Rainbow Dash smiled. She couldn't remember the last time that happened. She laughed! It felt like she had to be dreaming. She didn't know who this mare was, but she was incredible.

It hadn't even been two weeks since Cloudsdale. Their whole lives had been stolen away from them. Families were lost, homes were gone forever, all of them were left with nothing, but many of the pegasi had begun to learn to cope. Instead of dwelling on what they lost, they had begun to look forward to starting new lives in Canterlot. Everything had been stolen away, but they found solace in the fact that Princess Celestia was guaranteeing them a future. Sure, there were some ponies who were having a harder time dealing with everything they'd been through, and that was fine. Everypony deals with grief differently, and no two of them lost the same things that day.

Rainbow herself had thought she would hold on to the bitterness in her heart until the day that either she or Sombra bit the dust. But here was some pink earth pony, giving the foals piggy back rides, telling goofy jokes, singing songs...Somepony cared. She cared enough to come out of the city, to take time away from the life she still had and spend time helping. She wasn't getting paid, like the guards. She was just trying to help them cheer up.

Rainbow swore at herself under her breath as she furiously wiped tears away with her forearm. How sappy could she get, crying just because somepony cared? She took a deep breath, reaching up and pushing some of her ragged rainbow mane out of her face as she looked up at the sky.

She felt a gentle tug on her free arm and looked over to see a butter-yellow pegasus with a long pink mane. "Hey. Fluttershy, right?" She was answered with a silent nod. "What's up?"

"Uhm, it's time to..." She trailed off, ducking her head into her mane as she lifted a bucket and sponge.

"Right, right...can't let it get infected again." She sighed and lifted her leg, resting her wounded ankle on a log and letting Fluttershy remove the dressings. Rainbow quietly watched her work, looking her over. She was a timid little thing, shorter than most, and on the thin side, but she was pretty nice.

She'd been wearing a tattered green dress this whole time, but every day that Rainbow saw it, it had been freshly washed and had another patch sewn over another hole. Rainbow almost wished she could've salvaged her own clothes as she looked down at her donated outfit. A loose tank top and a baggy pair of pants, wrapped with strips of cloth to close it up at the waist and just above the ankles, hung from her lean, toned frame. The guard stallion who gave them to her called them his 'lazy day' clothes.

After the severe injuries were taken care of, the doctors from Canterlot had all gone back into the city. Rainbow didn't hold it against them. After all, there were probably plenty of ponies getting sick and hurt every day in a city this big. Unfortunately, this left them with few caretakers, and this shy mare had practically been drafted because of her experience tending to injured birds and pets back in Cloudsdale.

Rainbow hissed as the sponge dabbing against her ankle hit just the wrong spot. Fluttershy jerked back, sputtering apologies. "It's fine," Rainbow told her, "it's practically healed, it's just tender." She'd gotten a nasty gash, falling out of the sky, and she hadn't done herself any favors insisting on marching all the way to Canterlot. Thankfully, the actual doctors were able to take care of the infection she had forced herself to ignore, and now Fluttershy just had to help keep it clean, and Rainbow had to stay off of it.

Her leg was cleaned, new bandages were applied, and she resumed watching the pink earth pony play with the foals. Then she noticed somepony she didn't expect. "Scootaloo?" She raised an eyebrow in disbelief. The little orange filly was riding around on the earth mare's back, laughing. She hadn't said a word since they lost their homes, but now she was squealing with joy. For a moment, she wasn't worried or upset. She was just a child.

Rainbow felt a swelling in her chest, and she knew she had to say something. Propping herself up with the help of her crutch, she limped over to the strange mare.

"Hi, Dash!" Scootaloo called, waving from the mare's back.

"Hi, Dash!" Repeated the strange mare. "Do you wanna go next?" She asked, setting Scootaloo on the ground.

"Go next?" She mouthed, confused. The offer was clarified as the stranger walked over, turned around, and hefted Rainbow Dash up onto her back. Rainbow started to protest, but she realized that all the foals had gathered around the two mares, and were cheering. Sure, they were probably cheering for the earth pony, but it still felt good to be at the center of all this reverie.

"So, uh-woah!" Rainbow clung tightly as the mare started taking long, lunging strides. "What's your name?" She asked. Once she got used to the motion, a piggy back ride wasn't so bad. It was almost like flying.

"I'm Pinkie Pie!" She giggled, hopping over a large rock. This mare was deceptively strong. The small crowd of children pursued them.

"I'm Rainbow Dash." She squeezed herself tightly to Pinkie for a moment, feeling herself starting to slip off. "I wanted to, uh, thank you. For coming out here and playing with the foals."

Pinkie got strangely quiet for a moment, even as she ran around in circles, a grown mare on her back, before answering. "No problem. I know things are hard for you guys, and I just want to do whatever I can to help you all be able to smile again."

"That...That means a lot to me. I think it means a lot to all of--OOF!" Rainbow lurched as Pinkie came to a sudden halt. "Uh...Pinkie?"

"...RUN AWAY! EVERYPONY HIDE!" She screamed, turning and rushing into a tent with Rainbow still on her back. The pegasus climbed off of her, confused, and Pinkie sank to the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest and covering her head with her hands. Every last foal that had been playing with her followed her in, clinging to the trembling mare for safety and comfort.

Rainbow, reasonably confused, peered out from the tent, eyes widening with shock and anger at what she found. Five ponies clad in black, spiked armor, their faces entirely concealed, their minds gone, their eyes glowing green through the slits in helmets adorned with red crests. The last pony of the group pulled a large cart with a cage on it, made up of black iron bars.

The black masks. Members of Sombra's personal army of mind controlled slaves. There were only five of them marching through the camp, into Canterlot, but it didn't matter. Rainbow knew that a pony caught by a black mask would be taken away, and never be seen again. That was one of Sombra's laws. All the cities he ruled had to allow him to take what he wanted of their population. Nopony was sure why. Some thought it was a way of showing how much control he had over the ponies that he ruled. Others thought he was draining the life out of them, keeping himself young (after all, how does a unicorn emperor live for over a thousand years?). Still others thought that the ponies he captured were turned into black masks themselves, a perpetual cycle continually adding to the ranks of his seemingly endless army.

Rainbow did not care about these theories. She only knew two things for certain in this moment: Pegasi were in danger, and the black masks would never be fast enough to catch her. Her wings burst open as she saw one of them approaching Fluttershy. The mare had fallen to the ground, hiding her face and trembling in fear. Rainbow exploded out of the tent, ready for combat, but as she swept high into the air, preparing to dive at her target, she saw somepony else. She halted, hovering, and listening as this hooded mare stared dauntlessly into the mask.

"Your duty," She said to the armored slave, "Is to gather citizens the cities ruled by King Sombra, yes?" She asked, her voice shaking and spiteful. "None of these ponies are citizens of any city. Our city is gone. Don't you dare try to take more from us...not yet..."

Rainbow stared in awe as this actually worked. She flew down and landed next to the strange mare, hissing as her hoof hit the ground and reminded her that she was supposed to have a crutch. "That was amazing! What exactly did you do!?"

"They follow orders," the mare replied, watching them enter the city with sadness in her voice. Nopony from Cloudsdale would be taken, but Canterlot would not be so lucky. "There's enough mind and reason in them for them to believe that we aren't what they're looking for, that taking one of us would be disobeying orders." She turned to face Rainbow, a sad smile on her face.

"Princess Cadenza!" She dropped to her knee. Fluttershy gasped as she heard the name, and peeked out from behind her trembling hands. Why was she here? Why had she risked her life to save Fluttershy's? Why was she wearing a dress made of plain brown sackcloth?

"Ha!" She rolled her eyes, looking annoyed and angry. "Cloudsdale is gone." She got down on a knee herself, putting a hand on Rainbow's shoulder. "I may still be in line for Canterlot's throne, but I'm scarcely princess of anything anymore, Rainbow Dash."

"You know my name?" Rainbow dared to glance up and look her in the eye, finding her gaze softening and her smile becoming much more genuine.

"I may have been here in Canterlot on royal business when it happened, but I still heard about Cloudsdale. I heard about how you gathered everypony together. How you lead them here. You saved them." She pulled Rainbow forward into a tight embrace, tears spilling out of her eyes. "Thank you so much," Cadenza whispered. As they knelt together on the ground, ponies began emerging from tents, the black masks having all made their way through the city gates. When they'd come back out, they'd already have their captives, and would not be interested in anypony else.

"PRINCESS HUG!" Came a high voice, as two pink arms shot out, pinning Cadenza and Dash together.

"Oh my...Who might you be?" Cadenza asked, her cheek forcefully pressed against Rainbow's.

"That's Pinkie Pie. She came out to try and cheer up the foals," Rainbow informed her. The two pegasi each fell backward when they were finally released from the earth mare's grasp.

"If you're a princess, why are you wearing this?" Pinkie asked, tugging at Cadenza's sleeve with an air of curiosity.

Cadenza began to restate that she didn't feel she should have the title anymore, but thought better of it. "If you must know, I sold nearly everything I brought to Canterlot with me. All these ponies are starting new lives with nothing. The least I can do is try and get each of them a few bits, though I fear it's spread far too thin."

"Awww! That's soooo nice of you!" Pinkie told her with a wide smile, giving Cadenza another hug.

"Is she always this huggy?" Cadenza asked Rainbow, as the latter got up and limped her way around the former.

"Heck if I know, I only just met her." Dash knelt beside the still-trembling Fluttershy. "Hey, it's gonna be ok, Shy. Can I call you Shy?" She asked, gently resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, I am!" Pinkie informed the princess, tightening her hug for illustration.

Fluttershy slowly looked up into Rainbow's eyes before swiftly and wordlessly wrapping her arms tightly around Rainbow's torso, crying softly into her tank top. Rainbow awkwardly patted her on the back of the head. "Uh, yeah...okay...let it out," She mumbled.

"Hey, when are you guys moving into the city? My friend Applejack is helping fix up some old houses for you guys!" Pinkie announced loudly.

"...Right in my ear..." Mumbled Cadenza, still firmly stuck in an unwanted embrace. "It shouldn't be but a few more days from the reports I've received. Tell your friend Applejack that she has my thanks for all of her hard work."

"Oki-Doki-Loki!" Pinkie paused, releasing Cadenza from her embrace, and looking up at the sun's position in the sky. "Aw, that late already?" She turned to her new friends. "I gotta go to work now. Come see me at The Frothy Flagon sometime!" She began to head toward the city's gate.

"WAIT!" Rainbow cried. "Shouldn't you wait till the black masks leave?"

"Oh, that's no problem," Pinkie said, showing the gate guard her papers to prove her citizenship, taking the papers back and pulling a grappling hook and rope out from under her skirt. "I'll stick to the rooftops. They'll never catch me." She threw the hook over the edge of the city wall and quickly climbed the rope, much to the sputtering guard's dismay.

As much as they disapproved of her method of entry, the guards couldn't blame her and had no reason to stop her. She was allowed in the city, just like the pegasi soon would be, and nopony wanted to risk running into the black masks.

The three mares she left behind stared, eyes wide. "Was that in her skirt the whole time?" Fluttershy asked as she reached up to wipe her tear-streaked cheeks.

"I should wear skirts more often," Rainbow Dash commented. The other two giggled softly in response to that sentiment. "What's so funny?" Rainbow demanded.

"The hero of my ponies," Cadenza replied with a smirk.

Hours later, in the quiet of the night, a single unicorn entered the tomb of King Aegis. The stallion walked along the walls, examining the murals with great interest. "Aegis, son of Aether. The mighty warrior king," He began. "He protected not only his lands, but any who called for aid, pony or otherwise. He offered strangers the chance to come and live in his kingdom with open arms." He paused for a moment, before disgust crept into his voice. "He believed that all beings were the equal of ponies, and that all ponies were the equal of unicorns. In his dying act, he granted a home to the pegasi, before dying. A warrior who preached equality..." His horn glowed as a new image began to form at the end of the mural. "Struck down doing battle against the horrible tyrant who oppressed all the beings he cared for." He smirked. "What a wonderful story. I'm sure parents will tell it to their foals for generations."

Rainbow laid on her bedroll, clutching tightly to her blanket, eyes clenched shut and ears flat against her head. When something bothers you your whole life, you learn to tune it out. Still, she hadn't had this much trouble tuning out the desperate pleas of ponies captured by the black masks since she was a child.

"I HAVE A FAMILY! SOMEPONY, ANYPONY, HELP ME!"

"MAMA! MAMAAAA!"

She knew there was nothing she could do. Back in Cloudsdale, if she had assaulted the black masks, the high king would come. He'd come personally to oversee her public execution. There was nothing she could do. The words repeated over and over in her mind. She had to stay alive. She could do more good alive.

The screams faded away as the black masks put distance between themselves and the pegasus encampment. Rainbow would not fall asleep tonight.

Author's Note

starting to think I should put a dark tag on this...