Closer to Heaven

by Dconstructed Reconstruct

1

Somewhere near the Palomino Desert - Unknown Time

“Yo, Gilda. How long do you think we’ve been flying?” she asked me as if I would know.

“For the last time, Dash, three days!” I spat back perhaps a little more harshly than I should have. The fatigue was starting to get to me.

“How the heck have ya been keeping track of time?” Dash asked me with some bewilderment.

I rolled my eyes in reply. “It’s this neat little invention called a ‘watch.’ You should try it sometime.”

Dash said nothing right away, instead only letting out a grunt. “Right," she finally added in an unsure tone.

There was silence between the two. During that time, the only sound that we could hear was the beating of our wings.

“So… uh… Gilda... Penny for your thoughts?” Dash asked, breaking the silence between us.

“Do you even have a penny on you?” I snapped back, once again far more harshly than I should have.

“Look, I just wanna talk!” Dash shouted back at me.

I sighed and glanced back at Dash. “You know, for a Wonderbolt commander, you sure don’t act like one.”

“I’d rather not remind myself of that right now. War’s not really my thing,” Dash said, her tone austere and weary.

“Yeah. Knowing you, you’d rather be loafing around on some cloud," I said, memories of my rainbow-maned friend sleeping entire afternoons away returning to the forefront of my recollections.

“...You can be such a flankhole sometimes, you know," Dash replied with feigned annoyance.

“And you can be such a lame dweeb sometimes,” I countered. I let the air hang silently for a bit before speaking again. "How long ‘till we get to Canterlot?” I asked in the hopes of diverting our conversation.

“You’re the one with the watch!” Dash furiously spat back.

“Dash!” I sternly shouted back at my companion.

“... If we keep flying like this, we might make it by nightfall tomorrow," Dash answered after a few minutes of silence.

I nodded. “Thank you!" I answered before exhaling and shaking my head. "Geez, you can be so hard sometimes..."

There was more silence between us as we continued flying. I couldn't really speak for Dash, but I wanted to keep my beak shut both to conserve some energy, as well as to not further antagonize Dash.

The silence between us didn't last too long, however.

“Hey, Gilda,” Dash again started.

“What?” I flatly replied.

There was a pause in Dash's breathing for just the slightest of seconds. “Why are you still wearing that armor? Isn’t it uncomfortable?” she asked.

I, on the other claw, wasted no time with my words. “The thing’s enchanted. I’m probably still only flying because of it.”

“I still think you should get rid of it,” Dash said in a mellow yet distant tone. "It... doesn't look good on you."

I again rolled my eyes. “Then how about you get rid of that jumpsuit?”

“N-no!” Dash stammered out her reply.

The corners of my beak rose. “Hmm… thought so. Now stop complaining, and keep flying!” I said in as commanding a voice as I could manage given the circumstance.

There was silence between us once again. Yet this time, something about it felt different, as our wingbeats began growing less and less even in their rhythms. It was almost as if the emotions in our hears was being audibly exemplified. I could feel a chill in my spine as I truly began to absorb the tune in the air. It spoke of bad things to come, almost like a curse one knew would strike soon, yet couldn't be predicted or stopped.

Such a terrible feeling to have in the middle of a war.

“Gilda... do you think Equestria will survive?”

Dash's question gave me pause. While I would have loved to pull the optimism card and assure my companion that everything would be alright, I honestly couldn't see a good end for anyone.

“Normally, I’d say something witty about your typical pony hero complex and its ability to kick anyone’s ‘flank’ back to whatever manure pile they crawled out of. But… Well…”

Even if by some miracle the war ended tomorrow, so much damage and suffering have already been inflicted on the world that it would take decades, if not centuries, to rebuild. And that wasn't anything when it came to the people the world over.

Dash was quiet at my words. Even without turning around to see her eyes, I could tell that she too had the same sentiments I did. Only, she probably had seen far more than I had...

“I think we should save our energy," Dash suddenly said in a deadpan and reserved tone.

“Yeah… let’s…” I answered back, not sure if I was glad for the suggestion, or deathly worried about what it really entailed.

Closer to Heaven

War had come with no warning. It bathed the land in fire and blood. My home, as awful as it was, was taken. Those I almost considered friends were stolen, and even the portable oven my grandpa had left me got snatched right out of my talons.

Everything was gone...

Well, except for Dash. She flew just a few meters ahead—tired, sweaty, hungry, battered, and bruised. In truth, I wasn’t in any better shape, and no matter how much my wings begged for rest, stopping just wasn’t an option.

Damn, everything north of the Equestrian border had been hit by Sombra’s armies. Getting a good look at the ground, I could make out the remains of a metric ton of dead Royal Guards. That, somehow, didn’t ease any of my concerns, if I could find it hard to believe. Canterlot had better be worth it. A nice bed, three full meals, and plenty of pampering. I wouldn’t settle for any less!

A flash of memories and I remembered what happened. No. I shouldn’t think about me. There is no room for me.

“Hey, how you holding up there?” I shouted at Dash as loud as I could manage. My vocal cords were already getting sore.

“Tired,” she replied, not even bothering to look back. I could see she was losing the luster in that rainbow mane of hers.

“You sure you okay?” I asked, well aware that it was a stupid question. Of course, she wasn’t okay!

“Hey, G,” she called out in a weak and raspy voice, “I don’t think I can keep going for today.”

“Oh, come now! You telling me that Rainbow ‘Boom’ Dash is going to let a little fatigue get the better of her?” I said in a playfully mocking manner. She was twice the flyer I would ever be. There was nothing she couldn’t do if she wanted to.

I waited for Dash’s usual quip, but when twenty seconds passed with no comeback, I started to get concerned; Dash wasn’t one to let a jab to her ego go unpunished. By the time my mind caught up with reality again, I had flown right past her by at least a few dozen meters. “Hey, loser! What are you doing lagging behind?” I shouted once again, still getting no response. With a groan, I turned around. “What? did I strike a nerve or some—” I felt the breath leave my lungs the instant I saw the reality.

“...Dash…?” She had stopped flapping her wings, her breathing rapid and raspy, and eyes rolled to the back of her head. Before I could even move an inch forward, she dropped like a rock.

“Oh, you’ve got to be KIDDING ME!” I shouted, plunging down as swiftly as my wings would allow. “Hang on, loser!”

In that instant, I don’t think I’d ever flown as fast as I did.

I ended up missing my mark, and rather than grabbing Dash by the torso, I grabbed her by the forelegs. Without wasting any more time and energy, I brought her up into my arms. Her head rested against my chest, her breathing rapid and irregular. I could feel her body temperature getting higher with every second. “Dammit. Dash, have you been flying all this time with a fever!?” I looked down at some of the scabbing wounds on her torso, and couldn’t help but wince when I saw small patches of white growing in some.

“Damn it all... You’re a real saint for not hating me right now…”

It was one heck of a struggle keeping a proper trajectory. Dash wasn’t that heavy, but the added weight—coupled with the fatigue my body was finally starting to show—made things harder than they should have been. By the time I had dropped enough altitude that we wouldn’t kill ourselves if we decided to stop moving, my wings had started to go numb.

“Don’t you dare die on me!” I said to Dash, trying to rouse her by giving her a couple of nudges.

“Stupid... I’m… Rainbow... Dash! I am... the greatest flyer… in the whole world…” She wheezed out, giving me a look of annoyance and what seemed like regret. I almost retorted at her insult, but I kept my gullet shut. It was for the best that I didn’t say anything I’d regret later.

With every passing minute, Dash grew weaker. I desperately looked for someplace to land and rest. Anything would do, even if it was the insides of some dead dragon! But there was just nothing. Nothing!

Thinking back to what we had endured, I found it unfair I was the one who was not only flying but making all the decisions.

Dammit, it should be Dash! She was the hero; the leader! I cursed the training I no doubt had been put under while in Sombra’s mind control; it made me tougher than I should be—had any right to be. Screw him, and his army, and everything about him! If I could claw out his entrails, I would do it without any hesitation!

No. Relax. Have to relax. Deep breath. Color blue. Homemade griffonscones... Getting angry isn’t going to help you right now. Only cooler heads prevail in times like this.

I breathed in deeply and resumed my search. For a moment, I considered using a cloud for support. As luck would have it, none of the ones nearby look like they could take our weight. I cursed the fact that most weather factories around Equestria had to be put on light workloads. As if making clouds wasn’t as important as sending good pegasi to the meatgrinder! That decision really had wreaked havoc on the surrounding agriculture, leading to my current predicament of crappy clouds that weren’t dense enough to support even a pegasus foal.

Oh, I wanted to punch something so badly right now…

Just when I had started to give up hope, I saw it: a small town—or what was left of it anyway. It had been burned down and most of the buildings were in ruins. Still, it was something, and beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“Hey, I think I found us a place to rest!” I said, almost tearing up from the excitement and relief. Of course, I kept my eyes away from Dash’s. The last thing she needed to see was her friend getting all choked up.

Dash didn’t say anything. She just held onto my neck tighter.

Carefully, I flew even lower. With the same care a mother would take with her child, I shifted Dash’s weight, gliding into an easy landing despite the awkwardness of our situation.

Once I knew my feet were firmly rooted, I let my wings fold. A sharp pain shot up my back the instant I did. Using all the restraint I still had left in me, I swallowed the scream and curse down, both for Dash’s sake and for fear that undesirable ears could be listening. I tried slowly extending my left wing, only for the pain to once again shoot up my spine. It was one heck of a cramp alright.

With a defeated sigh, I let my wings rest. I wouldn’t be flying anytime soon.

The former town was nothing more than a burnt out husk, houses being total write-offs for the most part. There had clearly been a fight if the discarded weapons and half-buried pieces of dented armor were anything to go by. Yet, the weirdest part was that there weren’t that many corpses. Whoever brought the fight must have cleaned up their mess before leaving. That or scavengers were to blame.

Regardless, the implications unnerved me. The last thing I needed was having to worry about something lurking over my shoulder.

“Gilda,” Dash started, her voice so soft, I barely caught it. “Hey, G!” she said again, this time louder. “You can… put me down... now. I… I can walk!”

It took a few seconds for my mind to fully register my friend’s words. A part of me was absolutely excited that she was talking again. Yet, another part wondered if my mind was playing a trick on me. After some careful consideration, I decided that it in Dash’s best interest that I ignore her. At least until we had shelter. Then she could bemoan all she wanted.

Of course, Dash being Dash, she replied to my silence by jumping right out of my arms, much to my shock and horror.

“I said… I can wa—” she began, but was cut off as her legs buckled, causing her to fall on her stomach and eat dirt.

I held back a dry chuckle and rolled my eyes. Without a word, I picked her up again. but this time, I put her on my back, her head resting right on top of mine. I winced as her weight added extra pressure on my wings.

“Not a... word to... anypony. Ya hear!?” Dash grumbled, the defiance in her tone slowly vanishing with each word as acceptance finally entered into that thick skull of hers.

“Sure thing, loser. Not that anyone would believe me anyway.” Pride had always been one of Dash great shortcomings. Still, its presence filled me with relief.

At least the war hadn’t taken that from her yet.

We must have spent an hour looking for shelter. Whenever we thought we had found something, an issue arose to make it crappy: a hole in the floor, crumbling walls, or even too many skeletons.

Just when it seemed like we would have to settle for a roofless husk of a house, I spotted a large overturned supply carriage. It had taken quite the beating, as told by the shattered wheels. Still the sides of the cargo area—aside from scratches, the occasional stuck spear or arrow, and a few eye-sized holes—looked intact.

“Hey,” I started, giving Dash a light pat on her barrel, “I think I found us promising shelter.”

“Wonderful,” Dash said in a dismissive tone. I was half tempted to give her a jab, but that would have to wait.

Cautiously, I pulled the rear panel doors open and got a good look inside. Somehow, the carriage looked more spacious that it should have been possible. I could see some discarded pieces of cloth and leather alongside a dozen broken boxes that had once probably held weapons and armor. What shocked us the most were the two crates of brand-spanking-new canned Apple Acres apple rations. I could tell by the shifting weight on top of me that Dash’s was also gawking at our lucky find.

“Hey, Dash. Maybe our luck hasn’t gone and screwed itself over just yet.”

“Of course not!” Dash replied, her tone now considerably chipper. “No bad luck so long as I’m around!”

I shook my head at that. Never change Dash. Never change…

With food a guarantee, the carriage's cargo bay would make for decent enough shelter. Now we had all we needed to survive. Still, a part of me was not happy with that, and with some daylight still left, I could set out to scavenge the town for anything useful. After all, why just survive when you could just as easily thrive? Dash agreed with me on the idea but worried nonetheless.

“Relax. Place’s empty and dead. Besides, I won’t be gone for too long.”

“You sure about that, you slowpoke?”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, hardy har, har. Just wait here and don’t do anything stupid.”

Dash lay her head down. “Like I have much of a choice.”

Her words stung more than they should have.

It took a few hours, but as the sun set, I came back to the carriage with a bag full of supplies strapped to my back. Dash’s look of surprise more or less said everything that needed to be said.

Before the last rays of light faded, I set out to making a campfire from the remains of the crates, a piece of dented armor as a base, and some matches I found in our little resting spot. Once I got the fire going, I started rummaging through what I had dug up. Aside from a very lucky find of a full medical kit, I found a folding iron pot, some spices still in their containers, two metal bottles full of water, and a few more cans of food slightly past their expiration dates.

It was those cans that I settled on cooking. After all, who knew when we would have the luxury of another camp-out.

“You sure we can eat these?” Dash asked me as she gave the cans of food a good look. “You do realize they’re expired, right?”

“You’re more than welcome to chew on wood,” I monotonically retorted.

She placed the can back down. “You know what? Screw it. I’m already feeling like crud. I honestly can’t get worse.”

A part of me hoped she was right about that.

With inventory done, I set out to try and cook our food. Though, to be fair, it really was just heating up the grub with water and the spices I had found. Getting those ready had been no issue. The problem now were the cans, damn things.

After glaring at them for half a minute, I set them down and looked at my talons. In theory, my nature-given tool could get the things open… but I could also snap it right off my finger. I didn’t want to think about how painful that would be.

My head perked up when I heard something slide across what would have once been the wooden wall on the carriage. What looked like a mixture between a dagger and very small sword—painted blue, and sporting a white string that looked as if it had once carried some kind of charm on it tied at the back of the handle—greeted me.

I reached down and picked the all-too-familiar weapon, noting how odd the handle felt in my grasp. It didn’t feel designed to be grasped at all. Then again, it was made for ponies, so they probably had to bite on the handles to even use them. Yet another reason I was glad for having talons.

I looked up to Dash, opting to play dumb rather than potentially saying something unsavory. “This yours?” I asked.

She gave me a nod in reply. “Was. Don’t really need it anymore,” she said with a half-formed smile, “Just thought you could use it. Y-you know,” she pointed her hooves at the cans. “For those.”

She wasn’t wrong, It was just odd thinking of Dash having a weapon like this on her. I still had a bit of trouble wrapping my mind around her role in the war, so imagining her flying around with a blade on her was almost a surreal image. If anything, it was more fitting for me than her.

“Thanks,” I said, picking up the first can. “Saved me from possible pain and agony,” I finished with a grin and chuckle.

Dash, however, wasn’t exactly looking at me, her eyes set on the floor. It just didn’t feel right.

“Hey!” I shouted, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling okay? Is that fever of yours getting bad again?” I hated having to pussyfoot around the issue, but in this situation, it was for the best.

“I-I’m okay!” Dash said as she finally turned to look at me, a broad grin forced on her lips. “I was just... deep in thought. You know, after all we’ve been through.”

I inwardly sighed. “Yeah,” I said, once again relaxing my body. I wanted to so tell her that it was all okay, that she didn’t need to suppress anything anymore. But maybe it was for the best that I let it go. It was all in the past at this point.

I turned my full attention back to the cans. Dash’s weapon made short work of them.

I was half-shocked at just how proficient I was at cooking canned goods. Then again, before this mess of war broke out, I had been a baker. Just not a very good one. I really hoped the results wouldn’t be as… unsavory as those attempts.

When I was done, there was plenty to go around. I really wasn’t feeling that hungry, both because of the enchantment on the armor, and a lingering sense of unease I couldn’t quite put a name to. A part of me already felt sorry that’d I would have to get rid of the armor sooner or later. It had proven useful so far. There was also the fact that it was among the few things in life that I could claim were mine. Almost made me take back some of the insults I had tossed at Sombra earlier in the day.

Almost.

I let Dash take the majority of the meal. Maybe it was the baker in me, or maybe I was just starting to lose it, but it felt good to see that my work was appreciated. As she took bite after bite, the color of her mane started coming back. Her appetite eventually made me curious, so I took a bite of my own creation. It was surprisingly bearable, all things considered. Dash wasn’t saying anything, at least. She was either too hungry or didn’t care about my ‘cooking’.

I’d like to see the best chef in Equestria try and do any better with the stuff.

An hour later, Dash and I had consumed every last scrap. I took our last ten cans of food and divided them between my haversack and Dash’s newly gifted saddlebags that I had found while scavenging. I omitted the fact that I had to pry it out of a pony’s skeleton. I set my eyes back to the weapon Dash had given me. Somehow, it felt wrong to bring her attention back to it. Instead, I stuffed it in a compartment near my left wing.

A part of me hoped I wouldn’t have to use it anytime soon.

With food out of the way, I brought out my next—and perhaps most important—find, the medical kit. We sat next to the fire, the cold air blowing in from the wastelands. It really made the fire inviting. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much to say. We kept silent as I started healing some of Dash’s nastier superficial wounds with dabs of alcohol. She kept her eyes on the oddly mesmerizing flames through the half-hour it took.

“Hey G,” Dash suddenly said, breaking the silence. “Do you remember our first day at Junior Flight School?”

“How could I forget?” I said, a smile forming. “We crashed into each other face-first. If it wasn’t so funny in hindsight, I’d have said it was totally lame.”

“Yeah,” Dash replied. “Your beak did a number on my teeth. How long did I end up needing braces for?”

“You know, I don’t remember. I think it might have been a year?” I gave a shrug. “But meh, who was counting?”

“Duh, I was,” Dash said with a giggle.

I laughed softly, rubbing my beak as the memory of the event flooded my mind. “One heck of an introduction, if you ask me,” I said, the sides of my face feeling warmer than they had before.

“Yeah…” Dash said, “Oh, you should have seen the look on your face!”

“Oh yeah?” I said, a broad grin forming over my previous smile, “You should have seen your face, you little dweeb!”

I laughed heartily, and Dash joined in shortly after. Thinking back to Junior Flight School made me feel all warm and fuzzy. Those were the days when we both did what came naturally to us: fly better than anyone else in this burning world. The memories always made me smile; they were among the happiest I had.

I sighed, finishing cleaning the last surface wound on Dash’s chest before moving on to the main event. “I’m sorry about this, but I have to give you some stitches before the infections get worse.”

Dash audibly gulped. “Can we skip that step?”

I set my eyes on my friend, shaking my head in reply.

She sighed in defeat. “Let’s... get this over with…”

I moved to the first major wound on her chest, readying myself for what was to come. With a dab of alcohol, I firmly pressed my claw on the injury, feeling the muscle underneath shift as Dash let out a weak, yet sharp hiss of pain. I readied the needle and string, dipped both in the alcohol, and steeled myself.

Once again, I was about to hurt my only friend.

“Hope you don’t hate me for this,” I said, placing the needle’s sharp point at the ready.

“Hey, you broke me! Now you get to fix me!” Dash retorted. “And I can’t hate you…” she looked at the floor. “Tried that already. Didn’t work…”

I pierced the skin, causing Dash to yelp in agony.

“What about that time you said we weren’t friends anymore?” I said, shocked I had brought up that old painful memory.

“Oh, now you’re just being unfair!” Dash snapped back. “That time, you were being a jerk! Especially to Pinkie!”

The needle made a return journey as the first stitch was complete.

“And you were being an inconsiderate ass,” I spat back, not bothering to check my volume.

“Hey, I wanted all of us to be good friends! You can’t fault me for trying!”

“I—” I started, but cut myself off, instead focusing on the next stitch. I sighed and thought about it. It felt like a lifetime ago, but it really only had been little over a year since that disastrous meeting. Only by a small miracle afterward, did we even reconcile. Not that it had mattered much in the end, as the Crystal War came to ruin everything all over again.

“Look,” I started, finishing the second stitch and moving right along. “I was a jerk. Yes. Was I wrong for being so selfish? Yes. Would I take it all back if given the chance? Absolutely! It’s just that…” I bit down on my tongue and steeled myself. “I got all jealous and angry and...” I shuddered. “Please, don’t make me talk this…”

Dash turned her head sideways, her right eye looking straight into mine. “Why are you bringing all that up anyway? You already apologized! Not only to me but to Pinkie too. It’s all in the past, and that’s where it should stay!”

I clenched my teeth. “I brought it up again because… well… Just, look at you!” I put a claw on my chest. “The injuries I’m patching up right now? I caused them! Me! No-one else!”

“You were not in control of your actions,” Dash said in a cold, distant tone.

“What if I was?” I asked, my voice cracking from the flood of emotion welling in me. “Who’s to say that the helmet didn’t just take my innermost desires and turn them into reality?”

“We both know that’s a lie!” Dash shouted. “You may be a jerk, yes, but underneath all those feathers of steel you have built up over the years, you have a heart of twenty-four karat gold!”

I was left stunned by Dash’s words. Not just because I had never imagined something like that coming out of her lips… Well, actually, very much because I never imagined her saying something like that coming from her lips first place!

“Dash, that was…” I started, the initial smile plastered on my beak quickly forming into a flat stare, “...really sappy…”

She shrugged. “Eh. One of us had to play that card sooner or later.” she gave me another punch on the shoulder and a wink. “I’ll take the hit this time, G. But you’re next, ya hear me?”

I chuckled at that. It was as good a chuckle as we would have for a while. Especially after I asked the question that had been tearing at me for a while now: “Dash, What happened? Where did things go so wrong?”

“Well, I would point to the Crystal Empire coming back.”

I gave Dash a flat look. I shouldn’t have been surprised by her reply. Honestly.

She sighed, confirming my fears. “In all honesty, I don’t really know what to tell you,” she said as she stood up and sat next to me. “Everything’s just gotten so complicated!” she wrapped her hoof around my neck, smiling as she did. “But it shouldn’t matter right now, so stop being so lame. It’s not fitting for you. The past’s in the past! What matters now is that it's just you and me, and—” she pointed to the other wounds still in need of tending, “—a few dozen more stitches.” She smiled determinedly.

I felt the corners of my beak rise at that. Dash’s optimism was starting to get to me. With newfound energy, I finished my work, wrapping her wounds up in bandages to make sure the stitches wouldn’t become dirty until they had properly closed.

By the time I looked down at my clock, it had already got to be close to ten. I was surprised at how fast time flew by. Then again, there was that old saying about time slipping by when least noticed. There was also our talking to factor in. Couldn’t deny it was nice to hear from my old friend again.

But, naturally, I needed to know more.

“Hey Dash, just what were you up to before this whole mess of a war broke out?”

“Well…”

In the following hour, I learned of Dash’s work as a weather team manager, her eventual acceptance into the Wonderbolts, her many travels to Ponyville before it got turned into a food factory, and the fleeting friendships she had made with a few ponies there—chiefly among them that pink nightmare, Pinkie.

I really didn’t want to remember her; chiefly, because she was so lame. I mean, rock farmer? How do you even farm rocks? Wouldn’t it be mining at that point? Eh. I guess it didn’t really matter. Heck, I was technically a baker before all this! Who was I to bash someone else’s occupation?

“Hey, Gilda,” Dash said, taking me out of my momentary train of thought. “How did it feel, being under Sombra’s mind control?”

At last, we had come to a question I dreaded. Yet, something in me was compelled to tell the truth.

“...I honestly don’t know what to tell you,” I said in as muted a tone as I could manage. “When you are turned, you are outfitted with enchanted armor.” I motioned to my body with one of my talons. “Part of it is a mind-control helmet. But you already know that.”

Dash nodded in response.

“When that thing gets put on you… well, it is lights out for who you are. Instead, you start to see the world as warped and… evil. Everything that isn’t an ally of yours is a nightmare! You are aware that your body is following the commands of something else, yet you can’t do anything about it but scream! Scream, scream, scream! Until eventually, you just stop thinking. Or you go crazy...”

Dash put a hoof over her mouth, the color draining from her face.

I looked down at the floor. “For me, the last thing I recall as myself was Griffonstone being conquered. Neighbors and… neighbors—” I really couldn’t call anyone there ‘friend’, now that I really thought about it, “—being taken in chains. At least, the ones that didn’t fight back. The ones that did ended up in a ditch.” I closed my eyes as memories that felt alien to me flooded back in. “The majority of us got shipped straight to the Crystal mines. Those that were young and fit were fitted with the helmets.” I sighed, opening my eyes again and setting my sight back on Dash. “That’s the last of the memories that I trust. The rest is a din of madness; all horrid, all vicious.” I gave her a weak smile. “But hey, it’s alright. I endured. Somehow...”

“G…” Dash softly whispered to me.

“I don’t know how long I was out for, but the next set of memories as myself were of you, bloodied, pissed, standing over me glaring, with a blade stuck to the left side of my face!” I diverted my sight from her. “No doubt because I probably killed a lot of your good friends and hurt you pretty bad.”

Dash’ mouth hung agape. I couldn’t blame her, either.

“G…” she started, her tone doing nothing to hide the horror in it. “Griffonstone... was taken two years ago,” she said in a shaky voice. “Y-you’ve been out that long...”

I gave my friend a shrug. There really wasn’t much else I could give her in reply to that.

Dash shook her head. “I’m… sorry. I mean, what can I say after hearing that?”

I bitterly chuckled. “What is there to say? War’s Tartarus. I’m just glad it was you who ran into me. Anypony else would have removed the helmet with my head still inside it.” I felt the corners of my beak rising.

At my words, Dash’s eyes began to water. She diverted her gaze away from me, soft sobs escaping her lips.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, a part of me already knowing full well what she would say…

**** **** ****

“Commander Dash!” A voice erupted through the enchanted microphone on my helmet. “We’ve got flyers coming in fast! Half of ‘em seem to be griffons too! Damn it all, that means we lost Griffonstone!”

For starters, ouch! Too loud! That was soon followed by the actual words sinking in. They stung me in a way I couldn’t explain. A part of me chalked it to the fact that another territory had fallen to that monster’s control, but there was something else there. Rather, someone in that place that I hadn’t entirely been fair to. Someone who was now probably dead. Or worse.

I didn’t want to think about what the ‘worse’ could even be!

I clenched my teeth so hard I could hear the scraping. I was so done with the war! Everything about it was horrible and lame. Already, I had seen too many good friends die because of Sombra. If I ever got near him, I would give him such a beating that he would still feel it even when he rotted in Tartarus!

I calmed down enough to give out the order. “Wonderbolts, spread out and take the flyers one on one! Keep them away from our ground troops, and watch your sixes. Griffons are a lot faster than they look.” I looked down at our ground units, a mixture of gold barded and black clothed ponies. “Ground troops, watch yourselves and keep up the pressure. We’re close to breaking their ranks!”

“Copy, Commander,” the whole squad replied to my command in unison. I still found it hard to believe that I was in charge of not only a squadron of Wonderbolts, but also a whole battalion of ground troops. When I had become an honorary Wonderbolt, I could never have imagined being given such an honor.

And such a hassle. Then again, I was the best flyer there ever was. It was kind of expected.

“Commander!” A yell shook me right out of my train of thought. I turned towards the rookie who had yelled. Rather than seeing the young colt engaging a foe, I instead saw his lifeless body plummeting towards the snowy ground below.

I blinked a few times to get the image out of my mind, just in time to see another of my squadmates swatted right out of the sky by a blur of black and green.

“I’m hit!” Another of my squadmates yelled. This time, I caught the attack as it happened, the griffon moving with such speed that their talons—already sharp enough to slice through flesh as if it was butter—not only pierced through the plates near the wings but also sliced the two appendages clean off.

I readied myself for a fight, but I was set upon by a group of enemy flyers. I set my attention to fending them off, all the while trying to ignore the din of screams erupting in my ears.

With the last of my attackers now a body plummeting below, I diverted my attention back to my squad. We were down to only ten flyers, myself included. My ground troops weren’t faring any better, their numbers down to less than half of what they had been a mere hour ago.

Through clenched teeth, I gave the order:

“All remaining forces: Full retreat!”

“Look out, commander!”

Before I could process the warning, a blur of black streaked by me, her talons raking my side, tearing at the armor plates and making a few deep cuts in the process.

I dove away and pushed myself faster than before, the world becoming little more than a blur of colors.

“Commander, are you alright?”

“I’ll live,” I replied. “It seems our ace fighter’s got her eye on me now.” I felt a smile creep on my lips. “Good.”

“Are you insane!? She’ll kill you for sure!”

I laughed at the warning. “Please, I’m Rainbow Dash! She’ll be the one hitting the dirt today!”

I began flapping my wings faster, my body traveling beyond the boundaries of our battlefield. “Keep the remaining flyers away from the eggheads as they cast their teleportation spells. I’ll lead our little killer elsewhere. Even if I can’t take her out, I’ll at least make sure she’s not a thorn on our flanks!” My brow creased at my next words. “Don’t follow me. That’s order.”

There was silence for a moment before a shaky voice replied on the other side of the intercom. One I had not expected, yet welcomed all the same. “Dash, you better come back in one piece. Or else!”

I chuckled. “Or else what, Lieutenant Pie?”

“Or else I’ll kick your flank myself!” Pinkie yelled at the top of her lungs.

I was left half-surprised, and half scared. “Fine. Kick my flank. I’m still going to make this griffon pay!”

“RAINBOW DA—” the voice cut out to static, and then died completely. It was the sign that I had passed the ten-mile range for arcane communications.

Eh. Boring conversation anyway.

The sound of beating wings caught my ears. I chanced a glance back and spotted the blacked-armored griffon, her talons stretched and thirsting for violence. She had taken the bait. And really, why wouldn’t she? She’d have to be mentally challenged not to!

I looked ahead and scanned my surroundings. We were nearing the Galloping Gorge borders. We had now covered close to fifty miles in less than ten minutes! Had I not been so preoccupied with staying alive, I would have been quite proud of the three-hundred miles per hour my body was traveling at without even trying. Still, I had not made my decision to show off. No, I had flown away so that my friends and family would have a chance to survive this Tartarus.

I reached my head to my right and drew my weapon. With a deep breath to steady my nerves and ready my body, I shifted my wings and made a sixty-degree turn to the right, losing the majority of speed in the process and nearly causing my lunch to come flying right out. The G-forces nearly made my vision go black as blood was pushed to the back of my body, but it worked; my assailant kept on flying.

I moved in for my strike, but at the last second, my target made a six-degree turn of her own, only this one aimed towards the ground.

I lost track of her for a second, only to once more make eye contact. Unfortunately, she appeared from behind, her figure rapidly followed by a slash of her talons to my face.

My helmet took the brunt of the blow, shattering as if it were made of porcelain. Even so, I still took a good wallop to the head. I knew the instant I felt a torrent of warmth cascade down the left side of my head that part of my ear was now gone.

“Augh! You little bi—” I did not finish my words, as my assailant moved to the front and launched a flurry of strikes. My armor absorbed the majority of hits, but more than a dozen slashes got through, leaving deep bleeding wounds on my chest and sides. With one haymaker to the top of my skull, she sent me plummeting towards the ground.

For the first few moments, I was still too dazed to think. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and I found freedom in the fall, air rushing around me like waves of water. I greeted the wind like an old friend. It was powerful and cleansing.

As I fell through it, I felt the turmoils of my life lifting away. I found peace, and I would have done anything in the world to keep it...

“Wake up!” I shouted to myself just in time to spread my wings and recover just seconds away from hitting the ground, dodging a direct lunge at my falling being. The griffon was barely able to keep herself from crashing against the ground after my move.

Damn. Should have waited a couple more seconds…

I took a painfully long breath, teeth clenched as a fiery sensation began to supplant the pain enveloping my body. I bit my blade’s grip tighter as I spread my wings.

Once more, my momentum changed. Only this time, instead of changing course altogether, I stopped moving midflight. The sudden stop made my vision go completely black for a few seconds, the rest of my body feeling ten times as heavy in the process. During that time, I only had my hearing to rely on.

My ears twitched as the sound of a piercing swoosh passed by me. With vision still dark, I shot myself forward, gathering more and more speed with every flap of my wings. I could feel my body start to elongate and my ears ring. My vision began to return just as the griffon’s figure came within inches of me.

At that instant, I launched my attack.

To my shock, the griffon opted to try and return my assault, not with a riposte as I would have expected, but with a blow directed at my chest. The first dug right into my gut, knocking all the air out of my lungs.

In turn, my own blow struck her helmet’s topmost portion, the sharp edge becoming trapped in the ornamental mane and pair of small red horns at the forehead. Even so, the momentum was such that it caused the latches keeping the helmet attached to the armor to snap.

We both fell. My vision was still too blurry to make out the face of my attacker. In turn, I doubted my foe could even see properly, as she fell in an uncontrollable spin.

In the time it took for us to hit the ground, the past returned to me, giving way to regrets I had. I wished I could’ve done more with my life. Things had just turned out so wrong! Everything about everything was just… wrong! I was just thankful I had fought to the end. At least, I could use that as browny points when I got to whatever afterlife awaited me.

When I came to, I was first surprised I was still alive. Then I spotted my assailant. She was already up but was too distracted by her surroundings to notice me. Her white plumage looked eerily familiar from the back, but I put it out of my mind.

Once more taking up my blade, I stood back up. I did my best to ignore the deep soreness and numbing chill falling over my body. With one final deep breath of air, I lunged at my enemy, ready to finish what I had started in the sky.

She turned to face me just in time for us to both hit the ground, my blade once again missing, though only by mere millimeters. It still made a cut on the griffon’s cheek as it buried itself in the snow to the left side of her head. I readied myself for a second strike, one I would not—and could not—miss.

Then my eyes regained their full sight, and they met her’s. Eyes filled not with hatred or anger... but fear, confusions, sorrow.

Time all but stood still at that instant as she asked a single question to me: “D-Dash…?”

**** **** ****

“G-Gilda. I-I…” Dash let out a hiccup, using a hoof to wipe her snout. “It-it-it never even crossed my mind, to… to… to...” her hooves fell on my shoulders. “At that instant… I-I-I was ready! R-ready… to...” she wrapped her hooves around my body, pulling me into a deep embrace. “It was luck that the blow missed!”

I kept my arms limply on the side, vision starting to cloud from the tears forming in my eyes despite my every attempt to stave them off.

The only reason I was here now was because of chance...

There had been no fated meeting, and no grand rescue; only chance had spared my life, with only a few seconds of difference between me being embraced by the only family I had left, and me being some headless rotting corpse on an empty battlefield...

At that moment, the only thing I could do was laugh. While Dash wailed her heart away, I laughed.

Laughed as the tears flowed down the side of my face.

Comments

[Emperor]

It's pretty interesting that you write this story with Gilda in it. I don't think I recall seeing a single other Crystal War-timeline story that actually makes use of the non-equine races (I would expect there to be at least some freedom fighters or the like who know that if Sombra wins, he's going to turn their attention on them next).

The narrative is a little bit disjointed here. Given Dash's recollection at the end of the chapter, it sounds like this whole chapter is taking place right after she freed Gilda from her mind control, and the cuts and wounds on Rainbow Dash that Gilda has been stitching up lines up with the fight, but the early part of the chapter feels more like that they've been together for a while, fighting side by side. To find out that they've just reunited after two years of war-is-hell feels out-of-place.

I'm not quite keen on how you forced some events to stay the same, such as Gilda travelling to Ponyville to meet Rainbow Dash, becoming jealous of Pinkie Pie, and getting into a giant spat that ends up with her losing her friendship with Rainbow. That's a set of circumstances that should have never come to pass in the alt-timeline (Pinkie should never have come to Ponyville, Rainbow Dash seems unlikely to visit unless Fluttershy was living there, and of course Gilda coming along to visit even more unlikely).