Chapter 1: A Visit from Marely

"Bah. Humbuck."

The complaint came from an irritable-looking gryphon, standing atop a tall hill overlooking the simple town of Ponyville. But it was much different than normal. Ponyville, along with all of Equestria, had been shrouded in the cold blanket of Winter. Snow covered the ground, flora and rooftops of the small town, and decorations for the Ponyville celebration of the Winter's Festival had been thrown up on all the houses. Lights of multiple colors, wreathes with fake holly adorning them decoratively, and trees wrapped in tinsel, covered in ornaments and topped with stars and angels visible through every window.

"Oh, come on, G, lighten up a bit!"

The excited retort came from a cyan pegasus with a prismatic mane standing beside the gryphon. She was bundled up in a Winter coat designed by her good friend Rarity not only to fit snugly and keep her warm, but also to resemble the aeronautic acrobats she so adored: the Wonderbolts. The coat and its matching scarf held the blue coloration with light yellow lightning bolts of the Wonderbolts' jacket.

"You know how the song goes! 'Tis the season to be-"

"Don't," interrupted the gryphon, holding up one clawed finger to silence the pegasus. "Don't say 'jolly,' Dash."

"Jeez, why do ya have to be such a killjoy during the holidays, Gilda?" asked Rainbow Dash, showing somewhat of a disappointed frown on her face. "This kind of awesome stuff only happens once a year."

"This whole 'Winter Festival' thing just ain't my scene," stated Gilda, waving off Dash's statement completely. "I told you that years ago. It's not like I've changed that much."

"Well, you made a promise, remember?"

Gilda did remember. It wasn't something she really wanted to, but she did. Rainbow Dash had guilt-tripped her into apologizing to Fluttershy, who she had sent off crying with a vicious roar when she first visited Ponyville. In the midst of the conversation following the apology, Gilda accepted an invitation to a Winter's Festival party among Dash and Fluttershy's friends. She also swore that she would try and make up for the horrible things she'd said to and about the ponies on her initial visit: a swear she was now regretting having made.

"Yeah, yeah, I know...but it's just such a lame pony holiday..."

Suddenly, Gilda found herself with Rainbow Dash's face flat up against hers, Dash's rose eyes glaring angrily into her own golden pupils. It was an expression she'd seen once before, and hoped not to again. The last time she saw this face was when she stormed out of Sugar Cube Corner after calling her best friend 'lame'.

"Don't you dare start with that 'ponies are lame' bit again. You remember what happened last time. That was what left you hated by everypony in Ponyville. Start that up again, and that's it. No more chances. You so much as slip up once, and I never wanna see you near my friends ever again."

"All right, Dash. Jeez, you don't have to be so serious."

Dash's glare intensified. "And stop trying to be so damn cool about everything. You made mistakes. Own up to them." Dash pulled back and looked out onto Ponyville. "I've gotta get going. There's a snowfall scheduled in a few hours, and I've gotta get the clouds set up. You know where you're staying for tonight, right?"

"Yeah, it's that small inn right at Ponyville's entrance."

"Good."

Dash rose up, flapping her wings lightly to lift off the ground. She hovered a bit, gazing out over the town. "Tomorrow, ten AM, Sugar Cube Corner. Don't forget."

"I got it, I got it."

Dash soared off into the clouds over Ponyville. It was only then that Gilda took notice to how low the sun had gotten during the hour or so she and Dash had spent conversing.

"Better get going, I guess..."

Gilda hovered down the hill to Ponyville, noticing the tiny inn and heading to the door, but not before getting several vicious looks from ponies at the entrance.

'Yeah,' she thought, struggling not to return the looks. 'I had a feeling that was gonna be the first response.'

As she entered the inn, she was still contracting the vicious glares from everypony but one: a gentlemanly stallion with a short brown mane and tan coat standing behind the front desk. His cutie mark appeared to be an olive with a toothpick through it.

"You must be Gilda," spoke the stallion. "Name's Malt. Miss Dash said you'd be showing up. She's paid for your room and everything."

Everypony in the room cleared out as subtly as they could, either leaving the building or heading up the stairs to the rooms. Gilda walked up to the desk. "I think you're the first pony aside from Dash today not to look at me like I've just committed a murder."

"Well, I got a personal policy...I think it's pretty pointless to judge an individual, even a gryphon, based on anything they've done in the past...Even though what you did was pretty harsh. I was watching when Miss Fluttershy went off crying."

Gilda said nothing. Rainbow Dash was the only other pony that had ever spoken of that with her, but it had now been brought up from her forgotten memories that there were dozens of other ponies watching the scene of Gilda's harassment of the innocent and shy pegasus.

"Not my finest moment..."

"Of course, anypony would be willing to forgive, so long as you'd be sincerely sorry." Malt gave Gilda a small smile, to which the gryphon's expression remained neutral. He reached down under the counter and pulled up the key to Gilda's room.

"I'm willing to try. I guess."

"Then that's enough for me. For now."

Gilda basically shrugged off Malt's statement, taking the key and making her way up the stairs. She walked up to the only door not to have a 'Do Not Disturb' sign and inserted the key into the lock angrily, fumbling with the knob a bit before opening the door, a shocked expression popping up on her face.

"...What the hay did you do, Dash?"

Gilda entered a fairly extravagant room. To the center was a living room area with a tiny reclining chair and a detailed circular rug. A small kitchen and dining room sat to the left and a decent-sized bathroom lie to the right with a large hot tub resembling that of the spas in Ponyville. A bed with an elegant silk-curtain canopy sat at the end of the room, and a window to its left gave a decent view of the small town. Gilda took notice to a note attached to the bed post.

"What do we have here?"

Gilda plucked the note and flipped it open, reading it in her head.

'G,
We've had some shaky times in the past, and I know how you're feeling about all this. I get that you don't really understand the whole Winter's Festival thing, but I know you're trying for my sake. Anyway, to make all this easier on you, the girls and I pooled our bits to make your stay here as enjoyable as possible.
Your friend, Rainbow Dash.
P.S. Try to disregard the other ponies...they aren't as willing to forgive as me and the others are. Hang in there, G.'

Gilda managed to let a smile cross her face, chuckling a bit as she read the note.

"Really going for broke on me here, huh, Dash?"

Gilda wasted no time getting situated in the bed, curling up under the covers, making the most of it. This bed was far different than that of the nest she was used to, and she wasn't going to let something as extravagant and comfortable as this bed go to waste.

"Oh, man...this is nice...I could definitely get used to this..."

The warm covers accompanied by the soft, cushiony feel of the mattress began taking its hold on Gilda, pulling her into a soothing sleep. With the last thought on her mind being whether or not she'd even be able to escape the bed's relaxing grasp in the morning, she drifted off into what she hoped was a deep slumber without interruption.

Not a few hours after Gilda's head touched down on the pillow, a clock in the room, which Gilda didn't seem to notice upon entering, sounded off for midnight. The gryphon stirred in her sleep, but the mighty bell did not affect her. However, the noise that rang out next caused Gilda to raise her head just an inch off her pillow.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Eep!"

A squeaky cry rang out, followed by the quick clattering of chains across the floor of the room. Gilda looked up from her bed and noticed an almost ghostly figure hiding behind the reclining chair.

"Get out here, now!"

The figure stepped out from behind the chair, showing its true form. To Gilda's utter shock, it was a familiar pale yellow, pink-haired pegasus, and she was as shy as ever, but something was different. Fluttershy possessed a strange ethereal aura around her, and her colors were much brighter.

"Um...s-sorry...I didn't mean to disturb your sleep...but I kinda have a message..."

"...You look like Fluttershy, but you're not."

"O-oh, of course I'm not," the spiritual pegasus replied. "This is just the form your memories have given me. I am a spirit sent to you to deliver a message..."

"...I've got this weird feeling of deja vu...this reminds me of a story I read as a fledgling."

"D-do you...accept the message?"

Gilda looked around her room. She didn't think the spirit would take no for an answer.

"Yeah, all right. What is it?"

The spirit points a hoof at Gilda. "Tonight, you will be visited by three spirits..." it lowered its hoof, awkwardly pawing at the ground. "Um, if that's...you know...okay with you..."

"...You're joking. You've got to be joking, right?"

"N-no," stuttered the spirit. "Sorry..."

"...This is all just a bad dream," Gilda said, pulling the covers back over herself. "I'll just close my eyes and it'll all vanish..."

Gilda set her head back down on the pillow and shut her eyes. However, she could still hear the scuffling of nervous hooves from the other side of the room.

"Um...you can expect the first ghost when the bell tolls...um...what was it again...oh, yes! One!"

Gilda's eyes opened and she shot up in her bed, causing the spirit to reel back in fear.

"...This ain't one of those 'close my eyes and wake up' dreams, is it?"

The spirit shook its head.

"...I'm supposed to learn something from this, ain't I?"

The spirit nodded.

"...Gah, son of a...whatever. One, then. I'll just tell that spirit to beat it when it shows up..."

"Um...I don't think it works that way," returned the spiritual pegasus. "You've got to learn to stop being so grumpy."

"Listen here, dweeb," spoke Gilda, glaring at the spirit.

"Eep!"

The shy spirit cowered behind the recliner once again, shaking in fear.

"I'm just doing this whole Winter Festival thing for Dash. I don't have any plans to 'learn' anything. So just get lost. Tell that other spirit and whatever other lame things you have coming my way to keep away from me."

"Um...okay..." the spirit began receding to the doorway. "But I don't think they'll listen..."

"Just get out already!" Gilda screamed.

"Eep!"

With one final squeak, the shy spirit vanished in a burst of smoke.

"Just a bad dream, Gilda," she continued to repeat to herself, covering herself in the warm veil of her blankets again.

"Just a bad dream."

Chapter 2: A Blast from the Past

Sleep took Gilda back into its soothing embrace, but it would not last long. Even though she doubted the possibility of more spirits arriving, she had a feeling this dream would force them upon her. The clock struck one and sounded out to signify so, stirring the half-sleeping gryphon slightly. The window behind her opened up, letting in a chilling gale accompanied by a light snowy assault onto Gilda's covers.

"D-damn breeze," she shivered, pulling her covers off and climbing out of the bed to shut the window.

What she saw through the ice-rimmed gateway legitimately shocked her. She stared into the eyes of a fledgling gryphon with yellow talons, small wings flapping to keep her steady in the air and a smile Gilda thought she'd never see again. It was like looking into a mirror of the past.

"...You've gotta be kidding me."

"Well, look at you!" exclaimed the young gryphon. "You grew up all big and strong! Or should I say, I did."

"You're not me," Gilda said, backing up.

"But I am...or at least, I am who you used to be...back when you first met Rainbow Dash."

"...Wait a minute, since you're me, does that mean-"

"Yes," interrupted the young Gilda. "I am the Ghost of Festive Past...I am also your long-desired past. A past which you want more than anything in the world."

"Oh, please," the elder Gilda scoffed. "My childhood sucked. Outside of hanging with Dash, I was miserable."

The young spirit smiled. "That's not true, and that's what I've come to show you."

"How?"

"Take my claw," the spirit said, extending its arm to Gilda.

"...There's no easy way out of this...I might as well..."

Gilda reached forward and grasped the spirit's tiny claw, a rush of nostalgia filling her as she remembered just what it was like when she was that small. The spirit smiled again and pointed out into the town.

"Off we go!"

In an instant, Gilda and the spirit became a bolt of lightning, flying across the sky as fast as possible. Not nearly as fast as Rainbow Dash in a Sonic Rainboom, but it was fast enough to make Gilda cringe from the wind shear. The two gryphons came to a sudden stop, arriving above a familiar location.

"No way...it's Junior Speedsters."

The flight track was a somewhat distant memory to Gilda, but it was a memory nonetheless. She saw several pegasai and gryphons soaring around in the skies above, and the chilling veil of winter covered the ground in a blanket of white. Sitting together in a set of bleachers were a familiar pair, one that Gilda recognized immediately.

"...It's me and Dash."

"Oh, come on, G!" exclaimed the image of a young Rainbow Dash. "It'll be fun!"

"I told you, Dash," replied the young gryphon. "Pony holidays just ain't my thing, especially this Winter Festival thing. And it doesn't help that it's one of those stuffy formal parties."

Dash frowned. "But everypony from Junior Speedsters is gonna be there!"

"Just not my thing, Dash. Sorry." Gilda began to walk away, the snow crunching beneath her claws.

Dash was disheartened, but her expression soon turned to a grin. "You'll miss out on all the attention."

Gilda stopped suddenly, turning her head back to the cyan filly. "...I'm listening."

"We're the best fliers here, aren't we? We'll be getting all sorts of hero worship!"

Gilda formed a grin across her face that matched Dash's. "We'll be the coolest ones there!"

"Heck yeah, we will! So you'll go?"

"You bet!"

"All right!" exclaimed the pegasus filly, leaping up into the air and slowly hovering back down. "Meet you here later on, kay?"

"You got it, Dash."

From above, Gilda watched the scene, her nostalgic thoughts overflowing from her memories. "Man...I forgot how cool things were back then...how much cooler Dash was before she moved to Ponyville."

"You need to accept that she's just as cool now," spoke the spirit embodying her younger self.

"But I just don't see it anymore," Gilda scoffed. "She's just...went lame."

"Maybe you'll see it better along the way."

"Whatever."

Gilda and the spirit soared off, the sun in the sky descending as they arrive before a large banquet hall in Canterlot.

"That's the Skyvale Hall...I remember this...this is where that party was."

"Exactly!" the spirit declared. "What do you say we head inside and take a look?"

"But...what if they see us?"

"We don't exist in this timeline, Gilda, so they won't be able to see us!"

"...Okay, I'll admit, that's pretty cool."

The two made their way to the window of the building to get a glimpse inside. Tables were set up throughout the room and ponies were conversing among each other. Gilda looked in, but seemed to shy away more so than the spirit.

"What's the matter?" the spirit inquired, noticing Gilda's slight retreat.

"I remember what happens here...I don't want to see it again."

"Watch, Gilda."

"But-"

"Watch."

There was no arguing with the spirit. Gilda looked closely through the window as her younger self entered through the door. In all of five seconds, the entire room full of ponies went to dead silence, most all eyes in the room directed at the gryphon, but not in a way she'd expected. These glares were filled with hate.

"Whose idea was this?" somepony asked from the back of the room.

"What a dreadful situation," spoke another.

"Who invited that to our party?" asked another.

'That.' The inanimate word she had just been called pierced through the heart of both the younger Gilda and the one watching her past through the window. Without a single word or change in facial expression, the young gryphon about faced and took flight. A high-speed cyan streak bolted out after her.

"Take me back," Gilda said, holding back both anger and tears. "Take me back to my room right now."

"I'm sorry, Gilda," spoke the spirit of the past. "There is but one more thing for you to see. I have to show you your conversation with Rainbow Dash."

The gryphon spirit soared across the sky once more, dragging an unwilling Gilda close behind her. They arrived in a park of sorts with a frozen lake, a snow-free dirt path and a single bench. The young Gilda stood along the path before the bench, punching the ground repeatedly. Dash arrived on the scene and immediately rushed over to Gilda.

"G, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Save it," Gilda interrupted. "I knew that would happen. I had a feeling that was gonna happen."

"I could go back and talk to them about it, Gilda. You can come back!"

"For what, Dash?" Gilda asked, looking up and glaring at her friend, tears starting to form. "Just to get made fun of again?"

"Gilda..."

The young Gilda turned away from her friend, wiping her eyes. "I'm done, Dash. Sorry. I'll be heading back home tonight."

The cyan filly gasped. "But...what about Junior Speedsters? What about wanting to be the best? What about...your friends?"

Gilda looked back at Dash. "Dash, you were really my only friend here...so I'll keep in touch with you, no matter what."

"You promise?"

She turned around and held out her balled-up fist, which Dash met with her hoof.

"Promise."

"Junior Speedsters Chant? One more time?"

The young gryphon chuckled. "Yeah. Sure."

The two took flight and energetically chanted, "Junior Speedsters are our lives! Sky-bound soars and daring dives! Junior Speedsters, it's our quest to some day be the very best!"

Rainbow Dash landed on the path, but Gilda stayed hovering in the air.

"I'm gonna get going, Dash. Stay cool, all right?"

"I will, G! Just you wait! I'm gonna be the coolest pegasus around!"

With a two-clawed salute, the young Gilda soared off as Dash just walked back toward the party, almost as if she'd completely forgotten that she could fly to.

"Just get me out of here, seriously," Gilda demanded the spirit. "I can't take this anymore. All this sappy stuff is making me gag."

"You've seen all you needed to see in your past...but there are two more spirits yet to arrive before you."

"What? No, no more of this. I'm not putting up with any more of these spirits. You lied to me. You said it wasn't going to suck, and it did. My childhood was miserable, I told you."

"Stop being so stubborn, Gilda," returned the spirit. "Try to see through the eyes of others for once instead of just looking out for number one."

In a flash, the spirit vanished into an ethereal cloud, and Gilda found herself underneath her covers. She was back in the room. Everything was as it had been before she left. The window was closed, no snow had blown in at all and there wasn't a single sign of anyone but her having been in the room at all.

"I don't need all this right now," she complained, nestling into the blankets to maximize warmth. "I just need to sleep..."

Chapter 3: Who Doesn't Like Presents?

Gilda tossed and turned in her bed, hoping and praying that the spirit had just been yet another terrible dream. Though she'd like that to be true, her frantic thoughts kept the idea in her mind that this soul-searching nightmare would only get worse.

The rings for two-o-clock carried across the room. Gilda practically shoved her pillows into her ears to silence the annoying sound. All of a sudden, she felt a gust fill the room. Knowing there is no way at this point she could escape this spirit, she rose up from her bed to look around, but to great surprise.

"...What in the hay...?"

The room had been transformed into a sitting area: a large living room with a huge, decorated tree reaching up to the tall ceiling, a warm and relaxing fireplace and dozens and dozens of presents, big and small, wide and tall, placed neatly beneath the lit-up fir.

"I'm pretty sure this ain't my room..."

"Of course it isn't, Gildie! It's time for you to see the presents!"

Gilda turned in horror at the voice, knowing full well who the hyperactive tone belonged to. The figure of an ethereal pink-maned, pink-coated earth pony stood before her, smiling with an ecstatic grin. She wore elegant robes made of the finest materials bits could buy, even greater than that of Canterlot's most expensive cloaks.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me...my Ghost of Christmas Present is Stinky Pie."

"Presents, silly! Not 'present'! You get more than one!" the pink mare exclaimed, bouncing around Gilda in a circle. "I mean, I'm sure you get more than one. A lot more than one! I mean, who doesn't get a lot of presents on this day? That'd be silly! Now, how many were there for you..."

"Pinkie."

"One, two, three, four, oops! Almost counted that one twice! Five, six, seven, eight..."

"Pinkie."

"Wow, that's a lot of presents! I mean, not as many as I usually see, but still, that's a lot for a grumpy-gus like Gilda! I mean-"

"Pinkie!"

The pink earth pony became silenced, still bouncing about. "Yes, Gildie?"

"...I'm pretty sure it's 'present,' as in 'now' or 'current'. That's what the first one said."

The ethereal Pinkie Pie stopped her romp before the gryphon, looking right at her with a silly smile. "Oh, but that's booooring! I was hoping to mix it up a little bit, but if you really wanna go along with those silly old rules, then that's fine by me."

"Anything to get this twisted nightmare over with...please." Gilda clenched her beak tightly. It was almost as if it pained her to use that word. 'Please'. She saw it as nothing more than a desperate cry for help.

"Well, since you asked so nicely, then all right! Off we go!"

Gilda was reluctantly carried out in a whirlwind of ice and snow into the sky of Ponyville, where a familiar sight beheld her. It was her floating before Pinkie Pie in her bizarre flying machine, with Rainbow Dash soaring off in the distance, performing a couple of tricks. Gilda took Pinkie's machine by the propeller and glared right at her.

"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!"

Gilda watched the scene as she saw herself send Pinkie crashing to the ground in her odd device. She didn't want to show it, but it happened. She cringed at her own actions. Seeing herself do what she did to Pinkie Pie almost made her feel...bad. She wouldn't admit it...at least she didn't want to.

"Not a pretty sight, is it?" the pink mare asked, floating beside the gryphon on an ethereal form of the same craft.

"You got what you had coming," Gilda scoffed, shrugging off her thoughts. She wouldn't admit anything just yet.

"Really? then let's take a look at one of your biggest blunders, shall we?"

Gilda knew just what the spirit spoke of. In a whirlwind of snow, the two arrived on the streets of Ponyville. Seen walking along the path, guiding a family of ducks, was Fluttershy, just as she backed into Gilda.

"I'm walkin' here," spoke the glaring gryphon.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry," stuttered the shy pegasus, "I-I was just trying to-"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Gilda interrupted, mocking Fluttershy's tone and moving in closer, glaring more intensely. "Why don't you just watch where you're going, doofus?"

"B-b-but I...I..."

The gryphon let out a vicious roar directly in the pegasus' face, causing her to reel back and fly off, sobbing as she exited. Gilda watched from the sidelines, her expression showing pure sorrow as she saw this happen.

"Damn it." Gilda punched a balled claw into the ground repeatedly. "I can't watch these anymore. Stop it, now."

"You aren't finished yet, Gildie! There are two more you have to see!"

"You're not showing me anything else!" the gryphon exclaimed, rushing the spirit and swinging her claw, only to have it pass through her like it was nothing.

"You aren't learning anything! I can't believe it!" exclaimed the pink pony, now glaring at Gilda as intensely as the gryphon had glared at Fluttershy. "The Ghost of the Past told me you learned almost nothing there too!"

"I don't have anything to learn!" the gryphon returned, glaring right back, but less so for some reason. "I'm just fine the way I am, and there's nothing any of you dweebs can do to-"

Gilda caught herself and stumbled back slightly. "I...I'm doing it again...there it was..."

Pinkie's glaring expression turned to a small smile. "Now you're getting it."

"I do act like that...but only because-"

Pinkie's ethereal hoof had landed softly atop Gilda's beak. "Ah-ah-ah! No spoilers for the audience!"

"Audience?" Gilda inquired, pulling her head away. "What are you-"

"Time to go!"

Another snowy whirlwind brought Gilda and Pinkie into Sugar Cube Corner, where the gryphon recognized another familiar scene she hadn't wanted to see again. She saw herself telling off Rainbow Dash, calling her a 'flip-flop' and storming out of the building, with Dash signifying her retreat with two words:

"Not. Cool."

Rainbow Dash turned to her friends. "I'm sorry everypony, for bringing Gilda here. I didn't know how rude she was."

The cyan pegasus turned to Pinkie Pie. "And Pinkie Pie, I'm really sorry she ruined this awesome party you put on for her."

The pink earth mare shrugged. "Hey, if you wanna hang out with party poopers, that's your business."

Dash placed her foreleg over the party pony's shoulder. "I'd rather hang out with you. No hard feelings?"

Pinkie pulled the rainbow-maned pegasus into a hug. "No hard feelings!"

Gilda looked on, not in shock, but in realization and understanding. "Heh. So she just shook me off the minute I left. Can't say I blame her."

"You can't?" inquired the spirit, grinning as if this was what she'd planned all along.

"Nah...guess you were kinda right...I haven't been paying attention...until now, that is."

"And what have you learned?" the pink mare asked, her smile growing larger.

"That...I've been the most obnoxious friend I could ever be."

"And how do you intend to fix that, Gildie?"

"I don't know...I really don't..."

The sound of a clock bell striking three is heard, as the area around them fades into darkness. The pink earth pony seemed to be fading away as well, and Gilda could now notice two young ponies clinging to the spirit's robes. One was a male unicorn with a light amber mane with a flower tied to it. The other, also a unicorn, was female, and in one hoof, she clung to a shimmering jewel.

"Spirit...those fillies...are they yours?"

"They belong to ponykind," the spirit replied. "The male is known as Ignorance, and the female, Want."

"Give me that flower, stupid!" exclaimed the female unicorn. "I need it!"

"Stupid peasant, you can't have it!" returned the male. "It is a symbol of my superiority to the world! I am the greatest living being Equestria has ever seen!"

"You're a delusional little foal! You're as great as yesterday's leftover dinner!"

"Worthless beggar!"

"Pompous sellout!"

"Beware these two, Gilda," the spirit spoke, the two young unicorn's arguing fading out "They are vicious and strike from nowhere. They will consume you should you fail to realize the severity of your actions."

The pink earth pony sighed as the bell nearly reached the end of its echoing calls. "Oh, well," she said, disappointed. "It looks like the party has to end for now. Bye, Gildie! I hope you figure things out!"

Pinkie and the two young fillies disappeared, and a feeling of dread overcame Gilda as an indistinguishable shadow loomed off in the distance, waving the gryphon over before vanishing. Reluctant to examine it, she slowly made her way into a ruined and scorched Ponyville.

Chapter 4: A Tidy Sum is Yet to Come

Gilda entered the annihilated husk of a town that was once Ponyville. Buildings were utterly wrecked and not a single pony could be seen anywhere, but there were figures walking around in the wasted homes.

Dogs. Mongrels wearing flashy jeweled collars scurried in and out of the wreckage of the Ponyville huts and buildings, carrying anything they find valuable out and to one particular location; the only last standing structure: the tree-built library at the edge of town.

Gilda made her way to the library, seeing all the dogs crowd to enter through the small door, which was clearly not built for their bodies. Looking around for another way in, Gilda took notice to an open window on the second level of the tree. She hovered up to it and entered, hearing voracious laughter from the floor below.

"A past forgotten, and a confusing present. How will you respond to your future descent?"

Gilda whipped around, her eyes meeting a figure in a brown cloak with visible stripes on its coat.

"...You're the zebra from Everfree."

"Your friend has paid a hefty sum...in this future yet to come."

"What the hay are you talking about, zebra?"

The zebra, seeming much more real than the previous spirits, pointed down the stairs. Gilda slowly descended the steps, looking on the first floor, littered with pony belongings and treasures. In the middle of the room, reveling in their latest retrieval, were three dogs standing before a massive armored hound.

"We got a good haul this time, Boss Grey!" exclaimed one dog.

"We found pretty shinies in the old mule's place!" added another.

"We never go hungry with what was left in bake shop!"

"Quiet," boomed the large hound. The three smaller dogs stepped back, whimpering in fear.

"...This is a...decent yield. I expected much more from the three of you, but I suppose, with all the other scavengers out there, this is a rather successful collection."

"What's going on here, zeb-, er...Zecora, right?" Gilda inquired, looking around for anything among the piles of things she might have recognized.

Zecora nodded to acknowledge the gryphon's question, then went on to speak. "The Diamond Dogs attacked Ponyville. It was not very hard to bend the ponies to their will."

"Then where are all the ponies?"

"Worked to the bone and pushed to their deaths, the dogs forced the ponies to draw their last breaths."

Her gaze cast all around the room at familiar objects...party balloons, books of magic, fabrics and sewing materials, gemstones, elegant dresses and more. Gilda's eyes became fixated on a familiar article of clothing: a Wonderbolt jacket. Her thoughts turned immediately to Rainbow Dash.

"What about Dash? There's no way she'd have given up without a fight."

"Rainbow Dash did fight, to the bitter end. She could not go on, however, without her best friend. Without you, she lost the will to go on, and did fall...and the dogs made her a trophy..."

Zecora pointed to an area at the corner of the room, and right there, surrounded by books, was Rainbow Dash, petrified in gemstone.

"Wings and all."

Gilda looked at her crystallized friend in horror, unable to form any words at all. 'It can't be possible,' she thought. "She died...because of me? That's just...that's...'

She wanted to think 'stupid' but the word wouldn't produce itself in her thoughts. She knew, somehow, just what all this meant. She had a feeling that her vicious and rash behavior caused all this, and that she wanted to make it right, but she had to know one more thing before she returned to the waking world. She just had to.

"Zecora, I wanna ask you...what's my fate in all this? Ponyville has suffered, but where am I?"

"Keep watching, gryphon, for the future will show that of all ways to die, one is the worst way to go."

Gilda observed the dogs' raving and dancing, taking Zecora's words into consideration.

"Once Ponyville has been cleaned out, we'll seal this library and make our way out to Canterlot, where the grand finale will occur. We will strike down the alicorns and claim the throne for ourselves!"

The peon dogs cheered and applauded for their boss, dancing wildly.

"Boss Grey! Does this mean we can eat now?" inquired one dog, licking his lips hungrily.

"I suppose we could," replied Grey. "After all, I'm rather curious as to how my drink will taste if drunk from the maw of the very beast we feast upon tonight."

Grey reached back into a satchel placed behind him. He dug around in it, searching for the object he identified as the 'maw of the beast'. He finally gripped something within the bag, pulling it forward, leaving Gilda staring in pure terror at the familiar yellow curved object.

It was her beak. She knew it was. There was no mistaking it. The 'beast' they spoke of was her.

"No...no, this can't be..."

Two of the dogs excitedly rushed into the other room, carefully carrying back a large bird-like figure on a silver tray. It was perfectly prepared for a feast of kings: the creature's eyes, beak and talons removed and its feathers plucked, cooked well done and glazed. Gilda quickly covered her beak with two claws, trying not to puke at the sight of a Gilda dinner.

"Please," she begged, the plea slightly muffled by her claws. "Please tell me this doesn't have to happen."

Zecora remained silent.

"This can change, can't it? I mean, this is only because I've been such a horrible friend, right? This will change if I do, won't it?"

The voracious dogs immediately dug in, clawing and biting at the cooked gryphon. Gilda could feel every slash, bite and chew the mongrels made at the delectable corpse. She collapsed under the weight of the wounds and curled up into a ball, silently crying and begging again.

"P-please," she stuttered, hugging her knees into her chest. "I'll change...I'll be kind and giving...I'll be a good friend..."

The merciless mutts tore their dinner apart, not leaving any part of their meal behind, greedily gnawing on the bird's wings and body, Gilda pulling in tighter. Her crying grew heavier as the pain-induced tears rolled down her face to the wooden floor of the library.

"I won't let anything like this happen again, and I'll show Dash and her friends respect...! Please!"

Zecora began fading away into the shadows. Gilda wanted to reach out for her, but the pain she felt was far too intense and would not allow her to move.

"Spirit, speak to me! Say something! Anything! I beg of you!"

The ethereal zebra faded away, and Gilda was left alone to endure the suffering. With a massive chomp, Grey devoured the bird's head in a single gulp, and for Gilda, everything went black.

"Please..."

Chapter 5: Gryphon New Sight

Gilda awoke with a start, looking up to realize she had fallen out of the bed, the covers strewn across the floor beneath her. She stood up, still feeling slight pain all across her body, walking around a bit to shake it off.

"That...that wasn't a dream...that was way too real. I can't let something like that happen to Ponyville...and I can't just do it for Dash's sake. I have to actually be...nice."

Gilda fixed up the bed as best she could, glancing around the room to ensure that she had woken up. It was real enough, but so were the visits from the ghosts. She double checked and triple checked everything in the room, looking out the window several times and checking under the bed almost half a dozen times. Everything seemed to check out, so she made her way out of the room and down the stairs to the small inn's lobby area. It was rather vacant; only a few ponies were standing around, but none of them even paid any attention to the gryphon.

"Good morning, Gilda. Sleep well?"

Gilda took notice to Malt, standing behind the counter just as he was the night before.

"Morning, Malt. Yeah, actually, I did," she replied with a smile, surprising the earth pony.

"Well, you seem rather pleasant this morning," Malt noted.

"You could say that," she replied. "Had a little dream that opened my eyes to some things."

Malt returned Gilda's smile. He could tell that hers was sincere somehow.

"I'm heading over to Sugar Cube Corner," she said, walking toward the door.

"Oh, but they haven't set everything up yet," Malt said. "They're still working on the decorations and food preparations."

"I know," the gryphon replied, still smiling, and to the earth pony's surprise, added, "I'm going to help. It's the least I can do."

Malt was left speechless as Gilda pushed the door open and walked out onto the freshly-coated snow roads of Ponyville. Though the snow was deep, her claws made for excellent traction as she marcher her way through the town, shocking any of the ponies nearby into submission with the sole fact that she held a smile on her face instead of the glare and scowl they all expected.

Inside Sugar Cube Corner, last-minute decorations were tossed up all around the room: green and red tablecloths were thrown across the tables, a few freshly-made candy canes were hung up on the small trees acting as the centerpieces, and the large tree in the room had just been lit up with strings of special lights made from Cloudsdale's rainbows. The prismatic fir was the brightest and most beautiful object in the entire room, and the pink party pony who had activated the lights was the first to look in awe.

"Ooh, really pretty! Thanks for letting us use your rainbow stuff, Dashie!"

"No problem, Pinkie Pie," Dash said, eyeing the multicolor tree to make sure every light was lit. "It's the season for giving, after all...and the pegasai in the weather factory were glad to accept those snowmare cupcakes you made as payment."

"Guess that confirms the theory then," stated Twilight Sparkle, securing a wreath in the window with her magic aura. "Pinkie Pie's baked goods can do pretty much everything."

"And there'll be plenty more where those ones came from," added the farmer earth pony Applejack, pushing several tables together. "Next batch should be done soon, right, Pinkie?"

"Oh, yeah! I should check the oven! Coming through!"

Pinkie Pie bolted past her friends into the kitchen, and just as the 'ding' of the oven sounded out, a knock came at the door.

"I wonder who that could be," mused the fashionista unicorn Rarity, levitating a majestic gold star to the top of the prismatic tree. "The party isn't supposed to start for another hour. Did any of you girls give out the wrong time?"

"I don't think so," Twilight thought aloud. "Still, we can't leave anypony out there in the cold."

"Darn right!" Applejack exclaimed. "Whoever's out there, c'mon in and enjoy the warm, partner!"

The door was pushed open, and to the girls' surprise, Gilda entered with an unexpected expression on her face.

A smile.

"G, what're ya doing here so early?" Rainbow Dash inquired, trotting forward to greet her friend. "I said ten. It's still only nine."

"Yeah, well, I thought, you know, maybe I could...help out? Lend a claw? Or hoof, I guess, as you'd say it."

The girls noticed that GIlda's speech was a bit awkward. They could somehow feel that she was sincere, but was clearly not used to being this...generous or kind. None of them could form a single word until Pinkie Pie broke the silence, returning from the kitchen with a big grin on her face.

"The cupcakes are done, but they need time to-"

The pink pony finally noticed Gilda standing at the door, and as impossible as it seemed, her smile got even bigger.

"It's Gilda! Gilda's here! She actually showed up!"

In an instant, Pinkie bolted across the room, faster than Rainbow Dash, and tackled Gilda to the ground in a hug.

"Wait just a minute here...you don't hate me?" the gryphon asked, her curiosity overpowering the pain from the tackle. "After everything I did back then?"

"Forgive and forget, Gilda!" the party pony replied with a smile. "Forgive and forget!"

"...Thanks," Gilda finally managed to say. "Say, not that this is bugging me at all, but you think I can maybe stand up now, please? I'm kinda sore."

"Well, since you asked so nicely, then all right!"

Pinkie released Gilda from the hug and stood up. The gryphon stumbled to her clawed feet. She chuckled to herself, remembering the first time she'd heard the party pony say those words in her recent dream.

"G, not to sound offensive or anything, but you seem a lot...different than yesterday. Something happen?"

Gilda gave a half nod. "Let's just say I had a dream that changed the way I've come to see some things...you and your friends in particular, Dash."

"What do you mean?" Dash inquired, tilting her head in curiosity.

"Guess what I really learned is...you don't know what you have until it's gone, so cherish it while you can and don't do anything to lose it."

Gilda looked to the others in the room. "I'm sorry for how I acted back then. I realize now that I was acting like a big jerk. I want to try and make up for it. I just need to know that you'll let me try."

The room went silent. The girls seemed to contemplate Gilda's request, when to everypony's and Gilda's surprise, the gryphon found herself with a pair of pale amber forelegs gently wrapped around her frame.

"F-Fluttershy?"

"I want you to try, Gilda. I...I want you to be our friend."

The rest of the girls could only smile at the sight they now beheld: Fluttershy, of all ponies, forgiving the one who had done the worst possible thing to her.

"Well, if Fluttershy thinks yer really gonna try, then ah'm willin' ta accept it too!" proclaimed Applejack, heading over and joining the hug.

"Group hug!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, and one by one, the girls had surrounded Gilda in a full-circle embrace of friendship.

"...I'm not getting out of this for a while, am I?"

"Nope!" the party pony exclaimed.

Gilda sighed. "Guess I have to get used to it...now that I think about it though, this...hug thing...ain't all that bad. Actually...it's kinda nice..."

Later on, with Gilda helping out with the last-minute decorating and baking, Sugar Cube Corner was ready for a Ponyville-wide celebration of the Winter’s Festival. Tables had been set up around the room as a buffet, with a wide selection of food. Soups and salads for appetizers, fresh-baked dinner rolls and corn bread, several plates of veggie loaf, spinach pot pie and the grand finale: winter squash risotto. Pitchers of eggnog and cider sat all across the table, fitting in aesthetically with the food.

Precisely at ten, ponies began entering one by one, then two by two, then three by three until most all of Ponyville was inside Sugar Cube Corner and seated. The last to arrive, giving Twilight a massive shock, were the princesses of Canterlot, Celestia and Luna. Twilight immediately bowed upon the alicorns' entrance, which earned a slight chuckle from the sisters.

"Rise, Twilight Sparkle. I am here as a party guest today, not as a mentor."

Twilight's head and body slowly lifted up from the ground. "Sorry, Princess Celestia...it's just instinct."

"I understand," Celestia stated, looking around the room at the wondrous decorations.

Luna, mystified by the beauty of the room, finally managed to say, "What an amazing display of decoration thou hast lined these walls with. What say you, sister?"

"I agree, Luna," Celestia said with a nod. "It looks beautiful."

"Ah don't mean ta correct ya, yer majesties," Applejack said, "but t'wern't just us six that did all the work, and our seventh ain't no pony, neither."

"Oh? And who might you be referring to?"

From the back of the room, Rainbow Dash pushed an unwilling Gilda toward the princesses.

"C'mon, G, it's not like you're not allowed to be here. 'Sides, the princesses are really cool!"

Gilda reluctantly allowed the cyan mare to continue moving her closer until she was finally standing before the two alicorns. Despite how hard she tried to hide it, Gilda was actually trembling in fear of the two.

"Ah, you must be Gilda. I'd heard you visited Ponyville a while back, and left on rather unsteady terms with Twilight and her friends."

"Y-yeah...you could say that, your majesties..."

"Yet you are here now, and it seems you are actually enjoying yourself."

Gilda shrugged. "What can I say? Something just opened my eyes to what I was missing."

Celestia leaned in closer. "And what might that be?"

"Friendship. Plain and simple."

"Interesting," Celestia mused. "And would you, by any chance, care to make this an official friendship report, much like the ones Twilight sends me?"

"Uh, s-sure," Gilda stuttered. "How 'bout I send it officially though?"

"You mean as Twilight does? That would depend on her decision."

Gilda looked to Twilight, who simply nodded. "I would be more than happy to. I'm sure Spike wouldn't mind either."

"Well, now that we've settled that," Celestia declared, "I would very much like to sample the buffet."

"Help yourself!" Pinkie exclaimed. "But you might wanna hurry! These ponies are tearing into the food like a swarm of Parasprites!"

The room suddenly became filled with echoing laughter as everypony, and Gilda, partied on, eating and laughing the day away.

Later that night, during the party clean-up, Spike had returned from Twilight's library with ink, quill and parchment.

"Ready, Spike?" Twilight inquired.

"Ready!" exclaimed the baby dragon.

"Gilda, it's all you."

"All right then," the gryphon said, nodding to Twilight. She cleared her throat and thought for a moment, trying to figure out just how to word it. She half nodded, confirming to herself that she knew what to say, and thanks to Twilight's instruction, she knew just how to start the letter as well.

"Dear Princess Celestia..."

Epilogue: True Story and Forgiveness

"The end."

The book closed via a violet aura of arcane energy, and the unicorn reading it, Twilight Sparkle, lifted it off the table she sat before and holstered the tome inside the bag hanging off her side. Surrounding her in Pony Joe's donut shop were her best friends, her number-one assistant Spike, a blue unicorn in a star-studded cape and hat, and last but not least, Gilda.

"Brava, brava! Encore!" applauded the star-hatted unicorn.

"It wasn't a performance, Trixie," said Twilight.

"Oh, but it was!" Trixie countered. "Literature is an art form and show in itself, and that was one of the greatest displays of literary magic I've ever seen!"

"This is the only time ya'll will ever see me aggreein' with Trixie," Applejack stated. "That was a mighty good story there, Twi."

"I liked the part with the presents!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her seat. "I always like presents!"

"I like how most of it was actually true," Gilda added. "Past, present and future. I'll never know what made me have that twisted dream, though."

"Maybe it was accurate to the story," Dash spoke. "You felt guilty, didn't you?"

"Every waking moment, Dash," Gilda admitted. "I would never have apologized if I didn't mean it."

"And that's why we're cool again, G. We're all cool here, right?"

"Heck yeah," Applejack proclaimed.

"Definitely!" added Rarity.

"Of course!" continued Twilight.

"Yes," Fluttershy said plainly.

As the girls continued their shouts and declarations of approval, Spike placed a tray of hot cocoas and donuts on the table. "Refills and snacks on the house, courtesy of Pony Joe!"

"Thank you so much, Joe," Twilight said.

"It's not a problem at all, Twilight," the cream-colored unicorn replied from behind the counter, giving a nod to the group. "That story of yours was definitely payment enough. Mind if I get a copy of it?"

"As soon as I finish up the few revisions I have planned for it," Twilight said. "I still feel like I can add a few more things to it to make it better."

"I think you should give Pinkie Pie's character more lines," Rainbow Dash joked. "She didn't talk enough in there."

"Ooh, you're right, Dashie!" exclaimed Pinkie. "I do talk a lot, but I didn't talk a lot in there! I mean, it wasn't really me, but still, it was based on me, and I talk a whole lot, and-"

"Pinkie Pie," Dash interrupted, breaking out into laughter, "you are so random."

The girls laughed and joked even more as they sat inside the nice warm donut shop on the eve of the Winter Festival. The snow was falling lightly outside, just as it had been in Twilight's story. The magic of the season surrounded this group of friends as their night carried on as slowly as possible, almost sentient, allowing them to enjoy every minute of it.

"Gilda," Twilight spoke, "I almost forgot, there's one part of this story that hasn't occurred yet."

"What's that?" the gryphon inquired.

"You never wrote that letter to Princess Celestia."

"Oh, yeah...I almost forgot about that."

"Do you still want to?" the lavender unicorn asked.

"Yeah, sure. Why not? It's not every day I actually learn a lesson like this."

Twilight grinned. "Spike, take a note!" the studious unicorn happily proclaimed.

"Ready to go!" Spike announced, quill and scroll already in his claws.

"Dear Princess Celestia," Gilda began. "I am writing to you because I have finally discovered a great truth about friendship, and it has opened my eyes. You should always know who your truest friends are and know what you should and shouldn't do in order to keep those friends. You never really know just what you have until it's gone, so keep a tight grip on the things you hold dear, and try your best not to lose them. Those kinds of friendships last a lifetime and beyond, and should be cherished with every passing day. Signed, Gilda the gryphon."

Spike finished up the note, and with a burst of green flame, sent it on its way. The night continued its slow progress as the snow began to grow in intensity, covering all of Equestria in its chilling yet soothing embrace. This didn’t bother the girls one bit, as the company of friends created its own unique warmth.