Equestria: Total War

by emkajii

XVI. Stripengeti Savanna, Punda-Milia. February, 1252.

XVI. Stripengeti Savanna, Punda-Milia. February, 1252.

The gentle winter sun shone down on her back and wings, and a sweet breeze whispered through the tall brown grasses. The ground beneath their feet was hard and cracked; the locals said it was still another month until the rains would come.

"It sure is a nice day, huh?" chirped Frankie.

"You've said that. Like three times a day. Every day. For a week." Gilda replied, not bothering to conceal her irritation.

"It's always true!"

Gilda shrugged. "So move here."

"No way! I'm a Talon, remember? That's for life!"

Screwball interjected, in her customary telepathic chiming. Do not be so sure. Soon you will betray the Talons in order to come with me on a long journey across the continent. We will have to kill several of them.

Gilda gently slapped Screwball in the back of the head. The pony wobbled in midair, then righted herself and continued floating on. Gilda rolled her eyes at her. "We already did that, nutbar. Like a month ago. Probably more." She began overenunciating her words. "That is why we are here, and not in Gryphonia."

Oh. I figured we must not have done it yet, because if we had, that would have been a silly thing to say!

"Yeah, it was a silly thing to say, Screwy. Frankie says silly things."

Ha ha I like that.

"See, Gilda," Frankie said reproachfully. "Screwy likes me."

"Yeah. I can see you're real popular among insane ponies who can't even tell whether what they're looking at has happened yet. Great character witness there. I mean, if Screwball likes you, I must be crazy for thinking you're a pain."

"Yeah. You know what? You are. Because you need me. Let's see how good you are in a fight, huh?"

"Ugh. You and I haven't had to kill anyone yet, Frankie. Screwball can take care of that."

Frankie scoffed. "She let me kill lots of ponies so far. And then there was that time she didn't notice when Rory tracked us down in that inn. You'd both be dead if I hadn't been there."

"You killed him on the street, Frankie. Like two blocks from the inn. Screwy would have noticed him."

I didn't notice him. I think she's right.

"See? You're just mean to me for no reason," Frankie huffed.

"Oh for--you didn't notice him because he wasn't anywhere near you," Gilda said, her voice pained. "You'd have seen him when he was closer."

Distance doesn't affect what I see. Or do you mean with my real eyes? Your friends are hard to see that way. Remember Rodric?

"Whatever." Gilda shook her head. "This conversation is dumb."

"Gilda, why are you being such a jerk about this? You wouldn't have seen him once he started coming after you. That's why I was watching the street. I saved us, okay? I saved you! And I came with you because I like you, even though I promised I wouldn't ever leave the sanctuary without permission! Why--why do you always act like you don't like me?"

"I *said* this conversation is dumb. Let's just keep walking, okay?"

Do I have to walk too? I don't know if I know how.

"Don't be stupid, Screwball," Gilda snapped.

I'm not stupid.

"Whatever."

They walked/floated on, in uncomfortable silence. A lone cloud made its way across the sky. The sun continued its slow transit across the heavens.

Suddenly, deafening bells rang through their minds. OH MY GOSH GUYS I SEE IT I SEE IT I SEE IT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR SO LONG I SEE IT I SEE IT OF COURSE IT'S THERE OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS I -- Gilda and Frankie instinctively covered their ears with their claws, even though there was no physical sound.

"QUIET DOWN AND WHAT IS IT?" Gilda yelled.

See! Look look look look look look look look look look-

Gilda looked at Screwball. A silly little cap, with a propeller on top, adorned her mane. I found it! It was in a pile of stuff they were going to throw in a fire but now they won't ha ha ha ha ha ha ha I found it ha ha ha ha ha ha. She spun in tight circles and loops midair. Suddenly, a rough, rasping coughing noise came out of her throat:

"XXCcchchhxxx xhhch xhhghchhx xhchcxhhha xchhaa cxhhaaa xhxcaaa chxaa cxhaaa cha xcha chaa cha ha ha cha ha ha ha ha ha"

Gilda and Frankie stared in shock. Screwball's little loops slowed down, and she fixed an eye on both of them. Isn't it pretty? Discord gave it to me. Well he gave me everything. But the hat is special! It was the only thing he gave me that wasn't...you know. Me. The only thing I could lose and I lost it but I've got it back!

There was a pause. Frankie and Gilda spoke almost in unison. "You laughed."

Screwball floated in place, her little smile fixed on. Yeah! I'm happy! Aren't you? I have my hat! Everyone should be happy!"

Gilda spoke first. "You laughed. With your mouth. Like a real sound."

I always speak the same way, Gilda. I--

Frankie talked over the mental chiming. "No no no! You used your mouth and...lungs and stuff. Like it was a noise, not a thought. Have you...ever done that before?"

Sure. I dunno when. Sometimes. I guess.

There was a short silence again. Nobody moved.

"Well...it is a pretty hat, Screwy..." Frankie offered.

Yes ha ha!

"...and I think you have a nice voice. You should use it more often."

There was no reply. They moved on, again in silence.

The night sky was a brilliant display of constellations. Gilda sat on the ground, staring reverently upwards. Frankie sat next to her, doing the same. A hundred honored ancestors and eternal spirits looked impassively down on them.

Frankie spoke quietly. "You know...it's the same ones as back home. Up in the sky."

"Yeah, kid. The exact same."

"Did you know they were the same?"

"Yeah. They're the same in Equestria, too."

"I didn't notice." Frankie looked down at her feet. "But the ancestors don't live here. Do they?"

"Some do, I bet. Gryphons used to rule all this, and I'm sure some of them were our ancestors. That's why there are so many lions in Gryphonia, you know. We brought 'em back to work for us."

"Because they share our ancestors, but they're worse than us, right?"

"Yeah. But not all of our ancestors. Not the eagles."

They sat in silence.

"Does the whole world have our spirits and ancestors in the sky, Gilda?"

"You bet. They're not just our spirits. They're everyone's spirits. It's just that other places don't listen to them."

"Hmph. If the spirits are everywhere, then why are the ponies so upset that we're giving the land back to them?"

"'Cause they're ponies. Ponies don't honor the spirits or their ancestors or their family. They honor themselves and their friends, and they change their friends on a whim." Frankie looked confusedly back at her. "They're selfish, Frankie."

"Oh. Is Screwball selfish?"

"Yes. But Screwball is special, and she wants what we want, so we'll work with her."

"Okay."

A warm breeze ruffled their fur and feathers.

"Hey, kid," Gilda said, looking down at her.

"Yeah, Gilda?"

Gilda leaned closer. "...why do you like me?"

Frankie kept looking at her feet. Gilda leaned a bit closer, and raised her eyebrows expectantly.

Frankie looked up at Gilda's face, then back down at the ground. "Um...I always like new recruits because they're really bad at everything, and that's funny. But most new Talons get all angry about how bad they are and make themselves get better, or they accept they're bad and stop trying and get killed in the training. But you didn't do either. You didn't get angry and mean, but you still kept getting better. I thought...I thought that was good."

"Pfft. I got plenty angry."

"No. Most gryphons get really angry. Like you can't get near them."

Gilda shrugged. "So you like me 'cause I don't care about my honor? That's kinda insulting, Frankie."

"No no no! You do! You kept getting better, so you obviously cared, and you do get really passionate when the other Talons don't listen to the things you know. You've got the best parts of being a good gryphon, but not the worst parts. Maybe you have some of what's good about being a pony in you! I don't know. But you're good. That's why I like you."

Gilda thought, then spoke softly. "I dunno kid, I think you're just makin' stuff up. I'm pretty normal."

Frankie crossed her arms. "Well, you're not normal for a Talon."

"Yeah, maybe not. But like you said, I'm not a great Talon."

"That's for sure. But that's okay. You're a good gryphon."

Gilda made a show of rolling her eyes, but under her feathers she blushed slightly. Frankie scooted a bit closer to Gilda, then a bit closer, until they were side by side.

Gilda looked down. "Do you have a family, Frankie?"

"Not anymore, I guess, now that I'm not a Talon. Unless you and Screwball and me are a family."

Gilda felt briefly uncomfortable. "No, kid. I mean...did you have parents? That you knew?"

"No. I'm Talonborn. My parents were really good acrobats and so the palace took their egg and hatched me and trained me and now here I am."

Gilda nodded. "So you've never had parents?"

"Sorta. I had people who took care of me, but they usually weren't the same people, so I wouldn't get too attached."

"How come you care about ancestors, then?" Gilda asked. Frankie cocked her head. "Since you aren't attached to a family line, I mean."

"Because I'm Talonborn. I'm protected by the royal ancestors. And when I die, I'll join the royal ancestors with the other Talonborn. Or...I hope I will. They'll understand, right? You said they would."

"Yeah, Frankie. They will. We're doing exactly what the King said. His ancestors will be glad to accept you."

"...if we kill the Pony Queen, right?"

"Yeah. But we will."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

They listened to the insects chirping.

---

The midmorning sun hung in the sky, casting a gentle warmth. They walked away from the little informal market, their bags weighed down with food and water, their footsteps heavier but their stomachs fuller.

Gilda stared dead ahead as she walked. "They obviously weren't going to know anything, Screwball. They're farmers. Farmers don't know about forgotten magic. They apparently don't even know about bathing."

Frankie shrugged. "Looked fine to me."

We can go into a city, Screwball chimed, but the zebras get very angry when we do that. They think I am evil. I do not understand.

Gilda stopped walking. She looked at the pony. "Screwball. You're a flying mindreading semi-omniscient pony with absurd magical power. You're the daughter--or whatever--of a god of chaos. You have a divine link to the Flow. You've killed like a dozen gryphons and three times as many ponies without showing any emotion whatsoever; I don't even know if you knew you were killing them at the time. I don't think you're even capable of remorse or regret. And you're taking us on a mission to unearth a magic relic that the Zebras deliberately forgot thousands of years ago, so you can commit regicide to revenge your imprisoned demon father."

Yes. I...think that's all true, though I don't know if I've killed anyone. You might be making that up.

"You have. And the fact you don't even know is even scarier--"

--I'm sure I'll know sometime soon. And I do have emotions--

"--not the point! The point is that you are obviously evil by any objective understanding, and not in the sense of 'big jerk,' but rather in the sense...well, in the sense that you're the kind of thing we write legends about. And not the good kind of legends. The kind that keep the temples in business."

Are you being mean? If you're mean than you won't want to help me and if you don't help me you can't come with me.

Gilda sighed. "...no, Screwy. I'm not being mean. I'm just...I understand why the zebras don't like you. They're pretty magical people. They might not know quite what you are, but they know enough to know you're bad news. I get that."

You 'get that' because you don't like me either?

"No, I like you. I'm afraid of you. But I like you. I don't think you're malicious or anything."

Malicious means you want to hurt ponies?

"Well, people. Not just ponies. But yeah. You don't, do you?"

The world is beautiful!

Frankie piped up. "Um, was that a yes? Or a no?"

To what?

Gilda cut Frankie off. "Do you like to hurt people, Screwball?"

I like the world. I don't like Celestia. I don't like when people are mean to me. But I like everything else in the world! Sometimes people are happy and that's beautiful. Sometimes people suffer and that's beautiful too. Most people try not to make each other sad and that's okay. I do the same! But you don't Gilda, do you? Why is that?

Gilda started walking again. Screwball and Frankie followed. "Why do you always turn these conversations on me?"

Because when you talk like that it reminds me it doesn't make sense.

"Screwy, nothing makes sense to you. Half the time I give you breakfast you insist you've already eaten it."

No things make sense when I look at them but I don't always see everything else. But I can see all of you when I see you. And you don't make sense on the inside.

"Oh, for--not you, too. Look, Screwball. I'm not some deep mystery, okay? I'm a gryphon. Like any other. I'm reasonably smart. I've got a temper, but not a bad one. And I try to do the right thing."

What is the right thing?

"What's gotten into you? Is this philosophy class? No, I'm not going to discuss pointless stuff with the nutty pony."

Okay.

Gilda stopped again. Screwball and Frankie stopped as well. "Look. We didn't come here to talk about our feelings. We came here to find some magic you insist exists but which nobody has apparently heard of. That means we're going to have to go into a city with a good library. Is there any way you can come with us?"

Only if I walk. And don't talk to any of the zebras. And keep my eyes hidden. And they don't look at me with magic.

"No, that won't work. You need to talk to them. Frankie and I don't speak Zebra."

They will get angry at the library if I do that.

"You sure?"

Yes.

Gilda sighed. "How are you with languages, Frankie?"

Frankie cocked her head. "I can speak all right, I think. You understand me, right?"

"That's it? No foreign languages? No High Tongue?"

Frankie narrowed her eyes. "I can speak with a Korella'gryph accent. It's real funny."

"Well, then. I guess I'm handling the next market visit."

"But you don't speak any Zebra, do you?"

"Eh. A few words. I guess I've got to learn the rest."

"I'm sure you'll do great. I mean, that's why you spent all that time reading stuff, right? So you'd know how to do things?" Frankie thought a second. "I bet that's why you're a Talon, Gilda! Because you can figure out how to do things! I can fight and sneak around and Screwy can do her weird magic stuff and you can do anything else! Anything at all! I bet that's what the King made you a Talon for. And me too. We're like perfect together--"

They walked on, following the cracked dirt path. Frankie continued to chatter on. Gilda looked up at the sapphire-colored sky. A small flock of birds soared past, and landed on a lone tree standing in a stretch of rippling, windblown grasses. In the distance, a giant white cloud rose miles into the sky, flanked by a few smaller clouds. She smiled to herself.

"Hey, kid."

Frankie stopped talking and looked up, a bit apprehensively. "Yeah, Gilda?"

"It sure is a nice day, huh?"

Comments

I sure hope the Gilda/Frankie/Screwball side plot gets better, because right now, theyre just wandering.

[Bairiko]

i don't even understand this sub plot, like, yeah they"re looking for something so he nut case can do...something, but when i learned about the Talons and that Gilda's now one, i thought it was going to be something along the lines of special forces... I'm confused.

[Jeff Belinger]

Why is everyone complaining about the sideplots? Just bear with them. They will get important soon.

[LanceOmikron]

I'm enjoying it. A lot. When a story causes you to take Screwball seriously, then that's something to take notice of.

[EpicSPAR]

I think Screwballs one of the coolest villains i've read about, I still want them to die horribly though.

[Silverstein]

Nice subplot.

Silver out!

[Wobble]

I kind of figured it was perfect for the overall theme of the story, mainly the speech. Just ignore the fact that it's about Canadian armed forces in WW2, not ponies at war in Equestria, and it links together pretty well.

[Truly Luminous]

Burn the heretic. Kill the mutant. Purge the unclean.

[Tallow and Port]

I'm still excited for Gilda to meet the new Rainbow Dash.