Despite what Gilda would have imagined, things were quiet as they went to town. She had expected more running and screaming, maybe some evil laughter, and maybe even an explosion or two, something. Maybe the town ponies were just hiding for now. The weather looked bad enough after all right now.
While the griffon was unsure rather or not she wanted to come along for this trip, Gilda had no choice in the matter. Package Deal was demanding her to come out or he would “apply needed pressure” to get his point across.
Some ponies, she heard, were stuck in ice. As was the clear threat was them freezing to death as the weather got colder. The closer they got, the worse the snow and wind became.
Gilda saw the rest of the pony pack all behind cover. Rainbow Dash was there as well, with some bandages on her body. Several blocks away stood Deal like a short looming terror, near him were the really unlucky ponies frozen in ice.
The purple alicorn was the one in charge, likely Twilight she figured. Gilda hadn’t been to good with names at the time she came by.
“Gilda, good you are here!” Twilight said. “Here’s the plan….”
“Aren’t you like...an alicorn?” Gilda stated the obvious. “Can’t you take him out from here?”
Her stating the obvious wasn't helping, at least the facehoof the princess indicated that.
“We can’t do that!” Twilight yelled back. She then pointed to a upside down pony in armor, his legs and head being the only parts free from ice. “He did that in an instant, and he chased the others off with shards of ice he made from thin air.” Then the tone went from unsettled to oddly descriptive. “Well, actually he caused water molecules in the air, already present, to cool enough too….”
“Twi!” yelled Applejack with an upset look. “This ain’t the time fer a science lesson!”
Despite being the biggest pony there, Twilight Sparkle looked a bit embarrassed. “...We need to get those hostages out of the way, and we can’t be sure the full extent of his power,” she simplified. “I need you to distract him, Gilda. That should give us an opportunity to get those ponies out of harms way.”
“So, I’m bait here?” Gilda said, more than a bit annoyed. “You serious?” she added in disbelief.
“Yep,” said a certain cyan pony who would remain nameless for awhile. She was not at all fazed by the griffon’s death glare back to her.
“Besides…” Twilight continued calmly. “He said he would only talk to you, so just keep him distracted and we’ll do the rest.” While Gilda could have rolled her eyes, maybe even grumbled, this got her tense enough that she just nodded.
She went forward to certain suckage.
Gilda walked past the cover, past that frozen guard with his hooves still flailing in the air, and kept going until her old boss noticed her.
It didn’t take long, when Deal’s eyes looked at her and had gone from his normal brown to straight up black. Black and glowing with a worrying power.
“Gilda,” Package Deal said with a calm voice. He had been sitting on the snow, and got up as she drew close. The way he moved was strange, like he had no bones in him. He swayed as he spoke “I’ve been expecting you. Are you now ready to face the consequences of you actions?”
“What about you?” Gilda countered with some anger. “You just ran around freezing and kicking around ponies here. What’s your deal?”
She looked at the frozen crowd. She didn’t recognize any of the ponies, but she found Angel, with a pleading look. He’ll live--hopefully.
“I do what needs to be done,” Deal said calmly, not even acknowledging her anger. “The guilty need to be punished, coddlers need to be shown that means need to be taken. That force needs to be applied, and these events forced me to do this.”
“Like what?” Gilda asked in an attempted cool way. Part of her felt like this was out of some movie, and she was hoping she was doing it right. “I remember what happened to Silver Bell, ok? I’m sorry. She….”
“Don’t you dare speak her name!” Package Deal’s calm had been replaced by a violent roar, blowing at Gilda’s fur and feathers. “Your dirty presence only sullies her memory, and I intend to wipe that clean!”
“So, what are you waiting for?” Gilda yelled, trying not to let that force faze her. She really hoped the princess pony squad behind her were doing something now. “What do you want from me anyway? You gonna try and kill me again?” she held her claws out as she spoke. “Don’t you realize how messed up things are right now?”
“His black heart,” Deal replied, simply pointing a hoof only answering one question. “Then your suffering.”
“His black heart?” Gilda was confused for a moment, but the answer came out fast.
“Me?” said the Snark, now standing next to the griffon. “You're coming for me? After all I’ve done, how shameful!” Despite his statement he still looked like it was a joke as he chuckled.
From behind Package Deal came another form. What Gilda figured was a large bird--dragon thing made of stone and ice, with gravel and bits of ice falling underneath. The fact it’s eyes were polished stone was uncanny, with her and the Snark’s reflection being visible in them.
“You have come this far, Snark, but I will have the honor of bathing in the gloom age to come.” the owl dragon Jabberwock said gently. “You wouldn't deny this pony his goals in life, would you Snark?”
“Aw, I hate it when we fight,” the Snark--well, snarked with a smile. “Come on, have a heart that isn’t mine. I did the work, the hard parts anyway.” He then patted Gilda’s back, giving her a chill. “And she’s been a trooper ya know?”
“I, nor the Jabberwock, intend to let Gilda go.” Deal and Jabberwock said simply, Deal’s eyes narrow.
“She’s just a miserable, burnt out bird Snark,” the Jabberwock stated clearly with no emotion. “Her life is many times more forfeit than his ever was.”
“And that’s the beauty of it!” the Snark playfully spun as he spoke. “Hatred coming, hatred going. A simple feast for me of anger!” His smile lowered into a bloody frown. “Besides, you and that avenging dork night you have are waaaayyyyy too short sighted I think.”
“And your’s too far!” replied the Jabberwock as though talking to a disobedient child. “Your silly idea to conquer the gates of delirium is too far the beyond. You are losing all vision of what exists before you.”
“I’m much better at empowering this meek doofus!” was the Snark’s childlike response. “And the best you can do is make a moron think he’s a hero. Pah! You're more childish if you ask me!”
That was it then, as the snow blew up into the air and Package Deal and the Jabberwock had enough of this. The cold bird lizard looked to Deal.
“Break her again, but don’t kill her.” he explained. “Savor it, so she feels the guilt for everything she’s caused.”
“I will,” Deal said in a low, serious tone. The Jabberwock vanished as Deal’s body shook and spasmed. The snow around him seemed to blow about with a wind that came from within him.
Gilda now saw another good reason to start backing away.
“I am so devouring you when this is over!” the Snark yelled over the coming storm.
“I know your kind Gilda,” Package Deal uttered in a voice no longer his own. “I watched as you were content to just drag others down with you. Unable to take even the most remote effort to think about anyone but yourself!” He pointed an accusing hoof that seemed to melt off. “You never intended to change, you dread it! I know you are content to be a monster, so I will have to save others from your influence!”
“Well, don’t just stand there!” the Snark called Gilda’s attention from a rooftop, notably above the coming fray. “Fight back, kill, go crazy! Like a duck to water!”
Gilda looked back, and nearly got hit by thrown ice. She began to wonder how.
“I am the face of hate,” Deal said in a distorted tone with cold air and ice coming off him. In a wild swirl that even broke window shutters off, freezing them as well in ice. “I am the denied justice of revenge and cruelty to the wicked that you cannot, and will never accept.”
Gilda was quite scared then, even letting out a yell. “Yikes!” she yelped as she dodged more flying debris.
She saw Deal’s body writhe and wither, like his bones were pushing against his skin until it was a leather bag pulled taut. As his body warped, the griffon’s gaze went to his jaw line.
His already scary mouth of teeth just unhinged, widening his smile, and letting out a loud roar in her direction. Notably now with a mouth that could that could eat whole limbs off and bellowing F2 winds.
Gilda could gauge that from experience.
That distraction plan Twilight had just blew away as far as Gilda was concerned, and chances were she would too with that wind she felt coming to her. She took to the air and flew away fast.
“You can not run!” the Deal like thing roared behind her. “None shall escape their guilt!”
While Gilda was doing her best to prove him wrong on that point, as far as flying at least, she was also trying to come up with a plan to fight him. From the air, she could see the local heroes moving quickly, breaking the hostages free and even carrying them to safety.
But no sign of Deal could be seen.
“Where’d he go?” Gilda asked as a cold draft was felt blowing past her. The draft didn’t bother her, but the sudden weight on her back did.
To say nothing of the fresh, cold stabbing on her side.
The griffon screamed as she did a barrel roll. It did get Deal of her back, and she watched him fall. He looked back at her without expression, as his bony body became fog and then nothing before her eyes.
“I think it’s safe to say, he can fly too, huh?” added the Snark in her head with a humor she was not at all happy with.
“Shut up!” Gilda yelled back.
Flight was getting painful with those cuts, so she dropped altitude. She didn’t care where she landed, she just needed to get to ground and hope her injuries weren’t bad.
“Ok, so he can just vanish into thin air, huh?” Gilda muttered tensely as she landed. “Maybe that’s all he’s got?” She was shaken, and quite glad to find the cut wasn’t deep. The griffon took a few breaths as she clutched her side.
“Like a one trick pony G?” the Snark snarked. “And here you though his bite was bigger than his bark!” His laughter didn’t relieve the tension Gilda felt as her legs hit the ground.
This street was clear and the hero’s weren’t in sight, still doing rescues elsewhere. Gilda looked around, eyes darting in as many directions she could turn her head. No lights were on, the storm was still going above, and a cart just stood there on the street. The griffon tried to buck some courage, standing up again.
“Come on!” Gilda yelled to the sky. “I’m right here, you big freak! Come and get me, wuss!” She poised herself for battle, ignoring the low pain she had. At least the wound wasn’t serious.
The wind blew around her and the snow on the ground flew about, nearly obscuring her vision. She really wasn’t sure how to do this, she just had to hope she did. Really, really hope she did.
After turning a bit in place she saw the Deal monster for a moment, only for it to vanish. Then again, at another angle, with her only seeing his black eyes for a moment. Then he just appeared in front of her, she couldn't tell if that was a shark smile or a dragon's maw he now had as he grinned back.
In her smarter moment, Gilda blew a raspberry to the monster. Good news: he didn’t vanish. Bad news: he was throwing ice at her. The griffon ducked and dodged the thrown shards, until he went for a low blow and iced her wing solid with frost leaving it numb and heavy.
“Hax!” Gilda shouted as she ran for cover. She got behind that wagon and flipped it on it’s side. The sound of impacts told her how much icy death the wood was stopping.
Still, it was temporary. Deal would either go to mist or just break the thing down. Then, Gilda had an idea.
With a firm grip and a pull, she pulled one of the carts wheels off, and after a pause threw it at Deal. As she expected, he iced the thing solid. The griffon used the opportunity to quickly blindsided him.
Gilda dug her claws into his side for a change. Even going as far as digging her beak, in desperation, into Deal’s neck. She just didn’t expect the sudden blast of cold air that threw her into a wall though, ironically knocking the wind out of her.
“I will not be stopped,” the horror uttered back in a scathing voice that had the griffon shiver on the ground. “I cannot be stopped.” Deal continued as he trotted to Gilda’s now prone form, even letting out a low growl. “I am hate!”
As Gilda tried to catch her breath, she saw how bad things were for her again. The monster Deal was wasn’t losing blood for one, and the bluish writhing shapes that were in those wounds she gave him told her why. His side soon no longer had visible injuries, and his neck was slowly closing. Worse, he didn’t even look like he felt any of that.
“Nuts!” Gilda cried out as she flailed and the ground. “Just nuts!” She tried to get up but failed. “How do ya stop…” she added with wide, shocked eyes.
The griffon needed to get away from the creature, this monster that chilled her blood just looking at it. Any amount of gallows humor didn’t waver the fact that this--creature was intended to be her end. All she could see was visions of him ripping her apart in the name of his idea of good.
“Do you like dying?” said the Snark in a sarcastic tone. “Does it delight you, sad little bird?”
“No…” Gilda replied with a bit of a tremble, her body shivered from more than just the cold. “I ain’t going out like this.” her voice broke. “Help me....”
“Good,” the Snark replied with a giggle, and her Gilda’s body lurched up with a sudden force inside. “Let’s rip his legs off,” he continued in a delighted voice. “It never really mattered, he’s dead anyway!”
It wouldn't leave her alone until she did it. Gilda was up as she roared at the horrific monster, and she kept roaring as her roar became a distorted shriek that cracked the windows of surrounding buildings. The griffon’s body felt alien for a moment, like she was only just a controller of it. She was numb, but could see her body shift and change.
Sharp ice grew on her claws, those cuts she had trembled too once were a memory. Her view was clear, and the most pleasant thought she had was involving Deal’s curb stomping. Her skin pulled itself tight, lean and built for combat as fat was trimmed.
Gilda felt she could take a dragon like this, heck ten dragons plus two! She could take him on easy.
It felt like every part of her had missed this tranquility. This was mad certainty, the truth, the happiness. Gilda charged forward as Deal threw more ice, swatting past the sharp chunks and sweeping her claws into him. She had only partly dug into him when he vanished into air.
The griffon creature may had been thinking clearly or just guessing as she grabbed the cart, and with great strength, spun that thing in fast circles. The vortex she made was now affecting the air, as Deal form became solid for a moment and that’s all she needed.
Gilda slammed the cart into him, breaking it apart on impact. Now he was on the ground and she pounced with no mercy. Her talons shredded the heck out of him, and going with Snark’s suggestion, she tore his left foreleg off. Then his right leg was bitten off by her beak in an instant.
That earned her another blast, landing herself on a wall again, which she bounced off and landed on her feet with ease. Her beak had fangs in a grin at the how simple it was.
“Too easy,” Gilda’s voice was raspy as she smiled. “Now who can’t be stopped, dork?!”
Deal seemed to finally crack a bit, his forelegs legs were stumps and his other wounds were a mass of azure. What fluid drained from his body blackened the snow it landed on.
He let out a howl, guttural and shrieking, as mist poured out that from his stumps. The mist swirled around where his legs had been, and in an instant, the spirals merged and took shape becoming new legs. Package Deal had his limbs back again as though they had never been removed.
Gilda watched this horrific and cool display of power with glee. Now this was a fight! The griffon creature pondered what would happen if Deal lost his head. He may well grow a new one too, so she could tear it off as well.
Then she could, she could-- nearly fall over.
Gilda’s head felt sparks burning in it, threatening to white out with pain. She had to let it go then, like she’d been moving too fast, about to lose balance and fall apart as her head exploded. Soon, it felt like all the air had to leave her body or she was going to blow like a balloon.
A growl left her beak that became a groan, and she quickly felt like she was hit by that cart as she fell to the snowy ground. The griffon felt like she was going to puke with how sick she now felt. Like, somehow, she had forgot she died and her body was angry she forgot.
Her body writhed as her original shape returned. Gilda was back to being herself again, but right now in a bad way.
“Get up, now!” the Snark’s voice yelled like a razor in her brain, and not helping the pain she was in. “Kill! Get angry! It’s the only way to win!” The most she could do was hold her head as she got up.
“My head hurts...” Gilda moaned over the winds whipping her now. “How…?”
Seeing more ice in the air she instinctively tried to scramble out of the way. The shards missed, and lucky for her Deal’s game was off. It was good thing, if she could just use it. The griffon got up again after stumbling on shaky legs and talons, still breathing heavy.
“That all ya got?” Gilda muttered weakly, trying to pep herself up. “I can take…whatever you can…” She needed to take more breaths as she shook her head. It was then, she let her vision gaze to what was now behind the monster. ”Are you kidding me?” Gilda added as her beak dropped.
The pony girl hero squad had arrived to save the day. Package Deal, for good reason, was more upset by this as her turned to see them. Gilda was less so, her sigh was more partial to relief than annoyance then.
“It’s over!” Princess Twilight Sparkle yelled with a echo, her allies close behind her. Unlike the griffon, said princess seemed more disgusted than scared of the monster before her. “You’ve lost!”
“Never!” a was the nightmarish screech uttered from Deal’s body. The black in his eyes dribbled fluid across his head like black veins. “I will have my vengeance!”
While Deal’s messed up form worked it’s way over to fight more, a quick magic blast had him down on the ground. That ice power of his wasn’t so sturdy now. His breath as he growled was raspy, slow, and in that tense pause Gilda noted one thing.
His breath wasn’t steaming, like he was as cold on the inside as the weather.
“Surrender!” Twilight said in a non echo voice. “You can’t win now and I won’t let you won’t harm anyone else.”
“Miserable...weak host,” uttered a voice only Gilda seemed to hear. “Clearly my faith was mistaken.”
“Hurt?!” the malformed Deal’s voice squealed. “All that I cared for was destroyed by that griffon. No justice came for me!” His voice’s tone became more off, like it’s frequency was messed up. “With my loss, it’s all I have. To ensure...no more….to crush the guilty until they do right and stay that way!” Package Deal’s body writhed in pain as he spoke.
“Just give up,” Twilight replied slowly. “That doesn’t excuse what you’ve done, but it doesn’t have to be like this. Just surrender, and we can stop all of this.”
“I…” Package’s eyes were wild as his body trembled with movement, struggling to get up. But when his eyes saw Gilda again it didn’t end well. “From hell’s heart, I stab at thee!” he roared at her. “For hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee!” His body fell back to the ground and began to spasm violently. At first, no one was quite sure what to make of it.
But at least one pony did, she was doing her own spasms.
“He’s gonna blow!” Pinkie Pie said with all due seriousness. “First to cover wins!”
Gilda hobbled as best she could to a safe place before the blast knocked her off her feet, and knocked her out. Everything went black
“...Ice off her!” Gilda woke to hear voices outside, though it sounded hazy now.
She grunted as she pushed her limbs to move. Whatever ice this was took a lot of effort to crack. But with a bit more force, the griffon broke free of that shell.
“Woah!” said at least one pony as Gilda shook off shards and bits off. The griffon’s vision was wobbly after letting off a breath outside her icy prison.
“She’s ok!” said Pinkie Pie with glee.
“Came out on top!” Gilda said to herself with a smile. Well, just before slipping on the ice under her feet. “Argh!” Her bravado ended with a whimper of pain.
“Easy, easy!” Fluttershy said as she helped the griffon back up. “Come on.” She was pulling the griffon away from the scene of the recent blast.
“Is everypony alright?” Twilight Sparkle said, but Gilda couldn't tell with what she could see.
Either from one impact or another, she was finding it hard to keep focus. She could see that purple pony pointing around here and there, but most of what she said felt distant. If her eyes could spin in place, this was likely be doing so. They would feel like this as they did.
“Were fine!” yelled Dash, who turned out to be not more than a few feet away from Gilda.
That helped the griffon with a jolt, pulling her out of her weakness. Well, that and a second jolt when she felt her wing.
YOW!” Gilda yelped and was back on her feet. Awake and looking around, she realized she had an icicle in her wing. It was straight thru even, stuck inside. If she was anymore awake, she might have started screaming. “That’s….gonna hurt in the morning, or now, somepony get that out…” she muttered in a muddled voice.
Fluttershy put the griffon down, taking a look at the wound. “Oh my!” was her word on it. “Are you really, really sure you want that out, Gilda?” the griffon nodded back, and she might have heard Shy gulp as she nodded back. “It will hurt a bit,” added said softly. “Try to stay still, ok?.”
Gilda nodded, and decided to take her mind off the feeling of something being pulled from inside her wing by looking around her. The fact she was mostly numb did wonders for the pain. As the pegasus went to work, the griffon looked at the aftermath.
The road, the buildings, all were covered in black ice. It was cold enough to fog up even as the nights winter weather stood firm. It was pretty cold, in fact very cold. The snow didn’t so much as land on it but freeze into it. Even Twilight’s attempts at magical fire didn’t seem to dent it. The fires only went out when it met the ice.
“What just happened?” Gilda asked, still kind of delirious.
“Package Deal’s gone,” Fluttershy replied simply. She had got to wrapping some bandages on the wing now. “Please take it easy.”
“How long was I out?” Gilda asked.
“Only a minute,” Shy added as she finished her work. “We saw you after the explosion. You were frozen in ice.” she said quickly.
It was quiet for a moment, as Gilda caught her breath. Princess Twilight seemed to be managing her other friends to do what they could. To check for any other injured, check the houses that have ice on them, see if ponies are alright, the usual it seemed. The griffon guessed disaster response was pretty regular here--maybe.
Then she saw the Snark skating on the ice with enjoyment, with all the ponies oblivious to his presence. Even the purple pony princess didn’t see him as she skated by, waving his hooves with a horrific black toothed sneer. That’s when Gilda knew she needed out of here before it got worse.
“Please tell me were going home soon,” Gilda asked quickly, shaking her head. “I need outta here.” Despite a moment ago, or what she usually wanted to stand for, the griffon just wanted to be away from the action as much as possible.
“Can you walk?” Fluttershy asked, still at the griffon’s side.
Thankfully, despite the numbness, Gilda could tell the pony was helping her stand. For once, she was quite glad for it.
“Yeah, yeah.” Gilda said absently as she moved forward. “I can walk.”
“Twilight!” Shy shouted over to the alicorn nearby. “I need to get Gilda home!” Judging by the gesture, Twilight was in agreement. The griffon’s legs were shaky, but she was walking. “We need to get you inside,” Fluttershy added as she walked along with the griffon. “Do you need some soup? The others we released from ice were closes to hypothermia when they got out.”
In time, she was practically asking questions one after the other on Gilda’s wellness as they were leaving to town.
“I’m good, really,” Gilda more or less answered to the ongoing inquiries. “Just kinda shook up is all, okey?”
“But you were frozen today, Gilda,” Fluttershy said back with worry. “And you should stay off your wing for a few days.” She continued on with her advice as the the griffon let out a sigh, half relief, half weariness. “And you should get some hot soup or you’re going to catch cold.”
That word struck a cord in Gilda. Only then, she just noticed that despite coming out of a block of ice she wasn’t freezing. She couldn't even feel the cold right now.
“Uh, could the other ponies walk?” Gilda asked for clear reasons.
“No, they couldn't,” Shy replied as she shook her head. “We’ve had to rush many of them to shelter so…”
“Wait, what about Angel?” Gilda then realized who wasn’t there right now, even looking around for the rabbit..
“We already saved him,” Fluttershy replied, looking calm as usual. “Spike is keeping him warm right now, and I’ll check on him when we….” She stopped for a moment, so did Gilda.
Something was on the path out of Ponyville, it was a sleigh pulled by seals.
”Um….” was the best either of them had as the seals barked into the air, slapping their flippers together. The pegasus and the griffon looked on in some surprise.
“Walrus?” Gilda said with a sigh. “That you?”
“I have a name,” Discord said in annoyance, now next to them. “And I only have one long tooth.”
“Oh, Mr Discord,” Fluttershy said with relief. “Why are you here?”
“Maybe I’ll just take everyone's favorite reason and say….reasons?” he said with some humor.
“I imagined you could use a ride home.” While Gilda just kind of stood there at the absurdity of it, the pegasus got into the sleigh.
“Can you bring me back to Twilight’s, after we drop GIlda off?” Shy asked with no problem with the strange ride home.
“But of course,” Discord answered like a gentleman. “Do hop in Gilda, we have so much time and so little to do.
Shy was also gesturing to the griffon, and after a sigh Gilda was aboard.
Into the air they flew in a sled pulled by sea mammals. It was a strange thing indeed, but Fluttershy squeed in delight. Even Gilda found herself enjoying the odd right with a chuckle as the seals fins were out like wings.
For a moment, the griffon could forget that Package Deal was dead. But only for a moment, and by the end of the ride she felt pretty bad again.