Gilda's Training

***My Little Pony: Friendship is magic is owned by Hasbro. This is a fan created story using copyrighted characters without permission for non profit uses. I do not claim ownership for any characters except my own.***

***The following is not my opinion or view as to how others should be treated, mainly a thought that was in my head for months that I finally put into writing. Please view it as just that, a story I decided to write. Thank you for your time.***

...

Gilda ran through the Everfree Forest as fast as any griffon would with several metallic BBs punctured into it's wings. That manticore had barely slowed down the fast moving mob of frenzied animals behind her. She could hear the huge beast beginning to fail in its efforts to fight back the hoard she had, by shear luck, lead to it. Its shrieks of pain quickly being overtaken by the roars of blood thirsty rage, grinding at the very nerves on Gilda's spine. Forgetting the pain in her wings she double timed her pace. She wasn't even a match for a manticore, and not a few hundred feet behind her one was being turned into hamburger!

“What the hell are these things?” Gilda thought out loud as she started to see the quaint little cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville; her intended target and last hope for survival.

...

Fluttershy finished putting the rest of her animals to bed for the night. Luckily, the nocturnal ones she housed were just a few bats looking for a place to raise their young for the summer, so she could resign herself to personal matters for the rest of the night. Sighing, she made her way to the bathroom and opened the mirror cabinet overlooking her sink, and took out a small prescription pill bottle. It was once again the start of a new month and she had to take the same pink little pill she had been prescribed since she was a little filly, and to be quite honest with herself she hated it, she hated it so much.

She didn't know the exact reasoning behind why these pills were needed for her to function, but her mother simply told her that the doctors had discovered something was very wrong with the yellow pegasus when she was just a filly. Luckily, they had caught it soon enough that it wasn't yet serious. It seemed the pink pills caused more harm than good, though, at least in the mare's eyes. Ever since first  taking them she was always sad and depressed, but luckily she had always managed to have friends and her near constant working schedule with her animals to keep it in check.

The days when Flutteryshy didn't have anypony around or anything to do were the worst, she would shun herself in isolation and just felt miserable to the point of crying. It was these days that the mare hated the most, and she knew the pills were to blame, so why in Celestia's great mane did she have to take them? They didn't seem to do anything but make her miserable and vulnerable, a pushover, but still her mother and doctor both warned her that the consequences could be dire if she refused to take them.  Even going as far as to say that somepony could get hurt if she did not comply with their demands, and that was the only thing that kept Fluttershy from outright refusing to take these accursed pills.

Ever since she was a filly the last thing she wanted to do was hurt anypony or anything. They didn't even know what would happen if she refused, yet they believed they were helping just fine by making her take these pills forever, so she simply began to begrudgingly except it throughout the years. Deep down she only wanted to help those who couldn't help themselves, to make them better, no matter what it took. Even if, in how it was done, she wouldn't have final say.

Staring at the pill in her right hoof and the glass of water in the other she was just about to indulge in yet another month of borderline depression when she was interrupted by a frantic pounding on her back door. It sounded urgent enough that Fluttershy decided that her most hated part of the month could wait a few more minutes. Making her way to the door she could hear the sounds of a somewhat familiar voice on the outside. It sounded like it was crying for help, the pounding and the cries getting stronger and faster as Fluttershy heard tremendous horde-like hollering and shouting coming from the EverFree forest. She could make out, from her living room windows, lights starting to emerge from the forest and creep into her front lawn as she made her way to the door. Distracted by the figures she started to see crossing into her lawn from her windows Fluttershy was not totally aware of her surroundings. As she opened her door she was only fast enough to see a tightly clenched fist hurdle straight into her forehead, and having the impact send her head first onto the hard wooden floor. A pool of blood began to form around the mare's head.

…

Running down the dirt path leading to Fluttershy's house from the Everfree the hybrid could make out faint evidence of activity through the cottage's windows. Going past the backyard's various animal housings she could barely contain herself as she began to pound on the door and scream for help.

“PLEASE! PLEASE, COME OUT! HELP ME, PLEASE!”, was all Gilda managed to blurt out of her adrenaline fueled stupor as she thought, “Please, Celestia, please let her be here!”

Turning her head a little she could already see that the monsters had taken care of the manticore and where now on the same route she had taken, as evidenced by the closing light of the horde's torch carriers, who where scouting ahead. Now frantic, Gilda began to beat at the door even harder till her talons where bloodied, further. She practically begged to the door, desperately hoping that it would produce the yellow pegasus that could insure her future existence as more than a red pile of pulp on the floor, or, if she was lucky, a stuffed trophy accompanied by several dozens of stitches to keep it all together, and then most likely scribbled on with profanity for entertainment.

“I think we're gettin' closer!”, shouted one not-to-far-off voice from the forest.

“You where right, she was heading to the cottage, we need to get going!”, responded another.

“Then we have her surrounded, but we need to move NOW, otherwise Fluttershy might get hurt! MOVE OUT!” commanded a third voice that seemed to be much closer than the first two.

At this point Gilda could feel her heart pounding throughout her entire body. Fine motor control had completely left the ball park at this point, and it was everything the griffon could manage to not soil herself right there on the spot. Gilda was unable to keep her eyes on the door for long, already she saw the bipedal creatures emerging from the forest's tree line, it would be moments before the creatures would be upon her once they saw where she was, especially with the loud knocking her talons where mechanically performing. All at once the hybrid's body had gone nearly catatonic with fear and the wounded mammal could not move her head at all even when she felt the door suddenly swing open until -WACK!

Feeling her talon actually make contact with something soft instead of hard wood may have felt good to Gilda's bloodied appendage, but to her brain it sent signals to the rest of her body that made her pupils go to the size of mustard seeds.

“Oh no... no.. n-NO! I didn't just... There is no way my luck is that bad...” said Gilda out loud, but she knew of only one thing in that house that could open that door, she knew there was only one thing in the house who was tall enough to receive a blow from that height and she knew exactly who's house this was, but still she wasn't going to believe it. Not until she saw-

Gilda's head slowly turned around in an almost mechanically grinding fashion with a matching face of horror and dread. There on the floor lay an unconscious Fluttershy with blood pooling from her head.

“Oh my God! She's attacking Fluttershy, and is about to finish her off! QUICK! DOUBLE TIME! DOUBLE TIME! WE NEED OUR SHARP SHOOTERS UP FRONT NOW!” shouted the same commanding voice, who was obviously the horde's leader.

“BWKAWK!” yelled Gilda as she jumped in the air, in a manner that was extraordinarily close to that of a chicken. Had it been that time of the month there would probably be eight to twelve freshly laid eggs on the ground, all ready for scrambling and cooking of all sorts. One of the roosters from the nearby chicken coop that had woken up gave her a flirtatious wink, but Gilda didn't have any time for that nonsense. She rushed over to Fluttershy desperately trying to get her back into consciousness.

“Get up! Please get up! You need to help me! They're going to kill me! GET UP!” Gilda cried as she furiously shook the unresponsive equine.

…

Sounds of a raspy voice pleading for her to get up filled Fluttershy's ears on and off as her vision faded in and out. She could barely make out the figure of a white eagle's head in the center of her vision. A sticky feeling was felt behind her and a liquid could be felt slowly pouring from the pounding  area of her forehead. Although the wound was hidden by her hair she could tell that her skull was split open.

Normally something like this would cause the filly to scream in terror and either pass out or rush straight to Ponyville Medical, but she felt different. As if the blood loss was causing her to be able think clearer. For the first time in so long Fluttershy began to get control of her own life, to be able to make her own decisions and finally be able to help others how she saw fit. Something snapped in the mare. In that instance the pushover-weakling who only showed her true self when her friends where in mortal danger was gone. She hadn't felt this alive since Iron Will's confidence training, heck, she felt better! Like the yellow equine had woken up from a sad dream and found herself in total dominance of the real world, a world where she had final say.

By now the mare's vision and hearing had completely restored itself. After closing her eyes to adjust to the lighting the torches had created in front of her they shot open wide before coming to a calm demeanor. Her breathing became almost rhythmic and calm, despite the griffon who was still frantically shaking her to get up. The hybrid was met with an annoyed look and a hoof that forcibly shoved the quivering griffon back on to the outside ground, but this was soon rebutted by the same poor creature getting on its knees and began to beg for its life.

“Please, please, I am so sorry for ANYTHING I did to you! I.. I.. I'll do whatever you want! I swear I'll never be mean or thoughtless again! Just don't let them kill me! You..you've proven your point it's horrible to hate someone just because of the things they say or do, as long as nobody gets hurt from those actions! PLEASE CALL YOUR MONSTERS OFF! I AM BEGGING YOU!” Gilda was bawling her eyes out at this point. Practically reduced to the mental capacity of a five year old. She didn't dare turn around to see the mob, and instead focused solely on the yellow mare in front of her. Several beams of red light emerged from the crowd of raging beings that had formed around the two, and where focused directly on the back of Gilda's head.

Fluttershy's face, for the most part, was completely blank, save for the slightly annoyed look she had on her eyes. Looking at the sobbing bird in front of her was almost enough to make her laugh, or feel bad,  considering the tough way she flouted herself when nopony was strong enough to fight back. Viewing the griffon as if it had interrupted her with a trivial matter it needed her to solve. A quick snort front the mare's nose was the only rebuttal she felt she needed to give the hybrid, who still looked at her with pleading eyes.

Inspecting the creatures who had chased this pathetic would-be bully to her home she started with the odd way they stood up on their back legs, their bloodshot eyes, strange forelegs and even stranger weapons. They where truly a terrorizing sight to behold, but they seemed to be trying to kill Gilda for her or at least planned to horribly torture her in some of the most brutal manners possible. No, she would not allow that. She didn't hate the griffon, just what she had done, and she knew that the misunderstood creature needed her help. First though, the pink haired pegasus decided to have a little fun.

“You punched me in the FACE!” Fluttershy nearly shouted at the quivering griffon, adding extra emphasis and volume to the ending just to get the horde even angrier.

Shouting at the griffon like that was met wildly with success in regard's to Fluttershy's plans. The mechanical sounds of triggers being set, knives being sharpened against one another and the revving of steel teeth that sounded as painful as they where loud. All of this was topped off with even more shouts and screams from the dark faces amongst the crowd.

“I DIDN'T MEAN IT! I DIDN'T MEAN IT! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, I SWEAR! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I DON'T Want to die! I don't want to die. I.. don't...w-want..t-t-to..die...”, The Griffon fell on her elbows with her hands still together in a pleading form. Barely able to keep her breath after the outburst and only able to whisper in a horse voice as she cried, “Please don't let me die...”

The griffon continued to repeat this last sentence over and over again as it faced the pony while now looking at the ground. Unable to bare looking at her judge, almost sure that she would have her ripped to pieces by her monsters. A little giggle came out of the mare's mouth. She had enough fun for one night.

The horde's leader finally spoke up, “We can't risk any stray rounds going through the main target and hitting Fluttershy! Move in now while she's on the ground and just tear her up!”

Gilda whimpered as she saw the mob begin to close in. She was done. Depleted of all energy from the long chase here, and her wings where in no condition to fly. Peering up at her last hope to come out of this alive only one last commission of mercy could be issued before the pegasus spoke up.

“STOP!” The assertive mare shouted to the oncoming crowd. “You are not to harm this griffon any further! Do I make myself clear?”

Silence.

“Get behind me.” Fluttershy then ordered Gilda.

Slightly taken aback from what she had just heard, the hybrid was beside herself as what to say. Stopping her crying for a moment to respond, “w-wha?”

“WHAT? Did you suddenly go deaf? I said get behind me, NOW!”

The sudden outburst of anger from the normally docile pegasus scared Gilda, but the voracious gathering of creatures hell bent on killing her was more than enough to ensure a quick response from the hybrid in a half-scoot half-crawl around to the pegasus' hind legs. From there Gilda grabbed hold of the animal caretaker's hooves. Doing her best to keep hidden like a shy child would behind its mother, but yet still tried to peer around to see what was going on.

“What are you doing Fluttershy? That monster yelled at you and made you cry! Don't you remember? We need to euthanize it before it hurts anypony else!” shouted the leader once more.

In Fluttershy's mind a thousand and one different reasons and insults, each with a huge amount of basic logic backing them, appeared that explained clearly why what was just said was an incredibly stupid reason for doing any of the things that transpired up to this point, but Fluttershy frowned and gave a stern facial expression. She knew how to work this crowd, at least by going off their logic.

“Look, I know you all are a bit sore at what Gilda here did.” She looked down at the griffon who was practically glued to her back hooves, “But you of all people should know then that I am an animal caretaker, and that it would absolutely devastate me if anypony or animal was hurt on my behalf. I just don't know how I would live with myself!”

“But..but she was mean to YOU! I mean who could possibly be mean to someone as kind and considerate as a pony such as yourself! You're best pony!”, argued the horde's leader once more.

“I LOVE YOU FLUTTERSHY!!!”, yelled a random voice from the dark crowd.

“Really? Well you have a funny way of showing it. Considering I am now bleeding from my forehead! Do you know how I got this? Its here because instead of loving and tolerating this creature you chased it all the way to my cottage where it hit me in the carelessness caused by its fear of you! So if you think about it this wound is all your fault! She may have yelled at me, but you all made me bleed, you're even worse than she is!” Fluttershy finished successfully rebutting the horde leader's logic once more.

Large amounts of gasps and screams of denial where heard from the crowd before the leader spoke once more, “No! We didn't mean it! Honestly we where just trying to help!”

“PLEASE FORGIVE US!” shouted the crowd in unison.

“I LOVE YOU FLUTTERSHY!!!”, yelled the same voice from before.

“I know. I know. You where only trying to do what you felt was best, and yes I forgive you.” responded the yellow pony, “But right now I need you all to leave this place and let me take care of myself and my duties as a caregiver for the helpless. Now run along, and thank you all for doing this for me. Though, your actions could have gone through some more moderation, your hearts were in the right place.”

Deciding that she would send them off with a 'pleeease?', and giving the cutest pleading eyes she could muster with with a split open head and blood pouring down her face. Her adorableness was still enough to send many 'dwa's and 'hngg's throughout the crowd. Causing a few to collapse and be carried away due to 'too much diabetus', whatever the hell that was.

“I LOVE YOU FLUTTERSHY!!!”, yelled the unknown voice once before all traces of the horde vanished into the night.

When Fluttershy was certain that they where out of earshot she turned her attention to the whimpering griffon still attached to her back legs.

“T-thank you so much. I swear I've changed... no more mean Gilda. I-I've turned over a new leaf. Thank you for spar-”, the griffon said before she was cut off from the yellow mare.

“Save it, GilDUH!” the increasingly dominate pony commanded. “I know you didn't mean a single thing you said just now, and then. Oh ya, its wicked easy to change your attitude about somepony when a pack of blood thirsty monsters is getting ready to tear you apart if you don't. You have them fooled but I see through your lame little facade. As soon as you are far out of Ponyville and back on your own you'll be back to your mean old jerky self!”

Completely bewildered by the mare's accusations she had no way of showing that she was being truthful than to try and explain further, “N-no I mean it! I have chan-”

“Oh just shut it!”, Fluttershy cut off the hybrid once more and added, “I'll deal with that problem tomorrow!”

Gilda remained silent while the caretaker looked her over. Her wings had several holes in them, some that went all the way through, luckily they had missed any major arteries.

“Right now you're hurt. Just go inside and wait in my kitchen. I'll be in to patch you up in a moment.”, Fluttershy then ordered.

“But what about you? Arn't you hurt? I think we should go to a hospital inst-”, the griffon began, still a little shaky from her night's experiences.

“Did I ask what you thought? OR for your opinion? I am FINE and those wounds you have are nothing I can't handle. Now get inside NOW!” barked the mare, now letting her anger visibly show itself.

“I-I-I'm sor-”

“GO!”

The griffon not wanting to argue further against the pony with 'blood thirsty horde controlling power' and eyes that went right through you detached from the mare's legs and limped inside the cottage.

Fluttershy stood outside in the cold night air. Her breath slowly escaped her snout as she calmed down. She finally knew the reason why they kept her on those pills far all these years. Chuckling to herself she turned to the cottage's doorway, and went inside.