//------------------------------//
// Introduction 
// Story: Gilda's Downfall 
// by Daray Dementia 
//------------------------------//


~Gilda’s Downfall~
~Introduction: This Day in Age~

~History does not long entrust the care of 
freedom to the weak or the timid~
~Dwight D. Eisenhower~


A missile flew overhead, somewhere behind him it struck a target and ponies screamed in pain. Vel took a chance and looked behind him to see what the missile hit. A war chariot was up in flames with bodies spread around it. He focused his attention to the missile silo that was slowing their advance. ‘Something must be done about that silo! If not, we aren’t going to last very long out here!’ Vel thought to himself. He looked around for anypony else who could assist him in taking down that silo. But everypony else was already preoccupied with the griffon attackers. It was up to Vel to stop the bombardment from destroying the encampment. Right when he was about the charge, a hoof grabbed his hind hoof and pulled him down into the trench. He turned around expecting a griffon to strike at him but it wasn’t a griffon. “Are you crazy? Charging at something like that alone?” shouted Quickfire. Vel lowered his defences. He hugged Fire, then backed off embarrassed. “Well, that’s one way to greet somepony.”
“Sorry, I haven't seen you since the days before all this!"
"I know, and I'm sorry for that! But I was trying to stop an oncoming war! It didn't really work but at least you're still here!"
Vel pointed at the sky to a platoon of griffons heading their way. Fire understood and readied himself for the incoming wave of griffon soldiers. They got down and waited for the griffons to fly over their position. When they were completely overhead, Vel and Fire jumped up and started firing their rifles up at the griffons. A couple of them fell to the earth with a bone-crushing thud, others screamed in pain but continued their flight. When the platoon of griffons were out of sight or attacking other ponies, Vel and Fire rushed forward toward the silo. Vel noticed a blur flying past them. A pegasus with a blue and black mane and a tan body was flying beside Vel with a smirk on his face. 

Evening Mist was first to reach the silo, he sat at the base of the silo waiting for the others to arrive. When they did he ran up to them. They all sat together, pondering whether the other two were real. "Guys...I thought you were dead!" Mist said, breaking the silence. They sat there for a few moments, until an explosion shook them out of their trance. They started walking around the silo looking for a weak spot in the metal. Vel eventually found one and started placing semtex all over the side of the missile. "You know when this goes off its going to tear up everything within a couple miles radius." Fire stated while watching Vel place the sticky explosive to the silo. Vel just looked at him, He could never tell if Fire was being serious or just messing with him. “Well, then we’ll just have to be extra careful.” said Vel.
“Ha-ha, you're so funny. But we will need to clear the area before we set off the charges.” Mist noted with urgency.
“Yeah, Mist and I will go and alert the others to pack up camp and move further back.” Fire stated while walking away, pulling Mist along with him.
Vel nodded and went back to the task at hoof. All his life, he was a quick study. It never took him much to learn how something worked or how much abuse something could take before he could bend it to his will. It only took him one time to learn about explosives. It almost cost him his life. But after that experience, he treated those things with much more care.

When he was finally done with the sabotage, he stood up and double checked his handy work. The others joined him while he was around the back of the silo. Fire walked up to Vel. “Hey, the others are gone and we are ready to do this. You know when the explosion goes off, griffons are going to come out of the woodwork to see what caused the noise. If you haven’t been in a real fight before, you will soon.” Vel just shrugged and trotted back around to the front of the silo. There were still a few ponies, but they were there to escort them back to the camp. Vel turned to the others. He took a deep breath and started forward. While on the way back to the safety of the camp, Mist admired the scenery, something he hadn’t done in ages. He knew it would be gone soon, no doubt the explosion would scorch the limbs off the trees. The bright autumn leaves, all the greens and oranges, would disintegrate once the evil fires made their way into this forest. He couldn’t help himself, he flew over to one of the trees and stuffed one side of his saddlebag full of leaves and acorns. It wouldn’t seem like much to somepony not enthralled by nature, but Mist was a nature pony at heart. He may have lived most of his life in the sky, but to him, nothing compared to the beauty of nature on the ground. He flew back over to his company; they had knowing looks on their faces, they were having the same thoughts of destruction. The rest of the trip went unhindered and overall quiet. The only ponies capable of chatting was the escort ponies that stayed behind to help them out. They were talking amongst each other a mile a minute.

~~~

Back at camp, the ponies readied themselves for a full charge upon the military camp just on the other side of the mountain. But Lieutenant Shining Armor didn’t want to advance until Vel and his squad returned from their search and destroy mission. He was in his tent when a couple of soldiers ran past yelling about something. He strode over to his tent flap and threw it open. As soon as he did, a griffon flew right into his way. They were both thrown back and collided on the floor. The griffon jumped up and started attacking Shining, giving him no time to recover from his shock. But underestimating Shining, he threw the griffon off him and used a containment spell on the griffon. When he was sure the griffon was subdued, he plopped down right where he was standing. He hadn’t slept in days, insomnia and fear of an ambush while he slept kept him on constant alert. He stood up and walked out of his tent to assess the situation. The griffons attacked first, while the ponies had their backs turned. Ponies were scrambling around trying to prepare themselves for the attack. Most were already fighting back and moving unarmed soldiers to the barracks. Shining ran for the general's tent. MP’s were all around the tent, defending it at all cost. He ran inside and noticed that inside was just as hectic as outside. There were papers scattered everywhere, ponies knocking each other over to get to radio’s to call for backup or just readying themselves for the fight.

He pushed two ponies out of the way to get over to the table where all the high ranks were sitting. They were planning what they should do about this attack. He went over to his seat and listened to what they had to say. “We need to counter-attack! Strike them like they striked us!”
“How are we going to do that when we are preoccupied at the moment trying not to die ourselves?” The constant bickering wasn’t getting them anywhere. Shining stood up and started to leave when the others turned and looked at him. “Where do you think your going?”
“To defend my country! What are you doing?” he snapped back at them. They all sat there mouths agape, never before being spoken to like that. Then one of them stood up and walked over to Shining’s side. One by one, they all got up and prepared themselves for what they were about to do. Shining walked outside to see the damage. Bodies littered the ground, both ponies and griffons alike. He noticed some soldiers had taken refuge in the barracks, blocking off any griffon that tried to enter. Griffons were all over the skies, but the pegasus were not going down without a fight. They were doing whatever they could to ground the griffons, that way, the ponies on the ground at least had a chance. But while the pegasus were taking the griffons down at medium to long range with their rifles, they were powerless to the griffons up close. The griffons sharp claws would tear through the flesh of anypony unfortunate enough to get close.

~~~

Vel stopped the group on the trail they were following, and all went quiet for a moment. Then a distant noise was heard by the entire group. “What do you think it was?”
“I don’t know, but it sounded like it was coming from camp.” Then they all looked at each other with a worried look. Vel sprinted down the road with the others in tow. They climbed over a ridge and saw the massacre before them. Griffons and ponies were battling everywhere. Bodies were scattered all over the ground, and ponies were running around in a frenzy. Shining was the first to see them. He ran over to where they were hiding. “As you can see, we are kind of in a bind here. If you would be so kind as to lend some assistance that would be great.” Fire pushed past the others and pulled Shining off to the side.
“What happened? How did nopony see them ahead of time?”
“We were all preoccupied with getting ready for the assault on the enemy camp!” Shining was tired and was in no mood to explain everything that happened. He walked back to the group and pulled them all in a circle. “Alright listen up! We are seriously outnumbered here! The griffons basically have control of the sky. There are ponies in the barracks but they won't last long without support.”
The group nodded and broke out of the circle, they walked over to the ridge and risked a quick glance at the battlefield. Mist told them he would help out in the sky and the group agreed with his plan. The ponies got into position and took a deep breath. Climbing over the ridge they charged down the hill.