A couple quick notes.

1. I forget to mention this last chapter, but the character Firefly came from a conversation me and my friend, Ryuzaki, had regarding her collection of MLP swag.

2. Yes, that is real German Josh and MuffinTop were speaking.
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Within an hour, everyone had gathered into the Apple family's front room. The story of what Rainbow Dash and Applejack had just seen on the news report had quickly been relayed to the crowd and the reactions were mixed from horrified to shocked to hysterically sobbing.

"My friend...", Fluttershy sobbed, being held by a Meowth who was noticeably struggling to hold back his tears, "My friend's dead!!"

"From a fire to electrocution...", Twilight Sparkle whispered to herself, "Death wanted him and death got him..."

But not one of their reactions could rival that of Rainbow Dash. She hadn't said a word the whole time, the silence from the normally-energetic pegasus beyond unnerving. She just sat there, clenching Josh's jacket in her hooves, staring at the black TV screen. Even Pinkie Pie was scared to say anything to her.

"Rainbow Dash...", Granny Smith quivered, "Honey are you ok?"

"Dashie...", Pinkie Pie added, "Please say something...."

"Dash...", Meowth sniffled as he comforted Fluttershy, "Please..."

Finally, her voice returned to her and she bellowed into the sky, her voice panged with a feeling of despair she had never felt before

"CHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAGGGGGGGNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

She screamed louder than she ever had before, letting out scream after scream, each one ringing out with a mix of terror and grief at watching her lover die on national TV. He had given his life trying to defend her...

No matter how tightly everyone covered their ears, they couldn't deafen the agonized screams of their friend, each one piercing straight through to their hearts.

Her screams didn't stop until her tears finally began to flow down her cheeks as the sobs began to erupt. Applejack and Twilight Sparkle just held her close as she let out each quaking cry. They had never seen her so miserable, but Applejack in particular knew neither she or Dash would ever be able to erase that sight from their minds.

"Just let them out...", Twilight cooed, patting her back.

"We'll get him back...", Applejack reassured her, "We'll make sure he pays not just at the contest... but we'll make sure he pays for what he did..."

"How!?", Dash quavered, "How do we stop something so....... so WICKED....... I'm not strong enough for that!!!"

It was then the odd sound of the phone ringing broke through the air and Granny Smith nodded to Big MacIntosh to get it, the colt trotting into the kitchen.

"Don't SAY that, Dash!", Rarity yelled, "We'll make sure that... that... that JERK is put away for this!"

"How??", Dash gasped in between her cries, "You saw what he's capable of.... Even I can't top that!"

It was the first time any of them had heard Rainbow Dash give any hint that she wasn't the alpha pony of the group and it frankly was an unsettling sight.

"Dashie, you can beat him!!", Pinkie Pie coaxed to the pegasus.

"WE can beat him!", Applejack grinned to her.

With a sniffle and a choked sob, Rainbow Dash turned towards the cowpony. The look on her face was haunting to say the least. The normally confident look of the cyan pegasus was replaced now with one of utter fear. Flashes were starting to run through her mind...

Flashes of being trapped in that canyon during the pet tryouts...

Flashes of Discord taking her wings and using her mind to make her believe she had doomed her own home...

Flashes of the Changelings.......

Flashes of every trauma in her life, every failure, every defeat.. every loss..........

She spoke in a quaver, trying as hard as she could to get the words out.... But her voice was barely that of Fluttershy's strongest yell.

"I'm............ scared........."

She had said it in the bathroom to Josh...... but this..... this was the first time ANY of the Elements of Harmony had heard Rainbow Dash EVER say those two words in their life.

"You're scared??", Pinkie tilted her head in sheer confusion.

"Screw it....... SCREW IT, I'M SCARED, OKAY!?"

It just roared out of her with the force of a volcano. Words that she never imagined herself to say were now all she could gasp out. She had never feared ANYTHING, let alone a challenge, but now..... now she knew it was all on the line.

A failure here didn't mean just retraining and practicing for another audition in a coming year.

It didn't mean not being accepted into the Wonderbolts....

If they failed here....... It was the end of everything they loved.... Everything they all had worked for their entire lives.... and for the first time in her life, she could feel the pressure truly weighing on her chest like a barbell.

"I'M AFRAID!!! I'M AFRAID!!! I'M AFRAID, OK!?"

It was almost like the cyan mare was hyperventilating as she looked at everyone staring back in shock at her.

"I don't have you guys by my side but Applejack! If the two of us fail.... you all lose EVERYTHING! Your homes, your livelihoods, EVERYTHING!"

She turned to Twilight, her heart pumping out of her chest. "Twilight, HOW!? How do you DEAL with this.... this WEIGHT!?"

"Weight??", Twilight looked at Dash a bit off-put.

"The weight!!! Know that everything rides on you! That failure ISN'T an option!?"

Twilight sighed and put her forehoof onto Dashs. "It's not a burden I carry lightly. I've had moments where I just scream or faint or just.... lose it...... But Dash..... you and Applejack are going to be fine......"

"Look into my eyes and say that..... You just saw the same person who Celestia herself brought here DIE!"

"Dash...", Twilight tried to look into those tear-filled magentas that served as a window to Rainbow Dash's soul, but something inside wasn't letting her, as if she was scared she'd start screaming too.

But it was then that Big Mac trotted back into the room, a bewildered look on his face.

"Um... Applejack? Someone on the phone wants to talk to Dash..."

"What NOW?!", AJ groaned, "If it's that Champagne, tell him to BUCK off!"

"It.... it's not him...", he shook his head, "It's someone else and they're insisting on talking to her."

"Are they crazy?!", Rarity insisted, "In the state she's in, I don't think she wants to talk to----"

"I really DON'T think it's anyone associated with that unicorn!", Big Mac replied irritably as he gave the phone to her and listened to her speak into the receiver...

"Hello?"

But the voice on the other end was not one that Dash could remember at all hearing on the news report...

"Rainbow Dash, listen and listen close... Your friend, Josh... he's alive. He's with me."

"What?!", she gasped, "Where?!"

Hearing her cries brought a silence to the room as the voice continued.

"Come to Ponyville Urgent Care, room 052. Come alone... I'll explain everything....."

"No!! I want to know who this is! I want everyone to know! I want to know this isn't a sick bucking joke!"

The voice on the other end sighed before they spoke again. "Not everyone... Bring Applejack if you insist.... I can't let everyone know what happened... not yet.... Especially not that weak Fluttershy..."

"Either we all come... or I'm getting the cops down there! I just watched him die, I want to make SURE this isn't a trap!!!!", she seethed.

Finally the voice relented with another sigh. "Fine.... bring your friends... but NO ONE ELSE.. I'll explain it all here... I'm waiting... Trust me, I wouldn't need any trap if I wanted to hurt you."

With that, the voice hung up, the click on the phone echoing through the room. It took less than a second for the pegasus to get off the couch and out the door, calling out to the rest of the mane 6.

"Girls, we need to go... NOW!"

Without wasting a second, the ponies all rushed out after her, but Fluttershy hung back before turning to Meowth. She knew he had as much right as them to make sure Josh was safe.

"Meowth, hop on... you want to see him too... I know you do!", she whispered. Immediately the cat-pokemon climbed onto Fluttershy's back and let the pegasus take off for the hospital in what seemed like the second time in way too short a timespan. But in all the commotion, Rainbow Dash failed to notice Josh's jacket still on the floor, an item Granny Smith quickly noticed.

"Child, wait! You forgot---"

But Big Mac put his hoof up, cutting her off. "Just let 'er go... Granny... Just let 'er go."
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It took all of 5 minutes for them to reach the doors of Ponyville Urgent Care, a mixture of adrenaline and fear seemingly propelling them towards the edge of town where the hospital lied.

"I go fer years without needing to set HOOF in a hospital and now I'm at one fer two different cases in less than 2 weeks!", Applejack groused as she stared at the front doorway leading into Ponyville Urgent Care.

"Yeah, was it REALLY necessary for all of us to come with Rainbow Dash?", Rarity pouted, "Who knows if she's going to throw up again!"

"Girls, remember...", Twilight groaned, actually giving Rarity a very dark look, "We need to be here for Rainbow Dash... She's gotta be scared more than anyone of us.... so let's just go in and support her..."

"Yeah...", Fluttershy wavered, "Hopefully whoever that voice on the phone was.... They've got some good news...."

"I hope so...", Meowth coldly remarked, "That's my best friend in there....."

"Dashie..", Pinkie Pie reassured the pegasus near her, "We're ready to go in when you are...."

With a shuddering sigh, the normally-bold pegasus threw open the doors and sped inside, her friends fast behind her. She wasn't remotely scared of being back in the hospital... she was more scared of finding someone had tricked them or seeing her lover's corpse. But she knew she had to find out if he was okay... they all did... Finding room 052 wasn't hard, since they'd spend enough time in the place before to memorize the entire layout.

"050... 051... 052!", Rainbow Dash counted the room plaques before coming to the one the voice had mentioned and, to her surprise as well as that of the whole groups, the door was already open, a beam of light visible from the small crack in the door. It took a simple push for the door to swing open, allowing the rooms sparse lighting to spread into the hallway. With an uncharacteristic tremble, Rainbow Dash crept into the room.

"Josh? Josh are you here?", she quivered as Twilight followed her in and flicked on the full lighting.

"Urgh... Dash? Is that you?", a wavery voice croaked out.

Looking ahead, the ponies found themselves looking at a shocking sight. Laying in the hospital bed in front of them was...

"JOSHUA!", Rainbow Dash cheered as she ran over to her lover and held him tight. But as the others looked on, they could all tell the teen was badly injured.

"Josh, my god....", Rarity gasped, "What happened to you?!"

A set of bandages covered his head and left eye and through his weak smile, splotches of blood could be seen on his teeth. His gold t-shirt lay on the ground next to his bed and the curtain shielding the bed next to him, saturated in blood and water, as if someone had tried to clean it off. He looked altogether miserable, but as Dash hugged him and his friends looked at the teen laying in the bed, he managed to give a thumbs up and a grin.

"That... that bastard... he thought he could kill me....", he wavered.

"But I thought he HAD!", Meowth blurted out, gagging from the sight of his friend battered and bruised. The cat-pokemon HATED hospitals and just being in one was making him scared. He didn't know whether it was all the damaged ponies or the smell of disenfectant and medicine in the air, but the buildings always made him shudder.

"He... he nearly did... But someone saved me...."

"Who?!", Dash asked frantically, "Tell me who!"

A calm, but rugged, voice rang from the bed next to his...

"I did you dorks...."

"No.. it can't be!", Pinkie Pie gasped as she watched the shadow behind the curtain reach out to pull the sheet aside and fling it open, revealing themselves...

"You?!", Rainbow Dash yelled as she looked upon the form of the being now sitting back on the empty hospital bed.

It was a feathered creature, her tough brown lion body and her white eagle's head mixing to give her a look of coolness and mystique. Her beady avian eyes just looked at her former flight school classmate in stoicism, as if looking at nothing more than her reflection in the mirror. She didn't even achknowledge the other ponies and cat-pokemon in the room, just her, Dash, and the human in the bed. It was the face of a Gryffin that Dash hadn't seen in quite some time.....

"Heh.. I thought you'd be more grateful to your boyfriend's rescuer.", she quipped, breathing into her golden claw and rubbing her chest nonchalantly.

"Gilda?!", Twilight sputtered, "You saved him???"

"I KNEW IT!", Pinkie Pie cheered, "I KNEW THERE HAD TO BE SOME GOOD IN YOU!"

"Pfff..", Gilda scoffed, "Don't go reading into this, Stinkie Pie... I only saved him because that jerk Champagne was pissing me off..."

"What are you talking about?", Fluttershy quivered, shirking behind Applejack. She remembered all too well Gilda roaring at her back in the marketplace and her flying off in tears.

"It's like this...", the gryffin replied, "It happened back in that restaurant, Bratwurst's Best Wurst I think..."
---------------------------------------------------------
*90 minutes earlier*

"I had just gotten done with some mid-morning flying manuveurs, trying to better my skills and prove that I'm the definition of cool.."

"Gilda!"

"Geez okay!.. I had just gotten done flying and I had a hankering for a little grub.."

As Gilda made her landing outside of Bratwurst's Best Wurst, she cricked her neck to loosen it from all the corkscrews she had pull off in her routine. Ever since her episode in Ponyville, she'd become more determined than ever to prove she was number 1 in the sky. Rainbow Dash had chosen to stick with her new friends and it had driven her to distraction and frustration. Only through her aerial practice was she able to think clearly and even that hadn't been working well lately...

"Damnit Gilda!", she groaned to herself, smacking her head in anger, "Get it together! If Dash wants to associate herself with those dweebs it's her loss. You're still hotter than a jalepeno! You don't need her.... Just get some food in your system and you'll be able to concentrate more..."

Looking up at the big green and gold sign above her, the gryffin grinned and patted the small satchel she had around her neck and listened to the coins inside jingle.

"This should be good for a quick bite.", she thought to herself before pushing open the door and looking in at the crowd of pony patrons eating and chatting, "Heh.. apparently I'm not the only hungry one here..."

Calmly, she strutted over to the counter and gave a quick glance to the menu before turning to the blue pony behind the counter.

"Welcome to Bratwurst's Best Wurst, home of the 16-foot Wur---", the pony started to say cheerfully before cut off by the gryffin reaching into the satchel and pulling out a clawful of coins.

"Save it, sister. Just gimme a large Burrlin Knockwurst special, extra relish and extra garlic on the fries!"

"Ok, would you like a drink wit---"

But a loud commotion cut their conversation short and as both Gilda and the pony looked at the front door, they saw Champagne standing at the threshold, flanked by his staff and followed by what appeared to be a news crew.

"PONIES, RUFFIANS, LEND ME YOUR EARS! I AM CHAMPAGNE AND I AM HERE TO EAT!", he bellowed before pushing his way to the counter, knocking over other patrons and even stealing a few drinks.

Immediately, the pony gave the gryffin her food and started shouting to the rest of the cooks in back, leaving Gilda looking in bewilderment at the spectacle. She was used to causing cashiers to scream, but this time she hadn't done anything to cause it!

"What the heck was that about?", she thought before a husky voice cut her off.

"Excuse me, birdie, but you're in my way!"

Turning around, Gilda found herself face-to-face with Champagne himself.

"No, excuse ME! I don't care WHO you are or WHAT your name rhymes with, NO ONE TALKS TO ME LIKE THAT!", she yelled, poking Champagne in the snout.

"Champagne will talk to whoever he wants HOWEVER he wants! Now apologize for your rudeness!"

"ME?! Apologize?", Gilda sputtered, "Gilda Clawden NEVER apologizes! If anything, YOU should apologize for calling me birdie!"

"Fiesty, ain't we?", the pony in shades next to Champagne grinned, "What say you just give Champagne your food and we'll let you go without having to apologize." He began to reach for Gilda's tray of food, but found himself looking at her fist.

"Touch me or my tray and I'll be eating YOU! GOT IT, PUNK?!", she growled before shoving past Champagne and heading to the first table she could find. She could hear Champagne and his crew glaring and leering at her and it was all she could do to not slug him.

"Lucky for him, I'm more concerned with feeding my stomach than feeding my anger right now...", she murmured as she picked up her empty drink cup and went over to the nearby soda station, pouring herself a lemony carbonated beverage and sipping from it as she sat back down.

It normally would have taken the gryffin all of 5 minutes to consume the food, but instead she found herself looking at Champagne and his crew ordering nearly everything the restaurant had and taking it to a big booth for the unicorn to scarf down ravenously. The whole thing was just disgusting and seeing the news crew filming his eating and gloating didn't do anything to help her appetite.

"I thought that pink pony in Ponyville had bad manners...", she thought as she picked up one of the garlicy fries and popped it in her beak, "But this guy is just GROSS!"

As much as she tried to focus back onto her food, she couldn't help but listen more and more to the unicorn's loud arrogant boating until something he said brought her anger to a boil..

"You mean that human with Rainbow Dash? It is no concern of mine that he's allowed his wench to stick her snout in where it shouldn't be!"

Hearing Dash's name being degraded like that made her feathers stand on end. Even if she WAS mad at her for turning her back on her cool friends for a bunch of lameos, she still had respect for her skills.

"That rotten sneak...", she seethed, clenching the soda cup in her claw so tightly her fingers punched through the paper and sent the bubbling liquid exploding all over her.

"GAH!", she screamed reaching for a napkin and wiping her eyes to see now the yellow liquid coated the whole of the table as well as her lap, "Just great.... NOW I need to go to the bathroom to clean myself off... just peachy!"

Grumbling, the gryffin climbed out of her booth and walked into the bathroom. It took her a few minutes to get herself all clean and dry, the sticky soda doing a good job of matting down her feathers to where she had the appearance of a wet poodle, but eventually a good amount of soap and air-dry had her back to her rugged volumed self.

"There we go...", Gilda cooed, unable to resist admiring herself in the mirror, "Back to pristine. Gilda, you devil... heh heh..."

"CHAMPAGNE, YOU ROTTEN BASTARD!!! GET UP! GET UP RIGHT NOW!!!!"

The bellowing from outside the bathroom door was quick to fetch Gildas attention and as she stepped outside, she found herself looking with the whole crowd at a rather unusual spectacle. What appeared to be a male teenage human from one of her old high-school textbooks was in Champagnes face, screaming. He had a very wiry build, black hair covering his head and covering his neck. A gold-colored T and black jeans covered the human from what she could make out through the crowd. But what was most unusual about the human was the set of folded fleshy wings that hung by his shoulderblades. It was like she was looking at a mix of a human and a pegasus.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL MY DASHIE A WENCH AND A.... A BITCH!!!", the human screamed.

"You think I should have called her something stronger, ho ho!", Champagne taunted and immediately, Gilda wanted to either retch or push through the crowd and rip Champagnes head off!

The teen apparently shared her sentiments as he picked up a bottle and clenched it in his hand so fiercely it exploded like the cup of soda had on her earlier.

"They REALLY need to get better drink holders..", Gilda chuckled to herself as she watched Champagne and the teen argue, the same pony with shades that had got in her face getting into his. He heard him address himself as Knuckle and immediately the urge to give him a knuckleduster to his kidneys roared through the avian's body. But the more she listened to the teen scream and roar at them, the more she couldn't help but admire his determination, sticking up for Rainbow Dash like that.

"Even a dweeb like Dash deserves a little protection...", she thought to herself as she watched Champagne motion for him to lean down. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but what happened next would stick out in her mind for a LONG time.

The unicorn picked up a bottle of hot sauce and broke it into his face, causing him to stumble back and slip on the spilled liquid from the first bottle, landing onto one of the nearby cameras and electrocuting him violently.

"Oh dear Celestia!!!", she gasped as she watched the jolts finally push the teen away and down onto the wooden table, the loud crack as his head made impact with the edge ringing through the ears of Gilda and every other pony in the restaurant. One look at the teen's bloody face and vacant eyes and she knew he was dead.

"Fuck.. FUCK!!", she thought to herself as she watched the burgundy pony nearby gesturing for someone to cut the feed to his report. She heard another pony call for 911, but Champagne's response had been the final straw..

"Pathetic....... if those two runts are weak as their freak friend...... PONYVILLE IS ALREADY DEAD!!!!"

As Champagne laughed, Gilda placed her talon onto Josh's neck, as if wanting to confirm that the human was no more.....

So it was to her immense shock she could feel the FAINTEST of pulses.

"Fuck, he's still alive!!! What are these things MADE of!?"

As much as Gilda enjoyed a good brawl and even seeing death, to see an innocent being on the verge of death itself after trying to defend a classmate of hers... and being refused a chance for medical attention by the same pony that killed him was insane even by her standards. It was then she remembered what she had in her satchel... a gift from her friends, Zecora and Cascade, to help in case she got injured trying new moves. Cascade had said it was powerful stuff, even able to revive someone who'd just died or was at death's door... although the last part they hadn't been able to try out as they refused to kill any being just to see if her gift worked. It was a long shot, but Gilda had to try... if anything, it would really piss Champagne off to see his attempt at intimidation fail.

Fetching the leather satchel, Gilda finally made her way through the horrified crowd of ponies and knelt down towards the human's body. The blood that was pouring from his mouth was still wet and dark and from the amount streaming from his ducts, she knew he had some severe brain damage. If this worked, she could at least bring him back to life...

"Here goes nothing..", she muttered as she reached for the satchel.

"Gilda Clawden.... as I live and breathe..."

Looking up, Gilda saw Champagne and his flunkies glaring at her, but Champagne especially was looking at the avian as if grinning.

"When I bumped into you, I could SWEAR I'd met you before..... Now, seeing you on your knees..... NOW I remember.... You---"

"Fuck. You.", Gilda snarled, "Fuck you... fuck you...... fuck you."

"Is that any way to talk to someone who gave you a place to live?", Champagne tisked the bird icily, his bodyguards just roaring in laughter.

"What you gave me was a fucking stain that will NEVER wash away."

"I gave you opportunity... And now look at you, trying to make your friend take you back by cleaning up what's left of her trainer."

"This isn't for her or anyone but me...." Gilda shot back.

"Really?", Champagne asked, getting another roar from his lackeys, "Then go ahead... amuse me."

Opening her satchel, Gilda pulled out a small vial of clear blue liquid and popped off the topper. Immediately, the strong scent of fresh grass and saltwater filled her beak.

"Jeez, this is some potent stuff they gave me!", she thought to herself as she raised it to the teens half-open mouth, "Well.. here goes nothing..."

Gently, the gryffin tipped the vial down into his mouth, letting the liquid inside pour down his throat. The sight of the bird pouring the vial into the corpses maw made half the ponies gag and the other half shudder, all the while Champagne and Knuckle just laughed at the pitiful sight of the bird raising the now empty vial and putting it back in her satchel....

At least they WERE laughing until they saw the teen's hand start to twitch.

"WHAT THE?!", Knuckle yelled, "The fucker's alive!!!!!"

Gilda just let out a small chuckle as she watched the teen's motor skills slowly return to his appendages and his hazel eyes open and close as he brushed his ducts clear of the bloody streaks.

"Ungh.... urgh....", he tried to gasp, before leaning to his side and spitting out a throatful of dark blood, "Whuh..."

"That... THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!", Champagne gasped, looking at the teen slowly getting to his feet.

"Neh... heh heh...."

It was then the teen turned back to Champagne... and the look on his face was almost inhuman.

"Champagne...", he croaked in a haunting tone, "You tried to kill me....... but I'm back.... and Dash and AJ.... we'll all make sure you pay..... and rot in the fires of Hell itself....."

He felt his strength leave him and he nearly collapsed, held up by the gryffin draping his arm around her back.

"C'mon... let's get you outta here...", she groaned as she helped him out of the restaurant and through the crowd of speechless ponies. Even Cam and his news crew were in total shock.

"...Thank....you...", The teen gasped as he spat out another mouthful of red liquid on the restaurant floor.

"Don't thank me...", Gilda groused, "I don't want people thinking I'm soft... Name's Gilda...."

"J...Josh....... I.. I need to get back...."

"Don't speak, dude...", Gilda sighed, "Save your strength... I'll get you to Ponyville soon... as much as I do NOT want to go back there....."

As Gilda and Josh left the restaurant and the crowd of ponies behind, Gilda's voice took over as the mane 6s attention was brought back to the present.

"I had to take a cab to get him here, since it was pretty clear his wings were gonna be useless. When they found out who your friend was, they refused my coins as fare and gave us the ride for free... still can't figure out why..."
-------------------------------------------------
"I got him here and immediately called for ya... and that's the whole story..."

As everyone just looked at her in pure astonishment, Gilda could tell they were all thinking the same exact thing... something that Fluttershy softly asked in a voice as loud as that of a mouse's squeak.

"Gilda... um..... why?"

"Why what?"

"Why'd you save Josh?"

"I'd like to know that too!", Twilight added.

"Yeah! Last time we saw you, ya were ornier than a wet cat!", Applejack added, earning a sharp kick in the side from Meowth, "Ow! Watch it!"

"Like I said, don't go reading too much into this... I just saved him because I wanted to embarrass Champagne... nothing more!"

The look on Rainbow Dash's face made it clear to Gilda that the cyan pegasus wasn't buying it, but mercifully she chose not to pursue it any further. "Gilda, I can't thank you enough... you saved my love's life!"

Gilda merely scoffed. "It wasn't even me... my friend was the one who really did it! I just had her gift!"

"Her... gift?", Pinkie Pie asked, "Like a birthday present gift or a wedding gift?"

This got a puzzled look from everyone, even Twilight and Gilda.

"No, you moron... it's a special.... well... it's the reason I wanted to see Dash alone..."

"C'mon, Gilda. You can trust us!", Applejack insisted.

"Yeah! Tell us what that gift is!", Rarity added, "I'm getting really curious!"

The avian sighed before she spoke. "I have this friend, Cascade... she works down in Sunset Springs with this zebra, Zecora, at times.... apparently Zecora helped her make a special healing water. But neither of them had tested its potency on dead matter before.. so I just took a risk and got lucky... or rather your friend did!"

"Yeah....", Josh croaked, speaking up for the first time since Gilda had began her story, "But Dr. Whooves wants me to stay here tonight.... He's thinking about naming a wing after me since I'm here so much...". He tried to laugh, but it came out as more of a wheezing guffaw.

"On the way here, your friend told me everything..", Gilda continued, "How you're trying to train to defeat that Champagne creep at the EWREC... and I want in..."

"Wha!?", Dash gasped, "You want in as an eater?!"

"No!", Gilda smacked her head in exasperation, "I want to help you and Apples there train!"

"The name's APPLEJACK, pardner..", the cowpony growled, "And why would you want to help us?"

"Yeah!", Rainbow Dash snarled, "I thought my friends and I were just a bunch of lame-os!"

Gilda sighed again before she turned to Twilight Sparkle. "I'm sure your egghead friend over there has heard of the old saying "The enemy of my enemy is my friend". Right?"

At this, the lavender mare nodded. "Basically it means two foes teaming up to face a greater threat."

"Yeah! You guys want to beat him to save your town, I want to see him fall since he's just a braggart. We may not see eye-to-eye on a lot of stuff, but this is one thing we all can agree on.. we want to see Champagne lose at the EWREC and get exposed for the creep he is.... So whaddaya all say? A truce until the end of the competition?"

As Gilda offered her claw out, an uncharacteristically kind look on her normally stoic face, Pinkie Pie walked up to her, trying to discern any ulterior motive from the avian. Twilight in particular knew that despite her goofiness, Pinkie had a knack for seeing the truth in ponies almost as well as Applejack did. But try as she might, the party pony couldn't see any deceit in her eyes or in her expression.

"No tricks, Gilda?"

Gilda groaned in frustration, "Pinkie, if I didn't want to help you guys, why did I save your friend?"

At this, Pinkie had to concede a point as she turned to her friends. "What do you all think?"

"I'd say give her a shot... any help against that scourge is more than appreciated!", Rarity replied, spitting in disgust at the thought of Champagne.

"Maybe she can be of help... she seems sincere in her offer.", Twilight added.

"She... she did save him...", Fluttershy pointed out before turning around, "What do you think Meowth?"

It was then she noticed that the cat-pokemon was no longer on her back... in fact he wasn't in the room at all!

"Meowth?", she called out, "Meowth, where are you??"

"Who or what is Meowth...", Gilda thought to herself curiously. She got her answer in the voice of a small scared voice from behind the door.

"I... I don't want to get turned into cat food by that creature! I already almost got pecked to death by a bunch of chickens!"

Gilda couldn't help but have to stifle a laugh through her wing at hearing that. "Relax, furball! I don't eat cats! In fact I don't think any gryffin really does!"

"Promise?"

"I promise! Now come in here already!"

Slowly the door opened to reveal Meowth standing there shaking visibly.

"Jeez, yer shaking worse than a vase in an earthquake!", Applejack noticed, "I know she's mean, but I don't think she's THAT mean!"

"Thanks for the voice of confidence, AJ..." Meowth and Gilda thought at the same time before the cat-pokemon stepped forward, examining the bird in front of him.

"Ya did save my friend... maybe.... maybe ya could help us all out... What do you think AJ?"

"I'd say give her a shot. If she tries anything funny, we can always burn her into a roast!"

This produced a horrified reaction from everyone, even Gilda. Applejack quickly noticed the gasps and held up her forehooves.

"Girls, I'm joking! But yeah, let's see if she can help us."

Finally, Pinkie turned to Rainbow Dash, Gilda's former flying classmate. The pegasus was holding Josh's hand protectively and resting her head on his shoulder. It took Pinkie shouting at her to get her attention.

"Dash!! What do you think???"

Slowly, the cyan pegasus set Josh's hand back onto his chest and trotted over to her former friend. She looked her up and down, trying to get a read on Gilda, but she couldn't detect any malice or deception in her, no matter how hard she looked. Finally, she raised her hoof up to the gryffin, a small half-smile creeping onto her face.

"You did rescue my lover... for that I guess you do deserve a chance... friend."

Even though her face didn't show it, inside Gilda her heart felt a part of it come back together. She'd missed Dash, no matter how hard she tried to fight it. But she wasn't even REMOTELY about to let the others see that. Instead she merely cleared her throat and took Rainbow Dash's hoof in her claw, shaking it before going to the other ponies and Meowth and giving them a shake in return.

"Ok, so we've got Gilda helping us... what now??", Twilight asked her friends.

"Maybe start with telling me all that's happened so far!", Gilda grumbled, "You know it'd help to know how you dweebs have been training for this!"

"Gilda...", Rainbow Dash warned her friend.

"Old habits, Dash. Old habits..", the avian replied before turning back to Twilight, "So tell me all that's gone on."

It took around a half-hour for Twilight Sparkle to fill Gilda in on the events since Dash and AJ had started to train. When she got to the part about Rainbow Dash throwing up all over Rarity, the gryffin's reaction had been simply to fall to the ground, clutching her stomach in hysterical laughter.

"NO WAY! HA HA! RAINBOW DASH BARFED ON MISS PRETTY UNICORN?! THAT'S AWESOME! HA HA!"

"Yeah.. ha ha..", Rarity muttered before spitting out an obscenity soft enough to where only Fluttershy could hear her, responding with a gasp.

"Rarity, where'd you learn that kind of language?!", the yellow pegasus whispered back.

"It's better you don't know, Fluttershy dear..."

When the gryffin had finally gotten back up after her bout of raucous laughter and wiping the tears of joy from her eyes, she had let Josh and Twilight fill her in on the rest. The avian just took it all in before sitting back on top of the empty hospital bed, crossing her legs in contemptlation and tapping her feathery chin with a claw.

"Well it sounds like you guys actually have a pretty thorough regimen. Training endurance by day and capacity by night. I gotta admit I'm impressed..."

Josh and Twilight couldn't help but give a shyish grin, even though for the teen it looked painful for him to do so, the way he rubbed his cheek not exactly easing their spirits.

"But we gotta pump up the training if we're going to win this! Especially the capacity parts! I want you two to be barfing your guts out at the end of each day from taking in your maximum amounts!"

As they looked at Gilda punching her claw into the other, Dash and Applejack just looked at each other with a grimace.

"Do we really have to go that far??", Applejack winced.

"Yes we do! Your egghead friend had the right idea... and from what we saw on the news report, we KNOW that Champagne can stomach an INSANE amount of food... hell, I don't know if he even HAS a gag reflex!"

"Knowing Champagne-in-the-ass, he probably doesn't!"

At this, the other ponies couldn't help but snicker at Pinkie Pie's pun, the gryffin herself looking pretty impressed.

"Ok, THAT was a good one!", Twilight snorted through her laughter.

"Props, Pinks....", Gilda grinned, "Props. But yeah we need to get your bellies nice and fat, capable of inhaling gallons of food with ease! I want your flanks to be as big as two watermelons fighting over milk duds! To win this... you both are going to need to be HUGE!!!"

"Gilda are you SURE they need to be that big?!", Rarity asked, "I mean... getting to the size of hot-air balloons... do they REALLY need to be that fat just to beat him?"

"Somehow I have the feeling it wouldn't be a bad idea...", Twilight replied before turning to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, "But what about you two? Are you okay with putting on that much weight?"

"Well weren't we gonna be doing that anyways, sugar?", Applejack asked.

"Not exactly! I thought it would be more gradual, maybe putting on a little pudge?"

"No, we need MAXIMUM! MAXIMUM STRENGTH, MAXIMUM COOLNESS, MAXIMUM WEIGHT!!!!"

"Jeez, easy birdo!", Meowth muttered, "You're helping us out, not becoming a war general!"

"No, don't you see??", Rainbow Dash spoke up, "She's right! We need to get big and we need to get bold!"

"Whaddaya say sugah?", Applejack turned to Gilda with a grin, "Think you can help us both get pumped and plumped?"

"Applejack..", Gilda replied with a coy grin, "It will be a pleasure."

Immediately, the ponies cheered in the room and even Josh managed a weak grin. But their cheering was cut short by the nurse opening the door and calling out to them.

"Ok, girls. It's time for the patient to get a little rest... and no, you can't all just camp out here again!"

Saying their goodbyes, the ponies and Meowth all made to leave the room. But Gilda put her claw up as if to halt them.

"Actually nurse, can at least some of us stay here with him... you saw his skull get cracked... we want to be here in case....."

The nurse knew what she was getting at and sighed. "Ok, HALF of you can stay... but half of you need to go. I could get in trouble just allowing 4 of you to stay without Dr. Whooves permission... So whose gonna stay?"

Beforte they could even discuss who would stay and who'd go, Gilda spoke up for them.

"Meowth, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and I."

"Huh!?", Pinkie gasped, "Wait a sec!"

"Trust me..", Gilda remarked, walking over to the ponies, "You WANT us with him..."

Seeing the gleam in her eyes the party pony swallowed and nodded.

"Gilda, if you do something to our friends...", Twilight warned, "Trust me, Nightmare Moon herself will shudder at what I'll do to you...."

"Oh I'm SOOOO scared.", the gryffin mocked, "Like I said to Dash... if I wanted to hurt you guys I'd have done it already! Just go, we'll be fine! Don't you need to tell Applejack's family what's going on anyway??"

With a sigh, Twilight nodded. "C'mon girls... we need to get Josh's jacket anyways.." Without another word, she led the girls out of the hospital room. But not before turning around and making a motion with her hoof that her eyes were on Gilda and she'd be there if the avian tried anything.

The nurse started to leave as well, but Gilda called out to her.

"Wait, nurse! Can you bring me a phone?"

Puzzled, the nurse gave a nod. "Sure, but why?"

Looking at Applejack and Rainbow Dash devilishly, the gryffin's reply was simple.

"I'm gonna order us a little dinner..."

Immediately, the two equine gulped. They knew Gilda was gonna resume their training...

And they knew she wouldn't stop until they were made to her perfection....