gilda was starting to respect this pony more and more with each passing minute.
“So Gilda, you are here with the councilor of…” Twilight could not finish that sentence as an elder mare came busting through the main door of the library.
“Mayor, what is it?”
“Twilight Sparkle we need you! There is a fire spreading from the Everfree forest. It is close from Fluttershy’s cottage, the animals are running from the forest and we need all the help we can get!”
Twilight did not answered the mayor, she rushed as fast as her legs could lead her, soon she felt as if her hoof were touching air and not the ground and saw the figure of a griffin holding her “What are you doing?”
“Believe me Twilight it is faster if we fly. Beside you heard the mayor, you need all the help you can get, now which way.”
Twilight was swelling with pride. Gilda had opened up to her and was giving assistance. But there were more important issues at hoof, idle chat would have to wait. “That way!” Twilight said pointing in the direction of the cottage owned by the veterinarian of the town.
Upon arriving, Twilight could see Fluttershy evacuating animals away from their homes in the now burning forest. While the other citizens tried hard to placate the raging flames that threatened to consume the cottage and possibly the nearby town “FLUTTERSHY!” Twilight yelled.
The butter yellow mare looked up to see her unicorn friend being carried by the Griffin that had made her cry more than a year ago, but fear would have to come later “Twilight! Thank Celestia you are here!”
“Fluttershy, please tell me how did this started.” Twilight asked in exasperation and confusion while looking for the most effective way to fight the fire.
“It… it was a dragon Twilight! It was so terrifying to see him nearby, and then he, he just started sweeping the forest with his breath. Oooh, it was so horrible!” she said cowering in a mixture of fear and shame.
“Calm down Fluttershy, I am here to make things right.” She directed her attention to the ponies coming and going with buckets filled with water, “Attention everypony!”
All the ponies just stopped where they stood “We need to organize ourselves, half of you will need to go to sweet apple acres and do the exact same thing you are doing here, and the rest are with me trying to save the cottage!”
A collective “YEAH!” was heard and now the number of ponies was cut in half but the half that stayed was eyeing her.
“What is the problem?”
“Miss Twilight, the problem is that we have tried hard to douse the trees and it has done nothing, they keep on burning, how are you planning on saving the cottage? Even if we soak it, it would only be temporary protection, the water would evaporate and the cottage will be consumed afterwards.”
The stallion was right, they could never hope to save the cottage with just water, but she could not think of anything else. Her thoughts were interrupted by the voice of her new friend behind her.
“Cover the cottage with mud!”
Twilight turned to look at Gilda “What?”
“Twilight hear me out. It’s simple really, the mud is a combination of dirt and water, it holds moisture far better, and after it dries it leaves a crust of dirt over anything. And just like that, the risk of something catching fire minimizes. It is used against fires back home.”
Twilight’s face beamed “THAT’S IT! Everypony create as much mud as possible and cover the cottage, after that, use it on the trees of the forest! One of you go to the farm and tell the other team about it, make sure to save as many apple trees as possible.”
“YES MA’AM!” and then all of the ponies scattered for their intended jobs.
Fluttershy was dumbfounded, she remembered how mean Gilda had been with her long ago, but now she was trying to save her cottage and she was being friendly with Twilight. “E-excuse me… Twilight but…” she would not finish that sentence as a rainbow streak arrived at their location.
“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash said halting in front of the unicorn friend and distracted as she was she noticed a familiar face, “You?”
“Hi Dash.” Gilda said “Been a while, eh?”
“What are you doing here?” Rainbow asked squinting her eyes menacingly at the sight of her former friend ready to leap at her when Twilight stood in front of her.
“Dash, now is not the time, you needed something?”
Even if Rainbow was mad at Gilda, she could bottle that up until the emergency passed. “Twilight, we need some more water. The well is pretty dry, so is the pond. I was planning to go to Cloudsdale and get some rain clouds from the factory.”
“Great idea Rainbow!”
“TWILIGHT!” the voice Twilight’s farmer friend called “RAINBOW DASH, FLUTTERSHY!”
As she got close Twilight could read the expression of fear in her face “Applejack, what is it?”
“Twilight bad news, the crusaders… they…”
“They what, Applejack?” Twilight asked fearing the answer.
“They were going to spend the night with Zecora, and then to top it all there is this dragon gnawing on my trees breathing fire to all who dares to try and save my orchard as if it was his!”
Gilda winced a little at the remark of the dragon, she knew it had been Claw that woke it, but she decided to remain silent.
Rainbow got close to the earth pony “No worries AJ, I’ll go find them!”
Gilda felt fear right then and there “Are you crazy Rainbow? You are going to get yourself killed!”
Rainbow Dash glared at her “Nopony asked for your opinion Gilda.”
“I will give it either way; you can’t go there and save them.”
Dash got in front of Gilda “Why is that?”
“Simple Rainbow, you might be the fastest, but how are you planning on bringing a bunch of ponies out of there?” Gilda pointed to the burning forest “You will pass out before you can even save one.”
“And what is it that you recommend Gilda”
“Easy, you need to go for the storm clouds; I will bring the foals that are lost as well as that Zecora pony.”
“I can’t but you can, eh?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. Yes I can.”
Both the pegasi and griffin glared at each other until Twilight levitated Rainbow from her position “Rainbow, she is right.”
“What are you doing Twilight? Have you gone insane?”
“No, but right now the important thing is to save Applebloom and the other crusaders and we need those clouds as soon as possible. You are the fastest in Equestria, and then there is that dragon to deal with. We do not have much time!”
“But, Twilight…”
“GET GOING RAINBOW, BEFORE IS TOO LATE!”
Rainbow flinched but quickly turned around and left in the direction of Cloudsdale.
Twilight turned and levitated a bucket of water the cottage group had and soaked Gilda in it “Hey what gives?”
“Is for your protection Gilda that way you will keep cool during your flight. Now Zecora’s hut is in a straight line in that direction about a kilometer away, do you think you can manage it?”
Gilda nodded and left quickly “Be careful Gilda… Fluttershy, Applejack let’s go have a talk with that dragon.” Twilight could not be more motivated now, she had a job to do and she left with her friends not hearing a barely perceptible ‘meep’ from one of them.
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Gilda soared through the burning trees low enough so the smoke could barely affect her. She saw the hut that was mentioned to her and entered. Her soaked body had dried by now and she knew that if the heat got too high she would suffer. Upon entering, she could not see anything; there was not one soul in the hut.
But then she heard a cough; almost imperceptible, coming from below the floor. “HEY ANYPONY HERE?” No answer came ‘They must’ve passed out.’ She quickly tore through the dirt until she found a hidden trap door. She’d finally located the zebra and 3 fillies.
Gilda had been quick in grabbing them, and she tried to glide out of the forest but now it was getting increasingly more difficult. The trees were falling left and right and the heat and smoke were beginning to take its toll on her. She could see above, and saw many ashes falling, and the trees were distorting in front of her tired eyes.
‘Gilda you can do this! Just a few more meters and we’re safe!’ she thought. She closed her eyes for a second, and that second was enough to allow the falling tree ahead of her to go unnoticed. She managed to react in time and threw the zebra and the fillies. The impact woke them all up.
“Wah? What’s going on?” Asked the filly with a red ribbon before she could see the griffon pinned down below a charred tree trunk. “Miss are ya’ all right?” asked Applebloom with concern.
Gilda chuckled “What do you think kid? That doesn’t matter right now, wake them and escape!”
“But miss…”
“BUT MISS NOTHING! You must save yourselves, please!”
Applebloom woke the other crusaders and Zecora. they ran towards the exit of the forest “Great, now I get to die alone. Man, this is depressing.” Gilda said as her consciousness drifted. She could’ve sworn she saw a group of ponies trying to save her.
That was the last thing she would remember before falling into unconsciousness.
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Gilda’s head throbbed as if a marching band was playing inside her skull; the lights in the room hurt her eyes and the smell of medicines and disinfectants were giving her a headache. She noticed that it was still early in the morning after seeing the sun through her window.
“Gilda?” the voice of a purple mare called her name.
“Twilight, hey.” Gilda weakly said
“Oh Gilda! I’m glad to see you are doing better!”
“Hey, it takes more than a simple tree to deal with Gilda.”
“I guess you are right.” Twilight said between chuckles “I wanted to see you because the nurse said that as soon as you are awake you could leave the hospital. You just need to be grounded for a couple of weeks. Your wings took quite the beating.”
“Thanks Twilight. I really appreciate you coming here to see me.”
“No problem. That is what friends are for.”
“HA! Friends, yeah right.”
Twilight was puzzled “What do you mean?”
“You only say that I am your friend because I saved those fillies.”
“Gilda, you are wrong on that one. I had considered you a friend since before we left the library yesterday night.”
Now Gilda was the confused “You’re lying.”
“I’m not. Why do you think I let you carry me to Fluttershy’s cottage? Or go to the forest rescue Applebloom and her friends? Had I not trusted you, I would have gone there myself.”
Gilda was left speechless; she sat there for a full 20 seconds before talking “You do really mean that, don’t you?”
“Of course I do Gilda.” Twilight said wrapping the griffon’s claws between her hooves “Now please let us go, you are going to need a place to rest and I happen to have an extra room in my library.”
Gilda’s cheeks dampened with tears of her own “Thank you Twilight.” she then stood up from her bed and they both walked to the reception desk and got checked out.
Out the hospital thought she was surprised to see a multitude of ponies with canvas that had her name on it cheering and hollering at her sight. Gilda could not believe how grateful these ponies were. This made her feel welcomed, and most of all, it made her feel happy.
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The walk to the library was interrupted by a lot of ponyfolk wanting to congratulate the new hero of the town, but also by conversation between the two new friends.
“Rainbow arrived with a squadron of weather managers with storm clouds, and Fluttershy encouraged the dragon to take his leave. He also promised to keep a door on something so his treasure would be better protected. He also promised to never start a fire ever again.”
“And Claw was arrested. I really wish he hadn’t done something like that.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it. He made that choice Gilda. At least you were mature enough to not go and do such a thing, and here we are.” Twilight said opening the door to her new friend “Come on in!”
Gilda entered and saw nothing, the place was dark and she swore she heard something moving, “SURPRIIIIIISE!!!” The shouts of 5 ponies and a baby dragon made her jump back; it was a party.
“Welcome Gilda! We thank you for saving our little sisters. I am sorry I played all those pranks on you and we want to be your new friend. Now that you are here, let’s party!” said a pink mare that appeared in front of her in a blur.
Gilda was speechless, the whole day had gone from good to better, and now she was truly overwhelmed. “You, you did this for me?”
“Of course silly!”
“But… why?”
“Sugarcube, you saved mah sister’s life!” an orange mare answered her.
“As well as mine, and let me tell you that I could never repay for what you did.” a white mare spoke.
“You did great Gilda!” the cyan pegasus spoke from above.
“You girls are forgiving me?”
Pinkie Pie interjected “Silly, of course! I also want to thank you personally.”
Gilda looked at the pink pony, a weight settling in her heart as she recalled how mean she had been with her “Why would you thank me?”
“You saved the day silly, and… you saved Fluttershy’s cottage. For that I am most grateful.” Pinkie said taking a glance to the yellow pegasus nearby.
Gilda saw the love on the earth pony’s eyes, and she understood now why she had really done that fake party. Why would she wanted Gilda to leave town? “I hope you can forgive me Fluttershy, for everything.”
“No need Gilda” said the soothing voice of the pegasus “You already showed us how selfless you are and how much you’ve changed and that for me is enough proof.”
“Thank you.”
“Now that apologies are done… it’s time for the PARTAAYYYYY!!!”
All the attendants yelled in response with smiles forming on their faces.
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It was getting late and Twilight stepped aside from the party in order to write a letter addressed to her teacher.
Dear Princess Celestia:
Today I learned one of the most gratifying things about friendship one could ever hope to learn. I learned that even if someone has wronged you in the past, it does not mean you cannot forgive them. Learning to forgive and forget past mistakes can open the hearts of all creatures and allow you to enjoy the warm embrace of a newly formed friendship or even revive a long lost one.
Always your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.
