Destinies Intertwined

Gilda was sitting in her bed, writing a book report that was due next Monday. Her parents were out of town, as usual, and Gilda was feeling a loneliness she hadn’t felt in a long time. Skywishes was out on another camping trip with her parents, and Rainbow was with her boyfriend. She had almost finished, but suddenly she heard the doorbell ring repeatedly. “Keep your shirt on!” Gilda, only in a red t-shirt and black shorts, replied. She ran down the stairs and soon reached the door. She looked out the peephole and gasped at what she saw.

*****

Gilda was still holding Garuda in her arms while Rainbow Dash drove home. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?” Gilda asked.

“I can do this!” Dash angrily answered, wiping tears out of her eyes.

“Dash,” Gilda put a hand on Dash’s arm. “Please, stop the car.”

“No! I can handle this!”

“No, you can’t. Just, pull the car over, you’re scaring me.”

“How am I scaring you?”

“For one thing, you nearly sideswiped another car two lights ago.”

Rainbow stayed silent.

“And you also ran said lights.”

Rainbow remained silent.

“Pull over right now.”

Rainbow remained driving for a few moments, then finally pulled the car off to the side.

“Thank you.” Gilda got out of the car and walked over to Rainbow’s side. “Now...get out, I’ll drive the rest of the way.”

Rainbow yanked open the door and stared Gilda in the face.

The two stared at each other for the longest time- then Rainbow burst into tears.

*****

Gilda yanked open the door and ran to Rainbow, covered only by a blanket she held close to her exposed body. “Dash? What happened to you?”

Rainbow jumped at her friend’s voice, but when she saw who it was, tried to answer. “I...Citrus...he…”

“Citrus did this to you?!”

Rainbow nodded, still quivering.

“Look, come inside. We’ll get you warmed up and get some clothes on you.”

“O-oka-” Rainbow suddenly started to cough, then bent over and threw up.

Gilda placed a hand on Dash’s back and attempted to comfort her.

Once she had finished, she looked at Gilda, “I-I’m sorry, I’ll try and clean it up.”

“No, I’ll get it. You couldn’t help it, you go in and...just try and calm down or take a shower...do what you have to, okay?” Gilda smiled.

Rainbow Dash nodded and made her way to the bathroom.

******

Rainbow sat on the rear fender of her car, trying to hold back tears, but she wasn’t doing a very good job. “Why would she do that?” She demanded, almost choking up, “Why would she betray me like that?”

“I don’t know...maybe he’s blackmailing her or something?” Gilda suggested.

“No… she’s actually...seeing him…”

“I dunno...seems fishy to me.”

“Well it’s happening.”

“Alright, but you never know.”

“Well do you wanna go back and ask her?!” Dash shouted.

Gilda sighed, “No…right now all I want to do is make sure you’re okay.”

“I…I thought I had gotten over him by now…but…”

“Dash, I don’t think you can get over something like that.”

“I just thought I could get away from that…man.”

“The word you’re looking for is ‘pest.’”

Dash lightly chuckled, “Yeah.”

“Gilda,” An angry female voice called out from behind them.

They both turned around and saw Applejack behind them, her arms folded. “AJ…it’s not what you think it is.” Dash pointed out.

“Then what is it?”

“It isn’t any of your business.” Gilda shot AJ a glare.

“Oh, it ain’t? Actually Ah think it is, seein’ as how Dash’s one of mah best friends.”

“Gilda…it’s alright, it’s about time I told her. It’s about time I told everyone.”

“Told everyone what?” Applejack asked.

“I’ll tell you and everyone at Twilight’s, can you round everyone up?”

“Uh…sure… But you’ll explain everythin’?”

“I will.”

“Okay, then, see ya in a bit.”

*****

After about an hour, all the girls had arrived at Twilight’s library. When Rarity and Fluttershy had entered, Applejack felt a little weird, since Fluttershy wouldn’t talk to her. She wondered if maybe now would be a good time to talk to Fluttershy, but Applejack didn’t want to ruin…whatever Rainbow Dash was wanting.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was taking notice of Applejack. She was going to make sure she would sit as far away from Applejack as possible and hope that AJ wouldn’t ask anything about it. Now-

Wait, why were Rainbow Dash and Gilda in dresses?

“Thanks for coming everyone,” Twilight greeted, “Um…I have to confess I’m not really sure why Rainbow and Gilda wanted us all here…but I’m sure it’s important.”

Rainbow sighed. She was sitting close to Gilda and Garuda and was…scared? “Uh…thanks Twi…” She swallowed hard, “Well…you see…”

*****

Gilda returned to her room. She heard that the hot water running in the bathroom in her room. Gilda knocked on the door, “Rainbow? Are you okay?”

“No!”

“Do you need me to come in there?”

“I- No…I’ll be out in a bit…”

“Okay, take all the time you need.”

“Thanks…”

“Um…should I call your parents?”

“No! Please, don’t!”

“Okay…but one of us will have to…”

Rainbow stayed silent.

“Just…come out when you’re ready.”

“Fine…”

*****

All the girls (except Fluttershy and Gilda) were stunned. To hear that their strong, confident, and loyal friend had been assaulted…

“Dash, who the heck was this boyfriend of yours, and can I please take my shotgun to him?” Applejack asked, having one of those “if looks could kill” expressions.

“Um…well… I’ll explain that.” Dash said, and continued.

*****

Rainbow finally exited the bathroom; she was wearing a sweatshirt, sweat pants, and socks. “Well, you look a little better.” Gilda said, trying to make her friend feel a little better.

“I wish I felt better.” Rainbow sighed.

Gilda nodded, “Is there anything you want me to do?”

“I…don’t know…I-“ Tears starting streaming down her cheeks, “I have no clue!”

“That’s okay. Just…take your time.”

“I can’t…my parents’ll worry about me and your parents will kill me for you having-.”

“Dash, don’t worry about it. For one thing, my parents won’t be here for a few days, and for another, I’m sure your parents will understand.”

“No…they won’t, cuz I’m not gonna tell them.”

“What?! You aren’t going to tell them?”

“No…I can’t. They’re gonna ground me forever cuz I got back WAY past curfew, AND had underage sex out of wedlock.”

“No, you got raped. BIG difference.”

“I just…can’t tell anyone…except you…since-“

“But Rainbow, what if you got HIV? Or you could’ve even gotten pregnant!”

Rainbow swallowed, “I-“

“You NEED to tell them.”

“But…they’ll KILL me!”

“Who are they, my parents?” Gilda joked.

“Don’t joke about this Gilda!”

“Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood.”

“Well it’s not helping!”

“Okay, you need to chill right about now.”

“How am I supposed to chill?! Do you even KNOW what what happened to me ?!”

“No, I don’t, but still…”

“Then just leave me alone!”

******

“That ‘old friend’ you went to see is dating that monster?” Rarity asked.

“Pretty much.” Dash replied.

“And she’s Scootaloo’s legal guardian?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yup…”

“And she knows what he did,” Twilight asked.

“Eeyup.”

“And did he do something to Garuda?”

“No, that was my fault,” Gilda said. “He’s still a little scared from when I yelled at him.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah...I probably need to get him to bed.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah, I need to get some rest too,” Dash said.

“Okay, see you tomorrow, Rainbow.” Twilight answered. "But remember, we're here for you if you need us."

"Thanks..." And with that, Rainbow and Gilda left with Garuda in his mother’s arms.

******

Rainbow sat on Gilda's bed curled up into a ball. Her knees were up against her chest and her arms were wrapped around her legs. Tears continued to stream down her cheeks. “Why is this happening to me? What did I do?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong; that dweeb Citrus is a different story.”

“But why did he do this to me?”

“Because he’s a jerk.”

“Still…”

Gilda sighed before getting back to her book report. “Right now, I think your parents would be the best ones to help you.”

“You heard what I said, they’ll ground me if they find out.”

“You didn’t want to have sex with him to begin with. Again, big difference.”

“Still.”

“Look, if it’ll make you feel any better, I’ll come with you.”

“No, the last thing I want is for you to be involved in this.”

Gilda gave Rainbow a look. “Dash, I got involved the moment you walked up to my house. You really don’t have much of a choice here. Besides, if you don’t come clean, they will ground you for missing curfew. Plus, what if you get sick, or even have a baby?”

Rainbow thought it over. “Kinda does seem lose-lose, doesn’t it… Alright, you can call them…”

Gilda immediately got her phone and dialed Firefly’s number…

******

Rainbow and Gilda walked into the house. They were the only two people in the room, save for Garuda who was now in Rainbow’s arms. Rainbow handed Garuda to his mother before heading straight for the bathroom. Gilda sat on the couch thinking about what had happened tonight.

Tonight was supposed to have been perfect, but what had happened was a living nightmare. What’s worse, other than Garuda’s having to witness the argument unfold, was knowing that one of her best friends was dating the very pony that assaulted Rainbow Dash. Some friend she was! What could have possessed Skywishes to even think about seeing this guy?

RING! RING!

That was the sound of Gilda’s cell phone. She picked it up and took a look at it. It was Skywishes. She declined the call and set the phone down, but it rang again. Gilda let the phone ring a few times before it finally stopped. Gilda gave a sigh of relief before it rang a third time! Frustrated, she grabbed the phone and answered in a gruff tone, “What?”

“Gilda, it’s Skywishes.”

“I know. Could we just cut to the chase?”

“I just want you to know that Citrus really has changed.”

“Right… And I’m Griffenyellow.”

“Still a fan of that show I see.”

“Yep, and at least they don’t date sex offenders.”

“Gilda...that was a long time ago… and he HAS changed.”

“Maybe he has, but why are you of all ponies  giving him a chance?”

“Maybe cuz he deserves one?”

“How does he ‘deserve’ one?”

“I dunno, you tell me Little Miss Prostitute.”

Gilda slammed her fist down on the table ,“I might have been a prostitute, but at least the people I did it with wanted to do it, and I didn’t beat the snot out of them and then take pictures of it and sell them to my friends.”

“Gilda, look, he was a teenager. We did dumb stuff as teenagers, didn’t we?”

“Maybe. But his ‘dumb stuff’ scarred my best friend to the point she ran away. We’re lucky she wasn’t pregnant or worse.”

*****

Shortly after the phone call, Gilda heard the doorbell. “I’ll get it. Unless you’d like to.”

“Y-you can come…”

Both girls headed downstairs to the door. “Ready, Dash?”

“Y-yeah…”

Gilda opened the door and Firefly ran in. She instantly wrapped her arms around Rainbow Dash. “Dash!”

“M-mom…I-I’m sorry.”

Firefly ended the embrace and gave her a strange expression. “You have nothing to be sorry for. NOTHING.”

“But…I-”

“Dashie… Let’s get you home and we can talk about it tomorrow.”

Rainbow nodded, then turned to Gilda, then turned back to her mom, “Um…could Gilda come over for…a while?”

“Um…are your parents still out of town?” Firefly asked Gilda.

“Yup. They’ll be back at the end of the month.”

“Ah…well, would you like to come over?”

“Sure. But let me get some extra clothes, first.”

*****

“Gilda… Can I tell you something?” Skywishes asked.

“Why would you want to tell something to a prostitute?” Gilda replied, sarcastically.

“Gilda… Look, did you know Citrus’ parents died?”

“Hmm… Can’t really say I’m upset.”

“Well, Citrus inherited their estate-“

“Figures. Must be why you’re dating him.”

“Would you just-” Skywishes paused for a few moments, “He really enjoyed it for a while, having all that, but then when he stopped

partying, drinking, and started thinking about his life…”

“He found religion?”

Skywishes sighed, “He locked himself up in his parents’ house and almost killed himself.”

“If only…” Gilda muttered.

“But…for some reason I went over…still not entirely sure why…and I managed to convince him not to do it..”

“So…you saved the life of the man who ruined your friend’s life.”

“Gilda- Anyway, back to the present: He wants to apologize to Rainbow.”

“And why do you think she’ll believe him?”

Skywishes sighed, “Just meet Citrus at the park tomorrow… He’ll explain everything when you get there.”

“Wait a minute, you expect me to willingly walk up to the one who ruined my best friend’s life.”

“If he does try something on you, then you may do with him as you please, but all I’m asking you to do is take that leap of faith for

just a few minutes.”

“And if he really has changed?”

“Then it’s all up to Rainbow Dash. If she’s still not convinced, then so be it. We’ll just stay out of your lives.”

Gilda thought about it for a few minutes.

“I’m sure it wasn’t easy for Rainbow Dash to give you another chance, right?”

“Well… No, and if it weren’t for Garuda, I would have still been on the streets.”

“Didn’t that give you a reason to change?”

“It did.”

“And if it weren’t for me, Citrus would have just been another pony who took his own life before it was his time. Not only that, but he would have never shown the change that he made now.”

There was silence before…

“Alright, when do you want me to meet up with him?”

“At three-O’clock. He’ll explain everything there.”

“Alright.”

Both pony and griffon hung up.

Rainbow Dash immediately walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. Another towel was wrapped around her mane as the steam was exiting the bathroom. She looked over at Gilda. “Who was that?”

Gilda was beginning to have mixed feelings. Should she tell Dash about the call, or should she keep it a secret for now?

“Well?”

“It was just some salespony. Pretty annoying if you ask me.”

“Yeah… very…”

Maybe she should change the subject. “So how are you feeling?”

“A little better.”

“That’s good. Just don’t worry about that dweeb, everything’ll work itself out.”

“Yeah…”

“By the way, I’m still long overdue on that ‘I told you so’.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Since when?”

“Since he-”

Rainbow glared at Gilda playfully. “You liar! You said that when Mom took me home.”

“Oh well, I was still right.”

“Yeah, at least there are still ponies who do care about me.”

“Yeah, and about those five other ponies…”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t EVER leave them, because once you push them away, you’ll regret it. Believe me, I know.”

Rainbow smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t.”