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.