Author's Note

So... Yeah, starting off In Media Res, if you will. You'll only learn what happened to get Gilda here over the next few chapters...

7: Guilt

So, here Gilda was… Hanging a few inches precariously above broiling bubbling lava wrapped in chains looking towards a massive throne. Atop that massive throne was an equally massive figure about the size of your average two-story house. Humanoid from the waist up, but instead of a human head, he bore that of a jackal’s.

“...Er, apologies for busting in like this…” Gilda laughed nervously as her chain swung her slowly around, some of her head feathers singed by the lava. She coughed and wheezed from the sulfur and the smoke. Was it possible to die in the land of the dead, she wondered? “...But uh, desperate times called for desperate measures really. You know how that is, right milord?” she asked cautiously. “...I actually didn’t mean to party-crash. If I had a choice, I would have taken a left turn at Hades to get to… well, that’s not exactly any of your business is it?”

Gilda wondered if back-sassing the God of Funerals was really such a good idea, in hindsight. Given this guy basically guided your soul to whatever afterlife awaited you, ticking him off was probably not the brightest of ideas.

“I see that you’ve entered my domain as Ra would bring about the light of the sun,” Anubis glowered at Gilda and flared his nostrils, small puffs of fire coming out. “Exactly what is it that brings a mortal like you to the my domain?”

“Er… The very nice internal heating?” Gilda laughed nervously. “Seriously, after spending so much time in Norway, you’d long for a bit of warmth. Brr, that does not do this bird good!”

Anubis raised an eyebrow, an ear perking up at the mentioning of a realm that was not a part of his own. “The realm of Midgard is where you herald from?”

“Technically anyone sorta alive heralds from Midgard really… Even dead Egyptians.” Gilda replied. “Matter of perspective I suppose…”

“And here Osiris told me otherwise, that accursed dimwit…” Anubis grumbled the curse of a thousand unworthy souls beneath his godly breath. “I presume that someone who’s not deceased wishes to escape this realm then?”

“Wanted to just use the Land of a Dead as a little shortcut, you understand. Take this road through the Duat to Niflheim. ...I may sorta have responsibilities to uphold there.” Gilda murmured looking away in a guilty fashion.

Anubis let out a slight chuckle. “Such a cocky bird you are,” he said. “Most who would dare wander into this domain willingly would simply beg for mercy and be seen as little more than disposable,” He stood up and approached Gilda who by now was trying very hard not to let her fear show. Chances were, if Anubis got wise to the things she had done he’d feed her heart to Ammit. She looked to the side of Anubis’ throne. Even now, the small little poodle-sized creature was licking her crocodile lips eagerly. Honestly, she was expecting her to be larger but given she only needed to devour a heart… Actually, come to think of it, Gilda rambled to herself where the Hell was Osiris? Shouldn’t that be his throne?

“You, however, show no fear. You show courage and worthiness,” Anubis commented at Gilda, who had to scoff. She was hardly worthy of anything and she was hardly a brave soul. “The strength of ten thousand mortals flows through your veins.”

“Show no fear…?” Gilda laughed again. “Here I am, standing in front of you -well, maybe not standing but you get the idea- and I’m actually pretty fucking terrified.”

“Then you don’t show it outwardly,” Anubis gave as close to a smile as any member of the underworld’s judgemental service could without sending a million souls fleeing into the dark depths of the abyss. Easily a thousand sharp teeth like swords in that grin. Gilda shuddered. “I will grant you the wish you desire, but be warned that your journey is destined to become a thousand times worse than it is now.”

“Eh, I have a tendency to make great mistakes more often than I’d care for…” Gilda murmured guiltily. “Hell, one’s the reason I’m here anyway. I’m just hoping this one works out in the end.”

“I cannot say for certain if it will.” Anubis’ hands glowed a vibrant white. “What I can say, however, is that Osiris -when he returns- won’t be pleased.” With that, the world around Gilda blindingly bright; the world as far as she could see being nothing more than white.

A few days before…

Twilight couldn’t honestly see the whole point of telling stories about heroics, about her challenging the oh so great Sköll and coming out alive. She’d really blundered into that mess, hoping to actually reason with him. But from the way Thor himself was telling it, she looked like a brave dragon. She laughed bitterly. That was hardly the truth. Desperate maybe, but brave? No… No, she honestly would have given that to Gilda, for following her into Sköll’s domain without even a question.

Lurking out of sight, if only barely, they listened to Thor spinning his yarns to a bunch of Vikings inside a grand hall.

“Ugh… Vikings…” Gilda muttered in disgust beside her. The griffoness was shaking her head.

“And then, the great wolf leaped towards me, but Mjolnir was able to stop him in his tracks!” Uproarious cheers filled the air; mugs rising into the air as songs were sung over other songs. “I hit him with the biggest lightning blast, in the history of lightning blasts!”

“Bunch of slabs of meat with barely a brain atop their heads, only thinking about the next village to rape and plunder…” Gilda continued. “Building armor, axes, and boats. About all they’re good for. Give me Greeks, give me Romans any day!” she muttered to herself looking skywards as if to pray to some other pantheon to free her from this chaos.

“Oh, I suppose they’re not all that bad…” Twilight remarked taking a bite out of a huge turkey leg. “They cook well enough,” she remarked moaning in pleasure.

“And here I thought it was the men whose only way to their hearts was to their stomachs…” Gilda commented with an eyebrow raised.

“What, I’m a dragon. I need my meat!” Twilight shrugged.

“Yeah, but you wouldn’t want to ruin that long, lean figure of yours would you…?” Gilda teased. “No, instead you want to stuff yourself fat! You’ll barely be able to fly by the end of tonight!”

“Oh, and I presume you like my figure…” Twilight teased Gilda stuttering and sputtering out denials while Twilight laughed her head off. Gilda grumbled something under her breath. Damn dragon, she thought to herself.

“Oh, my dear Gilda…” Thor commented. “What on Asgard is the matter with you? I personally find this a merry gathering of souls! Verily!”

“...I don’t,” Gilda grumbled. ”And what’s the matter?” she hissed out pulling Thor out of the hall and into a side room Twilight following. “I’m surrounded by the biggest collection of oafs ever since I met Naiads on Colchis!”

“Oh, you get used to them…” Thor commented with a small smile.

“I don’t want to get used to them,” Gilda hissed back with Twilight watching this whole exchange with an amused smile and eating more of her meat. “They’re a pack of stark raving idiots, that’s what they are! Oh, when I went to take a… Well, you don’t want to know what happened to the plumbing! And oh, did I forget to mention they have no concept of silverware!”

“Oh, woe betide the griffon hen who doesn’t like to see silverware destroyed…” Twilight commented rolling her eyes. “I wasn’t aware that they enjoyed such things.”

“It’s silver! It’s not the item itself, but what it’s made of! They’re blunting the bloody stuff, making it unusable! Have you not heard of where we came from?” Gilda asked. “Arimaspians, central Asia! That’s where our ancestors came from, and the Arimaspians were who we feuded with over the spoils of the mountains!”

“...Basically, you’re annoyed they’re ruining your precious silver to hoard then?” Twilight deadpanned. “I didn’t think you’d even have the ability to start up a hoard. I thought you wanted to see the world!”

“Yes, but after this is all over? I’m settling down Twilight. Me, and a whole bunch of gold. Maybe meet handfed to me by beautiful maidens I kidnapped from Princes.” Gilda commented stroking her chest feathers with a talon.

When Twilight stared at her in shock and whispered: “But I thought…?”

“Oh for Muspelheim’s sake…” Gilda grumbled to herself. “Don’t give me that poor sappy oh woe is me puppy dog eyes… I’m a griffon. We don’t do good. We only look out for ourselves and that’s the end of the matter!”

“B-but you said you’d be with me to the end…” Twilight murmured close to tears as she thought back to a couple of nights before.

“Listen, never tell yourself that okay?” Gilda asked Twilight, smacking her upside the head. “Goddess only knows why I’m saying this, as I’m not exactly the soft and mushy sort -Ask anyone I know!- but nobody’s insignificant. That includes you Twilight.”

“Yeah, you say that, but compared to goddesses and titans and spirits and all that, I am rather insignificant. I’m just that small, compared to well… something like that!” Twilight said, pointing to Sól’s sun just barely peeking through the clouds.

“So?” Gilda shrugged her shoulders. “Listen, take this as you will, but everyone’s small compared to the sun. You need to be you right now, whoever that is, and not worry about your size compared to a goddess’ own. Everyone has their part to play, you just need to find yours. So, I ask, what is it?”

She remembered Gilda’s words to her back then, the griffon being her rock throughout this entire journey. And it was all… She stumbled over the words scarcely able to believe them. It was all an… act? No, it couldn’t be. It just couldn’t. Could it?

“Yeah, to the end till I find a nice stash of gold and gems which your mother will undoubtedly reward me with when I return you home!” Gilda snapped back. Thor had found it wise not to interfere between the two and their spat. Between Twilight’s flames and Gilda’s claws, it was probably not a wise choice to interfere. “Newsflash Sparklebutt, we griffons are not nice creatures! Open up your eyes, wake up and smell the roses! I’m only doing this for the reward. That’s the only reason I’m keeping you safe, not because I genuinely like you or anything!”

Twilight stifled a sob, before flying out through the nearest window.

Gilda rolled her eyes, before looking up at Thor who was giving her a staunch look of stern disapproval.

“Oh, what?” she commented. “If you’re going to chew me out, do it to someone who actually gives a flying feather about what people think of her!”

“I was going to do no such thing,” Thor replied. “I was merely going to stare at you until you decided to go and apologize.”

“Oh, oh so you’re guilt-tripping me then?” Gilda replied. “Newsflash! Never worked on me before, and isn’t going to start working on me now.”

Granted, Gilda admitted Thor staring at her was a bit more effective than anyone else doing it, given the smell of ozone in the air, and the lightning crackling in his eyes. And was that thunder she heard in the background?

“...Okay, so maybe the ‘stern look of disapproval’ shtick does work…” Gilda murmured fearfully before she unfurled her wings -and if it was a little bit quicker than she normally did, Thor refrained from commenting on it- and flew after Twilight. It took her a few minutes, but she found her on a small collection of rocks just off the island shoreline, trying to hide her tears with her wings.

When Gilda tried to approach, understandably a small blast of flame was sent her way singeing her head feathers.

Truth be told, Gilda wasn’t entirely sure where she stood on Twilight. She was a nice enough dragon, if not a bit naive but that made her easy to use for her own ends. Truth be told though, Gilda didn’t particularly care for dragons all that much given that they often rivaled griffons in competing for riches.

But then again, looking at Twilight now, curled up on some rocks sobbing pathetically… Gilda… Well, she had to wonder if all treasure really was silver and gold, and was using Twilight actually worth it in the end? And she did promise to the dragon who claimed to be Twilight’s mother to protect her.

Of course, what Celestia knew or rather didn’t know probably wouldn’t hurt her… would it? After all, if her precious daughter got lost along the way towards wherever she called home then what would it matter? Gilda could say she tried her best to help guide her precious daughter home but the whims of the Moirai could not be avoided.

Gilda, keeping her distance continued to think. By the Primordials, this was ludicrous. Why was she sticking her neck out for a dragon she barely knew? And then there was what Twilight was trying to do. Help out Fenrir, who in an old poem… well, it sorta said it all.

“Then is fulfilled Hlín's
second sorrow,
when Óðinn goes
to fight with the wolf,
and Beli's slayer,
bright, against Surtr.
Then shall Frigg's
sweet friend fall.” Gilda murmured to herself… Really, if Twilight was a smarter dragon, then she wouldn’t involve herself in the affairs of the Æsir and just try and find her way home by herself.

“But that’s the thing isn’t it?” Gilda thought. “She doesn’t even know where home is does she? She needs the help of allies, no matter how strange or distrustful to find her way back!”

Personally, in Twilight’s position, Gilda would have tried to have made the best of what she had and just carved out a life somewhere out here. Well, maybe not exactly here here as it was filled with gods and monsters and other grand schemes, but somewhere that wasn’t quite her home but she could make it so. Be pragmatic, or more realistic about things. Because quite frankly, what were the chances Twilight would know her real home even if she found it?

“This is foolish!” Gilda muttered to herself. “It’s like helping to lead a blind horse to a book! They’ll never be able to read it, and in that stead, Twilight would never recognize her home even if it danced up to her nude and bit her on the ass!”

So why was she helping her, Gilda had to ask herself. Really, this entire thing was just nonsense and a good way to get killed before she even reached middle age! And what did she get out of this? Treasure? Well, maybe. But probably not a lot, and this again presumed she was even rewarded by this Celestia presuming she was ever found.

“Oh… By the Gods… What is the matter with me?” Gilda muttered before she flew down towards Twilight, and pulled her tight into a hug as the dragoness sobbed.

As dawn broke, the search was resumed. At least, that was the plan anyways. Thor was having none of it. “You presume to track Sköll once more?” he asked. “You would be fools to do so!”

“Yes, but-”

“Twilight, Thor’s right,” Gilda commented. “We can’t kill him. He’s a little bit beyond us I should think.”

Twilight gave her a withering glare. Apparently, she still hadn’t forgiven Gilda after the events of last night. “As she very well should…” Gilda thought to herself looking away in shame.

“I didn’t say kill Sköll,” Twilight replied. “I want to reason with him, tell him he doesn’t have to follow the myths people have written about him. He and Sól… Well, from the way he talked about her, he truly seemed to love her and Sól loved him back.” Twilight sighed sadly. She wanted to get these two back together. Call her a hopeless romantic, but it seemed… right.

“Hello, did you not hear Sköll?” Gilda sighed in exasperation. “He seemed rather adamant that if people thought him the monster than that’s what he’d be!”

“Always the cynic, aren’t you Gilda?” Twilight deadpanned. “Never considering there are possibly other paths one can take in life.”

“Oh, if you only knew…” Gilda thought to herself wondering if she should voice Twilight’s other option.

“I must admit,” Thor commented. “Learning of a relationship between Sól and Sköll is truly… surprising. But I cannot forbid it. The heart wants what the heart wants I suppose… Unlike my father, I am more lenient on things, and truth be told I was never pleased with what he did to my brother’s children…” he muttered. “If what he did has truly led us on the path to the Götterdämmerung then I must try and find a way to change fate. Perhaps maybe, just maybe Ragnarök can be halted.”

“The fact remains though,” Twilight replied sternly. “ Sköll must be halted one way or the other. We cannot let him go around, killing innocents. No, that should never be an option!”

“I like your spunk, Twilight Sparkle!” Thor laughed uproariously. “You remind me of the Lady Sif! A true warrior. That being said if you attempt to go after Sköll as you are… You will surely be killed.”

“...Then I presume you’ve already got a space in Valhalla picked out?” Gilda deadpanned before Thor gave her a nasty glare and began muttering ancient magics under his breath. Twilight’s scales rippled and glowed before they lit up a bright purple and she tilted her head skywards firing a powerful blast of magic through the gathering storm.

Now, Twilight mused to herself. Now, she was ready. Eying a thick fog bank that seemed to take the shape of a wolf, she flew towards it, eyes narrowed.