Title: The Seventh Element
Rating: T
Chapter: Chapter 10 Stolen kisses, secrets, and Gilda
AN: I’m back! Glad to see the feedback I got from my readers, and I’m happy to continue this fic. One of the few I actually write that has been planned through and through. If things don’t seem to make sense at some points, just remember… My mind is clinically insane. Think outside of the box! :D
***

Big Mac stayed motionless, his lips were fused with Rarity’s. Time seemed to have stopped as his eye lids suddenly became heavier as they slammed shut. His arms held her tightly against his strong build, making sure she didn’t move from that place.

Not that Rarity minded. She pressed herself up against him and savored the kiss. Her heart couldn’t seem to stop beating; her face flushed a deep red, matching her dress.

Big Mac didn’t want this feeling to end. He felt like everything that had confused him before had all vanished, that everything in the world was right. He stopped when he heard his sister’s voice, “Am ah interrupting something?” Big Mac widened his eyes and pulled himself off of Rarity.

“Sis! Ah can explain!”

Apple Jack glared him daggers that stabbed him repeatedly. She let out a shaky breath, “Ah don’t want to talk about this here.” She turned away and walked into the East palace halls, ushering him to follow.

He sighed, his feelings and life felt even more messed up than before now, “Ah’m sorry Rarity. Ah don’t mean to kiss then run but…” He blushed as he made his way towards his sister.

Even with the cheering for the New Year being beyond deafening, he still heard her voice, even if it was soft and whispery from their earth shattering kiss, “That’s okay. Do what you need to.”

Big Mac smiled softly as he waved her off. He then quickly followed his sister, leaving the breathless Rarity standing in the crowd. She broke into a smile and whispered to herself as her face got hotter, “Happy New Year…”

Main hall…

Celestia smiled and clapped as the other party-goers cheered for the new year, she saw Apple Jack and Big Macintosh sneak off to the East side, but she knew it was not something she should involve herself in.

“Happy New Year.”

Celestia turned her head to see Lunar holding a drink, he took a sip and nudged her, “got any New Year’s resolutions?”

Celestia laughed lightly, “same as last year. Live another long and healthy year. You?” Lunar smiled sadly as he watched the others hugging and kissing each other, all with their happy faces and joyful moments.

He murmured, “Hopefully learn to live with myself.”

Celestia’s smile faded, “what do you mean? Is there something you haven’t told me?”

Lunar shook his head, “No. Nothing. It’s nothing.” He drank the rest of his drink in one gulp and placed it on a tray being carried by a servant, “I wish I could stay dear sister, but I wouldn’t like to cut in on your mother-daughter time.” He motioned to the stairs where a female stood, being attended to by a servant. “Besides, I have to go and start the meteor shower. Duty calls.” He turned on his heel and briskly led himself out of the place before Celestia could get a word in.

The female made her way to her mother. She had long wavy brown locks that reached to her knees, round brown eyes with peach skin, heart shaped face wearing a long light blue off the shoulder gown. She had a long light blue horn and arm length light blue wings. On her right flank, were three blood red gemstones, her cutie mark. “Mother! Happy New Year!” She exclaimed excitedly. Celestia broke into a smile as her daughter hugged her tightly.

“Trinity, calm down. You might make yourself snap again.” She laughed as she squeezed her daughter back.

Trinity released her from her hug, “Oh mother, you know I’ve been able to control my outbursts! I haven’t had one since last week!”

Celestia chuckled, “a new record.” She squeezed Trinity’s shoulder, “now, go in there and have fun. But don’t use too much magic, you know you’re magic reserves are much too unstable.” Trinity nodded then entered the dance hall, where males bombarded her with well wishes. Celestia sighed as she started to worry over her daughter, hoping no one gave her too much sugar.

Lunar had approached Twilight from behind and brought his mouth to her ear, “guess who?” He breathed huskily.

Twilight twitched away, “Lunar! What are you doing?” She covered her neck with her hand and shot him a warning look. Lunar just shrugged and smiled nonchalantly. Rainbow Dash, Soarin, and Rarity were close by and talking about the New Year.

“Is it not the rule between escort and escorted party that I be fun?” Twilight face palmed herself, “I was merely doing what I thought would be fun. And according to your reaction, I was right. It was fun.”

“For you.”

“Exactly.” He looped his arm around hers as he made himself comfortable next to her. Butterscotch had appeared by them with a tray of sweets.

“Sorry everypony, I got what I could, but some of these ponies are just being rude.” He grabbed a whole cupcake and shoved it in his mouth and swallowed in one go. “And I’ve just been so hungry all day, I just couldn’t help eating most of it!” He lowered his head, “I-I’m sorry… I d-didn’t mean to…”

Twilight waved a hand, “don’t worry Butterscotch, maybe your body just needs more nourishment then everypony else.”

Butterscotch took a breath of relief, “thank goodness! I had thought I had done something wrong…” He giggled softly as he downed another cupcake.

Rainbow laughed, “whoa there! Leave some food for us!” She grabbed a muffin, and ate it quickly. “Hey, where’s Apple Jack?”

Butterscotch swallowed and grabbed another cupcake, “I don’t know, I saw her and Big Macintosh go to the back… Maybe something happened?” He inhaled the cupcake.

Lunar had started to watch Butterscotch closely, but he said nothing. “Well, maybe we shouldn’t go and bother them, maybe we’ll just annoy them! Or maybe they are going off to talk about fun stuff-” Rainbow turned to Pinkie.

“Pinkie, when did you get here?”

Pinkie Pie giggled, “I’ve been here silly! We got dressed together and we had a fun time cause Rarity got some soap in her eye, though that wasn’t very funny, but it kind of was, so we got dressed and I was all glue to my paper thingy and was,” she gasped and faked drooled, “cause you know, that thing is so addictive! Thanks again Twilight, but like I was saying, the candy monsters came out of the floor and told me, ‘PINKIE YOU MUST GET AN APARTMENT!’ And I was like, ‘I don’t want to get an apartment!’ And then the monsters were all like, ‘but we need you to get an apartment so you can save the Eye of Zoran from evil King Koopa and save Hyrule!’ Wait what was I talking about again?” Everyone stared at Pinkie.

“Doth thou hath ADHD?” Lunar commented as he tried to understand what exactly he heard.

Pinkie cocked her head, “no, but my TV has HD!”

“Thou does.” Lunar said as his face went devoid of emotion, the absurdity of what happened most likely snapped his brain momentarily.

In the Eastern part of the palace…

Apple Jack leaned against the wall, staring at Big Mac. “Alright. Start explaining.”

Big Mac took a deep breath and tried to make himself think clearly. “Alright. Pinkie asked me to dance well, you know she beat me and dragged me all over the floor. And then she just left me there in the middle of the floor!” Apple Jack nodded, “then, ah saw Rarity there. Ah don’t know why, but she was.”

Apple Jack clenched her fists as she listened, “Then, she asked me to dance and well, ah couldn’t say no-”

“And why couldn’t y’all say no!? HUH?” Apple Jack snapped at Big Mac, who had brought his hands up.

“I-it’s not like that! Calm down AJ!” Wrong thing to say! He thought as Apple Jacks face went red with anger.

“Calm down? Calm down!? Ah’m not the one kissing Rarity! You were!!” She stepped close to Big Mac and started to jab her finger into his chest, “who do y’all think ya are, steppin' in grounds that aren’t yours!?” She growled lowly, “Ah told you how I feel, why can’t you just step off?”

Big Mac glared at Apple Jack, making her momentarily shocked, but she resumed her angry front, “Who do ah think ah am? Ah’m you’re big brother! Ah promised all those years ago that ah’d take care of you all! And ah did! And this is the thanks ah get for all that ah sacrificed? Ah gave up almost everything else the world had tah offer, so ah could stay home and take care of you, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith!!” He stepped forward, his patience long gone, “Ah had always been there, to catch you when you fell, to buy you the things you wanted when you were younger! Ah tried mah best to keep us together after ma and pa died!!”

Apple Jack grit her teeth, her anger leaving her, “A-ah know…” She looked back up at Big Macintosh, “But ah didn’t ask for y’all to do all that! Granny Smith was able to take care of us just fine without your help!”

“Granny Smith can barely go to the bathroom by herself, much less take care of a filly and foal! If ah didn’t lie to them services, we would have been thrown in foster homes, and be sep-er-rated forever!” He punched the wall, making a hole appear. “Ah was happy t give it all up for y’all. That way, we could stay together…”

Apple Jack sighed as she wiped her face with her hand, “Ah’m sorry Big Mac… Ah don’t know why, but my emotions are getting the best of me lately…”

Big Mac smiled softly as he retracted his now bleeding hand, “it’s alright. The same thing has been happening to me…”

“Just please… Please just… just let me have Rarity? She means the world to me…” Big Mac stared then nodded, “why did ya kiss her?”

Big Mac shrugged, “ah don’t know, but I got pushed and well… ya know…” Apple Jack nodded. “Ah promise to keep mah distance. Okay?”

She smiled, “Ah’m sorry for getting so mad at you.” Big Mac waved it off. “Oh, uhh… you should get that looked at.” He nodded them turned and started to walk off, but she called him, “Big Mac… Ah’m sorry, for everything ah said. It was uncalled for…”

He just smiled and walked away.

Across the Equestrian border in Gryffin territory…

The town was blanketed in snow, being that it was located high in the mountains. The village was a moderate size, with a wall around it, many homes were made of stone and hay roofs, and the chimneys all had the warm smoke billowing out. Out in the streets, small children were in the middle of a snow ball fight.

Each child had varying shades of hair, between black and white with brown tips. They all had brown wings with either white or black tips, as to define their genders, and each one was dressed accordingly to the weather.

A female was sitting on a crate, watching the kids play, her face plastered on a sincere smile as she watched their little energetic bodies play about in the mountain snow.

She was a lean young female, her wings were thick with muscle, the tips a white color to show she was indeed a female. She had short white hair with brown tips, and a few long strands covered half of her face. She had yellow half lidded eyes with long lashes, dark tan skin from flying in the high skies so often, and wore brown trousers tied at the knees to help keep cold out. She wore a white sweater with black coat and brown fingerless gloves. On her coat back was an insignia of a wing with a claw.

“Gilda!” The children cheered as they waved to her. Gilda waved them back as their parents started to come out, to bring their children back inside for lunch.

When Gilda first left the land of Equestria, she had no idea where to go. She didn’t think she would need a place to call home, he believed that she would live life as a wanderer, so she could have no responsibilities whatsoever. But it was that attitude that made her seek companionship. She had tried to win over Rainbow Dash, so she could wander around with someone she had deemed, ‘cool’, but rainbow had declined with the statement that she wanted to stay with her friends.

At first Gilda didn’t understand this, so she just did what came to mind when she didn’t understand something. She lashed out.

It was the wrong thing to do, since she was now unwelcome in Rainbow’s eyes. She had lost a dear friend, just so she could drag her with herself to lead a lonely nomadic life. So she flew away and searched for a reason to stay, anywhere, for whatever reason. She had flown to her home country, so she could be around other Gryffins like her. She had flown through the mountain infested land and came upon town after town after town. She tried to plant roots and find friends, but with her attitude, she didn’t last long.

She was so used to living life to the extreme and always being alone, she didn’t know how to interact with others.

“Hold on! I’ll get some help!” She remembered that voice on the day she’d been flying for too long without rest. She had passed out then. When she came to, she saw she was inside a small cottage with a hot rag over her head. “Thank Grymould, you’re alright!” She had turned in the bed to see a beak pick up the rag to reveal a slightly larger Gryffin with black and brown feathers. “My name is Glenn. Nice to meet you.”

Glenn.

He was the one that found Gilda when she was unconscious and freezing on the mountain. He was curious about her and had stayed by her bedside, just talking with her and getting to know her. Unlike most Gryffins, Glenn was kind hearted and mostly shy to newcomers. But for some odd reason, he had been able to talk to her just fine. At first Gilda didn’t want anything to do with the large male, and even lashed out at him. Telling him to eat the soot in the fireplace. Surprisingly, he just shrugged it off and kept by her, still talking and at the time, annoying her.

But in a couple of weeks when she was recovering from numerous bruises and even a broken wing from her fall, he had broken through her hard cold outer shell and had managed to actually get her to actually talk to him. Even if she did insult him half the time.

But he never said anything bad back at her. He just smiled and brushed it off. “Gilda, why do you lash out at others? Are you uncomfortable with others?” Gilda had screamed his head off, telling him to mind his own Grymould damn business. He sighed and told her to get some rest and left her in the room to sleep.

The next morning, when he came back with breakfast, she did something she had never done before.

She apologized.

“I’m… I’m sorry for yelling at you. Yelling and screaming and even hitting you with that chamber pot.” Glenn had smiled and had her continue with what she was saying. “I just don’t know how to act with others. I have been along for a very long time.”

He just smiled and nodded, as if he knew where exactly she came from. “I see. Do you have any family?” Gilda shook her head, “I see. If it is alright with you, when you get better of course. If it is alright, I can help you find your own place and find you a job here in the village.” Gilda had stared him down, not believing that he would do something like that for her. “I’m always willing to help another when they’re in trouble.”

And that’s what happened. Gilda had gotten better and Glenn helped find her a home, introduce her to the rest of the townsfolk and even helped her through her flying rehab. At first the rest of the townsfolk were apprehensive about Gilda, and she helped for she yelled and screamed at anyone who crossed her. Or seemed like they crossed her, to her. She had cursed out the children, emotionally insulted the older townsfolk and had even tried to run away. But Glenn had pardoned all of it and had made sure Gilda stayed.

She was trained by Glenn, to work on her social skills. He had showed her that the way she treated the others, had been very hurtful to them. He had even shown her other ways she could have avoided this predicament. He helped her by doing conversations with her and guiding her through her anger and frustration.

Then the whole body switch fiasco happened.

Glenn had changed very little. He still had the black hair with brown tips, brown wings with black tips and dressed similarly to Gilda. But his eyes, it was as if Gilda had finally noticed how clear and blue they were. They seemed to turn to a steel gray when he was disappointed or angry. Or how they would turn to a darker blue when saddened. Gilda didn’t know it, but she had loved to look at his eyes.

When they all changed and the village tailor brothers had gone on overdrive to make clothing, Gilda had made a vow. “With my new body, I can start over. I can remake myself and show others… I… I want to try again… at life…”

Glenn had applauded her, “And I’ll be right here to guide you.” He had kissed her then, just a soft small peck on the nose, but a kiss nonetheless. And for a strange reason, Gilda didn’t kick the crap out of him. She welcomed the small kiss. Not only as a sign of affection, but as a sign of forgiveness. Forgiveness for everything she has done to others.

Soon after, she apologized to the townsfolk, who accepted her apology wholeheartedly. And that was how she was accepted. Accepted into this mountain village, that was more like a family than a community.

Gilda had a home, a change of heart and found someone who accepted her. Even when she was her old horrid self…

A body plopped down next to her, “hey.”

Gilda smiled and leaned against the body. “Hi Glenn.” Glenn responded with an arm wrapping around her frame. He was just barely bigger than Gilda, who stood as the tallest, fiercest female in the village. Glenn had stood as the smallest of the males, but to Gilda, he wasn’t really that low. He was a kind sweet Gryffin and was lucky to have someone like him actually take time and life for her. He kissed the top of her head, “warm day huh?”

Their breaths were frozen as they escaped their mouths, “yeah. Warm.” He rubbed her shoulder lovingly, “Gilda, I wanted to say… How much I love you.”

Gilda smirked, “you tell me that every day.”

Glenn scratched the back of his head, “But I want to ask you something.” Gilda made a, ‘hmm?’ sound. “Have you ever thought about the future?”

Gilda shrugged, “like how far ahead?”

“Try… five years?” Gilda thought about his question. If she was the old, ‘cool obsessed’ Gilda, she would have said a rock star or still just flying around. But Gilda had grown up. She didn’t want to continue that life. She then started thinking about a real future. One that was actually serious.

“I imagine myself, older of course.” Glenn chuckled, “…I don’t know. I never thought about it.”

Glenn smiled and whispered in her ear, “What I have pictured in my mind, is me living here in the village, with my own chicks, four or five, and my wife. Just living peacefully here in the community.” He smiled, “And you are that wife.”

Gilda blushed and pushed herself up onto her clawed feet, “What?” Glenn stood and cupped his hands to his mouth.

“Attention everyone here in the village!” Villagers poked their heads out of their houses, “I would like your attention!” He turned to Gilda and smiled, “I would like to ask, Ms. Gilda,” He dropped to his knees and held out a shining heart shaped diamond, “to honor me, by being my wife!”

Villagers gasped and waited for Gilda to answer.

Gilda had no idea what was happening. Sure, she knew the custom of Gryffin marriage, the male must find and craft a diamond into a heart, and present it to the female of his choosing. If she accepted the diamond, the diamond will change shade into a color signifying their love and they eat it at a later date when it is ripe to seal the deal. Gilda had admired the shining gemstone as it sparkled in his hand. It was perfectly cut. Gilda took a deep breath and said, “I will.”

The diamond shined and a small strand came from their hearts, signifying their personalities, Gilda’s a bright fiery red, and Glenn’s a deep cal blue. They clashed into the gem and made a brilliant violet color, while the villagers cheered for them.

Glenn had stood and hugged Gilda tightly, kissing her deeply on the lips. “Oh Gilda! I’m so happy! I’m going o invite my whole family for the ceremony when the diamond ripens!” Gilda hugged him back as villagers gathered around to give them their congratulations. Glenn had whispered, “Who do you want me to invite?”

Gilda sighed, “I had friends, but they hate me now.” She whispered as the villagers clapped.

Glenn kissed her, “no one can truly hate anyone. Just try and see if you can reconcile. Anything is possible when you set your mind to it.”

She just smiled at Glenn as she hugged him. I don’t know if I can…
DONE!!
Wow, this chapter was a toughie. Nothing else to say except, read, rate, subscribe, favorite and REVIEW!
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