Chapter 14: Feelings Revealed
Ponyville was in a state of total confusion and panic as the ponies of Equestria's army tried their absolute hardest to fight agains Grifforia's army of strange metal griffons. No matter how many griffons they brought down, there were plenty more were they had come from. It seemed like the battleship would never run out of griffons to deploy against Equestria's forces. Nopony had any idea about what to do. It was obvious that they needed to bring down Grifforia's battleship but there was no way for anypony to get near it without getting tackled by griffons. Gilda, Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, Twilight Sparkle, Grayback, Psyke, Chunker, and Monochrome were together as they tried to think of some way to get up to the battleship.
"We gotta bring it down." Rainbow Dash said firmly while the others nodded in firm agreement.
"But there's no way we can get to that thing without those griffons attacking us." Twilight Sparkle told her. "None of us could get in the air long enough to dodge them."
"Any of you got an idea?" Gilda asked the group that surrounded her.
Every face showed the same emotion: hopelessness. None of the seven that were standing with Gilda had any plan in mind to bring down Grifforia's secret weapon. It looked like all hope was lost for Equestria and its citizens. All they could do was hope that they wouldn't be hurt too badly by Grifforia once they had finally won the war. Lightning Dust looked around and suddenly her eyes widened.
"Guys." she said. "I've got an idea."
Lightning Dust quickly ran towards Pinkie Pie's party cannons and aimed them towards Grifforia's battleship. She made absolute sure that eight cannons were aiming at the exact right spot.
"Umm Lightning." Rainbow Dash began. "I don't think water balloons are gonna work this time."
"We're not launching water balloons Dash." Lightning Dust replied. "We're launching ourselves."
"Are you crazy?" the group of seven shouted in response as they gave Lightning Dust gazes of disbelief as if the teal daredevil pegasus pony had gone insane.
"It's our only shot." Lightning Dust told them. "If we launch ourselves we can get past those griffons. Then we can get inside that thing and destroy it."
Gilda remembered how Grayback's griffons had told her about the battleship's four weak spots. She quickly grabbed the objects that they had given her. She looked uncertainly at Lightning Dust and wondered if this plan would actually work. It was one of the craziest ideas that Gilda had ever heard in her life.
"Are you sure about this Lightning?" Twilight Sparkle asked in a very concerned tone as she looked at the daredevil mare that stood near the cannons.
"There's no way around it Twi." Lightning Dust replied. "This is the only chance we've got. I don't know about you guys but if I'm going down to those chumps then I'm going down fighting."
The group of seven stared at Lightning Dust for a moment and then they all broke out into speech.
"Works for me." Chunker said.
"It's a preposterous idea but I guess you are right." Monochrome sighed.
"I always wanted to get launched from a cannon." Psyke stated enthusiastically as his horn glowed in anticipation.
"It's insane but I say we go for it." Grayback declared.
"But the chances of this working are probably one in a million." Twilight Sparkle exclaimed.
Gilda, Rainbow Dash, and Lightning Dust exchanged glances with each other before they spoke at once.
"Sounds like good odds to me." the trio of fliers said in unison with confident grins on their faces.
The group of eight looked at each other and nodded. They were going to launch themselves from the cannons and they would try to bring down Grifforia's battleship. They knew that this plan was extremely risky and would likely get them hurt or worse even on the off chance that it did work, but they also knew that it was the best and only plan that they had. Gilda gave Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, and Twilight Sparkle three of the objects that she had gotten from Grayback's griffons. A thought emerged in the back of the griffon's mind.
Ya gotta tell her. the small voice in the back of her mind said.
Now's not a good time. another part of Gilda's mind argued.
Now could be the only time. the first voice reasoned.
Before the group of eight got themselves situated in their cannons, Gilda gave Rainbow Dash a quick tap on the shoulder and spoke to her.
"Hey Dash." Gilda said. "Before we do this, I got something to tell ya."
Rainbow Dash looked a bit surprised but she smiled and allowed Gilda to continue.
"What do ya wanna say G?" she asked her best friend.
"You promise not to make fun of me right?" Gilda asked the pegasus desperately.
"Of course G." Rainbow Dash told her.
"You won't ditch me right?" Gilda continued.
"Come on G." Rainbow Dash replied. "We're best friends. You can tell me anything. I'll never ditch ya."
"You promise?" Gilda asked.
"I promise." Rainbow Dash replied. "So what do ya wanna say?"
"Just this." Gilda muttered quietly as she slowly moved towards her best friend Rainbow Dash.
With that, Gilda stood right in front of Rainbow Dash and gave her a passionate kiss on the lips. While having a beak made it hard for her to perform such an action, Gilda enjoyed it immensely. Rainbow Dash's pink and purple eyes widened in shock but then she closed her eyes and returned Gilda's embrace. The two fliers broke apart and they both had furious blushes on their face.
"Wow G." Rainbow Dash whispered in an awe filled tone. "Does this mean what I think it does?"
"Dash you're my best friend." Gilda told her. "It ain't easy for me to say this to ya but I gotta say it now. I really like ya Dash. You've been an awesome friend for years and ya really mean a lot to me. Do ya get what I'm saying?"
Rainbow Dash stared at Gilda for a moment before she spoke.
"I think I do." she said slowly as a grin grew on her face. "But I wanna hear ya say it."
Gilda rolled her eyes in mock irritation as she replied.
"You can never make things easy for me can ya Dash?" she asked in a tone of fake annoyance.
"Nah I really can't." Rainbow Dash replied with a tone of light mischief.
Gilda looked her longtime best friend in the eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke to her the words that she had wanted to say to the rainbow maned pegasus for a very long time.
"I love ya Dashie." Gilda said.
When those four words left Gilda's mouth she had been expecting anything. Gilda had tried to prepare herself for any outcome to what she had just said. She prepared herself for the teasing that was sure to come. Gilda braced herself to hear the sympathetic tone that Rainbow Dash would use when she told Gilda that she only saw her as a friend and nothing more. Gilda had even tried to be ready to hear Rainbow Dash break off their friendship. Gilda thought that she had prepared herself for anything. What she hadn't prepared herself for however were the five words that Rainbow Dash said in response.
"I love ya too Gilds." Rainbow Dash replied.
Gilda's golden yellow eyes widened as she stared at her best friend. Did Rainbow Dash really return her feelings? Could it actually be true? The griffon stared into the pink and purple eyes of the pegasus pony before her as if she was trying to see the honesty in her statement. All of a sudden Rainbow Dash grinned and then she gave Gilda a kiss of her own. The two fliers were in a state of blissful oblivion as they held each other in their forelegs. Both of them felt so happy to have found true love with each other. When they finally broke apart they stared at each other with smiles on their faces until a voice interrupted them.
"All right come on." Grayback said. "I'm just as romantic as the next pony or griffon but I think we've got something a bit more important to deal with." He quickly gestured towards the massive weapon that loomed overhead and the others understood. The group of eight loaded themselves into the cannons as Pinkie Pie stood by to launch them. All of them had determined looks on their faces and then they were off. Eight cannons were launched as the two griffons. two alicorns, and four pegasi were sent towards the battleship.