I wouldn’t kill Gilda, our week together flashes in my mind. In just seven days she’s taken the majority of my heart. Throughout the battle, thoughts of her kept me going as did thoughts of me for her. I couldn’t. I’ve given so much for the Wonderbolts and Equestria, I wouldn’t give them Gilda.

I lower my lance. “Gilda, here.” I undo the straps and give her my camera.

Gilda angrily smashes the device with her lance. “Come with me. Buck all this.”

“Gilda?!”

“I gotta get you out.”

“Why didn’t you let me leave with camera if my defection was your intention?!”

“My squadron died for that stupid thing. I did right by them, but my squadron’s still dead. You’re the only thing in my life that matters now. I only wanted the film because needed to know I mattered as much to you as you did for me.” She unfastens her Raven ebony cloak; taking her lance she shreds the cloth.

I’m flabbergasted that Gilda has destroyed our two options. “I can’t take you back to Equestria and now you can’t go back the Griffin Kingdoms.”

Gilda clucks her tongue with an idea. She pulls me close with her claws pressing her beak near my ear. “We’re going away to live on some small island away from everything and everyone. There we’re going to buck until we’re both dead from exhaustion. That cool with you?”

I blush hotly. “Other girls say ‘I love you’.”

Gilda throws her head back and gives me an indifferent response. “Yeah, that too.” Her goofy smile reveals her true feelings though her attempt to be cool.

I hear cry from the sky. “Soarin!!!”

“Hide!” I push Gilda into some bushes.

Spitfire lands next to me.

“Spitfire? What are you doing here?”

“I searched for you when the heavens turn to hell.” She inspects me. “Are you okay?”

“No,” I pretend and let my right wing fall limp. “The bones are broken. Leave me!”

“Soarin, I’ll carry you!”

Spitfire’s concern against reason touches me even as I pull away from her embrace. I pause for a moment staring at her. However, I do not give in to second guesses. I have chosen Gilda.

“Spitfire, just go! None of us will make it if you try to carry me. I’m already dead.”

“Now way, no how! I’m not leaving you!” Spitfire cries. “I came back just for you!”

I harshly bite. “Go! I don’t love you and I don’t want you back! You used me!”

She mistakes my words for love and concern for her own wellbeing. “You’re just saying that to get me leave. If we die, then we’ll die fighting together! Buck the mission!”

She notices the remnants of Gilda’s black cloak by her hooves. “The enemy?” The moment she turns towards Gilda’s hiding spot; the Griffin springs at her with a lance.

Spitfire tries to leap out of the way but her hooves are not quick enough. I noticed then it was the hoof I hurt that causes her to trip. Gilda impales her with a swift jab then pulls her bloodied lance quickly away. Gilda did the thrust, but I know it was I that killed Spitfire and that for the rest of my life I shall have to live with that.

Spitfire staggers steps back. Before her horrified face she sees Gilda calmly standing besides me. In last moments she cries. “Soarin, why?”

Seeing Spitfire go, I am shocked with feelings that materialize in tears that stream down my face.

“I know she was your squad mate, but it was either her or me.” Gilda turns towards me; she grips me with her claws and looks into my eyes. “You love me, don’t you?”

In the numbness I am still cognizant enough to nod.

Gilda pulls me away. “Soarin, let’s go!”

Through a series of contacts I found out later, others succeeded in that ill-fated mission in my place. Ultimately, the photos of the new Griffin airship were worthless. Apparently the operation was ploy for the real plan where they had the Equestrian ambassador secretly collect the information. It was a smokescreen to divert the attentions of the Griffins and buy the ambassador a cover story for plausible deniability. Such were the cold concerns of those in power. In the end it didn’t matter if we secured the photos. In the terms of cost it was a military disaster on both sides. That ‘legendary’ battle between Wonderbolts and Elite Ravens will be a historical foot note. Even if it didn’t matter, I still know what matters most in my heart. The choice I made to be with Gilda though echoes in my mind. It was something contrary to my being, a defiance of destiny.

Spitfire’s death is like the closing of a chapter of my life. I know in the end she did love me, but sadly I had grown past loving her. Her last words and confession still haunts me at times, but in Gilda’s glow I feel that I made the right choice for me… for us. I am not defined by my mark and I see it faded against my coat with no sadness. If it is selfish to want a measure of happiness in our lives, I suppose I am selfish. Whatever arguments between Gilda and me, we always recall the day we cast aside whatever allegiances we had for each other. In the days that follow, our love only grows stronger. It shall forever be our rallying cry.

Many months in, we’re still adjusting the finer the points of our relationship. Traveling across the world, I see wonders and weirdness in every corner. Every day is an adventure; my previous desires for calm I realized were perhaps a desire to die. The routine would have trapped me and in a blink I would be dead. Our escapades are crazy and out of control at times to a tiresome degree, but it’s life and I couldn’t be more satisfied. We’re still searching for a place to settle but any shared bed between us becomes a home.

We’re on a sky port for airships. Outside of our room at the inn, Gilda pops out of the door and catches me in a pensive mood as I stare off of the pier.

She leans on the railing and rubs her head against mine. “What’s on your mind?”

I reply. “We’re both traitors, exiles.”

Gilda laughs. “Nah, we’re both dead.” She becomes somber as feelings of the lost of our friends surfaces. “That was some battle… they can’t account for all the bodies.”

“Gilda, what about you? I think they’ll find out eventually. They’ll hunt you.”

“Us,” She corrects. Gilda laughs, trying to reassure herself. “I figure if we’re going to become outlaws, you wanna go all the way? I got a cousin, Cutlass. She runs a pirate crew. For Tartarus sake, we got the training. We could be Captains of our own outfit!”

“I suppose I’ll be happy anywhere I go as long it’s with you. Let’s think more about being pirates; I’m not sure if we want that. It’s a big world; we only pissed off half of it. Let’s leave a little part for us to live.”

Gilda shrugs, using a claw to scratch her head as she considers those words. “Yeah, you hold me back on my crazier bird brain ideas. Thanks.”

I roll my eyes as I recall just last night at the bar where I stopped Gilda from drunkenly starting a fight with a group of mercenaries. “Yeah, I keep us alive.”

She chirps. “I’m still gushing that my romantic fantasy came true. We totally met in battle. You loved me enough to stop before your lance hit my heart.”

I tease her with a pat on her head. “I’m not sure that’s how that scene went. I couldn’t fight you. Plus I thought it was a revenge fantasy with Rainbow Dash?”

“Whatever, dweeb.” She relents. “It went exactly like I hoped. You cared for me more than whatever else.”

“Let’s look for that small island you promised.” I remember her lessons and go for the kiss at a bent angle for her beak. Gilda’s surprise is adorable.

Gilda lowers her eyelids. She pulls me back into our room. “Who needs the island?”

Gilda is my unlikely love. Resting beside my ‘feather pillow’, I take a moment to whip out my journal. It’s been more a novel as of late I as I chronicle our new adventures. I have yet to touch the past for the pain it brings as Spitfire still burns in some part of my heart. Writing down my thoughts, I give some consideration to the title. I dab my quill and let the words bleed onto the page. for I know the title in my heart.

To Live, Love, and Die in the Sky