Leading the charge.

by Watercolor the Pegasus

Searches and Fights.

Rainbow Dash slammed her hoof into the tile floor with frustration. After realizing that Gilda was missing, they had alerted The Princess, who sent them out with a few guards to look for her. They had split up to cover more ground, but Rainbow had been searching for what felt like hours with no luck.

Why would she just run off like that? Was something wrong?

I hope she's okay.

She sighed, walking forward through the seemingly endless hallways.

Everything was going fine. We've activated five of the Elements, Equestria just gained an ally in Griffonstone, and while it is strange that we all just gained Cutie Marks out of the blue, it can still be considered a good thing in all of this. So why would she just sneak out like that?

She groaned, scraping her hoof on the floor as she walked.

None of this makes sense. All those attacks by Sombra's soldiers; how would he even know where we were? And the Cutie Marks...ponies don't just gain them at random. There's always some "moment of realization" or something. None of us had that...

...right?

"Gilda!"

Rainbow was broken from her thoughts as she heard a familiar voice nearby. She sped up slightly, heading towards it.

"I'm...so glad I found you."

Rainbow could've sworn she heard more nervousness in her voice than delight.

"Fluttershy? Wha...what are you doing here?"

Rainbow speed up more as she heard another familiar voice nearby.

"Well...we were all worried about you. Rainbow was wondering why you just snuck off like that."

Rainbow heard a scoff. "I didn't 'sneak out'. I just needed some time alone. That's. All."

It got quiet for a moment. "W-well...we were all worried. W-we didn't know where you had gone."

"Well maybe YOU should stop poking around in others' business!"

Rainbow stepped around the corner and froze. Fluttershy shrank down slightly as Gilda stood to the point of almost knocking her over. Fluttershy whimpered slightly, struggling for a way to respond.

"What's the matter, dweeb?" Gilda said, pushing closer to the butter Pegasus. "You got something to say?"

Fluttershy bit her lip. "W-well, I didn't mean to poke around in y-your business, but-"

"BUT WHAT!?" Gilda pushed into Fluttershy, standing over the now cowering Pegasus.

She whimpered again, tears forming at the edge of her eyes.

"What's the matter? Are you too weak to even talk!?"

Fluttershy struggled against her tears, stuttering.

Gilda growled, lifting up a claw. "You're gonna cry, huh? Well here's something to cry about!"

A slashing sound rang out, accompanied by a yelp of pain.

"HEY!"

Gilda turned from the cowering Pegasus in front of her.

"Nopony talks to my friends like that!"

"Dash!" Gilda smiled for a moment, before a look of fear overcame her face. "Wha...what did you say?"

Rainbow stepped closer. "I said, nopony," she took another step, "talks to," another step, "my friends," another step, "like that!"

Rainbow stood in front of the Griffon, pushing into her face. Gilda chuckled nervously. "You're a joke, Dash."

"I don't think it's a joke when you physically harm one of my friends."

Gilda paused, looking at her friend with confusion. "Seriously? Heh. You're friends with this dweeb?"

"She's not a dweeb, Gilda."

Gilda stood still, unmoving.

"Why did you do it?" Rainbow said, anger in her tone. "Why did you hurt her?"

"Because she's lame. She shouldn't have been poking around in my business."

"She was worried about you, Gilda. We all were. Why did you just leave like that?"

"...I...I-I get stressed, Dash! Okay?" Gilda stammered. "I just needed some time alone."

"Were we the ones stressing you out? Was what we were discussing hurting you?"

"No! What do you think I am? Some flip-flop?"

"No! I was just asking if what we were saying was hurting you."

"...I'm jealous, Dash! You always got all the cool stuff. You were the best flyer in flight camp. You were the bravest. And now you're even in Celestia's Air Force! You were always better than me."

"I'm no better than you. It's not like you had any worse."

"Of course I did, Dash! You don't know what it's like to-"

"No!" Rainbow stomped her hooves into the ground, gritting her teeth. "You do not have the right to say that! You did not EARN the right to say that! If you want to talk about not knowing what it's like, you're not the one who went through THIS," Rainbow exclaimed, pointing a hoof at her metal wing, tears forming at the edges of her eyes, "and continued fighting in the most brutal war Equestria's ever seen, even after physically losing a part of yourself! I did, Gilda."

The Griffon stood unmoving, staring at the Pegasus in front of her.

"And if you still think you can talk about not knowing what it's like, you can leave."

They both stood still, Rainbow with tears on the edges of her eyes, and Gilda on the verge of them.

"But if you'll apologize, not just to me, but to Fluttershy as well, I'll forgive you. I don't want you to have to go. You're my friend, too, Gilda."

"Well obviously not." Gilda scowled, turning away. She started off, about to turn the corner.

Rainbow stepped towards her. "Gilda-"

"No!" Gilda snapped, turning her head towards Rainbow. "Goodbye, Dash."

Gilda turned the corner, no longer in sight.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can't believe what that meanie Gilda did to you."

The group sat at the table in the same room from before, with Rainbow Dash holding an ice pack up to Fluttershy's bandaged cheek.

"I mean," Pinkie continued, "I actually cannot believe it!"

"I can." Fluttershy said softly. "I always had a bad feeling about her. I guess now I know why."

"Well...I don't know why she would just do that!" Rainbow said, slamming her free hoof into the table. "She's never been like this. Sure, she can be a little brash at times, but she'd never just attack somepony."

"Well, I have always heard that Griffons are rather rude." Rarity said.

"Those are just rumors." said Applejack. "Rumors are rarely ever true."

"I've heard it too though." Fluttershy said, sitting up slightly. "Maybe these rumors are true."

"Either way," Rainbow sighed, "we need to put Gilda behind us. She left, and...and that was her choice."

The group shared a silent nod of agreement before the door was burst open and a royal guard came in.

"Are you all the Elements of Harmony?"

The group exchanged confused glances before Rainbow responded. "Um...yes?"

The guard sighed with relief. "The Princess requests you in the throne room. She says she has found Twilight Sparkle."

Author's Note:

Hey everypony! Sorry this is late. I finally finished the Gilda scene, and...it still didn't come out quite like I planned. Well, what do you guys think? I hope you enjoy.

Comments

[Ratmandango]

The guard sighed with relief. "The Princess requests you in the throne room. She says she has found Twilight Sparkle."

I've been waiting for that moment... And you left it on a cliffhanger!

[Watercolor the Pegasus]

7652934
I love me some cliffhangers

And you're not the only one. I've been planning this for so long. I had to set it at the right point in the story to make sure they knew enough at this point, but not too much. Other wise we wouldn't have a climax.