Night of Gangsters and Shadows
Most people steered clear of Canterlot City’s old warehouse district. In the distant past, its buildings had been used to store the resources of some of the city’s most important businesses. Unfortunately, times changed and many of those businesses had closed down or moved to different locations. Without any use, the warehouses fell into disrepair. Most were condemned and had their doors and windows boarded up.
Of course, the district was far from unfrequented. Like any other city, Canterlot had its fair share of bad eggs, and since respectable locations rarely tolerated their presence, the old district was the perfect place for them to hang out far from prying eyes. If you were brave enough (or foolish enough) to explore one of the warehouses late at night, you were likely to find a makeshift campfire surrounded by a bunch of teenagers drinking and smoking while laughing about their various crimes.
Gilda had an especially fearsome reputation among Canterlot City’s gangsters. Strong, fearless and unbelievably vicious, she made a name for herself by beating up anyone who crossed her. Her parents were respectable people, but they had to work long hours to make ends meet and could rarely afford a babysitter, so for years they generally trusted their daughter to look after herself. This would prove to be a mistake, as even as a child Gilda had a vicious streak a mile wide and loved to pummel anything she could get her little hands on. In one particularly shocking incident, she beat up a neighbor’s dog in retaliation for its incessant barking.
“That girl is a psychopath!” the unfortunate canine’s owner had cried. “She needs to be locked up!”
“She’s just a little girl!” Gilda’s mother had insisted. “She’s still too young to know any better.” Her husband had simply dared the other guy to try to build a case against them, stating that he would find very little support in their neighborhood. He was right, of course. In addition to being noisy, the dog had a habit of digging up other people’s gardens, defecating on their lawns, harassing their pets and generally being such a nuisance that people had been complaining about it for years. However, its owner had simply brushed them off without doing a thing, so by that point very few people had any sympathy for him or his dog. Some even claimed that the dog had finally gotten what was coming to it. Eventually, the matter was dropped and everyone moved on with their lives.
Unfortunately, Gilda’s parents were unable to deal with a violent daughter on top of everything else, so they did little to actually correct Gilda’s behavior. It wasn’t long before she graduated from animals to people. For years nobody dared to report her, as she would beat up those who tried worse than before. That all changed when she started attending Canterlot High School
Halfway through her freshman year, she targeted a pathetically wimpy girl named Fluttershy. An utter crybaby, she should have been an easy target, but the second time Gilda tried to push her around, she was tackled out of nowhere by another girl named Rainbow Dash. Gilda had first met Rainbow Dash when they were both trying out for the soccer team, and up to that point she had believed her to be a friend. As it turned out, however, Rainbow Dash had been Fluttershy’s friend long before she had met Gilda, and she didn’t waste any time reporting her to the principal. To make matters worse, the incident inspired Gilda’s other victims to come forward as well, and this time no amount of excuses from her parents could save her. She was swiftly expelled.
Since Gilda was no longer welcomed at Canterlot High, there were only two schools left within an acceptable distance from her home. Unfortunately, one of them was Crystal Prep, a fancy private school her parents couldn’t even dream of affording, so the only option left was Hard Knocker’s School for Hard Knocks. The brochure described it as a school that welcomed those who had nowhere else to turn, which was a nice way of saying it was a place to dump hopeless cases like herself so that no one else would have to deal with them. Most students who graduated from there went on to become gangsters and career criminals.
As depressing as her circumstances were, however, Gilda soon discovered that Hard Knocker’s had its advantages—the teachers there were so apathetic that after the first roll call, they never bothered to check if a student was present. All anyone had to do was make it through one or two classes before sneaking out between periods and they were home free for the rest of the day.
Taking advantage of her newfound freedom, Gilda was able to build one of the most feared gangs in the city. Calling themselves the Bloody Eagles, they delighted in assaulting people, smashing cars, shoplifting, and causing mayhem wherever they went. Too quick for the police to catch, they always managed to keep their activities secret from their parents, which was just how Gilda liked it.
In order to keep the peace in the district, there was an unwritten rule against trespassing on another gang’s territory. The streets were neutral grounds, but anyone who dared step foot on the threshold of a rival gang’s home base was just asking for trouble. Thanks to this agreement, things were relatively peaceful in the district.
Of course, Gilda saw no reason why that should stop her. Recently, another gang called the Iron Bulls had been getting on her nerves. Its leader, Skull Cracker, had been hitting on her, calling her “Sugar Chick” or his “Egg Mama”. One day, she decided enough was enough and announced that the Bloody Eagles were going to drive the Iron Bulls out of the district.
Her followers weren’t exactly inspired.
“We’ll be breaking rule number one” her second-in-command, Greg, protested. “All the other gangs will run US out!”
“Yeah, where are we supposed to go when that happens?” another member demanded.
“Nobody will care. They all hate the Bulls as much as we do,” Gilda insisted. She secretly hoped that it true.
“If we lose our warehouse, where are we going to make s’mores?” a younger, portly member named Snack Stop whined, pulling bags of marshmallows and chocolate out of his backpack.
“We’re not losing our warehouse, and I told you to stop bringing that stuff here!” Gilda snapped.
“I get hungry. Besides, everyone loves my s’mores,” said Snack Stop.
“We do love his s’mores,” admitted Greg.
Gilda groaned and rubbed her temples.
“Just be ready to attack once it gets dark,” she said, “and if anyone has any more complaints, they can consider themselves out of the Eagles.”
That threat was enough to get everyone to shut up and fall in line. Leaving the Bloody Eagles was usually commemorated with an hour-long beating.
The sky was overcast that night, allowing the Eagles to sneak around to the back of the Bulls’ base under the cover of total darkness. There were a pair of back doors that were chained shut, but Gilda, having scouted the place beforehand, brought a pair of bolt cutters that made quick work of the padlock.
At first, the attack went exactly as Gilda imagined it would. Caught off guard, several members of the Iron Bulls went down before they even realized what was happening. Gilda went straight for Skull Cracker, jump-kicking him and sending him rolling across the floor.
Skull Cracker stood up, glaring furiously at Gilda. He was massive for a young man, nearly a head taller than most grown men and incredibly muscular, with virtually no neck and a face like an ape’s. His skin was light-grey, making it look like he was made of granite, and he had a crew-cut of neon-green hair.
“What the heck do you think you’re doing, Gilda?!” he demanded.
“Something I should have done ages ago,” she retorted, leaping up and flipping in midair to deliver a drop kick to his skull.
Skull Cracker just barely managed to block the blow, shoving Gilda away. Landing on her feet, she charged right back up to him and delivered an uppercut square on his chin, snapping his head back with the force of the blow. Bellowing in rage, he started swinging his fists wildly. Gilda nimbly dodged each blow.
“How could you?!” Skull Cracker wailed. “I thought you were my Nest Baby!”
“Screw you, bullhead!” snapped Gilda. She tried to punch him again, but he grabbed her arm and kneed her in the gut. Doubling over, Gilda wheezed and nearly threw up, but she pushed the pain down and thrust herself up to deliver a head-butt to Skull Cracker’s already injured chin. Grunting in pain, he released Gilda, allowing her to maneuver herself to kick him in the groin. Unfortunately, he managed to deliver a double-fisted blow to her skull at the same time.
Gilda’s vision exploded in stars. She staggered around, feeling as if the whole world was upside down. Shaking of the dazedness, she saw Skull Cracker in even worse shape that her. He was doubled over, knees pressed together, and he looked nauseas. Charging forward, Gilda delivered a straight kick to his face that knocked him flat on his back. She leapt onto him, driving her knees into his gut, and started raining punches down onto his face. Laughter bubbled up from her chest as she hit him again and again. Blood was pouring out of his nose and mouth.
Unfortunately, it was at that moment the Bloody Eagles’ luck ran out. The front doors burst open and hordes of other gangsters rushed inside. Gilda didn’t know if they had come to help the Iron Bulls or simply wanted to join in on the carnage. Either way, it was time to beat a hasty retreat.
“Run for it!” Gilda shouted. She gave Skull Cracker one final kick before she ran out the back with the rest of the Bloody Eagles.
“After them!” somebody shouted, and the mob gave chase. Some of the Bloody Eagles headed straight back to their own warehouse, but Gilda knew that they would just be cornered there. Instead, she ducked into a nearby alleyway. She knocked over some trash cans to slow down anyone who may have been chasing her and ran for all she was worth.
Gilda ran for what felt to her like hours before she decided she was safe. She collapsed against the side of a building, panting in exhaustion. She couldn’t believe how badly everything had gone. The Bloody Eagles would never be welcomed back to the district after what just happened, which meant that they would have to find a new place to hang out at. Worse yet, Gilda didn’t even know how to contact most of the members, which would make scheduling an emergency meeting difficult. She suspected most of them wouldn’t be very eager to see her again anyways.
But Gilda couldn’t handle all of that at the moment; she was tired and her head hurt. She needed to go home and get some rest. Before that, however, she needed something to eat. She always got hungry after a fight. Unfortunately, without anyone to provide a distraction while she snuck snacks under her coat, she was going to have to actually pay for her food, which was a problem seeing as she didn’t have any cash on her.
Fortunately, Gilda’s luck seemed to be taking a turn for the better; she saw a lone guy walking down on the other side of the street. He wore dark jeans and a matching hoodie with its hood pulled up over his head so that he was practically camouflaged in the darkness. It seemed odd that someone would be out for a stroll at night in such a rough part of the city, but if he has some money on him, it didn’t really matter to her.
Gilda leaned back against the wall in a casual manner, pretending not to notice the guy. Once he passed her, she planned to follow him and mug him when she caught up. Unfortunately, he turned and disappeared into an alleyway instead. Swearing, Gilda ran across the street to the mouth of the alley. She peeked around the corner just in time to catch the guy open a door and disappear inside, closing it behind him.
Curious, Gilda decided to keep trailing the guy. Opening the door, she discovered a stairwell leading down. The walls and ceiling were covered in cobwebs and there was a strong stench of mildew. Gilda walked down carefully to avoid making any sounds. At the bottom, she entered what looked like a storage basement. There were countless desks, tables, chairs, statues, and other items that were covered in dusty sheets. The only light in the room came from a single bulb hanging from the ceiling, casting long shadows that, in the corner of Gilda’s vision, almost looked like monsters ready to attack her—not that she would ever admit to having such childish fears.
A second, blood-red light began to flicker behind the wall of antiques, accompanied by a crackling sound like that of a campfire. Gilda crept closer, ducking behind the furniture for cover. She froze when she heard a guy’s voice, probably the same one she was trailing, speak up.
“I await your command, my Master.”
Then a second voice spoke.
“It has been some time since you last contacted me, my Grand Chief.”
Gilda shivered. No human had a voice like that. It was deep and scratchy and had a strange echoing quality to it, like there were actually half a dozen people trying to speak in unison. It had to be coming from a voice distorter, though Gilda had never heard any that sounded so sinister.
“My apologies Master,” said the first voice. “I have been busy making the final preparations for the big event, and you know how hard it is for me to get any privacy.”
“No matter. Is everything ready?” the second voice asked.
“Everything is in place,” said the Grand Chief. “I have the movements of all my intended targets mapped out. Once the festivities begin, I’ll have no trouble harvesting the rest of what we need.”
Gilda was starting to regret coming here. All this talk about “harvesting” and “targets” was making her nervous. Were these people part of some organ-trafficking ring?
“Good. Now what is your plan for dealing with the…what did you call them again?” asked the second voice.
“The Rainbooms, Master, and I will deal with them once my first task is complete,” the Grand Chief said.
Gilda knew about the Rainbooms. She had attended one of their concerts just to heckle Rainbow Dash and her dumb friends. Their music was as lame as they were, but Gilda had to admit that the special effects they used were pretty amazing. But what did they have to do with some organ traffickers?
“I see…so you intend to face them head on without any plan?” The guy with the creepy voice did not sound pleased. “Are sure that is wise?”
“Do you not trust my abilities, Master?” asked the Grand Chief.
“If your abilities were in question, I would not have entrusted you with my greatest creation,” the second voice retorted. “However, I am concerned that you are not taking this threat seriously. Remember, ordinary souls could not hope to wield the Elements of Harmony, and yet these Rainbooms are fully capable of doing so. I suspect that they are more dangerous than you realize.”
“They are mere teenage girls Master,” said the Grand Chief, sounding amused, as if his “Master” had made a joke. “What threat could they possibly pose?”
Now Gilda just wanted to punch the sexist jerk.
“You forget, I myself was defeated by two ‘mere girls,’” said the second voice, his tone suddenly becoming much colder.
“My Master, I meant no disrespect!” the Grand Chief said hastily, apparently realizing that he was walking on thin ice. “It’s just, the ones you fought were essentially goddesses, and these girls are simply…”
“Silence!” the menacing voice snapped. “I am not interested in your excuses! I have been trapped in this limbo for far too long. I have kept patient and trusted you as you made your plans, and now fate has practically dropped the keys to our goals right into our laps. We will never—I will never get a better chance than this, and I will not allow you to endanger it with your petty prejudices! Swear to me on your ka *that you will take the Rainbooms seriously.”*
“I swear on my ka, nothing will be left to chance, my Master,” the Grand Chief said, much humbler than before.
Gilda decided that it was time to leave. Whoever these people were, they were obviously crazy; nothing they were saying made any sense. The best thing for her to do was to sneak out, go home, go to bed, and forget everything she had just heard. But the creepy voice was speaking again, and Gilda found herself rooted to the spot.
“Good. I will take my leave now. Notify me if there are any complications. In the meantime, why don’t you take care of our unexpected guest?”
Gilda’s blood froze. How did the guy know she was there? She was certain she hadn’t made a sound.
“You might as well come out,” the Grand Chief called. “There is no use in hiding. I sensed you the moment you entered the room.”
Although part of Gilda’s brain was screaming at her to make a run for it, she clenched her fists and marched out into the open.
The guy she had followed—the Grand Chief—stood in a clear space with the wall behind him. The light overhead cast long shadows across the floor. Now that she was close enough to get a good look at him, she noticed that he was about the same height as her. Gilda was tall enough to match most of the boys her age, so the guy was probably about sixteen like her. His oversized hood still hid most of his features, but Gilda could just make out a mouth turned up in cruel grin. Strangely enough, Gilda couldn’t see whoever he had been talking to anywhere.
“Congratulations, you caught me,” said Gilda, keeping her voice nonchalant so it seemed like she didn’t care. “So where did your friend with the freaky voice go?” she asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” the Grand Chief said. “What I want to know is what happened to your nose.”
“Shut up, that’s what happened!” Gilda snarled, covering her heavily bandaged nose with her hand. The image of a purple, four-eyed geek who punched way harder than what should have been physically possible flashed through her mind, riling her up even more.
The Grand Chief started chuckling. “My, you have so much rage in your soul—you’re practically savage. You’ll do perfectly.”
He raised his hand up, and Gilda realized he was holding what looked like a solid gold medal with a huge, blood-red ruby embedded in the center. A loop of gold chain was attached to it. Gilda licked her lips eagerly; if that jewelry was real and not some cheap imitation, she’d be rich once she got her hands on it.
“Listen buddy, I don’t know what your deal is, and I’m not interested anyways, so why don’t you fork over that necklace, and maybe I’ll let you walk away with both of your legs intact,” she said.
The Grand Chief simply chuckled again.
“Young lady, you couldn’t possibly handle what I’ve got,” he said.
“A lot of guys have said that to me,” Gilda quipped. “Now are you going to give me that thing, or will I have to pry it from your cold, dead fingers?”
Gilda got ready to charge at the guy in case he tried to run or reach for a weapon. He didn’t do anything, however. Instead, the ruby in his medallion began to glow with the same harsh red light from before. A long stream of flame erupted from the jewel and danced erratically in the air.
“Neat trick,” Gilda admitted. “Are you a magician or something?”
Suddenly the flames took a nosedive, seeming to sinking into Gilda’s shadow. Then, to Gilda’s shock, her shadow actually began to boil—like tar being superheated. Crying out, she stumbled backwards, falling on her butt. To her growing horror, her shadow then separated itself from her, congealing into a seething mass that grew and shaped itself—until it transformed into something from straight out of a nightmare.
The creature was vaguely humanoid in shape, standing upright on two legs that ended in four padded toes. It’s lower body feline in a manner, long and sinuous and covered in oily, pitch-black fur. From the shoulder up it resembled an eagle, with two long, scaly arms ending in four wicked talons, and a head covered in feathers the same color as its fur, with a cruel beak for a mouth. Two massive feathery wings protruded from its back. Its eyes were two glowing crimson orbs that glared balefully around the room.
Terror gripped Gilda’s chest. She couldn’t speak or even scream, just stare at the horror that had once been her shadow. She wanted to run, but her legs wouldn’t listen to her.
Then the Grand Chief spoke.
“Sic her.”
With a piercing screech, the creature lunged at Gilda. Breaking out of her shock, she finally screamed, scrambling to her feet just in time to dodge the creature’s attack. She felt one of its talons snag the leg of her pants, ripping right through it.
Gilda ran back into the maze of antiques, the sound of smashing wood telling her that the creature was right behind her. She ducked and weaved her way through desperately until she found the door she came in through. Before she could reach it, however, she tripped over something and fell flat on her face—which probably saved her life, as a large dresser sailed over her head and crashed into the stairs.
Gilda pushed herself back up, but had to duck to avoid a swipe from the creature’s talons. Grabbing a sheet from a nearby antique, she threw it on the creature. Caught off guard, it tore at the sheet frantically, only to get tangled up in it and fall to the floor, shrieking furiously.
While the creature was distracted, Gilda started running again. Unfortunately, the stairway was still blocked off by the damaged dresser, and Gilda didn’t think that she could clear a way through before the creature freed itself. Instead, she ran in a different direction, hoping that she could find another way out. Thankfully she found one in another unlocked door.
Running up the new flight of stairs, Gilda found herself in what seemed to be an abandoned apartment complex. She ran for the door leading outside, but to her dismay it was locked. She started looking for something to break it down, but another shriek warned her that the creature was hot on her trail again. Desperate, she ducked into another door on the side, discovering another stairwell leading up. She ran up flight after flight, higher into the building, pushing through the burning pain in her legs.
The stairways’ top exited into a hallway with numerous apartment doors. She wanted to stop and catch her breath, but sounds from the stairwell told her that the creature was still following her. She raced down the hall, checking every door until she found one that was unlocked.
The room was bare save for a single bed, and had a bathroom and a closet. Shutting the door behind her, Gilda ran into the closet and shut herself inside, then pushed herself as far back into the corner as she possibly could.
As she listened carefully for any sounds of the creature approaching, Gilda’s mind tried to process what was happening. It was impossible. People’s shadows didn’t just turn into monsters and attack them. The only rational explanation she could think of was that Skull Cracker’s blow to her head had actually knocked her out cold, and everything she had experienced up to this point had just been a dream. She desperately wanted to believe that. Unfortunately, everything from the cold sweat on her brow to the thunderous pounding of her heart told Gilda that her predicament was very much real.
Time seemed to stand still in the pitch darkness of the closet. Gilda could have spent anywhere from a few hours to the entire night hiding, but eventually she realized that the creature should have searched her room already, yet she had not heard a sound. Did she dare hope that it had given up and gone back to its master?
Slowly, cautiously, Gilda opened the closet door just a crack to peek out. Seeing no sign of the monster, she opened the door just a bit wider to get a better view. Once she was certain that the coast was clear, she exited the closet with a heavy sigh of relief. A quick check confirmed that the creature was not hiding on the ceiling or under the bed as she had seen in so many horror movies.
Gilda headed towards the apartment door, but stopped short. What if the creature was simply waiting for her out in the hallway? If she opened the door, she could very well give her hiding place away, leaving her with nowhere to run.
Gilda turned to the window. If she could crawl out of it and lower herself down far enough, it was possible that she could break into the room beneath her and sneak away through it. It was risky, but she had performed similar maneuvers in the past.
As she was looking around the room for any tools that could assist her, however, a familiar shriek pulled her attention back to the window. Right outside, hovering in the air on its great wings was the creature. Gilda had just a split second to realize that this was how it had been searching for her before it surged forward, breaking through the window glass. Gilda threw her arms up to protect her eyes from the flying shards, only for the creature to drive both of its feet directly into her gut, sending her flying right through the door.
As Gilda lay groaning on the floor, the creature stomped up to her. This time she was unable to escape before it reached down and clamped its talons around her face; hauling her to her feet, it proceeded to slam her repeatedly against the wall.
“Now, now, my pet, be gentle,” the voice of the Grand Chief commanded softly. “I need her alive, after all.”
The creature halted its assault, only to spin Gilda around and pull her into a bone-crushing bear-hug while keeping her mouth covered. The Grand Chief casually walked up to them, swinging his horrible medallion to and fro on its chain loop like a pendulum.
Gilda struggled, but it was no use¬¬; the creature was too strong, and she was too weak from pain and exhaustion. She howled against her gag, although in her terrified state, she couldn’t even tell if she was trying to threaten the guy or scream for help.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you too much,” said the Grand Chief. He wrapped the medallion’s loop around his hand until he was pinching the edge of it between his forefinger and thumb. “I just need something from you. I can’t say that you won’t miss it—actually you’ll probably miss it a lot—but you will have the honor of furthering the goals of Lord Grogar.”
He pressed the edge of the medallion against Gilda’s forehead; immediately she felt like white-hot flames were being injected directly into her brain. Before she could fully register the pain, however, it was replaced with a new sensation of her entire being flying apart at the seams. Thoughts, memories, emotions, urges and desires all raced through her mind uncontrolled, as if everything that made her Gilda was being swept up in a massive whirlwind. Gradually, certain parts were sorted out from the rest, such as the outrage and betrayal she felt when Rainbow Dash stabbed her in the back, the pleasure she felt when she pounded someone into a pulp, and even the spasm she got whenever she heard the song “Space Unicorn”. For one brief moment, she felt angrier than she had ever thought possible.
Then it all disappeared, as if it had been sucked away by a huge vacuum, and she felt absolutely nothing right before she blacked out.
On the other side of the city, a girl named Sunset Shimmer woke up screaming.
