Rainbow Dash stood underneath the shade of a fluffy tree, doing squats, her talons digging into the grass under her feet and her nose taking in the smell of the brackish water nearby.

She tried to focus on the exercise though; the repetitive motion always helped the harpy keep her head screwed on straight. The Second Circle of the Underworld was a violent place, and that made keeping a steady and clear mind super important, especially on the eve of a major battle.

Though she had to admit, a pair of rough clawed hands suddenly clasping her chest got a yelp out of her and disrupted her concentration.

“’sup dweeb?” Gilda whispered into Rainbow’s ear, standing Rainbow up and moving her claws down to Rainbow’s stomach, which was left bare thanks to Rainbow’s light clothing.

“Gilda, please,” Rainbow tried to protest but she couldn’t do it with a straight face; Gilda’s claws against her skin just felt too good. “I’m trying to focus before the battle.”

“The only thing you should be focusing on,” Gilda turned Rainbow around and tilted her chin up, forcing her to look into the fiery eyes of her quetzalcoatl partner who was a good head and a half taller than her, “is me.”

“Geez, you’re so pushy,” Rainbow laughed and pushed herself off of Gilda, jumping into the air and hovering over the quetzal. “Shouldn’t you be focused on the battle too?”

“Dude, I’m focused as hell,” Gilda scoffed and grabbed Rainbow’s foot talon, yanking the harpy back down from the air and into Gilda’s huge muscular arms, Rainbow moaning as her body was pressed up against Gilda’s colorful feathers and her skintight leather suit, the quetzal’s slithery snake tail wrapping around Rainbow’s leg.

“Going into battle always gets me riled up,” Gilda paused to lay a kiss on Rainbow’s lips, and Rainbow couldn’t help melting into her partner’s embrace, “and you’re my wingmare. If I say it’s time to make out, you gotta roll with it.”

“Gawd, you sure are lucky that you’re hot,” Rainbow wrapped her winged arms around Gilda’s shoulders and waited patiently with a gleam in her eye for Gilda to kiss her again.

“You’re lucky that I’m hot,” Gilda gave a single chuckle before locking lips with Rainbow, pushing her up against the tree and pinning her to it, just ravishing Rainbow’s lips and tongue with hot, passionate kisses.

“Look alive, you two!”

The gruff, raspy voice of the pair’s commanding officer, a phoenix called Spitfire, broke them from their make out session, Gilda groaning in irritation at the interruption.

“Quit sucking each other off,” Spitfire clapped her hands as she flew into view and touched the ground, “we got a job to do.”

“Don’t worry, boss,” Gilda chuckled, “we hadn't gotten to the sucking each other off part yet.”

“You never suck me off,” Rainbow grumbled, Gilda putting her arm around Rainbow and holding her in a headlock.

“That’s cuz you’re a little bottom bitch!”

Spitfire cleared her throat, and the two women snapped to attention, or at least Gilda’s passive-aggressive equivalent to attention. They both knew Spitfire wasn’t going to ask for their attention again.

“Listen up!” Spitfire clapped her hands again for emphasis. “We’ve got a big job to do! Our enemy the Family of Whispers is occupying a nearby town. They’ve brought their secret weapon with them, and are using it to hypnotize the townsfolk into joining their ranks.”

“Secret weapon?” Rainbow bit into a talon on her finger. She’d heard rumors of this, but she didn’t know if they were true or just general wartime paranoia.

“A siren,” Spitfire said, confirming Rainbow’s fears. “A powerful one too. Our intel says she can and has hypnotized entire towns, which looks to be what they’re planning on doing here. Our job is to stop that from happening, and to capture the siren if at all possible.”

“Or kill her,” Gilda laughed.

“Only as a last resort,” Spitfire said sternly, glaring at Gilda until she affected a semi-serious expression. “Our commander wants the Lightning Knights to be as strong as possible, and having the power of that siren on our side would be a major way to turn the tides of this war in our favor. Killing her would be a waste of an invaluable resource.”

“So basically,” Rainbow said coldly, “the siren’s life is worth more than ours.”

“Yes,” Spitfire responded without hesitation, and she began pacing back and forth in front of Rainbow and Gilda. “We’re soldiers, our lives mean nothing except in how they can be used to further the Lightning Knights’ campaign. It’s only by mere chance that our company is being tasked with an objective this important. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

“Luckily for us, our commander has seen fit to give us a secret weapon of our own. I’ll be returning with her shortly, and I expect you two to be ready to move as soon as I get back.”

“Yes ma’am!” Rainbow and Gilda responded in unison with a salute, Spitfire nodding her approval and taking off into the air.

“Hey, Dash,” Gilda said.

“Yeah?” Rainbow replied curiously.

“While Spitfire was pacing back and forth just now,” Gilda grinned at Rainbow, who still wasn’t quite sure what Gilda was getting at, “were you checking out her ass?”

“WHAT!?” Rainbow jumped, feathers flying as she flailed her winged arms all around her, her face burning up at Gilda’s suggestion. “N-no! I wasn’t!”

“That right?” Gilda arched an eyebrow, and Rainbow shrunk into herself.

“Okay,” Rainbow admitted quietly, “maybe a little.”

“Ha! That’s the spirit!” Gilda laughed and grabbed Rainbow into a headlock, ruffling her mane. “I swear one of my biggest motivators for climbing up the ranks of this two-bit organization is so I can be higher up on the food chain and I can finally get my paws on that fat ass of hers!”

“Gilda!” Rainbow croaked, her voice cracking a little. “You can’t just say stuff like that!”

“Oh, like you weren’t thinking it,” Gilda scoffed, clapping Rainbow on the shoulder. “And if we can get our hands on that siren, we might be able to launch ourselves up the food chain faster than I thought. Especially with both that and the commander’s ‘secret weapon’.”

“You know Spitfire’s just gonna make us hand ‘em both over to the boss,” Rainbow sighed dismally.

“She can try,” Gilda grinned ear to ear, and Rainbow couldn’t deny that Gilda’s confidence was kinda extremely hot. “But if we have two secret weapons and she has zero, what’s she gonna do?”

As Spitfire came back into view up in the air, Gilda clammed up, leaving Rainbow to think about what she was proposing for a sec. She was basically talking about climbing up the ranks of the Lightning Knights by force, which didn’t seem like a great idea.

But she kinda had a point; if Gilda and Rainbow could get ahold of both ‘secret weapons’, it’d be an opportunity that probably wouldn’t ever come around again.

As Spitfire touched the ground, Rainbow’s eyes widened; she didn’t know what to expect from the ‘secret weapon’, but she sure wasn’t expecting a girl as cute as the one Spitfire was carrying in her arms.

The girl hopped out of Spitfire’s grasp and dusted herself off, letting Rainbow get a good look at her; she was a poppet, a living doll. Her pupils were shaped like little buttons, and she wore a ratty torn-up dress that didn’t even fit her.

She was big and plump, and her fur and hair were both bright pink, her mane especially was fluffy and curly as heck, though completely untamed like a garden full of weeds, but it still gave Rainbow big cotton candy vibes. Her smile was her most notable feature; Rainbow swore when she smiled it actually like literally lit up the area.

“This is our secret weapon?” Gilda let out a single dismissive laugh, grabbing the doll girl by her shoulders and throwing her up against the nearby tree, pinning her to it. Rainbow was concerned for a sec, but the girl didn’t seem to mind.

“That’s right!” the girl beamed.

“Well damn,” Gilda licked her beak, “she’s cute if nothing else.”

“Watch it, Gilda,” Spitfire scolded. “Pinkie Pie here belongs to the commander.”

“All the more reason I should get to know her,” Gilda said smoothly, scritching her claw under Pinkie Pie’s chin. “She’s gonna be mine someday.”

“So Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow interjected before Spitfire had a chance to come down on Gilda for her comments. “How’re you gonna help us beat the Family?”

“I’m gonna make you laugh!” Pinkie said with a beaming smile.

“Really?” Gilda groaned, her voice dripping with contempt. “That’s our secret weapon?”

“Just wait, Gilda,” Spitfire said sternly. “Let Pinkie Pie work her magic.”

“You seem a little uptight,” Pinkie said sweetly, zipping behind Gilda faster than Rainbow could even blink, “but that’s okay! I know how to lighten you up! Tickle time!”

“Wait wh—” Gilda’s question was cut off by her laughter as Pinkie ran her fingers over Gilda’s side and tickled her. “Wh— st-stop that!”

“Okay!” Pinkie stopped immediately, and Gilda put her hand against the tree and wheezed. “Green light!”

Pinkie went back to tickling Gilda, the griffon collapsing to the floor in a fit of laughter that made Rainbow cackle despite her attempts not to; it was just so silly seeing her partner who was normally so gruff and aggressive and in control be reduced to a giggly mess on the floor.

“I’m really glad that got you guys going!” Pinkie giggled and bounced behind Rainbow, who was again barely able to keep track of Pinkie’s movements. “I was afraid I was gonna have to resort to-” Pinkie gasped dramatically “-updog.”

“What’s updog?” Rainbow asked concernedly.

“Not much, dog! What’s up with you!” Pinkie beamed ear to ear and laughed hysterically, and as much as Rainbow tried to keep herself composed, she couldn’t help laughing; she walked right into that one!

Rainbow felt her heart swimming with affection for Pinkie Pie; she was just too cute, and she seemed really chill on top of that. More than that though, Rainbow felt her body welling with some serious magical power. Spitfire was right, Pinkie making Rainbow laugh really was making her stronger!

“Woah! Gilda do you feel that?” Rainbow asked as Gilda got up off the ground and brushed herself off, and Gilda’s grin was as good an answer as any.

“I sure do,” Gilda sneered. “Now let’s get in there and crush some skulls.”

Spitfire nodded her approval and the three soldiers took off for the battlefield, but Rainbow stopped short and doubled back for a sec.

“Hey, Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow said, Pinkie turning her attention to Rainbow and cocking her head. “Sorry, about Gilda. She’s a little, uhh, much, at times. Sorry if she made you uncomfortable. And sorry for Spitfire too, you don’t ‘belong’ to anyone. Anyway, thanks for taking care of us! If we win this battle, it’ll probably be like all thanks to you! So thanks a million!”

“Uh, w-wow, yeah no problem!” Pinkie beamed, and her smile seemed even brighter than before somehow; it was really cool to see.

“And hey, after the battle,” Rainbow bit her lip and fidgeted, but she was on the clock so there was no time for her to get nervous, “you wanna chat it up a bit? I’d love to get to know you better! You seem cool as heck!”

“I-I’d love to!” Pinkie cheered, clasping her hands together.

“Awesome! It’s a date then!” Rainbow grinned and pumped her fist.

“Rainbow Dash!” Spitfire barked. “Let’s move!”

“Right! I’m on my way!” Rainbow called out, before turning back to Pinkie and waving goodbye. “Catch ya later, Pinkie Pie!”

“Yeah,” Pinkie said softly, “catch ya later.”

gildash is a ship i literally never considered before writing this fic, and now i'm like lowkey obsessed with it lmao

also, i was today years old when i realized a quetzal (a type of bird that exists in real life) and a quetzalcoatl (a mythical snake creature associated with lightning and rainbows) are two different things, so i combined 'em together to make gilda here

anyhoo, this is the third and final plotline of this fic; we'll basically be seeing a wee bit of each storyline every week until the three inevitably start converging :3c

If you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know by leaving a comment! I absolutely adore reading them!
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!