Note from Iron Hooves: All the images that I will use in this story will be ones that I have personally drawn and I will add music links from YouTube (middle click the link or open into a new tab) to help create a more in depth mood and atmosphere for the piece as a whole. I hope you all enjoy it.
Recommended listening: The National - Exile Vilify
Chapter 2: Two Days Back In Time; For All The Chance You’ll Change Your Mind
“When you decide not to be lame anymore, give me a call.” Gilda stormed off from the Sugar Cube Corner, humiliated and disgusted by the way that her long time friend had treated her. Gilda propelled herself off the ground and darted into the air, putting as much distance between herself and Ponyville.
"I can't believe her! After all we've been through together! She just abandoned me for all those dweeby phony ponies!” She still couldn’t fathom that Dash would turn on her like this. She landed atop the highest cloud that she could find and affixed her gaze on the town below, specifically on the Sugar Cube Corner. Her brow drooped and her pupils dilated as she took in the sight with great contempt.
Gilda spent hours observing the confectionery boutique and its occupants and each passing minute antagonized her more. They continued to celebrate despite the lack of its ‘supposed’ honored guest present. What irked her most was that fact that she could see that Dash was actually enjoying herself at the party without her as well.
She scoffed and flapped her right wing with enough power to rotate the cloud at a full 180 degree turn and her view changed to the Everfree Forest and beyond the vast reaches of Equestria. The land’s immense beauty was only exceeded by its ability to extend farther than the eye could see.
“I’ll give her another day to change her mind. She’ll come running back, you’ll see.” Gilda reassured herself out loud. She felt like she had to. “Dash may have changed since the last time that I saw her, but she’s always been loyal to her real friends.” Gilda watched the colors of Celestia’s setting sun bleed and permeate through the clouds’ cover, illuminating the sky with the full light spectrum before darkness casted its shadow over Equestria.
Regardless of the position she tossed into or the cloud she lay in, Gilda just couldn't fall asleep. Her mind couldn’t stop thinking about Dash and the true way that she felt for her. She had known for a while that she had feelings different for Dashie than anypony else. She believed that both time and distance would help alleviate them, but it only amplified it, creating a sense of longing for the multi-colored maned pegasus. That was initially the reason that she had come to Ponyville in the first place. Gilda thought to herself that maybe she could convince Dash that she should move away back to Cloudsdale together and start a new life, just the two of them. Sleep eluded her throughout the course of the night.
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The next morning Gilda was jolted awake by the sound of explosions. It startled her so much that she actually fell off her make-shift cloud bed and began to plummet towards the ground. Quickly assessing her predicament and out of instinct, she furiously began to flap her wings to catch herself. Once she was finally able to regain her bearings, she found another nearby cloud and glided to it. Her vision darted around to try and locate the perpetrator that disturbed her slumber (or lack thereof) and found the source emitting from a blue mare with a cape and hat leading a fireworks display near the center of Ponyville. With the deficiency of sleep, Gilda's brain was not corresponding to what was actually taking place in the present, nor the past day's events. She just blankly stared until she was able to distinctly make out in the crowd of ponies the object of her affection. She wasn’t close even to clearly hear what was going on, but based on the posture of the two mares, the pleasantries were lacking between the two. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash took soaring into the air towards the town’s grain windmill sending the blades spinning into a torrent of speed. She was about to use the momentum to launch herself directly up into the stratosphere, passing Gilda by approximately a meter away from her perch.
Gilda watched intently and stricken with awe as Rainbow Dash demonstrated her raw power and speed to the encapsulated crowd below. Gilda’s heart skipped a beat and she could feel the burning within her cheeks as she inadvertently smiled. At that moment, she had remembered why she had fallen in love with Dash. It wasn't merely just for her athleticism or her appearance; it was for her confidence. To Gilda, Rainbow Dash was everything that she wished she could be... and so much more. As Rainbow Dash's display of power ended, the crowd cheered loudly and Gilda basked in the feeling that her crush had always left her in: complete infatuation.
Gilda continued to watch as Trixie made a complete foal out of Rainbow Dash and it took every ounce of self restraint to keep her from swooping down to lift the smug little unicorn high into the air and seeing exactly how “Great and Powerful” she truly was during an 800 foot free fall from Cloudsdale. Gilda clenched her talon into a fist and felt a large rumble followed by fatigue. She looked down as her stomach protested and realized that she never actually got to eat a thing aside from the novelty spicy vanilla lemon drops at her ‘faux party’. Gilda tightened her fist harder at the thought of the overly perky pink pony. She shook it off and decided that it wasn’t worth the hassle to get worked up about it again, at least before breakfast.
Gilda began to look around at the landscape and saw an isolated lake just at the end of Ponyville Park. She glided from her perch down towards Ponyville Lake and landed at the edge of it. She looked at her reflection in the water and she could see the toll that the lack of sleep had on her. The purple shading around her eyes was two shades darker than normal and had bags beneath them. She splashed a talon full of fresh water to her face and preened her feathers to make her appearance more suitable. Once she was happy with the way that she had fixed herself up, she began to watch the ripples form around her reflection. The ripples slightly distorted her image as she watched intently. With her eyes never leaving the ripples, Gilda shot her talon directly into the water with her claw drawn. She held it straight as an arrow and squeezed her talon together with all her might and lifted a fish directly out of the water. Her claws began to apply more pressure to the fish’s body and slowly it began to stop flailing, taking it last gasps of air before quietly dying. Gilda looked at the fish, it was not as sizable as she had hoped but it would get her through the day. She picked through its scale and used her beak to go straight to the bone, leaving no trace of meat left. Sighing contently, Gilda tossed the remaining fish skeleton back into the lake and returned to her perch upon her makeshift cloud bed. Collapsing backwards onto its soft and fluffy surface made Gilda inadvertently close her eyes and she resumed to ponder about exactly how she’s going to say everything she’s always wish she could tell to Dash.
As it does when you need more of it, time seemed to have flown by and the day escaped Gilda went she finally opened her eyes again. The crimson sky held high and still as Gilda looked down to see the once energetic town plaza had calmed to just a few ponies setting up shop from the evening and a love struck pegasi couple walking with their wings draped over one another. She glanced over to Ponyville Tower and the clock read at it was already past seven thirty. Gilda rubbed her eyes and decided that it was now or never if she was to ever tell Dash how she felt. She dove from her resting spot and headed to Dash's home.
Gilda landed on Rainbow Dash’s front door step and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and extended her talon to the front door and froze.
‘Argh! Why is this so hard? Just tell her how you feel and get it over with!’ Gilda told herself while shaking her head and continuing to stare at the door. She swallowed her pride and swiftly knocked twice. She waited anxiously, holding onto her tail and stroking it protectively. She looked around and focused her eyes on everything except the front door in nervous anticipation and her mind went completely blank. Her entire speech that she had been working on for the months prior that she had planned to confess to Dash had utterly dropped out of her mind and off the face of Equestria.
Seconds became minutes and each passing one felt like hours. Gilda’s apprehension consumed her to the point where she decided that it wasn’t worth torturing herself and would try again later before she left Ponyville for good.
‘Heh, that’s an awesome thought…never having to see this pathetic town ever again… the sooner, the better…’ She smirked at the thought that she’d never have to see the crappy town and its inhabitants ever again. Her smug look began to falter as thoughts of Rainbow Dash filled her head and the realization that this also meant that she’d most likely never see her again either. Her original intent for even coming to visit her long time crush had failed miserably. Gilda gazed longingly at Dash’s cloud manor in hopes to see if she had returned yet, but the lights from within were still off. She could feel her eyes begin to water and she shook it off in an attempt to maintain her façade.
“Heh….So long, RD… I hope you found what you were looking for….” A hint of resent masked as sarcasm seeped through her voice as she spoke out loud. She spread out her wings to their full width and used all of her strength to lift off. She began to circle the town once more before heading towards the Everfree Forest. With a heavy heart, Gilda looked at Ponyville one last time.
Nightfall hit by the time she reached the dead center of the Everfree Forest. She darted between the canopy, but she found that the farther into the forest she flew, the thicker the canopy cover became. She decided that it'd be easier to get her bearing if she landed and took a look around on the forest floor. Suddenly, Gilda heard a loud boom coming from Ponyville. The force of it shook through Gilda's being and she looked back towards the direction she just came in annoyance.
“How many times a week do they need to throw those lame parties? What a bunch of losers….” She brushed it off and continued to walk along the forest floor. A second loud crash came from behind her once more, only this time was followed by the sound of something approaching her. She flew up and hid among the upper canopy and observed a blue blur careening through the brush. It wasn't until the mare tripped and stumbled that Gilda was able to make out that it was the unicorn that she saw earlier that morning.
'What could she possibly be doing out here? She seems out of her element...' Gilda thought to herself. She continued to watch with a curious vigor as the unicorn stumbled to her hooves. Suddenly, she heard a haunting howl bellow from underneath her. She began to panic when she saw that there was not just one timber wolf, but a pack of them enclosing the injured mare. Gilda frantically scanned the area as if her surroundings had a solution to her problem.
‘I can’t fight a full pack of timber wolves and flying in will just get us both killed.’ Gilda instinctively let out a loud roar and immediately covered her mouth and closed her eyes. When she slowly opened them again, she watched as the timber wolves scattered from their would-be prey. As they retreated into the distance, Gilda glided down from her perch and landed next to Trixie who was still in a fetal position on the forest floor.
“Um...are you okay?” Trixie did not move other than the occasional involuntary spasm that her body let off from fear. After Trixie didn't respond, Gilda reached out her talon and gently placed it on the mare's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. This prompted Trixie to merely close her eyes tighter and her horn radiated and sent an electrical shock throughout her body and straight through Gilda. While it wasn't a strong current, the amplitude was still large enough to send Gilda falling back, more from the surprise of it than the pain.
“Hey! What the hell?! Is that how you thank someone who just saved your life?” Gilda stood up and dusted the dirt from her body. Trixie finally opened her eyes, she saw the griffin stand before her.
Trixie tried to stand on her own, but struggled before Gilda came to her aid by allowing her to lean her body against hers to help Trixie redistribute the weight off of her bad leg.
“Trixie never asked for your assistance.” She spat out acrimoniously.
“Oh, get off your high horse, will ya? You can barely stand up.” Gilda rolled her eyes and adjusted her feathers in an attempt to roll off Trixie’s ungratefulness. Trixie looked up at Gilda and she tried to straighten herself to match the griffin’s height and stature.
“You…..you’re right. The Great and….Trixie is humbled by your actions. Thank you…..”
“The name’s Gilda.” The two briefly made eye contact, but Trixie looked down and tried to avoid staring into Gilda’s eyes.
“Trixie was exiled by the simpletons that reside in Ponyville. They just…didn’t understand.” Gilda’s eyes widened at the unicorn as she looked at the ground. ”I lost everything. My stage and show equipment…my home….and now my reputation….I can’t even defend myself against a timber wolf let alone an Ursa Minor!” She noticed pools of freshly dampened soil forming from where Trixie’s eyes were focused. Using her good forehoof, Trixie wiped her eyes and cleared her throat in an effort to regain her composure. Gilda placed her front talon on Trixie’s shoulder and sighed.
“I lost all of that a long time ago. I actually came here to try and regain something I thought I was missing, but it didn’t work out the way I had hoped.” Gilda was honestly surprised for allowing herself to open up to this stranger. Maybe she thought that she needed to vent to somepony, or to try and alleviate the burden that Trixie must have felt after being robbed of her livelihood. Trixie finally was able to look up at Gilda and she sniffled, wiping her muzzle.
“Where are you headed, Gilda?” Trixie was surprised that her tone was out of legitimate curiosity.
“Heh….that’s a good question. I never really thought about what to do if my original plans fell through. I just always assumed that she’d….” Gilda stopped herself before divulging too much personal information.
“What about you? Didn’t you say you lost your home?...What now?”
Trixie stood silently reflecting on the stark reality of her situation. After a few moments, she looked at Gilda and smiled.
“Trixie will start again from scratch. She’ll get a bigger trailer with a stage twice the size as before! Before you know it, The Great and Powerful Trixie will be back on her hooves again!” Trixie bucked up on her hind legs in her overzealous presentation and landed with all of her weight on her injured hoof and winced in pain. Gilda used her wing to support the mare as she stabilized herself. Trixie took a deep breath and looked at Gilda.
“Seeing as you have some....favorable attributes, maybe we could make a deal... How would you like to accompany The Great and Powerful Trixie as her body guard...? At least until Trixie is back on her hooves, so to speak. Trixie will offer you twenty percent of her earnings until she earns enough to recompense her trailer and equipment. The Great and Powerful Trixie will not take 'no' as an answer! She demands that you accompany her to …..”
“Fifty percent. No less.” Gilda had her by the tail. Trixie wouldn't last three days with her help and Gilda knew it. 'How bad could she be? Besides, it'll be the easiest bits that I've ever made.'
Trixie stuttered, but upon seeing Gilda's serious expression, there was nothing that she could do except agree to the terms.
“Deal.” Trixie held out her good forehoof to seal the agreement with a hoofshake. Gilda responded to this by making a fist with her talon and bumping it forcefully against the tip of Trixie's hoof. Trixie shot Gilda a cock-eyed look, but Gilda was so far gone mentally in a world of her own that she didn't notice. Gilda didn’t fully understand why she agreed to help her. She knew that it wasn't about the bits. The difference between the pathetic pleading pony in front of her now and the charismatic showmareship of the unicorn she saw earlier this afternoon were night and day.
The duo began to notice more droplets cascade from the sky as they began to walk together. Thunder crashed in the distance and with each passing moment, the drizzle became an onslaught of rain pouring from above. Gilda outstretched her free wing over both herself and Trixie to guard from the torrent of water while looking around in desperation and found a small talus cave they could take cover in.
“Come on, shelter isn’t that far from here.” Gilda said and began to take lead of the quagmire the two were facing. Trixie limped and tried to keep pace with Gilda, occasionally losing balance and using Gilda as a support. Trixie felt utterly dejected with her lack of ability to help other than emitting just enough magic from her horn to light the path in front of them.
“What do we do now?” Trixie asked.
“Well, I’m crashing for the night. I don’t care what you do. It’s not like you’re in any condition to be going anywhere in this storm. We’ll figure out where we’re going from here in the morning.” Gilda turned her body to face the opposite wall of their crude safe haven and curled herself into her wings to keep herself warm.
“Oh…Trixie agrees with you. Trixie requires her much needed beauty rest if we are to travel tomor….."
“ZZZzzzzzzz…..” Gilda grinned as she embellished her snoring. Trixie simply scoffed and turned her back towards Gilda.
The two laid in silence and endured the brunt of the storm as the untamed nature of the Everfree Forest enveloped the outside world. As Gilda's eye lids grew heavy with slumber while between Equestria and the sweet other-world of dreams, she swore that she heard a celestial voice lulling her to the security of sleep, the first since she had arrived in Ponyville.