The Element of Empathy

~Eleanor's POV~

It's a quiet day in Ponyville. A few days since Applebucking Season. Right now, Twilight, Pinkie and I were in the park, enjoying the day. Twilight was sitting on the bench, reading one of her favorite books. I was sitting up-side down beside her, watching the clouds.

And Pinkie Pie was telling a story of one of Rainbow Dash's flight stunts, "Nail-biting action overload! 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 nodded, turning a page of the book.

"Then what happened?" I asked, looked at Pinkie.

"And then she looped around and around like - Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo!" Pinkie answered, spinning her head in a circle, then falling on to her back.

"Uh-huh." Twilight nodded again.

"Sounded like a very neat trick." I smiled.

Then Rainbow Dash flew by above the trees. Pinkie Pie got to her hooves and followed after her.

Twilight sighed, "Phew." And turned the page.

~Pinkie Pie's POV~

"Rainbow Dash!" I called after the rainbow-themed Pegasus.

She looked at me and then started to pick up speed. I noticed where she was going and chased after her, "Rainbow Dash."

"Not now, Pinkie Pie." She told me, as she continued flying.

"But, but Rainbow Dash–" I tried to speak, but she flew farther from me.

"I'm in the middle of something." Rainbow Dash picked up more speed.

"But–"

"I said not now-"

Then *wham!* Rainbow rammed into a mountain that was right in front of her. She slid down the mountain, to ground level and looked at me.

"I was gonna tell you to look out for that mountain." I told her.

Rainbow grumbled under her breath. Hey. I tried to warn her.

*Later, the next day...*
~Rainbow Dash's POV~

I spent most of the day, trying to avoid Pinkie Pie.

That random pony never stops until she gets what she wants. Sometimes it's beyond understanding and it gets annoying.

Anyhoo, I was napping on a cloud above Ponyville's town center, until I heard familiar humming. I picked up two handfuls of cloud and plugged my ears with them.

However, I was able to hear Pinkie ask Derpy, "Hi, I'm looking for Rainbow Dash. Have you seen her?"

I gasped and started digging into the cloud to hide.

"Hi Nellie, have you seen Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie asked.

"Can't say I have, Pinkie. Sorry." Ellie answered.

"Okay, thanks anyway." Pinkie assured, then turned to Twilight, who was on her way to the book store, "Twilight, have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere?"

"Isn't she right up there?" Twilight asked.

Uh-oh...

"Rainbow Dash."

I quickly took off and flew as fast as I could to the back of Applejack's house. I peeked at the road and did see the pink pony anywhere.

I sighed in relief, "Phew. That was close."

I turned then heard a familiar voice, "Hi!"

I gasped in started, then flew off again, "Aah!"

I into the leaves of the Golden Oak Library. Once I lost sight of that pink pony, I caught my breath and smiled.

"Hi again." The voice smiled from below me.

I screamed and flew off again at top speed, "Aah!"

I flew over the hills and hid behind a cloud, creating a fake speed trail. Pinkie Pie followed after it. I snuck past her and landed near the lake.

Everything was quiet again, until a voice spat something and spoke to me, "I need a favor, Rainbow Dash."

How does Pinkie Pie find me so fast?!

I was about to fly away again, but I sulked, "Oh, forget it."

I gave up and fell to the ground.

"I totally promise it'll be totally fun." She assured me.

I just sighed in defeat, "Okay."

*A Little Later...*

Pinkie told me to grab a small thundercloud and position it close to the town hall.

She measured it and instructed, "Over to the right." I moved the cloud to her instructions, "No no, a little to the left. Oh wait, back to the right. Now a little lefti-sh while staying right-ly. Stop. Hmm. Maybe a few inches to the south. Now a couple centimetres north. Okay. One more smidgimeter to the--"

Annoyed and impatient, I shouted, "Pinkie Pie!"

Pinkie sheepishly smiled, "Uh, I mean, perfect. Now wait for my signal."

She hid behind the door-way, as Spike exit the town hall with a pile of scrolls in his arms. Pinkie Pie gave me the signal, and I kicked the cloud.

The cloud sparked with lightning and loud thunder. Spike jumped, "D-aah!"

Pinkie grinned and Spike started hiccuping.

Pinkie burst into laughter, "Oh Rainbow Dash, we startled Spike into getting the hiccups."

I giggled. Spike turned to Pinkie and I and laughed, "Good one, Pinkie *Hiccup* Pie. *Hiccup* You're always pulling a fast one *Hiccup* on me." He picked up a scroll, but hiccuped an his fire-breath caught the scroll, "Nnaa--"

"Oh no, you're not hurt are you?" Pinkie asked in concern.

"Ne*Hiccup*eh, don't be *Hiccup* silly, dragons are *Hiccup* fire-proof." Spike answered between hiccups.

Pinkie Pie smiled in relief, "Oh, okay, good."

Then both she and I continued our laughter. Spike picked up half the scrolls, but his fire-breath hiccups burnt them toward Canterlot.

"I wish the same thing *Hiccup* were true with scrolls." He muttered under his breath.

He tried picking another scroll, but the scroll got caught in his fire-breath hiccups. Pinkie and I laughed. Pinkie fell on her back.

"Have you ever seen anything more hilarious?" Pinkie asked, between laughs.

I smirked, "I can think of one thing."

I kicked the cloud and another roar of thunder and lightning cracked.

Pinkie jumped, "Aah!" Then started hiccuping, like Spike. She laughed.

I smiled, "I didn't take you for a prankster, Pinkie Pie."

"Are you *Hiccup* kidding? *Hiccup* I love to pull pranks." She smiled, as I landed to her level, "It's all *Hiccup* in good fun, and Pinkie Pie lo*Hiccup*oves to have *Hiccup* fun! *Hiccup*"

"You know Pinkie Pie, you're not as annoying as I thought." I admitted with a smile. Pinkie hiccuped again, then I asked, "You wanna hang out?"

Pinkie grinned and started to hiccup all over the place,"That'd be- *Hiccup* I'd really- *Hiccup* When do- *Hiccup* I mean- *Hiccup* When would you- *Hiccup*-"

I raised my hand over her mouth, as she zoomed toward me, "A simple nod would do."

Pinkie Pie nodded, "Mmm-hmm."

And so, we got some pranking supplies from the party shop, and began our day of pranking other ponies. Pinkie Pie made sure that the pranks were harmless but still a good laugh.

The first pony we pranked was Rarity. We left a bouquet of paper flowers with sneezing powder on her doorstep. Pinkie rang the doorbell and we hid behind the bushes.

"Is she even home?" I asked in whisper.

"I don't know." Pinkie snickered, "This is gonna be gold."

The top half of the door opened and revealed Rarity looking around.

"There she is." Pinkie Pie alerted, as we hid.

Rarity looked at the flowers. She sniffed the flowers and got sneezing powder all over her nose. She sneezed and Pinkie and exit our hiding spots laughing. I held the sneezing powder in my hand.

I dropped the powder and ran off to do more pranks on our friends. Pinkie zoomed behind me. She got caught by the powder.

The next we pranked was Twilight and Ellie. I was thinking about shocking Ellie with a hand-buzzer, but Pinkie advised against it. Ellie is extremely sensory sensitive, so a buzzer might hurt her more than it normally would a normal pony. Also she has no fur or scales.

So Pinkie and I decided a combination prank. Invisible ink and mentos.

We pranked Applejack next, buy painting her apples with whacky designs. Not to worry. It comes off after one drop of water. Applejack didn't like our prank, so she threw her apples at us.

Our next prank was a turtle that squirts water at our victim. I use that term lightly, they're still our friends.

I looked over the telescope and snickered.

"Is someone over there? Who're we gonna squirt? Who're we gonna squirt?" Pinkie asked, giddy with excitement.

"Fluttershy." I answered.

"WHAT?" Pinkie exclaimed, dropping the squirter on the floor, "Nononononono, we can't prank Fluttershy, I mean, she's so sensitive. It'll hurt her feelings, even our most harmless prank."

"Yeah, you're right." I sighed with a raspberry, "We need another victim who's made of tougher stuff. So, who's it gonna be?"

Pinkie Pie chuckled, "Oh, I've got someone in mind. The toughest around."

That got my interest, "Oh, awesome." Then asked, "Who? Who? Do I know them?"

She giggled and pointed to the lake, "Oh, yes. You're very close."

I looked at my reflection and saw that there was black ink around my right eye. I smiled at the pink pony, "Good one, Pinkie Pie."

I gave her a 'down-low', but I made her keep missing. She and laughed the sunset away.

*The Next Day, Outside Ponyville...*
~Pinkie Pie's POV~

The sun was rising over the mountains, as I made my way to Rainbow Dash's house outside of town. I was wearing a pair of wacky sunglasses, an arrow-through-the-head headband and a party hooter in my mouth.

I arrived just under the house and called, "Rise and shine Rainbow Dash! It's a brand new day and we got a lot of pranking to-"
However, what looked at me wasn't Rainbow Dash. Heck, it wasn't even a pony. It had a beak. White feathered head. Brown body of fur and feathers. Large wings. A leonine tail. Golden talons and back paws.

It wore a red tank top under a black leather jacket, and matching red shorts.

"Ooh." I uttered, stepping back from the creature's stare.

Then Rainbow Dash appeared, "Mornin', Pinks." She flew toward me and spoke to the creature staring at me "Gilda, this is my gal pal, Pinkie Pie."

The creature, Gilda, landed in front of me and saluted, "Hey. What's up?"

Everything on my face dropped to the ground. Gilda stood a tall 5 foot 10 with a strong, tomboyish build. Stronger than Dash's.

"Pinkie, this is my Griffon friend, Gilda." Dash introduced me to Gilda.

"What's a Griffon?" I asked.

"She's half-eagle, half-lion." Rainbow Dash started.

Then Gilda leaped in front of me and hugged Rainbow Dash, "And all awesome." The two shared a secret handshake, "Yeah, that's right."

Something about the Griffon made my stomach turn. Like she's a bad influence on Dash, or something worse...

Dash turned to me, "Gilda's my best friend from my days at Junior Speedster flight camp." Then asked Gilda, "Hey, remember the chant?"

Gilda nodded with a smile, "Sha, they made us recite it every morning, I'll never get that lame thing out of my head."

"Sooo..." Rainbow started, smiling.

Gilda rolled her eyes, "Ugh." Then smiled, "Only for you, Dash."

Rainbow Dash and she lifted into the air and danced,

'Junior Speedsters are our lives,

Sky-bound soars and daring dives

Junior Speedsters, it's our quest,

To some day be the very best!'

I couldn't help but laugh at how funny the dance was. I smiled at the duo, "Oh that was awesome, and it gave me a great idea for a prank." I grabbed my accessories and looked at Gilda, "Gilda, you game?"

Gilda smiled at me, "Huh. Well, I groove on a good prank as much as the next griffon." Then turned to Dash, "But Dash, you promised me we'd get a flying session in this morning."

She took off into the air. Rainbow looked a little uncertain, "Yeah, uh, well..." The she turned to me, "Pinkie Pie, you don't mind, do you? Gilda just got here. We'll catch up with you later."

Then she took off after Gilda.

I gave an uneasy smile, "Oh. Um, well sure, no problem. Have fun you guys, I'll, uh, just catch up with you--" I sighed, "Later...."

*A Little Later, in Ponyville...*
~Rainbow Dash's POV~

Gilda and I raced each other across the skies, performing tricks and clearing a few of the clouds along the way. We found a large, stable cloud and crashed into it, laughing.

Gilda got back to her paws and smiled, "Whoa, that was sweet. Just like old times."

I nodded, "Yeah, only faster." We shared a brofist, "So now what?"

We aimed for another, but a familiar pink Earth Pony's head peeked through the cloud and smiled, "Hey there."

"Huh?" Gilda and I raised a brow.

"It's later. And I caught up." Pinkie explained, as she appeared and disappeared from the cloud, like she was bouncing off something.

I looked and it turned out she was using a large trampoline to reach us. Wow, talk about resourceful.

I giggled at the pink pony, "Pinkie Pie, you are so random."

Pinkie smiled at me. Then Gilda spoke up, "Hey Dash, think you got enough gas left to beat me to that cloud?"

That got my wings itching, "A race? You are so on."

We crouched, ready to take off. "One, two, three, go." Gilda counted down, then we flew off.

We raced toward the cloud and I smiled, "I win."

Gilda shook her head, "As if. I won, dude."

"No way." I exclaimed.

She nodded, "Yes way."

Then we started arguing over the victory. Pinkie Pie showed up, this time using balloons, "Wow guys, that was really close, but I think Rainbow Dash beat you by a teeny weeny itty bitty hair, or a teeny weeny itty bitty feather."

I smiled, "Hah, see? Good thing Pinkie Pie's here to keep you honest, G."

Gilda looked like she was about to lose her temper, but she calmed and told me, "Okay... Dash, last one to that cloud up there is a gnarly dragon egg. Go!"

I took off and flew toward the cloud. I was there first for real this time, because Gilda showed up a second later.

Pinkie Pie rejoined us, this time in a strange contraption, "Oh wow, you guys almost got away from me that time."

Gilda put her arm over my shoulder, "So, Dash, got any new moves in your tricktionary, or are you 100% old school?"

I smiled, "New moves? Heh, sit back G, this is gonna take a while."

Then I took off into the air.

~Pinkie Pie's POV~

With Dash gone, Gilda turned her attention to me, "Hey Pinkie, c'mere."

I leaned my pedi-coptor a smidgemeter closer to her, "Yeah?"

She grabbed the pole of my contraption, then got really close to my face, "Don't you know how to take get lost for an answer? Dash doesn't need to hang with a dweeb like you now that I'm around. You're dorkin' up the skies, Stinkie Pie, so make like a bee and BUZZ OFF!"

She grabbed the propeller and I span out of control. I flew around the area and crashed to the dirt road, just outside of Sweet Apple Acres.

I recovered from the crash and thought about Gilda's words and actions. That was really mean.

*A Little Later, In Golden Oak Library...*

I decided to tell Twilight and Nellie about what Gilda was about, and what she did.

"So Pinkie Pie, are you sure that this friend of Rainbow Dash is really so mean?" Twilight asked me, her eyes glued on a spell book.

"Um, yeah." I answered, "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."

"You know what I think, Pinkie Pie." Twilight spoke up, looking at me.

I nodded, "Hmm?"

"Well, I think... you're jealous." She told me.

"Jealous?" I exclaimed.

"Green with envy." Spike nodded, "Well, in your case, pink with envy."

Nellie shook her head, "I dunno. I have a pen-pal that's a Griffon and she's very sweet."

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Well, yes." Then looked at me, "Jealous. 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?" I repeated in shock, "But I... D... B.. It's Gilda that... D... Are you seri..."

I couldn't find the words to express how I felt at that moment. I growled, then walked out of the library.

~Eleanor's POV~

Pinkie growled and stormed out of the library, slamming the door behind her. Twilight sighed.

I folded my arms at my best friend, "That wasn't nice, Twi."

"Don't tell me you believe her." She looked at me.

"Actually, yes. I do." I answered.

I walked out of the library and found Pinkie just outside of the tree, sulking as she walked.

"Maybe Twilight is right." She spoke to herself, "Maybe Gilda isn't a big, meanie, grumpy, mean-meanie-pants. Maybe I'm just a big jealous, judgmental, jealous-jealousy-pants."

She sighed and resumed sulking.

"Hey, Pinkie." I called after her.

Pinkie turned to me, "What? You're gonna say you agree with Twilight too?"

I shook my head, "Not really. I believe you about Gilda being mean."

Pinkie just sighed and sulked again. Twilight's words must have really got to her.

An idea hit me, and I put my arm over her shoulder, "Hey, how about a good, foamy shake to turn that frown up-side down. My treat."

Pinkie looked at me and nodded with a small smile. With that, I took Pinkie to SugarCube Corner and treated her to her favorite strawberry shake. I had a triple chocolate. She was still sulking.

Then we heard laughter over our heads and the sound of flight. Pinkie gasped and hid close to me.

"That was sweet." An unfamiliar voice chuckled.

Then Rainbow Dash sighed, "Ugh, I gotta take care of a few weather jobs around here. Shouldn't take long. Just, uh, hang out in town and I'll come find ya."

Rainbow landed in the other side of town with a Griffon wearing red and black.

The Griffon smiled, "That's cool, I guess. I'm gonna go chow down."

"Later." Dash farewelled, then flew off to take care of her job.

"That's Gilda?" I asked Pinkie.

Pinkie nodded her head. Gilda looked around and saw a vegetable stand. Granny Smith was walked toward it.

Gilda hid behind the stand. Once Granny Smith was close enough, Gilda moved her tail up to her and moved it like a snake.

Granny Smith shrieked in fear, "Aaah! A rattler, a rattler! Run for the hills!" Then ran away as fast as she could, "Everybody forsake yourselves!"

Gilda smiled, but a mare was looking at her. Gilda pressed a tomato with her tail and shook her head, "This stuff ain't fresh, dude."

"Aw, poor Granny Smith, she didn't know it was a joke. How mean." Pinkie frowned, then shook her head, "No, no, I can't misjudge her. It was kind of a funny prank, I guess."

I shook her head. Then Gilda used her tail to snatch an apple from Applejack's stand, and ate it. Nopony else noticed.

Pinkie gasped, "I did misjudge her. She's not only a meanie, mean-pants, she's also a thief." Then she shook her head, "Nonononono, she might give it back. It's just a joke."

I sighed, "Pinkie, you've got to stop this. Twilight hasn't met Gilda yet. Follow your gut, for Luna's sake."

Fluttershy walked past us, softly walking backward, leading a family of ducks through the town, "Alright little ones, this way, this way. Mama duck, you're free and clear."

She didn't notice she was heading for Gilda.

"Fluttershy, watch out for-" I called, but she bumped into the Griffon.

"Hey!" Gilda shouted, as Fluttershy bumped into her.

"Please excuse me." Fluttershy politely excused.

"I'm walkin' here." Gilda glared.

Fluttershy backed away from her, "Oh, um, I'm sorry. I-I-I was just trying to..."

Gilda rolled her eyes and mocked in a soft voice, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Then shouted, "Why don't you just watch where you're going, doofus?"

"B-b-b-but I... I..." Fluttershy stuttered, as the ducks waddled off.

Gilda took a breath and roared at her. Fluttershy ran away, sobbing. My hand balled into fist of anger.

Gilda sighed and rolled her eyes, "Ugh, please, all these lame ponies are driving me buggy. I gotta bail." Then she took off.

I looked at the pink pony sitting next to me, "Still think she's playing around, Pinkie?"

Pinkie shook her head, "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."

*A Little Bit Later, in SugarCube Corner...*

"Welcome, welcome. Welcome!" Pinkie greeted, as the guests arrived.

Pinkie decided to throw a party for Gilda. I'm not a big fan of parties, but hopefully this will better Gilda's attitude with the townsfolk of Ponyville. She's been holding up so much of Dash's time, that Dash hasn't seen her true colors.

"Who's this Gilda I've heard nothing about?" Applejack asked Rarity.

"I hear she's an old friend of Rainbow Dash." Rarity answered, "A Griffon, so rare."

"You've met Gilda, right?" Twilight asked Fluttershy, "What's she like?"

"Oh, um, well..." Fluttershy stuttered, then answered, "I'll tell you later, Twilight."

"Welcome. Welcome." Pinkie continued to greet.

Fluttershy walked over to Pinkie, "Um, Pinkie Pie, about this party for Gilda. Umm... Do you really think it's a good idea? I mean–"

Pinkie patted her head, "Don't worry your pretty little head about mean old Gilda. Your auntie Pinkie Pie's got it all taken care of."

"I'm a year older than you." Fluttershy pointed out.

Then Gilda showed up.

Pinkie Pie smiled, "Gilda! I'm so honored to throw you one of my signature Pinkie Pie parties." She extended her hand, "And I really, truly, sincerely, hope you feel welcome here amongst all us ponyfolk."

Gilda shook Pinkie's hand, the got shocked. Pinkie laughed and revealed a hand-shake buzzer on her palm.

Everyone else laughed with her. The Rainbow Dash showed up, "Oh Pinkie Pie, the old hoof-shake buzzer. You are a scream."

"Yeah..." Gilda chuckled nervously, "Uh, good one, Pinkie Pie."

"Come on G, I'll introduce you to some of my other friends." Dash offered, as she walked off.

Gilda smiled, "Right behind you Dash." Then glared at Pinkie, "I know what you're up to."

Pinkie smiled, "Great."

Gilda shook her head and growled, "I know what you're planning."

"Well, I hope so." Pinkie giggled, "This wasn't supposed to be a surprise party."

"I mean, I've got my eye on you." Gilda warned her.

"And I got my eye on you." Pinkie replied.

Then she turned to everypony in attendance, "Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Gilda, a long-time, dear friend of Rainbow Dash. Let's honor her and welcome her to Ponyville."

Everypony cheered. Gilda gave them a forced smile. Rainbow Dash put her arm over Gilda's shoulders.

"Welcome to Ponyville, Gilda." I greeted with a friendly smile.

Gilda gave me a look, "What are you supposed to be? Some kind of hairless monkey?"

I shook my head, "Part of the monkey family, sort of. I'm a human."

Gilda's eyes widened, "A human. I thought they were extinct."

"Nah. I prefer the term 'Relocated'." I explained.

Then Pinkie offered, standing near a bowl of lemon drops, "Please help yourself."

Gilda smiled, "Vanilla lemon drops. Don't mind if I do." She ate one and then she blew fire like a dragon, "HOT!"

"G, the punch." Rainbow directed.

Gilda grabbed a glass and started drinking. However the glass was dribbling over her crest, "Huh?"

"Well, whaddya know, pepper in the vanilla lemon drops, and the punch served in a dribble glass." Pinkie smiled.

Rainbow Dash smiled, "Ha. Priceless. Priceless." Then laughed.

Gilda was starting to take breaths, uncertain to take another glass or cup.

I gave her my glass of milk, "Here. Milk will drown out the pepper in a flash."

Gilda took the glass and chugged the milk down. She caught her breath and smiled at me, "Thanks." Then rolled her eyes, "Yeah, hilarious."

"Hey G, look, presents." Rainbow Dash pointed to a table full of well-wrapped presents.

Gilda grabbed one that was shaped like a can. She pulled on the bow and springy snakes flew out. A burst of air ruffled Gilda's feathers. Everypony laughed at the prank.

"Spittin' snakes. Hah, somepony pulled that prank on me last month." Applejack laughed.

Gilda rolled her eyes again, "Ha ha." Then glanced at Pinkie Pie, "I bet I know who that was."

"You do?" Pinkie asked with an innocent smile.

After everything calmed down and Gilda smoothed her feathers, the party began and everypony was having a really good time.

Pinkie Pie arrived from the kitchen with a large cake on a cart, "Cake time everypony."

The cake was cased with cream fondant icing and purple-pink butter cream frosting. On top were nine blue and yellow candles.

"Hey, can I blow out the candles?" Spike asked, like a birthday kid.

"Why don't we let Gilda blow out the candles, Spike." Twilight answered, "She is the guest of honor after all."

Gilda moved Spike out of the way, "Exactly."

She took a deep breath and blew the candles out. However they re-lit themselves. Gilda blew them out again, but they re-lit again. Everypony laughed, as Gilda continued to blow the candles out, but they kept re-lighting themselves.

Spike chuckled, "Re-lighting birthday candles, I love that prank. What a classic."

"Now, I wonder who could've done that." Pinkie wondered, rubbing her chin in thought.

Gilder glared, "Yeah, I wonder."

"Mmm, who cares." Spike spoke up, as he literally dug into the cake, "This cake is amazing."

"Spike!" Twilight scolded.

"What?" He asked, then smile, "It's great, try some."

Gilda looked ready to blow a fuse, until Rainbow Dash asked, "Hey G, you're not upset about some silly candles, are you?"

She shook her head, "No way Dash, like I said, I'm down with a good prank."

Rainbow Dash nodded, "Come on then, let's have some cake."

Gilda grabbed Pinkie and took her behind the cake, "Hey, I'm watching you. Like a hawk."

"Why? Can't you watch me like a Griffon?" Pinkie asked.

Then Applejack spoke up, "Hey y'all, it's pin the tail on the pony. Let's play."

Rarity smiled, "Oh, my favorite game." Then asked, "Can I go first? Can I have the purple tail?"

Gilda quickly grabbed the tail, before Rarity could, "Well, I am the guest of honor, and I'll have the purple tail."

Pinkie nodded, "Yeah, Gilda should definitely go first. Let's get you blindfolded."

Spike hopped on to Gilda's shoulders and tied a blue blindfold over her eyes.

"Hey what-- Ugh-- what are you doing?" Gilda asked, as Pinkie grabbed her and span her around.

"We're spinning you around and around and then you can pin the tail on the pony." Then she guided her to the poster, "Now just walk straight ahead and pin the tail."

"Now just walk straight ahead and pin the tail." Gilda mocked, then shook her head, "Hmph, yeah, right. This is another prank, isn't it?" Then she turned around, "I'm going this way."

Gilda made her way to the kitchen.

"Wait. The poster is this-" Pinkie tried to tell her.

I looked at the floor and saw her step, "Gilda, watch out for the-" Gilda stepped on some frosting and lost her balance. She crashed into the kitchen, "Frosting..."

She walking of the kitchen, covered in cake batter and icing. The tail hung from her beak, making her look like she had a mustache.

"Uh, Gilda? You pinned the tail on the wrong end." Pinkie Pie pointed to her nose.

Gilda noticed and everypony started laughing at her.

Gilda lost her temper and roared, "This is your idea of a good time? I've never met a lamer bunch of dweebs in all my life." She glared at Pinkie, "And Pinkie Pie, you! You are queen lame-o with your weak little party pranks. Did you really think you could make me lose my cool?" She put her arm over Dash's shoulder, who was frowning, "Well, Dash and I have ten times as much cool as the rest of you put together. Come on Dash, we're bailing on this pathetic scene." She was on her way to the exit, but Dash didn't move, "Come on Rainbow Dash. I said, we're leaving."

"You know Gilda, I was the one who set up all those weak pranks at this party." Rainbow Dash admitted.

"What?" Gilda exclaimed in shock, then looked at Pinkie.

"So I guess I'm queen lame-o." Rainbow glared.

"Come on, Dash, you're joshing me." Gilda pleaded.

"They weren't all meant for you specifically, it was just dumb luck that you set them all off." She explained.

Pinkie face-palmed, "I shoulda known, that dribble cup had Rainbow Dash written all over it."

I nodded, "So did the re-lighting candles."

Gilda shook her head, "No way. It was Pinkie Pie, she set up this party to trip me up, to make a fool of me."

"Me? I threw this party to improve your attitude." Pinkie explained, "I thought a good party might turn that frown upside down."

"And you sure didn't need any help making a fool of yourself." Rainbow added, "You know, this is not how I thought my old friends would treat my new friends. If being cool is all you care about, maybe you should go find some new cool friends someplace else."

Gilda looked hurt for a second, then covered it up, "Yeah? Well you, you, you are such a, a flip-flop: cool one minute and lame the next. When you decide not to be lame anymore, gimme a call."

With that, she left SugarCube Corner and took off.

"Not cool." Rainbow muttered under her breath.

"Wow, talk about a party pooper." Spike spoke up.

The others muttered among themselves on what just happened.

"I'm sorry everypony, for bringing Gilda here. I didn't know how rude she was." Rainbow apologized, then turned to Pinkie, "And Pinkie Pie, I'm really sorry she ruined that awesome party you put on for her."

Pinkie shrugged, "Hey, if you want to hang out with party poopers, that's your business."

Rainbow smiled, "I'd rather hang out with you. No hard feelings?"

Pinkie nodded, "No hard feelings."

The two shook hands, but ended up getting shocked. Everypony laughed, as they revealed to both have hand-shake buzzers.

I glanced at Twilight, "Twilight, don't you need to say something?"

Twilight nodded, "Okay, Ellie." She walked over to Pinkie, "Hey Pinkie. Sorry I accused you of misjudging Gilda. Looks likes I'm the one who misjudged you."

Pinkie smiled, "It's okay Twilight, even you can't be a super smart, smarty, smart-pants all the time." Then encouraged, "Come on everypony, there's still a whole lotta party to finish."

'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.'