Rainbow Dash, like most pegasi, was a selectively deep sleeper. The roaring winds and cries of the night birds could never disrupt her sleep. One sound, however, was unfamiliar enough to the night air to put her sleep to an end: The sound of pegasus wings.
Dash was no stranger to the midnight visit. She had been propositioned by many stallions (and a few mares) over the years, and she had rejected all of them. For whatever reason, many of the stallions (more like colts, to her mind) would take this as an invitation to pursue her further and show up that same night at her door, often drunk. The nature of the visits would vary, but for the most part, they seemed to expect that such a visit entitled them to sex, or possibly to date her if they were feeling particularly noble (all while ignoring the fact that, in their mind, dating her would entitle them to sex).
And so the rumors of her being a lesbian began. Now, Rainbow Dash was nothing if not completely straight, but she was not one to attach herself to just any stallion. She was most certainly not attracted to the kind that would take her refusal as motive to start rumors about her. As for the mares, these visits seemed less common. She wondered if rumors would start of her being asexual if she refused enough of them.
While Rainbow Dash had come to expect this behavior from the average stallion she attracted, she never expected it from the mare she had most recently refused.
As much as she hated to admit the reality of it, though, it was happening now. She might as well deal with the reality she was facing.
Rainbow Dash brought up her pastern to wipe the sleep from her eyes and shook her withers. It was times like these that she thanked the gods that she was head of the weather patrol in Ponyville. Because of the extra pay, she was one of the few pegasi in Ponyville that could afford a pegasus lamp, an oil lamp that worked at high altitudes and could be set to rest on clouds. Such a lamp required quite a bit of enchanting, so they were rather expensive.
She poured in the colza oil, mentally reminding herself that she needed to get more of the stuff tomorrow. She pushed up the slide that raised the wick to the lighting position and pressed the button that struck steel to flint.
The lantern sprang to life as light flowed to every corner of the room. The sudden flood of light to her night-adjusted eyes made Rainbow Dash wince, but the pain dulled once she moved the wick down to a manageable position. She may be the only member of the weather patrol that could afford one of these lamps, but that didn’t make colza oil cheap, nor did that make such light easy for her eyes to handle so long into first sleep.
As she grasped the lantern handle in her mouth, she mentally cursed the mare that caused this. It wasn’t just the waking her up and making her deal with this in the middle of the night--though that was rather frustrating--it was the fact that they had been such good friends. She could deal with a friend of hers being attracted to her (and Dash figured that her friend had had enough experience in the world that she could deal with that from the other end), but she seriously doubted that their friendship could survive this sort of visit. Even if Dash was willing to still be friends afterwards (right now, her frustration and exhaustion were drowning out her attachment), she doubted that her friend would be able to face her after this.
She briefly considered ducking out her window and pretending that she had spent the night at Sugar Cube Corner or Fluttershy's cottage, but she knew she could never do that. Even if it meant the end of their friendship, she could never be so deceitful to one of her friends about something so important. It just wasn’t right. Besides, she wasn't usually good at dealing with emotions, but practice had made perfect in these situations. They were by no means pleasant, but she could handle them better than most emotional situations.
Being straightforward and lacking in subtlety herself, she had designed her house in kind. Of course there were no doors (though there were doorways), but an unusual aspect of the design was that there were also no hallways. The foyer led directly to every other room in the castle. There were some stallions (and one mare) that had burst into her room when they came for these visits. Most, though, were not drunk enough to go so far.
Rainbow Dash would expect no less of this one, no matter how drunk she was.
As Dash walked through the archway, the faint hint of moonlight that filtered into her home was enough to see the shadow of her late night visitor. Sure enough, there was a horn and there were the wings, something so few ponies had that she took it as confirmation of her suspicions, but they were far larger relative to her size. For that matter, she herself was larger than Rainbow Dash remembered.
The pegasus' heart sounded the alarm with its furious thumping. She was sure of what this meant. But no matter Luna’s feelings for her, how could one rejection return her to Nightmare Moon? Dash hesitated. The Alicorn at the other end of the room seemed to notice this and rose to her feet. Maybe… maybe it was an illusion. She knew that Luna had used such an illusion before. But why? To scare her? Did she think this would impress Rainbow Dash? That such an illusion would shock her sexuality into suddenly changing? Luna wasn’t stupid. She knew that such a thing wouldn’t work. Nightmare Moon really was in her home, slowly making her way towards the pegasus.
Dash wasn’t stupid, either. She may have been ready to fight Nightmare Moon when she first appeared, but she was now fully aware that she was no match at her best, let alone so sluggish from sleep. Her only chance was to gather the other Elements and hopefully break Luna out of this once again. She was gathering her strength to break through the cloud floor when the Alicorn's front legs entered the circle of light.
Her white legs with golden leg covers.
On instinct, Rainbow Dash fell to her knees to bow before Princess Celestia. Though she had gotten to be on familiar terms with Luna in the past months--and could therefore get away with treating her informally--she was on no such terms with Celestia.
The sight of the other princess in her foyer did nothing for her current state, however. If anything, it made it worse. Dash knew how to deal with Nightmare Moon, but why was Celestia here? What could she want with her? Did she know about Luna's confession? Those questions and at least a dozen more that she had no chance of processing flew through her head before her knees hit the cloud flooring. In the shock of so many questions running through a mind so unprepared, the pegasus lamp escaped from her grasp
One of the curious properties of pegasus lamps was that only the bottom portion was enchanted to be solid when dealing with clouds. This meant that a pegasus could easily snuff the flame by placing the top part in a cloud, such as the wall of a cloud castle.
Or the floor.
The room was plunged into darkness as cloud suffocated flame. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Rainbow Dash was vaguely aware that the colza oil was falling to the ground.
Her eyes squeezed shut as she wondered what her fate would be, waiting for the princess' judgment. Though it only took a few seconds for Celestia’s magic to light the room, she couldn't help but think that she had been lost in her thoughts for ages.
Rainbow Dash gulped down her fear and prepared herself for the worst as she rose to her hooves.
She was not prepared for what was there.
Where Rainbow Dash expected to find anger, instead there was only concern and regret. They were only there for a moment, but she knew it was no trick of her imagination.
Now, though, where there had been concern, there was just the mask of a ruler. Where there had been regret, there was a princess dispassionately holding court.
The silence dragged on for hours, or else it may as well have. Celestia’s unflinching gaze certainly didn’t help matters. Was she waiting for her subject to speak first? Was her plan to stare the pegasus into submission? Did she want to know just how long Dash could sit there without moving? Dash was quite certain that that unwavering stare had pushed her past her record, but she couldn't stand it anymore.
Before she could settle on something to end the silence, however, Celestia decided for her. “Rainbow Dash, my most loyal of subjects. I know what happened between you and my sister, and let me say that I do not bear you any ill will. Your feelings are yours and you cannot help them.” A wave of relief rolled through the pegasus, and only now did she begin to notice that Celestia’s mask was failing. She seemed… nervous. Upset. Dash had never seen her like this before. That relief began to retreat with the realization that, in all likelihood, nopony in Equestria had seen her like this. Celestia’s next words only helped to exacerbate the issue. “However, I do not think you know the consequences of your actions.”
Wait… what? Is there some law against refusing royalty? Rainbow Dash doubted that such a law could exist in Equestria, but… “Am I in trouble?”
Celestia sighed. Something else Rainbow Dash had never seen her do. It occurred to her then that Celestia wasn’t there as a ruler or a teacher, as was the case every other time they had met. In what capacity was she there, then?
“No. No, you are not. However, I'm sure you know about my Luna's history?”
"Her history?" Dash knew that she should know the answer, but it seemed to be just out of reach.
A moment of silence passed before Celestia responded. "The last time my sister turned into Nightmare Moon, I ignored her distress." The mention of Nightmare Moon brought Rainbow Dash to attention, but if Celestia noticed the discipline, she gave no sign. "Back then, the entire kingdom was still recovering from Discord’s reign and I prioritized the recovery of the kingdom over my sister’s feelings. I am now fully aware of the signs leading up to her transformation, and she is displaying many of those signs now.”
Her discipline wavered in the uncertainty that followed Celestia's explanation. “So what are we supposed to do? Take the Elements of Harmony and wait for her to turn again?”
“No, Rainbow Dash, because you can still prevent her from once again becoming Nightmare Moon.”
“But how can I-“ Rainbow Dash stopped. She was certainly aware that she wasn't the brightest of ponies at her best, let alone at this time of night, but even she could see where this was going, and why Celestia had spent so long justifying this order. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. She's going to turn into Nightmare Moon just because I rejected her?"
Before she had even finished asking, Celestia had begun to shake her head. "Not entirely, no. A... lot has gone wrong since Luna's return. I believe that she confessed her feelings to you more out of desperation, and your rejection was the proverbial straw that will break the camel's back. The rest is out of my control. The only thing I can do to stop it, to save my sister is..." Celestia trailed off, trying to find the words. Well, Rainbow Dash has them for her.
"Is to order me to date somepony I don't love. A mare, no less."
There was a long pause before Celestia continued. “If there were any other way, I wouldn't be asking this.” Celestia replied. She was beginning to assume the mask of a ruler again, beginning to feel more comfortable in her role. Well, of course she was! She was plenty familiar with giving orders!
“Fine.” Rainbow Dash knew that she wouldn’t be able to refuse a direct order from the Princess, even something so... personal, so... violating. “Just give the order and I’ll do it.”
Celestia hung her head. Apparently, she wasn’t quite finished justifying herself. “I couldn't order you to do this. I am asking you to do this as my sister's friend, nothing more. I am asking you because I know that you care about her. Whether you are willing to make this sacrifice for her is your decision.”
Rainbow Dash sat back on her haunches and crossed her front hooves in front of her. It was hard enough to contain her anger while fixing her gaze on the lantern, likely still dripping colza oil; she didn't dare try to meet the princess' eyes. “So if I don't agree, what happens? Do I just sit and wait for another midnight visitor, only this time, it's one that will kill me?”
There was a pause before Celestia answered. "Rainbow Dash, I will not allow that to happen. Should you refuse, I will make sure that you and your friends are safe and have the Elements of Harmony so that you can stop her. I promise you that no harm will come to you, no matter your decision." Only now did she look towards Celestia's feet... or at least, where they were before. Looking around, Rainbow Dash found that Princess Celestia had made her way to the doorway leading out of her cloud castle. “I must go now. I think that you should have three days to decide. I know that my sister will be able to hold onto her sanity for that long, but past that, I can't say.” Celestia opened the door, stepping outside and spreading her wings. Without looking back, the princess left Dash with one last thought. “I'm sorry.”
And with that, Rainbow Dash was plunged into darkness once more.
