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// 5 – Fractions of Seconds 
// Story: Call of the Mountain 
// by Krickis 
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Chapter Five


Fractions of Seconds

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The past couple of days had held a lot of new experiences for Rainbow Dash. She had gotten trapped in a cave-in, found herself lost in the cave thereafter, almost fallen to her death in the Abysmal Abyss, gotten betrayed by Gilda, and then snuck into her house to steal The Idol of Boreas, of all things.
It had certainly been an eventful few days. And now, she could add her first ever sleepless night to the list. She’d always found sleep came to her easy, no matter what she had going on. But for once, the thoughts racing through her head just would not stop, and sleep did not come to her.
Though not her biggest concern, she was worried someone would come looking for her once Gilda realized the Idol was gone. What would they even do with her? This would be the first instance of treason Griffonstone had seen in centuries!
And as horrible of a thought as that was, she actually had bigger worries, like if Pinkie hadn’t gotten away. She could be found guilty of treason as easily as Rainbow could. Sure, she didn’t have the Idol on her, but she was in Gilda’s house!
The best that Rainbow could do was hope that Pinkie made it back home. She reminded herself that Pinkie had been fleeing the scene by herself when Rainbow had last seen her. There was no telling what happened after, but it wasn’t like Gilda or anygriff else had been hot on her paws.
Still, all Rainbow could think was that if anything happened to Pinkie… Well, actually, she didn’t let herself think beyond that point. She didn’t want to think about what she would do if Pinkie had been caught.
There was only one thing to do, though. As soon as morning came, Rainbow was on her way through Griffonstone toward the Pie household. The streets were crowded, no doubt due to Gilda’s orders to fix up the city. But if they were talking about that, then Rainbow didn’t notice.
Only… maybe she should. Pinkie wasn’t a Griffonstone griffon, she was a lynx griffin from the mountains. She was an outsider, and even if they didn’t usually care about that, nogriff was going to ignore news of an outsider stealing the Idol of Boreas.
Rainbow landed, determined to catch some bit of conversation that would tell her what she needed to know. It didn’t take long to catch something of interest to her.
“Hey, Grizz, you hear about what happened last night?” a female griffon asked.
“Oh, hey, Grace. Yeah, and that didn’t take long…” a male griffon who had to be Grizz replied. “And it doesn’t speak well for Queen Gilda’s reign.”
Even through her concern, Rainbow was a little disappointed they were still calling her Queen Gilda. But she kept her head down low and waited to see what else they had to say.
Grace just shrugged. She seemed less concerned than Grizz was. “I guess, but you know, they did at least catch the griffon who did it.”
Grizz nodded. “Yeah, I heard it was that pink griffin who’s been hanging around here for years. Wonder why she did it?”
“Why’d she do it?” Grace scoffed, and Rainbow felt her fur and feathers ruffle. “She’s a lynx, Grizz. She’s not like us eagles, they don’t really get what it means  to be a griffon.”
That made Grizz smirk, and that caused Rainbow’s muscles to tense up. One more wrong comment and she was going to… “Well, wanna go see if we can ask her about it? Maybe the jail will let us see her.”
“Sure, I’ve got nothing better to do. Let’s go.”
Rainbow was left glaring as they flew off, but a moment later, her anger gave way to disbelief, then panic. She looked around frantically, catching bits of conversations as she did.
“…always knew we had to watch out for that one.”
“…I always say, keep those griffs out of Griffonstone.”
“…eagles first, you know?”
“…say we go into the mountains and clear ‘em out. Only way to be sure.”
This was… How did this happen? Rainbow hadn’t wanted this, and Pinkie…
She had to shake her head to clear it, then there was only one thought in her mind. ‘Where the heck is Gilda?’
This was unacceptable. Even if Gilda was Queen – and that was big ‘if’ as far as Rainbow was concerned – she couldn’t just arrest Pinkie. The Pies weren’t even citizens of Griffonstone, not to mention she didn’t have the Idol. This was an outrage, and Gilda was going to start a damn race war over it.
This had to be a ploy to get Rainbow to come out. That was the only explanation that made any sense. But so what? If it was a ploy, it was working. It didn’t matter that Rainbow could see right through it; she couldn’t leave Pinkie in jail.
Rainbow flew as fast as she could, easily passing the two griffons she had overheard moments before. She was headed for the jail, since that was her best clue as to where Gilda might be. And if she wasn’t there, then at least she knew Pinkie would be there. Rainbow didn’t know what she’d do when she saw them – either Pinkie or Gilda – but she knew she had to see both of them.
She thought of Pinkie in a jail cell. She thought of her friend, her best friend, Pinkie Pie, whom she had just shared that moment with the night before… And she thought of what Gilda might be doing to her. Maybe she was there interrogating Pinkie, using force to get information out of her. The thought made her fly faster.
There was little else on her mind as she flew; only Gilda and what Rainbow would do to her when she found her. If she hurt one feather on Pinkie’s head… Well, for Gilda’s sake, she better not have.
She was still a ways from the jail when she was stopped by a voice calling her name. “Dash!”
Just like that, all other thoughts were gone. No more reason to think about what she’d do when she saw Gilda. It was time to find out.
She came to a halt immediately. She turned upwards and narrowed her eyes, seeing Gilda was above her.
Rainbow flew into the air, but she didn’t wait to be closer to Gilda before yelling at her, “What did you do to Pinkie!?”
Gilda hovered in the air, folding her forelegs. “She’s okay. For now.”
Rainbow closed the distance between them and put her face in Gilda’s. “Let her go!”
“I will.” Gilda’s voice was calm and cool, which filled Rainbow with even more rage. “You don’t really think I believe someone like Pinkie Pie could sneak into my house and get the Idol, do you?”
Rainbow could feel her talons balling into fists, but she didn’t pay that much attention. “Then why did you arrest her!?”
“Because I’m not dumb, Dash,” Gilda said, arching an eyebrow. “If Pinkie was involved, so were you. So where’s my Idol?”
“Your Idol?” The only thing stopping Rainbow from lunging at Gilda was that there was nothing to kick off of in the air. She was tempted to do it anyway. “I found it.”
Gilda nodded. “Yeah, then you gave it to me. Didn’t want the history lesson, you said.”
“That’s not fair! You knew what it was, and you knew if I knew I wouldn’t of given it to you!”
Gilda smirked. “Yeah, that’s true. I did try to tell you though. Anyway, catch me and maybe I’ll let your friend go.”
“What?”
Before the word finished leaving Rainbow’s mouth, Gilda was off. Did she think this was a damn game? Rainbow flew after her in an instant, but not to win some stupid race. No, Rainbow tore after her because when she caught her, there wasn’t going to be anything left of Gilda.
There was no question that Rainbow was faster than Gilda. Gilda was a damn good flyer, and if they landed, she was a damn good sprinter. But Rainbow was just built better – she was a kestrel. She was a hunter, and Gilda was her prey. Rainbow would catch her, it was only a matter of time.
Still, Gilda was really giving it her all. She made sharp turns that left Rainbow guessing at where she was headed. Every time Rainbow almost caught her, Gilda would do some trick to get some distance. Once, Rainbow even reached out to grab her tail, but Gilda entered a free fall while Rainbow wasted seconds speeding ahead and then pivoting to continue the chase.
It was hard to tell if this was all part of some plan, or if Gilda was figuring it out as they went. Little by little, they seemed to be heading out of the city, though.
When they were close to the edge of Griffonstone, Gilda turned sharply towards Grover’s Tower. She was headed for the hole in the wall, giving Rainbow a clear idea of where she was going. She put on a burst of speed, determined to close the gap.
They met as soon as they reached the hole, with Rainbow tackling Gilda into it. She pinned her to the floor and glared down at her.
“Where. Is. Pinkie!?”
Gilda just smirked up at her. “She’s being kept somewhere safe. Chill, I haven’t hurt your precious girlfriend.”
Rainbow gritted her teeth, once again feeling all her muscles tensing. “Tell me where she is right now, or I’ll… I’ll…”
Gilda actually laughed at that. “You’ll what, Dash? We both know you’re not actually gonna hurt me!”
Maybe Gilda would have been right only a day before. But now, after everything Rainbow had been through, and with Pinkie’s safety on the line… Rainbow narrowed her eyes, then curled one of her talons into a fist. She pulled it back and brought it crashing into Gilda’s face.
“Ow! Damn, Dash, I didn’t think you had it in you!” Gilda turned back to face her, but she didn’t try to get away. It was only just dawning on Rainbow that Gilda hadn’t once tried to get up. “Look, we don’t have to do this. It’s simple, really. Like I said, I don’t want to hurt Pinkie. I just want my Idol back. Give me that, and she goes free.”
“I don’t have the Idol!” Rainbow yelled, her face mere inches from Gilda’s. “And neither does Pinkie!”
Gilda narrowed her eyes. “How stupid do you think I am? Pinkie was caught in my house right before the Idol went missing. Pinkie doesn’t even know where I live!”
It was a stupid bluff, but Rainbow dug her talons in anyway. “Maybe somegriff told her. Come on, what would Pinkie want with the Idol anyway?”
“Nothing, except to give it to you. You’re right that she doesn’t have the Idol, and I don’t think she ever did. But come on, it’s obvious that while she was distracting us, you came in and got it!”
Rainbow shook her head. “And what would I want the Idol of Boreas for anyway? You know I don’t want to be a leader.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been wondering.” It seemed that Gilda finally had enough of being pinned down, as she pushed against Rainbow with all her strength, throwing Rainbow off of her. She got up and brushed herself off while Rainbow was scrambling to get up, then she calmly sat down on the opposite side of the room from the wary kestrel and pointed a talon at her. “Why did you steal the Idol?”
“I didn’t steal it!” Rainbow insisted. She was caught, she knew that. Despite what some griffons might think, Rainbow Dash was not dumb. But even so, she wasn’t ready to admit defeat. “But taking it away from you would be reason enough!”
Gilda regarded her for a moment, then sighed. “Look, I wanted to tell you what the Idol was, but you wouldn’t listen!”
“You could have made me listen!” Rainbow glared and pointed a talon accusatively. “You tricked me into giving you all of Griffonstone.”
“Tricked you?” Gilda arched an eyebrow, then shook her head. “Look, you don’t even want to lead, you said so yourself. So what did you give me? A job that you didn’t want? A job I’m good at?”
Rainbow simply held her glare.
“I’m good at this Dash.” Gilda spoke more softly, but her tone was still proud and definitive. “In one day, I’ve already motivated Griffonstone to get to work on fixing up the city. One day, Dash! I can do this!”
Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “You told everyone you found the Idol.”
“Yeah, because neither of us wanted them going over to your place and electing you queen instead.” Gilda threw out a foreleg. “Honestly, what did you want me to do?”
“Tch.” Rainbow turned away, content in the knowledge that Gilda didn’t seem interested in escaping. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter, since I don’t have your Idol.”
“Fine. Then I guess you’ll just have to find it, for poor Pinkie’s sake.”
Rainbow’s head snapped back towards Gilda. “Pinkie has nothing to do with this, let her go!”
“Do you think I wanted my first act as Queen to be throwing Pinkie in jail!?” All at once, Gilda’s calm collected demeanor fell away. “I’m backed up against a wall here, Dash! I don’t have the Idol, and if I let her go now, I risk looking weak on top of that! I could lose my crown before I even have one!”
“You put Pinkie in jail. Whether you wanted to or not, don’t expect me to be sympathetic to you. Besides, why should I even believe you? You’ve never liked Pinkie.”
“Dash, please…” Gilda’s voice was starting to sound desperate. “I don’t want things to be this way. I asked you to be my second, remember? This isn’t how I wanted things to go.”
“You asked me to be your first lackey.”
Gilda sighed. “Look, you’re right, I don’t like Pinkie. But I don’t want to arrest her! I just…”
“Just what?”
Gilda narrowed her eyes at Rainbow then turned away. “Forget it.”
“No, what? You got something to say to me!?”
Gilda curled her talon into a fist and slammed it on the ground. “I just wish I could’ve been the reason you wanted to stick around Griffonstone, okay!? When you left six years ago, I didn’t know what to do with myself! And then you came back, but suddenly Pinkie was all you cared about!”
There was nothing that could have prepared Rainbow for that reaction, but it didn’t matter. She might’ve been shocked by it, but she was more focused on something else. “So you did want to get rid of her?”
“No!” Gilda held her face in her talon. “There was a mob, Dash, and I didn’t know what to do. Griffons heard us chasing her through the streets, and then Gabby told them why we were chasing her, and… they wanted to execute her.”
Rainbow’s beak fell open, and for a second, she forgot to look angry. “They what!?”
“You know what the Idol means to Griffonstone, and when they found out an outsider had stolen it…” Gilda took a deep breath. “I said we couldn’t figure out where she hid it if we killed her, so I had to lock her in jail. I had to, Dash. Do you know what it’s like to try and reason with a mob of angry griffons?”
“You… but… you’re their queen!” Rainbow threw her talons into the air. “You could have ordered them to calm down!”
“I’ve been their queen for less than a day!” Gilda spat, a little blood from where Rainbow had punched her mixing in with the saliva. “You think I wanted this? Have you heard what they’re saying? They’re talking about hunting the lynxes from the mountains! This… Dash, this would be a massacre, and it’d be on my talons. You cannot think I wanted this!”
Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “So you just want me to believe you threw Pinkie in jail to protect her and the other lynx griffins? That’s a load of crap, G!”
“Believe what you want. You never did have any faith in me…” Gilda sighed, and she looked exhausted. “But one way or another, I’m sneaking Pinkie out of the jail tonight. I… I don’t know what they’re gonna do to me when they find out I lost the Idol and our prisoner, but I really don’t want Pinkie to stay locked up. Not that you’ll believe that…”
“Why?” Rainbow asked, shaking her head. “What do you get out of that? You don’t even like her.”
“You know, you’re a really horrible teacher, Rainbow.”
Rainbow didn’t see why that mattered now. “Yeah, you’ve told me. But what –”
“I know you’re a horrible teacher, because I watched every single kindness seminar you’ve put on.”
Rainbow blinked. She’d found Gilda outside of the seminars a number of times, but she had watched all of them? “You… have?”
“Yes. Because no matter how bad you did at trying to teach it, deep down… you were right. Griffons need to be better to one another. And for me, I guess that starts with Pinkie. Time to see if it works better for me than it did for you.”
Rainbow looked at Gilda doubtfully. “Queen Gilda’s reign of kindness? Yeah, I don’t see it.”
“Look, just because you were right doesn’t mean you weren’t also short-sighted. We need more than just kindness, we need a strong leader who can organize us. I can still be that, I…” Gilda let out a mirthless laugh, but didn’t elaborate.
“What?” Rainbow asked.
Gilda regarded her as if she was appraising her, and Rainbow wasn’t sure how much worth she saw there. “You know, the whole reason I even wanted to be a leader was because of you leaving? I thought, you know, I could make Griffonstone into a place that kids don’t want to run away from.”
With each new comment, Rainbow was finding it harder to keep being mad at Gilda. “I didn’t leave because of you, you know.”
“You didn’t stay because of me, either,” Gilda said bitterly. “It doesn’t matter. Along the way, I realized this is bigger than us. I can do what’s right for Griffonstone. And… and it’s not too late for you to help me. Give me back the Idol, Dash. If not for me, then do it for Griffonstone.”
Gilda crossed the room and stepped up to the hole. Rainbow didn’t try to stop her, but she did ask a question before she left. “You’re really going to let Pinkie go?”
Gilda didn’t turn to face her as she answered. “Tonight, yeah. This isn’t just a choice about what I want to do. This is about what kind of leader I want to be.” Gilda turned to Rainbow and nodded. “I’ll go let her in on the plan now, so you just let her family know she’ll be coming.”
With that, Gilda spread her wings and flew out of the tower, leaving Rainbow alone with her thoughts.
None of that had been what Rainbow expected. Gilda really cared that much? And she was going to release Pinkie? Not to mention that she was just keeping Pinkie safe…
She stepped up to the hole in the wall, where she could still make out the shape of Gilda flying back into town. Just what the heck was going on? Gilda was supposed to be a jerk, and giving her a taste of her own medicine was supposed to feel good.
Rainbow didn’t feel good. In fact, Rainbow was pretty sure she was the jerk this time. She sat on the floor, staring out the window at Gilda’s rapidly disappearing form as she thought about the words that lingered in the griffon’s wake.
The only thing to do was to go through the conversation one more time. That would give Rainbow the clarity to know what she needed to do. That would let her make the right choice for once.
Only… only the words just buzzed around Rainbow’s skull, nothing sticking anywhere she could access it for more than a fraction of a second. It felt like that’s all Rainbow had these past couple of days – just fractions of seconds to make decisions where everything was in the balance.
If Rainbow made the wrong choice, Pinkie would suffer. Her whole family, no, her whole tribe could suffer! And Gilda… Rainbow didn’t know what to think of Gilda at the moment, but she was pretty sure that she didn’t want Gilda to suffer either.
She could no longer see the pigeon – no, the eagle griffon in the sky. Instead, she looked over Griffonstone. It had been her home for her whole life, her parents having decided to settle in the city for reasons that Rainbow had never cared to learn. Not that Rainbow had ever learned her lessons well. She couldn’t even learn what the Idol of Boreas looked like, the single most important relic in all of Griffonstone’s history!
She cared about Griffonstone, though. There was nothing about the city that was worth feeling proud of, but she cared about it all the same. It wasn’t pride that she felt. More like… she knew she’d do anything for the city if only someone showed her the right choices to make!
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was no one to tell her what choice to make, and she had more than a fraction of a second to make her decision. She couldn’t focus on what Gilda said, and she couldn’t name what she felt, but she knew she felt something. And not just about Griffonstone. She felt the same dedication to Pinkie as she did to the city. She even thought she maybe owed that same thing to Gilda after listening to her.
With her eyes closed, she could almost see a face. The face of a friend, even if it was a friend she had only known for a few days six years ago.
“What would you do?” Rainbow asked quietly, although she knew Fluttershy was nowhere nearby. “You’re the expert on this stuff…”
In her head, she could see Fluttershy’s smile. That was it, just her smile. That was how Rainbow usually remembered her, because the draconequus had smiled often and broadly. Rainbow nodded, as if that smile was the only answer she needed.
Rainbow Dash was not Fluttershy. She had tried to spread the lessons Fluttershy taught her so easily, and she had failed. And when it got a little too hard to live up to the lesson of kindness herself, she had given up on it.
She was not Fluttershy. But maybe… Maybe Fluttershy wasn’t what Griffonstone needed. Rainbow wasn’t sure she was what Griffonstone needed, either. Maybe Gilda could be, maybe not. In the end, Rainbow still didn’t think what Griffonstone needed was really a leader, anyway.
But they needed a teacher. Not to learn kindness, though. Well, a little extra kindness would not hurt the city, but that wasn’t really how griffons were. They needed…
Rainbow placed her tallon on her heart. That’s what they needed. They needed that feeling, the one Rainbow felt for Griffonstone, Pinkie, and Gilda. Rainbow nodded again, imagining Fluttershy smile.
Then she imagined Pinkie Pie, and Marble, and all the other Pies. She imagined her parents, who had always believed in her. She imagined Gilda, who had cared so much more than she had ever let show.
She focused on Gilda, and she knew they were the same. “You feel it too, huh?” Rainbow asked. It didn’t matter that Gilda wasn’t around to answer. Rainbow didn’t need to hear, she already knew.
So what was she doing moping around an old tower? Rainbow stood up, took one more look over the city, and leaped out of the hole in the wall.
She spread her wings once she cleared the wall, placing a confident grin on her face as she flew off. She was pretty sure that she was going to wind up arrested for what she was about to do. But so what? This was the way she could help everyone at once. It didn’t matter what happened to her, she needed to do this.
She flew straight to her house, vaguely wondering why Gilda hadn’t even tried to search it for the Idol. She had to know that was where Rainbow had stored it, she was smarter than Rainbow ever was.
‘Because she wouldn’t stoop that low.’ Rainbow frowned at the thought. Gilda knew exactly where the Idol was, but she hadn’t tried to get it. She hadn’t tried to do anything other than reason with Rainbow. That left her with a question, but not one anyone could answer, even if there was someone around to ask it to.
Although many griffons saw Rainbow fly over the city, nogriff tried to stop her. It seemed that Gilda hadn’t put out the word that anyone should apprehend her. That was convenient, but it did further Rainbow’s question.
She came to her house and threw open the door, heading straight for the basement. It had been the best place she could think to hide it – everyone knew eagle griffons hated being underground. She descended the stairs in a leap, leaving the door open for light.
The Idol of Boreas, tucked away in a box in the corner. The basement was full of so much crap that finding the Idol in it would have been a challenge if Rainbow didn’t know exactly where she’d left it – that had been the other half of her plan.
As she pulled it out, she stared at it. There was no way it could answer, but she still needed to ask. “You chose me, right? That was the call?”
The Idol just shone slightly in the dim light.
“Well, why didn’t you pick somegriff better?”
As she expected, it did not answer. She sighed and turned to leave, but bumped the box on the way out. Something fell from it.
It was a little plush tortoise. Rainbow picked it up and frowned. That had once been her prized possession as a kit. Now it was tucked away in a dusty box, where no one would ever care about it. Why had her parents kept that?
She placed it in the box again, but she didn’t leave. She set the Idol off to the side, and she grabbed something else at random. A small flight visor that hadn’t fit Rainbow for years. Not that she needed it to; she’d learned how to keep her eyes open in the wind. After that, she found a tiny winter scarf, and a poster of a pegasus mid-flight, and dozens of other things she’d stopped caring about years ago.
“Oh, that’s you down here.”
Rainbow turned to see her dad at the top of the stairs. He descended them one at a time and grinned at her. “What are you doing down here, Dash?”
“I, uhm…” Rainbow looked at the Idol, then to the box. “Why do you have all this stuff?”
“Oh, this? It’s all treasure!” Bow Hotpaw grinned and sat down with Rainbow. He pointed at the poster Rainbow was still holding. “Remember when you wanted to start the first Griffon flight troupe?”
Rainbow blushed. “Yeah. Pretty dumb, trying to get a group of griffons to work together.”
Bow shrugged. “Well, I don’t know that it would have worked, but I liked your passion.”
Rainbow looked at the box and frowned. “Is, uhm, is that what you think of the kindness lessons?”
Bow looked ahead and lost his smile. “I think… you’re really onto something, Dash. I do, you know? And I don’t know if other griffons will ever get it, but I know you’re not the one who’s wrong.”
Rainbow shook her head. “I… don’t think I ever really tried to learn what other griffons are like. I think I should have tried something else.”
Bow smiled again. “Never too late to start something else. What did you have in mind?”
Rainbow smiled as well. “I think… we need to look out for each other, but I don’t think ‘kindness’ is the way for griffons to do it.”
“Maybe not. But it sounds like you’re starting to figure this one out on your own.”
Rainbow nodded. She didn’t know what was going to happen, and if she never got another chance, then she’d regret not taking this one. “Hey, Dad? Thank you. For, er, everything.”
Somehow, Bow Hotpaw smiled more at that. He clapped his daughter on the back. “You’re welcome, Dash.”
When she looked into her dad’s face, she could see the same thing there. The same feeling. He loved her, she knew that, but that wasn’t the feeling. It was related to love, just as it was related to pride, but… Rainbow knew it was different.
And it was time to test it out. She was a horrible teacher, and this time, she only got one more shot at it. Griffons didn’t need kindness, but they needed this. If Rainbow couldn’t teach them…
No, she had to. This had to work. She grabbed the Idol, and flew off to the top of the stairs. She turned back to look at her dad, who seemed to be trying to get a better look at the Idol. Best to get out of there before he knew what it was.
Knowing no words would suffice, Rainbow just gave him a grin and a wave before turning to leave. Her resolution hardened, even though she was scared. Depending on how things went, that might be the last time she ever saw her father.
But she knew what she had to do. So once she was out the door, she took to the air and made for the jail. She kept the Idol obscured from sight as much as she could, hiding it with her talons as she flew.
It wasn’t the smartest way to travel with it, but nogriff seemed to pay her any attention anyway. They all seemed…
Rainbow stopped for a moment as she realized how angry everygriff was. And they were all making their way towards… no…
Rainbow sped to the jail, not caring if anygriff saw the Idol. She had to beat them there, had to put an end to this before they did.
When she arrived, she found Gilda and a handful of others blockading the jail. Gilda was barking orders, but no one seemed to care.
The same passion from before burned in Rainbow’s chest, and she narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t leave this to Gilda. She put on an extra burst of speed and landed on top of the building.
“Everyone!” she yelled, but she was barely audible over the crowd. “Listen to me! I have the Idol!”
No one paid her any attention, so Rainbow did something no self-respecting griffon would ever willingly do: she inhaled, and let out the loudest squawk she could manage.
All eyes turned towards her, so she held the Idol aloft. “Listen! I have the Idol of Boreas!”
Murmurs broke out, but griffons were giving Rainbow their full attention. Rainbow took a deep breath, but she was interrupted by someone cheering. “She got the Idol back from that dirty lynx!”
Rainbow’s eye twitched, but she held her anger in check. “Pinkie didn’t steal the Idol.” Rainbow jumped down beside Gilda, putting her trust in the eagle to keep her safe. “I did.”
Again, the crowd roared, but Gilda roared louder. “Let her speak!”
Rainbow smiled her appreciation to her friend. “So, uhm… I’m actually really bad at this. I mean, anyone who’s gone to one of my seminars knows that.”
“She’s the one who’s always going on about that pony crap!”
Rainbow gave a small smile, if only because the alternative was panicking. She knew this would take delicate words, and she just did not have that gift. “I’m, well… I’m not here to teach you about kindness today. There’s… there’s something else I wanted to talk about.”
Rainbow closed her eyes, for a fraction of a second she wondered if she’d made the wrong move. But no one moved to attack her as she opened them.
“Griffonstone… it needs somegriff who will do anything for it. And that griffon? That’s Gilda!”
Gilda turned wide-eyed towards Rainbow.
“Gilda, she’s a lot like me. But unlike me, she’s never going to back down from doing what’s right when it’s hard. And she knows all this junk, if she was talking, she’d probably be doing a better job than me, and…”
“Rainbow…” Gilda looked out to the crowd and frowned.
They weren’t calming down. “She’s friends with the pink one!” someone yelled, sharpening the word into a weapon. “I say we tar both of them!”
There were shouts of agreement.
Gilda turned a harsh glare to Rainbow, and for a moment, she thought she’d made a mistake. “Give me the Idol.”
But then her expression softened, just for a fraction of a second, and she added quietly, “Please…”
Rainbow understood. She didn’t know griffons, but Gilda did. She knew what had to be done, she knew that she had to look strong by their standards. So Rainbow nodded, and when she spoke again, the words she spoke were only for Gilda; only for her friend.
“G, when I gave you this, I said it’s a symbol of kindness. But it’s not. I’m not giving you this because I’m kind or anything, but… because I trust you. Because I want Griffonstone to be better than it is. This Idol, it’s not a symbol of kindness. It’s a symbol of loyalty. My loyalty to you, and both of our loyalty to Griffonstone.”
Gilda held out her talon and nodded. Rainbow nodded as well, and gave her the Idol of Boreas.
Or… she tried to. “Uh, Dash?” Gilda said as the Idol began glowing.
“I…” Rainbow couldn’t think of what to say. This wasn’t part of her plan, and whatever words she did have failed her.
“Knock it off, Dash,” Gilda said in a worried tone.
The light was growing brighter. Rainbow could barely see through it. “I’m not doing this! I don’t –”
That was as far as she got before everything faded away.