A Forgotten Power: Gilda Origins
"HA! Beat you again, Jackle!"
"Oh Gilds, you are far too competitive. Honestly, you cheer about every stroke of luck you get."
"Oh, so it's all luck huh? Well then, try and catch me this time!"
I sped through the clouds, wind catching my feathers. Such an awesome life, just me and Jackle against the world. What could be better? There was certainly no need for a specific rainbow-maned pony. Why would there be? I was in the lap of luxury.
I beat Jackle to the top of another cloud, making 8 consecutive wins for Gilda. We both laughed and exchanged witty remarks about how we could easily beat the other if we tried. As I said, nothing could be sweeter.
Jackle chuckled a bit, then spoke to me. "Hey, Gilds?"
"Yeah Jackle?" I replied.
"I got a note from my cousin Chris telling me to fly over to see him for a day."
"I didn't know you had a cousin named Chris," I said curiously.
"Neither did I. I found the letter in my nest when I woke up, and all it said was to meet up at the desert with Chris signed on the bottom. I'm guessing he's a guy, otherwise I might have an awkward time finding out he is a she," Jackle joked, grinning at me.
I laughed. Nopony could make me laugh quite like Jackle, he was just... Special. I knew I liked him, but if I told him that would basicly reduce my coolness by 20%.
Oh... Did I just think about that? The joke me and her shared in school after Night Wing made that comment to Crystal about her needing to be 20% cooler to date him... I had to stop thinking about her. She abandoned me. Her and that pink moron were best buddies now. I hope Dash sees how much of a pain Pinkie Pie is and spends the rest of her days wishing she never kicked out the best Griffon in the entire world.
Well, aside from Jackle.
"Hey, I could come along if you need back up. Maybe this guy's a loon who's been crashing into too many windows, you'd never know," I said, hoping I wouldn't have to spend a day away from my only friend.
"Nah, I can handle some psychotic bird who has the brains to write me a letter and find my nest," He winked at me. "I'll be back before you know it."
My hopes were crushed. I managed to put on my tough girl act for him, "Alright then, I'll catch ya later Jackle." I punched him on the shoulder gently.
"See ya, Gilds," He punched me back and took off into the open sky.
Sighing, I swooped down to the ground and took a stroll through the Everfree Forest. Normally I wouldn't have to go on this walk alone, but of course something has to always go wrong and wreck my emotions. Story of my life.
I walked for hours, so long that night came. Of course this was no problem for me, because even in the dark I have the eyes of a hawk. I kept thinking about Jackle, and how he was always there for me. He knew that I had a secret soft spot, and I tended to hide it by acting all tough. I mean, I am tough, but I can still be hurt by words.
When Dash threw me to the curb, I flew away crying. I found a random tree and perched on it, far away from anypony who might hear me. At least, I thought I was alone. The next thing I knew I was hearing his voice from underneath me. "Hey," he said. "Why are you crying?" So I told him. "I think they were too harsh on you. Those pranks sound too extreme, and I know I would lose my cool. Hey, what's your name?" "Gilda, my names Gilda." He smiled at me. "Gilds, you don't need them. I'll be your friend for life."
I remember that day so well. I always loved the pet name he gave me. Gilds seemed so sweet... But I knew it was a friend thing. He said it himself, friend for life. That meant there was no time for a relationship. My life would have to end with us still being no more than friends.
I came across a clearing with a lone treehouse. I flew in the window and found a table and a single chair. Tired from walking, I sat in it.
All of a sudden the room started to shake. I quickly stood up, wondering if this treehouse could lift my weight. Then a bright orb of light shined over the table, and was rapidly growing. I tried to find my way out, but I was blinded by the white light. I covered my face with a wing, ready for whatever was going to happen.
As fast as it appeared, it was gone. I slowly moved my wing and saw that there was now something on the table. I straightened out my senses, and could now tell that there were two fillies on the table.
"What the..."
Out of all the weird things I've seen, this was by far the freakiest. I stepped up to them, and the one with the feather-like purple and green mane opened her eyes.
"Ugh, hello?" I said awkwardly.
The pony's eyes went wide (which was very creepy when her eyes swirled around), and she started to scream at me and ran off the table.
The second pony, with a wicked red and blue streaked mane, instantly sprung up in shock.
"Hey, ugh, kid! Stop freaking out, it's just me!" I yelled over the orange pony's screams, trying to get her attention.
"AAAAGGGHHHH!!!" she continued, until she crashed head first into a wall.
I looked down at the weird pony. She shook off her pain and looked back up at me. She opened her mouth, probably to scream again, when the second pony walked over and yelled "Stop!"
The orange one stopped screaming (thank Celestia), and spoke back "But there's a crazy monster thing right there," and pointed up at me.
"I'm not a crazy monster, kid. I'm a Griffon."
"Oh," she replied, "Sorry."
"What's your name?" I asked her.
"I don't know, Scott?"
I chuckled out loud. "Scott? For a mare?"
"I don't think I have a name.." the pony replied shyly.
"Alright then. You are now Screamlock, may you forever love the name yada yada yada nice to meet you Scream. And you?" I directed at the yellow pony.
"I don't have a name either," she admitted.
'Hmmm...' I thought to myself. 'I can name these little dudes whatever I want...'
"Okay, your name is now AppendingDoom." Nailed it.
"Can I have a different name?" Scream asked. "Screamlock is lame."
"Nope. All names are final." This was actually kind of fun, just like pranking. And the best part was they didn't even know they were being fooled! This could keep me entertained for the time Jackle's gone.
"Should we name you?" asked Doom, obviously not knowing how the whole naming thing works.
"My name's Gilda, has been and always will be."
"Ok Gilda," Doom replied. "Thanks for helping us. We'll leave now so we won't bother you.."
"Hey, you don't make my decisions Doom, I don't even know you-" Scream started.
"Ok then, I'll go alone."
"Wait... I.. I think we should stick together..."
I just looked back and forth at the two. I kinda felt bad for them. They didn't seem to know who each other were, or even themselves.
"Hold on," I said, stopping their back and forth chatter. They both looked up at me. "You can stay with me if you want. I don't bite much."
"Are you sure?" Doom asked, "We would hate to be a bother."
"Speak for yourself- Ow!" Scream uttered as Doom back-hoofed her side.
"Oh, I'm sure. Now, let's get out of here before the table drops any more ponies."
"What do you mean?" Doom questioned.
"Nothing. C'mon, I'll show you my sweet nest."
I flew out the window and waited on the ground for them. Once they came down the ladder, we started to walk back into the woods. Then I heard a noise.
"Sweetie Belle! Oh, please tell me you're in the treehouse. They're in the treehouse, right Applejack?" "Ah reckon they might just be up to their crazy shenanigans up there, trying to get their cutie marks." "They simply must be there. If not, that would be the. Worst. Possible. Thing!"
I turned my head to the two fillies I've found. These two were not the fillies that belonged to Applejack and Rarity, because I've met those two (those spoiled little brats).
"Hey, little dudes, why don't you go on up ahead? It's right down this path, I'll catch up."
"Well, ok Gilda, if you say so," Doom accepted and then she and Scream continued down the pathway.
As they were leaving I overheard Scream say, "Finally, no more crazy talking pigeons." I rolled my eyes. I guess it wasn't her fault for not knowing that we Griffons have excellent hearing. Though I wondered why she said "Where is the third pony?"
I began to walk back to the treehouse. Sure enough, Applejack and Rarity were there, looking up at the wooden house.
"Well well well, if it isn't Apple Sack and the Charity case."
Both ponies jumped and turned around. Applejack saw it was me and gave me an angry glare. "Mah name's not Apple Sack. And ah remember you. You're that stick in the mud Gilda."
Rarity glared at me too. "You better have not laid a talon on my precious Sweetie Belle!"
"Or Applebloom," Applejack added.
"What, those lame-o's?" I replied smoothly. "Nah, they're not worth my time. Though I know why they left."
"Then tell us!" Rarity pleaded.
"Oh, what a whiner you are," I mocked. "Alright, I'll tell you. They left because they are sick and tired of you two and your pathetic excuse of being good sisters."
Both of them looked shocked that I would say something like that. Serves them right, sticking with somepony as lame as Rainbow Dash. They changed their look back to hate towards me.
"Well ah never. How could ya be so rude when we are worried out of ah'r minds lookin' for them?" Applejack questioned, her face tensing up.
"Well, ah dunno," I mimicked her voice. "Ah guess ah just ain't got no country smarts like you."
Applejack's eyes grew wide, then she put on her war face. "You makin' fun of the way ah talk?"
"Aww shoot, yah got me little missy. Ah guess ah'm not as smart as a country tom who bucks apples all day."
"You are simply the rudest Griffon I have ever-" Rarity started to defend Applejack.
"Rarity, that's ok. No use in tryin' to argue with this bully. I reckon we should keep searchin'," Applejack grunted at me, then ran through the woods.
Rarity looked me in the eye. "You will never speak like that to any of my friends again."
"Yeah yeah, just remember that your friends don't need you like mine need me," I retaliated.
She gave me a rude look, then ran off yelling "Applejack! Are you ok darling?"
"Pfft, wimps." I said to myself.
I was about to leave, but then I heard a familiar voice.
"When did you become so evil?" asked Rainbow Dash.
I turned around to see that my ex friend had snuck up behind me and overheard everything. "You think I'M evil?! You abandoned me! And for what? PINKIE PIE!?" I screamed at her in rage.
Her blue face stared knives at me. "Pinkie is a better friend than you ever were. Yeah, she can be a little crazy, but she's nice. And kind. She always tries and make everypony feel good. All you ever do is try and put everypony down."
'That's not true... I would never do that to Jackle...' I thought. I hid my emotions back. "We were friends way longer than you even knew that twerp! I always stood up for you! Remember when Night Wing tried hitting on you? I was the only one there to punch him in the face for you, because you were always too weak!!"
Rainbow Dash just stared at me. She stood there for awhile, then said "Applejack was right. You are just a bully." Then she flew off into the woods, yelling "Scootaloo? Are you there?"
I tried my best to keep my angry look, but I suddenly broke down and started crying. How could she think I'm the bully? After all I've done for her? I mean, I have done so much for her... Right?
"Gilda?"
I looked up to see Doom walking towards me from the woods. "Are you ok?"
I tried to steel my face up. "Kid, I told you to go to the nest..."
"We did, and then I heard shouting and told Scream to stay there," Doom informed me while studying my face.
"You should have stayed..."
"But who was that blue pony? I couldn't catch the face, and why were you yelling at him?"
I laughed a bit. "Dash is a she. And we were fighting because she ended our friendship."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sure that must hurt," Doom replied sadly.
"You think? Don't you have friends too?"
"I'm not sure..."
"Oh. Sorry, I forgot," I said dumbly. "But you've got Scream right?"
"Yeah, I guess..." She sighed. "Hey, Gilda, can I ask you something?"
"Sure kid, ask away."
"Are you my friend?"
The question took me by surprise. For a long time, my only friend was Dash. Then it was Jackle. Every time I made a friend, I lost one. But this kid wanted to be my friend, and why should I deny her of it? Surely I wouldn't lose Jackle no matter what I said, and I would never try to hurt him anyways.
"Of course, Doom."
She grinned from ear to ear, and I couldn't help but chuckle. "C'mon, little dude. Let's go get some sleep."
We walked back to my nest to find Screamlock sound asleep. It was a very comfy nest, lined with pillows and cotton. I never did like having those twigs digging into my feathers in the middle of the night. There was a ladder on one side of the tree leading up to it, for back when Dash used to come by at sleepover. Sure, she had wings, but I didn't think of that when I put up the ladder. Well, at least now the ladder has a purpose.
I helped the tired Doom up and she laid down on a cushion, quickly drifting off to sleep. I curled up next to them and fell asleep, dreaming of me and Jackle raising two fillies named Doom and Scream.
"Gilda, are you awake? Gilda?"
I woke up to Doom poking my back and calling my name. "What is it?" I said sleepily.
"You have somepony here to see you..." She answered.
I stretched and looked over the side of the nest. Standing there looking back up at me was... "Jackle!"
"Hey," he replied simply.
I snapped out of my tired state and quickly jumped over the edge and glided next to him.
"Griffon," Scream tried getting my attention.
I ignored her. "Hey, Jackle! I missed ya, dude!"
"Glider," Scream attempted again, getting my name wrong.
"I missed you too," Jackle told me.
"Gilda!" Scream yelled to me.
"What?" I asked Scream impatiently.
"Do you know who our parents are?"
"I don't think you have parents," I quickly answered. "Why don't you two go to the treehouse, me and Jackle have some catching up to do."
Scream looked at me, then at Jackle, and then left us heading towards the treehouse. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Jackle wink at her. Doom followed Scream into the woods.
"Sorry about that," I apologized to Jackle.
"It's no trouble, the little one just wants to find her father."
I wondered why he didn't ask who they were, and why he specifically mentioned a father. I shrugged it off, assuming it was because he talked with them before I woke up. "How was meeting your cousin Chris?"
He flashed me that smile he always gave me. "It was life changing."
There was something different about him. It was the same gorgeous face, same fancy tie, and same breath taking smile. But his eyes... Why were they now red, not orange? And his voice wasn't the same. It was like he ate twigs, leaving his voice all scratchy.
"Gilda, I have some good news," he continued.
Did he just say Gilda? What happened to Gilds? I got my thoughts back together. "What's the good news?"
"I can take two fillies you've found to their parents. I met them on the way to see my cousin, they are terribly worried."
When I realized what he was saying, I was sad. Our little fillies were going away? That wasn't fair! Then I remembered that they weren't actually mine. 'They deserve to meet their parents' I thought to myself. Hey, maybe I could visit them. It wasn't my choice anyways, they needed this.
"They would love that, thanks Jackle," I did my best to give a good smile to him.
"Hey, Gilda," Yep. He definitely said Gilda. "You wouldn't have happened to see a third filly around, have you?"
"No, why?" I asked curiously.
"Apparently, Discord had a daughter. Crazy right?" He said coolly, though I thought I heard something change in his voice. It wasn't the scratchiness, that was still the same. When he mentioned Discord, did he say it with resentment? No, of course not, Jackle has never had any personal problems with the chaos-bringing dictator. Has he?
"If I'm going to fly them over there I'll need to pick something up from my nest first," Jackle spoke, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Oh, yeah. Alright, well I'll let you get to that," I said, disappointed.
Without saying another word, Jackle took to the skies. Why was he acting so strange? Did something change while he was away? I continued to think of reasons why back in the nest for a while.
"Hey, Gilda!" Scream yelled, snapping me out of my funk. "Look who we found!"
I looked down at them through the tree. "You see, this is why I named you Screamlock. I could hear you just as easily if you would just talk," I started complaining, but then saw another pony with them. This pony had a propeller hat and purple-white streaks through her mane. Also, on her flank there was a screw and a ball.
"So, maybe you weren't crazy after all. It seems the trio is complete," I said to Scream, remembering her mentioning a third filly. They didn't seem to know that this was Discord's daughter, so there was no reason to say anything. 'Well, let's give her a fun name' I thought. "I'll name this one PainBringer."
"My name is Screwball," the filly said firmly.
"Ok then, Screwy," I joked. "Well, I've got some news for all three of ya."
"Yes Gilda?" Doom spoke, "Is it about our parents? Please tell me you found them!"
"Not exactly kiddo, but I know a Griff who has an idea about it."
Their eyes basically bulged out of their heads. I smiled. Well, I can please all three of them. "YES! Finally! We've been waiting forEVER!" Screamed Scream.
"We've only been awake for a day, Scream," corrected Doom, "But still, that's amazing news!"
"Thought you might like it. My pal Jackle will fly you two where you need to go. Just head back to the treehouse and wait for him, he will be there shortly," I told them, deciding to help little Screwy too.
"Wait, what about Screwball?" asked Doom. "What will she do?"
"I'm going to take her personally to see her father. Now no more questions, run to the treehouse before Jackle gets there!"
Scream ran past me, heading straight for the rendezvous point. Doom looked back at Screwball, then took off behind Scream.
"Did you really find my dad?" Screwball asked, almost bouncing around in glee. Well, maybe this is a good idea.
"Absolutely," I told her. "Better hold on tight, it's a long way up to Canterlot."
I picked her up in my talons and flew off with her, not knowing what dangers were ahead.
After a while of flying, we could make out Canterlot castle on the side of the mountain. "Is that where my dad is?" Screwball asked. I couldn't help but notice that her propeller hat was fanning my face from the wind.
"Sure is, Screwy," I answered her.
"Who is he?"
Well, this might be a hard thing to explain.
"Heh, you really want to know?" I started, trying to break it to her in the right way. "Alright then. He is-"
I was cut off when all of a sudden I was struck by a blur of colors. Its force made me let go of Screwball, sending her falling down to Canterlot.
"SCREWBALL!" I shrieked as I saw her tumble out of the sky. I tried to fight the colliding rainbow, but it sent me crashing down straight into a tree.
I held my head in pain, and opened my eyes to the sight of Rainbow Dash looking down from above me.
"You..." I uttered, the pain making it hard to talk.
Dash smirked at me. "You think you know me?"
I tensed my face in rage at the blue pony. "You say I'm the evil one? You just killed that little filly.." I winced, the thought of Screwball dying was giving me a headache. I had only just met the pony, but I felt the same feeling I felt for Doom and Scream; love. They were my family now.
"I, actually, never said you were evil. In fact, I'm not even Rainbow Dash."
"Huh..." I was confused. But before I could question what she meant, she blew up. Literally, she exploded with green flames.
When the flames died there was a completely different looking creature. "I am Chrysalis, queen of the Changelings! It is good to meet another species from our father," the now sleek gray pony-like thing said.
"Our... Father?" I gazed at the insect thing, seeing that she was full of holes. I tried to fight off my dazed look, but I was hurting badly.
"But of course! Surely you know of our ancestry?" Chrysalis continued, "The creator of Changelings and Griffons alike is the almighty snake god Apophis. And I wouldn't worry about the filly, she's bad news. Besides, all three of them can't have true feelings."
"What do you mean..?" I grunted, pulling myself up to my feet.
"They are only guests in the souls of others, you see. Their thoughts are combined with their host's thoughts, so it's a war to keep their own personality. They are merely stepping stones to our glorious retrieval of our father!" Chrysalis bragged.
I had enough of this flipflop. "My father was a Griffon. Whatever created you has nothing to do with me."
Chrysalis looked slightly surprised at me. "Well, I guess not everypony has knowledge of our birth. Although, our father's helper, Chaos, is taking the host of a Griffon. Somepony named... Jester was it? No... Jacqueline? No, that wasn't it... Oh! Jackle."
As soon as I heard the name I sprung to my feet and grabbed Chrysalis' throat, pushing her against a tree. "If you lay one hoof on him, I swear to you I'll make sure you and your 'father' won't see the light of Celestia again!"
"This is madness!" Chrysalis coughed. "We are brethren! You are on our side!"
"No. My allegiance is to Jackle and those three kids. Now buzz off, and never try and find us again!" I was powered and enraged, Chrysalis didn't stand a chance. Her face started to burn red, and I let go. Eat that, Rainbow Dash. If I was so evil, why did I let somepony who truly was evil go?
Chrysalis wheezed, grasping her throat. "You'll pay for this, traitor! I'll make sure your little crush gets just that; crushed!"
I lunged at her, but she was too quick. She buzzed her wings and took off, transforming back into Dash as she left. I tried to fly after her, but pain overcame my left wing. It might be broken, if not sprained. Luckily, I knew of somepony who could patch me up. I headed away from Canterlot, deeper into the Everfree forest.
After a while of walking, I heard something move behind some bushes.
"Who's there?" I grunted. I must have looked like an insane bird, with my feathers all tattered and my voice growling, but I didn't care. I've had enough surprises.
The bush rustled again, and I stepped closer. I began to peer over the plant, when something jumped out from it right in front of my face. It's body was scaled, and it had the head of a chicken. It was a Cockatrice.
I tried to utter a scream for help, but I was frozen, being forced to stare into the monster's red beady eyes. I could feel my tail lose life, then up to my torso. I would be dead in less than a minute. I looked into my mind and found a picture of Jackle, then I faced my certain doom.
Out of nowhere, a slab of glass crashed into the place between me and the Cockatrice. The beast got scared and tried to run, but more slabs trapped it into a box of glass.
"When a Cockatrice has you terrified, use glass to keep from being petrified." It was my first time ever being so excited to see a zebra.
"Zecora, you wonderful zebra you!" I exclaimed, my body returning to normal.
Zecora smiled solemnly, "I take no credit in what I do, no matter who I would save from doom."
Gotta love this gypsy. "Hey, doc, I think I broke my wing, can you fix it?"
The witch doctor glanced at my wing from where she was and then looked back at me. "It seems that I will be no help with that, for your wing is already back."
At first I thought she was crazy, until I flexed my wing to find it perfectly intact. 'The Cockatrice fixed my bones from the stone...' I thought to myself. Well, this was a great twist. "Dude, thanks for the help."
"You better find your filly friends, before their journey comes to an end."
I squinted at Zecora. "How did you..." The zebra only winked at me. Well, stranger things have happened. I nodded to her and flew away.
I flew back to Jackle's nest, hoping to find something to help, possibly him in person. His nest wasn't as plush as mine, with bare twigs sticking out everywhere. I looked through the sticks, trying to find anything of importance. I was about to give up when I saw a note tangled on the edge. I read it:
'Hello, Jackle. I am your long lost cousin Chris. I would like to invite you to my home in the Coltahari desert for a long awaited reunion. Come alone. ~C'
"Chris..." Then it all made sense. Chris was Chrysalis, and Jackle was in danger! But then I remembered something that scared me even more; Jackle wasn't acting like himself when I last saw him. He was already possessed. And to make matters worse, I handed him the kids. The two kids. 'Don't cry...'
I already lost one, but there wasn't time to be upset for Screwball now. I needed to save the others, and Jackle too. "I'll avenge you, Screwy," I said under my breath. Now I have that Changeling-scum's home address.
I hid behind a sand dune. Changelings buzzed around their castle of a hive. I was prepared to do whatever it took to save the ones I love, even if that meant bringing the hive to the ground along with me.
The place was gigantic, with holes that let Changelings enter from any height. Though it wasn't symmetric at all, just a bizarre and chaotic mix. Chrysalis had some serious designing issues.
I flew towards the hive, ready to battle my way in, when I saw Screwball falling.
"Screwy?!" I yelled to her, surprised that she was even alive, though I was drowned out by her screams. I started flying after her, but I was captured by Changelings while I wasn't paying attention. I struggled, trying to break free, though they already held down my arms and wings. They forced me into one of the holes in the wall, and held me down.
I spent the next twenty minutes screaming and cursing at my capturers. Then the worst of the Changeling scum stepped in front of me.
"YOU! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!" I shrieked at Chrysalis.
She rubbed her neck with her hoof, obviously remembering our last meeting. "Well, you are trapped now, so how do you intend on killing me?"
I tried to lash out at her, but I couldn't get to my feet. "WHERE IS JACKLE?"
The queen laughed. "Oh, so your three foals mean nothing to you now? I'll be sure to tell them that." Chrysalis punched me, and I was dazed for a bit, but then shook it off. "Hmmm. I guess you're more resilient than I thought. No matter. General Carnage? Will you please do the honors?"
Chrysalis moved out of the way, revealing a large, bulky Changeling in her place. "Nighty night, pretty bird." He punched me with incredible force, and I was out cold.
I groaned, putting a talon to my head in trying to clear my headache. I opened my eyes and screamed. I was in some sort of pod, upside down, on the ceiling of a large room full of other pods. "Where am I?!"
"You're in the Changeling jail room."
I looked to the direction of the voice and saw a stallion with red highlights in his mane and a microphone for a cutie mark.
"Hi, I'm Mike," said the pony. "You know, I was just strolling through the desert minding my own buisness, when suddenly those Swiss cheese things come snatching me up and locking me in these filthy and slimey cocoons. Now I'm stuck here with nopony to talk to. I would have lost my mind if it hadn't been for the Doctor over there keeping me company, right Doctor?"
In the next pod a brown pony with an hourglass for a mark was busy pointing a glowing stick at the pod, but he looked up to speak after a few minutes. "Blast, these Changelings really don't care what happens to us now do they? These pods are just not meant to be open. I can't seem to remember how I got here anyhow... Dalek trap? No, they aren't sophisticated enough to ally with the Changelings, plus they aren't ponykind. Oh well. Wait, are you a Griffon?"
I looked back and forth from the two crazy ponies before answering. "Ugh, yeah?"
"Fantastic!" the Doctor exclaimed. "With your vocal capacity we should be able to break the barrier and I can get back to the TARDIS to stop the upcoming disaster!"
"I don't even know what he's saying! Ha!" Mike blabbered.
"Doctor who, exactly?" I asked. "Because you seem to be pretty insane, maybe you shouldn't be handling needles."
The Doctor facehoofed. "Just screech, okay?"
I guess it was worth a shot. I did just that, and what happened next was total chaos. Every pod shattered to my voice, and everypony started to fall.
With quick thinking, I began swooping through the air, trying to grab them to safety. Pegasus ponies started helping out, though one gray pegasus went to save another pony and ended up breaking their fall instead.
After everypony was on the ground, they all went around talking to one another about their stories on how they got here. I heard the gray pegasus say "I just don't know what went wrong."
Mike walked up to me. "Thanks bird dude!"
"Ugh... You're welcome?" I replied awkwardly.
The Doctor put his hooves over me and Mike. "Right! Now to go in and save the-"
He was cut off when the whole hive started rumbling. Pieces of the walls and ceiling started falling, causing the ponies to go into a frenzy. I saw a serpent-like animal fly through the crumbling castle. "Discord...?"
The next thing I saw was a large chunk of the ceiling fall right onto my head, and I was out again.
"Help me move this off of her... No, I don't care that it's easier with hands... Lyra Heartstrings, I swear to you that I won't take you on another adventure again! Mike, go find some more ponies to help... Stay with us Gilda..."
Dazed, I tried to make sense of the voices. At first I didn't understand it, and then it all started coming back to me. I jolted awake, sitting up to see my lap was covered by a huge piece of Changeling-hive rubble. "HUH, WHAT THE..."
"Gilda, you're awake! Fantastic!" I looked around to see the Doctor and a pale green pony trying to push the giant mass off of me. "We would have had more helpers, though most of the ponies fled, and I suspect the airborne ones are long gone by now. I sent Mike to try and round up the regulars, and possibly unicorns without teleporting capabilities," the Doctor filled me in.
"How.. Do you know my name? I don't remember telling you it," I questioned, though calming down.
The Doctor held up a piece of paper. "Psychic paper! Normally only used for getting others to see what I want, but it can also be used for simplicities like names."
I looked at him funny, trying to figure out whether he was a genius or completely insane. "Uh huh. Yeah, okay then."
At that moment Mike came running towards us through the wreckage along with a couple other ponies. Now that I'd calmed down I saw that the whole place had crumbled to the ground. Everything was one level now, scattered throughout the desert. 'Serves Chrysalis right' I thought. Only then did I remember that Screwball and the others were here too. I pulled my sadness down inside me, trying to cling to hope.
The ponies all managed to lift the chunk off of me, and I stretched my wings, seeing that they were good to fly.
"You have some bruises on your head, but no trauma or internal bleeding, plus it's hidden by the feathers," the Doctor assessed the damage to me. "Now, I should probably be going after the Changelings. Who knows what they are up to? I might be able to prevent yet another disaster from hitting Equestria."
"Wait..." I started. "They just left?"
"Yes, curious I know. They have their entire fortress knocked over and what do they do? They just leave. And with eerie friends no less. They were following a large blood red snake and a Griffon in a top hat and tie. You know him?"
I froze. 'He's talking about Jackle' I thought. But a top hat? That was new. All the same, I needed to save him, and I needed to do it quick. "I have to go save him."
"But bird dude, he's working with the enemy!" Mike pointed out dumbly.
"He's not the enemy. I don't know what they did to him, but I'm going to stop it. Try and come along if you can, but I'm not waiting up. I need to save my friends." And with that I flew off, overhearing a bit from the Doctor and Lyra:
"Well, she's certainly got guts," Lyra praised.
"Maybe so, but a bird-brained idea going in alone. We'd better hurry if we are going to help," the Doctor replied, just as I soared out of hearing distance. I followed the Changelings, heading towards Canterlot.
Since the Changelings have puny insect wings (with holes in them at that) and I had actual bird wings, I managed to fly ahead of them while staying out of their view. I made it to Canterlot trouble-free, about to look for Celestia when I saw them. AppendingDoom, Screamlock, and even Screwball! 'They're safe... They're all safe' I told myself, relieved. They were with Celestia, Luna and.. Discord? Well, at least he doesn't seem to be the danger right now.
Before I landed, I overheard some of their conversation. "No hard feelings, ey? I mean, we were both young and foolish in those days, right?" Discord said smoothly, putting an arm around princess Celestia.
She just sighed. "We can talk about this later. At the moment we have some work to do."
"Couldn't agree more! Now, let's all fly into battle, shall we?"
"Not without me ya ain't." Of course, I couldn't just give up a good dramatic moment.
"Gilda!" Scream, Screwball and Doom exclaimed in surprise.
"Eeyup!" I grinned at them. "Chaos isn't gunna keep my pal Jackle in his clutches for long. Not while I'm around." And I meant it. I wasn't losing anypony. Not today.
"Glad to have you back," Doom said while nuzzling me.
"Ugh, guys? I think we'd better cut the reunion short, look!" Scream broke up our moment, pointing.
Sure enough, there was a giant swarm of Changelings heading right for the castle. Up in front were Chrysalis, a giant red snake, and Jackle. I had to admit to myself; even if he was possessed, he looked good in the new top hat.
"Huh," Discord scratched his head. "That's new. Apophis flying," I assumed Apophis was the humongous snake. "Great. Anyways, they have an army, so we need one too." He whistled, and at first I thought nothing happened. Then from above the castle came the weirdest sight I've ever seen. Thousands of bizarre statues flew overhead, then circled down to the Courtyard ground in front of us.
"Allow me to introduce my friends to you guys," Discord announced. "We have Rocky, Stone Cold, Solid Sam, Tombstone, wave Hi Tombstone!" The now living tombstone waved with its stone arms. "And then there's Gravel Gabe, Crumbling Chris, oh and let's not forget-"
"Discord." Celestia cut him off.
"Right, right. War time! Alrighty then, hop on," Discord told Screwball, AppendingDoom and Screamlock. I really wish I could have renamed them, because now that I'm attached I feel like the names don't fit them at all. But as unnatural as they were, they stuck. What was done is done.
Just like that, we flew off the ground, heading straight for a battle of life or death.
I was getting close. It was now or never, I was about to attempt to free Jackle. I charged to him, but when I got close he suddenly disappeared. Though I had no time to think what happened, the battle started instantly. I pecked the Changelings, which stunned them long enough to not be paying attention to me as I then slapped them out of the sky with my wing.
I was about to be sneak attacked, when one of Discord's statue friends slammed into the oncoming Changeling, destroying itself in the process. The skies were chaos, but all I could think about was one griffon; Jackle. I searched around while fighting my way through, then finally my eyes had seen him. He was charging upwards with Apophis and Chrysalis, heading for a bright silhouette of what could only be Screwy, Doom and Scream.
I didn't think, I only acted. I flew towards Jackle, just as a powerful beam of light plowed into them, sending them crashing down to the planet below.
"NO!" I screamed, racing to Jackle as fast as I could. I managed to get close enough, and latched onto his talon. "You're not getting away from me that easy!"
He flipped his head to look at me, and fiery red eyes bore at me. At first I stared in shock, but then with my free hand I made a fist. "GET OUT OF MY JACKLE!!!" And I punched Chaos/Jackle right in the face.
Chaos roared in rage, "YOU WILL PAY FOOLISH GIRL!" Then a shadow of darkness flung out of Jackle, and followed Apophis into a crater in the world, gone forever.
I held Jackle in my arms, now free falling ourselves. But I didn't care. If this was my last moment, I wanted it to be with him. I closed my eyes, bracing for the end.
Well... This must be what it feels like. To no longer be part of the world. At least my fall may have saved Jackle.
"Gilda, wake up! A little help here!"
"Huh..?" I opened my eyes to see that I wasn't falling anymore, but moving forward in the air.
"C'mon, I stopped your fall, now use your wings!"
I looked down to see that I was on the back of... "Rainbow Dash?!"
"Yes it's me!" Dash replied. "Now fly! I can't hold you both forever!"
I followed her orders and lifted myself and Jackle off of her. Now that I wasn't hurtling down at 100 miles per hour, I managed to carry Jackle and fly. We made it closer to the ground when I ran out of energy. I hit a tree and both of us spiraled into the dirt.
I groaned and turned myself onto my back. I put my hand to my head and when I pulled it back there was blood. I turned to see Jackle, who seemed unscathed. We made it; we were alive. That was all that mattered to me.
Dash flew down next to me and went on her back as well, breathing heavily. "Just like old times... Ey Gilda?"
I laughed, then coughed. "I don't remember us saving each other's lives everyday back then, Dash."
Dash smiled and glanced at Jackle. "You sure went through a lot to save him."
I put my non-bloody hand on the unconscious Jackle's head. "I love him, I'd never let anything bad happen to him."
"And those fillies?"
I turned and gave Dash a questioning look. "How do you know about them?"
"Well, I pick up on things pretty fast," she winked at me.
I grinned and answered her question. "I guess I just wanted somepony to care for."
Dash looked up at the sky and her tone changed to be a little more serious. "I was wrong about you. You didn't deserve all those mean things I said, and I understand if you won't forgive me."
I sighed. "No, you were right. I was a complete jerk. I went crazy with jealousy and acted like a fool. I'm the one who should be sorry, and I am. I really am."
We both stared at the sky for a while, just watching birds fly and leaves blowing. I decided to break the silence. "But then again, you were always 20% cooler."
She chuckled and looked back at me. "Night Wing, you are just a flip flop!"
We both laughed together. "Good times, friend forever." I weakly punched her shoulder.
Dash punched back. "Friends forever, you crazy bird you."
Epilogue:
"So, let me get this straight, you stopped me from destroying the world due to me being the host of an ancient entity that wanted revenge on Discord?"
"Well, yeah."
"And my long-lost cousin was actually the queen of one of the entity's creations, which apparently we are too?"
"A-huh."
"AND the 3 ancient powers have daughters that helped you defeat them?"
"All except Discord, he turned good."
"I guess there's only one thing I can say."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you, Gilds."
"Anytime, Jackle. Now, there's something I've been meaning to tell you."
"Yeah?"
That was when I reached over and kissed him. All my time avoiding him seemed pointless, and I finally stepped up to the plate and planted on him. What could I say? The top hat made him look even more kissable.
I didn't even notice Discord behind me making faces, though he made sure to get our attention. "Egad! Don't you two have a party to attend? I mean, by all means, continue scratching your beaks pointlessly if that's what you foals are into these days." Me and Jackle both glared at him. "Fine! Fine, I'll just be over there chatting up Celestia. You know," Discord got up real close and whispered with a lion paw over one side of his mouth, "I think she digs me. A millennia trapped in stone and looky, still got it!" He then teleported from the balcony to Celestia, wrapping himself around her. Next came the hoof right into his face.
"Tough love," I joked to Jackle. We both laughed, until we were suddenly interrupted again by a loud noise coming from right next to us.
Before we knew what was going on, a large blue barn appeared on the other side of the balcony. The door opened, revealing a familiar brown stallion.
"Doctor?!"
The Doctor grinned. "Why, hello! Glad to see you got your friend back," he nodded to Jackle. Jackle slowly nodded back, his beak agape in shock.
"Doctor, can we visit Bon Bon? I miss her!" Somepony called from the blue box.
"Not now Lyra, I'm busy!" The Doctor shouted back. "Anywho, I have something very important to give you," he told me, holding out a rainbow colored rock.
"Ugh... What is it?" I asked awkwardly.
"It is a piece to the Forgotten Power, or what broken down here you call the Elements of Harmony. The gem came from my home planet, but that's a tale for another time. Take it, you'll need it in the future."
I stared at the obviously insane pony before reluctantly taking the rock. "A-huh... Wait, did you say 'your planet'?"
"Oh details, details! Just hold on to it, alright?" I nodded. "Fantastic! Now, gotta go!" He quickly ran back into the barn, and then it disappeared without a trace.
Me and Jackle just stared dumbly at the space that once held the Doctor. "Well, we'd better head back inside," I told Jackle. "The 3 heroes might be awake now!"
We opened the glass door and walked through to see AppendingDoom, Screamlock and Screwball speaking to everypony. "I need to," Screwball was saying from a conversation we missed. "Sweetie Belle needs to live her own life, and I'm going to let her. Every life needs a bit of chaos. Let Discord be himself, to restore order to the world. Keep him controlled, and don't let him get too much power. But you need him. Just like I need him."
"Huh?" I didn't understand what was going on, but Discord looked very upset. His head was down, and he lifted his talons into a snapping position. Before I knew what was happening, he clicked his claws, and the three fillies were gone.
The End?
/Read the original, A Forgotten Power, for the full story\
