Storm on the Horizon

by moguera

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Fluttershy, Original Character, Scootaloo, Adventure, Wonderbolts, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash
Length: 150537

Ponyville's problems with Cloudsdale reach fever pitch as a conflict over drought threatens to escalate into all-out war.

Story three of Savage Skies:
All sorts of things are brewing in the pegasus city of Cloudsdale, which is a problem for Ponyville as the one thing that isn't is a rainstorm. As the drought continues to drag on, Rainbow Dash must confront her hometown and its history, as well as her own history. But she won't do it alone, which is good, because she'll need all the help she can get.

Series starts with Foal of the Forest.
Now with a TV Tropes page.

Published 2013-08-13 21:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-11-22 02:36:02 UTC

Reunion

Chapter 2: Reunion

Twilight Sparkle blinked as she stared at the strange stallion calling her name. He apparently knew her and seemed familiar, but Twilight couldn't quite place her memory of him. "Do...do I know you?"

"I suppose it's been a very long time," admitted the stallion, rubbing the back of his head as he grinned sheepishly, "Twily, it's me, Arkenstone." Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Spike shared a look. There was only one other pony they knew of that called Twilight by that nickname.

Twilight went rigid as she heard the stallion's name, her eyes widening in stunned surprise. "Arkenstone..." Her eyes traced the stallion's features, her mind finally beginning to see in him the colt that she had known so many years ago. "Is it really...?" Her eyes settled on Arkenstone's cutie mark and everything snapped into place.

"ARKY!!!" Twilight shrieked, launching herself at the stallion and tackling him with her most powerful hug. Arkenstone barely budged, rocking back a little to cushion Twilight's impact as he brought up his arms to return her embrace.

"Arky I haven't seen you in years!" Twilight exclaimed, hugging him as tightly as she could, "Where have you been all this time?" The two pulled away from each other.

Arkenstone, still not having opened his eyes, smiled at her face. "Oh here and there. I've been taking various jobs over the years." Reaching up with one hoof, he gently brushed Twilight's mane back. "It seems so strange. I always remember what a cute young filly you were, but before I realized it, you've clearly grown into such a beautiful mare."

"Arky," reproached Twilight, "You could see it for yourself. Why are you still sitting there with your eyes closed?"

Arkenstone sighed and shook his head sadly, before giving Twilight another smile, this one slightly bitter. "Unfortunately, opening them will do no good. I have been blind for quite some time." To illustrate his point, his eyelids drifted open to reveal featureless, milky-white orbs where Twilight remembered there being a soft beige that matched his coat.

The revelation echoed through the room, leaving stunned silence in its wake. Rarity's jaw nearly reached the floor and Sweetie Belle had frozen stiff. "Oh no! I had no idea!" exclaimed the fashionable mare, "I never even noticed. How negligent of me...and I treated you so roughly too. I am so sorry!"

"Please," said Arkenstone, extending a placating hoof in her direction, "Don't get overwrought. I may be blind but I have certainly managed to get along without my eyes just fine. Indeed," he paused, his smile becoming a bit of a smirk, "I daresay that I've gotten along better without my eyes than I ever did with them."

Twilight simply stared at the stallion in shocked silence. "Arky..." she whispered, her eyes tearing slightly.

Arkenstone's expression softened as he turned back to Twilight, raising a hoof to brush tears away from her eyes, the appendage moving with unerring accuracy, despite the fact that Arkenstone had no means of seeing her face. "Don't cry Twily," he said softly, "I'm perfectly fine. This is a happy occasion." He rested both his forehooves on her shoulders. "So no tears, okay?"

Twilight sniffed and rubbed her eyes, giving Arkenstone the biggest smile she could manage. "Okay."

Rarity thought for a moment, putting two and two together. "So then Twilight was the pony you smelled on me. Simply amazing. Then that means you were friends with..."

"Yeah," Twilight chirped, seeing where Rarity's reasoning, "Arkenstone was my B.B.B.F.F.B.F." Crickets were audible as everypony (and dragon) in the room stared at Twilight in confused silence. "Big Brother Best Friend Forever's Best Friend," she deadpanned.

"Geez Twilight," muttered Spike, "You really need to lay off the acronyms. Maybe you should join a support group."

The lavender unicorn leveled a glare at her Number One Assistant as the other ponies in the room chuckled.

"Now then," said Arkenstone after he got his mirth back under control, "Who might you be young man?"

"I'm Spike," replied the dragon proudly, "I'm Twilight's assistant in the library."

"Library?" Arkenstone shifted his face back to Twilight, smiling teasingly, "Why am I not surprised?"

"Hey!" protested Twilight.

But Arkenstone had already turned his attention back to Spike. "So you're the dragon she hatched during her entrance examination to Celestia's school."

"Yep."

"A pleasure to meet you," said Arkenstone, extending a hoof, which Spike shook.

Rarity initially planned to sit back and enjoy the exchange, but a look at the clock changed her mind. "Oh good gracious!" she exclaimed, "Look at the time! I must get started on dinner for Sweetie Belle and I. I'm terribly sorry Twilight dear, but I don't have enough for everyone. Besides, Sweetie and I have something important to talk about."

"I understand Rarity," said Twilight, giving her friend an accommodating smile, "Spike and I should be doing the same although..." She turned to regard Arkenstone, "I would really love it if you came back with us Arky. We haven't seen each other in so long, I'd love to have you spend dinner with us."

Sweetie Belle let out an almost inaudible whine of disappointment. She had been hoping that the stallion might spend the evening with her and Rarity so she could continue to press him for details that could enlighten her about his cutie mark.

Arkenstone mulled over Twilight's offer for a moment. "I suppose I could join you for the evening Twily. It'll be nice to catch up."

After bidding farewell to Rarity and Sweetie Belle (with Arkenstone once again thanking Rarity for the gift of the cloak), Twilight, Spike and Arkenstone left the boutique. To Twilight's surprise, Arkenstone trotted out ahead of them, surprisingly zeroing in on the library with impressive accuracy.

"Wow," observed Twilight, "For a pony who can't see, you sure didn't have any trouble figuring out where I live."

Arkenstone chuckled. "I told you, didn't I. I actually do much better without my eyes than with them. Your scent converges on this location from practically every direction. It's like a beacon to my nose."

"So you navigate by smelling?" asked Spike.

The beige stallion nodded. "Yes. I can easily identify and locate objects through scent, though I also rely on my hearing quite a bit as well."

"Huh," mused Spike, "So is it like comic books, you know where losing one sense makes your other senses stronger?"

"Spike, that's medically impossible," protested Twilight as she opened the library door for them.

"She's right," agreed Arkenstone, "Rather, losing my sight didn't make my other senses stronger, but it did allow me to become more aware of what they could already pick up."

"What do you mean?" asked the dragon. Twilight looked at Arkenstone expectantly, curious about the explanation behind this as well.

"Have you ever wanted to listen really well to a pleasant piece of music?" Arkenstone's listeners nodded in unison. "...concentrate on a pleasant aroma...enjoy tasty food?" They nodded in response to each of his queries. "When you want to focus on one of those, be it taste, smell or hearing, what's one of the things you might do automatically to accomplish that?"

Twilight let out an eager gasp. "You'd close your eyes. I get it!"

"Huh, get what?" asked Spike.

"If you lost your vision," explained Arkenstone, "Your other senses might seem stronger, but the truth of the matter is that they are just as strong as they've always been. Rather, without your eyes to distract you, you begin to realize scents that you've always smelled but were never aware of before, things you've heard but never noticed and so on. Sight is our dominant sense, so it's easy to understand just how much of our awareness is dedicated to processing that sense. By closing it off, you open your awareness to the wider world around you."

"Oh," gasped Spike, now understanding, "That's pretty cool, now that I think about it."

"Alright alright," said Twilight, interjecting herself back into the conversation, "Lets go get dinner ready Spike. Arky, why don't you make yourself comfortable..."

"I missed you, you know," said Twilight. Dinner was finished, the dishes were cleaned and Spike was up in his basket, having fallen asleep in the middle of their conversation. Twilight and Arkenstone set out several cushions in front of the fireplace and the two of them quietly chatted, basking in the warmth of the flames. For Twilight, it was a relief seeing an old friend, even if it was one she hadn’t seen or spoken to in a long time. Arkenstone’s sudden arrival was enough to take her mind off of the confusion over the day’s events.

"I'm sorry," replied Arkenstone, feeling a little awkward, "I've traveled all over Equestria for my work. I very rarely got to visit Canterlot. And when I did, you were always busy with your studies."

"Yeah," said Twilight, looking into the flames, "I got carried away back then. The only reason I'm here in Ponyville now is because Princess Celestia practically ordered me to come down here and make some friends. If she hadn't, I'd probably still be up there with my nose glued to some book."

Arkenstone laughed quietly. "Yes. But then you wouldn't be the Twily we know and love if you didn't spend so much of your time studying. It's what you love more than anything else."

Twilight felt her cheeks heat up at the compliment, especially at the word "love." "You know, I was hoping you would be at Shiny's wedding."

"Sorry," said Arkenstone again, "I had an important job at the southern border. Shining Armor actually offered to postpone the wedding so I could get back, but Cadance apparently insisted on not delaying."

"Yeah," said Twilight, frowning darkly, "But I think the reason she insisted was because she wasn't Cadance." The Princess Cadance that had been so insistent about the wedding proceeding as scheduled had actually been the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis. She had probably wanted to ensure that the wedding went off as soon as possible so that there was less chance of her ruse being discovered.

A low sigh escaped the lavender mare's mouth. "Can you stay for a little while?" she asked.

Arkenstone shook his head sadly. "No. I have to get to Canterlot to finish a very important job." He sensed that Twilight was crestfallen from this revelation. "But," he added, "I think that after this, I won't have to worry about traveling about for a while. It would be nice to settle into one place for a time and not have to worry about banging around the country. This town seems like a rather nice place. So perhaps..." he turned and gently nuzzled Twilight's cheek, "I could come back and settle here for a while. I know your brother would appreciate having someone he trusts keeping an eye on you...er so to speak."

Twilight giggled weakly at his joke. "I'd like that," she admitted, "So how are you getting to Canterlot?"

"Since I don't have any money, right now, I was just going to hoof it."

Twilight gasped. "But that'll take you at least four days unless you plan on flat out running."

Arkenstone tapped his chin. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"How about I get you a ticket for the train in the morning. You could be in Canterlot by tomorrow evening."

"But I couldn't ask you to..."

"Please," begged Twilight, "Let me do this for you."

Arkenstone let out a sigh of defeat. "Very well then."

Twilight giggled at his resignation and gently nuzzled him. "You can spend the night here. I'm going up to bed." She gave him her sternest glare. "And no trying to sneak off."

Arkenstone chuckled heartily at her admonishment. "You and your friends certainly are forceful with your generosity."

Twilight lashed her tail playfully in his direction as she moved up the stairs. Arkenstone listened until the door closed before settling down onto the pillows to rest.

"She truly has grown," he mused wistfully, "I certainly can't think of her as a cute little filly anymore."

The morning came and Twilight was at the station to see her old friend on his way. "How long will you be in Canterlot," she asked.

"Not long," answered Arkenstone simply as he stood in front of the idling train. There was still a little bit before he had to be on it. Fortunately, having no luggage meant that all he had to do was step aboard, so there was no need for haste. "I just need to wrap up my work and I'll be done."

"Be safe," said Twilight softly, brushing his cheek with her hoof, "We still have a lot to catch up on."

A snort burst from the stallion's nose. "Don't worry. There's very little trouble I can get into in Canterlot. I was just going to pay a visit to your brother and a friend of mine anyway."

The whistle sounded and Arkenstone gave Twilight a slow nod before stepping aboard. The engine chugged as it slowly began to pull away. Twilight didn't take her eyes off until it had left the station and dwindled into the distance. Smiling at the prospect of being able to spend time with Arkenstone again, she grinned before turning around...

And nearly slamming straight into Rarity, who had planted herself firmly in front of the lavender mare, the most severe look imaginable on her face. "Um...hi Rarity," squeaked Twilight as she shrank away from her friend, an ominous feeling building in her chest.

"You." Rarity's voice was almost a snarl and it made Twilight quake on her hooves as the alabaster unicorn's glare drilled into her. "You and me...spa...NOW!"

"What?" Twilight's nonplussed response was quickly cut short as she was wrapped in a light blue aura and dragged out of the station, Rarity pulling her along and heading straight to the spa without the slightest hesitation. "Rarity waaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

“Well, this is it.” Red River looked warily towards the hospital doors. He was getting an inkling of how Dawn must have felt when he’d first told the colt about his pending “execution.”

“Things went about as well as we could have hoped,” consoled Storm Front, “We managed to succeed.”

“I think the kid’s friends would have a different way of describing our ‘success,’” muttered Red, “For all that we’ve done and what we managed to accomplish, the fact of the matter is that we still have to face her.”

In this case, the “her” in question was Fluttershy. As Dawn’s condition took precedence, she had held off on sharing her thoughts with the two stallions responsible for it. However, now that he had been seen to, it was time for the two mercenaries to take their lumps.

The doors to the hospital slid open to admit them. Fluttershy was there, waiting for them in the lobby, as they had agreed the previous day. Her expression was completely neutral, one that Red River fancied might give Big Macintosh a run for his money. Red River actually felt a shiver go down his spine. He’d gone through countless battles in his life, but this mare intimidated more than some of the most fearsome opponents he’d ever faced. A glance to his side told him that Storm Front had the same impression, though only Red’s years of experience as Storm’s companion allowed him to read the pegasus stallion’s expression.

The pair came to a stop before Fluttershy. She was presently a far cry from the timid pegasus and the affectionate mother they had seen so often before. There was steel in her gaze as she first met Red, then Storm’s eyes. Red River, resisted the urge to scratch across his chest. He felt naked without his usual sash in the compacted spear he normally wore. Storm Front was much the same, having forgone his shirt and the weapon usually concealed within. It had been a mutual agreement between the two of them that they would not carry their weapons when they went to meet Fluttershy. They owed her that much, at the very least.

An uncomfortable silence stretched out between the three ponies. Finally, it was Red River who broke the silence. “Good morning.”

Fluttershy’s response was a wordless nod, her expression not so much as twitching.

“Um...how’s the kid doing?” asked Red, finally giving up and reaching to scratch his chest.

“He’s doing well,” said Fluttershy, “The doctor gave him a healing spell last night and he just woke up recently. He’s having breakfast now.”

“I see...” Red River’s voice trailed off and he looked to the side, wordlessly appealing to his companion for help.

Storm Front closed his eyes for a moment before he looked back at Fluttershy’s eyes. “I understand where this is going. I would suggest we move this somewhere more private.”

Fluttershy nodded and led the two of them out of the hospital lobby and out into the gardens behind the building. There, she found a pair of benches perched on either side of the meandering path through the gardens. She took one while the stallions took the other. At this hour of the day, nopony was out. There was nopony to overhear them.

Fluttershy took a deep breath, then leveled her eyes at the two stallions. “Now then,” she said, “I am very upset with both of you.”

At that moment, a tremendous feeling of shame and guilt practically crashed down upon the two mercenaries, who shuddered under the force of Fluttershy’s Stare. Her eyes bored their way into their hearts, making them tremble like foals caught doing a bad deed. Storm Front shuddered and tried desperately to wrench his gaze away, failing. Red River squeezed his eyes shut, sending a few tears rolling down his cheeks as the pressure mounted.

This was beyond the Stare Fluttershy had used against Applejack when she had attacked Dawn. This was even beyond the Stare that had once been used to subdue a rampaging dragon. It was loaded with every ounce of Fluttershy’s will, the will of a mother. Countless hours spent caring for her animals, tending their hurts, soothing their fears, raising them from infancy into adulthood were only supplemented by the weeks spent looking after Dawn, helping him nurse his injuries, fixing his meals, helping him clean himself, preening his feathers, holding him tightly in his moments of weakness, all of it feeding the power of Fluttershy’s stare as she channeled the power of motherhood itself into it. At this moment, she was not just Dawn’s mother, but Red River’s mother, Storm Front’s mother, Celestia’s mother. At this point, she was even her own mother’s mother.

Red River reopened his eyes and looked at Fluttershy through his tears. Storm Front ceased his efforts to break away from her gaze. She could see their jaws working silently behind their lips, as though they simultaneously struggled to say something and, at the same time, fought to keep from saying it. She frowned, understanding what do words they were trying to keep from escaping their mouths. She understood...and relented.

The two stallions let out simultaneous gasps and sagged down in their seats as the pressure of the Stare vanished. Fluttershy watched as they struggled to regain their composure. They had been on the verge of throwing themselves at her hooves, apologizing until their voices broke, begging her forgiveness. But that wouldn’t have been right. Their apologies would have merely been dragged out of them as an emotional reflex of the Stare, not because they sincerely believed it. Their words would have been hollow and empty. They’d understood that, which was why they had fought so hard to resist the stare’s power.

So instead, she waited patiently as they regathered their strength and sat up to face her once more. When they did, she took another breath.

“Now,” said Fluttershy, “I want you to tell me exactly what it was you were doing yesterday.”

Storm Front looked to Red River. After all, the azure stallion was the talkative one of the pair.

Red River took a deep breath and started. “When we were hired here, we were hired for the intention of helping keep the peace if Dawn’s past conflicts came for him in Ponyville. In a sense, we stand as extras to the Town Guard in keeping the peace, particularly where Dawn’s circumstances are concerned. Because of his own abilities, we weren’t explicitly hired to protect him.”

Fluttershy nodded. This much she knew already.

“The problem lies in the fact that, while Dawn is still a foal, he is powerful...terrifyingly powerful, powerful enough to completely level Ponyville in a matter of minutes if he was so inclined. His martial art was developed to ultimately put its wielder on par with entire armies at a time. With that much strength, it’s a very dangerous thing for him to not be in full control of himself.”

Fluttershy still said nothing, her gaze merely prompting the stallion to continue.

Red sighed and scratched the back of his mane. “Dawn was too detached. I’ve told you this before. I’ve told him as well. Ideally, with help from you and your friends, Dawn could have ultimately overcome that, opened his heart, healed the wounds on his soul, and moved on to a healthy and happy life.

“But again, Dawn is powerful. If a wound has healed over badly, the solution is often to reopen it and treat it so that it heals properly. In Dawn’s case, this would mean making him loosen the hold he already had over his emotions so that he could relearn how to deal with them. But for a colt of his power, that is extremely dangerous.

“The signs were already apparent. Had Storm here not stepped in, he would have cut off Cirrus Stratus’s wings, maimed and crippled another pony without a lick of remorse. That was the tipping point. The next day, when he snapped at that schoolfilly, was nothing more than a confirmation of just how close to the edge he was.”

“Why did you threaten him?” demanded Fluttershy, “Why did you try to kill him?”

It was now Storm who answered. “We did not intend to kill him in the literal sense. Drastic measures were called for. It was a gambit to reawaken his spirit. The purpose was to bring him to the very edge of defeat. Once there, it was a matter of giving his mind the impression that he had been ‘killed.’”

“You’re familiar with thauma-electrical defibrillation?” asked Red River, referring to the unicorn medical technique of using a magically-generated electrical pulse to restart a stopped heart.

Fluttershy nodded.

“In short, that is what we were aiming for with Dawn. Except, instead of his heart, we aimed to restart his spirit. Ultimately, we succeeded. The injuries that Dawn sustained show the limits of our skills as one more skilled than us would have been able to bring him to that place without injuring him so badly.” Storm Front lowered his head after confessing this. Red River followed suit.

Fluttershy studied them silently. These two stallions were, in a sense, apologizing to her for injuring Dawn. However, their apology stemmed from a completely different reason than the norm. They were apologizing for not being able to emotionally traumatize her son without injuring him severely in the process. That was their failing in their minds, not the fact that they had attacked him to begin with.

It was a mode of thought completely alien to Fluttershy’s own, it wasn’t a matter of being right or wrong. For these stallions, the notion of “right” in their own minds and hearts was different from Fluttershy’s. What genuinely troubled her was that Dawn had obviously understood it better than she had.

It was hard to describe the difference in the colt’s demeanor when he reawakened that morning. The only way she could put it was that he seemed...relieved...as though a tremendous burden had been lifted from his shoulders. It hadn’t taken her long to realize that his relief did not stem from the fact he had narrowly escaped (or rather, had been allowed to escape) death. While his personal issues hadn’t magically evaporated overnight, he seemed...more at peace with himself than he had before, as though he somehow knew himself better.

From the moment they’d met, it was clear that Red River and Storm Front had seen Dawn differently from the way she and her friends saw him. Where Fluttershy had seen a foal who, in spite of his strength and skill, suffered from a lack of love and affection, a lonely soul in need of comfort, the two stallions in front of her had seen him as a peer, an equal, someone who walked the same path that they did. They saw and understood a facet of Dawn’s character that she wasn’t sure she ever would. They had used that understanding to reach out and help Dawn in their own way, however sick and twisted it had seemed to her.

“I suppose,” she said, “I won’t ever understand what it’s like to see the world the way you do.”

“Probably not,” admitted Red River, “But we really don’t have anything else to offer at this point.”

“At that time, under those circumstances, it was the only course of action we could see,” added Storm Front.

“So what now?” asked Fluttershy, closing her eyes.

The two stallions exchanged a look. “Just as there were things that we felt only we can do, there are things only you can do,” said Red River.

“We helped Dawn our way,” said Storm Front, “But that was merely a start. I’m afraid that, now, the real work falls to you. Dawn is not such a simple pony that there is a single, simple solution for his problems. Even though we were the ones who took action, you are the one who truly saved him.”

“What do you mean?” asked Fluttershy, her eyes blinking open.

“Our gambit only worked because, within his heart, Dawn still held onto the will to live. He has you to thank for that. You laid the foundation for our success.”

Fluttershy could only stare. How had what had begun as an admonishment on her part turned into something concerning a counselor session? She let out a weary sigh.

“I don’t know what to say anymore. I’m not even sure I can stay angry at you. I-I just don’t understand any of this. I don’t know if I can trust you, or if I should ask Twilight to send you out of town. All I know is...” She stopped for a moment, a choked sob working its way out of her throat. “...You hurt my son.”

The two stallions exchanged glances, discomfited by her distress. “If that is what you wish,” said Red River, “We will leave Ponyville and never trouble you again.”

Fluttershy blinked and looked back up, surprised by the earnest conviction in Red’s tone. “Just like that?”

“If you wish,” agreed Storm, “Even if it is tangential to the reason for our hiring, your son’s well-being is important to us. If you truly feel that we do more harm than good then...”

Fluttershy blinked, her initial thoughts urging her to take their offer. However, as she thought, she remembered Dawn’s relief, the way he seemed more at ease with himself than before. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that these stallions had been able to offer Dawn something that she hadn’t. And yet...they had hurt him. She wasn’t ready to look away from that either.

“Alright,” she said softly, “You can stay.”

However, she leveled her gaze on them one final time, the force of the Stare descending once more. “But if you ever hurt or threaten my son again, I will make you wish you’d left.” The two expert warriors, who’d fought countless battles and survived numerous perils were left quivering wrecks. Her piece said, Fluttershy turned and walked away.

She was long gone by the time Red and Storm found the strength to stand up again. “That was...” said the azure stallion, his mouth working as he tried to come up with words.

“She’s strong,” was all Storm Front had to say, staring after Fluttershy once again, “Much stronger than us.”

Red River let out a mirthless snort. “Brings back memories, doesn’t it?”

“That it does,” agreed Storm Front, the two reminiscing briefly of the time that they had been subjected to the very trick they had played on Dawn, “I remember he cut us down with a single thought before we could blink. Yes, with a will that powerful, I’m not surprised that she’s never had to lay a hoof on another pony.”

The two shared one last glance before going their own way.

A solid hour of pampering found Twilight and Rarity reclining in the herbal baths. Rarity let out a relaxed sigh before focusing her attention on her friend. "Now then," she said, a hint of her previous intensity coming back, "Tell me everything."

"Everything?" asked Twilight, canting her head.

"Everything," replied Rarity, now grinning eagerly, like she had just found the most elegant-looking gemstone imaginable.

"...About what?"

"What do you think?" snapped Rarity, thrashing her limbs in agitation and splashing the water noisily, realizing she was creating a scene, she froze and directed a sheepish grin at the other ponies in the spa with them, as well and Aloe and Lotus, who were going about their rounds. Calming slightly, Rarity sank back down into the water and inched closer to Twilight, "I mean everything about this stallion friend of yours. It's clear that the two of you were very close in the past."

"Oh..." said Twilight, giggling nervously, "That."

"Yes. That!" agreed Rarity, sidling up to Twilight and leaning in, "You were practically ecstatic to see him again. How do you two know each other. I need details."

A sigh escaped from Twilight as she reflected upon what a hopeless gossip her friend was. "Okay Rarity, but I don't want you spilling all this to everypony else; got it?"

"Of course," agreed Rarity, nodding solemnly, "My lips are sealed. Do you require a Pinkie Promise?"

"No!" exclaimed Twilight before forcing herself to calm back down, subconsciously looking for any sign of a certain pony as she did so, "I mean, a normal promise is perfectly fine. I trust you."

"Excellent," said Rarity, sitting back again and giving Twilight a little space. "Now, continue."

Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself a little. "Well, Arkenstone was actually my big brother's best friend."

"I knew that much already," said Rarity, recalling their conversation from the previous night.

"Yeah, well...they were pretty good friends. Shining Armor had a lot of friends actually. He was a really popular colt back then. But Arkenstone was...different. You know how young colts can be. They think that having somepony's little sister with them is some sort of burden. I loved spending time with my brother, but his friends generally didn't like spending time with me, especially since I was so obsessed with books."

"I take it, Arkenstone was an exception to that," ventured Rarity, seeing where Twilight's story was going.

Twilight nodded. "Arkenstone was pretty much the only one of my brother's friends who like having me around. In fact, Arkenstone was always happy to play with me or even read to me whenever Shining brought me with him to visit his friends. And when Arkenstone visited, he often had a present of some sort for me, usually another book for my collection."

"It sounds like he knew you quite well," observed Rarity, muffling a giggle.

Twilight blushed slightly and sank a little further into the water. "Yeah, well I was an easy filly to shop for. All he had to do was find a book I didn't already have."

"Take it from me darling, that can be difficult enough. Even with Spike helping, I was nearly at my wits end trying to find you a Hearth's Warming Eve present."

"Anyway!" shouted Twilight, "I really looked up to Arkenstone. He was always so fun to be with. He would foalsit me whenever Cadance wasn't available, which wasn't often, but it happened. He would read with me, help me with my schoolwork, and just sit and talk with me. He'd listen to whatever I wanted to talk about, even if it was something he probably found completely boring. In a lot of ways, it was like having a second big brother." Twilight grinned, reliving her memories of that time.

"Is that all you thought about him?" prodded Rarity, "That he was another brother?"

Twilight lowered her eyes and looked away from Rarity. "Well...no." She admitted, "I was always happy to see him and really wanted to spend more time with him. I even pestered Shining constantly about when he would be bringing Arkenstone over. And whenever Arkenstone did come over, he and Shining always spent time with me, rather than just hanging out with each other. In fact..." Twilight's cheeks flushed bright red, "I had a crush on him, my first one."

"Really?" inquired Rarity. When Twilight nodded, she let out an ecstatic squeal. "EEEEEEEEEE! I just knew it!"

"In fact, he's the only crush I've ever had," said Twilight, "But then, we sort of drifted apart."

Rarity's face fell at the sound of that. "Oh no dear. What happened?"

"Well..." Twilight contemplated her reflection in the water. "You know how young ponies can be. There were these three colts who used to bully me whenever I went out on my own. Because of them, I hated going to the park, because they might try to take my books or my dolls away to make me cry. Then one day, Cadance and I were at the park. At first I thought it was going to be okay, since Cadance was there with me, but those three colts still came after me. Cadance's magic isn't much good for things like fighting so she couldn't really do anything to stop them. She and I could only watch as they taunted me and then...

"There was this blast of magic and all three of them were knocked flat. Shining Armor was in front of us. I've never seen him look so furious. He told them to leave and not bother me again. Those colts ran off with their tails tucked. And then, Shining got his cutie mark."

"I see," said Rarity, "But I don't understand. How does Arkenstone figure into all of this?"

"Because those colts didn't stop," explained Twilight, "They just got clever about it. Their ringleader was a pretty strong unicorn and he really scared me. They would wait for times when they knew Shining couldn't watch me and would jump me and start harassing me. They even started getting forceful with me, nothing that would hurt me or leave a mark, which would have given them away, but enough to terrify me. And they also told me that if I tattled on them, they would make things even worse for me. And I believed them.

"I still don't know how Arkenstone found out about it. One day, they were using their magic to actually toss me into the air and test how long they could wait before catching me." Rarity gasped in horror. "I was so scared I actually wet myself, which they thought was hilarious. When Arkenstone found me, I was filthy, crying and scared out my mind. He didn't say a thing. He just held me and let me cry, not caring how dirty I was. Then, once I had run out of tears, he took me home, put me in the bath and cleaned me up. Then he tucked me into bed and read to me until I fell asleep. The whole time, he managed to avoid bringing up what happened with the rest of my family. I think he must have told them at some point, but made sure they didn't bother me about it."

"That's so sweet," cooed Rarity.

Twilight nodded, a small tear running down her cheek. "The next day, it was like it had never happened. At first I was terrified to go outside. I was sure that those colts thought that I had told Arkenstone and would jump me the first chance I got. It was Cadance who brought me to the park. She nearly had to drag me out there. Those three colts were there again, but something was different. The instant they saw me, they looked like they had seen some kind of monster. They ran off and, to this day, I never saw them again.

"The next time I saw Arkenstone, he had his cutie mark. But something was off."

"How so?" asked Rarity.

"He seemed, ashamed of it somehow. It took me awhile, but I think I have the general idea of what happened."

"And what was that?"

Twilight looked over at her friend. "You know how Shining's cutie mark is a shield?"

"Yes," agreed Rarity, "That means his special talent is protecting other ponies from harm, correct? Just as he protected you from those bullies."

Twilight nodded. "Yes, a shield means defense, Shining protects others from harm. It even translates into his magic. Shining can do a shield spell like no one else. But Arkenstone's cutie mark is the inverse. Swords mean offense. Arkenstone's special talent was basically taking the fight to others and striking back." Rarity paled slightly at this. "I don't know exactly what Arkenstone did to make those bullies leave me alone. There wasn't a mark on them, but it seemed he had put the fear of Celestia herself into them. However, he seemed ashamed of what he had done and he...he started to avoid me. At the time, I was afraid he had stopped liking me. But now, I think he was afraid of himself and what he could do, which is why he started keeping himself at a distance.

"Not long after that, I saw Princess Celestia raise the sun and got into studying. Then after I got into her school, I spent all my time doing even more studying. It wasn't just Arkenstone, but Shining, Cadance, and even my parents. I shoved them all to the side so I could focus on learning from the Princess. And then Shining went into the Royal Guard and well..." she shrugged and looked at Rarity, "You know the rest."

"And what about your friend?" asked Rarity, "Did you ever find out what he got into. He told Sweetie Belle that he wandered across Equestria doing all sorts of odd jobs. Now that I think about it, it seems a bit suspicious."

Twilight giggled. "Of course it does. That's just an excuse he uses to cover his real work."

"And what is that, pray tell?" asked Rarity.

To her surprise, Twilight tensed up and looked around the spa. "Not here," she said, "Let's finish up and head back to the library. I'll tell you there."

Arkenstone drew many odd looks on his way up to the castle. He supposed that, even with the new cloak Rarity made for him, he must have looked fairly unkempt and poor, not the type of pony expected to be wandering around Equestria's capital. He was able to pick out several of the unicorn nobles by the expensive perfumes they wore, complemented by the scent of gold and jewels that they used to showcase their wealth. He could feel the sheer disdain they must have felt as they watched him continue his walk towards the palace doors.

For whatever reason, the train had arrived ahead of schedule. It suited his needs to arrive in the afternoon. Princess Celestia would be holding the Day Court during this time, which usually accepted petitions for audiences with her. Many were nobles requesting favors or entrepreneurs looking to showcase their newest products and promote their businesses. Then there were contractors and academics seeking grants. Throughout the afternoon, until the sun had set, Princess Celestia would meet these ponies one by one and listen to what they had to say before giving them her answer.

Strolling casually through the doors, Arkenstone met with a clerk to get his name put on the list and moved to take his place in line while he waited his turn.

Princess Celestia smiled as she rejected Duke Lingonberry's request to raze a portion of a National Preserve to make room for his next summer home. This was the kind of petition she had to deal with regularly from many of the nobles. They often selfishly requested to destroy the property of others, including Equestria itself, to satisfy their own particular vices. It was to be expected. After all, the nobility had little else to do with their time. She had seen to that personally.

It had taken centuries of careful manipulation, slowly stripping the nobles of the Court of their official power and turning it over to elected officials of the parliament. As a result, the Equestrian nobility had lost ownership of the land outside their own estates and lost the ability to pass laws interfering with common ponies. The tradeoff was that the nobles, particularly the unicorns of Canterlot, had only gotten more full of themselves in the meantime. They perceived their loss of authority as passing off the tasks once required of them to lesser ponies because such work was beneath them. While it suited Celestia to have the nobles believe this (so as to prevent them from starting a civil war), it did have the unpleasant side-effect of pumping up their arrogance to an almost unbearable degree. Only a small hooffull had seen what was coming and taken action, mostly to secure their own futures. Fancy Pants had gone into business and was now a major entrepreneur in Canterlot and other places. Celestia's own nephew, Prince Blueblood, had gone into governance and was now the Minister of the Treasury.

Aside from those two and a scant few others, the rest of the nobility were content to live lives of idleness and luxury, happily cocooned in the illusion that work and action were for lesser ponies. Celestia was certainly glad she had gotten this far before she had taken Twilight as her student. Things would have been much difficult for the lavender unicorn had the nobility still exercised any real power.

As a dejected Lingonberry left the throne room, Celestia's eyes swept over the nobles assembled to spectate. Many were tallying Celestia's decisions and weighing them against their own chances of getting their own petitions accepted. Others were watching rivals to see whether or not they could glean some sort of advantage from an audience with the Princess. Aside from the aristocracy, there were also journalists from many of the major newspapers from around Equestria, waiting in hope for some kind of juicy story to pop up amid the swirl of court politics. And finally, there were the commoners, ponies who had come here today just to see Celestia as she held court. Some of them lived in Canterlot, but most were tourists from out of town who had come to see Canterlot's star attraction. It was all so superficial.

Suppressing an urge to groan, Celestia turned to her secretary. "Who is next?" she asked.

"A Mister...Arkenstone," replied the officious stallion, wrinkling his nose at the name. The next visitor wasn't a member of the nobility and had no clear purpose. Celestia's secretary regarded meeting him as a waste of time. "He's clearly nopony of importance. Why don't we skip to the next one..."

"No!" The secretary was taken aback by the force in Celestia's voice. Instead of saying anything further to him, she turned to the assemblage in the throne room. "I'm sorry my little ponies, but I must adjourn the court here for today. All remaining petitioners on the list will have to wait until tomorrow." Turning her head, she whispered into her secretary's ear. "See that Arkenstone is sent to the private audience chamber."

The door to the library shut behind them, Twilight lit her horn and placed a privacy ward over the whole library. Beside her, Rarity looked on with confusion, wondering just what was so important that Twilight had to take such measures to ensure their privacy. "Now then, just what is it that warrants such strict security?" she asked.

"Like I said, Arkenstone doesn't talk openly about his real work," explained Twilight, "In reality, he's..." Twilight hesitated, looking nervous.

"Go on..." prodded Rarity.

Twilight steadied herself with a deep breath. "He's..."

Celestia let out a relieved sigh as she sunk down into the downy softness of the cushions piled on the floor. It was so much better than the throne she spent the better part of her day in. The private audience chamber was much more comfortably appointed than the throne room, as it was a place where standing on ceremony wasn't nearly as important as what the ponies who warranted private audiences with Princess Celestia had to say. Across from the table she was seated at, the large doors to the room swung open to admit her guest.

Celestia gave the visitor her most welcome smile. "Welcome back to Canterlot, Sir Arkenstone of the Celestial Order of Knights."

Author's Note

And so I post this chapter, in which a single throwaway line in the last chapter of FotF becomes important.

I had some serious tinkering to do with this one as responses to the last couple chapters left me realizing that I had a narrative hole to plug, hence the beefed-up conversation between Fluttershy and the two mercenaries that I put up in hopes of explaining the Blue and Orange Morality that is the warrior ethos at work in their actions, now that I'm painfully aware of the fact that my audience, by and large, hasn't had their opinion of the matter informed by a 900+ page treatise on the Way of the Warrior framed as a historical novel (where the main character, among other things, gets away with decapitating a child in order to win a duel [details available on request]). It's a notion right and wrong that is alien to what Fluttershy and her friends know, but something Dawn knows quite well because he was actually schooled in it. At this point, this is the best I can offer with regards to the rationale behind their course of action.

Arkenstone may seem shoehorned into the plot (It's pointless to hide the fact that, yes, he's obviously going to be shipped with Twilight in the far flung future. God, I'm about as subtle as a brick to the head sometimes), but his role was planned from the very beginning. He's actually going to hang around in the background for a while after the next chapter or so, as...other things are currently going on. He'll have more to do later. If he comes of as Gary Stuish, it's because he probably is. But I hope to deconstruct that as things go on.

Next chapter: Rainbow Dash stresses out.

Searching for Solutions

Chapter 4: Looking for Solutions

Rainbow Dash arrived the next morning to find Twilight levitating four different books at the same time. One hovered off to the left side of her face while the other three were arranged in an arc in front of her, their pages turning independently of one another as Twilight turned her attention to one and then the other. On the nearby table, a quill hovered over a piece of parchment, springing into motion to jot down notes at irregular intervals. A bit reluctant to disturb her concentration, Rainbow came in quietly as she could, shutting the door gently behind her. Twilight Sparkle didn't even flinch away from her work.

"Hey Rainbow Dash." Rainbow jumped a little at Spike's unexpected greeting as the little dragon leaned out of the kitchen and gave her a smile. "You here to check on Twilight's work?"

Rainbow nodded, one of her wings diving into its adjacent saddlebag to lift out a series of slim volumes. "I got the operational manuals Twilight wanted. I haven't read these things in ages. Where do you want me to put 'em?"

"Eh, just drop 'em by the preoccupied purple pony persistently perusing prose," replied Spike.

Rainbow suppressed a giggle and did as she was bid. Spike's time consistently by Twilight's side was showing plainly today. Trotting over, she joined the small purple dragon in the kitchen. "How long has Twilight been at it?"

"Since last night," he replied simply, "She's been crosschecking and analyzing from the moment you went out the door. I had to get a few textbooks out for her so she could brush up on her legalese, so that took some extra time. But otherwise, she's only stopped for a late night snack and I'm about to stop her for breakfast."

Rainbow's eyes widened. "You mean she's been up all night working on this? That crazy mare!" While Rainbow was used to the notion of Twilight having night-long study sessions, the fact that she was the one who had been keeping her friend up at night was upsetting.

"Relax," replied Spike with an easy grin as he set food out on the table, "This is what she does remember. And trust me, she isn't pushing herself past the limit or anything like that. When she tries to do that, she doesn't even bother with stopping to eat...or drink...or sleep...heck, she'd skip going to the bathroom if she could. I used to have to really put my foot down just to keep her from bringing her books in there with her. Nah, I've seen Twilight at her worst and this isn't it." He didn't bother mentioning that Twilight would have pulled down half the books on the shelves, whether they were relevant or not, in her frantic search for information. Ever since their little argument at the Sugarcube Corner, she had been much more careful with how she found what she was looking for.

As the dragon finished setting the table, a mischievous grin stretched along his snout as he thought of something. Waving Rainbow over, he grinned as he gave her some instructions. "Wait right next to the door so she can't see you until after she comes through."

Realizing what Spike was planning, Rainbow moved into position, snickering softly. Spike toddled over to Twilight and rested a gentle hand against her shoulder. Twilight stiffened slightly at the physical contact, but relaxed when she realized who it was and turned to give the dragon a fond look.

"Hey Spike."

"Breakfast's ready Twilight," said Spike simply, "Time to eat."

Twilight nodded. As she did so, at least a dozen different bookmarks levitated off the table and lodged themselves into varying locations in all four books she was currently reading. The books lowered themselves down to the floor and the lavender unicorn stifled a yawn as she turned away from her work and followed Spike into the kitchen.

Just as she walked through the door, Rainbow Dash's voice sounded in her ear. "Hey Twilight!"

Had Twilight Sparkle been in the proper frame of mind, she would have logically determined the fact that Rainbow's presence was within expected parameters and would warrant a much more sedate response. As she was not in the proper frame of mind though, Twilight reacted exactly as one would expect a sleep-deprived unicorn, who had recently been narrowing her focus to exclude any interference from the outside world, to react to an unexpected voice in her ear.

Which is to say she jumped into the air with a shrill scream.

Already, her mind was recovering from the shock as she landed, enough that she saw that Spike and Rainbow were both rolling on the floor, guffawing enthusiastically at the success of their little prank. While a little irritable at the joke, Twilight decided it was better to simply take it in stride. She chuckled a little herself when she thought about how her face must have looked.

"Very funny you two," she said with a wry smirk before making her way to the table. Once again, Spike had adjusted admirably and had managed to provide some extra food for their visitor. "So I take it you came to drop off the manuals," she said to Rainbow, who was finally picking herself up off the floor.

"Yeah," replied the pegasus, wiping a tear from her eye with her wing. She had needed that. A good prank made the mounting stress of her job much more bearable. "I dropped them off right next to you while you were working."

Twilight blushed and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I was getting so caught up in studying Weather Law that I didn't even notice you'd come in the door."

"Don't apologize!" exclaimed Rainbow, "You're doing this for me. I'm really grateful. I'd have never made it through those books in a million years and you're working on four at once."

"It's not exactly the same thing," Twilight explained, "These aren't novels, so you don't have to read straight through from beginning to end. You simply need to find the relevant laws, look up their clarification of terms, check laws that they reference, and so on..." She decided to stop there as Rainbow was already starting to look a little dizzy. "The fourth book was actually the index."

"So what'd you find out?" asked Rainbow.

Twilight's good cheer died in its infancy. "It's not all that good. I never expected pegasus Weather Law to be so...draconian. The only loophole I've found at all is to import our weather from another distribution zone. And you've already pointed out that that would be well beyond our budget. We could send a request to Canterlot for emergency aid but..."

"But what?" asked Rainbow warily. She suspected part of this extended from Twilight's reluctance to involve the Princess in mundane problems. Ever the good student, Twilight Sparkle considered calling her teacher for help to be a worse than last resort.

"But that could create problems on a wider scale. Other towns in the Cloudsdale Distribution Zone are having the same problem. If we all start petitioning for emergency aid, it would start causing serious economic problems in the long run.

"The emergency fund is meant for towns that have been badly damaged in natural accidents and disasters. Even a fairly widespread disaster of that type doesn't come close to trying to provide funding for an entire distribution zone. More importantly, it would severely increase the the workload on the other pegasus cities. They would have to produce enough weather to cover their distribution zones, as well as ours. And they would have to provide that weather to us for a significantly reduced cost because, by petitioning and receiving aid, the Crown would be acknowledging that we are in a state of emergency, which means that they have to do what they can to reduce the price of weather for us."

"So we would be asking the other pegasus cities to do a ton of extra work for less money," said Rainbow, doing her best to keep up with Twilight's monologue.

"And that puts a strain on their own resources. They would have to take more groundwater from the towns in their distribution areas, which could deplete their reserves very quickly. We can't help because we're too far away to use tornados to send water to any city besides Cloudsdale."

Rainbow frowned as she mulled this over. It seemed things were going to be even more difficult than she had thought. "So nothing?" she asked sadly.

Twilight shook her head. "I'm sorry Rainbow. But if we petition Canterlot for aid, other towns are going to follow our example. Soon, the whole distribution zone would be sending petitions to Canterlot. And what's worse..." She lowered her head,, apparently ashamed of something. "Princess Celestia..."

"You're worried she'll turn you down?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"No, I'm worried about the opposite," replied Twilight, "That she'll send our request right through, even grease the wheels for us because I'm the one who sent it. It's about more than pride. Things can get dangerous when ponies start to remember I'm close to Princess Celestia."

"Dangerous?" Rainbow Dash was confused, but Twilight didn't look like she wanted to talk about it.

Instead, Twilight ate some more food, apparently thinking the problem over in more detail. "Rainbow Dash?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Yeah?"

"Have you actually gone to Cloudsdale about this?" inquired Twilight, looking her friend in the eye. Now it was Rainbow's turn to look reluctant to answer.

"No," she replied hesitantly.

Twilight blinked. "Why in Equestria not? If you actually went to Cloudsdale, we might be able to determine if something as serious as circumventing the law is required to solve our problem. I thought you were doing everything you could to get things fixed."

"Well yeah...I am..." Rainbow's eyes suddenly found everything except Twilight's face very interesting.

"Rainbow...what's wrong?" Twilight didn't understand at all. While Rainbow had a certain reputation for laziness, or at least shunting her work aside for other things (true or not), she definitely wasn't reluctant to go to Cloudsdale for issues related to her alleged sloth. Instead, Rainbow seemed...frightened about something.

"It's just..." Rainbow cast her eyes about suspiciously, as though she suddenly expected ponies to be listening in. "I've heard rumors..."

"Rumors?" That was definitely odd. Rainbow Dash was not a gossip like Rarity was. It was very unusual for her to curb her actions on the basis of rumors.

"Yeah. I heard that the weather factory might've been taken over by tribalists." Rainbow lowered her head to rest her chin on the table.

Twilight's eyes widened considerably. "Tribalists! Are you sure?"

"No!" snapped Rainbow, glaring at her friend. "But...I'm...I'm..."

"You're what?" prodded Twilight.

"I'm scared okay!" Rainbow Dash leapt back from the table, glaring at her friend. "I don't like to think about what that might mean if it's true. The weather factory isn't producing any clouds but Cloudsdale's still cracking down on any place that tries to make their own weather. It's like they're trying to strangle the life out of the entire distribution zone."

"That's crazy!" exclaimed Twilight, "Cloudsdale is one-hundred-percent dependent on food imported from the towns in its distribution zone. You can't grow food on clouds and pegasi aren't sufficiently effective farmers to produce enough food to feed their city from the ground below it."

"Since when is being sane a requirement for being a tribalist?" muttered Rainbow, "Being sane would make it hard for them to believe their own manure about pegasus superiority."

Twilight frowned in thought. It was true that tribalism had its foundation in a certain degree of irrationality. After all, believing that one tribe, whether pegasi, unicorns, or earth ponies, was innately superior to the others was an outdated belief that broke down in the face of rationality and simple logic. However, one could be irrational and illogical and still have a certain degree of pragmatism. If tribalists had really taken over Cloudsdale's weather factories, then they might have had plans in place to make up for the fact that they would be stifling their own food supply.

"Rainbow, if tribalists really have taken over the weather factory and they aren't using it to produce weather...then what might they be using it for?"

Rainbow sat down and mulled over Twilight's question. "I don't know. But I'm not sure that I want to find out."

"Well...what do ya think?"

Dawn blinked at Apple Bloom's question, looking up from the short stack of pages to see that the yellow earth filly was watching him with an eager grin he could swore he had once seen on a manticore that had been preparing to eat him. "Um..."

"He thinks it's lame," growled Scootaloo, her irritated voice drawing his attention. Dawn noted the slightly embarrassed flush on her cheeks.

"Why don't ya let him say that fer himself," Apple Bloom growled back.

Dawn had to act quickly before the two fillies started to tussle. "Well, it certainly does seem fairly interesting, at least in concept," he said simply, turning his eyes back down to the pages, "Mare-Do-Well huh?" As they were eating lunch, Dawn had asked the Crusaders about some of the less strenuous things they had tried while looking for their cutie marks. Their answer had lead to him reading the story the three of them had worked on to try and get their creative writing cutie marks.

"It's great isn't it?" remarked a gleeful Sweetie Belle, grinning from ear to ear, "I was so sure we'd get our cutie marks in creative writing with that one."

"Oh please," griped Scootaloo, "Nopony with any sense would give that thing a second look. I can't believe you two insisted on being so mean to Rainbow Dash."

"Please Scootaloo," scoffed Apple Bloom, "It's just a story. It ain't like Rainbow's friends would actually do somethin' like that to her."

"That does seem grossly out of character," Dawn agreed, "Going behind her back to create a false identity just for the purpose of outdoing her and teaching her a lesson in humility..."

"Yeah, that's just cruel!" barked Scootaloo, "What kind of friends would do that?"

"Well, given the way Rainbow Dash was actin' she deserved bein' taken down a notch or two," Apple Bloom shot back.

"What are you talking about? She's a hero!"

"She was braggin' like there was no tomorrow!"

"Since when does that mean she deserves to be stabbed in the back by her so-called friends?"

"Since she started braggin' before she did the rescuin' and put ponies at risk 'cause she was too busy showboatin' to save 'em!"

"I told you when we started writing this! Rainbow Dash would never do that!"

"We had to get the conflict ball rollin' somehow!"

"By picking on Rainbow Dash?"

"Um...girls..." Dawn's soft interjection brought the two fillies to a halt just as they looked poised to leap at each other. The ebony colt lifted the stack of pages and gave it an emphatic pat with his hoof. "Fiction, remember."

"Oh right..." replied Scootaloo, sagging, her cheeks bright red.

"Uh sorry," Apple Bloom apologized lamely to her friend. Scootaloo accepted it, both of them embarrassed that they had gotten so worked up over an old piece of fiction. "So uh...what do ya think about it Dawn?"

"Well...as a story goes, it's amusing enough. But you might want to use pseudonyms for your characters."

"Pseudo-whatsits?" asked Scootaloo.

Dawn sighed before fixing the girls with a deadpan expression. "Fake names."

"Oooooooooh!" exclaimed all three fillies in unison.

Scootaloo paused abruptly. "Wait! Why would we want fake names?"

"Given that the ponies in this story are acting somewhat at odds with their real world counterparts, it might be best to simply give them different names and have them be other characters altogether," answered Dawn.

"What's wrong with using their real names?" asked Scootaloo.

"Well..." mused Dawn, "Do you want Rainbow Dash to read a story where you've turned her into a braggart who would put other ponies at risk by grandstanding while they're still in trouble?" Scootaloo shook her head vehemently.

Turning to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, "And would your sisters like to read a story where they basically go behind their friend's back, lie, and humiliate her simply in order to teach her a lesson in humility?" This too earned a series of vigorous head shakes.

"But what about the plot?" asked Sweetie.

"All things considered, it works," replied Dawn, shuffling through the papers, "But it seems a little on the silly side."

"See!" exclaimed Scootaloo, "I told you he'd think it was lame!"

"He said it was silly, not lame!" protested Apple Bloom, "And if ya hadn't insisted on writin' Rainbow Dash like she was the greatest thing with wings."

"Rainbow Dash is the greatest thing with wings!" snapped Scootaloo.

As their argument continued, it was Sweetie Belle who continued the conversation with Dawn. "What's so silly about it?" she asked.

"Well, after that whole bit with the dam, it's hard to believe that Rainbow Dash wouldn't be able to figure out that there's more than one Mare-Do-Well," replied Dawn, "After all, it's pretty much obvious that no single pony could be her if she has a horn one moment and wings the next. Unless of course, one of the Princesses decided to moonlight."

"Moonlight?" Sweetie Belle's head tilted in confusion.

Another sigh escaped Dawn. "I mean that she was doing the hero thing on the side."

"Oh," said Sweetie Belle, grinning sheepishly, "I knew that."

Dawn continued. “And then there’s a road that ends with a sharp curve at the edge of a cliff, Manehatten skyscrapers being constructed in Ponyville, the dam being weak enough that touching a hoof to a single crack causes it to shatter...”

With each subsequent point Dawn brought up, Sweetie Belle began to get more sheepish.

“But it’s still fairly fun to read,” admitted Dawn as he set the manuscript down, prompting a happy smile from the unicorn.

The two of them turned to see that Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had apparently giving up on verbal sparring and were now rolling around and wrestling playfully, though they were still arguing fiercely.

Dawn turned and looked over at Rumble, who had been sitting silently throughout the whole thing. The two of them shared a shrug and bemused expressions that showed they were both thinking the same thing. Fillies.

Taking another look at the story's title page, Dawn felt a little relieved to note that the girls were at least sensible enough to use a pseudonym for the author's name. But still...Merry Weather...why does something about that name strike me as odd?

"This is nuts!" exclaimed Twilight, slamming shut the large volume with massive finality, "I can't believe this. How could the law have been drawn up like this. It gives Cloudsdale a complete advantage in saying who can and can't make weather."

"It's a big deal," Rainbow pointed out, "Cloudsdale and other pegasus cities are dependent on weather production. It's pretty much the only industry they have. Every other business in Cloudsdale revolves around supporting that industry. Their whole economy revolves around being the sole weather supplier for this area."

"If ponies from other towns started making their own weather, then Cloudsdale's economy would collapse," remarked Twilight, thinking things over. The laws governing weather were indeed thorough. They even regulated the use of groundwater for irrigation purposes in order to keep earth pony villages dependent on Cloudsdale for their water supply.

They were interrupted by a sharp rapping on the door. Going over, Twilight opened the door to reveal a familiar-looking pegasus. "Storm Front? What's going on?"

"Is Rainbow Dash here?" asked the dark, cloud-colored pegasus.

"I'm here," said Rainbow, coming to the door, "What's up?" There was an edge of wariness in her voice. After what had happened with Dawn, Rainbow wasn’t completely sure she could trust the mercenary stallion who also worked under her as a weather pony.

Storm Front beckoned her with a hoof. "Come."

Rainbow gave Twilight an apologetic glance. "Sorry Twi, I gotta see what's up." Trotting out of the library, the two pegasi spread their wings and took to the sky, Storm Front taking the lead. As they flew upwards, Rainbow noticed that their flight was taking them in the direction of the Everfree Forest. Confused, she was just about to ask why when she saw them.

"Oh wow!" she exclaimed. The sky bordering the forest was now home to several small clouds, more than there had been the entire previous two weeks. If she and the other members of the weather team managed to gather this bounty, then it would give their next storm a much needed boost.

"Go get the others now!" she said, looking at Storm Front eagerly, her previous trepidation at being around him replaced with elation. Then she noticed that he was indicating something else. Looking over, Rainbow narrowed her eyes to look past the clouds hovering at the edge of the forrest. The sky beyond looked darker with a gray haze that looked suspiciously like...

"A wild storm!" Wild storms were storms that formed naturally over areas of wild weather like the Everfree. Normally, one of the jobs of the Ponyville weather team was to break up such storms before they could threaten the town. The heavy clouds were unstable and liable to shoot off lightning without provocation, making them extremely dangerous. However, such a storm also held the promise of rain, a heavy, life-giving rain.

Rainbow Dash zoomed in for a closer look, flying right up to the border. What she saw was encouraging. The storm was heading in the direction of Ponyville at a good clip. Even better, the clouds hadn't fully condensed, meaning that they hadn't started raining wasting valuable water before it could be used on the town. If the storm actually came across the border, then Rainbow and her team would be able to restructure it and turn it into a downpour that could blanket the entire town.

"Storm Front! Go drum up the entire team." Rainbow turned to look at the stallion. "Tell them we need to grab every single one of these clouds and get them to the holding area. Then we wait for this storm to cross the border and we wring as much lightning out of those clouds as we can before we set it up across the town."

Storm Front nodded wordlessly before spinning about and rushing back to Ponyville. Rainbow arced around and headed straight for town hall to inform the mayor. They would have to take some special safety measures, since a wild storm was much more dangerous and unpredictable than manufactured weather, but it was worth the risk if it could be used to alleviate the drought.

"How did I get my cutie mark?" Red River paused his work as he surveyed the three fillies and two colts arrayed before him. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo in particular looked up at him with wide, hopeful eyes. Red River couldn't help but smile in amusement at their enthusiasm. Given that they had seen the duel between him and Dawn, he expected them to be more wary. Indeed, Dawn hung back behind the little group of foals, waiting at a respectful distance. However, his relaxed posture indicated that he did not consider Red River a threat at the moment.

Given that one of their members was currently recovering from severe injuries, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had decided to default to one of their classic activities for days where harebrained schemes for cutie mark acquisition weren’t on the itinerary for one reason or another, asking other ponies how they’d gotten their cutie marks. Surprisingly, it had been Dawn himself who’d floated the idea of asking Red River. The ebony colt found himself curious of how a pony with a flower on his flank had ended up being capable of nearly killing him.

The stallion paused to deal with a customer, one of a steady stream of ponies who had stopped by the Apple Family's booth during the day. Big Macintosh had recently declared that Red River's work had increased the daily sales by a good thirteen-percent since he had started.

"What does that cutie mark stand for anyway?" asked Scootaloo, eyeing the purple iris decorating Red River's flank.

"Flower arrangement," replied Red River simply.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom stifled giggles while Scootaloo gagged. "Are you kidding. How can you have such a girly talent?"

"It's not girly where I come from," replied the stallion with a cheeky wink at the bright-orange filly, "In fact, it is a favorite practice amongst the warriors of my homeland."

"Warriors!" exclaimed Scootaloo, her eyes widening, "Really?"

"Yes," answered Red River with grin, "You see..." he was stopped by an insistent hoof rapping on his shoulder. Turning around, the azure stallion's eyes widened as he took in the line of five ponies that had formed at the stand while he had been talking with the foals.

"Um you know...perhaps we should shelve this discussion until the market closes," suggested Red River, "Perhaps you five could go out and bring in some new customers. Just try not to be too overbearing."

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom's faces spawned identical grins as the three of them shouted in earthshaking unison. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS APPLE SELLERS!!!"

Red River noticed that a startling number of ponies were now glaring at him quite angrily. Scratching the back of his head, Red River grinned sheepishly. "Perhaps that wasn't the best idea ever."

"I understand, I'll begin setting up the emergency procedures right away," said Mayor Mare as Rainbow Dash explained the situation. As the weather manager turned to leave, she heard the Mayor begin to mutter to herself. "Lets see, it's unfortunate, but we'll have to cancel the market tomorrow. I'll have to issue warnings to all the farmers to get their crops under cover, some ponies might want to take steps to fix certain items that the storm could damage otherwise..."

Leaving Mayor Mare to her preparations, Rainbow Dash took to the skies to see to hers. As she cleared the rooftops, she saw her subordinates hard at work, pushing the wild clouds that had wandered into Ponyville's airspace over to the holding area. The main storm still loomed menacingly in the distance, but hadn't condensed sufficiently to start raining yet. That was good. They couldn't afford to lose a single drop of that precious water.

Rainbow shot forward, gaining altitude, soaring above the other members of the team and passing over the Everfree Forest. From above, she moved to survey the storm and determine its size. It certainly looked huge from the size, but it took a better perspective. Fortunately getting above the storm confirmed Rainbow's initial assessments. The mass of dark clouds was immense. With a storm like this, they would be able to make up for the earlier period of drought Ponyville had been going though and then some, giving Rainbow the precious time she needed to figure out a better solution to their problem

Abruptly, a stray gust of wind cut across her path, sending Rainbow into an uncontrolled spiral. Working her wings furiously, she righted herself and turned to head back to Ponyville. That was the risk of flying over the Everfree like this. The wind currents were unpredictable and could change at a moment's notice. In spite of her daredevil nature, Rainbow knew better than to take chances at a time like this. After all, Ponyville was depending on her to get this storm. And she never left Ponyville hanging.

"Are ya gonna tell us about yer cutie mark now?" asked Apple Bloom, bouncing around on the ground like her legs were made out of springs, or they were borrowed from Pinkie Pie, whichever worked.

Red River chuckled as he pulled the wagon behind him, all but completely unloaded. The Cutie Mark Crusaders' efforts at pulling in customers had been...mixed at best. Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo could work their adorability to an excellent extent, but their excess of enthusiasm made them more than a little intimidating to some ponies. They chased off as many customers as they drew in. Only Sweetie Belle had met with unquestionably positive results, floating through the crowd with grace and poise that she had clearly learned from her elder sister, extolling the virtues of the Apple Family's products in improvised melodies. She had come back to the stall several times, leading crowds of drooling ponies behind her like sailors trailing a siren.

Dawn and Rumble had chosen to wait and watch as the fillies applied themselves with enthusiasm. Dawn was still slightly uncomfortable with large crowds and felt that his eyes were likely to discourage ponies, or at least distract them from listening to any sales pitch he tried to make. Rumble kept Dawn company, although his eyes indicated that he was more interested in watching Sweetie Belle work than anything else.

Red River chuckled as he hauled the cart towards the distant barn. "I suppose I can tell you now."

"Yeah!" exclaimed Scootaloo, using her wings to leap up in the air, "Now you can tell us how something like flower arranging is supposed to be for warriors."

"What's this about Red River's cutie mark now?" The five foals jumped at the sudden inclusion of Applejack into the conversation. The blonde mare had been waiting for the group at the gate, a small smile on her face as she watched the ponies approach. The foals had been so focused on Red River, they hadn't even noticed her until she spoke.

Apple Bloom was the first to recover. "Big sis! Red River's going to tell us about his cutie mark!"

"That so?" asked Applejack, moving up to where Red River was harnessed, "Scoot over." Red River slid to the side to let the mare harness herself in and add her strength to pulling the cart. Given how empty it was, Applejack's help wasn't really needed, but it would make it easier for Red River to speak while they worked.

In spite of seeming mollified by Red’s explanation outside the hospital, Applejack seemed slightly warier around him, her reactions to his presence more understated than they had been in the past. She seemed particularly tense whenever she saw him in the vicinity of Apple Bloom and never truly seemed keen to leave Red River and her little sister alone together.

Nonetheless, the stallion gave Applejack an appreciative smile before turning his attention to the audience. "As I have already explained to you, I got my cutie mark for my passion for flower arrangement. For you to understand this, I will have to go into a little more detail. You see, the type of flower arrangement I practice is done by the inhabitants of my homeland, Guoxia. The type of flower arranging they do there is much different from the kind that is practiced in Equestria."

"Wait, you're not from Equestria?" asked Sweetie Belle, blinking in surprise.

"I'm not," replied Red River, "Neither is Storm Front. The two of us immigrated from a nation to the east, past Saddle Arabia and Pachydermia. That nation is called Guoxia. And as I was telling you before, our idea of flower arrangement is a little different from yours."

"How so?" asked Apple Bloom, "Ah mean, ya just match flowers by color so they look pretty together and stuff like that right?"

Red River shook his head. "Actually not. The flower arrangement I practice is based less around color than it is shape. Not only are the blossoms important, but the stems and the leaves as well. In addition, it's an exercise in minimalism, doing as much as you can with as little as possible. Flower arrangement is a meditative exercise, a tool for calming the mind and centering oneself. Because of that, it was popular in the temple where I studied."

"Temple?" This time it was Sweetie Belle who spoke. "What's that?"

Red River chuckled. "Temples are spiritual places where ponies go to purify their hearts and souls. At one time, they were also places where ponies might worship gods in some form or another, although that is no longer as popular as it used to be. There are many temples, belonging to many different orders in Guoxia. And it is in one of those temples that my story begins..."

Author's Note

Welcome to my current headcanon for The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well. With this, I can say that the episode in question never happened in this continuity. One day I'd love to write a story that uses the same title but is instead a chronicle of the Mane Six reading the CMC's story and their reactions to it...once I can figure out how it would go.

Red River's cutie mark story, and the idea behind his cutie mark (Storm Front's too), was one of my main purposes for introducing his character into this story as the idea for the character originated from finding a way to illustrate how I perceive cutie marks to work in this setting. It may not exactly gel with the actual, canon definition of what cutie marks represent, but I'm okay with that.

Guoxia is basically the pony-world's analogue to China (and a little bit of the Far-East in general). The name is, in fact, the name of the only legitimate Chinese breed of pony. As I know next to nothing about the actual language, I wasn't really up for coming up with some kind of pun-based name for the place. Pachydermia would be the pony-world's analogue to India (and neighboring countries) and, as the name might suggest, is inhabited primarily by pachyderms. Knowing even less about the Indian language than I do Chinese, I was even less creative with this name. They only figure tangentially into the plot, though someday I'd love to explore some of the ideas I've had about these extra-Equestrian countries.

Origin

Chapter 5: Origin

Red River coughed slightly as they walked. “Perhaps I should give a little background information on my homeland.

"The nation of Guoxia was one of the countries settled by ponies during the Great Upheaval, where they left their lands to flee the chilling cold of the windigos. A small group of unicorns stumbled upon a land full of fertile valleys and glorious mountains. It was the perfect place for them to settle into a new life, free of the strife brought on by their tormentors or the other tribes. However, the land that would become Guoxia was already inhabited.

"The natives were a race of creatures called Lungs. The Lungs are actually close cousins of dragons. However, rather than breathing fire, they breathe mist. They also have the capacity to summon storms to magically enrich the land and make it fertile. Thus, with their help the unicorns could settle in this land without the aid of earth ponies or pegasi. They built a thriving civilization, revering the Lungs as divine beings.

"Eventually, ponies from the other two tribes stumbled across this civilization. And while the unicorns who had settled it were initially hostile, at the behest of the Lungs, they ultimately settled together in something close to harmony. The details of that need not detain us at this juncture.

"In certain secluded places, ponies built temples and monasteries, places where they could seclude themselves to refine their souls and spirits. It is said that a healthy soul dwells in a sound body. So it is natural that many martial arts were born in such temples. They also became havens for scholars and the knowledge they bore, transforming them into places of learning. Many of Guoxia's nobility sent their foals to the temples in order to learn and grow, while the acolytes made journeys to neighboring towns to educate the ponies there.

"Temples were also the places where abandoned foals were left. They took in any foal, colt or filly, and would raise them until they were ready to venture out on their own. That is how I came to dwell at one of Guoxia's many temples...”

"Ya were abandoned?" gasped Apple Bloom, her eyes glistening as she stared up at Red River.

Red River nodded silently. Feeling a touch, he noticed Applejack gently nuzzling his neck. "Ah'm so sorry sugarcube." In spite of her newfound reservations about the stallion, it was hard not to sympathize with a pony who’d lost his parents, one way or another, particularly since Applejack was intimately familiar with that feeling (recent revelations about her father aside).

The stallion gave her a bemused look before laughing. "There's no need for you to get so worked up. I had a wonderful life at the temple. Granted, it was a life of austerity and discipline. But us orphans never wanted for love and affection. The abbot was a fine stallion, who saw us all as his own children. He often described us as gifts from heaven and said that the parents who deposited us on the temple steps had given up a donation better than any coin. As far as he was concerned, we were the temple's true treasure.

“Many temples had become centers of the martial arts, places where their learning flourished. Mine was no exception. The ponies of my temple specialized in arts revolving around pole-arms, the spear, the axe, the halberd. We all studied and practiced diligently. I worked hard, but was a long way from the top of my class. After all, it's difficult when your talent doesn't suit it...”

The practice hall was a vast, low-ceilinged room constructed from hardy wood. The floor had been polished until it shown and the fibers of wood felt as smooth as glass. Over a hundred ponies could fit comfortably in the room's confines, but it presently held only twenty-one. Twenty of the ponies were arranged in a lose circle around the center of the room, while the remaining one reclined on a cushion near the front, his sharp eyes surveying the assembled students, dressed in the loose white robes that designated them as novices.

"Red River. White Willow." The old abbot's voice spoke with firmness and authority that belied his advanced age. His wizened face betraying a hint of a smile as two of his pupils took the field.

The two colts faced one another, each one bearing a simple practice spear topped with a padded ball in the place of the blade. They were silent, watching each other from a short distance, neither even twitching in the slightest. One was an azure colt with a crimson mane. At this stage in his life, his flank remained unmarked. But he stood with a surety of purpose that stood in stark contrast with his young age. Across from him was a different looking pony. This young colt was a rare albino, a possible reason why he had been abandoned at the temple, possessing a coat, mane, and tail of vivid, pure white and eyes of brilliant gleaming red. His flank was tellingly decorated by an image of a spear, the more lethal variant of the practice weapons that the two colts now carried.

"Present!" snapped the abbot.

The two colts lowered their spears. The two weapons crossed, coming gently into contact just bellow their padded tips with a sharp clack. At that instant, the two colts drew back, assuming a starting position, leveling their spears at one another. Again, they went still.

"Begin!"

The colts sprang into motion in perfect synchronicity, their weapons whirling and blurring. The spears quested for their targets, thrusting, slashing and hissing as each fighter struck with tip, shaft and butt. The shafts collided with impacts that filled the air with the sound of clacking wood at such a frequency that it seemed a woodpecker had taken up residence in the room.

The match lasted a scant two-and-a-half minutes before it came to an abrupt halt. One of the participants lost his grip on his weapon, the sharp movements of his opponent wrenching the shaft from his fetlocks and sending the entire spear upwards. In a single swift followthrough, the opponent brought his weapon to a stop, its tip hovering a scant inch from the other colt's throat.

Red River twitched and smiled before exhaling gently and carefully. "I concede." At that same instant, his spear clattered back down to the floor.

The other colt, White Willow, grinned with a hint of smugness and drew his spear back from Red River, assuming a resting stance while they awaited the abbot's verdict. Not that it was in any doubt.

"The winner is White Willow," declared the old stallion tersely.

"So this White Willow fella was yer rival?" asked Applejack.

"Rival is not quite the word I would use," replied Red River somewhat sardonically, "After all, to be a rival, you have to actually be a threat to your opponent's position. No matter how hard I tried, I never had a chance of besting White Willow. The spear was his ‘special talent’ after all."

"But then why were you always fighting him?" asked Scootaloo, "It couldn't be any good if you were losing every time."

Red River chuckled and shook his head. "You're young yet. You'd be surprised to realize that defeat can teach you a great deal. In fact, defeat can teach you more than victory. It shows you your limits, which allows you to overcome them. It also teaches humility, reminding us that, however far we've come, there is still far yet to go. Only a pony who has internalized such truths can truly reach the pinnacle of skill and understanding. In other words, you can only truly master something if you have the heart of a loser, so to speak."

"Heart of a loser?" Sweetie Belle eyed the azure stallion dubiously, "Are you sure you're okay mister?"

Even Applejack was giving Red River a perplexed look, not sure she was liking the notion of what Red River was saying. The stallion merely grinned and continued his tale.

"It's not as easy a philosophy as it sounds. And, in spite of the name, it doesn't mean giving up. I certainly never gave up. I challenged him many times and lost every time. But I felt that I learned more from those battles than all the hours I spent practicing and training alone."

"Where does your cutie mark come into this?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Ah that," replied Red River, "Flower arrangement was a hobby I worked on in my spare time. It was something the abbot taught me, a way to clear my mind and focus my soul, gaining quiet serenity from the hustle and bustle of everyday life..."

"Another bout another loss," said White Willow as he settled his spear onto its rack, "Shouldn't you just give up already, you're never going to beat me."

Red River gave his friend a slight smile. While they had been raised in the temple together and, indeed, considered each other to be friends, he often found White Willow's air of smug superiority to be...grating. "I do not require victory. I learn a great deal from our matches."

The albino colt let out a derisive snort. "I've never figured out that philosophy of yours. I don't get it. What good does it do to lose all the time?"

Red River shrugged. "That is difficult to explain to someone who has always been a winner. Someday, when you experience defeat, you might come to understand it."

With a nicker and a toss of his head, White Willow turned and trotted to the door. "Yeah right! I'm not gonna lose in a million years." His chortling laughter faded into the distance as the temple's top student took his leave.

With a sigh, Red River returned his weapon to its rack before retreating to his private quarters. They were austere, as a temple residence could be expected. A simple roll of fabric sat in one quarter. Unrolled into a mattress, it served as his bed. Aside from a few toiletries, Red River's only other possession sat in a small niche in the wall opposite his door. A simple bowl, resting on a tray, held yesterday's arrangement. With soft, delicate movements, Red River plucked the stems and buds of the day-old flowers and munched contemplatively upon them as he pondered the now empty vessel.

His afternoon snack finished, Red River left for the temple gardens to gather flowers to use in that day’s arrangement. Returning, he took a deep breath and emptied his mind, using a deft hoof, he began to carefully place the stems in the bowl. Lifting up a stem adorned by several small buds along its length, he contemplated it carefully. Strangely, Red River found that it resembled his spear...

"That was the catalyst, I believe," said the stallion as he and Applejack pulled the cart into the barn. Unhitching themselves, the two adult ponies moved to sit on a pair of hay bales while the foals arranged themselves in a loose arc in front of them to continue listening.

"So you saw your spear's shape in the flower's stem," remarked Dawn, speaking for the first time since Red River started sharing his story, "In other words, by practicing your arrangements, you felt as though you were gaining insight into wielding the spear."

Red River nodded. "That much is true. It wasn't a direct correlation. It's not as though I came up with some technique based off a flower arrangement. Rather, as I worked, I couldn't help but feel that wielding the spear, how it is held and how it is thrust, was a form of arrangement not unlike what I did in the bowl with my flowers. Taking it further, I realized that in the flow of battle, how I placed myself, my position and my stance, affected and controlled how my enemy responded to me. Just as a simple, tiny change in a masterful flower arrangement can alter the atmosphere of a room, so too could the tiniest change in how I held myself could transform the flow of battle.

"So I practiced. I ran through various forms, tested many positions and stances to consider how my opponent would respond to them. My countless defeats by White Willow helped me immensely as I was able to see how his spear moved clearly in my mind's eye. For nearly a month, I worked tirelessly on developing my arrangements. And at the end of that time, I put them into practice..."

"Present!"

White Willow smirked across at Red River, who merely returned an impassive gaze. The two lowered and crossed their spears as expected, retracting them into the ready position. Both colts waited patiently for the call.

"Begin!" snapped the abbot, his eyes watching the pair warily. As expected, White Willow was in top form. But something was off with Red River. At the signal to begin, White Willow snapped into motion, striking out with his spear. Abruptly, he halted his attack as his forward lunge nearly got his neck struck by the extended point of Red River's spear, the azure colt having used the thrust to slide his grip all the way back to the butt of the weapon, extending his reach beyond White Willow's. As it was, the albino's spear paused several inches away from the tip of Red River's muzzle.

Caught off-guard, White Willow retreated to avoid giving the Red River the chance to capitalize on his pause. However, Red River did not press, but instead assumed a new, somewhat unorthodox stance. Red River crouched low, his belly nearly scraping the floor as his fetlock held the spear steady, pointed upwards at an angle towards White Willow.

The albino colt hesitated, unused to the change in dynamics. Their bouts had always been brief, but fierce bursts of motion in which the two fighters continuously exchanged blows and counters in an attempt to gain the upper hoof. This strange stillness after the fight had already begun was a foreign sensation to him. "What are you doing?" he demanded as he maneuvered to try and find an advantageous position, "Are you going to fight or are you just going to sit there and pose all day?"

In response, Red River shifted his stance, adjusting his position and the point of his spear. White Willow did the same in response, shifting his spear to keep it in position to counter Red River's. Red River shifted again and White Willow followed suit. Slowly, step by step, the two colts worked through a variety of positions like some sort of stilted dance, with Red River leading. White Willow's patience was on the verge of running out. He considered rushing forwards to attack, but the end of the battle came sooner than he expected it.

Before White Willow had realized it, he suddenly noticed that, in responding to Red River's movements one after another, he had inadvertently shifted into an awkward position that made it impossible for him to respond quickly to the coming attack. When Red River thrust forward, White Willow rushed to get his spear into position to parry, only his grip was loose due to the awkward position. His weapon was knocked clear of his fetlock, sending the spear flying through the air. In another instant, Red River moved in and placed the padded tip of his weapon at White Willow's throat.

The silence was deafening. Nopony even noticed White Willow's spear clatter to the floor, all eyes having been fixed on the two colts in a position the reverse of countless bouts before. Never before had White Willow been in defeated. He had fought countless other students, many of them senior and superior to Red River, and had yet never lost.

"The victor is Red River," announced the abbot after a long and uncomfortable moment. White Willow hadn't uttered a word, much less conceded his defeat. It was a glaring breech in etiquette. But nopony said anything. The outcome was so staggering that they didn't even notice until the abbot had spoken.

White Willow did not concede, even after the abbot's announcement. Instead he glared angrily at Red River, who had withdrawn his weapon. "This wasn't a fair battle!" he protested, "I wasn't prepared!"

"You were lax," agreed the abbot, "But victory is victory and defeat is defeat. In real battle, that laxness would have ended with your corpse on the ground."

"In real battle there was no way I would have lost!" yelled White Willow, pointing an accusing hoof at the other colt, "How could I lose to somepony I've put into the ground a hundred times over?"

"In true battle, though you may seize victory a thousand times," said the sage stallion, "You need only taste the bitterness of defeat once to lose everything. Because you fail to understand this, you lowered your guard and were defeated."

White Willow slammed an angry forehoof into the floor with enough force to make his weapon jump. In a single smooth movement, he scooped up the weapon and leveled it back at Red River. "We will fight again and I will show that your victory was just an illusion."

Red River directed a questioning glance at the abbot, who gave him a subtle nod. "Very well."

"Present!" snapped the abbot. The two colts crossed their spears and returned to the ready position. However, White Willow's movements were sharp and impatient, betraying his irritation at losing.

"Begin!"

Again, White Willow sprang into motion, surging forward to attack. This time, he intended to seize the initiative and not give Red River the time he needed to get into position. There would be no slow awkward exchange of positions and stances. Instead, White Willow would overwhelm his opponent with the ferocity of his attacks.

However, Red River wasn't so easily beaten. Instead, he positioned his spear to cut off White Willow's line of approach, forcing him to shift his position to attack. But in doing so, he exposed himself and Red River lunged forward with a swift thrust of his own, forcing the albino colt to parry clumsily and stumble back. Several times, White Willow attempted to advance, only to have his approach stymied by a well-placed spear before he was forced to retreat from another lightning-fast strike.

Yet again, the state of affairs was different from the typical whirling clashes the colts had engaged in in the past. Red River's movements were carefully calculated to disrupt White Willow's rhythm, making him unable to shift into a sequence of attacks that would give him a decisive advantage against the azure colt.

Once again, the tipping point in the battle came abruptly. This time, as White Willow advanced, he anticipated the placement of Red River's spear. Striking with the shaft of his own weapon, White Willow attempted to knock the offending pole-arm aside and close in. However, Red River responded by stepping aside, using the force of impact to aid his movement as he shifted his own position, allowing him to continue to keep the spear between him and White Willow, who had advanced into his attack only to find that his target was no longer where it was supposed to be. This time, when Red thrust, White Willow found himself in a bad position, having to retreat in an awkward direction, his legs crossing, causing him to stumble. Again, White Willow brought his spear around in an awkward parry. But, as in the last bout, the poor positioning meant that his grip wasn't strong enough and the weapon was quickly knocked away, leaving him vulnerable. With nary an instant of hesitation, Red River placed the tip of his weapon at White Willow's throat.

Silence descended on the practice hall once again as the assembled students stared in awe at the seemingly impossible outcome. White Willow was frozen in shock, his eyes not even regarding Red River as he contemplated the fact that he had been beaten the second time in a row. His mental processes ground to a halt, leaving the albino colt completely unable to formulate a response.

For the second time that day, it was the abbot who broke the silence. "The victor is Red River."

The abbot's words finally snapped White Willow out of his daze. Heedless of the fact that Red River had not yet withdrawn his spear, White Willow fixed the other colt with a heated glare. "We aren't finished here! I don't know what cheap tricks you've come up with, but I will overcome them! Prepare for the next bout!"

"Enough!" The abbot's voice broke through the tension like a cracking whip, "Today's session is over."

"But Master!" exclaimed White Willow.

"White Willow! Return to your quarters at once and meditate upon your loss today." The abbot fixed his best student with a stern glare. "Perhaps if you reflect upon it, you may actually comprehend how it occurred."

"But..."

"Now!"

The finality in the abbot's tone quelled even White Willow's blazing temper. With a leaden, disappointed look, he recovered his weapon and moved to hang it on its rack. As he did, the abbot turned his stern gaze on Red River, who waited patiently.

"Red River. I will see you in my quarters immediately."

The azure colt bowed his head in acknowledgment before going to stow his weapon as well. That having been done, he followed the abbot to his quarters. The elderly stallion bid his young student to sit while he prepared some tea. Having set out the cups, the two ponies acknowledged each other before drinking deeply. Savoring the flavor of his drink, Red River let out a contented sigh before setting his cup down and eyeing the abbot. "You wished to speak to me Father?" In the practice hall, the abbot was the Master and their chief instructor. But everywhere else on the temple grounds, he was the Father, the pony who had raised them all from foals, whose love had enabled them to learn and grow into the ponies they were today.

"Indeed Red River," said the abbot with a solemn tone, "Today was a day of great accomplishment for you. However, it saddens me as well." Setting down his cup, the old pony let out a long sigh. "I'm afraid that today will have to be your last at the temple."

"What the hay!" exclaimed Apple Bloom, tensing angrily, "Ya mean to say that, after ya finally won and beat yer rival and all that, the first thing that ole' coot said to ya was to hit the road?" The other Cutie Mark Crusaders shared Apple Bloom's look of indignation. Even Applejack looked agitated at the notion that Red River's accomplishment had actually gotten him thrown out of his home.

Red River grinned and shook his head. "The abbot was simply doing the best thing he could for me. Let me finish my story and you'll understand."

"Leave?" Red River could scarcely believe the abbot's words.

The old stallion nodded slowly. "Yes. Those techniques you used in your bouts today. I did not teach them to you." That last part was definitely not a question.

"No," admitted Red River, "They were something I came up with while meditating upon my arrangements."

To his surprise, the abbot gave him an approving grin. "They were well done, if a little limited in their application. Your victory was in two parts today. First, your new techniques allowed you to play your strengths to their greatest advantage. Secondly, you knew your opponent better than probably any other pony in this temple.

"Those countless bouts and defeats against White Willow slowly but surely piled up like detritus on the forest floor. Your experience against him allowed you to understand how he would react and, through that, allowed you to control his reactions to your actions to your advantage. Against any other pony, you would not have met with such success. It shows that your technique is still in its infancy, but quite sound in its foundation, if that mark on your flank is anything to go by."

Red River blinked in confusion before turning to look of her his shoulder at his flank. Sure enough, emblazoned upon it was a purple iris, blooming proudly. He couldn't take his eyes away from it. When had his cutie mark emerged? He couldn't remember. Had it been when he had first conceived of the new way of wielding the spear? Or had it been during his bout with White Willow? Whatever the case, Red River knew he was no longer a blank flank. More importantly, he began to ponder his mark and its meaning.

"I suspect that, once you refine your skills and methodology, you will create a new form of spear-wielding that could become legendary. Sadly, you cannot continue your studies here."

"Why is that?" asked Red River, turning his gaze back to the abbot.

"Your mark shows that you were not meant to be constrained by a single rigid school," replied the elderly pony, "To be honest, White Willow has unmatched talent. Before long, I intend to name him the heir to the secrets of my school. His skills are technically perfect, but his development is unbalanced. Your growth seemed slower, but the results are clear. You have worked to develop the whole of your Self. That is what allowed you to triumph today against White Willow, who has focused solely on the technical aspects of my school. However, today he has learned the most critical lesson needed in order to advance into true mastery. Once he realizes that, he shall become a peerless master of my school. But you...you shall realize your full potential in the world beyond these walls.

"Do not think of this as punishment for defeating my prized pupil, because it is not. Rather, you have graduated beyond my ability to teach. It will be up to you to continue to cultivate your skills. Seek the world my son. Gather experiences and use every one of them to further your understanding of the martial arts." The old earth pony got to his hooves and lurched over to the wall of the room, where a selection of weapons were hung. Reaching up, he pulled one off the wall. "I have never been so proud of you in all my days, and you have given me plenty of reasons to be proud. Take this spear as my parting gift and a sign of my regard."

Red River bowed his head, blinking away tears as he reached out to take the spear from the abbot. "I am honored Father."

The abbot smiled and rested a gentle hoof on the colt's shoulder. "Remember, no matter where you roam, you are always my son and I love you with all my heart."

Choking back a sob, Red River nodded. "Thank you father."

"And that was that," concluded Red River, "I left the temple the next day. I spent many years traversing Guoxia, continuing to hone my skills. I participated in bouts in several other temples, as well as dedicated schools. I lost frequently at first. But with each battle, I gained further insight and experience. Eventually I met Storm Front and the two of us began to travel together. After two years, we found work as caravan guards, using that to travel across Saddle Arabia along the Silk Road, we immigrated into Equestria and made new lives for ourselves here. And that is where you find me today." The stallion spread his arms wide with a flourish, indicating an end to his story.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Rumble stared up at the stallion in unabashed fascination, having been swept up in his tale. Dawn regarded Red River with increased respect, while Applejack covertly tried to wipe tears out of her eyes. Only Scootaloo seemed vaguely put out.

"I don't get it," she said finally, "What does your cutie mark have to do with all of this?"

"Weren't ya listenin'?" snapped Apple Bloom, "He got his cutie mark when he beat that other colt in a fight."

"But his cutie mark is a flower," protested the pegasus filly, "What the hay does that have to do with fighting?"

"What does it have to do with fighting?" Not wanting to see her friends fight, Sweetie Belle took the opportunity to pose the question to Red River directly.

Red River gave Sweetie Belle an amused grin. "That depends. In a sense, you could say I found my special talent when I discovered inspiration in my flower arrangements. I taught myself a new way to wield the spear, based off the principles I practiced during my exercise."

"But what's your special talent?" pressed Rumble, “You’re story doesn’t make it sound like it was moving flowers around.”

Red River sighed. "I never truly understood why you Equestrians get so hung up over that. I've always thought that 'special talent' was a very poor choice of name for what a cutie mark represents."

"What do ya mean?" asked Apple Bloom.

A long stare met her remark. "A special talent...In other words, the notion that your cutie mark represents one thing that you are good at." Red River sighed. "Do you really believe that something so important could represent something so trivial?"

Five jaws hit the floor in unison. Only Dawn showed a significant lack of reaction, instead reflecting that he had heard something similar from his Master.

Red River continued. "In Guoxia, we had a different name for what a cutie mark represents. I used the term 'special talent' in my story because it is what you Equestrians are used to referring to it as. And indeed, there are many in Guoxia who view it in a similar light. But the abbot taught us another way of thinking about it. He said that what our cutie marks represent is not some specific talent, but rather they represent the passion that lies at the core of our very beings. It is the animus of our souls, from which we draw the truest expression of our Selves, True Will."

"Ah don't quite get it," admitted Applejack softly.

Red River gave the orange mare a bright grin, making her blush. "You of all ponies should have an understanding of this. I thought the story of how you got your cutie mark was one of the best examples of this philosophy."

Taken aback, Applejack blinked. "How so?"

"You once told me you got your cutie mark when you returned from Manehatten and realized that this farm and this family were where you belonged, correct?" Applejack nodded. "In other words, while one might normally interpret your cutie mark as representing your natural talent as an apple farmer, the way you acquired it instead demonstrates that what it truly represents, the driving passion of your heart." Red River's grin softened. "It's a mark of love. It represents the love you have for your farm, for your family and everything they represent. That's not a talent. That's not 'something you're good at.' It's your center, the root of your sense of self, from which you derive your direction in life. That's what a cutie mark represents."

Standing up, Red River waved his audience back away from him. In a swift movement, he drew his spear and snapped it out to its full length. "'What does my cutie mark have to do with my spear?' you ask. The answer is everything." As he spoke, he began to move, spinning and twisting his spear, its motions gaining speed with each sentence. "I have based my stances off of the shape of my arrangements. I see a battle as a matter of positioning and placing myself, my spear, and my opponent." His weapon moved like a living entity in its own right, spinning and whirling until it became a blur. The wind of its passage swept the loose hay lining the barn floor into the air.

"Even in mundane activities, my 'special talent' comes into play. When I sell produce and products at the market, I use the insight of my experience to arrange them much like I would my flowers, using shape and color to draw the eye, attract attention, and increase appeal. And that's only the beginning of what's possible." Red River's body was almost completely obscured by the whirlwind of hay around him as his audience looked on with wide eyes. "A 'special talent' is not something as trivial as something you are simply good at. It is what you make of it. It can be as tiny and insignificant as a speck of dust, or it can be so vast as to encompass all of creation." Red River finished his form by swinging his spear in a powerful horizontal arc, creating a blast of wind that made the ponies watching him shield their eyes as they were pelted by hay.

Recovering her composure, Apple Bloom stared in undisguised awe at the azure stallion. "So, are ya sayin' that even when we get our cutie marks, we don't have to be locked into one thing fer the rest 'o our lives."

Resting the butt of his spear against the ground, Red River favored her with a grin. "Does the fact that a compass needle only points north keep you from using it to navigate in any direction you choose? That's all a cutie mark is. It's a point of reference, a place from which we start. Once you find that, once you have that starting point, the full extent of your potential will unfold before you and you will realize the truth."

"What truth is that?" asked Scootaloo.

Red River settled back into a seated position. With his free forehoof, he pointed heavenwards. "That you are infinite. A cutie mark is where you start. But you are free to go as far as you want. Finding your cutie mark is merely the beginning."

"So by using a cutie mark as your guide," observed Dawn quietly, "All things become possible."

"Indeed," replied Red River with an approving nod.

Silence descended on the barn, now that the energetic voices of the foals were no longer there to fill it with their zest for life. In all that silence, the barn was not yet totally unoccupied. Two grown ponies sat silently, each alone with their own thoughts. Red River leaned back, smiling in a relaxed manner, clearly indulging in memories of his past experiences. On the other hoof, Applejack's manner was far more pensive, as though she had learned something heavy. A worry gnawed at her heart and ultimately compelled her to ask the stallion beside her.

"Say, Red River?"

"Yes?" Abandoning his reverie, Red River turned and favored Applejack with a smile.

She couldn't quite bring herself to meet his eyes as she spoke. "Ya said ya lived by movin' around from place to place. Did ya like that kinda life?"

Red River's expression softened and he turned his eyes to the ceiling. "I did. It was an enjoyable existence, roaming from place to place, always acquiring new experiences. It was what I needed to truly grow. I gained so much from that lifestyle."

"So..." Applejack hesitated, still unable to look at him. "So if ya like that way 'o livin' so much, does that mean yer gonna move on someday?"

"Move on..." Red River's voice trailed off as he considered it. "I suppose. I'm only here for the job after all. Once Storm Front and I are no longer needed, I suspect that we will return to the road and seek out new places." It had come so naturally to him that Red River had never considered the question of if he would be leaving.

"So that's it then?" asked Applejack, sniffling, "One day, yer just gonna up and leave and it's gonna be like y'all were never here to begin with. It'll be like we never met." A tear slowly ran down her cheek and dropped silently, darkening the dirt floor of the barn.

Red River returned his thoughts to the open road and the question of where his next wanderings would take him. To his surprise, he felt a tug on his mind, as though something were pulling him away from thoughts of his future travels. Deciding that he needed to clear his thoughts, Red River got to his hooves and made his way out of the barn. Applejack watched him go, but was unable to make herself follow.

Granny Smith smiled contentedly as she reclined in her chair, sipping slowly from the mug of cider cradled in her foreleg. The day was waning. In the distance, she could hear the chatter of foals as the Cutie Mark Crusaders made their way along to make the most of their remaining free time for the day. However, one of them peeled away from the group and slowly made his way over to her.

Dawn came up close and bowed slightly to her, the action hampered somewhat by the bandages wrapped around his body. “Miss Smith,” he said softly.

“Call me Granny sugarcube,” said the old mare with a chortle, “Ain’t no reason to be standin’ on ceremony with me.” She regarded Dawn with a careful eye for a moment. “Yer not wound so tight anymore Ah see.”

“I suppose not,” Dawn admitted.

“Better, but still not quite there yet,” remarked Granny, “Ya need to make yerself weaker. Ya may not be in danger of snappin’ no more, but yer still too hung up on keepin’ a lid on yerself.”

“I thought a lack of control was the source of my problem.”

“It ain’t that ya weren’t tryin’,” said Granny, “Ya were just tryin’ too hard to keep a lid on it all. Once ya learn to let it all go, the rest’ll come just as natural as water runnin’ downhill.”

Dawn blinked, still not sure that he understood what the old mare was talking about. He decided to come to his original reason for approaching her. “I wanted to thank you.”

“Fer what?”

“What Red River and Storm Front did, it was your idea, wasn’t it?”

That drew another cackle from the Apple Family matron. “Most ponies would think ya’d taken one too many knocks to the head if yer thankin’ me for that.”

“Perhaps,” agreed Dawn, “But in the end, I feel that you saved me from myself, from falling into something that I would regret for the remainder of my life, from snapping, as you put it.”

“Well, Ah just put the idea out there. Both them stallions that carried it out knew what Ah was talkin’ about. After all, they’ve been through it too.”

“They have?” Dawn raised a confused eyebrow.

“Darn tootin’. Ah actually had to go through it mahself. Lots ‘o ponies that follow the Way end up at some point where they come to a bad place. They ain’t all like you, with yer emotions all in a twist ‘cause of the abuse ya’ve suffered. Some’re crushed by fear ‘o dyin’, others get all arrogant and stop carin’ about what it means to take a life. In any case, one ‘o the most surefire ways ‘o gettin’ a pony to take a good, long, hard look at herself is to make her face death and find out what it really means to kill or be killed. A colt like you, who’s just suffered too much already, don’t deserve that kind ‘o treatment. But, by Celestia, did ya need it.”

“Again, even though it was a rather rough treatment, thank you,” said Dawn.

“Ya don’t have to thank me sugarcube,” said Granny Smith, “Ah owed it to ya to help ya, especially after what mah granddaughter put ya through. Ah always was a bit too soft on mah family. Ah never really did try hard enough to get those fool notions out’a Valencia’s head. ‘O course, Ah can’t do all that much about the family that lives out in those places. Most ‘o them listen to me when Ah have somethin’ to say. But to others, Ah’m just some old mare who’s too stubborn to die.

“Besides, we’re fellow travelers. Ah think it’d be only natural to want to help ya, even if Ah wasn’t doin’ ya any favors in the way Ah helped ya.”

For a moment, Granny Smith paused, mulling something over in her head. “Ah suppose ya want me to come clean with yer ma.”

Dawn’s ears actually lowered. “I think, perhaps, we should leave things where they are. I know she respects you a great deal and I wouldn’t want to undermine that.”

“Ya talk like Ah deserve respect fer what Ah did,” Granny pointed out.

“Besides,” countered Dawn, “It seems as though your own family is unaware of...certain aspects of your life. I don’t know why, but I assume it may be for the best to keep it that way.”

The elderly mare snorted. “It ain’t that big ‘o deal anymore. But Ah’d thank ya if that was the decision ya did make. It’s more tradition than anythin’ else.”

“Tradition?”

“Just one last thing ‘o mah own to take with me once Ah go to mah grave. Ain’t nothin’ mah kin need be bothered with.”

Dawn nodded slowly. Granny smiled at him one more time. “Off with ya whippersnapper. Yer too young to waste anymore ‘o the day with an old bat like mahself.”

The ebony colt nodded and turned to trot off. Granny Smith smiled sedately as she watched him go. “He’s gonna go places that one.”

Author's Note

So Red River's monologue got a little bit preachy there at the end. I think I read through a certain scene in Vagabond a few too many times. Anyway...

By and large, much of Red River's character, at least in the beginning, was shaped by the question of how a character could apply their cutie mark, their special talent, to situations that don't even remotely relate to it on the surface. What does a cutie mark for flower arrangement have to do with wielding a spear, or selling apples. Part of this came out of some the ideas I'd gotten while reading Smiling Flowers by TheBrianJ, with this concept emerging as a potential answer to the conundrum of Cheerilee's cutie mark that was raised in that story.

The story is also inspired by some stories about how real life martial arts were either formed or informed by rather mundane things. The Yoshioka school of swordsmanship (in Kyoto) was supposedly born from the inspiration of its founder, who was said to have developed a way to wield the short sword based on the motions used for dyeing textiles. Even Musashi, who I keep coming back to, had his, at the time, unique two-sword style inspired partly by watching temple drummers.

Next chapter: The storm is on the horizon and not just the literal one. Also, Caramel gets trapped.

The Storm

Chapter 6: The Storm

With the promised storm looming on the horizon, it fell to Ditzy Doo and the other members of Ponyville's post office to deliver the notices to various homes and businesses. The markets, as well as school and most other events that were to take place the next day, were closed in preparation for what could potentially be quite a dangerous storm, since it hadn't been prepared with regulation Cloudsdale clouds.

The weather team was set with the fiercest of preparations. Rainbow Dash and her team were in the thick of planning what to do with the storm once it finally blew out of the Everfree. The first job would be to wring as much lightning out of those clouds as they could before they began distributing them over the town and the surrounding area. The storm clouds would then be married with the gathered clouds from the holding area to produce as much rain as possible before the whole affair was over and done with.

Getting the timing down was the tricky part. They would have to wait until the storm itself had actually crossed over the border of the Everfree Forest before they set to work. And then, they would have to work quickly to bring it under control before it broke over the town. There was a great deal of difficulty and no small amount of danger involved, but Rainbow believed that her team was equal to the task.

Thus it was that, for all their preparation, a massive disappointment awaited the weather team as the next day dawned.

"No!" exclaimed Rainbow as she glared at the storm clouds hovering just inside the Everfree, "Come on! You can't just stop there!"

It seemed that the wind currents had shifted during the night, with the prevailing winds that had been moving the wild storm in the direction of Ponyville having changed direction. Now the storm was beginning to just slip along the border of the forest, gliding past, just barely out of reach. Even worse, to Rainbow's horror, the clouds had condensed together and she could see the first drops of rain beginning to fall.

The rainbow-maned mare ground her teeth together as she fought desperately to keep tears from her eyes. It's not fair! We need that storm! We need it so badly and now it's just blowing away.

"There's nothing we can do boss," consoled Thunderlane, "We can't touch those clouds so long as they're over the Everfree. We'll just have to hope the winds change again."

"We can't afford that!" snapped Rainbow, "Every drop of rain that storm lets fall is one more drop of water that Ponyville's crops aren't getting. We need that storm. If we let it sit, it's just gonna rain out all of its water."

"But what would you want us to do?" asked Cloud Kicker, settling to hover next to Thunderlane, "Cloudsdale will have our hides, not to mention our jobs, if we try to move those clouds out of the forest ourselves. It's not as though we can move that whole thing without touching it."

Rainbow went rigid, momentarily forgetting to flap her wings as Cloud Kicker's words struck a chord in her mind. "Without touching it." Resuming her hover, Rainbow thought over it for a few moments before the idea struck her. "That's it! Cloud Kicker, you're a genius!"

"I am?" asked the purple pegasus, somewhat bemused by Rainbow's praise.

"We can't touch that storm so long as the winds keep it inside the Everfree," explained Rainbow, "So all we need to do is use the wind to pull it out of the Everfree."

"You want to use the wind," asked Thunderlane, "But how?"

"Easy, we're gonna create our own wind current. It'll be sorta like when we pulled off that tornado." Rainbow grinned at the thought.

"Uh Rainbow," interjected Cloud Chaser, "We only got that tornado by drafting every pegasus in town. We don't have the marepower to generate those kinds of winds."

"We don't need anything that powerful," replied Rainbow, "We just need to create an air current that's gonna lead the storm out over the edge of the forest. Once the lead edge is past the forest boundary, then the entire storm counts as ours legally and we can do whatever we want with it."

Spinning about, she faced her team. "Here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna work in a conveyer belt maneuver to create a prevailing wind current that's gonna lead the storm out of the forest. I'll go first. The rest of you are going to pair up. Since we don't need a full tornado, we're just gonna go long and hard. We go out over the southern fields about halfway to town before cycling back below and repeating the process from the start point until we've got a good current going."

Raindrops raised a tentative hoof. "Are you sure we're going to have enough stamina for this. We still need to manage the storm afterwards."

Rainbow shook her head. "Listen up! There is no if. I don't care how tired this little maneuver makes us. The fact of the matter is this. Ponnyville. Needs. This. Storm. If we don't deliver, a lot of our crops are gonna go up in smoke this year. I don't need to go into detail on how big a problem this is gonna be. That's a job for an egghead like Twilight. It doesn't matter how tired we are. This is something we have to do. Got it?"

The rest of the weather team nodded fervently. Rainbow gave them a curt nod of her own in return. "Okay, form up behind me." Leading her team, she paused right near the edge of the forest before turning so that the storm was behind her. Then, with a powerful stroke of her wings, she pushed off, going as hard as she could using her pegasus magic to move as much air as she could with her passage. Two-by-two, the ponies in her weather team followed suit. Rainbow kept up the push until she judged she was halfway to Ponyville. Dropping down, she released her magic and looped back under her original flight path, keeping an eye on her team as the pairs followed over her.

Returning to the starting point, Rainbow once again began pushing as hard as she could. She felt less resistance this time, as the passage of the team had already begun to set the air into motion in the desired direction. By the time she reached the end point, she was beginning to sweat and pant from the exertion, but still turned around for another go. However, as she reached the start point, she saw that extra effort wasn't necessary. Her strategy had worked. There was now a slow, but strong wind current that was beginning to tug the storm out of the forest.

Rainbow watched its progress intently, half terrified that the clouds would lose momentum and begin to drift away again. However, the mass of dark condensation continued the move in the desired direction, until the first wisps of cloud crossed over the border of the Everfree. Turning around, Rainbow saw that the rest of her team had joined her. Favoring them with a triumphant grin, she shouted, "We did it everypony!"

A chorus of whoops and cheers met her announcement. Observing closely, Rainbow noted that her team members were looking a little winded. They had originally been saving themselves for the labor of dealing with the storm itself. That was going to be a job and a half. But now, they had already expended a good bit of their precious endurance on creating that wind current.

Rainbow let out a resigned sigh. There was nothing for it. Turning back to the storm, she squared her shoulders. "Okay everyone. Let's do this."

Rarity hummed cheerfully as she put the finishing touches on her latest design. Fluttershy's dress was now fully prepared and ready for her to wear it once her date with Caramel came around. Gently moving the ponyquin it was mounted on back to one side, Rarity looked around and began to consider the next thing to do with the remainder of her free time. Sweetie Belle was back with their parents. She had no outstanding commissions to fulfill. And, for once, Rarity felt as though she had exhausted the full measure of her creative genius.

Taking a moment to glance out the window, Rarity noted that the sky was beginning to darken. She could even see nearby trees swaying as the wind began to pick up. Furthermore, little drops of rain were beginning to splatter across the ground. The storm, it seemed, had begun.

Bother, thought the alabaster mare rather petulantly, I suppose this means paying a visit to the library to borrow a book from Twilight isn't an option anymore.

Her musings on how to occupy her time were interrupted by a flash of lightning before the sharp crack of thunder rattled the windows of her establishment. "Oh dear, I wish those weather ponies would be more careful with that lightning," she muttered, "Though I suppose that there's only so much they can do with a wild storm."

Once again, she jumped at a loud crack, or rather several, in succession. For a moment, Rarity wondered if her boutique was about to be blasted off the face of the earth until she realized that what she was hearing wasn't thunder, but somepony knocking on her door.

"Now who on earth could be out and about in such atrocious weather?" wondered Rarity as she trotted over and reluctantly opened the door. As expected, the door was nearly wrenched from her magical grip by the force of the wind, which sent a fusillade of raindrops rushing straight at her face. Squinting against the wind and rain, Rarity was able to make out a familiar figure, a tan-colored earth pony stallion.

"Caramel! What in Celestia's name are you doing out there?"

Caramel opened his mouth to respond, but Rarity cut him off. "Never mind! Inside right this instant!" Before he could even begin to move, the aura of Rarity's magic enveloped him and yanked the poor stallion into the boutique, Rarity shutting the door tightly behind him.

Not even pausing to take in his disheveled state, Rarity immediately turned and rushed upstairs to the bathroom, where she pulled out a spare towel. Rushing back down she wrapped it around the shivering stallion and began to rub him vigorously until Caramel had collected himself enough to do the drying on his own.

Once he dried himself, he found Rarity already setting a cup of hot tea in front of him. The tan stallion sipped gratefully as Rarity watched him. "Now then," she said, "What on earth were you doing out in that squall?"

"I kind of want to know who put a storm there today," groused Caramel, "I was just discharged from the hospital and was on my way home when this thing swept up out of nowhere. With all the wind and lightning, I didn't think I could make it all the way back to my house, so I went to the first place I could find."

"That's rather odd," mused the fashionista, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "I'm guessing that the notification about the storm somehow missed being delivered to you. I'm rather surprised no one at the hospital thought to tell you about it when you were discharged"

"Now that you mention it," said Caramel, "It looked like the staff were getting ready for something big. But it didn't look at all like the usual storm preparations, so I figured it was for something else."

"Well they'd have to use something other than the usual methods," admitted Rarity, "After all, Rainbow Dash and her team brought in a wild storm from the Everfree."

"What?" gasped Caramel, "Is she crazy?"

"Things have been rather desperate lately," Rarity pointed out, "Cloudsdale hasn't been sending us any clouds. This has been the first time in a while that Ponyville has gotten a good storm."

"That 'good storm' hasn't exactly been very good to me," groused the stallion.

"Well, you're quite fortunate that you found your way here," said Rarity, refilling Caramel's cup, "The last thing we want is for you to wind up back in the hospital after you just got out. Poor Fluttershy. Things must be difficult for her, what with the males in her life having such a strong tendency towards getting themselves battered to the point of falling to pieces."

Caramel blushed at the mention of the yellow pegasus' name. "I didn't exactly mean to end up in the hospital," he protested weakly.

He was answered by a low chuckle from the fashionista. "Oh I know. I was just teasing you. We're all quite looking forward to your little date with her. I myself just put the finishing touches on Fluttershy's dress. I assure you that once she's ready, you won't be able to take your eyes off her."

Caramel's eyes widened as the blush on his cheeks grew in intensity. "D-d-dr-dress," he stammered nervously.

"Oh yes. Hmm." Rarity put a hoof to her lips as she sized up the nervous stallion. "Although, now that I think about it, you don't really have anything of your own to wear. Oh this won't do at all." A slightly manic grin spread across her face, making poor Caramel quake in his hooves. "Now that I think about it, this is the perfect opportunity. You just happened to drop in here during the storm and won't be able to leave until it passes. I currently have nothing to occupy my time with. Oh this is perfect. I'll make you a suit to make dear Fluttershy swoon!"

Before Caramel could utter a syllable, Rarity had already yanked him up with her magic and set him up on one of her stands. Before his very eyes, he saw rolls of fabric begin to move on their own as Rarity's magic swept it up to swirl around them while she compared colors and patterns against his coat and mane. At the same time, he saw her power drawing out needles, measuring tape, scissors, and other implements of destruction.

"Now then," declared Rarity, the husky excitement in her voice making Caramel gulp, "Let's get started."

"Come on Spike, just a little," prodded Twilight Sparkle, levitating a spoonful of viscous purple fluid up before the irritable drake.

"No! I've already told you Twilight, I'm not sick. It's just some aching that I'm sure is gonna pass." Spike had been dealing with a near constant throbbing ache emerging from between his shoulders for some time. However, this morning had seen it grow in intensity, to the point where Spike could scarcely move his arms or bend his back without grunting in pain.

Naturally, the condition of her little assistant had drove Twilight nearly to a nervous breakdown as she tried to desperately find out what was wrong with him. However, none of the tomes she had consulted had any information on what kind of pain her dragon was suffering...when her tomes had information on dragons at all. Not for the first time, Twilight found herself cursing the lack of information ponykind had on dragons, particularly their physiology. She figured her best bet would be to talk to Zecora. Unfortunately, Rainbow's storm had put a block on that plan for the time being, leaving Twilight locked in the library, alone with her worries...and Spike, of course.

Spike grunted as he moved to sit in a chair that he had set facing the window. Watching a storm was a favorite pastime of his, and one he hoped to make the most of. It was unfortunate that his current pains and Twilight's overbearing sense of concern were making the activity somewhat less enjoyable.

Finally bowing to her assistant's stubbornness, Twilight put the medicine away with a sigh before going to sit next to him. "I'm sorry Spike," she said gently, reaching over with a light hoof to pat his back, "I just worry. We know so little about dragons and I'm afraid that any little problem you have is going to end up being something life threatening." Rubbing a gentle hoof across his back, she looked down and sighed. "I'm terrified," she admitted, "I'm afraid that this is going to be one of those problems where it looks like nothing at first and we'll just ignore it. Then I'll wake up one morning and, all of a sudden, you'll be..."

Spike smiled and reached over, running his claws through Twilight's mane, gently scratching her neck in the way he knew she liked. "It's okay," he said in his most encouraging tone, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be fine, you'll see."

Twilight smiled until her hoof reached the space between Spike's shoulders. There, under his skin, just barely perceptible, were a pair of lumps. A frown spread across her face as she pressed down slightly to feel the lumps more carefully.

"Um Twilight?" asked Spike, feeling her hoof pressing down on his back, right at the source of his current pain. Fortunately, the pressure wasn't actually aggravating it. But, for some reason, Spike was feeling her hoof much more acutely than he normally would.

"Spike," whispered Twilight, "There's something growing out of your back."

The little dragon went rigid, his eyes widening. He had been shrugging off Twilight's fears as baseless, but now he was beginning to wonder if she wasn't onto something. "What are they?" he asked a little more frantically than he intended.

"I don't know!" exclaimed the lavender unicorn frantically, "None of my books have anything on this. We know the doctor and the veterinarian can't help us. They don't know anything on dragons either. That means, there's only one we can turn to."

The two turned and looked at each other, the word leaving their mouths at the same time. "Zecora!"

"But how?" asked Spike, taking a look out the window, "We really don't want to be out in that now."

"Let me think." Twilight was beginning to pace back and forth. Her mind was presently running the numbers as she began to try and figure how far her teleportation spell could take her. "I think I can teleport us most of the way there. Rainbow Dash and her team are going to be keeping the storm over Ponyville and the farmers' fields right now, so we should be safe once we're near the edge of the Everfree.

"Safe is a loaded word around the Everfree," grumbled Spike.

"No time! Let's go!" Twilight's horn blazed, surrounding the pair in violet light before winking out, leaving the library completely empty.

"Flitter!" snapped Rainbow, "Get that one over there, it's starting to build up a charge." The green-maned mare quickly moved to do as she had been ordered, swooping down on the rapidly darkening cloud and giving it a powerful buck, causing the cloud in question to spit a bolt of lightning with a loud crack. Blossomforth spotted another one and rushed in to do the same.

"Storm Front, keep those clouds from stacking up," ordered Rainbow, pointing to where a group of clouds were beginning to merge together and stretch upward into the air, "The last thing we want is this turning into a hailstorm."

Spotting several clouds of her own, Rainbow rushed to each in turn, bucking the lightning out of them, tamping them down to stop further buildup and the other general work needed to keep the storm under control. The weather team had been working nonstop for the past four hours, constantly in motion in a desperate attempt to keep the wild storm from becoming outright destructive. The fact that the clouds weren't manufactured meant that their behavior was wildly unpredictable. That translated into ceaseless labor for the weather team to keep the whole thing under control.

After finishing with the clouds she spotted, Rainbow designated several trouble spots for the other members of her team. She then picked out a few for herself and got back to work, repeating the pattern that had been going on for most of the day. Rainbow found herself grateful for the time she had spent at the Wonderbolts Academy, the intense training there having done wonders for her stamina. Several members of her team had also been in her class and were showing the fruits of their own training. But the constant demand of the storm was beginning to take its toll. The entire group was sweating and breathing hard. Several of them looked to be on the verge of collapse. Rainbow frowned at her poor judgment. She should have broken them into shifts so that the groups could change out and get some rest. Of course, that meant that each group would have that much more to do for the duration of their shift. But that would still have been better than trying to keep the entire team going for the duration of the storm.

Well, it's gonna be hard, she thought ruefully, But I'm gonna have to start putting them on shifts now. The ponies who are still working are gonna have to push it a little while longer, then they can switch out. Rainbow mentally began to make a list of the ponies to give the first rest to, focusing on ones she knew to be at the end of their endurance, until she had about a third of the weather team. She figured three rotations would be enough to give her subordinates some rest while the extra work didn't overwhelm those who remained.

She opened her mouth, about to call out the first set of names, when a cough startled her from behind.

"Miss Rainbow Dash I presume," declared an officious voice. Rainbow swore she could here the contempt that practically dripped from the stallion hovering behind her.

Biting down a swear, Rainbow turned around to face the pony directly behind her. "Yeah that's me."

The stallion was a grayish-blue with a darker blue mane. He was dressed in a finely tailored suit that made allowance for his wings. He looked to be perfectly groomed, with not a single hair out of place, making him stand in sharp contrast to the sweaty disheveled mare hovering in front of him. At her response, he wrinkled his nose, as though trying to ignore a bad smell.

"Miss Dash, I am here on behalf of the Cloudsdale Weather Bureau to inquire about this storm," he explained, "We noticed it a few hours ago, but never received any forms requesting authorization of said storm. Perhaps you would like to explain where you got your clouds from."

"Yeah," replied Rainbow, more than a little irritated at the interruption. That was just like those bureaucrats, sending someone to question her right in the middle of an important job. She couldn't afford to deal with this snooty suit right now. "I'll answer your questions in a minute. I've got some things to take care of with my team."

"No," declared the suited pegasus imperiously, "You will answer my questions now. I didn't come all the way from Cloudsdale to be kept waiting by a ground-level weather pony.

"Well too bad, I'm busy," snapped Rainbow, shooting off before the inspector could say another word. The officious stallion bared his teeth and flew away.

Gathering up her team, Rainbow quickly laid out the rotation plan. Things went over well and she was glad to see some of her team get some rest. From then on, she was in the thick of it, doing her best to make up for the lost hooves, now that her team would be perpetually down to only two-thirds of its strength at a given time.

"Twilight Sparkle, my friend so dear. What, pray tell, brings you here?"

Twilight couldn't help but smile at Zecora's usual rhyming speech. Something about the rhythmic cadence of the zebra's words put her heart at ease just by hearing it. "Zecora, Spike's been having some problems lately."

Zecora backed up, looking around warily. "I hope too much I do read. Has he again submitted to his greed?"

Twilight shook her head vigorously. "No no, he's right here." Turning around, she showed that Spike was settled rather uncomfortably on her back. The trip had been anything but comfortable for him, given that Twilight's gait couldn't be called smooth by any means, which only served to jolt his back with every step she took.

"Hey Zecora," said the little dragon, giving her a half-hearted wave.

"Come inside and do speak," instructed Zecora, "Tell me why my help you seek."

Twilight and Spike followed Zecora into her home. Twilight set about explaining the situation, Spike's pains, and her discovery of the two lumps between his shoulders. When she finished, Zecora said nothing, but proceeded to give the dragon her own examination, which consisted of gently prodding the lumps on his back, checking the inside of his mouth, and blowing a hooffull of powder over him, making the little dragon sneeze. When she finished, Zecora turned to Twilight with a smile.

"My friend, glad tidings I do bring, for your young dragon will soon take wing."

Twilight's jaw dropped. "What? Are you saying that those lumps are...Spike's wings?"

Zecora nodded sagely. "They are in the proper place for such things. What could they be, but a pair of wings?"

Spike was also gaping at this revelation. "Wings...I'm gonna have wings."

Twilight barely noticed her assistant's growing elation. She was already pacing around Zecora's home, completely lost in thought as she muttered to herself. "This is unprecedented. How could a dragon's wings just grow in partway through its life? All other non-insect animals that I know of that are going to have wings are just born with them. Is this some unique trait to dragons? I have to chronicle their growth. The boon to the scientific community could be unprecedented..."

A wary Zecora watched as Twilight continued her low volume tirade before turning to Spike. "It makes me dizzy, to see your friend in a tizzy."

Spike shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh, that's just what she does."

It took hours, but the storm was finally running out of steam. Even so, Rainbow Dash kept her team at it, doing her best to ensure that they wrung every single drop of precious water out of those clouds that they could. And then, it was finally over. The last wisps of clouds began to fade away, leaving a thoroughly soaked Ponyville behind them. Rainbow looked down at her handiwork and grinned. In spite of all the close calls, the damage was minimal. Some roofs had lost shingles and a few trees had been damaged by the wind. A couple were split by errant lightning strikes. But, all in all, her team had done an excellent job keeping on top of things and preventing the storm from doing too much damage.

What would really be nice would be getting some cloud cover so that the water has time to soak into the ground instead of just evaporating away. Rainbow hoped that the sheer level of saturation would ensure that the water managed to do some good before the sun dried it up. Looking about, she noticed that it was late afternoon and getting on towards evening. Even with the sky cleared, it was noticeably cool out. That was good. The water would have the night to soak in before the sun came out the next day.

Rainbow blew a sharp whistle, calling her team to her. "Alright everypony! Great job today. You guys are totally awesome and you should be proud of the work you did." With each word, Rainbow felt her strength ebb. Her wings seemed to be getting strangely heavy. "You guys are dismissed for the night. Get...some...rest..."

As though overly eager to take her own advice, Rainbow's wings gave out and she felt herself began to fall. Fortunately, she didn't have enough time to start gathering speed before she felt herself settle on somepony's back. Feeling the soft silk shirt he wore, Rainbow realized that Storm Front had been the one to catch her. However, she didn't have the strength to care, the world around her dissolving into a haze, from which she could only barely make out the voices of the ponies around her.

"Geez, she's out like a light," came Cloud Kicker's voice.

"Can you blame her?" asked Thunderlane, "She didn't take a single break the whole time and she was doing what...the work of five ponies at once."

"No kidding," commented Cloud Chaser, "I know Rainbow Dash loves to push herself, but this is crazy."

"But she wouldn't be the boss if she were any other way," declared Thunderlane proudly, "Hey Storm Front, you know how to treat Wing Exhaustion right?"

"Yes," replied Storm Front from beneath Rainbow, "I'll take her back to her home and treat her there."

Rainbow wanted to protest that she was fine, but her grip on reality was slowly slipping away. She only barely felt Storm Front's body slip into motion before she was gone.

As the clouds dispersed, the rays of the late afternoon sun streamed through, shining down on Ponyville. The town had definitely looked better. There was a large quantity of litter and debris that had been knocked loose by the heavy storm. But all the homes were intact and nopony had suffered injury, thanks to the notices that had been distributed the previous day.

Meanwhile, in a cottage on the outskirts of town, a black pegasus colt looked out the window, his blue-green catlike eyes surveying the storm's aftermath. "It seems to be over," he observed before turning to his mother, still curled up on the couch.

Fluttershy shakily raised her head, giving the room an uncertain look before her eyes focused on the sunlight, visible through the open window. "Oh, is it really?" Looking around, she made an effort to get to her hooves and stand up, but her legs were still shaky from an excess of tension. "I-I need to get to the kitchen and get started on dinner."

Dawn turned away from the window trotted back to her side. Gently he nuzzled her, pushing her lightly back down onto the couch. "Not yet," he said softly, climbing up and curling up against her, "Just rest for a moment."

To say that Fluttershy hadn't taken the powerful storm well would be an understatement. The howling winds and frequent (not to mention loud) claps of thunder that rattled the walls and ceiling of the house had put her in a state of distress that could only have been surpassed by a visit from a full-grown dragon. Fluttershy had spent most of the storm curled up on the couch, quivering and shrieking at every crack and flash of lightning. Dawn had done his best to comfort her. However, given the extent of his injuries and the fact that he was fairly small meant that there was little he could do. He couldn't wrap a comforting wing around Fluttershy the way she could him. And, given his condition, offering his body up as a stress pillow for Fluttershy to hug would have had problematic effects on his injuries.

Surprisingly, it was Angel who had come up with a solution to the problem, having been the one who needed to deal with Fluttershy's fears during previous storms. The small white rabbit solemnly presented Dawn with the tool that had seen him and his mistress through innumerable storms, a hairbrush. Nothing calmed and comforted Fluttershy like the feeling of her mane and tail being brushed, bringing up memories of her time at home with her loving and affectionate mother.

And so, Dawn had brushed Fluttershy's mane and tail for hours, working slowly and deliberately, trying his best to be gentle with his mother. Fluttershy, lulled into a more relaxed state by the feeling of the bristles pulling through her mane, was able to get herself under control so that small squeaks were the only response she had the the thunder and wind.

While Dawn's efforts had kept Fluttershy calm, her body had remained tensed through the whole ordeal. Now that the storm was finally over, relaxing those muscles had caused them to give out. There was no question that she needed real rest before she tried resuming regular activities. However, she still keenly felt her responsibilities to her son. But Dawn would hear nothing of it, instead using his own body as a block to keep Fluttershy on the couch. Sensing that he wouldn't be budged until he was satisfied that she was properly rested, Fluttershy sighed and lowered her head until it rested near Dawn's. Her ears took in the soft sound of the colt's breathing, while the gentle rise and fall of his side against hers seemed like a pleasant massage. With a slight smile, Fluttershy felt herself drift off into a peaceful sleep.

Author's Note

For the record, I hate writing Zecora. Not because she's a bad character or anything. She's a pretty versatile one with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I'm about as inclined towards writing poetry as a crocodile is towards vegetarianism. I can rhyme well enough, but I'm too lazy to bother with meter, so I always get the feeling that anyone who genuinely appreciates poetry would probably find my attempts to write Zecora's dialogue the literary equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. Because of this, expect her appearances in this tale to be extremely sparse.

Rainbow Dash finally gets the chance to be awesome. With all that Dawn does in the story, it's nice to occasionally let him step aside and allow RD to show why she's Weather Manager, Best Young Flier, and top-grade Wonderbolt material for a little while (while Dawn gets snuggle-time with Fluttershy, so everypony's happy). As it is, this story arc is actually more hers than it is Dawn's in a sense, as it's Rainbow Dash's past that's gonna be coming to the forefront in the next few chapters.

And yep, Spike's growing wings, not that everybody who hasn't been following this hadn't already guessed that a story and a half ago.

Next chapter: Rainbow Dash is in trouble.

Arrest

Chapter 7: Arrest

The first thing Rainbow Dash was aware of was that she hurt...everywhere. Her body was a single giant mass of constant aches. The second thing she was aware of was that, even though she was awake, she felt ridiculously tired, like she hadn't slept at all. She wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but her own body seemed to be against the idea, with its prolonged agony keeping her from settling down. To make matters worse, her stomach decided to join in on the fun and assault Rainbow with a single clear and concise revelation. She was starving.

Slowly, painfully, Rainbow's eyes crawled opened, feeling like they had been glued shut. As she did, she found herself resisting the urge to squint as the ambient light of her surroundings assaulted her sense of vision. Rainbow squeezed her eyes shut with an angry groan, before forcing them back open, the effort only serving to worsen her suffering. This is so not fair, she griped to herself, If I'm gonna have a hangover, I'd at least like to go through being drunk first.

Having finally managed to get her eyes adjusted to the light, Rainbow's surroundings finally came into focus. They took in the soft white walls of sculpted cloud around her. Turning her head as much as the stiffness in her neck would allow, Rainbow managed to spot several Wonderbolts posters on the wall, as well as a small stack of Daring Do books on the table next to her. A relieved smile crept onto her face, she was in her room, in her house, in her own perfectly comfortable cloud bed. The realization in and of itself helped alleviate some of her pain.

Huh, how did I end up here? The last thing she remembered was addressing her team after they had finished the storm, only to black out afterward. Rainbow grimaced, embarrassed to have passed out in front of her team. At least one of them had been kind enough to bring her home. Although, now that she was here, she was a little confused about what to do next. She was still hungry enough to eat a Pinkie Pie Party's worth of cupcakes, but couldn't find the strength to get out of bed and get herself some food. To make matters worse, her throat felt sore and dry, meaning that she was sorely in need of water, which she was also too tired to go and fetch.

Great, I'm gonna die of thirst or starve to death in my own bedroom. Rainbow's pessimistic train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the door to her room opening. Looking over, Rainbow saw a familiar-looking pegasus come trotting into the room, his outstretched wings carrying a pair of platters. One held a glass of water and a bowl of steaming something. The other held a tea pot and a small cup. Storm Front bent his legs and deposited the platter with the bowl and glass on the table. In a sharp movement, he slid his wing under the stack of books to make room for the other serving plate, which he then laid out on the table. Gently taking the books and laying them in an out of the way space, he turned his attention back to Rainbow.

"What are you doing here?" Rainbow croaked, her condition making her irritable. She also wasn't used to other ponies being in her house without her permission, much less one she had a few issues about trusting lately.

Storm Front stood over her, his expression impassive. "You passed out with Wing Exhaustion," he said simply, "I brought you here to recover."

Wing Exhaustion. It figures. Wing Exhaustion was a uniquely pegasus condition that occurred when a pegasus completely exhausted their natural reserves of magic. Rainbow Dash was no stranger to the condition, having suffered it frequently in her foalhood, due to her tendency to spend too much time practicing her tricks. However, having gained a predilection for naps, Rainbow hadn't experienced it in years. Realizing that she had overworked herself with that last storm, Rainbow was aware of the consequences. But no matter how much she knew she needed help, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but resent it.

If Storm Front was aware of her irritation, he was exceptionally good at ignoring it, instead reaching over and helping Rainbow sit up. Propping the mare up with one hoof, he reached out with the other and began to manipulate the cloud that made her pillow, molding it into a shape that would allow it to support Rainbow in a sitting position before letting her lay back on it. After that, the first thing he did was pick up the cup of water and offer it for her. Rainbow's own leg was too weak to reach for the glass, so Storm Front ended up having to bring it to her mouth.

Rainbow's anger evaporated as the water trickled down her throat. It was the perfect temperature, not too cold and definitely not too hot, soothing Rainbow's abused esophagus and moistening her dry mouth. Had Storm Front not carefully kept the glass tilted to regulate the flow of water, there was no question that Rainbow would have gulped it down as fast as she was able. Once the glass was empty, she felt infinitely better.

"Oh did I ever need that," she gasped, sighing in relief as Storm Front took the empty cup away, his mouth twitching in the slightest of smiles at her change in attitude.

Next came the bowl, which turned out to be full of steaming vegetable broth, its enticing scent making Rainbow's stomach growl loudly. Again, Storm Front held it to her lips as the mare gladly sucked down her liquid lunch, the warm broth soothing to her throat in its own way as well. It didn't fill her stomach the way a more solid meal would, but it definitely quieted the troublesome organ down.

Her thirst and hunger sated, Rainbow's eyes drooped as her body reminded her just how tired she still was. Looking over, she saw Storm Front gently pouring tea from the pot into the cup on its platter. She frowned slightly. Rainbow had never been one for tea. However, as the scent reached her nose, she found something enticing and refreshing about it. "What is that?"

"A blend of spearmint and chamomile," replied Storm Front, "There is no actual tea in this. It also contains some herbs that will induce your muscles to relax while you sleep." He held the cup up for her to sip from.

Not finding the beverage near as offensive as she had first thought and indeed, finding it quite enjoyable, Rainbow began to gulp it down readily. Once the cup was empty, she let out a heavy yawn, her eyes drooping. Already, she could feel the tea's effects, her body relaxing and the pain from her muscles beginning to fade.

Gently, Storm Front began to prod Rainbow's pillow back into its normal shape. By the time he was done, Rainbow Dash had already dropped into another deep sleep, her expression peaceful as she enjoyed a much deeper rest than she had before. Storm Front gently pulled the covers over her sleeping form and took the dishes away for cleanup.

Levitating a broom, Rarity swept the fallen leaves and twigs into the neatest pile she could manage, trying her hardest to gather up all the debris that littered the ground around the Carousel Boutique. All around her, other ponies were doing the same, clearing doorsteps and yards, sweeping roads and just generally cleaning up the mess left in the storm's wake. As expected, the weather team helped out where they could, using their wings to stir leaves and blow them all into one place to be gathered up. Twilight Sparkle's magic was as impressive as expected, having animated several brooms to sweep on their own and then help gather the leaves and cart the bags away. Twilight had already cleared the space around the library and was beginning to move on to the town proper.

"I must say, this is a fantastic spell Twilight, why haven't you used it before?" asked Rarity as she watched the brooms march past, their bristles moving as though they were legs.

Twilight's lavender cheeks flushed red as she grinned nervously. "Well, I hadn't yet completely worked out the spell. And the last time I tried this, it was with mops in the Royal Palace. I ended up flooding the throne room because I couldn't figure out how to get the mops to stop and they kept dumping water on the floor. The Princess actually thought it was pretty funny, but the clerks were furious that we couldn't use the throne room for a week afterwards."

"Ah that must have been terribly embarrassing," observed Rarity before giving her friend a dubious look, "You do have that little problem fixed, right?" While Twilight was a respected and talented magic user, her tendency to try extremely difficult magic sometimes lead to spectacular failures that often lingered in memory longer than her frequent successes.

Twilight gave her friend a reassuring smile. "Of course I do...I think."

Deciding she would rather not tempt fate, Rarity decided to simply get on with her own cleanup. However, as she looked around, she noticed the absence of a particular pony. "Where is Rainbow Dash? I'm well aware that this storm was important for our town, but the least she could do is help clean up after causing such an atrocious mess."

"Sorry," announced a jasmine pegasus from above, "Rainbow Dash isn't going to be doing much of anything right now."

"Why not?" asked Rarity as she looked up at Raindrops, a little irritable at the notion. After all, everypony else was helping with the cleanup. Fluttershy would be helping her animal friends clear up around their homes, while Applejack and her family were out with their orchards. Pinkie Pie was on the roof of the Sugarcube Corner, fixing sections where the storm had blown out some shingles. Even Rainbow's weather team, of which Raindrops was a member, were working to do their part. The idea that Rainbow would opt out of something so important was galling.

"Rainbow Dash is laid up with Wing Exhaustion," explained Raindrops, lowering down to land in front of Rarity, "She probably won't even be able to get out of bed for the next couple days."

"Wing Exhaustion!" exclaimed Twilight, who was still nearby. Hearing their conversation had induced her to come over and find out what had become of their brashest friend. "How in Equestria did that happen?"

Raindrops sighed heavily. "That storm was a monster to keep under control, so we were working around the clock to keep it from doing any more damage than it did." She swept her eyes around the town, giving the mess a meaningful look. The message was clear that, while this was bad, it could have been much worse. "Rainbow Dash divided us into shifts so we didn't wear ourselves out. But she never stopped working. On top of that, she was doing several times the work any of the rest of us were doing. When she finished, she would have just dropped out of the sky if Storm Front hadn't caught her."

"Good heavens!" gasped Rarity, "What in the world was she thinking, pushing herself that hard?"

"Gee I wonder," groused Raindrops, giving angry glares to several of the ponies around them, some of whom had stopped their work to listen in on the conversation. "Given that she's had to put up with a bunch of empty-headed neighsayers claiming that this drought is somehow all her fault and that it's only happening because she's lazy, I'm guessing she might've thought she had to put out a ridiculous amount of extra effort to prove them wrong...not that she needed to."

Rarity blinked, somewhat in the dark on the matter. She gave a questioning look to Twilight who groaned. "Basically a bunch of ponies have been claiming that the whole problem with the lack of rain is Rainbow's fault, even though it's because Cloudsdale isn't supplying us with any clouds and the law prevents the weather team from creating their own weather."

Several of the ponies around them were beginning to look quite ashamed with themselves, some looking at the ground forlornly. However, there were still a few stubborn holdouts who returned Raindrops' angry glare.

Rarity snorted, the indignant sound being rather foreign to a lady of her refinement. "Honestly, what a bunch of buffoons, believing that Rainbow Dash would be willing to allow us to suffer like that. Honestly, there aren't words to describe the level of idiocy that would entail. And anypony that believes otherwise should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves."

Rarity's words were like stinging barbs to several of the listening ponies, many of whom flinched visibly at her anger. Many of the holdouts folded and those who didn't turned to return to their work, knowing better than to draw greater wrath on themselves.

Rarity turned her attention back to Raindrops, who seemed rather satisfied with the behavior of the listening ponies. "Will Rainbow Dash be alright?"

Raindrops nodded, a relieved smile on her face. "Storm Front is taking care of her right now. He said she should recover quickly if she doesn't try to push herself again before she's ready."

Both unicorns let out relieved breaths at that. "Thank goodness," said Twilight. She turned to go back to her work, but paused as three shadows swept across the ground, coming towards the group from down the street. Looking up, her eyes widened as she took in the sight of three pegasi flying in close formation. The leader of the group was dressed in a finely tailored suit, his posture rigid as he passed over Ponyville. Arrayed behind him were pair of burly gray pegasi clad in gray armor with blue highlights, the colors of the Cloudsdale City Guard.

"Who the hay!" exclaimed Raindrops as the three passed over, "Those guys are heading towards Rainbow Dash's house!"

"Raindrops!" snapped Twilight, getting the jasmine pegasus' attention, "Get to Town Hall right now. Tell Mayor Mare to round up the Town Guard and get them down to Rainbow's house right away."

As Raindrops sped away to follow her instructions, Twilight turned and set off towards Rainbow's house at a gallop, Rarity falling into step beside her. "Whatever is the matter Twilight?"

"Rainbow told me that, even though they haven't done anything to alleviate the drought, Cloudsdale's authorities are still cracking down on towns that are trying to make their own weather. I think those ponies are on their way to arrest Rainbow."

"What?" gasped Rarity, stumbling briefly, "Why those ruffians. I won't let them get away with this."

"No," agreed Twilight, lowering her head and pushing herself to run faster, "We won't."

The door of the cloud house sounded with several sharp raps. Storm Front looked up from the book he had been reading. Having cleaned up the dishes and with Rainbow Dash still fast asleep, he had little to do until she woke up again. Fate, it seemed, had conspired to supply something to occupy his time. As he got off the couch, the pony on the other side of the door rapped sharply again.

"Rainbow Dash, open this door immediately! You will be given one minute to comply before we break it down."

Storm Front swung the door open to confront the pony standing outside. The sharply dressed stallion glared contemptuously at Storm Front, who let it wash over him without showing the slightest reaction.

"Rainbow Dash is indisposed at present," said Storm Front, "I can take a message for her, but otherwise you should come back later; about five days would be preferable."

"That is not for you to dictate," snapped the officious pony, "We are not here to make an appointment. As of now, Rainbow Dash is under arrest. I am here with orders to take her into custody. As you can see..." he stepped aside to allow Storm Front a clear view of the armored stallions behind him, "...these gentlecolts are here to see that this is done. It would be unwise to impede them unless you want to join Miss Dash in prison."

Storm Front tilted his head slightly as regarded the rather muscular armored ponies on the front porch. They didn't give him so much as a look, their faces fixed straight ahead. They probably wouldn't give him so much as a glance unless he became a threat, or a target.

"I see," said Storm Front, his tone still calm and neutral, "However, Rainbow Dash is still in no condition to see you, so you will have to come back later." He began to close the door.

The bureaucrat's hoof slammed into the door, forcing it back open. "You seem to misunderstand," he said in an oily tone, "I don't care what Miss Dash's condition is. She is considered a criminal by the city of Cloudsdale and has no rights. Now stand aside."

Storm Front slowly stepped out the door, his placid gaze washing over the suited stallion. "I have no interest in allowing an illegal arrest to occur. If you insist on abusing your authority, I will stop you."

"I-illegal," sputtered the other stallion, "How dare you! Rainbow Dash stands accused of illegally drawing weather from the Everfree Forest in violation of the laws governing the Equestrian Weather Service. This arrest is perfectly legitimate."

Storm Front didn't flinch before his adversary's fury. "Rainbow Dash initiated emergency procedures for drought conditions as permitted by the law. According to the law, once the lead edge of a storm system passes into Equestrian territory, the entire storm is legal to manipulation. This was witnessed by the entirety of the Ponyville weather team, who confirmed that the storm's lead edge crossed the boundary of the Everfree Forest before all efforts to use it were attempted. Therefore, your order for arrest has no legitimacy."

The suited pegasus' eyes reddened and he looked as though he might try and attack Storm Front himself. However, with a visible effort, he forced his anger back under control and calmed himself down. In fact, he gave Storm Front an amused smile. "It's quite funny that a low-class weather pony has the gall to argue with me regarding the law. Your words are pointless. We are not here for a discussion, we are not here for an argument. We are here to take Rainbow Dash into custody. Nothing you can say will change that."

"Is that so?" asked Storm Front, noting that the two armored stallions' dispositions had changed. They apparently did not appreciate his interference. Their expressions had hardened considerably (quite the feat considering they were already stony to begin with) and their gazes had fixed pointedly on the dark cloud-colored pegasus barring their way. Storm Front lifted a single hoof. "If you attempt to continue, then I will stop you."

He was fixed by a final glare from the bureaucrat, who raised his hoof off the cloud porch. "Arrest him." He slammed the hoof back down, apparently the signal for attack. The two guards behind him surged into motion, charging past him. As they did, jointed metal blades slid out of their armor and onto the leading edge of their wings and extending out like extra primaries. Wing blades were once considered the premier pegasus weapon, allowing one to do serious, even lethal damage with a single pass. Even the pegasi of the Royal Guard rarely used such equipment, given its lethality. Most town guards did not arm their pegasi thusly and the Royal Guard only did so when the situation was considered dire enough that lethal measures were considered a necessity. However, in Cloudsdale and other pegasus cities where old traditions flourished, the town guards still regularly carried such weapons, even if they were still rarely employed. Their intimidation factor alone caused many a pony to back down before blood was shed.

However, Storm Front was not intimidated. Snapping his right hoof out, a metallic gray blur darted out, smacking head-on into the charging guard on the left. The metal weight impacted on his helmet, throwing his head back and stunning him that his legs could no longer sustain their charge. His front legs buckling, the guard tipped forward and fell face-first onto the cloud porch. The guard on the right continued to charge in without the slightest hesitation, intending to take advantage of Storm Front's strike against his comrade. Seeing the length of the weapon, he had already reasoned that Storm Front would be unable to employ it properly at a close range.

The guard was woefully mistaken. A twitch of Storm Front's fetlock retracted the weight faster than a striking snake. Rather than try to reel in the cord, he instead wrapped it over his elbow, the resulting wrap taking in the cord's length. The same movement also sent the weight swinging in a rapid upward arc that smacked right into the guard's chin, knocking the stallion off his hooves and sending him falling backwards. The guard's comrade was already getting up and preparing to launch himself at Storm Front.

The weight whipped through a figure-eight pattern, rapidly reversing the direction of its swing. At the same time, Storm Front unwound the cord from around his elbow with the motion, sending the weight into a descending strike that slammed it home right into one of the most vulnerable areas on an armored and armed pegasus, the point where his wing extended from his armor and the joint where the wing blade was mounted. Both the blade and the guard's wing snapped and with a pained howl, the injured stallion dropped.

The second guard was slowly recovering from his daze after receiving a serious blow to the chin. Just as he sat up, the cord of Storm Front's weapon wrapped around his neck. With a yank, Storm Front jerked the guard forward, stepping in as he did so. Raising his free hoof, he reached under the guard's peytral and drove it into the stallion's unarmored stomach, sending the breath rushing out of his lungs. The guard collapsed wheezing and trying desperately to regain the ability to breathe.

The conflict had taken a hooffull of seconds. The suited pony's expression of arrogance melted away to shock and fear as his muscle collapsed right in front of his eyes. With swift motions, Storm Front wrapped the cord around his body several times, catching it where the cord was connected to the weight and holding it taught as the cord itself ran over his shoulder and around his barrel.

"Wha-what-what was that?" gasped the official, gaping at the tableau before him.

"This is the liúxīng chuí," replied Storm Front casually, "It has been my weapon of choice for many years. I believe that the Equestrian name for it is the meteor hammer."

"You can't do this!" shouted the once imperious pegasus, "Assaulting members of the Cloudsdale Guard is a serious offense."

For the first time since the conversation had started, Storm Front's expression changed as he smirked openly at the suited stallion. "Of course that was a serious offense. I wouldn't have gotten around their armor otherwise."

"Don't treat this like a joke!" howled the official, "You attacked officers of the law! You'll never see the light of day after this!"

"I was preventing an illegal arrest from taking place," replied Storm Front, "If you would like to dispute the matter in court, then I would be happy to oblige you."

"You won't ever see a courtroom!" shouted the official, "When I get back, I will bring enough guards to ensure that you can't fight them. We'll see how well your defense holds up in a cell after you're locked away for the rest of your life."

Storm Front tilted his head again. "Are you certain that you should be shouting your contempt for due process so openly? I'm afraid some rather important ears have heard your little rant."

The suited stallion's mouth snapped shut. Turning, he noticed the shadows of two ponies looming over him. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of two pegasus guards clad in gray armor with violet highlights hovering above him, both glaring quite fiercely at the official. Turning around, the official spread his wings and leapt into the air, trying to rush between the two members of the Ponyville Town Guard. However, a glittering green aura wrapped around his body, crushing his wings back in and pinning them to his barrel. Before his leap could take him over the edge of the cloud porch, the two Ponyville Guards were on top of him slamming the official down onto the cloud. Moving with the rapid ease of practiced professionals, they quickly had the Cloudsdale pony in hoof-cuffs and wing restraints. None too gently, they hauled the fettered stallion off of Rainbow Dash's porch and lowered him down to the ground bellow, where Mayor Mare and another mare, also dressed in Ponyville colors, awaited him.

"Welcome to Ponyville sir," Mayor Mare greeted, wearing a smile that could've frozen an erupting volcano, "Under normal circumstances, I would love to welcome you with the usual fanfare. However, since you've decided to start off your stay by expressing your contempt for the law and attempting to illegally arrest one of my citizens, I'm afraid that your reception will be decidedly less enjoyable."

The official groaned before glaring up at the mayor. "Don't think you can get away with this. My superiors in Cloudsdale will not tolerate this kind of affront."

"We shall deal with their displeasure when the time comes," replied Mayor Mare pleasantly, "In the meantime, you will be dealing with the magistrate shortly, a right that you should expect, even though you were so willing to deny it to my citizens."

The unicorn from the Guard led the official from Cloudsdale away, while her pegasus colleagues collected the moaning heaps off of Rainbow Dash's porch, what remained of the two Cloudsdale Guards that had tried to force their way into Rainbow's home.

Descending to the ground, Storm Front nodded his head to the Mayor. "Thank you for your prompt response."

"Well, we were warned beforehoof," remarked the mayor, directing a thankful gaze behind her, where Rarity and Twilight Sparkle waited. Storm Front bobbed his head to the two of them, who nodded back with smiles.

Mayor Mare turned her attention back to Storm Front. "I had best get back to Town Hall and take care of the paperwork this is going to generate. Have a pleasant day." With a wave, she set off in the wake of her guards.

Twilight and Rarity came up, both with concerned expressions on their faces. "Is Rainbow Dash alright?" asked Twilight.

Storm Front gave the two of them a reassuring nod. "Her recovery is coming along as well as can be expected. She just went back to sleep."

A sigh escaped from the two mares, relieved that their friend hadn't been troubled by this rather unpleasant altercation. However, Twilight quickly realized that they weren't out of the woods just yet. "This isn't over. We've arrested an official from Cloudsdale along with two of their own guards. There's no way that they're going to let this go."

"Probably not," agreed Storm Front, "Given the pattern of behavior that the ponies in charge of Cloudsdale have been following, they will likely mobilize their Guard once word of this incident reaches their ears. At the very least, they will use a show of force to try and intimidate the Ponyville authorities into releasing the prisoners..."

"And more than least?" asked Rarity.

"The force will not be for show and they will likely still try to arrest Rainbow Dash," answered Storm Front. He glanced up to the house above him. "Perhaps we should continue inside."

Fluttershy pulled the last of the fallen branches plugging the burrow out of its resting place and tossed it into the growing pile in the center of her yard. The storm's damage hadn't been severe, but the debris it left behind posed impediments to her animals' ability to move around their territory and needed to be cleared away. Dawn trotted over, adding his mouthful of sticks to the pile, Angel perched on his head and using a carrot like a director's baton to direct the colt's actions as the rabbit walked Dawn through his efforts to assist his mother.

The butter-yellow mare giggled at the sight, both happy and bemused by the connection that had grown between her closest animal friend and her son. Normally wary of strangers and with a temper that induced him to show his dislike of them openly, Angel could be a very difficult rabbit for most ponies to deal with. Surprisingly, he had shown Dawn a great deal of respect, though not friendliness right away, from the moment the colt had entered into Fluttershy's home. Dawn, in turn, treated the rabbit with a great deal of deference and the two generally got along quite well. As such, during Dawn's meditation sessions, Angel often perched himself comfortably on the ebony colt's head.

In general, Dawn fit in quite well with the many animals that inhabited Fluttershy's cottage and surrounding property. His quiet and slightly withdrawn nature, while unnerving to ponies, seemed to make the animals more at ease around him. While he lacked Fluttershy's gift for communicating more deeply with their furry friends, he appeared to be adept at understanding many of the basic signals the animals used to express themselves. She had no doubt that Dawn's period in the Everfree had something to do with that.

Unable to practice his forms with his wings bandaged, Dawn had turned to helping Fluttershy take care of her animals, a task that he had found to be rather easy and enjoyable, soothing even. And Fluttershy could only bask in the warm feeling as her son slowly but surely began to make himself evermore at ease in their home, as though he truly belonged there.

Fluttershy's reverie was interrupted by a rush of wings. Looking over, she saw a familiar gray pegasus come swooping down from the sky. Ditzy's expression was frantic as she charged in, seemingly heedless of the speed at which she was approaching the ground. Her approach was much too low and her dangling hooves were about to tangle with the fence around Fluttershy's yard, which would send her sprawling across the ground.

At the last second, Ditzy's wings bobbed slightly, lifting her above the level of the fence, her hoof barely rapping against it, before she dropped down onto the grass, landing at a run. "It's terrible!" exclaimed the mailmare as she galloped up to them, grinding to a stop before barreling into Dawn completely. The colt didn't so much as flinch at her abrupt arrival.

"Oh Ditzy," gasped Fluttershy, "What's the matter?"

"There were these ponies from Cloudsdale!" exclaimed Ditzy, "Twilight said that they came to arrest Rainbow Dash."

"What?" Fluttershy stared at Ditzy aghast. "What happened? Is Rainbow alright? Where is she?"

Dawn came between the two mares, floating as sedately as a cloud in the sky. "Calm down," he said to both of them, his voice even and relaxed. Turning to Ditzy, he spoke. "Did you see what happened?"

"Um no," replied Ditzy rather dejectedly, looking at the ground.

"How did you find out about this?"

Ditzy looked up. "I was dropping off some parcels at Town Hall when Raindrops came rushing in. She was shouting that some ponies from Cloudsdale had come to arrest Rainbow Dash because of that storm she set up yesterday. Mayor Mare actually called up the Ponyville Guard to go and stop them."

"And then what?" asked Dawn.

"I came straight over here," said Ditzy without the slightest hesitation. Having been friends with both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash in their days since Flight School, her first thought had been to rush and tell Fluttershy what was going on.

Dawn nodded slowly. "Then we should go to Rainbow's house and find out what happened."

"Yes," agreed Fluttershy, who lowered herself so that Dawn could climb onto her back, "Let's hurry."

Rarity and Twilight were calmed by the sight of their friend sleeping soundly in her room. At Storm Front's urging, they made no attempt to disturb Rainbow and adjourned to the living room of her house, where the stallion had prepared tea for them.

It was Rarity who reintroduced the conversation. "So, if the authorities in Cloudsdale are going to make an effort to pursue this, what should we do?"

"We can't fight them," said Twilight, "It would be insane to have something like that break out between two Equestrian cities. It's been unheard of for centuries."

Civil strife had been all but nonexistent in Equestria since before the time of Nightmare Moon. Celestia and Luna's careful management had long prevented ponies from making war upon one another. Granted, such management was much more difficult in the absence of the windigos, who fed on anger and conflict. The princesses had sealed the foul creatures away with the Elements of Harmony not long after they had dealt with Discord. Even if conflict did break out, there was no risk of the icy beasts emerging to plunge Equestria into an endless winter. Unfortunately, the absence of the threat of unending winter should they fall back into disharmony meant that the three tribes and ponykind in general had to search for new incentives to avoid conflict with one another.

The two unicorns looked at their drinks pensively as they pondered the possibilities. An actual armed altercation between Ponyville and Cloudsdale...or any other city for that matter, was an exercise in absurdity. Twilight briefly reflected on the rumor Rainbow Dash had shared with her. Had Cloudsdale been compromised to such an extent that they would consider entering into open conflict.

"It would be quite bad," remarked Storm Front, "Cloudsdale is a larger city and still stands by some of the militant aspects of pegasus culture. Their Guard outnumbers Ponyville's by a considerable number and I warrant that their Guard has more comprehensive combat training."

Ponyville was a small and peaceful town. The low population, coupled with a considerable lack of violent crime of any kind (with the exception of certain recent events), resulted in a very small number of Guards. Even their training was considerably easier, given that their efforts tended to be geared towards crowd control and disaster response rather than actual combat.

"None of those differences mean a thing," said Twilight with determined certainty, "Because we can't allow a fight to break out at all. We need to find some way to avoid fighting altogether."

"Well, we could always just ask the Mayor to release the prisoners," suggested Rarity, "However, that doesn't sit well with me."

"Of course not," agreed Twilight, "Those ponies committed very real crimes and letting them go just to avoid causing trouble would be ridiculous. Not to mention that the leaders in Cloudsdale would probably see it as a sign of weakness and come down even harder on us in the future."

She settled her chin on her hoof. "What we need is something that they can't fight against, something that they won't fight against." She groaned and lowered her head, pressing her hooves to either side. "Ugh! If only the Princess was here. They'd never even think of starting something in her presence..." Twilight's voice trailed off. In front of the other two ponies present, her horn flared, producing a light bulb that lit itself before disappearing. "That's it!"

"What's it?" asked Rarity eagerly.

"We'll call in the Royal Guard!"

"The Royal Guard?" Rarity blinked. "Surely you don't intend on getting them involved in some unsightly brawl with those ponies from Cloudsdale. Even with your connections, I don't believe Princess Celestia would be willing to send enough to fight them off."

"They won't fight," explained Twilight, "The Guard from Cloudsdale wouldn't even think of trying to attack members of the Royal Guard. Any attack on the Royal Guard would constitute an attack on the authority of Princess Celestia herself. We don't need more than two or three of them. If they're here, the Cloudsdale Guard wouldn't dare try to start something."

"We'd need to act quickly," Storm Front pointed out, "Ponyville is more or less equidistant from Cloudsdale and Canterlot. Even if they act at the same time, the pegasi from Cloudsdale will still arrive here first."

Twilight gave him a grin. "Fortunately, I happen to have a way to give Canterlot a head start." Setting down her cup, she gave her friends a nod and lit her horn, vanishing in a blaze of violet light.

Rarity and Storm Front sat blinking away the motes in front of their eyes, temporarily dazzled by Twilight's flashy exit. Rarity recovered just in time to hear a series of soft knocks from the door. Getting up, she trotted over and slowly opened it, prepared for any kind of trouble. However, her anxiety melted away at the sight of a familiar yellow and pink pegasus waiting on the other side.

"Oh Rarity," said Fluttershy, "We heard what happened." She shifted slightly to show that Dawn and Ditzy were standing on the cloud behind her. "Is Rainbow Dash alright?"

Rarity gave her friend a bright smile. "Yes, she is quite fine. Please come in and we'll explain everything."

Author's Note

So yeah, I've introduced wing blades into the setting. Seemed a valid enough armament to me.

The basic gist of the Guard organization (and I officially feel like I've been reading Ciaphas Cain too much lately) is that it's a domestic peacekeeping force. Every town and city has their own Guard that answers to the leadership of that city in particular, so the Guard itself doesn't have any kind of overarching hierarchy. The only exception to this is the Royal Guard, which, in addition to serving as the City Guard for Canterlot, also serve as overseers of the Guard in general, being called in to deal with Guard issues that might come up between towns. Because of their position, they are symbolically representative of Celestia's authority, so defying or outright attacking them is a big no no unless you want to be dragged in for treason. Hence why Twilight decides to call them in as letting a fight break out between Ponyville and Cloudsdale would be setting a really bad precedent.

Next chapter: Date night!

A Moment's Peace

Chapter 8: A Moment’s Peace

"Are you sure this is alright?" asked Fluttershy as she slipped into her dress with Rarity's help.

The alabaster unicorn smiled at her friend's nervousness. "Of course it is. Come now, no delays. Caramel is waiting for you downstairs."

At the mention of the stallion she was to spend the evening with, Fluttershy's cheeks flushed brightly and she ducked behind her mane. "Oh dear!" she squeaked, "It's just that...with everything that's going on...that whole thing with Cloudsdale...Don't you think that now might be a bad time?"

Rarity used her telekinesis to give the dress a few delicate tugs to position the garment so that Fluttershy's wings could slip out through the holes sewn for them. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about dear." A pair of brushes flew up and went to work on Fluttershy's mane and tail at the same time. "Twilight has assured me that she has the whole situation well in hoof."

Stepping away and looking over the results of her handiwork, Rarity grinned excitedly. "Oh Fluttershy darling, you look simply fabulous!"

Fluttershy wore a gossamer skirt of pale green that seemed to swirl about her body like mist. Along the length of her back was a streak of light pink that seemed an extension of her mane. The dress draped artfully over her shoulders as well as along her chest, joined together at her throat with a pink butterfly pin. When Fluttershy took a step, the whole affair drifted away from the ground, giving her an ethereal look. Rarity's treatment had drawn Fluttershy's mane back away from her eyes and draping it along the back of her neck, giving a full, unobstructed view of her face.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel a flutter in her heart as she thought what Caramel might think when he saw her. Rarity drew alongside her friend and gently prodded her shoulder.

"Come now dear, it's time for your debut. Let's not keep your stallion waiting."

Caramel's tail swished in agitation as he directed another look at the stairs leading up to the rooms where Rarity was preparing Fluttershy for their date. Dressed in Rarity's creation, a rather dapper looking dark gray suit and red tie, Caramel made a surprisingly handsome picture.

He was not alone. Sitting nearby was Fluttershy's newly adopted son. Dawn was as calm and composed as ever as he waited for his mother to descend. He had instead occupied himself with examining the stallion that she seemed so taken with. Caramel had been intrigued by the young colt. He'd found Dawn's eyes to be quite striking, intimidating even, but he had to force himself to look away to keep from staring too much. Dawn's presence was unnerving because it hardly felt like it belonged to a colt his age. Still, Dawn was important to Fluttershy and, while his presence made Caramel uncomfortable, it was something he could see himself getting used to.

Feeling the colt's intense gaze upon him, Caramel turned and directed a nervous grin at Dawn. "So. You're Dawn Lightwing."

"I am," admitted the colt.

Caramel winced at the rather abrupt answer. It gave him no real idea where to take the conversation from there. "It's nice to finally meet you," he said, "I heard a little bit about you from Fluttershy."

Dawn bobbed his head slightly. "Likewise."

Again the conversation stuttered to an awkward halt. Caramel gave the stairway another look. "Um...I want to thank you for saving Fluttershy that night."

Dawn shrugged. "I understand you put forth a great effort to help her that evening as well. If anything, I should be thanking you."

"Why would you say that?" asked Caramel, blinking in surprise as he leaned back from the colt.

"You gave her the chance to make it within my sight, or I would have never realized that she would have needed saving," explained Dawn, "And, because in the end, she is the one who saved me."

Caramel found himself blinking at that, not sure of what to say. He decided to steer the conversation in a necessary, but, he felt, ultimately uncomfortable direction. "By the way, are you okay with this?"

The ebony colt tilted his head. "That depends on what you mean when you say 'this.'"

"I mean, are you okay with me dating Fluttershy?" asked Caramel, looking away, "She's your mother after all."

To Caramel's surprise, Dawn displayed an overt sign of emotion as he frowned pensively. "I am not certain," he replied, "In part because I don't really feel that I have a right to infringe on her decisions in this area. Mom has a right to pursue her own happiness. I don't believe those decisions should concern me."

"But they should!" exclaimed Caramel, "Whoever your mother takes as a special somepony is ultimately going to be a part of your life as well. That's why it's important that you're alright with this. If your mom is going to be with somepony, it should be somepony you're able to accept as family too."

"Does that mean you are asking permission to be a part of my life?" asked Dawn.

A hitch in his throat killed Caramel's voice before he had a chance to utter another word. The realization of what Dawn had suggested struck him completely dumb. To be a part of their life... Caramel wondered when he had started to look so far ahead. It was true that he and Fluttershy were good friends. Now they were taking that a step further. But when all was said and done, this was only their first date. There was no telling just how far their relationship would go. Was it right for him to make such presumptions so early on?

Dawn's eyes never left Caramel as the stallion mused over his dilemma. Gradually, the colt's frown reversed itself into the smallest of smiles. After he had enough of watching Caramel's deliberations, he decided to voice his opinion. "If that's the case, I can't help but approve."

"Huh...what?" Caramel's head snapped upright at Dawn's words. "What do you mean?"

"Even I can tell that things are uncertain at this stage," replied Dawn, "Watching you reminded me of when mom first took me in. I was uncertain, not sure if I could truly stay in that place, much less call it home.

"But even though you are uncertain, your mind is already that far ahead, thinking about what it would be like to truly be a part of her life. It shows just how much you care for her. And because of that, I can only approve of this."

Caramel opened his mouth, but realized he couldn't think of what to say. Finally, he settled back down and returned Dawn's smile. "Thanks."

The soft clop of hooves turned the two males' attention to the stairs. Both Dawn and Caramel's eyes widened at the sight of Fluttershy as she came into view. Caramel felt heat burst across his face as he took in the sight of her, his heart beating erratically as she smiled demurely in his direction, her blush coloring her cheeks the faintest shade of pink, which only added to her appeal.

"F-F-F-Fluttershy," stammered the stallion, "You look beautiful!"

Wings fluttering slightly, Fluttershy shrank back a little at the compliment, her blush intensifying but her smile revealing a pleased acceptance of the compliment. "Thank you very much," she replied, "You look very handsome too."

For a long time, the two smiled awkwardly at one another. Their feelings aside, this was a rather foreign situation to them. Neither had the experience to really know how to conduct themselves. It was then that Fluttershy noticed that Dawn was staring at her in stunned awe. Giggling at his shock, Fluttershy turned to address her son. "What do you think Dawn?"

Dawn's mind fished desperately for the words to describe the things he felt. After a moment, he was able to arrive at a suitable expression. "You look amazing mom."

"Thank you," cooed Fluttershy as she bent down to nuzzle the colt, who returned the gesture. Caramel looked on, a fond smile gracing his face as he watched the expression of affection between the two, marveling at how natural it seemed, given that Dawn had only joined Fluttershy's family a short time ago. At a moment like this, Dawn looked much more like a colt his age should and the genuine affection he had for Fluttershy was on full display, more than enough to counter the unease Dawn's presence had inspired earlier.

"Good gracious! Are you two still here?" Rarity followed her friend down the stairs and now stood at their base, watching the ponies before her. "Come now, your reservations at the Golden Horseshoe are for seven-o-clock sharp. You mustn't dally." As Fluttershy pulled away from Dawn, Rarity began to herd her and Caramel towards the door. "Come along now you two, off with you." She made a shooing motion with her hooves, urging the two adult ponies out of her boutique and into the night.

When the door swung closed, Rarity turned with a smile to Dawn. "You seemed impressed with my work. Did you have trouble recognizing your mother dressed like that?"

Dawn blinked and turned his eyes towards the door that Fluttershy had left through. "No. In all honesty, it was almost as though she was more herself than usual."

"Oh?" Rarity raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"It seemed as though you took the things that were wonderful about her and put them on fuller display. Mom was beautiful because she appeared more like herself than ever."

A pleased smile spread across Rarity's face as she studied the colt with an appreciative eye. "My my, aren't you full of surprises. It seems that you also have an eye for fashion...or at least beauty in any case."

She turned her head up in thought. "Well now, what to do now that our lovely couple is off on their little date?"

"I was going to return home," replied Dawn softly, "I don't really have anything to keep me around here."

He froze as Rarity's head snapped around to fix him with a determined look. "Absolutely not, simply sitting alone in that cottage just waiting for your mother to return home, I'll not hear of it."

Rarity leveled an imperious hoof at Dawn. "You will stay here with me. I've been waiting for the opportunity to do this. I've had the most marvelous idea for a suit ever since I saw those eyes of yours. This is the perfect chance to start working on that, don't you agree?" The grin on her face was positively predatory, making Dawn shrink away from her.

She can be every bit as intimidating as Red River or Storm Front... thought Dawn as he gulped, ...in her own way.

"Jeez, I'm in the hospital for a little while and I come out to find that a whole bunch of stuff has changed," remarked Caramel as he and Fluttershy strolled through the streets of Ponyville.

Fluttershy giggled at his consternation. The two of them had attracted quite a few appreciative looks as they made their way to the restaurant. Ponies dressing up were rare and generally only done on special occasions. On top of that, Rarity's treatments had assured that their appearance was second to none. Even though these clothes were a step down from what they might wear to an important event like the Grand Galloping Gala, they still drew the eyes of everypony in the vicinity.

Fluttershy was already considered an attractive mare by many stallions throughout the town. Rarity's efforts to groom her only ensured that their eyes lingered on her all the longer and with much greater intensity. On the other hoof, Caramel found himself drawing quite a few eyes as well, as the mares they passed tried to connect how he looked now with the rather bumbling and average-looking stallion they were used to seeing around town. Quite a few were cursing their ill fortune that they had missed their chance. Both ponies, however, were quite unbothered by the stares as they were too busy basking in one another's company.

"A lot has happened, I suppose," admitted Fluttershy softly.

"I'll say. I'm in there for about a month and I come out to find that you're suddenly a mother," said Caramel with a grin.

"You don't mind Dawn, do you?" asked Fluttershy, giving him a slightly nervous look.

Caramel's expression softened. "I was a little surprised at first. I tried to think what it would be like for..." His voice trailed off as that hesitation he had felt in front of Dawn returned to the fore. "...would be like for us." His ears flattened as he glanced over at Fluttershy. "You know...if things went that far."

Fluttershy blinked at the unexpected turn in the conversation as she realized what Caramel had been getting at. He was looking into the future that they would have if they followed this relationship to its ultimate conclusion; being a family, becoming a part of Dawn's life, living together. Her cheeks grew uncomfortably hot with the implications of it all as she understood the reason for his hesitation. This was just the beginning after all. Thinking that far ahead was a difficult thing to do in such a young relationship.

For a moment, they walked on in awkward silence, each struggling with their feelings as they tried to sort out just what this meant for them, both now and in the future. As Fluttershy pondered, certain things about Caramel's way of thinking began to slide into place. "Are you okay with Dawn being there?"

"Yes," replied Caramel as he leaned over, brushing his cheek against hers, "Because he's an important pony to you."

A smile spread across the mare's face and she turned her head and planted a kiss on Caramel's cheek. Caramel froze, absently reaching up with a hoof to touch the place she had kissed, his eyes wide.

"Thank you so much Caramel," said Fluttershy, gently leaning up against him.

"For what?"

"For being you," replied Fluttershy, "I think...most other stallions would have tried to forget about Dawn, at least for tonight. They would try to ignore him or date me in spite of him." She turned to meet Caramel's eyes with her own. "But you're thinking about him, even though you're with me. You're already thinking about the things and ponies that are important to me."

She leaned in close and whispered into his ear. "And that's what I really like about you." Leaning back, both of their faces blazed crimson as they stood stock still for a moment, their shyness briefly causing their higher cognitive functions to break down.

Finally shaking himself out of his daze, Caramel smiled and nuzzled up against Fluttershy. "Come on now. Rarity's right, we don't want to be late for dinner."

Spike yawned as he watched his older sister pace back and forth, muttering impatient exclamations under her breath. Already, the floor was beginning to show signs of wear as Twilight's hooves mercilessly ground it down. The little dragon frowned, not having seen Twilight Sparkle this agitated since she had gotten that aborted warning from her future self to not worry about the future, only to actually cause herself to worry about the future because she hadn't actually heard the part to not worry about it and...Spike shook his head. Time travel was a pain in the neck and he never wanted to have anything to do with it ever again.

"Twilight, worrying yourself sick isn't gonna make a reply come any faster," he counseled, although keeping himself at a distance, given that Twilight's temper could be explosive when she was in this state.

The lavender mare paused and let out a defeated sigh. "I know Spike, but I'm still worried. This is a serious problem that could have severe repercussions for the rest of Equestria if we don't handle it right. Not only that, but Rainbow Dash's future is on the line. None of us want her to end up being put in prison in Cloudsdale. That would be bad enough, but having a criminal record would ruin her chances of getting into the Wonderbolts."

"I'd think that given how much she's impressed them, they might be able to overlook a few things," said Spike.

"If they did, that would be a serious breach from their usual standards," answered Twilight, "The Wonderbolts are an elite organization separate from the standard Guard organizations. Their standards are higher than the Royal Guard's."

"It won't happen," assured Spike, raising his hands in a placating gesture, "Your brother will come through for you, I'm sure."

Twilight gave her little brother a small smile. "Thanks Spike."

A second later, Spike's cheeks ballooned outward and, with a massive belch, he released a burst of flame that congealed into the much anticipated letter. Twilight quickly opened the scroll and read it carefully.

Twily;

I just got back from dispatching a pair of my guards on the next train to Ponyville. With any luck, they should be there sometime tomorrow afternoon. I'm also sending someone else with them who should be a big help if things go south. Don't worry, they'll make sure that a fight doesn't break out.

Love, Shining Armor.

P.S. Cadance has been saying that she wants to come visit you soon.

Twilight rolled up the scroll with a relieved sigh. "Shiny's sent the guards we need."

Spike patted her shoulder sympathetically. "So...no more wearing holes in the floor?"

The jibe drew an amused smile from Twilight and she leaned down to nuzzle her little assistant. "No, none of that," she agreed. Looking up, she noted the time. "I should go tell Rarity. She's been worried about this whole thing for a while. Do you want to come with me?"

Spike thought about it, but a heavy yawn escaped his mouth. "Naw, I think I'll turn in for the night. Watching you get all worked up wears me out."

"Hey!"

Dinner had been delicious, the ambience of Ponyville's premier restaurant having helped the young couple relax and converse, whiling away an hour or two as they basked in each other's company. Fluttershy spent the time filling Caramel in on all that had happened since she had last visited him in the hospital, detailing Dawn's adoption, his experiences with school and even his battle with Red River and Storm Front.

Caramel had enjoyed the stories, although he was growing more and more uncertain as to what role he could possibly play in the colt's life. Dawn was already mature enough to not truly need a father figure. Fluttershy already supplied all the familial affection Dawn could ever want. In spite of Dawn expressing his approval of the stallion earlier, Caramel couldn't help but wonder if he would still approve of Caaramel becoming a fixture in his daily life.

He ended up posing this question to Fluttershy, who pondered it thoughtffully before answering. "I think he could use a father," she said.

"You do?" Caramel was surprised by the response. "But you've already told me about what a self-sufficient and mature colt he is. What can I possibly offer to him as a father?"

Fluttershy reached out and rested her hoof atop his. "Dawn is very good at taking care of himself. Actually, he's too good at it." She giggled at the tan stallion's evident confusion. "He's gotten very used to not needing other ponies to get by in life. I've been trying to help him get used to being around others. But he needs other ponies to act as an example of how to live in Equestria, not apart from it."

Caramel frowned, wondering just how he was supposed to do that. But Fluttershy reached out and pressed a gentle hoof to his lips. "Don't," she said softly, "Don't worry about it for now. I'm so glad you're willing to think about Dawn's well-being, but that can come later. Let's talk about something else for now."

Caramel nodded. Fluttershy decided to introduce a new topic. "By the way, I was wondering why you were in the hospital so long. Normally ponies go through there very quickly."

A sigh escaped Caramel's lips as he shrugged. "It's a family thing. Apparently, my body has a higher resistance to unicorn magic than most ponies. My dad had that problem too. Because of that, healing spells don't do as much for me as they do for most other ponies, so I have to spend more time in the hospital and get more of them."

"Oh dear," gasped Fluttershy, "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"It's not so bad," admitted Caramel, "Yeah, it means that if I get hurt, I have to spend more time in the hospital than most ponies, but I actually have a stronger resistance to unicorn magic in general. It's actually helped me out a couple of times."

"Really? How so?"

Caramel turned his head to look down the street and smiled wistfully. "Before I came to Ponyville a few years back, I used to work in a shop in Manehatten. One time, this unicorn came in and tried to rob the place. He hit me with a telekinetic blast."

Fluttershy stifled a horrified gasp. She had seen such a spell in action. Twilight had used it extensively during the changeling invasion of Canterlot. It was one of the few truly violent spells in her magical repertoire and, indeed, one of the few combat spells civilian ponies were permitted to learn. According to Twilight, the spell was simplicity itself, condensing the telekinetic magic unicorns used to manipulate objects into a burst of pure kinetic energy and unleashing that at a target. With sufficient power, a unicorn could easily shatter stone. The canary-colored pegasus shuddered to think of what such a spell could do to an unprotected pony's body.

Caramel continued, calming her down. "The officers on the scene later said that with anypony else, that spell would have knocked them across the room, maybe even broken some ribs. Instead, I just felt like I'd been given a hard shove. I managed to kick him and knock him out."

Fluttershy let out a relieved sigh. "Oh thank goodness."

"You see," said Caramel, patting her hoof reassuringly, "I don't just have bad luck. Sure, when I get hurt, it takes longer for me to get better. I'm clumsy and difficult to work with sometimes. But I have good luck too. I'm not as easily hurt by magic as some ponies and..." he looked deep into Fluttershy's teal eyes, "I got to go out on a date with one of the most beautiful mares in all of Equestria. I'd say I'm pretty lucky."

A bright blush spread across Fluttershy's cheeks as she shied away. "Thank you," she whispered softly.

"Hey Rarity, I just got a letter back from Shining and..." Twilight's voice trailed off as she saw just what she had walked into upon entering the Carousel Boutique.

Rarity had paused in the middle of her work, several tools hung suspended in her magic. Standing on the stage in front of her was Dawn, who remained statue-still with several pieces of cloth being applied to his body.

"Um, what's going on?" asked Twilight as she took in the scene before her.

A light tittering laugh escaped the alabaster mare as the tools of her trade floated aside, taking the cloth she had been experimenting with them. "Oh, I was just taking the opportunity to fit Dawn while I plan his suit. I must admit, he's one of the finest models I have ever worked with. I've never had a pony stand so still while I work on him."

"I have extensive practice in that," remarked Dawn, who had decided to meditate while Rarity worked her magic on him. Free from the confines of the unfinished suit, he spread his wings as far as the bandages around them would allow, rolling them slightly to loosen them in their sockets.

"I see," said Twilight simply, "And the reason Dawn is here is...?"

"We're waiting for Fluttershy and Caramel to get back from their date," explained Rarity, "I didn't want Dawn to sit alone all evening in that cottage, so I decided to ask him to spend the evening modeling for me here while we waited." She turned to face Twilight directly. "So then darling, what is it that you wanted to share with me? Something from your brother?"

Twilight nodded fervently. "Yes. He's sending some of the Royal Guard down here to help us deal with our Cloudsdale problem. With any luck, they'll be able to prevent any conflict from breaking out."

"Wonderful," said Rarity, settling on one of the cushions she had set out in the store for customers to use when they waited for her to finish one of her designs. "If I may say so, it's past time somepony in Canterlot did something about this. It's utterly abominable that this drought has been allowed to continue for as long as it has."

Twilight and Dawn settled on cushions of their own. "It's not that simple," said Twilight.

"Surely the ponies in Canterlot are suffering from the drought as well," Dawn pointed out, "If the center of Equestria's government is being affected by this, then they would be obligated to do something."

"It's not that simple," Twilight repeated, "Canterlot lies in the boundaries of the Cloudsdale Distribution Zone, but it's exempt from the general weather laws because it's the center of Equestria's government. Canterlot is pretty much the only city in Equestria that's allowed to produce its own weather."

Rarity frowned and tapped her chin. "Still, it seems odd that Princess Celestia and the parliament have done nothing to address the situation. Our current straits are no deep secret." Her comment elicited a hum from Twilight as she mulled it over before something clicked in her head.

"I think I get it!" she exclaimed.

"Get what?" asked Rarity.

"Remember all that commotion with Applejack and Dawn?" The two members of her audience grimaced at the memory and Twilight winced, realizing that she had dredged up something unpleasant, but forged ahead anyway. "The reason Princess Celestia couldn't intervene right away was because the nobles of the Court were keeping her occupied."

"But what does that have to do with the situation in Cloudsdale?" inquired Rarity.

"I see," mused Dawn, "You think that the nobles in Canterlot were trying to obstruct Princess Celestia from taking action."

Twilight nodded. "You see, each of the three tribes has its own share of hardcore tribalists, ponies who would just love to see the peaceful relationships between the three tribes that we have today go to Tartarus because they're so absolutely convinced that their tribe is superior. Luckily, earth pony tribablists tend to inhabit the most backwater of rural towns and are too diffused throughout Equestria to really put up an organized front. On the other hoof, pegasi tribablists are concentrated in places like Cloudsdale, inhabited by some of the oldest pegasus families in Equestria. And the primary refuge of the most die-hard unicorn tribalists..."

"...Is the Noble Court in Canterlot," finished Rarity, finally figuring out where Twilight was going.

Of the three tribes, the unicorns had been the only ones arranged around a monarchy with a supporting feudal social structure. The pegasi had originally been structured in a military dictatorship, while the earth ponies formed a representative government. As a result, the Noble Court of Canterlot was composed entirely of unicorns descended from those same feudal aristocrats that served the unicorn kings and queens of the past, the oldest unicorn families in Equestria.

"But why would they try to hinder any response to the drought?" asked Rarity.

"Because that makes the pegasi look entirely like the villains," said Dawn calmly, "Because of their more direct role in the problem, they will take the majority of the blame while the unicorns who worked in the background will be overlooked."

Twilight nodded sagely. "And, to make matters worse, the ones most affected, financially at least, by this drought will be earth ponies. From the perspective of the tribalists in the Noble Court, this is the perfect opportunity to set the other two tribes against each other."

The three ponies mulled this over for a moment.

"There's something else that bothers me darling," said Rarity, eying Twilight nervously, "I know it seems unlikely...but suppose the magistrate finds that we are in the wrong on this."

"Don't worry, it's not gonna happen," said Twilight cheerfully, "Because I have these!" Her magic flared, summoning a stack of twenty-seven eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against Cloudsdale.

"My...that's certainly...comprehensive..." mused Rarity, looking rather flabbergasted by Twilight's evidence. Glancing over at her clock, Rarity's eyes widened as she realized what time it was. "Oh my goodness! This is no time for such grim talk Twilight dear! Fluttershy and Caramel will be back any moment now. We absolutely don't want to spoil their evening now do we?"

Fluttershy sighed happily as she basked in Caramel's warmth, leaning against his side as they made their way back to the Carousel Boutique. After dinner, the two of them had strolled through the park, enjoying each other's company and chatting lightly. As far as she was concerned, the date couldn't have gone better. She had always enjoyed the tan stallion's company before and truly relished the opportunity to be even closer to him.

On the other hoof, Caramel was practically on Cloud Nine. His anxiety regarding how Dawn figured into their relationship and the relative newness of the whole thing had been pushed into the back of his mind. He was on a date with the most beautiful mare in Ponyville (in his mind, at least, a claim which had little dispute to be sure, the only other contender for the title being a certain fashion designer). During their friendship, Caramel had always pined after the canary-colored mare, one day hoping that their relationship could be something more. However, seeing how Fluttershy had shied away from romantic overtures by other stallions in the past (mostly due to her crippling shyness in many social situations, much less being approached by a stallion she hardly knew), he was afraid that any effort on his part to move things beyond friendship would only drive her away. In part, he had partially resigned himself to watching from the sidelines as somepony swooped in to steal her heart while he remained ever the "good stallion friend" Fluttershy could turn to for help and advice.

Fortunately, that had all changed now. The two of them had truly enjoyed their night out and neither wanted it to end. But as the Carousel Boutique loomed ahead of them, neither could ignore the fact that the night was about to end regardless.

It was with great reluctance that Caramel reached up and knocked on the Boutique's door. The portal immediately swung open and Rarity ushered them inside. "Welcome back darlings, I hope your evening has gone well."

Fluttershy smiled at her friend. "It was even better than I could have imagined." Her words nearly sent Caramel's heart rocketing out of his chest in joy.

A merry twinkle flashed in Rarity's eye. "Ohoho! You can tell me all about it at the spa tomorrow Fluttershy dear. But for now, I think you have a colt who is eager to return home."

Looking over, Fluttershy saw Dawn reclining on one of Rarity's cushions next to... "Twilight, what are you doing here?"

A sheepish look passed over Twilight's face as she averted her eyes and fished for some excuse to justify her presence. "Ah, well...you see..."

"She had just come to appraise me of the situation with the Guard," explained Rarity. While there was no need to delve into the more troubling aspects of their earlier conversation, she saw no reason to not tell the truth either. "Her brother has dispatched two members of the Royal Guard to help us deal with the situation."

"Oh, I see," observed Fluttershy, "That's wonderful."

"And Dawn here was modeling for me while I designed a suit for him. I really do wish I could keep him darling, the only pony I've ever had stand that still was a ponyquin." Rarity let out a sigh while Dawn coughed a little uncomfortably.

Fluttershy smiled, noting the ebony colt's desire to return to the comfort of their little cottage. "I suppose it's time we went home then...if that's alright with you Rarity."

With a chuckle, Rarity turned away and trotted towards the stairs. "Of course it is darling. When you're finished undressing, feel free to leave your clothes in the changing rooms, I'll deal with them later."

"Oh thank you," said Fluttershy as she and Caramel moved to the two fitting rooms available to the boutique customers. While ponies normally went out in a state of undress, the act of dressing and undressing was considered rather personal and thus, something to be done in private.

A few moments later, Fluttershy and Caramel emerged, leaving their clothes behind. As they headed for the door, with Dawn in tow, Caramel turned to Fluttershy with a smile. "I'd be happy to walk the two of you home," he offered.

A blush spread across Fluttershy's face as her wings fluttered excitedly. "Oh you don't have to if you don't want to..." she demurred.

Dawn raised an eyebrow at the couple before turning to Twilight with a questioning look. The lavender unicorn merely gave him a sheepish grin and a shrug. Having never truly witnessed romantic interactions before, Dawn had to admit that he didn't know what to make of the awkward situation before him.

Still, Caramel insisted on joining them on the walk to Fluttershy's cottage. Dawn trailed behind them, watching their interactions with the intensity of a scientist trying to discern the behavior patterns of a newly discovered species. Conscious of their audience, both Fluttershy and Caramel kept a slight distance from each other and avoided overt gestures of affection, too shy to express their feelings naturally with such intense attention on their every move.

Arriving at the cottage, Caramel and Fluttershy stood in front of her door, neither sure of what to do or say. By this point, Dawn was more or less aware of the fact that he was the third wheel in this situation.

"I think I'll go ahead and go to bed," he announced softly, going into the cottage and closing the door behind him.

For a moment, the two adults were speechless, both staring at the door in silence before Caramel spoke.

"Is it just me?" he asked, "Or is Dawn more used to the idea of Us than we are?"

Caramel's comment triggered a stream of giggles from Fluttershy, the tan stallion joining in, his deeper chuckles resonating through the night. The previous awkwardness was forgotten as the two closed with each other, pressing their necks together as they prepared to part for the night.

Pulling back, Fluttershy smiled at her date. "I want to do this again," she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"Me too," agreed Caramel, "How does Saturday sound?"

"That sounds wonderful," said Fluttershy, thinking about the possibilities, "We could do something during the day. Oh! It doesn't have to be anything formal either, so we won't need clothes. Maybe we could bring Dawn with us...if that's okay with you..." Fluttershy lowered her gaze, averting her eyes slightly.

Caramel reached out with a hoof and pressed it against her cheek so that her head turned to allow her eyes to meet his again. He gave the mare an encouraging smile. "Of course it's okay with me. I wouldn't want to leave your son out of this."

Fluttershy let out a giddy squeal and threw her arms around the stallion, pulling him close. After a second's hesitation, Caramel reached up with his own forelegs to return the gesture, the two ponies settling on their hindquarters for stability as they pulled each other close. After a moment, the two pulled back, staring into one another's gaze. It was Fluttershy, in one of her rare (but increasingly less rare) moments of assertiveness, who made the first move. Leaning in, she pressed her lips against Caramel's, who reciprocated the gesture and pulled her tight against him.

It was a fair bit longer before the two reluctantly separated. Standing up, Fluttershy gave Caramel one last peck on the cheek before bidding him a nearly inaudible "good night" and retiring to the cottage for the evening.

Caramel sat there for a moment, his mind still trying to process what had just happened. Once he had regained his mobility, Caramel got back on his hooves and trotted back towards his own home, a wide grin on his face. Even though he was an earth pony, Caramel was fairly certain that, at that very moment, he was flying.

Author's Note

I'm never certain of my ability to handle romance sequences. I can only hope that I managed to execute this one gracefully enough.

So now we know a possible reason why Celestia hasn't done anything about the drought...or maybe she is doing something and our heroes just aren't aware of it yet. She's never one to keep all her eggs in one basket after all.

Oh, and Caramel's higher than normal magic resistance wasn't meant to be anything significant. Basically, it's my excuse for why he's been in the hospital all this time and why it took so long for him to show back up.

I readily admit that the next few chapters are as much about buying time for Dawn's injuries to heal so that he can get back into the game as they are about plot developments. My apologies if they start to get a bit fillery.

In other news, I've basically got all the chapters lined up and am in the process of going through editing them all. Storm on the Horizon is set to conclude at twenty-one chapters, making it the longest story in the series yet. After the ending of this story, which I hope will be much more satisfactory than the end to the last one, expect a bit of a long hiatus as I am not yet finished with the next story-arc yet. Having everything done ahead of time is how I manage to keep this pace of updates for you guys, so I'd rather you'd wait for a while for the next story, then get the whole thing in relatively short order, than have you wait for days or weeks between chapter updates depending on how my work schedule helps or hinders my writing.

Next chapter: He's baaaaack!

The Guards

Chapter 9: The Guards

The air in Ponyville hummed with tension. By this point, everypony was aware that an incident had occurred at Rainbow Dash's house the previous day. While many of the details weren't known, a few important ones were. First, Mayor Mare had ordered the arrest of representatives of Cloudsdale. Second, that Cloudsdale would not respond amicably to such an affront. And finally, that a confrontation seemed imminent.

The small building that served as the headquarters for the Ponyville Guard was virtually indistinguishable from most of the other houses and buildings to be found in the small town. Only the slate-shingled roof and the steel bars across a pair of its windows on the back side of the building really set it apart. Its interior space was taken up by the small reception area, a locker room where guards stored their armor when off-duty and a few other rooms. One of them was a general purpose room used for the clerical necessities that came with Guard actions, writing reports, filling out paperwork and the like. The Guard Captain had a small corner of the room, designated by a tiny desk that served as his workspace when he wasn't in the field. By far, the largest room was the equipment closet, which held most of the tools needed for disaster response efforts, shovels, picks, wood axes and other similar implements. Only a tiny portion of that closet was given over to an armory of sorts, carrying a scant few weapons. The only remaining rooms in the building were a pair of small cells along the back wall. Normally, these cells usually held the occasional drunkard who required an evening of Guard hospitality to sober up (though they'd recently seen a bit more use lately). However, today the cells were occupied by a different set of guests.

The Guard station itself was dead silent, as there was not another pony to be found within the building. Expecting a swift response from Cloudsdale, Mayor Mare had called in every available guard, regardless of what their shift was originally. Now, fifteen ponies, five unicorns, five pegasi, and five earth ponies, stood arrayed in formation in front of the Guard station, waiting quietly. Mayor Mare herself stood in front of them. All eyes looked in the direction of the hovering cloud city, a white blob in the distance. It seemed silly to think that such a distant place could be causing them so much trouble.

Passing ponies paused to take in the scene, trying to figure out what was going to happen. However, most quickly disengaged and went about their business, no one wanting to get caught up in a potential fight. Off to one side of the grim group of ponies, Twilight Sparkle danced in place, her anxious eyes alternating between the indistinct form of Cloudsdale and the direction of the train station where, hopefully, the Royal Guards from Canterlot would soon be arriving.

"Do you think they'll make it?" asked Mayor Mare, not taking her eyes away from the pegasus city.

"I don't know," replied Twilight earnestly, "Even if they don't make it here before the Cloudsdale Guard, as long as we don't actually start fighting, they'll still be able to help."

"I hope so," agreed the mayor, finally prying her eyes away and directing a glance back at the armored ponies behind her. To their credit, they stood firm at attention, not giving any sign of anxiety or fear. "If it does come to a fight, we are sorely outmatched."

Twilight nodded slightly and directed a glance at the corner of the Guard station, where a single earth pony stallion waited patiently. Red River leaned casually against the side of the building, his relaxed posture belying the speed with which he could act should things turn sour. Glancing up, Twilight also spied Storm Front circling overhead, an ordinary weather pegasus on the lookout for rogue clouds, but actually holding his position in case violence broke out.

As she turned her head back forward, Mayor Mare's eyes narrowed and she reached for the pair of binoculars that were hung around her neck. Squinting her eyes, she looked through them and let out a dismayed gasp. "They're coming! I think we have about twenty minutes everypony."

Twilight shivered. This was worse than her most pessimistic estimates. The train wasn't due for another half an hour. She wondered if they could forestall conflict for a full ten minutes.

Before long, binoculars were no longer needed to see the approaching pegasi. They were visible in the distance, looking like a flock of birds flying in a straight formation. They were still too far away for anypony to get a full count of their numbers.

Ponies were beginning to gather around the spot, the approaching the Cloudsdale Guards not going unnoticed by the general population. As she watched, Twilight noted that the approaching guards were in no hurry. That suits us just fine, she thought, take all the time you want.

Finally, they arrived. Swooping down on the Ponyville Guard station, Twilight counted at least forty armored ponies in the Cloudsdale Guard formation. She suppressed the urge to shiver. That was more than twice the number of Ponyville's entire Guard contingent. And to make matters worse, this wasn't even half of the ponies Cloudsdale could muster if they were of a mind to.

Instead of descending to land, the formation of Cloudsdale Guards broke and scattered, flying in concentric, alternating circles in the sky above, completely isolating the airspace above the Ponyville station. Twilight noted, with a degree of relief, that their wingblades were still tucked away, showing that these ponies weren't looking for a fight just yet. But how long until that changes?

The wide circling flight pattern of the armored pegasi gave the observers the impression of carrion birds swooping and circling, looking for fresh meat down bellow. It was an intimidating show to be sure, but one that continued to eat up precious time. Twilight and the Mayor knew better than to try and disrupt them, as every minute they wasted on threat displays, however effective, was another minute that Ponyville had for their trump card to arrive.

Finally, another pegasus, this one looking much more official than the collection of Guards, arrived. He was dressed in an olive-green suit, similar to his colleague in the Ponyville station. However, his suit gave the impression of a military uniform, rather than something a pony might wear to the office. His dark green coat was offset by a mane and tail of orange. His cutie mark, tellingly, was a sledge hammer.

At least we can count on him to be blunt with us, thought Twilight wryly. As the new arrival stooped down for a landing, the circling Guards above broke off their flight pattern, crisscrossing one another with perfect precision as they landed in a close formation behind their leader. Twilight had to suppress the urge to whistle. That kind of close flying was almost Wonderbolts grade. Seeing the Cloudsdale Guards come to rest before the Ponyville delegation gave Twilight an opportunity to assess their equipment. Like the two Guards that had accompanied Fine Print the previous day, all of these Guards sported polished gray steel with light blue highlights. More importantly, just like the two from yesterday, these Guards were outfitted with wingblades as well. Twilight gulped nervously as she watched the confrontation unfold.

"Greetings, I am Mayor Mare of Ponyville," said the mayor in her most businesslike tone, "It isn't often we get so many visitors from Cloudsdale. May I ask your business in our fair town?"

The stallion let out an indignant snort. "My name is Sky Runner. I am chief of the Enforcement Division of the Cloudsdale Weather Bureau." He stomped the ground, agitation apparent in his every movement and word. "Let's not beat around the bush Miss Mayor. The fact of the matter is that you have three of my subordinates imprisoned by your Guard. I will have them released immediately. Furthermore..." he reached into his suit and produced a folded sheet of paper, unfolding it, he announced the contents to everyone present. "We will also be taking the manager of the Ponyville Weather Team, Rainbow Dash, into custody for the charges of creating illegal weather. Also, the township of Ponyville has been determined to be complicit in this illegal behavior and will be charged a fine of twenty-thousand bits."

Twilight gasped sharply. That was an insane amount of money. But Sky Runner wasn't finished. "In addition, for the illegal detention off Fine Print and two members of the Cloudsdale Guard, the township of Ponyville shall be fined an additional ten-thousand bits...for each." Sky Runner lowered the paper and directed his piercing gaze back towards Mayor Mare.

Biting her lip, Twilight turned her attention back to the mayor, who to her credit hadn't so much as flinched before Sky Runner's tirade. Instead, she used a hoof to calmly adjust her distinguished gray mane before clearing her throat. Then, she turned her attention back to Sky Runner. "I refuse," she said simply.

Mayor Mare's tone had been calm and relaxed, but the meaning of her words set Sky Runner rocking back on his hooves, his eyes wide. Twilight suspected that he had been anticipating some clever exchange of words, or even an attempt to negotiate to lower the fines or bargain for Rainbow's continued freedom. Further movement drew Twilight's attention to the ponies of the Cloudsdale Guard arrayed behind him. She saw several of them exchanging uneasy glances, many of them clearly uncomfortable with where the situation was going. She saw perhaps two faces that displayed the outrage that was now oozing its way out of their leader.

"You seem to misunderstand your position," said Sky Runner, after a taking a moment to collect himself, "You cannot reject this. These orders are absolute."

"Then perhaps you are from the wrong century," sniped the Mayor, "Because I certainly can. This is not Pre-Classical Unicornia. You are not some noble hoofing down decrees to powerless serfs. You are a representative of a government agency and bound to the very laws you are currently trying to enforce, erroneously I might add, just as your subordinate was. He broke the law by abusing his power outside his lawful jurisdiction.

"As far as I am concerned, none of my citizens have committed any crimes for our town to be complicit with. I do not recognize any breach of the law and therefore do not recognize your claims as valid. Whether or not I am mistaken on that point will be for the magistrate to decide. I might add that he will be arriving in Ponyville shortly to sort this matter out. I will be happy to invite you to participate in the proceedings. But until then, I will not acquiesce to any of your demands." With a determined "hmph," Mayor Mare tossed her head, raising her nose in the air, looking pointedly away from Sky Runner, who looked furious.

From the rage apparent on the stallion's face, Twilight was afraid that Sky Runner would order his Guards to attack then and there. However, he didn't, yet. To her surprise, she saw that he was struggling fiercely to get his temper back under control. It's pretty obvious he's spoiling for a fight. So what's he hesitating for? she wondered.

Sky Runner still seemed to be grasping to find the words to express what he wanted, so Twilight took her time examining him. It seemed as though, even though he had come ready to fight, that he was trying very hard to find some way to avoid actual bloodshed. She wondered why and thought over the consequences that getting into a pitched battle with the Ponyville Guard would have for Cloudsdale.

Even if Cloudsdale had been a hundred-percent in the right, using force of arms to enforce that, rather than defaulting to a magistrate of the Canterlot Judiciary would bring severe censure down on Cloudsdale. The matter would be even worse, should the magistrate determine that they were actually in the wrong. Either turn of affairs meant turning Canterlot's eyes on Cloudsdale, and not in a good way either.

It was clear that this was a situation that Sky Runner wasn't prepared for. He had clearly expected his show of force to cow the mayor into bowing to his demands and agreeing to whatever he wanted. She recalled Rainbow Dash's story about another town that had violated the weather law. She suspected that the Weather Bureau had responded in a manner similar to what Sky Runner was doing now and that other town had backed down. Sky Runner's show of force had been meant to be a bluff to intimidate Mayor Mare and Ponyville into doing what he wanted. But now, she was calling his bluff.

And apparently, Sky Runner couldn't afford to back down. If the magistrate found Fine Print guilty of abuse of power in his attempt to arrest Rainbow Dash, it would undoubtedly come out that Sky Runner had made an effort to force Ponyville to release the offender, in front of numerous witnesses. Twilight shivered, damned if he did and damned if he didn't. Either way, Sky Runner was caught in a bad situation, one he couldn't talk his way out of easily.

But would he actually order the Guards to attack? she asked silently, casting her eyes in the direction of the train station, looking desperately for any sign of the Royal Guards Shining had promised her. She couldn't see any indicator that they had arrived yet. Turning, she looked over at Red River, who hadn't budged an inch and watched the whole affair with a look of casual interest. She felt slightly reassured, although not entirely, given the talk she'd had earlier with him that day.

"So you'll help?" Twilight asked hopefully as she stood in front of the Apple Family's stall.

After setting out a basket of galas, Red River nodded. "Of course I will. This kind of situation was why Storm Front and I were sent to Ponyville in the first place, even though Dawn has nothing to do with it. Storm Front and I will be close by in case anything happens."

"Close by?"

Again, Red River nodded. "Yes. We are still incognito after all. While we were dispatched by Shining Armor, we are not of the Royal Guard. Also, we need to maintain our cover as much as possible for future situations."

"Oh." Twilight wilted as she thought about what they were up against. "Do you think that you and Storm Front can handle this?"

Red River tapped his chin thoughtfully. "It depends. There are a lot of factors in play. However, I am fairly confident that the two of us can handle a fair number of enemies ourselves."

"How many?"

"I honestly can't say," replied Red River solemnly, "We've had to fight against large numbers of opponents, large enough to be counted by the score, both together and singly. I don't have a proper estimate of the maximum, but I think we can account for a substantial number of enemies if it comes to that. However," he met Twilight's gaze, his expression dark, "If you want them alive, that's another matter..."

"What do you mean?" asked Twilight, the bottom dropping out of her stomach.

"Killing ponies is simple," explained the azure stallion, "There are numerous ways to do it. However, disabling a pony without killing her is another matter entirely. It requires a great deal of precision, skill and careful action. It is a much more complex process because there are plenty of ways to kill a pony by accident, even as you're trying to take her alive.

"In a pitched battle against greater numbers, efficiency, taking out your opponents as quickly as possible with the minimum effort necessary so as to reserve your strength for your remaining foes, is key. Trying to take those enemies alive reduces that efficiency by a dangerous degree and also occupies your attention by taking your focus away from the battle as a whole.

"If Storm Front and I end up fighting against a large number of enemies, we won't have the luxury of making the effort to take them alive. I'm afraid if things come to that, you may have to accept that some ponies might die today."

Twilight snapped back to reality as Sky Runner finally found his tongue. "You arrogant ground pounder! You think you can defy us and act so high and mighty. Your attitude is a perfect example of what's wrong with this nation?"

"Excuse me?" asked Mayor Mare, giving him only the barest sign that he had her attention.

"You earth ponies grow fat off the food grown with the weather we create. You take it for granted that, every day, your skies are going to be perfectly in line with your pathetic little schedules. You deal with us, pretending that you are actually our equals. You've forgotten your place in the order of things. You dirt clods need to be reminded of where you belong."

Sky Runner's eyes blazed with fervor as the tirade spilled forth from his lips. However, looking past him, Twilight noted that the vast majority of his troops seemed uneasy, many of them apparently not liking what they were hearing. From the looks of things, tribalists have taken control of the weather factory and the Weather Bureauu. But they don't seem to have completely overrun Cloudsdale itself.

Mayor Mare didn't give the impression that she had been phased in the slightest by Sky Runner's words. "We know our place in the world just fine," she retorted, "It seems that you are the ones who've forgotten your place in the world. At the very least, your sense of self-importance has inflated to an unbearable degree."

The stallion's jaw dropped. For a moment he stood stock-still apparently aghast at the insult Mayor Mare had given him. Twilight took a nervous step back. Part of her seemed to instinctively sense that this was the moment of no return. Mayor Mare had made her position and, by proxy, Ponyville's as well, clear. They would not budge on the matter, whether it was to release the prisoners, hoof Rainbow over, or pay the ridiculous fine that Sky Runner had tried to levy. Now it was up to Sky Runner to make the decision of how he was going to respond to this.

He's going to fight, thought Twilight despairingly, There's no way he's going to back down.

And indeed, she was proven right, for Sky Runner's mouth had set into a grim line. "It seems you earth ponies need a reminder of how you should treat your betters." He raised a hoof. A metallic rattle sounded behind him as the forty pegasi of the Cloudsdale Guard slid their wingblades into place. The motion was not in perfect unison and many clearly hesitated, not liking the thought of what they were about to be ordered to do.

A brief flicker of motion caught Twilight's eye. Looking over, she saw Red River, no longer leaning against the side of the building, standing ready, one hoof already reaching for the handle of his spear. Up above, she noted that Storm Front had stopped circling to hover, his forelegs outstretched and ready to deploy the formidable weapon he referred to as a meteor hammer.

"Subdue the enemy by any means necessary," declared Sky Runner, "Release our comrades. Then we shall go and collect the offender, Rainbow Dash."

The lowering of Sky Runner's hoof was the signal. The forty armed and armored pegasi began to march forward. This was only the prelude, as soon they would burst into furious motion and hurl themselves on the Ponyville Guard.

"CEASE THIS AT ONCE!!!" The boom of the magically amplified voice rattled windows and shook all those present down to their bones. Wincing from the incredible noise, Twilight turned to look around in the direction of the train station. Her worried expression immediately dissolved into one of relief as she saw the familiar golden armor of a pair of Royal Guards.

The one on the right was a pegasus. As was typical with the pegasi of the Royal Guard, the enchantments on his armor had turned the natural color of his coat to a pure white, while his mane became a dark blue. The other was a unicorn, whose coat and mane were gray and silver respectively. A sigh escaped Twilight as she watched the two of them approach. They made it.

The glow around the unicorn's horn faded and the two of them walked closer. The pegasus, clearly the more highly ranked member of the pair surveyed the tableau before him, his eyes sliding coldly over Cloudsdale and Ponyville ponies alike. "Now then, is there anypony who is willing to explain this farcical situation?"

Mayor Mare had managed to quickly mask her relief at the Guards arrival and regained her composure. Now she directed a calm and tranquil look at Sky Runner, who had every look of a pony watching helplessly as everything around him went slowly, but surely, wrong. He had clearly not expected the new arrivals and was fishing desperately for the words that he could use to explain his situation. Only it was no use. Any attempt to justify what he had just ordered his Guards to do would only be met with the question of why he hadn't brought complaints to the magistrate, rather than take matters into his own hooves. Sky Runner's eyes shifted back and forth between the newly arrived Royal Guards and Mayor Mare, who was doing her best not to smile smugly at his discomfort.

Finally, it seemed that the Royal Guard pegasus had had enough of Sky Runner's attempts to find some word, any word of explanation. Turning his eyes back to Mayor Mare, he gave her an encouraging tilt of his head. Mayor Mare responded with a nod and a cough before launching into her explanation.

"Yeterday, this stallion's subordinate..." she pointed an accusing hoof at Sky Runner, "...attempted to force his way into the home of one of my citizens and arrest her for what Cloudsdale had deemed an illegal act. A concerned citizen informed me of this while another stopped Mister Fine Print (who happens to be occupying a cell in the station behind me) from carrying this out. Having looked into the situation, I have found no proof whatsoever that Miss Rainbow Dash committed any violation of the law and thus found Fine Print's actions both an abuse of authority and a violation of his jurisdiction as a representative of Cloudsdale and had the Ponyville Guard take him into custody. As you can see..." she swept a hoof out dramatically to indicate the arrayed pegasi of the Cloudsdale Guard, "...This gentlestallion was then dispatched with Cloudsdale along with no less than forty of their Guard to attempt to force us into giving into their ludicrous demands, which included releasing our prisoners without a determination from the magistrate, giving Rainbow Dash up for arrest and paying an absurd fine for our nonexistent wrongdoings." As she finished, Mayor Mare leveled a very angry glare at Sky Runner. "And as you saw just a few moments ago, he had every intention of using violent force to carry this out."

The pegasus turned his eyes on Sky Runner, his expression set in a scathing glare. "Return to Cloudsdale at once. You are a disgrace." Saying nothing more, he turned his attention back to Mayor Mare and moved to start speaking with her.

For a moment, Sky Runner just stood there, his expression stunned. In a few moments, everything he had been planning had gone horribly wrong. Worse still, to be told off by a fellow pegasus, a Royal Guard at that, was humiliating beyond compare. His entire body trembled as he tried to restrain himself from attacking on his own. However, his knowledge that the pegasus in golden armor was a Royal Guard stopped him. Attacking a Royal Guard was paramount to challenging the authority of Celestia herself.

Sky Runner's muscles tensed. Even though he had not come with armor or wingblades, he had not come unarmed either. Reaching beneath his suit, he drew out a large combat knife. It would be the work of a few seconds. The Royal Guards' attention was currently on Mayor Mare. He could be on them in an instant...just slip the blade between plates of armor and it would be over. Once the Royal Guards were out of the way, he could continue as he saw fit with opposition from Ponyville.

Just eliminate the witnesses and this will all be over. Of course, that meant expanding the scope of his targets. But that was acceptable. After all, most of the watching ponies were earth ponies or unicorns. And the few pegasi in the crowd had forfeited any mercy by siding with those ground pounders. It'll be easy, just cut them down and do what you came here to do. Show those servants of the Sun Witch what it means to defy the natural order of things.

Twilight's eyes caught the motion as Sky Runner drew his knife. Her eyes widened. Quickly, she opened her mouth to let out a cry of warning for the Royal Guards, whose backs were turned, having no reason to expect such a despicable deed. Sky Runner tensed and took a step forward...

...And froze, his body not able to make another move as he instinctually stiffened at the terrifying feeling of the edge of a blade pressed against his neck. The impression was fleeting, barely lasting an instant, and yet so powerful that it completely halted the angry stallion his steps. Not wanting to risk losing his head by moving it, Sky Runner looked over with his eyes, tracing the source of the feeling that had stopped his attack.

There he was, a lone brown earth pony stallion, standing quietly off to the side. At some point, he had stepped out of the watching crowd and closed in. But Sky Runner hadn't even noticed. Where did he come from? When did he get this close? In his right fetlock, he cradled what appeared to be an ordinary twig. Measuring the distance with his eyes, Sky Runner was confused. There was easily a full meter of distance between the tip of the twig and his own neck. Sky Runner was standing well outside the reach of the strange earth pony and yet...and yet...the feeling of the sword against his neck had been all too real.

The earth pony stallion sniffed slightly and retracted the twig. "Do not sully yourself further by doing something foolish. It would be best if you were on your way."

Shuddering, Sky Runner took a step back, not taking his eyes off the mysterious stallion. It struck him as absurd. Here he was, trembling in terror before an earth pony. Earth ponies were weak. They couldn't fly or use magic. The only power they had was that which allowed them to make plants grow. Their sole use was tending the land and providing food for their betters. At least unicorns, with their powerful magic, were regarded as rivals by the pegasi to a certain degree. It had always been a conflict between unicorn magic and pegasus mastery of the elements. Earth ponies were beneath both. That is what he had been taught. But here he was, subdued by a single earth pony, whom hadn't actually seemed to do anything.

The whole thing was simply too strange for Sky Runner to deal with. Turning about, he began barking out orders. "Form up! Return to base on the double!" The pegasi of the Cloudsdale Guard obeyed with matchless precision, taking to the skies and turning to fly straight for home. Sky Runner was a beat behind them, pausing to take one last look at the unnerving stallion that had dispelled every ounce of his desire to fight.

As he flew, Sky Runner felt something wet beading on his neck where he had felt the blade earlier. Reaching up, he ran his hoof over it and held it up to his eyes, which widened at the sight. His hoof was smeared with a tiny quantity of red.

Twilight found herself gaping at the sight of a familiar stallion stopping Sky Runner. She had just turned, about to shout her warning, when she realized that Sky Runner had stopped. Turning back, her jaw dropped when she saw Arkenstone standing there, a long twig held in one fetlock, leveling it at the angry pegasus. She saw Arkenstone speak, but didn't catch the words. Whatever it was that he said took the fight completely out of Sky Runner, who turned and ordered his ponies to return to Cloudsdale, the lot of them practically fleeing with their ears tucked back and tails between their legs.

Arkenstone's head turned, his ears and muzzle orienting on her. The stallion gave her an encouraging smile and put a hoof to his lips before lowering the twig to the ground. Turning around, he walked off gently, apparently satisfied with his role in things. He slipped cleanly into the watching crowd without attracting so much as a passing glance.

With a sigh of relief, Twilight headed over to join Mayor Mare, who had just dismissed the Ponyville Guard while she spoke with the two visitors from the Royal Guard. As she approached, the two stallions turned and regarded her.

"Dame Twilight Sparkle," greeted the pegasus, giving her a bow of his head, "I am Lieutenant Wind Treader of the Royal Guard."

The unicorn followed suit. "I am Sergeant Torch."

"Your brother sends his regards," added Wind Treader with a smile, looking much more relaxed now that the crisis was over with. "We will be stationed in Ponyville until the magistrate can arrive and issue a ruling. But we will be sending notification back to Princess Celestia of Cloudsdale's misconduct."

Twilight nodded. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. I think you saved everypony a great deal of trouble today." She cast an uneasy look towards the space that had been occupied by the invading force of pegasi.

"I'm glad that we can be of service," said Wind Treader, "Now then, we are just in the process of finalizing arrangements with your mayor."

"Of course," said Twilight, "I'll help however I can."

"That was quite impressive."

Arkenstone came to a stop. Though ponies all around them were going about their business, the crowd having finally dispersed following the end of the confrontation, none of them had noticed the beige stallion, nor his contribution to the confrontation's resolution...none save two.

His ears swiveling towards the voice, Arkenstone turned towards the pony who had addressed him. Red River grinned as he approached. "It's been awhile."

"Indeed," agreed Arkenstone, "I see Shining Armor followed my advice."

Red River looked down at one hoof sheepishly. A light thud sounded out as Storm Front touched down next to him. In unison, the two stallions bowed respectfully.

"We've heard you'll be staying in town for a while," said Red River.

"Yes," agreed Arkenstone, "At the very least, it'll allow me to keep an eye on you two, so to speak. I heard you nearly killed the colt you were sent here to help."

The two mercenary stallions shuddered slightly at the reproachful tone in Arkenstone's voice. "Sorry," replied Storm Front, "But it was necessary at the time."

"Since I have an idea of where that notion came from, I can't really blame you for that," said Arkenstone, "Shining and I have decided to trust your judgment on the matter."

"Thanks," said Red River.

"We will have to talk later," said Arkenstone, before turning to continue on his way.

"Watch out for the pink mare," Red River shouted after him, "She's a doozy."

The beige stallion gave them a relaxed nod as he continued on his way.

"I'm sorry I'm late everypony!" exclaimed Flitter as she rushed through the door, "There was a line at Sugarcube Corner and I had to wait for the donuts to finish baking." She grinned as she set the box down on the table. "On the plus-side, they're nice and warm."

"Sweet!" squealed Cloud Chaser, setting aside a small stack of forms, "We were just about to wrap up anyway."

"Huh?" Flitter cast her gaze around at the assembled Weather Team volunteers, who were in the process of organizing various files and forms.

Ponyville's Weather Team office was too small to warrant a building of its own. Instead, it occupied a small suite of rooms in Town Hall. Given Rainbow Dash's hooves-on approach to weather management, it saw sparse use at best, the notoriously active mare doing her best to spend as little time in the office as possible. The suite consisted of a small conference room where assignments were (supposed to be) hooved out, a file-room, containing archived reports of previous storms, as well as all the necessary paperwork for future ones, a bathroom (which did not double as a helium production plant, thank you very much), and Rainbow's own manager office, containing a desk that she tried her hardest to avoid using.

There were, of course, the obligatory cloud requisition forms to be sent to (and subsequently be ignored by) Cloudsdale, along with various other forms concerning the recent storm and its consequences. There were cost estimate forms reporting the assessment of damages caused by the storm to Ponyville, the correlating forms that matched the estimates with the rough projections of possible damage that had been rushed out immediately prior, the forms explaining the reasons for the discrepancy between the projections and the final estimates, the forms evaluating the Weather Team's level of responsibility for the damages caused, a report on the overall ground-level saturation caused by the rains, as well as pre, during, and post-storm recordings of humidity, barometric pressure, windspeed velocity and other sundry datasets. Long and short of it was that the wild storm had left the Ponyville Weather Team with a mass of paperwork to sort out, as one might expect when it came to recording the use of wild weather as an emergency response for the drought.

Some of this information was likely to be critical in the upcoming trial by the magistrate as he judged whether or not Cloudsdale's claims against Ponyville were valid. Because of that, it was important to get the paperwork over with quickly. Unfortunately, with the Weather Manager currently out of action, the pony normally responsible for said paperwork was unable to fill it out. Fortunately, Raindrops, as acting head of the Weather Team during Rainbow's recovery, opted to do the job herself, wisely putting out a call for volunteers to help as she came to realize the workload that awaited her that afternoon. Fortunately, Cloud Chaser, Flitter, and Storm Front had answered the call. Once they'd met and sorted out the duties, it had been decided that Flitter would be the one to go and collect snacks while they worked.

Given the workload that had been waiting for them in the morning, Flitter had hardly expected much in the way of progress over the hour and a half that it had taken her to get the promised donuts from Sugarcube Corner. And yet, she'd returned to find that all the forms had been filled out and the office was now in the process of being tidied up.

"How did you finish so fast?" she asked, stunned.

"Storm here practically flew through those papers," said Raindrops, grinning as she indicated the dark-gray pegasus distractedly filling out what appeared to be the final form as he quietly watched the conversation in front of him.

To Flitter's surprise, Storm Front didn't grasp the pen with his mouth, but instead held it pinched between two of his outer primaries, the feathers twitching with precise movements as he quickly wrote down whatever information the form asked of him. After signing the document, Storm Front set down the pen and, with a flick of his wing, brushed his feathers over the form, sending the paper sliding across the table to the stack Raindrops was organizing.

"I've never seen a pony that wasn't a unicorn write so fast," said Cloud Chaser gleefully as she reached eagerly for a donut. Biting in, Flitter's sister hummed happily as the pastry's sweetness spread across her tongue.

"Basically, we're all wrapped up," said Raindrops as she joined Cloud Chaser in sampling Pinkie's baked goods, "So now we can enjoy snack-time without any problems."

Storm Front flicked his wing, apparently trying to work some kinks out his muscles. "I haven't done that in a long time."

"Where did you learn to write like that?" asked Flitter, her voice soft. It was hard for her to articulate her feelings about the new hire. In spite of his extremely unassuming nature, she found Storm Front fascinating to watch, especially the way he seemed to naturally fade away in everypony's awareness unless he wanted to be noticed, which was rare. Lately, being around him made her a little nervous, though she wasn’t entirely sure why.

She half expected Storm to not even hear her as he reached for a donut of his own, given how her nervousness had stolen the volume from her voice.

“It was a skill I developed back when I was training to be a civil servant in Guoxia," he answered.

“Guoxia?” Raindrops looked up at the stallion. “You mean that big country way east of Saddle Arabia? That’s where you’re from?”

“Correct,” agreed Storm Front.

“Color me impressed,” said the jasmine mare, “You don’t have any trace of an accent.”

“Well, I’ve been living in Equestria for a while,” replied Storm, “I haven’t spoken in Guoxian for years. I’m fairly certain that anypony from my homeland who heard me speak would probably say I have a horrid Equestrian accent now.”

It wasn’t his words that gave everypony pause so much as he’d said so many of them at once. Storm Front was short and to-the-point, rarely speaking more than he actually had to.

“How’d you end up coming over to Equestria?” asked Cloud Chaser.

“That’s a long story,” replied Storm, “Maybe another time.”

Now there was the Storm Front the Weather Team was more familiar with.

Storm cast a glance at the clock before standing up. “It’s getting close to time. Rainbow Dash should be waking up soon. I need to get some groceries for dinner.”

"Good luck with that," said Cloud Chaser, "Rainbow hates being nursemaided."

Storm gave an indifferent shrug as he made his way to the door.

After he left, the others turned back to their donuts.

"So, a civil servant huh?" mused Raindrops after a moment, "He didn't strike me as the bureaucratic type."

"Are you sure?" asked Cloud Chaser, "He was tearing through those forms like he'd filled out his own birth certificate in triplicate."

"Wonder how the hay he ended up on this side of the world," mused Raindrops airily.

"Maybe someday we'll find out," replied Cloud Chaser with a shrug, "If getting him to talk wasn't as hard as trying to get Pinkie Pie to stop talking."

Unnoticed by the two bantering mares, Flitter quietly nibbled on her own fare as she quietly eyed the space Storm Front had recently vacated.

Rainbow Dash yawned mightily as she sat up in bed. That alone was a good sign, the achey stiffness in her muscles having resided enough to allow the sky-blue mare to move under her own power. Lifting her forelegs, Rainbow eyed them dubiously. They were a little shaky still and she wasn't overly confident in their ability to hold up her own weight, much less allow her to walk.

Looking over to the window, she wondered how much time had passed since she had fallen asleep thanks to Storm Front's tea. Knowing the way Wing Exhaustion works, I'm guessing that I slept through the night and the better part of today. With a low grumble, Rainbow decided that she had had enough lying around. Certainly, her pegasus magic wasn't good for anything beyond walking on the clouds, but she hoped that she could at least move about her house under her own power.

Pushing the covers off of her body, Rainbow rolled out of bed and tried her hooves on the floor, which sank and compacted ever so slightly under her weight, just like good cloud should. Getting her legs under her, Rainbow pushed away from the bed and stood up for the first time in two days.

Her legs wobbled and trembled, but held. Rainbow relaxed, feeling that she actually could manage standing. Walking would come in a moment. First, she began stretching her back letting out relieved sighs as her spine popped. She also tried stretching her legs, but the process of leaning forward to stretch the hind legs nearly caused her forelegs to give way and make her plant her face into the floor. So Rainbow opted out of that.

The next part was the most difficult yet, taking those first halting steps and trying to walk. While they were unsteady, Rainbow was at least relieved that she could indeed move around her room. It was at that moment that she became conscious of her other needs. Only the instability in Rainbow's gait kept her from outright bolting to the bathroom.

Immediate needs seen to, Rainbow also saw to the rest of her "morning" routine, brushing her teeth and combing her mane enough to get rid of that dratted bed-head. While she was no Rarity, Rainbow Dash knew better than to rush out of the house with her mane tangled and disheveled. Finished in the bathroom, Rainbow decided to head to the living room and the kitchen to see about some food, as her stomach was starting to remind her that she hadn't had anything since that bowl of broth yesterday.

Coming down the hall, Rainbow ground to a halt as she surveyed the greatest obstacle yet...stairs. Her balance was still shaky enough that the rainbow-maned pegasus wasn't entirely confident in her ability to descend without inadvertently taking the express route. And while cloud constructs were naturally padded, so she didn't have to worry about injuring herself, taking a tumble down the stairs would still be unpleasant and, even worse, uncool.

While she was stopped, pondering about whether or not she should make the descent, Rainbow heard the door to her house open and shut, followed by the sound of bags being dropped on the floor before hoofsteps approached the bottom of the stairs. Storm Front appeared, his storm-cloud colored head peering up at her. "You're up," he said simply.

"That's right," agreed Rainbow. Not wanting to give the impression that she was afraid of the stairs or anything like that, Rainbow quickly made her first attempt to step down. However, in her haste, she didn't set her first foreleg right and overbalanced, her body threatening to pitch over and roll down.

Storm Front was up the stairs like a shot, stretching one hoof around in front of her shoulders to halt her fall. Storm Front gently held her steady while Rainbow tried to regain her balance, now standing with her front legs on the first step down. Assured that she wouldn't topple if he withdrew his leg, Storm Front pulled back and then sidled up alongside her. "Use your wing," he said simply.

A slight blush of embarrassment spread across Rainbow's face, both at her embarrassing almost-fall and Storm Front's suggestion. She did as she was bid though, stretching out her wing and resting it on his back. Sure enough, as she took her next cautious step down the stairs, the wing and Storm Front's solidity helped keep her steady so that the stallion didn't need to catch her a second time.

Working slowly and carefully, the pair made their way down the stairs and into Rainbow's living room, where she spied the bags she had heard being set down earlier. Storm Front had evidently been grocery shopping as the bags bulged with a variety of vegetables and other ingredients. The sight of food made Rainbow's stomach growl. Realizing that Storm Front was standing next to her and her wing was still over his back, Rainbow couldn't help but grin and chuckle sheepishly as he raised an eyebrow at the noise.

"It seems I came back at the perfect time," he observed, the tiniest hint of a smile pulling at his lips.

A few minutes later saw Rainbow resting on her couch, munching at an apple to take the edge off her hunger, while Storm Front worked in the kitchen, preparing what turned out to be dinner as Rainbow finally figured out what time of day it was. However, the apple ended up doing little good as the smell of Storm Front's cooking emanating from the kitchen roused her appetite even further. In Rainbow's state, it seemed almost criminal to make food smell this good.

When Storm Front emerged, he carried a pair of platters, which supported bowls on his wings, laying them out on the table, one for Rainbow and one for himself. Dinner turned out to be a delicious vegetable soup, supplemented with potatoes to make it extra filling. Rainbow gobbled down no less than three bowls with zeal. Leaning back with a satisfied sigh, she lounged on the couch ad Storm Front carried the dishes away.

When he returned, Rainbow had found one of her Daring Do novels and was contentedly plugging away at it. However, as Storm Front settled down nearby, she lifted her head from the book. "Um...Storm Front...?"

"Yes?"

Rainbow shied away from his gaze for a moment. "Thanks...for everything. You've done such a great job taking care of me. I know I haven't exactly been the most grateful pony in the world."

"It's alright," replied the stallion, "You are a strong and independent pony. It's only natural for you to be uncomfortable accepting help from others."

Rainbow gave him a wry grin at that. "I guess. But I was there when Applejack learned the hard way that you can't always do everything yourself, so I should know better."

"Pride is a difficult thing to master," remarked Storm Front, "Particularly when you have every right to be proud of something."

"I thought you were gonna say something about pride being bad or about arrogance or...something," muttered Rainbow Dash. She'd occasionally gotten preachy lectures from Twilight and Applejack (seriously, like she's one to talk) about the dangers of pride.

"There is nothing wrong with taking pride in your accomplishments," said Storm Front, "It gives you the confidence to move forward to even greater ones. However, if you allow it to make you dwell solely on what you have done, you will never truly be able to move on to what you will do."

Rainbow blinked, not certain how to interpret his words, but she thought she got the general gist of it. Any further inquiries were stifled by a yawn that forced its way out of her mouth. Her full belly and her comfortable couch were combining to lull her into a doze.

"I think it's time for bed," observed Storm Front, getting up.

Once again, he had Rainbow rest a wing over his back to give her added stability as he helped the tired mare up the stairs and into her room. After helping Rainbow get into bed, he turned out the light and left, leaving Rainbow alone with her thoughts. And Rainbow had plenty of thinking to do.

While there was still a slight seed of distrust in her heart, Rainbow found it overshadowed by the familiar warmth she'd felt around Storm Front, as though his presence filled a hole in her life that had been missing ever since she'd parted ways with her family to live in Ponyville. Rainbow was no stranger to crushes, but she was aware that her feelings for Storm weren't romantic. After all, her heart was pretty fixated on a different stallion at the moment, though they hadn’t gotten a chance to talk since the Royal Wedding. It was more like having a brother than anything else; granted, one who went and did something stupid behind her back, but someone who could be trusted overall. In a way, it reminded her of all those times her own father had taken care of her when she'd been sick as a filly.

That warm sense of trust lulled Rainbow into a peaceful sleep as she waited for her strength to return.

Author's Note

I guess I pulled kind of a red herring with people seeing Storm/Dash in the last couple chapters. That wasn't exactly what I meant. And though I dabbled in the idea of that pairing back when I was first coming up with this story, I've long ago decided on a different plan for Dashie. I've also got plans for Storm too.

I've had to rework things a little to make room for Storm Front's backstory, which, unlike Red River's, will probably be delivered piecemeal over the next few chapters, rather than one big lump of exposition.

Also, you'll notice I've resorted to using the horizontal rule to help clarify scene transitions since some readers apparently can't see the extra spacing between scenes. I was single-spacing paragraphs and then double spacing for transitions, which is typical for books and the like. But evidently, depending on how they're viewing it or what format this is in, that isn't as visible to everyone who reads my stories on this site, so I've gone back over the previous chapters of this story, as well as my other stories and put the horizontal rules in. Hopefully this will make it easier for everyone.

One last piece of business. It's been a while since I've done a story recommendation, but I found this one recently and it's a fantastic piece of work that really deserves more recognition. Monsters by Sharpe Quill is a story that reads like those Sci-Fi channel monster movies that used to be released on a weekly basis, that is if one of those movies was written by an actually talented writer. While it's not complete, it's an engrossing story about a terrifying monster loose in an old portside town. The characters are extremely well-done and the plot is well-developed. I really recommend you give it a read through.

Next chapter: Scootaloo gets jealous.

Settling Down

Chapter 10: Settling Down

The remainder of the week oversaw a general improvement in the overall mood of Ponyville. The sorely needed storm had brought back some of the greenery that had been missed, thanks to the drought. The farmers were all grateful that they hadn't needed to write off their crops. The magistrate and his seeing-eye dog had come and gone, taking the offenders from Cloudsdale with him, as well as the two members of the Royal Guard. In his examination of the situation, the magistrate had found no proof that Rainbow Dash had committed any crime, thus freeing her from the threat of imprisonment and a criminal record. He also found Fine Print and the two Guards from Cloudsdale guilty of their abuse of power and had transferred them to Canterlot to be held for the duration of their sentences. He also promised to look into Cloudsdale's belligerent response to the whole affair. The subsequent celebration was just as much in jubilation for Rainbow Dash as it was a consolation for Twilight.

Having seen for themselves how utterly draconian the Weather Bureau could be about enforcing their monopoly on Equestria's weather, it also seemed that the whole maelstrom surrounding Rainbow's near arrest had redeemed her in the eyes of almost everypony in Ponyville, which was a relief to Rainbow, now that her inbox was no longer flooded with letters blaming her for the whole drought.

In spite of this, Rainbow was still nervous. She had been more or less left out of the loop while she recovered from her Wing Exhaustion. Emerging from her home to find out she had nearly been arrested while unconscious had been an unpleasant experience for her.

For a time, Ponyville descended back into a comfortable quietness as its inhabitants went about their usual business. Their confidence had been restored somewhat by the large storm Rainbow and her team had brought in. But there were still no signs that the drought would be coming to an end as, if at all possible, Cloudsdale had grown even more uncooperative towards any attempts to determine if the Weather Factory would be producing rainclouds in the near future. But for now, in Ponyville at least, it seemed as though things were as they should be.

"I'm back," announced Twilight in a cheerful tone as she trotted through the door of the library, her saddlebags loaded down with her bulk purchase of quills from Quills and Sofas.

"Welcome back Twilight," said Spike pausing in his efforts to slide a book onto a shelf while standing perched on a ladder to acknowledge her entrance before going back to work.

As Twilight breathed in, she found a heavenly aroma weaving in among the scents of parchment and bindings that suffused her home. A heady scent of carefully combined herbs and spices wound its way out of the kitchen, where the enthusiastic clatter of pans indicated that their long-term houseguest was busily preparing dinner.

Pausing to set down her burden, Twilight trotted into the kitchen, following the incredible edible perfume that emanated from it. The stove was off to one side of the door. Perched over the pot set on the burner was a dark brown earth pony with a cutie mark of crossed swords emblazoned on his flank.

"Welcome home Twilight," said the stallion, his tone earnest, his ears twitching, though he didn't turn away from his work.

Twilight blushed slightly, reveling in the warm feeling the settled into her stomach at hearing him utter those words. "What are you working on Arky?"

Arkenstone sniffed at the contents of the pot, then added a dark powder, probably some spice that Twilight couldn't identify on sight, to it before stirring it. "This is a dish I picked up during my time traveling through Pachydermia. It's one of many variations of what is typically referred to as curry."

"Curry?" Not being a hub of trade or travel, in spite of its proximity to Canterlot, Ponyville did not have any restaurants that offered foreign cuisine. Access to the ingredients needed to prepare dishes from other nations was difficult for the small town to obtain, and such ingredients only came at tremendous cost. Even in Canterlot, Twilight had never had the opportunity to try anything but Equestrian fare, given that the nobles tended to look down on anything that wasn't prepared to their exacting standards and preferences. Princess Celestia maintained a small cadre of chefs, along with the necessary foodstuffs, to prepare such dishes for diplomatic dinners with foreign dignitaries. But given her disinterest for anything but her studies, Twilight had never attended any of those dinners.

She had to admit though, the smell was positively divine. "Where did you get the ingredients for this?" she asked, "It can't have been easy, or cheap."

"I levied a boon from the Princess," replied Arkenstone as casually as though he had instead said he had asked to borrow a cup of sugar from her, "She helped me make some arrangements to obtain the spices and some other things from a select group of traders at a bargain price."

"You used a Royal Boon to get a cut-rate deal from a bunch of traders?" Twilight asked incredulously. Royal Boons were notoriously difficult to obtain. A boon gave the asker carte blanche to request the Princess's authority to support virtually any request within reason. Arkenstone's choice seemed ridiculously mundane.

"Just with the Equestrians handling the merchandise on our side of the border," replied Arkenstone casually as he stirred the mixture again, "Even a Royal Boon won't give me any extra credence with the traders along the routes of Saddle Arabia. Fortunately, I have some acquaintances who owe me favors along the routes, so I'm able to get the net cost reduced so that the ponies doing the business on Equestria's side don't lose any profit over me."

Twilight blinked. "That's...considerate," she observed. It seemed that Arkenstone had hardly needed a Royal Boon to obtain that. Part of her wondered if Celestia had insisted on giving him one because she was desperate to do something nice for him. "So...there are a lot of ponies that owe you favors?"

"Not all of them ponies," corrected Arkenstone, tipping a cutting board loaded down with chopped vegetables into the pot, "The inhabitants of Saddle Arabia are houyhnhnms. That said, yes, a lot of ponies (and other creatures as well) owe me a turn, sometimes two or more, some good and some ill."

"You mean there are some people that want revenge on you?" Twilight asked.

"It's inevitable in my line of work," Arkenstone pointed out, "In stymieing the plans of Equestria's enemies, I end up making plenty of my own. That's the way of the world."

"Oh Arky..." whispered Twilight. She decided she didn't like the way this conversation was going. For the time being, she decided to leave it be and went back out into the main room of the library. Having just finished shelving all the loose books, Spike had switched to sweeping the floor, his diligence making Twilight smile as she watched the little dragon go about his chores. Gently, she used her magic to pry the broom from his grip.

"I can take it from here Spike," she said, "Why don't you go out and enjoy yourself for a little while. I think we have another hour or so until dinner is ready."

"About forty-five minutes," called Arkenstone from the kitchen.

Twilight and Spike paused, exchanging an amused look with each other. Reaching over, Twilight ran her hoof along the top of Spike's head. "Go on," she said, "But no treats. I don't want you spoiling your dinner."

"Got it," called Spike as he headed out the door. Twilight blinked as she watched him go. The bumps on his back were now clearly visible. Also...Is he getting taller?

Shaking her head to clear it, Twilight got back to the process of sweeping the floor.

"This is boring," grumbled Scootaloo after a moment.

"You've barely been at it for two minutes," said Dawn, not budging an inch or even moving his eyes in the direction of the irritated pegasus filly. He and Scootaloo were standing side by side as he put the filly through her most difficult lesson of all, standing still.

Dawn was an odd sight, standing with his wings partly outstretched. The bandages had been removed earlier that week. However, the feathers on his wings had yet to grow back, giving them a ragged, uneven appearance. The lack of feathers, which were the primary conduits of pegasus magic, meant that he was unable to manipulate the air enough to allow him to fly yet.

The colt had taken his predicament with impressive grace, hardly batting an eyelid at the fact that it would be nearly a month before he could be up in the air again. He had even resumed Scootaloo's lessons, doing his best to help refine her flight skills, even though he couldn't be up in the air with her. However, his inability to use his magic meant that he was unable to provide any assurance of safety, which compelled him to avoid allowing Scootaloo to take any serious risks with her training, which only served to make the orange filly frustrated when she felt that his lessons weren't helping her very much.

Scootaloo let out a low puff of air, blowing a tuft of her magenta mane out of her eyes as she tried her best to stand still. Asking Dawn about further training options, seeing as he was temporarily grounded, to improve her control over her pegasus magic, had resulted in Dawn suggesting meditation. However, standing stock still wasn't Scootaloo's strength. Every time she tried, her body came up with an itch or one of her muscles would twitch, distracting her from the all-important process of clearing her mind.

Ever patient, Dawn had tried a variety of suggestions to help Scootaloo along. However, her biggest complaint remained that meditation was just plain dull. There was nothing to it but just standing still and doing nothing grated on her nerves. It seemed impossible.

The two of them had sequestered themselves in the park, the other members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders having prior commitments that prevented them from joining the pair. It was certainly the best time to try and teach Scootaloo, given that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle would have made it impossible for her to focus.

"Dawn, I don't think this is working?" complained the filly, fluttering her wings in frustration.

Dawn decided to abort the practice while he tried to think of a solution to their problem. "I'm not certain I can be of much help," he admitted, "This is the way I was taught to meditate. It worked well enough for me, so I never really found out about any alternative methods."

"Hey," suggested Scootaloo, "Why don't we ask Red River or Storm Front, they might know something that could help."

"That's a good idea," answered Dawn. He turned to look in the direction of the market. "Let's ask Red River first. At the very least, we'll know where he'll be."

"Meditation," mused Red River, who was packing up his stall, "That's a tricky one. The method you use, Dawn, was originally conceived by earth ponies. Since it revolves around stillness and emptiness, it's normally a poor match for pegasi."

Tilting his head, Dawn looked at the azure stallion in confusion. "How so? I have little difficulty with it, and I have to admit that it has helped me a great deal."

"I suppose it does," said Red River, "But you're pretty different from most pegasi. You're okay with staying still and clearing your mind. But that's a pretty rare trait. For most pegasi, movement of some kind is practically a necessity. So you have to look for a form of meditation in action."

"Meditation in action..." mused Dawn.

"That's right," said Red River, "It's usually some form of repetitive action to put the body into a controlled state, so that through those actions, you become aware of it. At the same time, the repetitive nature of the action means that you are free to empty your mind without needing to focus on what you are doing at the moment. There are all kinds of things you can try.

"For example, the monks at the temple I was raised in meditated by copying prayers, or sutras as they were called. The content that they were copying was irrelevant because the important thing was the act of writing in and of itself, which allowed them to empty their minds through the repetition of a familiar action."

"I see..." mused Dawn. Scootaloo gave him an uncertain look as he mulled over the options. "A repetitive action, one that has its basis in a sequence of movements repeated over and over..." His voice trailed off as he came to a conclusion.

Red River grinned, apparently anticipating the ebony colt's thoughts. "You were going to teach her those anyway, weren't you? You might as well kill two birds with one stone."

"I agree," admitted Dawn, "Although I hope you never use that metaphor around my mother; that would make her furious."

Having dealt with Fluttershy's rage firsthoof, Red River nodded fervently.

Scootaloo looked back and forth between the two. "Okay," she snapped, "What the hay are you two talking about?"

"Your training of course," replied Dawn as if that was obvious, "Come. We should get you started as soon as possible."

"Started on what?" demanded Scootaloo indignantly as she was lead away.

Red River watched them go, his smile widening. "She's good for him," he remarked, "In teaching her, he instructs himself."

With a yawn, Spike stretched his arms up towards the sky as he ambled along the pathway of the park. Not having any time to go shopping and not a whole lot of time to hang out, Spike figured that a brisk walk through the park would be the perfect thing to kill time until dinner was ready. He didn't mind getting out of the library, he could stand going without the smell of Arkenstone's cooking for a few minutes. It wasn't that the stallion's cooking smelled bad. In fact, it smelled too good. Spike could certainly do without forty-five minutes of waiting smelling that heavenly scent and knowing he still had more time to go until he could actually eat that food. His stomach gave out a loud gargle, prompting him to look down. He was hungry, but he didn't mind waiting for dinner for once.

Stretching again, Spike felt his shoulders pop, along with a slight grating feeling as the bones of his new, but still undeveloped, wings flexed. The pain was gone now, but it had been replaced by a strange sensation that Spike couldn't really put into words. He guessed that it was probably the result of growing a whole new set of limbs that he never had before.

I can't wait to fly, he thought eagerly, Maybe Rainbow Dash could teach me. That'd be cool. Or maybe Dawn. He taught Scootaloo after all, so he must be pretty good at it.

Speaking of Discord, Spike's eyes caught sight of two familiar foals. There were Dawn and Scootaloo, standing in the grass not too far away, facing each other. Dawn stood silently, his eyes closed, his wings partially extended. To Spike's surprise, Scootaloo was doing the same, but with her eyes opened and fixed on the colt in front of her. It was clear that she was trying to emulate Dawn's stance.

"This first time, don't try to follow. Just watch." Spike nearly jumped at the sudden sound of Dawn's voice breaking through the silence. Then, as he and Scootaloo watched, Dawn began to go through a series of movements, a crossover step, thrusting one wing out. Then the same step in the opposite direction, thrusting out the opposite wing as the other retracted in a single smooth motion. Continuing on from there, Dawn went through the basic movements of the First Form.

Scootaloo's eyes were glued to the colt as she tried to burn each movement into her memory. She had seen Dawn practice before, but not like this. Usually, he seemed to flow smoothly from one move to another, making the entire kata seem like a single motion from beginning to end. But now, he deliberately stopped himself at the completion of each step. The reason was clear, to make sure that the filly saw each individual action that made up the sequence of techniques that made up the form.

When Dawn finished, he retracted his wings back to their partially open position, resuming the stance he had taken at the very beginning of his practice.

"Wow," breathed Scootaloo, "So I get to try that." She was practically shivering with excitement.

Dawn's eyes opened and he relaxed his stance. "Not yet," he said.

"Aw," groaned the filly, "Why not?"

In response, Dawn spun sideways, taking a crossover step as he did so and thrust his wing out. The leading feather, one of his few remaining primaries, lanced out like a blade, terminating its advance directly underneath Scootaloo's chin. She immediately went rigid with surprise.

"You can't execute the form unless you know the individual techniques that go into it," explained Dawn, slowly withdrawing his feather. There had been no intent behind the move, but it certainly got Scootaloo's attention. "You cannot build something unless you first have the components that make it up. The first step to this will be to learn the basic techniques of the Gale King Style."

A wide grin broke across Scootaloo's face. "I finally get to start learning your martial arts style! This. Is. So. AWESOME!!!" She bounced into the air, shrieking in gleeful excitement.

"I can teach," observed Dawn, his soft, yet resonant voice bringing her down instantly, "But whether or not you can learn is up to you."

Embarrassed at her outburst, Scootaloo blushed fiercely and sank down, contrite. Dawn sighed and shook his head, before giving her a small smile. "I appreciate your enthusiasm though," he remarked.

Spike snorted, trying hard to keep from bursting out laughing. His noise elicited a surprised squawk from Scootaloo, her wings reacting on instinct and shooting her up into the air, where she hung briefly before falling and catching herself. When she landed, she whirled about to glare at the young dragon. "Spike! When did you get here?"

"Shortly before we began," said Dawn, cocking his head slightly to the side, "You didn't notice?"

"Um well..." looking abashed and folding her ears back, Scootaloo rubbed her leg self-consciously, "Not really. I mean, I was kinda distracted."

"Have you been practicing the sensing exercise?" asked Dawn.

"Yeah," answered Scootaloo, her tone indignant, "I just forgot to keep it going."

"Keep practicing," said Dawn, a tone of amusement in his voice, "But for now, we should proceed with..." he paused, his eyes focusing on something in the near distance.

"Um Dawn?" Now it was Scootaloo's turn to cock her head. "What is it?"

"Hmm." Spike turned his head to follow Dawn's gaze. When he saw what the colt was looking, his mood dimmed considerably. "Uh oh."

"What? What are you guys looking at?" demanded Scootaloo, before she realized that she could do the same and looked over at what Dawn and Spike saw. "Hey! Is that Dinky?"

Without bothering to answer, Dawn bolted into a full gallop. With a sharp cry of protestation, Scootaloo burst after him, with Spike huffing and puffing as he struggled (and failed) to keep up.

Ahead of them was a very unpleasant sight indeed. The light purple form of Dinky was curled up on the ground as three older ponies, all of them colts older than Dawn and Scootaloo, formed a cordon around her. From the way she covered her head and the way tears streamed from her eyes, it was clear that Dinky was not enjoying their attention.

"Come on! What's the matter?" probed the apparent leader of the group, a pale brown-coated earth pony whose coat color streamed into his mane and tail, mixing with streaks of white, "You upset? Why don't you call your mommy?"

"Yeah, that'd be funny," added the second of the three colts, a moss green pegasus, flapping his wings, rustling a dark forest green mane, "Except, she's too stupid to figure anything out." He raised the pitch of his voice in a mocking imitation of Ditzy. "Oh no! Where's my little muffin? Maybe she's in the bakery!"

"She'd probably look for you in the oven," added the third, who loomed over Dinky, his slate gray coat blocking everything else from view, "While she's at it, she should do everypony else a favor and shut the door."

"I saw her you know," added the earth pony, grinning maliciously, "She was standing at the edge of Whitetail Woods, walking around the trees with her eyes closed. She's such a derp!"

"Don't call my mommy that!" shrieked Dinky, shooting to her feet.

"Aw look," taunted the earth pony, turning to his compatriots, "She doesn't like it when we talk bad about Derpy."

"Stop calling her that!" yelled Dinky. Her horn flared. Dinky was too young to really use magic. However, a unicorn in anger, even a young one, is still capable of much more than they normally would. A spark of yellow aura smacked into the earth pony colt's snout, whipping his head back.

For a moment, nopony moved. It took a few seconds for the brown colt to recover from the blow. When he looked back, his mocking smile dissolved into a snarl of anger. "You're gonna pay for that you little brat," he hissed, advancing on her, "When I get through with you, you're gonna be paste."

Before he could do anything though, an ebony blur streaked across his vision, interposing itself between him and Dinky, who ducked reflexively. Dawn Lightwing stood protectively over the little filly, his legs spaced out in a light crouch, while his draconic gaze fixed the other colt in place.

"What the?" exclaimed the brown colt, while his compatriots reared back, "Who the hay are you?"

Dawn said nothing. Instead, he stared impassively at the colt, his gaze occasionally flicking to the other two colts, who had backed away cautiously. The earth pony backed away against the intensity of Dawn's gaze, looking like he wanted to say something, but not finding the courage to do so.

It was the green pegasus who spoke first. "I remember now. You're that colt with the freaky eyes, the one that Miss Fluttershy adopted."

"Oh that's right!" exclaimed the gray pegasus, "Aren't you the one who gave that Diamond Tiara brat a verbal beat down?"

The brown earth pony was nodding. "I remember too now. Way to go kid."

Dawn blinked in surprise. This was not the response he had been expecting.

"You're pretty cool," continued the brown colt, "My name's Milky Swirl. Why don't we hang out?"

"Totally," agreed the green pegasus, "Let's ditch the derp and have some fun."

"I would rather not," said Dawn, "Dinky's mother is a friend of mine and I don't appreciate you insulting her."

This seemed to catch the older colts off-guard. "Seriously," scoffed Milky Swirl, "You're friends with Derpy?"

"I am," answered Dawn, "And I respect her. The same cannot be said for how I feel about you."

"Are you kidding?" demanded the green pegasus, "Come on! We're giving you the chance to hang with the cool crowd here."

"If being cool means being a pony who enjoys hurting a helpless filly, then I want nothing to do with it," said Dawn, "I suggest you leave now."

"Not a chance pal," said Milky, beginning to move towards Dawn, "We still need to teach the derp's brat a lesson. Either get out of the way or we're gonna break your face."

Dawn said nothing, but remained where he was, showing that he had no intention of backing down in the face of the older colts.

"Suit yourself," said Milky Swirl with a shrug. The three of them began to advance on Dawn and Dinky.

Scootaloo had caught up by now. She watched in horror, wondering what Dawn would do. His wings were still too damaged for him to use his pegasus magic through them. How would he be able to defend himself?

The answer came as Dawn lifted a hoof and thrust it forward, generating a gust of air that sent Milky Swirl tumbling. The two pegasus colts tried to close in. But Dawn spun about and bucked with his back legs, sending a burst of air that knocked the gray one back, slamming him into a nearby tree, where he sank to the ground with a groan. The moss green colt froze in place as Dawn's eyes fixed on him and backed away nervously, not wanting to meet with the same consequences that his friends had.

With a moan Milky Swirl rose shakily to his feet, his frightened eyes watching Dawn in fear. The gray colt was still in something of a daze. But even when his senses returned, he didn't budge from his spot.

"Let's stop this here," said Dawn, "In my present condition, I'm not certain I can hold back well enough to avoid severely injuring somepony if this goes on." His eyes fixed on Milky Swirl.

Milky Swirl flinched away from Dawn's gaze. Getting up, he hesitated, before fleeing. His cronies quickly followed suit, leaving Dawn alone with Dinky, Scootaloo, and Spike. Turning his attention downwards, Dawn lowered his head and gently nudged Dinky with his nose.

"Are you alright?" asked the colt.

"No," whispered Dinky, "It hurts."

"What hurts?" asked Spike, a slight edge of panic in his voice. If Dinky was injured, they needed to take care of it.

"It hurts inside," said Dinky, "Why do they keep saying things like that about mommy? Why do they like hurting other ponies like that? What did mommy do to them?"

"Nothing." The answer did not come from Dawn. Nor did it come from Scootaloo or Spike. Everypony looked up in surprise to see a beige stallion standing just a few feet away, as though he had been there the entire time.

Dawn's reaction was instantaneous. Even without his wings to aid him, he still moved with blinding speed, interposing himself between the strange stallion and Dinky, wings outstretched and ready to attack, even though they were more or less useless. The reaction had been so thoroughly ingrained into his very being that he wasn't even able to stop to contemplate its futility. When did he get so close?

Dawn's awareness had flooded the area round him. During the brief confrontation earlier, he had been aware of the exact position of each of the three colts he had been fighting without needing to so much as glance at them. Though he couldn't wield his pegasus magic with his wings in their current state, they still retained their sensitivity to the flow of the air around him. And yet, this stallion had seemingly materialized out of nowhere. Dawn hadn't sensed him at all.

No, he realized, I did sense him. However, he didn't even register as an object to me, so I subconsciously ignored him. I completely overlooked him. His wings dropped, fear and surprise being replaced with stunned awe as he looked at the earth pony before him. How far has he come that he was able to enter my space without me even realizing it?

"Hey Arkenstone," said Spike after he recovered from the shock, "What are you doing here?"

Arkenstone turned his ears in the direction of the little dragon. "Well, dinner is ready and you hadn't come back yet, so I came to find you."

"Oh," said Spike, glancing at the sky and realizing that it was past the time he was supposed to be back at the library, "Horseapples, Twilight is gonna be mad."

Arkenstone gave Spike an encouraging smile. "I wouldn't worry. You had good reason to delay," he said, turning his face back in the direction of Dawn and Dinky.

"What did you mean?" asked Dinky, "When you said 'nothing?'"

"I meant that your mother did nothing to those colts," answered Arkenstone simply, "She did nothing to warrant their scorn and hurtful words. Ponies sometimes act that way because they subconsciously feel that they themselves lack worth. And so, to alleviate that hidden feeling of worthlessness, they try to drag others down to a place beneath them, even if that place is within the realm of their own minds."

"How do you stop it?" asked Dinky.

"You can't," said Arkenstone, "Ultimately, the only thing you can do is move on and leave them where they are. The only way they will ever stop is if they come to the answer of their own feelings of worthlessness. Fighting them is a waste of time and energy. There are better ways to put that energy to use."

Dawn blinked, only able to stare at the blind stallion before him. He thought he almost heard a tone of reprimand in Arkenstone’s voice, but couldn’t be quite sure.

Arkenstone turned away and began walking in the direction of the library. "Come Spike. We need to get back before dinner gets cold."

Spike gave one last confused look back to Dawn and Scootaloo before trotting off after the stallion. Dinky, still laying on the ground, sniffled and whimpered. Arkenstone's words had been above the reach of her young mind and offered little in the way of comfort.

Lowering himself onto his belly, Dawn rested on the grass next to Dinky, who leaned up against him. Gently, the ebony colt lifted his wing and draped it over the filly, who quieted under the comforting gesture.

From her place behind them, an expression of anger flashed across Scootaloo's face as she looked at the other two foals. A spark of pain ignited in her stomach. She was jealous. He's never done that for me, she thought. Even on that worst of nights, when she had thought she had lost her home and family forever, Dawn had never gone so far as to put his wing around her.

A second later, she realized exactly what she was thinking. With a quiet snort, she shook her head to try and rid herself of those thoughts. Dawn was just giving comfort to a younger foal, much like an older sibling would. It was crazy of her to be jealous of Dinky for something like that, especially when she was hurting so much now. However, a treacherous voice in the back of her mind whispered to her. He never did that for you, even when you were hurting worse.

Again, she shook her head vigorously, trying to expunge the unwanted thoughts. Dawn hadn't been as emotionally open back then. He hadn't felt her suffering the way he felt Dinky's now because he had still been numb at that point. If Dawn back then had been the way he was now, he would have done it without a second thought. But even though her rational mind explained the situation perfectly, the pain lingered, a tiny stabbing sensation in Scootaloo's heart. It was a pain that only began to abate when she paused to wonder exactly why she was jealous.

Scootaloo's attention returned to the present as Dawn spoke. "Can you walk?" he asked.

Dinky made a soft sound of affirmation and got to her hooves, Dawn following suit. The colt cast an apologetic glance over his shoulder at Scootaloo. "We will have to delay your lesson until tomorrow. We need to get Dinky home." He paused to glance at the sky. "It seems a little late to continue anyway."

A look at the sinking sun confirmed that for Scootaloo. She was expected at home soon as well. Melon Cream would have dinner ready soon, if she didn't already and would be expecting her daughter back any moment now. They both had homework to do as well. "Yeah," she said after a moment, "Lets go."

Storm Front hovered in the empty sky, his gaze fixed straight ahead. Dangling from his hooves was the weapon normally concealed up the sleeve of his shirt. The meteor hammer hung limply at the moment, dropping straight down from where the storm-cloud-colored pegasus held it. Then, slowly at first, he began to swing the weapon’s cord, working the weight through a simple, exaggerated circle off to one side of him. With each passing second, the movement gained speed and momentum, until the weight and the cord, held taut by centrifugal force, were little more than an indistinct blur, almost invisible in the fading light of the evening.

With a sharp motion, Storm suddenly launched the weight straight out ahead of him, the weapon lancing out like a striking snake, all the way to the end of its tether. He retracted it just as quickly, but did so by wrapping the weapon’s cord around his barrel, sending the weapon swinging around. It wrapped across his withers, between his wings and even twined around his neck before he switched the swing’s directions, using the muscles in his neck to send the weight lancing out in a shorter strike.

So it went, Storm working through various strikes and swings with the weight, using the wraps to control both distance and direction, working the complex weapon with his entire body, sometimes launching a strike from his foreleg, at other times, kicking out with his hind leg to send the weight rocketing away at an angle that would be unexpected by an opponent in a battle. At times, he even used his wings to direct the weight’s motion, their joints serving to add additional limbs with which to manipulate the meteor hammer’s cord.

Partway through his practice, Storm Front became aware of the feeling of eyes upon him. Wrapping the entirety of the cord around his body so that he held the weapon in one hoof, stretched taut over his shoulder, Storm paused his practice and turned to see who his observer was.

A grayish-blue pegasus with a flowing green mane hovered a short distance away, her eyes wide with wonder as she stared at Storm Front. It was clear that Flitter had found his practice engrossing. When she realized that she’d been caught, her cheeks blushed and she smiled at him nervously.

Letting go of the weight, Storm let the entire weapon unwrap from around his body. A swift, carefully practiced motion sent drew the weapon back into his sleeve with incredible speed, where he kept it stored in the normal course of things. “Can I help you?” he asked as he drifted over towards her.

Flitter blinked in surprise at his question, as though she hadn’t expected him to speak at all. “I’m sorry I interrupted you,” she said shyly, “I just thought that was amazing to watch. Um...” She looked away bashfully. “I was wondering if I could talk to you some more.”

Storm blinked. “I suppose,” he said. It wasn’t really in his nature to talk a lot. Unlike his more outgoing friend, Storm always felt it more appropriate to hold his tongue unless his words were really needed. He’d never been much for casual conversation, even keeping his banter with Red River short and to the point.

The two pegasi slowly drifted towards the ground, the sky, unfortunately, not having any convenient clouds for them to settle on at the moment. They instead landed in the front yard belonging to Storm’s modest home, which he’d gotten back when he’d first arrived at Ponyville. Unlike Red River, who’d conveniently found lodging with his employers at Sweet Apple Acres, Storm Front had been forced to go house-hunting for his own abode. With the lack of clouds of any kind coming out of Cloudsdale, a ground-house had been necessary. Fortunately, with Twilight Sparkle’s help, Storm had been able to obtain a small, but pleasant one for a reasonable price.

It was a simple, one-story affair, built in the typical Ponyville style, white walls with a decorative thatched roof, underneath which was concealed the less-flammable slate roof that allowed Ponyville’s houses to give off that comfortable, humble-village ambience without being a massive fire hazard. The inside was comfortably furnished, everything needed for a single stallion. Finally, the front porch sported a pair of comfortable seats that looked out over the yard, as well as the street and a good portion of the town beyond. It was into these seats that Storm and Flitter settled.

“What exactly did you want to talk about?” he asked.

“Um...well...I didn’t mean to intrude but, I wanted to ask you some more about what you said the other day.” Flitter’s voice was soft.

“About what?”

“Um...when you said you were a civil servant...why did you come here?”

Storm Front blinked for a moment. “Do you know anything about Guoxia?”

“A little,” said Flitter, “I know that it was founded by unicorns and those dragons...”

“Lungs is the actual term. They hate being called dragons.”

“Lungs! Right!” Flitter stiffened a little when Storm corrected her. Though there’d been no rebuke in his tone, it still made her nervous to be corrected like that. “A-anyway! I heard that it’s supposed to be very beautiful over there.”

“It is,” agreed Storm, staring off into the middle distance, “After all, to the Lungs, Guoxia was a garden, to be kept as beautiful and pristine as possible. They instructed the first unicorn settlers in how to live in harmony with the land and seasons without earth ponies or pegasi to aid them.”

“So...if it’s so lovely...why did you leave?” asked Flitter.

“Because beauty alone does not a home make,” replied Storm calmly, “You wanted to know about that method of writing I used, correct?”

Flitter nodded.

“Guoxia started as and ultimately remains a unicorn nation. The Imperial Royal Family is composed entirely of unicorns. The nobility are all unicorns. Until recently, all government posts were held by unicorns. It has been that way for over a thousand years. Also, unlike Equestria, where the earth ponies grow food and the pegasi control the weather, making them integral to the nation’s prosperity, Guoxia has always had the Lungs, who have carried out those roles since time immemorial. This meant that the other two tribes had no real leverage over the unicorns in order to institute changes.”

Flitter’s mind began putting the pieces together. “So...government posts are all held by unicorns. But you said...”

Storm Front nodded. “Not long after I was born, a new emperor ascended the throne. He began instituting more progressive measures to help better the lives of the earth pony and pegasi citizens. Part of it was pragmatism. Guoxia was trying to open relations with other countries, including Equestria, which was proving difficult since Princess Celestia did not approve of the way earth ponies and pegasi were kept as second-class citizens. But, for the most part, he had an overriding sense of justice that would not suffer him to allow the status-quo to continue unchallenged. So he instituted a great many changes, opened many paths to us, including positions in the government ministries.

“However, his decisions never met with complete approval. Several important ministers opposed the Emperor’s decisions, including some in the Ministry of Rites, which oversaw the admission process for new civil servants. Even though they’d been ordered to permit earth ponies and pegasi to take the exams, they found ways to close unwanted ponies out.”

“How?” asked Flitter, completely engrossed by the story.

“A time-limit. The exam has always been timed. However, the time allotted was based off of unicorn writing speeds, since unicorn hornwriting is considerably faster than mouthwriting. Non-unicorns simply couldn’t keep up and would ultimately fail.”

“That’s horrible,” gasped Flitter.

Storm Front nodded. “It was a cruel trick. They used the imposed time-limit to keep non-unicorns from passing the exam and then construed it as proof that they were not fit for government service.

“However, at the time, I still wanted to take the exam. I’d learned about what civil servants did when I was just a colt. I’d loved the idea of someday going to work for my country and working to make the lives of my fellow ponies better. However, my teacher explained why I had no chance of passing the exams. So she and I came up with a means of writing that would allow me to compete with unicorns.”

“So that’s how you learned it,” said Flitter.

Storm Front nodded. “Once I’d perfected the method, I took the exams. They weren’t very difficult in terms of content, especially after all the preparation I’d done. I not only passed, but placed third amongst all the examinees, the first non-unicorn to pass the exams since their inception.”

“That’s amazing!” exclaimed Flitter, “I bet your teacher was so proud of you.”

“She was.” Storm smiled wistfully. “Unfortunately, her years had caught up to her and she passed away. She lived long enough for me to share the news that I’d passed, but not long enough to find out about my placement.”

“So you were living out your dream,” observed Flitter, “But now you’re here. Why did you give all that up? Why did you leave your country?”

A grimace passed across Storm’s face. “That was...” He frowned pensively. “That’s...something I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about yet.”

“Oh!” squeaked Flitter, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to bring up something so uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine,” said Storm, “I know you didn’t mean to.”

“Um...” Flitter looked away from the stallion, “If you wanted to stop there, that’s fine. Would you maybe be alright to talk about it some other time.”

“May I ask why you’re so interested?” inquired Storm.

“It’s just...” Flitter turned her head away, her cheeks burning crimson, “I wanted to know more about you.” Her voice was barely a squeak.

For a moment, the stallion was silent. Then, “I suppose we could...it might even be helpful to me. I’ve never really talked to anypony about it except Red.”

“Why?”

“Because he was there.” That was all Storm had to say about the matter.

Flitter, her nerves getting the better of her, quickly departed, but not before thanking Storm for talking to her. The stallion watched her leave, then settled back and waited as the night closed in.

Ditzy Doo wrapped her arms around Dawn in a tight hug. "Thank you so much for looking after my little muffin," she said before ushering her daughter inside and closing the door. Dawn had given the wall-eyed pegasus an abridged explanation of what had happened in the park, not mentioning the actual fight. Ditzy was pleased to see that her daughter hadn't been physically harmed. As he turned away from the door, Dawn noted that Ditzy had made considerable progress in her practice at sensing things through the wind.

Scootaloo stood a short distance away. She was making a passable effort at imitating Dawn's normal expression of stoic neutrality. But it was a long way from perfect. "Are you upset about something?" he asked.

Flinching away from his gaze, Scootaloo opened her mouth to deny it, but closed it when she realized how hollow that felt. "Yeah."

"May I ask why?"

Scootaloo still couldn't bear to meet his eyes. "It's not a good reason. I really don't have a right to be."

"It isn't a question of right I think," said Dawn, stepping closer, "You will feel what you feel. I'm understanding that more now."

Scootaloo turned to look at him, her eyes meeting his. Dawn's ears were back, his expression nervous. "Whatever the reason is," he said softly, "I'm sorry." Then he leaned in and nuzzled her cheek softly, his own muzzle touching as lightly as a feather. Then he turned about and walked away, making his way back home.

For a moment, Scootaloo simply stood there in stunned silence, her hoof going up to feel her cheek. Then her face turned bright red and she bolted back towards her own home.

Author's Note

Generic bullies are generic...Oh well.

So yeah, Scootaloo will start learning the Gale King now.

The purpose behind Storm Front's segment was twofold. The first reason is so that we get some info on his backstory. I decided not to bother with flashback sequences this time around. The second reason was to give you guys a little more detail about Guoxia. In a lot of fiction stories where there's some sort of eastern/asian setting juxtaposed with a western one, I've seen quite a few where all we get of that eastern setting is a few tidbits that make it seem like some kind of enlightened civilization that's soooo much better than the one where the story's taking place. Ergo, through Storm Front, we learn that Guoxia is not some sort of enlightened paradise and, in fact, is actually behind Equestria in a few areas. I may have to do a blog about my ideas on Guoxia at some point.

Next chapter: Twilight gets a present.

The Ring

Chapter 11: The Ring

Twilight Sparkle yawned as she tried to blink away the early morning haze that came with just having woken up. She deeply regretted her offer to help Arkenstone unload his expected package at the train station. He had warned her that it would be an early morning, but she had been too foolish to listen. So here she was, with only a marginal meal, having woken up too late to prepare a proper breakfast, and not even a cup of coffee.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Arkenstone, his left ear swiveling in her direction, "You can go back if you want."

"It's fine Arky," said Twilight, stifling another yawn, "I just need to wake up a little more."

"If you say so," replied Arkenstone, his tone uncertain.

They stood in silence a little longer until they heard the familiar chugging of the train engine and the squeal of its brakes as it coasted to a stop by the platform. Arkenstone led her along it until he reached the first freight car. Several of the workers were already offloading a series of crates. One of them approached Arkenstone with a shipping manifest, which he took in one leg. Reaching up, he pressed the frog of his hoof against the page and gently ran it over the paper.

"What are you doing?" asked Twilight.

"Reading. Shh." Arkenstone hoofed the manifest back to the worker and began to inspect the crates, running a hoof over the labels. After clearing the crates, Arkenstone nodded to the workers before turning to Twilight. "If you would be so kind," he said.

"Right." Twilight nodded and lit her horn, her magic levitating the boxes and stacking them in the smallest possible configuration. Ratcheting up her output, she engulfed the entire pile in a blaze of violet energy, breaking out in a sweat over the exertion. Finally, with a flash, the pile winked out of existence.

The station worker holding the manifest let out an impressed whistle. "Now ain't that something?"

"It certainly is," agreed Arkenstone as he turned back to speak to the other stallion, "And the other thing?"

"Oh! Right." The station worker let out a commanding whistle and waved one of his subordinates over to the car. He returned with an item that looked like an iron cube. It was tiny, little more than a trinket box.

Arkenstone accepted the cube with a nod. "Thank you." Balancing the cube on his back, he turned back to Twilight. "Shall we?"

"Okay then," said Twilight, turning around to lead them back to the library.

"I didn't know you could read," she said as they walked.

Arkenstone gave her his best impression of a sidelong look. "Twily, I'm hurt. You don't remember me reading to you all those times?"

A bright red blush burned on Twilight's cheeks as she tried to sputter excuses. "Th-that's not what...that's not what I meant. I wasn't trying to say you were stupid or anything. I just..." She stopped as she heard Arkenstone chuckling at her reaction. Her eyes narrowed and she flashed a glare at him. "You know what I meant."

"Of course," agreed Arkenstone, reining his mirth in, "I can read, even though I don't have my eyes anymore. Ink and other writing substances subtly change the texture of the paper. I've learned how to feel that texture and feel the shape of the writing."

"Oh," gasped Twilight, "That's amazing. I had no idea that ponies could do that."

"We are capable of many things. We just aren't always aware of the full extent of what we can do."

Upon arriving back in the library, Arkenstone moved around the pile of crates that had appeared in the center of the floor. Taking a moment to remove the steel cube from his back and set it on the table, he turned and pried open the lid of one of the crates. Trotting over, Twilight looked in to see a number of burlap bags filling the box. She sniffed, picking up a fragrant aroma arising from the bags. "Tea?"

"Indeed," said Arkenstone, opening another crate, this one containing numerous spices, whose tantalizing perfumes tickled Twilight's nose and made her mouth water.

"What is all of this?"

"If I am staying here for a while, I figured I might as well take up a trade," explained the beige stallion as he opened a smaller crate, this one carrying several pieces of pottery and crockery, including teapots, packed in straw.

"Arky, you don't have to..." said Twilight.

Arkenstone turned his muzzle in her direction. "This isn't something I'm doing out of obligation. This is actually a little dream I've had since I paid a visit to Guoxia during my training. I was enchanted by the teahouses there and the variety of different teas they made. As I passed through other nations, Pachydermia, Saddle Arabia and others, I discovered even more varieties.

"When I returned to Equestria and took up the mantle of Knighthood, I still entertained the fantasy of someday settling down and setting up my own teahouse." He smiled wistfully at the memories. "Since I have earned some time off from Princess Celestia, I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to start."

"Oh," said Twilight, the details clicking together in her mind, "So that's why you requested those trading arrangements as a boon from the Princess."

Her eyes, wandering over the pile of cargo, eventually came to rest on the steel box that Arkenstone had carried back personally. "What's that?" she asked.

"What's what?" asked the stallion, lifting his head away from another crate.

Twilight paused to smack her face with a hoof as she realized that she had forgotten that Arkentsone was blind and couldn't figure out what she was talking about by following her gaze. He functioned so normally it was easy to forget at times. "That metal cube thing, what is it?"

"Ah. That's for you."

Twilight trotted up to the table where Arkenstone had set the cube and prodded it with her hoof. She felt something shift inside the cube as she did so. "It's hollow," she observed, tilting her head to examine it more closely, "And there's something inside."

So it was a box then. Twilight picked it up in her hooves, turning it over as she examined it more closely. She could feel the object inside shifting. But to her puzzlement, there were no hinges, no latch, not even a seam for a lid. The cube's faces were unblemished, completely solid all the way around. It wasn't that she couldn't open the box, but that the box itself had no means of opening.

"What in Equestria is this?" asked Twilight, a note of frustration creeping into her voice.

"A security measure," said Arkenstone, trotting over to join her, "That item is extremely valuable, so I asked the Princess to secure it the best way she could, short of delivering it herself. She shaped the cube with her magic and, when she finished, teleported the contents into it.

"To any potential thief, it seems nothing more innocuous than a chunk of metal, possibly leftover from a different cargo, certainly not worth bothering over. And even if he did realize that there was something inside, the steel is heavily reinforced, so it would take tremendous force to break, which anyone with a bit of sense would understand is a risky endeavor if they wish to keep the contents intact. And if a unicorn attempted to magic it out, well..." He turned to Twilight. "Care to give it a try?"

Twilight looked at the cube nervously. She knew better than to think that Arkenstone would trick her into doing something that might hurt her, but she had seen her fair share of magically structured traps. Her experience taught her to be wary of a situation like this. Her horn flickered and a stream of violet light rushed over the box. To her shock, her magic washed off of it without the slightest reaction. Examining it more closely, Twilight gasped as she saw the subtle, yet powerful protection spells etched into the essence of the steel itself...on a molecular level!

"The Princess amazes me sometimes," she whispered. It would be years before she obtained this level of subtlety, to say nothing of the skill and power to write complex spells on such a minuscule scale. She wondered just how many decades Princess Celestia had spent developing this particular kind of magic. A box without hinges, key or lid...

"So how are we supposed to get it out?" she asked.

Arkenstone hefted the small cube in his hoof. "It's simple enough for me. Princess Celestia's spellwork was meant to keep unicorns out." With his free hoof, he traced a line all the way around the cube, the action was accompanied by the sound of something like a sharp blade grating against metal. Twilight's eyes widened as a tiny seam became visible. Without any fanfare, Arkenstone pulled away the newly formed lid to reveal...a second box.

"Seriously?" asked Twilight, giving the stallion a deadpan look.

A chuckle escaped Arkenstone as he tilted the remains of the cube to let the box inside fall out. Then Twilight saw that this box was not a duplicate of the one it had been inside, to her relief. Her horror at expecting to have been shown some silly nesting doll-like object was abated for now. What she saw was a small velvet box, the kind usually used to hold jewelry.

"This," said Arkenstone, pushing the tiny jewelry box to Twilight, "Is for you. Go ahead and open it."

A blush stole across Twilight's cheeks as she thought of the implications that could come from Arkenstone, her old crush, offering her jewelry. But she shoved those thoughts aside. Princess Celestia had made a tremendous effort to ensure that this reached her, so it was clearly important. Slowly, Twilight opened the box.

When she saw what was inside, her blush doubled in intensity. Sitting in the box was a ring. However the blush faded as new feelings flooded her, her keen eyes immediately taking in key details about the item. It was a metal band of gold color with silvery inlays etched into it. Both terrified and thrilled by the potential implications, she shakily looked up at Arkenstone, who nodded at her. "Take a closer look," he instructed.

Twilight's magic lifted the ring from its resting place and levitated it before her eye. Examining it, she noticed that there were several things...off about the ring. The gold was a shade too dark to be real gold, and the silver inlays glimmered strangely as the light reflected off of them. On closer examination, she saw that the inlays actually formed sigils, inscribed spellwork. Her suspicion mounting, she turned to look at the inside surface and saw that the interior was jet-black.

Her previous embarrassment forgotten, Twilight's mouth dropped when she realized just what this was. "This is..."

"Hey Twilight, Arkenstone, what do you want for break..." Spike's voice trailed off as he ground to a halt on the stairs he had just been descending, his eyes fixed on the scene. Looking past the pile of crates (he had been expecting those), his gaze absorbed the picture of Twilight standing in front of Arkenstone, a ring hanging in the air between them, Twilight's jaw hanging loose, and the blush forming on her cheeks as she realized what Spike thought he must be looking at.

"Holy guacamole!" exclaimed the dragon, immediately making a break down the stairs and for the door, his first instinct to seek somepony to talk about this with. But Twilight was faster.

Swinging her head around, Twilight whipped her horn like a fishing rod, casting a strand of violet energy that whipped out to ensnare the young dragon, catching his feet and tripping him up. Before he could struggle loose, Twilight wrapped the strand of energy around her horn and reeled him over to where she stood.

Levitating him up into the air in front of her, Twilight gave Spike her sternest glare. "Spike, what have I told you about jumping to conclusions?"

The little dragon blinked owlishly at her. "So wait, Arkenstone isn't...?"

A sigh escaped Twilight as she let him down to the floor. "No Spike. He isn't doing anything like that?"

"Phew." Spike wiped his forehead. "I was a little worried there for a second."

An eyebrow went up on Twilight's head. "A little worried? You bolted for the door like your tail was on fire."

"Twilight, I'm a dragon. Fire doesn't..."

"It's a figure of speech!" snapped the lavender unicorn. It was way too early in the morning for her to be putting up with this.

They paused, hearing a muffled chuckling coming from Arkenstone. Twilight whipped her head around to glare at the beige stallion, who did his best to look innocent. After an awkward moment, Arkenstone coughed and gestured to the ring, which had tumbled to the floor when Twilight had gone after Spike. "Anyways, you were saying?"

"Oh right." Twilight picked up the ring and examined it again, quickly confirming her earlier suspicions. "This is...arcanasteel isn't it?"

"It is," agreed Arkenstone.

"For me?" Twilight gasped. It was a gift of unsurpassed value, especially to unicorns.

Arkenstone nodded, his expression now solemn. "It is the Princess's will that you carry that from now on."

"What's arcanasteel?" asked Spike looking up at the ring, his expression unimpressed. Sure, it looked pretty, but precious metals didn't do it for him the way gemstones did.

Twilight groaned and smacked her face with a hoof. "Spike, I told you all about arcanasteel when I gave you that lecture after Shining Armor was made Captain of the Royal Guard."

The little dragon gave her a deadpan look. "Twilight, I was like...three at the time. I barely heard you because Princess Celestia gave me a sapphire to suck on and the rest of your audience consisted of Smarty Pants."

Again, Arkenstone started chuckling, trying to mask it as a series of coughs. He wasn't really succeeding as the crimson bursts across Twilight's cheeks indicated. Gritting her teeth, Twilight forced her mounting rage down with a groan before letting out a tired sigh. "How about this? You get started on breakfast and I'll tell you when we're eating?"

"Okay," chirped the dragon, making a beeline for the kitchen.

Red River stared at his latest arrangement. The bowl was simple, one borrowed from the kitchen downstairs. Staring at it, he had worked on a simple arrangement, centered on the branch of an apple tree that he had found knocked on the ground after the recent storm. It had been from one of the flowering trees, so the branch was decorated by a few small apple blossoms. It made for a pleasant center.

The problem was what the arrangement made him think. After spending so many weeks among the orchards and carting produce to and from town, the scent of apples had become a constant in his life. As he stared at his work, the azure stallion pondered his meaning. It seemed as though the Apples had become his center as well. He had tried clearing his mind as he had in the past. Before now, his thoughts would be dominated by the excitement of the transient nature of his existence; traveling along long, winding roads, discovering new lands, encountering new peoples, wondering just what lay beyond the horizon, over the next hill... But now, when he cleared his mind, his thoughts were occupied by the swaying of the branches of apple trees in the gentle breeze, a simple barn standing out against the sky, a welcoming house, a warm hearth, good food, a welcoming family.

Taking a moment, Red River gazed out the window, staring blankly at the horizon. He saw the road that meandered past the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres a fair distance away. His eyes traced the line, following it as it wound its way across a couple of nearby hills before leading off into the distance. He imagined what it would be like the set off on that road, to see where it led and what he would find there. To his surprise, Red River didn't feel any particularly urgent desire to know.

He hadn't shown it to her at the barn a few days ago, following his rendition of the story of his cutie mark, but Applejack's question had shaken him in some way he couldn't quite comprehend. He understood that she was saddened by the prospect of him leaving. He had to admit, he didn't find the idea of leaving her behind appealing either. He had made friends in other places he had visited and often parted on good terms with them. Occasionally, if his travels permitted, he might wander back to visit them again. But now, when he thought of Applejack, Red River felt a tugging in his center, something that urged him to stay right where he was.

"Well now, ain't you a pensive colt this mornin'."

Red River's head snapped up to look at his door, where the green form of Granny Smith hovered, a small smile on her face. "The wheels in that there head 'o yers are turnin' so hard there's smoke comin' outta yer ears."

With a sigh, Red River turned his head back to the flower arrangement. "I was just thinking about some things."

"One 'o those things wouldn't happen to be a certain granddaughter 'o mine?" asked Granny Smith teasingly, a merry twinkle in her eye.

"It's much too early in the morning for you to read my mind like that."

The aged mare chuckled. "It don't take a mind reader to figure out what's got ya so bamboozled young'un."

Contemplating his work, Red River's mind wandered back to his dilemma. "I enjoyed the life of a traveler, the prospect of finding new places, meeting new ponies, being free to roam; but lately, it seems to have lost its appeal."

A light chortle escaped Granny Smith's lips. "Ah can understand where yer comin' from young'un. Ah did mah share 'o wanderin' in mah youth. Sometimes, Ah thought Ah'd never want to be tied down." Her smile widened. "But then Ah discovered what it was like to have a place to come back to, a place 'o mah own."

Red River gave her a questioning look.

"There ain't nothin' wrong with loosin' yer wanderlust," said Granny Smith, stepping forward to rest a hoof on Red River's shoulder, "It happens when ya finally find a place to call home."

Red River blinked. "Is that what this place is to me? Is this really my home?"

"It can be if'n ya want it sugarcube," counseled Granny Smith, "Ya've got a place here. Apple Bloom looks up to ya. Big Mac respects ya. Ah've got a captive audience when Ah feel like lecturin'. And Applejack...Well, ya already know where she stands, don't ya.

"There ain't anythin' wrong with givin' up the road if it don't call out to ya." Granny Smith turned to make her way out of the room. "Why don't ya try settlin' here fer a little while, see how it sits with ya."

Red River watched her go, silent as he pondered over what she had said.

The table set and everypony assembled, Spike tucked in as he listened to Twilight's explanation.

"Arcanasteel is something of a misnomer," said Twilight, setting the ring down on the table, "There isn't actually any steel in it. The metal is an alloy, composed of a mixture of orichalcum and mithril that have been melted and alloyed through a complex magical process. Like its component metals, arcanasteel is nigh indestructible. This ring is stronger than the box it was brought here in."

Spike frowned and reached out to prod the ring with his claw. "I don't see how that does much good. I mean, it's not like this ring's gonna be any use as armor or anything."

"That's because its strength is secondary to its main purpose," explained Twilight in an exasperated tone, "Like the name suggests, arcanasteel is a powerful tool for wielding magic." She hefted the ring in her aura to give Spike a better look at it. "On the outside, that gold color is from the orichalcum, while the etchings are mithril. Orichalcum can be treated with heat to affect it's color, which is why it appears gold on this ring. However, arcanasteel, the actual alloy that is..." she flipped the ring slightly to give Spike a view of the inside of the ring, "...is black."

Spike shrugged. "Well, that's neat and all, but what does it have to do with magic?"

Lowering the ring back down to table, Twilight paused to savor a bite of her oatmeal before continuing. "The outside of the ring is non-alloyed orichalcum and mithril to serve as the foundation for the spellwork. Think of the scrolls in the archives, magic in written form. The mithril etchings provide the preliminary base for shaping applied magic, while the orichalcum acts as a conductor to circulate it through the ring, which acts as a device, and the arcanasteel, which actualizes it."

"So what does it do?"

"The main purpose of the ring is to convert magical energy into physical form. In other words, convert magic into physical substance." Twilight frowned, worried about the phrasing. It was a great deal more nuanced than that, but she knew that it would simply take the lecture way over the spines on Spike's head.

"So...it's like conjuring then?" asked Spike. Twilight bit back the urge to sigh in frustration, as Spike actually had asked a valid question. He didn't show it often, but spending so much time around her and helping her with her studies had actually gifted him with a very sharp mind when the situation called for it.

"Yes and no," she hedged, "Conjuring is the use of magic to create physical objects made of material substances, that is you convert magic into the materials needed to create the object and then create the object itself. For example, the bandages I used to treat Dawn's wing when Applejack injured him were conjured. I used my magic to create linen that was then woven into the bandages.

"What the ring does is different. It converts magic into a physical substance that is magic...that is to say, magic if it magic itself were a substance like wood or rock."

Spike scratched his head with a claw, still looking a bit bamboozled. "I think I get it."

It was Arkenstone who now joined in the conversation, having waited in the wings before. "It may seem strange. After all, there is no concrete basis for the properties magic would have as a physical substance of its own right. But that is actually what works to the advantage of the ring's user. Because there is no such baseline for the properties of material magic, as you might call it, the properties of the substance produced can be decided by the caster. The problem being that actualizing magic is a complex process and setting those properties, particularly how they interact with the laws that govern the real world, requires a great deal of calculation and calibration by the caster."

"Which is where the ring comes in," said Twilight, picking up where the stallion had left off, "The spellwork on the ring's outer surface has set some of the baselines for the final product, while the arcanasteel core takes care of actualizing the magic. As a result, I can only alter certain properties of the final material and only in certain ways, but that makes it more useful as it requires almost no concentration to use."

The combined lecture seemed to not do much to help Spike find an answer to his confusion. "I'm still not sure I get it," he admitted, "Maybe you could show me what it does."

"Um well..." Twilight gave Arkenstone a nervous look.

The beige stallion gave her a nod. "It certainly couldn't hurt. Besides, you need to actually use the ring to actually get acclimated. The Princess and I didn't go through all the trouble of having it delivered so that it could spend time gathering dust on your shelf."

"Alright," sighed Twilight, setting aside her bowl, having finished her oatmeal. Arkenstone had already finished his and Spike wasn't far behind. While Arkenstone washed, Twilight and Spike when out to the main room of the library.

Gulping nervously, Twilight levitated the ring in front of her. Normally, she was giddy at the prospect of getting to experience a rare form of magic, much less use it herself. But the sheer value of Celestia's gift, combined with the implications it carried, made her quite nervous in her own right. Actually using the ring felt like crossing a line in her life as Celestia's student, as though something would irrevocably change should she use it.

"Go on," urged Spike, watching with wide and eager eyes.

Gulping, Twilight settled the ring on her horn and slowly slid it towards the base. Only when the ring couldn't slide down any further, setting just a scant fraction of an inch above where her horn met her skull, did Twilight stop. The ring was firmly affixed, but not stuck, so she wouldn't have any trouble removing it should the need arise.

"Here goes nothing," she murmured before lighting her horn and channeling her magic into the ring.

The metal band hummed to life, the mithril etchings flickering with light as energy flowed through them. In her mind, Twilight could already see the final product of the ring's effect coming into shape and began to adjust the properties to her liking. For now, she decided not to stray too far from the original. She could experiment later.

Glittering planes of light flared into being around her body, coalescing to gather around her body, wrapping around her head, neck, chest, flank, as well as her hooves and lower legs. As the magic began to become material, its luminance decreased, settling into its new form as a substance resembling metal.

Spike, who had averted his eyes from the glare, finally managed to look back. His jaw dropped at the sight, while his eyes widened in shock.

Twilight stood before him, clad in a full suit of armor. The little dragon found himself completely unable to pull his eyes away. The metallic looking plates were a beautiful amethyst color just a shade darker Twilight's coat. The edges of the various interlocking plates were decorated with gold lining. He could practically see his reflection in the champron, which was polished to the consistency of glass. The interlocking plates of the criniere were parted slightly to allow her mane to flow freely. The plates met with the peytral over her shoulders, where the armor was flared with an almost feathery design to resemble wings. Her flank was protected by the broader, heavier-looking plates that formed the flanchard. Spike also noted protective gauntlets around her lower legs and hooves. Finally, the peytral was decorated in its center by an image of Twilight's cutie mark that seemed to have been formed out of gems, each of its individual stars seeming to shine with its own inner light.

"Wow Twilight," gasped Spike, "You look amazing!"

The plate of Twilight's champron failed to hide her blush. "Thanks Spike."

"Ah, it seems you already have a handle on it already," observed Arkenstone as he came into the room. "I can't say I am surprised."

"So that ring is meant to produce armor," speculated Spike.

"Indeed, that is its base function," agreed Arkenstone, "However, within its limits, if one is creative and capable, it can do so much more."

A frown spread across Spike's face as he eyed Twilight's armor more closely. "So...it can make you armor out of your magic. What does that do for you exactly?"

"For one thing," answered Twilight, "Since materialized magic doesn't have the same properties as regular physical substances, I can affect the final product and give it properties that normal armor would never have. For example..." She began to bounce around the room like Pinkie Pie, bounding in circles like she wasn't wearing armor at all. "...I can set it so it doesn't weigh anything. I could gallop at full speed with this armor and not have to worry about a thing. If I wanted, I could charge the plates with concussive energy so that any attempt to attack me would trigger a reactive blast. I could fuse it with elemental energy or make it invisible. There are so many possibilities!"

"That's pretty cool," admitted Spike, "But if this arcanasteel is so awesome, why do the Guard ponies always go around with regular armor."

Twilight stopped her bouncing and settled back in front of her assistant. "Because arcanasteel is incredibly expensive and difficult to produce. Because of that, it can't be produced in large amounts. This ring alone is the product of months of constant effort. Getting the component materials is no small matter. Orichalcum and mithril are incredibly expensive, especially the former. The base cost of the materials just for this ring alone would match at least six months of the Royal Palace's budget."

"Only a scant few arcanasteel objects have been created in all the centuries that Equestria has existed," added Arkenstone, "I do not know the exact number, but it is less than ten. I don't believe that all of them are in use."

"That lecture that you slept through," said Twilight, giving Spike a sardonic grin, "Was because, when Shining Armor was promoted to captain, he was granted an arcanasteel ring by Princess Celestia herself. The armor he always wore when he was on duty was created by that arcanasteel." With a flicker of light, the plates of armor around Twilight's body dissolved and flowed back into her horn, where they coalesced to form the ring once again.

Arkenstone nodded. "Indeed he was." He strode forward and gently prodded the ring itself, where it resided on Twilight's horn. "That ring in fact."

"What?" exclaimed the unicorn and her assistant in unison.

Twilight's gaze flicked up to the ring, where it rested on her horn, just within the view of her crossed eyes. "You mean this was Shiny's ring?"

Arkenstone nodded slowly. "Yes. It was forged by Princess Celestia for the Captain of her Royal Guard and has been passed down through centuries of service. I requisitioned it for your use, with your brother's agreement."

"But wait!" protested Twilight, dropping her eyes back to Arkenstone, "What about Shiny? He's still Captain."

"And so he is," agreed Arkenstone, "But he no longer needs this ring, which is how it was made available for your use."

For a moment, Twilight was silent, her expression pensive as she tried to figure out what Arkenstone meant. An amused smile spread across the stallion's face as he explained. "Your brother recently received a new ring, which means he no longer requires this one."

"But when?" asked Spike, "This would've been a big deal, wouldn't it?"

"Of course," said Arkenstone, trying hard to keep from laughing, "But you were there when it happened. In fact, if I heard correctly, you were the one to bear it to him."

"What does that...?" Twilight began to ask when she stopped short. The same idea occurred to both her and Spike at the same time, the two of them turning to each other and shouting in unison, "The wedding!"

Again, Arkenstone nodded. "Yes. Princess Cadance helped Celestia forge that ring as a gift for her husband, a rather lavish one if I do say so myself."

Twilight went silent again, sitting as she pondered what this gift meant. There was a great deal more going on here than Princess Celestia just sending her an impressive gift. She had been given this ring for a reason. The question that troubled her the most was just what that purpose was.

"Twilight," said Arkenstone after a moment, "Perhaps you ought to put that away for now." He gestured to the ring. "If other ponies see that, well...I don't think Spike is the only one who might get the wrong idea."

Twilight's cheeks flushed as she realized that Arkenstone was right. Her friends, particularly Rarity, would undoubtedly jump to the most embarrassing conclusion. Applejack and Pinkie were already asking too many awkward questions about the stallion that Twilight had allowed into her home. Fluttershy was too meek to actually prod, but the way she averted her gaze whenever she visited spoke volumes. Rarity was already aware of Arkenstone's true purpose and his intentions of staying in Ponyville. But she also knew about Twilight's crush on him, which meant that she was always urging Twilight to make her move whenever Twilight was alone with the fashionista. The only reason Rainbow Dash wasn't teasing Twilight mercilessly was because the sky-blue mare was preoccupied with the whole Cloudsdale affair.

Focusing her mind, Twilight reached through the connection her magic had forged with the ring and drew it into herself. The ring glittered, then seemed to flow inwards, blending directly into Twilight's horn.

"Where'd it go?" asked Spike.

"Into my horn," replied Twilight, "The actual processes at play are a little complex, but basically, I can store it in a disembodied form within the core of my horn, which lets me carry it without showing it off to everypony."

"It also allows her to keep it on her at all times without difficulty," added Arkenstone, "And within her horn, it acts as a capacitor of sorts, accumulating magical energy for its use, meaning that Twilight won't have to rely purely on her own reserves to form the armor. That function can also be used to circumvent the horn itself in some ways, allowing its user to even work around such devices as the nullifiers usually used to shut down a unicorn's magic when one is imprisoned."

"Cool," whispered Spike.

The other shoe had dropped then. At that moment, it clicked in Twilight's head as to just what this was all about. Arkenstone thought she was in danger, or that she would be. And it's not just him, she realized, Princess Celestia was the one who sent the ring, which means that she was in on it too. In fact, I'm willing to bet that it was Shiny who let Arky know the ring was available, so I can't write him or Cadance out of this either. But why are they suddenly so worried about my safety?

It was a valid question. Twilight was no stranger to serious, or even mortal danger. She had gone into the Everfree Forest to find the Elements of Harmony to stop Nightmare Moon. She'd led her friends to a dragon's lair to try and get the monstrous beast to leave. She'd chased Spike to the cave of another dragon to rescue him. Together with her friends, she had faced down the chaos incarnate that was Discord. In the battle for Canterlot, her magic had felled dozens of attacking changelings. And during the quest to save the Crystal Empire, Twilight herself had braved the perils of King Sombra's magical tower with no one but her faithful assistant by her side to find the Crystal Heart. Her life had been at risk numerous times.

And yet, never before had so many ponies shown such a concerted concern for her well-being. All of a sudden, she had a Celestial Knight living in her home. She had received a powerful magical tool used primarily to generate armor. They're trying to protect me, she thought, But from what?

Arkenstone's gentle voice interrupted her thoughts. "We can speak more about the ring later," he said, seeming to have read her thoughts, "But I have something else to show you..."

Author's Note

Yeah...so no Dawn in this chapter, unfortunately. He'll be back before long.

Once again, my old friend Chekov has been going around leaving stuff lying around. A lot of this is to set the stage for what's going to be happening in Story 4, which is not finished yet. More hints on what Arkenstone's skills are (I get a kick of watching you guys speculate).

Next chapter: The most awesome pet ever!

The Coming Storm

Chapter 12: The Coming Storm

"I'm so glad you could make it Arkenstone." Princess Cadance beamed as she levitated a bottle of cider to fill Arkenstone's cup. He sniffed it carefully before taking a sip after determining it was the non-alcoholic kind. Among those who knew him through his adult life, Arkenstone was known for his poor tolerance. "We haven't seen you for over a year," added the young alicorn.

"My apologies," replied Arkenstone calmly, "I am very sorry that I had to miss your wedding Cadance."

The mare smiled and shook her head. "Just reading your congratulations in that letter you sent was more than enough."

"Although you certainly could have come and visited sooner," chided Blueblood as he sampled his salad, "Even by the standards of the Knights, you're quite the workaholic."

"It couldn't be helped," said Arkenstone, "I was given an important mission not long after the changeling debacle and couldn't really leave it half done." Arkenstone flinched, a twitch so small, that anypony who wasn’t extremely familiar with him wouldn’t have even noticed. For a moment, the scents of the restaurant, his friends, the fine meal before him, were plugged with the stench of spilled ichor supplemented by the rotten smell of death, desperation, and starvation. In a flash, the moment was past and Arkenstone’s mind returned to the present. However, his appetite abated somewhat. Shining Armor and Blueblood clearly noticed Arkenstone’s lapse, but chose not to comment on it.

"And all the other times?" prodded Shining Armor, moving the conversation along, "Roaming abroad when you haven't been asked to, intervening in the affairs of other nations; all that extra work you took on without Princess Celestia even asking you. You know, the King of Saddle Arabia was still calling you a sage when he visited last time. You could take some time off every now and again."

"I didn't want to stand aside while things happened when I could affect the outcome," said Arkenstone. "I saw other peoples hurting and reached out to do what I could for them."

"Considerably more than that if the stories are anything to go by," observed Blueblood, "Even so, it is nice to have you back. I've even heard that you've finally consented to taking a vacation."

This earned him a nod from the besieged stallion. Meanwhile, both Shining and Cadance gained rather predatory-looking smiles, exchanging a glance before turning back to the Knight. "And I heard that you were planning on settling down in Ponyville," said Shining Armor, "Any particular reason for that?"

"Have you finally noticed that little Twilight has grown up?" prodded Cadance tauntingly.

Arkenstone seemed to take the teasing with good grace. "It certainly is a very pleasant town. With Princess Celestia's help, I think I could make an excellent life there for a time."

"Well it suits me just fine," said Shining, "I know I can trust you with Twilight, which is why I wanted to ask you a favor."

"And what is that?"

Shining paused. "I want you to protect her," he said after a moment, "She's in more danger than she realizes right now."

Though his eyes remained closed, Arkenstone's eyebrow still went up as he turned his head in Shining's direction. "Danger? Surely the mare who has bested the likes of Nightmare Moon and Discord has little to fear at this point."

"She's not as secure as she thinks," said Shining, brooding over his meal, "Not from this. World-threatening forces of evil are one thing, politics another."

"Ah, so the nobles are becoming a problem then," remarked Arkenstone, piecing together what Shining Armor was worried about.

"I'm afraid so," said Blueblood, jumping back into the conversation, "As you know, they were originally quite cross with Auntie Celestia taking her in as her personal student. However, as she grew up, they began to see her in a different light."

"As a possible pawn for their schemes," suggested Arkenstone.

Blueblood nodded. "However, because she was so socially inactive at the time, none of them really felt the compulsion to act on any potential schemes. She was potentially valuable, but not worth chasing so long as she remained a bookish shut-in."

"And then she went down to Ponyville and became a national hero and a bearer of an Element of Harmony," supplemented Shining.

"Her value as a potential political pawn rose considerably," said Blueblood, "There were many noble houses that considered making an effort after that. Fortunately, the move that made her so potentially valuable also put her out of their reach for the time being, so again, they decided not to bother with her."

"I see, so moving to Ponyville basically put Twilight Sparkle outside of the Noble Court's sphere of influence," surmised the beige stallion, taking another sip from his cider.

"The problems really began in earnest when Twilight and her friends defeated Discord," said Cadance sadly, "Aunt Celestia knighted them in a very public ceremony. Twilight and her friends are now officially members of the nobility themselves. Granted, knighthood is the lowest noble rank, but she is officially a noble now."

"Which means that any objections certain nobles might have about Twilight being a commoner were then nullified," added Blueblood, "Fortunately, the fact that she still lived in Ponyville was enough to keep them from meddling too much, although there was at least one attempt by Duke Regal to render her vulnerable."

"What attempt?" asked Arkenstone.

"He persuaded a pair of unicorns to market a cider-making invention of theirs in Ponyville, even suggesting that they could potentially steal Sweet Apple Acres out from under the hooves of Twilight's farmer friend." Blueblood sighed. "We were incredibly lucky that scheme failed. It came before we were fully prepared for it. Had it paid off, Regal probably would have swooped in and offered to resolve the problem in exchange for political support from Twilight...or even more...long term arrangements." Arkenstone didn't need eyes as he could practically feel the angry shudder that ran through Shining Armor at that last part.

"But the real tipping point," said Cadance, "Was our wedding."

"Oh, I understand now," said Arkenstone, "So thanks to her brother..." he pointed to Shining Armor, "...marrying Princess Celestia's niece and an alicorn at that, Twilight Sparkle is now effectively a member of the Royal Family. That makes her a much more desirable acquisition to the Noble Court, enough that the fact she lives in Ponyville no longer provides her as much protection as it used to."

Shining Armor nodded solemnly. "And they're beginning to make their moves. Right now, the various noble families are still vying with each other over who will be able to make the first move to claim her, which has kept them from making any actual attempts, but it's only a matter of time."

"I do not understand how I can be of much help though," said Arkenstone, "I am a Knight, a warrior meant to fight battles. I am a very poor tool for this sort of job."

"Why are you being so self-effacing?" asked Cadance, "You know full well that your blades are not the only reason for your greatness. You are one who can look beyond the conflict itself and destroy its roots. You are the Sage of Saddle Arabia, who helped them leave their past of infighting behind and build a new unified and peaceful land. You can help Twilight with this, by preparing her for the challenges she's going to face in the future. That's what we want you to do."

"And above all else," said Blueblood, "You're a Knight of the Celestial Order, which means you have the authority, should things move in a dangerous direction, to resolve any conflicts with even the highest ranking nobles."

"And, even more importantly than that," said Shining, "You're Arkenstone, one of the few stallions I could ever trust Twilight with. I know you can keep her safe."

"Perhaps," Arkenstone admitted, "But as Cadance pointed out, what is really needed is for me to help Twilight prepare for the unique challenges she faces. After all, I have won a reprieve from my duties, but it is far too soon for me to retire. Eventually, I will be called into service again."

"If he doesn't wander into it first," muttered Shining in an aside to Cadance, making her giggle.

"Excellent," exclaimed Blueblood, lifting his glass in a celebratory manner, "Then we are agreed."

"More or less," conceded Arkenstone, "But since I am doing this, I have a favor to ask of you Shining. I would like to borrow your old ring..."

The next crate Arkenstone opened sent a cloud of dust billowing outwards. Twilight Sparkle paused to cough and waft the airborne irritants away from her mouth and nose before she could bring herself to look inside. As she did, her nose picked up a familiar musty smell that she was quite familiar with and all too fond of. After all, it was a smell she dealt with every day.

"Books!" she squealed, her confused expression becoming a beaming grin as she dove towards them. Even before seeing them, she could practically smell the age of their pages. These were ancient, highly valuable tomes. It was like Hearth's Warming had come early this year.

Spike sighed melodramatically at the sight as Twilight levitated the volumes out for her inspection. "Seriously, it's like taking a foal to Bon Bon's shop and telling her she can have whatever she wants."

His comment earned a glare from Twilight and a chortle from Arkenstone, who smiled as he listened to the mare rifle through the contents of the crate. "To be honest, I used to spoil her frequently when I knew her as a filly. I felt like making up for lost time."

"Arky!" protested Twilight, blushing at his comment. The distraction was short lived as she turned her attention back to the books and began to examine them more in depth. "Hm...Advanced Practical Applications of Elemental Magic, Combat Theory, Martial Magic..." Twilight's voice trailed off as she examined more and more of the volumes, her sense of foreboding returning with each title.

As she had expected, Arkenstone had brought her a variety of books she had never seen before. They were all highly advanced tomes that covered a rather substantial variety of topics, similar to the ones she already studied regularly. However, what made her nervous was not the nature of the magic that she was going to be reading about, but its application.

As Princess Celestia's student, Twilight's education covered magic along a wide range of types, from transformation to teleportation. However, the vast majority of her education was esoteric in nature, grounded largely in the understanding of theory. Very little of it had applications to everyday situations, or even the more extraordinary situations she encountered on a rather frequent basis. So, while she her knowledge of magic elevated her to one of the most learned academics in all of Equestria, Twilight actually ended up using very little of it outside of her own laboratory (even less after frequent interruptions, distractions and fracases of a pink nature).

The difference was that the information and magic in these particular books was all too practical. In short, it was magic to be used as a weapon, battle magic. Had she not known that these tomes had probably been sent by the Princess herself, Twilight would have likely thrown the books back into the box and nailed it shut before making arrangements to get rid of them (not by destroying them, of course). The knowledge and use of violent magic was very carefully regulated across Equestria. Very few spells with violent intent were permitted to be learned by civilians. Even a basic telekinetic blast could cause severe damage if used incorrectly. More powerful and dangerous spells were reserved for the Guard. Town Guard unicorns rarely learned anything more dangerous than spells to aid in the subduing and restraining of violent criminals. Only the Royal Guard were actually permitted to learn anything that could be utilized for outright violence.

And here, Arkenstone was apparently planning on having Twilight take a very comprehensive course in just that sort of magic. Twilight felt a nervous flutter in her stomach. While she deeply loved learning about magic, learning about this kind of magic seemed...wrong, somehow. "What is all of this?" she asked, giving Arkenstone a disbelieving look.

"It is as you see it," replied the stallion calmly, "You are innocent and naive at times, but you are no fool. You know exactly how precarious your position is."

"But would the nobles really go so far as to try using force?" asked Twilight nervously.

"Perhaps not while you were still a commoner," said Arkenstone, "But ever since Discord, you have been a knight, which makes you a member of the nobility. And if that weren't enough, your sister-in-law is a princess of the realm, which also makes you a member of the Royal Family by extension. Princess Celestia has worked hard to pass several laws to ensure that the nobles cannot unduly interfere with the lives of common ponies anymore. But among their own, they are still able to exercise their will much more freely."

"But battle magic?"

"A precaution. It would most likely be a move of desperation on the part of anyone who tried to use force against you, but that would only serve to make it all the more dangerous. That is why it is important that you be prepared."

Twilight nodded slowly and turned her attention back to the books. It vexed her somewhat. Studying magic would cut into her efforts to research the Eyes of Nightmare and trying to resolve Ponyville's conflict with Cloudsdale; but she figured that if she budgeted her time properly, she could manage admirably. The lavender mare let out a defeated sigh before turning back to Arkenstone.

"Alright, lets get started."

Rainbow Dash awoke, not to the bells of her alarm clock, but to a soft, musical trill sounding outside her window. Blinking sleep from her eyes, the polychromatic pegasus sat up and directed her bleary gaze towards the opening. The sound continued, warbling musically. All in all, it was a pleasant thing to listen to and an even more pleasant thing to wake up to than the harsh bells of her alarm. As Rainbow listened, she almost felt the music as much as she heard it. The sound seemed to enter into her ears and then course through her veins and even make her bones thrum. The usual morning tiredness seemed to wash away from her under the deluge of sound, leaving her feeling more awake and refreshed than if she had downed an entire pitcher of coffee.

Getting out of bed, Rainbow made her way to the window and threw it open, twisting her head and casting her gaze every which way to try and locate the source of the mysterious song. However, her eyes could find no trace of the mysterious singer, who had gone silent the moment she had opened the window.

Abruptly, Rainbow felt something rap the top of her head with enough force to startle her, but not hard enough to hurt. Immediately, she looked straight up to find the source of the disturbance. However, her eyes could only catch the barest glimpse of orange and yellow as the source of the strike disappeared over the roof of her house.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes, her competitive spirit rising to the fore. It was quite clear she was being pranked. "Okay," she muttered, "If that's how you want to play it..."

With a push, the sky blue pegasus threw herself out of the window and into the open air, her wings snapping open to send her shooting upward before she could even begin to fall. Arcing up and over, her flight took her over the top of her house, where she spied the orange and yellow contrail belonging to the flyer that had pranked her.

Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "A chase huh? I like the sound of that." With a burst of speed, she was off, leaving her own rainbow-colored contrail streaking out behind her as she followed what seemed to be a trail of fire leading up to a distant dot streaking and looping about.

With her natural speed, Rainbow quickly closed the distance with the other. However, as she drew close, she was stunned to see that her target was no a pony at all. It was actually a large bird, its body combining a variety of traits that seemed to be some mixture of peacock, swan and eagle. Its crest and plumed tail, the source of the fiery contrail, were reminiscent of a peacock, while its elongated neck reminded Rainbow of the swans she often saw occupying the lake of Ponyville Park during the summer months. However, the broad wings, the curved talons of its feet, and the hooked beak were definitely more like those of an eagle. Normally, such wings meant that the bird in question was built for soaring, rather than high-speed flight. But phoenixes were as much creatures of magic as they were birds. And as pegasi were in a similar camp, Rainbow knew all too well that regular aerodynamics tended to take a back seat when magic was involved.

Rainbow's first thought upon seeing the phoenix was that it might have been Philomena, being the only phoenix, aside from the chick Pewee, that she had ever met personally. However, up close, she realized that this was a different bird altogether. Its neck was longer than Philomena's, its plumes much more well-defined, and, above all else, its colors were much more varied and vibrant. Its plumes in particular were composed of oval-shaped feathers dressed in rich shades of scintillating violet, ringed by emerald, then blue, red, orange and yellow in succession, looking to all the world like several lines of jewels linked together in a chain, twisting around gracefully, whenever they weren't hidden by the flaming trail it produced. The tips of the bird's primaries and secondaries also looked as though they had been dipped in amethyst. Though Rainbow was loathe to think less of Princess Celestia's own pet, she had to admit that this particular phoenix had a beauty that surpassed Philomena's.

Twisting its head around, the fiery bird noticed that Rainbow Dash had closed the distance. With a musical trill that left Rainbow with no doubt as to where her wakeup call this morning had been from, the phoenix turned its head forward and shot off, its already blazing contrail now mixing with blue, green, and purple tongues of flame in a display that left Rainbow mesmerized, her cerise eyes widening as she followed the trail of varicolored flames, not wanting to take her gaze away from the display.

After accelerating, the phoenix whipped through a variety of loops and dives, it agility and speed putting any number of skilled pegasus fliers to shame. Wrenched from her distracted state, Rainbow was able to spot a challenge when she saw one. Follow me if you can, the bird's trail through the sky seemed to say.

"Oh! It. Is. On." Rainbow narrowed her eyes, surging forward into the first loop. Most pegasi wouldn't be able to manage maneuvers that tight at such a high velocity. But Rainbow Dash wasn't most pegasi. With incredible ease, she perfectly followed the path laid out by the mischievous phoenix before accelerating and blowing past it to take the lead herself.

"My turn," shouted Rainbow as she carved her own looping and twisting course to fly. The phoenix rose to the challenge and surged through the course, speeding up even further to overtake Rainbow and pull ahead.

This time, before Rainbow could try to follow the phoenix into its first loop, the bird whipped around and rushed straight for the rainbow-maned pegasus. Rainbow twisted hard to get out of the way, barely avoiding being scorched as the flaming comet of the phoenix passed over her back. Throwing a glare in its direction, Rainbow saw the phoenix whip its plumes tauntingly at her as it hurtled away.

"Oh. So it's like that now." Gritting her teeth, Rainbow weathered the Gs as she pulled her body through a nearly ninety-degree turn, diving straight for the phoenix, who elegantly avoided the potential collision with a graceful barrel roll, pulling out to come rushing straight for Rainbow again.

And so the game of follow-the-leader dissolved into a game of tag as the two agile fliers took turns charging and avoiding each other in an aerial ballet that streaked across the skies of Ponyville, upping their speed with each pass. Even as she exulted in the challenge and excitement of the game, Rainbow was shocked at what an incredible flier this particular phoenix was. It wasn't often she met other pegasi that could keep up with her, much less birds.

They were halfway through the morning before Rainbow finally had enough. It was early for her to be working out like this and her coat was soaked with sweat. The phoenix seemed to be throwing in the towel as well, the two of them having slowed somewhat over the course of their game. Having decided that she had had enough fun for the time being, Rainbow decided to slow down into a gentle glide, turning to soar in the direction of her house. Taking the cue, the phoenix slowed down as well and drifted in to fly next to her for a moment.

"That was fun. We should do it again sometime." Even though she couldn't speak to animals the way Fluttershy could, Rainbow was aware that phoenixes were a good deal more intelligent than most critters and certainly could understand her speech. The fiery bird trilled and affirmative and banked away, its flight taking it over the town as it flew towards the distance.

With a happy sigh, Rainbow stooped to slip back through her bedroom window and trotted in to take a shower. That had been a brilliant way to start the day. She could certainly take the time to enjoy herself. It was going to be another slow day at the weather office as the drought dragged on. Rainbow Dash took these bright moments whenever she could find them.

The phoenix, fresh from its little game, banked high above Ponyville, its eyes cast downwards, searching. After a few minutes, it found what it was looking for. It stopped to hover above the tree that made up Ponyville's library. There, on the second-floor balcony, overlooking town, were a pair of ponies lounging in the midmorning sun. With a trill of recognition, the phoenix swooped down, extinguishing its flames so as to not set the tree alight, and landed on the railing of the balcony.

Twilight Sparkle was sprawled out, her nose in the first of the many books Arkenstone had ordered for her. Hearing a melodious whistling, she looked up to see the strange phoenix come in for a landing. "Amazing," she breathed as her eyes took in the vibrant colors of the bird, "Is that a male phoenix."

"It is indeed," agreed Arkenstone, turning his ears in the direction of the bird. Standing up, he held out a foreleg, which the bird hopped onto. The phoenix then let out a series of calls and trills, its voice making Twilight close her eyes and sigh blissfully.

"So you found a new playmate," Arkenstone said.

The bird responded with a few light chirps.

"Impressive, not many could keep up with you like that."

A low whistle sounded.

"I understand now. What did she have to say?"

The bird let out a warbling cry.

"That explains a great deal."

Twilight did her best to listen. But understanding only one side of the conversation left her in confusion. She couldn't hear any consistencies in the rich vocabulary of the phoenix that would give her any clues in how to decipher its language. Flutershy could probably understand the bird without even trying, but not Twilight. At length, Arkenstone nodded and bid the bird farewell. Raising his leg, he allowed the phoenix to spread its wings and take flight.

Twilight's eyes tracked the creature as its vividly-colored feathers left a trail of fire through the sky. While she didn't really want to admit it, she thought this strange phoenix was a more beautiful sight than Philomena. It was to be expected though. As with most birds, males of the species carried much more vivid coloring than the females.

"I didn't know you had a pet phoenix," she said, turning back to Arkenstone.

"He is not a pet and he is certainly not mine," retorted the stallion, settling back down, "He is actually more of a close acquaintance; a friend of a friend if you will. His name is Ouranos."

"What was he doing here?" asked Twilight.

Arkenstone shrugged. "Running an errand of sorts. He was delivering a message from the aforementioned friend. Along the way, he apparently got himself involved in a game with a certain pegasus friend of yours."

"Rainbow Dash?"

"The same. Apparently, Ouranos was quite taken with her. Not many pegasi can keep up with him when he flies all out. But she acquitted herself admirably."

"And who is this friend of yours?"

Arkenstone gave Twilight a taunting smile. "Ah, but that would be telling. I'm guessing that you'll meet her someday in the near future."

Twilight snorted in indignation before lowering her nose back to her book. "Fine then, keep your secrets."

"You'll learn them soon Twilight," muttered Arkenstone, "Far too soon."

The phoenix, Ouranos, cut a line of fire through the skies as he hurtled along. Within an hour, the city of Cloudsdale filled the bird's exceptionally sharp vision. Banking sharply, Ouranos wove among the towers and spires that made up the city's architecture before swooping down towards a balcony protruding from one of the more prominent buildings in the city. A bright yellow arm reached out to provide the phoenix with a comfortable perch.

"Welcome back. You seem excited about something."

Ouranos squawked an answer.

"Oh really? Tell me more."

With a warbling series of chirps, Ouranos provided a more substantive explanation.

"Well now. It sounds like things went pretty well. So. Do you think she's ready?"

Ouranos trilled an affirmative.

"Good. And Arkenstone?"

Another squawk sounded.

"Of course he did. That colt's always doing his own thing. Oh well, best leave it to him then."

Ouranos gave his friend and partner a whistle before fluttering into the building. The yellow mare with a fiery mane and tail watched him go, a relaxed smile gracing her face.

"Looks like things are coming together nicely," said Spitfire softly.

Flitter sank her hooves into a cloud and gently began to push it toward the holding area. It was one of the few that she’d found recently. The big storm that the Weather Team had pulled out of the Everfree, seemed to have been carrying much of the moisture in the general region, meaning that there was hardly any left until a new wild storm front began to move in.

The grayish-blue mare directed a look at her current partner as Storm Front pushed his own cloud along. Normally, Flitter worked with her sister. However, she’d asked to be placed with Storm Front during their shift. Rainbow Dash had agreed readily enough, though she’d been a bit confused by the request. Storm Front, in spite of the fact that he usually worked on his own, accepted the request with good grace.

“Um...” she said quietly as they moved along, “...about that thing?”

“You mean our conversation the other day?”

Flitter nodded. “Yes. I was wondering if you were ready to talk about it?”

Storm Front was silent for a moment before he finally let out a breath and looked over at Flitter. “I suppose,” he said.

“Why did you end up leaving?”

Storm turned to look in the direction they were pushing the clouds in. “My success in passing the exam was not received very well by my new peers and coworkers. I faced a great deal of harassment, especially early on. I was given menial jobs, sometimes outright servant’s work, such us cleaning the bathrooms and shining hooves. At other times, I was completely smothered by the workload that ponies from throughout the various ministries dumped on me. I worked hard and did my absolute best to persevere. Those days were some of the longest in my life.” He shuddered.

“Fortunately, my dedication and perseverance actually did manage to win me some supporters, especially after some more level-headed ministers and officials noted that I was often doing the work of several ponies without complaint. But it was still a long way to completely change the attitudes of all of them.

“During the brief periods I had off, I returned to my home and actually met with some of the other teachers in the capital, namely those who worked in the pegasus and earth pony districts. For my fellow pegasi at least, I could pass on the writing technique that my teacher and I had created so that more of them would be able to keep up with the exam’s time-limit. With the earth ponies, we tried to find a way to help overcome their difficulties as well. That was...problematic as they don’t have anything nearly as dextrous as a pegasus’ wing. At the very least, I hoped that by increasing the number of non-unicorns in the civil service in general, that we would eventually gain the pull to institute changes that would do away with the time-limit altogether.”

“Did it work?” asked Flitter.

“Last I heard, it was working,” said Storm Front, his tone sad, “But I wasn’t there to see it through to the end.

“The year after I passed, three pegasi made it through the exam. The year after that, twelve pegasi and, miraculously, one earth pony. That point was when our detractors began to get...desperate.”

Flitter gulped, getting the feeling that she knew where this story was heading. The two of them reached the holding area and pushed their clouds into place. Looking around, Flitter noticed that they had it to themselves. “Why don’t we take a break and rest here,” she said, settling onto her cloud. Though neither of them were tired, it would probably be easier for Storm to talk if he could relax more.

The stallion followed her suggestion and settled onto the cloud that he’d pushed there. He launched back into his story without hesitation, actually seeming a bit eager to finally get it all out. “I was a minor official in the Ministry of Civil Affairs at the time. My efforts had been recognized by the chief minister and a few less-prejudiced ponies in the various ministries seemed to think that I had all the earmarks of a particularly bright future.

“However, those who opposed the integration of non-unicorns decided that more aggressive measures needed to be taken. Because I had been the first to pass the exams and was regarded as the source of the ‘corruption’ eating its way into the Civil Service, I was the primary target.

“One night, when I was on my way back to my home, I was ambushed by assassins. To this day, I have no idea who hired them. At the time, I was utterly helpless. I’d thought that I was about to die then and there.

“But then an earth pony seemed to materialize out of nowhere. He wielded a spear and struck down my attackers swiftly and efficiently. Before I could even blink, they were on the ground and I was safe. My rescuer helped me to my hooves and even escorted me back home.

“That’s how I met Red River.”

Flitter let out a relieved sigh. She knew it was a bit silly, particularly since the fact that Storm was telling her the story meant that he’d survived. But it horrified her that somepony had actually marked him for death.

“At the time, Red River had been traveling around the country to hone his skills. He offered his services to me as a bodyguard. Given what had happened, I agreed, even though my salary wasn’t all that impressive. He accompanied me almost everywhere. He went on to save my life no fewer than three times after that.

“Even so, I was still worried. It wasn’t as though my enemies were simply going to sit idly by and hope that one of their assassins would get past my bodyguard. I suspect that, if things had dragged on much longer, there would have been new ‘security protocols’ instituted that would have barred Red from accompanying me to my place of work. Besides, we had become friends by that point, so it grated on my nerves that I was always depending on him for my safety.

“One day, while I was going through the archives, I stumbled across a manuscript. It was an training manual...a manual for this...” Storm Front held up his foreleg and let the end of the meteor hammer dangle down out of the sleeve.

“Though it had been designed by unicorns, it was meant to be wielded by the body so that a unicorn wielder could channel his magic through the weapon. However, because unicorn magic is generally too intellectual to be applied to martial arts, it never caught on and the meteor hammer faded into obscurity as a weapon.

“I thought with a little study and application, I could not only learn how to wield the weapon for myself, but that I could learn to apply my magic as a pegasus. So I took the manual home with me and began to study its contents. I fashioned a meteor hammer, as well as the various training implements needed to learn its usage, for myself and began to train. I also acquired manuscripts that contained information on applications for pegasus magic and began to work on applying them to using the meteor hammer. For many months, I studied, experimented, and practiced. It wasn’t easy. I was never particularly talented, nor was I especially well-coordinated. Red helped as best he could. But, being and earth pony, there wasn’t very much he could contribute.

“Then it finally happened. I was summoned to a small courtyard in the outer palace, where the ministries were housed, I was required to leave Red River outside, behind two security checkpoints. By then, I’d gotten experienced enough with my weapon that I felt comfortable carrying it around.

“It was the most brazen attempt on my life I'd ever seen. Two of the ponies planning my death had the audacity to actually show themselves in front of me before sicking their hired killers on me. It was as great a surprise to me as it was to them when I successfully fended them off.

“The problem was...I had underestimated just how desperate my enemies were.” Storm’s gaze grew distant and his tone lowered. Flitter was almost certain that he was trying to hold back tears.

“One of the officials behind my attempted assassination declared that I had completely undermined the strength of our nation by making headway for pegasi and earth ponies. He said that drastic action was needed to bring things back to the way they belonged. He intended to send his agents into the non-unicorn quarters. They would burn down the schools where my writing method was taught and kill the teachers who now passed that method onto others. The other, his collaborator, suggested that if I renounced my accomplishments, that if I lied and said I cheated on my exam, that they might retract their decision.

“Of course, if that happened, it was likely that every other non-unicorn who had passed the exam in the meantime would be reevaluated. And because the Ministry of Rites was still firmly in the hooves of the conservative faction of the court, they would almost certainly be found guilty of ‘cheating’ as well. A single false admission from me would reverse all the progress that we had made.

“So I made a desperate decision of my own. I killed both of them.” A shudder coursed through Storm Front’s body. He went silent for a moment. Flitter used her wing to gently push her cloud up to his. Reaching out, she very gently nuzzled his shoulder.

Storm continued. “It wasn’t like how it had been with the assassins. I’d killed them in the heat of the moment, desperate to preserve my own life. But killing those two marked the first time I’d ever consciously taken the decision into my own hooves.

“After that, I had to escape the palace guards after they came rushing in to find that I’d murdered two high-ranking officials. Naturally, they were going to arrest me. But I couldn’t allow that. I first had to make sure that nopony was going to carry out those orders of destruction and murder, even if I’d killed the plan’s orchestrators.

“So I fought my way out. I reunited with Red River and explained what happened. Together, the two of us began to track down the officials’ agents and eliminate them. Of course, since we had nothing but my word, that, combined with my previous actions, only served to make us criminals.

“We successfully put a stop to the plan. But there was no longer any place left for me in the capital, or the rest of Guoxia for that matter. I had taken my own reputation and shredded it to pieces. I managed to get a message to my superior, explaining the situation, but knowing that there was nothing I could do to save my reputation. But, at the very least, I could keep it from undoing the hard work of my fellow non-unicorns.”

Storm Front sighed. “After that, the two of us left Guoxia. I had to leave to escape the authorities and reprisals from the friends and relatives of the officials I’d murdered. Using my newly acquired skills, I joined Red as his partner and the two of us offered our skills as mercenaries. Guarding caravans on the Silk Road, we eventually made our way across the eastern lands until we finally made it to Equestria.”

He turned his head to look at Flitter. “And, eventually, we found our way here.”

For a moment, Flitter blinked. “You...were mercenaries?” She was actually a little frightened.

Storm Front nodded. “That’s why I applied to the Weather Team. It is difficult to make a living as a mercenary in Equestria. Even if there is some demand for our skills...we aren’t exactly appreciated.”

“Are you upset?” asked Flitter, “That you aren’t a mercenary anymore.”

“Not really,” admitted Storm with a shrug, looking down at the ground below them, “I became a mercenary out of necessity in the first place. It’s...nice to have a job that doesn’t involve bloodshed again.”

Flitter looked closely at Storm Front. Though his words seemed sincere, she couldn’t help but remember that she’d still seen him practicing with the meteor hammer. Maybe it was habit. Maybe it was merely a desire not to allow something that had been so important to his life fade away. But part of her thought that the reason he still trained with that weapon was because he was still certain that there would be situations where he needed to use it...where he needed to fight.

However, she pushed those thoughts to the back of her head as she watched the stallion sag down against his cloud. It seemed that telling the story had taken a lot out of him. It had taken a lot of effort for Storm to talk so much, to say nothing of how painful it must have been to relive those memories. Flitter reached out and gently brushed the feathers of her wing against his own, prompting Storm to look up at her.

“Thank you for telling me,” she said, “Did it help?”

Storm Front mulled the question over for a bit before turning, the faint beginnings of a smile forming on his face. “It did.”

"Okay," declared Scootaloo as she stood facing Dawn, "Let’s get started."

"Very well," replied the ebony colt, taking his usual starting stance, "We will start with the basics. However, before we begin, I have a few instructions for you."

"What?"

"First," said Dawn, "Until I tell you otherwise, when you practice these techniques, you are not to tap into your magic while using them. It will take considerable practice and refinement until you are able to fully control the destructive output your wings are capable of. Until that happens, you are not to try and use your magic."

"Okay." Scootaloo nodded slowly.

"Second, you will run through the exercises I give you everyday. I advise you to get up earlier in the morning so that you can practice early and then again in the evening."

Scootaloo let out a resigned groan. Much like her idol, rising early did not sit well with her.

"And finally," finished Dawn, "You are not to use your techniques against anypony unless I tell you otherwise, especially now. The Gale King is not a toy. Nor is it a means of demonstrating how strong you are. Physical violence of any sort is ultimately a last resort when it comes to confrontation."

"A last resort!" exclaimed Scootaloo indignantly, "Are you kidding me?"

"No. I am not. And if you have any inclination to disobey me, then our lessons will end here."

"But what about you?" asked the filly pointedly, "You haven't always used your power as a last resort, have you?"

"Yes, you're right," agreed Dawn, thinking of the times he had lost his temper, as with Applejack and Cirrus, "And I am not particularly proud of those moments. Most of all, I can't forget how much I frightened you when I lost control." He gave Scootaloo a sincere look that made her regret bringing the topic up. "You would do well to look to them as examples of what not to do. However, it is critical that you absolutely do not resort to using your magic in this early stage."

"How come?"

Dawn lifted a wing. "You know the technique that I use to catch you? That is an application of carefully moderated power. It requires incredibly fine control. If I didn't have that control...at best, whenever you fell, it would have been as though you had hit the ground a little earlier. At worst, I could have magnified the force of impact and killed you instantly."

A lump formed in Scootaloo's throat, forcing her to swallow nervously.

Dawn continued. "And on those occasions you were referring to, when I did not wait to use force as a last resort; if I did not have full control of my strength, things would have been much worse. I could have turned Applejack into paste. I could have snapped your father's spine."

Scootaloo went pale.

"When you first learn to apply your magic, you will automatically apply your full power because you only have the barest grasp of how to moderate it. That is what I have been trying to teach you through training you in meditation, to help you better sense your magic and direct its flow. Only after practice and getting a feel for your own power will you be able to moderate its usage so that you don't end up turning anypony you use it on into a fleshy pulp.

"That said, my conditions remain. If you do not accept them, then we will not proceed further."

Throughly cowed, Scootaloo flattened her ears against her head. "Okay."

Dawn sighed, then gave her his best encouraging smile. "Then let us begin."

The days passed quietly, bringing with them the comfortable pattern of the routine. Dawn walked Scootaloo through all the basic techniques of the Gale King style, the strikes and the lunges, the sweeps and wingbeats that made it so formidable. The orange filly turned out to be an apt pupil, quickly absorbing what she was taught. As she had promised, she practiced frequently, trying her hardest to burn the particular techniques into her body. It wasn't easy. Several moves in particular required moving her wings one at a time or completely independently of one another. Learning to keep one still while the other moved or moving each in a separate manner required all her concentration to accomplish. However, remembering what she had seen of Dawn's battle with the two mercenaries served as a reminder that he was speaking from experience when he said it was something she needed to learn.

Meanwhile, contractors had arrived and construction was beginning on a brand new building right next door to the library. Arkenstone had commissioned the construction of his teahouse and the builders were quickly making arrangements to set up shop During that period, he worked with Twilight frequently to further her studies of battle magic.

All was not well, however, as the sun continually rose and set to a clear sky of aching blue, with nary a cloud to be seen for miles. The latest storm from the Everfree seemed to be the last the ponies were going to be getting for a while. The reprieve it had brought was quickly wearing out. The crops were beginning to show signs of dehydration and the clouds Rainbow and her team were able to catch straying from the forest were not enough to compensate. There was still no word from Cloudsdale as to when the weather factory would begin regular operations again. The magistrates from Canterlot were supposedly looking into the problem, but no solution had been found yet.

Many farmers were starting to get anxious. Summer was waning and autumn, the primary harvest season, was just around the corner. Many were beginning to fear that their crops would not make it to harvest time. A few even had the whole of their livelihoods riding on this year's harvest. More importantly, the town was counting on the harvest to build up the stores they needed to weather the months of winter. While nopony blamed Rainbow Dash for their problems anymore, anxiety was running high. With the hopes of Ponyville riding on her shoulders, Rainbow made a decision.

"I'm going to Cloudsdale," declared Rainbow Dash, her expression solemn.

Without the stacks of crates containing Arkenstone's supplies dominating the floor, the library looked distinctly less cluttered. Work had been finished on the teahouse and the beige stallion was in the process of moving his stock into place so he could open his business. Already, several ponies around town had expressed a great deal of interest in sampling the exotic blends of tea his shop promised to deliver.

The meeting was small, just Rainbow and her five closest friends. She had called them there to discuss a plan of action regarding the drought, particularly since Applejack had a serious stake in the outcome of her actions.

"Are ya sure 'bout this sugarcube?" asked Applejack, "Ya've told us that there are a bunch 'o tribalists runnin' the place now."

"Yeah!" agreed Pinkie, bouncing in place, "Why do you have to deal with those meanies when you could just make your own weather?"

"I can't," said Rainbow, her tone desperate, "We only got out of our last confrontation with the authorities because we were in the right with the law. If we put one hoof out of line, Cloudsdale gets to crack down."

"She's right," interjected Twilight, "I've been looking through the laws surrounding weather creation. I've come up with one or two things that might work for us, but they're acts of desperation."

"Isn't going to Cloudsdale with its current state of affairs an act of desperation in and of itself?" asked Rarity.

"Yeah," admitted Twilight, "But if we end up having to put our contingency plan into motion, we could end up destabilizing the entire distribution zone. The consequences could be severe for the entire country."

"Um, what is that contingency?" asked Fluttershy, before shrinking back behind her mane, "If you don't mind me asking..."

Twilight let out a sigh. "Basically, the one thing I found that might work in principle is if we declare the township of Ponyville to be its own distribution zone. According to what I've uncovered in the books on weather law, there is no law ascribing specific limits on who can form a distribution zone, so it would be a legal precedent."

"That sounds like a wonderful notion," declared Rarity, "What's so wrong with it? That would give us the legal wherewithal to make our own weather, would it not?"

"There are two problems with it," said Twilight, "First, there's no way Cloudsdale would take a move like that lying down. In all likelihood, there's no way they'd exercise the restraint they did last time."

"Y'all call that restraint," muttered Applejack.

"The other reason is that it could be playing right into their hooves," added Twilight, "The ambition of the tribalists is to ignite racial tensions between the three tribes so that the pegasi can ultimately come out on top. From the behavior of the Cloudsdale Guard members who came to Ponyville last time, I can predict that the majority of the citizens of Cloudsdale aren't on board with the tribalists, so to speak. The tribalists appear to have their members placed in key positions to affect policy and maybe control the activities of the weather factory. However, I don't think the citizens share their views.

"The problem is, if we set a precedent by declaring Ponyville its own distribution zone and succeed, then other towns in the Cloudsdale Distribution Zone will follow suit. It won't belong before places outside the distribution zone start considering that option as well. The problem is that it would completely wreck Cloudsdale's economy. I have no doubts that the tribalists currently in charge will try to play it up by setting it as pegasi against earth ponies or something like that. It could very well end up driving the majority of the population of Cloudsdale to side with the tribalists."

"Oh my!" whispered Fluttershy, "That would be terrible."

"But Ah don't see what ya plan to accomplish by goin' to Cloudsdale yerself," Applejack pointed out, "Ah mean, it's not like ya can force them varmints out by yerself."

"I'm not going alone," said Rainbow, "I'm bringing Storm Front with me. I know he can help if things get violent. Also..." Rainbow's voice trailed off as she pawed the floor nervously, sending an uncertain look Fluttershy's way.

"Also what?" asked Pinkie.

"Um...never mind!" Rainbow worked frantically to redirect the topic of conversation. "The point is, what I'm really trying to do is get a feel for how things are in Cloudsdale. I think those tribalists are up to something besides simply trying to strangle us with a drought. We need to know what these jerks are up to and how they're getting it done. Then we can figure out what to do about it."

"So when are you leaving?" asked Fluttershy.

"Two days from now."

Author's Note

That little flashback sequence with Arkenstone was to set the scene for how he ended up coming back to Ponyville and establishing a little more of his character. I liked the idea of a character going around and finding ways to do good besides just going in and killing bad guys. In that sense, Arkenstone is very (and I stress, very) loosely modeled after this guy:

The basic idea of the sequence was to establish that Arkenstone's had a pretty successful career and that there's more to being a Knight than just being good at killing stuff.

The scene with Ouranos contains a bit of retcon on my part. Obviously, one of the two adult phoenixes we see in Dragon Quest is a male. But I figured it made more sense that, if phoenixes are birds, then like real world birds, males tend to have more vivid coloration and more elaborate decorations than females (it's the guys who are the pretty ones). It's also in part because the actual mythological descriptions hold that the phoenix is a very colorful bird to begin with (of course, the original myth holds that there's only one).

Finally, we get the conclusion, more or less, to Storm Front's story and how he ended up as a mercenary in Equestria. Like Red River, he originated from another idea on different ways a certain cutie mark could be applied. In this case, it comes from the idea that a pony who's "special talent" is scholastic and academic in nature could learn even a difficult martial art if he approached it as something akin to a research project.

Now that the filler is finished, we return you to your regularly scheduled plot.

Next chapter: Hey, I bet you're wondering why there's a Wonderbolt tag on this story.

To Cloudsdale

Chapter 13: To Cloudsdale

"Fluttershy?" The yellow mare looked up. Having left the library, along with everypony else, Fluttershy had been in the process of heading home. But the voice of Rainbow Dash caused her to look up at her friend .

"Oh! Is something wrong Rainbow?" asked Fluttershy, seeing a rather nervous look on her oldest friend's face.

"Um well..." Rainbow's eyes darted from side to side as she scratched the back of her head. Fluttershy's look of concern dissolved into a frown. Rainbow Dash getting evasive was never a good sign.

With a sigh, the sky blue pegasus forged on. "You know that whole thing with Cloudsdale?" Fluttershy nodded. "When I go the day after tomorrow, I was wondering if I could bring Dawn with me."

Rainbow Dash clenched her eyes shut, expecting a thorough scolding from Fluttershy for wanting to put her son in harm's way. But to her surprise, no such lambasting seemed forthcoming. Slowly, Rainbow opened her cerise eyes to see that Fluttershy was now wearing a fearful expression, her teal eyes quivering.

"Are things really that bad?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yeah," said Rainbow, letting herself descend to the ground. "I'll be honest Fluttershy. I'm scared. Hay! I'm flat out terrified. You have no idea what it was like to come out of my house after being laid out for three days with Wing Exhaustion, only to find out that I was this close to being arrested for a crime I didn't commit. And to make things worse, I find out that Ponyville and Cloudsdale nearly started the first Equestrian Civil War...all because of me."

Tears collected in the corners of Rainbow's eyes as she spoke, her voice cracking with emotion. "I'm afraid Fluttershy. I'm scared to think about what might have happened to me if Storm Front hadn't been there to keep those Cloudsdale goons from taking me away. But what scares me even more is that my friends and so many other ponies in this town could have been hurt because they were protecting me."

Lowering her gaze, Rainbow continued. "I'm afraid of what I'm going to find up there in Cloudsdale. I just want someone there, someone who I know will have my back, somepony I can really depend on if things go bad. Having Storm Front with me will help, but I'd feel even better if I had Dawn with me too."

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Rainbow felt a gentle hoof under chin, lifting her head back up. She found Fluttershy's teal eyes meeting her gaze, a small, yet encouraging smile on Fluttershy's face. Fluttershy pulled Rainbow into a gentle embrace. Sniffling, Rainbow buried her muzzle into her friend's pink mane. For a moment, they simply stayed like that, saying nothing. Finally, Fluttershy pulled back and once again looked Rainbow in the eyes.

"Rainbow Dash. You are one of the strongest ponies I know. There's nothing wrong with being afraid. Thank you for telling me that."

"And Dawn?"

Fluttershy's smile widened. "If Dawn agrees to it, then he can go with you."

"Thanks," said Rainbow, the two of them finally breaking the embrace. Looking away, Rainbow rubbed the back of her head again. "I kinda figured you'd be harder to convince."

Fluttershy giggled slightly. "I guess that would be my right as Dawn's mother. But given that I know perfectly well how strong he is, I know better than to think that he needs me to protect him this way."

"Really?"

"Yes. He saved me twice after all. As his mother, what he needs from me is a place to return to, where he can feel secure and wanted. That's what he needs from me, not some sort of overbearing protection."

Rainbow let out a grateful sigh. "Thank you Fluttershy. I guess I'd better go find him an ask."

"Dawn should be over at the old quarry with Scootaloo. He said they were going to practice there this afternoon."

Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise at the notion. At one point, the quarry had been infested with diamond dogs, who had made an effort to kidnap Rarity to force her to find gems for them. Fortunately, the pests had vacated the place rather than risk being exposed to her whining again. It had also been the scene of the climactic showdown between Dawn, Storm Front, and Red River. She knew that Dawn and Scootaloo normally held their practices in the park. She wondered what had made him choose the quarry.

"What are we doing here?" asked Scootaloo as she settled onto the ground next to Dawn. Now that his feathers had grown back, Dawn was able to actually work with Scootaloo in the air to aid her in refining her flight. Under his more direct tutelage, she had improved immensely in the past week or so.

The ebony colt eyed the rock-strewn expanse before them. The quarry was rarely used, except by Rarity, who went there to find the gems she needed for her dresses. It was a fair way from Ponyville and of little interest to anypony besides Rarity. Here, he didn't have to worry about anyone getting hurt.

"You've been working on your techniques quite a lot," explained Dawn, "And you've made considerable progress in mastering the First Form. I figure that you are ready to take the next step."

"Really!" exclaimed the excited filly, giving Dawn her most hopeful look.

Dawn nodded. In truth, she had progressed much faster than he had expected. As he and Red River had surmised, practicing the First Form over and over again until the movements became second nature to her had proved to be an ideal means of meditation in motion. Knowing it well enough that she no longer had to concentrate on correcting her movements or focus on the sequence of motions meant that Scootaloo was now able to loose herself in the repetitive activity, which left her free to listen to the voice of her own body.

The results had been quite apparent. Though she wasn't aware of it, Dawn had occasionally dropped by to observe Scootaloo's solo practices. When she was in his presence, she tended to tense up and focus too much on making sure that she was moving precisely as Dawn had taught her to. However, on her own, when she wasn't aware of his gaze, Scootaloo showed the true fruits of her dedicated training.

It amused Dawn to no end that, for a filly who once teasingly compared his practice to a dance, Scootaloo's own version of the First Form was even more dancelike than his. She often seemed to skip or glide where the form called for a step. She flowed with perfect grace and poise from one technique to another. The colt had to admit that it was a beautiful sight, one that he had trouble taking his eyes off of.

"Starting today, we will begin practicing using your magic," explained Dawn, "This will give you an understanding on how the techniques you learned previously actually function."

"Cool!" exclaimed Scootaloo, her wings buzzing with excitement.

"I need to remind you that you are not to try this anywhere but here. I don't have any objections to you coming out here on your own to practice, but you should not be trying these exercises anywhere where ponies or their property can get damaged."

Scootaloo nodded eagerly. Dawn took a step to clear the line of fire and began to give his instructions. "Start first with the Forward Wing Strike."

Taking the ready stance, Scootaloo stilled herself, holding her wings partially extended. Taking a deep breath, she turned her senses inwards, feeling the magic flowing within her body. Inhaling, she began to direct it through her wings. Then, in a single motion, she lunged forward, sweeping her wings out in front of her until the tips of her furthest primaries extended past the tip of her nose. As she did so, she let her breath out in a forceful exhale, releasing her magic.

The results were dramatic, to say the least. Scootaloo's ears were flooded with a dull roar as her magic moved the air ahead of her, generating a powerful gust of wind that swept a curtain of dust before it, picking up rocks, some mere pebbles, others the size of hoofballs, and tossing them like leaves. The secondary effects of the move were a bit more problematic. Scootaloo was immediately made aware of the differences between practicing the physical motion and executing the actual technique.

As she had done during the countless practices in the past, Scootaloo had made sure to lunge forward as she thrust out with her wings. However, that alone nearly proved insufficient. The recoil of her move had kept her forehooves from touching the ground. Had she not done the lunge, the orange filly had no doubt that she would have thrown herself over backwards. I need to put the weight of my entire body behind this, she realized. Another complication suggested itself to her immediately.

"Not bad," commented Dawn, observing the results, "An excellent first attempt. I trust you have already noticed some things that you are going to have to change if you want to avoid hurting yourself."

Scootaloo nodded fervently. "Something's bugging me though. This is meant to be used in the air, right?"

"Correct."

"I can do it now because I'm pushing against the ground to keep from being catapulted," Scootaloo pointed out, "But what do I do in the air?"

Dawn smiled slightly. "You remember the third exercise I taught you? Have you been practicing it?"

"Uh..." Scootaloo looked down at her hooves with uncertainty before kicking off of the ground without extending her wings. At the apex of her jump, she kicked out again. Dawn felt a surge of moving air, but the results were too scattered to extend Scootaloo's jump. Instead, she merely delayed her fall by a few seconds before dropping straight back to the ground. "Not as much as I should have," she admitted.

Shaking his head and smiling ruefully, Dawn suppressed a chuckle. "Then you should practice it more. That exercise is the key to developing the stability you need to use your techniques in the air."

Leaping skyward, Dawn snapped his wings open and surged upwards. After flying a few meters up, he came to a hovering halt before executing the Forward Wing Strike. As he did, his hooves kicked out behind him. Scootaloo's ears picked up the telltale roar of wind. Her eyes were also able to pick up the tiny distortions in the air as the difference in air density bent the light of the sun slightly. Even though his technique was as strong as Scootaloo's, stronger perhaps, he had not slipped backwards even an inch.

Dawn dropped back to the ground and turned to address Scootaloo. "That is what the completed form looks like.

"Something else you need to work on is your timing. You released your magic a little early, resulting in the wind you generated scattering across a wider area."

"How's that a problem?" asked Scootaloo.

"Scattering your magic dilutes its effects. You need to time your release just as your wings are fully extending forwards in order to concentrate the force of your blow to its maximum. Observe..." Dawn stepped up next to Scootaloo and executed the Forward Wing Strike.

His movements were practically identical to Scootaloo's, but the results were as different as night and day. Where Scootaloo's effort had raised a cloud of dust, Dawn's strike tore a trench through the ground itself. Where Scootaloo's attack had picked up and thrown several rocks of varying sizes, Dawn’s had smashed them to powder. The destructive force was incredible.

"Wow," gasped Scootaloo, her purple mane dancing in the breeze Dawn had created. Seeing him in action reminded her that the Gale King went beyond just creating powerful gusts of wind. It actually transformed the air itself into a tool of destruction just as potent as any of the ancient weapons they had read about in Cheerilee's history lessons.

"Do not underestimate the power that the air is capable of," said Dawn, "Tornado-force winds can punch a wooden beam through solid stone. Harnessing that kind of force is what it means to wield the Gale King."

Scootaloo nodded slowly and silently.

"Now then," said Dawn, "I want you to give me ten repetitions of the Forward Wing Strike. Remember what you need to do in order to maintain your balance. Also remember to control your timing to increase the focus of its effect."

It seemed simple, but Scootaloo quickly realized that following through with the task Dawn had given her was a lot more difficult than she had thought. While her magic reserves had grown considerably from where she had started, through practicing her flying, Scootaloo found that repeating the Forward Wing Strike was trying in a whole different way. She still had to perfectly execute the required motions. When she didn't, the technique's recoil jarred her bones, her hind legs in particular. By the time she had reached three, Scootaloo's hips and knees ached fiercely. In addition to that, the strain on her wings was equally severe. The process of using them to move so much air at once made them feel much heavier than they were, making every motion a chore in and of itself. The muscles throughout her body strained against the tension created by the technique.

On her seventh try, Scootaloo faltered on the forward lunge and ended up blowing herself onto her back. For a moment, she laid there, dazed by the impact. She half expected a scolding from Dawn as he moved into her field of view, his black head and silver mane cutting out a portion of the sky.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently.

With a groan, Scootaloo sat up and began checking herself for injuries. Aside from the stinging along her back, she felt fine. "Yeah."

Reaching out, Dawn grasped her hoof and carefully pulled Scootaloo back into a standing position. "Can you keep going?" Scootaloo gave him a slow nod. "Then try to continue. Only three more left."

The final three repetitions were arduous. Scootaloo had to work on her timing to try and focus the effect of her strike. But at the same time, she couldn't forget to put her strength behind the forward lunge, lest she end up staring at the sky again. She had thought that the constant practice she had put in on a daily basis would make things easier. But the effect of using her magic made the movements she usually went through seem strange and unfamiliar.

With a final surge, Scootaloo completed the tenth repetition. The effect of her strike was confined to a narrower space than when she had started. Her efforts had also excavated a shallow trench in front of her. How much was because of the improvement of her technique and how much was because of the nine previous repetitions was unknown to her.

Panting hard, Scootaloo struggled to keep standing. The muscles of her entire body burned, her wings and hind legs especially. She felt no serious drain on her magic, but the physical effects were another matter entirely.

"Well done," said Dawn calmly, "You've no doubt noticed that using the Forward Wing Strike for real is a different experience."

"No..." wheezed Scootaloo between gasping breaths, "...Kidding."

Dawn waited patiently for Scootaloo to regain some degree of control over her breath again. "Your body is unused to the physical strain of the techniques. You may want to add some basic strength training to your regiment to improve your muscles. You are also going to need to practice infusing magic into your strikes as well. For now, stick with the Forward Wing Strike. We'll add the other ones in later lessons and work your way up.

Scootaloo winced. Now she had even more things to add to her regular practice sessions. Between them and her lessons with Dawn, she had less and less time for crusading. She still got to hang out with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom after school. But lately, she seemed to lack the energy to try and carry out most of the ideas she could come up with for potential cutie marks. Still, she wouldn't trade in the lessons for anything in the world. Scootaloo genuinely enjoyed what she got to learn from Dawn, one of the reasons she continued to practice diligently, even though it seemed a chore for her. And besides, it wasn't as though she was the only one who had less time than usual on her hooves.

Apple Bloom was spending more and more time with her family on the farm. Having finally gotten strong enough to help with the harvesting meant that Apple Bloom had to take on more responsibilities with things like applebucking. On top of that, Sweetie Belle's magic was finally starting to come in, which meant that she had to spend time with her parents or Rarity, getting tutored in its usage. Even though they still found time to meet up after school and over the weekends (often with Dawn and Rumble tagging along) it seemed that their crusading was quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Scootaloo's train of thought was interrupted by the rushing noise and fluttering wings of an approaching pegasus. Looking up, she saw Rainbow Dash swoop down for a landing. "Hey Rainbow Dash!" she exclaimed, bounding over to greet her idol, "What's up!"

"Hey squirt," said Rainbow with a smile. She reached out and ruffled Scootaloo's mane before wrapping her hoof around the filly's shoulders and pulling her in for a hug. "It sounds like you've been working hard." She wrinkled her nose as she caught a whiff of the odor of sweat and grime coming from Scootaloo's body. "Smells like it too."

"Heh heh," laughed Scootaloo as she pulled away, her cheeks reddening.

Chuckling, Rainbow pulled Scootaloo in for another hug before letting her go. "Hey, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. You should smell me after my practice sessions. Anyway, I need to talk to Dawn. Mind if I borrow him for a moment?"

Scootaloo blinked in surprise before nodding. "Sure." She cast an uncertain glance in the colt's direction.

"We were about finished anyway," said Dawn, "Go through five repetitions of the First Form and we'll call it a day."

"Okay." Scootaloo trotted off a short distance and took her starting position. Dawn kept his eyes on her, following her movements even as he listened to Rainbow Dash explain the situation.

"So," he said after she was done, "You want me and Storm Front along as....muscle?"

"Um..." Rainbow scratched her head, looking nervously at the ground, "I guess."

"Considering the kerfuffle over that storm you set up, I can understand," said Dawn, nodding, "And my mother gave her approval for this?"

"Yeah," replied Rainbow.

"Then I see no reason not to go with you."

Rainbow let out a sigh of relief, her body sagging slightly as the tension left her. "Thanks," she said, giving Dawn a relieved smile.

Two days later saw Dawn, Rainbow, and Storm Front prepared to leave town. Rainbow's five friends were there to see them off, along with Red River.

Fluttershy traded gentle nuzzles with Dawn. "Be careful," she whispered to him, "Come home safe."

"I will," he answered.

"Try to avoid causing too much of a commotion," said Red River with an amused grin, slapping Storm Front across the withers.

"I make no promises," replied the pegasus stallion, giving his friend and partner an irritated look.

"Remember Rainbow, you just need to find out what's going on up there," said Twilight nervously, "Please don't do anything rash."

"I'm not planning to Twi," replied Rainbow with a nervous smile. Turning, she addressed her two traveling companions. "Lets head out guys."

"Wait!"

The assembled ponies turned to see and orange and purple blur come plummeting out of the sky, straight at Dawn. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned, using his wing to create an air cushion to slow Scootaloo's descent. Turning back to face the filly as she touched down, Dawn wasn't sure whether or not he was going to admonish her for her reckless behavior or simply laugh at her straightforwardness. It was clear that she had been fully aware that he would catch her when she dove at him.

As it was, Scootaloo didn't give him a chance to decide. Her hooves had only barely touched the ground before she launched herself at Dawn, catching him in a tackle and knocking him over onto his back. Surprised and winded, Dawn's draconic eyes blinked in surprise as they met Scootaloo's.

"You idiot!" she barked, "You can't just leave like that without saying anything to me. If something happens to you, who's going to finish teaching me?" She practically dropped down on top of him, hugging the colt tightly. Dawn's body went rigid in surprise. After a moment, he finally found the wherewithal to return the gesture and wrapped his own arms around her.

"I will be coming back," he told her softly, "Don't neglect your practice while I'm away." He pointedly ignored Rainbow Dash's sniggering.

"Some day," said Scootaloo, holding him tighter, "Some day I won't have to stay behind. Some day I'll be able to come with you."

"You will," promised Dawn, before gently pushing her off of him so he could get back up.

He slowly turned away from Scootaloo, giving her one last stoic look over his shoulder before trotting over to join the other two travelers. "Let's go."

“Wait!” Rainbow froze, a grimace of irritation flashing across her face at yet another interruption to their departure. Turning around, she was surprised to see a pair of pegasi approaching. She hadn’t been expecting anypony from the Weather Team to see her and her companions off.

“Flitter? Cloud Chaser?”

The two mares skidded to a stop. Cloud Chaser grinned cheerfully at Rainbow. “Sorry, but my sister here wanted to say something to your escort.” She prodded Flitter gently in the side. “Come on sis, out with it already.”

Flitter hesitated and averted her gaze in a bashful display that would have done Fluttershy proud. Then, she finally turned to Storm Front, the tiniest blush on her cheeks. “Please be careful,” she said softly.

Storm Front dipped his head in acknowledgment. “I will,” he said, his voice equally soft.

Rainbow blinked and looked back and forth between the two, her confusion mounting. When the hay did this start happening? she wondered. She remembered that Flitter had been partnering up with Storm for weather work lately and wondered if that had something to do with it. It looked pretty one-sided on Flitter’s part at the moment. But at least Storm wasn’t trying to simply ignore her.

She glanced left, glanced right, left again. Safe? No more interruptions? Okay! Let’s do this.

"Bye guys!" shouted Rainbow with a wave as the three pegasi took to the skies.

Abruptly, Pinkie Pie jumped forward, shouting at the top of her lungs. "I've got the biggest 'Welcome Back!!!' party planned for when you guys get back here so don't you dare make me miss it!"

"It's a promise Pinkie," shouted Rainbow before turning and setting out. Soon, the three were lost in the distance.

In the absence of her friend and favorite pranking buddy, Pinkie visibly wilted, like she was a balloon that someone had let the air out of. "Be careful Dashie."

Normally, Rainbow Dash would have chafed under the prospect of taking so long to reach Cloudsdale. With her speed, she could easily be there in less than two hours. However, not wanting to shake her escort meant that she had to fly at a speed that Dawn, the slowest member of their formation, could maintain for the duration of the trip. That meant stretching out the trip to over four hours, possibly as long as five if the colt needed to take a break. However, Rainbow did not regret bringing him along for an instant. Nor did she, for once, actually feel bad about having to slow down.

If anything, Rainbow was more than happy to take her time getting to Cloudsdale. It was much easier to deal with the idea that the city had been taken by pegasus supremacists when it was an abstract problem, dealt with at a distance. But going there herself meant confronting the problem directly. She knew some of the ponies that worked in the weather factory. What if they had ended up going over and siding with the tribalists? Would she end up as their enemy? Just the thought made Rainbow's stomach churn with anxiety.

Glancing over, she saw Dawn soaring just to the right and slightly behind her. His cruising speed would have been respectable for the average adult pegasus, quite the accomplishment given his young age. The thing she truly found herself marveling at was the way in which he flew. Rainbow knew that the methods he had taught Scootaloo were completely different from the way pegasi were normally taught. She had also watched him race with Rumble over a month ago. But today marked the first time she had ever bothered to get an up-close look at how Dawn flew.

Had she not known the speed they were flying at herself, Rainbow would have sworn that Dawn was flying in slow motion. His wing strokes were paced and even, gliding slowly upwards before sweeping sharply downwards. He hardly seemed to be working hard enough to be flying at their current speed. But then again, that seemed to lay at the heart of everything Dawn did. Efficiency trumped raw power. A quick glance at her own wings, flapping with much greater frequency, confirmed that. She briefly wondered how hard it would have been to perform a Sonic Rainboom if she used Dawn's flying style, or if it was even possible.

Such questions were purely academic in any case. The distraction Dawn offered was ultimately trumped by the crisis they currently faced. Part of Rainbow Dash wanted to never make it to Cloudsdale. But the presence of the two ponies behind her gave her the strength to continue on.

The hours passed much more quickly than Rainbow would have liked. Now the white city in the sky loomed before the three pegasi. Already, she could see the shapes of other winged ponies flitting about their business. It looked no different than any other time Rainbow had seen it. However, this only compounded her anxiety. It was hard to see how so much of the trouble for her friends was coming from this city when it looked so...normal.

"How should we go about this?" asked Storm Front as the two of them glided into a landing on a convenient cloud hovering outside the city limits.

"The first thing we need to do is check the weather factory and find out what the hay is going on there," said Rainbow, giving the facility that composed nearly a full eighth of the city on its own a determined glare, "What bugs me is that, if they aren't using it to make weather for the distribution zone, then what are they using it for? There's no way something, or so many things, could have broken down for so long. They have to be using it for something."

"Should the two of us go?" asked Dawn, giving Storm Front a sidelong look, "You tend to stand out in a crowd with that mane and tail of yours. It would be easy for anypony to find you."

"If they were looking for me," said Rainbow, a plan forming in her mind, "But they probably aren't expecting me to just drop by for a visit. If I wear one of the worker uniforms, I can probably sneak in undetected. I want you guys to wait outside. I don't want to show all our cards."

"Are we to assist should things go pear-shaped?" asked Storm Front.

"Not right away. Part of this is finding out how serious these guys are and how far they're going to push it. We know that they were willing to throw the law out the window to get me in prison. But I want to know if they're even more extreme than that." Rainbow gulped. "That's why I want you guys to hang back and wait until things are really serious."

The stallion and colt shared an uncertain glance with each other before looking back at Rainbow and nodding.

"Be careful," said Dawn, "I doubt mom will be happy with us if anything happens to you."

"No promises," muttered Rainbow, taking to the air again.

Moving through Cloudsdale was an edgy experience. However, the numerous pegasi flitting from one destination to the next made it fairly easy for her. Even with her distinctive mane and tail, Rainbow Dash would still be difficult to pick out among this many other ponies. Still, she kept a wary eye out for the armored forms of the Cloudsdale Guard as she flew.

Rainbow figured she had managed to avoid detection as she came into a landing at the entrance to the weather factory. Moving quickly, she slipped into a group of ponies heading into the building. Looking around, she spotted several guards, but not from the City Guard. They wore no armor, but were at least equipped with wingblades. They also carried what looked like batons that could be wielded like clubs in their fetlocks. From the angry gazes they directed at anypony who crossed into their line of sight, Rainbow could tell that they were just aching to put those batons to use.

She wasn't the only one on edge though. An undercurrent of fear ran through everypony around her. All of them had their eyes on the thuggish stallions and mares watching for any sign of trouble. Now things were beginning to reflect the sense of uneasiness that churned in Rainbow's gut.

Slipping into the locker room where the workers' uniforms were stored, Rainbow quickly changed into the white coat and hardhat used by the weather forgers in the factory. The hat and coat helped hide her mane and tail, allowing Rainbow to move about more freely. Stepping out onto the work floor, Rainbow cast her eyes around, looking for any oddities that might catch her attention.

The first thing that struck her as she wandered through the factory was the presence of more guards. They seemed to be everywhere, moving in pairs, scrutinizing everypony they came across and harassing any they thought were shirking on their work.

"Quit slacking on the job you worthless layabout!" Snapping her head around, Rainbow saw a guard just as he lifted his baton and brought it down on the back of a stallion working at a cloud production station. The stallion let out a strained yelp and struggled to try and look more productive. The guard that had beat him only snickered as he and his partner moved along.

Rainbow gulped nervously. If she crossed any guards around here, she was likely to get the same treatment as that poor stallion. The best thing to do would be to keep moving and try to avoid crossing paths with any of them.

Moving through the facility, it became apparent why the weather was not being produced here. Most of the stations were unmanned. The snowflake department was completely abandoned, as were the rainbow pools. The only sections Rainbow saw that were in actual production were in the condensation and precipitation factories, responsible for the making of clouds and the storms that they made up. In fact, these areas were more heavily crewed than Rainbow had ever seen. Whoever had taken over the factory was putting a lot of effort into cloud-making. But then, what are they doing with all the clouds they make?

"You there!" Rainbow's head snapped up at the voice. Turning towards its source, she saw a pair of guards moving in her direction, their eyes fixed right on her. "What are you doing wandering around?"

Uh oh! Rainbow struggled to come up with a response that wouldn't lead to her getting pounded. Worse still, if her hat or coat were knocked askew in the struggle, the mane and tail that they were hiding would come into plain view and the jig would be up.

As she was about to open her mouth to stammer an excuse, Rainbow was cut off by a hoof over her shoulders. "There you are!" snapped an irritated mare as she pulled Rainbow away from the guards, "I told you to pay attention you idiot! I swear, if I have to go track you down one more time...!"

The speaker trailed off and Rainbow saw that the guards had apparently lost interest. Being pulled along by her shoulders, Rainbow stumbled as she tried to get a look at her rescuer.

"What the hay are you doing here?"

Rainbow flinched in surprise, finally looking over to see the familiar green coat and orange mane of her first partner at the Wonderbolt Academy. Lightning Dust did not look happy to see the pony that had gotten her suspended during her first session.

"What am I doing here?" mimicked Rainbow in an indignant tone, "What are you doing here?"

Lightning Dust rolled her eyes. "Seriously? I work here you idiot. I've always worked here, even before I went to the Academy. What? Did you think I materialized out of thin air?"

"I didn't know you worked here," growled Rainbow.

"Well I do. Deal with it. Now, it's your turn to answer my question. If you don't, you're on your own and I don't think the guards are gonna be happy to have an outsider wandering around the factory."

"I came here to find out just what's going on," said Rainbow, returning Lightning's glare, "Ponyville's got a serious drought going on, so do all the other towns in the Cloudsdale Distribution Zone. If you aren't making our weather, what the hay are you doing then?"

Lightning Dust gave Rainbow an incredulous look. "Are you serious? You came up here because your town is having rain problems?"

"Hey!" Rainbow bristled at Lightning's dismissive tone. "Some of my friends livelihoods depend on the weather that this place is supposed to make. I'm not about to leave them hanging."

"You sure left me hanging," muttered Lightning petulantly.

"You left yourself hanging," Rainbow shot back.

The two of them exchanged glares for a moment, before the sound of hooves on the packed cloud floor reminded them that they didn't have the facility all to themselves. Lightning Dust pulled Rainbow Dash along before the two of them had another encounter with the guards.

"Fine," muttered the light-green pegasus, "You want to see what's going on, come with me." With that, she trotted off, leading Rainbow Dash deeper into the heart of the weather factory.

"Question. How are we supposed to monitor Rainbow Dash from out here?" asked Dawn, giving Storm Front a sidelong glance.

The cloud construction that made up the walls of the weather factory were opaque, giving absolutely no hints as to what might have been going on inside. The only windows in the building either led into offices where the bureaucrats who oversaw the management of the factory worked or the rainbow pools, where the light was used to refract the spectra to produce the vivid rainbows that were the weather factory's signature product.

Storm Front didn't answer. He rested quietly on the small cloud overlooking the facility, his eyes closed and his ears swiveling back and forth. Dawn wondered if he was trying to monitor the situation with his hearing, but dismissed the notion as ridiculous. The walls of the factory were soundproofed to keep the work inside from disturbing the citizens of the surrounding city.

The ebony colt let out a sigh and settled onto the cloud next to Storm Front, hoping that whatever method the older pony was using was at least reliable. However, he ended up placing Rainbow Dash in the back of his mind as the ruffling of the wind along his feathers told him that the two of them had problems of their own. Company was coming.

Dawn tensed, readying to fight or flee, but the net closed before he could even react. With fantastic speed, several blue and gold streaks encircled the two pegasi on their cloud. Before Dawn could even think about acting, they were surrounded. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of the ponies that had entrapped him and Storm Front so easily. There was no mistaking those blue and gold uniforms with the winged lightning bolt decorating their flanks.

"Well well," said one of the Wonderbolts surrounding them, "Just who do we have here?"

Author's Note

Not a whole lot to say this time around. The plot finally gets back on track in this chapter, so we at last get to find out what's going on...next time.

Next chapter: Rainbow makes a new friend...sort of...

Reunions

Chapter 15: Reunions

Fluttershy paced back and forth across the floor of her cottage. Countless pairs of eyes followed her every movement as her entourage of animals looked on. After seeing Dawn off that morning, Fluttershy had returned to her cottage and seen to her animals. However, the chores only lasted her a short time, giving her plenty of time to wallow in anxiety. She had given Dawn her permission to go with Rainbow Dash. But that did not mean that she was completely okay with it. Her son was off in Cloudsdale, potentially risking his life. Not only that, but her oldest and dearest friend was also there, putting her own well-being at risk.

Fluttershy froze at the sound of a knock at her door. With a squeal of excitement, she bounded towards it, wondering if Dawn had returned early. Swinging it open, Fluttershy greeted the pony on the other side with a delighted grin, only for her good mood to deflate when she realized that it wasn't Dawn that was waiting for her on the other side.

Caramel grinned nervously at her around the handle of the picnic basket he carried in his mouth. Doing her best, Fluttershy tried to rally and return his smile, although her effort was half-hearted at best.

After the conclusion of their very pleasant first date, Fluttershy and Caramel had continued to get together. They had yet to do anything as formal or fancy as their first, but there was no questioning the fact that their subsequent outings had been equally romantic. They enjoyed strolls through the park, walks through the whitetail wood and visits to the less expensive and the less crowded restaurants that could be found throughout Ponyville. While they had often gone out on their own, they had also brought Dawn with them on several occasions. At times like that, Fluttershy had been able to imagine them as a whole family. The thought delighted her.

However, standing there at that moment, with Caramel standing before her with what could only be a blatant invitation to go on another date, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel disheartened. "I'm sorry," she said, "I think it's a bad time for this."

To her surprise, Caramel's expression didn't betray an ounce of disappointment. Instead, he lowered his head to let go of the basket. Then he leaned forward, nuzzling her cheek before stretching his neck out to rest it against her own. "I understand," he said, "Pinkie told me about what's going on."

"She did?" gasped Fluttershy.

"I know it's scary to think about what might be happening," said Caramel, gently rubbing against her neck, "Especially since the only thing you can do is wait. But there's no reason you have to wait alone." Picking up the picnic basket, Caramel flicked his head, giving it a deft toss and catching it on his haunches. "Come on," he said, gently nuzzling her.

That was enough for Fluttershy as she followed her coltfriend out the door. As she closed the door to her cottage, Fluttershy paused as she remembered something. "What about work?"

"Don't worry about that," said Caramel, "When Bon Bon heard what was going on, she practically forced me to take the day off so I could see you."

Fluttershy couldn't suppress a giggle at that. She made a note to thank Bon Bon the next time she encountered the cream-colored mare.

The two of them made their way to one of their favorite spots, a grassy hill that overlooked Ponyville. It was an excellent place to share a picnic lunch. As the two of them relaxed, chatted, and ate, Fluttershy realized that Caramel was right. It really helped to pass the time with a friend. The wait was more bearable now. But even so, she couldn't help but cast uncertain glances at Cloudsdale in the distance.

Rainbow, Dawn; please be safe.

Rainbow's eyes wandered over the room she had just entered. From its size, she supposed that it had once been a conference room. However, the table and chairs that would have normally dominated the center of the space had obviously been removed. Feeling something odd about the floor, she looked down to see that, rather than standing on packed clouds, her hooves were sinking into a genuine cirrus-weave rug.

The thin and wispy cirrus clouds used to make these rugs were rarely produced in any great quantity. Adding to that, they were delicate to work with and it took a large amount to weave together into a rug that could stand up to being trod on by a pony's hooves. Only the richest ponies in Cloudsdale would have been able to afford such a luxury. And only a seriously wealthy individual or family would have been able to afford one that could cover the entire floor of a conference room like this one.

The wall to her right was dominated by an altostratus tapestry dyed with liquid rainbow, a difficult and painstaking process as it was difficult to keep the colors from blending together. It was just another sign of the wealth and status of the owner, who could apparently afford to have one that covered the entire wall of the conference room turned office.

Across from the tapestry, the other wall was taken up by a single window that looked out into the open skies. Rainbow realized that she must have been on the side of the weather factory that faced away from Cloudsdale. Turning to look straight ahead, her eyes found the room's sole pieces of furniture, as well as its occupant.

The section of the room ahead of her was dominated by a single, rather large desk. To Rainbow's surprise, rather than being made of clouds as well, the desk looked to be some form of exotic wood...teak maybe (Rainbow wasn't a very good judge of these things). Its presence alone was a surprise, as it took a lot of work to get non-cloud items to stand on clouds. Twilight Sparkle's cloudwalking spell could be applied to inanimate objects as well as ponies, but it was a temporary measure at best. If one wanted to have an earthly object installed in a cloud building, one generally had to use skysteel, which was much the same as regular steel, but incorporated clouds (infused via pegasus magic) into the construction. The resulting metal was functionally the same as regular steel, but able to rest on cloud structures. The armor of the Cloudsdale Guard, as well as much of their equipment was made of skysteel. Other materials made use of similar methods, but all shared the downside of being pricy to produce and complicated to make. As with this desk, most furniture had their feet fixed with a small portion of skysteel or similar substance to keep it from falling through.

The pony behind the desk looked up from her work to glare at Perlin before her eyes fell upon Rainbow Dash. A slow grin spread across her face at the sight of the sky-blue mare and Rainbow felt sick to her stomach at the sight. She had expected that the leader of these tribalists to be somepony unpleasant, maybe even somepony she had heard of. She hadn't expected it to be somepony that she knew. And worse, she hadn't expected it to be one of the last ponies she ever wanted to lay eyes on again.

"Well well...Rainbow Dash. So good of you to join us." Meadowlark's sadistic grin was getting wider with each passing second. "I was wondering when you'd pay us a visit."

Forcing a stoic expression onto her face, Rainbow faced down her old enemy from Flight School. Meadowlark was from one of the oldest pegasus clans in Cloudsdale, the Song Clan. From the moment she had entered Flight School, Meadowlark stood out from the rest of the students, her bright red coat setting her apart from the crowd. Initially, she had tried to befriend Rainbow. However, such a friendship lost its appeal, partly due to their mutually abrasive personalities and mostly due to Rainbow's refusal to play lackey to the alpha-mare and spend her school days trailing behind that black and white striped tail like the rest of Meadowlark's entourage of yesmares.

For a while, they had simply gotten by, avoiding one another when they could, and ignoring each other when they couldn't. But then came Rainbow's friendship with Fluttershy, earning her a metric ton of scorn from the other students, which Meadowlark was all too happy to promote. After Fluttershy had left Cloudsdale to pursue her life of animal care in Ponyville, Meadowlark and her clique hounded Rainbow mercilessly, taunting and harassing her at every turn while the instructors looked the other way. Then came the incident...

"Would you look at that, Rainbow Crash actually thinks she's a real pegasus." Meadowlark tittered at her own taunt while her usual gaggle of followers all chuckled and laughed sycophantically.

Rainbow Dash, fresh from another course record, both for herself and the school, smirked back at the red mare. "Would you look at that," she retorted, "Meadowfart actually thinks she's original."

Meadowlark was lucky that her vivid red coat concealed the angry blush that spread across her cheeks as one or two of her supposed "friends" actually chuckled at Rainbow's riposte. Rainbow quickly went of the offensive. "I can't believe you're still using that tired nickname for me. That insult was old six months ago. I can't blame you though, you're too busy getting high off your family name to actually think of something for yourself. And you're too busy being lame to do anything about the fact that your times on the obstacle course can't even touch mine." Seeing Meadowlark's teeth clenching, it was all Rainbow could do to keep from grinning.

"Maybe that's what you'd like to believe," sniped Meadowlark, "But nopony actually cares what your scores are. The accomplishments of a pretend pegasus don't matter to anypony here."

Pacing forward, Meadowlark began to circle Rainbow like a shark. "After all, no matter how tough you play it, everypony, from the school director down, knows what you really are. We all remember your little cuddlebunny. By the way, how is little Fluttershy? We miss her."

"Like hay you do!" snapped Rainbow, "She's away from you, which is better. The city dump is a nicer place than anywhere near you."

"Oh come on, we know she's in that dumpy earth pony town...Phonyville...or whatever it's called. You should go join her there. Chickens should be in the coop together after all."

It took all of Rainbow's self-control not to snap at being compared to the flightless bird. She knew she couldn't afford to rise to Meadowlark's bait.

Meadowlark pressed on further. "But really, tell us all about Fluttershy. I'm sure you know so much about her since the two of you were such good friends. You two spent so much time together." She paused, waiting. But Rainbow had decided not to give her the satisfaction of a response. However, Meadowlark sensed a chink in Rainbow's armor and went for it. "So you won't talk about her...that's fine. We were going to pay her a visit anyway."

That got Rainbow's attention. "What?" Her voice was nearly a snarl.

"Oh it's nothing big," cooed Meadowlark, "Just me and a few friends were planning on hitting that Phonyville place. You know; seeing how the ground pounders do things. It's going to be fun. I thought we could drop by Fluttershy's place and see how she's doing." Pausing dramatically, Meadowlark tapped her chin for a moment, pretending to be deep in thought. "You know, it's a bit of a disappointment for her to drop out of school so early. While we're there, we might have to teach her a lesson. We could even clip her wings since she doesn't need them."

"Don't even think about it you two-bit mule," hissed Rainbow.

Meadowlark continued on as though she hadn't heard Rainbow's insult. "You know, we should get a couple of the boys to accompany us. In spite of her being a pathetic sack of manure, I've heard them talk about how Fluttershy has a pretty nice flank. If she's living on her own, maybe the boys could teach her some more adult things."

The next thing Meadowlark knew, Rainbow's hoof slammed into her face, knocking her off her own hooves. Before she had even hit the clouds, Rainbow was on top of her, raining blows down on the helpless mare.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT TOUCHING FLUTTERSHY!!!"

"Help! Stop!" Meadowlark's posse of followers were too stunned by Rainbow's sudden ferocity to react. However, the instructors quickly rushed in to stop the fight.

Rainbow's actions led to her immediate expulsion. At the inquiry, they didn't even bother to listen to her story about Meadowlark's provocation. The instructors had been looking for an excuse to kick Rainbow Dash out of the school and she had given them one. Meadowlark's father had stepped in as well, his influence threatening Rainbow's parents with the loss of their jobs. The family had been forced to move to Fillydelphia to escape his persecution. Rainbow herself moved to Ponyville shortly afterwards, at least part of the reason being that she wanted to be around to make sure that Meadowlark or her lackeys never tried to make good on their threat to Fluttershy.

"You're looking pathetic as always," said Meadowlark, stepping out from behind the desk, "But then, that's to be expected."

Rainbow smirked at the jab. "You're one to talk about being pathetic. I seem to remember a certain mare who couldn't do anything if she didn't have her little army of goons backing her up. I also remember that you liked to dish it out, but couldn't take it. And I remember you always having daddy step in to solve your problems for you."

The crimson mare halted her advance, a grimace flashing across her face. Perlin didn't even bother trying to stifle his chortle at her expense. She shifted her gaze to glare at the silver-winged colt. "I thought I told you to mind your place."

"I will when you can actually make me," replied Perlin casually, "Because that went so well last time. Did what's-her-name ever manage to get that leg reattached?"

Clicking her tongue, Meadowlark turned her attention back to Rainbow. "Anyway, we've been waiting for you to show up. We want to show our appreciation for that little stunt you pulled in Ponyville."

"You mean that stunt where you tried to arrest me illegally and got caught doing it?" asked Rainbow sarcastically, "Gee Meadowlark. I'm so sorry your scumbag friends got caught being scumbags. I'll make it up to you sometime."

"Oh you will," snarled Meadowlark, "We've got a whole grand ceremony planned for you. And you're really gonna like how it ends. I've heard that Equestria hasn't had a public execution in a long time. We're going to fix that tomorrow."

"You'd really stoop that low," said Rainbow, "You think that Princess Celestia is gonna take this sitting down?"

"It doesn't matter anyway," replied Meadowlark airily, turning back to her desk, "Our plans are almost complete anyway, so she'll regret trying to fight us. And soon, we'll rearrange this country to the way it should be."

She settled back behind the desk. "Of course, that means weeding out some of the weaklings and traitors like you. But once we've finished cleaning house, we'll be able to put the unicorns and earth ponies back in their places, serving under us."

"You're crazy if you think that's gonna happen!" snapped Rainbow.

"It's not going to matter to you," replied Meadowlark, "Because tomorrow, you're going to die in front of all of Cloudsdale, an example of what happens to anypony who tries to betray the cause of all pegasi."

"It's not the cause of all pegasi if you have to control them through fear and force!"

"Anypony who doesn't stand with us is merely a traitor," said Meadowlark dismissively, "And traitors have no value whatsoever. So there is no need to worry about their feelings."

Perlin, who had been watching the back and forth between them, stifled a yawn. "As fascinating as it is to listen to both of you bicker, I have places to be. I'm sure your regular guards can handle things from here." Not waiting for any kind of dismissal, the colt turned towards the exit.

As he stepped away, Rainbow saw her chance. Waiting until he had moved a little further, so that he couldn't reach out and cut her in an instant, she made her move. Rainbow's wings snapped out and she launched herself to the left, slamming booth hooves into the massive window at the highest speed she could manage. The glass cracked and shattered, allowing the sky-blue mare to launch herself out into the open sky with a yell of elation.

Perlin had already begun to turn to pursue and attack before she had even left the floor, rushing out through the hole Rainbow made less than a second after her. Behind them, the door slammed open and the two ponies standing guard outside rushed in to find Meadowlark alone in the room, shaking with rage.

"AFTER HER!!!" she screamed, "DON'T LET HER GET AWAY!!!"

Not wanting to deal with their very temperamental leader, the two guards quickly launched themselves through the hole in pursuit.

Now outside, Rainbow shifted the course of her flight, doubling back and rushing over the factory's roof. Perlin was still in hot pursuit behind her. She was certain that, as long as he was chasing her, Perlin wouldn't give up so long as he could keep her in his sights. The last thing she wanted to do was lead him anywhere her friends might be. With any luck, she could use her speed and agility to lose him among the spires of Cloudsdale.

In close quarters, Rainbow wouldn't have been able to avoid Perlin's razor-edged wings, his training allowing him to sense her intentions and react before she could move. But out in the open, Rainbow Dash poured on the speed and easily gained distance on the colt.

She wasn't out of the woods yet. An alarm was sounding throughout the factory and Rainbow could see several of the armed guards she had spotted earlier streaming out the entrances, taking to the sky. Several of them quickly moved to try and cut off her avenues of escape. It was a bitter reminder that the silver-winged colt behind her was not the only only problem she had to deal with right now.

Still, there was no way they could close off the entire sky. And the sky was Rainbow Dash's domain. Accelerating, she rushed between the closing formation of armed thugs and dove down, hugging the wall of the factory as her pursuers did their best to follow her. Rainbow leveled out over the streets and barreled headlong towards the nearest line of buildings, preparing to weave through them until the ponies chasing her couldn't see her anymore.

Once the line of sight was broken, all Rainbow had to do was slip away and meet back up with Dawn and Storm Front before they headed back to Ponyville. She had seen what the tribalists were up to now and it was her duty to make sure her friends and Princess Celestia knew.

Risking a glance behind her, Rainbow's eyes widened when she saw a pony pulling away from the pack pursuing her. Even more surprising was that it wasn't Perlin. It was hard to discern the features of the pegasus from this angle. All she could pick out was a light blue coat and bluish-gray mane. If the goggles were any indication, this pegasus was a serious flyer.

Looks like this isn't gonna be as easy as I thought.

Turning her attention back ahead of her, Rainbow rushed past the first building and turned right around it, before weaving around the back of another one. Her ears picked up the sound of the chasing pegasus still behind her. It seemed like this one was the only one though.

That makes things simpler, she thought as she threw some more random turns to try and confuse the pony behind her. Looking back, she was shocked to see that, in spite of the complex maneuvers she had just pulled, the pursuing pegasus had actually managed to close the distance. At this distance, Rainbow could discern that he was a light-blue stallion. Who is that guy?

Deciding to get serious, Rainbow turned a corner and flared her wings. She actually set all four hooves onto the side of the building before kicking straight off across the street and shooting down an alleyway. She briefly heard the sonic screech as her pursuer rocketed past the alley's entrance. Rainbow wasn't sure if he had seen her or not, but he would lose precious time doubling back to get on her tail again. She figured that once she was past the alleyway, she would take a couple of extra turns to be sure she had lost him before making straight for the edge of the city.

However, as Rainbow came out of the alleyway, she was tackled from the side. A flash of blue on her right told her that the pegasus she had thought she had dodged was the one who slammed into her. He must have circled all the way around the building to find where the alley came out and intercept her. That would have required both incredible speed and a rather intimate knowledge of the city layout.

In either case, Rainbow had a fight on her hooves. She tried to attack the enemy stallion, but he quickly locked his forelegs around her, trapping her own against her sides, her wings as well, as his weight bore them to the packed-cloud street below. Writhing in his grip, Rainbow tried to wriggle free, but failed to get away as they skidded to a stop. He let go of his own volition. But before Rainbow could get away to take to the skies again, he had already taken a set of restraints out and locked them around her.

Her legs and wings bound, Rainbow could do nothing but thrash around as the stallion finally stepped away, his chest heaving from exertion. "Let me go you jerk!"

"Sorry Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow's struggles ceased when she heard his voice. She knew that voice. "No," she whispered, wanting to throw up. Cautiously, she turned her head to get a look at her captor, her eyes widening as she realized that she recognized this particular stallion. "No! It can't be! Why are you here?"

The second-in-command of the Wonderbolts, Soarin', refused to meet her eyes. Instead, he directed his deep green eyes towards the ground, looking ashamed of himself as he stood over the mare he had just captured.

"Why?" repeated Rainbow, her voice choked with a sob.

"It's something I had to do," replied the stallion somberly as his comrades descended to the streets around them, surrounding the two. At this point, Rainbow Dash realized that she wasn't getting away.

"Thank you so much," said Fluttershy as she and Caramel headed along towards her cottage, "I had a wonderful day."

"Do you feel any better," asked the tan stallion as she leaned against him.

"A little." The day had gone well. After the picnic lunch, she and Caramel had simply spent the day wandering about Ponyville and visiting their friends. They had visited Bon Bon in her store, Ditzy at the Post Office, as well as Melon Cream and Scootaloo at their home. They had also gone to see Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack. Everypony had done their best to help keep Fluttershy's mind off of her anxiety, even though her four closest friends had all been equally worried (along with her) about Rainbow Dash's wellbeing. However, as the day wore on and there was still no sign of Dawn, Rainbow, or Storm Front coming back, her worries reasserted themselves. How long would it take for them to finish and return? If anything happened, would she even learn about it? Or would she spend the rest of her days, anxiously awaiting news that might never come? Thoughts like that made Fluttershy's heart hammer alarmingly in her chest. What if she never saw her son or her oldest friend ever again?

They came right up to the threshold of Fluttershy's cottage. Caramel, being the gentlecolt that he was, politely opened the door for her, only to find that Fluttershy couldn't take another step as she stood there outside the entrance to her own house, trembling. "Fluttershy?" he asked cautiously, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

That little contact was all the provocation Fluttershy needed as she launched herself against the stallion, knocking Caramel back on his haunches. His arms instantly went around her, holding the mare close as she sobbed against his chest.

"I'm so scared," she choked out between sobs, "Rainbow Dash was so afraid of going back to Cloudsdale. What if something happened to her or Dawn? What if I never see them again?"

"It's okay," said Caramel, slowly repeating the line again and again as he held his fillyfriend, rocking her back and forth gently. Slowly, he lifted Fluttershy's chin with a hoof, until their eyes met. Giving her his most encouraging smile, Caramel did his best to reassure her. "Believe in them. Rainbow Dash and Dawn are both strong ponies. They'll come back."

Caramel leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers. Fluttershy let out a quiet gasp, her wings fluttering lightly before her feelings overtook her and she began to kiss him back. The two of them sat there for a moment, reveling in their closeness and exchanging kisses that were slowly growing in intensity. Suddenly, Fluttershy pushed against Caramel, shoving him back across the door and into her cottage, never breaking the contact between their lips.

Only when they were both inside did Fluttershy pull away from Caramel to close the door. As she did, she saw her animal friends scattering into their holes to give the two ponies their privacy. The door closed and latched, she went back to Caramel's embrace, nuzzling into his chest as he held her tightly.

"Please," she whispered, "Please stay with me tonight."

Caramel's cheeks turned bright red. "Uh...I..."

"Oh dear," squeaked Fluttershy, backing away from him, "I...uh...I didn't mean it like that...that is...I just..." She looked down, her pink mane falling across one of her eyes. "I just don't want to be alone tonight." Her cheeks flushed with spots of red. "But...um...if you wanted to..."

She stopped as Caramel swept her up in another embrace, gently kissing her forehead as he did. "Fluttershy, I'd never do anything like that before you're ready. I'll be happy to stay with you."

"Th-thank you," whispered the yellow mare as she led her loving coltfriend up the stairs and into her room.

Rainbow didn't even bother looking up as the barred door to her cell slammed shut. She hadn't even made an effort to escape when the guards had taken her restraints off. Instead, she slumped silently to the floor of her cell and stared listlessly at the wall, her ears listening to the low hum as the storm clouds connected to the bars sent a constant electric current down their lengths. It was a common feature in most pegasus housing. In Rainbow's house, everything, from the lights to her kitchen stove, was hooked up to a thundercloud in the center of her house, which provided a steady stream of electricity to them for as long as its charge held. Once it was expended, she could generally recharge it by agitating it with her pegasus magic, allowing her to be fairly self-sufficient, unlike her earthbound friends, who lived dependent on the electric supply provided by Ponyville's dam.

In this case, because bars made from solidified cloud were not the most durable of materials, the thundercloud in the prison kept them electrified. If Rainbow tried to break through them, she would be given a painful jolt for her troubles. In the meantime, the walls, ceiling, and floor were all too thick and dense for her to smash through.

She didn't know how long she lay there in her depressed stupor, before her ears picked up the sound of approaching hoofsteps. Even so, she didn't bother reacting in any way as her visitor walked up to her door. She half-expected it to be Meadowlark, there to taunt her in her captivity.

"I didn't want it to be like this."

Looking up at the familiar voice, Rainbow saw that her visitor was actually Soarin'. "Then you should have thought about it before you joined those jerks."

Soarin's ears went flat against his skull. "Do you think we really had a choice?"

Rainbow felt her heart skip a beat. "We? You don't mean...?"

Soarin' nodded slowly. "All of us. Spitfire wasn't happy to hear about what's happening with you."

It can't be! Tears began to stream from Rainbow's cerise eyes as she turned them back towards the walls of her cell. Never in a thousand years would she have thought that Spitfire and the Wonderbolts would side with a bunch of tribalists. A sick sense of betrayal wormed its way into her stomach. Even her foalhood heroes were her enemies now.

"Why?"

A soft sigh was the first thing she heard. "We didn't really want to. But Spitfire didn't really have a choice. If fighting broke out, all of Cloudsdale could suffer. And that would have even worse consequences for the rest of the nation."

"So you thought the right answer was to join the side of the ponies who are trying to starve our distribution zone," snapped Rainbow.

Soarin' opened his mouth to argue further, but apparently decided that saying anything more was pointless. Instead he sighed again. "We really tried to find a way to get you out of this, but Meadowlark insists on an execution. Oh and..." Soarin' threw something between the bars, which landed next to Rainbow.

Rainbow looked over at the bundle of cloth. She saw it was a shade of deep purple that looked disturbingly familiar. Whatever it was, its color was darkened with splotches of some liquid. Picking it up, Rainbow unfolded it to see a shirt with white embroidery on the collar and cuffs. Now she knew where this shirt had come from. Worse, she knew what those dark stains were. Any hope remaining in the sky blue mare died in her chest.

"No." Her voice was hoarse and cracked as she fought to keep from sobbing. It was a losing battle.

"We found your friends hanging around in the skies outside the weather factory," Soarin' explained, "They fought well. We weren't able to take them alive." He stepped closer to the bars. "Rainbow, I am so so-"

"Get out!" Soarin' reared back in the venom in Rainbow's voice.

"Rainb-

"GET OUT!!!" roared Rainbow as she whirled to glare at Soarin'. She didn't bother hiding her tears now. She couldn't anyway. "I will never forgive you for this. I thought the Wonderbolts were something to look up and aspire to. But now I know that you're scum just as bad as Meadowlark. I never want to see you again. GET OUT!!!"

Soarin' lowered his head, a weak whimpering sigh escaping as he turned and did as he was told. A moment later, the sound of his hooves faded, confirming that Rainbow was once again alone. Left to her own thoughts, Rainbow turned her attention back to the shirt resting draped over her forelegs. Trembling, she clutched it close and curled up into a ball, whimpering and crying as the impact of the situation sank in.

I brought them with me. I put them up to this. I couldn't even do anything to help anyone in the end. Storm Front, Dawn, Fluttershy...everyone; I let them all down.

Unable to keep the shattered remains of her composure up any longer, Rainbow sobbed and wailed. All the while, in between her mournful cries, if there had been anypony who cared to listen, they would have heard her whispering two words over and over and over again.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."

Author's Note

See next chapter for author's notes.

Re-Revolution

Chapter 16: Re-Revolution

Fluttershy yawned as the sun crept through her blinds. A blissful smile crept across her face as she snuggled deeper into bed and that warm, slightly moving pillow. The smile faded slightly as her sleep-addled mind processed the fact that that wasn't a pillow, but a stallion. Caramel lay in bed beside her, his arms wrapped around Fluttershy's slender form, holding her close. His muzzle rested gently against her mane, his soft breaths stirring the pink locks in a pleasant rhythm.

The events of last night slowly began to run through Fluttershy's mind. Caramel had taken her up on her request. The two of them had gone up to her room and they'd...done nothing really. Oh sure, there had been a lot of kissing, nuzzling and more than a few tender embraces. They'd more or less tumbled into bed instead of climbing into it. But Caramel had been a complete gentlecolt the whole time. Once in bed, They'd simply fallen asleep in each other's arms.

The more she thought about it, the more Fluttershy realized that she liked this position. She wouldn't mind waking up like this every day. Her smile returning, she wriggled a little to snuggle further up against Caramel, closing her eyes again as she decided to sleep some more. The day could wait a little longer.

Rainbow Dash was a broken mare when they came for her in the morning. In a sense, she would have been glad that it was nopony she knew that came to get her, just a pair of the Cloudsdale Guard. Unlike Meadowlark's personal group of flunkies, the ones that maintained security at the weather factory, these two were too professional to try and taunt or belittle her in her current state.

She was led to a room with a table, where she was served what was probably supposed to be her last meal. But Rainbow couldn't even bring herself to touch the plate. She simply stared sullenly at it until her time was up. The Guards took her meal away and wordlessly led her out of the room, where her wing restraints were reattached and Rainbow was loaded into a carriage to be flown to the place of her execution.

Meadowlark, it seemed, had a sense of irony in choosing the Cloudeseum. It seemed fitting that the location of Rainbow Dash's most uplifting achievement would serve as the place of her ignominious demise; or perhaps it was just because it was the place where she could gather the most ponies to watch Rainbow's end. As the chariot approached, Rainbow barely noticed that the city below seemed deserted. There was no sign of the Guard, or even Meadowlark's thugs. There was a strained silence in the air.

The carriage crested the wall of the Cloudeseum, giving Rainbow a full view of its interior. The last time she had been here was for the Best Young Fliers Competition. During the competition, the floor of the Cloudeseum had been opened up to provide the competitors with the maximum amount of space with which to exercise their creativity in their routines. But now, the floor had been closed, cutting off the view of the ground far below with a solid wall of white.

The stands were packed with pegasi. The stadium had clearly been filled to capacity and then some as Rainbow could see ponies occupying every inch of standing space as well. Meadowlark's cadre of thugs lined the top wall of the stadium. Some rested their hooves on the clouds, while others hovered in the air, maintaining a screening formation, should Rainbow attempt an escape. In the crowds below, members of the Cloudsdale Guard had apparently been posted to keep order, their familiar presence helping to keep the ordinary ponies in line.

Looking over, Rainbow could see the VIP box, from which Princess Celestia had watched the competition. It was perhaps the only place in the Cloudeseum that wasn't standing room only. It wasn't unoccupied however, as it now played host to over a score of ponies wearing familiar blue and gold flight suits. The Wonderbolts were here to watch and had the best seats in the house. Rainbow directed a sullen glare in their direction as her eyes picked out the familiar fiery mane and yellow eyes of Spitfire among the elite flight squad. She returned Rainbow's look with a cold, emotionless stare.

Looking down, Rainbow could see that the floor of the Cloudeseum directly below the VIP box was occupied by a raised stage. At its head was a long rectangular portion, where a group of ponies stood, waiting to preside over the execution, Meadowlark waiting in the most prominent position at the center. Standing at her right, Rainbow saw Soarin'. Like the rest of the Wonderbolts, he was in uniform, but it was odd to see him there instead of up with the rest of his team. To Meadowlark's left stood Perlin, looking bored out of his mind. The sunlight reflecting of his mithril feathers nearly blinded Rainbow.

In front and below them was a broader, squared section of the stage. It was there, Rainbow realized, that she would meet her end.

The carriage swooped down and rolled across the large, empty expanse of the Cloudeseum, coming to a stop just in front of the platform where Rainbow was due to be executed. The Guards pulled Rainbow off the carriage and led her up the steps onto the platform. There they left her, flying away to take their stations on the upper wall of the stadium.

As she stood there, a strange sense of calm washed over Rainbow. She had cried and mourned the night before. Now, all that was left was her end. And she would be damned if she let Meadowlark have the satisfaction of seeing how broken she was. Her gaze swept over the packed stands, the faces of all the watching ponies blurring together into an indistinct mass. Every once and a while, Rainbow could pick out individual faces and expressions, most of them betraying anxiety and fear. She half expected to see more than a few faces filled with scorn, but couldn't pick any out. It seemed to Rainbow that this was the last place any of these ponies wanted to be.

The sound of hooves alerted her as Soarin' and Perlin took up their stations on either side of her. "What's with all these ponies?" she whispered to the colt, who gave her an amused smirk.

"Meadowlark's been ecstatic that she gets to preside over the execution of a pony who humiliated her so badly. So she invited everypony in Cloudsdale to watch, whether they wanted to or not."

So that's it. Meadowlark was furious at being so thoroughly thrashed by Rainbow on that day so many years ago. Now that she was in a position to take her revenge, she wanted as many ponies to see it as she could get.

Rainbow cast a look over her shoulder. There was Madowlark, looking smug, as though Princess Celestia had just abdicated the throne to her. On either side was a retinue of ponies, many of them much older than the crimson mare. Rainbow could place a few of the faces, recognizing many important members of Cloudsdale's elite, the ponies that held the other two tribes in such contempt. She remembered seeing a few of them before at her expulsion hearing.

Everything in place, Meadowlark had apparently decided that it was time to get things started. Stepping up to the microphone set on the stage, she tapped it gently, the thumping sound carrying far and wide across the Cloudeseum. Satisfied that it was working, she began to speak.

"Citizens of Cloudsdale; I come before you on this momentous occasion to carry out justice on the behalf of all pegasi. Those of you who have been properly educated in our history know of the superiority of our kind. We pegasi were born to stand above all other ponies, the might of our people providing us with the right to rule. We pegasi stand at the peak. Below us are the unicorns, then the earth ponies and then the other creatures that crawl upon this world. But many of you probably don't realize that there is an even lower niche, one reserved for the lowliest and most loathsome of all beings...traitors."

Meadowlark jabbed an accusing hoof at Rainbow. "Before you all now stands an example of that walking excrement. These are the ponies who turned their backs on our cause and on us. They neglect their duties and their destinies, choosing to side with the inferior and the weak. Even worse, when those of us seeking to do the right thing attempt to restore the proper order of things, they oppose us. They would see us dragged down to the mud and filth of the ground, to become like the ponies we stand above. They pledge loyalty to a pair of freaks in the unicorn bastion of Canterlot instead of to their own glorious kind.

"And as traitors go, this mare is a particularly detestable individual. When we were but fillies, she once deigned to strike me when I spoke for our cause. When she was given a punishment much more merciful than she deserved, this mare chose to abandon our great city and instead settle among the walking filth upon the ground, where she works as a slave for their amusement and pleasure.

"Even more recently, as we began making preparations to take back what is ours, this mare again stood against us. Only this time, she went so far as to act in direct defiance to the law. But when we went to take her to account for her misdeeds, did she stand up for her actions? No. Instead, she hid behind her friends and her ground-bound allies. She had fallen so far that she could no longer even fight her own battles. And now, she has slunk back into Cloudsdale, not seeking repentance or to own up for her crimes, but as a spy, seeking to report to those false rulers in Canterlot our plans so that they can stop us.

"When she displayed hostility, we showed mercy. When she showed cowardice, we overlooked it. But treachery warrants no mercy. Because of that, it is our decision that Rainbow Dash must die for the crime of treason against all pegasus-kind..."

A lingering sigh drew Cheerilee's attention from the blackboard. Briefly glancing over her shoulder, she saw Scootaloo looking forlornly at the empty desk where Dawn Lightwing usually sat. The teacher resisted the urge to call the filly out. She was well aware of Dawn's circumstances and the reason he was away from school today. Scootaloo had every reason to be worried. And besides, she had earned some leeway over the past few months.

The turbulent first weeks of Dawn's enrollment had made Cheerilee question the wisdom of agreeing to his request to attend class. Starting with Scootaloo's verbal lashing of Rumble and the subsequent fallout between her and her friends over the matter, to Dawn's mysterious conflict with Scootaloo and the others, leading up to his ferocious verbal assault on Diamond Tiara and culminating in the colt coming back to class the following week in bandages...again, the cascade of disruptive events made Cheerilee wonder if Dawn could ever truly fit in among the colts and fillies of her class. She was beginning to understand how ponies at other times could have marked him as a scapegoat. Even if he wasn't evil, much less some kind of demon, Dawn's presence seemed at times to be a catalyst that set things in motion...sometimes in unpleasant ways.

However, that last event had been the turning point. Things calmed down considerably and, in fact, improved markedly. There was certainly no need for concern over Dawn's grades. He had been a fair bit ahead of the rest of the class on most subjects to begin with and was decently competent in the others. However, what startled her was the sudden improvement in Scootaloo.

She hadn't suddenly transformed into a genius academic overnight, but Cheerilee noticed that Scootaloo was gradually growing more attentive and focused. She was less inclined to outbursts of activity or bouts of daydreaming. With her improved behavior came improved grades. On top of that, Scootaloo seemed more serene and content than Cheerilee could ever remember.

The change made today's behavior quite jarring. It seemed as though Scootaloo was beginning to gravitate back to her old habits, now that Dawn was gone. But Cheerilee could see that it had more to do with the filly's concern and anxiety over the wellbeing of her missing friend than any regression back to her old ways.

A moment later, Scootaloo turned back to her work. Cheerilee turned back to the blackboard and continued writing down instructions for the next activity she had prepared. The bell rang, signaling the start of lunch and recess. Turning to face the class, Cheerillee smiled as they began rushing out the door, but called out, "Scootaloo, could I speak to you for a moment?"

The orange filly nodded and turned to bid her friends wait for her outside, before she came up to Cheerilee at the desk. Cheerilee gave Scootaloo a gentle smile to help assure her that she wasn't in trouble. "Are you alright?" she asked gently.

"Uh...yeah," answered Scootaloo after a moment's hesitation, "Why are you asking?"

Cheerilee gently reached out and ran her hoof over Scootaloo's mane. "I saw you earlier and noticed that you were looking a little...distracted." Scootaloo's head sank. "It's alright. You're worried about him, aren't you?"

A sigh escaped the filly's mouth. "Yeah. Rainbow Dash was so worried about the whole Cloudsdale thing. That's why she asked Dawn to go with her. And now they've been gone for a whole day and then some..." Scootaloo looked up to meet Cheerilee's gaze, her eyes watering with unshed tears. "What if something's happened to them? I don't want to lose Dawn and Rainbow Dash!"

Gently curling her arm around Scootaloo's shoulders, Cheerilee drew her into a hug. "It's alright," she said softly, "I know they're important to you. You just need to believe in them. Before you know it, they'll be back and everything will be fine. You'll see."

Scootaloo sniffed and wiped her muzzle before looking up at Cheerilee again. "Thanks." Cheerilee let the filly go on her way and head out into the yard with the other foals.

Once Scootaloo was gone, Cheerilee took a moment to look over the empty classroom before turning to gaze out the window and into the endless, empty skies. "Please don't make a liar out of me, Dawn...Rainbow..."

Rainbow Dash moaned as Meadowlark actually continued talking after that last dramatic declaration. Normally that would be the part where she actually had the execution carried out. But instead that mare just. Kept. Talking. Trust a drama queen like Meadowlark to make the act of murdering her boring. Rainbow wondered if, perhaps, Meadowlark wanted her to die of boredom. But, at this rate, she was likely to take half of Cloudsdale with her.

Looking over, she actually had to stifle a giggle as she saw Perlin rolling his eyes dramatically and occasionally mouthing "blah blah blah" every few seconds as the crimson mare rambled on. Looking to the other side, she saw that Soarin' had not moved the slightest. Of course, the Wonderbolts, being a military force, would have certain standards for discipline. Soarin' had probably stood at attention for hours while he pretended to listen to ponies who thought they were important talk endlessly. Why did I want to be a Wonderbolt again?

Even though she hated him now, Rainbow felt her heart flutter at the sight of the stallion standing next to her. If she was honest with herself (Not always a guarantee, honesty was supposed to be Applejack's forte after all), Rainbow had to admit that she'd had a crush on the handsome stallion.

It wasn't that much of a surprise. As the second-in-command of the Wonderbolts, Soarin' was very much a celebrity, and a good looking one at that. Rainbow hadn't exactly gone for celebrity crushes and certainly hadn't carried one for Soarin' until the day she had got to spend with her idols after winning the Best Young Fliers competition. Soarin' was cool, in a goofy sort of way; always cracking jokes and just generally having a good time. While she hadn't gotten to talk to him a lot at the Grand Galloping Gala, Rainbow still remembered him fondly. It had been at the Royal Wedding where the two had finally gotten a chance to really socialize. Soarin' was just plain fun to be around. He tended to brighten up whatever situation he was in, just by being there.

Of course, all that had only made his betrayal hurt all the more. She still couldn't believe that the Wonderbolts had sided with the tribalists. The Spitfire that she knew, that had run the Academy, would never have done something like that. I just wish I knew what was behind all this.

Rainbow's musings were cut short as she realized that Meadowlark was suddenly addressing her. "Now then, have you any last words traitor?"

"Yeah," retorted Rainbow, "What the hay are you doing? You promised me an execution, not a torture session. If I have to keep listening to you much longer, I might just off myself."

Her voice apparently carried pretty far as she heard some muffled snickers from the crowded seats. Meadowlark's coat hid any blush on her part, but the way her nostrils flared made it clear she was not happy. Still, she made an effort to maintain her composure. She chose to ignore Rainbow's comment and instead nodded to Perlin.

The silvery-winged colt sighed and turned to face Rainbow. "So then, let's get this over with."

"Yeah whatever," muttered Rainbow. She looked Perlin straight in his yellow eyes. There was no real reason for her to be brave anymore. But she wouldn't give Meadowlark the satisfaction of seeing her cringe. Next to her, she could sense Soarin' tensing up.

"Make her suffer," hissed Meadowlark.

Again, Perlin rolled his eyes and glanced upward at his employer. "When you decide to get your own wings dirty, you can dictate how an execution goes."

"Why you..."

Meadowlark's voice was cut off as a green bolt rushed out of the crowded stands above and streaked straight down towards Rainbow. Before anypony could react, the blur tackled her. Rainbow felt a pair of strong forelegs wrap around her barrel and she was bodily lifted off the stage and carried across the broad expanse of the stadium. She saw a brief flash of silver as Perlin lashed out with a razor-edged wing, only to miss and cut through empty air as his quarry vanished. Stunned, Rainbow barely had the presence of mind to look up at her rescuer. Her jaw dropped at the sight of Lightning Dust as her wings carried both of them away.

"Are you crazy?" snapped Rainbow.

Lightning's eyes darted down to meet hers. Rainbow saw a mixture of fear and anger in them. "I wish I knew why I'm bothering to save your sorry hide," she admitted, "But letting things go on like this really grates on me."

There was no time for further conversation as blue and gold blur slammed into them, bearing the two mares down to the floor of the Cloudeseum. It had only taken Soarin' a few seconds to catch up. Weighed down by Rainbow Dash as she was, Lightning Dust stood no chance of getting away from them. Instead, when they hit the floor, Soarin' pried Lightning's hooves off of Rainbow and hauled her back, restraining the green mare tightly while, up above, the guards lining the top wall swarmed down around them.

And then Soarin' did something completely unexpected. Putting a hoof to his lips, he whistled. The piercing sound made Rainbow wince and cover her ears. The sharp noise reached every corner of the stadium. And then, everything went to Tartarus.

The whistle was all the warning Meadowlark's enforcers got before a score of blue and gold blurs slammed into them from behind, dropping twenty ponies in the blink of an eye. The armed guards whirled around to face the new threat, only to be confronted by the last opponent they had expected to face. The Wonderbolts hit hard and fast. Spitfire's commanding tones carried over the sounds of battle and the growing pandemonium of the slowly but surely panicking crowd.

"Guards of Cloudsdale! Strike down the oppressors and take back your city!"

A few of the ponies of the Cloudsdale Guard balked for a second. But the vast majority were already launching themselves into the air to clash with the armed tribalists.

"What is the meaning of this?" Rainbow looked over to see one of the stallions that had been standing on the stage with Meadowlark let out a startled exclamation at the unexpected turn of affairs, "How dare you betray us. Guards! Seize the Wonderbolts at once." Seeing his dark green coat jogged Rainbow's memory. His appearance matched the description of the stallion that had led forty Cloudsdale Guards to Ponyville in an attempt to have her arrested, among other things.

He flinched as a fiery blur landed in front of him. Before Sky Runner could say anything, Spitfire's hoof caught him in the chin with enough force to launch him completely clear of the platform. As the uniformed stallion flew in a graceful arc, Spitfire launched herself after him. To Rainbow's shock, her body seemed to burst into flame as she rushed past. Sky Runner screamed in agony before he landed on the clouds below, their moisture thankfully extinguishing the flames. Spitfire spared him only a single condescending glance before she turned back to the churning battle above.

"Impressive." Rainbow's eyes were drawn down from the massive furball above. Perlin was there, standing in the center of the Cloudeseum, his eyes following the fight above without the slightest concern and more than a small hint of amusement on his face. He continued, "You waited for them to commit to an approach. Here within the confines of the stadium it's much easier to surround and intercept anyone who attempts to escape."

"That would be right," agreed Soarin, coming up to stand by Rainbow. His left wing hummed, the edges of his primaries seeming to glow before the wing snapped out in a single, graceful move, slicing clean through Rainbow's restraints. "You knew what we were planning."

Perlin shrugged indifferently. "I had an idea. There was obviously no way that the Wonderbolts would ever defect, considering who leads them. Of course, Meadowlark and her ilk were too busy being thrilled by the prospect to actually think, but that's par for the course for them. I was wondering what had taken you so long to get to this point."

"Why didn't you warn them, if you were so sure?" asked Soarin'.

The silver-winged colt gave Soarin' a predatory grin. "I'm surprised you even felt the need to ask. I thought you knew me better. This..." he waved an arm to gesture to the battle above, "Is what I've been waiting for. I thought I was going to have to waste my time with this boring execution. But now you've made it very much worth my while."

"I think you won't be thinking that in a moment," growled Soarin' crouching down before launching himself in a charge.

Perlin seemed to ignore the incoming attack, instead striding forward as though he had all the time in the world. From above, two more Wonderbolts stooped down to attack. Rainbow's keen eyes picked out the manes of Misty and Fleetfoot as they dove to assist Soarin'.

Before any of them could close into striking range, Perlin suddenly extended his wings outwards. A tone, like the ringing of a bell, surged outwards from the mithril feathers. The ringing sound washed over the approaching ponies, as well as Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust. Rainbow's ears flared with pain. Misty and Fleetfoot both cried out and jerked as the wave of sound hit them, penetrating deep into their sensitive ears and disrupting their balance. The two mares ended up twisting away and slamming down into the cloud floor.

Soarin' was also affected. He managed to stay on course, but with only his forward momentum keeping him going. His eyes closed and his head was shaking as he tried to clear the ringing out of his ears. However, before he could recover, Perlin closed the distance between them. Before Soarin could react, the colt's wings swept forward, crossing in front of him, before sweeping backwards and upwards, the razor-sharp edges of those feathers making an X-shaped pattern on Soarin's chest and throwing him back the way he came.

"Soarin'!" shrieked Rainbow, in spite of herself as she dashed to check the stallion as he landed on his beck.

Looking over as she closed with Soarin', Rainbow expected to see Perlin laughing and gloating. Instead, he had a perplexed look on his face as he studied the feathers on one wing. Once she made it to Soarin', Rainbow began checking his injuries, expecting to find his flight suit soaked with blood. To her surprise, there was no sign of a wound anywhere. Soarin' coughed and opened his eyes.

"Did anypony get the number of that carriage?" he asked.

"You're okay," whispered Rainbow, resting a hoof on his chest, as though she was afraid that, any minute, she might find out otherwise.

"Yep," agreed Soarin', struggling to his hooves, "I thought you hated me now."

"I still do," snapped Rainbow, "Or I will...once I figure out what the hay is going on."

"I must admit to sharing similar sentiments," remarked Perlin, walking closer at a sedate pace, "I find it odd that you weren't cut. Was my strike off?"

"No, you were fine," replied Soarin' smugly, "As for why you didn't cut me...well, I'll leave that to your imagination."

Perlin tilted his head, as though he were studying an interesting painting. "Fine with me then. I will simply have to keep going until I figure out what is going on."

Rainbow looked between the two, uncertain of what to do. It was clear that, in spite of not being cut to pieces, Perlin's attack had still knocked the wind out of Soarin', to say nothing of the lingering affects of that sonic attack. Soarin' was unsteady and didn't look ready to fight yet. In spite of this, he stepped forward, clearly intent on putting himself between Perlin and Rainbow.

"Soarin'," whispered Rainbow, "You can't do this."

"I've got to," replied Soarin', taking an unsteady step forward, "I'm not letting him hurt anypony else."

"An admirable sentiment," remarked Perlin, surging forward, clearly trying to catch Soarin' off guard.

Seeing the coming attack, Rainbow made her decision and leapt in front of Soarin, crouched and ready to fight. Perlin continued forward, wings readying to strike...

A roar washed over the stadium, drowning out the sounds of battle above. Whatever the source was, it was getting closer. Rainbow only started to look around for the source of the noise, until she felt Soarin's hoof on her shoulder, pulling her back and down. Before Rainbow could do or say anything, Soarin' had already thrown himself over her, wings spread to shield the sky-blue mare. The roar rose to a deafening crescendo as the source of it slammed down into the floor of the Cloudeseum, throwing up a wall of white mist as the first layers of cloud were scattered by the force of impact.

Perlin flared his wings, coming up short before the obstacle that had just slammed down between him and his intended victims. Pausing to study the phenomenon, Perlin's eyes caught a brief flash of movement, sending the misty clouds surging in his direction. It was the only warning he got as he raised his wing. Abruptly, Perlin was slammed by an incredible force that drove him backwards, tearing a new stream of clouds off the stadium floor as it forced him back, all the way into the far wall, where he slammed into it with enough force to go crashing through it.

The noise and wind abated, Rainbow felt safe edging her head out from under Soarin's protective wing. For a moment, she simply stared, awestruck at the swirling mass of clouds. Her eyes picked out a dark figure standing quietly in the center of the dissipating maelstrom. She caught the casual sweep of a wing and then the obscuring mist was gone. She saw a familiar black coat and silvery mane, before the colt possessing them turned to regard her with turquoise eyes, marked with narrow, slit-shaped pupils.

"Dawn?"

Author's Note

Looks left...Looks right...Is it safe?...Let's do this.

Sorry if I'm being overly cautious, but I'm still a little leery after what happened when I ended The Promise of a New Day. Granted, that was ending a whole story on a serious note of ambiguity, but still, wow. Granted, this marks the second time I've played the "He's dead Jim" card with Dawn, so I doubt very many people were actually fooled by it this time around. I have no doubt that any attempt to use it a third time will just make people give up, so I'm going to stay away from that plot device from now on.

Having Lightning Dust save the day...sort of...was something I had in mind ever since I saw Wonderbolts Academy as I felt that she really got the short end of the stick and should have had a chance to redeem herself before the show cut away (damn you twenty minute timeslots). This doesn't stem from some sort of erroneous belief that she didn't actually do anything wrong, she did. It stems from the fact that she got away with it. And when she's finally called on it and punished for it at the end of the episode, the pony allowed her to get away with all that junk, i.e. Spitfire, is allowed to basically get away with changing her mind about Lightning Dust without being called on it after spending the entire episode basically ignoring Lightning Dust's glaring faults. So yeah, I wanted to throw Lightning a bone.

By the way, here's what listening to Meadowlark rant on was like (fast forward to about a minute in if you want):

Next chapter: To quote Robin of Loxley: "Prepare for the fight scene!"

Duel

Chapter 17: Duel

"Is it really you?" Rainbow Dash couldn't quite wrap her head around the concept. The previous day, she had been told that her friends were dead, only for one of them to show up out of nowhere. Granted, it looked like the Wonderbolts had been lying about siding with the tribalists, but that only served to make things even more confusing.

The colt acknowledged Rainbow's question with a bob of his head. "Yes. I am me...last I checked." His eyes flicked upwards. "And he is him...I think..."

Before Rainbow could ask what the hay he was talking about, she was distracted by an impact on the floor next to her, jumping in surprise. Looking over, Rainbow saw the listless body of an unconscious mare. She was clearly one of Meadowlark's lackeys. Looking up, Rainbow saw the familiar form of Storm Front as he descended, his meteor hammer whirling around one hoof.

"You're both okay," she said, grinning as tears of joy ran unabashedly from her eyes. Once Storm Front touched down next to Dawn, Rainbow rushed over and threw her arms around both of them. "I'm so glad," she whispered.

Storm Front reached up and gently patted Rainbow's shoulder in a "there there" sort of gesture. However, he stopped as Rainbow's grip on the two of them tightened distressingly. Storm Front squawked nervously as Rainbow tightened her embrace around them, making their bones creak. Even Dawn was looking a little distressed.

"You. Unbelievable. Jerks!" snapped the rainbow-maned mare as she tried to crush the other two ponies in her embrace. "Do you have any idea what you put me through? I thought you'd died!"

Using the last of his flagging strength, Dawn lifted a quivering hoof and pointed accusingly at Soarin'. "It was his idea," croaked the colt.

In a flash, Rainbow dropped the two before whirling about to face Soarin', who was looking like he'd rather face down a whole hoard of tribalist thugs than the single angry mare before him. Setting back on his haunches, Soarin' waved his hooves frantically, trying to calm Rainbow down. "Don't get upset. It was kinda necessary. We didn't want Meadowlark catching on to what we were going to do." He quickly looked past Rainbow to the two pegasi behind her. “Guys, a little help?”

Storm Front sniffed with mock indifference and turned his head away. “I gave up one of my favorite shirts to your little ruse,” he said simply.

Dawn affected a look of studied innocence that looked completely and utterly out of place on him. “I’m just a little colt,” he said in a ridiculously level voice, “I just did what the big ponies told me to because they're supposed to know better.”

“Guys!” squeaked Soarin’ as Rainbow continued to advance on him.

Rainbow Dash stalked forward, her glare intensifying. However, she was brought up short by the body of another tribalist dropping between her and Soarin'. The clash of wingblades up above drew the sky blue mare's attention upwards, where she could see that the battle had drifted directly over their heads. The Cloudsdale Guard had joined the battle, but several had remained in the stands to usher the crowds of civilians out, doing their best to keep order while they tried to get the noncombatants away from the battle. That left the numbers above in favor of the tribalists. Rainbow had no idea where Meadowlark had managed to scrounge up so many supporters (1). Fortunately, numbers hadn't tilted the fight in their favor. The Cloudsdale Guard was better armed and armored. While their armor made them heavier and generally less maneuverable than Meadowlark's unarmored forces, the Cloudsdale Guards knew how to fight in armor and their intense training more than made up the difference. And then, there were the Wonderbolts...

Where the Cloudsdale Guard sported strong armor and carried wingblades, the Wonderbolts had naught but their blue and gold flight suits for protection. More importantly, they didn't carry any weapons at all. In spite of this, they showed no hesitation in engaging with the armed tribalist thugs, who carried wingblades and those heavy batons. As Rainbow watched, a Wonderbolt clashed with one of the tribalists. Rainbow caught the tiniest flare along the edges of the Wonderbolt's primaries as she slashed her wing like a blade itself. To Rainbow's shock, the feathers sheared straight through the hard metal of the wingblade, leaving the tribalist thug baffled, staring in stunned shock at his wing long enough to take a hard hoof to the skull, sending him plummeting like a stone.

"It's a Wonderbolts trick," explained Soarin', who had followed her gaze up to watch the exchange, "You'll get to learn it once you're one of us, assuming you still want to be, of course."

Rainbow lowered her eyes to glare at the stallion, who flashed her one of his trademark goofy grins.

"Um guys," interrupted Lightning Dust from where she stood behind Soarin', "Not to break up all the fun, but we have some company coming."

A glance upwards confirmed her statement as Rainbow saw several of Meadowlark's enforcers coming at them. She tensed, readying herself for a fight. Soarin' crouched as well, wings spreading and a flicker of light tracing itself along his feathers. Storm Front lifted off, whirling his weapon as he moved to meet the opposing force. And Dawn...turned to face the opposite direction, directing his eyes across the stadium to the demolished wall, where a cloud of mist from the wall's remains still roiled.

Rainbow didn't have time to call Dawn on his inattentiveness as their enemy had already arrived. She slipped sideways to avoid a downward strike from a baton and ducked under a slashing wingblade. Rainbow drove her hoof up right into the joint where her opponent's wing met her back, dislocating it with the blow. Her foe dropped, yelping with pain. Planting her other forehoof, Rainbow bucked and slammed both of her hind hooves into her enemy's flank, sending the other mare skidding across the floor.

Nearby, Soarin's feathers cleaved through his enemy's wingblade and sliced through the flight feathers on the other pegasus' wing. Unable to keep herself aloft, the enemy mare fell, just in time for Soarin' to chop down with his hoof, catching her just behind the head and knocking her clean out. He spun about as two more approached.

Up above, Storm Front's meteor hammer was a blur, moving as though it had a life of its own. He used his forelegs, elbows, hind legs and even his wings to control the weapon, swinging it through rapid arcs and circles, often changing the direction of the swing so fast that his opponent had no time to react. At other times, the weight launched straight out like a striking snake. None of the five ponies he was currently fighting had stood a chance, the whirling weapon bludgeoning them down so quickly that Rainbow couldn't even begin to see Storm Front's individual attacks.

A single solitary stallion stooped down on Dawn, intent on catching the colt off guard. Rainbow turned, a warning on her lips as she prepared to spring and try to catch the stallion before he could hurt Dawn.

She caught the barest motion as Dawn's left wing seemed to move the tiniest of fractions. In reality, the motion had been so blindingly fast that she’d only caught the tail-end of it. Just as the stallion closed to within striking distance, his body was slammed by an invisible force. Rainbow winced as her ears caught the snap and crunch of bones. Dawn was apparently uninterested in being gentle right now. Even as the stallion's limp form was sent hurtling away by the attack, Dawn's eyes remained fixed on the wall across the stadium.

"That was unexpected," he observed, "You are one of the few ponies that I have ever encountered who could withstand that blow, and the only one who could take it straight on without taking any harm."

Rainbow's eyes widened in horror as she saw the sun glint off of Perlin's silvery feathers as he stepped out of the hole he had punched through the wall. He was completely unfazed, as though Dawn's attack hadn't even tickled. The older colt shook his head vigorously before fixing Dawn with an amused grin.

"Sure knocked me for a loop though," commented Perlin, "Even if these guys can take the punishment, it doesn't change the fact that you can still slap me around like a piece of paper."

The two colts approached each other at a steady walk, each eyeing the other critically as their keen eyes took in every detail, preparing and planning for the next stage of their battle. They both seemed completely ignorant of the battle going on above. As they closed in, their movements got more deliberate, often moving a single limb at a time, as though they were moving pieces across a chess board. Dawn took a single step, Perlin raised the angle on one wing slightly. Dawn fanned his primaries out, Perlin dipped his head.

Rainbow tensed, thinking about moving to help Dawn, but paused as Storm Front dropped down in front of her, throwing a warning look in her direction. "Don't interfere," he said, "You'll do more harm than good if you charge in carelessly."

"C-can you help," asked Rainbow nervously, her eyes fixed on the two colts.

Storm Front shook his head. "At this stage, both of them are too thoroughly engrossed in their battle. From his position, Dawn might very well be forced to respond to my interference as he would a direct attack. Disrupting the situation between them is that dangerous now."

"But the battle hasn't started yet," protested Rainbow.

The stallion in front of her shook his head. "They are already engaged mentally. Those movements are the beginning of them feeling out each other's capabilities, how one acts and reacts, how one perceives threats and how one responds to them. Even if they are not moving very much, they are already engaging in a fierce exchange on a mental plane. The entirety of the battle could be decided up there."

Storm Front actually settled onto his haunches, a slight smile gracing his face as he watched. "Dawn was much more passive when he faced us," he observed, "It seems that he becomes much more animated when facing someone closer to his level of skill. He's certainly come a bit further in these past few weeks."

In front of them, the silent battle continued for a few minutes longer. Then, both participants froze in place. With a resigned sigh, Perlin relaxed his body, folding his wings back in. Shaking his head, he favored Dawn with a rueful smile. "I give up. I honestly can't see any end to it."

Dawn relaxed as well. "Nor can I," he admitted.

"I guess that leaves one choice then."

"Plenty more than one actually, but only one you are interested in."

"Figured that much out already?"

"You weren't making it difficult."

"No more talking then..."

The two colts blurred into motion, crossing the distance between them with lightning speed and meeting exactly in the middle between their previous positions. Dawn lashed out with a wing, sending a shockwave of air barreling at Perlin at point-blank range. Perlin's own wing lashed out, its razor edges actually slicing through the blast of air, parting it around his body. Extending his wing fully, he lunged straight for Dawn, his feathers set to pierce the smaller colt like knives. The clouds beneath Dawn's hooves scattered, launching him straight upwards as one wing sent another blast straight down where he had been standing, the space Perlin now occupied. Perlin stepped into a slight roll that curled his extended wing back around him, interposing it between him and Dawn's attack. The blast slammed him into the clouds, but Perlin avoided injury, pushing off into pursuit as Dawn rode the recoil of his own strike and launched himself higher.

The two flew straight up into the center of the aerial battle between the Cloudsdale forces and Meadowlark's tribalists. Before the participants on either side could react, the colts came together again. At such close range, Dawn couldn't bring his full strength to bear in a single attack. However, Perlin's body would be easily knocked back if he blocked. In a fight like this, opening up the range would put the older colt at a devastating disadvantage. When Dawn's next attack hit, Perlin took it with one wing and shifted his own body off axis, deflecting the force of the strike, rather than taking it full on. This put him into a position to swing his other wing in a slash aimed at Dawn's neck.

Dawn went into his own spin, practically mirroring Perlin's movements. Sliding his own wing in under Perlin's, Dawn took a page from his enemy's book and used a burst of wind to deflect Perlin's attack up and over his head. In this awkward position, Perlin chose to let his body move with the force of the counter and rolled away to avoid any attempt Dawn made to follow through.

In an instant, the two of them were clear of the free-for-all and out in the open sky. They whirled about and charged along parallel paths, at frequent intervals changing their course to send them colliding together. The two colts exchanged blows with such blinding speed that the average observer wouldn't be able to see any single strike, defense, or counter. Instead, they raced along, leaving distortions in the air in their wake, their course taking them clear of Cloudsdale and out into the open sky beyond.

Rainbow Dash flared her wings, preparing to follow Dawn, but Storm Front forestalled any attempt at pursuit with a hoof to her shoulder. "They are leading the battle away from Cloudsdale," he explained, "Out there, without any bystanders, Dawn will be able to use his full strength."

"Really?" asked Rainbow, shooting her friend a nervous glance.

To her surprise, Storm Front looked uncertain. "I can't say for sure that Dawn was the one doing the leading," he admitted, "But even if he was, it seems odd that the other colt would go along with his plans so easily.

"That other colt...he seemed better equipped for close combat. It would have been to his advantage to keep the battle here, instead of allowing them to end up in a place where Dawn has the room to move and attack freely."

"Maybe he's just cocky," commented Lightning Dust, landing next to Rainbow.

Storm Front shook his head. "What little I saw of that colt tells me that he does not suffer from overconfidence to such an extreme."

"He's crazy." All three of them turned to see Soarin', who had dispatched yet another tribalist enforcer. "Perlin's something like a battle maniac. He's more interested in an exciting fight than he is in winning or losing. It's all about getting the opportunity to test his own strength."

"I see," said Storm Front, tapping his chin thoughtfully, "That certainly would explain his behavior."

"We have other things to worry about right now," said Soarin', pointing towards the stage. They looked and saw that most of the tribalist leaders were apparently in the process of fleeing. However, the way above was blocked by the ongoing battle. None of them apparently had the presence of mind to try to blend in with the fleeing crowds, nor would they have succeeded in getting past the Cloudsdale Guards stationed at the exits. Instead, they were trying to escape at the floor-level exits. Most of them were traveling in a group for the nearest of those, but two had broken off and were heading their own way. Rainbow's eyes narrowed as she zeroed in on the fleeing forms of Meadowlark and Sky Runner. The crimson mare had evidently been able to successfully revive the former Guard commander after Spitfire had dropped him and had apparently managed to convince him that discretion was the better part of valor.

She turned to regard her friends. "You guys go after the big group. I've got a score to settle with Meadowlark." Without waiting for a response, she leapt into pursuit, speeding after her two chosen targets. Time to give you a taste of your own medicine.

Dawn and Perlin hurtled through the sky, exchanging blows until Cloudsdale had faded into a large blur in the distance. Abruptly, they stopped, coming to hover in the empty blue expanse. Equestria stretched out below them, looking like a patchwork quilt from this high up. But neither colt paid any attention to the spectacular view, the entirety of their attention on each other.

"You've got to be one of the tougher opponents I've faced," commented Perlin with an excited grin, "I was hoping I'd lure someone truly strong out if I managed to stir up enough trouble with that rabble."

"I don't know about the 'truly strong' part," Dawn admitted, "Right off the bat, I could count two ponies there that were definitely stronger than me."

"True enough," agreed Perlin, "But a fight's no fun if it's too one-sided in either direction. This way lets me enjoy myself a little more."

"So that's why you led us away from Cloudsdale," observed Dawn, "You wanted to remove any potential impediments that would prevent me from fighting at full strength."

The other colt's smile was the only answer he needed. Dawn bowed his head slightly. "My name is Dawn Lightwing of the Gale King."

"I am Perlin Bluestreak and I cannot lay claim to any named style." Perlin gave his opponent a wide grin.

"I shall remember your name," said Dawn, breathing deeply as he began to draw out his power, "I will accept your generosity." Dawn drew one wing forward. "And I shall make you regret it."

Swiping the wing in a wide arc, the colt put the full force of both his body and magic behind the technique. Perlin barely had time to blink before his world was swept away by the roaring gale of the whirlwind that appeared in an instant.

The sound of the tornado was loud enough to be heard back in Cloudsdale. Rainbow looked up as she zipped along in pursuit of Meadowlark and Sky Runner. She was rapidly gaining on the two of them. To her relief, the two tribalist leaders were sticking together for the time being. While that meant that she had two of them to deal with, it was better than them splitting up, which would force Rainbow to pursue one and allow the other to get away. Although, if they did part ways, Rainbow knew which one she was going after.

The other two pegasi seemed to be emulating Rainbow's strategy from the other day; flying low, weaving between buildings in an attempt to lose her. However, Rainbow's superior skill at flying definitely gave her the advantage and the gap between them was shrinking.

She saw Meadowlark cast a glance over her shoulder. A second later, the two tribalists turned a corner, zipping out of Rainbow's view. A fierce grin spread across Rainbow's face. She saw the maneuver for what it was, a trick to break her line of sight. Those two would do that for two reasons. The first was to give them a means of evading Rainbow, since she couldn't see whatever maneuvers they were making around that corner. If she didn't catch them before they made their next turn, she would be reduced to guessing. The other option was to give them the chance to set up an ambush to catch Rainbow as she came barreling around the corner.

All of this occurred to Rainbow in the split second before she would have reached the corner herself, had she not abruptly turned her flight path upwards, hugging the side of the building and rushing up and over the roof. Cresting the top of the building Rainbow flew over to look at the corner from above. Her grin widened when she saw that, down below, Meadowlark and Sky Runner were indeed positioning themselves to attack her.

Rainbow had a few precious seconds left before the two ponies below deduced that she had caught onto the ruse when she didn't immediately appear coming around the corner. So she immediately went on the offensive, diving down from above, her forehooves seeking the most dangerous target, Sky Runner and the large knife he was drawing from within his uniform.

Rainbow's hooves impacted squarely with the top of the stallion's skull, driving Sky Runner's head down into the packed cloud. It was softer than hitting the ground, but Rainbow's hooves had done more than enough damage on their own. Spinning about, she rounded on Meadowlark, who looked like she was getting ready to flee then.

"Give it up," said Rainbow, "You've already lost."

"Never!" shrieked the crimson mare, "I will never bow down to an inferior like you!"

She dove for the knife that Sky Runner had dropped, grabbing it with a fetlock and rising up to try and menace Rainbow with the weapon. Rainbow Dash didn't even hesitate. Meadowlark's weak grip and shaky posture indicated that she had next to no experience in wielding a weapon in that way. A simple, precise chop to the fetlock easily knocked the knife away, leaving Meadowlark disarmed.

"This inferior mare can beat you at anything you try," declared Rainbow, "You've always been like that Meadowlark. You'll use your followers, your thugs and enforcers to do the hard stuff. But when it comes to getting your hooves dirty, you're hopeless. What kind of superior pony can't do anything for herself?"

She half expected Meadowlark to just bull through the question, or simply shout more insults in a desperate attempt to get under Rainbow's coat. Hay, with the way Meadowlark's body was trembling with barely suppressed fury, Rainbow half expected her to try and attack. Instead, Meadowlark did something completely unexpected. She threw a tantrum.

The crimson mare threw herself onto the clouds with an inarticulate shriek and pounded her hooves, howling with fury. Tears boiled out of her eyes and her tail lashed wildly. It was the better part of a minute before she actually managed to articulate words. "Why why why why? This isn't how it's supposed to happen! You aren't supposed to do this! I can't lose like this!"

For a moment, Rainbow could only stare, dumbfounded at the sight. This was a mare who, as a filly, had made her final months at Flight School Tartarus. This was the mare who had tried to strangle Ponyville and several other villages with drought to assemble weapons meant to inflict Celestia knew how many tragedies on still other ponies. This was the mare who had tried to have Rainbow executed as much to settle old grudges as it was to further her cause.

But then again, deep down (okay, not so deep down), maybe this is what Meadowlark was. Underneath all the bigoted speeches, the fierce pursuit of grudges, was nothing more than a spoiled brat, who dissolved into wailing cries the moment things stopped going her way. Rainbow just couldn't come to any other conclusion. Meadowlark was pathetic.

That was what Rainbow thought, until a hoof crashed into the back of her head, sending her tumbling forward, taking her turn at smacking into the packed clouds. Her vision swam and her limbs trembled as she tried, but failed, to muster the coordination to get back to a standing position. A heavy hoof descended on her back, pressing her down.

"You should pay more attention to your surroundings Rainbow Dash," remarked Sky Runner as he stood over the fallen mare. In front of them, Meadowlark was getting back on her hooves, grinning and wiping away her crocodile tears.

Rainbow grimaced as the realization hit her. Meadowlark's fit hadn't been real. It had been a ploy, a play for time. Meadowlark had kept Rainbow's attention on herself in order to give Sky Runner the time he needed to recover from the surprise attack and launch one on his own.

And Rainbow had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker. She was mortified, too ashamed to be afraid, in spite of her helpless position. This was ridiculous. She'd been taken in by a fake temper tantrum of all things.

"You never were one to really use your head," chided Meadowlark as she walked over and sedately picked up Sky Runner's knife before tossing it back to the stallion, who caught it in his free hoof, "I suppose you're right about our plans though. Ah well, we've gotten far enough along anyway." She lowered her head, sneering at Rainbow. "All that's left is to dispose of one meddling mare. I wonder how Princess Celestia will manage when she's one Element of Harmony short. Oh that reminds me...I still need to pay Klutzershy that visit I promised."

Rainbow grit her teeth. Celestia help her, she was going to make sure Meadowlark didn't do anything in the future. If only that stallion wasn't standing on top of her.

"Goodbye Rainbow Dash," said Sky Runner smoothly from above, "I will make sure your dirt-eating friends share your fate."

Turning her head as much as she could, Rainbow looked up to see Sky Runner raising the knife. Damn! she thought as the blade began its descent.

The world spun like a top and, for a moment, Perlin couldn't tell up from down or right from left. The powerful winds hammered him mercilessly from every conceivable angle, his wings unable to fully protect him as he was pounded again and again. And to think, all this from a single attack.

Deciding to stop fighting the intense air currents, Perlin instead began to cooperate with their movements, merging with their flow. As he did, his flight began to stabilize. In a few seconds, he managed to fly clear of the tornado, using its own speed to lend to his velocity to avoid being pulled back in. The cyclone itself was fading. But the battle was just beginning. As he came clear, Perlin realized he was a lot further away from Dawn than when he started. Dawn's magic made him extremely dangerous at long ranges, where Perlin had no hope of retaliation.

At this distance, Perlin could barely make out Dawn's form as he hovered slightly above him. The ebony colt's wings began to blur as they moved, each working independently of the other. To Perlin's eyes, Dawn's figure began to ripple and shimmer, signifying a drastic change in the air density as a barrage of powerful attacks rushed his way. By the time the rushing sound reached his ears, he was already in motion, moving to dodge the first even as his wing whipped about to slice through the second.

The Forward Wing Strike that Dawn had taught Scootaloo could be used to unleash incredible force by using both wings. What Scootaloo did not know, and what Dawn had not shown her, was that with further development, one could learn to unleash that same kind of force with just one wing. When demonstrating for Scootaloo, Dawn moderated his power down to the level of what she would be capable of once she sufficiently polished her technique. However, he had long moved past the point where his own techniques had to be hampered by reliance on the typical form. Furthermore, his month spent flightless had not been wasted as Dawn spent the additional time available to him listening to the inner voice of his own body and furthering his understanding of its function. In his current state, he could easily unleash the same amount of power as before without having to worry about it dissipating over distance, making it the perfect tool to strike at his opponent from a long range.

"The higher you reach, the more your form shall become formless." His Master's words seemed more pertinent than ever.

Meanwhile, Perlin was struggling to avoid, block, or otherwise counter the barrage that Dawn was sending his way. He dipped and rolled, blocked and slashed with his wings, and looped about, carefully edging his way closer with each passing moment. At times, he swept around wide, trying to keep ahead of Dawn's attacks before swooping in closer. Sometimes, he lost some of the ground (metaphorically speaking) that he had gained when he was caught off guard and forced to block an attack rather than evade it, which invariably drove him back. But with each successive moment, he gained a better understanding of his opponent.

It's not too bad, thought the cream-colored colt as he swept to the side, moving out of the way of another strike. His sharp eyes immediately picked up two more blasts of air heading his way. Even more importantly, he could pick out the area where the two attacks closed in with each other, the colliding air currents interfering with one another. My eyes and ears are starting to adapt to him. I can see the attacks coming. And I'm noticing something else.

He dove straight into the interference zone between the two attacks. The erratic air currents buffeted him, but didn't hit with anything even remotely approaching the force taking either attack head-on would have done. An eager grin spread across Perlin's face as he rushed straight towards Dawn, who was launching another barrage. As Perlin closed, Dawn tried to keep his strikes closer together in order to make it more difficult for Perlin to slip between them. But, in reality, that was giving Perlin just the opening he needed. The closer the attacks were to each other, the more they interfered with one another, creating safe zones where Perlin would be able to slip through and close the gap further. He's hampering his own efforts.

Dawn's eyes narrowed as he observed his opponent's movements. He's moving between my strikes, using the interference of conflicting air currents. As I thought, his senses are already adjusting to follow my movements and read the air currents I send his way. Dawn found himself smiling tightly. It's just as I thought. This opponent is not one I can afford to take lightly.

Most ponies would not have been able to pick out the indistinct visual cues of his techniques. Because Dawn's attacks radically altered the air density along the path of his strike, the refraction of light was also altered, creating the illusion of blurring, bending and rippling. The visual cues were about as visible as the shimmers of heat on a hot day, often even less so. And most would not be able to react in time to the auditory cue the sound of rushing wind created by Dawn's attack created. The air was already moving at near sonic velocities, which meant that, by the time it was heard, it was practically upon you.

But Perlin's senses had clearly adapted. Not only did he see Dawn's attacks coming, but he was able to read their idiosyncrasies and find openings where most other ponies would have only perceived and impenetrable wall of air. These were not the capabilities of a madpony who reveled in killing, not that Perlin had ever given that impression in the first place.

Perlin was barely shy of cackling with glee with each passing moment. He was almost in range to make a decisive attack of his own. Then, he suddenly saw his opportunity. Swooping up and around, he went into an inverted loop above Dawn, planning his angle of approach carefully. As expected, Dawn's eyes and attacks followed him. However, what Dawn had not realized was that Perlin's movements had put him to the west of Dawn, the morning sun still rising behind the ebony colt.

Just as Dawn felt he could anticipate the path of Perlin's movements, Perlin's wings changed their angle. The mithril feathers blazed as they caught the light of the sun and directed it straight into Dawn's eyes. Already more sensitive to light than a normal ponies, Dawn's eyes were overwhelmed and he reeled away, slamming his eyelids shut in a desperate attempt to avoid going blind.

Gotcha! Abandoning any further attempt at dodging, Perlin closed his wings, rushing in and diving straight at Dawn like an arrow. The other colt would never be able to clear his vision in time. Angling his wing, Perlin prepared to slice Dawn in two with the razor-edged feathers. Too bad. This was fun, but all good things have to come to an end.

Author's Note

1) Mooks 'R Us your one-stop shop for all your cannon-fodder needs. Everything from minions to equipment to matching uniforms; we have what you need to build your evil legion of low-class thugs to enforce your will over those weaker than you.
Disclaimer: Mooks 'R Us is a nondiscriminatory organization and the philosophies of the ponies who buy our products do not reflect our philosophy as a company.

...
I think I've been reading too much RealityCheck. The point is, don't think too hard about where Meadowlark gets her goon squad.

Well, this chapter was fun to write. Perlin is one of my favorite kind of characters to write.

My initial plan when I had initially gotten to this point in the writing was to have Meadowlark's tantrum be for real and this be the point where she's basically beaten. Then I realized that that was kinda lame and it's hard to imagine a mare who caused as much trouble as she did would actually be that hopelessly pathetic. So I decided to change it into something clever and use it to inject additional suspense into the narrative at the same time. It's amazing to think of how I initially conceived things in my head when I first conceptualized this story and how they ended up going into Pages when I wrote it. (Yes, I'm a mac user. Don't judge me.) I might do a blog entry on this just so I can show you some of the weird and crazy ideas I originally had for this story.

Next chapter: Something shocking.

One With the Heavens

Chapter 18: One With the Heavens

Something blue flashed across Dash's vision. Sky Runner's knife failed to cut her...or even touch her. His swing had been too shallow, which was an impossible blunder. He'd had the mare at his mercy, unable to escape. There was no way he could have missed a strike in this situation. Only when Sky Runner examined the knife itself did he realize the reason his attack had failed to connect.

The knife no longer had a blade.

The arrogant official had less than a second to stare blankly at the ruined weapon before a hoof connected with his skull...hard. The blow slammed his head against the side of the building. Dazed, Sky Runner staggered for a moment before he was hit by a barrage of punches, snapping his head back and forth before a single mighty blow caught him in the gut, completely expelling the air from the stallion's lungs. Another final blow knocked him out, for good this time.

Rainbow took advantage of her captor being knocked off her by leaping up and spreading her wings. Not sparing a glance towards her rescuer, who was presently beating the stuffing out of Sky Runner, she immediately rushed Meadowlark, not intending to give her another chance to turn the tables again. No more talking.

Punching out with a forehoof, Rainbow intended to deliver a straight jab to the crimson mare's face. However, to her surprise, the Meadowlark intercepted Rainbow's jab with a textbook block, swinging her foreleg up and intercepting Rainbow's punch and sweeping it out to the side. She followed through with a punch of her own, ironically mirroring Rainbow's own attack.

Too surprised to block, Rainbow instinctually leaned her head to the side, Meadowlark's strike only just grazing her cheek. Beating her wings, Rainbow quickly leapt back to get some space to reevaluate the situation.

Meadowlark gave her a cocky grin. "What's the matter Rainbow Crash? I guess you're chickening out now that you know I'm not the weakling you thought I was."

Rainbow moved carefully, circling around Meadowlark and gauging her reactions. The crimson mare's stance was loose, but uneven. As she shifted to follow Rainbow through her circle, it was clear that Meadowlark's balance was all over the place. That, combined with the speed with which she had executed a very basic block and counter suggested two things to Rainbow. First, that Meadowlark had at least been trained in the basics of martial arts. Second, that Meadowlark was an amateur when it came to actually fighting.

But then again, Rainbow found it quite possible to believe that Meadowlark was pretending to be an amateur. Her earlier tantrum had been an epic fake-out, so it was entirely within the realm of possibility that she was a better fighter than she let on. Time to find out.

"Maybe you're planning on talking me to death," suggested Rainbow in retort, "'Cause that sure worked for you earlier today."

Rainbow's taunt worked. Meadowlark's lips curled into a snarl as she lunged forward, beating her wings to allow her to lift her forehooves off the ground. She led in with a pair of surprisingly fast jabs. But to Rainbow Dash, it seemed as though they were standing still. Not even bothering to block, Rainbow dodged each simply by tilting her head out of the way of the strike. Without any preamble, she slipped right into Meadowlark's range and caught the other mare hard on the chin with an uppercut. The punch knocked Meadowlark into a vertical position, her head having snapped up to look into the sky.

No more playing around. Rainbow leapt up into the air, spinning her body so rapidly that she actually began to form a small twister. The winds drew Meadowlark towards her. Just as Meadowlark was about to collide with the sky-blue mare, Rainbow snapped out her hind leg in a kick that launched Meadowlark across the street and into the side of another building, where she slumped down unmoving.

Dropping back onto her hooves, Rainbow grinned, then winced as the pain of the impact to the back of her head reminded her that she probably wasn't in the best position to be pulling off high-level martial arts moves. Taking a moment to breathe and let the pain fade away, she smirked in Meadowlark's direction. She was an amateur after all.

Turning around, Rainbow saw a similarly slumped Sky Runner, with a familiar stallion dressed in a blue and gold flight suit standing over him. "I'd normally be pretty mad that you butted in," she said with a cocky grin, "But since you saved me, I think I'll let it slide."

Soarin' favored Rainbow with another of his trademark grins. "Thanks for that. The last thing I'd want is for you to be angry at me again."

Rainbow's grin became a smirk. "Trust me, you're still in a lot of trouble over that stunt you pulled last night." She had to stifle a chuckle as Soarin' grimaced. "But we'll talk about that later. What happened with the others?"

"Lightning Dust and your friend managed to round up the other ringleaders," replied Soarin', "And the rest of the team have the situation under control. The only problem left is the one that left with that colt."

Rainbow closed her eyes and listened, her ears swiveling back and forth until they picked up the roaring sound of rushing wind. It sounded as though there was a small, but powerful, storm in the distance. "They're still fighting," she said as she opened her eyes, "But I don't know how he's doing."

"I wouldn't worry," said Soarin', "Our captain's probably on the way to check up on them now..."

Perlin's racing charge came to an abrupt halt as his body slammed into an invisible wall, halting his advance just as he was about to come within reach of Dawn. The cream-colored pegasus barely had the presence of mind to relax his body as the incredible force of the blast of compressed air smashed into his body, launching him back. He winced as he felt ribs groan and even crack. He had been caught completely off guard. How? Did he somehow calculate the angle of approach based on my last position? But even then, he hasn't seen my top speed, so there's no way he could have gotten the timing right.

The mystery would have to wait. Dawn was still shaking his head and rubbing his eyes, indicating that he was having trouble clearing his vision. Perlin climbed up above the ebony colt, fixing to descend upon him from above and behind. Folding his wings, he went into a dive, planning to snap them open just as he went past Dawn and slice him in two.

This time, he watched Dawn more closely as he approached. Just as Perlin came within striking distance, Dawn's wings blurred. The forewarning was enough for Perlin to bring his wings out in front of him, like a shield. Once again, the pressure wave slammed into him, knocking him back. This time, Perlin's defense kept him from taking injury. His eyes widened in surprise. Dawn had launched an attack directly behind and above him without the slightest difficulty, with perfect timing to intercept Perlin's attack. This couldn't be achieved with mere guesswork.

Perlin's eyes narrowed as he turned his backward's tumble into a loop that sent him flying back towards Dawn. This time, he shot in at an oblique angle. However, Dawn didn't even wait until he had gotten close to launch an attack and Perlin was knocked back again.

Dawn's vision had finally cleared, but Perlin managed to swoop around outside the field of his vision, trying to cut in to escape his opponent's eyes. However, Dawn still reacted instantly, sending a crosswind that nearly knocked the silver-winged colt from the sky. An idea began to form in Perlin's mind. He experimented with different attacks and approaches, always being repulsed, but never coming in the same way twice.

After over a dozen tries, Perlin grinned. I've figured it out. He settled into a hover directly in front of Dawn, stopping at a predetermined distance. "I'd say about here," he guessed, "About twenty meters and a half; that's your range, isn't it?"

Dawn's face didn't betray any sign of it, but he was still surprised by Perlin's words. He figured it out that quickly?

Perlin chuckled to himself. "So, within that range, you have a perfect awareness of everything that's going on around you. That's a pretty cool skill." His eyes narrowed as his grin took on a predatory quality. "But I think I can still beat you, even if I'm in your range."

Dawn blinked as the other colt began to slowly edge closer. He tensed, readying his wings to deliver another blast of concussive air, waiting for any kind of signal to attack. Perlin crossed into the boundary created by Dawn's senses. And still, Dawn waited, trying to figure out what Perlin was up to.

The flow of the air told Dawn everything about his opponent, Perlin's size, weight, position, even the contours of his body. Dawn didn't even need his eyes. Even with them closed, he could still perceive Perlin there with perfect clarity. As Perlin closed the distance, Dawn continued to monitor him, looking for the slightest sign of attack.

Perlin's wings gave an erratic flap and Dawn tensed, realizing that whatever the other colt was going to do, he was going to do it now. Dawn was so wrapped up in his anticipation that he almost missed the change. There's something different about his wings!

A flicker across the edge of his vision was the only warning Dawn got before he felt something sharp piercing the skin at his throat. His reaction was immediate. Dawn leapt backwards so quickly that he briefly appeared to be in two places at once. Coming to a halt at what he hoped was a safe distance from Perlin, he reached up and put his hoof to his throat. Pulling it away, he saw that it was smeared with blood. Fortunately, whatever had cut him hadn't gotten any further than the skin, so Dawn was in no danger of bleeding to death. However, it had been a close call. Without that warning from his vision, he would have been caught completely off guard and his jugular would have likely been spurting blood into the air. It was an unsettling notion.

More unsettling was the fact that he hadn't sensed the attack at all. He had caught a brief flicker of motion with his eyes, but his wind sense hadn't picked up a single cue....No! There had been one; the erratic beat of Perlin's wings and then the mysterious change that had occurred. Dawn still wasn't sure what the change had been, he hadn't had enough time to consider it before he had been forced to dodge the attack. In order to figure out Perlin's secret, Dawn would have to face the mysterious technique again.

Perlin apparently wasn't going to wait for Dawn to make up his mind. The cream-colored colt surged forward, closing in with his mithril-feathered wings at the ready. Dawn responded with an immediate blast of air. However, Perlin twisted to the side and slashed with his wing, cutting the blast and parting it around him, losing almost none of his forward momentum in the process. Dawn suppressed a grimace. He'd briefly forgotten that Perlin could do that.

The trick had bought Perlin the opening he needed to get within direct striking distance. Dawn dodged, skipping sideways through the air, hoping to gain some distance to enable him to attack without worry. Then he felt it, the erratic beat in Perlin's wings. Once again, something changed about them. But Dawn didn't have the time to ponder it as he felt something starting to bite into the skin on his left flank. He dodged again, leaving a trail of blood scattering through the air. The cut wasn't deep, but that didn't do much to assuage Dawn's concerns.

Perlin grinned and Dawn felt the other colt's wing return to normal just as he charged. Dawn dodged upwards and tried to skip around to come behind Perlin, but the strange attack came again, this time, nearly slicing through his back from above, driving him straight down towards Perlin's wings, which flared to slice into him. Dawn turned his dodge into an accelerated dive and managed to duck down beneath the attack, losing a few strands of his mane in the process. As he did, Dawn's eyes traced the figure of Perlin's wing. There was indeed something out of place, as though something was...missing.

Dawn's eyes widened at the implication. An instant later, his wind sense told him that Perlin's wing had returned to normal, with all its feathers accounted for. Dawn spun about, even as he backwinged to gain distance, keeping his eyes fixed on Perlin's wings. Sure enough, the older colt's wings beat erratically and Dawn saw it. A single feather, just one of Perlin's primaries, detached itself, flickering through the air, glittering as it cut towards him. The attack was so fast that Dawn could scarcely follow its progress. He leaned his head back just enough that the razor--edged instrument came within a hair's breadth of slicing through his eyes and blinding him. As the feather returned to Perlin's wing, Dawn's sharp eyes picked out the almost invisible wire tethering it to its point of origin.

His jaw dropped as he realized what he was up against. Perlin's weapons, those mithril-feathered wings, were far more complex than he had ever believed possible. The feather had been launched and retrieved with such blinding speed, that Dawn's eyes had barely been able to follow it, indicating a movement that had been practiced with almost single-minded dedication, suggesting that Perlin's command of the weapon was of a similar level of skill that Storm Front possessed with his meteor hammer. Far from being a blood-crazed maniac with a gimmicky set of wings, Perlin's skill and insight were indicative of a great deal of depth. His wings were a weapon that he had trained with and mastered, the sign of a true martial artist.

Dawn was now also aware of the reason he hadn't been able to sense Perlin's distant strikes through the air currents that surrounded him. The light and thin blade of the feather cut through the currents cleanly without disturbing them in the slightest. He was in trouble and he knew it. Perlin's skill with the wired feathers would allow him to cut off Dawn's retreat, keeping him from gaining distance and bringing him into range of the wings themselves. Furthermore, the speed and stealth of the wired feathers made it almost impossible for Dawn to detect the attack, much less track and avoid it. A single lucky hit to an artery would be enough to end the battle with his death. Right now, Dawn had no recourse to avoid the attack through normal means. He did, however, come up with at least one option, one that made him grimace.

Mom is not going to be happy with me when I get home.

Slowly, reluctantly, Dawn closed his eyes and relaxed his body. He focused entirely on his sense of touch, allowing his awareness to bleed out across his entire form.

"Gonna try to give up on seeing me?" asked Perlin, "I don't think that's a really good idea. Your eyes are pretty much the only chance you have of anticipating my attack." He shrugged. "Your loss, I guess."

He launched the feather from his right wing, swinging it out in an arc that would slash it across Dawn's chest, hopefully cutting through something vital. Sure enough, Dawn did not react as the feather approached. But then, just as the blade made contact, Dawn slid to the side, letting the feather pass. A tiny bit of blood leaked from where the blade had scored, standing in stark contrast to his jet-black coat, but the cut had barely pierced the skin.

What was that? wondered Perlin as his yellow eyes narrowed. He attacked again, this time with a feather from his left wing, which he launched like a dart for the center of Dawn's head, aiming to slice through his skull. Again, just as the blade's tip made contact, Dawn shifted his head, ducking down. Again, the wound was little more than a paper cut.

"I don't believe it," gasped Perlin, "You're actually using your sense of touch to avoid my feathers, dodging the instant you feel contact. And ponies claim I'm crazy."

It was indeed a crazy notion. The slightest misjudgment, the tiniest hesitation, and the ebony colt could end up suffering a debilitating, or even mortal, injury. It took skill, commitment, and no small amount of courage to accomplish such a feat.

Perlin's grin was so wide his lips were hurting. He couldn't believe his luck. "Everything I've done has lead up to this." He licked his lips. "It was worth it."

He rushed forwards, his wings beating erratically to launch the wired feathers from both limbs, attacking with the rest of his wings at the same time as he closed in. Dawn retaliated in kind, his wings sending blasts of compressed air at Perlin. However, Perlin either sliced through them with edges of his wings, or shielded himself with them. To keep from getting knocked back, he rolled around the impacts, deflecting them at angles rather than taking them head-on. At the same time, the he wielded the wire-mounted feathers with incredible speed and finesse, using them to attack from odd angles and cut off Dawn's paths of retreat and approach. The two of them danced through the air, darting and ducking around each other, each seeking to outmaneuver the other, but neither gaining the upper hoof. Forced to rely on his sense of touch to feel the feathers just as they came in contact with his skin, Dawn accrued several cuts across his body, fortunately none further than skin-deep.

Finally, Dawn took the initiative, avoiding the wired feathers by dodging into Perlin's space, coming directly in front of him. Before Perlin could move to attack, Dawn launched a powerful blast of air, which forced the older colt to wrap his wings around his front to stop the blast, the force of it driving him back. As he fell back, Perlin whipped one wing out, the motion sending the wired feather attached to it slicing through Dawn's shoulder from behind. The attack actually caught Dawn off guard, so he failed to dodge it as completely as the others, resulting in a deep cut.

That was lucky, thought Dawn, flexing his right foreleg experimentally, A little closer to my center and it might have cut through my flight muscles.

"Got a little careless at the end there," chided Perlin, "I'd hope you'd be taking me more seriously by now."

"And what says that I have not?" asked Dawn, opening his eyes.

A chuckle escaped Perlin as he sneered. "You'd think I wouldn't notice that you're not giving it your all. No matter how good your intentions are, it's insulting to fight someone whose weapon is still sheathed."

Dawn sighed. "True," he admitted, "I have not used all I have at my disposal against you. I felt that it was appropriate though, given that the same could be said about you."

Perlin raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you noticed?"

"I did. But given that neither of us seems to be able to gain a decisive advantage, I shall have to give up certain luxuries."

"Hmm?" inquired Perlin, "What luxury?"

Closing his eyes, Dawn answered, "My Master once told me that mercy is a luxury you can afford only when you have the power to hold your enemy's life in your hooves. Therefore..." his eyes opened again, their draconic pupils focusing like lasers on Perlin's, "...In order to see the end of this fight, I must give up on sparing your life."

The other colt's sneer was replaced with a grin of almost childlike glee. "Now you're talking!" His muscles tensed as he readied himself for his next attack. "Show me what you can do."

"As you wish." Dawn extended his wings fully, spreading out his primaries and secondaries as far as he could. From his position, Perlin could sense the difference in the way the ebony colt was manipulating the atmosphere. The only other warning he got was the sight of a line extending from the tip of Dawn's wing. It wasn't an actually line per-say, but rather a boundary that seemed to cut through the world itself. Everything on top shifted the barest fraction of an inch one way, while everything below the line shifted the tiniest bit the other.

Perlin ducked, diving downward as fast as he could managed. His ears pricked as they picked up a faint whistling noise passing over his head. His right wing twitched and Perlin gasped as he felt the airflow over it change as something was lost. Looking over, he saw that the tip of his furthest primary feather had been sliced off. Coming to a halt, he stared dumbly at it for a moment. The feather was forged from pure mithril, one of the strongest metals in the world. Only pure orichalcum was stronger.

"How?" Perlin's answer came a little more quickly than he would have liked as he saw Dawn descending down from above, his wings slashing in motions very similar to the way Perlin wielded his own weapons. Realizing that blocking was impossible, Perlin dashed forward and tucked his legs in, feeling the faint kiss of wind as the invisible blades Dawn wielded flashed past. Rolling, Perlin swung his own wing upwards, intending to cut open Dawn's chest. However, the ebony colt retreated, blinking backwards before the attack could reach him. Once again, Perlin released the wired feathers, sending them to attack on separate vectors. He knew his plan would finish the battle, since Dawn hadn't found any way to avoid the feathers, except by responding just as they made contact with him. He would use one feather to force Dawn to dodge one direction, only to find the other waiting for him. He could either get sliced open by the second feather, or stay put and allow both of them to bite into him.

Dawn was well aware of his shortcomings, having not found an answer to the riddle of Perlin's feathers. Dodging them when they had already cut him was a stopgap at best and, as the wound on his shoulder proved, would inevitably lead to a serious injury if he faltered in the slightest. Having the sharper blade meant nothing if he couldn't avoid the enemy's to begin with. In spite of this, he wasn't feeling especially tense about the prospect. In fact, he felt remarkably relaxed.

Part of that had come from his decision to stop withholding his power to avoid killing his opponent. The moment Dawn had given up on taking Perlin alive, much of the strain he had been feeling over the course of the battle seemed to evaporate. Having to hold back and restrain his strength, avoid potentially lethal blows, had built up a great deal of tension. It was a strange inverse of the situation he had been in while fighting Red River and Storm Front. In that battle, Dawn not restrained himself, but had been restrained by his opponents' skills and tactics, resorting to deadlier moves out of desperation.

"Yer too strong. If ya want to master anythin' then ya gotta make yerself weaker." Granny Smith's words from that night so many weeks ago came back to his mind. Is this what she had meant? His spirit certainly no longer felt so tightly wound. By giving up his own forced restraint, had he, in a sense, made himself weaker? It seemed contradictory, but then, so had Granny Smith's advice.

Dawn's consciousness seemed to spread throughout his entire body, out his wings and fill the very air around him. In that moment, he no longer thought, his mind becoming blank. His awareness washed over his opponent and then he saw...

Perlin couldn't explain the impression he received at that moment. Even though his opponent was right before his eyes, Dawn seemed to fade away, become indistinct. He dipped and slid between the two wired feathers as though he had known all along where they would be. As he closed in, he came within wing's-reach of Perlin, who attacked without hesitation, but shifted around as though the older colt had telegraphed his moves a full minute ahead of their execution.

Only Perlin's superb instincts, honed through years of training, warned him of the coming attack. He jerked sharply to the side, just as a faint whistling betrayed the passing of one of the razor-edged crescents of air that Dawn launched off his wings. The attack ended up nicking another of his feathers, slicing through the mithril as though it were butter.

Spinning about, Perlin saw Dawn as though he were looking through a piece of fractured glass. He realized that this meant a whole barrage of slashes was coming his way. Quickly retracting his feathers, Perlin jerked and twisted to slip through the rapid series of attacks. Coming out the other side, he tried to close in with Dawn again. Flicking his wings, Perlin launched the two feathers again, only to retract them immediately as Dawn unleashed a pair of slashes targeting the wires holding the feathers to his wings.

How does he know where they are? A moment ago, Dawn had been forced to evade Perlin's blades by dodging just as they bit into his skin. But all of a sudden, he knew their positions well enough to target them and the wires that tethered them to Perlin's wings. Then it occurred to him. He must be reading the movements I use to control them. Again, a wide grin spread across the older colt's face. This is more than I could ever hope for.

"You seem distinctly pleased," observed Dawn calmly as he steadied himself for the next phase of the battle.

"How could I not be!" exclaimed Perlin, "Offing my dad, working for those lame-as-Tartarus tribalists; everything I've done is to find someone who could let me fight to the fullest extent of my abilities. For years I've honed and refined my skills for the sake of finally getting to use them to their fullest. And now..." A shiver rain up Perlin's wings as he prepared to unleash his trump card. "...Now I get to do exactly that. I hope you're ready for this. Try not to die too quickly."

Dawn frowned, detecting the erratic beat of Perlin's wings. To his shock, this time it was not two feathers that detached themselves, but ten, five from each wing. They all separated from different sections, his primaries, his secondaries, and different sections of his coverts, to avoid affecting his flight ability too much. It was an awe-inspiring technique, quite clearly stating that Perlin knew how to wield all ten feathers without tangling them or losing control. Dawn had realized early on that Perlin could wield more than one feather with each wing. But he'd underestimated just how many.

Again, Dawn entered the state he just had prior. As he did so, a thought occurred to him. He had never before possessed such a complete awareness of both himself and his surroundings. His mind was perfectly clear, a clarity that made him realize something else. My Master and Princess Celestia; could this state be what they were referring to? Dawn doubted he would have a better opportunity. Let's give it one more try.

A low buzz built up as Dawn's magic agitated the air immediately around his feathers. Eventually, that buzz gave way to crackling as electricity build up around him. Not waiting for Perlin's attack to close, Dawn dove straight for his enemy's heart. Stopping just shy of the reach of Perlin's wings, Dawn snapped both his wings forward, electricity arcing between them before a bolt of lightning shot across the gap between him and Perlin.

Perlin yelped and reflexively shielded himself with his wings. The movement completely threw off his original attack, sending all ten feathers off their courses. The lightning struck home with a crack reminiscent of thunder before Perlin retreated, the sparking energy crackling across his wings before fading.

In the meantime, Dawn's wings were surrounded by a nimbus of electricity as lightning rippled along the length of his feathers before cycling back down the appendage's leading edge and across his back and repeating the pattern, always in motion. I see, he thought, So generating it was never the true challenge. The flow must be maintained. When that fails, the power will bleed off into its surroundings, including my own body. That's why I was burned the first time I used this. I failed to maintain the flow and fully guide the release. He realized that the only reason he could maintain the flow of power was because of his current state of clarity, which he had obtained by releasing his own inhibitions.

Perlin stared in awe at the energy charged pony before him. "I had no idea you could do that."

Now it was Dawn's turn to smirk slightly as he allowed the lightning to dissipate into the air. "I only figured out how to do it now. For that, I must thank you. In the course of my battle with you, I reached a new level of understanding for myself and finally realized the technique."

"Heh!" Perlin's laugh was amused and eager. "So, in the course of our battle, you learned a new technique. They say the body contains all the secrets you need and, if you listen to the voice from within, you ultimately discover them. Isn't this a wonderful thing?"

Inside Perlin's heart, a fire blazed. This is ridiculous, he thought, I was so caught up in seeing where I am that it never even occurred to me. I can use this battle as an opportunity to go further still. I can obtain even greater heights. I think I was blessed to meet this guy as an opponent.

The mithril wings rattled as they spread to their fullest. Perlin's yellow eyes narrowed as his muscles tightened like a coiled spring. "I can't wait to see what happens next."

"I'm actually surprised you managed to block that," said Dawn.

"What? These things?" Perlin glanced at his wings, realizing what Dawn meant. "Mithril is actually a pretty good insulator. I can take a few lightning bolts easy with these. So don't worry. Go all out."

"I was planning to." Dawn's wings spread to their fullest once again, crackling electricity once again rippling across their span.

As the two colts prepared for the next, and possibly final, phase of their battle, neither of them noticed what was going on in the distance. A single pony was hurtling towards them from Cloudsdale, a fiery trail extending behind her as she barreled towards the two battling colts. From above, another comet of flame, this one glittering in varied myriad colors ranging from orange and red to violet and emerald plummeted to meet the pony. The two lines of fire intersected...and exploded in a roar as fire filled the sky around the point of impact before curling back into itself as though it were being swallowed, coalescing back into the form of a pegasus, albeit considerably altered.

Before either Dawn or Perlin could react to the sound of the explosion, the pony swept a wing upwards, the wing itself extending into a massive projection of flame that swept between the two colts like a solid wall. Dawn and Perlin withdrew from the intense heat, their eyes wide with shock. The source of the massive attack had been more than a kilometer distant. As one, the two of them turned to regard the new arrival on the battlefield.

The gigantic flaming wing retracted and the new arrival went into motion once again. closing the distance in seconds before coming to a halt between the two colts. "I think that's enough for one day," said the mare in a commanding voice.

Both Dawn and Perlin stared at her, briefly uncomprehending. The mare's eyes were brilliant yellow orbs, seemingly shining like twin suns from her face. Her mane was a feathered crest that waved amidst a nimbus of flames that danced out of the gaps in her blue and gold flight suit. More tongues of flames seemed bleed out of the flight suit around her fetlocks, giving the impression that her coat itself was made of fire. Her wings were orange and red, but the tips looked as though they had been dyed with amethysts. Her tail was perhaps her most striking feature, as it consisted of a series of feathered plumes resembling chains forged from a series of varicolored gemstones running further than the length of her whole body. From the way the plumes whipped about her, it seemed apparent that they could be used as weapons if she so wished.

Both colts blinked as they recognized the voice. "Spitfire?" asked Dawn.

"Yep."

"I see," commented Perlin, his lips curling in a sneer, "I never expected something like this. So this is your power, Dame Spitfire of the Celestial Knights."

Spitfire returned his sneer with a cocky grin that seemed positively terrifying when combined with her featureless yellow eyes. "That's right kiddo. Now you'd better hightail it outta here before I kick your keister back to Trottingham."

Perlin's sneer disappeared as he raised a confused eyebrow. "Wait, you're letting me go?"

"For now," answered Spitfire, "I had half a mind to bring you in, but I've got bigger fish to fry and don't have time to deal with you." Her expression turned into a stern glare. "That is, unless you want me to make time to deal with you."

A dry chuckle escaped the cream-colored colt. "As much as I would look forward to fighting you, I think that the difference in our strengths would make it a little...unpleasant for me. So I will take you up on your generous offer and make myself scarce. Besides, I'm pooped."

With that, Perlin directed one last grin at Dawn before he turned about and began flying away from Cloudsdale, heading downwards as he did so. What his destination was, Dawn couldn't even begin to tell. Seeing that the battle was over, he turned back to Spitfire. "That was quite impressive."

The fiery mare chuckled. "Yeah. I haven't pulled this trick in a long time. It feels good to work with my partner again." At that, the flames surrounding her and even composing her lifted away, as though animated by a will of their own, leaving behind Spitfire with her normally fiery mane and tail (albeit with less actual fire) and regular orange eyes. The cloud of flame congealed into the form of a brilliantly colored phoenix, whose tail and crest had replaced Spitfire's tail and mane respectively.

"Your partner?"

Spitfire ran an affectionate hoof over the bird's head, ruffling the feathers of his crest. "Yeah, Ouranos and I have been working together since before I was Knighted. He's one of my oldest friends."

"That's...very..." Dawn wobbled unsteadily as his strength suddenly seemed to fade. All of a sudden he was very tired and was no longer certain he could remain in the air. Beginning to lose altitude, Dawn was suddenly aware of a strong set of arms encircling him and holding him up.

"Whoa there," said Spitfire as she shifted the colt onto her back, "You two were going at it pretty hard there. And I'm sorry to say that you took the worst of it. You've lost a good bit of blood too."

Dawn lazily turned his head to eye the deeper cut on his shoulder. There was no spurting or pulsing, but blood was leaking out all the same. Even the smaller nicks dotting his body were showing droplets of blood.

"Just hang on there kiddo," instructed Spitfire, "I'm gonna take you to get those looked at. Try to stay awake. We don't want you going into shock." With a powerful beat of her wings, Spitfire surged into motion, heading back towards the city of Cloudsdale with her charge, her partner falling in behind and above her.

Rainbow Dash stared with wide eyes at the sight that greeted her and Soarin' as they carted Meadowlark and Sky Runner back to the Cloudiseum. The battle was over and the good guys had won. A crowd of disarmed and dispirited enforcers sat together in the center of the floor, ringed by stern-looking Guards. One by one, they were being processed and escorted out of the arena, presumably to a waiting carriage that would take them to the prison that Rainbow had previously occupied. Given the number of ponies needing to be sent, the whole thing was taking a while. The Wonderbolts were overseeing affairs and just generally keeping an eye on things.

Off to one side, a medical station had been set up, where members of the Guard with medical training, assisted by a few of the Wonderbolts with similar skills, were going through the process of providing treatment for the wounded, with carriages from the hospital on the way for more serious cases. On the other side, a smaller group of ponies, the ones who had been behind the whole situation, had been rounded up and were presumably awaiting "special treatment."

"Looks like things are under control here," observed Soarin' as the two of them carted their prisoners to be with the rest of the ringleaders.

"You guys just brought the last of them." Rainbow and Soarin' looked up to see a yellow-maned stallion descending on them from above. Rainbow immediately recognized Rapidfire, who was one of the more well known members of the 'Bolts, mostly because of his superficial resemblance to Spitfire, which had caused several ponies to speculate that they were siblings. Behind him hovered a mare with an ice blue-mane, Fleetfoot, who was watching everything with a rather dispassionate expression. However, when her eyes met Rainbow's, they narrowed into an angry glare.

Okay then... Rainbow blinked in confusion, wondering just what she had done to get the notoriously temperamental mare angry at her. However, she shrugged the question off as she continued to listen to Rapidfire and Soarin'.

"With this, we've got all the heads together," said Soarin', surveying the group of despondent ponies, "There must be at least one from each of the major families here. Depending on how far their conspiracy goes, we might be able to wrangle even more once this is over."

Rainbow Dash fought down a bubble of eager glee in her stomach. The old families and clans residing in Cloudsdale had formed the core of its tribalist presence, making their influence felt on the city council and in the administration of the Flight School. If Soarin's assessment was correct, then the old families' stranglehold on Cloudsdale's political power could be broken.

"That doesn't change the fact that we screwed up," growled Fleetfoot, prompting Rapidfire and Soarin' to turn to her in confusion.

"Screwed up?" asked Soarin', "We got the ringleaders and pretty much all of the grunts. How is this screwing up?"

"You know exactly why!" snapped Fleetfoot, "We jumped the gun and we don't have any leads on the other half of the artilleryheads! They're still out there and we have no idea where they are!" She whirled on Soarin'. "You were supposed to find out where they were when they shipped out that next load. But instead, they're sitting there in the weather factory and we have no idea where they were supposed to go. We failed big time." Now she snapped her glare straight over at Rainbow Dash. "And it's all your fault."

Author's Note

Well, I said there were about seven Knights. I hope to be able to at least introduce all of them in one form or another before the series is over, even if they won't always have a major bearing on the plot. I have two others that I plan to introduce in the near future and will hopefully find a chance to work the other three in later on.

And we have Dawn leveling up, although I can't seem to let the poor guy get out of a major battle without taking a bit of a beating. Oh well, flawless victories are improbable things anyway.

Next chapter: Somepony's in trouble.

Hearts on the Wing

Chapter 19: Hearts on the Wing

"What?" Rainbow Dash blinked in confusion as she leaned back away from Fleetfoot's angry glare.

"You heard me!" she snapped, "It's all your fault that we couldn't finish this assignment properly. We had everything under control. But you just had to butt in didn't you? You couldn't keep your nose out of someone else's business and then the Captain decided we had to spring our trap to save you. Thanks to that, everything's all messed up."

"That's not true," protested Soarin', gesturing to the captured tribalists, "At least one of these ponies has to know where the artilleryheads are. Spitfire decided to spring the trap because this would be our best chance to capture everypony at once. That was something we weren't even sure we could do until Rainbow Dash gave us this opportunity."

Rapidfire was nodding in agreement with Soarin', but Fleetfoot ignored them both. "I know you think you're some sort of hero Rainbow Dash, swooping in to save the day. But you don't get it. You screwed up and now we can't complete the task the Princess assigned us. What is she gonna say when we come back and tell her that we jumped the gun with a full battery of highly destructive weapons still on the loose? You think you're Wonderbolt material when you mess things up this badly? I knew the Captain was full of ma-"

Rainbow didn't slap Fleetfoot. Nor did she punch the pale-maned mare. Instead, Rainbow decked her, hitting her so hard that Fleetfoot was sent sprawling across the cloud floor of the arena. "Shut the hay up!" she snapped, "I don't give a flying feather about your little perfect record or whatever it is that you're flying off the handle about. The ponies of my town are looking to me to save their livelihoods and their lives, which were in danger because, apparently, you didn't want to do your damn job unless you could wrap everything up with a nice pretty bow. Well too bad! I didn't even know the Wonderbolts were involved. But even if I did, I would still be here because it's my responsibility as weather manager of Ponyville. So shut up and quit pretending the world revolves around you."

Fleetfoot coughed and spit out a little blood before glaring up at Rainbow. "You don't belong in the Wonderbolts," she spat, "The only reason you're even in the running is because Soarin' wants to mount you."

Rainbow froze. "What?"

"You heard me," snarled Fleetfoot, "You're pathetic and the only way you'll ever get into the Wonderbolts is on your back."

Rainbow raised her hoof angrily. Behind her, Soarin' and Rapidfire tensed, not sure if they even wanted to stop her. Instead Rainbow lowered her hoof. "You're despicable," she hissed, "If this is the kind of pony they let into the Wonderbolts, then I don't want any part of it."

With a snap, her wings opened and, before anypony could stop her, Rainbow Dash was a multicolored streak in the sky.

"Rainbow!" cried Soarin', looking after her.

A snort from Fleetfoot drew their attention. "So she booked it 'cause she couldn't handle the truth. Just what I'd expect from..." Her voice died as a shudder passed through her body. Looking over, Fleetfoot's eyes widened as she realized the feeling's source. Soarin' was glaring at her with a rage so powerful that it was almost a tangible force.

"Fleetfoot..." Soarin's voice was calm and clear. It also chilled the mare's bones like a draught of ice water. "...Not. Another. Word." He calmed when Rapidfire laid a hoof on his shoulder.

"Go after her," he said, smiling encouragingly.

Soarin' nodded before throwing a small, but still icy, glare at Fleetfoot. "The Captain will hear about this when I get back. It may end up that you won't have a place on this team anymore."

With that, he spread his wings, hurtling after Rainbow, his own cloudy contrail fading into the distance. Fleetfoot was left lying on the Cloudeseum floor, looking around in confusion as she saw that Rapidfire and the other Wonderbolts who had been within earshot of the conversation were all glaring at her. Fleetfoot's ears went back when she realized just how much trouble she was in.

The cloud bed was soft, that much Dawn knew. He was too tired to think of much else. Even the pricking sensation as the needle pierced his skin was barely noticeable. Rolling his eyes over slightly, he saw Spitfire's head bobbing as she swiftly and expertly guided the needle, sewing closed the deep cut on his shoulder. Tying off the thread with ease, she set the needle down and turned her attention to the smaller and shallower lacerations that dotted Dawn's body.

"You're gonna be a hit with the fillies when these come off," she commented as she applied bandages to the cuts, "You're pretty lucky to get manly scars like this without most of the baggage that comes with them."

Dawn snorted slightly. "I have plenty baggage of my own already."

That drew a chuckle from the fiery mare. "I'll have to ask about that someday. I'm pretty sure that this isn't the last time we'll meet. Heck, one day we might even be colleagues."

That raised Dawn's eyebrow. "You mean a Wonderbolt?"

Again, Spitfire chuckled. "I meant as a Knight." She paused for a moment. "Though I wouldn't mind if you became a Wonderbolt either."

Dawn's sleepy eyes blinked. "A Knight?"

Spitfire tilted her head as she looked down at him. "You don't know about us?"

"My Master mentioned the Knights once, with a great deal of respect I might add. But I never learned anything about you before he passed. Anything else I've heard is mere rumor and speculation." He yawned.

Spitfire gave him a tender smile as she patted his unwounded shoulder. "Get some sleep kid. We'll talk some more when you wake up."

Dawn didn't even have the presence of mind to nod before his world dropped away. Seeing that he was sleeping soundly, Spitfire stepped away from him and towards the balcony that lead out of the Wonderbolt Headquarters. With a beat of her wings, she was in the air and bound for the Cloudeseum.

"After all," she said, "I've still got work to do."

Rainbow Dash hurtled through the sky, not caring where she went, except that it was away. Her heart and mind were awash with feelings of hurt, anger and confusion. How could she say that? Is that really true? Is Soarin' the reason I ever got anywhere with the Wonderbolts? Does Soarin' really like me? That last question actually made her heart skip a beat before she mercilessly crammed it down. She didn't want to think about Soarin', not after everything that had happened. The last thing she wanted was to be reminded of him.

It was too bad that nopony had bothered to inform Soarin' of that.

"Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow gasped and looked behind her, her cerise eyes widening as she saw Soarin' closing in behind her.

Her eyes narrowed into a glare. "Stop following me you jerk!" Turning her head forward, Rainbow poured on the speed. Her stomach growled angrily, reminding her that she had skipped what had been supposed to be her last meal before her execution, which meant that she hadn't eaten a single thing since the previous day.

By now, they had flown clear of Cloudsdale and were in the open skies surrounding it. A few stray clouds hovered here and there, but none posed any real obstacles. There were no buildings, pillars or plazas for Rainbow to whip around, no alleyways to hide in, nothing that she could use to conceal her course and escape. Out here, there was just her and Soarin'.

She decided she could lose him well enough anyway. Without the slightest warning, Rainbow went into a barreling corkscrew that carried her down and away, before pulling out into a high-speed loop that pulled at her body and made her wings feel like they were about to snap off, before snapping into a level flight. Glancing behind her, she growled when she saw that Soarin' had not only stuck with her, but had actually managed to close the distance between them. With a snarl, she launched herself into her next set of maneuvers.

Holy horseapples! thought Soarin' in stunned awe as he beat his wings desperately to get closer to Rainbow, And this is what she's like when she's running on fumes. I wouldn't stand a chance if she'd actually had breakfast this morning. Rainbow Dash's strength and stamina, even after the rough couple of days she had just been through, were incredible. And considering that Soarin', second-in-command of the Wonderbolts, was having difficulty keeping up with her in her present state, there was only one conclusion he could come to. This mare was born to fly. In spite of himself, Soarin' felt an admiring grin creep across his face. And she's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

With those thoughts in mind, the Wonderbolt grit his teeth and pushed himself harder, struggling with all his might to keep up with Rainbow as she pushed herself through another series of punishing twists, turns and dodges. Looking back, Rainbow noted that Soarin' was still behind her and had closed the gap even further.

I know what'll shake him, she thought with grim good humor. Pulling into a hard climb, Rainbow ascended into the sky at a speed most pegasi would consider a dive if she had been doing it in the other direction. With each beat, her wings pushed her further and further into the brilliant blue, Soarin' still dogging her every inch of the way. As she reached the peak of her climb, just as ice crystals were beginning to collect on the leading edge of her wings, Rainbow turned in a tight loop and angled downwards.

Soarin' followed her, but gulped when he saw what she was after. She's not that desperate to get away from me, is she? Still, he pushed himself hard to try and keep up with her as Rainbow Dash went into a plummet, Soarin' gliding along in her slipstream. Up ahead, he could see the distortion in the air forming the shape of a mach cone, getting narrower with each passing second. Uh oh, he thought with a gulp, If she pulls a Sonic Rainboom when I'm this close to her, she's gonna knock me outta the sky. And then an even more troubling thought occurred to him. Can she even do it in her current condition?

If Rainbow Dash failed the Sonic Rainboom now, the resistance of the air snapping back would launch her back and away from her original trajectory, possibly out of control. Soarin' didn't like to think of what might happen if she couldn't recover in time. She had to be pushing herself to her absolute limits just to do this much. Reluctantly, Soarin' pulled back and away from Rainbow, his mind running the numbers as he figured out how to best position himself should the worst happen.

Rainbow was no longer paying any heed to the stallion following in her wake. The entirety of her focus was on pushing through the barrier and executing her signature move. She wasn't even entirely sure why she wanted to do it anymore. Her world had narrowed down into a tunnel that was solely focused on the world ahead of her, nothing else intruding.

But the strain from earlier that day and the lack of sustenance were taking their toll. Rainbow's wings were burning and tremors were running back and forth across her body as she tried to maintain the thrust she needed to push through the barrier. Ahead of her, the mach cone was narrowing more and more as Rainbow neared the threshold. Just a little bit further...

But it was too much. A twitch, either by fatigue or hunger, Rainbow neither knew or cared, threw off her wingbeats. Her thrust faltered and her momentum wasn't enough to keep her going. Rainbow's flight slowed to an abrupt halt as the resistance became too much for her. The mach cone snapped back, launching her back the way she had came with an alarmed cry. The world spun around Rainbow as she desperately tried to regain some sense of stability. But her wings had reached their limit and she couldn't correct her flight against the forces of her own tumble. Her normal procedure would have been to not fight directly against her tumble, but ride it out into a series of loops to play out the excess momentum. But her head was becoming muddled and foggy with fatigue. Rainbow Dash couldn't muster the coordination to save herself.

Damn. I guess I don't belong in the Wonderbolts after all. As that thought ran through Rainbow's mind, she suddenly felt a pair of forelegs around her, wrapping the mare in a gentle embrace, a powerful chest pressing itself against her back. "I've gotcha," Soarin' whispered into her ear as he used his wings to steady them both, hugging her to his chest as he corrected their flight and directed them back towards Cloudsdale.

Rainbow wasn't certain if she wanted to struggle free of the stallion, or return his embrace. The only thing she knew was that she was too tired to do either. She went limp as Soarin' coasted down towards one of the small clouds dotting the city's outskirts and came in for landing, skidding to a stop on his back with Rainbow resting on his chest.

For a moment, they simply lay there, panting as the exertion of their flight came back to haunt them. Rainbow's body was absorbed by the rhythm of Soarin's heart, as it pounded through his chest against her back, rapid, powerful beats lulling her into a sort of not-sleep as the world faded slightly. Her mind was lost in a haze as she went through the events of the day.

Finally, Rainbow reached the presence of mind to roll over on Soarin's chest so that she was now looking him in the eyes as she rested on top of him. A part of her felt a little giddy about how comfortable the position felt. Soarin's arms hadn't relinquished their grip either, as though he was afraid that she might bolt the instant he loosened his hold on her. As she came face to face with the stallion, Soarin's wings extended and wrapped themselves gently around her, pulling the sky-blue mare closer.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep up with you?" he gasped.

Rainbow frowned, trying to phrase the question in her heart. "Soarin' did you-"

She stopped as Soarin' held a hoof up to her mouth. "Fleetfoot was lying earlier. You know better than anypony that you deserve to be on the Wonderbolts. Spitfire knows too. Don't you ever believe otherwise."

"Was she lying about the other thing?" asked Rainbow, prompting Soarin' to blink in confusion as he wondered what she was talking about, "Do you really like me?"

Soarin's smile widened and his eyes narrowed slightly as he leaned his head up and pressed his lips gently against hers. Rainbow's eyes fluttered and then began to drift closed. The kiss was simple and chaste, but conveyed a world of emotion better than any number of words.

After what seemed like an eternity, Soarin' pulled away. "Does that answer your question?"

Rainbow Dash froze with a stupefied expression. Soarin', the second-in-command of the Wonderbolts, one of the most skilled fliers in all of Equestria, a stallion she had admired and even crushed on, had just kissed her, practically shouting his feelings to the heavens. Her brain briefly shut down as she tried to process the feelings whirling around her chest. Slowly, Rainbow closed her eyes and fought down the storm of emotions. When she opened them again, her cerise orbs glittered in anger.

"You. Stupid. Frustrating. Stallion!" shouted Rainbow as she smacked her hooves against Soarin's chest, putting all her frustration and anger into each syllable. Fortunately, thanks to her fatigue and hunger, Rainbow's assault was weak, so Soarin' was in no danger of harm.

Instead, he seemed to be chuckling in amusement. "I'm sorry," he said, "It's been a long, hard day for you. Just relax Rainbow Dash."

With an angry sigh, Rainbow collapsed against him, her breath tickling the hairs of his coat beneath his flight suit as she rested her head on his chest, the sound of Soarin's heart once again threatening to lull the rainbow-maned pegasus into a stupor. Slowly, she turned, her rosy eyes meeting Soarin's emerald ones. "I'm still mad at you," she declared, her eyes twinkling mischievously, "Oh...and I like you too."

Soarin' chuckled and held Rainbow tighter against him. For a little while longer, they simply clung to each other. Soarin' almost felt as though he was about to drift off to sleep himself, until the peace was disturbed by a low rumble emanating from Rainbow's stomach. Soarin' laughed as her blue cheeks turned red.

"Come on," he said, rolling her off him so they could both get up, "Let's go get you some lunch and we'll talk. I'll buy." He paused as a thought occurred to him. "Can you fly right now? Or do I need to carry you?"

Rainbow extended her wings and flapped them weakly. "I might be able to," she admitted, "But since you're the one who got me all worked up and worn out, I'll let you take responsibility." She smirked at him.

Soarin' grinned and turned around to let her climb up on his back. "My mother raised me to be a gentlecolt," he said as Rainbow settled down between his wings. Rainbow only gave a catlike purr as she nuzzled into his mane, forcing a laugh out of the stallion as he took to the sky.

"You..." said Spitfire as she subjected Fleetfoot to her sternest glare, "...are in a heap of trouble."

"But Captain!" protested Fleetfoot, "How can you side with that mare after her amateur meddling caused us to fail."

"We didn't fail," snapped Spitfire, "We didn't accomplish all our objectives, but that's something you have to learn to live with. And it's certainly something you don't get to blame Rainbow Dash for just because she doesn't happen to be omniscient."

Lifting her head, Spitfire looked around the Cloudeseum, watching as the last few defaulters were hauled away. It was going to be a busy few weeks at the magistrates' offices in Canterlot as they worked to process this lot. This had to be one of the biggest stings in Equestrian history. Spitfire had never dared to dream that they would be successful in a capturing all the leaders of the conspiracy. And to think, all of it was because Meadowlark had been desperate to indulge her childish desire to take revenge on Rainbow Dash.

"If anything," she said, "Rainbow Dash did us a huge favor. She drew all of our targets into one place and allowed us to nab them all at once. I honestly don't see what you're getting so worked up about. Compared to this, finding those artilleryheads is going to be a piece of cake."

"You would say that," Fleetfoot snapped, "After all, you're more interested in helping Soarin's squeeze get in than you are in getting the job done."

Everypony in earshot froze, their eyes fixed on the confrontation. For a moment, Fleetfoot stood proud and tall, certain that she had made her point in such a way that could not be refuted. The air began to grow warm, then hot. And then, Fleetfoot found she could no longer breathe. The force of Spitfire's presence descended on her like a hammer. She could barely muster the strength to look up into Spitfire's face as the fiery mare (literally in this case) glared down at her. It wasn't a full transformation, rather flames licked across her body and rolled off her wings. The clouds at her feet hissed into steam, billowing around them.

"I'd be careful about what insinuations you make Fleetfoot," said Spitfire, her icy tone belying her appearance, "I certainly hope you'd be more careful about what you say when you call my judgments into question. I don't care that Princess Celestia was the one who recommended you. If I find that you've been harassing Rainbow Dash without good reason again, you're out. The same thing'll happen if you start acting insubordinate again."

Spitfire released her magic, the flames dying away, the force of her presence no longer keeping the terrified Fleetfoot pressed against the floor. "You're on probation now," she said, "So you'd better shape up. Got that?"

Fleetfoot could only just barely make an inarticulate squeak and nod. Spitfire didn't give her another glance as she turned around, preparing to leave. As she did so, her eyes caught a flash of green and orange. Looking over towards one of the exits, she saw a familiar-looking mare staring at her, eyes wide with fright.

With a sigh, Spitfire turned and started walking towards Lightning Dust, the most encouraging smile she could muster adorning her face. Considering what she had just seen, Lightning showed a great deal of courage when she didn't bolt on the spot. Instead, she cowered away from Spitfire as she walked up.

Lightning's body contorted into the smallest ball she could manage. She still cringed as Spitfire reached out and rested a gentle hoof on her shoulder. "Sorry you had to see that," she said softly, "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

The gentility in Spitfire's tone worked its magic and Lightning slowly uncurled and looked up at her idol's face, memories of her expulsion from the Wonderbolts Academy still fresh in her memory. Spitfire had been upset then, but that was nothing compared to what Lightning had seen her turn on Fleetfoot only a moment ago. Taking some solace in Spitfire's gentle manner, Lightning stood up and faced her.

"Come on kiddo," said Spitfire, gently draping a wing over Lightning's back, "Walk with me. We've got some things to talk about."

Rainbow Dash leaned back with a satisfied yawn, patting her stomach, looking at what had been her final plate of hay-fries. Soarin' favored her with an amused look after surveying the stack of empty plates on the table. Rainbow was clearly making up for lost time and meals and was taking advantage of the Wonderbolts' mess at their headquarters.

"You know," she teased, "When you said you were buying, I figured you were taking me out to an actual restaurant."

That got a chuckle out of the stallion. "I would have, but the city was shut down for the day, remember. Luckily, our staff have special permission to ignore those kinds of orders, particularly when we're getting ready for a major deployment, like we were today."

For a moment, Rainbow stared silently at the table before looking back up at Soarin'. "So..." she said uncertainly, "What do we do now?"

Soarin' shrugged. "Part of that's up to you," he admitted, "I wasn't really planning things out and I never wanted you to find out about my feelings the way you did."

"How long have you felt that way about me?"

Soarin' blushed and looked down. "For a while now. I mean, I really thought you were a really cool mare when we hung out after the Best Young Fliers Competition and when we met at the Gala. But it was only really after I got to hang out with you at the wedding that I realized how much I liked you."

"Then why did you wait so long?"

"I wanted to wait until after you joined us," explained Soarin', "I didn't want you to worry about a relationship when you were going through the admission process. And I didn't want you to think that there was or would be any favoritism, so that you could be sure that you hadn't gotten in on anything other than your own abilities."

Rainbow leaned against him, gently rubbing her head against his neck. "That's sweet of you," she admitted, her heart fluttering. Then she paused. "So you liking me has nothing to do with whether or not I get in."

That got another chuckle out of the stallion. "You don't have to worry about that," he said, "In the end, Spitfire's the one who gets to make the final call. And she's been pretty sure about you for a long time."

"Really?" asked Rainbow, her cerise eyes eager.

"Yep," agreed Soarin', "I think it was the Sonic Rainboom that clinched it for her. You should have heard her when your application for the Academy came in. The way she talked about it, you going through the Academy was just checking off another box on the list in her eyes."

"Um isn't it that way anyway?" asked Rainbow, "I mean, you go to the Academy and you're a step closer to being a Wonderbolt, right?"

Soarin' shook his head. "Not necessarily. You might not realize this, but not everyone who makes it through the Academy makes it into the Wonderbolts. In fact, most don't. Even ponies who graduate at the top of their class, like you did, don't always make it in. In a lot of ways, the Wonderbolts Academy is essentially an amped up version of Flight School. Its main purpose is to teach the ponies who go through it advanced flying skills that can help them whether they make it into the Wonderbolts or not."

"Then why bother with the Academy at all?" asked Rainbow, shaking her head in confusion, "What's the point if it doesn't have any bearing on you getting into the Wonderbolts?"

"I never said it didn't," replied Soarin', "The reason Spitfire oversees the training herself is so that she can get a good long look at the candidates. When she's observing them, she's looking for more than just skill and ability. That can always be polished. You could break every record in the Academy (in fact, I think you did), and still be lacking the qualities that make a true Wonderbolt."

"Like what?"

"Integrity for one thing," said Soarin', giving her a light nuzzle, "And you showed that you've got that in spades. Integrity, dedication, an unwillingness to give up and, most importantly, a desire to do the right thing and the judgment to understand what the right thing is."

"If that's the case," said Rainbow, suddenly feeling quite somber, "Then how did Lightning Dust get as far as she did." She didn't feel any enmity towards her former partner anymore, but Rainbow had always wondered how Spitfire could have allowed and even encouraged a pony to be so reckless.

Soarin' winced. "Yeah, that wasn't her finest moment. Unfortunately, what it boils down to is that Spitfire is still just a pony. She can make mistakes and...she can get complacent. After looking over more Academy sessions than I can count, it's easy for a pony to think she's seen it all. She was fairly certain she had a good reading on all the cadets by the time you guys had finished with the dizzytron, so she just let things slide and didn't watch you guys closely enough. By the time she'd realized what was wrong, you had already left your badge on the desk and walked out the door.

"Spitfire beat herself up for weeks about that. She was horrified that she'd failed her cadets and you especially. I hadn't seen her so upset and angry in a long time." Soarin' shook his head. "She was disappointed in herself for letting you down."

Rainbow smiled a little. "I guess everypony makes mistakes sometimes."

"That they do." Rainbow and Soarin' looked up in surprise to see that Spitfire and Lightning Dust of all ponies had just walked into the mess hall. The older mare led her young companion to the counter, where the two of them both got mugs of coffee before they came to sit down across from Soarin' and Rainbow.

"So..." said Soarin' after a moment, "What's the situation?"

"I 'talked' to Fleetfoot about her outburst," said Spitfire, a brief flicker of anger crossing her face, "If she's smart, she won't shoot her mouth off like that again."

Rainbow leaned away from Spitfire surprised by how angry she seemed at what Fleetfoot had said. She also noticed that Lightning shivered when Spitfire had been talking. Apparently the confrontation had been pretty unpleasant. "Why was Fleetfoot so worked up about this in the first place?"

"Artilleryheads aren't something we can afford to take lightly," explained Soarin', "The batch you saw in the weather factory was the second of two. The first one was shipped out over a month ago, but we have no idea where. That's why we'd been waiting for so long, to wait for the enemy to finish those clouds so that we could find out where they'd been sending them. Those things are beyond dangerous. The dozen already out there could easily wipe a small town off the map or seriously wreck a major city. Casualties could be in the thousands."

Rainbow gulped nervously, imagining a cluster of the ominous clouds raining lightning down on Ponyville.

"It's a serious problem," Spitfire agreed, "But not one we aren't prepared to handle. Things were still uncertain even if they had gone the way Fleetfoot had wanted them to. We honestly don't know what kind of contingencies the tribalists set up to prevent exactly the kind of thing that we were going to try. The clouds could have been split up after they had left the factory and gone to different destinations to keep them from being rounded up at once. Or the second batch could have been sent to a different location altogether. There were, and still are, a lot of variables in play."

Resting her elbows on the table, Spitfire pressed her hooves together in front of her chin. "The real reason Fleetfoot was so upset was because she feels we let the Princess down."

"Princess Celestia?" asked Lightning, looking up from her coffee, "Why?"

"The Princess was the one to give us this assignment," answered Soarin', "When we started investigating and found out about the artilleryheads, she made finding them a top priority. The plan to infiltrate the tribalists by pretending to defect so that we could do that was Fleetfoot's idea."

"And it was a good one," added Spitfire, "But we obviously made an oversight. The water used to make those clouds was supposed to be going to the towns in the Cloudsdale Distribution Zone. Frankly, I'm amazed that nopony came to Cloudsdale sooner to find out why the drought had been dragging on. Your arrival, Rainbow Dash, basically told us we'd been dragging our hooves too much on this. So we decided to act on the opportunity you gave us and nab the entire conspiracy in one fell swoop."

"But Fleetfoot was seriously upset that we didn't accomplish what the Princess asked of us," said Soarin'.

"Why is that such a big deal?" asked Rainbow.

Spitfire shook her head solemnly. "There are two ways to get into the Wonderbolts. What are they?"

Rainbow tapped her chin for a moment. "Lets see. The first way is to accrue flight experience through civilian agencies, like the Weather Service, and then apply to the Academy. And then..." she shrugged, "I'm honestly not sure. You'd said you'd come to me when it was time to take the next step."

"That's right," agreed Spitfire, "Do you know the second method?"

Rainbow was shaking her head, but Lightning answered. "Through the Guard right?"

Spitfire and Soarin' grinned and nodded. "That's right," she said, "Getting in through the Guard isn't easier than the civilian channel. If anything, it's harder. I need Wonderbolts to be...flexible in ways that don't really suit the mentality of your typical guardspony. Only ponies who can showcase that are allowed in. First, they have to work their way into the Royal Guard, either through promotion from one of the City or Town Guards or through direct application (which is really tough). Once they do, they need to serve for a specific period of time. And even then, they only have a chance if they get a direct recommendation from either the Captain of the Royal Guard or one of the Princesses."

"That's how Fleetfoot got in," said Soarin', "Princess Celestia personally recommended her. She got Spitfire's approval and she's almost never done wrong by us. But whenever we do things at Princess Celestia's behest, she gets...overenthusiastic. I've always thought it might be that rigid Guard mentality reasserting itself. But after today, I kinda wonder if there's something else going on."

"Well that's neither here nor there," said Spitfire, her expression becoming cheerful, "We've had a long day and it's barely half over. So now we're going to talk about what's next."

Rainbow and Lightning were left blinking at the sudden change in topics. The two young mares shared a confused glance. Soarin' simply chuckled at his captain's antics.

"You can leave processing the prisoners to us," said Spitfire, "We're also going to see to the breaking up of the artilleryheads in the factory so that those clouds can be repurposed for storms. Thanks to us, the towns in the distribution zone are overdue."

"That's great," said Rainbow with a relieved sigh. She would be able to return to Ponyville with good news. It was even better, considering that no one she cared about had gotten badly hurt...

Abruptly, Rainbow's head snapped up, her eyes wide, wings flared, "Oh horseapples! Storm Front and Dawn! I forgot about them!"

"You don't have to worry about the kid," said Spitfire without the slightest visible reaction to Rainbow's outburst, "He got a little banged up in his fight. But he's okay otherwise. He's actually sleeping it off in my room now."

"Um," Lightning Dust ventured, "Your stallion friend already headed back. He said something about letting everypony in your town know that things turned out alright."

"Whew." Rainbow's head sagged and her wings drooped as she visibly relaxed. "Thank Celestia. I don't know what I would've told Fluttershy if something happened to Dawn." She threw a mock glare (but one that did not lack for intensity) at Soarin', who could only grin sheepishly at her wordless admonishment.

"What happened?" he asked as they turned their attention back to Spitfire.

"Well, I showed up at their fight and that Perlin guy booked it. I didn't want to leave the colt alone in his condition, so I decided to let it go for now."

Soarin' raised a skeptical eyebrow at Spitfire's explanation, clearly sensing that there was more than what the Wonderbolts' Captain was saying out loud. However, the look she gave him clearly told him to drop the subject. Wisely, he kept his mouth shut.

Spitfire looked around before deciding to resume. "Anyways, here's what's happening."

She pointed decisively at Lightning Dust. "You are going to reapply to the next term at the Wonderbolt Academy. We'll see if you've learned your lesson." Lightning nodded slowly and solemnly.

Next, she fixed her gaze on Rainbow Dash. "You are going to head back to Ponyville and let everypony there know you're alright. Your friend might be reassuring them, but they'll feel a whole lot better to see you in person."

Finally, she fixed her gaze on Soarin'. "And you...are granted two weeks' leave. Congratulations."

Both Rainbow and Lightning blinked in confusion before staring at Soarin', who was grinning like a foal that had just been given the entire cookie jar. Spitfire chuckled at their confusion. "I'm sure you could think of ways to spend that time, like hanging out with your new fillyfriend. I assume you cleared the air with her."

Lightning's gaze flitted to Rainobow as her cheeks turned bright red, prompting a laugh from Spitfire and Soarin', the latter wrapping a reassuring wing around her back. Rainbow looked between them and sighed with resignation before leaning into the pale blue stallion's embrace.

"You two?" asked Lightning Dust incredulously.

"Soarin's had a thing for her for a while," explained Spitfire in a feigned whisper, "But he wanted to wait so that it didn't mess with the admission process. But seeing as Fleetfoot blew the lid of the whole thing, it looks like he just went ahead and told her."

"Oh," said Lightning a little sullenly. She certainly felt a little jealous to see her old partner and rival form a connection like that.

"Don't worry," Spitfire explained, "She doesn't get any special treatment..." she paused to wink at Lightning, "Or are you a little jealous?"

"Naw I'm not that jealous," huffed Lightning, "I don't go for stallions anyway."

"Really?" Spitfire's wing reached out to lightly brush Lightning's side. "Neither do I," she whispered coyly.

Lightning Dust's cheeks flushed brilliantly as she whipped her head around to stare at Spitfire. The older mare only responded with a mischievous grin and a wink before turning back to the conversation. "Now then, any questions?"

"What about Dawn?" asked Rainbow.

"He's going to need to rest up a little," answered Spitfire, "And I need to talk to him a little more. I'll come by and drop him off tomorrow, if that's okay with you."

"Yeah," said Rainbow, raising an eyebrow. She wondered what the Captain of the Wonderbolts wanted to talk about with Dawn Lightwing.

Author's Note

And now we progress towards this story's conclusion. Just two more chapters left.

Fleetfloot's little outburst was primarily to serve as a catalyst to launch my Soarin'/Dash ship. I started a little late on that one, so I've been trying to drop hints over the preceding chapters to hopefully make it not get entirely shoehorned into the plot out of the blue. But my gift for subtlety appears to have departed without leaving a forwarding address, so I'm a little mixed on how well I did. That said, I like Soarin', not in the least because I plan on having a great many laughs at his expense later on (I'm mean that way).

After last chapter's revelation of Spitfire's status as one of the seven Celestial Knights, I can understand if you're a little leery of the fact that she and the Wonderbolts got their butts handed to them by Spike during his Greed Growth. Unfortunately, with the Knights always being choosy in who knows their identities, I haven't been able to work the reasoning behind this into the story and honestly am not sure if I'll be able to do so for a while yet. So I'll go ahead and spoil this bit ahead of time (for once). Basically that little fiasco occurred for three reasons:
1) Ouranos wasn't with Spitfire when it happened. He was...I dunno...visiting relatives, I guess.
2) Greed Grown or not, Spike was still...Spike, a fact Spitfire was well aware of. So naturally, she didn't want to go all out on the poor guy, lest she face the wrath of his adopted mother, who'd probably send Spitfire to the sun if she seriously injured Spike by accident.
3) Rarity was there. For reasons yet unknown, Rarity-in-distress appears to be Spitfire's kryptonite.
So that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Next chapter: I commit the ultimate fandom heresy.

Returning Home

Chapter 20: Returning Home

The sun had passed its zenith and was slipping westwards as Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust stepped out of the Wonderbolt headquarters. The two of them paused to glance back at the impressive visage of the building. Rainbow especially liked the towering carved cumulous columns that flanked either entrance. They were common enough in Cloudsdale architecture and Rainbow had even made some for her own cloud home. But this set was especially massive, each twice her own length in diameter and towering higher than the clock tower in Ponyville.

Almost simultaneously, she and Lightning let out an envious sigh, both of them anticipating the day that they would walk through those doors as actual Wonderbolts. The sound caused them to freeze and look at each other. Rainbow had always been struck by the similarities between herself and the light green mare. It made her shiver to imagine how easily she could have taken the same path Lightning had at the Academy and gotten herself thrown out. That was at least part of the reason she couldn't bear Lightning any ill will.

"So..." said Rainbow after a nervous moment, rubbing her right foreleg against her left for a moment while avoiding eye contact, "Are we cool?"

Lightning seemed to muse over the question for a moment. "Yeah, we're cool," she said, "I was out of control at the Academy. I've had a lot of time to think about that and Spitfire talked to me about it too. She said it was partly her fault things got as bad as they did. But that doesn't excuse what I did." She stared forlornly down at her hooves.

Rainbow reached over and rested a hoof on her former partner's shoulder. "If you understand that, then we don't have a problem. Friends?" She pulled her hoof away and held it out in front of her.

Lightning glanced down at Rainbow's hoof and smiled before reaching out with hers and bumping them together. "Friends." She spread her wings and took to the sky. "Catch ya later."

"See ya," answered Rainbow as Lightning Dust flew away.

"Try not to spend too much time making out with your coltfriend!" shouted the green mare as she dwindled in the distance, her parting shot making Rainbow's cheeks color.

"Jerk," she muttered with a small smile on her face.

"I said I was sorry." Rainbow's shriek of surprise could have shattered glass as she jumped twice her height in the air and whirled about see Soarin' grinning at her with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

"Oh you'll get yours mister," she grumbled as her new coltfriend chuckled and stepped forward to rub his neck against hers.

"Come on," he said, "Let’s get you home."

"You're coming with me?" Rainbow tilted her head in surprise.

"Yep," answered Soarin', "I am on leave after all. I figured I might spend it in Ponyville, if you're okay with that."

A coy grin spread across Rainbow's face. "Oh I am so okay with that. I can introduce you to all my friends and we can maybe get you some of that pie you like so much."

"Seriously," groaned Soarin', rolling his eyes dramatically, "What is it with everypony assuming that I'm obsessed with pie?"

"Oh it might have something to do with that time I saved your pie at the Gala," said Rainbow with a giggle, "You were freaking out when you dropped it."

"Hey," protested the stallion, "It smelled really good, I paid good money for it, we'd just finished a show, and I was really hungry. Okay!"

"You shoved your face into it."

"...I didn't see any knives or pie servers lying around."

"Didn't think to borrow some from the kitchens huh?"

Now it was Soarin's turn to blush as Rainbow guffawed loudly. Turning his head around, he muttered, "Enjoy a pie once, get marked for life." After a moment, he regained his composure and chuckled, taking the ribbing with good humor. "Come on," he said, getting ready to take off, "Let's head out. I'm sure you're anxious to get back to Ponyville."

"Yeah," agreed Rainbow, before letting out a yawn. She had worked hard today. That, combined with the huge lunch she had just eaten, was making her sleepy. "I can't wait 'til we get there. I need a nap, big time."

"Hmm," mused Soain', "That does sound nice. Lead the way Rainbow Dash."

It took a few minutes for Dawn to pry his eyelids open. The room was dark, with shades drawn across the windows to keep out the afternoon sunlight. Trying to lift his head, Dawn winced. His neck, along with the rest of his body, particularly his wings, was stiff and sore. Moving any part took a good bit of effort. He realized that it had been a long time since he had exerted his full strength. The only battle where he had worn himself out in a similar manner had landed him in the hospital, so the aftereffects of heavy exercise had been the least of his concerns. The stitches on his shoulder and the other, smaller bandages across his body itched a little. But it was an itch the ebony colt could endure.

As he surveyed the room, Dawn's slit-pupil eyes came to rest on the feathered form of Ouranos who was perched on a stand across the room from him, next to a small desk. The phoenix noticed Dawn's stirring and trilled excitedly, fluttering his wings and ruffling his feathers. A moment later, Dawn's ears picked up the sound of hooves on the other side of the door, which opened to admit Spitfire, no longer clad in her flight suit and expertly balancing a tray across one of her wings.

A low growl emitted from Dawn's stomach as his nose picked up the scent of grilled vegetables from the tray. Spitfire chuckled as she lowered the tray onto the nightstand next to the bed. Dawn could also see a pot of tea and cups on it as well.

"You didn't strike me as the kind of guy who goes for sweet stuff," said Spitfire before she slipped a hoof through the handle of the kettle and poured two cups of tea.

Dawn gave her a grateful look before taking a sip from his cup. It was a mild white tea. Then he attacked the vegetables with a great deal of fervor, emptying the heaped plate in just a couple of minutes. Spitfire chuckled as he settled back with a sigh of satisfaction. "Worked up an appetite?" she asked. Dawn settled for giving her a raised eyebrow.

"So then, when can I leave?"

That brought a disappointed frown to the mare's face. "Desperate to go already?"

"I think I've caused my mother enough anxiety," he said.

"Don't worry too much about it," said Spitfire, "I sent Rainbow Dash ahead to let them know you're fine. But I wanted to talk to you a little more."

"About what?"

"About your future," replied Spitfire calmly, "You did some incredible things today. Very few ponies reach your level of skill within their lifetimes. And almost none reach that level at your age."

"I had a great deal of time to refine my skills without distraction," explained Dawn, "Although I ended up straying from the Way."

"Which makes your achievement all the more impressive," commented Spitfire with a shrug, "Normally, when a pony takes the wrong path, it takes years for them to correct themselves. You managed to do so in just a few months, if I remember what I heard correctly."

"Have you been watching me?"

Spitfire shook her head. "I keep in contact with friends. One of the other Knights is staying Ponyville right now. Care to guess who?"

"It would be Arkenstone, wouldn't it?" ventured Dawn.

"You knew?"

"It wasn't that difficult," replied Dawn, "I realized the first time I met him that he was at a completely different level from me. He's easily the strongest pony I've ever met...with the exception of yourself."

"He's actually stronger than me when I'm just fighting by myself," said Spitfire, "When I have Ouranos with me, that's a different matter. I like to think my Raiment is stronger than his." Hearing his name caused the phoenix to look up and warble softly.

"Raiment?"

"It's a term Princess Celestia came up with," explained Spitfire as she refilled their teacups, "It's something that all ponies who seek the highest levels of the martial practices develop. When you reach a certain level, you develop a Raiment. It's not something that can be defined concretely because it's different depending on what art you practice and who you are.

"Princess Celestia described it as a pony cloaking herself with her power, drawing it around herself like a garment. It's something you only do if you're seriously preparing to go all out. It takes a different form depending on the user. For me, it's a complete transformation. For some ponies, there's no visible change, it's sort of like putting their game face on, but the air becomes so alive with their power that they can completely crush weaker enemies with nothing more than their sheer presence.

"For the Knights, our Raiment is our badge of office, the sole thing we have to our credit that declares our true rank. We have no ring, no decoration, no piece of jewelry. Ultimately, it is our power that serves as proof of our authority."

Dawn frowned as he considered the implications. "That seems...rather imprudent. On one hoof, it makes it all the easier for you to go incognito I suppose. But such a means of asserting your authority seems quite open to corruption and misuse."

That drew a chuckle from the bright yellow mare. "Quite true. Princess Celestia is very careful about choosing whom she will bestow the rank, privileges, and responsibilities of Knighthood on. But even she can make mistakes and there are still ponies in the world who can deceive even a pony as experienced and savvy as her. However, it takes a very different kind of pony to rise to the level of power where they could be acknowledged as a Knight. In order to obtain that power, you need to gain insight into yourself. Those who gain that insight, rarely see any need to abuse the power they are granted. Most of them don't even bother to use the power they are granted, because they've already seen that it isn't necessary to resolve most problems."

"How so?"

"An enlightened pony rarely needs to fight because she sees ways of solving problems that don't require violence. My own teacher gave me these words: Nopony wins a battle."

"What does that mean?" asked Dawn.

"He explained it to me like this: Nopony wins a battle, they only survive it. Once you have drawn your weapons and committed yourself to using violence, you have already lost. The true victors are those who seek not to defeat their enemies, but save them."

"I'm not so certain I can truly believe that," said Dawn softly, "It is true that I have known many battles that were pointless. I 'survived' them in the manner that you speak of. But I also believe that there are times where fighting is inevitable, or even preferable to situations where the problem can be resolved without fighting. They are rare, but I believe they exist."

"I can't say I disagree with you," admitted Spitfire, "Even if you use every tool to try and keep a battle from starting, it may end up being necessary in the end. My teacher also said as much. But he also said that it is that goal for which we should strive, to wield our power so that we can learn to not rely on it."

"I see." Dawn drained his cup and looked Spitfire in the eyes. "May I ask why we are having this discussion?"

"Like I said," remarked Spitfire, "Your future interests me. One day, perhaps not too far into the future, you will achieve a level of strength equivalent to what I or Arkenstone have. You could be a Knight."

"Is that what you would like me to become?"

Spitfire sighed softly and turned to look out the window. “Dawn, do you know why there are seven Knights?”

The colt paused, his mind working. Seven was sometimes a symbolic number. But he couldn’t think of one that would match up to what the Knights were supposed to be or do. “Is it significant for some reason?”

“It is,” answered Spitfire softly, “Seven is significant because that’s all we could find. Do you understand? In all of Equestria, among millions of ponies, only seven of us possessed the qualities that allowed us to become Knights; the power to turn back the threats to our nation's safety and sovereignty, the wisdom to use that power properly and with discretion, and the dedication to give a significant portion of our lives to a duty that few ponies will know and thank us for. Only seven; but it hasn’t always been seven. At our peak, the Order numbered thirteen. At our lowest, we’ve numbered four.” She paused and drained her own cup.

“So you wish to increase the number of Knights in service then?” asked Dawn.

Spitfire frowned and stared down into her own empty cup. "One of the most difficult duties a Knight is tasked with is finding a successor. It's not simply a matter of taking on a squire or apprentice. Even if I found somepony I could train in the same technique and magic that I use, they could still end up going in a completely different direction. Very few ponies ever develop the means to reach the level we stand at. When we find those ponies, we like to try and guide their growth so that they might some day take our place when we retire...if we live that long. It's best to start early and to jump on any opportunity that we are given, because we don’t always succeed."

"And why would I wish to become a Knight?"

Spitfire's eyes narrowed as she looked up, meeting Dawn's own. "Because you are a good pony. You will strive to do the right thing. Knighthood is another sort of power you can obtain towards that end." She smirked. "And...because you are Dark Wing's student."

Dawn's head shot up in surprise, his ears standing straight up. "You know my Master?"

That drew a chuckle from the fiery mare. "I saw his technique in your battle earlier today. While you've grown into your own form, I can still see the foundations that he laid in your training. I actually got to meet him a few times. This was before I became a Knight. I even got to see his Raiment once."

Dawn's eyes widened. "What was it like?"

Spitfire shuddered. "Terrifying. He donned it once when we were sparring to show me the full scope of what I was up against. At that moment, it was like he melted into the air. He ceased to exist as a pony and his presence stretched outwards until it felt as though the sky itself was my enemy. Let me tell you, as a pegasus, that's one of the most frightening things you can experience."

"That sounds like him," admitted Dawn sadly as he looked down at his hooves.

Spitfire smiled tenderly and reached out with a gentle hoof to stroke Dawn's mane. He flinched at the unexpected contact, but didn't pull away. "I know," she said, "That he's proud of you and the pony that you've become.

Dawn sighed softly, lowering his head. "I miss him."

"I know you do. But he lives on through your heart and your technique." Spitfire continued to run her hoof through his mane.

The room seemed to blur slightly. The food settled in Dawn's stomach, combined with the fact that he was still tired from the battle, was lulling him back to sleep. Spitfire's gentle hoof stroking along his neck wasn't helping matters either.

"Go ahead and sleep," she said softly, "You need some more rest. I'll take you home tomorrow."

Dawn's eyes drifted shut and he knew no more.

"When do you think Rainbow Dash will get here?" asked Pinkie, bouncing excitedly, "Oh I hope she gets back soon! Then we can party!"

The others, seated around the table in the center of the Sugarcube Corner turned curious eyes to Storm Front, who merely shrugged. "I suspect Spitfire will want to debrief her, but she she should be back by evening."

"I still can't believe it," muttered Twilight, "It was bad enough when they sent forty Guards to force Ponyville to surrender Rainbow Dash, but planning a coup against the Princesses, building weapons of mass destruction...it sounds so ridiculous."

"War is a ridiculous thing in general," commented Storm Front.

"But I'm so glad to hear that everything turned out okay," said Fluttershy softly, "And I'll be so relieved to have Dawn back at home."

All of Fluttershy's friends smiled at her relief, save for Pinkie, who looked unusually pensive. Twilight was the first to notice. "Um Pinkie...is something the matter?"

"Hmm, well..." Pinkie tapped her chin, "I was just thinking how nice it would be to throw a party for Rainbow Dash whens she gets back, except then I realized that I would just be throwing it for Rainbow Dash when Dawn deserves one too."

"Well yes," said Rarity, "But why would you ever dream of leaving that dear colt out of the festivities Pinkie?"

"I thought it was weird too," said Pinkie, "And I was wondering why I left Dawn out and only thought about Dashie. But now I think it's because Stormy here only ever said that Dashie was coming back."

Six pairs of eyes turned to latch onto the dark cloud-colored stallion, who tensed nervously in the face of their questioning expressions.

"Storm Front." The stallion shivered. Fluttershy's voice was as soft and gentle as it usually was. But there was a chilly edge to her tone that made even the battle-hardened stallion's heart beat faster with anxiety. Fluttershy's expression looked positively serene, but Storm Front couldn't help but flinch away from her as her teal eyes locked on his. "Why haven't you said anything about my son?"

"Well..." Storm Front's eyes flicked nervously from face to face. Even though he wasn't the most talkative of ponies, it was rare for him to fumble for words. "Dawn ended up in a duel with a formidable opponent. I do not believe he came out of the battle unscathed."

"What?" There was no gentility to be found in Fluttershy's words as her eyes narrowed and her Stare turned into a Glare, fixing the poor stallion on the spot like an insect in a collection.

"Spitfire recovered him. She said his injuries were not severe, but that she was going to keep him overnight to be on the safe side. She told me that she would bring him back tomorrow." The audience noticed that Storm seemed to be speaking faster than usual.

"Oh well," said Fluttershy, her angry look dissolving, "I'm glad that that's settled. I wouldn't want to worry when Rainbow Dash came back by herself." Her smile widened, straining her cheeks as her eyes narrowed in a cheerful expression that looked at once ridiculous and terrifying. "So would you care to explain why you felt it was a good idea to leave out something as important as the fact that my son was injured?" She leaned forward over the table at Storm Front, who cringed away from her like a terrified foal.

"Um...well..." The stallion couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation, or anything for that matter.

"Please don't do that again," said Fluttershy, leaning back away from him, all sense of menace fading from her presence as she settled back into her seat, an expression of the utmost benevolence once again in place.

"Whew," gasped Applejack, letting out the breath she didn't even know she was holding. Leaning over, she whispered into Rarity's ear. "Ah sure am glad Ah got over those silly superstitions about Dawn. Ah don't like to think 'o what she woulda done to me if Ah'd kept goin'."

"Indeed," agreed Rarity with a nod, a slight smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth, "There is truly nothing more frightening than a legitimately angry Fluttershy."

The mare in question gave a recovering Storm Front a serious look. "Please do not treat me like a foal. I was aware that there was a chance Dawn might get hurt if he did this. I allowed him to go, even knowing that, because it was his decision. So I can accept it when it happens, even if it means..." She trailed off briefly, not wanting to go further down that train of thought. "In any case, please do not try to conceal that sort of thing from me in the future."

"Yes ma'am," said Storm Front, nodding rapidly.

"So then," said Twilight, trying to guide the conversation back onto its original course, "What should we do when Rainbow comes back?" She looked at Pinkie as though she expected a particular proposal from the pink party pony.

"What?" asked Pinkie with a shrug, "I can't throw one if Dawn isn't here too."

"Oh," said Twilight, blinking as though dazzled, "I forgot about that."

"Well we should most definitely treat our dear girl to dinner," said Rarity decisively, "It should be her choice and we should allow her to get whatever she wants. In spite of the good news she's bringing, she has most likely had a most wretched day. Oh...assuming that she gets back early enough. But if she's too late, we can always treat her to brunch instead. Oh! And we simply must take her to the spa. Even though she doesn't go in for hooficures, I know that Rainbow Dash simply adores the mineral bath and Lotus's massages."

"If she's going to get here in the evening, that'll probably have to wait until tomorrow," Twilight pointed out.

"That's fine darling," said Rarity, "Our dear Rainbow deserves a day off after what she's done for us. I simply won't hear of her going in to work tomorrow."

"That's fine," said Twilight, "But she's probably still going to need to meet with the mayor and probably the Farmer's Union too so that they can talk about the new weather schedule. Hopefully the fact that this whole problem with the tribalists was resolved means that we can get our weather back on track."

"Well yes, but surely that can wait a day or so." Rarity gave Applejack a questioning look.

The orange farmer shrugged. "Ah can't say Ah have a problem with it mahself. But some 'o the other ponies' crops ain't so hardy as our apple trees. Even if Rainbow does deserve it, we shouldn't keep 'em waitin' fer too long. Celestia knows we've all waited long enough already."

"Ah well...yes," Rarity admitted, her tone slightly petulant, now that her plans were being derailed.

Twilight's eyes glittered with mirth at her friend's distress. "The reward for work well-done is more work," she quipped.

"Quite so," said Rarity with a despondent sigh.

As it turned out, Rainbow Dash was ahead of the curve. As she swooped down low over Ponyville, she wanted nothing more than to head into Sugarcube Corner, get a snack and talk with her friends for a while. But her eyes immediately zeroed in on Town Hall. She still had work to do. Angling her wings, Rainbow banked, curving in the direction of the town's center of government.

"Where are we going?" asked Soarin' from his position slightly behind her.

"Sorry," Rainbow shouted over her shoulder, "Still got some work to do."

Rainbow touched down, landing at a trot right in front of the doors, walking in without so much as breaking stride. Soarin' came in for a landing behind her, glancing right and left, a certain degree of wariness in his manner. He was a celebrity after all. Fortunately, all he got were the standard looks of interest belonging to ponies who recognized a new arrival in the town when they saw one. Soarin' heaved a sigh of relief, realizing that, without his flight suit, he looked like just another pegasus. Looking in, he saw that Rainbow was already out of view.

With a low groan, Soarin' sat back on his haunches and settled in to wait.

"So everything has been cleared up then?" asked Mayor Mare after sitting riveted by Rainbow's retelling of the events in Cloudsdale.

"Yeah. The factory workers are going to start breaking up those artileryheads and converting them into rainclouds. They should have the first storms ready to go within the week." Rainbow blinked her eyes furiously in an effort to keep them open. She had already spent half an hour explaining what had happened to the older mare. The day's events were beginning to tell on her as Celestia's sun dipped towards the horizon outside. She was feeling the gnawing of hunger in her gut too. Rainbow tensed, expecting to hear, any minute now, the rumbling of her stomach interrupting this important conversation.

"I see," said Mayor Mare, pulling some forms out of a drawer and setting them in front of her. She couldn't write and talk at the same time, so she let them lie while she focused her gaze on Rainbow. "I will need to inform the Farmer's Union so that we can determine their immediate rainwater needs."

"I'll get started on the requisition forms," said Rainbow, "We'll need to make requests for shade clouds too, that'll keep the water from evaporating out of the soil, but we don't want to cut off the sunlight too much...this is gonna be tricky..."

"Now hold on there," said the mayor decisively, halting Rainbow before she could get her momentum going, "After all the trouble you've gone through already, the last thing I'll hear about from you is more work until you've gotten some proper rest."

"But we need to get things ready right away!" protested Rainbow, "The autumn harvest is just around the corner as far as the crops are concerned. If we don't get things settled now, a lot of ponies could lose their produce."

"That will be dealt with," said Mayor Mare easily, her tone almost dismissive, "But that will not stop me from ordering you to take a month of paid vacation."

"A month!" exclaimed Rainbow, "But!"

"Oh don't worry about the weather dear," said Mayor Mare, "This is the perfect opportunity for us to begin working on your replacement."

Rainbow's jaw hit the table as she stared in stunned shock at her employer. Replace her!? The best weather manager Ponyville had seen since its founding. And just after she had gone and nearly gotten herself executed to get the town's weather back on track.

Mayor Mare gave Rainbow an encouraging smile, "Don't get ahead of yourself Rainbow Dash. We aren't ready to lose you just yet. But this has been weighing on my mind ever since you got back from the Academy. I suspect it won't be long now. You'll be joining the Wonderbolts soon. From the sound of how things went in Cloudsdale, that day may be fast approaching. If that's the case, you certainly won't be able to pull double duty as our weather manager I think."

Working her jaw closed, Rainbow nodded as Mayor Mare's words made her regret her panic attack. Of course Ponyville wouldn't leave me hanging.

"That's why I want you the pick the pony you think best suited to taking your position when you move on to bigger and better things. Allowing her to handle the management through this period will give her some important experience in crisis management when she takes over for you down the line.

"I'll also allow her to consult with you when she needs help, but I hope you won't let her pressure you into to doing her work for her. I also expect you and her to note the time spent on such consultations so that you can be compensated accordingly."

"Okay," said Rainbow nodding.

"So then," said Mayor Mare, resting her chin on her hooves, "Who is your choice to succeed you as weather manager for Ponyville."

Rainbow didn't even need to think for a minute before she grinned. "Raindrops," she said, "She'd be my first choice."

"Are you certain?"

"More or less," said Rainbow, "She's the one I leave in charge when I have to go somewhere or do something else. More importantly, she's steady, so I know she can keep her head in a crisis."

Having a level head was a definite plus in weather management, particularly when one worked in a town like Ponyville, with the bordering Everfree Forest always causing interference, sometimes catastrophically. Thanks to her constant training in intense flight techniques, Rainbow Dash had gained something of an innate sense in how to read a situation and decide what to do to resolve a problem. During crisis situations, it created a unique form of teamwork wherein Rainbow directed her team to mainly support her efforts while she did much of the heavy lifting. Once she left, there wasn't anypony who had the capability to take over that particular role. Raindrops, Thunderlane, and Cloud Chaser had all gone to the Academy with her. But even with that intensive training, none of them had the kind of flight capability that Rainbow did, which meant that whoever took her place would have to be more team-oriented and able to figure out how to make use of the talents and skills of the other members. In such a scenario, Raindrops' calm, rational approach to problem-solving would work better than Rainbow's take-charge and do-it-herself methods.

"I see," said Mayor Mare, impressed that Rainbow had clearly thought about her choice, "I also want you to draw up plans for easing Raindrops into taking over for you on a day-to-day basis."

"Will do ma'am!" barked Rainbow, snapping her a salute, prompting a laugh from her employer.

"Well, I'm glad we managed that," said Mayor Mare, "Now go and see your friends. I'm sure that they're worried sick about you."

"Thanks," said Rainbow, backing out of the office and shutting the door behind her.

Trotting down the stairs, Rainbow headed out the front door and saw Soarin' patiently waiting on his haunches, smiling as he looked out over the town. Sauntering over, Rainbow settled in next to him. "Like what you see?" she asked.

The pale blue stallion nodded. "It's nice," he said, "This place is beautiful...and so peaceful. It's nothing like the places we usually visit."

"Only the big cities right?" asked Rainbow.

Soarin' nodded. "That's where we go when we're performing. We usually draw in watchers from small towns in the area, but none of those towns have anything approaching the venues we need to hold the crowds, so we don't hold performances there. The only reason we end up visiting small towns is for disaster relief and crisis response."

Rainbow's blissful expression faded as she looked out over her hometown. Becoming a Wonderbolt meant more than just demanding schedules and hard work. It meant she would have to leave Ponyville...and her friends...behind while she went out to do what a Wonderbolt does, possibly for months, even a year or more, at a time. A weight settled into her gut. She had just come out of Mayor Mare's office after talking to the mayor about her future replacement. Suddenly the prospect of leaving the place that had been home for her for so many years seemed much less like an abstract occurrence in the far future and a more immediate reality.

To Rainbow's surprise, Soarin' seemed to read her mind. "Worried about leaving?" he asked softly.

With a gulp, Rainbow nodded. "It always seemed like a 'someday' sort of thing. But now, it's coming up and it feels so real."

"I went through that too," said the stallion sagely, draping his wing over Rainbow's back and pulling her against his side, "Let me give you some advice. Don't go getting homesick before you've even left. That'll just end up tainting the time you have left. Enjoy your time with your friends as much as you can. Don't dwell on what you might lose, just accept what you have."

"I'll try," promised Rainbow.

"Wanna know something?" asked Soarin', glancing at her sidelong.

"Sure."

"We can't keep anything forever. You'll make friends and, one way or another, you'll lose them. But that's what makes them worth having. You'll be leaving someday." He leaned in and whispered into her ear, "But that's what makes the time you have left all the more precious."

Rainbow lifted a hoof to wipe a tear that trickled down from her eye. "Thanks," she whispered, leaning her head over to rub her cheek against Soarin's, "You big goof."

The stallion laughed and turned his head over to give Rainbow a kiss on the cheek. "You're welcome. Come on now; let's go meet your friends."

It only took a little searching to find out that Rainbow's friends had all gathered at Sugarcube Corner; or rather, looking meant it was the first place Rainbow visited. The small bell over the door chimed as she swung it open, her eyes immediately zeroing in on the five gathered mares and one stallion. "Hey guys," said Rainbow, trying her hardest to hide the weariness in her voice. Behind her, the sky was awash with beautiful oranges and violets as the sun set. By any measure, Rainbow Dash had had a long day. She was looking forward to returning home and collapsing on her soft, comfy cloud bed. But her friends came first.

"RAINBOW!!!" five voices exclaimed in unison. Soarin', who had followed her into the store, barely had time to dodge with a yelp before Rainbow Dash was tackled to the floor by five ponies trying their hardest to all hug her at once.

"We'd heard ya had a heck of a time sugarcube," said Applejack.

"Yeah," said Rainbow as she did her best to return the embrace, "But we got through it."

Once her friends let her up off the floor, Rainbow dusted herself off. At this moment, Rarity's eyes immediately zeroed in on Soarin', who was standing awkwardly off to the side. "Well now, who pray tell is this fine specimen of a stallion?" she asked, favoring him with a sultry grin.

"Oh...uh..." Rainbow blushed awkwardly, trying her hardest to not meet anypony's eye as she stood next to Soarin'. "This is Soarin', from the Wonderbolts." She rubbed the back of her head and blushed even harder as she fought to get the next words out of her mouth, bracing for what she knew was coming. "He's sorta...well he's...I guess he's my coltfriend now."

In the silence that followed, one could have heard the sound of a pin dropping...in Canterlot as five jaws went slack simultaneously. Rainbow Dash was the last pony anypony expected to ever get a coltfriend, given that her incredible focus on her goal of making it into the Wonderbolts gave her next to no time to think about finding a special somepony.

It was Rarity who managed to find her voice first. "Oh. My. Word." Rainbow tensed, knowing what was coming next. "This is the. Best. Possible. THING!" Wincing as Rarity's register rose to a joyous shriek that came close to shattering nearby windows, Rainbow leaned back just enough to avoid a collision as Rarity zipped into her space with a speed and energy that would have made Pinkie Pie proud. "You simply must share with us how it happened! Oh did he save you from danger? Is he your knight in shining armor..." She paused and gave Twilight an apologetic look. "...No pun intended. Tell me everything!"

A shimmering violet aura wrapped itself around Rarity and dragged her back away from Rainbow. "Calm down Rarity," chided Twilight, "Try and control yourself. There'll be plenty of time for gossip later. But for now..." She shifted her gaze back to Rainbow and smiled brightly. "Welcome home Rainbow."

Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack adopted Twilight's expression, as did Rarity, after directing one last disappointed and plaintive look in Rainbow's direction. Rainbow sniffed as she did her best to avoid tearing up. "Thanks girls."

Twilight stepped forward and gave Rainbow a gentle nuzzle. "Come on," she said, "Lets get you some dinner. Your pick."

A grin lit up Rainbow's face like a Hearth's Warming display. "Great!"

Dinner was wonderful. Rainbow had chosen one of her favorite restaurants, one that was a little on the pricy side (enough so that she didn't visit it regularly). At her friends' behest, she had ordered her favorite dishes and let them pay for it. Rainbow had felt a little guilty about that, but her friends, Rarity in particular, had insisted. During dinner, she had told them about the whole affair in Cloudsdale, even talking about her fight with Fleetfoot, which led to Soarin's confession. The girls had listened attentively, "oohing" and "awing" in all the right places and sighing dramatically when Rainbow told them how Soarin' had caught her after her failed attempt at a Sonic Rainboom (Rarity had nearly fainted).

The sun was completely gone. Stars glittered in the night sky as the moon shone from above, its gentle light cascading down as Rainbow Dash wrapped up the story of her adventures in Cloudsdale with a yawn. She was tired, having been through a major battle that morning and then burned through her remaining reserves trying to escape from Soarin'. Then there had been the flight back from Cloudsdale and Rainbow's meeting with the mayor. Having a full stomach hadn't helped matters as one of Rainbow's favorite times to nap was just after a big meal. She was pooped. As the other girls chatted amongst themselves, Rainbow leaned gently against Soarin', her eyelids drooping as she struggled to stay awake.

Soarin' directed a concerned look at Rainbow. If things dragged on for much longer, she would probably fall asleep on the spot. "Um girls," he ventured, interjecting himself into the conversation for the first time, "I think we'd best call it a night."

The five other mares ceased their talk and noticed Rainbow's condition. "Oh my," said Fluttershy softly, "Rainbow really looks like she could use some sleep."

"She's had a long day," agreed Twilight, "We should probably head home too."

However, Applejack wasn't quite satisfied with the way things were ending. She had one last query to make. "Hold up there. Ya mind tellin' us where ya plan on stayin' Soarin'."

"Um..." Soarin' froze as his brain processed the question and he realized that he hadn't actually thought things through that far. Could he find an inn? Did a small town like Ponyville have an inn? Had he brought enough money with him? It was too late to go to the bank after all.

"I'll put him up in my place," said Rainbow sleepily, waving her hoof in a dismissive pattern, "I've got a guest room and everything."

"That so?" Applejack's eyes narrowed, a teasing smirk on her lips, "Are ya sure it's the guest bed he's gonna be sleepin' in sugarcube?"

Rainbow's eyes snapped open. "Hey!" Her cheeks flushed brilliant red for what must have been the millionth time that night. The other girls giggled at her embarrassment. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Rainbow rolled her eyes and glanced sidelong at her coltfriend. "Come on Soarin'."

"Don't forget dear, we have a spa appointment tomorrow," said Rarity, "I scheduled it for the afternoon, so feel free to sleep in as much as you like."

Rainbow gave her a curt nod before spreading her wings and shooting into the sky, Soarin' following shortly behind her.

Yawning, Soarin' stepped out of the bathroom, his mane still slick from the shower he had taken. Rainbow Dash's home was impressive, there was no doubt about that. As he headed down the hallway, he leaned in to take a glance into Rainbow's room to see how she was faring, only to see the rainbow-maned mare passed out on her bed. She had allowed Soarin' to use the bathroom first, but apparently hadn't been able to stay awake for her turn.

Well, there's always tomorrow, he thought as he stepped into the room. Working with the clouds that formed Rainbow's bed, Soarin' pulled up a cumulous blanket and gently draped it over Rainbow, tucking her in. She didn't even stir as the warm, soft clouds settled over her. With a soft smile, Soarin' leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"Good night Dashie," he whispered before turning off the light and shutting the door behind him as he left.

Author's Note

Behold my heresy, for I have had the audacity to create a story where Soarin' is not comically obsessed with pie! (Cue maniacal laugh.)
...
...
Okay, so maybe that isn't the most "ultimate" of heresies, but I do find it somewhat amusing that Soarin's pie obsession is probably one of the least-contested ideas of fanon. While maybe, the spread of the stories that I've read may not be as wide as I like to think I can't remember reading any that actually challenged that, so I decided to, mostly for laughs.

Aside from that, I've put out some suggestions for what Dawn might do in the future. He's doing pretty well for a colt who doesn't have his cutie mark yet. Actually, I've dropped a couple of hints as to what Dawn's special talent (or True Will, as I prefer to call it) might be. But don't expect him to actually figure things out for quite a while yet.

Also, I finally reveal Dawn's Master's name. I can neither confirm nor deny that his catchphrase might have been "Let's get dangerous."

Next chapter: Pinkie Pie goes all-out.

Settling Normality

Chapter 21: Settling Normality

"Amazing," whispered the doctor as he inspected the damaged feathers, "Before today, I would have sworn that there was no such thing as a blade that could cut through these feathers."

"I was of a similar mind," agreed Perlin as he held his wings out for the older stallion's inspection. The doctor had grown quite comfortable with the living he was making off of Torchlight's funds. Likewise, his manner around Perlin had become much more at ease, now that it was clear that the colt hat no intention of killing him off.

"It's rather fortuitous, given the timing," observed the stallion, "The time for your latest adjustment was coming up. I even got the necessary supply of mithril shipped in. If I need to repair your wings, then I might as well just go ahead and match them up with your latest growth."

"Do what you need to doc," said Perlin, "You're the expert."

"Did something good happen in Cloudsdale?" asked the doctor as he took out his tools and began to take measurements along the length of Perlin's wing, "You seem quite pleased with yourself."

"Yeah," said Perlin, smirking, "I guess you could say that. I met this guy, barely more than a little kid actually. But he was the first pony I've fought who was able to push me to the edge. On top of that, I got to see Spitfire show off her real strength. So it was a good trip all around."

"So you actually fought a Celestial Knight and lived to tell the tale?"

"Not even close. The moment I saw her, I knew that she was way out of my league. She'd torch me and scatter my ashes to the four corners of Equestria before I could blink." Perlin chuckled darkly, wincing as a twinge of pain arced through his bandaged chest. "Hard to imagine that my old man was planning pitting me against something like that. And, on top of that, there are at least six others with that kind of power."

"Your father wasn't one for the odds when it came to revenge," said the doctor, "And the fact that he never really thought of you as a son meant that he felt no qualms over throwing your life away if it served his purposes."

"True enough," admitted Perlin.

"Besides which, even if we were still going by the schedule he had set, you were not meant to face the Knights at your current state of development."

"So you know the kind of power that they hold?"

The doctor shrugged as he put away his tools. "Better than most. Making your wings was not the only reason your father hired me. Nor was money my only motivation for serving him."

"Oh? What was your reason then?"

A dark look flashed across the doctor's eyes. "I too have a grudge against the Princess. One day, I would like to let her know the extent of my displeasure."

"You a noble too then?"

The doctor shook his head. "No, nothing like that. I was just a student of a very advanced mage, one whose work was and is unsurpassed. If he were still here, then Twilight Sparkle would most definitely not be known as the most powerful magician in all of Equestria."

Perlin's eyebrow went up. "So what happened to him?"

“Let’s just say that Princess Celestia was uncomfortable with somepony as powerful as him in her nation. So she banished him, stripped him of all his accomplishments and cast him out. She erased his name from history and tried to destroy his legacy.” The doctor frowned pensively. “To this day, I believe that I am the only one of his students still at large.”

“What could be so potent a magic that developing it would lead to Celestia of all ponies to cast the creator out?” wondered Perlin.

“The power to make real that which cannot be real,” answered the doctor cryptically, “To completely change the rules of the world by creating his own within its boundaries. In such a world, Princess Celestia’s power would be meaningless, less than nothing. Of course, she couldn’t stand that.” He paused and sighed. “There’s no need to concern you with that. It’s a dark matter.”

Perlin said nothing. However, he raised his eyebrow when the doctor turned away from him and returned to his work on the colt’s wings. Perlin found himself wondering if that really was all there was to the doctor’s story.

"Looks like we're here." Dawn tilted his head to look over Spitfire's shoulder. True to her words, the town of Ponyville sprawled out below. While he had been fairly certain that he could fly, Spitfire had insisted on carrying him herself. "We don't want you pulling those stitches after I put so much work into them," she had said. Dawn suspected that it also probably had to do with her wanting to visit the hometown of her prospective recruit.

"Hmm, looks like we have a reception," she observed at the same time Dawn picked up the sense of an approaching pony. A pale blue streak zipped past their field of vision, just in the corner of Dawn's eye. Looking over, he saw Soarin' hovering, grinning cheekily as he observed his captain and her charge.

"Hey Captain," he said, raising a cheerful hoof in greeting, "I see you brought the kid."

"Of course I did," she said, "I'm bringing him back to his town after all."

The stallion fell in next to Spitfire. "If you're looking for Rainbow Dash, she and her friends are at the spa."

"The spa huh?" mused Spitfire, "That sounds like fun. Let's see if we can drop in."

They descended down and came in for a landing in front of the building. Dawn wasted no time in hopping off Spitfire's back, stretching his legs and extending his wings as far as his injured shoulder would allow. He gave Spitfire a slightly nervous look.

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea," he remarked, "Knowing mother, I'm not sure we should let her know I'm back if she's been in any of the baths...mud or otherwise."

"True," agreed Spitfire, "Gotta keep your stitches clean and dry. Of course, I could always fix them for you later."

"If it's all the same," said Dawn, "I'd rather not. I find getting laid up with debilitating injuries sufficiently repetitive that I don't really feel like getting the same injury treated twice."

Spitfire shrugged. "You get in fights, you get hurt. That's the way of the world."

"And yet the injuries always seem distressingly one-sided," groused the colt, directing an irritated stare at the ground.

Before either Wonderbolt could try to console him, Dawn's ears perked as an excited squeal echoed from within the spa. Bracing himself, Dawn turned to meet a yellow and pink blur just as it barreled into him. Fluttershy swept up her son in a tight embrace, gently nuzzling the top of his head as he leaned in against her chest with a sigh.

"Welcome home," she said in her usual whispery voice.

"I'm home," Dawn answered back, just as quietly, any trace of weariness and sarcasm gone from his tone, having been replaced with a sort of relaxed elation.

"I should have mentioned that they'd just gone in, so I don't think they've gotten started yet," said Soarin', his trademark grin in place.

Fluttershy settled down with Dawn facing away from her, but still hugged tightly against her chest by her forelegs, her wings extending to cocoon him as she gently rested her chin atop his head. Opening her eyes, she gave Spitfire a relieved smile. "Thank you for bringing him home."

Spitfire chuckled. "No need to thank me," she said. She was surprised and amused to see that Dawn didn't display even the slightest trace of embarrassment at being seen in such a tender moment. If anything, it looked as though he was completely unaware of the world around him as he settled into his mother's embrace. He sure looks content, she thought fondly.

A chorus of cooing noises echoing from the spa's doorway drew their attention back to the spa itself. Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack all watched with affection and glee as mother and son basked in their tender moment. Rainbow Dash was trying her hardest to not look as though she found the scene absolutely adorable. Twilight Sparkle and Rarity had no such reservations. Applejack settled for a more subdued reaction, smiling quietly as she watched. Pinkie, on the other hoof, was practically vibrating in place, her body humming with barely contained excitement as her hooves fought to cover the gleeful grin that threatened to split her face in two. It was clear that she was trying her level best to contain herself so as to allow Fluttershy and Dawn to enjoy their quiet moment.

"Um girls," said Fluttershy softly, turning pleading eyes on them, "Please go on ahead without me."

"Okay," said Twilight withdrawing back into the spa, the others following her lead, Applejack having to drag Pinkie by her tail.

Rainbow paused on her way back in before looking over her shoulder at Spitfire. "Wanna join us Spitfire?" she asked, "We paid for one more. It'd be a shame to let it go to waste."

"Hmm, why not," said Spitfire, an eager grin lighting her features, "It's been a while since I've had a good pampering." She trotted in after them. As she went through the door, she stepped aside to give Rarity a slightly wider berth than anypony else, regarding the alabaster mare warily as she made her way into the spa.

"Guess I'll find something of my own to do," said Soarin', "See ya later kid." He shot off into the sky and disappeared from sight."

For a moment, Fluttershy and Dawn merely sat there in silence, simply enjoying each other's company.

After a long moment, it was Dawn who spoke the silence. "So...what now?"

"Well," mused Fluttershy, "We could visit Ditzy and Dinky. I know they've both been worried sick about you; Melon, Scootaloo and Caramel too. They all want to see you so that they know you're okay."

"Ah, well then..." Dawn made to leave, but Fluttershy's arms stopped him, her embrace tightening as she pulled him back against her again.

"But that can wait," she said, sighing happily as she nuzzled his mane, "I want to stay like this just a little longer."

"I think I can manage that," said Dawn. He closed his eyes and leaned back into her embrace.

"Twilight, darling, have you made any progress in your research?"

The unicorn in question lifted her head at Rarity's query and looked over to where the other unicorn was currently receiving a vigorous massage, courtesy of Aloe. "Um, yes and no," she said, "I've made a lot of progress in sifting through the documents that Princess Celestia sent me. But that's because most of it ended up completely useless. I have no leads to follow up."

"What about all those crazy tests you were running on Daaaaaawwwwn...?" Rainbow's voice trailed away into a pleased moan, tongue lolling, as Lotus worked her hooves deep into the muscles between the pegasus' wings, causing the the two feathery appendages to sag and droop like they were made of slowly melting wax.

Leaning back against the edge of the tub, Twilight sighed as the heated mineral water warmed the tension out of her body. "I never got as much data as I hoped. I've ruled out a bunch of possibilities. I'm fairly certain at this point that the factor contributing to Dawn's condition is genetic." A nudge of her hoof sent Pinkie Pie, who was drifting about the tub like a living pool toy, off into an empty section. The pink mare was content to listen quietly to the conversation, an odd sentiment for her, but understandable, seeing as much of it was taking place over her head.

"An inherited trait?" Twilight turned to look at Spitfire, surprised to see the mare inserting herself into the conversation.

"You knew?" asked Twilight.

"Well, since it's apparent that this is about Dawn, there's only one thing I can think of that you would bother researching," said Spitfire, her lips twitching into a playful smirk as she reclined on the other side of the bath, "Besides, I have a few inside sources."

Twilight's ear flicked as she wondered what exactly the fiery pegasus mare meant by that. Instead, she decided to answer Spitfire's original question. "I'm not sure," she admitted, "I'm only operating on the hypothesis that the cause is genetic because I've ruled nearly everything else out. There's no sign that it's the symptom of some sort of disease. It's possible that sufficient magical force trauma could scramble the meridians around his eyes to alter their appearance, but that kind of trauma is seriously damaging and would either impair or eliminate his sight. His eyes are not only fully functional, but have also developed into a specific form. At this point, unless it's some form of stimulus I've never even heard of, the only thing I can come up with is that Dawn's eyes are the result of an inherited trait."

"Can you maybe trace his ancestry to find the source?" asked Spitfire.

"That might be helpful," said Twilight, "But there's a big problem with that. Dawn's an orphan. He's never talked about it and I wonder if his parents are even alive."

"Ya've never asked?" asked Applejack from over where her hooves were being trimmed and filed by a pair of attendants. The farmer mare rarely came to the spa, given her intense work schedule. However, when she did, hooficures were her favorite treatment, given how worn her hooves got thanks to her intense regimen of applebucking.

"I've thought about it," admitted Twilight, "But it feels awkward to try and bring up Dawn's parents. He's never mentioned them once. I sometimes wonder if he's ever given them a single thought."

"I doubt it-oooooooh," groaned Rainbow, her leg twitching appreciably as Lotus's skilled hooves undid another knot in her muscles, "As far as...Dawn is concerned...Fluttershy's his mom nooooooooow. And he's never talked about his parents even before she adopted him."

"Well, that's out for now," said Twilight, "So, right now, our best hope is to try and find somepony with the same condition. If I could run some comparative tests between them, then we could maybe isolate the common factor that contributes to the Eyes. It would be best if we had more than one, just to help narrow down the focus to the responsible gene."

"And you haven't found anything?" asked Rarity.

Twilight frowned. "Unfortunately, most of the stuff Princess Celestia sent me is from scholarly or, at least, wannabe scholarly, sources. There are some newspaper clippings and even a few entries from certain town records. But all the ones I've read are hopelessly out of date. None of those could lead me to help track down a pony currently affected by the condition."

"Unless," suggested Spitfire, "You acted on the possibility that the trait is inherited and tried to track down any potential descendants of the mentioned ponies. If you could isolate any factors that they have in common with Dawn, then you might be able to determine the cause of the Eyes, even if the ponies in question have never shown any signs of the condition themselves."

Twilight's eyes fluttered. She was surprised at Spitfire's suggestion, the fiery pegasus showing a great deal of intelligence. She had assumed that the older mare would either be an athlete uninterested in academic matters, like Rainbow, and thus unable to provide such insight, or she would have a classic military mindset and not bother with something as trivial to her as the investigation of an obscure genetic trait. "That's a good idea," she admitted, "I'll have to get started right away so that I can try and track the histories of those individuals."

"There's one other thing to consider," added Spitfire.

"What's that?"

"You already know one pony who's displayed the condition. You even know where you can find her and have more access to her than virtually any other potential investigator in the kingdom." Spitfire gave Twilight a sly smile.

The lavender mare's eyes widened. "You mean Princess Luna?"

"Of course. She's the the one the rumors originated from, isn't she?"

Lowering her head, Twilight stared pensively at her reflection in the water. "I'd thought of that," she admitted, "But I'm not sure I want to follow through with it. Nightmare Moon is a very sensitive topic to Princess Luna. And while I want to investigate the matter, the last thing I want to do is force her to relive painful memories, especially since these memories directly concern the ponies who caused her so much suffering in the first place."

"But she's not uninvolved," Spitfire pointed out, "Solving the mystery of Dawn's eyes could very well lead to solving Princess Luna's own pain. At the very least, it could provide her with closure."

For a long moment, Twilight was silent, thinking very carefully about the implications of what Spitfire suggested she do. She didn't want to be a source of pain to Princess Luna. But at the same time, she also owed it to Dawn to find out the truth about his eyes and bury the twisted legacy of the Cult Solar, once and for all. "I'll think about it," she said.

Dawn yawned softly as Fluttershy settled him into bed. The colt was thoroughly worn out from the day’s events. After cuddling with his mother for a while, she had taken him to reassure his friends. He had been greeted enthusiastically by Scootaloo and her mother at their house before going to see Ditzy and Dinky. While that had not been tiring in and of itself, Fluttershy had then taken Dawn to the hospital to get a healing spell from the doctor. Like always, the spell sapped the colt's energy as it worked to fix his wounds, leaving him asleep on Fluttershy's back as she carried them back to their home.

Fluttershy pulled up the blanket and tucked it around Dawn's body. After seeing that he was comfortable, she went out and got a spare blanket and some cushions. Bringing them back into Dawn's room, she set them out next to his bed, so that she could be nearby in case the situation from his first healing occurred again. In the treatments for his previous injuries, Dawn had shown no signs of relapsing. But Fluttershy remained close, just in case. Besides, after spending so much time awash in anxiety over his fate, she just wanted to spend some more time with her son, drawing comfort from knowing that he was back where he belonged.

Curling up next to his bed, Fluttershy's eyes snapped open when her ears picked up the sound of movement. Looking over, she spied a small shape bounding across the floor before hopping straight into Dawn's bed. Lifting her head to inspect the intruder, her eyes widened as Fluttershy saw Angel moving to curl up into a ball right next to Dawn's head. She couldn't keep a small squeal of happiness from escaping at the sight. It seemed she wasn't the only one who had missed the colt.

Leaning over, Fluttershy planted the gentlest of kisses on Dawn's forehead. "Goodnight," she whispered softly before laying her head back down and closing her eyes.

"Canterlot?" Though his eyes remained steadfastly closed, Arkenstone raised an eyebrow in Twilight's direction.

"Yes," replied Twilight, gently folding Arkenstone's cloak in preparation for his move. Like most businesses in Ponyville, Arkenstone's tea shop had been designed with living quarters behind and above the business front. Very few business owners in the small town actually lived in a separate building from where they worked. Now that the shop was nearly complete, Arkenstone would soon be moving out of the library. Twilight felt a little pang at the thought that they would no longer be staying in the same building, though it seemed silly to be missing him when the stallion would literally be moving next door.

"May I ask why?"

"Spitfire suggested that I talk to Princess Luna about the Eyes of Nightmare," explained Twilight, "I'm not entirely sure about it, since it could bring up painful memories for her. But I owe it to Dawn to do everything I can to find an answer."

A low hum escaped the stallion as he settled onto the floor, deep in thought for a moment. "I couldn't tell you what Princess Luna's reaction might be," he admitted, "I have rarely met her since she returned and have never exchanged more than a word or two with her. I'm afraid I don't have any guidance to offer you in this matter."

A frown spread across Twilight's face. As she weighed her options, she came to the conclusion that she would have to ask Luna for Dawn's sake and hope that she could avoid hurting the Princess's feelings in the process. Nightmare Moon was a dark matter to discuss after all. "I'll go," she said.

"Very well," said Arkenstone, "Then I shall accompany you."

"Okay..." said Twilight automatically before her head shot up, eyes wide and fixed on the beige stallion, "Wait! What?"

"I will accompany you," repeated Arkenstone, "While I may not be much help in dealing with the Princess, you must remember the current state of affairs in Canterlot. You will be entering into the nobility's arena, where you must tread carefully. I promised your brother I would help protect you and he would probably flay me alive if I even thought of letting you go there by yourself."

"But I've been to Canterlot lots of times!" protested Twilight.

"Since the wedding, can you recall any occasion where you haven't been there for any reason other than royal business?"

Twilight paused for a moment. She had visited Canterlot in the months since the wedding. However, on all of those occasions, she had done so in order to answer the summons of Princess Celestia. It had been over a year since the last time she had gone there, even to visit her parents, who had actually been taking it upon themselves to visit Twilight in Ponyville nowadays. Twilight briefly wondered if that too had something to do with the political climate of Equestria's capital.

"The nobles cannot interfere with you if you are answering the Princess's summons," explained Arkenstone, "To do so would would be considered an obstruction of royal affairs, a crime only slightly below treason. However, if you travel to Canterlot of your own volition, you will be doing so without her protection. The nobles will be able to act as they please."

A shiver went down Twilight's spine. It seemed so weird. Canterlot had been the place she had been born and raised. She had grown into marehood running and playing among the hallowed halls of the Royal Palace itself. Now, Arkenstone's warnings twisted the entire situation around. All of a sudden, the city perched on the mountainside seemed to fill her with foreboding.

"Then it's easy." The two ponies looked over at Spike, who was lounging on one of the cushions a short distance away. The little dragon grinned. "Let's send a letter to the Princess and get her to 'invite' you to come talk to Luna. That way you can claim you're answering her summons and you won't get in any trouble."

Twilight's pensive frown morphed into a wide grin. "Spike! You're brilliant! That's a wonderful idea!"

However, Arkenstone did not seem to approve as much. "That would be an excellent idea," he said, "However, there is one small problem."

Twilight and Spike turned back to him. "What's that?" asked Twilight nervously.

"I suspect that getting Princess Celestia's permission and invitation will not be so easy," said Arkenstone, "You've told me about your studies since you first started researching the Eyes. In your correspondence with the Princess, has she brought up the possibility of consulting Luna even once?"

Twilight froze. "No," she said, "She never brought up talking to Luna at all."

With a sigh, Arkenstone rubbed the back of his head. "I know her quite well. So do you. Princess Celestia is the very image of a protective older sister, which is compounded by the guilt she feels for being forced to banish Luna to the moon in the first place. She probably fears that bringing up anything connected to the Cult Solar to Princess Luna would revive those traumatic memories that led up to her becoming Nightmare Moon, just as you did. If anything, she's probably more afraid of hurting Princess Luna than you are. If you ask her and Princess Celestia forbids you from doing so, then your hooves will be tied and the only way you could consult Luna would be to go behind Celestia's back."

Twilight frowned. "So. In other words, the only way to get this done is to go to Canterlot unofficially and seek an audience with Princess Luna myself..."

"...Which puts you at risk of interference from the Noble Court," said Arkenstone, finishing Twilight's thought.

Twilight sighed and slumped down. "I'm gonna have to think about this a little more," she groaned.

"Take your time," said Arkenstone, "You don't have to go right away. Besides, your friend is throwing one of her parties tomorrow, isn't she?"

It took a moment for Twilight to remember what Arkenstone was talking about. Pinkie had opted to move the date for her celebration of Rainbow's success in Cloudsdale to tomorrow. It was going to be one of her infamous town-wide parties, one that was welcomed, given that there were more than a few ponies who wanted to celebrate the end of the drought. Fluttershy had also arranged for Pinkie to set up a slightly smaller party at Melon Cream's house for Dawn, with a much smaller number of attendees for the quiet and retiring colt. Twilight and her other friends would probably drop by to see Dawn even as they enjoyed the festivities of the larger party outside. Given that, the lavender unicorn's schedule for the following day was all locked up.

"Well, I guess I can wait a little longer," she said softly.

Applejack whistled as she surveyed the state of perplexingly organized pandemonium that had fallen over Ponyville. Overnight, the town had been transformed by Pinkie's efforts as she went through her paces to set up a celebratory party worthy of what Rainbow Dash had accomplished.

Music filled the air from half a dozen different sources, from Octavia's quartet (invited down from Canterlot by Pinkie), to Vinyl's speakers and turntables. Ponies could practice ballroom dancing (albeit without the ballroom) to classical in one venue and then head down the block to bang their heads and bounce to Vinyl's rhythmic mixes in the other. Thanks to carefully compartmentalized sound-dampening spells provided by Twilight Sparkle, the musicians could play as loudly or softly as they wished without having to worry about competing with their neighbors.

The festival atmosphere was enhanced by the presence of stands selling everything from toys to delicious treats lining every street. Big Macintosh was manning Sweet Apple Acres' own stall in its usual position in the marketplace. The three adults of the Apple clan had pitched in together to produce a veritable smorgasbord of apple-themed treats that were favorites among the townsponies. Every once and a while, they had to pause to trade playful jabs with Caramel and Bon Bon as the pair of earth ponies towed their small cart of confections along the byways of town, selling small candies to passing foals. In addition to this, vendors had come in from neighboring towns, both by train and on hoof, some coming from Canterlot, or even as far as Manehatten. How Pinkie had managed to get ponies from so far away on such short notice was something the blonde farmer would never figure out. She simply chalked it up to it being another of the many mysteries of Pinkie Pie. If there was a pony with an empty stomach, or a full purse, left in Ponyville by the time the party ended, Applejack would eat her hat.

Games could be found around any corner, the various stalls and booths holding all kinds of activities for ponies young and old to try their hoof at. Prizes hung from supporting poles, just waiting for an eager foal to earn one through a game or a dashing stallion to win one for his fillyfriend. Zecora set up shop in front of town hall, telling stories from far away lands and ancient times, enhancing her presentations with bursts of colorful powders that caught the light and transformed from one shape to another. Friends chatted and laughed amiably as they wandered from one attraction to the next. Couples strolled along the streets, pressing so close to each other that their tails twisted and braided together or kept a short, but pointed distance, blushing furiously and shyly if their hooves so much as bumped together.

The ambience of warmth, love, and friendship washed across the town. This was Ponyville at its best, when its ponies were reveling in the closeness of their relationships with their neighbors and sharing their hospitality freely with others, whether they were a born native or a visitor from out of town. This was Applejack's home and she watched with a fierce pride as it shined with the light of one of Rarity's perfectly cut gemstones and displayed its finest facets to the world.

"You seem in good spirits."

Applejack jumped slightly and turned to look at the deep blue stallion who came to stand next to her. Red River's eyes roamed over the sights and his ears swiveled, taking in the sounds. The normally cheerful and sometimes boisterous stallion had been surprisingly subdued and quiet as of late, coming to more resemble his friend, Storm Front.

"Ya got somethin' on yer mind?" asked Applejack, internally wincing at the coolness of her own tone.

A larger part than she cared to admit was still bitter over the likelihood that the stallion she had grown so attached to would just one day up and leave. Once he did, Applejack wondered if she would ever see him again, or if he might just occasionally wander through like a listless vagabond. In her fillyhood, she had experimented with wandering abroad herself, but found that the place where she truly belonged was on her farm, with her family. In contrast, Red River had left behind the only home he had ever known and traveled to places and ranged over distances that Applejack wouldn't dream of. His life had been one of motion, to lay his head down on a grassy plain one night and then on a rocky mountain the next. Maybe they had simply been too different to truly connect with one another, Applejack's feelings being nothing more than a foolish crush and a pretense towards an impossible dream.

She half-expected Red River to grin and deny that he was worried, or tease her for her concern and curiosity. However, he turned to meet her eyes, his face uncharacteristically serious. Applejack didn't know what to think as she stared into his cerulean orbs, looking for any hint of what was on the stallion's mind. After a long moment, he sighed and looked away.

"Yes, there is," he admitted before looking back at her again, "And it's you."

Applejack's cheeks flushed a brilliant red at Red River's words and the intensity of his gaze, taking an involuntary step backwards. "What are ya talkin' about?"

A flickering look of uncertainty passed over Red River's features, as though he was uncertain he should answer her. "I have been thinking about the future. I've reflected and meditated and it always brings me back to the same conclusion."

"And what's that?"

"I'm a traveler. I've spent my life moving from one place to another, plying my skills as a mercenary, working odd jobs when those skills weren't needed, leaving and doing it over again somewhere else." He turned his gaze upward, his eyes surveying the starry tapestry hanging over them. "I've seen and done so many things. But I've only just scratched the surface. The world is vast, full of places I've never been and things I've never done and, even if I live to be as old as your grandmother, I'll never experience more than a fraction of it. That knowledge has filled me with excitement and driven me onwards since the day I first left the temple."

Applejack's heart sank with each word that issued from the azure stallion's mouth. She could hear it in his voice, the passion, the dedication to a life that she knew she had no place in. There was no way she could try and tie him down when she realized how much he loved the road. The best she could hope to do was to stifle her foalish crush and move on.

"And yet..." Applejack's train of thought came to a crashing halt with those two uncertain words. "...And yet, when I think about that now, it doesn't fill me with the vigor it did before. When I close my eyes and think about moving on, I feel as though I'll be leaving something important behind, a piece of myself. That feeling has confused me for a long time. The more I reflect on it, the more I realize..." Red River looked down into her eyes again, his expression unreadable. "...I don't want to go."

Applejack's heart thudded alarmingly in her ribs as Red River's words echoed in her mind. Her excitement made her cheeks flush all the more vividly as the implications of the stallion's words slammed into her mind. But Red River wasn't finished yet.

"I think..." he said, pausing as he searched for the right words, "I think I would like to make a home here, in Ponyville, with you, if you'll have me."

Now it was Applejack's turn to struggle for something to say as Red River looked at her intensely, waiting for her answer. The spectacle of Pinkie's party faded into the background and then vanished altogether as Applejack's focus narrowed, until the whole world was nothing more than just the two of them, together under Luna's starlit night. Realizing she couldn't find the words to express herself at the moment, Applejack did the only thing that she could think of. She leaned forward and gently, hesitantly, pressed her lips to Red River's.

Applejack could have sworn she felt a snapping spark jump between them, as though she had been rubbing her hooves on a carpet for an hour before making contact. A sense of elation shivered down her spine as she sensed the magnitude of her accomplishment.

Pulling away after a long few seconds, Applejack's emerald eyes glittered as she smiled at the azure stallion, who was looking quite stunned. "Sugarcube," she said softly with a half-lidded gaze, "After that, Ah'm gonna lasso ya and hogtie ya before Ah letcha even think about leavin'."

Red River sat stiffly, blinking, completely poleaxed by the turn of affairs. "Well," he said, "That's a declaration that's rather hard to argue against."

An orange foreleg wrapped around his shoulders and dragged the stunned stallion off his rump as Applejack dragged him along towards the nearest festivities. "C'mon sugarcube! We've got a party to enjoy!"

Storm Front looked on quietly as Applejack led Red River off to frolic amongst the merrymakers of Ponyville. The quiet pegasus had slipped away at the earliest opportunity and was now watching the proceedings above, his dark colors allowing him to blend in with the night sky. Much like Dawn, Storm Front had never been one much for spending time amongst crowds of ponies if he didn't have to.

"Oh here you are," observed a soft voice from behind him.

The stallion turned around to see a familiar grayish-blue mare with a silky green mane and tail approaching him. Of course it would have been Flitter. She was the only pony who seemed to consistently notice his presence, even when he was doing his level best to just blend into the background. No matter what, her eyes always seemed to find him. For a stallion who was used to going effortlessly unnoticed, it was a bit unnerving. More importantly, he’d done something he’d never done before and entrusted her with the story of his past. Of all the ponies Storm had associated with, only Red River knew as more about him than Flitter did. He couldn’t even place the reason that compelled him to bare his history to her in the first place. But, in the face of her earnest gaze, Storm found he could rarely turn down her request.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I just realized you were up here and I was wondering..." Flitter looked down at the party below, letting her legs dangle limply and twitch nervously.

"Yes?"

She took in a deep breath. "Wouldyouliketogotothepartywithme?" The question came tumbling out so fast that the stallion had to take a brief moment and make sure that he'd heard her correctly.

That gave the stallion pause. He was not used to being approached by mares, particularly since they never seemed to notice him (which was more his doing than theirs). A relationship had always seemed a problematic prospect, given the fact that his calling often led to him moving about from place to place. He hadn't ever really given much thought to settling down into a relationship.

But then again, neither had Red River. And now he was out, enjoying the festivities with Applejack after apparently having started...something...with her. If Storm's oldest friend and companion was thinking about giving up a life of wandering and mercenary work, he wondered what it meant for him.

"If you'd rather not..." said Flitter hesitantly, looking away, "I understand."

As she began to drift away, a hoof wrapped around one of her own. She looked up to see that Storm Front had glided in close and now was holding one of her hooves gently in his own. She blushed fiercely at the contact.

"I'm sorry," said Storm Front softly, "I'm not used to doing things like this. I generally prefer not to be the center of attention."

Flitter nodded feverishly. "It's alright," she said, smiling as she returned his grip, "I'm kinda new to this too. And I don't like having everypony watching me either. Why don't we just do something quiet together."

Deciding that this didn't seem so bad, Storm Front let a small smile spread across his normally impassive face. "I'd like that."

High above Ponyville, two pegasi danced through the night. There was no music playing up this high and the sounds from the various musicians playing in the town below were isolated from the empty sky. Yet, neither of them cared.

Once again, Rainbow Dash hurtled through the sky, pulling her body through incredible loops, rolls, and corkscrews while Soarin' followed hard on her tail, desperately trying to catch her. It was the same affair that had taken place only two days ago in the skies outside of Cloudsdale. But this time, the attitude wasn't tinged with anger and frustration on the part of Rainbow. Instead, she laughed cheerfully and playfully as Soarin' did his level best to catch up to her.

"Come on Mr. Wonderbolt!" she teased, whipping her tail back and forth, "You're gonna have to do better than that!"

In spite of his lack of success in catching her, a happy grin spread across Soarin's face. The last time they'd done this, Rainbow's combined fatigue and hunger had slowed her down and he'd still barely been able to keep up. Now that she was rested and had recharged her calorie reserves, catching her was practically an impossibility unless she made some kind of tremendous oversight. But that was unlikely. Now seeing her at her best made Soarin' realize that Rainbow Dash was one of the best, if not the best flyer he'd ever seen. Deciding that just following along in her wake was getting him nowhere, he put his mind to work and began to take a different approach.

Rainbow Dash went into another loop, tightening her turn as she went before diving down in a spiraling maneuver. Just as she pulled out, she felt a light breeze against her back. Looking over her shoulder, Rainbow's eyes widened as she saw Soarin' now practically on top of her, a smug grin on his face as he reached out with his forelegs to wrap them around her.

Rainbow beat her wings and switched directions in a tight angle that would have impressed Dawn, slipping away from Soarin's grasp, just as his arms closed around the space where she should have been. "Close one flyboy!" she taunted, "But not close enough!" She swished her tail, snapping it just in front of Soarin's nose before she was off again.

Soarin's grin widened. He hadn't fully expected to catch her the first time, but it proved his theory of how to catch up with her. "I'll get you next time," he murmured determinedly as he watched Rainbow's movements carefully. Reading the angle of her wings and the set of her body to anticipate where the cerulean pegasus would pull out of her maneuver fast enough to actually be there to take advantage of it was no easy feat. But Soarin's many years as a veteran flyer gave him enough experience and judgment to succeed.

As Rainbow went into a high climb, she looked back and saw no sign of her stallion behind her. Did he give up? she wondered as she looped back over and prepared to go into another corkscrew. However, just as she pulled out of her loop, pale blue color filled her vision. Before Rainbow could react, she ran into Soarin's chest just as he pulled up underneath her to match her motions. She didn't get a chance to escape as his arms quickly wrapped around her and pinned her wings against her back, pulling her tightly against Soarin's chest.

"Gotcha now!" he taunted before pulling the two of them into a light dive, aiming for the biggest concentration of clouds (and practically the only ones) in Ponyville's sky, Rainbow's house.

The two of them dropped down onto Rainbow's porch with a light poof as the clouds cushioned their impact. Moving quickly, Soarin' rolled over so that he pressed Rainbow's back against the clouds, pinning her tightly. "Looks like I win," he said with his trademark goofy grin as he gazed deep into Rainbow's rosy eyes, "Do I get a prize?"

Rainbow Dash squirmed a little to extricate her forelegs from Soarin's grip. Grinning mischievously, she wrapped them around the back of Soarin's neck and pulled him in close. "Yeah, I've got your prize right here," she said.

Their lips met while, above the young couple, the stars of Luna's night sparkled merrily, as if in celebration of their newfound love.

Meanwhile, even as the massive town-wide celebration ran its course, a much smaller affair was taking place. In the small but pleasant house owned by Melon Cream, a much smaller number of individuals celebrated the safe return of a rather remarkable colt.

Dawn and Fluttershy had arrived by virtue of a rather circuitous route that kept them well clear of the main sweep of the festivities. While the larger party had ostensibly been for Rainbow Dash, Dawn and Storm Front's roles in the battle for Cloudsdale had not exactly been carefully kept secrets, making them both important fixtures to everypony in town. While neither of them liked the spotlight, the storm cloud-colored stallion's almost preternatural skill for fading, wraithlike, into the background until he was all but forgotten allowed him to avoid notice; Dawn had the unique disadvantage of having a rather memorable appearance, made possible by his draconic eyes. Very few ponies who saw him failed to notice him and rarely forgot him. Thus, it was highly unlikely that the ebony colt would be able to survive getting across Ponyville without becoming the center of attention, something he strongly disliked.

Thus, instead of attending Pinkie's larger party and basking in the adoration of the inhabitants of Ponyville, it was no surprise that Dawn opted to adopt Fluttershy's suggestion of enjoying a quiet evening with his closest friends. Melon Cream hadn't hesitated to offer her home as the venue and Pinkie had kindly volunteered to provide the food, an offer that had been accepted, provided she cut back on the sugar.

Dawn had barely set hoof through the door before he had been tag-teamed by both Scootaloo and Dinky in an enthusiastic greeting, toppling over as the two fillies tackled him. After managing to extricate himself to the amused tittering of his mother, Melon, and Ditzy Doo, Dawn reflected on his situation and how far he had come.

Less than a year ago, he had been living alone in the wilderness, with only the animals and monsters of the Everfree to keep him company. But now, he had a mother (now with the possibility of a father in the future), he had friends of all ages. He had a home. As Dawn settled against his mother's side while everyone talked and chatted, a feeling of contentment settled in his heart. I'm truly happy, he realized.

The small group of guests chatted, played games, snacked on Pinkie's treats, and generally enjoyed each other's company. Dawn couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as it seemed that both Dinky and Scootaloo were competing for his attention. Other friends dropped by over the course of the night before heading back out to enjoy the larger party outside. The entire evening seemed to fade into a blur of warmth and affection as the ebony colt simply enjoyed his time amongst his friends and family. For Dawn at least, all the problems that had plagued him throughout his life seemed a world away.

Story Three: Fin

Author's Note

And with that, we come to the conclusion of Savage Skies: Story Three. In spite of the rather rocky beginning (thanks, in no small part, to the previous story's even rockier ending), I'm glad to once again end on a high note.

Admittedly, this chapter was overflowing with cheese. But I like cheese. Cheese is rich and delicious. ALL HAIL CHEESE! Wait (pauses to wipe up puddles of drool), are we talking about writing anymore?

Applejack and Red River's relationship may have been a little on the abrupt side. I know I've spent a while building her crush on him and rotating him towards, maybe, reciprocating her feelings. Largely, these two are more of a side pairing than anything else, so most of their development is likely to be "offscreen" from now on. The same is likely to be true of Storm Front and Flitter. I've actually had to work to bring Storm Front into the story as anything more than a living prop as, when he'd started out, I guess you could say he's been a side character's side character. Given his more recent prominence, particularly his role in Cloudsdale, I figured he deserved a bit of a bigger part.

Unfortunately, as I have warned in the past, this pretty much marks the end of my updates for a while. I'm happy to please you guys with a rapid update schedule, but this means that I need to actually finish the next story arc before starting posting on it. I don't know how long it will take me; possibly a month, maybe more. I also need to take some time to give my other stories, both posted and unposted, some much needed attention, so this hiatus might last a while. That said, do not doubt for an instant that this is the end of Dawn's story or Savage Skies in general. I have some fun stuff planned for the future and I hope you all look forward to this. I will be posting a blog to follow up on this later.

Bonus Chapter: A Knight's Tale

The Battle for the Crystal Empire

A round score of pegasi hurtled through the cloud-covered skies of Northern Equestria. The air was filled with the chill of an oncoming blizzard, though the snow had yet to begin falling. However, these ponies moved on, undaunted, through the elements, not flagging in their pace as they made their way further north and into the increasing harshness of the building storm, their blue and gold flight suits appearing to offer little protection against the elements.

They flew in a wide, V-shaped formation, spread out across the sky. Every so often, the pony leading the formation dropped away and trailed towards the back of one of the lines forming the V, while the pony just behind them in the opposite line assumed the lead position. Because of this formation, based off the same one used by waterfowl migrating north and south for the seasons, the Wonderbolts were able to travel swiftly across great distances while not needing to stop for rest. Their peerless teamwork and coordination carried them farther and faster than any of them would have managed on their own. And it was good that it did, for they had a ways yet to go before they reached their destination. And the urgency of the situation demanded that they reach it without delay, lest war fall upon the newly liberated Crystal Empire and the thousands of crystal ponies that populated it.

Having now dropped to the back of her line, Spitfire was able to lose herself in thought, now that she was no longer shouldering the task of breaking up the air ahead of her team so that the ponies behind her could fly more easily. With each successive rank, the wind resistance was further broken up, until it reached the back, where it was practically nonexistent and the ponies bringing up the rear, resting from their stint in the front, could drift along with almost no effort in the collective slipstream of their comrades. No longer distracted by the effort of flying, Spitfire's mind was free to turn to the assignment she had received mere hours ago, one that had come from Princess Celestia herself.

"The Crystal Empire?" Spitfire was rarely caught off-guard. She knew that there were probably countless secrets hidden away in Equestria, many of them sealed by the Princesses to protect their ponies from stumbling across them. However, the notion that an entire kingdom of ponies had been exorcised from the map for untold centuries was a secret that she had never thought she would learn.

"Yes," replied Princess Celestia cooly, "It will be public knowledge in the next day or so, I expect. Fortunately, Twilight Sparkle and her friends have successfully liberated the Empire from its previous ruler. Right now, Cadance sits on the throne and is in the process of getting her new subjects acclimated to the modern age."

"That's good to hear," said Spitfire. She remembered hearing that helping Princess Luna adapt to the millennia of change that had occurred in her absence had been a surprisingly difficult task. She couldn't imagine the kind of nightmare it would be to try and do the same for an entire Empire's worth of displaced ponies. "So then, what do you need from me?"

"Unfortunately, we aren't the only ones to who have noticed the Empire's reemergence," said Celestia, "I just received a messenger from White Mountain."

"That's one of the griffon aeries that borders that region right?" asked Spitifre.

Celestia nodded. "In fact, their border lies right next to the area where the Crystal Empire reappeared. They had a front row seat. The problem lies in the message that they sent.

"Lord Windclaw of the White Mountain Aerie claims that the Crystal Empire and the land it lies upon is the ancestral home of his clan and therefore is his by right. His message demanded that I turn over the Crystal Empire and all of its inhabitants to his control."

"That's ridiculous!" exclaimed Spitfire, her agitation causing her feathers to ignite the air around her wings with angry sparks.

Celestia nodded gravely. "I couldn't agree more. Even considering the fact that his claim is an outright fabrication and that that land never belonged to any griffon clan, it's unthinkable to even consider turning over the Crystal Empire and its ponies to any griffon clan, especially not Whiteclaw's."

"He's one of the radicals, I presume."

Again, Celestia nodded. "The rulers of the White Mountain Aerie have always hated ponies, to the point that their fledgelings are practically indoctrinated from birth to consider us inferior. They are descendants of King Ironclaw's closest vassals, so they lost a great deal when the Griffon Empire collapsed after the war."

"How big a threat are we talking?" asked Spitfire.

"Substantial," said Celestia, "Arcana's latest intelligence suggests that Whiteclaw has the allegiance of at least five other aeries who would be willing to commit soldiers to their cause. If he musters all available resources, we could be seeing a force of at least a thousand."

Spitfire shuddered at the thought. It would be one of the biggest threats she'd have dealt with in her tenure as a Knight. Still, she thought it was within the capabilities of her Wonderbolts and herself. "So you want us there in case Whiteclaw invades."

"Whiteclaw himself is coming to Canterlot to 'negotiate.' I want you in position in the Crystal Empire in case negotiations go south or if Whiteclaw doesn't think he needs to negotiate anymore."

"What about Arcana? Isn't he already up there?"

"I am having Arcana prioritize a different assignment at the moment," replied Celestia, "While it may not seem as urgent, it is a matter that I would like dealt with as soon as possible to ensure the safety of all of Equestria."

"I see." Spitfire bowed. "Then I will take my ponies and see that it is done."

"Hey Captain!" Soarin's voice snapped Spitfire from her reverie. Snapping out of her daze, she looked at her second-in-command, who was currently on the other end of the V. "I think we're almost there. The weather's letting up."

Spitfire blinked. A little bit ago, the air had been chilled with the cold of an oncoming blizzard, even with the first flakes of snow beginning to fall. However, the clouds were now lightening up, the snow was nowhere to be seen. Up ahead, the clouds peeled back to reveal a boundless blue sky where the afternoon sun was shining through. The air was getting warmer as well. As she narrowed her eyes to get a better look, she caught sight of light reflecting off of a polished surface. The flare blinded her for only a second and, when her vision cleared, she could see it plainly.

The Crystal Empire lived up to its name, with buildings seemingly carved, or perhaps grown, from massive crystals that jutted up out of the ground. However, all the houses and buildings paled in comparison to the Crystal Palace, which jutted upwards in a collection of towers, with a single adamant spire that dominated the Empire's skyline. As Spitfire directed her eyes up towards the Spire's peak, she could see a glowing, flickering aurora faintly spreading in the sky around it.

"Whoa!" Soarin's exclamation beat her to the punch and Spitfire smiled and stifled a giggle.

"Alright everypony!" she snapped, jumping straight to the front of the formation, "Let's land in good order. Once we finish meeting with Princess Cadenza, I want everypony to be in position within the hour."

Soarin' also climbed to the front of the formation and settled into his customary place, just behind her. "Showtime!" His words drew chuckles and giggles from Rapidfire and Misty, who followed just behind him, while Fleetfoot scoffed irritably.

As one, the entire formation dipped down towards the tower's base, where the crystal that the palace was grown from split into flowing pillars that spread out, leaving space for a broad plaza nestled just beneath the palace itself. There, in the center, suspended above a low pedestal, was a slowly rotating piece of crystal that looked to be carved in the shape of a heart. Spitfire could see glittering motes of light streaming out of the heart-shaped crystal and up into the palace.

That must be the Crystal Heart then, she thought, remembering the brief primer about the Crystal Empire that Celestia had given her. She wondered if it was a good idea to be keeping such a powerful object out in the open, where anypony (or anygriffon rather) could presumably lay their claws on it. Spitfire noticed that she didn't even see any guards around it, though the Crystal Empire probably did not have their own Guard up and running just yet.

While they continued to descend, Spitfire's keen eyes picked up signs of motion from a balcony just above the plaza. Focusing on it, she smiled when she saw a familiar stallion waving at them. Turning back to her team, she changed her instructions.

"Soarin' with me. The rest of you, to the plaza. Take it easy, but keep close and don't wander off."

"No scaring the locals," added Soarin' cheerfully as he flashed a grin at Fleetfoot. Their most prickly member scowled back.

"Also, no touching the Crystal Heart," said Spitfire, "It's really important to the ponies here, so keep your hooves off."

Spitfire and Soarin' broke away and swooped towards the balcony as Shining Armor stepped back to give them room to land. Touching down, Spitfire bowed politely to the stallion she now supposed was Prince of the Crystal Empire while Soarin' saluted smartly.

"Welcome Dame Spitfire, Vice-Captain Soarin'," said Shining, returning Soarin's salute after nodding to Spitfire. Technically, since the Wonderbolts themselves were not affiliated with the Guard, they had no actual ranks within the team, their hierarchy mostly determined by merit and seniority. Other than being called second-in-command, Soarin' didn't really have any official rank. That said, Vice-Captain was about as apt an descriptor as any, so neither of them felt all that compelled to correct Shining Armor.

"I take it you're already aware of the situation then," said Spitfire, falling in step with Shining Armor as they made their way in through the balcony.

Shining nodded, his expression becoming grave. "Of course, they came to us first. We're lucky, all things considered. Given how much Whiteclaw despises ponies, I wouldn't have put it past him to just show up at our borders, unannounced and with his army in tow."

"Given that he's most likely trying muster the forces of his allied aeries, he's probably playing for time," said Spitfire.

"But why announce his intentions at all then?" asked Soarin'. It was a valid question. After all, if Whiteclaw had simply bided his time and then attacked when his forces had been mustered, there would have been no warning.

"It's politics." The three of them looked up to the source of the new voice to see a familiar pink alicorn reclining on the throne.

"Princess Cadenza." Spitfire bowed again, this time, Soarin' joined her, rather than saluting like he had with Shining Armor.

"Please rise," said the Crystal Princess, smiling at Spitfire, "Forgive me for not getting up. I'm afraid that I'm still recovering from my exertions over the past few days."

Spitfire nodded. She'd heard about what Cadance had done, blanketing the Crystal Empire in a barrier of her love magic to keep King Sombra at bay while Twilight Sparkle and the other Element Bearers rushed to find the means to defeat him once and for all. Not being a unicorn, Spitfire couldn't even begin to imagine the strain required to keep such a spell active for an extended length of time. She was surprised to see that Cadance was even out of bed.

Still..."You look surprisingly well, all things considered," said Spitfire.

"Thank you for saying so," replied Cadance cheerfully, "And please...Cadance is fine. I wouldn't even bother with the "Princess" part."

"Only if you just call me Spitfire," replied the other mare cheekily.

"So what's this about politics?" asked Soarin', trying to get their conversation back on track.

Cadance coughed. "Right...Essentially, while Whiteclaw wants to claim the Crystal Empire and its resources (and its ponies), what he's ultimately striving for is to build his political clout amongst the griffon aeries. Basically, he wants to show that he can waltz right into Equestria and take whatever he pleases with barely the flimsiest pretense to show how strong he is."

"So basically, the messenger he sent to Princess Celestia and his own trip to Canterlot have less to do with negotiations and more to do with him flaunting his superiority in the heart of Equestria's power," said Spitfire, "Then he'll take the Crystal Empire and show how much better he is than all those weak ponies that the other aeries have been so cautious about for the past few-hundred years..."

"...and all the other griffon aeries will start flocking to his banner and the Griffon Empire will be reborn," finished Soarin', "That's kind of a grandiose train of logic."

Nearly a thousand years ago, shortly after the banishment of Nightmare Moon, the Griffon Empire, lead by King Ironclaw, mounted an invasion of Equestria. Their massive fighting force, twenty-thousand strong, had barely reached the border when their advance was shattered by a mere three ponies, who wielded the martial arts that represented the pinnacle of development for each pony tribe's magic. It had been a brief, bloody, terrifyingly one-sided battle that sent the griffon army rushing back to their homeland in utter defeat. The incident itself was what inspired Celestia to found her order of Knights in the first place.

However, the One Day War (the griffons utterly refusing to acknowledge it as the War of Three Ponies) had even wider repercussions beyond putting an end to Ironclaw's expansionist ambitions. The devastating defeat he'd suffered completely undermined his regime and he quickly found himself deposed. However, his erstwhile successor made little progress before she was deposed in turn. Within the course of a few decades, the once mighty Griffon Empire had dissolved into over a dozen competing principalities before fragmenting even further as the individual aeries that had once made up those principalities each attempted to assert their dominance in turn. By the modern age, the Griffon Empire had completely faded, leaving in its place several-dozen fractious aeries working their way through a never-ending cycle of alliances and betrayals as each tried to build power and claim dominance, only to be torn down by their rivals, or even their own allies as the griffons tried to clamber over each other in order to gain control of the whole of their people; the promise of the rebirth of their great empire paradoxically proving to be as divisive as it was unifying.

"It would be a major coup if he could pull it off," admitted Shining Armor.

"All the same, it's all so much horseapples!" snapped Cadance, causing the others to flinch at the tone of anger in the Princess of Love's voice as much as they did at her language. It was very unlike Cadance to be so angry. "This vicious brute is threatening my little ponies with enslavement so he can strut in front of his fellows and brag about what a big griffon he is. The crystal ponies have just been freed from the clutches of one such tyrant only to find another vying for control in his place. I won't have it!" Cadance slammed her hooves down, pushing herself up off the throne and standing at her full height. "Dame Spitfire! If that monster tries to make good on his threat, I expect you to show him and his no quarter."

Spitfire nodded gravely before bowing low and spreading her wings wide. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, you have my solemn vow that, while I still draw breath, I will not allow our enemies to molt even a single feather within the boundaries of the Crystal Empire."

"Thank you Spitfire," said Cadance, before she began to sway slightly, "Oooh...that wasn't very bright of me to get carried away like that." The pink princess slumped back into her seat.

Shining was at her side in an instant, nuzzling his wife and stroking her hoof reassuringly. "Are you alright?" he asked softly.

Cadance nodded back, giving her husband an encouraging smile. "I'm fine. I just got so upset at thinking about these poor ponies being used as pawns in somegriffon's sick political schemes." She turned her benevolent and loving smile on Spitfire. "Thank you so much for everything."

"Don't worry about it," said Spitfire, "I will stand by my vow."

"I'll stand by her vow too," added Soarin', "And I know the rest of the Wonderbolts will too. We'll keep the Crystal Empire safe for you. Heck, once everything's settled, we can give the crystal ponies their first air-show in a thousand years."

"Thank you so much Soarin'," said Cadance, giggling at his enthusiasm, "It makes me glad to hear you say that. Rainbow Dash will be an extremely lucky mare someday." She gave the pale-blue stallion an exaggerated wink.

Soarin's blush was visible even through his flight suit. "You...you know about that?"

Cadance giggled even harder, this time with Spitfire joining in. She tapped her horn and gave Soarin' a coy look. "Love Princess, remember?"

Soarin's jaw worked silently for a moment. "Oh...uh...right..."

It was a little too much to bear, so the four of them broke down laughing right then and there, the tension abating for a little while at least.

Once the formalities were concluded, Spitfire and the Wonderbolts were free to get down to the business of protecting the Crystal Empire. While Cadance was more than happy to give the Wonderbolts the run of her palace and its rooms for their time in residence, Spitfire had other plans. Within hours, the Wonderbolts went to work gathering clouds, compacting and molding them into proper building materials. Normally, this was exceedingly difficult (not to mention illegal) to do without the assistance of the dedicated building-cloud facilities in cities like Cloudsdale. But, as a Knight, Spitfire could easily supersede the need for permission. Also, this was not the first time she and her Wonderbolts had assembled an aerial base from scratch.

In about two days, the Wonderbolts had constructed a small airborne fortress, composed to dense, packed clouds that would serve as their staging area, once it was moved into the airspace directly between the Crystal Empire and White Mountain. The accommodations were spartan, to say the least, but they were serviceable and sufficiently comfortable.

Upon the construction's completion, Spitfire began assigning duties to her team. Given the possibility of a prolonged wait, she made sure that everypony got a chance to spend some time in the Crystal Empire proper. The rest spent their time out on patrol, keeping the skies under surveillance and looking out vigilantly for any signs of a griffon incursion.

On the third day following their arrival, Spitfire was distracted from her work reading the report that she'd gotten from Wave Chill, who had just come back from his latest patrol, by a familiar warbling trill. Her face broke out in a sunny grin as she rushed to the window of her office and threw it open.

"About time you got here," she said cheerfully as a brightly-colored bird swooped in through the window and alighted on a stand next to her desk that Spitfire had prepared just for this occasion.

Ouranos let out a soft squawk before he held up one claw and released the scroll he carried in with him, dropping it onto the desk for Spitfire's perusal. Trotting up, Spitfire lifted her head and gently nuzzled Ouranos's beak, the phoenix letting out a happy chirp before settling down onto the stand and tucking his head underneath his wing, tired after the long flight from Canterlot.

Spitfire chuckled and turned her attention to the scroll, which, as she had expected, came from Princess Celestia.

My devoted Knight;

The situation is almost exactly as we anticipated. Whiteclaw arrived with all due fanfare in Canterlot, where he immediately began to mock our hospitality and flaunt his supposed superiority. He has been issuing demands right and left, still clinging to the false claim that the Crystal Empire is the ancestral home of his griffons. Whenever we point out the folly of his claim, he dissolves immediately into a flurry of demands for reparations, demanding material, money, and territory. At one point, he even had the gall to suggest that we send one of our Element Bearers to reside with his clan on the supposition that the Elements of Harmony are some kind of superweapon that could be turned against the griffons.

Needless to say, these demands have all been rejected, which has only served to inflame Whiteclaw's anger further. If he doesn't storm off back to his aerie in a rage in the next couple of days, I shall be quite surprised. That said, I doubt that his forces will try anything until their lord has returned, given that he would want to be seen leading any attack against ponies personally. However, I suggest you remain vigilant, just in case he proves to be uncharacteristically clever this time around.

Ouranos was kind enough to leave me with a small supply of his feathers, should it prove necessary to contact you in a hurry. Otherwise, you can expect any further contact to be relayed through standard channels.

Stay watchful and stay safe;
Princess Celestia

Spitfire set the scroll aside and spared a glance for her sleeping friend. Briefly, she wondered if they might be able to end things without bloodshed this time.

The next two days passed without incident, with no signs of the griffons even thinking of launching attack. Granted, they were still a substantial distance away, far enough that White Mountain was just one peak, barely distinguishable from the countless others of the distant mountain range. Furthermore, Spitfire made certain the Wonderbolts stayed well clear of the border between Equestria and griffon lands, mostly to keep the griffons from realizing that the Equestrians had caught on to their plans, but also to ensure that, even if the griffons did invade, at least they wouldn't be able to accuse Equestria of doing the same.

Given the quiet tension that was suffusing the air, Spitfire was almost relieved to see one of Ouranos's feathers snap off with a loud, sparking pop, practically exploding into a scroll, which the fiery-colored mare caught deftly before unrolling it. The message was short and to the point. Negotiations had broken down and Whiteclaw's party was making its return to White Mountain. No consensus had been reached and Whiteclaw refused to withdraw his aerie's claim to the Crystal Empire. It looked like conflict was inevitable.

In spite of the imminent threat, Spitifre calmly maintained the patrols and continued rotating the Wonderbolts through the Crystal Empire. Given the clear view they had of White Mountain, it would be easy to spot any invading force approaching, so she would have plenty of warning to muster everypony. However, she met with Cadance and Shining Armor, making further defensive arrangements, just in case the worst somehow came to pass.

In the meantime, word of the Crystal Empire's reemergence was clearly spreading, with trains from the south bringing in the first parties of tourists and businessponies looking to set up shop to deal with the newly opened demographic. In addition, the Empire was visited by settlers in the outlying regions of the north, traders bringing their own goods, using the Crystal Empire as a convenient and scenic point where they could conduct their business. They even began receiving visits from griffons from a few of the more friendly aeries on the Equestrian border. The Crystal Empire was rapidly beginning to turn into a hub of trade and commerce, something that greatly pleased Cadance as all the contact and business helped expedite the integration of the crystal ponies into modern Equestria.

However, not all the developments were good ones. In the distance, dark figures could be seen flitting through the skies around White Mountain, coming and going...but mostly coming. It was an unmistakable sign that Whiteclaw was beginning to muster his soldiers, calling in forces from his allied aeries to mass for an attack to seize the Crystal Empire by force. Spitfire spent less and less time in her office and more time on the top of their airbase, her eyes fixed on the mountain as she looked for some telltale sign that would signal that the invasion was about to begin.

As it turned out, the signs were impossible to miss.

It was early in the morning when the griffons made their advance. Spitfire had just finished breakfast and was out on her platform, watching the mountain, as usual, when she spotted a black cloud lift off from the peak. Narrowing her eyes, she watched as a swarm of countless griffons steamed out of their mountain aerie and assembled in the sky, like a massive flock of birds.

Spitfire turned her attention to the small thunderhead she'd installed on this platform exactly for this situation. Without hesitation, she bucked the dark cloud, causing it to spit a small bolt of lightning with a loud crack. The noise immediately set off a flurry of activity in the compound as the residing Wonderbolts rushed from their quarters and assembled on the staging area, a platform of cloud erected on the side of the base facing the griffon lands. Looking up, she already spied the four ponies she'd sent out on patrol rushing back to join the fold.

Swooping down to the staging area, Spitfire wasted no time setting things in motion.

"Fleetfoot, head back to the palace, notify everypony that their leaves have been cancelled. I'm drumming everyone up. Make sure you let Shining Armor know so he can get his shield ready."

The notoriously temperamental mare nodded sharply and rushed off to carry out her orders. The rest assembled in neat ranks, which were quickly swelled by the new arrivals as Spitfire turned to watch the griffons. The massive flock had stopped circling in place over the mountain peak and was now beginning to make its way across the open expanse between the mountains and the Crystal Empire. Spitfire estimated she still had a couple hours before the griffons arrived, maybe an hour and a half if she was going to fly out to meet them like she'd originally planned. The griffons were clearly in no hurry, Whiteclaw at least proving wise enough not to sacrifice moving in good order for speed.

As it was, that left them plenty of time, as, within the hour, the rest of the Wonderbolts that had been staying in the Crystal Empire rejoined them. Her force assembled, Spitfire turned back to address them.

"Alright everypony!" she said sharply, "I'm not going to soften the blow. This is gonna be one of our toughest jobs yet. Our duty is clear. We will fly out and meet these griffons head on. If we can dissuade them from attacking, that's fine. But, if things head south, it's our job to ensure not one of them so much as sets a single claw in the Crystal Empire. You know what to do if it comes to that. Fly hard, fight harder, and keep each other safe."

"Yes ma'am!" snapped the assembled Wonderbolts in perfect unison.

Spitfire turned and spread her wings, her team executing the same motions with perfect precision. As a single unit, they lifted off of the staging area and took to the skies, heading straight for the oncoming mass of griffons. With a burst of flame, Ouranos joined them.

In the ordinary course of things, Whiteclaw wasn't at all surprised to meet at least some resistance. Even as weak as they were, even ponies weren't about to give up without a token effort. Given how long it had taken him to muster his forces for the attack, he wouldn't have been surprised to see a few hundred of Equestria's Guard coming to meet him and his forces, not that the Guard would have stood any chance against an army of over a thousand griffons, outfitted with the finest equipment that could be produced in the aeries.

Ever since his younger days, when he was being groomed to one day rule over White Mountain, Whiteclaw had looked at the ponies and wondered why his people allowed Equestria to continue to exist. Ponies were weak. They had no claws, fangs, sharp beaks, or armor. They were weak. They were helpless. They were prey. All they had was their pathetic magic. If the griffon aeries massed as one, they could easily sweep across Equestria and crush all resistance, seizing the nation's bounty and making it their own. Whiteclaw never truly understood how the great King Ironclaw could have been such a bungler of epic proportions to somehow manage to fail with a force easily twenty-times what Whiteclaw had massed.

Equestria had somehow beaten back the forces of the Griffon Empire all those centuries ago. But, like the pathetic grass-grazers they were, they had no stomach for bringing the fight to their enemies. So they sat back, content in their miraculous victory. They raised no armies, built no fortifications, made no effort to prevent a future attack. It was as though they thought that no nation would be foolish enough to attack them after they had somehow avoided annihilation. Whiteclaw looked forward to teaching them their folly.

However, not even Whiteclaw expected to be greeted by a mere score-and-one of ponies dressed in gaudy blue and gold flight suits. Perhaps these were the famous Wonderbolts he had heard about.

Is Celestia serious about this? She's so desperate that she's sending showponies to fight me. Whiteclaw could scarcely contain his glee. This would be even easier than he had expected.

The formation of approaching pegasi came to a halt a short distance away, settling into a hover as they waited for the army of griffons to close the remaining distance. To Whiteclaw's surprise, his keen, eagle eyes didn't pick up the slightest trace of fear or hesitation amongst the assembled Wonderbolts. He couldn't even see any signs of the resignation that indicated that they were prepared to die to obstruct his army's advance.

Raising his foreclaw, Whiteclaw bade his army to come to a halt as well as he flew on alone into the hailing distance of the pegasi. A flash of fire from above drew his eyes upward, where he saw the elaborate plumage of a male phoenix hovering overhead as well. They even brought some kind of mascot with them. How stupid are these ponies? Are they thinking they can scare us off with one of their shows?

Lowering his gaze back down, Whiteclaw saw that a single mare had detached herself from the formation of pegasi and was now coming to meet him. What bits of her that he could see that weren't obstructed by the flight suit were yellow, while her mane and tail were composed of yellow and orange streaks, like tongues of flame. She glared at Whiteclaw with brilliant orange eyes.

For a moment, the two of them simply stared one another down in silence, each apparently waiting for the other to make the first move. Finally, the mare spoke. "You and your forces are trespassing on Equestrian territory. Leave at once."

For a moment, Whiteclaw was completely unable to contain his surprise. This mare...this...pony dared to call his army's glorious advance trespassing. Just who did she think she was? The insult was unacceptable. "Listen here you filthy herd animal. I am Whiteclaw, lord of the White Mountain Aerie. My soldiers and I have come to reclaim our ancestral land of the Griffon Crystal Empire."

"I know who you are," said the mare with a casual roll of her eyes that made Whiteclaw want to rip out her throat right then and there, "Like I said. You're not welcome here, so take your army and your falsified claims and try them on somebody more gullible." She favored him with a mocking smile. "Try the diamond dogs. I hear they'll believe anything you say, though you'll have to give them a small mountain of gems to get them to listen in the first place."

Whiteclaw glared at the mare who had the audacity to mock him and ground the edges of his beak together. "Are you so foolish as to think you can stop us? We number over a thousand against a mere twenty of you."

Spitfire's smirk widened. "No, I don't think I could stop you with twenty ponies. Just one is enough. You griffons are superior in only one respect."

"And what's that?"

"You are better at losing."

Whiteclaw's jaw dropped. "How dare you? You speak to your betters in such a way...You weakling ponies have no right to claim this land. You have no real strength. You are just prey." He glared at Spitfire. "I will tear your heart out and have it roasted. I will sup on your innards at my victory banquet."

"You can try," replied Spitfire with a chuckle. However, she seemed to reign in her mirth. Once she did, she gave Whiteclaw a look that sent a tremor from the tip of his beak to the very ends of the hairs on his lion's tail. "I am Spitfire of the Celestial Order of Knights: Knight of the Undying Flame! Here is my promise to you. If you take your forces, leave, and forget about this idiocy from now on, I will let you. Nopony will pursue you and you will be able to return to your aeries unharmed.

However, if you try to push ahead..." Fire blossomed from Spitfire's wings, streaming out from her body as she suddenly became wreathed in flame. "...I give you this promise instead. I will turn your army into ash. My forces will carve you into pieces and scatter them to the four corners of the world. Whether you survive or not, this 'war' shall be remembered as Whiteclaw's Folly and your name shall be forever remembered as a curse by your own people." She narrowed her eyes and glared straight at the griffon lord. "So I will tell you one last time. Turn back."

Spitfire's tirade had actually made the griffon fall back a few wingbeats. He was completely unprepared for the force of Spitfire's will. For a moment, his instincts screamed at him to flee, to fly back to his aerie and hole-up in the deepest of his caverns, curl up into a ball, and never come out. However, with an exertion of will, he was able to overcome his fear. When he did, he returned Spitfire's glare as his fear was overshadowed by pure rage. This delusional grass-eater dares to speak to me like that... Whiteclaw could stand no more.

Turning back, he flew back to his army, letting out a sound that was halfway between an eagle's scream and a lion's roar.

"KILL THESE PONIES! RIP THEM TO PIECES! TODAY WE SINK OUR CLAWS INTO THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE! WE WILL MAKE THEIR STREETS RUN RED WITH BLOOD!"

Shrieking and roaring, a thousand griffons descended on the twenty assembled Wonderbolts like a swarm of hornets.

"Well...you certainly got them all riled up Captain," said Soarin' as he watched the swarm of half-lion, half-eagle creatures surge toward them.

"Too bad for them then," said Spitfire before turning to shout at the Wonderbolts over her shoulder, "LISTEN UP! TODAY WE REMIND THESE FEATHERBRAINS JUST WHY THEY LEFT EQUESTRIA ALONE FOR THE LAST THOUSAND YEARS!"

"YES MA'AM!" thundered the Wonderbolts in return.

"OURANOS!" At Spitfire's shout, the phoenix went into a sharp dive, practically aiming for a collision with his friend and partner.

As the two came together in an explosion of varicolored flame, Soarin' grinned and glanced over at Rapidfire. "Let's get this cleaned up and we'll be back in time for dinner."

Perhaps it was to the griffons' credit that they didn't flinch at the sudden burst of flame that enveloped Spitfire and her phoenix companion. They continued to rush forward unchecked. However, as Spitfire's silhouette emerged from the flames, they quickly learned the error of their ways.

The frontrunners barely caught a glimpse as something lashed out from where Spitfire was still hovering, snapping like a whip in their direction. It was too fast to observe in detail, so the only thing the leading griffons were able to see was a twisting, sinuous, glowing line...

...It was also the last thing that they saw.

The strange, whip-like attack slashed through the front ranks of the charging victims, cleaving through their armor like a hot knife through butter, leaving lines of molten steel in its wake. It carved through the griffons’ bodies with the same ease, cutting, severing, leaving their bodies in pieces that fell towards the ground below. As the weapon retracted, Spitfire’s body became clearly visible and it became obvious how she had launched her first attack.

Long plumes stretched out behind Spitfire, where her tail had originally been, looking to all the world like chains of multicolored jewels. They whipped about with incredible speed, their edges superheated with power circulating like the blade of a rotary saw, allowing them to melt through steel…and flesh…and bone.

Spitfire had been completely transfigured. Her eyes glowed like twin suns, while a feathery crest emerged where her mane had once been. Tongues of flame scattered from her body like molted feathers, while the primaries of her wings looked as though they had been dyed with a vibrant amethyst. Her plain yellow coat had been overtaken by flickering flames.

Before the next griffons in line could even react, Spitfire’s wings snapped out to their fullest extent as she met their charge with one of her own. With the motion of spreading her wings, they seemed to expand in size, forming gigantic, wing-shaped projections of flame that filled the sky on either side of them. That flame bore down on the ranks of the griffons like a crashing wave. The vanguard of their assault vanished into ash as Spitfire plowed through them, their armor proving to be no protection against the intense heat.

Seeing the death of untold dozens of their comrades caused the next ranks of griffons to falter in their advance as they wisely sought to avoid their allies’ fate. However, their hesitation proved to be fatal as, in focusing on avoiding Spitfire, they left themselves open to a completely different kind of attack.

The Wonderbolts capitalized on the griffon army’s disrupted advance and charged forward. Two pairs moved to either side of the massive swath Spitfire had cut through the enemy ranks. On one side, Fleetfoot and Rapidfire, Soarin’ and Twister on the other. The two pairs began a tight corkscrewing maneuver as they charged into the griffon ranks. Their pegasus magic pulled at the air around them, forming a pair of tornadoes that thrust into the mass of griffons at opposite directions. The intense winds drew all the griffons in their vicinity in close, stealing control of the air out from under their wings.

Pained screeches echoed through the sky as griffons collided with one another. However, this proved to be only a minor inconvenience to what followed as the remaining Wonderbolts followed in the wake of their friends’ tornadoes, their feathers flickering with magic. In their passes, the Wonderbolts’ Daisy Cutter technique sliced through the griffons’ steel armor almost as easily as Spitfire’s superheated plumes had. They exercised no restraint and did not hesitate to cut into vital parts of the body, severe limbs, and send griffons plummeting to their deaths. This was war after all. Since the griffons clearly had no intent on granting any mercy to their fallen foes, the Wonderbolts felt no such compunction either.

Thus, in the opening seconds of the battle, the Wonderbolts had completely destroyed the griffon army’s momentum. The griffons’ foes were now deep within their own ranks, surrounded by clawed death on all sides. And yet, the Wonderbolts did not hesitate at being outnumber. They did not falter at being surrounded. As the griffons attempted to mass and hem them in from all sides, as well as above and below, they instead broke off into pairs and charged again, straight into the thick of the enemy.

Whiteclaw was beside himself with rage. This was not what he had been promised. The Crystal Empire had been suposed to be easy pickings. Any resistance would be swallowed up in mere moments. And yet, here he was, watching his army of a thousand being stymied by a mere twenty ponies. He watched as his forces massed again in an effort to crush Spitfire and her Wonderbolts with sheer numbers. However, he quickly realized that this was a hopeless strategy.

“SPREAD OUT!” he roared, “DON’T MASS TOGETHER!”

Those nearest to him appeared to get the message, scattering. Whiteclaw realized that massing together merely provided a target-rich environment before the overwhelming power of the ponies’ attacks. Several were too late in following orders, as Spitfire lashed out with her wing, forming another massive sheet of flame that swept across nearly a dozen griffons in a single instant, completely disintegrating them. However, the rest of his warriors managed to follow orders properly and pull themselves clear.

His voice even reached out to where the others had been massing for their attack on the Wonderbolts. However, the Wonderbolts themselves had already scattered into pairs. One pair split up, swooping around a group of griffons, their wings again flickering with that strange magic that turned their feathers into razor-sharp blades. A couple of griffons were too slow to react and were sliced to pieces in the initial pass. The others quickly backed away from the two Wonderbolts as the ponies swooped around, continuing to menace the griffons. The griffons realized too late that they had been massed into a rather large ball as the pair of ponies continued to circle around them, herding them closer and closer together into an airborne ball of feathers and fur.

Then a second pair of ponies charged straight into the thick of the griffon mass, again moving in that agile corkscrew maneuver. However, this time, instead of creating another tornado, they simply used the Daisy Cutter to slice through as many griffons as they could in a single pass. The griffons scattered. But, in the process, even more of them fell to the swooping passes of the Wonderbolts that had been herding them together in the first place.

Across the sky other quartets of Wonderbolts executed the same maneuver, one pair herding a large number of griffons into a ball, while the other pair charged straight into their midst to inflict as much damage as possible before the griffons could escape.

In the meantime, Spitfire countered Whiteclaw’s orders with another trick. She snapped her wings out again. Several-dozen of her coverts scattered into the air around them. They came to a halt a short distance away from her, hanging about like dozens of tiny, flickering flames. Next, Spitfire executed an exaggerated sweep of her wings, inscribing an exaggerated arc on either side of her. The detached feathers suddenly launched themselves away in a barrage of fiery darts.

Now with room to maneuver, many of the griffons around Spitfire twisted and turned to escape the volley. However, several of them were quite unlucky. One griffon reeled as a single feather embedded itself into the base of his wing. Before he could react, it burst into flames that rolled across his body, incinerating his own feathers even as it seared through his flesh. Enveloped in flame, the unfortunate soldier dropped to the ground like a meteor. And he wasn’t the only one. All around Spitfire, Griffons seemed burst into flame like torches as they caught her feathery darts.

Seeing this, Whiteclaw opened his mouth, but stopped short as he realized he had no idea what to say. Simply screeching in rage and berating his troops would have no effect. And he couldn’t think of a single strategy. His army’s initial advance had been completely stymied by Spitfire’s own charge and any semblance of order and coordination between the griffons was subsequently crushed by the Wonderbolts’ followup. When Whiteclaw had ordered his soldiers to scatter in order to keep them from all getting killed at once, the Wonderbolts had seamlessly altered their strategy and forced groups of griffons back together into tightly-packed masses that could be easily picked off. Worse still, Spitfire had been barely inconvenienced by the shift and had brought down dozens more of his soldiers.

The battle was scarcely seven-minutes-old and the would-be conqueror was already losing troops by the score. Aside from numbers, there was another clear difference between the two opposing forces. The griffons were a mass of individuals, the assembled forces of six different aeries. But, with the easy victory he had anticipated, Whiteclaw had given no thought to organization. He’d formed no real chain of command, made no effort to organize his horde into units to coordinate their actions. He’d simply expected to roll over any resistance without the slightest effort.

On the other hoof, the Wonderbolts flew as though they were twenty ponies sharing a single mind. They acted to support one another, to coordinate their action with barely any signals and no exchange of orders. They moved with the flawless precision of fliers who had practiced working the sky together until they could no longer move their wings. These were ponies who had lived, laughed, and fought together until they no longer needed a chain of command. With their skill and unity of purpose, they had completely reversed the odds against them and turned the griffon army's greatest asset, their numbers, into a disadvantage.

Still, Whiteclaw's army had the ultimate advantage. The Wonderbolts' (or Spitfire's, for that matter) stamina couldn't be infinite. Sooner or later, the numbers would begin to tell. The ponies would get tired and then they would fall. When it came down to attrition, the side with superior numbers would win the day. So what if the ponies were mowing his troops down like grass right now? At least, that's what Whiteclaw told himself as he swallowed, finding his throat dry.

That was when the griffon lord realized something else. His throat wasn't dry simply because of fear or nerves. The air around him was slowly growing uncomfortably hot. The air was dry and smelt of ash. And the temperature was only just beginning to rise. Whiteclaw's confusion mounted as he began to hear the rasping sound of griffons choking. Several were simply dropping from the sky with no obvious signs of injury. Some appeared to be having difficulty breathing.

Finally, Whiteclaw realized the source of the rise in temperature as Spitfire continued to cast her flames across the battlefield. Her targets had scattered, but that didn't stop her from hunting them down, targeting them with barrages of her shed feathers and cutting through them with lashes from her trailing plumes. Even as she fought, the temperature of the air around her continued to rise. Before long, the griffons in her immediate vicinity were beginning to choke as the hot air completely dried their lungs. Others dropped from simple heat exhaustion as Spitfire's flames made the air around her dangerous through simple convection. Now it was no longer about fighting. Even being in the same area of sky as Spitfire was life-threatening.

The griffons were beginning to realize this and were starting to back off. To Whiteclaw's horror, he saw a few beginning to turn and quit the battlefield, winging their way back to his aerie in a steady trickle as they lost their nerve and fled.

"COME BACK YOU COWARDS!" he shrieked, "How can you flee from such a small force? It's only a matter of time until we crush them with our superior numbers."

"You really don't understand battle all that much."

Spitfire's voice and the increase of the ambient temperature around Whiteclaw warned him of her approach. She was now hovering a generous distance away. But the air around Whiteclaw was so hot that it actually hurt to breathe as he sucked in burning gasps.

Spitfire continued. "Whatever reward or plunder you promised them isn't going to be enough to keep them underneath your claws. After all, it's all worthless once your dead. Assuming your predictions are true, they would eventually win over us with sheer force of numbers...but what good is that to those who sacrificed their lives in the meantime. What do they get out of it if they are the ones to die? Some of your 'army' are simply realizing that it's not worth the trouble if they aren't around to share the spoils."

Whiteclaw opened his beak to answer her, but could only hack and cough through his dehydrated throat.

Spitfire glowered at him with her featureless, yellow eyes. "That's the real reason you're losing. You pulled your so-called army together with promises of wealth and power, with an easy victory. You didn't bother trying to bring them together as something more than a bunch of individuals for you to throw at your enemies en-mass. You didn't given them a real sense of purpose. All you and your 'army' are is a gaggle of bullies. Your troops are losing heart because they've seen you can't deliver on your promises. They've decided that it's not worth it to follow you anymore.

Whiteclaw looked past Spitfire to see that even the griffons who weren't facing her directly were beginning to scatter, especially since the rest of the Wonderbolts were proving to be insurmountable foes as well. Even as he watched, he saw a griffon rake his claws across a mare's throat, only for the mare to turn and behead him with a swing of her wing, his attack having either missed its mark or somehow been deflected. The steady trickle of griffons fleeing back to the safety of the aerie was now becoming a flood.

Spitfire turned away from Whiteclaw and flew back to the battle, which was slowly losing its momentum as more and more griffons deserted. The Wonderbolts were actually beginning to run out of opponents. Rage burned in Whiteclaw's heart as he realized that Spitfire was deliberately ignoring him. She had wrenched control of the battle completely out of his claws and no longer even considered him a critical part of his own army.

"Come back and face me!" he shouted at Spitfire's back, the very action of shouting only serving to aggravate the burning of his throat.

She didn't even bother to look back over her shoulder. "You're not worth the trouble. That's the other reason you're losing. All your soldiers are seeing is a blustering fool, screaming out orders and berating them from behind, all while they shoulder the risks and take all the casualties. It would be different if you were actually an effective leader. But right now, you've got nothing, no skill, no courage, nothing worth following...nothing worth defeating either." With that, she shot off, back to the battle.

Her return to the thick of things seemed to signal the fight's conclusion as the griffons broke and scattered when Spitfire approached them. None dared try to attack her. Instead, the remaining elements of Whiteclaw's army broke and fled, scrabbling for the border and White Mountain with all of their remaining strength.

When the griffons broke off and retreated, the Wonderbolts fell back as well. They did not attack, they did not pursue. They merely waited and watched as the last of the griffons fled. Before long, only Whiteclaw was left, a broken general of a defeated army.

"It think it's about time you left too," said Spitfire in her most taunting tone as the flames wreathing her body pulled away and coalesced into the familiar form of the colorful phoenix.

"You'll regret letting me live!" snapped Whiteclaw, "I will return. Next time, I'll be ready for you! I will crush you and your ponies down and I will feast on your flesh!"

"No you won't," replied Spitfire flatly, "Every griffon that followed you today knows what an incompetent you are. They won't follow you anymore. Your power is broken and they'll remember why attacking Equestria is a bad idea. If you suggested it again, I wouldn't be surprised if the griffons of your own aerie killed you with their own claws. Either way, this is the end for you."

With an angry snarl, Whiteclaw turned and fled.

As the griffon lord dwindled into a speck in the distance, Spitfire turned around and surveyed her Wonderbolts, nervously counting each and every one. When she finished, she let out a relieved sigh. Twenty Wonderbolts had followed her out this day and twenty now hovered attentively in front of her. They'd all survived and they'd won.

Spitfire had trained her ponies well. But that didn't change the fact that she worried about them all the same. This was the first major incursion that they'd seen off in their tenure as Wonderbolts. Minotaur raids and bandit hunts didn't even compare to the scale of battle against a full-sized army. Spitfire was glad that all their hard work had paid off. More importantly, she was glad to be able to tell Cadance that she wouldn't have to worry about any more griffon invasions.

But she figured that she and the Wonderbolts could stick around the Crystal Empire a while longer, just to be safe.

Besides...Soarin' did promise them and air show.

Whiteclaw collapsed on the slopes of his mountain, gasping for breath and crawling desperately towards the trickling sound of a small brook tumbling across the stones. The flight back had been an arduous one, thanks to the time he'd spent basking in the heat of Spitfire's flames. Without at least a few mouthfuls of water, Whiteclaw was afraid that he would die before he could even set foot back in his own aerie.

Finally, his eyes caught a glimmer of sunlight reflecting off the surface of water. There it was. The griffon lowered his beak into the stream and sucked down the water gratefully.

But the water seemed to turn to ashes in his mouth. As much as Whiteclaw hated to admit it, Spitfire was right. His control over his own aerie, much less his allies, was broken. They'd lost faith in him and abandoned him on the battlefield. Returning to the aerie meant facing the soldiers whose comrades Whiteclaw had sentenced to death by urging them onward whilst he had remained at the rear and screamed and squalled when things didn't go his way.

"It would seem that this little invasion you planned went pear-shaped."

Whiteclaw looked up, his eyes widening in surprise before narrowing into an angry glare as he recognized the one addressing him.

"You lied," he hissed, "You said that the ponies were weak, that we would win easily."

"I said that the Crystal Empire was weak," said the other casually, "And that was certainly true. They had returned after being lost in shadow for a thousand years after already suffering who knows how long in slavery under King Sombra. Newly freed, they were kittens before lions." He smiled wryly. "But I never said any such thing about the ponies that Princess Celestia would send to protect them."

"You tricked me!"

"You tricked yourself." There was no anger in the other's voice, nor was there any mocking in his tone. It was the voice of one making dispassionate observations. "You wanted to strut and puff in front of all the other griffon aeries to build your status, so you stated your intentions openly. If you'd simply swooped down on the Crystal Empire without giving them any warning, it would have been yours in less than a day."

Whiteclaw let out an angry hiss. "You used me!"

"Not really," said the figure, "You were simply an unstable element. You see, I'm planning an experiment in the near future. When you're conducting an experiment, one of the most important aspects is to eliminate as many unnecessary variables as possible. Given your impulsive nature and your hatred for ponies, it was practically a given that you would attack Equestria sooner or later. I merely decided to move your timetable forward a bit to get it out of the way.

"It's rather silly that you followed along so easily. Perhaps that is why griffons and ponies will probably never truly get along. As predators, you can't seem to resist the urge to pounce when you are under the impression that potential prey is vulnerable.

"It is rather amusing though. In spite of all your prattle about the superiority of griffons, how much you hate and despise ponies, it seems that you were perfectly willing to believe the word of one." The other chuckled softly. "It would seem that griffons are just as gullible as any other race when it comes to believing what they are told, so long as it's what they want to hear."

"I will feast upon your heart," growled Whiteclaw as he stalked forward.

"Do whatever you please," replied the figure as he turned away, "But I have things to do, I'm afraid. So if you plan on throwing your life away, please get on with it."

With an angry shriek, Whiteclaw hurled himself at his target's back. The other didn't turn. However, something white flashed across the griffon's vision. His blood inscribed a crimson arc through the air and the former lord found himself thrown back against the side of the mountain, unable to feel entire portions of his body. As his vision began to fade, he saw a single white feather drifting aimlessly above him.

“Rest now, Lord Whiteclaw, and trouble yourself no more with the affairs of ponies. Such dark matters are not for you.”

The other cast not a single look behind him as he began to make his way down the mountain and back towards the Equestrian border, the face and name of the now-dead griffon lord fading in his mind as he continued.

"Now then," he muttered, "Time to get back to work."

And then he was gone.

Author's Note

I've had this sidestory in mind for a while, as it gives a look at the kind of things the Celestial Knights get up to. It also gives me a chance to have Spitfire show off what she can do, which is an additional bonus. While I'm at it, I would like to add that the premise of a griffon aerie laying claim to the Crystal Empire was rather shamelessly borrowed from Georg's wonderful story, Diplomacy by Other Means.

As you might guess, this particular story takes place shortly after the events of the Season 3 opener, making it a prequel, of sorts, to Savage Skies as a whole. Why did I post it here? Well...this is for the benefit of all my readers who are not following me. Story 4: Shadow of the Sun is now up and posted, so I figured this would be a fun way to ensure that all my readers got the message.

Enjoy!

Peace

Chapter 1: Peace

An eerie silence had settled over the quarry outside of Ponyville, which was all the more unsettling because it lay in stark contrast to the cacophony that had engulfed it only moments earlier. It had been the site of a tremendous battle, a single colt fighting for his life against impossible odds. He had strived as hard as he could pushed himself further than anypony had any right to ask of him. He had fought desperately with tooth and hoof for his right to live.

But in the end...he had failed. In the end, Dawn Lightwing had lost the battle. As he lay there, bruised, beaten, and burned, his antagonists stood over him, his fate completely in their hooves. The final blow had fallen. The end had come.

Apple Bloom nearly fell over backwards as Scootaloo suddenly stopped struggling. The orange filly slumped to the ground, all thoughts of prying herself free from the Bloom's grip gone. Startled, Apple Bloom turned her head to see Scootaloo sprawled limply across the rock she had been desperately trying to climb over a moment earlier, tears darkening the stone beneath her face.

"Scootaloo?"

Scootaloo didn't answer. She stared wordlessly at the tableau before her, unable to bring herself to say or do anything. It had been a lie. It was all a lie. Red River had tricked her. And now...

"He's gone," she whispered.

"Say what?" Apple Bloom asked, turning to follow Scootaloo's listless gaze. She gasped at what she saw.

"No," gasped Sweetie Belle. Rumble also looked on, body rigid and tongue frozen with fear. The four of them had just witnessed a murder after all.

Fluttershy's wings locked when she saw the spear fall. She had been too late. Overcome with despair, she forgot to continue flying and skidded across the ground, unable to remain standing. "Dawn!"

Storm Front turned his head to observe her impassively while Red River continued to look down at the colt's motionless body. The two of them were silent as Fluttershy wept for her son.

"Why? Why did you do it?" she demanded, forcing herself back up. The pain and sorrow were still there, but now backed with unfathomable rage. Both stallions flinched slightly as the force of her anger descended upon them like the wrath of Celestia herself. "WHY DID YOU KILL MY SON!?"

"Because," answered Red River as casually as though he were completing another apple sale, "Sometimes you have to experience death in order to truly live."

"I was worried we wouldn't be able to pull this off," muttered Storm Front as he turned his attention back to Dawn's body.

Red River snorted. "Well, we managed in the end. Now we just have to see whether or not it worked."

Fluttershy blinked and reeled back, thrown off balance by their banter. Blinking away angry tears, she looked more closely at the scene before her and gaped as she realized just where Red River's spear had landed.

Death, Dawn decided, Is decidedly painful. He felt cheated. After all, death was the divorcing of the soul from the body. In dying, Dawn should have left the pain of his physical self behind. And yet, he was still fully aware of the angry burns across his back and the cuts and bruises inflicted on him over the course of his battle. And then he opened his eyes.

For a moment, the only things he could see were indistinct blurs. His ears also picked up distorted buzzes of some unknown noise. Blinking slowly and uncertainly, Dawn's mind began to clear and his senses gradually came into focus. The gray world around him resolved into the sprawling grounds of the quarry and the blue above him became the sky. The afterlife is decidedly...unoriginal. It's almost as though I never left. His hearing was starting to come into focus around, the strange buzzing sounds slowly resolving into individual voices. And they weren't just any voices either. They were familiar.

He heard Red River and Storm Front chatting idly. Then he heard another softer voice, sweet and almost plaintive. It was a voice that made his heart jump and filled his aching body with warmth. Mom! Fluttershy was here. There was no way she could have followed him into the land of the dead, which meant...he was still alive.

The realization struck Dawn like a hammer and, in that moment, he suddenly remembered the need to breathe. With and explosive gasp, the colt greedily sucked in a deep breath of air before coughing it back out. His lungs felt as battered and abused as the rest of him.

"So you're awake," observed Red River smugly from out of Dawn's view “How was your little visit to the land of the dead?” The colt shifted his eyes and immediately saw the spear, scant inches from his head, buried into the ground.

Forcing himself to look up, Dawn finally saw the earth pony looming over him, a wide smile on his face. Red River was incredibly pleased with himself and wasn't afraid to show it. Dawn wanted to ask him what the point of all this was, but couldn't find the strength to grunt a single syllable. Still, Red River seemed to understand his confusion.

"Death changes your perspective, doesn't it?" His smile became a grin. "In the end there, you discovered that you weren't as ready to die as you thought. You realized that you wanted to live. And even then, I still snuffed that feeling out of you by striking you down."

Dawn's eyes shifted back to the spear.

"Not literally," explained Red River, seeing Dawn's reaction, "What you felt was pure intent. I had to at least make it seem real enough that you briefly reacted as though you really had been killed." He leaned down, putting his head very close to Dawn's ears. "That feeling of wanting something with your heart and soul, only to have it heartlessly wrenched away...that's what it feels like to be a victim. You've had this feeling before so many times that you thought the only way to escape it was to give up on wanting anything for yourself. But when you finally regained that want, you had forgotten what it was like to lose everything. You needed to be reminded, because that is a feeling you are all too capable of inflicting on others."

Red River pulled away. He had been barely whispering a moment ago, but now he was again speaking at full volume. "You need to hold onto that feeling of loss now and imagine yourself reflected on everyone you think about fighting. See yourself reflected in those you face and imagine them experiencing what you just felt. That is the beginning of empathy."

"And," Storm Front added from his place behind Dawn, "If you come to the conclusion that you still must fight or harm another in spite of that, do so knowing the full consequences of what will come after. Do not write them off as non-entities. Acknowledge that you are taking things away from those you fight, things they might not be able to get back and reflect that this is the feeling you inflicted upon them and accept it.”

"That road isn't easy," added Red River, "But it's a step on the way to that thing we call peace."

Dawn sighed, or wheezed (there wasn't much of a difference right now). He felt like a yearling all over again, back when he had just begun to truly experience what it was like to have the things he cared for wrenched away from him. At that time, it seemed as though he existed merely to lose things. As he lost more and more, he gave up on holding onto anything. And he gave up on the notion that anypony who tried to take something away from him could have those feelings as well. In the end, he had only been trying to run away from the pain.

His reverie was interrupted by the sound of small hooves galloping up. "Dawn!" Unable to rouse the strength to lift his head, Dawn shifted his eyes but only barely caught the flash of orange and purple that signified the arrival of a certain pegasus filly.

Then she came back into view, looking down at him. Dawn was surprised to see tears rolling down her face freely. Scootaloo wasn't the type of pony who generally allowed herself to show such emotions in public.

"I thought you were dead," she choked, slumping to the ground next to him. She nuzzled his cheek softly before lifting her head up enough to rest her forehead against his, closing her eyes. "Don't do that to me again."

Again, Dawn sighed. He wanted to answer her back, but just couldn't find the strength to speak. Instead, he felt even more of his strength ebbing away as his wounds took their toll and the adrenaline flooding his system began to drain out. The world began to fade away again. As it did, Dawn heard Storm Front speak once again.

"We should get him to the hospital now."

The rising sun brightened the sky across the whole of Equestria. Across its width and breadth, in cities, villages and hamlets, the sun marked the beginning of a new day. It called out to ponies through their windows, summoning them forth for labor, school and life in general. It was only natural that ponies would begin their days at such at time.

But on one lonely road, another pony had already begun his day while the sky was still dark. The light-beige earth pony's body was obscured by a well-worn travelers cloak, its tattered edges swaying and drifting with the stallion's movements as he walked down the road as naturally as most ponies would go for a stroll through the park. How many miles had he covered like this? A hundred? A thousand? More? Even he wasn't certain of the answer. It was true, he could cover ground faster if he wanted. But he rarely felt the need to. He had never been late to anything that mattered, even when he took his time. Even now, though he was on a quest of no small degree of importance, he felt no need to act with haste.

By the time the sun rose, the stallion had crested a hill that gave him a view that stretched out for miles. Looking out, if one had eyes to see with, one could see the green fields stretching away, giving way to the forest on one side and abating at the edge of a small but pleasant looking town. Stretching out past the town, the landscape gradually gave way to more hills and mountains, right up to the side of Mount Equis, where Canterlot itself waited. It was a spectacular vista, but completely lost on the lone pony. The only thing he knew was that the end of his journey was near. He could smell it on the breeze.

Oh well, he thought, continuing on his journey, Onwards.

Dawn awoke feeling as though his back was lined with ice. His body felt constricted, but the searing pain of his injuries had faded into a dull but bearable ache. "Well," observed a wry voice from one side, "Back so soon?"

Dawn flicked his eyes over to see the doctor looking at him with an amused smirk. "I get the feeling we're going to be more than casual acquaintances," replied Dawn, his voice hoarse and cracked.

The doctor snorted. "Bruises, lacerations, every kind of burn from first to third-degree, cracked ribs...again. It's almost as though you're aiming to top your previous efforts. I don't get this kind of trouble often, not even from Rainbow Dash."

Dawn flicked his eyes around the room. "How long?"

"If you're asking how long you've been out, the answer's the better part of the day. It's pretty late in the afternoon now. And if you're asking about your injuries well..." The doctor paused, apparently running some calculations in his head, "About a month I'd say.

"Fortunately, your wing isn't broken this time. But you managed to sear off several feathers. Most of your time is going to be spent waiting for them to grow back. Your burns should be healed in less than a week once they've been fully treated. Your ribs will be better shortly after."

A sense of irritation washed over the colt before he calmed back down. I did at least partly bring this on myself. He shifted his gaze over to see Fluttershy resting in a seat on the other side of him. She had apparently fallen asleep and was resting her head on the mattress beside him, her soft breaths gently stirring his mane.

"She refused to leave your side for a moment," explained the doctor, "You're a lucky boy to have her for a mother."

Dawn would have nodded had he been able to lift his head off the pillow at the moment. "Too lucky," he said softly, tilted his head towards her so he could see her more clearly.

"Your friends are waiting outside. I'll tell them that you're awake but that you aren't strong enough for visitors at the moment." Turning around, the brown unicorn trotted out of the room, leaving Dawn and Fluttershy alone.

Focusing on his mother's breathing, Dawn relaxed as he allowed the sound to lull him into an easy sleep.

"Ah can't believe ya!" yelled Applejack, facing off against Red River. Raging fury pulsed through her veins, "What the hay were ya thinkin' doin' that to him? Tell me why Ah shouldn't report ya to the Guard."

Red River didn't even flinch at the mare's displeasure. "It was the best option we had at the time. We weren't hired to protect Dawn. As Twilight Sparkle stressed when we first came to Ponyville, that boy is more than capable of protecting himself. We were hired to help keep the peace should conflict find him. Dawn Lightwing's behavior was too erratic to allow us to leave things as they were. There was every chance that unless we did something he would have ended up lashing out and seriously hurting somepony. Had that happened, Dawn would have become the very kind of pony his detractors have tried to make him out to be and one of the threats we would have to protect Ponyville from." Neither mercenary chose to mention Granny Smith's role in the affair, feeling that there was probably a legitimate reason she hadn't chosen to show that side of herself to her family. Also, they had the distinct notion now that she was one mare not to cross.

"But did ya have to go and say y'all were gonna kill him?" she snapped, "What kinda helpin' is that?"

"It was drastic," Red River admitted, not wanting to share where the idea had originally come from, "Drastic, but necessary. It is the only way we could have helped Dawn as fellow martial artists."

"Is that what this was all about?" demanded the mare, "Martial arts?"

Red River sighed and looked over to the doors of the hospital leading into the waiting room, where the rest of the little group of well-wishers waited for news about the colt's condition. Their knowledge of what had happened that morning was incomplete at best. Fluttershy had spent the entire time in the room with Dawn. Surprisingly, at Scootaloo's urging, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had also kept the key details of events of earlier that day to themselves. Only Applejack had been determined enough to badger her employee and tenant into spilling the beans to her privately. "The martial arts are a difficult thing to deal with. At Dawn's level, they are closer to instinct than conscious, reasoned action. In his condition, he might very well have resorted to using those skills.

"During our fight, he created a tornado that Storm Front estimates topped out at a hundred and fifty wingpower. According to his analysis, it would have taken at least three average pegasi flying in close formation to create a cyclone like that under normal circumstances. Dawn created that tornado by swinging his wing once."

Applejack shuddered, the shiver of fear beginning to overtake her rage.

Red River continued. "Dawn's power is nothing to scoff at. He could crush bones easily without hardly exerting himself. He can create blades of air that could carve through steel like it was paper. And thanks to his constant training, he can do these things without conscious effort. Dawn has to consciously restrain himself if he wants to use those skills against another pony without killing or seriously injuring them."

Applejack winced, remembering her own fight with Dawn and how he had swatted her away like an insect.

"And that restraint is linked to his emotional state. Before, he was able to keep himself in check by completely deadening his emotions. But with him opening his heart, Dawn has put himself into a state of extreme emotional vulnerability. That means that when he has to deal with anger and pain, his mind will have a much harder time remaining in control."

"But how could ya put him through that after everything other ponies've put him through?" demanded Applejack, frantic tears leaking from her eyes, "After everythin' Ah put him through." She lowered her head, her voice and tone slowly draining away. She tensed as she felt Red River lower her head and rest his neck across hers.

"Because Storm Front and I were willing to do the one thing that nopony had ever done before. We faced Dawn Lightwing, a fellow martial artist. The ones who persecuted him faced him as nothing more than a freak or a monster. Our battle was the ultimate way of acknowledging his existence and his value as a pony. We faced him, not as some creature of nightmares, but as our peer.

"It was all done to awaken Dawn's soul and restore his ability to truly feel for others. His sense of empathy was eroded after years of mistreatment, but being brought face to face with death jolted that sense back to life, allowing him to retain his control better so that he can continue down the path of healing."

Lifting his head away from Applejack, Red River smiled down on her. "It was harsh and risky. There was definitely a very good chance we would have ended up killing Dawn for real because he was that strong and our fight was that close. It wasn't something we really wanted to do, but sometimes you have to fight poison with poison."

Looking back up at Red River, Applejack blinked and rubbed the tears from her eyes. "Okay, Ah get ya. But ya at least owe that colt an apology fer puttin' 'im through the wringer like that." She prodded him fiercely in the chest as she spoke.

"Alright alright," laughed Red River, stepping back slightly, "I promise. I certainly wouldn't want to risk you staying angry at me."

The azure stallion's dazzling smile made Applejack's heart flutter as her cheeks flushed. Applejack forced herself to look away from Red River's eyes. Fortunately, the awkward moment was interrupted by the sound of the hospital doors opening. Looking over, they saw their friends heading out. Twilight lead the group, consisting of the mares who made up the Elements of Harmony, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rumble, as well as Ditzy and Dinky.

"What's goin' on?" asked Applejack.

Twilight Sparkle gave her friend an encouraging smile. "Dawn woke up and he's going to recover. He's just too tired to see anyone besides Fluttershy right now. So we've decided to head back for now and come see him again when he's feeling more like himself."

Applejack let out a sigh of relief before turning back to Red River. "Ah guess that's it fer now. What say we head back to the farm."

Red River grinned and gave her an exaggerated bow. "After you oh most beautiful blossom."

The sound of her friends' laughter accompanied Applejack as her cheeks turned bright red.

The late afternoon sky was beginning to wash with color as the day waxed towards early evening. Rarity found herself watching that color with a pensive gaze as she and Sweetie Belle made their way back to the Carousel Boutique after their wait at the hospital. For once, the alabaster mare was without a project to keep her occupied. Furthermore, their parents were out of town...again, which meant that Sweetie Belle would be spending the next few nights at the Carousel Boutique with her older sister...again.

I swear, those two parents of mine take those trips just so they can force me and Sweetie Belle to spend time under the same roof. In spite of this irritable train of thought, Rarity had come to enjoy the time she spent with her younger sibling. She had certainly grown to appreciate Sweetie Belle a good bit after they had participated in the Sisterhooves Social together that one time, something that they now planned to do every year. More to the point, with her growing reputation and business, Rarity's work demands were growing as well, which increased the near constant stress she was under. Ironically, instead of making her even more irritable towards Sweetie Belle, Rarity was beginning to find herself appreciating the times she spent playing with the smaller unicorn even more than before. It was helped by the fact that Sweetie Belle had finally come to realize that her efforts to...assist Rarity only seemed to make her work harder and had learned to keep to the activities she knew wouldn't hamper her older sister's efforts. The long and short of it was that the two of them had come to an understanding and were better off for it.

But now, a new complication was being inserted into their lives. Rarity continued to turn Filthy Rich's proposition over in her head, wondering if she had done the right thing by accepting. She had the feeling that Sweetie Belle wouldn't like it one bit, but would rather that she be informed ahead of time. The last thing Rarity wanted was for Sweetie Belle to learn the situation by stumbling into it come Monday afternoon.

And, of course, all that had come before Dawn Lightwing had gone and gotten himself sent to the hospital...again. While Rarity didn't know the details, she was aware that the two mercenaries who had been brought in on Dawn's behalf were at least culpable, if not directly responsible for the colt's condition this time. She was quietly furious at the idea, since it had been for Dawn's sake that they had been hired to begin with. However, there was no way for her to arrive at a complete judgment until she knew the full truth of the situation.

"Rarity...hey sis?" Sweetie Belle's voice dragged Rarity from her reverie, prompting the mare to look down at her younger sister.

"Yes Sweetie Belle?"

"Are you okay sis? You're hardly paying attention to anything right now." Sweetie Belle's innocent and confused gaze made Rarity want to spill the beans right there and then.

Rarity forced out a laugh before looking pointedly away. It was habit by this point and she was already well aware that her behavior had just clued Sweetie in to the fact that something was amiss. "Oh, it's nothing darling. I just happen to have a lot on my mind at the moment." She paused and decided that the best thing to do would be to address her sister's suspicions before she brought them up. "And to be honest, one of the things I'm thinking about has to do with our situation. I promise to talk to you about it later this evening...or sooner."

"Really?" asked Sweetie, giving Rarity a confused look. It wasn't often she was beaten to the punch like this.

"Oh yes," answered Rarity, feeling better, "It's something I can't afford to put off until tomorrow. So I will definitely explain shortly."

"Okay," said Sweetie, turning her gaze forward...only for her eyes to widen at what she saw. "Rarity! Look out!"

"What are you ta-OOF!" Rarity's inquiry was cut short by the sudden impact. Unfortunately, Sweetie Belle's warning had drawn Rarity's eyes to her, rather than the road ahead, causing Rarity to miss the fact that there was an impediment in their path. As a result, the breath was knocked from her lungs as she collided with something very solid and alive. Because they had been walking at a rather easy pace, the impact wasn't very powerful, but Rarity's lack of preparedness led to her being knocked over.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry." Rarity blinked upon hearing the voice of the stallion she had just run into. "Are you alright."

Taking stock, Rarity noticed nothing aside from a few dirt smudges that stained her once-immaculate white coat with patches of brown. Her first impulse was to scream at the realization that she was... filthy, but forced it down for the benefit of the other pony. "Oh, it's nothing dear," she said, getting to her hooves while she tried (and failed) to hide the tremble in her voice, "I was just caught off guard, that's all. And I should be the one apologizing seeing as I obviously wasn't doing a very good job of looking where I was going."

The stallion, whose flank Rarity had inadvertently rammed into turned to face her. "I should apologize as well. I should know better than to just plant myself in the middle of the road like this."

Using her magic to brush herself off, Rarity took a moment to examine the pony that had just knocked her over. From what she could see, his coat was a light beige color. His mane, what little of it she could see underneath his hood, was a darker shade. In all honesty, his coloration had the markings of a rather unremarkable pony, one whom one might forget a few minutes after their first encounter. Unfortunately, his eyes were not visible as they were closed at the moment. The rest of his body was hidden by the dull brown cloak he wore. A swish of his tail sent it billowing slightly, not enough for Rarity to get a better look at the stallion's features, but enough for her to really notice its state of disrepair.

Her self-control, already badly fractured by having taken a tumble in the dirt, shattered completely, allowing an ear-splitting shriek to issue forth at the utter insult to fabulosity that was the stallion before her. "Oh good gracious darling! However could you allow yourself to be seen in such a shabby outfit?"

The stallion tilted his head slightly, confused by the rabid fashionista's outburst. "Shabby?" He sounded mildly miffed to have his choice of clothing disparaged so emphatically.

"Oh absolutely! Simply look at how tattered and worn it's become! Why it's a miracle that patchy thing hasn't simply rotted right off your back." Hearing this, the stallion ran his hoof along the hem of the cloak, feeling the tears and rough edges along its edge. Rarity continued, her horn already glowing brilliantly as she latched onto the unfortunate pony with her magic and began to drag him along in her wake, his hooves plowing deep furrows in the ground. "You simply must accompany me back to my boutique. I will make a new cloak for you at once."

"Um, is that really necessary?" The stallion turned his head down, feeling a prodding at his side. Sweetie Belle trotted alongside him, an amused grin on her face.

"Sorry," she said, her voice just above a whisper, "There's no stopping her when she's like this. Just bear with it for a while."

The beige stallion mulled this over for a moment before allowing a sigh to escape his lips. "Oh very well. If you insist." His nose twitched and he sniffed the air curiously before silently allowing himself to be dragged off.

"Well," observed Spike as he stifled a yawn from his position on Twilight's back, "That was a bust."

"I just wish I understood what happened," said Twilight as she carried her assistant back to the library, "It sounds as though Dawn and those two stallions got into a life-or-death battle. I'm starting to have second thoughts about my brother's judgment if the result is that Dawn's in the hospital again."

"Don't we need to get the full story before we make any of those kinds of judgments?" asked Spike.

Twilight paused for a moment. "I guess you're right. If I don't have all the relevant data, I can't make an informed decision on the matter. The best thing to do would be to talk to Dawn about it, but that's going to have to wait for now."

Opening the door, Twilight trotted easily into the the library, casting her eyes around. "Now then, I promised Rarity that I'd bring her that new volume on the fashion trends of Old Neightingham...where is it?"

"Over here," called Spike having already found the volume and pulling it off the shelf.

"Oh thanks," said Twilight, grabbing the book with her magic and levitating it over. Taking a moment, she examined the title and grinned. "I guess I should take this over to Rarity's. She's supposed to be there with Sweetie Belle right now. Would you like to come along Spike?"

"Okay." Spike grinned, his enthusiasm bringing a soft smile to Twilight's face. It wasn't so long ago that the mention of a visit to Rarity's would have brought about a bout of preparation that would have rivaled Twilight's panic attacks whenever she learned Celestia was coming to visit. The little dragon would spend a surprising amount of time grooming himself before getting the objects necessary for whatever errand he was supposed to run, along with a bouquet of flowers (Spike, having apparently taken a page from Pinkie's book, had seemingly stashed a supply of flower bouquets all over Ponyville in case of Rarity-related emergencies). Nowadays, Spike seemed much more relaxed and at ease when the topic of visiting Rarity came up. And from what Twilight could tell, it seemed to be because Spike had let go of his young crush on her. Twilight wasn't sure if he had just given up, or if something else was in the works, though she had noticed that her little brother was spending an inordinate amount of time with a certain Apple Family filly as of late.

Shoving her musings aside, Twilight loaded the book, and Spike, onto her back and started off towards Rarity's boutique. "Now before we go to the boutique, I have a few errands to run, if you don't mind..."

The door to the Carousel Boutique slammed shut with all the finality of the gate to a dungeon cell. The stallion was dumped onto the floor without the slightest ceremony and his cloak ripped from his shoulders.

"Now then," said Rarity, examining the garment, "At the very least, I should see if this rag is at least salvageable before I consider making something from scratch. I'll find out in a moment. Please go ahead and make yourself comfortable Mister..." Rarity's monologue ground to a halt as she realized a very important fact. She had forgotten to ask the stallion's name. "Oh dear! How rude of me! I've dragged you in here so unceremoniously without so much as asking your name dear. I'm so sorry."

The stallion tilted his head slightly. With his eyes closed, it was difficult to read his expression. "It's perfectly alright. You had other things on your mind did you not?"

"I certainly did," agreed Rarity loftily, "However, that is no excuse for being so carried away that I didn't even bother to request your name. I hope you can forgive my impropriety Mister..." Her voice trailed off as she took her first good look at the stallion now that he was no longer covered by the cloak. His mane was indeed a dark, dirty brown, unkempt and wildly disorganized from being under a hood for a long time. Rarity felt her eye twitch at the sight of the unruly mop of hair, but found her eyes taking in the rest of him. His body looked to be composed of solid, but supple muscles, which she found quite appealing. She could understand now how running into him felt like walking into a wall. While he was nowhere near as large, Rarity couldn't help but think that the strange stallion's muscles were even more solid and dense than Big Macintosh's. Finally, her eyes swept over his flank and noted his cutie mark, a pair of swords with black inlays, crossed over each other, an exotic one to say the least.

"Arkenstone."

Jolted out of her examination, Rarity's head shot back up and she blinked for a moment. "I beg your pardon?"

"Arkenstone. That's my name."

"Thank you...Mister Arkenstone. Would you be willing to accept my apology?"

"Of course," replied the stallion with a relaxed smile.

Rarity's anxiety faded away and she returned Arkenstone's smile, along with a businesslike nod. "Please make yourself comfortable. I will return in due time with your cloak." Turning around, she trotted over to the door and closed it behind her as she made her way in the workroom, leaving Arkenstone sitting in the showroom of the boutique, looking quite lost.

"Sorry about that." Arkenstone's ears twitched at the sound of Sweetie Belle's voice, "Rarity gets carried away pretty easily when it comes to things about clothes."

"So I noted," replied Arkenstone with a brief snort of amusement.

"Hey," said Sweetie Belle after looking him over, "That's a neat cutie mark you have. What does it mean?"

To her surprise, the stallion went rigid at the mention of his cutie mark. Sweetie was a little surprised to see how uncomfortable Arkenstone seemed about the whole question. Finally, he spoke. "My 'special talent,' as it were, is striking out to overcome adversity and difficulty."

Sweetie Belle tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?" It was the first time she had heard of such an vague definition for a cutie mark. "Hey. How'd you get it?" she asked insistently, "Maybe then I can understand what that means."

Arkenstone turned his head downwards. "I would rather not repeat that story. It is not exactly the highest point of my life."

That set Sweetie Belle back. All her life, she'd been taught that getting a cutie mark was one of the most important things in a pony's life. Her friends at school, her sister, and her sister's friends, had all been proud to relate the stories of how they got their cutie mark and found their true callings in life. They had all described it as one of the happiest days in their lives. Arkenstone's words seemed almost alien to her. How could a pony not be proud of the day he got his cutie mark?

Now, more than ever, she wanted to know this strange pony's story and find out how he got his cutie mark. However, Sweetie Belle had learned from Rarity that it was better to act with a certain degree of decorum. Pressing this stallion for information would not allow her to learn what she wanted to know.

"Sorry," she said, looking away, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Maybe we should talk about something else." She smiled and looked back up at him. "Hey, I know. What's your job?"

"My job?"

"Yeah, you know, what you do for a living." Sweetie figured that maybe if she took this approach, she could figure out the secret behind Arkenstone's cutie mark.

"I do many things," replied Arkenstone simply, "In some respects, I am little more than a vagabond. I travel around the country and take on various jobs as I need to get by."

"So you travel a lot?"

"Quite a bit," replied Arkenstone with a smile, his head having lifted up, "I've waited tables in Manehatten, taught night school in Trottingham, and worked as a bouncer in Las Pegasus."

"Ooh!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle, getting drawn in.

"And what about this town?" asked Arkenstone, "What sort of things go on here?"

"Oh well..." Sweetie Belle paused and then began to tell all the stories she knew about the things that went on in Ponyville. Arkenstone listened patiently, chuckling in amusement at some of the more humorous anecdotes the filly had to share. Fortunately, this topic ate away the time and by the time she had run out of stories to tell, at least two hours had passed and the sky was getting darker as the evening wore on.

At around this time, the door to the back room opened to admit Rarity. She hefted her newly finished work, smiling proudly. "Here you are dear, I've finished your new cloak."

Arkenstone reached out and caught the garment as it drifted in the light blue glow of Rarity's magic. Feeling it, he noted that the cloak was a little heavier than the one he had worn before. The fabric had a much finer texture, indicative of a higher quality. "Are you sure this is alright?" he asked, "It seems a bit extravagant for a lowly traveler like myself."

"Oh think nothing of it," replied Rarity, clearly enthused with her creation, "I cobbled that thing together from the leftovers of some of my previous projects. It's weatherproof, so it should keep you dry in the rain. It's also lined to insulate your body, which will help you stay cool in summer and warm during the cooler months. I also matched it to your coloration so you won't like some shiftless vagabond everywhere you go."

"Miss Rarity," replied Arkenstone, a hint of amusement in his voice, "Suffice to say, I am a shiftless vagabond."

Rarity blinked at that, surprised at his claim. "Well," she said after a moment, "At the very least you'll look fabulous while being shiftless."

Arkenstone's hearty chuckle was accompanied by Sweetie Belle's light giggle at Rarity's consternation. "I have to say I am very grateful for your kindness," he said after a moment, "I'm afraid I don't have any money to pay you for your fork, but perhaps you could allow me to do some odd jobs around here..."

"Absolutely not!" snapped Rarity, "There is no need for you to repay me. I can understand that you have been on the road for some time. It would go against my principles to allow you to wander about so ill-clad."

She expected the stallion to insist that he be allowed a way to repay her, but was surprised to see him relent instantly. "In that case, I am grateful for your generosity." He dipped his head in acknowledgment.

"You're quite welcome."

Arkenstone paused from examining his new cloak to sniff the air for a moment. "Pardon me if this sounds strange but, you have a certain scent about you."

"Whatever do you mean?" asked Rarity, taking a moment to sniff herself, if Arkenstone's approach hadn't been so odd, she would have been offended by his question.

"It's just that I smell something familiar. I don't think the scent comes directly from you, rather it belongs to somepony you spend a lot of time around...somepony I think I may know." As if to emphasize his point, Arkenstone pointedly sniffed the air some more.

"Really?" Rarity was stunned by his words. She knew some ponies had excellent senses of smell, but this was something much stranger. Being the fastidious mare that she was, Rarity knew she smelt of many things. She smelt of the fabrics that she wove her life around. She smelt of the salts and soaps of the baths she regularly took. She smelt of the oils and herbs used at the spa that she and Fluttershy regularly frequented. To think that, of all those scents mingling together around her, he had been able to isolate the smell of a single pony boggled her mind. Of course, given how vague that statement is, there's no proof that he's actually picking up the smell of one of my friends or acquaintances, she thought. If he was trying to lie or bluff, it was odd, seeing as she couldn't figure out what he would have to gain from this.

"And who is this pony you smell about me?" she asked, trying to figure out his game.

"She's somepony I knew when I lived in Canterlot during my colthood years," explained Arkenstone, tilting his head upwards as he reminisced, "I was a good friend of her older brother's, though I found her quite the pleasant young filly, even if she was a little overly obsessed with her books..."

"Books..." Rarity's mind began to put the pieces together. Lived in Canterlot...had an older brother...obsessed with books...he couldn't mean...

At that exact moment, the door to the Carousel Boutique swung open to admit a cheerful lavender unicorn and her dragon assistant. "Rarity, I'm here with the book you wanted..." Her voice trailed off when she realized that Rarity and Sweetie Belle were not alone. "Oh I'm sorry," she said sheepishly, "I didn't realize you were in the middle of something."

"Oh no, it's quite alright," answered Rarity quickly, "We were just about to finish our business anyway."

To her surprise, Arkenstone sniffed the air and turned to face Twilight, who flinched back from him as his eyes, still shut, turned towards her. "Twilight?" asked the stallion, recognition clear in his voice, "Twilight Sparkle?"

Author's Note

So...here it is, the first chapter of story 3. For those of you who are curious (or furious) about the ending to the last story, I will direct you to this blog post., which I hope explains things to your satisfaction.

Yes, I will admit that Red River and Storm Front (not to mention Granny Smith) are going to get off rather easy from this. This is largely because their gambit proved to be a rousing success. Naturally, the consequences would be much different if things had gone horribly wrong. But they didn't. Are they gonna catch some flak for what they did, you bet. In the end, they acted with Dawn's best interests at heart and utilized the best (for them), if most drastic option they had by confronting him as fellow martial artists and, more or less, literally beating a sense of empathy into him. Would this sort of thing work in the real world? Probably not. But I applied a liberal helping of Shonen psychology. Yes, Dawn is in the hospital...again. Yes, he's badly injured. Yes, it'll be at least a month before he'll be able to fly again. But his violent tendencies have (hopefully) been headed off, keeping him from becoming a threat to the ponies he cares about, because, honestly, if Dawn snaps, they are the ones who will probably end up suffering the most in the long run.

On to other things. A new OC is introduced in this chapter. His role doesn't really become all that important until much later on. He doesn't have as much development as maybe Dawn does because you might call him the "hero of another story," having gone through much of his own character development in the time before he came to Ponyville. The next chapters will go into a little bit more detail as to who this Arkenstone guy is (I bet you can't guess where I got that name from) and what he's doing here.

The Order

Chapter 3: The Order

"WHAT!!!" Twilight winced and covered her ears as Rarity's shout seemed to shake the library tree to its roots. Rarity stared at her friend, eyes wide with disbelief. "You can't be serious can you? This is some sort of prank right? Are you actually saying those ponies are real? I thought they were a myth, a bedtime story for foals. I remember my parents telling me those stories when I was Sweetie’s age.”

Twilight chuckled. “Are you that surprised? Considering our record with old mare’s tales turning out to be true, this is a drop in the bucket.”

“I suppose...” admitted Rarity, tapping her chin thoughtfully. After all, Nightmare Moon, the Elements, Discord, even the Crystal Empire had been nothing more than stories and rumors...until they had had been revealed to be very real. “I admit you have a point there. But there’s a bit of a different. It’s one thing for ancient beings and powerful magics to have been revealed, but for a whole knightly order to exist, only to be chalked up merely as a myth seems a bit far fetched to me. It may seem paradoxical, but I find it a bit odd for such an organization to fade into legend like that, particularly if, as your friend’s status attests, that it remains a very present and very active part of Equestrian life.”

“Well, to start, there aren’t many of them.” Twilight shrugged. “All the fanfare and ceremony that comes with certain knightly orders, particularly those created by the nobility, isn’t present. And with so few ponies being members, they don’t have much visibility to regular Equestrians.”

“How many are there?”

“Last I heard, no more than seven.” Twilight shrugged. “Arkenstone is the only member that I know of, much less met. And even I’ve never met him in his official capacity, not even yesterday. In fact, from the way he was keeping vague about his actions, I’m not entirely sure Arkenstone knows that I know he’s a Knight.” Something about Twilight’s speech made the capital K quite clear.

The lavender unicorn pressed on. “The second reason that they’re largely believed to be mythical is because they go out of their way to keep their status as Knights a secret. From what I understand, one of the Order’s overriding tenets is humility in practice by not publicly acknowledging their own existence unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“You mean they all live like your friend, wandering about, pretending to be shiftless vagabonds?” asked Rarity.

Twilight shrugged again. “I can only speak for Arkenstone. I’m guessing he uses that as cover to allow him to travel from one place to another to carry out Celestia’s orders without garnering attention. As far as I know, there’s no rule saying that Knights can’t be public figures or hold important positions. The tenet is about never publicly acknowledging that they are, in fact, Knights.

“To be honest, I don’t know any of the specifics of what the Knights actually do. Princess Celestia only ever really gave me a basic overview. From what she told me, I know that they are critical to keeping Equestria safe from outside enemies, bandit raids, rampaging dragons, invading armies, that sort of thing.”

Rarity blinked in silent shock for a moment. “With just seven of them?”

Twilight nodded. “The Knights are...well, they’re powerful. That’s what gets them noticed by Princess Celestia in the first place. After that, she carefully vets and tests them before making the decision to actually Knight them. Remember what I told you Celestia told me about Dawn and his martial art, how powerful he’ll be if he if he fully masters it?”

Rarity nodded.

“The Knights are supposed to be in that class of power. Princess Celestia ranked them among the few ponies who could actually oppose a full master of one of the Three Pillars. The only other ponies occupying, or rather exceeding, that tier of power would be the Princesses themselves.”

Rarity shied away from her friend. The thought that somepony that powerful had been standing in her boutique and, worse, she had unceremoniously dragged across half of Ponyville made her more than slightly nervous. And yet, Arkenstone had given no sign, not the slightest indication that he was anywhere nearly as strong as Twilight suggested, save perhaps his admittedly impressive (and she wouldn’t find it a stretch to say “hunky”) physique, even if he was no Big Macintosh (Now there was a stallion Rarity wouldn’t mind sinking her teeth into if he didn’t already belong to Ditzy).

“So let me get this straight,” she said after a moment, “Arkenstone is one of seven ponies who apparently posses power on an order approaching our esteemed Princesses, who are supposed to protect Equestria from powerful threats. Am I correct so far?”

Twilight nodded.

Rarity continued. “Then please excuse me when I find myself wondering WHERE IN TARTARUS HAVE THEY BEEN!!!?”

“Ack!” Twilight jumped back from Rarity as she began to pace back and forth, ranting.

“Nightmare Moon! Discord! Queen Chrysalis! King Sombra! Your atrocious dress ideas! Where have they been all this time? What in the world could be so important, so dangerous, that they weren’t here for all that?”

“I don’t have all the answers you know,” said Twilight, “I suppose some of it could be chalked up to needing the right tool for the right job. Being a Knight is mostly a martial profession anyway, which would have gone against what Princess Celestia wanted to do about Nightmare Moon or the Crystal Empire. As for the others...I honestly can’t say for sure. Like I said, it’s not as though I have detailed information on their activities...”

"Princess Celestia," said Arkenstone, giving her a brief bow. Had any members of the nobility been watching, they would have been scandalized by the stallion's lack of proper decorum.

Forcing the smile off her face, Celestia put on her most serious expression.. "If you have returned, then I expect that your mission is finished."

"It is," replied Arkenstone, his tone going flat. Celestia was fairly certain she could hear resentment in his words.

"And..."

Arkenstone curled around and reached a hoof into his own tail, pulling a black object from its dark-brown confines. With a flick of his hoof, he tossed the item onto the table, where it clattered over to rest in front of Celestia. It was a long jagged piece of chitin, shaped in a grotesque parody of a unicorn's horn.

"The Changeling Queen, Chrysalis, is dead," declared Arkenstone, his tone ice-cold, "I slew her in open battle. The remnants of her swarm have scattered and will likely starve before long. She is no longer a threat to Equestria."

Celestia stared silently at the grim souvenir Arkenstone had dropped in front of her. "It would seem that your mission was a success," she said softly.

"Yes," agreed Arkenstone, his voice heavy with disgust, "I killed a sentient creature for being true to her nature and sentenced her species to a prolonged genocide. Forgive me if I'm not rejoicing at the prospect."

"It was unfortunate," said Celestia, lifting up the severed horn with a golden aura and turning it before her eyes, "But they would not treat with us and left us with no other option."

"Yes," said Arkenstone, his voice softening, "She would not listen to reason."

"She would not listen because she was being true to her nature, as you said," Celestia pointed out.

"Indeed," agreed Arkenstone, "But I cannot be proud of this."

"I wouldn't ask it of you," said Celestia, "The fact that you performed such an act and reflect upon it like this is proof that you are truly worthy of the trust I bestowed upon you." She smiled again. "I've kept you busy these past few years, haven't I?"

Arkenstone sighed wearily and nodded. "Indeed."

"You've earned some time to rest. Chrysalis was one of the last major threats to Equestria's safety for now. I've seen no sign of any impending crisis that requires your attention. Take some time for yourself, settle down somewhere and enjoy the peace you've fought so hard for."

"I intend to," replied Arkenstone, turning back towards the door.

"Where are you planning to settle, if you don't mind me asking?" asked Celestia, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I was thinking of staying in Ponyville for awhile," answered the stallion, "I ran into an old friend there. Perhaps you know something about that."

A smile tugged at Celestia's lips. "I haven't the slightest idea of what you mean. But I'm sure you'll like it there. The residents are quite friendly."

Remembering the rather...forceful generosity that resulted in his new cloak, Arkenstone smiled ruefully. "I noticed. Could I bother you for a small favor?"

"Anything," replied Celestia without the slightest hesitation.

Rarity sighed a she settled back onto the cushions, her agitation spent for the time being. “Just where did they come from then, these Knights?”

“You remember the Princesses’s story about the routing of King Ironclaw’s army?” asked Twilight.

Rarity nodded in response. She remembered Twilight sharing that with the group of friends shortly after hearing it from Celestia.

“The founding of the Order took place only a few years after that,” said Twilight, “I think Celestia was inspired by the story of a mere three ponies halting an entire army. She’d never wanted Equestria to have to bother with the trials of war, which was why she never expanded the Guard into a true army. The other reason she didn’t want to form a standing army, even for the sake of protection, is because an army can be used for attack as easily as it can be used for defense. Even if she never had that intention...”

“Our neighbors would see Equestria building an army and could very well draw that kind of conclusion on their own,” agreed Rarity.

Twilight nodded in agreement. “But with the Knights, I think she found what she felt was an ideal solution. By keeping a tiny number of ponies, who could rout entire armies on their own, she could keep Equestria safe. But at the same time, that kind of power is little help when it comes to the logistics necessary to take and hold territory; a force, ideal for defense, but useless for launching any kind of invasion on their own. That’s what she was aiming for with the Knights.”

“I suppose I could understand that,” admitted Rarity, “But there’s one more thing that bothers me...the name.”

“You have a point,” agreed Twilight, “In all the years that I’ve known about the Celestial Order of Knights and the Cult Solar, including their original name, I’ve never really drawn any kind of connection between the two. After all, Celestia created the Order of Knights herself. If there’s any connection between the two, it’s likely because she was seeking to co-opt the Cult Solar’s original name for itself into something genuinely good for Equestria. At least, that’s the only reason I can think of.”

Rarity sighed. “To think such an important pony is wearing my fashions right now. Oh if only I could advertise it. Not that anypony would believe me anyway.”

Twilight could only giggle at her friend’s consternation.

The doors closed with a resounding thud behind the stallion as he left the audience chamber. Even before they had opened for him, his keen nose had already detected the presence of two familiar ponies just beyond the threshold. As he stepped out, a boyish grin spread across Arkenstone's face. "It's been a long time."

Two white unicorn stallions stood before him, both smiling amiably at the Knight. One, with a multi-toned blue mane and wearing silver armor stepped forward and immediately wrapped Arkenstone up in a boisterous hug. "I haven't seen you in ages Arkenstone," said Shining Armor as he released his friend.

"Indeed, you should at least write more," added the other stallion, with a magnificently groomed blonde mane. With a grin, he stepped forward and gave Arkenstone an embrace of his own in greeting.

"I hear you've gone into governance Blue," chortled Arkenstone as they stepped away from each other.

Prince Blueblood tossed his hair in his usual elegant manner. "That's just proof of how out of touch you've been. I got into politics years ago. I'm Minister of the Treasury now."

"You sound proud. You must've really earned that title."

Blueblood snorted indignantly. "You have no idea. Auntie Celestia was merciless. She shoved so much work on me I was afraid I'd be buried alive at the time. They could have built my coffin from all my paperwork."

With a chuckle, Arkenstone turned back to Shining Armor. "And I've heard you've done well for yourself. You're a prince now."

Shining shifted uncertainly. "Sort of," he admitted, "I'm technically Prince of the Crystal Empire now that Cadance is its Princess, but I'm still a captain of the Royal Guard. The Crystal Empire doesn't really need much in the way of governance, so we still spend a lot of our time in Canterlot."

"As expected," mused Arkenstone, "By the way, I'm sorry for missing your wedding."

Shining shrugged. "Eh, it couldn't be helped. The Changelings threw everything off kilter. You and the other Knights were sent to protect against hostile forces that ended up never coming. I thought about holding things up after we routed the invasion. But after everything everypony had been through, we decided to go ahead so we could wrap things up."

A grin returning to his face, Shining spoke again. "But you can make it up to us by joining me and Cadance for dinner. This blowhard..." he jerked a hoof in Blueblood's direction, "...is tagging along."

"Blowhard," protested an affronted Blueblood, "Who just came away with three out of five wins on the practice grounds? If you ask me, you've let being made a prince make you soft."

Shining Armor winced, but still grinned in amusement. Arkenstone simply listened as his two old friends traded jibes. Before the little argument could dissolve into a wrestling match, Blueblood paused and once again turned his attention to Arkenstone. "By the way, have you thought about visiting your parents? They'll be excited to see you again."

"I suppose I should" admitted Arkenstone, "Are they still quartered in your mansion?"

"Of course," replied Blueblood, "Those two old fogies would sooner drop dead than retire. Redwood still keeps a bucket of ice-water on hoof every morning, just in case he thinks I need more motivation to get out of bed."

The three friends shared a laugh and made their way through the labyrinthine halls of the palace, their chatter echoing along the marble corridors.

"Goodbye and try to at least make it a full month before you wind up back here again," said the doctor as Dawn and Fluttershy left the hospital. The two of them made their way sedately into town. Yet again, the sky was clear and bright, with nary a cloud to be seen.

"Well, we have some time before we need to go home," said Fluttershy, smiling widely, "Was there something you wanted to do in town first?"

Dawn hummed as he thought about it. "I would like to stop by the library. Since I won't be doing much physical activity for the next month, it won't be much trouble for me to let Twilight Sparkle conduct her studies."

"That's true," agreed Fluttershy, "What about your friends?"

"The typical Cutie Mark Crusader activity is a little to rough for my current state," said Dawn, giving his bandages a wan look, "I'd rather not hold them back while I recover."

"You wouldn't be holding them back silly," said Fluttershy, nuzzling her son on the cheek, "You and your friends can still have plenty of fun while you recover. It'll give them a chance to try some quieter, gentler things." Celestia knows the town would appreciate it.

"I suppose," answered Dawn with a shrug, "That's up to them more than me. Otherwise, I think I'll continue to help Ditzy learn how to navigate through her wind-sense."

"It was very kind of you to teach her that," said Fluttershy as she beamed down at him, "I haven't seen Ditzy so happy in my life."

"You know her well then?"

"Of course. She went to Flight School with me and Rainbow Dash. Of the three of us, she was the only one who actually graduated." Fluttershy slumped a little. "She was bottom of the class though. The instructors liked her about as much as they did me. The only reason she made it all the way through was because her parents were major donors to the school."

"Really?" asked Dawn, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

Fluttershy sighed and shook her head. "Ditzy's not stupid. But she is clumsy. To make matters worse, her academic scores during exams were very low because her eye condition makes reading and writing difficult. She would have been fine if she had been allowed extra time to work, but Cloudsdale's Flight School doesn't have a policy for accommodating ponies with disabilities. That would be 'coddling' them."

Dawn blinked in surprise. That was the first time he had heard his mother take such a sarcastic tone. He could tell she was speaking with memories of bitter experiences behind her. He thought about asking her for more information, but opted not to. She would share in her own time when she thought it appropriate and he didn't feel like pressing her.

The uncomfortable silence accompanied the two of them to the library. Fluttershy was so distracted by her own thoughts, she failed to notice the violet glow in the air before her and bumped nose-first into the forcefield that had been erected around the library. Falling back with a startled squeak, Fluttershy took a moment to gently rub her aching snout before looking up at the unexpected impediment.

"Oh dear, what's this about?"

Dawn had noticed the force field and stopped in time to avoid the same fate as his mother. But he was equally baffled as to its purpose. However, just as he was starting to try and decipher what was going on, the dome of light split at the top and dissolved away as though it had never been. The library's door opened and Rarity trotted out.

"Oh dear! Fluttershy! What happened darling?" asked Rarity upon seeing her stunned friend sitting on the ground.

Fluttershy grinned sheepishly. "I accidentally walked into Twilight's force field."

"Oh, terribly sorry about that dear," said Rarity, helping her friend to her feet, "Twilight and I were having a conversation about a very private matter. Some of the measures she took to avoid being overheard were...extreme." The fashionista cast a dubious look over her shoulder at the arboreal building. "I thought it was a little much, but she insisted."

"What were you two talking about?" asked Fluttershy.

Rarity briefly froze, her eyes darting about. Baring her teeth in a nervous grin, she zeroed her eyes in on the clock tower in the distance. "Oh my! Look at the time! I have a late afternoon appointment that I have to get ready for immediately. Terribly sorry to cut our conversation short Fluttershy, but I'd best be going."

Dawn watched the white-coated mare flee back to her own home before exchanging a confused look with his mother. "That was...interesting."

"Yes," agreed Fluttershy, "I wonder what she was so nervous about."

"Given the circumstances, I suspect that Twilight Sparkle swore her to secrecy on whatever it was that they talked about," ventured Dawn, turning his attention back to the library, "We should leave it be."

Fluttershy frowned, but couldn't fault Dawn's decision. There was no reason to pry into somepony's secrets if it wasn't doing any harm. Deciding to let it go, the two headed into the library to speak with Twilight.

Rarity looked up as she put the finishing touches on her latest dress. This one was a special gift for Fluttershy in preparation for her date with Caramel, who was due to be released from the hospital later in the coming week. That poor stallion, she thought, He must have been in an awful state. Dawn's been in and out of the hospital twice in the time it's taken him to recover.

The sound of the bell over her door drew Rarity's attention to the entrance, where her eyes fell upon the small pink filly who had entered. For a long moment, silence lingered over the two ponies as they regarded one another. Then, finally, Diamond Tiara spoke, her voice heavy with contempt.

"I don't know who you think you are, but the only reason I'm here is that daddy wouldn't give me back my allowance if I didn't. So don't think you can just go bossing me around, you low-class pretender."

Normally, Rarity's first instinct would have been to protest, but she realized that if she gave any indication that Diamond Tiara's words had rattled her, she would never be able to instruct the filly. She was sorely tempted to take Diamond Tiara and use her as a model for a line of fillies' clothing, complete with many accidental needle pricks to the rump. But while that would have been cathartic and gone a long ways towards giving the irritating filly a taste of the humiliation she had dished out to Sweetie Belle on a regular basis, Rarity knew she had to take the high road.

It was time to teach Diamond Tiara about real class.

Rarity walked straight up to Diamond Tiara, her face set in its sternest glare. As she came right in front of Diamond Tiara, she brought her hoof down with a tremendous stomp that made the filly jump in surprise.

Before Diamond Tiara could recover her composure, Rarity took action. "Stand up straight! Your posture is atrocious!" barked Rarity, "Your spine should be level and your legs directly beneath you!" Her tone, combined with Diamond Tiara's own surprise caused the filly to jump to attention immediately.

"Eyes forward!" Rarity continued, "Keep your face straight ahead! If you want to learn poise, you need to learn how to control yourself! A lady of class does not simply act according to a child's whims."

Diamond Tiara opened her mouth to argue, but wasn't able to so much as squeak a word of protest before Rarity's sharp reprimand cut her off. "Close your mouth at once! Until I tell you otherwise, you will not speak unless I give you permission. This is not some menial chore your father gave you. While you are here, you are my student and I am your teacher. You will show me respect whether you like it or not."

Even though her quivering eyes betrayed her fear at Rarity's thunderous diatribe, Diamond Tiara remained silent and still. Rarity smiled approvingly. "Good. You can learn. Now then, from now on, when you address me, you will address me as Miss Rarity. Do you understand?"

It took Diamond Tiara a moment to work up the strength of will to speak. "Y-yes Miss Rarity."

"Very good. Now let's begin..."

Fluttershy opened the door to her cottage, allowing Dawn and herself to enter. "I'll get started on dinner," she said, moving towards the kitchen. Before she could continue, she felt a tug on her tail. Turning around, she saw that Dawn had pulled on it to stop her.

What she saw shocked her. Dawn was looking up at her, his eyes filled with a nervous energy, as though he wanted to say something, but was afraid of what the consequences might be. It was completely different from how he usually was. His normal calm composure was gone and replaced by an expression of child-like nervousness that should not have looked so out of place on a foal his age. The only time she had seen him even remotely like this had been when he had broken down after Applejack's apology. That time, the unexpected sincere apology had caught him off guard and broken through the wall of emotional neutrality he had built around himself. But this time, the colt seemed to have willingly relinquished his tight self-control in favor of expressing his true feelings. His heart was raw, exposed, and he had never seemed so vulnerable.

"Mom," he said quietly, a whisper that made even Fluttershy strain to hear it.

"Yes?" she asked as gently as she could, leaning in to make certain that she didn't miss a single word.

"I-I..." Dawn hesitated and screwed his eyes shut, concentrating before working up the courage to say what he wanted to. "I love you mom."

Absolute silence descended on the cottage. Even the animals in their burrows and shelters froze, not making the slightest sound, not shifting even an inch as all waited for Fluttershy's reaction. They all sensed that this was a momentous occasion for their caretaker.

Fluttershy's mind reeled. She had told Dawn that she loved him on many occasions. But this was the first time the colt had said it himself. She realized, then and there, that this was the true lesson that Red River and Storm Front had been trying to teach him. Dawn had willingly relinquished his emotional defenses, rendered himself vulnerable in order to express what was truly in his heart, rather than trying to keep it sealed away. The old wound had been reopened. But it was healing properly this time. She found herself smiling and crying at the same time.

Pulling the colt close, Fluttershy once again wrapped him tightly in her embrace as her tears dampened his mane. "Dawn," she said, "I love you so much."

The two of them remained like that for a very long time.

Twilight yawned as she put away the last of her equipment. Her excitement over all the new things she was learning about Dawn and his eyes had taken its toll. Making her way up the stairs, she looked forward to a nice dinner with Spike before taking a good book up to bed and doing a little reading before she went to sleep. However, it seemed that fate had other plans.

A loud banging at her door greeted Twilight as she came up into the library's main room. With a sigh, she realized that she was probably not done for the evening.

"Want me to get that?" asked Spike coming to the kitchen door.

"No, I'll get it," replied Twilight, opening the door from across the room.

She was greeted by the sight of a frazzled blue pegasus panting in her entryway. "Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash had certainly seen better days. Her namesake mane and tail were a complete mess, much more so than usual, with individual strands of hair sticking randomly in all directions. There were dark bags under eyes. Her coat was matted with sweat. The feathers of her wings were so severely askew that it was amazing the mare hadn't arrived by crashing through the wall.

"Rainbow! What happened to you?" Twilight quickly ushered her friend into the library. Spike, peeking out of the kitchen, noticed their guest and switched his plans to preparing dinner for three.

"Sorry Twi," gasped Rainbow, slumping to the floor, "Had a rough day and tried to fly it off."

"If you ask me, you tried a little too hard," remarked Twilight. Using a summoning spell, she called a towel down from her bathroom and draped it over Rainbow's form. The pegasus gave her a grateful look before using the towel to start scrubbing away her sweat. "What got you so worked up that you pushed yourself until you ended up like this?"

"My inbox was flooded this morning," groaned Rainbow, ducking her head under her hooves, "Ponies are all mad about this drought. I've tried to tell them there's nothing I can do about it. I can't make it rain from clouds I don't have. But as far as they're concerned, it's my fault." She rolled her eyes, sending her voice into a mocking imitation of her neighsayers. "'Rainbow Dash is being lazy again.' 'All she cares about is playing around and getting into the Wonderbolts.' 'How did that mare end up in her position if she's incompetent enough to allow this to happen?' Give me a break!"

Twilight moved to lay down next to her friend and ran a hoof gently up and down Rainbow's back, the friendly contact calming her slightly. "I understand Rainbow. We'll do what we can to help. Do you want me to talk to the townsponies and try and smooth things over?"

"Nah," answered Rainbow, relaxing a little with Twilight comforting her, "Mayor Mare already knows what's up, so she's been tossing out the petitions to get me removed from my job. I basically told my team to take a vacation until I can straighten this out. We've hoarded all the clouds we can, but there's not gonna be enough for the kind of storm this town needs."

"Are they okay with it?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah," answered Rainbow, "I'm paying them a pension for now. It's not a match for their salary, but it should tide them over."

"But where is the money for that pension coming from?"

"Well..." Rainbow grinned sheepishly, "I'm still working office hours, so I'm still drawing a paycheck, even if there isn't really anything to do while I'm in the field, so I'm splitting it among the team."

"But Rainbow!" gasped Twilight, "What are you going to do for money?"

"Relax Twilight, it's no big deal." Now it was Twilight's turn to be calmed by Rainbow's self-assured tone. "I have a hefty sum stashed away. I'm a pretty low-maintenance mare, so I don't have a lot to spend money on. It's kinda just piled up over the years."

Twilight let out a breathy sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." Then she perked up and directed an inquisitive gaze at Rainbow. "Is there some reason you came to see me?"

Rainbow Dash blinked for a moment as she remembered her original reason for coming. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot. Twilight, I need every book you have on weather law."

"Weather law?"

"Yeah. If we can't depend on Cloudsdale for our weather right now, we're gonna need to get it from somewhere else. I'd try to get it from one of the other distribution zones, like Las Pegasus or Cloudspire, but that would exceed our budget. So I need to find some kind of loophole that'll let us make our own weather."

Twilight sat there in stunned shock for a moment. Rainbow Dash, the Rainbow Dash, was there, in her library, asking for a book that wasn't Daring Do. She wanted to study a complex legal document in order to weed through the nuanced details necessary to find a means of circumventing the law to get Ponyville the weather it needed. Tartarus, it seemed, had just frozen over.

When Rainbow coughed, Twilight realized she had been staring at her friend for an uncomfortably long time. "Um Twilight, I know that what I just asked is kinda crazy, especially since it's me asking you for what're probably the most boring books I'll ever read. But I need to do this. I can't leave Ponyville hanging."

Twilight nodded, still uncertain about this, but headed over to the reference section, where she pulled out the complete set of volumes on laws pertaining to the making and execution of weather, six in all, plus the index, which constituted a book of its own. Rainbow reared back as Twilight dropped the stack of seven books directly in front of her, her expression clearly indicating that she was regretting taking this course of action.

Slowly, the sky blue pegasus reached out with a tentative hoof, inching it ever so slowly towards the first volume of the stack. The movement was so achingly slow that hundred-year-old molasses would have been faster. By the time she had reached half the distance, Rainbow Dash's hoof was quivering from what seemed like a monumental effort on her part, apparently afraid that touching the book would cause her leg to disintegrate. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Rainbow's hoof pressed against the book's cover. With a gentle push, she slid it off the top of the stack and onto the floor, wincing at the thud the heavy volume made as it impacted. Once again, moving with a level of care better suited to handling high explosives, Rainbow ever so slowly inched her hoof out and pushed the cover back, withdrawing quickly as it fell open, obviously believing that the book would slam shut around her hoof if she left it there too long. By this time, Rainbow Dash was cringing and looking away from her own efforts, lest the sight of herself actively seeking knowledge from a paper volume scar her for life.

Twilight watched the entire affair, her expressions having run the gamut, waxing from nervous, to worried, to amused, before waning into exasperation and finally coming to rest at deadpan. To be perfectly honest, she was genuinely impressed with the monumental effort Rainbow Dash had made to open the book. But she figured that by the time the very non-academically inclined pegasus managed to force herself through the table of contents, Ponyville would have succumbed to the drought and wasted away into a lifeless dustbowl, leaving the would-be rainbow-maned savior sitting alone in a rotting tree, finally making her way to the first policies listed.

"Right, this obviously isn't going to work," said Twilight, her deadpan tone matching her expression perfectly.

"Look Twilight, I can do this," protested Rainbow, her tone more than slightly irritable.

"And I would believe you if your efforts so far hadn't left you an emotional wreck that makes your behavior before the Best Young Flyers Competition look composed by comparison," replied Twilight flatly. "And if you think that's bad..."

Twilight's horn lit up and the pages of the book flipped rapidly along, as though stirred by an unseen breeze. Rainbow leapt back with a squeak that sounded more like something Fluttershy would have uttered. Once she was done turning through the table of contents, the preface and finally arriving at the text itself, Twilight levitated the book, tilting it so that Rainbow could get a good look at the text.

Rainbow let out a shocked gasp at what she saw. Forgetting her instinctive aversion to all things eggheaded, she leaned in to get a better look. "What the hay is this? This writing is tiny."

"And its arranged in columns," added Twilight, "It's almost like several pages are stacked on one page. You'd be able to fit your average Daring Do novel in the first third, if that. Granted, the last quarter is almost entirely composed of appendices and annotations, but it's something you have no hope of wading through."

Rainbow Dash was beginning to look a bit pale as she shivered in front of the book. Twilight slammed the book shut, making Rainbow leap back in surprise, before settling it back on top of the stack. "Listen Rainbow, this is a wonderful thing you're trying to do. And you're probably right too. These books probably contain the answers to settling our dilemma. But it's something you can't handle. And I don't mean that as a challenge. Even with the sheer amount of information in the volumes, you'd probably manage if it weren't for the fact that it's composed entirely of legal jargon that you won't be able to make heads or tails of."

"But what do I do then?" wailed Rainbow, sinking back to the floor, "Our only hope is probably somewhere in those pages. What good is it if I can't understand a word of it?"

Twilight sighed. Rainbow Dash was showing a flair for dramatics that would have made Rarity proud. "That's easy," she said, "Leave it to me."

"You?"

"That's right. Let me review these volumes and find out what we need to know, then I'll translate it into plain Equestrian for you." Twilight gave her friend an encouraging smile.

Rainbow's face lit up at the prospect of having so much heavy reading being done for her, but then drooped as she realized that Twilight was basically taking on Rainbow's job for her. Twilight reached out and gave her friend a comforting pat on the shoulders. "It's alright Rainbow. There's no shame in not being able to understand what's in these books. Ponies go to specialized schools for years in order to be able to read and understand stuff like this. I can do it because I'm, as you've so often noted, an egghead. So leave this stuff to me."

Her reassurance lifted Rainbow's spirits and the pegasus fixed her rose-colored eyes to meet Twilight's violet ones. "Okay, what can I do?"

"Hmm." Twilight tapped her chin in thought for a moment. "I need some other books as well. They're probably in your office."

"Which ones?"

"The manuals on Weather Team operational procedures and the like. We might be able to find a way out of our current problem in there as well, and if we can do it without making an end-run around the law, that'll be better in the long run."

Rainbow frowned at Twilight. "Um Twilight, don't you have a lot of reading to do already." She gestured to indicate the substantial stack of books.

"Not really," replied Twilight, "I won't need to read all of them, or even one whole one. All I really need to do is locate the particular passages pertaining to emergency procedures concerning droughts and interrupted service. That's what this index is for." She levitated the index volume out from the bottom of the stack.

"Oh."

Twilight grinned at her friend. "Bring me those manuals tomorrow and we'll get started on it straight away."

"But weren't you planning on running your experiments on Dawn?"

Twilight chuckled. "I think he'll have enough to keep him occupied when he goes back to school tomorrow. Besides, I think saving Ponyville takes priority over satisfying my curiosity. I know Dawn will understand too."

Author's Note

For my first order of business, I've probably committed fanon heresy by making Blueblood an unambiguously decent guy in his first appearance without forcing him through some kind of twisted redemption arc where he learns about how wrong he's been and what a horrible guy he is for treating Rarity the way he did. More on why later.

Once again with Arkenstone, the prospect of the dreaded Gary Stu raises its ugly head. As I said before, I intend to deconstruct that in due time. But since Arkenstone won't be the focus of the story for a while yet, this is more a bit of a history lesson. I ended up having to completely redo Twilight's explanation about the Celestial Order of Knights as a certain commenter pointed out that the name is suspiciously similar to the Order of Celestial Light, the Cult Solar's name for itself and I realized that I had somehow written over twenty chapters without that occurring to me once. My obliviousness boggles the mind sometimes. As for why they haven't been around for any of the actual crises from the show, I'll provide more detailed information on that later on.

Also, overdramatic Rarity is best Rarity. The little bit Diamond Tiara is basically the resolution of the aspects of the conflict surrounding Diamond Tiara than it is the beginning of a new subplot, as Diamond Tiara basically ceases to be an antagonist (or even show up in the narrative) after this point until much later. This is basically how I chose to get her out of the way. She has served her purpose for the time being.

I find myself having to come back to add a note regarding the reference to Chrysalis. Yes, we will get the actual fight scene later, but not for a while (I haven't written that yet), because I don't want to reveal too much about Arkenstone yet as his importance isn't that high right now. It's worth noting that Chrysalis is not as insanely powerful as some people would make her out to be. Yes, she defeated Princess Celestia...after she'd spent who knows how long siphoning love off of Shining Armor. It was also clearly a near thing and Chrysalis herself was surprised that she'd actually succeeded. And then, of course, there's the fact that she and her brood were ultimately blasted out of Canterlot and back to their (presumed) homeland at high velocity, with a landing that could not have been pleasant. Again, further details on the actual battle will have to wait for now, but I do not believe that this is as character-breaking as some people are making it out to be.

Next Chapter: Mare-Do-Well.

Wings of Blades

Chapter 14: Wings of Blades

Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped as Lightning Dust led her into the cavernous distribution center. This is where the created clouds were assembled into full-sized storms before being shipped to towns and cities across the Cloudsdale Distribution Zone. Its presence accounted for the vast majority of the weather factory's size. However, having come from Cloudsdale, Rainbow had seen the distribution center before. It wasn't the size of the cavernous space that made her gape, it was what filled it.

The clouds above were far darker than any storm clouds she had ever seen, going being closer to pitch black than dark gray. Furthermore, their surfaces were smooth, devoid of the lumpy, puffy finish that marked most pegasus-made clouds. They had been shaped into numerous conical domed masses, each one the size of a small storm system all on its own. To her trained and practiced eye, they looked unnatural. There were a round dozen of them in all.

A flicker of movement drew her eye. Looking up and over, Rainbow saw a factory worker pushing a clump of clouds over from the distributor pipe, where they emerged from the weather forge. As he closed in with one of the dark domed clouds, his pace slowed to a crawl, inching ever closer to the cloud.

Gulping, Rainbow turned to Lightning Dust to ask what was going on, but paused at her companion's expression. Lightning's face was pale, her eyes fixed on the process going on above them. Looking around, Rainbow noticed that all activity on the floor had halted, with everypony, even the guards scattered around the chamber, looking up at the factory worker, who continued to push his load forward with deliberate slowness. To her surprise, none of the guards shouted anything up to the worker, no harassment, no urges to hurry his work. In fact, a few of them edged towards the facility's doors.

Rainbow followed their gaze back up to the factory worker, just as the cloud he was pushing made contact with the glassy surface of the large mass. It was then that his movements seemed to accelerate as he pressed his cloud into the larger mass, his wings pumping hard. In spite of that, he was still clearly moderating his pace so as not to change the speed. Rather, the effort seemed to be because the mass in front of him was incredibly dense, so much so that an enormous effort was needed to merge the cloud with the dome. Rainbow felt her muscles tighten as the last puffs of cloud disappeared into the dome sphere, pressed in by the worker's hooves. The tension around the space mounted, becoming almost unbearable. She crouched and waited...

Nothing happened. The worker slowly backed away to what he apparently deemed a safe distance before sweeping an arm across his forehead. The tension around the room evaporated and everypony returned to their jobs.

A tap on Rainbow's shoulder drew her attention back to Lightning, who looked as though the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. "Come on, before somepony spots us." She led them out of the chamber.

"What the hay were those?" demanded Rainbow, once they were in the hallway.

Lightning Dust gave her former wingpony an irritated glare. "The 'new management' call 'em artilleryheads. Apparently they're something that the pegasi from ancient times came up with during the period of strife between the three tribes. You know how the pegasus tribe tried to weaponize lightning right?"

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah. They never got it to work."

"Part true," answered Lightning, "They figured out a workaround. They realized that if they could buck lightning out of clouds, then the best way to weaponize lightning would be to create clouds that were specifically designed to generate and discharge lightning."

"But that's..." Rainbow began to protest.

"Yeah, it wasn't easy. I heard that the pre-Equestrian pegasi never really figured out how to manage it beyond small thunderheads." Lightning Dust shrugged indifferently. "These guys must have figured it out. Those clouds are meant to be positioned over a target. When triggered, they unleash a powerful blast of lightning directly below." She shivered as she threw a look over her shoulder. "With that number, they could devastate a city or even wipe a small town off the map."

Rainbow's body froze up. A small town? Like Ponyville?

"Anyway," explained Lightning, unaware of Rainbow's thoughts, "Those things take a crazy amount of manufactured cloud to make. And then those clouds have to be assembled and compacted with fine precision. Even the smallest mistake could trigger an accidental discharge, which could lead to one of those monsters going off. If that happened in here, it could set off all the other ones as well."

Rainbow gulped, imagining the kind of damage those clouds could do to the weather factory if that happened. It certainly explained why that factory worker was treating the entire process like he was handling high explosives, as well as all the tension in the room.

So this was why the weather factory had stopped producing the storms that Ponyville's farms needed so desperately. The tribalists running the place needed every ounce of moisture they could get to assemble these artilleryheads. But this only left more questions. What in Celestia's name were they planning to do with such hideous weapons? If they were making them, then those crazy pegasi must have been planning on using them...but where? Against whom?

Rainbow's thoughts evaporated as she heard somepony approaching down the hallway. Looking up, she saw a young stallion...no...he only looks a little older than Dawn, she decided. He was an older colt, standing at the cusp of adulthood. His coat was a light cream color, with flecks of black dotting it. His mane and tail were a silvery blue color and he surveyed everything before him with intense yellow eyes that reminded Rainbow of a hawk looking for prey. She had seen some of Fluttershy's pet raptors with eyes just like that back in Ponyville. However, his most distinctive features were his wings, which were a gleaming silver.

"Horseapples!" snapped Lightning Dust under her breath as she saw the colt coming towards them.

"Who's that?" asked Rainbow.

"Bad news," answered Lightning, "Whatever you do, don't meet his eyes. Don't do anything that might draw his attention. Just pretend that we're on our way back to work." Suiting action to word, she lowered her eyes and proceeded forward.

Mimicking Lightning, Rainbow did the same, the two of them walking along, their gazes averted, opening up their walk so the colt could pass between them. Rainbow's heart hammered in her ears, drowning out the sound of all three sets of hooves. She didn't know the reason for Lightning's fear, but she shared it. The approaching colt set all the hairs in her coat on end and she wanted nothing more than to bolt past him and rush to freedom.

Come on, she admonished herself, Hold it together. You're almost there.

The colt seemed to take no notice of them as he drew level with them. His eyes sweeping across the two mares with a dismissive glance. It was all Rainbow could do to avoid blowing out a sigh of relief as he went past them, seemingly not noticing them at all.

And then the colt's silvery blue tail snapped like a whip, lashing directly for Rainbow's head. She ducked to avoid the blow, but the tail instead smacked into the helmet she wore, knocking it right off. The headgear clattered against the wall before falling to the floor. Freed from their confines, Rainbow's namesake mane fell loose around her head and neck, plain for all to see.

"Ponyfeathers," groaned Lightning Dust.

The colt had come to a complete halt and had turned back to face them. Gulping, Rainbow Dash did the same, turning around to look at the colt who intimidated her old partner and had exposed her identity.

"Well well," observed the colt, a teasing smirk hovering on his lips, "Rainbow Dash. I'm honestly surprised to see you here. You are equus non grata here in Cloudsdale after all. The higher ups were really unhappy with that stunt you pulled in Ponyville."

"Who are you?" asked Rainbow, "Since knowing who I am seems to be so important."

"Ah, where are my manners?" mused the colt, "My name is Perlin Bluestreak. But you can just call me Perlin."

This kid sure has a lot of attitude, thought Rainbow. "Nice to meet you. Well, since introductions are out of the way, I guess I'll just be going now." Giving Perlin a cheerful smile, she began to back up...

Only to freeze as one of his wings snapped open with the rasp of metal against metal. The leading edge of the furthest primary came to rest at Rainbow's throat. Rainbow didn't feel a feather though. Instead, she felt the edge of some sort of blade. Her instincts told her that if she so much as twitched, she'd be breathing out of her neck instead of her nose and mouth. Lowering her gaze as much as her eyes would allow, Rainbow took a closer look at the colt's wings.

Initially, she had assumed that the color of Perlin's feathers had been the result of some genetic quirk. But it seemed too metallic to be natural. She thought that he had maybe dyed his feathers silver. But now, up close, Rainbow Dash could tell that Perlin's feathers were metal, a gleaming silvery metal. She could also tell by sight and by the feel of the edge against her throat that each of those feathers was sharper than the finest razor.

Seeing her eyes glued to his wing, Perlin's smirk widened. "You like?" he asked, slowly pulling his wing away.

Rainbow gulped. Although the immediate threat of an improvised tracheotomy had been withdrawn, the colt had reacted with stunning speed, reading her intent to bolt and acting before she could actually move to escape. She was certain that in a straight race, she was way faster than the kid. Heck, if they started at the same time, she could have been thirty meters or more away before Perlin had started extending his wing. But none of that mattered. She could tell right now that he could see right through her. And that gave him just enough of an edge to keep her from getting away.

"I'm a little disappointed that you'd consider leaving so soon," said Perlin in mock sadness, "After all, I'm told that the boss had something special planned for you if you ever showed your face around here. We wouldn't want to disappoint her, now would we?"

He drew level with Rainbow and gave her a sidelong glance. "Why don't we go for a walk now?" The look in his eyes made it perfectly clear that this was not a request.

With a gulp, Rainbow turned to go with him. As Perlin began to lead her down the hallway, he turned to give Lightning Dust a quick glance, which she shied away from. "Thanks for giving Rainbow Dash the grand tour," he said, "You might as well move along."

With that, the two of them left Lightning Dust behind, Rainbow falling into step beside her new escort. Even as the anxiety of her situation threatened to overwhelm her, Rainbow couldn't help but feel a small degree of relief. "Thanks," she said softly.

"Oh?" Perlin raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"For not doing anything to Lightning Dust," said Rainbow. While she and her former partner from the Wonderbolt Academy had parted on less than pleasant terms, Rainbow would never truly wish her ill.

To her surprise, Perlin's smirk dissolved into a much more sincere-looking smile. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise. You certainly are a pony of substance, contrary to what the boss would have everypony think."

"Can I ask why?"

"Sure."
...
...
...

"...Why then?" deadpanned Rainbow, glaring at the colt, who looked like he was about to crack up.

After taking a moment to get his wits back together, Perlin answered. "Because there was no real point to doing anything about her."

"Huh?" Rainbow's expression became incredulous. "Seriously. She basically helped me infiltrate your little operation here and you don't care?"

Perlin raised an eyebrow again. "Nope. Why? Do you want me to do something about it?"

Rainbow blanched, earning a chuckle from the colt. "I'm sure it would be a big deal to the boss, but I couldn't care less. I don't care much about the whole pegasus supremacy thing or about putting the other tribes in their place etcetera etcetera..." Perlin waved his hoof airily.

"Then why are you here?" asked Rainbow.

Perlin's lips pulled back to show his teeth in a grin that chilled Rainbow's blood. She was fairly certain she could see a glint of madness in the colt's eyes. "To be the bad guy." The colt cast his eyes about to look at hallway around him. "This factory's pretty big, so it'll take us a while to get where we're going. So why don't I start at the beginning.

"You see, my parents are actually unicorns. Maybe you've heard of them, my dad anyway. He was kind of a big deal in Trottingham a few years ago. Ever heard of Duke Torchlight?"

Rainbow's eyes widened. In all honesty, Rainbow Dash was not a pony with a great deal of interest in current affairs if they didn't concern her directly (except if they concerned the Wonderbolts, which concerned her indirectly). But even she had heard of Trottingham's famous duke. Duke Torchlight was one of the few members of the Noble Court who didn't reside full time in Canterlot. Instead, he lived on his estate in Trottingham where he tended to his business interests, making him one of the wealthiest ponies in Equestria, standing on equal ground with magnates like Fancypants. Rainbow had even heard that the duke had supposedly sired a son before his wife died, but kept the foal inside on account of it having fragile health. Not long ago, she remembered hearing that Torchlight had passed away, technically leaving his fortune to his son, but leaving its management to the family physician until the foal came of age.

Rarity had gossiped endlessly about the whole thing, including the almost obligatory speculation that the family physician had arranged Duke Torchlight's death in a scheme to seize control of the family's wealth and how the not-so-good doctor must have been manipulating the poor duke's ill son as a puppet and how said foal would soon probably join his father in the grave and so on. The whole thing had just given the athletic mare headaches.

"So what?" prodded Rainbow, "Are you doing this as some elaborate plan against the doctor who killed your dad to take your money?"

Perlin ground to a halt, staring at Rainbow with wide eyes, completely flummoxed by her words. For a moment, Rainbow was filled with disbelief. Had her gossip-fueled jab been right on the mark after all?

And then the colt nearly collapsed guffawing until he could scarcely believe and Rainbow groaned inwardly. Yeah. Didn't think so. Geez, Rarity reads too many crime novels or something like that.

"Oh man," gasped Perlin, tears leaking from his eyes as he forced himself to stand up straight, "The doc was right. They really were throwing around that cliched rumor. Don't you realize that that kind of plot twist is so old that it's practically second nature to throw it up as a way to conceal the true culprit?"

"Uh...?" Rainbow Dash was at a loss for words, mostly because she was having a hard time decoding what Perlin was talking about.

"I guess I can tell you the truth though," said Perlin, "I was the one who killed my dad." Seeing Rainbow's horrified expression, he continued. "You see, my dad was a little too smart for his own good. He was actually one of those unicorn supremacist types. He was also one of the few ponies who figured out the little game Princess Celestia was playing with the Noble Court, namely slowly stripping them of their influence and power so they couldn't lord it over the commoners anymore.

"Of course, he was a few generations too late in figuring this out. His family used to own the entirety of Trottingham as their fiefdom. Little by little, his ancestors were tricked into selling their domain piecemeal to the serfs who worked it while, at the same time, the Princess was tricking the nobles into giving up their privilege to exercise their will over ponies who didn't live on their property. Of course, by the time dad came along and figured this out, the family estate was the only land that they still owned. Naturally, being tricked by Princess Celestia didn't sit well with him. Nor did he like the fact that his family's land had been sold to commoners, especially since a good number of them were earth ponies and pegasi.

"As you might expect, he was pretty pissed to find out his first-born son was a filthy pegasus, which meant, among other things, his wife's bloodline wasn't as pure as she had made it out to be. I don't really know if he killed her over it. I don't really care either."

"Oh no!" whispered Rainbow.

Perlin raised a hoof to calm her. "I know what you're thinking, but no, he didn't abuse me. Instead he got this brilliant idea. He would raise me to be the perfect weapon for his revenge against the Princess. As a bonus, I would be the perfect weapon against the pegasi as well, a pegasus raised to kill other pegasi. He sort of liked the irony in that. So he had me raised and trained to fight and kill. And what do you know?" He pointed a hoof at his flank. "I turned out to be really good at it."

Rainbow Dash finally turned her attention to Perlin's cutie mark, a knife being sharpened against a whetstone. Perlin shrugged at her nervous expression. "I still haven't quite figured out if that means my talent is to be like a blade myself or if I'm just really good at handling sharp objects.

"So I got an excellent education and the best training that money could buy. The fact that I enjoyed it so much actually seemed to make my dad happy he had sired me. Of course, he wouldn't even consider something as ridiculous as seeing me as his son or anything like that, but I guess I sorta grew on him. And then..." Perlin raised his wings, the feathers letting out a metallic rattle. "He gave me these babies. They were a birthday present from two years ago."

Rainbow gulped. The duke's death, along with all the lurid speculations that followed had occurred two years ago. She watched as Perlin's expression morphed into one of wistful remembrance.

"Well? Is it done?" Torchlight stood impatiently in the doorway, his eyes on the two other ponies in the room.

"See for yourself," said the physician, stepping away from the young pegasus. He had been hired under the pretense of treating Duke Torchlight's "severely ill" son for this purpose.

Perlin stood there, seemingly unsure of what to do. "Don't just stand there boy!" snapped the duke, "Show me."

Perlin slowly raised his wings, spreading their silvery feathers for his father to see. Duke Torchlight smiled coldly at the sight. "Brilliant," he whispered.

"As you can see, the feathers have been painstakingly crafted from pure mithril," explained the doctor, as though he were showing the foal off as his latest project to the medical board, "They are only slightly heavier than the originals. He will have to make some adjustments to fly properly, but there will be no measurable impairment. They function just as a pegasus' actual feathers would, their control linked to the same magic that controlled his original feathers. And of course..." The doctor lit his horn and pulled over a block of stone from a corner of the room and set it next to Perlin. "They are sharper and stronger than the finest blades produced by the royal smiths. Show him."

Not hesitating in the slightest, Perlin spun about, extending his wing and swinging it like a blade. The mithril feathers passed through the solid rock as though it had no tangible mass. A second later, the top half of the stone slid diagonally away, having been cut clean through.

"Unfortunately, he will require regular checkups as he grows. I cannot imbue metal with all the qualities of organic tissue. His wings will require frequent...adjustments to ensure that they keep up with his rate of growth to remain useful." The doctor was already jotting down notes in preparation for the first of these checkups.

"You will be rewarded handsomely for this," said Torchlight, grinning at the doctor. He turned his attention back to Perlin. "And you," he intoned dramatically, "Will be the blade that will allow me to restore my family to its rightful place."

"Of course," said Perlin. Without warning, his body blurred into motion. Before Torchlight could react, the colt had already flashed past him, his wing extended out, slicing clean trough the duke's belly. The sickening slithering sound preceded Duke Torchlight slumping through the ground. The once proud noble now lay prone, a pool of his own blood spreading slowly about him.

"What have you done?" gasped the duke, his voice gurgling as blood and bile rose in his throat.

"I've restored your family to its rightful place," answered Perlin, amused, "To dust."

"You..." Torchlight's voice died as the light left his eyes. The lifeless stallion slumped to the ground, never to rise again.

"Now then," said Perlin, turning his attention to the doctor, who had been backed up against the wall. The other unicorn knew that, if Perlin so decided, his life was at its end. The colt's training ensured that he could respond instantly to the first sign of magic. And in this confined space, there was no way the doctor would have the time to fire off a spell before Perlin's wing took his head.

Perlin began to walk steadily towards the doctor. As he did so, he flicked the wing he had used to kill his father, throwing the blood off of his feathers and leaving them as gleaming and unblemished as though they had never been used. The doctor shivered at the sight, his eyes fixed upon the terrible wings that he had created before directing a pleading gaze up at the pony who held his life in the balance.

"Please?" begged the stallion, "I...I had no choice! The duke forced me to do this!"

Perlin tilted his head to the side, looking surprisingly confused. "Um, no he didn't," said the colt, "I was here when he said it. It was just a few seconds ago. I know he's paying you a small fortune for this."

"Please don't kill me," whimpered the doctor.

Perlin blinked, somehow managing to look even more nonplussed. "Why would I do that?"

Now it was the doctor's turn to look baffled. "You...you're not angry about having your wings...mutilated."

"Mutilated?" Perlin lifted his wings up to inspect them. "These are beautiful I absolutely love them. Best. Birthday present. Ever! Why would I kill you over these?"

"You'll let me go then?" asked the doctor, his tone hopeful.

"Let you go?" Perlin lowered his wings. "Now that's ridiculous. I was right here while you were talking about these beauties earlier. I can't let you leave. I'll need you to stick around to provide those adjustments you were talking about."

The doctor paled. Perlin had already turned away and was stepping past the body of his father as he made his way to the door. "I know dad never made any amendments to his will. Everything will go to his eldest son, who happens to be me, since he never got around to producing any replacements. Of course, I'm much too young to manage my family's finances on my own."

Perlin turned to cast a look over his shoulder at the doctor, who was standing back up, the fear beginning to leave his face. "I suppose that I will need somepony, an adult, someone much more experienced in the ways of the world to manage my affairs until I come of age. You wouldn't happen to know anypony who could fit the bill, do you doctor?"

The doctor blinked, Perlin's proposition finally registering to his mind. "I...I believe I do," he said.

"Excellent," said Perlin, "Then you will be appointed my caretaker and charged with managing the affairs of my family and estate. I only require my usual upkeep and whatever these" he raised his wings again, "cost to maintain. The rest is yours. Do what you like with it. Is this arrangement satisfactory doctor?"

"I believe so," said the stallion. The two of them left together.

Rainbow stepped away from Perlin, pulling back until she hit the wall of the hallway. The colt's story made her sick to her stomach. Even worse was his expression throughout the whole thing, looking as though he were simply recalling an amusing anecdote. "You...y-you're sick. How could you do that?"

"Well it's simple. I just took my wing and..."

"Not that!" exclaimed Rainbow, going completely pale under her coat, "You murdered your own father and conspired with the doctor that gave you those...things to take his money. And for what?"

"For my amusement," replied Perlin, "I could care less about my father's ambitions, just as I can't bring myself to care about the tribalist cause championed by the ponies here. And neither of us ever even remotely saw the other as family. There's only one thing I really want to do."

"And that is?" asked Rainbow.

"I want to put these to use." Perlin extended his wings. "After all the expense my father went through to obtain them and all the money I've spent to maintain them, it seems a shame not to put them through their paces. You wonder why I'm hanging around these tribalists. I want to wield the power I've gained against strong enemies, so I can see how strong I've become.

"You see, Princess Celestia has all the really strong cards in her hooves; the Elements of Harmony, the Royal Guard, the Wonderbolts, the Knights. That's why I figured I'd become a bad guy. If I become a villain and stir up enough trouble, then eventually Princess Celestia will have no choice but to send her champions, her heroes, to stop me." Grinning, Perlin looked fondly at his wings. "And then I'll see how strong I really am."

Rainbow Dash felt sick to her stomach. There was no doubt that the colt beside her was insane. He talked of killing his father like it was nothing. He enjoyed the prospect of inviting bloodshed. And yet, at the same time, his attitude was eerily familiar. She expected him to be some sort of sick monster who liked killing for its own sake. But in reality, what she sensed was not dissimilar from her own nature. He had a powerfully competitive spirit. Rainbow relished in the opportunity to challenge others, to find the limits of her own abilities. It was almost the same as Perlin. The only difference was that any competition with this colt would end in death, either that of somepony else, or his own. And the truly terrifying thing was that he didn't seem to care which.

For a moment, their walk was filled with silence, save for Perlin's occasional humming and musings. "Hmm...let's see...two rights... left...straight on from here...ah! Here we are!"

Turning her attention back to their journey, Rainbow realized that they had wandered into the administrative section of the facility. Looking around, she saw doors that led to the offices that decided what weather got made when and sent where. They were now approaching one of the few doors that didn't have some title or job description laid on it. The sole sign of its significance was the presence of a pair of guards, just like the thugs wandering the factory below, positioned on either side of the door. They frowned when their eyes found her. However, the looks of scorn faded and were replaced with nervous apprehension when they saw that Perlin was standing next to her.

For his part, Perlin seemed completely oblivious to the guards' presence, waltzing between them as though they weren't even there. Rainbow even saw them step aside slightly to keep clear of his mithril-feather wings. It was obvious that these ponies were all too aware of how dangerous this colt could be. Perlin knocked casually on the door.

"What now!" snapped an angry-sounding voice from within.

"It's me boss," replied Perlin, "I've got a visitor from you. She's somepony you've been asking us to keep an eye out for."

There was a short pause before the pony on the other side of the door answered. "Enter."

Perlin pushed the door open and trotted a short way in before turning to look over his shoulder at Rainbow, smirking once again. "Shall we?"

Clenching her teeth, Rainbow took a deep breath to steady her nerves. As bad as things seemed, she still had a purpose here. Right now, she had to wait and look for her opportunity to get away from these madponies. Otherwise, her only other option was to wait and hope that Dawn and Storm Front were ready and waiting to help her should things take a change for the worst. Clinging tightly to her resolve, Rainbow stepped through the doorway.

Author's Note

Don't think too much about Lightning Dust's involvement at this point. I needed a familiar face to show Rainbow around the factory and explain what's going on, but she'll have a role to play later.

And now we've met Perlin Bluestreak. I come up with all sorts of crazy things don't I. Though he's technically hired to work for the tribalists, he's all about doing his own thing when push comes to shove. He's definitely a "pleasure before business" sort of character. And of course, shortly after his first introduction, he casually spills his backstory, which includes patricide, to a complete stranger, which should give you a good hint of how warped this guy is. He's another of my manga/anime influenced characters in that he takes a few of his cues from this guy:

A quick note: Perlin is an actual word. It's the name of a hybrid, a cross between a merlin and a peregrine falcon. It sounded like a pretty badass recipe for a bird to me, so I thought it would make a good name for him.

Next chapter: Rainbow meets some old friends and gets some really bad news.