Gilda's Downfall

by Daray Dementia

Chapter 1

~Gilda’s Downfall~
Chapter 1: Vel

~War does not determine who is right - only who is left~
~Bertrand Russell~

Vel (flashback)

Vel was always the quiet one in the back that never really brought much attention to himself in class. He had potential, but never had much self-confidence. He remembered one specific day at Celestia Academy. That day was the reason his life changed forever, for better or for worse. He was sitting under his favorite oak tree studying for his end of the year exam when an earth pony came over to him and asked why he always sat there studying alone. He just shrugged and looked back down at his book. Not thinking much about the pony, just figuring that he was another passerby. When he was done, he packed up his things and started back to his dorm. He was staying in the Academy dorms because his parents moved to Ponyville. He didn’t enjoy the constant smirks from the older, much more athletic ponies. They always taunted him and the other smart ponies. He was never really affected by their words; all they wanted was attention and he never gave them that so they picked on him the most.

It was getting dark pretty quickly and he was still a little ways away from his room. He knew of a shortcut that would get him there faster, but he didn't want to take it because it wasn't really safe at night. When the sun completely descended under the horizon, he figured he couldn't be out much longer. He turned the corner around a bakery and slammed right into the jocks that constantly messed with him. The lead jock got back up on his hooves and looked at the pony that knocked him down. He gave a devilish grin when he saw who it was. “Well, look who it is! Our good buddy Vel! How you doing buddy?” He asked, putting his hoof around Vel as he tried to slip away. Vel struggled for a minute then gave up after realizing the jock had no intention of letting go. He took his hoof off of Vel and shoved him to the ground. He got up and when the jocks hoof came down for a strike Vel countered the attack and smacked the jock right in his jaw. He stumbled backwards and fell on his flank. When he recovered from the shock, he jumped up and yelled and charged at Vel, his friends joining the attack. Everyone who met Vel always assumed that he was weak and couldn’t handle himself in a fight, when in reality he was trained in advanced fighting styles. Everyone assumed he was studying things like basic spells. If they took a closer look, they would notice the books were about fighting and learning how to defend yourself. He was well trained, but even with his advanced training, he couldn’t handle a group of ponies swinging everywhere around him. He was quickly knocked down. There were just too many of them to handle. They stopped for a second, and that pause gave Vel just enough time to get on his hooves and see why they stopped. There was another pony; he pulled one of the attackers off of him. He threw him a few feet away and picked up another pony and held him with one hoof while smacking him with the other.

Vel wiped blood away from his lip. The savior casually strolled over to him and held out his hoof. Vel grabbed it and was pulled up onto his flank. He didn’t really notice his savior until his vision returned. It was the pony who came up to him at the oak this afternoon. He didn’t understand why this pony was here or why he was following him. “Hey! Can you hear me? Are you okay?” He was snatched out of his thoughts and thrust back into reality. He looked at the pony and realized his apparel; he was wearing a guard uniform! But he was an earth pony. How could an earth pony be a member of Celestia’s army? “I’m... fine I think.”
“Do you need a doctor or any medical attention?”
“No, just some scrapes and bruises, nothing that can’t be healed with time.”
He frowned and looked around for anypony else. Except for a couple a few blocks away, they were the only ones out here since it was pretty late. The guard walked him back to his dorm room. When they got to his door he handed him his notes. Vel looked at them and completely forgot about those.
“Thanks for saving me back there.”
“No problem, I just couldn’t leave someone in trouble. It’s not in my code.”
“Oh, and thanks for grabbing my notes! I would most likely fail my exam if not for these notes.”
“It was nothing. By the way I’m QuickFire; you can call me Fire for short.”

Vel (Present)

He would never forget that night, or the pony who saved him. There were visible scars that marked that night, and Fire always checking up on him, always had his back after that night. Once word got out that Vel was friends with a royal guard everyone knew not to mess with Vel. He had become popular, gaining many friends. But he always knew who his real friend was, all these ponies were just acquaintances compared to the guard. He still treated everyone with respect, the jocks ignored him for the rest of the semester. When graduation finally rolled around, Vel had excelled at the top of his class. When his name was called to receive his diploma, he had a smile from ear to ear. He grabbed his diploma and looked at the crowd. Everyone cheered for him. He noticed a familiar guard standing in the back of the crowd with a grin on his face. Vel walked off stage and over to the other graduates. They then were released to their friends and family. Vels family swarmed him and bombed him with questions about what he is going to do now. He answered them the best he could. This was the happiest day of his life. Nothing could change that. When the crowd finally died down and most ponies went home. Vel joined his friend, they were walking through the hallways looking in the classrooms.
“Just think... this is the last time you will see this hallway.”
“Yeah, I know! I don’t know whether to be excited or scared.”
“What do you mean?”
“The easiest part of my life is over, now comes the hard part. Living”
Fire looked at Vel with an understanding look. Fire was probably the only pony who knew what Vel was going through. A very authoritative voice from behind them spoke up. “Vel! You must be so excited with your graduation!” The voice was from none other than the estemed princess Celestia. Vel and Fire turned to see the alicorn walking over to them. She had a smile that could rival Vels. She put a wing on Vel and looked at Fire. “Excuse me Fire, but would you excuse us for a moment?”
“Of course your highness.”
“Thank you.”
When Fire had left Celestia looked down at Vel. he wasn’t sure why Fire couldn’t be here. She quickly explained why she asked him to leave.
“I have a job proposition for you. Since you have excelled at your studies and seem very dedicated to your studies, I would like for you to relocate to the everfree forest. There you will learn about the forest and its properties. When you find out anything, I would like you to report what you find to me.”
“I... I don’t... I don’t know what to say. Tha- thank you! I will do this for you!”
“Thank you! I knew you would accept, you leave tomorrow.”
A realization struck Vel, his smile quickly faded and one of sadness showed up.
“But your highness! What about my friends and family! What about my life here?”
“I’m sorry, but you must leave them here, you must do this task alone.”
He looked down in sadness, he was going to do what he always wanted to do. But he was going to leave everything behind to do it.

Fire came back over to Vel, he tried to hide his sadness. Fire knew something was wrong, but he decided against it figuring it was only for Vel and the princess to know about. He didn’t want his friend to be sad today of all days. “What do you want to do now?”
“I don’t mean to be a joykiller but I kinda want to be alone right now.”
“Alright bro, you know where I am if you need some help with anything.” Vel watched as Fire walked away, this was probably the last time he would see his friend. He trudged back to his dorm room. He started packing what he was going to take with him to his new home. His life was about to change dramatically, for better and for worse.