"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."