//------------------------------// // The End // Story: Redemption // by BillyGoatHicks511 //------------------------------// A/N: Ok guys. Real talk here. There’s been much hype and speculation (particularly from one commenter) that I will make a sequel to this. In all honesty, it was intriguing. In fact, aside from the reality that I was creating a demo in Nashville, part of the reason why it took so long for this chapter was because I was deciding what to do. Should there be a sequel? Should there be a series? Thoughts like that. But the biggest thought I had was “Is this the last chapter?” This story is based off the film “Unbreakable,” by M. Night Shymalan. Now, before you throw the stones at me, you should all know that this was his LAST good movie. In fact, f*** it. I believe this is his best movie! “Unbreakable,” basically took a deeper, darker, and more artistic look into the origins of a superhero. It’s basically an adult version of the Superman story. Better yet, the best way to describe this film is “what if Superman lived on Earth, and didn’t know he was superman?” the film talked about such themes as destiny and fate and while I personally believe that with enough hard work, one can change their fate, this movie really played well with that forte and I adore it. But this film pissed a lot of people off. Not that it was bad. On the contrary; typically it was adored by critics. But, as M. Night is known for, the twist ending (while a good twist) left the film with so much left untouched that a lot of people hated it. Word of mouth began to spread and the film did poorly in the box office. So, this is where I found myself in a pickle. Should I create my own ending, or stay true to the film that this fic is based off from even though the ending of the film ticked a lot of people off? While gone, I brought with me a notebook. I brain stormed cool endings (one of which I’ll use in the epilogue). I charted out details. I even wrote rough drafts of chapters, but they all kind of stunk. None of them felt right. Which is why, I am going to remain true to the movie, and make this the last chapter. I actually like the ending of the film and I think it’s perfect for this story for three reasons. 1. Because of the way I sat my characters up; the ending of the film will lead to a perfect relationship arch with Big Mac and Gilda. Now I know most of you wanted me to develop the relationship more in detail…but honestly….what more is there to show? I think that if I go on describing their love and how they’ll have babies and get married, this fic will become too devoted to the romance and that IS NOT THE HEART OF THE STORY! Pretty much, the relationship is well established. It began as sort of a fling, but Big Mac and Gilda found out that they actually kind of liked each other. They fell out, then fell back and love, and with this last chapter they will have “the talk.” You can decide what happens next. Hey, I’m totally cool if one of you guys goes off and creates a sequel to this story; just be sure in the description to link this story as well. So, with that in mind, the ending of the film will help close off the arch of Big Mac and Gilda’s relationship cleanly and that is why I am making this chapter the last chapter. 2. This story is not what you think it is. Simple as that. I think I might’ve lead the wrong impression by creating a story that seemed like it would be a big action spectacular. It is not a generic superhero story with lots of action. It’s a story with lots of exposition and heart within the character development and the story. In fact, the major action scene was the one described in the last chapter and that’s that. People wanted big explosions and fist fights and THAT IS NOT THE HEART OF THE STORY! The heart of the story is Gilda, and her redemption. The heart of the story also involves Twilight Sparkle. This leads me to part 3. 3. While the story has a back drop and the typical trappings of a superhero origin story, the film and this story itself is thematically about the ideas and argument for pro-destiny. And what better fandom to try out destiny than My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Please watch DigibronyMLP’s video about the role that Destiny plays in the FIM universe. The link is here -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljIXLLp3E58 The reason why this should be the last chapter in the end is because since this story is about destiny, the story should end showing all aspects that destiny encompasses, including its dark side. Gilda found her destiny, which was the light side. The dark side of destiny shall be associated with one character. Whom you may ask? Well, that’s for you to find out. Mwhahaha. So, without further ado, here it is. The long awaited final chapter of REDEMPTION. It’s been great fun. I had a great time developing and writing this story. An Epilogue shall follow soon after. I love you all. I made some great internet friends. God Bless, peace and love. BillyGoatHciks511. Here it is. He woke up with a tongue in his mouth. He also woke up feeling happy, elated, relaxed and warm; the typical emotions that one experiences the morning after the first time one has sex with a long time consensual lover. But the tongue in the mouth was unexpected. However, it was not unwelcomed. As Big Mac submitted himself to consciousness, his eyes at first were wide and his breath was stuck in his lungs due to the unforeseen tongue in said mouth. He felt the sharp edges of her beak grip slightly around his nuzzle. It was enough to keep her locked but soft enough not to break the skin. As he felt the grip, along with the tongue massaging his own tongue, he returned the kiss with equal fervor, and closed his eyes slightly. This was heaven. It had been several months since Gilda arrived on the farm. At first, he thought she was different. Not pretty per say (although she defiantly was) but she carried her body in a way that struck Big Mac as odd. She carried herself strongly. She carried herself with a weight that not only was a blessing, but it revealed itself to be a burden. It was a blessing because the way that she carried herself showed herself to be a true survivor. Nothing could bring this woman down. But on the other hand, the weight also showed the world that she was damaged. She felt unsure about many things, and slowly, the weight was beginning to crush her. Big Mac wanted to get to know her more. Turns out, much to his pleasure, that he was the one that aided her in removing that weight from her bones. Gilda felt happy. Typically, these mornings were coming off and on since the first time she arrived at the barn. But now that happiness had transformed itself into something bigger. She felt contentment. She felt as though she finally achieved her destiny. All the struggle that she went through wasn’t worth nothing. All that struggle finally paid off, and as an added bonus, she founded that special someone. Gilda felt that today, she would be happy for the rest of her life, as long as Big Mac agreed to hold her in his arms. And from the way he gripped her, pulling her chest closer to his until they could feel each other’s body heat; Big Mac wasn’t letting go anytime soon. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, as self evident from the fact that Gilda and Big Mac were slowly loosing oxygen, and had to release themselves from each other’s lips. As they pulled away from each other, both stared into the other’s eyes. There was a moment of peace and admiration. They were gazing into the soul of one another, and it was beautiful. There was no wrong. There was no pain. There simply was being and love. And in that moment, Gilda smiled; and then she began to speak. “Your breath stinks,” she said with a laugh. “My what?” Big Mac replied as he watched his lady cackle and laugh into his chest. “Your breath baby,” Gilda said into his hair. “I know it’s not the most romantic thing to say but it smells bad.” She continuously laughed. Big Mac smiled and stared into the ceiling. “What’s it smell like?” “Hard to say,” Gilda responded. “But I can tell you what it tastes like.” “What’s it taste like?” Macintosh asked. “Morning…” there was quite for a little bit. Big Mac pulled her close and pecked her beak one time. “You taste like cherries,” he told her softly. “Aw, how sweet,” Gilda sarcastically responded with a genuine smile of happiness. “You didn’t even leave your tongue in my mouth for like two seconds.” Big Mac cocked a brow. “Well then allow me-” Before she could react, it was Gilda who got the unexpected yet not unwelcomed tongue intruding into her mouth. She reacted the same way Big Mac did. There was a few seconds of wide eyed, faltering, ‘wtf just happened,’ reactions going off in her brain. Then, she let herself sink into an enveloping happiness that washed over her body like royal milk. Big Mac pulled away. “You still taste like cherries,” he responded deeply. Gilda smiled softly and then kissed his neck. They laid themselves into one another and hugged deeply. Again, a couple of seconds of un-fearful silence surrounded the room, and then Big Mac broke the spell. “Honey….I don’t suppose we had the talk yet.” The gears and cogs working in Gilda’s mind stopped working for a few seconds. “The what?” “The talk,” Big Mac responded. “You know….the one where we talk about our future together?” The cogs then clicked themselves back into overdrive. “Oh yeah….that talk.” Big Mac raised a brow. Her tone of voice seemed to suggest that she was sad that he brought it up. “You seem disappointed.” “Not disappointed,” Gilda corrected him. “I’m more anxious than anything else.” “Why so?” her man asked contently. She stared into her eyes. She had a glazed over look. “I don’t know how you’ll respond.” With passion encircling his heart, and with as much love and charity as he could muster, he spoke softly and without intentions of inspiring fear or anxiety, and proclaimed, “Tell me. Where do you want this to go?” Gilda laid her head back down into his chest. Her thoughts raced as she tried to think of some romantic way of replying to the question while sounding original and not cheesy at all. She listened to his heart beat. The rythmatic pulsing almost put her back to sleep. She had an out of body experience when she heard herself say out loud, “All the way.” Big Mac stared into the ceiling. He was smiling. Meanwhile Gilda was mentally scolding herself. ‘That had to have been the dumbest thing to say-’ “I agree with you completely,” Big Mac replied. She breathed a sigh of relief. She melted into his body. There was a picture on the wall of Gilda’s bedroom. It was a picture of the founder’s of Sweet Apple acres smiling as the unfinished barn stood proudly in the forefront. Gilda subconsciously thought that the figures in the photo were smiling at her good fortune; a blessing from those on the other side. “Marriage?” Big Mac asked knowing what the answer would be. “The biggest one anyone’s ever seen…and I am not wearing some frilly-ass bridal gown,” Gilda replied with confidence. “I’m going to be the most badass bride that anyone’s ever seen.” “Yeah,” Big Mac replied with a grin. “In leather thigh-high go-go boots and fishnets.” Gilda punched him in the chest playfully. He felt like a brick house. He chuckled. “Only if you wear a top hat and coat tails,” Gilda responded as she slowly crawled up his body to face him. “Baby, I’m not introducing clowns,” Big Mac responded. “And I’m not getting kinky until our honeymoon,” Gilda playfully stated as she circled the imaginary hairs on his chest. “I thought you were rather kinky last night,” Big Mac responded as he quirked a brow. “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Gilda exclaimed as she consumed his face with a kiss once again. This one lasted for a good 5 seconds before they pulled away once more. “That is, of course, to be revealed over time.” “Kids?” Big Mac asked again. “Yep,” Gilda responded politely but quickly. The subject of kids, while she agreed on having them one day in the future, was a rather touchy subject with her. The fact that she was the by-product of bad parenting, made her feel unsure about how fit she would be as a parent. “How many?” her lover asked her. Gilda shrugged. “How many you want?” Big Mac grew a cheeky grin. “If I were to have it my way….I would want ten.” Gilda’s eyes went wide. “TEN! TEN! How in the hell can you possibly want ten?” Big Mac laughed. “I know that it’s impossible to have that many kids and take equally care of them perfectly,” Big Mac proclaimed as his grin grew bigger. His green eyes locked down on her yellow ones. “Six will do.” “NO!” Gilda replied with playful yet serious shock as Big Mac laughed once more. “What’s your fascination with kids in large numbers? Why six?” “It’s a good number,” Big Mac replied with a shrug. “A good, wholesome, round number.” “No,” Gild responded as she held up her talons. “3 is a round number. You know, that’s why it has the little humps.” “I guess we can table this discussion for now and bring it up later,” Big Mac stated with a sigh. “No,” Gilda said with content. “We won’t table this to bring it up later. We’ll finish the conversation now. Big Mac, it’s my uterus, not a clown car!” If either of the two were to have paid attention around the time Gilda first started screaming, they would’ve heard the audible hoofsteps coming up the stairs. That way, neither of the two would’ve been scared out of their wits when AJ kicked in the door. The door flew open. Gilda yelped as she turned around and Big Mac almost flew off the bed. “ALL RIGHT!” Applejack stated before taking in her surroundings. “JUST WHAT IN THE HELL Y’ALL DOIN UP-” At that point, her voice died in her throat. Her eyes began to examine the room. She slowly revealed to herself the unexpected horror before her. The room smelled a familiar smell. It smelled of sweat and something rather risqué to say the least. Applejack began to blush. She noticed the tattered sheets, and the two lying in bed. Most importantly, she noticed the redder than usual face of her brother, and the ruffled feathers of Gilda. She sighed disappointedly. “aww hell. I appreciate the fact that y’all a couple and stuff, but someone’s gotta clean the sheets later and it aint’ going to be me. So next time, either go to hotel or take care of the dang laundry cause……sweet Celestia….whatever.” Applejack slowly began to walk out the door. The baffled and embarrassed couple watched silently for a moment; unsure how to take AJ’s reaction. Before Applejack left completely, she turned to face the couple once more. “Oh, and by the way. Gilda, it’s good to see you back home. Breakfast is ready. I made waffles with eggs.” And then she walked out of sight. Applebloom woke up slowly. She felt somewhat misplaced and weird. As she examined her surroundings, she realized why. The last thing that she could recall before going to sleep was waiting for Gilda in the living room. She was now waking up in her bed. AJ must’ve carried her up the stairs last night and put her to sleep. That’s the conclusion that the Cutie Mark Crusader came up with. This is not the first time this had happened, thus the reason why Applebloom was not shocked by this sudden displacement. She simply felt tired. Super tired. She got up from the bed and stretched herself out. Yawning, she popped her hind legs and back in several places. Then, throwing on her traditional bow, she walked out of her room. As she walked down the stairs and came closer to the kitchen, she felt the typical sensations of a morning breakfast being made. She heard the sizzling of eggs and the beeping of some type of machine. From the smell, she realized that the machine in question had to have been a waffle maker. She saw the morning light in a haze, due to the steam coming from the kitchen. She smelt coffee. She could even taste the syrup in the air. Life was good. Once she finally made it around the corner, she saw a sight that immediately caused her to wake up. “GILDA!” Applebloom screamed as she approached the giant griffon. She rushed Gilda who was sitting at the far in of the table and seized Gilda in an unbreakable hug. The Griffon smiled like a mother and returned the hug with equal force. She was expecting somewhat of an enormous reaction. Apple Bloom looked up into Gilda’s eyes. Gilda noticed that Apple Bloom’s eyes were glazed over with tears of joy. She was so happy to see you again. “I didn’t know what happened to you,” Apple Bloom cried and blubbered over quickly. “We thought you had disappeared. After Big Mac checked the room and noticed you were gone we all flipped out but he told us to wait and I didn’t know what to do but I knew you would come back I just knew it iknewitiknewitiknewit-” Apple Bloom cried into Gilda’s chest again. “It’s all right,” Gilda whispered into Applebloom’s ears. “It’s all right.” Applejack trotted over and tapped Apple Bloom on the shoulder. “Apple Bloom, sweetie, your eggs or getting cold.” Being almost a teenager, the only thing that can soften and take the intensity off a really emotional moment, is hunger. “FOOD?” Applebloom proclaimed as she looked around the room. She finally spotted her plate at the other end of the table. “OH BOY!” She rushed over and firmly sat herself down in the seat. Grabbing a fork, she quickly punctured the yolk of her egg and watched the runny fluid pored over. ‘Over Easy. My favorite,’ Applebloom thought to herself out loud. She cut the meat up a little more and then brought the egg up to her lips. She ate it. 2 seconds later, she spat it out. “Yuck,” Applebloom proclaimed. “They’ve gotten cold.” “You were asleep for a long time Applebloom,” Applejack proclaimed. “It’s 10:30 am.” “10:30?” Apple Bloom proclaimed, shocked. “How in the world did I sleep that long?” “You’re a growing girl sugar,” Applejack replied again. “You were up till 2:30 am last night & you needed your sleep.” Applejack then looked towards her brother. “Macintosh, can you fetch some more eggs from the hen house?” Big Mac nodded and then after kissing Gilda on the cheek, he left from the table and went outdoors. AJ looked behind herself. “I bet the waffles have gotten cold as well.” AJ then walked over and kissed Applebloom on the cheek. “Don’t worry baby,” she said. “I’ll fix ya some new waffles.” She walked over to the fridge and grabbed the left over batter that was contained in a plastic green bowl. She carried it to the waffle maker and didn’t turn around for a long time as she prepared the strawberries to place in the batter. Applebloom loved strawberry waffles. Meanwhile, Applebloom poured herself a glass of orange juice. As she looked down, she noticed a newspaper coming into her peripheral vision. She focused on that. …………She was speechless. The cover of the newspaper showed an artist’s rendition of a masked vigilante. It wore a green trench coat and although the facial features were mostly darkened out, a beak came into view from out of the hoodie. The figure bore a striking resemblance to Gilda. The title in black bold font proclaimed “Children Saved by Hooded Savior.” Applebloom locked up into Gilda’s eyes. She was flabbergasted. She breathed heavily but in short and quite breathes. Her eyes screamed to Gilda ‘what does this mean?’ Gilda answered in whisper. “You were right.” Applebloom closed her eyes and placed a hoof to her mouth. She wept greatly. Tears rolled over her cheeks like rain. She looked back up at Gilda, and the griffon placed one talon over her beak, in the ‘keep quite’ symbol. Applebloom understood the message. Every superhero had a secrete identity. Don’t tell Applejack. When Applejack approached the table, she noticed that Applebloom’s eyes were somewhat bloodshot and teary. “You all right sweetie?” “Fine,” Applebloom replied. “I’m just tired.” But everything wasn’t fine. A great change had taken place in Applebloom’s life. Gilda was no longer her surrogate sister. She was her hero. Two days passed by and the world just kept on turning like it usually did. Thankfully for Gilda, a usual day no longer contained the sadness that it did before. Now, in place of that sense of disturbance, there was a newfound sense of wonder and direction in her life. She had a purpose. She was called to supply hope and security. She had not only a job, but a life style. And it was kept a complete secrete for two days. The day after the supposed ‘hooded savior,’ rescued the two fillies from the clutches of the house intruder, the masked vigilante was spotted yet again. This time, the figure (which was confirmed by that point to be a female) stopped a would-be mugging in a back alley way beside the train station at Ponyville. The white-mane, blonde colored pony whom she saved, gave her the ultimate blessing. Quote; “I hope she saves another soon. We need ponies like her. I hope she never goes away.” The lady’s wish came true when the day after that, the masked vigilante caught and apprehended two jewelry thieves who had been on a streak of home invasions for the past two weeks. Their streak ended when the mysterious hero caught them outside a house just a few blocks away from the Ponyville train station. What they reported to the police was that one minute, they were robbing a house, and in the next minute, there before them stood this giant dark massive shadow. Next thing they knew, they were waking up in a police station, wondering what the buck just happened and why their heads hurt so much. Gilda always felt a sense of accomplishment after apprehending the thieves or the thugs. However, she never felt pride. She was not boastful of her actions. A Superhero’s life was that of intimate privacy. In a way, becoming a superhero was like having a diary. All the actions that she preformed were written out the next day, but only she knew what really went down. It was all her secrete. She had a full proof plan that she was preparing to use for the rest of her life, had in not been for an unfortunate set of circumstances to fall upon her. The plan was, at 9:30pm, she would sex up Big Mac something fierce to the point that the poor stallion was almost falling asleep cross-eyed. Then, at around midnight, the griffon would sneak out of her lover’s embrace and dawn her poncho to head to the Ponyville train station. At 2:00am the latest, she would be back home. And for two days, that’s exactly how it went and everypony within her group of friends (the mane 5 and the Apple family) was left clueless as to what was actually happening. And then one day, a letter came in the mail. Dear Gilda & Friends, As you all know, the newest ‘masked vigilante’ to hit the streets of Ponyville has captured the attention of many as well as myself. It is even more of an object of curiosity for myself, knowing that our dear Gilda is the hero in question. I am happy just to know that Gilda has found her place in this world. Not many ponies don’t have that privilege. Some of us even loose are place in society these days. We were trained to believe that as soon as we received our cutie marks our lives would be set from then on out. We got only minor or minimal education, and for some, as soon as we found our destiny, we worked hard to perfect it. My destiny involved magic of some sort, and at first I thought I had found my place as Celestia’s right hand student. But then I lost my place. I felt scared and burden and that was when I tried ending it all. You all remember that day vividly. I only wish I would’ve been a little more polite to you all. My attitude and my actions proved to be rude and unloving, and for that, I’m sorry. For years, I searched for purpose. I searched in the one source that provided me comfort; comic books. I developed a theory that many thought was crazy. I know have the knowledge, pleasure, and peace of mind knowing that I was correct all along. Those years of torment weren’t for nothing. I hope Gilda is happy about where she is. Because this is for certain, and I promise I’ll say this again to you all soon. Now that Gilda knows who she is, I know who I am now. I have only her to thank. And so, to express my gratitude, I am personally inviting you all to my grand opening of my comic book art gallery. You all know it as “Limited Addition.” Food and Drink will be served and an auction will be held later for some of the pieces. The theme of that night is ‘Rouges Gallery.’ Because every good hero needs a good villain. Yours truly, Twilight Sparkle. The aura of the grand opening surrounding Gilda and her friends was awkward to say the least. Knowing that Gilda was now some kind o superhero put a strange feeling inside all of their hearts; including Gilda’s. She had no intention of letting anyone find out who she really was. Her biggest concern was Big Mac. For two nights, she ditched the side of his bed and left him alone for two hours. How could he bear to stand next to her after that? Big Mac surprised Gilda, when after the news was revealed, he gave her a giant kiss; proclaiming “I’m proud that you know who you are know. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.” And so, that’s how all of Gilda’s friends ended up coming with her to the grand opening to stand by her side and show their support. At one point, Gilda found herself staring at a particular ‘piece of art.’ The hero in question looked like a typical superhero. There was a definitive jaw line, rippled muscles, and a suit colored in bright pastels. But the villain struck her as odd. He had no amazingly stand out features to speak of. His clothes were normal. His facial expression was blasé. In fact, he appeared to be scrawny. After a while, Gilda felt someone trot up next to her. “That there is a definitive piece of work from the late great ‘Jackal Kirby,’” the voice spoke. It was obviously male and had a scratchy/smoky quality to it. “He was known for being the first artist to pertain absolute realism in his works.” Gilda pointed at the painting. “The villain doesn’t look very menacing.” “That’s what I tell Twilly all the time,” the voice spoke again. “But she tells me I don’t pay attention enough. She says there are two kinds of villains. There is the archetypal villain which fights the hero with its body. Then there’s the arch villain that fights the hero with its mind. It plays games with the hero’s mentality and spirituality. In the end, the hero and the villain both not only are at ends with each other, but need each other. Ying and Yang as it were.” Gilda turned to face this conversationalist. He was a white stallion with a blue-stripped mane. Anyone who was Anyone knew who this delightful being was. After all, one trembles in the presence of authority. Gilda’s heart however remained at a steady pace; even though she was standing in the presence of royalty. “You must be Prince Shinning Amor,” Gilda stated. She held out her talon, waiting eagerly for it to be shaken. “I’m Gilda Griffon.” Shinning Armor’s face brightened when he shook Gilda’s hand. “Ahh, so now I finally meet you,” he proclaimed. “Twilight’s told me all about you. Seems to me that she has a new friend in her life.” “Yep,” Gilda agreed as she looked over her left shoulder and noticed Twilight talking to a group of investors. She still sat down in her wheel chair. Gilda could sense something different about Twilight though. She did appear to be happier, but happy wasn’t the right word to describe it……maybe it was ‘driven?’ “We get along very well.” “It’s good to hear that,” Shinning Armor proclaimed. Then, staring off into the distance of his mind, he whispered, “She’s been through a lot…..” Shinning Armor physically shook his head to snap himself out of that trance. He smiled towards Gilda and said, “I’ll go get Twilight for you. She said she’s got something to discuss with you and your friends.” Twilight Sparkle rolled her wheelchair down the ramp which led into the office. Gilda, Shinning Armor, and the rest of the mane 6 followed in behind. This was the same office that Gilda and Applebloom sat in on that now historic day; the day where Twilight revealed her theory which ultimately started Gilda down the path that was narrowing down today. She felt a strong sense of closure being in this room. Everything was coming full circle. The lavender pony rolled up to her desk and picked up the newspaper. She rotated towards her guest and held the headline out in front of them. The mane 6, Shinning Armor, and Gilda all got a good look at the picture on the page. Shinning Armor wasn’t clueless as to what this meant. He knew of his sister’s theory for a long time, and during the whole occasion between Gilda and Twilight, he had pleaded with his sister to seek mental help. But now that she had proven herself correct, all that Shinning Armor could do was just smile & laugh at how un-smug twilight was in her actions. “It has begun,” Twilight said in an almost empty-sounding voice. The impact of the words however, provided all the space where emptiness would’ve been. She placed the newspaper down, looked back into Gilda’s eyes, and spoke directly to her. “Let me ask you something. When you woke up this morning, was it still there? The sadness?” Gilda smiled. “No, and I don’t think it will be for a long time.” “It was a shock to most of us,” Applejack stated aloud. “But I think we can handle it. You’re right Twilight, the world needs hero’s like Gilda.” Twilight cocked a brow. “None of you suspected a thing?” Big Mac sighed. “I did somewhat. Although I never had proof, I felt a strange sensation….like….every time me and Gilda touched, I got a strange headache soon after.” Gilda’s curiosity was sparked. She turned to her lover. “What was the headache like?” “Huh,” Big Mac responded. Gilda gripped Big Mac’s shoulders. Something was nagging inside Gilda’s psyche and she had to itch that scratch. “The headache. What happened during the headache? Did it feel like a normal headache?” “No, it was nothing at all like a normal headache,” Big Mac explained. “It would be a sharp blinding pain. There was a bright light, a loud noise, and then…nothing. It went as quick as soon as it came.” Gilda’s face caught Big Mac’s attention. The eyes were wide. Her beak was almost touching the floor. She was astounded. “What’s wrong?” Macintosh asked worryingly. From the floor, Twilight spoke. “Would you say that instinctually, you knew something was up with Gilda?” Big Mac made eye contact with the purple unicorn. “I suppose so, yes.” Twilight smiled. Gilda turned to Twilight and noticed the grin starting to stretch out. Most of the guests in the room were clueless as to what was going on. But, in typical Twilight fashion, Twilight had a theory. “Gilda, your powers,” Twilight began, “Have you done anything to harness them, control them, test them?” “No,” Gilda responded breathlessly. “I suppose now would be a good time to do so,” Twilight spoke as she strolled toward Gilda. “As I stated in my letter, ‘all would be revealed.’” “What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked from the back. “What’s going on?” Gilda knew some of the situation and decided to fill in the holes that the rest of the guest needed filling in on. “My powers are not my real powers. Yes, I can take tremendous amounts of physical extension and not be injured, but that is not my true powers. Twilight explained this to me at the Filidelphia Eagles game that me and Dash went to.” “Wait,” Rainbow Dash piped up, now being thrown into the mix. “Are you talking about the instincts?” “Exactly,” Twilight answered. Then she addressed the crowd. “See, all comic book superhero’s have regular superpowers, such as strength, flight, and so on, but each character has a personal power that’s there’s to master. Supermare had lazer vision, the Silver Stallion could manipulate space, time, and ice, and for Gilda here, I believe that she possessed supernatural powers of observation.” “Wait….you mean she’s psychic?” Shinning Armor asked confused. “Indeed she is,” Twilight said happily. “With a physical touch, she can tell if a pony has done something wrong or not. As Gilda explained, after touching someone who had done wrong, she would receive a headache-” Big Mac interrupted Twilight, finally connecting the dots. “Just like my headaches?” “Exactly like your headache’s,” Gilda confirmed. She then looked back down to Twilight. There was a brief silence that followed. It filled the room with tension. “What the buck is going on?” The griffon asked breathlessly. Twilight looked towards the ground, “After you left the hypnotherapist’s office in Manehatten,” Twilight began, “I suspected something about your powers. I was wondering how exactly you got them. For all intensive purposes, yes, you were chosen. Why? To protect ponies of course. But why exactly you? And why instincts? Everypony has instincts, but not many follow them. If they had your guidance, they probably would. And then I thought about the use of your powers? Was it possible that they could be transferred? Could you give another pony a vision?” Gilda’s brain audibly made a dinging noise as she mentally connected the dots. “You think I was giving Big Mac my vision’s every time we physically made contact?” “Yes,” Twilight spoke. A momentary pause followed soon after. The room was quiet again. Twilight said what needed to be said, and that was why she was silent. Gilda was intrigued. “How could we test this?” “No need to,” Twilight said with a smile. “As my letter said, all will be revealed soon.” She then locked eyes with Gilda. The griffon noticed something strange about her eyes. They didn’t pose as anything sinister, yet Gilda was frightened somewhat. She felt a lingering sense of hesitation and fear. But why? Twilight held out her hoof. “I believe this is where we shake and go are separate ways.” Gilda smiled. The book of her life was wrapping up nicely. This chapter was coming towards a happy resolution. The long and winding road was coming to an end. Slowly, she reached out and grabbed Twilight’s hand. They shook eagerly, with a solemn exchange of knowing how much they been through and happy to know that it was finally all ove- HOT! Hot hot hot hot! Searing white blinding pain filled her entire skull. She heard screams, flames and multiple other noises that ached her very spiritual being with fear. She couldn’t even hear Big Mac back in the real world ask her ‘What’s wrong?’ The visions simply took over. The first vision was at a Zeppelin landing field. For some reason, everypony was colored in black-and-white. In her vision, Gilda saw the monstrous zeppelin slowly start to descend from the sky. Out of nowhere, the entire blimp became yellow, and Gilda suddenly realized what she was witnessing. She was watching the terrible tragedy of the Zeppelin crash that happened a few years ago. The Zeppelin was on fire and everypony was screaming and running. All but one. One pony in this vision, was not affected with black –and – white coloring scheme. She remained perfectly still and visible. She watched with a blankness expression as the Zeppelin bursted into flames. There was no emotion within her eyes as she vicariously witnessed mother’s and daughters being burned alive. The one silent pony, was a unicorn….and she was purple. Gilda suddenly heard Twilight’s words that she spoke on the first day Gilda came into her office. “Equestria has seen its share of disasters,” Twilight commented. “There’s the infamous Zeppelin incident in which thousands of passengers died in an explosion as the Zeppelin began to land.” The Twilight Sparkle in Gilda’s vision turned abruptly, and walked away. The voiceover continued. “Morbid I know, but there’s more.” Then suddenly, the vision that Gilda witnessed faded to white and was replaced by another vision. In this vision, everything was in color. It was taking place in a bar, and Gilda noticed Twilight was sitting at the bar with an older looking Stallion. He had a grey coat and a black mane. He appeared to be almost ancient. Gilda overhead the two speaking in her vision. “I’ve worked at the Applelossa water plant for years. I know all its secretes,” the grey stallion in Gilda’s vision announced. It appeared that the Twilight in this vision was intrigued. “Secretes?” Twilight stated. The grey stallion leaned into Twilight’s ear and began to whisper. “If someone were to take out four bolts on the back left leg of the water tower….the weight from the water would eventually cause the tower to lean and within three days, the entire water tower would collapse, and everyone in Applelossa would be buried alive. The whole town would be submerged.” The audio of Gilda’s vision changed, but the picture remained the same. As the grey stallion and Twilight clicked glasses and swallowed their drinks, Gilda heard the sound of rushing water, and also heard the screams of men, women, and children as they all drowned. Suddenly, the voice over from Twilight Sparkle came through as she said “There’s the random collapse of the Applelossa water tower which flooded the town and took the lives of several hundred ponies and buffalo.” Without warning, Gilda received another vision. Just like last time, the previous vision faded to white, and Gilda found herself at a new place at a new time. Gilda’s heart dropped when she noticed she was at a train station. She began to panic when she recognized that it was the Fillydelphia train-station. She was facing the front of a train, and watched as the conductor walked from the walkway up to the engine room. Stepping from out of the driver’s seat was Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, with crutches on both front legs, wobbled passed the number of the train….and Gilda’s world stopped. It was train 411. The same train that Gilda was on. The train that flipped and killed millions of ponies. And Twilight was the reason why it happened. Suddenly, Gilda found herself back in reality. She gasped as she tried to take all the air back into her lungs. Big Mac leaned over and held his girl tightly. “Gilda? Gilda, what’s the matter?’” he said gently; unsure of what was happening and why it was happening. Gilda stared at Twilight Sparkle wide eyed. Gilda knew what these visions meant….but she couldn’t believe it. Twilight didn’t look like the type of pony to hurt any pony. But as Twilight turned around slowly, placing her back towards Gilda’s eyes, Gilda knew that the lavender unicorn was hiding some hideous dark secret. Gilda finally found out what that dark secret was. Twilight was responsible for the death of millions of innocent creatures….. …..but for what? Big Mac still held Gilda tightly. Gilda looked over into her lover’s eyes and felt a strong conviction. He had to see what she just saw. He had to know the things that she knew know. And so, placing her talons loosely on his face, Gilda focused all of her willpower into placing her thoughts into his head, hoping desperately that something would happen. Then, suddenly, Big Mac became noticeably weak. His legs started to tremble and before anyone could react, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he wobbled violently over to the wall. Everyone rushed over to make sure if he was all right. He came back to reality soon after. He leaned against the wall for support. He breathed heavily just like Gilda. His eyes were wide just like Gilda’s. And just like Gilda, he demanded answers…. “Gilda….did I see what you saw?” He asked shocked and confused. Gilda, completely voiceless from her distress, nodded her head. “….What did you see?” Big Mac asked desperately. He just couldn’t believe it. Gilda slowly lifted up her talon. With the most morbid expression possible, she pointed at Twilight Sparkle. Applejack watched all of this unfold before her, flabbergasted. “Twilight…what the heck is going on?” At that point, the unicorn looked up at her older brother, who was equally shocked by what was happening before him, and she spoke with a tone that was a paradox within itself. It was hollow and empty, as if she were sad. But it also contained strong sense of certainty. “Big Brother,” Twilight began. “Would you go to the closet? There’s something there that you need to see.” Without fully understanding yet without asking why, Shinning Armor trotted to the closet which laid on the far left side of the room. The gang, with the exception of Twilight Sparkle, all watched as Shinning Armor opened the closet. As soon as the door opened, the stallion stood motionless for what seemed like eternity; staring into the black void of the closet. Then, he snapped. “WHAT THE BUCK IS THIS!!!!” He came back towards his sister with a device in his hand. It was large, metallic, and it gave off a threatening aurora, much like the one Shinning Armor was giving off. “TWILLY, WHAT IS THIS?!?” He practically screamed. Twilight didn’t even look him in the eye. “Those are the parts needed in order to assemble bombs. I used them on the Zeppelin a long time ago, that one’s a left over.” Silence filled the room as Shining Armor stood motionless, shocked, and completely brain dead. It seemed as though he mentally took a vacation the minute Twilight was done with her response. Gilda was on the verge of losing her mind herself. The gang was shocked and on edge. The question on everyone’s mind was one word….why? Twilight, still looking away, provided the answer. “You want to know what the scariest thing is,” Twilight said solemnly and with no vicious content. “To not know your place in this world….to not know why you’re here…….It’s just an awful feeling.” A small tear trickled down Shinning Armor’s eye. Gilda breathlessly spoke, “What have you done?” “I almost gave up hope,” Twilight stated. At that point, Gilda began to cry as well. She still didn’t get it, but now she knew the true danger of what Twilight Sparkle was. “There was so many times that I questioned myself,” “You killed them all….you hurt innocent souls,” Gilda spoke in a low whisper as she realized she was on the verge of going faint. Twilight smiled. “But I found you…….so many sacrifices, just to find you.” And then it clicked. It clicked for everyone in the room at that point. The letter in the mail made more sense. The cryptic messages that Twilight said became crystal clear. It was single handedly the worst possible outcome of this situation. It was something that no one expected, yet everyone feared. Twilight turned around and faced the group. Her eyes were shrink wrapped with tears of joy as she smiled greatly. Her eyes locked onto Gilda’s once more, and she repeated a phrase she wrote down in her invitation; one that now invoked fear and sorrow. “Now that we know who you are…… I know who I am.” Gilda felt ill. She started to back away slowly. Every muscle in her body felt as though it was replaced by led. Her heart felt like it was going to break. As she walked away, as she passed her friends who were just as shocked as she was, Twilight Sparkle said the words that firmly established her destiny….forever. “I’m not a mistake,” Twilight cried. “It all makes sense. Every superhero needs a villain. In a comic, you know how you can tell who the arch villain is going to be? He or she is the exact opposite of the hero, and most times they’re friends like you and me. I told you we were on the same spectrum, just on opposite ends.” At this point, she tried standing up from her chair. “If you’re the good guy, then I’m the bad guy. You found your destiny, and now I’ve found mine. But I’ve should’ve known Gilda. I’VE SHOULD OF KNOW ALL THIS TIME!” Her legs suddenly gave out and the loud snap of her bones breaking was heard by everypony. All of the mane 5 gasped, and Shinning Armor rushed to his sister. Although she cried into her shoulder, the words she spoke could be decoded by everypony in the room. “There were so many hints….so many clues…but the biggest sign happened to me when I was a kid. Remember brother?” And then she looked into his eyes, and Shinning Armor’s heart broke. This was the same baby that he held in the hospital all those years ago. The broken limbs were still there, but they were now inside her mind. She was lost and gone forever. Innocence was lost. Destiny had claimed its victim, and Shinning Armor was to suffer this for the rest of his life, as his sister said those final words that established her place as the villain of this story. “The Kids in school……They called me ‘the mare of glass bones.’” Shinning Armor cried as he reached for the handcuffs in his pocket as he apprehended his own blood.