Scent of Roses
Part 2
The sky was blue - the deep, vivid, incredible cerulean that was only really experienced from high in the air, from hundreds or thousands of feet above the earth. At that height, even moreso than from the ground, the sky was an expanse that seemed like it went on forever, curving overhead in an unending spherical dome, arching down toward the incomprehensibly distant horizon and wrapping around the very planet itself to envelop it all. Only a few miniscule puffs of white fluffy clouds, like tiny islands in that vast ocean, dotted it. Clarity was perfect, the morning sun bathed everything in radiance.
A great day for flying.
Rainbow Dash flapped leisurely through it, gliding at intervals. Soft wind ran across her limbs and her body, gently rippling the flightsuit she wore. Her eyes were taking in the spectacular view from under the clear lenses of her goggles. At this slow speed, Dash would have preferred not to wear them at all, but the goggles were part of the Combat Flier's proscribed personal protective gear for operating in the field. It wasn't trivial. There was no telling when a patrol could turn into a high speed chase - or escape.
She looked over at her partner, flying at the same pace on her left. The same flightsuit covered her, light grey, neutrally colored to help break its silhouette against a pale horizon in the daylight hours. It covered her mane, the same way Dash's was covered, keeping it hidden and neatly out of the way, only her ears sticking out at the top of her head. The same goggles covered her eyes, the same small gear pouches were strapped to her, carried on her sides. The two could have almost been the same pony, individuality of appearance suppressed under the uniformity of their military equipment and clothing, except for the other pegasus' white wings and flowing beige tail versus Dash's light blue wings and rainbow-splashed tail tapering off into looser, messier ends. Alabaster had always had better hair... If 'groomed' and 'pretty' were the criteria for 'better'. Dash was aware that this was how most ponies judged it, but tended to disagree. She preferred the wild look, to just let her mane and tail do what they wanted.
The two of them cut a wide arc over the ground below, turning very gradually for the next new minutes, tracing along the circular route they were supposed to be patrolling for signs of any incursion by the Northern Griffin Kingdom's army into Equestria.
Nothing exciting was happening, for a while, until suddenly Alabaster raised one forehood straight forward, toward the north, pushing it back and forth with urgency, trying to point something out. Dash followed it with her eyes, snapping her head in the indicated direction.
A small dark silhouette was just visible in the distant sky ahead. It was too small yet to resolve many details, but the overall feel of the conformation was hard to mistake. Pointier wings than a pegasus, broader, with feathers that tipped up slightly at the ends... The wings of an eagle. Forelimbs folded up, carried like a bird, back limbs stretched out trailing behind.
Rainbow Dash pulled up suddenly, breaking for a small nearby cloud. She darted into and through it from beneath and emerged from the top to land on it. Alabaster paralleled her flawlessly, landing next to her.
Crouching down, they dug in, and fluffed the displaced large cotton-candy chunks of white cloud back over themselves. They were quickly concealed. They kept watching the griffin in the distance, as it slowly rode a thermal, lazily circling upward into the sky.
"Looks like we got a winner." Rainbow Dash whispered.
"Bait?" Alabaster asked, eyes locked on the distant creature.
"I dunno. But when do we ever see just one griffin by itself?" Dash asked in response.
"Yeah. Figures." Alabaster said. "Guess that's it for this being an easy up-down-and-done patrol..."
"Well hey, who wants a boring day anyway?" Rainbow Dash replied.
"I'd kinda like one once in a while, sometimes." Alabaster answered the rhetorical question.
Dash didn't reply back. She and Alabaster both opened up one of their gearpouches, and each pulled out a particular piece of equipment - a length of steel chain, about as long as a pony, with a square steel weight at one end and a loop of cords, the right size for biting down on in a pony's teeth to control it, on the other. They were tangleweights - weapons designed to ensnare a flying creature, wrapping around wings and limbs to immobilize and eliminate flight control, sending them spiraling to the ground. They each wrapped the chains around one bent forelimb, grabbing the cord-looped end in their teeth, ready for employment by simply extending their leg and letting the coils of chain fly off and straighten out... Ready to hurl into the sky to intercept a foe to deadly effect.
"You ready to outrun an angry mob of griffins if this *is* bait?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Alabaster grinned, with a certain spark in her light blue eyes visible from under the goggles. "Always, Rainbow. Always. Let's go check it out and get this done with..."
"... Is everything alright, dear?" Rarity's voice intruded into Rainbow Dash's mind, along with a sudden awareness that the white unicorn was sidling into the seat next to her.
The interruption broke the reverie. The train... The reality of the train flooded back into Dash's awareness. She was on the train to Jennetstown, sitting in a seat toward the rear of the car they were riding in. For most of the time since the train's departure at 7pm sharp, she'd been quiet and reserved, keeping uncharacteristically to herself and staring out the window at the land outside that rushed by in the little bit of remaining daylight.
And now Rarity was sitting next to her, nosing into things.
Out of nowhere a part of Rainbow Dash's mind flared suddenly with a hot impulsive anger, surprising her.
Alright?! No! Everything's not alright! Why are you here? Dash wanted to yell. You, always being all girly fru-fru, with your dresses and that stupid looking sunhat you like to wear and your perfectly sculpted... or... coifed... or... whatever-you-call-what-you-do-with-your-hair! You don't know what Jennetstown is... Don't you understand how much you don't belong there? How much I wish you weren't following me there? You don't understand how hard this is already gonna be. You don't understand anything! Why can't you just stay out of it?! All of you!
All of this ran through her brain in an instant, begging to be screamed out. But Rainbow Dash fought it down, carefully holding her tongue. She just shook her head a little. Lashing out was the last thing she really wanted. Rarity, and all the others, were just trying to help, the only way they knew how. It was only natural for them to be concerned. No doubt Twilight Sparkle had informed them that there was something more to this trip than simply bailing a friend out of jail - Rainbow Dash hadn't exactly hidden a larger sense of apprehension - but Twilight didn't know the details herself, so she couldn't have told them what, and Rainbow Dash just wasn't comfortable with revealing any specifics. Her late arrival to the library with just enough time for the group to run and catch the train had, in fact, been timed to avoid getting asked too many questions that she already knew she'd only evade.
She felt bad about it...
But she also didn't know what else to do. Parts of her just weren't cooperating.
"It's... Nothing, Rarity. I'm just... You know, kinda stressed out." Rainbow Dash said.
"Oh, I understand!" Rarity said. "Why, just the other day, working in my studio, I was completely at my wit's end with how... Oh, eh... But..." She thought for a second. "You wouldn't really... Want to hear about that, would you? ... No... It does seem sort of trivial..." She shook her head. "... But at any rate..." She continued after a pause, "What I mean is, I know you're a little nervous about this trip, Rainbow... Twilight said it might be... Hard... For you... But I'm sure things will be just fine. We're all here for you, darling." She reached up and put one foreleg around Rainbow Dash's shoulder, comfortingly. "Please just let us know if you need anything, yes?"
The gesture was brief, but Rainbow Dash found herself moved. Rarity had a well-defined concept of her own personal space and a fastidious manner, and accordingly, physical contact with other ponies was... Ironically true to her name... A rarity for her. The sensation of her touch pierced some sort of barrier and made Rainbow Dash really feel it down inside, warm in her heart - she understood that Rarity truly cared about her and the difficult situation she was heading into. Just as fast as she'd gotten angry, Rainbow Dash's feelings swung 180 degrees, and suddenly, she found that she welcomed Rarity's presence, and that of all the rest of the ponies. She felt guilty about being so angry while her friend was only trying to show her some sympathy and bring her some comfort. She also realized that she'd been so preoccupied and nervous that she hadn't thought about any of them... She hadn't even said a word of thanks. Guilt crept through her about that. Springing up inside her there was suddenly an urge to show her appreciation, return that warmth.
"Hey... Guys..." Rainbow Dash began haltingly, looking away from the window and towards all her friends. "I... Uhhh..."
"What is it, dear?" Rarity prompted her, after her words seemed stuck.
"Oh, it's..." Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I just wanted to say thanks for coming with me. That's all."
"Woooo! No problem at all, Dashie!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed loudly, from a couple seats over. "I get to ride the train, and see a new town, and..." The glares of all the others silently informed Pinkie Pie that her response may have been inappropriately enthusiastic for the situation. She noticed, and her smile faded away as she seemed to deflate a little.
"What?" She looked around. "Nopony else is excited?"
"Sorry, Pinkie..." Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I know you like to try to make everything fun, but... I'm... Just not feelin' it. It's not gonna be that kind of trip."
"Oh... Well... Alright, then..." Pinkie Pie seemed rather nonplussed.
Silence mostly reigned once more again, after that. Rainbow Dash fell back into staring out the window, watching the landscape, the trees, the rocks, farms, empty wild fields, all rushing past. It reminded her of flying, and she wished she was up in the air, feeling the wind in her wings instead of sitting on this train carrying her to... To... She wasn't even completely sure what to, anymore, she pondered, staring into the very end of the sunset, watching the last hints of the faint deep rose-red glow on the horizon fade away and yield to Luna's inky blue-black night sky and the soft silver glow of a crescent moon.
Eventually, with the ascension of the night completed, the ponies gradually fell asleep one by one in the dark train car, getting some rest before the coming day in a strange town.
For a long time, Rainbow Dash was the last one still awake, feeling anxious and helpless. The train sped on, an impersonal machine caring nothing for that sky, mindlessly carrying her inexorably to a destination that parts of her didn't know if she even truly wanted to arrive at at all, and there was nothing she could do.
The six ponies were woken up in the morning, early, around sunrise, by the conductor walking through the car and announcing in a loud voice that they would be arriving at their final destination shortly, and asking for all passengers to please gather their luggage and get ready to exit at the Jennetstown station.
The ponies did so, most of them (except for Applejack, accustomed to being up early) blurry-eyed and a little sluggish at first, before they came around and shook it off.
The morning's first order of business, after exiting the train, was to find the police station. Fortunately, the train station had a stand with maps of the town available. Twilight Sparkle magically grabbed one, levitating it in front of herself and the other ponies. After a quick stop to buy breakfast at a stand selling donuts and assorted pastries, they easily planned their route and started out.
As they walked through Jennetstown, they found that it was different than what they were used to. The buildings were more drab, painted mostly in earth tones or subdued pale hues, not bright candy colors. The road was dirt and gravel, packed hard by many years of being walked on, much like the roads of Ponyville, and also like Ponyville, the grass in the yards was lush and green, but in contrast, there were very few flowers. In Ponyville, most houses and buildings had small flowerbeds planted along the margins of walkways or underneath windows, adding additional splashes of color. Here in Jennetstown, it was uncommon. Instead, there were more shade trees, rows of them lining many of the streets to provide shelter from the hot summer sun and help break the cold winds in winter. The overall effect of the town, compared to Ponyville, was of a place that was more serious and somber, less time for frivolity or making things pretty simply for appearances' sake.
The ponies they passed in the streets reflected the same general outlook. Few of them had smiles or time to even say a "good morning" in passing. Most simply had a neutral expression, walking quickly and paying no real attention to the group of six friends as they passed by, looking like they had other things to be doing and just wanting to be left alone to get where they were going.
The mood of the town affected the group and their journey to the police station was a quiet one. But the walk wasn't long or difficult, and before long they found themselves standing in front of their goal.
The Jennetstown police station was a very old stone building, a single story in height but built to present a distinct sense of grandeur and stateliness. The stone blocks it was made from were large and gave the building a feeling of fortification, like a castle. The windows looking into the offices inside were narrow but tall, showing off the thickness of the walls. A short set of stone steps led up to the front entrance, comprised of large wooden double doors. Above the doors was a carved stone shield, surrounded by a wreath and underscored by a motto ("Protect and Serve").
Twilight Sparkle took the lead and ascended the stairs, with the others following close behind. She pushed the doors open and slowly walked in. A little inside and to the right, there was a front desk with an earth pony officer, white coated and brown maned, wearing a blue uniform with a silver shield shaped badge on it matching the carving over the station's doors.
He seemed a little surprised to see the group of six ponies entering. "Good morning." He said, setting aside some paperwork he'd been flipping through as Twilight and Rainbow Dash approached the desk side by side. "May I help you?"
"I sure hope so." Rainbow Dash said. "We're here looking for someone you're holding in the jail."
"Who would that be?" The officer asked.
"Her name's Gilda." Rainbow Dash said. "She's kinda hard to miss. She's..."
"The griffin?" He asked, with just the slightest hint of surprise, interrupting Dash. "Well... Huh. Didn't think anyone would show up for her. What do you fillies want with a griffin?"
"Here to get her out, actually." Rainbow Dash said. Twilight Sparkle and the others nodded in simultaneous agreement.
The officer's eyes briefly opened wide, in surprise, before narrowing as if he was unsure of what to think about what he'd heard. "Hmm. That's sort of a horse of a different color." He said, frowning just a little bit. "Gimme a second. You're gonna need to talk to the captain about this."
He stepped away from the front desk, turning toward an office door a little way behind him. He knocked on it, tapping it twice with a forehoof. A few seconds later it opened, revealing another police pony, a female pegasus. She was a moderately dark greyish-blue color and a lighter blue mane. She wasn't wearing a uniform, but did have a silver badge on a loop around her neck. It was like the desk officer's, but with a small star on top. The desk officer said something quietly to her. The six of them couldn't quite hear it. She frowned and narrowed her eyes, much like he had at first. "The griffin?" She asked, in a louder voice that carried over to them. "You kidding me?"
"Nope. That's what they said." He said, glancing back over shoulder at them and briefly pointing with a forehoof.
She disappeared back into her office for a second, then came out carrying a file folder and walked to the front desk where the six ponies were waiting quietly.
There was a momentary silence. The six of them faced the two police officers, slightly awkwardly, no pony saying anything.
"You're here for the griffin?" The captain finally asked, looking over the group.
"Yep." Rainbow Dash stepped forward. "I am."
"So who are they?" The captain asked, looking at the other five ponies.
"Friends." Rainbow Dash said simply.
"Lotta friends for bailing somepony - err, griffin - outta jail." The captain remarked in an off-hoof way, flipping open the file folder and looking at the papers inside.
"Yeah." Rainbow Dash mumbled. "Guess you could say that."
"What's your name?" The captain asked.
"Rainbow Dash." Dash replied.
"Alright, Rainbow Dash." The captain said. She consulted her file briefly, checking something. "You the one who wants the griffin released into your custody?"
"Yes." Rainbow Dash said.
"Right. Come with me. We're gonna need to talk." The captain grabbed the file once again, and motioned for Rainbow Dash to follow her into her office. The two of them stepped inside, leaving the others waiting outside, still at the front desk. The captain closed the door behind them.
The office was spacious, a large square room painted in white, with a window on the far wall. There was a large workdesk, cluttered with pens, pencils, a few random papers and forms, scattered and various knicknacks. Rainbow Dash stood in front of it, and the captain walked around to the other side. She tossed down the file, which landed in the middle of the desk with a small thud. The two of them stood looking at each other momentarily.
"So." The captain began. "You know this... Gilda, is it?"
"Yeah. We're old friends." Rainbow Dash said.
"Right. Right." The captain nodded. "So how'd you find out that she's here?"
"She wrote me a letter." Rainbow Dash said. She opened the flap on one of her bags and pulled out a sheet of paper. "I've got it right here. She explained where she was and why." Rainbow Dash set it down on the desk. The captain read it, briefly.
"Alright. Well, Rainbow Dash, we've heard your name. Gilda gave it to us. We didn't know whether or not to actually expect you to ever show up, though, frankly. We didn't know if you were real or just some line she was trying to feed us to get out of here." The captain said.
"Nope. Real as it gets. Here I am." Rainbow Dash said.
"I can see that." The captain said. "I understand that you're here to vouch for her. She said you'd be able to, if you showed up. So... Let's get right down to the problem we're looking at: We picked her up trying to come through the mountain passes near the border. It's not legal for noncitizen griffins to cross into Equestria from the Northern Kingdom. Not after the war. If she's a citizen, then she's got the right to be here, but we haven't been able to confirm that. She claims it but she has no ID, no documentation, no proof. No nothing. We need something. If you can help us out with that, we can resolve this and get her off our hooves. I'm sure that's what everyone wants here."
"Well, I brought what I could find..." Rainbow Dash began. "Unfortunately, I don't have copies of Gilda's army papers or anything. I just have my own. But I did bring all the photos I had of us together." She dug through her bags and began pulling out the mentioned items, first, her own Equestrian Army enlistment and discharge papers, then numerous photographs of her with Gilda - as young children, then a little older at Junior Speedster's graduation day, with Gilda giving her goofy rabbit-ears, and a scattering of other occasions over time. "I've known her since I was a little kid. We grew up in Cloudsdale. I knew her parents. They were definitely Equestrian citizens, which makes her one too. I can tell you their names and their address. I know that none of this might be the direct proof you're looking for, but honest to Celestia, I tried as hard as I could. It's all I've got. I guess all I can ask you to do is believe me... And her."
The captain stood at her desk, looking over Rainbow Dash's papers, reading her service record off of her discharge forms.
"Advanced Flight Combat school. Aerial warfare qualified... Awarded the Sunmark. Nice. Stationed at the camp here outside Jennetstown." The captain nodded to herself, then looked up at Rainbow Dash, locking eyes with her. "You got it on your shoulder?" She asked.
The question floored Rainbow Dash at first. She was speechless for a second before she managed to get out the answer. "Heck yeah... 'Course I do!" She said proudly, grinning.
"I remember when I got mine done..." The captain shook her head, smiling back a little bit. "Had to get loaded with some of the rest of my class to go through with it, but I did it."
"Yeah." Rainbow Dash nodded. "Only hurts for a little while... But it's bad while it lasts."
"Wouldn't do it again, that's for sure!" The captain laughed. "So what'd you get?"
"See for yourself." Rainbow Dash reached up with her right foreleg and pushed up the hairs of her blue coat over her left shoulder. The captain studied something underneath them, before the coat's hairs fell back down and Rainbow Dash smoothed them out, covering up her skin again.
"Not bad." The captain nodded. "I always kinda wished I could get something cool like all the enlisted fliers. All I got were the plain old officer's wings. Not very exciting, right?"
"You were an officer?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"For six years." The captain nodded. "Probably woulda stayed in longer, but Jennetstown was hiring police at the time, and I was kinda sick of the whole always moving around thing and I like this area... So I took my chances here. Worked out alright so far. But sometimes I guess I still miss it."
"Yeah, well..." Rainbow Dash looked at the floor. "There's some things I miss, but there's more than enough that I don't miss. At all."
"I know what you mean." The captain said. "Alright... Well, to get to the point, Dash, I feel like I can trust you. I want to, at least. And this griffin, Gilda, says she was an officer in the army. I want to trust her, too, because if there's one thing I never want to have to do, it's distrust a fellow officer. I've talked to her and she knows things that I don't think someone who hasn't been in the Equestrian service would. I'm really wanting to extend the benefit of the doubt, 'cause keeping her locked up is, frankly, a lousy situation for everyone and I feel pretty bad about it. Just couldn't let her loose, though, without somepony showing me something on paper to make it plausable enough. Know what I mean?"
The captain was quiet for a moment, studying Rainbow Dash's face.
"So here's the deal, Dash..." She continued. "I want your word. I want you to look me in the eye, and I want you to say what one Advanced Combat Flier would say to another and tell me that everything is true and that Gilda deserves to be let go. Can you do that?"
Rainbow Dash immediately walked from in front of the desk, around the side, to stand directly facing the captain, mere inches separating their eyes. "The day I can't fly is the day I die." Rainbow Dash said. "And I swear to you on that, it's all true, ma'am."
The captain stared at Dash's face, her eyes, for a short time, then finally nodded somberly. "Alright. That's all I need to hear. Let's get the paperwork filled out and she's yours to deal with. I really hope I don't get in trouble for this. Don't let me down, Dash. One Flier to another. Remember."
"Thanks, captain." Rainbow Dash said, relieved.
"One more condition, though." The captain said, after a thoughtful pause.
"What is it?" Rainbow Dash asked. She looked up from collecting her papers and photographs back off the desk and putting them back into her bags.
"Look, don't take this the wrong way - I have nothing against griffins, per se - but I'll be honest, I want her out of my town. That's for her own good. Ponies around here... They're not gonna be so nice to her, you know?" The captain said. "And they're gonna get her and themselves in trouble if you give 'em too much of a chance, the way feelings run around here after the war. Tomorrow night. Next train out leaving for Ponyville. That's where you came from so I assume that's where you're going back to, right? I want you, your friends, and her on it. Understand me, Dash?"
"I wouldn't worry about that." Rainbow Dash said. "Already got round-trip tickets. No offense, but I don't wanna be in this town any longer than I have to. I've seen enough of it for a whole lotta lifetimes."
"Good." The captain nodded. "That's good."
A half hour and a stack of paperwork later, Rainbow Dash was led back to the holding area and taken to a cell, brick walls on three sides and enclosed by thick, wrought-iron bars with black patina on the fourth, with an extremely bored looking griffin inside laying on a cot in the corner staring up at the ceiling. Rainbow Dash recognized her instantly. Her heart sped up a little at the sight of her old friend, at laying eyes at last on the reason for the trip to this town.
"Heya, G." Rainbow Dash said through the bars.
Gilda's eyes went wide and she jumped up, practically flying off the cot in her scramble. "Dash! you're here!" She exclaimed. "Aww man, thank Celestia..."
"Pfft." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "You act like you didn't expect me to show up or something. All the times I've told you I'm not gonna leave you hangin', and you still don't believe me? I'm getting you outta here, Gilda. Already worked it all out. You're free." She grinned widely.
"Seriously?" Gilda smiled back. Her eyes lit up.
"Yeah, G. Seriously." Rainbow Dash said.
"Shoulda known." Gilda said. "Thanks, Dash. I got your letter but I didn't think you'd be this fast. You're still awesome."
"I know." Rainbow Dash smirked and waved one forehoof, faux modestly.
The officer accompanying Rainbow Dash unlocked Gilda's cell and she walked out. The three of them walked through the halls of the jail, back to the partitioning doors separating the jail section from the rest of the station. There was a check-out desk inside a walled-off booth where a clerk had a last sheet of paperwork waiting for Gilda. "Initial here and here, then sign on that thick line down at the bottom." The unicorn working the desk said, pushing the sheet of paper towards Gilda underneath the glass window of the booth.
"With pleasure." Gilda said grimly, and grabbed the pen that was sitting on the ledge under the window. She scanned down the paper, marked down her initials, and scrawled off a signature on the mentioned bottom line. She shoved it back under the glass. "All good?" She asked, a little severely.
The unicorn dispassionately examined the paper. "Thank you." He said in a neutral, unreadable voice. "You're all done."
They exited the jail area. The officer who had been accompanying Rainbow Dash left them at that point, walking away to some other part of the station once he was satisfied that the jail's main doors were secured again. Rainbow Dash and Gilda went back towards the front desk, and as they came within sight of it, the other ponies, still waiting there, rose to their feet to join them. They converged into a group of seven, and wordlessly prepared to exit the police station. While they walked out, the earth pony desk officer glared a little at Gilda, in an uncomfortable way. She looked over back at the officer, with a scowl and burning eyes. She stopped her stride.
Everypony froze. Tension hung thick for just a second, with Gilda looking like she was on the verge of saying something, like the impulse to snap out in anger was hot inside her.
She didn't.
She held it in, just snorted a little, and looked back ahead at the main doors and kept walking, following the ponies. She walked out of the station and didn't look back.
Once they had all exited and the doors shut behind them, the group paused outside.
On the steps of the police station, in the mid-morning's sunlight, Rainbow Dash and Gilda stood staring at one another. Having gotten over her initial excitement and taking the time to really observe her more calmly, Rainbow Dash was dismayed to more consciously realize just how rough of a sight Gilda was. She was thin and gaunt, worn looking. The feathers on her wings were in poor shape, ruffled and beaten, some with bent quills and broken nicks in their airfoil surfaces. A few scars here and there that Dash didn't recognize from the last time she'd seen Gilda ran across her back legs and torso. Her eyes were dark and slightly sunken. Scratches marred the normally smooth yellow surface of her bill in places and the upper mandible even had a small chip in its lower edge, towards the end where it hooked down.
"You okay, G.?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Alright, I guess, considering." Gilda asnwered her non-committally.
"Dude... What happened to you?" Rainbow Dash asked with concern. "Don't be mad, but... You look like..." She trailed off, unable to choose a word for some reason she wasn't sure of.
"I dunno... I guess I've just seen better days, Dash." Gilda said, tiredly. She shrugged a little, helplessly.
"You can say that again!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "They didn't do any of that to you in there, did they?" She nodded back towards the police station.
"Huh?" Gilda looked surprised. "No way, dude. They didn't put a hoof on me. Actually, wanna know the funny part of this? I've been eating better there in jail than I have been for a long time up north. It's just... It's not easy up there, these days, Dash. I guess it's just sort of worn on me a little."
"They beat you up like this in the griffin kingdom?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Not really beat me up, this is just how life is. And hey..." Gilda smirked a little. "You're a little scratched up yourself. Remember?" She pointed at Rainbow Dash's side - there were old faint scars still running down it in parallel, the just barely-visible lingering marks of war still left there from a harsh claw-raking years ago. It took her a little by surprise but made sense that Gilda would point them out. Rainbow Dash hadn't even thought about them, herself, in a very long time.
Rainbow Dash wasn't amused, though. "No, Gilda, I'm serious." She said. "You don't look so hot. You sure you're alright? You need anything, just tell me."
Gilda fell silent and looked at Rainbow Dash with a look of... Dash couldn't really tell what it was. Guilt? Embarassment?
"I'm fine, Dash." Gilda said. "I mean... I'm a little run down right now, yeah. Things've been a little hard. But I'll be fine."
"If you say so." Rainbow Dash shook her head. It wouldn't do any good to talk about it any further, so she decided let it drop.
"Yeah." Gilda said. "I do say so."
Same old Gilda tough-girl attitude, at least, Rainbow Dash thought. That was still a good sign, maybe.
"Who are all these ponies, anyway?" Gilda asked.
"These? These are my friends." Rainbow Dash answered. "They, uh... Well, they insisted on coming with, out to Jennetstown. Moral support and whatever."
"Oh." Gilda said blankly. She looked around at the group, taking in each face... Especially Pinkie Pie. She showed a trepidation at recognizing the pink pony. "So... Hey, everypony. How's it going?" She asked.
"Pretty well, actually." Twilight Sparkle answered first. "I'm finding this trip to be quite interesting."
"I am also quite well." Rarity said, with a slight nod.
"Eh, what they said. Got no complaints." Applejack shrugged.
"I'm... Pretty good..." Fluttershy half-hid behind her pink locks and spoke softly.
"I'm just doing awesome!" Pinkie Pie put on a big smile. "I've done a lot of work on my partying skills since the last time we met. I hope I'm way more cool and way less lame now."
When Pinkie Pie said that, although she wasn't trying to be sarcastic or mean, Gilda definitely looked embarassed. She stared at the ground sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck.
"Yeah, hey... Uh, about... That..." She said, shakily. "Look, I really wanna apologize to all of you for the way I acted the last time I think you met me. I don't know why I was bein' like that, but it wasn't right. I wasn't... I wasn't a very good griffin back then. And I don't know if it means much, but for what it's worth, I've changed since then. I'm sorry."
Tension hung in the air between Gilda and the group of ponies for several seconds.
"Aww, shoot." Applejack finally broke the silence. "Everypony makes mistakes and goes through rough spots. It's been a few years. How 'bout we just call it all water under the bridge and start all over?" She asked.
Rainbow Dash was relieved and made a point of it to give Applejack a thank-you later for her magnanimous offer.
Gilda smiled slightly and nodded. All the rest of the ponies smiled back. "Well, okay then. Put 'er there." Applejack said, raising her right foreleg and extending her hoof. Gilda took it with her own right hand and gave her a hoof-shake.
When she returned her hand to the ground, Rainbow Dash suddenly noticed something funny about the claws of her right hand compared to her left - specifically, that there were different numbers. She looked closer. The left was missing one. It didn't look like it had simply broken off or been clipped very short - in fact, her whole pinkie finger was too short, ending in a stub. Dash was alarmed once it registered in her mind that the claw was gone because the end of Gilda's left pinkie had been cut off.
"Hey. Gilda." Rainbow Dash said with concern. "Your left hand... What happened?"
"Huh? Wha - Oh. Yeah. That." Gilda stared at it ponderingly, as if it was something she had almost forgotten completely about. "Had a little run-in, I guess."
"With what?" Rainbow Dash demanded.
"With another griffin who has a lousy temper." Gilda responded.
"A 'lousy temper'? They. Cut. Off. Your. Finger." Rainbow Dash said slowly, emphatically.
"Jeeze, Dash, quit freakin', would ya?" Gilda admonished her.
"If that's not a good reason to 'freak out' a little..." Rainbow Dash started to argue.
"Fights happen sometimes out there in the griffin kingdom." Gilda said. "Especially if you're like me when I went out there at first, not knowing how things were like anywhere but Equestria, running my mouth and not knowing my place yet."
"Why were you out in the griffin kingdom?" Twilight Sparkle piped in curiously. Gilda gave her an odd stare. "... Err, if I may ask?" Twilight added sheepishly, cowering down a little.
"Well... uh..." Gilda blanked.
"Her name's Twilight Sparkle." Rainbow Dash whispered.
"Well, Twilight Sparkle." Gilda began again. "I don't know how much you know about what happened to a lot of places in the griffin kingdom in the war. Without getting too into it, let's just say they were pretty much destroyed. Lots of villages, lots of griffin's homes. Totally wrecked. Lots of griffins had nowhere to go and nothing to eat. Still don't. It's a mess. I went north 'cause I wanted to help them."
"Well, that's very noble of you." Twilight Sparkle said.
"Not when you're part of the reason they were so screwed in the first place." Gilda mumbled.
"Pardon?" Twilight looked confused.
"Intelligence officer in the Equestrian army during the war." Gilda said. "I... Uh... Extracted information. The Equestrian Army payed pretty good because I can speak Griffin. My job was to interrogate prisoners and help figure out where we should attack next to help cut off the griffin army from their logistic support. Destroy the supplies, the army falls apart. That's the strategy they thought would work best. Because of the things I found out... Because of the things I told the officers higher up above me, that's how what villages were gonna have to burn got chosen. I pointed out on the maps for them who was gonna live and who was gonna die."
"Oh. I see." Twilight said.
"I'm not proud of it." Gilda said simply, then became quiet.
After they'd walked a couple blocks through Jennetstown, it became uncomfortably clear that Gilda made the group stick out. Ponies that walked past gave them strange, wordless looks... Some of them hostile, though they didn't do anything about it. Yet.
The police captain's warnings echoed in Rainbow Dash's head. "Hey... Guys, we should probably keep a low profile. Y'know, stay outta sight of the locals." She said.
"Hmm. You might be right about that." Twilight agreed. "They don't seem to appreciate our new friend. Sorry to say it, Gilda."
"Don't worry 'bout it." Gilda said. "Feeling's kinda mutual right now. Dash has a point. I'm probably better off out of sight and out of mind."
"How're we supposed 'ta hide a full-grown griffin?" Applejack asked.
An opening presented itself in a possible answer to that question, jumping to the fore of Rainbow Dash's mind. The needs of the group coincided with... Something she needed, for reasons of her own... A thing that compelled her, suddenly, forcefully. She needed to see... See it again... "We won't hide, exactly, we'll just go hang out for a while somewhere that the ponies aren't." She said. "With any luck, maybe they'll assume we all left for good and just be glad we're gone."
"Oh? What do you have in mind?" Twilight asked.
"We could go check out the area near my old base camp." Rainbow Dash said. "Or whatever's left of it, anyway. It's a pretty good long walk. Should keep us busy for a while."
Even as she was suggesting it, Rainbow Dash felt a cold sensation of odd discomfort, but she hid it, stifling it down. She coughed quietly and shivered involuntarily for a fraction of a second, tremoring down her spine just slightly. None of the others seemed to notice.
"You alright with that, G.?" Rainbow Dash asked quickly, deflecting any of the group's concerns onto another target before anypony else could think to ask the same of her.
"Yeah, I'm cool." Gilda shrugged. "I could use a good walk outside after being in that cell. I hate it indoors, especially when I can't leave."
"Well, what're we waitin' for?" Applejack said impatiently. "Let's get a move on, instead a' just standing around."
"Right." Rainbow Dash nodded. "Follow me, everypony." She looked around the streets, orienting herself. Her memory of the town was vague, but it wouldn't be too difficult to find her way. Jennetstown was relatively modern, with streets laid out in gridlike fashion, not a mazelike tangle some old towns tended to have. Dash pointed herself north and started leading the group.
After a few blocks along their way, there was a florist's stand along the streetside. The group was walking by, and would have passed it without notice like so many other vendors along the way, but something in it suddenly caught Rainbow Dash's eye. She stopped to look.
They were roses. Not particularly spectacular ones, not big, not brilliant, just average, modest tea roses... But it was the color. The pale, just barely off-white was what caught Dash's eye. It held her fascinated for a few seconds. The half-dozen flowers were bundled up into a slender bouquet with a piece of light cream-colored silky ribbon, complementing them.
Slowly, Rainbow Dash inhaled, drinking in the soft, sweet scent they were perfumed with. It was... Familiar... So familiar.
Without saying anything, Rainbow Dash got some bits out and paid the marked price for them. The vendor, a pale pink earth pony, took the bits. "Ooh, good choice. Those are some of my favorites." She nodded approvingly.
"Yeah..." Rainbow Dash nodded distractedly, dreamily. "Yeah. They're favorites, alright."
She carefully put the bouquet gently into one of her saddlebags, then closed the flap, and rejoined the rest of the group.
"What was that about?" Gilda asked, puzzled.
"Nothin'." Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head. "Just in case."
"Just in case what?" Gilda smirked. "You think you're gonna run into the mare of your dreams out here or something?" she teased.
"Oh, original. A fillyfooler joke. Har har." Rainbow Dash said in a dry, sarcastic voice. "You're so funny, Gilda."
"Awww, lighten up." Gilda scowled. "You are not the Rainbow Dash I remember. She had a sense of humor."
"I'm sorry." Rainbow Dash smiled faintly, a little sadly. "I'm just... Stressing... I'm not done here yet and I'm not expecting what I find out here to be easy."
"Well, I sorta hope not. I mean, the mare of your dreams shouldn't be easy. A one-night stand or something, sure, but the one of your dreams... That should probably take some effort, right?" Gilda elbowed Dash in the ribs.
Rainbow Dash finally laughed. "Will you cut it out?" She returned Gilda's elbowing with a light body-check, knocking into her and sending the griffin staggering a half-step sideways.
"Yeah! There's old Dash." Gilda grinned, recovering her stride. "Knew it was in there somewhere."
The joke had run its course, though, after that, and they fell back into walking in silence.
The group traveled on, following Rainbow Dash's lead. She still remembered the town and had an idea of where she was going. As they approached the edges of town, the roads funnelled down towards one of the only ones that kept going outside of the town's edges, the one Dash recognized as leading toward the destination she was trying to reach. The buildings, mostly small houses as they moved away from the town's center, grew less and less crowded, thinning out as the town diffused loosely into the surrounding wilder fields and forests. Eventually they passed a sign denoting the city limits and population. It seemed to be a rather arbitrary point, since there were still scattered cottages beyond it. Much like Ponyville, there was no really clear-cut border, just a slowly thinning sprawl. The path they were on kept winding onward for a long time, with no end in sight. They eventually finally reached an area that showed no signs of settlement by ponies... A complete wilderness.
The land here was forested, for the most part, trees arching overhead covering the road in soft shade. Not having a clear path immediately overhead open to the sky wasn't something Rainbow Dash preferred, usually, but there was no other way with earthbound friends in tow.
"So how you been, anyway?" Gilda asked Rainbow Dash, after they'd left town and been traveling on the road a while.
"Oh, you know." Rainbow Dash replied. "Same old, same old. Busting clouds on the days they want sunny, draggin' in new clouds on the days they want rainy. Not too exciting, but it's work, right?"
"What happened to the Wonderbolts thing?" Gilda asked. "You ever take your big shot?"
"Nah." Rainbow Dash said, a little glumly. "Things are just... Not what they were. I just didn't work myself up to it, and I'm probably not in good enough practice anymore now. And anyway, after the war, they got a glut of former advanced Combat Fliers getting spots. The roster's full of 'em. Probably don't need yet another one."
"Sorry, Dash." Gilda said.
"It's alright." Dash replied. "It woulda meant leaving my friends and stuff behind, anyway."
"We woulda gone to see ya whenever we could." Applejack said.
"I know." Rainbow Dash said. "But it just wouldn't have been the same, right?"
"I reckon not." Applejack admitted. "But I still wouldn'ta wanted to stop ya."
"You didn't, A.J." Rainbow Dash said. "Nopony did. Only myself."
The group walked in silence for a while longer. The forest continued, unbroken. Sunlight dappled through the overhead branches and leaves to create a leopard-spotted pattern of light and shadow on the ground, constant in its ever-changing details, always in gentle rhythmic motion with the wind in the foliage. It was calming, and most of the group seemed to be enjoying the walk.
"What've you been up to, up north?" Rainbow Dash asked Gilda eventually.
"Me. Heh... All kinds of stuff, Dash. Turns out, scraping up food takes a lot of your time when you can't really just go to the store and buy it." Gilda said.
"Hey, like I said, if you need anything..." Rainbow Dash reminded her.
"It's not for me, mostly." Gilda shook her head. "It's for the kids."
"Huh? Kids?" Rainbow Dash looked at Gilda with surprise. "You...?"
"Aww hell no, not mine." Gilda clarified. "The ones at the orphanage. I go out for a few days at a time, try to find what I can. I drop it off when I've got something worth dropping off. It's never enough, though. Never really can be. Kids... Eat a lot. Turns out."
"You are not the Gilda I remember." Rainbow Dash remarked.
"That Gilda was a jerkbag who didn't care about anything but herself." Gilda said, more severity in her voice now. "I don't like that Gilda anymore."
Somewhat uncomfortable silence followed.