Chapter 4: Gilda's Darkest Memory
Gilda sat in Twilight Sparkle's castle as the center of attention. All of the griffon's friends sat in a circle with the griffon at the head of it. Eight pairs of eyes were locked firmly onto Gilda. The gazes of the ponies never wavered from her for even a moment. All eight of Gilda's friends were waiting for her to begin talking. Hopefully they soon would know who was attacking their town, homes, and businesses and then maybe they could stop them.
"You guys remember when Dash told you about those ponies that tried to prank me right?" Gilda asked the group.
Everypony in the room nodded in assurance. They were all familiar with the tale of how Gilda was going to be pranked and how Rainbow Dash had sacrificed her reputation to save her.
"Well remember how Dash said I stayed with her that whole night after she took the prank for me?" Gilda asked.
All of her friends nodded once again. They knew that Gilda had spent the whole night comforting Rainbow Dash.
"Well that was a lie." Gilda said heavily. "I wasn't with her the whole night."
Eight pairs of eyes widened in shock as Gilda had a flashback to that day four and a half years ago.
It was nighttime at Junior Speedsters Flight School. Most ponies were asleep or heading off to bed. Gilda had just been the intended target of an extremely humiliating prank. However Rainbow Dash had managed to see the prank in time and she was able to get Gilda out of harm's way. Unfortunately her heroics had come at a cost. While Rainbow Dash had managed to save her best friend, she couldn't save herself. She was covered in a rainbow of paint and mocked by what was pretty much every student at the school. Rainbow Dash ran out of the room in tears.
After this tragic event, Rainbow Dash cleaned herself off and was consoled by Gilda. The griffon held the miserable pegasus in her forelegs as she cried herself to sleep. Gilda's heart broke as she watched her best friend Rainbow Dash weep uncontrollably while looking so distraught and miserable. What kind of horrible ponies would do this to a pony that was so nice? Gilda didn't have to wait long to get her answer. She was the only one in the cabin that was still awake. She was able to clearly hear the malicious laughter of three ponies.
"That was awesome!" a female voice rang out.
Chunker. Gilda thought angrily.
"I'll admit it was very amusing." a second female voice agreed.
Monochrome. the griffon realized as she gripped the bed sheets in anger.
"Even though Gilda didn't get hit it was funny to see somepony get covered in paint." a male voice said in an excited tone that had a bit of insanity to it.
Psyke. Gilda thought darkly as her fury only grew.
Those three ponies were the ones that were responsible for Rainbow Dash's misery. They had just crossed the line. Gilda may have been brought up to hate ponies but that didn't matter to her at all anymore. Rainbow Dash was the only living creature that had ever treated Gilda with any sort of respect or kindness. The rainbow maned pegasus had gone above and beyond what Gilda could have ever asked her for. Not only was Rainbow Dash kind to her, she was inspiring. She had lit a fire of determination inside Gilda. The brown and white feathered griffon used to be a lonely and miserable wreck that had no passion or desire in her at all. Once she had met Rainbow Dash she had changed her outlook on life completely. The pegasus had given the griffon something to live for. She had given her hope. She had given her confidence. Rainbow Dash was without a doubt the absolute best pony that Gilda had ever met.
And those monsters made her cry. Gilda thought as her anger slowly built and became something worse: Hatred.
Rage filled every single cell of Gilda's body. Those three ponies had made her confident and cheerful friend look as miserable and depressed as the griffon had been when she had first attended Flight School. These ponies had put Rainbow Dash into such an emotional hole that Gilda wasn't sure that the rainbow maned pegasus would ever be able to recover from what had happened. The thought of Rainbow Dash not cheering up only made Gilda angrier.
I'll show them. Gilda thought. They hurt Dash so I don't think it would be very wrong of me to return the favor. I'm gonna give those monsters what they deserve.
Without even realizing what she was doing, Gilda got out of Rainbow Dash's bed. She swiftly and silently strode over to the door of the cabin and opened it. Taking to the night air, Gilda used her golden yellow eyes to seek out her three targets. She found them very quickly. The three ponies were walking down the path to their own cabin and they were laughing their tails off. Gilda's anger rose to a level that she had never experienced. Words would not be enough. No insults could truly convey the hatred that she felt for those three ponies. Gilda was experiencing something that she had never felt before in her entire life: the urge to cause pain.
This feeling was brand new to Gilda. She had never felt the urge to cause pain to any other living creature in her life. Nevertheless she was definitely feeling the urge to do so now. A small part of Gilda's mind was screaming at her to go back to bed. That part of her mind was saying that it wasn't worth it to fight these ponies. But the minority was quickly silenced by Gilda's anger and hatred. There was no turning back for the griffon now. She was going to attack these three horrible ponies that had made her time at school miserable and had just harmed her best and only friend. Gilda glared down at the three ponies before deciding to target Chunker first.
Quick as a flash, Gilda swooped down from the sky and tackled Chunker with all of her might. The massive pegasus was knocked off of her hooves as Gilda kept flying. Soon enough Gilda had smashed the powerhouse pony right into a tree. Chunker fell to the ground and she was completely unconscious. Gilda then chose to attack Psyke next since he was easily the bigger threat between the remaining two ponies. She grabbed him by the hooves and swung him around in circles. Then she let go of the red alicorn and the psychotic bully crashed into the same tree that Chunker did and he fell to the ground on top of her in a heap. Finally Monochrome was the last one standing. Gilda picked her up, flew high into the air, and then hurled her down to her fellow bullies. The gray mare landed on top of the bold red alicorn and she was out cold. All three of the ponies were unconscious and left in a pile. The griffon's work was done. Gilda knew that she had moved much too quickly for them to have recognized her. Gilda flew back to her cabin and laid down on her bed. Rainbow Dash and the other ponies in the cabin were asleep and they hadn't heard a single noise from the battle.
Strangely enough Gilda felt no satisfaction from what she had just done. Despite the strength of the urge that she felt and the pain that those bullies had caused her friend, Gilda didn't enjoy giving them a merciless beating as much as she had thought she would have or should have. Surely an urge to cause pain would lead to a sense of satisfaction once Gilda had actually hurt the source of her anger? Gilda had no answers to her own questions. All she knew was that she had just attacked three ponies brutally and she had knocked all of them unconscious. Gilda then fell into a very uneasy sleep that was riddled with dark visions of herself attacking Chunker, Psyke, and Monochrome over and over again. The memories washed over her with waves of anger and guilt.
The next day Gilda and Rainbow Dash woke up feeling thoroughly miserable. The pegasus was saddened by the prank that had just been pulled on her while the griffon had been disturbed by what she had done in response. Gilda didn't say a word to Rainbow Dash about the pain that she had caused the three ponies who were responsible for her heartless humiliation. Several teachers had asked them if they knew anything about it but both of them denied. While Rainbow Dash was being honest, Gilda was lying through her beak. She could never admit what she had done. Not even to Rainbow Dash. Especially not to Rainbow Dash. Gilda kept that dark moment of her life a secret from every single pony that she ever met.
All eight of her friends were in shock after Gilda finished her story.
"G." Rainbow Dash gasped. "I can't believe that you did that for me."
"I wasn't thinking Dash." Gilda replied in an ashamed tone. "I wish I didn't do it."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"If I told you someone could have heard us and then I'd get expelled." Gilda answered. "I couldn't lose you. I kept my beak shut just to stay with you. Even if I wasn't kicked out I thought that you'd hate me for it."
"G." Rainbow Dash said again. "I don't know what to say. I'm glad you stood up for me but did you have to hurt them?"
"I couldn't control myself Dash." Gilda said. "I never felt so ticked off in my life. I'm honestly surprised it wasn't worse."
A long and uncomfortable silence followed this exchange.
"So those ponies are the ones that are doing this?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "Are you sure Gilda?"
"It couldn't be anyone else." Gilda replied. "But still I can't believe they would do this."
"Why not?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"They don't have the brains." Gilda said. "They're way too unorganized to do this. Here let me show ya."
Gilda pulled out what she had brought with her. It was a yearbook from when she had graduated from Flight School. The griffon flipped through the pages and pointed out the three ponies.
"That's Chunker." she said as she pointed out the muscular mare. She saw Lightning Dust open her mouth to speak and she cut her off. "And before you ask Lightning, yes. She's as dumb as she looks. She is the definition of dumb muscle."
Gilda flipped through some more pages before finally coming to a stop and pointing at a mare with glasses.
"That's Monochrome." Gilda said. "She's a genius and she has all the emotions of a napkin. She's a complete wimp though. She wouldn't last a minute in a fight."
The griffon flipped through the yearbook one last time before she pointed out the final pony.
"That's Psyke." Gilda said. "If you're looking for the postercolt of insanity it's him. He's crazy and he really really likes fire. Everywhere he goes something is always burning."
"He's an alicorn?" Twilight Sparkle asked in shock. "But why isn't he a prince?"
"Don't know." Gilda said. "I don't know how he's an alicorn but he is. And honestly would you want him to have any kind of authority in Equestria?"
Gilda closed the yearbook and sighed.
"The mark you guys saw is their cutie marks. The fist is Chunker's cutie mark. The book is Monochrome's cutie mark. And the flame is Psyke's cutie mark. I don't know what the weird thing in the middle is though."
"But G." Rainbow Dash said. "Why did you avoid it all the time?"
"Bad memories." Gilda said. "That day was one of the few times I ever lost control like that. I felt like a monster. I didn't want to remember that."
Pinkie Pie gave Gilda a bone crushing hug and spoke to her.
"You're not a monster Gilda." the pink pony said. "You're my BPGFF!"
Gilda's eyes widened and she returned Pinkie Pie's embrace. Rainbow Dash may have been her best friend, but Pinkie Pie had the uncanny ability to put a smile on Gilda's face even on the worst of days. Since the pink pony was the Element of Laughter, cheering others up was something she was good at. Soon enough everypony else joined the hug much to Gilda's surprise.
"You guys don't hate me?" she asked. "I hurt those ponies so badly."
"G I would have done the same for ya." Rainbow Dash said. "I don't blame ya."
"Like you said Gilda." Twilight Sparkle told her. "You couldn't control yourself."
"Thanks guys." Gilda said.
They stayed in the hug for a while and then they finally broke apart.
"So what now?" Lightning Dust asked. "Are we gonna sit around waiting for them to come to us or are we gonna take them down?"
"But where will they go next?" Rarity asked.
Everypony was deep in thought. It wasn't likely that the bullies would go after the same target twice. They counted off the ponies that had been attacked. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Lightning Dust, and Applejack had been robbed or pranked in some way so they were out. All that left was Rainbow Dash, Gilda, and Spike.
'So it's one of us?" Spike asked nervously.
"Anypony have any ideas about what they'll take?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"There has got to be a reason for all of this." Twilight Sparkle said seriously. "My books, Rarity's fabric, Pinkie Pie's frosting, Applejack's apples, Fluttershy's chicken eggs, and Lightning Dust's cannon. There has to be something that all of those have in common."
They all pondered that idea for a while. What did all of those things have in common? All of a sudden Gilda's eyes shot open.
"Dash." she said. "What's the most important thing you own?"
"What are you saying G?"
"Come on Dash." Gilda said. "Think. What do you have that's more important than anything else? Something you'd hate to see get stolen."
Rainbow Dash thought hard about that. Then her eyes widened.
"All that stuff you guys gave me after Mare Do Well." she said. "If those ponies get them."
The others got the point. Gilda focused her attention on Spike and the dragon racked his brains to think of what was the most important thing he owned.
"I'd rather not say." Spike mumbled. "It's kinda personal."
"Normally I'd ask what it is but mine is the same sort of thing." Gilda replied. "Okay here's what we need to do. Dash get all that stuff you talked about and either keep it with you or put it somewhere safe. Spike you do the same with whatever you care about. These guys are hitting us where it hurts."
'So when they stole my fabric." Rarity began.
"And my apples." Applejack continued.
"And my frosting." Pinkie Pie added.
"And my chickens' eggs." Fluttershy whispered.
"And my books." Twilight Sparkle said.
"And when they messed up my cannon." Lightning Dust finished.
The six ponies glanced at each other before Twilight Sparkle spoke up.
"You mean they're taking whatever we care about the most?" she asked.
"Yep." Gilda said. "Told you they were messed up."
"So what's the plan?" Lightning Dust asked.
"Find everything you care a lot about and keep it somewhere safe." Gilda said. "We'll figure out what else to do later."
The nine friends separated and headed off to find their most treasured possessions. Gilda went into her room and put all of her precious photographs into a box. Rainbow Dash did the same with her Wonderbolts clothing, Applebucking trophy, and book of Equestria's Greatest Fliers that she had received from her friends. She still had some leftovers of the cake she got from Pinkie Pie so she and Gilda wolfed that down quickly. Meanwhile the other seven ponies were gathering their treasured possessions and putting them in boxes. They all met back at Twilight Sparkle's castle and the purple alicorn used her magic to make the boxes seem empty to anypony who looked inside of them aside from the owners. It was an illusion spell that she had learned from Trixie Lulamoon as gratitude for letting her stay in her castle secretly. The showmare had put her hat and cape into her own box that Twilight Sparkle protected.
"Okay now what?" Lightning Dust asked.
"Now we think of a plan." Gilda said. "We need to bait them out and trap them."
The nine friends huddled up and planned out their strategy.