Gilda entered the annihilated husk of a town that was once Ponyville. Buildings were utterly wrecked and not a single pony could be seen anywhere, but there were figures walking around in the wasted homes.

Dogs. Mongrels wearing flashy jeweled collars scurried in and out of the wreckage of the Ponyville huts and buildings, carrying anything they find valuable out and to one particular location; the only last standing structure: the tree-built library at the edge of town.

Gilda made her way to the library, seeing all the dogs crowd to enter through the small door, which was clearly not built for their bodies. Looking around for another way in, Gilda took notice to an open window on the second level of the tree. She hovered up to it and entered, hearing voracious laughter from the floor below.

"A past forgotten, and a confusing present. How will you respond to your future descent?"

Gilda whipped around, her eyes meeting a figure in a brown cloak with visible stripes on its coat.

"...You're the zebra from Everfree."

"Your friend has paid a hefty sum...in this future yet to come."

"What the hay are you talking about, zebra?"

The zebra, seeming much more real than the previous spirits, pointed down the stairs. Gilda slowly descended the steps, looking on the first floor, littered with pony belongings and treasures. In the middle of the room, reveling in their latest retrieval, were three dogs standing before a massive armored hound.

"We got a good haul this time, Boss Grey!" exclaimed one dog.

"We found pretty shinies in the old mule's place!" added another.

"We never go hungry with what was left in bake shop!"

"Quiet," boomed the large hound. The three smaller dogs stepped back, whimpering in fear.

"...This is a...decent yield. I expected much more from the three of you, but I suppose, with all the other scavengers out there, this is a rather successful collection."

"What's going on here, zeb-, er...Zecora, right?" Gilda inquired, looking around for anything among the piles of things she might have recognized.

Zecora nodded to acknowledge the gryphon's question, then went on to speak. "The Diamond Dogs attacked Ponyville. It was not very hard to bend the ponies to their will."

"Then where are all the ponies?"

"Worked to the bone and pushed to their deaths, the dogs forced the ponies to draw their last breaths."

Her gaze cast all around the room at familiar objects...party balloons, books of magic, fabrics and sewing materials, gemstones, elegant dresses and more. Gilda's eyes became fixated on a familiar article of clothing: a Wonderbolt jacket. Her thoughts turned immediately to Rainbow Dash.

"What about Dash? There's no way she'd have given up without a fight."

"Rainbow Dash did fight, to the bitter end. She could not go on, however, without her best friend. Without you, she lost the will to go on, and did fall...and the dogs made her a trophy..."

Zecora pointed to an area at the corner of the room, and right there, surrounded by books, was Rainbow Dash, petrified in gemstone.

"Wings and all."

Gilda looked at her crystallized friend in horror, unable to form any words at all. 'It can't be possible,' she thought. "She died...because of me? That's just...that's...'

She wanted to think 'stupid' but the word wouldn't produce itself in her thoughts. She knew, somehow, just what all this meant. She had a feeling that her vicious and rash behavior caused all this, and that she wanted to make it right, but she had to know one more thing before she returned to the waking world. She just had to.

"Zecora, I wanna ask you...what's my fate in all this? Ponyville has suffered, but where am I?"

"Keep watching, gryphon, for the future will show that of all ways to die, one is the worst way to go."

Gilda observed the dogs' raving and dancing, taking Zecora's words into consideration.

"Once Ponyville has been cleaned out, we'll seal this library and make our way out to Canterlot, where the grand finale will occur. We will strike down the alicorns and claim the throne for ourselves!"

The peon dogs cheered and applauded for their boss, dancing wildly.

"Boss Grey! Does this mean we can eat now?" inquired one dog, licking his lips hungrily.

"I suppose we could," replied Grey. "After all, I'm rather curious as to how my drink will taste if drunk from the maw of the very beast we feast upon tonight."

Grey reached back into a satchel placed behind him. He dug around in it, searching for the object he identified as the 'maw of the beast'. He finally gripped something within the bag, pulling it forward, leaving Gilda staring in pure terror at the familiar yellow curved object.

It was her beak. She knew it was. There was no mistaking it. The 'beast' they spoke of was her.

"No...no, this can't be..."

Two of the dogs excitedly rushed into the other room, carefully carrying back a large bird-like figure on a silver tray. It was perfectly prepared for a feast of kings: the creature's eyes, beak and talons removed and its feathers plucked, cooked well done and glazed. Gilda quickly covered her beak with two claws, trying not to puke at the sight of a Gilda dinner.

"Please," she begged, the plea slightly muffled by her claws. "Please tell me this doesn't have to happen."

Zecora remained silent.

"This can change, can't it? I mean, this is only because I've been such a horrible friend, right? This will change if I do, won't it?"

The voracious dogs immediately dug in, clawing and biting at the cooked gryphon. Gilda could feel every slash, bite and chew the mongrels made at the delectable corpse. She collapsed under the weight of the wounds and curled up into a ball, silently crying and begging again.

"P-please," she stuttered, hugging her knees into her chest. "I'll change...I'll be kind and giving...I'll be a good friend..."

The merciless mutts tore their dinner apart, not leaving any part of their meal behind, greedily gnawing on the bird's wings and body, Gilda pulling in tighter. Her crying grew heavier as the pain-induced tears rolled down her face to the wooden floor of the library.

"I won't let anything like this happen again, and I'll show Dash and her friends respect...! Please!"

Zecora began fading away into the shadows. Gilda wanted to reach out for her, but the pain she felt was far too intense and would not allow her to move.

"Spirit, speak to me! Say something! Anything! I beg of you!"

The ethereal zebra faded away, and Gilda was left alone to endure the suffering. With a massive chomp, Grey devoured the bird's head in a single gulp, and for Gilda, everything went black.

"Please..."