The Quest Through Time

Chapter 9

As it turned out, the armor was heavier than Rainbow imagined, making it harder to walk, much less to fly. “I don’t see why it has to be so heavy…” she muttered. “It completely defeats the purpose of flying really.”

“Um… maybe it’s because the other pegasi are bigger and stronger?” Fluttershy suggested.

“Yeah… that too I guess.” They were currently on a transport heading towards Cloudsdale, most likely reinforcements to deal with the rebel uprising there.

Poor Fluttershy, she was almost shaking in her hooves. She wasn’t the least bit comfortable being on a craft that could easily be shot down along with almost two dozen others watching them. “Hey you,” one of them said to Fluttershy. “Aren’t you a little short for a trooper?”

“Uh… we’re new!” Rainbow said. “Yeah, rookies!”

“Didn’t realize we were recruiting young ones too,” one of the other soldiers said. Luckily, they finally reached their destination onto one of the landing platforms in Cloudsdale. Once Rainbow and Fluttershy came out of the transport, they were surprised at how much was changed.

Back then, Cloudsdale was seen as a jewel to Equestria, the capital of those who were pegasi. Rainbow could remember her days working at the weather plant, where clouds of all kinds were made to be sent out all over Equestria. Now, the once blue sky was a thick cloud of black. There was no way to tell if it was smog or just stormy clouds, but as they suspected, Cloudsdale has changed.

The two of them followed the others, who then stopped and went to attention as a male black pegasus they didn’t recognize came up to them. “Well it’s about time you all showed up,” he said testily. “It seems Dolores has picked up on our suspicions and has locked herself up in City Hall, surrounded by rebels-”

“Who’s that guy?” Rainbow asked quietly to herself.

“That’s Captain Clash Nimbus,” one of the soldiers next to her muttered softly. “He’s the leader of the Darkbolts, the Empire’s elite flying division.”

“Darkbolts?” Fluttershy asked. “But… what happened to the Wonderbolts?”

“You been hiding under a rock or something?” the soldier said. “The Wonderbolts got disbanded after they refused to serve under Emperor Ghidious. As punishment, Spitfire was killed and soon the others fled and have been hiding ever since.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened in shock. “Spitfire…killed?” she thought. Her eyes then narrowed. “They’ll pay for that…”

“I do not care what you do with the rest of them, but I want Dolores alive,” Clash said. He then noticed the two new recruits. “So… it seems we have some new blood.” He went up to them with a smirk on his face. “You,” he said. “Give me your name.” Rainbow said nothing, and stared back at him. Clash frowned slightly and then hit her on the side of her face with his hoof, knocking her to the ground. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. “That was an order, or are you deaf?”

Rainbow glared at him, and her mouth twitched as if she wanted to say something. “What was that?” he asked. “Please, speak up and say it out loud to all of us.”

Rainbow, no longer caring, got up slowly and got in his face. “You want to go toe to toe with me, pretty boy?” she said softly. There was stunned belief. Never had anypony, anypony stood up to the Captain like she did.

Instead of retaliating, Clash laughed. “You know what, I like you. You got guts kid, I’ll give you that. I’ll have to warn you though, I may be forgiving but General Bellatrix isn’t, so if I were you, I’d watch what I say around her or else you’ll get worse than what I can give you.” He then turned around. “Now then, I will not have to remind you all that Cloudsdale is an official war zone now, meaning the area will most definitely be hostile. So, it is time for us to move, prepare yourselves.”

“Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked as the two got back in line.

“I’m fine…” Rainbow said, glaring daggers at Clash’s back. Her cheek was cut from him hitting her and was bleeding slightly. “Bastard…”

The city of Cloudsdale was a smoldering ruin, all except for City Hall, which appeared to be the only structure standing. As Rainbow and Fluttershy could see, Imperial troops on the ground and in the air were having trouble breaching it. The occasional sound of gunfire could be heard as most of the rebels hid beneath and within the rubble, picking off soldiers here and there. It was a large sniping ground, one no one dared to step into.

“I want a report lieutenant,” Clash said, speaking to the first pony he saw.

“As far as we know Captain, the POI is bunkered down deep in City Hall,” the pony said. “Most of their forces are inside and we’re barely making any leeway. Even if we make it inside, we’ll be cornered in and have to fight them floor to floor, it could take hours before we reach her.”

“And I assume they have not answered our ultimatum?” Clash asked.

“They’re not taking the bait sir, meaning they understand we want her alive.”

“I see…” Clash said. Overhead, a ship suddenly was hit by a rocket and crashed down about a hundred feet away from them. “Then we will give them an hour. If they do not respond, we’ll just have to take down City Hall completely.” “Surely the general will understand…” he muttered.

“Heh, we should send in the newbies to negotiate terms,” one of the soldiers said, getting a couple of laughs in return.

Clash then smiled a wide smile. “That is an excellent idea,” he said. “You two.” He was pointing at Rainbow and Fluttershy. “I have a job for you. There’s a line that connects City Hall to other buildings in Cloudsdale. You two can sneak in and, if you’re not caught, perhaps you can take care of the mayor for us.”

“And if they are caught?” the lieutenant asked.

“They can at least warn them in advance,” Clash said. It was a win-win for him, although he preferred to take Dolores alive unless he had no other choice. “We will give them an hour; I want the order for a temporary cease-fire to be sent immediately.” He then grinned at the two pegasi. “No need to be nervous; either way you’ll at least be seen as heroes for the Empire.”

“I hope you have an idea Rainbow…” Fluttershy said as the two were crawling underground. The large circuit they were in was leading straight to the basement of City Hall.

“Are you kidding, this was my idea!” Rainbow said. “I knew it had to be us the whole time.”

“So… that’s why you did all that?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, yeah…” Rainbow said. “Didn’t have a choice really, but I am going to beat him real good when I get the chance.” The act may have been staged, but she was still regardless. “Anyway, I’m glad we got rid of that armor, it was making my wings sore and all that. Not to mention it would be bad for us to go in looking like the bad guys.”

Soon they reached a ladder and both flew up, unlocking a latch and opening it slowly into a dark room, the basement most likely. “No ponies here…” Rainbow said.

“Maybe they all left…” Fluttershy said, inching away backwards.

Rainbow sighed. “Come on you,” she said, almost dragging the pegasus along. It was hard to see, but they managed to find a stairway that went up towards a large set of doors. Rainbow put an ear to the door. “I don’t hear anything but if something happens, just act calm.” She opened the door slowly and looked out. They were in a hallway, most likely on the main floor. Still no sign of anypony.

“So where do we go now?” Fluttershy asked.

“Guess we have no choice but to-”

“Freeze!” In an instant, how Rainbow did not see them, she did not know, but they were surrounded by troops, pointing lances at them.

“We surrender!” Fluttershy squeaked, putting her hooves up. Rainbow sighed and shook her head.