Romp

Twilight squinted from her spot atop the temple wall. “Is that… Gilda?”

Princess Luna glanced at Twilight, then down at the field where Rainbow and the griffon stood. “Someone you know?”

“Well, sort of. She was a friend of Rainbow’s many years ago until they had a falling out.” Twilight gripped her hooves against the edge of the wall and fidgeted her wings. “This could be bad, Princess. They recently made amends during a cutie map mission with Pinkie, but… there are some other things that could be an issue.”

“That must have been the malice I sensed building before we entered her dream,” Luna mused aloud before spreading her wings to take flight.

“Malice? What… whoa, hang on, Princess!” Twilight called out, lifting a hoof to stop Luna. “Don’t you think this is… I don’t know, an invasion of privacy? I mean, I do trust you – that’s why I followed you into her dream. But is it really alright to listen in on their conversation?”

“If somepony desires their dreams to be sheltered, I can sense the desire before entering their dream. Depending on who it is, or what the situation suggests, I may have to make my own judgment call on whether or not to heed that desire – such as was the case with some Ponyville residents during the Tantibus event.” Looking back down at the field, she said, “But in Rainbow’s case, I sense no such desire.”

“Oh. Alright then.” Twilight ran a hoof through the back of her mane. “Sorry. Guess I’m not quite up to speed on dream etiquette.”

“Understandable,” Luna said, turning her attention back to the field below. “Just so you know, neither Rainbow nor the projection of her friend will be aware of our presence – not unless I deign otherwise.”

Twilight nodded and watched the Princess take flight. Slumping her shoulders, she mumbled, “Doesn’t exactly make me feel better,” before leaping off the wall.

__________

Rainbow blinked at the griffon in front of her. Unbeknownst to her, the bandages around her wing began to unfurl, falling to the ground before dissipating into a fine powder. She went to tip her hat back with a hoof, but found it no longer there. Slicking back her sweaty bangs instead, she said, “Gilda? What are you doing here?”

Gilda narrowed her eyes at the pegasus, taking a step closer. “Oh y’know, just felt like checking in, see what you’re up to these days. Looks like you’re having a lot of fun without me.”

“I… well, uh…” Rainbow fluttered her wings against her sides. She felt as if something was missing and glanced back with an arched eyebrow. “I guess so?” She struggled to remember what just took place – something to do with a story she had read. When her mind instead chose to recall the last memory she had with Gilda, she looked back at the griffon. “So, uh… how’s spreading friendship and all that going over in Griffonstone?”

Gilda shrugged. “Scones’re selling well.” Stepping up to within an inch of Rainbow’s muzzle, she said, “Better question is, how have you been doing?”

Rainbow furrowed her brow. “Me?” She sat on her haunches and rubbed her neck with a chuckle. “You know how it is. Making storms. Being awesome. The usual.”

“Mmm. Right.” Gilda stared at Rainbow for a moment longer, causing Rainbow to cock her head slightly. After a moment, Gilda sat down and sighed, hanging her head with closed eyes. “Listen, Dash. I wanted to apologize for what happened. Y’know, back in the day…”

Rainbow cocked her head the other way. “What happened back… oh.” Her ears drooped. “Yeah, uh… it’s alright. I mean, I’ve thought about it a little more since then. Or, uh… more recently, I guess.”

A short distance away, two alicorns landed in the field, invisible to both the pegasus and griffon. “You have?” Gilda said, looking up at Rainbow.

“Yeah,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “I can kinda see now why you got so upset back then.” Folding her ears further, she let her gaze drift, trying hard to fight back a grimace. “I mean, you wanted something I wasn’t cool with. So… yeah. Makes sense now why you bailed like that.”

“Well, hey,” Gilda said with a shrug of her own. “It’s old stuff now. I just wanted to say I’m sorry since you and your friend helped out with things back home.”

“Oh. Well, uh… thanks.” Rainbow smiled a little, though the tension was still clear in her features. “That’s pretty sweet of you.” She blanched the second the words rolled off her tongue. Standing up, she stammered, “I-I mean sweet as in cool sweet, not like – y’know, the other sweet. Heh.”

Gilda shook her head and returned the smile. As she stood up, she turned aside and looked out at the sunset. “Well, guess I better head back. Scones don't cook themselves, after all.”

“Right. Well, take it easy,” Rainbow said, turning around. “You should come visit again sometime soon, catch me up on things.”

“Or I could just take care of that now,” Gilda murmured from close behind Rainbow’s ears.

“Huh?” Rainbow blinked.

Suddenly, the grassy plain surrounding her changed to a set of four dark walls and a low ceiling. As she struggled to adjust to the dim light, barely making out the outline of posters and picture frames hanging from the walls, she realized she was lying back on something soft. “Wait. This is—mmph!“

She was cut off by a set of talons squeezing her mouth shut.

Digging deep into the coat of Rainbow’s muzzle, Gilda leered over the pony with slit amber eyes, glimmering beneath the amber light that streamed through the blinds beside them. Her hind paws dug into the sheets beneath them, pushing back the bed’s comforter until it fell onto the floor. She leaned down, pressing her chest against Rainbow’s as she bent her head close to one of her ears. “I bet you missed this, didn’t you?” she whispered.

Rainbow’s magenta eyes shot wide as the griffon lifted her by her muzzle and slammed the back of her head against the headboard. “C’mon, Dash,” Gilda drawled with a venomous tone. “Where’s that fighting spirit of yours? It’s no fun if you don’t play along too!”

“Mngh… mmnot...” Rainbow grasped Gilda’s arm in her fetlock and ripped the talons off her muzzle. “NNGH… Gilda! What are you doing?!”

Gilda leaned back with a thin smile. “Taking claim of what’s mine. What do you think?”

“The buck’s wrong with you,” Rainbow muttered, wiping a hoof across her wounded snout. “You really think I’d do this crap with you again?”

Gilda laughed. She lifted her head and glared down at the mare with a frightening grin and a matching glint to her eyes. “Since when did you ever turn me down? Huh? Weren’t you the one begging for this all the time back in the day?”

“Stop it, Gilda,” Rainbow barked back, thrusting her hoof against Gilda’s chest. “I’ve been over that for a long time now.”

“Oh really?” Gilda chuckled once more. “You sure you’re not still butthurt because of that one night?”

“I thought you just apologized for that! Jeez!” Pushing Gilda back, she said, “Besides, I’ve found something way better than anything we did.”

“Chyea, right. Lemme guess: some more softcore shit, yeah?” Gilda batted Rainbow’s hoof away and pressed the tips of her talons against the mare’s chest, causing her to yelp. “Face it, Dash. You might have been cool back in the day, but you always sucked in the sheets. Oh no, wait, I take that back – you didn’t suck at all! Sorry,” she said, rolling her talons against Rainbow’s chest. “Guess that’s something you were scared of doing too, huh?”

“Nngh… s-stop it, Gilda!” Rainbow sputtered. She went to grab Gilda’s arm, but the griffon batted her hoof away effortlessly with a wing. She squinted as the pressure of Gilda’s arm travelled up toward her throat. “What’s your deal, anyway? Why’re y-you doing this?”

Gilda smirked. “To make it clear just how much of a loser you really are.”

__________

Off in a corner of the dark room, two glowing silhouettes began to form. With a shrill pop, Twilight and Luna materialized, the former stumbling from the sudden jump.

“Eugh… that doesn’t feel anything like teleportation,” Twilight mumbled, rubbing a hoof against her forehead. She squinted through the dark of the room and said, “I don’t see how you can do this every ni—“

Krrt-BOOM!

“GAH!” Twilight reared back as something large and blue crashed into the wall beside her.

A heavy flap of wings broke the air to her left. She turned just in time to see Gilda pounce on top of the thing that slammed into the wall. When a raspy yelp escaped the object she now dug her talons into, Twilight gasped. “Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow lay sprawled beneath Gilda, her voice crackling in spits and sputters as two sets of talons clutched tight around her throat.

“You used to squirm every time I so much as touched you,” Gilda snarled at the mare. “And now you want to put on a brave act?” She lifted the pegasus up against the wall, pushing a strained choke out of her lungs. “Fine. Let’s see if I can’t rip right through that braveness of yours.”

Twilight’s wings flared out of her sides, her eyes wide with horror. She reached for the griffon on instinct — but found her hoof suddenly wrapped in a blue aura. She spun her head around. “LUNA! What are you—“

“Hold, Twilight,” Luna calmly replied.

Twilight blinked. She turned around.

Rainbow Dash wrapped her fetlocks around Gilda’s arm, scrunching her muzzle with the strain of shoving the stronger creature off. Throwing her weight into the wall behind her, she lifted her hind hooves off the ground with a shout. “RrrrrrRRRRAAAAUGH!”

A deep, hollow thump echoed through the room as Rainbow bucked Gilda hard in the sternum. The griffon flew back-first into the far wall with a shriek, busting her head through a picture frame before she collapsed against a nightstand, knocking a lamp and several books onto the floor. By the time she gained any semblance of bearing, Rainbow Dash had landed all four hooves around her.

“It’s over, Gilda,” Rainbow spat down at the griffon, her magenta eyes narrow with righteous anger. “It’s been over for years now.”

“Aw yeah… now this is more like it.” Gilda wiped the back of a talon across her beak and looked up at Rainbow. “So, you really think you found someone who could replace me?”

Rainbow furrowed her brow. “Replace you? Get real.”

Gilda grinned. “See, I knew you couldn’t—“

“I found someone who can eat your sorry flank.”

Gilda blinked at that. Off to the side, Princess Luna looked over at Twilight. The younger alicorn stepped back a pace with a blush and grin.

Grabbing Gilda by the scruff of her chest, Rainbow pushed her against the side of the bed. “All the times we used to do… whatever you want to call what we did, you always wanted more. You wanted something I didn’t, and yet you always tried to force it.”

Gilda winced from the pressure of Rainbow’s hoof, “Wh-what’re you talking abou—”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about!” Rainbow yelled at the griffon, flicking her ears back. “You knew what you were getting into! You knew where I drew the line! And yet you still tried to push too far. In fact, you pushed too far all the time!” Leaning back, she said, “But now? Now I have someone I know would never do that. Someone I trust way more than I trusted you.”

Across the foot of the bed, Twilight blinked at the mare. “Is… she talking about…?”

Unaware of her friend’s presence, Rainbow pushed Gilda further against the mattress. “Honestly, I don’t know why I liked what I had with you. And… heh…” She smirked again, letting her gaze drift slightly. “I don’t even know why I like what I do now.” Turning to face the griffon again, she said, “But one thing’s certain: this pony will never turn her back on me.” Leaning closer with a grin, she added, “And I know for sure I’ll never turn my back on her.”

“Nngh…” Gilda gulped against Rainbow’s hoof. “Th-then why do you sound so worried?”

Rainbow blinked. “What’re you talking abou—”

A ball of talons slammed into the bottom of Rainbow’s jaw, launching the pegasus into a wooden dresser behind her.

Rainbow crashed through the double doors of the dresser, sending splintered wood across the floor. She wheezed as she braced her hooves against the base, struggling to stand back up. But when Gilda landed on top of her, she found her hooves pinned down.

“Celestia, you are so naive, Dash,” Gilda said, pressing her weight against the pegasus. “So what if you found someone else to play with? You really think they’re gonna put up with your half-assed fetish?” She leaned forward with a wry grin. “Let me guess. She’s already bailed on you once, huh?”

Rainbow coughed. “S-stop it, Gilda—”

Gilda grabbed Rainbow by the scruff of her chest and thrust her against the inside of the dresser. “Look, Dash. No matter how much you ‘trust’ this pony, no matter who it is, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re scared. You’re scared of the one thing that makes stuff like we had exciting in the first place.” She breathed a chuckle. “I mean, what kind of loser likes to be pushed around and pinned down just for the hell of it? Seriously? What do you even get out of this?”

“Says the griffon who started all this in the first place—“

“You know DAMN well how it went down,” Gilda shouted into Rainbow’s face, causing her to flinch. “That first time? That… argument we had after the one hoofball game? You know what happened when we got back to the dorm! You were the one who pushed me first! When I pushed back, you threw the first swing!”

“Yeah, ‘cause I was angry at you,” Rainbow growled back.

“Uh huh. Sure. But what happened after that?” Gilda cocked her head artfully to the side, arching her closest eyebrow. “What happened after I jumped you and pinned you to the bed?”

Rainbow clenched her eyes shut and turned her head away. “Just stop it already, I know what—“

“YOU got all flustered,” Gilda said with dramatic flair. “You stared up at me with that stupid look in your eyes, like a dog who found a new toy.”

Across the room, Twilight stared in wide-eyed confusion. “What in Equestria is she even talking about?”

Leaning closer to Rainbow, Gilda said, “It was just lucky for you that I knew what that look was. That I was the perfect friend for you to discover your weak side—“

“That’s enough!” Rainbow spat, wrapping her fetlocks around Gilda’s arm. “I was never into any of the crap you were to begin with!”

“Then what the buck were you into?!” Gilda spat back.

“I DON’T KNOW!” Rainbow screamed at the top of her lungs. “I don’t know! I have no idea! Just…” Tremors began to form in her sides as warmth built within her eyes. “I don’t know, Gilda,” she said with a wavering voice, refusing to meet Gilda’s gaze. “All I know is I liked how it felt when you did that. That’s all I know.” She stifled a sniffle by rubbing a hoof across her snout, now partially stained from the earlier scratches. “I know it’s lame. I know it’s lame, and I don’t know why I like it.” Daring a glance at Gilda, she said, “But I never liked it when you hurt me. The only reason I even agreed to half the stuff you did was because I could tell you wouldn’t play along if I said no.”

Gilda blinked. Rearing her head back with a frown, she said, “Then it was your fault for playing me along! You could have just said no! I was your friend! So why didn’t you—”

“I’m sorry, Gilda!” Rainbow yelled. “I’m sorry…” Slowly, she slumped against the back of the dresser. She met Gilda’s gaze in full and braced her hooves against her arm. “It was all so new to me. When all that crap first happened, I just knew I liked the rush from fighting with you. That part felt good. But…” She drew a breath and exhaled hard, turning her head away once more. “I learned over time that that wasn’t the part I liked most. What I liked most was when I lost to you, fair and square. Because we were so close then, I believed you would never really hurt me. Like, legit do something that would make have to… I dunno, go to the nurse or something. And I thought, ‘Well, she seems to know more about this stuff, so maybe I’ll figure it out over time.’”

She paused for a moment to think. “And you know… I did.” Lifting her head slightly, she said, “I learned that I liked losing to you… probably because we were so close.” Her ears flicked back at the thought. “But I also learned I didn’t like being hurt. Or being forced to do something I wasn’t comfortable with—”

“I never forced you to do anything, Dash,” Gilda corrected. “Not the way you’re suggesting.”

“Okay, fine,” Rainbow grumbled. “So… maybe I screwed up by not being honest about how I felt.” Narrowing her eyes, she said, “But would it really have made a difference? I mean, you were the one who tried to get me to deal with the one thing I said up front I wasn’t cool with.”

Gilda exhaled. “Yeah. The one thing that would’ve made it more fun.”

“See?” Rainbow scoffed. “That’s what I’m talking about. That right there. Just… oh for pete’s sake, would you let me go already?!”

“Tch. Fine,” Gilda muttered with a roll of her eyes, dropping the pegasus inside the dresser.

Rainbow plopped down on her rump. “Ouch!” She rubbed the side of her flank before clambering to her hooves. “Yeah. Definitely don’t miss this.”

__________

With the fight out of the way, Twilight was now free to voice her thoughts. “Wow. That was… confusing.”

Princess Luna nodded beside her. “Indeed.”

“...I don’t understand even half of what just happened.” Twilight shook her head and rubbed between her eyes. “I never knew their relationship used to be this complicated.”

“A more than fair assessment.” Placing a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, Luna said, “Nevertheless, this is why I had you wait. Sometimes, ponies are able to work out issues on their own within their dreams.”

Twilight nodded. “I understand that. I just didn’t expect her dream to be so violent.” She looked up at the Princess with folded ears. “Is Rainbow going to be alright?”

“I believe so.” She glanced over at the mare in question, who was currently surveying the damage done to the room. “Though it may be in our best interest to see the dream through to its end.”

“Right.” Twilight stepped around the Princess and trotted over to the damaged dresser. The level of detail to the splintered wood, the fragments spread across the dorm’s rug, even the broken glass and scattered books she observed on the other side of the room looked like the real things. It was almost hard to believe it wasn’t a dream, had it not been for the transition from the jungle to here – not to mention Gilda’s actions.

Still, perhaps the most surprising thing to Twilight were some of the things Rainbow said. In context, almost none of it made sense – she had little background on their prior relationship aside from what Rainbow had shared before, and jumping into the middle of a dream like this only connected dots in the vaguest of ways. But it seemed clear enough that Rainbow had referenced her in relation to… well, a fetish, apparently.

It made some sense. Rainbow had already mentioned she enjoyed losing to her. But part of it still didn’t add up, and that was mostly due to a lack of background. What exactly had Gilda done in the past with Rainbow? The dream itself didn’t seem to be a memory so much as a projection of Rainbow’s thoughts, which left her with little more than speculation as a tool for reason. The only thing certain was Gilda used to hurt her, and apparently it played some part in submission.

The thought was as much confusing as it was unnerving to Twilight. As far as she knew, part of her own pleasure came from hurting Rainbow as well – at least when she took the form of a giant. Although… that wasn’t quite true. Not entirely. In fact, the one thing she had planned to tell her before the end of the last spell involved a possible clue to what she truly liked about being a giant. Now, though, she had to wonder: what had Gilda done with Rainbow? And more to the point, what part of it was pleasurable to her?

There was another concern as well, something that Gilda hinted at but Rainbow refused to mention: she was afraid of something. Rainbow had already explained her fear of losing – a point which, when considered in the context of everything else, still came across as confusing – but she didn’t believe this was what Gilda had referenced. And if she recalled correctly, Rainbow mentioned just prior to reading Daring Do something else she was afraid of. While it was possible the two could be correlated, the thought didn’t sit quite right. There was something else to this, or so her gut told her. And at this point, there was very little she could do to make any sense of this with logic. So, might as well listen to the gut.

Breathing a sigh, Twilight looked over at an oblivious Rainbow, who bent down to grab the scattered books. After placing the books back on the nightstand and righting the lamp, Rainbow turned with limp ears to look across the room.

Gilda stood at the one window of the dorm room, parting the curtains with a talon. Somewhere beyond, the amber light of a sunset shone through, casting a warm glow over the griffon’s white and brown fur.

Clearing her throat, Rainbow walked up between Gilda and the foot of the bed, picking up the fallen comforter to toss back across the mattress. She bit her lip a moment, then said, “I’m sorry, Gilda. Really. You’re right… I could have told you how I felt back then. We were friends, after all.” Lowering her voice to almost a whisper, she said, “Honestly, I don’t think things through as much as I should. I’ve known that for a while now, but… I’ve really paid for it the past couple of days with another friend.”

Twilight’s ears perked up.

“Like I said,” Rainbow continued, “I still don’t get a lot of this junk. All I know is you helped me learn a little about myself, and now another friend is helping me learn even more… or, was helping. Not really sure where we stand now.”

After a moment, Gilda turned her head slightly toward Rainbow. “Let me just ask you one thing.”

Rainbow’s ears perked slightly. With a more positive tone, she said, “What’s that?”

Pulling her talon back to let the curtains close, Gilda looked at Rainbow. “Are you still scared?”

Rainbow’s eyes darted slowly between the griffon’s. Pulling back, she glanced away and mumbled, “Y-yeah. I, um…” She swallowed long and hard. “Yeah. I am.”

Gilda gave a single nod. She looked down at the pegasus with a warm smile.

Rainbow caught the look out of her periphery. Daring a glance back, she looked up at Gilda.

Just before she was pushed onto the bed.

Rainbow shouted as she was pinned down once more by the griffon. Reaching with her free talons, Gilda grabbed something from between the bed and the wall. “Maybe I didn’t force you to do anything back when we were close…” She tossed an object around her rear, eliciting a metallic click. “Doesn’t mean we can’t fix that now.”

Rainbow furrowed her brow at that. She opened her mouth to speak – only to have a shrill gasp escape her lungs. Her magenta eyes widened alarmingly as something hard and cold pressed firm against her thighs.

Gilda grabbed the pegasus by her mane and spun her onto her stomach. Rainbow tried to yell out, but her muzzle was pressed closed with the weight of the griffon on top of her. Crouching close against Rainbow, Gilda said, “Word of advice, you better relax some, or it’s just going to hurt worse.”