//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: Redemption 
// by BillyGoatHicks511 
//------------------------------//

In the years when Luna was still ruler of the night, Equestria had issued its very first mental hospital. Although Ponies were mostly creatures guided by destiny, being that they were also gentle and kind creatures, a line had to be drawn when some ponies came to the conclusion that their destiny was to harm and hurt innocent creatures. The Mental hospitals of those days where not necessarily used to study and analyze the brain. They simply were a prison for the insane. They were trying to keep those who were vicious at bay. Only years later did some ponies realize that there was much more going on under the surface of those individuals who killed and were considered depraved. They didn’t give a second glace back in those days. If you were deemed crazy, you were crazy. Heck, the misguided and ignorant ponies of the past even considered that homosexuality was a mental sickness. 

So it is considered for the most part that the ponies of today are now a long ways away from the confused and oafish ponies of the past. The ponies of today now treat an individual who is mad, with kindness and grace, rather than judgment and cruelty. They talk with them, they analyze them. They keep an open mind and try to understand why an individual would come to the conclusion that it was their destiny to torture others. 

The only link connecting the mental hospitals of today with the mental hospitals of the past was one word: rehabilitation. 

Being that ponies were creatures guided by destiny, when one would conclude something drastic about their destiny, it was serious business. What was truly scary was if the individual was actually right. What if there were ponies chosen to kill? They just couldn’t have that! They would have to suppress it. Or better yet, they would try to find other activities for them to consider as the individual’s true calling. Arts and crafts, talent shows, writing and intellectual studies were all encouraged in the asylums. Anything to keep their mind of the harsh reality that they might have been chosen to destroy the world and set it ablaze. 

Some creatures, however, for the longest time were not guided by destiny. Gilda is one of them. 

It should come as no surprise then, that she was totally perplexed by the behaviors of the residents & staff of “Dr. Goodwill’s asylum for the criminally insane.” They treated each other like they were on common ground. The only difference was that there was a disconnect in each other’s views. Both considered destiny to be the end all, be all, of all pony culture. What that entailed, was where the divergence was showed. 

As Gilda walked down the hallways towards the visitor’s box, a thought kept nagging her. She realized that she was just as much affected by destiny as the rest were. Had it not been for Twilight Sparkle, she would not have found her true calling. But at what cost? And who was in the right? These were questions that plagued her for two years after Twilight Sparkle was arrested.  

But Gilda had to smile. The burden that was on her now was a much lighter load than the one back before she discovered herself all those years ago.  She would rather question integrity any day of the week than she would question herself and the placement of the universe. 

Finally, after much walking, she arrived at her destination. The Plexiglas was the only thing separating her world from the world at large. Gilda felt a chill go down her spine as she heard the all too familiar monotone ring of the door locks opening on the other side. Every week it was something new. That was how often she visited her. And every week, she still had no idea what was going on within the head of Twilight Sparkle. 

The purple unicorn in questioned was guided by two male nurses to a chair which sat on her side of the Plexiglas. They held a hoof under each of her hoofs to make sure she couldn’t escape. Once Twilight sat down in her chair, she looked Gilda square in the face and smiled. 

The griffon had already picked up the phone in her hand. She was eager to speak to Twilight today. That was wonderful news. It made the purple unicorn’s heat sore. She was eager to speak to Gilda as well.

She picked up the phone on her end. 

“You know, it was once written by a famous pony psychologist that ‘the meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.’ Would you agree if I made the statement that those word especially apply to the relationship between us two?” Twilight asked with a hint of mischievousness and knowledge behind her wild eyes. 

Gilda smiled as she looked down. Philosophy was typically a common theme in all of their talks. “I certainly believe so. We have changed each other. Although, I would say that I got the better end of the deal.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked with a sense of good-humored distraught. “I love playing the bad guy. Besides, a mental hospital is not too bad. Free food, free housing, lovely company….how are things with you by the way?”

Gilda felt a twinge of reality tug on her heart strings at that moment. Twilight’s insanity affected her speech pattern in a very particularly way. She would sometimes never finish her sentences. Watching her do that in-front of her reminded her that the old twilight was gone. This new Twilight was a threat; a charming threat, but a threat nonetheless. Be that as it may, Gilda answered Twilight’s question. 

“Pretty Good, pretty good,” Gilda chatted away. “me and Big Mac are getting married this fall.”

Twilight’s eyes sparkled. “Oh, how lovely. Congratulations to the both of you!”

Gilda blushed. “Thanks, thanks.”

“Any plans for the future, if you don’t mind me being so bold,” Twilight asked. 

“I don’t mind. Yes we got plenty of plans,” Gilda retorted. 

“Kids?”

“Yes?”

“How many?”

Gilda laughed. “That’s still up in the air. With the way he ruts me, I’m pretty sure the buffoon what’s at least 27.”

Twilight and Gilda shared a great laugh together. Then twilight asked a serious question. 

“Will you tell them?”

“Tell them what?” Gild responded. 

“About me? About yourself?” Twilight’s questions came with a sense of desperation behind her voice. 

Gilda shrugged. “Why should I? I think it’s a hero’s duty to keep their secret a secret. Lord knows I’ve had that responsibility spoiled.”

Twilight hummed in agreement. “Quite. That unpleasant occurrence in my art gallery two years ago tossed that responsibility right out the window for you.” Then Twilight looked her dead in the eyes. “But you know, I think it would be wise to inform your future kids about me. After all, a superheroes biggest threat is its villain.”

Gilda looked down. She felt like nothing was ever going to change. The constant rat race that was her previous life was now replaced by a different one. At least this one had purpose and meaning. This one seemed a lot more fun. But she had been under the assumption that ponies could change if they set their mind to it. So Gilda asked Twilight a very important question.

“When are you getting out?” she asked nonchalantly. 

“2 more weeks. I’ve been on good behavior,” Twilight responded giddy.

Then came the important part. 

“Will you hurt more ponies once you get out?”

“Absolutley. It’s my destiny.”

Gilda sneered and smiled. Two emotional expressions that were complete and utter paradoxes and yet they fit so perfectly on Gilda’s face. As she got up she said, “Good, because it’s my destiny to stop  you.”

Twilight looked up with a smile. “I’ll be waiting.”

Gilda was about to hang up the phone when a thought struck her. It was in a book she read just recently, and the quote had been floating around her brain for quite some time. She tinkered with the possibility of what it meant and how it would apply to her life, but the opportunity to use it had never presented itself. 

Until now. 

“Hey Twilight,” Gilda began, a sense of worry in her voice.  

Twilight looked up. Her eyes were like that of a child’s. As they locked onto Gilda’s warm yellow eyes, Gilda could see that all the wonder of the world still glittered in Twilight’s head. After all, a nerd was just someone who resisted the temptation to wither out after one’s spring years. Twilight just took that wonderment to the extreme, experimenting with lives and hurting people. She would have to learn the hard way, and she would have to be rehabilitated, time and time again. 

But at least Gilda’s purpose was to antagonize Twilight’s purpose. It kept them close, and it kept them stronger than they were before the day the realized what fate they served in this universe. 

“You always begin our talks with a quote, well I’ve got a quote of my own,” Gilda exclaimed with a smile. 

Twilight sat with eager anticipation. 

“There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be...” Gilda held onto the phone, away from her ear, in a feeling of desperate silence. 

Twilight smiled. “That’s a good quote.”

Gilda hung up the phone. The male nurses picked up twilight and she was whisked away back into her padded room. Meanwhile, the justifiably insane Gilda walked down the corridors feeling as though a chapter in her life’s story is coming to a close. 

And that my friends, is where our story, draws to an end.