Speed. Acceleration. Momentum. Distance. Speed, acceleration, momentum, distance...

The words melted together into a buzz, spurring the griffin further from Ponyville. She couldn't stand to be in such an uncool place any longer. It's bright, gaudy colors hurt her eyes so much they teared up. Yeah, that's why she can't look back at the little town as she rests up above in the clouds. As IF Gilda, the Queen of Cool, would cry about some loser pony not wanting to hang out. Why, the very idea was laughable. In fact, a laugh is sounding pretty good right now. That'd help the pain of losing her... the pain from the colors, yeah.

Looking down, she saw a male unicorn with a green mane. He had a quill and inkwell cutie mark, and was sitting under a tree dozing. If she landed on it just right, a dead limb would fall and impale itself on his horn. Which she did, the blow waking the sleeping male.

She chuckled, until she noticed him staring up at her intently, the branch still stabbed upon the horn like a termite's shish kabob.

"What? Not my fault you chose a bad place for a nap."

"You've been crying."

The griffin was thrown by the remark, but retorted instantly.

"I was breaking airspeed records, of course I'd get teary eyed. Anyone would, looking on all this awesome."

With a bit of magic and a twist, his horn was freed of the limb. A look of bored disbelief was clear, as he held the stick at head height.

"Alright, if you're so fast, prove it. Catch this stick before it hits the ground."

In the state she was in, Gilda was not in the mood to have some PONY doubt her skills. She dived and caught the stick just as it was about to hit the grass. She grinned smugly and waved the wood in front of his face.

"See? There's nothing any lame-o pony can come up with that I can't do."

The male unicorn gave an indifferent shrug.

"Nothing? How about this for a challenge. I've been looking for a certain flower. Solid orange petals with blue stamen. Searched all day, haven't seen a single one. Surely a cool and swift griffin can find one before the sun sets? They're in the forest, near the base of the trees, so it may take you quite a while to find them."

Gilda looked up, the sun barely past noon. She was going to prove to this uncool unicorn she was better than any pony.

"Alright, I'll be back before dusk with a whole bouquet! You just stay right here, and be ready to eat some humble pie."

With that, she took off, flying low and maneuvering majestically between the tightly clustered trees. Despite how cramped it was, she still was gaining speed. She ripped through some sort of Wilderness Rave, where a party of ponies were dancing to techno mixed with the song of nature.

'With some lame-o white unicorn bobbing her head like a moron...' She thought to herself. 'Rock is SO much cooler, it isn't even funny.'

Gilda scanned the ground, her literal eagle eyes spotting a flash of orange. Screeching to a halt, she picked the flower. She gave a confident laugh at how easy it was, until she looked it over. Orange petals with... yellow stamen. This was the wrong flower. Clicking her beak in annoyance, she looked up to the sun. Oh tail feathers, it was already getting dark!

Gilda half flew, half sprinted, scrambling over the forest floor to try and find it. This flower had blue stamen, but pink petals. This one was orange petals, but they were banded with white. She'd picked enough flowers to decorate a parade float, and not a single one matched. The stars twinkled above before she finally admitted defeat.

The unicorn was sitting there, writing on a small scroll. He looked up as she walked over to him. He took out a canteen and offered it to her. She growled with frustration, but she still drank deeply. It was just water, but after the humid oven that was the forest, it was like a refreshing spring rain just for her dried throat. Once she finished, the unicorn gave a polite cough.

"I'm surprised it took you this long."

Gilda snorted at the jab.

"Yeah, well it was impossible to find anything in that mess of a forest."

At that, the unicorn's lips gave a slight twitch, as if suppressing the urge to laugh.

"Oh, it's not impossible to find anything in there. Merely impossible to find a flower I made up."

Gilda stared in utter disbelief, realizing she had spent the entire afternoon on a worthless endeavor. She shook with fury, and then roared with enough force to ripple the leaves in the tree.

"You... you... you lame excuse for a pony! There's no such thing as a flower with orange petals and blue stamen? You lied to me? You made me waste valuable time on a wild goose chase? I ought to drop the whole tree on you for the stunt you pulled!"

The unicorn nodded, and waited for her to stop yelling.

"Now you know how it feels to be lied to."

Gilda shot him a glare, eye twitching uncontrollably.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You lied when we met, you denied you were crying. You seemed to believe it yourself too, and that hurts most, when people lie to themselves."

The griffin could only sputter indignantly, too enraged to reply properly. The unicorn took this chance to speak more.

"Now, I may not fly fast, or move gracefully, but I listen very well. Tell me what's wrong. I'd like to help."

This sent Gilda into a new rage, causing her to screech and beat her wings. This pony was as bad as the little pink tart that took her away!

"I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU PONIES! You talk like to want to help, like you love and tolerate everyone, but in reality, you just like to one up others! And when someone else tries to show you love, to have you to themselves, to show you how much you mean to them, you act like there's nothing wrong!"

The griffin broke down, sobbing, shame burning from losing her dignity in front of a stranger, and a pony at that. Hot tears streaked down her mulch and pollen coated face. She rubbed at her eyes, only smearing it further. For the second time in one day, she'd let some loser get the better of her. She almost didn't notice when he put a moist cloth in her claws. As she wiped her face, he continued on.

"Say no more. It's ok to cry, and to feel sorrow when love is rejected. If you truly love someone, you want to share them, not keep them all to yourself like some trinket. Go back, apologize, and know that they do love you, they just want you to know you can't love just them alone."

Gilda sniffed, and tried to regain her composure.

"Heh, you know what. You're right. Why should I worry about anything? At the end of the day, I'm the coolest flier in the sky, why should I think anyone else is going to take my place in her… er, their heart? You know what, you're kinda cool yourself, for a lame-o. What's your name?"

"Words, Words O'Wisdom, but my friends call me Wiz."

"Alright Wiz, thank you, for everything."

With that, she took off, back towards Ponyville, flying even faster than she had before. Words O'Wisdom gathered his saddlebags, and watched her leave, just as Vinyl Scratch emerged from the brush, twigs stuck in her hair and goggles tangled in her tail.

"Some kind of brown wind just tore up the party!"