"Leave her alone!" I heard a familiarly loud voice cry out at the top of her lungs.
I perked my head up to confirm my suspicions. Despite all the punishment she had already taken, Dash stood between me and Iron Will, all her previously treated injuries reopened, the bandages I had used on her the night prior damp with fresh blood, legs trembling and ready to buckle from what was no doubt pain and fatigue, and worse yet, her destroyed left wing hanging limply to the side, dripping blood, and damaged far too much for anything less than amputation. Yet, despite all that, she stood tall, hooves firmly planted on the ground, and face as steely as I had ever seen it.
Slowly, I tried to rise, my only functioning arm reaching out to her. You don't need to do this anymore. Run. Leave me. Live. Survive!
All things I wanted to desperately to shout at her, yet all things I couldn't say. The only thing I could hear coming out of my beak was garbled groaning. If anything, my attempts at speaking only made Dash' ear perk sharper, the hairs on her coat standing on end as I could her teeth grinding in rage.
Iron Will laughed. "You are a fool, puny pegasu—"
"The name is Rainbow Dash!" She shouted, interrupting the bull's words. "And my friend is NOT a 'lil' bird!" she stomped her hoof on the ground. "Her name is GILDA!"
Iron Will scoffed. "It doesn't matter!" he said, smile still plastered on his lips. "The Will doesn't care about names. The only thing the Will cares about is victory!" his face grew grim, "And payback." He pointed a finger at me. "Your friend hurt the Will's arm. She will pay him back for it with her life!" His eyes fell on Dash. "The Will has a beef with you too, but the Will already got most of his payment from you," he said, his sight falling on Dash' mangled wing. "Step aside," he chided, raising his hammer, "unless, you want to also die." The bull's eyes fell on me, the deep-seated rage burning in them powerful enough that I could feel them boring a hole through my broken body.
Dash did not move an inch. In fact, she took a wobbly step forward. "Hey, you muscles-for-brain lug, didn't you hear me earlier? LEAVE. HER. ALONE!"
Iron Will shook his head. "Don't it ever be said that Iron Will doesn't warn his opponents."
"Do. Your. Worst!" Dash hissed through clenched teeth.
Iron Will raised his weapon again. Despite the use of only one arm, he could still carry his weapon as if it was completely weightless. Worse, Dash wasn't moving. If he slammed down with the thing, she would be crushed!
I began crawling forward, desperate to reach her. Despite the cold overtaking me, I still had just enough strength to shove her out of the way. Maybe then she would finally take the damn hint!
"R-r-run," I croaked out so weakly that my words probably got lost in the wind. "L-l-li-ve!"
Dash was still rooted in place like the brave idiot she was!
"P-p-ple-ase!"
There was the sound of thunder from somewhere not far away.
My ringing ears managed to pick it up, though just barely. Iron Will also heard it. Unfortunately for him, his change of priority came too little, too late.
A rock the size of my head smashed into his face, shattering with so much force that his horns broke right off. The first rock was followed by another, this time aimed at his stomach. The second blow knocked the air right out of him and caused him to drop his weapon, which fell on the ground with a very light quake.
The rocks were followed by two figures garbed in black and dark brown. The first was a raspberry-coated pony of a straight rose mane. Her partner was of a bluish persian coat and sported a short grayish blue violet mane. Both ponies took turns attacking the stunned bull, their every blow seemingly strong enough to break granite.
Finally, the two united their attack to deliver a final uppercut to the minotaur’s head, their combined blow so powerful that Iron Will went flying into the air almost fifty meters before falling back down to the ground, where he landed right on top of his discarded hammer. The ensuing dust cloud prevented me from seeing the results, but judging by the quake felt on impact, it couldn’t have been pleasant.
I laughed at my turn of fortune. And to think I had resigned myself to death just minutes earlier…
“Gilda!” I suddenly heard Dash cry out.
“Dash…” I started, not caring about the intense taste of iron and copper in my mouth. “I… We… You…”
She dropped on her knees and grabbed my downed body, holding me in her forelegs in what some would have called a lover's embrace.
I placed my good hand on her shoulder to help myself up, but to no avail. I was too broken.
“W-what you did... h-how you fought... I-t w-was... unbelievably stupid!” she sobbed, holding me even tighter, eliciting far more pain than it should have. “...But it was also incredibly awesome, a-and brave!” She looked me deep in the eyes with those cerise eyes.
I laughed at her words, at once all too conscious of my broken ribs. She was one to talk. Sure, I had fought the muscle-bound idiot, but I hadn't dared stare him down like she had!
She really was amazing...
I almost didn’t notice the darkness finally claiming me.
Almost.
**** **** ****
“Told you we could win!” Dash continued as another roll of bandages was applied to my bleeding head by a medic pony named Red Heart. “Even if it did cost a little… more than expected,” she finished, her smile sweetly bitter, sideways glance set on her now missing left wing.
Once again, I found myself unable to say anything. I mean, what could I say?
“Hey, don’t worry too much about it!” she replied, her tone—while still solemn—now holding some cheer. “Equestria’s got some good mechanics. Watch, the wing they’ll make me will be twenty percent more awesome!”
I really hoped she was right about it. Then again, this was Dash I was talking about. If I had learned anything in the last few days, it was that with her, anything was possible.
“Commander Dash,” the voice of the raspberry coated pony rang out. “The prisoners are ready for transport. The minotaur, Iron Will, is still unconscious. We’ve already taken special precautions for him. We’re just waiting for your orders.”
“First Lieutenant Pie,” Dash started, saluting her comrade. “Good job on the operation. Give my thanks to your sister as well.”
“Rock solid performance,” the voice another pony replied. Dash turned to the source, the smile on her face growing instantly.
“Ah, Second Lieutenant Maud! We were just talking about you! Excellent work, and thanks for the save.”
The pony named Maud kept a completely neutral expression to Dash’s compliment. “I am also very happy that we were able to help. Thrilled, in fact.” A part of me found it extremely hard to believe this pony wasn’t sporting the largest smile in the world right now.
Dash turned back to facing her First Lieutenant. “I’m curious, though. How did you manage to track me?”
It was now the pink pony’s turn to grin. “I have my methods,” she said in a tone that almost sounded coyly cheery. “A ‘sense’, if you will.”
It took me a few seconds to finally recognize the earth pony as none other than Pinkie Pie, the pony who had once upon a time caused Dash and me to bicker so.
“P-pinkie!?” I blurted out, unable to keep quiet any longer. “W-what are you doing here?”
She turned to face me. “Gilda! You’re awake!” She cleared her throat before continuing. “I’m glad you are doing well. When you passed out, we feared the worst.” She turned back to face Dash. “The commander already filled us in on your situation.” She let out a sigh. “I cannot tell you how glad I am to see you again. Even in these bad times.”
I bitterly chuckled. “Yeah. A lot’s happened.” I turned my eyes back to Dash. “At least it’s over.”
“For now,” she said in a shockingly monotone voice, putting our current situation in a bit of context.
“Comm—Dash,” Pinkie started, her eyes falling on her beaten leader. “We have a squad of mages awaiting your orders not far from here. We’ll be back in Canterlot before noon.”
“Perfect. I can’t wait to get out of these desert!” Dash said enthusiastically.
“But I was just starting to catalog the sediment in this area,” Maud interjected, her tone still as monotone as ever. “I even found a new friend for Boulder.” She showed a small, off-colored rock in her hoof. “Everypony, meet Jim. Jim, everypony.”
I gave the small rock a wave—not really sure why—before turning to face Dash. “Can’t wait to get to Canterlot too...”
**** **** ****
We began the trek towards the teleportation zone. It had to be set up a half mile away in case the eggheads screwed something up. Pinkie led the squad that had found us, all fifteen of them surrounding the seven bandits that had given us so much trouble. A part of me felt relieved that despite their injuries—one of them was almost half-covered in a body cast—they were all still alive. Even Iron Will, the one who had very nearly killed us, was being led in chains, four burly-looking guards in heavy gold barding keeping him within spear's reach.
I very nearly tripped due to not paying much attention. Much to my shock, Dash grabbed me by the neck and placed my injured arm over her neck for support. She held me on her left side, my chest rubbing against the stump where her wings once was.
I was instantly filled with shame.
"Hey," Dash said. "Why the sudden long face? We're alive, aren't we? We're on our way to Canterlot! You've ever been there, have you? Oh, you'll love it."
"Dash..."
"They have everything! Good places to eat, plenty of shops, lots of bakeries!"
"Dash."
"Oh, and don't even get me started on the academy grounds! You'll feel right at home, I know—"
"Dash!" I finally shouted. "Geez, I forgot how much you can flap those gums of yours." I sighed and gave her a weak smile. "To answer that earlier question. I'm... so... sorry..." I said, already feeling tears well in my eyes. "If you hadn't run into me, you'd still have your wing."
"Is that it?" Dash said, a smile forming on her lips. "Like I told you earlier, I'll get an even better wing. Besides, the way I see it, I didn't lose a wing," she tapped her forehead against mine. "I paid it... to have a sister back."
We both laughed at that; we deserved it after everything we had been through.
“Now. Not a word of this to anyone, you hear me!” Dash said with a bright toothy grin on her lips.
I laughed. “Sure. Not that anyone would believe me anyway!”
“Very true,” Dash replied, the wide grin on her lips only growing wider. “I am too awesome, after all.”
“Correction,” I interjected. “We are awesome.”
For the first time in a while, I could look up to the sky and enjoy its promise of a bright tomorrow.
For the first time in a very long time, I was truly closer to heaven.
“So, Commander. About that flank kicking I owe ya,” Pinkie said as she began walking next to us, a smile forming on her lips.