Scratches
By Bendelsohn
Chapter 1: remembering
Rainbow Dash soared through the night air. It was quite cold that evening, but she didn’t mind. She actually rather enjoyed the cold that night. She felt that it helped her concentrate, so she didn’t simply fall asleep on the job. Even though tonight’s job wasn’t particularly important, she still wanted to get it over with so she could sleep. All she had to do was make sure the weather ponies had properly set up for that night’s shower. It was a small job. The kind of thing that only needed one pony to do. Luckily, she was almost done.
She carefully examined the placements of the clouds, making sure that they were all just the right density. It was only supposed to be a light rain that night, so if any one cloud rained harder than the others, it would look very out of place. It took her about 5 minutes to check all of the clouds, and correct the few mistakes she found. She then drifted over to the main control cloud. She set the shower to begin in 10 minutes, exactly on schedule.
Having finished the job, she drifted down below the cloud cover. There, she saw someone who she had certainly not expected to- Gilda. Gilda? She left months ago! how could she be here? Why did she come back? Rainbow flew closer to her. From just outside Gilda’s view, Rainbow noticed her dead-serious look. Any desire Rainbow had to talk to Gilda quickly turned to suspicion. She tried to remain out of sight as she followed Gilda from above.
Gilda stopped in a corner in Ponyville park. She only waited a few moments before someone even less expected appeared- Pinkie Pie. Rainbow flew in even closer to hear what They might say. Gilda was the first to speak.
“Pinkie Pie, I’m glad you could make it.”
“Oh, of course I could come! I always love setting up surprise parties, especially for my friends! I had no idea that Rainbow’s birthday was tomorrow! If you hadn’t come and told me, I might not have even been able to throw her a party!”
Rainbow Dash muttered to herself “It’s not my birthday...”
Gilda responded to Pinkie Pie. “Oh, it’s my pleasure, but before we start, I need to talk to you about something.”
“Okay, what is it?”
“Do you remember that time a few months ago, when you threw a party and Dash said she set all those pranks?”
“Of course I do Silly! I never forget a party!” Pinkie suddenly looked sympathetic “I’m sorry if you took those pranks the wrong way. Dashie lays pranks like those all the time! I really hope you aren’t mad at her.”
“Oh, I’m not mad at Dash.” Gilda moved closer to Pinkie. “But I do have a little theory about what happened that night. You see, I don’t think that Dash really set up those pranks.”
“But of course she did! Why would she lie about something like that?”
“Don’t play dumb with me! I know you set up those traps! This is all your fault!”
“Gilda, what are you talking about? What’s all my fault?”
“You ruined everything! Because of you, I had to leave this town in disgrace! I lost my best childhood friend because you made her a loser! People recognize me now as ‘the one who tried to destroy Pinkie’s party’! You Ruined my life! You ruined Rainbow Dash! You ruined me!”
Now, Pinkie Pie looked genuinely sorry. “Wow Gilda, I had no idea that you really felt so bad! I’m really super duper sorry about that party. Is there any thing at all I can do to make it up to you?”
Gilda smiled at Pinkie Pie. “There might be something you can do to make it up to me.” Gilda proceeded to grab the pink pony in one of her claws. The other drew back behind her. Pinkie pie just looked confused.
Rainbow Dash was hiding on a nearby rooftop. She knew exactly what was coming. She wanted to do something, but she was unable to move. She tried to call out but her voice failed her. Her anticipation had completely paralyzed her. Try as she might, she could not force her muscles to move.
It all happened much too quickly. Gilda shouted something that Rainbow dash couldn’t understand. Then Gilda only seemed to twitch. A splash of red colored the wall next to them. Pinkie’s body grew limp in front of Gilda. The claw drew back for another swipe. It came horizontally, creating another splash of red. Rainbow couldn’t bear to watch anymore. She didn’t have to. Something in her mind, perhaps the same thing that kept her from moving, snapped in two. Rainbow lost all control of her body. She screamed as loud as she could. Ponies, awakened by the noise, peeked out their windows to see what was happening. Gilda turned around at the scream.
“Dash? Dash! Please no! This isn’t what it looks like!”
Dash didn’t hear what Gilda said, nor did she care. She flew down at Gilda at top speed, slamming into her with with as much force as she could muster. They skidded across the ground.
“Dash, please no! Don’t do this!”
Gilda seemed panicked now. She struggled against Rainbow, but she barely had time to even push her off. Rainbow dash put her hoofs on the sides of Gilda’s face, and twisted as hard as she could. A loud crack sounded through the area. Rainbow sat on top of her for a moment, sweat pouring down her face. She looked around, and saw the ponies running back inside. Most of them would probably call 9-1-1. Rainbow Dash didn’t care. What ever happened to her was a low priority at the moment. The very moment seemed to last for hours. Only a second passed before she realized what she had to do.
Rainbow Dash stepped off of Gilda’s body, and then looked to Pinkie Pie. Gilda had not cut Pinkie’s neck. She was alive but bleeding badly. Not wasting a second, she picked up Pinkie’s body and rushed off to the hospital. Rainbow Dash stopped herself from crying on the way there, for fear that her tears would enter her friend’s deep wounds.
