~Sweetie Belle~

It’s been a few days now since the newest nightmare had attacked, and Tinker’s been working extra hard to help me with the weapons issue. By now he’s analyzed all of what I had, and put blocks on them in my programming. He’s left the ones I used at the boutique unlocked since I still needed some way to defend myself, and taught me how they worked. As Rarity was away, dealing with her Dark Magic license, it was up to the others in town to watch over me, and it was Tinker and Summer who took that job seriously. Both of them gave me their full attention when I was around them, Summer listening when I talked about Diamond Tiara, and Tinker helping with my weapons and fears about them.

I came across Soul a few times during those few days, though he always seemed hesitant about something. Seeing him reminded me of Spec, which reminded me of that time when Summer had interrupted my dream to shout about shipping us. It really annoyed me, but not enough to make me want to delete it. Not that I would, I still wanted to remember Spec. But that Shipping remark…

Ignoring the matter for now, I sighed as I looked from Soul to Summer. “Why again did you just pop into my dream to shout about shipping?” I asked. She blinked, but realized what I meant quickly enough.

“Oh, because that moment you and Spec shared was just too cute. Why bring it up now though?” She asked. I pointed at Soul.

“Every time I see him, I’m reminded of that moment.” I told her. Soul’s eyes slightly widened and he recoiled a bit.

“What? Why? How do I have anything to do with it?” He asked.

“Because you’re Spec’s brother.” I said, a little confused about the panicked reaction. Summer seemed to be a bit annoyed that he was hiding something though, and rolled her eyes. She didn’t say anything though.

“Oh… right. The obvious, got it.” Soul said, before hesitating for a moment, just like he always does. This time however… “Sweetie… there is something about Spec that… you should know, as her friend. It’s… did you know why she calls herself Spec instead of for example Ember, even if that is more straightforward?” He said, but for a moment it looked like he wanted to say something else.

I tilted my head slightly, curious and confused. “No…?”

“She can get a bit philosophical from time to time, she started doing it after she came to understand she’s only a ‘speck of dust in the grand scheme of the universe’. A bit strange, but she was never really normal to begin with.” Soul explained.

“Oh. That’s kind of cool.” I said, though now I was curious about what he’d really wanted to say. Summer rolled her eyes and started to leave.

“Ah, you know what? I’m gonna go see how RED’s doing. You two go ahead and talk all you like.” she said as she left. Then she went on to mutter to herself, and I overheard something about expecting a “good game of angry birds” soon.

~Summer~

At first as I left I hesitated just outside the entrance, hoping maybe the lack of my presence would help Soul say the thing I could tell he wanted to tell Sweetie, but it was for naught. Sighing, moved on, heading outside.

As I headed towards the restaurant, I came across Mercy, who appeared to be carrying home some groceries. I could smell mangoes though, and saw a number of other thestrals following Mercy with hungry looks. One of them was even drooling, moaning the word Mangoes like a zombie. I couldn’t help but chuckle as I watched, but then I heard Fluttershy squeak in fear. Turning, I saw a certain gryphon intimidating her.

“Wow. That was sooner than I expected.” I muttered as I altered my course. As I drew closer though, Gilda froze up. I stopped, curious as to what had gotten her attention. I saw Gilda looking around, sniffing for something, before suddenly her head snapped in my direction, and she was glaring with murderous rage at me.

“Summer, get away right now! She’ll kill you!” I heard Bonbon scream in my head. I felt my magic flow on its own then though, charging up a quick teleport. I was too surprised to stop it, and before I could blink, I was down in Bonbon’s training facility with her looking rather relieved.

“Thank you, Shin…” Bonbon said over the hivemind. “OKay, evidently you know nothing about Gryphons. You just set that one into a mindless bloodthirsty hunt. At least Degroot’s usually too drunk to be set off by your presence, but that gryphon’s young and sharp.” Bonbon said out loud before holding something out to me. It looked like a perfume bottle, but the brand name confused me. “Darkling’s Anti-rage” claimed to be capable of allowing changelings or Darks to befriend gryphons.

“Gryphons are extremely sensitive to both changelings and Darks. Since you’re both, the gryphon is going to try and hunt you down and kill you. This should hide your scent, at least for now. But like I said, she’s young, and sharp. She might see through it, which is why I’m staying here.” she said as I took it.

“Huh. Never thought I’d be putting on Perfume.” I muttered as I applied it. I nearly gagged as I smelled it. It smelled like last year’s salad, topped with a month old, uncooked steak! “That isn’t perfume…”

“You’ll get used to it. For now, you need to get back out there and find Soul. He still doesn’t know the Gryphon’s hunting.” Bonbon said, opening an elevator I hadn’t seen before.

“Oh, shit.” I muttered, remembering Sweetie was with him. I rushed onto the elevator and pushed the button that would send me up. I waited for what felt like way too long for the doors to open again, switching to another disguise as I did. My new one was a green pegasus I’d once designed to be Summer’s Sister in my stories. I flew as fast as I could once I was out, going straight back to RED’s workshop. However, neither of them were there. I panicked as I started flying around, looking for the two. I was in such a panic I forgot I could use Eclipse to find Soul, but thankfully after a while, I remembered.

Eclipse pointed me to Sugarcube Corner, where a party was being put together. I groaned, hurrying down there. “Soul!” I shouted as I entered the bakery.

“Yeah?” Soul asked while concentrating on hanging decorations with his magic, acting as if nothing was wrong, not even looking at me.

“Gilda’s in town. Haven’t you heard of what Gryphons do about Darks and Changelings?” I asked, hinting at the danger.

“Er… I do? Wait… is that you Summer? Oh! Let me guess, you didn’t know, and it was you she was looking for, running all around the town?” He asked and started snickering. I rolled my eyes and nodded.

“Yeah. But the point is, she could just as well attack you too. This is her party after all, and with you here… she may just go insane.” I warned. He just looked at me with unamused expression and did his shadow trick to pull out a bottle of Darkling’s Anti-rage.

“You were saying?” He said. I rolled my eyes.

“I doubt it works perfectly. Nothing ever does. Besides, you’re a pretty strong Dark, so it’s possible that she could see through it. There’s a reason Bonbon’s taking refuge in her training room.”

“Fine.” Soul sighed and applied a heavy dose of the smelly substance. “It takes a few moments before a gryphon locks on target, if I see her sniffing in that specific manner, I blink out before she can see me. Sounds good?” He said before hiding the bottle.

“Yeah, it works for now.” I said begrudgingly. “Now, I’m getting out of here before she-” I was cut off as a certain gryphon came in and everypony shouted surprise at once. “...Fuck.”

“At least calm down a little, G. It’s a party, nothing’s gonna attack you here.” Dash was reprimanding Gilda as she came in with her. Gilda’s eye twitched.

“This surprise nearly gave me a heart attack!” she shouted back, making it clear she wasn’t amused. Dash rolled her eyes.

“If I had a bit for every time somepony said that… Yeah, I know. Pinkie really needs to manage her surprises better.” Dash said, giving Pinkie a pointed look. “But you’ll be fine.”

“Whatever… ugh, I just can’t get the smell of Darkness out of my nose…” Gilda complained, before looking around. Her gaze lingered on me for a moment, but moved on. “Stupid dark changeling…”

“It’s not her fault she triggered you. She didn’t know about the Dark Rage thing. Really wish I’d said something before now.” Rainbow lamented.

“How can a pony not know about the Dark Rage? What, does she live under a rock or something?” Glida asked, irritated.

“No, she’s an alien from another dimension.” Rainbow seriously replied. I facehoofed. “One where there’s apparently only one sentient race.” I double facehoofed. The smacks coming from next to me signaled that Soul apparently shared my opinions on the matter. Gilda stared at Rainbow like she was insane.

“Dash, you must be going crazy.” She stated. “Where’s the brain-sucking remark that goes with a statement like that?”

“G, that’s zombies, not aliens. Besides, she’s not that kind of alien. She doesn’t even stick probes up ponies’ butts.” Dash corrected. I groaned.

“Oh shut up already!” I shouted. Gilda turned to me in surprise.

“Summer? That you?” Dash asked. “Oh, sorry…wait, what’s the name of that disguise?” Gilda seemed agitated at finding out I was here.

“Emerald Symphony. Supposed to be Summer’s sister in my stories.” I replied shortly.

“Alright. Hey, G, how about a bit of punch? Might wanna cool off before you do something you’ll regret.” Dash suggested.

“...Sure, Dash… would hate to hurt anyone…” Gilda said through clenched teeth. She kept her eyes on me, though she glanced at Pinkie with a hateful glare once. When she drank some of the punch though…

“Oh, shit! WHY IS THIS SO PLUCKING HOT?!” she squawked with a bit of fire shooting from her mouth. Dash rolled over in laughter. I however, stared grimly. I couldn’t let this continue… at the rate I knew it would go, Gilda would kill someone. I then switched my disguise back to Summer and channeled a very weak ice spell into my horn and aimed at her mouth. The slight sizzling sound of fire getting put out assured me my aim wasn’t off, and I had pulled a successful rescue.

“Oh wow… thanks, uh…” Gilda paused as she saw me. “Oh. It’s you.” I smiled sheepishly.

“Girls! No fighting during the party. You are both better than that.” Soul said as he walked between us.

“I didn’t plan to. I was actually hoping to purge this party of what pranks there are, since Gilda’s clearly pissed just being here. I don’t want a Nightmare to possess her.” I said, looking at Dash. Dash blinked in surprise.

“Wait, say what?” Dash asked, surprised about that little fact.

“Wait, you did the prank?” Gilda asked Dash, surprised enough that she slammed her talons down on the table nearby. But it accidentally sent the Punch bowl flying, sending its contents all over herself and Soul.

“Aw, be careful a bit, would you?” Soul said as he got over the shock of being suddenly drenched in punch and started wiping it off with some nearby paper towels. “...Wait...” He suddenly went wide eyed and slowly turned his head to Gilda. Said gryphon’s eyes were bearing into him with a primal rage that I could personally tell was half genuine. There was glee in there too, like she just got an excuse to maim a pony. Then, she roared, leaping at him. He barely managed to slam his body to the ground, belly pressed against the floor, as Gilda flew over him, but managed to inflicted deep scratches on his back as she was passing. Gilda was quick to turn back around and strike out again, but this time, I was already moving, and I got in the way. Her claws made extremely agitating metal scratching noises against me thanks to my metal chitten when I dropped my disguise. There I stood in Soldier form.

“What the pluck?! Metal…?!” Gilda shouted, revealing her control. Dash noticed as well, but of greater shock was that Gilda was actually at least somewhat in control.

“You… you were faking?!” Soul asked with a slightly pained voice as he turned to face her. Gilda narrowed her eyes in hate.

“Gryphons were built for dealing with your kind… why fight nature for some shitty little treehugger’s dream? I’m going to rip you apart.” Gilda said with clear rage.

“Not if I have anything to say about it. Gilda, if you chose to fight… you will die.” I warned.

“He he, you think you are something Gilda? I have faced something before, and trust me. You ain’t nothing!” Soul declared, his posture shifting to a readied stance. Gilda hesitated for a moment, long enough for other ponies to join our side. Twilight, AJ, Pinkie, and even Fluttershy joined us for a staredown. Sweetie Belle stepped up too, aiming her hoof at her.

Dash joined our side with a glare to match all glares. “It’s almost hard to believe you’ve been abusing my trust all this time… Almost. I’ve seen it from day one, but I just… I chose not to believe it. I guess what they say is true, but I never expected you to be a killer. Get out. I never want to see you again.” Rainbow said. Gilda was taken aback… but hardly showed any remorse. She glared at Soul and me for a few moments, hesitating as she weighed her options.

“So, what’s it gonna be, Gilda? Get Dunked, or live?” I asked.

“This isn’t over, you stupid Darks… I’ll be back.” she said before leaving. With her gone, we began addressing more immediate concerns, like Soul’s wounds.

“You alright, Soul?” I asked.

“It’s just a scratch, I went through worse.” Soul waved off my concerns. I sighed in relief.

“Alright then. So Summer, what’s with the metal?” Dash asked. I shrugged.

“Got it from Nightimatronic. Part of the defense boost it gave me.” I answered. Though Shin wasn’t really a big fan of the new shell in bed so I’ve had to keep it disabled for a while.

“Hey Dash…” I heard AJ say. The two then started quietly whispering to each other, though I got the gist of their argument about why Soul’s stance had looked so familiar.

“Sweetie, would you be so kind as to go with me, away from the crowds? There is something you should know.” Soul said with the air of determination, guess this encounter was the push he needed to finally say what he wanted. Sweetie looked about ready to break down after that whole ordeal, but hearing Soul, she perked up a bit.

“Y-y-y-yeah.” her voice glitched a bit. They slowly walked for a fair bit, Soul probably giving Sweetie time to collect herself. I was silently following behind them, curious what he has to say, after they were some distance away from the party they stopped and Soul started talking.

“Sweetie, what I’m about to tell you must stay secret for now, promise me you won’t tell anyone until either me or Spec say that you can.” He said, sounding serious. Sweetie nodded with just as much seriousness.

Amazing… and all it took in the end was an attempt on his life. Maybe we should try that more often? Nightmare suggested jokingly, knowing I’d refuse. I rolled my eyes.

Soul then leaned over to Sweetie and whispered something to her ear, but I was too far away to hear. He then put up a silencing barrier when he was done and sat back up normally. Predictably, Sweetie exclaimed something in shock, and disbelief before leaping forth and hugging him, which he carefully returned with a small smile.

I smiled, before heading back into the cafe where Pinkie was organizing a second party. One to celebrate truth saving Dash from a bad friendship. I leaned against the wall just outside of the room they’d gone to, getting once again into my favored disguise and waiting for them.

Few minutes later I saw Soul and Sweetie returning, Soul’s wounds were already bandaged. He must have done that after I left.

“Finally told someone? I’m glad.” I said when they came in. Sweetie flinched a bit in surprise.

“Wait, she knows too?” Sweetie asked.

“I didn’t tell her, but she is rather smart after all… well, smart when it is convenient for her.” Soul explained.

“I was just lucky enough to catch hints and crazy enough to get it right.” I said shrugging it off. With that, I got off the wall and started heading off to Pinkie. “Still… good on you for not letting someone else find out first.” I said as I left. Soul called after me something that surprised me.

“I’m not going to be keeping this one for much longer… it’s just not worth it.” I smiled, happy he was letting this one go.

~Gilda~

It was infuriating, having to run from those ponies with my tail between my legs like a damn coward. If it weren’t for the fact that those stupid ponies got in the way, those two Darks would be as good as dead. Especially that changeling. They’re all idiots to trust that thing.

“Idiot. Do you really think you can stand up to them alone? You’re far too weak." a voice interrupted my thoughts. It sounded like an evil me. I looked around to try and find out where it was coming from, but I didn’t see anyone. “Hah! You really are an idiot, huh? Can’t even figure out when a voice is in your head or not." the voice taunted.

“Hey knock it off. I’m busy trying to be sane after facing a bunch of insane ponies. How they can stand being even close to them is a wonder in itself. Don’t they see they’re just being used?” I argued.

“You mean like you used Dash? One might ask if you are any better.” The voice shot back. I hesitated.

“I… I admit, maybe what I did to her wasn’t the best thing…” I said.

“Don’t worry. All can be forgiven, if you just kill the Darks. Show them how wrong they are. Prove you’ve been right all along. Ponies are weak and stupid, they don’t even know what’s best for them, but you can show them. Just accept my power…" the voice said.

“Of course… I need to go back, and stop those idiots from making a bigger mistake.” I agreed. As I get flooded with power, I heard the voice laughing maniacally.

“Good… Now everyone that fucked with you is going to know just how bad they fucked up. We can start with the bitch that betrayed you… Rainbow Crash.” The power flooding into me started turning painful as I realized just what I’d gotten into. The power of Darkness suddenly made itself very clear as it flooded into me.

“Wh-what?! NO! She doesn’t know what she’s doing, leave her outta this!” I protested. However, I suddenly felt myself laughing.

“I’m sorry… in what part of the deal did I say you would be in control?” It spoke using my mouth. I screamed in silent, unheard horror as my body started changing, bones ripping from flesh and reshaping into something entirely… new. What have I done?