A Griffin In Distress

by XionFate

Final Goodbyes

Final Goodbyes

"Gilda!" Rainbow Dashes voice was loud and rough as she screamed after the Griffin who had just jumped off of the cloud and begun her descent towards doom.

Rainbows mind jumped into panic mode as she thought of how to save Gilda from the death now just ten thousand yards away. Would she be able to catch Gilda if she flew after her? Rainbow Dash did not think she was fast enough to catch any being, no matter how small or light, once it had reached terminal velocity. Rainbow Dash knew though that if she did not do something soon that there would be no Griffin to save anyway.

"Come on Rainbow Dash, damn it, think!"

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"You know Gilda, I was the one who set up all those weak pranks at this party." Rainbow Dash said sternly as she stared Gilda down.

"What?" there was an audible gasp from the Brown and White Griffin as Rainbow Dash spoke and her jaw almost hit the floor at this sudden revelation.

"So I guess that I am queen lame-o." Rainbow Dash was shocked at the way she was speaking to Gilda. Once upon a time they had been the best of friends, inseparable through any situation and hardship. Now however it seemed as if they hardly knew each other and were on two different pages about what was considered a joke.

"Come on Dash, you are joshing me." Gilda struggled to hold her composure, hoping all of this silly talk from Rainbow Dash was just that.

"You know, not every prank at this party was meant for you. It was just dumb luck that you set them all off." the blue Pegasus pony lurched forward in order to make herself seem larger than she was and it worked. Gilda shrank back inside of herself, afraid and confused about this new side of Rainbow Dash she was seeing.

"No way! It was Pinkie Pie, it had to be! All she wanted to do was make me look bad, turn me into a fool!" Gilda was heated now, words burning like fire from her lips.

"Well Gilda, you sure had no problem making a fool of yourself today. Look, if the only thing you care about is being cool, having every mare and stallion at your beck and call, then just leave, we do not need you here anyway."

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Reality smacked Rainbow Dash in the face like a hand of broken nails and left her stunned. This was all her fault; and she was not quite sure how to fix it. She knew what had set Gilda off, her coming to Manehatten had been the cause of that. The question still burning in Rainbow Dashes mind now was what would bring Gilda back from the brink?

"Ugh! What am I supposed to do!?" Rainbow Dash was screaming at herself now, hoping her mind would be able to force an answer out of itself. There was no such luck however, an answer never came.

"I can not stand this, I can not do this." tears flowed from the bright burning eyes of a lonely Pegasus pony that day. Had one not known better they might have believed this poor soul to be lost or confused, but it was nothing along that road. "the loss hurts. I am tired of losing things; people that matter, loved ones, and old flames."

Suddenly something broke inside Rainbow Dash, some wall gave way to the feelings rushing in and left Rainbow Dash lost in her emotions. She wanted to sort them out and see what they were saying, what they were trying to tell her, but there was no time for any of that. It was as if Rainbow Dash herself had caught some crazy notion to end her life as she tore over the cloud edge and down toward earth.

"If I can not save you Gilda I am going to at least die trying!"

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"So Rainbow Dash, what are your parents like?" Gildas voice was soft and sweet as the question left them, but it hurt Rainbow Dash to hear it.

"I do not know Gilda. To be completely honest I have never actually met my parents."

"Really? That is not cool. Did you not live with them before you came here?" curiosity continued to grow in Gildas voice and Rainbow Dash found it harder and harder to speak about the subject.

"Well yeah, I think, I am not really sure."

"What do you mean you are not really sure?" Gilda was confused now, unsure of what Rainbow Dash meant.

"Well you see Gilda, the only thing I remember from my filly days was when my parents dropped me off here at camp. Everything before that is just a blur." Rainbow Dashes face burned a bright, fiery red as she spoke and she knew Gilda would have even more questions now.

"So wait, your parents just dropped you off here and left? They did not even say goodbye or anything?" Gilda was questioning Rainbow Dash, and she hoped that Dash could handle it. Gilda truly wanted to know what Dash knew about her parents, what she knew about her youth.

"Yep, that is exactly how it happened." Rainbow Dash prayed that Gilda would be done with questions now.

"Why?"

Rainbow Dash froze; in all of her years coping with never knowing her parents even she had not asked why they had done what they had. It just seemed natural to her, like it happened and now it was over so there was no point in asking. it was weird just thinking about it, and Rainbow Dash fought to hold control of her emotions.

"You know Gilda, I honestly don't know why. It is one of those things I just sort of let pass as fact and don't bother with it." Rainbow Dash hoped that Gildas endless barrage of questions would finally be over. It was nice that Gilda cared and all but Rainbow Dash was starting to grow bothered by them.

"Hmmmm, okay. Well Dash, you know that if you ever need a hand to pull you up when you are down or help you when you are in need I will be right here." a big smile exploded across the dorky looking Griffins face as she calmly swayed from side to side.

"Thanks Gilda, it means a lot." Rainbow Dash said, pulling Gilda into a big hug. She hoped that this moment would last forever, but she knew that sadly it would not. She made the most of it though, taking her time to enjoy the greatest feeling in Equestria, love.

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Gilda was now only a couple hundred almost one thousand yards away from the ground and closing in fast. Inside Gilda felt at peace, finally escaping all of the pain that had tortured her for years. There was something missing though, something that seemed like it should be there. Gilda thought hard about it and suddenly realized what was missing.

"Rainbow Dash!?" Gilda exclaimed as the cyan blue Pegasus pony came into view beside her, "What the hell are you doing? Your life is perfect, you have everything you could possibly need, why are you trying to kill yourself too?"

"Oh shut up Gilda, I am not killing myself, I am saving you!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she broke past Gilda and positioned herself in such a way to catch the immobilized Griffin.

"Are you out of your mind? I am twice your size, you will be crushed by my weight!" Gilda screamed back in hopes of making Rainbow Dash see how wrong she was and just let Gilda fall.

"It is a risk I am willing to take!" Rainbow Dash had positioned herself directly below Gilda and was starting to slow down in order to plant herself firmly against Gilda and break her fall.

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"Say, Gilda, who are the two Griffins in the picture on your nightstand?" Rainbow Dash asked as she stepped into the den where Gilda was quietly reading a book.

"Oh, they are my mom and dad." Gilda was nonchalant about her parents, and she planned to keep it that way. Ever since her parents had died Gilda preferred not to speak about them as if they were special, hoping it would ease the pain of loss, and for the most part it worked. There were times when the pain became too much to bear, but for the most part she was able to keep it under control.

"Ah, I should have figured that. What were they like?" Rainbow Dash was curious, not having parents of her own had made her that way and she liked to hear about others parents.

Gilda thought for a moment of how to explain her parents. No one had ever asked her what her parents were like, though that was probably due to the fact that everyone in Manehatten knew her parents, and she had not had an answer readily available to give anyone who did.

"Well, they were rich, though I am sure you noticed that. They liked to play sports, the usual stuff like Soccer and Wingball, and they always knew a good joke when you asked them for one. Aside from that they were your normal, everyday Griffins."
Gilda smiled at her explanation, believing it to be perfect, and went back to her book.

"That is cool, but I actually wanted to know what they were LIKE, you know, to you."

"Oh, I see. Well, they were probably the greatest and most inspirational Griffins I have ever known. They helped me through my early years in school, always telling me I could do it and that nothing could stand in my way. They were always there when I was feeling sad, offering a comforting embrace and warm smiles. They were caring, always putting me before themselves, and never let me go without things I needed. They were truly amazing, and they showed me love that only a parent could show."

"Wow, they sound like really incredible Griffins, wish I could have met them. Say, what happened to them anyway?"

"Oh, they died in an accident a couple years after I got back from junior speedsters camp." there was a slight pain in Gildas heart as she thought about that day, but she brushed it aside just as quickly and moved on.

"I am sorry to hear that, must have been hard on you." Rainbow Dash said sympathetically.

"Yeah, it was, but it has become easier over time." Gilda replied.

"Man, I wish I had had parents when I was a filly, maybe then I would not be such a hellion." Rainbow Dash laughed as she finished her sentence.

"Dash, not even having parents would have kept you from becoming a hellion."

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There was not even time to breathe as the two, pony and Griffin, collided with the ground at breakneck speeds. There was a puff of brown, dry dust that blew up around the point of impact and a couple of small critters had been displaced by the blast. As the smoke cleared the figure of a Griffin could be made out in a crater but the body of the blue Pegasus was nowhere in sight. There was an eerie silence around the crater, as if the very presence of life had vanished, only the faint breathing of Gilda to break the silence.

It took nearly twenty minutes for Gilda to gather herself enough to attempt to stand up. It felt as if her whole world had been flipped like a pancake and then smacked back down onto the skillet. Upon first feeling Gilda noticed that she had a couple of broken ribs and a fractured wing. As she began to sit up she noticed that her back left leg was broken and that there were a myriad of small gashes across her face. It would take a month at least for the wounds to heal, but none of that mattered right now. The only thing that mattered at that moment was Rainbow Dash and where she had landed.

"R-Rainbow... D-Dash... Where, where are you?" Gildas voice was strained and soft as she attempted to climb to her feet. She was unsuccessful at first, but was finally able to get to her feet after some effort. she scanned the area, the barren rock and dried up leaves, but was unable to find Rainbow Dash among them, "Rainbow Dash, where are you?"

After nearly an hour of searching Gilda found Rainbow Dash, roughly a mile and a half from the initial crash site, strewn out like a fillies play thing on a large rock. Gilda began to tear up as she approached rainbow Dash, knowing that what she was about to do might be the hardest thing she had ever had to do in her life.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, you alright?" Gilda was bent over slightly beside the broken body of Rainbow Dash, hoping that her friend was still alive.

"G-Gilda, is that you?" Rainbows voice was weak, almost inaudible, but Gilda heard it and found renewed hope in the drastic situation.

"Yeah, it is me. Rainbow Dash what the hell were you thinking?"

"Well, I thought back to the p-party, the one that you stormed out of, and r-realized that this was all my fault. I,
I just could not let you die without knowing that I knew, that I had caused you so much pain, so I saved you." There was a smile on Rainbow Dashes face as tears rolled from her eyes, her breath was light and broken and Gilda knew it would only be a few minutes more before her entire body gave out.

"Oh Rainbow Dash..." Gilda was in tears now, her legs barely enough to hold her up under the weight of it all.

"You know gilda, th-there was something that I never got to tell you, and I, I want to make sure you hear it. I love you, I always have loved you, and I, I will never stop loving you. You a-are the most wonderful thing that has ever happened in my life and I am glad I get to spend my final moments with you." Rainbow Dashes hair was starting to fade in color, the once vibrant hues of the Rainbow now being replaced by darkened, lackluster versions of themselves. Her face was starting to grow pale, and her once warm skin was starting to grow cold. Her eyes had lost the spark that they once held and her smile was quickly fading.

"Rainbow Dash, I love you too. I always have, and like you I always will. You have been so instrumental in keeping me going and helping guide me to the point in life I now stand at and I think you for all of it. You were always so proud, always so confident in yourself, and you never let anyone get you down." Gilda stopped for a moment, choking on the pain in her throat. Her eyes poured as she spoke, every emotion bleeding out into the words that she laid to rest with her love. "You held your head high when the time called for it and knew when to be silent when someone else wanted to make a name for themselves. You truly are the most beautiful and most amazing Pegasus I have ever known."

"G-Gilda, I want you to promise me one thing." Rainbow Dash said in a whisper.

"Y-Yes? What is it?"

"I want you t-to promise me that no matter what life throws at you you will be strong. F-From here on out I want you to be strong and stand in the f-face of adversity. Be yourself and never let anyone t-tell you you are worth less than you know you are. Can you promise me t-that you will do that for me?"

With the last bit of composure Gilda was able to choke up she said "I promise" and waited for Rainbow Dashes remark.

"Th-Thank you." as Rainbow Dash finished she tensed up, as if she was in an enormous amount of pain, and bit her lower lip. Her body convulsed once or twice as she fought against the pain, but it finally became too much and she succumbed to it. As she let out her final breath Rainbow Dashes eyes rolled slowly to the back of her head and her body fell limp. Her once rainbow hair was now completely black and her body had grown ice cold. Her face was now pale as a ghost and her smile had now completely faded.

"Good-Good-Goodbye my love, may we meet again in the afterlife." and with that Gilda laid her head down on Rainbow Dashes chest and sobbed uncontrollably.

The End

Comments

[Thal Verscholen]

the tears
it can't be stopped
don't fight back

[Iamsorry]

oh god why did i read this!? its soo depressing! D;