10 - The Mighty Wings Are Grounded

I kept calm and controlled, not allowing her biting words to leave me open to more physical attacks. Gilda wore a twisted and enraged squinting look. She looked crazed; something didn't seem right. "Bring it," she snarled. Leaving a couple of feathers behind, she launched into me. I was stuck; the griffon was heavy, and I was too weak to fight back. I tried anyway.

I pushed at her talons with my hooves, forcing all the strength I could muster into turning the tables. The sticky mud below me dragged me down, trying not to let go of me. My wings were frantically flapping in the hope that I could drag Gilda upwards. Gale-force winds from Gilda's dirt-brown wings battered my face. "Rrgh, stop,"I growled almost inaudibly as we struggled in the mud pit. And then it hit me.

A great idea popped into my head (at the right moment, for once), and I was hasty to execute it. I shifted my right hoof out of Gilda's stabbing claws, causing her to lose her balance. As she tumbled into the pit, I flapped my wings and threw her a crushing punch, right below her right eye. Using the momentum I'd just gained, I flew a little way out as she fought against the dirt's iron grip. "Well played, punk," she spoke through a clamped beak, attempting to raise a clenched talon.

Readying my hoof, I leaned forward, still hovering. Knockout blow time, I grinned. Ensuring I was streamlined, I dived down to meet her with a killer blow. She writhed in the dirt, inching closer and closer to releasing herself. I smirked, perhaps overconfidently – but my victory was short-lived.

I was thrown into a dizzying barrel roll by Gilda, as she'd just slapped my ready hoof aside.  The ground hit me like a stampede of bulls, and the mud slapped me like a sticky custard pie to the face. I slid a little way through the dirt, soon stopped by the viscosity of the thick sea of brown. "Damn you," I spoke. "It's on now." I couldn't move an inch, at least not now. That was soon to change.

I felt something (or someone) pick me up out of the dirt. I couldn't speak for fear of the unknown. Looking up at my back hooves as I hung, I saw that a certain light-blue pegasus had helped me out. "Didn't you listen to anything I said?" she shouted, furious at Gilda. "You could've helped us! But it's your loss now. If you still don't like us for who we are, you're missing out! Gilda..." The familiar, raspy voice of Rainbow Dash filled my ears with relief. "Have I got to swing this colt at you, or are you going to leave us?"

"I know you too well," Gilda spoke confidently. I could see a devilish glow on her face. "You might wanna think before trying that, 'cause you'll be nothing more than paint once we're done! And believe me," she snarled, "you're gonna get mixed into the ugliest colours!"

"Guess that's a yes, then," grinned Rainbow Dash. "Bring it, sister!" Regaining sight of the fact that I was the projectile, I pulled a worried look as I was swung backwards. C'mon, Power Hoof...anything... I slammed any button. I don't remember which, and I still don't care too much...

Everything blacked out.