“I don’t know about this, Dash….”
“Come on, you’re the one that wanted to do this to begin with.”
“I know….I’m just having second thoughts about it is all….”
“Are you getting scared on me? What are you, a chicken or a griffin?”
With a sigh, she replied, “Well, a griffin obviously, but that’s not what I mean-“
Rainbow Dash interrupted loudly, “Then start acting like one, Gilda! I’ve never seen you like this before.”
Gilda looked downward as the continued to move along the sun-drenched dirt path, “I’ve never really done anything like this before.”
“And now you’re getting scared about it last minute?” Rainbow asked, looking at her friend.
The griffin simply nodded, the feathers on her head flopping around.
“You don’t have anything to worry about, Gilda,” Rainbow said as she looked back at path before them, “I think it’s great you want to apologize to everypony. And I’m sure everypony else will think it’s great, too.”
“But the damage I did was….pretty big. What I said to Pinkie Pie….and to Fluttershy…..I just really messed up,” Gilda sighed heavily.
“Yeah, so? It doesn’t mean you shouldn't try to repair the damage you’ve done. We all do dumb things from time to time,” the blue pegasus comforted the griffin, “And it’s always good to have friends to help you out with that.”
As she continued to trot along the path, Gilda commented, “I just hope they give me a second chance.”
Dash smiled and gave a reassuring pat on Gilda’s back, “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Further up the road, under the shade of a large tree, two ponies sat and chatted away. One was a pink mare with a frazzled pink mane and tail that both seemed to have a mind of their own, and the other was a yellow pegasus with a long, orderly pink mane that seemed to have the upmost care put into it daily. Between them was a wicker basket that held a multiple of snacks and sweets. The dialogue between the two was light and occupied them both.
“Then it turned out, Gummy was stuck in my mane the whole time! It was crazy! I asked him how long he had been trapped in my mane and he told me he had been trapped in there for at least three days! Can you believe that, Fluttershy?” the excited pink pony explained.
“Three days? Oh my, how did you figure that out?” Fluttershy asked.
“Well, duh! He told me! Gummy is such a chatterbox once you get him started! Like one time we were talking about cupcakes and muffins, trying to figure out which one was better, and he literally didn’t stop talking about why cupcakes were superior!” Pinkie continued.
Fluttershy tilted her head slightly to the side, “I didn’t know you spoke alligator, Pinkie Pie.”
“I don’t!” she replied with a happy expression across her face.
Unsure how to respond to her friend, Fluttershy simply gave a pleasant smile.
“Anyway, since my little Gummy had been stuck in there for three days straight, I figured it was time to comb my mane, but wouldn’t you know it, the comb got stuck in there! If I shake my head hard enough I can feel it moving in there!” Pinkie started to violently shake her head to demonstrate the fact.
A shouted call interrupted the conversation between the two, “Hey!”
Both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy turned to the source to see a familiar blue pegasus with a multi-colored mane trotting closer to them.
“Oh, it’s Rainbow Dash! Hiya Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie Pie waved her hoof up in the air enthusiastically.
“Hello, Rainbow. How are you doing?” Fluttershy meekly asked.
The blue pony nodded, “Good, doing good. But I’m not here for me.”
“Huh? What ‘chu talkin’ ‘bout, Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie Pie squinted her face.
“Instead, I’m here to support a friend and what she has to say,” Rainbow stepped to the side, revealing that Gilda was standing behind her. The griffin was looking down at the ground on the other side of her talons, unable to make eye contact with the ponies in front of her.
Both of the mares gasped, seeing an individual they had not seen in a long time.
“G-Gilda? Oh dear….” Fluttershy nervously spoke, noticeably shaking.
Pinkie Pie was still gasping. She continued until she literally had no more room in her lungs. After exhaling, she finally directed her attention back to the griffin, “What are you doing here, Gilda? I assure you that I have no more tricks or anything planned for you, I promise!” her voice was panicky.
Still looking at the ground, Gilda spoke up, “I’m not here to be mean or anything. I’m here to say….sorry.”
Both Pinkie and Fluttershy paused as they heard the statement. It was visibly apparent that both were puzzled.
“Come again?” the yellow pegasus spoke up, still shaking slightly.
Lifting her head up slightly, Gilda saw Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy looking straight at her. Swallowing, she continued, “I want to say sorry for what I said to the two of you, I’m sorry for hurting you….”
“You’re….sorry?” Pinkie Pie asked.
Gilda nodded, “Yes. It took me some time to really realize it, but….I now know I was a complete jerk to you two. I had no right or reason to act the way I did. Since then, I’ve been trying to better myself, honest,” Seeing that both of them were silent, the griffin hung her head and closed her eyes, “I’m not expecting you two of forgive me or give me any sympathy for what I did. I just want you both to realize what I did was a mistake and I missed out on becoming friends with two great ponies.”
As she was about to turn around and trot away, Gilda was stopped by a warm feeling. She opened her eyes to see that Fluttershy had stood up and given her a hug. Despite squirming a bit, Gilda didn’t move or try to escape.
Finally, Fluttershy spoke from, “It’s okay, Gilda, I forgive you.”
Flustered, Gilda asked, “But….why? I was nothing but a jerk to you and those little ducklings.”
“I know,” Fluttershy stated, closing her eyes as she continued the hug, “but I understand that it’s not easy to do something like this, asking for forgiveness. We all make mistakes, but we can always try to fix them. And it makes me really happy that you want to.”
Joining in with a hug as well, Pinkie Pie wrapped her limbs around both Gilda and Fluttershy “And I like the new you! You’re so much more nicer than before and I’m sure that means you’re much more funner than before!”
Still standing to the side, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but chuckle as she watched Pinkie Pie hug on to Gilda.
“Even after doing all I could to get rid of you?” the griffin looked over to the pink pony as she continued to hug.
“Of course! I just wanted to be your newest friend! And now that you want to be, it makes me so super-duper happy!” Pinkie Pie mused and giggled.
“Th-Thank you….thank you for forgiving me….” Gilda finally hugged the two ponies back.
Taking a step forward to the group hug, Rainbow Dash joined in with a comment, “That’s what friends are for.”
As the four stopped their hug, Gilda raised a talon to her eye to wipe away a would-be tear. As she was lowering it, however, it was stopped by Pinkie Pie’s hoof, which pulled her along as she started to gallop off.
Excitedly, the pink pony exclaimed, “Come on, Gilda! There’s still all of Ponyville that needs to see the new you!”
END
