Gilda kicked the doors in front of her open rather aggressively. The two griffons standing guard paid it no mind, but they still visibly shook and sweated bullets at Gilda’s outrage.
Gilda marched inside, and slammed the doors shut behind her. She walked down the tediously long carpet, making her way closer to the throne at the other end. The throne was made of clouds, and sitting upon it was a rather elderly-looking griffon, who was in the midst of signing a document when the doors slammed open.
Now his signature was all over the paper, and he had to request a reprint so that it could be signed anew.
Gilda stopped in front of the throne, lowered her head, and crossed her right arm over her chest, placing the paw over the left side. The standard griffon bow that one used when addressing Royalty. “You wanted ta see me, old man?”
“That’s ‘Emperor’,” he corrected, though he knew it would do little good. “And yes. I hear you’ve been moping around in your room, and lashing out at the guards and the servants… Would you mind explaining what exactly has you in such a state?”
Gilda grit her teeth, and turned her head up to face the griffon Emperor. “You called me here for that?! You’ve got some nerve! After all these years, you choose now to be a father? Screw you!”
“I am asking, not as a father, but as an Emperor, who is concerned for the wellbeing of his subjects.” The Emperor placed the documents that he was holding down, and picked up a cup sitting next to his throne. “I believe I sent you to Canterlot to negotiate with the Princess about sending us reinforcements. We never know when the enemy will attack, so we must be prepared.”
Gilda flapped her wings, and crossed her forelegs. “Yeah, decided I had better things ta do,” Gilda said, turning her head and wearing a bored expression on her face. “You’ll have to send someone else.”
The Emperor sighed, and lowered his cup back where it was previously sitting. “That was a direct order… Even as the Princess of the Griffon Empire, I cannot simply let this slide.” He noted the face that Gilda was wearing. “You went to visit that Pegasus friend of yours, didn’t you? The one that ‘betrayed’ you?”
He recalled Gilda complaining about a certain Pegasus, who she once considered a friend. That same Pegasus, in Gilda’s words, “blew off a meeting between the two so that she could prance around with that prissy little Earth-Pegasus”, Earth-Pegasus being a derogatory way of referring to Pegasi who have difficulties flying.
“What’s it to ya?” she asked.
There was no mistaking it; that was the same expression that she wore all those years ago. Back then, she refused to perform her Royal duties for months…
“Princess Gildana III, when will you finally grow up?” the Emperor asked, mimicking her bored expression.
Gilda fumed at her father, and stood in an attacking stance. The Emperor had to wave a claw to signal for his guards to stand down.
“Frig you, old man! All you do is sit on your fat ass all day, plotting ways to legitimise going to war… You never gave a flying feather about me, or mother! Instead, the moment she was gone, you went and married that damn whore-”
“That is enough, Gildana!” the Emperor shouted, starting to lose his patience with his daughter.
“No! It’s never enough! Nothing I do ever satisfies you! You want me to be stronger, so I train so hard my claws bleed! You want me to treat that whore like she was my mother, so I treat her as if she were dead! Cause my mother is dead! Though I doubt you even noticed!
“And then, you sent me away to that school in Equestria, under that stupid alias, with that fake history! You took my entire life away from me, just so that I would be out of your sight, and left me with nothing! And, just when things were starting to look up, you drag me back, take away my new life, and give me back this one!
“You never cared about me, you just want me as a political tool! You just want me around under that sister of mine is old enough to take the throne! I’m just warming the seat for her, and I’ve had it!”
“Gildana, you would do well to remember who you are…”
“But that’s just it! Am I Gildana, the Princess of the Griffon Empire, who’s never been able to please her father, and has zero hopes for a future, or am I Gilda, the ‘Badass of Cloudsdale High’, who nopony, and I mean nopony, ever dared to defy?
“Either way, I have nothing left now! You took away any hope I have of being Emperor one day, and Rainbow Dash… Rainbow Dash showed me that even ponies would betray you, so just what the hell am I supposed to do now?!”
The throne room was silent, save for the heavy breathing of Gilda as she recovered from her rant. When he was sure that she was finished, the Emperor began to speak again. “Princess Gildana III, I believe a vacation is in order.”
“Vacation,” Gilda scoffed. “By that, you of course mean that you’re just getting me out of your feathers until I’m ready to submit to you again. Well forget it! I-”
“Silence!” he ordered, using a roar so loud, so fierce, that it shook Gilda, and the two guards in the room, and completely prevented them from making any noise at all. “Princess Gildana III, I hereby decree… You are to return to Equestria, and join our guard at the Canterlot Falls. There, you are to protect the powerful artefact sealed away inside… I am appointing you the position of Captain. Do not disappoint me.”
“… And how long will this gig last?”
“Until you are prepared to come back, and prove to me that you have grown up.”
Gilda grinned, and turned away. “So in other words, as long as I want, huh? Good, that means I don’t have to look at you stinkin’ face anymore.”
“Gildana… Do not fail me.” As the Emperor said that, Gilda left the throne room, making a point to slam the door shut as loudly as possible. “… Now that that little disturbance is out of the way… How are our preparations coming along?”
One of the guards turned and saluted immediately. “Sir! Our troops are on standby! We’re ready to crush the rebel forces on your command!”
The Emperor nodded, and picked up his cup, taking a nice, long sip of his tea. ‘Gildana, I shall stain my claws with blood, to protect our country… But there is no need for you to be involved. Or rather, I have a far greater task for you. When this is over, you must purge the last remnant of evil that still lingers in this land.’
The Emperor placed his cup down, and rose to his feet. “Let’s not keep them waiting, then. The rebels grow stronger every day… What our country needs right now, is a firm, strong leader. One who rules with fear, and authority. I trust you will stand by my side, come what may?”
“Sir!”
Gilda stomped angrily down the castle hallway, all too eager to finally get away from this accursed country of hers. She glanced outside the window, and had to do a double-take. It seemed that even nature was mocking her; outside, in the distance, was a big, beautiful rainbow, lighting up the sky with its many colours.
“Your name’s Gilda?”
“Yeah. And you’re Rainbow Dash, right? You seem pretty cool. I’ll let you hang with me.”
“Pfft, that’s rather big-headed of ya! You sound like it’s some kinda honour or somethin’!”
“It is an honour, ungrateful whelp!”
“What was that?!”
Gilda shook her head, and continued down the castle’s hallway.
“Why don’t you just leave her alone?!”
“What’s it to ya?”
“Fluttershy’s my friend! You wanna pick on her, you’ll have ta go through me!”
“You heard her, boys! Get her!”
“Lay one hoof on her, and my claws will rip you to shreds!”
“G-Gilda?! Y-You don’t scare us!”
…
“You wanna say that again? I didn’t quite hear you.”
Gilda groaned, and tried to beat the memories out of her head by smacking a claw against her temple over and over again. “Stop it…”
“This isn’t how I thought my old friends would treat my new friends!”
Gilda had had enough. She needed to get outside, and soar through the air a bit. She smashed the window next to her open, and flew through, not caring that she was now dripping blood from her foreleg.
“Damnit… I don’t need her… She’s useless to me! She betrayed me, for those… Those stupid, worthless commoners!” Tears streamed down Gilda’s cheeks, but she ignored them, and simply sped up flying. “YOU HEAR ME, RAINBOW DASH! I DON’T NEED YOU! I’LL LIVE MY LIFE JUST FINE WITHOUT YOU! SO GO AHEAD! HAVE FUN WITH YOUR LITTLE PONY FRIENDS!
“… Have fun and… Leave me out of it.”
The next day, Gilda arrived at Canterlot, wearing her new suit of armour, which showed off her rank of Captain. She was greeted by Captain Shining Armour, of the Royal Guard of Equestria, and was led to her room in the castle.
She decided to spend some time lying down on her new bed, before going off to check out the soldiers that she would be in charge of.
“… This is my third life,” Gilda thought out loud. “Princess Gildana III, abandoned by her family. Gilda the Griffon, abandoned by her friend. But now, I’ll not make the same mistakes again.”
Gilda got up, and left her room. She asked Captain Armour to escort her to where she would be supervising the guard assembled at Canterlot falls, and found that she would be in charge of five griffon soldiers.
Once she had lined up, she took a deep breath, and began to introduce herself. “Alright, listen up, ‘cause I’m only gonna say this once! I’m your new supervisor, Captain Gil!” The soldiers looked confused, and started to mumble amongst themselves. She silenced them by slicing straight through the iron railing beside her with her claws.
“I don’t care for your names, or for you loyalty! We’re gonna guard this place with our lives, and that is that! Anyone who disagrees, or who wants to leave without permission…” She held up her claws in a threatening manner. “I’ll skewer yer punk ass. Am I clear?!”
“Sir, yes, sir!” the soldiers answered, almost immediately, mostly from fear.
‘Good… This is a life I think I can get behind. You’ll see, Dash. Your betrayal means nothing to me!’
‘… It really doesn’t…’
