//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: The Collapse // by Lightwavers //------------------------------// It was not for the first time in her life that Gilda felt ashamed of her own species. Not only had a diplomatic mission to Equestria failed to stop the constant stream of pony refugees to her home, which threatened the security of the Griffon Stone, but said diplomatic mission had also led to one of the guards getting drunk and killing some random pony. The latest bout of stupidity had come from her own House: not wanting to back down, her own superiors had apparently decided that declaring war was the only way to save face and sent raiding parties into Equestria. Meanwhile, refugees continued to flood Griffonstone in such numbers that forcing them out wasn’t an option. And for recognizing the problems and trying to get them noticed, she’d been forced to head a raiding party into Equestria, “or else.” Though, looking back, she probably shouldn’t have called her captain a complete and utter idiot. Along with some other things. Now she was circling in a wide loop around Canterlot, finding groups of ponies, and telling them in no uncertain terms that raiding parties had probably hit all their port cities by now, and that if they did manage to find a boat, that sailing to griffon lands would be a death sentence. The other six members of her squad standing behind her menacingly and hefting their rifles had probably helped too. She flew at the tip of a wide arrow formation, two griffons flying on each side and two more circling around. As soon as they finished flying over the mountain ahead, the griffons at the edges of the formation would peel off and start circling while the former sentries took their place in the arrow. As the mountain range ended, Gilda spotted a purple dot on the ground. Before the sentries could rotate out, she barked, “Hold formation and ready your rifles! There’s something up ahead.” The inbound sentries gave her dirty looks, but leveled off and began circling again. Her squad started loading their guns and somehow managed not to spill gunpowder everywhere. It was an impressive trick and almost made her want to join the boot camps just so she could do it. Meanwhile, her twin shoulder-mounted versions would do. They lacked maneuverability, but as long as she kept her distance their state-of-the-art performance shone through. As they approached, the splotch got clearer. It was a dome of shimmering purple energy. And inside it were ponies. Then it lit up, getting brighter and brighter until it outshone the sun. Gilda closed her eyes, trusting in her instincts and wing mates to guide her. After a second it flashed so brightly that it blinded her through her eyelids. She continued her flight as her vision cleared. She was going to give those ponies a piece of Tartarus for that. She tilted her wings and her squad followed her downward. She touched down first, and every other griffon dropped out of the sky behind her in perfect formation. It looked extremely cool. She knew that because when she’d been little, her mother had come home the same way every day. “Listen up ponybrains!” she yelled. Then she got a good look at the ponies around her. Usually she was met with a healthy dose of confusion, and more lately fear as what the raiding parties had been doing reached them. Some of these ponies had similar looks, but most of them just looked angry. “Hah! We totally blew those other guys away. We can take all of you just as easily.” Rainbow Dash?! Gilda looked at her old friend in shock. “That’s right! Be scare…wait. Gilda?” Gilda finally found her voice. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with your Cloudsdale buddies?” Rainbow Dash waved a hoof from side to side. “Nah, not really. I moved to Ponyville a while ago. I mean, I would’ve gone to Cloudsdale anyway to help the Wonderbolts—they’re taking volunteers, you know—but, well...you know. Hard to do anything when the Everfree gets you.” “Gets—hang on. Other guys?” Now that Gilda looked, she could see them, all apparently unconscious. They looked like… “Wow, what did they do to get that done to them?” “Oh, not much. Just except for, you know, trying to kill us. And you guys definitely look like them,” Rainbow Dash said, eyes narrowed. A rumble of agreement from the nearby ponies underscored her statement. “Got anything to say about that?” “What?” “So I take it you’re not with them, then.” Rainbow looked relieved. “Of course not,” Gilda replied, “they must’ve gone rogue. We’re only supposed to...uh, warn you. Even the ones at the cities and train stations are only there to destroy property.” The whole situation had started with an accidental killing, but Gilda hadn’t thought any griffon would be stupid enough to think they were in a real war. The only reason they were attacking was to prove a point. Killing entire groups of ponies would lead to massive amounts of bloodshed on both sides. Plus it was so easy to avoid. The griffons had endless daylight. All they had to do was wait until the ponies’ crops failed and they wouldn’t stand a chance. “Destroy property? Gilda, the Everfree’s going to overtake this entire continent unless we can stop it, and if ponies are stuck here they’ll die. Why are you doing this?” “Politics. Not my idea. If I could help you with your Everfree problem I would. Something to do other than fly around and talk to ponies would be just what I need. Helps that everyone in my entire House is an idiot,” Gilda said, giving a stand down signal to her squad with a few flicks of her wings. Rainbow Dash looked up with her “I’m going to do something stupid and drag you with me” expression. “Well you could come with us! We’re going in to the Everfree, and when we find the thing that’s making it move, we’re going to smash it,” Rainbow said. Gilda sighed. “I would love to—really—but I’ve got a job. Break a wing, or good luck, or whatever.” She stepped forward and spread her wings to take off when she heard a loud bang, as if someone had fired a rifle off right next to her. She turned to scream at whichever idiot had done it when she felt liquid dripping from her side. Confused, she looked down. The left side of her chest was a bloody mess. Below her, one of the formerly unconscious griffons had managed to aim and fire his rifle without anyone noticing. “Traitor.” It seemed to take her forever, but she eventually understood what the griffon beside her had said. She opened her beak to reply, but then she fell forward. Her face met the ground and everything went black.