Salvation

Without context or explaination, I was running down the hallways—constantly growing in length and shifting in lighting, causing me to lose my awareness as the dark, creeping voice called out to me.

“Clooouudyyyy” Her voice called out to me.

I didn’t stop to turn around—I kept running until I hit a dead end. I turned around to confront my nightmare—I readied my fists and prepared to charge...

But a cold tendril wrapped itself around my neck and lifted my feet off of the ground. I grabbed the tendril, trying to pull it away from my airway, but that only made it wrap itself tighter. The slim, slender figure slowly approached me as her voice rang in my ears.

“Nice try, Cloudy—but you can never escape me. You know that... don’t you?”

I tried to fight, but more tendrils wrapped around me.

“Face it, baby...”

Sunset Shimmer leaned into my face and forcibly grabbed the sides of my head, holding me in place as the tendrils started shaking me.

“...You are mine.”

A muffled voice calling to me fell silent as the tendril around my neck tightened--

“Cloud? Cloud, wake up!” The familiar, gruff voice called out.

I gasped back into reality, clenching my neck and noticing that the tendrils were gone.

“The nightmare again?” Gilda asked me.

I nodded as I caught my breath. Gilda set her hand on my shoulder with an unnatural tenderness.

“I know that you said that what happened with Sunset was bad, but... thanks for giving me a chance.”

I chuckled as she pulled me in for a hug.

“You don’t have to thank me, G.” I responded.

Gilda held me tighter after hearing that.

It’s been almost a year since I was at CHS... Since I was with her.

But that didn’t matter anymore... I turned to Gilda and I returned the hug, leaning my head onto her shoulder. She chuckled at my gesture, gently setting her hand on my head and petting it. I instinctively nipped her neck, a gesture rewarded by a brief moan emitting from her.

“You’re always so good at that...” Gilda purred.

“I had practice.” I answered.

A loud knock at the door stopped us from going further.

“G, Cloud—you two gettin' up?!” Gruff, Gilda’s grandfather, asked.

Gilda cursed under her breath.

“We’re up, grandpa!” Gilda shouted through the thick door.

Gilda’s shouting rang in my ears for a brief moment but faded by my chuckling. I never really got used to Gilda’s family and their... “volume”.

Especially in the bedroom.

“We should go.” She whispered in my ear, kissing my cheek.

I really didn’t want to—I just wanted to lay there with her even if it was just for a minute. But I relented and got changed to my work clothes. They were a simple pair of overalls and a pair of blue jeans that were baggy. Gilda changed to hers which were exactly the same, give or take a few tears on the back.

“Ready to lift some shit?” Gilda teased me.

“Yep... after I eat.” I joked back.

Sure enough, we went down to the kitchen and saw four bags packed up with each of our initials written onto them—one pair labeled for breakfast, another for lunch.

The news said the same thing as they did everyday, about the Resistance getting into a skirmish in the city with Tempest's army-- 6 lives lost, 5 injured, and 4 of Tempest's people killed.

“Go make a killin’, kids.” Gruff stated as we grabbed our designated bags and shut off the television.

As we walked outside the door, the unrelenting hot summer sun shone down on us, almost instantly wearing us out.

“God, I hate this fucking heat!” Gilda shouted into the air.

“Makes two of us.” I responded.

After 4 hours of just loading up heavy steel onto trucks for the Resistance, we finally took a lunch break. We opened our bags and saw that Gruff packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for both of us.

“Typical Gruff.” Gilda scoffed.

We both shared a chuckle as we dug in. As I took a bite, Gilda’s phone rang.

“Hello?” Gilda asked.

I didn’t hear what the other person was saying, but Gilda’s face said it all.

“Oh... I’ll-- I’ll put him on.” Gilda handed her phone over to me.

I grabbed the phone and held it to my ear.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Cloud? It’s Gruff—some Resistance member asked for you, uh... Rarity?”

My blood ran cold, I haven’t heard her name in over a year and I never really thought about her since I left.

“Wha... w-what did she say?” I asked, desperate to hear an answer.

“She wanted to check on ya, she heard that the countryside wasn’t so badly affected by the takeover and Sunset talked about you... and that she’s changed and wanted to talk..” Gruff said.

I was mortified—what could I do? Talk to Sunset and get closure or keep hiding and keep living in fear of myself?

“I... I need time to think about it, ‘kay?” I asked.

"Alright... if you wanna go, I have connections with the Resistance, I can give you two safe passage to their HQ." Gruff grunted and hung up.

“What’s wrong?” Gilda asked me.

I handed her phone back and took a breath.

“It’s Rarity— my ex? She said that Sunset’s turned a new leaf and that she wants to talk.” I stated, not wanting to lie.

Gilda drew a soft gasp and scooted closer.

“’Kay, what do you wanna do?” Gilda asked.

“I have no fucking idea—I could stay here, do nothing, and never know for sure... or go back and take a big-ass risk.” I stated.

Gilda nodded, understanding what I was going through.

“To be honest, C— before you rolled up here, I was... different. I was like her…"

“I highly doubt that.” I muttered.

“...But since you showed up and helped us drive Tempest’s goons out of town, I... well...” Gilda started.

I placed my hand on top of hers.

“I know what you mean.” I finished her sentence.

Gilda took a moment to compose herself.

“My point is, I think you should go—get closure, y’know?” Gilda asked.

I chuckled at Gilda using her catchphrase as I nodded.

“Yeah, I know... I’ll think about it today, let Gruff know my decision when we get home.” I said.

After the last 2 hours of working passed, Gilda and I began to walk home together, our hands clasped together.

“So, did you make up your mind?” Gilda asked me.

I turned to her and sighed, still having no idea about whether I should go or not.

“I... don’t know. I want to, but at the same time... I still have nightmares from what she made me do, G... I just don’t know.” I said.

I noticed Gilda looking left and right, looking for a specific spot...

The alleyway.

I smirked as I spotted one and she set her hand on my back as she quickly ran into it, taking me with her, going to the dead-end, setting the tarp in place, blocking others’ view, and pinning me against the wall.

“Here again? I think there’s still a few stains from last time we did this...” I said as I set my hands on her waist.

Gilda chuckled at my gesture and returned it with a quick peck on my lips.

“Maybe, maybe not... I just don’t know…" She whispered into my ear, letting her breath slide down my neck, giving me chills.

I knew what she was playing... and I liked it.

“So... if I agree to go back to Canterlot, would that help make up your mind?” I asked her.

Gilda stopped for a moment, letting one hand off my shoulder and onto her chin.

“Hmm... deal.”

I laughed, readied myself, and turned us both over, pinning Gilda to the wall.

“That’s good... because I might’ve done it anyway.” I whispered in her ear, nipping on her neck as I savored her moans.

I rammed my lips into hers and sent my one hand up her shirt and the other down her loose jeans, while she fiddled with my belt buckle.

After we... cleaned up, we headed back for Gruff’s, who was sitting on the porch.

“What took you two so long?” Gruff asked with a raised eyebrow.

Gilda and I shared a nervous glance.

“We... got slowed down.” Gilda stated.

Gruff chuckled and went back inside.

“Think he knows?” I asked her.

“I think he knew for a while.” Gilda gravely answered.

I chuckled, knowing that she had a point.

“I think we should start keeping it down at night.” I compromised.

Gilda playfully chuckled.

“I don’t think that’s possible...” Gilda teased.

I laughed along as we entered the house, noticing Gruff on the couch, scrolling through television channels.

“Gruff? I made my decision—I wanna go back, get some closure.”

Gruff stopped and glanced at me, bearing an unusual smile.

“I’ll get the truck runnin’.”

As we got closer and closer to the Resistance HQ, my gut began to twist and turn—mostly from the fact that I haven’t seen Sunset or Rarity or anyone from CHS in a year. I walked all the way from Canterlot to Griffastone in a matter of days—now it’s taking us a few hours... It can change your world view a little bit.

“Babe, you alright?” Gilda asked, wrapping her arm around me

I was brought back to reality by one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever met, and realizing that put a smile on my face.

“I’m good, it’s just... I walked this distance in about a week... and now I’m going back that’s all.” I answered, setting my hand on Gilda’s upper thigh.

Gruff chuckled as he saw us in the rear-view.

“Don’t make a mess in my truck, you two...”

Gruff began to cough and wheeze as the three of us laughed.

“Can’t make any promises...” Gilda boldly stated.

Silence crept back into the ride as I began to recognize some of the sights: The interstate where I started walking, the entrance to the camping trail where I stayed for a few days...

“We’re getting closer.” Gruff said as I turned to see a large sign saying that Canterlot was 4 miles away.

I felt the knots twisting in my stomach again...

As we entered the city, graffitied propaganda for Tempest was sprayed throughout, covering the city in her 'glory'.

"The sooner they get that monster, the better... for now, stay close and do everything these people say, you hear me, Gilda?"

Gilda crosser her arms and nodded.

I wasn't gonna let those unpatriotic bastards lay a fucking finger on her... and that was a promise.

Gruff took a left and landed next to the sewer pipes, signs of them being off-limits scattered throughout.

"My guy said that these tunnels are used to lead stragglers to the Resistance's HQ. The tunnels should be clear, but you never know." Gruff handed me a pistol and I holstered it.

"Know how to use that?" Gilda teased me.

I turned to her and smiled, going up to her and leaning into her ear.

"Just like I know how to use you, baby." I whispered.

Gilda cutely giggled and Gruff rolled his eyes again.

"Just follow the arrows, they'll lead you there. You sure about this? I can turn around and we can forget all about it—I know what it’s like wantin’ to run from the past.” Gruff said.

“I’m sure—I gotta get closure, y’know?” I said, noticing how much my slang had changed in the past year.

Gruff smiled at my response, taking a moment to ponder to himself.

“You two know the house address?”

“Yep, I know it.” I responded.

“So, do I, Grandpa.” GIlda commented.

Gilda and I entered the tunnels as Gruff drove down the road. The pathway was surprisingly clear and somewhat lit as we stuck to the sides, avoiding the sludge in the center.

“Are you sure about me tagging along? I don’t wanna be the third wheel...” Gilda muttered.

“Trust me, Gilda—you'll like the girls, they don’t bite... much.” I teased.

GIlda chuckled and I joined in as we made a right and saw a guard in front of a small passageway.

"You two with Sunset?" He asked me.

How dare he accuse me of--

"Yes. We're armed, we can turn it over if you want us to." Gilda confessed.

The guard took off his helmet and lowered his gun.

I recognized him...

"You?!" I asked the janitor who was under Sunset's payroll back when I was there.

"Yeah. Keep the gun, you never know when we'll get visitors... follow me."

I saw her. She saw me. I glanced left, and then right—the small table of 6 girls and 1 other guy was in the center of the empty room.

Sunset Shimmer started first, clearing her throat as she awkwardly waved.

“C-Cloud.” Sunset mumbled.

“Sunset.” I clearly responded.

“Gilda?” Rainbow Dash asked, rising from her seat.

I froze at Rainbow saying GIlda’s name—I didn’t know they had history.

“Dash?!” Gilda jumped.

Gilda’s response only deepened my curiosity.

“Pinkie!” Pinkie Pie jumped from her seat before floating back down.

Glad to see that Pinkie didn’t change.

“Wait, wait—you and Rainbow know each other?!” I asked, completely confused.

“Cloud, you know her?!” Rainbow asked in complete shock.

“Y-yeah, we’re dating.” I answered.

“Dating?!” The small group of girls all exclaimed.

The one guy simply smirked, watching the drama unfold. Fluttershy slammed the table and everyone turned to her.

“Girls, we’re here to end this little story of theirs, not invest in each other’s love-life.” Fluttershy said, surprisingly louder than how she used to be.

Everyone stopped and took their seats as we went for our own seats. As we took our seats, I took note that the other guy was sitting next to Fluttershy.

“So, who’s the guy?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m Sky Armor, I’m... sort of new here.” Sky responded, his light Spanish accent shining through.

Silence struck like a sledgehammer as we all had no idea what to say—we had almost forgotten what we all came for.

“So... Sunset.”

“Cloud...”

“How’s life?” I embarrassingly asked.

“Okay, how about you?” Sunset asked.

“Never better.” I honestly responded.

I noticed that Gilda smiled at my response, and that was enough to melt my heart. As I smiled back, Rainbow Dash cleared her throat.

“So... Cloud—how long have you and G been an item?” She asked.

“About 8 months, now- 2 months before all this shit went down.” I responded.

Rainbow grunted and leaned back in her seat, setting her feet on the table as silence kicked in again—no-one knowing exactly what to say. I finally took a breath and leaned forward.

“So, Sunset—I heard that you turned a new leaf. How’s that going so far?” I asked, wanting to know.

“Well... it’s been tough, but... I’m managing.” Sunset stuttered.

It was like the longer I looked at her, the more I remembered-- the jobs she made me run, the people’s lives she forced me to ruin...

I nodded, but wanted to get to the point.

“It’s been a year, Sunset—a whole year since what you did to me, what you made me do-- most of it I can’t remember anymore. I’ve moved on, and I’m glad to see that you did the same. All I wanted to do was forget about this city and move on with my life—or whatever life I could manage. But I knew that not coming here, not ending it, would haunt me for the rest of my life. Not that it didn’t haunt me already...” I said, implying the nightmares I still had.

“Cloud, I--”

“No, Sunset—I am not done, yet. I still have nightmares from all the things you made me do-- and it wasn’t just the sex.” I coldly responded.

Sunset didn’t say a word, but I saw her eyes starting to get misty.

“Like I said, I’ve moved on, Sunset—I found the girl I love, and I just want to sleep at night without her shaking me awake every morning.” I glanced to Rarity who had her hands over her mouth and her eyes were getting misty as well.

No-one said a word as the doors behind us opened and a blue-haired cop walked in.

“Who’re you supposed to be?” He asked us.

“I’m Cloud Sweeper, this is Gilda. You?” I asked, holding my hand out.

“Shining Armor.” He said as he shook my hand.

I noticed a few things—one was that his badge read out police captain, second was that he was with another girl with a purple pony-tail and a pair of glasses.

“What’s the commotion for?” Fluttershy asked.

“We gotta have a... meeting.” Shining said as he looked around.

“We’re kinda in the middle of something.” Rainbow said.

“This can’t wait, guys...” Twilight responded.

Rainbow sighed and Fluttershy glanced at us.

“You guys got a place to stay for the night?” She asked us.

It was clear to see that Fluttershy had changed...

“No, we didn't think we;d be staying for too long.” Gilda responded.

“Alright, you two can come with us back to HQ and we can keep going with this tomorrow. That good?” Fluttershy asked.

I nodded and we both took our leave.

“T-take care.” Sunset managed.

I didn’t even bother to turn my head as I shut the door behind us.

As we started walking, Gilda turned to me.

“When the hell did Fluttershy get so loud?”

The room we were given was nice—it had a nice view of the Everfree in the back and I could see Canterlot High in the far distance of our window. Gilda and I saw that there was GameBox and we both turned to each other.

"Fuck yeah." We both said as we put Gilda's account on the GameBox and looked for which game to download.

“How about... Tirek’s Rampage?” Gilda asked.

“Hmm... after the line we had to sit through for the sequel that was sold out? Hell, yeah.” I said as she opened the case and slipped into the slot.

The game took about 30 minutes while Gilda and I did... other activities when the small box of hardware and the television sparked to life as Gilda and I grabbed our controllers.

“Ready to kick some demon ass?” Gilda asked me, her hair still pulled back from our fun.

“Fuck yeah.” I responded, me still winded from--

You get the point.

The heavy metal of the title screen overtook our speakers as we both prepared our minds and our fingers for the digital satanic masses we were about to slaughter.

“Man, I love this game, but... there’s no real story to it, y’know? It’s just you blowing up shit.”

“I know—it's fuckin’ awesome! Who needs a lame-ass story when you can literally tear demons in half?” Gilda countered.

GIlda really scared me when it came to games—it was like she has a switch in her head keeping her from killing everyone in her eye-sight...

“Okay, fair enough.” I said as we opened fire onto a group of demon grunts in a hallway.

We were approaching the final boss... Tirek. Gilda and I had been stuck on this level for over a year, and we haven’t stopped since we met. There was no way in literal hell that we were lowering the difficulty—we needed the Ultra Hard completion trophy...

And no amount of demons were going to stop us.

We entered the large room and sat through the long dialogue once again, syncing along to it perfectly.

“So... you’ve finally arrived. I was starting to believe you were never going to show up.” Gilda started mocking.

“And now, you’ve slaughtered your last demon, for I—Lord Tirek—have all the instruments I need to open the Hellgate, and invade your world! Prepare yourself, Traveller, for this is your last journey!” I recalled a tad more dramatically than Gilda.

We dodged the first blow—the same one that got us more than 40 times. We used the grenade launcher to attack the weak-point between the chest-plate and the torso, and we made mince-meat of Tirek’s weak minion grunts. We then activated the quick-time-event-- memorizing the button prompts-- and ended the first stage of the fight, beginning the second—and the hardest.

“Pathetic mortal! You will not succeed this conquest!” Gilda mocked Tirek.

Tirek growled and allowed his armor to melt away, showing his obivously-fanbased body.

“Pssh-- this is so fan-based, I hate when game devs do that!” I commented.

Gilda smirked and turned to me.

“Don’t think that I didn’t find out about your Daring Do erotica stash...” Gilda teased.

I turned beet-red as I conjured my response.

“I thought about you the whole time...” I responded.

Gilda chuckled as we continued kicking stage-2's ass.

“Maybe I should buy that cosplay outfit and wig I found, maybe wear it one night...” Gilda remarked.

I froze in awe at the image and paused the game before turning to Gilda and setting both of my hands on her shoulders.

“Gilda Griffon, I swear to you and to the good lord above that I will fuck you so goddamn hard that you’ll be walking with crutches for a month if you get that outfit when this is all over.”

Gilda sighed, set her free hand on my chest, and took that comment in.

“A whole month...? I’ll think about it—for now, let’s beat this mission!” Gilda prepared.

I went for the pause button before turning to Gilda, who nodded. I un-paused and we went back in, avoiding the blast that was about to hit us and charged up our attack.

“Come on... come on...” Gilda said, moving her controller around.

I did the same, helping charge up the blast. As we let out the blast, we heard thunder in the background.

“It’s fine, it should just pass us, now come on!” Gilda shouted.

Boom!

We finally did it—after so many attempts and sneak-attacks, we actually won...

Tirek was reduced to the small, frail being from the beginning of the game, looking up to the Traveller.

“But... why? What the hell are you?!” Tirek mustered.

The Traveler went to remove his helmet, we were about to see his face!

“Oh, shit... here comes the face-reveal!” Gilda whispered.

He removed his mask, the camera cut to Tirek who simply muttered...

“You?”

BOOM!

Everything went dark as the power went out from the now crashing storm.

“Fuck! God-fucking damnit! We had it—we fucking had it!” Gilda broke as she went to chuck her controller, but found a sense of calmness, took a deep breath, and sat back down, crossing her arms in a fit.

I sighed as I gently tossed my controller onto the carpeted floor and scooched closer to my girlfriend.

“Gimme a minute, I’ll see if I can help start the generator.” I said as I got up and grabbed the umbrella.

“Come on, I'm sure they can handle it.” Gilda said as she grabbed her phone.

“It’s just outside—I'll be fine, I promise. Besides, we gotta earn our keep, somehow.” I said as I kissed Gilda’s forehead and put on my work boots.

I headed outside and I instantly felt the strong winds as well as the bitter rain. But I didn’t let that stop me—I was getting that power back on. I saw a group of mechanics working on the generators and I went to try and help...

I could’ve sworn that I heard growling behind me, but it must’ve been the thunder as I turned and saw nothing. I turned back around to the generator, yanked on the cord again and it finally roared to life—I saw as the lights inside turned back on and I felt a smile creep on my face for a job-well-done.

Before I could get closer to the generator, I heard something right behind me... I turned around and saw a small cloud of blackness in front of me.

“Yesss... Hungrryyy....” The cloud echoed as it began spiraling and moving slightly.

“What...?” Was all I could muster.

The being didn’t wait for my response as it lunged at me, moving... into me.

I could feel it move around inside of me—moving from my heart to my brain, viciously mangling my arms and legs in the progress, forcing me to shout and roar in complete and utter pain.

“Yes... this will work nicely.” The being answered.

I began going dark as I heard one word now being whispered into my ear, over and over again.

“Sombra...”

I barely heard the front door open and Gilda call out to me as I passed out.