Redemption

by BillyGoatHicks511

Time to heal: The weakness revealed

Time heals all wounds. This is fact. Even after a major life-changing event, with the simple element of time added on, the mind can perform wondrous mental comebacks. The saddest day can be seen from a different light and even the darkest night could be merely comprehended as a stepping stone. Besides, tragedy plus time equals comedy, and if the saying is true, that ‘laughter is the best medicine,’ then at this point in her life, Gilda should’ve been a living, breathing, God.

It had been one full month since what the small group of ponies and Gilda referred to as the ‘Twilight,’ incident occurred. It took a while for every pony and Gilda to get back on track with their normal lives after that night. The next morning was practically unbearable for the Apple Family. Big Mac and Applejack debated whether or not they needed to hire a professional shrink to come in and evaluate Apple Bloom. But, after one full week, Apple Bloom finally started to regain her old composure. They knew that she was on the path towards healing when Gilda caught Apple Bloom one day humming the CMC theme song while working on the farm.

So why did it take one full month for everypony to get back on track?

Pinkie Pie was left bitter and saddened by the whole experience. She realized that it was her who called out ‘BUCK YOU,’ as loud as she possibly could that night, and it left her an emotional wreck. Later on in life, she was quoted to saying that for two weeks, she ultimately despised herself. The pink pony tried going back to work one week after the incident, but the Cakes knew that there was more healing to be done when they found out that Pinkie Pie would cry randomly throughout the day for no apparent reason. They sent her upstairs to get some much needed rest, and for at least another week, she would practically spend the entire day in bed. Her hair had lost its ‘poofy’, ‘cotton-candy’ like composure and had gone straight and flat. She didn’t want to eat with the Cakes family table and thus resorted to having her meals passed under the door way for the entire week. Thank Celestia though, one day she did ended up leaving her room, and one month after the ‘Twilight,’ incident, she was the jumpy pony that everypony knew and loved. And it took her a month because ‘Time heals all wounds.’

Then there was Rarity. Life at the carousel boutique had become such a mess after the incident. She had to put off work for an entire week and when she got back to work, she was so over-stressed that she would end up either crying herself to sleep or passing out. But her sister became a big factor in her healing process. Sweetie Bell’s innocence, happiness, and optimistic hope allowed Rarity to sink into another mare’s shoes for a moment, and realize that Sweetie looked towards her for guidance. Now it was time to return the favor. Rarity had to heal, for her own sake as well as Sweetie Bell’s and so, after 2 weeks, Rarity had returned to her normal self.

Fluttershy had always been the quiet, isolated one when it came to healing. It took the concern of many friends and woodland critters for Fluttershy to leave the cottage for a few days. But even so, she remained drastically quiet; to the point that it was even out of character. She didn’t even talk to Angel for three days. One pony changed that; technically, one Draconequus changed all that. Discord had become a big friend towards Fluttershy the weeks after the incident. He even stayed over one night, after begging and pleading with Celestia to let him do so, just to see if she was ok. And when he was around, she was ok. Discord made her happy and ponies were content with that. Then….things got weird. One night became two nights. Two nights transformed into a three day weekend at Fluttershy’s cottage. Eventually, Celestia, along with everypony else became suspicious about what exactly was happening at the cottage. Then, when Fluttershy was fully healed, and when she felt ready, she exclaimed it to the world at the top of her lungs. Her and Discord, were an item. Boyfriend and Girlfriend, together hand in hand, both had lead the other out of darkness at a strange and perilous moment in their life, and they both had each other to thank. So, because of time, and Discord’s love, Fluttershy was healed within the month.

Rainbow Dash found solace in the sky. Three days after the ‘Twilight,’ Incident, Rainbow Dash had found herself sitting on one of the clouds, and staring into the sky. She saw something. She saw a line, a line that needed to be crossed and only for the sake of pure enjoyment. With rapture, she took off in a heartbeat. She extended her wings and flew at breathtaking speeds just straight on. She gained more and more speed until finally; she became the first pony ever to perform a sonic rainboom, head on! The day fully set her mind back into place, so Rainbow Dash became the second quickest pony to heal.

The first pony to heal was Applejack. She needed to heal quickly if she wanted to keep her head on straight. Being a big sister, and one of the proprietors at Sweet Apple Acres, she literally had no time on her hands to sit and mope. This sense of a ‘ticking clock’ actually worked in Applejack’s favor. She had too much work to focus on, and thus her focus refrained itself from drifiting towards the events of that night. The next day, she was fully back to normal, bucking apples and keeping the peace between Gilda and Big Mac.

This is where one finds themselves discovering which two needed the most time to heal. Gilda and Big Mac experienced two traumatic things during the ‘Twilight’ incident, and one of them involved the other. Gilda, after having some time that night to think about it, realized that she was pissed at Mackie! He was her colt friend! He should’ve done something! He should have defended her when the mane 6 were attacking, but he did nothing. In fact, if memory serves correct, he just let it happened, and did so gladly because “What Gilda did was wrong, and she knows it.” That night, when they got home, and Big Mac tried to apologize to her, he made the mistake of placing his hoof on her shoulder, and that’s when she said the three words, that caused the two to separate for the entire month.

“Don’t Touch Me!”

And so, for two weeks, the once ‘inseparable’ couple tied everything in their power to stay away from each other. They ate dinner at different times. They worked on different section of the Farm during the day. Gilda even decided to use the outhouse just to make sure she and Big Mac never crossed paths in the morning when using the restroom. After two weeks though, Applejack had enough. She devised a devious enough plan and put it into action, and with Rarity’s help, it became a golden plan.

The premise was simple; set Big Mac up on a blind date with Gilda. The payoff, if handled well, would be amazing. The execution, while difficult, was preformed with ease; and with Rarity’s help, watching the execution was comparable to watching a romantic French film.

Applejack had created two letters, each from Rarity and sent one to Gilda and one to Big Mac. The Letters asked if he or she would mind having dinner one night, and Applejack made sure to give both of them (separately) the day off to attend this dinner. Gilda was the first one to arrive at the boutique. She was greeted with an elaborate table set up. There was candles, lavender, and apparently a note telling her to ‘make herself comfortable.’ So Gilda took a chair and simply waited.

About a half an hour later, Big Mac arrived. Save for the candles, the entire boutique was dark, so when he entered the dining room, his face became illuminated by the candle light in a strange fashion. Gilda believed she was watching some romance film. It was entirely cheesy, and thus, she automatically knew that someone had set this up. Judging by Big Mac’s equally surprised look, she knew it wasn’t him. So, that only left two ponies.

“Applejack and Rarity set us up didn’t they?” she asked, fully knowing the answer.

“eeyup.”

“Figures,” Gilda replied as she downcast her eyes to her talons. After picking an imaginary hangnail, she pushed her chair out and began to leave. “Let’s just leave…” she stated as she started to pass him.

And that’s when Big Mac performed a gutsy move by hooking his hoof around her talon, stopping her from passing him.

“Or…..we could have dinner,”

She stared back at him, an expression of disgust painting itself across her face.

“…just to humor them,” Big Mac explained.

“Sorry Mackie, it’s obvious that the only reason you’d want to have dinner with me is for your own benefit.” Gilda said.

“You’re right,” Big Mac said. “I’ve been wanting to apologize for so long.”

“Even if you do, I won’t forgive you,” Gilda stated. “I’ll never love you again.”

“And that’s the point,” Big Mac replied.

This left Gilda silent. Confused by this prospect, her composure transformed itself from anger to curiosity. If he knew that she would never love him again, the why apologize? Why have dinner with someone who hates you?

“Gilda…” The stallion of simple words breathed. “I love you. And I always will…..and I know you may never love me again….but that’s ok. I’ll still love you. If I need to, I’ll move on. But there will always be a special place in my heart for you. The point being that if you want to have this dinner or not, it doesn’t matter. In the end, it’s what you want that leaves me satisfied, even if it means having my heart broken. Would I rather have you back? Absolutely. I would kill both princesses in a heartbeat just to have you back. But that doesn’t change the fact that I would kill with even more fervor at the prospect of just making you happy. I would gladly stop dating you….hell…I’d move away as long as it makes you happy. I just needed to apologize because……you deserve an apology……you don’t have to make me happy, but I just want to make sure that you’re happy, and whatever decision you choose, I’ll gladly accept it, as long as it’s what you truly want…..because in the end, although I will always reserve a place in my heart for you, it’s your well being and contentment, that I ache to achieve. And if it means we’re no more….then so be it. Just know that…..I’m sorry……and I’ll never hurt you again”

Gilda was speechless. She never heard Mackie talk that much before. He was a quiet stallion of simple words. Where did all that come from? Was there like a special spot in his brain mainly used to craft such poetic words of passion and love? Or was this simply something off the fly, something he had to say? If either was the case, it had done its job. It made Gilda think about what she truly wanted. She was mad! She was defiantly mad at him…….question was, how long could she stay mad at him…..

The answer revealed itself when she looked into his emerald green eyes.

“Aw hell,” Gilda groaned. “Don’t be like that. Fine, I’ll have dinner with you.”

And so, dinner was spectacular. The couple actually found themselves laughing at each other’s jokes and stories, even ones they’ve already retold. And this spectacular occasion, ended spectacularly, with a spectacular kiss. That kiss, turned into multiple kisses, until about an hour after the dinner, the couple found themselves snogging the hell out of each other for 30 minutes. It was inevitable. Their love had been rekindled. It was a glorious day.

Naturally, when the next weekend rolled around, and the opportunity for another date such as that one came up, both of them jumped on the opportunity. Who wouldn’t want to relive and experience like that?

But there was one problem. Was Applebloom ok to leave alone?

The two found themselves looking into Applebloom's room behind the cracked open door, watching her play with action figures. They analyzed her, and watched for a moment as they determined whether or not it was ok to leave. They noticed that she was healing. They knew that she had become increasingly happy over the past couple of days. But was she at the point where they could leave her alone and not have something terrible happen.

Unbeknownst to them, Applebloom knew that they were behind her, and she could pick up every word of their conversation.

“I don’t know Mackie,”

“Niether do I….I mean, we could do this again some other time,”

"Don’t we have a reservation though?”

“Eeyup.”

“But I don’t want to leave her alone etiher.”

“Eeyup.”

“….maybe we should just reschedule.”

That line was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Applebloom felt compelled to speak. It was her notion to make sure that she didn’t stand in the way of her big brother’s and his girlfriend’s night out. She wouldn’t be the one to ruin anyone’s happiness.

“I’m fine,” she told them. She noticed in her peripheral vision that the two jumped a little bit at the prospect of being discovered. “It’s ok,” she continued. “I just…got mixed up. Go have your night out, forget about me.”

There was silence for a little bit, and then Big Mac ensured his duty as the big brother to inform Applebloom of what all there was needed to be informed of.

“Gilda and I will be back around 11:00. Applejack should be done working around 9:00. If anything bad should happy, go outside and yell for her…..you sure you’re ok?”

“I’m fine,” Applebloom replied. “I just want you two to have fun.”

The couple looked at each other, and silently agreed that it was apparently safe enough to leave Applebloom alone for a few hours.

“Ok. Bye little sis,” Big Mac called. And with that, he shut the door.

As the couple exited the home, Gilda realized something. Big Mac and she had finally healed from the disastrous incident 1 month ago. From what she heard, everypony else had come to terms with what had happened and had finally moved on. But what about Twilight Sparkle? Was she ok?

Gilda will admit that there are times when she is afraid of herself. She has an unusually uncaring nature that can pop up at the worst of times. It had become a sort of habit she gained with three years under her belt as a bully. The ability to be empathetic ruins a bully, and thus, she found a way to suppress it. Now that she wanted to be a good griffon, she found that she had to suppress that dark side of her; the side that told her it was ok to not care, and sometimes, that side would slip out. Case in point; when the thought of Twilight entered her head, her brain said only two words back.

‘Who cares?’

---

The bright florescent lights of the shop didn’t release the mare from her darkness. She found herself in the farthest corner of the room, mesmerized by her own train of thought. Funny thing was, there actually wasn’t a coherent thought she was thinking of. Every thought was just an emotion, and a negative one at that. Self – loathing, self – anger, hatred, sadness, spite, Twilight Sparkle experienced all these in the back of the comic shop, as she stared off into the abyss, lost in her own mind.

She had failed. The memory of what happened a month ago replayed over and over again. She couldn’t believe that she got shot down so easily. And what made it worst was the fact that there was nothing she could do to disprove her friends. It was over.

She had gone to the shop to simply browse the newest comics. She had been stuck in her own art gallery for far too long, and had decided that she needed fresh air. The comic shop located 2 blocks left from Sugarcube Corner usually contained good titles, so going out at night to avoid Pinkie Pie, Twilight left around 9:00pm. As she looked through the stands, she realized that she was making no mental progress. All the flashy titles and new superhero’s only reminded her of her theory; her disproven theory, and so, going the back of the room, she decided just to sit and think for a minute. Unfortunately for her, getting lost in her train of negative thoughts caused that minute to become an hour.

She was brought back to reality around closing time, when a young teenage colt, informed her “Hey mam, its closing time. You gotta choose.”

Twilight chose to remain silent. She wanted to know how this colt would react when he finally saw her. He was stuck in the far corner of the room, and so obviously, he couldn’t see her, or know that she was crippled. It pleased her in a sort of sadistic way to know that in a couple of seconds, if she remained quiet, the boy would be in for the biggest shock of his life.

A couple of seconds of silence rolled by, before she heard the colt proclaim “You better not be getting off to the rule 34 comics, I swear to Celestia.”

Twilight kept her composure stone cold. She kept her emotions at bay, and threw away the notion of laughing. She knew that if she kept quiet, she could stay in her thoughts a bit longer, and plus, she could keep the boy confused and thus keeping her entertained.

The colt emerged from the counter and began to walk down the aisle. When he finally noticed that she was in a wheel chair he stopped. Twilight, although looking as though she contained a blank expression on her face, could see that the clerk was stunned. For a few seconds of silence, she saw the colt’s brain perform gymnastics, trying to wrap his head around the situation. After the silence, the colt had this to say.

“Oh jeez….hey I’m sorry I didn’t know……just choose something ok?”

Twilight kept her cold composure up. She had found that she was getting angry. The colt seemed sorry, but not sorry enough. She wanted to see what he would do with her. She was hoping he’d try to wheel her out the store. She had something planned for him if he so tried that.

More silence passed by between the two as the colt looked the apparently emotionless mare in the face. Hoping that she could understand him, he began to relate his situation.

“Ok, look mam, I’m just going to wheel you out. All right? You can think about things on the sidewalk. I got to get a sandwich in me, know what I’m saying?”

‘Perfect,’ Twilight thought as she refrained from smiling.

The colt cautiously went around and then finally behind Twilight Sparkle. He gripped the wheelchair by its handles and began to push. They slowly trekked along the aisle and everything was going smoothly. It was a weird situation, but the colt knew that it was just that, a situation.

But then suddenly – BAM! The colt jumped back when he realized that somehow they had swerved into a stand of comics, knocking a few over. The colt looked down and noticed that the purple pony’s hand had griped the edge of her left wheel. It seemed odd to the colt. Was that on purpose? More than likely this mare didn’t know what was happening so it probably was an accident. Shrugging it off, the colt continued down the path towards outside the store.

Everything was going fine when suddenly – BAM! Ok, that time, that wasn’t an accident. This mare obviously was pissed that she was being told to leave the store, and decided that if she had to leave, she would take the store down with her as well. This time when the two crashed, she had knocked over a few cardboard cut – outs of some famous superheros.

“Ok, wheel chair or no wheel chair, if you do that again, I’m calling some street guards over to arrest you,” the male employee informed Twilight.

Twilight remained as cold as ever.

As the employee began to wheel her out a third time, Twilight braced herself. She was going to make sure that this time when they swerved, she would try to cause the most damage. She was eyeing a stack of newly re-pressed and sealed classic comics, and decided that it would make the perfect target. When they had come within range, Twilight not only grip her wheel, but slid it backwards as well. The result; all of the comics and the metal rack fell over, causing a huge mess.

“THAT’S IT!” the colt announced. “You’ll be spending your time deciding on which comic you want in jail miss!” and with that, he began to trot out of the store.

When suddenly, something caught Twilight’s eye. One of comics had ended up on her lap, and when she flipped it over, she automatically recognized the issue. It was the classic #39th issue of DC’s “Supermare,” story – line which involved Supermare’s biggest rival, Lex Hoofer, exploits Supermare’s biggest weakness; kryptonite.

Weakness…..weakness…….water……

And then it clicked.

In a flash, Twilight smiled. She laughed and screamed “SUCCESS!” The male employee, shocked that the purple mare could speak, turned his head and saw her waving the comic in the air.

“How much is this issue?” Twilight asked.

---

“Name a movie that you hate but everyone else seems to love.”

“Erasermare”

“Why’s that?”

“Because David Lynch-bird is such an odd director. He can’t tell a simple story without going surreal and Earsermare is the weirdest of the weird. Seriously. What does a mare living in a giant heater have to do with a baby that looks like a dinosaur and do you see how weird this conversation just got?”

“Isn’t that like, David’s style though?”

“I like ‘Blue Velvet,’ much better though.”

Gilda and Big Mac were talking back and forth, back and forth, and both were having a blast as they did so inside the restaurant they went to. It sure was a fancy place, not as fancy as the place they went to on their first date, but still fancy. What the restaurant lacked in luxury, it made up with food. The tuna pita that Gilda engulfed was simply mind – blowing. Big Mac’s Mediterranean style dish was to die for. And the wine? Forget it. Gilda was already getting tipsy and so was Big Mac. The two both had equal blushes on their faces, showing how the alcohol was starting to kick in. They were already halfway through their second glass.

After they had finished eating, the two participated in a game of twenty questions. It was cheesy, but it still was fun, and the fact that they were somewhat drunk made it even more fun. Currently they were laughing just a bit at the silence that just passed by them, when Big Mac realized something.

“It’s your turn,” he informed his girl. “And this is the last question, so make it interesting.”

Gilda mischievously smiled as she reached over and finished her glass of wine. So many thoughts went through her head. She didn’t know what to ask him. And she knew that she had to leave the game of 20 questions off with a bang. But what exactly to ask?

But then, something strange happened. Her happy and comedic attitude replaced itself with a sense of wonder and curiosity. She decided to ask a serious question. Couple’s sometimes ask each other serious questions, right?

“I’m going to change speeds here and ask you a serious question,” Gilda informed her man.

The Red stallion cocked a brow, and as he brought his drink up to his lips, he wondered where exactly this game was going.

“We’ve had a…..pretty dark month here,” Gilda said, “and…..for me….it wasn’t the darkest moment of my life….but it was pretty close……how about you? ….has there ever been anything darker in your life happen to you?”

Big Mac paused for a second. He eyed his girl not suspiciously, but curiously. He looked somewhat shy; like as though he wasn’t sure that he could go through with telling her. But then, he sighed deeply and contently, and Gilda notice that when he spoke, his eyes were starting to edge themselves with tears.

“I’m going to tell you two stories,” Big Mac said. “They’re both increasingly sad stories, but I need to know if you could handle them. Ok?”

Gilda nodded her head ‘yes.’

As big Mac leaned back, he told his two tales.

“This first story, involves my parents. When my mom had Applebloom, she started hemorrhaging and the doctor’s could only stop the bleeding for short periods of time. Two days after giving birth, my mom died in a hospital bed, surrounded by strangers, with a desperate family waiting behind a door, unsure of what just happened……..when my father died, it really shocked my sister; mainly because we never thought he would die the way he did. After we lost mom, dad lost that spark in his life that kept him going……late one night, while working on a fence post, my dad lost his balance and a piece of plywood went through his rib cage. The Autopsy revealed that the plywood didn’t rupture any blood vessels or vital organs, so he should’ve survived…..but I think he just……gave up. Like he had been looking forward to dying for a long time…..and so he died, there in the field, and was discovered the next day by Applejack.”

Gilda had gone silent. The painful details of this sad story had caused her to go somewhat numb. She was shocked, to say the least. It was just a graphic image to picture, and it caused Gilda to be surprised. Big Mac acknowledge this with a head shake, and continued with his next story.

“But that’s not as bad as this next story…….now, as weird as it sounds, when I was in high – school, I didn’t have many mare-friends. There were three reasons for the lack of relationships. 1, I was intimidating. I was exactly this same size as a freshman. I always had a bit more bulk in muscle than most stallions. But with the advantages that come with the muscles in your adult hood, there are many disadvantages of having muscle’s when you’re a kid. Many mares were afraid I would crush them, and, considering how fierce of a hoofball player I was, I could see why. 2. They were intimidated by my sister. She was always looking out for me, making sure I wasn’t dating some mare who was trying to pass the latest disease. So she got in a couple of girl’s faces one day and……for two months, not one single mare talked to me. 3. I was shy. I was a very quiet and strange stallion. I wasn’t that smart, and I wasn’t very talkative, but I had amazing daydreams. I could imagine whole scenarios involving all sorts of things; from Viking warriors to robots, I could write any story and put it to paper. And at first, some girls liked the idea of having a creative boyfriend, but….after a while…..they found me boring and somewhat sad. Because of this, I rarely had the courage to talk to many mares…..”

Big Mac looked down. He stared for a long time, lost in his own world once again.

“But then she came……her name was Beatrix. She was this dark blue mare with yellow eyes whom no pony knew much about……she told me that I was handsome….and I believed her…….but……she had issues……she wasn’t sane in the head. She would get taken out of school sometimes for weeks and would end up in the psych ward for evaluation. She would get into graphic fights and sometimes the loser would end up in the hospital for months….but I thought I loved her….and so I always stood by her side no matter what…..then one day, she heard this rumor about me being with some Pegasus. When she didn’t believe me……she grabbed this hoofball bat and nearly beat my brains out of my skull and also broke my collar bone…….when I came to, she had killed herself, thinking she killed me……I got up and tried hitchhiking to the nearest hospital….I passed out from the pain on the road. Some pony picked me up and took me to the hospital…….and that was that……..you know, I would always have this reoccurring nightmare when I was with her. I would always wake up from a bad dream in my nightmare, and reach over and she would be right there. But then I would have another bad dream, within my bad dream, and when I woke up…..she wasn’t there…..I’m having a similar nightmare involving you, but there’s a catch…..when I wake up in my dream…..you’re always there, telling me that it will be ok…….I think the first time that I had that dream…..I realized I loved you.”

Somehow, in the midst of that dark story, a beam of light shined through, and Gilda’s heart fluttered with the idea of being with this stallion, for the rest of her life.

---

When the couple came home, they saw a very unusual sight. Applejack stood in the kitchen, her expression could’ve killed. It was apparent that she was very angry. But the couple also saw that she wasn’t mad at them, but at a piece of paper lying on the table.

“What is it?” Big Mac asked.

“A letter,” Applejack replied with a growl.

“From who?” Gilda asked.

“Who do you think?”

Gilda unfolded the letter, and this is what it read.

---

Dear Gilda,

It was so obvious.

It was this one issue that brought I back for me – DC comics 39. It was this one story where Supermare had to fight Lex Hoofer but kept getting destroyed because Lex had found a way to transform kryptonite into his armor.

And then it hit me.

Every superhero has a weakness, just like you Gilda.

Your bones don’t break. Mine do. That’s very clear.

Your cells react to bacteria and viruses differently than mine. You don’t get sick. I do. That’s also, very, very clear.

But for some reason, you and I react the exact same way to water. If we swallow it too fast, we choke. We get some in our lungs, we drown. However unreal it may seem, we are connected, you and I. We’re on the same curve, but just on opposite ends.

The point of all this is that we now know something we didn’t.

The only unsure variable is that cart crash. But I have a solution. I have discovered a hypnotherapist whom has an office in Manehatten. I’ve already scheduled an appointment for us and he seems highly interested in our case. If you don’t want to come, I understand. But let’s make the trip interesting shall we?

If you take this hypnotherapy, and prove me wrong, I will never bother you ever again. I will pack up ‘Limited Edition,’ and move it elsewhere. You will never see my face again.

Let’s settle this once and for all.

Water; it’s like your kryptonite.

Forever hopeful,

Twilight Sparkle.

Comments

[Br2nd66]

ooohhgggggg

[Lionheart]

twilight why you soooo crazyyy

[BillyGoatHicks511]

2139019uhh. You ok sir?

[Joy Stick]

Water...
OMG CAN GILDA THROw FIRE BAWLS?!

[ForlanceAbice]

I have a quote for this.
"Insanity is the key to innovation".

[BillyGoatHicks511]

2141708 Sorry bro. No, her superpower is insane pain tolerance and the inability to get hurt along with super-instinct, and her weakness is water.

Which, that's gotta suck. For the record. Think about it, you're this badass superhero and all of a sudden someone throws water on you and you're like "AHHH! I'M MELTING!"

[ForlanceAbice]

2146271
Don't you mean this?