Eternal Darkness

“So you two will be alright?” One of the two Pegasi wondered, his head turned so he could watch Twilight and Rainbow Dash exit the chariot.

“Twilight turned her head to face the guard before giving a small nod. “Tell my brother we made it safely.” She requested which was returned by a nod from the guard.

“Fly safely.” Dash wished as the two pegasi began galloping away, followed by spreading their wings and taking flight, pulling the chariot behind them and into the sky. Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight and gave her a smile. Alright so three to four hours of trotting around Ponyville... could be worse, I could be in Canterlot. Rainbow Dash thought to herself before giving Twilight a smile. “Alright so you ready to go Twilight?” she wondered curiously before a itch in her right wing distracted her. She spread her wing and shoved her muzzle into its soft feathers to get rid of it before folding them once more to her form.

Twilight turned back to Rainbow Dash and smiled. “Yep, I was thinking we should start with the clothing and then the food, what do you say?” Twilight wondered, pulling the scroll out of her saddlebag once more to examine it. Oh thats right, we need to go to Sugarcube corner where if I am not mistaken Applejack and Pinkie Pie are working together.... dammit. She thought to herself before giving Twilight a small nod.

“Sounds good Twilight, then I think it would be best for us to go to the pony in charge of animal care and then the two in charge of the musical entertainment. Overall I think this will take us like I said earlier four hours.” she replied before gesturing with her head for Twilight to follow. “Come on, I’ll lead the way.”

With that the two of them began trotting down the streets of Ponyville, the sun bright in the sky above them and the sounds of the busy town becoming louder as they got deeper into the town. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but hate herself for wearing the tunic beneath her armor today. In the Everfree forest it stayed a moderately cool temperature due to the amount of clouds that normally covered it with the assistance of the tree tops it usually blocked out the sun and kept it nice and cool. She had thought earlier in the morning that it would have been a good idea but it now had become apparent that she had been dead wrong.

“Hey Rainbow Dash I got a question.” the baby dragon riding Twilight’s back wondered. Dash turned her head to barely manage to see the dragon, her helmet limiting her vision even though it lacked protection for her muzzle. She had to remember his name for a moment but it came quickly.

“How can I help?”

Spike thought about his question for a moment, planting a claw on his lips for a second. “Why is the town named Ponyville?”

Dash stared for a moment, slowing her trot so she was now only a hoof ahead of Twilight. How in Equestria am I to know that? I was born in Cloudsdale.... “Um.... I can’t really answer that because I wasn’t born here, nor did I grow up here. I’m from Cloudsdale.” she said for her answer.

“Oh... well how did you get assigned to Ponyville?” he asked curiously.

“I... can’t really answer that either, I did a good job and for some reason they transferred me here. Its a nice place though.” She said commenting the small town.

Twilight now asked a question. “Out of curiosity are you a first generation guard? Or has your family been in the guard before?”

Rainbow Dash had been asked this question many times and she had been asked about her cutiemark hundreds of times due to it being completely unrelated to what her occupation was. “Yes I am the first in my family to join the guard.”

“Why did you join?”

“Well... I wanted to protect and serve the innocent. I had always hated criminals and what better way to get rid of them than to be a guard? I’m kidding mostly, I joined to protect and serve yes but it was mainly due to what I had available to me in life. I excelled at sports in school and sucked at studies. My grades were dirt other than the physical ones and that meant that I didn’t have a hope in tartarus of getting into a good college or a good career. I looked at what was easily available to me and I had three options: I could become a weather pony, a courier or a guard. I’m too active to be a weather pony, you only work for three hours a day and then your done. Sure the pay is good but it wasn’t my thing. Being a courier was an absolute no for me simply because I never in my wildest dreams would want to be a mailmare. So I asked the guards in Cloudsdale what it was like and they explained it to me. After six months of training I got my status as a guard of Equestria.” Dash explained as the three of them descended a set of stairs.

“Interesting.... Out of curiosity have you seen the elements of harmony?” Twilight asked, causing Rainbow Dash to chuckle softly.

“Yep, let me guess, you were shocked right?”

“Well yeah, I can’t believe all this time that our most powerful weapons are six rocks.”

“Well, yeah better believe it cause its true.” Rainbow Dash explained as they turned left around a corner. Rainbow Dash smiled to herself lightly at the memory of her first day on duty at the fortress. The captain had asked to see her and he had shown her the six elements of harmony. She originally had thought it was a joke but when her captain insisted she had gawked at them for almost a full minute. She still found it surprising that those had saved Equestria twice.

“I’ll have to ask Princess Celestia about them more.” Twilight spoke before Rainbow got a question of her own.

“What is the princess like?”

“She is both kind and wise. She usually is very busy but when I have spoken with her she has pointed me in the right direction. She has taught me a lot and given me tips on how to improve. She is the perfect teacher in my opinion.” Twilight replied happily, a smile shining on her face.

“You speak highly of her.”

“Of course, she is the nicest mare I have ever met and I am honored to be her student.”

“I’m glad to hear that!” Dash said happily before approaching a store in front of them. On the store roof was a sign that read The Carousel Boutique. The store was painted purple and much larger than some stores which indicated that the owners also lived within the building as well. Dash looked to Twilight and smiled once more. “Alright we are here, ready to go in?”

“Sounds good.”

“Then what did you do with the other fifteen bits Sweetie Belle?” A mare wondered from behind a desk. The desk was made out of a regular wood and covered in a half completed suit and a sewing machine. The mare had a white coat and light blue eyes. Her mane and tail were purple and curled in a styled fashion. Her cutie mark, like most ponies did not resemble her occupation, it being three light blue diamonds.

“Well sis.... me and Applebloom spent it.” A filly sitting in front of the mare replied.

“Well the store ran out of gold silk so I bought some candy for Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and I.” The filly responded, receiving a sigh from the older mare. The filly had a similar coat to mare but her mane and eyes were different. Her main was purple with a pink streak while her eyes were green. A blank patch where her cutiemark would be indicated that she had not found her talent yet. The oldest between the two noticed Twilight and Dash enter from the corner of her eye before regaining her posture.

“Sweetie Belle, please go to your room till I call you.” the mare requested, a groan of disappointment coming from the filly.

“But I...” she began before the mare’s gaze became firm and authoritative, silencing the young filly very quickly. “Sorry sis, I’ll wait for you upstairs.” she apologized meekly before turning around and trotting down a hallway.

“Good afternoon and welcome to the Carousel Boutique. My name is Rarity and I am sad to inform you both that we are no longer accepting orders.” she greeted before Twilight approached and extended her hoof which Rarity shook politely.

“Good afternoon I am Lady Twilight Sparkle and I am here in Ponyville on the Princess’ orders. Will the clothing be ready in time for the celebration?”

Rarity gained a surprised look on her features at the mention of the princess before smiling and nodding. “Yes of course, if you’d like I have my list in my supplies room if you’d care to follow me.” Rarity offered before a smile formed on Twilight’s face.

“That would be excellent.” Twilight expressed before having Spike climb off her back.

Rarity turned to Dash and gave her a curious look. “Are you coming?”

“No, dresses have never been my thing but thank you.” Rainbow responded before receiving a small nod.

“Very well, come now Twilight Sparkle, I shall show you what I have designed.” Rarity declared proudly as she led the purple unicorn across the room.

With that the two mares left the room, leaving Rainbow Dash and Spike alone in the entrance to the store. Dash had met Rarity once before but never really socialized with her due to their occupations and more than likely their personalities were completely different. She felt that if she started socializing with Rarity the only topic Rarity would discuss would be things that involved the upper class of Canterlot. Rainbow Dash also had never liked dresses, she usually avoided them in fact but occasionally she had worn them. The only occasions she could think of was a wedding when she was a little filly and again when she was in the last year of her schooling.

I hope this doesn’t take long...

Spike approached the mare in thought before poking the thigh of her left foreleg through her armor, gaining her attention. “Hey Rainbow Dash what do you do in your spare time?” Spike wondered curiously before Rainbow Dash thought about the question.

A bit vague and hard to reply to but I’ll answer it anyways.

“Well it depends, usually I’ll just come into Ponyville and say hello to some of the other ponies. I’ll buy music occasionally and maybe even see a travelling show if they are in town. What I really love to do though is racing.”

“Racing?”

Rainbow Dash eyed Spike with a ‘are you serious?’ look which caused the baby dragon to blush lightly. “Yeah racing, you know? First one across the finish line wins, the last one is the loser?”

“Well I know that.” The baby dragon stated with annoyance, crossing his arms across his scaly chest. “But why do you like it?”

Rainbow thought for a second before replying. “I like the feeling it brings with it, I love the wind blowing through my mane and the rush it gives when you’re fighting to win something. You know when you play a board game or something and you just really really want to win it badly?” Dash wondered, receiving a nod from the baby dragon. “Thats how I feel when I race. I get adrenalin flowing through my veins and I just want to win so badly. I hate losing, always have which is why I try to always get faster.”

The baby dragon seemed to be taking a small amount of interest in the rainbow maned pony before him before asking another question. “How often do you win?”

“Every time, haven’t lost since I was eighteen!” the rainbow maned guard boasted proudly before blushing lightly. “Sorry, I get a little carried away.” Dash said before giggling after her sentence, receiving a small chuckle from Spike.

“Well everyone does it every now and then.”

“I use to do it a lot, to the point of it being rude; however I eventually found myself alone and without friends because of my attitude. I eventually became more mature but I sometimes get carried away.” she explained before lifting her right foreleg off the ground and brought her hoof to her muzzle, followed by itching a small spot. “One tip I got for you Spike: Don’t boast, the only thing that will come out of it is regret.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Spike responded before wanting to know one more thing. “How old are you?”

“Thats considered rude to ask a mare her age, but if you must know I am 21.”

Just as Rainbow Dash replied to the question Twilight and Rarity returned from the other room.

“Excellent darlin’, I’ll see you at the celebration!” Rarity said happily.

Twilight turned to face her new friend and smiled. “Sounds great, I’ll see you there!”

With that Twilight nodded for Dash that they were ready to leave, bringing the rainbow maned mare to her hooves once more and then proceeding to follow Twilight outside.

“Rainbow Dash was just telling me about herself a little more.” Spike spoke up, earning a curious look from Twilight before she faced Dash, wondering if she would tell her what it was.

Dash chuckled lightly before explaining the same thing she did to spike before.

“Thats interesting Dash, out of curiosity why didn’t you pursue your racing? You could have made money as a professional flier.”

Rainbow Dash had been asked this by a good number of people to the point where she knew the response immediately. “It would have been just as monotonous as being a Wonderbolt.” She explained which brought even more curiosity from Twilight.

Wow if I keep this up she’ll probably write a book of my life by the time we’re done.

“What do you mean? Did you want to be one as a little filly?”

“Well... yeah, but I soon discovered that torture was not what I wanted for the rest of my life.” Dash replied earning a surprised look from both Twilight and Spike as the three turned a corner to the left.

“What do you mean?”

“You know how every month or so there is news about them or some other celebrity in newspapers and magazines?” Dash questioned, earning a nod. “Well think about this, what if everything you messed up on was judged by all of society? What if your name was ruined because for an example you were gay or you were... uh... cannibalistic?”

“What?” Twilight questioned, before Dash facehoofed.

“Ugh OK maybe cannibalism isn’t a good example but what about homosexuality? What if just because you were gay everyone in all of Equestria criticized you for it and named you as a bad pony?”

Twilight gained a look of thought on her features before replying. “Well it would be horrible, especially if you were trying to keep it a secret.”

“Exactly.” Dash said before sighing. “The Wonderbolts are idols to so many fillies in Cloudsdale, they are idols and ponies children can look up to. But the problem is this: If one of the Wonderbolts messes up, they all look bad and the press will hammer them for answers, following them around and trying to get the next big tip of news. You are never alone as a celebrity, people will constantly want to question you and learn secrets about you and thats how the news works. If you screw up as a wonderbolt you could lose your reputation and your career.

My life is not perfect, no ones is and thats what the Wonderbolts are expected to be, perfect. Anything that was once secret to you will be known by everypony eventually. I couldn’t live like that.”

Twilight gave a small nod to her friends explanation. “So you didn’t pursue it both because you would be the center of attention and you would lose all that is you correct?”

“Pretty much, except that its not that I would be the center of attention for a short time, it would be all the time. Ponies would follow me around everywhere I went and I am not the kind of mare that likes that sort of thing. Being a guard is interesting; you meet all kinds of ponies and you learn a lot everyday. Of course you know the crimes and the punishments but you learn so much more such as how to improve this skill or that skill. Its very interesting and thats why I like it.”

“Have you ever killed someone?”

Both mares turned to face Spike who blushed lightly and slowed his pace a little. “Well I’m just curious...”

“To answer that.... No.” she replied before Spike was given a icy glare from Twilight.

“Well we are here.” Rainbow Dash stated before pointing with her hoof to the store ahead of them. “The two ponies who are in charge are named Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Applejack is a descendant of the founding family of Ponyville, they run a farm not far from town and thay still speak lak dis.” she said, ending the sentence in her best impression of a far southern Equestrian accent. Twilight couldn’t help giggle along with Spike.

“Ok and the other?”

“Pinkie Pie is a pony who sometimes can’t shut up. She’s nice and quite funny but the problem is that she doesn’t know when to stop so it causes her to sometimes get into trouble or annoy people. She considers herself everyones friend though and somehow remembered my name.” Rainbow Dash sighed once more before looking straight ahead. “Applejack and I have always had a little bit of tense relationship. You see, in Ponyville you need permits in order to set up a stall in the market or own a store. Now I’ll admit she is a busy mare but just because you are busy doesn’t mean that you can let your papers fall behind.” Dash stated before receiving a nod from Twilight.

The building to Twilight appeared to be modelled after a gingerbread house with frosting which caused her to shake her head softly at the silliness.

A bell was heard in the small store gaining Mr Cake’s attention from his work but before he could speak Pinkie Pie came out of nowhere and rushed right up to the new visitors.

“Hello! What is your name?” the pink pony in front of Twilight greeted before Rainbow Dash stepped in to introduce them.

“Hello again Pinkie Pie, this is Twilight Sparkle, she is from Canterlot and is here to make sure the food will be ready by the celebration.”

Pinkie Pie’s smile seemed to grow much larger to almost an impossible limit. Her eyes were blue and full of excitement while her pink mane was poofy and erratic, kind of like her. Her coat was pink and her cutie mark was of a blue balloon and two yellow balloons.

Pinkie Pie immediately began speaking so fast Twilight and Rainbow Dash could barely understand a single word. “Thatsgreatbecausewearemakinggreatprogressonthepastriesandbakedgoods! Themainfoodthatponieswillbeeatingwillbepreppedtomorrownightandthencookedatthecelebration! Isn’t that awesome?”

The shouted question caused Twilight to stare awkwardly at the pink pony who kept smiling in a way that was beginning to get creepy. “Howdy!” another mares voice spoke, causing Twilight and Rainbow Dash to look away from Pinkie.

The mare standing in front of them had a orange coat and a blond mane. Her mane was tied up casually like many southern mares. Her eyes were emerald green while atop her head was a brown cowpony hat. On her flanks were her cutie mark which were three apples. Upon noticing Rainbow Dash her eyes narrowed slightly with annoyance and the two stared daggers at each other for a moment before the silence was broken by Twilight.

“So they will be ready right?”

Applejack turned her head to see Twilight giving her a curious look before the kind smile returned to her face. “Eeyup they will, would you like to try some? On the house.” Applejack offered.

Twilight felt a small smile form on her face. “That would be lovely! Thank you!” Twilight expressed before the southern pony directed the three to a seat. While both Twilight and Spike were happy about the idea Rainbow Dash was annoyed by the presence of the orange earth pony.

“So ya’ll from Canterlot you said?” Applejack asked, attempting to keep the conversation going and the mood positive. Twilight sat herself on one of the chairs and began levitating the fork and knife.

“Yeah, I am actually one of Princess Celestia’s students.”

Applejack’s face came into view from around the corner once more. “Shut up.” She said in a disbelief tone.

“Its true, she sent me here to make sure everything was going smoothly.”

“It sure is! Tons and tons of cool stuff is going on!” Pinkie Pie pointed out happily from out of sight before coming back into view with a large plate balanced on her head. Twilight used her telekinetic abilities to lift the plate from the pony’s head and rest it on the table which received a thank you from the pink pony.

Dash who had been silent this whole time sat back casually and examined the events of Ponyville outside the window though she was still listening to the conversations. “Thank you Pinkie Pie.... and Applejack.” She said expressing her gratitude though she paused for half a second at the end which caused Applejack to gain a frown but she didn’t let it get to her.

Applejack turned her attention to Twilight who was already halfway done the muffin. “How do ya’ll like it?” Applejack wondered, making eye contact with all three of them to show that she was asking all of them the question.

“Excellent!” Spike responded through a mouthful which caused it to come out as a incomprehensible sound.

“Its lovely.”

“Its nice thank you.” Rainbow answered lastly, receiving a nod from Applejack.

“Great! We made them ourselves!” Pinkie exclaimed happily.

“Everything in here was made by you.” Dash pointed out which caused Pinkie to think for a moment.

“Your right! Good job Dashie!”

Spike was the first to finish his muffin, followed by Rainbow and then Twilight. Upon finishing consumption of the muffins Applejack had grabbed the plate from the table with her teeth and had carried it into the back while the three departed towards the exit.

“Glad to meet you two, thank you for the muffin and I hope you have a good day.” Twilight wished her farewell before Pinkie Pie ran up and began waving her hoof.

“Bye! Have a great day!”

Before her departure out the door Rainbow Dash stopped and turned to look Applejack in her emerald eyes. “I thought I should warn you, your permits will expire in two days.” Dash said before pushing the door open and exiting the bakery.

“Bitch.” Applejack insulted silently before shaking her head and turning around.

“Come on Pinkie, lets get back to work.”

“Alrighty!”

“So... I guess the vendetta is real eh?”

Rainbow Dash turned her head to see Twilight for a moment with a curious look but realized what they were talking about.

“Yeah, we’ve never liked each other. I usually hate being around her and whenever we are we argue. She mainly doesn’t like me because she can’t sugarcoat things with me like she does with the others.”

That explanation gained a confused look from the purple unicorns face while the baby dragon walking beside her was in his own world it seemed. “What do you mean?”

“Her family supplies the fortress with Apples and treats every week and because of that reason she gets a small amount of immunity from the other guards. If she forgets her permits the guards will let it slide a few more days instead of closing up the stall she sells her apples at. I however will see that she doesn’t have them close the stall down till she gets them renewed. I am very by the book and I don’t get persuaded.”

The stone walkway beneath the ponies feet turned into a soft gravel as they left the town and proceeded down the road towards a hill not far from their current location.

Twilight gave a small not. “I see.... Do you know this next Pony?”

“Yeah, remember? I told you earlier. She and I went to school together. She is a little shy but other than that she is very kind and nice to talk to. Just let me do the talking at first alright?” Dash requested receiving a small understanding nod from Twilight.