The sun was bright and brilliant up in the sky, a few clouds floating lazily by above the town of Ponyville. Things couldn't have been more normal as they were right at that moment. Ponies traveled happily up and down the streets, chatting with anyone familiar that they met or simply throwing a friendly greeting. The market place was busy with ponies around and buying their daily produce, or stopping to eye items brought in from somepony out of town, which were always a common occurrence any day of the week. Some were in the park, enjoying a picnic in the fine weather or listening as Lyra played her lyre from her usual position on her usual park bench. And at Sugercube Corner, Pinkie Pie was manning the front counter, wiping away some sweat on her brow after a rather sudden rush of customers. The cakes had stepped out for a while, leaving her in charge of the store for now. Yep, things were pretty normal in the town, for once. They had been for a while, actually.
So, naturally, everything was about to go to pot in the worse possible sense of the phrase.
The bell above the entrance to the bakery went off just as Pinkie had ducked under the counter for something. "Be with you in a minute!" the party pony chirped, her tail wagging around above the counter as she spoke.
"No, you'll be with my now, Stinky Pie!"
Pinkie Pies ears perked up as she heard the voice of the shops newest arrival. A voice she knew, but never expected to hear again. She quickly popped back up, only to be met with a claw gripping her by her mane, tugging her head forcefully back. She gave a small yelp of pain as her head was pulled back by her mane, and she found herself staring up in the familiar face of a sneering griffon.
Gilda smirked down at the shocked and frightened look in Pinkies eyes. "Been a long time huh?" she asked. "I'm actually glad to see you're still doing so well, dweeb. After all, it lets me be the one to help ruin you!" she exclaimed.
To her surprise, however, the scared look on Pinkies face suddenly changed into a smile as she giggled. "Well it's about time! Something big and exciting just had to happen soon around here. After all, things have been waaay to quiet," she said, still watching the griffon.
Gilda was stunned. She knew this girl was random and weird, but she wasn't even fazed about her current situation! How often could this have possibly happened!? Oh well, she thought, it didn't matter. Her job wasn't to ask questions, just to bring Pinkie Pie back. "Oh yeah, well how's this for excitement, ya weirdo!?" she yelled before suddenly slamming the pink party ponies head into the cash register right in front of her. A bell rang, a 'No Sale' sign popping up out of it. Gilda raised Pinkies head up, cupcakes spinning around it and her eyes spinning before they shut, her snoring a clear indicator of her being knocked out.
She chuckled and tossed Pinkie across her back, being smart enough to take the back door out to avoid being seen with the pony on her. She spread her wings and sped off into the sky, flying away from the town. "This'll teach that stupid flip-flop Dash to turn her back on me!" she exclaimed to herself, to high up for her voice to travel to the ground. She smirked to herself in victory. This really had been too easy for her...
Still, as she flew onward to her destination, she couldn't help it as a new feeling washed over her. Something she hadn’t felt in a long time; guilt. Guilt that made her burn inside. She had never wanted to do this, deep down. Still, orders were orders. And her new boss was making sure she was going to follow through. It was also pretty clear she was going to have to do more things she didn’t care to. But what choice did he have, after meeting the disharmonious spirit? Besides, this whole thing was Dash’s fault! That thought hardened her resolve a bit as she scowled. Yes, that's right; this was all because of Rainbow Dash. She just up and ditched her, and for what? A bunch of stupid dweebs who thought a bunch of stupid pranks were a good time! Well if she wanted to be a lame-o, fine. She'd show her what it meant to be cool, to be better, and to be superior in every way and... and...
And not a word of that was true, and she knew it. But, even shouting all this in her mind wasn't making the guilt going away. In fact, it only seemed to be adding another emotion into the mix. Sadness, that was hurting her heart most of all, more than anger or guilt or anything else. And yet she still flew on, unable to stop and listen to the conscience that was finally making itself heard.
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"Any luck, girls?" Twilight Sparkle asked her friends. It was later on in the day by now, much later, in fact. Pinkies disappearance hadn’t gone unnoticed for long. Mainly due to the small gathering of customers that had accumulated after she'd been taken. The cakes were of course swarmed upon their arrival with their kids by the small crowd, more confused than anything. After the customers had been served and left, they started wondering where Pinkie could have possibly gone. After all, she'd never left in the middle of a shift before without permission. Well, it only took a check in with her closest friends and a few other ponies around town to realize that she was nowhere to be found. And so, naturally, they had thrown together a search party to go look for her.
Rainbow Dash shook her head, "None. We looked all over the place from the sky; not one sign of her."
Applejack shook her head as well, "Nope. Me group checked the whole edge 'o the Everfree Forest, but we didn't find anything'."
Fluttershy was next, "And none of my animal friends have seen her anywhere all day."
"The back streets of the town are no good, either, I'm afraid," Rarity added, still trying to shake out some dust that had gathered in her coat from her searching.
"And nopony in towns seen her anywhere, except for when she was serving a few of them in the shop," Spike finished off, looking as upset as the others. The search had been going on for hours now, and they still had no luck at this point.
"Well then where in Equestria could she possibly be?" Twilight asked out loud, putting a hoof to her chin in thought and worry.
"I think I can answer that one for you, actually!" came a new voice, making them all turn their heads in surprise as Gild landed a few simple feet away from them, smirking.
"You again!? I'm surprised you got the nerve to show your face here after what happened the last time you showed up!" Dash said, pointing an accusing hoof at her before charging. Of course, Applejack managed to bite onto the end of her tail, holding her friend back.
"What do you mean? Did you take Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked glaring at the griffon. This really wasn't turning out how she had expected. And frankly, this griffon had been bad enough last time from the little she'd seen and heard about her.
"Well, duh, egghead," Gilda said, rolling her eyes, "How else could I answer the question about where she is. Geese, I thought you were supposed to be smart." She shrugged, "Oh well, at least your smarter than that pink idiot. She was so easy to knock out; she didn't even try to fight me back! She just took it like it happened to her every other day. But hey, what can you expect from somepony dumb and childish as her?"
Something inside Dash suddenly snapped. She didn't know what line her ex-friend said that did it. All she knew was that she wanted to turn that dumb excuse for a griffon into a pile of fur and feathers. With a sharp yank, she broke out of Applejacks grip and ignored her friends remarks, rushing straight for Gilda, and missing her entirely as she simply side-stepped out of the way, leaving Dash to skid to a halt and turn back at her, fire in her eyes.
The griffon laughed, "Just like you always were, Dash; pretty darn brave, but stupid. Tell you what; I'll make you a deal, for old times’ sake. Beat me in a fight, and I'll tell you where your friend is. Lose to me and... Well, let's just say they won't be able to call you the best young flyer in Equestria anymore. So, what do you say?"
"Bring it on, slow poke!" Dash growled, both of them speeding up into the air before the others could stop them.
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Boss Battle: Gilda the Griffon
Battle Music: For a Time (Gilda and Dash fight theme) by psychgoth
As soon as they were high enough to fight without being in danger of hitting anything near the ground, Rainbow made the first move, charging at Gilda again, her hooves in front of her.
"Heh, that didn't even work the first time," she cried as she rolled out of the way. "What seriously made you think it would work the second!?" she asked, sneering. Her eyes went wide, however, as Dash suddenly pulled a tight curve and shot straight back at her. She only managed to avoid two hooves to the chest, but her back left leg wasn't lucky, getting struck by one of Rainbows hooves, hard. She could feel a bruise starting to form under her fur, and knew she was lucky the strike hadn’t broken her bone.
"Sorry G, but playtimes over," Rainbow growled. Her gaze softened a bit, "I can out fly you, and I can defiantly out fight you. End this now; just tell me where Pinkie Pie is. I don't want to have to hurt you."
"Forget it; you'll have to ground me if you wanna hear one word about where that loser is!" Gilda yelled, charging at Dash now, claws extended. Luckily the pegasus was quick enough to dodge her slashes. "Why'd you do it, huh!?" she yelled, not letting up on her attacks, "Why'd you ditch me for these losers!? Especially that little pink moron!? How can you think they're cooler then me!? I thought we were friends, Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow rolled out of the way of another slash, seeing something new in her old friends face through all her rage and anger; hurt. She could also see tears forming at the edge of her eyes. She ignored it, though; she couldn't afford to be distracted by her friend’s inner conflict, no matter how obvious. It was her choice to fight Dash, and she had to fight back, for Pinkie's sake. She had to win! She rushed at Gilda again and the two met each other in mid-air, becoming little more than a blur of feathers, hooves and talons heading at each other. They stayed like that for a good three minutes or so before finally pulling away from each other. By that point, Gilda was covered in more bruises all over her body, and Rainbow was bleeding from several cuts, thanks to Gilda’s sharp talons.
This was taking too long, Rainbow thought to herself. She had to finish now and find out where Pinkie was. Who knew what had happened to her!? I never wanted to have to try this, especially on an old friend, but I don't have any choice, she thought to herself sadly. Desperate times called for desperate measures, though...
The cyan pegasus suddenly turned and started flying directly upwards, going even higher into the sky. "Oh no you don't, get back here!" Gilda yelled, climbing up after her friend and managing to start catching up rather quickly, "You can't run up here, Dash! You're mine!"
Suddenly, however, Rainbow stopped ascending and, in fact, starting going straight back down, her hind hooves going straight and rigid as they were speeding right down at Gilda’s surprised face. They hit her dead on, too.
The result was almost instant. The sudden hit, coupled with the shock, left Gilda barely clinging to consciousness and plummeting to the earth, wing flailing uselessly at her sides. The ground was coming up fast, she could tell. But she couldn't will her wings to catch the wind and pull. Damn it, no no no! she screamed in her thoughts. This isn't how this was supposed to end! Not with her as an earth pizza!
And she was right, it seemed, as a Rainbow streak easily outstripped her on the path to the ground. Suddenly, Gilda felt her body caught by two hooves before slowly descending back to the ground and being placed there. She managed to open her eyes fully and saw Rainbow Dash standing over her, a worried look over her face. Still, it was hard to tell with the tears that were starting to form in the griffon’s eyes.
End of Boss Battle
Rainbow Dash; + 35 Exp.
No Items
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"Oh man, I'm so sorry Gilda! I didn't mean to hurt you this bad!" Rainbow said, standing over her as the rest of her friends rushed over. "Just hang on, I'll get you some help, promise!"
Gilda, still desperately trying to pull away from the lulls of a hoof to the face induced sleep, shook her head, "Don't bother, it won't do me any good. I failed, after all. He told me... what would happen if I did."
"Failed? He?" Rainbow asked, looking down at Gilda confused. "What do you mean!? Who's 'he'?"
"My... new boss," Gilda managed, coughing a bit, "Or... master, would probably be the better word, now I think about it."
"Master? Gilda, who the hay are you talking about!?" Rainbow asked, her voice more demanding, though still holding worry. The others were here by now, watching the two of them talk in mild surprise. "Please, who made you do this!?"
"I'll get to that, I just gotta say something first," Gilda said, looking right at Dash. "Dash, I was never gonna come back, I swear it. I know you ditched me and all, but I didn't really mind. I was fine with letting you do whatever you wanted, even if you forgot about me. Guess I deserved it, now I think back about it..."
"D-don't talk like that Gilda! I hit you too hard in the head, is all," Rainbow said, blinking back a few tears of her own.
But Gilda just shook her head, "No, it isn’t that. I mean it, every word. You dumped me, forgot about me, but I was fine letting you do your thing and be happy. But that changed a few days ago. This crazy-looking... thing... found me, said he knew that I knew you before and wanted me to do something for him. I said I wouldn't, but he made me, turned into a slave."
"How?"
"He put some kind of spell over me. Said if I didn't listen to him, or failed him, I'd... I'd... well, just look," she said, motioning to her lower body.
Dash looked, and gasped. Gilda’s legs were starting to turn into stone! A gently glowing, thing bar of sparkling light was moving its way upward, leaving behind stone in place of fur and flesh as it moved up from her kind legs to her torso.
Dash couldn't hold it back any longer; the tears started to flow down her face. "No! No, this isn't possible! You can't be turning to stone just because I beat you! I won't let it happen! You don't deserve that!" She looked up at Twilight and grabbed her, "Twi, you gotta have some kind of spell that can stop this! Please, stop it! Please!" Her voice was begging at this point, but Twilight could only shake her head, looking upset as her friend now.
"I... I can't, Rainbow Dash. No spell I know can break a petrification curse. There's no way to save her. I'm sorry..." the unicorn said slowly, only to have Rainbow let her go in defeat, to upset to even yell now. Instead, she turned back to her oldest friend, bending down to Gilda’s side as the spell crept up her chest.
"Gilda... I'm sorry," Dash said, tears dripping down her face. "I didn't mean for any of this. I didn't want this. Please, I'm sorry..." she bent down closer to her friend, wrapping her hooves around her in a hug, "Please, please forgive me. I've been such a jerk..."
Gilda shook her head. She would have pushed Dash away, but her front legs were turning to stone as well now. "It's fine Dash. I... I don't blame you. I deserved that pounding up there. This is all my fault. All I want to know is... do you forgive me, for being the real jerk here?" she asked.
Dash broke the hug, looking Gilda straight in the eyes. She nodded, "Of course. Of course I forgive you. After all, that's what friends do. Just please, tell me who did this to you? Who was so evil they thought they could curse you?"
At this point, the curse had almost completed itself, Gilda's head turning to stone. Still, it didn't stop the griffon from uttering one last word, the answer to her oldest, and best friend’s question. "Discord..." she managed, before her head was fully encased in stone, leaving a sad, if relieved look on her face.
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"Pffft, typical," Discord said, tossing down the bag of popcorn he had been munching of while sitting back on a couch he'd conjured up. "It's just so hard to find good help these days," he sighed. The image in the cauldron before him showed Rainbow over her friends now petrified body, crying softly as she held her. The image disappeared in a swirl of liquid, turning into the common, light brown color of chocolate milk. Discord pulled out a ladle and dipped it into the cauldron, bringing it out and taking a long drink from it.
It wasn't really possible to tell where he was at this point. His favorite cotton candy clouds covered the sky overhead, blocking a lot of light from the sun as they swirled about the dark area. Discord wiped his lips with the back of his lions arm. "Oh well, she was the most useless one I found, after all. I have plenty of others to do those boring old ponies in, all much more willing than that poor excuse of a griffon. Not to mention all the other twists and turns I have planned," he said happily. "Ooooh, it makes me so happy, I could almost sing! It just too bad I don't have any real audience to enjoy that right now.
"Besides, I'm still annoyed by Her little condition," he spat, sitting back down and crossing his arms and legs. "Not getting to take the Elements of Harmony. That deal of hers was annoying, but it is her request, after all. Darned ancient magic! Why did it have to be Her of all ponies who freed me?" he asked out loud to himself. He just shrugged after a few seconds, "Oh well, at least I'm free to spread my chaos once again. Speaking of which..."
He stood up again and turned around. Pinkie Pie sat in the corner of the room, tied from neck to hoof in red licorice. She'd been struggling ever since she woke up to break free, but it was too strong, and she found herself unable to chew through it. So, she'd just taken to staring angrily at Discord and calling him names every time she thought up a new one. By this point she was up to eight, if he'd been keeping count right, and had been silent for a while. He just returned her angry glare with a happy smirk and snapped his talons together, "She's all yours, everyone."
Pinkie stopped glaring and raised an eyebrow, confused, "Everyone? Who's everyone? You’re the only one around here besides me one." She stopped, however, as a new sound reached her ears, making them perk up. It sounded like... bouncing, and it was getting closer to her. She looked into the darkness of the room, squinting her eyes to try and see what was coming. Her eyes went wide as dinner plates as she saw just who... or rather, what... it was. "Oh no! Not you four! Nooooo!"
End of Chapter 1
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Chapter End Condition;
Twilight Sparkle; Lv. 1, 0 Exp.
Rainbow Dash; Lv. 1, 35 Exp.
Applejack; Lv. 1, 0 Exp.
Rarity; Lv. 1, 0 Exp.
Fluttershy; Lv. 1, 0 Exp.
Pinkie Pie; Lv. 1, 0 Exp. {Absent}
Inventory;
Nothing Yet!