Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego

by MagicS

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash
Length: 558951

Bored at the recent lack of adventure in her life, Rainbow Dash goes flying off to find some.

Bored at the recent lack of adventure in her life, Rainbow Dash goes flying off to find some.

Now the cold north far beyond the borders of Equestria and everything it holds awaits her. Ancient societies unknown to Equestria, monsters, heroes and villains alike, excitement, conflict, danger, glory, Rainbow Dash seeks out all of these to find herself the greatest adventure of her life. A pegasus with greater determination and willpower than any other, she’ll never back down no matter what she faces.

Published 2020-08-14 14:10:00 UTC
Last updated 2021-04-12 13:15:35 UTC

Stopover at the Crystal Empire

Rainbow Dash had flown all the previous evening, had barely gotten any sleep, and started flying again at the first sign of dawn. There was no time to waste on her new journey and she wanted to get to the exciting adventure she craved as soon as possible. This was going to be epic, she knew it. There had to be all kinds of stuff to do and monsters to fight where she was going. After all, Bug Bears lived on one side of the north so there had to be other dangerous stuff too.

“I’m gonna make sure this adventure is awesome,” she said to herself as she flew hard through the air, her hooves thrust out in front of her while the cone of wind from her great speed tightened around her.

She didn’t want to make any stops right now with her eyes glued to the north and the rising Crystal Mountains in the distance. Beyond them was the even more massive Mt. Everhoof, a mountain that made the rest in Equestria seem tiny, and her first goal for this adventure. She couldn’t see it just yet though what with the clouds and great distance to it still. The entire Crystal Empire was still between her and it after all.

But despite Rainbow Dash’s wish for no stops, her body had other ideas. A growl from her empty stomach grabbed her attention and she slowed down her flight, rubbing her rumbling belly.

“Oh yeah, I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday,” she frowned.

Flying above the Crystal Mountains she could see the Empire coming up shortly. The huge castle spire and all the buildings below it were like a shining beacon in these cold lands. Rainbow Dash chewed her lip for a second as she thought things over.

“I guess I can stop by and visit Cadance and Shining Armor for lunch. Getting a big meal right before I leave Equestria sounds like a good idea.”

The blue pegasus dove low to fly in-between the mountain peaks that separated the Empire from the rest of Equestria. Directly below her she could see the train tracks that she and her friends would normally take when visiting, but with Rainbow Dash just being on her own there was no use for a train. Unless she had wanted to escape the cold for a bit. The northern air was pretty chilly after all. But that’s something she would have to get used to if she was planning on flying even further north. And the cold didn’t really bother her that much since she was used to flying high in the naturally cold sky to begin with. Winter weather and temperatures were no issue for Rainbow Dash.

She wanted to get done with this little stop fast so she sped her flying back up as she darted over the snowy landscape to the large palace ahead of her. No time for admiring the scenery, especially not scenery she had seen time and time again.

It kept her body warm too, to fly like this. And proud of how she could see how much faster she was traveling than any train could carry its passengers. Nothing beat flying with your own two wings. To feel the wind beneath you, to soar through the sky, to have total and complete freedom, this was what Rainbow Dash lived for.

She came out of the mountains quickly, nothing between her and the Empire now but empty space. Only a few more seconds were needed before she was flying over houses and streets. The Empire was far warmer than the land surrounding it and Rainbow Dash easily glided through the air towards the palace. The Crystal Empire was always a nice place to visit and she probably would’ve taken more time to look around and have fun if she didn’t have somewhere else to be. The only thing she wanted to do right now was pop in for a quick hello with Cadance and Shining Armor, eat some grub, and then head out.

And hey, maybe the two of them actually knew a little more of what was up north? Seemed kind of likely. If anything they could probably tell her about Mt. Everhoof at least.

“I wonder if I should, like, actually go through the door at the bottom or if it would be okay to just fly in through a window or balcony somewhere?” She mused as she flew a circle around the palace. “Eh, whatever.” She shrugged and flew around to the large balcony that surveyed the city and from where the Princesses oft announced things from. Landing on it she trotted on into the castle. “Twilight never minds when I come in, I’m sure her brother and sister-in-law won’t either.”

The veracity of that statement would probably need to be tested in the future.

Rainbow Dash hovered a few feet off the floor as she slowly went through the crystal palace, looking for either the owners or any guards that could direct her to the ponies she wanted to see.

It was around lunchtime wasn’t it? Maybe Cadance and Shining Armor were already eating right now. She should try and find the dining room.

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings harder and began to speed through the crystalline hallways with no regard for the rest of the building’s inhabitants.

As it turned out, Cadance and Shining Armor were eating lunch.

It was a surprisingly quiet lunch with just them and Flurry Heart in the royal dining hall. Cadance with her daughter seated at the head of the table with Shining Armor alllll the way at the other end for some reason. Shining Armor kept looking up from his meal at his wife, who was seemingly ignoring him on purpose while she fed and talked to their daughter.

“Here comes the airship~” Cadance said as she levitated a spoonful of baby food to Flurry Heart’s mouth that the little alicorn filly was more than happy to gobble up. “That’s mommy’s good little angel!”

Flurry Heart giggled in delight as Cadance snuggled with her while Shining Armor watched from far away, nearly having to squint to see what was going on thanks to how long the table was.

“Is she eating all her food?” He asked, in a voice only slightly raised above its normal volume.

“You don’t have to shout,” Cadance icily responded without looking in his direction. She kept the smile on her face while she gently cleaned up the food on Flurry Heart’s face.

Pretty sure I didn’t. Shining Armor thought to himself but wisely did not put a voice to those thoughts.

The white unicorn glumly sighed and resumed eating by himself while his wife and daughter enjoyed themselves at the other end of the table. Cadance had shown no signs of forgiving him anytime soon. How many more days were going to go by like this just because he did something kind of stupid? He wasn’t dumb enough to make things worse by questioning her reaction but this was still grating on him a good deal. And it was all happening just because-

The door to the dining hall slammed open and a familiar pegasus burst into the room, coming to a stop right in front of the table.

“Hey! There you guys are!” Rainbow Dash said to the three of them.

“Rainbow Dash?!” Shining Armor shouted, for real this time, and stood up out of his chair. “What’s going on, why are you here?”

Cadance flew up from her chair with Flurry Heart grasped securely in her hooves to join Shining Armor. “Did Twilight send you?”

“Huh?” Rainbow Dash stared down at them, perplexed until she noticed the concerned looks on their face. Ohh… they thought something had happened and Twilight told her to come here and tell them. She shook her hooves to calm them down. “No, no, I’m just going out on an adventure and I was in the neighborhood so I decided to drop by. What’s up?”

Shining Armor sighed and hung his head down in relief. “I guess that’s better than the alternative. You kind of had us spooked just barging in here though.”

“You’re sure nothing’s wrong?” Princess Cadance asked her. “You flew in here really fast. Even for you.”

“Uhhh, well nothing’s wrong but-” Rainbow Dash was cutoff by another rumble from her stomach.

Shining Armor and Cadance both looked at her in surprise while a blush crept up the blue pegasus’ face.

“Er… mind if I join your for lunch? Eheh...”

After notifying the guards and chef that they would need another plate of food the four ponies got to eating together, this time sitting much closer together, although with Rainbow Dash in-between Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. An arrangement that was a little awkward to the blue pegasus. While chewing on her carrot she kept glancing back and forth between the two married ponies, even she could tell that something was up with the two of them.

And if Rainbow Dash could read the atmosphere that meant that anybody could.

Flurry Heart was obliviously making a mess with her food though, something that Rainbow Dash smirked at, the sight reminding her quite a bit of her own early years. But Cadance was wearing a plastic mask over her true face and Shining Armor looked morose. The stallion in particular was just pushing his food around instead of eating it, like he was in a depressed slump.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him and leaned in closer, whispering into his ear. “Psst, hey. Is something up with you and Cadance?”

“There’s nothing wrong at all, Rainbow Dash.” Cadance answered, causing Dash and Shining to jolt up in shock. “Things are completely normal.” She lifted up a hoof and giggled to herself.

“Riiiight,” Rainbow Dash looked at her weirdly and went back to eating. Do alicorns have really good ears or something?

“You heard her, absolutely nothing is wrong,” Shining Armor repeated as he discreetly poked her in the side to get her attention.

Rainbow Dash looked up at him to see the big stallion minutely shaking his head at her with a tight-lipped frown on his face. Whatever was going on, he clearly didn’t want Rainbow Dash to press things further.

“Do you like your lunch?” The Princess asked her.

“Uh, yeah, it’s good,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Thanks for this, I really needed some food in me before I went any further.”

“No need to thank us,” Cadance responded with a smile while Flurry Heart levitated her plate behind her. “It’s always a treat having a friend over. Our doors are always open. Or windows in your case.”

“That’s right, you’re not just a friend of Twilight’s after all. We’re all friends too and you don’t need to just be “in the neighborhood” if you want to come by,” Shining Armor told her.

“Hey thanks, you guys are pretty cool,” Rainbow Dash brought up a hoof for a hoof bump with the stallion.

Princess Cadance cleared her throat to grab Rainbow Dash’s attention. “Speaking of being in the neighborhood, just what kind of adventure are you going on?”

Rainbow Dash grinned and flew up out of her chair. “Heh, hopefully the biggest and coolest adventure I’ve ever been on!” She flew around the dining hall before landing back on top of the table, ignoring all manners and etiquette. “I don’t know if the two of you have noticed, but Equestria’s been super boring lately. I asked Twilight about what was north and she didn’t really know. So I figured I’d fly up there and see cause anywhere scary and unknown has to be brimming with adventure. I’m just gonna keep flying until I’m satisfied. Mt. Everhoof is gonna be my first goal, I’m totally gonna fly up it. It’s like, the tallest mountain in all of Equestria by far and I wanna brag about conquering it.”

“Well good luck, and be careful. Mt. Everhoof actually has strange and powerful weather around it the higher you go up, it’ll be difficult for you to make it to the top,” Cadance told her.

Rainbow Dash dismissively waved a hoof. “Come on, look who you’re talking to. I can handle flying to the top of a mountain.”

Shining Armor chuckled a bit at her confidence. “Yeah you do make a point. After all, you’ve been through way more than most ponies ever will be. I suppose if anyone can handle that mountain and whatever other adventures lie beyond it it’d be you or one of your friends."

“That’s right,” Rainbow Dash hopped back up into the air and smugly folded her hooves behind her head.

“Are you sure you want to leave so soon? If you’re going on a big adventure don’t you want to stay the night at least?” Cadance offered her. It was a reasonable request, in fact it was probably the smart thing to do, getting well-rested in probably one of the nicest places in Equestria so she could set off free of any aches or exhaustion.

But Rainbow Dash merely shook her head. “Thanks but no thanks. I really wanna get out there as quick as possible. I already wasn’t really planning to stop here.”

“Really? We have plenty of guest rooms, and Shining Armor can vouch for how nice they are, since he’s currently sleeping on the floor of one,” the Princess of Love said so sweetly and nonchalantly that it was actually kind of creepy.

“Uhhh, that’s alright. I’m sure they’re nice and all but yeah, I really did want to get on my way.” Rainbow Dash grimaced. She glanced over to see Shining Armor let out a defeated sigh.

Cadance didn’t seem to mind, merely scooping Flurry Heart up in her hooves and beginning to trot her way towards the door. “Alright, it was nice having lunch with you and I hope we see you again soon. Right now it’s time for Flurry Heart’s nap. So have a nice adventure out there!”

The alicorn magically pulled open the door and waved goodbye before walking out, leaving Shining Armor and Rainbow Dash alone.

The eyes of the rainbow-maned pegasus drifted over to the stallion as she hopped off the table to question him. “Dude, what's going on?”

Shining Armor let out a sigh for what felt like the twentieth time that day before turning to face Rainbow Dash with a tired frown on his face. “Rainbow Dash, I’m going to give you some advice for if you ever get married.” He put a hoof on her shoulder. “If your spouse ever asks you if the Changeling Queen that impersonated them for your wedding was a better kisser than they are, don’t actually stop to think about it, just say no.”

“Kiiind of specific advice but okay, dude.” Rainbow Dash winced. “Good luck with all that, I’ll see you again sometime.

“Yeah, see ya.”

Shining Armor let his hoof drop from her shoulder as Rainbow Dash flew up into the air and sped back out of the dining room. Her belly now full and her body well prepared for the adventure in front of her. In but a second she was out of the castle and into the free air, speeding directly north to Mt. Everhoof.

Mt. Everhoof

The imposing mountain was less than ten minutes away now and Rainbow Dash could hardly even wait that long for it. Snowy winds already buffeted her as she made her approach but just like she had told herself earlier it was nothing she couldn’t handle. Things had indeed gotten noticeably colder once she left the airspace of the Crystal Empire in her flight north and they would probably get colder still the further and further she traveled. But if she could handle her flight and climb up Mt. Everhoof and the assuredly chilly time that would be then anything else should be nothing more than a piece of cake for her too.

Looking down it was but snow and snow and snow beneath her as far as the eyes could see. Just another thing that made her grateful for being a pegasus. Rainbow Dash couldn’t even imagine trudging through that. The slow walking, the glacial pace, nothing but white snowdrifts to look at in every direction, she’d go insane. Getting to fly gave her so much more freedom. So much more fun, so much more to look at unless she was caught in a storm or something. Oh yeah, she was happy for those beating wings on her sides.

There was supposedly a river and a forest here but it must’ve all been covered up by the snow of winter and only peaked out during the warmer seasons. Rainbow Dash didn’t mind not seeing it though, if you’ve seen one forest you’ve seen em all, right? And it’s not like any other forest could have the sort of adventure or danger like the Everfree either.

Rainbow Dash started lackadaisically looping and corkscrewing through the air in an effort to entertain herself on the way towards the mountain, giving herself a steady and almost lazy route. It wasn’t going anywhere and she didn’t want to push her wings just yet. Not like she thought it was going to be difficult to get up there but she didn’t want to waste all the energy she had just gotten from a big meal when she knew she was going to be doing a ton more stuff right behind the mountain.

She flapped up on top of a low-flying cloud and stamped down on it, causing a spray of snow to rain down from the cloud. It was carried in a breeze down south, towards the Crystal Empire, before she lost sight of it completely and jumped over to another cloud and another, repeating the process.

“You can’t spell adventure without fun,” Rainbow Dash laughed as she flew through the middle of a cloud, getting a covering of snowflakes across her spread wings that quickly fluttered off with the next flap.

If she was Rarity she probably would’ve thought the shimmering crystals in the cool air looked pretty.

Another breeze coming in from the east buffeted her but Rainbow Dash decided to flow along with it, letting herself glide along with the wind since with her proximity to the mountains she could afford to come in a little less straight than true north. And it saved on more energy.

The pegasus turned over in midair and floated on her back like she was on an inner tube going down a leisurely river. Resting and flying at the same time, definitely a Rainbow Dash kind of thing to do. Her wings only produced the absolute bare minimum of movement and directional control, otherwise she was as still as if she was asleep.

She was pretty darn proud of herself for being such a skilled flier that even the frozen north wasn’t a big deal for her at all. If this is what the weather was normally like then going up and beyond the mountain should be a breeze.

Which technically wasn’t what she actually wanted. Oh sure, getting to relax and take things easy on her flight to the mountain was nice but she really hoped there would be some stronger weather or something to make this more difficult. She wanted to be satisfied by this adventure and that means not being able to just effortlessly waltz through it all. If Mt. Everhoof wasn’t as tough an obstacle as she hoped it would be super disappointing. If it wasn’t as dangerous or whatever as Cadance had said she’d just have to rely on the rest of her adventure to fulfill her needs.

Rainbow Dash was probably only about a minute away from reaching the mountain now, already she was passing over land that steadily rose up to a plateau. Huge slabs of buried rock lied beneath the snow and dirt that formed the unseen basements and supports of all mountains. Like icebergs there was so much more to them than you could see with your eyes.

The blue pegasus started humming to herself as she flipped around and began to take her flying a little more seriously again. Ignoring the wind that was carrying her and getting back on track for her first goal.

A smirk appeared on her face as she puffed an errant lock of mane out of her eyes. “Now that’s what I call a mountain.”

Ahead of her the other mountains of the Yaket Range rose up too, but none of them could hold a candle to Mt. Everhoof in the slightest.

It was almost intimidating, almost, as it rose up to pierce the sky higher than any mountain she had ever seen. The base of the mountain was so wide that going a full circle around it would’ve been a quest all on its own. And the peak more than high enough where it wouldn’t be uncommon to see it obscured by clouds on some days. Not today though, despite the cold weather and presence of some snowy clouds, Rainbow Dash could clearly see the jagged and snow-capped peak in all its glory. Waiting for her.

She could see groups of trees growing up some parts of it and there were enough ledges, ridges, and flat portions where you could build plenty of buildings. Enough to make a city like Canterlot really if you wanted to. But no one really lived up here. Too remote, too cold, for anything more than a couple nomads or travelers to frequent the area. Maybe the yaks would put a city on it one day?

Now that she was up here and staring at it it really hit her that this was indeed the top of Equestria. So few ponies from her home had been here and even fewer were going to see the sights she would get to see from on top of it. This was just one more thing about her that was going to be special. Hitting the border and going beyond it just for the excitement and curiosity to see what was there and more.

That was the adventure she wanted. That pure adventure.

But she could think about that later, after she had actually made it up the mountain.

The thing is though, did she fly up now and just get level with it and fly straight towards the peak like that? Or did she go low down to the base of the mountain and fly up it like she was really climbing Mt. Everhoof? If she wanted to get to the peak it was obvious which way would be easier. But where was the fun in that? An adventure wasn’t supposed to be easy, she wanted a challenge! She wanted to do something tough and different.

So Rainbow Dash was going to do what an earth pony or unicorn would have to: start from the bottom.

She dipped in the air and made her descent nearly to ground level, not actually touching her hooves down but still only floating and hovering slightly above the snowy and rocky terrain. There were dots of strong and tall evergreen trees here and there at this lower section of the mountain too, but many of them were buried in the snow. If it was a different season the mountain would probably be more than a bit greener and more inviting. Although she kind of wanted it as uninviting as possible since that made the conquering even more impressive.

From where she was staying now the mountain loomed over her even more, blocking out her vision of anything else. A cold and threatening peak that didn’t want any ponies climbing it. That’s what this desolate mountain told her. The only thing it was missing was storm clouds and a sudden lightning bolt piercing the sky with a bear’s roar of thunder. The mostly clear sky just wasn’t really doing it for her right now.

Once more she had to thank herself for her wings. It would have taken days to climb this thing and she’d have to carry a bunch of tools and stuff with her otherwise. So lame.

A harsh blast of wind suddenly came down from the mountain, actually blowing Rainbow Dash back and forcing her to cover her face with her hooves while her wings beat heavily to keep her from being carried away completely. As soon as the wind stopped, Rainbow Dash shook her body to get all the snow off that had come down on her too. Maybe that was the mountain telling her to not take it so lightly?

If so it had failed. Rainbow Dash grinned up at Mt. Everhoof and cracked her neck.

“Okay, time to be awesome.”

Peak Performance

Rainbow Dash began her ascent by gliding in close to the surface of the mountain, intentionally keeping herself low enough so she had to dart in-between some of the jagged rock formations and trees that shot up all over the foot of the mountain. It made for a more fun flight than just smoothly going above it all as she flew directly up the huge mountain. She liked to imagine herself going through an obstacle course or putting on some kind of Wonderbolts show while she was traversing the southern face of Mt. Everhoof. In hindsight she should’ve asked Twilight just how many ponies actually had made it to the top of the mountain, it would be awesome if she turned out to be the first. Or at least, like, the first Equestrian to make it to the top.

“If I am I’m totally gonna have Twilight throw a party for me when I get back,” she grinned. And then another even more excellent thought struck her. “Oh! Wait! If I’m the first they’re gonna have to write about me in books, awesome! I’m already gonna be written about as the greatest Wonderbolt ever and the pony that helped save Equestria like, a hundred times, but now everyone in the future is going to learn about another way I’m awesome. Yes!” She pumped her hoof.

Although she was getting a bit ahead of herself, Rainbow Dash couldn’t bother to think about that. The excitement that the future promised far outweighing any present thing that needed to be dealt with first. Although her actual “climb” up the mountain should be plenty exciting too. Regardless if she was really the first to make it to the peak or not.

She strongly shot her way further up the mountain to leave the little foothills behind, still not even a quarter of the way up it even though at max speed she could ostensibly make it to the top in no time flat. Unless the weather she was warned about stopped her. But now she was flying up the ice and snow covered rocks of the mountain proper. Icicles hung from any overhangs, dangerous things that threatened to fall off with the slightest jostling, she had to be careful the further up she went. The fall wind coming down on her was also making things much colder than they had been when she was flying to the mountain, even with her constant movement doing its best to warm her up.

Better than if she was walking on the mountain, if that was the case she’d be going so slow she’d need to be covered in heavy clothes and boots. She could already picture her hoof getting stuck to the ice if she touched down on the mountain. Like this her natural body heat and beating heart still saved her from any of that obnoxious stuff. And the fact that she was flying circumvented so many other things, it was really the gift that would keep on giving on this adventure, she knew it.

“This is so great,” she said to herself as she flew up higher and higher parallel to the mountain.

The gigantic form of Mt. Everhoof was still taking up all of her field of view and was so wide that it almost looked like a flat wall of rock but as she made it closer to the midsection she could start to see where it curved. Wanting to get as much out of the mountain as possible, Rainbow Dash started zigzagging to make sure she wasn’t missing anything cool, like a cave or something that might’ve been made by any ponies that had challenged the mountain before her or had lived on it.

She lightly bit down on her tongue as she thought about what she would do if she did actually find a dark and mysterious cave. Explore it? That would be pretty adventurous. It might slow down her mountain climb but if it was dangerous that made it all worth it. What if there was a Bug Bear or something else slumbering inside it? Then she’d have to fight it off while still flying all the way to the peak, that would’ve been the perfect intense start to her journey.

Rainbow Dash nodded to herself, deciding that’s exactly what she would do if she saw a cave. She could already picture it, a deep and dark cave with huge fang-like icicles hanging over its mouth. Yeah, that was the extra excitement she wanted on this mountain flight.

“Speaking of extra excitement though… if I had someone to race up this mountain then it would be even better,” Rainbow Dash imagined challenging Spitfire, or even Lightning Dust wherever she was, to a race to see which one of them could fly up to the peak first. That would leave no time for caves or any sort of other detour and it would give her an excuse to just go all out and fly like her life depended on it.

A rival to beat motivated her like nothing else.

If it was a race she would’ve already made it to the summit, leaving nothing but a blurry rainbow streak in the sky. Didn’t matter who or what she might’ve been up against, she was the fastest flier in all of Equestria. A race up the tallest mountain in Equestria would just be another way to prove that.

Perhaps subconsciously Rainbow Dash began speeding up on her way to the peak. Maybe imagining a phantom race or wanting to set a fast “record” on how long it took her to fly up Mt. Everhoof.

She was past the midway point now thanks to her increased speed and the relatively clear skies allowed her to keep her eyes zeroed in on that peak. The wind had started to grow harsher though, it wasn’t just the wind coming directly down the face of the mountain anymore but strong currents billowing around it in every direction, defying typical weather and logic.

“Is this what Cadance was talking about?” Rainbow Dash frowned as a series of strong breezes from the east and west faces of the mountain threatened to blow her off track.

Some of the few clouds in the sky had now gathered together above her and took on a darker appearance. Was this going to be like the Everfree where the weather truly had a mind of its own? Her question seemed to be answered with a yes as snow and hail started to fall from the clouds directly onto her and making her flight up far more difficult than it just had been.

“Tch, this is nothing!” She yelled and buzzed her wings faster than a hummingbird, flying up like a rainbow lightning bolt to the clouds.

She was well practiced when it came to dealing with the weather, if she could just get to the clouds she could beat them away and change or break past the wind too. No simple wind coming down or around a mountain could beat the hurricane that Rainbow Dash could bring forth with her flying. Despite the hail and snow now pouring on her she continued to fly up, her eyes sharp enough and her reflexes quick enough where she could even dodge a lot of what was coming at her. The hail was only barely at the size of cherry pits, nothing she would admit could hurt her. It was more problematic for her that the wind and snow was blowing into her eyes. If her vision was marred that made everything else far more difficult.

Rainbow Dash kept a hoof in front of her face to at least keep the wind from blowing too hard right into her eyes but it didn’t stop the powder of snow from coating her if she didn’t shake it off fast enough. She grit her teeth and made an extra powerful flap of her wings to come right up into the middle of the clouds that were raining on her. Immediately she kicked and punch the cold weather clouds, her hooves finding them much more solid than if she wasn’t a pegasus.

How many hundreds or even thousands of clouds had she worked with in her life? She didn’t keep track, she wasn’t Twilight, but these were no different. As long as it wasn’t a magical cotton candy cloud, Rainbow Dash was pretty sure she could handle any of them.

She blasted through the top of the clouds and then dove back into and around them like she was tying an invisible knot together. And with her speed the rainbow tail she left behind as she flew practically made it look like there was something binding the clouds together. That was until Rainbow Dash tightened up her flying and the rainbow “rope” cut the clouds into harmless pieces. Too small to carry on with their snow and hail, they dissipated in the wind while Rainbow Dash laughed in victory.

The blue pegasus looked back up at the peak of Mt. Everhoof, the spearhead top of the mountain close at hoof now. With another small grin she decided there was nothing else worth waiting for, at a speed just under what she would need to make a Sonic Rainboom, Rainbow Dash zoomed to the top.

“Yes!” She shouted as she touched down on the top. The first time she came into actual contact with the mountain. The Element of Loyalty stood on a large boulder that jutted out of the peak of Mt. Everhoof, folding and resting her wings by her sides as she took her first glimpse of the northern lands that lied beyond the mountain.

“Cool,” Rainbow Dash said as she gazed as far as she could across the new world unknown to nearly all to the south. Immediately below Mt. Everhoof was a large valley containing a deep-green forest that ran west as far as Rainbow Dash could see, slightly north of this valley were more mountains of the Yaket Range that made up its northern border, she couldn’t see what might be directly under those mountains but at least at some point beyond that it looked like the land turned into a flat tundra that stretched for miles north until she couldn’t see anything past the fog and clouds. To the east she could see the valley and mountains going for a long ways but also was able to make out the edge of the ocean as it rose north, she knew from maps that the ocean that separated Equestria from the Griffon Lands came all the way up here and then went a little inwards but she had no idea what its full shape was like.

She took a spin around and looked south too, getting to spy the Crystal Empire from up here. It technically wasn’t the top of the world or anything but it might as well have been. And Rainbow Dash was really proud of making it up here. Figuring an awesome pony like herself didn’t need much rest she unfurled her wings and turned back around, getting ready for the descent and the true start to her adventure as she left Equestria behind.

Backside

There was an easy way and a hard way to fly up to the peak. Just like there was now an easy way and a hard way to get down the mountain. And since she had already conquered Mt. Everhoof this seemed like the perfect time for a self-imposed challenge to make things a little more exciting on her descent.

“I’m gonna climb down this mountain and no using my wings unless I absolutely have to!” Rainbow Dash shouted into the high air before hopping off the top boulder onto the ledge right below it.

Going up the southern face of the mountain was accomplished by her wings, and going down the northern face would be accomplished by her hooves. Doubly awesome.

Snow crunched under her hooves as she jumped down to the next step. Rainbow Dash made sure she was jumping to a safe spot that had actual rock under it each time, she really didn’t want to land on a snow or ice shelf only for the whole thing to slide or fall out from under her. With her wings and quick reaction speed she’d probably be okay but she didn’t want to chance getting carried away. Boy was that snow cold on her hooves though! She had done a really good job of ignoring or simply warming herself up when it came to the cold but now she was having those issues she had just earlier thanked herself for being able to avoid because she was a pegasus.

The adrenaline from making it to the top had kept the chilliness of the mountain peak away for a minute but now that she was traveling down it and that high had worn off the cold air that surrounded her was making itself very, very, known. Being at the top and looking down now the mountain looked a lot taller too, Rainbow Dash was giving herself a bit of a long trip by hopping down it.

A dangerous trip too. Her jump down one level sent a slight tremor through the rocks that was just strong enough to dislodge a number of sharp icicles around and above her, sending them slicing through the snow or shattering on the rocks.

“Yeesh, gotta watch out for that.”

She was counting this traveling down the backside of the mountain as her first real challenge on this adventure that wasn’t in Equestria so she really wanted to give it her all and not take any shortcuts. Once she got to the foot of the mountain she could start flying over the forested valley below.

It was a surprise to her of how green that valley still was, frosty, yes, but not covered or buried in snow like much of the landscape on the Equestrian side of the mountain. It’s like the weather and climate magically changed a bit when you left the border of Equestria. Which honestly shouldn’t surprise her that much. Clouds covered most of the sky on this side of the mountain too, giving everything below a dimmer and more dreary look than the side she had just come up. Add to that that it was getting later in the day so the amount of light was naturally going down to begin with. She may need to hurry it up a little if she wanted off this mountain before nightfall.

Hurrying though was just the kind of thing that could get her in trouble. Rainbow was confident in her physical abilities even if they didn’t relate to flying but she knew she still wasn’t quite as strong or as coordinated on the ground as she was in the air. Trying to rush things could get her hurt and she really didn’t want to break her rule of not using her wings unless there was no other alternative.

Rainbow Dash started humming to herself again to pass the time and take her mind off the cold and the slower process. She imagined being cheered on and congratulated by everyone for making it to the top of Mt. Everhoof, her humming taking the place of the imaginary band performing for her.

“Thank you, thank you, yes I know I’m awesome,” she began saying to herself. Rainbow Dash grinned at the thought of Applejack having to admit she just did something amazing that there was no way she could do. That sweet victory alone would’ve made things worth it.

The further she got down the mountain the more areas there were to travel on, more room as well and she didn’t have to worry as much as accidentally tumbling down a sheer cliff anymore. A lot of the mountain now had an easy enough incline and road to further below where she could just walk. There were some treacherous looking ice and rock bridges as well as some dangerous holes and crevasses she needed to be careful of but for the most part she was able to turn her run down the mountain into an easy stroll. Her wings weren’t just the gift that kept on giving but the great shape she kept her whole body in.

Rainbow Dash decided to have some fun and actually slid down a slope on her hooves, the snow slick enough where it was easy for her. A couple of moguls and rocks popped up here and there that she maneuvered around. Her hooves were getting a little cold from this so she kind of wished she had a board but that was really the only issue.

“I thought climbing a mountain was supposed to be tough? Am I really just this awesome?” Rainbow Dash grinned as she torpedoed on down.

By the time she had made it more than halfway down the mountain a lot of trees were starting to pop up around her now and she ran out of snow to slide on, returning to running, walking, and jumping over rocks. She even saw some animals, squirrels mostly, scurrying about in this lightly forested area. The pine trees made a great home for them and even though Dash was no animal expert (despite her closeness to Fluttershy) she had to figure they led a pretty peaceful life free of most predators on such a remote mountainside.

She wouldn’t admit this as she kept moving but the backside of the mountain looked way, way, easier to traverse than the southern face of it she had flown up. And so what if it was? She was still a pegasus literally walking down the tallest mountain in all of Equestria! Maybe even all the world. That was awesome and nothing nobody else said could change her mind about it.

The blue Wonderbolt with an amazingly inflated ego was still up about a quarter of the way on the mountain though. It would be a decent amount of time before she hit ground level and she couldn’t exactly tell from up here how much easier the rest of the descent would be. But with a larger and wider area the further down she went there would probably be plenty of different paths or routes to take.

And if there were she was going to pick out the most dangerous looking path on purpose.

The climb down the mountain had been too uneventful for her tastes. Well, maybe uneventful was the wrong word, not challenging enough. This was supposed to be a challenge and here she was being even more awesome than she thought she was; having no problem getting down off Mt. Everhoof without having to use her wings.

This adventure was supposed to satisfy her! She couldn’t be satisfied by an easy adventure!

There weren’t even any monsters or Ursa Minors up here or anything. Come on!

“Argh!” Rainbow Dash growled as she frowned, leaping down a broken series of boulders.

Some of them had a slippery coating of ice on them that made her be careful with how she touched down on them and with how much force, but her light hooves and agility made it less than no hazard at all.

Even the weather that had previously been a pain to her when she was trying to reach the peak had abated ever since she started coming down the backside. The cloud coverage was still thick and dreary above the valley but it wasn’t especially cold or windy.

“Lame! There better be way cooler stuff in the north from here on out!” The disappointed pegasus shouted as she hopped off a snow drift onto a ridge that looked like it led all the way to the mountain’s base from where she was. So long as she didn’t tumble off one side of it this was going to be her road to the bottom. And unfortunately for her once again there was absolutely no danger of that happening what with how wide the ridge was. There was barely even any snow or ice on it to make it more slippery or hide a dangerously loose spot!

While she walked down the ridge she couldn’t help but feel annoyed at how she didn’t have to use her wings once the whole time. Yeah that was the challenge but she was hoping something would be dangerous or tough enough where she would be forced to use them. It ended up putting Rainbow Dash in a foul mood as the day calmly switched to evening.

By the Campfire

While the yak children on their pilgrimage finished up with their tents the other adult of the party, a quiet yak by the name of Harrison, started to get a large pot of stew warmed up. Harrison had been pulling a sled behind him that Rainbow Dash had been unable to see in the darkness that was carrying all of the yaks other supplies. The younger yaks were currently lining up and eagerly waiting for their meal. According to William they lived on a subsistence diet while making the march to the eastern coastline, every yak was quite hungry on the way back thanks to this. Rainbow Dash had had a generous meal just earlier in the day but she was hardly going to say no to whatever kind of stew yaks liked.

William had so far not elaborated on anything having to do with the north or why Rainbow Dash’s desire to go there caused him such trepidation, instead telling her that they might as well wait for the food to be ready so they could eat first. Since they weren’t going anywhere tonight. While Rainbow Dash sat around he gathered up some rocks and twigs from around the forest floor, cleared away any snow so they had some dry ground, and used his torch to start a small campfire the two of them could sit by. The flame quickly grew greater and warmer than just the simple torch and Rainbow Dash basked in its heat. With the shaggy fur and large blanket things the yaks were wearing she didn’t think they needed this kind of fire to keep warm, so William was probably doing it for her benefit.

“Thanks for the fire by the way.”

“It is no problem. Yaks best at making campfires too.”

Well at least that was something that wouldn’t change no matter the mood.

And instead of them waiting in line for their stew, the first two of the yak children actually brought them their own bowls. William thanked them and they got back in line while Rainbow Dash grabbed her wooden spoon and started chowing down almost immediately. The hearty stew was earthy and filling and would quickly fill her up if she didn’t pace herself a little bit. Not to mention that the bowl itself was way over-sized for a pony like her.

“Hey, this is some really good stew, thanks,” she told William, briefly glancing up at him from her bowl.

The yak was eating much slower than she was, doing a far better job of savoring the stew. “Traditional yak stew.”

“Cool,” she took another big gulp.

The other yaks didn’t bother the two of them anymore after that. William and Rainbow Dash sat on their own away from the others as they got settled in, the big yak apparently fine with the kids being self-reliant and turning in for the night whenever they wanted. Harrison was supposed to get an extra tent ready for Rainbow Dash too, another thing she was grateful to the yaks for since being stuck out in the cold forest wasn’t very appealing.

This was kind of nice all in all though. She got to explore a new place right at the start of her adventure and learned some new things about the yaks too. Things certainly hadn’t been action-packed so far but she was willing to bet she’d at least find something up here to fight. Come on, there has to be some kind of evil villain or monster north of Equestria, right?

In fact, William’s change in behavior when she mentioned where she was going was a pretty good indication that she was correct. What got him so worried for her?

Well no one could call Rainbow Dash the most patient of ponies so with still about half her stew left she asked the big question. “So William, what’s up with the north and everything?”

The yak paused in his eating and looked down at her as if surprised that she started talking in the middle of her meal. Obviously he didn’t know Rainbow Dash. William’s big eyes went back to his bowl, also still mostly full, before darting back up to Rainbow Dash as if he was debating whether to answer her question or entirely finish his food first. Politeness shortly won out, with the yak sighing and placing his bowl and spoon on the ground next to his yovidophone. “In short, north is big place.”

“Well I kind of figured that,” Rainbow Dash raised a confused eyebrow at him. “So is Equestria, what’s the big deal?”

William shook his head. “True North big but not connected. Not friendly.”

“True North?”

“Where yaks come from,” William nodded.

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth again to speak but was cut off by a swift slicing gesture from William.

“Allow yak to tell you about yaks.”

“Yeah okay,” Dash shrugged, letting William take control of the conversation.

“What you call north, places like Crystal Empire, Yakyakistan, Frozen North, isn’t really the north. That’s just north of where you live. Real north, True North, lies beyond the mountains you see here that border Yaketian Valley and Yakyakistan,” William pointed out at that big line of snowy mountains for emphasis. “World different there.”

William got quiet for a second as he looked north towards those mountains, Rainbow Dash following his line of sight and staring at them through the darkness as well.

“Yakyakistan home of yaks. But only for last thousand years. Before that, yaks lived further north. Migrated south in a great migration that lasted a dozen years, many yaks lost on journey,” William shook his head and turned back to Dash. “Driven out of True North by yak’s enemies.”

“Uh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Rainbow Dash awkwardly scratched her mane. “So, like, who were your enemies that did that?”

Even in the low light of the flame she could see William tense up and his eyes narrow while a frosty steeliness overcame his face. “Mammoths.”

“What’s a mammoth?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head.

“Large creature. Much large than yaks even. Strong, hairy, big long trunks and tusks. The True North is their home. Part of it that yaks once shared with them at least,” William let out a heavy snort. “Yaks had warred with Mammoths, Sabertooths, Frost Wolves, and scattered tribes of ponies and griffons for ages and ages. Finally mammoths beat Yaks. Sack and burn ancestral home to the ground and force Yaks to leave north.”

“I’m just surprised you guys lost. I thought yaks were the best at war and stuff too?” Rainbow Dash said, being as tactful as ever.

“Yaks also best at letting opponents win,” William huffed. “Not important. For thousand years now mammoths rule over the north. We have no contact with them since that time, can only assume their empire has grown and they’ve been warring with others this whole time.”

“They never came south or anything? Figured they’d want to conquer Equestria too or something. Or fight you again.”

William shrugged. “Who knows? Others maybe kept them busy. Maybe forgot about yaks over the ages.” He sneezed suddenly, a great blast that Rainbow Dash was afraid would’ve doused their campfire if he was too close to it. “And second reason, True North doesn’t know about Equestria. Probably. And getting from there to here difficult.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t know how anybody couldn’t know about Equestria of all places but she wasn’t going to push it. “What do you mean by difficult?”

The yak grunted and shifted about as he sat. “Other reason why going to the True North may be a bad idea for you. What separates these last mountains from the True North is a wasteland. Inhospitable. Nothing grows in it, nothing lives. Just empty and dry dirt that snow does not even fall on. Yet tornadoes, lightning storms, and other catastrophes happen throughout it with no rhyme nor reason.” William spread his hooves wide. “Stretches all around the world as far as yaks know. Our storytellers say that we searched and searched for a break in it on our journey out of the north but never found one.”

“So what did you do? How’d the yaks make it across to Yakyakistan?” Rainbow Dash asked and then swallowed down some more stew like it was popcorn while she was being entertained.

William’s eyes darted around for a second before he leaned in closer to Rainbow Dash and whispered into her ear. “Blue pony not tell anyone, but yaks found secret safe path. Very small and just as desolate a path through the wasteland, but staying on it keeps you safe from the weather. Long time it took yaks to make it through. Hungry many went. But eventually yaks made it and founded Yakyakistan. Best country ever!”

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash giggled. “More power to ya.”

“Yes!” William proudly thumped his chest. “Show those mammoths!”

“Yeah...” Rainbow Dash trailed off, looking north again. “I mean, thanks for the warning and filling me in and everything but I still plan to go north. No weather or wasteland or evil empire full of gigantic uh, mammoths, is going to change my mind. In fact, that just makes me wanna go there more.”

“Not just issue of being afraid or not. Impossible to make it through the wasteland without knowing secret yak route,” William shook her.

“Okay, then what is the route?”

“I don’t know,” William plainly shrugged.

Rainbow Dash sputtered for a bit, floating up slightly so she was actually eye level with him and leveling her hooves at him in exasperation. “Oh come on! You can’t tell me all about that stuff and then just say you don’t know the secret path or whatever! I wanna go on an adventure!”

“Yaks generally try to keep others from going to True North,” William calmly responded to her.

“Well I’m not like others, I’m awesome!” She clasped a hoof over her own chest.

William studied her for a second. Perhaps it was her attitude or her acquaintanceship with Pinkie Pie, but he didn’t think just telling her to turn around was going to get him anywhere. “If so set on an adventure into the True North then there is a way to get there.”

Her face lit up and she buzzed right up to him. “Yeah?!”

“Yes,” he nodded. “Two checkpoints made by the yaks exist. One is at southern border of the wasteland, the other is a lonely outpost manned by single yak at the northern border, right at the end of secret path through the wastes. Every generation or so a yak takes up the task of watching over that northern outpost. Lonely job but must be done. And the only other yak that knows the secret path to get out there in the first place is the head of the southern checkpoint.”

“Alright so I go to this checkpoint and get that dude to tell me the path. Easy enough,” Dash smugly said.

William though shook his head. “Not so easy. Head yak not likely to just tell you, even if you mention you already know about the secret’s existence. He will attempt to turn you away. Pony will have a difficult time of convincing yak to let her go to True North.”

“Great, one more obstacle,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Well whatever, I can deal with that when I get there. Where is the checkpoint in the first place?”

The large yak pointed north at the mountains for her. “Fly beyond those mountains and you will eventually reach the inlet from the eastern ocean. That inlet turns into river that flows from Yakyakistan. As long as you follow that river upstream it is impossible to miss checkpoint.”

“Cool, thanks pal,” Rainbow Dash clapped him on the shoulder.

William was not exactly proud to receive her thanks, however. “Do not thank me for telling you how to get into so much trouble. Far too much danger in the True North.” A heavy sigh escaped the yak and he managed a small smile for her. “But good luck, pony. And beware the mammoths.”

They finished their meal after that. William’s words and warnings hanging in the air between them for the rest of the night, no further conversation was had or needed by the pony and the yak and shortly after their bowls were empty, William snuffed out the campfire and the both of them retreated to their tents to sleep. Officially her first night of her new adventure. It was a quiet and cold one but Rainbow Dash didn’t mind because on the inside she was still burning with excitement, knowing so much more was coming. This day alone had already been packed compared to a normal day and she hoped that was a sign of things to come. And that it could be surpassed again and again.

The Wild North

The following morning saw the rainbow-maned pegasus wake at the first light of dawn to make sure she got as much out of the day as possible. William and Harrison turned out to be awake before her and were already taking down their own tents to place the ruffled canvases back on the sled. A fresh layer of snow had fallen on the ground during the night, it would’ve been perfect for a snowball fight if Rainbow Dash and the yaks didn’t both have something else to do. Knowing that she would be on her way almost immediately, William gave her a single potato for breakfast. Rainbow Dash near swallowed it whole and thanked him once more and flew off into the sky.

“See ya later, dudes!” She waved to the two yaks when she got above the trees and rocketed away with a puff of smoke and a rainbow blur left behind.

Where they had made camp was about the halfway point of the valley so Rainbow Dash had a number of trees to get past before she reached the mountains. Things were a bit different looking during the day, and so early in the morning as well. First of all the clouds that were overhead last night were completely gone, letting the sun shine down on the valley from the clear blue sky, illuminating the vast forest and the snow glistening on the tree leaves. It was still cool out simply thanks to how far north she was but her body had already adjusted well to these temperatures. Only the slightest of breezes was carried through the air, occasionally bringing light trails of snow with them, as they refreshingly passed through her mane and feathers.

A quiet and calm morning. In other words, one that was fairly boring to her.

“There better be something cool coming up soon. I want a real adventure already!” Rainbow Dash impatiently lamented. Already the ordeal and accomplishment of climbing Mt. Everhoof was being reduced in her mind and forgotten. The call of adventure in the north and the promise of far greater danger and challenges was filling her head now.

She did a loop-de-loop in the air and turned into a corkscrew the moment she came out of it, always one for theatrics her wings were well attuned to any sort of maneuver. She needed to do stuff like this to pass the time when she was just flying over some place where there wasn’t really anything else to do or look at. The forest below and the clear sky above didn’t offer much, but maybe those last mountains of the Yaketian Valley would.

In an effort to get to them faster she sped up, her wings beating hard by her sides and her mane being pushed back by the wind. The pegasus flew to them at an altitude that would make her hit them about halfway up when she reached, an easy height to fly between the various peaks. None of them came close to as tall as Mt. Everhoof but they were all still comparable to the Crystal Mountains and they stood like a defensive perimeter between her and the rest of the north. Not so grandiose as what she was leaving behind, or as majestic as Canterlot Mountain, but they made her heart beat faster all the same.

The early morning sun on her back kept it a little warm compared to the rest of her body. When it got a little later it’d probably feel even better, like when she was taking an afternoon nap on a cloud and just letting the rays shine down on her.

There wasn’t any time for a nap up here though. And probably wouldn’t be for a good long while.

Rainbow Dash reached the mountains, feeling the cold air current running between the two she chose. Average mountain winds could be a problem for weaker fliers or smaller birds but they weren’t even an inconvenience to her. She glided over the snowy slopes and rock faces of the mountain, allowing herself to enjoy the contrast of the cool wind and the warm sun. Some of these mountains would’ve been perfect for skiing down that it was almost a waste she was only flying over them.

So far she couldn’t really see the lands that lied beyond them, there were too many clustered together in this range for her to see what she had from atop Mt. Everhoof or what she had heard about from William. That big river was supposed to be right behind these mountains and it should be impossible to miss.

She passed those first two mountains and had to start taking a wide turn to the left so she could go around the next stony fang that popped up. All these mountains practically seemed connected to each other with how clustered they were together, as if they all grew up out of the same slab of rock in the ground. She wouldn’t be surprised if some of them were. Not like mountains were her specialty though. Clouds? Weather? Yeah, she could tell a pony a lot about those, but mountains weren’t really her thing.

Movement below her caught her eye and she glanced down to see a polar bear stalking by the edge of a rocky cliff on the mountain below her. Its white fur contrasted with the dark stone around it, the large predator looked up, seeing her as well, and let out a great roar that echoed across the mountain valley.

Rainbow Dash only grinned and waved at it as she flew on by.

“If you want to scare me you’re gonna have to at least be a Bug Bear.”

The next mountain she went by she dipped down low and skimmed over the snow that covered its surface, sticking her back hoof out and letting it drag across the fresh powder, making a line in it all across this side of the mountain. She just wanted to give this bare mountain range a little Rainbow Dash touch.

Well, perhaps not so bare.

When she finished with that last mountain and began flying out to the next one to pass it she saw something on the ground in-between the two.

A village? No, far too small to be called that. But there were several hovels down on a ridge right below her, squat circular homes made from logs and canvas all tied and nailed together with paintings of animals, mountains, the sun and stars, and more drawn on their sides. Rainbow Dash slowed and floated down a bit lower to get a better look, noticing an empty fire pit between the hovels as well as a clothes line hung up on the side of the ridge.

There were a few creatures milling about around the hovels too. If her eyes weren’t so sharp she might’ve suspected them to be ponies from a distance, but ponies didn’t have antlers nor did they have such pronounced hooves.

“Those are… reindeer right? Did I learn about them at the School of Friendship or did someone else tell me about them?” Rainbow Dash thought out loud.

One of them must’ve felt they were being watched because he (she?) looked up to see Rainbow Dash flying above their homes. Their brown coat was somewhat shaggier than a pony’s and their legs thinner, and all she could see of its eyes were coal black pits. Naturally she waved at the reindeer, what kind of Element of Harmony would she be if she didn’t? And to her joy the reindeer waved back.

Rainbow Dash smiled and continued on her flight, this wasn’t the kind of stop she wanted to make. She did wonder though if those reindeer had ever even seen a pony before. But she didn’t want to get distracted from her main goal and going down and saying hello would inevitably lead to probably her whole day being eaten up. So the wave was enough and Rainbow Dash kept flying through the mountains.

Frosty River

When she finally came down out of those mountains of the Yaketian Valley it was a rewarding sight that awaited her. The large river she had been told of stretched from east to west as far as she could see and it separated these mountains from the flat tundra and supposed wasteland that existed right on the other side. It didn’t look very scary and she didn’t see any tornadoes or violent hailstorms going on over there but it was definitely empty. William had been really forceful about it being an uncrossable wasteland and she didn’t want to just ignore him and the goodwill he had shown her. So going to the checkpoint and finding the secret path would still be her goal. As much as she wanted to spit in the face of this wasteland she wasn’t going to do anything pointlessly reckless yet. Maybe later.

She glided down the slope of the last mountain, on track directly to the river. The ground here wasn’t quite as snowy as she suspected and the riverbank was mostly a strip of gray rocks ranging from pebbles to boulders bigger than she was. Rainbow Dash deftly landed on one of these boulders, folding her wings in and giving them a temporary rest as she checked out the river. It was wide, that was for sure, and definitely got wider the further you went east until it became one with the ocean. Ice floes drifted down it as well at an easy speed, the current of the river not being particularly strong. Boy was that some dark blue and very cold looking water though. How deep was it?

The sound from it was a deep whispering as the river flowed with small waves rolling down it and tumbling into each other. The water sloshing and breaking against the ice floes and the rocky shores. She looked downriver to the east and thought she could nearly see where it fully opened up into the ocean, the good weather and clear skies today favoring her, but she couldn’t be sure. Either way that wasn’t so important since she was going to be heading west upstream. Rainbow Dash just wanted to get a look at things. The north was so far just so quiet and empty compared to even the more remote places in Equestria.

But she knew the True North she was looking towards now wasn’t totally empty. And it was that adventure that was still calling to her.

Rainbow Dash unfurled her wings and flapped them a few times until she was over the midpoint of this deep and wide river, peering down from here the water looked almost black thanks to the depths and shadows. And it was still wide enough here where you could knock over Twilight’s castle and it wouldn’t reach halfway across.

The pegasus snickered, that was a funny thought.

Getting enough of that, she started on her way to the checkpoint. If what William said was true it would be impossible to miss so long as she followed the river. She flew down a little closer to the water’s surface to see if there were any fish or anything else swimming through it but she couldn’t see much of anything. At one point she dipped her hooves briefly into the water and had to near instantly pull them back out, shivering. Just how it looked, that water was cold.

The more she traveled up the river though the less there was to see and do. To her left was merely the backsides of the mountains she had just crossed and to her right was near total emptiness. She was getting kind of bored.

Rainbow Dash decided to instead turn it into a game. She landed on the nearest ice floe she could see and then jumped off it to the next, and the next one and the next one after that, only barely using her wings for lift or a single flutter if she had to. The pegasus hopped from ice floe to ice floe, sometimes they shook in the water and almost tipped over from her weight and the force of her landing and she had to be careful with balancing. A couple of other times she almost just slid right off their slick surfaces. But it passed the time well for her.

The ice floes actually got more and more numerous the further she traveled up the river, there must’ve been a shelf or glacier upstream where they were constantly breaking off. And the river got slightly narrower too to make things more crowded. Which incidentally had the effect of making her jumps far easier and thus not as fun for the challenge seeking pegasus.

She still did it anyways to beat the boredom and do something a little different than just fly. Since she knew she’d mostly be flying all day every day from here on out. A few times she landed on an ice floe and caused it to drift and bump into another, creating a domino effect where dozens of them were now jumbling around in the river and a few of the more fragile ones even broke apart. The movement made a few ripples in the river that she managed to ride like the smallest of waves. Which did give her a slightly fun idea.

Rainbow Dash spread her wings and began flapping them back like a fan, propelling the ice floe she was currently on like a boat against the current of the river. She grinned, pretty proud of herself for coming up with something like this. She got to do something different and her wings weren’t being taxed nearly as much as if she was flying full force.

Could’ve been worse.

A loud strike of lightning from the north suddenly grabbed her attention and she turned her head to see a sudden storm breaking out in the wasteland. Bolts of lightning breaking down from the dark clouds and pummeling the ground below again and again while rolling thunder now rumbled across her eardrums.

“Cool,” she said as she watched from her floating ice floe. That storm had appeared fast. And it was so localized too over one small area that it was just impossible for it to be totally natural, there must’ve been something magical about that wasteland.

Well, that was the kind of thing she would have to leave to Twilight whenever she got back to Ponyville and told her about it.

The storm broke nearly as quickly as it had appeared, the dark clouds stayed in place and she was pretty sure they were raining but there was no more thunder and lightning from them. And even they disappeared soon after to leave the wasteland just as empty again. If that kind of stuff did happen randomly as often as William said then it would be pretty dangerous to try flying through it. Not that she was totally averse to doing that if she had to but there was also the problem of apparently there not being any food or water in there for her. That was something that could be an issue if she wasn’t careful.

While she was still looking out there a new sound from the south caused her ears to perk up and Rainbow Dash to turn her head to the opposite shore.

Sea lions. Hundreds of barking sea lions all laying around in a huge pride along the southern rocks of the river. They were some very loud sea mammals, it was a wonder Rainbow Dash didn’t hear, or smell, them until just now. The thunder and lightning from the storm must’ve drowned them out or enraptured her too much. They saw her too going on by, some of them at least, but they were either too lazy or too content lying down on their beach to do anything about her.

Boy did they sure make a lot of noise though. The constant squeaking barks and the throaty growls that emerged from them was a cacophony that no orchestra could drown out. Fluttershy probably would’ve loved it but she sure as hay didn’t and she couldn’t imagine any of her friends caring much for it either. Rarity in particular would just scrunch her nose up at the smell and think they were “icky”.

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash laughed and sped her buzzing wings up to get her ice floe moving faster.

Of Things to Come

Slow wasn’t exactly Rainbow Dash’s thing. In any way, shape, or form. Yet that didn’t mean she had to go as fast as possible all the time and that was why she was still flying up the river instead of having already reached the checkpoint by now. She had ditched her ice floe barge not too long ago and went to flying along the southern coast of the river over the rocks for a change of pace. Now it was getting into dusk and the sun would be down soon. Which possibly meant her carefree attitude about traveling up the river could come back to bite her if she couldn’t find any sort of shelter.

She was confident that if it came down to it she could fly up, gather some clouds, and make herself a temporary respite from most of the cold of the north, but she’d prefer to avoid that effort if she could.

How close was the checkpoint? She didn’t actually know. William only told her that it was on the way to Yakyakistan and that it was impossible to miss. Only now did she think that some more detailed directions would’ve been useful. It also probably would’ve been smart to ask for any spare bags those yaks had and maybe another potato or two. But that might’ve been imposing too much on them, she was fine doing that with Applejack but not complete strangers.

Which meant that for now all she could do was keep flying on. Keep flying with the snowy and rocky ground surrounding her, the slopes of the mountains and the river beside her, and hope something came up. Something that would either shelter her, feed her, or entertain her. Maybe not in that order. There weren’t even anymore seals or bears around or anything and she hadn’t seen a single sign of civilization like those huts the reindeer had.

“I’m booooored,” Rainbow Dash yelled out to the wide world.

Her voice echoed off the mountains next to her and she had to wince at her own volume. If she did that closer and up a bit higher she could’ve practically started an avalanche.

“At least that would’ve been something!” She grumbled.

Rainbow Dash dropped down to the ground and picked up a smooth stone that she saw without stopping her flight, glancing over the river she chucked the stone sideways and watched it skip across the water several times before faltering and plunging into the cool depths. The river had narrowed considerably but it was still a bit wide for any stone thrown like that to make it across.

The bored pegasus flapped her gums and turned over so her back was facing the ground, flying upside-down while she watched the darkening sky.

An hour? Maybe two? Before it turns to night completely and the temperature drops below zero. She’d be a pony popsicle caked in frost if she just tried to fly or stay out during the night up here. Already she could picture her wings freezing in place with her feathers turned brittle and icicles hanging off of her. Not something she wanted to experience. And she was kind of hungry too, the best she could do about that at the moment was probably eating some snow off the ground. Yuck. Were there any kind of edible plants or anything that grew on snowy mountains? Applejack or Fluttershy might know, or even Twilight, but none of them were around to ask. So Rainbow Dash was just left with her own thoughts and her own choices to make. Did she try barreling up the river in the hopes she could make it to the checkpoint before it got too dark? Or did she attempt to find someplace else to stay for the night and finish her flight tomorrow morning. Both decisions carried a risk. For now at least she should stop taking things so leisurely and seriously look around.

She flipped back over and rose up a bit higher to give herself a greater field of view. The benefit of being in a place like this that was mostly empty and almost entirely a mix of cold and dull colors was that anything abnormal stuck out like a sore hoof. So if there was something here she would see it for sure.

And as it was when she passed the slope of one mountain to look up another she saw numerous buildings sitting halfway up the snowy side of the mountain.

Rainbow Dash halted and looked up at them with a raised eyebrow. “Is that the checkpoint or something else?” It looked a little… rundown from where she was. And too far from the river. There weren’t any roads or paths leading up it and the snow was completely unmoved, showing no signs of any travel through it lately. And since yaks couldn’t fly there had to be something like that unless the checkpoint was so slow that most of the time no one had any reason to leave any of its buildings.

Well even if it wasn’t the checkpoint it was looking like shelter. Rainbow Dash frowned and quickly flew up the mountainside to it. The buildings were all unsurprisingly made of wood with a lot of broken glass windows and broken planks and beams falling off in some spots with even a caved in roof or two. Some of them were half-submerged in the snow, their doors almost completely blocked off.

“What is this?” Rainbow Dash wondered as she looked over the site.

There were about twelve buildings in total, again something too small to be called a town, more like a rest stop than anything. Most of the buildings were just the size of small houses with a couple of those being two-stories and then one larger building situated a bit further up the mountainside that looked more like an old warehouse, the back half of it was completely crushed under the snow, Rainbow Dash could see splintered boards sticking up haphazardly everywhere.

“Hello! Is there anybody here?” Rainbow Dash cupped her hooves over her mouth and shouted.

The prior worries about an avalanche were completely forgotten.

Disregarding that, there was no response from the decimated little hamlet. Not like she expected anyone else to be here after seeing what it was like but she still wanted to be sure before she started checking things out. Since it seemed abandoned and she doubted anyone would care, Rainbow Dash flew in through the open second-story window of one of the two-story buildings and had a look around. It was unlikely there would be food in a place like this, or at least any food that hadn’t gone bad or rotted, but maybe she could find an old bed or sheets or something for the night. Just being inside was already something that would do wonders for her.

It was unfortunately pretty empty. Like someone else had ransacked it already or perhaps the previous owners cleaned it out before they left it. There was a broken chair in this upstairs room lying in the corner as well as a toppled over cabinet with all of its barren drawers pulled out and strewn around the floor. The door was completely missing, the only trace of it left were busted hinges barely hanging onto the frame. Rainbow Dash walked past it and into the hallway, where there was a wooden pedestal immediately to her left on the opposite side of the hallway from the stairs with an old flowerpot sitting atop it. No flowers in it at all though, not even dead ones. Since it didn’t look like there were any other rooms up here Rainbow Dash walked to the stairs and glided down them to the first story. The first door she saw right at the bottom of the stairs opened up into an empty closet, and the rest of the downstairs looked just as empty as the upstairs with every room missing all but a few destroyed pieces of furniture.

“Okay, I’m not staying in here,” Rainbow Dash scowled. “I’m gonna at least find something that’ll work for a bed in this place before I settle down.”

The front door wouldn’t open since the snow was too deep outside so she popped the frame on the busted downstairs window and flew right out of it to the next nearest house. This one only had one story but at least the roof was in good enough shape. She couldn’t pop a window from the outside and she didn’t want to break one of them so unfortunately she had to dig for a while to make enough room in the snow for the front door to open up.

After that her hooves were freezing and she was shivering a bit even with the effort keeping the blood pumping through her veins. Rainbow Dash quickly closed the door and looked around this rundown home while rubbing her hooves together for warmth. The entire building was just this one room but to her immense fortune there were a few more things inside it than what she had seen in the previous building.

Namely a very ragged and deformed mattress with several torn sheets over it all piled up in the corner.

“Awesome,” Dash sighed in relief and floated over to it.

Outside it was close to dark so she wasted no time in wrapping herself up and plopping down on the bed. Early to bed and early to rise. Tomorrow morning she’d get out of here quickly and get to that checkpoint, and then the True North beyond.

Not Quite Civilization

There was something different to look at this morning.

Up ahead on the southern bank of the river, it was a large building that was clearly well-maintained and inhabited. Brown wood made up its walls while Rainbow Dash could see large glass skylights on the roof and a number of chimneys currently churning out smoke, giving the whole thing a more modern look than traditional yak establishments. A sequence of circular porthole style windows ran along the side of the building too, closer to the top, Rainbow Dash estimated the thing probably had three separate stories inside. Aside from that the building opened up into a large patio on its backside facing the mountains. There were numerous ramps and stairways leading up it, which may mean that the actual entryway was back there. The outdoor patio was also completely free of any new snow so someone had to have shoveled it clear just earlier this morning. The other northern side of the building was built right up to the water’s edge and a dock extended from it halfway out into the river. The support pillars that held up the dock were made of layered stones that the ice floes passing by bounced off of if they hit them.

At the dock there was a boat tied up too. A fairly large one with an angular bow and a main cabin built in a semicircle near the front, a single mast with a currently folded sail sat in the middle while the stern was taken up by a large paddle. An odd combination, normally you would only see a boat with either a paddle or a sail for locomotion, or oars, not both. Maybe they didn’t want to only rely on the wind. Painted on the side of the boat was a drawing of the twin yak statues from Yakyakistan, the boat must’ve been theirs or at least belonged to a yak from there. The prow of the boat also had a thick metal covering over it that was probably for knocking aside or punching through ice.

It still seemed kind of risky to Rainbow Dash to tie up your boat there since a ton of ice floes were probably bumping into it as they came down the river but the thing must’ve been sturdy enough to take it.

She kind of wanted to go fly around that boat and check it out more since it was the most interesting thing about this place but she instead chose to fly around back so she could go inside. This was most definitely the checkpoint William had told her about. There was nothing else it could be and she really wanted to meet with the Chief so she could get on her way. She had been told things wouldn’t be so simple so the more time she had to convince the Chief to tell her the path north the better.

Rainbow Dash descended and landed on the wooden patio on the back of the building, as she suspected there was a large doorway made of two sliding wooden walls currently held open that led into the checkpoint building. There weren’t any yaks or other personnel she could see working here at the moment though, everybody must be inside. The blue pegasus glanced around the patio too but there were just some empty tables that looked like they were bolted into the floor. With a shrug, Rainbow Dash walked on into the building.

The doorway opened up into a wide lobby that stretched to the roof of the building with the skylights she had seen from outside pouring light in. Two large fireplaces both on the right and left sides of the room must’ve been responsible for a couple of the chimneys up there as well. There was another door at the far end that probably led to the docks and two stairways beside it that led up to balconies that sat just below the rows of windows Rainbow Dash had seen from outside. Immediately to her left there was another open doorway tall enough for two yaks standing on top of each other to go through with a placard next to it that read “Basement” and had a ramp going down it.

There also happened to be a couple of yaks carrying large crates down the ramp.

“Finally,” Rainbow Dash floated over to them. “Uh, hey dudes. This is like, the checkpoint or something right? And there’s a Chief yak in charge here?”

Both yaks looked at her like she had two heads.

“Who are you?” One of them asked, not bothering to put down his crate.

“Doesn’t matter,” the second one grumbled. “Busy. Keep working.”

The yak that had no time for Rainbow Dash turned away from her without anymore words and went back to carrying his crate down the ramp. The other shrugged and followed suit, leaving a very peeved Rainbow Dash behind.

“Well that’s real friendly!” She shouted at them. “Pff, whatever, I’ll go looking on my own.”

Rainbow Dash flew up to the top of the room, the balconies had a number of unoccupied tables and chairs on them and each led to a closed and unmarked door on the third floor. Or technically just second counting the basement. The blue pegasus scowled and flew down to the open corridor leading to the docks, if the Chief had an office it would be more noticeable wouldn’t it?

She touched her hooves down and walked on through the hallway, a number of other doors on the walls but none of them stuck out. When she finally reached the next room it opened up again into a larger area, directly ahead were several door and windows that she could see indeed lead to the docks and the big boat swaying in the river outside. To her right was an indoor cafe of some sort, a yak sat behind a counter with all sorts of foodstuffs behind it and the smell of coffee now wafting to Rainbow Dash. The cafe had a number of chairs and tables around it too but only one table was occupied.

Rainbow Dash did a bit of a double-take, surprised by the three creatures seated at the table. One was a fairly lithe griffon who had a golden sheen to his plumage except around his crest which was green. Another was… something Rainbow Dash wasn’t even sure of. It had the shape of a pony but a little on the lean side and her faded yellow coat glimmered slightly in the light while her ears were pointed and webbed. Completing the odd look was a spiky seaweed green mane and a hairless tail that ended in a wide flipper. What was that? The last of the trio was just a normal pony though, a white unicorn with a yellow mane that had a single thin orange streak running through it, she wore a black bow slightly off-center behind her horn and had a Cutie Mark of the sun rising over the horizon.

Well whoever those three were they definitely weren’t the Chief yak. They didn’t seem to notice Rainbow Dash walk in anyways so she just shrugged and turned to see what else was here.

To her delight, on the right side of this room was a square office, and a large glass window taking up most of the wall that she could look into. Floating up to check it out she saw a yak sitting behind a desk. The door to the office didn’t have a nameplate or anything on it but this was the only thing like it she had seen in this building. That yak in there was the Chief, right?

She was about to walk to his door when-

“I say, that is quite the eye-catching mane you have!”

Rainbow Dash turned around to see the griffon from the table walking towards her, his beak twisted up in an amicable smile behind a thin mustache that was also long enough that it could’ve been wrapped around his head once or twice. The two others who had been sitting with him were also rising from their seats and walking over.

“Thanks. It’s pretty awesome, yeah,” Rainbow Dash grinned at the griffon.

“Indeed! I’ve never seen such a vibrant mane, what a pleasant surprise! Especially so since I did not expect to see any other creatures but yaks here today.”

“Honestly I wasn’t expecting that either. Big coincidence, huh? Name’s Rainbow Dash, what are you guys here for anyways?” She asked and looked behind him at the other two. The white unicorn was regarding her with a curious expression while the other creature was smiling at her.

The griffon gave her a small but overly showy and polite bow. “Greetings, Miss Rainbow Dash. I am Gilbert of Griffonstone and please allow me to introduce my lovely two acquaintances.” He held out his arm and gestured to the unknown creature that had walked up on his left. “This is Miss Senax of East Glade.”

“Hello,” Senax said, reaching out a hoof to Rainbow Dash.

“Hey,” Rainbow Dash gladly grasped it and shook hooves with her. Although she couldn’t stop her eyes from widening in surprise when she felt Senax’s hoof, it wasn’t fur covering her body but something more akin to fish scales. “Er, sorry if this is a little rude but… what are you?”

Senax pulled her hoof back and giggled. “Don’t worry about it, my people aren’t exactly common in this part of the world. I’m a merpony.”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “Oh, cool. So you can like swim really well and breath underwater? I’ve met like, hippogriffs who could do that too.”

“Yes, we can do all of that,” she wiggled her tail for emphasis. “But we don’t transform like hippogriffs or anything. We can’t fly like they can. Actually my people are originally from an ocean on the other side of the world, so that’s probably why you haven’t seen one of us before.” The merpony suddenly shivered and wrapped her hooves around herself. “And we’re made for places and waters a bit warmer than this, brr...”

“And this-” Gilbert continued, swinging his arm over to the unicorn mare. “Is Miss Daylight Gleam, who hails from “Around” as she so fondly notes.”

Daylight Gleam rolled her eyes but walked forward with a smile on her face to shake Rainbow Dash’s hoof as well. “I’ve just been on the road most of my life. Never really considered one place my home or anything like that.”

“So where might you hail from, Miss Rainbow Dash?” Gilbert asked her.

“Oh, I’m just from Equestria,” she replied. “I’m going on an adventure right now, so that’s why I’m so far from home.”

“Ah, adventure!” Gilbert beamed, his wings extending and almost whacking Senax and Daylight Gleam in the face. “A fellow adventurer, are you? I have spent near my entire life seeking excitement and the next grand journey right around the corner. Yes, ever since I departed my dreary home of Griffonstone, life has been a nonstop rollercoaster for me!”

Daylight Gleam pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head, although there was a playful smirk on her face. “Just ignore this guy. He flew straight north from Griffonstone, got stuck in Bug Bear territory, and had to run for his life and hide for the better part of two years.”

“Hey, I can’t fault anyone for going someplace dangerous for fun,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

“Pardon me-” Senax interceded. “But if you’re going on an adventure then why are you here? There’s nothing in this part of the north and this river only leads to Yakyakistan or back to the ocean.”

“We ourselves just came back from Yakyakistan, that’s where Misses Daylight Gleam and Senax found me, and now we’re heading downriver on our lovely vessel that I’m sure you saw docked here.” Gilbert explained.

Oh, so it was their boat?

Rainbow Dash grinned at Senax’s question and smugly folded her arms in front of her chest while she floated off the ground a bit. “Well I’m still going north from here. I’m going to find all the adventure there is up there.”

“North from here?” Daylight Gleam asked with a raised eyebrow. “But all there is is an impassable wasteland.”

The smug expression on Rainbow Dash’s face only grew. “I can’t really go into details cause it’s supposed to be a secret but there’s a way north past that wasteland. I’m gonna find it out and then I’m gonna do all kinds of awesome stuff, yeah!”

“Like what?” Daylight Gleam asked her, still confused.

Rainbow Dash drifted to the ground, thinking. “Uh… I don’t actually know yet. Cause I don’t totally know what’s up there. But it’s gonna be cool! Bet on it!”

“Well good luck I guess,” Daylight Gleam shrugged, giving up.

“Thanks!” Rainbow Dash put her hoof forward for a hoof bump, which the unicorn obliged. “And like, I was curious about you guys too. So you three only just met up at Yakyakistan and you’re taking your boat… where now?”

“It’s not our boat actually. We don’t own it or anything,” Senax shook her head. “It’s a Yakyakistan boat that we’re merely passengers on for the moment. Daylight and I traveled all the way there to find Gilbert and now the three of us are on the first day of a much longer journey.”

“This boat will take us all the way to Griffonstone, at which point we will have to find travel of our own to go any further to our shared destination,” Gilbert cut in with a smirk on his face.

“So where are you guys going? Sounds like someplace far,” the rainbow maned pony asked.

“In total it’s kind of a long story, and since I’m the most concise please allow me to explain,” Daylight Gleam said, stepping in front of Gilbert and Senax before the two of them could say anything. “So like you we’re going on an adventure. A while back I met Gilbert’s sister. She, Gilbert, and their other brother, all lived in Griffonstone when they were younger. As you obviously now know, Gilbert left to go adventuring one day. But he wasn’t the only one. Both his brother and sister went their own ways too. Well recently now though his sister has returned to Griffonstone and since she knew I didn’t have anywhere to go and all I do is travel she asked if I wouldn’t mind going in search of her two brothers. She’d been getting a bit sentimental and wanted to see them again. So I said yes.” Daylight shrugged. “Went looking for the other brother first but… a whole bunch of stuff happened, I met Senax, and it ended up with the two of us going to find Gilbert instead and then get back on the trail of his brother. And so the two of us found Gilbert in Yakyakistan finally and now we’re on the way to find his brother again, finally. Among some other things but I don’t really want to overload you with other details and stuff...”

“Yeahhh, that already wasn’t very concise,” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. She hadn’t even heard why Senax was traveling with them in the first place. “But thanks and all, sounds like you three got a real adventure ahead of you. I hope mine turns out pretty awesome too.”

“You said you still needed to find out the secret way to the north? What do you need to do?” Gilbert asked her while twirling his long mustache around a talon.

“Oh! I need to ask the Checkpoint Chief about it. He’s supposed to know,” Rainbow Dash fluttered her wings to rise up and pointed back at the office. “Is that his office? That’s him in there, right?”

“The yaks who came off the boat with us said as much, yes.” Gilbert nodded.

“Great!” Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof. “Look, it was nice talking to you but I really want to learn how to go north and stuff. See ya!” She speedily turned around and went to the door of the Chief’s office before she could hear their responses and thank yous. Her blue hoof grasped the handle and pulled it open, the pony from Equestria stepping into the Chief’s office to ask him a question he probably didn’t want to hear.

No Pass Yak

The Chief’s office contained a single large desk sized for a yak along with numerous crates and filing cabinets that lined the walls. A couple of oil lamps hung from the ceiling to give the room light while also giving it a bit of an old-fashioned look compared to how modern the rest of the building was. There wasn’t much else to say about the office other than how the floorboards squeaked under her hooves and a painting of Yakyakistan was on the wall behind the Chief’s desk. The desk itself was cluttered with papers and two large tin trays labeled inbox and outbox that both had stacks of papers and folders in them. A single picture frame also stood on it but it was facing the yak so Rainbow Dash couldn’t see what it was of.

Which all brought her to the yak himself sitting behind the desk. A big fellow even by yak standards, his fur had a honey coloration and he wore three brass rings around each of his horns. The fur around his face seemed to be cut a little short so Rainbow Dash could easily see his big round eyes looking at her when she walked in.

And most oddly he was wearing a suit.

He was a yak wearing a suit.

“I was wondering what that ruckus outside was. Were you on our boat as well?” The honey colored yak asked her.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes were briefly drawn to the comically undersized bowler hat he was also wearing before she found her tongue and answered him. “Uh, no.” She pointed at him with a blank expression on her face. “You’re a yak wearing a suit.”

“And not all yaks sleep under straw roofs. If you didn’t come on the boat then where did you come from and why are you here of all places? This is a checkpoint for supplies and other things going up and down the river,” he blew air out of his nose.

“Well my name is Rainbow Dash and I flew up from Equestria. And really, huh? Cause I heard this was a checkpoint for something else too,” she flew up in front of his desk and got level with his eyes. “You’re the Chief, right? Maybe you can help fill me in on something.”

His eyes narrowed. “I am indeed the one in charge of this checkpoint. My name is Archibald. But I have no idea what you might be talking about.”

He spoke much more fluidly than most yaks Rainbow Dash had met. No broken sentences or absent conjugation or words. Rainbow Dash was pretty sure he knew what she was talking about too but was just playing dumb. How many others came here asking about this place? “Oh come on dude, I heard that there was a secret path to the True North or whatever it’s called and I heard you’re the only one who knows the way. I want to go up there and have an awesome adventure so can you tell me where I need to go already?”

“Hmph,” Archibald snorted. “I don’t know who spilled the beans to you about the other purpose of this checkpoint or the existence of the secret route north but I have no intention of telling it to you.”

“Really, dude?” Rainbow Dash threw out her hooves in exasperation.

“Yes. Really. The True North is not a place anyone should go to and especially not for such silly and petty reasons. It is not a vacation spot,” Archibald leaned back in his chair.

“I know it’s dangerous, I’ve heard about what’s up there and everything and I’m not looking for a vacation. I don’t have a silly reason to go up there I have an awesome reason. To kick butt and have fun! What’s the point of you even knowing about this dumb secret path or whatever if you won’t even tell anybody about it?!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“A pony who has lived their whole life in peaceful Equestria is not made for the north,” Archibald dismissively waved his hoof. “The trail is kept for posterity, its historical relevance to yaks, and as a way for warning to reach us in case something dangerous is coming from the north. It is not something to be used for your own amusement regardless of your reasons and desires.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t really hear the second half of what he had said, since the first part got her angry and offended enough that a vein was threatening to pop out of her forehead. “Maybe most ponies from Equestria wouldn’t know what they’re getting into, but I’m betting you don’t know who I am, do you?”

The Chief flatly stared back at her. “I admit I am lost on anything more than your name.”

Rainbow Dash grinned and flew up a little higher so she could actually look down on him. “Well the first thing you should know is that I’m not like other ponies. I’m awesome. Like, even among awesome ponies I’m at least 20% more awesome than they are. I’m an Element of Harmony, a Wonderbolt, I teach at the super unique and one of a kind School of Friendship that was literally made by the Princess of Friendship herself, and I’ve saved Equestria and the world like, twenty different times by now. I’ve fought monsters, and giant dragons, and super evil villains, I’m seriously not the type of pony you can just write off, pal.” She finished and flashed a pearly white smirk at him while folding her arms over her chest.

“All very impressive,” Archibald responded without emotion and went back to looking at the papers on his desk that he had been going through before Rainbow came in.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” She scowled at him.

“No.”

“Argh! Just let me go north already!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “I flew up here all on my own, made it up and down Mt. Everhoof, and practically froze my tail off just for this. Like what’s the big deal telling me about how to get up there?”

“It’s irresponsible. And furthermore it’s part of my job to not tell anyone else the specific route. It’s a secret after all,” Archibald said.

“It’s not irresponsible! I can handle myself!”

“You’re a pony. Ponies just aren’t made for the True North,” he tried to shoo her away. “Now I’m busy, leave me be. There were a lot of supplies the recent boat from Yakyakistan brought in and my workers already spent the whole rest of the morning shoveling snow.”

Rainbow Dash instead landed on his desk and stuck her face right up to his. “Dude, what can I do to prove to you that I’m more than awesome enough to go north?”

“Nothing. Now move,” he pushed her off his desk.

“Ugh, fine!” Rainbow Dash growled as she scrambled across the floor. Getting her balance back she angrily walked over to the door and yanked it open, slamming it shut behind her.

“Man, this is so lame!” Rainbow Dash lamented as she drank a cup of warm coffee while sitting with Gilbert, Senax, and Daylight Gleam.

“I’m rather sorry for the conundrum you find yourself in, Miss Rainbow Dash.” Gilbert apologetically told her.

“Are you sorry for how you were eavesdropping on her entire conversation with Archibald?” Daylight asked him.

The griffon coughed into his talon and acted like he hadn’t heard her, lifting up a small cappuccino and taking a sip.

“It’s whatever,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. She was still annoyed about Archibald and failing to convince him to tell her the way north. Not like she was giving up yet but this was turning into such a time-sink. She wanted her big adventure to start as soon as possible and now what? She was going to be stuck here for how long trying to convince this big yak? Maybe she could try to get him to tell her the way by saying she’d try flying through the wasteland anyways. Which she might. The excitement was eating away at her, she was already the type of pony that could never take no for an answer and had to get her way and now she was being denied her huge, epic adventure. It wasn’t fair! And she was definitely more than ready for anything the north could throw at her.

Rainbow Dash tensed her wings, agitated, before sighing and taking another drink of her coffee. She set the mug down and looked over each of her new acquaintances. “So how long are you guys here for anyways? I heard from the Chief that there was cargo or whatever being unloaded from the boat, is that why you stopped here in the first place?”

“Yes,” Daylight Gleam nodded. “This isn’t somewhere we would’ve stopped by choice but we’re only passengers so there was nothing we could do about it.”

“I don’t mind, I love visiting new places and meeting new people,” Gilbert shrugged.

“Considering how far we have to go I’d prefer as few stops as possible,” Daylight retorted, frowning at him.

“I as well,” Senax agreed with Daylight.

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow Dash looked over at Senax. “So I heard why these two were doing this but what about you? What are you traveling for and everything.”

Senax smiled awkwardly and gazed into the cup of carrot juice she had gotten from the cafe. “That also is a bit of a long story. As simply as I can put it, well, I was the leader of my tribe of merponies back in our home of East Glade. However we had only settled there after our ancestral home was lost to us centuries ago. All we know is that it exists somewhere in the Grand Ocean to the east, past the griffon and dragon lands. I decided I finally wanted to try and find our old home again, for the sake of all my people, and so I joined up with Daylight since she was going to be traveling out there too in search of Gilbert’s brother.”

“Hey, good luck finding your old home and all that,” Rainbow Dash told her. The story of her and the merponies was probably something that would really interest Twilight, Rainbow Dash should keep it in mind.

“Thank you, it’s a very important endeavor to me.”

“And we’ll be able to get back on it quite soon I say. The boat shouldn’t be docked for too much longer,” Gilbert said.

“So you guys were only really stuck here for the morning?” Dash asked.

“Indeed,” Gilbert nodded.

Rainbow Dash sighed and leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. “Lucky.”

The other three looked among each other, sharing looks and smiles as they had a silent conversation. Rainbow Dash was too busy sulking and tapping her hooves against the floor to pay attention to any of this. The blue pegasus was going over ideas for what she could do next or wondering if maybe there was a map hidden in his office somewhere that she could nab. It took a cough from Daylight Gleam to grab her attention again. Rainbow Dash stopped tilting her chair back and lowered her head to look at her and the others.

“Yeah?” She asked, seeing the smiles on their faces.

“Well… I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come with us instead?” Daylight Gleam shrugged.

Rainbow Dash’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

“Why not?” Gilbert said. “Obviously you’re aching for adventure and we’re about to embark on quite the journey. Furthermore you seem more than capable of handling yourself and I certainly find you a joy to talk to. I see no reason why we wouldn’t want you around.”

“What he said,” Daylight smiled. “It looks like things aren’t exactly panning out for you up here so why not come with us instead? We’re hardly an exclusive club.”

Rainbow Dash had to think about that for a moment. It was true things weren’t looking good for her right now when it came to going north. And they clearly were going to have a pretty big and exciting adventure from the look of things too. They seemed cool, and they were friendly, and she wasn’t sure if Archibald would ever tell her the way or if the True North really held what she was looking for. Should she just forget about going north and head with them to that Grand Ocean or whatever?

But… that would be giving up.

“Sorry, but no thanks. You guys are cool, and I really appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to just turn back here without even getting started. I want to go on this adventure. And I kind of want to do it on my own and kick butt all by myself. And I’m definitely not letting some yak stop me.” Rainbow Dash finished with a slap of her hoof on the table and a hard look in her eyes.

“Fair enough. I think that’s rather understandable,” Gilbert nodded sagely as if something profound had just been said and he and Rainbow Dash had reached some sort of philosophical accord.

“Yes, we wouldn’t want to divert you from your own journey,” Senax smiled at her.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Still need to figure out how to get started on that. Thanks for keeping me company and all by the way.”

“Good luck convincing that yak to let you go north. Sorry, but since our boat is leaving soon I don’t really know if there’s anything else we can do for you. Are you sure you don’t want to just come with us?” Daylight Gleam asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “I just… what’s something I can do to prove to that yak that I’m more than ready for the north?”

Determination

“Fight me.”

“Excuse me?”

Rainbow Dash had barged back into the office of Chief Archibald and slammed her hooves onto his very large desk, staring him dead in the face. Gilbert, Daylight, and Senax had all followed her and were now watching this rather amusing scene unfold. Archibald was nonplussed about the rainbow-maned pegasus’ reappearance in his office and the three onlookers wouldn’t have been surprised if he completely ignored her after this. While for Rainbow Dash this was an obnoxious roadblock on her adventure it was quickly becoming an amusing pit-stop for the others.

“You heard me. Let’s fight,” Rainbow Dash repeated.

Archibald rose a single eyebrow to her challenge but otherwise didn’t move from his seat. “Why would I want to do that? I would ask you to vacate my office again but I doubt you’d leave me be so peacefully.”

“You’re right about that!” Rainbow Dash slammed her hooves down again. “And the reason I want to fight you is because I’m going to prove to you that I’m ready and strong enough for the north.”

The honey-colored yak sighed. “I didn’t ask for your reason to challenge me to a fight. I had already assumed it would be silly. I asked why I would want to engage with you in such a thing. There’s no reason I can think of.”

But instead of being annoyed at his words, this time Rainbow Dash just grinned.

“Buddy, if you fight me right now and beat me I’ll leave. But if you refuse to fight? I’ll be here every day annoying you until you do. I’ll fly around outside your office, I’ll kick clouds in front of the sunlight, I’ll make silly faces at your workers, and I’ll keep doing that for ages. Better not underestimate how stubborn I can be when I’m not getting my way.”

Gilbert chuckled from behind them while Daylight Gleam good-naturedly rolled her eyes and Senax also giggled along.

“Hrmph,” Archibald snorted. “A fight between us would accomplish nothing, pony.”

“Because yaks are strong right? Yaks best at fighting and a pony from Equestria like me could never beat you and that’s why I should stay out of the north?” Rainbow Dash sarcastically asked him, an eyebrow raised mockingly.

“That’s exactly right. No pony could beat a yak in a fight,” Archibald responded. And although his voice was even and lacking emotion it still came off as rather snide to Rainbow Dash.

“Then why don’t you fight me and prove it? Unless-” Rainbow Dash got a devilish smile on her lips as she brought a hoof to her mouth, narrowing her eyes at him. “You’re actually scared.”

Archibald scowled at her, pushing his chair from his desk and standing up. “What did you just say?”

“I said-” Rainbow Dash flew right into his face. “That you’re scared to fight me. I mean if it’s so easy for a yak to beat a pony then why wouldn’t you do it and get me out of your hair? Unless you’re actually a scaredy-cat coward who knows he’ll lose and doesn’t want to give me the directions to the north. Come on dude, I’m trying to prove that I’m right but it seems to me that you’re way too scared to do the same thing.”

“As an impartial observer I believe Rainbow Dash has a point,” Gilbert chimed in with an obnoxious grin splitting his beak.

Perhaps that was the tipping point because it caused Archibald to grunt in annoyance and gingerly lift the small hat from his head and place it on his desk. The big yak glared at the griffon before returning his gaze to Rainbow Dash and snorting a big puff of air out of his nose. “I didn’t want to hurt you for some meaningless reason, but if you’re that intent on it then so be it. I will show you that yaks are best at fighting.”

“Yak ceremonial wrestling ring is prepared!”

Out in back of the checkpoint building the snow had been cleared from the ground to reveal a dirt circle ringed by numerous large stones that Rainbow Dash and Archibald now stood inside. Archibald had his other workers get it prepared while the yaks from the boat watched and the three passengers waited with Rainbow Dash as she stretched. Now the two combatants were preparing to face off with each other, Archibald had removed his suit but otherwise looked completely unconcerned. Rainbow Dash was lazily floating a few feet off the ground, also likely trying to annoy her opponent with her carefree attitude. She lifted a blue hoof to her mouth and yawned deeply while Archibald frowned.

The pegasus looked around the ring for a moment and stared at Archibald. “You guys just had this lying around?”

“Yes,” Archibald grunted without further elaboration. “If you can make me give up or knock me out of this ring then you win.” He strongly stomped his front hooves on the ground. “But you will soon find that to be impossible. I will smash you, annoying pony!”

“Try it,” Dash glared at him.

“Taking any bets on who’s going to win?” Gilbert whispered to Daylight and Senax while they stood by the other yaks outside the ring.

Daylight scoffed. “I wouldn’t want to get in a fight with a yak. That being said… Rainbow Dash seems like quite the pony. I think she’s kind of nuts for doing this but if she can pull it off it’ll be impressive.” The white unicorn shrugged. “What about you, Senax?”

“I just hope no one gets hurt,” the merpony bit her lip. “Shouldn’t there be a peaceful solution to this?”

“That yak seems determined to not let Rainbow Dash know about the way north so I doubt it,” Gilbert shook his head.

“Yep, sometimes all you can do is fight,” Daylight said.

Archibald and Rainbow Dash were still sizing each other up, neither of them had made to attack the other one just yet. The yak was confident in his strength and was sure the pony wouldn’t be able to hurt him or force him from the ring while Rainbow Dash knew without a doubt that she could fly circles around him. The problem for her was if she could actually budge him. Archibald might have just been planning to let her tire herself out trying to win and then he could just smack her once when she was exhausted and that would be it. There wasn’t a time limit or anything though and she had enough energy in her for ten ponies. If this guy was expecting an easy victory he was in for a rude awakening. Rainbow Dash knew she was strong and awesome, she just needed to convince this guy by whooping his butt.

The way he squared himself against her with his head bowed low and his legs braced against the ground showed he was ready for anything she might do though. Archibald may have been a suit-wearing desk jockey but he was still a yak that knew how to fight. She couldn’t underestimate him either.

Archibald was obviously waiting for her to make the first move now, his unblinking eyes boring holes into her.

What he didn’t expect was that when she made her first move he wouldn’t be able to see it at all.

In a blur Rainbow Dash disappeared and before Archibald could process anything else he felt her slam into his side. The yak actually stumbled as she knocked hooves first into his right side before he buckled down and shrugged her off, Rainbow Dash flitting away to the center of the ring and flying over it, out of reach of him if he attempted to grab or jump for her. He stared at her in shock of her speed. Obviously he knew the flying pony would be faster than he was but he didn’t expect her to be that fast. And she had the force and momentum to move him too.

He wasn’t about to admit that he might have been mistaken though.

“Very well, so you can fly fast. But I’m still standing,” Archibald glared at her.

Rainbow Dash grinned. “And I’m still flying.”

“Bad thing this isn’t a flying contest,” he mocked.

She didn’t let her anger blind her though, Rainbow Dash started flying circles around him quickly, creating a rainbow looking vortex around the yak. Archibald held his ground inside the maelstrom despite the wind fraying his fur and kicking up dirt all around him. The yak knew he still had the advantage on defense.

“What’s a little wind supposed to do? If you wanted to get dirt in my fur you could’ve just thrown some at me!” He yelled out to the vortex, unsure of where Dash actually was in it.

A blue blur shot out from the vortex and slammed into him before disappearing just as quickly. The yak shook his head to regain his senses right before he was hit again, and then again and again. Rainbow Dash kept shooting like a lightning bolt into the yak. Blitzing him and striking out with a hoof or shoulder check each time she flew past, too fast for him to react. The yak grit his teeth and tried to wait her out, individually nothing she did was actually hurting him but it was starting to get annoying. And especially frustrating since he couldn’t do anything in retaliation.

“Can you see what’s going on at all?” Gilbert asked from outside the ring, the rainbow vortex obscuring everything.

“Nope,” Daylight shook her head. The white unicorn wore a flummoxed expression on her face at seeing her fellow pony’s speed.

Back in the ring, Archibald had finally had enough.

“No more!” The great yak flexed his muscles and jumped, smashing down onto the ground and actually sending out a shockwave that made the ground rumble and blew away the wind. “Yaks smash!”

Rainbow Dash was knocked from her flight and tumbled onto the ground, rolling end over end but still staying inside the ring. “Woah!”

“There you are!” Archibald yelled and jumped high into the air.

“Uh oh,” Dash gulped as she looked up at the large yak falling right towards her. He didn’t expect her speed and she didn’t expect him to be able to jump like that.

She quickly got out of the way and flew up right before he landed, his heavy body hitting the ground with a thud and cratering his landing point. Even a few of those watching the match stumbled because of that. Archibald was slow to pull himself out of the dirt so Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to jump on his back, repeatedly stomping on him and kicking him to keep him down. The yak grunted at her assault but didn’t look hurt even as she laid into him with her rapid-fire kicks.

“Yaks are sturdy, pony!” He yelled and reared up, intending to knock her off him.

She hung on like she was riding a raging bull though, reaching down and grasping Archibald by the horns. “Tell me something I don’t know!”

“Let go!” Archibald shouted at being treated this way, running and bucking around the ring to try to free himself of the blue pegasus.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t about to do that though even with the yak pounding across the ground and smashing holes into the dirt with the force of his steps. She held onto his horns and tried to yank him one way but the yak was strong enough to always overcome her pulling and turn his head the way he wanted. He shook his head fiercely to get her off but Rainbow Dash wasn’t swayed either, she had decided to take a page out of Applejack’s book for this fight.

“Fine, have it your way then!” Archibald was fed up with her insolence and started to roll over, intending to flatten Rainbow Dash beneath him if she didn’t get off his back.

With a grunt she let go and jumped off of him right as the yak tumbled onto the ground, rolling end over end like a steamroller. Rainbow Dash winced as she watched from above, he really would’ve turned her into a pancake if she didn’t get off at the last second. Archibald eventually stopped his rolling and looked up at the flying pony from his flattened patch who was still staying out of reach.

And for once, the yak grinned. “Flying up there so far away… are you scared?”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed. “No way.”

“Then come down here and fight me!” Archibald sneered.

She was happy to oblige him this time. Again the yak felt it before he saw the rainbow blur smash into his chest, and then again in his side, his back, the top of his head. But the more and more Rainbow Dash hit him the more he was sure that she couldn’t beat him. And the more and more frustrated Rainbow Dash got, seeing him just take all the punishment she was dishing out. Archibald kept up his grin as she pummeled him relentlessly. The force behind each blow was getting steadily weaker. He was right, she was going to tire before he did.

“Gahahaha, you call this a fight?!” He mocked her. “Why don’t you try doing something that will hurt, pony!”

“Tch,” Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue. “Alright then.”

On the next flyby instead of hitting his head or body she went low and put all her strength into striking his front-right knee. The yaks eyes widened in surprise as a lance of pain went up him and he felt his leg buckle. With a deep exhalation he fell to the dirt, his left front leg the only thing supporting his weight and making him quite unbalanced. Rainbow Dash then came back like a lightning bolt and hit there too, causing Archibald to fall forward and smack his face into the ground.

“Hey buddy.”

Archibald looked up to see Rainbow Dash smugly flying above him, again just out of reach.

“I wanted to prove I was strong to you and could beat you up any way I wanted. But if you want me to keep hitting you where you’re weakest just say so. I could’ve been doing that from the start,” she grinned and folded her arms behind her head.

A vein throbbed on the yak’s forehead as he glowered at her and stood up. Her strikes may have knocked him down but it was hardly enough to keep him that way. “I could tell that you’ve been slowing down by the way you’ve been hitting me. You’re tiring, and you still can’t win.”

“Oh yeah? My awesomeness says otherwise.”

She disappeared so fast she left an after-image behind and the yak felt both of his back legs struck at the same time, causing him to fall over backwards with a pained yelp. She then came around the front and flew into his exposed stomach elbow first. All of her weight and all the power she could muster was behind her with this attack. Archibald had the wind knocked out of him and despite his great strength and weight was actually pushed back, sliding across the dirt several inches.

It wasn’t exactly what Rainbow Dash wanted though. She had fully intended to bowl him over and throw him out of the ring. But as she peeked past his large bulk the edge of the ring was still several feet away.

“Not quite.”

Rainbow Dash looked up at the yak’s face. Unfortunately she was now very much within his reach.

Archibald swung a hoof out at her right as Rainbow Dash jumped away from him, but this time she was a fraction of a second too slow and his hoof clipped her wing, knocking her off-balance and making her fall to the dirt. Her wing felt sprained and the feathers awkwardly clumped when she hit the ground. Even a glancing hit from a yak was dangerous. She had to bite her lip as she stood up, really not happy about the situation she now found herself in. The one benefit for her right now was that Archibald had seen fit not to press his advantage.

The yak instead caught his breath and took the time to gloat. “And now what do you expect to do, pony?”

Rainbow Dash frowned, standing up straight and taking a few steps back to create some distance between her and the yak. Flying would be limited if not outright out of the question for the rest of this fight. Still, that bruised wing didn’t mean her ego was bruised.

“I was thinking I’d still win this fight. That’s what.”

The honey yak’s throbbing vein came back as he glowered at Rainbow Dash. “You just don’t know when to quit! Fine then, yak shall smash pony!” Archibald lowered his head and got in charging formation at Rainbow Dash, preparing to run her down where she stood. “If pony so tough, then stand there and try to stop me!”

“Please tell me she’s not actually going to let him goad her into that?” Daylight gulped as she watched.

“You’re on, pal!” Rainbow Dash yelled back at him and braced herself.

“I believe she is,” Gilbert said.

“Rargh!” Archibald yelled, fully getting pumped up from the fight, and charged at Rainbow Dash. His horns were lowered and aimed right at her as he galloped, his huge and strong hooves throwing up dirt behind him and causing the ground to shake like a train was coming through.

The blue pegasus wasn’t worried in the slightest. When Archibald barreled into her, Rainbow Dash grabbed his horns and dug her back hooves only slightly into the ground to avoid most of the force from the yak. If she had tried to just outright stop him she would’ve been crushed so she had to ease into it and try to put the brakes on gradually. Like this she didn’t get carried away or knocked down, much to Archibald’s annoyance, and the yak kept running to try and throw her under him.

But finally Rainbow Dash reached the spot she wanted.

With a grin, the rainbow-maned pony dug her hooves in completely and spread her wings fully for as much drag as possible. She didn’t try to negate his momentum or stop his running altogether. No, she needed to use that for herself. All she was trying to do right now was give herself some leverage. And the exact moment her hooves dug in she had that.

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and sucked in air through her nostrils, drawing up all the strength she had in her relatively small pony body.

And she lifted.

Using Archibald’s own momentum against him she arched her back and used her dug in hooves like a pivot to lift him over her head while she held onto his horns. Doing it like this the yak was pretty much doing the real heavy-lifting, essentially carrying himself over her.

“Waaah!” Archibald yelled in surprise and confusion as he suddenly found himself airborne.

Rainbow Dash finished the motion, dropping the yak right onto his back in a suplex. It felt and sounded like a meteor had just hit the ground and all the spectators winced at the heavy hit. The blue pony let go of his horns and stood up, panting, that really took a lot of energy out of her. Her wing was still sore and all of her legs were wobbling but she was still proud to see that she could stand.

“Was that supposed to be enough to stop me?”

Rainbow Dash turned around to see the angry eyes of Archibald staring at her from his upside-down position. The yak was hurt but again she hadn’t landed a crippling blow. He was preparing to get up and finish her tired self off.

But Rainbow Dash wasn’t worried. She just grinned and pointed at something next to Archibald. “Hey pal, you might want to take a look around.”

Realization of where he was suddenly came to the yak and he looked around in a panic. “No, no!”

Archibald’s big body lay half out of the ring of stones, the suplex having just carried him over it and onto some of the separating rocks. His shock and disbelief was palpable and the other yaks who had been watching the fight were murmuring in surprise as well.

“I think that means I win, right?” It was impossible for Rainbow Dash to keep the smug out of her voice or the grin off her face.

The Chief of the checkpoint was red in the face, his hooves shaking with rage, it looked like he was a volcano about to blow… until his anger vanished and he let out a heavy sigh, falling limp on the ground and gazing up at Rainbow again in his upside-down way.

“Yes, you win.”

Rainbow Dash and Archibald stood alone in his office, the other yaks that worked for the Chief were standing outside it and making sure there weren’t any eavesdroppers this time. The yak held Rainbow Dash in a long and unwavering stare which she returned. Neither wanted to give the other the satisfaction of blinking or breaking away first. The fight may have been over but these too were still at each other’s throats.

Finally the yak’s patience lost to Rainbow’s stubbornness and he rolled his eyes, turning away and walking behind his desk.

“You may have won the fight, but I don’t recall ever promising to tell you the way to the northern checkpoint just because of that,” Archibald said.

“Come on, dude!” Rainbow Dash flew up, wincing slightly from her wing, and landed on his desk. “You know what that was about and I think I proved that I’m way tougher than you thought!”

Archibald sighed. “Yes, you have. But I still think what you’re doing is foolish in more ways than one.”

“It’s my choice,” she glared at him.

“I don’t think you quite understand what you could be getting yourself into… but I can respect your decision now at least,” Archibald answered with a heavy look on his face. “You beat me fair and square, I’ll honor your desire. If a pony is strong enough to beat a yak in a fight that’s the least I can do for you.” He reached a hoof to a drawer under his desk and pulled out a fresh piece of paper and pencil. “I will draw you a map to the north checkpoint. However with your wing hurt I suggest staying the night here, since even flying it will take you a full day to get through the wasteland.”

Rainbow Dash tested her wing, moving it up and down and ruffling the feathers to try and get them to all look right. There was a tenderness to be sure.

“Yeah fine,” she sighed. “Ugh, I really hate having to wait for stuff!”

She left his office and met back up with Daylight, Gilbert, and Senax, who had briefly gone onto their boat to grab a first aid kit for her wing. The four of them now once again sat outside the cafe drinking coffee. This time Rainbow Dash was in a far brighter mood.

“You guys didn’t have to do this, it’ll be fine with a little rest,” Rainbow Dash said as she flexed her injured wing with newly applied gauze and ointment on it.

“That’s what a first aid kit is meant for,” Gilbert shrugged. “And besides, you made this little detour amazingly entertaining, it’s the least we could do before our boat leaves.”

“Which is soon just so you know. Last chance to take up our offer?” Daylight asked.

Rainbow Dash smiled and shook her head. “Thanks but the answer’s still no. I’m heading north.”

“Good luck on your journey. It really does sound dangerous so I hope you’re careful,” Senax told her.

“Careful? You just saw what I can do—hay, you didn’t see half of what I can do. I’ll be fine,” Dash kicked back and put her hooves behind her head.

“That ego of yours is something else,” Daylight grinned. “But I guess you’re not just blowing smoke when you say something like that. Too bad we’re parting so soon but maybe we’ll see each other again someday out there. It’s a big world but not that big.”

Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’d be pretty cool.”

The four only had a minute longer to converse before the captain of the yak boat came in and announced they would be leaving soon. The passengers bound for Griffonstone and the waters far beyond made their farewells to Rainbow Dash and left her as the only pony in the southern wasteland checkpoint. The blue pegasus immediately found herself bored and resorted to her favorite “activity” to pass the time until she was ready to head to the northern checkpoint: napping.

Call to Adventure

Flying through a wasteland was a strange mix of boring and intense.

Previously, Rainbow Dash got a decent night of rest at the checkpoint. It was certainly a far warmer place to stay the night than where she had spent the last couple. There were even actual beds too. And they were very large, yak-sized, beds so she had a ton of room and really thick blankets to use. All in all it ended with her wrapped up on top of the bed like a cat seeking warmth, the pegasus intending to rejuvenate herself as much as possible. Her wing felt much better even before she drifted off to sleep and was perfectly healed upon awakening. Rainbow Dash quickly tore the bandages off and trotted to Archibald’s office the moment she woke up.

The yak was happy to be rid of her but not for the reason. He still saw what he was doing as a betrayal of his duty but he couldn’t deny Rainbow Dash’s capability and determination any longer. If she really wanted to go to the True North he wasn’t going to stop her. In any way. Archibald didn’t have anymore words for her as he gave her the map showing the route to the northern checkpoint, it was a silent exchange and the yak stoically went back to work as normal the moment Rainbow Dash flew in a hurry right out of his office.

She wasted absolutely no time looking over that map for where she needed to go through the wasteland, the day had just begun and she was going to make the most of it. No time would be wasted on dillydallying or looking around, she was getting to the northern checkpoint today. And then her true adventure could begin. She could feel it. Hear it. This is what she had been waiting for and driving towards ever since she left Ponyville just a few days before. Her excited heartbeat was telling her all she needed to know, this was the real deal. Rainbow Dash could hardly wait for it at all. She was going to make sure this big adventure would put all her others to shame and she wasn’t going to return home until she was totally satisfied. This was something she could brag and talk about for ages. That’s what this adventure was going to be!

Her meandering and zig-zagging flight through the wasteland was the first part of her real adventure now. At times there was nothing for her to see, below her on the ground was dry and cracked dirt where nothing grew or moved, just as William had said.

Except for directly below her.

The thin strip of land that she flew over, that 1,000 years ago the yaks traveled over, was a green oasis in the wasteland. There was nothing it could be except for magic, so out of place it was. It twisted like a snake across the wasteland from south to north or north to south depending on your perspective. Rainbow Dash could actually see things like trees, bushes, and flowers growing from it, something that would’ve been out of place in the rest of the north, not just this wasteland. There was probably all sorts of fruit and seed down there to eat if she ever got hungry. Checking it out may be worth it but she still didn’t want to slow down her flight to the northern checkpoint.

The weather facing her as she flew was also nonexistent, no wind seemed to come down the thin corridor she flew on. Meanwhile to her sides she could see the occasional tornado or storm raging across the wastes. Moving in such a way that if she was anywhere else she would’ve been concerned that they would come her way and overtake where she was. But instead they never touched the green strip. Some of the tornadoes would get so close that Rainbow Dash could practically touch them and yet they never roamed over the grass down there and the wind from them felt far more subdued than it should have considering how close they were.

Rainbow Dash was used to strange weather every now and then but this was still new to her. Just as she had seen earlier when she was flying down the river to the southern checkpoint it would’ve been difficult to get through the wasteland unscathed if she wasn’t using the yak’s path.

Unfortunately when there wasn’t anything like freak weather going on around her she really didn’t have anything else to do or look at because the wasteland was so empty and the green bridge through it below her didn’t have much to look at after about five minutes worth of flying either. So Rainbow Dash flapped her wings hard and sped through this portion of her journey as best she could. She couldn’t quite see what was at the end of the wasteland just yet, the stale air creating something of a blurry haze almost like how the hot air would make things shimmer in the distance in a desert.

She made sure to always keep in the airspace directly above the green path, fearing that the instant she left it some kind of crazy weather or something would kick up and whisk her away deeper into the wasteland. It made her have to constantly turn and slow down but it was better than getting lost or stuck out here. She knew this place was just waiting for her to make a mistake and then all of a sudden a storm would come out of nowhere and she’d be getting pelted by hail and forced to dodge lightning bolts.

Maybe the north wanted to keep others out. Or in. Maybe that’s what this wasteland was about.

Rainbow Dash shook her head, she didn’t care about stuff like that. Worrying? What did that word even mean? And she wasn’t out here to study either. She wanted adventure.

The far from home pegasus started humming as she flew, doing anything to occupy herself as she easily made her way north. Humming and singing to herself was probably gonna become another favorite pastime of hers with how much flying on her own she was going to be doing up here.

“I’m awesome, take caution, watch out for me...”

She softly sang a tune she had just made up on the spot, putting in new lyrics whenever she felt like it, anything that hyped her up more. With a grin she kept flying hard to the end of the wasteland.

An end that was now approaching.

The further she flew the more that haze in the distance began to lift and she could see what actually awaited her at the end of the wastelands. She thought it was more mountains at first but as she got closer she realized she was wrong. It was indeed rock but instead of individual mountains it was like a single cliff or rockface that rose sheer out of the ground and high into the sky, almost like a raised plateau or wall of rock. It was snowy on top too, showing the signs of the True North that she had expected.

Despite its height she could easily fly above it but if the map Archibald had given her was correct there should be another checkpoint on or right behind that rock wall. And there must be some kind of narrow path through it that the wasteland oasis started from as well.

With the end of this part of her adventure in sight, Rainbow Dash felt renewed vigor flowing through her veins. She blasted off with greater speed than normal towards the rocks, leaving a rainbow trail in the shape of a snake in the air over the oasis. It wasn’t even evening yet and she had already made great time through the wastes. There was still plenty of the day ahead of her.

“It’s not just a song, I really am the most awesome!” She shouted as she came to a stop right before the cliffs. Just as she suspected there was a small passage that cut right through the crag from top to bottom. Narrower even than the strip of green through the wastelands,, no more than a few yaks would’ve been able to walk side by side through it.

Rainbow Dash hovered to about midway up the cliffs and grinned before flying inside. The pony was too excited for words at what she would see on the other end.

Snowflakes drifted down from the top of the rocks the further in she went and the temperature dropped expectedly as well until it almost felt like she was flying through a fridge. The rock to her sides started to become frosted over and her body shivered a bit at the sudden changes. Yet she still kept flying towards the light at the end of the passage. She already knew the True North would be cold and she already knew she could handle it.

“Let’s see it...” Rainbow Dash murmured as she broke through to the end and into the light.

She floated there for a second, quiet, as more snow fell around her and cold winds blew. Slowly she stopped the flapping of her wings and allowed herself to descend to the bottom of the cliffs, where her hooves lightly touched down on the freshly fallen snow that covered the ground. The very first time she touched the ground of the True North.

“Wow,” Rainbow Dash said as she pulled in her wings and looked out at the vast expanse before her.

A white landscape of snow and ice fields, huge mountains in every direction, massive columns of clouds that went into the atmosphere, a tundra just in front of her of frozen plants and dirt, rolling hills of snow. All of it for miles and miles ahead. A breathtaking northern landscape even for Rainbow Dash. A truly wild world brimming with unknown adventure. In the foggy distance directly north dozens of black and white fangs shot up from the ground. With a nod, Rainbow Dash accepted that range of mountains as her next destination.

Directly north she would go.

“Ahem. How did you get up here?”

Rainbow Dash’s head whipped around at the surprising voice to see a yak standing behind her. Behind him stood a small shack built right up against the rock wall that looked to be on the verge of falling apart. The yak was bundled up in warm blankets and had an inquisitive but not reproachful or suspicious look on his face.

“Is this the northern checkpoint?” Rainbow Dash asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Gehahaha,” the yak suddenly bellowed at her disbelieving question. “It is indeed. Obviously you were expecting something a little more, but this is all that’s needed. I’m surprised you know about this though, you must’ve convinced whoever the current chief is that he can let you up here.”

“You could put it like that,” she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. “Uhhh, so what’s your name dude? I’m Rainbow Dash.”

“Leopold! A pleasure to meet you, Rainbow Dash,” the Chief of the northern checkpoint warmly smiled.

“You too. But I’m not gonna stay for long, sorry. Really want to get my adventure started,” she shrugged.

“I don’t mind. I wouldn’t have accepted this posting if I couldn’t deal with being on my own. Gehahaha!” The yak laughed in good humor again. “Well, I won’t delay you. You obviously know the possible danger of what you’re doing. It’s not my duty to stop you. Clearly you’re quite the pony to get this far anyways, good luck on your “adventure” as you put it.”

“Thanks, you’re a lot cooler than the other checkpoint yak,” Rainbow Dash grinned and flew up a bit, preparing to leave.

The blanketed yak shrugged. “Yaks best at being relaxed too.”

“Guess so,” Dash snickered and flew up higher, waving goodbye to the yak. “Bye!”

And she zoomed off with him waving goodbye as well, the yak soon becoming nothing more than a speck behind her. There was probably a lot she could have learned from him. A lot the two of them could have talked about that it was almost a waste to just leave the northern checkpoint so soon without saying anything. But the call was too great to ignore.

Here she was. The True North.

She couldn’t help but grin wider as she speedily headed to the mountains. “This is going to be awesome.”

Far, far to the north of where Rainbow Dash had just emerged from, there was a city. Built into the canyons and crevasses of a glacier-filled mountain range, it was a massive city home to thousands of ponies and other creatures. Their homes and other buildings coming right out of the canyon walls with bridges and ropeways connecting them, birds couriered messages from side to side and place to place, huge smokestacks rose from the tops of the walls and platforms jutted out at every level of the canyons for ponies to walk on and survey the rest of their city from.

But none of that was really important right now.

On one of those platforms a lone mare stood, wearing nothing but a small smile on her face as she stared across the way at one of the walls of buildings and apartments built onto the north side of one of the canyons. Her mind devoid of thought as lights flickered on and off, ponies and griffons and reindeer walked in and out from balconies, and glancing below to the bottom of the canyon she could stare deep into the icy crevasses that still others dug deep into, drilling and picking out ice to sell above.

It seemed like a day the same as any other in this city to her.

Until a light was switched on in her head.

No, until a firework went off—no not even that, a brilliant explosion occurred in her mind.

The mare’s ears perked up while her eyes widened and she whirled around in surprise, the smile momentarily left off of her face as she looked to the south, trying to see past the buildings and canyon that still stood far above her viewing platform. She stood stock still, not even a puff of air coming from her mouth in a betrayal of breath.

The mare stayed facing to the south as she slowly closed her eyes and bowed her head, the images of a bright light, brighter than any star in the night sky, piercing through the darkness of her mind and shooting straight towards her filled the mare.

“What is that?”

A fiery warmth like the sun began to spread through her veins as she opened her eyes and lifted her head, the smile reappearing with a twinkling glint in her eyes to accompany it.

“A light; a bright light full of warmth and life that shines in the darkness. And coming this way. I don’t know what you are, but I’m waiting for you.”

Author's Note

And now the adventure truly begins.

https://youtu.be/RrDKoXWKMmY

Off the Map

It was like a desert of snow beneath her and as cold in the air as that implied. Cloud coverage was low and thick enough that she couldn’t fly any higher or she’d completely lose vision of the ground and what lied ahead. If she wanted she could’ve gone lower and skimmed right above the rolling dunes of snow but she wanted to stay up at least a little ways to give herself a greater point of view where she could see out a fair distance. The one benefit right now was that it wasn’t too windy, that would’ve chilled the air even more and made flying difficult. Although maybe she should’ve wanted that. It would probably be good to get acclimated to that as quickly as possible, especially since it was likely going to get colder and colder the further she went north unless there was something weird about the weather. Which she wouldn’t completely rule out.

The mountains dead ahead of her were still visible. Relatively small compared to the Crystal Mountains but they still broke up the horizon neatly. It wasn’t a huge range and she could’ve easily flown around it without losing too much time but why bother with that? The only things around them was more snow and ice to the west and a nearly frozen over tundra to the east that had the only specks of green she could see around. Meanwhile there could still be something inside those mountains or obscured by them that she couldn’t see yet. So instead of slightly changing direction and going someplace where she knew there wasn’t anything she might as well keep flying straight north where there could be something.

Something… like animals?

Rainbow Dash frowned as she realized she hadn’t seen any signs of life, wild or otherwise, in the True North yet aside from Leopold. And he didn’t count.

There weren’t any birds flying with her and she didn’t see anything on the ground below either. She knew there were plenty of animals that lived in places like this (thanks Fluttershy) so it was kind of eerie that for now the True North seemed devoid of them. Perhaps the lack of vegetation where she was flying above had something to do with it. Although even then she figured she’d be able to see some long-distance flying birds out in the sky even if there was nothing else. But as it was she was alone out here.

“Creepy,” Rainbow Dash said to herself as she flied over the wintry world. It really was odd and unusual to a pony that normally lived in such a vibrant place, bustling with life, other ponies and creatures all the time, and now she was here. This nearly colorless and empty northern world. The starkest of contrasts to her life down in Equestria.

But that was good. This was new, this was different, this was adventure.

This harsh and unforgiving landscape held the promises of difficult challenges and all sorts of dangers. She knew it did and she was looking forward to it. Some other ponies might’ve been scared or worried as they traveled across the True North. But not her. She was relishing this.

...aside from the fact that she did wish there was something here to do or see. She was really hoping the fun and danger would start as soon as she got up here. Now she was still just flying like she had been before. Where were the monsters? She had been told about how dangerous the north was but so far nothing had happened yet. Maybe you just can’t rush an adventure but Rainbow Dash was getting tired of just flying over snow, she wanted the battles and escapades she had been envisioning from the start. What did the world of the True North have to offer? Rainbow Dash wanted it to give her everything it had and she wanted it as soon as possible.

The pegasus couldn’t help but yawn, something which annoyed her since it meant she was at such a quiet moment that she could afford to yawn.

Those mountains were getting closer at least. But then at the same time it was getting late, she probably couldn’t travel through them by nightfall so it might be better to camp out right in front of them or something for the night and then fly through them tomorrow morning. It still wasn’t that late in the day though, she could figure that out later.

For now she decided to look to the east and the west, she had no intention of traveling there or making a more roundabout trip across the north but it didn’t hurt to sightsee from up high in the sky.

Rainbow Dash took a sidelong glance to the far western horizon. For a long ways it was just more snow and ice before the sky turned into stormy weather and dark clouds covered the land completely. A stray lightning bolt too far for her to even hear the thunderclap of appeared for a second, followed by another and another. Not an inviting place to go. Turning to the east it looked like more of the same except there was more tundra and land that didn’t look like it was permanently covered in snow and ice along with some valleys and currently frozen rivers and lakes. But still if she looked far enough there were intense storms and black clouds that completely blotted out the rest of the landscape. It might be impossible for her to go anywhere except directly north at the moment anyways, not until those storms ceased to eclipse the eastern and western borders of the True North.

So Rainbow Dash ignored all that for now. If she needed to go east or west sometime in the future then so be it, for now she kept her focus on the north.

And besides the lack of animals or anything there was also a complete lack of anything that could be called civilization so far. Once again, Leopold’s tiny shack was the only thing she had seen up here that was creature built and not a part of the natural world. There wasn’t any sign of roads or other trails built into the snow and ground below, there wasn’t any smoke billowing up into the sky from chimneys in the distance, her eyes couldn’t pick out any homes or buildings or castles built up on those mountains she was traveling towards.

Well, there were plenty of places like that in Equestria too, it was a big place and not everywhere was settled or connected to the rest. There were probably a lot of remote places like this in the north. Places where nobody lived or did anything because they were too far away and didn’t have what you needed to eke out a living. She was sure there were cities and countries that she would encounter in the future up here. After all she knew there were mammoths, right? And they had an empire or something. And she was pretty sure William had mentioned some other things too.

Civilization was up here. Somewhere. Probably hiding in the same place as adventure.

She couldn’t tell entirely thanks to the clouds but she was pretty sure the sun had just gone down with how dark it suddenly became. Rainbow Dash frowned, thinking she had had more time than that. The pegasus descended in the sky, looking for some place along the ground that she could stop at for now. Flying at night in this cold where she wasn’t sure if a storm or something would suddenly appear didn’t appeal to her. For now she’d rest and spend her first night in the True North.

First Night

At the foot of the mountains, Rainbow Dash started to make an igloo out of the snow. Not something she was used to doing but how hard could it be? She was awesome. It was just going to be a temporary thing for this one night, no bigger than what was needed to hold her inside. Her hooves were freezing though just a few seconds after she started moving and digging through the snow. At least her wings gave her two more appendages that she could use for this whenever her hooves got tired or too cold to move right.

This is not how she wanted to be spending her time on what was supposed to be her big adventure.

It had been several days now since she first set off from Ponyville, and to be be honest she had already done quite a bit by the standards of a normal pony. She visited the Crystal Empire, got to eat with Princess Cadance and her family, flew up Mt. Everhoof, climbed down it, met some cool yaks doing something she had no idea that yaks did. Then she even saw some reindeer, flew up a big river, saw a ton of sea lions, then met that jerk Archibald.

Yeah, already that was a lot and she wasn’t even really getting into the details with it.

But it wasn’t really what she wanted and it certainly wasn’t enough. Part of her was thinking that maybe she should have taken Daylight’s offer and gone with her, Gilbert, and Senax out to the Grand Ocean or whatever they called it. At least then she wouldn’t be so cold. That would’ve felt like quitting though or giving up before she started… she really wanted to discover the True North and the adventures up here. It had to be awesome. Why would there be a huge magical wasteland separating things and the yaks being so secretive and defensive about it if there wasn’t an awesome adventure up here waiting for her?

The wind suddenly picked up around her, sending a wave of chills through her body. Rainbow Dash doubled her efforts to build the walls of her igloo before she got too cold and froze over. Frost caked her mane and tail already and she knew ice would soon be glistening over the feathers of her wings unless she did something about this.

It took another half hour but she finished her rudimentary igloo and nestled inside it. It was cold. But there was really nothing she could do about that and at least it protected her from the wind. The blue pegasus curled up in a ball, her wings and tail tucked in to give her the most warmth possible as she hugged her legs close to her body. She looked far more vulnerable than she ever wanted to be and would be super embarrassed if anyone, especially Fluttershy or Applejack, saw her like this.

And speaking of those two… what were they up to now? It was that big animal or whatever that Applejack took care of for Fluttershy back in Ponyville that practically started this whole thing. Maybe if Rainbow Dash had gotten to fight it she would’ve been momentarily satisfied enough that things would’ve turned out differently and the idea to fly up here would’ve never popped into her head. And what about Twilight? If she actually knew about the north Rainbow Dash may have lost interest in flying up here and might have chosen somewhere else to go. Like the east or west. In fact, wasn’t there a whole place on their maps called the “Undiscovered West”? That would’ve probably made a good place to go for adventures.

Maybe in the future.

But thanks to this trail of thought Rainbow Dash peeked an eye open despite the fact she was trying to sleep, her mind now occupied by thoughts of her friends back in Ponyville.

Probably should’ve at least said goodbye to all of them or something. She idly thought.

Applejack… well she was probably spending her days farming like normal. Wouldn’t be any surprises there. Rarity was probably either making dresses herself or working on expanding her business into another city. Didn’t she mention wanting to set up shop in Cloudsdale? Somehow. Fluttershy seemed to be taking care of more animals day by day, Pinkie Pie… Celestia only knows what she’s up to on any given day. And Twilight had Princess stuff to do. Or Headmistress stuff now. Or wrangling in Starlight and Spike stuff. How did that Alicorn not lose her head by now?

Rainbow Dash realized she missed them already.

And Scootaloo is probably doing something with the Crusaders right now… In the past Rainbow Dash would’ve been more concerned about her little buddy but Scoots had grown up and matured quite a bit lately. The three of them were still just fillies bur Rainbow Dash never saw the need to get as crazy and overprotective with them as Applejack and Rarity sometimes did.

But she still missed Scoots and her crazy antics too.

The rainbow-maned pegasus shifted around in her snowy abode, thinking about what it would be like if someone else or all of her friends together were here on this adventure with her. Pff, Twilight could’ve just teleported to the top of Mt. Everhoof and Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy would’ve just made friends with Archibald and no one would’ve had to fight him in the first place. Applejack would probably be way better at finding food and stuff and making something like this igloo… and Rarity would’ve at least attempted to fix things between Shining Armor and Cadance.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t hold back a snicker about that last one.

Twilight though… she really would’ve loved learning about and discovering all this stuff. She’d be so much more into it than Rainbow Dash was. Every new thing, every individual mountain, she’d want to learn as much as possible about it. Probably would’ve brought supplies for making a map of the True North too, that egghead. Hmm, actually now that she thought about it everyone except Applejack would probably be a lot more interested in other stuff up here than just adventure. Fluttershy would want to see new animals, Rarity would want to see what kinds of clothes creatures wore, and Pinkie Pie would just want to make friends with everyone.

Rainbow Dash was just looking to kick butt and have fun. Maybe there was something else cool up here that she’d really get interested in but for the most part all that was on her mind was the adventure side of things. Maybe she should have brought a journal or something though, now she’d just have to tell Twilight everything that happened by mouth. Oh well, she loved talking about herself and her escapades.

That was something she could look forward to whenever she actually ended this journey and got back; Twilight writing a book about the “Amazing Adventures of Rainbow Dash”! It would definitely be a best seller. How could it not be? Like, anything with her name on it would automatically be a best seller. Hero of Equestria, star Wonderbolt, best friends with the Princess of Friendship, the only pony who could perform Sonic Rainbooms, all of her stuff flew off the shelves because who in their right mind wouldn’t want something related to a pony as awesome as her?

Those pleasant thoughts helped her drift off to sleep. The cold no longer a problem for the pegasus dreaming sweet dreams of adoration and fame after conquering the True North and the adventures out here.

The Ice Sentinel II

Rainbow Dash was close to the glacier. It really was a huge slab of white and blue ice that sat between the two mountains, rising from the floor of the valley to more than halfway up their peaks and extending a fair distance to the mountains behind it. She debated whether to just fly over it completely or maybe touch down and walk over it for a bit. See how it was or if there was anything cool about it. The thing looked pretty bumpy on top and she could see a number of cracks and crevasses in it. Thankfully being a pegasus she never had to worry about falling down one of them.

She glanced down at the forest below her to see that the ground steadily sloped up the closer it got to the glacier before stopping, the treeline disappearing for about a hundred feet below that. Her eyes roamed over the bottom of the glacier and the cliffs that made up the mountains of the northern side of the valley but she couldn’t see any easy way up them. Once more she was lucky she didn’t only have to walk or she’d be practically trapped in that valley. The only real way past the glacier seemed to be to climb up it if you were an earth pony or something, and you would need special tools for that.

Rainbow Dash flexed her wings and grinned. “Thank you mom and dad.”

The pegasus continued her glide to the glacier, to her right she saw some birds fly down from the mountain on the glacier’s east. They must’ve had a nest up on the rocks somewhere and were flying down to the forest for food or something else. Her eyes caught the curved beaks and sharp talons of the winter colored birds, birds of prey no doubt. Rainbow Dash knew their behavior just as well as Fluttershy thanks to her familiarity with griffons. They were probably circling for something like mice or squirrels and they would strike from above with the kind of speed and stealth that the poor creature wouldn’t know what happened until it was grasped between those talons.

Nothing could catch her like that though. Her ears were too finely attuned and her reflexes too quick. Not to mention there probably wasn’t any sort of predator that was looking to eat her up here.

“Heh, and if there was I’d show it what a mistake it is to try me!” Rainbow Dash pounded her hooves together.

She flapped her wings once and dove a bit lower to the glacier, planning to land down on it, having made up her mind.

Her right ear then flickered as she picked up a strange sound in the sky. A whistling sound coming from above and behind her. She was about to turn her head to see what it was when a sharp icicle thrown like a spear whizzed right past her head, close enough for her to briefly see the scared reflection of her eyes in its clear surface as time nearly seemed to slow down while the razor icicle brushed against the bangs of her mane. As soon as it passed her by time resumed as normal and the icicle spear flew towards the glacier before disappearing from Rainbow Dash’s sight.

“What the-”

“KRAOOOOOOOOW!”

Rainbow Dash’s head lurched in the direction the spear had been thrown from to see a huge monster made of ice flying down at her. Its wings were folded back so it could divebomb through the air faster while it held its deadly sharp talons open towards her.

“Gah!” Rainbow Dash yelped and quickly fluttered out of its way.

Right as she dodged past it though it opened its wings up and tried to cleave her with them as it flew by, forcing Rainbow to beat her wings hard and barely flip over the glossy ice wing that looked sharper than any sword or knife could possibly be.

“What the hay are you?!” Rainbow yelled as she speedily flapped her wings to gain some altitude and create a little distance between herself and the ice monster.

The creature stopped and turned around in midair, icy skull and strange glowing eyes swinging to lock onto Rainbow Dash once more. If it understood her it gave no indication or answer. Rainbow Dash bit her lip at what she saw, now being able to fully register the ice monster that had attacked her. It was some horrifying skeleton of ice with powerful looking wings and for whatever reason it wanted Rainbow Dash. The gargoyle screeched again and flew towards her.

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes as it approached. If that’s as fast as it can go then I’m way faster…

She prepared her wings to fly circles around her attacker when the ice monster reached a talon up behind its back and yanked off one of the ice spikes that went down its spine. A new spike quickly grew in its place like ice spreading across a cold surface while the monster flung the improvised icicle spear with immense force at Rainbow Dash.

It sailed through the air with ease thanks to its shape and the power behind the throw, much faster than the gargoyle could fly and aimed right at the center of Rainbow Dash’s chest.

Rainbow Dash easily ducked right under it though. Her reactions and speed far greater than any simple thrown javelin. She couldn’t help but smirk, it looked like she could easily handle whatever this thing could dish out. There was no way it could catch her.

But the monster didn’t seem to care about her dodging or whatever other thoughts might be going through the pony’s head. It kept pulling off more spikes and throwing them at Rainbow Dash while it charged through the air with its razor sharp tail whipping around behind it.

Again and again Rainbow Dash dipped, ducked, dived, and dodged each spear thrown at her. Practically laughing at the ease she was having at evading the attacks she almost forgot to fly out of the way of the ice monster itself when it reached her. But even that wasn’t a problem, she plainly buzzed through its talons and flew under its stomach to out behind out, ducking her head under the tail that tried to skewer her on the pass.

The wind had picked up in the meantime and her mane blew about her face, although it did nothing to wipe the cocky grin away.

I could easily just fly away from whatever this thing is, but where’s the fun in that? You wanted a fight? You got one! Rainbow Dash was ecstatic that something like this had come up and she was not about to throw away this chance for fun. This was just part of her adventure! In fact, this was the first really adventurous thing that had happened to her.

“Let’s see what you can do you big ice bird thing!” She yelled and flew towards it.

Meanwhile the ice monster had turned around to meet her again. “KERSHAAWWW!” The grinding and scraping scream of ice it let out sounded so unnatural, no normal creature or animal could reproduce it.

The ice wings of it flapped hard as it flew to attack Rainbow Dash, when it got close enough it swiped out with the pointed claws at the ends of its talons. But Rainbow Dash was able to swiftly avoid them. She flew between its thin, outstretched, arms and aimed right for the ice-carved skull. Rainbow Dash punched the skull as hard as she could while she flew by it, earning herself a satisfying crack and the feeling of ice breaking beneath her hoof. She flew above the dangerous spikes on the monster’s back as the thing twisted around trying to strike her in return and soon Rainbow Dash passed by the monster completely before hooking around to look at her adversary, having just gotten in a solid hit while that thing couldn’t touch her at all.

It was hovering in midair and twitching, like it was stunned or surprised by the blow. Rainbow Dash could see cracks along its skull and beak right below its glowing left eye-socket from where she had punched it.

“Had enough?” The cocky pegasus called out to it.

All at once the thing froze in the air like a statue although somehow it still stayed afloat. To Rainbow Dash’s dismay and with the snapping sound of freezing water the cracks in the ice steadily repaired themselves or frosted over with new ice or something until the monster looked like she had never hit it in the first place.

Rainbow Dash reached up a hoof and nervously scratched her head. “Ohh… maybe this was a bad idea.”

“KRRRRRAAAAAA!” The monster yelled at her with its screeching and cracking ice yowl and curled its wings in front of it like it was trying to shield itself from something.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, wondering what it was doing. All it had done before this was fly at her and throw spears.

Her unspoken question was answered when the ice monster threw its wings back open and dozens of the razor thin ice feathers that rested on the appendages detached and flew through the air at Rainbow Dash like a flechette storm. Some of them spun and curved while others shot straight at her through the sky and Rainbow Dash barely had time to gather her wits before the arrows were upon her. Her quick reflexes did a lot of work allowing her to dodge them but there were just so many it was difficult for her to find safe spots that didn’t have any other feathers hurtling through them. She had to fly and snake through them all, even a single one grazing her could cause a deep cut. Rainbow Dash became a rainbow blur as she moved through the sky to expertly avoid them.

Finally the storm of feathers abated and Rainbow Dash grinned. “Heh, didn’t even break a sweat.”

That still left the gargoyle though and once again it was flying straight at her, only this time it was throwing feathers at her with each flap of its wings at the same time.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t backing down whatsoever though. She dodged past each stream of feathers as she flew to meet the monster. Again it tried to strike out at her with its talons but she avoided them and began to fly circles around the beast. She danced around it, hitting it in the wings, the back, the head, the arms, as she dodged its own flailing attacks. The monster kept trying to hit her with its tail and wings but Rainbow Dash deftly avoided it all. The only problem was she wasn’t sure if her attacks were actually doing anything to the ice monster.

Each strike cracked or broke the ice she was hitting but it all just fixed itself a moment later. This was even worse than fighting Archibald, she wasn’t getting anywhere!

And she was getting tired. She didn’t notice it at first thanks to adrenaline and the speed of her punches but each time she struck the ice monster it was far colder than even normal ice was, so much that she felt numbed by even the smallest contact. And it was getting worse and worse and traveling up her hooves the more she actually hit it. But what else could she do? She didn’t have magic, at least not the kind like Twilight, and she didn’t see how pegasus weather magic would help her here, so all she could really do was keep hitting it… Rainbow Dash hadn’t envisioned that she might face a problem up here she couldn’t fix or get through by hitting it.

Running away was out of the question.

Not when this was her first real challenge. Not against her first real obstacle in the True North. If she gave up here, whether she flew south, north, east, or west, wouldn’t that just be proving Archibald right? No way. She couldn’t do that. It was either this thing or her that was going to be getting out of here, not the both of them. One of them would win this fight.

And the other?

Rainbow Dash gulped, she was not losing here. “Hurry up and lose you dumb popsicle!”

She dodged its wing and hit it again right at the joint where the ice bone emerged from its back, but this time she didn’t even hit it with enough force to crack it. Instead a numbness lanced up her hoof and it seized, causing Rainbow Dash to wince and momentarily lose her concentration, slowing down in her flight.

“KREEEOOOOWW!” The ice monster took its chance when it saw Rainbow Dash’s speed drop and it slashed at her with its talon.

“Woah!” Rainbow Dash pushed her wings to fly back from the monster, but it was a split second too late. The icy claws just barely raked across her back right leg, leaving four thin but painful cuts in her that strangely radiated a cold sharpness rather than the hot pain she would’ve expected. “Ow!” The pegasus still cried as she continued to flap her wings and create some distance between her and the slower beast.

She looked down to see blood from the cuts dripping out and falling into the sky while the numb and cold feeling in her extremities continued to worsen. Raising her head back up she watched as the ice monster prepared to charge towards her again.

With no small amount of hesitation, Rainbow Dash turned around and began to fly away.

The Ice Sentinel III

Rainbow Dash quickly realized a problem with her attempt to simply fly away from the monster now. She felt sluggish, her hooves were unresponsive and wouldn’t move right at the moment to let her get into as aerodynamic a form as possible, she was cold, and while her wings were unharmed and still working as normal, Rainbow Dash’s lowered energy levels and rising exhaustion meant that even they couldn’t keep up their usual standards. In short; she was slowing down.

Which was bad when a seemingly invincible monster was chasing you.

“KRRRAAAAAOOOOHH!” The monster screamed from behind her, Rainbow Dash glancing over her shoulder to see it diving at her with talons opened wide.

“You clearly don’t need food so why are you even chasing me in the first place?!” The pony yelled back at it.

Its only response was to pull off another ice spike and launch it at her. Thankfully even in her weakened state the pegasus had the reflexes to dodge it. Her eyes narrowed though when she saw the icicle glide right past her injured leg, that thing was intentionally aiming for her weakspot now to cripple her further.

Although it’s not like it really needed to do that considering it was gaining on her anyways.

“Crud,” Rainbow Dash muttered and looked ahead. With all the fighting and flying around she had been doing she was briefly disoriented and wasn’t sure what direction she was going in when she turned to flee from the monster. But as she saw a huge glacier in front of her she knew she was still heading directly north.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t entirely sure what to do. Keep flying north through the mountain range and try to lose it or hope it gives up on her? Maybe. Or maybe try and loop around one of the mountains and head south to see if the thing only cared about her because she flew into its territory. This would be a lot easier if it was an animal or something she could speak to to figure out its motives, since fighting it directly hadn’t gotten her anywhere. Worse still, with her body in the condition it was in now she wasn’t sure if she could actually make it as far as she wanted. Maybe if she pushed herself hard she could outpace it again and create some distance but that would also exhaust her if she wasn’t careful and leave her as easy pickings.

Her injured leg throbbed.

The coldness from the slashes had made its way up her flank and Rainbow Dash’s wings twitched reflexively, halting her in midair. She was in the open air between the mountains and practically right above the glacier, there was nowhere to run and try to lose the monster like this and she didn’t have the time or speed anymore to escape.

She could hear the monster flying through the sky close behind her, she’d have to fight it at least temporarily again.

Rainbow Dash wheeled around just in time to roll out of the way of its striking talons. The ice monster shrieked as it flew by her and tried to cut her with its tail but Rainbow Dash was thankfully able to doge that too by flying up. Much to her annoyance though the ice tail still cut off a few bits of hair from her rainbow tail.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash grumbled, the normally jagged ends of her tail now trimmed in a straight line.

Well fine, if that’s how this thing wanted it then so be it! Rainbow Dash flew at the monster with greater speed than even she was expecting. It was still easy for her to dodge the wide swiping motions of the talons and get inside the beast’s range. Rainbow Dash hesitated briefly as she hung right before the frozen ribcage, hitting the monster some more might make the cold and numbness in her hooves worse but if she didn’t stun it at all or anything she couldn’t escape from it at this point either.

Throwing away her hesitation, Rainbow clenched her jaw and furrowed her brow, bringing up her hooves and rapidly striking the ribcage dozens of times before the monster could move or attempt to attack her. Her rapid-fire blows created small cracks all over the ribs before finally a number of them shattered altogether. Using her four hooves together Rainbow Dash then pushed off the ice monster, knocking it away from her and launching herself back towards the glacier at the same time.

Her hooves were cold after that. They almost felt frozen solid, like she had dipped them in ice water in the middle of winter.

She tried to breathe some warm air on them to heat them back up but it wasn’t doing much. Looking back at the monster she saw the thing shaking and twitching around again like when she had first struck it and cracked its skull. But if that was any indication it was just going to heal itself soon and chase after her some more. She had to get away quickly or all she had done was hurt and make herself easier prey further.

But as she fell back through the sky towards the glacier the nagging thought going through her head was: Where could she go?

It was obvious she couldn’t make it anywhere farther in this mountain range with how she was and the speed of her predator. Her only options now would be trying to dive down to the forest and losing it on the ground, or maybe…

Rainbow Dash looked at the glacier, she was already right at it and could easily reach its surface before the ice monster reached her. The numerous cracks and crevasses in it stood out to her. It was a risky choice but it might be her best bet with how far away everything else was. With the size of that ice monster Rainbow Dash could tell it wouldn’t be able to fit in the same crevasses she could. But there was the risk that she would just get trapped in some hole that didn’t lead anywhere.

“Whatever!” Rainbow Dash threw her hooves up. “Do first and think later!” She said and flew towards the glacier and one of the crevasses that was closest to her.

“KREEEAAAW!” The beast bellowed as it finished growing its ice bones back into place. It flew at her again with a speed that bordered on not even medium for Rainbow Dash but was still enough to overtake her with the condition she was in.

Dash beat her wings as hard as she could towards the blue and white ice of the glacier while all the while she could hear the telltale whistling in the air of the monster getting closer to her. It would be close. Her eyes were drilled onto a dark crevasse near the front of the glacier that spread inwards quite a ways before closing back up. Was it just a small hole or would there be more cracks for her to travel through in there? She didn’t know but she sorely hoped it was the latter.

The opening to the crevasse was just wide enough for her to squeeze through it as well, she’d have to angle herself perfectly so she didn’t accidentally clip her wings or hooves.

Piece of cake for Equestria’s best flier.

Despite the situation and painful shape she was in, Rainbow Dash grinned and shot towards the crevasse with full confidence. At the same time she could practically feel the icy cold talons of the monster reaching out to grab her. But like a torpedo she folded her wings to her sides and dove right into the crevasse, an instant later hearing the ice gargoyle crashing into the surface of the glacier and roaring for her.

Rainbow Dash turned around in the narrow crevasse (and was barely able to do that without her wings hitting the walls of ice) to see the monster glaring at her and trying to squeeze in after her.

“Heh, what’s the matter? Can’t catch me?” She taunted it.

“KRRRAAAAWOOHHHH!” The monster shoved a claw down into the crevice trying to grab her or tear her to pieces but Rainbow Dash just moved down slightly and blew a raspberry at it. It scraped and scraped along the ice walls of the glacier but they wouldn’t yield one bit for it to continue its pursuit. The gargoyle stuck its skull into the crevice and tried to wriggle its shoulders through as well but the thing was just too bulky. Finally it gave up and stalked above the crevasse, never fully taking its vision off Rainbow Dash.

She sighed in relief and looked around the crevasse. It seemed to fall all the way to the bottom of the glacier, where she could see nothing but shadows, and extended a bit further into the core of the glacier before taking a jagged turn. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure where that turn would take her or how far she’d be able to go down here at all, but it was the only path for her to take with that thing up there hunting her.

The Ice Sentinel IV

Her leg had stopped bleeding so profusely but it still dripped a few drops from the cuts onto the ice below every now and then. Rainbow Dash had gotten good at ignoring it at least. After flying through the crevasse for a while she came to a part where the ice closed up overhead and the bottom rose up and up until she was flying through little more than a pony-sized tunnel carved into the heart of the glacier. The ice monster had followed her, watching and occasionally growling with its cracking noises, for as long as it could until Rainbow Dash disappeared under the ice. Even then she could hear and see it through the ice above her for awhile, poking and stabbing at the surface of the glacier in an attempt to get to Rainbow Dash. But that had been almost half an hour ago, now the ice was too thick on top to see through and she had no idea where her pursuer was now or if it was still looking for her or had given up the chase.

Rainbow Dash frowned and dropped down onto the ice floor of the tunnel to start walking instead of flying. She didn’t really want to but felt she should probably conserve as much energy and strength in her worn wings as possible. The one positive spot in this affair was that the unnatural cold and numbing sensation that had been growing in her hooves and legs had abated. Hitting that ice monster was what first caused it and it seemed like now that she had gotten some time away from it and hadn’t hit it anymore that her body was returning to normal. She was still tired and her leg hurt a bit but she wasn’t feeling as drained as she was when she was still dueling with that thing in the air.

It was still cold in here, of course, but it was a normal type of cold that Rainbow Dash could easily deal with. What was also good was how… bright in here it was. Maybe it was how the light was constantly refracted throughout the ice but Rainbow Dash had no problem seeing in here. She might as well have been right out in the sun or walking through a brightly lit hallway.

Drip

A droplet of blood fell onto the ice that Rainbow Dash did her best to ignore. The light in here didn’t change the fact that she had no idea where she was even going or if there was another way out of this ice cave in the first place. It had gone alright for her so far though so she might as well keep going, if anything it had been a decent reprieve from the monster. She was worried if she stopped for too long and tried to rest in here her fur and feathers might get stuck to the ice though. That would be pretty annoying.

She didn’t feel sleepy though. It was still too early in the day and the aerial duel with the ice monster had her too on edge for a nap. She wasn’t sure how easy she’d be able to tell time down inside this glacier but she expected it would get dark fairly soon. Then she actually would have to be careful, the wrong step could send her tumbling down another crevasse too narrow for her to fly in or she could twist an ankle on the uneven ground or cut herself on an icicle. And she really didn’t need anything like that happening to her with everything else she had gone through at the talons of that monster.

Rainbow Dash was avoiding thinking about the fact she had technically just lost a fight and had to run away, even if it was just temporary. That was definitely not something she had just done. And it wasn’t running away, it was a retreat! A tactical decision! She just needed to work on some way to beat that monster without just hitting it like normal. It had to have some kind of weakness. She already knew she was way faster than it if she was in top form and could easily dodge all of its attacks, that wasn’t a problem. But it didn’t seem to get tired and no damage she did to it lasted while at the same time punching it took more energy from her. So what did she do? Ugh! Where’s Twilight to figure stuff out when she needs her? She could still easily fly away, fly so fast to create enough distance where this thing would lose her… but she couldn’t. She had to actually beat this thing. If for nothing else than for her pride. She had made the decision to come up here, to go on an adventure in the True North, she had to win.

There probably wouldn’t be anymore fighting for the rest of the day though. Not with that thing being unable to get in here and her wanting to rest first before going out to face it again.

She lazily dragged her feathers along the ice walls of her tunnel as she walked and then remembering something looked back at her tail and frowned. Shorn slightly short by that thing’s razor tail. Rainbow Dash hated having her mane and tail cut or styled in any way, it’s why she always refused Rarity’s offers to “fix” it. The way she saw it you couldn’t fix perfection and her natural style was perfect. Perfectly awesome. So now she had just one more thing to be angry at that dumb ice monster for.

“Tch,” Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue and swished her tail over her right back leg to try and clean up some of the blood.

Her hooves clacked on the ice as she ground her teeth in frustration. This glacier was big and if this tunnel twisted and turned enough she could easily be walking for miles inside it. Which means she could also end up backtracking for miles through it if there wasn’t another exit from the dumb crevasse/tunnel system. But there had to be, right?

As Rainbow Dash was thinking that she ended up coming to a split in the tunnels for the very first time. One went right and the other went left, both of them looked identical from what she could see, just more ice in both directions, so at a glance she wasn’t sure which of them she should take. She lifted up her front hoof and licked it, putting it in the air between the two tunnels to see which direction the air was flowing.

She couldn’t feel a difference either way, so either the air was stalled or it flowed both ways equally. Whichever tunnel she took was just as likely to take her to an exit, it was just a coin flip.

“Whatever!” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and went left.

Her hooves continued to clack over the ice just like before, a steady sound that was starting to get on her nerves if she was being honest. With the echo in here and the lack of other sounds that steady staccato practically drowned out her own thoughts. It just kept going and going too as she traveled down this left tunnel. What direction was she even going in at the moment? It was probably west but if the first tunnel curved at all she wasn’t totally sure and she obviously couldn’t check the sky and sun to reorient herself.

None of that really mattered until she got out of the glacier but she didn’t like the idea of not knowing exactly where she was headed. When she was flying out free in the sky, Rainbow Dash could always do or check a number of things so she always knew where she was going. And most of the time she could just naturally feel what direction she was flying in. But walking through this glacier was different.

She continued going through that tunnel for what felt like, and very well could have been, hours until she noticed that the tunnel started to widen up a bit. Before it was barely tall enough for her to walk upright in or wide enough for her to extend her wings a bit but slowly over time it had doubled in size compared to what it had been. Some more breathing room was pretty nice, she wouldn’t complain. It kept getting wider too, and brighter the further she looked down the tunnel. Was this an exit or something else?

Rainbow Dash picked up the pace, getting into a slight trot, as she went to see what was at the end of the tunnel.

The tunnel finally opened up even wider into a full on ice cavern tucked away in the glacier, Rainbow Dash stepped into it and looked around at the house-sized cave where huge icicles hung from directly overhead and several pillars of ice rose from floor to ceiling. There were a number of other tunnels leading away from this new cavern, showing Rainbow Dash that this entire glacier likely had a huge tunnel system going through it. The ceiling of this room was higher than Rainbow Dash had expected, she must’ve been lower in the glacier than she thought or this section was just raised on top. There were also a bunch of rocks frozen right into the ice here, some of them completely buried that Rainbow Dash could see through the ice and some of them halfway out.

The greater brightness clearly had come from how more light could easily shine down into this cavern from the top of the glacier. But even as Rainbow Dash thought that things started to get darker. She looked up and saw the light steadily diminishing, it was getting closer to evening. She bit her lip, she really would’ve liked to have found a way out first but if it was getting dark it might be better to rest in here for the night. At least she had found this cavern first.

Rainbow Dash floated on over to one of the rocks half stuck in the ice. Circling around like a dog for a second she eventually plopped down on it and rested her chin on her hooves. Cold, hard, and very uncomfortable, but it was a better bed and place to sleep than just lying right on the ice. Her weariness would win out shortly despite the early hour and soon Rainbow Dash drifted off to sleep in the middle of her glacier.

Up above on the surface of the glacier the ice monster repeatedly pounded and scratched on the ice, trying to find and reach Rainbow Dash. No matter where the monster looked it couldn’t find any crevasse or hole that it could fit into and had resorted to doing this ever since. Ice scraped against ice as it broke chunks away and gouged tiny wounds into the glacier, but no more than that. The tunnels below were too deep and the ice of the glacier too thick and strong for the gargoyle to break through and find them or create any paths of its own.

“KRAAAAOWWWW!” With a roar of frustration the monster balled its talons up and slammed them into the ice one last time before flapping its wings and rising into sky.

It flew in circles above the glacier, keeping its “eyes” trained on the ice below for any sign of Rainbow Dash. It could wait for her. It could outlast her. Whenever the pegasus came out of the glacier the ice monster would resume its chase and this time take out its prey for good.

The Ice Sentinel V

Rainbow Dash woke up sore with a crick in her neck after sleeping awkwardly on that uncomfortable rock. She stretched and winced when she turned her head too fast in the wrong way, a painful lance shooting up the muscles in her neck.

“Ugh, just what I needed...”

She blinked her eyes a few times to get accustomed to the warped light in here and to remind herself just where she was. Right. Inside the glacier after running—retreating—from the monster. She had found this cavern and chose to rest inside it for the night instead of taking the possibility of getting lost randomly in the tunnels while searching for an exit. At least the fact she had woken up without a problem meant that the ice monster hadn’t found her.

But now there was a new problem that she hadn’t thought about when she first came into this cavern. Namely that there were a bunch more tunnels leading out of it and she had to choose just one to go in. Each one was just another possibility that she might get more and more lost in here, she could end up going to the center of the glacier or the bottom of it and never find her way out. There probably wasn’t anything to eat in here either.

Plenty to drink though… Rainbow Dash thought as she jumped up and kicked off the tip of an icicle hanging above her before flipping it into her mouth, crunching down and chewing on her improvised ice cube.

Aside from a little soreness in places, Rainbow Dash was feeling pretty good. And that soreness would pass naturally after she walked around for a bit. She still needed to figure out which tunnel to head out though. Looking at the one she had initially came from there was another on the wall of the cavern adjacent to it, why not just stick to what was closest? If it came down to it she’d just have to return to this big room and search another tunnel. Just like she had planned to do with that first branching off that had led her here if it didn’t go anywhere.

Rainbow Dash used the greater area in this cavern to first test out her wings, gliding around low and close to the icy floor to make sure she was just as maneuverable as normal and nothing hurt after yesterday. Satisfied, she touched down and checked her back leg where the monster had slashed her.

“Eugh,” she stuck out her tongue. The wounds were closed up but it still wasn’t exactly a pretty sight. She would need to find some running water somewhere before she could clean it up all the way. Or make it rain with a cloud once she got out of here.

Rainbow Dash stretched her whole body like a cat and took her first steps into the second tunnel leading out of this cavern. It was just as narrow as the other one which meant she had to keep her wings closed and could maybe jump a little without hitting her head. The morning light easily shined through the ice and kept the glacial pathway just as well lit as when she had been walking yesterday. It wasn’t that cold either; or perhaps it was and her body had already completely adjusted to it. Maybe if you transplanted Fluttershy here right now she’d be shivering and freezing solid. Her hooves on the ice brought that familiar clackity clack back to her ears. Constantly. It made her annoyed enough to furrow her brow instantly and try to ignore it, not like that did much.

Occasionally she would glance at the walls of ice around her and spy more rocks frozen within them. She hadn’t noticed that the previous day. Perhaps this area of the glacier had a bunch of rocks in it for some reason and the others didn’t. How were glaciers formed anyways? Was it like, a lake that just got really cold at one point and never unfroze. No, that didn’t make any sense. Rainbow Dash was a weather pony not a climate pony or whatever studied or learned about this kind of stuff. All she knew was that there weren’t any glaciers around Ponyville and no one wanted one there either.

Rainbow Dash chipped off another piece of ice from the walls and sucked on it for some water. She hadn’t eaten much lately so it was all she could do.

That was another thing though if the monster kept hounding her; she might not be at 100 percent to fight it with an empty stomach. So she either needed to find food fast or beat that thing fast before the hunger pains came to her. Hunger would be just as debilitating as exhaustion and whatever the magical numbing effect the monster created in her when she touched it was.

“This is so dumb, I’m not the one who’s supposed to figure this kind of stuff out! I’m the one who flies in and beats bad ponies up,” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she thought about her problems with the ice monster pursuing her. “I wonder if I could just yell out for Discord and have him take care of it… ugh, no way. I’d never live that down. He’d never let me live it down.”

Discord was a “friend” she hadn’t thought about on the journey yet. Did he have her back? It was impossible to know for her and she didn’t really want to find out. He was probably busy with Fluttershy right now anyways, drinking tea or some other girly boring thing she liked to do. Not that she was insulting Fluttershy! It’s just that her and Rainbow Dash’s interests didn’t really match up. Fluttershy liked things quiet and calm and with lots of animals around her. Rainbow Dash was the exact opposite, something they had known since they were fillies. She had still never really gotten along too well with most of Fluttershy’s pets… especially Angel, bleh.

What if Fluttershy ever went on an adventure like this? That was almost too crazy to think.

Rainbow Dash smiled at the thought of her pink and yellow friend, she always had a calming effect on her and it made her walk through the glacier a little easier.

She wasn’t sure what time of day it was at the moment though. She was fairly certain she slept early so she probably woke up pretty early too. It looked bright enough to be the middle of the day but the distorting effect that the ice had on the sunlight might make it seem brighter or darker than it really was on the outside. Rainbow Dash figured it was still early morning, giving her a lot of time to search through the glacier today.

This time it wasn’t long until she came to another place where the tunnel she was walking through branched off, although there was more to it than just splitting into right and left tunnels now. Rainbow Dash stood at a crossroads where three paths through the ice were before her, directly in front of her the tunnel kept going into what looked like a small, circular chamber, while to the sides of that two more tunnels went off diagonally. Frowning, Dash stepped forward to check them all out at first. The two diagonal tunnels looked like all the rest but the room in front of her where the path stopped was a little different. It was a small and darker lit chamber with a slope leading down into it, Rainbow Dash opened her wings slightly and floated to the floor of the chamber to check it out.

There were a few alcoves in the chamber she couldn’t see from outside, but they didn’t look natural, the rough edges and claw marks around them looked like something had dug them out in the walls of the chamber and filled them… up… with… bones.

Rainbow Dash gulped as she saw the piles and piles of animal bones that had been stored in the alcoves of this small room. “Probably isn’t good to be in this place...”

It couldn’t have been the ice monster, she thought. It couldn’t fit through these tunnels and why would it do something like this in the first place? There must have been some other animal in here, something carnivorous that used this chamber as its feeding grounds.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t scared of anything like that, she was more than capable of fending off any normal wild animal or beast, just like she did back in Ponyville with stuff from the Everfree. But she didn’t want to potentially exhaust herself when she knew what was waiting for her outside this glacier. And the narrow tunnels in here took away her greatest advantage in a fight of being able to just easily fly around and dodge her opponent. Rainbow Dash decided to step out of the chamber and choose one of the other tunnels to go down.

Her ears shot up as a familiar clacking sound was faintly heard coming from the left tunnel. The sound of something walking over the ice of these glacier paths, coming towards her and this bone chamber. The steady click of claws on ice grew louder as she stood there, wondering if whatever it was could smell her already or would hear her if she started moving.

“Forget it,” she silently said under breath and started walking down the right tunnel. Whatever it was and whether it would care about her or not was irrelevant, it just meant that she already had the decision of which tunnel to take made for her.

She did decide to quicken her pace a little as she walked in the opposite direction of whatever the thing that shared these ice tunnels with her was though.

As the sound of her hooves thumping on the ice filled her ears again she tried to keep one of them open for hearing if that other thing was coming after her. She thought she heard something else mixed in there so she paused, looking over her shoulder to see the empty crossroads. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. Everything had gone silent and it didn’t look like she was being chased yet so she resumed walking… but as soon as she did she heard that extra clicking in there echoing around with her own hoofsteps.

Rainbow Dash came to a halt again, abruptly, and listened. She heard the faintest couple of clicks against the ice floor before they stopped too and didn’t start up again while she stood there in her tunnel like a statue.

“Great, just what I need,” Rainbow Dash said to herself.

It was walking in step with her.

So now she was being hunted by some random animal inside this glacier too? She needed to leave even quicker than she thought. This tunnel was too narrow to fly through but she had enough confidence in her legs that she could outrun anything chasing her if she had to. She quickened her pace again and renewed her search for an exit to this glacier.

The tunnel went on and on and Rainbow Dash heard the extra noise from her new pursuer’s claws mixed in with her own steps the entire time. She didn’t look back anymore, knowing that if the thing was actually close enough to pose a danger she would be sure. Instead she kept her focus entirely on getting out of here. This tunnel curved and turned a lot more on its own than most of the others she had been through, she couldn’t see how far it went or where it might end before opening up into another chamber or branching off into more tunnels. It was getting aggravating not knowing where she was or where she was going and her wings were becoming restless. She wanted to fly, she wanted to see the sky, to stop feeling claustrophobic and stop being chased. She sincerely hoped she hadn’t taken the wrong set of tunnels way back.

On one last turn she looked ahead to see a light at the end of the tunnel. An exit? It had to be. There was nothing else that could explain light pouring in like that.

Rainbow Dash grinned and started running. Forget what was chasing her, she was about to get out of here!

The Ice Sentinel VI

The tunnel she was in got even narrower the closer she got to the light and exit at the end, so much so that she had to start squeezing her body through. It turned into practically just a crack on the side of the glacier but Rainbow Dash was hardly giving up her escape route just because it was a little cramped on the way out. She reached her hooves out to either side of the crack and pulled her head through.

“Fwah!” She panted in relief, stuck halfway out of the glacier.

She looked down, seeing the glacier drop another perfectly vertical 50 feet before it hit the ground, while looking up she noticed she was maybe only ten feet from the surface of it. Rainbow Dash wiggled her shoulders and wings out of the crevasse, extending her wings and already flapping them so she could keep herself from falling the moment she crawled out all the way. Finally she snapped out of the hole in the glacier and then instantly pressed herself flat back against the cliff, trying to blend in with the ice and make as little movement as possible in case the ice monster was watching overhead for any sign of movement.

Her heart was beating harder than she wanted to admit but she was still cool enough to realize nothing was coming for her just yet. With her calmed down nerves she took a more detailed look around to figure out where she was.

She was definitely on the north side of the glacier. There wasn’t any forested valley down below her, she was looking out at the other side where the mountain range kept extending to the north. The ground beneath her was nothing more than a series of crags and boulders that lied on the sloping hills between the mountains. The next closest mountain to her was dead ahead, it was squat and instead of a single peak the top was all torn apart and there were multiple jagged summits and ridges all creating a mess of a mountain. But because of that it may be a good place to hide. She could already see tons of rock formations and passages all over that mountain that would be difficult or impossible to see from the sky. Rainbow Dash could probably look for food on that mountain while avoiding the ice monster at the same time. The next mountain was nearly its exact opposite, sitting slightly to the northwest it was tall and thin, probably the tallest mountain in this small range. The peak nearly reached the clouds.

Clouds? It was perfectly clear yesterday but now there were dark storm clouds gathering in the sky, mostly coming in from the northwest it seemed. Not over the glacier yet but they’ll probably cover the whole range with enough time. That actually might be good too, she could probably lose the thing by flying through the clouds if it came down to that.

And speaking of the monster she finally tilted her head up to scan the skies directly overhead. She didn’t see it just yet but that didn’t mean it wasn’t up there or perched somewhere out of sight. It might have given up on her but she wasn’t going to take that bet. Either way there was no coverage for her until she actually got to that next mountain, she’d have to risk flying to it quickly and hope she wasn’t spotted. But for all she knew the monster was standing on top of the glacier still trying to find a way to break into the tunnels… if Rainbow Dash flew lower and close to the ground it would probably be the safest.

“Nothing to do but to do it,” she checked the sky one last time to make sure the thing wasn’t right above her and detached from the face of the glacier, letting herself glide down a ways before coming up sharply and flying just barely over the boulders and floor of the small valley between the glacier and the rocky mountain in front of her.

She mostly glided. Only occasionally flapping her wings when needed to fly as quietly and stealthily to the next mountain as possible.

She didn’t hear anything coming after her nor the telltale whistling of something being thrown through the air at her. So far so good. Within a minute she reached the split apart and broken foot of the mountain and ducked behind a boulder, eyes barely peaking out to look for her assailant but seeing nothing. The pegasus quickly zoomed to another boulder, and then another, never staying in plain sight for long. Like this she could slowly make her way up and around the mountain while she looked for food and a safe place to hide. There was a narrow and steep crack in the rock of the mountain that led up it, the walls high enough where unless something was directly overhead it would be impossible to see Rainbow Dash walking through it. She wasn’t exactly thrilled to be walking through a rock version of the ice crevasses and tunnels she had just been through but at least she was already used to it.

Pebbles and dirt shifted loose under her hooves the more she walked, grumbling under her breath to herself. Rainbow Dash had already proven she could walk up mountains and stuff so she didn’t really like having to bother with this again.

When she got out of that crag she took another stealthy look around at the sky and seeing that it was still empty walked out onto a level part of the mountain covered in dirt with some trees and bushes around as well as a dark cave that went into the side of the mountain.

What kind of bushes those were were quite familiar to Rainbow Dash. The same tasty looking and sweet smelling red berries from the valley covered them. Rainbow Dash licked her lips and walked over, this was exactly what she was looking for and these ones weren’t even covered in frost. Perfect! She ate a ton right off the bush and grabbed some more to hold in her wings for now so she could snack later today if she didn’t find anything else.

“Ahh, that hit the spot,” Rainbow Dash sighed with pleasure.

The pegasus then walked over to the cave and stood slightly inside it, hiding herself while watching the skies. Clouds were moving to cover the mountains just like she expected but the sun was still out so it was mostly bright and not very cold yet. She needed to get up the rest of this mountain so she had a vantage point to see around the range and that meant she couldn’t just hide out in this cave for too long. She definitely wanted to get up there while it was still more or less bright out.

Not having much else to do here, Rainbow Dash was about to leave the cave-

“Grrr...”

The deep growl came from inside the cave and Rainbow Dash paused to look behind her. She hadn’t realized this cave had another occupant. But slowly from the darkness a shimmering blue beast began to emerge, larger than any normal bear and with a magical fur of stars and constellations the Ursa Minor stalked towards her on its massive paws.

“Oh. Hey. So I guess this is your cave?” She somewhat nervously asked the large creature.

The Ursa Minor shook with anger at its territory being invaded, barring its huge fangs for Rainbow Dash to see and rearing up on its hind legs. It opened its jaws wide and sucked in a large breath of air.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and she brought a hoof up to her lips. “No! Shh, shh!”

But it was no good, the Ursa Minor let out a bellowing roar that shook the walls of the cave and echoed out over the entire mountain and then some. Birds scattered into the air and lesser predators ran away in fear while rocks and snow threatened to fall down the mountain from the force of that roar. Rainbow Dash covered her ears and winced from the loud noise until finally the Ursa ran out of breath and went back down to all fours, glaring at Rainbow Dash.

To her credit, she glared right back at it. “Thanks a lot.”

The ice monster was atop the glacier once more, inspecting every bit of it for some kind of weakness or trying to stare down through the ice to find the pegasus it had been chasing after. It had grown tired of not seeing her emerge from the glacier and had gone back to hunting her more aggressively instead of trying to wait her out. But this hadn’t borne fruit for it either. The gargoyle balled up its talons and slammed them into the surface of the glacier over and over, partly trying to get in and partly just out of frustration. Cracks spiderwebbed all across the ice but it was still no closer to finding its prey than before. With a final screeching cry it slashed large cuts into the ice and took off into the sky. The gargoyle’s tail whipped about behind it as it tried to figure out where to go and look next. Whatever this monster truly was it had absolutely no intention of just giving up on finding Rainbow Dash.

“ROOOOAAARRR!”

The monster paused in its flight, looking over with its glowing eyes towards the broken mountain. Whether it truly had any capacity to think inside that icy skull was irrelevant. That roar was unusual and it triggered the ice monster to go investigate.

While it flew over the edge of the glacier to the source of that roar something else caught its attention and it swung back around and landed right on the northern face of the glacier, digging its claws in for purchase and inspecting a small crack that led into a deep tunnel. The ice monster looked the crack over, narrow but still just big enough that a pony could slip through it. And there were scuff marks along its edges. Tiny marks and pieces of ice freshly broken off the glacier by something that had just scrambled out of this hole only earlier today…

“KREEEEEEE!” The ice monster let out a screech of its own and jumped from the glacier, its great razor wings flapping hard as it flew to the mountain at full speed.

The Ice Sentinel VII

Circling around the multiple jagged peaks of the mountain, the ice monster looked down for Rainbow Dash. Trying to see any trace of her vibrant form. It hadn’t heard anything since the unusual roar from earlier but it was certain it was on the right trail. The gargoyle settled down on a summit between two of the peaks that overlooked the southern face of the mountain and watched like a hawk for anything. Its talons were clenched and ready for movement, its tail shifted about impatiently, and its wings twitched with barely restrained aggression. Soon it would find its prey again.

Normally Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have a problem with getting away from an Ursa Minor but when she was trying to keep a low profile and not just fly out in the open it was rather difficult. The stupid monster—er, animal, Fluttershy would get mad if she called it a monster, kept chasing her through the trees and bushes on this side of the mountain. The heavy swats from its paws were enough to shake if not outright uproot entire trees or leave deep slash marks from its claws. At least it wasn’t yelling or roaring for her anymore, she really didn’t want that ice monster finding her too. Why was this thing being so persistent anyways? She left its dumb cave and hadn’t done anything else to it, did it see the entire mountain as its territory? Ugh!

“Dude, can you just lay off!” Rainbow Dash yelled back at the Ursa Minor as she ran through the forest.

A growl was her only response as it muscled past two thick trees, breaking huge chunks of bark off when its strong shoulders scraped by. The ground wasn’t as snowy as it probably was yesterday so Rainbow Dash could easily still run through it but that still didn’t change the fact she wasn’t making any progress. That thing was too big for her to just kick and, again, Fluttershy would probably get mad at her if she did that. She glanced up at the sky quickly but to her relief she actually couldn’t see too much thanks to the thick tree coverage. And if things were that obfuscated for her it would be the same for anything flying above this mountain forest.

Rainbow Dash needed to find somewhere she could lose the bear creature or somewhere she could hide real quick. All she needed was for it to finally give up chasing her just for a little bit and then she could relax, get some more food, and plan her next fight against the ice monster.

Easier said than done. She thought.

The pony decided she could use a little more speed and opened her wings, picking up her hooves and flying parallel to and practically just an inch above the ground. She needed to be careful not to hit any tress but she figured this was better than just running. While she was zooming around she saw a bunch of squirrels and birds fleeing in terror from the Ursa, at least they were lucky enough to not be what the dumb thing wanted.

“You only care because I walked into your cave, huh?” Rainbow Dash said as she looked over her shoulder at the Ursa Minor still charging at her. She clicked her tongue. “Whatever!”

The Ursa angrily smashed one of its huge arms into a tree, splitting the trunk clean in two and sending the whole thing crashing down onto the forest floor. The sound of the wood ripping apart was loud and the heavy trunk hitting the ground shook everything around it. If there was a certain something watching or listening from above it likely would’ve noticed that…

Rainbow Dash gulped and sped her wings up.

The ice monster shifted atop its temporary perch as it heard the sound of the tree crashing to the ground. It looked down at that little forest on the mountainside with intense focus. There was no sign of that rainbow-colored pony but the trees kept shifting and moving around; there was something going on down there. It didn’t bother spreading its wings, it merely jumped and divebombed straight down to the forest so as to get there as quickly as possible. Whatever else was going on on this mountain was irrelevant, it was going to catch its prey.

“KRAAAAOOOWWWW!” The monster screeched as it dove to the forest.

Rainbow Dash was currently hiding behind a felled tree, hoping the Ursa Minor wouldn’t find her. She had managed to temporarily lose the bear and was now doing her best to make sure it didn’t find her again. That meant being still and quiet. Something that was not her forte. She could peak above the trunk and see the Ursa searching for her, looking behind trees, smacking bushes to shake out anything hiding inside, its nose flaring as it tried to smell her and drool dripping from its mouth.

Just give up already! Rainbow Dash frowned.

She didn’t need to wait much longer for that to happen… although it was for all the wrong reasons.

The ear-splitting screech from the ice gargoyle penetrated the entire forest. Rainbow Dash winced and pressed her hooves over her ears, hunkering down to stay out of sight as much as possible. The Ursa Minor had an even more frightened reaction. As the leaves shook and fell to the snow dusted ground all around it the huge bear creature whimpered and tucked its tail between its legs, running off back up to where its cave was. That blue and constellation-laden fur ball retreated and ran away like an Ursa Major was in town.

A second later something crashed into the forest floor through the trees, throwing up clouds of dirt and snow and cratering the ground where it landed. Only one thing that could be.

Crud. Rainbow Dash didn’t bother to look and make sure, knowing it would just give away her position.

The monster was on the ground above her so she would need to get past it somehow to keep going up and around the mountain. That would be difficult though. This thing obviously had sharp eyes and they were clearly only interested in her. Attempting to go down the mountain and maybe hiding among the boulders and crags was too difficult, it would be too easy for her to get spotted and she wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on the monster with it having the high ground. She needed to sneak past it here in this forest and get somewhere higher on the mountain.

She could try hiding behind trees and circling around it but it might see her each time she darted out to another one. A few thumps from where she heard it land told her that the monster had started moving around and looking for her. She heard the sounds of shifting and grinding ice as it moved its body and flexed its wings. The sharp talons of the monster dug through the snow and dirt while it looked for any trace of Rainbow Dash, tail whipping around like an angry cat behind it. What other animals were still in the forest that hadn’t fled at the rampage of the Ursa Minor were now regretting their decision even more with the ice monster here. Rainbow Dash could see a shaking white rabbit not far from where she was. At least it had the benefit of blending in with the snow though.

The steady steps of the ice monster were getting closer to her position, she couldn’t think that it wouldn’t find her if she didn’t move.

What can I do? She could feel her heart beating in her chest.

Looking around for anything that could help she saw a rock sticking halfway out of the snow beside her. Rainbow Dash grabbed it and lifted it up in her hooves, scrunching up her nose at the rock. This was a pretty big risk too but it was the best idea she had. Without exhaling she heaved the rock towards some bushes down and away from her hiding position. If she was unlucky the ice monster may have seen where the rock was thrown from but if she was lucky it wouldn’t have been looking over at her spot right that second.

The rock fell into the bushes, creating a rustling sound and a couple of clunks as it bounced around the branches and hit the ground. Instantly the ice monster jumped over to that bush, right over the tree Rainbow Dash was hiding behind. It thundered down to the ground and shoved its icy claws into the bush, rending it apart and sending a family of squirrels fleeing in terror. The razor sharp claws absolutely tore the bush and ground around it to pieces while Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to scramble over her fallen tree and jet to another one still standing up, pressing herself right against it and making sure nothing was poking out.

Rainbow Dash could still hear the frustrated monster destroying that bush and everything around it so she dared to look around the trunk of the tree to see what it would do next.

It was pounding its talons into the ground in frustration as it finally realized Rainbow Dash wasn’t there. She watched it as it looked further down through the forest, trying to find a sign or trace of her instead of fruitlessly wasting time. Rainbow Dash watched to make sure it didn’t turn around and come back up her way. It looked like it didn’t know what to do now, if it should go back to flying or keep looking through the forest…

Suddenly the sound of fluttering wings reached both the pony and the ice gargoyle and they looked up to see a blue bird flying from one of the trees. The spiked skull of the monster followed it for a while until it grew tired, the icy bones of it shivering and groaning as it banged its talons down one more time and started walking away from Rainbow Dash.

Lucky… Rainbow Dash wiped away the sweat she would never admit to having shed and stealthily went to the next tree, still being careful to not accidentally step on any twigs or be out in the open for too long.

Every time she glanced back the ice monster was getting further and further away from her. If she could just get a little higher up on this mountain or maybe to the peaks she could hide among the rocks, find a nice ravine or something, and actually plan out her next move instead of having to constantly worry or do something else. She knew time wasn’t exactly on her side right now though, it was clear that thing was not giving up on her no matter what and eventually it would start flying around again and try to look for her from the sky when it eventually realized she wasn’t anywhere lower on the mountain.

Rainbow Dash eventually got out of the forest and hit another rocky part of the mountain she had originally just ran past when she was being chased by the Ursa Minor. It looked like the ice monster hadn’t left the forest yet but she still didn’t want to chance flying around. She’d walk along the mountain trails and ridges that she could until she reached the other side, then fly to the peak. Luckily for her yet again there was a huge split in the mountainside where she was that she could easily walk through and be totally invisible to anything outside of it.

She sighed anyways, being tired of walking, and headed towards it. It angled up a bit as she walked over the broken apart rocks and narrow steps on her way to the western face of the mountain. Looking up briefly she saw the clouds overhead expanding further and further around the mountain range, they had started rumbling too. The dark clouds that had just been around that taller peak only a little earlier today were going to be bringing a full on storm very soon. Not something she wanted to be caught inside of on an already cold mountain with that monster chasing her.

Rainbow Dash reached the top of the broken crevice she was crawling through and hopped out of it onto a narrow ledge that overlooked a sheer vertical drop that went the rest of the way down this side of the mountain. She resisted the urge to kick a pebble down the cliff and turned to see something sticking out of the rockface just in front of her. Something she never expected to see here.

Her jaw dropped at the apple tree growing haphazardly out of what looked like nothing more than stones. It was a spindly and twisted tree but the red apples hanging from it looked fresh and healthy. They dangled over the cliff, creating a tantalizing but dangerous treasure to anyone who didn’t have wings or magic. Fortunately Rainbow Dash did have wings. Although even if she didn’t she was more than enough of a daredevil to attempt to get one of them anyways.

She floated right up to one of the apples and yanked it off the branch, immediately sinking her teeth into it before even setting back down.

It was just what she needed.

“Thanks, Applejack.” The pegasus said as she chewed on the delicious fruit. It was so filling and rewarding compared to just some small berries. She could feel the vim and vigor returning to her body just after a few swallows of wonderful apple. Eating it all down to the core she put her hooves back down on the ledge and smirked. “Alright. I’m gonna be ready next time.”

The Ice Sentinel VIII

The top of the mountain was a mess of rocks that teetered on the point of collapse, pillars and archways that created a labyrinth of the summit, and thin but sharp peaks that did their best to shoot up straight at the sky as if in defiance of the fact that they were atop such a mere and unimpressive mountain even compared to the other relatively small piles of rock around them.

Rainbow Dash surveyed it all, a place like this would be a good place to fight that ice monster. She had speed and maneuverability on her side that would allow her to effortlessly fly around all these obstacles while her opponent would either get stuck or at the very least lose her for a moment. There were tons of loose rocks she could either throw at or hit the monster with so she wouldn’t fall victim to that numbing and draining sensation she got after hitting it directly so many times earlier. Yeah, she was sure this was where she wanted to fight it. She wasn’t sure how exactly she would beat it but there was nothing else to prepare for. She’d do something.

Running was still absolutely not an option.

The cawing of a bird reached her ears and Rainbow Dash looked over to see a hawk sitting atop a nest on a large rock. It was staring at her, wondering what the rainbow pony that had gotten up here wanted.

“Sorry, dude.” Rainbow Dash apologetically smiled at it. “Things are gonna get crazy up here in a minute.”

She hopped up a snow covered ledge that overlooked the southern face of the mountain. Down below she could see the forest the Ursa Minor and ice monster had chased her through earlier today. Was the monster still in there or had it gone lower on the mountain? Rainbow Dash couldn’t spot it so it was likely being obscured by the trees somewhere.

The pony flicked her left wing and tossed the extra apple she had grabbed from the tree into her hooves, taking a big ol’ bite and savoring the taste. The juices ran down her mouth but that was nothing a quick lick of her tongue couldn’t fix. Finding those apples was a blessing, she may have not been a fanatic about the fruit like her good friend but she still loved apples. Eating them was like a taste of home and it was the first real meal she had had in the True North.

There was a real energy in her body again despite the running and climbing and everything else she had to do since waking up on that cold slab of rock in the middle of a glacier of all things. She couldn’t quite explain it but Rainbow Dash just felt pumped. Ready. Excited. She had been forced to skulk away from that thing for too long and now it was payback time. With some real life and heat running through her body she was going to show that ice monster who was boss. Now atop this mountain she was becoming the predator. It was Rainbow Dash with the high ground, looking for her adversary and preparing to defeat it, not the prey that doesn’t even know what’s happening as the talons close around it. She was looking down on the ice monster and would be the one to start things soon.

Rainbow Dash finished eating her apple and tossed the core off the side of the mountain. Maybe some squirrels would find it and carry the seeds somewhere else or maybe the fallen core would lie undisturbed and grow into another tree taking root right in the side of the mountain. She started walking back and forth on her ledge, kicking some snow away with each step of her hooves, and looked up at the sky. The gray clouds rumbled softly above her. Not storming yet and not full of lightning like the black clouds still gathered around the taller mountain. They offered a place of refuge for her if things didn’t go well again, Rainbow Dash knew her speed and cloud-manipulating skills could allow her to easily lose the ice monster again. Either by creating a temporary cloud house to hide in or just zooming through at top speed while the ice monster lost sight of her.

But she didn’t want to have to do anything like that.

The pony stopped her pacing and put her hooves at the tip of the ledge, looking down the mountain again with her teeth clenched and her brow furrowed. Where was it? Would it hear her? Yes, it definitely would. Rainbow Dash knew her voice would echo throughout the entire valley. The proud rainbow pegasus sucked a deep breath of air into her lungs and cupped her hooves to her mouth and-

“Hey you big stupid flying ice sculpture! I’m up here! Come and get me!” She shouted at the top of her lungs.

It felt like the entire mountain shook with the power of her challenge. The hawk that had been nesting right by angrily took to the sky after being startled and Rainbow Dash could see a number of other birds all across the mountain flying from their perches after she spooked them. She wouldn’t have been surprised if that yell of hers started an avalanche or two elsewhere with all the snow still on some of the mountains. It really was a Rainbow Dash sort of yell, and one she was quite proud of.

Now the only thing left to do was wait and see if that ice monster heard it and came flying to her.

She doubted she would have to wait long. Five seconds? Ten tops. But even a single minuscule second felt like an eternity passing by to her right now. With her muscles tense and more sweat she would continue to deny having rolling off of her in the cold climate of the mountain, Rainbow Dash’s anticipation and adrenaline in her veins was killing her. She couldn’t move. She stood on that ledge like a statue, waiting for the monster to respond first. Her wings twitched. Her eyes narrowed. Had even a second actually gone by? How fast was her heart beating?

In the back of her mind she realized that this truly was the exciting adventure she wanted up here. And she hoped she would be able to experience even more of it.

Where is it? Did it really not hear me? Rainbow Dash wondered as a single drop of sweat rolled from her temple.

“KRAAAAAOOOWWWW!”

“Guess not,” she grinned at the monster’s scream.

From the forest below it immediately shot up past the trees, the white figure zooming towards her and steadily becoming more recognizable as it beat its large wings and threw its talons towards her. The ice monster’s beak was snapping open and closed and the spear-tipped tail was stuck out straight behind it and ready to cut Rainbow Dash down when it got close. As opposed to Rainbow Dash’s eager excitement it was all fury. The only thing it wanted was to destroy its prey. It climbed up the mountain with relatively impressive speed, speed that seemed to gain more and more the closer it actually got to Rainbow Dash. Its glowing eyes could now perfectly make her out at the top of the mountain.

“Well hurry up already, slowpoke!” She shouted down at it again.

The ice monster spasmed and opened its beak wide to bray at her. “KREEEEEE!”

With one of its talons it reached to its back and yanked off one of the thin spikes on its spine, pulling back it launched the spike through the air straight at Rainbow Dash’s head. The sharp whistling of the quickly traveling spike was familiar to her by now and she could’ve dodged it with her eyes closed.

So to show her confidence, she did.

Closing her eyes and with a simple tilt of her head the ice spike went flying right by and Rainbow Dash only grinned harder when she opened them back up to see the monster preparing more spikes to throw.

“Let’s do this,” the blue pegasus said as she unfurled her wings. Prepared to have her rematch with the monster and prove that she was more than ready for the True North. With a single flap she launched herself into the sky, floating above the lip of the mountain while the monster stormed towards her.

The Ice Sentinel IX

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings to keep her altitude steady right above the summit of the mountain, giving her the space she needed and making sure she was ready to fly circles around this dumb monster when it reached her. She didn’t want to be caught standing around and not be able to react in time. Although if she was being honest, Rainbow Dash was pretty sure she was fast enough to be lying down and asleep and still have the quick reactions and reflexes needed to dodge this thing coming at her at the last moment. She was Rainbow Dash after all. And that thing coming up at her probably wasn’t even as fast as an average Wonderbolt. Rainbow Dash just knew it was dangerous and didn’t want to give it any sort of edge. She didn’t need to get another slash across her leg right at the start of the fight or get affected by the cold numbing effect touching it had. Despite her cockiness and taunting she was going to take this monster seriously.

The ice monster was flying with its arms outstretched at her and talons open wide. It wanted to grab her and rip her apart from the very beginning. Well Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to let that happen. The moment the ice monster flew up past the rim of the mountain and into the sky with her, Rainbow Dash flew sideways and easily avoided the talons grasping for her. She flew under the wings of the monster and waited for the striking tail she knew was going to come next. Sure enough the razor tail whipped at her as the ice monster fully passed her by but again Rainbow Dash easily moved out of the way of it.

She lowered herself in the air slightly, floating only a few feet above the ledge she had earlier been standing on while the ice monster turned around and looked back down at her.

“Hey loser, I’m right here! Is it really that hard for you to catch just one pony?” Rainbow Dash spread her forelegs wide, egging the monster on with an annoying grin also plastered on her face.

The monster emitted a grinding noise and pulled two ice spikes from its back, throwing them at Rainbow Dash and then reaching up for more and more. They regrew… or refroze… whatever it should be called, quickly enough for the monster to throw them constantly at Rainbow Dash until it was practically raining icicle spears down on her.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t worried in the slightest though, it was easy for her to dart and snake around them and dodge the barrage completely. She flew fast and low to the ground as they all impaled themselves into the dirt and snow of the top of the mountain, practically turning the summit into a pincushion. Grinning the whole time it was happening she kept a single eye glanced up at the gargoyle to make sure it wasn’t trying anything else without her notice.

It kept throwing icicle after icicle at her as if not accepting that she could easily dodge them all. While it tried to spear Rainbow Dash it ended up creating a trail of dozens of icicles in the ground as the rainbow blur just outran everything. The ice monster finally screeched in frustration at its repeated failures and flew down to the ground itself, attempting to just land on Rainbow Dash and take her out up close and personally.

Naturally she saw that coming and with a sudden jolt of extra speed she pushed away from the monster right as it landed on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and snow. Perhaps that cloud was something it planned to create though as a second later its tail shot from inside it in an attempt to stab Rainbow Dash through the stomach.

But the pegasus was as always far too quick for the monster in her normal state. She ducked under the tail and set down on the ground as the tail recoiled and struck out at her a second and then a third time, with Rainbow Dash dodging them all. Finally the ice monster lunged out of the cloud all at once but Rainbow Dash easily jumped backwards on top of a boulder while its talons came down right where she had just been standing.

“So you’re as slow and clumsy as ever, huh?”

“KRAAAAEEEE!” The monster scrambled atop the boulder while Rainbow Dash just laughed and hopped up a few more, landing on top of a thin rock spire.

The monster’s sharp talons allowed it to easily crawl up the spire itself even without using its wings. When it reached close enough it swiped out at Rainbow Dash, who jumped from the spire with a backflip and kicked a lower point with her back hooves, cracking it and making the whole thing start to break off thanks to the weight of the ice monster on it.

The monster only seemed to realize too late what was happening as the spire broke in two and it fell over backwards, flapping its wings to try and keep itself from falling but failing thanks to its size and the short distance it had. Rainbow Dash watched with satisfaction as it smacked into the first boulder, the ice bones making up its back and spine cracking, and then bounced off to the next before finally hitting the rocky ground, looking like it was close to shattering completely form the repeated impacts.

It didn’t shriek or anything but it kept twitching and emitting breaking and snapping noises while Rainbow Dash hovered above it. With her eagle eyes she could see to her dismay that it hadn’t fallen apart and the cracks in its ice bones were already fixing themselves while the monster tried to stand up on its four shaky limbs.

“Tch,” Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue and zoomed to a coconut sized rock on the ground. She picked it up and with pinpoint accuracy threw it right at the ice monster’s skull.

It shattered a large portion of the avian ice-skull, taking off a number of the spike’s from its mohawk as well and causing the monster to fall over again. Rainbow Dash happily pumped her hoof at the great shot and flew around looking for more rocks to chuck at the monster. Obviously that one hadn’t taken it out for good, she had done similar damage to it the last time they fought and it was just fine in a second. The only difference now was that she wasn’t getting hurt in return.

She quickly flew all over the broken peaks of the mountain, grabbing any rock that looked big enough to do damage and throwing them at the monster. At its body, limbs, skull, wings, anything was as equally breakable. She created a constant hurricane of attacks so her opponent couldn’t recover. It must’ve been about a hundred rocks thrown before she ran out of ones she could just pick up and throw like that.

Breathing only slightly heavily, Rainbow Dash stopped to see what damage she had done to the monster. “Had enough?”

It hadn’t.

Although cracked and broken in many places it was still more or less whole and knitting itself back together just fine. And its glowing eyes were focused dead on her.

“KREEEEOHHHH!” The monster screamed as soon as the last cracks in its ice bones closed up and it flew at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash decided to just let the thing chase her for now. She turned into nothing more than a rainbow blur and led it over boulders, between pillars, under arches, and past piles of rubble. Her small size made it easy for her while the monster’s tunnel vision on her led it to accidentally smash itself into things all the time or even get stuck. Rainbow Dash grinned at it and blew a raspberry when it tried to push itself between two large pillars of rock and instead nearly shattered its own wings on impact. It clawed at her and finally had the sense to just go over the rocks instead of trying to squeeze through.

The clouds continued to roll overhead as the chase went on, Rainbow Dash still had an ocean of energy in her but even that would exhaust itself eventually. That brimming confidence she had hadn’t exactly taken a hit yet but she still didn’t exactly know how she was going to defeat this thing. She glanced down at the healed but still visible cuts on her leg. At least she hadn’t suffered another wound like that or made the mistake of touching the monster directly yet.

Rainbow Dash climbed up one of the many peaks and then dipped down the backside of it just as quickly, ducking under a rock formation at the bottom in the shape of a horseshoe stuck into the ground that the monster would’ve been far too big to fit through. But instead this time it had the sense to completely go around the rocks, something Rainbow Dash wasn’t expecting. While it shot around the side it pulled off an ice spike from its back and launched it at Rainbow Dash. The pony was caught a little by surprise but she still managed to duck her head in surprise and let the icicle fly past her.

“Nice aim!” Rainbow Dash taunted as she looked over her shoulder at the monster and then flew on.

And clotheslined herself on the recently thrown icicle sticking out of a rock.

“Hurk!” She wheezed as she flipped end over end before crashing on the ground and rolling. Totally caught off-guard by the fact that the ice monster had tricked her she almost didn’t react in time to the thing jumping on top of her. “Gah!” Rainbow Dash squeaked as she saw the talons coming down right on top of her and rolled under the body of the monster just in time.

The talons stabbed right where she was and then the ice monster reached under itself, trying to grab her and pull her out while at the same time it stuck its tail up under its body in another attempt to stab Rainbow Dash. The blue pony kept narrowly avoiding the monster each time but this was a rather dangerous situation that she wanted to get out of. When the monster reached under itself to grab her again she kicked its talon away and zoomed out from under it.

But immediately after she already started losing sensation in that hoof…

“Oh come on! One touch and it’s already getting like this?!” Rainbow Dash complained to her own body.

The ice monster roared and flew up to pursue her so Rainbow Dash didn’t have more time to complain. As it chased her around the peaks it threw more icicle spears at Rainbow Dash but this time the pegasus was making sure she saw exactly where they landed too so there wasn’t a repeat of before. That vigilance didn’t change the fact though that Rainbow Dash was unable to do any lasting harm to her adversary while she was now already starting to get weaker thanks to the magical numbing effect it held. She looked around for anything that could help her, maybe she could get it trapped in some of the rocks?

The slash marks on her back leg were starting to ache…

“KRRRAAAAOOOOOWW!”

Rainbow Dash briefly looked over her shoulder to see the ice monster flexing its wings, getting prepared to throw off a storm of razor feathers at her like it had done in their previous fight. With how many it could shoot at once Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure if she could dodge everything in this state.

In her frantic search for something she could use against the monster up here, Rainbow Dash finally saw something. A large boulder sat on the edge of one of the broken peaks. Perilously close to falling over it looked like a simple nudge would be all it took to make it crash on down. If she could hit it or the rock wall it was sitting on at just the right moment and get it to fall on the monster…

Rainbow Dash nodded and flew towards her new destination. From behind her she heard another scream from the ice monster as it threw out the flechette storm of ice feathers at her. She couldn’t change course since she still needed to bait it so she had to do her best to dodge in the miniscule amount of air space she had. So many feathers just came at her like daggers while more whirled around like flying buzzsaws, everything looking to converge on her and turn her into mincemeat. She twisted and turned to avoid as much of it as possible while the monster tried to close the gap and take her down if its feathers couldn’t finish the job.

Ahead of her, Rainbow Dash could see the rock, a single kick right below it would shake it enough and cause it to tip over, she just needed to reach it and hope her timing was right.

With her focus temporarily broken a single errant ice feather pierced into her left wing.

Rainbow Dash winced and faltered in midair, the pain from her wing making flying a little more difficult. If this didn’t work she might not be able to defend herself and evade the monster’s clutches anymore. But she still forced herself to fly to that rock, knowing the ice monster was right behind her and gaining, and kicked the rock it was standing on with all the strength she had in her legs.

As she flew past it she glanced back to see it shaking and the boulder just starting to tip over while the ice monster flew under, right in its path.

Come on… Rainbow Dash bit her lip.

The boulder fell. And as its shadow fell over the ice monster the flying sculpture looked up just in time to realize what was happening before it hit and smashed it right to the ground, pulverizing it on impact and utterly obliterating the monster. It must have shattered into a million pieces as Rainbow Dash watched, the ringing sound of a hundred mirrors shattering all at once filling her ears. That pain didn’t stop the grin on her face whatsoever though. Crushed, broken, buried, the ice monster looked to be totally out of commission.

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash threw her hooves up in victory.

The Ice Sentinel X

After completing her victory pose, Rainbow Dash lowered to the ground and let out a big breath of relief. Which was followed by a sudden twitch and ache from her left wing. The pegasus looked at her appendage to see the ice feather still stuck in it. A painful reminder of how close things had been. She twisted her neck and brought the wing up so she could clamp down on the makeshift dagger with her teeth and yank it out. There was a jolt of pain but nothing she couldn’t handle and Rainbow Dash spit the sharp feather out onto the ground where it shattered like the rest of the monster.

She slowly tucked it back in to her side. Nothing hurt too bad and it didn’t refuse to move or fold up so it looks like the ice feather had only caused some superficial damage. She should probably not strain it too hard and keep to flying slowly or just walking if possible but it didn’t look like she would need to bandage it up or anything. Compared to the slash across her leg last time this didn’t even count as a cut.

Rainbow Dash looked over at the crushed ice monster and all the pieces of it lying around the boulder. “You picked the wrong pony to fight. Hah!”

The pegasus grinned and flew up again slowly, turning away from her defeated adversary and facing the tall mountain that was just a short distance away from this one. It had gotten late in the day and the stormy clouds had completely covered the rest of the range but thankfully they hadn’t started unleashing any lightning or dropping any snow. With luck there wouldn’t be anything like that tonight and she could just rest for a bit. Whatever the case, the tall mountain was her next goal for now. She’d fly to the top of it and get a good view of what else was around and what was just north of the mountain range. It might take a bit for the clouds to clear up but it’s not like she was in a huge hurry anymore.

“See ya dude,” Rainbow Dash gave a mocking salute to the remains of the ice monster and began her flight to the other mountain. “Time to see what else is out here.”

Her flight quickly turned into a glide as she kept from overexerting her wing. Even with the relative shortness of this mountain she had enough height where she could glide on the wind and easily make it to the slopes of the other. That tall mountain was so thin it was almost like a sheer spire of stone more than anything, with snow and ice around the top and its peak touching a group of midnight black clouds. Rainbow Dash doubted there was anywhere to rest or take shelter up there so she’d just make herself a little cloud house and wait for the weather to clear up. There were too many clouds for just one pegasus to clear it all, especially with her wing hurt, so it was better to just rest and let the storm pass naturally.

She looked down at the ground between the two mountains, just a small valley covered with a thin layer of snow. Unlike the small mountain Rainbow Dash had just left the tall one before her didn’t look to have the slightest amount of vegetation on it or around it. She let herself lazily float on the wind towards it, yawning and wishing she could’ve brought a third apple with her. Dash wasn’t exactly hungry but she wanted something sweet and something that could replenish her energy after the fight.

Thankfully the numbing sensation on her one hoof had already disappeared too. She had only struck the monster directly once and had already spent some time away from it. Compared to how she left the first fight she pretty much felt like a million bits. In another day or two she doubted the scars on her leg would be visible and this whole conflict would just be a pleasant—yes, pleasant—memory. This was the first thing she felt like she could really brag about to her friends when she got back. Everything else she had done so far, like climbing Mt. Everhoof and beating Archibald, were still pretty normal and the kinds of things you could of course find in Equestria. But as far as Rainbow Dash knew there was nothing like this monster anywhere south of the border.

And she knew this was hardly the end of her fun. If something like this was right up here at practically the beginning there had to be crazier and cooler and far grander stuff even further north. Stuff that she would uncover and go through and conquer all on her own because that’s the kind of awesome adventure she was looking for!

Rainbow Dash allowed herself to fall to the ground right before the mountain began to slope up. She definitely couldn’t climb it just with her hooves and with no equipment, not all the way, but she could get up some of it and might as well since she should be resting her wing. Her hooves sunk an inch into the snow before stopping, the light covering not hampering her movement one bit. This cold was kind of refreshing since her body was hot after all that movement and the adrenaline forced into her veins. It helped to cool herself down without being unbearably cold. That fight had kind of made her a little thirsty too, Rainbow Dash scooped some of the fresh snow off the ground and drank it, sating her thirst for just a moment.

As she reached the point where the mountain began to sharply rise she looked up. It was difficult to see the high peak from this angle but the storm clouds were still several shades darker around it than in the rest of the sky. With a shrug, she started her climb.

At the summit of the squat mountain the millions of pieces of ice that were shattered by the boulder all converged together. Vibrating and pulling close to freeze back together and reform the ice bones that made up the persistent monster. The boulder tumbled over onto its side to free up the shattered ice below and the spine, spikes, and wings all took shape once more. Bones interlocked and limbs cracked into place, the monster’s skull refroze at the top of the spine as if regenerating from thin air with its spike mohawk returning for the finishing touch.

Its eye-sockets emitted a glow again from deep within and the monster tentatively flexed its wings, talons, and tail. Everything seemed to be in order. Twitching a bit, it flapped its wings to get airborne while its tail swished about underneath and tried to look for Rainbow Dash. It had lost track of her when the boulder fell, where was its prey now? The scraping sounds from its ice bones settling into place intensified with each movement. The monster hovered above the multiple broken peaks atop the mountain and started flying around and looking every direction for the pony that had escaped it.

Finally, as it looked to the tall mountain, its eyes latched onto a bit of rainbow that stuck out like a sore thumb around the dull colors of the snow and rock. There she was.

The gargoyle shivered and twitched, staring hard at that rainbow pony and clenching its talons. No way would it let her escape from its clutches again.

“KRAAAAAAOOOOOWWWW!” The monster screamed and flew to Rainbow Dash at full speed.

The Ice Sentinel XI

As the bellowing roar echoed across the range, Rainbow Dash stood in a crack midway up the slope of the tall mountain. Barely enough room to stand in on the steep slopes but it was possible if she kept her hooves in a straight line and her body pressed up. The noise of course got her attention and she knew exactly what it was even before she looked up to see the ice monster flying towards her again. Rainbow Dash didn’t sigh or anything but she was certainly dismayed to see that it was still coming after her and nothing she did seemed to work. Now she had no ideas on how to stop it.

Rainbow Dash jumped from where she was standing and opened up her wings to fly. She couldn’t just stay on the ground anymore even with her wing being injured.

The logical thing to do might have been to just run away at this point. And she’d be lying if she said the thought didn’t at least cross her mind. But at the same time the way this thing kept coming at her even after she broke it, even after she evaded it for a whole day, showed how determined it was and there was absolutely no way Rainbow Dash was going to let herself be out-determined by some flying ice sculpture. If this thing wasn’t giving up then how could she? It was a challenge. At this point it was something she just couldn’t back down from, her pride wouldn’t allow it.

She had to prove that she could beat this thing for good.

Rainbow Dash looked up to the peak of the mountain and began her ascent. Far faster than the ice monster, she made it to the peak easily. Her left wing only ached slightly, she knew this wouldn’t be good for it in the long run but for now it could take it. She hovered around the icy top of the mountain where the peak became thin enough that she could pretty much wrap herself around it. The very point of the mountain too was so small that she’d need to balance on one hoof if she wanted to stand atop it. No reason for that right now though since all that would happen is she’d be surrounded by dark clouds and unable to see anything.

The ice monster screamed at Rainbow Dash once more as it approached and began ripping spikes from its back to throw at the pegasus. Rainbow Dash did nothing more than click her tongue at the predictable move and easily avoided the first few spears thrown at her. The last one to come at her though she reached out and grabbed as it passed by her body and swung around, throwing it back at the ice monster.

The spear impacted right on the monster’s left shoulder blade, piercing into and cracking it. It screeched in surprise and faltered in the air a bit while Rainbow Dash grinned.

“Maybe you should just stop throwing those slow spears at me?” She shouted at it.

To its credit though the monster wasn’t waylaid for long. It bit down on the ice spike with its beak and tore it free, letting it drop far to the ground below. Rainbow Dash watched in annoyance as the shoulder blade instantly healed up and the monster zoomed towards her. It was right at the mountain so Dash flew around the thin spire and let the gargoyle land right on the peak, talons sinking into the rock for a grip as it crawled around like a cat climbing up a tree to get Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash floated around it with her superior speed and maneuverability, letting it crawl all over the peak and cover it in tiny holes from its talons. The monster still tried to cut her with its wings or stab her with its tail too but Rainbow Dash evaded all of its attacks for now.

The problem was this was all a delaying tactic. She was no closer to defeating it than she had been.

Hitting it with its own spear didn’t do anything either. Rainbow Dash thought and then jumped out of the way of a claw slamming down at her and cracking some of the ice around the peak.

The monster flicked its wing at her and shot off some of its feathers. They curved like boomerangs so she couldn’t just avoid them by hiding behind the thin peak, she had to duck below them and then do her best to avoid the razor tail shooting up the rocks right below that. The ice monster had kept its tail coiled back like a string and when it finally saw Rainbow Dash “vulnerable”, unleashed it like a striking snake.

But Rainbow Dash kicked away from the mountain with her hooves and the tail didn’t even so much as graze her belly fur.

With a cracking scream the monster jumped around the spire and slashed out at Rainbow Dash with a single free talon while the other three anchored it to the rock. The blue pegasus twisted to the side to avoid it and kicked the monsters forearm, no longer caring about the numbing effect since she knew this would be the final fight. It was just a feeling she had.

Of course the cold and numbing feeling was almost instant but Rainbow Dash was pretty sure she could handle it for a bit. She knew it would drain her energy and make her tired faster but she’d just have to force her body to continue on. She was stubborn enough for that. She was stubborn enough to keep fighting this thing for as long as it took. Regardless of how bad things were looking.

Normally she didn’t like to complain about stuff like this but she was a little concerned. A rumbling from the clouds above her seemed to be a sign of how desperate things were. This was the kind of dark and dangerous place that a life or death struggle would take place at, that was for sure. The only thing missing was actual thunder and lightning and rain pouring down on the two of them. Well, it was far too cold for rain. Those clouds would only drop hail or storm unless a pegasus messed with them.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened wide. She dodged a slash from the monster and looked up at the black clouds rolling above the peak.

You don’t fight fire with fire and I couldn’t fight ice with ice. But maybe I can fight ice with water. Rainbow Dash’s wide eyes narrowed.

The monster tried to slash at her again but Rainbow Dash quickly fluttered over its claws and headed for the very top of the mountain. Like the star on top of a Hearthswarming tree she stood on the pointy tip and glared at her adversary. “You coming up here or not?”

“KREEEE!” The monster started scampering up after her.

Rainbow Dash ignored it for the seconds it would take to reach her, instead looking at all the storm clouds around her. They certainly looked ready to erupt and begin raining lightning bolts and hail down on the rest of the mountain range. But Rainbow Dash wanted them to do something else. There was some preparing that she as a pegasus would have to do first though. She was just thankful for all those years of experience on the weather team. Something like what she had planned would be easy.

Right as the monster made it to the tip and slashed at her, Rainbow Dash flew up into the clouds, not caring if the monster was following her or not, and she began to kick a bunch of the dark clouds together and putting her weather-manipulating pegasus magic to good use. She started to create a single big cloud centered right over the peak of the mountain, roiling with barely contained weather energy.

It was then that the ice monster flew up through the cloud and tried to tear her to pieces again now that it could see her after briefly losing vision. Rainbow Dash practically ignored it again, molding her cloud just right as the slower ice monster tried to catch her. She needed her cloud big enough and with enough condensation and water in it. Flying about like a blur in the sky she put more and more pieces of cloud together while completely outrunning her adversary. If it was a normal creature or another pegasus they would’ve gotten monumentally dizzy trying to keep up with her.

Finally Rainbow Dash finished, her cloud now the size of a small house. As the ice monster flew in from above trying to grab her again the pony ducked down into the cloud and flew out the underside right above the tip of the mountain. The gargoyle followed through a second later, eyes searching for her. She flew down a bit around the peak with the monster again landing there and slashing at her as it crawled around on the now pockmarked rock.

This time Rainbow Dash wasn’t just evading things though. When one more slash went wide she flew right inside the monster’s reach, right up to its face, and began rapidly pummeling it with her hooves. The numbing didn’t matter. She was going to be finishing things in a moment. Her punches cracked its skull and made it recoil, giving Rainbow Dash the opening to fly above the peak of the mountain and hover under her cloud as the monster healed.

“Hey!” She shouted down at it.

The ice monster’s skull swiveled about as the cracks fixed themselves and it climbed up the peak at her.

“Bye,” Rainbow Dash grinned and punched the cloud above her, releasing the weather inside.

An absolute monsoon of rain poured from the cloud. A concentrated torrent that made even the rainiest days in Ponyville look like nothing. Instantly Rainbow Dash and the monster were both drenched and Rainbow Dash felt her body begin to freeze up and frost cover her as the altitude combined with the cold climate almost immediately made the water turn to ice the moment it came out of the cloud. But Rainbow Dash’s drop in body temperature and new ornamentation was nothing compared to what happened to the ice monster. As a hot-blooded pony, Rainbow Dash’s body heat temporarily kept her from turning into a popsicle.

The monster had no such protection.

In fact its abnormally cold form made things even worse for it. The water instantly froze the moment it touched the monster and with practically an entire river falling on it it became encased in a thick layer of ice in just seconds. Stuck. As it stood atop the mountain it was like a statue and gargoyle now more than ever, a misshapen lump of ice with icicles hanging off it. One talon outstretched trying to fruitlessly reach her in its last bit of effort.

The rain stopped and Rainbow Dash shivered all over. She as well had ice hanging off her that she’d need to deal with in a moment but for now she’d be okay.

Rainbow Dash floated down to look the ironically frozen ice monster in the eye. “Guess what? Up here, in a place like this, you’re never, ever, going to unfreeze. See ya.” After she said that she watched as the glow from the ice monster’s eyes faintly grew dimmer and dimmer. She smirked and bolted away into the sky, leaving a rainbow trail behind.

Elsewhere in the True North…

A toga wearing pegasus strutted about a room made of clouds. Before him sat a large panoramic window made of ice that had been manipulated by pegasus magic to function just as glass that would normally be used for windows. The pegasus stopped for a second and looked through his spectacles out the window at the city beyond it, buildings and homes all made out of clouds with similarly dressed and some armored pegasi flying around. His mouth twisted up in a smile at the scene and he brought up a yellow hoof to brush back his short, blue and white, mane before walking away from the window and deeper into the room.

It was a large and circular room with a domed ceiling where the center was completely taken up by a number of small pedestals (also made from clouds) that held glowing diamond shaped crystals floating above them. No, upon closer inspection they weren’t crystals at all, they were ice. Glowing shards of ice. There looked to be a set of smaller balls of ice resting around them in a circle right on top of each pedestal as well.

A sudden ringing from one of the ice pieces grabbed the attention of the toga wearing pegasus. He looked up in surprise and ran over to the offending ice shard just in time to watch it shatter and evaporate right in front of his face. The pegasus’ jaw dropped and he backed up in sheer disbelief, eyes wandering all over as he thought about what this meant.

“Sentinel 13 has been destroyed… but how?” The pegasus said barely above a whisper. His lips set in a thin line as his eyes narrowed. “Commander Blizzard must be notified at once!”

And he ran out of the room in haste.

Sick

On a flat tundra well below where Rainbow Dash was flying two armies were doing battle. Well, army might be stretching it a bit. The pegasus could see what looked like huge white wolves on one side and on the other there appeared to be smaller but far more numerous wolves of a more silvery complexion. The two sides faced off against one another for ages before finally a howl rang out across both sides and they charged. It was a vicious battle. Wolves were tossed into the air and thrown to the ground, piles of silver wolves jumped atop the white ones to bring them down and pummel them into submission. The white wolves grabbed the silver ones in their jaws and shook them like they were toys. For whatever reason these two different groups of wolves had to do battle with each other it was a brutal affair.

Rainbow Dash really wished she could’ve flown down there to get a closer look or even join the fray.

But she couldn’t. Because at the moment she was currently going through the worst cold of her life.

It was obviously the result of drenching herself back atop the mountain. The water and cold did a number on her even though she knew she had one of the strongest constitutions of any pony. Despite her being able to handle the cold pretty well even she had limits it seemed. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had gotten sick, much less as badly as this. She had made sure to dry herself off as fast as possible after the fight and remove all the ice but it was too late.

“Achoo!” She sneezed, a trail of snot dribbling from her red nose that she then tried to wipe away with the back of her hoof. Good thing Rarity wasn’t here to see this, she’d faint. Fluttershy too would probably overreact.

Besides her now runny nose Rainbow Dash’s head was pounding and her body was cold and shivering despite the warm sun being out and unobstructed by any clouds. She felt weak, exhausted, thirsty, could barely see straight, her throat was dry, and another sneeze was coming on any second.

“Achoo!”

There it was.

The ground below was now nothing more than a complete melee, lines and formations had disappeared and every silver and white wolf fought like a rabid animal. It was impossible to see which side was winning or if either side could even be said to be winning. Howls and yelps rang up from the tundra with enough frequency to drown out a thunderstorm. It reminded Rainbow Dash of when they had fought the Changelings back in Canterlot, and what an indiscriminate brawl that was. It didn’t seem like any of the wolves were retreating or running away, merely continuing to throw themselves at each other and fight until they had nothing left.

“This is so lame,” Rainbow Dash wheezed. Her voice was nasally and cracked thanks to the cold, she hated the sound of it, it lost all of its vitality and bluster.

She briefly glanced down even though it hurt her head to move it at all and looked through her heavy and red eyes to the battlefield. How she wished she could be involved in a battle like that or a fight of her own. The ice monster didn’t count since she couldn’t even really fight it the way she wanted to. It wasn’t a cool fight. She needed to really get up close and personal with a monster or some other pony and have a real hot-blooded bash. It was such a huge waste being too sick to do anything like that… what she wouldn’t give to fly down there and kick butt and start taking names.

A glob of snot dripped from her nose and fell into the raging horde of wolves below.

Rainbow Dash grimaced and wiped her nose again. “Gross.”

The pegasus flapped her wings lethargically as she flew over the battlefield, in no hurry at the moment. She just didn’t have the energy to go faster anyways and this was the coolest thing she had seen up in the True North so far. Would’ve been cooler if she knew why they were fighting and all that but at least it was something more entertaining than flying over the umpteenth mountain or another featureless plain of snow. This was something different again, something she hadn’t seen yet in the True North and something that would’ve been pretty darn rare down in Equestria and the lands around it. Big fights just didn’t happen in peaceful places.

Er, mostly.

A hazy feeling started filling up her head thanks to the cold and the physical activity she was forcing herself through. Not like she could actually stop now though. Setting down in the middle of that fight or anywhere remotely close to those wolves was probably a really bad idea. Maybe she should’ve just stayed put until the cold had passed and not tried flying at all today? But that would’ve been even lamer. She couldn’t even begin to think about letting this cold, no matter how bad it was, ground her for a whole day. No sickness short of the feather flu would do that to her.

She was probably just making things worse for herself like this but she didn’t care. A doctor would’ve said she needed plenty of bed rest but she would’ve just ignored him too. Rainbow Dash knew what she could handle. And she knew there was still so much more to see and no time to wait, she’d take going slow like this over going nowhere.

“Achoo!” She let out another, much more powerful, sneeze that wracked her entire body. “Ughhh, when’s this dumb cold gonna go away?” She shivered, her brow starting to drip with sweat and her head just being a mess. “Why’s it have to feel like I’m flying through mush?”

Her brain was beginning to turn off thanks to the cold and Rainbow Dash couldn’t tell thanks to her semi-conscious state but she was beginning to drop lower and lower in the sky.

Low enough for any wolves that happened to look up could see her.

The last of the huge white wolves was surrounded, injured, its breath came in heaves. A dozen silver wolves set upon it without hesitation and although the white wolf fought valiantly it was soon overtaken and brought down to the ground. Pummeled and bit into submission, the last silver wolves still standing climbed atop it and howled into the sky. They were victorious. For a given measure of the word what with how much it had cost and how few of them were left standing. The battle had taken a heavy toll on both sides.

Not that Rainbow Dash was even aware enough to tell that the battle was over. Her flight was erratic and her vision shot as the cold left her a complete mess with a head unable to think straight and a body unable to fly straight. It was almost more like a fever in some ways as it left her struggling to maintain a grip on reality and the waking world. Only she was cold instead of hot.

The silver wolves ended up seeing her well before Rainbow Dash realized she had flown within sight of them. Their sharp eyes narrowed and their howls turned into low growls as they watched the blue pegasus float above them, still far too high to jump up and reach. That didn’t stop them from becoming filled with rage at the sight of her. The few silver wolves left barked and ran after the sideways flying pegasus, mouths practically foaming as they wished they could reach her or that she would keep dipping down and land at some point.

“Ohhhh… my head...” Rainbow Dash groaned as the wolves barked at her, not cognizant enough to know just what that ruckus even was at the moment.

Through luck or muscle-memory, Rainbow Dash never fell completely to the ground. She continued to float on at a reasonable level in the sky as her cold worsened thanks to the activity she was forcing herself through while the wolves on the ground below barked and chased after her until she fully left the area of the battlefield.

“Achoo!” She sneezed one last time, not even bothering with wiping away the snot anymore. The rainbow pegasus’ eyes were watery and running even worse than her nose but she still didn’t close them enough to fall asleep.

Four silver wolves stood in the tundra and watched the oddly flying pegasus go away. It was a strange sight to them.

“Did something about that pegasus look a little off to you?” One of the wolves suddenly asked the one standing next to him.

“I think I heard her sneeze. Maybe she was sick?” He answered.

“She did sneeze,” another wolf said. His voice was gravelly and his fur had lost quite a bit of its luster compared to the other three he was standing with, signifying his advanced age. The wolf’s lips settled into a frown before he blew a puff of air out his nose. “She must’ve been out on reconnaissance when she caught a cold. It doesn’t matter. We always knew the pegasi were watching our battles to gauge our strength. Let them do what they will, our clans will face them as fearlessly as always.”

“Of course, War Chief!” The three other wolves said in unison… and then glanced at each other in surprise as if they didn’t expect that to happen.

The War Chief merely rolled his eyes at them and turned away from the shrinking dot of Rainbow Dash. “Come, we need to clean up and tend to our wounded.”

Farther Still

It was cold and dark and Rainbow Dash tossed and turned on the ground. Grumbling in uncertainty and unsure of what was going on, her mind replayed scenes from her recent life like a movie projected on the back of her eyelids. Her hooves pedaled around thin air as she watched herself walking up and up mountains, her jaw tightened and her brow furrowed at the sight of a large yak blocking her way any further. More and more chaos swirled around her, all disappearing in a white blizzard that consumed everything else. Freezing cold unlike what she had been feeling before enveloped her and all she could see was ice falling like rain. Rainbow Dash shivered, trying to fly through the ice on unresponsive wings as something flew down to her. The rainbow pony lashed out at it and-

Woke up as she kicked a rock, reflexively grabbing her leg and wincing.

“Ow… what?” The pegasus groaned as she struggled to open up her heavy eyes.

She didn’t feel like an absolute mess unlike the previous day but her throat was still dry and her head was hurting. What’s more her wings felt sore and they weren’t moving right, like something was on top of them or tying them down. Rainbow Dash finally realized she was on her back, disoriented, and half her body was buried in the snow.

“Ugh, did I sleep on top of my wings?” She asked the air as she managed to open up her eyes and look around.

The pegasus was… somewhere. She rolled over and stood up, faltering only slightly, and looked in front of her. Rainbow Dash was definitely still facing north, her sense of direction good enough to tell her that, but she wasn’t sure about how far she had flown since yesterday or if she had maybe flown a little off-course and gone sideways. The entire previous day’s events were all a blur to her.

As expected it was mostly just a bunch of snow she saw on the landscape in front of her.

She was also atop a decently sized rock that was covered in freshly fallen snow as well, her sick self must have drifted to it last night and she decided to sleep up here. Rainbow Dash saw where she had accidentally kicked part of the rock and reached down to rub her still aching leg again. She also glanced at where she had been slashed by the ice monster a few days ago now, only the faintest of scars were still there and those would be gone in a few more days. Unfortunately her tail still hadn’t grown back to normal either. That still annoyed her.

Rainbow Dash stretched her wings to try and get them back into working order, she’d have to fly a lot to make up for all the lost time. And she’d have to check to make sure she was back to going directly north and not careening off somewhere else. She clicked her tongue and kicked a little bit of snow off the rock. She had just woken up and she could already tell this was going to be a bad day. Everything had just gone wrong lately. What should have been her first awesome fight and challenge up in the True North hadn’t gone as expected… she got sick immediately after and couldn’t even remember what happened yesterday, and now she wakes up in some desolate place all sore so she can’t even make up all the wasted time as quickly as she wanted to.

“Bleh,” she stuck out her tongue and sat down, still wiggling her wings around.

For the briefest of moments she almost felt upset enough to head back south but her mind quashed those feelings. She wasn’t the type to give up so easily. Her immense stubbornness when it came to the ice monster was proof enough of that. It didn’t change the fact though that she was fairly disappointed in the True North at the moment. Archibald was right about the danger and how remote everything was compared to down south but it wasn’t awesome in the way she wanted it to be.

The whole point of this was that Rainbow Dash wanted to go up here where no ponies from Equestria knew anything about it because there had to be cool and dangerous stuff here but so far it all just felt a little hollow. She could brag about some stuff but it wasn’t anything remotely close to her normal adventures back in Equestria. She needed something truly epic and she needed it soon.

Rainbow Dash individually rotated her wings around in their sockets. They were feeling better and she could start flexing them and the wingtips almost like normal.

Scowling, she decided to not waste anymore time this morning and hopped off the rock to the ground below. She could at least walk until her wings were ready for flight again.

“Achoo!” She sneezed once more the moment her hooves touched the snow.

The pony grumbled and wiped her nose on the back of her hoof while she continued to walk. There was a breeze in the air going from east to west and it caused wisps of snow to drift along the land in front of her. In the distance she could see a number of “snow devils” moving along too. The whole thing reminded her of a snowy version of her trips through the plains around Appleloosa and even the southern desert that Klugetown sat at the end of. Now she half expected a tumbleweed to somehow blow on by.

Rainbow Dash yawned and stretched her neck, which was also sore thanks to the awkward position she slept in last night, stretching it kind of made her head throb since she was still suffering the tail-end of a headache but it was no big deal. What she wanted to do the most was find some running water somewhere so she could deal with this sore throat. Chomping down on snow just didn’t work as well as actually drinking some real, cool, water.

“Geez… maybe I really should’ve taken Daylight’s offer to go with them?” Rainbow Dash wondered as she looked up at the mostly empty sky. Only a few thin lines and sheets of cirrus clouds were anywhere in sight, the sun mostly allowed to shine through to the ground below.

Shrubs grew up out of the snow in a few places. A tundra like this being unable to really support any plants bigger than those and some grass. Maybe a few types of flowers. Twilight would probably know the best, it didn’t really seem like Applejack’s area of expertise. Nothing aside from apples really seemed like Applejack’s area of expertise.

Rainbow Dash snickered at her friend’s utter obsession with the fruit. She wanted to think that she at least had more varied interests than her farming friend.

Getting tired of a dry mouth and throat she went for the only option she had and scooped up some of the snow, eating it.

She instantly stuck out her tongue after chewing and swallowing it up. “Bleh, wonder if that isn’t too healthy… maybe I should only eat snow when it’s falling.”

The pegasus slowly continued on, her wings twitching when she tried to fold them in all the way to her sides, signaling that they weren’t near to being back to flying condition. It might be a long morning of walking, the good thing being that she still had many hours of daytime left. The bad being she was in yet another place up here in the north devoid of any signs of life or civilization. What was up with this place? She knew there was stuff up here but most of it was just so… empty. That ice monster had to have been some kind of magical creature too, right? Did someone make it or was it like the windigos from that old story? She thought it might have been a sign or meant she was getting somewhere but so far that didn’t seem to be the case.

In the end there was only more snow and mountains in front of her. Maybe things would change when she took to the skies and could actually see elsewhere but for now her scenery was much the same as always. She might as well have been doing nothing more than taking the train to the Crystal Empire.

Rainbow Dash started grinding her teeth together. She just couldn’t stand this slowness! Even the clouds were slow! It’s like they were mocking her. She tried flexing and flapping her wings up and down a few times but they either hurt or felt like lead depending on how she moved them. It felt like her headache was getting worse too thanks to how annoyed she was. Of course all that stress and negative thinking was just going to hurt her head, she wasn’t even totally over her cold.

As the hours rolled by so did the clouds and eventually a layer of low flying clouds blocked out the sky, sending her snowy tundra into a twilight. By then, however, Rainbow Dash’s wings were feeling good and she could lift off the ground to finally return to flying. It was unfortunate that she’d have to go easy on them for the rest of the day but tomorrow she already knew she’d be going full speed ahead. The north couldn’t be “empty” for much longer.

True Pegasus I

Seven armor-wearing pegasi flew through the clouds in a V-formation. Each one had a stern look about them, these were the kinds of ponies that would be stoic and stone faced at the best of times. Currently what they were doing could not be said to be a normal flight or exercise. Knowledge had come that something was coming in from the south and it had somehow gotten past one of their protective Ice Sentinels. There were hardly any breaks in their routine lives nowadays and suddenly something that has never happened before since the Ice Sentinels were created had thrown a wrench into those routine lives. It was discomforting. It was a foreboding something that put them all ill at ease. Considering their station absolutely nothing should frighten them and yet they couldn’t help but be worried. Either way it was their mission to find what had done it. Anything they came across that seemed abnormal, these seven pegasi would interrogate it or figure out somehow what was responsible for the destruction of their Sentinel.

The pegasus at front and center dipped down slightly and the others perfectly followed suit like a flock of birds following their leader. The seven of them went through a large cloud and came out the other side lightly misted. They were still high in the sky, between several layers of cloud, with the ground far below. Despite the reason for being out here being unusual this was still an area of the sky and True North they knew well. Nothing that didn’t have knowledge of these lands and skies as good as they did would be able to slip past them.

“Keep your eyes peeled for anything,” the pegasus at the center said with a voice far softer and even than one would expect from looking at him. His body was slim and he was fairly tall, with a light purple coat and a fiery orange mane and tail. The Cutie Mark on his flank was currently obscured by the armor he wore, along with all the others.

“Yes, Captain!” The wingpony immediately to his right said while the others stayed quiet.

The seven pegasi continued to charge through the sky, maneuvering around clouds and following their leader’s movements the whole way. Each pegasus kept one eye on what was below them while the Captain stared forward and kept his focus on doing the correct flight path. Depending on if whatever got past the Sentinel could fly they needed to do things very thoroughly, they couldn’t just fly around wherever and hope they came across the responsible party. So the Captain kept them going on their path south where they could comb the skies efficiently.

He dove suddenly, steeply through the clouds and bringing the other six with him, pushing through the low layer of stratus clouds and coming out with nothing but the ground below them this time. Like this it was easy to very briefly get a wide view of the ground and anything that might be walking or flying. The seven pegasi searched but still saw nothing yet so the Captain brought them up again into the clouds.

“Nothing yet,” he whispered to himself before shouting to his squad. “If you see anything at all, don’t hesitate to tell me! We must find this thing.”

“Yes, Captain!” Again his wingpony responded while the others nodded.

Rainbow Dash lackadaisically flew up and down in the sky, going in and out of the clouds as she made her journey north. She had found that somehow she had gone off course a bit earlier when she was sick and was now a bit more westward than she wanted to be. Currently she was making an adjustment to that and slightly flying northeast. It was a very cloudy day out and she could hardly see anything but at least they weren’t storm clouds. If the pegasus wanted she could probably clear a large amount of what was around her but she doubted there was anything to see further. She could always fly below the clouds and although that wouldn’t give her the prime altitude for looking ahead it was decent. Mostly though she just wanted to keep flying until she was back to going purely north.

Depending on how far this cloud coverage went it could provide some useful material for making a bed whenever night fell. Rainbow Dash hadn’t gotten to sleep on clouds that much lately, her body sorely missed them. Any cloud was better than some cold rock or half-buried in the snow. A cotton candy cloud or one shooting off lightning was better than that. She normally liked napping a lot more too but being too busy looking for adventure or doing something else had eaten into that pleasure of hers. Now here she was with all these clouds around and she was preoccupied with flying and getting out of here to make up for lost time.

She’d get a good nap someday. She promised herself that.

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings a little harder than she had been to see if they were totally back after being so sore this morning. With no resistance or sluggishness from them it seemed like they were okay. Her hesitancy to push them immediately was why she was still going so slow by her standards right now though. That led to her basically just floating and gliding on her wings, letting herself fall slightly and then putting in the minimal amount of energy needed to rise up again and then dip back down.

It wasn’t too windy right now and what wind there was was blowing with her, making things a lot easier. The clouds were only drifting about very slowly in the sky because of that too. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure how long they stretched but she’d probably end up leaving them at some point over the next day even if she didn’t go any faster than she was. And naturally she planned to go much faster.

“I’m so booooored,” she couldn’t help but say. It was true after all what with the lack of anything going on for her. And she couldn’t even go fast right now or do any fancy airborne maneuvers with her wings still maybe not the best.

She was getting very close to just going all out and blasting through the sky to kill her boredom and get through here already. Good idea or bad idea she really wanted to do it. It would be nice to get that high up again, so far into the sky where it felt like she was closer to the sun above than the clouds below. Rainbow Dash loved flying like that.

The pegasus grinned to herself. Yeah, once she was sure things were back in order she’d fly as high as she possibly could and really look out over the True North. Higher than any clouds or mountains could reach. She tentatively flexed her wings and was pleased again when they felt fine. After going like this for maybe another hour she could really let loose. Her cold was basically completely gone and with the weather being as good as it was she was pretty excited to be able to fly as freely as she wished soon. It would really be her first time doing that in the True North.

Rainbow Dash went low again, going through the bottom of the clouds and coming out so she could skim right below them. A glance down showed a surprisingly greener tundra than what she was used to with some lakes and rivers that weren’t even totally frozen over. Somehow it seemed she was going into a more temperate part of the True North. As little sense as that made unless there was something else affecting the weather.

“Halt!” A voice rang out from the clouds right over Rainbow Dash’s head.

Shocked, she came to a stop just in time for seven figures to come out of the clouds and form a circle surrounding her. Her eyes narrowed and glanced between the seven newcomers, wondering who they were. Rainbow Dash’s mind vaguely registered that these were the first intelligent creatures she had ran into up here. And the first proof of civilization and more.

“What’s going on? Who are you?” She asked, realizing that all seven of the fliers were pegasi just like her.

“I could ask you the same question,” the light purple pegasus directly in front of Rainbow Dash said, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “I wasn’t expecting this… are you a runaway?”

Rainbow Dash snorted and crossed her hooves over her chest. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, dude.”

Now that she really looked at him and the others though… she noticed something else about them. They were wearing armor that was just like the armor Flash Magnus wore, and that she had worn back when they all put on the Hearthswarming play. What was up with that? It was that ancient pegasi armor right? Before the unification.

“Very well,” the light purple pegasus cut her thoughts short. “I don’t know who you are or where you’ve come from. You’re certainly an oddity. For your information though I am Captain East Wind of the Eternal Pegasus Empire.”

“Huh?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head.

The other pegasi floating around her were confused at the situation as well. They never expected to find one of their own (or so they thought) while looking for whatever was responsible for the Sentinel’s destruction. And now she was apparently some pegasus that wasn’t from their home and had no knowledge of it.

“She must be playing dumb, Captain,” the wingpony whispered to East Wind.

Rainbow Dash heard him with her sharp ears though and glared at the offending pony. “Hey! I heard that and I’m not lying or whatever. I seriously don’t know what you guys are talking about.”

Captain East Wind bit his lip for a second and then asked the question that was eating away at him. “Are you… could you possibly be the one responsible for the destruction of our Ice Sentinel?”

“That’s impossible!” The whispering pony immediately interjected. “The Sentinels were made to deal with all creatures of flesh and blood. No pony could overcome or escape from one of them.”

“Pff!” Rainbow Dash blew an unimpressed breath of air past her lips. “Maybe no normal pony but I doubt you’ve ever met anyone as awesome as me. I don’t really believe in the word impossible and that thing was a cinch!” Her eyes suddenly widened. “Wait. You guys made that thing?”

The Captain did not bother to answer her question. “Whoever you are and whether that’s the truth or not you’ll be coming with us now.”

He motioned to the other pegasi and they moved in on Rainbow Dash, slowly tightening the noose around her.

Well she wasn’t about to take that sitting down.

“Oh, you guys are making a big mistake.” The rainbow pegasus smugly grinned and unfolded her hooves.

One of the pegasi behind and to the right of her suddenly lunged forward in an attempt to grab and subdue her immediately. His hooves grasped nothing but air as she vanished in a rainbow blur. The soldier pegasus barely had the time to be shocked as he felt a strong hoof crack against his chin and send him careening away. Two more pegasi came rushing at her from both sides but Rainbow Dash quickly ducked below them and had to hold back a laugh as the two smacked into each other.

The whispering pony then charged at her at full speed, which wasn’t even half of what Rainbow Dash could do, so she side-stepped him in the air and kicked him in the back of his helmeted head as he flew by. That probably got his ears ringing.

The last two besides Captain East Wind just came at her from the front. One of them going high and the other going low. Rainbow Dash yawned. She wanted to show off so now these pegasi were going to learn just how outmatched they were. She zipped around them before they could even react and kept flying around them in a circle, creating a dizzying rainbow cyclone surrounding the two pegasi as she allowed herself to let loose. She already planned on doing something like this before running into these jerks and they gave her the excuse so why not? Her wings felt great, better even, as if they were grateful to Rainbow Dash for using them to their fullest. Rainbow Dash shortly slowed down and the cyclone dissipated, revealing two deeply disoriented and green-faced pegasi.

East Wind looked on hesitantly, considering whether to attack her or wait for the others to get back together.

“Hah!” Rainbow Dash laughed and flew up above their now broken circle, her assailants trying to form back up. “You guys are clowns! I could beat you with my wings tied behind my back!”

“Is that so?”

A powerful gust of wind blew away the clouds above them, knocking back Rainbow Dash until she managed to stop herself and look up at the source of the voice. The wind was still blowing in her face so she had to raise a hoof up to her face and squint her eyes while her mane and tail blew about. But she was able to see the newcomer.

A large pegasus descended in the sky, the clouds now circling around him. And large was putting it lightly. He had a huge muscular body that would’ve put any stallion’s shy of Rockhoof’s to shame and with a wingspan matching Princess Celestia’s. Like the others he wore the same kind of ancient pegasus armor but his helmet had a large golden spike atop it as well. The huge stallion’s coat was a dark blue while his mane was white with black stripes. Coal-black eyes impassively looked down on her under the helmet’s brim.

Rainbow Dash’s cocky smile turned into a frown. This guy… seemed a little different from the others.

“Commander!” Captain East Wind said with no small measure of shock, instantly saluting.

The other six pegasi, even the ones who were still hurting, also immediately snapped to attention and saluted him.

The Commander gave the smallest of nods to the seven others and put them at ease, never taking his eyes off Rainbow Dash. “I reconsidered and decided to come see what had gotten past one of our Sentinels personally. It was this pegasus mare?”

Before the Captain could respond to him, Rainbow Dash cut in.

“That’s right! That stupid thing wouldn’t leave me alone. Why’d you guys make something like that?” She angrily confronted him, flying up to glare at him on the same level. She had had enough of being looked down on. “And who even are you?”

“I see no need to answer the questions of an inferior, traitorous, pegasus such as yourself,” the Commander coldly responded.

“Trai-?!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t even finish the word. His attitude and what else he said was bad enough, but being called that, as confusing as it was, was even worse to her. Her blood boiled and a vein threatened to burst on her forehead. Rainbow Dash growled and clenched her teeth, shooting forth at the Commander and aiming to punch him right in his big face.

His head moved to the side with lightning fast reflexes.

Rainbow Dash’s jaw had just enough time to drop before his wing came around towards her face.

And then everything was black.

Author's Note

https://youtu.be/dybc0rQTHsQ

True Pegasus II

A total of nine pegasi floated among the clouds in the sky. All but one a stallion and wearing armor that was far out of date in certain other parts of the world. It would’ve been the kind of sight Twilight Sparkle would’ve been eager to study and dissect. The clouds had been gently dispersing ever since the arrival of the Commander and were now at a state where a large hole existed in them that let the sun shine all the way to the ground below, casting the shadows of nine ponies on the tundra. Most of the pegasi were in a state of worry or confusion or were busy trying to ignore the injuries they had just sustained in an effort not to look weak in front of their Commander. Only the Captain and the Commander seemed to have themselves together and on the inside the Captain was just as worried and full of questions as the others.

Rainbow Dash currently was being held in one hoof by the nape of her neck as her body stayed limp and unconscious after the strike to her head from the Commander’s powerful wing. He regarded her with a blank expressions as he held her, quiet so far and with seemingly no intention to break that quiet while his subordinates squirmed about. His eyes looked over her face, her mane and tail, her hooves, and lingered on her Cutie Mark, inspecting every bit of her. The others had no idea what had him so interested with a simple pegasus mare, regardless of what she had just done or not.

Finally Captain East Wind decided to break the silence. “Commander, sir? What do you wish to do with that pony?”

“She’s from the south,” he said, not answering his captain’s question. “I knew it the moment I saw her.”

East Wind’s eyes widened in surprise and he looked between the large Commander and Rainbow Dash. “The south? As in… that south? I see, that’s why you called her traitorous...”

The other pegasi were now clamoring on the inside for more answers themselves, not having the rank or station to interrupt or speak up. Questions roiled about in all of them.

“Equestria,” the Commander said and narrowed his eyes at the limp Rainbow Dash. He then tossed her into the hooves of Captain East Wind and turned back the way he came, flapping his great wings for some altitude.

“Sir?” East Wind questioned.

“I’m returning to the city ahead of you. Bring her,” he answered without looking back.

His great wings totally unfurled as his body flexed and got ready, angling his head low for maximum aerodynamicness. A second later there was a thunderclap as he sped away with a powerful burst from his wings, instantly nothing more than a dot on the horizon to the seven other soldiers. The others watched in awe as it was a power and speed they could only dream of.

Captain East Wind looked down at the mare now in his arms and grimaced. He motioned for two of his soldiers to come over and take her. “Hold onto her and make sure she can’t get away when she wakes up. Things have gotten far more serious than we thought.”

She could feel the wind brushing against her. Ruffling her mane and tail. It was still a light breeze, nothing like if she were flying through the sky, more like what she would feel on a lightly windy day if she was sitting around and napping outside somewhere. Why was everything dark though? Where was she? She remembered flying and then being stopped by some guys and-

Rainbow Dash’s eyes snapped open to see clouds and the ground passing by below her as her head hung facing the ground. She tried to move only to find herself being held by two of those soldier pegasi she had just beaten up. Struggling for a second got her nowhere, her wings were stuck against her sides and they both had their hooves wrapped around her forelegs. Transporting her like she was some kind of bound up criminal.

“Oh, what? I got caught? Lame!” Rainbow Dash angrily exclaimed. She tried elbowing the two pegasi, one of which was the one she kicked in the chin, but they didn’t give her the pleasure.

Her head was pounding something fierce too. Not like the dull throbbing all around like her headache; a sharp pain right in the middle of her forehead. Rainbow Dash ground her teeth as she pictured that big wing coming right at her face. It was the last thing she remembered before waking up just now.

“Welcome back to the waking world.”

Rainbow Dash looked ahead to see Captain East Wind glancing over his shoulder at her. She glared at him. “Yeah, thanks. What the hay is wrong with you guys and why are you doing this? Let me go!”

“For multiple reasons that’s not an option,” he looked away from her and went back to facing his head forward. “For your peace of mind however the simplest explanation I can give you for your detainment is that you’ve destroyed something very important and irreplaceable to us. That alone requires punishment.”

“That thing attacked me first! What do you expect me to do?” Rainbow Dash reasoned.

“Not invade our territory,” the Captain replied.

“Huh?” The second time in a short span that she had simply been reduced to saying that.

“Speak to the Captain with more respect, you cur!”

Rainbow Dash glanced up to see the whispering pony flying above her. The second in command? She snorted. “Make me!”

That made him pretty angry and it looked like he was about to strike her when the Captain called out from in front of them. “Stop quarreling! Just keep on your flights, we’ll likely have quite a bit to do when we get back to the city.”

The angry whisperer grumbled a bit to himself but flew away from Rainbow Dash all the same. That left her to think about everything that had been said recently. Territory? Empire? And these guys had military ranks and everything. It looked like she had accidentally stumbled across something really big. There was also what the big guy said; calling her an inferior pegasus and a traitor. That still burned her but it left her more confused now than anything. And he wasn’t even here anymore for her to chew him out.

“Hey, who was that big guy?” She asked the Captain. Not speaking with anymore respect than she had been.

It looked like he might’ve been ignoring her again but then he glanced back at her with one eye and answered. “That was Commander Blizzard. Leader of all military forces in our Empire.”

“So I met the head honcho just like that? Cool. You should tell him he’s a jerk though.”

“How dare you!” The whisperer flew right in front of her face and stuck a caramel hoof out at her. “You think you can speak about our Commander in that way?!”

“Yep,” Rainbow Dash blew one of her bangs out of her eye. “Who are you, pal?”

“I am Lieutenant Crescent Moon. And you should be addressing and treating me and the rest of us with far more respect than you’re showing!”

“Well I’m Rainbow Dash and I say you should be treating me with way more respect. I’m not the one who started this you know?”

“Technically you are,” East Wind said from the front. “But enough of this for now. Like I said, Lieutenant, stop the quarreling.” He affixed a stern gaze to his underling until he flew away from Rainbow Dash with an upset frown. “And you-” He said to Rainbow Dash with a little more force than usual. “Should take Commander Blizzard coming to deal with you personally as a sign that things are rather serious. Not just what you’ve done but what you are...”

The Captain trailed off to leave Rainbow Dash just as confused as before. They clearly had something else against her but she didn’t know what. Her mind was still processing the fact that there was an entire society of pegasi up here in the True North. What did they call it? The Eternal Pegasus Empire? She may not have known much but what she did know for sure was that nobody down in Equestria knew about this. How long have they been up here? If their armor was any indication they might’ve been founded all the way back in Flash Magnus’s and Commander Hurricane’s day.

“So where are you guys taking me?” She asked. She probably could’ve gone off about being the friend of a Princess of Equestria and an Element of Harmony but she didn’t know how they’d react or if they’d even know or care about any of that. And she didn’t really like using her friends or any titles to get her way. If she wanted someone’s respect she’d get it by being awesome on her own.

“Pegasopolis, our city.” East Wind replied.

If she could’ve shrugged she would’ve. “Alright. Lead the way I guess.”

And so they did. For near another hour the squad flew through the clouds, no longer interrupted by any conversation or silly spats. These pegasi flew far too slowly for Rainbow Dash’s taste. Even the slowest Wonderbolt could’ve flown circles around them. Hay, even the average pegasus she knew from Equestria could probably outfly them. Maybe the armor slowed them down but thinking back to how easily she trounced them even that couldn’t explain it all. Blizzard had dodged her punch though… he must’ve been really different from the rank and file soldiers. The average pegasus from Equestria certainly couldn’t do that. Not when she was going all out.

There wasn’t much else to think about as they flew but soon the clouds began to break and the Captain looked back at her.

“We’re here.”

Rainbow Dash looked as they came out of the clouds into a large and open realm in the sky. Still hundreds of feet above the ground, what dominated her view now was a large snow-capped mountain at the northwest corner of this space with its back pressed against a column of clouds that seemed to stretch into the stratosphere. It was weird that she hadn’t seen the bottom of this mountain at all when she was flying earlier. As she blinked and really took in the mountain’s appearance she soon realized why that was the case though. Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped in shock.

The mountain was flying.

Or to be more precise it was floating. Floating on top of a huge bed of clouds that stretched across the entire bottom of the mountain, keeping it elevated hundreds of feet up and disguised from the bottom. Inside a huge ocean of clouds like it was you’d never be able to see it from the outside. It was some pretty crazy pegasus magic that was responsible for this, Rainbow Dash could tell.

All over the side of the mountain facing her was a pegasus city built entirely from clouds much like Cloudsdale. Although besides that the two of them couldn’t even be compared. The size of this city completely dwarfed Cloudsdale or any other pegasus city in Equestria and the majesty of its buildings and architecture further put it to shame. It was all of a classical design from what Rainbow Dash could see. Arches and pillars were the predominant feature and most buildings didn’t go above five or six stories at the highest but most had the clouds done in a way to replicate the appearance of stone walls and tiled roofs. It really was a huge sprawling city that spread out well past the mountain and into open air, held up by more beds of cloud. Rainbow Dash would’ve thought something like this was pretty awesome back in Equestria. Getting a whole mountain to float and building a city on it? She should bring that idea back to Celestia when she got home.

“Woah. So this is where you guys live?”

“Yes. Behold the grand city of Pegasopolis, apex of the Eternal Pegasus Empire,” Captain East Wind said, a small measure of pride emerging from his subdued voice.

As they got in closer Rainbow Dash kept looking around to try and take it all in. She saw numerous pegasi flying about with most of them wearing the same armor as these soldiers. But her eyes were also able to make out some wearing what looked like togas and plenty not wearing anything at all. It almost looked like a normal pegasus city in some ways.

Her captors took her in at a low angle towards the bottom of the mountain where a wide and mostly empty plateau of clouds sat connecting to the rest of the city. A staging grounds of some sort or some kind of arrival and departure zone. There were roads leading down to it from the city and some small buildings built along its interior edge that looked like storehouses.

“So like… when we land where are you guys taking me?” She asked.

But none of them answered, they all just followed their Captain as he took them to their landing zone. The seven stallions (and one captive mare) slowed down as they got closer and Rainbow Dash could see another group of armored ponies waiting for them right where they were going to land. The hooves of all the pegasi softly touched down on the clouds as if it was dirt and grass for regular ponies. The two pegasi holding Rainbow Dash still kept a tight grip on her, making sure she didn’t escape.

One of the pegasi from the group waiting for them walked forward and Rainbow Dash had to do a double-take when she saw him. He was like an exact replica of Captain East Wind. A twin brother? Another pegasus walked up with him carrying some hoof-cuffs and a chain with a lock.

“So this is her?” The twin of East Wind asked his brother while looking over at Rainbow Dash. “Commander Blizzard came back and told us to wait for your return.”

East Wind nodded. “Yes, it’s her. You can restrain her now. Did he leave us with any other orders?”

“Restrain me?” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and tried to muscle her way out of the hold of the soldiers. “Ngh! Let go!”

The Captain and his twin ignored her as they continued their conversation.

“He did,” the twin said and then added with a minor amount of hesitation. “He said he wanted us to bring her to the council chambers immediately.”

East Wind’s eyebrows shot up into his helmet. “I… see. Well there’s no time to waste then. Chain her and we’ll head there immediately.”

“No one is chaining me!” Rainbow Dash fought harder against the soldiers as the other one carrying the cuffs came around to her. She elbowed, bit at, kicked, and tried to open up her wings and either fly off or smack them with them. Unfortunately the numbers were against her. It took three more of them to help but they did eventually fit the cuffs onto her forehooves and wrapped the chain tightly around her barrel, making it impossible for her to spread her wings. With a click the lock was put in place and Rainbow Dash was truly their prisoner.

True Pegasus III

All of the soldiers flew up the mountain city over the rooftops with their now in chains captive being once more carried along with them. It was clearly an odd sight for the citizens and other soldiers of Pegasopolis as many of them stopped what they were doing to watch Rainbow Dash’s procession fly by. Meanwhile it was absolutely humiliating for the blue pony from Equestria. There had been a few other times in her myriad adventures when she had been captured and locked up and she never stopped despising it. Now here she was practically on public display. That made it even worse! It’s like she was some kind of prize or dangerous criminal. Well… she was dangerous but only to bad ponies and monsters. She definitely wasn’t some criminal and these guys had attacked her first when she was just trying to fly north anyways.

Still, she had to admit that this was basically the kind of adventure she was looking for. It may have started in an annoying way but everything else was just looking like exactly what she had been searching for when she came up to the True North. She couldn’t disregard that.

Not having much else to do she looked down below at the buildings and streets. Plenty of ponies milling about were looking up at her, not just adults but fillies and colts as well. The roads made of clouds sometimes stopped and started without reason. As expected of a pegasus city where you would mostly just fly anywhere. The roads here were probably meant for the young, the infirm, and those carrying something that was too heavy to fly with. They flew over one large building that had its roof space taken up by a number of chairs and tables and beyond that came to what looked like a residential section of the city where large individual homes were plopped down on the clouds chaotically. All of them having their own fences and “yards” while roads curved around them. It was different from most of the rest of the city where the buildings were much more tightly knit and close together. Like going from Manehattan to Ponyville. What was a dense city center became a sparse suburb. Rainbow Dash looked up and saw that this was abnormal for the entire place, she couldn’t see anywhere else in all of Pegasopolis that was this open. Maybe these homes were for a few special or rich ponies. They looked big enough.

A few more courageous colts actually flew up to follow them and get a closer look while they traveled up the city but some of the soldiers bringing up the end gave the colts a few stern looks and that was the end of that. Still it spoke volumes of how unusual this must be. She had a pretty big entourage bringing her to those council chambers or whatever too. Rainbow Dash could feel it in her bones that there was some sort of excitement and conflict brewing here. An adventure just under the surface and waiting to erupt.

There was something else they were coming up on now. A large coliseum with a glass dome top built on its own cloud that hovered slightly above this level of the city. Must’ve been a sports stadium or something for other events.

After that they kept flying at a slant up the side of the mountain and the city built on it. The buildings got more regal and ornate the higher they went, tall columns, high windows, flying buttresses and all that jazz. Taller towers too with some castle-like buildings entirely made from clouds all forming a royal-level complex. If there was a pegasus specific version of Canterlot anywhere in the world this city was certainly it.

“How long have you guys been living here?” Rainbow asked, although she doubted she’d get a real response.

“It’s no concern of yours,” East Wind—er, no, his twin said to her.

As expected.

Rainbow Dash scowled at him. “Hey! What’s your name anyways, how can I tell the two of you apart?”

The twin looked back at her. “I’m West Wind. And fine, although I doubt it will matter, if you want to tell us apart in the future you can look at our Cutie Marks. We both have marks of the wind blowing, but in the opposite direction. Not like you can see them anyways with our armor on.”

She decided that was the best she was going to get and quieted down again. She still had more of the city to view anyways. So much of it she couldn’t really get a good look at at all since it covered so much space and they were just going in a straight line up the mountain to the highest levels of it. There were sprawling blocks to her right and left below her on lower levels of the city that she could only vaguely guess at being the same as what they had flown over near the start.

Finally they came to the last part of the city that overlooked the rest. Only halfway up the mountain it sat well below the snow-capped peak and the clouds here held but one large building. It was less of a palace and more like an administrative building, rectangular in shape with a trapezoidal roof and huge columns that covered the front of the building. A simple yet effective design that said the building was made by those who valued practicality far more than style.

When they got level with that building the soldiers descended to the cloud ground in front of it and began walking with Rainbow Dash.

Guess this is where we’re going. She thought as they all walked between the tall columns to the interior of the building.

A large doorway (that didn’t look like it had any doors to close it) sat right behind the columns and Rainbow Dash was brought inside it. From here she could see numerous soldiers lining the walls or guarding other doors and hallways while toga wearing pegasi walked and flew about all over. This first part of the interior looked like a large atrium that stretched the entirety of the front of the building with several balconies on higher floors. The soldiers transporting her gave no looks to anywhere else though, walking without hesitation straight to an oval-shaped set of doors that was high enough to let Discord walk through without ducking.

While her soldiers were calmly doing their duty she saw a lot of others in the building looking and whispering at her. Why’d they have to make this such a spectacle?

Rainbow Dash and her soldiers went through more and more doors until they came to a large inner chamber and most of the soldiers spread out to stand along the walls instead of entering. Only East and West Wind now walked with Rainbow Dash between them to this next chamber. The cloud doors were pulled open by the two guards stationed beside them and the three pegasi entered the chamber.

Rainbow Dash found herself at the tiled floor of the round council chambers, directly ahead of her stood a raised platform where five elderly pegasi sat while to the right of that there was an alcove and another lower platform where Commander Blizzard stood. Rainbow Dash glared at him the moment she saw him but if he noticed he gave no reaction. On the second level of this chamber there was a gallery wrapped around it for viewing whatever took place among the councilors and their visitors, held up by a sequence of eight pillars at even intervals. Rainbow Dash noted that every single seat up there was currently occupied. She was popular already.

East and West Wind took her to the very center of the chambers and stopped. She had to crane her neck up slightly to see the five pegasi up on their stand but that was it.

“Alright, let’s get this underway already,” the center most pegasus said. He was a wizened old stallion with a puffy white mane that looked like a cloud stuck on his head. His coat was a fading yellow that had certainly seen better days. “Elder Tornado presiding. Commander Blizzard, would you please explain why you felt the need to scrap the rest of our schedule for today and call an emergency session that required a full meeting of the council?”

Rainbow Dash blinked. So they didn’t know yet? The guy sounded pretty annoyed at Blizzard too.

If the Commander was offended by the Elder’s attitude he didn’t let that bother him either. “I can assure you all that this is of the utmost importance. Recently one of the Ice Sentinels that guards our border was destroyed.”

That sent a wave of murmurs throughout the peanut gallery and the Elders all looked surprised as well.

“When were you going to tell us this?” Tornado looked down at Blizzard.

“After we had investigated the cause.” Blizzard didn’t bother returning his gaze, keeping his eyes on Rainbow Dash.

Tornado seemed to get the clue and followed along to the rainbow-maned pony that he didn’t recognize now standing in the council chambers. “It was this runaway? How?”

“It was her, but she’s not a runaway.” Commander Blizzard smiled. “This pegasus is from Equestria.”

This time the chamber erupted into full out shock. The gallery wasn’t even attempting to keep themselves quiet and the Elders all looked just as surprised and disbelieving as them. Of course Rainbow Dash was also pretty surprised.

“Hold on!” She shouted at Blizzard before anyone else could speak, already having been on the verge of angrily telling off all the pegasi in here. “You know about Equestria?”

“This is absurd! There’s no way this mare could be from Equestria!” One of the other Elders shouted. His balding head covered by a few thin wisps of black mane and beady eyes glaring out at Rainbow Dash from behind a pair of exceptionally thick glasses.

The other Elders were all trying to talk over each other too while Tornado sat there looking rather conflicted. In contrast, Blizzard was standing tall with a smug look on his face.

“Enough, enough already!” Tornado finally shouted. “Quiet down, all of you!” He rapped his hooves on the stand before him to get the gallery and everyone else back into order. When the room had quieted down he returned to looking straight at Rainbow Dash with a troubled expression on his face. “Mare… are you truly from Equestria?”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “Yeah. I am. So what? I didn’t even know you guys knew about Equestria. Seriously, who are you guys anyways?”

It wasn’t one of the Elders who answered her but Blizzard who decided to take the reins. “We are the true pegasi. The descendants and inheritors of the true way before the great betrayal of unification.”

“Huh?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head at him with a look on her face that said she thought he was crazy.

“Is it not a story still passed down in Equestria? Hearthswarming? Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy?” Blizzard raised an eyebrow at her.

“Well, yeah, it is. But what the hay do you mean by great betrayal and all that other crazy stuff you just said?” Rainbow Dash would’ve scratched her head if it wasn’t for the cuffs. “Hey… is this why you called me a traitor and fake or whatever?”

“You are a descendant of the ones who betrayed the old ways and joined with the earth ponies and unicorns to create that accursed land of Equestria. So yes, that’s why.” Blizzard told her.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s your problem with Equestria? The tale of Hearthswarming is about ponies setting aside their differences and becoming friends in the name of survival. Because of that they all came together and made Equestria. It’s a happy story. What’s the big deal?”

“How blind and brainwashed you are,” Blizzard shook his head at her before looking around at all of the pegasi in the gallery. “Look! See how a pegasus from Equestria doesn’t even realize how they’ve been led astray? See how our long lost brothers and sisters have been corrupted? This mare doesn’t even know her own history. She cares nothing about what it truly means to be a pegasus!”

“Okay, you’re making me mad dude!” Rainbow Dash started to stalk towards him but was held back by East and West Wind.

Blizzard unfurled his wings and pointed one of them at Rainbow Dash. “The truth about Hearthswarming is that it was a betrayal of everything that made pegasi pegasi. And after that our way of life was completely expunged. There were no more pegasi in Equestria. Merely “ponies”. Commander Hurricane is the great traitor who destroyed our old kingdom and gave it all up. He no longer cared or believed in our ways, it was nothing more than “Out with the old, in with the new” to him. He, Pansy, the other rulers, none of them thought about the fact that maybe not every pony wanted to throw away their history and way of life.”

“It was better!” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “What do you think you know about Hearthswarming and Equestria? Ponies changed so they stopped fighting and hating each other so much. That’s the only thing that was thrown away! I’m not even some historian egghead and I know that!”

“I know that Equestria is a land founded on betrayal. That’s all it is or ever will be,” Blizzard coldly said.

Rainbow Dash had had enough, she headbutted East Wind in the chin and kicked West Wind in the side with her back leg. Running as fast as she could over the floor to Blizzard. Which wasn’t fast thanks to her cuffed forehooves and the chains wrapped around her barrel. East and West Wind were both able to recover and jump on her, tackling the angry Equestrian to the ground.

“At least you have some fight in you. That means you aren’t a complete loss as far as being a pegasus goes,” Blizzard said.

Rainbow Dash glared up at him, still fighting to get the twins off of her. “I’m an awesome pegasus! And I’ve got a ton of friends back in Equestria that are the most awesome ponies you’d ever know!”

“Blizzard, can you please bring this situation back under control? This was supposed to be an actual meeting, not a show for you to put on,” Tornado said from above.

“Of course,” Blizzard acquiesced and nodded to East and West Wind. The two soldiers then carried Rainbow Dash back to the center of the room.

“I want to go back a few steps,” Tornado said. “One of our Ice Sentinels has been destroyed. She was indeed responsible for this?”

“Yeah! I was! That thing attacked me!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

The five Elders looked between each other before another one on the far left of the stand spoke up. “And just why is it that you were traveling here in the first place? What reason did you have? We want to know why after all this time has an Equestrian come here.”

Before Rainbow Dash could explain herself, Blizzard cut in again.

“Her reasons are unimportant. She is clearly a sign that more Equestrians will come someday. I would not be surprised if she purposefully flew from Equestria to us as an agent of theirs. This mare is a harbinger of the future, and a warning that we must heed.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “You’re crazy! Nobody, and I mean nobody, down in Equestria even knows about you guys! And I just came up here for fun.” The fact that she was friends with a Princess was probably something she shouldn’t say right now.

“So what do you think should even be done with her?” The same Elder that had just spoken asked Blizzard. “If she’s mistreated Equestria may seek reprisal-”

“The only thing Equestria would seek is to become friends with you guys. Princess Celestia would be happy to have you and make you see how much nicer things are after Hearthswarming,” Rainbow Dash grinned and added quietly- “Flash Magnus would probably get a kick out of this too...”

Blizzard heard her. “Flash Magnus you say? A renowned hero, one who truly embodied what it meant to be a true pegasus. I only wish he were alive today so he could see our Empire.”

“Yeah something tells me you wouldn’t be too happy to see him,” Rainbow Dash laughed.

“What do you mean? You speak as if you personally know him.” Blizzard frowned while the Elders leaned in, the name of Flash Magnus drawing all of their interest.

“That’s cause I do. Flash Magnus is alive and well,” she smirked at the big pegasus.

“Impossible,” Elder Tornado said. “We all know Flash Magnus lived and died well over a thousand years ago.”

“He didn’t die, dude. He was stuck in limbo. Me and my friends were the ones who freed him too, it happened not that long ago.”

More chattering and hushed conversations poured down from the galleries, a stark contrast to Blizzard’s stunned silence. Rainbow Dash felt pretty good about getting that reaction from him. The Elders also convened together as they debated on whether or not Rainbow Dash was telling the truth about one of their heroes. She kind of enjoyed constantly getting this reaction from these ponies. As always, being the center of attention was something she wouldn’t trade for the world. So she decided to stir the pot further and really give these ponies something to think about.

“Yeah and guess what? He loves it in Equestria. And seriously, how much did you guys even really know about Flash Magnus? Cause he was close friends with unicorns like Starswirl the Bearded and earth ponies like Rockhoof. Flash Magnus is all about being an Equestrian pegasus and it doesn’t make him or me any less awesome!” Rainbow Dash attempted to smugly sit back and fold her hooves over her chest but the cuffs stopped that so she just kept standing and hoped no one noticed.

“Liar!” Blizzard screamed at her, his wings angrily opened to their fullest span. “You think you can say such things here? Perhaps you truly are an agent sent by Equestria specifically to try and change us, bring us into the fold so to speak, have us renounce our ways like Hurricane and the other traitors did so long ago.”

“Blizzard-” Tornado started but a sharp glance from the Commander made him clamp his mouth shut.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed slightly at that. They’re afraid of him…

“I see now what should be done here. This wayward pegasus is not a harbinger of doom. She’s a gift,” Blizzard was speaking to the entire gallery and all the pegasi present. The Elder was right earlier, this was a show he was putting on. “A pony so ignorant of their true history and culture. We must show her the way. Though currently she seeks to get us to renounce ourselves and change, we will instead make her see the light and become like us. A true pegasus. Rainbow Dash shall not be punished nor imprisoned. She will be given a life in my military and see what it means to be one of us. I am certain I can get her to renounce Equestria and the way of the false pegasi descended from Hurricane and the other traitors.”

“After all-” he continued. “We have thrived here in this harsh land due to our own strength and nothing else. Who better than our current military commander to show her our indomitable will and the superiority of our way of life. We are the descendants of those who chose to split with Hurricane, those unwilling to bend and change, who came here to eke out an existence despite the difficulty because they were true pegasi!”

“I guess that answers some questions,” Rainbow Dash grumbled under her breath.

“So you wish for responsibility of this pegasus to be handed over to you?” Tornado asked.

Blizzard nodded. “Indeed.”

The Elder shared a few glances with the others on his stand before rubbing his hooves together nervously. He looked a bit conflicted but obviously didn’t have the guts or power to say no. “Well… the issue with the Sentinels is a military affair as well after all. And I suppose you have the right of it that there’s none better suited than you to handle this. The Elder Council has decided, the fate of Rainbow Dash from Equestria is left up to Commander Blizzard.”

“Thank you,” Blizzard smiled.

There was some chattering up in the gallery, surely this would be gossiped back and forth across the entire city by tomorrow. Which was probably exactly what Blizzard wanted even though Rainbow Dash wasn’t entirely sure why. He definitely set this all up even if some things had surprised him as well. At times it felt like he was reading from a prepared speech and Rainbow Dash was sure it was all to get to this point at the end. Even though she still didn’t know the grander reason he had for any of this.

Also it was all a moot point since she didn’t intend to let him get his way at all. And she wasn’t about to take any of this sitting down.

“Hey!” She shouted across the whole chamber. “Maybe you’re all forgetting this or just crazy but I’m not just letting you do whatever you want with me. If you take these chains off me I’ll show you that I’m not someone you can mess with! I’ll whoop your butt, Blizzard!”

A hush fell over the pegasi in attendance.

Blizzard’s smile stretched a fraction of an inch wider as he hopped off his platform to the tiled floor.

“Is that a challenge?”

“You bet it is!”

For the first time she had seen him he started chuckling lightly. “Very well. I have no problem with your challenge. As true pegasi we rule by the strong. If you can defeat me and prove yourself stronger then you may do what you wish. Leave or not, you’ll have earned the right. As Commander however… I am the strongest pegasus in the Empire. That is what that title means.”

Rainbow Dash blew hot air out of her nostrils and narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t scare me one bit.”

“Good. I don’t want to fight a coward anyways. I just thought you should know that no other pegasus can compare to me,” he cracked his neck and loudly projected his voice so everyone could hear. “The first battle between a true pegasus and a false sister from the south has reached our empire. The coliseum shall be prepared.”

True Pegasus IV

Rainbow Dash was kind of disappointed now that she stood in the middle of the coliseum. Compared to the stadium the Equestria Games were held in this place was actually kind of small. She even had plans to make a Buckball stadium about as big as this back home for the national championship, but she still needed to talk to Twilight about that. The circular arena for combat at the bottom of the coliseum was maybe at most one hundred feet wide. Although the domed top gave a lot of room to fly in so they probably just had height in mind more than anything. Just like any sports stadium back in Equestria there were stands all around the arena, and to Rainbow Dash’s pleasure it looked like every single one was filled up. This was exciting.

She had been brought to the coliseum immediately after the meeting in the council chamber ended but had been forced to sit around doing nothing in a dark room in the bowels of the coliseum while the arena was prepared and word was spread about the fight and the alarming significance behind it. It was obvious Commander Blizzard wanted as many of his pegasi to see this as possible. Well that was fine with Rainbow Dash, she felt the same way.

Inside the coliseum she had been released from her cuffs and unchained, instantly spreading her wings and flapping them to get any kinks out. This day had gone from bad to worse when it came to treating her wings. Having them tucked in against her sides was normal but having chains tightly wrapped around them so they couldn’t even budge was a little on the painful side. She spent the time waiting in that room stretching and moving around to get her blood pumping. She wanted to be ready for the fight, knowing that Blizzard would indeed be a tough opponent from their brief encounter earlier. Her head still even hurt a little.

Finally the moment arrived when everything was ready and Rainbow Dash was led by East and West to the arena. Where she now stood, still taking it all in. Blizzard wasn’t in here yet but there was a portcullis directly across from her identical to the one she came out of that she assumed he would emerge from in a moment. For now she stood alone while waves of muffled conversations rippled across the crowd. No one was cheering for her but they were tense and interested to see just what this pegasus from Equestria could do.

Or perhaps they all thought her the epitome of foolish for challenging Commander Blizzard.

Rainbow Dash looked up to the dome, she had no idea how much time had passed since she first met these pegasi back in the clouds but it was now late enough to be night. She saw nothing but darkened sky and clouds on the other side of the glass. It looked almost fitting for rain and lightning but there was no way a pegasus city would have any unscheduled or random weather.

“Wait… how’s it so bright in here?” She said to herself upon the realization that the coliseum was perfectly lit up despite the obvious lack of modern lighting it and the rest of the city would have. Her eyes poked around to see where the light was coming from and she saw numerous bright… clouds? Or something, all ensconced right under the dome in a ring. Well pegasi had no problem making rainbows, maybe these guys had come up with a way to make artificial sunlight after staying up here for so long.

Any other thoughts were interrupted as the iron gate and portcullis on the other side of the arena was raised and her opponent came walking out. The pegasi watching had no problems cheering for him. Although to Rainbow’s surprise it wasn’t as loud as she expected. They were all or mostly all cheering but it was easy for her to tell that some of it was pretty half-hearted. Compared to the kind of cheering Princess Celestia would get from her subjects at any sort of event this was almost laughable.

Maybe he’s not actually that popular? I guess just being the strongest doesn’t mean everyone has to like you. Rainbow Dash thought with a tilt of her head.

He didn’t have his armor or helmet on anymore. Clearly he wanted a fair fight and to face Rainbow Dash just as she was. She could see his Cutie Mark now, a trio of three snowflakes on his flank. Rainbow Dash looked up and around at the cheering crowd and then leveled her gaze back at her opponent.

“Sooo… what? Do we just start fighting? No ref or anything?” She asked.

“I have no idea what a ref is but you are correct. We may begin whenever you are ready. I already know how this will go so I’m allowing you to make the first move. The match begins whenever you feel you are ready,” he told her, not moving from his spot.

“The only one who should be that overconfident is me!” She pointed a hoof at him. “All the stuff I’ve done to save Equestria, you don’t even know how awesome I am!”

“I’m sure,” he grinned.

Rainbow Dash’s eyebrows knitted together in anger. “Okay, that’s it! I’m wiping that smile off of your face!” She looked back across the crowd and yelled so they could all hear her. “Hey all of you! I’m about to beat up your Commander and show you what a pegasus from Equestria can do. Pass the popcorn!”

The rainbow pony instantly blasted off from where she was standing straight towards Commander Blizzard. Most in attendance couldn’t follow or see her at all. It was nothing more than a puff of air and a rainbow trail to them.

But Rainbow Dash remembered that the Commander was fast enough to dodge one of her punches at close range. She had been too shocked by that to avoid his attack right after, but he wouldn’t be lucky enough to catch her off-guard again. Even if he could dodge some of her attacks there was no way she’d let him hit her again either. She narrowed her eyes in the brief split-second it took for her to cross the distance to him, he didn’t look tensed or ready to dodge her attacks and fight back. His body language said he was relaxed like he wasn’t taking the fight seriously at all.

You’ll regret that. Dash thought as she brought up a hoof to strike him square in the chest. He wouldn’t expect that, and it would be impossible for him to dodge or block that now with her right there and going for a big and easy target.

Her light blue hoof impacted his broad blue chest at max speed.

And Rainbow Dash’s hoof crumpled.

The large stallion didn’t even budge as she bounced off of him like she had just flown straight into a stone wall. Her hoof screamed in pain as she slid across the clouds that made up the grounds of the arena. Rainbow Dash stopped and stood up, not putting any weight on her injured hoof as she looked back and forth between the Commander and her hoof. Her appendage was red and bruised from striking him but it at least didn’t feel broken.

“Ow… okay, maybe that was a bad idea,” Rainbow Dash winced. “Hitting him was like hitting a boulder.”

“Do you see that you can’t beat me already? One attack should’ve been enough for you to realize that. I wasn’t just letting you start things, I wanted you to hit me first so you could experience that. I’m invincible to a weak mare from Equestria like you,” the Commander flaunted his strength and puffed out his chest. Clearly still showing off for all of his pegasi in attendance.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah right. And stop badmouthing ponies from Equestria! I’ll beat you! I’ll pummel every inch of your body until I make you give up even if my hooves are nothing but bruises afterwards!”

“Then try it. You wanted to wipe my smile off my face didn’t you? Why don’t you try hitting there this time. I won’t defend myself again,” his smile widened for her. “I told you I was the strongest in the Empire and that was no empty boast. Go on and make your futile attacks.”

Rainbow Dash flew back towards him with renewed vigor, going straight to his big face at first… before cutting upwards at the last second and flying right above his back. With a twist she stamped her hindlegs down onto his back as hard as she could and used it as a springboard to jump off and land right behind him.

But his knees didn’t even buckle from her attack. It was like she was jumping on an immovable object.

Blizzard glanced over his shoulder at her and raised a single silent eyebrow.

“Grr!” Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and darted back to him, flying around the large stallion in a fast circle, trying to make him dizzy.

He didn’t seem to care at all about following her movements though. Instead he just stood still and kept looking ahead, not bothering with whatever Rainbow Dash was doing at all. Fed up with his attitude she started jabbing out with lightning quick strikes as she flew around him. Dozens of them that no ordinary pegasus would’ve been able to see or react to. She tightened up her circle and got closer as she did so, hitting every single spot on his body. His wings, his legs, his neck, his flank, his underbelly, she was raining a storm down on him that should’ve reduced him to a helpless mess.

Except every strike was like trying to shatter a diamond with her bare hooves. Somehow it was like when she had fought Archibald, only worse. This guy was tougher than that yak, Rainbow Dash realized with worry. Her attacks didn’t faze him at all. It’s like she was a mosquito or a fly and all of her buzzing was just that, buzzing. She landed one final punch to his face and then stopped her barrage to leap away from the pegasus and float in the air above of and in front of him.

Rainbow Dash glared down at the Commander, her wings flapping by her sides and all four of her hooves now throbbing with a bit of pain. She was flying above the walls of the arena and level with the stands but had plenty more room to fly up if she so chose.

“Was one of your parents a rock or something?” She said to Blizzard.

His smile left his face but it was completely of his own accord. “You know I already expected nothing from a pegasus mare that had lived in Equestria her whole life but you’ve somehow given me even less than that. A pity. But I suppose this is a good thing since all here can witness your weakness and my superiority.”

“You haven’t won yet!” Rainbow shouted and dove low.

She came in from the front again like she was going in for another direct attack on his face or chest, but when she got close she came to a screeching halt and blasted Commander Blizzard with a powerful gust of wind from her wings. The wind made his mane and tail blow about and even ruffled the feathers of the pegasi in the stands behind him. It didn’t hurt Blizzard but he still reflexively closed his eyes and turned his face away for a moment. That was still all Rainbow Dash was looking for. She closed the gap again in the instant his eyes closed and pummeled his face with a barrage of hooves. Potentially hurting herself didn’t matter anymore. She had to hurt this guy, had to make him flinch, had to prove that she could win.

The Equestrian pegasus jumped away from his face when she was done and landed back on the ground. Breathing a little more ragged and with some sweat running down her forehead.

“I guess you’re finally done?” Blizzard asked her, lifting up a hoof and tidying his mane. He looked absolutely none the worse for wear. “Will you be giving up and admitting my superiority or will I have to knock you out again for the second time today?”

Dash angrily scoffed at him and flung her now slightly sweaty mane back. “I’d like to see you try! So what if you’re a big hulking rock? I could fly circles around you, you’ll never be able to do anything to me either so long as I’m paying attention. Why don’t you try going on offense now if you’re so great? I’ll tire you out way quicker than you’d ever tire me, you jerk!”

Commander Blizzard did not smirk, or raise an eyebrow, or laugh. He didn’t get angry or let himself be provoked. All the pegasus did was spread his massive wings wide and lift himself off the ground.

“We’ll see.”

With a powerful flap he flew towards Rainbow Dash, who had to react quickly to fly into the air. The Commander chased her as she climbed higher to the domed ceiling of the coliseum. He had a decent speed but not Wonderbolt level and definitely not “fastest Wonderbolt of all time” level. She decided that if he was going to put on a show then so would she and she began doing all sorts of aerial acrobats and maneuver that had been drilled into her by Spitfire ever since she first started training camp. Rainbow Dash led him on a chase through the air without even coming close to resorting to her full speed, trying to shake and confuse him and make the Commander eat her tail wind. The pegasi watching from the stands were wowed by her ability, none of them could make such sharp and quick movements in the sky.

Unfortunately though, Commander Blizzard was able to keep up with her. His movements weren’t as sharp thanks to his bigger body and he didn’t have her speed but he still stayed right on her tail the entire time and didn’t look tired out or troubled by any of the maneuvers Dash was putting him through. She did a double loop into a long corkscrew and followed that up with a nosedive straight to the ground whereupon at the last possible second she changed direction and skimmed along the clouds… and then looked over her shoulder to see the Commander replicate it without issue.

“Oh come on!” Rainbow Dash threw up her hooves in frustration.

He didn’t look like he was getting tired either.

“Are you done with your little tricks and childish loops?” Blizzard called out to her as they both flew above the stands, with him hot on her tail.

“Hey! Those routines and stuff take a long time to master if you’re performing them with a bunch of other ponies right beside you. You have to be really careful!”

“As expected of a pitiful pegasus from Equestria. More preoccupied with games and flying around like a silly fairy.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Yeah… well… as expected of some big dumb flying rock! You’re way too slow to catch me!”

“Oh really?” Blizzard narrowed his eyes. “I think you’re misunderstanding things if you think this is as fast as I can fly. I merely wanted to see what you could do. But I suppose this match has gone on long enough, my pegasi can clearly see that you can do nothing to me. It’s time to finish things and have you start your new life learning to be a true pegasus.”

With a single powerful flap of his wings, Blizzard created a whirlwind behind him as he shot towards Rainbow Dash. The furious gust blew across all of the gathered pegasi in the stands and instantly changed the air currents inside the coliseum. Rainbow Dash felt herself wobble as she was buffeted by the wind, it was incredible how he was able to emit that much power so easily. His natural strength coupled with an affinity for the inborn weather-manipulating magic of a pegasus allowed for some impressive feats. Rainbow Dash had to grit her teeth and get back on form, less the powerful wind carry her away. She could do the same kind of thing and clear clouds like a pro but she wasn’t used to having this kind of thing happen in an enclosed area. With Blizzard’s strength and power over the air currents he had full control over anything flying in here.

And all of that was second to the fact that he was now flying at a speed that matched her own.

“Woah!” Rainbow Dash yelled as he went zooming past her, barely dodging the scythe-like wing he stuck out trying to hit her with on the way by.

Blizzard made a sharp turn, much sharper than she expected him to be able to, and came back, jabbing at her with his hooves while she did her best to dodge his attacks. Knowing how strong he was it would only take one hit to knock her senseless. Even a glancing blow would do serious damage.

The two of them went through their aerial dogfighting like that, Rainbow Dash occasionally scoring a hit on Blizard’s longer limbs as he tried to hit her, for all the good that did. Blizzard methodically hounded her through the sky. His face unwavering stone as he focused entirely on hitting his opponent. A far cry from Rainbow Dash’s mounting frustration and anger. It was how calm he was, how sure of himself, that bothered her most of all. And the nagging thought in the back of her head that he was right. That she couldn’t beat him.

It was causing her to lose focus.

Blizzard lashed out with his right wing. It was a move Rainbow Dash wasn’t expecting as she was focused entirely on his hooves and she was barely able to duck under it. But that left her open to a punch. Blizzard’s left forehoof came down on her head like a meteor, there was no way to completely avoid it so Dash flapped her wings to push herself backwards. The edge of his hoof just barely grazed her cheek and chin but it was enough to send her spinning out of control down to the arena floor.

Rainbow Dash hit the clouds with a hard thump and bounced off them once, coming to a stop like a filly’s doll thrown on the floor. The Commander came to a landing a few short feet away. Surprisingly he didn’t gloat but merely looked on with disdain at the pegasus from Equestria. There was a decent amount of cheering from the audience as they saw their Commander victorious after being entertained by the good fight. Knowing she had been defeated was the last thought that went through Rainbow Dash’s mind as she lost consciousness.

True Pegasus V

Things were dark and noisy in Rainbow Dash’s mind. Her consciousness slipped back and forth between slightly registering the world around her and being completely asleep. In any regard it was nothing but a cavalcade of shapes and sounds blooming inside her head, some familiar and some not, most of it just random and chaotic. How long had she been like this? She thought she might’ve been moving at times but her body felt so disconnected from her mind it was like if she was occasionally being pulled by puppet strings through a pool of mud. Everything was off, and slow, and muffled. She didn’t know why, she couldn’t remember why, and her mind was so fractured and confused she wasn’t even aware what was going on most of the time or that this wasn’t normal. It was a dreamlike state without a real dream going on. Just a mess in her head and impossible for her to realize she was dreaming or stuck in this world of ambiguity.

“Waaa heee uuuu.”

The muffled noises from outside her world stirred the pegasus slightly. There was something going on. Something that didn’t have to do with the chaos in her unconscious mind. Her sleep and dreaminess was being interrupted, forcefully broken. Movement then. She felt herself being cajoled in her sleep, the puppet strings were pulling her all over. It felt like her mind and body were speeding up and she could feel her hooves and wings wildly shooting out all over the place as they attempted to find something familiar and make her feel right.

“Wake her up!”

Things were getting rougher and more coherent now. Rainbow Dash felt a hard shove against her body and her head suddenly fell back as if something that had been supporting it was suddenly taken away. She slowly opened her eyes as her body rose from being knocked out cold by Commander Blizzard. Everything was still a blur in front of her, she could only barely make out some fuzzy shapes as she blinked a few more times to get her eyes to focus.

She realized she was lying on a bed and several ponies were standing around her. Along with a familiar caramel face looking down at her with a smile.

“Welcome to your new home,” Lt. Crescent Moon said to her.

Rainbow Dash frowned and propped herself up on her elbows. She was still tired and confused and her head was throbbing. She blinked a couple of times and rubbed the spot where she had been hit with her wing. “Ughhh, do you mind filling me in on some things?”

She heard the Lieutenant snort but he answered anyways. “It’s the morning after your match with Commander Blizzard. You’ve been asleep since then.”

“I got knocked out again? That’s so lame...” Rainbow Dash lamented. She was really annoyed about losing that fight but she had some more pressing issues to attend to. Like where she was and what exactly was going on now. The blue pony looked over her body and noticed that much to her joy she at least wasn’t chained up or cuffed. A welcome change from how she spent so much of yesterday.

Her eyes then traveled over Crescent Moon as she really looked at him for the first time. The lieutenant wasn’t wearing his armor and it allowed his curly brown mane to fall down around his face and left his Cutie Mark visible to the world. A half moon, not a crescent like Rainbow Dash would’ve expected. Her eyes didn’t linger on it for long as they were then drawn to all of the other ponies that were standing right behind Crescent Moon and watching her. Other soldiers. They regarded her with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness, as if unsure whether or not they should even be looking at her. Like Crescent Moon, none of them had their armor on at the moment. He said it was the morning so maybe they were all getting ready?

That brought Rainbow Dash back to wondering where she was and why though. As she looked around at the building she was in she saw that it was a fairly narrow but long building with a row of bunk beds on each side of the wall. Except for where she was. Rainbow Dash was sitting on a single bed placed against the back wall of the building, making her the odd one out.

“Okay, I’ll bite. Where am I?” She asked Crescent Moon again.

“This is one of our barracks. Commander Blizzard has assigned you to my squad. It’s where you’ll be living for the foreseeable future,” he smirked at her.

Rainbow Dash scowled at him. “Good to know.”

Crescent Moon shrugged and began to walk away from her bed, the soldiers quickly shuffling about and creating two lines alongside the rows of beds. “Perhaps one day you’ll have a home of your own like all the other soldiers, but for now the Commander wants you to be a resident of the military barracks. Until he’s satisfied that you’ve embraced our way and will be loyal to him and our Empire.”

“Dude, I’m just gonna tell you right now that that isn’t happening,” Dash lifted an unconvinced eyebrow at him.

“I’m sure you’ll come around eventually,” Crescent Moon wasn’t shaken by her resolute words. “You’ll see that this is the perfect pegasus society. That our way of doing things is the right way and far superior to how the pegasi in Equestria live.”

“That’d mean a lot more if you guys actually knew anything about Equestria. But you clearly don’t.”

He spun around, slightly annoyed now. “It doesn’t matter. I know in my heart that this is the society for true pegasi! And nothing can beat that! We’ve lived this way, maintaining the culture of our ancestors for generations, the pegasi in Equestria who have turned their backs on that can’t possibly be right. When you finally realize that it’ll be all the proof I or anyone else needs. A pegasus mare from Equestria who fully embraces the Empire and throws away her old beliefs after living in both worlds? It will be the affirmation of everything the Eternal Pegasus Empire stands for.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head after listening to his ranting. She could hardly stand this kind of stuff from anyone, she was a pony who preferred actions to words after all. “Look, whatever, you can believe all that stuff and I’ll just keep doing my thing and being awesome. Then we’re both happy.”

“Fine. It’s not like there’s anything you can do here but listen to us anyways,” Crescent Moon huffed.

She ignored the potential to get into another argument with him (with great difficulty) and moved her eyes to the soldiers now standing at attention and attempting to act like they weren’t listening to this entire conversation. “So then who are these guys and why were they looking at me like… er, like I was a pony from Equestria… never mind.”

“These soldiers make up my squad. And since you are now in my squad they are your direct comrades. And it’s not just because you’re from Equestria. Mares aren’t normally allowed in the military, the Commander has made an exception for you for obvious reasons,” Crescent Moon answered.

“No mares?!” Rainbow Dash hopped off her bed in disbelief, luckily the night of rest had taken care of most of the latent pain from her fight. “That’s dumb! I’d have gone totally crazy back in Equestria if they didn’t let mares in the Wonderbolts!”

“I’m assuming these Wonderbolts are some sort of elite military group? Either way I care little and less about that. This is the way we do things up here,” Crescent stuck up his nose at her.

“Missing out. I bet there are a ton of mares here that could kick butt just as well as these guys. I mean, if they all fight as well as you and those others who came out to catch me that’s not a very high bar, but still,” Dash shrugged.

“That’s not the point,” the Lieutenant scowled. “Mares and stallions have their own roles. That’s how it’s always been and that’s how it shall always be.”

“Lame!” Rainbow Dash shook her head. These guys were more old-fashioned than the most smarmy and snobbish families in Canterlot. She really wanted to argue more about this and so many other things but this guy was so thickheaded. They’d all probably just be sticking their heads in the clouds. Now that Crescent told her that though, Rainbow Dash thought back to the coliseum and the administrative building and realized that she wasn’t sure if she had seen a single mare there. They really did keep things separate if that was the case.

“It is not lame. Either way you should consider yourself blessed for this opportunity. Now morning training will begin shortly, put on your armor and get yourself acquainted with the rest of the squad and then file out to the training clouds,” her new commanding officer began walking away again until Rainbow Dash called out to him.

“Hey! What armor?” She threw her arms wide open as she hovered above the floor with her wings buzzing.

Crescent Moon stopped once more to roll his eyes and made a half-turn, pointing his wing at something under Rainbow Dash’s bed before going back to walking his way out of the barracks.

Rainbow Dash frowned but looked under her bed to see a large trunk sitting there. “Oh.” She said and pulled it out, wheezing with some effort as she managed to put the heavy trunk on top of her bed and open it up.

With a click the trunk unlatched and opened to reveal her own set of armor and helmet exactly like the ones the other soldiers wore. All silvery and pleated at the end. Rainbow Dash had had enough practice with wearing this kind of stuff and seeing how it works that she knew how to put it on without any help. It was pretty cool she had to admit, she always thought Flash Magnus was an awesome hero and now she got to wear armor basically identical to his? She was gonna love talking to him about all this stuff when she got back to Equestria.

As she finished strapping her armor on and checking to make sure it was all in good condition (it fit surprisingly well) she closed her trunk back up and put it under her bed. With a crack of her neck she grinned to herself and looked back over to the other soldiers of her “squad” to see how they were doing.

All of them were standing around staring at her.

“Okay, you guys really need to stop doing that. Is this seriously so weird for you?” Rainbow Dash asked with a flat expression on her face. Now that she counted there were six of them total, not near enough to fill up this barracks that looked like several dozen could sleep in it every night. Obviously multiple squads must use it. Which means she was probably going to get this treatment again and again. “Don’t you need to get ready too?”

That seemed to snap them out of their fugue. The other soldiers that made up her new squad quickly scrambled to pull out their trunks and get their armor equipped, although none of them looked particularly keen on saying hi to her yet.

So Rainbow Dash decided she might as well try to start up some conversation. “It’s cool that you guys already had armor for me. It fits really well.”

“It wasn’t for you—not specifically at least,” one of the pegasi soldiers said. His voice came out quick and his eyes only once nervously darted to her before looking back at his own armor, but he continued. “It’s our smallest size armor. For stallions of a scrawnier build.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Thanks for letting me know. And so you guys can talk to me, huh?”

The six stallions shuffled about awkwardly at having been put on the spot like this. The one that had previously spoken was nudged by the solider standing next to him and sighed, resigned to the fact that he was now being made their temporary voice after having talked to her already.

“We’re just not exactly used to this. In many ways. You’re also very different from how mares here are.”

“Well there’s no one quite like me back in Equestria either. There’s just not enough awesome in the world for that. But hey, if we’re supposed to be friends or squadmates or whatever from now on we have to get along don’t we? This is weird for me too you know?” Rainbow Dash walked up to the six and pressed a wing to her now armored chest. “Name’s Rainbow Dash by the way in case nobody told you.”

“The Lieutenant told us. And we were there to watch your fight with the Commander,” the solider said. “We had never seen anyone fight the Commander like that. We didn’t think anyone else could do something like that, especially not a mare from Equestria.”

“Oh. Thanks,” Dash frowned at him.

The soldier winced in embarrassment and shifted his eyes around. “My apologies, I didn’t mean anything by that. We’re just brought up to see mares and Equestrians in a different light.”

Rainbow Dash was about to speak up further on that when another one of the soldier’s coughed to get their attention.

Her “friend” perked up and looked at her. “I’m sorry, we need to get to morning training. Come outside with us and we can talk on the way. My name is Summer Rains, the rest of the introductions can come later.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Alright, lead the way.”

Summer Rains gave her a nod of acknowledgment and he led the other soldiers of the squad to the door at the end of the building. Was he maybe the second-in-command? Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure. She wasn’t even sure what rank these soldiers were. Privates probably. So wait. Was she officially a private now? She hadn’t been thinking about it but it was pretty cool to hold an actual military rank. Even if it was for a place like this and in a military she technically didn’t belong to at all. Whatever, she could talk to Crescent Moon about it next time she saw him.

Another thing occurred to her as they went to make their way to the training area outside. She looked at her sides and flexed her wings, they were in perfect condition. She wasn’t chained or cuffed anymore and she knew the skies around the city were open.

I could just fly away… She thought. It was the easy and simple solution. There wasn’t a single pony here who could catch her if she was serious. Except for maybe Blizzard. But would he be willing to leave for who knows how long just to chase her down?

The thing is she knew exactly why he was allowing her this freedom and making it so easy for her to just fly off and leave the Empire.

Because he knew she wouldn’t.

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes as she walked behind the soldiers. Blizzard had gotten a good read on her personality, she was way to stubborn to just fly off after getting beaten and humiliated like that. Furthermore she’d be turning her back on an adventure. This was basically what she wanted up here, wasn’t it? Where would be the fun in just leaving? There was also the fact that this place was just… wrong. She wanted to change things in the Empire. And Twilight would probably be a little bit cross with her if she left a society of ponies like this without helping at all or opening them up to the magic of friendship.

Yeah, there was no way she was just flying away. This was her adventure.

In a large room on the highest floor of the administration building that held the Elder council chambers, Commander Blizzard stood looking out the window made of ice at the city below. His city the way he saw it. Rule by the strong was their rule and he was the strongest around, he merely had no penchant or patience for the day to day affairs of running the city and what that entailed. So the Commander allowed the Elders to do their thing and he did his thing. But things had been getting strained lately. More and more often the Elders, especially Tornado, were showing their disdain for him and their weariness of his increased aggression towards the Frost Wolves, increased hardcore training and longer shifts for the common soldiers, increased patrols and greater presence of the military across the city. They didn’t see the point of it all. They didn’t like what he was doing. To Commander Blizzard it showed him they were weak and didn’t truly believe in the pegasus way.

“Fortune has finally smiled on me,” he said as he stared past the columns at the front of the building down the side of the mountain in the direction of the base he had sent Rainbow Dash to.

“Sir?” East and West Wind both said at once, the twins standing behind him at attention.

“Nothing,” Commander Blizzard waved his most loyal subordinates off. “Just saying that that mare’s arrival here is a blessing. She’s exactly what I need to wake all of these fools and cowards up.”

East and West shared an uncertain glance with each other—they knew how bad it would be if other soldiers were privy to Commander Blizzard’s innermost thoughts and feelings. Everything he said about affirming their culture was true and honest, but it masked the deeper resentment and contempt he felt for any pegasus who didn’t match up to his impossibly high ideals.

“Demilitarization. What an absolute joke. What a betrayal of everything our ancestors stood and struggled for,” Blizzard said, his eyes narrowing and his jaw clenching with every word.

The Captains wisely said nothing as their commander’s anger grew.

“They’ve tried flying that idea by me for ages now. They want things to change. Well no more. Rainbow Dash will be my tool that will quiet those voices and dissent forever. No one will have a wing to fly on after seeing a filthy pegasus from Equestria fully embrace our ways. Then we can do something so much more than just play at war with the Wolves and other lowly creatures up here.”

West Wind was now too curious to remain totally silent, regardless of the potential outcome he opened his mouth. “Sir? So you do intend to find our brothers and sisters to the south and turn them onto the true pegasus way?”

“Of course,” Blizzard said as he looked over his shoulder at the disruptive twin. “And damn the cost.”

“That will likely mean all out war with Equestria...” West Wind gulped.

Commander Blizzard did not share his worries. “I can only hope.”

True Pegasus VI

Summer Rains was a strong and stout looking pony with a short clear blue mane and a lime-green coat that gave off the same pleasant sort of vibe that his name did. Rainbow Dash could tell just by looking at the thin strands of his mane that it would become an unruly mop if he ever let it grow out more. Rainbow Dash’s own mane spilled out of her helmet, thankfully no one had tried to cut her mane in her sleep, even though it was obviously standard for the soldiers to have their manes short. Maybe it was her special privilege as a mare to keep it long. She wasn’t sure how to feel about it if that was the case. Or maybe they just wanted to wait for her to wake up and Crescent Moon was going to drag her off to the barber sometime later today. Neither option really appealed to her.

When they opened the door to the barracks and stepped outside, Rainbow Dash got her first look at the military base that she would be staying and training at for now. It was of an impressive size but what first caught her attention was the large mountain dominating the view in front of her. It seemed the base was located at the eastern most part of the front half of the mountain right before the backside became buried in the clouds that the mountain was partially situated in. Looking up she was also pretty sure they were at the very bottom of the mountain as level upon level of cloud city kept creeping up the mountain until she could see the huge council building or whatever. Buildings and walls of cloud obstructed her view to the west or south but she was pretty sure from her own sense of direction and distance telling that the camp stood at the mountain’s base.

Thanks to where they were in the world and the high column of clouds that blocked off most of the sky not directly above the mountain she wasn’t sure how early in the morning it was. “Early” was all the light and the current moisture in the air told her.

Giving up on learning anything else about the rest of the city she turned her eyes back to the base to check it out. Her squadmates trotted forth in a single-file line with her at the end so a lot of her vision was obscured but she could already make out that they were walking onto a wide and open field of clouds that looked like it was lined with several other barracks identical to the one they had just emerged from back the way they had come. There were several other buildings smattered about along the edges of the base, one that was about triple the size of the barracks with most of the others looking like one or two room offices and shacks. Besides the buildings it looked like right ahead of her there was a paved track of clouds done into a long oval ring. Hanging in the sky above the track, Rainbow Dash could see a bunch of hoops and rings of varying sizes and placement. She was pretty happy when she saw those—that was something just like back home when it came to practicing your flight. She couldn’t wait to show off her skills and fly through those hoops like the ace she was.

To the side of the track, and in the direction her squad was heading, Rainbow Dash saw several lines of soldiers standing at attention. All of them in groups of six so they must be individual squads. Which meant that when Dash’s group stood beside them she’d stick out like a sore hoof even more cause she’d be the seventh in line. She had a feeling that she was going to be getting singled out a lot here.

Whatever. She rolled her eyes. It wasn’t something she could avoid.

Rainbow Dash formed up with the others, standing right next to Summer Rains and keeping her eyes forward. She was used to Wonderbolt boot camp after all. Despite her preference for flying around and doing stuff, discipline had been well drilled into her by Spitfire. If she had to just stand still and be quiet here for the moment then she would.

She heard a door opening from one of the other buildings and a fluttering of wings but since no one turned to look she didn’t either. Let them try to find a fault with her.

Two pegasi flew down in front of the lined up soldiers. One of them a now armor-clad Crescent Moon and the other a grizzled old pegasus wearing an eyepatch with a lightning bolt for a Cutie Mark over his storm cloud gray flank.

“As you’ve already certainly noticed, we have a new recruit. That changes nothing!” The old pegasus stomped his hoof on the ground. “If you thought we might be doing something different you’re wrong. Training will commence just like normal as if she was a pegasi soldier like any other. So get to it! One hundred push-ups and then ten laps around the track! And don’t even think about using those wings!”

“Sir, yes sir!” All of the soldiers except Rainbow Dash yelled in unison and immediately dropped to the cloud ground, beginning their push-ups.

Because she was slightly slow on the uptake Crescent Moon took the opportunity to lay into her.

“And what’s the matter with you, Rainbow Dash?” He snidely asked as he flew up to her. “Do you think you don’t need to do the training too?”

She knew answering was pointless so she just frowned and began to do her push-ups. If that’s how they were going to do things then fine.

Crescent Moon just grinned at her as she began the workout though and glanced over to the eye-patch wearing pony.

“Can’t have a squad lacking coordination. You all need to be on the same page,” the pony said. “So thanks to a certain someone on your squad not having the sense to get down and begin their push-ups when instructed, Crescent Moon’s squad will do an extra hundred push-ups.”

Rainbow Dash bristled, her face getting red as she did her push-ups. Those jerks! She had to bite her lip to keep from saying anything or making it worse. This was going to make her really popular with the other soldiers in the squad. Crescent Moon and this instructor or whoever were probably looking for the slightest problem or mistake from her to punish her. They wouldn’t get her to break so easily though, she was way too stubborn for that. And way too fit. Let them throw whatever they had at her!

“Thank you, sergeant. I think my squad will be happy for the extra exercise. I leave the rest to you now,” Crescent Moon nodded at the sergeant and flew up into the sky, going to somewhere else on the base.

Rainbow Dash didn’t bother looking after him—thinking that any sign she was taking her attention off her push-ups would get them all in trouble again.

These push-ups though… they were actually starting to wear on her. She was wearing armor, and she was way more used to exercising her wings than her legs. Weight-lifting and strength training were normal to her but she was a Wonderbolt so it usually had to do with her wings. Not this kind of thing. Obviously it made sense for them to make the soldiers go through full body training but that meant Dash was a little more troubled than she thought she would be. The armor was still light since it had to allow for quick flight but after two-hundred push-ups the extra weight would really add up. And then they’d have to run around that track too instead of flying or anything. This was the kind of stuff Applejack was better suited for. Rainbow Dash wanted to use her wings already.

The other lined up squads finished their push-ups long before Rainbow Dash’s did and then quickly ran out to the track. And in fact they completed their ten laps before her squad even began that part of the training too. An extra hundred push-ups really took a lot of time. By the time she finally got to the last one her forelegs were on fire and her back and shoulders weren’t doing much better.

And now I have to run. Great.

Once the last of the seven was finished they all ran out to the track together. Rainbow Dash had a feeling that Summer Rains and the others were probably pretty peeved at her but she had some questions she wanted to ask him.

“Hey, Summer Rains? Is this like your normal morning training? I want to know when I can actually fly,” Rainbow Dash’s feathers ruffled for emphasis.

Maybe he was just too polite to mares but he didn’t seem angry at her for the extra work. “This is normal. Flight training is later in the day after lunch.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. Speaking of lunch, they hadn’t even had breakfast! “Er, what about breakfast? I think I’m kind of hungry.”

“That will be after this. Once our laps are done we’ll head over to the mess hall,” he pointed with his head to the large building Rainbow Dash had noticed earlier.

“Alright. I guess we’re really working up an appetite before that.”

Summer Rains didn’t say anything in response. She couldn’t tell if he was naturally taciturn and just didn’t say anything unneeded or if he was nervous around her like the others still seemed to be. She was hoping the soldiers would be more carefree and boisterous like the Wonderbolts were but that didn’t seem to be the case. Even back in Equestria most of the royal guards were pretty no-nonsense and the military here seemed to take itself even more seriously. Whatever, she’d crack their shells and become friends with them just like she did when she first joined the Wonderbolts too. After all, of all the ponies in Equestria she was definitely one of the best at making new friends.

Running the laps of the track definitely winded her more than she was willing to admit. She was going to chalk it up to the lack of food and the armor she was wearing. Since there was absolutely no way one of the most physically fit ponies in Equestria could be tired from a little running. Thanks to her excellent inner sense of distance she was pretty sure each lap around the track was half a mile. Easy peasy. She could run five miles while carrying twice as much weight as this no problem.

The sweat that turned her mane into a wet rag was an unavoidable side-effect. At least the air was cool and breezy.

To her joy and satisfaction she was the fastest in the squad even on her legs and she finished up the ten laps first, waiting for the others to join her so they could then go eat breakfast. When the last member of her squad pulled to a stop she shot a grin at Summer Rains.

“So? We eating?”

“Yes,” he nodded. Like the others he was worn out and sweaty. “We’ll show you how things are done in the mess hall and where we sit. Every squad has their own table, hopefully someone had the foresight to bring in an extra chair for you.”

The mess hall was organized in a very orderly manner with four rows of twelve tables each taking up most of the floor space and the back wall dominated by the chow line and the kitchens behind it. Several hairnet wearing pegasi stood with ladles in hand, spooning helpings of vegetables, soup, and oatmeal from various large pots into the bowls and trays of the soldiers shuffling on by. All of the tables were numbered and Rainbow Dash’s squad was seated at lucky number 7 in the first row closest to the food. And thankfully that seventh seat had been brought out for her, making her sit comfortably at the head of the table with Summer Rains immediately to her left.

Her squad had patiently waited in line for their food and could now sit down at their table and eat. The mess hall was only about half full at the moment, either the base was understaffed or there were multiple different schedules and timetables depending on your unit. Rainbow Dash shrugged; it wasn’t really important to her, and dug into her food. Her helmet sat next to her tray and her mane fell looser around her face and neck than normal thanks to how much she had sweat earlier.

She looked around at Summer Rains and the others as they all ate, occasionally sending glances her way. Soldiers at other tables did much the same. Rainbow Dash was pretty sure this was going to be the norm for most of her time here. Nothing she could do about that though so instead she figured it would be best to get the rest of the introductions done with. Since the stallions certainly weren’t going to be the first one to speak up and say hi.

Rainbow Dash swallowed a mouthful of oatmeal and sighed. “Okay, so can I at least learn your guys’s names already? I can guess you’re a little weirded out by all of this but we should at least be able to make friends. Besides Summer Rains none of you have even talked to me.”

The five unknown soldiers looked a little ashamed and with a quick nod from Summer Rains they put down their spoons and the long put off introductions finally got under way.

“Well… my name is Wild Wind,” the stallion directly to her right said. He was a snow white pegasus with a pink mane a shade or two darker than Fluttershy’s along with pink eyes to match it. “And actually I’m the squad’s corporal, I report directly to Lieutenant Moon and I’m technically your superior officer now as well. I um, had been letting Summer Rains talk to you—even though admittedly it should’ve been me.”

“No hard feelings,” Summer Rains shrugged.

“Wild Wind,” Rainbow Dash repeated the name to drill it into her head. “Well nice to meet you, uh, sir?”

The corporal shook his head. “You really don’t need to call me that.”

“We’re cousins,” the soldier sitting by Summer Rains suddenly said as he held a hoof on the shoulder of the other stallion sitting next to him. “My name is Skychaser and this is Flashbolt.”

Skychaser was a hazel pony with an ocean blue mane and a brilliantly white smile that he only now showed off for the first time to Rainbow Dash. Flashbolt on the other hoof had a creamy complexion and a walnut mane. She would’ve never guessed they were related if he hadn’t said anything. The only similarity they had was nearly identical brown eyes.

The soldier sitting right across from Skychaser then raised his hoof. “My name is Clear Skies, everyone just calls me Clear.” His voice was surprisingly deep but smooth. His name didn’t exactly fit his appearance though as he had a deep orange coat and a mane that was about four different shades of purple. Rainbow Dash was sure Rarity would correct her on the precise names of the colors, like violet, indigo, lavender and whatever but Rainbow Dash couldn’t tell which was which.

“And that leaves me. I’m Fierce Current,” the soldier sitting to the right of Clear Skies at the end of the table said. He was a cherry colored pony with a brown mane and blue eyes that really stood out against his coat.

“Well hey, glad we got that out of the way,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile of her own and a small wave. “So uh, is there anything you want to ask me or whatever? I figured you guys would be super curious about Equestria and why I’m here and everything.”

Summer Rains opened his mouth but before he could get anything out Wild Wind beat him to it.

“We’ve been specifically told by the Lieutenant to not ask you about Equestria,” the corporal elaborated.

Rainbow Dash snorted and rolled her eyes. “Figures. So what’s up with that guy then? Why isn’t he here eating with everyone else?”

“As an officer he has his own shared quarters with the other officers. They don’t go through the same routine as us everyday,” Wild Wind told her.

“So he doesn’t sleep in the barracks either?”

“No,” the corporal shook his head.

“Dumb!” Rainbow Dash’s wings spread open in annoyance.

“It’s just how the military hierarchy works,” Summer Rains said. “The barracks aren’t our homes or anything either. No one permanently lives on base, we all have our own homes and families in the city, it’s just we have long shifts of work and training where we might go several weeks at a time staying on base.

“Eh, I get that.” Rainbow Dash had to agree. “I’m part of a couple groups back home where it can basically work out the same. Long training camps, long adventures, stuff like that.”

Wild Wind cleared his throat. “And speaking of our training we need to finish up our breakfast soon and get back to it. There’s a quite a lot to do until our next break at lunch and quite a lot to do after it as well.”

Rainbow Dash grinned at him and folded her hooves behind her head in a cocky pose. “Hey, as long as I get to fly today I’ll be happy.”

They started doing wing push-ups right after breakfast. So it may have not been flying but it was still something more Rainbow Dash’s speed. She kept stealing glances at the other squads out on the clouds with them; some of who were jogging along as a unit, or sparring with each other, or going through another exercise. The only ones she was actually jealous of were the ones in the sky right above her that were flying through that ringed obstacle course. Now Rainbow Dash had to watch them while she waited until after lunch to go up there.

Her squad moved on to lifting weights with their wings, a different kind of exercise that worked a different muscle group. Naturally Rainbow Dash excelled at that too but Fierce Current was also able to lift an impressive amount of weight with his wings. Honestly after fighting those other soldiers and flying circles around them, when she first got here she wasn’t really expecting anything impressive from these guys.

“Hey Fierce, nice job!” She said to the cherry pegasus as he lifted a dumbbell equal to her own. A little positive encouragement between squadmates was a good thing, right? She wanted to get closer to these guys after all.

“Thank you,” the stallion responded. “I’m more impressed by you though. Before today nobody on the squad could lift as much with their wings as me.”

It was physically impossible to stop the smug grin from appearing on her face. “Well I’ve got a set of pretty powerful wings here.”

“So I’ve seen,” Fierce said. Rainbow Dash assumed he also watched her fight with Blizzard.

After that they went about doing short running sprints on the ground, where Skychaser and Flashbolt proved to both be equally fast. Although again Rainbow Dash could now take the title of fastest from them. Supposedly Clear Skies was their fastest at long distance running… besides Rainbow Dash now.

“Are you putting us all to shame intentionally?” Clear Skies asked as he watched Rainbow Dash sprint back and forth on the clouds, although there was a measure of humor in his deep bass voice.

“Hey, if I’m doing something I’m doing it the best I can. That’s just how I fly. Give a hundred and ten percent for everything. As long as it isn’t something lame or boring,” Rainbow Dash answered.

“I’m not sure if you’ll like to hear it then but I think you’ll fit in well here,” Summer Rains told her.

“If that’s just a side-effect of being awesome then there’s nothing I can do,” Rainbow Dash shrugged as she went back for another sprint with Skychaser and Flashbolt. “Asking me to not be awesome is—like—impossible.”

The squad went through more and more exercises after that until it was time to head back to the mess hall for lunch. Bread and a thin gruel along with something that looked like creamed corn to Rainbow Dash until Summer Rains helpfully informed her it was something called “grits”. Tasted good though. She ate all of that up even faster than her breakfast. All this working out gave her even more of an appetite than it made her sweat. And since flying was coming up she wanted to be absolutely full of energy so she could show off to her best ability. Rainbow Dash was excited to have the chance to teach these soldiers how a pegasus could really fly.

After they had all finished up lunch it was time for them to take to the skies and her squad flew up on a level with all of the rings she had been continuously checking out from below. They now stood on a staging cloud with another couple of squads who were all getting ready for flights as well.

“So who’s the fastest flier?” Rainbow Dash asked her unit.

“That would be me,” Wild Wind said before looking off into the distance. “Although I believe that with you here that’s another thing that’s already changed.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it dude. I’m the fastest back home too.” She patted his back with her wing.

Rainbow Dash stepped forward to the edge of the cloud, her sharp eyes picking out every possible route to fly through the rings and make it to the other end. Some rings were wide enough for her to fly through easily even with both wings extended while others were barely big enough for her to squeeze through even if she tucked her wings into her sides. Being a smaller mare she had to wonder if those rings were new or if they were just made to see which soldier would be dumb enough to try and get through them without hitting the sides. That eye-patch wearing sergeant was floating alongside the rings too, watching and making sure that no one screwed up or tried to cheat. Some other soldiers were floating along with him—either more sergeants or lieutenants she had to guess.

“So is there like a set path we need to do or is it just whatever?” Rainbow Dash asked Wild Wind.

“You need to at least go through twenty rings. Any size, in any order, and without turning around. The sergeants are watching and timing you,” he nodded towards the other soldiers Dash had noticed.

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash cracked her neck and stretched her wings. “Well prepare to be amazed.”

She didn’t wait for anyone to call go or even check to see if someone else was preparing to take a flight through the rings. The Equestrian pegasus blasted off from the cloud in a rainbow flash. She intentionally went for rings that caused her to immediately and swiftly change direction mid-flight, ones most pegasi would have to slow down to get to, but not her. She was like lightning as she conquered this course, her wingtips never once even coming close to touching the edges of the obstacles. Wanting to show off as much as possible she finished it with shooting like an arrow through one of the smaller rings. All accomplished at a speed that most pegasi couldn’t dream of or even just keep up with watching.

Rainbow Dash landed on a cloud right at the end of the wings and held her head high with her wings up. She knew how to look as impressive as possible for a crowd.

“Is that good enough for a mare from Equestria?” She half-yelled at the sergeants watching.

They acted like they hadn’t even been paying attention to her.

Rainbow Dash scowled but didn’t make a scene out of it. She knew already how things were going to play out here. With a flap of her wings she started flying back to her squad on the other side, taking the opposite side of the course from where the sergeants were. While she flew around at a more leisurely pace she saw other squads flying in unison on mock patrols through the sky or going through aerial maneuvers and spars of dog-fighting. Hopefully she’d get to do that stuff today or soon too. She’d excel at it. She’d excel at anything they had her do, even wearing this armor and being in a foreign environment. Cause that’s just how awesome she was.

And she’d never forget her friends or betray her home. She didn’t know how patient Commander Blizzard was but she’d never give him the benefit of seeing her come around to his ideals or embrace that “True pegasus way”. And the next time they fought, which she knew they would, things would be different.

True Pegasus IX

Rainbow Dash and Fierce Current walked through a tunnel built into the side of the mountain that the city rested on. The previous evening, Crescent Moon had barged into their barracks and told Rainbow Dash that she was to learn more of how their Empire functioned. And thus the first thing for her to see would be their food production. Something Rainbow Dash only just then realized she should’ve been wondering about. Just where did all the food they had come from? How did they grow oats up here? Where did they grow oats and everything else up here? Fierce Current was randomly chosen as her guide for the day, she wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not but Crescent Moon seemed to want to get her familiar with everyone else on the squad. So now this morning the two pegasi soldiers had taken a short flight over a dense part of the city to the mountain, where a large building rested right up against its side.

The building had one side that looked like it was a large loading dock where numerous pegasi were busy carrying crates, barrels, and bags of stuff out of. It was a near steady stream of activity. There were also guards stationed outside the front door (something that made Rainbow Dash wonder if she’d ever get assigned to guard duty like that) but they didn’t give Dash and Current so much as a glance as the cherry pegasus led Rainbow Dash inside. The room opened up wide to make room for the hundreds of boxes being taken from tunnels leading deeper into the mountain to the loading dock. Teams of toga-wearing pegasi, so not in the military, wheeled these crates and stuff on carts or pulleys all across the open floor.

Fierce Current didn’t pay that hustle and bustle any mind and they walked past it into one of the tunnels. Sticking along a walkway to the side so as not to get in the way of anything, the soldiers made their way deeper into the mountain.

“So you guys grow all of your food inside the mountain?” Rainbow Dash asked as she looked around the tunnel, more of those artificial lights she remembered from the coliseum were planted on the ceiling to keep it well illuminated. “It must’ve taken ages for pegasi to excavate all this.”

“Long before I was born. Truth be told I’m not sure how old these tunnels are. I would think they’d have to be almost as old as the city itself but I don’t know for certain,” Fierce responded. “As for your first question, yes. And… hm, now that I think about it maybe these tunnels aren’t that old. Unless they were used for something else before food transport.”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow Dash asked with a raised an eyebrow.

“Food only started to be grown here seven hundred years ago. Have you heard of the famous scientist, Weathervane?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah. I heard he was the one who made those Ice Sentinel things that guard the Empire.”

“That’s right, but he’s also responsible for so much more.”

“Like what?”

The cherry pegasus glanced over at her and grinned. “You’ll see pretty soon.”

Rainbow Dash decided she might as well take his word for it and kept on walking. She kept watch on the dozens of ponies bringing up cart after cart of boxes and then running or flying back down the tunnel at a far faster pace than Fierce and Rainbow were walking. She saw a couple of boxes had been labeled as “Oats” on the side and a few others that said “Wheat” or “Corn” or any other number of vegetable or crop. They must’ve had some sizable farms inside the mountain. Which was just really weird to Rainbow Dash. First of all that there were somehow farms inside of a mountain in the first place, she was pretty sure that was really different from a greenhouse, and secondly that pegasi were apparently farming all of it. Rainbow Dash wasn’t a history buff but she still knew the Hearthswarming Tale well enough to know that the pegasi got their food from earth pony farmers back then.

At some point the pegasi up here must’ve learned to farm and grow food for themselves, but she didn’t know how they would accomplish that without the innate earth pony magic that allowed them to tend the soil. Sure there were some pegasi down in Equestria who had their own gardens and stuff like that but she didn’t know about any that ran big farms or orchards like the Apple family did.

Whatever answers there were to all this it probably had to do with that Weathervane pony.

To kill some time as they walked down the tunnel, Rainbow Dash decided to chat up Fierce. She had done a decent job of getting to know some of the others so he might as well join them too.

“So you’re pretty strong right? You can lift some heavy weights with those wings of yours,” she remarked.

A short bark of laughter emerged from Fierce Current. “Hah! Slightly stronger than the average soldier I suppose. It’s all inherited from my father.”

“Your dad really strong or something?”

“From years and years of hard labor and lifting heavy crates,” he nodded over at the line of pegasi ferrying things out of the tunnel.

“Your dad works here?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him.

“Indeed he does. He’s a lot stronger than me, nothing like Blizzard, but still enough where he could carry all those crates and boxes by himself without even needing a cart,” Fierce said with no small measure of pride. “Unfortunately I don’t get the opportunity to see him too much, we’re both incredibly busy and our schedules never match up well. That’s why I’m glad Lt. Moon chose me to take you to the farms. I guess I’m pretty lucky since I’m pretty sure he didn’t remember or even knew in the first place that I had family working here.”

“Well that’s pretty cool, you gonna introduce me to him?”

“Perhaps. I’m not sure if we’ll actually even see him. He certainly would be interested in meeting you… but so would everyone else considering just who and what you are,” Fierce Current scratched his chin. “And truth be told, Commander Blizzard frowns upon any sort of fraternization between soldiers and civilians. Unless we’re courting mares or something.”

Rainbow Dash shot him a confused look, a frown tugging down her lips. “Why?”

Fierce shrugged in response. “It’s something about us being above and better than the stallions who have chosen not to continue service in the military. I never cared for that but there are some who take it very seriously.”

Not like that surprised her to hear but it was just one more thing for her to be peeved at Blizzard over.

“What a jerk,” Rainbow Dash spat.

Her squadmate shot her a wry smile. “Don’t let the Lieutenant hear you say that.”

“Yeah, yeah...” she brushed him off, well aware of where Crescent Moon stood.

“The tunnel ends soon, we’re almost at the farms in the center of the mountain.”

She decided to quicken her pace a bit then with him jogging up alongside her. Things still looked plenty bright up ahead so wherever the farms were held they must’ve had a lot of these artificial lights with them. It was getting a little noisier too, more ponies than just the ones going up and down the tunnel likely worked the farms. And hotter. There was a rise in temperature and humidity the closer they got and Rainbow Dash could feel the moisture already starting to mat down her coat and mane.

“This is the warmest place in the Empire,” Fierce told her as he noticed her starting to feel it.

“I can believe that,” Rainbow Dash said. She already knew they used climate control to make the air around the city and mountain inside the clouds warmer than it should be for where they were located and this was already noticeably much warmer than that. The mountain probably kept the hot air in and insulated things.

In a minute Rainbow Dash and Fierce Current emerged from the tunnel atop a small dirt hill and the blue pegasus from Equestria stopped in mid-step as she laid her eyes on the most unusual and impressive thing she had seen so far in the Empire.

They didn’t have artificial lighting. They had an artificial sun.

The huge glowing orb sat at the top of the hollowed out cavern, casting a powerful glow just as impressive as the real sun’s. It must have been at least a hundred feet in diameter and it felt like real heat was pouring down from it. That wasn’t the only thing though; the interior of the mountain had numerous farms covering all of the ground with rows of cornstalks and even some trees growing in the dirt. A low rumbling in the air caused Rainbow Dash to look up and see a number of small clouds forming over one patch of the farms, whereupon some pegasi flew up onto them and started stamping the water out to make it rain on the crops.

“How?” Rainbow Dash asked in wonder as she looked at it all. “You’ve got like… a world in here.”

“Soil taken up from the ground years ago. Seeds and crops as well gathered from afar. Pegasus weather control to make our own enclosed water cycle. And Weathervane’s greatest treasure of them all,” Fierce said as he pointed at the fake sun.

“It’s crazy...” Dash said as she saw a small rainbow forming after the clouds dissipated.

“It’s ingenuity. My ancestors had to do something to do more than just survive up here. I may not quite buy into everything Blizzard pushes but I have a fair amount of pride for my tribe and the ones who came before me. Thanks to them we’ve thrived,” he shrugged. “Come on, lets go down to the farms.”

He started walking down the hill and Rainbow Dash followed after him. She almost felt like a filly seeing something new for the first time with how weird and unexpected this all was. Applejack would like it, Twilight would think it was amazing too. Rainbow Dash was just surprised that these pegasi had managed to do something like this.

“How do you get all this stuff to grow so well in the soil without earth pony magic?” She asked him.

“Beats me. You’d have to ask Weathervane himself. My father said that half the time things don’t grow the way they should and the soil doesn’t listen to them but having the rain and sun under our control gives us a few tools. I don’t think even my father fully knows how it all works though. Apparently Weathervane had some help from another pegasus when it came to making that fake sun, but he didn't write his name or anything else down, and just like the Sentinels we've never been able to recreate something on its scale.”

“Right,” Rainbow Dash nodded. It was something that really made her curious and she wasn’t sure if she fully bought that explanation but there wasn’t much else she could say about it.

There were whole cadres of ponies along the farms gathering up fully grown vegetables and what else to pack into boxes and take to the tunnels. Hundreds of empty boxes and bags lay stacked up and ready to grab. This place was a beehive of activity, never was something not moving. Rainbow Dash watched one pony pulling a large cart on a narrow path between some of the farms as he stopped by the frantic mess of ponies taking stuff into the tunnel and pulled a latch on his cart. The back opened up and a mountain of potatoes spilled out of the cart that all of the ponies went to gather up.

She snorted in amusement at it. Fierce heard her and followed her eyes to what she was looking at, a small grin forming on his face.

“It’s a big city, lot of mouths to feed,” he said.

“It’s a feeding frenzy,” she joked.

The two of them kept walking, now going down a dirt path between a cornfield and a carrot patch. Every now and then Rainbow Dash would shoot a glance up at the big sun that hung at the top of the cavern, just like the real deal you couldn’t look directly at it for long. She still couldn’t quite grasp what it was. The other smaller lights looked like glowing clouds but that thing was so bright and strong she couldn’t really make out anything else about it.

She blinked a couple of times to get the spots to go away and looked to the pony walking side by side with her. Some of the things he had said… gave her the urge to test the waters with him.

“Sooo...” Rainbow Dash started, keeping her eyes up and not directed at him. “What do you think about Commander Blizzard?” Her pupils suddenly darted to him.

The playful smile that had been on his face slowly disappeared into a neutral mask. His own blue eyes silently glanced over at her for a minute while they walked and Rainbow Dash for a time thought he wasn’t going to say anything. But then his eyes returned to facing forward and the cherry pegasus began to speak.

“I think he’s a big, dumb, oaf that wouldn’t know fun if it came up and bit him in the flank. But you didn’t hear that from me,” he sharply glanced back at her. “Like I said I may not like him personally but I do have a great love for the Empire. Let’s leave it at that for now, okay?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah, that’s okay. I can respect that.”

“I like you quite a bit too. Your attitude, your way of doing things, and you’re just different. It’s fun,” he told her.

“Well I’m just an awesome pony like that,” she grinned. “I guess you’ve noticed but I don’t let anybody else tell me what I can and can’t do. There’s nothing that can stop me.”

“So it seems,” he grinned.

They walked further through the farms—Rainbow Dash essentially just being led on a tour by Fierce Current. There were a couple of small creaks dug into the ground that water traveled through along with a large reservoir in the center of the huge cavern. All of it was necessary for their artificial water cycle to work. Another group of clouds formed over a quadrant of the farms and started raining down while Dash walked, a lighter rain than what she had seen earlier.

“Hey so, does the sun in here ever… turn off or whatever?” She asked Fierce.

The cherry pegasus shook his head. “As far as I know it doesn’t. My father told me that they cover it with an exceptionally thick layer of clouds at night. If there was a way to turn it off I guess no one knows it.”

“As long as it works I guess that’s good enough,” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at the giant floating sun. “So what else am I even supposed to see in here? Feels like I already learned how it all works and everything.”

Fierce shrugged. “Beats me, I was told to be your guide for the day and the day is still young. I figured we’d just explore the farms and head back to the base afterwards.”

“Do you want to try looking for your dad?” She asked.

He shook his head. “No, no, he’s probably busy as you can see from how everyone else is working. If we see him then that’s fine but I don’t want us to go out of the way for it.”

“Suit yourself. Let’s fly though, I’m getting tired of walking around.” Rainbow Dash said and lifted herself into the air with her companion coming right after her.

“I can show you each individual farm from above,” he told her and pointed at a larger one past the corn. “That’s the oats field, as you can see it takes up more space than anything. Then there’s a lot of wheat, potatoes, broccoli, more corn, lots of stuff. You like the grits at the mess hall yet?”

Rainbow Dash enthusiastically nodded her head. “Oh yeah!”

A shadow then passed over their heads and the two ponies looked up to see some high flying clouds floating over them. They weren’t rain clouds but a thin sheet that no pegasi working these farms were tending to. Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow at the interruption and looked over to Fierce Current.

“What’s up with those clouds?”

“Just shade,” he answered. “For crops where constant strong sunlight would be more damaging than not. Putting some clouds up high creates a little cover for them.”

The two continued their flight over the farms with Fierce pointing out whatever he deemed important. Like a group of young stallions pulling carrots out of the ground and throwing them into boxes for another stallion to stack up on a wagon and take on up to the tunnels. Or a flooded section of one garden where pegasi were stuck up to their knees in mud. They hovered over the large oats field for a while and Rainbow Dash could see the hard work all the ponies put in to gather up every last grain of it and bag it up. With the harsh fake sun beating down on them the entire time it must’ve been really laborious work, the kind that Applejack loves to do but Rainbow Dash would get tired of in about half a second.

“You know what? This really is impressive just like you said. I’d be proud of this too,” Rainbow Dash told her companion.

“Thanks and—oh! Look,” something caught Fierce’s eyes and he pointed to the ground below with an amused smile on his face.

Rainbow Dash looked down and saw a large red pegasus with a balding grey mane yelling at a scared and much younger stallion. The red pegasus was really laying into him but Rainbow Dash couldn’t exactly make out what he was saying. The two were in the middle of a turnip field and a circle of other pegasi had gathered, none of them looking like they wanted to interrupt the big stallion.

“That’s my father, just doing his normal thing,” Fierce laughed.

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash shared in the laughter. “He looks like someone who enjoys his job. You sure you don’t want to go down and say hi?”

“Definitely not,” he shook his head. “Not while he’s in the middle of such a classic performance. I’ll see him again some other time, when neither of us are busy.”

After that the two flew around the immense cavern a little more under both decided it was time to begin their return trip to the base. All the space in here could’ve contained the whole of Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres along with it and it was just used for vegetables and grain, Fierce was right about them having a lot of mouths to feed. It really made Rainbow Dash think about how this society and Empire had lived for so long up here. Lived and done so much. Blizzard may have been a jerk but Rainbow Dash’s appreciation for these pegasi was growing.

True Pegasus XI

Rainbow Dash tossed and turned atop the small cot that was hers in the barracks. Even after all these days she couldn’t quite get comfortable on it like she could on a normal bed of clouds or her bed back home in Cloudsdale. It was too narrow, too thin, and the pillow wasn’t fluffed enough. Most of the time she was tired enough to fall asleep anyways but she ended up squirming about all night and never felt as rested as she should the following morning. If she was in charge here the first thing she would do is requisition some new beds for the whole barracks.

She was still asleep but her lack of comfort would cause her to awaken soon, there was nothing she could do to avoid that. Her restless state had left her bereft of dreams since coming up here and tonight was no different. Rainbow Dash’s sleeping self was just stuck in a cacophony of darkness and nothingness until she finally returned to the waking world. And even then all she had to look forward to was more drills and more of Crescent Moon yelling at her. Maybe she’d be able to go out on a real patrol around the city for once or be allowed to go somewhere without an escort or see something else interesting in the city. But she didn’t hold out hope for that. The past few days she’d been stuck on base because her “superior” officer hadn’t thought she’d gotten beat down enough by their constant training schedule and made to feel like a real pegasus. All those other days in a row where she had gone off somewhere else came back to bite her.

Her hooves were kicking about unconsciously and she grasped and balled up the sheet covering her, hugging it close to her chest like it was Tank. Although she would’ve been embarrassed to death if anyone saw her sleeping like this it was slightly more comfortable than how she had been before. Her wings flapped and fluttered a bit in her bed now that they weren’t covered. A sign of how restless they had been and how much they always hated to be restrained or without the space to move freely.

With her now having achieved a temporarily comfortable spot her body slowed down and a snot bubble formed as she breathed in and out through her nose. It was close to morning but maybe for this last little bit of sleep she could have some peace.

RIIIIIIINNNNGGG!

Rainbow Dash’s eyes shot open as the shrill ringing noise shot through her ears. The sudden and unexpected alarm caused her to jolt up and scramble about like someone had lit a fire under her bed, her limbs flailed about as she knocked her pillow and sheet away and she unceremoniously fell onto the floor where she struggled to get up until she finally rose and swiftly looked around with wide eyes to figure out just what the hay was going on.

She wasn’t the only one either, the entire barracks was woken up by the loud noise, some of her fellow soldiers also falling out of bed while a few managed a much more dignified response. It was a rarity but the barracks was currently completely occupied by soldiers; none of the various squads that used it were on leave. Everyone was groggy and looking around in confusion until they finally managed to focus on where the sound had come from.

Crescent Moon, that eye-patch wearing sergeant, and a number of other officers Rainbow Dash recognized from the base, were standing at the door leading outside the barracks in full armor. They looked serious and it instantly made Rainbow Dash frown. And in the center of them all stood Captain East Wind. Or maybe West Wind. What was going on?

Her and everyone else quickly stood at attention and waited to be informed of what the deal was. When the noise in the barracks had quieted down, the eye-patch wearing sergeant put away the whistle he had used to wake everyone up and Crescent Moon stepped forward.

“Everyone! Get your armor and get dressed as quickly as possible. The Frost Wolves are attacking us again,” he evenly stated.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. A battle? There was actually going to be a battle between the Empire and one of its enemies today? She couldn’t keep the excitement from building up in her, she’d get to do some real fighting today, something that really made her feel like she was on an adventure. She may not have been too keen on fighting for Commander Blizzard and his aspirations but right now that was trumped by the certain awesomeness that awaited her. There was some mumbling from the other soldiers but they quickly got their armor and began putting it on, Rainbow Dash followed suit and pulled the trunk out from under her bed to strap on her gleaming and well taken care of armor.

East/West Wind watched and when it looked like everyone had finished getting ready and returned to standing at attention he took up from where Crescent Moon left off. “Our scouts say it looks like they snuck into our territory from the east in the dead of night. Surely you know what must be done to any foe that seeks to encroach on our Empire? We shall fly down to meet them and drive them out, not an inch must be taken by those savage wolves. Do you understand!” He finished with a shout.

“Sir, yes sir!” The entire barracks shouted back.

“Excellent,” the Captain nodded. His eyes flickered to Rainbow Dash for a brief second as he looked across the assembled soldiers. “I am certain you will be victorious. No pegasus under Commander Blizzard can fail.”

The Captain turned to leave and Crescent Moon cleared his throat. “Troops, fall out!”

The assembled soldiers began to file out of the barracks, Rainbow Dash joined up with her squad and found herself walking side by side with Summer Rains as they exited the building. It was as early as it could be and still be called morning outside with sunlight just barely beginning to brighten up the city. She saw more troops coming out of the other barracks as well, it looked like every soldier on base was going to be part of this battle.

“Hey,” she said to Summer Rains. “Is this how things normally are when the Frost Wolves attack?”

“More or less,” he said back to her as he kept his eyes on the pegasi ahead of him. “They usually bring decent numbers and they can be vicious fighters so we try to overwhelm them with superior numbers of our own. Sometimes they come in direct daylight or late at night, our scouts usually see them moving and getting ready to attack long before they actually get into our territory but it sounds like they were sneakier this time.”

“Fine by me, I’m itching for a chance to kick some butt,” Rainbow Dash smirked.

“You’ll get it,” the far more even-tempered Summer Rains didn’t quite share the enthusiasm she had. “I know it’s probably foolish of me to say this considering what you’ve accomplished but be careful fighting them, they can be dangerous.”

“I’m the last pony you need to worry about here,” Rainbow Dash cockily responded.

That did get a small smirk to tug at Summer Rains’ lips. “Yes, I don’t doubt that. This is a serious battle though and soldiers often get hurt in these excursions with the wolves.”

“Well with me here I’ll do my best to end it faster than normal and make them run away scared with their tails between their legs,” she tapped him on the side with her wing.

There wasn’t time for any more conversation as they had to halt along with the other soldiers at the edge of the base, which was also the edge of the city itself. The soldiers stood in several lines at the ends of the clouds and looked over them to the ground below. From here they would fly off and follow their officers to the wolves and engage in battle. It was like they were jumping off a cliff or the edge of the world. And Rainbow Dash couldn’t wait for it.

Both Captain East and West Wind were here as well, waiting for every other soldier to get in line so they could move out as one huge unit. Rainbow Dash looked up and down the lines and saw well over a hundred pegasi ready for battle. She didn’t know how many Frost Wolves there would be but this still promise to be a huge fight.

It made her even more excited.

East Wind and West Wind flew up and hung in the sky. One of them, she still couldn’t tell which, began to speak. “The battle shall now begin! As soldiers of the Eternal Pegasus Empire you will follow our lead and destroy our enemies!”

The other then joined with a shout, pumping his hoof into the air. “For the Empire! For Commander Blizzard!”

All of the other soldiers assembled joined in with a brief shout out except for Rainbow Dash. She just didn’t have it in her to cheer for the Commander.

East and West Wind dove down to the ground and the other officers followed suit with the lines of the rank and file soldiers walking up and flying off the clouds behind them. Rainbow Dash was in the last line to jump and she did it with the rest of her squad, all of them flying in unison as a great aerial battalion. They flew through the open space that the great city floated in until they reached the wall of clouds that stood to the east; whereupon the two Captains took them to right beneath those gray and white clouds. They probably could’ve flown in the clouds for cover but obviously stealth wasn’t the aim here. They wanted the wolves to see them coming and to face them directly. There would be no sneak attacks from the Empire’s pegasi. The hundred odd group of soldiers flew in the air, skimming the underside of the clouds, watching the ground below. Green tundra, small rivers and streams, the odd drift of snow, Rainbow Dash took it all in on her flight to the battlegrounds.

The soldiers were quiet and didn’t speak to one another as they flew hard in the sky. Rainbow Dash could’ve easily left them in the dust but the point of things was for them to all get there and attack the wolves at the same time. It would’ve been just like ruining a Wonderbolts formation in a show back home, just because she could do something didn’t always mean she should.

Still, flight was a far faster way of travel than just running or marching along the ground and it wasn’t long before Rainbow Dash and the others could see a large group of silvery forms crossing the tundra up ahead. Rainbow Dash vaguely recalled seeing silver wolves somewhere, maybe when she was sick? Her mind was so cloudy from that day when her cold was at its absolute worst that only bits and pieces of her memories were available. Either way it was the Frost Wolves for certain. A grin formed on her face, they would be able to descend on them in just a moment. She couldn’t tell how many wolves there were but it definitely wasn’t as many as their own forces. Fifty perhaps. Maybe sixty if she was generous. A two to one advantage in their favor.

“Dive!” The twin Captains yelled together, angling down and bringing the rest of the soldiers with them on a steep descent towards the wolves. “And attack!”

Rainbow Dash didn’t need to be told twice. The ground quickly rose up to meet her as the soldiers made their “charge” against the wolves. The Frost Wolves saw them coming too and a number of piercing howls rang out across the tundra, Rainbow Dash’s heart was pounding as a few soldiers yelled out battle cries in response to the howling.

“Let’s do this!” She shouted.

Just barely ten feet above the ground the pegasi soldiers leveled out and the wolves ran to meet them, jumping into the air and trying to knock down and tackle as many of the pegasi to the ground as possible. Rainbow Dash saw a few soldiers being hit like this, the wolves were quick and agile and twice the size of an average stallion. And they were really good jumpers too. A single thwack from one of their paws was enough to send a pegasus off-balance and careening to the ground. And that was nothing compared to them actually being able to grab a wing in their jaws or crash their whole body into one of Dash’s comrades.

The wolves didn’t have any armor of their own but they were completely fearless and tough enough to just crash themselves into their enemies.

One of them popped up in front of Rainbow Dash but her reactions were far faster than the average soldier and she expertly dodged right over his head and kicked him in the face with her back hooves as she passed by. The wolf yelped and fell to the ground along with a few unfortunate others. By now it had become nothing more than a huge melee of low flying pegasus and wolves flying and jumping at each other. She didn’t know much about how actual armies fought or anything but this seemed a little chaotic. Weren’t there supposed to be battle lines, and strategy, and didn’t they have the advantage just because they could fly? Why did they just dive in and allow the wolves the opportunity to attack them like that?

Rainbow Dash frowned as she flew and her squad flew over the rest of the wolves and turned around for another pass. A lot of soldiers were stuck on the ground fighting the wolves up close and personally. Which didn’t look like it was going too well. She saw East and West Wind flying about, directing more soldiers to dive bomb against groups of running wolves.

“Is this how they fight?” She whispered to herself.

She didn’t understand it but there were still ponies that needed her help so that’s what she was gonna do. Summer Rains and Wild Wind were to her sides with the other members of her squad right behind her, she threw a glance at the corporal and lime-green pony to get their attention and nodded to the ground below where another squad of pegasi were fending off some of the wolves. They seemed to get what she meant and the whole squad followed her as she dove towards the silvery opposition.

A pegasus soldier was knocked to the ground and the slobbering mouth of a silver Frost Wolf was right over his face, the soldier whimpered and squeezed his eyes shut as he waited for the inevitable.

Rainbow Dash then came in like a lightning bolt and kicked the wolf in the side; knocking it right into another one and sending them both tumbling to the ground.

“How do ya like that?” She grinned and helped the pony up before flying around to more of the wolves.

One wolf lashed out at her with its claws but she dodged to the left and then the right and always kept herself in the air so it had to overextend itself and jump slightly each time it tried to claw her. Something she didn’t see anyone else doing. Now that they had fully engaged the wolves her fellow soldiers weren’t flying at all. East and West Wind too had gone down to the ground and were brawling with the invading canines.

The wolf barked at her and jumped high in frustration at being unable to get her, this time trying to jump on top of her and tackle Rainbow Dash to the ground.

But instead the moment his paws cast a shadow over her, Rainbow Dash swiftly reached up and grabbed him by the wrists—flapping her wings and flipping herself over while carrying the wolf with her and tossing it like a missile behind her head. The wolf had just enough time to close his eyes and whimper before he collided head first with the ground and slid to a stop after dragging a ten foot trail through the dirt.

Suddenly she felt something wet clamp around her tail and she was yanked out of the sky to the ground. Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder to see a wolf had jumped up and bit her rainbow tail, the wolf then twisted its head and threw her to the side where she stumbled over the tundra before collapsing. Normally she wouldn’t have fallen over but she wasn’t used to doing this kind of stuff with her armor on. It made her slightly uncoordinated, the little extra bit of weight messing with her muscle memory and balance.

It gave the wolf the opportunity to jump on top of her, one of his paws pressing down on her armored midsection while the other was raised to slash her across the face. But Rainbow Dash’s speed and reflexes won out as she elbowed the leg keeping her pinned down while her wing fluttered up and smacked the wolf in his muzzle. He stepped back for a second and Rainbow Dash leaped up, punching him once across the jaw and then headbutting him with her helmet right between the eyes. He crumpled to the ground like a wet shirt.

“You guys aren’t tough at all,” Rainbow Dash said, her expression turning into a full-blown overconfident smirk.

The sounds of battle told her that not every pony was having nearly as easy of a time with the wolves as she was though. Things were still a violent warzone all around her. She saw Fierce Current clock a wolf over the head with his wing and Flashbolt and Skychaser were working together to fight another but besides that everything was too chaotic for her to tell what was going on. She was about to dart over to the cousins to help them when movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she jumped to the side.

It was a split second just in time as the claws of a wolf raked the empty air where her head had just been. Rainbow Dash spun around with her hooves digging into the dirt and faced the new wolf that had tried to attack her.

“You want some too?” She narrowed her eyes at it.

This silver wolf was decidedly older looking than the others she had seen, his fur was far duller and there was a wary sharpness in his eyes that spoke of a lot of battle experience. Surprisingly to Rainbow Dash, his eyes widened in recognition when they focused on her.

“I recognize you. The scout from our battle with the Snow Clan. I thought it was strange to see a mare… have you pegasi become so desperate to keep us out that you’ve begun using your women to fight us as well?” He spoke in a gravelly voice full of derision.

Meanwhile Rainbow Dash was just really shocked for a different reason. “You guys can talk?!” She gawked at him.

The old wolf raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. But their conversation didn’t go anywhere else as they both heard another wolf yep as he was thrown across the tundra right past the two of them. Both pony and wolf that had been facing off looked around at the state of the battle, and one of them wasn’t happy with what they saw.

A beaten up wolf emerged from the crowd and hobbled over to the old wolf. “War Chief!” He called out, his voice laced with worry.

“You’re lucky you outnumber us, pegasus,” the wolf growled at Rainbow Dash. “But our infighting has stopped and soon we’ll come back to take these lands for ourselves. Be prepared then!”

Rainbow Dash was still too confused and surprised to respond as the War Chief lifted his head and let out a great howl that drowned out all other noises on the tundra. She had to cover her ears thanks to the volume, as did many other nearby ponies. That must’ve been a signal to the rest of the wolves though because as soon as he stopped they all began to retreat. On the ground they were far faster than the pegasi, with their longer legs and their claws being able to dig into the ground for purchase. A few soldiers who were still fighting attempted some last hits but Captains East and West Wind motioned for the battalion to allow the wolves to run away.

There were quite a few too injured to leave on their own power but Rainbow Dash didn’t see any wolves attempting to help them nor any ponies move to tie them up. A number of pegasus soldiers were also in bad condition but it was still more than obvious which side had won.

“Well done, soldiers!” One of the Captains said as the two of them flew above the pegasi on the ground. “A cheer for victory!”

All of the soldiers yelled and threw up their hooves, even Rainbow Dash got in on it this time.

“Wait for your sergeants and lieutenants to gather you up and tend to the wounded, then return to base,” the other Captain said and the purple twins flew off back in the direction of the city.

Rainbow Dash didn’t watch them go, Crescent Moon and Wild Wild flew right over to her and settled down immediately after, with the rest of her squadmates walking out from the crowd to join up.

“How was your first battle?” Crescent Moon asked her. It was a simple enough question but he still spoke with a measure of disdain in his voice towards her.

“Uhh...” Rainbow Dash looked around at the chaos and tried to gather her thoughts on what she had just seen and been a part of. “It was interesting. I didn’t know those wolves could talk. I thought they were just dangerous animals or monsters...”

“They’re nothing more than dumb mutts living in holes in the ground,” Crescent Moon scoffed. “None of you are injured, help around with the others here and return when it’s done.” The Lieutenant told them and then flew off into the sky after the Captains.

“So he’s not helping out with that?” Rainbow Dash asked with a frown as the caramel pony left.

“That’s normal,” Wild Wind said. “It at least won’t take long for us to finish up down here, the losses weren’t so bad this time.”

Rainbow Dash’s head swung towards her corporal. “Losses? Er, sorry, but the way you’re putting that makes it sound kiiind of serious.”

“Not so much,” Clear Skies said. “Some were badly injured and only a few died. There have been far worse battles.”

The pegasus from Equestria paled. “Wait… some of us died?”

Summer Rains looked at her with a confused expression. “Of course. That’s the reality of every battle. A number of wolves were killed too. What else were you expecting?”

“But… then… why...” Rainbow Dash sputtered, looking back and forth between all of her squadmates as they returned her gaze, all of them just as confused. “Why are we fighting so stupidly?! Why’d we just fly straight at them and let them attack us? How come no one was flying around like me and attacking from above or anything? Why?!”

“That’s not the pegasus way,” Wild Wind told her, although he was obviously pained to do so.

Flashbolt stepped up this time. “A true pegasus, according to Commander Blizzard, faces his opponents head on and doesn’t resort to tricks or any unfair tactics. That’s why we let them retreat, why we flew straight at them in full view, and why we didn’t use our wings once the battle had fully begun. If they can’t fly then we need to beat them without flying to prove our true superiority. That’s his logic.”

His words were delivered coolly but Rainbow Dash could see the anger in his eyes. At least she wasn’t the only one upset.

Her hooves shook and she was gritting her teeth so hard she was worried she might break them. “That’s just so… wrong.”

“He wants the fights to be fair or he doesn’t see any value in victory,” Skychaser added.

“A fair fight?! I’m all for a fair fight but ponies just died today because of this! A fair fight is like, what you have in sports or between friends, not when wolves with sharp claws and teeth are trying to tear you apart and clearly don’t give a Tartarus-darned care in the world about how you’re fighting!” Rainbow Dash exploded at him, flying into his face and glaring at the walnut pony.

She felt a hoof on her wing and looked back to see Summer Rains sadly looking at her, with Fierce Current and Clear Skies standing right behind him. She turned back to look at Skychaser and saw the fear and shame in his eyes and her angry visage reflected back at her.

Glumly, Rainbow Dash floated to the ground and hung her head low. “Sorry… you’re not the one I’m angry at.”

“It’s okay,” Flashbolt answered for his cousin, stepping up and putting a comforting hoof on his shoulder.

“We still need to tend to the injured,” Wild Wind said to his squad. “Come on, no time to waste.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t say anything else. The excitement she had felt earlier was gone, the pride she had felt earlier was gone. Replaced by a reminder that the True North was dangerous and that this Empire that Commander Blizzard lorded over was deeply flawed and she still needed to change it. She felt camaraderie with her new friends in this squad but that too worried her now. What if she had been getting too used to things up here? Maybe this battle was a wake up call she needed. It made her heart sink but if she hadn’t learned ponies had just died she would’ve ended the day feeling like she had just had fun. It might’ve even led to her thinking this place wasn’t so bad if she could have good fights like that every now and then. She probably didn’t know any of the ponies that fell in battle but that didn’t make things any easier. Rainbow Dash flew around with her squad as they went to help the others, with her mind the entire time focused on what she could do to make things better here.

True Pegasus XII

The day after her battle, Rainbow Dash found herself somewhere new. Although with some familiar faces. She stood in a large room in the administration building with East and West Wind guarding the door behind her and Commander Blizzard staring out the window at the city below. She could appreciate a pony doing something just for the sake of dramatics but it was getting a little tiresome with her just standing around and waiting for him to finally tell her why he summoned her.

“This meeting is one that should have happened earlier,” the Commander said without turning around.

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at him and blew an angry puff of air out of her nose. “Okay, so what’s it about? Why’d you have me brought up here?”

Commander Blizzard stood silently for a minute longer at the window, pretty much getting Rainbow Dash’s anger and impatience to boil over, before he finally turned around and fixed her with a hard stare. “I wanted to finally get some information out of you. Things that may be important. And I suppose to see how you are adjusting to your new home.”

“If you want to know something then just ask and I can hurry up and get out of here,” Rainbow Dash impertinently glanced away from him, folding her hooves over her chest.

“Your attitude is unfitting for a mare here but for a soldier I suppose it’s fine. Unfortunately I can’t have it both ways with the path I’ve chosen for you,” he glowered at her.

“Well that’s your problem, not mine.”

The Commander stared down hard at her while she continued to look away. No way was she going to lose this stubborn contest. He tried to get on her nerves? Well then let him have a taste of his own medicine. Not to mention she was still angry at him for so many other things. She didn’t care about him glaring at her whatsoever, unless he forced her to or spoke up first she wasn’t going to look him in the eye. He seemed to only care about strength and power, well then right here she’d make him respect her by not giving in to him.

Both of them had their patience wearing thin but the Commander was likely far busier than Rainbow Dash and eventually the Equestrian’s stubbornness won out. Commander Blizzard snorted and turned around, walking back to his window.

“How did you defeat the Ice Sentinel?” He asked with his wings tightly folded behind him as he stared out at the city again.

“Is that it?” Rainbow Dash turned her head to glare at the back of his head, with his black and white mane billowing down his neck.

“That’s the first question. Now answer it,” he sternly replied.

There was no more room for Rainbow Dash to be insubordinate. She could tell that from his tone. This was a pony that was not used to being ignored, disrespected, or disagreed with. In a lot of ways he was just like herself, she belatedly and disgustingly realized. Except he was bad and horribly selfish, as if the worst parts of her were taken without all of the good to balance it out. And everything new she learned and heard about him just made him worse. Rainbow Dash knew she could be a braggart, obnoxious, difficult to get along with, and a glory hog who hated not being at the center of attention, she knew she had her whale-sized ego, but no one was a better friend than her either. She was awesome in all sorts of ways. Blizzard wasn’t like that.

Rainbow Dash sighed as she answered his first question, thinking back to her multiple fights with the ice monster that tried to kill her. “I froze it.”

Blizzard glanced over his shoulder at her, an eyebrow raised and confusion plain on his face. “Excuse me?”

“Can’t blame you for being confused but yeah, that’s what I did,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

“Explain.”

“It’s pretty much exactly what I said. I poured water over it, it froze, and then the light in its eye sockets or whatever went out,” she rolled her eyes. “I smashed it to pieces before that too but it just remade itself. Everything else I did to it didn’t work.”

“You poured water over it?” He fully turned around to face.

“I used storm clouds. I squeezed all the water out of them so it was like dumping a huge bucket of water on your ice monster. The water froze like another skin of ice over it and it couldn’t move anymore. Then it died or whatever,” she told him.

His brow furrowed and it looked like he was thinking about something for a moment. “That’s certainly not a weakness I was expecting them to have. In all seven hundred years since their creation not a single one has been lost. And to learn that something like that can put them out of commission...”

Rainbow Dash didn’t elaborate on how difficult that was for her to do, nor tell him that most ponies would never be able to do such a thing or last nearly as long as she had against the Sentinel. Let him deal with that and stew over it.

Blizzard finally stopped muttering to himself and flexed his wings. “Fine. I held off on sending a patrol to check the status of that particular Sentinel due to the possible danger, but now I’ll send one to check if you’re telling the truth. Without a control crystal its status doesn’t really matter anymore anyways but if they really can be destroyed by freezing I want to know. It’s impossible to tell what Weathervane might have been thinking when he made those things… perhaps this weakness was intentional?” He drifted off for a second before his eyes returned to Rainbow Dash. “Either way that’s no concern of yours, I have more questions for you.”

“Ask away,” she did her best not to snort or roll her eyes at him.

“What is the current state and capabilities of Equestria’s military?”

This time Rainbow Dash failed and her wings shot out to her sides, a look of disbelief and anger on her face. “Huh? I’m not telling you that!”

Behind her, East and West Wind both glanced nervously at each other, the two captains not too keen on Blizzard’s attitude if Rainbow Dash kept acting like this towards him.

“Did you seriously think I would tell you anything about that, you nutjob?!” Rainbow Dash continued to angrily yell at him.

I don’t even really know in the first place. She thought to herself.

“You should be loyal to your tribe and help us,” he told her.

“I’m loyal to my friends!” She stomped a hoof on the ground.

It turned into a staring match between the two of them this time. One that Commander Blizzard knew he wouldn’t win. And resorting to hitting her would just be a different kind of loss. It annoyed him a lot to lose out to this mare’s stubbornness and determination, it bothered him to think a pony from Equestria dared to challenge and stand up to him like this. But very well. She hadn’t been here long enough to fully adapt or embrace their ways. He knew it would take some time. Eventually she would be his willing and loyal soldier and nothing else.

That was his true belief.

“So be it. For now,” he said. “But I’ll enjoy the day when you willingly tell me all I want to know.”

“Yeah, whatever!” Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue.

East and West Wind gulped.

“I still have more to ask you,” the Commander said with a voice like ice. “I believe you remember your meeting with the council? I said your reasons for coming up here from Equestria were unimportant but I would like to hear your explanation personally. I don’t believe you were ordered to come up here, were you?”

“Didn’t you already think I was some spy sent here?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Truthfully no. I said that because I knew it would make the others afraid and worried and I could use that to my advantage. And seeing your behavior and your reactions to our Empire I can’t imagine that even if you were an agent sent by Equestria that you knew about us.”

“Well fine, I don’t mind telling you this, but I’m not on any mission, nobody told me to come up here, and I’m not some agent of the Princesses.” That last one was debatable but that was a whole nother can of worms that Rainbow Dash didn’t need to open up right now. She then frowned up at Blizzard. “Also good to know how you don’t care about messing with ponies to get your way.”

His eyes narrowed. “You enjoy pushing your boundaries.”

She returned his hard look with a confident grin. “It’s what I do.”

“So then why are you here at all?” He asked.

“Because,” she shrugged.

“Because?”

“Just because. I wanted to go on a cool adventure, I’ve been to a ton of other places already and done all kinds of stuff, so I decided to come up here where nobody from Equestria has been. Considering everything I think I was right about there being all sorts of adventure in the north. I haven’t gotten to do as much awesome stuff as I was hoping for so far but this is still the kind of stuff I was looking for,” she told him.

“You’re rather petty.”

Rainbow Dash frowned and flew up so she was face to face with the much taller stallion. “Hey, I’ve saved Equestria and the world a ton of times already. If I want to go on some awesome adventuring just for fun then what’s the big deal?” She closed her wings and fell back down to the floor. “Tch.”

Commander Blizzard regarded her silently for a second. Dash was unsure what was going on in that head of his until he spoke again. “You said at the council meeting too that no one from Equestria knew about us. That’s the truth?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Believe me, I’m friends with someone who knows basically everything and she didn’t know anything about the north. I seriously had no idea your Empire was up here. No one does.”

Blizzard snorted as he began to pace around in front of her. “It’s certainly preferable to not be known but at the same time it’s rather damaging to our Empire’s pride… that we’re forgotten or perhaps were never acknowledged to begin with… how vexing.”

“Why do you even care?” Rainbow Dash asked him. “I told you guys that the only thing Equestria would do if it knew about you was try to make friends.” What she didn’t tell them was that she knew just which purple Alicorn would spearhead that mission. If Blizzard started asking certain questions and got suspicious of just who Rainbow Dash was and how she knew some things he might realize that she had connections to the Princesses and was a very important pony and figure in Equestria in her own right. And then what he was doing with her might change. She suddenly might not find herself allowed so many freedoms up here in their Empire.

“I wanted to know if Equestria would be prepared to go to war with us. That was the reason for my earlier question as well,” he said without stopping his pacing. “Obviously it seems they wouldn’t be. And with you prattling on about friendship and such silly nonsense I doubt they have much of a standing military at all. You may not have directly answered everything but you’ve unintentionally told me a good deal about Equestria with the way you act.”

You don’t know anything about Equestria. Rainbow Dash silently fumed. “I remember what you said back in that meeting. But you don’t need to fight Equestria or try to rescue the other pegasi down there or anything like that!”

“That’s my decision to make. Not yours,” he stopped and glared down at her again. “If I’m being honest I couldn’t care less about what you think. You’re the descendant of traitors and you’ve lived your entire life as a corrupted, ignorant, fool. Like every other pegasus in Equestria. I don’t care if they would be happy or not about us coming to show them the true way or if they’ve deluded themselves into being happy with their lives now just like you have. If I make the decision to go to Equestria nothing is going to stop me.”

Rainbow Dash (much to her own surprise) didn’t explode. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes, her head drooping down to the floor for a second before she shook it and looked back up at Commander Blizzard with a sad frown. “Why are you so horrible?”

Captain East Wind coughed behind her and he and West both stepped out of the office.

It was silent for another moment between the two and Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure if she was going to get out of here without a black eye or not this time. Blizzard took a long inhalation through his nose and then exhaled back out, his eyes drifted up to look straight ahead as if he was staring at something far off in the distance.

“We cannot become weak. I refuse to allow it.”

“You’re-” Rainbow Dash didn’t know what to say. The way he was, the things she had recently learned about him and how he ran things here gnawed at her. It was easier when facing off against some evil monster where all she needed to do was punch first and ask questions later. He was wrong but she knew talking wouldn’t get her anywhere. Even Starlight had to be shown and Blizzard was worse and more selfish than she ever was.

“I wanted to ask you about Flash Magnus too,” Blizzard interrupted her.

“What about him?”

“Was what you said about him still being alive true?”

She nodded. He had reacted pretty poorly to what she said about Flash Magnus before so she was bracing herself for another outburst. “It’s true. He and Starswirl the Bearded and their friends were rescued from Limbo. They’re all having a pretty fun time in Equestria.”

“So you say. I’m going to reiterate that you not speak of such things to others in this city,” his wings briefly shuffled about, obviously hearing such a thing about Flash Magnus unsettled things.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Fine. But if you guys really liked and revered Flash Magnus so much how did you not know that he was friends with earth ponies and unicorns?”

His black eyes dropped to her magenta ones. “It’s not something commonly taught. The legend of Flash Magnus stands well enough on its own. It wouldn’t be good for his or our image to teach such things about his friendships with non-pegasi here. It’s bad enough that you said he liked Equestria in front of the Elders and all those other onlookers.”

“Well it’s your own fault for being that way. I’m not about to apologize for being honest,” Rainbow Dash defiantly stated.

“I’m not going to ask you to. It’s better for this whole thing to be ignored and swept under the rug,” Blizzard paused for a second before speaking again. “How was your first time seeing a real pegasus battle yesterday?”

A flash of anger shot through Rainbow Dash and her eye twitched, she clenched her jaw and bit her tongue to keep herself from exploding at him with all her pent up grievances. There were so many things she could tell him off about when it came to that battle, and the Ice Sentinels and several other things she had learned about the Empire. But doing that would be pointless right now and he wouldn’t care anyways. And it would probably be best if she didn’t let him know all the things she suspected or had heard from others. Better to let him think she did nothing more than enjoy their victory. Even with several questions she wanted to ask that were roiling around inside her head it would lead nowhere good if she asked them.

“Well, I’m glad we won,” she finally ground out.

He could tell there was a lot unspoken from her just under the surface but he didn’t push her. They’d both pushed each other enough for today. “Good. Perhaps I’ll make a real pegasus of you yet. Now leave, return to the base.” Blizzard turned around before she could muster any sort of response and silently walked back to the window.

Rainbow Dash didn’t say anything, even though she was certainly petty and competitive enough to want to get the last word in, she decided to leave it and merely scowl at his back for a second before turning around. Stomping her hooves with possibly a bit more force than was necessary she walked to the door and opened it, letting herself out.

True Pegasus XIII

For the first time, Rainbow Dash was getting to do something that she had seen other pegasi doing on her very first day arriving at the city.

Going on patrol.

She flew with Summer Rains across the roofs of the cloud buildings at each level of the large city. It made her feel like a police officer or one of the Canterlot Royal Guards back in Equestria. Apparently the average soldiers patrolled in pairs like this, something she didn’t have a problem with since Summer Rains was easy to get along with. Any excitement she might have had for doing this was quickly replaced with boredom though as she realized that “patrol” mostly just meant lazily flying around and looking down.

Crime was apparently non-existent according to Summer Rains so she wondered what even the point of this was. To just let everyone know the soldiers were watching over them? Or watching them? She didn’t want to be cynical like that but with everything else she had learned about Blizzard and the way this place worked she wouldn’t have been surprised.

They had started at the first level of their city from where their base sat and had slowly, slowly, made their way from one side of the mountain to the other and then went up a level to do the same. Rinse and repeat until they reached the top of the city and then started back down. Currently they were over a dense residential district and Rainbow Dash was trying her best to keep her eyes open.

“Hey Summer? Is there anything in particular we should be looking for?” She asked her wingmate.

“Not really. Just if you see anything weird or anybody acting suspicious,” he shrugged.

“Dude, you’re the one who told me there isn’t any crime here,” she cocked an eyebrow at him.

He brought up a hoof and started rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just the procedure...”

“Well fine. But then tell me what weird stuff we should be looking for? Have you ever seen anything like that out on patrol?” She asked.

Summer Rains glanced out across the city, looking towards the edge of the clouds at the bottom of the mountain and the sky beyond them. “Once or twice. I’ve uh… caught a few ponies attempting to flee the city. Runaways as they’re called.” He paused for a second. “You can tell by the look in their eyes, and the way they’re acting. Most have the sense to try and leave under cover of night but some think it’s safer to leave during the day.”

He turned his head to look at her. “As you know, no one is actually allowed to leave this city unless they’re doing some sort of patrol or other work for the military. But I see them sometimes. They’re usually standing at the edge of the clouds with a far off look in their eyes. And I watch them to see if they’re actually going to take that first step or not. I’m not sure if I want them to or not, either way it all ends the same.” Summer Rains sighed and started looking down, his eyes on the rooftops and the alleys between the houses below them. “That’s the only crime that gets committed here. Trying to leave.”

“Oh,” Rainbow Dash blankly stared ahead. “So if we see anyone who looks like they’re planning to leave...”

“They are to be detained.”

Rainbow Dash sincerely hoped they didn’t come across anyone like that. Even if she was trying to go along with things for now and live like a normal soldier here she knew she’d never be able to stop an innocent pony from trying to run away from this awful place… and that would lead to her getting in a lot of trouble with Blizzard. She scowled at the thought of it, knowing she wouldn’t be able to do anything right now to him as much as she wanted to. Either in a fight or just changing his mind.

Although if the ponies fleeing the city were going south or west she would have to stop them anyways before they crossed paths with the Ice Sentinels. Otherwise they’d meet an even worse fate…

North was possibly the only safe direction for any runaway to travel in and even that was nothing but unknowns and more dangers. No matter what happened it seemed like the pegasi that wanted to leave the Empire were in a bad situation. She hated to admit it but it might be best for them all to bite the bullet and stay here for now.

At least until she could change things.

“Come on, there’s no reason to dwell on things like that right now,” Summer Rains shook her out of her mood and the two continued their flight over the homes.

Rainbow Dash looked down and saw a small playground that a number of fillies were playing on with their mothers watching. She didn’t see any young colts or fathers with them, which didn’t surprise her considering how separated stallions and mares were in this city for the most part, but she did see some colts playing on their own and an elderly stallion or two out on a walk or flight among the buildings. She had to admit it was a peaceful looking city. Somewhere that at first glance looked as nice as anywhere in Equestria.

A cry from below made Rainbow Dash’s ears perk up and she looked to see a balloon floating up from the playground with a young filly trying to jump up after it. Her wings buzzed on her sides but she was too little to fly by herself yet.

“My balloon!” She said, tears welling up in her eyes.

No one else looked like they were going to grab it so Rainbow Dash swooped in and grabbed it by the string, flying back down to give it back to the little filly.

“Hear you go,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile.

The filly’s eyes lit up and she grabbed the string, bouncing up and down in joy. “Thank you!”

“No problem,” she tussled the young mare’s hair while Summer Rains came to a landing right beside her. The little filly then ran off to a mare at the side of the playground who Rainbow Dash could only assume was her mother. Now that Rainbow Dash was looking at them she noticed she was getting a lot of stares from them and the other fillies who had been playing around. Not a surprise though.

She tilted her head over to Summer Rains while keeping a friendly smile on her face and waving at the mares and whispered to him out of the corner of her mouth. “Why didn’t anyone else go grab her balloon?”

“If she couldn’t get it and keep it herself then she didn’t deserve to have it… that would’ve been the prevailing logic,” he told her.

Rainbow Dash scowled. “But that’s dumb! I mean, that’s not even about being strong—it’s just mean!”

“That’s how it is here,” he shrugged.

The two of them flew off from the playground and went back to patrolling, but not before the little filly waved back up at the two of them. “Goodbye, Rainbow Dash!”

The blue pegasus didn’t stop flying but she did look back over her shoulder at the playground with a befuddled expression on her face. As soon as it was out of sight she glanced over to Summer Rains. “How did she know my name?”

“You’re a hot topic here,” was his simple response.

“But I-”

“It doesn’t matter,” he cut her off. “Your fight with Commander Blizzard was watched by a full coliseum. Husbands went home and talked to their wives, brothers talked to their sisters, mares gossiped with each other. You became popular overnight, even if you’ve almost done nothing but stay at the military base since. Everyone knows about you and the mares of the city especially find you interesting. A pegasus from Equestria has just arrived in the city and she fought with Blizzard and became a soldier? Of course they would find that titillating.”

“Well I guess my awesomeness would have that effect. So what, do the mares here find me an inspiration or something?” She smirked as she asked him.

“I think “oddity” would be a more accurate word at the moment,” he smirked right back at her.

“Pff, whatever.”

“That does make me think about something though...” Summer Rains said, his voice trailing off as he looked away at another part of the residential area.

“What?” She asked him.

Summer Rains smiled some more as he got a kind of bashful look on his face. “I was thinking… since you’ve never actually met with any mares in the Empire for real that maybe you’d like to meet my family? No one is really going to notice if we stop patrolling for an hour or two and my house is right by. You can come say hello to my wife.”

“You’re married?!” Rainbow Dash was really surprised.

“Proud to be,” Summer Rains was smug in his response. “I’m the only one in our squad who is.”

“Wow, good job I guess. So you live right nearby? I don’t mind stopping to see your family, it sounds cool,” Rainbow Dash was actually pretty intrigued to see how a regular family lived here. And yeah, she somehow doubted anyone would miss the two of them if they ditched patrolling for a bit.

“Let’s go,” Summer Rains turned and headed in towards the mountain and Rainbow Dash followed close behind.

His family home seemed to be close to the second level of the mountain city, nestled almost right up to the mountain itself. The homes and every kind of building were really crowded here with narrow streets and alleys snaking through them. Without the benefit of flight it would’ve been a maze and easy to get lost in. For pegasi it wasn’t an issue at all though. Summer Rains leisurely flew on to a segment of houses that all shared walls with each other, dropping down to street level in front of one and walking up its stoop.

Rainbow Dash looked around, the house he was entering wasn’t wide but it was four stories tall and seemed to stretch back a fair ways. It had that same classical architecture style on the outside that made it look closer to something you’d see in Canterlot than Cloudsdale nowadays.

Summer Rains didn’t bother with knocking, he opened up the door and held it for Rainbow Dash to enter, then filing in behind her. There was a hallway stretching back further into the house with a stairway (even though Rainbow Dash had never personally seen the point for stairs in a pegasus house) directly to their left and an opening to their right that looked like it led into a small living room.

“Hello? Anybody home?” Summer Rains called out as the two of them stood in the entryway.

“Summer?” A voice called from upstairs.

It wasn’t a mare’s voice though, it was an older stallion’s. From down the first flight of stairs came a middle-aged stallion with a faded green coat and an even softer blue mane and tail than Summer’s. His mouth cracked wide in a smile as soon as he saw the soldier standing there and he turned around, cupping his hooves over his mouth and yelling back upstairs.

“Hey everyone! Summer’s here, come on down!”

“Thanks dad,” Summer Rains blushed while Rainbow Dash grinned at him.

The pony from Equestria heard quite the commotion from upstairs as more voices echoed on down and a whole family tree came scrambling down to the first floor to see their soldier son.

The first two who made it were a mare and a young filly. The mare looked to be about the same age as Summer’s dad, so it was probably his mom, and she had a frazzled orange mane with a pale yellow coat. The filly had the same colors as her mom but her mane and tail were straight and smooth like her father and brother, she looked to be about as old as Scootaloo and the other Crusaders.

Behind them came three more pegasi, two of them were quite a bit older than Summer’s parents but they looked far too different to be the grandparents of anyone here. The stallion was a cloudy gray with a lilac mane and tail and the mare was snow white with a garishly pink mane done up in a beehive and reading glasses nestled on the bridge of her nose. The last pony to come down the stairs was a mare who looked maybe a few years older than Rainbow Dash and had to be the daughter of the two other ponies, with a coat just as white as her mother’s and a pretty lilac mane tied back in a long braid that was half wrapped around her neck.

Summer Rains walked towards the mare as she glided off the last steps of the stairs and the two embraced in a hug.

“It’s been too long, you couldn’t come by sooner?” She asked him.

“Sorry, it’s been busy lately,” Summer responded.

While the spouses reunited the rest of the family seemed to finally take note of Rainbow Dash’s presence. Summer’s father did a double-take and his eyes widened as he finally realized just who it was that was standing here.

“Oh! I know you! You’re the mare everyone is talking about. The rainbow mare that became a soldier.”

That got the attention of the others too and all eyes went right to Rainbow Dash. She was used to this sort of attention, and she adored it, so instead of blushing like a certain friend of hers would’ve done she proudly stood tall and puffed out her chest.

"Yep, that’s me!”

Summer detached himself from his wife and walked back over to stand beside Rainbow Dash. “I’m sorry, I should’ve taken care of introductions first...” He cleared his throat and pointed to his wife “This is my wife, Snowshine.”

“A pleasure it is to meet you,” Snowshine spoke with a soft and demure voice as she politely bowed for Rainbow Dash.

“And my wife’s parents,” Summer Rains nodded at the older couple. “Ice Breezer and Snowfall Glitter.”

The older couple smiled in acknowledgment of Rainbow Dash and went to stand beside their daughter, making this small area at the bottom of the stairs a bit crowded.

“My own parents, of course-” Summer Rains looked over at the others. “My father Autumn Mist and my mother Sun Ray.” He then walked up and grabbed the little filly in his wings to hug her. “And last but not least, my little sister, Aurora.”

“Hey, nice to meet all of you,” Rainbow Dash waved at them. “Case you didn’t know, my name’s Rainbow Dash.” She looked to Summer Rains. “So you guys all live together?”

He nodded. “It’s common for families to all live together in one home here.”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t imagine that at all back home. Ponies were way more independent in Equestria. One of the only families she could think of that lived like this was Applejack’s and there were reasons for that. And Pinkie Pie’s, but the reasons were the same. If she still had to share a house with her mom and dad her whole life… ugh. That thought brought a grimace.

“We do know you, Miss Rainbow Dash,” Autumn Mist said. “It’s really amazing to meet you, but it’s becoming a little crowded right here, let’s step into the living room.”

The little living room that sat on the first floor of this house didn’t have much room either but it was still better than standing next to the stairs. There wasn’t enough seating for everyone so Summer Rains stood with his little sister on his back, Rainbow Dash would’ve stood as well but his family insisted on having their guest take a seat. So she ended up sitting side by side with Snowshine on a couch and being stared at by the two pairs of parents.

“The reason we stopped by-” Summer Rains began. “Is because I wanted Rainbow Dash to meet some mares of our city. And, well, who better than you?” He said with a blush as he looked at his wife.

She giggled, hiding her mouth behind her hoof. “I only wish we had more notice, I would’ve gathered up all the ladies from the neighborhood and we could’ve thrown a little get-together for Miss Rainbow Dash.”

“I’m sure we can organize something like that next time,” Sun Ray said. “It would be wonderful to get to know you better and show you what the normal mares are like around here.”

Rainbow Dash wasn’t entirely sure how she should take that but she just smiled for Summer’s mom.

“So, umm… what kind of stuff do you do around here and all then?” She asked, pointedly looking between the three adult mares present.

Snowshine’s eyes sparkled. “I’m glad you asked! We mares of the Empire take care of things like watching over the children, cleaning up, knitting all the togas and garments you may have seen others wearing, cooking for our families, and whatever else needs to be done around the home. It’s really a joyous lifestyle. The mares of the neighborhood usually get together for lunch, or work on knitting projects and other little things too. Oh, I hope next time I can bring you along to see the other ladies!”

Fluttershy or Rarity would enjoy it a lot better up here. Rainbow Dash thought. She might have enjoyed her spa visits but she’d never consider herself such a girly pony.

“That sounds… fun,” Dash tried to say as genuinely as possible.

“It will be great for you to make some friends who aren’t just soldiers,” Snowshine giggled.

“Umm...” A quiet voice spoke up from the floor right in front of her.

Rainbow Dash looked down to see Aurora standing there, looking up at her with big doe-eyes. The filly had hopped off her brother’s back while Rainbow was talking to the others and made her way over to the blue pegasus.

“Hi, what’s up?” Rainbow smiled at the young filly.

The filly shyly cast her eyes down and rubbed one of her legs before looking back up at Dash. “I like your mane… and I think it’s cool that you’re a soldier like my big brother.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash gave a short chuckle. “I like my mane too. Do you think it’s cool I’m a soldier because I’m a mare?”

Aurora nodded. “Yeah…” She fidgeted around a bit more. “Is it okay if I tell my friends I got to talk to you? They’d be really jealous.”

“Yeah, go ahead and make them as jealous as you want!” She laughed, with Snowshine joining in.

Summer Rains then cut in. “Hey Aurora? If you want to talk with Rainbow Dash some more why don’t you go show her your room? There were some things I wanted to speak with the rest of the family about.”

Rainbow Dash glanced over at him and raised an eyebrow, wondering what he might’ve wanted to say to his family that he didn’t want Rainbow Dash to hear. But Summer just winked at her and it’s not like he had ever given her a reason to be suspicious of him so she figured she might as well trust him. If he had something private to say then whatever.

“Can I?!” Aurora got excited as her eyes sparkled, looking back between her brother and Rainbow Dash.

Dash shrugged and stepped off the couch. “Sure, kid, I don’t mind. Let’s check it out.”

“Yay!” The filly jumped up and ran out of the room to the stairs, only just stopping before running up them to beckon to Rainbow Dash. “Come on!”

Rainbow Dash unfurled her wings and floated on behind her, letting Aurora take the lead as she galloped up the stairs to the third floor of the house. She bolted down the narrow hallway to the end and pushed open the door to her room. The little pegasus was squeeing and jumping up and down the whole time she looked like she had enough energy to keep up with Pinkie Pie. Where did that shyness she had shown gone away to? Rainbow Dash couldn’t hold back a small smile as she softly flew down the hallway and let herself walk into Aurora’s room.

It was pink. The room itself was small with mostly just a bed and a table that held an assortment of sewing instruments haphazardly thrown on top of it. The clouds and everything that made up the room were somehow tinged with a pink color that reminded Rainbow Dash of the cotton candy clouds Discord was fond of making. She wasn’t sure how the Empire’s pegasi did this but it was pretty impressive. Aurora’s bed was also covered in an assortment of stuffed animals. She saw a moose, a reindeer, a walrus, a penguin, and a-

“Is that a tortoise?” Rainbow’s eyebrows shot up as she walked over to the bed. Sure enough, a green stuffed tortoise was sitting with the other animals.

“Yeah!” Aurora said as her wings buzzed and she jumped up onto the bed, grabbing the tortoise. “He’s my favorite! Do you like tortoises too?”

A blush spread on Rainbow Dash’s face and her eyes quickly darted side to side. “N-No way! Why would you think that, huh? I like awesome, fast animals, not slow tortoises. I totally wouldn’t do something embarrassing like think tortoises are cool!”

Sniffle

“Guh—you… you d-don’t like my tortoise?”

Rainbow Dash looked to see a horribly sad looking Aurora, standing on the bed so they were eye-level, her lip stuttered and tears poured down her eyes as she hugged her stuffed tortoise like it was her security blanket.

“Ah! No! I didn’t say that, I didn’t say that!” Rainbow Dash shook her head as she frantically tried to backpedal. “Tortoises are awesome! I love tortoises, I even have a pet tortoise called Tank and he’s the coolest pet ever! I was just being dumb, really!”

“You—hic—you really mean it?” The poor crying filly asked.

“Yes! Seriously, tortoises are the best!” Rainbow Dash desperately admitted to get Aurora to stop crying.

“O-Okay… do you want to play with him?” She offered while rubbing away her tears.

Rainbow Dash was torn. She was pretty certain what Aurora’s reaction would be if she said no. But she was also pretty certain she’d die of embarrassment if she started playing around with stuffed animals. As she was debating what to say all it took was another look into the innocent and hopeful eyes of Aurora to know what her choice had to be.

“Sure, I’d love to play with your tortoise,” she said through a clenched and forced smile.

“Yay!”

She liked to think she got along with kids really well but it was still awkward to sit on that bed with Aurora and play make-believe with her assortment of stuffed animals. Still, Rainbow Dash was the type of pony who gave everything her all, especially after that cheerleading fiasco, and she made sure Aurora had a fun time playing with her. Dash was holding the walrus and flying it in circles around the room when she heard the unmistakable sound of the door being pushed open.

“Having fun?” Summer Rains snickered as he saw her.

Rainbow’s pupils shrank to pinpricks and she dropped to the floor, standing still and fighting to keep her face from turning beet red.

“We sure are!” Aurora answered for her, hopping over to her brother and hugging his leg.

“That’s good but I came to gather Rainbow Dash, we really need to get back on patrol,” Summer patted his little sister’s head.

“Awww,” Aurora pouted, looking downcast.

Rainbow Dash stealthily tossed the walrus onto the bed and walked over to Summer. “S-So, what did you need to talk about.”

The soldier looked up for a second to mull his thoughts over before looking back at her with a small smile on his lips. “It’s not exactly a secret or anything but I’ll tell you later.”

“Whatever, dude,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “So we’re going back out?”

He nodded. “Yeah, let’s go. Bye bye, Aurora, I’ll see you again soon.”

“Okay,” she still seemed a bit glum but she perked up a little when she said goodbye to Rainbow Dash. “Goodbye Miss Rainbow Dash, I hope we can play together again!”

“See ya, kid. It was fun,” Rainbow Dash grinned and waved goodbye to the filly as she and Summer Rains stepped out into the hallway. In a moment they were back downstairs and Rainbow Dash said her farewells to the other family members before the two soldiers exited the house and flew back into the sky. Nothing else for them today but more menial patrolling until the sun went down and they returned to their bunks at the barracks.

True Pegasus XIV

It was a normal day of training for Rainbow Dash and her squad and the seven ponies were currently in the mess hall at their regular table chowing down on a big lunch of oats and grits. The morning routine had pretty much passed by in a flash with running, weight-lifting, sparring, and your normal exercises like push-ups and wing push-ups leading to all of them building up a huge appetite. The hundred or two hundred ponies in the mess hall at the moment all felt the same way and the sounds of them loudly guzzling down their food almost made it impossible for Rainbow Dash to hear herself think. It didn’t help that Clear Skies was sitting right next to her and he was the loudest of them all, practically inhaling a bowl of milk and oats. It was like watching Twilight eat hayburgers.

“Did you guys hear from the sergeants what we’ll be doing after lunch? I want to get more flight practice in,” Rainbow Dash asked the whole table.

“I didn’t hear nothing,” Fierce Current shrugged, the red pony not even taking his eyes off the grits beneath him.

Wild Wind then cleared his throat to grab the attention of everyone. “Actually, speaking of that, there’s something different going on today that Lt. Moon told me about. I was going to wait until we all finished eating until I told you.”

“What is it?” Summer Rains asked as the others leaned in.

“As it turns out, the officers are having a meeting today, I was not informed as to what the meeting is about but it leaves us with essentially a free schedule for the rest of the afternoon. The Lieutenant suggested using it to do our normal exercises but essentially we could train or practice anything we wanted,” the corporal informed them.

“Well then I’m flying,” Rainbow Dash stated.

“Whatever we do we should stay together as a squad,” Wild Wind said. “I don’t think anyone will have a problem with flying though? Whether it be the obstacle course or practicing maneuvers.”

The corporal looked around the rest of the table to see if anyone dissented but no one spoke up. It looked like their squad would be heading up into the clouds once they finished their lunch. A thought then occurred to Rainbow Dash, if the officers were busy and weren’t going to be around, did they really have to do anything? Who was watching? They could take a break for the rest of the afternoon and she could just nap and who would bother her about it?

“Uh, actually… do you guys just not want to do anything?” Rainbow Dash asked the others.

“What do you mean?” Summer Rains asked, fixing her with a questioning look.

“These guys run us ragged every day. Why not just take a little break?” Dash shrugged. “Just have some fun and mess around instead.”

“I’d be up for that,” Flashbolt muttered as he swallowed down a mouthful of grits.

Skychaser on the other hoof wasn’t so sure. His face knit up and he ran an uncomfortable hoof through his mane. “I don’t know… we’d probably get in trouble if anyone found out we didn’t do any sort of training.”

“And what would we even do?” Clear Skies asked Dash. “Just lying around doesn’t really appeal to me.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and sat back. She should’ve known they wouldn’t be as up for just taking a nap somewhere like she was. “Okay, just give me a second. What do you guys really do for fun around here? Besides watching fights.” She glanced at Clear Skies.

He immediately closed his mouth.

“There isn’t exactly much to do really. Aside from compete with each other,” Fierce Current said.

“Competing huh?” Rainbow Dash leaned back in her seat and looked up at the ceiling. “If only you guys had Buckball up here...”

“What’s Buckball?” Wild Wind asked, confused.

Rainbow Dash grinned and tilted her head back. “Only the greatest game to ever come out of Equestria!”

That made the corporal just a little bit nervous and he frowned as he looked around at the nearest table to make sure no one else heard Rainbow Dash say that. “I’m not sure we should be talking about it then. Much less playing it. In fact we should just hurry up and eat our lunches and then we can get back out onto the training clouds.”

“Oh come on!” Rainbow Dash pleaded. “We’re not doing anything else and it’s literally perfect, look, it takes two teams of three to play and there are six of you! You guys can play and I’ll instruct and coach you. And it’s really easy to learn and everything, all you need is a bouncy ball and two buckets. Come on, let’s try it!”

Fierce, Clear Skies, Flashbolt, and Summer Rains looked like they might be a little interested but Wild Wind and Skychaser weren’t as enthusiastic and none of them looked like they were all in on it. Even the more adventurous ones were kind of worried of what could happen if they got caught playing a game from Equestria.

“I really don’t think we should,” Wild Wind shook his head.

“But I coach Buckball back home, and it’s still something that requires physical exercise. We’d still be getting a workout by playing,” she tried to convince him.

“How do you play it?” Clear Skies asked her.

Rainbow Dash smiled at him. “Okay, well traditionally you play with a pegasus, a unicorn, and an earth pony but-”

“Stop!” Wild Wind put up a hoof. “I’m sorry Rainbow Dash but I have to stop you right there. Are you saying this is a sport that is played using a member from each tribe and not just pegasi?”

“Er, yeahhh...” she let her eyes wander away from him.

“And not just that but the pegasus, unicorn, and earth pony are supposed to work together on the same team? Is that correct?” He continued.

Rainbow Dash winced. “Uhh… maybe?”

Wild Wind sighed deeply. “I’m sorry but I can’t let us play this game then. We’ll get in more than just a little bit of trouble if one of the officers catches us. I think you can understand why but Commander Blizzard would not be happy to learn about this Buckball game. It’s bad enough that it’s a sport from Equestria, but one that utilizes earth ponies and unicorns? He’d see it as dissent, a subversion of society.”

“Well you don’t have to play it like that. Three pegasi could easily do everything you need,” Rainbow Dash said with a roll of her eyes.

“Regardless, I can’t give the go ahead on this,” the corporal shook his head at her. Although he had proven to be an amicable and understanding enough pony, Rainbow Dash could see the hard look in his eyes that said this was no longer up for debate.

“Maybe we could always just invent a game of our own? We have the free time today,” Flashbolt said, his face bored. “Perhaps for reference, Rainbow could at least tell us about Buckball?”

Rainbow Dash grinned. Heh, nice one, Flash.

Skychaser shot his cousin a disapproving look but Flashbolt merely began to whistle innocently. The horrible off-tune whistling that was supposed to be nonchalant made Fierce Current and Clear Skies laugh, Rainbow too couldn’t help but snicker a bit.

“I don’t know about this...” Wild Wind frowned.

“I don't think it’s a problem if we’re just getting ideas from her. As long as we aren’t playing the exact game meant for all tribes of ponies,” Summer Rains interjected. He tried to sound all unbiased and logical but Rainbow could see the glint in his eyes. The others likely saw it too.

“Great! Let me tell you how it works!” Rainbow Dash slammed a hoof down on their table and said before one of the naysayers could say anything. “Okay, so like I said you need teams of three, that’s the first part. And you don’t need like, a court or anything, you just need some open space really. Uhh… there are three positions on a team, an attacker, a defender, and a catcher. The attacker is the one who—okay wait—maybe I should talk about the equipment first. You need two buckets and a bouncy rubber ball to play. Everyone following me so far?”

A chorus of meager “Yeahs” and “Uh-huhs” came from the other soldiers at her table. Rainbow decided that was probably the best she was going to get and continued on with her explanation of how to play Buckball.

“So anyways, the attacker will use the ball to try and score. You can throw it or bounce it or buck it or whatever to try and get it into your bucket, which is held by your team’s catcher. That’s what the catcher tries to do, catch his team’s ball in the bucket when it’s thrown by the attacker. But! What makes the game more difficult and intense and everything is the defender. Now his role is to block the ball from going in the opposing team’s bucket. So they’ll be flying around around the catcher’s bucket and trying to hit the ball away after the attacker throws it back to their own attacker so he can score.”

Fierce Current raised a hoof. “I think I’m confused.”

“Yeah, the defender blocks the ball from going in the enemy’s bucket? So he’s always going to be in-between the attacker and the catcher on the enemy team?” Clear Skies asked.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. Uhh… let me try to explain better. Try to picture that you were playing.” She grabbed a few of the plates and bowls on the table and gathered them up in front of her, using them to symbolize the six players that would be playing a game of Buckball. She pointed to one plate that was set up between two others. “So your defender will stay around the enemy team’s bucket and catcher. They’ll block and deflect balls thrown by the opposing attacker and try to send them to his team’s attacker. Got it?”

“More or less,” Fierce answered for the group.

“Just one question,” Summer Rains said. “Does the one holding the bucket have to stay in the same spot?”

Dash shook her head. “No, he can go wherever he needs to get the ball from the attacker in.”

“That could actually make the game quite a hectic and exhausting experience,” Flashbolt mused.

“You know it, some Buckball games get crazy competitive,” Raindow Dash grinned.

“Well we wont be playing one personally to find out,” Wild Wind stated. “After all this entire conversation has only been to hypothetically help us play a game of our own in the future. Correct?” He narrowed his eyes at the ponies under his command.

“Yeah, yeah...” Rainbow rolled her eyes and went back to despondently eating her lunch. She really wished she could’ve started a Buckball game with them, and then maybe an entire league with the rest of the barracks and other soldiers on the base. That would’ve been awesome! And it would’ve been just the kind of thing this city needed, a sport from Equestria, and one where you need to work together really well and that was made for ponies of different tribes. Rainbow Dash really hoped she could open these guys up some more so they could play Buckball together in the future.

“So we still haven’t decided how to actually spend our afternoon,” Clear Skies mentioned.

Wild Wind gave a small shrug as he continued to eat as well. “We’ll go flying up through the obstacle course and work on flying in our squad formation too.”

It was at least better than doing more push-ups to Rainbow Dash. Or worse, running. If Wild Wind was set on making them do some real training and exercise while their officers did who knows what then at least she could take some enjoyment from the fact that they’d be flying.

Rainbow Dash gulped down the rest of her oats at once and waited for the others to finish. Skychaser looked a little uncomfortable through the rest of the meal but he didn’t say anything, a bit out of character for one who liked to talk so much but Rainbow Dash knew he didn’t like when something was brought up that was against the Empire’s traditions or that Blizzard wouldn’t like. Soon enough the others had had their fill and the squad of seven left the mess hall. It was a shame that Dash knew some of them would’ve enjoyed playing Buckball or learning more about Equestria but that had been shot down. A frown tightened on her face, she’d figure out how to get them to play Buckball somewhere down the road.

True Pegasus XV

An average day in the Eternal Pegasus Empire for Elder Tornado was a day of argument, lamentation, and boredom as he worked his way through meetings with the rest of the councilors and pondered on the peculiar pony from Equestria who had recently arrived and the obnoxious oversight of their current Commander. While Tornado was too old and too tired to get truly angry, or at least he would say as such, that certainly did not mean he didn’t get annoyed or bothered by things and with his advanced age came a distinct lack of patience for such irritation. While any days where he might have been considered a fighter were long behind him he could still take solace in the fact that his words were sharp and he could subtly spit venom about his Commander and whatever else drew his ire whenever given the opportunity to speak.

This particular day saw the Elder wake up a bit later than normal. It was still early morning but he liked to try and rise with the sun if he could. Instead he had to rouse himself into a more cognizant form and get ready to tackle his surely busy and annoying day. He had the benefit of living in the large administration building, along with the others on the Elder Council, to save himself the commute. It was something he was silently thankful for despite the boring and unappealing aesthetics of the building and rooms the Elders used. Today though he was even more thankful than normal as a quick look into the ice mirror of his bathroom showed his voluminous hair to be in absolute disarray. He was hardly like some mares who would’ve screamed at such a sight but it would’ve been unbecoming for one as esteemed as him to go out in public with his mane in such a state. Using the brushes he had on hoof he slowly fought to get it into a semblance of normality rather than looking like he had flown through a hurricane.

It did end up being quite the battle but he managed to get his hair as tidy as it ever got and then all he needed to do was throw on one of his togas and he’d be ready for the day. A clean white toga that matched his mane, he could practically disguise himself as a cloud if he stood still.

His bones ached more than he was willing to admit as he walked through the halls of the building. One who knew of his pains might suggest flying, but that hurt even worse. Elder Tornado flew only when absolutely necessary nowadays, the arthritis in his wings made every flap and movement of them agony. It was something he was used to and he could easily keep an impassive face through flying most of the time but he preferred to avoid it if he could. It was something that would be shameful to admit if it was dragged into the light. A pegasus whose body hurt him too much to fly effectively, Blizzard would probably force him off the Council if he knew. Too weak. It was a sentence in this city.

As he approached the council chambers he wondered what he would have to deal with today? How long would the normal meetings and hearings last this time? Hopefully not long, he could safely say he didn’t get along with any of the other Elders nor did he see much worth in the average meeting that was held. It was always the same problems and complaints. The same deliberation. The same lack of real ability to do anything unless Blizzard expressly allowed it. More often than not now if a pegasus had a problem they would send him to the coliseum and he could deal with his dispute there.

Forget about being right or wrong, just let them fight to decide it! Tornado cynically thought.

They had become so lazy and apathetic about things lately that they had sent two neighbors to the coliseum for a fight just because one of them was angry at the other for singing too loudly. That’s what this council had become thanks to Blizzard’s domination and theft of their true role. It didn’t matter if they were soldiers or not, Blizzard wanted strength to decide everything and Tornado was too hamstrung to do anything about it.

Neighborly disputes, business decisions, quarrels of any sort, plans for the city, the Elder Council was nothing more than a puppet. A fake. Figureheads at best.

It disgusted him.

He hoped that today would prove to not be too busy, then he could retire to his room again. Although he would be bored it was better than the alternative of being stuck here with the other Elders going through pointless meetings. Tornado could safely say he did not care for a single one of his contemporaries. Frost was an idiot, Hail Storm was a simpering coward, Waterspout was close to senile and only still on the council out of respect, and Black Lightning was an opportunist that fully caved in to Blizzard long ago. Tornado suspected he reported everything the other Elders said or did in meetings to one of Blizzard’s captains.

And lo and behold was it that when he walked into the council chamber from the back rooms and onto the raised dais where the Elders sat that he saw all four of his favorite ponies already there.

One of them couldn’t even be sick? He grumbled internally.

And of course his favorite of all noticed him walk in and just had to say something.

“A bit late, aren’t you?” Black Lightning asked with a smirk. His turquoise coat was made of wrinkles and loose skin and his flat nose gave him the face of a pig, an ugly pony that had gotten even uglier with age.

It was a fitting appearance, Tornado thought.

“My apologies, my mane was giving me trouble this morning and I didn’t want to come to the council chambers looking like a storm had blown through my room. I know you can appreciate that as well since you clearly put so much effort into looking your best,” Tornado said to him as he walked by without even glancing in the pony’s direction.

“There isn’t much on the schedule for today,” Hail Storm said as Tornado walked by him as well. Hail Storm’s coat was white like Tornado’s mane but a bit murkier, and all of his own mane had fallen out, leaving nothing more than a bald head. “We have some disputes to go over and one of the farmers is coming to petition us about expanding the oats fields.”

“I see,” Tornado nodded, not paying him any real attention. He took his seat in the middle of the dais and reclined with a sigh in his chair.

Rude? Certainly. But he just couldn’t muster the energy to care. At least that bit about the farms was some real business to take care of. Small as it was.

Glancing to his right he saw Frost helping Waterspout to his seat while the other two he had just passed took their seats to his left. A full house of morons and lickspittles all around him.

Tornado dispassionately propped his chin up on his hoof and looked at the so far empty room down below. There weren’t even any looky-loos or witnesses up in the viewing spots around the chamber yet. “What’s the first item to take care of today?” He asked Hail Storm.

“It’s a dispute regarding a proposed addition to a home between two magisters. One of them wishes to add another floor to his manse and the other, who lives nearby, says that would block too much sunlight from reaching his own home. They’ve come here to have things resolved.”

And we have to listen to these two idiots babble about their dumb problem. Tornado groaned.

He almost wanted to just immediately send them to the coliseum without having to hear anything from them at all, but that would be too much of a mockery. Even if he had lost faith in the process and couldn’t care less about such a selfish and meaningless issue he didn’t want to completely abandon what their job should be. He could at least listen for five minutes before deciding that what they were arguing about was stupid and send them to the coliseum to duke it out.

There were so many other things he wished he could be doing right now or thinking about.

That rainbow pony from Equestria for one. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her but he never had the opportunity. It was impossible now for him to reach her without Blizzard or one of his lackeys finding out that he wanted to. He hoped that one day he would be able to speak to her away from prying eyes. What she said… what she represented and what she knew of Equestria and how the pegasi there were living. It was almost impossible for him to not think about it.

What did she think about their Empire now after living in it for some time? What did she have to say about Flash Magnus, after claming to personally know him? What did she have to tell him? What could her existence and presence here change?

If there was ever the opportunity to talk with her he would take it. He had been living such a dull life, one that had slowly been getting worse and worse as Blizzard got more power-mad, he had lost hope for any change or progress in this stagnant Empire that was so obviously living in the past. Then Rainbow Dash had come and shined a light upon that fact. A light that Blizzard was now trying to manipulate for his own purposes and delusions. That Commander of theirs… he had seen that over the centuries and especially recently that the pegasi were changing and starting to get tired of the old way, the “true way”, and he didn’t like it one bit. His solution was to hammer out anything that didn’t conform to his ideals and get the soldiers and pegasi of the Empire to embrace the old, original, ways even more extremely than before.

Results so far had been mixed, as they fostered quite a bit of resentment. But there was nothing that could be done. Most everyone still believed in their Empire and loved it and wouldn’t go against the Commander directly even if they disagreed with him to a degree. It would’ve been too much of a betrayal of their society and the true pegasus way. Not to mention that Blizzard was strong and those that would’ve confronted him about things were too afraid to. The rest were strangled by tradition and loyalty. Even if it went against their own sense.

I would’ve done something by now if I thought there was a point. Tornado mused. But I can’t fight him, and none would follow me. My life is a farce.

While he was still lost in thought the doors to the council chambers were opened up and two toga-wearing pegasi were marched in by a couple of guards. If the looks the two pegasi were throwing at each other were any indication the guards were the only thing keeping them from being at each other’s throats right now.

When they reached the center of the room where guests were supposed to speak, Tornado finally glanced down at them. It was pretty obvious how this affair was going to end but they might as well go through the motions and let the two stallions air their grievances with each other before things descended into a savage fight. Surely Blizzard couldn’t also be blamed for this? Did his attitude permeate the entire city and make stallions so much more prone to deciding things over blows than through talk? Did he make it so they desired and expected things to go that way? Or perhaps it was Tornado’s and the other Elder’s own negligence and lack of vigilance, because he had given up on trying to keep things more civil.

He breathed out through his nose before leaning forward. “Our first item of business for the day, mediating a dispute on housing between two parties. May the parties please give me their names?”

As the two magisters down below started yelling over each other to give their name and be heard first, Elder Tornado knew it was going to be a long day. Idly his mind wandered to thoughts of Equestria and everything he wished he could learn about it.

True Pegasus XVI

Crescent Moon often held the sneaking suspicion that others considered him a moron. He didn’t have anything to base this on. His soldiers listened to his orders, they respected his authority, it was more of just a general gut feeling he had. He didn’t know why or how this could be considering he followed all of Commander Blizzard’s orders and those of Captains East and West Wind. Not to mention he always tried his hardest to live up to their standards and the ideals of the true pegasus way. So why did this puzzling feeling and suspicion exist in him? Perhaps he was just being paranoid. Surely his squad appreciated him for always seeking to bring out the best in them at least.

He knew that Rainbow Dash didn’t think much of him but the two of them hadn’t actually spoken much either. Only briefly now and then, Crescent Moon was more than happy to let Wild Wind deal with the day to day managing of the squad. Truthfully Crescent Moon didn’t want to engage much with Rainbow Dash, her existence made him uncomfortable. Even though he was following orders as best as possible and trying to make her soldier life as normal as any other’s. She was a mare, she was from Equestria, she had a naturally confident attitude, she was stronger and faster than any other pegasus aside from Blizzard himself, Crescent Moon didn’t know how to deal with her. In some ways he was afraid of her. He hoped he didn’t let any of that show on the outside.

It would’ve been easy to disguise that fear with anger or distaste and he could’ve given her a much harder time at training camp, but he wasn’t supposed to do anything abnormal or extreme. Those were his orders. And he had the feeling that she was stubborn and strong enough to overcome anything he could’ve thrown at her in the first place. And that would’ve likely made his apprehensiveness around her even worse.

According to any of the sergeants who had been supervising his squad she excelled at every aspect of training. According to Wild Wind she was getting along perfectly fine with everyone else on the squad. The corporal had even described her as… what was it? Bright and magnetic? Something like that. He said there was just something about her that was special, that made them like her and gravitate around her.

Crescent Moon didn’t quite get it. The only thing he could think of was how he felt about the Commander’s strong presence and will.

“Maybe if I spent more time with her I’d understand,” he scratched his chin as he lied in bed. The lieutenant was still in the officer’s quarters staring at the ceiling. By now his squad was well into their morning training.

He turned onto his side and thought about his first meeting with her, her blatant disrespect shown to the Commander. “But she’s so… subversive.”

Crescent Moon liked to consider himself the staunchest and most loyal supporter of Commander Blizzard and the true pegasus way as any soldier could be. He didn’t want to hear about Equestria and the other traitorous pegasi and he didn’t want to deal with a mare doing such… unbecoming things for a mare to do. He didn’t want to be sullied by her or corrupted. Maybe it was just cowardly but he would continue to keep his distance for now and let Wild Wind do his thing.

What if he was personally asked to engage with her and find out how she was adapting to the Empire?

He shuddered at the thought. He knew she had gone on some patrols and learned a great deal of the inner-workings of their city through her excursions with the other members of the squad but that had mostly come as second-hoof information through Wild Wind. Or him only taking the barest amount of time to allow her out somewhere.

What her true thoughts and feelings were on anything he didn’t really know. Although he could suspect.

He hoped she was learning the errors of her ways and coming to believe in their Empire but if he had to be honest that was likely not the case. Not with the attitude she had shown since day one and the way she still carried herself even now. She hadn’t changed a bit, she was still an Equestrian mare with that cocky and boastful personality of hers. She was fighting to make sure the Empire didn’t change her and she didn’t acclimate to their ways.

Crescent Moon sighed and finally pushed himself out of bed. Regardless of anything else it was improper to be lazy and sleep so long. In a practiced second he had his armor on and was marching out the door to check up on his squad. Once that was done he could meet with the other officers and plan the next month’s training regime. Captains East and West Wind had wanted that to be done days ago but they were sidetracked by the wolf attack.

The Lieutenant flew over the clouds to where the seven ponies under his command should be. To his pleasure they were busy running laps around the cloud track, good, at least they still took their training seriously regardless of the effect this mare may have had on them.

A sudden frown hit his face as he looked closer at them though and realized that Rainbow Dash was running backwards and still going faster than any of the others. Showing off her athleticism no doubt.

“That mare needs to learn some humility,” he grumbled. Crescent Moon would’ve thought that maybe her one-sided defeat at the wings of Commander Blizzard might have damaged her pride but if that was the case she had done an excellent job of hiding it in the time since.

In fact being so easily beaten by their Commander probably just made the fire inside her burn hotter.

She should’ve known that Blizzard was invincible and she could never beat him but apparently she refused to accept that. And it’s not like any other pegasus could chastise her or physically best her in any way, she knew she was superior to anyone else here and it gave her strength.

Sergeant Iron Star was surveying his squad and a few others out on the clouds so Crescent Moon decided to fly over to him. He stood a good head taller than the sergeant, making them a bit of a mismatched pair.

“How is the morning training going?” He asked the eye-patch wearing sergeant as normally as he could.

“As good as ever with these wimps and slackers,” Iron Star spat. The sergeant was in a perpetually bad mood for some reason, none of the other officers could ever determine why. “Look at em, practically jogging around the course, I’ll make em put some real effort into it next time. Darn slugs.”

They seemed fine to Crescent Moon but he wasn’t about to say anything. Despite the difference in rank.

Crescent Moon spied Wild Wild running, he made a note to talk to him again later. His corporal was always pertinent and level-headed no matter the issue. He wasn’t the type to delve too deeply or think too hard about things but Crescent was sure he could help elucidate anything when it came to Rainbow Dash. Again, he was using his corporal as a buffer but that was his right as a superior officer wasn’t it?

He frowned and began rolling his tongue inside his mouth. “It’s not like I’m actually that busy, I could always work with them more. Or I could even go on a patrol with her myself.”

“You say something?” Iron Star glared up at him.

Crescent had no idea if the glare was intentional or if that was just how his face automatically looked. He probably genuinely didn’t hear what Crescent was saying though.

“No, nothing. I was just talking to myself,” Crescent Moon muttered.

“Hng,” the sergeant grunted and returned his angry gaze to the running ponies.

Since he was done here for now he flapped his wings again and took off to the sky, on a short flight to the main office of the base where the other ranking officers would be gathered. A small building pressed up at the corner of the base and right on the line between it and the rest of the city. He still vividly remembered the first day Rainbow Dash was officially placed under his command and all the time the other officers had spent pestering him about her.

He scowled as he thought more about that morning. He had tried to be imposing and unwelcoming to her, orders or not it was his knee-jerk reaction, and get it into her skull that he was the one in charge now and also tried to get her to see the glory of the Empire. But right from the beginning she had defied all of it and gave him lip. Maybe he was too overzealous that time…

She had somewhat humiliated him when they first met in the sky and because of that he had tried to make too hard of an impression on her when he inducted her into his squad.

It’s not like he didn’t believe everything he said, far from it, he did zealously believe it, but he wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t. And he should’ve known better how she would’ve reacted. He also distinctly remembered dismissing anything she said about Equestria and the Empire, another thing that would’ve made her rather scornful of him.

He had to admit though that after seeing her in action and hearing about how she won everyone on the squad over that it made him curious to know about where she came from. He didn’t want to be curious but he couldn’t help it thanks to her. That was a bad thing to think about though. He was expressly forbidden from asking her about Equestria or letting her tell the others about it. It could be damaging to their way of life, as East and West Wind said. They and Commander Blizzard certainly knew best about such things, it wouldn’t do to have her make pegasi start to think that their ancestors should’ve never come up here in the first place. If the pegasi of the Empire started to get the mistaken idea that Equestria was a good place to live and that living by the old ways and traditions didn’t matter… he didn’t want to think about it. Everything would just feel so pointless. The pegasi of Equestria were wrong. They were wrong to live their flippant lives ignorant of what it really meant to be a pegasus.

Crescent Moon fervently shook his head. He didn’t want the thoughts and feelings inside Rainbow Dash to spread to the rest of the Empire.

“I don’t know if keeping her around and giving her the life of a soldier was a good idea,” Crescent Moon quietly said to himself. His eyes then widened and he nearly stopped in midair, realizing that he was doubting Commander Blizzard’s decision. “No, no, he—he certainly knows much better than me. I’m just being paranoid, with the Commander around there is no such thing as a threat to our Empire.”

He needed to believe in the Commander, in himself, in their ways. They were stronger than Rainbow Dash.

The fact that he was even thinking about this now though gave some evidence to that magnetic personality Wild Wind had mentioned. Treating her like a normal soldier didn’t mean he always had to allow her to go on patrol or go visit the farms and all the while strengthen the relationships she had with the rest of the squad. He didn’t have to talk with her personally but he could keep her around base more to keep an eye on her. Or at the worst only have her pair up with Wild Wind on any outing.

“Forget it for now, she’s not the only thing I have to deal with,” Crescent said as he arrived at the base’s office. “I’ll plan our training regime and go over anything else that’s important with the other officers. That’ll take my mind off this uncomfortable Rainbow Dash business.” He nodded and set down on the clouds right outside the office, pulling the door open with a wing and walking inside.

I’m not stupid. I know that something is going to change because of her coming here… I just don’t know what yet. With a frown he tried to push those last oppressive thoughts out of his head to get focused on his other work.

True Pegasus XVII

The eyes of Commander Blizzard opened up at exactly the same time that they did every morning. Precisely one hour before dawn. With nary a thought occupying his head he automatically rose from his bed and inhaled deeply, stretching and flexing his muscles while he stood like a stone statue. When that was done he unfurled his wings once to pop them and remove any cricks and then finally stretched his neck until he felt a satisfying pop and exhaled.

His morning routine. Just the little things he did right after waking to make sure he could take on the day in the best possible condition.

Commander Blizzard, much like the Elders, lived inside the administration building at the highest level of the city. While he could’ve chosen to make his residence anywhere he preferred it here so he could look out and survey the entire rest of the city. Right now it was still dark out and there was nothing to see through the ice sculpted windows but as soon as dawn arrived and sunlight illuminated his city he always made sure to give it a look every morning.

A reminder to himself.

He moved from the spot right beside his bed to an open area of the floor where a large pair of weights sat. Grasping them with his wings he effortlessly lifted the several hundred pound weights and curled twenty times before setting them back down. Just a minor workout to make the blood flow through his incredibly strong wings. Feeling the cold morning air the Commander looked up, a hole in the roof of the building allowed him to fly in and out without disturbing anything else. The cold that permeated his home due to this open skylight was never a bother to him. If anything he saw it as endurance training. With a single powerful flap of his wings he shot up through the skylight and into the early morning sky.

For a moment he closed his eyes and hung there, basking in the feeling of floating in the open sky. There was nothing he liked more than being able to fly with the clouds. It was the natural home and state of the pegasus tribe and if it was possible he’d even fly in his sleep.

Opening his eyes once more he got started on another segment of his morning exercise; flying around the mountain peak. He never flew at full speed around the city or he might disturb too much of the cloud coverage or start making sonic-booms but he got close to it as he ringed around the top of the mountain. To untrained eyes he would’ve looked like a solid blur as his wings flapped with unparalleled power. He didn’t push himself too hard or beat his wings into a fervor, that wasn’t the point of this, but he flew with a speed and power most pegasi could never dream of.

After his fiftieth lap he stopped, his exercise complete. He never got tired of doing this every morning—it was far too important to stay in peak physical condition. He had to be at his absolute best always. Never did he allow himself to miss out on exercising. Not from being busy and not from being sick. Never.

Vigilance was one of his favorite words and he was always working to keep as vigilant as possible. There were some who wouldn’t see the point of what he was doing or think he could’ve gone a few days without doing it. Those people were weak. They didn’t understand the importance of keeping a strict regimen, how you had to work yourself every day, how you couldn’t falter a single time. How you had to purge yourself of any weakness or laziness.

Blizzard scowled as he flew back down into his home, he knew that in the past the pegasi took such things far more seriously. Today it seemed only he was fully invested in sculpting his body into the best specimen it could possibly be. That was why he was superior to all the others in this city, it wasn’t some natural strength he was born with, it was his drive. His willpower. His diamond-hard belief in what he was doing.

Despite his efforts to increase support and interest in physical workout and body building most stallions seemed to be fine with just not being out of shape. Instead of aiming to be the best they could possibly be like him.

It was sickening. He couldn’t help but feel contempt for his fellow citizens.

That sort of weakness is what he had been trying to stamp out ever since he became the Commander. It was why he did everything he did. He had seen the signs, seen the approaching weakness, seen the growing apathy for their traditions and customs. He had seen it all and knew he must stop it lest they betray everything their forefathers stood for. There could be no compromise, no change, the first allowance would be the first hoof on the slippery slope until eventually they turned their backs completely on the true pegasus way.

No one understood what it meant to be vigilant. No one understood that you couldn’t bend or waver at all. The slightest weakness, the smallest crack, in the foundation would lead to everything falling apart.

Why couldn’t they understand this? Why didn’t they have the same strength of will or belief as him? Why were they so weak?

His hooves set down back inside his room and with his jaw in a tight frown he went to put on his armor. There wasn’t any real work for him to do today but he was having East and West Wind come by to update him on Rainbow Dash. At least he could rely on the twins for the most part, they were loyal and capable. Hopefully they had good news to bring him about that unclean Equestrian mare and how she was fitting in. Blizzard knew eventually she would see the light, how could she not? He just wanted it to come sooner rather than later. But she was strong, she wanted to prove herself and make herself the best she could possibly be, she clearly understood power and despised weakness, there was no way that she wouldn’t eventually come around to seeing that the Empire is the ideal world for her. That the true pegasus way is better for her than her silly Equestrian ideals. He almost smiled as he thought of the sheer joy he would feel when she agreed with him and embraced the Eternal Pegasus Empire.

It would be proof. She would be a symbol to all the others. There would be no more weakness, no more apathy, no more uncertainty about their ways.

That was for later though, for now he would work on running through the halls of the administration building. Always in areas that no one would be in at this time. It was still a bit before the sun would rise and others would begin to wake up so he essentially had it all to himself right now. He had given his wings enough of a workout so now it was time for his legs. Exercising like this always focused his mind and calmed him down, everything else was banished from his mind as he focused entirely on his workout and his own body.

He wouldn’t say he felt happy when exercising or training but he did feel at peace.

The twins would be around early in the morning and after that he would either take some time watching the Elder Council or perhaps go to the coliseum and see if there was any fight worth watching there. He had been considering starting a tournament for soldiers to fight in, although he didn’t like the idea of competing for the sake of competing. Fights should be real. Maybe if there was a prize for it it would be better and more would be interested. Perhaps whatever young soldier won he would gain the hoof of a pretty single mare in marriage.

Seemed a decent prize to him.

He turned a corner in the administration building and came out into a long and empty hallway. With a pause he took a small breath of air and then sprinted down it at full speed. When he got to the end he skidded to a halt and then sprinted back to where he had started. Again and again he did this until his legs were screaming at him.

Blizzard was panting when he stopped, but only for a moment as he got his breathing back under control. He never showed any sort of weakness or exhaustion to other ponies. In the rare times he fought or did battle himself he always used the bare minimum of force to win, never over-exerting himself or doing anything unnecessary. It made him look fully in-control and overwhelmingly powerful to any other pegasi who would be watching. He appeared as if nothing could hurt or tire him whatsoever and he could defeat anyone else effortlessly.

The fight he had with Rainbow Dash in front of so many others was something he was quite proud of.

She really was such a blessing. He was worried when he heard about one of the Sentinels being destroyed, thinking it may have been a runaway who somehow figured out how to disable them. But then when he met her… it was like an epiphany, a sudden nirvana, he knew exactly what she was and what he needed to do with her. And everything had gone perfectly thanks to him since. He almost lost his composure once or twice but he still managed to handle things and now it was a mere waiting game.

He began walking slowly again, his exercise done for now. It wouldn’t be much longer before the sun was out and others woke up.

Despite his large frame and the armor he wore he walked with a grace and ease that made him silent as he stepped down the halls. He was not the type of pony who forgot about the importance of flexibility and agility, two things just as important as physical strength to being able to fight at your best. In the end he decided to make it back to his own private office that sat at the front of the administration building so he could watch the first rays of sun hit his city. Even as he quickened his pace he still walked like a quiet phantom.

His mind naturally began to wander back to Rainbow Dash and Equestria. How could it not what with everything he still needed to know about her home? He was still dismayed about what she had said concerning Flash Magnus, among other things.

Commander Blizzard was certain that one day he would have to personally fly down to Equestria. To confront and convince all the wayward souls his ancestors had left behind at the unification. Whether he would go there to wage all out war or not was uncertain for now. He didn’t wish to hurt any pegasi who would be willing to join the true way but it was likely he would need Rainbow Dash to convince such ignorant and pathetic pegasi that had spent their whole lives in Equestria that the Empire was where they belonged.

But… it was possible that most would be so corrupted after generations of living with earth ponies and unicorns that it was all pointless anyways.

Maybe he should just go to war with them from the start to prove Hurricane, Pansy, and all those who followed them were wrong in the first place. Maybe they just deserved to be destroyed. He certainly didn’t like the idea of Equestria going on existing as always when it was a nation founded on betrayal.

The more he thought about it the angrier he got. Angry at all those “happy” pegasi down there living their false lives, lives built by the disrespect and abandonment of their ancestors. They weren’t even truly happy, no pegasus could be truly happy living outside the true way.

They were weak. Disgustingly weak.

He had to see it for himself someday. To see if there were any even worth bringing onto the true path or if it should all just be destroyed. Rainbow Dash said Equestria didn’t know about them and wouldn’t care, except they would try to become friends. He couldn’t allow something like that to happen. Just as surely as anything else, fostering a relationship with Equestria would lead to the destruction of his Empire and the true pegasus way. It was either us or them or a complete lack of contact.

That was why none could leave. No pegasus could leave this Empire and threaten it like that.

That was why if he did rescue the weak and misguided pegasi from Equestria he would have to either conquer the rest of it or make sure they wouldn’t come after them.

Maybe some fools would say live and let live. But Commander Blizzard refused such a pathetic notion. There was only one way to be a pegasus and he would prove that their way was superior. He could not allow the insult that was Equestria and the way pegasi lived there to go on. It would’ve been a constant reminder of what happened in the past and a constant enemy of their Empire if other pegasi thought it was “okay” to live like that.

Blizzard’s jaw clenched as he finally made it to the window in his office and watched the city begin to wake up. Rays of sunlight poured from the sky onto the cloud buildings but despite the pleasant view it did nothing to fix his mood. Too many problems both inside and out with his Empire.

A waiting game… he needed that rainbow pegasus to join him soon.

True Pegasus XVIII

Rainbow Dash was flying through the obstacle course floating above the base at a speed far reduced from her normal high velocity maneuvering. In fact she was going so slowly that it almost looked like she was moving in slow-motion. The reason for this was because she was showing the other members of her squad how she made it through the obstacle course step by step in an attempt to help them out with their own flying. Once she was done they would replicate what she had shown them one at a time. First taking it slowly like she was currently and then amping up the speed again and again until they could make it through the course at full speed without slowing down or making any mistakes.

“See guys? It’s just like that, it’s easy!” She called back to them as she landed on the clouds at the other end of the obstacle course.

“That’s easy for you to say!” Clear Skies cupped his hooves around his mouth and yelled.

“Hey, not my fault I’m awesome!” She yelled right back at him and grinned.

Clear Skies rolled his eyes and looked at the other five ponies standing beside him. “One of you want to go first or should I?”

“Be my guest,” Wild Wind gestured to the course with his hoof.

“Come on, I know you guys can do it!” Rainbow Dash continued to yell encouragement. “But just so you know, I’m gonna call you out whenever you screw up or hit the edges of a ring!”

“Well at least she’s helping,” Clear grumbled before taking off and making his first attempt to perfectly replicate the course she had taken without making any mistakes.

Needless to say the first few attempts didn’t go well for any of the soldiers. They didn’t have the control or skill that Rainbow Dash did so even following the same course she laid out was troublesome enough. Add to that that she wanted them to remember it perfectly after one try and eventually try to tackle it as fast as they possibly could… it just wasn’t going so well. But Rainbow Dash was patient when it came to stuff like this. She knew how to handle new recruits and Fluttershy most of all when it came to helping someone through flying. She was good at coaching and giving encouragement to any pony that thought something was too difficult to do.

If she could get Fluttershy out of her hole and believe in herself enough to help funnel Ponyville’s water reservoir up to Cloudsdale then something like this would be a cinch. These guys were soldiers! They were tough and confident, she knew that after all the time she had spent with them. Maybe not as tough and confident as her but they still weren’t the types to get discouraged easily. She could definitely afford to push them a little harder than Fluttershy or the average raw recruit back home if she had to.

She watched as Flashbolt went through the course at medium speed, barely clipping one of the rings with his wing. “Right there! You hit a ring, go back and start over! You have to be able to do it without messing up one, okay?”

Flashbolt gave her a silent nod and went back to restart the course from the beginning, meanwhile Skychaser made another attempt.

And on and on they went like that. She’d have these guys in Wonderbolt form eventually. Depending on how long she stayed in this place maybe she could even create an elite group of soldiers called the Wonderbolts? Or the Rainbowbolts, or Dashbolts, or something cool like that. They could even have some real streamlined uniforms instead of just this armor. All the mares in this city spent their time sewing didn’t they? Rainbow Dash bet she could get something akin to Wonderbolts uniforms made.

Her errant thoughts on the subject were interrupted by the shrill blowing of a whistle and yelling from multiple ponies below. Rainbow Dash looked down in puzzlement while her squadmates also stopped what they were doing to see what the ruckus was.

Soldiers were flying and scrambling all over the base, going from the training grounds or coming from the barracks or mess hall and getting into large groups as they gathered by the edge of the base by the open sky. Rainbow Dash remembered what was going on the last time something like this happened.

“Another battle?” She frowned. There were far more soldiers being brought to muster than last time by the looks of things, two or three hundred, the entire base’s worth of soldiers.

“It looks like the Frost Wolves are attacking again,” Wild Wind said as he flew up beside her.

“Already? It wasn’t even that many days ago since last time,” Rainbow Dash wasn’t exactly keen on this happening again with the way the last battle went and what she had learned about them.

“It is a bit unusual, something big must be happening, usually not every soldier is deployed too but it looks like everyone is being gathered for this battle.” Wild Wind also frowned as he looked down at the developing chaos in the base.

A soldier from below spotted them and began flying up to the obstacle course, when he got slightly closer Rainbow Dash recognized that it was their sergeant, Iron Star.

“What are you lazy worms doing up here?! Can’t you see that the entire darn base is moving?! Get down there and find your Lieutenant and prepare for battle! Move, move, move!” He yelled at them so hard his face was turning red and veins were popping out of his neck.

Rainbow Dash and her squad did as commanded and flew down to the “ground” of the base, joining up with the streams of other soldiers as they all went to the same place they had gone the last time when preparing to fly off to battle. Crescent Moon was flying in the air shepherding the groups of ponies into lines so nothing got bunched up, when he saw his squad he flew down to them and brought them into the center of the huge crowd of soldiers. It seemed Rainbow Dash and her friends were going to be making up the heart of the formation this time.

Not like it mattered, she cynically thought, with how they were just going to fly at the wolves and dive-bomb them like lunatics. Was there even any purpose in forming up like this?

She looked forward and saw East and West Wind flying right past the edge of the clouds. The two captains were getting ready to lead them all off again. Were they going to give another speech first to rally and pump up the troops?

While she waited for that she nudged up to Wild Wind and whispered to him out of the corner of her mouth. “How long have you guys been fighting these wolves anyways?”

“I don’t know,” he quietly responded. “Since the beginning I would assume.”

“Quiet, you two,” Crescent Moon snapped at them as he glared over his shoulder.

Rainbow Dash and the corporal clammed up and stood up straight while the twin captains waited for every last soldier to get into ranks. When they finally had the entire base assembled it was West Wind who began to speak.

“As you can all likely guess the Frost Wolves are antagonizing us once again. They have formed an encampment at the edge of our border and dared us to attack them,” he paused for a second as he stared out over the many lines of soldiers. “Obviously they have not learned their lesson that it is futile to try and defeat us. Today will be an even grander battle than before, one where we will truly make them regret entering our territory. Commander Blizzard wishes us to teach them a harsh lesson this time. Will you let him down?!” He finished with a loud shout.

“NO!” The army of assembled pegasi yelled.

Aside from Rainbow Dash. She doubted those twins could see or even pick her out in the crowd but she was glaring hard at them.

East Wind then spoke. “We shall fly down to the interlopers and show them what it means to be a true pegasus! We will show them our strength! The strength of the strongest ponies in the world!”

Cheers rose up throughout the crowd, her squad had been swept up in it too. Even though she guessed that a couple of her friends were just doing it because they didn’t want anyone to see that they weren’t doing it. Rainbow Dash had no such reservations about letting her true feelings show.

“Now, follow us!” Captain West Wind shouted and dove down past the clouds to the ground.

“Our numbers will block out the sky itself!” Captain East Wind shouted right after and followed his twin brother.

The soldiers closest to the edge jumped off after them. Line after line of pegasi went flying off into the sky until it was time for Rainbow Dash and her squad to follow. Just like before she flew with all of the others, matching their speed as they made a huge swarm of wings and feathers in the cold northern sky. The army of pegasi cast a huge moving shadow on the ground below like a solid mass steadily flying east. While the lines and groups were relatively steady they were so close together and there were so many of them it really would have made it next to impossible to see the sky above them if you were looking up from the ground.

Rainbow Dash had been on the way to way more serious situations than this but she had never been with such a huge army. Usually it was just her and her friends and maybe some others. Not hundreds of soldiers.

It would’ve made her more excited if she was fighting some actual monsters or evil super-villain. But the Frost Wolves weren’t like that at all, she didn’t think so at least. Not after finding out they could talk and were just as intelligent as ponies were. When she heard they were made of ice and snow like the Sentinels she just assumed that meant they were monsters. And considering she was fighting on Blizzard’s side she really didn’t even know if she was the good guy right now. The wolves had no problem with killing and fighting too though it seemed…

Rainbow Dash shook her head, she couldn’t let that stuff distract her right now. She’d fight the best she could to protect and help the ponies she could right now. They were friends and at least she could do that. Commander Blizzard may have been bad but his soldiers were just normal ponies for the most part. If she had the chance to do something else she could take it but for now it was time to fight.

Looking ahead she could see East and West Wind leading the huge flock of pegasi eastward. They had already angled their flight downwards before leveling off, now a mere twenty feet above ground, basically nothing.

The clouds constantly overhead dimmed the sunlight but there was still enough for Rainbow Dash to see all the way to the horizon. It was especially easy since there was naught but flat tundra the entire way with just a few small rivers running through the land. Her eyes were sharper than a hawk’s and she could make out that there was something else out there at the edge of the Empire’s border, something just sitting there, not moving to meet them like the silver Frost Wolves had done the last time.

With a narrowing of her eyes she saw that a real army was waiting to meet them too. While the wolves were still outnumbered they calmly stood in a huge pack numbering in the hundreds themselves. It wasn’t just silver wolves like last time but black, brown, and even some strangely green-furred wolves all standing together and waiting for the pegasi army to descend on them. It looked like they had dug a few holes in the ground and excavated a lot of dirt around them for some reason, piling it up in places. That must’ve been what she saw originally. Maybe they were using their new holes as trenches and the piles as barriers so the pegasi couldn’t just fly through and over them without adjusting their flight path.

Whatever this different strategy from the wolves was it didn’t seem to bother the ones leading the attack at all.

“Pegasi!” Captains East and West Wind shouted together as soon as their adversaries fully came into view. “Attack!”

They went lower until Rainbow Dash could practically dig her hooves into the dirt if she extended them down, the entire three hundred or so pegasi rocketing towards the wolf encampment. Howls and fierce barks erupted from the wolves as they egged their attackers on. Daring them to keep coming, asking them to hit them with everything they had, challenging them.

And the pegasi were more than happy to meet that challenge.

It was like a great horde of cavalry crashing right into a phalanx. Perhaps the Captains didn’t feel like dragging things out by making repeated fly-bys and instead just chose to slam the army of pegasi into their enemy at once. It would’ve made sense with their idea of “fighting fairly” that Skychaser had told Rainbow Dash about.

Being in the middle of the formation she didn’t hit the wolves directly at first. The front lines of ponies bunched up as the wolves jumped to meet them and Rainbow Dash had to fly and hop over a bunch of others so she didn’t barrel right into their backs as the whole army stalled and it turned into a rough and tumble melee on the ground immediately. Her fellow soldiers dropped to the ground and started running full force to make it to where their comrades were fighting while Dash stayed in the air and weaved in and out of pegasi descending all around her and wolves jumping from the front trying to tackle her and any number of the other soldiers to the ground.

“This is insane!” She yelled at the chaos of the battle raging around her. It was complete madness.

There were so much better ways to fight, safer ways that wouldn’t result in so many pegasi being torn to shreds by these wolves.

One wolf leaped up at her but she deftly dodged to the side and kicked it in its ribs, sending it careening back to the ground with a yelp. At least she was more than a match for any of these wolves. As she surveyed the battlefield she saw wolves of all colors fighting with the soldiers, her squadmates had joined the fighting by now too. Flashbolt and Skychaser fought back to back in a circle of other pegasi and wolves while Wild Wind and the other three charged deeper into the heart of the conflict. Rainbow Dash decided to join things for real too, but she wasn’t going to be an idiot about it. She kept in the air and flew above the fighting; looking for anyone who needed help and fighting off any wolves who made the poor decision to try and attack her.

She didn’t care if flying would be frowned upon as she zipped down and shoulder-checked two wolves that were threatening a few injured soldiers. The force of her high-speed rush smashed them away and Rainbow Dash followed it up with jumping on both of their stomachs to knock the wind out of them.

Right after, a brown wolf ran up to slash her face but she easily tilted her head to let his claws harmlessly slide off the metal of her helmet, the screeching sound as they scraped by was annoying but Rainbow Dash was easily able to follow up her parry by stepping forward and throwing a few lightning quick punches into the wolves face and jaw. The canine wobbled for a second before toppling over without even a groan, out cold.

While in the middle of the battle now, Rainbow Dash was a prime target, especially since she was basically fighting alone and not staying with a group. Any wolf who hadn’t been seeing how easily she dispatched their brothers was eager to attempt to take out the vibrant rainbow-maned pony. Another silver wolf broke out of the huge throng of ponies and wolves that had charged into each other and saw her. Drool practically dripping from its jaws it snarled at her and ran to eviscerate its prey. These wolves were quite good jumpers and once it was fifteen feet away it sprang forth off its back paws in a quick jump for Rainbow Dash, trying to catch her off guard.

But Dash’s reflexes were simply too good for any wolf. She beat her wings and jumped over the wolf, stomping her hooves onto its back the moment it flew under her and pancaking him into the ground. She then flew into the scrum and just started beating wolves left and right while the other soldiers formed up in groups so they couldn’t be individually picked off. Their armor gave them a lot of protection so as long as they stayed grouped together it was difficult for any of the wolves to do anything. Meanwhile Dash could fly around and take down any wolf that was trying to make a more dangerous attack. The battlefield had become so chaotic and loud with the sounds of screams and howls and ponies and wolves running over the ground that nothing else could be made out. If anyone was trying to get things in order or make the pegasi form up into ranks they were being drowned out.

Rainbow Dash saw one of the groups of soldiers attacked by a pack of wolves that crashed into and jumped on top of the armored ponies, sending them scurrying away and breaking their formation, making them easier to pick off one by one now. She scowled and flew over to help. One black wolf had its tail bit by her right as it lunged for a soldier, stopping it in midair and making it clumsily smack its face into the ground. She grinned with the tail still in her mouth and swung the wolf around, throwing it backwards and into another wolf, taking them both out of the fight.

“Ptooey!” She spat out the hairs stuck in her teeth.

It was just in time for her to see a soldier knocked onto the ground and a wolf jump on top of him, smacking his helmet off and leaving his head completely unprotected. Rainbow Dash flew into the wolf’s side and tackled it into the ground before its powerful jaws could snap down on the unfortunate pony. The pony and wolf tumbled and rolled around on the ground until they finally stopped, with the wolf on top preparing to latch its jaws right onto her neck. It had her pinned down with its paws on her shoulders to keep her from moving.

A pegasus whose nerves weren’t made of steel might have actually panicked and let him bite them. But just because Rainbow Dash couldn’t get out from under him didn’t mean she couldn’t do anything. With her right wing she scooped up some dirt on the ground and flung it at his face while at the same time she curled up her backlegs and kicked him hard in the stomach. The wolf was launched over her head and onto his back a short distance away. He wasn’t taken out by just one hit though like some of the others—while Rainbow Dash turned over to stand back up he rubbed the dirt from his face and growled at her.

“Well bring it on then, if you’re so tough,” she taunted him and made a beckoning motion with her hoof.

The wolf barked and ran at her lightning fast, she had to admit it was faster than she could run on the ground, but still nothing compared to what she could do in the air. She flapped her wings and hovered slightly above the ground, letting the wolf close the distance until it could start swiping with its razor sharp claws at her. But with her agility she just dodged and ducked away from every attack with her wings buzzing like a hummingbird’s. On one slash he overextended himself and Rainbow Dash uppercutted him before swiftly bringing her elbow back down on the top top of his skull. The wolf dropped like a sack of dirt.

Rainbow Dash looked around her after that and saw that the wolves looked to be on the back hoof of things. They were being pushed back and routed around the big piles of dirt while the pegasi soldiers chased them down.

“Go! Crush them!” She heard either East or West Wind yell from somewhere.

The soldiers advanced on the wolves’ position and Rainbow Dash was almost carried along with them. Still flying above their heads she noticed that the wolves hadn’t left the battlefield at all but were reforming into large groups around the dirt piles. She frowned, they weren’t retreating but were preparing for another round of fighting. Something about all of this was giving her a bad feeling...

By now the entire pegasus army was pressing into the wolves encampment and was within the perimeter of the dirt mounds.

Her eyes then spotted one familiar silver wolf in the center of the lupine army. The ragged War Chief jumped on top of a dirt pile and howled into the sky. A long, piercing howl that rained over the entire battlefield.

And then the ground began to shake.

The piles of dirt exploded as huge, half-buried, white wolves burst out of them, tearing the tundra around them to pieces. They had caught the pegasi completely off-guard and instantly attacked all of the soldiers around them. Rainbow Dash watched as huge paws swatted groups of soldiers away like they were rag dolls. Their armor didn’t do much against the blunt force and power that those wolves could hit them with.

“Tch,” Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue and flew towards a downed squad that one of the white wolves was preparing to crush underfoot.

She hit it full speed in the shin and staggered it, going under and punching it repeatedly in the stomach and then flying around and hitting it back and forth in the face until the soldiers could get away from it. Each hit of hers caused the wolf to flinch, meaning they at least didn’t have the kind of raw strength that Blizzard did, but she couldn’t exactly knock them down like the other wolves so easily. When it tried to bite her she swiftly avoided its jaws and flew behind its back, hitting it right at the base of the skull to make it fall forward before she went on to help some others.

Things were bad now, there weren’t too many of the white wolves but with the surprise attack a lot of soldiers were taken down and they were surrounded now by the huge wolves while all the others could just run roughshod over them. The pegasi still had the numbers advantage but that might change soon if nothing was done. Rainbow Dash knew she needed to deal with the white wolves and get her soldiers to form back up so the wolves couldn’t just run through them and do what they wanted.

“Form up on me, take that wolf down!” The familiar voice of Crescent Moon yelled from behind Rainbow Dash.

She looked to see the lieutenant leading a group of ten other soldiers to one of the white wolves. Rainbow Dash grimaced immediately—there was no way that was going to end well.

Crescent Moon and the others used their wings to propel themselves at the wolf, a few of them smacking into its side or hitting it on its more vulnerable legs. But they didn’t have the strength or weight behind their blows that Rainbow Dash did and the wolf was hardly affected by their attacks at all. With a low growl it brought a paw around and swung it with all its might at Crescent Moon and the other soldiers. The pegasi yelled as they were struck, some knocked senseless and falling unconscious while they hit the ground while others tumbled in every direction.

Crescent Moon had his helmet torn off as he rolled right in front of the white wolf, temporarily dazed and holding his head with one of his hooves as he tried to collect himself.

The wolf wasn’t going to give him the chance though. Seeing its prey right below it it opened up its jaws and leaned down to swallow Crescent Moon whole.

“Look out!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew towards him with dizzying speed. She carried him out of the way right as the wolves jaws snapped shut, the two of them coming to a halt on the dirt a short distance away.

“Wha—what just happened?” The confused lieutenant asked her, she noticed a cut on his head where blood was dripping from. His eyes finally focused on her. “Did you just… save me?”

A growl from behind her alerted her to the white wolf coming for them “Stay down!” She told the lieutenant and flew off him to take care of the huge wolf.

Rainbow Dash flew right at its face and when the wolf tried to crush her between its jaws she flew right past them and kicked him in the side of the head. The wolf could certainly feel the difference between her blows and the ones of the other soldiers. Rainbow Dash gave it absolutely no time to get used to her attacks, she swiftly flew around its body like a raging tornado, hitting it again and again all over. She landed maybe a hundred small blows before finishing up with a kick to the jaw, discombobulating the wolf. The large white beast could finally take no more and it stumbled to the side before collapsing to the ground.

She floated in the air above it to make sure it wasn’t getting back up before wiping some sweat from her brow and looking back over at Crescent Moon. “You okay?”

He nodded in appreciation. “Yes, I-”

His eyes widened and a sharp inhale told Rainbow Dash that he was about to shout something but before he could she felt something slam into her and knock her to the ground.

Rainbow Dash rolled with the blow and jumped back to her hooves, skidding along on the ground before stopping and looking to see what had hit her. Her eyes narrowed at the familiar face of that old silver wolf. The wolf in turn glared right back at her and slowly stalked toward her, keeping himself coiled up and low to the ground, ready to move or strike in an instant.

“I’ve been watching you, rainbow pony. You seem to keep getting my attention. Seeing what you’ve done I knew I’d have to deal with you myself,” he said to her in his guttural voice.

“Yeah? I’ve been too busy helping to care about anything like that,” she rolled her eyes at him.

They didn’t exchange anymore words but Rainbow Dash kept her wings ready and her limbs loose. She didn’t move from her spot, making the wolf have to be the one to close the gap while the rest of the battle raged around them. That didn’t bother the wolf; he took slow and deliberate steps while his unblinking eyes locked onto hers in a staring contest. And then right as he was lifting up one of his paws to take another step he instead shot towards her like a snake.

His claws were going right for her eyes but she ducked her head out of the way and jumped to the side, throwing a jab at his exposed ribs with her wing. But he pushed off the dirt with his hindlegs and dodged her wing as he jumped to her left. The wolf then got low and lunged forward to strike at Rainbow Dash’s legs but she flapped her wings and took to the air to avoid him completely.

Not to be deterred he jumped into the sky after her and tried to swipe her with both of his claws at once. However, Rainbow Dash was far faster in the sky than any other pegasus he had fought, his jump was easy for her to evade and before he could readjust or land she had flown above him and kicked him in the back of the head, sending him into the dirt like a meteor. Rainbow Dash knew he was tough and tenacious though and wasn’t finished with just that one kick. She flew to the ground while he was trying to push himself back onto all fours and roughly landed on his back, pressing down onto him with her four hooves and full body weight. A heavy wheeze left his body with a thwump as she crushed him into the cold tundra and jumped off of him.

She was still being careful though and she kept her eyes on him after getting off. “Are you still gonna try and fight me?”

“Yes… I must...” the wolf replied through pained breaths, his chest heaving.

Rainbow Dash gave him a sad look and was honestly about to lend him a helping hoof and see if maybe he’d be more willing to talk when he threw some dirt from the ground into her face.

“Agh!” Rainbow Dash gasped and jumped backwards out of reflex, using her hooves to try and wipe the dirt away.

She was just able to peak open an eye in time to see his jaws opening up and going for her neck. Rainbow Dash reacted as quickly as she ever had in her life. Her head lowered until her helmet was right where her neck had been, so when the wolf chomped down all he did was dent some metal and break some teeth. As he reared back in pain she brought a hoof forward and punched him as hard as she could in the jaw, a stream of blood from his injured mouth spilling out onto the ground.

“Stay down this time!” Rainbow Dash yelled at him.

“N-Never...” the wolf glared at her as he struggled again to rise. Another droplet of blood fell from his mouth onto his faded silver fur.

Wait… blood? Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened.

“Hold on,” she said to the wolf, confusion plain in her voice. “You’re bleeding?”

“Of course I’m bleeding!” He snarled.

“But… I thought you were like, wolves made of ice and snow and stuff?”

The War Chief looked at her incredulously, baffled by her words. “What insanity are they teaching you ponies? We are creatures of flesh and blood no different from yourselves.”

Rainbow Dash’s head was swimming in confusion. “But I don’t… then why? Why don’t we have the Ice Sentinels—and why are we fighting you at all?” She held her head trying to wrap her mind around this, her eyes eventually rising and locking back onto the wolf. “Have you ever tried to go south of here and fought those Ice Sentinels?”

“The flying ice monsters?” The wolf tilted his head. “Of course, those things have attacked Frost Wolves and other creatures without discrimination for generations. They’re a scourge on these lands as bad as you pegasi.”

He doesn’t know… Rainbow Dash realized. We’re not using the Ice Sentinels to defend against them for some reason either. And these wolves are… why are they fighting us? Why are we fighting them?

“Why?” She asked the wolf again. “Why do you guys keep coming here into the Empire’s territory to fight them?”

“The same reason it’s always been. This is a harsh place to live, we want the land and rivers to the west. We’re holed up in our caves to the east, unable to expand for generations, always fighting with each other, More water is what we need but whenever we’ve tried to settle or work our ways into these lands you flying rats have attacked us. It’s gone like that for years. Always,” he told her.

“But we’re not even using this land!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, holding her hooves out. “It’s just empty! All of the pegasi and the whole Empire just flies in the sky, we don’t do anything on the ground or with those rivers! Why don’t we just let you have it? There’s no reason for us to fight at all!”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “How should I know why you attack us for no reason? That’s just how it’s always been, you rats coming down on us with no explanation when all we wanted was water. Ask your leaders if you want an answer. But for today there’s still a battle going on.”

The wolf tensed up like he was going to attack Rainbow Dash again but she refused to get into a battle stance along with him.

“No! I’m not going to fight you anymore!”

He opened his bleeding jaw to yell at her some more when a shadow fell over him. Both pony and wolf looked up as a purple pegasus jumped onto the War Chief’s back, wrestling him to the ground and wrapping his hooves around the wolf’s neck.

Captain West Wind had a solid grip, one that the wolf couldn’t throw off even as they rolled over on top of each other. The Captain reached up a hoof and put it on the wolf’s head, gritting his teeth as he tried to swiftly snap his neck.

“Stop!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Ngh!” West Wind grunted.

Snap!

With that sickening sound the War Chief’s head limply hung from his shoulders until West Wind dropped the wolf, his body falling to the ground, completely unmoving. West Wind gave a single look to Rainbow Dash before flying into the sky. And Rainbow Dash just stood there, she had no idea what to say or do now. Everything had gotten so crazy. She vaguely heard Crescent Moon walking up beside her while the rest of the battle petered out, the wolves looked like they had lost all unity and were running in every direction, but Rainbow Dash had no idea why. Either way, the pegasi had won again.

“-you.” Crescent Moon said.

“Huh?” Rainbow Dash turned her head to him.

“Thank you. For saving me I mean,” he told her.

“Oh. No problem,” she frowned and turned to look back at the dead wolf in front of her.

She stood there blankly for a bit longer trying to make sense of, well, anything. She didn’t even notice when the fighting had stopped completely until the rest of her squad had joined up with her and Crescent Moon while Captains East and West Wind floated in the sky above the battlefield.

“Well done, soldiers!” East Wind yelled. “The cowardly wolves will think twice before challenging our might again!”

“You have done your Empire proud!” West Wind joined in.

Cheers came from the other soldiers but all Rainbow Dash did was look around at all the pegasi and wolves lying on the ground. Injured or worse. She reached up to take off her dented helmet, looking at the teeth marks and scratches it had taken before dropping it and letting it bounce around her hooves. Her squad looked at her oddly, and she in turn looked over them as well, seeing scuffed armor but otherwise unmarked pegasi.

“Help your injured if you’re squadmates and then we shall return home!” East Wind yelled.

Crescent Moon coughed. “Ahem, I suppose we should still help around for a bit but it looks like we were pretty lucky. No one is hurt are they?” He asked the other six ponies.

Wild Wind took up answering for the whole squad. “No, sir.”

“Good, good. It was certainly a bit of a… frenzy for a while but I’m glad we pulled through. It was a good victory,” Crescent Moon nodded.

Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up and she turned to look at him. “What?”

He furrowed his brow at her, confused. “What?”

“What did you just say?” She stalked over to him, glaring into Crescent Moon’s eyes.

“W-What do you mean?” The Lieutenant backed up. “All I said was it was a good victory!”

Rainbow Dash grabbed him by the collar of his armor and pulled his face in close to hers so they were eye to eye. Wild Wind stepped forward looking like he was about to say something but then thought better of it, Skychaser too almost took a step before a hoof and anxious look from Flashbolt restrained him. The rest of the squad warily looked on, paralyzed by Rainbow Dash’s anger.

“A good victory? For what?! Why are we even fighting these battles at all? Do you even know?! Why are we fighting the wolves, it doesn’t make any sense!” She shook him about. “Ponies died today! You almost died! So why are we fighting these wolves for no reason? Why?!”

“I-I-I-I-” Crescent Moon couldn’t respond, he didn’t know how to respond, he had no answer to give.

“It’s because they’re our enemy.”

Rainbow Dash and her squad looked up to see East and West Wind descending next to them, stern looks on both their faces.

The pegasus from Equestria let her lieutenant go and turned to them, a harsh glare on her face. “What do you mean?”

Before responding to her the twins looked at Crescent Moon and the rest of her squad. “Lieutenant.” East Wind said. “Take your squad back to base, we have something to discuss with the new recruit.”

“Y-Yes sir,” Crescent Moon hesitantly nodded before unfurling his wings and hovering slightly off the ground. “Corporal, everyone, let us return to the city.”

“No, sir.”

Crescent Moon and everyone else looked to Wild Wind after hearing the words he just spoke.

“What do you mean, no?” The Lieutenant frowned at his corporal. “We have our orders to return to base and-”

“Rainbow Dash is our squadmate,” Wild Wind resolutely said, looking around at the others to make sure they were on the same page. “If… if something concerns her it concerns all of us.”

Summer Rains nodded, followed by Clear Skies, Fierce Current, Flashbolt, and lastly a hesitant Skychaser. Crescent Moon looked from one face to the next and saw that they weren’t going to be changing their minds on this. And considering how Rainbow Dash just saved his life… and how he was supposed to be looking out for her as her superior officer, maybe he owed her just a little bit too.

The caramel soldier dropped back to the ground and gulped, facing the Captains. “Y-You heard it, as her superior officer I believe what affects one of my squad to affect us all. So we would all like to stay with her.” His voice cracked on the last sentence but he still stood tall.

East and West Wind shot each other a glance and stayed silent for a minute, as if conversing in some weird way only twins could, before returning their gazes to the others.

“Very well,” West Wind said. “But there may be consequences to what you’re going to hear.”

East Wind took a slow breath through his nose and spoke to Rainbow Dash. “There is no real reason for us to fight the Frost Wolves. We do it for the sake of having an enemy to fight. They give us an outside foe to unite behind and something that gives our soldiers meaning. Obviously as you now know we could easily have the Ice Sentinels guard our borders if we wanted to or simply ignore the wolves altogether since they can’t fly and we have no use for what they want. But pegasi need an enemy to fight and do battle with to keep us strong and sharp, even if there’s no other reason for it. Fighting for the sake of fighting. That’s all there is to it.”

“You don’t care about all the ponies and wolves that died in these pointless fights?!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Protecting our territory is all the reason we need. It’s the true pegasus way. We took these lands ages ago and we’ll fight off anyone who tries to encroach on them, even if it’s pointless and unnecessary,” West Wind told her.

“But you could just use the Ice Sentinels for that then!”

“If we relied on them for our total protection and didn’t have anything to fight ourselves we would only become slothful and weak over time,” East Wind shook his head. “Commander Blizzard knows that well. The Frost Wolves are good for our soldiers to fight. That’s why we never finish them off in any of the battles. Letting them retreat and build up their numbers again so they can fight more works better for us.”

“Now return to base, all of you. And I think this goes without saying but what you’ve heard from the two of us is to be kept between you and only you,” West Wind told them.

“This isn’t over with, not by a long shot,” Rainbow Dash growled to the two of them. “And next time I talk to Blizzard I might do a lot more than just talking.” She flapped her wings and flew off into the sky, hovering for a bit and waiting for her squad to join her.

The six of them were quite perturbed by what they had just learned but all of them knew this wasn’t the time nor place to talk about it. With a nod, Wild Wind took to the skies and the others followed with him, leaving Crescent Moon on the ground. The Lieutenant awkwardly looked between his subordinates and superiors, before finally gulping once more and joining Rainbow Dash in the sky. As East and West Wind looked on the seven soldiers departed back to the city.

True Pegasus XIX

“She’s very upset after that battle, Commander. I’m sorry if we were out of line in telling her and the others all that but she didn’t seem like she would take anything else but an explanation,” Captain East Wind said to Commander Blizzard as he stood with his brother in the Commander’s office.

“I’m not surprised she’s upset. She still holds onto her silly Equestrian values. Obviously she doesn’t understand what it means to be a true pegasus yet, more time is still needed for her,” the Commander responded, his eyes drifting upwards. “Eventually she’ll come around and see things from my point of view. That pony doesn’t realize how much she has in common with me.”

The twins stealthily shared an unsure glance with each other.

“Er, Commander?” West Wind started. “I’m worried that she may attempt to tell others about this and start causing problems in the city. And with the others who also know...”

Commander Blizzard grunted, his eyes lowering to the twins as he frowned. “Possibly. Right now she’s still very volatile and untamed. This wouldn’t even be a problem if every pegasus was more like me...” His eyes narrowed and he grit his teeth as anger started to build up in him. “It shouldn’t even be something that needed to be kept secret, if everyone believed in the pegasus way as strongly as I did they wouldn’t care about why we’re fighting or anything like that. But instead now they’d see it as some kind of scandal, as if we were doing something wrong. Pathetic.”

He stomped one hoof on the floor. The loud sound getting his two captains to jump.

East Wind quickly regained his wits and made some of his other thoughts known to the Commander. “I think, sir, that if we do nothing now she may just stew in her resentment of us and the Empire. But she also threatened to become violent with you the next time you met. I’m uncertain of what to do.”

“Reward her,” Blizzard told him.

“Sir?” The twins said together.

“Reward her. You said she did an exemplary job in the fight and numerous other soldiers witnessed that as well. Just lie about her being the one who finally killed that old wolf that’s pestered us for years too. Make her admired by the other soldiers, respected, give her a medal or something if you think it would help too.”

“Is that a good idea, sir?” West Wind asked, apprehension clear on his face. “She’s already shown to be quite charismatic on her own, her squad is fully behind her now and she’s a popular topic of conversation in the city already. I’m worried that making her more popular might bring others to her side if she chose to pursue it and actually disrupt things here.”

“It will be good for me. Everyone will see her as a fantastic pegasus soldier and know I was right about her and that I could make a filthy Equestrian pegasus more like us. And if she tries to do anything then so what?” Blizzard shrugged. “There’s nothing she can do with me around. Perhaps even with the admiration of her peers she’ll change her tune and come around a bit. Unlikely, but possible, no pony from Equestria can have a will as strong as a true pegasus.”

Rainbow Dash was lying in her cot and staring up at the ceiling. Despite it being well into morning when she should be out training she had not gotten ready whatsoever. Her helmetless armor sat below her bed and her squadmates (sans Crescent Moon) awkwardly stood about in the barracks.

She refused to go along with Blizzard’s way of doing things or the normal life of a soldier anymore. She was doing it to begin with cause why not? It was a part of her fun adventure. But now after learning the truth of everything she wasn’t going to give him the pleasure or play along with his dumb experiment. There was absolutely no way Rainbow Dash was going to let him use her to push his agenda and make this Empire and the pegasi who lived in it even worse.

The problem was… she didn’t know if she could actually fight him or do anything about it. She knew how much these soldiers valued strength and if she challenged him and lost again it might destroy her in the eyes of the others. So what else could she do? What did she have to work with? And if she couldn’t beat him in a fight would anything else she did matter at all? He was dangerous, she knew she needed to stop him somehow so he couldn’t do anything else up here. She really liked when she could just punch a problem but maybe she’d have to change the Empire in a different way.

“Rainbow Dash? Shouldn’t we be getting out to the training grounds already?” Summer Rains hesitantly asked.

“You guys can, in fact you should, I don’t want any of you to get in trouble because of me, but I’m staying here. I’m not letting anyone here order me around again,” she said, her face scrunching up into a frown.

“I’m glad you’re thinking about us but I think we made it abundantly clear back on the battlefield that we’re all in this together,” Flashbolt stoically said. “So we’re not just leaving you alone, regardless of what you say. If that ends up with all of us being punished then so be it. But if you’re not going to do the normal training then neither will we.” He looked at the others and raised an eyebrow. “Right?”

His cousin was the first to respond. Skychaser bit his lip and shuffled about on his hooves but eventually gave a small nod. “R-Right.”

Summer Rains sighed. “Yes, that’s right. You’ve even met my family already, my little sister really liked you, so I’m certainly not leaving you out to dry.”

“I actually think this is just really interesting,” Fierce Current shrugged. “I mean, you already knew how I felt about Blizzard, and I guess I’m not afraid to say anything like that in present company anymore.”

“I’m more or less with Fierce but also… I just think you’re right. I liked what you said back there,” Clear Skies told her.

“Yes,” Wild Wind agreed. “Rainbow Dash, you called them out in a way none of us ever could even if we knew what you did. And you fought hard to protect as many of your fellow soldiers as you could, I saw you. After recent revelations I am on your side too. You don’t have to be doing any of this, you didn’t have to help, you didn’t have to get along with or try to help us just with day to day things either. But you did. I don’t know if every pony from Equestria is like you, but I know a better leader—a better pegasus—when I see one.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and rolled off her cot, standing up and throwing a hoof through her mane even though it hardly changed how it looked. “Thanks you guys, that uh, actually does mean a lot to me. I just really don’t want any of you to get hurt cause of what I’m doing. You all have families and stuff to look after up here too. I don’t, I’m just flying through.”

“Be that as it may, you’re one of us now and we look out for each other,” Wild Wind stepped forward and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“And you don’t need to worry about us. We’re tough too after all,” Fierce Current grinned.

“Thanks, all of you,” Rainbow Dash genuinely smiled to her squad. She was lucky to have met and become friends with all of them, even the obviously more apprehensive Skychaser. All six of them were good ponies.

“Soooo...” Clear Skies whistled. “What do we actually do now though?”

“We already threw the idea around of just messing around before, didn’t we?” Summer Rains said.

“Our superiors could either just ignore us or much more likely throw us in jail,” Wild Wind said. “But either way we’ll be making it abundantly clear that the normal soldier life is behind the seven of us. We’ll do what we want to do and they’ll have to lock us up if they want to stop it.”

“I wouldn’t mind doing stuff that, you know, at least kind of matters. Like patrolling, or checking up on things, but we definitely don’t need to follow their training regimen or anything to the letter anymore,” Fierce Current said.

Rainbow Dash thought about it, she wouldn’t mind doing stuff that allowed her to stretch her wings and see more of the city either. She hadn’t met too many non-soldiers so far but all the ones she had were good ponies. Getting to fly around with her friends and see what else was up in the Empire might be fun. Maybe they could just watch fights in the coliseum or visit some other relatives. She had only met Summer Rains’ family and had just briefly seen Fierce’s father and Clear’s younger brother. If they were going to do things their own way now then why not have an extended leave and Rainbow Dash could introduce herself around the city?

She knew she’d be pretty popular what with being the mare soldier from Equestria after all.

Equestria, huh? Rainbow Dash idly thought. I could tell these guys all about it now. I could tell everyone about it and to Tartarus with the consequences. Let Blizzard threaten me all he wants, if anyone up here wants to know about Equestria I’m telling them!

“I’m thinking we could still go and get breakfast for now though?” Summer Rains suggested.

“Sounds good to me,” Clear Skies nodded with a smile on his face. “And if Iron Star or any of the other sergeants give us lip I’ll knock em into next week, hah!”

“Good, I want to eat too. All this serious talk has been stressing me out,” Skychaser said, a disgruntled grimace on his face.

“Oh relax,” his cousin rolled his eyes.

Rainbow Dash grinned and stretched her wings, the seven of them getting ready to leave the barracks and go get some chow. Whatever else was ahead could wait. She was happy to be able to enjoy the time she could with the others. And she knew they, even Skychaser, would be happy too with the freedom and fun she could give them. But it looked like that might be put on hold for a moment. Since right as they were getting ready to leave the barracks a certain lieutenant opened up the door and walked inside.

“I figured you must be here if you weren’t out training or in the mess hall,” Crescent Moon said. He had a troubled look on his face but he didn’t exactly seem to be angry.

Rainbow Dash frowned when she saw him, still unsure of just where she stood with the lieutenant. She walked up to him with the others behind her. “And? Any reason you were looking for us?”

“Well I am the one in charge of this squad after all. It’s only natural for me to wonder what you’re doing,” Crescent Moon stiffly replied. “Especially if it’s something like ignoring scheduled training and being insubordinate.”

“Are you here to make us go back to doing things like normal?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him.

Crescent Moon regarded her for a second with an emotionless face before briefly looking over the others as well, finally his eyes flickered back to Rainbow Dash. “No. No, I’m not going to do anything like that. You’ll get no complaints from me, nor will I report anything to the Captains or Commander.”

A small smile broke out on Rainbow Dash’s face again. “Thanks, dude. So what are you here for then?”

“Partially I did just want to tell you that, since I know I have not been the most direct of commanding officers that I could be. But also I’ve been told by Captains East and West Wind to inform you of something,” Crescent Moon replied.

“What?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t imagine it was anything good.

“You are to be commended for your efforts in the recent battle as well as being the one to personally take down the War Chief of our Frost Wolves enemy,” Crescent Moon told her in a tired tone.

Rainbow Dash’s eyebrows shot up. “What? But I-”

“I know,” Crescent Moon cut her off. “But it doesn’t matter. This is the story Commander Blizzard will have told.”

“Tch,” Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue and glanced back at the others. “Just so we’re clear, you all know that I’m not the one who killed that old wolf right? It was East Wind… or West Wind. I can’t remember, same pony basically.”

Wild Wind nodded in acknowledgment. “Yes, I was there, I saw what happened.”

“But why does the Commander want others to think it was Rainbow Dash who killed the War Chief and not, er, East or West Wind?” Skychaser asked.

“Yeah, I don’t get that either,” Dash said.

Crescent Moon gave a wry grin. “I asked the same thing when I was told about it. The Captains said that Blizzard wants you to be appreciated and seen as a great success of our system. The mare from Equestria is now going to be looked at as a shining example of what a soldier of the Empire should be.”

“Meanwhile everyone will have to admit that Blizzard was right to take charge of you and induct you into our army,” Flashbolt’s eyes narrowed.

“Great, so he’s just trying to use me some more?” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“I do believe he’s trying to placate you and make you feel like you fit in more. So you’ll have a more positive outlook on the Empire,” the Lieutenant scratched the back of his neck, knowing that Rainbow Dash will definitely not have that reaction.

“Well the joke’s on him then,” Rainbow snorted.

“I had figured as much. But just so you know the word on this is already being spread. Soldiers and others have heard about your accomplishments and are already talking about you with fondness. You’re becoming popular more than just because you’re an oddity,” he explained.

“Fine! Whatever!” Rainbow Dash threw up her hooves. “I like to be admired for stuff I actually did but if he wants this then fine. I’ll make him regret it someday. Let others think I’m some big dumb success of his, and if they like me more because of that then maybe I can talk to them easier.” She looked at the rest of her squad. “Forget all of that for now anyways, let’s go get some food.”

“Finally,” Clear Skies grinned.

The seven of them started to walk out of the barracks. As they passed by Crescent Moon, Rainbow Dash shot him a grin.

“By the way, dude, you’re cooler than I thought you were.”

Crescent Moon’s face scrunched up as he awkwardly looked at the floor. “I just… owe you I suppose. You saved me, even though you didn’t have to, you still did it. And I don’t think anyone would’ve blamed you if you didn’t bother either.”

Rainbow Dash stopped and gave him a surprisingly serious look. “Hey, I did that because it was the right thing to do. That’s the kind of awesome pony I am.” Her eyes looked up for a second before she smiled and looked back at Crescent. “Do you want to come to breakfast with us?”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I-I really probably shouldn’t...”

“All the more reason why you should,” Dash threw a hoof over his shoulders and pulled him with her to the barracks doors. “Come on, we can talk more about stuff and what we’re all going to do now at the mess hall. I’m starving.”

“Well we officers really aren’t supposed to eat with the rank and file… b-but I suppose that if I’m already not going to go against you or anything then what’s one more step like this? I don’t think the Captains ever really held me in high regard, so might as well stick it to them! Right?” Crescent Moon hesitantly said, trying to put on a confident grin.

“That’s the spirit!” Rainbow Dash laughed.

And now eight ponies left the barracks together on their way to the mess hall. Their future in the Empire uncertain, but still ahead.

True Pegasus XXI

“Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash? Wake up, Rainbow Dash.”

A disembodied voice spoke to the slumbering pegasus as she twisted and turned on her cot trying to ignore it. The poking and prodding of hooves tried to change her sleeping state and the pegasus’ eyes fluttered behind closed lids and her mouth grumbled as she tried to wave the offending hooves away and return to sleep.

“Oh for the love of—here!”

She heard a yell and felt the sheet of her bed yanked off her. The sudden cold caused her body to curl up and a displeased frown to appear on her face as her eyes slowly opened to glare up at whoever had the audacity to do this.

Summer Rains and Crescent Moon looked down at her, the latter giving a rather unimpressed stare himself while he held onto the sheet.

“What is it?” She asked, blinking a few times and sitting up.

“Well for one you slept past breakfast so I was going to wake you up anyways. Even if you’re not going through normal training anymore that’s no reason to waste the entire day,” Crescent Moon said. “But also we have news for you.”

“News?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Good news,” Summer Rains smiled. “Something I’ve been planning for a while now, I asked the Lieutenant about it too and he was more than glad to give his permission.”

Rainbow Dash rubbed the last bit of sleep from her eyes and hopped off the cot. “Can you guys just fill me in already? It’s too early for this.”

“It is not too early,” Crescent Moon rolled his eyes.

“You’re moving out of the barracks,” Summer Rains told her with barely restrained excitement.

That surprised her. She tilted her head back and shot him a confused look. “Huh?”

“Technically this was always supposed to be just a temporary place for you to begin with,” Crescent Moon explained. “Summer Rains has found you a more… permanent place to stay.”

“Where?” She asked her squadmate.

“My house!” He nearly shouted.

Rainbow Dash was even more surprised this time. “I’m going to be living with your family? I mean, I’m happy that you’re helping me out but are you sure?”

Summer Rains nodded. “More than sure. Don’t you remember when you first visited my family? I had a talk with my parents, wife, and in-laws about this.”

“Ohhh...” Dash realized. “That’s why you sent me upstairs to play with your little sister.”

“Yep! My family was more than happy at the idea of having you board with us but I needed official permission first and I didn’t think I would get it. Until now.”

“Wow, dude. That’s… that’s really awesome. Thanks,” she almost didn’t know what to say.

“You can go immediately if you wish. It’s not like you have anything to take with you,” Crescent Moon told them. “Also just so you know it’s not like you’ll really be living in that house most of the time. The barracks will still be where you spend most of your nights. Unless you just feel like ditching that completely, which I couldn’t really stop you from doing if you wanted, although it would make it more difficult for you to meet up with everyone else.”

“But now you at least don’t have to consider the barracks your home or anything. You’ll have a real room to yourself at my family’s house and everything,” Summer Rains told her.

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Sounds awesome. I’ll have to say thanks to your parents and everyone too, let’s go!”

“You mean Rainbow Dash is going to live with us?” Aurora gaped as she welcomed her big brother and the blue pony from Equestria back home. Snowshine was the only other one downstairs when they walked in the door and the four pegasi now stood inside the small sitting room right beside the hallway and stairs.

“That’s right,” Summer Rains smiled and ruffled her mane.

“That’s amazing!” Aurora fluttered up on her small wings for a bit before dropping back to the ground. “Everyone is going to be so jealous—oh and you can play with my stuffed animals some more too!”

Rainbow Dash blushed in embarrassment. “I’ll uh, give that a little raincheck for now.”

Aurora peered up at her with confused eyes and a slight frown. “Aww, how come? Mr. Tortoise isn’t mad at you anymore for making me cry or anything, and Mrs. Walrus liked you flying around with her. She wanted to go on another trip.”

“Wait,” Summer Rains glanced at Rainbow Dash. “You made my little sister cry?”

He asked it a bit seriously but Rainbow Dash could see the smile tugging at his lips.

“Ugh!” She blushed harder. “Look it was just—forget it! Is the rest of your family here?”

Summer Rains snorted in amusement while Snowshine giggled. He then called out to the rest of the house, with the multiple floors it had the parents probably just hadn’t heard anybody come in when they did.

“Mom? Dad? Ice? Snowfall? I’m back, and I’ve got company again!”

Rainbow Dash was grateful to all of them but embarrassed that they had accepted to do this after just meeting her once. She really had a lot to thank them for. Even if she was just getting a spare room or if they mostly did it for their son it was a big deal to her. With her being the special pony from Equestria it could bring a lot of unwanted attention to them as well. Hopefully they wouldn’t get in trouble or have anything to worry about but she knew Blizzard would learn about this soon enough and she wasn’t totally sure what his reaction would be. And even without him there might be plenty of others in this city that would hound Summer Rains’ family for taking in the heretical or whatever mare from Equestria.

Just as before the parents of the happily married couple came down to the first floor of the house. One by one their eyes lit up in recognition of Rainbow Dash and the realization of why she and Summer Rains were here.

“Oh, so it got approved?” Autumn Mist said to the room as he walked in.

“Sure did!” Summer Rains replied.

“Yeah, and I really have to thank all of you for that. Uh, it’s pretty cool that you’d let me stay at your house and everything. So thanks,” Rainbow Dash tried to not sound too embarrassed but she probably failed. This kind of stuff just wasn’t her thing.

“You don’t need to think anything of it,” Snowshine said. “We were just doing a good thing.” The mare quickly blushed. “And—well—I thought it would be fun to have a mare like you around too. You’re very interesting.”

Rainbow Dash regained her composure and grinned, flicking her mane out of her eyes. “Well, yeah. I am definitely awesome.”

“I know you won’t be here everyday but I’ll try and introduce you to the other neighborhood ladies next time. I wanted to do that last time too but I didn’t know you and Summer were coming back today,” Snowshine told her.

“We did drop in a bit unexpected. Even Rainbow Dash didn’t know we were coming today,” Summer Rains explained with a light chuckle.

“Since we are all here though, who wants some tea?” Summer’s mother, Sun Ray, asked. Rainbow Dash had almost forgotten their names, she should’ve asked Summer about them on the way over just to be sure.

Either way Sun Ray didn’t wait for anyone to say yes or no to tea and the mare flew back up to the second story of the house where the kitchen was. In a second she’d be back but in the meantime Rainbow Dash turned her attention to Ice Breezer and Snowfall Glitter. The parents of Snowshine looked almost like they could’ve been old enough to be Summer Rains’ grandparents and while they were definitely quieter than Autumn Mist and Sun Ray they were still polite ponies who regarded Rainbow Dash with a smile. They were just as happy to see her and welcome her into their home as any of the others.

“I really want to thank you too,” Dash said to the couple. “Your daughter is great by the way, just saying.”

“Thank you, Miss Rainbow Dash,” the wizened Ice Breezer said while his wife cheerfully smiled wider.

“Um, um!” Aurora was jumping up and down in excitement. “Where is Rainbow Dash going to be staying? What room does she get?”

“She’ll be getting the spare room on the third floor, down the hall from you,” Summer Rains told her.

“Yes!” The filly pumped her hoof in joy.

Rainbow Dash reached down to pat her head. “Don’t go too crazy just now. I’m still probably going to be at the barracks and on base most days. We’ll see how it works out.”

“Aww...” Aurora looked downtrodden for a second but she quickly recovered, smiling up at Rainbow Dash with sparkly eyes. “Oh! But I can still totally brag to everyone that the soldier mare is living in my house! This is gonna be so cool!” The filly started buzzing about in a circle while Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the exuberant display.

Soon after that, Sun Ray came flying back down the stairs juggling a large teapot and several porcelain cups all balanced on top one another. Snowshine quickly flew over to lessen her load and the two mares began pouring tea for everybody. Tea was not exactly Rainbow Dash’s preferred beverage but she wasn’t going to be rude either and just outright refuse. She only hoped she could stop herself from making a face when she drank it, being forced to go to numerous tea parties by Fluttershy and high class events with Rarity should give her some practice.

The happy family got started on their tea and Summer Rains became the new topic of conversation as his parents and wife asked him how things had been at the base lately. Rainbow Dash for once was okay with not being the absolute center of attention that the world had to revolve around. She knew if she stayed here long enough that eventually the conversation would come to Equestria and any number of things about her, and she would be happy to answer.

She took a sip of tea and only slightly winced.

“So, Rainbow Dash-” Snowshine suddenly spoke to her from her seat on the couch next to her.

Rainbow Dash almost spit up her tea out of surprise but swallowed it down and turned to the white pegasus. “Y-Yeah?”

Snowshine giggled at her reaction. “I just wanted to say, dear, that the next time you’ll be here to please make sure we know beforehand. I want to introduce you to my sewing circle.”

That didn’t exactly sound like the most fun thing either.

“Hehe, sure. Sounds great,” she awkwardly smiled at the mare and rubbed the back of her neck. Taking one more sip of her tea she shuddered and forced it down like the rest.

Elder Tornado had been going about a fairly slow day in the Council Chambers. There weren’t many big arguments or problems between ponies today it seemed, the largest issue had to deal with a scheduled rain and lightning storm in a couple weeks and whether it needed to be a heavier or lighter rain than what was planned. Truthfully Tornado wasn’t sure if he was happier about days like this or not. Being free from the average stupidity of the typical issues brought before the Elder Council didn’t mean much when the only thing that replaced it was boredom.

He guessed he shouldn’t complain, it could be worse. Then there was the fact that Frost had come down with a fever recently. Tornado didn’t have much affection for him but he was still worried about the other Elder. At their ages something like that could always turn into the last time they ever get sick.

Why couldn’t Black Lightning have gotten sick?

Again, as they were in the middle of any meetings or trials, he found his thoughts drifting to the pony from Equestria. There had to be a way for him to speak to her but he only had a few contacts and friends who owed him favors that he might be able to rely on. And that was only if he was able to get out from Blizzard’s watchful eye in the first place.

Tornado sighed and leaned back in his chair, glancing to his sides at the other Elders. “Would any of you really mind if we just canceled the rest of the appointments for the day and left?”

"Yes, we can’t be so lazy,” Black Lightning frowned at him.

Tornado narrowed his eyes and stared ahead. He’s just saying the opposite of what I want. I should’ve said we should work overtime. Putz.

“I also think it would be a little improper to just leave like that. It’s a slow day but you never know what may come up at the last minute,” Hail Storm said, doing his very best not to stutter.

And you’re just a coward. Tornado inwardly scoffed.

How awful these days have become. How much of a shell of its former self the Elder Council was. These sham meetings he had to sit through with his growing pessimism and lacking interest. He wished his arthritis could at least be cured so he could fly off somewhere and cool his head, feel the wind beneath his wings and running through his mane, regaining what it meant to really be a pegasus. These lamentations were a daily occurrence to him in his old age. He was good at not becoming full on depressed but it still weighed on his heart and drew him closer towards total apathy. Rainbow Dash’s existence in this Empire was the lone bright spot in his life. And even that was so faint and far away.

“Fine then, let’s continue on and see what treasures the rest of the day brings us,” Tornado sarcastically said in response to the other two. Waterspout meanwhile had fallen asleep in his chair.

It was mostly quiet in the chambers with but a few ponies meandering about in the viewing areas for the next hour. Nothing much had occurred and Tornado was about to consider drifting off to sleep himself when the door leading in was suddenly opened up and one of the guards came in, flying in a tizzy right up to the platform where the Elders sat.

“What is it?” Black Lightning asked the guard with a scowl.

Tornado too looked on with a frown on his face, this was a bit different from protocol.

“I’m sorry sirs, but a mare came to the administration building demanding an audience with the Elder Council,” the worried guard said to them.

“A mare? Turn her away then! Mares aren’t allowed in here,” Black Lightning scoffed, trying to wave the guard off.

“She came with her father and brother, who is a soldier, and all three of them were adamant about seeing you. We didn’t want to start a fight in the building.”

“Why has she come?” Tornado asked before anything else could come out of Black Lightning’s mouth. He was genuinely curious now.

The guard shook his head. “They wouldn’t say.”

“Ignore her! Force her out then, who cares? Grab some more guards from somewhere and do what you need to,” Black Lightning told him.

The guard was about to turn and leave when Tornado called out to him.

“No.”

Black Lightning, Hail Storm, and the guard all looked at the other Elder.

“I want to see why she’s here. Send them in.”

Commander Blizzard was busy meditating in his office, free from any distractions, when a knock interrupted his focus. He opened his eyes and stared at his door. Not quite frowning but certainly not smiling either. He wasn’t expecting a single visitor or anything today so who could it be? East or West Wind would have asked to be let in already but whoever it was that knocked right now was staying silent, either giving the Commander the choice of speaking up first, walking to the door, or ignoring the visitor entirely.

“Come in,” he decided on.

The door was opened up and the Commander’s mood soured. A practically beaming Elder Tornado trotted on into the Commander’s office until he stood right before the much larger pegasus.

“Hello, Commander,” Tornado greeted with a wide smile on his face.

“Elder,” Blizzard blinked, not showing any emotion on his face. “What is the reason you’ve come to see me? I’ve told you there’s no need for us to speak unless I send for you first.”

Tornado’s smile turned into an annoying smirk. “Well it just so happens that a certain unscheduled meeting just took place at the council. Something having to do with the army that I feel I should personally come and tell you about.”

“If it’s an army matter I would’ve heard about it eventually and-”

“Oh but I just had to come tell you immediately. I insist!” Elder Tornado interrupted him. “Because you see, a mare came to meet with us just now.”

Blizzard this time cocked an eyebrow at the Elder. “A mare? Mares are not allowed to make and participate in such meetings, she should’ve been barred from entering and thrown out of the building.”

“Oh, very true, but I decided to let her in and see what she wanted to say. Especially since her father and brother were both in attendance as well and stalwartly defending her. I mean, if a soldier and former soldier could be so resolute in getting her to speak with us it simply must have been something important.”

His mood worsening, this time Blizzard did fully frown at the obnoxiously smug Elder. “What was it she came to speak with you about?”

“Well she just so happened to hear about the absolutely amazing pony from Equestria that you put into the army. An excellent decision of yours I must say. I was a little on the fence about it at first but I really have to give you credit, that was a great idea,” Tornado smiled. “And do you know what she wanted after hearing about how this pony from Equestria was a hero, was respected by her fellows, was being an exemplary soldier, and on top of it all was a mare? Well our mare demanded, yes, demanded of our Elder Council, that she be allowed to become a soldier too!”

Blizzard’s eyes widened. “What?”

“You heard correct,” Tornado could barely contain his laughter. “Rainbow Dash has inspired a mare who grew up in our Empire to throw out her traditional role and expectations and become a soldier too. Isn’t it wonderful! Rainbow Dash truly is inspiring, isn’t she?”

“But… that’s not what...” Blizzard was having difficult getting his thoughts together. This is not the intended consequence of what he was doing with Rainbow Dash.

“I certainly wanted to accept her request but unfortunately it’s up to your discretion as army business, so I’ll be leaving the decision to you,” Elder Tornado snorted and turned to leave the room. He paused at the door and looked over his shoulder. “Oh right, I doubt this will influence your decision but the mare was quite enthusiastic about how popular and admired Rainbow Dash was with mares all around the city. You could even say she’s loved.” He brought a hoof up and tapped his chin as he looked up, feigning deep thought. “I wonder how many mares or ponies in general would say the same about you.”

Elder Tornado slammed the door behind him as he left the office.

Commander Blizzard stood there, his mind in turmoil. This shouldn’t have been happening. And Rainbow Dash should be on his side already, shouldn’t she? Why wasn’t she? Why weren’t all the soldiers and stallions climbing over each other to prove they could be amazing soldiers as well, to fight and show that they wouldn’t lose to a mare from the disgusting land of Equestria? It was almost like what he had done had the opposite effect it should have but he didn’t understand why.

He found his left hoof shaking and had to steady it. Gritting his teeth as he turned to his window and looked out across the city. “What’s going on?”

True Pegasus XXII

Possibly for the first time since arriving in the Empire, Rainbow Dash felt really, fully, one hundred percent positive. Things had been good recently. She felt like she was better friends with her squad, she had started to become friends with Crescent Moon, the odd days where she would actually spend time with Summer Rains’ family or stay at their house were always a blast, and she was just able to enjoy herself in general more. There was a feeling in the air here now. Something was different about the Eternal Pegasus Empire. There was something… brighter about it.

No one at the base cared about any “insubordinate” behavior from her squad and they were basically able to do as they wished. And now every time they practiced Buckball they had more and more soldiers watching. After all, why not? It took athleticism so it wasn’t a waste of time for a soldier trying to keep in shape, Rainbow Dash was the one teaching it so there was clearly something special about it, and her lieutenant was even involved. The soldiers on base couldn’t help but watch and try to learn it as well.

Clear Skies had managed to get a real ball for them too and everything. It still wasn’t technically Buckball since they mostly threw the ball with either their hooves or wings but Dash wasn’t about to get all critical on them for that, these pegasi weren’t especially used to bucking things.

But it was a start and Rainbow Dash was pretty proud of herself for making this work. Soon she’d have a real Buckball game going on.

At the moment Rainbow Dash was flying over the city on patrol with Summer Rains and Fierce Current. Normally it would just be two of them but Fierce decided to tag along out of boredom and to see what Rainbow Dash got up to when she was out doing this. Later today Rainbow Dash was supposed to have a tea party with Snowshine’s sewing circle… that could always wait though.

“Feels good to just fly through the sky and relax instead of having to do the same bothersome training every day,” Fierce Current said as he flipped over onto his back and started flying backwards while gazing up at the sky.

“I definitely know what you mean by that,” Rainbow Dash grinned.

“You know it wouldn’t hurt to actually keep an eye on the city,” Summer Rains reminded them. “I mean this is real business after all. Sort of.”

The cherry pegasus yawned and flipped back over. “True, I just don’t think there actually is going to be anything for us to do or watch out for. I mean, how often do you actually hear about something happening in the city that any soldiers need to deal with? At best we’ll break up a spat between neighbors or help some kids out with something.”

“I guess so...” Summer Rains relented.

“The two of you could always go practice Buckball. You know it well enough now that you don’t need me there to help you out,” Dash told them.

“Yeah but I felt like flying today,” Fierce shrugged.

“And patrols are supposed to be two ponies,” Summer said. “Er, I guess I don’t really need to stick to regulations anymore but it’s kind of hard to shake. Next time you can do whatever you want and I’ll just do my thing too I guess.”

“I don’t mind having you around if you want to patrol,” Rainbow Dash told him.

“You might have more fun out alone though. It might even be better for you too, to see the city by yourself, haven’t you always had someone by your side this whole time?” Summer Rains asked.

Rainbow Dash paused, a frown settling on her face. “Now that you mention it...”

“Right? I know my wife wants you to drop by and say hi to her sewing circle today, which I’m sure you’re thrilled about, but tomorrow you should do something on your own,” he suggested. “Whether you’re patrolling or having fun, just anything.”

“Maybe I’ll go drop by the farms and say hi to Fierce’s dad,” Rainbow grinned at the other stallion.

The cherry pegasus immediately frowned. “Please don’t.”

“I could tell him you’re just dying to say hi,” she bit back a laugh at her friend’s expense.

“Noooo,” he groaned and hid his face behind his hooves in embarrassment.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t stop it anymore, full on laughing at Fierce Current’s desire for her to not meet up with his father. She had no idea why he was so against it. Must’ve thought his dad would embarrass him in some way or something. After a minute she was able to stop laughing and catch her breath. Wiping away a single tear at her eye she looked back over at Fierce.

“Well, I’m only half kidding dude. I kind of want to meet all of your families and stuff while I’m here. I mean, why not?”

“Then please at least visit with everyone else’s families first,” Fierce grumbled.

Dash snorted and rolled her eyes. “Fine, sure. I promise your dad will be the last guy I visit.” She glanced down at the rooftops below her, seeing the occasional civilian out or some other soldiers doing who knows what. “So when it comes to stuff to do on my own is there anything you guys recommend? Like anything I still need to learn about the city?”

“Not really. I mean, besides what you can learn from the mares at the sewing circle. Seeing things from their perspective,” Summer Rains grinned.

“Great,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“I’m serious though. You’ve been living like a stallion up here and barely met any other mares. Getting some firsthand experience with how they live and what they do all day is just what you want. Isn’t it?”

“Only if it’s cool!” Rainbow Dash whined. “This is supposed to be an adventure, knitting and cleaning and drinking tea and stuff is laaame. Don’t you guys at least have cider or something?”

“I don’t know what that is,” Summer Rains shrugged. “And besides, my wife has no problem with any of that stuff, why can’t you enjoy it?”

Rainbow Dash grumbled a bit, frowning. “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with all that stuff… it’s just… not cool. I like cool stuff. Awesome stuff.”

“Like getting beat up by the Commander in a coliseum with thousands of other pegasi watching?” Fierce teased.

“Yeah. Exactly,” Dash flatly responded.

She was probably being a little too dismissive of the traditional Empire’s mare stuff. Twilight would find it intriguing, Rarity would find it proper, Fluttershy would fine it enjoyable, and she doubted Applejack or Pinkie Pie would really have a problem with it either. It was more that there wasn’t any choice that really bothered her. Something that had really bothered her about the Empire from the beginning, the mares had no idea what they were missing and they never had the opportunity to do anything else. But Summer was right that it was still probably good to see things from their point of view.

Summer Rains and Fierce Current had a good laugh at her expense and they continued with their flight over the city, a bit of a lull in the conversation.

Rainbow Dash looked up higher on the mountain, the large administration building sat at the highest point of the city but there was still a decent amount of mountain higher up than that, just empty and unused. Snow covered the top of the peak that rested just under the rim of clouds that blocked off the Empire’s realm from the outside airspace. She kind of wanted to see what the view would look like from all the way up there.

“Is there anything at the top of the mountain?” She asked the two.

Summer Rains took a second to think before answering. “Not that I know of. There aren’t enough of us where we need to use all the space on the mountain.”

“Now that you mention it though I’m surprised Blizzard hasn’t built a cloud castle up there for himself,” Fierce snidely remarked.

“Pff, yeah,” Dash agreed.

The three soldiers flew for a bit more until Rainbow Dash decided that she had done enough of putting things off. The sewing circle awaited her and there wasn’t any reason why she shouldn’t fly off to her new home right now to get ready for it. With a depressed sigh she looked over at her two squadmates.

“You guys can keep patrolling or whatever but I’m heading home. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye,” Fierce waved.

“Say hello to my wife for me,” Summer asked.

Rainbow Dash nodded and dropped away from them, flying over the homes and streets of the residential district on her way to the graciously shared new home of hers.

Unbeknownst to her or her two friends, however, she was being watched by other ponies the entire time.

After Rainbow Dash had arrived home she was immediately greeted with a hug from Snowshine and asked to take off her armor. It was not something that would be appropriate to wear while meeting her sewing circle and having a tea party with them. Instead Dash was made to wear a short toga, Snowshine offered to brush her mane as well and style it into something less “wild” but Dash had steadfastly refused that.

Aurora was out playing with other fillies and the two pairs of parents were staying up in their rooms, leaving the downstairs sitting room for Snowshine’s sewing circle.

Rainbow Dash didn’t exactly want to do this but she was able to take some solace in the fact that she knew she was about to be the center of attention and everyone was going to be super interested in her and everything she had to say. It was nice to get fawned over like that. Especially for a pony like her. And she deserved it after all, didn’t she? How many ponies were as awesome, or even came close to being as awesome, as Rainbow Dash? She was trying to make this Empire a better and way cooler place for not just the mares but every pony too.

“So how many other mares are going to be here?” Dash asked Snowshine, looking at the teacups sitting on a small table in-between the two couches of the sitting room.

“Just five. Why? Worried about being overwhelmed?” The white mare giggled.

“I’m never overwhelmed,” she confidently stated, puffing out her chest. I just don’t want to be stuck here for hours talking about tea and knitting.

“Well I’ll make sure everyone treats you respectfully anyways. I know how eager they are to talk to you so things could get a little crazy,” Snowshine smiled but it quickly turned into a worried frown.

“What’s up?” Rainbow Dash asked, noticing her change in expression.

Snowshine looked to the side for a second as she mulled something over before answering Rainbow Dash. “Nothing really, it’s just that I’ve heard some gossip of how a mare from the city went to the administration building and demanded she be allowed to become a soldier like you.”

“Seriously?” Rainbow Dash smirked and raised an impressed eyebrow. “That’s awesome though.”

“But things like that don’t happen here. Ponies aren’t supposed to go out of line, whether they be mares or stallions! It probably upset Commander Blizzard...” Snowshine said, anxious.

“Even better. I hope it did annoy him. And I hope plenty of other mares try doing the same thing,” Dash shrugged.

Snowshine did slightly smile at Rainbow’s attitude. “I do think it’s a good thing… if she really wants it after all. And I know my friends dropping by today will be more than happy about it too. They’ll probably congratulate you on being the one to inspire whoever that mare was to do that.”

“Yeah...” Dash frowned as she thought of something. “Er, there’s no way Blizzard actually let her into the army though, is there? Do you know what happened to her?”

Snowshine shook her head. “I’m afraid I haven’t heard anything about it. But I’m worried for her if I’m being honest.”

The Equestrian pegasus’s eyes narrowed as she thought of how Blizzard would’ve reacted to and dealt with something like that. “Yeah, me too.” It didn’t change her attitude towards the action itself though. She was glad there was a mare courageous enough to do something like that. And Blizzard deserved to have an aneurysm over it with how horribly he treats everyone and what he does with this city. He wanted to use her? He wanted her to be a symbol of the superiority of the true pegasus way? Well it looked like that was coming back to bite him in the flank.

I feel like I can really do something here now. Maybe fighting Blizzard aint a bad idea?

Those thoughts would temporarily have to wait though as a knock on the door signaled the arrival of Snowshine’s friends.

As Snowshine stood up to go let them in, Rainbow Dash sighed.

“Please let this be cooler than one of Fluttershy’s tea parties.”

“And what has she done today?” Blizzard asked Captain West Wind as the two stood in his office.

“Nothing of consequence, sir. She was on patrol with some of her squadmates before retiring to her new home. The soldiers I had watching her report that the wife of the soldier’s home she’s staying at invited her friends over to meet Rainbow Dash and-”

Commander Blizzard dangerously narrowed his eyes at West Wind, making the Captain snap his jaw shut immediately. “And you call that nothing of consequence? Anything she does is a matter of consequence after what’s happened. That filthy Equestrian is changing too many of the weak ponies in the Empire.”

“T-Then shouldn’t we just get rid of her already?” West Wind dared to ask.

“No!” Blizzard thundered, his wings opening wide. “That would be the same as admitting defeat! All of this will have been pointless and we’ll still be collapsing from the rot! True, I may, should, crush her again to remind her of my superiority and her place. And to show the others in this city that I am the strongest. But she must still become the symbol, she must be broken, not killed or thrown out. She must come to my side and do it willingly. Perhaps soon I will fight her again before she can subvert our Empire more so she loses any illusions she had of beating me or changing this Empire. I don’t understand why she’s had this effect on the pegasi… unless they were always weaklings.” His pupils darted about as he raged. “But if she’s so popular and loved now then I will break her body into pieces so all that respect and love is lost. Let them see that she is nothing compared to me! That she can do nothing! Let her lose all hope and embrace the true way!”

Captain West Wind gulped and took a cautious step back as the Commander ranted. He was very, very, worried about what would come of this.

True Pegasus XXIII

It was finally time. Rainbow Dash was going to put on a legitimate Buckball game at the army base.

They had a real ball, better and wider buckets, and they were going to play it inside the large mess hall with a perimeter of tables making up the field. The ball bounced a lot better on the mess hall’s floor than just the other clouds outside too and here they had hundreds of chairs for ponies to sit in if they didn’t feel like flying around and watching the whole time. Her squad had practiced well and both teams would’ve been legitimate opponents back in Equestria, even Crescent Moon took his duties as referee seriously.

The teams had mostly kept their same positions from the very first practice too, with only Skychaser and Flashbolt swapping positions. Rainbow Dash had a good sense for this kind of stuff so she wasn’t surprised that what she had chosen worked almost perfectly.

Now she could look out at all the other soldiers that had come to watch their game and just feel proud. She was happy, for them and for herself, that the soldiers were genuinely interested and they weren’t just being sheep for once and following the same routine everyday. It was kind of a trick since for the most part they didn’t know the game’s true origins but it was a step in the right direction. They trusted Rainbow Dash and they wanted to have some fun.

“Alright, are you guys ready for some Buckball!” She shouted to the assembled soldiers from the middle of the ring of tables.

It was an attempt to fire up the audience but they weren’t exactly sure if this was something that should be cheered for. All she got were a few half-hearted yells and woo-hoos. They had never really seen a game so even if it was something new they weren’t quite excited enough to cheer as if they were about to watch a major coliseum fight.

“Okaaay… we can work on that later,” Dash awkwardly grinned as she looked around the mess hall.

The soldiers looked like they still wanted things to begin already so Dash flew over to her squad that was huddled up on one side of the ring. None of them were wearing their armor of course but they didn’t have uniforms either. Rainbow wanted to requisition some from Snowshine and her sewing circle but she had thought about it too late. Next time, definitely. The best they could’ve done right now was togas or something but she didn’t see the point of that.

“Are you guys ready to go?” Rainbow asked the seven of them.

“I think so. There’s nothing really left to go over and we’re practiced enough,” Wild Wind answered for all of them. He glanced at the others. “Any objections?”

Flashbolt raised a hoof. “We never decided on what the score was to. Or if we’re playing on a time limit and whoever has the most points by the end wins.”

“Oh yeah, good point,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Heh, hold on one second.”

Rainbow Dash flew up to the ceiling of the mess hall to get everyone’s attention. “Hey! The game is whoever scores three points first wins! So keep that in mind, better be on the edge of your seats when one team has two points and they’re about to win!” She flew back down and grinned at the seven participants. “Alright, get in there and get into position, then we can start!”

The others shrugged and did as she asked, with Wild Wind and Skychaser getting their buckets and moving to opposite ends of the court while Summer Rains and Clear Skies took up their Guard positions. Flashbolt, Fierce Current, and Crescent Moon walked out into the middle with Crescent holding onto the red, rubber ball that they’d be using. Clear had finally managed to bring one back from his house, with the promise to one of his younger little brothers that he’d eventually bring it back. Rainbow Dash flew around the ring of tables once to make sure it was sized perfectly and nothing else was off.

It looked ready. The other soldiers flying or sitting around it to watch looked ready. Her squad was ready. And she was ready.

“Okay! The game is about to begin!” She yelled and flew to the far side of the court from the doors to the mess hall, floating at the edge of the court between the two teams and giving herself a good vantage point. “Crescent!” She shouted down to the Lieutenant. “Throw that thing whenever you want and start us off!”

Crescent Moon looked up at her and nodded, a small smile on his face. He turned to face Flashbolt and Fierce Current while holding the ball between them. “I hope you two teams put on a fantastic first game of Buckball for the Empire.”

He threw the ball up high into the air and fluttered backwards to get out of their way.

Instantly the two Attackers shot up towards it, with Flashbolt making it to the ball a split second faster. However Fierce was right on him so he couldn’t easily get to his own bucket. Instead of trying to directly fly back and throw his ball, Flashbolt hit the ball to the ground with his wing and dove after it. Fierce Current wasn’t totally thrown off by this maneuver and he dove down to try and claim the ball on its bounce before Flashbolt could.

The audience watched as the two pegasi raced to the ground for the red ball. When it struck the floor it bounced two feet high, and at the apex of that bounce Flashbolt grabbed it and sharply turned up out of his dive to barely avoid hitting the floor. Fierce Current came up right on his tail but Flashbolt still now had a clear shot at his goal.

Or at least as clear as he was ever going to get with Summer Rains defending it.

Flashbolt frowned and flew side to side, trying to juke the defender out and trick him as to where he was going to throw the ball from, but Summer always kept his mind on where the basket Skychaser was holding was behind him.

Skychaser angled the basket low and Flashbolt threw the ball towards the ground, trying to bounce it at an angle so it would go right under Summer Rains and into the basket. Well unfortunately Summer Rains was too quick for that ploy, his tail lashed out below him and smacked the ball away from their team’s basket, towards Fierce Current. And now the other team was on the offensive.

“Tch,” Flashbolt clicked his tongue and flew after the cherry pegasus now.

Fierce didn’t play around or try anything sneaky maneuvers like Flashbolt did. He flew straight towards his basket even with Clear Skies floating right in front of it. At the last second he tossed the ball in front of his face and spun, smacking it with his wing and shooting it past and to the right of Clear Skies’ head. The speed the ball was propelled at by Fierce’s wing took Clear completely off guard. Wild Wind’s quick reflexes put him and the basket into the perfect position for the ball after the corporal predicted his teammate would do something like that.

And unfortunately Clear Skies was just a moment to slow to defend in time and the red ball slipped by him and into the basket.

The were a couple of cheers from the soldiers watching, some claps, some stomped hooves, as the first point was scored and the action momentarily stopped. Rainbow Dash had a big grin on her face as Crescent Moon went to retrieve the ball and get things started up again.

“Alright everybody so that was the first point!” She yelled across the mess hall. “Fierce Current, Summer Rains, and Wild Wind are up by one!”

She heard some mumbling from the crowd as they seemed to be getting into it more after seeing what a game was like.

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Next time I should get them to start making bets, really get them into it.”

Crescent Moon brought the ball and the two Attackers back to the middle again. He glanced at each team to make sure all six of them were ready and once all of them gave him a nod in acknowledgment the ball was thrown back into the air and the fight for the second point began. Rainbow Dash could tell that with their soldier nature they had to consciously hold back from getting a bit more physical as they fought over the ball. This time the two reached it at basically the same time and they kept swatting it up and around the air with their wings and hooves, neither able to get full control just yet and make a dive for their basket.

Finally Fierce was able to get the tips of one of his wings around it, but this time instead of going for his basket or anything like that he threw it straight towards Summer Rains.

The unorthodox strategy surprised even Rainbow Dash. Normally you wouldn’t want the ball anywhere near your opponent’s basket but with Summer’s reflexes he was able to safely catch it. Fierce Current then took off and Summer tossed the ball in the air towards him, now he’d have more room to make a run on their basket and evade Flashbolt.

“Funny that the team without the two cousins that do everything together has better teamwork,” Dash wryly noted to herself. “Maybe I should change the teams for next time.”

Fierce tried another strong launch of the ball at his basket but Clear Skies was better prepared now. The surprising throwing speed Fierce had wasn’t enough to get it past the large orange pegasus on this occasion. His wing blocked it and bounced the ball back onto the ground for Flashbolt to recover. The Attacker made it in quick time to grasp the ball and darted around the other way to take it back to his basket. Flashbolt didn’t just hold it though, he dribbled it as he flew, bouncing it from hoof to hoof off the ground. Maybe it was a ploy to confuse Summer Rains as to which hoof he would throw the ball from trying to score.

In the end it seemed like he was definitely going for confusion as on the final bounce he tilted his head down and headbutted it towards the goal. Summer’s eyes went wide as he saw the ball launched high over his head, where Skychaser was already flying to make sure the ball went into the basket.

“Not good enough,” Summer Rains narrowed his eyes and he flew up, barely hitting the ball just on the edge in time to make sure it didn’t go into the basket.

The deflected ball instead bounced off the ceiling and then back into the court. Both Attackers zoomed over as fast as they could to make sure they got the ball. Fierce Current’s recovery speed turned out to be better than Flashbolt’s and the cherry colored pegasus grabbed the ball that was practically the same color as him. With a grin he turned to take it back to his basket, determined to get it past Clear Skies this time.

Clear Skies was keeping a close eye on the ball while also listening intently to Wild Wind’s positioning behind him. He was pretty sure he had a good read on the situation. There was no way he was going to let another ball past him.

Or at least that was the thought until he heard a sudden swishing sound from behind him as Wild Wind threw the basket into the air and Fierce Current lobbed the ball into it, Wild Wind grabbing it back on the descent. Clear Skies too confused and surprised by the tactic to do anything about it.

“Wait. Is that even allowed?” The orange Defender frowned.

Wild Wind shrugged. Fierce shrugged as well. They had just done it because they wanted to get a point without thinking about if it was against the rules or not. The other three were similarly baffled.

So all eyes turned to the referee.

“Umm...” Crescent Moon looked back and forth between the two teams, obviously not a fan of being put on the spot like this. He may have been the ref but it’s not like he was any more familiar with the game than they were. Finally, he shrugged too. “Eh, I’ll allow it. Point to Wild Wind’s team, two to zero.”

Skychaser threw up his hooves in frustration as the crowd cheered the next point. Things weren’t looking good for his team.

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash chuckled as she watched. “Never went over anything like that but I guess there’s nothing wrong with it. If they can already fly around with the basket then why not? And back home it would be a unicorn floating it with magic anyways. This makes it more exciting!”

The possible final round began shortly after Crescent gathered up the ball again.

“So are we pretty much just making up rules as we go along?” Flashbolt asked him before the toss up.

“Well what do you expect? I’m not an expert, as long as it seems okay I’ll allow it. Just don’t fight each other,” Crescent said and threw the ball into the air for maybe the final time.

The two Attackers again shot for it with Flashbolt getting to it first and knocking it up so it bounced off the ceiling. Fierce Current wasn’t expecting him to do that so he fell behind trying to chase after the ball while Flashbolt went down for it. The cousin kicked it off the ground to his basket, forgoing anything else to make a quick attack and potentially take Summer Rains off guard. He definitely was surprised that his opponent was making such a straight-forward attack after the last two tries were a bit more unconventional. But at the same time Summer Rains was just too good of a defender.

The soldier easily blocked it with one of his legs and rocketed it back to Fierce Current. The attacker grinned as he got it, bouncing it between his front hooves as he flew towards his basket and the one defending it. Fierce gave it another strong throw as he tried to curve it around Clear’s body and into the basket. The rubber ball instead ended up bouncing off the wing of Clear as he successfully defended it this time around.

Both Attackers had to scramble for it again as it rolled across the floor. Crescent Moon made the smart move of flying up out of the way the moment the ball starting rolling close to him. Right before the ball rolled under one of the tables lining the court the two pegasi crashed down next to each other trying to get their hooves on it.

They didn’t look to be fighting or intentionally hitting each other so the ref wasn’t calling foul on anything. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but wince slightly, although there was still a smile on her face, this was a little more physical than the Buckball games back home got.

The other soldiers in the crowd seemed to be enjoying it though, the cheering had escalated and they were definitely far more into it than they had been at the start of the game.

Rainbow Dash would’ve cheered a little more too but she didn’t want to take sides, instead opting for some noncommittal hoots and yells.

Despite Flashbolt’s best efforts it ended up being Fierce Current that got the ball again. This was turning into even more of a one-sided affair with the dominance his team was showing. The cherry pegasus flew low to the ground with the ball in his hooves as he tried to score the final point his team would need for victory. Clear Skies of course really didn’t want to let another point in so he was practically mobbing the basket to make sure the final point didn’t get through.

“Sorry, Clear, but we’re ending this game right now!” Fierce shouted.

Clear narrowed his eyes as he heard Wild Wind moving behind him, glancing over his shoulder he saw the corporal still holding onto the basket. “You’re not going to get the same thing to work on me!”

Wild Wind flew up with the basket in hoof and Clear Skies mirrored him, constantly alternating his view between basket and ball, not blinking for even a second. If Wild Wind threw the basket again or if Fierce tried another one of his high-powered throws Clear Skies was certain he’d be able to react in time.

So instead of throwing it or trying to out-fly Clear Skies, Wild Wind calmly dropped the basket onto the ground while blankly staring at the orange pegasus.

“What?” Clear Skies stuttered as Fierce gently lobbed the ball into the wobbling basket.

It was a rather anti-climactic ending and the silence of the audience reflected that.

Crescent Moon blinked a few times at the basket before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. “Oh, right. Er—point to the uh, that team, they win!” He shouted.

“Wooh!” Fierce Current cheered and flew over to Wild Wind, the two of them hoof-bumping.

“Dang,” Clear Skies frowned.

Now with the official word that the match had ended the audience… didn’t quite erupt but they were much more celebratory and excited to see the victors. There was some more cheering and clapping from the crowd and Rainbow Dash smiled as she flew down into the center of the court while the rest of the squad gathered together as well.

“Well how did you like that?” Rainbow Dash said to the whole crowd in the mess hall. “Things’ll get even better once everyone has more experience and we iron out the rules some too. I know you guys will be excited to see a really high-level game with every player flying around and going crazy!”

“Sorry it couldn’t last longer,” Flashbolt cynically said as well.

“Yeah, we got destroyed, three-zero!” Skychaser scoffed as he walked up to his cousin.

“Better luck next time!” One of the soldiers watching yelled out to the players, starting a good-natured round of laughter and cheering while Skychaser blushed.

Rainbow Dash grinned. “That’s right! There’s gonna be a next time, count on it!”

The eight members of Rainbow Dash’s squad shared a few hoof-bumps and wingshakes between each other while the rest of the soldiers in the mess hall talked about the fun event they had just witnessed. It may not have been perfect, and there were some definite bumps, but Rainbow Dash was really proud of what she had accomplished. She’d keep pushing it too, push it until there was a Buckball game going on in the coliseum. If she happened to be here for that long. She was pretty proud of her friends too. Regardless of how long she was here or what else she could do she had planted the seed in all of them, changed them for the better, that alone was worth a lot.

Ashen Evening was a soldier of no special standing, nor ability, nor appearance. The pale grey and black pegasus was the definition of an average and loyal soldier to his superiors. And of course, Commander Blizzard was most superior of all. Because of his low station and middling abilities he never thought he’d be personally tasked with anything nor that he would ever have to stand before the Commander himself in all his glory and terror.

The Commander gazed down at him with cold eyes, but Ashen could see past the surface and into the anger that those eyes contained. Anger that was barely contained. The soldier was afraid to speak at all, worried that a single word would set the invincible Commander off and he could say goodbye to his unremarkable life.

“What-” the Commander started in a deceptively calm voice. “Is Buckball?”

It was an almost comical question. The Commander of the Eternal Pegasus Empire asking about a silly sport that some pony from Equestria had taught them. But Ashen Evening found absolutely nothing humorous about the question.

“It’s a sport from Equestria that Rainbow Dash taught her squad. They recently had a game in the mess hall,” he answered.

Blizzard’s left eye twitched. “From Equestria? She is supposed to be forbidden from teaching anything about that accursed land. Does she no longer care about the consequences?” He stared ahead in deep thought.

Ashen Evening’s wings shuffled about uncomfortably. Biting his lip he spoke up again. “Umm… there’s something else, sir.”

The Commander’s eyes darted back to the soldier without the rest of his face so much as moving. “What?”

“I heard that supposedly… the game was originally played with a pegasus, earth pony, and unicorn all playing and working together on the same team. That’s the rumor,” Ashen Evening squeaked out.

At first it seemed like there was no reaction from the Commander, but as Ashen stood there he noticed the Commander’s body quaking and a low rumbling growl gaining in volume pouring up from his throat. A grinding sound broke out as Blizzard threatened to crush his own teeth into dust out of anger and his eyes began to bug out in his head.

Ashen Evening was fairly certain he was about to be killed.

“That… that—how dare she. How dare she do this!” Blizzard thundered, his wings shot open and the whirlwind they brought forth shattered the windows of the office while Ashen Evening was thrown backwards. “You disgusting traitorous Equestrian! I let you live your life here, I gave you more freedom than you deserved, and yet you betray me like this?! It wasn’t enough that you hold onto your pathetic ideals but you have to try and destroy my Empire too?!” He nearly frothed at the mouth as he raged, muscles clenching, veins popping out of his neck. “This will not stand! You have crossed the line, Rainbow Dash!”

True Pegasus XXIV

Rainbow Dash was having a very pleasant sleep on a bed far more comfortable than the simple cot she had gotten begrudgingly used to in the barracks. The bed provided to her by Summer Rains’ family was practically Celestia-sent, and so much better in every way. She could stretch out, it was soft, the pillow was fluffier, the sheets were fluffier. It allowed for a quality sleeping experience that might’ve even been better than a nap she could take on one of her own clouds. She had no idea how long she had been asleep or what time in the morning it was, she was too comfortable to really wake up and get out of bed.

The loud knocking on the door changed that.

It reverberated through the entire house. She slowly blinked her eyes open and stuck her head up, wondering what the racket was about.

Unlike her there were others in the house who had already been well awake and Rainbow Dash could hear a couple of them walking towards the front door. Figuring it was none of her business she yawned and curled up in the comfortable sheets once more to try and get some extra shuteye.

But when the door was opened and angry, muffled voices rose up through the floor it gave her something of a bad feeling. She knit her brow and frowned behind closed eyes, worry building up in here.

“S-Summer! Rainbow Dash!” She heard the scared voice of Snowshine yell up into the house.

“That’s really not good...” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she got out of her comfortable bed and left the room. Floating into the hallway she saw a sleepy Aurora poking her head out of her own room. Dash glanced over to her and shook her head. “Stay in your room, kid.”

The filly nodded, a frightened look on her face when she saw how serious Rainbow Dash was for once. “Okay.”

Rainbow Dash flew down the stairs to the first floor, on her way she heard Summer coming out of his room and flying to his panicked wife as well. The two of them made short time until they landed right at the bottom of the stairs together to see what was going on. When they got there, Summer was bewildered at what he saw while Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes.

Captains East and West Wind along with a squad of soldiers were standing on the porch. She didn’t know why they were here but the twins looked even unfriendlier than usual with the way they were staring at her. Snowshine and her parents were nervously standing before them, unsure of what was going on.

“They were asking for Rainbow Dash,” Snowshine quietly said as she stepped back to her husband and guest.

“Not asking. Demanding,” West Wind remarked.

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow and walked up to him. “And what are you demanding me for, huh?”

“Commander Blizzard has ordered you be brought to the administration building before the Elder Council and put on trial for fostering dissent against the Empire,” West answered.

“What?!” Summer Rains shouted, walking up alongside Rainbow Dash. “She hasn’t done anything!”

East Wind put up a hoof to stop Summer Rains. “You’re in enough hot water yourself, soldier. And need I remind you of the chain of command? Stand down already. We’re taking Rainbow Dash with us.”

“Taking me?” Rainbow Dash glared at the Captains and the soldiers behind them. She and they both knew that if it came down to a fight Rainbow Dash would win or at the very least be able to escape easily.

“That’s right. And we’d prefer it if you came peacefully,” West Wind said to her. “Otherwise you never know who could get caught in the crossfire.” He threateningly stared past her at Snowshine and her parents.

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth, she might be okay but she wasn’t going to get her friends hurt. “I get it.” She angrily spat out.

“Good,” East Wind said. “We’ll be departing immediately. The Commander is quite angry with you and it would only get worse to keep him waiting or cause more trouble.”

“Quite angry doesn’t even begin to describe it. All the goodwill he’s shown you is gone, Rainbow Dash. You’re finished here,” West Wind told her.

Rainbow Dash didn’t bother talking back to them as she was led like a prisoner between the squad of soldiers. They all flew off together towards the administration building, giving her a bit of a feeling of deja vu to when she had first arrived here. If the Commander really was as angry as they said, and he had realized that she would never become like him or embrace this city while she had also broken the taboo of talking about and teaching others how great Equestria was, then it looked like things might really be ending here for her in one way or another. Regardless, the normal days as a soldier were over for Rainbow Dash.

This was a familiar sight to her. The only difference this time was that she wasn’t in chains. But here she was again being stared down by five old pegasi, including the one she had briefly met at the Ice Sentinel control station, with Commander Blizzard standing off to the side. Despite his supposed rage he was doing a good job of appearing neutral and just looking at her with feigned disinterest and apathy. There were a lot of ponies up in the viewing chambers watching her as well, and one of the other Elders was sneering down at her from his bench.

“Rainbow Dash,” the Elder in the center said. If she recalled correctly his name was Tornado, and currently he looked rather upset. “Our Commander Blizzard has accused you of subverting the values and morals of our grand empire along with corrupting other pegasi and spreading lies about the supposed greatness of Equestria. Is there anything you would like to say?”

The pegasus from Equestria was too tired to bother. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and stood proudly. “I wouldn’t put it in such a bad way but yeah, all that stuff is true.”

There was a small amount of outrage when she said that. Some of the other Elders were angry and a lot of shouting and murmuring rose up from the ponies viewing the trial. Commander Blizzard himself finally betrayed his real attitude with his wings twitching and a threatening glare appearing on his face. Tornado for the record looked like he was holding back a smile.

“How dare you! To act so proudly after admitting such things!” The sneering Elder shouted down at her.

“I never once said or promised anything about going along with you guys and joining your Empire or whatever. That’s just what he-” Rainbow Dash pointed to Blizzard. “Wanted. I’ve been sticking true to myself and staying loyal to Equestria and what it really means to be a good pony. So yeah, you bet I’m proud to say that I’ve been trying and hoping to get other ponies to open up and see that there’s nothing wrong with me being from Equestria and there’s definitely nothing wrong with being a little more like it!” She stomped her hoof on the ground at the end to make her point.

Shocked silence was the response from most of the pegasi in attendance at the “trial”. The sneering Elder gaped at her as if she had just said something impossible while the others besides Tornado looked on with differing levels of worry. Tornado himself was now full on smirking and she thought she caught a wink from him.

Commander Blizzard had a more overt reaction.

“So that’s it then. It seems I misjudged you greatly, Rainbow Dash. The filth of Equestria is far too ingrained in any pegasi from it, even one who shows as much promise and ability as you,” he icily said to her. Each word out of his mouth seemed to lower the temperature in the chamber by an octave.

“Yeah, guess you did,” Rainbow Dash scoffed at him. She was not intimidated at all by his display.

“You shouldn’t be so arrogant. There’s nothing for you now but a cold prison cell for the rest of your life,” the Commander said, stomping towards her and projecting his voice to the rest of the chamber. “This mare has insulted our Empire, brought unknown harm to us all with her words and actions, and must face the consequences. I had thought I could change her for the better, shed her of her despicable Equestrian ways, and make her a valued part of our Empire. But instead she betrayed my goodwill and used the freedom and opportunity I gifted her in an attempt to destroy us.”

Rainbow Dash angrily glared at him as he approached. She had had to listen to his stupid, grandiose, self-serving, speeches before and she was sick of them. Especially when he was saying stuff like “betrayal” and calling her a traitor.

“You jerk! You just wanted to use me to send a message! You don’t even really care about this city or the ponies in it, you don’t care how good their lives are as long as they’re living the only way you think is right!” She yelled. “Well sorry, but things were changing before I even got here and that’s what makes you so mad. And you’re talking about me hurting the Empire? Well what about all the horrible stuff you do just because it keeps your true pegasus way or whatever the hay it’s called going? Why don’t you just be honest about what you really want, what you’re really like, and tell everyone the truth of how this place works and why you do the things you do? Cause I’m done!”

Commander Blizzard stopped a few paces from her as the murmuring grew from the audience. The Elders as well were staring on, wondering what might happen next or what might be revealed.

The Commander’s cold face looked down upon Rainbow Dash as he spoke quieter so only she could hear. “So you know some things? So you think you could cause this whole city to collapse if you told everyone about the Frost Wolves, about me, about whatever else you know? I’ll let you know something else then. I only ever kept myself from becoming a king because I believed in our ways. If you want to try and start a revolution against me you’re free to do so. We’re here in the council chambers, say whatever you want, but it will only result in me taking total control of this city by force. I may not be loved, but I’m feared and there are many loyal soldiers in this city. And most importantly of all there’s no one who’s strong enough to face me. Do you really think there would be a revolution with me around? Of course not.”

“Commander, what is Rainbow Dash saying? Are you-” Elder Tornado started before the Commander’s head whipped over his shoulder to silence him with a glare.

“There is nothing left to say,” Blizzard shouted out to the entire chamber again. “Rainbow Dash is clearly guilty and she will be imprisoned.”

“There’s no way I’m letting you do anything like that!” Rainbow Dash growled.

And then, the Commander smiled.

“Is that so? Well if you want, there is another way to solve things. The way everything should be solved in truth,” Commander Blizzard flapped his wings and rose up towards the ceiling of the chamber. “Will you step back into the coliseum with me? If you defeat me then as the strongest you’re free to do anything you want by our own laws. Do you have what it takes?”

He wants me to fight him. Rainbow’s eyes narrowed in realization. He wants to beat me down in front of everyone.

“Well, Rainbow Dash?” The Commander arrogantly called down from above. “You’re not possibly… afraid, are you?”

Rainbow Dash shot up like a lightning bolt, getting face to face with him. “I’m not afraid of you at all! You want a fight? You’ve got one!”

“Good,” Commander Blizzard grinned. “Do you hear that, everyone? This ordeal shall be decided in battle, prepare the coliseum!”

Gale did not often go to see fights in the coliseum but on such an auspicious occasion he decided he could make the time for it. Seeing Blizzard fight personally was a rarity in and of itself and he already missed the first time he did battle with that mare from Equestria. He did feel a little bad about things though, that mare seemed quite nice. Blizzard on the other hoof he had never been a fan of, he was always so brusque and rude whenever he came to the Ice Sentinel crystals that Gale watched over. But Gale had no illusions that Blizzard wouldn’t win this fight. He only hoped Rainbow Dash wasn’t hurt too badly. It wouldn’t surprise Gale if quite a few that came to watch would be silently rooting for Rainbow Dash, he had heard that she had become quite popular and well-liked recently.

The yellow pegasus kept his toga on for his visit to the coliseum. Word had been spread quickly through the city much like last time and the coliseum would certainly be overflowing with pegasi of all walks of life interested to see the big fight. He was confident that his relatively early arrival would net him a seat at least.

Walking out into the stands he saw with some worry that it was almost filled up already, but a bench a few rows below from where he emerged had some space on the end. With a relieved sigh he flew down to it and slid on, sidling up to the caramel pegasus in armor that was next to him on the bench, only leaving about enough room for one more pegasus to sit next to him if anyone chose so.

“Pardon, but you weren’t holding this space for anyone, were you?” Gale asked the soldier.

He nearly jolted upright, as if he hadn’t noticed Gale’s presence until the yellow pegasus opened his mouth. “Huh? Oh, no, not at all. Be my guest.”

“Thank you, my name is Gale by the way, I work with our Ice Sentinels. You are?”

“Crescent Moon. Lietunent Crescent Moon. The uh, mare fighting Blizzard was assigned to my squad,” Crescent Moon answered, looking down at the cloud grounds of the arena.

“Ohhh… er, my condolences,” Gale awkwardly said.

“Yes,” Crescent Moon licked his lips. “I know that as a soldier I should want the Commander to win but… recent events in my life have changed me quite a bit. I hope the best for Rainbow Dash, even though I think her fight is futile.”

“I hope the best for her as well,” a new voice said from besides Gale.

Both other pegasi looked over to see Elder Tornado sitting down on the bench, wincing in slight discomfort.

“E-Elder? You’re going to be watching the fight?” Crescent Moon asked in surprise.

Tornado nodded. “Yes. I have to.”

Gale now felt quite nervous due to the ponies he was stuck between. He remembered Tornado from their last meeting and certain things he had said, and this Crescent Moon now as well, both of them seemed like they could get him into a lot of trouble if someone thought they were together. He may not have been fond of Blizzard but he didn’t want anyone to think he was a subverter either.

“I think a new dawn is approaching us here,” Elder Tornado said as he watched the arena below.

“I’d have to agree,” the Lieutenant said. “Whatever happens here now things are going to change.”

Gale ignored that chain of conversation and kept an awkwardly plastered smile on his face. “W-Well let’s hope the fight starts soon then...”

They didn’t need to wait much longer for that.

Rainbow Dash again stood before the barred gate leading out to the arena as she waited for her fight with the Commander to begin. The only real difference this time was the armor she now wore. She had thought about just fighting him again previously, she wanted to fight him and beat him so he couldn’t hurt any ponies and she could maybe fix this place. But she didn’t know if she could actually beat him. She definitely wasn’t scared but for once in her life she wasn’t full to the brim with confidence either. If she had figured out some weakness of his or some way to fight him she’d be feeling better but the simple truth was she hadn’t.

“I would wish you good luck but I don’t want to,” East Wind said from behind her.

Rainbow Dash frowned and looked over her shoulder at him. “You’re a real comedian there, East Wind.”

“You’ve brought this on yourself,” he shrugged.

“I’m going to make you eat those words once I’m done with Blizzard,” she snorted and looked back at ahead.

East Wind couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. “Oh yes, I would love to see that.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t really have an answer to his words, so maybe it was fortunate that the gate rose then and there and she was able to step out into the arena for the second time to fight Commander Blizzard. She was still scowling as she did so but she couldn’t help but feel some small pride knowing she had gotten a full coliseum to watch her again. If anything it looked like there were somehow even more pegasi stuffed inside coming to watch her and Blizzard fight.

The other gate had opened up at the same time and Blizzard walked out to meet her. Like her he was wearing armor this time, no helmet though since Rainbow Dash never got a replacement for her dented and warped one.

The two of them now stood less than ten feet apart, staring each other down.

“I won’t be putting on a show this time,” Blizzard told her. “But this won’t be a fight either. It will be a slaughter, and if you think all I’m going to do is knock you out again you’re sorely mistaken. I will break you, I will crush everything you stand for so every true pegasus watching can see my superiority.”

She blew an angry breath of air through her nostrils and unfurled her wings. “Try it.”

Blizzard ignored her challenge and briefly looked at the audience of pegasi. All stallions, mostly soldiers, they were sitting on the edge of their seats while others crowded around the top and aisles.

“My pegasi. Now you will witness me destroy the very symbol of everything we stand against. Everything our ancestors fought against, braved hardship for, and created this Empire to serve as a representation of what it truly means to be a pegasus! The fight to prove that our way is the only way begins now!”

Blizzard then launched himself at her, taking Rainbow Dash by surprise since he had been so stationary the first time they fought. Of course she wasn’t the fastest pegasus in Equestria for no reason and it was easy for her to fly out of the way even though he was disturbingly fast for his size and strength as well. Rainbow Dash flew over him to hover over the center of the arena while Blizzard turned and strongly flapped his wings to race back at her. Like before, the powerful gusts of wind he could create from his wings shifted the air currents in the coliseum around. But Rainbow Dash was used to that this time and she didn’t falter.

The Commander flew straight at her again and tried to clothesline her with one of his wings but she dove over it and kicked him in the side of his head while she passed him. To no effect. He was just as much of a rock as she remembered. He tried to lash out and hit her with one of his back legs as she flew by him but Dash was able to dodge that as well. The two quick and agile pegasi kept flying around the air of the coliseum, Rainbow Dash’s smaller size and superior reflexes allowing her to avoid his attacks and land some of her own. But with Blizzard’s strength and now the armor he wore her blows had no ability to phase him.

He came around and aimed a punch at her head but Rainbow ducked under it and laid out a rapid-fire series of punches on his stomach as she flew below him, then whipping around his body to his back and stomping right between his wings as hard as she could. The metal of his armor actually dented a bit from her hits and she knew an ordinary pony would’ve been hurt and forced to the ground, but Blizzard didn’t even grunt.

“Are you even trying to hurt me?” He taunted and rolled in midair, bringing a wind around that would’ve hit Rainbow Dash if she didn’t jump away from his body in time.

“Sorry, I forgot how dense you were,” she glared at him as she gained more altitude, flying over the stands towards the transparent domed ceiling of the coliseum.

“And you’re a rather annoying pest. Always buzzing around, afraid to exchange blows with me. You know you couldn’t withstand even one of my punches,” Blizzard accused.

“I’m just not an idiot. There are plenty of ponies who can hit harder than me and stuff, if we were competing at what I was best at we’d be racing.”

“Well too bad for you. A true pegasus solves things by fighting,” the Commander crossed his wings in front of his chest before strongly flapping them, unleashing a blast of wind at Rainbow Dash.

It was too wide and fast too avoid, Rainbow Dash only had the time to squeeze her eyes shut and put her hooves in front of her face before the wind hit her and knocked her into the wall of the coliseum. She hit right on the edge below the dome, in-between two of the artificial lights, and was stuck there as the wind continued to blow into her like a turbine.

Blizzard rocketed towards her, looking like he was just going to slam into her and the wall together. Rainbow Dash used all of her strength to peel herself off the wall and overcome the wind holding her down. Beating her wings against the wall she pushed herself off it right as Blizzard collided with where she just was.

The force of the huge, armored, pegasus hitting the edge of the coliseum obliterated that portion of it and Rainbow Dash was sent tumbling through the air by the shockwave of his impact that she only narrowly managed to avoid. The coliseum itself was shaken and many of the soldiers watching from right below there panicked and tried moving to other spots. Blizzard quickly recovered and pulled himself out of the hole he created so he could return to hunting down Rainbow Dash again. Dash meanwhile shakily landed on the ground of the arena and took a breather.

The Commander scowled and pushed his wings to dive at her, Rainbow Dash backed away as he came in low and leveled off, gliding slightly above the ground with his hooves extended. Like this she wouldn’t be able to fly under him, taking away one of her options. She buzzed her wings to lift up as he came in and started throwing punches at her. It was like a boxing match as she darted around his heavy hooves, the jabs from him were quick and dangerous, a glancing blow would make her see stars.

His hooves were a flurry as he pressed his attack and his longer reach kept her from trying to punch him at the same time. She could only land a few blows on his outstretched limbs as he tried punching her but nothing on his body or face. Finally on one wide hook she flew inside his reach and headbutted him in the chin. It actually did manage to get him to jerk back a bit, unlike most of her attacks, but she wasn’t sure if she had actually hurt him. She followed it up with a punch to his throat and then quickly flew away as he tried to grab her for getting so close to him.

She could tell he was getting angry that he couldn’t just crush her immediately. He may have been confident in his ability to withstand anything she could put him through but the point of this fight was to savagely beat her, not have her fly around and constantly evade him. Even if she tired eventually the longer it took the worse it made him look.

Blizzard glared at her and rose again into the air, but this time he didn’t fly directly at her. The powerful Commander spun and spun around in the middle of the coliseum, creating a violent tornado around himself that sucked all the air towards him at the center. Pegasi watching in the stands had to fight to not be lifted from their seats. It was an insane maelstrom that made Rainbow Dash feel like someone was trying to suck her up with an over-sized vacuum. She beat her wings to fight against his pull but the tornado he made was far too powerful. The raw force he could draw up was too much.

She found herself flying through the air, drawn in to him, with nothing she could do about it. She might as well have been trying to stop all of Equestria’s bad weather at once. Rainbow Dash was tumbling end over end and totally unable to regain control of herself.

And once she had gotten close enough Blizzard stopped his spinning and reached out with his left hoof, grabbing Rainbow Dash by the throat and stopping her cold.

“I’ve caught you, insect,” he glared right into her eyes.

She showed him no fear, glaring right back, but no matter how she struggled she couldn’t get out of his grip. Blizzard then sharply flew down to the ground and slammed Rainbow Dash into the clouds as hard as he could, the force of the blow reverberating through the coliseum and making all of the pegasi wince at the roughness of the slam.

“Gah!” Dash cried out as pain erupted over her back. She was struggling to breath or say anything else with the hoof on her throat too. But before she could even get used to the pain from her back, Blizzard stomped down hard on her stomach. Dash twitched and coughed, sputtering beneath him.

“I think I win. But that’s not nearly enough,” Blizzard removed his hoof from her neck and grabbed her mane, lifting her up by it while Dash breathed in some ragged breaths. With his other hoof he grabbed the collar of her now beaten up armor and tore it right off her body as if it was tissue paper. Discarding it to the side he dropped Rainbow Dash to the ground.

She had the time to look up at him right before his hoof collided with her face.

Rainbow Dash was sent sprawling across the ground, clutching her face in agony. It was like being hit by a brick thrown into her face.

“Arghhh!” She screamed, fairly certain her muzzle was broken. Desperately opening up her eyes in an attempt to defend herself she saw Blizzard come right down on her right wing. His front hooves bent the wing at an odd angle onto the ground and snapped multiple small bones inside of it. “Gahhhhh!” Dash yelled as her wing was broken.

But even that wasn’t enough, Blizzard kicked her hard in the side, hard enough she could feel and hear her ribs crack, and launched her into the wall of the arena, where she roughly bounced off it and came back to the ground with a dull thud.

"By the sun, he’s killing her...” Elder Tornado ground out from his seat while Crescent Moon had gone pale. Gale as well was horrified by the brutality.

Rainbow Dash did her best to stand up—and actually got to her knees—before Blizzard clubbed her across the face and knocked her down again. She had the misfortune of falling onto her injured wing as well, making her hiss in pain and roll off it onto her equally pained back.

“I don’t like you still thinking you can go on,” Blizzard said as he stood over her. Grabbing her left foreleg he pressed his other hoof to her shoulder and twisted, yanking the leg out of its socket. Dash gasped at the sudden shock of pain and squeezed her eyes shut, doing her best not to cry. “Remember. This is to break you.”

The Commander kicked her in the other side of her chest and she felt another few ribs crack from the blow as she was tossed away. Now he could take his time walking over to her.

“Well, well, well, is this what you wanted, Rainbow Dash? You should’ve known your actions would lead you here. You’re lucky you’re not meant to die,” Blizzard snorted as his shadow fell over her, the pegasus from Equestria heaving and unable to get up, but her eyes still kept their gaze on him. “Whether it’s willingly or because you’re afraid of this happening to you again you will become the symbol I need and one day stand by my side.”

Blizzard raised his head and looked around at the pegasi watching. “Brothers! The villain with her disgusting and weak ideals that sought to destroy us has been defeated! Our way is the true way!” He lifted a hoof up and prepared for a knockout blow as his cold eyes returned to settle on her. “No weakling from a filthy place like Equestria could ever beat me.”

He stomped down towards her head... but his hoof was stopped halfway there.

Blizzard’s eyes widened in surprise as Rainbow Dash’s right hoof held back his own. It was trembling, creaking under the pressure, and she could barely put any strength in it. But still she did so. Blizzard looked past their struggling hooves and into Rainbow Dash’s eyes. The magenta orbs burned with defiance and unbreakable willpower as the pony from Equestria stared at him.

“Say whatever you want...” Rainbow Dash got out between coughs, her voice raspy but still strong. “But I’ll never do what you want… Equestria isn’t weak… and I’m a million times stronger than you.”

Blizzard’s pupils shrank in anger and his jaw clenched down so hard he was pretty sure he just cracked a tooth. Pulling away his hoof he batted away hers with his wing and stomped her head into the ground. Rainbow Dash was out like a light with a smug smile on her face while the crowded coliseum of Empire stallions watched in silence.

True Pegasus XXV

Things had changed in the Empire in the day after the fight between Commander Blizzard and Rainbow Dash.

Maybe Blizzard had realized things could never go the way he wanted them to. Maybe he was just angry after Rainbow Dash’s continuous defiance. Whatever the reason was he had decided to stop being “nice”. No longer would he tolerate anything that he saw as against the Empire or the true pegasus way and no longer would he let the illusion of power held by the Elder Council last either. The first thing he did the next morning was officially disband the council and announce his complete control and rulership of the Eternal Pegasus Empire.

Curfew was put into effect and patrols were increased. All soldiers were forced into even stricter regimens and schedules as the normal training was shut down and replaced by endless patrolling and guarding of the city and its skies. No longer were ponies allowed out whenever and wherever they wanted, permission had to be gained from a loyal soldier first and things like playgrounds were off-limits while meaningless parties and get-togethers were no longer allowed either.

Blizzard had fully impressed his vision of an ideal pegasus society on the city.

Rainbow Dash meanwhile was imprisoned in a jail that sat on a level of the city directly below the floating coliseum, currently recovering from her injuries. No one but her doctors and guards were allowed in to see her. Her squadmates were so far unpunished despite their partaking in the Buckball game, merely forced to go along with their new duties.

It was colder in the city.

Elder Tornado was at a loss as to what to do for most of the day. He couldn’t fly, he was only allowed out at certain times and to certain places, and he didn’t even have a job anymore, as pathetic as he considered that old job. So now all he was was stuck inside his room with only his thoughts to dwell on.

“I should’ve picked up some sort of hobby in my life,” he sighed as he sat in front of a window that peeked out towards the city. As he spied the floating coliseum his thoughts drifted to Rainbow Dash. “At least now I could speak to you if I wanted… but you’re in no condition for that.”

One of Tornado’s few contacts in the army worked as a guard for the jail. A young relative of his through a nephew. Tornado could call in a favor and see Rainbow Dash at any time despite the supposed ban on visits. It was risky and would certainly draw attention to him and his nephew even if it went off without a hitch. The plus side though was that Blizzard had entirely stopped caring about the Elder. No longer were soldiers watching him or making sure he didn’t do anything to subvert Blizzard’s orders and desires.

Blizzard was of the mind that with the council formally eradicated, Tornado and the other Elders not as loyal as the sycophantic Black Lightning were irrelevant anyways. No one would listen to or help them anymore with Blizzard directly and publicly in charge.

But with the injuries Rainbow Dash sustained in her fight who knows when she’d be alright again.

“Maybe in the meantime I should find a way to contact that lieutenant and the rest of her squad...” Tornado mused.

He knew his name and he knew that the other members of the squad were close friends with her. Tornado wasn’t sure about what he would even do after talking with them, or Rainbow Dash herself for that matter, but he just had a feeling he should do it. Because Tornado didn’t want to just take everything Blizzard was doing lying down. He had seen things start to change, seen things start to get better around here thanks to Rainbow Dash. Blizzard was trying to stop all of that by force.

Perhaps before Rainbow Dash arrived he wouldn’t have had the will to change things himself, he would’ve just quietly accepted the miserable state of affairs. But seeing a strong pony like her come and all the ripples she made in their stagnant Empire lit a fire in him. And he definitely did not want Blizzard to make everything even worse. Somehow he’d help Rainbow Dash change things for good here.

“The citizens were enraptured by her, and still are even if it’s been spread that she was trying to cause dissent in the city. Blizzard has just made everyone like him even less with what he’s doing but no one has the courage to face him. Even though I’m sure there are more soldiers that would side against him at this point there isn’t a catalyst for that to happen, or most would see it as pointless with how strong he is.” Tornado frowned. “Rainbow Dash… maybe some ponies were wary of you because they’ve been taught negative things about Equestria as children but after meeting you and hearing about you no one feels that way anymore. No one even really hates Equestria that much besides Blizzard himself but they’re not willing to stand up to him.”

Elder Tornado sighed and walked away from his window. “Rainbow Dash, we need you. You need to become our symbol to rally behind. I just hope you weren’t hurt too badly… I hope he didn’t break you.”

Commander Blizzard no longer used his old office when it came to business. Instead the new complete ruler of the Empire had decided to repurpose the council chambers for his needs, disallowing any onlookers and suspending ponies’ rights to come in and air their complaints or grievances. There were no more trials or old business of settling disputes and deciding on new policy just yet. Right now it was Blizzard’s place to hear everything he needed from his soldiers and other loyal ponies reporting to him from across the city. How were things going? Any unrest? What needed to be done?

That last one was put on hold right now since Blizzard was not exactly familiar with the finer points of running a city. But no one wished to suggest he delegate some duties or perhaps allow the Elders to continue working, just out of sight.

“Curfew is being obeyed?” He asked East Wind from his position on the raised platform where Elder Tornado would normally sit.

“Yes, sir.” East Wind nodded.

“There hasn’t been any noise from Rainbow Dash’s squad either?”

East Wind shook his head. “No, sir.”

“Good, I was worried they might get a stupid idea in their heads. But it seems even easily corruptible ponies like them are smart enough to know there’s no standing against me. We’ll still need to root out the decay she brought with her into the army at some point though,” Blizzard gazed ahead, wondering just how many soldiers would need to be replaced in the end. At the moment he wanted as many working to enforce his new rules as possible though.

His eyes then glanced down at East Wind. “And what of Rainbow Dash? Has she woken up yet?”

Another shake of the head. “No, sir. The doctors say she’s in stable condition and there’s no permanent damage, but she’s still asleep. At the moment she’s in a wing and body cast and they told me that it will be several weeks before she fully recovers.”

“Very well,” Blizzard shrugged. “I knew she would be in a condition like that after the fight, I’ll just have to be a little patient with her.” He huffed. “Broken yet or not I’ll find a way to make her useful. In the meantime perhaps I should begin to make true plans for our eventual war with Equestria? It has become clear to me after fighting Rainbow Dash for real that we must face our other half. We are diametrically opposed to them, they must fall to us so the greatness of our society can be proved.”

East Wind wisely kept his mouth shut through all of this. The Commander was clearly becoming more unhinged with each passing day, he and his brother were in total agreement on that. Hopefully he didn’t try to make any grand pronouncement anytime soon…

“I feel alive in a way I haven’t felt before,” the Commander continued. “Staying calm and collected has its benefits, but unleashing yourself makes everything so much more enjoyable. It feels good to not restrain my thoughts and feelings. To finally rip away the shawl that’s covered this Empire.” He smirked. “Guess I should thank Rainbow Dash when she wakes up.”

The Commander then leaped down onto the floor and began to stride past East Wind, his long legs carrying him swiftly. “Make sure the patrols run through the night, I won’t tolerate anyone being out past curfew on the first day of its instatement.”

“Yes, sir.” East Wind nervously swallowed and followed along. He and his brother had their work cut out for them.

Misty was a young mare who lived a slow life in the city. She had no husband or children of her own to take care of and most of the necessary housework in her family’s home was taken care of by her mother and older sisters. It led to her days being boring and listless as she occupied herself with needlepoint and sewed patterns of clouds and raindrops into her family’s togas. Something that technically was frowned upon but she didn’t care. She didn’t even like her needlepoint hobby that much but if someone tried to take it away from her she was going to go insane!

So she enjoyed anything that broke the normal rhythm of her life. Anything entertaining for her.

Such as her soldier brother telling her about this amazing mare called “Rainbow Dash”. A mare supposedly from Equestria who just fought their Commander in a heated battle at the coliseum. He said she lost but that she never gave up and tried her hardest the whole time, he had never seen anything like it.

Neither had Misty.

It was crazy to think of a mare in this city doing something like that. She couldn’t even conceive of it before just now. Her brother had told her that Rainbow Dash was hurt pretty badly in the fight, but one day Misty hoped she could see her. Hopefully on a day utterly unlike this one, where her brother was out forced onto some late night patrolling, where only earlier in the day had it been announced that they couldn’t leave their homes after dark unless supervised.

That really burned her up! As if she wasn’t caged up enough with nothing to do!

She was so vexed that she needed some fresh air to clear her head, simultaneously awed by what she had heard about Rainbow Dash and irritated by what that Commander of theirs had recently done to their city. Since she couldn’t go anywhere she instead went up to the roof of her family’s home, a door leading up on top of it. She often came up here whenever she was in a foul mood or just wanted to lazily stare up at the rolling sky.

The breeze from the air blew through her wavy sea-blue mane and felt cold on her pink coat. She shook her feathers and shivered, a small smile on her lips, it was cold to be sure but she kind of liked it.

Up high the moon was only the slightest of crescents and clouds blocked off most of the stars, making it a darker night than normal. That was fine for her—it was more peaceful in a way like this too. She could almost close here eyes and curl up on the roof and drift off to sleep just like that. That might cause her to catch a cold though, better not.

Instead she walked around, stretching her legs and just letting the breeze wash over her.

“This is pretty nice,” her light voice broke the silence of the night.

“Hey!” A sharp voice came from above in reply.

Misty looked up to see a pair of soldiers descending towards her, the two landed on her roof with displeased frowns on their faces, frowns Misty was more than ready to match.

“What is it?” The mare asked, backing up slightly.

“You know there’s a curfew starting tonight, why aren’t you indoors?” The same soldier who had spoken before asked her.

Misty clicked her tongue in disbelief. “This is my roof! You’re saying I can’t even stay up on my own roof?”

“That’s exactly what we’re saying!” The soldier had the audacity to poke her in the chest, and a little harder than he needed to, making her stumble back. “Hurry up, mare, get back inside and just go to bed.”

Misty was quite angry now and she was about to do something stupid when the other soldier stepped up, his face still frowning but with an undercurrent of sadness and understanding to it.

“Miss, please, just go inside. Try to have a good night’s sleep,” he told her.

She looked between the two of them with her face still scrunched up in anger. Practically infuriated there was no way she could actually have a decent night of sleep now… but it was pointless starting a fight and getting in trouble. With a heavy sigh she relaxed her body and hung her head low.

“Fine,” she sullenly said and started to turn around.

And stopped.

“Miss?” The friendlier soldier asked when he saw her stop, he and his partner sharing confused looks.

What would that mare from Equestria do? Misty thought to herself.

The answer was obvious.

Misty sucked in a deep breath and raised her head, defiantly glaring at the two soldiers. “No.”

True Pegasus XXVI

Flashbolt and Skychaser patrolled the skies of their city with no more than bored and unhappy looks on their faces. The way patrols had worked changed a bit, no longer was border patrol a duty, every solider flew around and over the city just to keep a watchful eye on the citizens and each other. Whereas before you could slack off on your duties or act like you were doing something important there were too many eyes up here now and ponies that would make sure you were actually following orders. The various patrols were like an insect swarm in the skies above the city, so many soldiers taken from normal daily training at the barracks to do this.

“What a miraculous use of our time this has been. Nothing like keeping your own people pointlessly afraid and downtrodden,” Flashbolt sarcastically quipped to his cousin as they flew around.

“I would prefer if you didn’t say that so loudly,” Skychaser muttered as he looked around at the other pegasi soldiers flying.

“Oh cry some more about it,” Flashbolt rolled his eyes. “Unless you’re telling me you don’t mind what’s happened? It’s been a solid week of this, we don’t even know if Rainbow Dash is actually okay or not, our squad has practically been broken up thanks to this constant work, and we hardly see the rest of our family anymore either.”

Skychaser narrowed his eyes at his cousin. “I am not happy about it either, I just don’t want to get thrown in prison.”

“Coward.”

“Oh yeah, so cowardly. I’m sure you’d be happy to be thrown into prison where you could complain some more and do absolutely nothing.”

Flashbolt grunted, his cousin did have a point. “Fine, it’s true that I wouldn’t want to get thrown in prison. It would be pointless and counter-productive. But I’m not afraid of it or Blizzard like you are, don’t you even care about what happened to Rainbow Dash?”

“Of course I do!” Skychaser defended himself. “It’s true I was never her biggest fan even after what we went through but she didn’t deserve what happened to her… and I think what Blizzard’s been doing is wrong too. I’m not some stooge like the other soldiers who are just happily flying around and letting him be our new king.”

“Sorry...” Flashbolt apologized. He was used to his cousin ignoring troublesome things and sweeping things under the rug, it was easy to forget he had feelings of his own sometimes.

“It’s alright,” Skychaser shrugged.

The two cousins flew in a moment of silence after that. They had a specific route and schedule they flew on with the new patrolling, any lollygagging wouldn’t be tolerated. At the moment they were on one of the higher levels of the city with larger houses and mansions of important pegasi beneath them. Well, formerly important might be more accurate. One thing about Commander Blizzard was he didn’t care in the slightest about who you were or what you did if you didn’t fight. Even with him now being officially and totally responsible for the whole city his attitude wasn’t going to change.

So the ponies here were under the same curfew and restrictions as anyone else, although currently it was still early in the day and they had a passing amount of freedom. Enough to go outside and fly around the vicinity and go to any functions if they at least notified an officer in the army first. There was probably a lot of complaining from them too, but none would actually do anything with Blizzard in command. If anyone directly tried to challenge him on his policies and changes he might skip the coliseum entirely and just break your jaw then and there.

Flashbolt looked down and saw a father and son playing catch with a ball. At least nice things like that were still going on. Ponies were probably looking for any way to lift their spirits right now. Flashbolt had no idea what he would be doing right now to feel better if he didn’t have to patrol. Complain? That’s what he normally did. Skychaser would probably have some dumb idea or tell him to just relax. Which might’ve been some begrudgingly good advice in the end.

It was all wistful thinking though. Their lives were taken up by practically endless patrolling only broken up by sleep.

“How do you think the others are doing right now?” Flashbolt suddenly broke the silence with a question.

“I dunno,” Skychaser replied, almost apathetically. “Probably the same as us. If there was really something important the Lieutenant can still contact us.”

“We’re just not allowed to meet up for anything less than major duty since it would break our patrolling,” Flashbolt snorted.

“The others are probably fine, we’re all tough,” Skychaser tried to reassure him.

“Yeah… I just hope I can see Rainbow Dash again sometime soon,” Flashbolt looked up at the sky, deep in thought now.

Skychaser nodded. “Believe it or not but I hope so too.”

Fierce Current was, much to his displeasure, relegated to watching over the massive farms as his new daily duty. Everyday he flew or walked around inside the hollowed out mountain keeping a semi-watchful eye out for things and making sure farming and the food business was going exactly as it should. What “things” he was exactly supposed to be looking out for he didn’t know and he didn’t bother to ask about when Iron Star gave him the duty on account of his father being a major figure in the farms.

He figured it was just typical paranoia of Blizzard thinking that maybe some ponies were spreading a bad word or two about him in a place he couldn’t so easily check up on yet was vitally important. Well if that was really the case as Fierce surmised then Iron Star was probably missing one or two brain cells since Fierce wouldn’t have reported anything bad even if he did see it.

But sometimes being quiet was all you needed to do as a soldier. When Iron Star talked, Fierce Current shut up, and the sergeant saw that as acceptance.

For now the cherry pegasus walked on the far side of the farms, where rows of lettuce were pushed up right to the walls of the mountain. There were a few ponies out picking the heads of lettuce up, and thanks to the nature of lettuce and how it grew he could see all across the entire field. Which meant he knew for sure that his father wasn’t around. Fierce had done an excellent job of avoiding him these past days that he started working solely in the farms.

Still, he had no intention of just looking at a bunch of lettuce all day. Fierce Current continued his walking along the perimeter of the farms where the next crop for him to see was lentils. He didn’t care for lentils and had no idea how they were harvested but he walked up and down some rows of them anyways, acting as if he was inspecting them. There was so much enjoyment to get out of looking at some lentils, he wasn’t bored at all.

Fierce Current sighed. “Maybe I should just go over to the tunnels and watch things there. There’s always a ton of activity, I’d probably run into my dad at some point but still...”

The pegasus flew up into the air for a bit to look out across the farms. As usual there were a few clouds floating around and dropping either rain or shade on some of the crops. Currently a big group was watering the corn, moving the clouds all over so every last bit of the cornfields were able to drink.

When he flew by them he called out- “Keep up the good work.” And kept flying right on by without a second look.

So he didn’t notice that they stared at him like he was an idiot, although he suspected that’s what they were doing.

His eyes kept searching around the farms below, looking at whatever he thought was interesting, or wherever there was a lot of movement, and trying to make sure he saw his dad before he saw him and could avoid him. He saw a glimpse of a familiar red color down at the potato fields but upon closer inspection it was just some random pony. If he was being sensible he didn’t really need to do this or worry about it so much, he just didn’t want to be bothered. It was good Rainbow Dash never actually felt like teasing him enough to force a meeting with his dad.

Rainbow Dash… Fierce Current frowned. He really missed having her around, she was a lot of fun. And what had happened to her was just frankly horrible, fights in the coliseum were never supposed to get that bad. Hopefully she was okay. He knew she was too tough to be taken out by something like that for good but she probably still needed a while to recover.

“I hope we can hang out again,” he muttered. “All of us.”

It wasn’t just her he missed, but the entire squad. They were never separated this much for this long. It was just so weird not having any of his squadmates to talk to for over a week when most days they were all around each other the entire time. He even missed Crescent Moon, that was a shocker to realize.

All of this really only further soured his opinion on Commander Blizzard. He was never a real fan of his to begin with but he believed in loyalty and more or less was fond of their Empire.

That had changed.

Fierce Current wasn’t entirely sure just how negative or pessimistic he felt now but it definitely didn’t make him feel good.

Getting to the area of the farms in front of the tunnels where the food was packed up and carted off to the outside he lowered himself to the ground and walked off to the side, keeping himself out of the way but in prime position to keep an eye on everything. Because it would be so bad if something happened to cause some chaos or problems in this city now wouldn’t it?

Fierce Current grinned.

Clear Skies for the umpteenth time after coming home from his new elongated patrol schedule was immediately accosted by his little brothers. Not his fellow soldier brother but the much littler brothers. The ones who didn’t quite grasp how tired he was or what had fully been going on in this city lately. They just wanted to play with their big brother who they unfortunately got to see even less of lately.

And being the good big brother he was he couldn’t exactly say no, now could he?

The colts practically climbed over him, treating his body like a playground since their normal one was off-limits thanks to Blizzard. His littlest brother brought out the red ball that Clear Skies had borrowed for Buckball and started bouncing it off his head as he flew above him. The noise from them was a cacophony as they pulled him this way and that and pleaded, pleaded, with him to pay more attention to them and do what they wanted to do.

His patience was nothing short of heroic.

“Please—hold on—just hold on a moment,” Clear Skies tried to get his little brothers to calm down and listen to him for just a second, tried to get them to stop fighting with each other over him.

Down the hallway of their house he could see Mellow Skies watching from behind the doorway, a grin on his face at what his older brother had to go through.

Clear Skies frowned. I wish I could go watch a coliseum fight right now...

While the coliseum hadn’t been officially closed a notification had been spread about how only truly meaningful fights should occur there from now on and not just petty squabbles. Add to that that because of the curfew and other things there wasn’t as much contact between ponies or opportunities for these big problems to break out that would normally be solved by a bout in the coliseum.

“Why don’t you go embarrass yourself in front of the whole city some more?” He said to Mellow. “Go have some fun with your fiance, oh, right, you don’t have one.”

Mellow glared at him and disappeared behind the door frame. At least that was one thing dealt with.

“Okay, can you at least let me take my armor off first?” Clear said to the other little brothers still jumping all over him. “I really want to stretch and relax for just a second.”

His pleas were ignored.

Clear Skies groaned as he dragged himself through the house while his hyperactive siblings continued doing whatever they wanted. If one of his squadmates was here they could at least help him out or take some of the attention away from him, if it was Rainbow Dash he was sure all of his brothers would be way more interested in her. But for obvious reasons she was indisposed. Clear Skies had a strong enough belief in fighting being a good way to solve problems, but he didn’t like what happened to her. Not just because she was his friend and how badly she was hurt but because he really believed in and respected her too. Blizzard winning the fight didn’t make him right. It was something he had to admit to himself even if it clashed with his previously held beliefs.

There was nothing wrong with Buckball either, even though his team had gotten absolutely obliterated in the one serious game they played, he wanted to play some more and get other soldiers into it too. He was a fan of that kind of spirited competition and truthfully he could care less about if it was “subversive” or not. And he was just sick of not getting his usual coliseum fight fix. He needed something.

Besides being a playground for his brothers.

The orange pegasus sighed as two of his brothers tugged on his wings and tried to pull him two different directions at once. With a tired face he tilted his head to at least let his helmet far to the floor, just in time to be pegged between the eyes by that rubber ball. No apology for that was given as he flexed his wings to shake off his other brothers and shimmied his way out of his armor and walked to the nearest couch to plop down on it like a tired cow.

“If I promise to bring one of my friends along next time will you let me relax for now?” He asked his brothers.

The hyper cadre settled down and looked between each other, at last his youngest brother, Blazing Skies, spoke up. “Can we meet Rainbow Dash?”

Clear raised an eyebrow at them and frowned. “Been hearing a lot about her lately have you? And… that might prove somewhat difficult.”

“Everyone was talking about her. They still are,” Blazing Skies told him.

“We know she was on your squad too, we really want to see her!” Another of his brothers, Rolling Skies, said while the others wanted.

Clear rubbed the back of his neck, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “Well you must already know what happened to her and why all of this other stuff has been going on. I can’t really guarantee anything...” He looked down and saw the depressed and pleading looks on his brothers faces, their lips pouting and their eyes close to tearing. “Ugh, fine. I’ll do my best okay? I promise you you’ll be able to see Rainbow Dash sometime in the future, okay?”

“Yay!” All of them started cheering and jumping up and down at the same time, being far too loud for Clear Skies to relax.

He groaned and rolled over, trying to drown out the noise.

Wild Wind wasn’t one to think too hard about, well, pretty much anything. He had a quiet and normal life for the most part and he followed orders well enough that he didn’t think anything would ever really disturb that quiet life. He didn’t have grand ambitions to progress in the army and make a higher rank but if the opportunity had presented itself he probably wouldn’t have said no to it either. Despite his name the white pegasus was the definition of a pony who let themselves be carried along by the wind, doing whatever needed to be done with little or no fuss. He reacted ambivalently to most things and didn’t pay attention to what didn’t directly concern him.

That had been changing bit by bit since meeting Rainbow Dash.

She was so fascinating, so different, so completely opposite his neutral and quiet self. Naturally he couldn’t help but be drawn in by her big and magnetic personality.

He still was only drifting along, following her now instead, but he felt happier about it somehow. As if it was better for him. And he stopped being so willingly deaf, dumb, and blind about everything else around him. No longer would he just be a simple drone of the Empire, not when he had been confronted with so many problems of it and after his close friends had been mistreated. He wouldn’t be that pony.

Wild Wind thought that now he could be someone better. And he thought his city could be something better too. He really felt excited to be doing something for once, to be a part of something with Rainbow Dash, he had real goals and desires, and even with her being beaten and imprisoned that didn’t change. Wild Wind would still help her, somehow, someway. He promised himself that.

And he was certain the others in his squad would help him too. They needed to all get back together and talk about things. Even Crescent Moon too.

Right now he was busy watching over the lowest level of the residential district. Because Fierce Current had been placed in the farms they had an uneven number in their squad and Wild Wind was trusted with the duty of patrolling alone. A nice benefit of always being so unproblematic and capable, now he had plenty of time alone with his thoughts. He needed to know Rainbow Dash was okay before he actually did anything though and unfortunately he had no way of knowing that. And even though he knew the rest of his squad would help they needed to be able to talk and meet up more regularly.

So he was still in something of a pickle. Crescent Moon probably still had a way to contact everyone in his squad, unless the Captains specifically didn’t want him to, so Wild Wind should probably try and meet up with his lieutenant first. Then maybe they could learn about Rainbow Dash’s condition.

He frowned as he thought of that. Even with some time passing she likely wasn’t doing too good. Not after the vicious beating she took. It looked like Commander Blizzard was doing everything short of outright killing her in that fight.

Wild Wind yawned, it was still early in the day, his patrol shift had just started. Below him there were a few ponies walking the streets. Probably out to get whatever work or errands they needed to do done well before the curfew began. He didn’t envy the civilian ponies right now, Blizzard had no respect for anyone that wasn’t a fighter and with the way he’d been handling things so far Wild Wind wouldn’t be surprised if living in the city got worse and worse for everyone who wasn’t a soldier.

It would probably get worse for the soldiers too, just not as drastically.

He glanced down an alley and saw some colts playing around, technically it was something he should’ve broken up but he wasn’t about to do that. Let them have their fun. Wild Wind just lazily flew around his scheduled route, keeping to it and doing his job enough that he at least didn’t get in trouble or look suspicious to some of the more loyal soldiers out here.

Rainbow Dash wouldn’t stand for something like this at all. He knew that, but he wasn’t Rainbow Dash. He just couldn’t act on his own with the same boundless confidence and courage she had. Nor did he have the same charisma she possessed, not by a long shot. But he’d support her if given the chance. It was the least he could do to repay her for making him see how sedentary and willfully ignorant of a life he was leading and how he was letting bad things happen by his inaction.

Wild Wind glided over a few smaller family homes, eyes looking down but not seeing anything. “Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash, it won’t be pointless. You’ve already done so much, and we’ll help you finish it. Soon.”

True Pegasus XXVII

If there was one thing Crescent Moon was grateful for it was that he hadn’t been demoted. His superiors would’ve been totally within their rights to do so but apparently didn’t want to make anymore waves than they were already making. So he got to keep his title of Lieutenant but not much else besides that. His squad was mostly out of reach and he no longer had a place in the special officer quarters on base. He didn’t even feel like he was in command of a squad at all anymore with the new way they were doing things. When was the last time he had done anything with one of them? And they didn’t follow his orders anymore at all but the direct commands of East and West Wind and Commander Blizzard.

He was totally left out of the loop and essentially acted as just any other soldier. If there was a guide on how to alienate and shake the faith of a former true believer so badly then what happened to Crescent Moon probably followed it to a “T”. He still remembered how aghast he had been at Rainbow Dash, how stalwartly on the side of Blizzard and the Empire he was, but he wasn’t appreciated for it at all. And after getting to know her some more and having to face the facts about some other things he could say with confidence that his love and admiration for his home was gone. Change had come.

Rainbow Dash would change this place. And he wanted her to change it. It wasn’t because of a personal grudge of his either, at least not entirely, he knew he wasn’t exactly the most selfless of ponies, but because he believed that Rainbow Dash was right and represented something so much better.

Equestria. He wasn’t afraid to think about it or say its name anymore. He may have still been ignorant on quite a bit about it but if it was the kind of place that produced a pony like Rainbow Dash it had to be better than the Empire. No doubt about it. There was no way he would go along with the Empire’s outdated ways and anti-Equestria sentiment, no matter how much Blizzard would push it now.

For now though all he was doing was eating lunch in an old warehouse appropriated for all the new soldiers patrolling over the city. No distinction between officers and others, they all just ate at some thrown together tables and chairs. Since Blizzard wanted them to have more of a presence in the city they weren’t allowed to go all the way over to the base just for a lunch break. Several places were set up around for the soldiers to break at, today Crescent Moon found himself here.

“And so she actually told us no, can you believe it? Actually forced us to arrest her cause even when we threw her back inside she just came flying back out. So we took her up to the jail and she’s been in there since. Keeps yelling at the guards and everything, aint being let out until her mood improves.”

One of the soldiers sitting at the same long table as Crescent Moon was talking about some mare he and his partner had to arrest. Crescent didn’t see anything funny about it but the others he was talking to were all grinning along. They weren’t officers, not even a corporal among them, so Crescent could’ve told them to shut up and just eat but he didn’t want to draw attention to himself as the former commanding officer of Rainbow Dash.

“I tell you, mares have gotten some crazy ideas in their heads around here lately,” the soldier shook his head. “And we all know whose fault that is.” He laughed, the others joining in.

That caused Crescent Moon to silently grit his teeth. He really didn’t want to cause a scene or get in trouble himself right now, that wouldn’t help anything. But he didn’t like to hear them badmouthing Rainbow Dash.

“That nut from Equestria-” the soldier laughed. “What was she thinking doing all that stuff? I wasn’t there when she and her friends put on that sports game or whatever it was, were any of you guys? What was up with that? No wonder she got what she did from the Commander.”

That got another round of mean-spirited laughter from the group as the soldier continued. “Trying to get us to do some dumb game from Equestria, getting the mares all excited and causing problems, and this is after she was shown so much gratitude from the Commander and Captains too. I get that she helped out in our fight with those dumb wolves but then she turns around and uses that goodwill to try and… what did the Commander say? Foster dissent? Corrupt us or whatever?” He snorted and leaned back, crossing his hooves behind his head and closing his eyes with a relaxed smile. “That dumb mare got exactly what she deserve-”

He couldn’t finish his sentence as a caramel hoof plowed into his face, sending him off his chair and crashing to the floor.

Crescent Moon climbed over the table to follow him. The other soldiers who had been laughing along were too startled and surprised to get up at first, they sat there slack-jawed at their table wondering if they should do anything.

“You cheapshot?!” The injured soldier growled as he stumbled to his hooves, probably not realizing that he was talking to a superior officer just yet. He raised his eyes and tried to focus on Crescent Moon. “Why the hay did-”

Another hoof cracked across his jaw this time, sending him sprawling to the floor again with a pained groan.

“H-Hey!” One of the other soldiers finally got out of his chair, but recognizing Crescent Moon as a lieutenant he wasn’t sure what to do. “S-Sir? What’s going on?”

“Disciplinary action,” Crescent Moon replied, glancing at the other soldier over his shoulder.

“Disciplinary action for what?”

Crescent Moon turned back to impassively look down at the soldier groaning on the floor and clutching his face in pain. He kneeled down over the soldier and drew a hoof back. “Don’t.” Thwack! “You.” Thwack! “Insult.” Thwack! “My.” Thwack! “Soldier!” Thwack!

Each heavy punch resonated loudly in the warehouse and the soldier was a black and blue mess at the end of it, his breath wheezing while lying unconscious. Crescent Moon was panting heavily himself as he stood up, looking around he noticed that everyone had stopped eatingwhile he had his little scrap, the soldiers at the various tables all staring at him. He glared right back at them.

“Well? Does anyone else want to say something about Rainbow Dash?”

They didn’t. The watching soldiers all returned to their meals, no complaints or other words from them. It was quieter in the warehouse, something that Crescent Moon welcomed immensely as he stepped away from the roughed up dope he had just straightened out and returned to his own meal. His mood was now slightly improved from before.

Aurora for not the first time woke up hoping that everything had been a dream and when she opened up her eyes and flew out of her room that Rainbow Dash would be there. But soon reality set in and she could only let out a depressed sigh, knowing that things weren’t so happy right now. At least it was a rare day when her brother was home. For the past few weeks she and the rest of the family had seen him even less than normal, but now he finally got the chance to say hi even if he was just leaving again later this afternoon.

Her brother wasn’t the same as usual though thanks to what happened either. He didn’t have the same bubbliness that he usually did, nor did he make as much time to play with her. Her parents too looked downtrodden, Snowshine and her parents as well, there was a phantom over their entire house.

Aurora flew downstairs into the small sitting room and saw her big brother and Snowshine sitting together, drinking tea and eating some special cookies Snowshine had made. Even together like this the two of them didn’t have smiles on their faces.

Summer Rains noticed her arrival and looked over to her. “Oh, good morning.”

Not the warmest of hellos but he probably had other things on his mind.

“Hi...” Aurora timidly said, hopping up on the couch opposite theirs.

Snowshine looked between them, her mouth opening and closing a couple of times as she searched for the right words but nothing came out. It was an awkward family sit-together. All of them were concerned about Rainbow Dash, and the rest of the family was concerned about Summer Rains, and he was concerned about what else might happen in this city that could hurt Aurora and Snowshine. There was no chance for a normal and happy conversation today, a dreary atmosphere soaked all three of them. For a filly who should be nothing but smiles having fun with her friends and family it was especially bad.

“Um, big brother?” Aurora finally broke the silence again.

Summer Rains blinked and his ears perked up as if he forgot Aurora was there. The soldier turned his head to look at her. “What is it?”

“I was just wondering if you want to play together until you have to go? I’ve got all my stuffed animals and everything,” she asked.

The corners of Summer’s mouth tugged down in a sad frown. “I… I’m sorry, Aurora. I just want to rest until I have to go back out again.”

“O-Okay,” Aurora couldn’t even attempt to keep the sheer sadness and disappointment out of her voice as her face dropped and she gazed at the floor.

Snowshine gave her husband a look and the soldier wilted, sighing as he got off his couch and sat down next to his little sister, pulling her up and gently hugging her. “I know it’s tough and I’m not being the best big brother right now but things are a little difficult. I haven’t seen Rainbow Dash since her fight with Blizzard and it feels like everything is just falling apart here. I promise that I’ll make some time for you as soon as possible, but I have work to do first.”

Aurora looked up at him, her eyes welling with tears. “Are you going to help Rainbow Dash?”

“I-” Summer Rains paused before he finished that sentence. Was he going to help Rainbow Dash? He certainly wanted to, but what had he been doing since she got imprisoned? Nothing. He was just going through the motions and listening to orders again as if she had never arrived here and started changing things in the first place. Summer Rains despondently realized that he had just been hoping something would happen instead of him actually taking any steps to make it happen.

“Yes,” he answered for real. “I am going to help her. Not just her, but everyone.”

Snowshine got out of her sear and came over to her husband and little sister-in-law, wrapping her wings around both of them in a big hug with a smile on her face.

“Thank you,” Summer said to his wife, affectionately nuzzling her cheek.

“It’s the least I can do for you with everything going on,” she replied.

“Me too!” Aurora hugged her brother tightly. “I’m sorry for being selfish and asking you to play with me, I know you’re working really hard and everything...”

“No, I should’ve been paying more attention to you. You’re my little sister and you’re stuck in here without any friends to play with. It’s not fair to you,” Summer Rains smiled at her.

“None of what’s been happening in this city is fair to anyone,” Snowshine said.

“Yeah… and I should’ve been doing more to change that and fix things, but I’ve just been… I don’t know, out of it? Seeing what happened to Rainbow Dash—the two of you weren’t there, you don’t really know what he did, it was… just too much for me I guess,” Summer looked down in shame. “I think I’ve just been too scared.”

“We’ve all been scared, about a lot of things,” Snowshine told him. “It’s kind of a scary time right now. And Commander Blizzard is scary, no one is going to blame you for being afraid of him or what he might do.”

“But she’s my friend,” Summer Rains tightly shut his eyes. “And the rest of my squad too, I haven’t done anything for them and I still don’t know what to do!”

“You just do what you can. That’s all anyone can do, be the best you you can be,” his wife told him.

Summer Rains opened his eyes. “I-” he paused, and sighed, any argument he had disappearing. “Thank you. And you too, Aurora, I’ll do what I can, whatever I can do to help Rainbow Dash and the rest of this city. I’ll think of something.”

“It may not be much but even I’ll try and help, don’t underestimate the power of gossip! Next time me and my friends can actually get together for a little party I’ll tell them all just exactly what I think about Commander Blizzard. It doesn’t matter how tough he is if enough ponies in this city become disgruntled,” Snowshine confidently said with a smirk on her face.

“I’ll help too!” Aurora said.

Summer Rains chuckled and rubbed his little sister’s head. “No, you need to just try and have some fun and enjoy your time as a kid. Don’t worry though, we’ll all make it so this is a city you can be happy to grow up in. First things first though, I need to get back in touch with the rest of my squad.” He detached himself from the hugging mares and stood up. “Sorry, but I’m going to leave a little bit early, there’s no time to waste!”

“Good luck out there,” his wife said, a wry smile on her face.

“Kick butt!” Aurora waved.

Summer awkwardly grimaced. “Did you hear that phrase from Rainbow Dash? Just uh, don’t repeat it in front of our parents, okay?”

“Okay!” Aurora saluted, a happy smile spreading from ear to ear.

The pegasus soldier rolled his eyes and headed for the front door. It was true, he had a lot of business to take care of and some confidence to get back. He didn’t have a plan, he didn’t know what the others were doing, but he wasn’t just going to be sitting back and going through the motions any longer, even if it ended up with him being arrested for insubordination he wouldn’t be playing Blizzard’s game anymore. It was time for change!

True Pegasus XXVIII

There wasn’t much to do in a prison cell. And even less to do when you were in constant pain and had a cast on most of your body. So for the past few weeks Rainbow Dash had been monumentally bored even as the pain slowly abated over time. She couldn’t and wasn’t supposed to move so all she could do was stare at the bars of her cell all day. At least when she hurt herself flying back in Ponyville she could use the time to reread a Daring Do book. But here she had nothing and if she squirmed or breathed in the wrong way it would still hurt her. She probably still had a good week before she could get out of these casts. Not like that would change much though, all she’d be able to do is walk and fly around in small circles inside her cell. She sighed, better than nothing at least.

She hadn’t even gotten any visitors or anything besides the occasional doctors and the guards bringing her food—and none of them talked to her. Probably ordered not to by Blizzard. And speaking of the Commander he hadn’t been in to see her yet either, even though she had really expected him to come by by now. Maybe he was giving her time to fully recover or he was doing something else, or he just didn’t see any reason to talk to her anymore. Maybe he had given up on getting her on his side? Naw, she couldn’t believe that. There was no way he’d give up so easily.

Rainbow Dash had had plenty of time to think about what he might be doing now, hopefully he didn’t take anything out on her squadmates and their families, but since she hadn’t seen any of them thrown into this prison with her she imagined they might be okay for now. But after that fight at the coliseum and the “trial” that had gone on beforehand she knew there had to be some kind of fallout in the city afterwards. Hopefully things were still okay and Blizzard had been reigned in from doing too much, although she couldn’t think of any other pony in the city who could try and stop him.

“I’m so booored,” she whined to herself. She had to keep still on her back with her head propped up on a pillow and her right wing kept straight out from her body in a cast. Her hindlegs were essentially the only part of her that were a hundred percent.

She wanted to know what was going on with Summer Rains and the others. That was the worst part of being cooped up in here. And having had to stew around in the knowledge that Blizzard had beaten her again. It still made her grin though knowing she had gotten the last laugh in, she saw the look on his face, she shook his confidence and even humiliated him in front of the onlookers by stopping and refusing him.

“Next time is going to be different,” Rainbow Dash frowned. “I’m not losing to him again, no way.”

In more ways than one she was willing to bet her life on that.

The sound of creaking metal told her the door to the cell-block was being opened. Strange, it wasn’t time for food and her doctors came on the same schedule too. Was someone else being thrown in here with her? Was she getting a visitor? Did Blizzard finally feel like dropping in?

At the sounds of the hooves walking down the hall to her cell she was immediately able to rule out Blizzard. He would've had louder, heavier steps, whoever this was was a pegasus of average size, maybe even a little lighter. Rainbow Dash knitted her eyebrows together, wondering who it was that she was going to see as their hooves got closer and closer.

Finally the visitor walked into view, standing in front of the bars of her cell was a pony that she recognized but hadn’t expected to see.

“What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked Elder Tornado.

He smiled a warm but tired smile at her. “I came to speak with you.”

“About what?”

“All sorts of things.”

That didn’t exactly alleviate her confusion.

“Uh, okay. How’d you even get in here?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“I have a relative who works as a guard here, it took some coaxing but he let me in to see you. However this will be the only time, he doesn’t want to take a risk like this again. And I can’t stay here talking forever,” he told her.

Rainbow Dash foolishly attempted a shrug and winced. “Ow, dumb reflexes. Well what did you want to talk about first? I thought Blizzard would come see me by now but I kind of forgot about you.”

“I suppose first of all you should know then that Blizzard has taken up direct rulership of the city. He’s clamped down on dissent and instilled a curfew, soldiers fly about the city to enforce things all day and night. He’s becoming a total tyrant,” Tornado said, frowning.

“He wasn’t one already?”

“He had enough respect for how things were supposed to be, thanks to his love of tradition and the old ways, that he never sought to do something like this in the past. He probably figured your influence was too dangerous to be allowed even the slightest chance of spreading. Or maybe he just got tired of the rest of the city not living up to his standards.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Well whatever, it’s not like I was gonna just talk to him when I got out of here. So he’s being even worse? Fine by me, ponies are just going to dislike him even more.

“Quite,” Tornado nodded. “In fact that’s already happening quite a bit. I don’t think our Commander knows or cares about how much the regular ponies throughout the city are badmouthing him. We’re taught to believe in the rule of the strong and to be loyal to them, but Blizzard’s abuses aren’t very tolerable. And as you know we’ve been slowly changing since before you even got here.”

“Heh,” she grinned. “That jerk has it coming.”

Tornado grinned too. “He certainly does.” The Elder then had a slight coughing fit, wheezing a bit as he tried to get his breathing back under control.

“You okay?” Dash asked.

He held up a hoof to signify he was fine. “Y-Yes… just old. I’d like to ask another question… if that’s alright with you?”

“Shoot, dude.”

He coughed and pushed some of his voluminous mane out of his face. “Is Equestria as great as you make it seem?”

Rainbow Dash got a cocky look on her face. “Well, I’m pretty much the most awesome pony from Equestria, and maaaybe I haven’t had the most normal of lives like most ponies from Equestria so I dunno how good of an example I am, but yeah, Equestria is great. Super great compared to this place, dude.”

“I could’ve already told you that,” Tornado chuckled briefly before stopping. Slowly, a more solemn expression came over his face. “Rainbow Dash. Will you help me make my home more like yours?”

“What I’ve been trying to do from the beginning. Haven’t exactly had the best results yet though,” she sheepishly responded.

“On the contrary, you’ve had quite the impressive impact. Do you have any idea how many ponies you’ve affected? How many mares have been inspired to try and live their own lives? You’ve put something into motion here that can’t be stopped, even by Blizzard, all he can do is make it as difficult and painful as possible unless we do something about him first.”

“Yeah… I definitely hear you on that,” Rainbow Dash frowned. “So what then? Do you have a plan to stop him?”

Tornado rubbed his cheek and looked away. “Actually I was hoping you would have one.”

“Oh. Well uh, I’m more of a doer than a thinker. Like, if you want something punched then I’m your mare but otherwise? I usually leave the planning and stuff up to my friends, hehe,” Rainbow Dash blushed.

“I see. And unfortunately we can’t just punch the problem of Blizzard away, as you know well.”

“Yeah.”

“That leaves us with a bit of a problem...” Elder Tornado sighed.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip, if Twilight was here she would definitely be able to think of something. But Rainbow Dash wasn’t Twilight, she wasn’t dumb but she wasn’t some egghead genius either, so wracking her brain trying to think of what Twilight might do was pointless. She’d just have to do what Rainbow Dash would do. And she’d give it her all just like she gave everything else in her life her all. She’d been in tough spots before, she’d been in tough spots earlier on this adventure, and she never gave up then just like she’ll never give up now. She also really wanted to stick it to that jerk too.

Her face morphed into a confident smirk. “I’ll do what I can, and I’ll deal with Blizzard somehow, I promise. I don’t know how but I’ll do it. Just have some faith in me on that.”

Elder Tornado seemed worried but he nodded. “There’s not really anything else I can do. No other pony in the city has even the smallest chance of actually defeating him in battle.”

“No one but me has to fight him, there’s a lot more we can do. And a lot more ponies that are on our side who can help out in other ways,” she told him.

“Like who?” Tornado raised an eyebrow.

“My squad. Summer Rains, Wild Wind, Flashbolt, Skychaser, Clear Skies, Fierce Current, Crescent Moon, all of them will help us. I’m pretty good when it comes to picking friends, I guarantee they’ll fight to change this place too,” Rainbow Dash’s face was brimming with enough confidence that it did put the Elder a bit at ease. “You get them together and I know this’ll work, just tell them what I’m telling you!”

“Yes?” The Elder was intrigued by her claims.

“I may not have a real plan or anything but I’m good at making noise and I know that this city’s already about to explode. My squad can get other soldiers on their side and fight the soldiers loyal to Blizzard, the farmworkers and everyone else can go on strike, mares can throw down their sewing needles, everyone can ignore curfew and do whatever they want, just go nuts!”

“Blizzard will certainly not be happy to see that kind of chaos and dissent in his city...” Tornado smiled.

“Yep! But it won’t even matter cause he can’t stop everyone, and I’ve got a feeling his loyal soldiers are gonna be outnumbered too. But if ponies are afraid of his retribution that’s fine cause I’ll be there to fight him again,” Rainbow Dash got a steely look of determination in her eyes.

Elder Tornado. “I believe in you. And so what you’re saying is that we need to start a war in this city to oust the Commander and bring about a new age?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “That’s right. As far as starting it and whatever I dunno how to really go about that but I bet Wild Wind or someone else on my squad can make a real plan.” She winced at a sudden shooting pain in her wing. “Only problem is… I’m not exactly ready for a fight right now.

“Yes, I could see that when I first walked in here,” the older pegasus winced.

Rainbow Dash took a breath and leaned her head back, looking up at the ceiling. How much time did she need to fully recover? Things couldn’t wait forever and she hated the idea of continuing to let Blizzard oppress the city. “Two weeks.” She said, blinking and returning her gaze to Tornado. “Give me two weeks and I’ll be back to normal.”

“Right,” Tornado nodded. “I do hope you’re not overestimating your recovery abilities though.”

“I’m not,” Dash grinned. “I’m tough, okay?”

“Well I can’t deny that,” Tornado chuckled.

“So yeah, you talk to all of them, make sure they can get everything ready, and then in two weeks I want to be busted out of here and we can take Blizzard and this crazy Empire down together!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“And that’s what she said,” Elder Tornado said to the assembled soldiers of Rainbow Dash’s squad.

The eight ponies had gathered in the stuffy basement of one of the warehouses in the middle of the city late at night. Some of them had already been trying to meet up with each other, making Tornado’s job much easier. Now they sat at a table together with a flickering candle being their only source of light and dusty boxes piled up around them. Their conversation had been an interesting one so far as Tornado told them that Rainbow Dash was okay while the rest of the squad enlightened him to the truth about several things like the Frost Wolves and Ice Sentinels. It still ended up being a mostly positive meeting thanks to how happy the other soldiers were to hear Rainbow Dash was “okay” and still her same old self. And to know that they would all help each other to defeat Blizzard and put an end to the old Empire soon.

Skychaser was still not exactly the happiest though. “How has my life become this? How have I been roped into this?” The pegasus shook his head.

“You don’t need to complain so much even if you were a bit more of a straight-shooter than the rest of us. I know this isn’t exactly what any of us thought would happen but you’re still going to help us, aren’t you?” Flashbolt asked him.

“Ugh… I’m not crazy about this but I’m not about to fight against my own family either. I’ll help,” Skychaser acquiesced.

Flashbolt threw a wing over his cousin’s shoulders and smiled. The two may have not agreed on everything and frequently got on each other’s nerves but they had been through thick and thin together and that wasn’t about to change here.

“So two weeks?” Clear Skies rubbed his chin, thinking. “There’s going to be a huge storm starting up just about then but I don’t think that would put a hamper on anything we’re doing.”

“No, it may even be a good thing. Regardless of that though I think we should come up with a more solid plan than “go nuts”, as Rainbow Dash said.” Wild Wind said.

“How many others do you think we can trust and try and bring over to our side in the next two weeks? We’ll need to be careful but I think there are a lot of soldiers that will fight with us, especially if they know Rainbow Dash will be fighting with them. She really has quite the reputation in this city now,” Summer Rains said.

“You can leave that kind of legwork to me,” Crescent Moon interjected. “When it comes to finding soldiers and getting in touch with them I have the most tools at my disposal. I’ll only talk to the ones I really trust or think will be sympathetic to us. For the rest of you I think you would have a much easier and safer time spreading the word through your families. Get the word out through them that in two weeks we revolt. Even with the curfew and Blizzard’s crackdown on gatherings it hasn’t completely stopped, all your families have large social circles. Just make sure you only tell those you know you can trust completely.”

“Or perhaps just tell them to be prepared for something vague in two weeks,” Tornado suggested. “When they see Rainbow Dash and everything else going on they’ll probably pick up on what’s happening and join in.”

“Er, excuse me?” Fierce Current raised a hoof. “What you mentioned about talking to our families, is that required or-”

“Yes! Just talk to your dad already, you moron!” Clear Skies whacked him on the back of the head.

Wild Wind nodded. “I’m sorry Fierce but to put it bluntly your father is the most important of all our family members. He’s a well-respected pony at the farms and wields a lot of influence, we need you to talk to him, he’s our in there.”

“Fiiiine,” Fierce Current sighed and rested his chin on the table, looking as despondent as he possibly could.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay handling the soldiers all by yourself?” Flashbolt asked Crescent Moon.

“Of course,” the lieutenant confidently replied. “I didn’t earn my rank for nothing after all. I’m hardly useless, and as your commanding officer I should be the one who takes the most dangerous task.”

“I would offer to help as well but I’m not sure what I can do. I can’t even fly,” Tornado said.

“You do have direct access to the other Elders and other important pegasi don’t you? Would none of them side with us?” Summer Rains asked.

“Unfortunately I don’t believe they would. And I’m already worried that my movements might be catching Blizzard’s attention again,” the Elder told them. “Maybe I can do something when things actually begin… I can possibly make breaking Rainbow Dash out of that prison easier for us.”

“Right, certainly can’t forget to do that.” Crescent Moon chuckled dryly.

Summer Rains frowned. “It already annoys me enough that she’s still stuck in there. But since she’s injured I guess it doesn’t matter either way right now. That should be the very first thing we do when the day comes though, getting her free. Then she can lead us and all the others in the city will see her free and flying about too. She’ll be a rallying symbol.”

“It will also get Blizzard’s attention the fastest,” Skychaser put forth.

“Good,” Wild Wind shrugged. “It’ll probably be better to get his attention as quickly as possible, the sooner he knows what’s going on the sooner he’ll confront Rainbow Dash and we can just get this all over with. He might come flying right out immediately to deal with her himself while the rest of the city rises up. If everyone stands against him then it doesn’t even matter if none of us can physically stop him, he won’t have any power anymore and he may even get disheartened enough to give up.”

“I somehow doubt that but if we can at least defeat the soldiers most loyal to him, like the twin Captains, we can at least force him to stop by making him alone,” Flashbolt said.

“I’m in agreement on that,” Crescent Moon nodded. “To be honest I don’t think we can beat Blizzard in an actual fight. We’ll just have to win and take the city back through other means.”

“Rainbow Dash can do it,” Summer Rains confidently said. “I know that may sound like me blowing hot air, but I think I know her the best of anyone here, and I believe in her. She can beat Blizzard. Maybe she doesn’t even know how yet, but she can definitely do it.”

Instead of disagreeing with him the others felt a similar sense of confidence begin to rise up in them. They could do this. They would try their hardest and fight for their city, their families, and all of the other pegasi. Soon enough the most important moment of their lives would be upon them, they all knew it, and it excited them to be a part of something like this, knowing what a great thing they were doing.

“Put your hooves in,” Wild Wind said and put his hoof towards the center of the table.

The others followed suit, one by one until eight pegasus hooves were held together as they all looked into each other’s eyes.

Elder Tornado took a deep and steadying breath. “For pegasi everywhere.”

True Pegasus XXIX

“Hi, dad.”

The large red pegasus looked down at his son with a rather disgruntled expression on his face. It was clear he didn’t expect to see Fierce Current anytime soon and certainly not when he was working. Shooting Star couldn’t even think of the last time he had actually spoken with his son, despite him not having any sort of problem with his son (at least in his view), Fierce Current never seemed to make the time to say hello even when it would’ve been easy.

“And what do you want?” Shooting Star glowered.

Fierce frowned, his father not exactly the most sociable of ponies and someone he would like to avoid on the best of days. It was easy enough to fake being amicably distant with his father in front of others, the truth was they had never had a close relationship. And that probably wasn’t going to change anytime soon. He knew his father wasn’t a huge fan of Blizzard, since Blizzard wasn’t a huge fan of anyone that wasn’t a soldier, but would he actively help their cause? His word might as well have been law down here in the farms and the others were right that they could really use his help. It was risky. Could he just tell him to get ready for some vague thing in two weeks and expect his dad to know to revolt? Could he be sly and insinuate it? And would his father even care?

“I kind of have some important stuff to talk to you about,” Fierce Current finally said.

His father snorted. “Oh. So you couldn’t care less about actually coming to say hello or visiting with me for the first time in ages. You just have something important to do. Well what is it? Got a new demand to only grow oats in here from the Commander? Just running some kind of errand for whoever else can order you around?”

Fierce Current grit his teeth. Shooting Star’s attitude annoyed him but he couldn’t really say anything since he was right. He wouldn’t have come here to speak with him if it wasn’t for this. “Look dad, I know maybe I haven’t been around so much-”

“You have been around. You just avoid me. What? Afraid I might call you out on something? I don’t know what your problem with me is but you haven’t been a model son for me. Maybe I haven’t been the best father either but I don’t go out of my way to keep from talking to you.”

“The best father?” Fierce did allow a little anger to seep into his voice this time. “You’re a domineering grouch who has never had anything positive or supportive to say to me.”

Shooting Star rolled his eyes. “Oh, this is about your feelings huh? We don’t have time for that kind of sentimentality here, my job is hard enough, this world isn’t forgiving of babies that cry when they haven’t been hugged in the last five seconds.”

“I’m amazed you’re not best friends with Blizzard,” Fierce said.

“Don’t lump me in with him. He’s a nut,” Shooting Star chided. “All he does is make things worse for everyone. I’m not kind, I’ll be the first to admit that, but I’m at least working hard to make it so no pegasus ever has to go hungry. There’s a big difference between me and him.”

Fierce stared up at his father for a second, his personal feelings threatening to explode, but he was doing his best to keep them down for the sake of everyone else. At last he let out a big sigh. “Well dad… what if you could really help more ponies here?”

In truth Crescent Moon didn’t exactly know what he was doing or if anyone would listen to him. But it was safer for just one of them to try and talk with other soldiers and he was the best choice for the job. Also after that scuffle in the temporary mess hall pretty much everyone knew his stance on things, he could probably gauge how other soldiers felt about him just by crossing eyes with them. So long as no one loyal to Blizzard was keeping an eye on him, and he doubted they were what with how confident the Commander was, he should be able to at least get others ready for the big happening in two weeks. At least spread the word that something was going to go down and they should be ready to fight.

And if someone else found out about it? Well if East or West Wind came to confront him or arrest him he’d at least be happy to go down fighting. Clocking one of them over the head would become a fond memory for him.

Crescent Moon knew there were plenty of soldiers to avoid too, like Iron Star and the one he had recently pulverized. But in his time at the mess hall and among the others there were those he had seen that didn’t look very happy, and conversations he had heard whispered among soldiers that had reservations about all of this. He couldn’t say for sure if it was a good idea to try and talk to them about this but he’d try. He had to start somewhere after all.

As he made it back to his abode for the night he vaguely thought about that pegasus that watched over the Ice Sentinels. Gale. He had met him at the coliseum when Rainbow Dash was fighting Blizzard. Crescent got the feeling that he was at least somewhat sympathetic to their side of things but he didn’t know him well enough to try speaking with him, it would look suspicious if he went to the Ice Sentinel facility to talk with him in the first place too.

Whatever happened soon, Crescent Moon was confident in Rainbow Dash. She had so utterly changed him that there was nothing else but respect and trust he could feel towards her. Tomorrow morning he could start finding some soldiers to convert.

“Okay, so I don’t see why the both of us have to talk to our families about this,” Skychaser said to Flashbolt.

“Right,” Flashbolt nodded.

“To me it seems like something only one of us has to do.”

“I agree.”

“And so that’s why I think you should be the one who fills in our parents about the upcoming revolution and the part we’re playing in it.”

Flashbolt rolled his eyes. “Oh I had no idea you were about to say that.”

“Well you’re the one who’s more gun-ho about this than me. Why should I be the one who has to talk to them? It’s going to be horribly awkward,” Skychaser narrowed his eyes. “You even agreed that both of us don’t need to do it and I think you’ll agree with me that you’re also definitely the better choice. And furthermore after you’ve pushed me into all of this in the first place I think you owe it to me.”

“Ugh, fine! You complain about everything nowadays,” Flashbolt gave in.

“That’s only because I have everything to complain about!” His cousin glared at him.

The two of them had been arguing like this all morning while they were out on patrol. Once it was time to break for lunch they had decided to go visit their families, which both lived together in one house, and let them in on things to a degree. It was not a conversation either of them were looking forward to and now the responsibility had been solely foisted on Flashbolt.

“I mean really, my life has become completely topsy-turvy—in large part thanks to you—so I think the one who’s far more passionate about this in the first place should be the one to come clean to our family,” Skychaser continued.

“I already said I agree with you, you don’t need to keep whining! Flashbolt said while they flew over some houses.

“Well I feel like it! And since we’re both stuck together like always you’re going to have to listen!”

“I don’t think I deserve this...”

“Too bad! Cause the first thing I’m going to talk about is-”

The angry Skychaser proceeded to rant at his cousin for the remainder of the morning. And poor Flashbolt had nowhere to go and nothing to do but listen to it. It almost made him wish for time to speed up so he could go talk to his family, the irony not lost on him.

Clear Skies and Wild Wind on the other hoof had a quiet morning glide through the skies, the two of them paired up together due to their history of being on the same squad. Wild Wind had always been the most naturally reticent of the group and Clear Skies had next to nothing to talk about. So as the city transformed from early-morning to mid-morning the two soldiers allowed themselves the time to relax and look out over the roofs of all the buildings below.

That was until Wild Wind unexpectedly broke the silence.

“You have numerous little brothers don’t you? Did you tell them anything?” He asked.

Clear was so surprised by the sudden question he actually faltered in the air for a second before regaining his composure. “Er, yeah. But I didn’t really say anything to them about this, except for Mellow Skies since he’s a soldier like us, I just told my younger brothers that they needed to be careful in the city in the coming weeks.”

“How’d they take it?”

“They ignored me and demanded I teach them how to play Buckball.”

Wild Wind smirked and laughed a bit on the inside. “Well perhaps it’s good that they can be so carefree.”

“I guess,” Clear sighed. “What about you? I don’t ever remember you talking about your family at all.”

“It’s just my grandparents,” Wild Wind replied. “And I didn’t want to bother them with any of this.”

“Guess that’s pretty fair,” Clear nodded.

The two of them continued their flight and patrol at a reasonable pace, the both of them wondering what things would look like on the day of the revolt. Ponies would no longer be keeping themselves inside, a lot of the soldiers would refuse to continue on with their orders, if it got to night time the curfew would be ignored, it would probably be chaos in the city. How badly would Blizzard react? The two of them really had no idea what their Commander was even thinking right now or if he had plans to further lockdown and change the city. They figured that with the way he was he had to have plans for them to go back to fighting something in the future. How much longer would this heavy policing and slow down of their city last?

“Hey, Clear?” Wild Wind asked his comrade.

“Yeah?”

“How peacefully do you think we can do this?”

Clear Skies grimaced. “With Blizzard around? Not very. I think a lot of soldiers loyal to him will be willing to give up when they see they’re on the losing side, it’s not like anyone really even likes him, but he’s scary and a lot are gonna be too afraid to do anything but fight for him. Either it’s gonna have to end with either Rainbow Dash beating him or the rest of us taking out and detaining the other soldiers.”

The white pegasus blinked, not looking forward to the coming civil war and what they may have to do during it. “Yeah… hopefully it goes as well as possible.”

Summer Rains didn’t actually have as much to do, since he knew his wife was already helping him out he didn’t need to say that much more to her. But she was still ecstatic to learn about what was happening and was more than enthusiastic to help spread the word to more mares across the city that she knew they could trust. The only other thing Summer had to do was tell his parents and in-laws.

And make sure Aurora didn’t hear anything about it. He had enough to worry about right now without that hanging over his head. As much as everyone was supposed to go crazy and revolt against Blizzard’s rule all at once he’d definitely prefer her staying indoors all day. He knew she’d probably find her way out anyways but he hoped she could at least remain safe, maybe join up with her friends or stick with Snowshine the whole time.

Since he would still have to act natural for about two weeks, something he was not looking forward to, and already made the choice to come home to speak about this to his family despite the danger, he figured he might as well spend the night and relax with his beloved family as much as possible. That led to him lying in bed with his wife and little sister, the three of them cuddling together.

He had pleasant dreams that night.

Things were a little different for Elder Tornado as he returned to his room at the administration building. Technically he wasn’t supposed to come and leave at any time like this but he noticed the guards didn’t care to actually report him. Although it probably would’ve been different if one of those Captains or Blizzard himself saw him. Regardless, there was nothing else for him to do now anyways until the big day. At some point he could contact his relative at the jail and tell him to make things as easy as possible for breaking Rainbow Dash out. Hay, maybe he could even unlock her cell and the rest of her squad wouldn’t even really need to do anything. Although all of them meeting up at the jail was still probably a good idea so they could plan their next move together once she was free.

“It seems so strange...” Tornado said to himself as he lowered into his bed, body grunting and groaning as his sore limbs bent. His overly large mane fell over his face when he rested his head on the pillow and stared into the wall as he thought of how absurdly changed his life had been just from the small event of a single pony from Equestria coming to the city.

“But what a pony she is,” he laughed despite the discomfort it brought him in this position.

The Elder turned over to try and get more comfortable. He wondered briefly about what the other Elders were doing now, probably nothing. Even Black Lightning was probably just ignored by Blizzard. Despite his dismissal of the other Elders and the bureaucrats and workers in his social circle he thought about maybe seeing if any of them might actually consider openly revolting when the time came. Unlikely, but they could be helpful. Any additional pegasi flying around and defying Blizzard would be useful. Every single one he saw would make his blood boil even quicker.

It was a little worrisome since Tornado knew how dangerous and destructive Blizzard could be, but it still had to be done.

He shut his eyes and tried to ignore the dull pain running through most of his body. “Too old for a revolution...”

Rainbow Dash flexed her wing as she lied in her bed, still unable to move but able to feel her body slowly healing. She clenched and unclenched the muscles that weren’t injured as part of some isometric exercises so that she wouldn’t feel too weak once she could get out of here. If only there was a book or something she could use as an impromptu weight to lift, that would help a lot but unfortunately her cell was still as barren as ever.

At least she wouldn’t have to wait much longer.

This is my adventure. Rainbow Dash grinned up at the ceiling.

Rainbow Dash Rises I

The time of two weeks passed by in a flash. All throughout the city things had been deceptively quiet, making Commander Blizzard think the pegasi of the Empire had fully resigned themselves to his rule and new decrees. He was as close to ecstatic as a pony like him could ever get. It really felt like things were going his way and that all the pegasi of the city were, if not fully coming around to his way of doing things and his beliefs, at least not getting in the way or doing anything to stop him. His repudiation of everything Rainbow Dash and Equestria stood for would come soon and finally he could see the Empire as a true success. The weakness and dissent he had seen slowly growing over the recent years would be utterly extinguished thanks to him.

At the moment he was standing on the steps outside the administration building, still giving him a great vantage point to see the rest of the city, as the morning went by. It was darker than normal thanks to the large storm they were having today, the clouds that made up the barrier between the city’s aerospace and the outside world had taken on a dark and aggravated look while above there were rumbling storm clouds blocking out most of the sky. It would be a heavy rain around them with plenty of thunder and lightning later tonight.

Good.

It would set the mood perfectly for what he was doing and announcing later today.

“Commander? You wanted to see us first thing this morning?” The voice of West Wind came from behind him.

Blizzard turned to see the two loyal twins standing before the door leading into the administration building, the three of them the only ones out here at the moment.

“Yes,” Blizzard smiled, something that still made the twins uneasy. “Yesterday Rainbow Dash’s doctor came by and said she’s made a full recovery. I’m going to speak to her later today and remove her from the prison. Today’s the big day, with her by my side I’m going to make an announcement to the entire city.”

“What is it?” East Wind asked.

His unsettling smile widened and Blizzard brought a hoof up to his chest, clapping it on the metal breastplate. “We’re going to war.” He allowed that to sink in with the two before continuing. “I wanted her back to normal before I said anything, because she’s going to be coming with us.” Blizzard chuckled. “You know there were so many times when I thought about visiting her and gloating but I held myself back so all she could do was sit there in silence. And now it’ll be so much more impactful when I see her again and reveal my plans for her after all this time.”

“We um, understand that you wish for Rainbow Dash to help us with this new campaign, sir, but who are we going to war with?” East Wind asked again.

Blizzard looked at him and his brother as if the answer was so obvious he shouldn’t even have to say it. “Equestria. Who else?”

The twins shared an uncertain look before West Wind responded. “As always we fully support you sir but how exactly are we going to do that? I do think this could be a great thing that unifies our soldiers and people though, especially if we’re able to convince other Equestrian pegasi to join us.”

“Rainbow Dash is going to lead us to Equestria, to the average soldier and citizen it’ll look like she’s willingly joined me after realizing the futility of defying me. Unfortunately since she still grasps onto her silly Equestrian ways in reality she’ll just be my prisoner. Forced to help me or suffer the consequences,” Blizzard frowned. “The two of you know the ponies she has become closest to in her time here?”

“Yes,” they both nodded.

“Good. Because next time I talk with her I’ll let her know for certain that there will be no more idle threats from me. Disobey and the ponies she’s come to care about will suffer. She brought this on herself, I still need her to be my symbol and if this is the only way then so be it.” His smile returned as he thought about the future. “And she’ll even fight against her own country for me.”

West Wind raised an eyebrow. “But she’d never fight against Equestria. Even leading us to it safely would be a stretch for her, I know her well enough from our encounters, there’s no way she’d actually fight against ponies from her home.”

“I think I still understand her the best of anyone,” Blizzard grinned vilely. “If she doesn’t fight for me I’ll make it clear to her that I’ll be utterly unforgiving and brutal to any and all Equestrians. Her loyalty to them will be her own weakness. She can see them suffer harshly, or help me conquer them far more… peacefully.”

East Wind shrugged. “Well either way it’s not like she’ll be able to do anything about it. Flying away won’t even help her since you can just threaten the pegasi living here with retribution.

“Exactly,” their Commander nodded.

“So later today do you wish us to retrieve her from the prison and bring her to you?” West Wind asked.

“Yes but not for a while. I also need you and some of the leftover legislators to spread the word that I have a big announcement to make, all the soldiers and any other stallion who wishes should come right here outside the administration building around… let’s say right before evening when the storm is fully underway. I find myself having a sudden taste for theatrics,” Blizzard smiled.

“Sudden?” East muttered under his breath.

“Of course, sir,” West answered instantly so the Commander wouldn’t hear his brother.

“There won’t be any need for her to be shackled either. It’s not like she’ll run or try to fight me and I want the pegasi of the city to see her standing free with me,” Blizzard puffed out his chest and turned around again, looking back at the city. “Everything is coming to fruition today, Equestria has always been our true enemy and now everyone will know that we are finally going on our grand crusade to right the wrongs of the past. This day is going to be perfect.”

Commander Blizzard smiled and flapped his wings, taking off into the sky and flying back over the top of the administration building, probably heading back to his residence or office inside to plan a speech or something.

The light rumbling sounds of early thunder reached the ears of East and West Wind as they watched him go. The two twins had a lot to think about and do now.

East Wind let out a long breath through his nostrils and without turning to his brother spoke. “Do you ever feel like some sort of impending doom is approaching?”

“All the time.”

Summer Rains was feeling nervous at the start of the day. How could he not? He was decently sure things had been going well but considering what was about to happen he was still worried. Mostly for Aurora and Snowshine but the whole rest of the city too. Crescent Moon had contacted him yesterday and told him that they were all, minus Tornado who he couldn’t get a hold of, meeting up at where they had last met two weeks ago in about an hour and from there they’d move onto the prison to free Rainbow Dash while the rest of the city rose up.

The lime-green pony was currently affixing his armor and getting ready to head out to their meeting spot. He’d probably be early but that was far better than being late.

What were all the other ponies in the city thinking right now? The ones who they had spread the word to, would they actually start protesting and ignoring Blizzard’s new laws even before Rainbow Dash was rescued? It’s not like they had a sign or a blowhorn that they could just scream into when the time to rise up was here. For all he knew there were ponies already rising up and facing down the local soldiers loyal to Blizzard. And what about Fierce’s efforts with the farms and Crescent’s with the other soldiers? He supposed he’d learn soon enough.

It was going to be quite the day.

He finished with his stuff and flew to the warehouse and the stuffy basement below it. Still early in the morning he only saw other soldiers flying about and one or two other ponies on the streets below. Quiet, the calm before the proverbial and literal storm.

It would be good to see Rainbow Dash again, he knew that much at least.

On his flight over he spotted some familiar figures also in the sky. With a grin he happily realized that he wasn’t the only one who decided to arrive early. Flashbolt, Skychaser, Clear Skies, Wild Wind, and Fierce Current were all coming in from different directions. If it looked suspicious to anyone paying attention he didn’t care, things were about to go down anyways.

He waved to the others as they came to a landing together outside the door of the warehouse. “Hey everyone!”

“Sup?” Fierce Current grinned to them.

“My cousin and I were stuck on late-night patrol so we didn’t get too much sleep,” Skychaser said while Flashbolt yawned behind him.

“I was just told to patrol like normal today so I figured I’d just come here now,” Clear Skies shrugged.

“I snuck home before dawn to say hi to my grandparents and then flew here,” Wild Wind said. “They’re early risers.”

“I guess we’re only missing Crescent then?” Summer Rains looked around.

“Unless he’s already inside,” Clear Skies said and pushed the door open before anyone else could say anything.

The rest all filed in after him and went to the stairs that led into the basement, descending down the crossing steps in search of their missing officer. Summer Rains was the last to walk down and thus the last to see the rather amusing sight of Lieutenant Crescent Moon sleeping hunched over on the table with a pool of drool leaking out of his mouth.

“Our fearless second-in-command,” Fierce Current rolled his eyes and walked up to the table. “He must have slept here overnight.” The cherry pegasus banged a wing on the table, startling Crescent Moon awake.

“Huh?! I’m up!” Crescent shot up in his chair, head whipping from side to side with a thin strip of drool trailing from his mouth. Finally he seemed to realize where he was and calmed down. “O-Oh, that’s right, I stayed here last night...”

“Well now that we’re all together should we discuss our plans?” Wild Wind said as he took a seat next to the Lieutenant, the other members of the squad joining him.

“Do we have plans?” Clear Skies asked. “I mean, I thought we would just go bust Rainbow Dash out of jail right now.”

“I want to hear what everyone else was doing these past two weeks and what we might expect for today before going to her. If we break her out but nothing else is happening then we might not have the revolution we wanted. We know that Rainbow Dash doesn’t have a plan, she left it up to us so we can’t let her down,” Wild Wind said.

Fierce Current cleared his throat. “Well on that note I have some good news. My dad will be leading a farmers revolt early this morning, I mean he may have even started already. They’re just gonna trash the place and the big depot where all the food is distributed from. That’ll definitely get a lot of soldiers’ attention and I bet it’ll inspire plenty of other civilians around to join in.”

“I also have excellent news,” Crescent said as he wiped away his drool. “I’ve convinced numerous soldiers to outright disobey orders given to them today and take a stand for Rainbow Dash. I didn’t tell them that Rainbow Dash was going to be freed but once they see her flying about I know they’ll join us and fight those still loyal to Blizzard.”

“Quite a few others will probably join us when they see Rainbow Dash free and railing against Blizzard again. Lots of civilians too. We just need to be as loud as possible,” Flashbolt said.

“Speaking of civilians, my wife is organizing a protest with many other mares, that should be starting soon too.” Summer Rains said, a smile on his face as he thought about his wife.

“So we wait a little bit for the chaos to start and then we go rescue Rainbow Dash?” Clear Skies asked.

Wild Wind nodded. “I figure that will be best, now we at least know what we can expect from others in the city. I just hope it doesn’t turn to violence so quickly.”

“I don’t think the soldiers loyal to Blizzard will attack civilians without being directly ordered,” Crescent Moon said. “It’s one thing to arrest someone but I can’t see even the meanest of soldiers striking someone without being provoked first.”

“The problem is that there will be far too many revolting at once to arrest, so they might see they don’t have a choice but to get physical,” Skychaser reasoned.

“Then either way we as the soldiers will need to occupy them once we go out there and rescue Rainbow Dash. They’ll definitely see us, and Dash especially, as the biggest priority,” Wild Wind said.

“However long it takes Blizzard to be notified and react to the protests is important too. He may not think it’s a big deal at first but I think he’ll change his tune immediately as soon as he learns Rainbow Dash is free and leading the charge against him,” Crescent said. “At that point it’ll probably be all out war as he orders every soldier to stop us. And he knows he’s the only one who can stop her so he’ll certainly come for her too.”

“She said she would be the one to handle him and we didn’t have to worry about that though, we should just deal with the other soldiers,” Fierce Current said.

Summer Rains grimaced. “It’s true she said that but she also clearly has no idea how to beat him—none of us do.”

“So we should stay and fight with her?” Crescent asked.

“She’d probably tell us not to,” Flashbolt said.

“Whatever happens then happens, we’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Wild Wind cut in. “The day is still young, but in two hours we rescue Rainbow Dash. It’s going to be storming out there soon in more ways than one.”

Shooting Star raised a barrel of wheat over his head and threw it to the ground, shattering it and watching its contents spill all over the ground while the farmers beside him cheered. They had been making a huge ruckus all morning and were trashing the depot. The tunnels leading down to the farms were blocked off by overturned carts and wagons and the farmers were snacking on potatoes and carrots meant to be distributed throughout the city. They were having such a blast doing this that they had even forgotten that eventually they’d have to clean it all up. But that could come later, right now this was a protest against Commander Blizzard’s tyranny.

There were others watching from homes and buildings around the depot built right up against the mountain. So far no one had explicitly joined the farmers in their protest but none of them looked like they had a problem with it either. Shooting Star led them all in their activities, doing exactly the kind of stuff his son had said they should today and being as loud and obvious about it as possible.

Normally he would never do something as destructive like this even with his problems with Blizzard, but he’d call it a favor to his son. Fierce had convinced him that it would lead to something better happening with their city. And apparently that Rainbow Dash pony that everyone talked about had something to do with it too. He didn’t see her fight against Blizzard but he had heard how she stood up to him. That made her a friend in his book.

As the farmers were busy with their partying a squadron of soldiers who had been alerted to it thanks to all the noise flew overhead to see what was happening and put a stop to it.

“Hey!” A corporal yelled out to the farmers below while his comrades flew behind him. “Just what do you all think you’re doing?! Stop this at once and return to your farms! The Commander will be notified of what you have done here! Destruction of property, subversion, disregarding his law and direction, you will all be punished!”

“If we’re gonna be punished anyways then why would we stop?” A farmer yelled, getting a chorus of laughter from the others.

“This is our protest against Blizzard! We’re not listening to him anymore!” Another said as he bashed open a crate of corn ears.

The soldier scowled but the squad of six was vastly outnumbered unless others were brought. “You all are going to regret this! We’ll have you thrown in prison by the end of the day!”

“Get lost!” Shooting Star shouted up at them.

The soldiers reluctantly and angrily did so, the corporal telling one of the others to fly to the administration building to notify Commander Blizzard of what was happening immediately while the rest dispersed to gather more soldiers to put down this uprising. Little did they that similar things were happening all across the city, and those soldiers loyal to Blizzard were finding themselves quite spread thin…

“What do you stupid mares think you’re doing?!” The same soldier that was savagely beaten by Crescent Moon only a couple weeks ago said to Snowshine and her friends as they held a get-together at the formerly public playground. A lot of the other mares had their young children with them too, all playing around.

“What does it look like?” Snowshine sarcastically said up to him and then shared a laugh with her friends.

“It looks like you’re disobeying the direct orders and proclamations of Commander Blizzard! Return to your homes immediately or you’ll all be arrested!” He glared at them.

That just got another fresh round of laughs as the fillies and colts playing totally ignored everything around them.

Fire Wing, a heavyset mare with a curly orange mane, scoffed at the threat. “You can’t arrest all of us, sonny. There aint enough room in that jail and you know it! Just fly off and tell that darn Commander that we’re not listening to him anymore.”

“Tell him that this is for Rainbow Dash!” Snowshine yelled.

“Mares all over the city are rising up!” Another shouted.

And while that was going on, Sergeant Iron Star was having a particularly difficult time getting a group of soldiers to listen to him…

“What are you all lounging around for?! You’re supposed to be on patrol!” He shouted to the warehouse full of soldiers lazing around and snacking. “Don’t you know what’s going on out there? We’ve been getting reports all morning of ponies causing havoc and breaking the Commander’s new laws! Get out there and stop them!”

“Why should we?” One of the soldiers snorted. “You know those are our families and friends out there doing that, right?”

“Yeah! We’re sick of Blizzard doing all this awful stuff, you can take your orders and shove em!” Another said and spat on the ground.

“You insubordinate worms!” Iron Star screamed.

That got more than a few angry glared thrown his way and some of the soldiers began stalking their way towards him. Iron Star quickly realized that he was alone and didn’t have anyone to back him up on this. A single bead of sweat fell down the side of his face as he tried to keep the most intimidating scowl he could make up on his face.

“And what do you think you’re doing now?” He said to the soldiers. “You should just listen to me, go outside, and restore order to this city!”

One of the soldiers narrowed his eyes and stood up right in front of Iron Star, raising a hoof he stiffly pushed the sergeant in the chest, making him stumble backwards. “We’ll go out there and restore happiness to this city. For our families, for every pegasi, and for Rainbow Dash.”

“You stupid traitors...” Iron Star growled, his anger overriding his common sense. “You’re going to have to go through me first then!”

The couple dozen of soldiers happily formed up together in front of him…

Elder Tornado meanwhile had been awake for a few hours at this point, he could hear and see the chaos starting to unfold in the city from the administration building and a wide smile appeared on his face. He really wished he could fly to get down there faster and find Rainbow Dash but instead he’d have to walk and hope they crossed paths soon. Was she free yet? She should be soon if not, he had made sure of that. He managed to ignore the pain in his bones as he shuffled down the steps of the administration building to travel into the heart of the city. This was the big day, everything would change here.

Since she was fully healed now she didn’t need to wear a cast anymore and neither was she stuck lying on her back. But this was still a jail and she was still a prisoner so Rainbow Dash found herself shackled to the wall once the doctors had removed the casts around her. It was really annoying since she hated being caged up and restricted like this. She needed to move. She was finally okay enough where she could fly or walk around her cell but that had been denied her thanks to these shackles.

And because of where she was in the prison and the lack of windows she had no idea what was going on outside right now, being unable to see or hear any of it. She only knew that two weeks had passed since she talked to Elder Tornado so something should be happening soon.

That’s when she heard the door to her cell block opening up and the sound of some quick hoofsteps coming down the hall to her cell. Rainbow Dash perked up and waited to see who it was.

This time though it wasn’t a doctor, Tornado, or any guard she recognized, it was a dark blue stallion with a wavy white mane and tail and a nervous expression on his face. He carried two rings of keys on his wing and he came to a screeching halt when he made it to Rainbow Dash’s cell. Nervously he grabbed one set of keys and started going through them to find the right one to open up her door.

“Uhhh, who are you?” Rainbow Dash asked him.

“I’m Dusty, Tornado told me to let you out today—well, really he said I’d know when the time to let you out was here. And he was right,” the pegasus finally got the right key and unlocked her cell door, stepping inside and pulling up the other ring as he went right to her shackles.

“What do you mean?” She raised an eyebrow.

“You can’t hear but the whole city is going crazy out there, ponies are protesting and fighting against Blizzard’s rule all over. I knew Tornado must’ve meant this was the right time to free you so I stole the keys from the head jailer and, well, here I am,” he smiled at her despite the sweat running down his brow.

“Seriously?! Awesome!” Rainbow Dash grinned.

He chuckled. “I’m not sure if I totally share that sentiment but I sincerely wish you the best of luck.” He found the right key and put it into the lock of her shackles, the multiple chains keeping her bound slipping off after a quick turn.

Rainbow Dash cracked her neck and stretched her body, wiggling around her joints and wings to make sure everything was in order. She hopped on the ground and finally flapped her wings a few times to lift off and fly in a small circle around the cell. Her grin got wider with each passing second as the familiar feeling filled her up with joy. “Aw yeah, feels good to fly again!”

Rainbow Dash Rises II

Commander Blizzard’s attitude since earlier in the morning had… changed considerably.

He stood inside his office, staring out the window at the city like he was oft to do, but for some reason his left eye wouldn’t stop twitching and he kept clenching and unclenching his hooves. His two most loyal Captains were standing silently behind him, the both of them incredibly worried for themselves after having come back to rendezvous with the Commander when they had seen the mass chaos unfolding in the city and worst of all learned that a certain mare from Equestria had escaped from her prison. Blizzard had so far said nothing to them nor acknowledged their presence at all even as things continuously got worse right outside the window.

At last he lifted up one of his front legs, his hoof actually shaking, and took the helmet he had been wearing off his head, gently putting it down on his desk. With a large intake of breath he kept his eyes focused on all the erratic flights of pegasi soldiers going across the city and the parties being held on rooftops in blatant defiance of him. There was clearly so much more going on out there too.

“I assume-” Blizzard suddenly said. “That this is at least partially the work of Rainbow Dash.”

Neither Captain wanted to take the risk of speaking up so they waited until he continued.

“But it’s not just her. So many of my pegasi are out there, ignoring their Commander, soldiers too are disregarding their orders. Everyone’s forgotten or thrown away what it means to be a true pegasus, what this Empire stands for, haven’t they?” The muscles on the entire left side of his face were twitching now, not just his eyes. “This was supposed to be the day. I had already had to deal with so many setbacks thanks to her stubbornness… but this was supposed to be the day where I had her. And where I could finally affirm our Empire’s existence and superiority. Why do they have to ruin it all? Why can’t everyone be as strong as me? Why is this city so full of filth?”

“S-Sir?” West Wind finally had the courage to speak, gulping. “Should we do something?”

The Commander continued to stand still, just staring out the window for a full minute. He then looked over his shoulder at the twins, his eyes completely empty. “Something? I already know what to do.”

“Oh, well, that’s um… good,” East Wind tried to sound as casual as possible.

“I want the two of you to go out and gather up your most loyal soldiers, forget about stopping the protests or arresting anyone, just get as many of them as you can and then come meet me at the Ice Sentinel control station. You’re going to guard it with them. And once you’ve arrived I’ll go to deal with Rainbow Dash and the rest of the dirt personally,” Blizzard told them.

“I… see… is that all?” West asked.

Blizzard nodded. “Yes, that’s all you have to do. I’m heading over to the station right now, get there as soon as possible.” He lifted a wing as he turned his head back and struck the ice window, shattering it completely and letting the wind from outside blow through his mane while the twins watched on in shock and confusion. “This way’s fastest.” Blizzard said as if explaining himself to them and flew out of his office in the direction of the station.

The Captains were left behind to grimace at his unnerving behavior and attitude. But they couldn’t just stand there for much longer, they had their orders and they would follow them, regardless of anything else or the roiling feelings of turmoil and fear inside them. For better or for worse they were loyal soldiers of the Empire and Blizzard was their Commander.

Rainbow Dash stood on top of the jail and flexed her wings, enjoying the wind whipping around her and the fresh air even as the storm was increasing in strength around the city. It felt good to be outside again for the first time in weeks. Now she could fly around wherever she wanted and do anything again. After dealing with Blizzard. First thing she really needed to do was meet up with her squad and figure out just what was going on in this city, since she was a bit out of the loop. All she knew for certain was that when Blizzard learned of this and her escape he’d come for her personally.

“Hey! Rainbow Dash!”

The mare heard the familiar voice yelling for her and looked down to see Summer Rains and the rest of her squad flying up from lower in the city to reach her. A grin broke out on her face as she waved back to them. It had been too long since she’d seen them.

“Guys!” She yelled back, jumping off the roof of the jail to meet them halfway, when she reached them she gave a hoofbump to Summer Rains and looked at the rest. “Miss me?”

“Partially,” Crescent Moon smirked while the party of eight hovered in the air.

She snorted and rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah, so what’s going on? It looks like you guys really pulled off going nuts in this city.”

“Well Elder Tornado told us that you didn’t exactly have much of a plan besides doing that and making Blizzard angry so we filled in the blanks,” Wild Wind said. “We’ve got soldiers, mares, workers, everyone you can think of, doing this. The soldiers loyal to Blizzard are outnumbered and don’t have a ghost of a chance at policing all this and stopping the protests.”

“I’m worried that they’re just gonna start picking fights with the soldiers who are on our side though,” Clear Skies said.

“Then we’ll just help them,” Fierce Current shrugged. “We figured there’d be some fighting we had to go through today anyways.”

“And you can just leave Blizzard to me when he gets here,” Rainbow Dash confidently stated.

The others though didn’t seem as confident. Looking at each other with worried gazes, it was clear they shared each other’s hesitance.

Summer Rains bit his lip and spoke up. “Are you sure you don’t want us to help you fight him?”

Rainbow Dash frowned. She wasn’t mad at them, and it was nice that they were concerned about her, it showed they cared, but she was still Rainbow Dash and she didn’t need anybody looking out for her. This was part of her big adventure and she needed to beat that jerk in a fight or she’d never be satisfied. And unlike them she had been through this kind of stuff before, and no offense to any of them, but she’d be more worried if they were trying to help her than if they had just stayed out of it. So all Rainbow Dash could do with that suggestion was shake her head.

“Sorry guys, thanks for the offer but it’d be better if you did other stuff around the city. I dunno… go help protest? Trash the place? Take over that admini-whatever building and declare Blizzard’s rule over?” She shrugged. “Hey, it’s your city, not mine. What do you think you need to do for it?”

Flashbolt thought for a second. “If that’s the case we should find Elder Tornado. I don’t think anyone would object to him being installed as interim leader. Also he’d probably have the best idea in general for getting this place back on its hooves.”

“Agreed,” Wild Wind nodded. “He’ll probably be at the administration building, we should go there now.”

Skychaser tapped him on the shoulder and pointed at one of the streets below them. “Or he’ll be walking through the streets right towards us.”

All of them looked to where Skychaser was pointing and were pleasantly surprised to see the elderly councilor hobbling through the raucous streets towards the jail. He practically had to fight his way through all the civilian pegasi of the Empire crowding the streets, taking part in the demonstrations and protests even though they hadn’t been part of the initial rabble-rousers. It was a sign that this one day revolution was really successful.

“He can’t fly, let’s go down to meet him,” Wild Wind said and led the way.

The eight soldiers flew down, gliding above the streets in plain view so anyone could see the very special member of their group if they looked up, and naturally quite a few did.

“Hey, that’s her!”

“That’s the mare from Equestria!”

“Rainbow Dash!”

Ponies from all walks of life shouted up as they saw the rainbow-maned pony from Equestria. And Dash being Dash she just smugly smiled and waved, basking in the attention and glory. It felt good to help ponies like this. She had barely even tried and she had changed them so much for the better. Maybe she was even more awesome than she thought? Things were about to get even better too once she defeated Blizzard.

It took them just a second to reach Tornado, he had seen them coming and greeted them with a warm smile. “Did Dusty let you out or did there still have to be a break-in?”

“Naw, he let me out,” Rainbow said to him. “Course then he said he was gonna hole-up in the jail and wait for all this to blow over.” She shrugged.

The group of soldiers landed in the middle of the street with the crowds of civilians parting to give them all room to talk with each other. Ponies watching on and whispered as the amazing mare from Equestria met with one of their most well-known Elders. Tornado checked out the onlookers himself, quite pleased with what was going on,

“Things are turning out far better than I ever expected them to,” he said.

“True enough, but what do we do now?” Crescent Moon asked. “We were just talking about how we bring order—the right kind of order—back to this city. Where do we go from here? Obviously things are going to have to change quite a bit and I honestly don’t even know where to start.”

“Aren’t we getting a little ahead of ourselves here? We still need to actually stop Blizzard whenever he decides to finally try and take care of things himself,” Fierce Current said.

Elder Tornado chewed on his lip as he thought. “I think we do need to root out all his loyalists before any real change can be made. But Fierce is right, Blizzard has to be defeated first, and the city needs to see it for sure. Right now everyone is just rioting and partying in defiance of him and that’s not going to stop until Blizzard is clearly beaten and removed from power. Rainbow Dash will also probably need to be seen free by everyone, with her popularity and how all of this started thanks to her she’s the symbol we need to unify everyone and make something constructive out of this revolution.”

“But again this is all a pipe dream until Blizzard is out,” Flashbolt said.

“Yes, so let’s lure him over here as quickly as possible,” Tornado agreed.

Rainbow Dash shrugged and floated up into the air. “Hey, that’s what I always had planned from the beginning. I’ll fly around over here and be as loud and visible as possible. I know he’s not gonna be able to resist coming to try and put me in my place again!”

“And meanwhile the rest of us will deal with any other soldiers that come,” Wild Wind said.

“Or anything really,” Summer Rains added.

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Let’s do this!”

Gale was not totally oblivious to what was happening outside (since the large ice window allowed him a good view of a large portion of the city) but he was firmly telling himself “That’s not my problem” as he paced back and forth inside this little control center for his vaunted and expertly taken care of Ice Sentinel crystals. Although he couldn’t help but be a little distracted when he started seeing a streak of rainbow flying off in the distance every now and then. It was obvious what that was. He may have been sympathetic to her and her little cabal but he had his duties too that he took quite a bit of pride in. Besides, it’s not like he could really do anything. He was willing to sit this out and see who won the day. Blizzard wasn’t nice but he wasn’t that bad either and Gale didn’t exactly want to take a stand against him, he just didn’t want to get involved.

However he was about to get very involved.

Commander Blizzard himself suddenly threw open the doors to the crystal room, causing Gale to jump up in shock.

“C-Commander?!” His voice cracked and a second later he cleared his throat in an attempt to sound normal. “What are you doing here, er, sir?”

The Commander completely ignored his question and walked over to the Ice Sentinel crystals, looking over and inspecting all twenty-nine of them briefly.

“A-Ah, of course, you needed something with the Ice Sentinels? I would be happy to help you,” he smiled and did his best to not sweat. It was quite the paranoid coincidence that Blizzard would barge in when he was thinking about that stuff.

“Filth.”

Gale’s smile cracked. “Pardon?”

Blizzard again seemingly ignored him and went to the crystal for Ice Sentinel number one, looking down at some of the other stands his eyes briefly settled on the empty one where the crystal for the Sentinel Rainbow Dash destroyed formerly stood. Blizzard’s face twitched and he turned his attention back to the number one crystal, lifting up a hoof to gently touch it. “All the filth in this city… there’s nothing else that can be done. It’s broken. It can’t be fixed, only rebuilt.”

“S-Sir?” Gale’s eyes shifted back and forth, something about the Commander making him very uncomfortable.

This time the Commander did slowly turn his gaze to Gale. “All of the Sentinels are still in perfect condition? They’re working as intended?”

“Um, yes, yes they are. Why? Do you wish to change where they are positioned?” He asked.

“No. I will be calling them to the city,” Blizzard said as he looked down at the crystal and deftly rubbed his hoof in a circle on it.

Gale watched as the crystal glowed with a bright light and then flashed several times, the flashes increasing in speed until the glowing stopped and the crystal seemingly returned to normal. Then Blizzard moved onto the next one.

Despite the fear inside of him and how he was fairly certain he didn’t want to hear the answer, Gale swallowed and asked Blizzard. “But… why are you having the Sentinels leave their guardposts and bringing them here?”

“It has to be done,” Blizzard said, his cold and empty eyes returning to nail Gale onto the spot. “There is no hope for the Empire anymore. You’ve turned your backs on the true way, you all will get what you deserve now.” His eyes suddenly filled with anger. “So fine. I’ve been driven to this, if this is the future of the Empire then you can all be buried in ice and I’ll start it over again. Somehow, someway. At the very least the filth will not be allowed to continue, I will not have this Empire and everything it stands for sullied. It shall not take on the vile ways of Equestria. And the weak pegasi that have brought it to this state will meet their end along with it.”

He touched the second crystal and made it go through the same business before going to the third one. “The Sentinels will be the instrument of my retribution. Once they arrive here they will lay waste to the city and all the disgusting pegasi in it.”

Gale’s jaw dropped. “You can’t possibly—I mean, that’s just crazy! You’re going to unleash our own Sentinels on the thousands of pegasi that live in this city?!”

“Yes,” Blizzard instantly and unflinchingly responded. He paused before he activated the third crystal. “Unless you’re going to stop me?”

The yellow pegasus stiffened up, eyes darting between Blizzard’s back and the window. He had to get out of here, had to warn someone. His fence-sitting was over with. Perhaps it was some sort of perverse irony considering what he had only minutes earlier been musing but Gale definitely had a side he was on now and something very important to do for them.

With a lunge he flew towards the window and covered his face with his hooves, breaking through the ice with a yelp of pain and flying out across the city towards Rainbow Dash. He beat his wings as hard as he could, there was no time to waste.

Commander Blizzard didn’t watch him go or pay Gale any mind, all he did was keep giving new orders to each Sentinel, telling them to come to the city.

Out at the western border of the Empire, one of the Ice Sentinels suddenly lurched from its stationary position. Crackling and creaking it stretched its body out and spread its wings, an ominous and evil glow coming from its eye-sockets. The whip-like tail cracked behind it. The razor sharp feathers on its wings shifted. It opened and closed each of its talons and cracked its jaw to make sure everything still moved right.

Finally it lifted its head and let out a bellowing roar. “KRRRAAAAOOOOOWWW!”

The ice monster shot up from the ground and turned—flying east towards the city of pegasi.

Rainbow Dash Rises III

By the time Blizzard finished giving new orders to all of the Ice Sentinels his two loyal captains had made it to the station with two-dozen soldiers flying behind them. They were all ready to listen and obey whatever their Commander asked of them. Blizzard and the Captains probably had hoped that there were more soldiers than this measly number they could’ve gathered, but they were at least the most loyal and trusted just like Blizzard had asked for. The cream of the crop essentially. Even though Blizzard’s opinion on that crop was decidedly low.

“Sir! We’re awaiting your orders!” West Wind said as he flew in through the newly broken window flanked by his brother and saluted the Commander.

Blizzard gave a curt nod and stepped away from the crystals, not looking in West or East Wind’s direction at all but instead walking towards the window and staring out past the large group of soldiers and into the chaos of the city. “Good. Your orders are very simple; you are to guard this building and the Sentinel control crystals at all cost. That is all.”

The twins shared a look, obviously aware they were left out of the loop and Blizzard wasn’t about to tell them why they were being ordered to do this. But at least the orders weren’t outrageous or anything like that. There was another concern they had though.

“Very well, sir, but what will you be doing?” East Wind asked the Commander.

The sharp eyes of the Commander narrowed as he caught glimpses of rainbow in the distance. “I’ll be personally taking care of the biggest problem. I have to.”

He truly did, even with what else he was planning he would never be able to get over it if he didn’t personally defeat and beat down Rainbow Dash once more. The conviction he had in the true pegasus way demanded it. He must crush the mare from Equestria who made his world topsy-turvy. Only then would victory really be his. And he was just angry too, he wanted to break something—preferably something he really hated.

Blizzard spread his impressive wings and jumped through the broken window, flying out and towards Rainbow Dash while the other soldiers were left behind to protect the Ice Sentinels.

“You guys wanna see me do another double-loop? I’m great at this kind of stunt-flying!” Rainbow Dash yelled to the ponies on the streets below as she flew about doing loops, corkscrews, and other maneuvers to entertain the crowd and grab Blizzard’s attention as quick and easy as possible. Despite how dark the skies were thanks to the storm the mood around here was light and happy.

The ponies cheered and Rainbow took that as a definitive yes, she zoomed up high and fast, almost enough to leave a rainbow trail behind thanks to her speed, and did the routine maneuver that she had probably done a thousand times in her life by now. A tight turn upside down and a flip allowed her to create the tight loop and the moment she came out of that first turn she looped again just as quickly. Any Wonderbolt worth their salt could’ve pulled it off with the speed and dexterity she did, well, maybe not quite as good as she did it. But to these ponies anyways who weren’t used to seeing fancy aerial stunts and stuff it was pretty cool. She doubted many in this city could’ve made a tight loop like she could.

“Keep going, Rainbow Dash!” Fierce Current yelled from below.

“You’ve got more than that don’t you?!” Clear Skies yelled with a grin.

“Of course I do!” Dash shouted back and got ready to do something else. “Wanna see something really special?” She revved up her engines… and then stopped as she saw a mare she recognized flying her way. “Snowshine?”

Rainbow Dash dropped to the streets as Snowshine came in, with a passenger riding on her back.

The other soldiers and civilians that had been standing around down there looked along with Rainbow Dash and saw Snowshine and Aurora descend to the street. Once they landed, Aurora hopped off her sister-in-law’s back and the two mares smiled as they trotted towards Rainbow Dash and Summer Rains.

Summer Rains though was a bit confused and worried to see his little sister out here. “Wha—why are you here?” His eyes shifted to his wife. “Why’d you bring her with you when it’s dangerous out here?”

The mare wilted slightly but put on an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry but she came running out of the house saying there was no way she was staying inside and I figured it would be best if I kept an eye on her.”

“Yeah don’t blame her, bro!” Aurora grinned up at Summer. “I made her do it!”

Summer Rains groaned and shook his head. “That is not something you should be so proud of...”

“Well I can’t blame her for wanting to come here,” Rainbow Dash said and walked up to muss up the filly’s mane. “Good to see you again, kid.”

“Rainbow Dash!” Aurora hugged her. “I knew you’d be okay, you’re so cool!”

“I’m happy to see you too,” Snowshine smiled at her.

“Yeah, yeah...” Rainbow Dash blushed slightly. She liked attention a lot but this was that sappy, sentimental, kind of attention that was a little embarrassing.

“Er, sorry to break up the reunion but we should be on the lookout for Blizzard and all,” Crescent Moon said as he walked up to the four of them, the rest of the squad and Elder Tornado behind him.

Rainbow Dash grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I should probably get back up there. Maybe you guys should fly up too and clear out any of his soldiers?” She said to her squad.

“Actually, speaking of that...” Wild Wind said as he looked up at the sky and narrowed his eyes. “I’ve been keeping watch on the skies already while you were doing your stunts. There have been less soldiers around in the air ever since you started, not more. I’ve been wondering if they’ve been called somewhere else or if Blizzard ordered them to him?”

“Perhaps Blizzard has seen Rainbow Dash and he’s preparing something?” Tornado suggested.

Dash waved a hoof to dismiss their concerns. “It doesn’t matter, Blizzard’s literally the only guy we need to worry about, and you’re not the ones who have to worry about him. I’m gonna get back up there, he’ll definitely come for me.” She hunkered down and bent her legs in preparation to jet back into the sky, but again she was interrupted by something.

“Heeeeyyyy! Hey!” A voice was calling out from the opposite direction that Snowshine and Aurora had flown in from.

Now their attention was drawn to the sight of a yellow pegasus wearing a toga coming towards them at full speed. Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof above her eyes and squinted to get a better look. The stallion was huffing and puffing as he shot down to the street, nearly losing his footing as he stumbled to a stop while others tried to get out of his way.

Gale’s wings were on fire from beating them so hard to make it here as fast as possible, his breathing came out ragged as he staggered towards Rainbow Dash and the other soldiers.

Realization clicked in Rainbow Dash’s mind as she realized she had met this guy before. “Hey, I know you! You’re-”

“There’s no time!” Gale cut her off, desperately trying to catch his breath so he could tell her what he knew. “Blizzard’s lost his mind, he’s going to kill everyone!”

The rest of the civilians looked worried when they heard that, backing away and muttering to each other, Snowshine and Aurora similarly looked scared. Rainbow Dash and the soldiers shared a serious glance and surrounded the yellow pegasus.

“What do you mean? What’s he doing?” Rainbow Dash asked him.

“The—the Ice Sentinels,” Gale still struggled with his breathing. “He’s used his command authority to tell them to come to the city, he’s going to unleash them on all the ponies here!”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and she blanched. Almost thirty of those things coming here right now? The trouble she had with just one… and no other pony here would be able to stand up to those things for more than a second considering how difficult it was for her. They’d tear through this city like nothing. The other soldiers, especially Flashbolt and Skychaser, were of a similar mind. If those things got here they might be doomed.

“This is very bad,” Elder Tornado said. “Those creations of Weathervane have safely guarded our borders for hundreds of years, I don’t know how you defeated one of them Rainbow Dash but with all of them coming now...”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash grimaced in acknowledgment.

“We can’t let things just unfold like that, what do we do now?” Wild Wind asked.

Rainbow Dash looked in the direction Gale had come from, towards the building she had briefly visited once before. “Okay, new plan. Forget about Blizzard for now, we have to get to those crystals and destroy them before the Sentinels get here.” She turned her face to Gale. “That’ll destroy them, right? You told me that when I defeated the one Sentinel that the crystal for it shattered right?”

Gale nodded. “Yes. But, well… I don’t know if they have such a mutual relationship. I mean it’s not like we can test something like that. It’s possible that destroying the crystal will just make them impossible to control.”

“Well it’s better than nothing,” Flashbolt said. “Besides it’s not like we’d be able to convince or force Blizzard to undo his commands. Even if that’s all destroying the crystals does we should do it.”

“And possibly deal with fighting thirty of those monsters in short time...” Skychaser lamented.

“Don’t worry about that,” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “We’re just gonna destroy those crystals and we can deal with whatever happens after.”

“It won’t be so easy.”

The deep voice from above caused everyone, soldier and civilian alike, to look up.

Commander Blizzard floated in the air, his large wings flapping lazily to keep him just suspended above the roofs of the buildings lining the streets. Upon seeing him most of the ponies gasped in fear and fled indoors. Rainbow Dash and her squad stood side by side on the street together while Gale yelped and ran behind them to stand with Tornado, Snowshine, and Aurora. She knew the others were probably frightened of Blizzard too but it was reassuring to have them still stand tall with her to face him down.

“Rainbow Dash,” Blizzard said in a cool voice as he locked eyes with her. “Been a few weeks since we’ve seen each other. Was having your body broken to pieces by me not enough? You truly wish for worse to happen to you?”

“Shut up you monster,” Rainbow glared at him.

He snorted. “They’ve all brought this on themselves by being weak. Look at how they cowered just now instead of standing with you. Look at how even your own squad is trembling.”

Rainbow Dash glanced to the side and saw that he wasn’t lying, Skychaser and Crescent Moon were outright shaking while a couple of the others looked to be on the verge of it.

"This city, these ponies, don’t deserve me. They don’t deserve to live the true pegasus way. It’s all a disgrace. So I’m getting rid of it,” Blizzard shrugged.

“No you’re not! I’m stopping you!” Dash roared.

“Try it. I would welcome it. Once again I’ll beat and crush you in front of everyone. The last hope these pathetic ponies have will die in front of them just in time for the Sentinels to arrive and finish things,” he narrowed his eyes.

“Grr!” Rainbow Dash growled and ground her teeth together before glancing to Wild Wind who was right beside her. “Get over to those crystals, I’ll fight him.”

“But-” Wild Wind started.

“Do it! Destroying those crystals is the most important thing now!” Dash yelled.

Wild Wind looked like he wanted to argue some more, but clamped his mouth shut and nodded. Unfurling his wings he took to the sky. “Everyone, let’s go!”

The other soldiers of Rainbow Dash’s squad followed him, each of them giving Rainbow Dash a brief look.

“Hah,” Blizzard mocked as he saw the seven of them rise up. “Like I said, it won’t be so easy. Soldiers actually loyal to me guard those crystals now and they far outnumber you.”

“Ignore him, we can find more on our way over!” Crescent Moon said and flew off towards the Ice Sentinel control station, with the others quickly following.

Blizzard didn’t even watch them go. He was far too focused on staring down Rainbow Dash. The both of them knew this was likely the last time they would ever face each other. This wasn’t a simple sanctioned coliseum fight to resolve a dispute. This was a real battle for keeps. The sky rumbled with thunder and lightning around the city, the dark clouds shifting and rolling like a hurricane blowing over the mountain. Rainbow Dash in all honesty still wasn’t sure exactly how she would beat the flying boulder of a pegasus, but she’d give it her best the same as always. For herself and for all the ponies in this city she would defeat him.

Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder at Tornado, Gale, Snowshine, and Aurora. “Stay safe, okay?”

With a crack of her neck she pumped her wings and rose up into the sky to face Commander Blizzard eye to eye.

Rainbow Dash Rises V

The dark and stormy skies didn’t represent the mood of the joyous city at all anymore. Loyal soldiers to Blizzard were being defeated or gave up at every level while civilians and soldiers on the side of Rainbow Dash partied and celebrated all over. The rumbling of thunder and the occasional crack of lightning didn’t dissuade anybody. And the cheering for Rainbow Dash to defeat Commander Blizzard only grew louder the more the two of them were seen over the city, Rainbow Dash having led him on a wild chase over buildings and streets to show off what she was doing to everyone. The more Blizzard had to chase her the more he heard the cheering and the angrier he got. Rainbow Dash seemed to completely bask in it and get even stronger, she didn’t feel tired or worried at all anymore.

“Fight me! I’ll break you into pieces and show you off to all these filthy traitors cheering for you!” Blizzard yelled as he flew at breakneck speed in pursuit of her.

“Catch me, loser!” She stuck out her tongue at him and sped up, leaving a rainbow trail in the air for the ponies below to see.

A lot of them looked up and watched her flying so carefree while their angry Commander chased her down. They were awed, inspired, it was incredible what she was doing. None of them would’ve ever thought they could feel this way before, or see a mare doing what Rainbow Dash was doing right now. Was it because she was from Equestria? Was it just because of who she was? They didn’t know for sure but it was obvious that Rainbow Dash was an incredible pony that brightened up wherever she was.

Blizzard was about to snap hearing them cheer for her and being unable to take his anger out on the mare from Equestria. He ground his teeth and narrowed his eyes at her, feeling the veins in his neck and forehead practically popping out.

“If you don’t come here and fight me I’ll go down to the streets and deal with the traitors myself!” He threatened.

Great… Rainbow Dash frowned. She definitely couldn’t let him go and hurt the ponies in this city because she was just flying around. She wanted to mess around with him more and make him as furious and humiliated as possible but that was going to have to stop for now.

Rainbow Dash paused in midair and turned, flying to face Blizzard while the large stallion grinned.

“Fine! You want a fight? You’ve got one!” Rainbow Dash dodged the first punch again from the stallion and kicked the inside of his knee, then punched him as hard as she could in the face.

Blizzard just grinned harder. “Is that what you’re doing? I thought you were trying to give me a massage.”

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and hopped over him, kicking him at the base of the neck when she did and then landing on his armored back. Her attacks may not have done much but he couldn’t hit her from here either. She grabbed his wings and tried to keep him from flying the way he wanted, it was almost like she was pulling an Applejack and wrangling him. She tried to yank and twist his wings to dislocate or hurt them but she might as well have been trying to pull a tree out of the ground by the roots.

“Get off!” Blizzard roared and started bucking around in the air, trying to knock her off him.

Rainbow Dash was amazed he was still able to fly like this, just more proof of his strength. His wild movements were also becoming a problem for her to stay on him and she tried to steady her hooves against him but the smooth armor made that difficult. If he wasn’t wearing it she was sure she could dig her hooves into his back and balance enough with her wings that he couldn’t knock her off but like this she was close to slipping and being thrown.

“Why don’t you just shut up and give up? You’ve already lost anyways!” Dash yelled at him.

“Would you give up?” He barked back at her.

She didn’t answer, but he did have a point there. Not that she was going to say “no” to him.

Instead she leaned down and stiffly headbutted the back of his head. But that just hurt her. Despite the lack of damage she was doing, Blizzard was still annoyed and he redoubled his efforts to get the pesky fly off of him. Twisting around in the air he finally managed to get her back hooves to slip off his armor and Rainbow Dash lost all her leverage.

She let go of his wings and tried to fly off but not before she was smacked in her underside by one of his wings and thrown far away. Dash rolled end over end in the air thanks to the force of his blow before she finally caught herself. Rubbing her chest she winced, it hurt but she was pretty sure nothing was broken. That was good at least.

She wasn’t exactly feeling good though. “This is so dumb, I can’t do anything again! It’s like when I fought the stupid ice monster thing, I couldn’t beat it on my own...” Rainbow Dash frowned and looked at the storm raging around the city. “I had to use something else.” She nodded to herself. “Okay, got a plan but I’m gonna need a little help.”

“Rainbow Dash!” Blizzard yelled and flew at her.

“And I’m gonna need a distraction for a second...” she grimaced.

Luckily for her the world decided to give her a break. A number of soldiers who had seen her fighting with Blizzard and saw that she needed help flew up from the streets to attack him. Rainbow Dash didn’t exactly want this, since she knew how poorly it would end for those soldiers, but it was still a huge help.

“We’ve got your back, Rainbow Dash!” One of the soldiers said as the whole group flew in-between her and Blizzard.

“Thanks but be careful! I don’t want any of you guys getting hurt but can you just hold him back for a minute?” She asked.

The soldier gulped but nodded. “We’ll try...”

Rainbow Dash sped off while behind her she heard Blizzard practically slam into the other soldiers like a freight train. But she couldn’t do anything for them right now, it was more helpful if she got back to Aurora and the others. She had to talk to Snowshine and Gale. Pushing herself as hard as she could she left a rainbow trail in the sky on the way to the streets where she had left her friends earlier. Hopefully they had stayed in the same spot and hadn’t gone anywhere else. She’d only need to talk to them for a second before starting her fight with Blizzard again. Getting back to the streets and buildings close to the jail, Rainbow Dash vigilantly looked all over the ground.

“There they are!” She yelped in delight when she spotted them, still roughly in the same spot on the street with a bunch of other ponies around them now.

She dove down and put the brakes on, coming to a screeching stop with a cloud of dust kicked up behind her. The others were quite surprised to see her suddenly back after leaving to lead Blizzard on a chase over the city.

“Rainbow Dash? Did you win?” Aurora asked with a big hopeful smile.

Dash grinned but shook her said. “Sorry kid, not yet, I need your sister’s help first.”

“Me?” Snowshine pointed at herself, plainly shocked.

“Yep, Gale too,” Rainbow looked at him.

“Oh dear...” Gale gulped.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing crazy. But I need the two of you to go fly out to the edge of the city and gather up a bunch of storm clouds, lightning clouds, ones that look really charged up and like they’ll blow at any second!” She told them.

“Why?” Snowshine asked.

“No time! Blizzard’s still after me, just put a whole bunch of them in a group out there and do it fast!” Dash said and then lifted off, knowing Blizzard was probably already looking for her again.

She was right.

“Rainbow Dash, you coward! I told you to stop running and fight me!” Commander Blizzard yelled in outrage as he came for her.

“Yeah I heard you!” She taunted and flew towards him while out of the corner of her eye she saw Gale and Snowshine taking off. Hope you guys go fast…

Summer Rains ducked under a punch and headbutted the soldier attacking him right in the chin. And since he was wearing his helmet that soldier wasn’t getting back up for this fight. The rattled soldier limply fell to the ground below while another came from behind and tackled Summer Rains. The two of them ended up on a rooftop with the loyal soldier preparing to beat down Summer, only for Summer to flap his wings against the roof and use them to push off of it, knocking the other soldier off him and then punching him in the face.

All around him the fight was raging as over thirty pegasi all battled in the air around the Sentinel station. His whole squad had to fight multiple other soldiers at once, and he was proud to say that they were doing an exceptionally good job. He was tired and had taken some hits but he felt invincible for some reason. The adrenaline rushing through his veins was greater than any time before in his life. It must’ve been the same for all of them.

Skychaser and Flashbolt flew back to back, taking on a circle of six other soldiers all trying to fight them at once. The two cousins covered their blindspots and weaknesses perfectly, so in sync they didn’t even need to talk to or signal each other to tell the other what they needed. One enemy soldier came at Flashbolt’s left while another came from below at the same time. Flashbolt didn’t even bother with the one coming at his left, Skychaser kicked him in the side with his back legs while Flashbolt blocked the one coming from below with his hooves and clubbed him between the eyes with a wing. The two cousins continued to fight on and on like that, doing a good job of keeping safe.

Fierce Current and Clear Skies meanwhile were just going blow for blow and throwing their weight around with every soldier that came at them. The two of them were probably the best actual fighters in the group and they were showing that now. Bruises covered the unarmored portions of their bodies but they just kept going, tossing their opponents away and powering through any hits they took. One soldier jumped on Fierce’s back and put him in a headlock but Fierce just grabbed his hooves and threw him over his head, right into another soldier that was flying at him, the two smashed into each other and fell onto the roof of another building. Clear Skies grabbed two enemies around the neck and bonked their helmeted heads together. With a satisfied smirk he dropped the unconscious soldiers to the streets below.

“This aint so bad,” Clear Skies said.

“We’re just too good,” Fierce Current grinned.

At the same time, Wild Wind was doing much the same as Summer Rains, flying around and dealing with any soldiers that came after him one by one. He stuck to the air more and focused on tiring out and avoiding his opponents more than directly engaging them though. A few soldiers that tried to catch him he kicked away or led them to almost fly into each other. One enemy soldier came from above and Wild Wind briefly had to turn over and block a few punches before kneeing him in the stomach and knocking the wind out of him. He really didn’t want to hurt any of them too badly.

Another couple of soldiers came flying at him and the white pegasus frowned. “Please just let us through, we’re doing this for your sake as well.”

They didn’t answer and Wild Wind was forced to continue his fight.

Crescent Moon was the one closest to the crystals, facing off with East and West Wind as the two Captains floated right outside the broken window, acting as gatekeepers.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Lieutenant?” East Wind asked.

“You’re not giving me a choice,” Crescent answered.

“And you think you can take the two of us together?” West Wind raised an eyebrow. “I think you overestimate your abilities.”

Crescent frowned and tensed up. “It just has to be done.”

None of them spoke anymore words but in the flash of a second East and West Wind darted to the sides of Crescent Moon in a pincer attack. East coming from his left and West coming from his right. The Captains were skilled and ruthless fighters and Crescent was pretty sure that he couldn’t win on a normal day. Probably even just against one of them. But this wasn’t a normal day and he would never give in, even if they broke his wings he’d keep fighting.

West Wind was slightly faster and Crescent allowed him to barrel into his side, the twin grabbing him around the midsection to hold him steady while East Wind came in to punch him in the jaw without resistance and probably try to knock him out quickly. But Crescent instead elbowed West in the face and ducked his head down right as East tried to punch him so the purple stallion’s hoof instead bounced right off of Crescent’s helmet. The blunt force trauma still hurt his head pretty bad but East’s hoof was probably feeling worse.

Of course West reacted to getting hit with uppercutting Crescent Moon right in the stomach, making him wheeze and fly upwards a little to put some distance between himself and the two Captains. East Wind only had to rub his hoof for a second before he flew at the Lieutenant with his twin brother right behind him. East Wind threw a punch that Crescent dodged but West Wind suddenly appeared behind his brother and punched straight at Crescent’s face. This time the caramel pony couldn’t react in time and West’s hoof struck him dead on.

The force of the blow knocked Crescent Moon’s helmet off and he momentarily lost his focus enough that he fell down onto the roof of another building, his helmet clattering next to him.

“Traitors like you get exactly what you deserve!” East Wind said and dove for Crescent, West Wind flying behind him again in the same formation.

“Cry about it!” Crescent grumbled and grabbed his helmet to throw at East Wind.

The Captain dipped his head underneath it… so instead it flew right into West Wind’s face, who didn’t have as good of a view of it.

“Brother!” East Wind yelled in shock as West Wind crumpled and fell to the roof like a sack of dirt. But he didn’t have the time to help his brother out as Crescent Moon flew right at him and tackled him. The momentum from the traitor carried them over the edge of the roof and they fell in a jumbled mess to the street below, punching each other the whole way down.

Neither of their wings could get the lift they needed to fly with the way they were tumbling and grabbing at each other so Crescent Moon made the smart move of twisting around and putting East Wind beneath him so the purple stallion was the one to hit the ground directly with Crescent on top of him. By the time East Wind realized what he was doing it was too late and they landed with a crunch on the street, East’s armor saving him from anything permanent but still taking him out of the fight.

The twin whimpered on the ground, coughing with his wings splayed out while Crescent Moon climbed off of him and limped to stand next to the wall of the building.

He didn’t have the chance to relax though as West Wind dove down from the roof to attack him, having recovered from being hit in the face by Crescent’s helmet. The angry twin was red in the face from both his injury and his anger. He jumped on top of Crescent and the two rolled over the street, each one trying to keep the other pinned down as any semblance of a clean fight had been lost.

West Wind won out and put one hoof on Crescent’s chest to keep him down before repeatedly punching him in the face. “You’re… not… winning!” He spoke out in labored breaths during the beatdown.

Crescent’s hoof shot up and suddenly blocked the last punch while he swung his wing across West Wind’s face. The purple pegasus staggered back and Crescent got up, shoulder-checking West Wind and knocking him down. Before West Wind could stand Crescent Moon kneeled on his side, keeping his free wing pinned to his armor, and kicked the Captain hard in the chin. His head bounced back and his helmet popped off and just like his brother he was out of commission.

Two out of two down.

The Lieutenant took a single deep breath and flapped his aching wings so he could get back up higher on the level of the station’s broken window and see the rest of his squad. “Well that at least went far better than expected.”

He got into the air right as another soldier came flying down right past him, tossed by Clear Skies. Crescent grinned and looked to see six victorious ponies flying together. The roofs and streets around them were littered with twenty-four groaning and defeated soldiers loyal to Blizzard. Rainbow Dash would definitely be proud of them. Crescent Moon waved to the others and they waved back, smiling and slowly flying over until a loud roar of thunder broke out above them.

The soldiers flinched and looked up at the dark sky, that thunder and the frightful storm was like a reminder that they didn’t have the time to chat. Crescent Moon frowned and looked towards the broken window.

“Come on, we need to destroy those crystals immediately!”

At the very edge of the city where there was nothing below them but ground and above them but sky, while the storm started to rage harder and harder, two pegasi flew about gathering up small clouds. The staticy black clouds were buzzing with barely restrained lightning and they had to be careful to not accidentally buzz themselves but Snowshine and Gale were still doing a decent job of rounding some up. Rainbow Dash’s instructions were vague so there were just about ten of them randomly floating around together so far. Snowshine looked down at the tundra that sat far below their floating mountain city, wondering if Rainbow Dash actually wanted the clouds all the way out here or still above the other clouds that made up the bottom of the city.

Her brief lapse in concentration came back to bite her when while nudging one of the angry clouds it zapped her. “Ouch!” The mare yelped and brought her hoof to her mouth, blowing on it. “Ohhh, ow, ow, ow… I’ve never moved a cloud in my life...”

“Every pegasi has the natural instincts to do it,” Gale “helpfully” said as he moved some of the clouds closer together.

That just made Snowshine frown. “Hmph.” She looked over the clouds they had gathered and then back at the city, where they could still make out the very eye-catching colors of Rainbow Dash as she fought with and evaded Blizzard. “Do you think we’ve gathered enough clouds?”

“I have no idea. I don’t even know what she’s planning on using them for,” Gale said as he corralled some steadily buzzing clouds closer together.

Snowshine bit her lip and decided she’d just have to have faith in Rainbow Dash. She’d probably be looking out to come over here soon so they should finish up with getting these clouds together as quickly as possible.

Rainbow Dash Rises VI

The seven squadmates of Rainbow Dash stood before the various stands where the crystals that controlled the Ice Sentinels floated. Twenty-nine in total that had to be destroyed if they wanted to protect the city. Even if Rainbow Dash defeated Blizzard, as long as the Ice Sentinels were still coming it wouldn’t amount to much. None of them were even really sure how fast the Ice Sentinels traveled or how much time they had until they arrived but they didn’t want to bet on it being long. And yet the seven of them hesitated. The uncertainty was putting a shadow of doubt in their minds as they struggled with the decision to actually destroy the crystals or not. The lack of really knowing what would happen when they did that was eating away at them.

“Okay, so are we totally sure we know what we’re doing?” Summer Rains asked the others.

“Nope,” Wild Wind shook his head.

“Gale was not remotely confident that destroying the crystals would lead to the Ice Sentinels being destroyed,” Flashbolt muttered. “And aside from Blizzard he should be the most knowledgeable.”

Crescent Moon clicked his tongue and walked up to the nearest podium. “Look, thinking isn’t going to get us anywhere. Neither is standing around like a bunch of stooges talking about it. We’ve been emulating Rainbow Dash haven’t we? And I’m pretty sure she’d just break all these darn things without thinking twice about it.”

“That is almost definitely correct,” Fierce Current nodded with a nonplussed expression on his face. The others had to agree with him as well.

“Okay so let’s get on with it then!” Crescent Moon looked at the first crystal with a rivulet of sweat running down the side of his head. Outside the storm still raged, flashes of lightning and loud explosions of thunder becoming ever more frequent. His hoof shook as he raised it to the crystal and his eyes swung over to Wild Wind. “Give me your helmet for a second.”

Wild Wind shrugged and took it off, hoofing it over to the Lieutenant. Crescent Moon raised it high above his head… and then smashed it down like a hammer on the glowing crystal, utterly shattering it into a million little pieces.

Besides the high-pitched screech that caused them to cover their ears when he did that nothing else seemed to happen.

“Well I suppose it’s impossible for us to actually see if the Sentinel that crystal is attached to is destroyed or not...” Crescent said.

The sound of another crystal being smashed reverberated through the room and the others looked over to see Clear Skies turning a random one into dust with his own helmet. He just raised a questioning eyebrow at their looks.

“What? If we already destroyed one we might as well hurry up and break the rest,” he said.

“True enough,” Crescent sighed and went to the next nearest. “Alright everyone, time to hope for the best. Break them all.”

The pegasi soldiers who had only so recently been loyal warriors under the command of Blizzard got to work destroying his tools of subjugation and terror. Crystal after crystal was quickly broken, each one letting out a pained shriek, stands were toppled over, the entire station was junked. It was like something that symbolized how the Empire would change, out with the old and in with the new. No longer would the pegasi of this city live their boxed in lives whether they be stallion or mare, soldier or civilian, with the Ice Sentinels gone and Blizzard soon to be defeated it would usher in a new era.

Ice Sentinel number one was flying towards the city after being called on by Commander Blizzard. It was making a beeline straight from its former post directly back to its original home. All of the other Sentinels were doing the same thing, converging on the city from the west and the south. It wouldn’t be long before they appeared in the skies and started laying waste to everything they saw. No pony would be spared. Their vicious and indiscriminate nature would see to that.

A spasm shook the flying Sentinel.

The glowing eyes turned out and then flickered back on.

For something that didn’t, couldn’t, truly think it must’ve had a difficult time grasping what was going on. Its eyes kept flickering on and off, getting dimmer each time, and its wings no longer moved. Steadily it stopped flying at all and just sort of glided through the air, only barely moving forwards thanks to its prior momentum.

Ice feathers fell from its wings, spikes broke off from its back, joint after joint in its tail disconnected and started to fall to the ground below.

It couldn’t bellow. Couldn’t stop any of this.

Finally, the glow from its eyes blinked out of existence for the last time, and the entire icy skeleton fell to pieces in the sky.

Commander Blizzard’s large hoof took up all of Rainbow Dash’s vision as he tried to bash her face in. She had to bend over backwards to just barely avoid it, watching it practically slide right over her eyes and clip the bangs of her mane lying over her face. She turned that bend into a backflip and kicked up against his extended leg to launch herself a bit below him and give her a second to catch her breath. They had been fighting like this for too long and she was actually starting to get a little tired having to dodge everything he threw at her and all of her attempted attacks not fazing him.

Snowshine and Gale should be done by now… Rainbow Dash thought while Blizzard dove at her. Tch, this guy never stops!

The wind from the storm had picked up considerably and both ponies had their manes and tails billowing about thanks to it. It wasn’t close to the windiest Rainbow Dash had flown in but it was in the running for most hectic and dangerous. Blizzard had no trouble moving through the hurricane force winds either and he came down to try and club her over the head with his wing. Considering she was pretty sure he could shatter stone with those wings she really wanted to avoid that.

Rainbow Dash hopped over his wing and kicked him in the face when she went. Something like that pretty much only hurt her though. She had been hitting him too much and her hooves ached, they’d be a mess of bruises tomorrow morning.

But it was only a small price to pay.

“Hey loser you still haven’t managed to get a single good hit on me!” Rainbow Dash shouted at him and then flew away laughing.

If it was possible for steam to shoot out of a pony’s ears then it would definitely be coming out of Blizzard right now.

She couldn’t help but grin at the look on his face as he chased after her. He was too angry now to even think of doing anything but breaking her to pieces, there were no more threats or strategies from him, he was flying in a blind rage at the pony he hated more than anything. She zigzagged more than she needed to as she led him to the edge of the city, just in case Snowshine and Gale needed more time. To her dismay though Blizzard was catching up to her. That stallion was already very fast and with her being a little tired and the adrenaline and anger in his veins… he might get her before she got to the open sky and the clouds out there.

Rainbow Dash ditched her grin and looked ahead, narrowing her eyes to see if she could spot any cluster of little stormclouds out there. Vaguely against the dark clouds encroaching on the city she could make out a dot of white with some yellow—Gale and Snowshine no doubt. Or maybe just his toga… no, there were definitely two shapes there. They looked like they were flying back towards the lowest level of the city. Trailing her eyes in the direction they were flying away from she saw that, sure enough, there was a big group of steadily buzzing and crackling stormclouds flying out over open sky.

“Okay, time to do this.”

Commander Blizzard though saw that he was steadily gaining on her, that fact filled him with even greater power and determination and with a single hard flap of his wings he shot towards her, getting right to her rainbow tail. The Commander grinned in pleasure as he prepared to knock her out of the sky.

Rainbow Dash could hear him slicing through the air to reach her, she looked over her shoulder just in time to see his hoof swatting down towards her back and jolted out of the way. Blizzard wasn’t done though, he kept right on her and went for hit after hit. With how strong those hooves were he’d probably break her back with a slight touch. She had to keep dodging to the left and right, making sure he didn’t clip her wings either, while she redoubled her efforts to get out there to the clouds Snowshine and Gale had gathered.

“You weak pest!” Blizzard growled, nearly foaming at the mouth, as he struck out at her time and again. His strikes were still accurate and fast and Rainbow Dash just barely avoided a few of them.

“If I’m so weak then why am I still fighting you after all the other times you beat me, huh?” She taunted him. “Face it, you’re the one who’s too weak to accept what’s happened. I’m not afraid of you and I’m never going to lose to you again.”

“Raaarrrrrghh!” He leaned his head down and tried to bite her.

Rainbow Dash’s pupils shrank and she ducked her head just out of the way of his jaws. “Woah!”

He followed it up with just trying to headbutt her in the back but Dash did a quick loop in the air, rolling with his head and actually ending up above him. That hardly meant she was safe since he kept biting at her hooves. His teeth sounded like two hammers hitting each other each time his jaw closed on empty air. A steel cable would be severed if it came between those mighty chompers. Rainbow Dash’s own little hooves would fare even worse.

Each time he missed though she was able to kick him in the side of the head, or the chin, or right between the eyes. It didn’t do much but it made her feel good.

She wondered how many ponies were still watching them from below. With the way the storm was raging most probably took shelter inside their homes. But she hoped there were still a ton of them paying close attention to her fight with Blizzard, the thought invigorates her and her defeating Blizzard is definitely something she’d want the entire city to see. It would be an irreplaceably amazing memory for the pegasi.

What she had planned was going to be pretty dazzling and cool too.

Dash had pretty much made it to the edge of the city now, the clouds were close. But so was Blizzard. She’d have to turn and face him soon once she was around the charged up lightning clouds. This chase had gone on long enough but she still had to lead him where she wanted and then she could finish the fight with him.

“Why don’t you stop trying to bite me and we can get back to fighting like normal?!” Rainbow Dash yelled at him.

“Big talk from the one running away!” He shouted back.

Rainbow Dash passed right by one of the lightning-filled clouds and grinned. “Then let’s stop flying and get to fighting!” She zoomed out and did a sharp button-hook, facing him in the air.

Blizzard came to a screeching halt even though he could’ve just tried to plow into her. A wild and savage smile spread on his face. “Hah, it’s your funeral, Rainbow Dash. I’m going to savor this.” He wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings at all. The storm, the strangely gathered clouds floating around him, they might as well not have even existed. Rainbow Dash was the only thing in his world right now.

“We’ll see,” Dash flew at him, kicking one of the clouds right behind her as she went and getting it to spark.

She was aimed right for his head so Blizzard tilted to the side and let her fly past, attempting to hit her in the stomach with his wing. Dash bounced off it with her front hooves though and flew a circle around Blizzard, discreetly hitting a couple more clouds as she passed and getting them to buzz with static energy. Blizzard then came at her, punching at her with a one-two combo that Dash parried with her wings before he brought his right wing overhead to club her. Rainbow Dash dove down and jumped off another stormcloud, getting a slight growl of thunder and lightning from it as she shot into Blizzard’s stomach, pummeling him repeatedly there before flying away to avoid his retaliation.

“Wretch!” Blizzard flew at Rainbow Dash while she floated right in front of another cloud. He came in with a left hook and then a right jab which Rainbow Dash both dodged. He then spread his legs and wings out and with his bigger size tried to grapple her, getting her in a bear hug and cutting off her ways of escape from him.

Rainbow Dash took her chances and flew against his right wing, thinking if she hit it head on with full force she could force her way past it. She kicked off the cloud behind her and set it sparking and ducked her head in while pressing her wings hard to her sides. Like an arrow she shot at his wing and made it buckle slightly when she hit it, bouncing off and over it. When Blizzard turned to her with a snarl from his throat a bit of static electricity from the cloud shocked his armor, not that he could feel it at this point.

“You’re just delaying the inevitable!” Blizzard said to her as Rainbow Dash recovered, flying upright and shaking her head.

Rainbow Dash blinked, looking at all the buzzing and electric clouds surrounding them, along with one more that was right next to her. “Uhh, I wasn’t delaying really. It was more like preparing.”

“What are you talking about?” Blizzard furrowed his brow at her.

“Dude. Look around you,” the mare pointed at the clouds. “And look at what you’re wearing.”

Blizzard finally seemed to realize just what was going on, his eyes going from one lightning-ready cloud to the next, before finally looking down at the metal armor he was wearing. “You… you can’t be serious...”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I was on the weather team back home for a long time. I know how to make clouds like this do what I want them to. And you’re a big flying lightning rod right now.”

“How dare you...” Blizzard clenched his hooves in anger. “Coward! To do something like this just because you know you can’t beat me!”

The mare from Equestria frowned. “You know what? I am annoyed that I can’t just punch you and beat you like normal. But defeating you is way more important than that. I have to do it for all of these ponies and everyone else you were going to hurt in the future. So bye. This isn’t your Empire anymore, and your true pegasus way or whatever dumb thing you called it is done.”

She tapped the lightning cloud next to her with her hoof.

Whatever angry response Blizzard could have made against her was drowned out as lightning crackled from the cloud, all the others around them joining in unison, the charged particles reacting together with Blizzard at their center. Lightning arced from cloud to cloud, the hair on Blizzard’s body started sticking up and he could feel the fuzzy static in the air around him. The lightning grew brighter and brighter and at its apex all the clouds released their energy at once, a massive bolt of untold voltage converging on Blizzard

He couldn’t even scream, Rainbow Dash had to squint her eyes and turn away thanks to the brightness, everyone in the city was going to be able to see this.

After a few seconds the lightning strike stopped and Dash looked back. The former Commander was twitching in midair, coughing and smoking underneath blackened armor, but amazingly still alive. Rainbow Dash just stared at him with an unimpressed look, not giving him the satisfaction. He was seemingly still conscious with his eyes glaring right back at her—until they rolled back into his head and Blizzard’s wings failed him, the strong but no longer powerful pegasus plummeting burnt and out cold to the ground below.

And the Adventure Continues

Maybe the world just had a sense for the dramatic as well because shortly after Rainbow Dash’s victory over Blizzard the storm around the floating mountain began to break. Clouds parted, the sky cleared up, thunder got quieter and less frequent, it started to look like a normal day all over the city. Warm rays of sunlight came down and bathed the streets and ponies like it was baptizing the creation of a new world. All across the city Rainbow Dash could hear ponies cheering and celebrating, whether they knew what had just happened or not was irrelevant, they were partying to their hearts’ content thanks to the freedom and joy brought to them by Rainbow Dash. Blizzard really had already lost long ago, no matter what the outcome of their fight had been he’d never be the Commander or rule over these pegasi anymore.

When she started flying back to the city all her pain and exhaustion hit her at once. Each flap of her wings became a laborious event and she was looking forward to the next time she could just nap on a cloud.

Everyone was going to want to see her and congratulate her though… and she had to make sure the rest of her squad was okay. This was still going to be a very long day. She wondered what was going to happen now in the Empire?

Well the next couple of days were certainly busy. It took long enough just to get the rioting to stop and things like food production back on track. A lot of soldiers and a few others were arrested and put into jail, but a number of the ones who had initially fought against Rainbow Dash’s side on the day had renounced Blizzard and were willing to join whatever the new society would call itself without a fuss. As expected, Elder Tornado went back to legislating and getting everything in working order. He would be the interim leader of the city for now (after removing quite a few of the more ineffectual Elders from council duties).

With how different everything would be now her friends had already made it clear what they planned to do in the Empire. Since there was no or little point to the army anymore.

Fierce Current was joining his father at the farms. He had a knack for it and a knowledge of the work more than most other pegasi had. And as much as it annoyed him to admit to Rainbow Dash, he did want to reconnect with his father. Besides, there was plenty of physical activity to be done on the farms to keep in shape too, and no one would notice if a single potato went missing from time to time, would they?

Clear Skies said he wanted to make his own Buckball team. Or start coaching his little brothers in how to play it. Already he was making plans to renovate the coliseum into an official Buckball stadium. With a new sport he hoped he could get his brothers occupied with it so they’d lay off him for a day or two.

Flashbolt decided to join Elder Tornado in the administration of the Empire. He wanted to make sure things were done right and that the city could be fixed and improved as much as possible. His strong sense of justice and right and wrong would serve him well, for ages he had had ideas on what needed to be done and what had to be changed. Now he could finally fulfill his heart’s desire.

Skychaser on the other hoof decided to stay a soldier, even though the others weren’t sure why. He told them someone still had to patrol the Empire’s borders and that’s what he was going to do. Dangers or not he always believed in his duties as a soldier and he had no desire to change that. Something about all of this made him feel out of place.

Summer Rains planned to start a family with Snowshine, and watch over Aurora as she tried to figure out what she now wanted to do with her life with the endless possibilities that now presented themselves for all the mares in the city thanks to Rainbow Dash. The three of them were happy to have Rainbow Dash return to living with them… and were thus quite sad when just a couple days down the road Rainbow Dash announced her intentions to leave the city.

She had an adventure to return to.

Now as it was, Rainbow Dash, Wild Wind, Crescent Moon, Elder Tornado, Summer Rains, Snowshine, and Aurora all stood at the edge of the clouds at the bottom of the floating mountain. The mare from Equestria staring to the northeast.

“Do you really have to go? Just like this?” Aurora asked her.

Rainbow Dash gave her an affectionate noogie. “Sorry kid but yeah, I do. I know I’ve got a lot more to see up here. There’s way more adventuring up north, I can feel it. Helping you guys here was awesome but it’s not like it was the only thing I wanted to do, you know? I’m just not satisfied yet.” Rainbow Dash set her lips in a tight frown. “If this was it I’d still be restless, so I can’t go back home or stay here for another day or something. This isn’t all I want from my adventure.”

The filly sniffled, rubbing away the tears that started to appear in her eyes. “O-Okay… will I ever see you again?”

“Heh,” Dash grinned. “Someday. I promise. Maybe you can even visit me in Equestria? I think you’d all think it’s a pretty cool place.”

“Ahem,” Elder Tornado coughed. “Actually that’s something I wanted to talk to you about before you go,”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s up?”

Crescent Moon and Wild Wind stepped forward and the former Lieutenant opened up his mouth to speak. “Wild Wind and I are going to be traveling south right now. We’re going to Equestria. Before we see you off we’d appreciate if you could tell us the best route to get there from here?”

“Uhhh… I was sick that one day so I dunno how good my directions are gonna be but I guess I can help. So why you two? Just wanted to see it?” She asked them.

“I didn’t really have anything to do around here but I wanted to see where you came from,” Wild Wind shrugged. He was the same even-tempered pony as always.

“I wanted to experience Equestria. And I suppose I owe it to you to let your fellow ponies know how you’ve helped us,” Crescent Moon smiled. “If it wasn’t for you I’d still be my old dumb self.”

“Well when you get down there go say hi to the Princesses for me, they’ll have a blast meeting you,” Dash told them. She paused, her eyes glancing upwards. “As for getting down south… might be a little difficult. I guess if you just go a little southeast from here you’ll eventually hit this super gigantic rock wall that can’t be passed. But down at the bottom of it at this narrow canyon there should be a Yak living there by the name of Leopold. If you tell him I sent you I bet he’ll give you the directions you need to go further, and then you’ll get to where another Yak watches over a checkpoint on a river. His name’s Archibald, he’s kind of a jerk but he’ll still help you out. From there getting to Equestria will be easy. Er, sorry I don’t have more detailed directions or anything.” She shrugged.

“It’s fine, we’re plenty capable,” Crescent Moon waved her off.

“We’ll find wherever we need to go,” Wild Wind agreed.

“Guess that’s all that needs to be said then. I think we’ll be fine here now and it’ll be good to reconnect with our long lost brethren. Not just the pegasi, but the earth ponies and the unicorns too,” Tornado said.

Summer Rains then stopped forward and hugged Rainbow Dash. “Thank you for everything.”

Snowshine joined in on the hug. “You’re a hero to all the mares here especially.”

“Aw geez...” Rainbow Dash blushed. “Come on, quit it with the hugging...”

Rainbow Dash fluttered her wings to get away from the affectionate couple, rising above the heads of the other ponies here. It was time to go. The mare from Equestria, almost by pure happenstance and without intention, had completely changed the Eternal Pegasus Empire, but now it was time to fly on further north and find a new adventure.

“Good luck on your adventure!” Summer Rains waved to her.

“Have fun. And be a little careful,” Crescent Moon smiled.

“Thanks but no guarantee on that last one,” Rainbow Dash grinned and saluted, giving a final little wink to Aurora before darting off into the sky at high speed, a rainbow trail left behind her. She looked to the north with a determined gaze. “Now, what’s next?”

Lying on a small cloud floating to the north of the city, Blizzard woke up. As he opened his black eyes the first thing he noticed was the intense pain his body was in. The second thing were the faces of two familiar ponies looking down on him.

“Finally, you’ve awakened,” West Wind said with a relieved sigh.

“When we found you we thought the worst...” East Wind said.

Blizzard blinked, even that small act bringing him pain. “What… happened?”

The twins shared another one of their worried glances with each other before West Wind answered. “The… the city is lost, Commander. The Ice Sentinels were destroyed and Elder Tornado has instituted a new government. The Empire as we know it has ended. After… after Rainbow Dash defeated you there was no one willing to put up anymore resistance. My brother and I snuck out of the city before we could be rounded up, although I don’t think they were really thinking about us in the first place.”

Blizzard rolled from his side to prop himself up on his hooves. “After I was… defeated?”

His pupils shrank as the memory of his fight with Rainbow Dash came rushing back to him, the incredible lightning bolt, being knocked out and falling to the ground. Looking down he realized his coat was still singed black in most spots and his armor was missing, likely peeled off and discarded by the two Captains. “And the city… everything. Impossible. This can’t be possible.”

East and West Wind watched as he stood up all the way, shaking from his injuries and anger.

“S-Sir, you need to take it easier,” East Wind pleaded. “We can’t go back to the city to get any help.”

“We won’t be able to do anything,” West Wind said.

“Help? I don’t need any help,” Blizzard growled as he looked back in the direction of the city. “Those pathetic weaklings… they’ve destroyed everything. It’s all Rainbow Dash’s fault. That pitiful coward from Eqeustria, sullying our Empire and way of life from the very beginning! I’ll get her, I’ll crush her, she’ll wish she never crossed me!”

Right as he yelled that a rainbow streak flashed through the sky, heading north. Blizzard and the twins watched it with a surprised look before a malicious grin morphed onto the former Commander’s face.

“Heh… hehehe… hahahahaha!” Blizzard cackled madly. “So that’s where you’re going, Rainbow Dash? Still running?” He grit his teeth, bloodshot eyes staring after her trail. “I’ll chase you down you hear me?! I’ll never stop even if I have to follow you to the ends of the earth!”

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bTpp8PQSog

Oasis

Rainbow Dash was cold.

She had long left the artificially warmer clouds and airspace of the former pegasus empire and now she had to start contending with the naturally cold north again. Snow fell from the sky and caked the grounds beneath her while harsh winds made her shiver all over. She wasn’t sure exactly how far she had gotten in the time since resuming her journey but she could tell from the position of the sun and moon when they were visible that she had at least gotten back on course and was headed directly north once again. No more diagonal flying, if she kept up the direction she was going in now she’d hit the north pole at some point.

And hit whatever new adventures waited for her on the way. She had been right that civilizations existed up here and there had to be even more the further she went. Her senses hadn’t failed her yet.

Getting used to this cold again was really annoying though and she was in another area that didn’t really have anything to look at or do in it again. Just endless expanses of snowy hills and wind whipping about above them. There was but one mountain she saw in the distance, a moderately tall but wide and powerful looking one with numerous ridges and peaks running up it. Slightly off-center to where she was going but if she saw anything interesting on it when she passed by it wouldn’t hurt to check it out at least.

A gust of wind blew in from the east and a bit of frost came with it, covering her right side. She had to shake to get it off of her. “Ugh, I don’t miss this.”

If the snow and wind picked up she’d have to worry about becoming snow blind but for now with the sun still out she could see pretty well. See a bunch of whiteness. It was so dull even with the sun helping her out, the light was weak and the air had a fogginess to it that cast a blur over everywhere around her. It made the landscape look like twilight had come an hour or two early. She would’ve said it was kind of pretty if she cared about stuff like that.

But that wasn’t cool so she didn’t.

Instead since she didn’t have anything external to entertain herself with she started humming and rolling around in the air while she flew straight on. It was a good exercise to see if she could maintain her position and not get disoriented, something useful for a stunt flier like herself. Occasionally you might find yourself tumbling through the sky and telling which direction was up or how close you were to the ground can get really difficult. So practicing like this helped. The thing was she was such a good flier with such amazing senses and instincts that it was super easy for her, doing it like this was like a reflex for her, she could do it in her sleep. It was funny to think of how she used to crash so often even not that long ago. But nowadays her flying skills more than matched the raw speed and power she had.

Rainbow Dash flipped upright and yawned. She was just about passing the mountain she had seen and she wanted to check it out when she flew on by.

Glancing to her left and looking down at the summit and the various valleys and cliffs contained in the mountain she didn’t expect to see anything. She was very wrong about that.

“What the?” Rainbow Dash stopped and looked down at the back of the mountain with a completely befuddled expression. In a small crook on its backside there was a patch of green. Not just a little bit of pine trees or something either, but green like healthy grass and plants on a spring day in Equestria. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn’t seeing things and flew in closer.

Well unless it was a mirage or she was dreaming she hadn’t been mistaken. Nestled on the back of the mountain was a small area full of green grass, fruit trees, flowers, and even a steaming pond that must’ve been a hot spring. Rainbow Dash was flabbergasted. Especially when she got in even closer and the air around her suddenly became warm. She blinked and flew backwards. Cold. Flew forwards. Warm. It’s like there was some kind of magical pocket here for this spot to exist in.

“This doesn’t make any sense whatsoever,” Rainbow Dash said as she let herself fall down to the grass. It felt really good beneath her hooves and the scent of all the flowers around wafted into her nose. She shrugged. “Oh well, I aint complaining.”

Rainbow Dash checked out the trees ringing this little tropical area. Apples, peaches, bananas, cherries, oranges, lemons, it was crazy. There were just as many bushes overflowing with strawberries and raspberries too. She walked over to the pond and looked down into it, her face reflected off the perfectly blue water. Steam was rising from it and she tested the temperature by dipping one of her hooves in.

“Woah, it’s just like the spa back in Ponyville!” She smiled.

Without even a shrug she jumped right in, soaking herself down to the bone. “Ahh, that’s the stuff.” She whipped her wet mane around and let it fall all over her face while the warm water cascaded down her. Closing her eyes she relaxed against the edge of the pond. “If only Aloe and Lotus were here to give me a hooficure...” Her eyes snapped open and she blushed, looking around as if to make sure there wasn’t anyone spying on her. “I didn’t say that! I didn’t just admit that!”

Only the hushed rustling of leaves reached her ears. Seems no one heard her. Good.

It was very doubtful that anyone else was around anyways. She decided to relax some more and stretch her wings and legs, bringing her hooves up behind her head and reclining while she bathed in the warm waters. All the aches, pains, exhaustion, and soreness in her muscles started to get washed away. This was what she needed more than anything.

“I should just stay here for the rest of the day,” Dash said to herself. She turned her head and glanced at the nearest apple tree. “Definitely.”

She kept up her soak for almost another hour, even napping briefly, before she finally got out and dried herself off. Flying over to the apple tree she had spotted she plucked a nice red one right off the branch and sunk her teeth into it. Not surprisingly it couldn’t compare to something Applejack might’ve grown but it was still a darn good apple. And she still had the bananas and everything else to try too. With how warm it was she bet she could sleep right in the middle of the grass and feel great, but not before she had her fill of fruit. If she had a bag she could take plenty with her when she left but oh well. She’d just have to enjoy this place as much as she could for the brief time she was here.

Dash finished eating her apple and spat the core onto the ground. Instead of eating some more right now she flew over the flower beds to check them out. “Geez, this place really is like a luxurious spa. Rarity would love it.” Rainbow Dash wasn’t willing to admit out loud how much she loved it.

The blue pegasus spent a good deal of time lounging around, eating whatever she felt like, and enjoying the warmth of the magical spot even as the sun lowered and day turned to evening and then to night. She must’ve been lucky to find this place. Sleeping here instead of taking the time to make another igloo or finding some rocks to camp out in that protected her from the wind was great. With another yawn she curled up on the grass, not even bothering with covering herself with some leaves or something since the air was so pleasant. In only a few minutes she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of eating more delicious fruit.

A Long Ways Off

Rainbow Dash smiled the whole time she was asleep. Even back when she was using a nice bed at Summer Rains’ home she didn’t feel so comfortable as this. And it was the first time in a while she had gotten to eat such tasty fruit, her stomach thanked her. When she did finally wake up she felt totally refreshed. In fact her sleep was so good that she woke up several hours later than she had expected, the sun already high in the sky by the time she opened up her eyes. But wasting a few hours of daylight didn’t bother her right now when the trade-off was getting to feel better and more energized than she ever expected to. Like this she could fly faster to make up for the lost time and it wouldn’t tire her out one bit. She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the sky. It was gray and looked so much colder than you’d ever expect if you were in this warm spot. Rainbow Dash had to remember that that was because this spot was the weird outlier. Stuck in a tropical bubble of warmth it was a strange and unique refuge in this cold northern land.

Sitting up, Rainbow Dash yawned and then got on all fours, stretching her back like a cat and hearing a pleasant pop in her back. “Oh yeah, that’s the good stuff. Not quite like a real massage but good enough.” No one gave a massage quite like Bulk Biceps.

Dash flew over to a banana tree and yanked off three ripe bananas. Peeling one she scarfed it down in an instant and held onto the other two to save them for lunch. It was a nice breakfast and she was pretty sure Twilight once told her that bananas were really healthy. Probably during some kind of lecture or lesson she was only half listening to. Quarter listening to. She flew over to the hot spring she had used yesterday and took a drink of water from it. Not something she would normally do but there was something so clean about this water and the whole place.

When she had quenched her thirst she gave her wings a quick preening and took to the air again, slowing floating up and up with quick flaps of her wings until she was above the trees and close to the spot where she’d exit this warm enclosure. With a small wave goodbye to the oasis she said farewell and darted off higher into the sky around the mountain. In a second she felt the air change and the cold winds wrap around her body again. She winced at the sudden change in temperature but quickly adjusted. Rising higher to well above the mountain she moved a bit to get back on course for true north and sped off.

Two hours of flying saw her making her way through falling snow as the temperature dropped the further she went north. Not as much wind as yesterday but heavy cloud cover kept the sun away in the direction she was going. This wasn’t exactly what she would call a snowstorm but the clouds were still peppering the land with a constant light rain of powder. Every now and then she had to shake her head to get the snow coating her mane to fall off.

Rainbow Dash had gone from flying high in the sky to gliding closer to the ground. Only ten feet or so above it as she flew north at a decent speed. Like some of the areas she had seen further south there weren’t any animals nearby that she had caught sight of yet. Back to desolation. That’s where she was. The True North was probably mostly like this after all with only a few cities and scattered settlements, she was willing to bet. But she knew she could find all the cool ones. It would just take a little flying and journeying, nothing she didn’t expect. Nothing that she felt would be a problem on her grand adventure.

Her adventure…

She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t disappointed with the way her final fight with Blizzard had ended. She couldn’t beat him. Not on her own, not in the way she really wanted to. It’s one of the reasons why she was still going further north instead of returning home. She couldn’t have her adventure end on that. Rainbow Dash needed a real fight and a real epic victory over evil, or a monster, or whatever. Anything that would’ve been cool. She was still pretty impressed with how she beat Blizzard but it wasn’t good or personal enough for her.

All the change she brought to the Empire because of beating Blizzard? Oh yeah, she was super proud of that. But it wasn’t enough. She needed to do even more amazing stuff and have ponies and whoever else cheering for her.

The True North was clearly still a big place and even if she didn’t have a real goal or destination in mind now other than finding some adventure she’d bet that with her luck so far she’d stumble upon something sooner or later. Seriously, giant ice monster? Ancient society of pegasi controlled by an evil dictator who threatened Equestria? If those were the first two big things she came across in just her first few days in the True North then what else was waiting for her? Thinking about all that stuff kind of made her wonder how those wolves were doing too. She hadn’t heard or seen anything about them after that second battle...

Rainbow Dash looked down at the two bananas she was still carrying and quickly peeled them with her teeth. These ones she ate a bit slower than the one she had inhaled for breakfast but they still disappeared pretty quickly. The oats back at the Empire had been pretty good but having something like this was nice too. She vaguely recalled the last fruit she had eaten before finding the oasis was those apples from when she was running from the Ice Sentinel.

How long had she been in the Empire anyways? More than half of it had to have been her stuck in that jail cell recovering… she should’ve kept better track of the days.

“Whatever,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. Not like she was on a time table.

She knew this was going to be a long adventure when she started it. She was aiming for this to be the longest and most amazing adventure she had ever been on. The kind of thing Twilight would have to write a book about. Even now despite it not being quite good enough for Rainbow’s tastes she had already done way cooler stuff than most ponies would ever do in their entire lives. Even that stuff before she came into the True North was cooler than what most ponies got up to. That’s just the awesome life Rainbow Dash lived.

The pegasus grinned as she praised herself, flying up a little higher and looking out to the horizon.

It looked like another mountain range dead ahead. One she’d reach by tomorrow for sure. The only thing about it that really drew her attention was it looked like there was a storm going on over the entire mountain range. If she squinted her eyes hard enough she could see fast moving winds and clouds, so fast it looked nearly like tornado winds. And it rose so high into the sky it might’ve been impossible for her to go over. As she looked to the east and west to see where the storm tapered off she realized that it didn’t. The entire horizon was taken up by a fast moving storm.

It didn’t seem possible. This was like a hurricane that had somehow formed over land. Rainbow Dash frowned, going around it would take too long and drive her off course. Going through it would be a huge hassle.

But then again why not just force her way through it? She was a strong flier, she knew she could handle it. This would be just like when she conquered Mt. Everhoof. Another personal challenge that she can brag about—the time she flew right through a hurricane. If she looked to the bottom of the mountains at the outside of the range the winds didn’t seem so bad down there, it only got really strong and thick a little deeper in. She’d head there first to see just how windy it was and then break on through. No hurricane was a problem for Rainbow Dash.

Overstorm I

This wasn’t just any storm, it was the storm to end all storms. Impossibly huge and powerful, now that Rainbow Dash was up close to it she realized it would’ve taken every weather team from across Equestria to work together to replicate it. Natural or unnatural such a storm didn’t seem possible. The storm itself stretched for hundreds of miles and if it did have the circular shape of a hurricane like she was assuming based on its movement and the outer limits of the storm that she could see, it truly covered a massive area. The winds went from west to east in a counterclockwise motion if one thought of north as the 12 o’clock position. It was absolutely insane for Rainbow Dash to be sitting down at the base of one of the mountains on the edge of the storm, where the winds still blew hard through her mane and feathers like a typical storm back in Ponyville, but absolutely nothing compared to the powerful cyclone winds deeper in the storm that she could clearly see now.

“This storm is wild,” Rainbow Dash said even as her own voice was nearly drowned out by the howling of the wind.

The interior of the mountain range looked very rocky and sparse of vegetation. Not a surprise really if this storm had been raging over it for a while. What it didn’t tear up by the roots probably would’ve just died off due to a lack of sunlight. And it looked so dry in here too, despite the gray and black clouds making up the hurricane it didn’t look like they snowed or rained over the mountains much at all. There weren’t rumbles of thunder or strikes of lightning either, the storm was a swirling mass of clouds and incredibly powerful winds.

Rainbow Dash shrugged and flew up higher so she could be halfway up the mountain she was sitting at the base of. The good thing about all these rocky mountains that the storm sat over was that a lot of the time they would act as a barrier for the wind. She could sit on the eastern face of one of the mountains if she ever needed a break or anything. She was still going to try and just power right through the storm but without knowing exactly how big it was something like that could still take a while.

Still right at the edge of it the wind didn’t even make her wobble in the air yet. Maybe other ponies had tried to get through this storm and failed but she was willing to bet this hurricane had never faced a pegasus like her before. Rainbow Dash grinned and started to fly deeper into the mountain range, continuing her flight directly north, and pushing through the steadily stronger winds.

“This is like nothing!” She yelled, even though again it was barely audible inside the storm. And if she wasn’t careful the whipping winds would dry out her mouth.

The only thing she wished for right now was the goggles that came with her Wonderbolts uniform. It wasn’t so bad at the moment, especially since the wind wasn’t coming directly at her face, but they would’ve been really helpful. Getting to keep her eyes open all the way as she flew through here was almost immeasurably valuable. Now she’d have to squint or close them or put her hoof up to block the wind a lot of the time.

Looking at this desolate place too it made her think that maybe she should’ve brought more fruit from the oasis. Either carrying it in her hooves or on her back. Somehow she doubted she’d find much to eat in these mountains. Anything should stick out like a sore hoof with how stripped bare everything else was and if Rainbow Dash’s eyes caught sight of something unusual again, like the oasis, she’d head over to it. She wasn’t holding out hope for something like that again and she was pretty sure her stomach would be growling at her for the duration of her trip through the storm but she could deal with it.

The previous day when she had first seen the storm she honestly wasn’t worried about it. She still wasn’t worried per se but it was clear she had completely misjudged it. If she knew that it would be like this she would’ve flown here quicker instead of taking her time. And she would’ve saved one of those bananas too.

When it came down to it Rainbow Dash didn’t really have a ton of experience when it came to actually flying through storms. Most pegasi didn’t. She had more experience with creating or breaking them. She knew how they worked, or how they were supposed to at least, the atmospheric variables that went into them, the pegasi magic or the weird Everfree Forest magic that made storms on its own, but this huge storm gave off a different feeling. There was just something “else” about it. It made her knowledge and familiarity even less useful, especially with this being a full on hurricane in the first place and not a simple thunderstorm she occasionally dealt with from the Everfree or from Discord playing a prank.

Now that she had entered the storm if she looked up she could only see about a hundred feet before it became a completely indistinguishable blur of clouds. Ahead of her wasn’t much better but if she flew lower the clouds and winds were naturally less powerful and all-consuming thanks to the mountains. It might even almost be better to just walk across the rocky ground but that would take too long and she still would have to deal with some very powerful winds threatening to blow her away. She was at her strongest when flying and she’d need to be the strongest she could possibly be to muscle her way through the storm.

That didn’t mean she’d have to be a total meathead though. For now she flew a little lower, the ground below looking like it was entirely made of rocks thanks to the dirt being swept away long ago by the storm. Rainbow Dash flew over countless boulders of shale and granite, slate and limestone, and other rocks she only knew thanks to being forced by Pinkie Pie to attend a lecture held by Maud on the difference between sedimentary, igneous, and metawhozawhatsit rock. She still had nightmares about that.

The mountains themselves all bled into each other and kept the ground from being even or level in any place, it would’ve been impossible to farm much or have anything more than a tiny mountainside village here even if it wasn’t for the storm. In all the places of the True North she had been so far this very well may have been the most unforgiving. She remembered back when she had seen those reindeer shortly after climbing Mt. Everhoof, they were making out a sparse life but they had plenty of sunlight and there were rivers and glaciers around them. She didn’t envy any reindeer, ponies, griffons, or whatever that might have tried to live up here, whether past, present, or future.

Despite the fact that the mountains should’ve buffered the wind a good deal at the height Dash was flying she still found herself having to deal with a constant wind blowing into her left side. Not enough yet to knock her off course or make her struggle but if she stopped flapping her wings and gave in it would probably carry her off into the sky like an open umbrella instead of her just falling to the ground. She could imagine Fluttershy trying to do what she was doing… not a pretty thought. Hay, most every pegasi that wasn’t a Wonderbolt would probably be carried off by the strong air current.

Rainbow Dash winced as a lock of her mane whipped into her eye, forcing her to have to squint it shut for a minute. “Ugh, Rarity would hate this, her mane would be ruined.” Now that that thought was in her head she figured Applejack and Twilight would probably still be fine getting through here. Fluttershy… not so much. And Pinkie? She’d probably find some weird way or thing to do and end up fine.

Shaking her head to get back into the zone, Rainbow Dash flew in close to a mountain to give herself the most possible protection from the wind until she passed it completely.

“I guess this is what I have to look forward to for the next couple of days,” she groaned as she tried to look further into the center of the storm to see if there was a constant length of mountains the whole way through or not. But thanks to the low visibility she couldn’t see much further than one or two mountains worth in the distance.

Going through here was like a cold and windy version of when she and her friends had to trudge through the Bad Lands. Just nothing but inhospitable land all around them. Twilight mentioned that when she fought with Starlight and traveled through time or those alternate worlds or whatever that they finally ended up in some desolate and windy wasteland. Rainbow Dash wondered if this was similar to how that was. Well, probably not quite as bad as that. Even the Frozen North without the protection of the Crystal Heart was actually really dangerous and inhospitable too. She had to deal with that thanks to Flurry Heart that one time… yeesh, that was almost a disaster.

The moment Rainbow Dash made it past the center of the mountain the wind picked up again and tried to carry her further away and higher into the sky. The sudden change jolted her for a second but it was nothing she couldn’t fix with a single strong flap of her wings. An easy readjustment to fly straight again.

But the deeper she went the colder it got too. It was already cold enough outside the storm but the wind seemed to sap all the warmth from the air, making her colder and sending chills through her body. She kept her blood pumping thanks to all the movement but she’d probably have to find a cozy spot in the rocks when it was time to sleep or she’d freeze. And she couldn’t make an igloo or anything. How do you make a blanket out of rocks? She could probably bury herself to avoid the wind but something about that idea seemed stupid to her and she’d probably just wake up with a ton of pebbles stuck in her mane and wings. If she took the time to push some boulders or rocks into the right place she could probably make a wall, but she didn’t have the raw muscle that Applejack had and something like that could expend a lot of the energy that she really needed to conserve right now.

“Whatever, it’s not even close to night yet,” Dash said to herself and got back to focusing on her flying. Too often she found herself losing her concentration and thinking either too far ahead or back on something else when she should’ve just been tunnel-visioned on the task at hoof. But that’s just the downside of being stuck out here with no one else to talk to and not even really anything to do. It was something that kept happening on her adventure… it was something that happened all the time back home too.

Speaking of not being close to night yet, she was going to need to work on instinct when it actually came to telling the time now. The sky was completely masked by the clouds now, her internal clock was going to have to substitute for being able to see where the sun and moon were. For today she still had a good estimate of the time of day but once she fell asleep that would probably be thrown off.

Rainbow Dash frowned and snorted some air out of her nose. At least it wasn’t totally dark. Navigating through a storm like this was tough enough and her visibility bad enough even in the middle of the day. At night time it would probably be pitch black and she didn’t like the idea of flying into the side of a mountain or becoming totally disoriented. She’d unfortunately have to take a break whenever the visibility dropped or this trip through the storm could be a short one for all the wrong reasons.

With plenty of time still left in the day though she decided to make some more headway. And the best way to do that was fly up above the peaks of the mountains and bolt as fast as she could, not having to worry about hitting anything or curving around other mountains. The wind would be stronger up there so she’d only do it for a short time and see how difficult it was to deal with the unfettered storm before coming back down. She didn’t want to exhaust herself but it would be good practice and she needed to feel how strong this thing was at some point already. Cracking her neck, Rainbow Dash grinned and ascended.

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyknBTm_YyM

Overstorm II

Howling was a good descriptor for how the wind up here was. Turbine was another.

Of course the most fitting word was also the most obvious: Hurricane.

Up here in the thick of the moving clouds with the unchained wind blowing at max speed, Rainbow Dash could get a good feel for how traveling through the rest of the storm was going to go. Especially since it was without question going to get stronger and stronger the deeper she went. Rainbow Dash was still confident in her ability to get through it, since right now she floated above one of the mountains and was able to maintain her position without being swept away. It took a bit of effort to fight the wind but not enough to bother her. And now she could fly freely and undisturbed.

Rainbow Dash tensed up her muscles, she prepared her wings and held out her hooves in front of her body, with the wind whipping around her she smiled.

“Full speed ahead,” the blue pegasus said and zipped forth with enough speed and power to blow away the clouds around her and temporarily disrupt the wind of the storm.

This was how a pegasus should always fly. Totally free, going all out, nothing but you and open sky. It was heaven for Rainbow Dash to be able to fly like this. Even with the wind tugging at her she just saw that as a match between her and the elements, nothing to take away from her joy of flying to her wings’ greatest ability. She had to flap those feathered appendages hard but it was well worth it, this brief moment she was giving herself didn’t just give her knowledge about the storm or get her further into it in quicker time than flying below would, it also just felt good. And sometimes you needed that simple enjoyment. The practical reasons she was doing this for were still real but now that she was up here doing this she realized it didn’t compare to just being able to briefly enjoy herself. It was something so good for her mental state and attitude.

At the speed she was going she cleaved the wind and clouds in front of her and was practically inside her own protected cone of wind. The force from the speed she was going created a long trail in the clouds that even the wind from the storm didn’t blow away immediately. She couldn’t help but be pleased with herself as she effortlessly tore through these clouds and the heavy spiraling winds of the hurricane. She was a rocket heading towards the center and nothing could stop her.

If she knew exactly how big the storm was she’d just fly like this the whole way through, if possible, but since she could only estimate it and she didn’t know just how fierce it would get closer to the center she wasn’t going to risk it just yet. If she had to go all out again in the future she would but at the moment this brief flight at near top speed was enough. She could tire herself out on accident and be stuck up in these powerful winds and dense clouds if she didn’t descend within the next hour. The descent would have to be careful too until she could start seeing stuff again. Right now her “vision” was a mess of gray and black clouds and she couldn’t hardly see ten feet in front of her. If Rainbow Dash stayed here without pushing forward at full speed she might get blown off course without realizing. There would be no way to tell what direction she was going in so she had to get back lower where she had vision when she dropped speed. That would also keep her from having to fight against the wind too much to maintain her position.

She made her gradual descent while slowing down at the same time. Mountains became easier to see and react to the lower she went and soon enough she was back to snaking around peaks and eventually curving around and flying by their sides again. By the time she was at a casual flying speed the wind had become closer to an annoyance than anything, not something she had to worry about anymore so long as she kept flying like normal. She was at the altitude of about halfway up the mountains with the rocks and valleys between them filling up the landscape below and nothing but more jagged peaks and summits in front of her. The visibility had cleared up—relatively speaking—and she could see a decent distance ahead of her again.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and glided onward, pretty certain that she hadn’t gone off course at all and was still moving directly north.

“Blehhhh, I’m already getting bored of flying through this storm. Everything’s the same! Give me something exciting!” Rainbow Dash yelled out to the windy mountain range. “Come on! What’s in here?! There has to be something up with this storm, right?”

She continued on like that with a bored look on her face for a good while. Things were getting steadily darker too, a combination of the day getting late and her traveling deeper into the storm. She didn’t want to stop just yet to find a place to bunker down for the night so with a click of her tongue she sped towards the next mountain. This mountain’s entire east side looked like it had collapsed in a rockslide, creating a gaping hole like a half-eaten apple. Dash passed by it and looked up at the top of the mountain. Half of the peak hung perilously over nothing, it was a miracle of rocks that the entire thing didn’t fall. When she got to the backside of the mountain she saw that the bottom of it opened up into a canyon flanked by two high cliffs and smaller mountains on the east and west sides.

Since that canyon should be completely, or almost completely, protected from the wind, Rainbow Dash decided to duck inside it for the moment and use it to go as far north into the storm as she could.

It was only when she got closer and flew down in that she saw something in the canyon. Right in the middle of the canyon, close to the southern edge where the mountain stood from, there was a huge chain coming out of the ground. A positively massive metal chain going right up into the sky. Rainbow Dash had to investigate it. This was the first sign of life or pony made anything she had seen since she had left the Empire.

Flying right up to it she was able to hold her position thanks to the lower wind strength in the canyon so she could check it out all she wanted without having to be bothered by anything else.

“This thing’s huge...” she raised an eyebrow as she flew around the chain a couple of times. Each link was as big as her entire body. Tapping one with her hoof it only gave back a dull thud, totally solid and very strong. “Wow.”

Now the question was though: How was it shooting straight up into the sky?

Rainbow Dash looked up, she could see the chain continue climbing up into the clouds and the heavier wind for about a hundred more feet before she lost vision on it. There must’ve been something up there holding it in place… or perhaps the wind itself was strong enough to pull the chain up? But then it wouldn’t be straight, it would be getting pulled to the east. There had to be something at the end of the chain if she went higher. Looking down now she saw the chain didn’t even actually stop at the bottom of the canyon, it went into a hole that looked like it was drilled or dug into the ground. The hole was ringed with metal as far down as she could see when she dove in closer to look at it but it was impossible to tell how deep it actually went and how much longer the chain was.

“What the hay is up with this thing?” Rainbow Dash scratched her head as she stood beside the hole.

She could maybe fly up to see if she could find what was at the end of the chain… but she had no idea how high up it went and she knew that it would at the very least be at an altitude where the winds got really strong again. Since she was already trying to not exert herself anymore today it might not be a good idea. Not until she found some sustenance and could make sure she wouldn’t run out of energy in the middle of this storm. And there was no telling just how much time it would take to get to the top in the first place either.

So despite her desires for something different and exciting this was actually going to have to wait for now. Rainbow Dash frowned and flew off deeper into the canyon, resuming her flight north and into the center of the storm.

The canyon extended as far as she could tell and it didn’t look like it was ending anytime soon. It also kept going perfectly straight, almost like it was purposefully dug out like this instead of forming naturally. Whatever, that just made things way easier for her. She wasn’t going to complain and look a gift pony in the mouth.

It still annoyed her that she couldn’t do anything about that chain. She really had no idea what it was for and it just made her super curious. But nobody else was around, nothing else was there, and it might’ve gone up for miles for all she knew. It was such a weird and unexpected thing for her to see and she just had to fly past it. Why couldn’t there have been like a castle or fortress or something here? That would’ve been way cooler. Instead now what? She was just going back to flying like normal but now she had to deal with some extra disappointment. Couldn’t there at least have been a sign explaining what that chain was?

Fine. At least when it got later this canyon would make a good place to stop in for the night. But she still wanted to see if she could find some kind of food or water or any other buildings in here before she turned in. So she’d at least keep flying for another hour or two.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip as a thought occurred to her. “You know I can’t actually see that much else down in this canyon… It’s protecting me from the wind but I might be missing a whole bunch of stuff up on top of it.” She frowned, mulling over her choices. “Ugh! Forget about playing it safe. I’m going up!”

The pegasus shot up above the walls of the canyon and was instantly assaulted by a much stronger wind than what she had been fighting against before she dipped down here. Seems the fact she had traveled in deeper to the storm meant she had to contend with wind like this now. Now it was practically like a high-powered fan was blowing directly against her, trying to push her away and make her tumble off into the sky. Dash had to grit her teeth and force her way straightforward less she be dragged off course. The clouds had also gotten much denser and difficult to see through, sitting right at ground level and just going on and on. She would’ve welcomed it a little bit if there was some moisture in the clouds that she could squeeze out for a drink but despite their stormy look they felt unnaturally dry when she passed through them. Just one more weird thing about this crazy huge land hurricane.

She wobbled a bit inside the intense winds and had to beat her wings harder than normal while looking around to see if there was anything else out of place like that chain around here. This was kind of a bother since she didn’t want to have to exert herself like this right now. But playing it safe didn’t suit her and after seeing that chain she didn’t want to miss anything else. Unfortunately there was either nothing around or the clouds were too thick for her to see through. So all Rainbow had was a difficult fight with nothing gained so far for it.

Rainbow lifted a hoof to the left side of her face to block the billowing wind and kept going on. At least she was still making progress north or the storm wouldn’t have gotten stronger like this.

“Keep it coming!” She yelled. “I can take anything you throw at me! It’s just some dumb weather!” Rainbow’s boasting disappeared on into the nothingness of the storm.

But maybe she should have been quiet.

A rumbling came from deeper inside the storm, the sound of thunder gathering. It was the first sign of anything like that she had heard or seen in this storm and it was getting louder and more frequent the further in she traveled. Flashes of lightning then started to occur, clouds in front of and around her briefly becoming illuminated by their strikes, Rainbow Dash couldn’t see them directly, only silhouetted through the clouds.

“Okay, so now you’re acting up?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at the storm in question.

The storm merely growled louder in response and a blast of wind hit Rainbow Dash. From the front. A random jet of air blew into her face that was almost completely at odds with the direction of the other winds in the storm and the way it was turning. It’s like something farther in the center knew she was there and was trying to blow her away.

“What’s going on now?!” Rainbow wondered in confusion as she fought against the dual streams of wind attacking her. It was another steady blast of wind even more powerful than the wind coming in from the left, it would blow her backwards and back south if she didn’t keep fighting hard against it.

Rainbow Dash flew up and down in steady waves to see if the wind would get weaker depending on her position but it felt exactly the same no matter where or how she flew. It didn’t make any sense, there shouldn’t be a competing wind in this hurricane like this. The winds should all be going one direction and yet here she was faced with something clearly trying to keep her away from the center. Weirder still it didn’t affect the clouds, they all kept going in their counter-clockwise motion as if this blast bearing down on Rainbow Dash didn’t exist. Maybe the wind coming in from the north only followed her and wasn’t hitting anything around her? Or maybe something was perfectly controlling how all this wind and clouds moved.

Whatever it was she’d get to the bottom of it when she made it to the middle of this hurricane. Like she said, there was absolutely no way some storm would get the better of her. Even one like this.

The rumbling noise of thunder got louder, becoming a complete cacophony in her ears, so loud she couldn’t hear herself when she spoke. There were more flashes of lightning from deeper on in and then as quickly as blinking an eye, Rainbow Dash found herself in the middle of a downpour. Well, perhaps downpour was the wrong word. It felt like the rain was coming parallel to the ground with the wind and blasting into her face and front, drenching her as easily as a monsoon. Rainbow Dash yelped in surprise when it first started to hit her and faltered in the air. Only her quick reflexes and senses saved her from being blown away. She managed to recover and despite the steady stream of rain coming at her plodded on through the storm.

But any chance of this being “natural” was thrown out the window now. Rain could most certainly blow sideways thanks to the wind but having it come out all of a sudden when the rest of the air was so dry, in a different direction from the majority of the wind out here, just didn’t make any sense. This hurricane didn’t want anybody getting to the center of it. Rainbow Dash couldn’t fathom the reason but she knew it to be true.

She shivered as the rain kept coming at her, not letting up for a second. With the cold of the north it could be bad to stay wet like this. Thoughts of turning around or diving low and hunkering at the ground went through her head but she stubbornly ignored them. Now it was a challenge and she’d be really ticked off if she let the bad weather beat her. Lose? No way. It wasn’t as cold here as it had been in other places in the True North and as long as she kept flapping her wings and had a heart full of adrenaline she wouldn’t freeze. It didn’t feel good to be soaked like this though, her feathers, mane, coat, all of it was heavy with rain and it was making her flight even more difficult.

Just as she was fully adjusting to the rain and the wind and getting back to a steady flight through the storm, something new happened: Hail.

It came in with the rest of the wind from the left, smacking into her side like a constant pelting of tiny pebbles. The hail was barely the size of corn kernels but it was just as unrelenting as the rain. Pinprick after pinprick ran across her legs, side, left wing, and the unfortunate side of her face that was turned to the hail. Should she be happy that it wasn’t bigger? She had the feeling that if she opened her mouth to taunt the storm some more it would just get worse.

But she didn’t have to say anything. The hail and rain wore on her and the wind kept getting stronger the more she flew. Lightning and thunder erupted from inside the storm, all of it shouting at Rainbow Dash that she wasn’t getting any further. Despite her best efforts the combined barrage and the onslaught of powerful wind from two different directions was too much for her now. Her wings couldn’t keep up with what the storm was throwing at her and another gust coming down from the north blew her backwards.

Rainbow Dash grunted and tried to recover but once she was in the tumble she found it impossible to get out of the jet stream. The strong air current from the north carried her back and back with her wings stuck open and Dash unable to close or move them with the powerful wind pressing against them. She was thrown like an unfortunate piece of paper caught in the breeze.

“Arghhhhh!” Dash helplessly yelled in frustration as she was carried away from the storm’s center.

Overstorm III

Rainbow Dash pulled herself along the rocky ground after being smashed into it by the wind. She had come to a sliding stop at the bottom of the canyon she had been traveling through earlier. The powerful northern wind eventually let up and dropped her here, when she fell she still carried quite a bit of momentum with her and she skipped off the rocks a couple of times before grinding to a halt. Now when she stood up on her aching and bruised hooves she had to shake her head and wings a few times to get all the dust, bits of hail, and small rocks out.

She felt terrible.

And angry.

Since going north and into the dead center of the storm had completely failed she was walking back to the big chain right now. The one good thing she had going for her was that being back at the bottom of this canyon meant the wind wasn’t very strong. It was still blowing against her but it was more like a particularly rough breeze right now. It wasn’t bearing down on her with force like if she had been flying up a bit higher or still going north instead of south.

She couldn’t see the chain yet but at least she knew that wasn’t going anywhere. Even though she wasn’t holding out much hope for finding anything useful about it it was her only option to explore right now. Maybe she missed something around the base where it started descending into the ground. Or maybe she wouldn’t have as much trouble flying to the top of it as she thought she would. Unfortunately she was still having to take her time getting back there with how roughly she was messed up after the ill-fated flight north. And her condition now might mean that getting up the chain would be impossible even if it hadn’t been earlier.

Rainbow Dash frowned, she didn’t want to get that pessimistic just yet.

So on she walked over the uneven rocks. Sometimes they poked at her hooves and she stumbled over them or she had to hop over a bigger one. It was almost like the bottom of the canyon was a garbage dump for rocks. It was pretty annoying she had to crawl over all this instead of being able to walk on some soft dirt or something. Why’d the ground have to be so uneven? It was a hassle with how tired and beat up she already was. There was never a stable place to put her hooves down and she had to be careful not to slip and fall or that her hoof wouldn’t slide between a couple of rocks and get cut on an edge or stuck. Rocks fell and slid down into new piles when she disturbed their place, not caring about their loud tumbling echoing off the canyon walls.

All she wanted was to keep on moving until she could see that chain again. It shouldn’t take too long but the winds and clouds were obscuring her vision even in the canyon like this. That chain should easily stick out but it was like Rainbow Dash had to get through the morning fog to see it. She knew it wouldn’t be much farther though with the distance she had traveled.

“Stupid rocks...” Rainbow grumbled to herself in annoyance to pass the time. It’s not like she had anything else to do. She kicked one down the side of a small pile she was walking on and listened to it clatter all the way down.

With the wind from the hurricane still blowing over the canyon, Rainbow Dash kept her eyes peeled at the back of the canyon for the chain. This portion of her journey was getting to be a huge bother and it might just be a fool’s errand but it’s still what she was doing. At least the wind had dried her off even if she was still cold from the rain and hail. She didn’t like how her mane kept getting blown in her face but whatever. Rainbow Dash managed to not shiver from the cold anymore either, far used to it and worse. It was just a mild and constant discomfort instead.

The pony forced her way back and back through the canyon without even bothering to keep track of the time. It was probably late by now but Dash didn’t care. It wouldn’t matter until she actually had some food and sleep.

And finally, a shape was coming into view in the distance. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes to peer through the clouds and wind and saw the dark silhouette of the huge metal chain shooting up from the back-center of the canyon.

“Finally,” she muttered.

Now that she could actually see it she decided to hurry up and extended her wings to fly up over the rocky bottom of the canyon. Ignoring the pain from that she beat them a few times to get some altitude and glided onward to the chain. Still keeping fairly low in the canyon to avoid the heavier wind it was easy for her to fly like this and get to the chain faster.

But then Dash saw something new that made her come to a screeching halt. There was something at the bottom of the canyon maybe a hundred feet away from the chain. She must not have noticed it when she first flew over it because it was pressed up against the flat side of a large rock that obscured it from the south.

A metal hatch. Built right on top of a large pipe that went down through the rocks and likely into the ground below.

“Okay, that’s a little more promising,” Rainbow Dash said and flew down to the hatch. A bronze wheel stood on top of it for opening it up and the hinges were on the side facing the rock so that when the hatch opened it wouldn’t be fighting against the wind. Rainbow Dash tapped the top of the hatch with her hoof and heard a hollow reverberation come back at her. “Well alright, looks like it isn’t blocked off or anything. Hope it isn’t locked.”

She grasped the wheel with her hooves and tried to rotate it clockwise but it wouldn’t budge one bit. It didn’t look rusted or anything so either Rainbow Dash wasn’t strong enough to move it or it rotated in the other direction. She really hoped for the latter. It would be embarrassing if she couldn’t get this thing open just because she didn’t have Applejack’s freakish strength or something. Especially since unlike the chain she definitely knew this hatch and pipe had to lead somewhere.

“Ngh!” Rainbow Dash grit her teeth as she pulled the wheel in the other direction. She was getting red in the face and the muscles and tendons in her front legs burned but eventually she managed to make it turn slightly, it let out an agonized squeak and grinding noise as if it hadn’t been turned in ages. Which it probably hadn’t been. The loud grind didn’t let up as she twisted the wheel more and more, waiting to hear any kind of unlocking sound from inside the hatch. “Come on!”

It took a full rotation of the wheel before it finally became looser and Rainbow Dash was able to turn it easier. A few more times after that she finally heard something shift and unlatch inside and the entire hatch jolted slightly with a hiss of air escaping from the less than paper thin seam between the door and the pipe.

“Awesome,” Dash grinned and lifted the hatch up by the wheel. It leaned back on its hinges and sat there at a slightly higher than 90 degree angle so it wouldn’t accidentally fall back down on its own. Good developer foresight. There was a handle on the underside of the hatch too that Rainbow Dash assumed was used to pull it back closed and lock it.

She peaked her head over the side and looked down into the pipe. It was a long way down but there was a faint light at the bottom and a ladder bolted into the side that looked like it went the whole way. Not that she needed anything like that with her wings. She still had no idea what this thing was though. Just like the chain she wondered what possible purpose this thing had or where it led to. At least the light down there meant there was something else and somewhere to go. It looked kind of like the entrance to a sewer the likes of which Dash had seen back in places like Manehattan and Canterlot, but she doubted any sewer went that deep and even if it did why would there be a sewer out here? Well, just looking at it wasn’t going to get her anywhere, she had to go down the pipe herself.

Actually though… it looked like she was going to have to use the rungs of the ladder. The pipe was more than wide enough for a pony to climb up and down but not enough for her wings to be extended while doing so. Dang. It was still a lot better than nothing so Dash decided to bite the bullet and began her descent using the long ladder.

“This better be worth it...” Rainbow Dash sighed as she went in and closed the pipe and took step after step after step down the rungs. More than once she wishes she could teleport herself like Twilight or Starlight. Or if she was Spike’s size she could’ve still flown down.

That was all just wishful thinking though and despite how tired and worn out her body was Rainbow Dash had to go down all the way on her own power. The pipe went at least one hundred feet down, maybe two, now that she was traveling down it and could tell. Whoever built this wanted to make sure it was stable and that whatever weather was going on up top wouldn’t be felt in the slightest. Maybe it wasn’t a sewer but some kind of mine? Or shelter? That was a lot more likely, especially if it was built after this storm started.

And whoever built it might not have even been ponies, could’ve been anything, they might not even be here anymore. Rainbow Dash let her mind wander cause it’s not like she had anything else to do as she went down the ladder.

Finally as she got down to the light she noticed that the pipe dropped off in a much bigger room with the ladder continuing down until it stopped on the floor. Once she got to where the pipe opened up she hopped off the ladder and onto the metal floor and looked around. A circular room with a single door on the side in the opposite direction of the chain, a light fixture encased in a metal cage sat on top of the door, casting its white light across the room. Like the hatch above, the door had another wheel smack in the center that would probably open it up. She swore that if this one was locked…

“Ugh, again?” Rainbow Dash complained and walked over to the door, grabbing the wheel and turning it in the same way she turned the other one. Thankfully this wheel was far more agreeable and smoother, it didn’t grind or squeak, in fact it turned as if someone had practically just greased it. “Nice.” Rainbow grinned and turned it until it stopped and she heard a click from the door, it popped open slightly on its own and Rainbow Dash pulled on it to open it up, the heavy metal door swinging into the room.

The blue pegasus stepped over the mantle of the door frame and into the next room with a smile, pulling the door back shut behind her and taking another look around this new room.

A pony was standing right in front of her, clutching a broom and frozen in total surprise. Rainbow Dash too froze up, utterly taken off guard by this. The light brown earth pony mare had a wavy orange mane and tail and it looked like she had just been busy sweeping right as Rainbow Dash suddenly opened up that door and interrupted her. The basket of other cleaning supplies sitting next to the mare gave more proof to that hypothesis.

“Uhhh, hi?” Rainbow Dash awkwardly grinned and waved hello.

The earth pony raised an eyebrow at her and slightly relaxed. “Hi… who are you? Where did you come from and how did you get here?”

Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof and rubbed the back of her neck. “Well my name’s Rainbow Dash and the rest of that is kind of a long story. What is this place?” She checked out the appearance of the rest of the room, a long and square hallway that was well lit by a few lights placed every teen feet or so on the ceiling.

“Sorry, I’m just a little surprised to see someone come from up there,” the earth pony responded. “This is a tunnel system that was built for the ponies of these mountains to live in after the storm started up. I’m assuming it’s as violent as ever up there?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Oh yeah, so how-” Her sentence was interrupted as a loud growl came from her stomach. Rainbow Dash’s face slowly turned red in embarrassment and she bashfully pawed at the floor. “Err… do you have any food down here?”

The mare wasn’t bothered at all and gave an amused laugh and grin. “I hope you like beets and spinach.”

Overstorm IV

The earth pony mare led Rainbow Dash down the tunnel, it seemed Rainbow had lucked out and met some pretty welcoming ponies this time. Good. She noticed the Cutie Mark on the mare’s flank while she followed her, a wastebasket. After seeing her sweeping up Rainbow Dash could guess what her special talent was. And speaking of earth ponies when was the last time Rainbow had actually seen one? It had been nothing but other pegasi for a while, that Daylight Gleam pony was a unicorn and she was the last non-pegasi pony Rainbow Dash had seen until now, so she probably hadn’t seen an earth pony since leaving the Crystal Empire or even before that. That wasn’t so important right now though. There were a lot of questions Rainbow Dash still had about her and this place too and right now seemed like a good time to ask them.

“So what’s your name?” Rainbow Dash asked the brown pony. “I don’t think I got it.”

“Oh, sorry!” The mare gave her an apologetic smile. “Dust Bunny’s the name, I’m the head custodian here. It’s nice to meet you, Rainbow Dash.”

“You too,” Dash smiled back.

“I guess you’re just as curious about this place as I am about you,” Dust Bunny said with a contemplative look on her face. “Well, if you have any questions then feel free to ask, we’ll need to go a bit deeper into the tunnels before we get to my boss and the others living here. They can probably help you out a lot better than me. If you need help that is, don’t know why you’d really come here in the first place.”

“Your boss?”

Dust Bunny nodded. “Mhm. Pile’s his name. He’s in charge of this whole place, we don’t really like to call him a mayor cause this aint exactly a city or anything so boss was our choice. The real city is long gone thanks to the storm.”

“Huh? There used to be a city here? What happened?” Rainbow Dash frowned.

Dust Bunny stayed silent for a second before she sighed and answered Dash’s question. “When the storm came we didn’t think anything of it at first. We thought it was just a normal storm. But it just never stopped, instead it kept getting worse and worse and there was nothing we could do about it. Our farms were torn to pieces, everything was lifted up by the roots and taken away, our buildings fell apart, our homes blown away at their very foundations… we had to convert the underground sewer system and old mining tunnels into this as quickly as possible.” She gestured at the tunnel around them. “And now we live here.”

“Geez, I’m sorry.”

“We’re making the best of it,” Dust Bunny shrugged.

“So that storm really did just start up out of nowhere?” Dash asked.

“Yep. We still have no idea why even after all this time. We’ve been busier trying to deal with it than figuring that out for the most part,” Dust Bunny told her.

The two of them walked in silence with just the dull thump of their hooves on the metal floor making any sound for the next minute until they reached the tunnel’s end. A lift sat there waiting for the two of them, with a sliding door to open and close on the front. Rainbow and Dust stepped inside and Dust closed the door, locking it in place. The floor of the lift was a metal grating and Rainbow Dash looked down through it but could see nothing but darkness.

“How deep do these tunnels go?” Dash asked her.

“Hmm… deep? A few hundred feet at the deepest but there are miles and miles of tunnel in total. Some of it is very old and leftover from before we refurbished them so we’re still mapping it out. But it goes all throughout and under the mountains in this area of the range and we’re always digging more to make room. I’m not on the mining or maintenance teams so I don’t really know for sure. I mean, I may be the “Chief” custodian but that just means keeping a schedule and telling everyone else on my team where to clean. I’m not really that important.”

“Hey, you don’t need to knock yourself down like that,” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at Dust’s self-deprecating words. “And thanks for helping me out and everything. That’s way important enough for me.”

“Thanks,” Dust Bunny smiled. “Sorry, it’s just ponies don’t often seem to appreciate my work. Cleaning’s important you know!”

Rainbow Dash thought of how insistent Twilight and Spike were on keeping their castle clean. “Yeah, I know.”

Dust Bunny pulled a lever on the side of the lift and it started to slowly drop deeper into the tunnels. It made quite the noise, Rainbow Dash looked to the sides of the shaft and saw two heavy chain pulleys on the outside of the lift. If there were any ponies on the level where this lift stopped they could probably hear it coming. It looked like it would take a while for them to get to their next destination but the rattling of the chains was so loud Rainbow Dash didn’t want to have to yell over it just to make small talk again.

In another minute the lift reached the tunnel at the bottom of this shaft, the floor of the lift passing the opening and letting Rainbow Dash peak out into this new area before it came to a complete stop. This was a much wider room down here than the tunnels above and Rainbow Dash could see multiple other doors and passages branching off to other places. Most notably though were the other ponies down here, one or two were sweeping up with brooms like Dust Bunny had been while others pushed carts full of random junk or tools and others just stood around chatting. The room was well illuminated like everywhere else had been, making Rainbow Dash wonder for the first time where they got all of their power from.

As the lift finally came to a rest, Dust Bunny unlocked the gate and slid it open so she and Rainbow Dash could walk out. One of the ponies holding a broom, a stallion, looked up in surprise when he saw Dust Bunny.

“Chief? Are you already done cleaning up there?” He asked.

Dust Bunny shook her head. “Nope. Funny story but, well, we have a visitor from outside.” She stood to the side so that everyone could see Rainbow Dash.

When Dust Bunny made that announcement everyone paused what they were doing and looked over at her.

“Uh, hi.” Rainbow Dash waved to them all.

“Try not to gawk all at once everyone,” Dust Bunny said as she rolled her eyes at the other ponies down here. Which was kind of hypocritical of her considering her first deer-in-the-headlights reaction to seeing Rainbow Dash.

“We’re just… surprised,” the broom holding stallion said as some of the other ponies in the room walked over to them. “She came here through the storm? From where?”

“Yeah I did, name’s Rainbow Dash by the way,” she said to everyone. “How many of you are there down in these tunnels anyways?”

"Hold on-” Dust Bunny said before Rainbow Dash could get mobbed by a bunch of questions. “I know everyone’s curious about each other but I really wanted to take Rainbow Dash to meet the boss first. And she’s hungry so give her some space for now. I’m sure you’ll all hear about her soon so let’s be polite and not bother her.”

It didn’t really bother the attention-loving Rainbow Dash but she was pretty hungry so she let Dust Bunny have her way. And it sounded like she was gonna have to have a long talk with Pile, better to get that over with as quickly as possible.

“Sorry,” Dash shrugged to the others. “I’ll talk to you all later.”

Dust Bunny pushed through the other ponies with Rainbow following her, the others let out some disgruntled muttering but got back to their work. The chief custodian led Dash to a door at the back and center of the room, unlike the ones up top this one didn’t have a big wheel on it and didn’t look as thick. It was just a regular door with a pull handle that Dust Bunny opened up into a hallway. As they walked down it Rainbow Dash looked at the numerous doors on the sides of the hallway. Seeing her look, Dust Bunny answered the unspoken question.

“These doors all lead to maintenance areas or workshops. If we went down a different tunnel from that room out there we could’ve gone to the gardens, the housing pods and cafeterias, recreational areas, all kinds of different places. But right now we’re going to Pile’s office, it’s kind of a mess but he’s always got a lot of ponies working with him on something or another.”

“Is he not going to be too busy to talk to me?” Dash asked.

“Well it’s not like we’re doing anything major,” she looked around for a second as if checking to make sure no one else was around to hear. “I think he just likes to keeps us busy with menial tasks and random projects sometimes to make sure we don’t go crazy. And you’re the first outsider we’ve ever seen since moving down into these tunnels, it just wouldn’t be right not to show you as much hospitality as possible,” Dust Bunny told her. “Really I think everyone is just going to be happy to see you. It’s kind of a break from the normal monotony.”

Rainbow Dash could appreciate that. And she could appreciate being appreciated so that was even better.

“If they ask I definitely have some cool stories to tell and stuff,” Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest.

Dust Bunny giggled. “I can imagine, it must’ve been really difficult getting here through the storm, I don’t know any pony here who can deal with the weather out there, aside from our scientists technically, so you must be something special.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash said. And then blinked. “Wait, what scientists are you talking about?”

“The boss can tell you about them,” Dust Bunny said and came to a stop, gesturing to the door in front of them.

Rainbow Dash stopped too and looked at it. Unlike the others this was a double door with a lever on the wall beside it. Dust Bunny pulled the lever and the doors separated right down the middle with a clunk and slid into pockets in the wall instead of opening out or inwards. The two mares stepped inside and Rainbow Dash got a good first look at Pile’s office. It was actually really big, more like a command center than an office, with a multitude of metal tables all bolted into the floor and filing cabinets strewn about all over. The lighting was actually kind of low and everything was cast in a sort of yellow-orange glow. She saw a few ponies running about and looking at dials and meters built into the walls while others hunched over the tables and scribbled on parchment.

“Welcome to the nerve center I guess,” Dust Bunny shrugged and led her deeper. The other ponies around didn’t take any notice of them even though Rainbow Dash had to be pretty vibrant and unusual. The two mares walked right to a table in the center of the room where a single unicorn sat at, a large binder in front of him.

“Boss?” Dust Bunny said, causing the unicorn to look up.

He was younger than Rainbow Dash would’ve expected, with an angular face and sharp black eyebrows. He was frowning at the two of them but Dash couldn’t tell if he was doing it on purpose or if his face just naturally set that way. His red eyes flickered to Rainbow Dash for a second before settling on Dust Bunny, if he knew she was from outside (which he almost certainly did) he didn’t give any indication.

“Dust Bunny. What is it?” He asked with a slightly scratchy voice.

“We have a visitor,” she smiled at her boss and pointed at Rainbow Dash.

“I can see that,” he raised an appraising eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. “You must be from outside then? How did you get through the storm and find this place? Why did you go through the storm?”

“Uhhh, do you want the long version or the short version?” Rainbow Dash gave him a lopsided grin.

Unfortunately, Pile didn’t seem to possess much of a sense of humor. “The good version.”

“Boss...” Dust Bunny frowned. “Look, she’s hungry and she’s obviously come a long ways, let’s give her a good first impression, right?”

Pile sat back and his silver face loosened up a smidgen. “Yes, sorry. I suppose I’m not being very welcoming. My name is Pile, as I’m sure Dust Bunny has already told you, and you are?”

How many times had she had to give her name in the past hour? “My name’s Rainbow Dash.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Rainbow Dash. And quite the surprise. My brusqueness was only because I never thought we’d have another pony come in out of the storm. Dust Bunny says you’re hungry? I can have one of my assistants bring you some food, and please, grab yourself a chair if you’d like to sit.” His horn lit up with a dark blue glow and two chairs were pulled from other tables for Rainbow Dash and Dust Bunny.

“Thanks dude,” Dash said and happily sat down, Dust Bunny doing the same.

Pile craned his neck over to another unicorn glancing at dials on the wall and jotting down notes of some sort in a notebook. “Illumise? Would you go grab a spinach salad from the back kitchen?”

The unicorn did a quick double-take, jostled out of the work he was doing by the sudden request before nodding. “Oh, y-yes sir!” He tucked the notebook into a pocket on the vest he was wearing and gripped the pencil in his teeth before trotting off to the back of the command center.

“So-” Pile said as he looked back at Rainbow Dash. “Pray tell just what is your story? How did you make it here?”

Rainbow Dash chuckled and leaned back in her chair. “Well… I hope you have a few minutes but the first thing to say I guess is that I’m on an adventure.”

And then she got to talking from the very beginning, unlike the pegasi of the Empire these ponies were completely oblivious to Equestria so they just listened with rapt attention as Rainbow Dash explained things. During her retelling of her journey so far, Rainbow Dash made sure to talk herself and her accomplishments up as much as possible. It was only natural. Maybe a slight embellishment or two to make her look better were used and perhaps one or two small details were left out but the important stuff all got relayed. When she finally got to the point where she was telling them about what she had done in this hurricane so far they were simply amazed. As expected of any ponies meeting Rainbow Dash for the first time, how could they not be taken in by her awesomeness?

“I’m more than impressed that you managed to make it that deeply into the storm,” Pile blinked as Rainbow Dash finished up.

“Thanks but I was still trying to get through the whole thing. That didn’t really work out,” Rainbow admitted. She then dug into the bowl of spinach that Illumise had brought over for her while she was in the middle of regaling Pile and Dust Bunny. It tasted a lot better than she would’ve thought, how’d they grow this down here?

“You did a better job fighting that insane weather than any of us have done,” Pile told her. “Right now the only ones still trying to do anything about that storm are our leftover scientists and some volunteers.”

Rainbow Dash perked up. “Right, scientists. Dust Bunny mentioned those guys. So what are they doing?”

Pile gave her a slight smirk before it settled back into his normal frowning expression. “I’m assuming you saw that huge chain out there before coming here?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow nodded.

“That’s a tether. That chain tethers the lab all of our scientists work in to the ground so it doesn’t get blown away by the storm. Right now the lab is flying like a kite hundreds of feet up in the air in the strongest part of this storm so they can study it to their best ability. Our meteorologists, climatologists, and any particularly gifted pegasi and unicorns that can help out are all working in the laboratory. Honestly I’m not even sure how it maintains its position up there but they found a way to make it work.” Pile shrugged. “Something about propellers, balloons, and magical spells. Either way they’re doing their best to help out with this storm.”

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow, deep in thought. She was totally unable to get through the storm on her own power, she knew that now as much as it pained her to admit it, but maybe those scientist dudes could help her out? A laboratory was big right and somehow they got the whole thing to fly up there without a problem? They must know something about how this weather worked.

“Hey, can I meet those scientists?” Rainbow Dash asked him.

“Well...” Pile’s eyes wandered for a second. “There’s nothing wrong with that but you’d have to wait a couple weeks.”

“A couple weeks?”

“Yes, you see, the chain is on a large crank that can be rotated to withdraw the chain fully back into the ground and bring the laboratory back with it. We do that every few weeks so we can get an update from the scientists on their work and give them fresh supplies of food. Unfortunately as much as I would like to help you we simply can’t withdraw the chain whenever, we could be interrupting important work by them if we did that. The next scheduled rendezvous and exchange is in a little over two weeks.”

“Ugh,” Rainbow Dash sat back and frowned. Two weeks? She didn’t want to be stuck in this place doing nothing for two weeks. She didn’t want to be stuck in this storm at all for that long, she never thought it would be such a time drain to get through it. “Well thanks I guess, I’ll figure something out.”

“Of course. And please, think of this place as your home for as long as you’re here. Before our city was torn apart by the storm we prided ourselves on our friendliness to all,” Pile said.

“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash smiled. That was at least a really nice change of pace.

“Was there anything else you wanted to know? I thought you had some other questions?” Dust Bunny said.

“I dunno, I was kind of curious about some things here. Like how many ponies live in these tunnels anyways? And how do you have electricity?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“There are a couple hundred that live down here,” Pile answered. “As for electricity that’s actually quite easy. We have a series of turbines built on the outer western side of the canyon. The wind power from the storm is more than enough to give us all the energy we need. One small blessing from it.”

“The first few turbines we built got blown away but these ones were reinforced,” Dust Bunny said.

“Oh. I guess I couldn’t see them since I was flying in the canyon,” Rainbow Dash scratched her head. “So like, that hatch up there that I came through? Is that the only one?”

“No, there are some others throughout this area,” Dust Bunny shook her head. “I guess you could call that the central one though since it’s pretty much right on top of us, and it’s used to get to the laboratory when it’s brought down to the ground.”

Rainbow Dash chomped on the last of her spinach and swallowed it down. “Cool.”

“We grow that spinach and other stuff in our gardens here too. There’s still fertile soil if you dig, and we pump up groundwater from our wells to feed it,” Pile explained.

“Tastes decent,” Rainbow Dash said.

“If you want I can show you all of this stuff tomorrow?” Dust Bunny suggested.

“Sure,” Rainbow shrugged. “I mean it sounds like I’m not gonna be doing anything else. And I guess this is the first time you guys have the chance to show your place off to anyone else. Why not?” A yawn then escaped from her lips. “Er, how late has it gotten?”

“Pretty late. I suppose you’ve lost track of time after coming into the storm?” Pile said.

“Yeah, normally I’d just tell by looking at the sun or moon you know but...” Rainbow Dash trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence.

“Well I’ll have Dust Bunny show you to sleeping quarters of some kind,” Pile turned to look at the chief custodian. “Do you have extra room in your janitorial pod?”

Dust Bunny nodded enthusiastically. “Yep! We’ve got plenty of extra beds and everything.” She looked at Rainbow Dash with a smile. “If you don’t mind sleeping with the cleaning crew we’d be happy to have you!”

“Fine by me,” Rainbow Dash smiled back.

The two mares then excused themselves from the table and Dash said goodbye to Pile for now. Rainbow hoped it wasn’t a long walk through the tunnels to the janitorial pod or whatever, she kind of wanted to get some sleep. At least she didn’t have to worry about food now. But two weeks? Two weeks just to have maybe even a hope or a chance of getting through this storm? She wasn’t very happy about that. At least all the ponies here were nice. Dust Bunny shut the door to the command center behind them when they left, and they walked through the metal tunnels to Rainbow Dash’s next temporary home on her adventure.

Overstorm V

While they walked to the janitorial pod Rainbow Dash briefly entertained the thought of just leaving this place tomorrow and heading back out of the storm. Surely it wouldn’t take two weeks to fly around the hurricane would it? But she quashed that possibility quickly. Leaving now would be the same as quitting. And she had already had to run away from too many things on this adventure and disappoint herself. She would not run away from this storm too. Rainbow Dash had made the decision to fly through it and by Celestia she was going to do that. No storm could beat her!

Going through the tunnels down here, Dust Bunny kept the other ponies they came across at a hoof’s length from Dash, knowing it was more than past the time for the both of them to turn in for the night. They had to walk out back to the big room and then go through another door on their way to the janitorial pod. It was good Rainbow had Dust Bunny for a guide since there were no signs for anything and she would’ve most definitely gotten lost on her own. There were a few less ponies than before around, a lot had probably gone to sleep too and the ones out right now were probably night shift workers.

“So what else do ponies do around here? Like for fun I mean, not just work,” Rainbow asked Dust Bunny as they walked down another well-lit corridor.

“Umm, we dance? We’ve still got some old instruments and stuff and since we don’t really have any other outlets our hoedowns can get pretty wild. The kids all like to play hide-and-seek, who only knows just how many little places there are to hide in these tunnels. Work keeps us busy for the most part. Some ponies have taking up drawing and sculpting, after all there are plenty of rocks.” She looked at Rainbow Dash. “Sculpting seems a bit slow-paced for you though after what you’ve told us about yourself.”

“Maybe a bit,” Dash gave her a wry grin. “The dancing sounds fun though.”

“There are parties every weekend, I’ll take you to one!” Dust Bunny cheerfully said.

“Sure!” Rainbow Dash said but on the inside was kind of hoping that she’d already be through the storm by then… er, hold on. What day was it anyways? Rainbow Dash shook her head, whatever, that wasn’t really important.

They turned a corner in the tunnels and came to a large, oval shaped gateway. Above this new gateway was the first sign Rainbow had seen so far: Janitorial

Dust Bunny opened up the chain-link gate that separated it from the rest of the tunnel and the two walked in. The walls of this connecting tunnel that led right into the custodial pod looked like they were made of corrugated tin placed over the dirt and the rocks. There were no light fixtures in the tunnel but they had enough vision thanks to whatever room was at the end of it. It looked pretty big and there was a lot of light pouring down the tunnel from it.

Dust Bunny made sure to be a pace or two ahead of Rainbow Dash so when she hopped out of the end of the tunnel she could turn around and face her, gesturing to the new large room. “Welcome to my home.”

Rainbow Dash walked in after her and took a wide look around. Pod was a more or less accurate description. The room was large, larger than any individual building in Ponyville if you didn’t count the castle or the school, and shaped like a gigantic egg with a number of square apartment units built on top of each other and climbing up the left and right walls of the chamber. Scaffolding on the sides of them allowed for easy access to any level. At the back end of the chamber facing the tunnel was a large tubular shaped structure that went all the way up to the ceiling. There was a single door at the bottom of it with a placard reading “Storage” above it. Numerous powerful lights were built into the ceiling, strong enough that Rainbow Dash had to squint on reflex when she looked up. It made it seem like she was practically walking out in the sun.

She didn’t see any other ponies around, which made her think everyone was either asleep or still on night cleaning duties.

“The top eight rooms are all unoccupied so we can put you in whichever,” Dust Bunny said as she pointed up to the top of the pod.

“Eight?” Rainbow Dash followed her hoof, if that was the case then there were far less ponies that were in the custodial pod than she thought.

“Oh, sorry,” Dust Bunny blushed. “Each level is a duplex, so really only the last two levels on each side are open. The rooms are smaller than they look.”

“Oh, no big deal,” Rainbow Dash said.

Dust Bunny walked over to the apartments to their left and headed up the ramp on the scaffolding. “Come on, I’ll take you up to the first available room.”

Rainbow could’ve just flown, or even carried Dust up with her, but decided to let the custodian play the part of the good host. She could fly up and down the rest of the time. Rainbow winced as with each step they took it shook the metal pipes and platforms of the scaffolding and made some pretty loud noise and clanks. She hoped they weren’t waking anybody up. Eventually they got to the second level from the top and Dust Bunny opened up the door sitting right next to the scaffolding.

“Here we are. Just to let you know there isn’t much in here aside from a bed, some shelves, and a small shower in the corner.”

“A shower?” That surprised Rainbow Dash. “Awesome, I could really use one after being tossed around in the storm out there.”

The two mares stepped inside and came face to face with a young colt sitting on the bed.

“Uhhh...” The colt said as he looked up at Dust Bunny.

“Squeaky Clean? What are you doing in here and why are you up so late?” Dust Bunny frowned at the colt. “You and your friends are playing hide-and-seek aren’t you? You know better than to do this at all hours of the night.” She sighed. “Look, go back to your parents and tell your friends tomorrow that this room is off limits now. We have a guest.”

“R-Right,” the colt hopped off the bed and quickly ran past them out the door, Rainbow Dash could hear him clattering down the scaffold. “Sorry!”

Dust Bunny shook her head as he left. “Geez, sorry about that.”

Rainbow Dash had to chuckle. “Hey, it’s no problem. Just kids having fun and all.” She stretched her back, unfurling her wings and giving them a little shake. “Okay, I’m gonna take a shower and then pass out if you don’t mind? Talk to you tomorrow?”

“Of course. Just fyi though, the water will cut off automatically if you let it on for too long, we have to conserve. I don’t have work in the morning since technically I’m doing night shift this week so I’ll come by sometime late in the morning for you. Wouldn’t want to wake you up too early,” Dust Bunny winked and stepped back out of the door frame, putting a hoof on the door and getting ready to close it.

Rainbow Dash waved goodbye to her. “Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow morning then.”

“Yep, bye!” Dust Bunny said and closed the door, heading back down the scaffolding to the bottom level of the pod.

After a second, Rainbow Dash let out a deep breath and flopped down on the bed. “I’m tired...” She muttered. The ceiling was low as she looked up at it and there were only a couple of empty shelves right next to her bed that was already pressed right up to the wall. She leaned her head back and saw a small metal semi-circular area attached to the corner of the room with nothing but a shower curtain separating it from the rest of the cold metal floor. This apartment wasn’t small so much as it was one small room. Rainbow Dash stretched out on the bed and closed her eyes for a moment before forcing herself to get up, she knew if she rested on there for any longer she wouldn’t be able to get up and shower before falling asleep.

She walked over to the shower stall and pulled back the curtain. As expected there wasn’t even enough room for her to really extend her wings. A drain sat at the bottom while a pipe with a faucet on the end came out of the ceiling directly overhead. There were two ropes with knobs at the ends dangling down halfway into the shower with no indication of which of them did what. Pulling one probably turned on the water and the other probably turned it off but who knows.

“Whatever,” Rainbow Dash shrugged and stepped inside, closing the curtain and yanking on one of the ropes.

A rumbling and scraping sound came from the faucet over her head while Rainbow Dash looked up, watching the whole thing shake and whine until a torrent of nearly freezing cold water poured out, drenching her immediately. An unimpressed Dash pushed her newly flattened mane out of her eyes and wrung out her tail to try and get the dirt in it to seep out, fluttering her wings to do the same to them. She moved her hoof to the other rope and pulled on it, wondering if that would give her hot water.

Instead the faucet shunted close and her water disappeared entirely.

“Guess they don’t have a heater,” Rainbow Dash sighed and vigorously shook her head to get most of the water out of her mane. It still felt nice to get clean but she wasn’t looking forward to doing that every time she felt like taking a shower. Hopefully she wouldn’t be here as long as she was dreading she might be.

After drying off she jumped back into the bed and rolled over to curl up and face the wall. It had been a very long day and she was happy to finally get some rest. She wasn’t sure what her plan was for tomorrow but if Dust Bunny and Pile were any indication there was a lot to learn about here.

Rainbow Dash was woken up by her own snoring. Groggily she kicked at the bed sheets and twisted and turned for a few times before her head shot up and darted around in confusion before she finally remembered the events of the previous day and realized just where she was. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, her throat was dry, and rubbed her eyes. Glancing about the room this morning she noticed another thing about it: no clock. So with no way to tell how late in the morning it was and not even knowing what day of the week it was, Rainbow Dash figured she might as well curl back up and nap some more.

That was until she heard the telltale sound of hooves clattering up the metal scaffolding outside her room. Only one pony that could be.

Her suspicions were proven correct when the hooves stopped outside her door and Dust Bunny gently knocked on it. “Rainbow Dash? Are you awake?”

Rainbow Dash bit back a yawn and sat up on her bed. “Yeah, I’m awake, you can come in.”

Dust Bunny obliged and opened the door, coming in with a smile. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Rainbow Dash smiled back at the cheerful custodian.

“Do you want to get breakfast?” Dust Bunny asked. “Or do you still need a minute? If there was anything you wanted to see or explore or anything we could do that too today. And fair warning, you’re definitely going to get mobbed by curious ponies wherever we go.”

“I’m used to that. Comes with the territory of being awesome,” Rainbow bragged and hopped off the bed. “But for now I’m fine with breakfast. More spinach?”

Dust Bunny giggled. “Yep, more spinach. I’ll try and introduce you to the ponies I know at breakfast… er, if I’m being honest I’m kind of excited. Everyone’s going to be really happy to meet you, it’ll be a lot of fun for us down here, we kind of need something like this. I think everyone kind of deserves to meet you… even though I know that might be a bother to you, especially since you didn’t plan on coming or staying here.”

“Hey, I’m happy to oblige. Even if I have to tell my whole story again I don’t mind one bit. You probably got this last night but I kind of love talking about myself,” Rainbow Dash smirked. Dust Bunny was right about her not wanting to be here too long but Rainbow wouldn’t miss this kind of opportunity to flex her own ego and help out some unlucky ponies at the same time. That’s just what she loved to do. Pinkie, Twilight, all of them, putting a smile on ponies’ faces was just part of their lives.

“Thank you, really,” Dust Bunny gave her a slightly more somber smile before turning to head back out, with Rainbow following up right next to her.

Overstorm VI

There were more ponies out and about now while Rainbow Dash and Dust Bunny walked through the tunnels. Made sense, this was probably the most active time of the day in here. Although she still didn’t know what exactly the time was. A few stopped to look at Rainbow Dash but she just casually waved at them for now, she didn’t want to have to constantly stop, instead she could just meet with a whole bunch of ponies at once while she ate breakfast. She hoped they didn’t have to walk very far this morning to get to that cafeteria or whatever. Rainbow Dash had had enough of walking over this cold metal flooring, but most of the tunnels were too narrow for her to comfortably fly in. She really wanted to stretch her wings again, maybe going up topside and flying in the storm for a minute would actually feel good. It occurred to her that while Pile had mentioned there being some pegasi up in the science lab she hadn’t seen any down here, only earth ponies and unicorns.

“If you don’t mind what we do today I was thinking I could show you the gardens and hydroponics after we eat breakfast?” Dust Bunny said.

“Sure,” Rainbow Dash said in reply, not caring too much one way or the other. “What are hydroponics?”

“It’s a way of growing plants only using enriched water without any soil,” Dust Bunny answered. “We actually have an easier time pumping up water than finding suitable soil for growing plants in.”

“But you still gotta conserve for showers?”

Dust Bunny chuckled and gave her a lopsided grin. “I think that’s just Pile being extra careful if you ask me. Well, it’s good to make sure nobody wastes anything so I guess I shouldn’t complain.”

“Yeah, makes sense,” Rainbow had to agree.

They twisted and turned through more and more tunnels down in this maze-like place. Rainbow Dash was doing her best to memorize the route they were taking, it would be good if at some point she didn’t need Dust Bunny or another pony to always be her guide. They took a turn in the tunnels that made Rainbow think they were walking west but her sense of direction down here was a little off. There were still barely any signs for anything, and Dust Bunny herself said they didn’t have total knowledge about the tunnel system, everyone must stay to the locations they knew well.

“Hey do you know what time it is? Are there any clocks down here?” Rainbow asked.

“There are, yes,” Dust Bunny answered. “There’s one in the maintenance pod, another in Pile’s office, at the gardens, one in my room back in the janitorial pod, and a few others. The time right now should be around nine.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow was happy to know she hadn’t been woken up at dawn or even before it. It explained why she actually felt decently rested, although she wouldn’t have minded another hour or two of napping.

Before long as they walked, Rainbow Dash could hear the bustling noise of many ponies talking and eating together. The cafeteria must have been close by. Dust Bunny turned a corner into a wide hallway where an open door at the end showed an even larger room that had several dozen ponies seated at tables and eating food or conversing with each other. She wondered how many conversations would come to a screeching halt when she went in there and Dust Bunny told everyone just who she was.

Rainbow Dash grinned at the upcoming spectacle. She loved being the center of attention.

“The heads of maintenance and digging should be in here too right now, along with plenty of others to spread the word about you. Although I think some have already heard that you’re here,” Dust Bunny said as they walked into the cafeteria.

They stepped over the threshold and Dash got a better look at the cafeteria for a moment. There were two large metal containers that were practically like troughs set up at the end that were filled up with spinach and beets. Ponies just grabbed bowls and piled in as much of the vegetables as they could before finding a place to sit. Not the most varied of diets it looked like down here but Rainbow could understand why they didn’t have much else.

Dust Bunny walked to the head of the cafeteria by the two containers and cleared her throat. “Excuse me, everyone!”

Her shout carried through the large room and most ponies stopped and turned their heads while a few others just ignored her or didn’t hear over their own noise. Dust patiently waited for them to notice that she had an announcement and for the noise to simmer down while Rainbow Dash stood off to the side. She noticed a few glances thrown her way and a hushed word or two said about her but she waited for Dust to speak before she did anything. When she was adequately satisfied that she had most ponies’ attention and wouldn’t need to shout over anyone, Dust Bunny spoke up again.

“Good morning to you all, I’m sure some of you already heard rumors about this but last night a visitor from outside came here!” She cheerfully said and waited for the importance of that statement to ripple over the audience. With a smile, she continued, waving a hoof over at Rainbow Dash. “Here she is, Rainbow Dash! She’d love to make your acquaintanceship and I know you’re probably all just as excited as I am but please keep in mind she’s had a long journey, don’t just crowd her all at once.”

Her suggestion went unheeded.

Once it became known that Rainbow Dash was an outsider the dozens of eating ponies bolted up from their seats and ran at her with questions and awed gasps fumbling out their mouths. Rainbow Dash was backed up against the wall as they all tried to speak over each other, asking her where she was from, why she was here, how’d she make it through the storm, the usual fare she had come to expect from the ponies down here. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dust Bunny put a hoof over her face and shake her head in embarrassment. Rainbow Dash for her part was able to handle this pretty well, since being mobbed by fans was relatively normal for her back home. If she could handle that fan club Scootaloo had made she could probably handle this.

“Okay, okay!” Rainbow Dash said, flapping her wings and making some space between herself and the crowd, floating herself up above their heads. “One question at a time, dudes!”

An earth pony stallion with a bushy mustache and wearing a baggy jumpsuit raised his hoof. “Hello! Grinding Gear, chief of the maintenance team, here. Where do you come from? And why’d you come all the way out here?”

“That was two questions but I guess they’re the big ones everyone had on their minds,” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. “Okay, so I told this story last night so there might be some minor stuff I leave out but be prepared to hear the most awesome story of your life.” She grinned and got to telling her ultra awesome life story once more to a far bigger crowd this time.

It was even better having a big audience for it, made her feel even more special getting to tell a crowd about herself and her adventures. After that was done she could get to know some of the ponies like Grinding Gear better.

“-And then I electrocuted him with the stored up lightning in all the clouds and saved the day!” Rainbow Dash finished, smugly folding her arms over her chest as she at last dropped back to the floor.

“Oooohhh!” All the ponies clapped their hooves together for her.

“Yep! And then I flew out here and found you guys,” she said.

“What do you think of this home we’ve managed to make for ourselves?” A unicorn mare asked her.

“I mean, it’s pretty impressive and all that. You guys really had to go through a lot and it was probably pretty tough,” Rainbow said.

“You’re right about that!” Grinding Gear said to a chorus of cheers.

Dust Bunny then came over and tried to break up the large crowd. “Okay everyone I think that’s enough for now. I wanted to introduce Rainbow Dash to some of you but we really need to eat breakfast too. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll all be able to talk and have fun with Rainbow Dash some more on other days.”

“If some of you want to sit down and talk while we eat that’s cool too,” Rainbow said.

Most of the ponies went back to their own tables, some more disappointed than others but hopeful that they could talk to Rainbow Dash at a later date. Meanwhile, Dust Bunny and Rainbow Dash grabbed some bowls full of beets and spinach and went to sit with Grinding Gear and three other ponies Rainbow Dash didn’t know the names of yet. One of them was a more muscular earth pony stallion with a tan coat and brown mane, his tail was cropped short and Rainbow Dash could see a shovel Cutie Mark on his flank. Right next to him was a yellow unicorn mare with a peach colored mane and tail and seated next to her was one of the first pegasi Rainbow Dash had seen down here, a stallion with a sand colored coat and merlot mane wearing the same kind of jumpsuit Grinding Gear was.

“So I guess you’re the ponies Dust Bunny wanted me to meet?” Rainbow Dash looked between them.

The muscled stallion reached up a hoof for her to shake. “Flint. Chief Digger.” He nodded to the mare next to him. “This is my number two, Shimmering Jewel.”

“Nice to meet ya,” Rainbow Dash smiled and shook both their hooves in turn. Shimmering Jewel giving a smile back.

“And you already know me and what I do but this is my nephew,” Grinding gear said as he introduced the pegasus. “He’s in charge of making sure our turbines work properly.”

“My name’s Bright Eyes,” the pegasus said.

“Nice to meet you guys too,” again Rainbow reached out a hoof and happily shook the two pony’s representing the maintenance team.

“She already met Pile last night but I wanted to introduce her to the other most important ponies here,” Dust Bunny explained. “Could you all spread the word to your teams and others you see today? It would help us out a lot.”

“Of course, was there anything else you needed help with?” Grinding Gear asked both Rainbow and Dust.

Dust Bunny shook her head. “I was just going to take Rainbow Dash on a tour of places like the gardens and anything else she wanted to see.”

Rainbow Dash thought about it and actually did come up with something. “Actually I wouldn’t mind seeing those turbines too? Back home I did a lot of weather duty, I want to see how your stuff works, and my friend Twilight would probably want to learn about it too.”

“That’s fine by me,” Dust Bunny shrugged and looked over at Bright Eyes. “I guess we’ll see you again sometime later today?”

“I invite you to come see our mining work at some point too,” Flint said. “We’re working on a new tunnel right now, Shimmering and I usually don’t have the opportunity to show off our work like this to other ponies but it’s something we’re very proud of. It would be nice to teach an outsider how our digging goes.” He gave her a surprisingly warm smile for a pony as hard looking as him.

“Me and Flint have made miles of new tunnel down here,” Shimmering Jewel proudly said, clapping a hoof over her chest.

The chief of digging nodded. “Mhm. Back when the storm started there was already quite a lot of space down here but most of it wasn’t really meant for any ponies to live in you know? So we worked on either refurbishing or digging new spots to make room for everyone who had to take shelter down here. Which uh, there were a lot of.”

“Yeah, sorry to hear about what happened to you guys and everything. This storm is crazy, I don’t get it at all!” Rainbow Dash said.

Shimmering Jewel sighed, playing around with a leaf of spinach. “Neither do we.”

“Our friends are trying to at least,” Grinding Gear said.

Dash felt the more somber mood when the topic of the storm came up and it made her curious about something else. “What did you all do before that storm hit?”

Flint was the first to respond. “Actually pretty much the same thing, I worked in the mines and helped out at our quarries too, getting stone for buildings and what have you.”

“Same!” Shimmering Jewel said and pushed her chair out, standing up and pointing a hoof back at her flank. Now Rainbow Dash could see the trowel Cutie Mark she had. “I helped build stuff from the stones mined and picked out of the quarries. Mostly houses but some walls, and a well or two you know?”

“Street cleaner,” Dust Bunny shrugged.

“Weather service,” Bright Eyes said. Not a surprise there.

“Sewer maintenance,” Grinding Gear laughed. “I’d say things have changed the least for me.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled along. “Maybe. Sounds like you all at least get to keep doing what you like, even if the circumstances aren’t great.”

“I guess we’ve been lucky that way at least,” Dust Bunny agreed.

The group made small talk for a bit longer, Rainbow Dash didn’t want to pry too far into their lives before the hurricane since it might bring up some painful memories so instead she mostly just ate and answered any questions they had for her. Which there were a lot of even after she had told her whole story earlier. She was also pretty curious about how the pegasi that lived in here managed to not go crazy not having any open places to fly around in. She wouldn’t be able to last here at all, she’d get way too antsy.

“So Bright Eyes do you not mind not being able to go out and fly?” She asked the maintenance pony.

“I certainly miss it, and my wings could certainly use better exercise but there’s just not much I can do about that,” the pegasus shrugged. “I can at least make do with getting them massaged or flying around the top of the maintenance pod sometimes.”

Rainbow Dash would probably have to keep that in mind if she was down here for more than a couple days. She hated not being able to fly however she wanted.

“So just to be certain but in all your travels you’ve never come across a storm like this?” Flint asked her.

She shook her head. “Nope. I mean, I’ve seen some crazy and just downright weird weather but I’ve never seen a storm that was just this big and strong. And from what you guys have said it doesn’t look like it’ll ever just end on its own. Sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize to us for that, I’m sure our scientists are working their hardest to come up with an answer up in the lab,” Grinding Gear said.

“Yeah. I hope I can meet those guys too,” Rainbow Dash wistfully said as she sat back in her chair.

“It’ll just be a couple of weeks, no big deal,” Grinding Gear said, obviously not knowing that to Rainbow Dash that was a pretty big deal.

She didn’t want to dampen the mood and bring it up though, instead just finishing her spinach and beets. It was a healthy and filling meal but she kind of wished she could have a cupcake from Sugarcube Corner right about now too. Either way breakfast was over once she finished and the others at the table had work to get to. Which left her and Dust Bunny free to start their little adventure through the tunnels and all the places Dust Bunny wanted to show her.

Dash swallowed the last bite of beet she had in her mouth and kicked her chair back from the table, standing up and briefly stretching her legs. “So where to now?”

Overstorm VII

Unsurprisingly the gardens and hydroponics lab were placed close to the cafeteria so it wasn’t a long walk at all for the two of them after finishing breakfast. Rainbow Dash whistled while they walked, her mood pretty good. The ponies here were just so nice and eager to show off their home and all the hard work they’ve put In to make this place work. In some ways Rainbow Dash felt like when she first visited the Crystal Empire and learned about their fair and everything they did.

“The pony who manages the gardens and all is just as important as anyone but he never leaves his gardens to come eat or anything so this is the only way I can introduce you,” Dust Bunny said.

“Never leaves?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“Mhm. Otherwise he would’ve been one of the important ponies at that breakfast back there,” Dust Bunny looked over at her and winked. “And if you’re not in the mood to tell your life story for the third time we can just tell him to ask someone else about it later.”

Rainbow grinned. “Thanks for the concern.”

“Honestly I’m surprised you don’t have a Cutie Mark in oration or story telling,” Dust giggled.

“Pff, nope, just being my usual awesome self,” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Do you guys grow anything besides beets and spinach down here?”

“Carrots, actually. But not as much. The beets and spinach grow better,” Dust Bunny answered.

A carrot sounded really good right now too, Rainbow hoped she could eat one of them while she was stuck here. She didn’t have much time to think about it as it only took another minute for them to reach the properly labeled “Gardening” pod. But as they stepped through the large doors separating it from the rest of the tunnel it had a different appearance from the egg-shaped janitorial pod. This was more of a long rectangle with a low ceiling and no individual rooms or apartments for ponies to sleep in that Rainbow Dash could see. Instead just rows of mini-gardens and water tanks full of healthy looking vegetable plants lined the entire pod while fluorescent lighting poured down on them. A lot of ponies were working on them right now too, either tilling the soil and checking the health of the plants, or picking fully ripened vegetables. The garden team seemed to have a busy job. There were also ponies cleaning out currently empty tanks or replacing blown out light bulbs. Rainbow wondered if they were on the gardening team too or if they were custodians along with Dust Bunny.

“Is that you, Dust Bunny? What are you doing here today? We didn’t need any extra cleaning,” a voice from Rainbow Dash’s left said and she looked over to see a glasses wearing pony walking over to the two of them.

He was a lean looking earth pony stallion with a yellow-green coat and a vividly blue mane and tail while a lemon tree Cutie Mark grew on his flanks. Behind him was a shoddy and patched up tent that was pitched in the corner of the room, Rainbow Dash hadn’t noticed it when they first entered. As he walked closer he peered more intently at the two of them, his glasses so thick the lenses could’ve doubled as hockey pucks.

“Hi Lemon, I’m just showing around Rainbow Dash. You might have heard but she’s-”

“The one from outside. Yes. Heard about her from one of your moppers,” Lemon cut her off, nodding as he reached out a hoof and grabbed Rainbow Dash’s, shaking it vigorously without even waiting for her. “A pleasure.”

“Likewise,” Dash pulled her hoof away when he was done and gave him a weird look. “So your name’s Lemon?”

“Would think that’s obvious. Chief of the gardening team,” he adjusted his glasses and squinted a little harder at her.

Dash frowned and was about to tell him what for for the uncordial way he was speaking to her when Dust Bunny stopped her, stepping between the two of them with an awkward smile on her face. “Er, don’t mind that, Rainbow. Lemon’s just a little… abrupt.”

“Busy. Direct. Focused. Not one for small-talk,” Lemon corrected.

Dust Bunny rolled her eyes. “Forgive him, he’s been like this even before the storm arrived.”

“Used to have a grove of lemon trees,” Lemon said.

“Sorry about that. Good luck getting those back some day,” Dash said. It’s not like she wasn’t sympathetic to him. Besides, she had met plenty of ponies who were a little weird, she didn’t need to overreact.

He shrugged and walked over to the nearest hydroponics tank to check on it, not bothering to say anymore. Figuring she certainly wasn’t going to get a guided tour from the head of the gardening team just standing here, Rainbow Dash walked right up beside him to see what he was doing. There was a thermometer looking device hooked to the edge of the tank that he dipped in the water and held it there for a second before pulling it back out and looking at it.

“What’s that?” Rainbow asked him.

“PH checker. Important. Also have devices for checking vitamin and nutrient content of the water. Temperature well regulated.”

“What’s pH?”

“A way of checking how acidic or basic something is. Also needs to be done for soil. Very important for growing vegetables,” he put the checker back in place and walked alongside the water tank to individually check each plant growing in it. “The soil and water used for our vegetables is not ideal, it must be rigorously tested and treated.” He grabbed some of the spinach and looked at the leaves, turning them over in his hooves and even leaning down slightly to sniff them.

Dust Bunny walked up to them now too. “Is the next batch looking good?”

“Of course,” Lemon simply stated, not bothering to say anything else without being prompted first anymore.

Rainbow Dash looked down the line to see more ponies doing the same as Lemon, getting curious she walked over to the soil plots to see what different stuff needed to be done with them. Each different mini garden that utilized soil was encased in a metal square that could comfortably fit a few ponies lying side by side. A few sprinklers ran up the sides of it for water while the soil itself had a rich and dark color. The plot she was looking into looked to be for growing beets and there was a pony tending to it, pulling out beets that hadn’t properly grown and turning the soil over to put new beet seeds in. Rainbow Dash took a moment to look down the rows of gardens and hydroponics, inspecting the entire gardening pod. It really wasn’t that big now that she really looked at it. Big for an indoor garden or greenhouse yeah but considering how many ponies they had to feed every day… it didn’t compare at all to the, well, acres of Sweet Apple Acres or the average farm you would see around Equestria.

“You guys must really work hard to feed all the ponies down here,” she absent-mindedly said to the mare working on the beets.

The mare’s ears perked up and she raised her head, noticing Rainbow Dash’s presence for the first time and flashing her an appreciative smile. “Thank you. It’s hard work but it needs to be done. We’re always growing and cultivating new vegetables every day.”

“Trying to find ways to make it more efficient,” Lemon said from his position inspecting the spinach.

“The more vegetables you can grow per cubic foot of soil the better it is for everyone,” the mare said.

Lemon nodded. “Upping volume is the number one goal at the moment. Quality and taste of food, as well as variety, can come later. When more stable.”

Dust Bunny then walked up to Rainbow Dash and whispered in her ear: “We probably shouldn’t bother them much more, I just wanted to make sure you were introduced to Lemon properly. He doesn’t care about showing off as much as the others do so unless you have any more questions we can go.”

A mare wearing a hairnet and carrying a bucket full of beets on their back walked past them and gave the two guests a small wave. Rainbow Dash returned it and glanced at Dust Bunny.

“I guess I don’t. I have a friend who’s a farmer and I always knew how much effort she put into it and how hard she worked but I guess I didn’t appreciate just how tough the work in general can be. I’m glad you guys have found a way to get enough food for yourselves though.”

“Appreciation noted,” Lemon said even though Rainbow Dash hadn’t been speaking to him.

The rainbow mare playfully rolled her eyes. “No problem, dude.”

Dust Bunny held a hoof up to her lips and giggled. “Alright, shall we?”

Both of them waved goodbye to Lemon, who gave the smallest of nods in acknowledgment as he didn’t take his eyes off the spinach, and left the gardening pod. It spoke quite a bit of how busy the gardening team was that they didn’t swarm around Rainbow Dash like the other ponies had. For such a polite and welcoming place it meant a lot that they didn’t drop what they were doing for their guest. Now it would probably be a much longer walk on their way to the turbines but it was something Rainbow Dash was a bit more excited for.

To get to the turbines that generated the power for this entire complex you had to go to the western most edge of the tunnels and take an extra long lift ride to get back up to the surface level. Rainbow Dash and Dust Bunny now stood on that loud lift as the chains pulled it up almost two hundred feet. The lift was much larger than the other one she had used even though it was of the same design aside from also having an opening on the back so you could get on and off it from both sides and two different tunnels whenever it stopped. She found herself pacing back and forth slightly as they went up it, restless from having to stand still and not being able to fly all day. But since the turbines were outside to gather power from the wind that meant there had to be a hatch up here that led to the outside in case any work had to be done on them. Maybe she could fly out for a minute and come right back?

After a few more minutes of grinding up the elevator shaft the lift came to a stop and Dust Bunny led Rainbow Dash out. Immediately Rainbow Dash noticed they were in a bit of a different looking place. Gone were the metal walls and floors of the lower tunnels, instead it looked like they were really just in a carved out cave with rock around them. No more claustrophobic narrow tunnels either, it was much wider up here. She reflexively extended and stretched her wings briefly as she followed Dust Bunny down a corridor.

“So how come this place is different?” Rainbow asked her.

“This area is built right into the canyon wall, we didn’t see the point of making our normal tunnels, it’s structurally sound enough as is and mostly entirely rock,” she explained. “We don’t need to keep things separated from all the dirt or worry about cave-ins.”

With another turn of the corner they came to a large room with some fancy looking equipment Rainbow Dash couldn’t make heads or tails of. It looked like it had a bunch of meters and graphs on it but that’s as far as she knew. Numerous ponies were going all over it, including Bright Eyes, he sat at a console with a bunch of gauges on it with their needles flickering steady at about the halfway point on all of them.

“Yo!” Rainbow Dash said once she saw him, getting him and all the other ponies working in here to look at the source of the loud voice.

A smile broke out on Bright Eyes’ face and he stepped up from his console, walking over to greet her. “Rainbow Dash, I was hoping you’d drop by!” He looked around at the other workers. “Everyone, if you hadn’t heard or seen her yet this is the pony from outside that I met at breakfast this morning, say hi!”

“Hi!”

“Hello!”

“Nice to meet you!”

A chorus of greetings rang out from the ponies working with Bright Eyes. It was clear they wanted to do a lot more than that and come talk to her but they were all busy. Rainbow Dash would have to do something or hang out with them later. For now though she was just here to meet Bright Eyes with Dust Bunny and see how this stuff worked.

“So you really were interested in the turbines? It seemed that way at breakfast. It’s probably the closest thing to weather work that we do here now,” Bright Eyes said.

“Yeah, and honestly I kind of wanted the chance to be able to go outside. But the turbines sounded cool,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Outside huh?” Bright Eyes tapped a hoof to his chin. “I think we can manage that, why not? But first let me show you what we’re doing in here.”

Rainbow Dash was happy enough to get the promise of being able to go outside so she went with Dust Bunny over to the console Bright Eyes had been working at. He sat back down at it and started to explain what it showed.

“So you see these meters?” He pointed at a line of one dozen semi-circle meters that had lines going from zero to one hundred by fives on them, with red needles sitting comfortably between twenty-five and thirty for all of them at the moment.

“Yeah,” Dash nodded.

“They measure the stress level of the turbines. They can safely go up to about seventy-five but any higher than that and they’re in danger of breaking and we’ve gotta turn them off and go out to try and reinforce them or put up wind barriers,” he pointed at a different screen that showed a single red bar that went from the bottom of the screen to the top. “And this is the power output meter. As you can see the turbines are currently generating as much power as possible.”

Dust Bunny cleared her throat and cut in. “Which is actually even more than we need. Excess power gets stored in batteries for whenever we need to turn the turbines off or they get damaged.”

“That’s right,” Bright nodded and stepped up from his seat. “I can show you the turbines now if you want? We can open the outer door for a bit. I have to warn you to be careful though since the storm is still raging out there and the blades of the turbines spin very fast, so don’t get near them.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful when I’m out there,” Rainbow Dash grinned.

“Alright, let’s head to the exit hatch then,” Bright said and pointed to the far wall of the room. There was a heavy metal door on it and Bright Eyes waved the two guests towards it. Like the hatch Rainbow Dash remembered opening up when she came down the tunnel it had a wheel on it that needed to be pulled until it unlatched and swung away from the wall.

Bright Eyes did this for them and led the two mares into a smaller, darker, room before stepping in and closing the hatch back up. There was a loud noise in this room that had been absent just outside it, Rainbow Dash could hear the howling wind beating on the rock wall. In front of them was a larger door made of a long slab of metal that looked like it slid open sideways with another wheel the size of a pony sitting in the middle of the room.

“This is the exit area. For obvious reasons you can’t just open up one door and suddenly be outside. You need to open up that door that leads back to our control room, go in here, close that door, and only then can you unlock this big door and get outside,” Bright explained to her. “Uh, hold on one second.”

The pegasus reached up and flipped a switch next to the door they had entered from and the whole room was now fully illuminated.

Rainbow Dash saw a number of lockers firmly bolted and welded to the floor and walls that were probably full of tools and stuff. There wasn’t much else in the room aside from the wheel that must be the mechanism for opening the outer door. Bright Eyes went up to the large wheel and grunted as he began to rotate it, the metal grinding along and a series of loud shifting noises coming from the floor and sliding door as he did so.

“This opens up the outer door, there’s a series of gears built into the floor...” he grunted in exertion enough that Rainbow Dash flew over to help him.

“Here dude, I got this.”

Together they managed to move it much faster and the sliding door opened up a bit. Of course the moment if opened even just a crack, wind started billowing into the room from the storm outside. Dust Bunny shrieked and covered her face while Rainbow and Bright worked their hardest to open the door up all the way. With their mane’s whipping about their faces they pulled the door open more and more until finally it fully receded into the wall and let the violence of the storm inside their exit room completely. Bright Eyes and Dust Bunny were having a noticeably tougher time dealing with the wind than she was so Rainbow decided she should probably make this quick.

She walked over to the open doorway and saw that they were now at ground level, with nothing but dark rocky ground in front of them and the huge turbines built into the ground. Rainbow looked up at the giant mechanical looking windmills that went in a line down from where she was standing. Made out of black metal the wind from the storm made their rotors spin at incredible speed while shaking the relatively thin frames holding them up. The turbines were a good twenty feet tall that she could see but their bases extended below the rocks, she couldn’t see how deep they actually went. Along with several support beams propping up each turbine they looked pretty stable.

“I’m gonna fly around for a second but I’ll be right back!” Rainbow Dash yelled to Bright Eyes and Dust Bunny over the wind and then took to the skies.

It felt really, really, good to fly like this, even if she had to fight the wind of the storm at the same time. She made sure to keep well away from the blades of the turbines, instead taking the opportunity to stretch her wings and fly up the outside of the canyon. She didn’t envy the ponies down there that had to come out here sometimes and fix up or maintain those turbines when there was a problem. Doing any sort of work in this wind sounded awful. At the moment though she was just happy to get out in the open and fly like this, later tonight she could fly around inside the janitorial pod too.

Making her way back down to the ground after a few minutes she stepped onto the threshold of the outer door. Dust Bunny was in the corner of the room, holding her mane and wincing at the wind while Bright Eyes stood at the wheel.

She flew over to the wheel and helped Bright Eyes close the door up, with Dust Bunny finally sighing in relief.

“So I guess paying attention to those things is a full time job?” Rainbow asked Bright right as the door thudded back into place.

“Oh yeah,” he nodded. “We can’t afford to take our eyes off them for a second. The constant wind is a mixed blessing in that way; we’ll never be short on power but the turbines never get a rest so we have to perform nearly constant upkeep on them and pay attention to their stress levels. There’s even the possibility of the excess power they generate overloading our batteries, that’s just how powerful the storm is.”

“Well good luck with this stuff,” Rainbow thought about how much everyone struggled down here. This job, the work at the “farms”, it all required constant care and attention. If she lived here she wouldn’t get to take any daily naps. “Kind of wish I could help you guys out.”

Dust Bunny shook her head. “Please, don’t. You’re our guest. More than that you’re a very special guest, all you need to do is relax and enjoy yourself while you’re here. We should be the ones helping you out when it comes to this darn storm.”

Rainbow Dash could only awkwardly frown. She was the one used to helping out ponies. And this was her big adventure to do stuff, she’d definitely figure out what was up with this storm or at least find a way to make things easier for these ponies.

“Let’s head back inside, shall we?” Bright Eyes said and opened up the inner door.

Rainbow and Dust Bunny followed, with Bright Eyes planning on giving them a tour on how everything else here worked.

By the time they made it to the new tunnel Flint and Shimmering Jewel were in charge of digging it was pretty late in the day. Dust Bunny said that once they were done here they’d head back to the cafeteria to get a quick meal and then they could go back to the janitorial pod. Normally she would have more work but Pile had allowed her to work more as Rainbow Dash’s guide for the moment, so she got a reprieve from her cleaning duties.

“Are the diggers as busy as everyone else down here?” Rainbow Dash asked Dust Bunny.

“Hmm...” the earth pony thought for a second. “Well actually, I’d probably say they’re the least busy of the big teams. Not that what they do isn’t as important or that they aren’t working hard everyday, but it’s just that what they’re doing right now isn’t as pressing. Like, it’s more about us looking and planning ahead to make sure we aren’t suddenly out of tunnel space one day. Who knows how long we’ll be down here? So they don’t have just a constant wave of work like me or the gardeners do but they still keep busy everyday.”

“Cool,” Rainbow Dash gave a slight nod, looking at the tunnel around them. It wasn’t as pristine as the others and there was metal paneling missing in places and some parts held up by metal beams with bare rock around them. “Is this tunnel not finished?”

“Yep, it’s dug all the way but as you can see it hasn’t been fully furnished. You’ll see more and more open rock and dirt the closer we get to the new tunnel that they’re still digging,” Dust Bunny answered.

Like she said, the further they walked the less maintained and improved the tunnels looked until eventually it looked like they were walking through bare mining tunnels with lanterns hanging overhead being the only source for light. Now Rainbow Dash could hear the sound of metal tools banging on rock the closer they got too along with ponies yelling orders and the tumbling and breaking sound of stone.

They stepped from this tunnel into one running perpendicular through it and turned north, to the sound of the ponies working. Seems they were building a tunnel that went deeper into the direction of the storm. At the current end of it, Rainbow Dash was greeted with the sight of Flint, Shimmering Jewel, and about five or six other ponies digging away or removing dirt and chunks of rock, or putting up support for the area around them while they worked.

“Hey guys!” Rainbow called out to them, not conscious of the fact she was maybe interrupting them.

A bunch of heads wearing hardhats turned to look at her, and despite Flint being mid swing with a pickaxe he did nothing but grin when he saw who it was calling out to him. The ponies here were just too polite and excited about her.

“Rainbow Dash!” He said as he let the tool rest on the ground. “I’m glad you made it out here today.”

“We both are!” Shimmering Jewel smiled at her.

“Yeah I guess I’m making the rounds here all day,” she said as she walked up to them with Dust Bunny bringing up the rear.

“Well we’re close to finishing up for the day and grabbing supper, so you made it just in time,” Flint said. “We’re just breaking the last few bits of rock in the way and then we’ll carry the excess junk out and that’ll be it. I’m not sure how interesting that is for you, maybe if we were building the support structure for the tunnel...”

Actually despite the lack of work to go on at the moment this was probably the job Rainbow Dash would be most interested in doing if she was one of the ponies stuck down here. Instead of standing around either tending to some plants or watching dials she’d get to exercise and really do some physical labor. That was way more alluring to her without there being a job that required flying or something every day. Getting to work her muscles and smash up rocks was more her speed than anything else she had seen so far.

Maud seems like she’d be pretty good at this job. Rainbow Dash thought. Applejack too, with her strength.

“Is it cool if I beat up some rocks too?” Rainbow Dash asked them.

A look of dismay passed on Dust Bunny’s face. “Wait, you know we really don’t want you working here while you’re our guest-”

“It’s not like that,” Rainbow Dash cut her off and grinned. “Don’t think about it like work at all. Maybe I’m just exercising, or having fun, it’s just not my thing to stand around doing nothing. Unless it’s a nap, but that’s different.” She saw that Dust Bunny was still struggling with her duties as a hostess. “Look, I just can’t relax like this, okay?”

Flint and Shimmering Jewel looked between each other and the chief spoke up. “Uh, we don’t mind the extra help if it’s just helping us finish this last little bit for the day. Would be much appreciated.”

Dust Bunny bit her lip. “Honestly we really shouldn’t let you do work like this but I suppose if you really want to and everything...”

“Awesome!” Dash hoof-bumped Dust Bunny and walked up to the two digging team leaders. “Got a hammer?”

“Sure do,” Flint nodded to one of the other workers that had temporarily paused in their duties to listen to the conversation, he grabbed an extra hammer they kept lying around and hoofed it over to Rainbow Dash.

“Alright! Time to bust some rocks and make some tunnels!” Rainbow Dash decided she might as well pump herself and everyone else up as much as possible.

“Yeah!” The diggers cheered in unison and got back to work.

Now Rainbow Dash was really tough but most of her strength was in her wings, and hefting a huge hammer over her head and smashing it into a very sturdy rock took a lot more out of her than she ever expected or was willing to admit. Even with her incredibly peak athletic health and in-shape body she found sweat coalescing on her brow after only a few swings. It didn’t help that the tunnel here was naturally muggy. Each strike of the metal on stone sent tremors up through the handle of the hammer and into her hooves, it felt like her bones and muscles were shaking, if she had to do this for an entire day they’d be like jelly by the end of it.

“Geez, you guys do some tough work everyday,” Rainbow said as she wiped the sweat fro her brow, taking a brief respite.

“We’ve all built up the right muscles for it,” Flint smirked at her and flexed his biceps for emphasis, showing off an impressive line of muscles and veins in them.

Rainbow Dash smirked right back and smashed her hammer down on her rock once more, getting back to the tough job. It was cracked pretty deeply by now and each new whack of her hammer made the faults deeper and generated new lines all over it. She was no rock expert but it probably wouldn’t take many more hits before it broke apart and then they could dig out the shattered pieces and carry them away. There must be some kind of storage or dump or something for all the extra dirt and debris, this place did used to be a sewer and a mine system right? Maybe there was already a big hole or mine shaft that they dumped everything in. Or she supposed they could cart it up to the surface and dump it out up there, anything seemed like a lot of work though.

She was sweating pretty hard by the time she managed to shakingly lift the heavy hammer above her head one final time before dropping it onto the stone, shattering it to pieces. A good deal of loose dirt and other smaller pebbles fell out of the tunnel wall with it when she broke and Rainbow Dash allowed herself a satisfied smile.

“Hey, nice job,” Shimmering Jewel said and lit up her horn with magic, using it to push the debris into one easy to manage pile.

“The rest of us are almost done too,” Flint said as he smashed his pickaxe into the tunnel wall. “Take a breather with Dust Bunny for a second and then we can all go back to the cafeteria and get supper.”

“Sounds good to me...” Rainbow Dash tried to keep the tired out of her voice and walked back to Dust Bunny.

“Enjoy yourself?” The chief custodian asked her with a bit of a nonplussed look on her face.

“Yeah actually,” Rainbow Dash said as she sweated. Giving a low whistle she wiped the worst of it off her face. “More beets and spinach for dinner?”

Dust Bunny snorted in amusement. “How’d you guess?”

Overstorm VIII

The next day Rainbow Dash was not woken up by her own snoring. Having drenched herself in the cold water of the shower after getting back from eating with Dust Bunny and the digging team she went out like a light and enjoyed a long and dreamless sleep. No, what instead woke her up this time was the heavy pounding on the door to her small room and the voice of a certain custodian calling out for her.

“Rainbow Dash? Are you alright? It’s past noon.”

What happened to not wanting to bother me? Rainbow groggily thought as she rolled back and forth a few times on her bed.

After another second of tossing and turning she sat up in bed with a frown and threw the sheets off of her. “Yeah, I’m alright. Guess I just didn’t feel like waking up this morning.”

She walked up to the door and opened it for Dust Bunny, who quickly entered and pressed right up to Rainbow Dash with a big smile on her face. Rainbow took a step back and stumbled, landing on her flank, thanks to the earth pony surprising her with a move right out of Pinkie Pie’s library. Dash could go without her personal space being invaded like that.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you!” Dust Bunny apologized.

“It’s alright...” Dash stood back up and raised an eyebrow at her. “What’s up? You looked like you had something big to say.”

“It’s a dance! We’re holding a dance party tonight in celebration of you coming here. Doesn’t that sound fun? Pile moved it up a few days,” the earth pony was absolutely ecstatic as she told Rainbow Dash this, prancing up and down on her hooves. “You’ll come right? Please? I know you’ll definitely enjoy yourself, it’s gonna be great!”

“Um, yeah? I guess,” Rainbow Dash yawned.

Dust Bunny suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and began twirling her around. “Oh you just don’t know what you’re missing! We go all out when it comes to a dance party, this is gonna be the best hoedown you’ve ever been a part of!”

“Okay, okay, I get it!” Rainbow Dash stopped them and pulled Dust Bunny’s hooves off her shoulders. “I’ll take your word for it. I’ve been to some dance parties and stuff so let’s see.” She sounds like Applejack or Pinkie Pie advertising one of their get-togethers...

“Yay!” Dust Bunny gave her a quick hug before releasing her. “It’ll be right after suppertime, I’ll take you to our party room.”

“Cool,” Dash slowly stretched her legs and wings now that she was up, still trying to fully rouse herself from her sleepiness. “So like, how formal is this thing? Do I need a dress or to know some kind of dance moves?”

“No, no. No way, it’s just a big fun party. Everyone gets to go wild showing off their own dancing or whatever they want to do. It’s just about the most opposite of formal you can get!” The custodian smiled.

“Sounds more fun than the Gala then...” Rainbow Dash muttered. She cracked her neck and looked at her guide. “Did you have anything else planned for today?”

Dust shook her head. “Not really, I want us to be all full of energy for the big dance!”

“Okay so uh, breakfast time? Or lunch I guess now,” Rainbow Dash rubbed her head.

“Whatever you want to do,” Dust nodded. “You’re our esteemed guest so whatever you says goes. Um, I still didn’t want to do anything too strenuous cause the dance, but there are plenty of places we can still walk to and for you to see. I mean, maybe you want to just stay around here though? With how late in the day it already is it’s just a few hours before supper and then the dance.”

“Heh, I really slept a long time huh?” Rainbow Dash chuckled.

“Let’s just say you were out for a bit longer than anyone else in the pod,” Dust smirked.

Dash snorted and waved her off. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s go grab some food real quick and then we can come back here.”

“Okay!” Dust Bunny smiled widely. “Oh I can’t wait for tonight! Seeing how a pony from outside dances is going to be super fun!”

“Well, there are like, actual dancers back in Equestria and stuff. But uh, I’ll do my best?” Rainbow shrugged.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. With everything else you’ve said and done it seems like you can do anything. You’re amazing.”

There was no force on this planet that could keep those words from going to the Equestrian pegasus’ head. “Well I guess you do know me pretty well by now.” It was impossible to keep the big grin off her face as she said that to the other mare.

Dust Bunny could only laugh in response at Dash’s ego and after that the two quickly left to get some food.

Later that evening, Rainbow Dash made her way with Dust Bunny to a large open area down in the tunnels that she hadn’t been to before. She could see dozens of ponies crowding right at the entrance as well as hear the amiable sounds of a party being held. There were a few ponies she recognized already like Flint, Bright Eyes, and Grinding Gear, along with a number of other workers she had seen on the various teams. A lot of the ponies also noticed her and who she was, making Rainbow Dash shake a lot of hooves and fight her way through a new cadre of fans on her way inside the dance party.

“I’m sorry everyone is still so awestruck when they see you,” Dust Bunny apologized.

“Eh, no big deal. Like I said I’m used to it and I kind of like it anyways,” Rainbow said.

When they got inside Rainbow took a look around the big rectangular room, it had a lot of lights in the ceiling but they were dimmed to make things darker in their “club”. Along the far wall she saw a group of ponies with musical instruments (along with some pipes and sheet metal being repurposed as instruments) while Pile and a couple of ponies she remembered from the command center sat behind a table in the corner next to them. Besides that the middle area of the floor was open to anyone who wanted to dance even though things obviously weren’t in full swing yet, and there was another table set up against the wall with a few jugs of water for anyone who needed them.

“Alright now that I’m here maybe this party can really start?” Rainbow Dash said as she looked at the few ponies out on the dance floor, probably couples, the band wasn’t even playing yet.

“I’ll go talk to Pile, more ponies should keep coming in and once the music starts you’ll see everyone go wild,” Dust Bunny told her and walked off to the table in the corner, leaving Rainbow Dash on her own.

It was only a second after standing there on her own that someone came up and spoke to her. “We don’t exactly slow dance here but I wouldn’t mind being your first dance partner if you let me?”

Rainbow turned at the familiar voice and grinned at Bright Eyes. “Hey, no problem with me. I’ll need to see just what you guys like to do anyways.”

“Well you can watch Dust Bunny too when the music gets in full swing, she goes nuts,” Bright Eyes said.

“She does seem to really like dancing...” Rainbow said as she looked over at Dust talking to Pile and then walking over to the band. It looked like the music would be starting soon.

“She’s always the most excited for these parties,” Bright confirmed.

One of the musicians down at the back of the room started banging a drumstick on a metal sheet to grab everyone’s attention. When they did so, Rainbow Dash also noticed more ponies filing into the dance room from outside. “Okay everyone! We’re about to get this dance party started! Be sure to thank our boss Pile and Miss Rainbow Dash from outside for this one!”

The ponies cheered and Rainbow Dash unsuccessfully fought a blush.

Immediately after that the band started up, playing fast and loud in a country style that would’ve made Applejack take off her hat and yell “Yee-haw!” if she was here. Rainbow Dash heard them fiddling and banjoing and running sticks up corrugated metal sheets like they were washboards. Hoedown really was an apt term for this. The music really lit a fire under all the ponies too, instead of just the few couples out there who were dancing the floor was now filled with dozens all jiving and ducking between each other.

“Let’s go!” Bright said and led Rainbow Dash on in, where the two danced facing each other, with the stallion doing his own sort of shimmy as Rainbow Dash stepped in tune with the music.

She really wasn’t a dancer, Pinkie Pie or even Rarity would have a better time of doing this, but she was still gonna give it her all. Bouncing up and down on the balls of her hooves and tapping on the hard metal floor, she did her best to keep up with Bright Eyes and try to match his movements. He reached out a hoof and she took it, the stallion twirling her around in a circle and then tossing her in the air. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and dove over him, rolling on the floor and then coming back up, just in time for Bright Eyes to come and grab her by the hoof again, this time spinning her around like a top.

“You’ve got good reflexes!” He shouted to her over the loud music and dancing.

Dash came to a stop and grabbed his hoof, this time spinning him around in a circle around her. “I’m just good at improvising!”

She looked at some of the other ponies and saw them sliding along the metal and letting others dip them down or slide them between their hooves before pulling them back up. Others danced in circles, clapping their hooves together and stomping them in unison while one pony pranced in the center, showing off their moves. Rainbow Dash stopped spinning Bright Eyes and decided to do some solo moves, kicking out her hooves and wings, really getting energetic and letting the music take her away.

Bright Eyes did the same and the two ponies tap-danced on the metal floor, fast paced clacking coming from beneath the two of them.

“Everyone’s gotta let loose and party sometime, right?” Bright Eyes said to her.

“Right on!” Rainbow sped up and used the tapping on the metal floor to create a sort of music of her own. Jumping and moving in rhythm, she was in her own world with the music and dancing all happening around her. The only other time she had really plainly just had fun on this adventure was back when she was teaching her friends from the Empire how to play Buckball.

Bright Eyes tapped away with her but he couldn’t match her speed. “I think you’re a natural!”

“I’m fast! And there’s no pony around who has more energy than me!” Rainbow went into overdrive, banging on the metal with her hooves and hopping into the center of the dance floor so everyone could see her in action.

Bright Eyes and some of the others made a circle for her as they saw her swing. All of them excited to see their visiting pony work her moves and get down with the music.

Rainbow Dash was happy to oblige as they stomped their hooves in unison, clapping a beat for her along with the hearty music in the background. She back-flipped and did the splits when she landed, coming back up and tapping on her back hooves for a second before rolling onto her back, tucking her legs in, and spinning herself around with her wings. Thanks to her rainbow mane and tail it made for a very colorful spin. She heard the ponies hollering and cheering for her to keep going and Rainbow Dash was more than happy and able to keep on going for them. She hopped out of her spin and tap, tap, tapped her hooves all across the circle.

“Come on! That’s how you dance, right? This is how you do it!” She said to them all, tapping and moving her hooves in rhythm with each other.

Some of the ponies making up the circle parted and Dust Bunny jumped in with Rainbow Dash, her wavy orange mane tied back in a ponytail. The earth pony started tap-dancing along with Dash, throwing a smile at the pegasus while she frantically tried to keep pace. Dust Bunny was already sweating pretty heavily, she had probably been dancing elsewhere in the party before she came to join Rainbow Dash.

“Getting tired already?” Dash grinned as she tapped more and more.

“It’s a fun kind of tired!” Dust Bunny did the same, pushing herself harder and faster to tap dance at the same speed and with the same rhythm as Rainbow Dash. “I feel like my heart’s pounding in my chest!”

Rainbow Dash suddenly reached forward and grabbed her front legs, pulling her up and making the two of them tap dance just on their back hooves. “Let me help you out a bit then!”

Rainbow and Dust Bunny danced around the circle like that to the applause of the others. She pulled in and spun around the earth pony every now and then to change things up while continuing her heavy tapping on the metal and very acoustic dance floor. Copying what she had seen some others do she grabbed Dust Bunny’s sides and threw her up in the air, catching the surprised pony and spinning around with her before they came to a stop.

“Oh my! You’re really getting into this!” Dust said.

“I’m having fun thanks to you, just showing my appreciation!” Rainbow Dash set Dust Bunny down to give her some rest and pulled in a random stallion from the circle. She twirled him around and did much the same, making him tap dance with her for a second before spinning him back into the circle and grabbing a new partner.

Rainbow Dash kept this up over and over since nobody else could match the energy she had. Just like Dust Bunny had said, her heart was pounding too and she was just feeling it. The whole crowd might as well have been her dance partner and audience all at once. Rainbow Dash spun around on her hooves, letting the music fill up her body and the excitement rush through her as she let the fun of dancing lift her.

Grabbing Dust Bunny again, Rainbow Dash danced with her some more. She wasn’t sure how long this had been going on but she was sweating and exhausted now. This second bout with Dust Bunny would be her last for the night. But boy was she glad that she agreed to come to this dance.

The both of them loudly hopped and tap-danced on all four hooves, sweat dripping off them as the music hit a crescendo. The two wanted to keep up until the music fully stopped and their legs practically worked automatically to keep them going. They’d be like jelly after this was over but it would be worth it. Dust Bunny surprisingly managed to keep up with Rainbow Dash’s dance moves, the both of them watching the other’s hooves as they jived and bopped.

Finally as the music turned down and the band stopped playing, Dash held Dust Bunny’s hooves and spun them around again before they both collapsed to the floor once the final note had been played. The two mares sat there panting and smiling at each other while the circle of ponies cheered and stamped their hooves.

Rainbow Dash reached up and pushed her sweat-drenched mane out of her face. “That… was a lot of fun.”

“I… told you… so,” Dust Bunny tried to laugh but it came out in a few heaving pants instead.

Yep, a lot of fun… Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she looked around at everyone else who had been enjoying the dance party. But no offense to you all, I’m gonna be on my way out of here well before next time.

Author's Note

Born to hoof jive.

Overstorm IX

“Are you really sure you want to do this? You can’t wait for them to come down?” Dust Bunny asked Rainbow Dash as the two of them sat at the bottom of the ladder leading up to the hatch Rainbow Dash had first entered these tunnels from.

“Yeah, I’m sorry but I need to get back out and do something. It’s been fun with you guys but I want to hurry up and beat this storm already. Not wait for more than another whole week until you pull in the lab,” Rainbow Dash answered as she stared up and up the hole.

“I thought you were having fun here...”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “I was having fun. But I want to have adventure too. I can’t stand being stuck in this storm like this, it’s a constant reminder that I couldn’t beat it. I need to prove I can conquer this dumb hurricane. And maybe reaching the middle or flying through it I can even learn something or find a way to help you guys and pay you back for everything you’ve done for me. So I need to get up to that lab, cause as annoying as it is I don’t think I can make it through the storm on my own like this.”

“Well okay,” Dust Bunny pawed at the floor and muttered despondently. “It’s dangerous doing that though… the lab is high up and in the most violent part of the storm. I don’t know if you’ll even be able to reach it and just trying sounds bad enough.”

“Hey-” Rainbow Dash looked back at her and flashed a confident smirk. “Danger’s my middle name.”

That drew a smile out of the head custodian. “Heh… oh fine already, if you really wanna go that much and try to teach that storm a lesson I’m not going to stop you. Good luck out there.” Her face took on a more solemn expression and she bit her lip. “And if you do make it through the storm and this is the last time I see you I just want to tell you how happy I am that I got to meet you. You really brightened up my days down here, even the ponies who didn’t really get to meet or talk to you were happier knowing that a pony from outside came here and was shown a good time.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow showed her a more sentimental smile and stepped forward to briefly hug the mare. “I’m glad I could do that. I always am.”

She had flown up the ladder in an instant and uncorked the hatch, flying back out into the canyon and the windy surface. She could see the chain not far away and she casually floated on over to it, standing on some of the rocks right by its base and looking up and up into the sky until it fully disappeared into the stormy clouds. Rainbow Dash would have to follow it to reach the lab up there, hopefully not losing sight of it or getting lost in the fierce winds. With no other detail than the lab being hundreds of feet up or how big it was or what it looked like she could be in for a long flight against the storm.

“Good. I like a challenge,” Rainbow Dash grinned to herself and coiled up, spreading her wings and getting ready to launch herself directly up.

With a single great flap she shot off like a rocket, zooming with a rainbow trail into the sky. Immediately when she cleared the canyon walls she felt the wind pulling at her but she easily stayed on course for the first hundred feet. It got harder the more she went up though and soon the heavy wind was slowing her down and trying to drag her away. Going straight up was proving harder than she thought. Still, this was basically nothing yet and it didn’t compare to what she had gone through when she tried going to the center of the hurricane. Rainbow Dash could handle this easily.

She kept an eye on the chain to make sure she stayed close to it. It didn’t sway much at all in the wind, a testament to the scientists knowing what they were doing. She was sure that if they had some way to keep this laboratory of theirs airborne and okay in this storm that they’d have some answers for her or a way to help. If the rest of the ponies down in those tunnels were working so hard to make their new lives work it spoke well of these scientists too that they were from the same place. They probably had the same strong work ethic and good nature. From what Rainbow Dash had seen everyone was giving it their best.

Just like she was now giving it her best to get through this wind and these clouds to make it up there in the first place.

Rainbow Dash had to beat her wings harder the further she went, already the wind howled loudly in her ears and whipped about her mane and tail, the feathers on her wings too felt like they were almost being plucked out. There was no question about it that the vertical flying into the harsher currents of the storm was tougher than her previous horizontal flying, at least she could be grateful that so far she hadn’t hit any random weather or air pockets yet. But it was like she was being constantly bounced around and pushed down on, despite the chain being only a few feet from her she always had to make sure she wasn’t drifting away from it. If she let up for a second she’d be blown off to who knows where.

“Not letting some dumb wind get me! I’m the best flier in the world!” Rainbow Dash shouted to pump herself up.

It was difficult to tell how much more distance she had made after the first one or two hundred feet though thanks to the wind jostling her and the chain being completely useless to judge distance with. She couldn’t see the top of it or the ground whatsoever for a while now because of the thick clouds, the entire middle area was indistinguishable. So the only thing she could do was keep flying and giving it her all until she made it to the lab.

Good thing she wasn’t the type of pony to give up on something. That boast about being the best flier wasn’t just baseless bragging or ego-boosting either, it was the truth. She couldn’t disgrace herself by not getting through this hurricane and not living up to her name and the high standards she always set for herself.

How could she look any of her fellow Wonderbolts in the eye afterwards?

So Rainbow Dash kept pushing herself even as the wind speed picked up. She could hear the rolling of thunder around her and see the occasional bolts of lightning from deeper in the clouds. No random rain or hail was a plus. It even felt a little good to be able to fly out and really push herself again for the first time in a few days, her wings needed this, that brief use they got when she flew around where the turbines were was hardly enough for a pony like her. She wanted to be in the air and using her wings as much as possible.

There was a problem though. An unusually strong gust of wind had picked up around her and was making the climb even more difficult. Had she passed into a new area of the storm? Was this the violent and strong area of the wind and fast moving clouds that the laboratory was flying in? She couldn’t tell for sure since the end of the chain was still out of view. Either way Rainbow Dash had to grit her teeth and really struggle to gain any altitude, flying diagonally just to make any progress while the heavy chain hung in front of her.

“It can’t be that much further away, can it?” She wondered.

Now it was a real struggle though, she was trying her best to fly into the wind at an angle so it couldn’t carry her away so easily and wasn’t just hitting the broadside of her body, but that meant she had to snake back and forth and climb slower. It took a lot of time and energy to make less distance now with how strong the wind was blowing.

And it kept getting stronger and stronger, her wings were almost unable to keep up at this point and each time she flapped them the wind threatened to force them open and pull her away before she could close them again.

She squinted her eyes and held on the best she could but she could feel things getting out of control with every passing second. Already the chain was suddenly no longer visible to her, her concentration on it broken for just long enough that she ended up flying too far away from it while she had been trying to climb higher. Now what? She knew its vague location but with the harshness of the wind and how the gray and black clouds covered her vision it was hard to get back on track. Should she just try to go directly up? Could she even? Her wings almost couldn’t flap properly at all with the wind trying to blow her away.

“It’s just some stupid wind! I’m Rainbow Dash!” She put everything she had into making her wings carry her higher.

But as if trying to challenge that very statement the hurricane wind came in harder at her, and the sudden change proved to be enough to knock her off balance.

With a yelp, Rainbow Dash lost control of her flight in an instant and the winds carried her away.

“Okay. New plan.”

The beaten and bruised Rainbow Dash again stood at the bottom of the chain. She put a hoof on it and stared up its unswaying length with narrowed and determined eyes.

“This time I’m not gonna be flying up to the lab. I’m gonna climb.”

She then jetted up the first hundred or so feet again until she could really feel the winds becoming stronger and trying to blow her away from the chain. Once she made it to that point she grinned and stopped trying to fly through the wind, instead grabbing the chain and holding on tight to it. While the wind tugged against her it was easy to hug her hooves around the chain and slowly climb up it, link by link. This may take a while but it kept her from losing position and should make it easier for her to resist the hurricane blowing her off somewhere.

Rainbow Dash lifted her hoof up to hook it around the whole in the chain link and pulled herself up, the link below her easily functioning as a step and purchase for her back hooves. Thanks to the size and shape of the chain climbing it was actually really easy. Or it would’ve normally been so if it wasn’t for the wind.

She was very confident in her stamina and athleticism to make this climb but it was still tougher on her body than flying would’ve been since her wings were her primary strength. She had to be cautious with the wind too since it threatened to dislodge her each time she lifted a hoof to pull herself up further. The chain’s stability was helpful though, she couldn’t imagine trying to do this if it was swinging in the breeze too, it would’ve been like trying to cross an unsteady rope bridge during a storm.

The farther she went of course the tougher it became. As the wind howled around her the ability to remove a hoof from around the chain and reach up higher became strained. Each time she did the wind threatened to pick her off the chain now that she had a little less grasp on it. It wasn’t difficult for her to imagine how all the plants and buildings that used to be here had been torn apart by the hurricane.

She hadn’t been keeping track of how far she had climbed yet either but she knew she hadn’t gotten remotely as far as when she had tried flying up yet. The big danger for her right now was getting tired before she made it to the lab or even the more powerful windy area. And she hated having to go so slow like this.

“I… am going to enjoy flying out of here once I’ve beaten this hurricane,” Rainbow Dash growled. “I don’t know what kind of crazy magic is responsible for this storm, but I’m gonna fly right to the middle of you and find out and then go even further north! That’s my promise!”

Another gust of wind blew into her and she had to hold onto the chain tight, squeezing her eyes shut. She temporarily wrapped her wings around the chain to make her hold even more secure.

Once it was over she angrily looked out at the storm. “What was that supposed to do? Huh?” With a snort she continued her climb. “It’s not even just about me anymore, I’m helping out everyone here.”

Rainbow Dash climbed and climbed for what felt like hours after that with the wind only becoming stronger as it tried to dislodge her. The stronger the wind the slower she went and the more it drained on her. She had to really work her muscles and hook her hooves into the open space on the links to keep from being knocked about or pulled away. Eventually she resorted to just trying to shimmy up instead of climb or step, knowing that if she tried to reach out with a single limb she might lose her grip entirely.

That was tough though since the cool metal was smooth and didn’t really allow for that. Using the links as steps or handles worked well enough but this was a little different. And she still had no view of the top of the chain or the supposed laboratory at the end of it. At least her using the chain like this didn’t cause it to move or anything, that could be bad for both her and the scientists on the other end.

But now it wasn’t long before she got back to the exceptionally windy area of the storm that she had made it to before. The violent and strong part that had knocked her away just earlier today. It felt like there was a giant hand grabbing her and trying to peel her body off of the chain now while her mane and tail fluttered to the east. If she moved her back legs now they’d be torn from the chain and she’d be left holding on with just her front hooves.

Looking at the chain she was holding onto, Rainbow realized there was still something else she could do. Taking in a deep breath she carefully slid her body over onto the side of the chain facing the wind. Now the wind was at her back and the chain was pressed against her stomach. It was uncomfortable, painful even thanks to how hard the metal was and how strong the wind was, but it kept her from being blown away just yet. The chain was her wall.

The force of being blown against it made it difficult for her to move but move on she did. Now it was like she was crawling like a bug steadily up the metal chain. Her wings were completely blown slack now to the sides of the chain and Dash didn’t have the strength to keep them down or move them against the wind.

She could feel the storm seem to get angrier at her as she made her slow and steady progress.

“This is still nothing… I’ve fought monsters… I’ve beaten every record the Wonderbolts have… I’ve saved the world a dozen times!” Rainbow Dash yelled through clenched teeth.

The hurricane didn’t seem to care though.

Its howling got louder and she felt a sharp wind pushing at her, tugging her against the metal and trying to yank her around it to cast her off into the chaotic storm again.

“Noooo...” Rainbow groaned, feeling her hooves slipping and her strength failing her as the wind battered her against the chain.

Unfortunately just as before her weary limbs failed her, the wind was too strong and her legs were dislodged from the chain, the rest of her body being pulled around it by the fierce current even as she struggled in an attempt to gain some kind of grasp or purchase on the smooth links. But it was to no avail for her, Rainbow Dash was torn completely from the chain and once again carried off deeper into the storm.

“Rainbow Dash! You’re back! Have you decided it’s too much trouble to fly up there? Are you going to wait now?” Dust Bunny said to the beleaguered and haggard pegasus that had stumbled into the tunnels from the surface again.

Rainbow Dash was panting and breathing heavily with her fur and feathers all out of sort as she walked right by the friendly custodian. “Nope. Just came down here to get some rope.”

“Third time’s the charm,” the pegasus from Equestria said as she tied a length of freshly acquired rope around her body. Making sure it was snug and crossing over her back in an X she took the other end and looped it around the chain, tying it back up in a complicated knot when she brought it back around to the part tied around her barrel. Giving it a few tugs she was sure it was secure. Now nothing was going to blow her away from this chain.

“I may not be able to tie ropes like Applejack but I’ve seen her do it enough,” Rainbow said and looked up into the sky where the chain disappeared. “Let’s do this.”

Rainbow Dash flew up the chain again until shereached the exceptionally windy and dangerous part of the storm again. She had given herself enough slack with the rope that she could fly like this even with having the loop around the chain. But now with her high in the sky and the wind affecting her flight and pulling at the rope too she went back to physically climbing up the chain by her hooves.

With renewed determination she made faster time up it than before, practically scampering up the chain. She was feeling it. Rainbow Dash was certain she could make it up to the lab this time. Nothing could stop her!

You could beat her down again and again but she’d never stay down and she’d come back up angrier and more determined each time.

The wind blew her off the chain a couple of time and pulled the rope tight but it couldn’t sweep her away and each time Rainbow Dash pulled herself back to the chain and renewed her climb. On and on, hour after hour, she climbed up the chain with the wind buffeting her sides, her back, and trying to peel her off like a sticker. But this time it was the wind that couldn’t match her even as she got to the strongest and most dangerous parts of the storm. Rainbow used her rope harness to hold on and keep going up even as it felt like the full force of the hurricane was working just to dislodge her.

She kept her eyes on the prize and her head looking up the chain. If she could just see the lab it would be all she needed to finish the climb. She knew she was making it higher than before so it had to be close, it just had to be.

“I’m… winning...” Rainbow grunted.

The time it took to get through the clouds didn’t matter anymore. What time was it? She didn’t care, the only thing that mattered was that she was getting through them. And finally, finally, lo and behold that she spied a large dark shadow in the clouds above her, wavering directly over the chain. With each step she took closer to it the shadow grew and became more defined until Rainbow Dash could make out features of the flying laboratory.

First off it was bigger than she expected, several times bigger than the average house, and the chain ended in a metal base right at the bottom of the lab but a series of rungs went up the bottom of the lab to the side, where she saw a railing and balcony that she could hop onto. Aside from the metal base that made up the bottom the rest of it looked like a normal building mostly, made from stone and metal and several thick glass windows looking out into the hurricane all over. How were those not being blown in by the storm? It must have something to do with the magic and science from the ponies up here. The whole thing in the first place shouldn’t even be able to work like this. There were a number of weathervanes sticking out on each side of the lab and Rainbow Dash saw what she believed to be a chimney jutting out from the eastern side too. And a number of propellers, some that were facing up, others down, or straight towards the center of the storm. What drew her attention the most though were several heavy balloons tied to the top of the building that floated seemingly unharmed in the harsh wind.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t make sense of it but frankly that wasn’t the most important thing to her right now. She just needed to get to it.

Author's Note

200,000 words. Big milestone for me.

Overstorm X

Rainbow Dash thrust a hoof up from the last rung that ran from the base of the laboratory to this outside balcony and pulled herself up past the railing with all of her might. Wheezing in exhaustion she rolled over onto her back and lied there for a moment to catch her breath. Curiously, the moment she had actually reached the end of the chain and began her climb up the ladder, the weather wasn’t as harsh. It was like the wind had weakened and slowed down, even though as she looked out past the lab at the clouds it looked like they were speeding by at the same speed they had always been. So why wasn’t she currently being blown away into the storm? It must’ve had something to do with the lab itself, she thought. There must’ve been something magical about it or some kind of field around it that dampened the weather. Twilight and her brother were really good with huge shields and stuff, maybe this was a barrier kind of like that?

Well she could ask the scientists about it when she got inside. If there was something like that it would help explain how this thing was able to float up here in the first place.

After a minute of resting she got up onto her hooves and untied the rope harness she still had around herself. She had untied the one loop earlier to get off the chain but kept it on just in case she needed it later. Luckily she didn’t have to use it for anything when climbing up the rungs. The wind still had just enough strength to lightly blow about her mane and tail but all Dash needed to do was hold up a hoof to keep the rainbow locks out of her eyes.

“Okay, now how do I get in here?” She said as she looked around the balcony.

There was a single door on it leading into the lab, Rainbow Dash sighed in relief and walked over to it. Despite the handle on the door she decided to knock first. It was probably locked anyways and she didn’t want to startle the scientists inside by suddenly opening it up and stepping in out of the blue. Although they were probably going to be pretty surprised to hear knocking on it too considering where they were.

Rainbow Dash shrugged and started banging on it anyways. “Hey! Anybody in there?” It was probably soundproof too unless they wanted to hear nothing but wind all day and night but she yelled anyways.

She kept pounding away at it until she saw the handle twist and a hissing sound of air escaping as the air-tight door was opened up. It swung out so Dash had to back up but when it did so she looked inside and saw four perplexed stallion’s faces staring at her.

Rainbow Dash put on an awkward grin and waved at the scientists. “Uh, hi.”

Getting to drink some hot coffee felt pretty good. To her knowledge no one down in the tunnels even had coffee, this was a real treat.

“So you’re saying… that you actually managed to climb up the chain and reached our laboratory like that?” One of the scientists asked her. He was one of the two unicorns of the group, the other two being pegasi.

“And before that you had even made it deeply into the storm under your own power?” Another questioned. The first pegasus.

“Yep,” Rainbow Dash simply nodded. “And I came up here so I could get through the entire thing. Was hoping you guys could help me after what everyone down in the tunnels was saying.”

“It’s quite remarkable that you were able to accomplish such a thing,” the first scientist said.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I’m just awesome like that.”

“But not awesome enough to actually get through the entire storm? That’s why you came up here after stumbling across the tunnels below?” A third one said, peering through his glasses at her.

“Yeah it’s really annoying but the storm just gets crazy when you try to go deeper. Obviously you guys know about that,” Rainbow said to them.

“We do indeed,” the glasses-wearing one nodded. “Well it’s good to make your acquaintance, I feel we likely have much to talk about. Truly I didn’t think it was possible that any pegasus could do what you just did. You might be able to help us out just as much as we can help you.” He coughed into his hoof and then smiled at her. “But where are our manners? Introductions should be in order first. My name is Lightning Rod, meteorologist. And you are?”

“The name’s Rainbow Dash, Wonderbolt, hero, and all around awesome pony,” she stuck out a hoof for him to shake and he gladly accepted.

Lightning Rod was the other unicorn of the group. A relatively short stallion he stood eye to eye with her, his coat was almost the same as hers as well only a little more of a wintery shade while his snow white mane shot up all over his head like the leaves of a pineapple. Befitting a meteorologist he had a Cutie Mark of a bright sun on his flanks.

The only pegasus that had spoken so far then came up to Rainbow Dash and smiled. “My name is Whistler. Former chief of the weather team before this storm arrived.” He was an older pony with just the slightest start of wrinkles under his eyes and a receding hairline. His forest green coat looked like it had dulled a bit with age and the same could be said of the sunflower yellow mane he had combed back on his head. On his flank rested a trio of raindrops.

The first unicorn that had talked to her then decided to introduce himself as well. He was a sparkling yellow pony with white fetlocks and a rusty red mane and tail that he both kept tied in braids. His Cutie Mark was a bright shooting star piercing through a halo. “Hello as well, Rainbow Dash. I am Cosmic Sight. Not a weatherpony or anything like that, just the foremost magician around. I felt my abilities would be better suited for helping to solve the riddle and problem of this unnatural storm and thus joined my fellows in this lab.”

“And my name’s Autumn Breeze,” the other pegasus who had so far been silent said, giving a small flap of his wings to come right over to Rainbow Dash. “I was studying to became an expert on weather when all this happened, so I wouldn’t say I’m a scientist just yet, but hello anyways.” Autumn Breeze was a mousy looking pony with a short face and wide, blue eyes. His brown coat looked dark in the room but his spiky yellow and blue mane stood out even more because of that. His Cutie Mark was a much more simple book compared to the other three.

“Nice to meet all you guys. I’ll totally be willing to tell you more about myself but… I’m kind of really tired after making that climb,” Rainbow Dash gave them an apologetic grin and rubbed the back of her head.

“Of course, we understand,” Lightning Rod said. “After all I can’t imagine what any of us would feel like right now if we were in your shoes.”

“Yeah… I’m pretty beat,” Rainbow said and looked around the room they were in. After stepping in from the storm they brought her to the primary living space, where they had a small pantry and some things for preparing food, along with a number of couches and chairs and a few windows that Dash could look through and see the storm. From here there was also a ladder leading up to an observatory and the roof of the lab, where other hatches opened up to the exterior and the balloons and propellers up top. Open panels showing wiring and glowing crystals littered the walls too, the whole lab an amalgamation of magic and technology. A few other doors leading to the sleeping quarters and various sealed off parts of the lab for experiments also all radiated from this one living area.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but think of how empty it all felt with only five of them in here.

Despite the exterior size not doing a good job of showing how crammed full of magical and technological gadgets this place was to keep it flying, it was still a big place and could easily sustain more than four ponies comfortably.

“So there are only four of you here?” Rainbow Dash asked as she stared around the lab and at the scientists (and non-scientists) in confusion. “The others down there kind of gave me the impression that there were more of you up here.”

“There were,” Whistler stated simply with a stony look.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and she looked at the others, all with varying expressions of dismay. “Oh...”

“A number of unfortunate experiments and accidents. This storm is unforgiving and we’ve been giving it our all to find an answer to it. Which has led to us, and our former comrades, taking some dangerous risks,” Lightning Rod said.

“Sorry...” Dash pawed the floor awkwardly, uncomfortable at her faux-pas.

“It comes with the territory of being up here. We all knew the dangers,” Lightning Rod said.

Rainbow Dash frowned. “The others down below don’t know about any of that do they?”

Lightning Rod shook his head. “No. We’ve been hiding that, we don’t want them to get disheartened or worry more.”

“They don’t need that,” Whistler nodded in affirmation.

“Yeah, that’s pretty understandable. They’re working hard enough too down there,” Dash said as she thought about Dust Bunny and the others.

“Truly. But enough about all that,” Lightning Rod said and walked over to the door leading to the sleeping quarters. Opening it up with a soft thud. “It’s well late enough and I believe we all could use some rest. In the morning we can tell you about our work and what we know of this storm in detail and you can tell us about yourself and what you may be able to do for us. I think we’re on the path to a breakthrough now.”

Rainbow Dash smiled, stretching her wings and yawning. “I’ve got a good feeling about all of this too.”

“You don’t have to worry about the room either, there’s plenty of space in the bunks and the rest of the lab,” Cosmic Sight yawned with her and stepped over the threshold into the sleeping area.

Autumn Breeze waved goodnight to her as well and stepped in to go find his bunk. Rainbow Dash followed along with Whistler bringing up the rear and Lightning Rod still holding the door open for everyone.

“Yeah, goodnight you guys,” Dash said with another yawn, happy to get some sleep after the rest of the day’s events.

She had completely clonked out like a light the moment her head hit the pillow. Feels like she had been doing that a lot lately but it’s not like she could help it with how packed her days were and the lack of naps she had been taking. Either way once she woke up she realized she was the only one left in the sleeping quarters, the others must have awoken earlier and got down to business already. They probably had a number of experiments, projects, and tests to run every day. At least that was her assumption with what the others had said.

Rainbow Dash hurried out of bed and stepped back out into the living room, shutting the door to the sleeping quarters behind her. What she now saw was Whistler and Cosmic Sight sitting around like they had nothing to do while Lightning Rod and Autumn Breeze were nowhere to be seen.

“Uhh, you guys busy?” Rainbow Dash asked the two.

Cosmic Sight snorted and laughed. “No, not really. The two of us aren’t scientists like Lightning and Autumn, we just help out and do the “lifting” whenever they have a new experiment or something to run.”

“We do still know everything they do about the storm though in case you had any questions?” Whistler raised an eyebrow at her. “Might be a good time to chat.”

“Yeah, yeah I did have some questions,” Rainbow Dash nodded and sat with them at one of the living area’s tables. “Or honestly, like—can you just tell me everything you know about it?”

“Sure,” Whistler shrugged and sat back in his chair. Rainbow Dash noticed for the first time that all the chairs in here were bolted to the floor. “The first and most obvious thing we learned about the storm is that it’s magical and not a natural occurrence. I know you may roll your eyes at that but it’s important for the scientists to verify everything like that.”

Rainbow Dash thought about how Twilight would tackle this and realized she couldn’t exactly argue. “No, I get that.”

“Secondly, what we confirmed after numerous tests, is that the storm has the exact same magical signature as ordinary pegasus magic.”

“Wait, what?” Rainbow Dash scrunched up her face in confusion. “How is that possible? There’s no way a pegasus could do this.”

“I understand your disbelief but it’s true. Whatever the cause of this storm is the fact is it’s powered by pegasus magic just like you would find from you or me. We’re certain of it,” Whistler answered.

“We ran all sorts of tests to make sure we weren’t mucking it up,” Cosmic Sight shrugged.

That was just weird. Rainbow Dash remembered thinking it would take an entire country of pegasi to do something like this. It just didn’t make any sense. “So what else do you know about it?”

“As you yourself probably noticed from your travels deeper into it the storm automatically reacts to any intrusion. It gets stronger than it should be and random, unpredictable, bouts of weather begin to occur. It’s almost like a defense mechanism. Despite the storm blowing one direction wind will also come directly from the center to keep you at bay and throw you back to the edge of the storm if you try and reach the eye,” Whistler said.

Rainbow nodded. “Oh yeah, I know all about that.”

“The eye itself is unsurprisingly the epicenter of not just the storm but the pegasus magic that permeates it. We’ve triangulated the magical signature and found that it is indeed generated from the exact center of the storm,” Whistler suddenly sneezed. “Excuse me. Furthermore the storm has stayed exactly the same size since the very day it first appeared. It grew to cover the entire mountain range and then stopped, never expanding or shrinking since.”

“Which obviously means something is permanently maintaining it and keeping a steady source of pegasus magic flowing into it. Or it has some other magical property beyond our understanding or measurement,” Cosmic Sight shrugged.

“Pretty encouraging,” Rainbow quipped.

“Exactly,” Whistler said. “Unfortunately no one was prepared for something like this storm and it’s still largely a mystery. We’ve made progress but honestly the past couple of weeks have been pretty… unproductive.”

Rainbow Dash tapped her hoof on the table for a second, thinking about things. They didn’t know much that she didn’t already know about the storm. Although obviously they had to have made some successful experiments just to keep this lab up and running and finding out about the magic. Speaking of the lab itself, she was pretty curious about it. “So how is this place staying up like this? And how come the wind didn’t feel as strong when I got up here?”

Cosmic Sight grinned. “That would be a mixture of my spells, pegasus weather magic, and technology. We’ve been able to dampen the effects of the storm in a bubble around our lab, it’s sort of like an anti-weather barrier. It was our first major, and in my opinion greatest, accomplishment. Unfortunately the attempts to use the spell on individual pegasi to allow them to travel deeper into the storm didn’t work as well. Without the built-in technology to augment the spell, and the greater distance from me, the spells failed too quickly. Not to mention that without first-hoof knowledge and information about the inner areas of the storm I can’t tailor a spell that will work better for allowing travel through it.”

“The problem is that we needed a pegasus to go deeper into the storm to make a better spell. But we needed a better spell for that to be possible in the first place,” Whistler sighed.

Realization dawned on Rainbow Dash. “That’s why you all think I’ll be able to help you.”

“Yes,” Whistler nodded. “I don’t know much about you or what else you may have done, but if you were able to make it up here and make it deep enough into the storm where it actively tried to force you out then you’re a more powerful flier than any pegasus I’ve met.”

“Lightning Rod and Autumn Breeze are working on fixing something up right now for you,” Cosmic Sight said to her.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“You’ll see in a minute probably,” Whistler waved a hoof to brush off her question. “Why don’t you tell us about yourself? Where do you come from anyways? It was a pretty big shock to see some random pegasus show up at the door.”

Rainbow Dash smirked and stretched her hooves out, clasping them together for a second before bringing them back and folding them behind her head. “Well I hope we aren’t interrupted anytime soon buddy cause I’ve got a long story to tell for you. Let me just say first off that yes, I am as incredible of a flier as you think.”

For who knows how many times now since arriving in this storm, Rainbow Dash told her (embellished) life story to some new friends. She ended it this time with what she specifically wanted to accomplish here and how it wasn’t just her goal to conquer the storm for her own pride but to help them and all of their fellow in the tunnels out. By the time she was finished the pegasus and unicorn had a very good idea of just how amazing of a pony they were talking to, and how she could fly and do things they could never dream of an ordinary pegasus doing.

“And yeah, now I’m up here with you guys,” she said.

“And we’re happy to have you,” Cosmic Sight said, an amused smile tugging at his lips.

Perhaps she finished just in time too because a door swung open and Lightning Rod and Autumn Breeze came walking out from it. Rainbow Dash peered behind them to see the doorway descend into stairs that must’ve gone down to the bowels of the lab. The two scientists walked right over to her, with the unicorn holding something in his magic. It looked like some kind of cloth or sheet to her at first.

“Rainbow Dash! Excellent to see that you’ve woken up, Autumn Breeze and I have just finished work on repairing and adjusting this for you,” Lightning Rod said and held it out to her.

When it limply hung there in the air she noticed it was actually a gray suit of some kind, with wires and small boxes running over its exterior along with a few crystals and gemstones sewn into the thick material.

She grabbed it from him and held it up in front of her face, inspecting it all over. “Is this some kind of flightsuit?” It didn’t compare in the slightest to the sleek and aerodynamic suits the Wonderbolts used but it held the same form and general appearance. Turning it over she saw that its stomach was a mess of dials, switches, and miniature keypads.

“That’s exactly what it is,” Autumn Breeze said. “That suit is designed to gather, read, and record the information and experiences from the storm the pegasus wearing it goes through. Weather patterns, magical signatures, anything. That suit takes it all in and can be brought back here for Lightning Rod and I to analyze.”

“It also will slightly dampen the power of the storm around you and make flying a little easier,” Lightning Rod said.

Rainbow Dash glanced over at Whistler and Cosmic Sight. “Will it now?”

“A little. But I wouldn’t rely on that if I were you,” Cosmic Sight replied.

“Don’t make her worry about unnecessary things,” Lightning Rod shot him a glare before smiling back at Rainbow Dash. “Anyways, I’m sure you’ve already spoken with these two? So you know what we were going to ask of you?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow nodded. “I know. I guess you guys have been short for a while and couldn’t do something like this yourself.”

“So you’ll do it?” Lightning Rod implored.

Rainbow Dash grinned and threw the suit over her back. “No duh I’ll do it.”

“Wonderful!” Lightning Rod clapped her on the shoulder. “If you can just fly as deep into the storm as you possibly can and then return here you have no idea how much information that will provide for us. We might be able to help you break through the storm completely afterwards! We could probably make a new and enhanced flightsuit, or create better spells, or something! So many possibilities have arisen thanks to you, Rainbow Dash.”

“Hey, no problem. So should I just go out as soon as possible?”

Lightning Rod opened his mouth but before any words could come out a metallic grinding sound like something being yanked or broken loose came from outside and the whole lab vibrated and shuddered briefly before listing slightly, just enough to make things a little sideways. Without giving anyone time to react a loud screeching alarm went off and the lights in the laboratory flashed red.

Overstorm XI

“What’s going on?! What’s that alarm?!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew around the interior of the lab, trying to see what was wrong and peeking out any windows.

The blaring of the alarm pierced her skull and it just went on and on, ringing over and over. The four stallions covered their ears and joined her in trying to find the source of the problem.

“There must be something wrong with one of our exterior instruments!” Whistler yelled.

“It’s probably a propeller or stabilizer; that’s why the laboratory is slanting!” Lightning Rod shouted. “Come on, let’s check the panels on the second level!”

He headed up to where you could walk up to the observatory or go through several doors that Rainbow Dash assumed led to the outside of the lab. The others followed Lightning Rod while Rainbow watched, they must have some kind of routine for emergencies like this and a way to figure out the problem. On the second level inside the lab there was a series of levers, switches, and flashing lights along the wall next to a hatch door. Lightning Rod inspected them to see what the source of the alarm was.

Autumn Breeze pulled a panel off the wall and looked inside at the mess of wires and magical crystals. “We’ve lost twelve percent stabilization power but it looks like it’s holding steady there. Things aren’t getting worse at least.”

“Still needs to be fixed as soon as possible. If something’s broken out there it could lead to a mess of other problems,” Lightning Rod said. His eyes went to one of the flashing lights and a switch flipped down beneath it. “Found it. The left dorsal propeller is broken. Turn it off and one of us will go outside and fix it, looks like a simple mechanical failure in the blades.”

“That’s dangerous,” Whistler said, frowning. “We may have the manuals and seen the others fix this kind of stuff in the past but none of us are mechanics. And even with the weather dampeners the storm is still strong out there.”

“It shouldn’t be an issue, from what we’re looking at it looks like a simple screw is loose and messing up the blades’ ability to spin. All we need to do is take a wrench out there and screw it back on. We have harnesses and the lifelines anyways so-” Lightning Rod was saying until Whistler interrupted him.

“You may think it’s that easy but if anything is slightly out of the norm or unexpected we’ll be lost up there,” Whistler started pacing back and forth. “I didn’t want to scare the others and tell them we needed a new mechanic last time we touched down but...”

“It may have been worth it now,” Cosmic Sight finished.

The four stallions stood around at an impasse while the alarm continued to go off. It seemed they knew what the problem was and generally how to fix it to Rainbow Dash but they were apprehensive about actually doing it and what other issues could get in the way. Well she didn’t have time for that or any similar worries. A loud alarm was blaring in her head and it was really annoying, so unless she wanted to tear it out of the wall the only solution was to fix the actual problem. And if it was dangerous that only made it more exciting.

Rainbow Dash floated down to stand right next to them and slowly raised her hoof up. “Uh, I can go out and fix it or whatever? Like if you guys don’t want to. It’s no problem.”

They perked up in surprise at her suggestion and shared a few looks with each other while silently coming to a consensus.

Whistler brought a hoof under his chin and tilted his head at her as he considered what she had said. “It’s true you’d be safer out there than any of us. And we can probably just shout instructions to you from the vestibule if you need them.”

“Which she shouldn’t. All she should need to do is tighten a loose screw on the rim of the propeller,” Lightning Rod said.

“Well alright then, let’s get to it,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Where do I need to go?”

“Luckily for us all the propeller in question is the one closest to the second level outer door. Follow us please,” Lightning Rod said and led Rainbow Dash to another metal door up on this level of the lab. It was facing the west side of the lab so it probably let out into the side that was facing the wind. When Lightning Rod opened it up she saw that it led to a narrow hallway that extended about a dozen feet. The five ponies walked down it (with Lightning Rod closing the first door behind them) until they came out into a small, spherical room with another windowless door that must’ve led directly outside. There were a few lockers set up along one of the walls and a hoof-crank winch with a long wire spooled around it bolted on the floor.

“There’s a stairway just outside this door that leads alongside the exterior and roof of the lab. Being a pegasus though you don’t need to use it, but following it you’ll see the propeller in need of repairs,” Autumn Breeze told her. “It’s the very first one along the path.”

“Oh, so this used to be where any ponies who performed maintenance would leave from?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Precisely,” Autumn Breeze said.

“Got it. So what’s all this other stuff then?” Rainbow Dash asked again as she looked at the winch and the lockers.

Whistler opened up one of the lockers and a bunch of improperly placed and fastened tools spilled out onto the floor. With a click of his tongue he and Cosmic Sight got to work on putting them back in their proper places. Rainbow Dash also saw what looked like some kind of safety harness hanging in the locker.

“The lockers contain the tools and gear you’ll need to fix the propeller and be safe out there,” Lightning Rod explained. “You should only need a wrench and maybe a clamp if the metal of the propeller has been distorted for this job though.” He used his magic to pull out the harness and showed it to her. It was just a simple thing made to go around her barrel and chest and loop over her legs and wings. There was a metal clasp on the back of it too. “You’ll wear this for safety, even though I think you’re probably fine without it, just in case.”

“Fair enough,” Dash shrugged and started to put it on.

Autumn Breeze then pulled on the cable attached to the winch, which had a carabiner at the end that he attached to the clasp on her safety harness. The pegasus smiled and patted the winch’s crank. “Alright, you’re good to go there. If something happens we can always reel you in.”

“Thanks dude,” Rainbow grinned and flexed her wings, making sure they weren’t hampered by the harness. She took a step away from the winch to see how easily the wire came out and was pleased that it offered no resistance.

“And here,” Whistler foisted a bag of tools to her that she looped around her neck.

Inside it she saw a couple of different-sized wrenches and a few other tools that probably only Applejack would’ve known the name of in her group of friends. Maybe Twilight too. Rainbow Dash zipped the bag up and cracked her hooves, ready to get out there.

“You should only need the large wrench but we’ve given you a few in case there are other problems,” Lightning Rod said. “Also because you’ll be close by the four of us will stay in the vestibule so you can just shout to us if you need anything.”

“Right on,” Rainbow Dash saluted. “I’m ready to head out there and fix that thing, let’s open this door up.”

Whistler nodded and put a hoof on the handle. “Good luck out there.”

When he opened it up the wind from outside poured into the small vestibule and everyone inside had to squint their eyes and bring up their hooves to block their faces. Rainbow Dash walked up to the threshold and took her first step out, onto a metal platform with narrow stairs running up the wall to her left. It was weird to be out in the storm like this watching the intense winds and clouds speed by while it only barely affected her. She briefly looked back at the stallions huddling inside and gave them a small nod before flapping her wings and flying up, out of view of them for the moment.

It was obvious that the lab was tilting slightly even from out here. She looked up to see the weather balloons attached to the roof of the lab, they all still looked fine. They must’ve been mostly used for keeping the lab afloat at this altitude. Probably. Even with her knowledge of weather and pegasus magic she didn’t fully understand how this place worked. She turned her eyes to the small stairs that went along the wall, according to Autumn Breeze the propeller that needed fixing would be the first on the trail of them.

And there it was, she flew over to the propeller with ease. It shot out of the wall under the stairs before bending up at a ninety degree angle so the propeller faced the sky. The blades weren’t turning anymore and in fact it looked like they were being blocked from rotating by a screw coming loose and raising the metal cap that the blades were attached to. Even though the propeller should’ve been turned off, Rainbow Dash kept her head low and safe as she inspected it. No need to get in an accident. Rainbow Dash looked closer at how the thing worked, the plate that held the rotating end of the propeller would normally be tightly screwed in place onto the end of the beam holding it up. But one of those screws had come loose after some wear.

It would’ve probably been best if she had a whole new screw to replace the old one with but since that wasn’t included in her bag they probably didn’t have any. She looked around at the rest of the propeller to see if there were any other problems or things she could do to make it function better but honestly she was at a bit of a loss. Again, the only ones of her group that might’ve been able to do something else up here were Applejack and maybe Twilight.

“Do you see the problem?!” She heard Lightning Rod shout over the wind.

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash shouted right back. “I’ll be done with it in a second!”

She unzipped her bag and pulled out the biggest wrench. Bringing it up to the loose screw she noticed it was indeed the perfect fit for it. It shouldn’t take much to hold this in place and screw it down so it stopped shaking when the propeller started moving again. She ended up putting the wrench in her mouth and her hooves on the metal plate to keep it steady, fixing the end of the wrench right around the head of the screw before turning it, pulling the wrench off, putting it back on, and turning it again.

Slow going since she couldn’t just turn the wrench completely the entire time. There wasn’t enough space for that and her head didn’t revolve like an owl’s. So she could only turn the screw a little bit each time, which was really annoying. She didn’t envy the ponies who had to do this kind of work everyday. At least she could see the progress she was making with every turn, the screw became a little tighter and the metal more level. Her jaw was getting a little sore but it would probably only take a few more turns before she was done and the propeller could start functioning again.

Rainbow Dash gave her jaw a tiny rest and looked around the rest of the lab’s exterior. The stairs looked like they made a full lap around the lap, slightly inclining along the way, until ending up on the roof where all the weather balloons were tethered. Further along the stairs to where she was, at about the south face of the lab, was a propeller coming out that aimed straight down instead of straight up like the one she was working on.

A frown tugged at her face. With all the propellers, moving parts, other equipment and magic going into this lab, there must’ve been a hundred other things ready to break if not properly upkept. If the problem of the storm wasn’t solved soon the situation up here would only get worse and worse.

I better finish this up quick and get back inside! Those guys need my help to beat this hurricane! Rainbow Dash held the wrench tight and narrowed her eyes as she worked on tightening up the screw the last few times.

The screw got tougher to screw in, a sign it was getting tighter, and soon Rainbow Dash had it flush back up against the metal and it refused to budge anymore. She jostled the metal and the propeller a few times to see if it would move but thankfully everything was perfectly steady and firm. Rainbow Dash grinned with the wrench still in her mouth and floated down from the propeller and onto the stairs, spitting the tool back out into her bag. She couldn’t imagine how tough—nay, impossible—this would’ve been if the weather wasn’t being dampened.

She walked down the stairs and put on a victorious face for the stallions, making sure to bring out as much of her classic swagger as possible. With a hop she jumped back into the vestibule and the wire on her harness went tight from how close she was to the winch.

“Problem solved!” Dash stated, miming wiping some dirt off her wings.

“Well done,” Lightning Rod smiled while the others sighed in relief. He pulled the outer door closed and Autumn Breeze freed up the lifeline from her back.

“We can get back inside now and turn the propeller back on, the lab’s orientation should fix itself and the alarm will stop automatically,” Whistler said.

“Good. I was getting rather tired of hearing that,” Cosmic Sight said.

“Me too,” Dash said and took the safety harness off, giving it and her tool bag back to Whistler. “The propeller didn’t need much but if it happens again I can go back out there.”

“With any luck you won’t be here long enough for us to need you again. After all, Autumn and I would like to get you off into the storm as soon as possible,” Lightning Rod told her.

Rainbow Dash cracked her neck and grinned. “Good. That’s what I wanted too.”

Overstorm XII

After the propeller had been switched back on things looked like they returned completely to normal in the lab. It stopped tilting and the alarm stopped, the red light had gone off too so everything wasn’t just bathed in that foreboding color. All of the scientists were very relieved about this, if there was another issue… well they might have been lost on what to do. Rainbow Dash for her part was happy and feeling proud of herself for taking care of it so easily. Just another typical day in the life of an awesome adventuring pony right?

And there was way more stuff just waiting for her to accomplish today.

“Sorry about that little problem, it rather put a damper on things,” Lightning Rod said.

“Hey, it’s cool. I mean—considering your guys’s situation it’s not like you can really do anything about that,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

“I wish it didn’t eat at the time we had planned for you to go out into the storm though,” Autumn Breeze said. “I think it’s quite obvious but every minute up here counts and that test flight we want you to go on is a big deal. It’s an information gathering mission of unparalleled importance compared to our earlier endeavors.”

“I might finally be able to make the perfect anti-weather spell for this storm when you come back with the information recorded in that flightsuit,” Cosmic Sight nodded in agreement with Autumn.

Rainbow Dash smiled at the eager ponies. “Well then what are we waiting for? I don’t need to take an extra break just after going out there to fix that thing, let’s put the suit on and I can help you guys stop this dumb hurricane once and for all!”

“Heh, hopefully,” Lightning Rod smirked.

Putting the suit on was a little more difficult than just sliding on her Wonderbolt uniform. With all the equipment on it and wires she had to be careful to not accidentally step on or break anything and it tugged at her body in a few places and got caught. Probably a result of the recent adjustments made to it so it would fit a mare in the first place. The last thing she had to put on was a pair of goggles, something she had been missing from the very beginning of her adventure, and doubly so now that she had to deal with this crazy storm. They’d go a long way to helping her deal with the wind.

“Does everything fit alright?” Lightning Rod asked her.

“Uh, as far as I can tell yeah,” Rainbow Dash said while looking over herself. The material was a pretty ugly gray and not as comfortable as a Wonderbolt uniform (or pretty much anything else really) but it still allowed for fairly easy movement and was snug on her form. Rarity would take issue with anyone wearing something like this but Dash didn’t mind so much.

Rainbow Dash turned around in place to make sure walking and moving didn’t mess with the suit, then swished her tail around and flapped her wings a few times. It all seemed good to go.

“Can I just go out that same door I just went out to fix the propeller?” Rainbow asked.

“Why not? I think there’s some other stuff that needs to be done first though,” Whistler said and looked over at Cosmic Sight.

“Oh yeah, the weather spell right? You’ll put one on me?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head at the unicorn.

Cosmic Sight nodded. “That’s right. Imperfect though it may be it will still make your trip through the storm much easier. However it will probably fail or fizzle out well before you get to the center.”

“The flightsuit will make things easier for you in general too,” Autumn Breeze said.

“And it’ll tell us how well my magic worked and how long it lasted with you. So it all pieces together quite nicely,” Cosmic Sight said.

“Yes, this should be the flight test that all of us need,” Lightning Rod clapped Rainbow Dash on the back. “Whether you can make it to the eye of the storm or not now I know we’ll be able to improve on things enough that you’ll be able to break through the storm entirely the next time around. And that’ll give us the know how on how to either make a safe place in this storm, weaken it, or perhaps disperse it entirely.”

“Alright, well just put the spell on me and let’s do this!” Rainbow Dash said, striking a tough pose with her chest stuck out and her head held high.

“Hold your horses girl, I’m getting ready,” Cosmic Sight said as he started charging up his horn.

The others and Rainbow Dash stood around and watched him as a silver magic glowed over his horn. Cosmic Sight must be a fairly powerful unicorn if he could do this kind of stuff but to be honest Rainbow Dash didn’t really have any idea on how to measure that kind of thing. Your perception on unicorn power kind of gets warped when you spend so much time around Twilight and Starlight, even before Twilight became an Alicorn she was special. Cosmic Sight still had his eyes closed and was intensely focusing on his own spell for a minute longer until he opened them and cast a beam of magic at Rainbow Dash.

It spread over and enveloped her entire body, the suit too seemed to react to it, getting warmer while a few of the crystals sewn into it gained a brighter sheen. In a second the silver aura disappeared, leaving but an invisible trace and power on her. Rainbow Dash flexed her wings and hopped up and down, it felt a little different but otherwise she couldn’t tell.

“That it?” She raised an eyebrow at Cosmic Sight.

“That’s it,” he nodded.

“The suit is still working perfectly too. No change from when others wore it so far,” Lightning Rod said as he inspected Rainbow Dash.

“And since we already lost enough time today we better get her out there right now,” Autumn Breeze said.

Lightning Rod agreed. “Right.”

The five of them traveled back into the vestibule they had only recently returned from. No tools or harnesses or winches were needed this time. It was just Dash and her flightsuit that were heading out into that powerful and unforgiving hurricane.

She wasn’t worried one bit.

“Now be careful,” Whistler warned her. “Once you fly just a few feet away from the laboratory you’ll be out of the anti-weather bubble and immediately set upon by the full strength of the storm. The winds out there are strong and it will take a second for the suit and spell to fully adjust, so brace yourself. It would be bad if you just got carried away by the wind on accident.”

“Got it. I know how tough this storm is so I’m not gonna hold back or anything,” Dash said as she looked intently at the door.

“Then good luck out there,” Lightning Rod said and pulled open the door.

The wind came into the small chamber just like before and whipped around the manes and tails of the stallions but it only barely made hers wave like a slight breeze. The suit and spell were already at work. Rainbow Dash stepped outside for the second time today and looked back over her shoulder with a grin.

“I’ll be back soon you guys. And then we figure out how to stop this storm or my name isn’t Rainbow Dash!”

Without waiting to hear their reply she launched herself into the air and shot deep into the rolling clouds and wind around the lab.

It was a breeze compared to before.

Not just when she was trying to make it up the chain or anything but even compared to when she had been flying on the outskirts of the storm it was so much easier for her. The combined power of the suit and Cosmic’s spell almost made it feel like she was flying through normal sky or a much weaker Equestrian storm. This stuff really worked. And the goggles too, she couldn’t even begin to say how awesome it was to have a pair of them. Her vision might have still been dark and nothing but thick clouds but she didn’t have to worry about the wind or her mane getting in her eyes now.

“This is easy!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she flapped her wings harder and flew deeper into the storm.

She hadn’t gotten to the crazy weather yet like the rain or hail she had experienced, or the wind blowing directly against her, but thanks to the suit and spell she’d be full of energy when she did. There was no way this storm was going to wear her out now. Already she was almost strong enough to handle it on her own (or so she would tell herself) and with the work of the scientists backing her up she might as well have been invincible to weather.

Rainbow Dash flipped over and did a barrel roll through some of the storm to liven things up. She was almost kind of bored now at how easy flying was with this stuff, might as well have some fun until she really needed to push herself. She said she wouldn’t hold back anything but she didn’t even need to take it seriously yet. Even the sudden jolt she had gotten when she initially left the lab only took an instant of adjusting herself and then she was fine.

She bit her lip as she thought about things though, really she should be trying to get through this storm as fast as possible and not mess around. She had been overtaken by how fun it was to just be able to fly out and do whatever. But she really probably should try to get to the depths of the storm without lollygagging for the sake of everyone.

Rainbow Dash stopped her barrel roll and came out with her hooves extended before her, getting in her most aerodynamic position.

“Okay, time to fly.”

With a burst of speed she shot like a missile towards the center of the storm. Not at her full power since she wanted to save energy for when it got really tough, but enough where she would’ve looked like a blazing rainbow comet flying over a clear sky. With her speed and how far she already was into the storm it didn’t take long before she reached the area where the wind speed really picked up and the hurricane started acting like it wanted to flat out get rid of her.

Now even despite the spell and the suit she could feel the wind really pushing hard against her side, really blowing her mane and tail wildly. She had to put some effort into flying straight and not letting the wind carry her away.

Actually for all she knew the spell had already failed. It was difficult to tell. But Rainbow Dash kept chugging along through the harsh wind even as the thunder grew louder around her and flashes of lightning became more frequent. The storm was angry and she knew it would only be a minute before the real battle started. The thick clouds of dark gray and black complexion shot past faster and faster, the winds going even stronger here than the rest of the storm.

Rainbow Dash had to grit her teeth as the wind pummeled her more, her wings were starting to struggle to flap normally, occasionally being pulled open for too long by the wind. Every now and then an unusual air pocket or stream would hit her, shaking her up and making her have to change her altitude. The turbulence was starting to become a real problem.

She still stayed relatively high up in the storm, not quite on the level of the laboratory but above where she had first tried to enter the deeper parts. She figured it would only be a matter of time now before the other stuff came at her. Like the sideways hail and the gusts blowing into her face.

“And this time I’m not gonna let that stuff get the better of me,” Rainbow Dash glared hard at the depths of the storm before her.

Once again though it seems the storm heard her challenge.

With a powerful rumble of thunder the wind grabbing and tearing at her increased tenfold, trying to pull her from the skies and throw her around like a ragdoll.

“Oh so you’re doing this again? Well just try it!” Rainbow Dash yelled and pushed herself deeper. Now she was using that saved up energy, banking on the extra help of the suit and the spell if that was still working too.

A torrent of rain came into her face, drenching her and weighing her down in an instant. The suit must be completely water proof, which made sense, and the goggles kept it out of her eyes so things were a lot better for her this time. But she was still water logged and it made her feel pretty heavy and uncomfortable. The one downside she could think of when it came to this suit so far. Still, she was able to power through the wind and rain, it was only a minor annoyance to her. The proper gear and the power of magic and technology went a long way.

Of course the hail came in shortly after. Hammering into her left side in a constant rain and making her grit her teeth in pain. The hail felt sharp thanks to the speed at which the wind carried it, almost like needles being thrown into her. She saw tiny bits bouncing off the glass of her goggles and was worried for a second that it might damage some of the unprotected wires and other stuff on her suit. But she still needed to make it further, this was only about where she had been blown away on her first attempt, she had to go even deeper, right into the eye if possible. The scientists made the suit for this kind of work and Rainbow Dash trusted them that it could handle these hard knocks and then some.

The pegasus from Equestria kept on her way to the eye of the storm. The very center where everything was emanating from. Perhaps thanks to her own pegasus magic or the familiarity she had after flying out here for so long she was beginning to feel like she could really feel right where it was. Like she could actually feel that insane power that was the cause of this storm, nestled in the eye.

But it was still slightly far away from her and now the wind from the storm was blowing directly against her to try and keep her out. No matter where she flew, if she dipped up and down or went side to side, the wind kept coming hard right into her.

This is where she failed last time. Where she was beaten by the hurricane.

“Not this time!” Rainbow Dash thrummed her wings and shot through the power trying to block her way. With one blast of wind she instinctively knew she had reached deeper into the storm than ever before. And she was still going strong, used to the wind trying to take her away she could fly through it now with ease. It took a lot of her strength and she couldn’t let up on her wings at all but she could do it.

Rainbow Dash could get through this storm, she knew it.

In less than a minute of flying like this, beating the worst the storm was throwing at her, she made it right outside the eye of the storm.

She had to pause in midair and beat her wings to keep from being carried away. Beyond the wind and moving storm clouds in front of her was a solid wall of unmoving clouds blocking off the eye from the rest of the storm. An enclave, a keep, a stronghold. Whatever was inside that mass of clouds was responsible for this unbelievable hurricane.

And Rainbow Dash realized that she couldn’t go in there just yet.

She had already proven to herself that she could make it, and it would take just a slight budge forward for her to go into the eye, but what then? If she actually stopped the storm right now it could have an averse affect on the lab and the tunnel city if they aren’t prepared and she’d have to fly back to the lab to return the suit and everything in the first place. The truth is she had to make sure the lab was going to be alright, and tell them that she could end things the next time she flew out after giving them the information recorded in the suit. The tunnel ponies would probably be okay with their reserve power and resourcefulness and once they noticed the storm had ended they could reel the lab back in.

But for now she had to return to the lab so Cosmic Sight could make his perfect weather spell and then without the flightstuit on she’d come back to the eye and finish things for real.

Overstorm XIII

The wet and beaten suit was still quite usable thanks to the excellent craftsmanship that had gone into it. Now Rainbow Dash was resting in the living area of the lab after toweling off and getting some water to drink upon her return. This time instead of Whistler and Cosmic Sight sitting around with her it was Whistler and Autumn Breeze, Cosmic Sight was looking at the information gleaned from the suit as well to see what kind of magical phenomena it went through and how he could tailor-make a spell for any pegasus trying to fly through the deepest parts of the storm. Rainbow Dash had also already relayed to the others her intentions and misgivings, which Whistler said he would answer for her while the others worked.

Whistler stretched and made a deep sigh, Rainbow Dash didn’t want to comment on his age out loud but he was probably getting a little up there in years and didn’t have near the kind of energy she did.

“So,” he said. “I suppose at this point you’ll sleep here one more night and then head out tomorrow to break into the eye?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash nodded.

Whistler smiled. “Good, it’ll be nice to finally get this all over with. I can tell you that you don’t need to worry about us, the lab can stay afloat without the wind from the storm thanks to the eggheads and Cosmic Sight, it was made with that as a precaution. And once you do make the storm go away I can fly down to the tunnels and alert everyone.”

“And then hopefully we can start to rebuild,” Autumn Breeze said.

“Yeah,” Whistler paused for a second, deep in thought. “It’ll be tough now with how much damage the storm has done to the land here. And without the wind we won’t have the power necessary to live in the tunnels and power all the lights and other things needed to grow our food and what have you. It’ll be difficult to readjust and things are likely going to be worse for us for a while than they are now, but we’ll pull through.”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to speak up when Autumn Breeze cut her off.

“Yes, I don’t want you to worry about us. We managed to do all of this even with this catastrophic storm raging. We’re a tough group of ponies, so please don’t hesitate or have any reservations when it comes to getting rid of this storm,” the other pegasus told her.

The blue pegasus folded her legs in front of her chest and sat back. “Alright. I believe in you guys too you know? So if you’re saying that then I’m gonna destroy this storm tomorrow.”

“We wouldn’t want it any other way,” Whistler smirked at her.

The three pegasi sat in silence after that, Rainbow Dash still halfway resting after coming back in from the storm. It may have been an easier trip than the other times but it still took a lot out of her. She sipped on the same cup of water she had had from the beginning and together they waited for the two unicorns to be done with the suit. Rainbow Dash had no idea how long that would take. First they needed to analyze everything the suit told them and then Cosmic had to make a new spell. And how long did it take to make a spell? She didn’t know. Maybe it would go faster cause he just kind of needed to improve on a spell he could already use. But she didn’t even know how much information they even had to go over in the first place.

It was annoying that she’d have to wait another day and sleep here in the lab again before heading out tomorrow but she couldn’t really deny that stopping this storm in the middle of the night would bring up even more problems than there already were. And she wasn’t sure if she had the energy to make it back to the eye after the return trip anyways. Sleep would do her a lot of good. But she wasn’t going to close her eyes until she got to talk to Lightning Rod and Cosmic Sight and hear what they had to say and show for all their work.

Hopefully a perfect working spell that was done soon. Then not just her but everyone here could relax and she’d fly out again first thing tomorrow morning.

She hadn’t noticed that she had almost fallen asleep in her chair until the door to the testing chamber was thrown open and the two unicorns came walking out. Lightning Rod and Cosmic Sight both had big smiles on their faces, a good sign if there ever was one. Neither of them carried the suit so they must’ve left it after getting all they needed from it.

“You’re done?” Whistler asked them.

Lightning Rod eagerly nodded. “Done indeed. You can’t begin to imagine the wealth of information gleaned from that flight. The magic, the weather, it’s all completely clear to us now.”

“So then the spell too?” Autumn Breeze said as he looked over at Cosmic Sight.

“Yes,” the other unicorn proudly responded. “Obviously it hasn’t been tested but I’m sure that I now have the perfect spell that could help anyone break through the weather of this storm. Absolutely fine tuned to the most powerful and active parts of the storm, no random weather or wind is going to beat my enchantment now.”

Rainbow Dash grinned and hopped out of her chair. “That’s just what I wanted to hear. And don’t worry about not having tested it, what would an adventure be without a little danger?”

Cosmic Sight chuckled. “Yes, it seems you will have to be the test. Perhaps it’s a little grim to think of but we’ll know whether or not things worked as they should if the storm goes away or doesn’t. Since you said you won’t be coming back this way if it does.”

“Yeah, once I find out what’s up with this storm and stop it I’m gonna keep going north. Already itching for the next part of my journey you know?” Rainbow said. “Being able to help you guys is definitely cool but there’s still way more I want to do up here. I know there’s gotta be more action if I keep going.”

“I hope you enjoy the rest of your adventure then,” Autumn Breeze told her.

“After you rid us of this storm,” Whistler chimed in.

“And after we all get some rest. This has been quite the job for all of us,” Lightning Rod said. “We’ll get some shut eye and see Rainbow Dash off tomorrow.” The unicorn looked at her with a friendly smile. “I don’t know how big you are on goodbyes or anything but I think I speak for us all when I say we truly can’t thank you enough. We’ll miss you.”

Rainbow Dash blushed slightly and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. “Yeahhh, I’m not really one for the sentimental stuff but I appreciate it. Tomorrow morning I’ll be off real quick so I guess I’ll say goodbye to you guys right now, it was cool meeting you and good luck on fixing your home and rebuilding everything.”

The four stallions smiled and each one took their turn shaking her hoof, with Lightning Rod being the last.

“Thank you, Rainbow Dash.”

She had never been inside a raging storm that felt so calm before.

But that was just the power of Cosmic Sight’s perfected spell.

Despite the fury of the storm not lessening in the slightest since yesterday, Rainbow Dash flew through it with ease. Even without wearing the suit now she could easily traverse it. And unlike before she could really feel the powerful magic of Cosmic’s spell enveloping her body. He had to put a lot of energy into it this morning right before she left but it paid off nicely. So far the anti-weather spell was working even better than she expected. The clouds and wind shot by at incredible speeds but Rainbow Dash could almost lazily fly right through them all as she made her way to the eye.

The thunder didn’t bother her, nor the lightning, nor the fact that she again wasn’t wearing goggles. She was just flying like normal and making good time to the center of the hurricane. Once she got back to Equestria she’d have to tell Twilight or Starlight about weather spells like this, they could probably think of a good use for them.

Rainbow Dash started whistling as she flew through the rain and hail of the depths of the storm. Even it didn’t pound down on her like the other times. The rain felt like a light drizzle and the hail just sort of drifted into her instead of shooting at her. What a pleasant flight this was turning out to be for her, even Fluttershy would enjoy this kind of cruise.

“I can’t say it’s all me, but sorry, storm. You lost to us and now I’m going to finish things,” Rainbow said to nothing in particular while she flew. “Whatever your deal is me and those eggheads beat you.”

The wind kept up its futile battle against her, trying its hardest to blow Rainbow Dash away. But this was even more of a one-sided fight than before and Rainbow Dash could easily chug on through it all. The wind was less than a distraction even as the storm put its power and direct focus onto her with a violent stream blowing at her face.

A short time ago this would’ve been enough to deal with her. But no longer.

It only took a short moment for her to reach the eye of the storm this time. She had a feeling of deja vu as she flew in front of the solid mass of unmoving clouds while the wind whipped around her like an angry howl. Inside there was the answer. Unlike yesterday today was going to be the day she discovered it. Whatever it was, whatever was awaiting her, Rainbow Dash was excited to see it.

A grin tugged at her lips and she flapped her wings, bolting into the cocoon of clouds. “Showtime.”

For a second she could see nothing, so tightly packed were the clouds, but soon they began to thin out and it was almost like there was a light at the end of the tunnel for her. Rainbow Dash kept pushing herself on until it opened up into the true eye.

The clouds broke against her, one layer after another, getting lighter and lighter until all she needed to do was fly through one last cloud.

Rainbow Dash popped into the eye of the storm and stopped, her expression serious and her eyes narrowed as she looked around. In only a second though her expression relaxed and her eyes widened in surprise and confusion. The tense attitude she had had disappeared and all the blue pegasus did now was flap her wings and float in place, tilting her head at the sight before her.

This was not what she had expected.

It was quieter than the inside of a storm had any right to be. In the middle of the hurricane’s eye sat a bed of the whitest, softest, looking clouds Rainbow Dash had ever seen in her life.

And on that bed of clouds rested a pegasus the size of a castle.

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43IPAGw01IY

Overstorm XIV

Aside from its size the slumbering pegasus looked like any other. His chest rising and falling with each great breath he took in his sleep. Rainbow Dash knew some big ponies, like Bulk Biceps, but this guy put most dragons to shame.

“It’d take a whole country of pegasi to make this storm huh?” Rainbow Dash said to herself. “Or just one really big one.”

She flew over closer to the bed of clouds the gargantuan pegasus was sleeping on. There was no wind or any air currents inside the eye, it was a complete dead zone, even her mane and tail just hung limply off her. Rainbow Dash chewed on the inside of her cheek. She didn’t really know how to react to this. She was expecting some kind of weird magic or something, but a gigantic pegasus? No, that wasn’t very high on her list of what was causing this massive, everlasting storm.

And the fact it was a pony doing this… it didn’t exactly fill her with confidence that this guy would be nice. Dust Bunny, Pile, Lightning Rod, their homes and everything were destroyed by the storm that this pegasus created here. Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have been surprised if it turned into a fight when she woke him up. Was he even really a pegasus and not some kind of monster? I mean, he was huge after all. Maybe he just looked like an upscaled pegasus but was something else.

But her friends back at the lab said that the storm was generated by pegasus magic the same you would find from any other. Geez, this was just weird.

“Ugh, whatever!” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I’m not a thinker I’m a doer, and I’m waking this guy up!”

Regardless of the possible outcome, Rainbow Dash floated on over to the blanket of white clouds and touched her hooves down. The giant pegasus still took no notice of her and continued sleeping so she frowned and walked closer. His coat was a stormy gray while his mane and tail was of pure white snow, they were ragged and unkempt not unlike her own but they still looked exceptionally silky. They were the kind of mane and tail that Rarity would fawn over and try to convince the owner of to brush and shampoo them as well as possible to draw out the most beauty. Although she could understand why this guy left his hair a little untidy; where were you going to find a brush he could use? And you’d need to bathe in a lake and have enough shampoo to fill a swimming pool. Probably the only way this guy could get clean was just sitting out in the rain. And on his flank was what would pass for a mural anywhere else—three white clouds for a Cutie Mark.

Now as she approached him she was just before the folded up hooves that he rested his chin on. Once he opened up his eyes she’d be the first thing he saw. If he did turn out to be a monster or dangerous she was confident enough in her speed and reflexes to get away.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and cupped her hooves around her mouth. “HEEYYYYY! Wake up already!”

The yell echoed around the eye of the storm and it ringed pretty hard even in her own ears.

At first she wasn’t sure if that would be enough, but slowly the eyebrows of the colossal pegasus knitted together and he shifted his head around on his hooves. Unconsciously his wings fluttered and the great head of the pony lifted up, mouth opening wide in a yawn that could’ve sucked in a carriage. Blearily, the pegasus blinked a couple of times and Rainbow Dash glimpsed rainbow colored eyes beneath his heavy lids. The pony stretched in his prone position and let out a breath of air through his nose while he wearily looked around as if confused as to why he woke up from his slumber.

Finally his rainbow eyes noticed the small pony standing practically right under him. He lied there as still as a statue at first, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

An uncertain frown pulled at his face and he actually slightly leaned back from her. “Who are you?”

His voice was far more boyish than she expected and his actions and body language confused her. Whatever he was he definitely wasn’t a scary monster, that much was for sure. Rainbow Dash lifted an eyebrow at him an answered. “Uh, I’m Rainbow Dash.”

“How did you get in here?” If anything the giant pegasus was even more confused and startled by her presence than she was of his.

“I just flew in, dude. Had some help but yeah, that was it,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “So uhh… you’re the one making this storm?”

The huge pegasus hesitantly nodded. “Yes, it’s my storm. I didn’t think anyone would be able to make it through...”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Is that why the weather is so bad? And why whenever I got close to the eye you’d make the wind even worse and blow directly against me or anybody else coming in?”

“Huh?” The snowy-maned giant responded in confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I sleep for months and months at a time, I didn’t know you or anyone else was trying to fly through my storm.”

“So your storm was just trying to keep me away from here on its own?”

He slightly nodded again. “I… I think so. When I made the storm I told it that I just wanted to be left alone, my weather magic probably does it all automatically.”

“Ohhh, so it’s like a reflex. It’s like how any pegasus can shape a cloud or kind of tell the weather what to do, except because you’re so big and strong you can even make this huge hurricane listen to your will after making it. It’s like uh, what would Twilight say? Your subconscious or something. The storm wasn’t thinking or anything when I was trying to get through it, it just noticed something was coming and reacted, trying to keep me out of the eye cause that’s what you wanted,” Rainbow Dash said. The storm was like an animal’s defense mechanism, it was like a hedgehog or armadillo rolling into a ball to get some sleep. She then looked up at the big pegasus. “But why? Why’d you do all of this in the first place and why are you trying to keep away from everybody else?”

The colossus wilted, lowering his head in a mixture of shame and fear, letting his eyes drift away from Rainbow Dash. “Other ponies scare me.”

“Scare you?” She was so flummoxed by what he just said that she couldn’t help say it.

“Mm… mhm,” his lip quivered as he answered her and he drew his hooves into his chest like he was curling into a protective ball. “Everywhere… my whole life has always been the same no matter where I go. Ponies laugh at me, or attack me, or worship me, or yell at me… I’ve never been able to live in peace around anyone else.” The great pegasus sniffled and tears started spilling from his eyes and down his cheeks in rivers.

“Oh, well uh, sorry you had to deal with all that stuff,” Rainbow Dash grimaced. She wasn’t prepared for the pony to cry so much but she still felt a pang of sympathy for him, even if it was a little awkward, what kind of element bearer would she be if she didn’t?

The more she talked to him though the less she wanted there to be a meeting or confrontation between him and the other ponies. But for the exact opposite reason than her initial fears. Dust Bunny and the others were very kind and cordial but Rainbow Dash couldn’t imagine they’d react well to learning about and seeing this guy after their homes were destroyed and everything else they had gone through. Seeing just this big guy as the cause of the storm would probably make them really angry, they’d be furious that he made the storm and just kept it going and going while it blew everything away. Which led to her next question.

“But why did you come here then? You destroyed a whole city with your storm, if you wanted to be left alone why would you come here and do that?”

“I did what?” The massive pegasus said as he rubbed the tears away with his hooves.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “You do know there were already ponies living in these mountains, right?”

The giant shook his head, his eyes red and puffy. “N-No, I thought this place was empty. I didn’t know there was anyone around. When… when I left the last place I had tried living in I just flew up into the clouds and cried for a while.” He took in a big whimpering breath, his nose becoming runny from crying. “They threw rocks and food and stuff at me to make me go away, after that I thought I’d never be able to find somewhere where I could be happy.”

She winced as he told his story, feeling bad for what he seemingly had to go through his entire life. “And then what?”

“Well I was just crying in the sky for a while. I made some clouds and was resting on them when a pony came to me,” the big pegasus frowned and sniffled a bit as he thought. “He was a pegasus too I think. Or maybe a unicorn? And he told me that if I wanted to live somewhere peaceful where no one would ever bother me again that I should come out here to these mountains and make the biggest, most powerful storm around myself that I possibly could. He said that these were empty mountains that no one ever came to… I thought I could finally be alone.”

Rainbow frowned. “Hate to break it to you guy but there are ponies living here. They were here for a long time before you arrived and started your storm. I don’t want to make you feel bad and I know you didn’t do it on purpose but you really caused a lot of problems for them, the wind from this hurricane destroyed their old homes.”

“Ohhh...” the pegasus whimpered and started freshly crying again, each tear drop enough to fill a fishbowl. “I-I didn’t know! I really didn’t mean to!”

“H-Hey!” Rainbow Dash flew up to his face, worried. “Look, it’s alright okay? I don’t know what that other pony was talking about but I’m not blaming you, and believe me, no one else has to know about this. If you want me to keep you and everything a secret then I will.” She hesitantly reached out and started patting his very big head. Geez, it’s like I’m taking care of Fluttershy or something.

“T-Thank you,” the pegasus sniffled once more. “I’m sorry, I’m not used to ponies being nice to me.”

“Oof, rough revelation right there pal,” Rainbow Dash gave him a lopsided grin, trying to get a laugh or something out of the huge pony.

To his credit he at least caught the joke and smiled slightly at her. “Yeah. A little bit.”

Rainbow Dash looked around the eye of the storm now, at the huge unmoving wall of clouds and the raging storm that emanated from it. “So you really made this huge storm all on your own? Wow. And you sleep for months? I wish I could take a nap like that sometime.”

“Mhm. I went to sleep right after I finished making my storm and this bed. This is the first time I’ve woken up since, I don’t know how long it’s been but it feels like a while. A couple of months at least.”

“Huh. It’s pretty amazing that your storm just stays up and does all of this while you’re asleep. That’s some pretty awesome pegasus magic.”

The giant blushed and looked away in embarrassment. “Thanks…” He looked around the eye too and when his gaze drifted to the direction she had come in from his face scrunched up. “There’s something… out there though. I can feel it in my storm, just flying out there.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyebrows lifted and she looked back. “Oh, that’s probably the lab.”

“Lab?” He asked, looking down at her, confused.

“Yeahhh… you see the ponies that live here have kind of been trying to figure out a way to get through or stop your storm and stuff. And uh, I’ve kind of been helping them,” Rainbow Dash smiled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. “That thing you’re noticing inside your storm is the lab their science type dudes have been studying your storm in.”

“I feel so bad for what I’ve done to them, I never wanted to hurt anyone, I just wanted to find a quiet place and make sure I could just hide away from everyone...” a single gargantuan tear rolled down his cheek.

Rainbow Dash looked at him sadly and sighed. “Yeah, I’m really sorry I had to come here and do this but… you’ve gotta go somewhere else. I know how lame that is after you thought you could sleep here in peace but you can’t stay here if you’re going to keep that storm going. And if you don’t leave after stopping it they’re going to come looking for you to find out what caused the storm in the first place.”

“I know,” the giant’s head hung low. “I’ll just go somewhere else again...”

Rainbow Dash lowered herself to the bed of clouds and bit her lip, scratching her head before speaking to him again. “You know if you keep going south for a while you can go to Equestria? That’s where I come from, and the ponies there are super nice and understanding, I know they’ll treat you right. It’d be a pretty long journey for you though.”

He shook his head. “That’s alright, I just want to be left alone. Thank you for the offer but all I want is some peace and quiet away from everybody else.”

“Sorry. I wish you could’ve met some nicer ponies earlier in your life,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

“Me too,” his young voice carried an age of sadness to it.

Rainbow Dash didn’t know what else to say but then the giant’s head perked up again and he stared at the wall of clouds, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“There’s something else coming here through the storm. I can feel it now.”

“Huh?” Rainbow Dash looked with him. Could it have been Whistler or Autumn Breeze following her?

“It’s close. Another pegasus like you.”

Rainbow Dash watched as a shadow appeared beyond the clouds, closing in at great speed until it burst through the wall and into the eye. The large form coming to a stop as it panted in exhaustion from the journey. Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened in shock when she realized just what it was.

“Blizzard?!” She yelled at the former Commander of the Eternal Pegasus Empire as he appeared in the eye of the hurricane with them.

“You know him?” The colossus asked her, but she was too focused on the interloper to respond.

The dark blue stallion was without his armor and his chest heaved, white and black mane looking like a ragged mess as it spilled about his head. For a second his eyes searched back and forth until they landed on Rainbow Dash and his pupils narrowed to slits. “Found you. Finally.”

With his maddened gaze locked on her he floated over to the edge of the white clouds and landed, slowly walking towards her. “Surprised to see me?”

Rainbow Dash groaned and dragged a hoof down her face. “Dude, what is even your deal? I didn’t even know you were still alive.”

“My deal is that you took everything from me. Destroyed all I held dear. I have made it my mission to track you down wherever you go and destroy you in retribution!” His eyes drifted up to the gigantic pegasus, as if seeing it for the first time. “I see you’ve found some freakish monster in your journey. Still peddling your disgusting Equestrian friendship to others?” He sneered.

The giant pegasus drooped, upset. “He must not be a friend of yours. He seems mean.”

“You don’t know the half of it buddy,” Rainbow Dash snorted.

“Enough! Your time is up, Rainbow Dash!” Blizzard yelled at her, snarling and practically frothing at the mouth. His grip on sanity seemed a little… tenuous compared to the last time she had seen him. “I’ve chased you long enough and now you’re mine! I will-”

He never finished that sentence as the giant pegasus puffed up his cheeks and blew a strong gust of wind out of his mouth, it spiraled down to the clouds and slammed into Blizzard, blowing him away and carrying him out of the eye entirely as he screamed in rage. The former Commander was as helpless as a fly trying to fly against an electric fan.

“ARRRRRGHHHHH!”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “Huh.” She looked up at her giant friend. “Nice one.”

“I didn’t like what he was saying to you,” he frowned. “That wind will carry him beyond the edge of the storm.”

“Heh, thanks. That actually helps me a lot,” Rainbow Dash smiled.

The two of them just stayed there, looking at each other for a moment, until the huge pegasus sighed and stood up, his colossal legs and body actually causing a rumble along the bed of clouds and making Rainbow Dash stumble. The stormy gray wings of the pegasus extended and cast an enormous shadow throughout the sanctuary while his big rainbow-colored eyes looked up to the sky.

“I guess I should get going. I’ll stop my storm now,” he looked down at her with a mixed expression. Looking like he might want to smile but not quite being able to. “Thank you. I don’t really want to be around other ponies but I’ll miss you, you were nice to me.”

“No problem,” Rainbow Dash waved to him. “Good luck out there, dude. And if you ever do change your mind, come on down to Equestria! I promise I’ll help you be happy!”

This time he did slightly smile right as he flapped his wings, the force of them alone creating an immense whirlwind inside the eye of the storm as he lifted up and up while the clouds thinned around them. Rainbow Dash looked on in awe as the wall of clouds around the eye disappeared and the violently spinning winds of the storm beyond started to die down. Everything was clearing up, unleashing a bright day upon the mountain range while Rainbow Dash’s newest friend kept flying until even his massive form became little more than a speck. Miles of cloud just straight up vanished and the wind lifted completely too, leaving nothing but rays of sunshine to hit the cool mountains. The white clouds beneath her hooves started disappearing too and Rainbow Dash buzzed her wings to fly in place. The impossible storm finally now over.

Rainbow Dash looked around proudly at the mountain range, she gave a single last glance over her shoulder and could now easily spot the floating lab without the clouds blocking her vision. It looked no worse for wear. She grinned and turned back to look north.

“Well, guess I’m done here. Time to keep going.”

Down in the tunnels, Dust Bunny pushed her broom against the metal floor of the tunnels right outside the janitorial pod. She was completely oblivious to everything that had happened since Rainbow Dash left and was thus also unaware that the seemingly everlasting and unstoppable storm had just lifted. With a sigh, she paused for a second and looked up at the roof of the tunnel, thinking of the sky beyond it.

“I hope you’re okay, Rainbow Dash.”

The mare got back to sweeping, like always there was a lot of work to be done.

Unbearable

The massive paw of the Bug Bear swung down at Rainbow Dash and she had to swiftly pull her head back to keep it from being clawed off. This left her open to the monster thrusting up its stinger at her in an attempt to skewer her but Dash managed to kick the deadly needle away and fly past the Bug Bear. It roared and gave chase, biting and clawing at her tail all in an attempt to reach and devour its prey.

Rainbow Dash had not expected to deal with a Bug Bear when she woke up this morning.

She hadn’t expected to deal with a Bug Bear at all in the True North. She knew they lived in the parts north of Griffonstone but that was still far below where she had entered into the True North. Obviously there must’ve been groups of Bug Bears living up here too, maybe this was even where they originally came from.

Of course though just because she didn’t expect this doesn’t mean she didn’t welcome it. Rainbow Dash remembered that Bug Bear that attacked Ponyville and how it took all six of them to take it down. Well this time she was gonna beat one all on her own.

Rainbow Dash smirked, this was one enemy that she definitely wasn’t running away from. It would be different from the Ice Sentinel and Blizzard.

She swiftly did a tight loop that the Bug Bear couldn’t react to in time, ending with Rainbow Dash right above his back, and she kicked him with all four of her legs as strong as she could with all the weight of her body put behind it. The Bug Bear snarled as he was knocked into the snowy ground of the mountain he had been chasing her around, hitting it with a thud. The beast used his multiple limbs to try and push himself back up but Rainbow Dash landed on him and repeatedly jumped up and down on his back, pounding him further into the ground. It was only when one of his middle limbs reached up and tried to smack her away that Rainbow Dash flew off of him, blowing a raspberry at the unfortunate Bug Bear that had tried to tangle with her.

“Hey come on, aren’t you guys supposed to be tough?” Rainbow Dash taunted him. For what reason she didn’t know, since he probably couldn’t understand her words.

But perhaps he could tell she was mocking him at least. The Bug Bear roared and shot towards her with its jaws aimed right at her head. Compared to some of her previous opponents on this adventure this kind of thing was easy to deal with. Rainbow Dash went to the side and kicked him in the head as he passed, the Bug Bear’s momentum launching him into the side of the mountain and causing a great pile of snow to drop on him.

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash smirked. The Bug Bear was tough and she knew that was hardly enough to take it out but she felt pretty good at how easy she was handling it. It definitely felt a lot better to really be able to fight and know she was doing damage unlike how most of her other battles up here went.

Now it’s not like she had gone out of the way to look for someone to fight or provoked him, the Bug Bear attacked her first, but she wasn’t complaining. Maybe she intruded on his territory or he was just hungry. Either way Rainbow Dash was using this opportunity to invigorate herself and build up her pride.

The Bug Bear exploded out of the snow, launching it in every direction and getting quite a bit on Rainbow Dash as she blocked her face with her wings. Its bug wings buzzed as it came flying after her again, swiping all four of its claws at the annoying blue pony in an attempt to get her. Rainbow Dash was way too fast for it though. Like pretty much everything she had fought in her life she could easily duck and dodge away from its dangerous claws while keeping a confident grin on her face.

With ducking under one swipe she went in to its stomach and quickly punched it a number of times before flying back out of reach of its smaller middle paws. The Bug Bear roared in anger at her and went down to the ground, picking up a rock lying on the mountain and throwing it at her.

“That’s not getting you anywhere,” Rainbow Dash lazily drifted out of the rock’s way.

The Bug Bear was hardly done though as it flew at her again, this time aiming its stinger for her and jabbing at her again and again with it. First going for her face, then her body, wings, and anything else it could try and hit. It hardly seemed to realize how pointlessly outmatched it was, far too blinded by anger, hunger, or both. Rainbow Dash effortlessly avoided the unwieldy and flailing stinger. The Bug Bear might as well have been trying to hit a fly with a piece of straw.

Except this fly was also quite fond of hitting back.

Rainbow Dash dove under his stinger and flew up behind the Bug Bear before it could turn around and elbow-checked it in the middle of its back, knocking it into the side of the mountain again and creating (in her opinion) a rather funny looking imprint of the Bug Bear in the snow. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but laugh but the Bug Bear didn’t share her love of comedy. It pulled its head out from the snow and used its four paws to grab up four big snowballs.

Turning around it flew at Rainbow Dash and threw all of the snowballs at the same time when it got close enough, trying to reduce Rainbow Dash’s available movements. Well perhaps for the average pegasus he would’ve gotten them but she was just a bit above average. Rainbow Dash effortlessly twisted her body and zipped between the four snowballs while the Bug Bear charged her and then flew right under him, avoiding his attempt to grab her with his middle paws, and punched him in the gut. Then coming out right behind his tail and stinger and flying behind his back to kick him in the head.

The Bug Bear growled in pain and dropped to the snow, shaking its head to get the pain to go away. Rainbow Dash hovered above it. She was waiting to see what it would do now, still keeping herself ready for more fighting. If it wanted to give up she’d let him go but if he kept trying to eat her she wasn’t gonna go easy on him.

When the Bug Bear looked back up at her and growled with drool dripping from its fangs she knew he wasn’t giving up yet.

“Okay, if you want,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

She flew up to a higher ledge on the mountain and scooped up some snow, packing it into a hard snowball. When the Bug Bear came flying up looking for her she drew back her foreleg and threw it as hard as she could.

Bullseye.

The Bug Bear snarled in confusion as the snowball hit it right between the eyes. And groaned in pain when Rainbow Dash shot forward like a lightning bolt and punched it in the face. It fell back down to the snow and rocks below and landed with a thud. Rainbow coming right after it and landing on its stomach, knocking the wind out of the great beast.

It let out a large oof and its six limbs collapsed limply onto the snow. Rainbow Dash saw the anger in its eyes as it struggled to lift its head and stinger in one last attempt to stick her with it. Rainbow Dash just sighed and kicked out one of her back hooves, hitting the striped abdomen right above the stinger and making the Bug Bear yelp.

This time the monster looked finished, its head fell back with a crash onto the white snow and all it did was pitifully groan in anger after.

Rainbow Dash grinned in satisfaction and flew off of the Bug Bear, flying just outside of its reach now in case it attempted anything else. “Sorry dude but you picked the wrong pony to fight. Better go be territorial somewhere else.”

She mockingly saluted the Bug Bear and flew off, happy with her victory and looking forward to her next adventure.

What We Know

Flying through a snowstorm had its positives. Namely she felt it made her tougher and better equipped for the rest of the True North, which would inevitably just get colder and colder. And make her a better flier in general, cause if you toughen and strengthen yourself up by flying through stuff like this a lot you’ll be even better when flying through calm and clear skies. Like weight training or resistance training or whatever.

It had its downsides too though. The biggest one right now being that the snow was falling so heavily and harshly that she couldn’t see in front of her. And that it was cold enough that despite trying to keep herself warm by constantly moving and flapping her wings she was still getting frost on her feathers and mane. If she didn’t find somewhere to take shelter from this—ugh, blizzard—she’d freeze. And that’d be a really embarrassing end to her journey.

It was annoying. This wasn’t even the first time she had to do this or got stuck for a while because of bad weather. But, well, what else could she really expect? She knew the True North would be like this and not everyday would be a fun adventure or something. There were probably gonna be quite a few more days like this in the future where she just had to wait for a snowstorm to pass or something.

So Rainbow Dash did the only sensible thing she could and flew down low, ending with her hunkering in a ditch after removing some of the snow from it to make room for herself. Not a very pleasant “shelter” but it would have to do. She supposed she could make an igloo again but that felt like too much work right now. Instead she just packed up some of the snow like a wall beside her in the direction the wind was blowing, that worked decently.

And now it was just her and her mind stuck with nothing to do but think.

Not her favorite thing in the world to do.

Considering how much time she had just spent in another storm, and how much further north she would’ve liked to have gone by now, this snowstorm was especially bothersome. She wanted her next big adventure, her next action, the next moment where ponies would be cheering her name and celebrating her. Even her work helping Dust Bunny and the others, while unequivocally heroic, was hardly enough. She needed that epic moment where she was facing down evil and saving the world!

Closest she had come to that was her victory over Blizzard but Rainbow Dash wasn’t satisfied with that for a number of reasons she had already mulled over. If only she could face a real villain up here sometime soon and stop them with her own two hooves. Really make a difference for some ponies and the whole world. What Blizzard was doing just wasn’t awesome enough for her.

Rainbow Dash nodded to herself, someday she’d have her own Tirek and defeat them.

She kind of hoped too that she’d get to see another big civilization or city soon again. A place she could really visit and explore that wasn’t freshly destroyed or looked over by a tyrant, she wanted to see what a normal city was like up here that wasn’t in imminent danger. Since she hadn’t really been able to enjoy anything like that. The tunnel ponies had their real home destroyed before she got there and the whole time she spent in their tunnels and up in the lab was used on finding a way out of the storm. And the pegasus city she didn’t have the sort of freedom she wanted either. She wanted to be able to look around, have fun, and do anything she wanted. While also at the same time finding an epic adventure and villain to defeat. So maybe she was asking for a lot.

Maybe she just wanted somewhere she could be herself for a while and then save the world? Autonomy or something. She had heard Twilight use that word before. Not being stuck and feeling boxed in or controlled like her previous adventures up here.

Rainbow Dash shifted in her little ditch, lifting up a wing to wipe off some snow that had collected on her back. She wondered how long she had been up here now? It was only a few days that she spent in the tunnels and up in the lab, not even remotely as long as she spent in the Empire. She really should have done a better job at keeping track of the days. Oh well. Hopefully her friends weren’t worried about her or anything. Nah, they knew better than to be worried about her. Except for maybe Twilight since worrying was like—her favorite sport or something. And Fluttershy who was just Fluttershy.

It brought a smile to her face to think about her friends though. Even in the cold up here it made her feel better. Thinking of the other ponies she had helped made that smile wider too, and even the short meeting with Leopold the yak was a fun memory. The True North wasn’t so bad all things considered, just a little less connected. And she had done a good job of improving it already if she had to say so. Even though something like that wasn’t her explicit goal, it just kind of happened.

And to think that other obnoxious checkpoint yak thought she wasn’t prepared for this place. She was proving him wrong everyday. With the way things were going she bet by the time she was done with her adventure the whole True North would be just as nice and friendly as Equestria. Maybe ponies and other creatures from up here would even start coming to Twilight’s school?

And it would all be thanks to her. That was something that she would have no problem admitting to inflating her already oversized ego.

But hey, was she wrong to feel that way? She certainly didn’t think so. If you’re awesome, why not own it? Wise words to live by.

Rainbow Dash found herself starting to get a little more sleepy as the snowstorm raged around her. The blizzard. Just that word reminded her of that jerk. It was annoying to think that guy was chasing after her, and probably still doing that even after getting blown away by the giant pegasus. He’d probably find her again at some point and she’d have to deal with him for real. As for that absurdly huge pegasus she hoped he was doing well. It was kind of sad, but maybe this time he can at least find a quiet place where he isn’t causing problems for other ponies.

This has been kind of a weird adventure for her too now that she thought of it. Not Discord weird, but weird weird.

Well, as long as it kept being awesome and got even more awesome she’d be more than happy with it.

Rainbow Dash figured it was fine to sleep now. It’s not like things were going to get colder. She used her wings and hooves to pack up a lot of the snow around her and make something of a box, not an insulated igloo but at least something that would keep her snug and still stopped the wind from reaching her body directly.

She took a big yawn and curled up, wrapping her tail and wings around her body to make herself as warm as possible. Tomorrow morning she’d get flying as quickly as possible and look for the next fun thing.

Like she had been feeling since the start of her journey, she knew the next big adventure was right around the corner.

There was someone watching her.

There was someone who felt her coming closer and closer.

Heartless

As was common for her in the True North, Rainbow Dash was once again flying over some snowy mountains. Long tired of the sight she wasn’t even really looking down at them to see if there was anything to check out. How many mountains had she flown over now? Probably more than ponies she could name back in Ponyville.

At least she was making really good progress today. She had flown all morning and afternoon and the weather was perfect the entire time. Even now as the sun was just barely starting to go down it was still bright and warm out. If every day was like this she was certain she’d make it to her next adventure soon.

Wherever that was.

She just knew it was close.

Rainbow Dash yawned. More out of reflex of what time of day it was than actual tiredness. While she had flown a lot she was still disappointed that nothing had come up and there was nothing cool to look at the whole time. She felt like she was just waiting until her next stop. It was almost like she was on auto-pilot when flying like this, above lands indistinguishable from anywhere else in the world with how boring they were. So even though she was happy to be able to go so far the day being uneventful still made her resentful of it.

She was just impossible to please when she was aching for adventure.

Out of sheer coincidence—the moment after she yawned she happened to hang her head low and scan the previously ignored mountains. And thus her eyes just barely caught sight of something out of place.

“Hello?” Rainbow Dash halted with a screech in the air and peered down harder.

At first it looked like a wooden building built on the side of one of the mountains, but it was shaped kind of weird and was lopsided like it had maybe fallen over or something. Rainbow Dash slowly descended to get a better look at it. As it came into view she realized it wasn’t a building at all but an airship. A large one, with a great wingspan and propellers that powered it instead of the balloons and hot air more commonly used in Equestria. But as Rainbow Dash got closer she noticed that this airship certainly hadn’t landed on any runway, the nose was caved in and broken, the wings snapped, the propellers bent, and the body had holes in it all over.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and she shot down to the crash as fast as possible. “Hey!”

The pegasus flew around the downed airship, looking for anyone. “Hey?! Is there anyone here? Are you okay?!” She yelled in her search to see if there was anybody who needed help.

She looked over the airship and noticed how it was half-buried in the snow and how weather damaged most of its body and outer layer was. Calming down, she landed on a wing. This thing had crashed here a while ago. A quick walk and hopeful peer into the large cockpit showed her that it was empty (and almost completely destroyed from the crash) proving that at least somebody was still alive after the crash and was likely long gone now. The ponies, or whoever had flown in this, had probably gotten help or walked off the mountain and back to wherever they came from.

Still though, the whole thing made her uneasy. Looking at that cockpit… from the damage to it and the fact that this thing clearly landed nose first… the pilots probably weren’t part of the group that walked away from this crash site.

And then if this thing had crashed a while ago how come no one had come back for it or cleaned it up? This airship was pretty impressive, even the Storm King still only used zeppelins, this was more advanced even though it was mostly wood by the look of things. Rainbow Dash decided to hop through one of the jagged holes in the side of the ship and check it out. At worst there might’ve just been one survivor who decided to take the pilots out and give them a proper burial somewhere… she hoped she found evidence to suggest something happier. This crash site had a grim feeling to it that she couldn’t shake.

“Hello? Is there anybody in here?” She still asked to the inside of the airship just to make sure.

No answer. She was lucky there was still some light from outside or it would’ve been totally pitch black in here. And the inside of the ship was very spacious, with a lot of different rooms that she could see. It looked like she had entered into a hallway behind the cockpit and there was an open door leading to a large room full of broken and knocked over tables and chairs deeper in the ship. There was an opening in the floor with a ladder leading down to a lower level and a side door that looks like it was for a big closet. The whole bottom half of the ship might’ve been buried in snow so Dash stayed on this level for now and just went down the length of the ship.

The room with all the tables and chairs looked like some sort of lounge, Rainbow Dash saw some panels on the wall and went up to one, sliding it to the side revealed a glass window that had been covered up. It looked like they ran down the entire room on both sides. So this was like what? A flying yacht? Something for fun vacations and tours? She walked into the hallway leading to the tail of the ship, seeing an assortment of rooms and offices, and what she thought might’ve even been a kitchen, but a lot of it was destroyed or dilapidated. At about the last third of the ship she came to a closed door and two stairwells on the sides leading down. Opening up the door she checked inside it first.

And her dismay only increased.

This last room was the cargo hold and it was full of personal luggage and boxes of supplies, all of them plainly untouched since the crash. She saw suitcases and briefcases for well over a hundred individuals along with crates marked “peanuts”, “carrots”, “pillows”, “candles”, etc.

What had happened here? If they crashed then why wouldn’t they come back here to the cargo hold?

Rainbow Dash frowned and rubbed her head. “I don’t get it.”

Going outside and looking for tracks would be pointless with the amount of snowfall. There had to be some kind of answer or explanation for all this so Rainbow Dash was going to continue to explore the ship. Shutting the door to the hold she turned and went to one of the stairs, beginning her journey to the lower level of the ship. It was darker down here, almost too dark to see, but she made it work. One of those candles from above might be useful but she didn’t have anything to light it with or know where the matches were. The wood boards creaked beneath her with each step until she left the stairs, seeing a narrow hallway with small rooms leading the entire length of this level. Between the two stairwells at the bottom was another open hatch, the covering had broken off and was lying on the floor, with a ladder that led further down into the completely dark belly of the airship.

Rainbow Dash ignored that for now and checked out the rooms here. Opening up the very first door gave her a glimpse into a small chamber with two bunk beds and a closet. Did the passengers stay in these rooms?

Rainbow Dash checked and checked every last one of them. All the same. All empty.

It wasn’t until she was further down the ship that the rooms started getting bigger. If this thing was a flying yacht then these were probably for passengers that paid more. Looking into one she saw a larger bed and a busted up coffee table.

Glancing towards the end of the hallway showed her a wall situated at maybe the halfway point of the ship with a single door on it. When Rainbow Dash started walking towards it she tripped on something and stumbled.

“Huh?” Looking down she saw that really she hadn’t tripped on anything, there was just a gash in the floorboards that her hoof caught on. Taking a closer look she noticed that it wasn’t just any sort of hole or cut in the wood, there were five uniform marks all close together. Claw marks. Something with claws had dug them into the floorboards here. Rainbow Dash looked right beside these marks and, sure enough, saw another identical pair. And she recognized these kinds of claw marks. Griffon claws, no doubt about it.

But that was strange too, why would they claw up the floor like this? She looked up and saw more and more claw marks in sequence. Rainbow Dash bit her lip.

“Were they… pulling themselves across the floor?” She wondered.

The claw marks went in the direction of the door and Rainbow Dash decided that was her next destination. When she floated over to it she noticed that there was a plaque on it. The only door to have something like this.

CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS

Well at least now she knew what to expect. The brass knob turned easily and Rainbow Dash stepped into the darker room while the door slowly swung open all the way with a distressingly loud creak. While she wouldn’t admit it she felt a fair bit of trepidation, everything about this crash, and the claw marks leading to this room, just didn’t sit right with her. Did she even want to find out what happened? Why was everything suddenly so foreboding and heavy, Rainbow Dash could feel herself even start to sweat. And she didn’t sweat. She didn’t get scared. There was no way this was getting to her.

Her hoof wasn’t quivering and her heartbeat was just fine. The coldness of this office was probably just in her imagination too.

“Hello?” She called out to the room despite knowing it was probably pointless.

No answer again. She sighed and took a look around. Whoever the captain was he had the largest quarters she had seen so far, with a writing desk in the middle of the room and a rug that was haphazardly thrown up against one of the corners. It had probably been knocked around in the crash. There were also a number of picture frames hung up on the wall or fallen onto the floor, all of the ones she could make out in the darkness looked to be portraits of griffons. Besides that there was a large trunk that had also fallen over behind the desk. The desk must’ve been built into the floor to not move, same with the bed that was nestled in the corner opposite the rug.

The bed was large enough to be considered king size but it was bereft of sheets and the mattress hung halfway off of it and onto the floor.

Rainbow Dash frowned and looked closer at the floor. She could see the tail end of what looked like bedsheets leading behind the desk. Her heart was beating faster so she calmed it down and gulped, walking around the desk.

She froze.

“Well… so that explains the claw marks,” she tried to use a little comedy to lighten up the situation but the fact of the matter was she was looking at a dead griffon wrapped inside of a sheet and huddled under his desk.

Rainbow Dash grimaced, his face and claws were the only parts of his body that were visible outside the sheet. While his eyes were closed and the expression on his face looked surprisingly peaceful, his claws were tightly gripping a book—a journal. Rainbow Dash’s eyebrows shot up when she saw that and she reached her hoof out… and then drew it back. Did she want to touch that? First off it was kind of gross, she’d need to peel his claws off it, and secondly it was his property and all that… but she had to read it. If he was holding onto it like this it must be important to him. Maybe he had written about what happened with this ship inside it?

“Sorry dude,” Rainbow Dash apologized to the departed griffon and extricated the journal from his grasp. “Alright, let’s see if you told me what happened...”

I can say with much pride that I have proved my family wrong. The Glory of Gambien has been completed and will be a source of pride for our House for ages to come. And they called it a “foolish endeavor”, well the joke’s on them now. Hah! I’ve flown and traveled the arctic circle and now with this great creation of mine I will fly even further! The whole world will know the name of Gambien the Explorer!

Of course my funds are currently nonexistent. So my family wasn’t wrong about that part. But they were wrong about everything else. This isn’t a mid-life crisis, I turned 50 last year, and 50 isn’t mid-life it’s already old. So how can this be a mid-life crisis?

But anyways, back to my unfortunate lack of money. I was unable to even paint the hull the color I wanted so for now it will have to remain just dull brown wood. But, in my infinite ingenuity, I have thought of a great way to make money and spread the word about my unparalleled airship at the same time!

A pleasure cruise! Yes, although originally the ship was meant to ferry explorers and adventurers such as myself it will take naught but any effort at all to temporarily renovate it into a passenger liner. I’ll charge a hefty sum for anyone wanting to go on its maiden voyage to the impassable southern wall and back and then use that money to finance my finishing touches on the Glory and then get on with the true adventures the ship is meant to be taken on.

A brilliant idea if I do say so myself.

Since my family and the other Houses have made plain their lack of respect for my miraculous airship I won’t even bother asking them if they’d like to come. Instead I’m going to the city of Ice Valley. I know the denizens of that place will climb over each other to come onboard. I had thought for a second to stop at the Metal Mountain but having heard some unsavory things of what goes on there decided against it.

I have my crew ready to go, next stop; Ice Valley!

*

As I predicted there was an unlimited supply of creatures eager to board the Glory of Gambien! We ran out of rooms almost immediately but had to wait for everyone to gather their belongings. The trip south to the wall would be a long one, we had the necessary provisions but had to stress to our passengers to bring plenty of what they needed. I’m so excited though! By the end of the day we’ll be ready for takeoff and my masterpiece’s maiden voyage will go down in history. I’m sure there will be many copies of the Glory one of these days, its speed and carrying capacity makes all but the largest zeppelins look downright obsolete!

My crew shared my enthusiasm and we had a celebratory toast while waiting for everyone to board. It was quite a bit of work getting everything onto my airship but it was well worth it.

My parents were wrong about me, I knew I was destined for great things and this airship is the crown jewel of my life. Who cares if I completely threw aside my responsibilities as heir to House Stormwing? Nobody aside our small little roost of griffons up here even cares about all that rivalry nonsense. My sister can do my job just fine. I told them I didn’t want to be tied down and—it occurs to me I sound like some adventure drunk teenager. Perhaps I never grew up?

Oh well! I was still right and they were wrong, look what I’m doing compared to anyone else from any of the other Houses? My accomplishments are grand and will soon be noticed all over the world. Hah!

*

The bed in my quarters is lumpy. I’ll need a new one.

But aside from that we had out first night out in the sky! A perfectly smooth flight so far, no issues whatsoever. The Glory is a ship unlike anything else that has flown in these skies. Perhaps even the skies of the entire world? I’ll find out someday.

I was given compliment after compliment by the passengers on how much of a delight the trip has been so far as well as what a marvel the ship is in the first place. It certainly fills me with even more pride that they can appreciate this. My pilots as well have assured me that everything is going even better than expected. The instruments are top notch and infallible, the controls are perfect, even the seats are comfortable. The two have a better time flying up there than most passengers do sleeping! Speaking of that, if there was one thing I think I could’ve done better it would be room size. But the airship still wasn’t conceived of as some luxury airliner and renovating it like that is a little more difficult. I just hope no one was expecting some kind of glorious suite.

Shortly after we lifted off yesterday everyone rushed to the windows to see Ice Valley from high above. Can’t blame then if they aren’t used to flying, it can be quite the wondrous sight.

I expect we’ll have much more sightseeing the rest of the trip. Now I need to figure out what to do myself. I hadn’t really thought about that but I don’t really have anything to do considering this isn’t what I made the Glory for in the first place. I just walked around saying hello to passengers so far. Perhaps I should be up in the cockpit more? Otherwise I might just end up in my quarters doing nothing for most of the trip.

I am an explorer after all and not a concierge.

*

The excitement of the Glory’s first flight has not abated at all! Every waking moment I’m bursting with joy at my dream having come to fruition.

Partially at least. I suppose it won’t truly come to fruition until after this voyage and me and my crew can get to some real adventuring! I’ll even fly the Glory right over House Stormwing and the other boring codgers playing around up there. That’ll show them.

I had heard from the matriarch of House Lightwing that the ancestral homeland of us griffons was far to the south. Maybe I’ll go there too? I’m sure they would be amazed to see my glorious creation as well. Although considering the wall I’d be unable to simply fly straight down to it, and I do not actually know how to get around the wall. But that’s just part of the fun of adventuring! Being able to overcome things like this.

I’ll make an itinerary for my trip south someday.

Now onto the bad news. It seems the excitement of this grand voyage was too much for one passenger.

Sorry. I shouldn’t be treating this in such a light-hearted and jovial way.

An elderly passenger suffered a heart attack in his sleep. It saddens me that the Glory’s first trip has to be marred by such a thing, but that’s life. We’ll give the old griffon a proper funeral on our return to Ice Valley. For now the rest of the passengers haven’t been notified, wouldn’t want to ruin their fun. I suppose you could call it good luck but he came on the flight alone and my crew found him when checking up. Nothing to do but to keep on flying for now.

*

I am a bit apprehensive to write this down. I feel like something strange is happening on my ship but I don’t want to sully its name. Two passengers have gone completely missing. And there aren’t many places to hide on the Glory of Gambien. I suspected a lover’s tryst at first but it’s been too long. I just don’t know what’s happening now.

And unfortunately the other passengers have realized something has happened too and now we must avoid a panic from them. Have to keep this situation from getting out of hand. If only we could find the two of them, even if they are deceased (which I sincerely hope not), we would at least learn what happened to them and have some answers.

As it is now the crew and passengers are all antsy and despite my best efforts I haven’t been able to keep spirits up completely.

One of the crew suggested we turn around and go back to Ice Valley but I simply can’t allow that. My pride won’t allow it, and I can already hear my family taunting me about the Glory’s maiden voyage being a failure. Unacceptable.

It’s probably nothing anyways, just a little bad luck.

*

I heard someone walking through the hall outside my door last night when everyone should be asleep. I was right there standing at my door, my claw grasped around the knob. But I couldn’t open it.

When I spoke to the pilots, privately, they told me they had heard someone walking around right outside the cockpit in the dead of night too.

I told them not to worry. It must’ve been just a passenger who couldn’t sleep. Possibly one just scared due to recent events.

I guess I was lying to myself as much as I was lying to them.

We found another dead passenger. And a crowd of the others have now asked me to turn back too. They’re probably right but I just don’t know. Why is this happening? Who or what is responsible? Why’d they have to ruin my dream like this?

Perhaps tomorrow I’ll speak to the crew again and we can come to a decision. Tonight I have Glenn and Rust Feathers piloting us through the night, I’ve told them that if they hear anything outside their door to just ignore it.

*

I don’t know how to say this. I don’t want to say it.

We crashed. My Glory of Gambien now rests as wreckage on the side of some mountain.

This was no accident either. Glenn and Rust Feathers were too good of pilots to have simply fallen asleep. We pulled them from the wreckage of the cockpit and buried them in the snow outside. I know they must’ve died, no, been killed, and then that caused the Glory to crash.

I just don’t even know what to do anymore. Everything’s been ruined and there’s even a snowstorm going on. I think most of the passengers have panicked and tried to run off down the mountain. They know something is here, with us.

Also my back legs were broken in the crash. I’m currently confined to a litter that my crew has placed on a snow drift next to the Glory. This is horrible. But this is nothing compared to what my airship has suffered, I only hope one day I can repair it and give it the adventures it deserves.

My crew is making a camp. There’s plenty of food stored in the cargo hold, we’ll wait out the storm and then make the long return trip to Ice Valley. At least that’s what we said. No one has spoken aloud their fears on if we’re still in danger from whatever caused this in the first place.

I hope we’ll be able to get out of this but I doubt I’m going to be the only one of us who has trouble sleeping tonight.

*

When I woke up everyone else was dead.

And she was there. Just standing there with a smile on her face. She walked up to me and told me how cold I felt to her, how faint, and that she could see brighter lights down the mountain. And then she was just gone, walked right past me and into the snowstorm, heading down the mountain. In pursuit of the other passengers is my guess. I recognized her sort of. She was on the ship, I remember seeing her around a time or two. Pink pony, didn’t think anything of her.

But now I realized it when I saw her that I was never getting off this mountain, this will be my grave the same as my Glory. The best I can do is make sure I rest with it and not allow the snow to bury me without a trace.

Hopefully I can pull myself back to the ship, my legs are already numb so at least it doesn’t hurt.

Rainbow Dash closed the journal. It had raised possibly even more questions than answers for her and the tragedy of what had happened more than upset her. She looked at the cold body of Gambien and shook her head.

“Even more sorry, dude. At least you made it back here,” she put a hoof on his shoulder for a second and sighed. “I hope some of the others got away… from whoever—whatever—that was.”

Rainbow Dash was about to put his journal back with him when she noticed something about it. Tilting her head, she just barely saw that the final page in the journal had been dog-eared. Why? Most of it was completely empty, Gambien had only written on the first few pages. Despite knowing what curiosity had done to the cat and being more than perturbed after reading the rest of it, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but open up the journal one last time and check out that last page.

Her hoof tugged on the back cover and Rainbow Dash’s eyes scanned down the last page looking for anything.

There. At the bottom was a short message. Her sharp eyes able to tell in an instant that the handwriting was completely different from Gambien’s. And once she read the actual message her blood ran cold despite all her attempts to tell herself she wasn’t afraid of anything.

If you’re reading this she knows you’re coming.

-H. B.

“Okay...” Rainbow Dash set the journal back down on Gambien’s claws and left the captain’s quarters after. Moving in a totally calm and not hurried at all pace she exited the wreckage of the Glory of Gambien. It was almost night outside thanks to how long she had spent exploring the downed airship and she’d need to find a place to sleep soon.

But it wouldn’t be anywhere near here.

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1-TrAvp_xs

A Mammoth of a Problem I

Dash opened her mouth wide in a yawn and rubbed her eyes to get the sleep out. She had slept under a tree the previous night and while it was pretty cold there was only a light amount of frost on the ground. Thankfully there hadn’t been a storm and the sky was clear and sunny. Another day perfect for traveling.

There was a tall cliff ahead of her and once she reached that and stood atop it it should give her a commanding view of what was coming up next. More mountains likely. She didn’t think it was cynical to think that, just realistic at this point. Snow and mountains and frozen lakes and rivers. Honestly what else could she have expected from up here? It’s not like this was Equestria and the rest of the landmass her home occupied with all its different climates and biomes.

Although there was one difference to this area so far though. Slightly to the east was a very large and very deep looking lake that she had seen when flying the previous day. It extended north past the line of the cliff and she was excited to see how far it went. Water like that made it more likely there was a town around, and it wasn’t even frozen over like so many of the other lakes and rivers she had seen up here so it might just be worth checking out to see if there was anything special about it.

She got up onto her hooves and stretched her wings, turning and flexing them to make sure they were in perfect working condition. She popped her shoulders and rocked back and forth on the balls of her hooves. Everything felt fine and dandy to her.

“Okay. This is the day something happens. I can feel it,” she said to herself.

Taking a big stretch she groaned as she felt the fatigue leaving her muscles and then sighed in relief. Just like how any pegasus in as good a shape as her should feel after an uninterrupted night of sleep she didn’t have any aches or pains. Chalk that up to how much she made sure to keep in tip-top physical condition. And maybe the occasional spa visit helped too.

Rainbow Dash grinned and hovered up a few feet. “Next stop, cliff.”

She shot like a lightning bolt towards it, eager to see the next stretch of her journey. The height of the cliff would’ve been nothing to sneeze at if she couldn’t fly but thankfully that proved no obstacle to a pegasus like her. She made it to the snow-caked top of the cliff with ease and kicked away some of the freshly fallen powder beneath her hooves. Standing tall she could now look out as far as the eye could see at the northern landscape in front of her. Despite her cynical assumption that it was probably going to be more mountains it actually turned out to be a wide valley.

It was just bordered by more mountains.

Rainbow Dash saw the lake extending quite a bit into the valley before stopping, its surface was serene and a blue so deep it was almost black the entire way. The outskirts of the valley were actually not fully covered in snow either and Rainbow Dash could see fresh grasslands and shrubbery for a good deal of it. It wasn’t enough to call the valley fertile but it was at least not a desert of snow and frozen over tundra. The mountains that completely enclosed it (aside from the one area where the lake cut in) were tall and clustered tightly together. It was a range of shark teeth all growing right up against each other, entrance on hoof into the valley would be near impossible. And bringing something like a wagon with you would be totally impossible.

Of course what really made Rainbow Dash get her eyes to widen in surprise and a smile to start spreading on her face was the large city nestled in the valley. Civilization. And to her the sign of a new adventure.

It was a widespread city with hundreds upon hundreds of buildings that she could see, some of them quite large too, mansion and even palace sized, although none shot up into the sky like the Manehattan skyscrapers. There was a wall around a large portion of the city and a river leading from the northern end of the lake that curved around and bisected the western side of the city and then went up all the way to the mountains at the north side of the valley. Outside of the wall the far west side of the city was maybe about a quarter of the city’s size in total, the buildings were smaller, mostly homes probably. To the east of the city on the other side of the lake Rainbow Dash saw what she was pretty sure were farms or at least some area of the land that was much greener and more uniform than the surrounding valley. Along the lakeshore were a number of docks and boats moored in the water.

Either way this was clearly a bustling and alive city. Rainbow Dash could see the telltale sings of chimney smoke and the aura of the city and the entire valley just called out to her. She thought about flying right into it, right to the very center of the city and saying hi to whoever it was that lived there, but some might not really appreciate that and she wanted to make a good first impression. If they had a large wall around their city in the first place they probably wouldn’t take kindly to some pony from who knows where just flying over it.

So Rainbow Dash made the decision to fly to the valley floor and walk into the city. As annoying as that is for her.

When she got down there though she saw that there was a road—more of a path really—that came from the city and went allll the way out to the mountains on the southwest side of the valley before disappearing into the foothills. Since the road would obviously take her right where she needed to go she figured she might as well keep on it. It was a grungy dirt road overgrown with weeds on most of it and a layer of frost from the previous night but it still worked.

She trotted down it at an easy pace, despite her excitement and impatience she didn’t want to start running down it cause that’d probably look weird to whoever was living in the city too. But it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes till she got to the first few buildings at the edge of the city. There was something nagging at the back of her head while she walked down the road though but she couldn’t place what it was. Ignoring it for now she continued on.

Closer to the houses outside the wall she noticed that there wasn’t anyone or anything wandering the streets or walking around up there, even though it was well late enough in the morning for people to be awake. In fact none of the chimney smoke came from this area outside the walls either. That’s weird, the city obviously wasn’t abandoned but was this area?

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes to look harder at the closest buildings. They definitely didn’t seem occupied and a couple looked like they were partially torn down. Not destroyed or dilapidated but it looked like they were intentionally dismantled and the building materials had been taken elsewhere.

And they were big.

“What the?” Rainbow Dash muttered as she made it to the first few houses and other buildings. They were positively huge, the front door and entrance to a house just to the side of the road she was on was as big as the average house in Ponyville. It’s like these were built to the specifications of giants. The scale was still right for everything, just taken to a huge level. That’s what that nagging was, the road she was walking on was also way wider than a normal road back home.

Being right next to the homes now she felt downright tiny in comparison. Almost like she had woken up to find herself shrunken down to the size of a mouse. Her perspective from up on the cliff must’ve been off, the huge size of some of the other buildings probably made these seem like normal size houses. Which meant that everything must’ve been bigger than it looked from up there.

“Geez, so I’m just meeting giants all the time now?” She said as she continued walking down the road, looking past every building to see any signs of life.

Still nothing but now she was close enough where she could start hearing sounds coming from the city wall and behind it. Voices, things moving, it all carried over the wall so she picked up the pace to continue down the road. The path she was on took her almost straight to the wall and she could see a gate now directly ahead. As the wall loomed closer, Rainbow Dash estimated it to be a good forty feet tall. It was made of smooth stone blocks cemented together while the gate was thick wooden boards and didn’t appear to have anyway or anyone to open it from the outside.

“I could just fly over but...” Rainbow sighed and walked right up to the wooden gate, lifting a hoof and pounding hard on it repeatedly. “Hello! Anybody back there? Open up!”

Her pounding continued until she heard something moving behind the gate. Heavy plodding footsteps that actually slightly shook the ground where Rainbow Dash stood. Seems like whoever populated this city really were giants.

A panel about ten feet up on the gate slid open and one exceptionally big eyeball took up the entire space of it, looking around at its own height for whoever was knocking on the gate. “Who is it?” Came the voice from the other side.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but grow an amused grin on her face. “Down here, dude.”

The eyeball angled down and Rainbow Dash could almost see the eyebrow above it shooting up in surprise. “Oh! Who are you?”

His voice sounded friendly and innocently curious, not exactly what Dash was expecting but she wasn’t going to complain. She had assumed that most places in the True North wouldn’t exactly be friendly but so far after the nice reception she got from the tunnel ponies it was looking like hospitality was just as alive up here as it was in Equestria.

“My name’s Rainbow Dash, I come from a place called Equestria way to the south. I’m in the middle of an adventure right now and I found your city,” she waved up to the big eye.

“My word! Wait just one moment please!” The excited voice said and the eye pulled away from the little window, sliding it back shut.

“Alright.” Rainbow Dash shrugged and sat down. She could hear that gate guard or whatever he was talking to some others behind the wall, and then a bunch of shuffling as she felt through the shaking ground that a bunch of them must’ve been moving.

The little window then slid back open and the eye reappeared. “Okay, thank you for your patience! Could you back up a little bit now? The gate opens outward.” The eye left again but came back a split-second later. “Oh right! You’re a pony, correct?”

“Uh, yeah?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at his eye as she backed up a few steps. “You guys don’t get many ponies around here?”

The figure chuckled. “We know of ponies but no, we certainly don’t get many visitors.”

He shut the window again and Rainbow Dash heard him walking away from the gate, the next moment a loud creaking sound rang out from the wooden gate and with a heavy grind the doors began opening toward her right down the middle. Rainbow Dash stood there, beaming in delight. She couldn’t wait to see this city and the creatures that lived here. This giant stuff, the strong feeling of adventure she got, was this place what she had been looking for this entire time? She hoped so.

As the doors opened fully she saw a huge figure standing in the middle of the road that continued on past the gate. He must’ve been the guy she was talking to. There were two others as well on either side of the road.

Rainbow Dash was now able to get her first look at who lived here. As expected, they were huge. Maybe twelve feet tall, built like hairy mountains, standing on four legs just like she did. But their shoulders were high and even humped a little, the hair that covered their bodies was shaggy and thick and all of them were the same brownish color with only slight variation in shade. Most noticeable of all was the long trunks and pearly white tusks they all bore.

A slow feeling of familiarity came upon Rainbow Dash the more she took in their details.

She knew she had never seen creatures like this before, but she felt like she had heard about something very similar to them from someone.

Yeah… she had. She remembered now. William the yak had told her about creatures that lived up in the True North. The dangerous, vicious, warlike creatures that drove the yaks south from their ancestral homes.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip as she took a second look at the not giant, but mammoth, creature in front of her. And the hair that wasn’t shaggy that covered them; but woolly.

“Welcome,” the gatekeeper said to her with a large smile while the other four pulled out trumpets and loudly blew into them. “To the city of mammoths!”

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89jOPAGJq-M

A Mammoth of a Problem II

Larkon was a mammoth who managed his time well. And thus because of the careful delegating of his time and work he now had a free day today to do whatever he wished. Stepping from his study and down the hall of his well kept home he pondered on how best to spend the day. His son and daughter were off doing things of their own, his wife was cleaning and preparing the dining room for lunch and dinner already, it seemed he would be on his own for this free day. Did he crack open one of his favorite books and relax in his library? Go on a pleasant stroll around the city and perhaps say hello to a few friends of his? Both good ideas. As his feet walked over the red carpet covering his floor he softly hummed to himself, an old folk song passed down through the ages about the passing of spring into summer. The song gave him another idea, why not visit Tarmok’s Hall and see if there was any interesting business going on in the senate? As the historian of their society it would inevitably be his job to record it anyways. And he did so enjoy debate and discussion, especially when he didn’t have to partake in it. He had a brief chuckle as he realized that he was still thinking of work and decided to do something somewhat related to it even on his free day. But you can’t fight your own passions.

The mammoth paused by the front door to his home and grabbed his boater hat off the hat rack with his trunk, but he stopped before putting it on his head. Thinking better he instead put it back on the rack and grabbed off his bowler.

“Much better,” Larkon smiled at himself in the mirror placed beside the front door. With a curt nod he pulled the handle and stepped out.

Rainbow Dash plugged her ears with her hooves and winced at the incredibly loud trumpet blowing. “Can you guys stop that?!”

The gatekeeper saw her distress and hastily waved the trumpeters down, the four other mammoths sheepishly putting their instruments away.

“I’m sorry, we wished to give you a special welcoming. This is actually quite the momentous occasion for us,” the gatekeeper said and coughed in embarrassment.

“Riiiight,” Rainbow Dash looked at him and the other mammoths. They didn’t seem particularly vicious to her. In fact her first impression was that they were kind of dorks. “Why’d you wanna make such a big deal about me being here anyways? And what’s your name, dude?”

“Ahem, my apologies, where are my manners? I am Mallom,” the big mammoth bowed to her. “And the reason for all this is, well, you’re the first creature to come here. Ever.”

“Ever?” Rainbow Dash scrunched up her nose, she found that hard to believe.

Mallom looked a little troubled at her questioning, he looked over to the other mammoths with him who merely rubbed their heads or awkwardly looked away. Finally he looked back at her. “There’s… a long story there. But please, won’t you come in and see our city? I assure you you will be treated well and our city is truly lovely!”

Well Rainbow Dash was hardly scared and she certainly wasn’t a coward so it’s not like she would turn away. And she could always just fly off real easily. She somehow doubted any mammoth could be called fast, there was no way she’d be caught if it turned out these guys weren’t on the level.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Fine by me. This is kind of why I’m up here anyways.”

“Great!” Mallom cheered. “Please, if you’ll allow me to I’ll take you right to our leaders! They must know of your arrival and they’ll take care of everything you need afterwards. The whole city has to learn about you!”

This was beginning to remind Rainbow Dash of her arrival at the Eternal Pegasus Empire. Except good. The idea of the entire city of mammoths reacting to her like this was actually pretty cool, she loved being celebrated after all. If these guys wanted to make a huge spectacle out of her and she got some kind of special treatment that was pretty much gravy. Center of attention, thy name is Rainbow Dash.

“Let’s go then,” Rainbow Dash grinned at him. “Lead the way.”

“Thank you!” Mallom said with a big smile of his own. “The five of us will escort you through the city.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Right, right, but won’t everyone else see me and try to talk to me or be really surprised and stuff?”

“Yes but they’ll know I’m doing official work. They won’t bother us but I’d expect quite a few stares if I were you,” Mallom told her.

“Heh, I’m more than used to that.”

As Rainbow Dash and her entourage walked down the road and into the city proper the gate closed behind her and she was able to take her first real look around the mammoth city. First off the road inside the walls was much better maintained, it was totally devoid of any weeds and the snow had been shoveled to the sides. There were trees lining it too along with patches of grass and even flower bushes, giving it all a much more spring feeling to the city than Rainbow Dash would’ve expected pretty much anywhere in the True North to look.

The buildings she looked at as she walked by them were just as large as they needed to be for mammoth use. She really felt small walking down this street, side by side with the mammoths with their oversized buildings looming over her. It didn’t take more than a second for her to fly up and keep at eye level with Mallom.

“You guys really need a lot of lumber and stuff for your buildings. Just saying,” Rainbow Dash told him.

“One of the downsides of being so large, yes,” Mallom smiled uncomfortably. “Especially in a fairly scarce place like this. Many of our buildings are partially or completely made of stone that we mine from a nearby quarry.”

Rainbow Dash nodded along, still checking everything else out. She glanced at the other mammoths walking with them who had remained mostly silent so far even though she could feel the excitement rolling off of them as well. Were all mammoths this big? They really made yaks look like—well, ponies. Their trunks too looked really strong and dexterous, none of the creatures that frequented Twilight’s school had an appendage like that. And those tusks looked pretty dangerous too.

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes as she looked closer. Or the tusks would be dangerous if the tips weren’t filed down to a blunt end. She checked from mammoth to mammoth and all of them had their tusks filed that way. She wondered why, maybe it was a cultural thing?

Looking back at the gate she then turned her head to Mallom. “Hey so, your job is to watch the gate?” She asked him.

“Yes,” he nodded.

“And I’m the only one who you’ve ever had to open the gate for.”

“Yes.”

Rainbow smirked. “Heh, sounds like you and your friends have a pretty sweet job.”

Mallom smirked right back up at her. “Yep.”

Rainbow Dash heard a gasp of surprise and looked over Mallom’s head to the right side of the street. Another mammoth was standing there and holding a broom in his trunk, it looked like he had been sweeping the sidewalk right up until he saw Rainbow Dash. She waved to him and he slowly waved back, as if unsure of what he was seeing. Unlike the mammoths escorting her he was also wearing a large shawl draped over his back. So now she knew they at least wore some clothes. Getting curious about something else she went back to speak to Mallom.

“So how many mammoths live here? I mean it’s not that early, shouldn’t more of you be out?”

“Mammoths are not early risers generally speaking. We’re also still on the outskirts of the city where only a few live and work. However there are thousands of us in this city, it’s just most live across the river,” he explained.

As they walked further down the road she saw that he was correct. She spied more and more mammoths either walking down the roads or sitting on the porches of their homes or working outside of other buildings, seems the city was just about starting to wake up completely. Which meant they were all out just in time to see the amazing pony from Equestria flying by. Most of their reactions were the same as the other guy but a few of them actually smiled widely when they saw her and were much more enthusiastic in their waving. Rainbow Dash also saw the first few women mammoths gathered in a cul-de-sac they passed, they were talking to each other at first and when they saw Rainbow Dash and her procession began speaking in hushed whispers before running off down other roads. Gossipers. Rainbow Dash had a keen eye when it came to people like that thanks to all her time spent with Rarity.

She noticed that the women seemed a little shorter and less heavily built than the men, with long eyelashes and lipstick on, but their woolly fur came in the same shades of brown.

The city was getting more colorful down the road too. Not just because of the grass or the flowers but from paint and art. Buildings started to come painted in all colors of the rainbow with murals of flowers and landscapes on the walls, there were statues placed on the sidewalks and in small parks and other areas. Statues of a mammoth balancing on one leg while also balancing a ball on his trunk, others of two mammoth children flying kites, and still more of more “artistic” stuff like a bunch of pieces of metal twisted together in a spiral. Her group walked beside a long building that had its wall facing the road turned into an elaborate piece of art with a green meadow and skyline painted on it and a bunch of mammoths frolicking in the grass.

It really made the city look so nice and happy compared to the other places she had been in the True North. This really was more like being in Equestria than anything. A couple of times Rainbow Dash even spotted some chalk drawings on the ground and road near some houses, the artistic works of some children no doubt. Rainbow Dash had to smile, she wasn’t worried in the slightest anymore, this was a good place.

A couple of kids ran out onto the street, giggling about something but stopping when they saw Rainbow Dash. She grinned and waved to them but they only stared back at her completely slack-jawed. It was likely they didn’t even know what she was. Once her group had passed them they all ran off again, probably going to tell their other friends about something very exciting.

Those were the first mammoth children she had seen and Rainbow Dash noted with some amusement that they were already bigger than yaks.

The yaks though… were they wrong about the mammoths? Had something else happened or had things changed in the time since the yaks came south?

Looking around she just couldn’t even imagine these guys being warlike, despite their size. The ones “guarding” the gate had no weapons, their tusks were filed down to blunt tips, she hadn’t seen anyone else who came remotely close to looking like a soldier or police officer or anything. They seemed more peaceful than most ponies!

“Are you enjoying the sights so far?” Mallom asked her.

She was, although the art and making stuff pretty was never really something she cared about it was still nice to look at. Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity would be more into this. “Yeah, you guys have a really nice city.”

“Thank you,” Mallom beamed. “We do our best. You’ll get an even better look at things in a moment too, we have to pass through town square to get to the senate at Tarmok’s Hall. There will be quite a lot going on for you to see.”

As they passed a house that had its exterior painted bright pink she couldn’t help but believe him. “I’ll take your word for it.”

With everything to see she had almost forgotten that they were still in the cold north too, but a few icicles hanging from gutters and snow gathered on the roofs of buildings reminded her of that fact. It seems the streets had a service of mammoths working to clear them of snow early in the morning but there were still some drifts and piles along the side. When she glanced down an alley she saw a group of kids even having a snowball fight with each other.

It wasn’t much longer after that that they made it to the river Rainbow Dash had first spied from the cliff. Just like the buildings it was bigger and wider than she had first thought, somewhere between one and two hundred feet across. The water was calm and dark and she couldn’t actually tell which direction it was even flowing in or see more than a few feet into it. Their road also ended up going directly onto one of the bridges that spanned the large river, looking down in the direction of the lake and docks she saw another smaller bridge, and there were probably more in the other direction too.

The bridge was wide as well, enough where four carriages (designed for ponies at least) could have easily driven side by side on it with room on the sides left over. The dirt road also became brick once they got onto the bridge and the heavy feet of the mammoths clunked against it in rhythm. She spotted another mammoth walking up the bridge in the opposite direction, tossing snow off the ledges and into the river. Made sense. If the snow melted on here or then refroze and became ice it could make the bridge really slippery and dangerous.

Like the others he stopped in shock when he saw the blue pegasus waving at him.

“Up ahead you’ll see town square,” Mallom suddenly said. “It’s divided into two open areas centered around water fountains with the marketplace around it and our main roads branching off.” He pointed forward with his trunk. “Look.”

Rainbow Dash did, she saw an open area up ahead just off of the bridge with a lot of mammoths walking around it, and another larger area slightly past it. There seemed to be a lot of open shops and mammoths mulling around them while more played and talked in front of a large triple-tiered water fountain. The noise of a city now fully awoken with a populace going about their daily business started to come down the bridge.

When they finally made it to the other side of the river the roads stayed brick and very well maintained while the whole park area next to her with the fountain was covered in grass and wildflowers. And she noticed that it wasn’t just mammoths out shopping and stuff here either, she saw one guy juggling a bunch of huge beanbags off in the corner while kids watched, another who was doing portraits (painting with his trunk), and even a full blown band of five mammoths playing light music around the fountain.

“Is it always this lively here?” Rainbow Dash asked Mallom. This was almost on the level of a fair or festival to her.

“Around this time of year at least,” he replied.

Rainbow Dash was about to ask him for some more elaboration when some familiar gasps and the shuffling of big woolly feet reached her ears. She looked up from Mallom to see the mammoths that had just previously been enjoying their time in the park were now all crowding around the edge of the road and staring at her. Even the juggler and the other entertainers had stopped what they had been doing, Rainbow Dash had completely absorbed all the attention in the area.

As well over a hundred of the huge mammoths stared at her, Rainbow Dash blushed and cracked a crooked smile, waving slightly at them all.

Fortunately, Mallom was able to come to her rescue. “A momentous occasion, my fellows! Fear not, we have been blessed with a visitor! I am taking her to Tarmok’s Hall right now to meet with the senate. I’m sure you will hear more about this in the news tomorrow but for now, please, do not let her get such a mistaken impression of us. Say hello! Smile, everyone!”

That seemed to break the ice and soon enough dozens of mammoths were happily waving back and greeting her, their confusion and worries allayed by Mallom and the other guards escorting her. Funny to think that they might’ve been afraid of her. Well, that was too strong a word, perturbed might be better. But it was still funny considering just how big of creatures they were and she was just a single tiny pegasus. Although it kind of made sense. According to Mallom they would’ve all never seen any other creatures in their lives. And they didn’t even seem to have the sort of variance between tribes like pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies did.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet all of you! You guys have a nice city,” Rainbow Dash said back to them as she flew beside Mallom, just trying to make a good first impression too and let them know she didn’t bite.

She would’ve liked to have seen more of what they were doing and everything but at the same time she didn’t want anyone to think she was some kind of intruder in the city. If she flew off alone to explore things she’d inevitably cause a stir.

Her procession left this area with everyone watching her the whole way and walked up between two large buildings that led into the larger area Rainbow Dash had spotted earlier.

“Welcome to the real town’s square,” Mallom said with a wide smile on his face as he stopped and allowed Rainbow Dash to get a full view of the busy square.

The first and most noticeable thing was that the fountain in the center of the square here overshadowed the other one in every way, shape, and form. First off the bottom section was the size of a pool all on its own with water jets spraying from the sides out of the mouths of sculpted fish. And where the other fountain was just one central fountain there were three total in this one, all of them rising high on bronzed metal in the shape of waves with individual pools of water at the top and waterfalls coming down. In the very center of the fountain was a golden ball on a pedestal shooting up an impressive umbrella of water that came falling back down around it.

There were way more mammoths around here too and unlike the other area just behind them the ground was all brick and stone instead of grass. Some mammoths were just walking in groups while she saw one with a cart set up by the fountain that was selling snowcones the size of her head, kids were running around kicking a ball back and forth between them, and one big building had an open storefront facing the town square that a stream of mammoths kept going in and out of. There were more roads and other paths leading from here and all were busy with mammoths right now. With her vision unbroken thanks to town square being a wide open area Rainbow Dash could also see far ahead to a very large building that was up near the north end of the city, it looked like it sat on a bit of a hill and overlooked the rest.

Her sightseeing temporarily ended when the attention of the crowd was drawn to her, and like before everything that had been going on came to a halt as the mammoths stared at her and the guards. Mallom had to wave and smile at them as the group started moving again, heading around the large fountain and to a road that went in the direction of the huge building Rainbow Dash spied.

“Hello everyone, hello! We have a very special day today!” Mallom said as he walked by with Rainbow Dash waving along as well.

She shot a smile at some of the more curious kids and they ran off in surprise with snowcones held in their trunks. Rainbow Dash snorted in amusement and kept flying beside Mallom’s head.

While they walked around the fountain Rainbow Dash saw another mammoth selling hats out of the back of a wagon. A wagon essentially the size of a barn for ponies. He seemed to be doing good business since she now noticed that a number of mammoths were wearing hats of all kinds, with top hats being the most common for guys, and sun hats with ribbons on them for the ladies. While she didn’t have an eye for fashion she did have sharp eyes and now with Rainbow paying attention there were quite a few other things she noticed about mammoth fashion. A number of the mammoths in the crowd were wearing rings around their tusks, or even had other types of jewelry dangling from the tips, and some had elaborately drawn tattoos or paintings on their tusks. Not everyone had accessories like this but there were more than enough for her to pick out.

She almost gawked in surprise when they walked past one young mammoth who had his hair done up in a big mohawk. Rarity would’ve been excited by all the new fashion and variety of styles.

Now as they left town square and went down a new road they had an entourage following them despite Mallom’s attempts to dissuade such a thing. Rainbow Dash was still looking all around at anything new and exciting, waving and smiling to any mammoths whose eyes she met. It became apparent to her quickly that they were heading in the direction of the large building she had seen, still visible on its hill.

Rainbow Dash flew up to one of Mallom’s big ears and whispered. “Hey, just going out on a limb here but is that Tarmok’s Hall up there?”

“You are correct,” he nodded.

“Cool. Also, who’s Tarmok?”

“Hmm,” Mallom gathered his thoughts for a second. “The short version is that he was a King of us mammoths in the past. Not our founder, but you could say he’s responsible for us being here.”

“Oh, so who’s the King now?”

Mallom smiled up at her in the same way a parent does to their child. “We don’t have Kings anymore, it’s just the senate. No single ruler is allowed among the mammoths anymore.”

“Gotcha,” Dash said and looked back up at the looming hall. She knew not everywhere just had one big ruler but personally she couldn’t imagine Equestria without Celestia on top. And so why did the mammoths change anyways? She wanted to ask him but the way he took his time thinking about Tarmok, and explicitly said his answer was the short version, made her think it would either take too long to explain or wasn’t something they wanted to share with her in the first place.

So they just continued walking and flying together with Rainbow Dash taking more sights as she got to feel more and more like a kid who wandered into giant land. The houses beside the road they were waking on now started to get bigger and nicer looking, the rich part of town maybe? They were still painted in all colors but some had large balconies on their second and third stories and even some gated yards with flower gardens and well kept yards. Rainbow Dash peeked into one for a moment and saw a mammoth watering some flowers with a watering can.

The commotion of so many mammoths following her only got the attention of more and more the further they went. A street musician playing an accordion decided to ditch his job for the day and follow her as well while another mammoth that had been acting as a living statue also joined in.

“We’ll keep everyone from entering the hall when we get there. It would get too crowded otherwise and there are already going to be a number of others in it,” Mallom said to her.

“I don’t mind a big crowd but I get your point,” Rainbow Dash couldn’t imagine what a room full of mammoths would be like. One of them could make a normal building back in Equestria crowded.

The road started to incline just a bit and Rainbow Dash got a better view of the hall. It looked like there was another wall built up around it with an opening for the road they were traveling on. Through that opening she could see the immense building, it stood on a huge foundation of cement blocks all stuck together with a large series of steps leading up it to the building’s entrance. On either side of the steps stood twin statues of mammoths rearing up on their hindlegs. There were several real, living, mammoths on the steps, talking or walking.

When Rainbow Dash and her group got into the grounds where Tarmok’s Hall stood she could now fully appreciate just how big it was. Each step leading up to it was almost taller than she was and the building was painted black with an upturned roof style that had a gold finish and more statues of mammoths at every corner. Despite there no longer being a King it was a pretty royal looking place. At the top of the steps sat a massive open door of wood painted a bright red. The top level of the hall facing her looked like it was made up mostly of open terraces, with red pillars holding up that part of the roof. The building as a whole was mostly rectangular but the side facing south had a portion cut out, and then another, giving it a leveled look if you were looking at it sideways.

It might’ve lacked the flourish and impressively pretty architecture of Canterlot Castle, or really any castle in Equestria, but the sheer size of it as just one major building gave it a grand appearance. The throne room of Canterlot Castle could almost fit in the doorway of Tarmok’s Hall. And Rainbow Dash was definitely the type of pony who agreed that big equaled impressive.

“Ready to go in? I can announce your arrival to the consulate and he will bring notice to the senate. I can assure you that you’ll be brought in immediately,” Mallom said.

Rainbow Dash grinned in anticipation. “Yep, let’s go.”

The mammoths that had been on the steps and around the hall finally noticed her and stopped what they were doing to stare. That seemed to remind Mallom of what he needed to do and he turned to the other four mammoths that made up their entourage and had them block off and try to disperse the crowd that wished to follow him and Rainbow Dash into Tarmok’s Hall. They then proceeded into the large palace of governance and for the millionth time in her life, Rainbow Dash was thankful she could fly, since walking up these big steps would’ve been a pain.

Author's Note

A Mammoth of a Problem III

Tarmok’s Hall was busy as usual. Any and all business in relation to the management of the city and anything not a personal or family matter was conducted here. If a contract between two mammoths for a job needed to be written, it was approved here. If a mammoth needed a loan from the senate to start up a new business, it was approved here. If someone had broken the law they were put on trial here. If someone thought a new statue should go up somewhere, it was debated here. And so on and so forth like any well functioning center of government in the world.

Larkon didn’t think it was perfect but he was still proud of the senate’s efficiency and benevolence in these matters, he had to believe that most other city-states could only dream to possess such a clean legislature. His only complaints were in certain areas but for the day to day business he could always count on the senators to get the job done and get it done fairly. As a mammoth oft given work to do by the senate it was certainly nice that they governed well. Nobody needed an incompetent boss.

He had made it up the steps after arriving at the hall (always an obnoxious climb) and just sort of wandered in since he didn’t really have any set place to be or thing to do. Larkon figured some sort of interesting business would pop up and he could eavesdrop on that or just walk into the senate chamber and see whatever they were up to at the moment.

Perhaps in a bit of luck he saw a friend of his who worked here, a scribe by the name of Ansel. Maybe he would have some news on the senate this morning.

“Ansel, my friend, how are you?” Larkon said as he walked up to the other with a smile, his trunk raised in a greeting.

Ansel turned at the sound of his name and smiled at Larkon. “Larkon! I didn’t expect you today.” His eyes drifted up to the top of Larkon’s head and he grimaced. “Ah, so it’s the bowler today is it?”

“Oh be quiet,” Larkon frowned but then quickly chuckled. “And yes, I couldn’t help myself.”

“You’re a slave to your work,” Ansel shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Hardly! I’m a slave to my passions, and luckily my work is entwined with them,” Larkon playfully slapped his friend on the cheek with his trunk. “So tell me, what’s the news today? Has anything special or sudden come up? I’d love to watch a good debate or be a witness to a new business contract if needed.”

Ansel shrugged, his trunk coming up to rub an itchy spot behind his ears. “Unfortunately for your sake I’m afraid that things are just as the schedule said they would be yesterday. The senate is still convened on the matter of expanding the kelp farms or not.”

“For the third day in a row...” Larkon sighed. He wanted to see a good debate and discussion. Not a bad one. And this was something he was already familiar with thanks to the past two days when he was actually working, a matter that as historian he would have to record as part of his normal work anyways once the senate was done. And thanks to how dry an issue it was he would likely gloss over it in his books. “I suppose I’ll try and see if there is a private affair being held somewhere here. Even just a walk through the Hall may yield something enjoyable.”

While the work of the senate and big business issues and so forth had to be scheduled in advance and the schedule written on a large board outside the senate chamber, smaller ones could be held with but a moment’s notice and even ones that were scheduled in advance weren’t always announced or available for the general public to see.

“There’s a wedding being ordained that you can walk in on,” Ansel said.

“That’s a bit too private,” Larkon shot a frown at his friend.

“Well I’m sure you’ll find something even if it’s just a bit of conflict mediation between two parties. I’ll have to get to the senate chamber in a moment.”

“Fair enough, I wouldn’t want to keep you from your work.”

Larkon was going to bid farewell to his friend and travel elsewhere in the Hall in search of something stimulating for the day when a commotion reached both their ears. The two mammoths turned to look at the great entrance to the hall and saw a crowd of mammoths practically blocking the way, all of them murmuring to each other and looking about in shock.

“What’s going on?” Ansel wondered.

“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Larkon rubbed his brow with his trunk. “But I think we should see.”

Rainbow Dash and Mallom made it up the final step, although she was flying so technically it might not have counted, and stood before the huge open door. Along the way all the other mammoths on the steps had noticed her and were now making up a new entourage while the ones who were up here at the first floor of the Hall had also seen her and were crowding the entrance. The mammoths were all very curious and Mallom had to practically push some of them aside so they could actually enter Tarmok’s Hall. It was a decent welcome for Rainbow Dash’s standards. The attention was like food to her.

The atrium was large and not just because it was built for mammoths either. The ceiling looked like it went up almost to the roof of the building and a great chandelier hung from it, illuminating the entire atrium. A large hall went off to her left while stairs went up the back wall to higher levels of the building. There seemed to be a few other doors along the wall and an area in the center of the area with couches, chairs, and tables. Those must’ve been some impressive chairs and couches though if they could hold the weight of a mammoth. The floor looked to be lacquered hardwood that gleamed in the light and was immaculately clean.

From what she could tell it seemed like every mammoth here was trying to rush and mob her. If she couldn’t fly she very well might have been trampled. But she couldn’t really just fly up and buzz around the atrium looking around on her own, that might’ve caused a commotion or panic.

So again she had to have Mallom sort things out. The big mammoth loudly stomped his foot on the ground until the crowd around them grew silent and Rainbow Dash lowered herself to flying right by his head. Mallom then cleared his throat and smiled before taking a deep breath.

“Announcing the arrival of Rainbow Dash from Equestria!” He bellowed throughout the entire atrium, his deep voice having no trouble at all carrying and echoing off the walls. “A pony who has journeyed far and wide and has now arrived on our doorstep, make way everyone! It is to the senate that she goes!”

The mammoths all hastily parted to the sides, allowing her and Mallom an easy way through. Rainbow Dash grinned and threw off some even more cocky than usual waves and smiles to the mammoths in the Hall as they passed. Naturally they kept talking about her, some in hushed whispers, others not even trying to disguise it. More than one clearly looked like they wanted to approach and ask her questions but had to hold themselves back after Mallom’s announcement, knowing they couldn’t delay her visit to the senate.

“You’re a real lifesaver, Mallom,” Rainbow Dash said to him while she waved at the last mammoth they passed.

“Merely doing my duties,” he stated. Although Rainbow Dash could hear a good deal of pride in his voice.

They walked into the large hallway that led to the left wing of the building and Mallom eagerly pointed to the end of it with his trunk. “Look, at the end there, behind those doors is the senate chamber.”

Rainbow Dash looked down and saw a set of oaken double doors at the end of the hallway, they weren’t oversized like the red doors leading into Tarmok’s Hall but they were elaborately and artistically carved with inlaid flowers and jewel designs going all around the frame and spiraling lines in the center. Golden door handles that seemed to practically radiate light with how polished they were sat in the middle of the door, they were also designed in the shape of mammoth tusks. Just looking at that door too Rainbow Dash doubted she could pull it open on her own. In fact that might end up being a recurring problem for her stay here.

“Looks like we’re also going to have quite a few witnesses to your first visit to our government,” Mallom said as he looked over his shoulder.

Rainbow Dash followed in suit and saw that a majority of the mammoths from the atrium were quietly walking behind them. Trying not to make a fuss and see if they could sneak into the senate chamber before it became too crowded.

“Guess so.”

To the right of the door was also a large board that had some stuff written on it that Rainbow Dash couldn’t make out while to the left was a podium that a mammoth wearing a top hat and a dickie stood behind. The podium had what looked like a large book on it along with a feather and ink bottle. Currently the mammoth manning it seemed to be halfway asleep, Rainbow Dash was sure she saw him almost nodding off. When they got a little closer the steps seemed to alert him that someone was coming and he looked up with half-lidded eyes. At first he didn’t seem to register the flying pony but when he did his jaw dropped and his eyes shot between her and Mallom over and over.

“Hello,” Mallom said to the mammoth as he and Rainbow Dash stopped in front of the door. “Could you open up the door for us and announce our presence to the senate, consulate? As you can see this is pretty important business.”

“Y-Yes, of course,” the consulate stuttered but went over to the door and grasped one of the handles with his trunk, pulling it open for the two of them and using a built in door stopper to hold it open momentarily so they could all walk in.

The door opened up to a carpeted aisle in-between dozens of rows of benches that were all occupied by mammoths dressed in black robes. At the far end of the chamber directly down this midsection was a long, curved table where three additional mammoths sat and to the left of this table was a lone chair and desk with a single mammoth sitting over it and writing something into a scroll. The ceiling of the chamber had a total of six chandeliers, three over each group of benches, that were very luxurious themselves but not as huge as the one in the atrium. On the sides of the room there were numerous alcoves and other benches, some of which were currently occupied by other mammoths not wearing the black robes. And the entire back wall of the chamber right behind the long table was taken up by a massive painting of a regal mammoth standing on a cliff overlooking a green valley with dozens of other mammoths huddling behind him.

The consulate cleared his throat and stomped his foot on the ground three times to grab the attention of the senators who hadn’t already turned at the sound of the door opening. “My lords! An important announcement!”

Rainbow Dash once more had to deal with a huge crowd of mammoths realizing just what they were looking at and the importance of it. Every last eye in the room had turned to her and she particularly enjoyed the befuddled expressions from the three mammoths at the long table.

Once their presence was noted Mallom stepped forward. “I, Mallom, had the fortune to be at the gate when this pony arrived at our city. I now introduce to you all, Rainbow Dash!”

“Uh, hey,” Dash awkwardly grinned and waved a hoof at the senate and other mammoths in the chamber.

There was no simple murmuring this time, the entire chamber erupted into a loud commotion, all of the mammoths either trying to shout questions over each other or engaging in a yelling conversation about this blue pony that had appeared before them.

“Order! I call for order!” The mammoth in the center of the curved table yelled, he grasped a gavel in his trunk and repeatedly banged it on the table’s surface. It didn’t do him much good just yet, everyone was far too enamored with Rainbow Dash. “As the speaker and convener of this senate I demand order!”

It took a few more time of banging the gavel but the mammoths were eventually forced into submission by his relentless swings.

“There,” he sighed and took a deep stare at Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash was it? If it is your will would you like to come closer?”

She smiled and dropped to the carpet, folding in her wings and beginning her walk down the long aisle. “Sure.”

Like this she really got to take her time and make the mammoths drown in anticipation. They all watched her take step after step with a confident look on her face and impeccable posture. Despite her much smaller size she managed to come off as intimidating and impossibly sure of herself. It was as good a first impression she could give them as any.

When she made it to the table she had to crane her neck quite a bit to look eye to eye with the speaker, he was an older mammoth with graying hair and saggy wrinkles under his eyes and down his trunk. Most noticeably he wore gold bands around his front feet.

“So, you are already aware then that we have not had an outsider here for as long as this city has stood?” He asked her.

“Yeah, Mallom told me. But you guys know about ponies and the outside world, don’t you?”

He nodded. “To a degree. We keep a very good record of our history, our knowledge may be dated in some areas thanks to our isolation over the past few centuries though.” The speaker coughed. “But I can not tell you enough how pleased I—all of us are—to see you here. It truly is a blessing to see that any creature has happily and willingly come to our city.”

Definitely sounds like a story there. Rainbow Dash thought. “Well it seems like a really nice city so far. And you guys have been cool.”

“Thank you, that warms my heart to here that you have been received well and are enjoying yourself,” he smiled. “My name is Bakol, I am more or less in charge of keeping the senate in order and getting our business started and finished.”

“Nice to meet you,” Rainbow Dash flew up a bit over the table and turned around, waving at the whole chamber. “Nice to meet all of you! You already know my name, but let me tell you something else! I’m a pegasus from Equestria, way, way, way to the south of here, we’re a whole huge country of ponies and I’m like, basically an ambassador of it. So it’s really cool to be the first pony from Equestria to be here! I’ve been flying north looking for fun and adventure for a while now and meeting you guys is pretty awesome, whenever I get back home I’ll tell my friends all about you too! And if there’s anything else you want to know, just ask! I guarantee you I’m the most awesome pony you’ll ever meet!”

The mammoths clapped together in applause and some even trumpeted with their trunks (which made Rainbow Dash wonder why Mallom’s coworkers had actual trumpets) while Rainbow Dash hovered there.

Bakol had to bang his gavel down a few more times until things got quiet again. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash of Equestria. Please, won’t you tell us more of your home and your adventure? I want every mammoth in the city to know about you, and they will know about you by tomorrow, I’ll have the newspaper make sure of it. And of course we’ll tell you anything you would like to know about us, and you will be treated like royalty and given whatever you desire, it is truly the least we can do for you.”

Rainbow Dash was happy to hear that but at the same time she had to admit she was curious and even a little suspicious of the way they were acting. This wasn’t just being a good host, that’s what Pile and Dust Bunny were, these guys were trying to be as perfect and reverent as possible. She could imagine that they wanted to make a good impression on the first guest they’ve ever had but were none of them really even remotely suspicious of her? Even if they had heard of ponies it doesn’t seem like they knew about Equestria, and yet they weren’t questioning her about anything she said at all. She was taken completely at face value and they were ostensibly going to be absurdly generous to her.

Should she make vocal what she had heard about them from the yaks? That might be pretty rude… and they were being super nice to her. Maybe she could just ask Mallom or one of the other mammoths in private?

Rainbow Dash decided to at least ask one of the questions she really wanted to ask. “Thanks for everything, but I was really surprised when I heard that I was the first visitor you’ve ever had. How come no one else has come here?”

Bakol got a somewhat sad look on his face and she could feel that attitude wash over the rest of the senate behind her. “A reasonable question. As you can tell we are quite isolated from the outside world, your ability of flight no doubt allowed you easy access to our valley but there are few other creatures and civilizations up here that have such an ability. That is the main reason but also… while it is a dismaying topic I do not wish to hide it from you. We mammoths are not fondly remembered by the other creatures of the north, and this entire area is seen as cursed land that is avoided by others.”

“Oh, sorry,” Rainbow Dash winced at the somber tone this meeting had taken. Sounds like there was a fair amount of truth to the yak’s story although there also had to be way more going on than just what Bakol said. Wanting to change the topic to something more upbeat though, Rainbow Dash took over. “Well hey, forget about that for now! I’ll tell you guys everything I know about Equestria and even tell you all my own awesome stories and adventures! You better sit down cause this is gonna get your blood pumping and your spirits lifted!” She flew down and landed right on top of the table, looking up at Bakol. “Hope you guys have the time?”

The speaker glanced over at the other two mammoths at the table and then at the one sitting with the scroll, they all gave him eager smiles and small nods and Bakol looked back at her with a tight-lipped smile of his own. “In truth we had some work to do that is already running late, but I think we’re all in agreement that you take precedence here today, Rainbow Dash.”

“Awesome!” Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof in small victory.

Bureaucracy and legislation were boring anyways.

Now Rainbow Dash certainly wasn’t a big history buff, and she didn’t know half—hay—a tenth of what Twilight knew. But she had been around for a lot of big things, and she knew important stuff like Hearthswarming, and what happened to Luna, and the stories of the Pillars. Surprisingly enough she was probably one of the better ponies to come to when it came to relating all the important stuff in Equestria’s history, the far past and the more recent. If these mammoths wanted to learn all about Equestria and everything that defined it, she’d give them a storytelling hour for the ages.

But where to start?

“Okay...” Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof under her chin and then grinned as she looked out across the chamber. “Let me tell you guys about a pony called Starswirl the Bearded...”

“… and so that’s when Starswirl and the other five Pillars planted the seeds for what would eventually be called the Tree of Harmony. And then...”

“… but when it seemed like the windigos were going to bury everything in ice and the ponies were doomed, the friendship between Smart Cookie, Clover the Clever, and Private Pansy saved them...”

“… you see, Princess Luna was jealous of her sister. She thought nobody appreciated her or the night she watched over. And one day she just couldn’t take it anymore and she became the evil Nightmare Moon...”

“… and right there is where I met Twilight Sparkle, the second most awesome pony in the world...”

“… together the six of us defeated Nightmare Moon and freed Princess Luna from the influence of evil, and ever since then we’ve been best friends and...”

“… we defeated Tirek! And a new crystal castle grew from the Tree of Harmony, we later learned that a map also...”

“… so after defeating the Storm King, Twilight got the idea to make a school so we could teach harmony and friendship to ponies and creatures all over the world! Of course then...”

“… and that’s when I got the idea to fly up north for my adventure. It’s been pretty cool so far, let me tell you about some of the stuff I’ve seen...”

“… so I flew up on top of the cliff and saw your city here in the valley. And that’s that.”

Rainbow Dash finished telling her long tale. Thanks to them being indoors she had no idea what time of day it was but it had probably gotten pretty late now. The mammoths that had been listening were all totally enraptured and amazed by the history of Equestria and her own personal adventures. It was a great feeling.

“Magnificent. Utterly magnificent,” Bakol slowly clapped in appreciation for her. “You have truly lived a life of adventure, Rainbow Dash. And Equestria itself… your home sounds breathtaking. Not for the first time I regret our seclusion and remoteness.” He pushed his chair back and stood up with a groan. “I am sorry that we must adjourn this meeting between our two people’s for the day however. There is surely much you would like to know about us, but there is also much we must do for you and it is beginning to get late. I will have to notify our newspaper and relate to them what you have told me, but tomorrow because of that the whole city will be made aware of your appearance and warmly welcome you!”

The other mammoths of the senate once more stomped and trumpeted in agreement. This time they naturally calmed down quickly enough to let Bakol talk again.

“There is also the matter of your lodgings, it will take time for you to get settled in and truthfully I’m not sure where we should out you up. Tarmok’s Hall is no place for a guest and obviously we don’t really have any place for visitors to stay...”

“I will take her in!”

The voice from the back of the chamber got the attention of all of the other mammoths and Rainbow Dash, they looked to see a mammoth that Rainbow didn’t recognize push his way past both Mallom and the consulate to stand in the middle of the aisle. He was a normal looking mammoth as far as Rainbow Dash could tell. Er, aside from the kind of silly looking hat he was wearing.

Bakol seemed to recognize him. “Oh, Larkon! That would be perfect.”

The mammoth called Larkon strode down the aisle to the table, regarding Rainbow Dash with a curious but polite expression. He bowed his head slightly to her and smiled. “Miss Rainbow Dash, my name is Larkon, I am the historian of our city and mammoth society. A great pleasure it is to meet you.” He lifted his trunk and stuck it out to her.

Rainbow Dash grinned and shook it. “Back at ya.”

Larkon chuckled and withdrew his trunk. “Would you be alright with staying at my home for the duration of your visit? I have plenty of room, any questions about mammoths you have I can answer, and you will get first hand experience of what a mammoth family looks like.”

“Hey, I need somewhere to stay,” she shrugged and glanced over her shoulder at Bakol. “You all seem to be fine with this. Do you want me to come back tomorrow or...”

“Actually-” Larkon interrupted. “Bakol, I don’t believe there is any reason for us to schedule more meetings such as this or make Rainbow Dash come before the senate again and again. Allow her to experience this city herself, let me be her guide at most but give her the freedom to enjoy our culture and home the way she wants to.” He glanced at Rainbow Dash. “You seem like the type who would enjoy being able to do whatever she wanted, not have to come back here everyday to talk and get approval for something.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Heh, you read me like a book dude.”

Bakol rubbed his big chin with his trunk. “I certainly trust your ideas, Larkon. You would be just about the best of us all for this too.” He coughed. “Very well, if the both of you are fine with it then for the foreseeable future, Rainbow Dash shall live with you and your family.”

Rainbow Dash cracked her neck and flew up off the table, buzzing right in front of Larkon. “Alright, so where to?”

A Mammoth of a Problem IV

The mammoth walked down the great steps of Tarmok’s Hall while the pony flew next to him. The two naturally still had quite the audience and a number of mammoths around who clearly wished to speak with Rainbow Dash more but allowed her to just go with Larkon today out of politeness. Evening had approached and the streets were now illuminated by lanterns that must’ve been set up and lit while Rainbow Dash was inside the Hall.

“So where’s your home, big guy?” Rainbow Dash asked Larkon when they reached the open gate leading back out into the rest of the city.

“Not far, but still closer to the western side of the city. I’ll have you there in no time,” Larkon told her.

“Cool,” Dash nodded and thought about something. “So you have a family?”

Larkon nodded. “Yes, my wife and my two children. I’ll introduce you to them once we reach my home. By now my wife should have dinner ready so you can dine with us.”

“Great, I could use some grub,” Rainbow licked her lips.

“I’m sure you’ll love my wife’s cooking,” Larkon proudly said.

As they continued their walk to Larkon’s home they took a different route than the one Rainbow Dash had come on with Mallom. It was a side street with them in-between rows of homes, some with mammoths she could either see through the windows or out in their yards. Slowly the mammoths that had been following them from Tarmok’s Hall began to peter off, allowing Rainbow Dash some space and privacy. While flying side to side over Larkon’s head to check things out she looked into the front window of one home and saw a family of two mammoths and their rowdy kids just sitting down to eat dinner.

Rainbow Dash smiled. “You guys really have a nice city. Like honestly I’m impressed, I can probably count the places I’ve been to that have been this friendly and stuff on my hooves.”

Larkon also smiled although something about it was strangely forced. “I’m glad you have such a positive opinion about our city and people.”

She noticed that something was a little off with what he said and how he said it. Raising an eyebrow, Rainbow Dash flew down to eye-level with him and stared. “Uhhh… there something else you wanted to say? It kind of sounded like you didn’t agree with me.”

The big mammoth looked ahead and Rainbow Dash could hear him hum to himself. “Not quite. I love my people and this city dearly, and I do believe we’re quite a kind and friendly civilization nowadays.” His eye turned back to look at her. “But nowhere’s perfect. I have a duty to tell you that, and to warn you that you may not be so warmly received by everyone in this city.”

“Well I kind of figured that not everybody up here would be totally happy to suddenly see a creature they’ve maybe only ever heard about from a book in their home...” she rubbed the back of her neck.

“I don’t just mean like that,” Larkon shook his head. “It’s not about just mammoths being impolite to you, or unwelcoming, there are dangerous places here too.” He paused for a second to gather his thoughts. “When you were telling us your story you said you came down from the cliff and to the west side of the city where Mallom was stationed, correct?”

“Yeah? So what?”

“Then that means you came through the old abandoned area of town. We sometimes tear the old houses and buildings down from there to make newer ones, as you can tell wood is scarce up here, but that’s not important right now. Directly north from that area on the western side of the river is a slum, a dangerous and near lawless slum that most mammoths living in the city would like to pretend doesn’t exist. I must ask of you, please do not go there on your own, at the very least speak to me first about it.”

Now Dash was in a bit of a quandary. Cause that slum sounded like the place most likely to find adventure and excitement up here. But this guy and all the other mammoths had been so polite and hospitable… did she really want to just flat out refuse to listen to him?

In the end she just decided to be a good guest and shrugged. “Sure, whatever you say.”

“Thank you,” Larkon sighed in relief. “I’m sorry to sour our conversation like that but it had to be said.”

“It’s cool.”

“Do you have anything else you’d like to ask me about before we get home? As a historian I would be happy to answer, and capable as well.”

Rainbow Dash thought and realized she did have a question that somewhat related to “danger”. Something she had been wondering about ever since she was let into the city by Mallom. “Yeah actually, do you guys even have like guards or anything? I just thought it was weird that Mallom and his guys at the gate didn’t have weapons or armor or anything, and there weren’t even any guards at the Hall, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t see anyone like that anywhere else either.”

“You didn’t,” Larkon said. “No, we don’t have any sort of guards or soldiers in this city. We are pacifists. We have no weapons, in fact it’s completely illegal to carry or possess any sort of weapon. It’s even why for ages now we have filed down our tusks to make them no longer sharp—although that’s not mandatory, it’s just expected.”

“Well that answers two questions,” Rainbow Dash stared at his tusks. “I guess though considering how big you guys are that slum is dangerous even without the mammoths there having any weapons.”

Larkon nodded. “Indeed. We are officially pacifists, but like I said nowhere is perfect and not everyone agrees with the current state of things.”

Rainbow Dash almost couldn’t believe at all that these guys were the same ones William warned her about. Even by their own admission that they hadn’t always been like this they were just too different. After walking around their city, meeting their leaders, and now this it was just impossible for Rainbow Dash to imagine the mammoths as some conquering war-like race.

Of course if anyone had only met Princess Luna it was probably impossible to imagine her as once being Nightmare Moon. Appearances could be deceiving…

Rainbow Dash wouldn’t lie to herself that it was a little disappointing too. She wanted adventure and pacifism was basically the opposite of that. If these mammoths were more like their old selves she bet things would be way more fun and exciting up here. Pacifism was kind of boring. That’s like, at best what she would want to leave behind her after defeating some evil tyrant king or monster. Larkon probably wouldn’t appreciate her saying that so she kept her mouth shut for now. He was obviously very happy with how the mammoths were now compared to the past. Dash was just being selfish, she really wanted that danger and epic adventure. But despite what William had warned her about it honestly didn’t look like she’d find it here.

The two continued their way down the road with Larkon pointing out anything he thought was noteworthy along the way, including a bakery, a clothing store, and a flower shop. He was clearly interested in getting her to see what “normal” was like for most mammoths of the city. Rainbow Dash for her part nodded along, floating by his head.

“Hey so-” she suddenly asked. “How come you offered to take me in in the first place? Just because?”

“Hm? I suppose it’s because of how interesting I found you. I’ll admit you really piqued my curiosity. And I thought I could serve you better than anyone else there,” Larkon shrugged. “I had been looking for something intriguing today and I found you, just like you found our city.”

“Nice, I can appreciate that,” Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof up to get a hoof bump from the mammoth… and then realized he would have no idea what she was doing. “Hold on, lift up your trunk.”

Larkon raised an eyebrow but did as she asked. Bringing his trunk right up to her hoof.

“There we go,” Dash grinned and bumped it. “That’s called a hoof bump.”

“I see, a little different from just a shake,” Larkon chuckled in good nature.

In a minute they turned left down a wide street and were now heading directly east. Judging from the size of the street it was probably one of the major ones of the city. Trees lined it along the sidewalks and numerous other alleys branched from it at even intervals. It was funny to look at the trees though, cause the mammoths were sometimes taller than they were. Back in Ponyville you would use a tree for shade but these mammoths just had to walk on by them. Maybe they had some bigger ones somewhere, although Larkon said wood was scarce.

At the sound of a different noise coming from below her, Rainbow Dash looked down to see this street had gone from brick to pavement. That’s why Larkon’s feet were making a different sound now. And a few of the side streets she looked down were cobblestone or just dirt. It was still getting to her just how big everything was, she was having trouble adjusting, it was almost hurting her eyes to look at everything because it all just seemed a little off to her. Like she was looking at something wrong or from some awkward forced perspective.

“So where’s your house?” She asked Larkon to take her mind off it.

“Just down the street a little. And just so you know, this street leads directly to the eastern gate of the city. I’ll go over the city’s layout in more detail with you tomorrow if you’d like.”

“Sure, cool.”

Larkon wasn’t kidding when he said “a little”, it was only a few more buildings down the street before he came to a stop and gestured to the fairly large house sitting right by the street. A tree sat on each end of the house and the sidewalk in front of it was swept clean. The front door was up a few steps on a porch with a welcome mat placed in front of it. It was painted a more standard white without any drawings on it like she had seen on a lot of other buildings, while the roof was a deep forest green. In total the home was two stories tall, but because it was mammoth sized that made it far bigger than a two-story home for ponies would be. Rainbow Dash could see what looked like some flower gardens along the sides of the house too.

Larkon walked up the steps towards the front door while Rainbow Dash flew with him. Pressing down on the handle he opened up the door and the two of them went into the entryway.

“I’m home!” Larkon said as he closed the door behind him.

Rainbow Dash could hear some movement elsewhere in the house but nobody responded back to his announcement. Larkon then took off his hat and placed it on one of the hook’s of the hat rack, Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrow at some of the other hats on it. One was a straw hat with a polkadot ribbon around around the crown, another was a checkered top hat that was very tall, a second top hat made of red velvet, and a black fedora that looked a size or two too small for Larkon.

That explains the hat I guess. Rainbow Dash smirked.

“Come, I’ll take you to the dining room,” Larkon said and led the way into his house. It was fairly modern looking to Rainbow’s surprise, with carpet and a number of paintings and portraits hung up on the wall. The entry way led into a hallway that spanned the front of the house while another hallway went back from it down the middle. They walked down the middle towards a sliding door at the end that had a fern sitting next to it. The hallway opened up again to the left and right, from above the halls on the first floor of Larkon’s home would look like a big H.

Rainbow Dash heard the creak of wood and looked over Larkon’s head to see a young mammoth walking down the stairs that emerged from the end of the hallway to the right.

“Hey dad,” he said with a frown on his face and a fairly petulant attitude. He then flinched and stepped back when he saw Rainbow Dash flying around, his face twisting up like he had just smelled something bad. “What’s that?”

Larkon blinked and sighed. “Samarkon, don’t be rude. This is Rainbow Dash, a pony from a far off land called Equestria. And you would have known she’s a pony if you paid attention to your lessons.”

“Whatever,” Samarkon rolled his eyes and walked right past the two of them, opening up the sliding door and stepping into the dining room. Rainbow Dash watched him go take a seat with a huff while two other mammoths were busy putting food on the table.

“Is that what you meant by me not being well received by everyone?” Rainbow Dash asked Larkon.

“I apologize for my son’s rudeness,” Larkon shook his head. “But please, come in and meet my wife and daughter.” The two walked into the dining room and Larkon cleared his throat. “Shibu? Alykon? I have a very special guest to introduce to the two of you.”

“Is it one of your friends from the Hall? Because-” the older female mammoth began to say but her words caught in her throat when she looked up from the table and saw the flying pegasus in her dining room. “Oh my...”

“What is it?” Larkon’s daughter asked as she walked around her mother, gasping in surprise when she saw Rainbow Dash too.

Larkon chuckled at their reactions and gestured to the two with his trunk. “Rainbow Dash, meet my wife Shibu and my daughter Alykon. Shibu and Alykon, meet Rainbow Dash.”

“You’re a… pony aren’t you?” Shibu said as she regained her wits.

“That’s right,” Dash grinned and flew towards her so she could shake her and her daughter’s trunks. Shibu was polite while Alykon seemed to be completely mesmerized by Rainbow Dash’s appearance and had to be shaken by her mom to remember to put her trunk forward in greeting.

Shibu, even for a mammoth, could generously be described as portly. But she had wide and bright eyes that spoke volumes about her friendliness already, and her tusks were decorated with yellow and orange paint that went up like the stripes of a candy-cane on her ivory appendages. From the smell of the food in the dining room she seemed like quite the cook too.

Alykon meanwhile looked up at Rainbow Dash like the pony was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. And opposed to her mother she looked strong and athletic, even more so than her brother. If Rainbow Dash had to guess she would’ve said Alykon was the younger sister too. Unlike her mother she had no adjustments to her tusks but she wore what looked like black sweatbands right above her feet and another on her forehead. For sports? Did the mammoths have sports? Rainbow Dash would definitely need to ask about that at some point.

“What are you all gawking at her for? She’s just some dumb creature,” Samarkon said from his seat, practically glaring at Rainbow Dash.

“Samarkon!” Shibu snapped at him.

The young mammoth snorted and rolled his eyes, taking a great big heap of salad from one of the bowls on the table and shoveling it into his mouth. Dash frowned at him too but she wasn’t going to start a fight with one of the family members of the mammoth who had offered his home to her. Although she really wanted to fix that kid’s rotten attitude. Larkon was glaring at him too but said nothing for now.

“Please, let us all sit down and we can speak while we dine,” Larkon said.

That was easier said than done. The table was so high and the chairs so big that Rainbow Dash was forced to just sit on top of the table itself. She could literally hear Rarity screaming in her ear. The food looked good though, a mess of salads and pastas and a pie of some sort with a basket of bread in the middle of at all. They must’ve had decent farms up here. One salad bowl was full of some kind of stringy green vegetable that Dash didn’t recognize and it smelled kind of weird too. She’d steer clear of that for now.

“Where do you come from, Miss Rainbow Dash?” Shibu asked her.

Rainbow Dash looked up with a string of pasta hanging from her mouth, she slurped it in and swallowed. “Just Rainbow Dash is fine, and I’m from Equestria. It’s a country like way far to the south where ponies live.”

“And what are you doing all the way up here?”

“Now there’s a long story. Uh, since we’re all eating and it’s late and I already told the whole senate everything earlier today I’m just gonna keep it short for now. You probably don’t want to hear just everything anyways.” Dash rubbed the back of her neck. “So really I’m just up here on an adventure, I was just flying north after leaving home looking for any sort of excitement and eventually I made it here. If you really want to know about Equestria and some of the stuff I’ve done I’ll be totally up for it later. I kind of have a thing for talking about myself.”

“The paper tomorrow morning will also have quite the article on Rainbow Dash,” Larkon said.

“Good! I can’t wait to read it,” Shibu said. “So, Rainbow Dash, it sounds like you’ve spoken enough today so why not just relax and eat and I’ll tell you all about my family?”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Hey, sure.”

“Well you know our names and I’m sure you’ve heard that my husband if the historian of our city?” She asked and upon Rainbow’s nod continued. “Hm, well the two of us met years ago at the local library. I was searching for cook books and he had gotten lost in the aisles. We bumped into each other and that was that.” She made doe eyes to her husband, a small smile tugging up her lips.

“I did not get lost...” Larkon shifted about in chair, averting his eyes.

Rainbow Dash snorted and giggled a bit. “Nice.”

“And now we have two beautiful children too,” Shibu said and extended her trunk across the table to pat the sulking Samarkon on the head. Probably because she knew it would annoy him. “I spend my time at home while Larkon mostly works at Tarmok’s Hall or other places that need him. Samarkon here is studying to take his father’s place one day-”

The young son opened his mouth as if to retort to that but instead clammed up, just staring at his food in disgruntlement.

“-and our daughter is quite the amateur athlete. Why don’t you tell Rainbow Dash about the sports you play, Alykon?” Shibu asked her daughter.

Of course though Alykon was just staring in wide-eyed amazement at Rainbow Dash and was at quite the loss for words.

Shibu sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Please excuse her too. Obviously she’s a little surprised to see a pony.”

“Well I can’t really blame her. In fact I’m kind of surprised that you all aren’t reacting the same way. I mean I’m the first pony—the first creature—besides a mammoth any of you have ever seen,” Dash said, shrugging.

“That’s true, but we have our history books. We’ve always known others are out there, even relatively close by. And thanks to my husband I think I’m better equipped to deal with a situation like this than most mammoths. I can’t imagine how many stares you got on your way here, or through the rest of the city,” Shibu said.

“Yeahhh, it would kind of take a while to count.”

Shibu laughed. “Hm, hm, it doesn’t seem like our children are going to be very talkative tonight so please, dig in, and tell me exactly what you think of my cooking.” The wife got a special glint in her eye when she said that.

Rainbow Dash distinctly remembered the first time she met Applejack and got force fed a bunch of Apple family specials…

But she was still more than happy to try absolutely everything… it’s just that everything was in gigantic mammoth sized portions and she wasn’t sure if there was enough room in her stomach to sample it all. The pie alone was as big as she was! Pinkie Pie would be in heaven right now but Rainbow Dash, as big an eater as she could be, still couldn’t fathom inhaling all this food. The pasta she had started on tasted good though, and whatever dressing was on the nearest salad also smelled really good.

“How do you like the pasta?” Shibu asked, an expectant look on her face.

Rainbow Dash wiped a hoof across her mouth. “Uh, it’s actually great. All of this stuff smells and looks really good.” Aside from the pie and that bowl of green stuff she didn’t recognize.

“Really? You’re certainly making me proud of my cooking if it even transcends other creatures and cultures. Here, try this,” Shibu beamed and pushed the bowl of green stuff right in front of Rainbow Dash.

“What is it?” Rainbow Dash lifted an eyebrow and looked at Shibu. “Sorry, but that’s the only thing on this table I don’t recognize.”

“It’s kelp,” Larkon said. “We have huge kelp farms out in the lake.”

“It’s a staple,” Shibu said and spooned a large amount of it onto Rainbow Dash’s plate. “Have some!”

“Okay...” Rainbow Dash was hesitant but impaled some of the kelp on a fork anyways and shoved it into her mouth. It was stringy, rubbery, and tough, but the taste wasn’t bad. Just unusual and not like vegetables she had had. It was more like a cooked plant, like eating grass and flowers.

“How is it?” Shibu eagerly asked.

“It’s pretty good… I’m not used to eating something like this. It’s kind of different,” Rainbow Dash said in-between trying to chew the pieces of kelp down.

“I can guarantee you that’s some of the best prepared kelp in the whole city,” Larkon said, smiling at his wife.

“Oh stop,” Shibu giggled and patted him with her trunk.

The sickeningly sweet display was almost too much for Rainbow Dash’s tastes and for the first time tonight she found herself agreeing more with Samarkon when she saw the young mammoth discreetly gagging at his parents. After that Rainbow Dash had more and more food piled onto her plate, Shibu probably not realizing just yet that as a pony she couldn’t eat nearly as much as them. It was nice to just have dinner with them like this though and relax after her long day. They could get to know each other a lot more tomorrow or in the future. It’s not like Dash planned to leave anytime soon.

She really wanted to talk more with Alykon about the sports she played, Samarkon… maybe try to figure out why he was such a grump. Twilight would want her to do that.

After a little while longer they had all finished eating, Larkon ending the meal by swallowing a slice of pie bigger than Dash’s head. She herself sat back on the table and patted her stomach (another action that made the psychic projection of Rarity scream) looking around while Alykon and Shibu started to take away plates over to the counter on the side of the room. A door that probably went back into the kitchen was next to it and another door on the opposite side of the dining room went off somewhere else in the house.

“Sooo...” Rainbow Dash said. “Where exactly am I staying here anyways?”

Larkon covered his mouth with his foot to stifle a burp. “Let me show you, we have plenty of rooms here for you.” He grinned. “Be prepared to sleep in the largest bed of your life.”

He scooted away from the table and walked back to the sliding door they had entered from, Rainbow Dash following him. Only slightly being weighed down by the food in her stomach.

“Goodnight, Rainbow Dash! We’ll talk more later. And so will the children!” Shibu said to her and waved with her trunk.

“Night!” Rainbow Dash waved back and grinned, her eyes glancing to Alykon first, who finally managed a small wave of her own, and then to Samarkon, who merely glared at her before jumping off his chair and walking out the other door. She frowned but now wasn’t the time for him. Finally after all this eating and the huge tale she had told at the Hall she was exhausted and that huge bed Larkon promised was sounding really good right now.

A Mammoth of a Problem V

He was very, very, right about this being the largest bed she had ever slept in.

The room Rainbow Dash was boarding in for her time here was on the first floor at the back of Larkon’s house. It had a large window that gave her a nice view of his backyard as well as a bay door that led out onto their back patio. Opening and closing the windows and doors in this house might prove to be a hassle but she was thankful for the option.

The bed itself of course was gigantic, even being only a single for mammoths it dwarfed the royal beds she had seen in Canterlot whenever they were staying in the castle. The cotton sheets were very warm and comfortable for her in this cool northern city. A nightstand which was large enough to function as a coffee table for ponies sat next to her bed between it and the window with an old-fashioned alarm clock on top of it. The window had purple curtains that she had closed, not wanting to be woken up too early in the morning. And for that same reason she hadn’t touched the alarm clock.

Rainbow Dash knew mammoths weren’t early risers, Mallom had said so, and she was happy to hear that. She didn’t have to wake up with the sunrise and try to get the most out of traveling now that she was here in this city. She’d definitely enjoy a nice night of sleep and if possible wasn’t gonna get out of this bed until someone knocked on her door.

The only actual problem with the bed was that the pillows were too big. Rainbow Dash could easily curl up on one but trying to use it as an actual pillow tilted her head up too much and made it uncomfortable for her neck. She ended up tossing and turning for a bit and only got a good position after repeatedly punching the pillow to make it flatter.

After that she was finally able to get some rest. Her first day of meeting the mammoths left her thinking quite a bit, they weren’t what she expected and she was worried if she would be able to find the adventure she wanted here. But it was only one day. Surely with some more time something would come up in this city.

What Mallom had said was true, most mammoths were not early risers.

But Larkon was.

Especially when he had something new and exciting in his life and a very important job to do. His normal work was still important and he knew he wouldn’t always be able to guide Rainbow Dash or be with her but he at least wanted to get her started on the right path or give her some ideas when it came to touring their city. For this morning there were some things he wanted to go over with her, even though he was supposed to be at Tarmok’s Hall in just a few hours he knew the senate would understand given the task he had undertaken.

He had some faint apprehension when it came to letting her go out on her own but from her tales she sounded like a more than capable pony. And a very good one at that. A true do-gooder and hero, it was interesting to see one. And he had trust that nobody outside the slums would cause problems for her or be abrasive. There were probably some that wouldn’t exactly be open, and maybe more than a little impolite or standoffish, but he didn’t foresee any danger for her. Today’s newspaper that the other mammoths of the city would soon be reading would also help that, no one should really be surprised or afraid to see her.

So Larkon wanted to get things started as early as possible for her. And the pony seemed like one who wanted as much fun and excitement as possible so she’d probably like being woken up early, right?

“Rainbow Dash? Are you up yet?” He asked as he not so gently knocked on the door to her room.

Of course even if he was gentle it would only be “gentle relative to a mammoth” and probably still enough to shake her bones.

Rainbow Dash’s eyelids instantly popped open, her pupils like pinpricks, as she slowly turned her head to the door and the pounding of Larkon that woke her up from what had been a very comfortable and needed rest. She groaned in annoyance and threw the covers off of her. Pretending to be asleep would be no help here. Rubbing her eyes with her hooves she lazily floated up off the bed and towards the door.

“You can come in, it’s open.”

Larkon pushed the door open and stepped inside with a smile on his face. “Ready to start the day?”

Rainbow Dash frowned with heavy bags under her eyes. There was nothing a nap loving pegasus disliked more than someone full of energy in the morning. “Sure.” She bit out.

“Wonderful, come to my den, I have something to show you,” Larkon said and stepped to the side to allow Dash out.

She did her best not to grumble as she flew down the hall with him. It didn’t seem like anyone else in the family was awake yet, the house was too silent. Dash looked out a window that gave a view of the side yard and the house right next to them and also checked out any other rooms through the open doors in Larkon’s house. Eventually they reached his personal den, a modest room with a nice desk and two bookcases beside it, a window staring into the backyard with some halfway shut blinds and two fake potted trees flanking it. Cozy all in all.

“Look at this,” Larkon said and pointed his trunk at the desk.

Rainbow Dash flew above it and looked, a map was sprawled out on top of his desk and thanks to her spatial awareness it was very familiar to her already. The mammoth city. Detailed well with all its walls, streets, and buildings.

“As I’m sure you can surmise, this is our city,” Larkon’s trunk grasped a pen that was lying on the desk, he deftly used it to make an X on one of the buildings inside the city limits. “Where we currently are now, my home.” He made a few more X’s on the map. “Tarmok’s Hall, town square, the eastern and western gates, I just want to make sure you know exactly where everything is. Even though with your wings it’s not like you could ever get lost this should still make things easier for you.”

“Thanks dude,” Rainbow Dash said as she scanned over it, memorization was a skill of hers she had a lot of faith in.

“And of course, let me just mark two more areas,” Larkon said and instead of making an X he drew wide circles around two large groups of buildings on the map. One on this side of the river and the other on the other. “The slums on the far side of the river, and the older section just outside the city walls but still on this side of the river.”

“Older section?”

“The first buildings and homes made when we settled in this valley. We just put down right at the edge of the river without any planning and forethought. As the city and our population expanded we ended up reworking quite a bit and started building in other areas. The old sector isn’t abandoned like what you came through but it’s fairly dilapidated and poor and mostly lived in by more elderly members of the city. There’s also a drawbridge that connects it to the slums and vagrants have been known to cause trouble there,” Larkon explained. “I’d like to take you there to see our oldest structures and history someday, but not today.”

“Alright,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “So then where are we going today? What did you want to show off to me first?”

“Everything if we have the time,” Larkon grinned. “But first of all… how about leaving that as a surprise for now?”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Fine by me, I love a good surprise.”

The big mammoth chuckled. “I have an extra special surprise for you tonight as well. Something I think you’ll greatly enjoy after hearing all about you.”

“Oh yeah? What?” She raised an excited eyebrow at him.

“I can’t spoil the surprise just like that!” He laughed harder. “Come on, let’s head out, we need to make the most of the day.”

The city of mammoths was starting to wake up. Some jobs required certain mammoths to have already been up for hours, such as the newspaper distributors and the ones who cleaned the streets of snow, but now it was close to the hour when the average mammoth would be rising from their slumber and getting ready for the day. Whether they be working or have something else to do, most mammoths had gotten out of bed and were walking to their front door to get today’s paper.

Such was the case with Yarran; a glasses wearing mammoth that worked as a bricklayer. His shop and home were all one building and it sat on the same street as Larkon’s, just down the road a bit and closer to the eastern gate.

This was a morning Yarran thought would be like any other when he went to pick up his newspaper and flip the closed sign on his front door to open. The massively excited headline on the front page of that newspaper was about to prove him wrong however. His tired eyes widened when he saw the huge font and exclamation points crowding the page:

A VISITOR FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD!!!

RAINBOW DASH: PONY FROM EQUESTRIA!!!

The bricklayer began leafing through the newspaper immediately, sopping up every last detail and every single word written about this “Rainbow Dash”. Only at the very end of the article did he read who had graciously taken her in.

“Larkon...” Yarran whispered.

No sooner had the name left his mouth that he heard the unmistakable voice of the very same mammoth across the street. Lifting his eyes he gripped the newspaper tightly and narrowed his eyes at the sight of Larkon and the blue pony that could only be Rainbow Dash going down the street together to who knows where.

The newspaper was thrown on the ground in anger as Yarran bit his lip so tightly it almost bled. “Karkona needs to hear about this.”

A Mammoth of a Problem VI

Larkon’s big feet kicked away the little bits of snow still left on the sidewalk. The streets were mostly absent of snow but that was because they needed to make sure no carts slid about on the paved road. The sidewalks weren’t as big a deal when it came to snow removal and a generous amount of snow and frost was still stuck up on the trees that sat on the sidewalk anyways. Larkon and Dash both saw a couple of mammoths out already, pulling along carts down the street or walking on the sidewalk on the other side. Like yesterday they stopped to gape at Rainbow Dash or wave. Meaning her appearance here in this city wasn’t exactly seen as normal yet. But she spied a few mammoths who were carrying newspapers in their trunks so at least the word about her was spreading.

“Give it a day or two and you’ll fit right in,” Larkon told Dash. Before they had left he also put on a red velvet top hat that (in his opinion) made him look quite dapper.

“Sure about that? I mean it’s not like you can back that up with any evidence,” she said back to him.

“I’m sure,” he nodded. “We’re a naturally curious and friendly people. By tomorrow or the day after everyone will be waving and smiling back to you or stopping you on the road and asking you questions. Everyone will work to make you feel at home. We’re on our best behavior for our first visitor, they all know the importance of showing you the absolute best mammoths have to offer. It’s just still a little difficult to adjust for some of them.”

Rainbow Dash flew alongside him quietly for a second, thinking. “Soo… not to be rude or anything but does that mean you guys are… kind of faking it? A little?”

Larkon didn’t seem offended, but a sad smile still grew on his face. “I suppose you could put it that way. We know that you’re a traveler and you can spread the word about us far and wide… we—I—just want you to come away with a favorable view of us. Even if it isn’t completely genuine and mammoths are acting nicer to you just because they know it’s important, I want you to see us and our city at our absolute best. I want the rest of the world to know how friendly, welcoming, and peaceful we are.”

“I don’t mind,” Dash shrugged. “I’ve got a friend who would say you should just be totally upfront and honest about this stuff but I mean, you guys are definitely nice, so it’s not like you’re lying about that. If you’ve got a bad reputation you’re trying to change then hey, good luck. When I get home I’ll tell Twilight all about you guys.”

“Thank you, I suppose it’s a little selfish of me to want that from you since you’re supposed to be our guest, but still,” Larkon awkwardly rubbed his head.

“Don’t worry, I know all about being selfish,” she winked.

Larkon chuckled. “Really? You seemed to make yourself sound quite admirable when you told us your tale.”

“Everything I said was true but right now I’m still just looking for an adventure to have fun on. And seriously, I get it’s a big deal for you guys to change your image. So don’t worry about it. If you want to treat me like something special I’m definitely not gonna complain.”

“Hahahaha, very well!” He clapped her on the back with his trunk, gently. “I hope that we can provide enough fun and excitement for you too then, we can both help each other.”

“Hope so. Looking forward to it,” she grinned.

“And speaking of looking forward to something...” Larkon trailed off and crossed the street, going in the direction of a narrower side street that traveled south.

“Going to that first surprise you were talking about?” Dash asked as she flew up to him.

He nodded. “Quite. Just a few buildings down and you’ll see.”

In fact though, she smelled before she saw. It was a familiar type of smell that you would find in any town or city. A few distinct scents that mixed together into the unmistakable aroma of “coffee shop”. So that’s what the surprise was, he was taking her someplace to eat. She didn’t know what the big deal about that was but she was hungry enough this morning that she wasn’t going to complain. Hopefully whatever food or beverages they sold there came in sizes a little more manageable for her though.

Sure enough they soon came to a cozy looking brick building with a smoking chimney on top and a glass storefront. As Dash looked inside she saw a number of mammoths sitting at tables, sipping on their coffee and eating freshly baked bread. That was another thing—there was lots of bread in display cases under the counter. It wasn’t just a coffee shop it was a bakery too.

Rainbow Dash breathed in that fresh aroma through her nose and let out a delighted sigh, causing Larkon to chuckle.

“I see you’re eager to go in.”

“You bet. So what’s special about this place that you wanted to keep it a surprise.”

“Hm, it’s my personal favorite place in the entire city to get breakfast, and I also just wanted to get you excited for your first meal in a restaurant here and not my home.”

She cracked her neck and hooves in anticipation. “Well let’s see how good it is then!”

Larkon opened up the front door and a little bell above it rang, the mammoth working the register looked up and smiled. She was an older mammoth, with heavy eye-shadow and lipstick on her graying fur. Besides that she wore a green apron and a plastic sleeve on her trunk.

“Larkooohuuuh?” She let out an exaggeratedly long gasp when she realized Larkon wasn’t the only person who had walked in.

The bell and her reaction got the other patrons of the shop to look up from what they were doing and also see Rainbow Dash. Now the whole place realized that the blue pony they had read about in the newspaper was floating right here before them.

“Y-You’re that pony from the paper—Rainbow Dash!” She cried in amazement. “I had read that Larkon was taking care of you...”

“Yes, yes, but let’s calm down Norma. I’m showing Rainbow Dash around the city today and since I come here practically every morning for breakfast that I can I couldn’t think of a better place to come by first than your shop,” he looked around at the others. “What say we give Rainbow Dash a warm welcome, huh folks?”

The screeching of chairs echoed throughout the shop as the mammoths stood up to politely greet their special guest. All of the customers stomped over to her with such gusto that she was worried the whole place would come down. Instead she just got a flurry of trunks and feet thrown into her face that she was forced to shake while the mammoths smiled widely and barraged her with pleasantries.

“It’s nice to meet you!”

“Rainbow Dash, yes? I read your whole story!”

“You’re truly amazing!”

“I can’t believe such a thing has happened, welcome to our city!”

Rainbow Dash was forced to shoot off rapid-fire thanks to the mob as fast as possible. “Thanks, thanks, glad you guys are excited too, your city is pretty cool so far.” Etc. etc.

“Okay everyone, calm down just a little bit,” Larkon stepped between Rainbow Dash and the others. “Don’t need things to get that warm.”

Rainbow Dash and the other mammoths laughed in good nature. In truth she was actually having fun since these guys weren’t just staring at her and waving, they were actually coming to talk to her. This was kind of her first opportunity to get to know some mammoths that weren’t around her just because of work too. Just regular mammoths that lived in the city like the average ponies of Ponyville.

“These are the regulars here at Norma’s shop. Perhaps you’ll get to know them well during your stay here,” Larkon told her.

“I hope,” Rainbow Dash smiled at him and then looked around the shop at the others and Norma. “So obviously you guys all read about me in the paper? If you got any questions just ask—er, after Larkon and I get some food.” She added at the end.

The customers happily acquiesced and went back to their seats while Larkon and Rainbow Dash went up to the counter, since she didn’t know what was on the menu she let him take the lead here and decide what they were having. Norma was more than happy to give her her meal on the house and Dash ended up with a piping hot cup of coffee and a roll of bread that had a skin of herbs baked into the top. And her cup of coffee was literally that, a smaller measuring cup that had been temporarily requisitioned for Rainbow Dash’s use so she didn’t have to use one of their huge mugs. The roll of bread had been cut in half for her too.

Larkon kept his own cup of coffee black but Rainbow Dash put some cream and a massive amount of sugar in hers. When they sat down she drank half of it in one gulp and boy did that feel good. The other customers were trying not to make it obvious how much they were watching Rainbow Dash but she still saw them excitedly looking over and smiling at her every now and then. For now though she just wanted to eat and talk to Larkon. Even though it was kind of embarrassing to sit on top of a box that had been placed on the chair so she could actually make it to the brim of the table.

Taking a big bite out of her bread she savored the taste and the interesting flavors that came with the mixed herbs. “Mmm, this is really good.”

“Thank you!” Norma said from behind the counter.

Dash nodded in appreciation to her. Did mammoths have really good hearing because of their big ears? She hadn’t even said that that loudly.

“She also sells muffins and bagels some days. Maybe tomorrow we can come back,” Larkon told her.

“Works for me. Your wife doesn’t get mad you don’t have her cooking for breakfast?” Dash asked.

Larkon shook his head. “She’s not an early riser like I am, most of the mammoths you see here are though, just like me. We come to Norma’s to get our fix in the morning since a lot of other places just don’t open up for breakfast at all.”

“Makes sense,” she said and bit into her bread again. She had to chew quite a bit to swallow it all down. “So what are these herbs and stuff on it anyways?”

“Basil, rosemary, and oregano,” Larkon answered.

Pinkie is definitely a fan of sweet stuff when it comes to baking but I wonder if I can get her to make something like this when I come back home? Rainbow Dash thought.

She took the last sip of her very sweetened coffee and set the cup down, letting out a pleased sigh and leaning back into her big chair. She glanced back over at Norma behind the counter and smiled. “Hey! The coffee and bread were both great! I’ll totally be back again sometime.”

Norma actually did a little hop in excitement despite her age. “Goody! I can’t believe the first pony to ever visit our city came to my shop! Thank you, Larkon!” She waved her trunk at him before walking out from behind the counter and extending it to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash took it in her hoof and was immediately shaken with enough force that some of her feathers came out. Finally Norma stopped and Rainbow Dash was left a frazzled mess on top of her box.

“I really can’t tell you how happy I am that you liked my bread and coffee. Please tell me, what is your favorite food back in Equestria? What do ponies eat?” Norma asked her.

Rainbow Dash had the distinct feeling of deja vu but she guessed it was time for her to take some questions and talk with the other mammoths here. “Favorite food is a peanut butter and zap apple jam sandwich. Favorite drink is some good apple cider. And we ponies normally eat oats and hay and carrots and stuff.”

Norma nodded the whole time. “Mhm… we have peanut butter and carrots but not the other things. Maybe I can still make you a good peanut butter sandwich one day?”

“Yeah, that’d be great!” Dash nodded enthusiastically. No apple cider was kind of a letdown but fruit probably didn’t grow too well up here. “Good one of those and I’ll have enough energy to be extra awesome the rest of the day.”

“Just make sure you keep eating plenty of my wife’s food too,” Larkon winked at her.

“No problem there,” Rainbow Dash snorted, sarcastically rolling her eyes.

“Um, excuse us?”

Rainbow Dash and Larkon looked over to see that the other patrons had come up around their table and were eagerly awaiting their turn to talk to Rainbow Dash now. She was probably going to be barraged by questions again. Good. She’d play up her awesomeness as much as possible (not like she needed to exaggerate about how amazing she was or anything) and try to figure out what the average mammoth was like. Whatever they wanted to know or learn about when it came to Equestria she’d be happy to answer and she could hear what their lives were like here at the same time.

She might get a little bit tired if it kept happening the rest of the day though. But for now it was still too good an opportunity to pass up, and who knows? Maybe she’d make some more friends?

A Mammoth of a Problem VII

When it came time to leave Norma’s coffee shop it was past time the rest of the city would’ve woken up all the way. Which was probably intentional on Larkon’s part, now they could go anywhere and do anything without issue. Rainbow Dash had enjoyed her meal and the casual conversation she got to experience with the others but now it was time to see more of the city. Larkon had said his intent was to show her everything if possible so they probably had a lot of ground to cover and all sorts of mammoths and places to see and visit. So it was definitely good they had that hearty breakfast just now.

Rainbow Dash was feeling good in other ways too, even if this wasn’t an epic adventure—not yet at least—she was enjoying herself and took a lot of pride in the fact that she could call herself the first pony to be here and the first pony from Equestria to ever see a mammoth at all. She had promised to come back by the coffee shop tomorrow morning too to talk again when she had more time. With all of the others mobbing her she could only talk briefly with each one and answer a couple of questions.

The biggest one being what was it like to live somewhere that wasn’t constantly snowing.

But now it was just her and Larkon again walking (and flying) down the street to the south side of the city.

“We’re fairly close to the eastern wall here on this road but I wanted to go somewhere else first before we actually left the interior of the city,” Larkon said.

“Yeah? Where?”

“The docks. The lake is our livelihood in a lot of ways. Our biggest source of fresh water, it holds our kelp farms, the water from it is also used for our other farms, we settled here in the first place because of it.” Larkon told her.

“I saw that you guys had boats and stuff when I was flying to your city,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Yes,” Larkon nodded. “A lot of those boats you would’ve seen are also personally owned, for fun and leisure sailing. But most are still for kelp farming, transport, or trash barges.”

“Trash barges?”

“Our dump is on the southeast side of the river at the foot of the mountains. All the garbage from the city is loaded up onto barges and taken there. You can imagine the smell,” Larkon curled up his trunk and winced. “Bleh.”

“Yeah, sounds nice,” Dash laughed.

“Also, most of the docks and shipyards are on the other side of the river from where we are, but the bridge and road to get to those is a little out of the way and I know the captain of one of the kelp boats that’s docked on this side. We’re going to meet him.”

Rainbow Dash was happy enough to look around some more after that and wait for Larkon to take her to the right place. With more mammoths out now she saw some kids playing in the snow or running down the streets while others went to work or ran errands, one female mammoth passed them with a number of empty bags hanging off her tusks, politely telling a curious Rainbow Dash that she was going to the market at town’s square. Another building she looked into had a mammoth sitting behind a loom and sewing together an elaborate tapestry of some kind. Rainbow didn’t have the patience to do something like that herself but Rarity probably would’ve been interested in it.

A couple of mammoth children passed by her and Larkon, whispering and looking at Rainbow Dash with slightly fearful looks. When she smiled at them to try and alleviate their fears and show she was friendly they just skittered away. Guess things couldn’t be perfect.

Down the road the closer and closer they got to the docks the more Rainbow Dash could feel the cool air from the lake blowing in. It was a wonder the whole lake wasn’t frozen over, the water must be the absolute coldest it could be without that happening. She noticed a lot more windows on buildings here that had frost at their edges or were totally crusted over and there were more mammoths out shoveling snow away from their doorsteps.

And like Larkon had warned her the smell of the city started to worsen too, there must be a trash barge or two at the docks they were going to. The sogginess and natural smell from the lake might’ve also strengthened the stench in the air. What did a wet mammoth smell like? With all that shaggy fur she couldn’t imagine it was too good.

The street they were on soon widened up and turned into a wet cobblestone road that was bordered by long rows of dark wooden buildings and ended in a t-junction when it hit another warehouse sized building at the end. In the distance now Rainbow Dash could hear the sound of water and bobbing boats.

“Almost there?” She asked Larkon.

“Almost,” he confirmed.

Larkon had them make a left at the intersection and then take another quick right around the large building so they were still walking directly towards the docks. Now on this street Rainbow Dash saw mammoths rolling large barrels across the ground and loading them up into big wagons, well muscled mammoths that didn’t just look “big” but strong too. Others were taking crowbars to crates or carrying big bundles of rope up and down the streets. The whole place looked like it was busy with dockworkers. There wasn’t just dock related stuff going on though, a few of the buildings on the side of the street were businesses like candlemakers, carpenters, blacksmiths, and one place that looked like a saloon. This street seemed a bit more rough and tumble than she was used to so far when it came to the amiable and easy-going mammoths.

But none of them looked at her rudely or anything, some even smiled, but the rest were too busy to take their minds off work so she and Larkon just walked past them.

Now ahead of her at the end of the street she could actually see the pier and docks and the lake beyond. It was a very large lake that extended far into the distance with fog covering up its southern side so she couldn’t see the end of it. Right alongside the docks too there were a number of tied up ships, big clipper ships with three masts of sails on the biggest ones.

“My friend’s ship should be tied up right there, he’s probably in the sailor’s lodge right by the pier. Let’s go see,” Larkon said.

Rainbow Dash and Larkon went on out to the pier and for a second the blue pegasus just floated there, taking in the full sight of the lake and the cold breeze from it. The ships bobbed in front of her from the long wooden docks while the water crashed slightly against the stone wall that the mammoth city sat behind. Huge wooden pillars went deep into the water to hold up the docks, even here at the edge of the lake the water looked deep.

The sound of laughing mammoths to her right drew her attention and she looked with Larkon to an outdoor area with a bunch of tables and mammoths wearing sailor caps all crowding around it. They seemed blithely unaware to her presence as they laughed with one another, the outdoor area they were in bordered off by a flimsy fence that led back towards a large four-story building that looked almost like a hotel. But it couldn’t have been, they had said there wasn’t any place like that in this city. The first floor was open on bottom for the front half so mammoths could walk in and out with ease and lounge around this outdoor part.

“What’s this building?” Rainbow Dash asked Larkon.

“It’s a lodge for sailors to stay in so they don’t have to go back and forth from their homes everyday after spending all day out on a boat in the middle of the lake. Kelp harvesting and transporting takes a long time and multiple trips need to be made until a forest is picked clean,” he told her while his eyes scanned over the crowd of sailors. “Now where is—ah! There.”

Larkon lifted his trunk and let out a high trumpeting over the area.

That got the attention of all the sailors and they quieted down, looking over at the two interlopers who interrupted their merrymaking. Some of them clearly quietly recognized Rainbow Dash, others smiled when they saw her, or looked at her in confusion and surprise.

“Captain Gollak!” Larkon called out to one of the mammoths.

“Larkon,” a mammoth said as he stood up from his chair. He wasn’t wearing a sailor’s cap but instead a white vest with yellow shoulder pauldrons. As he stepped over to them he hopped over the small fence and glanced at Rainbow Dash. “And the pony Rainbow Dash, a pleasure to meet you especially.”

“Thanks dude, nice to meet you too,” she smiled.

“I read much about you in the paper and forgive me for asking but is it all really true?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yep, every last bit of it!” She puffed out her chest in pride.

“You’re truly something then, I’m happy I get to meet you in person,” he smiled and looked over again at Larkon. “But um, why are you here in the first place?”

“I am giving Rainbow Dash a tour of the city and wanted her to see all kinds of mammoths and experience everything we have to offer. Considering how big a matter these docks and your job is it seemed natural to bring her here. I was hoping too that you could take us out together when you go to harvest kelp today,” Larkon said.

“You want her to really see how our job is done then?” Gollak asked.

“Of course! It’s one thing to be told about something and another to truly experience it,” Larkon grinned and looked to Dash. “And I think you will find our ships and the tough work done with them quite cool. It seems your speed.”

The captain shrugged. “I have no issue with that. Perhaps you two can even participate in our work? We should be heading out to the middle of the lake in just a moment.”

Both of the mammoths expectantly looked at Rainbow Dash.

She shrugged just like the captain had. “Hey, works for me. If Larkon thinks I’ll have fun I got no reason to not believe him. Things have been going good so far.”

“Excellent!” Larkon grinned and looked to Gollak. “Do you want us to head aboard right now? I wouldn’t want us to get in the way when you’re unmooring and getting everyone else on.”

“That’s not really an issue for your friend is it? She can just fly up onto the ship whenever,” Gollak said.

“True. Rainbow Dash, Captain Gollak’s ship is the largest one at this harbor right now,” Larkon said and pointed with his trunk at the huge three-masted ship tied to the dock. “What say we check it out?”

Rainbow Dash gazed at it, like everything here it was of mammoth-sized proportions so was even larger than a three-masted boat usually would be. The sails, when they were unfurled, looked like they could practically block out the sky themselves and the masts towered high into the air. The body of the ship was wide and the belly of it certainly cavernous so it could hold all of the kelp they would be harvesting. The top deck was raised up at the bow and stern, allowing for easy vision of anything ahead of and behind the ship.

“Its name is Mammoth of the Blue,” Gollak said while he noticed her looking at it.

“It’s pretty impressive. Pretty sure I’ve never seen a ship that big back home,” Rainbow Dash said.

“I’ll tell you all about it, go on, get onboard and me and my crew will be right behind you.”

Larkon patted Rainbow Dash’s back with his trunk and made to walk out to the dock. “Come on.”

“Wait, wait up! Larkon!” A voice called out from the street they had just earlier walked down.

Rainbow Dash, Larkon, and Gollak all looked to see a mammoth running down the wet road towards them. He was a bit short for an adult mammoth with a lighter brown fur coloration than most and beady little eyes. On his back he wore a plain green robe and he looked quite tired and disheveled as if he had been running and looking for Larkon for a while.

“Abalun?” Larkon whispered, a worried look on his face that Rainbow Dash hadn’t seen before.

Abalun kept struggling towards them, clearly out of breath.

“Um… excuse me one second,” Larkon said to Dash and Gollak and began walking towards Abalun to meet him halfway.

“He a friend?” Dash asked, but Larkon didn’t answer.

She decided to respect his privacy as he conversed with Abalun, the new mammoth throwing a small look her way before he began whispering in Larkon’s ear. Dash herself glanced over at Gollak, silently questioning him as to if he knew what was up, but the captain just shrugged. Whatever Larkon and Abalun were talking about it seemed serious, there was no warmth in Larkon’s eyes and he stood there with a stony frown the more Abalun talked. Abalun for his part looked pale and concerned. What was going on? It smelled like something exciting to her and while normally she would eavesdrop or stick her nose into it she didn’t really have the chance right now and the two of them were doing a good job of keeping their conversation quiet.

Finally they finished up with whatever they were speaking about, Larkon patted his friend on the shoulder and Abalun nodded, quickly turning and jogging back down the street.

Rainbow Dash immediately flew over to Larkon. “What was that about?”

“Sorry, it was just business of a sort,” Larkon said, clearly hiding something but staring evenly at Rainbow Dash in a way that told her he was clamming up about it.

“Okay...” she frowned.

“And I’m sorry I have to say this but unfortunately I need to go for now. Me giving you a tour of our city will be cut short.”

“Wait, what?” Rainbow Dash was surprised. “You were making a big deal out of showing me everything and-”

“I know, I’m sorry,” he cut her off. “But I need to go do something. I still wish you to see the rest of our city and I trust you to be able to have an excellent day on your own. You don’t need me around for everything, please enjoy your time with Captain Gollak on his ship and then continue to explore anywhere else that interests you. There are our other farms, the quarry, town square, everywhere I marked for you on the map. Your day needn’t be cut short because of me, just my guiding you will be.”

“Well okay...” Rainbow Dash rubbed her leg, still kind of perturbed over this.

Larkon laughed to try and set her at ease. “Hahaha, Rainbow Dash, please, you wanted a more genuine experience didn’t you? Well now without me guiding you you should get exactly what you wanted. Have fun out in our city! The whole day is still ahead of you and there’s plenty to see and plenty of kind mammoths to meet. If you get lost or are looking for something in particular don’t hesitate to ask anybody.”

She grinned. “Yeah, yeah, fine. Good luck with your job or whatever too, I promise I’ll go and learn about your city and people today just like you wanted me to.”

Larkon nodded and smiled. “Thank you.” He turned to leave before stopping. “Oh! I almost forgot! Remember the big surprise I said I had planned for you?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s still on. Just make sure you’re back at my home an hour or so before dinnertime. I guarantee you’ll have a lot of fun tonight,” he winked.

“Alright, I’m looking forward to it,” she brought up a hoof and this time Larkon knew what to do, bringing up his trunk so she could bump it. “I’ll see you later, dude.”

“Goodbye for now,” he said and waved to Gollak before departing back down the street.

Rainbow Dash turned her head to the captain and raised an eyebrow. “Sailing time?”

A Mammoth of a Problem VIII

The large boat gently rocked over the waters of the lake as it sailed to its destination with Rainbow Dash onboard. She was like a speck on it, the railings on the side more than double her height while the gaps between the bars were wide enough for her to walk through if she wanted to. When she had first flown aboard it and waited for Captain Gollak and the others to load up she had checked things out like the steering wheel, rudder, chains and ropes that went over the sides but were currently rolled up on deck, cabins, anchor, the grated cargo hatch in the center of the top deck, and of course the huge masts and sails. Now she stood at the bow of the boat with Gollak and the two of them watched the waters part in front of them while the Mammoth of the Blue made its short journey.

“So what do you think of our ship now that you’ve gotten a closer look?” Gollak asked her.

Rainbow Dash blinked, the edge of the bow wide enough for her to sit on with no problem. “Hmm… I don’t really know a whole lot about boats and stuff so I can’t really say. I’m more familiar with airships than ship ships.”

“Airships?”

“Uh, yeah. Like normal boats, except they fly,” Rainbow told him to the absolute best of her ability. “And not as big.”

“Fly, huh?” Gollak said as he looked up at the sky. “As you can probably tell we mammoths are not exactly masters of the air. It must feel amazing to be able to fly through the sky and do whatever you want.”

Rainbow Dash grinned and flapped her wings, flying up in front of the bow for a second. “Oh yeah, believe me when I tell you that there’s nothing better than flying.”

“Not all ponies fly though, do they? Your story in the paper mentioned earth ponies and unicorns too. Our old books mentioned ponies that could do magic, but you don’t seem to be able to use it.”

“Yeah. Pegasi like me can fly and unicorns do magic. Earth ponies don’t do either.”

Gollak got a contemplative look. “I suppose we mammoths are more like earth ponies then. There are some old stories and legends about mammoths using magic but there’s nothing like that in this city. And we fly about as well as a brick.”

“I wouldn’t mind being as strong as you guys are but yeah, I still definitely wouldn’t give up my flying for anything,” Rainbow Dash said as she landed back on the ship.

The cold breeze that swept over the lake ruffled Rainbow Dash’s mane and she couldn’t help but shiver. Gollak seemed unaffected but she couldn’t say she was surprised by that. These guys must handle the cold better than even any yak did. Speaking of the cold though this whole ship must’ve been covered in ice and snow early in the morning, his crew had to have gone over it before she and Larkon arrived or the thing would’ve been too frozen over to sail.

“Are we almost to the kelp farms?” Dash asked. She couldn’t tell at all where they might be, the whole lake looked the same across the surface. Dark and deep.

“Just about, we’ll drop anchor once there and start harvesting,” Gollak told her.

“How do you harvest it anyways?”

“Kelp grows from the bottom of the lake in long strands. Once our ship anchors in the right position in the middle of the farms we go down and cut the longest strands, putting them into nets and hauling them aboard the ship to take them back to harbor.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Rainbow Dash waved her hooves in front of her. “How do you go down and cut it? Are you saying you swim down there in that water?”

“Did you think mammoths can’t swim?” Gollak smiled slightly.

“Uhh… I’ll say I didn’t really expect it too much? And if it’s already all underwater you must have to dive pretty far.”

Gollak tapped his chest. “All mammoths have quite excellent lung capacity.”

“I guess I’ve gotta take your word for it...” Rainbow Dash looked down the side of the ship at the cold water. The thought of mammoths swimming down there was almost laughable but it would probably be a little rude if she said that.

In a minute longer their ship came to rest in the middle of the lake, the kelp must’ve been down there but the water was too dark for her to really see into it. Gollak gave the order and the anchor was dropped, the long chain rattling its holding chamber the whole time it descended. Thanks to how deep the lake was they just had to stand around for a moment until the chain stopped with the anchor finally resting at the bottom and holding the Mammoth of the Blue safely in place.

“Alright, get on out here you lazy bums!” Captain Gollak shouted.

His crew assembled on the deck while Rainbow Dash watched, one by one they removed their caps and stood by the railing where a number of chain and rope pulleys sat. Some of them brought, knives, clippers, and nets with them. Rainbow Dash checked out the pulleys and glanced at Gollak.

“You use those to lower yourselves down to the water and pull yourselves back up?” She asked.

“Well… there’s two ways to get down to the water from the deck. A boring way and a fun way. Do you want to see the fun way?” A wide grin cracked up the side of his face as he said that, his eyes sparkling with devilish mischief.

Raindow Dash snorted. “Is the sky blue?”

“Hehe,” Gollak chuckled. “Word of warning, you may come to regret your decision in a moment.” He sucked in a deep breath and bellowed- “CANNONBALL!”

The huge mammoth captain threw off his jacket and jumped over the side of the ship, tucking in his trunk and legs and plummeting to the cold water.

And considering he weighed about six tons when he hit the water it created a massive tidal wave that shot up over the edge of the boat before peaking and getting ready to cascade back down onto the deck. Right where Rainbow Dash was.

The pegasus blinked. “Oh.”

The freezing cold water smashed down on top of her, washing her across the deck and into the railing on the other side of the ship. Soaked. Drenched. Wet down to the bone. The lake water flattened her hair and mane completely, making her look like a wet cat when she finally stood up on her wobbly hooves. Her whole body was shivering and she trembled the whole way back over to the other side of the ship where she hopped up onto the edge and looked down at Gollak. The captain was swimming around, doing a backstroke and grinning up at her.

“G-G-Good one. N-N-Nice s-splash,” Rainbow Dash stuttered.

“That’ll get you used to the cold up here! Hahaha!” He guffawed and turned onto his stomach, paddling towards the mid of the ship. “The rest of you hurry down here now too!” He yelled at the crew.

Unlike the captain they brought their tools and themselves down using the pulleys, holding onto the chains and ropes as they were lowered one by one to the water. Each mammoth then dove in and got to work. If Rainbow Dash looked really hard now, thanks to all the breaking in the water, she could see some of the stalks of kelp below the surface. It was almost just a big green mass with how many stalks there were and how close it all was together. And how long did the individual strands go? This lake had to be incredibly deep and if the kelp grew from the lakebed…

“Mammoths! Dive!” Gollak yelled.

The crew of mammoths all dove below the water, bringing their trimmers with them while allowing the huge nets to float on top of the kelp farm. It was strange watching them swim so lightly through that cold water, large brown shapes right under the surface, moving with a deftness she hadn’t seen from any mammoth on land. They practically danced below the water and were able to swim much swifter than she had expected. Despite their weight their powerful legs and trunks worked to propel them while they traveled below the surface of the lake. She saw groups of two or three at a time getting together, holding a stalk in place while one went down to cut it and the other two would swim back up to the net to throw it inside.

She almost forgot about how cold and wet she was watching them. It was strangely mesmerizing.

They held their saws and other cutting implements in their trunks when they dove. For more than once Rainbow Dash found herself appreciating how useful those things were. Carrying, grasping, pointing, mammoth’s trunks excelled at it all. Because they were all muscle they had the kind of reach and flexibility that even griffon or dragon arms didn’t have, along with incredible strength and dexterity because of that pure musculature.

She didn’t think something as boring on paper as farming (sorry Applejack) could actually be so interesting to her. But Larkon had turned out to be right.

Stalk after stalk of kelp kept coming up to the surface where it was deposited in the net, each one was dozens of feet long from where the mammoths had cut it. Already they had enough where they could’ve fed all of Ponyville but the nets weren’t even half full.

Gollak’s head emerged from the surface of the water and he took a deep breath, grinning up at her. “You’re not bored are you?”

“I’m more wet than bored right now,” she snorted.

“I can see that, but we still have quite a bit more harvesting to do. What say you join us? You don’t want to just sit around up there watching the whole time, do you?”

“What, you mean like actually swimming down there and cutting the kelp with you guys?” Rainbow Dash wasn’t so sure about that.

Gollak nodded. “Of course! Why not? You’re already soaked, you’re not getting any wetter already are you? Come down and see what it’s really like to do this job.”

She shivered some more just looking down at the water. Rainbow Dash wasn’t afraid of anything but she wasn’t sure how well she could swim in water that cold. If she actually jumped down there… the cold she was feeling now wouldn’t even compare to the sudden shock of being submerged. Her wings might seize up, she might even get sick later.

But this was still the kind of thing she wanted to do. Experience new things and all that. And it was something that would be difficult for her, so even more reason to try it.

Rainbow Dash sucked in a breath and leaped off the side of the ship. She folded her wings tightly to her sides and dropped like a falcon diving for prey. The first second she hit it and broke the surface she almost didn’t feel anything. But once she slowed down and was floating a few feet down, bubbles leaking from her mouth, the cold hit her like a spike and she instantly shot back up to the surface of the nearly freezing lake on reflex.

“Bwah!” Rainbow Dash gasped as her wet head shot above the water, her legs and wings treading water beneath her to keep her afloat and try to warm up her body.

“Hahahaha, cold enough for you?” Gollak laughed as he swam over to her.

She glared at him. “N-N-No!” Her chattering teeth almost clamped down on her tongue a few times.

“Don’t worry, just keep moving around and I’m sure your body will adjust soon,” Gollak said as he swam over to where the kelp harvesting was going on. “Come on! I’ll have someone give you a pair of shears and you can go down and make some cuts of your own. Don’t try and act tough if you need to come up for some air though, we wouldn’t want anyone getting hurt.”

“R-Right,” Dash paddled her way behind him.

Some of the other mammoths surfaced to put kelp in the nets and Gollak whistled to get their attention. “Hey! Give Rainbow Dash here some extra shears!”

The sailors looked a little surprised to see Rainbow Dash swimming in this icy water with them but they quickly obeyed their captain’s orders and swam over to her. One of the mammoths held a pair of large clippers with his trunk and gave them to her. Thanks to the size difference between ponies and mammoths they were more like large hedge clippers to her than anything. Once she held them in her hooves and the mammoth let go she had to swim harder to keep the clippers from pulling her below water.

“Are you alright? They’re not too heavy?” Gollak asked her. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t really thinking about that...”

“I’m fine,” Rainbow Dash said through gritted teeth as she struggled to stay afloat, her wings splashing about on top of the water.

“I’ll keep an eye on you when you dive down just to be sure,” Gollak said.

Rainbow nodded. “How far do I go before I start cutting?”

“Stalks are cut in fifty foot lengths. So for some you may need to dive a good sixty feet. Can you handle that?”

“Definitely.”

Her reply was swift and confident but to tell the truth she wasn’t sure if she actually could. Rainbow Dash knew she had a really strong lung capacity but with the weight of the clippers and the coldness of the water it would be a little different than going for a dive in one of the ponds or lakes around Ponyville. She had already accepted the challenge by jumping in here and she definitely wasn’t going to let anyone think she was a coward but the fact was she was still a pegasus and not a hippogriff. Rainbow Dash looked down at the water, still dark, still cold, but she could see the stalks of kelp waving down there now.

Her mind was made up, with a deep breath she dunked her head below the freezing water and swam for some of the longest strands.

It was actually clearer and easier for her to see when she was submerged than when she was above water. She let herself glide through the water while holding the clippers out in front of her. Thanks to their shape they actually cut through the water just as easily and didn’t drag her or anything so long as she was holding them straight. Rainbow Dash could be thankful the rest of her body was perfectly streamlined as well.

She could now see the swimming mammoths so much easier too, they practically flew around the field of kelp that grew in this cold water. Some of them grabbed ten or so strands at once in their trunk, bunching them together, and waited for someone else to come over and cut them. Well there was no way she was going to let a big mammoth outswim her. Even if it wasn’t her thing her pride would be shattered if these bulky creatures performed better than her underwater.

Rainbow Dash swam towards a stalk that was waving just a few feet below the surface. With clippers in her hooves she dove down its length, letting the weight of the clippers do most of the work so she could conserve energy and air for when she was swimming back up. Her lungs might’ve been way smaller than the mammoths but she probably didn’t need to take such big breaths or expend nearly as much energy with every movement. That probably gave her the advantage.

She was completely numb thanks to the cold of the water though and the act of using the clippers might be difficult when she finally got to the right length of the stalk. Bubbles escaped past her lips and she had to fight the reflex to open up her mouth to try and breath in some more air. Panic wouldn’t do her any good down here. It wouldn’t be long before her lungs started burning as she ran out of air but Rainbow Dash could handle that. She wasn’t going back to the surface until she had this stalk cut.

However it got harder for her to see the further down she went as less light was able to penetrate this deeply into the water. The mammoths swimming with her became nothing more than dark shapes, phantoms in the water.

That darkness didn’t even compare to the absolute darkness she saw staring down at the depths of the lake though. The more she looked down the more it seemed like it was just a black hole making up the bottom of the lake, so imperviously black it was. Stalks of kelp just flat out disappeared into nothingness. It was more like looking into the night sky than into any lake or river or even ocean that she had seen before.

A sudden jet of bubbles from her nostrils brought her back into reality. She hadn’t even realized she had just been absently floating there. Rainbow needed to focus and cut the stalk before she ran out of breath, looking back up to the surface she gauged that she was about down to where she needed to be. Moving the heavy clippers made her feel sluggish in the water but she pulled them to the stalk and opened them up. Even in the near darkness here the light still glinted off of the razor sharp blades. Rainbow Dash had to be careful when she cut the kelp, else the stalk would float away completely and she might lose it in the darkness.

The cold and the air in her lungs were mere after thoughts now. She just wanted to succeed at this challenge.

Rainbow Dash used her wings to steady herself in the water, flapping in unison while her hooves paddled slightly to keep her right where she wanted to be. She pushed the blades of the clippers forward so the stalk was right between them and didn’t stop until it hit the back of the blades so she could apply the most force to it and stay at her most stable.

Her limbs trembled as she pressed the handles of the clippers together to cut the stalk, she had to grit her teeth and accidentally let out a bit of air when the blades dug into the fibrous stalk. She struggled for but a second until the blades shut closed with a muffled snip and the stalk was cut cleanly in two. In an instant, Rainbow Dash dropped one hoof from the clippers and grabbed the stalk, bringing it back and pressing it against her neck, holding it in the crook so it didn’t float away.

She had done it. Now she just needed to swim back to the surface with the small amount of air she had left.

That proved a little harder than going down thanks to the weight of the clippers and the awkwardness of the long kelp. But Rainbow Dash managed to make it work. She was the most awesome pony ever after all.

Still, she couldn’t help getting just a tiny bit manic the closer and closer the surface approached. When her head breached the water she took a huge gulp of air, her lungs working in overdrive and her heart hammering in her chest. She flailed around for a bit until she felt a strong trunk wrap around her body and Captain Gollak lifted her out of the water and deposited her on his back while he tread in place. Another sailor came by and quickly grabbed Dash’s stalk, herding it to the nets.

Rainbow Dash sat on his back, holding onto the clippers like they were some sort of treasure.

“You did well,” Gollak said even though he couldn’t turn to face her.

Her teeth clattered a bit and she took a few laboring breaths of fresh lake air. “I’m cold...”

Gollak chuckled. “Hmhm, I bet you are. Go dry yourself off below deck and fly around for a bit. It will be some time before we’re done. I hope you enjoyed yourself.”

“More or less… just a lot colder and wetter than I normally like to be,” Rainbow Dash panted and lifted off him, flying back on top of the ship with the clippers. She dumped them the moment she got onboard and shook herself like a dog. The best she could do until she found a towel somewhere. Pausing before she went to look down in the hold for one, she looked back down at the swimming mammoths. The crew still harvesting kelp while they swam like experts in that freezing water. She wondered how else these mammoths could surprise her?

A Mammoth of a Problem IX

Rainbow Dash flew over the eastern part of the city, heading towards the wall and the farms that Larkon had marked beyond it. Aqua farming was one thing but now it was time to see what else they managed to grow in this cold valley. What could these mammoths make grow from the unforgiving land? She knew they had plenty of wheat and stuff like those herbs from Norma’s shop but she couldn’t imagine the land here was fertile enough to provide for a wide variety of crops. Although she had seen a lot of flowers in the city so maybe she was wrong.

Right now she was flying pretty low, just barely over the tops of the buildings so mammoths could still easily see her as she went by. She wanted to show them what she could do and what a flying pegasus looked like since she had mostly only been walking or hovering around at mammoth height as she went through the city previously. It would be a cool surprise to the ones who suddenly saw her too, by now Rainbow Dash was certain they had all heard or read about her so how cool would it be for one of them to look up and actually see their awesome visitor right above their heads? Doing something like flying in the sky that was unavailable to them.

With how friendly and open this place was she was sure no one would be scared or worried by her flying around either. That was the one thing she had been slightly apprehensive about but in the end she figured there was nothing to worry about. The mammoths would just think it was cool. And any mammoth she saw down there looking up at her she’d wave and smile to. Just like they wanted to make a good impression she had to make a good one for all the ponies and Equestria.

Now according to Larkon’s map and some of what he had told her if she kept following the main road she’d come to the eastern gate and then the road would keep going out to the quarry (which she also planned to visit later) but if you went down from there you’d hit the farms. Thanks to her height advantage she could see what looked like the edges of some farms in the distance to the south, so if she went down now she’d probably hit them but she also wanted to go to the wall first and see the outskirts of the city.

There was one mammoth down on the street coming from the eastern gate pulling a cart filled up with stone. He wiped his brow with his trunk and looked up to spot Rainbow Dash also staring right down at him. The mammoth jumped in surprise and Rainbow Dash chuckled. Luckily he seemed to see the humor in the situation as he also had a quick laugh and waved at her; Rainbow Dash was happy to return it and sped on to the gate.

It was funny to see that because the street had to be wider for mammoths that the big trees were unable to make an actual canopy over it. But they still made things prettier up here at least with them all going up and down it.

Now with her having a pegasus’ eye view of the city she could see all the snow that was still on top of the roofs and trees. These guys could use a pegasi weather service, no doubt about that.

As she got to the end of the street it opened up into a wide half-circle around the eastern gate. Which unlike the western one yesterday was wide open so anyone could go in or out without a fuss. Several mammoths were sitting out at a concrete table to the right of it that was built under a large elm tree, looking like they were playing cards or something. They must’ve been the counterparts to Mallom and his group.

“Hey, what’s up?” Rainbow Dash shouted to them.

They looked around in confusion for a few seconds before finally checking up, reacting with just as much shock as that last mammoth.

“Oh! It’s you!” One of them said, scrambling to get out of his seat and stand up for her while the others followed.

“You’re Rainbow Dash!” Another said with a big smile on his face.

“Yep, that’s me,” Dash waved and grinned awkwardly, still hanging in the air.

“Won’t you come down and join us?” The first one said and waved his trunk over to the table. It was covered in cards and mugs of coffee. “Play a trunk or two?”

That actually did sound fun but Dash had other plans. “Sorry guys, maybe next time. Just wanted to make sure this is what Larkon called the eastern gate? Are you guys guards?”

“More like auditors. We record the entrance and exit of every mammoth through this gate and whatever they may have with them,” the first one said.

“Out here all day?” She asked.

“It’s our job,” a third one shrugged.

“Fair enough. Alright, I’ve got another place to go right now but I promise I’ll come back for cards on another day. See ya!” Dash said and sped off over the gate before hooking right to travel down to the farms.

The mammoths watched her go, some waving and others just smiling. As some roofs soon blocked out their view of her they calmly went back to sitting at their table and picking their game of cards back up, glancing at the gate every now and then to see if any mammoths were coming through. The first one who had spoken to her picked up his mug with his trunk and downed the rest of the contents.

“Ahhh...” he sighed in contentment. “She was nice, wasn’t she?”

The first farm she saw was unsurprisingly a wheat farm but with her superior vision she could make out what she was pretty sure were corn farms right behind it too and a number of others that looked like lettuce patches and other rows of bushes that were probably herbs and seasonings. They were some really big farms too, all in all more than enough to put Sweet Apple Acres to shame. Which made sense what with how much these mammoths needed to eat. Even with the other kelp farms and the small personal gardens she had seen at a number of houses in the city these would still have to produce a massive amount of food to keep every last mammoth fed.

There were some big farmhouses out here too, three or four that she could see and all of them probably twice the size of Larkon’s house at least.

She found it strange that it was all just left outdoors though. If snow was a constant here how did they keep it from ruining their crops? Meh, she wasn’t a farmer. And any time Applejack had tried to explain to her what she did she ended up just zoning out.

Or falling asleep.

But now all she knew as she flew over the farms was that they looked well taken care of. Mammoths with hoes, scythes, bags, and everything else needed for farming and safely transporting crops walked up and down the rows of produce today. A lot of them wore straw hats to keep the sun, weak as it was up here, from beating down on them. And they were all too focused on their work to notice the little pegasus flying right above them.

Well that was fine for her right now, unlike the “auditors” who were clearly relaxing these farmers had a lot of hard work to do and she wasn’t going to just interrupt them like that. Larkon probably knew some of the mammoths here and would’ve had an actual schedule or plan for Rainbow Dash to experience the farms like he did with Captain Gollak and the kelp. Rainbow Dash however just had to go wherever her gut took her and hope for the best.

Which for the moment was the nearest farmhouse.

She came down onto the healthy looking ground in front of it to see if there was any mammoth around who looked like the boss. Maybe she should just knock? There was also a barn attached to the side of the house and its doors were open, she could check in there first.

“Hello?” Rainbow Dash asked as she trotted over to it and stuck her head inside.

She was greeted with the sight of a near empty barn, all of the tools and other stuff that usually filled it up must be out in the field, and one old gray mammoth in the back sweeping the floor with a broom and a piece of wheat in his mouth. He looked up at her with a tired expression on his face—until he noticed just who it was that had spoken.

He dropped the broom in shock. “You’re that pony, what are you doing here?!”

She was hoping he was just a little surprised and not actually scared. Rainbow Dash flew into the barn to stand before him. “Hey, I’m just checking out the city and, well, now I’m here. Do you know Larkon? He’s the historian here and he wanted me to see the farms.”

“I know Larkon,” the old mammoth nodded and tentatively picked up the broom. “Sorry for my reaction, I just didn’t expect you to suddenly show up in my barn.”

“Yeah sorry, Larkon and I had to part ways for something and I didn’t really have a way to like, let anyone know I was coming so I just flew here,” she shrugged.

“Oh, so what did you want then? A tour or something? We’re a little busy today,” the old mammoth rubbed the top of his head.

Rainbow Dash could tell he wanted to be polite and a good host but didn’t really know how or have the time to. So why not just do what she had been doing and take things into her own hooves. “Hey it’s fine. I mean I can just fly around the farms and check them out on my own. Like, I’m pretty good at doing things by myself, I like that freedom. Just uh, is there anything you can tell me about these farms? Larkon would probably want me to know.”

“I spose’ so,” he leaned his broom up against the wall of the farm and walked up to her. “Uhh, so what we have out here is five families of farmers that have been taking care of the farms since… almost since the city was founded. Shouldn’t be much of a surprise to you but I’m one of those family members, though a lot of the workers out here aint related to any. My name’s Arkul too by the way.”

So they were kind of like the Apple family. Except the Apple’s were the reason Ponyville was founded, not the other way around.

“The families of course live out here in these big farmhouses you see? The rest of the workers come from the city, mostly the areas right outside the eastern gate.”

Rainbow Dash had noticed that unlike the western side of the city where the buildings outside the wall were completely abandoned, the eastern side was still just as lively and inhabited as any part of the city she had seen inside the walls. From what Larkon had said it must’ve been a more recently built part of the city, probably using a lot of the requisitioned materials from the western side. Rainbow Dash thought it was silly at first. Like, why not just use the old buildings in the first place if you needed more homes for mammoths? But considering the farms and quarry were on this side of the city that was probably the reason why.

“And now you’re visiting during harvest season. What doesn’t just get sent into the city for day to day eating gets stored up for when the weather turns and it really gets cold and snowy up here.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Really gets cold and snowy? You guys already have fresh snow every morning.

“True,” he nodded. “But only a few inches, not a few feet. And the lake aint frozen either.”

“Yeesh, guess I got here at the right time...” Dash looked out of the barn and over the farms, trying to picture what it would look like during winter.

As if it hadn’t been cold enough in most of the True North—only now did she realize how lucky she had actually been. Her wings and feathers would’ve completely frozen if she tried flying through a snowstorm and below freezing temperatures that did what Arkul said they did. She had shivered and struggled enough through some of the cold up here, she didn’t need to do anymore.

“Do you want to know what we grow here? You can fly around and see all the farms and patches and such that you want,” Arkul asked.

“Yeah, sure. I know you guys got wheat and I saw lettuce and some other stuff,” Rainbow said.

“It is mostly wheat, yep. That’s our most important crop, our staple food. Bread, pasta, what have you, we use wheat more than anything. But we also have pumpkins, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, sugar, peppers, and so on. I think you’d be surprised with what you see up here. Don’t expect fruit though.”

It seemed more than slightly unnatural that they could farm all that up here. Again, Rainbow Dash was hardly a farmer but she remembered that the only natural thing in the Crystal Empire had been those special crystal berries, and they definitely didn’t grow anything else out in the snowy landscape around them. There had to be something special about this valley.

And in the back of her mind she was pretty sure Larkon knew what.

“I guess I’ll go check out the farms and stuff on my own then, I know you’re busy, see how everyone works out here,” Rainbow Dash said. She lifted up on her wings and flew out towards the barn door before looking back at Arkul. “Oh yeah, so where do you keep all the food you store for when it gets really cold?”

Arkul stomped his foot on the ground. “Underground storage. Lots of space dug out below the farmhouses, you can hold anything down there and it’ll keep as long as you do it properly.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash gave him a slight wave and sped off back into the sky.

The farms below her spread out over so much area, going up and down some of the slight hills here and stretching close to the mountains to the east. Combined with all that kelp it really was a lot of food. As she flew over some of the southern patches though she came to an area that was mostly a bunch of shrubby bushes and weeds. Probably stuff like oregano and garlic and other seasonings and herbs. There were mammoths down there carefully picking and digging things out with their trunks, Rainbow Dash didn’t want to bother any of them, she had no idea how long this “warm” season lasted.

And just like her they probably wanted to make the most of their day.

In an area where there weren’t any mammoths walking up the rows just yet she flew down to see what was growing. She was confident in her nose being keen enough to tell her what was here. With a big sniff of the leafy green plants she was sure of it: basil. So they had that here too. Arkul was right about them having a wide variety of stuff, she should probably ask Norma and Shibu about all the different ingredients they used when they cooked next time she saw them.

She walked in the direction of the nearest farmhouse down these rows of crops, going from basil to garlic, and eventually lettuce. This next farmhouse had a different shape compared to Arkul’s. It was flatter and sat on a small hill with a wider footprint. And unlike the big barn attached to it there were several grain silos right behind it.

Made sense she supposed. Different families probably took care of and stored different things.

Grain came from wheat right? What was grain anyways? Seeds or something she thought.

Maybe she should’ve listened to Applejack and Twilight better.

Wheat seemed like a good idea since it was the closest crop being farmed at this farmhouse. When Rainbow Dash walked into the rows she became practically invisible to outsiders thanks to her relatively short stature. The tall patches swayed in the cool breeze, so much more to be harvested in the coming days. When she got to the end of the wheat farms she looked up at the farmhouse and saw a few mammoths on the hill rolling barrels and tightly packed bags around to the back.

Without Larkon here to guide her she was starting to see her freedom as something of a detriment since it almost gave her too many options and she wasn’t sure if she would interrupt someone or something that she shouldn’t. Now Larkon had basically told her not to worry about anything like that and the mammoths would go out of their way to be nice and look as good as possible to her but she didn’t want to really impose on or bother them if she could help it. Normally she didn’t give that much consideration to others but that was back in Ponyville and it was usually her friends she was bothering. Up here she kind of had the duty to be as good as possible too. And that meant not being an inconsiderate jerk and just selfishly doing whatever she felt like.

“Dang,” Rainbow Dash bit her lip.

If there was some chief in charge of all the farms she could just talk to him and maybe have him set her up with some kind of tour or give her some ideas; but there wasn’t. Well, Larkon might be disappointed but Rainbow Dash was beginning to think she had seen and learned all she needed to about the farms right now. If he had something to tell her about them next time she met him then so be it, but for now Rainbow Dash was thinking she could go.

“Quarry I guess,” she said as she flexed her wings and shot up into the sky, high enough to see completely over all the farm area and back to the city and the road that led out of the eastern gate.

Supposedly she just needed to follow that road and she’d get to the quarry, and then once she was done there she could head back to Larkon’s house for whatever that “surprise” he had planned was.

A Mammoth of a Problem X

Rainbow Dash flew straight to the road first. It would’ve been impossible to get lost anyways what with her being able to fly but she also wanted to check out the buildings and homes in this part of the city and be able to watch over any mammoths coming from the quarry. Arkul had said that most of the homes here were for mammoths that worked on the farms but she was willing to bet that a lot of them were for mammoths that worked at the quarry too. Some of these buildings looked like large storehouses too, probably where a lot of the dug up stone was kept until they needed it for new buildings.

Another thing she only now noticed about the east side of the city since she was now really looking at it was that there wasn’t as much art around. Most buildings were painted more normal colors and their weren’t as many huge murals or things like statues or water fountains. Must be because it was newer. She only saw a few houses that were painted things like powder blue, or yellow, or prettied up in some way but there wasn’t anything that was obviously planned or installed by the city. Maybe it also had to do with them being outside the walls.

Either way she was now hovering above the road and as she looked out to the east and the mountains she saw a steady stream of mammoths pulling big carts towards the city. Some of them were covered but on the ones that weren’t she could see they were filled up with stone. What stood out to her was that some of the stone looked like it had been smashed up into gravel, while others were carved into blocks, and still more were just jagged chunks that looked like they hadn’t been touched at all after they had been dug out of the earth or broken from larger boulders. Instead of just mining the rock at the quarry they had to have places or set groups there too that divided the rock into certain uses before they even transported it back to the city.

Rainbow Dash started to fly low over the road to the quarry, low enough where all the wagon-pulling mammoths could see her. She waved and smiled to all of them, saying hello to the ones that stopped and greeted her too. They were all happy to see the flying pegasus because of how special an occasion it was and it made their journey not so monotonous. A few of them probably would’ve liked to stop and talk with her too but Rainbow Dash was going straight to the quarry without stopping.

Hopefully there was one single mammoth she could go to that was in charge of managing the quarry so she wouldn’t just be lost and make an annoyance of herself. She knew the quarry work was tough and could be dangerous so she wanted to be even less of a bother than she had been at the farms. And now as she flew the sight of the foothills of the mountains and the rocky terrain grew in her vision, along with the numerous buildings and cranes at the end of the road.

One of the mountainsides had been dug into and a rectangular quarry emerged from it, hewing out a large portion of the mountain and also going deep into the dirt and bedrock below it. She saw a couple of wooden towers that overlooked the whole quarry along with a few other buildings up on top of the rim. And of course the multiple cranes on all sides for lifting loads of rock out of the quarry and onto ground level.

When she got to the point that she could actually see down into the quarry she saw that there were scaffolds and ramps constructed all throughout it to allow the mammoths to get to every last spot and transport rocks back to the surface if the cranes were in use. A couple of rudimentary elevators made out of wooden platforms and rope pulleys also enabled them to descend and ascend to any level.

“Now if I was the boss of this place where would I be?” Rainbow Dash said aloud as she circled the quarry from above.

A wooden building that looked like an office standing right next to the top of the ramp that led out of the quarry seemed like a safe bet to her.

Rainbow Dash shot down to it right as a trio of mammoths were carrying loads of rock on their backs up the ramp. Her sudden appearance startled them and they almost fell over backwards but caught themselves. Rainbow winced and hesitantly stepped forward, raising up a hoof in greeting.

“Hey, sorry about that.”

“You… you’re that pony,” the lead mammoth said to her while the other two came up beside him and gawked at her. The mammoth in the center had darker and rougher looking fur than the average mammoth while the one to the right had several steel braces around his tusks and the one on the left was a bit overweight.

“That’s me,” she chuckled nervously.

“What are you doing here?” The one to her right asked. “Not that we’re not happy to see you—we’re just confused.” He quickly added.

“Yes! We’re very happy to see you!” The one on her left exuberantly nodded. “You’re a once in a lifetime event and everyone told me we have to make you feel as welcome as possible!”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him and the other two gave him a look that said he definitely wasn’t supposed to say that to her. She already knew that thanks to Larkon though so it’s not like she was gonna make a big deal out of it.

“Hey it’s whatever,” Rainbow Dash shrugged after a second. “Anyways maybe you guys can help me out? Is there like a boss or foreman in charge of this quarry? Is this building like an office or something?”

The first mammoth nodded. “You’re correct on all accounts. This is the quarry administration office, our boss, Korsa, is inside it right now. Did you want to see him for some reason?”

“Yeah actually,” Dash smiled. “I’m kind of spending the day exploring your city and learning about it and everything. And so now I’m here. I just wanted to talk to your boss to see if he could like, set me up with a tour or tell me anything important about the quarry.”

The dark mammoth took in a loud breath of air through his trunk, making a nasally noise. “I don’t think that would be a problem, he’ll probably be happy to help you with that. Uh, and sorry but the three of us really have to get going. Quotas to fill, you know?”

“It’s fine, thanks!” Rainbow Dash told him and went to look for the front door to this office. It was on the side of the building facing away from the quarry and was unfortunately closed. So she had to use just about every ounce of strength in her to yank it open and keep it from shutting back on her. Why did mammoths have to be so big? Even opening doors like this was a hassle for her because of that.

“Ugh!” She forced it open and slipped in just as it slammed back shut behind her. She emerged into a large room where a couple of mammoths stood around a table with a blueprint of the quarry on it, going over who knows what, and another mammoth seated behind a desk in a corner. Besides them there were filing cabinets and boxes of open folders all across the room, not the most well-organized place she had seen. Twilight would have a fit.

It was clear the mammoths recognized her and the one at his desk stood up and walked around it to her. “Can I help you?”

“Maybe. Are you Korsa?” She asked.

“Indeed I am,” Korsa nodded and lifted his trunk up for her to shake. “And you’re Rainbow Dash, the pony from Equestria.”

“Yep!” She gave his trunk a quick shake and dropped it. “So anyways, I’m here cause Larkon wanted me to learn about this quarry and stuff. Could you like, give me a tour of it or whatever?”

Korsa seemed a bit surprised and he looked over at the other mammoths and the blueprint they were huddled over. He scratched the top of his head as he thought for a moment before looking back at her. “Hmm… I suppose I can, yes.”

“Cool,” Dash grinned.

“Just one second,” he said and grabbed a hardhat off his desk and put it on his head. “And you two-” he spoke to the mammoths at the table. “You finish up those plans and give them to me at the end of the day.”

“Right, boss,” one of them said.

Korsa glanced down at Rainbow Dash and smiled. “Let’s go.”

“We’ll start from the bottom up so we don’t have to backtrack at all,” Korsa said to her as they were lowered down on one of the elevators to the bottom of the quarry.

Naturally Rainbow Dash could’ve flown down but she would’ve had to wait for him anyways.

She got to have a good view of everything on the way down, groups of mammoths chiseled at the walls of the quarry or dug tunnels deeper into the roots of the mountain. And still more dug straight down into the bedrock to excavate more of it, making more room for themselves and getting plenty of choice stone to take back to the surface at the same time. Mammoths swung pickaxes that were larger than her entire body, used hammers and chisels that would’ve been too heavy for her to lift, and carved out huge blocks of stone that could’ve been the foundation for a great castle back in Equestria. Lumber may have been in short supply up here but this quarry was working overtime to make sure they never ran out of building materials.

The mammoths looked like they were working to one day hollow out the entire mountain this quarry was built into. And there were way more workers here than she had seen at the farms or the docks, just dozens of mammoths at every level either digging out, breaking up, or transporting stone through the quarry. This was the sort of backbreaking work that Applejack would’ve said built character but that Rainbow Dash would’ve gotten bored of pretty quickly. The fact that it would’ve helped build up her muscles would’ve been welcome but everything else about it was too plain for her, and she preferred being in the air.

Their elevator hit the ground and she and Korsa walked on out at the bottom level of the quarry. Some of the mammoths saw the two of them but Korsa motioned for them to keep working.

“Well this is the heart of the quarry pretty much,” Korsa said as he and Rainbow Dash looked around. “There are stairs, ramps and other lifts that can take you to any section of the quarry from here, and look-” he said, pointing with his trunk to the mountainside. “I’m sure you noticed those tunnels digging into the mountain? You can get to those mines real easily too.”

“Yeah, I did,” Dash nodded. There were a couple of tunnels with entrances at each level of the quarry and mammoths were constantly going in and outing of them and lugging either empty minecarts or ones that had been freshly filled up.

Korsa and Dash walked over to the northern wall of the quarry, walking up a ramp that took them from the very bottom to another level where a row of mammoths painstakingly swung their pickaxes over and over at the rock. Breaking it down and trying to widen the quarry. Huge clumps of dirt fell out every now and then too, which would need to be picked up and deposited topside to make room.

“I’d like to give you a pickaxe so you can see what it’s like yourself but I’m not sure you can lift one. It’d be rather unwieldy for you even if you could,” Korsa said.

“Yeahhh… might not work too well,” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. Using those clippers back when she was harvesting kelp was tough enough and all the tools here were even bigger.

She still didn’t want to back down from the chance though. Someone telling her she couldn’t do something? That was a good way to get her to try anything.

“Hold on,” she said to Korsa and flexed her shoulders, flapping her wings to get up to the same height the mammoths were striking the wall at. “I’ll try it anyways, I bet I can at least do something, I’m pretty good at surprising people you know?”

“Suit yourself,” he shrugged. “Hey! One of you all have an extra pickaxe for Rainbow Dash here to use?”

The mammoths working stopped for a bit and looked back at Rainbow Dash and Korsa before checking their own tools and what they had lying around. One of them picked up a pickaxe that had been left resting beside them, it was in noticeably poor condition but it suited Rainbow Dash’s needs just fine.

“Here, it’s an older one we were still using,” the mammoth that gave it to her with his trunk said.

“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash grabbed it and had to heft it onto her back. The wooden shaft of the pickaxe shifted about between her shoulder blades and the weight of the metal head pulled her off balance but she was still able to stay in the air. Whether she could swing it with her hooves, and with enough force to make a crack in the rock, was a different matter.

She wobbled through the air to get between some of the mammoths, her wings having to do some extra work to keep her afloat and steady. The quarry workers gave her a bit of a wide berth just in case she dropped the pickaxe or something.

“Okay, I’m gonna show you what the most awesome pony in the world can do!” Rainbow Dash boasted.

With a grunt she hefted the heavy pickaxe over her head, holding it up and aiming the sharp pick at the wall of the quarry. Her hooves trembled a bit and the shaft was a little too wide for her to really hold it properly in the first place. Sucking in a deep breath she swung it forward as hard as she could with her awkward position.

The metal pick clanged off the hard rock wall with a loud screech and the vibrations that traveled up through it shook her entire body. She reflexively dropped the pickaxe onto the ground while her teeth chattered and her brain rattled in her skull.

Korsa winced and held her steady with his trunk gently lowering her to the ground where Rainbow Dash swayed back and forth for a second before shaking her head.

“Woah… not exactly what I wanted to do,” she blinked a few times while her hooves continued to shake and looked up to where she had struck.

Unfortunately there was only a slight chip in the rock with a few cracks spread out from it. This stone was tough. It reminded her of that one time she had accidentally flown into the side of Twilight’s castle, that had been pretty painful.

“You’d need a pickaxe more your size if you wanted to work down here,” Korsa said. “I’m impressed that you could lift and swing it like that though.”

“Tch,” Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue. Applejack would’ve been strong enough to do this.

“Don’t be discouraged, look how big we are, what’s the point in getting upset that you aren’t as strong as a mammoth? I’m not bothered that I can’t fly after all,” Korsa said and then whistled at the other workers. “Okay! Back to work like normal, still a lot of stone to get out!”

Rainbow Dash sighed and flew back up to around eye-level with him as she looked around at some of the other mammoths working in the quarry. Right now there was one guy pushing a huge wheelbarrow full of dirt up the ramp that led out of the quarry. “Yeah I know, I live in a place where there are ponies that can do stuff that I never could, but I like to challenge myself. I want to prove and show off how awesome I am all. The. Time. That’s just how I am.”

“I’m certain that a creature like you has plenty to show off,” Korsa shrugged. “I read about you in the paper, no mammoth in this city is half as amazing as you. Frankly we’re all truly in awe of you. I’d be gushing a bit more if I wasn’t trying to be formal… and quite a lot of the others you’ve no doubt encountered today have probably been shy.”

“I guess,” she knew a lot were acting nicer or at least putting on their best behavior too.

“Do you want me to show you around the rest of the quarry? Or inside the mountain? You can see the mammoths who carve up the boulders and stone taken from the ground and turn it into blocks,” Korsa suggested.

Rainbow Dash looked up into the sky, it wasn’t late yet but the sun was starting to enter its descent. She still had time before she needed to return to Larkon’s home but probably not enough to see the entire quarry. “Sure, show me whatever you want. I’ve gotta go in a bit but if we can’t see everything I might be back with Larkon some other day.”

Korsa nodded. “Come along then, you can see the blocks the city will be using for the pillars of a new bridge, they’re taller than you are.”

A Mammoth of a Problem XII

“After what you told us about yourself at Tarmok’s Hall I knew immediately you would want to see Trunkball. You mentioned being a coach for an Equestrian sport didn’t you? And these Wonderbolts you’re a part of are an elite athlete group too, I was certain Trunkball would greatly interest you,” Larkon said while they all stood on his porch.

“Interest me? That’s putting it lightly dude. I just wish you had told me about it sooner!” Rainbow Dash could hardly contain herself. “What’s it like? Is it an individual sport or a team sport? Do you-”

Larkon placed his trunk over her mouth to quiet her. “Woah there, it’ll be more fun for you to see for yourself. There’s an evening game starting in just a moment in our stadium. I’ve had tickets for my family for days and I’m fairly confident that you’ll be allowed in with no problem.” He winked.

“Awesome. Where’s the stadium?”

“It’s actually built in an open area between some buildings just on the other side of the street. We’ll be there in a minute,” Larkon said.

“Can I just stay home? Trunkball is dumb anyways,” Samarkon said. The rebellious teenager snorted, not even looking at his family.

“No, you can’t stay home,” Larkon narrowed his eyes at his son. “This is a family event and a special occasion with our guest. You’re coming too.”

“And Trunkball isn’t dumb!” Alykon shouted at her brother. Which was the loudest Rainbow Dash had heard her be.

Samarkon glared at his little sister and opened his mouth to shout right back at her when Shibu stepped between them. “Calm down you two. And Samarkon, stop being a grouch.”

Rainbow Dash smirked a little, she didn’t know why Samarkon chose to be such a little jerk all the time but it was nice seeing his mom tell him off. And Alykon really seemed to like Trunkball if her reaction was any indication. Did she play it? Rainbow Dash thought she might’ve been an athlete or something when she first met her but the young mammoth had been a bit too shy for her to really talk to.

“Hey Alykon,” Rainbow Dash said as she floated down to her, speaking to her for real for the first time. “Do you play Trunkball?”

The girl shrunk back, blushing in embarrassment. Not exactly the reaction Rainbow Dash was hoping for.

“Alykon, please, Rainbow Dash is trying to be friendly,” Larkon sighed.

Alykon gulped and stepped forward. “Sorry… I’m just nervous. I never thought I’d see a pony… or anyone who wasn’t a mammoth. I just didn’t know how to talk to you.”

“Doing a decent job now,” Rainbow Dash grinned and stuck her hoof out. “Here, lift up your foot or trunk and bump my hoof. That’s how cool ponies say hello.”

“Okay,” Alykon decided to use her front right foot and casually bumped Rainbow Dash’s outstretched hoof.

“Right on,” Dash said. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Samarkon roll his eyes.

“Ehem,” Larkon coughed to get their attention. “We do need to start going now, we can talk along the way.”

“So impatient,” Shibu teased and walked down the porch. Alykon following behind and Samarkon reluctantly going as well.

Larkon gestured down the stairs with his trunk to Rainbow Dash and smiled. “After you.”

“Me and my friends make up a Trunkball team that’s in the city’s junior division,” Alykon told Rainbow Dash as they walked and the pony flew to the stadium. “I started playing last year with them and we practice every week, sometimes two or three times a week if a game is coming up. You could come watch us practice one day if you want? My friends would probably think that’d just be the coolest thing! And they’d be really jealous of me cause you’re staying at my house.”

Rainbow Dash snorted but grinned in good humor. “Really noble, huh? But I can’t blame you, I’d want to show someone as amazing as me off all I could too. And yeah, I’d be happy to come by and see your practice. Even though I don’t know what Trunkball is like or anything.”

“You’ll see shortly,” Larkon told her.

She shrugged and kept flying. They were heading down an alley in-between two of the buildings on the other side of the street. The road was paved asphalt and to their left were empty lots overrun by unmowed grass and to their right were the backsides of a whole bunch of buildings. Dash noticed they were essentially going in the same direction of the docks she had visited earlier today. Just a different street. She idly wondered how big this stadium was, there weren’t any other mammoths going this way towards it. Maybe they were late after waiting for her? Or there might’ve been a lot of other ways to get there.

“Dad said you were interested in sports, do you play something too?” Alykon asked her, bringing her back to reality.

“Oh, uh, sort of?” Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin. “I don’t play so much as coach and promote and stuff. And what I do with the Wonderbolts isn’t really a sport, but we’re all top-tier pegasus athletes.”

“What’s the sport you coach?” She asked.

“It’s called Buckball,” Rainbow Dash flew a little higher and spread out her hooves, grinning down at Alykon. “And it’s the greatest sport in all of Equestria that ponies play! Not only do I coach it but I practically helped invent it too!”

“You invented a sport?! That’s awesome!” Alykon trumpeted and actually started hopping up and down a little. “You have to show me how to play it too someday! I’ll be the first mammoth to know how to play a sport from a whole nother world!”

Now this was giving her a feeling of deja vu. Truth be told she’d rather be the one who learned how to play Trunkball, but she wasn’t going to throw away a chance to spread Buckball around either. Rainbow Dash was sure she could manage her time and do both. This was a good thing anyways, right? Two cultures and civilizations sharing and learning from each other, giving something new and lasting that they can experience? All Rainbow Dash has to do is return home at some point and tell Twilight and everybody all about this place.

“We’re here,” Larkon interrupted any further conversation between the two of them.

Rainbow Dash hadn’t been paying attention but they walked out of the alley and into an area of the city that was bordered by numerous buildings and walls while a circular roundabout of paved stone wrapped around one very large building in the center of the area. It was probably the largest building she had seen in the city besides Tarnok’s Hall.

The stadium was rectangular in shape and four mammoth sized stories high and she could tell from the sound coming from it that it had an open roof. Built from stone, at the ground level there were arches all across its perimeter and a wide gate open on the north end that Rainbow Dash and Larkon’s family were facing. There were a couple of other doors but they were currently closed, probably for staff or employees at the stadium. Rainbow could see mammoths mulling about inside the gate, walking deeper into the stadium, while two other mammoths stood at ticket booths that flanked the opening.

“How many mammoths does this thing hold?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow as she looked up its walls.

“Hundreds, and it should be a full house tonight,” Larkon answered as he walked over to the ticket booth on the right. He held up four tickets in his trunk and handed them over to the clerk. “Four for me and my family, and also-” he looked over his shoulder at Rainbow Dash. “I’m sure she can come in with us?”

The clerk looked back at the hovering pegasus too, she gave him a brief wave and his eyes nearly bugged out in his head. “Oh! O-Of course she can! You’re um, Larkon aren’t you? We’re happy to accommodate Rainbow Dash if she wants to see a game of Trunkball.”

Shibu leaned over to Rainbow Dash and whispered in her ear: “It’s not like you’ll be taking up an extra seat or anything either.”

“Splendid,” Larkon said to the clerk and waved to his family and Rainbow Dash. “Come on, we can grab snacks to eat and get to our seats.”

Rainbow Dash followed him into the stadium, it was all well lit with torches and had a pretty straightforward design. From this main gate they went up a series of stairs to the third story, where a ring of stands selling all kinds of food were set in the interior and right past this little circular walkway were openings where you could go out and get to the seats. Already Dash could see that the seats were mostly full but there were a lot of mammoths still walking around and buying food where they were. And like always she got a lot of looks thrown her way.

Curious, she poked her head out to see just what the field looked like. Down below on the bottom floor of the stadium was a polished hardwood court, rectangular just like the stadium itself, with two raised poles at either end of the court and a hoop on top of them. To the sides of the court she saw two distinct groups of mammoths, one wearing red jerseys and one wearing green jerseys, huddling together and discussing something.

Their game plan most likely. Now Rainbow Dash knew this was a team sport.

“Rainbow Dash!” Larkon called to her and she stuck her head back inside. He was standing at a snack stand that was giving out bags of popcorn. Of course these bags were the size of apple barrels to Rainbow Dash. “Do you want some popcorn?”

“Hay yeah I do!” She buzzed over and picked up one of the colossal bags, licking her lips.

“You’re not going to try and eat that all on your own are you?” Larkon asked, wincing at the thought of such massive overeating. “What I meant was if you wanted to share with one of us...”

“Heh, I can eat a lot, don’t worry about that,” she smugly said to him.

“Relax, sugar, she could use some more meat on her bones anyways,” Shibu said and hip-bumped her husband.

The historian blushed and adjusted his hat, eyes darting away from the two ladies. “Yes, well...”

Rainbow Dash snorted and flew past him with her gigantic bag of popcorn held in her hooves. It wasn’t that heavy since it was just popcorn but she still had to hold it like a big package she was delivering. “Why don’t you show me where we’re sitting?”

“Mid-level seats, nothing right by the action I’m afraid but your eyes are good enough where seeing it all shouldn’t be a problem. Er, so long as you’re not actually sitting down. You wouldn’t be able to see over the mammoths in front of you if you were,” Larkon said, walking with her out to the seats around the court while the rest of the family followed.

“Well yeah,” Rainbow Dash could imagine that. She wouldn’t be able to see over the head of a kid mammoth.

So when it came time to “sit”, Rainbow Dash ended up between Larkon and Alykon while Shibu and Samarkon sat on the other side of Larkon. All five of them had their own individual bags of popcorn, although even though Samarkon was eating his it looked like he was trying his hardest to not actually enjoy it. Rainbow Dash had to deal with a lot of mammoths in front of her looking over their shoulders at her and the feeling of a bunch of eyes boring into her back. But that was pretty much normal even when she traveled in Equestria. She was super famous and super special.

However she wanted to keep her own eyes on the game. She had spent the rest of the day meeting mammoths and stuff and she could spend tomorrow and the day after that doing the same thing. Right now was sports time.

“The game will be starting soon,” Larkon said.

“Good,” Rainbow Dash replied as she didn’t take her eyes off the court.

Alykon was paying just as much attention as she was and it was only a minute longer that a few mammoths from each of the teams walked out from the sidelines and onto the court. Four from each color. Another mammoth wearing a black cap and holding a large red ball walked out into the middle of the court. Looking at the size of that ball and the hoops, Rainbow Dash was pretty sure she knew how this game was played.

The crowd in the stadium cheered for the players on the court, trumpeting with their trunks and stamping their feet on the ground. Rainbow Dash grinned in amusement. It seemed love of sports and passionate cheering were a universal. That being said though she didn’t see a cheer squad… Shimmy Shake and Lighthoof would be disappointed. Maybe that was another thing Rainbow Dash could bring to the mammoth city.

“Woooh!” Alykon shouted from beside her, a big smile on her face.

Rainbow Dash put a hoof up to her mouth to stifle her laugh. “So who are you rooting for?”

“Green team! The father of one of my teammates is a player!” Alykon told her.

“Guess that’s who I’m rooting for too then.”

While the one mammoth, probably the officiator, with the red ball stood in the middle of the court two mammoths from each team also came to the center while the other two hung back by the hoop. Offense and Defense? Maybe they had positions they filled and places they had to stay at. The officiator held up the ball with his trunk and bounced it off the floor of the court a few times, each bounce getting it just below eye-height of the mammoths, before grabbing it back up again and balancing it on the tip of his trunk.

The mammoths in the stadium stomped their feet in unison, waiting for the game to start. Rainbow Dash hardly even noticed that she had begun doing the same.

Finally the ball was thrown high into the air and with an athleticism that shocked Rainbow Dash all four mammoths jumped to be the first one to get it. She knew they could swim better than she expected but the jumping was impressive too. One of the red team mammoths reached up with his outstretched trunk and tipped the ball to his teammates behind him. The “Defense” as far as Dash knew rushed over to it, the one to the right of the hoop reached it first, grabbing it with his trunk but not completely holding onto it. He steadily bounced it up and down, dribbling it and making sure it didn’t stop in its motion.

The two green team mammoths on Offense ran to him, one of them heading straight for him while the other moved in-between him and the red team offenders to try and intercept any passes. But there were still only two of the green team on this half of the court, that left the defender with the ball the opportunity to pass it to the other defender, who was wide open.

The second defender stopped the ball with his trunk and jogged forward while dribbling it before bounce-passing it to one of the mammoths on offense. His trunk shot out to retain the ball and he pivoted on his feet to take it to the opposing hoop.

By the looks of it they have to keep dribbling the ball and they can probably only touch it with their trunks. Dash analyzed as she watched the game, wanting to figure everything out about it.

The mammoth with the ball now still had to get past the two defenders on green team though and his teammates weren’t yet in a position for him to pass to.

So in another move that surprised Dash he stopped and popped the ball up on the topside of his trunk, rearing back on his hindlegs for some height he tossed the red ball with his trunk towards the hoop. Both defenders raised their own trunks up to try and block it but the ball was angled too high and aimed too perfectly. Without even touching the rim it went right through the hoop and bounced back onto the court while the crowd cheered.

“So that’s how you score, huh?” Rainbow Dash said mostly to herself. It seemed pretty similar to Buckball.

Down below on the court the officiator went to collect the ball while the teams got back into position. On the side of the court opposite from where the rest of the teams were there was a small table with another mammoth wearing a black cap sitting behind it. On the table was a brass bell and a green chalkboard with a line running right down the middle and the halves labeled as “Red” and “Green”. The seated mammoth grabbed a stick of chalk and put down a single line on the Red side.

Rainbow Dash looked up at Larkon. “So you get one point for getting the ball in the basket? How many points until someone wins?”

“You’re half right,” Larkon said. “A ball thrown into the hoop is worth one point but you can also run up to the hoop and dunk it in for two. And there isn’t a certain score you reach, games last for one hour and whoever has the most points at the end wins.”

“Cool,” Rainbow Dash nodded and looked back down at the court, they were about to start up play again.

It was the same four mammoths for each team even though there looked to be plenty of substitutes on the sidelines. Likely the eight best would try and play the whole game and were only replaced if there was an injury or they performed exceptionally poorly. And the game had just started so there was still a lot that could happen.

The fans in the crowd cheered some more while the Offense faced off, waiting for the ball to get thrown up again. When the officiator finally did so it was the green team that recovered it first. The two mammoths on Offense spread to the sides of the court and they tossed the ball back and forth to each other as they ran to their opponent’s hoop. The red defenders rushed them, going one on one, trying to take the ball from them with their trunks while also blocking them from being able to make good passes to each other.

But the green player with the ball did a tricky maneuver that impressed Rainbow Dash. He faked pivoting to the right and then bounced the ball between the legs of his defender while spinning around to this left and grabbing the ball back when it came out.

Having a free run to the hoop the mammoth grinned and dribbled quickly while the flummoxed defender tried to recover and run after him. There was no way he could catch up though, the green team mammoth jumped up with the ball in his trunk and dunked it right through the hoop while he loudly came down to the ground and practically shook the whole court with his size.

Two points to the green team. The two green mammoths on Offense walked back to the middle of the court and clapped their trunks together, smiling at a job well done. The red team meanwhile conversed on their side of the court, maybe talking strategy.

Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to shovel a big hoof full of popcorn into her mouth. Not only was it perfectly salted it was warm and fresh. These mammoths knew how to make a good batch of popcorn, that was for sure.

In a second the ball was back in play and Rainbow Dash watched some more as both teams fought for control over it. Unlike the first two times there was more contact between all of the offenders as neither team could really get ahead of the other, when one mammoth had the ball and was dribbling it before he could get a chance to move or pass it away his opponent would run up and dart their trunk out, trying to steal the ball from them or at the least hit it away. It allowed Rainbow Dash to see a more technical side of Trunkball as they all had to face off and try and outplay the others. The pure athleticism of the players was now on full display. Fakes, feints, spins, trick bounces, hops, dashes, it was all an indicator and a reminder to Rainbow Dash that she really couldn’t take these big balls of woolly fur for granted.

One of the green team mammoths had the ball and was dribbling it to the red side but the trunk from one of the red offenders shot out like lightning and stole it away from him. He pivoted on his legs so hard and so fast as he ran to the green team hoop that Rainbow Dash felt like she could hear his bones creak from up here.

His heavy feet pounded on the court while his trunk dribbled the ball up and down in equally hard and steady bounces. His movement was methodical and focused, the only goal in mind was the enemy team’s hoop. The green team Defense rushed out to stop him, blocking his way and holding their trunks up to try and knock down any baskets he may have shot for.

But then the mammoth with the ball did something neither Rainbow Dash nor the Defense expected. Instead of aiming for the hoop he threw the ball at the pole holding it up. The Defense wasn’t in position to block or grab the ball with the direction it was thrown in, but their eyes still followed it.

Which was exactly what the red team mammoth wanted.

He sprinted past the two defenders whose focus on him was broken and once the ball perfectly bounced off the pole and back towards him he was in prime position to recover it and make a dunk. The defenders tried to catch up to him and swat the ball out of his trunk but they were just too late to react. With a loud cheer and clamoring from the audience the ball was slammed through the hoop.

Two points to the red team.

The scorekeeper quickly jotted that down while the game lulled as the other officiator went to collect the ball. Now the green team was conversing with each other to figure out a new strategy.

“So the pole is in play?” Rainbow Dash asked Larkon.

He nodded. “You can bounce the ball off of the pole or the rim if you want but you have to be careful or it might bounce awkwardly. Most players don’t intentionally make moves like that.”

“Got it,” Dash said. The sport of Trunkball was becoming clearer and clearer to her.

“It’s a pretty easy game to get the hang of,” Alykon said from next to her. “Lots of mammoths start to play it when young.”

Samarkon snorted from the other side of Shibu but the rest of the family ignored him.

“I think I’ll have a pretty good grasp of it after tonight,” Rainbow grinned.

Back on the court the players got together again and waited for the ball to be thrown up again. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure how much time had elapsed, and if the clock kept running even when the officiator was getting the ball back after a point was scored or not, but there was definitely still a good deal of the game left to go. She expected things to get intense the further the game went on as each team figured out each other’s strategies and tactics and the clock wound down. Right now it was a very close game but one team could easily still pull ahead.

Rainbow Dash kept up a constant stream of popcorn going into her mouth as she watched the game from the on. It was a fairly back and forth affair with neither team giving an inch. One team would score, then the other as they adjusted their game plan, and then the previous team again. Only rarely did a team score twice or even three times in a row.

Which actually made the game more enjoyable for her and the other mammoths watching. Neck and neck like this it was pretty exciting.

At the waning minutes of the game red team had the ball and they were already up by two points. The strategy changed a bit then as the red team offender with the ball was just dribbling it slowly and simply trying to keep it away from the green team so they could run out the clock. Every time someone went to take the ball from him he’d pass it back to one of the red defenders and they’d pass between each other until one of their teammates got back open. Green couldn’t really find a way back into the game.

That was until one of the green mammoths on offense made a desperate play. While the two red team defenders were tossing the ball back and forth he dove between the two of them with his trunk outstretched, catching the defenders off guard while they were in the middle of passing to each other. His trunk grabbed the ball right as his heavy body hit the ground and he threw it over his back to his teammate.

The other green mammoth on offense picked the ball out of the air while the red defenders came towards him, knowing he didn’t have a chance for a dunk all he could do was shoot it this time. While the defenders stuck up their trunks to try and block it his aim was still true and the ball easily went into the hoop. Now the score was only off by one.

But a second after that basket was scored the scorekeeper on the sidelines begun loudly ringing the bell and the crowd erupted in cheers.

One hour, the game had ended.

“Noooo...” Alykon exaggeratedly whined, slumping down in her seat. “Just one point left...”

“Close game,” Rainbow Dash patted her on the shoulder, trying to cheer her up.

Down below, the two teams shook trunks and congratulated each other. Seems there was no hard feelings between them. Something she wasn’t surprised by with how friendly and peaceful mammoth society seemed to be. It was a competitive game for sure but they weren’t about to fight or hold grudges over it. While Rainbow wasn’t entirely sure she would feel the same way if she had just lost she could respect that.

Her bag of popcorn was nearly empty so she reached deep down into it and grabbed up the last few kernels to pop into her mouth. “So-” she said while she chewed. “Is that it then?”

“Yes,” Larkon said as he stood up. “We can head home now. And here, give me your popcorn bags, I’ll throw them into the first receptacle we come across, there are plenty in the stadium.”

Rainbow Dash hoofed hers over to him and he gathered it up with his trunk. “That was a lot of fun, thanks for bringing me along. Trunkball seems pretty cool, wouldn’t mind watching more games.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I was really hoping you’d enjoy this surprise,” Larkon said.

“It was a good surprise,” Dash grinned.

“I just wish my team had won,” Alykon grumbled, kicking air.

“Next time,” Rainbow Dash reassured her. “Even I know what it’s like to lose. Sort of. You just have to keep doing your best and kick even more butt next time.”

Shibu suddenly cut in. “It’s getting a bit late though so we really should be getting back home.”

Larkon and Rainbow Dash both nodded, the matriarch of the family was always looking out for the well-being of the others. All the other mammoths in the stadium were shuffling through the seats and going to the exits so they had to wait for a bit. The crowd was thick and it took some time before they were out and heading back down the street but finally they were on the way home after Rainbow Dash’s first game of Trunkball.

“So when’s your next practice? I’ll come watch,” Rainbow Dash asked Alykon when they were back home, the five of them more or less getting ready to retire for the night.

“Two days! It’ll be so awesome to have you there!” Alykon smiled widely.

Samarkon snorted, shaking his head as he started walking down the hallway from the entryway. “I don’t get why you care so much about dumb Trunkball.”

“Stop calling Trunkball dumb!” Alykon shouted after him, her smile quickly morphing into an angry scowl.

Samarkon looked back over his shoulder at her and the others. “Instead of using that stadium for a stupid sport we should be using it for the gladiator fights mammoths used to have.”

Larkon’s eyes narrowed and a frown settle on his face as well. “Samarkon, those fights were a vicious and cruel thing, it is no longer the way of the mammoths to do something like that. And that stadium specifically was never used for such a thing in the first place.”

Rainbow Dash glanced between father and son and up at Shibu, who was looking on with worry at the argument. Alykon too had quieted. It seemed this quarrel may have been a common thing.

Samarkon clicked his tongue and rounded on his father, brow furrowed in anger. “But Karkona says-”

“Karkona nothing!” Larkon loudly stomped his foot on the ground and for the first time ever since Rainbow Dash had seen him he looked genuinely angry. “Do not speak that name in this house! He knows not what he speaks of and like I have told you half a hundred times you shouldn’t listen to him!”

Rainbow Dash slid up next to Alykon and whispered to her: “Who’s this Karkona guy?”

Alykon stuck out her tongue and answered in a voice a... few decibels above a whisper. “He’s just a mean criminal who lives in the slums who’s always causing problems.”

“He doesn’t live in the slums, he rules the slums!” Samarkon yelled after hearing them. “Because all the other mammoths up in Tarmok’s Hall are a bunch of cowards scared of him! Karkona’s the one who should be in Tarmok’s Hall, he’s just the kind of mammoth King Tarmok would’ve wanted ruling!”

“Enough!” Larkon thundered, pointing his trunk down the hallway. “Go to your room, Samarkon! Now!”

The young mammoth glared at his father and grit his teeth. For a second Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure if he was going to listen or keep arguing, but with an angry trumpeting of his trunk he turned around and stomped off down the hallway. The mood in the room had soured considerably thanks to him though. Shibu looked upset and Alykon was glaring after him. Larkon—Larkon just looked disappointed.

The historian sighed and ground his teeth together, looking first at Rainbow Dash and then at his wife. “Shibu, can you take Alykon?”

“Of course, dear,” Shibu said and hustled their daughter out of the room. Alykon looked over her shoulder one last time at Rainbow Dash and waved before they too both disappeared into the house.

Rainbow Dash looked up at the big mammoth, raising an eyebrow. “So this Karkona guy?”

“Is the primary reason I didn’t want you to go to the slums. He would not be happy to see you,” Larkon said and took a seat by his hat rack.

“What’s his deal? I’ve dealt with plenty of criminals and other jerks before,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

“I’m aware but it’s not a problem you should have to deal with as our guest. Karkona is… he’s a rabble-rouser and agitator with dangerous and ignorant ideals. And unfortunately there are many other mammoths who follow him over there. And sadly even some here, though maybe not as openly,” Larkon looked down the hallway where his son had gone. “He also appeals quite a bit to some of our younger generation.”

“But why?” Rainbow asked as she flew in front of his face.

“Why does any child rebel?” Larkon shrugged. “Karkona offers something new and exciting to them, he’s charismatic and quite young himself as well. An adult, yes, but still young. I’d wager even a few years younger than yourself.” He looked her deeply in the eye, as if considering what more to say to her. “In truth I was hoping you wouldn’t have to be bothered by any of this but it’s also your right to know. Karkona hates the pacifist lifestyle we mammoths have adopted for generations. He wants us to return to our conquering, warlike, ways and reclaim our empire while carving out a whole new one as well.” Larkon shook his head. “He talks of war and battle as if he understands it but he hasn’t really experienced any of it for himself. He treats it like a game the same way a rowdy child would.”

Rainbow Dash bit her lip. On the one hoof she thought the pacifist society of the current mammoths was pretty lame and boring. On the other she didn’t like guys who just went out and picked fights with others, or were bullies, or started things as bad as wars just because they wanted to. Karkona sounded like the opposite extreme from what she disliked here, and probably way worse.

“And even more unfortunately, what Samarkon said was true. The senate is afraid of him. He’s a strong, driven young mammoth with a lot of followers and they don’t wish to confront him. So instead they just ignore the problem and it gets worse,” Larkon sighed and lifted himself up. “With hope, that’s all you’ll need to hear about it and the rest of your visit can be peaceful. Let’s get some sleep for the night, shall we?”

She knew he was purposefully ending the conversation but she wasn’t going to call him out on it. It was an upsetting topic for him and as curious as she was about it she figured she could be a little bit more considerate than she normally was.

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”

He smiled. “Of course, I still have some places to show you and some other things to discuss. Good night, Rainbow Dash.”

“Night, Larkon.”

A Mammoth of a Problem XIII

She got up early the following morning. Earlier than everyone else in the house in fact, even Larkon. Which actually gave her not much to do since he was going to be her guide today again. She could eat breakfast aside from the fact she wasn’t sure if they’d be okay with her raiding their kitchen without their knowledge. And she didn’t really know where anything was kept in there or if they even had just something like cereal or not. Larkon might be planning on taking her back to Norma’s Cafe too anyways.

So for now she was floating through the halls of this big house, looking out the windows into the backyard revealed a layer of freshly fallen snow across the grass. There were probably mammoths all throughout the city just barely waking up right now who were getting to street cleaning duty. The trees and roofs of the buildings in the city must all be covered in snow as well. It would probably look really pretty right now, with how quiet and still everything was.

Eventually Rainbow Dash’s wings took her to the dining room and she ended up sitting on top of the table once more. Whenever Larkon woke up this would probably be one of the first places in the house he’d come looking for her. So she decided to yawn and stretch for a bit before rolling over onto her back and staring up at the ceiling. Maybe not the cleanliest sort of thing that should’ve been done with a dining room table but oh well. She was bored and impatient right now.

And thoughtful. More thoughtful than she usually ever was. Curiosity may have killed the cat but she couldn’t help but want to fly out to those slums now and see what they were like. And maybe confront this Karkona mammoth.

“What else do I really have to do around here?” She questioned herself.

Her back hooves hung over the side of the table and she kicked them about carelessly, taking a deep yawn as she waited around. There was definitely a lot Larkon wasn’t telling her, she knew that. She had only been given brief tidbits about what the mammoths used to be like and half of that had come from William in the first place. Larkon had been really nice to her but despite being the historian of the city he wasn’t forthcoming at all about their history before becoming pacifists. Too much was missing when it came to these mammoths.

Her knowledge pretty much boiled down to they used to be bad but now they’re good. And Karkona didn’t like that. While also being enough of a firebrand that he could sway the minds of impressionable and dissatisfied mammoths.

Well there was no sense in really thinking about it, that wasn’t getting her anywhere. Rainbow Dash would either do something or she wouldn’t. When it came time for it she was a mare of action. Which is basically how this whole crazy adventure of hers started.

She didn’t have more time to think about it anyways as she soon heard footsteps walking towards the dining room. Too light to be either Larkon or Shibu, so it was either a mammoth she was going to be happy to see or one she wasn’t going to be happy to see.

Alykon opened up the door and a smile spread on Rainbow Dash’s face.

“Morning,” the pegasus said to her and sat up before floating off the table.

Alykon yawned and rubbed her eyes of their sleep before smiling back at Rainbow Dash. “Good morning.”

“You’re up early,” Dash said.

“I was hungry. What about you?”

“Hungry and bored. Waiting for your dad to wake up so we can do whatever he has planned today,” Rainbow shrugged.

Alykon mumbled and glanced at the door to the kitchen. “I’m really sorry about my brother last night...”

Rainbow Dash grinned and flew over to her, giving her a rub on the head. “Heh, it’s not your fault he’s like that.”

“Do you want some food?” Alykon looked up at her.

Rainbow considered it for a second before shaking her head. Larkon was definitely going to take her somewhere for food, she was pretty sure. “No thanks. I can wait for whenever your dad wakes up.”

“It should be soon, he usually wakes up before any of us,” Alykon said.

“Big day for him yesterday,” Rainbow Dash chuckled.

“He probably didn’t sleep well...” Alykon rubbed the back of her head with her trunk. “That always happens when he argues with Samarkon.”

Rainbow Dash thought of that grouchy little mammoth, and seeing how upset Alykon was right now it reignited a certain passion in her. Rainbow Dash loved flying, she loved competing, she loved winning, she love cider, she loved her friends, she loved Tank, and she loved something else that she hadn’t really gotten to do much of since starting on this adventure.

Pranks.

A mischievous grin spread on Rainbow Dash’s face as she rubbed her hooves together. “Hey Alykon… how do you feel about pranks?”

The door to the dining room from whence Alykon came was currently slightly ajar. By what Alykon said, Samarkon should be the next mammoth to come through that door since he always ate breakfast in here relatively early as well. And the reason the door was ajar and they were waiting for him in particular was because of the bucket of water precariously balanced atop it. The next mammoth that opened that door would get a very unwelcome bath.

“Classic,” Rainbow Dash snickered to herself as she sat at the table with Alykon.

“This’ll serve him right,” Alykon giggled too.

“I just hope we don’t accidentally get your mom or dad, but it’s worth the risk,” Rainbow said.

Alykon nodded. “Definitely. And don’t worry, I’ll take the blame no matter what happens.”

They stopped as the sound of a mammoth walking down the hallway reached their ears. With the door slightly open it was easy for Rainbow Dash to tell that it definitely wasn’t one of the adults. She couldn’t keep the grin off of her face as she watched the door in anticipation. Alykon too was waiting for it. Samarkon was utterly clueless as he was about to become the victim of one of the classic pranks.

The mammoth was dragging his feet as he made it to the door and with a disgruntled huff he pushed the dining room door open and stuck his head inside.

It was almost too perfect.

The bucket full of water tipped over and doused the teenage mammoth before banging onto his head. Samarkon yelled in surprise and pain and slipped about on the newly wet floor before tumbling over into a heap of wet fur and limbs.

“Arghh! W-What?!” He cried as he rubbed his pained head.

“Ahahahahaha!” The two girls in the room laughed and laughed in unison.

Samarkon’s head snapped up with his eyes wide at first, but they quickly narrowed as he glared at his sister and the obnoxious guest. “You!”

“Relax,” Rainbow Dash flew over above him. “It was just a little water.”

“Stupid pony!” Samarkon’s trunk shot up, attempting to smack Rainbow Dash down, but she easily avoided it.

Rainbow Dash flew beside him and picked up the bucket before carrying it back into the dining room. “Guess we’ve gotta clean up now. Oh well, it was totally worth it.”

“Totally,” Alykon smirked.

Samarkon scrambled back to his feet and shook his head to get dry. “You—You dummies! I’ll get you back for this!” He yelled at them and then turned tail and ran off back down the hallway.

Rainbow Dash was fairly certain she heard the sound of sniffling and held back tears.

“That was a good one,” Alykon said as she went through the last of her giggles.

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “We oughta do something like that again sometime.”

Alykon and Rainbow Dash cleaned the mess up after that and then Alykon got to eating her own breakfast while Rainbow Dash continued to wait around. It thankfully wasn’t much longer for the impatient pony that Larkon finally made his entrance, there were bags of sleep under his eyes but besides that he looked fairly jolly.

“Sup? What’s in store for today?” Rainbow Dash asked the historian.

“Glad you asked!” Larkon stepped towards her. “Today we’ll be visiting somewhere you’re already well familiar with, the grandest and most important place in the city: Tarmok’s Hall! You hardly saw enough of it on your first visit, so much goes on there that I simply have to show you around. It also happens to be where I would normally be spending most of my days working.”

Anything involving government had the implicit tag of boring attached to it in Rainbow Dash’s mind. But Larkon was clearly enthusiastic about it and he said all kinds of stuff went on there so… eh? Why not.

“Are we gonna get something to eat first?” She had to ask.

Larkon nodded. “Of course. We’ll have to go out of our way a bit but I was thinking we’d go to Norma’s again.”

“Works for me,” Dash shrugged with a satisfied grin on her face.

“Good, there was another thing I wanted to tell you about as well,” Larkon said.

“Yeah?”

“In exactly one week from today we are holding our spring festival! Our largest festival of the year,” Larkon seemed quite proud of it. “All throughout the streets there will be singing, dancing, food, celebration, and every other sort of fun and entertainment you could think of! It’s all centered around town’s square, I promise you’ll have an absolute blast! You see, as the name implies, it’s to celebrate the spring season where things are at their liveliest and the world around us is most favorable.”

“Heh, so you guys will be even happier and stuff than normal?” Rainbow grinned.

Larkon had to chuckle at that. “Yes, yes, everything about this festival is a celebration of positivity and a reminder of how good things are. And it’s a real holiday, everyone will be out and about having fun, everyone. You’ll get to see so much and meet more mammoths in that one day than you could in a month!”

“So one week huh? Alright then, I’m looking forward to it. Trunkball was just as fun of surprise as you hyped it up to be, I hope this can deliver too. In the meantime I can still check out everything else in this city,” her stomach suddenly growled. Loudly. A blush spread across her face as she descended to the ground. “Er, some food first would be nice though. Let’s go to Norma’s.”

“You’ll definitely have a great time at the festival. But yes, you’re right, some food would be nice right now,” Larkon said and went to the other door leading from the dining room into the hall that would take them back to the front door. Rainbow Dash followed along.

“Bye Rainbow Dash! Have fun!” Alykon waved goodbye to her from the table.

“Totally will! See you later,” Dash waved back before the door closed shut.

At the entryway, Larkon reached his trunk up and grabbed off a black fedora with a red velvet band and a feather stuck in it from the hat rack. Rarity might’ve gagged if she saw it but Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes. She was used to his hats by now.

A Mammoth of a Problem XIV

The entrance to Tarmok’s Hall was as grand as ever and the polished and posh lobby as busy with mammoths as she had seen it last time. What else had Mallom and Larkon said about this place? She couldn’t remember, or she hadn’t been paying attention. Probably too busy just checking the building out and preparing to meet the senate and introduce herself. And dealing with all the mammoths that were here mobbing her.

Which hadn’t changed at all.

Larkon had to push through a huge group of curious and overeager mammoths as they tried to crowd around him and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash meanwhile flew just slightly over his head with a smug grin on her face.

“Can you please give us some room? I can hardly breath!” Larkon frowned as he shoved some others away. “Go on! Skedaddle!”

It took a little more arguing and shooing but the throngs of mammoths did give them some peace. Larkon shook his head in annoyance and started walking to the middle of the large atrium towards some comfortable looking chairs and tables.

“Taking a rest already?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t sleep very well,” Larkon apologized. “And the walk through the city and up the steps of the Hall have drained me a bit.”

“Well you guys definitely have a lot more weight to carry around than I do...” Rainbow said.

Larkon snorted. “Very funny, you’ve seen how athletic we can be, I just happen to have taken a more academic path in life.”

The big mammoth sighed as he sat down on a chair, Rainbow Dash deciding to keep hovering by. Thankfully the other mammoths around kept giving them space and just went about their normal daily business. Rainbow Dash got to watch as mammoths went down the halls or up the stairs, some carrying scrolls or important documents, some looking very busy and frantic and others taking their time. Tarmok’s Hall was a busy center of government and there was a lot to do here.

“Larkon? What are you doing here today?” A voice called from down the way to the senate chamber.

Rainbow Dash and Larkon both looked to see a mammoth that Rainbow didn’t recognize walking towards them. His fur was a bit light and he was slightly short for a mammoth with yellow and black striped tattoos on his tusks that made them reminiscent of a bumblebee.

“Hello Ansel, new tattoos?” Larkon said as he stood up from his chair with a smile.

“Indeed, just got them,” Ansel glanced at the top of Larkon’s head. “And I was hoping you might have a new hat to go along with them.”

“Shut it,” Larkon glared at him while Rainbow Dash snickered.

Ansel smirked. “But what are you doing here today? I thought-” his eyes finally registered the blue pegasus buzzing about around Larkon. “Oh. Well that explains things.”

“Yes, I’m still working as Rainbow Dash’s host and guide. Today I wanted to get her more acquainted with Tarmok’s Hall and what goes on here,” Larkon told him.

“I hope you have all day then, it’s a lot to cover,” Ansel said.

“We do thankfully. What about you? Care to join us?” Larkon asked.

Ansel shook his head. “Can’t. I have a marriage license to record and a deed for a new shop to write up. It’s a shame, I’d love to make Miss Rainbow Dash’s acquaintanceship.”

“Next time, dude. Larkon told me about the spring festival too, maybe I’ll see you there?” Rainbow said.

“I would hope so,” he smiled and then cleared his throat. “Well, I need to be going now though, farewell you two.”

“Goodbye, Ansel,” Larkon waved with his trunk as his friend walked towards the stairs going up to another level of the Hall.

Rainbow Dash waved after him too before looking over to Larkon. “So what’s he do here?”

“He’s a scribe. He records and writes up documents such as marriage licenses like he just said, but also property deeds, contracts, legal agreements, anything really.”

She raised an eyebrow at Larkon. “Then why didn’t we just go along with him? Didn’t you want me to learn about stuff like that?”

“True. But I also figured you would be bored just watching someone write up some document. I wanted to show you things actually happening right now. Maybe things you can even engage in. Or does watching Ansel write up 5,000 words on the zoning laws of a new business sound fun to you?” Larkon grinned.

“Fair point,” Dash laughed.

“Come on then,” Larkon said as he started walking towards a door at the far side of the atrium. “We’ll make our first stop at court. I’ve checked the schedule and there’s a dispute being settled between two business owners.”

“Alright,” Dash flapped her wings and flew at eye level beside him. She was still kind of looking around and just inspecting everything she saw but aside from the architecture most of the atrium was empty. Lavish, but empty. There weren’t any eye-catching sculptures or paintings out here, although she knew there were some in this building. After meeting with Ansel though there was something else she thought about too, something she wanted to ask Larkon.

“Hey Larkon? So does that Abalun guy you met with yesterday work here too?”

Larkon didn’t pause in his stride but she noticed him flinch and almost stumble a bit. And he didn’t look back at her when he answered. “No. No, Abalun doesn’t work here.”

And that was it. No other explanation, no other question or even an attempt to slide the conversation somewhere else. Rainbow Dash knew he was hiding something about Abalun or just really didn’t want to get into it. And he knew that she knew but it wasn’t going to change anything. Larkon was all clammed up about Abalun. That suspicious mammoth and the suspicious way Larkon had acted right after were getting to her, and if he didn’t have something to do with the government of the city then what did he have to do with?

She was definitely going to get her answers someday. Curiosity fed the pegasus.

Larkon reached the ebony door and tugged on the golden handle, opening it up into a hallway that spread deeper into the building. It went down a bit and had one hallway going left midway down and then turned right at the back end. The floor was carpeted and embroidered with a pattern of flowers across it while the walls were painted red. It went well with the black doors.

“This way,” Larkon said and took Rainbow Dash down the left hallway.

She could hear sounds coming from all the different doors around them and every now and then a mammoth would pop out of one and go running off somewhere else. Rainbow Dash looked at each door as they passed them by, a plaque rested on the right side of each one with a number. It started with 101 and then went on from there. Besides that the rooms weren’t labeled in any other way she could tell, they must’ve just been for general use and whatever anybody needed at the time. Or perhaps there was some kind of directory elsewhere in Tarmok’s Hall that detailed what each of them were and she just hadn’t seen it.

Larkon stopped at the room marked 109 and quietly opened the door, clearly not wanting to distract the others already inside. With just enough room for him to slip in he and Rainbow Dash entered and stood at the back while he silently closed the door.

The court room had two rows of benches that went halfway down on either side of it with two desks at the heads of the rows. The rest of the room was an open area where mammoths could stand and make their arguments or presentations while a third, much larger, desk stood attached to the back wall of the room. The two sides must’ve been to separate the two groups that came to settle their disputes or whatever was going on here.

At the moment the benches weren’t even close to being filled, there were a lot of empty spots and most of the mammoths were gathered at the front couple of benches. Other mammoths sat at all of the desks, with the ones at the back desk clearly being the judges or arbitrators. None of them had noticed their arrival yet so things continued on as normal in the court for now.

One of the mammoths at the left desk stood up and walked to the middle of the open floor, he cleared his throat and began speaking. “I have come here because my neighbor adamantly refuses to move his trashcans to the other side of his building. The smell from these trashcans creates an unpleasant odor that ruins the atmosphere and experience for my customers at my restaurant. I have asked again and again for him to simply move his trashcans but he refuses, so unfortunately I had to bring this matter before the court. He is hurting my business with his staunch refusal and selfishness.”

“The plaintiff’s case is presented,” the mammoth at the middle of the back desk said and looked over at the right table. “Your counterpoint?”

An angry looking mammoth stood up and stomped to the center of the room before jabbing his trunk straight at the plaintiff. “My point is, as I’ve always said, that my trashcans are in a perfectly legal and normal spot on my own property. It’s not my fault that there’s a restaurant right behind me and I’m not lugging them around to the other side of my building, it’s too much of a hassle cause you’d have to take all the trash from our workroom and carry it all the way around to them.”

“These guys are actually going to court over this?” Rainbow Dash leaned into Larkon’s ear and whispered.

“This is just about the most intense conflict you’ll see between two mammoths here,” Larkon whispered back.

“I agree that property rights are important,” the first mammoth, the plaintiff, said. “But should it come at the expense of my business?”

“Should your business come at the expense of my time and work?” The defendant snorted.

“It would hardly take any extra work for you, you know that!” The plaintiff shouted at him.

“That’s not the point! The point is that I shouldn’t have to do it because I can keep my trashcans wherever I want on my property! It’s the principle of the matter!” The defendant shouted right back, the two of them now angrily approaching each other and getting right in each other’s faces.

“Stop that, stop that all at once and calm down!” The judge roared from his seat, glaring at the two. “At least act a little civil, will you?”

The two arguing mammoths backed down from each other and walked back to their tables, not sitting down just yet and still giving out mean looks but at least it didn’t seem like a fight was about to break out anymore. Rainbow Dash had heard plenty of disputes and quarrels between neighbors and business-owners back in Equestria too, and the Cutie Map sent her to numerous problems that were honestly pretty similar to this, and it seemed like there was always at least one pony in Ponyville who had an issue. Creatures were really alike all over.

With the slight pause in the arguments the judge at the back of the room actually looked up and saw Larkon standing and Rainbow Dash hovering at the back of the room. His eyes widened in surprise but Larkon lifted a foot up in front of his mouth in a “shushing” gesture. The judge wordlessly understood it and went back to business, allowing Rainbow Dash and Larkon to watch without becoming the center of attention.

The judge coughed as he looked back and forth between the plaintiff and defendant. “Legally speaking… the defendant does have a point that there is nothing wrong with the placement of his trashcans, and I wouldn’t wish to set the precedent of making it alright to punish someone just because what they’re doing may not be “kind” exactly. At the same time the issue of the public’s good may be at trunk. Should the plaintiff also have his business suffer for an easily remedied issue? While the defendant’s trashcans may be his property, if the smell from them reaches over far enough to the plaintiff’s restaurant then perhaps they are a matter which the plaintiff has a right to.” The judge paused for a second, thinking, his trunk drummed up and down on his desk. “Court rules in favor of the plaintiff. The trashcans need to be moved until the smell is no longer an issue for the restaurant.”

The plaintiff and the other mammoths on his side cheered and clapped their trunks together, the defendant and his side meanwhile just groaned and threw up their trunks in disbelief and annoyance.

Before the groups both realized that Rainbow Dash and Larkon were there the historian quickly ushered the pegasus back to the door.

“Let’s not get caught by another mob,” Larkon whispered.

Back out in the hallway Larkon continued to lead Rainbow Dash left through the building. She knew the senate chamber was on this side of the building but didn’t know if you could get to it from here. And Larkon might’ve been thinking of showing her something else too.

“So is that the kind of stuff that happens every day here?” Rainbow Dash asked him.

Larkon nodded. “Disputes and cases like that, yes. It’s all done here at Tarmok’s Hall.”

“What are we gonna go see next?”

“Well there’s a wedding going on up in one of the ballrooms at the top level of the Hall. I’m sure the lovely new couple would be more than happy for you to grace them with your presence on this special occasion… or we could go to the senate chambers and watch them debate on installing a new statue in the old part of town.”

“Does the wedding have alcohol?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.

“Of course,” Larkon smiled.

A very happy smirk grew on Rainbow Dash’s face. “I think I know where I want to go then.”

Rainbow Dash was currently downing a glass of beer while dozens of mammoths danced around her. The newlyweds were at the front of a party train traveling around the ballroom while the groomsmen danced in a circle with the bridesmaid. All of them were kicking their feet in and out and twirling each other around by their trunks while other mammoths clapped and stomped in rhythm. These mammoths knew how to throw a fun wedding, it reminded her of the party she and her friends had all had after Shining Armor and Cadance’s wedding. A group of fiddlers and cellists at the back of the ballroom played a fast and exuberant tune to keep things upbeat.

Larkon had been asked to dance by one of the other wedding guests but declined on account of his already married status. So he sat at a table by Rainbow Dash and ate a piece of cake. Just as he thought, the newlyweds were more than happy that they could boast of being the first, last, and only couple to have the pony from Equestria crash their wedding. It made their most special of days even more special.

“Ahhh, this stuff is good,” Rainbow Dash said to Larkon as she sipped down the rest of her beer. Naturally it had come in a rather large glass but she could handle it.

“Only the best for a wedding,” Larkon smiled.

Rainbow Dash thought about that for a second, there must’ve been patches in the farms specifically set aside for the grains and wheats used to make beer. They definitely didn’t have grapes up here to make wine or champagne or anything fancier. But they did have corn and a lot of other stuff that could’ve been used to make strong whiskey or moonshine. Rainbow Dash was going to keep on the lookout for that. If the chance to drank some came up she was definitely going to take it.

She looked out the window to her left, which led to a balcony that stood at the very top of Tarmok’s Hall beneath the decorative roof. She could see a good deal of the city below and the cold lake beyond it. It was really a nice view, she was surprised there weren’t just a lot of mammoths who came up to the top of Tarmok’s Hall just for it.

“I’m sure someone would’ve asked you to dance if they knew how to make that work,” Larkon said. “But I’m afraid it would be quite awkward for our… size differences.”

Rainbow Dash snorted, holding back laughter. “It’s whatever, dancing can be fun but I don’t mind.”

“You could join the train maybe? Just get on at the back or fly above the newlyweds heads?” Larkon prodded her.

“No thanks,” Rainbow Dash blushed at the fairly embarrassing thought. “I’ll just sit back and watch, if anyone wants to talk I can tell them all about my awesomeness but right now I’m having a pretty fun time just having a drink.”

She watched the train of mammoths keep going around the ballroom and idly wondered how bad it would be if the floor collapsed.

There must be some really powerful beams holding it up… She thought as she grabbed another glass of beer.

Wiping away the foam from her mouth after drinking she happily watched more of the festivities. The new husband and wife eventually stopped their train and had the rest of the wedding congregation crowd around them while the band changed to a slower paced song. Rainbow Dash flew up to get a good view and saw the newlyweds dancing together. Their trunks were embraced and the husband had a gleaming silver and diamond-encrusted band on his right tusk while the wife wore a flower crown. It was a young couple, both of them no older than Rainbow Dash herself. She felt happy for them.

Other couples and mammoths joined in on the slow dancing, soon the entire ballroom was taken up by waltzing mammoths. They didn’t move quite as nimbly while dancing as they had when she had seen them swimming but it was impressive to see their large bodies glide over the ballroom floor.

The newlywed couple saw her flying around overhead and they detached their trunks from each other so they could wave to her.

Rainbow Dash flew down to the two of them. “Nice wedding! Good luck on your marriage and everything.”

“Thank you!” The wife said. “We were so excited when we saw you, I can’t believe you came to our wedding.”

“Hey, don’t mention it. Larkon’s the one you have to thank anyways. But it was cool, I’m glad I came up here to see you two get married,” Dash said.

“It’s our pleasure,” the husband said. “Do you have similar weddings and ceremonies back in… Equestria, was it?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yep, real similar. Different kind of dancing though. I’ve been to a few of them.”

“Is there any special wisdom you have for a newlywed couple then? Something common for ponies, or anything you’d like to share?” The husband asked, raising an eager eyebrow.

The “advice” Shining Armor had given her ages ago flashed through her head but she didn’t think it applied here. “Err… just be awesome to each other I guess?”

“Awesome to each other?” The husband said and looked into his wife’s eyes. She returned the loving gaze and Rainbow Dash could practically see the sparkles. “I think we can be that.”

“Great! Imma get some more beer, it’s really good,” Dash said, rubbing the back of her neck at the couple’s lovey-dovey display.

“Enjoy it, and please, stay as long as you’d like!” The wife said.

Rainbow Dash waved bye to them and flew back to Larkon and her table. He was eating a second piece of cake already. She was full of beer though and had no room whatsoever for anything like that right now. Instead she sat down on the table and watched as the wedding guests all continued their slow dancing. She sighed in contentment, the alcohol washing over her and making her feel a pleasant buzz.

“I hope you had enough to drink. With your size I was slightly worried,” Larkon said as he watched her.

She closed her eyes and smiled. “Don’t worry about that, I can handle it just fine.”

“So it seems. I’m impressed frankly,” Larkon shoveled the last bit of cake into his mouth and swallowed it down. “Are you ready to go?”

She opened a single eye to look at him. “What are we going to check out next here?”

“I figured that regardless of what’s going on it would be good for you to visit the senate chamber again. And the senators and Bakol would certainly want you to have come back at least once as well.”

“Yeah, true,” Rainbow Dash opened up both eyes and looked at the ceiling. “Least I could do and all that, huh? Alright, give me a second to get off this buzz and we can go.”

A Mammoth of a Problem XV

There was no avoiding notice when it came to entering the senate chamber and observing things. Larkon and Rainbow Dash had to be announced at the door despite the fact that it would obviously interrupt things. Larkon rolled his eyes through the whole thing but Rainbow Dash at least enjoyed the attention and the chance to awe and captivate the senators again.

“What’s up? Hope you guys are going over some cool laws or something today,” she said as she flew over their heads to the sides of the long benches where there were the alcoves for observers. “Any crazy debates? Anybody trying to do something outrageous that you need to vote on?”

“Despite your fitful expectations there is nothing of the like going on today,” Larkon said as he looked up at her while he walked down one of the bench rows. “Unless something truly unusual and unscheduled has come up.”

“Which it hasn’t,” Bakol loudly said from his spot at the head of the chamber. “We’re just going over some aspects of the budget right now, Miss Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Dare to dream.”

“After we finish up discussion of that perhaps we can set aside some time to hear from you and see how you’re enjoying our city so far?” Bakol said.

“Yeah, sure,” Rainbow Dash said as she found a seat in one of the alcoves. “There’s plenty of awesome stuff I can talk about that I’ve seen. And whatever else you wanna know about me too, I’m always open to talk about myself.”

“Excellent,” Bakol smiled and lifted up his gavel, banging it on his table a few times to get things back in order. “Alright, back to the issue at trunk.”

As Larkon sat down next to her, Rainbow Dash then got a front row view of everything she didn’t envy about the Princesses position. There were certainly times when she wondered what it would be like to be a Princess herself, even if she preferred her carefree life, but seeing everything Twilight had to do, and especially Celestia and Luna, she always remembered not to take her freedom for granted. If she actually had to sit around and discuss laws and all this boring kind of stuff she’d definitely go crazy. Or pawn it all off on someone else.

Bakol almost looked as bored as she did as various senators just kept arguing and arguing about how best to utilize their resources and what to do about some of the leftover buildings in the abandoned sector. She could tell why he was just the mediator and whatever else he did for the senate, he didn’t have the patience for nonsense and would always try to get things working. Not the type to get bogged down in petty squabbles or anything like that.

Which now that she thought about it, Rainbow Dash probably would be the type to do that if she was doing a job like this. More reason for her to not get involved with government.

“Is it similar to how things get done back in Equestria?” Larkon quietly asked her.

“Uh, not really? I don’t really know too much about how new laws are made or whatever but Princess Celestia basically just decides the big stuff on her own and leaves everything to the individual towns and cities,” Rainbow shrugged.

“I see,” Larkon nodded, rubbing his chin with his trunk.

“If Celestia ever wants to decree something important or whatever she just does it, and everyone trusts her. It’s always worked for us,” Rainbow said as she watched the horde of senators converse.

There were some who kept bringing up new issues or points of business that they thought would negatively be impacted if the senate decided to do things one way. So then those points had to be talked about and debated too. And it just went on and on like that with very little real discussion or decisions being made. Some senators outright refused to allow the discussion to make any progress, sidelining and arguing others until their issues were taken care of. Bakol had to slam his gavel down a few times and shout others down just to keep things civil in the chamber.

“I hope this doesn’t make you think too badly of us,” Larkon sighed as the two of them watched.

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Heh, don’t worry about it. Ponies argue about stuff all the time. You guys have to take care of this whole place all on your own, I’m not gonna blame you or anything.” She didn’t add her thoughts about how she’d probably be one of the creatures making things worse if she was in that position.

“Like I said!” A particularly loud senator roared. “I will not vote, nor will I allow a vote to commence, until we settle exactly how the lumber from the old schoolhouse will be distributed down to every last plank!”

A chorus of tired groans arose from the senate and Rainbow Dash had to bite back a laugh.

“Oh don’t all act like I’m crazy! Scarcity is a fact of life up here and I will not allow any such material to be wasted or improperly utilized!” The rowdy senator stomped his foot on the ground.

Rainbow Dash felt like he would’ve actually gotten along pretty well with Twilight and Applejack right at that moment. He clearly had a point too it’s just that he was being fairly obnoxious about it. What was that saying? Something Applejack told her: you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Either way it caused the discussion to stall as he and some other mammoths on his side were adamant in writing up a binding document that would say what all the wood was going to be used for and that it couldn’t be used for anything else. Well at least in the long run that was a good way to counter misuse or corruption. In the short run however it was probably going to cause them to adjourn for the day before anything of substance had been done.

“At least it seems like they finished some of their earlier business while we were at court and the wedding,” Larkon mused. “But there have been days when nothing, and I mean nothing, has gotten done.”

“Maybe you guys need to start having Kings again,” Rainbow Dash looked up at him.

A wry grin twisted on Larkon’s face. “That is something we’ve put behind us, for better and for worse.”

“Whatever works I guess,” Rainbow Dash scratched her head as she resumed watching the debate.

Things slowly started to just get petty and devolve into personal insults. The friendliness and amicability of mammoths that Larkon had done a good job of showing to Rainbow Dash was having a hard time withstanding politics. Some mammoths completely tried to push past this argument, others tried to derail further, and most just flat out ignored each other. Laws would likely still be written with enough time, and decisions made, but compromise was not a word that was floating about the senate chamber today.

Bakol could finally take no more and slammed his gavel down repeatedly once more to get silence in the chamber. “Enough! It’s clear nothing on this matter will be resolved today, I’m postponing things until tomorrow. Instead let us hear from our esteemed guest, Rainbow Dash. That is something we can all be in agreement on at least.”

“Aye!” nearly the entire senate chorused.

Bakol looked over to the alcove where Rainbow Dash and Larkon were and beckoned the two of them to rise and come stand before the senate. “Please, tell us how your first day in our city was. This auspicious occasion must be celebrated and recorded.”

Rainbow Dash smiled and spread out her wings so she could rise into the air where everyone could easily see her. “Well since you asked so nicely...”

She spent the next hour talking about everything she had seen and done yesterday. Helping out with the kelp farming, visiting the other farms, the quarry, seeing the Trunkball game, and just speaking about all the individual mammoths she had met. She did have the tact to not relate anything about Abalun or those three kids that had picked a fight with her, this was supposed to be a happy time in here after all.

The mammoth senators were happy to hear everything she had to say and what she thought about their city. And to their joy it was all pretty positive.

“Trunkball is really cool, I’m definitely watching more games of it,” Rainbow Dash nodded her head as she folded her front legs over her chest.

“We’re overjoyed you enjoy our sport. It fills us with pride!” Bakol positively beamed at her.

“Wouldn’t mind figuring out a way I could join in on a game too, just not sure yet how it’d work what with me flying and the ball being as big as I am and all. But I’ll figure something out!” Dash grinned.

She then flew over to Larkon, hovering right by his head. “And thanks for letting Larkon take me in and show me around, he’s awesome.”

Larkon grunted and looked away in embarrassment.

“One of the reasons we accepted Larkon’s proposal was because I knew he would be excellent as your host,” Bakol said.

“It has been an enjoyable experience so far getting to tour the city with Rainbow Dash,” Larkon finally said. “She has unique views on things and I, all of us, have learned so much about Equestria and the outside world from her.”

“I’ve got a lot of other stuff I want to see and some mammoths to meet back up with already too,” Rainbow said. “I don’t know how long I’ll be staying here but for the next few days at least you’ll see me around! You guys are cool, and I’ll tell everyone about you when I get back home from my adventure.”

“Few days?” Bakol raised an eyebrow. “Please tell me you’ll at least be staying long enough to enjoy our Spring Festival? Has Larkon told you about it yet?”

“Oh yeah!” Rainbow Dash slapped her forehead. “Duh! Yeah, he told me about it this morning, I’ll totally go to it.”

“Great! I had been thinking this whole time we might do something special for you at it… we already do street theater, maybe we’ll do a new play just for you!” Bakol smiled.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t about to refuse any special treatment. If they wanted to treat her like a Princess (without all the previously mentioned baggage that came with that) that was their business and it sounded pretty sweet to her.

“Whatever you guys got planned I’m looking forward to it,” Rainbow Dash shrugged with an easy grin on her face.

“Wonderful,” Bakol trumpeted and many of the other mammoths in the chamber joined in. “Now is there anything else you have to say about our city and culture? Any questions? Please, don’t hesitate. If there is any insight you have into our lives, or something you’ve noticed that seems strange to you compared to your life in Equestria, we’d love to hear that too.”

Rainbow Dash briefly shot a glance at Larkon, who shrugged. “Well if you guys insist...”

A Mammoth of a Problem XVI

The next thing Rainbow Dash did in the city of mammoths was a little different. When the day had come, Alykon took her to meet her Trunkball team and see the court they practiced on. It was actually located on the eastern outskirts of the city, outside the gate and around the houses and warehouses that the farmers and quarry workers used. Rainbow Dash would’ve liked to have sat down with those guards like she had promised the last time she saw them but again she had something else to do. In the end all they did was wave and say hi to each other. Something she’d have to rectify in the future. Speaking of guards she really had to go see Mallom again too, for being the first mammoth she had met she only saw him on that very first day.

Larkon had allowed them to go out completely on their own too, not wanting to embarrass Alykon and probably figuring there was no harm in it anyways. Rainbow Dash didn’t know what he was doing right now but probably something to do with planning the next place to take her. There were still a few days after this one until the festival and Larkon probably wanted them all to be packed.

For the moment though she and Alykon were just walking between houses and other buildings. The twists and turns they had to take through the closely clustered and tall buildings would’ve been disorienting if Rainbow Dash couldn’t fly. Already she had to float along next to Alykon at a fairly slow speed since the snow wasn’t shoveled too well in these little side streets and alleys either and Alykon had to slog through it.

“It’s just up ahead! I told my friends to make sure the court’s been cleared of snow. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they see you,” Alykon said to her.

“Heh, me neither,” that was always something Rainbow Dash would enjoy.

There had already been other mammoths they had seen in this dizzying labyrinth of buildings, some children and some adults who had all been surprised and happy to see Rainbow Dash in their little area. She didn’t see those punks whose trunks she had tied together though.

Rainbow Dash and Alykon walked onto a dirt path where the snow was piled along the sides, sitting up against the brick walls of the buildings that enclosed the pathway. Up ahead was a clearing in the buildings that Rainbow Dash could see. The voices of several talking mammoths came down the path from it and Alykon couldn’t help but pick up her pace now with an excited grin on her face.

She was practically running and Rainbow Dash was lightly speeding up behind her when she emerged from the path and into this new park area. Rainbow Dash looked around at the empty lot stuck between a few buildings, there was a grassy patch on one side with some playground equipment like seesaws, pull-up bars, and swings, while the other half was taken up by a dirt rectangle with two hoops at either end of it.

The Trunkball court. Only not as well maintained or professional as the one at the stadium. Where that court had a polished hardwood floor this one really was just dirt. At least Alykon’s friends had shoveled the snow out of the way or that would’ve ended the fun quick.

“Hey guys!” Alykon shouted as she jumped out with Rainbow Dash behind her.

Three teenage mammoths at the Trunkball court turned to face them, it looked like they had been kicking around the big red ball used for it just previously. All of them were boys so Alykon must’ve been the only girl on the team. Speaking of that, all of the pro players were guys, maybe it was more of a guy thing and Alykon was unusual for being a girl mammoth that played Trunkball.

When they got onto the court, Alykon looked at Rainbow Dash and pointed to the others. “Rainbow Dash, meet my team. Team, meet Rainbow Dash.”

“Hey,” Rainbow Dash casually grinned and waved at them while she hovered in the air.

One of them stepped right up to her and looked on in wonder. “Wow… I can’t believe I’m really meeting someone who’s not a mammoth...”

Alykon slapped him upside the head with her trunk. “Stop gawking and introduce yourself! All of you!”

“R-Right,” the first mammoth lifted up his trunk so Rainbow Dash could shake it. “I’m Dathon, it’s nice to meet you.”

Dathon was the tallest of the group but still nowhere near the height of a full grown adult. Another thing about him was that his fur was much darker than any other mammoth she had seen so far. It was almost more black than brown. His expression changed from one of starstruck awe to joy as soon as Rainbow Dash started shaking his trunk.

“Nice to meet you too, kid,” Dash said to him.

The next mammoth then came up and instead of waiting for her to shake his trunk he grabbed her hoof and shook the flying pony with gusto all on his own. Being a mammoth he did it hard enough to rattle her brain and shake off a few feathers. “I’m really happy to meet you too! My name’s Orsal!”

He finally stopped shaking her so Rainbow Dash’s dizzy eyes could focus on him. Unlike Dathon, his fur was the normal shade of brown and he looked slightly on the heavy side with even his trunk and tusks being a little chunkier than she had seen.

“Hey Orsal...” Rainbow Dash rubbed her head as she greeted him.

“Uh… I’m Makom. Wow...” the last mammoth said as he walked up to Dash. “My father said he saw you when you were at the quarry.”

“Yeah?” Dash raised an eyebrow. “He work there?”

Makom nodded. He was almost as tall as Dathon but looked more muscular at the same time, with fur the same average brown shade as Orsal’s. Unlike any of his teammates he also had red tattoos on his tusks, jagged lines that went up and down them, if it wasn’t for how peaceful mammoths were Rainbow Dash would’ve thought they were meant to be intimidating. “My father works as a digger at the bottom levels.”

“I probably saw him too then, tell him to say hi if he sees me down there again cause I’ll probably go back at some point,” she smiled.

Makom returned it. “Certainly!”

“Okay, okay! Now that that’s out of the way we can finally play some Trunkball!” Alykon shouted.

“Is she just going to watch us practice?” Dathon asked.

“Uh, yeah, for now at least!” Alykon said and ran over to the red ball they had been using. “Rainbow Dash said she’s a coach of something called Buckball back in Equestria, I wanted her to watch us and see if she can help us out or give us any tips.”

“But she’s basically a stranger to Trunkball,” Dathon raised an eyebrow at Alykon.

“Hey now, don’t make any assumptions here,” Rainbow Dash said and flew between them. “I’ve got a pretty good handle on it already and I’m awesome. I can coach any sport. That’s just part of being the most amazing athlete in the whole world.” She frowned and looked between the two of them. “So you guys don’t already have a coach of your own or anything? Aren’t you in an official division?”

“It’s an official division but not very serious or organized,” Makom said.

“Oh,” Rainbow Dash slumped a little. “Well whatever, you guys wanna play Trunkball then play however much Trunkball you want! Who are you playing against?” She looked around the park to see if there were any other mammoths she missed.

“Um… no one?” Alykon shrugged. “We have to just play two on two.”

“But-” Rainbow Dash started but then stopped and sighed. “Well, okay… I guess that’s still alright.”

The pegasus flew over to the side of the court so she could have a commanding view of the entire game. “Show me what you four can do!”

The four separated into two teams, Alykon and Makom versus Dathon and Orsal. Instead of having two players on dedicated offense and two on defense they were all going to play the full court. Made sense, they just had to do the best with what they had. Alykon bounced the ball on the ground a few times and already Rainbow Dash could tell the dirt wasn’t going to be as good a material as the hardwood. The ball only pathetically got up to about her own chin and dust was kicked up with every bounce. Couldn’t they at least have pavement here or bricks or something?

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and she flew over to Alykon. “Hey wait!”

“What?” Alykon looked up at her in surprise.

Rainbow Dash grinned and winked at her. “Don’t you want to let me throw the ball up for you?”

Alykon and the others were surprised but grins quickly spread across their faces and Alykon tossed the ball to Dash. “Sure.”

“Alright, get ready!” Dash said as she held up the ball. It was slightly awkward since it was almost the same size as her but it was just a big rubber ball. “Go!”

She heaved the ball as high into the air as she could and then flew out of the way so the others could fight over it. Surprisingly it was Orsal who got his trunk on the ball first after jumping to a commanding height. Alykon immediately charged him to get the ball and from there the scrimmage devolved into a melee. There was no rhythm, no strategy, no real teamwork, they did nothing but fight over the ball and try to muscle past each other. It didn’t look like the professional game she had seen at all. In fact, it looked pretty bad.

Is every junior division team like this? Rainbow Dash winced as she watched.

It might have partially been due to the court too but there was so much mishandling of the ball and poor dribbling that often saw the ball bounce or roll away from them and they had to scramble to retrieve it before it rolled off the court. None of them were particularly quick runners and there weren’t any trick plays or shots used or even attempted. And a number of shots that were attempted were way off the mark and completely missed the hoop and pole altogether.

There was no question about it—Alykon and her team were bad at the game.

“This might take a little work,” Rainbow Dash bit her lip.

It’s not like she expected them to be on the level of the pros, right? But she expected at least some competence. Especially with how passionate Alykon was about it. But the four of them looked like they were practically just messing around and throwing a ball back and forth, not even really practicing or working on how to play a good game of Trunkball. And they didn’t really seem to be the best athletes in general, with Alykon being the quickest and the others mostly just reacting to her moves. It was closer to seeing kids play make believe or pretending they were serious players while not actually knowing or caring about the rules to the game.

She wondered if all the junior division teams were like this.

Dathon and Orsal ended up accidentally running into each other and tripping onto the ground, giving Alykon the free space she needed to make the first two points of the game with a clean dunk. She cheered for herself and walked back to Makom for a high-trunk.

Rainbow Dash flew down to collect the ball again while Dathon and Orsal picked themselves up. Makom walked to the center of the court to wait for things to start up again but Alykon happily hopped right over to Rainbow Dash. She wanted to speak to her before the next round of play.

“What did you think?! How are we?” Alykon eagerly asked the pegasus.

Rainbow Dash fought back an uneasy grimace as she looked down at Alykon, and then over at her teammates who were also awaiting the answer.

In the end she handled this the same way she handle everything. Directly.

“You’re pretty bad.”

Alykon looked like a kid that had just been told they couldn’t have any dessert. Makom rolled his eyes behind her and Dathon just shook his head. Orsal was the only one who didn’t seem to be upset about it.

“I told you, Aly. There’s a reason we’ve never won a game,” Dathon said.

“Wait, never?” Rainbow Dash questioned.

“We’re kind of in last place in our division,” Makom said.

Orsal shrugged. “I’ve never seen any reason to get depressed over it.”

“Most of the junior division isn’t very good anyways,” Dathon said. “Every team is pretty much around the same bad level as us.”

“Well that’s… good?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head as she dropped the ball and let herself go down to the ground too. “I guess with just a little help you might be able to start beating your opponents and everything. Maybe it isn’t as bad as I thought. A good coach could go a really long way in the first place.”

“Sorry we aren’t better,” Alykon said. She looked like the only one who was still really bummed out after hearing what Rainbow Dash said and the reality of their situation coming to light. She couldn’t meet Rainbow Dash’s eyes and was kicking at the dirt of the court.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. You didn’t just drag me out here to show me off to your friends, you wanted me to help you out too and that’s what I’m gonna do, count on it!” Dash reassured her.

“Thanks… er, sorry I didn’t tell you at first how bad we were. I guess I was kind of hoping everything would just work out,” Alykon said.

Rainbow Dash thought over the very poor display of Trunkball she had just seen. “Yeahhh, don’t think that was ever gonna happen.”

“So what do we do?” Makom asked.

“We don’t have a game until a week after the spring festival at least. That’s plenty of time for practice,” Dathon said.

“You guys don’t need to worry about anything. I’ll handle it,” Rainbow Dash said. “Just listen to me and I can coach you through it. First thing’s first: exercise. Before you all just start practicing I want you to exercise every morning. That means push-ups, sit-ups, running, lifting weights, whatever. You’re going to get plenty of exercise to get in the best shape of your lives. And then you’re not just gonna run around the court like a bunch of headless chickens either! You’ll alternate between practicing on offense and defense, do you even have set roles at all?”

Alykon shook her head. “No, whoever wants to play whatever position on that day just plays it.”

“Well then we’ll figure out who’s the best suited for what and make it work,” Rainbow Dash nodded, thinking. “After a few practice games we should be able to tell which of you should be dedicated defense and dedicated offense.”

“I wanna be on offense!” Orsal said, raising his trunk high into the air.

Dash grinned. “Okay, we can try you out there first. And next up, I’ll play some games with you too so you can test yourselves against a real athlete.” She finished that up with proudly puffing out her chest.

“How are you going to play?” Dathon raised an eyebrow at her. “The ball is as big as you are, you have to dribble it, and if you wanted you could just fly out of our reach.”

“Well we can make some special rules for me? Like I can’t fly higher than the poles, and I still have to dribble it like you do even though that’ll be tough depending on how high I am. And don’t worry about the size of the ball, I’m strong enough to carry it easy,” Dash said.

“I think playing against her could give us some good experience,” Makom said.

“Me too. Maybe we could even figure out some kind of new strategy or way of playing with Rainbow Dash’s help?” Alykon suggested.

Orsal just looked up as he wracked his brain before looking at his teammates. “I just think it’ll be cool playing with her.”

Dathon shrugged, not like he was really against it from the start anyways. “Alright, I suppose it’s something we should be happy about considering who you are.”

“Great!” Dash said and flew up above their heads. “First order of business—give me twenty laps around this park! Go, go, go!”

Her commands rang out across the court and the four mammoths were quickly whipped up into activity, seeing how serious the blue pony was about coaching them. Today she was going to run them until they were sweating and collapsing in exhaustion. After all, Rainbow Dash demanded the best from everybody. And as she saw how they started to struggle not even halfway through their running she knew her work was going to be cut out for her too. But that was fine, Rainbow Dash loved a challenge too.

“I really wish I had a whistle...” she grinned at the running mammoths.

A Mammoth of a Problem XVII

To Rainbow Dash, her time in the mammoth city had been nice. Which was the problem. It was too nice. Where was the adventure? There was fun here but it wasn’t the kind of fun and excitement she had come on her journey to find. And now here she was today about to go enjoy a pleasant little festival where everyone would be singing and dancing and having a blast. Which was pretty much proof that what she wanted wasn’t ever going to be found here with the mammoths.

And which is why she was going to tell Larkon shortly after the festival that she would be leaving.

Not immediately or anything. She wasn’t just gonna suddenly fly off and leave him and the rest of the city in the dust. But she was going to let him know that she wouldn’t be staying for much longer, in fact she only planned to stay until that first Trunkball game that Alykon and her team had mentioned. She owed them that. But after that it would be time to head out again and look for more real adventure.

Larkon would be disappointed but as much as Rainbow Dash liked him she had already spent so much time here doing stuff that wasn’t what she really wanted to be doing. It would be different if she thought there was some kind of epic adventure about to unfold but she really doubted that. The mammoths were too peaceful, too… well, boring. And she needed more.

When she had stayed in the Pegasus Empire in their cloud city she knew without a doubt that she had big problems to fix and an evil villain to beat. Along with the fact that serving in their army was keeping her sharp and actually got her involved in some battles. Obviously things were quite different here in the mammoth city.

She knew there was more adventure waiting for her in the True North and she didn’t want to miss it by staying here for too long.

“Dear, have you decided on what hat you’ll be wearing today yet?” The impatient voice of Shibu asked Larkon as he stood in front of a mirror, swapping hat after hat from his rack to see which one fit best on him for the Spring Festival.

Rainbow Dash hovered over by Alykon and Samarkon while she watched, a grin tugging at her face.

She and the family were by the entrance to Larkon’s house, all of them preparing to leave and head out to town’s square where the majority of the festivities would be held. Alykon was wearing a wide brim hat with a pink ribbon around it herself and Shibu had some extra jewelry on her tusks. Samarkon (besides herself) was the only one of them to not dress up at all. He seemed to be in the same foul mood he always was and looked determined to not only not enjoy the spring festival but to also attempt to sour the experience for everyone else as well.

So naturally Rainbow Dash was ignoring him and the ugly looks he was constantly sending her way. He was probably still upset about the prank anyways.

“Come on dad, just pick one!” Alykon impatiently tittered up and down on her feet. “I want to get to the festival already!”

“Calm down it’s not going anywhere,” Larkon said as he put his boater hat on his head and then almost immediately took it off to replace it with his checkered top hat. He frowned at his reflection the entire time, never satisfied. “I just want to look my best you know. As the historian of our city I think it’s important for me to take this festival seriously.”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but snicker this time. “Your hats are meant to make you look serious?”

Larkon frowned and glanced at her in the mirror. “Yes.”

“Just ignore that,” Shibu said to Rainbow Dash with a smirk on her face. “He’s always been obsessed with these hats of his. I can practically guarantee you that there’s no one else in our city who wears hats like he does.”

“I haven’t seen any,” Rainbow Dash chuckled.

“Oh the both of you can laugh it up, I’ve narrowed it down at least,” Larkon said as he held up his checkered top hat and the bowler Rainbow Dash had seen him wearing on her first day here. He really seemed to be putting a lot of genuine thought into which one he was going to wear and finally the checkered top hat was put back on the rack and the bowler rested atop his head. “There. Now I look sharp.”

Shibu rolled her eyes at her husband and walked towards the front door. “Come along then.”

“Can’t I just stay here? I don’t want to go to the dumb festival,” Samarkon said and sat back on his butt, folding his front legs over his chest and puffing out his cheeks to look as grouchy as possible.

All it did was make him look more like an upset baby than a rebellious teenager though.

“No, you can not just stay here,” Larkon glared at his son. “This is important, the spring festival has been a big deal to our society practically since the founding of the city and especially since we gave up our warring ways.”

“That’s why it’s dumb...” Samarkon muttered.

Larkon walked over and grabbed the scruff of Samarkon’s neck with his trunk, lifting him up and making him stand. “I have had nearly enough of your attitude, Samarkon. You are coming to the festival with us and you will enjoy yourself. That is final.” The patriarch roughly admonished his son, finishing up with a disappointed glare.

Samarkon almost looked like he was going to cry but instead just walked past his father and mother and out the door, slamming it behind him as he went.

Larkon merely sighed as he went and looked to Alykon and Rainbow Dash. “Don’t let him ruin things for the rest of us, please, there is too much fun to be had at the festival.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rainbow Dash flew up to eye level with him and went towards the door. “I know how to have fun. Let’s go.”

“Yeah dad, just ignore Samarkon,” Alykon said and walked over to her mom.

Larkon seemed not entirely happy with that but he and Rainbow Dash still went to join them beside the door. Shibu then opened it up and the family prepared to leave together to the festival. Samarkon was standing out on the porch, looking down at the street and refusing to meet the eyes of any of his family members. Rainbow Dash felt kind of bad for him. But she wasn’t about to have a fun day like this spoiled for her either.

Down the street she could hear all sorts of noise already coming from the festival and there were other mammoths, couples, and families walking towards town square too. The day was warmer than average for what she had seen up here and the roads and sidewalks were utterly clear of any snow. A true spring festival. Larkon and his family walked down the steps of his home while Rainbow Dash flew beside them, an excited smile on her face.

“Let’s go!” Larkon said, smiling as well in spite of the spat with his son. Probably trying to keep a pleasant mood for everyone. “Rainbow Dash, I guarantee this day will be the most fun you’ll have up here in our city.”

“Looking forward to it then,” Rainbow said as she flew a little ahead of them, the festival and all the pleasant sounds and smells from it awaited.

A Mammoth of a Problem XVIII

What she had seen before at town’s square when she first went through the city with Mallom couldn’t even compare to what it was like now. Hundreds, actually hundreds, of mammoths crowded the streets and walked up and down the various attractions and festivities. While there had been some stalls and some mammoths selling stuff out of wagons previously now there were dozens of stands lining the perimeter of the square and all around the huge fountain as well. Some of them offered food while others were for things like portraits, painting, knick-knacks, little toys, clothes, tusk jewelry, tusk painting, and it went on and on.

She actually saw Captain Gollak at one of the stands—getting his tusks painted bright green just for fun.

Rainbow Dash was glad she could fly right now with how crowded the streets and square were. Larkon and his family had to practically fight through a horde of other mammoths and try not to get separated. Of course this made Rainbow Dash clearly visible to all the mammoths at the festival and she got a number of cheers and trunks thrown up into the sky towards her for her to shake.

Which she was happy to.

“Let’s grab a snack first, then we can see some of the entertainment!” Larkon shouted up to her, he had to raise his voice a bit in this crowd.

Rainbow Dash nodded and flew over to right above his head. As far as the entertainment he mentioned went, there was a single large stage on the north side of the square in-between a number of other stalls. At the moment there was a band playing on it but there were a lot of props and decorations with cardboard sets behind them along with a backdrop of rolling green hills. Bakol mentioned plays being put on at the festival, that must’ve been the stage for them.

Larkon muscled through the crowd with his family in a line behind him. His eyes were deadset on a particular stand sitting along the side of the fountain. A very pleasant smell rose up from it and there were a number of other mammoths standing in front of it ordering from it too. She saw one of them step away with a cob of corn on a stick that was positively covered and drenched in all sorts of toppings. There were herbs, chives, bits of potato, some kind of sauce. Rainbow Dash licked her lips at the sight of it.

A single cob would’ve been no more than a bite for a mammoth but there were probably so many other foods and snacks here today that Larkon didn’t want them to fill up at the very beginning.

Rainbow Dash had no such issue. She may not be able to eat like the black hole that was Pinkie Pie but she could still down a lot of good food. And that’s exactly what she planned. No matter where else Larkon took her, if it smelled good and it looked good you can bet she was going to try it.

“That smells great,” Shibu said from behind Larkon. “Rainbow Dash I’m sure you’ll love it.”

“Yeah, I’m sure too,” Rainbow said.

Larkon finally made it to the front of the line at the stall and held up his trunk to the purveyor. “Five, please.”

The one selling the corncobs looked above his head at Rainbow Dash and smiled widely. “Anything for you, Miss Rainbow Dash.” He had to dip the cobs and fix them up right then and there, making sure they were as fresh as possible. After a minute he held up five of them in his trunk. “Please tell me what you think.”

Rainbow Dash grabbed one of them while Larkon took the others and gave them out to his family. Even Samarkon wasn’t going to refuse such a delicious treat. Rainbow Dash turned the cob around in her hooves before sinking her teeth into it, taking a huge bite of corn and condiments off it.

“Mmmm!” She moaned in delight, the symphony of tastes and textures in her mouth were just straight perfection. A savoriness to the toppings that mixed great with the sweetness of the corn and the gooey sauce almost like melted cheese complemented the soft corn and bits of potato too. She turned the corn cob around as she ate it to gobble up every last bit, her tongue lapping up the sauces. When she finished she held up the barren cob on its stick and rubbed her belly. “That was great! I’d ask for seconds if there wasn’t a hundred other things here to eat.”

“Thank you! It means the world for our guest to have loved my corncobs so much,” the purveyor beamed.

“I always love these too,” Larkon said as he finished cleaning his.

“Here, let me help you with those sticks,” the purveyor said and pulled up a trash bin from under his stall. Rainbow Dash chucked hers in while Larkon’s gathered up the rest from his family and threw them in too.

“Delicious as last year!” Shibu told the seller.

“You’re all too kind,” the corncob seller rubbed the back of his head with his trunk as he smiled and bowed his head.

“It was seriously great, dude,” Dash told him.

The group then moved away from the stall, they had other stuff to see and do and other mammoths wanted to get some corn too. Larkon now guided them in the direction of the big stage so they could listen to some of the music. Maybe he would have them wait around for a play to start, Rainbow Dash didn’t exactly know the schedule. As they moved through the crowd though she saw a lot of mammoths she recognized from around the city. More workers from the docks and farms, those soldiers at the east gate, and Ansel from Tarmok’s Hall were all out doing various things of their own.

“If the rest of the food here is as good as that was I think I’ll gain a hundred pounds by the end of the day,” Rainbow Dash said down to Larkon as she hovered over his head.

Larkon laughed. “Well I took us there first in particular cause it’s one of my family’s favorites. We’ll see if you like the other food just as much.”

“So what are we going to do now? Watch the band play?” Rainbow asked him.

“Yes but there will be a short play starting soon too,” Larkon said. “There are a few scheduled for the day.”

“Cool, what kind?” She asked.

“Are you interested in romance?”

Rainbow Dash made a gagging noise.

Larkon had to laugh again. “I figured as much. Well, the first play is a romance. Then we have a couple of comedies, and finally a historical about the building of Tarmok’s Hall.”

“Er, no offense, but watching a gushy romance play wouldn’t really be on my to do list at a festival,” Rainbow told him.

“Me neither,” Alykon said from behind them, sticking her tongue out at the idea of such a play.

Samarkon looked like he felt the same way but wasn’t going to say anything.

“That’s why I had a second plan,” Larkon said as they all settled around the big stage. He curled his trunk around Shibu’s and looked at his children and Rainbow Dash. “I never wanted to force you to follow along with me the whole festival, Shibu and I will watch the play and the rest of you can do whatever you want.” His eyes looked to Samarkon in particular. “Don’t cause any trouble, Samarkon. At least try and enjoy yourself.”

“Hmpf,” the young mammoth snorted out his trunk but didn’t say anything else.

Larkon rolled his eyes and looked at Rainbow Dash. “And I think it’ll be good for you if you want. Just explore the festival and say hi to all the mammoths you come across, or hang out with Alykon.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Works for me. I mean, there’s definitely enough to see and eat here.”

“My friends are somewhere here today too, I want to meet up with them!” Alykon said.

“Then go along, but come back here in… oh, an hour or so? The romance will be done by then and maybe you’ll enjoy watching the comedy,” Larkon said. “I’d also worry a bit if I didn’t see you at all for the rest of the day.”

“No problem,” Dash saluted to him and grinned. “You just let me have my fun and I’ll be right back here, not even the first time you’ve left me to go look around on my own anyways.”

“True, very true,” Larkon said.

“After I find my friends I’ll look for you too!” Alykon said to Dash and then ran off, waving goodbye.

“I’ll see you guys later,” Rainbow Dash said to Larkon and Shibu and also flew away from the stage. As she went she noticed that Samarkon too had already wandered off somewhere. But no matter about that, she had food and fun to find and explore here at the mammoth’s spring festival.

Rainbow Dash was currently enjoying by far the largest snow cone she’d ever had in her life. The flavoring could be a little better (since they didn’t have fruit flavors up here she had to settle for kelp flavored, which was surprisingly not terrible but definitely wouldn’t have been her first pick) but the sheer size of it and the fresh, thirst-quenching, ice was great. Of course the thing was every mammoth she flew by, and especially the ones working the stalls, wanted to stop her and have a big conversation. Which was something she wanted to do too but not when she had a mouthful of food.

“You know that’s a good question,” she said to some random mammoth who had struck up conversation with her. “I actually don’t know how long I’ve been on my journey now. Some months? I was kind of keeping track at first but I got sick and then some other stuff happened where I was kind of in a coma for a little while… I guess I just lost track of the days.”

“Well I hope nothing like that happens to you here. But we would be happy to accommodate you for however long you wish to stay,” the mammoth said.

She drank down the half-melted snow and juice in the bottom of her cone. “Yeah…” She didn’t have the heart to tell this friendly guy that she would be leaving soon. Dash waved goodbye to him and flew around looking for a trashcan. Finally finding one she dropped the oversized cup in it and went looking for the next snack to try.

Instead what she saw next was Mallom getting his portrait taken at one of the booths on the far end of the square. Her face lit up and she flew right over to him. “Yo, Mallom!”

His face turned to her in surprise, and the mammoth drawing his portrait had to pause until he returned to his original position.

“Rainbow Dash?” Mallom said, his surprised face turning into a smile as he sat up from the chair he was on to greet her.

The artist meanwhile sighed and put his brushes down. Although he did smile at Rainbow Dash, probably somewhat happy to see her of all creatures even though she was interrupting his work.

“What’s up? I was hoping I could see you again some time,” Rainbow Dash said to him.

“I’m just enjoying the festival as you can see. I’m glad to see you again too though,” he held up his trunk for a shake.

She just bumped it instead and grinned. “Nice. I’m just going around and seeing whatever right now. And eating a whole bunch. Might watch one of the plays later too.”

“I as well was probably going to watch some of that,” Mallom said. “But first I wanted to get a portrait done and hang it up in my house. My wife wanted a new one of me.”

“Wife? Didn’t know you were married.”

He shrugged. “Didn’t come up. So besides today have you enjoyed your time in our city?”

“Yeah, you guys have been cool,” she didn’t bother him with her other thoughts. “Trunkball especially.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“Ahem,” the voice of the painter broke their conversation. It seemed his patience was wearing thin, and the other mammoths outside his booth who might want drawings of their own could explain why.

“Sorry,” Dash said to him and returned her gaze to Mallom. “I’ll let you get your portrait finished up, see you again someday!”

He waved his trunk at her and sat down. “Hopefully soon, you’ve made things far more fun and interesting here just with your presence.”

She started to fly off but paused for a brief second. “Oh! Say hi to your wife for me too!”

“I will!” Mallom said and turned to get back in the correct position for his portrait. “Right, sorry about that.”

Rainbow Dash flew off and went a little higher above town’s square so she could really look at it all. The romance play on the stage was in full swing but there were other street musicians all around that were playing music just to liven things up. She saw one stand where kid mammoths were having beads braided into their woolly fur, or even had their fur dyed all sorts of colors. And then the smell of something familiar yet different at the same time reached her nose and she looked around trying to find where it came from.

“Bingo,” her eyes settled on a mammoth she recognized well and Rainbow Dash zoomed down to her stand.

Norma saw her coming and waved hello from behind the counter. “Rainbow Dash! Let me guess, you want a bite to eat?”

“Yeah! I smelled something good and saw you here, didn’t know you were working your own stand for the festival,” Rainbow said.

Norma nodded. “Every year.”

Rainbow Dash looked at what exactly she was cooking up and saw baked bread drizzled with… peanut butter? Yeah, it was a peanut butter glaze all over the bread. And was that caramel too mixed in? It smelled totally delicious and looked really tasty too, her mouth was already watering.

“It’s good you got here early, my stock is usually all gone by the middle of the day,” Norma said.

“Just from the smell I can tell why it’s popular...” Rainbow said, her eyes not leaving the tasty looking bread.

Norma giggled. “Oh stop, you flatterer. Here, take one, take one!” She picked up a piece of bread with her trunk and gave it to Rainbow Dash.

Dash didn’t care that it was bigger than her head. She was eating. This. Entire. Thing.

“Hargh!” She practically growled when she sunk her teeth into the bread like an animal. Instantly the sweetness hit her tongue with the pleasing warmth and near buttery softness of the freshly baked bread behind it.

“I can tell you like it!” Norma laughed. “This is a special treat I only cook up for the spring festival, I’m happy you got here at the right time to try it.”

“Me tooooo,” Rainbow Dash moaned as she gobbled it up.

It didn’t take more than a second for the ravenous pony to finish that snack. And then with a very pleased look on her face she said goodbye to Norma and flew back off to above the square. Now as she looked down she noticed an area had been partitioned off and a bunch of mammoths were dancing around together in it while a band played by the side. She grinned, it was a more folksy type of music compared to what she had heard being played at the wedding. For a little while she just overhead and watched and listened. This is what the festival was all about wasn’t it? Maybe she could get Larkon to start dancing and just stand on his head or back…

A young mammoth, just a child, holding a balloon in his trunk looked up and saw her. His jaw dropped and his trunk accidentally let loose of the string. Rainbow Dash quickly zoomed over and grabbed it, pulling the balloon back down to the mammoth before he could cry.

“There you go buddy,” she said, smiling.

He was too starstruck to reply so his mother did it for him. “Thank you so much! It’s Rainbow Dash, right? That was your name in the paper I think...”

“You got it! Make sure your son holds onto that balloon tight now, I’ve been having a lot of fun at your festival!” She waved to the mother and winked at the son and flew off.

A maypole had been set up as well and a number of girls were currently ringing around it, pulling on the ribbons leading from the top. She could picture Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie partaking in that too.

With her eagle eyes she soon saw Alykon and her friends, not just the three teammates she had met either, there were a whole bunch of them, getting their tusks painted. Maybe Rainbow Dash could get her hooves painted or dyed? So long as it washed out easy she wouldn’t mind. But it was first about time to rejoin Larkon and Shibu. Hopefully that mushy romantic play would be over. She hadn’t seen Samarkon at all though since they had separated, hopefully he wasn’t being a jerk and didn’t just walk home or something.

That fear turned out to be unfounded though as it turned out Samarkon was already with his parents, sitting together in front of the currently empty stage.

“Yo! I’m back!” Rainbow Dash said as she zipped right in front of them.

“Welcome back, did you enjoy the festival?” Larkon asked.

“Oh yeah, especially the food,” Rainbow nodded eagerly.

“Good,” Larkon said. “You missed out on a great play though.”

“Well I’m not saying you’re wrong but I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed it the same as you and Shibu,” Dash grinned. She then glanced down at Samarkon. “When did you come back? Do you actually like romance stories?”

He scowled at her. “No. I just got bored, dumb pony.”

“Stop that,” Larkon lightly rapped him on the head with his trunk.

“I’m back!” Alykon yelled as she arrived back at the stage too. Her tusks were now painted with all sorts of flowers on them. Tulips, roses, daisies, lilies, it was all rather intricately done too.

“How pretty,” Shibu said as she admired the tusks.

“Thanks mom,” Alykon smiled. “I got it done with my friends, we promised to meet up later today too.”

“It looks great,” Larkon said. “But let’s all settle down for now. The next play will begin soon.”

The family all stood together and Rainbow Dash hopped on up to Larkon’s back so she could actually see the stage without having to fly the entire time. Looking around she noticed there were more mammoths who had come to watch this first comedy play than there were ones who watched the romance, a lot more children too. Didn’t surprise her.

“You should’ve told me to bring you and Shibu some food before the play started,” Rainbow Dash said down to Larkon.

“It’s fine, there’s plenty of time to eat more.”

Some mammoths went up on stage now, carrying props and switching out the backdrops, sets, and decorations from the previous play. Instead of rolling hills the location for the story seemed to be set in a fancy dining room. A couple of well-dressed mammoths that must’ve been the actors soon came out on stage. However before anything started out they both saw Rainbow Dash watching them from the crowd. The two actors came up to the edge of the stage and bowed to her.

Naturally all the other mammoths who were going to be watching the play saw that too and Rainbow Dash got a short round of applause herself. She blushed and waved to the other mammoths around her.

“Thanks, thanks...” she said.

After that the actors got into position and the play began. “Comedy” was putting it lightly. This was a total farce. It started with one actor complaining about a fly being in his soup and when the waiter came out from the back he tripped and threw a pie into the other mammoth’s face. And that was just the opening scene, things got crazier and crazier as the play went on until the stage was completely wrecked and everyone was a total mess.

She had to admit though, as the two lead actors clothes were torn to pieces and all manner of food was thrown about them, it was pretty funny. The grand finale of the play was the two of them slipping on spilled soup and causing the entire backdrop to collapse on top of them. In the end they lied there, faking moans of pain while the waiter came out and stared at the destroyed “establishment” in shock.

Who knew mammoths liked such wacky humor?

William the yak would never believe her if she told him about all this. She hardly believed it.

Larkon had pretty much been laughing the entire time, Shibu really had to calm him down at the end. Alykon thought it was a hilarious play too and Rainbow Dash could tell even Samarkon was holding back his own laughter. The grumpy teenager was red in the face as he clenched his jaw shut to make sure his family wouldn’t figure out he had almost been enjoying himself.

When the actors on stage got back up everyone clapped and cheered for them and for the good effort they had put into the play. That stage would definitely need to be cleaned up quite a bit before whatever play was going on next could be performed. Which left Rainbow Dash and the others with plenty of time to do something else while they waited.

“Let’s go enjoy the rest of the festival for now,” Larkon said as the entire family and Rainbow Dash got ready to go elsewhere. “Was there anything anyone saw that they really want to do? Or eat?”

“Oh, I did!” Alykon said, raising her trunk into the air to make sure she was noticed.

“What?” Larkon asked.

“Flower crowns! I saw a tent where you could make your own, let’s all get flower crowns!” Alykon hopped up and down.

“No way! Flower crowns are dumb and girly,” Samarkon protested.

“What’s a flower crown?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You take some twigs, some vines, and flowers, and you make a crown out of them that you wear,” Larkon explained. He then looked over at Samarkon and frowned. “There’s nothing dumb or girly about it, it’s a celebration of springtime.”

It definitely sounds a little girly. Rainbow Dash thought to herself.

“Come on, let’s go!” Alykon said and started leading the way through the crowd to the flower crown tent.

“Whatever,” Samarkon snorted dismissively but went to follow anyways, knowing he wasn’t getting out of this.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I guess I’ll get one too. No harm.”

“I think one of them will fit you quite well,” Shibu told her.

Rainbow Dash didn’t exactly know how to feel about that but whatever. She could wear something a little girly for the rest of the festival at least, it wasn’t a big deal. Alykon seemed really excited about them too and she didn’t want to disappoint her. She, Larkon, and Shibu quickly followed the two children as well while the rest of the happy festival around them went on.

Rainbow Dash had no eye for this kind of thing and her hooves weren’t made for it either so she had no problem allowing Alykon to make her flower crown. The teenage mammoth had already finished her own and was wearing it proudly so now she was just as diligently working on Rainbow Dash’s. Rainbow Dash hovered over her head while Alykon’s dexterous trunk worked overtime to make a much smaller, but no less well-constructed, flower crown. It seemed Alykon was working to put in a bunch of pink and yellow flowers in her crown.

It almost made Rainbow Dash wince.

Samarkon meanwhile was sitting by himself after finishing a very sparse crown of his own that only had a few daisies ringed around a bunch of brown twigs. Funnily enough, Rainbow Dash might’ve preferred his crown to the one Alykon was making.

Larkon and Shibu on the other hoof were making each other’s crowns. Just like a true lovey-dovey couple.

“There! I think that’s good,” Alykon said and held up the newly made flower crown with her trunk. The ring was just about wide enough that it could’ve slipped halfway down her trunk. “Try it on!”

“Alright,” Dash took it from her trunk and put it on. Without a mirror she couldn’t really tell how it looked but at least it rested comfortably on her head. She spun around and tilted her head, eyes looking up to see what she could out of the corner of her eyes. “Well? How’s it look?”

“Dumb,” Samarkon muttered.

“Quiet you!” Alykon snapped at him before whipping her head back to Rainbow Dash with a big smile. “It looks great on you.”

Rainbow Dash allowed a smug smile to break out on her face. “I guess I am awesome enough to rock any sort of look.”

“You’re so modest, Rainbow Dash,” Larkon joked while he and Shibu finished up. “Anyways let’s find another place to eat at and then we can return to the stage. Shall we?”

“Way ahead of you,” Rainbow Dash said as she flew out of the tent and back into the middle of the square, the others following behind her. A lot of mammoths were still out dancing and music was being played loudly, the water jets of the fountain kept spraying, more and more food was being eaten, it was all really nice. She looked over her shoulder for a brief second to talk to Larkon. “I’ll fly over there and see if there’s any room for-”

She stopped as thanks to her lack of attentiveness she accidentally bumped headfirst into the side of a mammoth that was standing in front of a cart selling peanuts.

“Oof, sorry dude,” Rainbow Dash grinned and apologized as she looked up at the big figure she had hit.

And eyes of pure disdain stared back down at her.

She almost reeled back just from the gaze. The large mammoth in front of her with jet-black fur didn’t respond to her apology at all. His imposing body just loomed over her, and she suddenly realized that all the music and dancing around her had stopped, replaced by fearful whispers and gasps of surprise in the middle of town square. Dozens of mammoths stepped back to give them a wide berth. Rainbow Dash stayed her ground though, even stared right back into those eyes. She couldn’t recall ever being looked at in such a way though, not even by Blizzard, who still saw a usefulness to her. This mammoth’s eyes held nothing but contempt and saw nothing but an insect in Rainbow Dash. She also noticed as she looked him over that his tusks weren’t cut or filed down, but still naturally sharp and pointed.

His trunk lifted up and with a slow and deliberate movement he plucked the flower crown off her head and lifted it to his eyes, turning his hateful gaze to it.

“Is this what we have been reduced to?” He said, his voice casual and not raised at all.

He looked around at the crowd around him, those disdainful eyes sweeping over all the mammoths and causing quite a number of them to turn away. The black mammoth sighed and took a deep breath.

“I ask you, my mammoths!” His powerful voice now bellowed across the entire town square. “IS THIS WHAT WE HAVE BEEN REDUCED TO?!”

He lifted his trunk high above his head and then threw the flower crown to the ground.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “What’s your problem, jerk? My friend put a lot of work into that!”

His eyes narrowed at her, unperturbed by her shouting. “And you’re the pony. To think how far we’ve fallen that not only my people have taken you in as a guest but that we would treat you like some sort of queen.”

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes right back at him. She knew who he was now, there was no question about it. “You’re… Karkona.”

“I suppose your host told you about me,” Karkona said, looking past Rainbow Dash at Larkon and his family.

Rainbow Dash followed his gaze; Shibu was worried, Alykon scared and upset, Samarkon in awe, and Larkon returned Karkona’s look with a steely one of his own. The historian and the slum-dweller held a staring contest for a minute longer until Larkon stepped forward. The crowd of formerly happy festival going mammoths around them now looking on with rapt attention and fear.

“What are you doing here, Karkona? Did you come just to ruin our festivities?” Larkon asked him.

“I wanted to confront my fellow mammoths with the reality of how far we’ve fallen,” Karkona said, glancing down at the flower crown. “Pitiful things like this, snacks, dancing and music, how absurd.”

“Really? I would personally consider these things a sign of how much better we mammoths have become over the years,” Larkon said right back.

The pupils of Karkona’s eyes shrank in barely controlled rage. “As if I expected anything else from you.”

“Just go, Karkona. No one else wants you here. We’re trying to enjoy our spring festival,” Larkon told him.

“And we’re here to convince you all of your disgrace. I don’t bow down to you or anyone else, Larkon. I do what I want as the future King of the mammoths while your leaders fear me like the cowards they and the rest of this city are. You can’t tell me what to do,” Karkona said.

“We?” Dash said, hanging onto that word.

Karkona glanced down at her. “That’s right.”

From the crowd began to emerge other mammoths, pushing past the normal festival goers. More and more mammoths backed away from Karkona and his slowly growing posse until it was only Rainbow Dash and Larkon in a large circle to face off with Karkona and a dozen of his followers who had joined him. They were grungy and mean looking mammoths, all with their tusks still sharp, and they sneered at Rainbow Dash and the other mammoths at the festival. They were hardly soldiers. They gave off the aura of punks and thugs more than anything, but that still made them plenty dangerous especially when Rainbow Dash knew most of the mammoths in this city wouldn’t or couldn’t hurt a fly.

To Larkon’s credit he didn’t back away at all. And Rainbow Dash too stayed facing off with Karkona.

“There are many and more mammoths who believe in me. Who are loyal, truly loyal, to me. Ones who are willing to fight,” Karkona said as he looked around at the retreating crowd. “Can any of you say the same?”

“We don’t need to fight. It’s a time that is past us,” Larkon coldly stated.

“Pathetic, absolutely pathetic,” Karkona slowly shook his head. “We should be conquering and carving out a new empire up here, not singing and dancing like fools.” A malicious grin then spread on his face and he looked past both Larkon and Rainbow Dash. “From what I’ve heard even your own son agrees with me.”

Larkon and Dash both looked back at Samarkon, who was now staring wide-eyed at Karkona. The rest of the crowd around him was looking back and forth between the young mammoth and the agitator, perhaps waiting to see if Samarkon might say something. Before he could do anything though, Shibu stepped in front of him to block Karkona’s view.

Karkona sneered at her. “Cowards, the lot of you.”

And Rainbow Dash had had enough. She angrily flew right up in front of his face. “Hey! Where do you get off coming here and ruining things for everyone? Why don’t you just go back to wherever you crawled out of before I make you?”

He blinked at her as if she was a fly buzzing about his face.

And then he spat on her.

“Ugh! Yuck!” Rainbow Dash snapped backwards with her face and mane now covered in spit. She brought up her hooves to at least wipe it out of her eyes.

“Get out of my face pony, none of this concerns you,” Karkona said.

“You-?!” She glared up at him and was about to attack him when she felt something wrap around her body and hold her back.

“No, Rainbow Dash!” Larkon said as he held her with his trunk.

“Let me go, Larkon! I’m going to pound his face in!” Rainbow growled, trying to fight her way out of his grip.

“Stop it! That’s not how we solve things here,” Larkon refused to budge.

“You wouldn’t be able to do anything anyways,” Karkona dismissively said to her. But then he chuckled mockingly. “But still look how he holds you back? So weak he can’t even stomach the thought of a fight. Like the rest of the mammoths here.”

Karkona turned around and raised his trunk up high before bringing it down like a thunderbolt and obliterating the cart of peanuts. Smashed and broken wood flew everywhere and some of the mammoths in the crowd shrieked in fear. Karkona used his tusks to knock the destroyed remnants of the cart around on the ground and crushed a bag of peanuts underneath his foot. Seeing his job was done, he snorted in contempt and began to walk away around the fountain with his lackeys following him.

The crowd of festival goers was more than happy to make a wide parting for him, none of them even attempting to say or do anything about Karkona.

But he stopped and then looked over his shoulder at Larkon, Rainbow Dash, and the others. “This was just a lesson for all of you. I will find the Sacred Spring one day and return us mammoths to the glory and war filled days of old.” He glared across the crowd once more, seemingly angry that they weren’t even trying to confront him. “Weaklings.”

He was done after that, he and his whole group leaving town’s square, walking off in the direction of the slums Larkon said he lived in.

It took a little while for Rainbow Dash’s anger to simmer but Shibu coming up with a towel and wiping her off at least helped that a little bit. Unfortunately the rest of the festivities looked like they had come to a premature end.

“Shibu,” Larkon quietly said. “Take Alykon and Samarkon home. Rainbow Dash and I will be joining you shortly.”

Shibu wordlessly listened to him and went back to gather up their children. To Rainbow’s surprise, Samarkon didn’t make a fuss about it. Rainbow herself though watched as other mammoths at the festival slowly gathered their things and began to leave as well. No more plays, no more food, everyone was going home. Except for the two of them so far.

Rainbow Dash looked up at Larkon and raised an eyebrow. “Things are a little more serious with this Karkona guy than you made it sound, aren’t they? And what was that Sacred Spring thing he mentioned?”

“I apologize for not being more open with you and trying to hide as much as I could of our shameful past,” Larkon told her, his eyes still firmly affixed in the direction Karkona had left. “But now, I will tell you everything about us mammoths and our history in this world. It’s only fair and it should have been my duty as historian in the first place. You must know everything about us for better and for worse.”

A Mammoth of a Problem XIX

“This may take a little while. I haven’t told this story orally to anyone before.”

“If it makes you feel any better you definitely come off as the kind of guy who’s really good at telling long stories.”

It was late at night and Larkon and Rainbow Dash were alone in his study back home. Bakol and a number of senators had made an appearance at town’s square shortly after Karkona left to declare the spring festival unfortunately over. Larkon led Dash home after that and the family ate a silent dinner together before Larkon brought her here.

Bookcases lined the walls of the study but Larkon wasn’t paying attention to them or anything else besides Rainbow Dash at the moment. It was certain he knew the history of his people well enough that he didn’t need to read from a book to tell her about it. He pulled one of the chairs out from in front of his desk and slid it over the carpet to her.

“Take a seat, please.”

Dash shrugged and hopped onto the big cushion of the chair. “You know, I’ve been all over the world, you don’t need to be afraid or ashamed of anything.”

“I know. And I know you’re not the type to really be upset or bothered by anything like this in the first place, you’re very carefree,” he grinned at her for a second before returning to a neutral look. “But you’re still the first creature that isn’t a mammoth to hear about this, and our first guest since we cast aside the old ways.”

“You don’t have to tell me then if you don’t want to. I mean, yeah I’m a little curious, but I’m not my friend Twilight either. If you just want to say “Karkona’s bad” then that’s pretty good for me,” Rainbow told him.

“No, no,” Larkon shook his head. “I’ll still tell you everything. Let me just gather my thoughts for a moment.”

Larkon leaned back on his desk and stared into space for a second while Rainbow Dash fidgeted atop her chair. He rubbed his trunk a few times and sighed, as if still doing his best to stall. Rainbow Dash on the other hoof was showing a heroic amount of patience compared to her usual self. Larkon’s eyes roamed to a dusty scroll of parchment jammed into the bookcase and he finally nodded to himself, looking back down at Rainbow Dash.

“Alright, the story begins a long time ago, with the first King of the mammoths.”

“How long ago?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Ages. It’s been so long and we did not keep written records back then. Everything was passed down orally through storytellers,” Larkon shrugged. “But either way, that’s the very beginning of things as far as they matter to mammoth society and what’s led up to now. Try to keep questions to a minimum while I speak, we can talk when it’s over...”

The first King of the mammoths was a mammoth called Morkanon. This was back in an age when mammoths had no such thing as an empire, when we lived in clans of a few families at most and roamed around the northern lands. Nomads is what we were. Marauders, brigands, thieves, is what others would call us. Yes, even back then we were a violent and quarrelsome people. We attacked and pillaged from others almost as much as ourselves.

The various clans of mammoths all competed with each other and fought over the scraps. While we still had conflicts with other groups such as the Frost Wolves, the Yaks, and the Sabertooths, we did not truly war with them at that point. Far more preoccupied were we with each other.

We mammoths were scattered and unwelcoming, clans did not work together for anything. There was no trading or helping out and outsiders were always ran off. It was an unforgiving time. A time of hostility and selfishness. And Morkanon was born into that time in one of the clans as the first born son of the current Chieftain. While he was groomed and brought up to one day take over from his father and lead his clan, it turned out he desired far more than that. Morkanon was a mammoth with a grand ambition: To one day unify all mammoths under his rule.

But it would take time before he could accomplish that goal. Growing up saw him grievously injured in a battle with a rival clan, and his tusks were both snapped off and never regrew. For a long while this shamed him in the eyes of others and many mammoths from other clans thought him to be weak. This led to him growing quite the chip on his shoulder and for much of his teenage life he would be notoriously quick to anger. With time though he used this seeming weakness to his advantage, making others underestimate him, and even using his reputation as a hothead to trick others.

In a few years, his father died and leadership of the clan fell to him, and for a time after that things mostly stayed normal. Morkanon married and had numerous children while all the while he plotted and thought of how best to conquer the other clans.

And thus an opportunity presented itself to him one day.

Morkanon heard news of a rival clan that had done battle with the yaks, and the firstborn son of their clan was killed in battle. This son left a young widow behind and no children. The widow being a mammoth of the second most prominent family in this other clan.

So Morkanon in his wisdom confronted this other clan with an offer, his own firstborn son would marry the widow if the family joined his clan and renounced loyalty to the other Chieftain’s family.

The offer was accepted.

But that was not the end of it. Morkanon then gave the rest of the clan an ultimatum, join him as his vassals or be eradicated. The other Chieftain refused to bow down, and the mammoths in their viciousness did not hesitate to destroy him and his family.

A rival was gone and the strength of Morkanon’s clan had only been bolstered.

Not only that but Morkanon learned the idea of a new weapon he could use that would change the shape of mammoth history: Diplomacy.

Something like what he had done had never been done before between mammoth clans and word quickly spread of it throughout the other scattered clans. Mammoths now were worried, but also ambitious, and many leaders sought to make alliances in the same way Morkanon had. While fighting was still the go to answer for any problem, mammoths still became more open to bartering, marriage alliances, trade, and even sharing land and resources if it looked too costly to fight over them.

Now of course none of this was due to a change of heart by any mammoths but simply out of sheer pragmatism as other leaders sought to counter Morkanon’s increased strength and reach.

But even as Morkanon’s power grew, like I said earlier, many still viewed him as weak and easily tricked. They saw his use and invention of diplomacy as weakness instead of craftiness or intelligence. How he offered to allow the other Chieftain and his family to join him instead of just eradicating them outright. Mammoths were very cynical back then.

Looking at this perceived “weakness”, the most powerful clan around sought to destroy Morkanon and his clan and get rid of the threat he posed. The Chieftain of this clan secretly met with and made alliances with other close by clans and they all hatched a plan to divide up Morkanon’s treasures and resources when he was done away with. Then, the Chieftain invited Morkanon and his clan to his domain on the pretense of creating an alliance of their own. When Morkanon and his followers arrived, all of the other clans would attack them and the upstart maverick would be taken down.

Finally the day came and Morkanon’s procession arrived to meet with the other Chieftain. Secretly warriors from every other clan the Chieftain had allied with were hiding about, and as soon as Morkanon entered the Chieftain’s tent he gave the order for them all to butcher Morkanon.

But he was the only one getting butchered that day.

Morkanon had already secretly allied himself with the other clans long before this day, knowing he would one day have to deal with his stronger rival he had brought together the weaker clans first. And then the perfect opportunity presented itself when the Chieftain tried to have him killed, not knowing the clans he had spoken to were already on Morkanon’s side.

Six Chieftain’s had been inside that tent at one point. But now their number was down to five.

However that was not the last of it. Morkanon told the other Chieftains they had the choice to renounce their titles and become his vassals, or suffer the same fate.

Only one Chieftain was now left inside that tent. Along with two more bodies.

“I’d hate to be on his bad side.”

“You and me both.”

There was no longer any real threat to Morkanon after that and he centralized his power, absorbing the domains of all the clans around his. Resources, food, water, and labor were abundant. Morkanon’s clan was no longer a band of nomads, but a thriving civilization in its infancy.

It was at this point that he saw the title of “Chieftain” lacking. After all there was so much more than just one clan under his control now. Not just his family, but other families from other clans that used to have Chieftains of their own bowed down to him. To him it only made sense that he needed a new title. A regal title. For this was the dawn of a new age for the mammoths and his ambition had finally brought him here.

Morkanon proclaimed himself the first King of the mammoths.

And it was no longer a time to take things slowly.

The mammoths were still not totally unified, there were numerous other roaming clans still out there. But now Morkanon had the strength to do absolutely anything he wanted with them and there were no longer any who could even think to oppose him. Morkanon didn’t care what the cost might be anymore, because he knew he would win in the end. So what he did was demand that every last clan do what the others had; forfeit their independence, give up their land and titles, and join him utterly and be ruled over by the new King.

In the following months many clans were annihilated.

But by the end of it there were no more clans at all anymore. Merely a single kingdom.

And that is how the mammoths became unified and our empire began. Cities were constructed, our nomadic lifestyle disappeared, and Morkanon ruled over all. Even back then in the early years the empire spanned a great area and Morkanon conquered whatever he wanted to increase his domain. Large farms sprouted up as he realized they would be necessary to maintain things as well. And our wars against the yaks, sabers, and other groups increased. Partially to give us a common enemy, such was Morkanon’s wisdom, but to also take whatever resources we could from them.

That was normal now. It really was the start of a new age for the mammoths and Morkanon ruled well into his old age. He was a well-respected leader for how fair and generous he was to his friends—and for how utterly ruthless he was to his enemies and any who disobeyed him. But none could deny his reign was a time of plenty and pride for the mammoths. Even now in our more peaceful days he is not hated, merely seen as a product of his time and hardly worse than any of his selfish contemporaries. He was not needlessly cruel nor did he oppress his mammoths after becoming King, but I think the yaks and others would not have so favorable a view on him.

“I can already tell you you’re one-hundred percent correct on that one.”

So our story skips ahead quite a few years to the apex of the old mammoth empire. We now had multiple cities, roads, actual borders, and no longer did mammoths live in mere tents and huts. They built in stone and steel and constructed huge buildings across the lands. This was in an area northeast from where we are now. Mammoths also began to write, draw, and create art like sculptures and paintings. Anyways, ever since Morkanon became King the mammoths were constantly at war with their neighbors. Generation upon generation of mammoths were born and grew up in a state of perpetual warfare. And a true military with real soldiers now existed, not just bands of warriors from each clans back in the more primitive times. Soldiers as well wore armor and fought with spears and flails. They were a deadly force in this northern world.

That was just the way things were. Although the mammoths were able to come together as one there was never an attempt to try and become friends with any of the other groups that lived around them. Too deep were the scars, too different and volatile everyone was. And the mammoths had never known anything but war and conflict with them.

So in this time of both stability and war the next King of the mammoths was born; Dathon.

“Dathon? That’s the name of one of Alykon’s friends.”

“It is a fairly common name among mammoths today.”

Dathon was the firstborn son of the current mammoth King, whose name ironically has been lost to history, and was known from childhood to be a quiet and reserved mammoth. The reason why he is still loved today and his name is shared by many is because he was the first mammoth King who sought peace. His values and goals resonate with us in a way the other rulers did not.

Dathon did not see war as a necessity. Unlike Morkanon and previous Kings he had no desire to attempt to expand the territory of the empire by starting up more conflicts and trying to conquer land. Instead he decided to focus his rule inward, on improving things in the empire instead of just adding more to it. More crops were planted, roads became better maintained, more focus was given to the arts and music, mammoths were encouraged to take up hobbies and jobs that weren’t all about warfare. Dathon knew this would likely not be permanent, as it didn’t stop others from wanting to attack the mammoths, but he still wished that at least one generation of mammoths could be born and live without constant war and battle going on around them.

For the most part he succeeded. Not all in the empire were happy with him, but none could doubt that life in the empire was good. And there were only a few border skirmishes between the mammoths and their neighbors at this time, none of which were initiated by the mammoths either.

Until we fully abandoned our warlike ways, Dathon’s reign was the most peaceful mammoths had ever been at.

We also have him to owe for literacy rates increasing dramatically under his rule and much more being written down and recorded instead of just being passed on orally. There are a number of books in our libraries that go back to Dathon’s day.

At any rate, like all healthy mammoths, Dathon married and had several children.

His firstborn son, Lorak, his secondborn son, Morkanon, his firstborn daughter, Ebbu, his secondborn daughter, Caranthu, and his final child and son, Tarmok.

“Er… I kind of get the feeling that Tarmok is gonna be important in the future.”

“No extra points for that guess I’m afraid.”

As is tradition, Dathon started raising his son Lorak to one day replace him, and he of course taught him the same ideals he held. Dathon hoped for a continuance of his legacy of peace. Morkanon meanwhile decided to take a superficial position in the army, Ebbu and Caranthu were married off to other important mammoths. Tarmok… I’ll get back to him in a moment.

Dathon eventually raised his son Morkanon to head of the army and essentially began to reform it into more of a guard than anything. Instead of preparing for war and making weapons the army began construction of walls around the entire empire to dissuade attacks. Lorak also proved himself to take after his father. He was a very studious mammoth, slight of build, quiet, the opposite of a warrior and what would’ve been necessary for a King even a few short generations ago. In other words he was perfect to Dathon and the King was quite proud of his son.

Of course though, more and more mammoths with hawkish ideals were becoming disgruntled by Dathon’s reign. They already didn’t like what he had been doing but at least quietly took it for the sake of this rare peace and the happiness of the other mammoths in the empire. But now? Seeing what was becoming of their army, and how an even less martial mammoth was next in line to be King, it made some mammoths very upset and worried about the direction their civilization was going in.

And that is where Tarmok comes in.

Tarmok never found his place in mammoth society. He saw no point to anything, knowing he would never be King, and having no passion for the arts and peaceful activities that his father loved. What was the fifth child of the King supposed to do? There wasn’t even a place for him in the army what with the lack of wars. He had made his grievances well known around the capitol city, drunkenly telling any who would listen in the various bars he would visit.

And so it was that late in Dathon’s reign that Tarmok was approached by a certain group of mammoths with treachery on their minds.

They and Tarmok came to an agreement: when he became King he would restart the wars and conquest and they would help him to quietly get rid of his father and older brothers to make that happen.

Tarmok had ambition in him too and the desire to become King. He coveted it because he had nothing of his own and saw the reign of his father as the reason for all of his problems and apathy.

There was however one problem, one of the members of the conspiracy got cold feet and blabbed everything. The conspirators were executed and Tarmok was banished. It was a dark day in the empire, Dathon was horrified and saddened by what his son had almost done. Tarmok was unrepentant however and before he was thrown out of the city we have it recorded that he told his father that he never believed in his peaceful ways and hated him for what he had done to the mammoths. Dathon became ill shortly after Tarmok’s banishment, he would not live to the end of the year.

Lorak’s reign began after that, but that is not the story that needs to be told. You must learn of what happened with Tarmok after he was cast out on his own.

“He kind of deserved it.”

Tarmok journeyed through the snowy cold of the north for well over a year by himself.

That much is known for certain, as well as a few other things, but much of what I am going to say next must be taken with a grain of salt since it all comes from Tarmok’s mouth himself and there’s no way to really prove if everything he said happened happened.

The way he tells it he was accosted by sabertooths and frost wolves constantly while he traveled through the frozen wastes. And apparently a yak warrior party hounded him relentlessly for months. Naturally he fought them all off with ease as he says. Besides just the usual culprits that mammoths fought with he also claimed to have done battle with and defeated a huge monster made of living stone and also brought down a dragon that breathed below freezing cold air. Food was scarce for him but he always managed to find what he needed to survive. He said he kept himself strong through sheer willpower and never gave up sight of his goal of becoming King. What’s more he claimed that the spirit of Morkanon, the first King, came to him one night and told him that he was the true successor to his lineage and one day the empire would be his.

Scholars and historians like myself all believe he only made that up to increase his legitimacy after he did several other things that made the mammoths of the empire wary.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Regardless of everything Tarmok said that may have happened on his long journey, what we know did happen is the most important part.

He found something. Something strange, magical, and powerful.

While alone in the mountains of the north he stumbled upon a spring, a spring of nearly boiling hot and steaming water nestled in a secluded and previously completely undiscovered part of the mountains. Just looking at it he could tell there was something special about the spring and its water.

Tarmok claims he bathed in the spring for three days and three nights and when he emerged he felt rejuvenated, more alive than he ever had before in his life, and powerful. He found he could shatter boulders with his trunk, lift more than double the weight he could previously, shrug off any attack, and never get tired no matter how much he ran or pushed himself. In his own words he became “A mammoth among mammoths.” That was the power of the spring, to bring a mammoth to the absolute peak of physical power.

Tarmok then returned to the capitol city, ignoring his banishment, with the mission to become King. No one could stop him with the new strength he possessed and he told others of the Sacred Spring he had found. He demanded he be made King and with his power the mammoths would conquer and destroy all of their enemies. And… when it became clear that things could not be solved with talk he killed his two brothers and took the throne. Then he married both his sisters after taking them from their husbands.

“Wait, hold on. I think I just misheard something there. Did you say he married his sisters? Both of them?”

“It was a different time...”

“Ew.”

Tarmok was now King and immediately things changed in the empire. Gone was the focus on the arts and back was war. Every able bodied mammoth became a soldier as Tarmok prepared for more and more war than mammoths had ever waged before. He wasn’t stupid however, he knew how the army had degraded in Dathon’s reign and that their population was far lower than their enemies in the first place. Something had to be done to increase the quality of mammoth soldiers. So naturally Tarmok led his army to the Sacred Spring and a magical ritual was created for any mammoth who entered the spring to become the same kind of superpowered monster as Tarmok.

Now there was a whole army of unstoppable mammoths.

And war began anew.

There are no more sabertooths in the north. Tarmok completely wiped them and their civilization out. Not a trace of them is left. The yaks barely fared better, Tarmok sacked their homeland and drove them south. The various tribes of Frost Wolves were scattered in every direction, their strength broken for generations.

Years and years of constant strife and conquering happened under Tarmok. Until there were simply no more enemies to fight.

But there was still an entire empire of mammoths raised and taught nothing but battle. Everything else about the empire had dilapidated and degenerated. If it didn’t have to do with war it didn’t matter, that was Tarmok’s way. And now without anymore war to wage everyone could see the horrible effects of that.

Introspection however did not come just yet. Because Tarmok and the other mammoths found their old mutual foe to fight: each other.

For the first time since Morkanon’s days mammoths warred with each other and the empire was torn apart. Battle for the sake of battle was all it was. And Tarmok was there to enjoy it all, laughing as the empire fell apart around him. This was no simple conflict either, the old days of nomadic clans struggling for resources couldn’t compare at all to the devastation brought by this civil war of the mammoths.

In this age of destruction, Tarmok eventually migrated his mammoths to a place closer to the Sacred Spring, leaving nothing but burning rubble behind. When his people stopped they began construction of a new city. This city.

However, as should be obvious, Tarmok and those who would willingly follow him at this point had not lost their taste for war and conflict and it was not long until the last war of the mammoths began.

It was a short, vicious, and personal affair that saw fully half of the remaining mammoths wiped out. Including Tarmok himself. A fitting end. At the end of it all even most of the freshly built city was destroyed as well, but finally, for the mammoths that were left, they could look around calmly and just see what they had wrought. Tarmok was gone and for the first time in years mammoths were able to truly see and think about what their warlike ways and brutality had cost them. What had been destroyed, what had been lost, all of those who had been harmed.

Regret. Sincere regret and guilt overtook the survivors. The “victors”. There was no victory to be had there, mammoth civilization had been destroyed.

But it was from those ashes that a new civilization—a new way of life for mammoths—was born. Slowly the mammoths picked themselves back up and rebuilt this new home of theirs. It was secluded and no other creatures were around, there was no threat of danger. That was for the best not just for us mammoths but for the other creatures of the north. Many thought it was better to be secluded away from all the rest.

Overtime, as new generations of mammoths were born, peace was more heavily stressed. Even the simplest violence and conflict became frowned upon and eventually mammoth society became what it is today. No weapons, no fighting, total pacifism. We saw what endless war and barbarism got us in the past and shunned it.

The current age of mammoths had begun.

“And that is more or less the important part of our history you need to know,” Larkon finished.

“Thanks for telling me about all of that… and uh, sorry for what you guys had to go through.”

Larkon shook his head. “It was our own fault.”

“Well at least you guys are happy now,” Rainbow Dash awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. “But what about that Sacred Spring? What happened with it? You said Tarmok moved you all to get closer to it.”

Larkon sighed and walked behind his desk, sinking his tired body down into his chair. “That is something that even I don’t have all the answers on. It is true the spring is why we came here in the first place, but when we cast aside our warlike ways we knew that the spring and the power it held was also far too dangerous to simply leave as is. And the temptation it might hold to mammoths. Even the possibility of its misuse was a frightening thought. So the leaders of old hid its location, struck every mention of how to get to it from our books, and made it forbidden to go in search of it. A group of sages also pledged service to the spring, vowing to stand by it for time immemorial to make sure no mammoth could bathe in its waters and perform the ritual to become a mammoth among mammoths again. As legend would put it those sages still protect the spring in case any mammoth does find it.”

“So you have no idea where it is? And that’s why Karkona said he still needed to find it, huh?” Rainbow asked.

“That’s correct,” Larkon said. A brief flash of hesitation then passed over his features.

Rainbow caught it and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

The historian looked her in the eyes and chewed on his lip, deciding what more needed to be said. “The leaders of old… did not fully abandon the spring. In case its power was needed, or there came a day when mammoths could use it for more selfless reasons, one mammoth was allowed to know how to find the Sacred Spring. And when the time came and he had grown old he would tell another, younger mammoth, and then he would tell another and so on and so forth where every generation there would be one mammoth, whose identity and knowledge would be unknown to all others, that knew how to reach the spring.”

“And Karkona does know that,” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed.

“Correct,” Larkon nodded. “I believe he’s been trying to think of a way to find this mammoth’s identity.”

“You know… if I’m being honest I was actually going to leave and go somewhere else really soon. But now I really think I should stay here. That’s what my gut’s telling me,” Rainbow told him.

“I think so too. And thank you,” Larkon smiled.

A sudden thought occurred to Rainbow Dash and her brow perked up. “Oh yeah! One other thing but, uh, if Tarmok was so horrible and the exact opposite of what you guys are like now, why’s it called Tarmok’s Hall?”

Larkon’s expression hardened as the smile disappeared. His eyes and face drifted off in the direction of the hall, as if trying to look through the wall of his home at it. “A reminder. To remind us of our awful past and to stay ever vigilant so what happened under Tarmok’s reign can never happen again. For better and for worse, King Tarmok will never be forgotten.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and the two of them stayed in his study in silence for a little longer. She wasn’t sure what the future of her adventure in the mammoth city would be like, but she was excited again. Karkona, the Sacred Spring, there was a lot bubbling under the surface. And maybe she was being selfish but she couldn’t wait for it to erupt. Not like she didn’t believe in herself to save the day after all. She would win. She would protect her friends and defeat the villain, because she was Rainbow Dash.

A Mammoth of a Problem XX

Rainbow Dash flew above the Trunkball court and watched as Alykon and her teammates scrimmaged against another team. As expected the other team wasn’t very good either but they were still a little better than Alykon’s team even after the training Rainbow Dash had put them through. So that was something that still needed work. There was certainly improvement in her team’s play thanks to Rainbow Dash’s coaching but there was also certainly room for much more.

At the moment Orsal and Dathon were on offense while Alykon and Makom handled defense. With them having real positions to focus on they had been able to make practice much more efficient. These positions weren’t completely certain but depending on how this scrimmage and maybe their first game or two went they could become permanent.

One of the mammoths on the other team got their trunk on the ball after a bit of a fumble by Dathon, they quickly dribbled past him and passed to another of their teammates on offense. Rainbow Dash nodded as she watched, time to see how Alykon and Makom handled the sudden attack.

Considering the opponent with the ball ran right between them while they ran into each other—not very well.

“Ugh,” Rainbow Dash shook her head and dragged a hoof down her face.

Down below the opposing team scored an easy dunk and two points.

Rainbow Dash flew down to collect the ball while the others got back into position. She was also working as the ref for this game, after convincing the other team that she could be impartial. Which meant that she’d have to keep any words of encouragement for Alykon’s team to herself at the moment.

“Ten to four now,” Rainbow Dash said as she grabbed the ball and flew in-between the four mammoths playing offense. Once she was sure they were ready she tossed it up into the air and backed away.

They had agreed to only play until one team got twenty points instead of going a full hour. So the opposing team was already halfway there and Rainbow Dash was not exactly confident in her team’s chances. At least Orsal was able to grab the ball first and take it into enemy territory. He had good moves but no coordination and he seemed to get lost in his own playing, forgetting where his teammates were and not thinking about anything other than scoring. Strategy was a foreign concept to him. Dathon on the other hoof didn’t have a lot of confidence, as opposed to when he trained with his friends, in a game like this he would freeze up and hesitate sometimes.

And even with all that they were still better suited for offense than defense. Go figure.

Alykon’s problems on defense were she got too aggressive whenever someone else with the ball came near and was liable to feints and tricks. Makom was just plain too slow.

All things that had easy enough fixes at least. Once this game finished, Rainbow Dash would have them running and doing push-ups until they dropped and then work out some specialized exercises and training for the four of them. Yep, she’d whip this team into fighting shape no doubt.

Orsal then had the ball stolen from him and the defending mammoth tossed it to one of his teammates on offense—who then of course proceeded to dance around Makom and make an easy shot into the basket.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Eleven to four now.

“Give me a second,” she said as she flew down for the ball. Well at least this is still good practice, right?

“Okay, so a final score of twenty to eight. Could be worse,” Rainbow Dash said to Alykon and her teammates as they stood around the court after finishing the scrimmage. “But it could, and should, also be a lot better.”

“It sort of just got away from us,” Alykon said in embarrassment.

“Well yeah, you guys aren’t playing as a team. You need to be aware of your teammates at all times. This isn’t a one on one game, that’s your major problem. They beat you so bad cause they were passing to each other and had a real game plan. You guys were only thinking about what you individually were doing at any given time,” Rainbow told them.

“And another issue with that is we all had our own problems,” Makom said.

Rainbow nodded. “At least you’re aware of that.”

“So what now?” Dathon asked.

“There’s a lot of stuff to go over but after your normal runs that I’m gonna put you through the first thing we’re gonna deal with is awareness. You’re going to learn how to pass the ball back and forth to each other as quickly and efficiently as possible while I run interference and try to block you and take the ball away, got it?” Rainbow asked.

“Got it,” Alykon and the others said in unison.

“Good. Cause after that I’m going to work individually with each of you to work out your problems. Alykon, you’re so focused on the ball you’re not paying attention to what your opponent is doing or where his teammates are. Makom, you need to react faster, everything you do is too slow right now. Dathon, stop acting like your opponent is going to punch you in the face if your dribble the ball past them. And Orsal, you need to just pay more attention to everything,” she told all of them.

“I know, but I really like dribbling the ball, it’s mesmerizing,” Orsal said.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Ugh, look, we’ll figure out a way to deal with that.”

“Sorry… I just get nervous playing against others… and thinking of what it would be like playing in front of my parents and a bunch of strangers,” Dathon said, looking queasier with each word.

“Er, we’ll fix that too!” Rainbow Dash reassured him. “You just need some of the same kind of confidence that I have! Don’t worry, I’ve helped plenty of friends with stuff like that. You just gotta believe in yourself and know you can do it.”

“I guess...” Dathon shuffled about.

He wasn’t quite as bad as Fluttershy could be but he didn’t exactly do too well when things were important. He crumbled. Maybe that was why he had a fairly pessimistic view of things the first time they met.

“I’ll try and pay more attention to what Makom is doing on defense too, maybe we can cover each other?” Alykon said.

“That’d be a good start but you also need to keep in mind all of the other players on the other team. There isn’t just one mammoth on offense. You get tunnel-vision on the guy directly in front of you and you were faked out a bunch of times this game, you’ve gotta read your opponents better,” Dash told her.

Alykon nodded along to everything she said, at least she was eager to learn and would actually take the criticism to heart. She knew Dash only meant well too. “Thank you.”

“And I’ll um… run faster?” Makom shrugged.

Rainbow Dash snorted. “You’ll do everything faster, dude. Your throws, your blocks, your pivots, you need to speed it all up.”

“I’ll try,” he sagged, making it look like what she was suggesting was akin to torture.

“No, you won’t try, you’ll do,” Rainbow told him. “I believe in all of you, hard work and a little practice is all you four need.”

The four teammates looked between each other, Alykon was grinning widely and it seemed her positivity rubbed off on the others as they finally returned the smile and looked up at Rainbow Dash with confidence. Maybe this little pep talk had already helped them out. Only time could tell, they’d have a real game pretty soon. But first things first—work still needed to be done.

“Alright that’s enough standing around,” Rainbow Dash grinned and pointed her hoof to the far side of the park. “Give me twenty sprints to there and back! Now!”

A Mammoth of a Problem XXI

“Okay, okay, so let me get this straight cause I think I might have the winning “trunk” right here.” Rainbow Dash said as she looked at the nine playing cards she currently held in her hooves. “You need to make either nine of the same color or three three of a kinds?”

“Correct,” Orsak the chief guard of the eastern gate said as he held nine cards of his own in his trunk.

“That ends the round, when one has gotten one of those specific trunks, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve won,” Kakol, another guard at the east gate, explained. “Points are tallied up and you can get extra if you have multiple cards in a row of the same color. The most valuable trunk is nine in a row of the same color.”

“Ohhh...” Rainbow Dash nodded. “I get it. So just because someone has nine of the same color, someone else could have nine of the same color but higher numbers, and they get a bonus if it’s nine in a row?”

“That’s right,” Orsak again confirmed.

Rainbow Dash looked down at her cards and then back up at the four other mammoths she was playing with. “And the numbers go from one to eighteen?”

“Yes,” Orsak said.

“Cool,” Dash grinned and spread her “trunk” on the concrete table they were using.

Ten through eighteen, red.

The four guards all groaned in annoyance and disbelief and tossed their cards into the air. If beginner’s luck was really a thing they should rename it Rainbow’s luck. Nobody could beat a trunk like that and she got it on the first draw, a cheater would’ve been suspected if any of them got that so perfectly. It was almost comically unfair when it was a card game these mammoths had been playing for ages and they just offered to let Rainbow Dash join in for a round or two.

“Hahahaha!” Dash laughed, kicking her hooves back and forth and holding her stomach. “Hey, what can I tell you? I’m awesome at everything.”

“So it would seem. We should’ve known after hearing and reading everything else about you,” Orsak said as he grumpily picked up the cards.

Rainbow Dash shrugged and flew down to pick some up off the ground too. “So this is what you guys do mostly?”

“When not tallying mammoths coming through the gate, yes,” Nalorkarn told her. He was a very tall and much thinner mammoth than any of the others she had seen, but also very kind and patient.

“And sometimes even when we’re supposed to be doing that,” the last guard, Ballom, chuckled.

Rainbow Dash finished gathering up the cards and hoofed them over to Orsak, who shuffled them back into a full deck. She looked around the little area they mustered in for something specific. “Do you guys keep trumpets here too?”

“No, only Mallom does that because he’s weird,” Orsak said.

“Gotcha,” Dash nodded. Those trumpets were pretty convenient for her sudden arrival at the city.

“Was there anything else on your mind? Anything you wanted to do?” Kakol asked her.

“Not really,” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I wanted to just say hi and actually talk to you guys, since I was meaning to do that for a while but things kind of kept happening.”

Orsak looked slightly dismayed. “I wasn’t at town’s square the other day during the spring festival but I heard what happened...”

“Yeahhh, that’s nothing you guys need to worry about though,” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. “Nowhere is perfect I guess. And that wasn’t really why I kept putting anything off.”

“It still reflects more poorly on all of us. I wish you had a far more pleasant visit here,” Orsak said.

“Hey, this visit has been like, super pleasant. In fact it’s almost been too pleasant, I like things with more action and excitement. Believe me when I say your city is really, really, nice. I’ve been to a lot of places all over the world, so you know I’m not kidding about that,” Rainbow reassured him and the others.

A mammoth pulling a wagon full of produce came in from the gate and looked over at the four guards and Rainbow Dash. He waved with his trunk and smiled at the pony guest and continued on.

“Someone better tally him down,” Ballom said.

The others whistled innocently until Ballom finally got fed up and grabbed the pencil and tally sheet himself.

“Fine,” he grumbled and took care of it.

“Busy day, huh?” Rainbow Dash joked.

“It is what it is,” Orsak shrugged.

“It’s usually quiet for a while after the spring festival. Mammoths want to rest and you already know how leisurely this city is at the most hectic of times,” Nalorkarn said.

“There are a lot of workers at the farms and quarries taking a vacation from work and spending the next couple of days with their families,” Kakol said.

Rainbow Dash looked over at the gate and some of the other buildings around where they were. It’s true that things seemed quieter than normal and she hadn’t seen as many mammoths out and about today. Usually she’d even see a street performer or two but it seemed they wanted their rest after working at the festival. Pretty much the only thing that did look the same as always was the streets and sidewalks, whoever took care of clearing them of snow early in the morning still did their job.

“Alright,” Orsak said as he shuffled the deck of playing cards with his trunk. “Enough talk for now, let’s play at least one more round, shall we?”

Kakol shrugged. “I don’t think we’ll be too busy not to.”

“And perhaps someone else here has lost their beginner’s luck,” Ballom said as he grinned at Rainbow Dash.

“Don’t count on it, I’m telling you I’m awesome,” Rainbow said, confidently putting her front hooves behind her head and leaning back.

“We’ll see,” Orsak said. He finished his shuffling and deftly dealt nine cards to each player, one at a time.

Rainbow Dash sorted through the ones she got, in total there were five different colors; red, blue, green, gold, and purple. Along with multiples of the same color existing it made for a large deck and theoretically difficult odds for getting a complete trunk right off the bat. Math was not and never would be Rainbow Dash’s strong suit so she didn’t know how unlikely it was to get such a great trunk constantly but she was willing to chalk it up to her naturally winning at everything.

Three blue elevens, three red eights, two green eighteens, and one green two. All she needed was one card for a winning trunk.

Now the likelihood that she would draw the exact card she needed was actually very low, and it was possible that one of the other mammoths playing already had the other green eighteen. The way the game worked, Orsak put the remaining deck down and took off the top card, flipping it over and setting it on the table. The next player could then either take that card or another random one from the deck and then exchange it with one of theirs. You always had nine cards in your trunk.

If another green two revealed itself it might even be better for Rainbow Dash to grab it and exchange it with one of her green eighteens and play the odds of the green twos instead.

The first card that Orsak flipped over was a red seven. Nalorkarn was the next to play as he sat immediately next to Orsak, and Rainbow Dash would be right after him, he grabbed the red seven and pondered for a bit, thinking which card would be the best to give up. He probably had a number of singles that were all equally useless to him.

Finally he decided on which card to get rid of and put down a green eighteen.

Rainbow Dash grinned and picked it right up. “Done!”

More cards were thrown into the air.

A Mammoth of a Problem XXII

The old part of the city had a distinctive look to it compared to the rest. The style of the buildings was actually reminiscent of Yakyakistan, the buildings were squatter and she didn’t see any above two stories, and the roads were all cracked stone and dirt. There was also a cold breeze blowing in from the river and the lake to the south, without the perimeter wall that the rest of the city had to block it it made it noticeably much colder here. Rainbow Dash walked with Larkon into an open lot surrounded by haphazardly placed buildings, another thing to note is that it didn’t look like there was any planning here on how the buildings were spread out. Streets were random and crooked and there were dead-ends and narrow alleys and backroads criss-crossing everywhere. This was definitely what you got when you started building a city without a blueprint or any forethought.

“Some of these buildings are back from the very beginning. Back when Tarmok and the others first settled here,” Larkon said. “Not all were destroyed in the ensuing conflict.”

Rainbow Dash looked around, there were definitely a few buildings that looked very aged. It wasn’t even things like the lack of paint but the cracked stone and faded look of everything. It was hard for her to really say how, but some things just looked old. She had seen enough ruins and old-timey towns and places back in Equestria. This area of the mammoth city had the same atmosphere.

“You said this is where a lot of older mammoths live?” Rainbow Dash asked Larkon.

“Yes,” he nodded. “It’s a slower part of the city, not much work goes on here.”

“Even with the slums right across the river?” She raised an eyebrow.

He obviously wasn’t happy about having to acknowledge that but he answered all the same. “Yes. Karkona and his thugs only rarely leave the slums at all and he’s more intent on bothering the rest of the city and the younger mammoths. He doesn’t care about the old retirees and their families that live here.”

Rainbow Dash nodded with a blank face and looked in the direction of the river and the slums beyond. According to Larkon there was a drawbridge or two that connected the slums directly to here, but they were often pulled up and could only be controlled from the slum side. Swimming across the river wouldn’t be an issue for most mammoths but you couldn’t bring anything or take anything with you unless you also had a boat.

“Let’s not talk about that now though, this should be a more fun experience. There’s a lot of history in this part of the city,” Larkon told her, trying to change the subject.

Rainbow shrugged. “Alright. What did you want to show me?”

Larkon smiled. “Well it’s not just any buildings that are still around from the beginning. The very first structure raised by mammoths in this city still stands. Let me show you.”

“Lead the way,” Rainbow Dash grinned back at him.

As they traveled down the winding streets of this part of the city, Rainbow Dash was on the lookout for anything interesting. Like always she wanted to be entertained as much as possible. There wasn’t much though. Betraying its quieter and older nature, the walls lacked art, the streets lacked sculptures and fountains, and there weren’t musicians and other performers around. She saw an old mammoth rocking back and forth in a chair on his porch, but he looked to be asleep. And another old lady was busy shuffling down the side of the road, either going or coming from her house. Rainbow Dash gave her a friendly wave and smile but only got a curt nod in response.

“See? Slow and quiet here,” Larkon said.

Rainbow Dash silently agreed. She flew up a little higher above Larkon to see over more of these buildings and houses and looked around. The only thing she really saw going on was a group of four elderly mammoths sitting around on old stone benches by the side of a house. They seemed to be having a private conversation so she ducked back down to beside Larkon, if they were younger she’d probably go talk to them and see what was going on but she could at least have a little patience and respect for privacy when it came to older creatures.

“Brr,” Rainbow Dash shivered as a particularly cold breeze came in from the river. “Kind of wish I had fur as thick as yours right now.”

“Hehe, why do you think I’m even wearing this hat today?” Larkon said and pointed up to the warm looking muffler on his head. It even had flaps that came down over his ears.

Rainbow smirked at him. “I thought it was just because of your bad fashion sense.”

“Oh be quiet,” he frowned. “So even you’re going to be complaining about my hats now?”

“Hey, it’s an easy target.”

Larkon snorted. “I’d like to see what kind of hat you considerable fashionable.”

“Uh, how bout none?” Rainbow cocked an eyebrow at him. “But I bet I could still pick out a cooler hat than what you wear. Or something awesome, like a helmet.”

“Maybe you can go shopping with Shibu someday and stay on the lookout for something.”

“Maaaybe,” Rainbow considered. She wasn’t a fan of shopping but it couldn’t be so bad, right? If anything there was probably weird mammoth stuff to see in whatever shop Shibu went to. And Rarity may not have been a shopaholic or anything like that but Dash still had a lot of experience with being dragged through Manehattan and Canterlot stores thanks to her.

Larkon made a right on the street and the two of them started going around an old cottage that looked abandoned. Behind it the road forked again and Rainbow Dash could see numerous other paths to take down each road, all of them down and along the sides of old buildings. Some of them probably making a maze between all of the tightly knit houses.

“How long did it take for you to not get lost whenever you came here?” Rainbow asked him.

“A few times.”

It took a few more minutes and a lot more winding turns but eventually the pair made it to where Larkon was taking them.

“And there it is. The first thing built at out new home,” Larkon said. It wasn’t exactly pride in his voice, but a calm appreciation and respect for the mammoths that had come before him.

Rainbow Dash looked ahead at the hovel. It was made of stone that was falling apart in some places, and the shingled roof sagged and rotted, there was no door and the windows were bare of either glass or shutters of any sort. The first building was round and wide, with but a single story, it spoke to quiet practicality and simplicity. Shelter. No more and no less. It sat in the middle of a circular street with all of the clearly newer buildings around it giving it plenty of space. All in all it was an unremarkable building that looked on the verge of collapsing from a mild wind.

“So what is it? What did they make it for?” Rainbow Dash asked Larkon.

“It was to be Tarmok’s temporary war room. Here he and his most loyal would convene, drink, plan for war, and party. He saw that as something far more important than anything else they could’ve built first when they arrived here,” Larkon said.

“Figures.”

Larkon nodded. “Come, let’s go inside. As historian I’ve been torn on whether we should be trying to restore the building or keep it as it is. At the very least I’ve been asking the senate to put a door and lock back on it but… well, you’ve seen how debates can get.”

Rainbow Dash winced. “Yeesh, good luck.”

The two of them headed inside the building, the doorway made for a double door so Rainbow Dash could easily fly right beside Larkon’s head on her way in. There were no lights or even torches inside but enough came in through the windows and a couple of holes on the roof that she could still see clearly. It was all just one single big room with a depression in the middle ringed in stones that looked like a rudimentary fire pit. No furniture or decorations sat anywhere, it was empty aside from dust and some snow that had drifted in in the morning.

Barren. She would’ve assumed it was an ordinary abandoned building if Larkon hadn’t told her anything else about it.

“We were willing to name Tarmok’s Hall that to remind ourselves of the past but we can’t spare the time or effort to even ponder such a historic landmark,” Larkon sighed, shaking his head.

Twilight would definitely sympathize with you right now. Rainbow Dash thought as she looked around.

To think of who stayed in this building, the mammoths who built it and why, it may not have served its purpose for long but there was still a lot of history connected to this place. A lot of important stuff happened around it.

Rainbow Dash turned to look at him, a somewhat pitying frown evident on her face. “So, uh? You said this was supposed to be a fun visit?”

“Oh!” Larkon suddenly perked up, snapped out of his doldrums. “Yes, there’s actually an old friend of mine who lives at the northern part of the old sector. He makes caramel popcorn, I thought you’d like to try some.”

“Would I!” Rainbow smiled. Her wings fluttered and she buzzed over to the open doorway.

Larkon chuckled. He then wistfully glanced about the building, quietly musing. “Yes, there’s no reason to keep ourselves down thinking about the unfortunate things of the past. We’ve become better and happier because of those things. Remembering the past doesn’t mean being chained or ruled by it.”

“You say something?” Dash said as she looked over her shoulder at him.

“No, just talking to myself. Let’s go,” Larkon smiled and walked out with her.

A Mammoth of a Problem XXIII

The westernmost docks on the north side of the lake were used for personal, recreational boats that were mostly owned by families who enjoyed sailing and having a fun time out on the lake. Larkon and his family did not own one such boat but they had a friend who did that allowed Larkon to borrow it. Very eagerly allowed him when they learned that Rainbow Dash had something to do with it. So now Larkon, Shibu, and Rainbow Dash were enjoying a relaxing trip out on the lake.

It was a single mast boat with a large, triangular, sail that looked like it could comfortably hold a small family of mammoths. Larkon was at the helm while Shibu sat in the back gazing out over the calm waters and Rainbow Dash flew around the boat, never being able to sit still in one place for long. It wasn’t just that she was looking the boat over but also checking out everything else that was on the lake. Unlike when she sailed out with Gollak there were a bunch of other boats out on the lake too. Mammoths out partying and relaxing just as they were.

There was also one really big barge going to the south side of the lake. It was totally flat and didn’t have any sails but instead a big paddle at the back that was being turned by a team of mammoths. And the top of the barge was filled with piles and piles of garbage.

“So that’s a garbage barge?” Rainbow Dash asked Larkon as she buzzed up right by him.

“Yes. Thankfully it’s far enough away where the smell isn’t carrying to us,” Larkon said.

“Right… it was you or Gollak that told me about your dump on the other side of the lake,” Rainbow said.

Larkon grinned awkwardly. “Sorry that something so ugly is out here when we’re supposed to be having a fun cruise.”

“Everyone’s got garbage,” Rainbow Dash just shrugged and looked over at the barge again.

Their boat passed by another family’s boat and Rainbow Dash waved at the other mammoths. They looked excited to see her and waved right back. Their boat was a bit bigger but it didn’t have a sail, they had a set of oars on each side of the boat. Must’ve been some mammoths that really liked to exercise. With how naturally strong they were they could probably make that thing go pretty fast.

“Rainbow Dash? Do you want some dried kelp?” Shibu asked from the back of the boat.

“Sure, just a second!” Rainbow yelled and turned to Larkon. “There aren’t going to be any sudden gigantic waves you have to steer the boat over or anything cool like that happening, right? I don’t want to miss it if there is.”

“I can assure you that nothing like that is going to happen out on this lake. Go have your snack with my wife,” Larkon told her.

“Figures,” Rainbow Dash muttered and flew over to Shibu. She had a bag of snacks and a sheet to lay them on that she had brought with her from home.

The sun-dried kelp had an interesting texture to it, completely dry and cracked; it was like eating a flimsy and unsalted potato chip. All there was to it was the natural flavor of the kelp. So it wasn’t exactly her favorite thing to eat but she was always willing to try something new… that wasn’t too weird. Shibu was proud of the kelp and the time it took her to make it perfectly like this too. Although Rainbow Dash didn’t know why it couldn’t have any seasoning on it or anything like that to make it a little tastier. Norma put all kinds of stuff on her bread after all.

She looked out over the side of the boat while she ate and spied a lone mammoth in a canoe paddling out further into the lake. A few days ago she would’ve thought it was weird but not so much anymore.

Mammoth of the Blue was out in the middle of the lake today too, anchored in place as the crew of it probably went diving for more kelp. That huge ship—it deserved that title more than merely being called a boat—dwarfed everything else out on the lake right now. The garbage barge was actually slightly longer but it didn’t have the height and mass.

“Do you like the kelp?” Shibu asked after finishing chewing a big bunch of it herself.

“Yep,” Dash nodded, grabbing another piece and swallowing it. “I never thought I’d like it this much after seeing it on your dining room table that day but, hey, what do you know?”

“Glad to hear it,” Shibu smiled. “I wish Alykon and Samarkon could’ve joined us out here today though.”

Rainbow nodded, only half agreeing with that sentiment. Alykon had been invited to a party with her friends and actually Samarkon could’ve joined them out on the lake but he just refused to. Instead he chose to lock himself up in his room after glaring at Rainbow Dash this morning. He hadn’t said anything lately but Rainbow Dash felt like his mood had been even worse than normal ever since the spring festival and Karkona’s words. Even if his parents forced him to come out here he’d probably just be a grouch and bring everyone else down anyways, so Rainbow Dash didn’t mind his absence.

“Perhaps next time we’ll all have a party!” Larkon shouted back from the wheel. “I can invite some friends over for dinner!”

“That would be delightful!” Shibu said and then looked over at Rainbow Dash. “I’m sure you would enjoy being the guest of honor?”

“Does that equate to “center of attention”? Cause if so, then yeah,” Rainbow grinned at her.

“It will be a lot of fun, lots of mammoths still want to meet you personally,” Shibu said.

“Who can blame them?” Rainbow shrugged. “As long as the food is good and I can tell some awesome stories then it sounds fun to me.”

“You can already do that anywhere!” Larkon yelled again.

“Psh,” Rainbow snorted and flew from the back towards him. “Yeah but it’s still different at a real party that’s celebrating me. Besides, if your average party is like your average wedding here it should be a blast.”

A loud honking horn blew from behind them suddenly and the three on the boat looked back to see a larger boat sailing right past them. The mammoths on it waving their trunks at Rainbow Dash while the helmsman pulled a rope, causing the horn on top of the boat to blow again. The prow of the boat was painted white with blue fish all over it and the end carved like a mammoth’s trunk. A few of the mammoths added trumpeting from their trunks to the loud horn while they said hi to Rainbow Dash, Larkon, and Shibu.

They all waved back, their boat being slightly rocked by the wake from the larger one, and Rainbow Dash flew up a bit and cupped her hooves around her mouth.

“Have fun sailing!” She yelled to them.

The day slowly went on as Larkon sailed her and Shibu all the way around the lake, exploring the coastline and pointing out the mountains that formed their enclosed valley that kept the mammoths secluded from the rest of the world. Thanks to the slow speed of the garbage barge they ended up meeting it right as it docked on the far side of the lake and Rainbow Dash watched as mammoths started removing the piles of trash and take them to the large garbage dump in the mountains. She could just see the edge of it along the foothills. And smell it. It looked like a huge wastedump and landfill where mammoths were pulling wagons full of garbage into it and wagons full of dirt out.

“Lots of compost there,” Larkon said.

“I can tell. Ugh,” Rainbow Dash flapped her wings to try and shoo the smell away while pinching her nose shut.

They started sailing up the east coast of the lake then, Mammoth of the Blue in the center of the lake the entire time. Now Rainbow Dash also had a clear view of some of the farms that lied just outside the city too, they covered so much area and actually got pretty close to the lakefront at places. There were probably more farms and farmers she could visit out there. She knew the mammoths had to grow more stuff than what she saw on her first visit.

A group of canoers was also coming down from the docks to meet them and Rainbow Dash had to give them a wave too. They didn’t wear any sort of flotation devices so they must be adequate swimmers. It made her think of Yona and that one unfortunate time she and Applejack took the students out…

“Have you ever gone canoeing?” She asked Larkon

“I had one when I was a kid but I haven’t done it in years,” he shook his head.

“I’ve actually done it a couple of times. Our canoes are smaller though.”

“What a surprise,” he wryly grinned.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you mammoths are big, giant, lumps of fur. Everything in this city looks like it was made for giants to me.”

“Rainbow Dash!” Shibu called from the back of the boat again. “Do you want some biscuits?”

“Yeah, give me a second!” Rainbow replied again. She looked at Larkon. “Anyways thanks for the day trip. It’s been fun.”

Larkon shrugged. “This is why you’re here.”

“Not quite, but sure.”

By the time they finished their trip around the lake and brought the boat back to the docks it was late in the evening. Larkon tied the boat up and lowered the sail, and he and Shibu walked off while Rainbow Dash flew above them. The buildings around the docks here weren’t just shops or places for sailors to hang out like the other side. There were a lot of houses and even a schoolhouse close by along with a small marketplace. But there were still places like boat repair, construction, and other stuff related to that kind of work.

It was a long walk back to Larkon’s house from here too and it’s not like Rainbow Dash could make it any faster when she had to keep pace with Larkon and Shibu. Mammoths may have been good swimmers but they were slow walkers even with their huge stride. Late evening turned to a quiet night and snowflakes started to fall from the sky.

“How pretty,” Shibu warmly said as she watched the snow begin to fall.

“You just had your spring festival and its snowing like this?” Rainbow said. A snowflake landed on her nose and she licked it off.

“That’s the kind of weather we’re blessed with here,” Larkon said, holding his trunk out to see if he could catch any.

“I knew it snowed every night already but I guess I was expecting it to let up a little more than this...” Rainbow Dash trailed off as they traveled through the falling snow.

When they got back to the street Larkon’s house was on, Rainbow Dash was much colder than she preferred to be and a thin layer of dusty snow covered the road and sidewalks. She had dealt with far worse though so she wasn’t about to start complaining. And the house was right there, along with the warm bed inside it. She didn’t know what she’d be doing tomorrow here in the mammoth city but she could tackle anything after a warm night’s rest.

The thought of that rest was interrupted however by the sound of crying. The three of them heard it right as they reached home.

Who’s that? Rainbow Dash frowned, flying up, that crying voice was definitely familiar…

Larkon and Shibu quickened their pace too, walking up the stoop of the house and seeing the door wide open, Alykon on the floor in the entryway, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“Alykon!” Shibu yelled and ran to her daughter, Larkon following and Rainbow Dash swooping in. “What’s wrong?! What happened?”

Rainbow Dash reached her first and held her head, the young mammoth opening her eyes and looking up at the pegasus. Rainbow Dash sighed in relief. “You’re okay...”

“Alykon!” Larkon said, he and Shibu running up to her to see what was going on.

Alykon looked up at her parents and her lip quivered, more fresh tears flowing from her eyes. “Mom, dad, I’m sorry...”

“What happened?” Rainbow Dash asked her.

“I-It’s Samarkon...” Alykon choked out. “He’s gone!”

“Gone?!” Larkon gasped, rearing back in surprise. “What do you mean, gone?”

“He ran away!” Alykon cried. “I… I was coming home from the party… a-and I saw him leaving the house so I asked him where he was going...” She rubbed her face to try and clean up some of the tears. “He pushed me down and said he was going to Karkona! He said he was going to join him at the slums! I tried to stop him but he hit me a-and he said he hated me and then he ran away!”

“Ohhh...” Shibu faltered, she looked almost like she was going to faint but she held on, affectionately hugging Alykon and rubbing her head.

Larkon and Rainbow Dash had different reactions. They shared a grim look with each other.

“Rainbow Dash?” Larkon said.

She nodded. “I’ll meet you there.”

And with a sonic blast into the sky she was off towards the slums.

A Mammoth of a Problem XXV

There was a heavy lock on Abalun’s front door that required a key from his cloak to open it up. When he did so he stepped aside and held the door open and gestured for Rainbow Dash to fly on in. It was a small and sparse one-room deal with a thin and lumpy bed in the corner on a metal frame and a single small table with but one chair against the opposite wall right by a metal-shuttered window that was currently closed. The floor was dusty and there were discarded newspapers all thrown about with a single lamp on a couple of shelves and cabinets by the bed.

“Not much I’m afraid. If you’re staying the night here because you want to see the slums I’m not exactly sure where you’ll sleep,” Abalun said as he walked in after her and shut the door, making sure to lock it.

“No problem, I’ll use some of your old newspapers for sheets,” Rainbow shrugged.

Abalun grunted and walked over to the window, sliding open the shutters and taking a quick peek out into the street before closing them again. He then took off his cloak and tossed it onto the bed before turning to regard Rainbow Dash. “Obviously you have some questions. Where’d you like to start?”

“You bet I have some questions! I’ve been like, wondering what was up with you ever since I saw you back at the docks, and how weird Larkon got. And these slums too! I’ve been super curious about them, do you have any idea how difficult it is for me to not do something after specifically being told not to do it?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s. Really. Hard.”

A smirk tugged up Abalun’s lips and he looked like he was stopping himself from laughing. “You’re as amusing as I’ve heard. But truly the newspapers and gossip don’t do you justice.”

“Nothing can do me justice except me,” Rainbow Dash smugly grinned. “Uh, but anyways, just who are you? I know your name, but why are you living here in the slums? And what are you doing with Larkon? Seriously, what’s going on in this place?”

Abalun tapped his trunk on his tusks, thinking. “Well, Larkon obviously trusts you enough that I can answer your questions, so be it then.” He took a seat on his bed, the metal springs straining under his weight. “Larkon and I are old friends, we knew each other when we were kids. And what I’m doing now and here in these slums is a favor to him.”

“A favor?”

Abalun nodded. “Larkon is a well known mammoth throughout the city and even here in these slums. On the other trunk, I am not. So Larkon asked me if I could infiltrate the slums and spy on Karkona for him.”

“Larkon asked you to do that? That’s actually pretty cool,” Rainbow Dash grinned.

“It’s also the reason I had to wear my cloak since at this point I can’t afford to be seen with you in such a way. What I just did was already a risk but I couldn’t exactly let you and Larkon’s son get hurt,” Abalun told her.

“Thanks for that again. So what do you like, even do as a spy? What does Larkon want to find out about Karkona?”

“I’ve spent my time since coming here ingratiating myself in Karkona’s group, although I’’m still nothing more than a lackey or acquaintance to him at best. Really I’m just able to keep an eye on his movements and things like that, or go to any public meetings he holds. Unfortunately I can’t seem to get anywhere important,” Abalun sighed. “As for specifically the goal Larkon is looking towards is that he wants to see if something can be found out about Karkona that will actually get the senate and the rest of the city to act or at the very least for me to be able to warn him if Karkona is about to do something especially bad.”

Rainbow Dash frowned and scratched. “Just throwing this out there but I can’t see you getting much help from the senate...”

“Yes, we both know,” Abalun agreed. “It may be wishful thinking but Larkon still hopes that we can one day find evidence of something so obvious and law-breaking that even those afraid of Karkona will be forced into action.”

“You know though I’m kind of surprised Larkon would go for something like this. Even though he really doesn’t like Karkona it’s pretty awesome he set you up as a spy,” Rainbow said.

“He’s just forward thinking. I think he does have a distaste for all this planning and scheming but knows something needs to be done,” Abalun said.

“Yeah… but would he really be okay with you cracking a chair over some mammoth’s skull?” Rainbow asked.

Abalun shook his head. “He definitely would not be, but still, sometimes there are things you can’t avoid. I’ve learned that lesson especially well after living in the slums for a while now.”

“Is this place really that bad?”

“It’s full of nothing but thieves and thugs who were cast out and shunned by the rest of society. Is it really that difficult to imagine after seeing what happened tonight?”

Rainbow Dash considered that. And after hearing about mammoth history… no, it really wasn’t. “I guess it’s just a shock compared to how the rest of the city is.”

“Fair,” Abalun nodded.

Rainbow Dash floated over onto his table and stood atop it. “So you haven’t really been able to find out anything important about Karkona yet? What do you think he’s doing? All I know is he wants to find the Sacred Spring so he can become some “Mammoth among mammoths” or whatever.”

“Honestly? I haven’t got a clue,” Abalun shrugged, defeated.

“Really, dude?” Rainbow flatly stared at him.

“I know he’s up to something but I have no idea what. Karkona completely rules over most of the slums and he has several large warehouses that he keeps under close guard and lock. I know he’s doing something he shouldn’t be inside there but I can’t get in to see what. They’re guarded all day and night by his loyal mammoths, he has to be protecting something dangerous inside.” Abalun told her. “But aside from that he mostly just holds rallies to rile up his followers and the other mammoths in the slums. He talks about them soon being able to reclaim what is rightfully theirs and stuff like that but he never mentions anything specific. About the spring or anything else.”

“Sounds like your spying isn’t going too well at this point.”

“I’ll admit I’ve hit a snag. I’m not sure what I can do at this point except for just keep watching over him and going to his rallies. I think he’s unwilling to really trust me or have me do any actual work for him because I’m older. He’s not fond of mammoths of older generations than him.”

“He’s more a fan of the impressionable youth and rebellious teens,” Rainbow muttered.

“Exactly.”

The conversation paused for a minute as both of them stopped to think. Rainbow Dash didn’t know enough about the slums or Karkona to suggest anything and Abalun had clearly been doing his best. She didn’t know how volatile things were, or what Karkona was planning, or if there was anything pressing, or if Larkon really wanted her to do anything about it. She felt bad for the mammoths in the slums though, and all the others who had been misled by Karkona. Couldn’t she just go beat him up? No… Larkon would think it’s wrong to use violence to solve their problems. It would be a betrayal of everything he stood for and believed in.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “So what do we do now?”

“Right now?” Abalun raised an eyebrow at her. “I suggest we go to bed. It’s very late. Tomorrow though… I’ll show and teach you everything about the slums you wish to know.”

“Works for me,” Dash yawned, her exhaustion finally hitting her after the sheer adrenaline run she’d been on for the past hour. She fluttered down to the floor and did just as she had said earlier, grabbed up all the discarded newspapers and put them on the table for a makeshift bed. Abalun watched with wry amusement as he settled into his own sleeping spot.

“Good night,” the mammoth said to her.

“Night,” she replied back, circling around the newspapers a few times before plopping down like a dog and letting her tired body soon drift off to sleep.

Rainbow Dash awoke surprisingly comfortable after sleeping on top of a hard table with just a few newspapers for bedding. It was really cold in Abalun’s little one room apartment but she was used to that by now. Abalun looked like he had woken up well earlier than she had and was currently munching on some dried kelp he must’ve taken out of one of the cabinets by the bed.

“Good morning,” Abalun said and offered her some kelp which she graciously accepted.

“Morning,” Dash yawned and started chowing down.

The two ate at the table until both of them were fully woken up, Abalun letting the clearly much more tired Rainbow Dash get herself together.

“So-” Abalun started. “Obviously you can’t really be seen in the slums, not with me at least, so for most of the day I’ll have to disguise you in some way. That’s the only way the two of us can actually explore the slums together and spy on some of the others.”

“Okay,” Dash nodded.

“And if we do stumble upon Karkona, don’t get mad and start a fight,” he told her.

She frowned but accepted nevertheless. “Fine.”

“Good. I doubt we will though, I haven’t heard him getting ready to do anything lately. Normally his minions would be out yelling that a rally is coming up or something,” Abalun said.

“I mostly just wanted to see the slums for real today. Beating up Karkona can come… eventually,” Rainbow said.

“Well it’s not much of a pleasant sight out there but I’ll take you around,” Abalun finished eating and walked towards the closed window. “Come here for a second.”

Rainbow Dash floated up beside his head and Abalun opened the metal shutters just enough that the two of them could peak out without really having to worry about anyone outside looking back in. The window was dirty but Rainbow Dash could still clearly see out into the street. A couple of inches of snow layered the ground, no one here to clean it up, and angry looking mammoths shuffled up and down past Abalun’s place. There was a small shack made of sheets of metal almost directly across the street from where they were, a couple of mammoths sat at stools right outside it while the mammoth inside the shack made food. Another alley fenced off with barbed wire sat beside the shack along with a “Keep Out!” sign attached to it. Everything was dirty, unpainted, undecorated, and unwelcoming. She had flown into a different world.

“Geez, it’s not the first place I’ve seen like this but you’re in the middle of a pretty rough neighborhood,” Dash said.

“A normal day here.”

“It’s just so different from the rest of the city,” her eyes roamed up and down the street but all she saw were more mismatched buildings clustered together and the occasional mammoth. She looked over at Abalun. “So we’re going on a tour soon?”

“Yes, I just need to think of how best to disguise you… somehow,” Abalun rubbed his trunk.

He walked over to his bed and grabbed up his cloak, putting it on. “You’re too small to even pass for a child.” He looked over his cloaked body. “But maybe instead of disguising you we’ll just have to hide you instead.”

Rainbow Dash grimaced at his obvious plan. “Sounds fun.”

A minute later a noticeably hunchbacked mammoth stepped out of his one room apartment and out onto the streets. The cloak Abalun wore had enough extra looseness to it that she could lie down on his back and peak out over the top of his head. It was uncomfortable and awkward but they made it work. So long as nobody looked too hard or they ran into another slum-dweller who personally knew Abalun.

“So where to?” Rainbow Dash whispered to Abalun from atop his head.

“I’m going to take you around to those warehouses I told you about. And I’ll show you where Karkona actually lives,” Abalun replied back. “In the meantime just take in the sights of the other half.”

The sights were not pleasant. More than once they had to squeeze by two or more mammoths engaged in a fight, and these mammoths all still had their tusks sharp. Some of the ones fighting were even younger than Samarkon and it took a lot for Rainbow Dash to not rush out and pull them apart. Anytime they passed by another mammoth who wasn’t fighting they just got a nasty look and any of the few mammoths that were working their own small shops regarded them suspiciously. Although considering Abalun was wearing a full body cloak with the hood down she couldn’t really blame that last one.

Most of the doors she saw had fairly elaborate locks and a lot of windows were barred. Below her she heard Abalun’s wet and squishy footsteps and realized there were no paved roads in the slums either. It was all slushy mud now after the previous night’s snow. Glancing down an alley she saw a group of dirty kids playing cards atop an overturned box.

It was sadly the most wholesome thing she had seen so far in the slums.

“Why does anyone follow Karkona if the place he rules over is as awful as this still?” Rainbow asked Abalun.

“Because they believe when he becomes King and rules over everything it’ll get better,” Abalun fought the reflex to shrug with her on top of him. “In reality it’ll probably all turn into what you see around you. Also many of them just don’t know better or care. This is their life.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and let him carry her on. “So not awesome.”

The cramped slums didn’t change the more they traveled through them. There was the odd building bigger than most that she saw and a couple of times she’d see a group of mammoths actually just standing around and chatting, but the moment she thought they might be nicer they would clam up and shoot Abalun dirty looks as soon as they saw him. It was the default way for mammoths here to treat others that weren’t in their direct circle.

Normally she’d ask them what the hay they were staring at but she unfortunately had to hold herself back.

“How’d these slums start up in the first place?” She asked.

“Hm...” Abalun hummed. “We don’t like conflict, and while we have a jail it’s just a small place for temporary holdings, so instead the slums are essentially a faux-exile. The senate and other mammoths of the city are saying “Just go over there and stop bothering us”. And for the most part that’s the end of it. Since even mammoths in the slums need to eat the food grown in the farms. Although Larkon has never really approved of this, he’s not fond of our senate’s tendency to just ignore problems and look the other way, to just pretend something isn’t there.”

“Can’t say I like that approach either.”

“Well Larkon also wouldn’t be fond of just going and beating everyone up. So we’re in something of a conundrum,” Abalun frowned. “Not to mention that Karkona is strong, he’s very dangerous and not just because of his ideology, the way he was able to rise to the top of the slums in the first place was through force. The preaching came second.”

“I can take him,” Rainbow confidently stated.

Abalun snorted. “No offense but I’m not sure if he’d even feel your punches.”

Rainbow Dash grumbled in annoyance. She had had enough of opponents she couldn’t just beat up. “Yeah whatever...”

After that the two walked and walked until they finally arrived at the warehouses Abalun had mentioned earlier. They were the largest buildings Rainbow Dash had seen yet in the slums and built in one of the few areas where it seemed the ground around them had been cleared of other buildings and obstructions. Three warehouses made of steel and brick with windows only at the highest points of their walls, they were close enough together that they almost touched and when she did look between them she saw they were actually connected by some enclosed vestibules. And like Abalun had said a number of mammoths stood outside their front doors to guard them. They had the same mean look as every mammoth in the slums but they looked more serious and stoic too. They were taking the job Karkona had given them seriously. And because of the muddy open ground around the warehouses there was no way to sneak into them in the middle of the day. She could see why Abalun had been having trouble.

The mammoths guarding the warehouses soon noticed them as Abalun walked past them on the far side of the empty lot, trying to act as casually as possible. At least none of the guards left their post to accost them or anything like that.

As they were walking to the next street that led away from the warehouses, Dash saw a number of mammoths in worker’s overalls coming their way. Unlike most mammoths here they didn’t spare the cloaked Abalun a glance. The whole group walked from the narrow street to the first warehouse, right past the guards and into the building without a fuss. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes as she watched the occurrence. Something was up here.

“You saw those workers?” Abalun asked. “I’ve seen a number of them going into those warehouses every day too, along with some others. They must be directly ordered around by Karkona but I wonder what they’re doing in there.”

“Yeah, me too,” Rainbow Dash said.

“It’s not much further to where Karkona lives from here, he stays in the center of the slums in a dingy looking house built on top of a few other houses,” Abalun told her.

“What do you mean?”

“He had a bunch of mammoths construct a lopsided hovel made of a bunch of metal sheets and whatever else was lying around on top of some old abandoned homes. There’s stairs leading up to it from the ground, I think he just likes feeling above the other mammoths,” Abalun said.

“Well I kind of understand that feeling,” Rainbow had to admit.

The more they walked in the direction of Karkona’s place the less fighting Rainbow Dash saw, and the less urchins and kids messing around in the streets. The mammoths they did see still had a tough and wary look in their eyes but like the guards of the warehouse they weren’t violent or hot-tempered thugs either. They must’ve been loyal to Karkona and no one in this area was about to start up a random fight with another. So unlike some parts of the slums they had walked to there was actually an order and authority when it came to the direct followers and minions of Karkona.

The street started to curve, a very wide and slow curve but a curve nonetheless, towards the center of the slum. To Rainbow Dash it looked like some buildings had been broken or torn down specifically to make a more orderly road.

Didn’t stop the ground from just being mud though. And all the remaining buildings still looking like they were made with materials pulled out of a garbage dump.

“We’re almost there,” Abalun said.

“If you’re hanging around Karkona and his flunkies a lot are any of these guys going to recognize you?” Rainbow whispered.

“Possibly. Just be still and try to keep your head down behind my crown if anyone actually comes up to us.”

Despite still getting the usual looks Rainbow Dash had come to expect from the mammoths living in these slums they weren’t bothered on their way down the street. It did become more crowded with adult, but still young adult, mammoths hanging outside and around every building. Some of them Rainbow Dash ended up recognizing from the spring festival.

At last they got to the true depths of the slums and Karkona’s ramshackle home emerged. It really was a mess of angular walls, beams shooting out randomly, mismatched pieces of wood and metal slapped together, and all sitting atop a collection of shanties that were themselves just as much of a pile. Like Abalun had said there was a cheap set of stairs made from misshapen wooden boards that led up from the ground to the second “story” and ended at a large metal door that was shut closed at the moment.

“No sign of Karkona himself, but that’s probably a good thing for the two of us,” Abalun said as he paused for a minute.

“I bet he wishes he could turn Tarmok’s Hall into his own palace, huh?” Rainbow Dash said after staring at the hovel some more.

“That is probably his plan for the future,” Abalun agreed.

“Well too bad for him. He’s not even gonna get to become a King in the first place,” Rainbow said.

Abalun grunted. “Very true. All three of us are going to make sure of that now.” He looked around at the rest of the slums and some of the mammoths watching them and resumed walking. “You know you’ll have to stay here with me until nightfall? I don’t want to take the risk of someone seeing you leave the slums in the middle of the day. If they knew you didn’t leave immediately after rescuing Samarkon it could make them start asking questions.”

“Got it,” Rainbow said. It would probably be a slow day and she’d be cooped up in Abalun’s place for most of it but she could endure. Seeing these slums… it changed her view of the mammoths almost as much as hearing their history from Larkon. And it made her more determined than before to take down Karkona.

A Mammoth of a Problem XXVI

Rainbow Dash waited until the dead of night to say goodbye to Abalun and fly back to Larkon’s house in the city proper. Now she knew everything and it set her mind at ease. The nagging suspicions she had about things turned out to be at least partially justified. It was good to know Larkon and Abalun were definitely the good guys, and now she knew everything she needed to know about the bad guys too. Rainbow Dash smiled to herself as she flew. The adventure in the city of mammoths was taking shape, and she was really happy with herself for not ditching out like she had planned.

Not like it was her fault things seemed so boring around here at first glance though.

When she made it back to Larkon’s house she slipped in through the front door, it was unlocked, likely due to Larkon expecting her to come back tonight, and quietly made her way to her bedroom. After sleeping on top of a table last night and staying up much later than normal this night she was ready for that big comfortable mammoth bed.

She wasn’t sure what tomorrow would be like, or what Larkon really planned to do. She wanted to knock Karkona’s block off but there were a lot of things making that difficult. Who knows? Hopefully she got her fun adventure and her satisfaction.

She had a smile on her face, thinking about beating up mammoths, as she climbed into her bed and crawled under the covers. In less than a minute she was snoring and out like a light.

Samarkon was quieter than normal. Not just that but more reserved all around. He didn’t shoot Rainbow Dash any nasty looks, he didn’t say anything to his sister and parents, he just ate and closed himself up in his room. She knew he was angry, and probably biding his time before he did something else stupid, but at least it was nicer than him being constantly mean. Rainbow could tell how upset Larkon was about the whole affair though, during the silent breakfast she attended after coming back there was a noticeable coldness between father and son.

But there was nothing that could be done about that right now. Maybe Samarkon just needed to grow up and experience more of life. Rainbow Dash had dealt with bullies and kids like him before, sometimes time was the only real cure.

Rainbow Dash thought it was going to be a quiet and melancholy day because of this but little did she know, Shibu had other plans…

“Wow, I didn’t know you guys had hair salons at all up here,” Dash said as she, Shibu, and Alykon walked inside the store. She looked around at all the pictures on the wall showing a variety of mammoths with their woolly fur cut in certain ways, or specially groomed, some of them with hair ties and bows and other stuff on the tops of their heads to make it more unique.

While the fur that covered a mammoth’s entire body was much longer and thicker than the fur for ponies they didn’t have long manes or tails so it looked like if they wanted to do something stylish and not just get a trim they really had to improvise.

At the moment there were a few barbers/stylists and some empty chairs in the salon but no other customers. Shibu had told them she was bringing Rainbow Dash earlier so they closed their doors for this special occasion.

“Everyone needs a trim at least every now and then,” Shibu said. “And you can tell that some mammoths here like to get a little more.”

“Yeah...” Rainbow said as she looked at the garish picture of a mammoth with the hair on top of her head done up like the leaves of a pineapple.

“Alykon and I needed a regular cut so I figured it would be lovely to bring you along too,” Shibu smiled.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Well sure, I’m all about seeing more of your city. Sort of. Larkon still really wants me to do stuff like this at least.”

“Come here, come here!” One of the stylists said and herded Shibu and Alykon to the chairs. She was a mammoth whose weight surpassed Shibu’s along with a healthy amount of lipstick on her lips. “I’m happy to have you two again, and it’s such a special day too!”

Another stylist came up behind the chair Alykon climbed into. She was younger, maybe a teenager only a few years older than Alykon, with an almost blond coloration to her fur and ribbons tied up all over her head. “I know, mom! Did you ever think the pony would come right here to our shop?”

Rainbow Dash looked between them. “So you two are mother and daughter?”

“That’s right!” The mother confirmed. “My name’s Bollam, and this is my daughter, Ollakon.”

“Nice to meet you,” Rainbow Dash said and waved to them.

“Nice to meet you too!” Ollakon said, practically squeeing.

Bollam patted her daughter on the head with her trunk and smiled at Rainbow Dash. “Alright, now we’ll show you what we do here.”

Two black capes were thrown over the mother and daughter waiting to get their woolly fur trimmed and the stylists got to work. One of the walls had a long mirror up on it and the chairs were turned to face them so everyone could see exactly what was going on the whole time. Rainbow Dash floated up overhead so she could watch the both of them too.

Using their dexterous trunks, Bollam and Ollakon grabbed some trimmers (that would’ve been the equivalent of hedge trimmers back in Equestria) and got to work quickly and precisely cutting Shibu and Alykon’s hair. To be honest, Rainbow Dash had trouble really seeing the difference even as more and more locks of shaggy hair fell onto the ground. There was just so much of it. The stylists were really efficient in their work though, going over every inch of their customers’ big heads and keeping focus on their work despite the blue pony buzzing around right next to them.

Ollakon pulled out a comb and started running it through Alykon’s fur, at first it caught on a number of knots but Ollakon kept at it and straightened it all out. Despite the pained winces from Alykon and the hard tugging that caused her head to be yanked down a few times.

“You need to wash your hair better like your mother,” Ollakon clicked her tongue.

Alykon merely grumbled and frowned at herself in the mirror. Rainbow Dash could respect that.

“We’ll give you some nice shampoo to take with you when we’re done,” Bollam said as she worked on the much more manageable hair of Shibu.

The two finished up in just a few minutes, getting their hair slightly washed and dried after the trimming was done. Since Shibu and Alykon both went in for standard trims they didn’t get anything fancy done with their hair. Although Rainbow Dash could tell Ollakon was really eager to do that with Alykon.

Shibu and Alykon threw their capes off and stood up from their chairs, checking themselves out in the mirror.

“As perfect as ever, Bollam,” Shibu said.

“Oh please, stop!” Bollam playfully smacked her with her trunk. “Besides, I should be the one thanking you for this special opportunity. I’m so excited to style Miss Rainbow Dash’s lovely mane and tail!”

Rainbow Dash paused in midair and her face immediately paled. “Wait, what?”

Shibu giggled, flashing her a mischievous eye. “Oh, dear me, did I forget to mention that? I told Bollam and Ollakon that they would get the chance to cut your hair and, oh, do whatever they wanted with it really.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened and she tensed up to fly out of the store—but before she could make it, Shibu’s powerful trunk wrapped around her barrel and pushed her down into the huge seat she had just vacated.

“I don’t need a manecut!” Rainbow Dash protested.

“But think of how much cuter you could look? There are all sorts of styles for you to try out,” Shibu said.

“Look, if you just wanna clean my mane and tail, that’s fine, but no way am I letting anybody cut them!” Rainbow said, trying to fight her way out of Shibu’s grip to no avail. At last she looked at Alykon, hoping for some support from the teenager.

But Alykon only grinned at her and waved. Once more, Rainbow could respect that.

“Let’s get started!” Ollakon shouted and came at her with a brush while Bollam closed in with a pair of clippers.

Rainbow leaned back, trying to keep away. “No! Nooooo!”

“Bwahahahahaha! Ahahahaha!” Larkon laughed hysterically at Rainbow Dash when they all returned home. At least she was able to lift his spirits a little thanks to this.

Even Samarkon did a double-take when he first saw her before his face morphed into an expression that said he felt like she had grown a second head.

Rainbow Dash’s mane had been braided. Furthermore it had been flattened and smoothed out beforehand, and enough shampoo and conditioner was used to make it silky smooth. Her bangs were cut in a straight line right above her eyes and the long braid was pulled down around her neck and rested on her right shoulder. Complete with a pink bow tying it together at the end. Her tail went through a similar treatment, smoothed and fluffed out, trimmed to get rid of any jagged ends and stray hairs, and then tied together again with another pink bow to keep it from getting messy.

“Please… please tell me you’ll keep it like this the rest of your stay?” Larkon was able to speak in-between his bouts of raucous laughter.

Rainbow Dash glared at him. “No way.”

A Mammoth of a Problem XXVIII

The time had come. The big day. Alykon and her team were having a real game of Trunkball against another team.

Rainbow Dash was confident about their chances. Not as much as she could’ve been, yes, but still confident that they could win. She would’ve liked to have practiced with and coached them more but other things had repeatedly come up. Right now she hoped that Alykon and her teammates had taken all her advice to heart and were ready to give this game their all. Larkon, Shibu, and even Samarkon were all here as well to watch her game, they sat with the families of Dathon, Orsal, and Makom while the other families were sitting on stands built on the other side of the court.

They didn’t get to play in the huge stadium Rainbow Dash got to watch the pro game in but they at least got a real outdoor court with a paved asphalt ground and stands for any fans to sit in this time. Compared to playing back in that park for practice this was a huge step up. The ball would actually bounce really well on a playing field like this, and they had a real ref and scorekeeper too.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure about the other team Alykon was facing though, they looked really calm and confident in themselves as well, and they were huddled together going over some last minute strategy while Alykon and the others kind of just stood around. Rainbow Dash had a good eye for winners and competitive creatures, and those opposing mammoths were on her radar.

“How do you think Alykon’s team will do?” Larkon asked her.

“I think they’ll do good,” Rainbow answered. And it was the truth, they had vastly improved under her, she just didn’t know if them being good would be enough for them to win. Rainbow looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. “You know, I don’t have kids or anything but I feel like as her father you should probably be a little more knowledgeable about your daughter’s team and Trunkball dreams, shouldn’t you?”

Samarkon snorted from next to them.

Larkon ignored his son but still grimaced and looked away from Rainbow Dash, instead watching his daughter. Shibu also glanced over at him. “I know… I’ve just had a lot on my table recently.”

Rainbow opened her mouth but then closed it, thinking better. He had a point, and her parents insane fawning for their daughter was hardly the norm either. She didn’t really know what it was like to raise kids and Larkon had a lot of stuff stressing him out in this city. She glanced up at him and patted his big side. “Hey, forget it. Nobody’s perfect.”

Shibu reached over and put her trunk around Larkon’s shoulders. “You’re here now and that’s what counts. Just watch your daughter play, she’s happy that you came to her game.”

“Hm,” Larkon grunted, settling into his seat.

“You all just cheer for Alykon and her team, I’ve coached them well, they’ll be scoring points left and right!” Rainbow grinned.

“Doubtful,” Samarkon muttered. “Why did I have to get dragged along to this too?”

“Because it’s part of your apology for what you did to Alykon,” Larkon said as he frowned down at his son. “Now just be quiet and watch your sister’s game.”

“Or cheer for her if you feel like it,” Rainbow grinned.

“Tch,” Samarkon clicked his tongue. “Don’t count on it.”

A whistle was blown from the ref holding onto the ball to signify that the game was about to start. Family members and other mammoths clapped and trumpeted to cheer for their kids and friends to begin playing. Rainbow Dash too cupped her hooves around her mouth and gave a loud “Wooh!” for Alykon and her team. The players themselves gathered at the middle of the court, Rainbow Dash noticing now that the enemy team didn’t have any substitutes either, was that just a thing for pro teams?

Either way the ref had them all shake trunks with each other before getting into position. Alykon and Makom on defense, Dathon and Orsal on offense. It really had ended up being the best format for their team, Rainbow Dash only hoped it was good enough to win a serious game. With any luck, Alykon and her team would break their losing streak today.

“Good luck,” she whispered to herself.

The ref stood in the center of the court, red ball held in his trunk. He looked to each team and asked if they were ready to begin. Upon getting a nod in the affirmative from both teams, the ball was lobbed into the air and he stepped back to let the game commence.

Dathon was the tallest mammoth on the court and Rainbow Dash’s efforts to improve his decisiveness had seemed to work out since he jumped without hesitation to make sure he was the first one to get his trunk on the ball. Instead of keeping it for himself he batted it right to Orsal and then pivoted around the opposing mammoth right in front of him while Orsal started dribbling the ball to the outside of the court. He made it through the halfway point on the enemy team’s side and one of the defenders rushed up to him. Orsal attempted to feint to the right while actually dribbling the ball to his left but the other mammoth was too good for such a simple maneuver, they saw right through it and when Orsal tried to pass by him he snatched the ball out of Orsal’s grip with his trunk.

With an easy throw he sent it to his teammates on offense and the momentum of the game shifted to favor their team. Now it was up to Alykon and Makom to do something similar and prevent any points from being scored against them.

Come on, you can easily recover, just don’t let them score any points against you on the first drive to keep your spirits up. Rainbow Dash thought as she intently watched the game.

Makom was the first to make it to the mammoth with the ball on account of being on the right side of the court. He was still slower than Alykon but not as slow as he had been. And at least for this game he was clearly giving his all. Rainbow Dash nodded as she watched him, happy with his improved performance. Hopefully it turned into results.

Makom was blocking the mammoth from the front, doing a good job of making sure they would have to pass it to one of the other mammoths on their team instead of proceeding themselves. The mammoth with the ball was dribbling in place, trying to fake Makom out as to which direction he was going, but Makom didn’t take the bait.

The other mammoth on offense ran back to get some room between him and Alykon and the one with the ball tossed it to him and then ran past Makom to get closer to the hoop. Even though he didn’t have the ball right now he was putting himself in good position to score. The mammoth with the ball now had to deal with Alykon’s aggressive moves to try and take it right out of his trunk as he dribbled it around the court. Alykon didn’t have the patience to sit back like Makom did, it was a strategy Rainbow Dash definitely approved of, and one that could work, she just needed to not lose sight of the rest of the court.

Unfortunately she clearly hadn’t gotten over all of her bad tendencies as she didn’t notice one of the enemy defenders coming up into the perfect position for the mammoth with the ball to pass to. The red ball went out of his trunk and back to the defender, and while Alykon was distracted by that, her previous opponent charged ahead of her. The defender then easily lobbed the ball over Alykon’s head and back to the other mammoth, who could now dribble practically clear to the goal.

Keep your eye on the ball but don’t lose track of the players and what they can do, Alykon. Rainbow Dash frowned.

The mammoth with the ball was blocked by Makom but he couldn’t defend against two opponents at once, when the other mammoth passed it to his teammate Makom tried to knock the ball out of the air with his trunk but he couldn’t reach it. The second enemy mammoth on offense easily received the ball and dribbled to the hoop, jumping up and dunking it in for two points.

Rainbow Dash could see Alykon and her team deflate a little bit as the other side of the court cheered for their team. But they couldn’t let something like that really get to them, they still had the whole game to play and if you get down like that right at the start you’re practically beating yourself. The question was if they could learn from the mistakes they had made and not make those same mistakes again. They needed to control the ball, control the pace of the game, and not let themselves be tricked by simple plays.

“Come on, Alykon! You can do it!” Rainbow Dash cheered for her while the ref gathered up the ball and they all got back into position.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Samarkon snarked.

When the ball was thrown up again it was the more athletic Orsal who got his trunk on it this time. He didn’t keep it or pass it to Dathon though, he threw it back to Makom and then he and Dathon ran down to the back half of the enemy team’s side. While the two opposing mammoths on offense rushed Makom to keep him from being able to throw to Dathon or Orsal, he actually threw it sideways to Alykon, who just as quickly got rid of it and tossed it to Dathon.

Dathon now had the ball and he dribbled straight towards one of the defenders, challenging him. The defender wasn’t taking account of Dathon’s height advantage though. Dathon bounced the ball hard on the asphalt, hard enough to bounce it over both their heads, and dashed past the defender. While the other mammoth looked at the ball and tried to grab it with his trunk, Dathon easily grabbed it first and dribbled further towards the basket.

He wasn’t sure if he would have the time to dunk it so he stopped and carefully shot the ball at the hoop.

It glided in easily and Alykon’s team scored their first point of the game.

Larkon, Shibu, Rainbow Dash, and the rest of their supporters all erupted in cheers. Considering the other families who had come to their previous games hadn’t seen their kids win a single one of them they were probably pretty excited to see any points scored. They were still behind but at least it was progress. As long as Alykon and the others kept their heads in the game, Rainbow Dash was sure they could win it.

She may have been hoping for too much though as once the ball was thrown back into play again the opposing team recovered it for the first time and ran it down to Alykon and Makom with ease. Alykon was a bit more reserved this time, making sure no one could pull a fast one on her, and she and Makom both stayed in a defensive position instead of rushing to meet the enemy offense.

That could backfire and allow for an easy thrown basket, but that was better than potentially giving up two with a dunk.

Rainbow Dash still frowned though as she watched Alykon and Makom. It was like they were overcompensating for their mistakes and going too far in the opposite direction. They could’ve used some aggression, playing like this it was more like they were waiting to slowly lose instead of actively trying to win or stop their opponents. Like this though they could see the entire court and every mammoth on the opposing team, no one could make any sneaky backwards passes and Alykon and Makom could choose to cover the other offense one on one.

The mammoth with the ball was dribbling slowly as he and his teammate fanned out to the sides of the court. Alykon and Makom spread out as well to match them with Alykon going to the one who had the ball.

Suddenly the one with the ball juked to the left, trying to move quickly before Alykon could react and run by her. However, he underestimated her own reaction speed and when he tried to get past her she stuck out her trunk and knocked the ball away from him. Now she had a clear shot to recover it and give it to either Dathon or Orsal. Being quick on her feet for a mammoth she easily bounded over to it and grabbed the ball with her trunk right before it went out of bounds. With just a glimpse she was able to see where Dathon and Orsal were and she threw the ball high in the air towards the two of them.

Orsal jumped up to catch it and dribbled the ball past his defender who wasn’t able to react in time, Orsal was in the zone and he was intently focused on getting to the hoop and being able to dunk in that ball so his team could take the lead. The other defender left Dathon behind to try and cut Orsal off but he was just barely not quick enough and Orsal jumped up to slam the red ball through the hoop. Dathon and Orsal clapped their trunks together while the crowd on Rainbow’s side cheered again. They probably weren’t used to actually being ahead.

But now here they were, the score three to two along with a big boost of confidence. Rainbow hoped it could last.

Perhaps being put behind lit a fire underneath the trunks of the opposing team though. Rainbow Dash could tell just looking down at them that they had a more serious look about them now. They weren’t going to let themselves get “embarrassed” by losing to Alykon’s team. That was their desire at least. Alykon, Dathon, Makom, and Orsal were going to do everything they could to make sure they won this game.

From there on out the game solidified into a back and forth affair as each team kept up an aggressive play-style and refused to give an inch or a lead greater than one or two points.

Rainbow Dash cheered on when she needed to, although she especially wished she could be down at the side of the court and giving them advice too. She could tell how tired the kids were getting after a near hour of constant activity—a sign that they needed more exercise despite what she was already putting them through at practice. And they were starting to become looser in their play. The other team was holding on a little better and still clearly had more of a real game plan and strategy. Right now Alykon’s team still looked like four individuals on the same court instead of a true team, despite their improvements.

Rainbow Dash watched as another throw scored a point for the enemy team, giving them another lead of two points again with less than a minute in the game to go.

“Come on you guys, you can do it,” Rainbow said as she watched the ref carrying the ball back to the middle. Larkon and Shibu were just as much on the edges of their seats.

Unfortunately the other team had a winning strategy they were about to unveil: stall.

On the jump ball, their offense got control of the ball and instead of rushing forward to try and score more points and open up the possibility of losing possession they just passed it back to their defense and all four of them began to juggle it around while Dathon and Orsal tried to retrieve it. It was a winning strategy, a lame one, but smart. Rainbow Dash frowned, unless someone got overconfident or her team got lucky they were just going to run out the clock by passing it back and forth to each other.

Dathon did make a desperate play, something that brought a smile to Rainbow Dash’s face, and attempted to jump in-between the two mammoths on defense and flail his trunk about to try and knock the ball out of the air. But even that didn’t matter and the defensive strategy of the other team won out.

A whistle was blown and the game ended. Alykon’s team losing by a mere two points.

The fans and families on the other side of the court cheered while Rainbow Dash and some of the others over here offered up modest clapping for a job well done. Alykon’s team had probably still performed better than anyone was expecting. Rainbow was proud of them, they had improved and given their all and they never gave up, she needed to reassure them that they had the skill to win. They just had to give it some more work.

“Told you so,” Samarkon sneered as he looked down at the court.

Rainbow Dash bopped him between the eyes with his own trunk. “Be nicer to your sister.”

“Ow!”

“We should go down and congratulate them for a well played game,” Larkon said.

“Alykon may not want to hear it,” Shibu said with a knowing frown.

“Yeah, she’ll probably be a little upset right now,” Rainbow said. “She’s put a lot of effort into this and to get so close to a win but still lose in the end… yeah she’s not gonna be having fun. It was close though, but she definitely wanted to break that losing streak today.”

The other parents went down to their children to pick them up and try and salvage their moods after the game, it was kind of sad having to watch the celebrating on the other side though.

Alykon, Dathon, Makom, and Orsal were dejectedly talking to each other about how the game had gone while they waited for their families. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure how soon they wanted to practice again but next time she’d go over everything with them too.

“Alykon!” Larkon said as they got to the court, he went right up to her and hugged her.

Surprisingly she hugged him back. “Hi dad, thanks for coming to watch.”

Rainbow Dash buzzed up right above them and smiled down at Alykon. “Good effort out there, I know you’ll win next time.”

“Maybe...” Alykon said.

“Oh hush,” Shibu said and patted her daughter on the back. “We all believe in you and your teammates.”

“Yep!” Rainbow nodded. “And I’ll help you however much you need me to.”

“Thanks, you’ve already helped us so much,” Alykon blushed.

“And I’ll keep helping you. Cause that’s what friends are for,” Rainbow winked at her.

Larkon chuckled. “I have to thank you for that too.”

“What say we go home now and I’ll get the best dinner ever started?” Shibu said.

Alykon smiled. “That sounds great, mom. Just let me say goodbye to my teammates.”

Rainbow Dash watched as Alykon told the others she’d be leaving, and Rainbow waved to them as well. It was good Alykon still had plenty of confidence and positivity to her, that would help in their coming games. Soon enough the young mammoth was done and as more and more families left the court and stands they filed out as well. Back to Larkon’s house and a surely great meal to celebrate the well fought game.

A Mammoth of a Problem XXIX

Rainbow Dash looked at herself in the mirror of Larkon’s bathroom. A well combed and braided mane framed a frowning face staring back at her. Despite her protests and desire to go back to her normal manedo, Shibu would have absolutely none of it and made sure Rainbow Dash kept up this style as long as she was living in their house.

So she just had to endure the laughs from Larkon and Alykon and deal with how weird it felt whenever she was out flying. But once she was out of this city it was back to her old, way cooler, style of just letting her mane fall free.

Shibu had offered to give her twintails instead if she preferred them but Rainbow Dash shot that idea down instantly.

Rainbow’s eyes glanced to the hoop earrings she was still wearing as well and an embarrassed blush crept up her face. “Applejack would never let me live this down. I would never let me live this down.” The necklace and hoof bands were still on her as well. The hoof bands at least were kind of cool looking, she just wanted ones with something engraved on them that wasn’t flowers. But she could deal with them.

“Ugh,” Rainbow Dash groaned and jumped off the counter. She could deal with all of this later, it was just about time to eat.

Moving through the house she made it to the dining room and took her usual place on the table. Samarkon still looked at her like she was crazy but she had gotten used to that. It was a smaller meal than usual for these mammoths since Shibu had recently made a feast for Alykon but there was, as always, more than enough for Rainbow Dash. The kelp salad was surprisingly the first thing she went for, having developed quite the taste for it over her time here in the mammoth city.

“Enjoying the kelp?” Larkon asked, giving her a knowing smirk.

“Well after swimming for and harvesting some of my own I guess I kind of have an appreciation for it,” Rainbow Dash grinned back at him.

“Or maybe just the way mom cooks it,” Alykon said.

Rainbow Dash smiled over at Shibu. “Yeahhh, I suppose that could be it too.”

“Stop,” Shibu playfully smacked her with her trunk but Rainbow Dash could tell she was just about bursting with pride.

Samarkon rolled his eyes at the silly display and silently ate his own food. He had gotten quieter ever since the attempt to run off to the slums and even Larkon hadn’t tried speaking to him as much since. Rainbow Dash wished she knew what to do about that, anytime she had tried speaking to Samarkon he just completely ignored her. Probably learned that kind of coldness from his idol. And she just didn’t really know how to relate to him. She could definitely understand some of his grievances with his life and maybe some of the issues he had with mammoth society (since even Dash thought they were just maybe a little lame) but there was no way she could agree with siding with Karkona, and she definitely had problems with any mammoth that wanted them to go back to being a bunch of ruthless warmongers and tyrants.

Rainbow Dash gave him a brief look but went back to just eating her own plate full of food. Maybe she could talk with Larkon about it all soon.

“So what’s going on in the future for everyone now?” Rainbow Dash asked the table. “Anything else happening in the city?”

“Not particularly anything major,” Larkon said. “No real celebrations, or parties, or anything like that.”

“There are still a lot of games for the Trunkball junior division coming up,” Alykon said.

“But there’s nothing like the spring festival or anything I haven’t already seen?” Rainbow asked.

Larkon shook his head. “Afraid not. Not until the fall festival where we put on a big celebration for the last time before the cold winter begins.”

And I doubt I’ll be around for even close to that long. I hope not at least. Rainbow thought to herself as she emptily nodded along to what Larkon had said.

“It’s fine to just take every day as it comes,” Shibu said. “I’m going to start getting dessert ready for us.”

The moment she rose from the table there was knocking on the front door. Larkon raised an eyebrow and looked off down the hallway towards it.

“Who could that be?” He said.

“Do you want me to get it?” Shibu asked.

“No, no, you just get dessert for the others, I’ll see to it.” Larkon said and rose to answer the door.

And Rainbow Dash, curious as ever, flew up alongside him to see who their visitor was. “Let me check it out too.”

The pony and mammoth traveled through the house to make it to the entryway and front door. Their door didn’t have a peephole so they couldn’t look out to see who it was. But in all the days Rainbow Dash had been living here she couldn’t remember anyone knocking on the door, it was probably just a friend of the family or someone from Tarmok’s Hall with business for Larkon. Maybe she should’ve just stayed at the table so she could chow down on dessert?

But upon Larkon opening up the door they were both greeted with the visage of a mammoth unfamiliar to them.

He was a gangly and grungy looking mammoth with a sneering smirk on his lips and a long scar going down the front of his trunk. His tusks too weren’t filed down but were still left naturally sharp. Instantly Larkon and Rainbow Dash both regarded him with wariness and suspicion. They could both take a guess as to where this guy had come from.

“Who are you?” Larkon asked, raising an eyebrow at the stranger.

“My name is Murrank. I come at the behest of Karkona,” he said.

Larkon’s gaze hardened and he frowned at Murrank. “I’ll have to ask you to leave then.”

Rainbow Dash fiercely glared at him too. “Yeah!”

The obnoxious smirk only widened as Murrank narrowed his eyes at them. “But I’m not even here for either of you.” His eyes darted between the both of them before he looked back further into Larkon’s house. “Where’s your son?”

Larkon’s eyebrows shot up and he stepped right up to Murrank, thrusting his face close enough that he almost headbutted him. “What did you just say?”

“Uhh, Larkon...” Rainbow Dash buzzed by his head, she was almost worried that he, Larkon of all mammoths, was about to get violent.

“Karkona heard about Samarkon’s little visit to the slums,” Murrank grinned, unperturbed by the angry mammoth in his face. “He was impressed by the boy’s courage to try and make it out there on his own. He’d like to extend an open invitation to Samarkon for next time; the drawbridge will stay down and no other mammoths will accost him. He’s free to come and join Karkona whenever he wishes.”

Rainbow Dash could tell Larkon was about to explode. The historian was red in the face and Rainbow didn’t want him to go against his morals—so she would just do that instead.

“You can take that invitation back to Karkona and tell him to shove it!” Rainbow said as she pushed herself between the two mammoths and actually forcefully knocked Murrank back, almost making him fall down the steps of Larkon’s porch while Larkon got some much needed space to breathe.

Murrank looked at her in anger. “You pony—this doesn’t concern you! Stay out of mammoth business or you’re going to get hurt!”

“Make me! I’m not letting you mess with my friend and his family, got that?” Rainbow floated in front of him.

“Rargh!” Murrank growled and swung his trunk at Rainbow.

It was a powerful attack that would’ve sent her out of commission had it connected. That was true for likely any straight hit she took from a mammoth. But fortunately he was too slow for her. While the mammoths had certainly surprised her with their agility and athleticism in certain cases, the fact was that they might as well have been snails moving when it came to her. Big Mac would’ve had an easy enough time dodging this trunk swung at her.

His tusks came up to try and gore her too but their lack of articulation made them easily avoidable. She tried kicking him on the scar of his trunk but he didn’t even wince at it.

“Stop! Stop it!” Larkon yelled after regaining his wits. “Enough of this!”

Rainbow Dash frowned but flew back to him and the two stood in the doorway, Murrank glaring at them.

“Leave my home. You can forget about Karkona ever getting his trunk on my son!” Larkon said with barely constrained anger.

“Feh,” Murrank spat. And then looked past them again into Larkon’s home. “Does your father speak for you, Samarkon?”

Rainbow Dash and Larkon turned around to see Samarkon standing right in the entry room by Larkon’s hat rack. His eyes were wide in surprise and he quickly backed up and ran back off into the house towards his room. At least he had the sense to not say anything or try to leave with Murrank. But Rainbow Dash and Larkon both really didn’t like where their thoughts were taking them on this matter...

“Hehe,” Murrank chuckled, his sneer reappearing. “Why do I have the feeling we’ll be seeing him soon?”

Larkon gave him one last angry glare before he stepped back inside his home with Rainbow Dash. “Stay away from my family!” He yelled and slammed the door shut.

“Dear?”

Rainbow and Larkon looked at the source of the voice, Shibu and Alykon were standing there in the hallway leading to the dining room, looking worried. Larkon took a few breaths to steady himself before replying.

“Just… just eat dessert. Rainbow Dash and I have something to talk about,” Larkon told them.

Shibu quietly nodded and guided Alykon back to the dining room. Larkon sighed deeply and leaned up against the door. He looked older and more tired than Rainbow Dash had ever seen him before, and he lifted up his trunk to rub his head, probably trying to fight off the impending migraine. She really couldn’t believe he almost came to blows with another mammoth. He likely regretted letting his temper get the better of him.

Rainbow Dash wanted to give him more time to collect himself but they needed to talk too. “Uhh… this really isn’t good, is it? Samarkon is-”

He held up his trunk to stop her. “Samarkon is going to attempt to go back to the slums and see Karkona.”

“Yeah,” she grimaced.

“And I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to sneak out as soon as he possibly could,” Larkon stood up straight, no longer leaning against the door, and looked at Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash, I need to ask another favor of you tonight.”

In the dead of night, Samarkon silently opened up the door to his bedroom without even a creak. With footsteps far gentler than any he’d ever made in his life before tonight he stepped down the hallway towards the stairs. He had to be careful not to be heard. His father probably already suspected what he was going to do, there was no way he could allow himself to be caught. Once his foot hit the top step there was the slightest of groans from the wood. Samarkon winced and paused for a second, listening for if anyone had been woken up.

Nothing.

He internally sighed in relief and continued his trek down the stairs. It was nearly pitch black in the house and he had to be careful not to accidentally trip. Thankfully with his care and steadiness he didn’t stumble nor did he make anymore sounds, a single step too loud or too heavy could spell doom for his plans. As he reached the bottom of the stairs he took a deep breath and continued on down the hall until he could make it to the front door.

His eyes looked down each other hallway he walked past just in case, he knew that pony slept down here but it didn’t look like she was awake or aware of anything right now either. But he still needed to be quiet. Nothing bad would come from him being extra careful. Despite the fact that he might’ve been able to just make a run for it at this point he wasn’t going to ruin anything. He could be patient.

Samarkon’s eyes had more or less adjusted to the darkness by this point as he crept along to the front door. It would be easier with the stars and the moon outside to see when he finally made it out of this house. The night air would be cold and the journey back to the slums long but he could handle it.

Just getting to Karkona would be an impressive feat. Karkona would be proud of him for it, he’d respect him for getting to the slums and getting away from his father.

A grin appeared on Samarkon’s face at the thought as he reached the front door. This would be another feat though, opening and closing it silently. His trunk went up and he fully turned the handle before pulling to make sure there wouldn’t be any scraping, then he slowly pulled the front door open and listened to make sure it wouldn’t squeak or anything. Satisfied that he had stealthily opened up the door he slid right out onto the porch while still making sure the door was held open by his trunk. And then he just as stealthily and quietly closed it.

Larkon’s house was now short by one mammoth.

Samarkon’s grin widened and he walked towards the steps leading down the porch. Once he finally stepped down to the street he’d put this life and this home behind him.

“You can stop right there, kid.”

Samarkon’s eyes widened and he looked up, seeing Rainbow Dash hovering right above the doorway. She yawned, kicked the door three times, and floated down till she was just about eye-level with him. “I almost fell asleep up there on the roof, took you long enough.

“Y-You?!” Samarkon glared at her, his face almost getting as red as Larkon’s had earlier.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Sorry, your dad knew you were going to do this though. He’ll be coming downstairs right about now.”

Samarkon looked over his shoulder at the steps and dark street behind him.

“Don’t even try it. You know you’re not outrunning me,” Rainbow said.

Samarkon turned back to face her. “Why do you even care?! This isn’t your city, we’re not ponies, stop messing around with us!”

“I’m just helping a friend,” Rainbow Dash folded her hooves over her chest. “And stopping a bad guy.”

“Karkona’s not a bad guy! You don’t know anything about us mammoths, you don’t have the right to do any of this!” Samarkon yelled, silence thrown out the window.

“I think it’s you who doesn’t know anything, kid,” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him.

“Rainbow Dash is correct,” Larkon said as he opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch with the two of them.

“Dad...” Samarkon said.

Larkon’s face was stony as he held the door open. “Go back to bed, Samarkon. I am never going to let you go to those slums and join Karkona’s band of thugs. Even if I have to start locking you indoors.”

Samarkon’s trunk curled and he angrily glared right at his father, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. “It’s not right!”

“It’s for the best! Now go inside!” Larkon yelled. “Time and again I’ve told you that Karkona is wrong, that what he wants is wrong, and tried to show you how much better we have it today, but you refuse to listen. I am done with trying to do right by you. Go to bed, and we can discuss the future later.”

Samarkon wiped away the budding tears at his eyes with his trunk and ran past his father back into the house. “I hate you!” He yelled before disappearing down the hallway.

Rainbow grimaced and looked at Larkon. “You okay?”

“Not really, no,” Larkon shook his head.

“I’m sure you can get through to him someday,” she rubbed the back of her neck. “I hope.”

“Hm,” Larkon grunted, staring off into the distance.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him. “Uhhh, you seem kind of distracted.”

Larkon continued to stare for a minute longer before looking down at her. “I was just… I still love him, you know? He’s my son. I just don’t know where I’ve gone wrong.”

“I don’t really think it’s your fault,” Rainbow flew up and patted him on the shoulder.

“Thank you, but regardless, I know what else needs to be done now. It’s been too long in the making,” Larkon said to her and walked to the edge of his porch. He stuck his head out to the street and looked down in the direction of the slums. “I can’t let Karkona harm my family or any others in this city. And I can’t rely on Bakol and the others either.” He looked back at her. “But I think we can rely on each other.”

Rainbow Dash grinned, she liked where this was going. “Just tell me what the plan is.”

Larkon grinned too and stepped up to clap her on the back with his trunk. “First thing tomorrow morning we’re going to the slums and meeting up with Abalun. And then, we will uncover Karkona’s misdeeds and finally put a stop to him.”

A Mammoth of a Problem XXX

“I can’t believe I’m doing this again. Don’t we have a better idea?”

“Well it was you who told me about doing this, and on such short notice? No, we didn’t.”

It was early in the morning in the mammoth city, barely after sunrise, and Larkon was walking across the bridge to the slums while wrapped in a heavy green robe. Rainbow Dash was lying down on his back just like she had done with Abalun so she could go incognito through the slums just like Larkon. It was uncomfortable but there wasn’t really anything either of them could do about it at the moment.

“So we’re just hoping nobody looks over and recognizes the famous historian that Karkona hates?” Dash whispered to him.

“Pretty much. At least until we get to Abalun’s place,” Larkon replied.

“There’s already going to be a bunch of mammoths out and awake in the slums, I should’ve just flown over last night,” Rainbow said.

“Maybe. But we have no idea what we’ll actually be doing today, I thought it was good to have a full night of rest,” Larkon said.

“I’m definitely grateful for that huge comfortable bed you have. We’ll see,” Rainbow said.

Larkon had told Shibu before they left about what was going on (mostly) and asked her to keep her eye on Samarkon for the entire time they were gone. He was not to be allowed out of the house. She hadn’t asked any questions about it, silently accepting whatever Larkon and Rainbow Dash were doing with a nod. Rainbow Dash knew this was hardly a good or permanent fix but it was the best they could do for now. After they took down Karkona they could get to the other stuff.

Taking down Karkona… the thought filled Rainbow Dash with excitement. Her adventure in the mammoth city was finally taking off and boy would it feel good to bring down that huge oaf. Everything about him just burned her, like Blizzard, and she couldn’t wait to humble him. She knew how little he and the thugs under him thought of her just because she was a pony, the looks on their faces when she beat them all up would be priceless. It would be cool to have another ancient civilization saved thanks to her too. Maybe they’ll throw a big celebration and party for Rainbow Dash—the hero from Equestria.

“Oh yeah, I could definitely enjoy that,” she said.

“Are you talking to yourself?” Larkon asked her.

“Uh, sort of. What else am I supposed to do to pass the time? You walk really slow.”

Larkon snorted and shook his head, they were almost across the bridge and into the slums. “Just be quiet when we’re walking through the streets, okay?”

“Yeah we wouldn’t want someone to see you having a conversation with the top of your head,” Rainbow teased.

“No, we most certainly would not.”

Larkon stepped off the bridge and onto the snowy, dirt ground of the slums. It seemed he at least knew where Abalun’s place was because without any hesitation he headed down the side of the river to one of the many streets and openings between the various shacks and huts that lined the outside of the slums. Rainbow Dash only vaguely knew the right direction to go in, having only flown in and out of here in the dead of night before. Either way, Larkon made sure to keep his head down and his eyes covered, his trunk and tusks the only thing visible outside the robe, and tried to come off as inconspicuous as possible. It almost might’ve been better if he tried to look threatening or had a mean look on his face like most of the mammoths here but they couldn’t chance a mammoth recognizing him.

Larkon walked with purpose and ignoring any of the urchins and scourge that were also out walking about in the early morning of the slums. He didn’t want to be accosted so he wouldn’t meet the eyes of anyone and give them a reason to bother him. Instead he just powered through the snow like a mammoth on a mission, with everyone else in the slums beneath his notice.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t really see at all like this now, unlike her time with Abalun, and so she just had to hang on and hope for the best. Abalun hadn’t been randomly attacked but he might’ve been more well known. If Larkon was a stranger… did that make it more or less likely for the mammoths here to bother him? It was also during the day and not at night like when Samarkon almost got jumped, Rainbow figured their chances were pretty decent.

On the inside though, Larkon was dismayed by the little he saw as he walked through the slums. It really tore him up and there was so much he wanted to say and do right this second but he just had to keep it bottled up. Everything about these slums was wrong. From the mammoths living here, to their existence in general and how they’ve been forced into this squalor, it was all wrong. No wonder so many had turned to Karkona when the rest of the city (and unfortunately he himself) had allowed this. He could tell himself no place was perfect and a lot of the issues here with the slums was these mammoths own doing, but maybe his lack of action and sheer aversion to do anything more than talk was partially to blame too. Even now he didn’t want to hurt Karkona or anyone—it was wrong—he wanted them to be stopped legally and maybe some real help given to these slums after Karkona is imprisoned when they find proof of his lawbreaking. Which Larkon was certain he was doing in some way or another.

But was that just naive? Was that kind of naivety and optimism what had led to this situation in the first place?

Larkon didn’t know for sure. But for now he wouldn’t throw out his morals and ideals, he’d charge forward and bring Karkona to justice, but nonviolently and fairly. The mammoths would not return to their old ways.

“I think I recognize this street,” Rainbow suddenly said, although quietly.

“Shh,” Larkon frowned. “I know, we’re getting close to his shack.”

“What if he’s not in though? He doesn’t know that we’re coming.”

“He’ll be there. What else would he be doing?”

“Oh yeah, that’s really not a total guess from you or anything. He could be doing literally anything else.”

“Well if he’s not there then we sit outside his door until he comes back and no big loss.”

“I’m getting itchy from your fur, dude.”

“Shh!” Larkon shushed her again and kept walking to Abalun’s place, ignoring anything else she said.

Eventually they made it to the small hovel wedged into the block of so many other small dwellings that made up this part of the slum. Rainbow Dash couldn’t see the familiar door and closed shutter window but she could tell when Larkon came to a stop in front of it. The historian lifted up his trunk and knocked three times on the door, if Abalun was in or not they’d see very shortly.

The sounds of footsteps from inside proved Larkon right, which made Rainbow Dash scowl and Larkon smirk, although neither of them could see the other.

The door was opened up just a crack and an eye peeked out to see just who it was was there. And then that eye widened up and Abalun let the door fall open in sheer shock.

“Hello, friend,” Larkon said to him as he lifted up his head and slightly moved his hood back so Rainbow could finally see too.

“W-What are you doing here?” Abalun asked, and then he saw Rainbow Dash. “And Miss Rainbow Dash too?”

“I’m very happy to tell you but let’s go inside first, shall we? Your doorstep isn’t exactly private,” Larkon said.

Abalun dumbly nodded and moved back, giving plenty of room for them to enter. “Right, of course.”

Larkon looked around the cramped one-room building as he walked in. “This is my first time actually being inside here.”

Rainbow Dash slid right out of his robe and jumped to the ground, stretching her wings and cracking her neck. “Ugh!”

“It’s going to be a little smooshed in here with all three of us,” Abalun said. He then looked at Rainbow Dash more closely and raised an eyebrow. “What happened to your mane? And what’s with all that jewelry?”

The pony blushed. “Look, just forget about it, okay?”

“Heh,” Larkon chuckled. “But yes, there’s hardly enough space for one mammoth in here. Luxury isn’t exactly important to us right now though, Rainbow Dash and I have come here for something very important. Something long overdue.”

“What happened? You wouldn’t have just come here for no reason,” Abalun wondered.

Larkon sighed and fully took off his robe. He carefully folded it up and placed it on Abalun’s table. “Last night, a mammoth by the name of Murrank who works under Karkona came to my house.”

“Murrank...” Abalun thought for a second. “Scar on his trunk? I’ve seen him before.”

Larkon nodded. “Correct. Anyways, he came to see my son.” Larkon’s expression darkened. “Apparently Karkona heard about my son’s little visit to the slums and his attempt to reach him, so he sent Murrank to tell Samarkon that Karkona wanted to see him. The drawbridge has been left down permanently and supposedly Karkona will welcome my son with an open trunk if he ever gets here… although I’m doing everything I can to put a stop to that.”

“Samarkon tried to sneak out last night,” Rainbow Dash told Abalun, a frown on her face.

Abalun gave Larkon a pitying look and patted his shoulder with his trunk. “I’m sorry, friend.”

“And I’ll have to deal with that later,” Larkon said. “Although it is the reason we both came here today.”

Abalun raised an eyebrow. “Pardon me if I’m being rude… but does this mean you’ll be taking action as well? We’ll finally make a real move against Karkona?”

“Yes,” Larkon nodded. “We can’t just keep an eye on him and watch things, something needs to be done. I just don’t really know what. But we need to find out for certain that he’s been breaking the law in a big way or planning something. Something big enough that the senate and the rest of the city will have to respond to it.”

“I think I know where to start then,” Abalun said and glanced at Rainbow Dash.

Realization dawned on her face and she grinned back at him. “The warehouses?”

“The warehouses,” he nodded.

Larkon though was a little lost and he looked back and forth between them. “What warehouses? I think I’m a little out of the loop here now.”

“When I was here with Abalun he showed me three warehouses that Karkona was using for something. We don’t know what but they’re these huge buildings he has guards outside of all day to make sure nobody he doesn’t want to get in can get in. If he’s doing anything wrong it has to do with those warehouses,” Rainbow Dash explained to him.

“I see… so we need to find some way to sneak into those warehouses and find evidence of his wrongdoing,” Larkon said.

“Which won’t be easy,” Abalun said. “The simple fact is that there are only two ways into each warehouse. A front door that’s always guarded, even during the latest hours of the night, and a backdoor that’s always looked. I would know, I’ve checked.”

“Two ways in for mammoths maybe,” Rainbow Dash smugly said. She flew up onto the table and looked at the two of them. “I saw the windows up at the top of those warehouses. They might be the kind that you can pop open if we’re lucky.”

“If they are then you can get inside and...” Abalun started.

“Unlock the backdoor for the two of you,” Rainbow finished.

“Either way that still sounds very risky,” Larkon said. “We have no idea what or however many mammoths may be inside those warehouses from what the two of you have said. And there’s the possibility that Abalun and I could be spotted trying to get in as well.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I think it’s still the best thing we can do right now. Gotta do something, right?”

“We’ll go at night so we can’t be spotted so easily either,” Abalun said, he then looked over at Larkon’s robe. “You should definitely still wear your robe though, you’re too easily recognizable without it. At least you didn’t come with one of your hats too.”

“Oh haha, very funny,” Larkon rolled his eyes. “But yes, I’ll wear my robe at all times when we’re outside. I’ll need it for when we enter the warehouse anyways if it happens.”

“So we’re going out tonight then?” Rainbow asked.

Larkon nodded. “Yes, it should be as soon as possible.”

“We’ll just have to sit around here until nightfall then. Sorry I don’t have more room,” Abalun sighed as he looked around his small home.

“Well we might be a little bored but that’s all we can do about it,” Larkon said and took a seat at the table.

Rainbow Dash cracked her hooves and put them behind her head. “Heh, doesn’t bother me. I’m looking way forward to tonight now. Doesn’t matter how many guards we have to get past or what’s going on in that warehouse, I’ll totally get us inside and then the three of us can show that jerk Karkona who’s boss! Count on it!”

A Mammoth of a Problem XXXI

Under the cover of night, two mammoths and one pegasus quietly sneaked through the slums towards Karkona’s warehouses. They made sure to always look around where they were going and make sure the coast was clear before moving on. Even disguised and with it so dark none would be able to see them well they didn’t want anybody to catch so much as a glimpse of them while they were on their mission. Bad enough if Larkon or Rainbow Dash was seen, if Abalun was connected to anyone trying to break into the warehouses or seen in there himself they’d lose their spy in the slums. They all had to be extra careful this night.

Of course Rainbow Dash was still stuck riding on Larkon’s back. They just didn’t have an extra robe for her. It was really annoying but at least she’d be able to fly out soon when they reached the warehouses. She might need to find some kind of tarp or something to drape over herself too, she was so small that she couldn’t possibly be anyone else even if she stayed on the ground but at least it would stop her very vibrant and noticeable mane and coat from being seen so easily.

That’d have to come after she carefully got inside the warehouse and scoped it out before letting her two buddies in.

I really hope I can actually open up those windows. Rainbow thought to herself. Worst comes to worst she’d maybe have to break one. Quietly.

Abalun still led the way to the warehouses even though Rainbow too remembered where they were. The snow on the ground was thankfully still soft and powdery enough that it didn’t crunch beneath their big feet, they didn’t need that extra noise right now. The one benefit Rainbow had to riding on Larkon’s back was that it was warm. Otherwise being out at night with snow falling around them would’ve made things pretty chilly for her.

They managed to get to the warehouses fairly quickly, it wasn’t a long walk but they had been slow going to them thanks to all the sneakiness. Now Abalun and Larkon stuck their heads around one of the last shacks and looked into the large area where the warehouses stood. As expected there were a number of guards around the front with lit torches standing around them to give them light. Luckily the light didn’t penetrate all the way across the grounds, the outer edges by the buildings were still almost completely shrouded in darkness.

“Should’ve found a black cloak instead of a brown one,” Larkon muttered.

“Indeed. But I think we’re still okay,” Abalun said.

“The guards are mostly standing around the doors and staring ahead, I don’t think they expect anyone to try and sneak in through the back,” Larkon said.

Abalun nodded. “They must have a lot of faith in that lock.”

“Or just in no mammoth being dumb enough to try and break into Karkona’s warehouses,” Rainbow said.

“Well then let’s be dumb,” Larkon said as he gazed with determination at the warehouses.

“Uh, Larkon? I know you’re new to this kind of thing but that wasn’t as cool of a line as you think it was,” Rainbow told him.

Larkon snorted. “Oh forget it, let’s just get in there then.”

Rainbow Dash crawled out from the top of his robe as the two of them ducked back behind the building. “Okay, here’s the plan. I’m gonna fly up for a bit to make sure no one can see me coming towards the warehouses, then I’m gonna go to the windows and check em until I find one that opens. Once I do that I’ll go to the backdoor and open it from the inside and you guys can come in. So in the meantime you need to sneak around to the back without being seen. Got it?”

“What if the windows don’t open?” Abalun asked.

“What if there are more of Karkona’s followers inside?” Larkon asked.

“I’ll make a window open if I have to. And don’t worry if there are any mammoths in there. I can be stealthy,” Rainbow shrugged.

Larkon raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m aware you’ve done more adventuring and things than I can even begin to imagine but this doesn’t come across to me as the best thought out plan.”

“It’s not, planning is for my friend Twilight, I’m a doer. Just don’t worry about, I’ll handle everything,” Rainbow confidently (maybe undeservedly confidently) stated. “Trust me on it.”

Larkon and Abalun shared a look but at last the historian shrugged. “Well okay, it’s not like I have a better idea of how to handle this anyways.”

“I just hope you don’t have to break a window or anything. Even if there aren’t any other mammoths in the warehouse that’s still something the guards are likely to hear.” Abalun said.

“Like I said, don’t worry, I’ll do something about it,” Rainbow Dash reassured him.

“Alright,” Larkon nodded. “I suppose we should get on with it then. We don’t want to waste anymore time just standing around.”

“Now that’s my way of doing things,” Rainbow grinned. “I’ll see you two in a minute, just be careful!”

She zoomed up into the dark sky and even disappeared from Abalun and Larkon’s view despite her bright colors. The two of them now had to sneak around the outskirts of the warehouse space and wait for her at the backdoor. Neither of them were particularly confident in their ability to do this but it’s not like they had a choice. The hardest part would be the beginning, where the guards had an unobstructed view of them, they had to hope the darkness over here was thick enough that they couldn’t be noticed from the front of the warehouse. Once they made it down just a few buildings’ lengths they should be in the clear.

Larkon was the first to step out from the building they were hiding behind and slink around it. “I hope the both of us can walk quietly.”

Rainbow Dash hovered high above the warehouse, she had done a sharp button hook after getting high enough to come back down directly over it and now looked over the roof to see if she could see anything else important about the buildings. The roof looked totally blocked off and inaccessible from the inside though, no door up there or any sort of skylight or other hatch she could get inside the warehouse from. So the original plan of going in through one of the windows is what she would do.

There were definitely no mammoths that would be looking up and see her from the ground as she lowered herself to the top edge of the first warehouse. No reason for them to and there would barely be any awake to begin with. Rainbow Dash had a smirk on her face as she went to about the halfway point down the length of the warehouse and hovered in front of one of the large windows.

The single pane was larger than she was, as expected from typical mammoth sized things in this city. Now she only needed to find out if it opened or not. She tapped it once to see if it had any give or was designed to pop in but it didn’t seem like it. With a frown she looked around the outer edges for any kind of clasp or lock that could pull it open since it didn’t seem like it opened inward at the least.

“Stupid windows, who even makes these things?” Rainbow Dash said as she pushed, prodded, and eyeballed every inch of it.

Unfortunately it seemed to be the kind of window that wasn’t designed to be opened at all. There wasn’t a frame that it could cleanly pop out of.

Rainbow Dash was about to give up and move onto the next window to see if it was any different when she caught a fleeting glimpse of something right inside the window at the very bottom of it. There was a little lever attached on the inside at the window’s base, she could barely see it thanks to the darkness but there it was. The stupid lever just sat there, practically taunting her.

“Oh great, so the window does open up but you can only open it from the inside. Ugh...” Rainbow groaned as she stared at the lever. All that would be needed is a simple flip and the window would be popped open, but there was no way for her to do that. “Really wish I could teleport or had magic right now.”

She was thinking she really might have to just break in now and hope for the best, but she should probably at least check out the other windows first.

Rainbow Dash went down them in a line to see if they were all like the first one she stopped at. She had to squint hard to see the lever on the interior but every single one of them still had it. And of course no way for them to be opened from the outside. Every other building is this place was made so shoddily and haphazardly, why couldn’t it be the same way for these warehouses? They just had to be the one trio of buildings made competently?

“Can’t there be some mistake or some loose panel somewhere on this warehouse?” Rainbow complained. It was petty but she couldn’t help it.

Larkon and Abalun by this point might already be at the backdoor waiting for her too, she couldn’t just keep coming up with nothing right now. She passed another window with the lever taunting her from inside and then went by another that-

“Wait,” Rainbow Dash halted and looked down at the window in front of her. The lever for this one was on the outside.

And the frame of it was a little off. The window was installed backwards. It seemed even the best made building in the slums couldn’t escape the fact that it was still just a rickety mess of whatever they had on trunk and put together by a bunch of inexperienced mammoths.

A grin lit up Rainbow Dash’s face. “Thank Celestia for carelessness! Good thing they didn’t have someone like Applejack make this.”

Rainbow Dash carefully pulled the lever down and the window gently popped open into the warehouse. She poked her head in and looked around first before just flying inside entirely in case someone was there to see her but she didn’t really see any movement from below. The warehouse wasn’t especially well lit but there were some lights and she could see stacks and stacks of boxes of various sizes all throughout it. The floor too looked odd to her for some reason and then she realized that’s because it was depressed, it went below ground level by quite a bit in the middle, to give them more room to stack boxes in while the outer sides of the ground floor were still level.

She looked over to where the backdoor would be and saw large sliding cargo doors that must’ve been what Abalun was talking about. They led onto the ground floor for a bit before it became a ramp that went down into the lower cargo area. And now that she could really look around she was certain there at least weren’t any mammoths in this warehouse, although there was a doorway into the closed hallway that led to the next warehouse, so she couldn’t be too careful about keeping an eye on that. And the front door too. She doubted it would happen but new mammoths could always come through it.

This really was a huge warehouse though… if they needed to check all these boxes for something there was no way that was happening. They might have to go into the other warehouses, whatever they might of held. Unless these crates contained a bunch of illegal weapons this didn’t exactly look incriminating to Karkona. Just unusual.

Rainbow Dash ducked her way entirely into the warehouse and shut the window behind her so it wouldn’t look weird from the outside. She flew up around the roof for a little bit just to make sure she hadn’t missed anything important before finally lowering down to the ground floor and the big doors at the back.

“Really hope the lock for this doesn’t need a key. Or a combination,” Rainbow scowled as she looked over the big backdoor. Right now she didn’t see a chain or anything closing it, where was the lock?

It didn’t open up at the middle, instead there was a sliding bolt lock at the left side that locked the door handle in place. You couldn’t pull the door open until that was flipped up and slid out. Rainbow Dash grinned and flew over to it, it was really big and heavy, as expected from mammoths, but she could still move it. It took a grunt of exertion and a little more effort than she would’ve liked to admit, but she was able to move the sliding bolt out of the way.

And now the moment of truth, hopefully Abalun and Larkon were right outside waiting for her to open the door up.

Rainbow Dash grabbed the big handle on the side of the door and pulled with all her might. She had to beat her wings hard to keep in the air and have the strength to pull the door open at the same time but slowly it slid down its track with only a slight grinding noise. In the dead of night it might be a little loud but there shouldn’t be anyone close enough to the back to hear it.

“Hrk!” Rainbow groaned as she pulled the door open halfway, more than enough room for a mammoth to step inside, and stopped. She panted and wiped the sweat off her brow and looked outside.

“We were wondering when you would show up,” Larkon said to her, a smirk on his face.

“Yes, we were waiting for a while,” Abalun nearly chuckled.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “You guys planning to tease me for being a little slower than you? Get in here already.”

“Well you’re normally so fast and you love bragging about it so I just couldn’t resist,” Larkon said as he walked inside with Abalun.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s just check out the stuff in here together, maybe the two of you will know what to look for better,” Rainbow said.

Abalun helped her close the backdoor and the three of them gazed over the mountains of crates and boxes stacked in the warehouse. He and Larkon pulled up the hoods of their cloaks to get a better look at everything while Rainbow Dash floated alongside them, keeping an eye on the front door far, but directly, ahead of them. It was going to be a long night. And hopefully a very fruitful one.

A Mammoth of a Problem XXXII

Larkon and Abalun stepped over to the nearest stack of boxes and checked them over. They were completely unmarked and gave no indication of what was inside. Larkon tapped one on the side with his trunk to hear the dull echo come back from the wooden boards. Whatever was in the box it was filled up completely on account of the reverberation. They looked up at the top of the stack, too high to take the top box off and look inside, and too heavy for Rainbow Dash to fly up there and bring it down for them. Larkon frowned and chewed on his lip as he glanced over the rest of the filled up warehouse.

“I don’t even know where to begin here. There are hundreds of these boxes and they all look the same,” Larkon said.

“We need to find some individual ones or some smaller stacks that we can take down,” Abalun said.

He began walking down the ramp and Rainbow Dash followed above him, with her superior vision and eyes maybe she could find some boxes to investigate. Even on the sides of the warehouse out of the lowered area there were crates and piles of boxes that went up nearly to the windows in some places. Dash also made sure to keep a single eye on the front door and her ears open so they wouldn’t be surprised. At least there would be a lot of boxes to hide behind if someone suddenly came in.

Larkon came down with them too, although he was also looking at the door that would take them into the adjacent warehouse. “Where does that door go?”

“Oh, sorry,” Abalun said. “The three warehouses are connected, that door will take us to the middle one. We should check it out after we’re done here.”

“But if there are any mammoths in there we might not be able to go in there unseen. We can’t even really check to make sure beforehand,” Larkon said.

“At this time of night I doubt there’s anybody working for Karkona in here,” Abalun said.

“Actually I don’t think that’s true,” Rainbow disagreed with a frown as she looked squarely at the front door. “If they’re fine with just leaving the backdoor locked and without any guards around then why wouldn’t they be fine with doing that for the front door too? The only reason those guards would need to be there is if the door isn’t locked and they need to stay there and watch while other mammoths come in and out.”

“So you think there are others working in these warehouses all day and night?” Abalun raised an eyebrow.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “I’m willing to bet on it.”

“Then we should probably be extra careful,” Larkon said.

“Yes. I wonder though, if no one is in here then what are the other mammoths working on and doing while they’re in these warehouses?” Abalun said.

“I dunno,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “Remember we saw those guys with the overalls coming in here last time? Maybe there’s more than just boxes being stacked up in the other two warehouses.”

“We’ll have to see but I think we should still fully explore this building first,” Larkon said.

“Right,” Rainbow said and resumed her search for boxes they could look through.

It was practically a labyrinth of stacks down on the floor and the two mammoths had to be careful not to accidentally knock into any and upset them. It also made it difficult for them to squeeze around it all together though. Only Rainbow Dash could really easily maneuver around the stacks. Now if she had a crowbar or something she could at least go up to the tops of some of these stacks and see what was in these boxes…

“Wait, hold on,” Abalun said as he walked around a few stacks of boxes. “I think we’ve got something here.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash said as she flew to him.

“Boxes,” Abalun said, grinning as Rainbow Dash came up by his head.

In front of him was a small stack of just three boxes nestled in the corner of the lower holding area. It must’ve been the newest stack or one of them at least. Larkon came moving around a few pillars of crates to join them, at last they could open up these and see what Karkona was holding in here. With any luck it was something bad enough that they could fly back to the senate with and end this whole thing.

The two mammoths carefully grabbed the two boxes on top and put them on the ground next to the other one. Now unfortunately with them all still being nailed shut they had the task of opening them up without making a huge mess or too much noise.

Fortunately, even though they may not have been fighters, Larkon and Abalun were still two incredibly strong mammoths and tearing off the lids of these crates was easy enough for them. Larkon gripped the edge of the lid with his trunk and yanked, the wooden top popping out with the nails still attached to it, and discarded the lid on the ground. The three spies gathered around the open box and looked on in with curiosity.

“Uhh… what is all this?” Rainbow Dash said.

Abalun grabbed a bag of something and pulled it out. It was clear plastic and looked pressed to be devoid of any air inside. “This is dried kelp.” Abalun said as he looked at it.

“There’s a lot of it in here,” Larkon said as he pulled out another bag of kelp.

Rainbow Dash stuck her hooves in and pulled out a big jar of pickled vegetables, another few bags of dried kelp, a sack of grain, and so on and so forth. “It’s all just food.”

“It’s preserves,” Larkon said as he held up a jar of jam in his trunk. “Food that’s stored in a way to last ages.”

“So what? He’s storing food here?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him.

Abalun then pulled out a large carton of water, and the three of them together spied five more identical cartons sitting at the bottom of the crate.

“Not storing… stockpiling,” Abalun said. “Karkona must be planning something big in the future.”

“He’s always said he wanted us to reclaim our empire and planned to go to war. Perhaps these are the provisions he’s kept for that?” Larkon said.

“He must be looking far into the future then, since he doesn’t have control of the city or know where the Sacred Spring is yet,” Abalun said.

“Or he might even be keeping all this food to go to war with you other mammoths,” Rainbow Dash suggested.

Larkon nodded, a grave look on his face. “A possibility as well.”

“The problem is that there’s nothing illegal about keeping food like this. No matter what our suspicions of its use might be it doesn’t exactly incriminate Karkona of anything,” Abalun said.

“That’s true,” Larkon said. “We have to keep looking for more.”

“Do you think all of the boxes in this warehouse are just food?” Rainbow asked.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. He may not have a city’s worth of followers but he still has a lot. If that’s going to be his army he’d need this much to feed them all. Especially if for some reason he loses access to the farms,” Larkon said.

“Let’s check another to make sure though,” Abalun said and broke open another with his trunk.

As could be expected it was more food and water, this one had a lot more grain in it though. Each single bag was about the size of Rainbow Dash herself and she wondered how much breadstuffs could be made from each one. How long had it taken to acquire all of this? And how did they get all this extra food into the slums? It seemed like something Abalun and Larkon would’ve been suspicious about in the first place…

“Hey so, are you guys wondering how he got all this food into here? Like there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of food in the slums or anything so how’s he getting all this extra food and stuff?” She asked the two of them.

“Unfortunately I believe that may be the cause of some unknown friends he has in the city and at the farms,” Larkon said.

“Friends more than willing to secretly give him more food than the senate would be happy with,” Abalun said.

“Oh, great,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “So that’s another problem we’ll have to deal with someday?”

“Possibly, but not right now, we still have more important issues directly ahead of us.” Larkon said.

Abalun wryly grinned at his friend. “Like putting these boxes back in order so in case anyone comes in they won’t know we were here.” He said and begin picking up bags of food with his trunk to put them back.

“Ugh, great,” Rainbow said and started picking up what she could as well.

It took them a few minutes but they did eventually get the work done. Mostly. The nails wouldn’t go in perfectly so the lids were kind of just mashed on and a little sideways. But unless someone really looked at them they wouldn’t notice at just a glance, which was fine for them, they only needed a day or two at the most to not cause a ruckus. Larkon and Abalun then stacked them back up and the three spies looked at each other.

“So now what?” Abalun asked.

“We go into that second warehouse,” Rainbow Dash resolutely said and fluttered up with her wings, looking over the edge of the lower area towards the door on the side of the wall.

“Rainbow Dash is right, we have to look for more,” Larkon said.

The two mammoths went back and walked up the ramp so they could follow her on the side of the building to the other door. It was a much simpler set of double doors that pulled open, no lock, and no windows either. They hoped that there at least weren’t any mammoths in the connecting chamber or that could end their little adventure real quick. Larkon and Abalun both grabbed one of the door handles when they reached it and Rainbow Dash floated between them. With a single nod in unison the doors were pulled open.

It was empty. But the doors leading into the next warehouse were only a few feet away. And they couldn’t just recklessly charge through them.

Larkon and Abalun walked slowly and quietly with Rainbow Dash gliding along with them. They stopped right at the doors together and Larkon leaned in to whisper.

“Well? There isn’t a window for us to look in there.”

“We should just listen at the doors for a second to see if we can hear anyone moving around in there,” Abalun said.

“And if we do?” Larkon asked.

“Then we enter as quietly and sneakily as possible,” Abalun shrugged.

The three pressed their ears against the doors (gently enough to not accidentally push it open) and listened in.

Muffled voices. The sounds of footsteps and carts being pushed along the floor. Things being moved. That answered that question, the central warehouse had far more than just boxes inside it. Rainbow Dash was kind of confused as she listened in harder, it sounded like there were voices and noises coming from way below the floor, deeper than the dugout area of the first warehouse. And she was pretty sure she heard heavy footsteps going down what sounded like metal stairs. There was definitely something special up with this next warehouse.

“Okay, so how should we handle this?” Larkon asked.

“Let’s put our hoods up first, sorry Rainbow Dash but I think you should crawl into Larkon’s robe again,” Abalun said.

Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out. “Yeah, I know.” She flew into it again without much protest, having to uncomfortably shift around until she was basically hugging his head again.

“I’m going to open up the door just a crack to peak in, as long as no one is right there watching I suggest we just walk in like it’s something normal. Like we’re mammoths Karkona has ordered to come in here,” Abalun said. “Don’t make eye-contact, don’t look shifty, just confidently walk in and see what’s going on.”

“I think there’s like a basement or something in there. We should check it out,” Rainbow said.

Abalun. “Okay, and let’s keep our hoods over our faces as much as we can, just in case.”

“Got it,” Larkon said and pulled the top of the hood down until Rainbow couldn’t see at all and he could only see by looking down at the floor.

Abalun put his trunk to the door on the left and gulped. “Here’s to our luck.”

A Mammoth of a Problem XXXIII

Abalun squinted to see what he could through the open sliver of the door. There was more light in this warehouse than the other one so it was easier for him to see. There weren’t any mammoths directly in front of him, nor did he see any really looking over to the door either, but there were some off to the side and a few were pushing carts loaded with crates through the doors that would lead to the third warehouse. The crates on the cart were much taller than the ones they had just seen though. He tried to look down into the “basement” that Rainbow Dash suspected existed but he couldn’t see from this angle with such a thin opening. It looked like the floor was still level for a bit right outside their door, did they just walk out and discreetly look around? Should they head right to the third warehouse?

As Abalun looked though, he also heard more coming from below. With the door slightly open it was easier to hear. Voices calling out from down underground, the sound of metal groaning, heavy things being moved and unseen doors opening and closing. He couldn’t see it but there was something big right beneath them. There had to be a lot of space excavated out of the bottom of this warehouse and replaced with… who only knows what.

Whatever it was they had to investigate it first before waltzing into the third warehouse. Abalun would push open this door and he and Larkon would confidently stride out as if they owned the place. Then the real business would begin. He just really hoped no one would give them a second thought.

“Alright, I’m going to open up the doors and we just walk in there like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Don’t look at anyone, follow me unflinchingly to whatever’s in the middle area and we’ll look like we’ve got a purpose,” Abalun said to Larkon.

“Right,” Larkon nodded.

“And I’ll just stay here, not moving or doing anything, getting itchy and stuff,” Rainbow said.

“Sorry,” Abalun apologized. “Maybe you’ll be able to come back out later.”

“Forget it, let’s just get out there and see what’s up,” Rainbow said.

Abalun faced the doors and took a deep breath. Without further ado he pushed them open and walked into the second warehouse, Larkon right on his heels. They didn’t look around to see if anyone had glanced up at them or were watching them when they entered. All they did was look straight ahead as they walked. It was just a few feet in that they came to the edge of where the floor lowered down and Abalun had to disguise his surprise as soon as he saw what was actually down there.

Forget a simple sunken cargo hold designed to hold more crates. This warehouse was the beginning of something much bigger.

The basement had two different levels that Abalun could see right now. The top part was accessible by several ramps from the ground floor and was mostly empty but had a few unattended carts sitting between the ramps. At the edge of the top level there were two platforms that could go up and down to the bottom level operated by chain pulleys connected all the way to the ceiling and a mammoth standing beside them. The bottom level he couldn’t see entirely but there seemed to be more doors and enclosed lifts down there along the bottom of the back wall with a spiral steel staircase in the middle of it all that went below the ground too. Who even knows where all of that went but there was a light and some muffled voices coming from the staircase. Rainbow Dash must’ve heard that earlier.

At the same time there were two mammoths at the bottom level with one of the large boxes Abalun had seen others taking into the third warehouse. They had it on a small cart of their own and they whistled up at the mammoth on the top level to send them down a platform. Once he did so one of the mammoths rode it up with the box while the other walked back into the lift on the bottom level and closed the doors.

So whatever was in those boxes was coming from the underground area right beneath this warehouse. It was being made and packaged down there and then brought up to be kept in the third warehouse.

Abalun steadily walked along the edge of the top basement, he knew where they needed to go. When he got to one of the ramps he went down it right as the other mammoth who had come up from the bottom was pushing his cart up another. Neither of them gave any sort of notice to the other. Abalun still kept his head tilted down and mostly obscured by his hood, Larkon even more so. Both of the invading mammoths now went right for the platform nearest to them that could take them to the bottom level of the basement—and then to the doors and stairs even further below.

The two of them stepped onto the platform casually and just waited for the mammoth to lower them down without a word or any sign of acknowledgment. Professional. They hoped.

Luckily it seemed the other mammoth thought it was normal or had no cares of his own as he lowered the platform, the chains rattling as they descended. Abalun had to fight to keep from wiping his brow with his trunk in relief. One obstacle down, an untold number to go.

“Where should we go now?” Larkon whispered.

“Yeah, I can’t see anything,” Rainbow said.

“I was thinking the stairs,” Abalun answered. “There’s definitely a lot of noise coming from down there, it must be important.”

“Lead away,” Larkon shrugged.

Abalun took a steadying breath once the platform came to a stop and the two mammoths walked off of it. It was a possible big risk going down those stairs but so was everything else they had done in here tonight. He stopped in front of them for a second and looked down, the spiraling staircase seemed to go a distance of two or three floors before stopping at a doorway that light was pouring from. The voices and other sounds were much clearer now. Heavy sounds, metal striking metal, heavy objects being moved, grinding noises, and the lumbering footsteps of mammoths.

“Doesn’t sound like I’ll be able to get out of Larkon’s cloak down there,” Rainbow muttered.

“Sorry,” Abalun said and started down the stairs.

There was a heat coming up from the room too, sweltering almost. It made the cloaked mammoths and the unfortunate pegasus stuck inside them sweat profusely. Finally Abalun and Larkon’s big feet carried them to the bottom of the stairs and they walked out together into this next room.

The floor, walls, and ceiling were all just plain natural rock and they boxed in the heat like a microwave. It was mostly so hot because of all the mammoths doing work in an enclosed space. Larkon and Abalun both had to pause in the doorframe as they took it all in. A huge room that stretched more than a hundred feet back greeted their eyes, where even back further there were two more open doorways that led into darkness. From those doors there were tracks and several minecarts going in and out at a time, bringing raw rock and metal from deep underground. On the route of the tracks there were all kinds of tables with tools stationed by mammoths, who would take the raw materials from the carts and begin working on them. Although Abalun and Larkon couldn’t tell what they were making.

Rainbow Dash tried to peak down to see what was in here but Larkon shifted to keep her from exposing herself.

“Stop that,” he grunted.

“Well what’s going on?” She asked.

“Karkona has his own mine, and a forge and smith of some sort,” Abalun said.

“What’s he need all that stuff for?” Dash asked again.

“I don’t know, let’s walk,” Abalun said to Larkon and the two of them began walking along the minecart tracks to see just what all these working mammoths were doing. Maybe they would even be able to go into the mine itself.

While Larkon still had to keep his head down, Abalun allowed himself the ability to look around a little more. On one of the first tables they came to there were sheets and plates of metal being pounded into a particular shape by a strong mammoth with a hammer. For the life of him though Abalun couldn’t figure out what it was supposed to be. It just looked like a misshapen piece of metal to him.

He walked down to the next table and saw… a mammoth constructing a bunch of chain links? And next to him was a mammoth measuring several large iron balls and shaving them into perfect spheres. What was Karkona doing?

There were several carts and boxes off to the sides of the walls that must be filled with finished products ready to be taken up to the ground floor. Abalun sincerely wished he could go over and look into them but that would probably be too suspicious. Right now their plan was to walk dead ahead and not bother or converse with anybody else. Maybe when they got to a secluded spot the three of them could talk with each other and come up with more of a real plan. If that opportunity ever presented itself.

When they got close enough to the dark holes at the back that the tracks led to, Abalun could see that they started to slope down a bit. Who knows how deep Karkona’s mine went, or how long he had been excavating it. Must’ve been ages at least. And to secretly dig out and dump all the extra dirt, it would’ve been a huge undertaking. If there was any reservation in their heads that maybe Karkona wasn’t completely serious this did a good job of completely stamping that out. Karkona meant business down here.

They were close to getting to the mining tunnels when a voice from the side called out to them. “Hey, you two! Where do you think you’re going?”

Uh oh. Abalun thought and turned around, still keeping his head low while Larkon tried to completely obscure himself behind Abalun.

“Who? Us?” Abalun said, trying to sound as nonchalant and oblivious as possible.

“Who else?” The mammoth said. He was wearing the same workers overalls that all the others were but he had a denim hat on his head too and he was standing behind the tables closer to the wall. He didn’t exactly look angry though, just annoyed. “Why are you down here? You new guys should be up in the sorting room, that’s where Karkona needed you, not down here or in the mines.”

“Oh, sorry,” Abalun did his best to play it off. “First time being in here...”

The mammoth, the foreman of this place most likely, rolled his eyes. “Whatever, just get back upstairs and go to the sorting room and get to work! It’s the door right next to the stairs, just take a right when you go back up em and there you go.”

“Thank you,” Abalun nodded and without another look he and Larkon began walking back the way they came, back to the stairs. That was a close one. If they did go into the mine tunnels now it would have to wait until later, forcing the issue would be no good.

Larkon walked up beside Abalun so he could whisper in his ear. “Sorting room for what?”

As they left the assembly and manufacturing room, the foreman eyed them the whole way out. He was glad to have gotten some more trunks on duty, they really needed them, but how come all the mammoths in the slums had to be so dumb? How do you confuse stairs for a door? Whatever, it wasn’t a big deal, he needed to focus on his mammoths down here and make sure all the work that needed to get done got done. Otherwise Karkona would be very cross. And an unhappy Karkona was not something anybody wanted to see.

Something was naggling at the back of his mind though and he looked back at the stairs the two mammoths had recently gone up. There was something off about one of them. The one that hadn’t talked. There was something the foreman was missing but he just couldn’t quite put his trunk on what it was yet. A strange gut feeling he had that something had been wrong about that mammoth in the brown cloak.

He shook his head and went back to looking over the mammoths under his charge. Whatever he was missing it probably wasn’t a big deal either. Let someone else worry about it.

A new pair of minecarts came up through the tunnels and the foreman watched as they deposited their hauls along the various tables. It was an endless stream of work down here that required multiple different shifts of mammoths. Karkona had big plans and lofty ambitions and he entrusted all of his loyal followers to give it their all to accomplish those.

A Mammoth of a Problem XXXIV

“I hope it doesn’t look suspicious when we immediately come back up the stairs,” Larkon said as they ascended the steps. “That mammoth working the platforms is going to see us.”

“We’ll just act naturally like we’ve been doing,” Abalun said.

“I’m covered in sweat, and some of it is yours Larkon, yuck!” Rainbow complained.

“Shh!” Larkon shushed her. “We’ll find a place for you to come out soon, I promise.”

“The both of you need to quiet down. Just follow my lead again when we get to the top of the stairs, if that mammoth down there was correct we just need to turn and go into the first door we see. Don’t even bother looking at the mammoth up at the platforms or anything else,” Abalun said.

Larkon and Rainbow Dash were silent in their reply. The party rounded the last few steps and soon emerged back into the bottom level of the basement in the second warehouse. Then, as nonchalantly as possible, Abalun and Larkon made an about face and went right over to the door they had previously seen when they were up here. Instead of pausing in front of it and possibly drawing more attention to themselves, Abalun immediately pulled it open and stepped inside, holding it open for Larkon and Rainbow Dash to join him.

When they entered all the way and the door swung back shut they could now look around this “sorting” room.

A row of lights hung from the wall, some flickering but still bright enough to give them all the illumination they needed. And the room was deathly quiet and totally devoid of other mammoths.

Abalun and Larkon though both had their blood run cold when they saw what was inside here.

“Rainbow Dash, I think you can come out now,” Abalun softly said.

“Finally!” The pony said and lifted up Larkon’s hood, sliding right out and hovering in the air, shaking her head vigorously and throwing sweat everywhere. “So what’s… in… here...”

Even Rainbow Dash’s breath was halted as she at last was able to take a look around the massive sorting room and the hundreds of weapons and armor inside of it. Dozens of stands that propped up armor plating fit for mammoths sat everywhere, racks of steel-tipped spears numbering maybe five hundred in total were leaning up all across the walls, heavy iron balls attached to chains—flails—were just left in piles and strewn about on the ground. War hammers, axes, shields, clubs, all sorts of other weapons and accessories for an army going to war filled up the sorting room almost to the point of overflowing.

“This… this is worse than I imagined,” Larkon said as he walked forward, practically dumbstruck. “I had figured he was making weapons but nothing like this. Not this amount and not so well-made. The mine, the room downstairs, it’s all a huge weapons factory and storehouse.”

“How many weapons are there? This is incredible… it’s like he plans to arm every able-bodied mammoth in the city someday,” Abalun said as he walked towards a suit of armor.

It was all just lying around like an unkempt garbage pile too. Some spears in one place, then a bunch in another. Everything was clearly just tossed in here and left to the “sorters” to make it right. Rainbow Dash floated around the room for a bit to check things out and saw a mass of empty crates and lids in the corner. The same size as the crates they had seen being taken to the third warehouse.

“I get it, everything is temporarily put here after it’s made and then boxed up and stored permanently in the other room,” Rainbow said. She then turned and raised an eyebrow at Abalun. “Did you see any of this stuff being made in that room downstairs?”

“Now that I’m looking at it in completeness, yes, I did.” Abalun said. “I’m not exactly familiar with things like weapons so I didn’t notice but I saw these flails and sets of armor being made by some of the mammoths down there.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Sorry, if I could’ve seen out from Larkon’s robe I would’ve known from the start.”

“Well we know now,” Abalun said.

“I just can’t believe this,” Larkon said, still in shock as he walked up and down the various rows and piles of weapons.

“Uh, Larkon? You alright?” Rainbow Dash asked. “This is kind of what we wanted to see, isn’t it? Now we have proof that Karkona is doing something illegal. Very illegal.”

Larkon nodded. “I’m just a little overwhelmed right now. I feel like I’ve failed somehow, letting this come to pass. Not even just letting him have the time to make all these without any of us doing anything, but as a historian too, that there would be mammoths still alive today that want to use these weapons of war. I just… I think I feel a little sick.”

“Easy there big guy,” Rainbow said as she flew up to him and rubbed his side. “I get it that a pacifist like you is a little uncomfortable right now, take some deep breaths.”

“Sorry… I’ll be alright,” Larkon said as he steadied himself. The large mammoth sat down on the ground and rubbed the sweat from his brow.

“Like Rainbow Dash said, this is good for us though. Proof. Real, solid, proof of Karkona’s illegal activities. Not just words that the senate can waffle about, but actions that can and need to be punished,” Abalun said. “We’ve done it, Larkon. We can bring down Karkona with this. It’ll be one more step to having true peace in our city.”

Larkon managed a slow smile. “Yes. I suppose you’re right. We should be celebrating this, our spying has been a success.”

Rainbow Dash grinned too and flew around the sorting room some more, looking at all the various weapons. “Awesome! So like, should we actually fill up a box with some of these and try to take it outside?”

“I’m not sure if we’d be able to do that,” Abalun said. “We’d surely be noticed if we took an entire box full of weapons. Even carrying anything out would be tough to hide.”

“Hmm...” Rainbow Dash thought, her hoof holding her chin. “Wait, got it! We load up one of these empty boxes full of weapons and take it to the third warehouse like it’s our normal job. That’s what they all expect us to do, isn’t it? Then once we’re in the third warehouse we can just take it out the backdoor and run off with it. By the time anyone notices what’s up I bet we’ll have enough of a lead on them that we can get it back to the city.”

Abalun considered it for a second and smiled. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

“Yes, that might be our best bet,” Larkon said. “If the third warehouse is the same as these two it should have the same backdoor. We can just throw any random weapons and armor in one of those boxes, let’s hurry up with it.”

“If another mammoth interrupts us or asks us any questions it could end very badly,” Abalun said.

“Even with it being late at night we might also be seen carrying that box through the city. So we just have to hope against hope,” Larkon said.

“Whatever, then I just get to beat up whoever tries to do anything,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Hard part is just getting it out of here without anyone making a fuss in the first place.”

“It’s going to be heavy too,” Abalun said as he pulled one of the empty crates over from the corner.

“The two of us should still be able to carry it together easily enough,” Larkon said.

Rainbow Dash went down to the floor and grabbed the chain of one of the flails, attempting to heft it up. She was able to lift the chain part a bit but the iron ball and the thick wooden handle were way too heavy for her. The ball was the size of her head—she didn’t even want to imagine the damage it could do when swung by a mammoth. As she looked around at the rest of the weapons and stuff she realized that much to her dismay it was probably all going to be a little too heavy for her. Abalun and Larkon would have to take care of filling up the crate.

“Okay, you two really need to pick up the pace cause I can’t really help out with any of this,” Rainbow Dash told them.

Larkon grinned as he picked a spear off from one of the racks and gently placed it into the box. “And you do realize right after we finish this you’re going to have to go hiding out in my robe again, right?”

Rainbow put a hoof to her forehead and groaned. “Like I haven’t had enough of that already...”

The two mammoths got to work on filling up the box with as much evidence as it could hold, they needed to show that this wasn’t just some random mammoth in the slums making a weapon or two, they had to prove it was an entire industry and Karkona was making all kinds of things for a nefarious purpose. Seeing pieces of armor, shields, and various different weapons would fulfill that purpose. Abalun picked up a flail with obnoxious ease and deposited it away as well while Larkon picked off several pieces of armor plating from one of the stands and put them in.

Rainbow Dash was at least able to help with securely putting the lid on when they felt like they had enough inside, but that was about it.

“Okay!” The pegasus grinned at her comrades. “Let’s take this thing out of here!”

Down below, the foreman was walking up and down the rows of table and inspecting the work. Not just checking to make sure the work was getting done but making sure it was getting done at an acceptable level of quality. You didn’t want armor that would fall apart or a flail whose chain would break in the middle of swinging it around. He lightly nodded his head each time he passed a table in acknowledgment of the work being up to par, things looked good today. But right after he passed one table he paused, looking back at it instead of continuing. An odd feeling had come over him.

The table he had just passed held a mammoth working on tusk caps—pointed metal caps that were fit over the tusks of a mammoth to make their built-in weapons even more dangerous.

Why did the tusk caps bother him so much?

He stood there staring at them for a minute while the other mammoths down here continued their work. And then his eyes widened and he took a sharp intake of breath as he finally realized what that wrongness with the other mammoth he had just sent away was.

His tusks. The tips were filed down to be blunt.

The other mammoths in the warehouse probably didn’t give him a second glance, if they even noticed at all, but no mammoth working with Karkona would have blunt tusks. He had kept his hood down and tried to shy away from that other one in the green cloak the whole time too. They weren’t just lost or confused or anything now were they? In hindsight it seemed like they must’ve been trying to explore the mines and everything below the warehouse.

By this point the other mammoths had noticed him and the angry expression that twisted his face. They had stopped working for a moment, unsure if they should say something or just be quiet.

The foreman was unsure of some things too. He didn’t know who those two mammoths were or why exactly they had come here, but he did know one thing for certain.

“We’ve got rats,” the mammoth growled.

A Mammoth of a Problem XXXV

It had taken a little longer than Rainbow Dash wished for them to get the crate full of weapons but now at least they could take it out and up to the third warehouse. Only bad thing was that she had to go back inside Larkon’s robe while the two mammoths hefted the crate around. They both carried it between them with their trunks and tusks giving them the hold on it they needed as they walked up to the platforms that went up to the top level of the basement.

Thankfully no words needed to be spoken. The mammoth operating the platforms saw them again and lowered one down for them to ride on.

“At least we can put this down on one of the carts when we get up there,” Abalun said.

“We’ll have to ditch the cart once we leave the warehouse anyways though,” Larkon said. “There’s no way it’ll travel well over muddy, snowy, dirt roads.”

Their conversation had to stop when they came back up on the level. Silently they carried their heavy crate full of weapons over to the ramps leading up to the ground floor of the warehouse. Regardless of what they had to do in the future, a cart would still help right now, so they put the crate down on one of the unattended carts left for stuff like this and began wheeling it up the ramp closest to the wall with the doors and connecting tunnel that would lead to the third warehouse. It gave them a momentary breather too, much easier than carrying something heavy like that around.

Abalun pushed the cart while Larkon stood in front of it walking backwards to keep a steady trunk on the crate. Getting up the ramp was easy and it was only a short distance to the doors and then the third warehouse beyond. They were all rather nervous at this point but trying not to show it. It was too important to fail, their hearts were pounding inside their chests. The fact that they were so close to succeeding just made it even more tense for them.

The wheels just rolled and rolled until they stopped at the doors to the tunnel. Larkon pulled them open and held them that way so Abalun could push the cart all the way through and once the doors closed they finally had a little privacy again. Still, Dash had to wait until they were actually inside the third warehouse and had made sure there were no other mammoths in there. But she really wanted to get back out of Larkon’s robes as quickly as possible. So for now the three still silently pedaled the cart through this small room and into what would normally be the final destination for a crate full of weapons.

When Larkon opened up the next set of doors they emerged into the third warehouse, he and Abalun taking a look around. It was much the same as that first warehouse with huge boxes piled up everywhere, except this warehouse was totally flat and didn’t have a depressed area in the floor. It was all one big jungle of boxes on the ground level.

“I don’t see anyone else in here,” Larkon said.

“Great!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed and slid right out of her hiding spot. “I was getting really tired of that.”

“Larkon, help me wheel the cart over to the backdoor and we can get out of here,” Abalun said.

“Right,” Larkon nodded.

The two mammoths began to maneuver their cart around the many pillars of boxes while Rainbow Dash stretched as she flew overhead. She was feeling really cramped up now after everything.

“When we get outside I’m just gonna fly above you guys, not just saying that cause I don’t want to go back into hiding out on Larkon’s back, I really think it’ll be better to keep watch from above,” she told them.

“Sounds fine to me,” Larkon said.

While moving the cart they accidentally knocked it into one of the stacks of boxes, the three held their breath as the stack wobbled and looked like it was about to tip over… before it settled down and stayed up. All three of them let out a big sigh of relief at the nearly avoided accident. Some of these were stacked pretty tentatively, they couldn’t afford to hit another one. Larkon pulled the cart away and stood in front of it to make sure he could guide it better.

“Let’s try to avoid doing that again, it could end up pretty bad for us,” Larkon said.

“Yeah,” Abalun nodded.

“Everyone, stop what you’re doing and follow me! We have intruders!” The foreman yelled to the mammoths working down below with him. “We need to get back up there right now!”

“What do you mean, sir?” The mammoth working on the tusk caps said to him.

“What do you think, you idiot?” The foreman slapped him over the head with his trunk. “Those mammoths that were just down here that tried to go into the mines aren’t with Karkona! They must be spies sent from the city to find out what Karkona’s doing! Get your lazy butt up now!”

He and the other workers scrambled to get up from their tables as the foreman’s words seeped in. They hadn’t imagined anything like this happening but they were all loyal underlings of Karkona, if the warehouses needed to be protected from some rats they were more than willing to do that. Each mammoth grasped their hammer, or wrench, or whatever other tool they were using, in their trunks and narrowed their eyes as they looked back up the stairs. Naturally these weren’t just your average “worker”, they were all dangerous thugs that had been picked up from all over the slums.

The foreman grinned maliciously as the others got ready and he stomped down the rock floor to the stairs. “Come on! We’re not letting them get out of here.”

The workers followed him, the thrown together gang totaling close to thirty armed and angry mammoths. They all charged up the metal stairs together with enough force that it shook the bolts. An angry mob of mammoths yelling and lifting their improvised weapons over their heads to deal with the interlopers as soon as they were found. No one who went against Karkona would be forgiven by them.

The foreman trumpeted with his trunk as he ran up the spiral metal stairs, he’d tell the guards once he had the rats cornered and beaten up. And then Karkona would hear about it and who knew what kind of reward he would get. Even if it was just praise or respect he’d wear it proudly. But these warehouses and what they were used for were so important, they had to be protected, the secret couldn’t get out yet! And he was one of the mammoths that had been entrusted to make things run smoothly in the first place and get all the weapons Karkona needed. No way was some fogey from the city going to ruin this for him and Karkona!

“Break them to pieces!” Another mammoth yelled from behind him and the others cheered.

“Yes!” The foreman responded. “Show them what happens to anyone who crosses Karkona!”

They emerged from the stairs into the lower basement, the mammoth who operated the platforms already looking down at them in surprise and confusion after hearing them pounding up the stairs.

“Dathon!” The foreman yelled at him. “Where are those two mammoths who came up here earlier? Are they still in the sorting room?”

Dathon shook his head. “N-No, they just recently came out and took a box to the weapons storage warehouse. Why?”

“Argh!” The foreman growled. “Just throw the platforms down for us! Those two were enemies!”

Dathon did as asked and lowered both the platforms. Not every mammoth could fit onto them at once but the foreman and a number of others were still in the first batch to go up. They could barely wait until they had made it to the top, weapons waving around in the air, shouting angrily. They were making quite the racket. And once the first group actually got the top it got even worse with them howling in rage as they ran to the ramps.

“We’re coming for you, you scumbags!” The foreman yelled with his party behind him.

“I think we may have a problem.”

“I think you’re right.”

Larkon and Rainbow Dash both said as they looked at the chain and padlock that securely locked the backdoor of the third warehouse. After the other two it was not something they expected to see and it created a huge issue for them.

“What do we do now? We cant take it out the back anymore,” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I don’t know,” Larkon said. The historian grasped the lock and chain with his trunk but even for a mammoth he didn’t have the strength to break it. Worry creased his brow as he looked back across the faces of his friends.

“Could we take it out the front?” Abalun suggested. “I know the guards will see us but maybe we can act casual on our way out and they’ll think we have a special job.”

“That’s insanely risky...” Larkon bit his lip.

“I think we might still have to do it,” Rainbow Dash said. “It’s better than nothing and it’s all we have right now.”

Larkon angrily knocked the lock against the metal door. “Curses! Why does this have to be locked?”

“I’d say Karkona doesn’t want any second chances with what’s inside of here,” Abalun said. “Just an extra precaution.”

The three stood there by the backdoor mulling things over. This was bad, the certainty of secretly getting these weapons out was gone now. But they probably didn’t have much time to waste thinking about it. Rainbow Dash and Abalun were right, they needed to take the cart back to the front door and hope for the best. It would be a pain maneuvering around all these stacks again but there was nothing they could do about that.

“Alright, let’s get moving,” Larkon sighed. They moved the cart around and he walked in front of it again to guide it.

But then, some unfortunate noises came to their ears.

The angry shouts and yelling from the foreman and all the other mammoth workers started reverberating through the warehouses. Rainbow, Larkon, and Abalun could hear them charging up from the basement and running right towards the doors that would take them into the weapons warehouse. They were loud and agitated, so much so that it sounded like a stampede was coming right of them.

Larkon gulped. “I think we’ve run out of time.”

“Hurry! Take it to the front door!” Rainbow told them.

Abalun nodded and began pushing the cart faster through the warehouse, no longer taking as much care to avoid the precarious stacks of boxes, all the while they listened to the sounds of angry mammoths coming for them. Doors were slammed open and the heavy plodding of footsteps through the hallway became overwhelming, they were almost upon them. Larkon was so busy pulling the cart along and trying to not crash into anything that he wasn’t paying attention to his own feet and he ended up tripping over himself. The historian collided with a stack of boxes that teetered about like it was about to fall over from the hit. But thankfully they stayed balanced. Abalun stopped the cart and Rainbow Dash went to help Larkon up right after but once he got back to his feet the doors from the hallway leading to the third warehouse were swung open.

Rainbow Dash, Abalun, and Larkon looked to see the foreman and ten or more mammoths behind him all angrily glaring at them. Most brandishing their tools as weapons too. From what they could hear there were a bunch of yelling mammoths also still coming on the way. They were already horribly outnumbered and it was about to get worse.

When the foreman saw them and looked in their direction, Abalun looked away and kept his head down while Larkon and Rainbow Dash stared right back at him.

“Well, well, well,” the foreman evilly grinned at the intruders. “If it isn’t the pony and...” He regarded Larkon for a moment. “Ah, Larkon. I recognize you. Karkona talks about you a lot, you know?”

“I’m flattered,” Larkon glared at him and pulled his hood back all the way to let his head out. Rainbow Dash came floating around right by his head and also glared at the mammoths confronting them.

“I don’t know how you got inside here but it doesn’t matter, you aren’t leaving. Heh, Karkona won’t believe this. Not just the historian but the pony outsider he despises too. And whoever your friend is,” the foreman said as he briefly glanced at the shying Abalun before his eyes flickered to Rainbow Dash. “He was right on you being a nuisance, pony.”

“And Larkon was right on him being evil,” Dash pointed at the foreman.

The foreman angrily snorted and narrowed his eyes at them. “You should’ve stayed out of our business, it doesn’t concern non-mammoths like you.”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes right back at him. “It concerns my friends. And that’s more than good enough.”

The two different groups were still for a moment. Rainbow Dash, Larkon, and Abalun were close to the front door with only a few scattered stacks of boxes between them and it. But there was absolutely no way they could take the crate they had filled up with them and outrun these guys. Even making it to the door before getting attacked would’ve been impossible, and then there were still the guards outside and the fact they’d have to run all the way to the other side of the river while carrying it. It was incredibly annoying for Rainbow Dash to realize, but they’d have to leave the crate full of weapons here.

“I hope you’re not thinking of trying to escape. There’s nowhere for you to run, even more of us are coming up and the guards are right outside,” the foreman said as he noticed Dash’s contemplative look. “We’ll chase you down.”

He was right. While there was no chance of Rainbow Dash being captured the same couldn’t be said about Larkon and Abalun. Neither of them were the most athletic of mammoths in the first place, getting past the guards would be tough enough, much less outrunning them and all these angry workers for the rest of the night. They still weren’t going to take this lying down though—and surprisingly enough, Rainbow Dash had a plan.

She smugly grinned at the foreman and the mob behind him. “You know I bet you wish we would escape, cause you’re probably just a bunch of cowards that are afraid to fight me, aren’t you? Scared of the big bad pony?”

Larkon and Abalun looked at her like she was mad but Rainbow Dash just winked at them.

The foreman’s face flushed red with anger. “How dare you, you stupid pony! I’ll show you scared!” He looked back at his forces. “Charge them! And break her wings so she can’t fly away!”

The mob yelled and the dozens of mammoth thugs ran from the open doorway to attack the interlopers, all led by the foreman. And that’s exactly what Dash wanted. As a hothead herself, she knew how badly things could go when you lost your cool. Abalun and Larkon both stepped back in fear but Dash only watched as the stream of mammoths had to run around stacks and stacks of precariously placed boxes, some of them knocking into them in their haste and making them wobble.

They were making this too easy.

“Larkon! Abalun! Knock some of the towers over!” Rainbow Dash yelled and flew up to the top of the stack that Larkon had hit earlier. She rammed her body into the highest box and flapped her wings as hard as she could to knock the heavy box over.

Seeing what she was doing, the other two’s eyes widened and they sprung into action. Larkon helped her push the one tower over while Abalun reared up on his hindlegs and threw his weight into another. The swaying towers soon fell down thanks to their efforts… but not to the ground.

They crashed into yet other towers.

It was a domino effect, towers hit towers that hit more towers, soon it seemed like the entire warehouse was going to come crashing down. And the foreman and his horde were all trapped in the middle of it. Caught between falling towers themselves and making it worse in their panic they couldn’t even retreat out of the third warehouse while Dash, Larkon, and Abalun were safe close to the front door.

“Ahhh!” The foreman and other mammoths yelled as the heavy crates fell, some of them breaking to pieces and scattering their contents all over. Mostly they just fell with a loud crash and buried the mammoths. It was practically like hearing an explosion with the hundreds of crates all clattering to the floor of the warehouse.

Rainbow Dash, Larkon, and Abalun were flush against the front wall of the warehouse as they watched, silent.

Pained groans and weak movements came from the mass of buried mammoths, the entire group was taken out of commission. It would be a while before they could even dig themselves out of this mess.

Rainbow Dash finally drifted away from the wall and floated on her buzzing wings. She wiped her brow in relief. “Whew.”

“We should go immediately,” Abalun said, nervously. “Others would have heard that, as well as the guards outside.”

In fact they could already hear the guards right outside the warehouse’s front door. The mammoths who had been stalwartly guarding out front were running over to it, it was now or never. Rainbow Dash wanted so desperately to at least grab one weapon off the ground. But that desire had to be quenched. Larkon, who looked fairly queasy after dropping those crates in the heat of the moment, threw open the front door to the warehouse and ran out with Abalun and Rainbow Dash right behind him.

“Inside! There’s been an accident, they need your help!” Larkon yelled at the mammoth guards and ran past them out into the night before the guards could even really think twice.

And Rainbow Dash had no idea if Larkon was saying that genuinely or if he was acting. He probably felt incredibly bad for doing something like that even if it was self-defense, even if they had to and he was just doing it on reflex. It went against everything about him to hurt another like that.

Meanwhile the guards looked on in befuddlement as another mammoth with his head down ran past them and the blue pony Karkona had told them about also flew off with them. They did a double-take at that last one, but the groans coming from inside the warehouse got their attention and they ended up rushing inside to see just what had happened.

“Hahahahaha!” Rainbow Dash laughed in victory as she flew beside Larkon and Abalun. “We did it!”

“And I hope-” Larkon panted. “We never have to do something like that again.”

“We didn’t get any weapons though,” Abalun said.

Larkon shook his head. “It’s fine, we know what Karkona is doing now and tomorrow Rainbow Dash and I will go speak to the senate.”

“Yeah, Karkona won’t know what’s coming to him!” Rainbow Dash stated.

“Considering he’s going to hear about this I think he will actually,” Abalun grinned at her. His expression then became more serious. “I just hope none of them recognized me, otherwise I won’t be able to stay in the slums.”

“You’re not going to come with us?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him.

“No,” Abalun shook his head. “I’m going to remain here and keep spying as best I can on Karkona and his forces. I need to be your eyes and ears in the slums.”

Larkon patted him on the shoulder with his trunk. “Good luck, friend.”

“Thank you, friend,” Abalun smiled back at him.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but smile at them too as they all sailed through the snowy ground of the slums. More snow falling around them in this dark night, it was surprisingly peaceful, the cold feeling like a pleasant winter evening. And tomorrow would be the apex of Rainbow Dash’s visit to the mammoth city, where they would take down Karkona after working together. The excitement was boiling in her as her latest adventure came to a head.

A Mammoth of a Problem XXXVI

The next morning saw Rainbow Dash and Larkon both wake up a bit late after not getting back to Larkon’s house until practically dawn. They had both separated from Abalun in the slums and hoped the best for him but there was nothing they could really do about that. Getting home and preparing for their visit to the senate today was more important. Shibu was awake when they had arrived back, her eyelids heavy but she still greeted them with a smile. After hearing that Samarkon was peacefully asleep and hadn’t caused any problems while they were gone Larkon finally allowed himself to relax, he and Rainbow Dash then happily went to bed. Despite both of them having their minds on the following morning they were able to drift off to sleep easily thanks to being exhausted. Larkon was hopeful as he went to bed. Rainbow Dash was excited.

And now it was the big day. This was something Larkon was waiting for for a long time. Since long before Rainbow Dash even arrived in their city. A way to stop Karkona, to make the senate and all the other mammoths that had turned a blind eye to the problem be forced to see the issue and deal with it. Even after the mess of last night and learning that Samarkon would willingly try to go to Karkona he was unafraid and unwavering. The mass of weapons possibly giving him even more resolve to bring the rest of the city to his side, so he could protect them from what Karkona’s plans were.

There was still worry in his head and worry for his misguided son especially but he couldn’t let that get to him. He needed to appear perfectly strong and confident when going before the senate with Rainbow Dash today to remove the caul from their eyes. No more ignorance. No more illegal misdeeds that Karkona could hide.

“Good luck today, dear,” Shibu said to Larkon and kissed him while he and Rainbow Dash stood in the doorway of his home.

Alykon was out with her friends and Samarkon was holed up in his room. He refused to come out or speak to his family at all but Shibu still needed to stay here and watch him to make sure he didn’t try and run off again. It was something that pained Larkon but at least he knew that after Karkona was dealt with that maybe he could finally begin mending the relationship between himself and his son.

“Don’t worry, we don’t need luck,” Rainbow Dash said to her with a wink, causing Larkon to roll his eyes.

The historian then smiled though. “Well, you may be right. The evidence we saw is completely incontrovertible. Bakol and the others will have to listen to us. I think this is going to be a great day for all of us mammoths.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash grinned and hoofbumped his trunk.

Larkon turned and looked off down the street “We should get going. We’re already going to have to interrupt whatever the senate is doing today, and there’s no time to waste.”

“At least we know they’ll let the two of us right in,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Special privilege of being awesome.”

“Special privilege of being a special once-in-a-lifetime guest,” Larkon playfully knocked her.

“And the awesome historian of the city,” Rainbow Dash said back to him. “Don’t sell yourself short either, dude.”

He scoffed and walked down the steps of his porch while waving goodbye with his trunk to Shibu. “Look after Samarkon! Sorry to keep foisting that duty on you but—you know.”

“I know,” Shibu smiled, sadly.

Rainbow Dash flew down the steps to join Larkon, also waving goodbye to Shibu. The party of two were then off to Tarmok’s Hall in their effort to take down Karkona and bring true peace to the mammoth city. For such an auspicious occasion it was nothing more than an average day outside with a cool late morning breeze and just the barest amounts of snow and frost left on the trees. The kind of day that would’ve been great for Rainbow Dash to fly through the sky in, or for Larkon to take a pleasant stroll around the block, or Alykon to practice Trunkball. When she thought about it, Rainbow Dash realized that Larkon was just trying to make everyday like this. Lackadaisical, carefree, boring even. It did amuse her to think that if he got his wish the mammoth city would become the opposite kind of place from where she wanted to go on her journey. But that’s the peace Larkon wanted.

There were mammoths out that they waved to, smells from cafes and carts along the way that they sniffed, children running by playing around, musicians performing in the streets. What a day to be out and alive.

When they came to the sloping hill and road that Tarmok’s Hall stood on, Rainbow Dash had to suppress a yawn. At least she didn’t have to walk up it or the big steps of the Hall itself. And just like the last times she had come here there were plenty of mammoths traveling in and out of the building, many who waved at and said hello to her and Larkon, and many that came over in an attempt to start up a proper conversation with the pony.

They’d have to wait on that though. The historian and his guest had far more important things to do right now.

Rainbow Dash patiently flew along with Larkon as he conquered the steps and when they finally made it up and inside the building she had to take another look around the impressive atrium. Tarmok’s Hall was as imposing of a building as ever with its size and massive scales. Fitting for it after she had learned who it was named after.

The two of them paid no mind to anything or anyone else in it though. Their destination was the senate chamber. And it didn’t matter what was being discussed right now or who was minding the door. The two of them were going to walk in there—and fly in there—and put this matter of Karkona to rest.

Rainbow Dash kind of wished she could’ve done that by fighting but oh well. She had to respect Larkon’s way of doing things too.

The clerk who was standing at the podium right outside the senate’s doors saw the two of them coming. But if he thought they were going to stop and have him tell them what was on the schedule or announce their arrival he was dead wrong. Rainbow Dash and Larkon went right past him before he could even get an “Umm” out. The doors were thrown open in a grandiose display (that made Rainbow Dash think she might have been rubbing off on Larkon a little bit) and the two stood right in the center of the aisle as row upon row of senators turned to look at them.

Bakol sat up straighter in his chair and peered down at them. “Larkon? Rainbow Dash?” He, like the others, was surprised to see the two of them suddenly come into the chamber.

“Greetings, Bakol, senators,” Larkon graciously bowed to them. “Rainbow Dash and I have come here today to discuss something of the absolute utmost importance with you.”

Bakol looked around at the others around him and raised an eyebrow at Larkon and Rainbow Dash. “Well… very well, I trust you’re telling the truth about that. Please come forward, you two.”

“Sorry we had to interrupt whatever it was you were doing,” Larkon apologized.

“But really, this is more important,” Rainbow Dash said.

The two of them went to stand (or hover) right in front of Bakol’s desk after striding down the aisle while the other senators watched and murmured. Now Rainbow and Larkon faced all the senators, with Bakol at their backs, and got ready to drop the bombshell on them. The other times Rainbow had been here the senators seemed a lot happier to see her and eager to hear her speak. Now they seemed apprehensive as some of them had probably realized that she and Larkon had something serious to talk about. This wasn’t just a playful discussion or a trade of cultures and history. The mammoth senators were still friendly and none of them looked upset or angry or anything, since mammoths were just nice like that, but they didn’t exactly show joy to Rainbow Dash and Larkon even though she was still their most honored guest.

“So what is this important issue you’ve brought before us?” Bakol asked from behind them and a number of senators in the front rows leaned in in expectation.

Larkon took a deep breath and stood tall, he slowly gazed over the entire chamber of senators before looking straight ahead. “Karkona.”

Now that name soured the mood in the senate chamber immediately. Rainbow hadn’t seen any upset mammoths before but now she sure did.

A mammoth a few rows back from the front stood up, a worried frown on his face. “Larkon… we’ve been over this before.”

“Yes, Harrak, I know,” Larkon said. “But I’ve never been satisfied with the senate’s decisions.”

Harrak shuffled about nervously. “It’s better to just live and let live.”

A number of mammoths nodded and muttered in agreement with him, making Rainbow Dash frown. Did being pacifists meant you had to be pushovers and let thugs bully you around and do whatever they wanted? She didn’t think so. And if Karkona got what he wished for then their whole peaceful society would come crashing down.

“That’s not an option. You all know much I abhor violence and conflict. But I also know that we can’t just ignore the problem of Karkona, we can no longer sweep it under the rug and hope he wont do anything as you have all wished.” Larkon said to the senate.

“What brought this on, Larkon?” Bakol asked from behind them, suspicion clear in his voice. “Why suddenly come here now with Miss Rainbow Dash?”

Larkon sighed and composed himself. “I have… been spying on Karkona for some time now.”

A lot of the mammoths stood up and began shouting and arguing at Larkon while quite a few more were just shocked and conversed with their friends. Rainbow Dash wouldn’t exactly go as far to say the senate was outraged but they were getting close to it. And the chamber had become so unruly with so many scattered conversations and mammoths trying to shout over each other that Bakol had to bang his gavel down a few times to get things back in order.

“Enough, enough I said!” Bakol shouted as he banged his gavel down again and again. “One at a time!”

Harrak actually stepped from his place at the bench and came to the center aisle. “Larkon, what do you mean by spying? Regardless of what Karkona’s said and threatened he hasn’t actually done anything. What you’re saying just seems like agitation. How do you justify your actions?”

“I know that what I did was done without the permission or blessing of the senate but I truly believed in my heart that it had to be done. Karkona is dangerous,” Larkon firmly stated. He then reached his trunk over and briefly patted Rainbow Dash on the back. “And the two of us have proof. You see, I’ve had a friend living in the slums for some time now who’s told me what Karkona is doing to the best of his knowledge. For the most part we were never able to learn or find out anything especially important. Karkona was good about making sure only his most loyal supporters knew about his misdeeds and plans.”

“His misdeeds and plans?” Another senator interrupted, skeptical.

“Correct,” Larkon nodded. “Karkona is not just talk. Last night, Rainbow Dash, my friend, and I, all went on a mission in the slums to truly find out what Karkona was doing and bring him to justice. We specifically planned to take down Karkona by making his crimes evident to all of you so you and the rest of the city must act.”

“Did something happen that caused this late night venture or were you planning this for a while?” The ever perceptive Bakol asked.

Larkon frowned and bit his lip as he looked back at Bakol. “It came about due to the result of personal issues I would like to keep private.”

“That’s not important right now,” Rainbow Dash rushed in to back up Larkon. “What’s important is what we found in the slums.”

“Proof of criminal activity by Karkona I presume?” Harrak said, just as skeptical as the other mammoth.

“Yes,” Larkon stated simply.

“Seriously!” Rainbow shouted. “Believe it, you guys’ll be shocked at what we found!”

“What did you find out about Karkona in the slums?” Bakol asked the two of them.

Larkon cleared his throat. “My friend was already aware of three large warehouses that existed in the slums. They were directly used by Karkona and his cronies but until last night he didn’t know for what as they were always guarded and locked up. However, the three of us snuck into these warehouses because we believed they would be a good start to finding out just what kinds of things Karkona was up to. And we were shocked by what we found. Even I couldn’t have imagined it.”

The crowd of senators was now quiet, hanging off of Larkon’s words as they waited for him to continue and fill them in on what they found in the slums. Rainbow Dash had a smirk on her face as she let Larkon make his speech. He was doing a good job.

“At first the only thing we found in the warehouses was food,” Larkon continued. “Large amounts of stockpiled food that was certainly suspicious but nothing truly illegal or worrying, as I’m sure you’d all like to say. But soon after we discovered that there was so much more to these warehouses. Karkona had secretly dug out the bottom of one, he had created a large basement that went deep underground and built mine tunnels underneath that. Unfortunately we couldn’t explore the mines themselves but they must have stretched deep and Karkona used them to mine precious ores and metals under the slums. You see, what Karkona had in these warehouses was an entire industry, a workshop.”

“But what was he doing with all of that in the first place? Why bother making his own mine and doing all of this in secret?” Harrak asked. He sounded more confused than outright skeptical now.

“There were dozens of mammoths down there all working for Karkona and they were all making one thing with the materials taken up from the mine—weapons.” Larkon announced to the senate.

All of the senators reacted at once with pure unbridled shock and disbelief, even Bakol was too startled by what Larkon had said to reign in order with his gavel. The senate chamber became a madhouse of mammoths yelling—at Larkon, at each other—and Rainbow Dash and Larkon just had to stand up there and take it now until things calmed down. Rainbow Dash knew weapons were illegal here, and for them to hear that Karkona practically had a factory producing them, it’s no surprise they reacted like this.

Bakol eventually managed to get himself back into gear and he had to again smack his gavel down on the table. “E-Enough!” He shouted. “Enough, quiet down this instant!”

It took more than an instant but the senate was reduced to only a few murmurs and hushed conversations. And a lot of suspicious and disbelieving glares.

But even more just plain scared faces.

“I can understand why you might be afraid or not believe me. But it’s true. Karkona had already made and stored hundreds, maybe even thousands, of weapons in his warehouses and he was still making more,” Larkon said, a pleading look on his face as he stared out across the sea of mammoths. “My senators, my fellow mammoths, we cannot let this continue! We must put a stop to Karkona, you know what he will do if we do nothing! He has already stated he wishes to find the Sacred Spring and with these weapons the only possible goal he can have is war.”

“A-And you have proof of this?” Harrak asked.

“We did… we had gathered some of the weapons and were going to bring them here but unfortunately we were caught and had to run without them,” Larkon said, a sad look appearing on his face. “But Rainbow Dash and I give you our word that it is the truth. Now please, what will we do about Karkona?”

Larkon was near pleading at this point, both he and Rainbow Dash ready to hear the senate open up their eyes and proclaim their support for Larkon.

One of the other senators stood up, with his eyes darting around and sweat coalescing on his forehead, he lifted up his trunk in an attempt to wipe away the sweat and appear less nervous. “So what you’re saying is… you don’t actually have proof that any of this is happening?”

Larkon felt a cold pit grow in his stomach while Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped.

No, please tell me it’s not going this way. They’re not. The pegasus thought.

“My mammoths, please.” Larkon said with evident desperation. “We saw these things with our own eyes. The threat of Karkona is real!”

“But what you’re saying is so serious,” Harrak said. “We can’t just believe you without any proof… it’s dangerous. What if we agitate Karkona by unfairly doing something...”

Scared murmurs of consent rippled through the rest of the senators as both Dash and Larkon watched in horror.

“You guys can’t be serious?!” Rainbow Dash pulled at her mane. “Karkona is the one agitating mammoths! He’s the one making weapons and threatening you guys! Why would Larkon lie about this?”

“Larkon’s always been consumed with trying to get us to do something about Karkona,” an older senator with gray fur said. “It’s not any less believable than what you’re telling us Karkona is doing.”

Rainbow Dash felt a surge of anger and she had to bite her lip from doing anything stupid. Because the look in that senator’s eyes told her that he was really just afraid. Same with all the others. They were afraid to believe Larkon and afraid to even consider accepting the reality of the situation. The reality where they would have to make the choice to act against the dangerous young firebrand.

“Then we’ll go back! Or you can get a group together and go into the slums yourselves to see what he’s been doing! We’ll get hard proof this time!” Rainbow Dash yelled at the senate.

“I think that would only make things worse than they already are,” Harrak said.

“No—please—you can’t… you can’t just keep playing ignorant...” Larkon tried to reason with them.

But more and more senators began to sit down or turn away. Rainbow Dash was shocked now, she had no idea it would be this bad. Larkon’s pacifism was on a level that it almost hurt him but it didn’t stop him from being aware of reality or his own faults and problems with his beliefs. But these mammoths were so weak-willed that they were letting themselves be destroyed practically. There were limits to putting your head in the sand. And what could she do about it? This kind of reaction and attitude was so alien to her.

Larkon was getting woozy, his hopes falling apart all around him, and he turned to Bakol. “Bakol, please, do something. You have to believe us, you can’t just let the senate hide this and pretend the problem doesn’t exist! Make a pronouncement to the city if you have to!”

The speaker of the senate looked up at Larkon with a pitying and apologetic gaze. He slowly raised his gavel and banged it down one time. “I… on the issue that Larkon has brought before us, due to the lack of evidence and the grievously serious nature of what has been put forth, I can only say that we do nothing.”

“Noo...” Rainbow Dash complained as she flew right in front of Bakol’s face. “You guys can’t do this. Do you have any idea-”

“Rainbow Dash,” Larkon said and placed his trunk on her back. “There’s no point.”

She looked back up at his face, it was stony and expressionless but behind those eyes of his was an ocean of sorrow. “Larkon...”

Another senator from back in the rows coughed. “Ahem, I-I suggest we get back to what we were talking about before Larkon and Miss Rainbow Dash arrived.”

Bakol paused, briefly looking at Rainbow Dash and Larkon, before nodding. “Agreed. Resume the discussion.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t know what else to do except follow Larkon down the center aisle to the doors leading back out of the chamber. Both their heads were hung low and on the inside Rainbow Dash was a storming mixture of anger at these mammoths and hurt for her friend. Larkon just looked… defeated. Empty. It was like his life’s work had been torn down and destroyed right in front of him. They didn’t speak at all as they left the chamber, and then Tarmok’s Hall entirely. Neither of them knew what they should say. Or what was going to happen now.

Meanwhile in the slums a gathering of a far different nature was commencing.

Karkona was notified late last night about what had happened as well, but he was unconcerned. Annoyed that so much had been damaged but not worried at all about the consequences. He had decided that a rally would be held outside his home where he could rile up his followers and inform them of what had happened. Now he stood inside his slapped together sanctum above the snowy ground of the slums. In a moment he would step outside onto the metal roof of the building his house sat atop and address the mammoth forces that already saw him as their King.

“So Larkon and that pony went to talk to the senate? I wonder how that went,” Karkona said to Murrank, who was standing there with him.

“Yes, one of our sympathizers saw them go to Tarmok’s Hall. I assumed the rest,” Murrank said.

“Nothing else that historian would do,” Karkona snorted. “Old fool. I hope he succeeds though.” A dangerous smile spread on Karkona’s face. “I would welcome them trying to stop me, not like the cowards have it in them though.”

“We’ve got most of the warehouse cleaned up too, work should get back on schedule soon.”

“Good. We don’t exactly need it for the Sacred Spring but I wanted us to be prepared for our future wars. And it gave my loyal followers something to do.”

“The only issue I can think of is that we still don’t know who that other mammoth that was with them was,” Murrank said. “I believe it’s likely they’re still here in the slums, spying on us for Larkon.”

Karkona shrugged. “Who cares? What are they going to do? In fact, let him spy on us. It’s not like he could know anything important or could stop us. No one but you, me, and a few others know my plans for finding the Sacred Spring and by the time I put it into motion it will be too late to stop.” He grinned. “But first, it is time for a speech. You know how fired up I can get when giving a speech.”

“Yes,” Murrank grinned.

“My mammoths must be reminded of why we’re doing this. So they can fight just as hard as me,” Karkona said and pushed open the door to his home, walking out right in front of the steps that led to the ground but staying up high.

The mammoths who had gathered out here cheered when they saw him, trumpeting with their trunks in admiration and loyalty. Hundreds of them. Most on the ground but some stood on roofs across from Karkona’s home and some stayed inside their homes but watched from the doorways and windows. They were a grungy and thuggish looking lot that was just as predisposed to violence and fighting as their leader.

Except for one.

Abalun stayed at the back of the crowd, not wearing his cloak at the moment in case it was recognized, taking a risk but knowing it was important to come to any big speech given by Karkona. His eyes stayed locked on Karkona, his mouth pulled taut in a tight-lipped frown. He had hoped that Karkona would fly into a rage and do something stupid after learning what had happened. But Karkona looked fine, better than fine.

“My mammoths!” Karkona projected his voice out across the entire crowd. “We have almost arrived at the dawn of a new age! An age where we can fight and conquer and become all that mammoths were meant to be again!”

The crowd cheered even louder and Karkona basked in it, a huge grin splitting his cheeks.

He let the cheering die down a bit and continued. “You may already know that last night some pathetic fools from the city invaded our slums and tried to sabotage my warehouses and everything inside. But does that matter? No! We fear no one, and no matter what happens or what is done to us we will keep fighting! Even if the warehouses were demolished or the pitiful senate decides to move against us we would never lose. They are the ones who fear us, and they prove it by trying to sabotage me. But even in that they fail because they’ve lost the strength and willpower of mammoths like us!”

“Larkon and that pony from the outside world are nothing! They can’t stop us! They have no right to!” Karkona thundered. “This disgusting way the rest of the city has welcomed that pony is a symbol of how far we’ve fallen, and once I rule over this city and all mammoths we will go back to subjugating and destroying all the other creatures like her!”

Abalun’s expression darkened and he began to sweat. His heart was beating inside his chest as he looked side to side at the ecstatic and nearly bloodthirsty mammoths around him. This wasn’t looking good. And there was something different about this speech, something important was coming soon, Abalun could tell.

“Soon, my mammoths, this city and everything in it will be ours and we can begin the crusade to recover what was lost!” Karkona raised his head high, pointing his trunk and tusks upward as a frenzied look came to his eyes. “The Sacred Spring will soon be reclaimed and after that, our empire! This, I promise you. The mammoths will rise again, AND WE’LL BRING THIS WORLD TO ITS KNEES!”

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puPc2F9ysfE

A Mammoth of a Problem XXXVII

When it came down to it you needed days where you could push all the bad stuff out of your mind and just relax or indulge in something fun. That’s what today was for Rainbow Dash.

Alykon’s Trunkball team had another game and Rainbow Dash was confident that they could finally win after all the extra practice and work they had put in lately. Unfortunately this time it was only her and Shibu who were watching. Larkon had decided it was better for him to stay home and keep an eye on Samarkon… and Rainbow suspected he just didn’t have it in him to do anything. He’d been despondent and lethargic ever since the failed meeting with the senate. Rainbow even offered to be the one to make sure Samarkon didn’t run off so Larkon could see his daughter play but he had completely refused. Now both he and Samarkon were probably just holed up in that house, quiet and depressed.

Two days ago Abalun had even snuck back into the city to tell them about a speech Karkona had given. But Larkon had seemed to have lost his drive. He said there was nothing they could do about it, nothing he could even think for them to do about Karkona now. It’s not like Karkona had even said anything specific either, it was just a speech for rousing his followers. Naturally this made both Abalun and Rainbow Dash rather dismayed and Abalun went back to the slums to continue watching over things.

Neither Abalun nor Rainbow Dash knew how to get Larkon out of this funk. First of all having to deal with Samarkon and then the betrayal of the whole senate. It was too much for him.

Rainbow Dash shook her head, no point dwelling on it and getting depressed. Right now she should be watching and cheering on Alykon. She could help out Larkon later.

“Hungry, Rainbow Dash? You look distracted,” Shibu said to her and held a bag of popcorn out to her.

“A little bit, yeah.” Rainbow graciously took the popcorn and shoveled a hoof of it into her mouth. “Just thinking about things I guess.”

“Probably the same things I am...” Shibu nodded sadly.

Rainbow Dash kept quiet, they didn’t need to bring each other down and the game was about to start anyways. There weren’t as many family members or friends watching this time but the stands were still fairly crowded. Down below, Alykon and her teammates were huddled together and getting ready to play along with the other team.

She smiled at Alykon, they were all taking this seriously and Rainbow had faith in them. Shibu too tried to pick up her mood before the game began, Her daughter needed her support.

Speaking of Shibu… Rainbow Dash pawed at her still braided mane. She had undone it and washed it out after getting back from the slums those days ago but Shibu insisted on rebraiding it this morning. It didn’t look like she was going to be allowed to go back to her old mane style until she left the city entirely. She absentmindedly tugged on the necklace she was still wearing too, along with the other jewelry.

Rainbow Dash was dismayed to realize she had gotten used to wearing it all. That was not something she would admit out loud.

“Do you think Alykon can win today?” Shibu asked her.

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Heh, definitely. They still have a long ways to go as a team but with how much they’ve improved? Oh yeah, they can definitely win this game today. We’ve just gotta cheer for them and show em how much we believe in them.”

“No problem there,” Shibu smiled.

A whistle was blown by one of the referees down on the court and the two teams got into position to play. After the instructions Rainbow Dash had given them last time she was happy to note how much more confident and steady the team looked. They started to have the visage of pros about them and it was an impressive turnaround from where they were when she first met them. Orsal and Dathon had a serious look as they prepared for the toss up while Alykon and Makom hung back with their bodies tense and ready to spring if either of the offensive players on the other team got the ball first.

Upon the toss up, Orsal jumped high but he was outreached by one of the enemy players, who batted the ball to his teammate. The ball holder now dribbled it past Dathon and went going right towards Makom on defense. Rainbow Dash was proud how restrained Alykon was being, letting Makom handle things on his side. And Makom wasn’t slow anymore either, he could react well, he was just letting his opponent get in close where it was easier for him to not overextend himself.

Rainbow Dash nodded as she watched; already appreciating how her team was doing. She could see their game plan and how they would handle themselves for the next hour and it looked good to her. They just needed to keep their practice and lessons in mind. Don’t get discouraged if you fall behind, don’t let yourself lose focus, keep giving it your all, and just do what Rainbow Dash told you to do.

Makom’s trunk lashed out at just the right moment and he stole the ball from the enemy player. With a quick jog he ran around him and threw the ball to Dathon.

Now Dathon was on the offensive and there was zero hesitation in his play as he danced and dribbled around the first defender. His play had probably changed the most among all of Alykon’s team. He handled the ball with far more skill than before and he was very decisive in his movements and what he was doing.

Such as being confident enough to take a long shot at the basket instead of taking the risk to dunk the ball.

With the height advantage he had over the mammoth defending him, Dathon reared back and expertly tossed the ball to the hoop. His opponent tried his best but he simply couldn’t reach it at all and the ball sailed over his head and trunk to the hoop where it perfectly sailed right through it. Score one to Alykon’s team.

“Great work, Dathon!” Rainbow Dash shouted from the stands. “Great work all of you!”

Shibu and the others on their side cheered for the team and down below Alykon looked up at Rainbow Dash with a smirk.

Rainbow Dash winked right back at her. She was happy to see that sort of confidence. “Just keep it up!”

The ball was brought back to the middle and a new round of play soon commenced, both teams were really throwing themselves into it and neither wanted to let down the families and friends that were rooting for them. Alykon especially didn’t want to lose again in front of her new mentor. Her whole team was sorely hungering for their first ever win and Rainbow Dash sincerely hoped they finally achieved it.

Dathon getting the ball back immediately was a very good sign. He and Orsal were making an aggressive offensive duo and Alykon and Makom were always ready to receive any backwards passes or do what they could to help the scoring of more points too. They were a real team now, not just four mammoths playing Trunkball together because they liked it. Rainbow Dash was pretty smug in her knowledge of how much she was responsible for that.

She hoofed the popcorn back to Shibu so she could lean in and pay complete attention to the game, Dathon had just made a wickedly fast pass to Orsal who then attempted to rush forward and dunk the ball. But he was just barely blocked off by one of the defenders and had to step back to get some more room for himself. He couldn’t shoot above the defender’s head like this, he needed to dribble away.

But as he backpedaled the other defender came behind him after ditching cover of Dathon. Risky, but it worked as Orsal didn’t react fast enough. He had the ball stolen away from him and the defender passed it right to his teammates on offense.

This time the mammoth with the ball was going down Alykon’s side of the court.

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes as she watched. “Okay Alykon, show me what you can do.”

The opposing mammoth with the ball was juking to her left and right, trying to psych Alykon out and make her dive the wrong way. But unlike the old Alykon who would’ve gone in already this time she held back until she was absolutely certain what her opponent was doing. As she went to the left and tried to cut into the center of the court for a straight shot at the basket, Alykon sped right in front of her and lashed out with her trunk.

It was a wild strike that wasn’t looking to hit the ball anywhere in particular. Just “away” from the mammoth who currently had it. And in that it certainly succeeded, Alykon’s trunk hit it to the other side of the court where the enemy defenders had to fight over it with Dathon and Orsal.

Rainbow Dash was already happy though that Alykon had mounted a successful defense. If they could keep up this energy and momentum for the whole game they’d surely win.

Shibu clapped for her daughter and Rainbow Dash joined in. Everything was coming together for their team.

Dathon was stuck on the sidelines by one of the defenders so he passed to Orsal who then made a long route around the outside of the court before turning to head for the hoop. He was being cutoff again but this time he had only one defender to worry about, and he wasn’t going to be satisfied with only scoring one point. This time Orsal was going all in for a dunk.

So instead of backing off and looking for more space like last time he charged his defender. The other mammoth was quite surprised by this change in strategy and he didn’t have the reflexes to pivot on time or take the ball from Orsal with his own trunk. Orsal dove right past him and dribbled to the hoop with the other mammoth hot on his heels. But that defender just didn’t have the time to catch up and Orsal easily made his jump and dunked the ball past the rim for two points.

“Yeah!” Dash nearly leaped out of her seat as she congratulated Orsal for his dunk. Three to zero, things were looking great so far.

Orsal jogged over to Dathon and they clapped trunks together while Makom and Alykon did the same in the back of the court. Nice of them to congratulate each other and keep themselves pumped up, little things like that went a long way. Keeping your mood up and your mind set on the belief that you would win for certain was a big part of the psychological aspect of any sport. Rainbow Dash knew that well, it’s why she had boundless confidence in herself and knew she would always win.

The other team was now going to have to try coming from behind while Alykon’s team would try to grow their lead, and Rainbow Dash was pretty sure just from looking at how the early game has gone which team would succeed.

The rest of the game played out as to be expected (in Rainbow Dash’s mind) with the opposing team making a good effort but never really being able to take the lead or get the momentum going in their way. Alykon’s team maintained a steady gap in the score the whole way through, playing a smart, consistent, but passionate game of Trunkball. By the time of the last minute all eight mammoths on the court were sweaty and exhausted from an hour of fierce play, and even though the game was lost, the enemy team was still trying their best to end as respectably as they could. That was good sportsmanship in Dash’s opinion.

One of the other team member’s did manage to score a basket with just seconds to go but it didn’t make up for the point deficit.

And at last the bell was rung and for the very first time, Alykon’s team had won a game of Trunkball.

“Wooh!” Rainbow Dash yelled and this time she did fly right off the bench and doze down to Alykon. “You four did great, congratulations!”

Alykon saw her and reached up with her trunk, pulling Rainbow Dash down and then tightly hugging her. “Thank you so much! If it wasn’t for you we never would’ve won!”

“Hrk!” Rainbow Dash wheezed as the crushing power of Alykon’s hug made it impossible for her to breath.

“Uh, Alykon? I think you’re suffocating her,” Makom said.

“Oh!” Alykon let go and Rainbow Dash dropped to the ground, sucking in breath after breath. “Sorry...”

“N-No problem… you were just excited to win. I’m really proud of you,” Rainbow Dash grinned up at the four.

“Me too,” Shibu said as she walked down and enveloped her daughter in a much healthier hug.

“Thanks mom,” Alykon actually cried slightly as she hugged her mother back. “I just wish dad could’ve seen it too.”

Rainbow Dash’s face fell a bit and she flew up to put a hoof on Alykon’s shoulder. “Yeah, me too, but he’ll be really happy to hear you won.”

She hoped something like this would be able to lift his mood. Now as she floated here she sourly realized that despite the great occasion she still couldn’t fully shake the melancholy feeling that had infected both her and Larkon. She was able to take her mind off things during the game but now that it was over… nothing had changed and she still didn’t know what to do. But maybe Larkon would at least be feeling a little better with some time and Alykon’s victory could cheer him up. That was all she could wish for and work towards for now.

A Mammoth of a Problem XXXVIII

Dinner over the past couple of days was a bit more quiet and awkward than it had been in Larkon’s house earlier during Rainbow Dash’s visit. Even tonight, right after Alykon’s victory in Trunkball, the negative auras of Samarkon and Larkon brought everyone else at the table down.

Rainbow Dash silently chewed on her kelp, her eyes darting back and forth between Larkon and Samarkon to see if one of them was going to speak. Alykon on the other hoof was feigning interest in her own meal while glancing up at her father every other second. She was hoping he would congratulate her on her victory or at least say something about it without her having to be the one to bring it up first. But so far Larkon was either oblivious or apathetic to her desires.

After another minute of watching that it was finally Shibu who broke the silence. “Dear? What do you think about Alykon winning her first game of Trunkball?”

Larkon’s head snapped up as if he’d been shocked awake. It was almost like he had been in a trance or something that had only been broken when someone finally spoke to him. “Hm? Oh… yes, I’m very happy for you, Alykon.” He said to her, although he forgot to smile.

Rainbow Dash cringed. Larkon… get it together.

He did seem slightly brighter at least, not just totally lost in his funk anymore.

“Oh, thanks dad,” Alykon said. She was clearly still a little sad and not totally satisfied by his response and attitude.

Larkon sighed and reached over with his trunk to pat her on the head. “I’m sorry, Alykon. My mind has been on a lot of things lately.” His eyes briefly glanced over to Samarkon before he looked over at Alykon. “But that’s no excuse, you’re my daughter and I’m very proud of you. I’m happy that your team was able to win their first game.” He looked over at Rainbow Dash and did manage to smile. “And thank you for helping them do that.”

Rainbow Dash grinned back at him, happy at the change in mood around dinner. “No problem, bud.”

“It was really great!” Alykon said with much more excitement in her voice. “We didn’t just win by luck or anything, we really were a lot better!”

“Next time I’ll come watch your game for sure. I promise you,” Larkon told her.

Alykon beamed up at her father and went to eating her kelp and other food with gusto, the family (minus one member) much happier now. But there still needed to be something done about that one member who had remained silent all throughout the meal so far. Larkon knew this too. And maybe a happy occasion like this could get him back out of his shell instead of acting resentfully to all of them. Larkon truly didn’t want Samarkon to be so full of rage, he wanted to be able to heal him somehow and get him to stop idolizing Karkona and what he stood for.

“Samarkon? Don’t you have something to say to your sister too?” Larkon said to his son.

The young mammoth grumbled and looked away, not even meeting his father’s eyes.

Well that wasn’t good enough for Larkon. And he was still in a depressed enough mood where his patience wore thin enough for him to actually get angry with his son despite his desires for reconciliation.

“Samarkon...” Larkon warned, his eyes narrowing. “You are still a member of this family. We feed you, we house you, we look after you. The very least you could do is congratulate your sister on her team’s Trunkball victory.”

“Tch,” Samarkon clicked his tongue but relented. The mammoth sat up straight in his seat and looked down the table at Alykon, though he was still frowning and looked angry. “Good job on your first win.”

“Thank you,” Alykon said simply.

She didn’t smirk or be a jerk about it like Rainbow Dash would’ve been if she was in a similar situation. Alykon handled it very maturely and then went back to eating. Samarkon almost sneered at her but went back to silently eating as well, his eyes glued completely to his plate.

Rainbow Dash looked over at Larkon and shrugged. It was better than nothing, right?

Maybe with time this family could heal completely and Samarkon could find his place in the world. Rainbow Dash certainly hoped so, but she also knew that would be impossible until Karkona was dealt with. Nothing about the society of mammoths would be completely peaceful with the problem of him around. Much less Larkon’s family. Regardless if Karkona was dealt with nonviolently like Larkon wanted or… less nonviolently like Rainbow Dash wanted, they at least knew it was a problem that needed a stop put to it. Unlike the deaf and blind senate.

“The food was excellent too, dear, like always.” Larkon said to his wife.

It made Rainbow Dash snap out of her thoughts and she looked over at Shibu too. “Yeah, you’ve really made me a kelp lover. Never thought that would happen after that first day.”

“Told you my mom was a great cook,” Alykon said to her.

“Oh stop, all of you!” Shibu said, blushing. But then her eyes drifted over to Samarkon, an expectant look on her face.

Larkon, Alykon, and Rainbow Dash all looked over at him too. It was obvious what they all wanted to hear.

Samarkon could sense the eyes on him and he sighed, looking up with an annoyed frown and a furrowed brow. His face slowly turned to his mother while disregarding the rest of his family and Rainbow Dash. “It tastes good.” He said to her.

“Thank you, sweetie,” she smiled and patted him on the head with her trunk.

He grunted in annoyance but at least didn’t try to hit her trunk away or anything.

Rainbow Dash grinned. She would count this as a victory for tonight and one more small step in the right direction. And it was due to the three great friends she had made right here at this table. Karkona was still lurking in her mind, but Rainbow Dash was more at ease now. Friendship always won out. She just had to keep that in mind and believe in herself and the well-meaning mammoths of this city.

“The time has finally come.”

Hours after the sun had gone down and most mammoths slept, Karkona and his most trusted minions met in his home. Murrank was with him, the foreman who had been there when Rainbow Dash, Larkon, and Abalun broke into the warehouses was there (he went by the name Alok), and several other twisted and brutish mammoths were there as well.

“We’ve waited long enough,” Karkona continued. “And it’s clear we won’t find what we need any other way. There’s enough food and weapons for all of us, and the senate has recently proven they’re nothing but a bunch of cowards. Tonight we can enact the plan.”

Murrank chuckled malevolently, a sneer twisting his features and making him look even worse with the scar on his trunk. “Finally we’ll be able to learn the location of the Sacred Spring.”

“Yes,” Karkona nodded. “Whoever the keeper of its location is they won’t be able to hide and ignore what we’re about to do.”

“We’ll spread the word to the others you selected and go out immediately,” Murrank said.

Karkona grinned and went to a sliding window that was built into the eastern wall of his house. He pulled it open with his trunk and stared across the slums, across the river, to Tarmok’s Hall up on the hill. “Remember that I’ll be the one personally paying Bakol a visit though, the rest of you can go after any senators.”

“They won’t even know what’s going on until it’s too late,” Alok said.

“That’s right. They can scream and try to stop us all they want but it won’t even be until tomorrow that most of the rest of the city will even learn what happened, and then we’ll have already gotten back to the slums with our prizes,” Karkona laughed. “Everything is coming together, I can already feel the waters of the Sacred Spring.”

“All our weapons and armor are ready if we need to use them in the city too. It’s all cleaned up and organized,” Alok told him.

“I doubt we’ll need them but perhaps it would be nice to use them just for a show of force to the weaklings,” Karkona said.

“Just to show them that we mean business,” Murrank said.

“Yes, to show them that we’re not a bunch of cowards like they are. They’ll all be able to see how serious we’ve been this whole time. And they’ll know that war is coming when they see us,” Karkona said. He then took a deep breath and let it out slowly through his trunk, turning back to his cohorts. “But that’s the future—tonight we make the present.”

The moon shining through the cold and dark night silhouetted his form against the window, leaving only his ivory tusks and piercing eyes clearly visible. “Now we go.”

The home of Harrak the senator was on the northern edge of the city past Tarmok’s Hall. A quiet and relatively secluded spot, it was owned by his family for several generations now. The house was a large three stories with an open courtyard in the middle of it that gave it a very high-class feeling. A pond that for half the year was completely frozen sat in the center of the courtyard with an expertly crafted wooden bench built right beside it. This late at night there was only one member of the house still awake, Harrak himself.

Late at night he liked to come sit here on the bench and enjoy the still night. It was very cold but as a mammoth he was more than used to it. Of course since it was night the pond was starting to freeze, already the surface of it was hard and snow was falling all around the rest of the courtyard.

But Harrak didn’t mind, in a moment he’d finally retire for the night and then tomorrow morning his groundskeeper would take care of the snow and everything else. His eyes drifted over to the flower patch in the corner, the poor things weren’t going to be back in bloom for a long time now. Most of the color of the courtyard was going to disappear until next spring and even then only reappear for very briefly. That’s just how it was in their northern home.

Harrak took a deep breath and held it in for a moment before releasing it, letting himself feel his whole body inflate and deflate. It was a calming exercise that he had found himself using more and more recently the past couple of days.

A pang of guilt shot through him and he looked down at the pond to see his reflection—a pointless attempt though. He sorely wanted to think he wasn’t the bad guy. He really did. But Larkon and Miss Rainbow Dash… they were so passionate. He wanted to think he was doing the right thing, the safe thing, but maybe he was just in denial. Harrak knew they weren’t lying about what they said they found in the warehouses (although some of the other senators may have honestly thought that) but he truly believed no good could come from doing anything about it.

Karkona was too volatile and dangerous and they could never keep him imprisoned even if they moved against him somehow.

Harrak sighed, hoping his inaction was truly in the benefit of the city.

A breeze blew down from the sky and whirled around the courtyard for a bit before taking off again. Harrak looked up the walls of his house after it and his eyes stopped on a certain window on the third floor facing the courtyard. A smile stretched across his lips, it was his son’s room and just earlier today he had come running home as a bundle of pure joy—his Trunkball team had finally won their first game.

Harrak had given his son a big hug after hearing the wonderful news, he was so proud of Dathon.

Truthfully Trunkball had never held much interest to him but he knew how much Dathon loved it and that was more than enough for him as the boy’s father. Maybe next time he should actually watch his game…

Harrak decided it was finally time to turn in though and he stood up from his bench. He had been getting too old the past five years to spend so much time alone out here in the cold night. The courtyard had but one entrance and exit, a vine-patterned metal gate that opened up into a small patio that in turn had a door that led into the interior of the house. Harrak passed through the gate and closed it back up, pausing briefly on the patio to shake off any snow that had fallen on him before he walked back inside his house.

The door opened up with a squeak into a dark hallway with the front door to the house directly across from him. He turned to close the patio door with his trunk and then made to walk towards his bedroom where he could slide into bed with his wife and finally drift off to sleep.

It was no sooner than he took the first step towards his bedroom that the front door was kicked open. Part of the wood from the door snapped off from the force of the kick and the door handle slammed into the wall and cracked the plaster. Four mammoths burst into his house and immediately ran towards the senator, who was surprised beyond belief.

“Wha-what?!” Harrak yelled, taking a step backwards and accidentally cornering himself against the wall.

Seeing who he was, three of the mammoths ran off down different hallways while the fourth continued to stride up to him.

“Well, well, well, look who’s still awake so late at night?” Murrank said to Harrak.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my house?” Harrak trembled in fright from the scarred mammoth. Elsewhere he could hear his family waking up as the other three mammoths ransacked his home.

“Murrank is my name and I’m here on orders of Karkona,” the scarred mammoth grinned evilly at the senator.

Harrak’s pupils shrunk down to pinpricks. It was like all his fears had become realized at once. “B-But why are you here?”

Murrank laughed and suddenly brought his trunk up to slap Harrak across the face. The older senator was thrown to the ground where his left tusk bent awkwardly against the hard floor and snapped in two. Murrank then walked up to him and swiftly and repeatedly began kicking him in the ribs.

“Old fool, you have no idea what’s going on. You and all the other pitiful senators that think Karkona is just some thug, or that he’s like you and doesn’t have the courage to do whatever he wants. Well Karkona is proving that he’s the mammoth fit to be King and bring us into a new age of glory,” Murrank kicked him one more time for good measure.

The scream of Harrak’s wife tore through the house and the senator weakly lifted his head to try and tell what was going on.

He heard more shouting, his son Dathon, and a scuffle break out on the floor above him. It sounded like something was knocked over, a vase shattered, several loud thumps and bumps. At last a heavy wheeze was heard and something heavy fell onto the floor, followed by laughter. Murrank was listening to all of it too while wearing a grin on his face.

The scarred mammoth’s eyes drifted down to Harrak’s. “In a moment you’ll see how serious we are.”

Harrak heard some more struggling and the sound of something being dragged across the floor, out from a room and down the hallway to the stairs. He heard the sound of multiple mammoths laughing and hitting something else, all of it drawing closer as they came down the stairs. His eyes were glued to the corner of the hallway as he waited with dread for the mammoths to reappear from around it and see just what was going on and what Murrank was doing here.

Those three mammoths edged around the corner, carrying someone between them.

“Dathon!” Harrak yelled as he saw his beaten up son being dragged along by the thugs. He looked on the verge of slipping into unconsciousness with how bruised and limp he was.

“Father...” Dathon weakly replied.

“What are you doing with my son?! Let him go! And my wife, where is she?!” Harrak yelled, trying to scramble to his feet despite his pain right up until Murrank hit him on the head with his trunk.

“Hahahaha!” Murrank laughed at Harrak’s pain and anger. “I couldn’t care less about what my friends did to your wife but your son is coming with us.”

“Why...” Harrak coughed.

“He’s going to be our prisoner. Our hostage,” Murrank grinned. “You’ll hear more about it tomorrow morning I’m sure, but for now your stupid son is coming back with us to Karkona’s slums. Better just sit tight and do what Karkona wants or you’ll never see him again. That’s a promise.”

Harrak didn’t have the strength to speak anymore as the other three mammoths laughed with Murrank and took Dathon out the front door and into the dark street. Harrak had to watch through the open door as Dathon was taken further and further away while there was nothing he could do. He struggled to prop himself up, feeble front limbs too weak to pull his body up all the way. The house was now quiet in this cold, dark, night and the sounds of footsteps in the snow soon disappeared.

His attempts to yell after his son just turned into pained croaks.

At Bakol’s residence a similar event was occuring.

“Daddy!” His six-year old daughter yelled as one of Karkona’s goons wrapped her up in his trunk and carried her away, the poor girl crying the whole way.

“Seebol!” Bakol yelled after her and tried to run out the door for her only for his tusks to be grabbed by Karkona’s powerful trunk and his body wrenched to the side. Karkona then jerked his head forward and stabbed one of his sharp tusks into Bakol’s left front leg. Right at the joint where it connected to his shoulder.

Bakol didn’t scream but he gasped a sharp intake of breath and nearly lost consciousness from the sudden pain and shock. His body slipped right off of Karkona’s tusk when Karkona let go of him and the speaker collapsed onto the floor, a sweat breaking out over his entire body while Karkona stared down at him in disgust.

“Pitiful,” the dark mammoth sneered with blood still on his tusk. “A single shallow wound is all it takes to almost make you faint? What kind of mammoth are you?”

Karkona began walking away, following after his underlings that had taken Seebol. He paused in the doorway and looked over his shoulder at Bakol. “Tomorrow morning you and your senators are going to spread the word of what’s happened to the entire city. Along with a very important order from me: If the Keeper of the Sacred Spring does not reveal themselves and tell us of the Spring’s location, you will never see your children again.”

A Mammoth of a Problem XXXIX

The next morning the town was awoken in a panic.

Knowledge of dozens of senators’ children being kidnapped had spread through the city like wildfire even before Bakol’s official announcement of what had happened and why. Now Rainbow Dash sat with Larkon and his family in their dining room, grave faces on all of them. Except for Samarkon, who looked like he was trying to hold back from gloating. But even he knew the only thing that would lead to was a quick path back to being locked in his bedroom.

Alykon looked particularly upset after hearing that Dathon was one of those who was kidnapped. Shibu looked nervous and worried for her family but there was still a resolve in her eyes. And Larkon… Larkon stared hard at the table with a queasy expression on his face that worried Rainbow Dash more than anything. He looked like he was about to pass out.

So what did Rainbow Dash say? What did they do? She wanted to immediately fly over to the slums and deck Karkona but he had hostages. And Larkon probably didn’t want that or to put the children in danger.

Rainbow Dash let out a deep breath she had been holding in and looked up at the historian. “Uh, Larkon? I think we should probably talk.” She glanced at the others. “Maybe privately.”

“Y-Yes,” Larkon stuttered, lifting up his trunk to wipe his brow but otherwise not moving.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “I was thinking now?”

“Oh...” Larkon looked up at her and after a moment of recognition he nodded. “Sorry, there’s… I just was thinking about what’s happened.”

“I get it but we need to do something now,” Rainbow Dash told him.

“You’re right,” Larkon nodded. “Shibu-”

“I was thinking of taking Alykon to meet up with her friends and they could all go to Harrak’s house to try and cheer him up about Dathon,” Shibu interrupted with a glance down at Alykon. It seemed she had already decided on what she was going to say.

Alykon nodded a few times, though shakily. “I wanted to do that too. Dathon’s one of my best friends and I heard his mom and dad were hurt too.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Larkon tried his best to smile but a frown soon tugged down his lips. “Just… be careful out there.”

“We will be,” Shibu said, rising from her seat she walked over to her husband and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Come now, Alykon, we’ll need to get Makom and Orsal too before we go.”

“Yeah...” Alykon said and hopped out of her seat. As she walked by Rainbow Dash she looked up at her, perhaps pondering to ask a question before remaining silent and walking with her mother out of the dining room. The two of them soon out of the house.

That left just Samarkon sitting at the table. He stared straight ahead at the wall, clearly defying the privacy that Rainbow Dash and Larkon wanted. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure just what was going through his head either. Did he even realize how serious this kidnapping even was? Did he care? Or did he just think that Karkona was right or “cool” for taking what he wanted and showing the city how serious he was about bringing them back to their warlike ways. Honestly, she didn’t want to talk to him right now to find out. Actually dealing with Karkona was way more important right now.

Larkon too soon narrowed his eyes at his son. “Samarkon, I want you to go up to your room for now.”

“Pff. What do you even have to talk about? Karkona doesn’t care about the two of you,” Samarkon snorted and rolled his eyes after that. The young mammoth then left his chair and walked out of the dining room before Larkon could reprimand him.

Although Larkon may not have cared to at the moment anyways. The older mammoth just shook his head and sighed. “Come with me to my den, Rainbow Dash. There are… things we need to discuss. You’re right about that.”

He stood up from the table and led Rainbow Dash into the same hallway Samarkon left by. The two of them saw him going in the direction of the stairs and silently followed behind him for a minute. They caught a glimpse of him turning the corner at the top of the stairs and walking to his room, Larkon waited another moment until he heard Samarkon’s door slam shut and then the two of them headed in the direction of his den.

Again pony and mammoth sat together in Larkon’s personal little sanctum, things more dire in the city than ever.

Rainbow Dash lifted up a hoof and rubbed her forehead. “I didn’t know Dathon’s dad was a senator...”

“Indeed. I hope he’s alright,” Larkon nodded, though he was staring off into space while he did so.

“Hope Alykon’s taking it okay,” Rainbow said.

“She’s tough,” Larkon sighed, and then sighed as he sunk deeper into his chair. “I’m sorry, we should—we should really be talking about something else.”

“I know, Karkona.” Rainbow Dash said with a frown on her face. “I think we should-”

“No,” Larkon held up his trunk to pause her. “That’s not what I meant.”

Rainbow Dash cocked her head at him in confusion. He was acting weird, not just despondent after their failure to convince the senate to act, she couldn’t place what it was but he was stressed in a different way and his mind clearly going ten different directions at once. Had he broken down after these two events? No way, she knew Larkon was strong. Just in a different way from her. He was never one to shy away from the reality of the situation, he was the type who knew things needed to be done. So what was his hesitation now?

“Larkon, what’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked.

The historian nervously got out of his chair and began pacing behind his desk. “You heard what Karkona wants. He doesn’t care about the senate, or the hostages, or even really the city. All he wants is the location of the Sacred Spring.”

“And so what?” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “That doesn’t change the fact that all we need to do is stop him somehow!”

“But it’s different now… if the Keeper doesn’t reveal themselves to him all those children...” Larkon paled. “It’s too much. It’s too much to bear. And then Karkona will know everything and nothing will be able to stop him from getting to the Sacred Spring.”

“Well you said there was only one mammoth who knew about the Spring and their identity was a secret or whatever. Do we even know if they’ll go to Karkona to save the kids?” Rainbow asked.

“They definitely will… they can’t take the idea of being responsible for those lives… those deaths.” Larkon said, darkly looking down at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash flew up from her seat, hovering before him in the air. “Do you… do you know who the mammoth that knows about the Spring is?”

Larkon swallowed. His eyes shifted about as he looked back and forth across his den as if trying to find a way out but to no avail. At last he managed to steady himself and brought his foot up to his chest, breathing in a few times and closing his eyes. After a few deep breaths he opened them up again with a renewed life shining in his pupils.

“It’s me, Rainbow Dash. I am the Keeper of the Sacred Spring.”

Her jaw dropped. “Wait, you’re—but! Huh?”

Larkon nodded. “Yes, it’s always been me. I can understand your confusion.”

“My confusion?! How about anger?” She yelled. “Why didn’t you tell me!”

“I wanted to!” Larkon shouted back before cringing at his own volume. The historian deflated a bit and sat back down in his chair. “I wanted to… but it is supposed to be a secret only I was trusted with by my predecessor. Not even Abalun knows my role.”

Rainbow Dash grimaced and landed on his desk, giving him an apologetic look. “Yeah… sorry for exploding like that at you too. Uh, especially with what’s going on and all.”

“I-I know we can’t let Karkona find out where the Spring is but I can’t let those children be hurt either. I just don’t know what we should do! I couldn’t bear the guilt if Karkona hurt any of them… but the Spring, everything he would do if he claimed it, it would be turning my back on what I’ve worked for my entire life.” Larkon squeezed his eyes shut as tears began to drip from them.

“Hey, we’ll get through this,” she put a comforting hoof on his shoulder. “Like I said it doesn’t change that in the end all we need to do is stop him. It just makes things maybe a little harder. But we—you—can’t give up! Got it?”

Larkon hesitated but nodded after a moment. “Yes, I got it. I know that soon I may have to make a difficult choice but I’ll face it head on.”

“Good,” Dash grinned. “Now what’s the plan?”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “I figured after how you’ve been talking you were the one with a plan?”

Rainbow Dash groaned and reached up to rub at her eyelids. “Ughhh, I am not a planner...”

Larkon snorted in amusement and fought back a chuckle. Rainbow Dash looked up at him in surprise before cracking a grin. At least they still had their senses of humor.

Rainbow Dash sat down on his desk and took a deep breath. “Wooh… okay. Obviously you know this by now but I’m a doer. And I know you probably still want to be a pacifist and handle this peacefully, right?”

“Yes. I’m sorry if that’s naive but-”

Rainbow Dash held up her hoof to cut him off. “You don’t have to justify yourself to me. You’re strong, Larkon. You’re strong for standing up for your beliefs when this is all going on. I know it’s tough, and it’s eating away at me too, but if you don’t want to compromise what you believe in I’ll still stick by your side no matter what.”

“Thank you, you really are a true friend, Rainbow Dash.” Larkon smiled at her.

“Yeah, yeah, we don’t have time to get sappy though. If you don’t want me flying over there and kicking Karkona in the face then I guess what we’ve gotta do is rescue his hostages somehow,” Rainbow said, rubbing her chin in thought. “Do you think that after what’s happened we might be able to get more help from some of the mammoths in the city?”

Larkon nodded. “It’s a thought.”

“Okay, now how do we do this...” Rainbow Dash said as she began wracking her brain.

Samarkon held his mouth shut as he leaned up against the door to his father’s den. He almost let out a gasp when he had heard what his father had just said.

He’s the Keeper of the Sacred Spring? Samarkon thought.

It was unbelievable. His own father was the one who held the key to the past and future of the mammoths. That same key that Karkona was looking for, that Karkona had just kidnapped dozens of children to acquire. Samarkon couldn’t believe his luck, he was just curious what these two thought was so important they needed to talk about it in private and so he came to eavesdrop.

Slowly, ever so slowly and quietly, Samarkon back away from the door. He took footsteps so light they didn’t make a sound on the wooden floor of the hallway.

“I have to tell him...” Samarkon whispered to himself.

And stealthily he left the house entirely; on his way to Karkona.

A Mammoth of a Problem XL

Samarkon was thankful that his mother and sister had left the house to go visit whoever it was. It was almost like divine intervention that no one was there to make sure he wouldn’t sneak out and go to the slums again. That pony and his father were too caught up in their own conversation to realize, but if his mother or Alykon were still around he’d never have been able to leave without one of them noticing. It wasn’t just luck, it must’ve been fate. Maybe the warring mammoths of old were smiling down on him and making sure he succeeded in reaching Karkona and telling him what he had heard.

A pang of guilt that he was surprised to feel pierced through his heart before it was gone in a flash.

Samarkon shook his head and ran as fast down the street towards the slums as he could. It’s for the best. It’s definitely for the best and now none of the kids Karkona took are gonna get hurt either.

He pictured what it would be like when he showed up there and told Karkona the good news. The praise he would get, the admiration not just from Karkona himself but from every single mammoth that followed him. They’d all be cheering Samarkon’s name. Thanks to him they’d be able to find the Sacred Spring again for the first time in who knows how many generations of mammoths. Samarkon swelled up with pride upon realizing that he was going to be responsible for bringing about the new age of mammoths and the return of their empire.

The streets were empty of other mammoths, unusual for this time of day. They were likely afraid to even go out after what happened the previous night. Probably huddling indoors with their families. Karkona was right about the mammoths in this city being nothing but cowards, they weren’t even going to try and get their families and friends back?

They deserved this.

And once Karkona got what he wanted the mammoths would become so much stronger than they were now. He couldn’t wait.

The snow was no obstacle even though it hadn’t been swept like normal, Samarkon bounded over it with no effort on his way to the bridge that led to the slums. It was a long way to run but he had done it before and he was just as determined now. He had tunnel vision as he ran down the streets while totally focused on his goal. Nothing else existed for him, even the houses seemed to disappear around him with his mind so set on reaching Karkona and being the savior of the mammoths.

Before much longer he was in the old part of town and running by dilapidated buildings and old, scared, mammoths peeking out their windows at him. There was a euphoric feeling to it. It was like he was running from one world to the next, perhaps about to break through the wall of one like a curtain of glass and create a whole new world entirely.

There was electricity in his veins fueling that hope. His marathon run through the city becoming a circuit meant to connect the past to the future. His body might as well have been a machine built for the single purpose of reaching Karkona on this day. And when his mission was fulfilled it would be infinity that awaited him.

Samarkon’s mind was a mind of grandeur and shining light as he could picture the unstoppable mammoth empire that would rise from the bedrock of this city. All thanks to him.

The bridge was now here, the last leg. The last opportunity to turn around and go back to his father if the thought had been in his mind. But if it was it was quashed so quickly that it might not have even existed. Samarkon’s crossing of the river was the absence of his hesitation and the strength of his belief in Karkona.

He was across it in a flash.

“I’m coming, Karkona!” Samarkon yelled as he entered the slums.

As opposed to the usual negative aura that infested the slums, today there was an air of victory and a celebration going on around Karkona’s abode. Hundreds of his mammoth followers drank and ate to their fill after the previous night’s deeds. It was all started by Karkona himself since he knew it was only a matter of time before whichever coward knew the location of the Spring came forth.

The hostages had been tied up and locked in various shacks and hovels in the area so Karkona and his goons could easily look over them and make sure no one could sneak in and rescue them. He had been planning this for a while and finally made his move. And he knew he didn’t have to worry about anyone from the city attacking them to try and get their kids back. They didn’t have the nerve for something like that.

Karkona knew in his mind that he had already won and now they just had to wait—what? A day? Two at the most? For the Keeper to come forth lest they bear the weight of leaving these kids in Karkona’s clutches.

Something Karkona knew no weak mammoth from the city could do.

“Eat up! Today is a day of celebration!” Karkona roared. “Soon the senate will be toppled completely and I will be the new King!”

“The Spring will be ours!” Murrank cheered.

“Hurrah!” Scores of other mammoths yelled together.

The partying had been going on all morning and it showed no signs of stopping. Abalun had joined in and tried to act as jovial as possible with the others as well, making it seem like he was on their side and just as happy about Karkona’s kidnappings. It was difficult when on the inside there was a mess of terror, worry, and self-loathing squeezing his soul. He should’ve done more when he knew Karkona was clearly planning to do something. Even with Larkon depressed, Abalun should’ve pushed harder. He couldn’t help but feel that this turn of events was his fault.

He had no idea what Karkona was planning or that he would do it all in one fell swoop but that was hardly an excuse in his mind. He should’ve known better, should’ve done more to find this out with all the time he’d been living in the slums. Instead the drive had left him when Larkon was in his depressed state.

And now this had happened.

There has to be something I can do? Go back to the city and tell them exactly where all the children are being held? Abalun pondered.

He was so lost in thought and being jostled around by other mammoths that he didn’t realize there was a young mammoth running through the streets towards the large congregation until others had spotted him first. Scowls came to the faces of Karkona’s lowly thugs, not recognizing who that young mammoth was. Abalun finally turned his head after accidentally bumping into another mammoth who stopped to glare at the new arrival.

With a sharp intake of breath he quickly turned his head away again. “Samarkon! Why is he here?”

Karkona and his chief underlings hadn’t noticed Samarkon yet, being too far in the sea of mammoths. And the outer wall glared at him in disgust and annoyance. Who was this stupid kid from the city that was coming here and bothering them on their day of celebration? They didn’t look like they were just going to let him in here…

“Karkona! Karkona!” Samarkon began to yell, not even noticing the looks the thugs were sending him in his elation. “I know it Karkona! I know how you can get to the Sacred Spring!”

That sent ripples of shock and murmurs through the crowd that had seen him. Not to mention Abalun himself.

The spy’s face paled as he watched Samarkon keep running towards the crowd. “What?...”

“Let me through! I know the mammoth who’s the Keeper of the Sacred Spring, I need to tell Karkona!” Samarkon yelled.

Perhaps out of their own shock or from some more divine intervention the sea of mammoths parted, allowing Samarkon to run through them while the words he spoke traveled from mammoth to mammoth. His yelling soon caught the ears of Karkona, Murrank, and the others at the center of the grand party and they stood while their underlings moved around to let Samarkon through. Karkona himself sported an almost surprised and unbelieving look on his face—though hunger was the most dominant emotion he was wearing.

“Samarkon… what did you just say? Karkona asked, his eyes practically glowing.

Samarkon came to a halt right before his idol, panting with exhaustion but a proud smile on his face. He looked up at Karkona and around at the hundreds of other mammoths. “I said… I know… who the Keeper of the Sacred Spring is. I found it out and I came here to tell you!”

No, this can’t be happening… how? Abalun was like a ghost as he watched from the sidelines.

“Who? Tell me, who is it?” Karkona asked with wild eyes and clasped his trunk down on Samarkon’s shoulder. He used just a little bit more force than he should’ve and Samarkon buckled slightly, but the young mammoth still smiled up at Karkona.

Samarkon took a deep intake of breath and tried to look as regal and assured as possible before the other mammoths. Finally he opened up his mouth and let out a bellowing proclamation:

“It’s my father! Larkon, my father! He’s the current Keeper of the Sacred Spring! He’s known it’s location this entire time. I overhead him talking to that pony about it.”

In the crowd, Abalun nearly had a heart attack. It can’t be…

The others were just as surprised as well. Murrank, Alok, they all couldn’t believe it.

Karkona’s body was heaving and shaking, and Samarkon’s smile turned down as he worried that something wrong was going on. But then Karkona lifted his head up and trumpeted towards the sky, laughing loudly.

“Hahahahahaha!” Karkona laughed and laughed. “To think it would come to me like this! To think that Larkon has always been the one.” He looked back down at Samarkon with a malicious grin and patted him on the head. “Samarkon, you have done well! Our victory has come to us even sooner than I would have hoped thanks to you.”

Samarkon’s eyes practically glimmered at Karkona’s praise. “T-Thank you! I knew you needed to hear it! I’ve always wanted to help you!”

“And you have. You have,” Karkona grinned. His eyes turned to his followers. “Everyone, prepare yourselves! Alok, Murrank, go to the warehouses and get all of our weapons together and start equipping the soldiers. Make sure everything we have is used! Not a single mammoth will be unarmed for what we’re about to do, the age of peace is over!”

Murrank nodded but then thought of something. “And what about the hostages?”

Karkona snorted in dismissal. “Who cares? Leave them. We don’t need them anymore now thanks to Samarkon! As soon as our stores are cleared out, we march on Larkon!”

The assembled mammoths all cheered, trumpeting loudly as they prepared for the mission of a lifetime. Samarkon cheered with them as Karkona laughed some more.

But to Abalun, Karkona’s laugh wasn’t so joyous sounding as it was terrifying. He knew he had to leave immediately and go tell his friend about what had just happened. He still couldn’t believe Larkon was the Keeper of the Sacred Spring but that wasn’t as important as making sure he and Rainbow Dash knew about Samarkon and what Karkona was going to do now. The only benefit he had was that it would surely take them some time to gather up all their weapons and armor and get ready. He could easily run back to the city with plenty of time to spare before Karkona would be coming.

I have to warn them. Abalun’s mind was racing as he slipped away from the crowd. A few other mammoths may have noticed him or were suspicious, but with what had just happened they didn’t care enough to do anything about it. He was left on his own to fly through the snow covered streets, on his way to the only hope he knew.

A Mammoth of a Problem XLI

Rainbow Dash pinched between her eyes after an hour of stressful planning and conversation between her and Larkon that so far hadn’t really gone anywhere. Larkon didn’t want to involve violence so that pretty much took anything Rainbow Dash could contribute out of the equation and neither of them could think of how to safely rescue the kids. Their list of mammoths they thought who might aid them in any endeavor was depressingly short as well.

“Ugh!” Rainbow Dash groaned and flopped over onto her back, lying on the floor of the den and staring up at the ceiling. “You really don’t think we could just convince everyone to come with us to the slums and just outnumber Karkona and his goons?”

Larkon shook his head. “Certainly not. You’ll find no army of citizens willing to go to the slums even if the goal isn’t to fight. Too afraid for too many reasons.”

“But it would just be like, a show of solidarity or whatever! Everyone would be showing Karkona that he can’t push them around and he better give back the kids or else!” Rainbow argued.

“That’s the thing; they will be pushed around. And Karkona knows that,” Larkon sighed.

“So not even Mallom or the other guards will do anything? Really?”

“Possible but doubtful,” Larkon shook his head. “I don’t want to have to count on them for anything. And unless we could get enough mammoths to go to the slums that would massively outnumber Karkona’s forces there wouldn’t be a point to getting just a few guards.”

“I knew we were fighting an uphill battle but this is starting to get ridiculous,” Rainbow sat herself up and plopped her chin into her hooves.

“No one here has ever had to deal with something even remotely like this,” Larkon said.

“I know but still,” Rainbow Dash blew a breath of air out her nose. “You guys may be pacifists but even pacifists don’t just roll over and die. You think they’d at least have some passion or try to do something like you are.”

“We’ll just have to do it ourselves. Maybe if they see us acting and trying to save the children from Karkona it will inspire them to finally do something too,” Larkon shrugged.

“Sounds like a bit of a pipe dream honestly,” Rainbow sighed.

“I can’t disagree with you there...” Larkon joined her in sighing.

Rainbow Dash thought about their options. It wasn’t her strength but she still needed to use that head of hers today as best she could. It was broad daylight so sneaking into the slums in any normal way probably wasn’t an option. And they also probably couldn’t wait until nightfall because who knows what Karkona might do to the hostages in the meantime. The hostages were probably being well guarded so a fight was almost inevitable no matter what. And Larkon absolutely refused to let things devolve into violence. They had barely any allies, no resources, no leverage, the clock was against them, and the rest of the city might even potentially turn on the unknown Keeper if they didn’t reveal themselves.

So what? What could they do? Larkon’s ideal scenario would be the two of them casually walking into the slums and asking Karkona to let the kids go and then stop being such a jerk. But Larkon knew even better than Rainbow Dash that that would not work out. He probably still was searching for a totally peaceful solution and hadn’t thrown out the possibility of talk completely, but he also couldn’t think of a way to make that solution of his work. Rainbow Dash didn’t think there was any way to convince Karkona by words alone. He wasn’t the type to respond to something like that, same as Blizzard. Rainbow Dash just knew his type of villain well.

She had to grind her teeth together to keep her anger in check. Rainbow Dash wanted to tell Larkon that they needed to fight even if it was hopeless, that it was better than nothing and even if it went against the peaceful mammoth way of life it still had to be done!

But he was her friend and she really respected him and his strength of will a lot. However, the more time that passed the more it looked like he was going to be forced to make a choice that would pull his spirit in two…

While the two of them sat there in silence the sound of Larkon’s front door being slammed open with enough force to nearly throw it off the hinges burst through the entire house.

Larkon jumped in fright and Rainbow Dash shot up as well—their first instincts being that Karkona or his underlings had come here for some reason.

But a shouting voice soon put an end to those worries.

“Larkon! Rainbow Dash!” Abalun’s voice bellowed as the sound of a mammoth thundering down the hallways filled the house. “Larkon, please! Something’s happened! Please, Larkon, where are you?!”

“Abalun?” Larkon muttered in confusion and ran to the door of his den, throwing it open. “We’re in here, Abalun!”

Rainbow Dash floated up and stuck her out of the door to watch as Abalun came scrambling around the nearest corner in the hallway, for all intents and purposes looking like he was about to slip and crash into the wall. He was panting and sweating like crazy, but his face was devoid of color. If it wasn’t clear from the entrance it was clear from his appearance that he was terrified and worried beyond belief. He bolted down the last length of hallway before collapsing into Larkon, heaving and trying to find his voice again as he looked up at his two friends.

“We… we...” he panted.

“What is it?” Larkon shook him. “Abalun, are you okay? Tell me!”

“Dude, seriously, what happened?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“S-Samarkon… Samarkon told Karkona that you’re the Keeper of the Sacred Spring!” Abalun yelled as he gripped the shaggy fur of Larkon. “I just ran from the slums, Samarkon had gone there and told Karkona everything!”

Larkon look petrified in shock but Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and she zoomed out of the den and down the hallway, right up the stairs to Samarkon’s room. She pulled the door open and flew inside with a gust of wind strong enough to shatter his window.

Empty.

“Oh crud...” Rainbow Dash gulped.

She instantly flew back downstairs to Larkon and Abalun. “Samarkon’s gone! He must’ve snuck out while we were talking, he had to have been listening to us too.”

Larkon looked woozy and he had to detach himself from Abalun, holding his trunk up to his forehead he collapsed against the wall across from the door to his den. “Oh no… oh no… how could I have let this happen? How could I not know what he was doing or think he’d just stay in his room without Shibu or Alykon to watch him? I’m a terrible father… I’m a complete fool...”

Rainbow Dash frowned and flew up to his face, lightly slapping him back and forth a few times. “Snap out of it, Larkon! We don’t have time for this!”

He shook his head until his eyes came back into focus. “Y-Yes, you’re right. But I just… what do we do?”

“It’s true?” Abalun asked between pants. “You really are the Keeper of the Sacred Spring?”

Larkon grimaced and looked to his friend. “Yes. I’m sorry for not telling you, Abalun.”

To his credit, Abalun took it pretty well. “I understand why you didn’t. But now… now we’re in a lot of trouble. Karkona has his forces preparing to come here Larkon. Right to your house. They’re getting their weapons and armor from the warehouses and then his whole army is going to come through the city to get to you!” He took another deep breath to steady himself. “I don’t know how much longer it will be, I ran here at full speed, but it can’t be that much longer.”

“So Karkona knows I hold the key to what he wants, and he’s going to force me to tell him,” Larkon said barely above a whisper.

“We won’t let him!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “No way!”

“And Samarkon is with him,” Larkon continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “Samarkon… you would really go that far?”

“Larkon...” Rainbow grimaced.

“And if Karkona came here and I didn’t tell him he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt Samarkon to make me tell him. Or go find Shibu and Alykon too. Who knows what tortures he’d put my loved ones through if I didn’t tell him? What would he do to the rest of the mammoths of the city?” Larkon turned around, walking down the hallway in a daze.

Rainbow Dash thought she might need to go and slap him again as she and Abalun followed him.

“Larkon, look, I know it’s bad but we can’t give up! We can still find a way to stop Karkona, can’t we?” Rainbow Dash pleaded with him.

“No,” Larkon shook his head. “We can’t.”

Rainbow Dash did a sharp intake of breath while Abalun stared dumbfoundedly at the back of his friend. She was about to explode at him when-

“Not the way I want to,” Larkon quietly said, coming to a stop.

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked, feeling the anger leak out of her as she floated over to look him in the face.

The dazed look was gone. Replaced by a face of certainty. Of cold, hard, certainty. It was the kind of face that only someone who had made the most difficult decision of their lives could’ve possessed. Rainbow Dash saw an untold strength in the unwavering face of Larkon the more she looked at him. It was something that filled her with inspiration, not dissimilar to how Twilight could make her feel sometimes. Or how Rainbow Dash herself could make others feel.

Larkon turned around and looked Abalun dead in the eyes. “Abalun, my wife and daughter are at Harrak’s house. Can you go and make sure they’re safe? I need to tell Rainbow Dash something.”

Abalun must’ve seen the same thing in his face that Rainbow Dash did, for any sort of argument died in his throat. “Of course. Take care, my friends.” Abalun nodded to the both of them and made his way back the way he came, at a decent yet much slower pace than before.

When they heard him leave the house and close the door, Larkon looked over at Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash. I don’t know if what I’m going to do is right, or if it’s the only option. I don’t know if I’ll end up tormented at night for this for the rest of my life or not. But I’ve made my decision,” he stood up tall. “I am going to tell you the location of the Sacred Spring. And then I’m going to go face Karkona.”

She gawked at him. “What are you talking about?!”

He looked at her with sadness in his eyes as he placed his trunk on her head. “One day, I hope we—all creatures—can live in a world where no one has to fight or hurt anymore. But that day isn’t today. We must stop Karkona.”

“Larkon...”

“Karkona is getting to the Spring, nothing can change that fact now that he knows who I am. I’d never be able to endure him hurting others, least of all my own family, to get something from me. But that doesn’t mean he will get what he wants either. Rainbow Dash, you need to defeat him. I’m going to tell you the location of the Spring and when you get there you must convince the sages to let you bathe in its power. Tell them about me, tell them about what’s happened, and gain the strength of a mammoth to fight Karkona,” Larkon told her.

“But you’re—don’t let this happen!” Rainbow Dash pushed his trunk off and yelled at him. “You’ve been so strong! Don’t let Karkona make you go back on your entire life!”

“So now you don’t want to fight?” He chuckled in grim amusement, flashing a small smirk.

“Well, no, that’s not—ugh! You know what I mean!”

Larkon sighed and nodded his head. “Yes, I do. I suppose I can’t call myself a pacifist today. But I am still not letting the power of the Sacred Spring fall into the wrong trunks.” His gaze returned to a powerful look of diamond tough determination. “We mammoths don’t deserve that power, we can’t be trusted with the responsibility the Sacred Spring imposes on us. Karkona will not get his wish and no mammoth will ever again become a mammoth among mammoths! That power is one I can not allow a mammoth to have.”

“But you can,” he said to her.

Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof at herself. “Me? You know I love fighting and stuff, right?”

Larkon grinned and patted her head with his trunk. “Rainbow Dash, in the time you’ve been here you’ve proven yourself as an amazing creature. Your valor, your honesty, your kindness, your generosity. I’ve seen them all and more. There’s no doubt in my mind that the power from the Sacred Spring wouldn’t change you at all, you’d still be the same good pony that wants to stop evildoers and have fun with her friends. You’re the only one who can do it. I think you were meant to do this. I think it’s why you came here, to save us from Karkona and ourselves.”

“Well… you didn’t have to praise me that much,” she grinned back at him.

“Heh, of course,” Larkon chuckled.

Her smile drifted down and she folded her hooves over her chest, looking at him more seriously. “Are you really sure about this? I’ll do it, definitely, but are you sure?”

“I’m sure. For the first time ever the Sacred Spring will be used for good.”

“I guess it’s kind of what I always wanted. I promise you I won’t make it pointless, I’ll beat Karkona and any of his other losers that try and fight me!” Rainbow Dash told him. She smiled and pumped her hoofs. “Or my name isn’t Rainbow Dash!”

“Glad we’re both going to be able to give this our all,” Larkon grinned.

“You bet! So what now? You’re telling me where the Spring is and then you’re going off to fight Karkona and delay him?” Rainbow said.

“I will not be fighting him,” Larkon shook his head. “In fact, I will be telling him where the Spring is as well without resistance.”

“What?!” Rainbow shouted.

Larkon winced and rubbed his ears. “I told you that nothing could stop Karkona getting to the Spring. And if I didn’t immediately tell him when he sees me… the consequences would be dire. I can’t withhold the location of the Sacred Spring from him.”

“So you’re just going to tell him and leave then?” Rainbow Dash threw out her hooves in disbelief.

“No,” Larkon said forcefully. “I will tell him. And I will not fight him. But I won’t move either. It’s… call it foolish if you wish, because I know what’s going to happen to me, but I will stand in his way and make him move me before he can proceed to the Spring.”

“Larkon. He’s going to kill you,” Rainbow Dash told him.

“Possibly,” Larkon nodded. “But I will show him, his followers, my son, and everyone else who may be watching that I’m not afraid of him. And show them the strength one who doesn’t resort to violence can have. No matter what he does to me I won’t fight back, but I’ll never back down and run from him either. He may break my body, or even kill me, but he’ll never break my spirit. He can’t make me beg, or bow, or respect him. I’m going to show everyone that the strength he possesses and wishes for is meaningless against true strength.”

“But-”

He held up his trunk to silence her. “No buts. I have to do this.”

Rainbow Dash wanted to keep arguing but Larkon clearly wasn’t going to be budging on this. She would’ve liked to have helped her friend and been there for him too, but she had another role to play and a mission of her own. “Alright, I promise I’ll take care of Karkona and everything else for you.”

“Thank you, my good friend,” he hugged her with his trunk and for once she accepted it without a groan. After a minute he released her and took a deep breath. “Now—the location of the Spring.”

A Mammoth of a Problem XLII

Water coursed alongside the stone walls of the river that flowed down to the large lake that sat at the bottom of the mammoth city. Cold and placid water that flowed gently, completely at odds with the turmoil and danger that stood above it on one side of the drawbridge leading to and from the slums. The bridge was still down and clear and on the end of it that led into the old part of the city there was nothing but empty space there. But on the slums side there stood hundreds of mammoths with barely restrained fury. Some of them were clad in armor, others held weapons, or shields, or had pointed metal caps on their tusks. Some had all of that. All of them were armed to at least some degree.

Except for the single dark mammoth at the front of their lines who held them back, and the young child standing beside him.

Karkona wore no armor and carried no weapons himself. A statement saying he was still stronger and more formidable than any of these others behind him who wore their armor or carried their spears around. Samarkon simply was too small for the weapons and armor they had been forging, as well as being untrained in how to properly use it. But he didn’t care since he still got to stand side by side with Karkona and feel even stronger and more important than any of the weapon-carrying mammoths.

It had taken some time with how many mammoths there were to gather and how many weapons needed to be grabbed out of the warehouses but now they were finally all here and ready to head to Larkon’s house on Karkona’s order. They were all so eager they could hardly wait. This would be an incredible moment, when an army armed to the teeth would march through the mammoth city for the first time. All of the citizens would look out their windows and see them—the future. They’ll be shocked, frightened, and know that Karkona is their new King when they see him at the front. Totally in charge, in defiance of their laws and taboos, and about to claim the same power that Tarmok first claimed.

Karkona couldn’t help but smile at the thought of it. Beyond this river was his dream, a few short steps and his trunk could reach out and grasp it.

“Is it time, Karkona?” Murrank asked from the front row of soldiers behind him.

Samarkon looked up at Karkona too. If it was possible he may have been even more eager and impatient than the violent thugs forming up the mob. He didn’t have a weapon to wave around after all, and he really wanted to go and show his father what was happening. Samarkon could only imagine his father’s reaction. But it would be a good thing, he was going to finally force his father to see what the future of mammoth society would be. To face reality and acknowledge the passion and drive of him and Karkona. And maybe eventually his father would come around and see that this was a good thing.

Karkona’s mouth slowly turned upwards in a grin as he looked out at the city, and to Tarmok’s Hall that rested up on its hill, though it wasn’t their destination. His head then turned slightly back to look at Murrank and he gave a small nod.

The scarred mammoth grinned and shouted out to the rest of the army. “All of you quiet down and get ready!”

The army did as commanded, standing at attention and formed up in lines with their weapons grasped tightly. Just the word from Karkona. That was all they needed.

Karkona stood up as tall as he could and sucked in a deep breath. Lifting up his trunk he trumpeted loudly into the sky and yelled-

“MAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOTHS!!! MAAAAAAARRRRRRRRCCCCHHHH!!!”

Karkona and his army took off down the bridge, marching in lockstep and showing off their weapons the entire time. Spear carriers thrust their spears into the sky and then brought them down to bang the shaft on the bridge, the mammoths with halberds did the same, those carrying warhammers, battleaxes, clubs, and maces all waved them around in the air, some of them banging them together or against the metal shields carried by other mammoths to create a loud roar. A line of mammoths wielding flails all swung them around overhead in perfect unison so they didn’t hit each other. The huge and deadly metal balls swinging about on their chains signaled complete destruction to anything they hit. Fully armored mammoths showed off their gleaming plate armor, freshly polished, and their thick helmets that could stop the blow of a sword. It klinked and clanked with each heavy step, only adding to the thunderous noise of the hundreds of mammoths marching across the bridge. Each and every last line of thugs turned warriors was doing their part to make this a frightening display. Murrank wore but a helmet himself and carried a spear that he pounded along the bridge with each step, Alok wore extra long and serrated tusk caps while carrying a heavy oval shield with a grand spike at the center. But even the few other mammoths who only had tusk caps still trumpeted loudly and proudly as part of the army. Karkona led them from the front, smashing his feet down with every step as rigidly and powerfully as possible. Samarkon of course tried to copy him.

Once they crossed the bridge the armed to the teeth procession shook the ground with enough force to make it feel like an earthquake was coming through the city. Avalanches would’ve been set off by the noise and power they were bringing.

Just as Karkona wanted, other mammoths heard their marching and began peeking out their windows in fright and wonder. But his army didn’t slow their pace one bit, they kept marching loudly through the old part of the city. Their route would take them to town’s square and then Larkon’s house beyond that. Who knows how many of these other pitiful mammoths would see them on their way? Perhaps hundreds. The thought of it filled Karkona with glee and he hoped as many as possible would look out and be terrified of him and the weapon-wielding forces he was leading.

Houses, trees, walls, they all shook as his mammoths went by them. He was shaking the world itself and it felt good. Samarkon felt the same way and he couldn’t help but leech off of the awe and terror that Karkona and his army were inspiring. This portentous moment was a sign of things to come. The fear from these mammoths was the same fear their future enemies felt, the earthquake was merely a mild forecast of the destruction Karkona planned to wrought on the rest of the world, the army he led was a shell of what it would be in the future.

Karkona trumpeted loudly to the sky again and his mammoths redoubled their efforts. Weapons, shields, armor, and the fanatics that wielded them like a river of pain flowing right behind him into the city. Towards the Keeper of the Sacred Spring and the true prize he held.

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENyxseq59YQ

A Mammoth of a Problem XLIII

Rainbow Dash flew over the mountains to the northeast of the mammoth city. Up here she could look over her shoulder and have a commanding view of the city, the lake, and the entire valley they sat inside that was guarded by this ring of mountains. Straight down she peaked at the treacherous cliffs and peaks that had so little room between them that traversing through them on hoof would be next to impossible. Especially for mammoths. According to Larkon though there was a path on the ground that led directly to the Sacred Spring. Not that she needed to use it, he had told her the exact direction it was in and how it was contained between some of the mountains in possibly the only open and flat area down there.

The reason the Sacred Spring was able to be kept secret for so long was mostly due to the simple fact that mammoths couldn’t fly. Combine that with strict rules about not searching for it, mammoths with no experience in mountaineering, and the natural danger and impassibility of these mountains, and it wasn’t a surprise that for hundreds and hundreds of years it remained hidden ever since the fall of Tarmok.

Rainbow Dash was about to be the first creature in ages to touch down at the Spring. The Sages who lived there were in for a very big surprise today. At least Larkon said they still lived up at the Spring. Apparently drinking the water of it to prolong their lives as they eternally carried out their duty of protecting and watching over it. Rainbow personally couldn’t imagine staying cooped up alone in the same boring spot doing the same thing for that long.

She looked over her shoulder again at the mammoth city. It had been a while since she really flew this much and this high now that she thought about it. Getting a view like this was nice. And despite the size of the buildings down there from up here it looked so small, it looked like any other city she had been to in the world. Back further she could see that first hill she landed on when she came to this realm of mammoths, she had really found the adventure she wanted.

Rainbow Dash sighed and went back to scanning the mountains in the search for the Sacred Spring. “I just really, really hope Larkon is okay.”

They had parted swiftly and silently after another hug. Her doing her duty and Larkon going to do his. How come he was the one doing the dangerous thing? That should be her job, she’s the one who wanted the dangerous stuff. But now her friend was practically sacrificing himself…

She shook her head. She knew what Larkon’s choice meant to him and she respected that decision, all she needed to do now was succeed in the mission he gave her and stop Karkona. And she never let her friends down.

Because she was Rainbow Dash. Element of Loyalty and just the most awesome pony to ever live.

“Heh, so where is this place?” She said to herself as she looked down at the rocky and snowy landscape. It must’ve been nestled in somewhere like that little magical oasis she had slept in so long ago now. She hoped the water of the Sacred Spring was warm too… please let it be a sacred hot spring so she didn’t have to dunk herself into freezing cold water.

She was far above any of the mountain peaks and was looking straight down for any open space or any color that was eye-catching or something like that. A small lake like she expected the Spring to be should be easy enough to notice. Rainbow Dash was very thankful that the skies were clear today otherwise she’d be in a pretty rough spot. If she was being honest with herself though she figured her eagle eyes would’ve already found the Spring by now. Especially with the general directions Larkon had given her.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip, she didn’t have the time to search around the mountain range for hours. She had no idea how long Larkon’s confrontation would go or how long after that it would take for Karkona and his forces to reach the Spring. There were just too many variables for her to take a chance on.

“And when I get there I have to find the Sages and convince them to let me use the Spring in the first place… that might be a whole other huge problem,” Rainbow complained to herself.

She’d have to deal with that and any other problems as they came though. For now finding the Spring was all she needed to focus on. There should be a building or something down there too with it, right? If the Sages lived there they must’ve had a house to sleep in or whatever. It may have been built with stone and blended into the landscape though. Why couldn’t anything be easy right now? So much hung in the balance, was this just karma for her always looking for a challenge?

She really didn’t want her cockiness to negatively affect others.

With a grumble she descended a bit, knowing that according to Larkon it had to be around the general area she was flying over now and thinking that if she got closer she’d be able to see things in detail easier. She looked from side to side as she went down to around the level of some of the higher peaks, taking in less of a view overall but making sure she definitely wasn’t missing anything in the spots she checked. No stone was going unnoticed by her and her impeccable eyes. But maybe she should’ve asked Larkon for some actual exact coordinates before speeding off now that she thought about it. He wanted her to go as fast as possible too but now she was living the downside of that decision. Since Larkon personally had never been to the Spring he likely didn’t know that it would be problematic like this for her to discover. They say hindsight is 20/20 but Rainbow Dash really wished she could trade it for some foresight.

At the same time she idly wondered if any other mammoths in the city, or possibly even Karkona and some of his followers, had seen her speed off in the direction of the mountains? She didn’t exactly do it stealthily and while she would’ve cleared the city in basically an instant she was still a really bright and noticeable object in the sky. No one could ever catch her but she didn’t want the mammoths of the city to think she was running away. And she especially didn’t want Karkona to know that she was already heading to the Sacred Spring.

Although she was pretty sure Larkon was going to flat out tell Karkona that he had already told Rainbow Dash to go to the Spring. Because that would really, really, rile him up.

It would also guarantee Larkon a very painful immediate future but he already knew that too. Larkon knew Karkona was going to severely hurt him when Larkon stood in his way, so why not make that evil mammoth really angry at the same time?

In fact they had probably already confronted each other by now…

“Ugh! Stop losing focus!” Rainbow Dash slapped her cheeks and shook her head. She couldn’t think about Larkon right now. If she thought about him too hard she was liable to blast off like a lightning bolt back to the city.

Rainbow Dash was now right in the middle of the barrier of mountains and a good distance northeast of the city. It had to be right around here. The bases of the mountains all jammed together and their peaks were practically jumping distance apart, where was the Spring hiding in here?

The pegasus passed one particularly big mountain that had two separate summits atop its ridgeline with snow cascading down its sides. Her eyes followed down it as the mountainside sloped more and more until it stopped at a sudden cliff.

She blinked. Could it be?

The cliff was only a short thirty or so feet high at the most and at the bottom of it was a flat expanse of land. A small piece of land but it was still there all on its own between the mountains. No greenery dotted it, the land just looked like gray dirt but on closer inspection it was oddly shaped.

A perfect circle. An absolutely perfect circle of land that looked like it must’ve been dug out intentionally that way.

It was slightly bigger than she had expected, from one side to the other could fit most of Ponyville. How had she not seen it yet? Was there maybe some sort of magical protection over it too rather than it just being secluded? She had no way of finding out, Twilight could’ve, or Starlight, but Rainbow Dash only knew what she could see with her eyes and feel with her hooves.

And what she saw with her eyes right now was a lake of water.

She grinned and began to fly down to it, that lake of water taking up the entirety of the open area aside from a shoreline on the west side. From above the whole thing would’ve looked like the sun being almost eclipsed by the moon until there was only a crescent sliver left of it. And the sun wasn’t just some random metaphor she thought up, the water was bright white—steamingor glowing perhaps, she couldn’t tell yet.

But she was about to find out.

“Sacred Spring, here I come!” She yelled and took a steep nosedive to her destination.

In the city there was a violent storm of rambunctious noise and chaos that was impossible to ignore. It had been heading down to town’s square without stopping, shaking the ground, shaking the windows of buildings, and making the few mammoths who were brave enough to be outside earlier run into their homes like frightened children. Karkona’s army was a sight for the ages as they entered the city proper, past the walls, past homes and businesses that held scared mammoths who were barely willing to peek out at them. So far not a single soul had confronted them or stood in their way as they marched. It was no surprise to Karkona at all, these mammoths would’ve been too cowardly to do something like that even if his whole army wasn’t swinging weapons around.

So Larkon knew he was going to be especially surprised to see him standing out there in town’s square already waiting for him and completely unafraid. Right from the beginning he was looking to unbalance Karkona and get him angry.

Larkon was there, on the other side of the fountain from where Karkona and his forces had entered, close to the road that led to his house and the eastern exit of the city. He could hear and feel Karkona’s army coming long before he could actually see them. On the inside he was certainly afraid and his heart was pounding but he did his very best to not let any of that fear show on the surface. Even though he made his decision and stalwartly stood behind it in the end he still wasn’t Rainbow Dash, he hadn’t faced down monsters or villains or loved the thrill of adventure like she did.

All he could do right now was try his best to be strong.

He knew what was coming to him and he had made peace with that. Just try not to give Karkona any satisfaction. Emulate Rainbow Dash and her courage and show off to Karkona that he didn’t fear him.

Larkon took a deep breath to steady himself as the rumbling and stomping got louder. Was anyone in these buildings that ringed town’s square watching him? Were they curious to see what he was doing? Or did they just think he was insane for being out here when Karkona was marching down the street. Larkon hoped that however they felt right now that he could inspire them with his actions.

And finally he had to wait for Karkona no longer.

The column of hundreds of mammoths with him at the front came marching in lockstep down into town’s square—and a very familiar and unfortunate figure was marching right alongside Karkona.

“Samarkon...” Larkon let out in a sad whisper. His own son.

But his eyes didn’t stay on Samarkon for long, he flickered them back to Karkona and held his gaze steady on the dark mammoth. Karkona soon met his eyes too and the leader of the army of thugs smirked, his eyes narrowing in contempt. Perhaps not as surprised as Larkon had hoped. Not yet at least, not until he learned certain other truths of why Larkon had come to meet him here and not try and hide or run away.

Karkona and his soldiers traveled around the fountain, Karkona’s eyes never leaving Larkon’s. They walked steadily with Karkona’s smirk only growing wider the entire time. Samarkon on the other trunk looked confused as to why his father was out here and even slightly hesitant. Like he was almost ashamed to come face to face with his father like this.

When they had gotten close, Karkona lifted up his trunk and signaled his soldiers to stop their march.

The metal armor and weapons all clanged as the large column came to a stop. The faces of his thugs were twisted in sneers and malicious grins as they glared at Larkon. All of them were just waiting for Karkona to tell them to go crazy but no one was going to jump the gun until Karkona said something.

“Well, well, well, look who it is,” Karkona gloated to Larkon. “Did you figure out what was happening and decided to come out here to beg me for mercy? Or could your weak heart just not handle the thought of what I would do to those kids if you didn’t reveal yourself?”

Larkon said nothing yet, merely continuing to gaze at Karkona.

Karkona snorted and gestured with his trunk to Samarkon, “How does it feel that your own son came to tell me your precious secret? When you realized he was missing what did you think? Thanks to Samarkon we know you’re the Keeper of the Sacred Spring, and there’s nothing you can do anymore.”

“So it would seem,” Larkon finally said. His voice far more even and unwavering than even he expected.

Karkona glowered, his patience already running thin and disappointed at Larkon’s lack of fear. “Well you know why I’m here. So tell me the location of the Sacred Spring or else. Am I going to have to even wring your son’s neck right in front of you?”

Samarkon’s face swung up to look at Karkona in shock but he didn’t say anything. He just kept looking between his father and his idol in disbelief at what he had just heard.

“No,” Larkon shook his head, taking the threat against his son in stride. “You wont have to hurt my son or anyone else. I knew you were coming for some time now, a spy that’s been living in your slums for a while came and told me shortly after my son came to you.”

That made Karkona’s eye twitch. “A spy huh? We were pretty sure you had someone else working against us after that business in our warehouses.”

“I’ve been spying on you for a long time, Karkona,” Larkon told him.

The crack of Karkona’s trunk came like a whip. Fast as a flash of lightning it slapped Larkon’s temple and sent him careening to the ground.

Larkon, who was not used to being struck, couldn’t help but cry out in pain and hold his trunk up to the throbbing pain he know felt pressing through his head. “Ngh...” He grit his teeth to try and bear through it.

“That’s for thinking you can get away with talking to me like that,” Karkona spat on him and Samarkon winced. “So you said I didn’t have to hurt anyone else? Does that mean you’re telling me where the Sacred Spring is?”

Larkon unsteadily crawled back up to his feet and stared at Karkona. “Yes… I’m going to tell you exactly where it is.”

“Gahahahahaha!” Karkona laughed. “This is easier than I thought it would be! You’re all nothing but a bunch of cowards, you won’t even fight for what you believe in!”

“You’re right about that, I won’t fight,” Larkon replied.

Karkona frowned and raised an eyebrow at the historian, likely confused and disgusted by what Larkon was doing. “Feh, whatever.” His trunk lashed out again and roughly poked Larkon in the chest, making him stumble back. “Just tell me how to get to the Spring now.”

Larkon stared long and hard at Karkona for the next minute as if trying to work out one last little problem in his head. “I wish I could talk you down from this but I know I can’t. So here-” Larkon turned slightly and pointed with his trunk down the street. “This is the way to get to the Sacred Spring. Follow the road to leave the city, but instead of just taking it to the quarry, once you get past the last vestiges of houses you must sharply turn up and head northeast. You’ll want to make sure you’re heading exactly the right direction, if you want to picture Tarmok’s Hall as the center of a clock, make sure you’re heading to the 1:30 position away from it until you reach the mountains. Once you get to the foothills you will have to search around for a bit, the trail is hidden between numerous cliffs and crevices, but it is there. Once you find it… all you need to do is follow it and the trail will take you to the Spring.”

The savage mammoth regarded Larkon with a single raised eyebrow. “That’s it then? I hope you know how bad things will be if you’re pulling our trunks.”

“I’m not lying,” Larkon shook his head. “Follow my directions and you’ll get to the Sacred Spring.”

“Hahahaha!” Karkona laughed again and looked back at his followers. “Do you hear that? It’s time for us to claim victory and usher in a new age for mammoths!”

“You won’t.”

Karkona paused in the middle of his laughter and glanced back at Larkon, a deep frown appearing on his face. “Did you say something?”

“I said you won’t. You won’t get what you want, Karkona. Ever,” Larkon told him.

“Oh?” Karkona’s face took on a dangerous glower as he walked right up to Larkon and looked him in the eye. “And what’s stopping me? You just told me where the Spring is, you coward, there’s nothing standing in my way anymore!”

“It’s true, I told you its location, and I have no plans to fight you, but you will still have to get through me before you go there. I don’t care what you threaten to do to me, I’ll never move for you willingly,” Larkon proudly stated while Karkona fumed. “You’ll never be able to break my spirit or scare me, Karkona. And secondly-” Larkon smirked. “You’re not the first one I told where the Spring was.”

“You-” Karkona started but then his eyes immediately widened. He realized now who was missing. “The pony! You told that stupid pony where our Sacred Spring is?!”

“Mammoths will never again use that Spring for evil,” Larkon said while the smirk on his face grew wider. “Rainbow Dash and I are making sure of it. She’ll stop you.”

This time Karkona cracked Larkon over the head with his trunk, making the historian’s legs buckle as he collapsed to the ground with a gasp. Karkona was hardly done either as he hooked a tusk around Larkon’s and lifted him back up before tossing him backwards. Larkon roughly slid across the ground and struggled to stand right up to the point where Karkona charged him and kicked him in the ribs at full force. The air left Larkon’s lungs and all he could do was lie there and wheeze for a moment.

“So what if she gets to the Spring? She’s a pony and we’re mammoths. Even without the power of the Spring I’ll be more than a match for her,” Karkona said as he glared down at Larkon. “And you said you’ll stand in my way? Look how many seconds that lasted.”

He snorted and went to walk around Larkon—before he felt a tug on his foot.

Karkona looked down in annoyance to see Larkon’s trunk grasped around his foot. The historian slowly pulled himself back up and walked back to right in front of Karkona’s face while his son and the entire enemy army watched.

“I’m… not… moving,” Larkon said to him.

“D-Dad, just stop,” Samarkon said. Was it actual worry for his father in his voice? Or was he still bewildered from how easily Karkona threatened to harm him?

“Why don’t you listen to your son?” Karkona said and before Larkon could reply he lashed out with his trunk, hitting him several times in quick succession. Across the face, over the head, on his back and sides, Karkona’s trunk was like a storm as he beat Larkon black and blue with it. “You’re nothing but a book-reading coward! You think you can stand up against me? I’ll show you how strong I am!” He kept hitting Larkon more and more, even if Larkon wanted to fight back he wouldn’t have been able to. “What are you even trying to prove? My army and every other mammoth watching will see how weak and pathetic you are!”

But Karkona didn’t understand how wrong he was. How courageous Larkon was for facing him down like this and taking all the punishment Karkona could mete out, with no chance of winning and still sticking to his pacifist beliefs. Karkona couldn’t comprehend what Larkon was doing. He’d never be able to.

Karkona beating on a defenseless opponent who wasn’t even fighting back didn’t make him look strong. It made him look pathetic.

Of course the violent thugs who followed him didn’t care or didn’t get it either. But Samarkon did. And so did all the frightened mammoths watching from the homes and stores. They watched Karkona relentlessly pulverize Larkon, and Larkon just took it all and kept coming back for more, truly not backing down.

“You should hurry up and get out of my way!” Karkona yelled and struck Larkon even harder, knocking him over. “I don’t want to kill you, I wanted you especially to see what was going to happen.”

Larkon turned his head from his prone position to stare defiantly at Karkona. “Well you’re going to have to do worse than this to get me to stop.” He coughed and shakily rose back up, standing in front of Karkona once more.

“Old fool,” Karkona sneered and jabbed his tusks forward, stabbing Larkon in the chest.

“Aghhhh!” Larkon couldn’t help but scream in pain this time. The wound was shallow but no less painful, and Karkona twisted his sharp tusks before pulling them out. Larkon staggered backwards and collapsed, nearly in shock. He held his trunk up to the wounds that were right below his tusks and beside his front legs in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

Samarkon had gone white in the meantime, perhaps finally realizing what violence truly was and seeing just what he had wrought on his father.

Larkon breathed in deeply as his vision began to fade. He knew he was starting to lose consciousness and couldn’t keep this up for much longer. But he would never give up, not until he blacked out or could move no longer. He couldn’t stop himself from shaking, or stand up straight all the way, but he still stood up to Karkona. “Is that… it?”

Karkona didn’t explode in anger or yell at the historian, instead he just coldly narrowed his eyes. “No, it’s not.”

The savage mammoth leader stepped forward and grabbed Larkon, hooking his tusks under Larkon’s body for leverage he lifted the other mammoth with ease. “Goodbye, Larkon.” He growled and spun around, launching Larkon high into the air.

Larkon flailed about helplessly over the stone ground of town’s square while Samarkon watched in horror from down below.

“Dad!” Samarkon yelled.

The ground came rushing back up to Larkon in an instant as he shut his eyes on reflex and landed on his back. With a snap and a crack Larkon felt the entire back half of his body go numb while a devastating thud rang out across the entire Square. Tiles of stone were broken where Larkon landed, unmoving and barely conscious in his crater. Karkona trumpeted in victory and the rest of his army cheered and laughed at the broken Larkon. Soon after, Karkona motioned for them to head on out of the city towards the Sacred Spring. They had no time to waste. Larkon was quickly ignored by everyone except for Samarkon as the column marched on behind Karkona.

Samarkon slowly walked up to his father after the other mammoths had left, he couldn’t follow them. He was too afraid after what he had just seen. Is this what he wanted? And… was what happened to his father his fault?

“Da—Father… I...” Samarkon said with wetness swelling up in his eyes as he looked over Larkon’s grievously injured body.

Larkon couldn’t move, he didn’t even have the strength to move his trunk, but he still heard his son’s voice and tried to look up at him. “Samarkon...”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t—I couldn’t-” Samarkon tried to find the words, any words, but he choked on them.

“It’s okay, Samarkon...” Larkon smiled as he closed his eyes. “You are my son… and I… I will always love you.”

Finally his injuries and exhaustion were too much for his body to deal with any longer and Larkon drifted off into unconscious sleep.

A Mammoth of a Problem XLIV

There was nothing else this could be but the Sacred Spring. Walls of rock went up around it on all sides to protect it and the mountains hovered over it to keep it almost entirely obscured from anyone or anything trying to find it. Rainbow Dash circled around its western side that had the only solid ground to land on a few times, inspecting what she could. There was only a single path that she saw coming in from a narrow canyon to the west that led out onto the shore of the Sacred Spring. That path must’ve been how mammoths were supposed to get to the Spring in the first place, and it’s likely what Larkon was going to tell Karkona about. It looked like the path and canyon winded quite a bit and had to go through a treacherous and uneven stretch of the mountains—good. That meant Karkona and his forces would take a while to actually get here, especially since they’d likely only be able to walk two-by-two at a time.

Dash scanned around the rest of the Spring to see if there was any other sort of entrance but it truly looked like that was it. So what else was at the Spring? It couldn’t just be this, the Sages had to be somewhere unless they lived up in the mountains and only actually came to the Spring occasionally. She went down a bit more till she was just above ground and could get a better look at both the Spring and the area around it.

The water really was glowing—or shimmering at least. It was way more reflective, almost like the sun was shining off it, than it should’ve been. And billowing steam came up from it to confirm that it was indeed a hot spring. Well that was another good thing she learned. Maybe one of these mountains up here was actually a dormant volcano? Or the heat had something else to do with the magical nature of the Spring. She wouldn’t put it past it. She had seen enough weird things in her life where something like that wouldn’t even rank in the top twenty of her list.

“Okay but now where are the Sages? Come on Larkon, don’t let me down here,” Rainbow Dash said as she looked across the Sacred Spring.

Her eyes narrowed as she caught something just at the very edge of the western shoreline, right at the top of the Spring where the crescent of land ended at the northern cliff. Something built into the rocks that was hard to notice at a glance thanks to the shimmering and steaming of the water and color of the building. But it looked like some kind of shrine that went deeper into the cliffside with half the building jutting out from it. The exterior was just a set of stone steps leading up to an open doorway that had its foundation held up by several stone pillars on the outside, and above that was a triangular roof that hung over it.

The Sages have to be in there! Rainbow Dash thought as she zoomed towards the shrine.

“Hey! Anybody home?!” She yelled as she flew right up to the entrance. The huge mammoth-sized doorway was masked in shadows and she couldn’t see any deeper inside the building. “It’s an emergency! If there are any Sages inside then hurry up and come out here, okay?!”

She heard the air passing through the tunnel and hung there, about to run out of patience and fly in herself to find these so called Sages.

But it didn’t come down to that.

“The fact that you are here in the first place is evidence enough of an emergency,” a masculine voice said from inside the building. The voice was old and gravelly but no less strong and soon after hearing it speak, Rainbow Dash heard multiple mammoths walking towards her from the darkness.

“But you don’t sound like a mammoth,” a different, female, voice said.

“What is happening out in the city?” Yet another male voice spoke.

“The Keeper of the Spring must’ve saw fit to break his vow and tell the location to whoever this is for a reason,” a last voice said, this one also a female.

Rainbow Dash hovered there as the steps grew closer and at last four mammoths emerged from the shadows into the light of day. The four Sages of the Sacred Spring. Even if Rainbow Dash hadn’t heard anything about them she would’ve known there was something special about them just from their appearance.

Not to be rude, but they were old.

Impossibly old and wizened looking, she never would’ve believed them to be able to walk under their own power were she not seeing it right this moment. Any fur that hadn’t fallen out to reveal leathery gray skin underneath was pure white, their eyes were sunken back into their sockets like little marbles, wrinkles upon wrinkles covered them like someone who had been in a sauna for too long and their tusks lacked the pearly ivory color of other mammoths she had seen, these ones looked gray and decrepit, more like a dead or petrified tree than anything. She couldn’t even estimate how old they must be, surely Princess Celestia and a few other ponies and creatures she knew were older but that was cause they were like, immortal. These mammoths had just been living a really long time off of the Spring’s water and it showed.

All of them were a bit surprised to see her likely due to the fact she wasn’t a mammoth.

“You’re a… pony, I think?” The first one asked.

“That’s right, I’m a pegasus, but there’s no time for that! We have to-” Rainbow Dash tried to say but was cut off.

“A pony? Why’s there a pony here?” The first female Sage said, absent-mindedly scratching her head with her trunk.

“I can explain later, look, we-”

“How’d you find out about the Sacred Spring? Did something change in the city?” The second male Sage asked her.

“Maybe ponies are living in the city nowadays, that’d be a big change,” the other female Sage said.

“Can the three of you be senile a little later?” The first Sage said, and then yawned. “Obviously something important has happened. Or have you all forgotten your duties after so many years?”

“I don’t even know how many years it’s been...” the other male Sage said.

“Me neither,” the first female sage said. “Oh! But you’re right, we should let the pony speak, shouldn’t we? She seems a little agitated.”

It was true. Rainbow Dash was on the verge of ripping out her mane. “Yes! Please! Something really bad has happened in the city and the current Keeper has sent me here to talk to you.”

“What’s happened?” The first Sage asked her.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and explained. “There’s an evil mammoth called Karkona who’s leading a whole army out here to the Sacred Spring. He’s planning to use its power and start conquering and going to war again like you mammoths did in the past. The current Keeper is a guy called Larkon, he told me about the Sacred Spring and how to find you guys cause he wants me to use its power to stop Karkona! Karkona is coming right now and I need you to help me!”

“Oh my...” the second and perhaps most absent-minded female Sage said.

The first Sage regarded her with a bit more… not quite wariness or apprehension but curiosity. “If this is true then why didn’t the Keeper come here himself? And how did this Karkona learn of the Sacred Spring’s location in the first place?”

“Ugh!” Rainbow Dash rubbed her temples, she really didn’t want to waste time explaining. But then she paused—Larkon didn’t come here for a reason and she was going to tell them why and just how strong of a mammoth he is. “The reason for that is because Larkon truly believes in his vows and peace. He said to me that a mammoth should never again use this Spring, especially not for violence. And if he was the one who came here that’s exactly what would happen. Even if he was doing it for a good cause he wasn’t going to take that power because he knew what it meant and all the horrible things that had been done with it in the past. So that’s why I’m here. Because Larkon’s the best mammoth in the world, you have no idea what he’s putting on the line right now. He’s prepared to die to keep you mammoths from turning your backs on everything you’ve stood for since coming here.”

The four Sages looked between each other while Rainbow Dash drew in another few breaths. She realized she hadn’t told them how Karkona knew the location of this place but honestly that wasn’t important right now.

“Well… I believe a day we wished would never come is here,” the first Sage said.

“Indeed,” the second male Sage agreed.

The first of the female Sages tilted her wrinkly head at Rainbow Dash. “Please, what is your name, pony? I believe we should introduce ourselves, there is likely a great deal we will need to talk about.”

“There’s no time for talk!” Rainbow Dash pleaded. “I really have no idea how long it will be until Karkona gets here!”

“If you wish to use the Sacred Spring then talk is unavoidable I’m afraid,” the first Sage told her. “My name is Ollaron, and you are?”

Seeing that she wasn’t just going to be flying into the Spring’s water, Rainbow Dash relented. There was probably still hours to go before Karkona arrived anyways. “Rainbow Dash. My name is Rainbow Dash.”

Ollaron nodded. “Then, our most exalted Rainbow Dash, please come inside our monastery and we will tell you of the danger of your request.”

“Don’t move him yet, we don’t know how badly he’s hurt.”

“That fall though… his back legs aren’t even twitching right now.”

“When he hit his back I think he broke-”

“Don’t say it! Just, forget about that for now, we just need to get a doctor over here.”

“Dad… dad, I’m so sorry...”

Larkon could hear a slew of voices speaking over him. He wasn’t entirely sure what had happened or where he was and in his boggled state he couldn’t even tell who was speaking. In his confusion he tried to stand up but pain lanced through his entire upper body and his lower body… he felt nothing.

“Larkon! You’re awake!” One of the voices cried out. “Please, don’t try and move, just stay there, we’re getting help.”

“Ooohhh...” Larkon groaned and managed to just barely open up his eyes. His vision was blurry and the pain in his head kept his eyes only narrowed to slits but slowly things came into focus. Several faces were looking down at him and as Larkon’s senses returned so did his memories and recognization. They were all looking at him with varying degrees of worry, fear, sorrow, and guilt.

Samarkon’s tear covered face was the worst of all, he sniveled and tried to wipe them away with his trunk but that didn’t help at all with how much he had been crying. “Dad...”

“My son,” Larkon tried to smile but couldn’t, his body didn’t have the energy even for such a menial task.

“Try not to speak either,” the same voice from before said.

Larkon’s eyes blearily looked over to see Norma and Mallom both watching over him, with a third face that Larkon recognized as one of the performing street musicians that normally frequented town’s square. Despite the ringing in Larkon’s ears he could still differentiate sounds enough to know it was Mallom who had spoken. They must’ve either been watching the confrontation unfold or heard the huge commotion and had already been coming over.

Mallom looked over the semi-conscious historian and grimaced. “Larkon… this next question is very important. Can you feel your back legs?”

Larkon focused on his lower half, there was a complete absence of any pain or feeling just like he first noticed when he woke up. Cold numbness and nothing else. He shut his eyes and weakly shook his head.

“Do you feel this, Larkon?” Mallom asked as he reached out with his trunk and poked around Larkon’s sloping back and right around his short tail and back legs.

Nothing.

Not even the odd dullness you feel when an area of your body is anesthetized. Larkon felt absolutely nothing at all.

Again he minutely shook his head and closed his eyes, having grown tired.

“Oh no...” Norma moaned, tears beginning to spill from her eyes. “This is terrible.”

“It’s all our faults’,” the street musician said and stomped on the ground in anger.

Samarkon let out a heave and started a fresh round of crying while Larkon lied there, doing his best to stay awake and not drift off back into darkness. It seemed he couldn’t move his back legs at all anymore. That crack he had felt when Karkona threw him up into the air must’ve been his spine breaking on impact with the ground. Even with this realization though, Larkon was feeling surprisingly peaceful. He had won against Karkona without sacrificing his ideals and here he was still alive and still capable of doing it all again if he had to. And most importantly; his son was with him.

“It’s alright,” Larkon was able to weakly say as he lifted up his trunk and patted Samarkon on the head. That one action took a monumental amount of effort and caused him a great deal of pain but he pushed through it.

“But Larkon you might be permanently paralyzed!” Mallom said, distraught at the state of affairs.

“I’m alive,” Larkon smiled.

“Father...” Samarkon cried, hugging Larkon’s trunk with his own.

“Larkon, please, you should be resting,” Norma said to him. “We have another getting a doctor, where’s the rest of your family?”

“He shouldn’t be speaking right now!” Mallom protested.

Larkon however answered anyways. “Harrak’s… Shibu and Alykon went to his house… my friend, Abalun, is there too.”

“I can go get them, Senator Harrak right?” The street musician said. “I’m not doing anything else around here at the moment anyways.”

“Thank you,” Norma said to the mammoth. He nodded back at her in acceptance and began to run up the road in the direction of Harrak’s manor. Norma then turned to Larkon, caressing his head with her trunk. “You try and rest now, alright? Your family and the doctor will be here soon.”

“I’m going to find some clean water,” Mallom said and jogged over to one of the nearby stores that rimmed the Square.

“D-Dad… I’m sorry for everything! I didn’t know this was… I didn’t know this is how-” Samarkon tried saying but choked up again midway through.

Considering all the times Larkon had gotten angry at his son over the years he felt a strange acceptance now, despite having far greater reason than ever before to get angry if he wanted to. Samarkon finally saw the truth of things. Larkon wasn’t angry. He didn’t want to be angry. After everything that had happened it was a time for love and forgiveness, Samarkon’s own guilt and sorrow was more than enough. It’s a shame it had to happen so painfully but father and son would finally be able to reconcile with time.

“It’s alright,” Larkon said and tried to smile some more but his muscles wouldn’t obey him. “I already told you, I love you.”

After another minute Mallom came back with a glass of water and a few mammoths from the stores who also started to crowd around Larkon.

“Please! Give him some space!” Mallom yelled in agitation and put the glass to Larkon’s lips. “Drink if you can.”

“Might want to try washing out the wounds on his chest too,” Norma said as she looked at the stab wounds from Karkona’s tusks.

“Yes, at least they’re only shallow wounds and he didn’t twist his tusks around or make them worse,” Mallom said.

Norma looked up and down Larkon’s body and gave him a pitying look. “I don’t know how much more we can do for you Larkon, but I think you’re going to be okay for now.”

Mallom grunted. “I’m more worried about what Karkona is going to do to the rest of us now.” He shot a grimace to Larkon as he met his eyes. “We, uh, know who you are now. And we know what you told Karkona. No one’s going to be angry at you though! I promise. And if they are then I’ll have something to personally say to them. None of this—none of it at all—is your fault, Larkon.”

As he lapped up the last of the water, Larkon coughed and heaved, something that was excruciating with his damaged body. Samarkon and Mallom tried to calm him down and get his convulsions to stop but Larkon brushed them away with his trunk. Shaking his head despite the pain he was in, Larkon looked up at his caretakers.

“It’s… fine… Rainbow Dash will stop Karkona… count on it,” he breathed heavily and rested his head on the ground after that.

“So she truly is already at the Sacred Spring?” Norma asked.

“Yes,” Larkon confirmed. “She will defeat him, and save everyone.”

“I sincerely hope so,” Mallom said as he looked over in the direction of the mountains that Karkona had gone in.

Samarkon looked as well and for the first time he found himself wishing the blue pegasus well. She really was the only thing that could help them at this point. They needed her, all of them. He was going to have to really apologize again if she came back here—when she came back here. His gaze was locked well past the buildings, past the wall, and stuck on the snowy mountains that encapsulated their little valley. He had to believe in Rainbow Dash just like his father did.

A few minutes later there were more arrivals at town’s square, one mammoth who had left earlier brought back a bag-carrying doctor while the street musician had returned with a number of others in tow.

“Larkon!” Shibu yelled for her husband as she ran over to him, she had to be restrained at the very end by Mallom so she didn’t tackle and make Larkon’s injuries worse.

“Dad!” Alykon cried too, also having to be held back by Norma.

“Mom… Alykon...” Samarkon could barely bring himself to look at them.

Shibu looked over at him and a mixture of emotions crossed her face. It seems Abalun had told her and Alykon what had happened. Samarkon looked at her with worry but his fears were baseless as she quickly pushed away from Mallom and swept her son up in a big hug.

“You foolish little child… just be quiet for now,” Shibu held him tightly and even Alykon came over to join the hug.

“Oh Larkon, what did Karkona do to you?” Abalun was practically green in the face as he looked over his broken friend.

“I’ve been better...” Larkon managed to joke.

“No more talking,” the doctor sharply interjected as he inspected Larkon. “I have to give you a thorough check-up, I think you already know this but you’re not in good condition. By the looks of it you have a number of internal injuries… including likely permanent spinal damage. It’s going to hurt but we’ll have to move you back to my office.”

“Wait-” Larkon held up his trunk.

“Shh, I’ve brought anesthetic, just close your eyes and start counting back from one hundred,” the doctor told him and began rummaging through his bag.

“No, hold on!” Larkon protested, staring up at the others. “The children… you can all go rescue the children Karkona kidnapped!”

A ripple of shock and realization registered throughout the gathered mammoths. Harrak in particular dropped to his knees and stared out in the direction of the slums that Dathon had been stolen away to. In the chaos and fright of what had been happening they had forgotten about the key that started this all in the first place and what it meant that Karkona and his followers had left the city.

“They… they probably don’t even know what’s happened themselves,” Larkon said. “But Karkona has no reason to keep them anymore, I doubt anyone was even left to guard them. All of his forces came out to go to the Sacred Spring. Go… go to the slums, get everyone you can and rescue the children.”

“Dathon,” Harrak muttered and stood up. “Dathon!” The old senator yelled and ran off in an instant past the large fountain in the Square and towards the old part of the city.

Larkon turned his head to look Abalun in the eyes. “Get more, go with him.”

And with that his strength left him again and Larkon returned to the realm of sleep even without the anesthetic from the doctor. Samarkon, Shibu, and Alykon stayed with him while Abalun, Norma, and a number of the other mammoths who had been around went running for Harrak and the promise of being able to rescue the kidnapped children. A day that started out foreboding was starting to become brighter.

A Mammoth of a Problem XLV

Karkona and his army marched through the dangerous and crowded mountains like mammoths possessed with only their goal in mind. Karkona in particular already felt on top of the world after what he had done to Larkon back in the city. And his followers felt invigorated because of how their leader was feeling. They could practically touch the aura he was giving off and leech off his strong will and drive, that was Karkona’s power as a leader. His overwhelming presence that made these mammoths behind him totally devoted to him. They believed in him and whenever he was feeling like this, with passion and adrenaline pumping through his veins, it made them more powerful as well.

Despite the satisfaction beating Larkon half to death brought him though he was also annoyed and a little angry about how the historian had acted. Where did he get off thinking he could stand up to Karkona? And say those kinds of things and try to stop him without even being willing to fight back. It was infuriating in all honesty. But breaking Larkon’s body did everything and more to fill him with elation. There was only that nagging annoyance left that Larkon had even done that in the first place in front of all of his followers and whatever mammoths were watching. That pathetic, cowardly, weakling, historian… he was lucky Karkona wanted him to live for now.

Whatever. Larkon mattered less than an ant now. The Sacred Spring was before them and soon Karkona’s dreams could come true. The last little thing that stood in his way was a pony that had no hopes of challenging him. Oh he couldn’t wait to crush her too and then finally gain the power of the Spring and become a mammoth among mammoths. How wonderful it must feel, he could practically taste that power already. Whatever else needed to be done to achieve that power he would discover it, the supposed Sages that were said to live at the Spring would either help him or suffer like Larkon. Karkona grinned as he thought about that possibility. If it came down to it he hoped they’d at least put up more of a fight than the historian. He relished the thought of what would come right after too when he had the Spring’s power. A test would be in order. Maybe he’d see what he could do to Murrank or one of his other soldiers, or if he had the patience he could travel back to the city and just show them all how much more powerful he had become.

“How much farther do you think it is?” The voice of Murrank coincidentally brought Karkona out of his thoughts.

Karkona looked over his shoulder at him and the rest of the army trudging through the mountains behind him. They had long stopped their shouting, heavy stomping, and waving of their weapons around. That was a show for the cowardly mammoths in the city and something that was supposed to scare Larkon. Now they marched in a much more casual fashion, their weapons hung limply at their sides and cold, hard looks on their faces as they followed their leader through these dreary mountains.

“Who knows?” Karkona answered. “But this is the only path we found, it must lead to the Sacred Spring. Larkon loves his fellow mammoths too much to lie about this and deal with the retribution I would mete out if he tricked me.”

“Right,” Murrank nodded. “I can’t wait. To think we’ll finally have that power that’s plagued our dreams for years.”

Karkona allowed a low rumbling laugh to escape from his throat. “Yes, it’s almost upon us. All of us will soon become powerful enough to face entire armies on our own. And I… I will be the strongest, the true mammoth among mammoths, and King!”

Karkona trumpeted loudly, Murrank, Alok, and the others nearest following suit until the entire army was joining in, even the ones so far back they had no idea why it was happening. They all could use the break, as the journeying through the mountain was proving tiring and tedious. The narrow confines of the trail and steep cliffs around them caused their numbers to spread thin and sometimes their path took them right beside a treacherous dropoff that they had to carefully walk past unless they wanted to take a tumble into a crevice they couldn’t even see the bottom of. And these were not the types of mammoths that handled boring well. They wanted to hurry up and get that power just as much as Karkona so the conquest could begin.

The hundreds of them still made steady progress with Karkona at the front, the sole mammoth there, no others were allowed to march side by side with him. He went up the hills, through the canyons, around the bends, not stopping or slowing down at all. It didn’t matter if he had to end up climbing up one of these entire mountains at some point—he would get to the Spring.

He figured it was somewhere in the center of this band of mountains since that would make it the most difficult to find no matter where you entered the mountains from. How had Tarmok managed to stumble across it all those years ago? Their predecessor must have been blessed by some sort of divine luck or fate. It had to have been Tarmok’s destiny to discover the Sacred Spring.

Karkona couldn’t care less if he had that same sort of divine blessing. He’d take what he wanted with his own trunk and nothing like fate or luck would mean anything. Everything he accomplished was from his own strength and nothing else. He had united all the angry, thuggish, mammoths in the slums under his rule by beating anyone who opposed him and now look how far they had come. He had spread his word to all the impressionable kids in the city and look what he had gained because of that.

It was all him. All Karkona.

The mammoth grinned as he continued down the path to the Sacred Spring, no one around to see his face. A fight was coming. War was coming. And it made his heart race in excitement.

Much to her displeasure and impatience, Rainbow Dash had to slowly glide along with the Sages as they took her inside their monastery. Past the dark entrance they had emerged from they were now inside a stone corridor lit up by torches along the walls. The shadows that draped over that entrance to keep any outsider from looking in had long disappeared.

But what are we doing here in the first place? Rainbow Dash silently fumed. I know they said something about this was dangerous but come on! We don’t have the time.

The elderly mammoths probably couldn’t move any faster than they were though and obviously they believed something very important needed to be discussed before Rainbow Dash gained the power of the Sacred Spring and fought Karkona. She’d have to be polite and patient. As teeth-grindingly difficult as that was proving to be right now. Ollaron was at the very front leading the procession with Rainbow Dash floating right behind him and the other three Sages whose names she hadn’t gathered yet followed behind her. The corridor wasn’t wide enough for more than one mammoth to walk in at a time, in fact it was narrow enough where even a more heavyset mammoth would have trouble getting through it.

“Sooo… you guys have lived here for how long now?” Rainbow Dash asked in an attempt to pass the time, not knowing how much further they needed to walk.

“Long enough where the years have all blended together. Ages,” the female Sage from directly behind her said.

“Geez, you ever get bored?”

“It’s a life of quiet contemplation and accomplishment,” Ollaron said, not really answering her question.

“That’s not to say we don’t do anything though,” the other male Sage from the back said.

Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up and she glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow. “Oh yeah? What kind of stuff do you do here to pass the time?”

“We have board games,” he cheerfully smiled back at her.

She cracked as genuine of a smile as she could at him. “Sounds fun.”

It’s just like she thought when she first heard of these Sages. She would die of boredom if she had to be out here just guarding over the Spring for hundreds and hundreds of years. Well at least her arrival would spice up their lives a little bit… in the wrong way, but still. Even if she was a harbinger of doom she was still someone else to talk to. Dash loved her friends and there was no one more loyal to them than her but if she could only talk to them for a thousand years even she might start to get a little tired of it.

After some more excruciatingly slow walking/flying the party of five emerged from the corridor into the first real room of the monastery. For mammoths it would’ve just been an average sized chamber but for a pony like her it was very big. Round, with a tall ceiling that had a huge golden chandelier hanging from it with dozens and dozens of arms that wielded lit torches. Directly at the other end of the room there was a huge double door with large wooden beams across it that locked it in place, making opening it from the inside impossible. There were two other large open doorways to her left and right and the center of the room was taken up by a large round table with for some reason an even dozen stone chairs around it. The chairs looked more like thrones almost, Dash thought they might’ve been built right into the ground or carved from rocks that had been sitting there.

And as she looked around this room some more she was hit with some slowly building recognition. She had seen a familiar sight to this place many times in her life now.

This is just like the Cutie Map room in Twilight’s castle. Rainbow Dash thought to herself. Is that a coincidence? Or—no way, has to be a coincidence, doesn’t make any sense the other way.

Faded tapestries were hung all over the walls, so faded she could barely make out what might have been shown on them when they were first made. She could vaguely make out the shapes of mammoths, mountains, what looked liked a battle of some kind, but most of it was a blur on all of them. In addition to those the only other things seemed to be a pair of wooden cabinets by the two doors on the right and left of the chamber. While the table itself that took up the center of the chamber was made of a smooth and polished rock that didn’t fit in with the mountain and other stone around it. Everything about this chamber felt—unusual. Not scary or creepy, but there was just an off feeling the more she looked around it.

While she hovered in the entryway the four Sages went to take up random seats at the table. Rainbow Dash then floated towards it and stayed above the center instead of taking a seat anywhere. She looked around at each one of the Sages, frowning as they didn’t seem to have any intention of starting up the conversation.

“Okay so can we actually do something now?” Rainbow Dash asked them. “I think you guys know how important this is so whatever we need to talk about let’s do it fast.”

“When was the last time you ate?” Ollaron asked her.

“What?” Dash threw her hooves out in disbelief.

“You’re going to want a full stomach and have as much energy as possible for when you enter the Spring,” the other male Sage said.

The two female Sages nodded and one of them, who was slightly taller than the other, spoke up. “It’s very important that you’re in as great of shape as possible. Even then I’m not sure...”

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow as she continued to stare at the four of them, even now they still weren’t forthcoming. At last she sighed and dropped to the table. “Fine. Obviously this is a big deal too so let’s take it slow like you want. Just please, tell me about the Spring and everything so I can use it to stop Karkona already.”

“We shall,” Ollaron said in a slow and doddering voice. “But allow us to officially introduce ourselves. As you know, I am Ollaron.”

“My name is Nillse,” the taller of the female Sages said.

“I am Damark,” the other male Sage said.

“And I am Zemara,” the other female Sage said.

Rainbow Dash turned around and waved at all of them in turn. “Uh, nice to meet you all. So yeah, I’m Rainbow Dash from Equestria. I’ve flown a really long ways to get here and now I’d really like to save your city from Karkona and everything.”

“And we would like to help you, but you must be fully aware of what you are asking to do,” Ollaron said. “To attempt to gain the power of the Sacred Spring is not without danger. In fact, for you it may mean certain death.”

A frown tugged down her lips as a cold pit settled in her stomach. “I don’t get it? I thought it was just supposed to make you super strong when you went into it?”

“It isn’t so simple,” Nillse said. “If you are not already incredibly strong you won’t be able to handle the power of the Spring flowing into you. Many of Tarmok’s followers entered the water of the Sacred Spring only to never reemerge.”

“Okay, now I get why you guys wanted to talk about things first,” Rainbow grimaced.

“Yes,” Zemara nodded. “And please eat or drink something if you are even the slightest bit famished.”

Dash sighed and sat down on the table. “Geez… this just couldn’t be easy, could it?”

“Considering your size and strength is far lesser than a mammoth’s it’s not unlikely that the Sacred Spring may kill you outright the moment you submerge yourself. We have no idea if any creature less than a strong mammoth can survive it,” Damark said.

“Well if there is any creature that can then it’s me. You can count on that,” Rainbow Dash pointed to herself.

“It’s good that you’re confident. A strong will and lack of fear are necessary as well,” Ollaron said.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I mean… you guys are saying it’s really dangerous for me but I sound like the perfect pony to try it out. Super athlete, boundless confidence, most awesome pony alive, what else do I need?”

Ollaron smirked. “Yes, you are making a good argument.”

“I’m still worried about letting her into the Spring,” Nillse said.

“I as well,” Damark said. “It’s not just about her potential death, but the whole reason we’ve lived her for so long is to keep others from misusing the power of the Spring.” He looked over at Rainbow Dash. “How much do we really know this pony? Are we supposed to take her word on everything? What if she proves to be just as dangerous with the power as Tarmok was?”

“Even if her intentions were less than noble that wouldn’t be such an issue though,” Ollaron said.

Rainbow Dash glanced over at him. “Why not?”

Ollaron was silent for a second, looking at his fellow Sages before responding. “The ritual to use the Spring’s power, as well as the Spring itself, are centered around mammoths. Even if you gained the strength of a mammoth the effect of the Sacred Spring would only be temporary. I doubt you would keep its power for more than a day or two.”

“Okay then even more reason to hurry up and do this ritual for me!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “I can’t possibly do anything bad with your Spring’s power—not that I would in the first place. Seriously, believe in me, Larkon trusted me to stop Karkona. Me, because he believed in me. I know I don’t really have any proof and don’t have much time to convince you but here-” Rainbow Dash paused and took the time to look each one of them deeply in the eyes. “Look me in the eyes and you’ll know I’m telling the truth. Cause you’ll never find a friend more loyal and dependable than me.”

Each Sage met her powerful stare and saw a great depth and will in those magenta eyes of hers. They had lived a very long time but not even in their long lives could they recall seeing such a strong will. Just like Rainbow Dash had said, it was impossible to believe that she was lying after really looking into her eyes.

Ollaron cleared his throat. “Ahem, I think it’s settled then. I do trust you and what you’ve said about this other mammoth coming to take the power of the Spring by force. If the Spring must be used then let it at least be used for good.”

“We knew at some point there would come more to use the Spring again. Although we hoped we could peaceably talk them out of using it,” Zemara said.

“Believe me, that’s not an option,” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “We tried.”

“We would refuse the use of the ritual for as long as we could… but he sounds like the type of mammoth to follow through on his threats. And he may always be able to find out how to use the power of the Spring all on his own like Tarmok did,” Nillse said.

Rainbow Dash frowned and raised an eyebrow at her. “What’s up with that anyways? Larkon told me that Tarmok first discovered the Spring and used it to get strong but then later he had all of his followers do a ritual or something first before they could use it?”

“The fine details of King Tarmok’s journey and initial discovery of the Sacred Spring are unknown even to us,” Ollaron said. “What we do know is that he went into the Spring alone and became a mammoth among mammoths but upon his return with his followers he said the Spring could only be used by other mammoths after a special ritual, but after that ritual many mammoths could gain the power of the Spring at once instead of one at a time. He somehow unlocked the secrets of the Sacred Spring all on his own and kept them so mammoths couldn’t move against him so easily and use the Spring against him. Not that it did him any good in the end.”

“This Karkona sounds like a strong-willed enough mammoth that he wouldn’t stop until the Sacred Spring was nothing more than his tool. Just like Tarmok,” Zemara said.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah, he is.”

“Then we can only hope that you’re able to withstand and take in the power of the Sacred Spring,” Ollaron said, a morose look pulling at his ancient face.

“I don’t plan on dying anytime soon,” Rainbow Dash confidently grinned.

“Well I do believe we have said everything we wish to say. If you’re still going to use the Sacred Spring despite the danger we will help you,” Nillse said.

“I am. There’s no question about it, let’s do it,” Dash said.

“Have something to eat first,” Damark said. “We were serious about that, you know?”

Zemara stood up from her stone chair and went over to the cabinet on the left side of the room, she opened up one of the drawers and rummaged through it for a bit before pulling out a faded wicker basket. It looked so spindly and dry that Rainbow wouldn’t have been surprised if the whole basket disintegrated into dust while she held onto it. But it managed to stay in one piece while she placed it on the round table and Dash flew up to it to see just what it was these mammoths ate.

“Uhh...” she was flummoxed as she stared into a basket full of what looked like bark and dried pieces of wood.

“Roots, it’s all we eat out here,” Zemara said.

“We are Sages after all,” Ollaron shrugged. “It won’t taste good and it might be impossible for you to chew but it’s healthy, natural, and it will fill you up for your endeavor.”

Dash reached in and picked up a root, just from the look and feel of it she could tell this was going to be like eating a tree branch. “Looks great.”

A Mammoth of a Problem XLVI

Abalun and Harrak rushed through the slums with many more mammoths from the city following behind them. There were some leftover thugs and slum-dwellers not part of Karkona’s army that were still in there but once they saw the herd of stampeding mammoths coming over the bridge they wisely shut themselves indoors and chose not to bother with them. Most of the slums were an outright ghost town thanks to this and so many fighting age mammoths going with Karkona.

Besides the mammoths who had been in town’s square and heard Larkon say they had the opportunity to rescue the kidnapped children many more had been gathered up along the way. Harrak had practically been shouting the entire time he ran and as soon as Abalun caught up with him he helped alert any mammoths in nearby homes of what was going on. Now they were well into the slums with a ragtag army of their own.

“I know where the children were being kept!” Abalun shouted over pants as he ran along with everyone. “He shouldn’t have had a reason to move them, let’s go!”

“Dathon!” Harrak yelled again.

Abalun would’ve liked to have gathered up all the Senators and brought them out here so they could reunite with their children personally but that wasn’t feasible with how scattered around the city their homes were. Most probably had no idea what was going on at all. That reunion would come soon after they got the kids out of the slums. Abalun also wondered if the kids realized they weren’t being guarded anymore and all of Karkona’s followers had left? If they did then it was possible they were already freely moving about the slums. That might make things worse though if they got lost or came across some unaffiliated thug. Abalun really hoped they could just get back to where they needed to go and rescue those kids.

He also hoped the best for Larkon. His friend’s condition was still taking up a lot of his mind. Right now all they could do was follow the words he had given them and hope that when they got back to the city Larkon wouldn’t be as in bad of a spot as Abalun feared. They left him with that doctor and his family, it was the best they could do right now. Larkon would be cared for and now everything else was up to Abalun and the others.

Larkon had done more than enough. From the beginning he had been doing more than enough. It was a tragedy that he had to go through such a thing but for now everyone else could at least let him rest.

They were getting deeper and deeper into the slums now, already well past where Abalun had his own little shack. A thought occurred to him that there was probably another area they should go to and search through and secure besides just all the shacks around Karkona’s house.

“There are warehouses coming up along the way!” Abalun said to Harrak and the others. “Three of them—we should search through them too!”

“Do you think there might be children in there too?” One of the other mammoths asked him.

“I’m not sure, but he kept a lot of things in there for storage like food and weapons, we should make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong trunks,” Abalun said.

Harrak was too tunnel-visioned on Dathon to respond but the others agreed with Abalun. A group would break off once they got to the warehouses. There was a lot in there that would need to be explored and safely taken care of. It would also bring Abalun some cathartic joy knowing the warehouses that were ignored by the senate would finally be opened up… long after the point even mattered. And probably after most if not all of the incriminating weapons were gone.

Because they were rushing through the slums it wasn’t long until they arrived at their first destination. The warehouses looked a bit different now to Abalun, since there was no one there to guard them and their doors were hanging wide open. And it still amazed Abalun just how nice of a day it was, the sun even shining down on the slums. It betrayed the truth of the day. Maybe it was even the world telling them how small they and the problems of the mammoths were.

“Those are the three warehouses!” Abalun pointed with his trunk. “Some of you go check them out, we’ll rescue the children at the other spot!”

“Right!” Some of the mammoths responded and broke off to go charging up to the warehouses.

Abalun and Harrak’s group continued to run through the streets. It wasn’t far now to where Karkona had all of his captives so long as they had stayed put. All of them were pretty tired after running so far and so fast but the adrenaline in their veins more than made up for the exertion. They would have plenty of time to rest after the rescue.

“It’ll just be a little further,” Abalun said to Harrak.

Harrak nodded although Abalun wasn’t sure if he actually heard him or not. Abalun certainly wasn’t going to say anything bad, especially since no one deserved to have their son kidnapped, but he couldn’t help but feel a little bit that this was Harrak’s own fault and his punishment for it. He really should push that thought out of his head though, they were all on the same side and it was clear Harrak wouldn’t make the same mistake twice when it came to Karkona and Larkon. The rest of the Senators too.

“I know you all have never been to these slums before so just follow me, we need to turn in here and we’ll get right to Karkona’s inner domain!” Abalun yelled to all his mammoths while they ran past dilapidated shack after shack.

At last Abalun brought them to where he had just been mustering with Karkona’s army only earlier today. When the hundreds had stood outside his home and watched as Samarkon arrived and brought them the news about his father. Where he had slid away from earlier to warn his friends, not even thinking about the children at the time. But here he was back to rescue them. Well that was one mistake he could rectify, and it felt good to take some real action after just spying on Karkona and his friends for so long.

“Here! In all of these houses and buildings around here, the children have been locked inside!” Abalun shouted.

“Check them all! Open them up now!” Harrak yelled too and ran off to the nearest shack made of rusty sheets of metal and old beaten up boards of wood.

A lot of them were locked from the outside and didn’t have windows, or they were like the windows of Abalun’s house and tightly shut. Harrak wrenched the sliding lock off the front door of the first shack and pulled the door open while others followed suit at other buildings.

“Dathon! Are you in here?!” He yelled.

The building was packed full of young mammoth children that had been thrown together last night, they looked tired, hungry, and sore from their situation. It seemed they had no idea what was going on now either and that they were being rescued with some of them huddled against the back wall and regarding Harrak with fear. Most of them seemingly slept on the floor the previous night and looked even more exhausted than the rest. Harrak’s eyes roamed over them all, looking for his own son, forgetting that he should be comforting and reassuring these children right now that they were okay.

That went until some of them actually recognized him as a Senator just like their parents were.

“Mister Harrak?...” One of them blinked a few times at the Senator and rubbed his eyes.

Another mammoth came beside Harrak and moved him out of the way. “Kids! You’re safe now, we’re here to rescue you! Come on and we can get out of here and get you back to your parents!”

That lit a fire under some of their feet and a number of kids started piling out of the building while Harrak left the doorway and went to go search another for Dathon. But one mammoth reached down and picked up another kid that was lying on the floor, supporting him. A number of other kids also didn’t look like they were in any shape to run out of here right now.

“Some of us are hurt,” the kid holding up the other one said. “We need help.”

The adult mammoth grimaced, he hadn’t thought about this. “You may have to wait here, we’ll find a doctor if we need to.”

Elsewhere more and more children were being taken from the buildings they had been locked inside and a huge crowd was forming where Karkona had his army gathered earlier. Abalun had walked on top of where Karkona liked to stand on his house and was trying to corral them together and get everyone in order before they left back to the city. From what he had heard and seen a lot of mammoths were still beat up and injured from last night, this might be a long process.

“Dathon!” Harrak yelled as he saw his son stumbling out of one of the homes, still bruised but able to stand. The Senator quickly wrapped him up into a hug and cried against him despite the embarrassment that would likely put his son through. “I’m so glad you’re okay, my son!”

“Y-Yeah… thanks dad,” Dathon winced and took a deep breath, patting his dad on the back with his trunk.

Abalun watched it all going on and wiped the sweat from his brow, there was a lot of work still left to be done but at least the most pressing matter had been attended to. Now he, like Larkon, just needed to trust in Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash stood at the edge of the Sacred Spring while the four Sages stood behind her. It was impossible for her to tell how deep the Spring was, the water gave off no hints to anyone looking at it from above and she couldn’t tell how quickly the ground sloped underneath its surface. Or it may have just been a straight drop from the beginning like the Spring was some grand hole just shot into the ground. The water was still so oddly shiny and reflective—it really wanted to keep all of its secrets hidden.

Thump

Thump

Thump

The four Sages each rhythmically stamped wooden staffs on the ground behind Dash. They had pulled them out from the monastery and brought them with them, telling her they were part of the ritual. The steady thumping created the smallest of vibrations through the ground, causing tiny ripples to spread from the edge of the Spring. Rainbow Dash’s own reflection shimmered slightly and she thought she saw the water get a little bit brighter.

“How long does your ritual take before I can get in there?” Rainbow Dash asked.

They kept thumping away without pausing but Ollaron still answered her. “Only a few minutes, but the Sacred Spring must still be properly awakened.”

Dash nodded and went back to looking at the water. She figured she probably shouldn’t bother them anymore while they were doing their thing. Going into the Spring held enough risk without her mucking things up.

The four Sages all began to hum from closed mouths as they kept stamping their staffs, it started as a low sound coming from their throats but got progressively higher-pitched and louder. Soon they opened their mouths and sang in unison—a wordless melody that echoed across the entire Spring.

“Ahhhh~”

Their four voices held a lightness and energy to them that Rainbow Dash would’ve never expected with their advanced age and appearances. It sounded like youthful songbirds from Equestria singing a tune, Rainbow Dash didn’t even realize she had closed her eyes to listen to it as best she could until she felt a smile tugging up the corners of her lips. It was such a calming, a soothing, sound that made Rainbow Dash think everything was going to be alright. The surface of the Spring shimmered more and more while long wisps of steam came up from it and evaporated into the air.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The rhythmic pounding of the staffs grew louder and faster as the ritual began to reach its crescendo. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes back up and stared at the bright water in the center of the Spring. She didn’t look back to see the four Sages swaying their heads in motion to the beat but she heard braying start to come from their trunks. Those trumpeting noises unique to mammoths joined the singing, creating a symphony from Ollaron, Nillse, Zemara, and Damark. Considering this was a ritual not done for centuries they had it down pretty well. Maybe they practiced it to keep up.

Rainbow Dash was suddenly shocked as she heard them bang their staffs together and walk forwards to the edge of the Sacred Spring. They took big, heavy steps to get there until the four Sages were right at its edge with their heads shaking and their staffs beating back and forth against each other. Rainbow Dash stood right under Ollaron and waited for him to give her the go ahead with the ritual. It wasn’t done just yet though, the four of them drove their staffs right into the ground at the edge of the Spring while continuing to sing.

They all backed up slowly until they couldn’t reach the staffs anymore even with their trunks and suddenly made a thunderous bellow towards the sky with their fifth appendage.

“Oh, Spring!” Ollaron yelled.

“Oh, Spring!” The others repeated.

“We mammoths come to you to ask for your blessing once more!” Ollaron stood up on his back legs and held his front legs out wide towards the sky.

“For your blessing!” The other three followed suit.

At the same time they spoke there was a growing heat that radiated out from the Spring and the water shined brighter, making Rainbow Dash squint for a moment before she adjusted to it. It must’ve been any moment now that she could make her way into that water… and hopefully come back out. The more the Sages spoke and sang the more ripples appeared on the surface of the Spring and the steam rose higher and thicker. Rainbow Dash watched as the Sacred Spring truly became alive for the first time in hundreds and hundreds of years, even she could feel something special now, something significant, that was happening because of the mammoth ritual.

Behind her, Ollaron had begun a dance with Nillse while Damark and Zemara mimed their movements. The four swung around in circles, clasping their trunks together and rubbing tusks. But even though Rainbow could hear something going on she didn’t tear her eyes from the Spring for a second. The dancing, the singing, the ritual, it all served to excite the water and get its power ready.

For her.

For Rainbow Dash to use its power for a noble and benevolent reason. Who cares if she wasn’t a mammoth? She knew that she could handle anything, no pool of water would be able to overwhelm her! This was going to work. It had to.

“Spring!” Ollaron yelled once more.

“Spring!” Damark followed.

“Spring!” Then Nillse.

“Spring!” Zemara finished.

“Awaken for us!” They all yelled together.

The Sacred Spring suddenly shone so bright that Dash had to lift a hoof up to block the light, but then it was back to its normal brightness in a second while a steady swirling current radiated out from the center. As Dash lowered her hoof and peered at it it seemed to beckon her forward. It wanted her to wade into its waters.

“The ritual is complete,” Ollaron said as he walked up beside her. “And now the Sacred Spring is ready for you.”

“I wish you the best of luck,” Nillse said.

“I as well. Hopefully your body can take it,” Damark said.

Zemara nodded as well. “Good luck.”

Rainbow Dash flashed them all a cocky grin. “I don’t need luck, I just need me.”

Ollaron couldn’t help but smile briefly too, before his face went back to being serious. “You’re going to have to go out into the center of the Sacred Spring and fully submerge yourself in the Spring’s water. Be careful when swimming out there, the bottom drops off immediately and the Spring is very deep.”

“Got it,” Dash nodded and lifted a hoof to take her first step into the water. She paused for just a second before taking a deep steadying breath and gulping, and then stepped in.

The water was too warm for this part of the world. And that warmth instantly spread throughout her entire body, nearly making her sweat. She took another step in, her hoof going further into the water and much deeper than her first, nearly up to her body. It really did drop right off. And the movement of the Spring water… it pulled her, it wanted her to keep coming and never stop.

Well she was more than ready and willing to oblige that desire.

Rainbow Dash gently dove into the Sacred Spring completely, her hooves already unable to touch the ground less than a foot away from its edge. Ollaron and the others watched as she swam out to the center where the water seemed even hotter and brighter. She didn’t know exactly how she felt right now. On the one hoof it was kind of like wading through the spa back in Ponyville. But on the other it was making her heart pump and pump like she had been flying a marathon and yet more and more energy was constantly flowing into her body so she never got tired. The water pulled at and coursed through her mane and coat, making her feel light, as if there was no resistance whatsoever when she moved through the Spring.

Her head felt light too. Fuzzy. A white blur was starting to overtake the edges of her vision as she got closer to the center and it wasn’t just the rising steam.

Was she at the center?

She couldn’t tell.

But the water came up around her and the next thing Rainbow Dash knew she was sinking.

The mammoth army led by Karkona had made good progress. They were surely almost upon the Sacred Spring with how much ground they had covered through these mountains. And not a moment too soon, everyone was restless, especially Karkona himself. They were now plowing through a canyon with steep walls all around them and they had to restrain themselves from running. Karkona had a wild grin on his face, his heart was pounding and his grim determination was hotly burning in his spirit.

A sudden bright flash from deeper in the mountains brought him to a halt and startled the mammoths behind him.

“What was that?!” Murrank yelled while the army muttered and whispered.

Karkona’s grin only widened and he laughed. “The Sacred Spring. We’re close.” He looked back over his shoulder at his army and raised his trunk into the air. “Mammoths! Onward!” Karkona trumpeted loudly and continued his march.

“Raaarrrghhh!” His army roared in support and followed.

The hundreds of them would be upon the Sacred Spring in mere moments.

A Mammoth of a Problem XLVII

Down. She wasn’t falling down but gently floating with her eyes squeezed shut and all the sensation from the rest of her body gone. It was strange, this didn’t feel like floating through the air, like a feather in the wind, but there was something else reminiscent about it. And she was so warm too. Rainbow Dash couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this warm and serene. Even though her eyes were shut tight she could tell how bright the world was right outside them, the light was trying to sneak in past her eyelids. A smile pulled across her face as she shifted around, trying to curl up and rest her head on her hooves as if she was getting ready to take a nap on a cloud. So peaceful. So nice as she just kept floating down and down. Rainbow Dash felt a pure, blissful peace inside her body and mind. What had she been doing just before this? Who cares. Things were nice, things were the way they should be. That steadily increasing warmth around her body, the tugging in every direction, the pounding of her heart, it was all fine. Deeper she went. Deep, and deep… deep? Like into water. Like down to the bottom of a lake.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and the brightness poured in. Above her she saw the surface of the Sacred Spring getting further and further away as she sunk towards its depths. Bubbles floated up all around her and she waved her limbs around trying to stop her descent.

But it was like the water was actively pulling her down, like there was some kind of current that made it impossible even for a pony like her to swim and escape it. Her legs and wings flailed about uselessly as her cheeks puffed out to keep the air inside as much as possible. But how much longer could she hold her breath? Her body was telling her to just give in and let the Spring soothe her but her mind fought that impulse. She had a mission and even with her heart beating so hard and fast she was worried it might burst she kept fighting and fighting to swim back up to the surface before she ran out of air.

Is this what happened to unworthy creatures that entered the Sacred Spring? Or did everyone go through this?

Rainbow Dash had no way of knowing but she certainly wasn’t the type of pony to just sit back and see what happened. She was a fighter and she’d fight the whole way through this. It was getting tough to hold her mouth shut though, her lungs were burning and her struggling in the water was just making it worse.

Come on, come on! Rainbow Dash pressed herself, trying every single type of stroke she knew to swim up.

It was to no avail. The water was impossible to swim in, the strange relaxing and exhausting effect it had on her body kept spreading, and soon she found herself with no more air in her lungs. She squeezed her eyes shut and brought her hooves to her mouth, trying to keep herself from breathing in and swallowing water. Rainbow Dash shook her head the whole time and kept her jaw clenched until the last little bit of air in her lungs was used up.

She couldn’t stop anymore. With a gasp she helplessly opened up her eyes and mouth in her body’s reflex of trying to breathe in more air. She expected the Spring water to rush into her and that would be the end…

But it didn’t. Despite her floating there with her mouth wide open no water rushed into her lungs to drown her. Instead the feeling of her lungs being filled with air rushed into her chest. The warm water ignored her, or perhaps it was the cause of this strange sensation and phenomenon. Was she really breathing underwater? Was this happening?

She took a few more experimental breaths and quickly realized that it was just like if she was breathing in air normally. As if she wasn’t submerged a hundred feet deep in a lake but was instead walking or flying about up above.

I can breathe in here… Rainbow Dash thought to herself, blinking a few times as her body and mind adjusted to the miraculous truth.

She was still descending deeper into the water though and so far had no way of getting back to the surface. What would happen if she didn’t gain the power of the Spring and couldn’t swim out of here? She didn’t really want to think about it. Now that she was a bit more conscious and aware of what was going on though she took a look at her situation and tried to figure out what she could do right now.

Her eyes roamed over to the sides of the Spring and another realization hit Rainbow Dash. Despite the brightness of the water from up above that made it impossible to look into, now that she was submerged the water was clear enough for her to see through the entire Spring. It was the clearest water she had seen in her entire life. Even with the massive size of the Spring it didn’t become murky in the slightest and she could see from her point in the center to the very edges and the rock that contained the Spring. The walls were a stark white that was almost like quartz or agate. So perfectly smooth that if there was any doubt in Dash’s mind about the creation of this place being unnatural that it was now stamped right out. And they just descended straight down and down, Rainbow Dash had probably already drifted two hundred feet at this point. The surface of the Sacred Spring was getting further away and depending on how far down she went it would soon become nothing more than a dot above her head.

They didn’t tell me how deep it actually is or what’s at the bottom. Rainbow Dash thought and turned over in the water to watch herself sink.

Her eyes widened in shock and she failed to suppress a gasp of fear at what she saw at the approaching bottom of the Sacred Spring.

Skeletons.

She couldn’t even see the actual bottom of the Spring because of the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of skeletons that rested down there. So many mammoth skeletons, perfectly preserved and pearly white in the water. But not just mammoths either. She saw massive ribcages that could’ve held an entire mammoth, skulls that looked like they belonged to huge dragons, huge serpentine skeletons all coiled up, the bones of great beasts bigger than houses, it was a graveyard of bones. Most of it was mammoths on the top—the ones who failed to gain the Spring’s power while under Tarmok’s rule. And not a single skeleton looked as small as Rainbow Dash was. They all belonged to massive creatures. Rainbow Dash was pretty sure there was even the skeleton of an Ursa Major sitting down there, resting up against the walls of the Spring.

Was she going to sink on past them? Was the water going to keep pulling her down until she hit the bottom or landed on all those bones and couldn’t go any further?

She gulped. Rainbow didn’t like the idea of disturbing the skeletons in here, that was just rude and kind of creepy.

But so far the water kept wanting to bring her closer and closer to them. Hundreds of feet down into its depth where all these skeletons permanently resided, so easy to see, as clear as day thanks to the water’s transparency. They almost didn’t look real because of how immaculate they were. Not a single crack or fracture in any bone, all of them cleaner and whiter than she could ever remember seeing a bone. The Sacred Spring preserved them.

Rainbow Dash sincerely hoped her skeleton would not be joining them.

She hook her head. I don’t need to hope, I know that aint happening.

It was when she continued drifting down, almost to the point where the skeletons started to pile up, that the feeling of the water around her started to change. Bubbles came up from deeper in the Spring and the water got warmer until it was practically scalding her skin. Then a shining light—one she couldn’t tell if it came from the water of the skeletons themselves—shone through the Sacred Spring and lit up the skeletons.

What’s going on? Rainbow Dash thought as the pulling current of the water stopped and she floated freely in the middle of the water.

She swam around in a circle, still stuck from going any higher or lower but able to turn around at least and watch as the light glowed brighter. It looked like steam or some sort of smoke was rising from the skeletons now and it was all coalescing and traveling towards her. Rainbow Dash didn’t know what that meant but she didn’t like it. She tried swimming away but now even though the current wasn’t pulling her anywhere she still couldn’t swim anywhere else, she felt like she was caught in a bubble. No matter how she moved her legs and wings through the water she didn’t gain any momentum or move herself.

The underwater smoke came to her, swirling around Rainbow Dash and for the first time making the water murky and obscuring her vision. She felt a pounding in her skull and a sudden feeling like she was dissolving into the water and becoming part of it.

No! Rainbow Dash beat her wings against the smoke to get it to dissipate but it all just stayed around her.

The first in a very long time…

Rainbow Dash’s eyes shot wide open. “Uhh...” Her hooves moved to her throat. “Oh. So I can talk now?”

Yes.

“Okaaayyy… so who—what are you?” Rainbow Dash asked the disembodied voice, eyes shifting around the gathered smoke.

A mistake. No more and no less.

“Really helpful,” Dash rolled her eyes.

All you seek is the power of this place. That is all you need to know.

Dash narrowed her eyes. “Yeah but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I’m just doing this to help others, alright? I’m not some crazy pony who’s gonna start or war or do something bad after I get stronger.”

I care not.

“Then why are we even talking?” Dash threw out her hooves. “Hurry up! I’ve got something really important to do up there.”

Your body can not handle it. You will be-

“Okay, let me stop you right there,” she interrupted. “I can handle it. I know myself better than anybody. I don’t know why some mammoths could take it and some couldn’t or what was wrong with all those other guys down there at the bottom of your Spring or whatever, but I’m Rainbow Dash. You got that? I’m the fastest flier in the world, the most awesome pegasus ever, Element of Loyalty and friend to like half a dozen different Alicorn Princesses. I’ve saved the world more times than I can count and I’m planning on saving it a bunch more times cause that’s just the kind of thing I think is fun. So you don’t tell me what I can’t handle. I’ve got friends to help.” She narrowed her eyes. “So hurry up.”

...

“Well?” Rainbow Dash impatiently folded her hooves over her chest.

You’re an odd one. I had a whole speech prepared.

Dash snorted. “Yeah? Well sorry, but I really don’t have time for that.”

It doesn’t matter if your desires are selfish or selfless though. All the others who came here before you have been selfish, but some had the strength of will and body to still use the power. One such as you will be torn apart regardless of your boasting.

“No I won’t be,” Rainbow Dash confidently stated.

...

Are… are you really arguing with me? Do you think I’m actually wrong or are you just trying to bluff? You can’t just say you’ll be okay. That’s not how it works. You’re just denying reality.

“Hey. I’m not doing anything like that. I’m a pony who knows how to make the impossible possible. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again. Simple as that. There’s nothing I can’t do or overcome and I’ve got a whole life of seemingly impossible feats to prove it. So give me your power or whatever and I can prove you wrong too and add another previously impossible accomplishment to my list, it can never be long enough for my taste. So don’t tell me I’m denying reality, I’m making reality with my own wings.”

I suppose good luck then. You’re very unusual. And far more amusing than anyone else who has come into these waters. I don’t think your body will withstand what’s about to happen, but obviously you aren’t backing down.

“Obviously.”

The power though… even if you live your body wont be able to contain it for long.

“The Sages up there already told me that. I don’t care. All I need to do is beat the crud out of one mammoth.”

Good, because you won’t remember this conversation once you reemerge.

“Huh?”

No one ever does. You will reawaken and rise from the surface of the Spring as if from a deep slumber, and this will be less than a dream to you. Farewell.

“But what-”

The words died in her throat as the smoke flared up and shined brighter than the sun, Rainbow Dash winced and curled up as the heat from the Sacred Spring overtook her and a great pressure came at her from every direction. Water, power, magic, something, was all rushing into her at once with crushing force. If she could scream she would’ve but every part of her body was clamped down shut by the swirling mass of power. Before long, despite the incredible radiance, darkness ebbed away at her vision until it finally conquered her completely, and Rainbow Dash’s mind was washed away with it.

A Mammoth of a Problem XLVIII

Back at the city of mammoths, Larkon’s family stood in the waiting room of the local doctor’s office. Inside the emergency room he was busy examining Larkon and taking care of the most pressing injuries. It wouldn’t be until he came out that they would know the full extent of what had happened to their father and husband, although they all already expected the worst. Shibu sat on a chair and rubbed her trunk while Alykon restlessly paced around and Samarkon sat next to his mother. The son was still in quite a bit of shock and pale in the face.

Alykon sniffled as she paced back and forth, not able to fully suppress the tears after all she had been through. First one of her best friends is kidnapped and now her father… she didn’t even want to think about it right now but she couldn’t help it. Makom and Orsal had been at Harrak’s to help support her but now they were back hiding with their parents. At least Dathon would probably be rescued soon, that was the one good thing she could think of. Her eyes briefly glanced to her brother as she walked by and she suppressed the urge to attack him. Mom and dad wouldn’t want that, even she didn’t really want that, but she was going to be angry at him for a long time.

Shibu did her best to appear strong on the outside for her children but on the inside she was close to collapsing. She wished one of her friends was here right now to lean on.

Larkon… why did you have to get yourself into so much trouble? She sighed. Playing the hero, you silly mammoth.

It was because of that personality and spirit of his that she loved him though. A smile tugged at her lips; no matter what happened to him she’d always love and be there for him. She hoped the doctor would have news for them soon. Shibu could tell how stressed they all were, they couldn’t just stay cooped up in here quietly worrying about Larkon for much longer or they’d go insane.

And Samarkon was truly in the worst condition of them all with his entire world collapsed around him.

So much would need to be done before this family could be fixed even with the pieces being set in motion.

None of them were sure how long they had been waiting there when the doors to the doctor’s office were pushed open and in rushed Norma, Mallom, and Ansel. The three mammoths saw Larkon’s family and walked over to them, while noticing that the doctor apparently wasn’t finished with fixing Larkon up yet.

“Shibu,” Norma said and went to hug her. “He’s still in there?”

“Yes, I don’t know when he’ll be out.” Shibu nodded, graciously accepting the hug and doing her best not to cry.

“I only just heard this happened,” Ansel said to Shibu. “I had no idea… I’m so sorry.”

Mallom cleared his throat. “We do have some other good news at least. The kidnapped children have all been rescued from the slums and they’re reuniting with their parents right now. Some of them are a little roughed up but no one’s hurt too bad.”

Alykon perked up and ran over to Mallom. “Then Dathon too?”

“Senator Harrak’s son? Yes, I’m sure he’s doing fine,” Mallom said.

A huge sigh of relief came from Alykon and she stumbled over to the seats where Samarkon was still sitting, practically collapsing onto them. “Thank you dad, Rainbow Dash, everyone...”

“Abalun is still mustering a number of mammoths to sweep through the slums and repossess anything of Karkona’s. From what I heard on the way over here a massive amount of food was discovered as well as an entire mine with raw materials being used to make weapons,” Ansel said.

“It never should’ve been allowed to get this far,” Mallom shook his head.

“If more of us listened to Larkon in the first place...” Norma said and trailed off as her eyes glanced to the door leading to the emergency room. Nothing more needed to be said.

The implication and reality of the situation was now too much for Samarkon to bear. He let out a pitiful wail and collapsed out of the chair and onto the ground, holding his head with his front legs. “I’m sorry! It’s all my fault, I’m sorry! Mom, dad, everyone, it’s all my fault!”

Shibu detached herself from Norma and bent down to hug her son while Alykon just sort of impassively stared at him. The details and truth of the recent events in the mammoth city were still vague to the other mammoths in the room but they knew enough to know that this was no mere self-pity from Samarkon. Whether something would need to be done about him or not remained to be seen, for now they allowed the family to comfort each other. They had more pressing matters at trunk anyways and it was clear Samarkon wasn’t going to be doing anything else. For now they joined the family in silently waiting for the doctor to emerge from the back room and give them the news on Larkon.

Samarkon eventually tired himself out and allowed himself to sit there in his mother’s embrace, the two comforting each other.

With only the muffled sounds of the city coming in from outside the six mammoths waited and waited some more for the doctor. As opposed to how quiet things had been this morning the city sounded positively bustling out there while mammoths reunited with their families and discussed what had happened over the past couple of days. It was almost a street fair as the mammoths woke up to reality and faced what they had just seen from Karkona and his army. Even the ones who didn’t have to go through a kidnapping couldn’t shrug something like this off.

It was a horrible thing the city and society of mammoths had to endure but they might come out the better for it.

Finally they began to hear movement behind the closed doors and they all leaned in with expectation, on the edge of their literal and metaphorical seats. The doors swung open and out came the doctor pulling a wide stretcher behind him with Larkon resting atop it. Larkon was awake and on his stomach, looking better than the others expected him to but still very tired and with a large white wrap of guaze around his midsection. It was good the doctor was in the way though since everyone else ran up to mob him and Larkon didn’t exactly need his stretcher being knocked into.

“Calm down, all of you!” The doctor said as he pushed them back. “You don’t need to give him any fresh new injuries.”

“Listen to the doctor, I’m fine,” Larkon said to the others.

The doctor glanced back at him and frowned. “I wouldn’t exactly put it like that either...”

Shibu’s face shot between the two of them. “What is it? Larkon. what’s wrong?” She asked her husband, distraught.

Larkon sighed and looked to the doctor, giving him the fun task of explaining things.

The doctor lifted up his trunk and uncomfortably rubbed behind his ears while looking over the six others. His face was pained but he eventually answered them. “Larkon has irreparable spinal damage. His upper body and front limbs are fine but everything down from his stomach and back legs are permanently paralyzed. I’m afraid he’ll never walk again under his own power.”

“Ohhhh...” Shibu collapsed to her knees in front of Larkon’s stretcher and rested her head atop it, crying up against him.

“Dad...” Alykon cried, letting her tears fall freely while Samarkon stood behind her in shame.

“It’s alright, it’s alright everyone, I’m still alive—we’re all still alive,” Larkon said to them. “If doing what I did costs my legs I’d go back and do it every single time.”

“Larkon, while you were being worked on, the children were rescued just like you asked us to,” Mallom said.

“You’d be proud of what’s happening out there now, my friend,” Ansel said and smiled.

Norma walked up and patted him on the shoulder. “You shouldn’t have had to sacrifice anything but it at least wasn’t in vain. Mistakes are going to be fixed and we won’t let Karkona do whatever he pleases.”

“Speaking of him though… even though we’ve taken over the slums, rescued his hostages, and confiscated everything else he left, what are we supposed to do when he comes back?” Mallom asked.

The others all shared worried looks, but not Larkon. Larkon smiled. “You don’t have to worry about that. Rainbow Dash will stop him, have faith in her.”

“Rainbow Dash… so she’s already there?” Ansel asked.

Larkon nodded. “Yes, Karkona will never get a hold of the Sacred Spring. You all know her well at this point—she will save us from him and ourselves. We mammoths were meant to never war or fight again, and because of her we won’t have to break that sacred creed. Rainbow Dash is doing this for us out of the goodness of her heart. She’s our hero. Believe in her strength the same as me, we’ll be fine."

Karkona and his forces walked towards the end of the canyon, it was now a straight path to the bright Spring beyond that they could already see further in the mountains. The walls of the canyon opened up to the Sacred Spring only a short distance away. Karkona laughed under his breath, so close! He was so close to the power he desired! The fact of Rainbow Dash already being here was forgotten, he didn’t care in the slightest about her anymore. There was nothing she could do to stop him.

“Mammoths! We have arrived!” Karkona yelled to his army.

Alok, Murrank, and all the other thugs cheered and trumpeted in celebration. The loud column of mammoths were happy to announce their presence. What reason was there to come in silently? There was nothing they were afraid of and this Spring was theirs! All the mammoths in the army now knew they had finally arrived at their goal and the celebrating continued until Karkona finally marched his way out of the canyon and truly made his first step into the enclave of the Sacred Spring.

“Ahh, here at last!” Karkona yelled.

The sight before him was grand, the Sacred Spring that was bordered on all sides by cliffs and hidden by tall mountains. Its glowing and steaming water was like an unparalleled wonder of the world. A smile tugged at his face as he basked in the light being emitted from the Spring, even that felt like a new burst of life and vigor in him, just from making it here.

And then he noticed the four mammoths standing by the edge of the water.

“Hehe… the four Sages is it? The ones said to watch over the Sacred Spring since the time of King Tarmok,” Karkona said, projecting his voice as loudly as he could without truly shouting.

His forces watched as he progressed towards the Sages and the water of the Spring. Murrank and Alok followed closely behind him while the others slowly followed them. In short time more and more of the army fanned out from the canyon until most of them were standing in a huge crowd before the sight of the Sacred Spring. They approached no further however, not wanting to break ranks, and waiting for Karkona or one of the other leaders to tell them what to do. Even though they all wanted to rush out to that water and gain the power of the Spring none of them would disobey or bypass Karkona’s command.

If the four Sages were perturbed by the appearance of Karkona and his army they didn’t show it. Alok idly wondered if it was because that pony had already made it here long ago and warned them in advance. But then where was that pony now? He had heard and seen enough from her to know she wasn’t a coward and Larkon said she was here

His eyes narrowed at the Sacred Spring: that’s where. Should he tell Karkona? No, no point too. He either already knew or would know soon enough for sure, and Alok didn’t want to accidentally incur his wrath.

Now Karkona had approached halfway between the cliffs and the water of the Spring. And he stopped, with a huge grin on his face as he regarded the Sages. Alok and Murrank also stopped a few steps behind him.

“Well, that’s who you are, aren’t you?” Karkona asked them.

Ollaron nodded and raised a dismissively unimpressed eyebrow at Karkona. “And you must be Karkona?”

Surprisingly, Karkona just grinned some more. “That’s right. I suppose that pathetic pony Larkon sent here has already told you all about me?” His eyes then narrowed as he looked at the shining and slightly rippling water of the Sacred Spring. “And she’s already in there, isn’t she? You’ve decided to help her gain the power of the Sacred Spring?”

“We have,” Nillse said.

“Gahahahahaha!” Karkona bellowed. “Hilarious! Pointless, disgusting, how utterly wretched that that pony is allowed to use our Spring!” He stopped laughing and the grin left his face, an evil glare and bloodshot eyes burrowing into Ollaron and the other Sages. “And are you going to tell me how to get that same power?”

The Sages didn’t respond to his threatening query. They were too old to be intimidated, especially after just performing the ritual for Rainbow Dash.

Karkona snorted and rolled his eyes as he saw they weren’t going to say anything. “It doesn’t matter, I’ll find a way to use the Sacred Spring myself if I have to. And what is you helping Rainbow Dash supposed to accomplish? Gaining the power of a mammoth still won’t make her strong enough to stop me.”

“That’s right!” Murrank yelled. “Karkona is the greatest!”

“Haha...” Karkona laughed at his subordinates praise. “Yes, and soon I will become a mammoth among mammoths and King!”

“You will not,” Ollaron said, shaking his head.

“Oh?” Karkona raised an eyebrow. “Look at what I have already behind me, we mammoths will rise again and bring an age of war to the world!”

“You are everything we are meant to protect the secrets of the Sacred Spring from,” Ollaron said. “It is our duty to watch over this place and make sure no mammoth can improperly use its power. In the past, it was believed that there may come a time when the power of the Sacred Spring would be needed again, but it is clear that no mammoths should ever be the ones using it. You are the threat and evil that the righteous will use the power of the Spring to defeat.”

“Rainbow Dash will shortly emerge from the waters to face you,” Damark said.

“She risked death to stop you,” Zemara told him.

“So what?” Karkona dismissively spat. “She’s nothing more than a weak pony and that’s all she’ll ever be. Let her try and fight me, I would relish it. For the first time in hundreds of years a mammoth will crush another creature in his trunk and it will be a premonition of the future as I take my army all across the world and conquer everything I see! Cities will collapse, creatures will flee in terror, kings and queens will bow, and I will stand above all and destroy anyone who tries to face me!”

Ollaron looked at his fellow Sages and shook his head. “It seems you truly are implacable. Rainbow Dash said you wouldn’t be convinced with talk and it looks like she was right. We didn’t want it to come to a fight but if you wont turn back...”

“I want it to come to a fight. Especially if you wont tell me how to use the Sacred Spring as well,” Karkona said, looking over the Sages before pointing to Zemara with his trunk. “Her. I’ll break every bone in her body one by one until you tell me how to use the Spring. And I’ll keep going through each of you, and if you still don’t tell me? Then I’ll do what I said and somehow figure it out on my own.” He scornfully sneered at Ollaron. “But not until after quite a bit of pain.”

“That’s not going to move us,” Zemara defiantly stated.

“We’re all willing to stand against the likes of you,” Nillse said.

“Hah!” Karkona barked. “You say that now but let’s see how long it takes until your tune changes when you’re actually going through it.” He glanced back to Alok and Murrank. “Have the rest of the army come in here and stand at attention, then grab a couple of others and help me with these Sages.”

Karkona took a single step-

And a great beam of light shot up from the center of the Sacred Spring while harsh waves erupted all around it.

Karkona’s head swung towards the light while his followers stepped back in surprise and fear, the Sages also looked surprised and stepped away from the shore, where the waters were growing more and more violent. The beam of light soon disappeared but the entire Spring glowed and sparkled more and more while bouts of steam erupted all over it. The swirling currents of the Sacred Spring raged and created a series of whirlpools that defied all logic, multiple ones emerging all across the water and soon spinning in opposite directions from others. A loud rumbling like thunder came with this upheaval as well and startled most of Karkona’s army while the Sages looked on in a mixture of shock and awe.

“She did it...” Nillse said.

“I can’t believe it, but she’s actually coming,” Damark said.

Ollaron’s mouth finally cracked into a smile. “Rainbow Dash, good job.”

Karkona heard them and narrowed his eyes at the phenomenon going on in the water. He wasn’t scared in the slightest like some of the other thugs, but he was angry.

The water was bubbling something fierce in the center of the Sacred Spring now and brackish waves were smashing into the edges all across the Spring. There was something about to emerge from in there. More, smaller, beams of light were constantly shooting off from the Sacred Spring and in an instant all the waves and whirlpools stopped, the waters of the Spring calming down to nothingness aside from the bubbling center...

A Mammoth of a Problem XLIX

What was going on?

Rainbow Dash couldn’t remember when, but she had started floating to the top of the Sacred Spring while the water churned and bubbled around her. Her memories were fuzzy. She did remember going into the Sacred Spring in the first place but after that… nothing. And the light show and everything else going on around her now wasn’t helping.

All she knew was that she felt a little different.

A lot different.

She closed her eyes as her head breached the surface of the water and her wings began to automatically flap to carry her up and completely out of the Sacred Spring. The warm water cascaded down her body, giving her a last little taste of pure relaxation and comfort as her mane hung closely to her face and neck. At the same time as she rose entirely out of the water the Spring’s tempestuous behavior stopped and only a few light ripples radiated from where Rainbow Dash had emerged.

What is this? Rainbow Dash thought. She opened her mouth a fraction of an inch and took in a breath, filling up her lungs. I feel so… so… incredible.

Rainbow Dash opened up her eyes as she floated above the Sacred Spring and stared out across the waters to the western shoreline. She saw the Sages and past them Karkona and his army. Oddly she didn’t feel surprised or worried at all that all of Karkona’s forces were already there. Her eyes merely narrowed and a cold frown spread on her face while she slowly flew to the edge of the Spring while water continued to drip off her.

Ollaron and the other Sages all stepped to the side, allowing her to land without any obstruction and giving her a clear view of her adversary. She didn’t say anything to him yet though. Instead Dash just hopped up and down on her hooves a few times, jumping up onto her back hooves she threw out a few experimental punches while the others watched, perplexed at her behavior. Karkona was clearly about to lose his patience but Dash paid him absolutely no mind. She rotated her wings, shook her tail, flexed her muscles, and rocked back and forth on the balls of her hooves.

“This is… this is something else. I can feel it in me. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this awesome in my entire life. I’m so… light. And it’s like I could lift a boulder above my head like nothing.” she said to herself as she tasted the power coursing through her body. “Oh yeah, this is good.”

The Sages were going to step forward to question her but Karkona cut them off.

“So you’re saying you gained the power of the Sacred Spring?” He scoffed. “So what? Even if you have the strength of a mammoth now you’re still just a pony. You can’t do anything to stop me and my ambition.” Karkona snorted and looked over his shoulder, his eyes found two soldiers wearing full sets of plate armor standing in the front row. “You two, go crush that pathetic creature.”

The two nameless soldiers shared an uncertain glance with each other before looking back at Karkona, still not moving to go fight Rainbow Dash like he ordered.

He didn’t care for that kind of attitude.

“Well?!” Veins popped out of Karkona’s forehead as he yelled at the two and they quickly scampered out of line to rush out at Rainbow Dash. Karkona glared at them the whole time they shuffled past him.

Their armor clanked as they took heavy footsteps towards Rainbow Dash and perhaps the fear Karkona put into them morphed into a little bit of courage because they spitefully sneered down at the little pony standing by the edge of the water. What was there to be afraid of when it came to her? They were stupid to get startled just because of the lights and everything from the Sacred Spring. And how dare this pony defile their Spring in the first place! She’d pay for that.

The two of them stopped a trunk’s length away from Rainbow Dash and prepared to obliterate her just like Karkona wanted. Metal caps were affixed to their tusks and segmented armor went down their trunks. Their plate was heavy and chain mail with heavy cloth sat underneath it for extra protection. There was nothing Rainbow Dash could do against two fully armored mammoths.

She didn’t seem to be worried at all though.

Rainbow Dash cracked her neck and grabbed her right shoulder with her left hoof, rotating and stretching her right front leg. As if it was an afterthought she glanced up at the two mammoths. “You guys are really making a mistake right now.”

“Shut up, pony!” The one on the right growled.

“We’re going to make you pay for using our Spring!” The one on the left said.

Rainbow Dash grinned as she flexed the muscles in her legs one last time and put her hooves down. “For real, I’m warning you guys.”

“Ragh!” The left mammoth raised up his trunk and swung it down at her, aiming to smash her into the ground.

She flickered out of existence and his trunk hit nothing but empty ground while his eyes widened in surprise and confusion. The next thing he knew something impacted him in the side, pulverizing the armor plates on his body and smashing into his ribs, breaking them as well and lifting the mammoth off his feet.

He wheezed in pain and shock as Rainbow Dash’s strong kick into his armored body sent him harshly tumbling end over end across the ground, losing broken pieces of armor with each fall, before he finally came to a stop in a crater after tearing a wide trench in the ground. Totally knocked out he looked like a lump of shredded and broken pieces of metal all hanging off a shaggy pile of woolly mammoth fur. The force of Rainbow Dash’s blow was so powerful it hadn’t just knocked him down but made him skip and drag across the ground multiple times before he had finally lost momentum.

After kicking him she landed back on the ground and looked at her back leg that she had used to kick with. It looked and felt totally fine. She hadn’t hurt herself in the slightest by kicking his heavy armor and body.

“Wow, I’m just as strong as I thought,” Dash said.

The other mammoths had no idea what had just happened. She was standing still and then in the next instant she was kicking a fully armored soldier across the ground like he was paper. None of them knew just how fast Rainbow Dash could be when she wanted to be. And now she had the power of the Sacred Spring in her as well. Alok and Murrank looked back and forth from her and the crumpled mess of their soldier, while the other mammoth that had been sent to face her backed away on shaky legs

Only Karkona kept his absolute cool. His eyes were the only ones sharp enough to keep up with Rainbow Dash’s speed. It was no trick she had pulled off, and nothing special in his eyes. So she was a little fast? His trunk was still like a lightning bolt and her speed didn’t scare him.

“And what are you doing?!” Karkona yelled at the other retreating mammoth. “I gave you an order!”

That mammoth was scared of Rainbow Dash, but he was still more scared of Karkona. He gulped and stopped his legs from shaking, stepping back towards Rainbow Dash he curled up his trunk and swung it sideways at her.

Rainbow Dash just stood there and watched his trunk come at her from her right. The huge appendage would’ve effortlessly knocked over even a pony like Big Mac if he just let it hit him like this.

But now Rainbow Dash was so much stronger that this huge trunk swinging at her might as well have been a spindly twig. She held up her hoof and caught the trunk right before it smacked into her, stopping it cold. She didn’t even budge. The mammoth gasped and tried to yank his trunk away, thinking he could either pull or lift her with it. But Rainbow Dash might as well have been bolted to the ground with how solidly she held onto his trunk and kept him from getting free. The grip on his trunk was so strong that it might as well have been trapped under a huge stone block taken from the quarry. Despite Rainbow Dash’s light weight, the strength she now had in her body made her completely unmovable to a mammoth like him.

After seeing that she really could hold him like this for as long as she wanted, Rainbow Dash finally let his trunk go and the mammoth fell over onto his butt at the sudden release. By the time he looked back up at her she was missing from where she had been standing.

“Huh?” The mammoth tilted his head… and then Rainbow Dash’s hoof came down and caved his helmet in.

The mammoth didn’t even make so much as a sound as he slumped forward, limbs splayed wide on the ground with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Two down.

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and lowered herself to the ground where she stretched a few times and rubbed her hooves. “Doesn’t hurt at all… I’m not even trying either. It’s like I’m made of awesomeness right now.” She smiled and turned to look at Karkona and the others. “Okay, so how many of you still haven’t gotten the message yet? That power you wanted from the Sacred Spring? I’ve got it—and oh yeah does it feel good.”

“You won’t have it for much longer,” Karkona sniped. He glanced over to his two closest subordinates now. “Alok, Murrank, deal with her. She’s still nothing more than a weak pony, prove how strong of mammoths you are!”

It was obvious that Alok and Murrank didn’t quite share Karkona’s enthusiasm but what else could they do? Not only did they know what Karkona would do to them if they refused this was a matter of pride to them. They had to fight Rainbow Dash and beat down the creature that dared to stand up to the mammoths. This was the first obstacle they had to returning to their warlike and subjugating ways.

They both grit their teeth and ran at Rainbow Dash, making themselves as determined and fearless as possible. They were a cut above the average thugs Karkona had filled out his army with. The two of them just had to remember that and stay confident while they fought her.

Dash on the other hoof couldn’t help but be bored at how slowly they ran towards her. Even without the super strength the Spring had given her, any fight between her and these mammoths would’ve just been a stalemate since they’d never be able to touch her. The weapons the two of them wielded were hardly threatening either. Although it would at least make the fight with these two a little different.

“Come on then,” Rainbow Dash grinned and beckoned them with her wings.

Murrank got there first and thrust his spear out at her. Now Rainbow Dash could’ve easily gone full speed and ended things in an instant but she wanted to take a little more time with these two. She jumped over the spear right as Alok came in and swung the heavy shield he had at her. Rainbow Dash kicked it away and dented it while the force of the blow also knocked Alok back a little. Murrank lifted his spear in his trunk to try and slice Rainbow Dash with it but as soon as it got in ranged she brought her elbow down hard on the shaft and snapped it. The spearhead went flying and Murrank was left gawking at his now useless weapon.

Rainbow Dash then flew right up to his face and flicked his helmet off. His pupils shrank and he attempted to pull his head back from her but she reached up and grabbed his ear.

“Boo,” Rainbow Dash teased and punched him in the face.

Murrank went down like a sack of bricks, sliding across the ground and coming to an unmoving rest a few feet away. It was just in time for Alok to come from behind and fling out his shield like a discus at Rainbow Dash.

She snorted at how easy that was to avoid, a single flap of her wings carrying her over it. Alok came up right after the thrown shield though and aimed his capped tusks at her. He was trying to gore her before she could react to him.

But these mammoths just couldn’t match her agility and maneuverability. Especially when she was already in the air.

Rainbow Dash twisted and zoomed between his tusks and then flew down between his legs and under his body. She stiffly elbowed him in the gut when she passed and flew back up behind his back, dropping another elbow on him. Alok let out an agonized harrumph as the wind left his lungs and pain lanced up and down his back. His legs buckled and he collapsed onto his knees while his eyes rolled back into his head and his trunk lied limply on the ground. Two more mammoths down and out.

Rainbow Dash flew down between the defeated forms of Murrank and Alok and landed with a yawn on the cold ground. The entire army of Karkona took a fearful step back when she did so.

Karkona though, true to his status and strength, merely glared at her.

“Well?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head and spoke to him, a smug and cocky grin on her face. “Looks like it’s just you and me now.”

A Mammoth of a Problem L

“So you think you can beat me just because you defeated those weaklings?”

“I don’t think I can, I know I can.”

“You wouldn’t have even been able to beat them without the Sacred Spring’s power. I am a real mammoth. A real warrior. Just because you’ve acquired the strength of a mammoth doesn’t mean you can actually fight me.”

“No—you see—you don’t get it. Do you have any idea of what I’ve actually been through in my life? All the fights I’ve had, the villains I’ve stopped, the monsters I’ve met. Like, you have no idea how small your world is, dude. So yeah, you’re probably strong, but to me you’re just another bad guy. And I beat up bad guys.”

“Empty words. You can’t intimidate me, and I’m going to prove to all these children behind me that I’m still far greater than you.”

“Yeah, I guess you would need to do that to rebuild their crushed confidence considering how easily I beat up these other four. They’re probably thinking right now how much they don’t want to fight me and have the same thing happen to them. You don’t want to have an army that’s afraid of a real fight do you?”

“Hmpf. You’re right, but they will regain their confidence and bloodthirstiness when I beat you to a pulp. Because then they’ll see the strength of a true mammoth, and how much greater we can all become when the Sacred Spring empowers us. When it gives us the real power we deserve, not the half-baked strength you gained from it. We will all become mammoths among mammoths!”

“Yawn. Sorry dude but you can’t intimidate me either. Like, really, do you even know how many real villains I’ve fought? I don’t care about you at all. What you’ve done compared to them is nothing. I mean, after learning about you, and mammoths, and everything, you know what you come off as to me? A stupid brat throwing a tantrum because things aren’t the way he likes.”

Karkona smiled.

“Maybe you’ll care a little after hearing about what I did to Larkon.”

Rainbow Dash stiffened and her pupils shrank before she narrowed her eyes at Karkona. “What did you do to Larkon?”

“Oh a little of this, a little of that, but I wouldn’t expect him to be walking anytime soon.” Karkona taunted her.

Her nostrils flared and she opened up her wings, spreading her hooves and preparing to spring up and fight. “You’re going to pay for that.”

“Make me.”

The two were being carefully watched by the other mammoths at the Sacred Spring. Both the army that favored Karkona and the Sages that had found a great new friend in Rainbow Dash. Two sides faced off now. One of them representing friendship and harmony, the other terror and destruction. It was the plainest battle between good and evil you could get—even Karkona probably realized he was evil and didn’t care, or even relished in it. Both of the adversaries were utterly convinced of their impending victory, it was only the others watching who were unsure. And things were utterly silent at the Sacred Spring without even the smallest of animals buzzing about and nary a trace of wind blowing through the mountains.

They were still. Neither making the first move without provocation, only staring at each other with the hardest and most grim of faces. No blinking. No breathing. No fear.

One of the mammoths in the front row of the army was starting to sweat. His lip quivered and he looked back and forth between Rainbow Dash and Karkona. Slowly, a single bead of sweat fell down the side of his head and stopped at the bottom of his cheek. Hanging there for a brief moment before finally dripping off his body and falling towards the ground.

Two seconds was all it took for it to hit the ground.

And the moment it did, Rainbow Dash and Karkona charged at each other.

Rainbow Dash flew at full speed and brought up a hoof to strike him with while Karkona ran and swung his trunk out like a whip. Both of them impacted each other with incredible force, hoof versus trunk, muscles and veins bulging as they tried to overpower the other. For a moment they kept struggling like that until they were both suddenly blasted backwards by their own power colliding, a small thunderclap erupting from where they had clashed and making the onlookers wince.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Karkona looked in open-mouthed disbelief at their hoof and trunk respectively—both of them shocked that they were evenly matched in pure strength.

That hardly dissuaded them from continuing the fight though.

They rushed back at each other and repeatedly traded blows with hooves and trunk. While Dash could fly much faster than Karkona could run; his trunk was like lightning and he easily matched the rapid-fire punches she threw at him even with only having a singular appendage to do so. Their powerful blows created mini-shockwaves each time they struck each other, sending blasts of wind at the Sages and army. Rainbow Dash was surprised he could actually keep up with her like this, she knew he was strong but the reflexes he had with his trunk were something else. And Karkona had to begrudgingly admit that Rainbow Dash’s raw power was giving him more trouble than he thought it would.

Karkona rose up on his back legs and thrust his sharp tusks at Rainbow Dash, who easily flapped over them and came back down aiming at Karkona’s head. But he twisted to the side, showing off surprising flexibility for a creature his size, and threw up his right foot to meet her punch. The sharp crack of thunder that came from their “fists” meeting was greater than any before. It almost gave off the illusion of lightning sparking from their attack. Surely the mammoths watching were only hallucinating these incredible occurrences as Rainbow Dash and Karkona fought. Could any two creatures truly be so powerful?

Rainbow Dash darted away from their clash and flew in a wide loop to come back at Karkona. He braced himself and held his head low so she couldn’t easily fly under him or reach his blindspots. If she attempted to he was confident he could pivot fast enough or reach out with his trunk. And Dash knew by now that she couldn’t underestimate that trunk of his anymore, and taking a straight hit from him would be bad even with the enhanced power from the Sacred Spring.

“Hey, Karkona!” Rainbow Dash yelled at him as she curved and came straight at him. “How’s it feel to have so much trouble with a little pony like me?”

“Borrowed power of the mammoths is the only reason you can last!” Karkona snarled.

Rainbow Dash shot up at the last second and aimed to punch him in the face, but Karkona’s trunk shot up with her to block. For a brief moment she saw an illusion of his trunk being a giant black cobra ready to strike out at her. Its fangs were bared and the cobra hissed at her before lunging at her face and Dash had to quickly fly back to avoid it. She made some distance, hanging in the air out of Karkona’s reach for a second.

That fierce aura was the difference between Karkona and these other mammoths. He was the real deal.

“Come down here and fight me!” Karkona yelled, and then his lips curled up in a sneer. “Unless you’re scared?”

Dash scoffed. “Come on, we both know that I’m not scared, taunting ain’t gonna work."

“Then come here and die already!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “You asked for it...” I need to pay you back extra for Larkon anyways.

She dove down fast and flew around him in a circle. This time she was using her speed to its fullest ability and not just instantly charging at him. Even if he had sharp eyes, and incredible reflexes with his trunk, he couldn’t turn and cover all of himself fast enough if she went all out like this. His mammoth body just didn’t have that speed. Rainbow Dash was just a solid blur as she sped around him and she was going to go right for his back legs, the place he could defend himself the least.

Rainbow Dash shot out like a missile aimed at the small tail hanging from Karkona’s backside. There was no way he could turn and attack or defend with his trunk fast enough.

But he didn’t need to. Rainbow Dash couldn’t see the grin that appeared on Karkona’s face but she saw him lift up his legs and buck them out right at her as she got close. She was going too fast that she couldn’t correct in time and she had to fold her wings and hooves in front of her face to block against his powerful feet smashing into her.

Even with that she was still kicked back so hard that the wind was knocked out of her when she collided with the ground, coming to a stop after skidding a fair distance away. Her legs and wings were throbbing in pain but she still quickly picked herself up so she could continue the fight.

How’d he react like that? Did he know I was coming at him from behind? Rainbow Dash wondered.

Karkona turned to face her, a look of unbridled glee on his face after landing the first real hit of the fight. “Pathetic pony, if you’re trying to obscure where you’re going to strike from it’s obvious that you’re also going to attempt to go after my blindspots. And directly behind me is the biggest blindspot I have and the only place I can’t really reach with my trunk.” He then pointed up at his big ears with his trunk. “And these things are even sharper than my eyes, I could easily hear when you broke from your flight to come at me.”

Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue and dusted herself off. “Alright, so you’re smarter than I thought and you know how to fight. You’re not hitting me like that again.”

“We’ll see,” Karkona said and roared as he charged at her.

Rainbow Dash decided to let him go on the offensive if he wanted to. Maybe she could get him to tire himself out by relentlessly attacking her. She still floated up on her wings, they were still good to go, and braced herself as the mammoth came running at her with his trunk coiled up and ready to lash out at her in an instant.

She took a deep breath and hovered in one spot, preparing to react to Karkona’s first attack. His trunk was a black blur as he finally unleashed it at her and Rainbow Dash’s quick dodge of it was so fast she almost left an after-image behind. Karkona wasn’t just striking out one at a time with his trunk though, he threw out a veritable barrage with his trunk. Dozens of lightning-quick attacks that tried to either clip her wings and cripple her for the fight or smack her in the face and outright knock her out.

But Rainbow Dash either dodged or knocked away his trunk with her hooves at every attack. Naturally she was even quicker than his trunk and her hooves had the speed and strength to parry or plainly block most of the strikes of his trunk.

He didn’t look like he was getting tired though. This took such a minuscule amount of energy from him and he was already a mammoth with mountains of stamina and strength. If it came down to it it was very likely that Rainbow Dash would tire first. She couldn’t just dodge forever, that plan clearly wasn’t going to pan out, she’d need to land some hits too.

Dash flew up over his head and Karkona hunkered down and brought his trunk up so she couldn’t hit him easily. But that was just a feint; Rainbow Dash then quickly bolted down to his left side and lashed out against his muscular body with a powerful kick.

Karkona managed to pivot and jump away slightly so her kick didn’t go as deeply as she wanted and he rolled with the attack to minimize the force of the low. It was still a hit though and with Rainbow Dash’s enhanced strength right into his ribs she was rewarded with a slight grunt of pain from the mammoth. She grinned at him and he glared right back at her while the two regarded each other after that trade.

To the onlookers now they looked evenly matched. It was unbelievable to see Rainbow Dash going pound for pound and blow for blow with Karkona—a mammoth much stronger than the norm.

Rainbow Dash blew some air out of her nose and flexed her legs, curling her front hooves in front of her. “So is that the best you can do? Cause I’ve got strength to spare.”

“I have all the strength I need to put you in a coffin you flying pest,” Karkona threatened. He then sprinted at her and jumped in the air, showing off some more surprising acrobatics, and casting a shadow over where she was flying.

Now even with the Spring’s strength she couldn’t deal with that weight falling on her at this speed and with Karkona putting all his force behind the belly flop. She had to zip out of the way.

Karkona came down onto the ground like a meteor—cratering the ground and sending up a blast of wind and dust in every direction—momentarily distracting Rainbow Dash. His trunk shot out from the dust at her and her eyes widened, acting on pure instinct instead of trying to dodge or hit his powerful trunk away she grabbed it right as it knocked into her side and held on.

As the dust lifted she saw Karkona standing angrily and trying to pull his trunk out of her grip but Rainbow Dash held onto it. Unlike the “weak” mammoth she had fought earlier though, Karkona was strong enough to shake her around and move her while she held onto his trunk. Her muscles had to work hard to keep his trunk under control and also stop him from simply smashing her into the ground. It was now another contest of strength between the two of them, her body versus his trunk. She used her wings to give herself some more leverage and stay in the air.

And for a second she thought that maybe she was even strong enough to move him.

“Let go of my trunk, weakling!” Karkona barked.

That’s a good idea too. Rainbow Dash internally smirked.

When he next tried to pull his trunk back and out of her hooves she allowed herself to be carried with it and let go, pushing herself directly at his face with his own strength giving her momentum. She cocked her hoof back and punched him as hard as she could right between the eyes. The powerful sound of two solid rocks smashing into each other rang out through the Sacred Spring.

To his credit, Karkona didn’t cry out in pain but he was still knocked backwards by her punch and had to squint his eyes shut. Dash thought she had him on the ropes and prepared to hit him again. But as soon as she got in close his eyes snapped back open, his sharp pupils trained on her. She didn’t have the time to react as his trunk shot up like a whip and belted her across the stomach, knocking her away while he stumbled to the ground at the same time.

Rainbow Dash had to lower herself to the ground and rub her stomach, that was going to leave a big bruise. Karkona too was feeling the same way when it came to his face.

Another relatively even trade between the two of them. It was turning into a fight that neither of them wanted.

Karkona stood up and slowly walked in a circle around Rainbow Dash like a lion looking for the perfect opportunity to pounce. She kept her eyes on him and soon flapped her wings to get back off the ground, she wanted to be in the air and have as many possible moves.

“Taking your time now?” She said to him.

“You’re the one who keeps flying around and avoiding me,” he said back to her.

Rainbow Dash grinned and nodded. “Okay, let’s change that then?”

Before Karkona could even raise an eyebrow she had flown at him and aimed another punch at his head. His trunk came up to swipe her out of the way but Rainbow bounced herself off it towards his unguarded right side. Before he could bring his trunk back or even try to use his tusks against her she slammed into his ribs elbow first, briefly knocking him off his feet. But Karkona was indomitable and incredibly tenacious, he swung his head over while he fell with his ivory tusks coming straight at Rainbow Dash’s head. She couldn’t avoid them and she ended up cracked right across the skull and flung away again, flying off in an arc and landing roughly on her back while Karkona collapsed on his side.

The both of them groaned in pain this time and were a bit slower to rise.

Karkona’s rage was practically boiling over at this point as she kept matching him and getting good hits in. This shouldn’t be happening even with the power of the Sacred Spring! He was the strongest! When their eyes met his vision got red and a vein popped out on his forehead. How dare this creature do this, that power she holds should be his.

“You… I’m done with you! You pathetic pony, I’m going to break you the same as Larkon!” Karkona howled and ran at Rainbow Dash in a frenzy.

That was the wrong thing to say. Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed in anger as Karkona ran at her, she blasted off from the ground with a yell of her own and flew right at him in a repeat of their very first clash. His trunk and her hoof collided and created another shockwave, but this time they didn’t let themselves be knocked back by it. Both of them grit their teeth and went for another attack, and another, and another, creating shockwaves each time as they hit each other with their full strength.

Dozens of times this happened while the other mammoths watched, having to cover their faces when each shockwave reached them. Punches and swings from the two battlers kept on coming with no pause in-between them. It was an all out brawl now. The pegasus versus the mammoth in a competition of pure strength.

“Give up! I am the strongest!” Karkona shouted at her between swings of his trunk.

“No! I can’t give up, not just for Larkon but for everyone, I’m not losing to you!” Rainbow Dash responded. “You think you’re so tough? You’re not stronger than me and you’ll never get me to stop!” She pulled her hoof back and socked his trunk away from her.

“Grr!” Karkona was trembling in anger. “Strong? I’ll show you strong!”

He reared up on his back legs and raised his trunk high before bringing it down with as much force he could muster while loudly trumpeting at the same time. Rainbow Dash raised her hooves up and again caught it right as it came down on her, though the force of it still bashed her to the ground at first. Karkona looked down at her as she trembled there, holding his trunk on her shoulder beside her head in a death grip.

“I. Am. Stronger than you,” Rainbow Dash grinned at him. “It’s not just about how hard you can hit. It’s about my will, my spirit, my friendships with everyone. All of that makes me stronger than you, Karkona.”

She flapped her wings and carried his trunk up, pulling on it until she was trying to lift him off the ground.

But Karkona dug his feet in and pulled right back, not budging. He glared right back up at her. “You think you can lift me?”

“Hrgh!” Dash didn’t respond, she just gripped him even harder and flapped her wings as strongly as she had ever flapped them in her life. Every ounce of strength in her body was going into this. She felt sweat beginning to pour down her head and a vein bulge in her neck while her heart and lungs worked overtime to achieve the incredible feat of lifting Karkona while he did everything to remain on the ground.

“Give up!” He tried to yank his trunk back but he found that this time he couldn’t move it at all. With worry crossing his face for the first time he tried to take a step back and realized he couldn’t do that either. This battle of tug-of-war had him stretched taut and Rainbow Dash was still trying to fly away with him.

“Ahhhhhh!” Rainbow Dash yelled as the power from the Sacred Spring coursed through her veins, muscles, and bones, the force she was exerting on herself would surely leave her a sore and bedridden mess the following day but that didn’t matter. It was all about the here and now.

And then the unthinkable truly did happen.

Karkona’s eyes widened in shock as he felt his front legs lift from the ground. He tried to stop it but all his front legs could do now was paddle at empty air as Rainbow Dash lifted him more and more. His army watched on as their jaws dropped, seeing Rainbow Dash climb higher in the air and pull Karkona up along with her by the trunk.

“Stooop!” Karkona shouted, putting all the weight he could into keeping himself on the ground. For the first time in perhaps in his entire life he was afraid.

“HAAAAH!” Rainbow Dash made one final extra strong flap of her wings and pulled. The massive bulk of Karkona was lifted completely off the ground and she soared into the air like an unchained dragon.

“Ahh!” Karkona screamed in terror and flailed about helplessly as Rainbow Dash took him higher,

She reached a hundred feet into the air and stopped. For a given meaning of the word stopped. Instead of going higher she yanked Karkona’s trunk over her head and spun, swinging his huge body above her head like a lasso. Karkona was completely helpless, stretched from his trunk with his legs kicking about in the air and the centrifugal force of Rainbow Dash’s spinning keeping him from being able to do anything.

“Put me down! Please!” Karkona begged.

“So you don’t like being tormented? You don’t like being afraid?” Rainbow Dash furrowed her eyebrows and yelled at him. “Well too bad!”

His other cries fell on deaf ears and she swung him around harder and harder, eventually making Karkona spin so fast he looked like a blur. Feeling that this was the most she could do—Rainbow Dash decided to end this fight. With one final swing she pulled him up and over her head while diving low towards the ground.

“This is it, Karkona! You’re finished!” She yelled and threw him as hard as she could towards the ground.

He didn’t even have the time or energy to scream in terror. He was flung so fast and so powerfully that it created another shockwave in the air when Rainbow Dash released him and he went plummeting towards the ground. His dark body impacted the ground with such force that it sent fissures hundreds of feet in every direction through solid rock and knocked his entire army to the ground from the earthquake. After the dust cleared, Karkona was seemingly completely unmoving in his crater from above where Rainbow Dash could see—she herself panting in exhaustion. But it was done, the mammoth was defeated.

One Last Little Problem

Rainbow Dash was breathing hard as she slowly flew down to the crater Karkona had made when he hit the ground. It wasn’t the most tired she had been in her life but it was up there. He had landed on his back and was now stuck halfway in the ground with his legs shooting straight up like they were petrified while his trunk hung limply from his face. Rainbow Dash walked over and got a closer look at his eyes. Totally white. They had rolled back into his head, showing how completely unconscious he was. In fact the only sign that he was still alive was a very faint movement from his chest showing he was still breathing. Honestly though, Twilight, Fluttershy, some of the others too, might’ve been mad at her but Rainbow wasn’t sure she would care too much if he wasn’t breathing. She only hoped he had been exaggerating about what he said he did to Larkon.

She looked deep at his unconscious face and then over to the army he had brought with him. They were picking themselves up while Murrank and those other guys she had fought were still out cold too. “Okay, so now what do I do?”

“We can take care of him from here.”

Rainbow Dash looked behind her to see Ollaron and the other Sages walking over the craggy ground towards her and the downed Karkona. She raised an eyebrow at them.

“What do you mean?”

Ollaron walked right up to Karkona and laid his trunk across the would-be-king’s forehead. “This one… darkness consumes him. We could all tell his heart was pitch black when speaking to him.”

“So what about it? I could’ve told you that,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

“We will take Karkona back to our shrine and imprison him in the darkness beneath it. There he will stay until he is purified of his evil,” Ollaron said.

Rainbow Dash glanced at Karkona and grimaced. “Might take a while.”

“Time is something we have in abundance,” Nillse said.

“Right,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “I still don’t get it though… what do you mean by purified?”

This time it was Ollaron’s turn to shrug. “Call it meditation, or reflection, or even retribution if you will, but the mystical properties of the Sacred Spring have infused and permeated everything around here. Deep in the darkness of the shrine, Karkona will be all alone, unable to see, hear, or feel anything. All he will have with him is his thoughts and all he will be able to do is think. Until such a time comes when he reaches tranquility and inner peace he will never be able to leave that inner sanctum.”

“Then it’s gonna take even longer than I thought for him,” Rainbow Dash grimaced. But she sighed in relief too and wiped some of the sweat from her brow with her wing. “But it’s your guys’s call and everything, he’s a mammoth like you.”

“Thank you, you continue to do us a great favor,” Nillse said.

“That leaves the question of the rest of them though,” Damark said and pointed with his trunk towards the entrance of the Sacred Spring’s enclave.

Rainbow Dash followed where he was pointing and saw Karkona’s army standing there at a complete loss. Some of them looked angry, others just afraid, and all of them still had their weapons. Their big leader was defeated but they were still a threat if they chose to be. Rainbow Dash however felt absolutely no fear or worry when she looked at them, they were just dumb thugs and she’d deal with them.

“You can leave them to me, I’ll take care of it,” Rainbow told them.

“I trust you,” Ollaron said and looked back at his fellow Sages. “Come, help me bring this one back to the shrine.”

Ollaron and the others went to pick Karkona up and out of his crater, he was firmly wedged in but they eventually managed to make him budge and pull him out, still totally unconscious. Ollaron and Damark carried him between them, propped up on their shoulders while Zemara and Nillse dusted him off. However his army saw them doing this and some of them began to stomp forward across the broken ground to stop them from taking Karkona wherever it was they were going.

“Stop! Where are you taking Karkona?!” One of the more courageous thugs demanded.

But Rainbow Dash flew between him and the Sages, getting him and the rest of the army to stop cold in their tracks while Karkona continued to be taken towards the shrine.

“That’s as far as you go,” Rainbow Dash said to them. “Unless you want to try your luck against me?”

She watched as the fight left their faces, clearly none of them willing to defy her. Rainbow Dash slowly looked up and down their ranks with a firm frown on her face. She wanted them to see how serious she was and watch as Karkona continued to leave their grasps. The question was though, what did she do with them? She said she would handle it and she meant it and these guys were just as complicit in all of this as Karkona was… she couldn’t just let things go.

“Karkona’s never going to cause problems for mammoths ever again. It’s over. You’re never getting the power of the Sacred Spring either. It’s all over, okay?” Rainbow Dash said to them, threatening any to interrupt her with a harsh glare. “So here’s what’s going to happen; you’re going to throw down all your weapons and armor, get those four guys who are still knocked out, and then you’re going to leave.”

“But-” the same mammoth tried to speak up before Rainbow Dash sharply lifted up her hoof and cut him off.

“And by leave I don’t mean “Walk back to the city”. I mean leave.” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at them. “You’re never bothering that city or the mammoths that live there again either.”

“But where will we go?” Another mammoth asked her, fear evident in his voice.

“I don’t know and to be honest I don’t really care. That’s your problem. So hurry up and get rid of these weapons and then head off somewhere else through the mountains. I’m going to check to make sure that none of you try going back to the city.”

And so it was that the hundreds of mammoths who had followed Karkona dropped their spears, hammers, axes, flails, armor, shields and so forth and were left to despondently wander out of the Sacred Spring and soon off the trail and elsewhere into the mountains. Murrank, Alok, and the other two unconscious mammoths were carried off by some others as well. Some of them prepared to eke out a living in this mountain range while others were thinking of crossing it and going somewhere new entirely. Either way, none were going to disobey the commands and threat of Rainbow Dash. Not after she had defeated Karkona and was greater than any mammoth. The threat they posed to their fellow mammoths was now gone and it would go a long way to bringing true peace to the city of mammoths.

Rainbow Dash silently stood there as she watched them the entire time and when the last mammoth shamefully marched out of the Sacred Spring she looked over just in time to see the four Sages carrying Karkona into the shadowed entrance of their shrine. It was done. She’d have to look over things just as she promised but for now?

With a groan of relief she flopped over onto her back and stared up at the sky. “Finally.”

She couldn’t quite take a nap with everything she needed to do, but a moment of rest was sorely needed and deserved. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and breathed in and out, letting her chest rise and fall in slow motions. She kept like that for a moment longer until a whistling sound reached her ears. Her brow furrowed and her ears twitched, wondering what that sound was.

“Huh?” Rainbow Dash opened up her eyes and looked just in time for the whistling sound to grow louder and an object falling from the sky at great speed smash into the ground a short distance away from her.

“What the?!” She jumped up, startled, and hovered in the air away from it while looking at the newly formed smoking crater.

At first she only heard the sound of crumbling rock and pebbles scattering about but then came the sound of hooves clattering against the ground and a shadowy figure grew from inside the smoke. “Hehehehe, hahahaha...” manic laughter came from the figure as it stepped forward and out of the smoke.

A large pegasus with a beaten up blue coat and a white and black mane that was frayed and shot out all across his head like it had been combed with a lawnmower.

Blizzard had seen better days.

“Oh come on!” Rainbow Dash yelled and threw out her hooves in pure annoyance. “Again? You’re still chasing me?”

His eyes were just as crazed as his laughter as he stared down Rainbow Dash and smiled. “Finally, yes finally I’ve found you again...”

Two more figures then came out of the sky much more gently, landing behind Blizzard and staring down Dash. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at the other old nemeses she recognized: Former Captains East and West Wind.

“So you guys are with him too this time?” She said to the purple twins.

“Indeed,” West Wind said.

“And we’ve been searching for you for quite a while,” East Wind said.

Blizzard’s face twisted down into an angry grimace as he looked back at this loyal followers. “The two of you stay back! She’s mine, just like I’ve always said!”

“Yes sir,” they replied in unison and nodded. When Blizzard took his attention away from them though they gave each other nervous looks. Seems they were aware of Blizzard’s vastly deteriorated mental state.

But Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes at all of it anyways. “Dude, I can’t even tell you how much way more important stuff I have to do right now. Do you even know how little I’ve thought about you since I last saw you? I don’t care about your vendetta or anything.”

“Well I care about defeating you! I must destroy you for the sake of the Empire!” Blizzard yelled.

Rainbow Dash shook her head and turned to the side, motioning that she was going to leave. “Just go away, Blizzard. I’ve got stuff to do that actually matters.”

“Raaargh!” Blizzard screamed and flew at her. He was going to try and tackle her out of the air with his superior size and strength.

Rainbow just turned her head with coldly apathetic eyes towards him and lifted her hoof up. Blizzard wasn’t even paying attention to anything she was doing, he was tunnel-visioned on taking her down and crushing her with his own powerful hooves and wings. Once he was at her he began to close his front legs around her body—and Rainbow Dash’s hoof smashed across his jaw and sent him flying down to the ground. He bounced off the ground once before tumbling to a stop and groaning in pain at the power of her blow.

“C-Commander?!” East and West Wind yelled, flying over to him.

“Sorry, but you’re not going to beat me today,” Rainbow said as she lowered herself to the ground and yawned.

Blizzard unsteadily rose to his hooves, his eyes were glassy with shock and his knees were shaking. “W-What just happened...” He lifted his head and looked towards Rainbow Dash. “What did you just do? You aren’t that strong… your punches could never hurt me...”

Rainbow Dash grinned and curled up her front leg that she had hit him with a couple of time. “I’ve been doing more push-ups lately.”

“Aaaarghhh!” Blizzard yelled in frustration and threw East and West Wind aside before charging at Rainbow Dash again. This time when he got to her he threw out his wing to club her with it, the same thing he had done to knock her out when they first met long ago.

Without a word and not even moving her legs, Rainbow Dash lifted up her own wing and blocked his. Blizzard’s wing buckled and folded against Rainbow Dash’s and it wasn’t even able to make her budge in the slightest. He was shocked, his jaw dropping at how his wing was like a piece of tissue paper trying to snap a metal beam.

“T-This is impossible!” East Wind said as he and his brother watched.

“Blizzard’s wings can shatter boulders but they’re bending against her wing...” West Wind said.

Rainbow Dash then shoved his wing away with her own in an effortless display of power. He stumbled from the sudden push and couldn’t react as Rainbow Dash spun around and kicked him hard in the chest. Sending him flying backwards as he yelped in pain and eventually collided with the cliff wall that enclosed the Sacred Spring.

He created an indent in the rock and groaned as he fell to the ground, his limbs all felt limp and weak and his body screamed at him in pain from the blows Rainbow Dash had dealt him. It was impossible. How was she stronger than him? He was Commander Blizzard!

“Something is wrong… this isn’t how things should be going...” Blizzard protested to himself as he forced himself up. “I refuse to accept this! There’s no way this can be happening!”

Despite the pain he flapped his wings and flew at full speed towards Rainbow Dash. Blizzard was nothing if not persistent. But Rainbow Dash was absolutely done with him. She wasn’t in the mood to play around with or sate his petty desires for revenge. And now she had the power to do what she had always wanted to do to him in the first place. So as Blizzard wildly flew at her in a desperate attempt to defeat her, Rainbow Dash merely made a wing assisted hop into the air and spun, bringing a back leg down onto the top of his skull right as he reached her and kicking him into the ground with the same kind of force she had used to fight Karkona. Blizzard collided head first with the ground and even Rainbow winced as she saw his head bounce off the rock while his body collapsed like a rag doll.

“Six knockouts, one day,” Rainbow said to herself as she then walked around and grabbed Blizzard’s tail. Her eyes turned to the stunned East and West Wind. “Hey you two, when this guy wakes up tell him to leave me alone. Now go fetch.” She lifted Blizzard up and spun around like a tornado before letting him go and throwing him clear out of the Sacred Spring and into the mountains to the south.

“C-Commander!” East Wind yelled and immediately flew after the diminishing speck of Blizzard.

West Wind gawked in disbelief, throwing glances back and forth between Rainbow Dash and Blizzard before he too blasted off after his brother.

Rainbow Dash sighed in annoyance and shook her head. “Geez, I wanted to relax for a minute and this is what I get? Whatever—gotta get back to the city now. Please be okay, Larkon.”

No Strings Attached

Two days after leaving, Rainbow Dash flew over a frozen landscape… again. After leaving the mammoth city she had spent so much time in, this was a sight she hadn’t really seen in a long time. Nothing but rolling hills of snow were beneath her, with freezing winds blowing across them. She had entered yet another desolate area of the True North.

And she had to wonder if her biggest adventures were already behind her.

I mean just thinking about it; what she had done in the mammoth city and then in the Eternal Pegasus Empire before that, could anything else compare? She really, really, hoped so. It was difficult to conceive of fighting someone even stronger than Karkona though, since his strength and toughness even surpassed Blizzard’s by a wide margin. What kinds of other monsters and villains were up here for her? There had to be something grand again, another big adventure that would leave her fully satisfied. And if she still wasn’t she’d keep going and going until she was.

It wasn’t even the fights that made her think she might have had her greatest moments already either. She completely changed around an ancient civilzation, she turned those pegasi’s lives on their heads. And then when she got to the mammoths she did the exact opposite but it was just as important to keep them from going back down the wrong path. Even her little tryst in the huge storm was a relatively big deal.

So what more was there up in the True North?

“Maybe… do I just go home?” Dash thought for a moment, slowing down and looking back over her shoulder. She had already been heading north since leaving the mammoths but it wouldn’t take long to go back south past the city. But did she really want to? Defeating Karkona in battle definitely left her way more satisfied than how she beat Blizzard—and then she got to knock his block off for real right after too. It certainly couldn’t be denied that she had already had an epic adventure.

Rainbow Dash slowly grinned and turned to look back north. “Nope, it’s been fun but it still hasn’t been enough for me. I’m still going!”

Her mind made up, she flapped her wings hard and zoomed off towards the horizon and whatever her next destination might be.

The following morning brought her to a new world entirely.

Ice Valley. She had flown past some mountains after waking and came out into a huge country of ice and stone canyons that split the ground for miles upon miles in every direction. Some of the canyons were hundred of feet wide while others only a few dozen across. It was all part of a mountain range that in sheer size was probably only rivaled by the Yaket Range to the south.

The city known as Ice Valley was built into the massive chasms of the glaciers and mountains, showing Rainbow Dash a kind of city unlike any other she had seen so far in her life. The name though… she had had the luck of flying past a mountain road directly south of the city proper with a huge billboard on it that read the city’s name, and something about that name was familiar but she couldn’t remember where she had heard it.

“Meh, whatever.” Rainbow Dash shrugged and flew over the city, taking in all the sights she could.

It looked like in the walls of the canyons there were homes, apartments, whatever you want to call them, built right in and going up and down from the very bottom to the very top. On the surface above the canyons there were a lot of buildings too and she even saw a number that lied at the bottom floor of some canyons. When they weren’t just completely covered in ice that is. The structures all had a modern look to them, metal and cement being the primary building material, and it reminded her a lot of Manehattan and—less kindly—Klugetown. It just seemed to stretch on and on with no planning too. One canyon would lead into another, which would have several more branching canyons and crevices, and all the walls were just as covered in levels of apartments and offices as anywhere else in the sprawling city. Lots of bridges, catwalks, ropeways, and wires stretched the distance between the sides of the canyon at all levels to allow easy travel from any spot to another.

“How am I even going to find or keep track of anything in this place?” Dash asked herself.

She eventually came to a spot where no mountains stood directly north or south of the canyon, allowing anyone to freely look out into the great expanses beyond the area Ice Valley was built in. The ground surface in this place was flat and had a lot of buildings on top of it that were bustling with creatures around them. Rainbow Dash shrugged and figured this was as good a place as any to set down and try to find her way around here.

As she got closer she noticed that there weren’t just ponies or any one type of creature wandering around—there was a majority of ponies but there were also griffons, reindeer, snow-colored wolves that reminded Dash of the Frost Wolves, moose, and some guys that looked kind of like short and fat bears. Rainbow Dash didn’t know what they were at all. Either way everyone was peacefully walking or flying around together, something which made her happy to see. So far in the True North she hadn’t seen any places like this where you could find all sorts of different creatures together. It was just like how Equestria was now.

No one really took any extra notice of her coming down either, so they must’ve been used to travelers or thought she was just any random pony who already lived here and was flying in. Thinking about the billboard she thought they probably did get a lot of travelers and saw it as normal. And were likely just as welcoming.

Rainbow Dash plopped down on a wide cross-street between a number of buildings on the south side of the canyon. Her hooves clacked against the metal surface that covered the ground—no natural stone or dirt streets here, it looked to all be covered with a thin sheet of blue steel.

“Nice,” Rainbow said as she looked around. The creatures that lived here were going every which way and that up and down the streets and Dash had no idea which direction to go in first.

Especially since she didn’t even really know where she wanted to go first or what she was even looking for. All the other places she had been to so far in the True North she had been guided through at the beginning and had someone around to tell her about the place. Not so with Ice Valley. The total freedom and lack of knowledge made it daunting with how big and crazy the place was. Who did she talk to? What did she do? Where did she get a bite to eat?

Actually, that last one was a clear goal, wasn’t it? So she might as well figure it out first.

Rainbow Dash looked around and saw a tan earth pony who was walking kind of slowly and leisurely down the street going east along the canyons. He didn’t look particularly busy so she figured he’d be a good pony to ask for directions and stuff.

“Hey!” She flew over and put a hoof on his shoulder to get his attention and stop him.

The stallion looked surprised and cocked his head at her while the stream of ponies and other creatures continued to go on around them. “Yes? What is it?”

“Sorry to bother you but I’m new here, do you know where I can find someplace to eat? And maybe a place to stay too?” She asked.

“Oh, well I think so,” a small but friendly smile appeared on his face. “So you’re new to Ice Valley? I know it can be a bit confusing here, we always have travelers and tourists coming in and asking for directions.”

“Guilty,” Rainbow Dash grinned.

“Well you’re in a little luck at least. There’s a good hotel on this side of the canyon that also provides food for its lodgers,” he turned around and pointed west. “You keep going down this street and you almost can’t miss it. It’s a blue three-story building with a black roof built on the surface level. There’s a banner that says “Hotel” on it right in front of it too. Since you can fly I think you’ll find it alright, but if you follow the street you just need to remember to take a left at the Wolverine Pub, and then another quick right down Street 11-D. Just pay attention to the signs.”

“Thanks, pal!” Rainbow Dash said and gave a quick wave goodbye.

“Don’t mention it! Have a nice stay,” he replied, and the two went off on their separate ways.

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and flew up a little, not above the buildings but enough to be over the heads of anyone walking. Now she could figure out the layout of the place and where she needed to go while also making sure she could easily talk to anybody. Just like that pony said it was pretty easy for her to follow the way and get to the hotel. The streets all had designations that were up on signposts whenever you got to a corner—and this street led directly to a large building with a crude sign on it called “Wolverinez”. Which Rainbow Dash could only assume made it the Wolverine Pub too.

She had no idea what a wolverine was but she saw a number of those small bear-looking creatures walking into the pub and figured that’s what they were. It was as good a guess as any.

So now she went left and then kept her eyes open for a sign saying 11-D on it, which came up as quickly as the pony said it would. With a grin, Rainbow Dash headed right down that street and with her superior view she saw right down the way to the hotel that pony had described.

“He was right, that was easy! Place better have plenty of rooms though,” Dash said as she sped up her flight a little.

There weren’t as many creatures on this street and the buildings that bordered it looked like small business and offices to her. Most of them all built on top of each other in a type of conformity that the rest of the city didn’t share. The big hotel was at the end of the street after it opened up in a circular roundabout for easy travel and Rainbow Dash spied the white banner with red lettering that said hotel being stood up between two wooden posts. The front doors were open and she saw a few creatures standing around outside them, some going in and out, including a griffon carrying a large suitcase.

Rainbow Dash made it to the end of the street and dropped down to the metal ground again, walking up to the front doors right as the griffon was preparing to take off. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the suitcase he was carrying that was embossed with: Gazoo & Garfunkel's Trinkets And Treasures.

“Not staying here one minute longer,” he grumbled with a frown and didn’t even bother sending Rainbow Dash a glance, just walked by her and when he had the space he unfurled his wings and took off into the sky.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at the receding form of the griffon. “Wonder what his problem was?”

Ignoring that for now she stepped up to the door and walked inside the hotel. The insides were brightly lit and the floors were polished mahogany with purple carpets laid over them, directly in front of her was a desk with a friendly looking unicorn mare sitting behind it and a board for keyrings and another wall taken up by mail slots. To the right of the front desk was a wall taken up by a large bulletin board with all kinds of posters and stuff on it while to the left a hallway led into the interior of the building and a staircase at the back that Rainbow Dash could see. There was also an open lobby to the left of Rainbow Dash with a number of tables and chairs and a few creatures sitting around, she spied two reindeer playing what looked like some variant of chess at one of the tables.

Well she just wanted some food and a place to stay for the day so she walked towards the receptionist.

“Hello!” The receptionist greeted her with a peppy smile. She was a lime green pony with a yellow mane done in two ponytails hanging off the side of her head. “Are you looking for a place to stay?”

“Yep, and some food too,” Rainbow Dash replied with just as friendly of a smile.

“Well we offer breakfast and lunch to everyone staying at the hotel, it’s complementary. You’re too late for breakfast but if you book with us right now you’ll be able to have lunch in a few hours,” the receptionist told her.

“Awesome!” Dash’s exuberance soon turned to dismay though when a sudden realization hit her. “Er… I’m guessing that staying in a room here costs money?”

The smile on the receptionist’s face broke and she looked at Rainbow Dash with no small measure of confusion. “Um, yes?”

“Ugh,” Rainbow Dash facehoofed. “I don’t have any money.”

“Oh...”

“Yeah.”

The receptionist got a thoughtful look on her face as she bit her lip and scratched her head. “Well you know, the owner’s a really nice pony, I’m sure they’ll let you stay if you do some work or something to help around the hotel. I bet some kind of deal can be worked out, I’ll even buzz her in for you.” The receptionist smiled and moved her hoof under the front desk, there must’ve been a button there because Rainbow Dash heard a buzz go off down the hallway right past the front desk.

It sounded like a door she wasn’t able to see earlier opened up and the tell-tale sound of hooves walking over carpet reached their ears. Shortly after an extravagant looking mare rounded the corner, an even look on her face as she saw the receptionist and Rainbow Dash. She was older, possibly older than Rainbow Dash’s mom, with a white coat and a short cherry mane with a wavy style to it. The owner of the hotel wore a golden ball necklace and a face of makeup with a beauty mark below her right eye.

“Yes?” She came to a stop and asked. “I assume your buzzing has to do with this mare here?”

Despite the receptionist saying she was kind, the owner looked fairly stiff to Rainbow Dash. Her mouth was set in a firm line and her eyes regarded Rainbow Dash coolly.

“Mhm, she says she’d like to stay here but she doesn’t have any money...”

“Oh, I see,” the owner glanced over at Dash, who shrugged. Her eyes gave Rainbow Dash a once over but Dash didn’t know what she might be thinking. “And what would your name be?”

Rainbow Dash still managed to grin and put out a hoof in greeting. “It’s Rainbow Dash! Nice to meet you.”

“My name is Bouquet, and likewise.” The owner—Bouguet—now offered up a small smile but didn’t shake the hoof. “I don’t have a problem with providing a room for you, however, you’ll have to work to earn your keep. But you seem quite fit, I assume it won’t be a problem?”

“Heh, no problem at all,” Rainbow Dash unfurled and showed off her wings for emphasis.

Bouquet nodded. “Good.” Her eyes shifted over to the receptionist. “Give her a ground floor room close to the kitchens.”

“Yes ma’am,” the receptionist nodded and turned towards the board with all the keyrings, looking for the type she needed.

“Awesome, this is going pretty good so far,” Dash said to herself.

And she was so caught up in getting a room and eventually getting some food that she never took a second glance at the large wall with all the bulletins and posters tacked up on it. Some of the things on there were advertisements for businesses, or notices of events going on in the city, requests for jobs, other personal listings, etc. But besides those things there were a couple of other specific posters that had also been placed there, one in fact that had only gone up yesterday when a moose of the law had come in and posted it.

A missing person’s poster with a portrait of a robust griffon on it and vibrant red text below him that read:

MISSING: GAZOO

LAST SEEN IN SECTION BLUE LEVEL 3

IF YOU HAVE ANY KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WHEREABOUTS PLEASE CONTACT THE AUTHORITIES

Next to that poster was another, and another, and another… missing, missing, missing.

Someone had just realized she arrived here.

An Ordinary Day in an Ordinary Place

The room she was given was a small single with a bed that didn’t compare in the slightest to how comfortable looking Larkon’s guest bed was. But Rainbow Dash couldn’t really complain considering the situation. Bouquet had told her to set her alarm for early tomorrow morning, where she’d then wake up and have to go help out in the kitchens with breakfast and then do some cleaning around the hotel. Not exactly adventure level stuff but you gotta do what you gotta do.

That was all the near future for now though. With a friendly hoofshake, Bouquet went back to her office and Rainbow Dash went looking through the halls of the hotel for the dining room. The receptionist had said it was still a few hours until then but Dash could at least find out where she’d be eating. After that she planned to head out and explore the city some more. There looked to be all kinds of stuff to check out here, the place was so huge and different it was probably crawling with hidden adventure and excitement.

“I’ll explore this whole place if I have to,” Dash said to herself. “You’re the next leg of my awesome adventure, Ice Valley.”

She had the time and she had the drive, however long it might take her to find something here she wouldn’t leave until she did.

As it turned out though this place was a pretty ordinary city. After leaving the hotel, Rainbow Dash went right over to the edge of the cliff and looked out at the other side. She was standing on an observation deck with a railing and glass bottom that also allowed one to look straight down into the canyon below. Pretty cool if you asked her. She saw a lot of other platforms and ledges at all levels of the canyon from here now too, lots of places to stand and look out or walk to other areas of the wall.

Right now she had her front hooves up on top of the railing and was looking north to the other side of the canyon. There were a few thing she could see over on the surface on the north side that were absent here on the south side, a number of factory looking buildings with smokestacks and a lack of smaller buildings. She had to squint to be sure but she was also pretty sure there were barely any creatures walking out on the streets compared to over here. So if she had to make a guess she’d say that side was more for industry and big businesses than this side was.

There were also a lot of birds she saw flying across the canyon, back and forth between the two sides. She hadn’t noticed that earlier when she first came in but they were all carrying either packages or individual letters. That what counted for the mail and communications around here? Too bad not everyone could have dragonfire on hoof like Twilight did. Now that she thought about it that was probably something she never really gave enough credit to Spike for…

She took her hooves off the railing and stepped back to look straight down through the glass at the bottom of the canyon. There were a few buildings that looked kind of like factories or workshops too right on the ice and rock down there. She had no idea what they might be for but if she had to guess she would say mining. There were a lot of interlaced walkways down there too so whoever was working could get to pretty much anywhere without having to brave the ice.

“Hm...” Dash hummed to herself in thought. “What should I even do right now?”

She didn’t have any money so she couldn’t really do anything more than look around, and if she went into a store or a pub and the proprietor learned she was broke they probably wouldn’t put up with her presence for long. Flying around until she saw something cool might have actually been her best choice. Or until she found an actual map of this city or a place like a palace or something where whoever the leaders of Ice Valley were, then she could probably learn all she needed to about the city.

Although just judging by how everything else was up here she doubted anyone would really care about her or where she was from. It just didn’t seem like as big a deal to a place like Ice Valley as it was for places like the Empire or the mammoth city. So she probably wasn’t getting any special treatment and wouldn’t be treated with much fanfare.

But that was okay.

It was good having something a little different going on and just acting from the position of a regular pony for a while. She could still find adventure by snooping about and having fun on her own, she was sure of it. Instead of being the center of attention and the big new thing in the world at Ice Valley she’d just be like any other creature.

It was… okay.

“Ugh,” Dash’s head hung low. “But I like being the center of attention.”

She walked off the viewing platform and back onto the street that ran parallel to the edge of the cliff. For now she could at least travel up and down it and probably see all kinds of stuff here in Ice Valley. At the moment there were a number of other creatures sharing the road or just “sightseeing” like Dash had been. Including a young griffon couple that was using the viewing platform as a romantic date spot. Rarity probably would’ve thought it had quite the view for that sort of thing too but romance was so far out of Dash’s mind right now she couldn’t even begin to care.

Rainbow Dash shrugged and trotted on down the street, westward. “Whatever, I’ll keep going until I can’t anymore. There’s probably some more stuff to see out here. Knowing my luck I’ll find someone or something crazy and that’ll be it.”

She grinned to herself, she had been right so far on her journey when it came to awesome adventures and civilizations being right around the corner. She was probably right about this too. Rainbow Dash was the type of pony where even if she didn’t go out of the way to find something (which she certainly planned to) it would end up finding her instead. Cause that’s just what it was like to be special. So special you save the world again and again.

“Not just the surface I can check but I should fly down and see if it really is just homes built into the walls or anything else,” Dash absently said as she walked.

A glance at the buildings besides the street showed her a veterinarian, a glassware shop, a furniture store, and a salon all in short order.

A salon… Rainbow Dash thought and flipped the braid her mane was still kept in thanks to Shibu. Despite really, really, wanting to go back to her old casual style of not having a style she figured she could at least keep her mane in the braid until something messed it up or she took a visit to a spa. Shibu would be happy if Rainbow Dash kept it for as long as possible.

Speaking of spas she kept her eyes open for any of those too. A hooficure would be pretty nice…

One of the bigger buildings alongside the street here was a big restaurant with tall windows that faced the canyon and looked totally filled up with customers on the inside. Rainbow Dash slowed down as she walked by it to peek in and was rewarded with the sight of extravagant dishes of all sorts being carried out by waiters and waitresses and happily gobbled up by all the ponies, reindeer, griffons, and more inside. The picture of a pleasant and ordinary city. More such buildings and places of business stretched on the top of the canyon right up until the ground became uneven and the mountains started up again. But Rainbow Dash knew there were still more canyons and crevices all over in the mountains that made up Ice Valley, she doubted the city stopped entirely after this part ended.

Did she fly off to a completely different section and canyon once she made it to the end of this street? Or could she save that for tomorrow and just more thoroughly explore and wander about this area today? She had plenty of time after all.

“I’ve got lunch to get back to in a couple hours… I’ll just stick around here,” Rainbow decided.

There was a reindeer walking unhurried down the street coming from the opposite direction as Rainbow Dash, he had a smile on his face and was looking out across the canyon. This may have been her first opportunity to really talk to a reindeer and he seemed friendly so Dash decided to ask him some questions. He was a bit taller than the average pony stallion with some extra fluff around his neck and pointy antlers with a lot of different little branches.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” Dash asked as she walked right up to him, holding up a wing to get his attention and stop him.

His head swung over to look at her, a momentary look of surprise on his face before he smiled. “Of course, do you need something?”

“Kind of, I’m not from around here and I was wondering if there was anything special to really do or see in Ice Valley,” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck while she talked. “You a local?”

The reindeer nodded. “I am indeed, my name is Tol’Vai. And you are?” He held out a hoof.

“Rainbow Dash, nice to meet you,” she shook his hoof.

“Nice to meet you as well, fair Rainbow Dash,” he said and actually bowed to her.

She had no idea if that was a reindeer thing or if he was just really chivalrous or something. Either way she raised an eyebrow and scratched her head. “Uhh, thanks.”

He stood up from his bow and cleared his throat. “Ehem, and to answer your other questions I do know a few things about Ice Valley that a tourist may be interested in. As far as sightseeing and landmarks go we have the Three Pillars in the center of the city, which would be east a bit from here, they are three huge stone pillars that shoot up straight from the ice at the bottom of the canyon. Our archaeologists say they’re not a natural formation and there are carvings in them dated thousands of years old, it’s a popular attraction. And then on the far west side of the city there’s our frozen waterfall that comes down from the mountains, it’s quite beautiful.”

Dash nodded along but there was other kinds of stuff she hoped he knew about too. “That’s cool and all but do you know about anything a little more exciting out here? Like what’s Ice Valley got for entertainment?”

“Ah, I see your tastes for what is fun lie in the more “active” realm of things,” Tol’Vai rubbed a hoof under his chin. “Well there is plenty of that for you here in Ice Valley too. We have ice hockey games, skating rinks, concerts—in fact a large concert hall in one of the eastern canyons is putting on a performance in just a few days. There will even be fireworks after that.” Tol’Vai shrugged. “There’s always something going on whether it’s a show or a sports game.”

“Thanks!” Dash told him. Now she at least knew there was stuff to check out.

But it really was so ordinary. Maybe there was some adventure lurking somewhere here but for the most part it seemed like her stay here would be a bit of a break compared to what she had gone through before. Fun but not big adventure fun, so she’d likely leave within a week.

“You’re welcome, fair Rainbow Dash.” Tol’Vai said and walked by her with a curt nod.

Rainbow Dash stood on the street thinking for a second and then shrugged. “Eh, whatever, I’ll just check out around here some more and then go look for the cool stuff he talked about after lunch.” She cracked her neck and kept walking west, checking out the buildings and canyon as she walked.

Someone was walking to where she was.

Full Heart

The street ended well before the mountains began. It simply hit a dead end with a metal wall that looked like it stretched south to the limits of all the buildings up here on the surface level of the canyon. Beyond the wall the ground would slowly begin to slope up and become much more uneven, so building anything beyond it was just impractical. But there was something waiting for her at the end of the road; another viewing platform.

This one was a little different, still had the same semi-circle shape that jutted out over the top of the canyon along with another safety railing, but there was no glass bottom for looking down, instead it was just cement. When she peeked over the railing instead it seemed like there was nothing to look at down there anyways. Probably because of the seclusion of this platform there weren’t any other creatures currently on it, Rainbow Dash had seen fewer and fewer others walking down the street the closer she got to the end and the buildings thinned out a little too. This part of the city wasn’t near as lively as it was closer to the hotel.

Rainbow Dash flapped her gums as she stood at the edge of the platform and looked across the canyon some more. A sight she had already gotten very used to.

“Probably about time for lunch, I should start heading back in a minute.”

And then from there she was going to fly down east to some of the other canyons and rifts in the ice and rock up here, looking for that fun stuff Tol’Vai told her about. And if she ever got bored? Well she could just up and leave after doing some work at the hotel to pay off the “free” room. It’s not like she had hit the north pole yet or anything, there was undoubtedly still a ton of stuff in the True North to go.

Rainbow Dash smiled and took a big stretch, getting ready to fly back to her hotel. “Yeah, that’s what I’ll do while I’m here.”

“Hi!”

Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up at the happy voice and she turned around to see a pony standing at the street right in front of the viewing platform. She was an earth pony mare, hot pink coat, with a sparkly and almost translucent white mane and tail. Her mane was done in a bob cut that perfectly framed her face and showed off her large blue eyes and the small close-lipped smile she was wearing on her face. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at the unassuming but friendly looking pony, was she a polite local that had come down this way too?

“Uh, hi?” Rainbow Dash said back to her.

The mare just stood there for a minute and stared at her, only blinking once or twice and not saying anything else. Rainbow Dash was quickly growing impatient.

“Can I help you?” She raised an eyebrow at the mare.

“I’m just-” the pink mare said in a light, singsong, voice. “Are you really just a normal pony?”

“Huh?” Dash frowned and did a 360 to show herself off to the strange pony. “What’s it look like to you?”

The pony tilted her head slightly as she kept smiling. “You’re just so much brighter and warmer than anything I’ve ever seen before. The feeling you give off… it’s amazing. You’re not like any other pony I’ve met in my whole life.”

Rainbow Dash grinned and puffed out her chest, her pride and ego getting to her immediately. “Well yeah, of course you’ve never met a pony like me before, I’m awesome! Probably the most awesome pony in the world!” She laughed at her own boasting. “Heh, sorry for getting a little carried away, but it’s true.”

“I can tell,” the pony nodded eagerly. “You’re even brighter and warmer than the sun! So who are you?”

“Glad you asked!” Rainbow Dash spread her wings and brought up a hoof to thump her chest. “Name’s Rainbow Dash, I’ve come up here all the way from Equestria if you’ve heard about it. So what’s your name?”

The mare’s smile grew a little wider and she turned so her side was facing Rainbow Dash, looking back at and lifting a hoof to point at her Cutie Mark on her flank. It was a large red heart outlined in black. “You see my Cutie Mark? I was born with it, and my parents decided to name me Full Heart because of that.” Her blue eyes flickered back to Rainbow Dash. “But as I grew older my parents started calling me Heartless instead. So that’s what I go by now.”

“Okaaaay.” Rainbow Dash replied and scratched her head. Seemed kind of weird to her but whatever. “Well it was nice meeting you but I’ve gotta get back to my hotel and-”

“Your life.”

“What?” Rainbow questioned again as Heartless cut her off, the pink pony still standing in front of her.

Heartless took a step forward onto the viewing platform. “Your life. It’s so strong that it drowns out everything else. I’ve felt it calling to me for so long and now you’re finally here. I was waiting, and waiting, watching you as you made your way closer to me. I had no idea what you were but now I’ve finally met face to face with you.”

“Uhh, okay? I don’t get it but good for you,” Dash said as she took a step back.

Heartless took a few steps closer, always smiling as she got right in front of Rainbow Dash. “I need it. Thank you for coming to me, your life will be unlike any I’ve felt before, I know it.”

She lifted up a hoof and reached out to touch Rainbow Dash’s cheek.

Rainbow Dash was about to ask what she was doing and pull away from the pink hoof when it grazed against her. It was so brief. It was barely a touch at all. And at the same time she felt all her energy and strength leave her body—like it was sucked out right through that pink hoof.

Dash sharply inhaled and swatted Heartless’s hoof away, stumbling backwards and collapsing onto the cement floor of the platform. Her body was screaming at her as if she just sprinted a marathon or had gone through the hardest workout of her life. She had gone pale and a cold sweat had started to break out all over her.

“W-What happened? What did you do?” Dash struggled to speak and breathe as she fought her way back to her hooves.

Heartless meanwhile had closed her eyes and had a look of utter bliss on her face. “I knew it. I knew it, so warm, so filling like nothing else.” She sighed and opened her eyes to look down at Rainbow Dash. “And you’re still so strong. Most ponies are dead after a single touch or can barely move. But not you, you’re as special and full of life as I thought you were, Rainbow Dash.”

The smiling pink pony took another step towards Rainbow Dash. “But it’s not enough, I want everything you have. I want your entire life, Rainbow Dash.”

She reached out her hoof to Rainbow Dash again and the pegasus’ eyes widened in fear.

“Get away from me!” Rainbow Dash shouted and extended her wings, with a single powerful flap she shot up off the viewing platform like a rocket, going high into the air before using another powerful burst to shoot off north at high speed with a sonic boom erupting from where she left.

Heartless blinked at the rainbow trail left behind and lowered her hoof. “Incredible. Just incredible. You’re so amazing, Rainbow Dash, to think that you could even still do something like that too. That warm, bright life of yours is overflowing with strength and vitality. I can’t wait to feel more of it.” She smiled and held her hoof close to her chest.

Then just as Rainbow Dash had left through the sky and went north, something else came down from the sky to the south and landed right behind Heartless.

Something heavy that shook the viewing platform she was standing on.

With a now blank look on her face she turned around and spotted a large but very haggard and injured looking pegasus. Two more average sized pegasi were coming down behind him.

“You… that pony...” Blizzard wheezed and pointed up at the spot Rainbow Dash had just shot off from. “Are you her friend? What were you talking about?”

Heartless tilted her head as the small smile reappeared on her face. “Who are you?”

“I’m asking the questions here!” Blizzard snarled while behind him East and West Wind landed. “Where did that pony go?! Tell me!” Spit practically flew from his mouth as he yelled his questions. “I must know where she’s gone, Rainbow Dash will be crushed beneath my hooves!”

The smile left her face.

“You can’t do that,” Heartless said to him.

Blizzard’s jaw clenched and his pupils shrank in anger while East and West Wind both gulped. “So you are her friend. Protecting her then? I’ll have you know that I won’t hesitate to put a pitiful mare like you-”

He never finished that sentence as Heartless calmly walked up to him and tapped him on the chest. Blizzard gasped and collapsed to the ground, unable to speak and losing the sensation in his limbs at the same time. But still alive and cognizant enough to stare up in shock at the little earth pony mare who had done this to him. East and West Wind were both confused and startled, backing away from the two others on reflex.

“You’re strong too,” Heartless said as the smile returned to her face. “But your life is nothing like hers.”

She reached down and Blizzard could do nothing but watch as she touched him right on the forehead, his body seized up, his tongue caught in his throat, and his eyes rolled back into his head.

And then he was still. A motionless body lying on the platform that was only seconds ago so full of life.

“C-Commander?” West Wind finally managed to squeak out as he and his brother looked at their now deceased leader.

Heartless completely ignored the two of them and the now lifeless body of Blizzard, turning back around she looked back up to where Rainbow Dash had flown off to and smiled wider. “I get it now. I understand. Even such a strong and warm life like his felt like nothing after I touched you, Rainbow Dash. Nothing will ever feel the same again—you’re the only one, it has to be you.” She walked to the railing and put her front hooves up on top of it. “Rainbow Dash, I’m coming for you.”

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho9rZjlsyYY

Five day break.

And Yet Further North

Rainbow Dash crashed into the snow far north of Ice Valley, creating a huge trench in the drift she “landed” on. Pulling her head out of the pillowy whiteness she took a deep breath of air and tried to calm her pounding heart. Her body was hot and the reaction to hitting the cold snow had sent her into a bit of shock. Not helped by the fact she was still confused and tired after her ordeal back at Ice Valley that she had just sped away from without thinking. It was on total reflex—she just had to get away from that pony as fast possible.

Now at least she could try to rest and focus, she didn’t know how many miles she had flown in that burst but she couldn’t even see the mountains of Ice Valley behind her. It was all gobbled up by wind and clouds. Rainbow Dash pulled herself entirely out of the deep gash she had torn in the snow and took a few steps forward.

Out in front of her just looked like more of the same when it came to the True North, except it somehow seemed more barren at the same time too. The ground not covered by snow was grey and rocky with only the sparse dead bush or tree around. No signs of life whatsoever. And despite the cold the snow was wetter than it should normally be, almost more like sleet. It gave things an unwelcoming and ugly look more akin to a swamp of snow than a desert.

At least she could fly.

That pony—Heartless—had made her so tired when she touched Rainbow, but Rainbow Dash always knew she had energy to spare. It wasn’t just about being fit, it was about willpower and strength of spirit. And no one beat Rainbow Dash when it came to that. She didn’t know how Heartless did that or what it was but it would take way more than that to wear Rainbow out and keep her down. She burned with enough life in her to make up for a hundred other ponies.

And yet as much as she didn’t want to admit it, that had made her afraid. When Heartless touched her it forced such a reflexive and primal fear out of her. And the threat of doing it again forced Rainbow Dash to turn tail and run without even thinking about it.

She bit her lip and frowned. “I’m not some scaredy-cat. I’m never running away from something like that again… she did not scare me.” She looked back over her shoulder at the direction of Ice Valley and paused for a second. “Never seeing you again anyways.”

Harsh winds blew all around her as Rainbow Dash flew through this dead zone of the north. The possible adventures in Ice Valley all had to be aborted and forgotten, she could only keep going north now and look for something else. The flight was proving more problematic than the one from the mammoth city to Ice Valley had been, worse wind and a strange moisture in the atmosphere at the same time as the intense cold made it like she was flying through an ice shower.

The landscape that she could see was even worse on the eyes than what she was used to up here, with its dead look and windswept ground and the odd starlight glow that was caused by the light of the sun being blocked by clouds and refracted by all the moisture. It cast a whitish and blue glow over everything because of that. Add that with the foggy wind and Rainbow Dash felt like she was going through a haunted wasteland. It was unnerving after what she had just gone through earlier today. Almost like the world and the weather itself was against her, maybe knocking her down for her hubris and trying to either get her to fly back to Equestria or instill more fear in her that she was adamantly denying she ever felt.

Of course there was something else going on with her that was about to take her mind off all that stuff.

Her stomach grumbled.

“Ugh, I’m so hungry! I didn’t get to eat anything.”

As robust as she was she still needed food. And preferably a lot of it. It had been a while since she had really had a bite to eat and if she didn’t get some grub in her soon it could be pretty bad. Finding any kind of food was now her biggest priority.

Problem was she was in yet another part of the True North that was so desolate she doubted there would be anything in it for her to eat. She could eat snow but honestly the dirty and sleet-like snow that was all around her made her uncomfortable. She felt like she’d get sick if she tried eating it. So unless she randomly stumbled on something like another oasis or a hidden city… it wasn’t looking too good. Not that she would ever give up! No way! Rainbow had pulled through everything—and things way worse than this—so far on her adventure. It was not ending thanks to hunger.

“I’ll find something soon, there has to be more stuff out here,” she said to herself.

And while Rainbow Dash was no expert on the subject she knew that there was still a good deal of distance before she reached the north pole and couldn’t actually go north anymore. With how much other stuff she had stumbled upon up here it was pretty reasonable to assume she’d find some more stuff if she just kept flying. So with all the energy she had left in her hungry body that’s what she was going to do.

The strange weather and nature of this part of the True North wasn’t something she needed to fret about, because she was Rainbow Dash. If anything weird actually happened or tried to stop her she’d beat it just the same as she’d beaten everything else. So despite the loneliness, the awkward cold and muggy atmosphere, and the howling winds that screamed like banshees over the snowy landscape, Rainbow Dash flew on and on.

The time it would take to get somewhere else was irrelevant.

Any prior worries she had about recent events were irrelevant.

She would keep on her flight north and reach the next adventure. And if that didn’t satisfy her then she’d keep on going to the next one. Rainbow Dash had no real goal on this journey except to entertain herself and that was fine by her. Maybe one day she’d think of something solid to really strive for but for now she was okay with the random adventures that had continuously popped up for her.

It’s just that she kept yearning for more and more, never truly satisfied.

Rainbow Dash didn’t see anything wrong with that. If you’re as awesome as her you might as well keep finding awesome things to do. That was what she lived for, it’s what made life in Ponyville so exciting for so long.

Another cold and wet breeze blew into her, momentarily knocking her out of her thoughts and making her shiver. She frowned as she looked around the dead landscape that had rudely forced its way back into her mind. Not letting something like that bother her for long she decided to start singing to herself to pass the time and keep her mind off anything annoying.

“I’m awesome, take caution...”

An image of that pony flashed through her mind and Rainbow Dash shook her head to get rid of it. Not acknowledging that, she flapped her wings harder and sped up through the sky.

The Eternal Furnace I

It was like she had passed through a veil.

Coming out of the foggy snow swamp she passed by a dark mountain and emerged into a bright and vibrant landscape in the True North. No longer did she feel like she was flying above some sort of forgotten graveyard of ice, the sun was out shining in a sky clear of clouds and the snow and mountains around her held an inviting atmosphere over them. Truly it was like flying back in Equestria where things just felt right and sublime. Rainbow Dash didn’t understand the sudden change—she would have to chalk it up to another quirk of the True North—but she welcomed it all the same. She didn’t need things to be so cold and desolate all the time and now with her ability to see to the horizon in every direction she was sure she’d be able to find something or someplace that would have food. Rainbow Dash had been fighting her stomach pains and ignoring the growling coming from it for a while now. At least she had reached a new place where eating the snow didn’t seem too bad, but that would only be the most minor of temporary fixes. If something real didn’t come along soon she’d be in actual trouble. And if something dangerous came up she really didn’t want to have to deal with it on an empty stomach either. She needed to get her energy and strength back to full.

“Okay, okay, can’t waste any time, Rainbow Dash.” She said to herself as she flew out over the slopes of a tall mountain.

This was again another mountainous area of the True North she was in, these mountains reminding her of the time she flew through the Yaket Range thanks to their size and proximity to one another. They weren’t as clustered together as the mountains that surrounded the mammoth city but they still mostly left no room for flat land between them. It was all ridges, cliffs, and valleys, with small rivers running down in some places.

Her eyes darted about, not frantically but still a bit hurried, to take in all the sights and make sure she didn’t miss anything. What kind of sick irony or bad luck would it be if she accidentally flew right past some food? She was like a hawk now searching for its prey—absolutely anything that looked like either food or someplace ponies or other creatures might be living.

She was careful not to just focus on the ground too, flying high enough where she could easily scan almost the entirety of any mountain she flew by. Thanks to it being the middle of an unclouded day she could look around the range and see pretty much all the nearby mountains as well. None of them were exceptionally huge and the light reflected brightly off all the white snow caked on their sides. More and more this was looking like a wintry vacation spot, the kind of place some enterprising ponies would build a ski resort.

It’s a shame it still looked so empty and devoid of anyone living here so far. Rainbow really needed the opposite to be the case.

Passing another mountain and still seeing nothing she got frustrated. Gritting her teeth and frowning she dove low to a snowy slope and gingerly landed on it, walking a few feet to a small cliff that looked over a cold river slowly flowing below. She watched for a second and then clicked her tongue, jumping off the cliff and gliding to the side of the river.

“Better than nothing,” she said and lowered her head to gulp down some of the water.

It wouldn’t fill her stomach properly but it was the best she could do right now. And the cold water was very fresh and clean, feeling great as it ran down her throat. Sometimes ice cold water just tasted and felt better than anything else you could drink and this was one of those moments.

Even while she was drinking though her belly groaned and she lifted up a hoof to rub it while she drank.

She finally finished her drink and pulled her head back up, panting as the water dripped down the sides of her mouth. How long could a pony go without actually eating food? Applejack would know. Twilight too, probably Fluttershy… Pinkie Pie would say “One day without a cupcake!” and then pull one from somewhere and shove it into her mouth. The water had been partially satisfying and she needed it after flying through that dead zone but her belly still ached for true sustenance.

Rainbow Dash tossed her braid over her shoulder and stretched before shooting off from the ground and getting back to looking for food. She quickly reached the height around the tops of the mountains and started scanning some more. “Food, food, food, food, food...”

No such luck just from chanting it over and over again.

How come such a nice looking area of the True North was uninhabited? She had gone through so many horrible places and now a nice, totally fine, spot like this didn’t have a single pony living here? What a waste. And there weren’t any birds flying out or other animals skittering along the ground or on the mountains either. If there had been she would’ve known there was at least some kind of food here for animals to sustain themselves with. She was beginning to think she had simply reached the end of things and there simply was no more civilization or life further north of here for her to find. That had to happen eventually, right? That could be really bad if that was the case—and even if she found food it would be really bad because that meant no more adventure too.

Rainbow Dash shook her head, it was stupid to get negative like that. She wasn’t the type to get defeatist and give up without a fight first. Or after a fight. Or ever. The True North had to contain so much more for her, her pride and ego demanded it. And forget “Had to happen eventually”! No it didn’t! She didn’t know what was up here or in the rest of the world, there were infinite possibilities. Of course at the moment she was still searching for food first and the adventuring could come afterwards.

Her stomach growled as if to remind her of that fact.

Another day or two and her ribs would be showing.

“There’s gotta be something around here...” Dash said as she rounded another mountain.

And at last, it came to her.

A scent drifting along the wind. It was familiar, very familiar, Rainbow Dash had smelled this many times before in her life. Smoke. And unfortunately she could tell immediately it wasn’t the sort of smoke from cooking something, it was the kind of smoke that came from something like a house or forest burning down, or maybe even coal too. The more industrial kind of smoke. Which at least still meant there was something around and that probably meant some kind of food unless it was just a random forest fire somewhere. But from her earlier observations of the landscape and this mountainous area she was pretty sure there wouldn’t be a big enough forest to make this smell—not to mention it would never just randomly catch fire in the first place. There was definitely something else at play.

Rainbow Dash swung her head around from side to side, closing her eyes and just using her nose to try and figure out where the smell of smoke was coming from. After a second she opened her eyes and looked to the east. That direction. And it should be pretty close. Rainbow Dash flew off to where her nose was taking her and made it past another couple of mountains that were in the way, she still looked around them to make sure nothing on them was the source of the smell or had anything else going on but she still quickly darted between them all.

That soon left her with an unobstructed view of the true source of the smoke. Another mountain slightly northeast of the rest of the range.

At first Rainbow Dash wondered if it was a volcano, as black smoke billowed from atop it without break, but as she got closer and looked harder she realized that wasn’t the case at all. And there were a few other oddities about this mountain. It shimmered in the sunlight and that wasn’t because of any snow on it, it was because the entire top half of the mountain was metal. Like a gigantic metal cone had been built around the actual mountain, totally encasing it. And the smoke was from a number of smokestacks all close to the top as well with one final one jutting right out of the mountain’s peak.

“Okay, this is weird.” Rainbow Dash scratched her head as she looked at it.

Even if she wasn’t hungry she’d want to check this place out. But now it was the only place around that might have some food there, cause ponies or something else definitely lived there.

Rainbow Dash flew fast towards the mountain, she didn’t see anything built on the exterior except for those smokestacks, nor did she see anything on the ground around it or on the lower half that was still stone and snow. She was hoping there would be some kind of obvious entrance or something on it but now that she was close to it the metal skin looked like a smooth shell. No doors. No windows. No platforms. She clicked her tongue and flew around the mountain, close to the top, to give the whole thing a once over but it looked the same on every side.

“So how do I get in there? Whatever this place even is...” Dash wondered.

She then flew over to the nearest smokestacks and quickly had to squint her eyes and cover her mouth thanks to the abrasive smoke. Technically these stacks were the only way inside the mountain she saw but there’s no way she’d be able to breathe or see when inside them. Add to that she had no idea how far they went, how hot they got, or where they led to, that it was probably an insanely bad idea to try and travel down one of them. These smokestacks all probably led to boilers, foundries, or furnaces, that’s what she figured. And going down one would likely end with her being cooked up.

Definitely a bad idea. Already she was having a little trouble keeping from coughing just from floating near this one. She should probably go look for another way inside the mountain. Maybe if she scaled down the mountain a bit she’d see something, the whole thing wasn’t metal so maybe the entrance was around where the cap stopped and the natural mountain began.

If there was an entrance at all. But Rainbow Dash was keeping herself optimistic.

So she quickly flew down the side of it while keeping her eyes on the shiny metal for any signs of a door and in only a few seconds she reached the boundary line where the metal and the rock met each other. And as it turned out she was a lucky pony today.

Shortly before where the shell stopped it jutted out above the rock part of the mountain like an overhang. Maybe just ten feet out but it looked to Rainbow Dash that it went the whole circumference of the mountain like that. From where she was floating she could see it start to curve around the perimeter. And that was only the half of it, a catwalk was hung from the overhanging part of the metal shell, bolted right into it and following along the whole way around the mountain too. Rainbow Dash grinned and hopped onto the catwalk, resting her wings for a bit. The catwalk also had other walkways at an even interval of maybe thirty feet each that led right from it up to tightly sealed hatches built right into the metal wall of the mountain.

“Yes,” Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof. Entrances.

She took in a big lungful of air to catch her breath and walked right down the catwalk to the nearest sealed door. “Please be unlocked, please be unlocked, please be unlocked...” she repeated in a mantra in the hopes her luck would continue.

A quick frown came to her face though. Forget locked or unlocked, there didn’t look to be any way to open this door from the outside at all. She saw no wheel, no lever, no button, no handle, nothing. It was sealed tighter than the lid on a pickle jar.

“Ugh! Great!” Dash threw up her hooves in anger and fell over backwards, staring at the top of the overhang in frustration and wracking her brain on what to do next.

It looked way too thick and tough for her to break. It was nothing but clean silvery metal with no kinds of markings or indications on it either. She really had no idea what to do…

Rainbow Dash rolled back onto her hooves and stood up. “Thinking isn’t going to get me anywhere. Maybe this door can’t be opened from the outside but others might.” She nodded to herself and looked down the catwalk, seeing the next hatch a short glide away.

But before she could even make the journey to it a hiss erupted from the very door she was looking at. The rumbling of mechanical pistons and the shifting of several locks and bars came from the steel hatch and it opened up, not to the left or right but straight up, being pushed by two pneumatic rods safely kept hidden behind the door that squealed with oily slickness.

Rainbow Dash blinked a few times. Pure luck? Did someone know she was out here and had opened the door up just for her?

She heard the sound of wheels on metal and in a second a cart appeared from the door being pushed by a pony. He was an older earth pony with a beige coat and a graying unkempt mane, wrinkles on his forehead right above his brown eyes and furrowed eyebrows, he wore a gray-blue jumpsuit that was covered in dirt and grease. The cart he was pushing held half a dozen brown containers that looked like they were welded shut on top. Rainbow Dash had no idea what might be in them but that wasn’t important right now. She had a way into the mountain.

It was clear the door hadn’t opened for her but she could use it anyways. The pony with the cart wheeled it to the edge of the catwalk and stopped, walking from behind it to the containers and looking like he hadn’t noticed Rainbow Dash only a short distance away at all. Dash decided she would change that and flew over to where he was right as he was pulling one of the containers off the cart.

She landed with a soft thud on the metal catwalk that shook it slightly and said hi to the stallion. “Hey!”

He jumped with a start and whipped around, pressing his back up to the cart. “Wha—don’t scare me like that!”

“Er, sorry.” Rainbow Dash winced. The catwalk didn’t have a railing and he couldn’t fly so it was already a little dangerous for him to be out here even without getting startled.

The pony looked her up and down with suspicion. “Who are you anyways? You from outside?”

“Yeah I’m from pretty far away,” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. “Name’s Rainbow Dash, what about you?”

“Oil Slick.”

He seemed determined to not say anything else and just stared at her so Rainbow Dash spoke up again. “So what is this place?”

“Our city.”

“Aaaand?” She raised an annoyed eyebrow at him.

“Well what else do you want me to say? It’s a city where a whole bunch of us live and have so for generations,” Oil Slick shrugged.

“Right,” Dash would’ve liked a little more info on it but this guy clearly wasn’t big on conversation. She pointed over at the open door. “Are these doors the only way in?”

He nodded. “Nowadays. We closed ourselves off a while ago.”

She was about to ask why when her stomach grumbled. Blushing in embarrassment she changed the topic. “So you guys have plenty of food in there at least? Because I haven’t eaten anything in days.”

“This isn’t a vacation spot,” Oil Slick snorted. “You don’t want to go in there, you could get in trouble and they might not even let you leave. There’s a lot of dangerous stuff going on in this place.”

Dash shrugged. “Not like there’s anything else I can do, didn’t look like there’s any other food nearby. And I’m not afraid of any danger or anything inside this place either. In fact, I’d kind of welcome the opportunity to get in trouble.”

“Well suit yourself then, I won’t stop you from going in but I’ve still got work today so you can just fly all in there on your own,” he waved her away and grabbed the first container on the cart, lugging it off and putting it on the catwalk. It looked heavy.

“What’s your job?” She asked him.

He sighed but looked over at her anyways. “I guess you could call it trash duty. I’m taking care of waste generated by the city that can’t be recycled or incinerated. It all gets dumped off the side of the mountain out here.”

“Waste?” Rainbow Dash crinkled her nose in disgust.

“Not that kind,” Oil Slick frowned at her. “Toxic waste, chemical waste, you can’t recycle it or safely incinerate it. So we just get rid of it like this.”

“Oh,” Dash nodded her head. And then frowned as a thought came to her and she looked at the bottom of the mountain. “Wait. Isn’t that bad? And dangerous? There’s no way that stuff can be good just thrown out like that.”

Oil Slick just shrugged again and tossed the first container off the catwalk, Dash watched it tumbling down and down until it went out of sight. “So what? Out of sight, out of mind. We can’t do anything else with it and once it’s thrown off like that it’s not our problem anymore.”

The way he made it sound that stuff was basically poison in a box and she really didn’t like the idea of it just being dumped like that with no concern for any adverse effects. “Really nice of you.”

“Hardy-har-har, complain all you want but I’ve gotta get rid of this stuff,” Oil Slick mocked and ignored her, grabbing another can of the stuff.

She probably would’ve stayed and complained some more if her stomach didn’t grumble again. She didn’t have the time to spare arguing with some guy about this and by the sound of things he was only one very minor part of the problem. Food was too strong of a call for her right now and the door was open. “Fine. But you’re lucky I’m so hungry.”

“Yeah, yeah...” he grumbled and tossed the second canister away.

Rainbow Dash frowned but gave up on this guy for now, turning and walking down the catwalk that led into the door he came out from. Once she made it past the threshold she instantly noticed just how dirty and poorly lit the interior of the mountain was. Compared to the clean and polished steel of the outer shell the insides were a greasy mess of black pipes, gratings, and vents. Electrical lights hung from above that only had a dim glow to them, occasionally flickering on and off and giving the place an even worse look. Was the whole place as broken down as this? Right now she was just in a narrow corridor and it looked like it opened up a bit down the way. Oil Slick would probably be done with his job pretty soon so Dash made an effort to quickly trot out of this corridor and look around the rest of the interior for someone else or directions on where to find some food.

She had to step up a small ramp but it led into a wider and taller room that looked like it curved around the mountain for a good distance in both directions while another door sat right in front of her. It might’ve even gone the entire way around, she wasn’t sure. Judging by the looks of it though she was still in some kind of exterior area of the city, squinting to her left she saw another corridor that she bet led to the door she had initially tried to get through. This whole room was like an access corridor or something between the outside and inside. It reminded her of… what was it? The airlocks back at Dust Bunny’s underground city and the science lab.

“Which means...” Rainbow Dash looked to the door. Unlike the hatches this one had an actual handle on it. “You should take me right into the actual city.”

She walked up and grasped the handle, pulling on it revealed the door was unlocked and Rainbow Dash smiled as she went in and ended up walking down a tunnel a short twenty feet before coming out into a new room. That smile then quickly died on her face as she took a look around.

“This is like a prison,” was her first thought as she took in the huge room she had ventured into.

It was a large, square room with an open floor and four different levels all with grated balconies that lined the sides of the room and four stairways at each corner. The walls were covered in what she figured were rooms along each level but had the appearance of cells thanks to the blunt and intimidating look of the dark metal and poor lighting. At the left and right sides of the room there were also huge openings that went halfway up the walls in height and likely led to other areas of the city. While directly across from her there looked to just be a regular sized door. As she took a few steps into the huge chamber and looked around she also noticed that while the floor was empty and devoid of anything now there were spots on the floor where it looked like stuff had at one point been bolted or nailed down there. But she had no idea what.

“And where is everyone?” She asked aloud, since there wasn’t a soul in sight despite how many ponies this place could hold. She supposed they could all be in their rooms but it seemed too quiet and still even for that.

Rainbow Dash flew up and looked around the floors and rooms nearest to her, every door had a handle so they could at least be opened up from the outside like normal doors. But if that was someone’s home she couldn’t really barge in there… despite how hungry she was. So instead she landed on the grating in front of it and knocked on the metal door first.

And then knocked again, louder.

“Anybody home?” She yelled as she pounded on the door. It didn’t seem like anyone was. “Ugh, great, I’m starving here!”

No other doors had opened up and no ponies had popped their heads out to see the commotion she had been making so it likely was the case that this whole place was empty. Rainbow Dash grumbled in annoyance and jumped back down to the ground floor, pacing about in the center of the room. There were without a doubt lots of other ponies in here but now she had three different directions to choose from on where to go to find them. She tapped her hoof impatiently on the ground while her stomach ached and groaned at her.

But finally she ended up not having to make a decision. From the big tunnel to her right a grinding sound came and lights began to flicker on, illuminating the way down there. Rainbow Dash walked over and watched as far down the tunnel a huge door was opening up and retreating into the ceiling while ponies marched on out from behind it. It looked like hundreds of them were coming from wherever was behind that previously sealed shut barrier.

And from what she could tell this was not a very friendly and jovial looking group of ponies. There was no light conversation being held between them, they just looked blankly ahead or at their hooves as they walked back towards the big room Rainbow Dash was in. What had they just been doing? While she looked over them she saw they were all wearing the same kind of jumpsuit as Oil Slick, and all of them looked to be covered in grease and soot the same way. What really distressed Rainbow Dash though was that she didn’t just see mares and stallions walking back here—there were plenty of young fillies and colts too no older than the Crusaders.

Finally the ones at the front noticed Rainbow Dash standing there and they came to a stop while the others murmured behind them, wondering what was going on.

The dozens of ponies at the front stared at Rainbow Dash for a second until she finally raised a hoof to wave at them and smiled.

“You guys got any food around here?”

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJAGgtWwvSk

The Eternal Furnace II

There was a brief moment of silence from those first few dozens of ponies as they registered Rainbow Dash’s existence and what she had said—before they started being shoved from behind and yelled at by the others.

“What’s the hold up?”

“Move it!”

“Come on, we wanna get back to our rooms!”

They all yelled and began pushing until the front rows had to hurry up and move out of the way. Rainbow Dash too backed up a bit and watched as the ponies all began to spill out of the massive hallway and into the square room where all the individual rooms were. A lot of them looked on the verge of fighting and arguing with each other until they noticed Rainbow Dash too. The more that came out she started to notice looked downright mean and some of them kept to groups with each other that lashed out whenever others got near. But there were a lot of individuals at the front that just seemed like regular, downcast, ponies too.

“Who are you?” A unicorn stallion from the front asked while another unicorn mare stood close beside him.

He at least looked normal and the others seemed to be waiting until Rainbow Dash answered him too even with more of them continuing to emerge from the hall.

“I’m Rainbow Dash, I just came from outside. I’ve been flying around for a while looking for something and found your city,” she told them.

“You said you were hungry?” The stallion asked. “I don’t know how much you know about this place but-”

“You can hold on right there,” another stallion interrupted and stepped forward. He was a gangly and vicious looking earth pony with part of his left ear torn off, his black coat and purple mane dark enough where she couldn’t tell if he was covered in soot and grease like the others. His deep blue eyes appraised her and a serpentine smile split his lips. “Well, if you’re from outside you’ll want to come along with me and my crew. Things aint all safe in this city and-”

“Now you hold on right there!” A new voice now interrupted this guy and a pegasus stepped out of the crowd. He had a bright yellow coat and a spiky red mane, with a lightning bolt tattooed on his cheek. Also it looked like his jumpsuit was specifically tailored with holes in the sides for his wings. All the pegasi seemed to have jumpsuits like that. “You lost your marbles, Double Duty? She’s a pegasus, that means she’s ours.

The earth pony—Double Duty—glared at the new pegasus. “You Thunderbirds don’t lay claim to every pegasus in this city, we Diesel Kings saw her first!”

Rainbow Dash looked back and forth between them as their argument started to grow. “Uhhh...”

The pegasus stepped towards Double Duty and was joined by a group of other pegasi, all of which had their own lightning bolt tattoos on their cheeks, while Double Duty had a group of earth ponies and unicorns join up behind him. Rainbow Dash could tell they were on the verge of fighting. The ponies not involved, that didn’t look like they were part of one of these groups—gangs—backed away while keeping careful watch, some of them sidling up next to the walls. That was when a third pony pushed his way through the crowd and interjected himself between the Thunderbirds and the Diesel Kings while a dozen others followed behind him.

“Now I say neither of you get to decide on anything!” He yelled, he was a unicorn with a copper coat and a short, almost buzzcut, white mane. “We Wrenchers aint getting left out!”

So now there were three gangs facing off with each other and Dash had no idea what to do.

She was still really hungry and just wanted some food.

The stallion who had first tried to speak to her backed away with that other mare he was with. They seemed to be well aware of what was about to happen with these three gangs. He shot a single worried look at Rainbow Dash and tried to scoot over to her. On the outskirts of this whole conflict there were some disinterested ponies who had luckily managed to slink off and avoid the whole thing, heading to the stairs and up to their rooms most likely.

Rainbow Dash didn’t want some pointless fight to start on account of her so despite everything else she was about to jump between them and see what she could do.

“What’s all this racket up here?!” A loud voice yelled from the crowd of ponies still back in the hall.

The gang leaders scowled and everyone else turned to look at the source of this voice, including Rainbow Dash. The dirty jumpsuit wearing ponies were parted like water as a fat unicorn strode right down the center of the hallway, flanked by four others pushing any ponies who were too close away. These five were different, instead of filthy jumpsuits they were wearing polyester outfits with kevlar plates on their shoulders, knees, backs, and chests while also carrying metal batons at their side. The fat unicorn who had spoken looked disdainfully at all the others around, he had a mean and ugly face that was only made worse with his brownish-green coat, yellow teeth, and scraggly orange mane.

“You bunch of idiots, no fighting while I’m around,” he said as he made it out into the big room. “You did your work for the day so go home and get some rest! There’s still plenty more to do tomorrow for all of ya. May not care about ya one lick but I’ll be darned if that oil isn’t kept flowing.” He snorted in annoyance as the gangs started to disperse, none of them willing to disobey his threats.

They all still threw plenty of nasty glares at him, his lackeys, and each other though.

“Bunch of slack-jawed… what got into y'all anyways?” The fat unicorn asked as he looked around. And then his eyes fell on Rainbow Dash—quickly narrowing. “Who in the sludge are you?”

Rainbow Dash didn’t like the way he was speaking or the way he held himself, everything about him said “bad guy”. But she didn’t really have many options here right now. “I’m Rainbow Dash, who are you?”

“Crush. Head of security,” he responded firmly. “I don’t recognize you. Where’d you come from?”

She nodded her head towards the outside wall of the mountain. “I just flew in from outside.” Her stomach suddenly loudly growled and she grimaced. “And I’d really like some food right now.”

“Hrm,” Crush snorted. “Just some dumb pony who didn’t even know where she was going? I couldn’t care less what ya want, you’ll get no hospitality from me or our leader. If you want to stay around and try to mooch some food off any of this sorry lot that’s up to you—but don’t you cause any problems while you’re here. In fact it’d be best if ya just throw yourself out right now. This is our city and we aint here for your amusement.”

Rainbow Dash’s stomach painfully growled again. “Not exactly an option for me right now so sorry but I’ll be staying here for a day at least.

Crush shrugged and started walking past her with the other security officers following him, heading in direction to the door leading deeper into the mountain from the big room. “Suit yourself. Shack up with someone here if they’ll take you in.” He shot a final mean glare at her. “But like I said, don’t you dare cause any problems for us. Got that?”

Rainbow Dash frowned and narrowed her eyes. “Yeah. I got that.”

He didn’t look like he trusted her one bit but he didn’t care enough to keep arguing with her. Him and the others ended up walking right out of the big room while the gangs and other workers filled up the balconies and stairs as they returned to their rooms. Some of the ponies were going even further though, continuing down the huge hallway opposite from the one they came and likely going into another portion of the mountain city that had rooms just like these.

“What is up with this place?” Rainbow said as she watched Crush leave.

“Um, hello?” A familiar voice came from behind her.

She turned to see that stallion and mare there, waiting for her. “Oh, hey.”

“We wouldn’t mind if you stayed the night or so with us,” the mare said. “The food wont be much but it should still tide you over.”

“It isn’t exactly safe out here alone either, as I’m sure you’ve noticed,” the stallion said.

“Yeah. Honestly not sure if the gangs or the security made me feel more unsafe,” Rainbow joked.

The two of them didn’t seem to find the joke funny though. Probably because it hit a bit too close to home.

“Er, sorry...” Rainbow Dash apologized and rubbed the back of her neck.

The stallion shook his head. “Don’t need to apologize or nothing, things here… ain’t what they used to be.”

Rainbow Dash was about to question him further when another rumble hit her stomach with enough pain that she doubled over and grasped her stomach with her hooves. “Ughhh…” She winced and looked up at them. “I’m really sorry but I really need that food right now…”

The mare quickly paced over and helped Rainbow Dash up. “Our room is on the second story, it won’t be much of a walk.”

“That’s right,” the stallion reassured her. “You just come right this way.”

“Thanks...” Dash weakly responded and walked with them as they went to the nearest stairway. “What are your names?”

“I’m Night Reader and this is my wife, Brilliant Star,” the stallion told her.

Night Reader was of a light-brown color with a fluffy and wavy but still short white mane that looked a little bit like a cloud resting on his head. It actually made Dash wonder if one of his parents was a pegasus. Brilliant Star on the other hoof was a red pony with a deeper shade of red mane. She wore it so it curved down around the right side of her face, which would’ve concealed it from anyone looking at her from that direction. And the both of them happened to be blessed with blue eyes. They at one point may have looked like a happy couple but now the light had left both of their eyes, leaving nothing more than a dull sheen behind. The other ponies here were all the same.

At least there was clearly some kindness and willingness to help left in Night Reader and Brilliant Star. Maybe some of the other ponies would’ve offered to help too or allowed Rainbow Dash to eat and stay with them if Night Reader and Brilliant Star hadn’t already, she wanted to be a little optimistic about that. Looking around she saw that most of the ponies were walking in groups that were clearly families, was it one room per family? Things seemed like they’d be pretty cramped if it was more than even two ponies living in one of those places but on the other hoof where were any of the foals supposed to go otherwise? There were some pretty elderly ponies too…

“So...” Rainbow Dash wheezed in an attempt to talk while the three walked together. “You said things weren’t always like this… so what happened in this city?”

She didn’t need to wait for them to answer. A static buzzing noise came from the ceiling of the huge room and a chipper mare’s voice began speaking from a speaker or set of speakers that must’ve been up there somewhere. All of the ponies who had been walking to their homes paused to listen in.

~This is your leader speaking, our eternal and everlasting flame thanks you for your hard work today! Remember, the flame is everything, the flame is life, the flame is all that matters, the flame is everything you work for! Keep the oil pumping and keep drilling for more, our fires need your sweat and worship! The furnaces will never stop burning! You’ve all made a wonderful sacrifice for our flame—just keep giving your all to it! The flame is all that matters, the flame is everything, the flame is what your whole life is about. Remember that, remember that and you’ll be as happy as me! You live to serve the flame, we all do! This has been your leader, Resin, goodnight!~

The speaker cut off with a buzz and things were silent in the large housing block again.

Rainbow Dash frowned and glared up at the ceiling. Don’t cause any problems here, huh? Fat chance.

The Eternal Furnace III

Rainbow Dash was right about these rooms not having much space on the inside. They made the word home look like a joke. She was basically inside a cold metal tube with a single weak light on the ceiling for illumination. It was all one room with two bunk beds built into the wall on the right, a smaller bunk on the left, and a table in the back with a counter that had a sink, some cabinets, and what might have been a refrigerator. These conditions did not exactly endear her to this city. This was so bad it really might as well have been a prison cell. Hay, prisoners in Equestria probably got better living conditions than this. It didn’t look like they had anything like books, or games, or really any sort of personal affects at all. The walls were barren, the floor was just metal with no carpet or rug, they had nothing. Dash doubted any of the other rooms were different, in fact she bet that if she didn’t already know this was Night Reader and Brilliant Star’s room she wouldn’t be able to tell it apart from the others around them.

She still happily rested on the bunk to the left when they arrived, her stomach making constant growling noises. Without asking, Brilliant Star went to the “kitchen” to get her some food. Rainbow Dash was happy to lie down and be quiet until she finally had some grub to eat. The myriad of questions she had could come after that.

Night Reader took a seat on the bunk directly opposite from Rainbow Dash and politely didn’t stare at her. Even though he was likely very curious about her as well. The stallion kept to his own business sitting in the bottom bunk, Rainbow Dash idly noticed that even though the two bunks on the right side of the room were bigger than the one she was resting on there still wasn’t enough room for the couple to share one. With the dim lighting, dull and dark coloring of everything, and minimalist living conditions she wondered if this whole place was trying to sap all the happiness and joy out of the ponies living here.

A rumbling sound from the kitchen got her attention and Rainbow Dash looked over to see Brilliant Star fiddling with something inside the fridge, the whole appliance was shaking and whirring before it stopped and an ugly plopping sound came from something inside. Brilliant Star then turned around carrying a tin bowl in her magic and brought it over to Rainbow Dash. The pegasus was not excited to see what was inside but she looked anyways and was rewarded with a disgusting looking gray sludge. It had the appearance and consistency of snot or really runny applesauce, being somewhere between a solid and liquid. Despite her sniffing at it she couldn’t smell anything from the bowl either.

“What is it?” She asked the two of them as she almost cringed away from the bowl of slop.

“It’s not exactly food but it’s what we have to eat around here,” Night Reader replied.

Rainbow Dash tentatively grabbed it out of the air with her hooves and held it in front of her. It was horribly unappetizing looking but with how hungry she was she’d eat just about anything. Even pie. “Okay...”

The gruel or whatever it was was as tasteless as it was odorless. Cool and with an unpleasant texture it would’ve been difficult for her to eat if she wasn’t so hungry. But since she was she was able to swallow it down without much trouble. It wasn’t exactly satisfying like eating a real meal would’ve been but it served its purpose for now.

“Ooohhh...” Rainbow Dash groaned and panted a bit after digging in. “This is what you eat every day?”

“That’s it,” Brilliant Star grimaced.

Rainbow Dash gave Brilliant Star the bowl back and the mare took it back to the kitchen while Rainbow Dash lied down again and rested her head, closing her eyes. She didn’t know what the exact time was but it was likely getting pretty late. Brilliant Star came back after cleaning off the bowl in the sink and sat next to her husband. After a minute of rest, Rainbow Dash reopened her eyes and sat up on her bunk, looking at them.

“So… sorry if you guys don’t really want to answer this stuff or if you just want to get to sleep, but what’s up with this city? It looks like you guys are being worked like slaves in here. And what was up with that “flame” stuff that Resin pony mentioned?”

“It used to be different here,” Night Reader started. “No gangs, plenty of light and heat, real food, not just work. This housing block used to have so much more in it before it was all torn out. But now the whole city is just as bereft of all but the bare essentials.”

“But why?” Rainbow asked.

“You heard yourself from Resin,” Night Reader said. “Everything is for the flame.”

“What flame?”

“Atop the mountain there is a ceremonial furnace and flame. It leads to a smokestack that comes out of the very tip of the mountain’s peak. Originally it was nothing more than a small flickering flame, no greater than a lit candle, but always turned on as a celebration of our city. Our founders made it as a symbol of what we had created here, with the intention of a small amount of fuel always being used to keep the flame lit as a sign of our perseverance and strength,” Brilliant Star told her.

“Resin sees things a bit differently,” Night Reader said.

Brilliant Star sighed and leaned into her husband, resting her head on his shoulder. “No one’s exactly sure how it happened—or where she even came from in this city. But she took control of the city and instigated all of what you’ve seen. I don’t know why she’s like this or what she gets out of it, but Resin treats that flame burning up there at the top of the mountain like a god.”

“She diverted as much fuel and resources as she could to make the flame burn as strongly as it possibly can. Now it’s like a raging inferno and it comes at the expense of all of us down here. We get less heat and power for everything just so the flame can constantly burn strong,” Night Reader told her.

“She took away anything distracting and anything not totally necessary for us to just live and work to make sure the flame always has oil for fuel. We drill for oil or work in coke ovens everyday without break,” Brilliant Star said.

Rainbow Dash was aghast at their situation. “But why doesn’t anyone do anything?! Why don’t you leave or fight back or something!”

“Resin has her security force on her side, you saw Crush. And not just them but we’ve heard rumors that she’s created gas-powered metal monstrosities that patrol the upper levels of the mountain. What are we supposed to do about any of that?” Night Reader shrugged.

“And we can’t leave, there’s no place to go up here and most everyone that isn’t a pegasus wouldn’t be able to safely make it down the mountain,” Brilliant Star said.

“Well… yeah you’ve got a point there,” Rainbow Dash considered when she thought about what the only entrances and exits to this city were like.

“There’s also the fact that if security caught anyone trying to leave they wouldn’t just allow it. Although since you’re an outsider Crush seemed fine with letting you go back. But for anyone born here… no such luck. Resin tolerates absolutely no dissent, even the most minor of infractions or defiant behavior will have you thrown in jail. A lot of us have relatives languishing away up higher in the mountain,” Night Reader told her.

“But the gangs...”

“The gangs play by the rules,” Night Reader interrupted her. “They’re nothing more than a side-effect of what Resin has done in the first place. Ponies who feel like they’ve had everything taken from them trying to regain some measure of control or power over their lives. You saw how they immediately listened to Crush and went on their ways? They would never fight with him around or fight against him. They just fight with each other when we’re off work, and so long as the work gets done that’s all that matters.”

Rainbow Dash groaned and flopped back onto the bunk. “This whole place is crazy!”

“Not arguing with you there,” Night Reader sighed. “Resin really believes everything you just heard her say over the loudspeaker. None of the ponies in here matter to her, she just wants that fire burning.”

“You should leave the city as quickly as possible,” Brilliant Star said.

Dash frowned and sat back up. “No way. Look, this might not be my city but I can’t just ignore a place as wrong as this. In fact, things like this are kind of why I’m up here in the first place. Crush wanted me to not cause any problems? Well too bad for him.”

The couple nervously exchanged glances with each other before Night Reader looked back at her. “But what can one pony even do?”

“Everything,” Dash grinned.

“You really shouldn’t trouble yourself for us, just go,” Brilliant Star said, shaking her head.

“No deal. I’m the type of pony that stops bad ponies. That’s just how I am. I also really love adventures, so sorry but there’s just no way I’m letting this slide.” Rainbow Dash shrugged and hopped off the bunk with a defiant and confident grin on her face. “I’m stopping Resin. And I’m going to make things go back to how they were for you all.”

Night Reader didn’t look like he believed she’d be able to do that. The both of them still had dull eyes. “Well, good luck then, I guess.”

“Yeah but… what else can you tell me about this place? I’m still pretty in the dark on a lot of things. How come Crush and those other guys even follow Resin in the first place? Does nobody care?” Rainbow Dash asked them.

“We don’t have any other leaders left and they’re just following orders. Maybe for the privilege of not having to work like us either, or getting to live in a part of the city that might not be as awful as this.” Brilliant Star shrugged.

“Crush just does what he’s told,” Night Reader said.

Well at least he didn’t seem as actively terrible as a lot of the others she had dealt with up in the True North, Rainbow Dash though. “Okay, so what about the gangs? These guys fight with each other and other ponies?”

“They harass anyone who isn’t a part of their gang,” Brilliant Star said. “And they fight each other for territory. Which is really just extra rooms for them to use in the housing blocks.”

“There are four gangs and you’ve met three of them,” Night Reader said. “The Thunderbirds are a pegasus only gang, you can tell who’s in the gang by the lightning tattoo they’ll have on their cheek. They mainly live in the housing block furthest from this one. Not every pegasus who’s in a gang is a Thunderbird but most are and they’re always trying to convince the other pegasi here to join up with them. That was their leader back there who talked to you, Acid Rain. He’s going to have his eye on you the rest of the time you’re here, I guarantee it.”

“Great,” Dash grumbled.

“And then there’s the Diesel Kings. Their leader, Double Duty, you also met. They don’t care about who you are but you have to work in the lowest, grungiest, parts of the oil drilling area to get in their gang. When he was talking to you he probably just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t join up with the Thunderbirds, and then you could get real admission into his gang after working a few days with him and the others. The Diesel Kings mostly live in the block right next to this one, they cause the most problems for us,” Night Reader told her.

“Maybe that Double Duty guy will be my first visit then,” Rainbow Dash grinned.

Night Reader kept going. “The last of the normal gangs are the Wrenchers. Right now they don’t have a leader cause the last guy took an unfortunate tumble down a garbage chute, so there are three or four ponies in the gang all vying for control now. They’re mostly made up of ponies working maintenance and repairs and other stuff like that. They’re spread out through a lot of housing blocks and some of them live in other areas of the city where only ponies that are supposed to be fixing and checking up on stuff usually go. I doubt you’ll have as much trouble from them as the other two.”

“Okay,” Dash nodded. And then paused. “Wait, what do you mean “normal gangs”? What’s the fourth gang?”

“They’d be the Black Hoofs. The Black Hoofs are different than the others—they’re more like an extension of the security force and Resin’s control. Like the security force they enjoy the privilege of not having to work like the rest of us, in exchange for keeping an eye on the gangs and everyone else here and making sure no one turns their anger towards Resin. They’re like a buffer. Their leader is a unicorn by the name of Silver Tooth, he and the rest of the gang hang out in the old casino a level up from here.”

“Casino?” Dash raised an eyebrow.

Night Reader nodded. “Like I said we used to be a normal city. That casino was one of the fun things to do around here, but the Black Hoofs don’t let anyone else in now.”

Rainbow Dash rubbed her forehead. “Have the gangs ever tried fighting against Resin instead of each other?”

“Naw, the Black Hoofs also work to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Night Reader said. “Silver Tooth has done a good job of getting them to hate each other. Keeping them fighting against each other so they can’t unite is a big deal for him. And reminding them of how hopeless things are so they don’t even try.”

“You don’t know this but there’s also no way to get to the higher levels of the city where Resin is from here,” Brilliant Star said. “Every door and bulkhead is sealed shut and only Crush has the security code to open them. And only Silver Tooth has a way of calling on Crush through an emergency radio the Black Hoofs keep. It goes directly to the security station that’s also normally locked down.”

“So to get to the upper levels you’d first need to get a hold of Crush...” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“But you’d never be able to do that, he only normally comes out to make sure everyone gets to work and he always has his security forces with him.” Night Reader said.

Dash grinned. “Then we just need to trick him. Alright, I think I’m getting it now. If I can get Silver Tooth to lure him out I can get the code from him...”

“I think you’re underestimating the difficulty of that,” Night Reader said.

She shrugged. “Hey, nothing worth doing is easy. I want a challenge.”

“I don’t know how long you’ll be able to keep up that optimism here,” Brilliant Star said.

“Look, I’m promising to help you guys and I mean that. Whether you believe in me or not is up to you but just watch me. Starting tomorrow I’m gonna fix things around here,” Rainbow Dash told them. She then yawned widely. “This has kind of been a long day for me and all this thinking has gotten me tired. You really don’t mind me bunking here?”

Night Reader shrugged. “Go right ahead, we’ll let you stay for as long as you want.”

She smiled at the two of them and went back into the small bunk, barely managing to fit on the light bedding. “Thanks. I really needed this, and the food.”

The two of them politely nodded as well and retired to their own bunks for the night. Rainbow Dash had a big day ahead of her tomorrow and a lot to think about and go over, but she was sure she’d pull through again someway. Resin was just another villain for her to defeat on this long adventure. With that pleasant thought in her head and her stomach finally full, she drifted off to sleep.

The Eternal Furnace IV

The following morning she stood outside Night Reader and Brilliant Star’s room and gazed out across the dimly lit housing block. No one else was out. But then again, why would they be? They had nothing to do here aside from wait for their work to begin and worry about gang attacks. Most of the normal ponies probably always just holed up in their rooms and hoped the day would end quicker than yesterday.

Rainbow Dash breathed in and out through her nose as she tried to figure out what she needed to do today. She was not a planner like Twilight but she still needed to work with what she knew. If Brilliant Star was right there was no way to get to the top levels of this city without either Crush’s compliance or forcefully getting the security code from him. And Dash knew from her flight around the outside of the mountain that she couldn’t exactly take a shortcut there either.

And if Silver Tooth and the Black Hoofs were the only ones who were supposed to ever call Crush on that radio that meant he’d probably recognize if it was someone else using it. So again she either needed Silver Tooth to willingly call Crush or force him to. Buuut, apparently they didn’t let anyone into the casino and she had no idea where the radio might be hidden and there might be too many for them to fight on her own. So she needed some kind of leverage or some way to get to Silver Tooth first. One small step at a time, that’s how she needed to take this.

If Crush knew what she was doing before she got anywhere or had allies he’d bring the entire security force down on her and either toss her out of the city or throw her in jail. If he knew what she was doing after she had gotten some allies and was planning on drawing him out he could retreat to the higher levels or barricade himself in the security area. She bet he had a way to contact Resin. So she really couldn’t let Crush ever find out about anything.

And Night Reader and Brilliant Star mentioned some kind of metal monsters or something that Resin had made, whatever those were. Rainbow Dash didn’t want to chance putting everyone else down here in danger.

“I need the ponies here on my side,” she said. “And I need those gangs to stop fighting each other. Time to kill two birds with one stone… better not use that analogy around Fluttershy.”

She looked down the massive hallway that led in the direction of the other housing blocks, the Diesel Kings were the closest so maybe she should just go and talk to them right now? It was probably her best bet, Double Duty wanted to see her anyways. Although she doubted any of them were going to give two bits about what she had to say. It would probably take some time and effort before any of them cared about or respected her enough to listen to her plans to unite them together so they could take down Resin.

...or she could just beat the leaders up? That might be faster if she challenged them for control or leadership of their gangs. If they’d even be willing in the first place, or keep their promise after. That was certainly more of a direct and Rainbow Dash way of doing things. She’d keep that option on the table, it would probably be better if she could actually get them to stop hating each other and join with her willingly.

Rainbow Dash hopped off the balcony and glided in the air, keeping herself suspended a few feet above the floor with some gentle flaps of her wings. With a serious and determined look on her face she turned to the hall that led to the Diesel King’s block. “First stop.”

The actual hallway was darker than even the housing blocks because so many of the lights on the ceiling looked like they had been smashed and Resin clearly didn’t care to have anyone fix them. There were maintenance teams and repair ponies weren’t there? Did the repairs not matter if they didn’t impede with getting oil? It would certainly fit Resin’s belief that that ceremonial flame or whatever was the only thing that mattered. You didn’t need light just to walk through a hallway.

“This place would be creepy if I was the type to get scared,” Rainbow Dash said as she flew down it.

She didn’t want to think about the lighting in here damaging her eyes for when she left the city. Hopefully she wasn’t here long enough for something like that to happen.

Up ahead she heard some sounds, it seems like the ponies in the Diesel King’s block were already awake. Rainbow Dash noticed a slight curve in the hallway as she flew. The housing probably curled around the mountain, perhaps all the way or only a bit. She wondered if what she was hearing now were the Diesel King’s themselves or some of the ponies they were tormenting. Rainbow Dash had no idea how much time she had until the ponies here would need to start working so she sped up a little to get out there as fast as she could.

The first thing she noticed when she emerged into the new housing block was that none of the rooms that filled up the walls had doors on them. No—not none—the top row of rooms still did, but the bottom three didn’t have any at all. Was that the Diesel King’s doing? And why?

“Weird,” Dash shrugged.

The second thing she noticed was that there were indeed ponies out and about in this block, a circle of about a dozen sat on the floor and were throwing what looked like screws and bolts into the middle of their circle while a bunch of others watched. Was it some kind of game? Rainbow Dash saw that there were a lot of kids watching, she hoped they weren’t part of the gang.

She was paying so much attention to that circle that she didn’t even notice she had been spotted by a pony up on one of the higher balconies. He brought a hoof up to his mouth and let out a loud whistle. It got the attention of everybody, including Rainbow Dash, and they looked up to see him point to the flying pegasus.

“Well… not like I was trying to hide,” Rainbow frowned. She gave a small wave to the ponies below her and started floating down to them.

The ponies down on the ground gathered up and watched her, most of them with unwelcome expressions on their faces but a few were curious. As she descended to the floor she was able to see into a few of the doorless rooms and saw scared ponies huddling inside them. The ones who lived here but weren’t in the gang most likely.

When Rainbow Dash touched down she raised an eyebrow at the gathered ponies. “You guys part of the Diesel Kings?”

“You’re that pony from outside that came in yesterday, huh?” A mean looking earth pony mare with a scar over her right eye said. She was glaring at Rainbow Dash and spat on the ground right after she finished talking.

Dash glared right back at her. “Yeah that’s right. What’s up with you?”

It was also kind of funny to her that despite their gang being called the Diesel “Kings” they clearly had no problem with letting mares in.

“You think you can mosey in here just cause Double Duty didn’t want you picked up by the Thunderbirds? We may be looking for new bodies wherever we can get em but you’re not a Diesel King just cause Double Duty showed some interest. This here is our turf,” she angrily stomped her hoof on the ground in proclamation.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Fine, whatever, I just wanted to talk to Double Duty about this stuff anyways.”

“You aiming to become a Diesel King?” Another unicorn stallion asked her with suspicion in his voice.

“In all honesty? No,” Dash answered truthfully. “But I just wanted to hear him out since he offered to talk and said things were dangerous here alone. Wouldn’t mind giving him the chance.” That second part was not answered as truthfully. But they didn’t need to know her real aspirations for meeting with Double Duty and getting involved with the gangs. “So where is he?”

“He’s getting some extra sleep,” the stallion answered. “Leader’s privilege while the rest of us watch out for any Thunderbirds or Wrenchers trying to do something on our turf.”

The mean looking mare lightly kicked a filly standing next to her and yelled. “What are you standing around for? Go wake him up!”

Rainbow Dash watched the scared filly run off and glared at the mare. “Geez, good to know how nicely you treat each other.”

“There’s no place for nice in this city,” the mare narrowed her eyes and spat again.

Rainbow really was going to have her work cut out for her. “So what’s your name then?” She looked around at the others. “You all do have names, right?”

“Keep your mouths shut!” The mare yelled to the others and glared back at Rainbow Dash. “My name’s Soot Mane, Double Duty’s right hoof. And you can just shut it for any other questions you have for me, we got nothing to talk about. Just stand there and wait for Double Duty to get here.”

“Fine,” Rainbow Dash ground out, already Soot Mane was getting on her last nerve. Soot Mane was a pony with a white coat smeared in… well, soot and grease by the looks of things, and a blond mane that was pulled back in a tight bun. Her eyes were a deep red and her mouth seemed to be in a perpetual state of frowning.

None of the other ponies here were going to disobey her either. They just watched Rainbow Dash to make sure she didn’t do anything funny. She watched them back, only noticing two pegasi in the whole group, and one of which who was a colt. Seems the Thunderbirds had a pretty good track record of picking up the pegasi that were interested in joining a gang. Rainbow Dash spent the rest of the time waiting impatiently tapping her hoof on the floor while up above on the top level of the rooms she saw that filly running towards a closed door in the center of the wall. So at least she was right about the Diesel Kings still keeping their doors while the others were left out to dry.

The filly finally stopped and knocked a few times on the door, getting no answer she knocked louder until it was swung open and Double Duty grabbed her with his hoof and lifted her up. He had an even nastier looking face than Soot Mane did and even though Rainbow Dash couldn’t hear him from down here she had a pretty good idea of what he was saying to that filly. When she explained herself, Double Duty looked down and saw Rainbow Dash. An avaricious grin split his face and he dropped the filly onto the balcony and began making his way down towards Dash. The filly winced but stood up and followed after him.

He looked like he was purposefully taking his time in getting to her, probably to show off his authority and tell her he was the one in charge. Not like any sort of display like that had an effect on Dash.

When he finally made it down the stairs and strode over to her with a slimy smile on his face, Soot Mane went to stand by his side and narrowed her eyes at Dash. She’d be watching her—it was the unspoken threat. Double Duty didn’t seem to take any notice or interest in Soot Mane at all though. The leader of the Diesel Kings was focused entirely on Rainbow Dash. The new blood.

“Well, well, well, look who showed up. I wasn’t expecting you here already, figured I’d have to send somebody out to get you.” Double Duty licked his lips. “Guess you saw the sense in what I said? Joining up with the Diesel Kings will keep you safe as can be around here if you’re planning to stay”

“And you probably want to stick it to Acid Rain for recruiting a new pegasus huh?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him.

Double Duty giggled and eagerly nodded. “Oh yes, that’s a big added bonus. And considering we never get new ponies here even just having one more in our gang is a big deal. How else are we supposed to grow when everybody else here is either already in a gang or has made it clear they won’t join anybody?”

“Guess I’m a real prize then,” Rainbow noted.

“She doesn’t look anything special to me,” Soot Mane snorted. “And she still can’t really become a King if she doesn’t work with us first! That was your own rule, Double Duty, she aint one of us yet!”

“Shut it,” Double Duty growled at her and Soot Mane meekly looked down to the floor. “I know all that, you don’t have to remind me of my own rules.”

“You know I’m not really surprised you have trouble getting new members with how awful you are to each other. It’s not making me want to join you either,” Dash told him.

“So what about wanting to join? You might find you don’t really have a choice. And that’s not a threat, it’s just the reality of the situation in here. You won’t last all on your own after catching the interest of all of us. You’ll need some friends or you’ll find yourself hounded by us, the Thunderbirds, and the Wrenchers at every turn. Not to mention Crush and the security team if you ever do anything out of line,” Double Duty said. “So come on, stay here and join up with me. I guarantee it’ll be better than trying to play the lone pegasus for whatever you try and do in our city.”

“Don’t even get why you don’t just leave,” Soot Mane mumbled.

Double Duty elbowed her in the side. “Ignore her. So obviously you came here for a reason and now you’ve heard me out.” He held his hoof out to her. “Become a Diesel King.”

Rainbow Dash was about to tell him exactly why she had come here. And she was going to do it while telling him off about a lot of other things. But she didn’t quite get the opportunity to do that. There was a metal clang from above and all of the ponies looked up to see the large grill from a vent on the ceiling fall to the floor with a clamoring. Out of the vent shot three pegasi—including Acid Rain—and they looked angry as hornets.

“What did I tell you, you stupid Diesel Kings? That pegasus is ours!” Acid Rain shouted down at them.

Double Duty snarled up at him. “Can it you cockroaches! You don’t got dibs on her and she came here first to meet me, not you!”

Only because you were closest. Dash wryly mused. And where did those three come from? Did they seriously fly around in the vents and were looking for her?

“All the pegasi in this city should be Thunderbirds! We’ve got the right to the newcomer!” Acid Rain said.

“Oh yeah? Tell that to my couple of pegasi down here. You don’t got a right to anything or anyone!” Double Duty shouted right back.

“Every pegasi in this city is a Thunderbird! They just don’t know it yet!”

“I’ll pluck your wings you screeching chicken!”

“I’d like to see you try you dirty grease rag!”

“Flying toolbox!”

“Leaky barrel!”

“Ugly vent pigeon!”

“Stupid duct worm!”

Rainbow Dash was rubbing her temples trying to fight off the approaching headache as the two lobbed insults at each other. She was already tired of these gangs. Maybe she should just deck both of these guys right now? They definitely had it coming but Twilight and Fluttershy probably (definitely) wouldn’t like it if she didn’t at least try and talk to them and finish things peacefully. So she sucked in a big breath of air and was about to shout them down when…

A panel in the floor was thrown open and they all looked to see that copper unicorn from the Wrenchers leap out of it with a bunch of other ponies following him. It must’ve led to a maintenance tunnel or something and they were probably listening down there and spying on things too. Were they rats? They were all carrying an assortment of wrenches, pipes, chains, hammers, and any other sort of tool that could be used as a weapon. The copper unicorn glared at both Double Duty and Acid Rain before his eyes settled on Rainbow Dash.

“Well you listened to both these losers but it’s clear the Wrenchers is the only place for you. Name’s Frayed Wire,” the unicorn said.

“You’re not even the real leader of the Wrenchers!” Double Duty accused. “You’re still fighting with Nut!”

“So what? We’re still as big and strong as ever and we’ve got just as much a right to make that outsider ours, you hear?” Frayed Wire.

“Neither of you have a right to anything!” Acid Rain yelled and brought a hoof up to his mouth to whistle.

The shrill whistle must’ve been a sign because several more grills were knocked out on the ceiling and a dozen pegasi emerged from them. Seeing that things were about to get serious the Diesel Kings got in a protective formation around Double Duty and went to grab a bunch of the screws and bolts that Rainbow had seen them messing with earlier. And out of their jumpsuits they pulled slingshots. Dash knew how deceptively dangerous those could be when firing something metal. The Wrenchers were aware too and made a tight line, holding up their weapons as all three of the gangs now faced off with each other.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as they were all clearly waiting for any excuse to throw the first punch. She had to try and defuse this. “Wait—don’t fight because of-”

But that interruption was what lit the fuse.

The Wrenchers screamed and charged while the Diesel King’s fired a volley of nuts and screws and the Thunderbirds dove at both of them. It was a surprisingly brutal melee right from the start as one of the Wrenchers got pegged in the face with a screw and went down while the unicorn stallion Diesel King that had spoken to her earlier got smacked in the jaw with a pipe. One of the Thunderbirds was grabbed out of the sky and thrown on the floor where all the other ponies around him started stomping on his wings. A young colt ran underneath the fighting ponies and bit a mare on the leg, she yelped and knocked him away. Frayed Wire used his magic to levitate a long chain and wrapped it around Double Duty’s neck while the earth pony had him in a tight headlock. When Soot Mane tried to intervene, Acid Rain landed on top of her and smashed her into the ground before tackling the other two leaders.

“Stop it, you morons!” Rainbow Dash yelled but her plea fell on deaf ears.

A group of Diesel Kings broke away from the crowd and started firing shots at any Thunderbird still in the air. Rainbow Dash winced as she saw a screw strike one of the pegasi and embed itself in his wing. He went into a tailspin and collided with the hard metal floor while the Diesel Kings kept firing volleys at his friends. Some of the Thunderbirds saw what was happening and swiftly flew over to the enemy sharpshooters, using their agile flying skills to avoid anything being sent their way now that they were focused on it. The pegasi divebombed the group of Diesel Kings and knocked them away from each other. One of them grabbed a unicorn stallion by the back hoofs and carried him up into the air, halfway from the ceiling, before dropping him with a thud.

She looked into the melee to see another Wrencher smack a wrench into the underbelly of a Diesel King only to then immediately be kicked in the head and tackled by a flying Thunderbird. At the same time, Soot Mane had gotten up and jumped on the back of Acid Rain while he tried to buck her loose. That was until a pegasus mare with a purple and yellow swirled mane tackled Soot Mane off of him. The two mares rolled around on the ground practically clawing at each other with their hooves, they rolled like that until they hit the wall of the housing block.

Acid Rain was about to hit Double Duty over the head when a bolt shot from someone else hit him in the temple, making him crash into a Wrencher.

Frayed Wire used his magic to throw a pipe into the air and smack a Thunderbird’s wing with enough force to make him falter and accidentally fly into another Thunderbird.

Double Duty had grabbed the chain Frayed Wire previously used against him and swung it at the nearest Wrencher. But they saw it coming and ducked—so Double Duty only ended up hitting one of his own Diesel Kings.

It was a madhouse.

There was no other way Rainbow Dash could put it. It was the kind of vicious brawl that could only happen for the most petty and asinine reasons. And from what she had heard she figured it must be pretty common. Even if there might not have been big fights like this as often, Rainbow Dash could picture two or three gang members getting into brawls like this every day.

Frayed Wire was knocked to the ground with Double Duty standing over him, the earth pony lifting a pipe in the air and about to bring it down-

RIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGG!!!

An incredibly loud ringing noise came from the ceiling, so loud and unexpected that Rainbow Dash had to cover her ears. But what was even more unexpected was how the gangs reacted to it. Everything stopped. Everything. Ponies in the middle of throwing punches stopped, Double Duty dropped his pipe, Soot Mane and the other mare stood up, the entire fight came to a standstill and very quickly after that they began to get in orderly lines and started walking towards the hallway that would lead back to the housing block Rainbow Dash came from.

“Uhhh, what’s going on?” She asked them as they started marching past her. It was perplexing.

“It’s time for work,” Acid Rain said, the closest of the leaders to her.

She tilted her head and scrunched up her face. “And you guys stop just like that? You were practically killing each other!”

“Work comes first. We have to do as instructed by Resin and Crush,” the pegasus said although he kept a glare on his face.

Dash almost didn’t believe it but she saw even the injured ponies pick themselves up and start to leave too. She just shook her head as she watched it and then flew to the front of the line, joining them.

“What are you doing?” Double Duty asked her, raising an eyebrow.

“You don’t need to work,” Frayed Wire said.

“I want to. I want to see what you guys all have to do,” Rainbow Dash told them.

Acid Rain scoffed. “Why even bother? You’re certainly not planning on living here for good are you?”

“Nope,” she replied and then shot a glance at Double Duty. “And I’m not planning on joining any of your gangs either.”

“Then why?” Double Duty asked with a sneer curling his lip.

“Cause believe it or not—I want to help you.”

The Eternal Furnace V

By the time their procession reached the first housing block all the ponies from there had left their rooms and were also marching down the hallway Rainbow Dash had first seen them come back from yesterday. She tried to spy Night Reader and Brilliant Star but couldn’t see them. It didn’t really matter since no one was speaking to one another or getting out of line, even though Crush and the security team weren’t around. She wondered if they were already in the work area at the pumps and drills for the oil, waiting for the ponies to arrive and get started.

Rainbow Dash looked behind herself to see if she could see the ponies from housing blocks further back coming but there was too much of a crowd from the Diesel King’s one already there.

There are really hundreds of ponies going to work here all at once everyday? Rainbow Dash thought. And they work how many hours?

She wondered about Oil Slick and other ponies who shared his type of work. It seemed like he might have it easier than the ponies she was about to work with. And the Diesel Kings were supposed to do the dirtiest and worst type of work possible… but Dash needed to show all of them that she was tough, and how serious she was. She needed to gain their respect. Only after she proved to them all that she wasn’t just some random pegasus who had flown in would they maybe listen to her and stop fighting each other.

Then she could work on the Black Hoofs and Crush.

“You’re a real dumb pony, you know that?” Double Duty said to her. “I aint interested in getting the help of some outsider who won’t even join my gang.”

“What’s even your angle?” Acid Rain asked.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “No angle, I’m just an awesome pony that likes going on adventures, helping ponies, and taking out villains. And Resin sounds like a villain to me and you guys definitely need a lot of help. Seriously, you guys are crazy. And if you give me the chance I’ll help you get your city back in order and you don’t have to keep fighting each other.”

“No deal,” Double Duty growled.

“Yeah, you can forget about that. Unless you change your mind and want to be a Thunderbird you can buzz off,” Acid Rain dismissed her.

“We don’t need anyone who won’t fight for us either,” Frayed Wire said.

Rainbow Dash just shrugged as they all walked. “Suit yourselves. I already knew I’d have to work to change your minds. Maybe when you see how awesome I am you’ll change your tunes and listen to me.”

When her group had made it through the first housing block she looked down the big hallway and saw that the huge door was already open, now for the first time she’d soon get to see what it looked like where these ponies worked. She imagined dirty and greasy. But she’d done plenty of hard work in her life. This would be a piece of cake.

The conversation between her and the others died as they walked on and passed the raised door. From here Rainbow Dash could hear—and smell—what awaited her. There was a constant grinding of gears and pistons going on from deeper in and the scent of gasoline and sweat hung in the air, the hallway started to become better lit and soon enough she was surrounded by heavy machinery and a bunch of corridors going off elsewhere into the city while stairs and catwalks went up and around the machines. There were a group of ponies already working on the closest machines, huge pumps that constantly pushed and pulled out of the ground while ponies attended to nozzles attached to them that leaked out black and unrefined oil into barrels. After walking another few feet the hallway opened up entirely into a huge vaulted room with a ceiling much higher than the housing blocks and machinery that went up everywhere. More catwalks hung from the ceiling while stairs wrapped around huge pillars that helped the room stand up. Rainbow Dash hardly knew what to make of most of this stuff or how it worked but it seemed to do its job of getting oil for Resin.

And she knew she’d just follow the Diesel Kings today to do the jobs they did.

“Hurry up and get to work, all of you!”

A voice from above yelled down at them and Rainbow Dash looked up to see Crush on one of the catwalks. A number of other security officers were with him. Looking at the ground floor she saw a lot more security ponies walking around and making sure everyone was following orders and working.

Despite the large size of the room things were starting to get claustrophobic thanks to the sheer amount of ponies in here and how clustered together all of the machinery was. However it was much more brightly lit at the same time and Rainbow Dash could see basically everything going on. Some of those barrels just recently filled with oil were taken to a big conveyor belt by other ponies that fed into a large machine buzzing with steam and shaking as each new barrel entered its bowels. A single unicorn stood in front of it watching a bunch of gauges and pulling levers on the machine when he apparently needed to. Way back Rainbow Dash saw something else, the actual rock walls of the mountain itself. And a number of large drills and derricks built right up against it that continuously worked on boring deeper into it and draw out all the oil that must remain like a treasure inside.

Rainbow Dash realized while watching all of this that even though there were only ponies living in here, this city was more foreign to her than anywhere else she had traveled to in the True North. At no point in the past, present, or future could she see a city and machinery like this in Equestria. It was all too much. Too alien.

“So what sort of work are you going to do?” Frayed Wire asked her. “You just gonna do some baby work to pass the time and act like you know what it’s like to work in here with us?”

“Yeah, you can just monitor the barrels that come out of refinement. Not like Crush or anyone else is gonna care if you stand around and do nothing,” Soot Mane said to her.

“Thanks but I’m going to do some serious work,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“Like what?” Soot Mane raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

Rainbow Dash grinned at her. “The same work you do. Like you all said, you Diesel Kings do the grungiest and dirtiest work in here, if I want to prove my mettle I better do the same.”

“Tch,” Double Duty clicked his teeth. “You aren’t proving anything to anyone.”

“And you can just wait for me to let my actions do the talking,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Either way I’m helping out with your work today, so show me what to do. Doesn’t matter if you believe me or not right now cause I’m going to show you what I’m made of.”

“Well do your stupid Diesel King work then,” Acid Rain spit at her and flew away from their group, taking a large portion of the Thunderbirds with him as they went off to do some other kind of work.

Rainbow Dash frowned. This wasn’t going to endear her to anyone except maybe the Diesel Kings, but she just had to take it all one step at a time. It was clear that even though this was supposed to show how serious she was about her mission; their divisions were so great that they couldn’t see it as anything but favoritism right now. Acid Rain and Frayed Wire clearly saw this as a personal insult. Oh well. If nothing else it would prove her strength.

As if to confirm her thoughts, Frayed Wire gave a nasty look and soon ditched her and the rest of the group to take some of his Wrenchers into the small corridors along the outer side of the room, where they were likely working on standard maintenance and repairs. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure if she’d work with them or the Thunderbirds next—or do something else entirely to try and win them over—but something was going to happen. In the end she’d certainly faced greater challenges than this, and she was the most awesome pony ever, she’d pull through.

Most of the ponies working in here, whether ones walking ahead or behind Rainbow’s group, had gone off to their own places and workstations or were rounded up by security and made to do something specific. She and the Diesel Kings were still walking deeper into the chamber. More machinery piled up and the floor turned into metal grating, looking down she could see an underlevel that was totally cramped and just a mess of greasy pipes and gears. Ahead there was an opening in the floor and a stairway that led down into the underlevel.

I hate cramped places but whatever. Rainbow frowned.

The Diesel Kings didn’t acknowledge her or give her any clue as to what she should be doing when they went down there but she followed them anyways. She could observe them and figure it out herself. Once she descended the stairs with them she noticed things were even more cramped than she thought because the “ceiling” of the grated floor was so low. She wasn’t a tall pony but she only had a couple of inches from the crown of her head hitting the ceiling. These passageways down here under the machines were a total maze too, with no indication of what anything was or where to go to the untrained eye. The lighting wasn’t as good anymore either and the heat was bad with the hot machines and all the ponies bunched together.

A low piston on one of the oil pumps popped and sprayed hydraulic fluid over the jumpsuits of several Diesel Kings working in front of it.

Yep, this was dirty work.

She didn’t mind that part, Applejack would revel in it too, but she didn’t like the claustrophobic nature of this bottom level in the city’s work area. And Rainbow Dash ended up shoved around by a few Diesel Kings thanks to not knowing where to go until she saw Double Duty going beneath a drilling platform and followed him.

He and Soot Mane were standing right by two huge drills that were already embedded in the ground and continuously pressing in deeper. Pumps and hoses attached to them looked to constantly be sucking out and carrying oil back to the platform above them. Double Duty grabbed a bucket of water that had been kept down here and started pouring it over the drill, the hoses, and the hydraulics that moved the drill, where it all instantly evaporated into steam. Those drills were hot. She didn’t know how well the water he was using would actually cool them down and keep them from overheating but it must’ve done something. Soot Mane also grabbed a rag and began cleaning and wiping all the moving parts of the drill, removing grease and other grime to make sure it functioned properly.

The drills were as thick around as their bodies and they were pretty close together so Soot Mane had to be careful as she squeezed around them to clean them up. With such little room down here there was nothing else she could do. She was already sweating thanks to the heat and steam coming from the drills, Dash made up her mind to grab a rag and help her out so they could finish cleaning these drills before the Diesel King passed out.

Unsurprisingly, Soot Mane shot her a nasty look when she came over but neither she nor Double Duty did anything to stop Rainbow Dash from working. If they took the work seriously enough to stop in the middle of killing each other they took it seriously enough to not sabotage or actively shoo her away from it. As soon as Dash put her wet rag against the metal drill she could feel the heat from it and saw the water sizzle. Dash got one drill while Soot Mane took care of the other, both of them making a good effort to get them spotless. These things probably got dirty fast so she bet she’d be doing more work like this in the future.

She was sweating pretty good by the time she finished while Soot Mane and Double Duty had both pretty much drenched their own jumpsuits by now. It was still probably better to wear something like that though than accidentally getting a scalding liquid sprayed on you.

Double Duty and Soot Mane both pushed past her to go do something else and Rainbow Dash was going to follow them when she was distracted by the sudden sound of steam escaping from a tight space. She looked over to see some kind of boiler shaking and emitting steam at the seams while a pressure gauge was going into the red on it, a few other ponies went to try and shut off the valves and relieve the pressure but couldn’t before a bolt shot off from the boiler like a bullet and ricocheted off some of the other equipment before stopping. Dash and a number of others had ducked down with their hooves over their heads while that happened but at least the boiler wasn’t about to explode anymore. Still looked a little busted though.

“Morons!” Double Duty yelled without looking at the source of the problem. “Fix that now!”

A couple of Diesel Kings with some tools and extra bolts got to work on the boiler, affixing small metal plates over the splits where steam had erupted and welding them into place. Dash periodically heard more stuff like that going on, along with beeping noises from alarms and the grinding of gears that had too much stress put on them. This whole place was a mess of barely functioning machinery that had clearly been overtaxed. And the Diesel Kings were doing their best to make sure it all kept working, she would’ve thought it was admirable if she didn’t know how selfish Double Duty and his gang really were.

At one point Dash ended up on her back underneath one of the machines, cleaning grime off of it while also replacing a bunch of gears and chewed through circuits inside of it.

Chewed through by the rats that were crawling around next to her. Rainbow Dash was thankful for her thick skin—a more squeamish pony might freak out. It was still gross and uncomfortable but despite complaining being one of her fortes in life she just grit her teeth, furrowed her brow, and did it before shimmying back out from under the machine and watching as the light on it switched from red to green and it went back to doing… whatever it was for. She should probably actually learn about this stuff before next time.

Covered in crud right now… Rainbow Dash frowned and shook her wings to at least get the dirt off of them.

“Hey,” someone called to her.

Rainbow Dash looked to see the unicorn stallion who she had briefly spoken to before the fight broke out. He had a huge swollen bruise on his face from when he had been struck earlier but he must’ve been good at dealing with pain since it didn’t seem to stop him. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Yeah?”

“Come help me out with something, you’re just doing anything aren’t you?” He asked her.

Well he was right about that. And it was good to have someone actually ask for her help, maybe she was at least proving herself to this guy. So Rainbow Dash shrugged and went with him. “Sure.”

He led her to a machine that went up through the floor above them while down here there were a bunch of pumps on one side with some levers under them and then a conveyor belt emerging out the back that had a safety light on it. The machine was already shaking and there were some ugly gurgling sounds coming from inside it and up top. The stallion walked up to the first lever on the machine and pulled it, the safety light flipped on and the pumps started rapidly pumping up and down.

“What is this thing?” Rainbow Dash asked him.

“Toxic waste processor. In a minute a barrel full of waste will come out the conveyor belt, make sure the lid is sealed on tight and then place it down behind the machine. Later on someone else will come to dispose of it properly,” he explained.

“Properly...” Rainbow Dash muttered, remembering what Oil Slick was doing with this toxic waste.

“And be careful. If there is a leak or anything make sure to not get any of that stuff on you. You really don’t want that to happen.”

“I can guess,” Rainbow Dash winced.

She didn’t know how the stallion knew when to pull the next lever but after a minute of the machine whirring and pumping he grasped the second one and pulled it. The conveyor belt activated and a barrel came out from inside the machine. Rainbow Dash walked back to it and looked it over, it was definitely the same kind of canister that Oil Slick had been throwing off the mountain. She checked it intently to make sure it wasn’t leaking in the slightest and once she was sure it was okay she plucked it off the conveyor and put it down on the ground. The stallion pulled the third lever on the machine and it sounded like a big fan activated inside it, like the machine was clearing its own nose and unclogging its parts.

“Everything about this place is gross,” she shook her head.

After that she continued with more and more miscellaneous work for the hours she spent down here with the Diesel Kings. It was an unrelenting stream of busyness thanks to the massive amount of machinery to take care of and clean and fix on the fly. By the end of it she had to admit she had an appreciation for these guys being able to do this every single day with nothing to look forward to when they were done. It was tough and she wasn’t sure how many ponies back in Equestria would be able to handle it.

And she was proud to say that she only accidentally burnt herself once when she touched a hot pipe with her hoof. And it was only a minor burn.

When the time had come for them to leave the work area for the day, Rainbow Dash wiped the sweat from her brow and sighed in relief. She knew she was covered in grease and who knew what else. The braid her mane had been in thanks to Shibu was now gone, a frayed, ragged, and sweat-drenched mess left in its place. So closer to how her mane usually looked. Her and the Diesel Kings left this cramped nightmare and went to join the others as they walked out of the work area and back to the housing blocks. Rainbow Dash planned to drop back in with Night Reader and Brilliant Star tonight but she still wasn’t able to see them even as they got to the first housing block.

Before she could take to the air with her wings and look around a familiar buzzing came from the ceiling.

~Thank you once more for your hard work! And remember—the flame is everything! The flame is life itself! So don’t worry about your lives, just work and work as hard as you can for the flame!~

The speaker cut out right after. Rainbow Dash couldn’t wait for the opportunity to tell Resin exactly what she thought about all that.

The Eternal Furnace VI

Rainbow Dash eventually made her way back into the small “home” of Night Reader and Brilliant Star. And she promptly passed out from exhaustion in the small bunk. Despite the poor accommodations there was no such thing as a bad bed when you were that tired. Night Reader and Brilliant Star slept well too, Rainbow was just really thankful they were still letting her stay here with them. It probably felt good for the two of them to be nice to a pony. They obviously didn’t get that chance very often.

She woke up later than she would’ve liked though. Instead of getting up before her hosts they were already active and had a bowl of the slimy gruel ready for her to eat. That meant she had less time to try and do anything before the bell rang and they all had to get to work again so she’d have to move double time.

Rainbow Dash guzzled down the gruel, although now that she wasn’t overwhelmed by hunger it wasn’t nearly as appetizing and she nearly retched due to the strange consistency and tastelessness of it. It just felt like something that shouldn’t be eaten.

“Ughhh… you guys really eat this stuff?” Rainbow Dash coughed into her bowl and wiped a gooey trail of gruel off her chin.

“Every day,” Night Reader shrugged.

“You get used to it,” Brilliant Star said.

Rainbow Dash shook her head and finished off the bowl—it was probably healthy but just devoid of everything else that a meal should be. Would’ve made sense with what Resin believe in. At least she knew from the last time she had a bowl that it was enough to tide her over even when she had been starving. But she really didn’t want to have to go more than a few days of only having this to eat. After Brilliant Star took the bowl back to clean it, Rainbow Dash took a big stretch in their room and wiggled her wings to get ready.

“How long do you think until work starts again? I’ve got a lot of stuff I want to do today,” she asked them.

“It’s the same time every day so you’ve got a few hours at least,” Brilliant Star said as she washed the dishes.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Okay, okay, that’s pretty good. And you said the Wrenchers are all over the place? Like hiding out in the area between the housing blocks and the exterior of the city?”

“Right,” Night Reader nodded. “Are you going to try and find and talk to them?”

“Well I had a little encounter with them yesterday...” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. “But I want to get to know all the gangs better. I really need to start winning them over, I think I made some progress with the Diesel Kings yesterday but it’s not enough. And I can’t really get to where the Thunderbirds are without going through the places the Diesel Kings and Wrenchers hang out in. So I figured I might as well try and convince the Wrenchers to help me out next.”

“Then that should be where you need to go. We don’t know exactly where they are and there’s a lot of maintenance access ways and other stuff out in the long corridor that wraps around most of the mountain. So you might have some trouble finding them,” Night Reader told her.

“I’ll deal,” Rainbow shrugged. “Besides, these guys are looking for me too.”

“I suppose it’s a good thing for you what with what you’re trying to do. If the gangs cared about me that much I’d just be afraid,” Brilliant Star said as she finished up the dishes and walked over to her husband.

Rainbow Dash grinned at her and her husband. “With any luck none of you will have to be afraid of them anymore. With any luck they won’t even exist soon.”

“I still can’t say I believe much in your chances to do anything here but I won’t wish you unwell,” Night Reader said. His eyes were still just dull and empty, same with Brilliant Star.

“I’ll make you believe in me. Same as the gangs, you just gotta watch me. If you guys knew about even half the stuff I’ve done in my life you’d have way more faith in me,” Rainbow said. “In fact, I may not have the time right now, but after work is done for today I’m going to get you and as many other ponies who live in this housing block together I can and I’m going to tell you all about what I’ve done. Then you’ll know the awesome hero who’s here to help you.”

Brilliant Star shrugged. “You can go ahead and try but most are going to be tired and won’t care enough to stick around and listen.”

“Or believe you even if they do,” Night Reader said. “I’m not sure I’m going to believe you either.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Well I’m gonna try, nothing can make me not try. And less than nothing can make me give up. So I’ll see you later today but right now I’ve gotta make up for lost time.”

“Why are you in such a hurry? It’s not like you need to work, no one is keeping track of you,” Night Reader said.

“Even if I’m not working won’t everyone else be?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him.

“Not necessarily,” he shook his head. “While we’re supposed to work every single day it’s impossible to keep up with that. Every now and then ponies will take a day off and rest, since you only really have to be careful of Crush and the security team catching you. They don’t have enough ponies to do a headcount of every worker every day so unless you’re really unlucky you can mostly just hide out in your room.”

“Why don’t more ponies just do that?” Rainbow asked.

“Because if it’s obvious that there are too many ponies missing then Crush will do an inspection of the housing blocks. And anyone found not working will be punished. Harshly,” Brilliant Star said.

“Sometimes he does random inspections too. So anyone skipping work for the day is gambling,” Night Reader added.

“And there’s something else...” Brilliant Star said, forlornly looking at the ground. “If you skip too much work… well it doesn’t make the ponies here that have been working themselves to death very happy. So if you take more than a day off every week or two you might find an angry mob at your door.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and rubbed her forehead. “You guys really need to get back to being good to each other. This is just crazy.”

“That’s how it is in this city now,” Night Reader shrugged. “Ponies don’t have room in them for compassion anymore.”

“I’m changing that. Seriously, I’m changing that.” Rainbow Dash said as she pointed her hoof at the two of them. She then turned and opened up the door to the housing block, stepping outside and closing it behind herself. Duty called and today was going to be another big and busy one.

Rainbow Dash glided through the air of the housing block towards the smaller tunnel that she had first come in from two days ago. She noticed that there was a shutter above it that looked like it could come down and seal the housing block off from the outer corridor, all the blocks probably had tunnels and shutters like this. She didn’t know how or why any of them would ever be closed like that though. Whatever, it wasn’t important right now and she had to find those Wrenchers. She kept up an easy flight just a foot above the ground and casually flew through the tunnel and back into the maintenance access corridor after opening up that small door again.

“Looks the same as last time,” Dash said as she looked around the long and tall room that curved off into the distance, where the walls were covered in innumerable vents and pipes and led further out to the exit hatches used for trash disposal. But Dash wasn’t going out she was going around, so she followed the length of the corridor in the direction of the other housing blocks.

It was all pretty much the same everywhere, she saw more tunnels leading to more exit hatches just like she had noticed when she first entered the city. But she knew she couldn’t just lazily overlook anything. She remembered how the Wrenchers emerged from a panel in the floor yesterday so she had to make sure she didn’t miss anything like that. Everything that could be a door or lead to a secret tunnel was something she had to check.

One panel on the wall she opened up revealed itself to merely be covering a bunch of sparking wires. She quickly put the cover back on to keep any sparks from shooting onto her fur.

"This place is falling apart...” Rainbow Dash muttered.

Resin had to see that the way she was doing things was just making the city fall into decay, didn’t she? Without any purpose or happiness for the average pony and making them afraid of violence from their peers nobody cared anymore about the general state of this strange metal mountain. Did Resin really believe everything she said in those broadcasts? Was she so focused on the flame burning bright that she couldn’t even think about long term consequences? What she had done was like starting a forest fire to stay warm for the night.

Rainbow Dash shook her head and continued on down the corridor, lazily flapping her wings and giving everything a once over with her eagle eyes. Between two of the halls that led to the exit hatches there was one set of metal doors that had a chain with a lock wrapped around the handles, so even though it obviously led somewhere she couldn’t find where. Rainbow Dash had no idea how many little tunnels and crawlspaces honeycombed this part of the city but if she could at least get inside she could find her way around it all.

By now her mission this morning had taken her past the housing block that the Diesel Kings claimed. She figured if she still couldn’t find any sign of where the Wrenchers were hiding she could at least go to the Thunderbirds’ housing block once she hit the end. Rainbow Dash was still looking at any loose vents when she passed by or any sign of life that wasn’t a rat scurrying around—there were a lot of rats.

Dash was beginning to get annoyed at her lack of progress. Investigating wasn’t really her thing and she wasn’t used to being in a technological and mechanical place like this. She just didn’t know what to do. She was in the middle of an adventure but it wasn’t really fun or exciting just yet.

She was almost bored enough to miss something important. But not quite.

While passing one of the tunnels that would’ve led to another housing block farther along the line she noticed something hiding in the shadows of the unlit tunnel. Although she acted like she didn’t see anything. But there was definitely something—a couple of someones—hiding in that darkness and watching her as she went by. Rainbow Dash’s mouth turned into a tight lipped frown as she kept floating along down the corridor while behind her she heard the faintest sound of rustling feathers as the ponies emerged from the tunnel and began to follow her.

Still she acted as unaware as before, looking ahead and around like normal and not changing her speed at all. She was pretty sure she knew who was following her and what was going to happen soon.

They didn’t know who they were messing with.

As her acute ears listened in she heard them flying above and behind her near the top of the ceiling. A good blind spot if she couldn’t already hear what they were doing.

Any second now… Rainbow Dash kept her ears perked and her body on edge.

It happened as soon as she passed the next corridor, three pegasi came down from the ceiling and attempted to jump her. Rainbow Dash was prepared for it and she quickly bolted to the side, letting them land on the floor right where she had been previously hovering above and then giving a solid kick to the pegasus on the right of the group. It was strong enough to knock him into his fellows and they all momentarily were pushed to the ground.

“Thunderbirds, huh?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed.

The three didn’t respond, instantly picking themselves up and flying at her. One came head on while the others went for her sides in a pincer movement. It wasn’t a bad strategy again but—like pretty much every other pegasus in the world—they were just too slow compared to her. Rainbow Dash didn’t wait for them to arrive, she shot forward with alarming speed and punched the startled middle pegasus in the face before the others even knew what had happened. When they did finally register that Rainbow Dash had disappeared and their comrade had been struck they were forced to do a double-take and just floated there, unsure of what to do next.

Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder at them while the other lay crumpled on the ground rubbing his face. “Well?”

They glared at her and jumped forward, one going high and the other going low. But their attacks were easy for Rainbow Dash to dance around. A hoof strike came in at her head that she leaned away from while the other tried to sweep out her legs, a single small jump took care of that. The pony up high brought both his hooves down towards her back while the one low lunged at her to tackle her. Rainbow Dash instead dodge to the side of both of them and when the one lunging for her went past she grabbed his head and held him in a headlock, spinning around and then throwing him into the other one.

That was just in time for the other to get back up and fly at her, his face was red both from her punch and his anger, and he threw a barrage of punches at her. It’s not like they were bad punches or anything, he wasn’t some wild amateur, but he just couldn’t match her speed. Every punch might as well have been going in slow-motion with how easily Rainbow Dash was able to duck and dodge away from them all. And if he kept going all out like this he was just going to tire himself out soon.

Of course Rainbow Dash didn’t feel like waiting for that to happen. The next time he threw a big right hook at her she put her hoof up to block it and punched him in the jaw. The pegasus spun around a couple of times and fell to the floor. He was done.

The other two saw that and hesitated. Did they do the probably really smart thing and fly away? Or did they try to do what they were ordered to do and take out Rainbow Dash?

They did the dumb thing.

Both of them came at her head on now, knowing they were too slow to try and do anything fancy. They just tried to overwhelm her with enough attacks at once. A serious of punches and wing jabs were thrown at Rainbow Dash, at her head, her body, her legs, anything the two of them could reach. They figured if they could land a single solid blow they could swing the fight in their favor.

Rainbow Dash was way too good for any of their hits to do something like that though. After her fights with guys like Blizzard and Karkona and even that Bug Bear this was like a couple of ants trying to fight an eagle. Even before she had started on her journey it would’ve been easy for her to deal with some thugs like this. It was almost bullying what Rainbow Dash was doing.

One jab came in straight at her face and Rainbow Dash felt like she had let them try enough. With a powerful flap of her wings she flew up and over the two of them in a flash and kicked both of them in the back of their heads. Both of them were launched forward and slid across the metal floor until they crashed into the wall. Now they were done too.

“Can’t even have a tough fight here I guess,” Rainbow said as she looked at the three downed pegasi. With a shrug she resumed her flight down the corridor while the first one she had knocked out woke up and shook his head.

He was groggy at first but he gasped when he saw his two friends also out cold and Rainbow Dash starting to fly away.

She meanwhile just looked back at him with a bored expression. “Hey, tell Acid Rain that if he wants to talk I’m totally up for that. But if he keeps sending guys like you after me looking for a fight he’s going to end up with nothing but a gang of beaten up pegasi. Got it?”

The pegasus just glared at her instead of responding and flew over to the other two, shaking them and trying to wake them up as quickly as possible.

“Whatever,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and ignored them. Not like they were a threat anymore. Or ever were, really. She still had bigger things on her mind what with finding the Wrenchers before work began today and she wasn’t going to let any opportunities slip by in this city. At least maybe this would send a message to Acid Rain and the Thunderbirds.

After a minute of her slowly flying deeper down the corridor she heard the sound of the three pegasi leaving back to where they had come from.

And then she suddenly paused as she had just realized something that was off about the three of them. It wasn’t just that they were going in the direction away from the Thunderbirds own housing block. It was something else about them that she hadn’t had the time to think about in the middle of fighting with them.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed and she looked back down at the now empty corridor. “Wait a second, those guys didn’t have lightning bolt tattoos and they weren’t wearing jumpsuits either...”

The Eternal Furnace VII

She had traveled into a part of the access corridor that was monumentally dirty and grungy looking. It wasn’t enough that rats were scurrying around the other parts, now the floors looked like they hadn’t been wiped down in ages and dust and other sorts of grime covered the pipes and vents. Some of the lights on the ceiling were out or buzzed off and on, making the whole place just look eerie. While the rest of the corridor had a cool steel look to it she was now in such a dump of a place that it was all a moldy brown around her.

“So this is really just getting better and better,” she complained. At least she didn’t have to walk over the dirty floor.

Finding the Wrenchers was going to be tougher now, she wondered if everything started to get worse the further one got from the work area. Again, that was another thing that would make sense when it came to Resin’s beliefs and orders. If that was the case the Thunderbirds’ housing block was probably in shambles.

“Could it really be worse than not having a door to your own house?” Rainbow said as she thought about how the ponies living under the Diesel Kings were forced to live.

The plain answer was none of them were in a good situation.

Rainbow Dash flew past one tunnel that led to an exterior hatch only to see the entire thing blocked off by garbage and debris. No one was wheeling a cart full of toxic waste through all of that. She had no idea why it was like that either, it didn’t make any sense. Oil Slick had said that they recycled and incinerated all their usual trash. And even if they didn’t want to do that they could’ve just pushed all this stuff to the hatch and dumped it off the mountain. Did they want to live in what was basically a garbage dump? Or did no one care enough to put even the smallest modicum of effort into taking care of this? Well, Rainbow Dash couldn’t really blame them if they felt that way about their city now.

After that she ended up going through a darkened part of the corridor that had a bunch of beams welded near the top of the ceiling going from side to side. She could only assume Wrenchers had done that on purpose to keep pegasi from flying too high in the corridor. That gave her less options in case she was attacked again but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. Rainbow Dash flew in low and kept her eyes peeled for any movement in the shadows. As much as it annoyed her she also went down on hoof, keeping her wings at her sides might be better right now and she could still react plenty fast on her hooves. Not as well as in the air but she was confident against any group of gang members in this city.

Immediately though she felt the gross sensation of sticky filth beneath her hooves. She couldn’t see the floor but it was obviously just as messy and dirty as the rest of this area. Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue and frowned, heading towards a light flickering in the distance. It was the only sign of, well, anything in this corridor now.

She began whistling to herself more out of sheer boredom than anything and walked a little slower than she was comfortable with just to make sure she didn’t stumble over anything or step on something sharp. Every now and then she’d hear a rat scurrying off somewhere or step on some board or tool left on the ground but no ponies showed themselves to her yet. Rainbow Dash was left to whistle through the darkness on her own without even being able to check for more hidden areas.

“There anybody here?” She asked the darkness.

No answer.

“You know if there are Wrenchers around and you guys know I’m looking for you but you’re just letting me wander around like this I’m going to be really annoyed,” she angrily stated.

Still no answer so she just snorted in annoyance and continued on. At least that flickering light was close and she’d actually be able to see what was around her soon and get back to checking on anything out of place in the corridor. She didn’t know exactly how far she had traveled, or how many housing blocks there were, but just judging by the size of the mountain she was sure she must be getting close to the end and where the tunnel leading to the Thunderbirds’ housing block was. If that stupid bell or whatever rang before she could do anything…

Rainbow narrowed her eyes and ducked under a bar that had been welded across the corridor so low that anyone older than a colt would have to duck under it. Why though? Good thing she was able to see it thanks to being closer to the light, now she was starting to get some real illumination again and she could focus on looking around.

“Okay, okay, what else do we have here?” She said as she walked under the flickering light, looking up and down the walls.

Right up until the floor fell out from under her.

She didn’t even notice the panel in the floor missing, ironically the light cloaked the darkness on the floor by drawing her attention solely to it after walking though a dark hallway for so long. Rainbow took a sharp intake of breath and extended her wings—having no idea how far she might fall she was about to flap them and keep herself hovering in one spot—when her hooves touched the floor after falling just a few feet and nothing more. She managed to catch herself and not stumble or fall on her face, her knees tense and her wings still ready to work in case anything else happened. It looked like she was on a steady floor though.

“Wooh,” Rainbow Dash breathed out and looked up. “Where am—oh.”

Six ponies surrounded her, carrying an assortment of pipes and wrenches. They closed their circle around her and the two in front held their “weapons” up to her face threateningly.

“You guys Wrenchers?” She asked nonchalantly.

“That’s right,” one in front of her holding a pipe—a mare—confirmed. “We’ve been watching you and waiting for you to come down here, Frayed Wire’s orders in case you ever came looking for us.”

Rainbow Dash flatly stared back at her. “Then you heard how annoyed I was going to be if any of you were listening.”

“Well what are you going to do about it? It’s six on one,” a unicorn behind her said.

“You could have sixty on one and I’d still bet on me,” Rainbow Dash grinned.

“We aint here to fight anyways,” the mare said and glared at the unicorn behind Dash. “Frayed Wire wants to talk to you.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Okay, good. That’s what I wanted to do too. Where is he? Where am I?”

For the first time she really took a look around the new place she was in after falling down that small hole. It looked to be a cramped tube or crawlspace directly under the access corridor. Looking ahead she saw it seem to stretch endlessly off into the distance and back over her shoulder it looked much the same. Surprisingly it was decently lit with a bunch of small lights along the wall no greater than flashlights. The ceiling of this tube was low and barely a couple of inches above her head, similar to where the Diesel Kings worked. It was grungy and the air inside it smelled stale with an uncomfortable humidity to accompany it, dirt and grease caked all of the I-bars and L-beams that held up the access tube and below her the floor was a grating that covered bare wires and pipes that yet more rats were scurrying over.

“This is part of the maintenance tunnel network that goes all throughout this part of the city. Here we can get to every housing block, the work area, anywhere that isn’t locked down. Us Wrenchers are the only ones who know it without needing a map. It’s our turf,” the mare proudly stated.

“Good for you, now hurry up and take me to Frayed Wire,” Dash said.

The mare narrowed her eyes at Dash. “Fine, you’re lucky it’s not a fight we want. And you just remember that the Wrenchers are always moving around down here, so just cause you know where we are today doesn’t mean you’ll be able to find us again. Or tell the Thunderbirds and Diesel Kings where we are.”

“You seriously don’t have to worry about that. I’m not on anyone’s side right now but my own and all I’m trying to do is make you guys stop fighting each other,” Rainbow said.

“Whatever. Just follow us and don’t try and go off on your own,” the mare said. She took her pipe out of Dash’s face and started walking down the tube.

It was clear that the others were waiting for Dash to start moving so they could always watch her from behind and have her surrounded. Not like it would help them if she wanted to leave but she figured she might as well play along. So for now she kept close behind the mare and let her take her to Frayed Wire and wherever it was that the Wrenchers were calling headquarters for today.

“What’s your name anyways?” Rainbow Dash asked the mare. “You Frayed Wire’s second in command or something?”

“I’m just the one he gave orders to. Name’s Cast Iron,” the mare told her. Cast Iron was a bronze earth pony with a wavy teal mane pulled back and tied in a ponytail behind her head.

“Alright, well in a couple of days you’ll be my friend, Cast Iron. Maybe less. That goes for the rest of you, especially if you’re willing to tell me your names too,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Shut up, nobody cares about your stupid lies and whatever other delusions you’ve got in your head,” the unicorn told her.

“The only interest anyone has in you is how much use you can be to them. Frayed Wire and all us Wrenchers feel the same way,” a unicorn mare from beside her said.

Rainbow Dash had to roll her eyes again. “Suit yourselves. I’ve already gotten used to proving ponies wrong a long time ago.”

Aside from a few annoyed grunts they didn’t bother to retort. It was getting on her nerves but she knew at this point she had to let her actions speak for themselves. These ponies were just so dead inside and suspicious of everything and everyone. Probably came from being mistreated by their own and forced into this situation. Could she really blame them? She certainly wanted to. But it was times like these she just had to think about how Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight would handle things. Since it wasn’t quite time for her to just punch the problem away. She was serious about Cast Iron being her friend though, she was serious about that with any pony here who gave her the chance.

It was good to plant any sort of seed now and let them see how earnest and genuine she was. Rainbow Dash was always true to herself.

These guys just needed to be reminded of what real friendship was and then they could all work towards dealing with the true enemy in this city.

For now Cast Iron led the whole group through a maze of small tunnels that spread under the floor of the outer corridor and housing block. Rainbow Dash couldn’t even count how many twists and turns they took, she really would have an issue with finding them on her own in this place. What a pain. And some of the tunnels were so cramped they had to walk single file, not to mention just how dirty they were too. She was worried about accidentally stepping on a rusty nail or something. The hissing of steam and the sound of pistons going up and down filled her ears down here, the noise echoed right off the cramped walls. From deeper in the tunnels she was pretty sure she heard ponies talking and moving about but Cast Iron didn’t bother acknowledging it just yet.

As they made their way further in this maze, Dash was pretty sure they were intentionally doubling back and going in circles a couple of times to try and confuse her. That was starting to annoy her cause she knew they didn’t have much time left. She was going to say something to Cast Iron when they walked into a different tunnel Dash was sure they hadn’t been in yet and headed straight towards a bright light at the end of the tunnel. New room? It had to be something important.

“I sure hope we’re getting to Frayed Wire soon,” Rainbow Dash intentionally said louder and more obnoxiously than she needed to.

Cast Iron seemed to take the bait. “Be quiet, we’re almost there.”

Rainbow Dash grinned and waited for them to get out of this tunnel—after a moment more of walking they emerged into a new lit up room. She had to squeeze her eyes shut for a second to adjust to the change in lighting. This room was very bright thanks to a bunch of white lights not just stuck in the ceiling, but portable ones that were stood up at all the corners. The room itself looked to be some kind of old storage room, square, with a roof about ten feet above her head, and the only entrance and exit being the little tunnel they had walked through. She didn’t know what other purpose it may have served or where exactly it was nestled in the city but it was a well hidden nook.

And there were a number of Wrenchers inside the room, including Frayed Wire sitting atop a metal crate.

“So you came to see us?” The copper unicorn asked her. “Did you finally come to your senses and you’re planning on joining us or are you still going to try and peddle your nonsense.”

“She’s still peddling nonsense,” Cast Iron said before Rainbow Dash could respond.

Frayed Wire scoffed. “Of course. Why don’t you just leave our city already? There are plenty of exit hatches close to here.”

“No,” Rainbow Dash glared. “It doesn’t matter if I can just leave or not. I’ve already told you that’s not what this is about. I’m up here on an awesome adventure to help you ponies, so hurry up and let me help you.”

“Even if I believed you it doesn’t mean the Diesel Kings and Thunderbirds will. And we can’t show any sort of weakness to them. If we tried to act all friendly to them suddenly they’d think it was a trick or that we’d gone soft,” Frayed Wire shook his head. “You’re chasing a fantasy.”

“I’ll deal with them too. Don’t you think you’ve been cynical long enough? If they see that I’ve convinced you guys that I’m right maybe they’ll take a chance too. And if they don’t you still don’t have to worry about them fighting back or hurting you guys cause I’ll protect you. That’s how I am. Rainbow Dash protects her friends,” she stomped a hoof on the floor for emphasis.

“Words, words, words. You’re still just some random outsider pony. You want me to trust you? Then do something for me first,” Frayed Wire said.

“I already planned to. But I’ll tell you that I’m not going to fight or beat up somebody you don’t like just cause you told me to. That’s not how I’m planning on helping, so you better have a different kind of request,” she said.

“Well you’re lucky, cause I do. And it’s practically the same kind of thing you say you want to do with all us gangs,” Frayed Wire grinned.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve heard our gang’s had a bit of a schism. After our original leader died, a mare by the name of Nut said she should become the new leader of the Wrenchers. Well I disagreed with her. Most of the Wrenchers sided with me but a good amount followed her and we’ve been fighting with each other ever since. More than we’ve even been fighting with the Thunderbirds and Diesel Kings,” Frayed Wire narrowed his eyes at her. “You want us on your side? Well maybe I’ll start believing in what you’re saying—maybe—if you can convince Nut and the ponies she’s got on her side to give up her stupid spat and rejoin my group so we can make the Wrenchers whole again.”

“Fine,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I don’t have a problem with that.”

“Good. You won’t be getting on the Thunderbirds’ and Diesel Kings good side by doing this though, you know?” Frayed Wire mockingly grinned at her.

“One step at a time. And besides, I’m not helping you. I’m helping everyone,” Dash grinned right back at him.

The unicorn scowled. “Just do what I told you to. And don’t get any funny ideas either.”

“Whatever, so where is Nut? She somewhere in these tunnels too? Cause if she is I don’t think-” Rainbow started.

“She’s working today,” Frayed Wire cut her off. “Cast Iron and the others will take you to the work area where Nut and her group of fake Wrenchers always works. You can meet her there.” He shrugged. “As for whether or not she’ll hear you out or you can actually convince her of anything, well, that’s up to you. Heh, good luck.”

“Sounds like you almost want me to fail,” Dash said.

“Not really, but even if you do it’s still better than you helping one of the other gangs. You fail at this and no one’s going to take you seriously and we can all get back to normal and ignore you. We only got interested in you cause you were an outsider with no attachment to anyone or anything in this city, if you show everyone how useless you are then who cares anymore?”

“Great. Doesn’t matter because I’m not planning on failing. At anything.”

Frayed Wire opened his mouth to speak again when a familiar noise rang out.

riiiiiiiiiiiinnnng!!!

It was quieter thanks to where they were but the ringing of that bell signifying the start of the work day still easily reached their ears. Besides Frayed Wire all the other Wrenchers immediately got ready to leave the room and head to the work area. With Cast Iron waiting for Rainbow Dash to come along with her.

“You’re not coming too?” Rainbow Dash asked the “leader” of the Wrenchers.

He shook his head and lied down on the top of the crate. “Nope, taking the day off.”

“How nice for you,” Rainbow rolled her eyes and turned to walk back out of the storage room, but she paused briefly and looked back at Frayed Wire. “Oh yeah, I had another question. How many pegasi are there in the Black Hoofs gang?”

Frayed Wire shot her a confused look. “As many as there are earth ponies and unicorns I suppose. They took on any right at the start and Acid Rain’s smart enough to never try and recruit any from them. Why?”

“Just asking,” Rainbow Dash replied and went back into the tunnel with Cast Iron.

The Eternal Furnace VIII

Rainbow Dash had a lot to think about while she followed Cast Iron again through this maze of maintenance tunnels on their way all the way to the work area. While those pegasi who attacked her were still in the back of her mind what she was focusing on now was Nut. Frayed Wire may have said no funny business but if Nut made a better case than he did… well maybe she wouldn’t mind changing sides. That might have been her being a bit presumptuous though. From her experience so far with these gangs she doubted Nut was particularly good or anything either, probably just greedy for power like Frayed Wire and the other gang leaders were. And if Frayed Wire had more followers it probably would be for the best to convince Nut to join and submit to him. Especially since then everyone would be able to trust Rainbow and knew she kept her word about things.

She still didn’t know anything about Nut though. At least she had a pony to ask. “Hey, Cast Iron, what’s Nut like?”

The mare in front of her grunted as she led the way. “She’s a gray unicorn with an inky black mane that she keeps in twintails. And basically she decided she should be the new leader of the Wrenchers cause our first leader was her older brother.”

“Oh,” Dash winced, feeling bad for Nut since she knew what had happened to her brother.

“What happened is that Frayed Wire said he should be the new leader because he was the best fighter and the best mechanic in the gang. Nut fought him and lost but didn’t accept it, she and her followers ran off and the Wrenchers have been split ever since,” Cast Iron said.

“Okay, so what kind of pony is she?” Rainbow asked.

Cast Iron looked over her shoulder at Dash with a frown. “The same as any in here.”

Not reassuring. “Good to know.”

After that it took them a good while to make it to the work area just thanks to how far they were from it to begin with. But Cast Iron had said these little tunnels directly connected with it and Rainbow Dash remembered seeing Wrenchers going off into separate tunnels yesterday. She was willing to bet they were going pretty much right to those. And what kind of work would she have to do today? The Wrenchers took care of general maintenance mostly, she was pretty sure. So probably a bunch of cramped quarters and using screwdrivers and tightening loose bolts and all that jazz. If she had to talk to Nut she might as well just copy everything she was doing.

Since they had a little spare time, Dash was going to see if she could start a rapport with Cast Iron. “So what do you think about how your city’s become? You really okay with all of this?”

The other mare snorted. “No one’s okay with all of this. There’s just nothing else we can do about it now. And you can stop trying to get on my good side or whatever. I’m a Wrencher down to the bone, our gang exists to give us some kind of purpose and family down here, you’re not getting anything from me unless you’re working to help our gang.”

Rainbow Dash sighed in annoyance but didn’t bother the other mare anymore.

Can’t even carry a conversation. She thought.

That sense of “family” she talked about though kind of got to Rainbow Dash. The Diesel Kings definitely didn’t show it, especially with the way Soot Mane and Double Duty were. She wondered if Cast Iron was just deluding herself because she didn’t have anything else. The way everyone acted and what others had said made her seriously doubt either the Wrenchers or Thunderbirds being any better or more familial than the Diesel Kings.

And Nut… well at least what happened with her brother might give her some excuse for why she’s bad. Rainbow Dash would still reserve final judgment on her until she actually met her.

Now the sounds from the work area reached their ears, Rainbow Dash heard ponies barking orders to others (security ponies most likely) and the sound of heavy machinery and drills grinding away. They took a ramp up and stopped in a scorching hot walled off section with a bunch of round metal pillars arranged in a grid going from the floor to the ceiling. Besides the ramp that led down into the maintenance tunnels there looked to only be one door leading out into the general work area. As they rounded the first pillar, Rainbow Dash noticed they weren’t pillars at all but furnaces with raging fires barely concealed behind metal grills. That explained the heat.

“These furnaces power the heaters that the housing block uses. Obviously they need to be maintained and check up on daily,” Cast Iron said.

Rainbow Dash hadn’t asked but she nodded anyways. “Nut’s in here?”

“Should be somewhere,” Cast Iron said and the two of them went looking around the pillars.

While they did that, Rainbow Dash saw a lot of the ponies in here giving her and Cast Iron nasty looks. They must’ve been the Wrenchers that followed Nut and they definitely recognized her. Must’ve heard on the vine that Frayed Wire and the other gangs were trying to get her to join them. Besides shooting glares some of them were checking on the furnaces to make sure they were working right, ponies with ratchets were tightening any loose bolts, weak areas were spotted and braces were welded over them, and all manner of pipes on the floor and running up the walls had their valves and pressure checked.

“This is different from what I thought you Wrenchers did,” Rainbow Dash said as she watched them work.

“That’s cause Nuts’ group didn’t want to be forced to work in the same places as the rest of us. So she and her followers took over this spot,” Cast Iron said as she scanned up and down the rows. “They’re the only Wrenchers who work in the furnace room, the rest of us work down below.”

“Guess it makes sense, you wouldn’t want a fight to break out between you two in the middle of work,” Dash said.

“It’s already difficult enough to stop that between rival gangs,” Cast Iron nodded.

The Wrencher mare was being surprisingly agreeable at the moment. Probably cause what Dash was saying was innocent enough and it revolved around the livelihood of her gang. Any small talk that didn’t have to directly do with business would probably be shot down or outright ignored.

Cast Iron walked past another furnace and looked down the row, coming to a stop. “There she is.”

Rainbow Dash looked down the row of furnaces too and saw the profile of a mare with her mane done in black twintails standing in front of one of the furnaces and using some kind of hoof cranked screwdriver to tighten up the screws holding down a pipe on the floor that fed into the furnace. She was concentrating on that and hadn’t noticed Dash or Cast Iron, her face set in a deep frown. As was to be expected she was just as dirty looking as any mare in here, and if the lines and creases on her face were any indication she spent a lot of time frowning. As she and Cast Iron walked towards her Rainbow Dash was pretty sure she was about to meet another very angry pony.

“Hey, Nut,” Cast Iron said when they were halfway down the row.

Nut looked up with an even deeper frown, obviously recognizing the voice before seeing the speaker. Her face just got angrier when her eyes settled on both Cast Iron and Rainbow Dash. “What do you want?” She spoke with a nasally whine.

“I want nothing. But this pony here wants to talk to you, so bye.” Cast Iron said and immediately turned and left, heading back to the ramp leading to the tunnels they came from.

“Thanks a lot,” Dash grumbled to her as she walked by but the bronze mare ignored her. She then looked over at Nut, who silently stared back at her. “So you know who I am, right?”

“Yeah, I do.” Nut said and suspiciously looked her up and down. “Couldn’t care less about where you’re from or anything like that. But since it was Cast Iron who brought you in here to me you must’ve already met with Frayed Wire too for real. He talk to you? What kind of dumb ideas does he have in his head now?”

“Well yeah, I met him and he wanted me to talk to you...” Dash said.

“Just talk?” Nut narrowed her eyes dangerously and Rainbow Dash noticed a number of other ponies walk out from behind the furnaces around them. If she tried anything they were ready to attack.

“I’m just here to talk. And that’s what’s important. You going to believe me or not?” Rainbow Dash defiantly narrowed her eyes right back at Nut.

Nut shrugged. “I’ll believe you, I’ve heard you’ve got some stupid ideas yourself about getting us all to stop fighting.”

“I really don’t see what’s stupid about that,” Rainbow Dash frowned.

“Naive? Ignorant? Does one of those sound better for you?”

“I don’t know, do you like having jerk or stubborn used to describe you?”

“Watch your mouth,” a Wrencher watching the two of them from behind a furnace warned Rainbow Dash.

“It doesn’t matter.” Nut said, although she had a fierce scowl settled on her face. “So why should I hear you out about anything? Just because I think you’re genuine doesn’t mean I care in the slightest about what you have to say.”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond when the doors leading into the furnace room were thrown open and two ponies walked in. The eyes of Rainbow Dash and the Wrenchers went to them, one was clearly a Thunderbird, being a pegasus with a lightning bolt tattoo on his check, while Rainbow Dash recognized the other as a Diesel King earth pony. Both were stallions and they were glaring at each other the whole time they strode into the furnace room.

“Oh great, two more idiots,” Nut shook her head as she watched them.

“What’s going on?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Obviously you know by now that the security team doesn’t like ponies to fight when they should be working. But do you see any security ponies in here?” Nut waved a hoof around.

“Uh, no?”

“That’s right. Cause this room is secluded, whenever two idiots who have an argument or something in the middle of work feel like they just can’t wait to resolve it they come here,” Nut said. “Always gets in the way of our work.”

Neither of the newcomers paid any attention to the Wrenchers or Rainbow Dash, they walked to the middle of the room in-between some of the furnaces and faced off with each other. The Thunderbird held a screwdriver in his right wing while the Diesel King had a hammer and they started to circle around the middle of the room. There was no way this was going to end well for anybody.

The Thunderbird lunged forward with his screwdriver while the Diesel King jumped to the side and tried to swing his hammer at the Thunderbird’s head. But the pegasus flapped his wings and used them to assist in jumping over the attack. Because of the furnaces he couldn’t really effectively fly about but he could do little things like that. The pegasus tried kicking the earth pony’s head when he jumped over but the earth pony ducked down to avoid his legs. The earth pony then ran towards the pegasus as soon as he landed and wildly swung his hammer about to keep the pegasus on the defensive. The pegasus had to keep backing up since he didn’t really have the strength or kind of weapon of his own that could block the hammer. The best he could do was try and parry it slightly with his screwdriver.

Seeing as his weapon wasn’t giving him the desired effect right now the pegasus did something else with it. He threw it at the earth pony.

The screwdriver smacked into the Diesel King’s face at painful speed, causing the earth pony to cry out and shut his eyes. That gave the Thunderbird the opportunity to rush forward and knock the hammer out of his hoof and then tackle him to the ground. He got a few solid punches in before the Diesel King grabbed the neck of his jumpsuit and pulled him into a headbutt, launching the pegasus right off of him. The two of them both scrambled up after that with the pegasus diving for his previously discarded screwdriver.

Well his opponent wasn’t going to just let him get a weapon back so easily. The screwdriver was lying beside one of the furnaces and when the pegasus reached for it the earth pony lunged at him and pushed his extended hoof into the hot metal surface of the furnace.

“Aaaarrghhh!” The pegasus screamed and brought his right wing up to clock the earth pony in the side of the head. The earth pony fell over and released his hoof, allowing the pegasus to pull it back to his chest and cradle it.

The earth pony wasn’t going to allow him anymore respite though. He leaped on top of the pegasus—and was kicked away by the pegasus’ back hooves right into a furnace behind them.

“Hrk!” The earth pony grunted as he slammed back first into the furnace and then collapsed upside down onto the ground, the furnace briefly sizzling his jumpsuit.

Both of them were already hurt pretty bad but neither looked like they cared to stop. They had manic, primal, looks on their faces as they ran at each other. All semblance of thought and strategy and technique for a fight was thrown away and it became a vicious brawl. The first punch from the Thunderbird bruised the left eye of the Diesel King and forced it shut. The first punch from the Diesel King knocked a tooth out of the Thunderbird’s mouth. The Diesel King grabbed the Thunderbird and threw him into the nearest furnace where he bounced off the metal with a painful clang. The Thunderbird tripped the Diesel King and slammed his face into the same furnace, burning him.

They both pulled their hooves back to throw twin punches at each other—when suddenly a blue blur shot over to them and they found their hooves held in place.

“That’s enough out of you two,” Rainbow Dash said and then grabbed their heads, bonking them together and knocking the both of them out instantly. They fell to the metal floor with a thud and she just frowned at them in distaste. “At least now you can’t hurt each other worse.”

After that Rainbow Dash sighed and walked back over to Nut, leaving two Wrenchers to move the idiot brawlers out of the way. Soon work could return to normal in the furnace room.

Nut just shook her head at Rainbow Dash when she returned. “You ruined some perfectly good entertainment.”

“Sorry,” Rainbow Dash snorted. “But you guys are crazy.”

“So are you going to give up on us then? Cause that’d be fine with me. It’s already bad enough that you’re going to be sticking around and trying to get me to join back up with Frayed Wire,” Nut said.

“I’m not the type for giving up,” Rainbow Dash cracked her neck and grinned at Nut. “Just means I’ve got a bigger challenge to overcome. And a more impressive accomplishment to boast about later.”

Nut curled her lip at Rainbow Dash and clicked her teeth, looking away from the confident pegasus and getting back to work on a furnace. “Whatever.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t stop grinning. She walked up beside Nut and checked out the work she was doing so she could help out for the rest of the work day. And once things were done here the real conversation between the two of them could begin. It was the first step, Rainbow Dash could see it now, her way of getting to Resin and fixing things here was getting clearer.

The Eternal Furnace IX

The work in the furnace room was tough just because of how hot it was. The sweltering heat made her sweat rivers until she had no more sweat to give anymore. The Wrenchers working in here were much the same way, they probably needed to drink a ton of water after a day’s work in here. Rainbow Dash watched as Nut pressed up and down on some kind of pedal-powered pump that fed a line directly into a furnace and fanned the flames inside. The mare was huffing and puffing with exhaustion after doing this for a solid half hour to keep the furnace burning as strong as possible.

“Take a break and I’ll cover you,” Rainbow Dash offered.

“I don’t need a break. Find something of your own to do,” Nut glared at her.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Did they all have to be allergic to even the smallest offers of help? “Okay fine, what’s something I can do in here?”

“Sit in the corner and don’t bother us?” Nut suggested.

Rainbow Dash had to admit—in a less serious situation or back home she would’ve been the type to gladly sit out and let others do the busy work while she napped. But she didn’t like the idea of that here. Not when the work was like this and the ponies doing it led such miserable lives. It would’ve made her feel way too bad if she just watched them or something. These weren’t friends leading happy lives like Applejack, who Rainbow Dash would’ve had no problem messing with like that, they were ponies who needed her to give her all here too.

“Sorry, but no, I’m going to do the same work you Wrenchers have to,” Rainbow Dash told her.

Nut frowned and glanced at her with her creased face. “You’re not proving your sincerity anymore, you’re just being stubborn.”

“Then maybe I can out-stubborn you into agreeing with me. That would work too,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

“Hrn,” Nut grunted and kept pumping away.

Dash checked to see what the others were doing to see if there were any opportunities for her to insert herself. Some of the Wrenchers had a ladder with a toolbox by it leading up to the top of one of the furnaces, it looked like a clamp holding down one of the pipes on the ceiling had come loose and needed to be screwed securely back on. And probably thanks to the existence of the Thunderbirds there weren’t any pegasi in this group of Wrenchers to make a job like that easy.

Rainbow Dash grinned and flew over to them. “Hey! Mind if I help you out with this?”

The three Wrenchers turned to her with annoyed and mean looking faces. One of them grabbed a socket wrench out of the toolbox and roughly hoofed it over to Rainbow Dash before all three of them left to go work on a different furnace.

A sarcastic “Be our guest” was the only verbal response she got from any of them.

“Be that way too then,” Rainbow Dash shook her head and flew up to the ceiling.

It was an easy enough fix. The screw was still there it had just come loose, would’ve been nice if she had an extra hoof to hold the clamp down while she ratcheted the screw back into its hole but she made do. And made sure her wings didn’t accidentally touch the nearby furnace. After a few rotations the pipe was back to being tightly held on and in no danger of shaking or falling. Rainbow Dash almost reflexively wiped the sweat from her brow before realizing her folly and instead just flew down to dump the wrench back into the toolbox. She didn’t know what to do with it and the ladder so she carried them both back one at a time to the closest corner of the furnace room.

She was thinking about what else she could do when the doors leading to the rest of the work area opened up and some ponies came in with a cart carrying several buckets of something and one larger barrel. Rainbow Dash watched in curiosity as they came to one of the furnaces and carefully opened up the grill, licks of flame wisping out of it, and started tossing black rocks from the barrels into it. Coal? They were feeding the furnace with that?

Rainbow Dash floated over and watched as they went to a number of different furnaces, maybe ones that were a little weaker than they should be, and tossed coal into the raging fires to make them burn more. They did that until all but one of the barrels were empty, but the last barrel was different. It was totally closed on top except for a single cap near the side. That barrel they carted to the side of the furnace room opposite of the doors and went to a pipe on the wall that had a similar cap on it. One of the ponies unscrewed the cap from the wall while the other took the one off the barrel and then they both hefted the barrel up and began dumping its contents into the pipe.

Gasoline. Rainbow Dash saw the yellow liquid pouring out by the gallons. Maybe it was used to start the fires in the first place or was fuel for some kind of machinery that worked with the furnaces. Rainbow Dash didn’t know. But there must have been a good fifty gallons of it that they emptied from that barrel into the wall. Afterwards they screwed the two caps back on and took their now empty barrel and buckets away on the cart. Those two probably weren’t even Wrenchers, were they?

Rainbow Dash spent the rest of the work day doing whatever odd jobs and minor work she could find in the furnace room. By the end of it she would’ve been fine with living an igloo for the rest of her life.

“Geez… this heat is something else,” she shook her head as she finished unplugging a blocked valve with a wire brush.

“You’ve only been in here for one day. Try doing it for as long as we have,” Nut dismissively said to her.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I could handle it. You don’t need to badmouth me at every turn.”

“Hrn,” Nut grunted again.

“Day’s almost over by now. I’m following you back to wherever it is you and your group of Wrencher’s hang out,” Dash told her.

“Fine, waste your time,” Nut shrugged.

“Gladly,” Dash grinned, fully determined to not allow the Wrencher leader to get any sort of satisfaction.

Finally it was indeed time for the work day to end and Rainbow Dash followed the Wrenchers as they left the furnace room, taking the ramp down into the tight maintenance tunnels. Rainbow Dash really wished she could fly some more and stretch her wings but quarters were just too cramped in here. She and Nut instead brought up the rear of the party as they headed “home”. With just two turns they were already in a section of these claustrophobic tunnels that were completely foreign to Rainbow Dash, going in a different direction from where Frayed Wire and the others had been earlier today.

“So where do you guys stay down here if you’re avoiding Frayed Wire and his Wrenchers?” Rainbow Dash asked Nut as they both ducked under a low-hanging pipe.

“Waste management,” was her response.

“Great,” Dash grimaced. Didn’t sound like a very appealing place to go.

It took an extra bit of traveling (and thanks to the twists and turns Rainbow Dash had no idea where they actually were) but they eventually made it to the waste management section of the city. Or at least the under/maintenance area of it. They stepped over a threshold painted with a double yellow and green line and a sign above it with a big “WM” on it.

The smell of trash and burning trash was obvious.

Once stepping over that they walked across a platform that their hooves echoed off of—must’ve been hollow under it. Rainbow Dash and Nut were still picking up the rear and letting the other Wrenchers go ahead. The moment the last of the other Wrenchers stepped off the platform a buzzer rang out and the metal platform dropped down, swinging open like a trapdoor with Rainbow Dash and Nut still on it, dropping them into wherever was directly below that room.

“Wagh!” Nut yelped in surprise.

“Again?” Dash frowned.

Both of them quickly landed on top of something misshapen and lumpy—trash. They had fallen onto a big pile of trash. Some of it uncomfortably hard and painful like bits of rock and scrap metal or twisted and broken rebar. The door above them swung back shut so none of the other Wrenchers could see and get to them quickly but it looked like there were stairs leading from somewhere else above to get down here on the far side of the room.

But there was something else going on, the trash was moving.

Rainbow Dash stood up and looked around. They were actually on top of a huge filled up dumpster that was moving on a conveyor belt. The dumpster itself bolted to the moving belt so it looked like it could never be detached and there were a few others in front of and behind the dumpster they were on.

And they were all going straight towards a vat of molten metal. It looked like the conveyor belt flipped over and started going under the floor, likely the dumpster would throw all the trash it carried when that happened into the orange pool of fire and metal and then go back around.

“We’re on the trash line for burnable trash, it all gets melted down and eventually piped to the smelter,” Nut said as she stood up and rubbed her head. “Come on, let’s jump off.”

“Right,” Rainbow Dash said and fluttered her wings to quickly get off the trash heap.

Before she could though she saw something out of the corner of her eye, two pieces of scrap metal levitating off the heap, held in a black aura of magic. In an instant they both zoomed towards Rainbow Dash and Nut.

“Look out!” Rainbow Dash yelled and ducked, the scrap metal flying right above her head.

Nut was a little too slow to react, looking back just in time for the metal to hit her in the head and knock her down, unconscious. Rainbow Dash reached over to grab her when she felt something else land on the trash heap with them and turned around to see a brown unicorn stallion coming at her with a lit horn. From the black magic of his horn he conjured up a magical sword and swung it right at Rainbow Dash’s face.

“Whoa!” She backstepped to avoid it, the edge of the blade taking off a few stray strands of mane.

The unicorn didn’t let up though, he kept rushing at her with the black sword trying to stab and slice her, and with the uneven surface of the trash she kept stumbling and couldn’t get the time for her wings to unfold. Not to mention she couldn’t leave Nut there to be burnt up. Which was another issue—them having about thirty seconds before this dumpster threw everything inside it into the fires.

Rainbow Dash grabbed an iron rod on top of the trash and threw it at the unicorn but his magic sword effortlessly cut it in two. He then brought it forward in a wide sweep aiming to take her head off but Dash ducked underneath it. Getting a little creative she discreetly tore out some of her feathers and dodged to the side of the dumpster away from Nut when he tried to stab her next. She was at the edge of the dumpster and close to falling off, the unicorn advanced on her with a smirk and prepared to either force her off or finish her off all together.

That’s when Rainbow Dash threw the bunch of feathers she had collected in her hoof up at him. He was fast again, expecting it to be something like that iron rod, and his sword sliced through the air and cut one of the feathers. But the cloud of feathers and not something like a rock confused him and momentarily obscured his vision, enough for the very fast Rainbow Dash to close the gap between them. With a swift punch to the jaw he was discombobulated and his magic failed, yanking him by the mane she them twisted him around and threw him off the dumpster right before it was about to reach the end of the conveyor belt. Then she took a sharp breath and darted at full speed across the dumpster, grabbing Nut and jetting off of it at the last second.

She and Nut tumbled to the ground and slid across the metal floor right beside the opening for the dumpster to throw all the trash into the molten inferno. Dash watched for a second and then looked down to make sure Nut was okay, finally dragging a hoof across her brow and sighing in relief.

“Close...” the pegasus whispered.

“Leader!”

“Nut!”

Rainbow Dash looked up at the voices and saw some of the other Wrenchers coming down the stairs that led into this trash room. Seemed like she didn’t have anything to worry about anymore. Frowning though, she looked over at the other side of the conveyor belt for any sign of that unicorn. She saw him yank open a vent with his magic and head inside, not before flashing one last nasty look at her, and then he was gone.

“What happened?!” The first Wrencher who got to them demanded as they came to a screeching halt in front of Dash and Nut.

“We were attacked, but I think Nut’s okay. Just got hit in the head a little,” Rainbow Dash said and gently nudged the Wrencher leader. “Hey? Anybody home?”

“Stay back!” That same Wrencher said and pushed Rainbow Dash away from Nut, all of them gathering around the gray unicorn and trying to rouse her back to consciousness.

Rainbow Dash just shrugged and sat down. “Alright.”

It didn’t take long for Nut to wake up but she would probably have a decently sized bruise where she had been hit. The unicorn managed to stand back up on her own power and shoo the others out of her personal space. Blinking a few times her eyes found Rainbow Dash and she frowned. “I saw… something coming at my head but it’s all fuzzy.”

“We were attacked by a unicorn. I think he must’ve hit a switch or something that dropped us onto that conveyor belt and then he tried to get us dumped out in there,” Rainbow Dash said with a nod of her head towards the molten pool.

“Frayed Wire?” Nut instantly suspected. “Was this all just a ploy to get my guard down and-”

“I’m gonna stop you right there,” Rainbow Dash held up her hoof and ignored the glares the Wrenchers threw at her. “I don’t exactly trust or have anything nice to say about Frayed Wire myself but I don’t think he was the one who did this. It doesn’t really make any sense, and he definitely didn’t want me dead just like that either.”

“So then who was it that tried to kill us?” Nut asked, honestly perplexed.

“The Black Hoofs,” Rainbow Dash said.

That declaration surprised Nut and her Wrenchers, all of them sharing looks of confusion with each other before Nut looked back to Rainbow Dash and raised an eyebrow. “How do you figure? And why?”

“A guess—or a hunch really. This morning I was attacked by three pegasi that didn’t have Thunderbirds tattoos, and this unicorn who attacked us didn’t wear a jumpsuit either so he wasn’t a normal worker. And the other gangs don’t want me dead, they want to use me. The Black Hoofs I’m not sure about,” Rainbow shrugged.

“But then why me too?” Nut asked.

“Uhh, chance? Or maybe you were even a big target for them too. The ponies I’m staying with now told me that the Black Hoofs exist to keep you gangs in line so you don’t do anything against Resin or Crush.”

Nut narrowed her eyes and looked at her followers. “And if I suddenly died under mysterious circumstances my followers would assume it was Frayed Wire the same as I did. And it would be all out war between our two factions.”

“Meaning the Wrenchers would never be a problem for the Black Hoofs or anybody else,” Rainbow Dash finished. “I’m pretty sure I was the main target but, well, two birds with one stone? I guess those Black Hoofs have heard about me and don’t like what I’m saying or might be doing.”

The ponies all stood there, contemplating things for a short minute.

Nut finally raised a hoof to her head where she was hit and winced. “I need something cold on this...”

“Er, sorry I couldn’t like push you out of the way or anything,” Dash said.

“It’s fine,” Nut said and then regarded Rainbow Dash silently for a moment before sighing. “You really saved my life, didn’t you?”

“Maybe a little bit,” Dash grinned.

“Even after everything...” Nut muttered. She started walking away towards the stairs that would take them back up and out of here. “I’ll speak to Frayed Wire. Peacefully. No guarantees on what will happen but I owe you that much.” She looked back at Rainbow Dash with a guilty frown. “Thanks for saving me.”

The Eternal Furnace X

“I’ll admit, I didn’t actually expect this,” Frayed Wire said as he stroked his chin while Rainbow Dash and Nut stood before him.

Cast Iron and a number of Wrenchers from both factions stood behind them as they all gathered back in this requisitioned storage room. No time for sleep, it was the late evening of the same day.

“I didn’t expect it either but this mare’s pretty stubborn and after some business I owed it to her to at least do this. I can hear you out and maybe we can come to an agreement,” Nut said although she still regarded Frayed Wire with distaste.

“Agreement? There shouldn’t be anything to talk about,” Frayed Wire said and frowned at Rainbow Dash. “You were just supposed to get her to join back up with me and that’d be the end of it.”

“Hey, you even just said you didn’t expect me to get this far, so take it or leave it,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “This is closer to how I want things to go anyways. You know, you guys actually reconciling and getting along?”

Frayed Wire curled his lip at her, it was obvious he didn’t like her twisting what he wanted but he couldn’t deny that this was at least looking more beneficial for him than not. “Fine.” His eyes shifted to Nut and narrowed. “But I hope you don’t think I’ve reconsidered being the leader of the Wrenchers? The gang’s mine now!”

“I should be the leader!” Nut stamped her hoof on the metal floor. “My brother started this and as his sister-”

“Sister nothing! So what if you were his sister? I’m the best fighter and that makes me the one best suited for fighting against the Thunderbirds and Diesel Kings!” Frayed Wire yelled.

“I can fight too!” Nut yelled back.

“Not half as good as me and everybody else knows it,” Frayed grinned. “That’s why most of em joined up with me, cause they know it’s the truth and they agreed with me. I keep us all in line. What if someone got uppity under you and challenged you to a fight, huh?”

Rainbow Dash didn’t want to admit it but Frayed Wire brought up a good point. With how fragile and contentious things were here if the leader wasn’t strong you’d just see fight after fight and the gang would probably fracture even worse than it had. The other ponies knowing Frayed Wire was the best fighter in the gang kept them from doing anything pointless or self-destructive. Unless the rest of the gang was brought around to more peaceful ways, Nut would just end up deposed by someone else even if she convinced Frayed Wire through talking. Unless he himself fully supported her and kept the others off her back. But that might just end up with ponies deserting the gang entirely. This gang, Frayed Wire, Nut, all needed healing.

“I’ve still got lots of loyal followers who would support me if that happened,” Nut said. She was trying to be defiant but she clearly realized the problems with what she had said.

“Yeah but you’d never be able to keep all of the Wrenchers together,” Frayed Wire told her and spread his hooves out. “We’d just have more of what we’re having now.”

“It still isn’t right...” Nut ground out.

Rainbow Dash looked between the two of them, Nut seemed to know she wasn’t getting her way and couldn’t convince Frayed Wire to be in the gang under her. The question was now if she would just leave or if she’d be willing to join up with him. Rainbow Dash was carefully waiting before saying anything herself, she wanted to see if maybe Nut’s recent brush with death and her witness of Rainbow Dash’s true nature had done anything for her. If Nut actually did choose to come back into the fold and it was directly because of Rainbow Dash then even Frayed Wire would have to believe in her ability, and maybe convincing him of starting to change the gang for the better could happen.

“Right or whatever I aint giving up control of the Wrenchers. So are you prepared to call me the leader of this gang or not?” Frayed Wire asked her.

Nut frowned, looking down at the floor. Her lip twitched and she looked up at Frayed Wire, and then over at Rainbow Dash. The decision must have been tearing her up on the inside.

Finally despite her quivering lips she stalwartly looked at Frayed Wire with resolution in her eyes. “I’ll come back. I want the Wrenchers to be united as one again.”

“Excellent,” Frayed Wire grinned. “Well then first-”

“But!” Nut interrupted him and frown. “On one condition.”

Frayed Wire’s grin turned upside down and he glared at her with suspicion. Rainbow Dash too raised an eyebrow at the ink-maned mare.

“What?” Frayed Wire asked.

“We change the name of the gang. To honor my brother, I want the gang to be known from here out as Nail’s Wrenchers.” Nut said.

Frayed Wire sat back for a moment of consideration but nodded in short time. “I’ve got no problem with that. We’re the Nail’s Wrenchers gang now.”

Rainbow Dash and a lot of the Wrenchers—Nail’s Wrenchers—that were standing behind them let out a collective sigh of relief. Even Cast Iron looked almost as relieved as she was shocked. It seemed like things were doing to be okay with them now. Rainbow Dash was willing to chalk this up as her first success here in this city, now it was time to see how much further she could go with it.

Rainbow reached a hoof over to Nut’s shoulder and patted her gently. “It’s not so bad, is it?”

“I guess not...” Nut shook her head, she seemed a little sad but that would pass with time hopefully.

“I don’t think it’s bad at all,” Frayed Wire said as he hopped off his box and strode down to both of them. He shot Rainbow Dash an appraising look. “You really… what did you do that got Nut to come back here like this? She seems different after meeting you.”

“She saved my life,” Nut said.

“Saved your—really?” Frayed Wire asked Dash, shocked.

“At risk to my own even,” Rainbow Dash grinned back at him.

“Why would you do something like that?” The gang leader didn’t seem to be able to comprehend it.

“What do you mean why?” Rainbow frowned. “That’s just what any good pony would do. I guess you guys have forgotten that though.”

“You really saved Nut’s life?” Cast Iron asked too as she walked up to them.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Is that really so hard to believe? You guys might be in this horrible situation but you shouldn’t be that oblivious. It’s not like you stopped being ponies.”

“I was just as surprised you had done it,” Nut said.

The news that Rainbow Dash had done something like that—something that was altruistic, dangerous, and for a pony she didn’t even know and probably didn’t even really like at that point, spread through the Nail’s Wrenchers ponies in this room and the small tunnel leading into it. It was practically a foreign concept at this point to do something that plainly good. It was the actual evidence that Rainbow Dash had wanted to be able to show off to prove to others that she meant every last word she said and she’d even be willing to lay it all on the line to help them.

Rainbow Dash smiled, more sincerely than just a grin, and looked around at the gang ponies. “So you all believe me now? You all believe how awesome I am? I’m not all talk! Maybe now you’ll be willing to let me help you—but you’ve got to want it first.”

Frayed Wire scowled. “Hey, if you’re trying to mess with my leadership of the Wrenchers-”

“I’m not trying to do anything like that. I’m not trying to usurp you or whatever other cynical thought you’ve got going through your head, dude.” Rainbow said to him and then flew up so she was above all of them. “The only thing I’m trying to do is help all of you, every last pony in this city. Cause don’t you all want things to be better? Don’t you want to be able to be nice and not surprised when someone saves someone’s life?”

The gathered gang had the decency to look at least a little ashamed and dismayed by what Rainbow Dash had been saying. Even Frayed Wire and Cast Iron knew how far they had fallen since this whole lifestyle began.

“If you give me the chance again I’ll keep doing all I can to change things here. I’ll take down Resin and make it so you aren’t driven like slaves and feel like you have to fight each other just to feel a little bit in control of your lives! Don’t you want to not eat gruel and be worked to the bone every day? Trust me, help me, and I can do it. Just take a step.”

Frayed Wire shared a brief glance with Nut, who shrugged, and looked back up at Rainbow Dash with a frown. “You’re persuasive. And stubborn.”

“Yep,” Dash nodded.

“What do you really think you can do about Resin though? It’s pointless,” Frayed Wire said.

“No it’s not. Not with me here. Just let me help you and the other gangs and we can all work together to stop her.”

Frayed Wire scratched his head. “I gave you a chance and you succeeded… I guess I owe you the same Nut did to at least give you another. I can’t say we’ll be all nice and peaceful towards the other gangs yet but if they’re willing to listen to you too at some point I’d be willing to sit down with Double Duty and Acid Rain. I’m also really tired of eating gruel.”

Rainbow Dash dropped down and gave him a hoof bump, then another to Nut and Cast Iron. “Good enough for me. I’ll make sure things go right down here now, in a few days things’ll be changed way for the better.”

The Eternal Furnace XII

That night after work, Rainbow Dash happily returned to Night Reader and Brilliant Star’s home with a wide smile on her face. They might not have believed what she told them but she didn’t care. It felt good to succeed and prove others wrong. Things were looking way better for her and she even enjoyed sleeping in this small bunk a little more than usual. It felt like the goal was already so much closer even with a way’s to still go. The little steps she was taking lit up more of the way and always showed her what to do next. She knew talking to Double Duty and trying to convince him to settle down would be really difficult but stubborn was just one of many of her middle names.

“So you’re saying you’ve actually gotten the Wrenchers and Diesel Kings to stop fighting?” Brilliant Star asked her the following morning.

“Partially. It’s not all the way there yet,” Rainbow Dash admitted as she ate some more gruel.

“I’m impressed if what you’re saying is true. I didn’t think any of the ponies in those gangs had it in them to be nice anymore,” Night Reader said.

“Well they’re willing to try, most of them are probably still really angry and stuff as long as they don’t think what I’m doing is pointless there’s a lot you can do with that little bit of hope,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I’ve just gotta keep proving I really can change things here and stop Resin too.”

“Good luck. I guess you really might be able to accomplish some things here if you can get the gangs to be nice and listen to you,” Brilliant Star said.

“Yep, the plan hasn’t changed. Soon I’ll be talking to Silver Tooth and those Black Hoofs soon too,” Rainbow Dash nodded.

But Double Duty is first and today. Rainbow thought. And I don’t have any time to spare when it comes to convincing him.

Shortly after her little speech with Soot Mane and the others yesterday, Rainbow Dash told them to go and wait for her the next morning. Don’t bother Double Duty with anything she had said just yet. Rainbow Dash wanted everyone rested and able, not exhausted after a hard day of work. Now the day was fresh and new and first thing in the morning here she was ready to go speak to Double Duty again and convince him to end this silly garbage. Not all the gang was down there to hear her but a large portion was and she hoped they and Soot Mane would be willing to help convince Double Duty that she was right—and more than that that he should trust and help her.

“I’ll see you both after work again, try not to work too hard!” Dash grinned and waved at her hosts before departing the house, heading out quickly to the adjacent housing block.

“Same as ever in here,” Rainbow Dash muttered as she looked around at the disparate conditions of this housing block and the doorless hovels most ponies were forced to live in.

Those ponies who weren’t actually in the Diesel Kings’ gang regarded her with a mixture of suspicion and fear. Hopefully she could win them over today too. Convincing Double Duty to give them their doors back (after whatever he had done with them in the first place) would probably go a long way towards doing that. But first thing’s first. She had a gang to talk to.

It was early in the day but not so early that none of the gang was up and about. Some were down on the ground floor of the block while others patrolled along the higher levels just as before. And they all quickly noticed her appearance. A few “guards” quickly started running around to get to Double Duty’s room while Rainbow Dash flew down to greet the Diesel Kings that were shuffling together on the ground. Soot Mane was with them, and a few others from yesterday, so Rainbow Dash gave them an easy grin and wave when she landed.

“Morning,” she said.

Soot Mane nodded, an uneasy look again on her face but she at least returned Dash’s wave. “Morning.”

“I saw some other ponies up there going to get Double Duty so I guess we’re waiting here,” she smiled at the other gathered Diesel Kings. “Sup?”

One of them, a stallion, stepped forward and rubbed the back of his neck. “Er, I didn’t get the chance yesterday but thank you for all your hard work, and for saving Soot Mane.”

“Like I said it’s no problem. I just hope all you guys now will do the same thing in the future,” Dash shrugged.

“I don’t know if things are going to be forgiving enough around here for that,” another unicorn Diesel King said with a pessimistic look on his face.

“I’ll make them, watch me,” Dash confidently stated to his face.

Up above a door swung open and Double Duty stepped out. He went right over to the railing and stared down at Rainbow Dash with a more or less unreadable expression on his face, only a slight narrowing of his eyes told her anything. He headed towards the stairs and whistled and all the other guards and watchers on the balconies and other floors started heading to the nearest stairs to get down to the ground floor with him. Seems Double Duty wanted his whole gang with him when he talked to Rainbow Dash.

She waited as he took his time making his way to her, waited and watched as every Diesel King from colt to adult gathered and looked with trepidation between her and their leader. Lots of other ponies watched from their homes too, quietly staying out of the way.

Finally Double Duty reached the ground floor of the housing block and strode forward with his gang parting to easily allow him through so he could stand right in front of Rainbow Dash and stare her down. The Diesel King gang leader seemed determined to not be the first one to speak. He wanted Rainbow Dash to hurry up and break the silence.

And patience wasn’t Rainbow Dash’s forte.

“You know why I’m back?” She asked him.

“I know you had a fun time working with the Wrenchers. But no, I don’t know what you expect to get from me. Not unless you’re willing to say you’ll be in my gang now and do what I say,” Double Duty’s tone was icy.

“Yeah, no, that’s not happening.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Sorry but I’m here to convince you to do what I want you to do.”

Double Duty sneered at her. “Then we don’t got anything to talk about.”

“Yes we do,” Soot Mane said.

Double Duty’s head swung towards her as if he didn’t quite believe what he had just heard. Along with a number of other Diesel Kings.

Soot Mane gulped and didn’t have the courage to meet his eyes. She said much quieter: “We do.”

“What happened yesterday with all of ya?” Double Duty growled at her and looked around at the rest of his gang, many of the ones who had been with Soot Mane and Rainbow Dash looking away or pawing at the ground. “You let this pony get to you at work when I wasn’t around?!” He stomped his hoof on the metal floor for good measure.

“Things happened,” Rainbow Dash told him. “I just showed them the value of being nice to each other. Soot Mane wouldn’t be standing here right now if it wasn’t for me.”

“What?” He balked at her.

“Ask her yourself,” Rainbow Dash said.

Double Duty looked over at his second in command. “What’s she talking about?”

“One of the machines had a problem yesterday and it almost exploded right in my face,” Soot Mane said, still barely able to look him in the eye. “Rainbow Dash barely knocked me out of the way. If it wasn’t for her...”

“And I didn’t do it to get anything out of it, or because I liked Soot Mane, I just did it because that’s the kind of thing any pony should do. And it’s the way I want to get you all back onto again, before Resin took over and made everyone else miserable,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Oh so we’re all just going to play patty-cake with each other and magically get along now?” Double Duty sarcastically rolled his eyes.

“Not magically. I’ve already got the Wrenchers—Nail’s Wrenchers now—to see things my way a bit. They’ll be willing to get along with you, and maybe make things peaceful again. You can all stop fighting like this and work towards fixing things for real and fighting against Crush and Resin,” Rainbow tried to convince him.

Double Duty scowled, his eyes searching about in their sockets, trying to find something to disagree and disprove her with. “You really think it’ll be that easy? That’s a fantasy.”

“If anyone can make fantasy into reality it’s me. I’m the pony so awesome that I can do anything,” Rainbow Dash smacked a hoof to her chest and smirked.

“And what if I say I don’t want to be nice?” Double Duty glared dangerously at her.

Rainbow Dash raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him. “Really?” She then looked through the gathered gang members and spotted a familiar pony, Rainbow Dash walked up to the bruised and beaten form of the stallion she had stopped from fighting a Thunderbird to the death. “You want this to be normal instead? This guy and a Thunderbird came at each other with a hammer and a screwdriver in a room full of furnaces. Maybe this became normal to you guys but do you seriously want it to stay that way?” The injured earth pony and most of the others winced as memories of old fights and injuries flashed through their heads. Rainbow Dash then pointed at Double Duty and glared right back at him. “A leader should protect the ones loyal to him, shouldn’t he? If you don’t care about these ponies and what’s been happening all this time then you don’t deserve to be their leader at all!”

All the eyes went to Double Duty.

The stallion gulped and began to sweat just a little bit. “Um… well I didn’t say anything like that.”

Rainbow Dash smirked and walked back up to him. “Then what are you saying?”

Double Duty stammered as he looked around at his Diesel Kings, but none of them looked like they were going to be backing him up anymore. Soot Mane in particular looked disappointed and most of the others that didn’t look angry or sad just looked tired. “I… I suppose what I’m saying is that if you can convince Acid Rain to come down and talk peacefully… I’d be willing to do the same with him and Frayed Wire.”

“Good,” Rainbow Dash smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Glad you could see things my way.”

“You’re going to have to try and win over Acid Rain now too though,” Double Duty furrowed his brow and wiped off his shoulder. He was still a bit upset with her.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve already got a plan.”

The Eternal Furnace XIII

That very same day—only a few minutes after Rainbow Dash finished talking with Double Duty—saw Rainbow Dash and the Diesel Kings all walk together through the housing blocks all the way to the end of them. Where the Thunderbirds called home.

The Thunderbirds’ territory was much the same as any other housing block except for the fact that there were a bunch of pegasi flying around up top. They all came to a stop and just floated there, angrily glaring down at Rainbow Dash and the Diesel Kings as they strode onto their turf. But they didn’t attack or anything since the Diesel Kings were walking slowly and it didn’t look like a raid or anything. They would wait for Acid Rain to say something.

Acid Rain himself was puzzled by this turn of events, he gently let himself float down to the ground and stared with untrusting eyes at Dash and Double Duty. “What’s all this then?”

“Peace offering,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Possibility of a peace offering,” Double Duty corrected.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Right.”

“Peace? You lose your will to fight or something, Double Duty?” Acid Rain laughed and looked up at his pegasi. “Hey, everyone! The coward here is saying he doesn’t want to fight anymore!”

“I’m not!-” Double Duty tried stepping forward but was stopped by a hoof across his chest and a strong look from Rainbow Dash. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down. “I’ve just seen that there’s a better way for all of us.”

Acid Rain scowled at Rainbow Dash. “Your doing I suppose? Going to try and get us to listen to your crazy fantasies and have us all get along now too?”

“More or less,” Rainbow nodded.

“You can just go away right now then, the Thunderbirds are-”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard this all before.” Rainbow interrupted and shook her head, sighing. “Truth be told I’ve done enough talking and I wanted to have a little more fun than I’ve been having lately.”

“Oh?” Acid Rain grinned at her with a glimmer in his eyes. “So you do want to do something like fight instead?” He licked his lips. “I’m fine with that.”

Rainbow Dash snorted, knowing she’d knock him and anyone else here into next week. “No, nothing violent either. That’s what I’m trying to stop, remember?”

“So what then?” Acid Rain was getting impatient.

Rainbow Dash extended her wings and grinned. “A race.”

“Heh, part of me becoming leader of the Thunderbirds was because I’m the fastest flier around,” Acid Rain confidently stated.

“Then you shouldn’t have any problem with this, should you?” Dash asked him.

He frowned, thinking for a minute and looking back at his gang. “Well, no I suppose… but what do I get if I win? I suppose if you win you’ll want us all to start being nice again and stop fighting but what about me?”

Rainbow shrugged. “You win and I’ll join the Thunderbirds and be your totally loyal underling. I’ll never try doing something like this again.”

That sent a few murmurs and ripples of worry through the Diesel Kings—as well as put some eager grins on the Thunderbirds faces. None of them had heard about this, they just were asked to trust Rainbow Dash. Soot Mane knew she was fast but she didn’t know how well she could actually fly. And Double Duty was just generally pessimistic.

“Well I must say that does sound pretty enticing. And you’re certainly a capable pony,” Acid Rain said and then grinned. “And if nothing else it’ll be good to have you shut up.”

His Thunderbirds laughed with him and Rainbow Dash held back from rolling her eyes.

“So what’s the racecourse then? Where are we flying to?” Acid Rain asked her.

“We’re starting from here and going all the way to the first housing block and then back. Whoever makes it back here first wins,” Rainbow said.

“Fine by me, I can fly that distance in a flash,” Acid Rain extended his wings for effect and brushed any dust off them. “So when are we racing?”

“Why not right now? We’re all here, we’re all well rested, and there’s plenty of time to finish the race before that bell rings. Especially if you’re as fast as you say,” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him.

Acid Rain narrowed his eyes but then chuckled and flew up a little. “Alright then, come up here and we can get this race started!”

Rainbow Dash stretched her wings and rotated them around, cracking her joints and her neck before stretching back her whole body like a cat. Then she shot up to join him with the two of them hovering halfway between ceiling and floor and facing the exit to this housing block. “The Diesel Kings and the rest of your gang will both stay right here. If it comes down to it they can even judge who got back here first if the race is that close.”

“Fine, they’ll keep things clean and fair,” Acid Rain nodded and glanced at Dash. “You sure you don’t want to have any watching us though? Make sure neither of us does something dirty?”

“Oh I’m sure a gang leader like you wouldn’t need to do anything like that. You’d have waaaay too much pride to resort to cheating against me, right?” Rainbow flashed her pearly white teeth at him.

Acid Rain frowned and clicked his teeth. “Don’t need to cheat against you anyways. I’ll win fair and square easy.”

“Good luck,” Rainbow Dash said to him and then shouted down to the others. “Okay, everyone! We’re about to start this race so you just watch us and see who gets back here first! Winner takes all! We’ll start on the count of three but we need someone to do the count, Double Duty, can you do that?”

Double Duty nodded. “I’ll do it, just tell me when the both of you are ready.”

The Thunderbirds and Diesel Kings all gathered together on the floor, well, not together, they still stood in two distinct groups but they were at least focused on Acid Rain and Rainbow Dash and were going to let the race commence without fighting. If that’s what their leaders wanted that’s what was going to happen. Both groups were very interested in the outcome of this race and what it would mean for them, and while the Thunderbirds were confident in their leader’s impending victory not all of the Diesel Kings felt the same way about Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash looked over at Acid Rain. “Ready?”

“Of course,” he smirked.

She waved back down at Double Duty. “Start us off, dude!”

The leader of the Diesel King licked his lips in anticipation, sharing a last look with Soot Mane and the others. “Okay… one! Two!” He paused for a split second. “Three!”

Both pegasi blasted off at high speed out of the housing block and down towards the work area. Fast enough that they left a whirlwind behind that the others had to wince away from. Nobody thought they would take that long to get back and finish the race, already they were on the edge of their metaphorical seats waiting to see who would be victorious.

Except for one.

A pegasus intermingled in the group of Thunderbirds sweated nervously, looking over at Double Duty who had his eyes affixed to the huge tunnel leading out of the housing block. This pegasus ever so minutely edged towards the outside of the Thunderbirds in an attempt to discreetly get closer to Double Duty. In the feathers of his wing a crude shank was hidden, ready to be used.

Winning wasn’t a question. Rainbow Dash knew she was going to undoubtedly win from the very beginning before they even entered the Thunderbirds’ territory. The questions were if Acid Rain would agree to it in the first place (Yes) and if now she could make it look convincingly close while still outright beating him without anyone being able to question it (In progress). She couldn’t just crush him, that might make him upset and angry enough that he’d try and refuse and back out of the deal. She couldn’t humiliate him in front of his gang.

It had to be a close race.

It’s not like Acid Rain was slow or anything—but she was Rainbow Dash. And it was really hard to go at a speed that wasn’t super fast for her but act like it was. She had to act like she was just keeping pace with him or getting slightly ahead when in reality she could’ve probably given him a massive head start and still easily win.

“Hope you don’t think you can actually win!” Acid Rain shouted at her as they both buzzed back and forth in the air, one of them momentarily overtaking the other before the other caught up.

“Hope you don’t think this is as fast as I can go!” Rainbow Dash shouted back at him and forced a little more speed out of her wings to inch past him.

Acid Rain didn’t like that, he grit his teeth and beat his wings harder to match and then overtake her again.

Rainbow Dash raised an impressed eyebrow. He would’ve made a decent Wonderbolt. Unfortunately she still couldn’t let him win so she acted like she was getting more serious too and narrowed her eyes and faux-grit her teeth along with him. The extra burst of energy she put into her wings carried her right beside him and the two constantly wavered with their hooves never more than an inch or two ahead of the other’s.

They had just started but at this speed they were already more than halfway towards the other end of the housing blocks. In another second they would reach the end and double back to Thunderbird turf. Rainbow Dash wondered if any of the non-gang ponies in the housing blocks right now were watching, but she didn’t take her mind off the race long enough to check. They were going at a speed where the average pony would still be able to see them pretty easily. Not quite a full on blur.

Tch, I should’ve actually done this tomorrow, then I could’ve had a whole crowd watching me. Would’ve been awesome! Rainbow Dash chided herself for her lack of patience.

The two pegasi blasted into the Diesel King housing block and Dash prepared to give herself another speed boost the moment they turned around. Acid Rain was doing a good job keeping up and matching her whenever she put in a little more energy but she could tell he was at the point where he was straining. He was pushing himself to go faster than he normally did, she could see it in his expression, the way his wings moved, and the sweat on his brow. Rainbow Dash would be able to easily outpace him on the second half of the race.

Faster than the blink of an eye they were into the final housing block, unbeknownst to Rainbow Dash both Night Reader and Brilliant Star were out on their balcony and caught sight of her and Acid Rain, and they both reached the end of the tunnel shortly after that.

Both turned around and tapped the far wall with their back hooves, pushing off it and not losing any momentum as they shot back down the way they had came.

Now they were flying back through that slight curve down the housing blocks towards the very end where the Thunderbirds called home. Rainbow Dash was putting in some extra energy and Acid Rain was trying to pull out every last drop from his reserves. This was good for Rainbow Dash, she could essentially keep the same speed and maybe just go a little faster while Acid Rain naturally slowed down due to fatigue.

The win was going to look good.

She was already a foot ahead of Acid Rain before he forced all the power he had in his body into his wings to try and reach her.

“There is no way I’m letting you win!” He screamed. Which also showed his desperation and uncertainty, since it was stupid to do something that would lose him air and energy like that.

“Show me you aren’t all talk then!” Rainbow Dash retorted. Unlike him she had the energy and lungs to spare.

“Grr!” Acid Rain growled and flew beyond full speed to match Dash.

She grinned and put out a little more energy too, in just a moment the two racing pegasi would be back where they started and the race would be over. And then Rainbow Dash could start her true mission here. So long as nothing else bad happened and everyone kept their word, she’d be making some good progress to fixing this city and bringing friendship back.

Back at the Thunderbird housing block the single out of place pegasus (who wasn’t wearing a work jumpsuit) had slowly inched his way closer to the Diesel Kings. No one had noticed his approach just yet and Double Duty stood out there alone in front of them. It would be a challenge but he had to do this. Quickly rush there, stab him, and fly away in the confusion. Everyone was still watching the tunnel entrance and waiting for the racers to get back, this was as good a time as any.

Two more steps and he was at the front of the Thunderbirds gang. Double Duty was only a little to the right and in front of him now. He gulped to try and calm his nerves and keep from sweating while he nudged the hidden shank out from between his feathers and held it in the crook of his wing.

As fast as he could he sudden jumped out towards Double Duty with the shank aimed right at the Diesel King’s ribcage.

Soot Mane, who has standing slightly behind Double Duty, saw the pegasus lunge at her leader. She tried to jump forward too and reach her hooves out but would never be able to reach Double Duty in time. “Sir, look out!”

Double Duty heard her yell and looked just in time to see the pegasus trying to stab him. His eyes went wide but the rest of his body reacted on its own, he pivoted to the side and brought his hoof up, hitting the edge of the wing and knocking the shank from his assailants grasp right before it sliced into him. Double Duty had been in a lot of fights and he knew what to do—one hoof went around the pegasus’ neck while the other grabbed the extended wing that had been holding the knife. The Diesel King then shifted on his back hooves and lifted the pegasus, throwing him over his shoulder and onto the ground.

The pegasus grunted and rolled across the metal floor while the Diesel Kings and Thunderbirds watched in shock and confusion, none of them sure what had just happened. Soot Mane rushed to stand protectively in front of Double Duty while the leader himself glared at the attacking pegasus. The attacker got up and quickly realized he was in a bad situation, instead of doing or saying anything else he shot to wards the hallway on the side of the housing block that led to the maintenance access corridor, a few Diesel Kings starting to go after him before Double Duty stopped them.

“Stop! Stay here!” He commanded.

The ponies running after the attacker stopped and Soot Mane looked up at Double Duty too. “Sir?”

Double Duty growled and looked over at the Thunderbirds, confused as ever. “So one of you decided to try and kill me while this race was going on, is that it?”

The Thunderbirds didn’t take kindly to that accusation.

“Hey! We’re all loyal to Acid Rain and we’d never do something he didn’t want us to do! We believe in him!” A Thunderbird said and flared his wings, glaring at Double Duty.

“That’s right! He’s going to win this race anyways so why would we do that?” A mare said, stepping to the front lines to face down Double Duty.

“Liars!” The leader of the Diesel Kings shouted and he himself was being backed up by his underlings. The two gangs were close to boiling over and coming to blows.

Suddenly a rainbow blur shot out of the tunnel and landed on the metal floor, skidding to a stop in front of the two gangs and showing a victorious smirk. Not two seconds later did Acid Rain burst back into the housing block and also land, though he was much more winded and sweaty and his return was not quite so glamorous. Rainbow Dash walked up to him and gave him a respectful pat on the shoulder.

“It was a good race dude, but I win.”

Acid Rain gave her a harsh look, his lip quivered and his pupils narrowed to slits… before he sighed and his body drooped. An almost imperceptible nod was given in her direction. “So you do.” He caught his breath and stood up straight, looking to say something else to her when he finally noticed what was going on with the others. “What the?”

Rainbow Dash looked to and saw the two gangs hadn’t been paying attention to their return, so enamored with each other they were. Double Duty and Soot Mane were facing off with two pegasi volleying insults and accusations at each other while the rest of the gangs roiled behind them.

“Woah, woah, woah!” Rainbow Dash yelled and flew over, putting herself right between the two groups. “What are you guys doing?!”

“I didn’t tell any of you to start a fight with them while I raced!” Acid Rain said to his Thunderbirds as he trotted up too.

“One of them tried to kill me while you were racing!” Double Duty yelled.

“That’s not true!” The pegasus stallion pushed him.

That caused Soot Mane to jump forward, she would’ve tackled him if Rainbow Dash didn’t grab her and hold her back. “Stop it! Tell me exactly what happened!”

“It’s just how Double Duty says!” Soot Mane yelled. “One of these pegasi tried to stab him with a knife and then he flew off into the corridor, I saw him come lunging out of the Thunderbirds in the first place!”

“I don’t care who won that race, if you think I’m going to just talk to these flying rats and play nice now you’ve got another thing coming!” Double Duty snarled.

Acid Rain got on the side of his Thunderbirds too and glared at Double Duty. “You think you can just say whatever you want about my gang?”

Double Duty had a vein popping out of his neck as he walked up to Acid Rain. “You insect, I’ll-

“WAIT!” Rainbow Dash shouted at the top of her lungs, stopping everyone in their tracks. “Just wait one second, all of you!” She looked over at Double Duty. “I think I know what really happened, just a hunch, but can you tell me some things about the pegasus that attacked you?”

“What do you want to know?” He warily asked.

“Was this pegasus wearing a jumpsuit?”

Double Duty thought for a moment before realization hit him. “Uhh—no. Now that you mention it, he wasn’t.”

Soot Mane realized that too. “Yeah, you’re right, he wasn’t wearing anything.”

“And did he have a lightning bolt tattoo on his cheek like Thunderbirds are supposed to?” Dash asked.

“Uhh...” Double Duty thought again. “I can’t be sure but I don’t remember seeing one.”

“He wasn’t one of ours!” Acid Rain said. “Every single Thunderbird has that tattoo, you’d definitely remember seeing it!” He turned his cheek to show off how distinctive his own was.

“Acid Rain’s right,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “It wasn’t a Thunderbird that tried to do you in, Double Duty.”

“Then who?” He frowned.

“I didn’t just pull this hunch out of thin air,” Rainbow Dash said. “I’ve been attacked and saved Nut from Nail’s Wrenchers from another attack, and I know for sure that there’s only one other group of ponies who would want to do something like this. The Black Hoofs.”

“Silver Tooth...” Acid Rain growled.

“Those worms living it up in the old casino… are you sure?” Double Duty asked Dash.

“Positive. Who else could it be? Who else would want to keep ruining things for you gangs here and keep you fighting amongst yourselves,” she shrugged.

“You have a point,” the Diesel King said.

“They’re just the first enemy you guys should really be united against instead of fighting against each other!” Rainbow Dash said and flapped her wings so she could float above and look at all of them. “I just won this race, and I’ve helped Nail’s Wrenchers and the Diesel Kings, everyone is willing to get along and join together now, right? You all can see how much I can help! You should know that I can change things for the better in this city, so who’s with me? Let’s go take down the Black Hoofs, then Crush, and then even Resin herself!”

Acid Rain shared a look with Double Duty, and then shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t sound so bad.”

The Eternal Furnace XIV

Of course there wasn’t the time to do anything that day. In fact shortly after Rainbow Dash’s little speech the bell rang and they all had to head off to work. Despite the fact that Rainbow Dash was going to bring the whole system down she didn’t want Crush to catch onto things yet. So she spent that work day going around to every different group and letting them know that tomorrow morning was the moment. Tomorrow morning she would fly to get the Nail’s Wrenchers, Diesel Kings, and Thunderbirds to join with her and confront the Black Hoofs and Silver Tooth at their casino.

The daily announcement from Resin at the end of the work day just fanned her flames even more.

~-and so don’t forget: nothing matters except what you can do for the flame. The furnaces being made to work to their best is more important than your lives! Give everything you have to your work, give everything to the glory of our flame! Be like me and realize that nothing matters but the fire that warms us! Thank you, and rest so tomorrow you can work just as hard as you did today!~

“Tomorrow, huh?” Rainbow Dash growled as she flew back up to Night Reader and Brilliant Star’s room. “That’s when you’re going down.”

Night Reader and Brilliant Star were already there and Rainbow Dash was happy and proud to tell them of her recent successes.

“So you both just wait, cause tomorrow is going to be a big day. I don’t know exactly how long it’s going to take—still might be a couple days in all—but you’re getting this city back. I promise,” she said to them while they ate.

“I was skeptical of you being able to get all the gangs on your side but you’ve repeatedly proved me wrong,” Night Reader said with a fair bit of wonder in his voice.

“And I’m happy we were wrong,” Brilliant Star said and smiled. Actually smiled as some of the warmth returned to her previously dead eyes.

“You can praise me even more pretty soon. First thing tomorrow morning we’re all going to get together and I’m gonna be knocking on Silver Tooth’s door.”

“Good luck,” Night Reader said and smiled just a little bit too.

Rainbow Dash smiled back. “Thanks.” She picked her bowl of gruel up in both hooves and scarfed it down. “I feel like I’m going to need as much energy as possible, so I’ll be eating another big bowl of this once I wake up.”

And she did. Practically inhaling it down the hatch and then saying goodbye to her hosts—Rainbow Dash was off to gather the gangs. The Diesel Kings were the first ones she visited of course, they were right there after all, and a good sign already was that a bunch of them were out reattaching doors to the other ponies’ homes. That made Dash pretty darn happy to see, it was a sign of how she had already made an impact here.

“Yo!” She called out to the Diesel Kings upon arrival.

Soot Mane looked up and saw her, waving up at the pegasus and almost smiling. “Rainbow Dash, good morning!”

“Morning!” She gave a curt wave back and lowered herself to the floor while the other nearby Diesel Kings converged on her. Even Double Duty was already awake and had shockingly been helping out too, he and a few others came down the stairs until the whole gang was assembled.

“So it’s time already?” The leader asked.

“Just about, I’ve just gotta go tell the others to gather here and then we can go to the casino,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “So you guys get ready. I don’t know what might happen later today but it could be big.”

“We will. After yesterday I’m not sure what else the Black Hoofs might do but we’ll be prepared,” Double Duty said.

“Count on it,” Soot Mane resolutely nodded.

“Thanks. I’m gonna fly off to the Thunderbirds and Nail’s Wrenchers now, back in a jiffy!” Rainbow Dash said and then zoomed off. Again she didn’t have time to waste and had to act fast, there was no telling how long it would take to actually deal with the Black Hoofs and then lure Crush to them. It had to all be done before the work bell rang.

So it only took her a second to get to the Thunderbirds’ housing block where thankfully Acid Rain had already woken up his whole gang and gotten them ready for her arrival. All the pegasi were standing at attention when she rocketed down the floor and came to a full and complete stop right in front of them. Only kicking up the slightest amount of dust on her landing.

“So you guys are ready to go?” Dash asked them.

“Yes,” Acid Rain nodded. “We’re prepared for anything. I’m still not… totally convinced of your way of doing things but I’ll go along with this for now. Show me some real change and progress and I’ll devote myself to you wholeheartedly. I wouldn’t exactly mind things getting nicer around here either so long as me and my gang weren’t getting the short end of the stick.”

“You won’t be, seriously, I figured I had already done enough with the other gangs to convince you too but just watch me,” Rainbow Dash clapped a hoof to her chest. “Now I’ve gotta go off to meet Frayed Wire and the rest of the Nail’s Wrenchers, but you guys can head down and join up with Double Duty and the Diesel Kings for now, okay?”

“That’s okay, we can do that,” Acid Rain agreed.

“Cool, it won’t be long for me to grab the others, why don’t you try and talk and make friends with the Diesel Kings in the meantime?”

Acid Rain grimaced and looked back at his underlings who also looked a bit unsure about that. “We will… attempt to make an effort to become friends.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “That’s all I ask for now. Anyways, see ya!”

She bolted off once more, this time heading down the hallway that led out into the maintenance corridor that she was by now well familiar with. The Nail’s Wrenchers would all be waiting for her in places she knew how to reach, as per her instructions yesterday. It still took a longer time for her to reach them than it took for the Diesel Kings and Thundrbirds, since she had to go into the cramped access tunnels and stop flying.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash called out as soon as she entered them. “Are you guys ready? Come on out here!”

Eventually they all started crawling out of the woodwork around her, Frayed Wire and Nut were there together to greet her while Cast Iron and the rest of the gang came from all sorts of side tunnels.

“Hey, come on! We don’t have any time to waste!” Rainbow Dash said.

“I know, I’m just...” Frayed Wire shot a glance at Nut. “Apprehensive considering for the first time we’re all going to be together and not have it be for a fight. I’m worried a fight will break out anyways.”

“It won’t, trust me,” Rainbow Dash said. “Just treat them like you’d want them to treat you and just be awesome to each other.”

Nut shrugged. “Rainbow Dash has kept proving herself right so far.”

“Exactly,” Dash grinned and winked at the mare. “Besides I’m going to be there the whole time leading you guys, I’d still like it if you tried to mingle with each other and make friends but if you don’t want to just yet you can just follow me for now.”

“Fair enough,” Frayed Wire shrugged. “Let’s just get there and do this then, I’ll say that I am excited to take those Black Hoofs down a peg or two.”

Rainbow Dash really agreed with that sentiment. “Me too.”

Dozens and dozens of gang members were now all joined together in the Diesel King’s housing block ready to move on a moment’s notice. Frayed Wire, Double Duty, and Acid Rain all stood together in an attempt at unity although Rainbow Dash could see they didn’t exactly enjoy each other’s presence just yet. That was fine, they’d have something big to cheer about and celebrate together before this day was over. The rest of the gangs were more or less staying with each other but at least some were mingling with others. Decent start.

“Okay, okay, everyone!” Rainbow Dash called out as she flew above them. “I’m super pumped that you’re all here together! I promise you you’re going to be happy about believing in me, I’m going to make things change here.”

She looked out over all of them before continuing. “Right now we’re going to head to the casino that the Black Hoofs use. With all of you together I’m going to convince Silver Tooth to let us get ahold of Crush so I can make it up to the higher levels of this city and get to Resin! He’ll have no choice cause he and they all know what will happen if you stop working for Resin, they rely on you and up till now they needed you divided so you couldn’t do anything like this!” Rainbow Dash smiled at them. “That’s the power of keeping up hope and believing in friendship!”

A more positive group probably would’ve cheered after she was done saying all that but these ponies weren’t quite there yet. Still, they didn’t boo her or grumble or anything so Rainbow Dash was willing to count that as a win.

“So I think we’re all ready to go now, right?” She glanced down at the three leaders.

“We’ve been ready,” Double Duty said.

“Same,” Acid Rain said.

“Yeah,” Frayed Wire nodded.

Rainbow Dash flew about and pointed her hoof down the tunnel leading to the first housing block. “Then let’s go!”

And she kept floating there for a few seconds, her wings flapping but not going any further.

“Is something wrong?” Nut asked her from below while the others watched on curiously.

“Uhh...” Rainbow Dash blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. “I kind of have actually never been to the casino or that whole area, so can somebody lead the way?”

And after that little piece of embarrassment the huge group began their march to the casino, with the three gang leaders at the front. They traveled into the first housing block in full view of all the other ponies who were waking up and preparing for a hard day of work (that with any luck would never happen) and headed in the direction of the other hallway that led deeper into the mountain. Rainbow Dash remembered seeing Crush and his security ponies entering it on her first day here but she had been too preoccupied with other stuff to go in there herself and see what was beyond it.

Despite it taking some time thanks to how big the party of ponies was they eventually made it through the tunnel and emerged into a large, curved, promenade that stretched around the interior of the mountain. Buildings and old stores were built right into the walls, all of them were completely closed up and empty though and the lights above were just as dim and poorly functioning as anywhere else. Before Resin it was probably a center of leisure and entertainment for the city, now it was just sad. A very wide set of stairs split the promenade down the middle and led up to a second level of it, with nothing else on the first level for them Rainbow Dash and the others went right up there to the casino. As she learned from the others the casino was on the second level at the far end in the same direction the housing blocks went. It took up a huge space but was now completely barred shut along the windows and the door was replaced with a heavy metal shutter that could only be opened from the inside.

Once they reached the second level, Dash took a brief look around. The other half of the promenade was completely dark and empty, and the stairs went up to a third level that led to the security forces center and the doors to the higher levels of the city where Resin was. Soon she could go up there and get past those closed doors. She just needed that security code from Crush.

“Do you think they’ll hear or see us coming?” Dash asked the gang leaders as she flew down and landed beside them, now walking together with them towards the casino.

“Doubtful. The windows don’t just have bars in front of them, they’ve had metal plates bolted and welded behind them. I don’t think they’ll know we’re here until we use the intercom,” Frayed Wire said.

“What’s an intercom?” Dash asked.

“It’s like a radio. There’s a button and speaker on the outside of the casino by the door connected to another one on the inside. We’ll use it to speak to Silver Tooth and get him to open up,” Frayed Wire explained.

Rainbow Dash nodded and they shortly had rounded enough of the promenade where they could see the casino built into the far wall. A large two-story building half merged with the mountain. At one point huge letters spelling out “CASINO” were lit up by numerous light-bulbs on the front of the building, but all the bulbs had been removed and the A and the S had fallen off. The paint had peeled off too, making it look as ugly and broken down as anything else in the city. The Black Hoofs probably didn’t care about any of that though so long as the inside was clean and comfortable.

She could imagine them playing games and having fun all day while the other ponies down here broke their backs working for Resin. It honestly made her blood boil.

They soon stopped right in front of the heavy metal “door” of the casino. Her unified gang army that was maybe one hundred strong at this point was standing behind her, waiting for Rainbow Dash’s next move. Her eyes looked over to the right side of the door where a speaker was built in with a red button right below it. The intercom.

“Hope you’re prepared, Silver Tooth,” Rainbow Dash said as she reached up her hoof and pressed the button.

The Eternal Furnace XV

There was a staticy buzz as the intercom flared to life.

“Hello? Anybody on the other end of this thing?” Rainbow Dash asked into it.

For a moment there was silence and she removed her hoof from the button, waiting for a response. Would they respond to her at all? It’s possible Silver Tooth would panic and contact Crush immediately. Though she doubted it, that would cause big problems for him too.

Finally a static buzz came back from the intercom and a garbled voice emerged from it. “You’re that pony from outside. What are you doing here? And with… all the gangs.”

Rainbow Dash frowned and pressed the button again. “You can see us?”

“Look above the intercom, stupid.” The voice said.

Rainbow Dash frowned harder but looked up, seeing a tiny peephole staring back at her. “Oh.”

“If you thought you could trick your way inside and out muscle us you’re wrong. Better leave before I call Crush on you,” the voice threatened.

And that was exactly what Rainbow Dash wanted to hear. “And tell him what? That all the gangs have united against you and you need help? I’m sure he’d love to hear that. There totally wouldn’t be any repercussions for you at all, would there be?”

Silence, so she continued. “I mean, the way I hear it the only reason you’ve got your special privileges and everything is because you make things easier for Crush and the security team. What would happen if that changed?”

There was yet more silence. Rainbow Dash was about to keep implying her threat when finally the voice returned.

“Alright, I get it. So what do you want? It seems to me we’re both in a stalemate then, neither of us actually wants me to contact Crush and tell him what’s happened. So what are you after?”

“You know? I’ll tell you straight up,” Rainbow Dash grinned for the peephole. “I do want you to contact Crush, but I want you to do it so you can lure him here alone and then we can ambush him and force the security code for the doors out of him so I can go higher into the city and stop Resin!”

“Ahahahaha, you’re joking, right? There’s no way I would help you do something so stupid!”

“Okay, then we can just all sit here until work starts and Crush wonders why all the gang ponies are missing.”

“...”

“Well?”

“I get it. But right now there’s still nothing in it for me whether I listen to you or just keep you out there,” the voice (Silver Tooth’s, Rainbow Dash was certain now) said. “So why don’t we make things a little more interesting?”

“How do you mean?” Rainbow Dash asked.

She heard some laughter coming from the other side of the intercom. “Well this is a casino you know? So let’s place it all on the line on some games. You come in here and play a few card games with me, if you win I’ll do what you say and contact Crush, but if I win, the gangs will have to leave and you’ll be our hostage that I can hoof over to Crush.”

Double Duty pulled Dash’s hoof away from the button before she could reply. “Don’t do it, it’s a trap! Silver Tooth is a gambler born and bred, if you do this you’re falling right into his hooves.”

Acid Rain nodded. “The Diesel King is right. We can’t agree to this.”

“Well what else are we going to do?” Rainbow Dash asked them. “We can’t break inside by force and we can’t stay out here forever either.” She went back to touch the button, hovering her hoof above it. “Trust me, I can win whatever game he wants to play, I’m awesome.” She pressed it. “Silver Tooth? That is you on the other side, right? I’ll take your offer, let me in there.”

“Hahahahaha, sure, sure.” Silver Tooth laughed from the other side. He was feeling confident. “But first you better tell all your friends to back up out of here, I’m not opening the door and letting you all rush inside. It’s going to be you and only you coming into our casino.”

Rainbow Dash turned to the gang leaders and gave them an apologetic look. “Sorry guys, I know how risky you think this is but we’ve gotta do it. I’ll be alright.”

“For all of our sake’s I hope so,” Double Duty darkly replied.

The gangs all had to back up a fair distance down the promenade before Silver Tooth would open up the doors. Rainbow Dash knew he was watching through the peephole and when they had all almost vanished behind the curve of the promenade she heard the sound of the door getting ready to lift. The metal door rose like a portcullis, teeth on the bottom of it that went into little holes on the ground when it was shut. Once it raised all the way and stopped, Rainbow Dash looked inside it to see it led to another set of double doors just a few feet in, the true doors to the casino.

“Here goes nothing,” she said as she walked in and pulled open the door, stepping inside the casino.

As opposed to everywhere else she had been so far, the casino was still colorful and relatively nice looking. The lights were still fine and it wasn’t very dirty at all. The center of the casino was taken up by a big open pit with lots of tables for various games like roulette, poker, blackjack, craps, etc. and the sides of the casino had a bunch of slot machines with stairs leading up to a second floor that ringed the open pit and looked to contain a bunch more slot machines as well as leading to several offices. Immediately to her left at the front of the casino was a large desk that looked like it was for storing and exchanging chips while to her right was a lounge area.

And of course all around her were ponies of the Black Hoof gang. There might have been fifty in total throughout the casino, including the ones she recognized having attacked her previously. That unicorn from the dumpster fight was giving her a nasty look that she returned with a smug grin.

There was another unicorn standing in front of her too with a wide grin on his face. A purple unicorn with a smooth scarlet mane that covered one of his blue eyes while he kept a fedora on top of his head. On his flank rested a Cutie Mark of a poker hoof—a royal flush in diamonds. That grin of his also had an odd twinkle in it, one of his teeth was pure silver.

“Silver Tooth, huh?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him.

“How’d you guess?” His grin widened. “And your name is Rainbow Dash if I’ve heard right. Kind of a gamble for you to come in here alone, not worried that my boys might just attack you instead?”

“Heh, they’re welcome to try,” Dash challenged.

Silver Tooth briefly glanced over to the pegasi Rainbow Dash had also fought with. The three of them nervously shook their heads together. “I suppose it won’t be necessary.” Silver Tooth said.

Rainbow shrugged. “So how are we going to settle this then? I’m up for whatever games you want to play.”

“Actually we’ll just play the one, my specialty if that’s alright?” He grinned.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. He was clearly trying to stack the deck in his favor as much as possible without outright cheating. But she didn’t care, she’d just win anyways. “Fine, shoot.”

“Follow me,” Silver Tooth said and led Rainbow Dash into the pit with all the tables. He walked to a long table in the middle and affectionately rubbed his hoof along the green felt. There was an alcove for the dealer to sit in the middle of it and eight chairs at even spots along the outside of the table. “This is a table for Hold ‘Em style Poker.” He told her.

“Hold ‘Em?” Dash raised an eyebrow. “I know what regular Poker is.”

“Well that’s good at least, then you know what the winning hoofs would be and everything,” Silver Tooth nodded. “But in this version your hoof will look a little different. You see each pony playing will only be dealt two cards initially. That will be your private hoof and no one else will see what you have. Then three cards will be placed on the table face up for everyone. That’s the initial whole hoof right there, called the Flop, there’s more strategy and thought involved in this version of Poker because you know all the possible hoofs that can be made and everyone has the same cards to work with outside their first two. After the first round of bets are made a fourth card comes out on the “Turn”, and then after the next bets a fifth and final card comes out on the “River”. So in total you’re playing with seven cards.”

“Seven card Poker?” Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure how hoofs would work with that.

“Naw, not really. You’re still only making a hoof with five total cards but you have seven to choose from. Let’s say you got dealt a pair of tens and on the field there was a King, two fours, another ten, and an Ace. Well you have a Full House right there with the other ten and the fours. However someone else happened to have a Queen and a Jack in their hoof. Now they’ve got a straight or potentially a Royal Flush if it’s all the same suit. Maybe someone else had two Aces and has a higher Full House than yours. There’s a wide variety of different possible hoofs with different possible card combinations. Although the example I used is a bit far-fetched, normally you don’t see that many high-hoofs in one dealing.” Silver Tooth explained to her.

“I get it,” Rainbow Dash calmly nodded.

Truthfully… she was still processing a bit.

“Good, good...” Silver Tooth grinned wider and walked around the table to take a seat next to the dealer’s alcove. “I’ll sit here and besides us two I’ll have four more of my boys playing for a total of five. That’ll keep things fresh and interesting.”

“So how many hoofs to decide the winner?” Rainbow Dash asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing like that, we’ll both get one hundred chips to make bets with and the first one of us who loses all their chips is the loser.”

“Works for me, I’ll win anyways,” Rainbow Dash shrugged, trying to act as obnoxiously nonchalant as possible.

Silver Tooth only chuckled, obviously not feeling threatened. “You can try.”

Rainbow Dash sat right across from him and Silver Tooth whistled for five Black Hoofs to come over. One of them took the spot of the dealer while the others sat next to Rainbow Dash. The dealer then slid ten chips to her, each of them with a “10” stenciled on the tops. A hundred individual chips had sounded a little unwieldy to her. She kept her eyes on all of the ponies around her to make sure they weren’t trying to cheat or that the others watching weren’t making any weird movements either. It would probably be easy for them to send signals to each other or for the dealer to stack the deck if he really wanted to, but Rainbow Dash was also confident in her eagle eyes to pick anything like that out.

And she was confident in her natural awesomeness winning the day for her regardless.

She wasn’t boasting when she said she was going to win anyways. She was being the same way she always was, having total belief in herself and the confidence to overcome anything. The sort of spirit and willpower that changed the world. If Rainbow Dash thought she was going to win then she was going to win. It was mind over matter, but she wouldn’t put it in such a way or regard it as such. It was just the same kind of thing that allowed her to survive and gain the power of the mammoth’s Sacred Spring.

So despite an infinite amount of disadvantages piled against her she wasn’t worried at all when the cards started being dealt.

The dealer threw one out to everyone, starting with Silver Tooth, and then a second set out right after. Rainbow Dash discreetly looked at the cards she had, making sure none of the Black Hoofs at the table or looking on from around it could see her cards.

An eight of spades and a queen of diamonds. She knew that wasn’t good. Did she need to bet or could she fold immediately? Although it was possible that something good would come from the Flop it was unlikely that with such a poor starting hoof she’d have the best hoof at the table. But she might as well see.

She learned that she didn’t need to bet quite yet as the Flop was revealed before any chips were thrown down. Queen of hearts, two of spades, five of diamonds. Somewhat helpful for her but not great. There was no path for a flush or a straight but something like a three of a kind or two pair was possible but also not particularly likely. However, wasn’t that what gambling was all about? And wasn’t she the pony who said she would succeed at anything thanks to her sheer awesomeness?

Rainbow Dash threw one chip down to bet.

Silver Tooth grinned and also threw a chip down, two of the Black Hoofs folded immediately while the two others also threw a chip in. Now that that was done the card on the Turn was dealt. A nine of spades, no help for Dash and probably the end for her chances this hoof unless she wanted to bluff or risk it. What were the possible hoofs others could have right now? Honestly her single pair of queens was decent for what she saw in front of her. Unless someone had a pair of kings they were holding onto, or a pair of fives etc., it was possible that her pair of queens was the winning hoof. But would someone like Silver Tooth have bet if he didn’t have a decent hoof or high chance of winning on the Turn or River? And same with those other two. There were still flush and straight possibilities that could happen as well.

Another chip was thrown down by Silver Tooth, he was increasing his bet, clearly liking the nine of spades. Now Rainbow Dash could either match his bet, raise, or fold.

She hated what she had to do.

“I’ll fold this one,” Rainbow Dash said, frowning at Silver Tooth.

“Aw, poor you,” Silver Tooth mocked her.

Rainbow Dash growled as the other two Black Hoofs folded immediately, allowing Silver Tooth to collect all the chips on the table. And now she was in a pickle she hadn’t thought about. Because you took the whole pot when you won a hoof, Silver Tooth was now up thirteen chips to her nine. It was possible he could get an even bigger lead on her especially with it now clear that the other ponies at the table weren’t going to allow him to lose against them. It would take Rainbow Dash winning a hoof for Silver Tooth to ever lose any chips.

The cards were thrown back in and reshuffled before being dealt back out again, two apiece to everyone.

“You know you could just give up now and spare yourself the embarrassment,” Silver Tooth grinned at her, his tooth sparkling.

“No thanks, it’s way too satisfying to think how humiliated you’re going to be when I win,” Rainbow Dash toasted him right back.

“Let’s see how the cards fall then,” Silver Tooth said and peaked at his hoof.

Rainbow Dash did the same, neither of them showing a hint of if they had gotten a good or bad pair of cards on their faces, and waited for the Flop.

King of clubs, queen of diamonds, four of clubs. A relatively high Flop, one that opened up a lot of possible hoofs including some straights and flushes right from the beginning. Silver Tooth obviously liked it as he threw in a chip and Rainbow Dash calmly tossed one in as well without hesitating. This time only one of the other Black Hoofs folded immediately so right from the get go the pot this time was going to be bigger.

“Guess you got a good draw this time?” Silver Tooth asked her.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I dunno, maybe? Or maybe I’m bluffing.”

“Amateurs like you are a laugh to play with,” Silver Tooth chuckled mirthfully and shook his head.

The card on the Turn came out, a ten of clubs. The flush was a big possibility now and a straight wasn’t much more unlikely either. Silver Tooth only called though—which didn’t necessarily mean anything. He could be trying to bait Dash, or bluff her, or he honestly didn’t have a strong hoof. There was so much for Rainbow Dash to keep track of, if Twilight was playing she could instantly know all the possible hoofs and what her exact chances were of winning every time. Rainbow Dash just had to believe in herself and the cards she had.

Which is why she raised, throwing two extra chips out onto the table.

The other Black Hoofs folded now, leaving only Rainbow Dash and Silver Tooth still in. The gang leader rubbed his chin and threw an appraising eye at Rainbow Dash. He had to wonder if she was bluffing or not too.

“Wonder if you got lucky on the Turn or you’re hoping for the River?” Silver Tooth said.

“Call and find out,” Rainbow Dash said, folding her hooves in front of her chest.

“If you want to lose that fast instead of playing smart then be my guest,” Silver Tooth shrugged and threw two chips in to match Rainbow Dash.

It was time for the River now and the dealer threw an ace of hearts onto the table. Now the straight was even more likely. Did one of them have it? Or perhaps neither?

Either of them could have raised or folded right now but in the end Rainbow Dash only called and Silver Tooth was more than happy to let her off easy on this one in his mind. So he just called too with them both only having bet three chips apiece on the hoof.

The dealer looked between the two of them. “Show your hoofs.”

Silver Tooth giggled and flipped his cards over, showing a king and queen of his own. “Well look at these pairs of kings and queens I’ve got. Maybe two of them can even be you and me someday.” He winked at her.

Rainbow Dash snorted in disgust. “Sorry but I’m not a queen and you’re definitely not a king.” She grabbed her two cards and smirked. “But you know what I am? An ace.”

Rainbow flipped and tossed the two cards into the center of the table, revealing a pair of aces, giving her a three-of-a-kind while Silver Tooth only had two-pair.

The rest of the Black Hoofs gulped and Silver Tooth frowned. “So you got lucky on the River.”

“Guess so,” Rainbow Dash grinned as she started raking in the chips. Three from Silver Tooth plus three from the others put her at a solid fifteen chips and brought him down to ten.

“So you are a gambler then but maybe not a very smart one,” Silver Tooth said and tried to brush his defeat off. “I’ve still got just as many chips as when I started so let’s see if you get that lucky again.”

“I can make my own luck,” she glanced at the dealer. “Hurry up and deal.”

He did as told and a new hoof was dealt. Silver Tooth glanced down at his cards to see a jack of clubs and a nine of clubs. Straight, flush, straight flush, all possibilities. But the Flop could possibly be completely useless to him. The gang leader glanced up at Rainbow Dash, who was totally expressionless as she discreetly looked at her own cards.

For the first time since they started playing he almost regretted that he hadn’t just had his dealer stack the deck considering the importance of this game. But he didn’t want to win by cheating, it would be an insult to him. He didn’t get his Cutie Mark cheating he got it winning.

The Flop came down, six of clubs, four of clubs, and the jack of diamonds. Straight was done for but he had a decent chance on the flush and a pair of jacks as back up. The cards in the Flop didn’t make anything too special on their own either, Silver Tooth wouldn’t be surprised if his fellows folded on this one.

He was right, all but one of the others in his gang folded their hoofs just at the sight of the Flop. But Rainbow Dash didn’t.

It was possible she had two clubs too or something else she thought she could make. Either way the both of them tossed down a single chip and waited for the card on the Turn.

The queen of clubs. Silver Tooth expertly kept his cool and didn’t so much as twitch. He had his flush now, what about Rainbow Dash? He glanced up and saw her looking over the cards intently. She seemed to be taking it seriously and he couldn’t tell if she was upset or just thinking hard. Silver Tooth grinned on the inside, he could probably bait her in for something good. That’s why he chose not to raise and instead just called.

Both Rainbow Dash and the one other at the table only called as well. Rainbow Dash shot Silver Tooth a frown, clearly wishing she could’ve gotten more info from him.

He resisted the urge to smile and shake his head this time. Amateur. Was the only thing that went through his head.

The River then came and showed a seven of hearts. He was certain now he had the best hoof out there, the only question now was if he could get some extra chips from Rainbow Dash or would she swallow her pride again and fold. Silver Tooth grinned as he threw three chips down at the table. It was a modest amount and he definitely could’ve gone for more but that might’ve scared her off from calling him. He didn’t just want to win the hoof he wanted her to lose some more chips.

Rainbow Dash threw her three chips in. The other Black Hoof folded.

When it was all laid out, Silver Tooth had his flush and Rainbow Dash had two pair of fours and sixes.

“Hehe, don’t feel too bad, not your fault you got drawn in with a decent hoof that just didn’t pan out,” Silver Tooth gloated. He was now up fifteen to her eleven.

“Whatever. Looks to me like the both of us still have plenty of chips, so let’s keep going,” Rainbow said back to him.

The next hoof was fairly uneventful. Silver Tooth bet in on the Flop but folded on the turn and Rainbow Dash ended up winning with an eight through queen straight. And because so many of the others had bet on the initial Flop too it brought her total number of chips to seventeen and his to fourteen. Things kept going back and forth between the two of them and it was starting to annoy Silver Tooth greatly. He wanted to crush this pony that thought she could beat him. She had the moxie to come in here and willingly let herself get roped into the game of his choice and she was doing this good? No way, he had to end this soon.

The fifth hoof showed the possibility for him to finish things. Silver Tooth was dealt two kings with a third in the Flop alongside a two and a jack. He didn’t raise on the Flop, biding his time. Both him and Rainbow Dash only bet a single chip, so he wasn’t sure how good her hoof may have been but he was going to try and bait or provoke her for everything she had.

On the Turn a second two was laid out and Silver Tooth cheered for himself internally. A full house. The only thing that could make his hoof better was if the last king came on the river and gave him a four-of-a-kind. There were very few possible hoofs that could beat what he had and any straight flush or royal flush was completely impossible to begin with so what was left over was incredibly unlikely to occur in the same hoof where he had gotten such a strong full house.

“I think I’ll be raising my bet a little on this one,” Silver Tooth said and pushed five chips into the center of the table.

It wasn’t a gamble, he had gotten a good grasp on her personality. There was no way he could say and do something like that so calmly and she wouldn’t respond.

He just underestimated her response.

“Five, huh? I’ll call that,” Rainbow Dash said as she shoved five chips out right beside his. “And I’ll raise you five more.” She used her wing to grab and toss an additional five chips into the pot.

Silver Tooth narrowed his eyes. “You can’t bluff me.”

“If you think I’m bluffing then call me and let’s see the River,” Rainbow grinned back at him.

“You’ll regret this,” Silver Tooth said as he threw five more chips in.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I don’t think I will, benefit of being awesome and winning all the time.”

The ace of spades came out on the River and Silver Tooth raised an eyebrow at her. “If you were hoping for some great last card I doubt that was what you needed.”

Rainbow Dash yawned and threw all of her chips into the pot. “All in.”

Silver Tooth’s eye twitched. This was what he wanted but it wasn’t exactly how it was supposed to go. Her baseless confidence was infuriating to him. Now he could just call and end things… right? There was no way, there was absolutely no way she had a better hoof than him. He was not doubting himself here, she was bluffing, or maybe had a somewhat decent hoof, but not better than his. He could still fold and… no! No, he wasn’t doing that and he shouldn’t have even considered it.

“I’ll call you,” Silver Tooth growled and put the last of his chips in while the rest of his gang watched on the edge of their seats. He then laughed and laid his kings out. “Well, that’s a full house, sorry, Rainbow Dash.”

She looked at his kings and then picked up her own cards to stare at them for a second before looking Silver Tooth dead in the eye. “You know, twos aren’t very pretty, but when you’ve got all four of them it’s pretty nice.”

Rainbow Dash casually tossed her pair of twos onto the Flop, sliding them together with the others already there and showing off her four-of-a-kind.

Gasps came from the other Black Hoofs and Silver Tooth himself blanched.

“I think that’s called winning,” Rainbow Dash grinned at the gang leader.

He lifted a shaking hoof up to his fedora and took it off, running his hoof through his mane. “So it is.”

The Eternal Furnace XVI

The despondent looking Silver Tooth was with Rainbow Dash in his second story office. He was nervous and pale as he repeatedly rubbed his hoof in a circle on his forehead while Rainbow Dash flatly stared at him. On the wall behind him there was a radio transceiver just waiting to be used but the gang leader was doing everything he could to delay the reality. The calm and collected poker face had failed and now here he was alone with a pony who was very likely going to bring his whole world crashing down around him.

He could’ve refused to admit defeat or had his gang attack her, but the Cutie Mark on his flank burned for him to accept defeat gracefully. And he had done so regardless of the consequences.

“Alright, Silver Tooth, you know why I came here in the first place so hurry up and call Crush. There isn’t much time before the normal work day starts,” Rainbow Dash told him.

“I-I know… this is just something I never thought would happen. We had a really good thing going for us,” the sweaty gang leader wiped his hoof across his brow.

Rainbow Dash angrily narrowed her eyes and charged up to him, pushing him against the wall. “If you’re trying to make me feel bad for you you’re going about it the wrong way.”

“Can you blame me?!” Silver Tooth pleaded. “I saw an opportunity to save myself from that awful life under Crush and Resin and I took it!”

“I can blame you cause all you did was make things worse for everyone! Now call Crush!” Rainbow Dash yelled and released him.

“F-Fine...” Silver Tooth whined and faced the transceiver, turning it on.

He detached a microphone and a set of headphones from it, wearing the headphones and holding the speaker with his magic all carefully under Rainbow Dash’s watch. He had to flick a few switches and turn a dial on the transceiver to a certain frequency but soon he had Crush’s security station on the other line. One more switch was flipped and a green light lit up right above it.

“Hello? Is anybody there? This is Silver Tooth from the Black Hoofs, I need to speak to Crush.” Silver Tooth said into the microphone.

Naturally Rainbow Dash couldn’t hear anything on the other end so she stood around waiting for Silver Tooth to give any sort of signal that Crush had picked up the mic on his end and answered. She was pretty sure Silver Tooth wasn’t going to try and betray her at the last minute but she was listening in closely just in case he tried to. If it came down to that she was confident in her ability to fight off his entire gang and escape though. Soon though, Silver Tooth perked up and gave a curt nod to her, Crush had picked up.

“Hello, Crush, yes it’s me,” Silver Tooth explained. “No, nothing like that, the gangs are still fighting with themselves.” A lie, good. “I have something else important to discuss with you, can you come here privately?”

A second went by, Rainbow Dash could just barely hear a disgruntled but muffled voice coming from the headphones Silver Tooth was wearing.

Silver Tooth himself winced. “Yes, I know it’s close to work but something has come up. I promise it won’t take long...” He was sweating and nervous again. “Okay?” Another pause and then a relieved smile came over his face. “Good, we’ll keep the door open for you. I’ll see you soon.”

He flipped the switch and the green light went off, letting out a deep sigh and turning to Rainbow Dash with a grin. “He’s on his way.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Good, you’re going to make sure things in here seem normal and then we’re all going to jump him together.”

“Okay...” Silver Tooth gulped. “Er, we’ll need to go out and tell the rest of the gangs to hide before Crush gets here.”

“You’re right, let’s go,” Rainbow Dash agreed.

“Hold on!” Silver Tooth said, grabbing her shoulder to stop her.

She glared back at him. “What?”

“I don’t fully know why you’re doing this or what’s going to happen… but you don’t think me and my gang are going to be punished too badly or anything, regardless of who comes out on top, eheh?” He nervously smiled at her, his silver tooth having lost some of its luster.

Rainbow Dash’s glare morphed into an apathetic frown. “Silver Tooth, all I’m going to say is you’re lucky I’m here to make things better for everyone.”

Crush, chief of security in the city, walked down the promenade to Silver Tooth’s casino with a bored frown on his face. To be fair—that was essentially his default expression in the first place. He disliked being drawn out of his normal schedule and routine like this but that annoying gang leader said it was important. As long as it helped make things easier for Resin though… that thought only made his frown deepen.

He could see the protective door was raised so at least Silver Tooth still knew how to listen to orders. He’d make this trip quick and then head over into the work zone. Crush walked right past the metal shutter and to the double doors that led inside the casino, foregoing knocking he simply pulled the doors open with his magic and stepped inside. He was not a pony that needed to knock for anyone here.

“Silver Tooth?” Crush called out as he walked up to the pit, the gang leader was standing there in front of it and fiddling with his hat.

Crush raised an eyebrow. “Well what’s this important business?”

“Ah, you see, that would be-” Silver Tooth sputtered about as he sweated.

Which was just enough warning for Crush to realize something was wrong before he was jumped.

“Get him!”

He heard someone yell and looked over to see a group of ponies jumping over the front desk next to him. All of them were looking to dog-pile on top of him and he had just enough time to try and put some magic in his horn before they landed on him. They wrestled over him and pulled him to the ground while he screamed and tried to punch and knock them away.

“Keep him down, make sure he can’t get away!” That same voice yelled and Crush felt someone jump on his back, keeping him pinned to the floor.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Crush roared.

“Hey, buddy.”

Crush looked up to see a vaguely familiar face grinning down at him. A blue pegasus with a rainbow mane… his eyes widened as he recognized her. “I know you, you’re that outsider who came in a few days ago!”

“Bingo, name’s Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow Dash said and winked. “Sorry I couldn’t stay out of trouble like you asked me to.”

Crush growled and glanced around at the others, Silver Tooth and his gang were watching over from the tables while on top of him were the stupid gang leaders he knew; Frayed Wire, Double Duty, and Acid Raid. “Well it seems something has been going on right under my nose.” He shot a glare at Silver Tooth. “I’ll just have you know right now that you’re finished after today.”

Silver Tooth gulped.

“Forget about him,” Rainbow Dash cut in. “Tell me the code to get past the door that leads to the higher levels of the city.”

“You want to get past the door? Why?” Crush raised an eyebrow at her.

“Because I’m going to take down Resin and return this city to how it used to be before she took charge,” Dash told him.

Crush stared up at her for a second, dumbfounded. “Hahaha… you, you can’t be serious?” He couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re not even from here.”

“So that means I can’t do anything good and selfless for you guys?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him.

To her surprise he shook his head, his laughter dying down. “No, no, I just didn’t expect it.”

“Whatever, are you going to tell me the code or not? If you don’t you’re not going to get back to your security team, we can still hold you here, and none of the ponies are going to be working today so I really don’t think Resin is going to be happy about that,” Rainbow told him.

“So either way the routine is going to be ruined and Resin will be unhappy...” Crush made an exaggerated sigh while a small grin tugged at his lips. “There’s no reason for me to help you at all, I couldn’t care less what happens to me and it’s clear you’ve already got your little revolt going on down here. Resin still controls everything, she’ll just lower the power for a little bit until you’re uncomfortable enough to start working again.”

“And nothing will change,” Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof. “Fine, so maybe Resin still holds a lot of the cards but she doesn’t hold them all. There’s no way anyone is going to be happy with the way things go if all of us down here really decide to revolt. So why not at least give me the chance to make things better for everyone?”

Crush gave her a questioning look. “And how would you figure you can do that?”

“Just let me talk to Resin and convince her to stop all this. Distribute the power like how it normally should be and stop making everyone break their backs just for that ceremonial flame,” Rainbow Dash said.

“That will never happen. You won’t be able to change Resin’s mind,” Crush shook his head.

“I’m not a pony to give up without trying,” Rainbow Dash defiantly stared him down. “And if I can’t convince her peacefully then I’ll do it by force, because things can’t stay how they are here.”

Crush stared at her long and hard. Truthfully, Rainbow Dash had given him less reason to let her through the door if he wanted to keep being loyal to Resin. He started laughing again, his chest heaving on the floor and rocking his whole body. “If you want to go up there then fine, I’ll tell you the security code. It doesn’t matter—nothing matters.” His laughter slowed down until just a grin was left on his face. “Of course first I’d like you to tell these idiots to get off me already.”

Rainbow Dash nodded to the gang leaders and they got off him, Crush slowly rising with a grunt and dusting himself off. He was a big pony after all and he didn’t need any additional weight wearing down his legs.

“That’s better,” he glared at the gang leaders. “I was wondering how long you idiots would keep fighting with each other, guess it took an outsider’s perspective to finally get you to change.”

The three gang leaders looked pretty angry and were about to do more than just “jump” on him when Rainbow Dash stepped between them. “Enough of that, just tell me the code.”

“Not quite so fast,” Crush frowned and narrowed his eyes. “I’ll tell you but only you. The rest of your group isn’t getting that code, and they’re staying down here. That’s the deal. I’m only letting you go through those doors to meet Resin.”

“That’s stupid!” Double Duty said. “If we could all go through there we could take her down by force, Rainbow Dash!”

“That’s right, forget talking to Resin to begin with, just let us gangs up there so we can get rid of her!” Frayed Wire said.

Crush snorted. “Exactly. That’s why it’s either only Rainbow Dash or no one.”

Rainbow Dash silenced the gang leaders with a wave of her wing. “It’s fine, besides like I said I wanted to try solving things peacefully in the first place. If this is the only way Crush will give up the code then it’s alright.” She flashed a grin at them. “You guys trust me to succeed well enough by now, don’t you?”

There was some grumbling but they couldn’t really say they didn’t at this point. Silver Tooth in the background was now silently praying for Rainbow Dash to be successful too, since Crush would most definitely mete out some harsh retribution to him. The rest of the gangs would have to be calmed down when they saw Rainbow and everyone leaving here with Crush but that should be an easy enough matter too.

Since she had her answer, Rainbow Dash looked back at Crush and raised an eyebrow. “So how’s this going to go then?”

“We can all walk up to the doors that block off the top levels from the mid and bottom ones, but you and only you will come over with me to the keypad. There I’ll tell you and enter the code so you can see I’m not lying or anything. No tricks, I’ll enter the code for you and then you can be on your merry way to Resin,” Crush said. He then breathed a long breath out of his nose and stared at her. “For all the good it will do you.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Rainbow Dash countered. “But fine, that sounds good to me, let’s go. I really want to do this as soon as possible. From what I’ve seen here these ponies have all suffered long enough.”

“Good luck changing that,” Crush sarcastically quipped to her.

Rainbow Dash frowned at him but didn’t bother restarting their argument. There were more important things to do right now.

Dozens of gang members followed Dash, Crush, and their leaders up the steps leading to the top level of the promenade where the great doors were as well as the way to get to the security forces headquarters. Crush weathered all of the stares and nasty looks from the other ponies with well practiced apathy while Rainbow Dash walked beside him. She too was staring up at him every now and then, curious about his attitude and how he had been acting.

Once they reached the top of the steps, Rainbow Dash looked ahead to see a huge gray wall blocking off the path ahead of them. It stretched the entire distance across the very top of the promenade.

“And that’s the blockade keeping anyone but me or my security force from going up,” Crush said.

“So how does it open?” Rainbow asked him.

“Electronic keypad on a switchboard in front of the door that raises it,” Crush nodded towards the lowered gate. “The rest of our party can stay right here.”

Rainbow Dash turned to the gang leaders. “Okay you guys, stay here by the steps with the others and don’t do anything when I’m through. Just wait for me in the housing block.”

“You still don’t want us to keep an eye on him or anything?” Double Duty asked with a glance to Crush.

“No—that’s part of the deal. He can do what he wants after giving me the code,” Rainbow said.

“Can’t say it’s a very smart decision...” Frayed Wire muttered.

“It’s about being fair,” Rainbow told them. “We’ve gotta be willing to show some kindness and be better even if we wouldn’t get the same treatment. That’s part of what it means to be a good pony and it’s what I’ve been trying to remind you all about. Don’t worry, I’ll handle it all anyways.”

“Can we hurry this up already?” Crush asked, bored and annoyed of this situation.

Rainbow Dash frowned at him but just shrugged. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

As the two left the other ponies on their way to the great wall that blocked off access to the higher levels of the city, Rainbow Dash kept shooting confused looks up at Crush. The security chief was odd. She couldn’t get a good read on him or figure out what he really thought or felt. He didn’t seem fanatically loyal to Resin nor did he seem to just be out to have as good a time as possible like Silver Tooth. That way he said “nothing matters” earlier—it had sounded like he was saying it to himself as much as he was saying it to her.

“Do you have a question to ask?” He suddenly asked her, aware of her constant glances.

“I’m just… confused by you,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “Do you even know or care about how what you’re doing is so wrong? And if you do why don’t you want to stop Resin too?”

“Hah!” Crush snorted. “Do I know? Of course I do, I’m not some moron, nor a monster. I know what I’m doing is wrong.” He shrugged.

“But then why? Why do you follow Resin and do all of this?” Rainbow Dash practically exploded at him.

Crush and her paused as they reached the wall, sure enough there was a pole coming out of the floor that ended in some kind of electronic keypad that looking kind of like a calculator to Dash. But Crush didn’t make any moves to input the code just yet. He turned his head to regard her with an impassive expression.

“She’s my sister.”

“Your sister?!” Rainbow Dash yelled almost loud enough for the gang ponies back there to hear, not that Crush seemed to care. “But… I don’t… no one said anything about that!”

Crush shrugged. “They don’t know, I’ve never had any reason to tell someone. Didn’t see the point.”

“If she’s your sister then do you know why she’s all… uh, crazy?” Rainbow Dash asked him. “How come you’re not all obsessed with that flame and everything? Honestly you seem pretty normal.”

“The only person who really knows about how she became like that is Resin herself. I hadn’t seen her for years before she showed up the way she is now and took over the city,” Crush said.

“How come?”

Crush sighed, not a sad one but an exhausted one. “I thought she was dead. When we were children there was a fire, I was rescued but the rest of my family were assumed dead along with some other families caught in it. It was a huge problem. Anyways I went to a foster family, and Resin wound up lost and abandoned in the bowels of the city. That’s all I know for sure. Either way at some point growing up she became obsessed with the fire at the top of the city—I have no idea why. And now-” he gestured around them. “This is what you’ve got.”

Rainbow Dash’s face was a somber look of pity. “I’m sorry to hear all that… but did you ever try to talk to her about all of this and change things?”

“Hehehe...” Crush chuckled and shook his head. “When I first saw her again I dropped down onto my knees and cried about how happy I was to see my baby sister again. Do you know what she did?”

“What?”

"She pushed me aside and started talking to others about how wonderful the flame was and how we needed to start devoting all of our lives towards it,” Crush snorted. “She didn’t care about me, she knew who I was, she just didn’t care. There wasn’t any anger or love or anything in what she did when it came to me. All she cared about—all she still cares about—is that dumb fire.”

Crush turned to the keypad and stared at it. “And I felt guilty. I felt guilty about being rescued, guilty about her having to grow up alone, guilty about how she had become. So I made the decision to support and help her. It was the only thing I could do to make amends, with her and myself.” His eyes looked over to her. “I know it’s wrong but I’m going to be the big brother she should’ve always had.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I feel bad for you.”

“She’s the one you should feel bad for. She’s like a child, you’ll understand when you meet her, and you’ll see why I told you it’s pointless.”

“We’ll see,” Rainbow Dash frowned. “Just tell me the code.”

“38211,” Crush said. “Watch.”

He input the five numbers and with a confirming beep a deep lumbering sound came from the door and it began to rise off the floor, slowly traveling up and receding into the ceiling. All in all the height to walk through was still only a normal door’s height, but it was wide. Beyond it there was a clean antechamber with bright lights in the ceiling and a set of glass doors on the far end that looked like they led to another much larger room. Along with a keypad that looked exactly the same as the one they had just used to open the door.

“And now you can find your own way to the top,” Crush told her.

“Thanks. I guess,” Dash said to him.

Crush bit back a laugh. “Sure. But just so you know I’ll be coming after you. I’m giving you a head start of about an hour just out of fairness but once that’s up my security team is going to be coming for you.”

Rainbow shrugged and walked past the door. “If that’s what you have to do then that’s what you have to do.”

The security chief did laugh this time. “You should’ve taken my advice and not caused any problems in here. I’ll see you soon.” He input the code again and the door slowly went down, the two of them watching each other the whole time until they disappeared from each other’s view.

Rainbow Dash then turned to the glass doors and nodded. “Okay, Resin, here I come.”

She traveled to the doors and pushed one of them open, looking out into this next room. It stretched on quite a bit into the distance but also looked like it was bisected by another huge hallway halfway down. Creating a big cross of a room. Pillars and support beams holding up the ceiling went all the way down it too—and there didn’t seem to be a single soul in here. The lights were on and things were cleaner looking than down below but it wasn’t very inviting for her first look into the upper levels of the city.

“Oh well,” Rainbow Dash shrugged and flapped her wings, preparing to take off and fly down the elongated and oversized hallway for a quicker trip.

“Are you really not done yet?”

The sudden, familiar, voice from the shadows of the pillars next to her caused Rainbow Dash to turn her head.

A unicorn with a silver light emitted from his horn emerged from the shadows, slicked back jet-black mane and tail, navy blue coat, powerful body, cold and expressionless face.

“You again… what are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked him.

Harlequin Grey stepped forward until they were only a foot apart. “I’m here to talk with you again of course.”

“Oh, that sounds really fun,” Rainbow Dash sarcastically rolled her eyes. “Look, I don’t have the time to talk with you right now and—hey, wait. Weren’t you a pegasus?”

“You’re misremembering things. I’ve always been a unicorn.”

“Whatever,” Rainbow Dash ignored him. “Like I said I’m not bothering with you right now.”

Harlequin Grey sighed. “Must you keep going on this pointless adventure? You aren’t satisfied enough even after defeating Karkona back in the mammoth city?”

“No I’m not,” Rainbow grinned. “And yeah—so that’s another thing I did up here in the True North, bet that makes you mad?”

“On the contrary, Karkona wanted to destroy the quiet and peaceful mammoth society that’s existed for centuries. I didn’t want him to succeed either.”

“Oh. Well, uh, I didn’t do it for you!” Rainbow Dash pointed her hood at him.

He rolled his eyes. “I’m well aware. And here you are now after completely refusing to heed my warnings, with a huge problem on your hooves.”

“Resin isn’t-”

“Not her,” Harlequin Grey cut her off. “The thing you met in Ice Valley.”

Rainbow Dash’s blood ran cold but she did her best not to show any fear to Harlequin Grey. “So you know about that too huh?” She bit her lip. “What is she?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea truly. Some kind of monster, one you’ve disturbed after a lot of effort has been done to keep her attention away from ponies like you.”

“Well whatever,” Rainbow Dash shook her head and tried to ignore that memory of what it felt like when Heartless touched her. “I’m not afraid of her and I’m not stopping this journey either. I’ve still got adventures to go on and ponies to save, got that!” She walked up to him and poked him in the chest. “And I still don’t trust you.”

She turned to walk away-

“She’s coming, you know.”

Rainbow Dash looked back at him with a frown.

He only nodded. “She’s coming here right now. Looking for you. After feeling your powerful life-force just once she’ll never lose sight of you, she can sense you no matter how far away you are. You can’t run or hide from her.”

“I’ll...” Rainbow Dash fought a gulp. “I’ll deal with her when the time comes.”

Harlequin Grey clicked his teeth. “Obnoxious ponies ruining my hard work… I’ve warned you enough I suppose. You’re going to regret not listening to me in the first place.”

He stepped backwards into the shadows while Rainbow Dash watched, until he vanished completely in them and she didn’t feel his presence anymore.

She turned back to look down the hallway and this time flapped her wings to hover halfway above the floor. “One thing at a time.”

The Eternal Furnace XVII

Rainbow Dash flew into the center of the expansive cross-shaped room and looked around for any sign telling her what direction to go in next. If she saw stairs or something she’d just go to them cause she needed to go up, but there was probably still a ton of space and places left inside the top levels of the city. Searching through it all just to find a way to get up to Resin could take much longer than she wanted it to. Looking to her left and right there were more pillars leading all the way down to what looked like a row of elevators at both back walls. Directly ahead of her the long hallway ended in another room where Rainbow Dash saw stairs. So each direction would take her up.

When in doubt, just keep going the direction you already were. Rainbow Dash shrugged and flew on towards the stairs. After all she had no idea if those elevators still even worked.

Being Rainbow Dash she got to the end room in an instant and took a look around. It was a very tall room that looked like it went up several levels of the city with stairs and landings snaking all around the sides from their start at the very bottom. Rainbow Dash flew up a bit and noticed a gigantic “1” painted in white paint on the wall, flying a little above that was a “2” and so on. She didn’t know what each individual level may have held but at the moment it wasn’t an issue, she was here to get to the very top of the city and that was it.

The last level was “9” and the stairs ended at a wide mezzanine that Rainbow Dash floated down to and landed on. From here there were a few other hallways leading to other areas, Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure where to go at first until she heard voices coming from the right most hallway.

“Best place I can think to go,” she shrugged and flew down the hallway.

The lighting up here in these top levels was better than down in the housing blocks and maintenance areas. They didn’t flicker and she hadn’t noticed any broken ones yet. The sound of ponies talking also continued to grow the further she went until she emerged out into a large and open lounge area. It curved quite a bit around the mountain and had lots of sitting areas for ponies, there looked like there used to be some fountains too but the water wasn’t running in them. And where she spied places where there should’ve been couches all the cushions look like they had been torn out.

But still, it was the first place where she saw other ponies up in these top levels.

While they didn’t look dirty or exhausted from work they still looked bored and dead on the inside from what Rainbow could see. A few groups played cards or some other board games on the tables while others just walked around aimlessly and some stood off staring into space. It seemed even if you weren’t on the bottom rungs and forced to work all day it didn’t mean Resin cared about you. These ponies were just forgotten and ignored, with nothing left to do or care about when only the flame mattered.

Did they have jobs at all? The work day down below would have started by now.

Rainbow Dash walked on down the middle of the lounge, glancing at some of the ponies playing cards together. They all looked so bored and depressed. She walked a little further and finally stopped next to a pony sitting down and emptily staring at one of the fountains. It had grown dusty looking after not having water flow from it for who knows how long.

“Uh, you looking at something?” Rainbow Dash asked him.

“Hm?” He turned to look at her, he was a very light green earth pony with a sandy-gold mane and the Cutie Mark of a leaky faucet. His eyes were dead in the same way Night Reader’s and Brilliant Star’s were.

Rainbow Dash grimaced. “Do you like this old fountain or something?”

“Oh, sort of I guess,” he looked back at it. “When the water was still allowed to flow to it I used to come here to relax and think. Now I don’t really have anything to do anyways, so sometimes I just like to look at it and remember how it used to be.”

“Is it like this everywhere up here? Are all of you like this?” Rainbow asked him.

He looked over at her again and raised an eyebrow. “Are you… not from here?”

She shook her head. “No, I arrived here a few days ago.”

“I see. Well, yes, everywhere is like this. The lower sections of the city have been cut off to us and everything was taken away. No one up here does anything,” he nodded over to some of the ponies playing cards. “If it wasn’t for a few of us hiding stuff like that when Resin started her sweeps of the city we wouldn’t even have games to play to pass the time.”

“Sorry to hear about all that...” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. She couldn’t imagine living a life as boring and empty as these ponies did. She’d have gone crazy long ago.

“Why’d you even come here?” He asked her.

“Well I kind of just stumbled on your city in the first place, I had gone a long time without any food and really needed something to eat so I came in here. And when I heard about Resin and what she had done to all of you I couldn’t just leave,” Rainbow said.

“Oh, well thanks for your concern,” he said but didn’t smile or really seem any happier.

“I mean… I’m trying to fix things and help you ponies,” Rainbow said.

He shrugged. “I get it, I’m just not sure if anything can be done about her. Look around you, do any of the ponies here look like they have much hope?”

“No but I’m kind of used to seeing that from the rest of the city,” Rainbow told him. “And it still isn’t stopping me or changing my mind. I can still do a lot.”

“If you want to fight Resin then no one here is going to stop you,” he said and looked into the empty basin at the bottom of the fountain. “I wouldn’t mind seeing this work again.”

“Then maybe you can help me out a little? What’s the best way to get to the top of the city where the ceremonial flame and Resin are?” Rainbow Dash asked him.

“Well if you just keep going up you can’t miss it. The only things at the top level of the mountain are the room where the flame is kept and Resin’s command center,” he told her. “Uhh, I guess I can show you where you should go right from here though.”

“Thanks, that’d actually be a lot of help,” Rainbow gave him an appreciative smile.

He nodded. “Mm, you’re going to want to walk down the lounge until midway and then you’ll see a set of open doors that lead towards the middle of the mountain, directly under the peak. Once you’re in that area you’ll see some stairwells and elevators every now and then. Just take whatever you want and you’ll get to the top floor quick enough.” He paused for a second before seeming to remember something else. “Also, if you’re looking for Resin specifically she supposedly spends almost all day in the room with the flame, just staring at it. That’s what I’ve heard at least.”

Rainbow Dash clapped him on the back with her wing. “Thanks for the help, with any luck things’ll be different for you by the end of the day.”

“It would be nice but I’m not exactly counting on it,” he said as he continued to gaze at his fountain and attempted to remember happier times.

She gave him a weak grin before flying off further down the lounge. “Oof… these guys need help quick.”

Rainbow Dash flew over the heads of many more despondent ponies in this lounge, this was probably the one or one of the only places they could visit and hang around in outside their own homes that still had a semblance of things to look at or do in it. Despite her probably being unusual and unfamiliar enough that they should be surprised to see her and looking up as she flew about, no one really did. Rainbow Dash was relatively ignored by the ponies in the lounge who were too caught up in their own melancholy.

Soon she spied where she was supposed to go according to that stallion whose name she forgot to ask and turned to go down another hallway that eventually led into a circular room with a staircase at the back going up and elevators at each side. Since she had been having decently good luck with the stairs she decided to stick with them and quickly flew up the hundreds of steps, following the banister all the way to the top. It was then yet more stairs, more empty or almost empty rooms, as she went higher and higher into the mountain.

The one real change she actually noticed was the lighting was even better up here, as was the ventilation and heating. It all started getting better and better the higher she went. Resin really kept the best just for the flame and the surrounding space around it.

Finally she came up another flight of stairs and ended up in a well polished and brightly lit hallway that looked like it curved in a circular path around the inside of the mountain’s peak. Rainbow Dash was definitely high enough where there wasn’t much room left, was this the top level? Directly in front of her was still a solid wall that followed the interior side of the hallway, taking up the entirety of the center of the top level. Since she wasn’t getting anywhere just floating here she dropped down to the floor and walked into the hallway.

There was a sign on the interior wall, directly in front of where the stairs ended, and Rainbow Dash peered at it.

One arrow pointing to the left with the word “Flame” under it. One arrow pointing right with “Control Center” under it. And at the bottom of that, in obnoxiously happy print, there was the message: “Enjoy our glorious city’s majestic peak and the ceremonial flame that we hold dearly in all our hearts!”

Rainbow Dash frowned and started walking left.

Demons I

Rainbow Dash calmly walked down the curving hallway, her eyes planted ahead. It was slower than she normally moved but she was trying to gather her thoughts for her approaching confrontation with Resin. The degree at which the hallway curved and the size of the top level’s interior told her that this path was probably almost exactly a mile-long circle, she hadn’t yet traveled halfway down it but the room where the ceremonial flame was kept must be close. What was she going to say to Resin? From what she had learned from Crush and just from listening to her broadcasts it was clear the pony wasn’t in her right mind. So she’d try to do everything she could to convince her to stop making things so difficult for the ponies here and only as a last resort would she use violence. The thought of that still made her cringe inwardly, and she wondered what her friends would think about it. It was different from facing someone like Blizzard or Karkona.

She didn’t want to beat up a crazy orphan. It wasn’t right. Nothing about this was as easy as Rainbow Dash wished it was. Totally evil villain? Punch them. That was her thing.

This? This was a little bit tougher for her to digest and work through. Hopefully Resin would make things easy for her, or prove to not be so crazy that punching her also didn’t make her feel bad. Maybe it would turn out that she was actually just selfish and evil and Dash would figure that out while talking to her. Dare to dream.

I don’t even know how she’s going to react to seeing me either. Dash thought.

Something that was impossible to miss while traveling up here was the fact there were no locked doors, no guards, nothing at all keeping anyone from making it up here to the flame and Resin. There had to be some reason for why no one in the upper levels had stopped her personally then, right? Crush and his security team couldn’t respond in time to everything if Resin called them on the radio. Were they all just terrified of her? Had she crushed their hope so much they didn’t even want to try and stop her anymore? Or perhaps there was a more tangible reason that Dash didn’t know about just yet. So perhaps Resin wouldn’t even realize she was a threat or wouldn’t care about any pony who had come up to here for whatever reason. Until she made it clear that she was here to change things.

Another thing she noticed as she walked further down the hallway was that the air was starting to get hot. Almost until it felt like she was standing in front of a fireplace or campfire.

Or a furnace.

She only had to walk a little more until she saw an opening into the interior of the mountain’s peak. It was bordered with red paint to catch the eye and had no doors to close it, just wide open for anyone to walk into. Rainbow Dash paused right by it—the heat coming out of the room was almost enough to make her sweat—and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath she pumped herself up by lightly slapping her cheeks and opened her eyes back up, walking around the corner and into the ceremonial flame room.

Now that there was nothing to directly block the heat coming from the flame the hot air practically pushed against her like a physical force. Sweat started to break out across her brow and her mane and tail became damp and matted. She was thankful she wasn’t wearing anything to make it worse.

The first thing Dash noticed about the egg-domed room was the gigantic brass smokestack that took up the center of it. It shot right into the ceiling and presumably kept going until it became what Rainbow Dash had seen when she first inspected the mountain from the outside, emerging from the peak and billowing smoke. On the front side of the smokestack, the side facing her, at the bottom was a grill that allowed one to look inside and see the powerful, perpetually burning flame. Pipes that ran along the floor fed into the smokestack, feeding it the fuel it didn’t need but still misappropriated from other areas of the city so the flame could burn like a raging inferno without equal.

The second thing was how incredibly clean and well taken care of every last thing in here was. It was spotless in a way that would make Rarity and Twilight proud.

And the third thing was the pony sitting calmly in front of the furnace’s grill. She was wearing a polyester, khaki-colored, jacket and what looked like might’ve been a thin headband around her head. So far she hadn’t seemed to notice Rainbow Dash’s arrival. Which wasn’t surprising since she was sitting only ten feet in front of the fire and facing it, the heat washing and crackling over her must come close to burning temps. Rainbow Dash could tell she had the same orange mane and tail as Crush, and her mane was short and unkempt, but her coat at least was a prettier sort of teal color.

Rainbow Dash calmly stepped forward until she was just a few pony lengths behind her and gulped. “Resin?”

The mare’s ears perked up and she turned her head to face Rainbow Dash, showing a happy, friendly smile, and a single sunflower yellow eye. The other eye was covered by an eyepatch—not a headband—and the area around it showed signs of scarring from old burns. Unlike her unicorn brother she was an earth pony.

“Yes?”

Rainbow Dash took another steadying breath and started walking closer to her. “My name is Rainbow Dash, I come from outside your city and-”

“Outside?!” Resin jumped up and ran over to Rainbow Dash in glee, grabbing her hooves and shaking them vigorously. “It’s a pleasure to meet you! Have you come all this way to bathe in the beauty, glory, and love of our flame? What do you think of the city? Isn’t it wondrous how everything exists to serve and better this glorious fire?” She pulled Dash close and hugged her, their faces awkwardly pressed side by side as Resin gestured over to the brass smokestack and made Rainbow Dash look directly into the grill. “Please, tell me what you think of the flame!”

“Uhhh...” Rainbow glanced sidelong at the manic smiling earth pony as she held her closely. “It’s hot?”

“Yes!” Resin nodded repeatedly. “Doesn’t its warmth just fill you up inside?”

“Yeah it’s certainly doing that,” Dash felt it was best to go along with her for now.

“Wonderful!” Resin stopped hugging her but grabbed her by the hooves again, spinning Rainbow Dash around joyfully. “You can’t believe how excited I am that someone from outside can appreciate it too! It’s been ages since even any of the ponies here have come up to personally bask in the flame’s warmth and feel its love!” She stopped spinning Dash around but pushed her face right up close to Dash’s. “Please, do you have any questions? Is there anything else you would like to know about the flame?”

Rainbow Dash finally pulled her hooves away from Resin and stepped back a bit. “Actually I have some questions and things I want to talk about concerning you.”

“Me?” Resin pointed to herself, tilting her head. “But I don’t matter at all, the flame should be the only thing that interests you.”

Her callous way of referring to herself put Rainbow Dash off-guard. Dash’s eyes searched about as she gave a lopsided grin to Resin. “Uhh, well… I’m still curious. We can talk about the flame too it’s just-”

“Great! Well I’m happy to tell you everything you want to know!” She put a hoof over Dash’s shoulder and started walking them both out of the ceremonial flame room. “Please come to my office and we can speak together about anything you wanted to.”

Resin led them directly to her control room also on the top level of the city but directly opposite to where you entered to get into the flame room. Also unlike the flame room which took up the interior of the mountain’s peak the control room opened up to the exterior. Rainbow Dash guessed that beyond the far wall there was nothing more than maybe a foot of material before you reached open air. Filling up the room was all sorts of panels and computer stations overflowing with buttons, switches, dials, screens, lights, and all manner of things Rainbow Dash had no ability to grasp. Along the walls were several metal doors that must’ve led into some other auxiliary rooms of the control center.

While right in the middle of the floor was a raggedy mattress and sheet. It seemed Resin lived right here.

“So what’s the first thing you’d like to talk about?” Resin said with a cheerful smile on her face.

Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head, the mare’s attitude was very off-putting. “I guess… how come you’re so obsessed with the flame in the first place?”

Resin shut her eye and hummed. “Mmm, that goes back a long ways. I had nothing, so lost, so cold and alone.” She opened up her eye and looked deeply at Rainbow Dash, an expression of pure bliss on her face. “I found my way to the flame and I remember sitting there, watching it, resting before it.” She hugged her body and gently rocked herself. “It was so warm, it hugged and filled my body with love like I had never felt before. It gave me everything.”

She smiled sadly at the ground. “They forced me to leave it, but I remembered it always. The flame was always burning inside me. I knew what I had to do then; give it everything back in return. The flame itself is love and life and deserves to have everything we can give it.”

“So that’s why you’ve forced everyone to live like this? And why you’ve taken all extra power and resources and just put it into keeping that flame burning as strongly as possible?” Dash asked her.

“Yes,” she eagerly nodded.

Rainbow Dash sighed and dragged a hoof down her face. “And don’t you see anything wrong with that?”

“What do you mean?” Resin blinked. “The flame is the only thing that matters, it deserves all the work we can do for it. It gives us all of its love, the love that you can’t feel from anything else, we have to give back to it.”

“You can feel love from other things you know? Like ponies. You know your brother loves you, don’t you?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at her.

Resin stepped forward and grabbed Rainbow Dash’s hoof and squeezed suddenly, hard enough that it actually started to hurt. Her one remaining eye bored into Rainbow Dash’s with its pupil twitching around erratically. “That isn’t real. Ponies can’t love anything, ponies can’t make you feel anything, ponies can’t make you happy. Only the flame can do any of that.”

Rainbow Dash knocked Resin’s hoof away and jumped back. “Let go of me!”

The earth pony blinked and looked down at her hoof, her visage turning back to normal as she slowly started to smile again. “Ah, sorry.”

“Yeah, whatever...” Dash frowned as she rubbed her hoof. “Do you even really know how much you’re making the ponies in this city suffer? Or do you really just not care at all?”

“It doesn’t matter one bit!” Resin smiled. “They should be happy to give their entire lives to support the flame. Whatever any of them feels is nothing compared to the love and gratitude we need to give to the flame.”

“You’re just… Crush was right, I feel worse for you than for him,” Rainbow shook her head.

“I don’t see why. My life is perfect and I’ve gotten this entire city to do what I want it to. The flame now burns brighter and stronger than it ever did before, it never stops, it will never leave me alone, all the power and fuel it needs is personally supplied by me thanks to the master controls here in this very room. I reciprocate the flame’s love more than anyone ever could!” Resin cheered.

“But none of this can even really last!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “You’re working the ponies to death down there and with all the fuel and stuff you’re burning through you’re gonna run out someday, won’t you? Like what happens when the mountain is totally tapped out and your oil dries up?” Rainbow watched as Resin seemed to actually consider it, the earth pony raising a hoof to her chin and looking up with her eye. “You don’t really need to make the flame constantly rage like this, right? Instead why don’t you divert the power and fuel and whatever back to how it normally should be, then the flame can last longer even if it wont be as strong and all the ponies in the city wont be miserable. Everyone wins!”

Resin was standing there as Dash finished up her little speech, her eye was twitching and she occasionally blinked or tilted her head one way or the other. At last after a careful moment of consideration she smiled and looked back at Rainbow Dash.

“You’re right! I’ve been going about this all wrong!” Resin beamed.

Rainbow Dash smiled. “So you’re going to-”

“There’s still far too much being wasted!” Resin clapped her hoof to her chest. “The flame deserves everything but I’ve still allowed too much excess just because the work is being done down below. Of course the flame must be kept burning, must be kept alive forever, so I have to find a way to divert even more power and resources to it. Thank you, Rainbow Dash!”

“No, that’s not what-” Rainbow Dash, in her horror, tried to correct her but Resin was in full swing.

“There are so many excess and unnecessary parts of this city, I’ve already blocked off some of them but others are still there and still on the mountain. So they’ll be ejected! Every non-essential structure and section will be ejected from the city!”

“Ejected? What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked.

Resin smiled wider. “It’s a fail-safe! All non-essential parts of the city can be cordoned off and ejected off the side of the mountain with explosive bolts. It was designed that way in case of a dangerous fire or build-up of poison gas. Now I can use it to make sure there isn’t even the chance of the power in the city being wrongfully diverted.”

“But what about all the ponies in those sections?!”

Resin shrugged. “They’ll be evacuated to their homes, I still need workers. The ejection needs to be done manually on site anyways so I’ll have Crush and his security team get started on it immediately.”

“This is all wrong! Resin, even if you do something like this you can’t make all these ponies keep working down there, it’s too much! Already I’ve gotten them to practically revolt against you. If you don’t stop or do something like this then every pony down in those housing blocks is going to go on strike and Crush won’t be able to do anything about it!” Rainbow told her.

If she was expecting Resin to listen to reason or be persuaded by those words in any way, she was wrong.

“They’re not working for the flame?” Resin quietly said.

“Uhh...”

And to her great surprise and growing sense of dread; Resin smiled.

“Good. I can get rid of even more waste now,” the earth pony said as she walked over to one of the computer panels.

“Resin...” Rainbow Dash gulped. “What do you mean?”

“I need workers, but I don’t need those workers,” Resin shrugged. “I’m going to completely turn off the power to the lower levels once Crush and his security team are past the blockade. No heating, no lighting, no ventilation. Once they’re all dead I can have the ponies living up here take their place and everything will continue on like normal!”

“You can’t! That’s, that’s just plain evil!” Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and flared her wings. “Resin, I didn’t want to do this but get away from those controls right now! I was just going to talk to you but if you’re going to be like this? Then I don’t have any problem with stopping you by force.”

Resin stopped and looked over her shoulder at Dash with a smile on her face. “Oh, force huh?” She moved over to a different panel close to one of the metal doors Rainbow had noticed earlier.

“I mean it!” Dash yelled and stepped closer. “Don’t you dare touch anything that could hurt the ponies down below!”

“I’m not. You’re hardly the only one who’s ever tried to stop me or take control of this room, this is just to deal with you. Because I can’t allow the flame to be disturbed.” Resin said and pressed a large red button on the panel.

A beeping noise came from the door and it slowly rose up while Rainbow Dash watched, revealing a shadowy interior. Then a heavy clunking and whirring noise came from the darkness and the sound of metal slamming down on metal repeatedly in rhythmic fashion as something came closer and closer to the door. Rainbow tensed up, lowering her head to the ground and preparing for whatever was coming.

A large metal claw came out of the shadows and stepped into the control room, followed by another, and then the head of the metal monster. Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as she remembered something briefly mentioned in passing by Night Reader and Brilliant Star: “Metal monstrosities”.

“Well this answers some of the questions I had...” Rainbow frowned as the abomination fully emerged.

It was a huge wolf-looking creation that lumbered on four heavy looking metal limbs with wires and hoses linking all over its body and glowing red eyes staring right at Dash. Flames also burned inside its metal jaw behind jagged teeth. Every so often it “breathed” and the flames billowed out the sides of its mouth. It didn’t look very fast or articulate but it did look threatening. Behind it its tail curled up and pointed at Rainbow Dash before the tip opened up into a set of metal clamps.

“I suggest you run,” Resin said.

Rainbow Dash smirked at her. “Heh, run? Sorry but you don’t know me at all, Resin. This thing doesn’t scare me one bit. If you want to stop me from, uh, stopping you, you’re going to have to do better than that.”

“Okay,” Resin casually shrugged and pressed a few more buttons.

The other doors all opened up and Rainbow Dash held a hoof up to her forehead and sighed as the sound of more of these metal monsters came stalking out of them.

“Just great...” Rainbow Dash said as she looked around at her adversaries,

A ram, a boar, a bear, a lion, and a crocodile. All five of them deadly looking and with their red eyes trained on her the same as the wolf. Flames came out of either their mouths or vents or pipes on their backs and sides.

“I don’t think I have to worry about you now,” Resin said. “Have fun while I save my flame.”

The six monsters leaped at Rainbow Dash.

She clicked her tongue. “Dang.”

On the catwalks that hung around the entire bottom of the metal city and made a ring around the mountain, Oil Slick was once again out and getting rid of toxic waste. Mumbling to himself about his distaste for the job and pretty much everything about the city, he was going to be happy when he could head back inside and sleep. At least he only had a couple more canisters to toss. He still had to wheel his cart back in afterward but that was no big deal.

“Can’t believe this is going to be what I’m doing for the rest of my life,” he grumbled and shook his head.

He had just grabbed the next canister off his cart when a slight shaking of the catwalk told him something had just landed on it.

Oil Slick turned around to see a pink earth pony mare standing behind him, staring at the open hatch that led back into the city. She had a pleasant smile on her face and slowly her eyes drifted over to Oil Slick.

“Is this how you get inside the mountain?” Heartless asked him.

“Um, yes, it is...” he answered after a moment of hesitation. “Miss… how did you get up here?”

Her grin widened as she turned to face him fully. “I flew!”

“You… flew?” He raised an eyebrow as he looked over her body and the distinct lack of wings.

“Yep!” She nodded and her vision drifted back to the hatch. “I have a question for you. Did a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane called Rainbow Dash come into your city? I can feel her up there but I want to be sure I’m not missing a way inside or out.”

Oil Slick was confused by a little of what she had said but he still remembered that pegasus. “Yes, she did. And these hatches are the only way in or out of the city, you can find your way anywhere from inside, more or less.”

“Thank you,” Heartless said and reached out to him without even sparing the other pony another glance.

He had a question on the tip of his tongue as to why she was reaching out to poke him. But as soon as that pink hoof made contact with his cheek he felt his life slip away, his eyes rolled back into his head, and he was dead before he even fell off the catwalk.

Heartless smiled as she stepped past the threshold of the hatch and into the city. “Here I come, Rainbow Dash.”

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqtOWpNAs48

Demons II

The Lion and Wolf monsters leapt at her first, which surprised Dash because she honestly wasn’t expecting that kind of agile movement from any of these things. The Wolf tried to jump on and crush her while the lion struck closer along the ground and brought out one of its huge metal claws to swipe at her legs. Rainbow Dash jumped backwards to avoid them both but had to immediately fly up to dodge the Crocodile trying to snap its jaws on her body. The Bear vaulted off the wall to jump at and try to swat Rainbow Dash out of the air so Dash flew down again and passed under the bear’s belly. That just put her at a level where the Ram and Boar could both charge at her though and Rainbow Dash found herself instantly having to dodge being pulverized by the Ram’s horns and gored by the boar’s twisted tusks.

Six of these things at once is kind of a pain… Rainbow Dash grit her teeth as she flew away from them and skidded to a stop on the metal floor, panting in exertion.

Resin just watched with an amused smile on her face. It was clear she had total confidence in these things to deal with Rainbow Dash eventually. There was no fear on the earth pony’s face when it came to Rainbow Dash, she wasn’t worried for herself at all.

Rainbow Dash looked around at how little room there was in here, and how those metal monsters were blocking the exit. She had to get past them and get somewhere she could really move. If it came down to it she could outrun them all easily, or maybe lure them into a place where their bigger forms were a liability and try to take them out one by one. She just had to survive for now and get out of this room first.

“Hey so are there any weak spots on these things I should know about?” Rainbow asked Resin.

“A sense of humor is unnecessary for praising the glory of the flame. I’m curious how long it will take for you to lose it with my guard monsters chasing you,” Resin smiled.

“Yeah...” Rainbow grimaced as the six metal beasts formed up in front of her. In truth she could tell that all the wires and hoses across their bodies were probably what she wanted to be aiming for when it came to fighting these things. And she definitely had the swiftness and precision to get at them. But breaking or tearing them could be tough, and maybe impossible if the others were trying to attack her at the same time. Right now she just had to focus on getting out of this room and going down the stairs to get elsewhere in the top levels of the city.

So without hesitation she ran right at the metal beasts at a dead sprint. The bear was the biggest of them, most had enough room under their legs for her to run or fly between them, but the crocodile obviously hunkered closer to the floor. The Wolf again went for the first attack, it ran towards her with the clamp at the end of its tail snapping open and shut. When it reached her the flames in its mouth also grew in intensity and its lower jaw split open, shooting a blast of flames right at the floor where Rainbow Dash was running. The flames were emitted in a cone, not much distance but they covered a wide area, and Rainbow Dash was running right at them.

Of course with her body and athleticism she could easily sharply turn away from the flames and run around the Wolf. Its tail came down trying to grab her as she ran by but she was too quick for it and it just smashed into the floor instead. Rainbow grinned and kept running towards the exit to the control room while the Crocodile now scurried at her on its short legs and the Ram and the Boar came around at her sides to try and pincer her.

The moment she jumped up to avoid them all the Lion came leaping at her. It was a well coordinated effort by the metal beasts—which made Rainbow Dash wonder just how smart these things were—and it would’ve succeeded were it not for one thing. The fact she could fly. She wasn’t limited to only moving one way, she could buzz around in the air anywhere.

So she flew to the left of the Lion, it did try and breath fire on her just like the Wolf had but another quick flap of her wings and she was well out of its reach. The Bear stayed on the ground in front of the exit but reared up on its hind legs to attack her and block off the easiest way out. Rainbow Dash easily flew over its head to get closer to the ceiling, but by this time the Wolf, Ram, and Boar had all ran around to get in range of her again. The Wolf hopped onto the Ram’s back and used it as a springboard to jump high enough to reach Rainbow Dash.

Well Dash decided she might as well take a page out of their book. Instead of changing direction she flew right at the ceiling and then twisted around once she reached it, touching it with her back legs and pushing off of it like a missile straight towards the Wolf that had been jumping at her. Her sudden speed surprised the metal beast, it couldn’t react in time and Rainbow Dash ended up smashing right into its face and knocking it back towards the Ram. The two automatons collided with each other and were launched backwards, ending up in a heap on the floor of the control center and trying to extricate themselves from each other. A difficult task thanks to their stiff bodies and all the wires and hoses.

Rainbow Dash though ended up rubbing her shoulder, hitting something like that with such force wasn’t good for her. She wasn’t as tough as a Yak or even a pony like Applejack. And these things were made of metal after all. At least she knew she could do stuff like that though and damage them directly.

The sound of clapping reached her ears and Rainbow Dash looked down to see Resin still smiling at her and clapping away.

“You’ve got so much energy, you really should’ve put it towards working and making our flame as great as possible! Down there in the work area you could’ve been so happy knowing you were doing something for such a good cause but here you are doing this instead.”

“You’re a nut,” Rainbow frowned at her.

“And you’re dead.”

The Lion jumped up almost from directly beneath her, its metal claws wide open to grab her and tear her to pieces.

Rainbow Dash grinned and decided to do something unexpected again. She moved slightly and brought her hooves down to just barely tip herself off the outstretched claws of the lion and then flipped over its backside. When she was midway down its back she kicked off it, launching the lion away and shooting herself towards the floor right at the Bear’s feet at high speed. She landed and looked up at the Bear with a grin, its red eyes flashed back at her and flames shot from its mouth. The Bear went from standing on two legs to coming back down at her to try and grab her with its jaws and make sure she couldn’t escape the room by going between its legs at the same time.

That’s what she wanted.

Whether the bear wanted to crush her between those huge metal teeth or breathe fire on her it didn’t get the chance to do either. Rainbow Dash backstepped and then hopped up on top of its head and ran along its back. Smoke, exhaust, and minor flames came from a series of pipes and vents on its backside. She ignored all of that and jumped down right past is back, clear of the control room and now back in the circular hallway of the top level. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings to rise up and flew left in the direction of the stairs.

Let’s see how good these things can chase a pegasus like me! She thought.

Turned out they were decently aggravated and really wanted to catch her, all six of the metal beasts fought to rush out of the control room in a chaotic mess. The Wolf made it out first by squeezing past the Bear with the Crocodile coming next and snapping its jaws at Rainbow Dash. The rest followed in pursuit soon after that but despite their surprising capabilities they couldn’t really match her speed. She made it back to the stairs easy with the Wolf and Lion bounding off the walls after her. Rainbow Dash flew down to the next level and shot into a hallway, she was going to try and drag them out and separate them so she didn’t have to fight six at a time.

“Now I just need to hope I don’t hit any dead ends or get lost. Those things probably know where they’re going better than I do,” Rainbow Dash said. She then frowned as the seriousness of the situation caught back up to her. “And I need to get back down to the lower levels to open up that door or everyone...” She gulped. “Gotta hurry.”

And so the six automatons strained their systems to run after her.

Resin had her radio turned on with her headphones on and the microphone gripped in her hoof, she stood at the control panel and patiently tapped her other hoof on it. This was the third call she had attempted but Crush wasn’t picking up. He was usually so diligent about answering her transmissions.

“Is he not in the security headquarters right now?” Resin wondered. “Hmm, what to do, what to do...”

She needed him to start the evacuation and then the expulsion of all the useless parts of the city. And she needed to tell him to keep an eye out for that Rainbow Dash pony just in case.

“Oh, I know!” Inspiration suddenly hit Resin and she smiled, walking over to a different speaker built right into the control panel. “I’ll send a broadcast out for him through the whole city. Perfect!” Resin said as she settled down in the spot from where she made her daily broadcasts about the flame’s glory. In truth she wasn’t sure if she wanted to use it for this but it didn’t look like she had any other choice.

There was a single switch below the speaker with a red light next to it. Resin flipped the switch and the light turned green, signifying she was broadcasting to the entire city now.

~This is a special broadcast from your leader, Resin. Would the chief of security and his entire security team all drop what they’re doing and come to the control center at the top of the city? There are important matters that must be discussed. For everyone else in the city, do not be alarmed, there is no emergency and nothing to worry about. Just keep believing in the beauty and glory of the flame and work hard for its benefit. Thank you!~

She flipped off the switch and smiled to herself, delighted. Crush and his security team shouldn’t take too long to reach her.

That brought something else to mind though and she walked over to the other panels that had to do with the metal beasts she unleashed against Rainbow Dash. That pony was fast, and small, and she should probably make sure some of those monsters were always up here with her. Resin hummed to herself as she thought of what she could do before she smiled again. “I’ll send some of the small ones after her and keep the Crocodile out. The rest can come back. The flame should never be without its guardians for long.”

A few buttons were pressed and new orders were given out to the beasts pursuing Rainbow Dash while others activated at the same time…

Unbeknownst to Rainbow Dash most of the metal beasts chasing after her had given up the chase per Resin’s orders. That didn’t stop her from flying through the top levels because she could still hear the metallic rampaging of something coming after her. Of course there was something else now waking up too and coming out of the vents and hidden in special berths throughout the top level. A dozen pony-sized metal crabs and spiders had been turned on by Resin, their red eyes flaring to life as they skittered across pipes and beneath the floors, going through passageways too narrow for the larger monsters and most ponies who couldn’t flatten themselves down. They now all clattered about looking for their unsuspecting prey.

Demons III

Crush and his security team took a special elevator up close to the very top of the city, it was the fastest way to get up there if you couldn’t fly, and then made the short trek to the stairs that took them to the level with the ceremonial flame chamber and the control room. He briefly looked over his shoulder to make sure his entire force was with him—three dozen able-bodied ponies all loyal to him and by extension loyal to Resin. That was the best he could do really. Resin was not exactly the kind of pony you could expect others to be genuinely loyal to. Fear, yes. But loyalty that is birthed from love and admiration like the kind any good leader should have? Not quite.

He frowned inwardly but didn’t let it show on his face. Knowing the gangs down below had become unified, and getting a firsthoof experience of how reliable and capable that rainbow pony was, he wished there were more ponies on security. If he was up here he could always conscript some of the useless layabouts, couldn’t he? Put them to some sort of use, maybe they’d even be happy to have a job and be doing something even if it was oppressing their fellow citizens.

That could come later though. Right now he was also just worried about Resin’s broadcast and why she had called not just him but all of the security forces to her. Obviously that Rainbow Dash had done something. But if Resin just needed to tell him to find her and imprison here then why say everyone needed to come up here? Clearly there was something else going on, Resin must’ve gotten some idea or plan in her head. He knew her well enough to understand that especially with how out of the norm that earlier broadcast had been in the first place. Maybe Rainbow Dash had gotten to her in some way or rattled her.

Whatever, let’s just get this over with already. Crush sighed as he and his forces continued up the stairs.

They were getting close to the top when one of his subordinates, an earth pony by the name of Firm Press, deigned to speak.

“Sir? Do you know why Resin called all of us here?” He asked his chief.

“How should I know?” Crush shrugged. “Whatever it is we’ll learn soon. All of you just need to follow your orders.”

Firm Press nodded and they kept walking up the stairs, rounding another flight they were right before the top. Crush didn’t want to show that he was just as curious as the rest of his forces were. He wanted to be viewed as someone who had utmost faith in Resin and only cared about his orders. That was the role he played, to be on her side no matter what and make it easier for her will to be done. Even if the others weren’t loyal to her it kept dissent from breaking out in their ranks so long as he unquestioningly went along with what she wanted.

When Crush made it up the final step to the top level he stopped and turned to the others, all of them stopping to listen to him. “Alright, we’re here. The rest of you keep your mouths shut and just let Resin talk to me. Don’t look at anything, don’t touch anything, don’t question anything.”

He didn’t bother asking if they understood, instead just walking right down the circular hallway in the direction of the control room.

Of course when he got there the situation was unusual enough that it even caused him some trepidation.

There were a bunch of those metal monsters imposingly standing around the control room with Resin herself in the middle of it patiently waiting for his arrival. Usually her mind was so consumed by the flame that she hardly paid attention to anything else. He didn’t let his confusion and slight worry appear on his face as she strode inside, with the metal beasts watching him. He could feel the apprehension from the other officers as they walked in after him. Not that he blamed them, these things were terrifying and dangerous and they just stared menacingly at all the ponies.

Was one of them missing? He was fairly sure there were more than this.

Swallowing, he walked towards Resin and stopped a few feet in front of his sister. “What did you summon all of us here for?”

Her smile widened before she responded. “I have something very important for you and your security team to take care of! You see, I’ve realized we can make ourselves even more efficient and reduce all the unnecessary waste in this city. I want you to take care of enacting fail-safe protocol on all sections of the city that are not absolutely essential to survival! Every lounge area, every viewing deck, extra outer housing ring, storage, and etc. shall be closed off and jettisoned off the mountain!”

“Wha—really?” Crush couldn’t help the surprise and confusion even though it went against the persona he tried to project. What she said was so out of nowhere and excessive. A lot of the security officers behind him were mumbling too.

“Yes!” Resin either didn’t notice or care about their poor response. “First you’ll evacuate and escort all of the ponies still in those areas in the upper levels and then you’ll immediately get rid of them. We don’t need it anymore and it’s just a slight drain on the power and fuel that should be going to the flame anyways.

“I-I see...” Crush was worried in truth. This might be the kind of thing that did get his officers to mutiny if he didn’t keep them in line. It was a little much even for one of her orders.

“There’s no time to waste, I know you can do it for the glory of the flame!” Resin said. She then blinked. “Oh yes, and one last thing, if you see that blue pegasus by the name of Rainbow Dash please imprison her or do whatever it is you do to troublemakers.”

That he could nod along with easily at least. “Of course.”

“Good! Now hurry up and get on out there! There are a lot of sections to remove and I want your entire security force to work on it until it’s done,” Resin cheerfully told him.

“We will,” Crush nodded and looked over his shoulder at the slightly faltering group of security ponies. “Isn’t that right?” He only had to narrow his eye a little bit.

“Yes, sir!” His ponies answered, but he could still see some of them sweating and shooting uncertain glances at each other.

“Thank you. Remember that everything you do is for the flame, you’ll be able to feel its warmth and love even more after fulfilling this duty!” Resin told them and waved to the security officers before turning around and walking over to her control panels.

Crush wasn’t sure if she had something else to do or not but he knew better than to ask. Especially with the Wolf monster staring right at him. So he turned around to face his ponies and grunted. “Alright, you all heard her, let’s get to work!” He strode past them and started walking back out of the control room. “We’ll split into teams to cover as much ground as possible and get everything jettisoned before the end of the day! And be sure to keep an eye out for that pegasus!”

“Yes, sir!” They answered again, more strongly this time, and filed out with him.

Although he kept up the stony appearance he needed to he was still a bit tumultuous on the inside. This was too much. Were they really going to do this? The mountain city was going to become a skeleton city now—it was such an extreme order from Resin but he knew he couldn’t do anything about it. Refusing her was out of the question, especially in front of the others, and trying to convince her to change her mind would be impossible. That’s just not how she worked.

A slight pang of guilt hit him but he quashed it. He’d still look out for his little sister, misguided as she was.

Once Crush and the rest of the security team had left, Resin got to work on the other thing she was doing to diminish waste and increase efficiency in this city. For even she had the sense to not actually tell Crush what she was going to do with all the ponies in the housing blocks down in the lower levels. Even he wouldn’t accept such a thing. They’d just have to come to an agreement after the fact. Or not, if he and the others still refused to accept what she was about to do then she’d just have her metal beasts deal with them.

She hummed a nice tune to herself as she looked over the necessary controls for cutting off all the power and all life-support systems to the lower levels. Hesitation and concern for anything that wasn’t the ceremonial flame were no longer things that existed in her mind.

“All for the flame,” Resin said as she reached a hoof up and turned the first dial to zero. Then the next. Then a series of switches were flipped. Then a button. Everything was turned off.

Lights. Off.

Heating. Off.

Ventilation. Off.

Doors. Closed.

Ways to get into the work areas. Closed off.

“Good,” Resin smiled. “Shouldn’t take more than a day or two for them all to die. Better keep everything turned off and closed up for three just to be sure.” A sudden frown came across her features, her one eye twitching and her teeth grinding together. “Being forced to use the fuel and power reserves for the flame… how horrible, how insulting. Nothing like this will ever happen again. You all made me do this because you couldn’t love the flame like I do.”

Resin slammed a hoof down on the control board to calm herself, breathing in and out and thinking about the warm and comforting glow of the flame. A smile reached her features. That’s exactly what she needed, to spend some more time in front of the flame to calm herself down. She had been interrupted earlier after all. A good hour sitting there before the flame’s love and she’d be feeling fine again.

Down in what used to be the Black Hoofs’ casino the leaders of the various gangs and a number of their subordinates were passing the time playing games and waiting for Rainbow Dash to come back. Silver Tooth and his gang members however had been relegated to the staff attending to them while they enjoyed the slot machines and card tables. A fitting punishment.

No one was sure when Dash would be back or when they’d have any news of what was happening above but they at least weren’t going to be fighting while she was gone. Things had changed for good down here and they weren’t going back to the old ways. The Black Hoofs were deposed, none of them were working for a tyrant, and the casino would be the first fun place that would be reopened for everyone. The unified gangs were going to fix things. Doing the good things they should’ve done from the start instead of allowed themselves to be played against each other and fight for such petty reasons. All the ponies who weren’t in gangs would be lifted up too.

Double Duty, Acid Rain, Frayed Wire and Nut were all playing Poker at a table, with Silver Tooth as the dealer. Acid Rain drew to a three-of-a-kind that he figured would win him the hoof only to look on in dismay as Nut put down a flush.

The pegasus grumbled and flicked his cards back at Silver Tooth. “Think she’ll be back by the end of the day?”

“Who knows,” Double Duty shrugged. “Just let her do her thing.”

“We should’ve made Crush let us go through too,” Frayed Wire frowned.

“It can’t be helped now, we’ve just got to wait,” Double Duty said.

“I’m confident she’ll pull through after everything else she’s done it’s just annoying having to sit here with jerks like this-” Frayed Wire nodded over to Silver Tooth, who glared at him. “Doing nothing.”

“Still better than the alternative of working or beating each other senseless,” Nut said. “I don’t think we would’ve been very helpful to her up there anyways.”

Frayed Wire shrugged. “I guess you’re right.”

Acid Rain tapped the table with his hoof, frowning over at Silver Tooth. “Well, dealer? Hurry up and deal the next hoof.”

“Yeah, yeah...” Silver Tooth grumbled, using his magic to gather up all the cards and put them back into the deck, quickly reshuffling it and preparing to slide em out to the players.

When all around them an electrical whining sound fell over the casino and the lights went out, throwing them all into darkness.

Demons IV

The mechanical Crocodile chomped after Rainbow Dash’s trail while she fought to clamber over the garbage in the narrow corridor she had found herself in. It was some sort of back alley way up in these top level hallways that didn’t seem to be in use anymore. Dust caked everything and she had broken through maybe half a hundred spiderwebs already. She had gone down here after flying through the maze-like halls in an attempt to lose the metal beasts since she didn’t think any of them could fit in a place like this. Well she was proven wrong by the crocodile flattening itself sideways and essentially crawling along the wall, wedged between both sides, and coming at her at a 90 degree angle. So here she was barely scrambling away from it while garbage and other refuse covered the ground and made it more difficult and she didn’t have the room to fly or use her wings at all. Great.

“Stupid thing! Wait till we get out into the open and I’m going to smash you to pieces!” Rainbow yelled back at the Crocodile.

It responded by chomping at her again, flames spilling from its mouth and setting fire to a lot of the discarded trash around them. The heat was starting to get pretty bad in this tight area and Rainbow Dash was beginning to sweat. She needed to get out of here.

Luckily there was a light at the end of the tunnel that she could see. The passage she was in clearly opened up into a larger room soon she just wasn’t sure where that would end up being. As long as it gave her room to fight this thing in though that was okay for her. So Rainbow Dash scampered along even faster, with licks of flames and metal teeth nipping at the end of her tail. She saw an old metal tub on the ground in front of her and grabbed it when she ran by, tossing it over her head and hopeing it would clonk the Crocodile.

Well the Croc grasped it with its jaws and shredded it to pieces while Rainbow Dash watched over her shoulder.

“Yeesh. Note to self: don’t let that thing bite you,” Rainbow said.

Thankfully even when just running her speed was very impressive for most ponies (as she had proved to Applejack very well on more than one occasion) and despite the rampaging of the Crocodile monster she was more than capable of keeping out of its clutches until she got out of the corridor. Once she hit the light she extended her wings and flew up into the room while the Crocodile shot out and slid across the metal floor, digging its claws in to stop itself. They were in some kind of shaft now, the middle of the floor just going down until it was pure darkness with nothing but a small railing around it for safety. Several other closed, hopefully not locked, doors and vents led out of here and more trash was all across the floor.

Rainbow Dash grinned at the Crocodile monster as it snapped up at her, the ceiling of the room was high enough for her to avoid it as long as it didn’t try jumping or using the walls.

“You’re going down,” Rainbow Dash said as she floated out of its range.

The Croc didn’t seem to like her sass as it jumped on two legs, using its heavy tail to balance itself, and tried to bite her out of the air. Rainbow Dash flipped over its head and went down its back, grasping a hose on the way down in her teeth and yanking on it until it tore out of the metal beasts back. The Crocodile fell to the floor as some sort of viscous red liquid poured out from the tube. Definitely not gasoline, and it wasn’t blood either of course, she wasn’t sure what it was but at least she knew it couldn’t be good for the Croc to be losing it.

It turned and tried to swipe her with its tail at the same time but Rainbow Dash flew away from it. The Croc opened up its jaw at her when it turned around and hunched down on its already short legs.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at it. “Are you trying to jump?”

Her question was answered as the Crocodile launched itself at her with surprising speed and force, it thumped the floor with its tail to start its jump and give it extra momentum. This time Dash made the decision to go under it so she ducked right beneath its jaw as it flew over her. This turned out to be a bit of a mistake, the Croc’s tail lashed out at her when she flew beneath its belly and she had to quickly turn to the side to avoid it but it still ended up clipping her wing. Dash winced as she crashed to the cold metal floor and slid across it towards the railing.

But she wasn’t the only one to get a little damaged. The Crocodile had jumped with too much strength, it ended up jumping snout-first into the wall after Rainbow Dash dodged it.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal echoed extra loudly in this fairly confined room. Rainbow Dash picked herself up and flexed her wing a bit, didn’t feel too bad, maybe a little bruised at the worst. She then looked over at the Crocodile and grinned in amusement as it twitched on the floor, its legs whirring and squeaking as it struggled to stand back up normally. When it finally got itself back in order and turned around to face Rainbow Dash she saw that its snout was dented and warped and the lower jaw was a bit loose off its screws like it had been dislocated.

“You’re not even half as tough as some of the other monsters I’ve fought up here,” Rainbow Dash grinned with confidence. “And I’m not finished with you yet.”

The Crocodile didn’t care about her proclamation as it scrambled over to her as fast as it could on its relatively stubby legs. Since she was still on the ground it wasn’t trying anything fancy just yet. Once it got close enough to her it started trying to bite her again while she dodged backwards, circling the pit. Because of its damage though, every time it bit down its jaws didn’t close right and the sharp teeth scraped against each other or the insides of its mouth, the thing was probably going to break itself out of unintentional self-injury at some point. That still didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous though since even hitting Dash without being able to bite her properly would really hurt.

Flames were still haphazardly shooting out of its mouth too, maybe because of the jaw damage but they were just leaking everywhere. The Crocodile was blowing some at her but even more shot out the sides. Now how could she take care of those flames for good? One of the hoses on it had to be the fuel line.

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings to give herself a bit of a higher jump to get over the Croc. It saw her do this and tried to match her, raising its upper body to try and bite her out of the air, but it was too slow and perhaps some of the damage it had taken kept it from being able to rise as high as it could before. Rainbow Dash ended up landing on top of its tail and swiftly turned to grab onto a few of the hoses that ran all over its body. The Crocodile thrashed about and tried to buck Rainbow Dash off of it but she held on, gritting her teeth and using her full strength to try and yank out the hoses.

Suddenly the Crocodile started to roll over and Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened, she was forced to release the hoses or she’d be crushed underneath it.

“Dang!” Rainbow growled as she flew off the metal beast while it rolled across the floor until it smashed into the railing. It immediately recovered and came yapping at her again. Her eyes now narrowed on some of the exposed wires leading to the thing’s head. “Okay, plan B!”

If the other hoses were giving her trouble she’d just tear off something else that seemed important. Rainbow Dash ran at the Crocodile to meet it head on. It seemed perfectly fine with this, its jaws snapping open and shut back and forth. But at the last second Rainbow Dash dodged to the side, ducking under a jet of flames that came out of its mouth and grabbed the Croc’s leg. She used it to stop her momentum and pull herself up onto the Croc’s head where she instantly grabbed a few wires that looked like they went into the metal monster’s eyes.

The beast roared and looked like it was going to start roaring again so Dash grabbed the wires with both hooves and then powerfully flapped her wings as she pulled. Right as it turned over something snapped and the wires were yanked out with an electric sparking noise and Dash flew to the ceiling to avoid the Croc’s rampage.

Once it stopped rolling it rose much more hesitantly this time, it’s head swiveling around and looking for its prey.

When Dash noticed why she grinned in victory. The red eyes had turned off completely, when she tore out those wires it must’ve totally lost vision. Now the only thing left to do was get rid of it for good and she knew exactly how to do that.

She flew over till she was floating in the middle of the pit and shouted at the Croc. “Hey you stupid trash can, I’m right here! Come and get me!”

The Crocodile turned to her and—hearing that she was above the floor and currently out of its reach—prepared to jump for her. Rainbow Dash just floated there grinning as she watched it launch itself at her once more, the Crocodile’s mouth and claws flailing wildly at her even as she effortlessly flapped her wings once to get out of the way. And then much to the Crocodile’s dismay it found no metal floor below it when it fell. And fell.

Rainbow Dash waved goodbye until it disappeared completely into the darkness and then landed back by the railing.

“Okay, need to find my way out of this place and go back down to open the door. They’re all counting on me,” Rainbow Dash nodded to herself.

That was when she heard the sliding open of a vent and the sound of scurrying metal limbs all around her. Rainbow Dash looked to see a number of vents leading into the pit room being opened up, as well as some of the doors, and creepy new metal monstrosities started to pour out of them and surround her. She frowned as by her count a dozen metal crabs and spiders crawled all over the walls of the room while she kept her distance near the middle. Some of them were on the ceiling, others on the wall by the narrow corridor she had come in from, and others crawling about behind her. Their red eyes stayed focused on her while their pincers and fangs menacingly snapped at her.

“Just what I needed...” Rainbow Dash grumbled and prepared for round two.

Demons V

“What’s going on?! What happened to the power?!” Nut yelled as everyone else inside the casino murmured about, just as confused as her. It was totally pitch black and none of them could even make out the outlines of each other.

“A circuit must’ve overloaded somewhere,” Frayed Wire said

“That can’t be it, there should still be light from the big lights outside. And there are backups for everything here,” Double Duty gruffly responded.

“Well what do you think it is, then?” Frayed Wire asked, all of them could plainly here the annoyance in his voice after being corrected.

“This is your casino, Silver Tooth. Got any ideas?” Acid Rain asked.

He shook his head, despite it being pointless since they couldn’t see. “No, something like this has never happened before!”

As more and more panicked voices started to emerge around them, as well as the sounds of ponies bumping into things and each other, Frayed Wire finally had enough. “Oh for the love of… all of you shut up one second!” The unicorn gang leader yelled and activated his magic, using a spell that was useful for a worker like him he created a lantern of light at the tip of his horn to allow them all some vision. “There, morons.”

Silver Tooth realized he could do the same and created another ball of light to give them more illumination. “At least that’s something...”

“Well now we can try and figure this out,” Double Duty grumbled.

“I wonder if the lights are off in the housing blocks too. Maybe we should go join up with the rest of our gangs?” Nut suggested.

“If the lights are totally off down there too then things are going to be a mess. Not everyone will be around a unicorn who can do this,” Double Duty said.

“That’s all the more reason to go then,” Nut implored. “We need to help them. That’s what… that’s what Rainbow Dash would do, isn’t it?”

“Fair point,” Double Duty sighed and looked to Silver Tooth. “Hey you, get all your unicorns together and see if they can make lights like this, we’re heading out.”

“R-Right,” Silver Tooth didn’t like being ordered around like that but in this situation there wasn’t much they could do about it.

The big group of ponies all left the casino together and just like Double Duty initially thought there were no lights on outside across the whole promenade either. It was like looking out into a huge dark cave. With the minuscule lights from the unicorns they could still see each other and where they were going but not much else. It was a strange and worrying circumstance, unusual and unexpected for all of them.

Nut shivered as she walked along. “Brr, it’s cold...”

Acid Rain suddenly stopped in his steps, another pony bumping into him, but he took no notice of that. “It is cold.” He looked around for a moment, seeing some others shivering, and then looked to the walls and tried to listen for something for a moment before gritting his teeth and shouting: “Everyone, wait! Wait up for a second!”

The whole group stopped for him, the others all looking at the pegasus and grumbling. Double Duty raised an eyebrow in annoyance and asked him what was going on.

“Just be quiet for a second, all of you, and listen!” Acid Rain said and closed his eyes.

The others decided to do the same for a minute, listening along in silence with him.

Frayed Wire soon opened up his eyes and frowned. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Exactly,” Acid Rain sharply opened his eyes and pointed at him. “Nothing. The fans, the whole ventilation system in the walls, it’s all been turned off. And it suddenly got colder in here, the heating’s gone. And the lights. Resin turned it all off, she’s completely cut off the power down here!”

“B-But if she’s cut off the power and the vents and heating isn’t working then...” Nut stuttered.

Acid Rain gulped, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. “We’re in a very bad situation.”

Double Duty narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction of the large door that separated the lower levels from the upper levels. He couldn’t see all the way to it but he knew they had to check on it. “Come on! We have to see if the door is still closed, hurry up and follow me to the steps!”

The whole procession followed him at a much faster pace, practically running, until they got to the middle of the promenade and could head up the steps. In the meantime they had all noticed that it was getting colder and colder in here. Not just the air but the metal beneath their hooves was cooling down. All of them were getting more and more worried, hoping that it was just a mistake or the power would shortly come back on or something would happen that meant they weren’t doomed. Shortly they got to the top level of the promenade and ran for the door, the lights from the unicorns illuminating the cold metal floor in front of them.

Until they made it and saw only a cold barrier that still blocked them from leaving.

“This is bad...” Frayed Wire grit his teeth.

Double Duty used Frayed Wire’s light to search around for the keypad and finally found it. His blood ran cold though as the thing was completely dead. Didn’t matter what buttons he pressed, it never lit up or did anything. There was no power on this side so even if they had the code or could hot-wire it they wouldn’t have been able to do anything. The only way that door could potentially be opened was from the other side now. As the others watched Double Duty they all came to the same horrifying realization that Nut finally put into words.

“We’re trapped.”

Up near the top level of the city, Crush and some of his officers were herding a number of ponies out of one of the lounge areas that was adjacent to the exterior wall of the city. Like many other sections it was built to cleanly break off of the mountain after a few prerequisites were met. The ponies who had been in there, and others who were around that saw what was going on, weren’t happy but they also weren’t going to start a fight with Crush. Their spirits were too broken for that. Perhaps if they had some weapons they would’ve done something but all Crush’s security team needed to do was threateningly brandish their clubs once and that was it. So despite their being upset and a few protestations there was no issue when it came to forcing them into other areas that weren’t to be ejected. Crush basically just had to tell them to head home for the day.

Once they checked to make sure the lounge was completely clear of ponies they left to the boundary that divided the lounge from the access section of this part of the city. Now it could be closed off and jettisoned.

Several lines across the perimeter of the boundary showed where things were to be separated and a special locked panel on the wall needed to be opened to start the procedure. Crush was the only one in the entire city, including Resin, who had the keys to open up these panels. Even though he had sent other teams out to evacuate ponies and get other sections ready he’d still have to personally go to all of them and jettison the sections himself.

Crush and his team now stood behind the lines close to a stairwell that led to several places in the upper levels. The hall leading to the lounge was bisected by the boundary.

“Okay, let’s get this show on the road,” Crush said and walked over to the interior wall. Right next to the perimeter lines was the panel, he pulled a key out from his uniform and inserted it into the keyhole, opening it up easily. The insides were caked with dust and he had to blow into it to reveal everything. Three important things to note—two big red buttons labeled “1” and “2” and a heavy looking lever next to them.

I wonder if this panel has ever even been opened after it was first installed? Crush thought to himself.

It didn’t matter, he knew what to do next. Breathing in he brought up a hoof and looked to the ceiling where the boundary lines were. Pressing the first button a set of steel bars shot down from the ceiling to close off the way into the soon to be jettisoned section. The first barrier of separation. Crush looked at it for a second before moving his hoof to the second button. He could feel the others watching him, silently asking if he was really going to do all this.

He was.

He pressed the second button and a metal wall slammed down over the bars. The only part of the wall that wasn’t solid metal was a small window of unbreakable glass at pony height to look out of and check to make sure the jettison went off without a hitch. Both of the buttons had to be pushed in sequence before the lever could be pulled and the explosive bolts in the section activated. Now it was time for Crush to pull that lever.

His red magic grasped the lever and after staring at it for a moment longer he pulled it down.

A loud explosive sound similar to a thunderclap or an over-inflated tire exploding erupted from behind the barrier. The place they were still standing in shook as the other section was launched off the side of the mountain. After the vibrations slowly died down, Crush stepped to look outside the window and make sure it all left completely. What he saw looked “good”. The other former entrances into the lounge were sealed off when he pressed the buttons, fuel lines, pipes and cables were separated as well and nothing was leaking. It had all been cleanly cut off.

“It’s working just like it should be. Let’s keep going, we have a lot to do today,” he said to his team and turned around to lead them to the next section.

Rainbow twisted in the air and kicked away one of the spiders that jumped at her into one of the crabs. Another crab dropped itself from the ceiling at her with its pincers aimed at her head but Rainbow flipped up and grabbed its legs to throw the whole thing behind her. Three more spiders came skittering across the floor at her so Dash dropped down and dodged the little jabs from their front-most legs and attempts to bite her while punching them as they passed. Still, the darn things were persistent and compact and with so many of them they were being a real pain.

She had left the pit room she had been in a while back, traveling through new corridors to get lower and try to shake these annoying things at the same time. Even if she couldn’t destroy them all by the time she got to the door everyone could take part in helping her out with them once she opened it. Of course she still planned to wreck these dumb buckets of bolts all on her own.

A spider jumped up at her so Rainbow Dash ducked and let it pass over her head. Once it did so she grabbed the abdomen and swung it as hard as she could into the wall, denting both the wall and the spider. That was hardly enough to take it out for good though and it quickly recovered and came after her for some more along with its brothers. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and sped down the corridor she was in until she reached the door at the end.

Nothing had been locked so far so…

“Hng!” She grunted as she tried to force the door open. “Oh come on!”

It wasn’t locked but it was rusty and shut a little too tight to open properly without a little extra work. She got it to open slightly but the hinges wouldn’t give all the way. Rainbow Dash tried smashing her shoulder into it to get it to budge but her low body weight and lack of momentum weren’t doing her any favors. The crabs and spiders were gaining on her too, some of them crawling along the walls and ceiling while others skittered across the floor. When the closest ones jumped at her, Rainbow Dash finally managed to open the door enough to slide through it just as the spiders and crabs collided with it.

They forced it open almost all the way with some spilling out into the new room but Dash slammed it back shut as some were still halfway outside. The door crunched on their metal carapaces and Dash saw three of them fall limp, the red lights in their eyes turning off.

She grinned. “Well that’s a few down at least.”

The rest still poured through the door right after and Rainbow Dash took a brief moment to check out where she was now. A stairwell.

“Needed to find a way down so it works for me,” Rainbow shrugged and started flying down the stairs while the spiders and crabs hopped from flight to flight across the railings. They were pretty fast like this and she’d probably need to turn and fight them soon.

When one of them was in mid-jump, Rainbow Dash actually flew up a little and knocked into it. The beast landed awkwardly on the stairs and fell end over end before crashing into the wall on the landing. She didn’t know if it was down for good but it didn’t get up immediately. Rainbow Dash kept flying down, her goal was to get all the way to the bottom since she knew these stairs didn’t actually reach the lower levels and she wouldn’t accidentally go past them. One of the crab monsters really wanted to catch up with her though. It dropped itself down the middle of the stairwell between the railings, pincers at the ready to grasp on to either Dash or the railing on the level she was currently at. Once she circled the level right as it passed her the crab swiftly reached out and tightly clamped onto the end of her tail.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash squawked at the sudden sensation and the weight of the metal crab tugging her down. She hadn’t seen the dumb thing coming at all.

The thing was heavy enough where she was almost yanked over the railing with it but she managed to brace herself and instead pull it over onto the stairs with her. Its other pincer came up and started trying to grab her hooves or anywhere else but Dash did a good job of avoiding it and started kicking the crab in its legs and body to try and get it to release her. No such luck. That pincer was clamped down tight and it wasn’t coming off so easily.

Because she was stuck on this flight of stairs the other crabs and spiders started to reach her and with this stupid thing on her tail she couldn’t run or fly as good. It wasn’t just its weight it was actively using its strength to try and keep her grounded. So now she was surrounded again and she had this jerk attached to her and snipping at her heels.

Rainbow Dash decided she could at least make some good use out of him and when the first spider jumped at her she swung the crab attached to her tail around and used him like a flail to smash the spider into the wall. Well the spider got crunched and was out of it but the crab still held onto her and more of its buddies came chomping at her. One spider made it onto her back but before it could bit down, Rainbow Dash dove to the side and rolled, banging it against the railing and shaking it off her. Another crab came at her face but she grabbed it right below the pincers and threw it over the railing. She heard it banging from railing to railing as it fell and grinned.

Two more spiders came at her from her right and left now. Rainbow Dash aimed to fly up but the crab on her tail used its other pincer to grab one of the rungs of the railing instead of trying to pinch her elsewhere. Now she was tied down and didn’t have a lot of space to maneuver. Both spiders tried to jump on her but Rainbow Dash extended her wings and hit them away, them landing on their backs, the one on her left she then rounded on and smashed her hooves down as hard as she could into its exposed belly. There was a crunching sound that came from the thinner metal on its bottom side and Rainbow Dash hoped she had damaged something. The other spider had recovered by them and jumped onto her back, Rainbow Dash knew it was going to try and sink those mechanical fangs into her so she wildly bucked about and tried to dislodge it with her wings, not giving it the stability it needed to actually bite her.

With a last grunt she got a “good” idea. Rainbow Dash fell over backwards on the stairs and crushed the spider beast between herself and the crab that was grabbing onto her tail. The crab itself was crushed between the spider and the stairs and broke into pieces. And finally that caused it to release its pincer from her tail.

Rainbow Dash quickly hopped back up and jumped down to the next landing, looking around to see how many more of those metal monsters were pursuing her. The backflop had hurt her a bit too because of how rough it was but she was still alright.

“So how many more of you stupid things do I have to break?” Rainbow asked at the spiders and crabs still there.

Four of them.

She cracked her neck and walked up the stairs towards them. “Boy I bet you things were wishing you were smart enough to run away now.”

A little while later a tired Rainbow Dash flew through the expansive halls that she had been through only earlier today. She was dirt and covered in grime but she didn’t care or slow down in the slightest to catch her breath. She needed to get back to that door and open it up now. The lives of everyone in the lower levels depended on her.

At least she was finally back here, it had taken a lot more searching than she would’ve liked but she made it back to the huge cross-shaped room that led to the promenade. Now she was barreling down it towards those glass doors and the huge barrier door beyond them. 38211. She remembered the code. Rainbow dropped down to the ground once she reached the glass doors and pushed through them, running at a quickened pace even as she was breathing harder. She saw that stupid keypad that was on this side. Great! Just what she needed. And the lights and everything were still on on this side of the door so there was power in this area, if Resin really had turned off the power it must only be out beyond the door.

“Awesome, let’s do this!” Rainbow said as she skidded to a halt in front of the keypad. She took in a deep breath and exhaled, bringing her hoof up to punch in the code. “38211!”

Bzzt!

“Huh?” Dash tilted her head, she knew she entered the code right. “Come on!”

She entered the code again.

Bzzt!

“What’s wrong?!” Dash slammed a hoof down on top of the keypad in frustration. She bit her lip and tried the code a few more times, then a few similar combinations like 32811 or 38121, but nothing was working. The code kept getting rejected and the door wouldn’t open.

Rainbow Dash went down to her knees and yelled at the cold metal floor. “CRUSH! You changed the code after I left, didn’t you?!” She got back up and turned around, breathing heavily with a dead serious glare on her face. “I’ve gotta find him.”

Demons VII

Rainbow Dash didn’t like to admit to being afraid of anything. She was strong, tough, courageous, and she liked to think that even when her awesome friends were in a scary situation that she could always be the one pony they could look to who would never be scared herself. However, when Heartless looked her in the eyes, Rainbow Dash felt her blood turn to ice.

Crush narrowed his eyes at the pink pony he didn’t recognize. “Another outsider? And you two know each other… but how did you even get up here?”

“I climbed through the vents to find Rainbow Dash. I could feel her somewhere in the city,” Heartless happily told him without moving her eyes from Rainbow Dash.

“Climbed through the vents? That’s impossible,” Crush shook his head and the other four security ponies gathered around him. “The ventilation leading from the lower levels to the upper levels is too narrow, there are too many twists and turns, not to mention boilers and furnaces throughout the inner workings, along with spinning fans and barred off passages. There’s no way to climb through it at all.”

Heartless shrugged and for the first time glanced over at him. “Wasn’t much of a problem to get through it.”

“Whatever. You’re not helping Rainbow Dash,” Crush scowled and motioned to the others. “Grab and restrain her too.”

The four other security officers ran over to Heartless and Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened.

“No! Wait! She’s not my friend, stay away from her!” She yelled after them in warning.

Crush glanced at her with a suspicious look on his face but the others didn’t regard her at all. The four ponies pulled out their batons to try and dissuade Heartless from trying anything. The mare just smiled as she watched them come walking towards her, taking some light steps of her own as she strode in the direction of Rainbow Dash. In another step the group of security ponies were close enough to reach for and apprehend her.

Four light touches. Four ponies fell to the ground without a sound.

“Wha-” Crush backed away in fear as Heartless took the life from his subordinates, the pink mare standing in a circle of the fallen ponies.

“Small lives like these feel like practically nothing now,” Heartless said as she glanced down at each dead pony.

“No...” Rainbow Dash glared at Heartless with an intense hatred from her bound position on the ground.

“What happened?! What did you do to them?!” Crush angrily shouted at her.

Rainbow Dash quickly looked over at him. “Crush, don’t! Stay away from her and don’t let her touch you! Help me out of these stupid restraints and get away from her!”

He wasn’t listening at that point, the security chief had pulled out his own baton and carried it in his magic as he strode towards Heartless. Rainbow Dash could only watch.

Heartless tilted her head at him. “I don’t care about you. I just want Rainbow Dash.”

Crush swung the baton hard and hit Heartless across the face with it. She was staggered by the blow, though not as much as you’d expect from a pony her size to be after a powerful hit like that, and quickly stood back up and faced him like normal. Her smile was still on her face, there was no bruising, it was like he didn’t hit her at all. Crush’s mouth dropped open in surprise and Heartless merely blinked.

She took one step towards him.

“I don’t mind though,” Heartless said as she reached out her hoof towards Crush.

Crush backed up and dropped his baton from his magical hold, if he was afraid he did a good job overcoming it quickly. His eyes narrowed and he refocused his magic to the tip of his horn. Rainbow Dash had seen things like this before from Twilight and Starlight, she knew what was coming next. With a grunt he fired a concentrated beam of red energy at Heartless. It hit her directly in the center of the chest and knocked her back a bit, making her knees wobble, but otherwise she seemed fine again.

“But-But my stun ray should paralyze a full-grown pony for hours!” Crush gasped in shock.

“I don’t feel anything,” Heartless shook her head and kept walking towards him.

He didn’t just give up so easily though even when she was only a step or two away from him. His horn lit back up and Heartless was grasped in a red aura that covered her entire body.

“There!” Crush said as he levitated her up. Now all she could do was flail about in the air.

Heartless examined her body that was stuck in his magic, moving her legs, swishing her tail, peeking her head around. And she never lost that smile. “Hmm.”

Then, to the horror of both Crush and Rainbow Dash, the magic slowly dissolved around her. No—that wasn’t accurate—it was absorbed into her body. That’s what had happened.

Heartless calmly dropped back to the floor with her face right int front of Crush’s. Her smile was somewhat disappointed now though. “Even that doesn’t feel as good as it used to before I felt Rainbow Dash’s life. Your life will be the same too, completely unfulfilling.” She lifted up her hoof to Crush’s cheek as he stood there like a statue.

“Don’t!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

The pink pony didn’t stop. With just as light a touch as ever she briefly pushed her hoof against Crush’s bare skin. He gasped and fell over onto his side like his entire body had gone numb, all the strength had left it at once. Unlike the others though he didn’t die immediately, there was still some life left in him.

“Oh, you’re a little stronger than most,” Heartless blinked down at him once before turning her head and smiling happily again at Rainbow Dash. “Nothing like Rainbow Dash though.” She started to walk over to the pegasus still stuck struggling on the ground, trying her best to get out of the cuffs and bindings. “You travel fast, it took longer to find you than I wanted, but I could always tell exactly where you were. And now here you are for me.”

Heartless paused above her and looked down at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was sweating and glaring right back at her as fiercely as she could.

The smile widened on Heartless’s face as she lifted up her pink right front hoof. “It’s bliss.”

Crush was still watching her though. He saw the monster preparing to do the same thing to Rainbow Dash and knew he had to do something. Maybe it was instinct. Maybe it was the last bit of good will in him. But he drew up every last bit of magic he had to save Rainbow Dash. His horn weakly lit up but it was all he needed, even if magic mostly didn’t do anything to this pony he had still been able to grab and lift her and what he was doing now would take far less effort and force than that. His red magic grabbed the tip of her sparkly white tail and yanked her away from Rainbow Dash, pulling her back into the storage room and past the perimeter.

“Hm?” Heartless let out a questioning little hum as she was pulled back, almost as if she was amused. When it had stopped and Crush’s magic dissipated she glanced over at him. “I didn’t think you still had the strength to do anything, but it’s all pointless.”

Crush wasn’t finished though, once Heartless started to walk over to them again he reached out and grabbed his baton that was lying on the floor. This was the last thing he could do so he had to make it count. From his prone position he looked up at the open panel; the button was still there and ready to be pressed. Crush heaved his baton as hard as he could at the number 1 button while both Rainbow Dash and Heartless watched.

It struck dead on.

The button was pressed and heavy steel bars shot down from the ceiling directly in front of Heartless, separating her and them.

Heartless stepped up to the bars with a slight frown and put her face right up to them. She didn’t seem angry, more like a child upset at having their favorite toy taken away. “Aww.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Nice one, Crush.” She shot a victorious look at Heartless. “You’re stuck in there now.”

“Heeheehee,” Heartless giggled, bringing up a hoof to her mouth before stopping and smiling again at Dash. “This isn’t going to delay me for long. I’ll find a way through the vents to get out of here.”

“No...” Crush wheezed. The other two looked at him, he was weakly shaking his head on the ground before glancing at Rainbow Dash. “Section… cut off after that first button… trapped for now. P-Press the second button and then pull the lever… shoot her off the mountain. Bars… are on the inside, they’ll go with the section… keep her trapped… even when the section hits the ground.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and wobbled about on the ground, struggling to inch her way over to the panel on the wall.

Crush waved her over to him. “Here… come to me first. Master key for cuffs… and security locks… razor blade for the bindings that you can use… in my pocket.”

“Thanks, Crush.”

Heartless watched in patient amusement as her target made its way over to Crush and fished the key and blade out of the pockets of his uniform while he wheezed about on death’s door. She even kept smiling when Rainbow Dash freed herself from the cuffs and cut the bindings keeping her limbs and wings down. Rainbow Dash stretched and groaned for a bit before angrily glaring at Heartless and walked over to the panel, her hoof hovering above the number 2 button.

“Guess this is it, Heartless.” Rainbow Dash said to her.

Heartless couldn’t help but shake her head and smile. “Even this won’t stop me for long, I’ll keep coming after you no matter what.”

Rainbow Dash paused. She stared hard at that pink pony, who looked so normal on the outside, before dropping her hoof and walking over to the bars. She stopped in front of them, carefully still out of reach of Heartless’s hooves, and just looked in disbelief at the pony. “Just… what even are you?”

“Hm...” Heartless playfully touched her hoof to her chin and looked up at the ceiling for a moment as if she was actually deep in thought. Finally, she shrugged. “You know, I’ve been asked that question so many times but I still don’t have a good answer. I look like a normal pony, my parents were normal ponies, but I’m not one, am I? Guess I’m some kind of monster. Been called that plenty of times.”

“How did you even get up here into this city? How are you still chasing me at all?” Rainbow Dash shook her head.

“I flew!”

“You… flew?”

“Mhm,” Heartless eagerly nodded. “I walked for a while and then flew up here when I felt your life in the mountain.”

“You don’t have wings!” Rainbow Dash angrily flared hers in response.

Heartless shrugged. “Don’t expect me to tell you how it works, like I told you I don’t even know what I am. I couldn’t always fly, I think I just started to be able to after all the lives of pegasi, griffons, and other flying creatures I took. It’s the same with magic from unicorns! I can feel it in me but I don’t know how to use it, maybe because I don’t have a horn.” She tapped her forehead.

Rainbow Dash felt her stomach churn. “How can you just talk about that so casually...”

“Talk about what?” Heartless tilted her head, genuinely confused.

That just made Rainbow even angrier than she already was. “Killing ponies! Killing other creatures! Don’t you get it? Don’t you see that that’s wrong and horrible?!”

“It’s just… what I’ve always done,” Heartless replied with her smile never leaving her face. “The lives of others call out to me, and I feel their warmth when I take it. I don’t see what’s wrong with following my heart.”

“I… don’t even know how to talk to you. You really are just a monster,” Rainbow Dash shook her head, her lips pulled down in a sad frown.

“Doesn’t matter. I’ve heard it all before,” Heartless paused for a moment and reached her hooves through the bars out towards Rainbow Dash. She was trying to grab and wrap them around her but she wasn’t within reach. “But it’s different now after you. You’re so bright, so warm, so powerful, your life outshines everything else I’ve ever felt! Normal ponies and creatures feel like nothing to me anymore after feeling your life. I realized it almost immediately, that I have to have your life no matter what. I have to feel it again. For so long I just drifted from place to place on a whim but now I have a true purpose: you.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t say anything to the psycho pony so Heartless continued.

“You’re like a beacon that calls out to me. I can feel and see you from anywhere now.” She lowered her hooves and smiled brightly at Rainbow Dash. “Nothing can stop me, not even something like being thrown down the mountain in this room.”

“I’ll stop you,” Rainbow Dash suddenly stated. “If you keep coming after me then the next time we meet I’m going to make you regret it.”

Heartless shrugged, not scared in the slightest. “You can try. But I think you’ve already seen that my body is a little different from a normal pony’s. Maybe it’s from all the life I’ve taken but nothing hurts me and nothing can kill me. I’ve been stabbed, bifurcated, decapitated, defenestrated, crushed, drowned, burned, strangled, poisoned, and electrocuted. Nothing sticks.” She pressed her face as close to the bars as she could to smile at Dash while her big blue eyes sparkled with excitement. “I don’t sleep, I don’t need to eat, drink, or even breathe, and I will never, ever, stop coming for you.”

Rainbow Dash managed to not show any fear directly, and instead walked back over to the panel and put her hoof at the number 2 button. “Yeah? Fine. But you’re not going any further today.”

She pressed the button and the separating wall came down to totally block off Heartless from them.

Rainbow Dash looked over, she could still see Heartless in the little window waving at her. Rainbow Dash didn’t give her anymore satisfaction and just shook her head as she now pulled down on the heavy lever. Something about Heartless was so horrible to her that she couldn’t stomach being around her any longer, and she sincerely hoped she never saw her again.

The explosive bolts detonated and the section was launched off the mountain in an instant. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath after the shaking stopped and then swiftly turned to Crush, she still had a lot of business to take care of.

“Crush!” Rainbow Dash said as she skid over to him and rubbed his shoulder. “Hey, Crush!”

“I… heard you the first time,” Crush groaned.

“Sorry I can’t be a little gentler right now but we’ve gotta act fast, tell me the code right now so I can go save the ponies down there!”

Crush looked up at her with one half-lidded eye. He was still breathing heavily as he regarded Rainbow Dash, still having an internal debate with himself. “You’re telling… the truth… aren’t you?”

“Yes!” Rainbow angrily shouted. “Your sister shut off the power!”

“18737… that’s the new code,” Crush wheezed and coughed after he answered her.

“Great! Now get up and come with me, we could use your help. I think you know that you can’t just support your sister like this anymore,” Rainbow Dash told him and went to try and heft him up.

Crush stopped her, waving her away and rolling over onto his other side. “No… I’m done...”

“What… what do you mean, “done”?” Rainbow Dash questioned him, worry seeping into her voice.

“I don’t have anything left… I can barely breath… it’s over for me. That… last bit of magic I used… that was the end,” Crush smiled weakly and started to chuckle before it became more coughing.

“So you’re just going to quit?!” Rainbow shook him.

He wheezed again. “I can feel my body… shutting down… and everything is getting dark.”

“Crush...” Rainbow Dash stopped and slowly removed her hooves from him, seeming to now realize the severity of the situation.

“You… care?” He asked with an amused smirk twitching on his face.

“Of course I do! You don’t—you don’t deserve this!” She exploded, rage at Heartless, at him, at Resin and everything else going on, pouring out of her. “And don’t you want to see Resin again? Don’t you want to see your sister again and tell her you love her, try and convince her to stop all this?!”

“It would… have been nice.”

“Then don’t give up! Don’t die!” She started shaking him again but all he did was close his other eye and smirk.

He let his head rest on the cold floor as his labored breathing grew weaker. “Rainbow Dash… please… go easy on her. She may not deserve it… but… she’s just a scared little filly… on the inside.”

Crush let out one last shuddering breath and moved no more, the small smirk still on his face.

“Hey...” Rainbow Dash nudged him. “Get up, Crush. Come on, you have to get up.” She nudged him harder but there was no reaction from him anymore and Rainbow Dash had to squeeze her eyes shut to keep herself from crying. “If you had only just...”

Rainbow Dash shook her head and looked towards the stairwell she had recently flown up. It was time to move on, she had ponies to save and a tyrant to stop. And now a sacrifice she had to make sure wasn’t done in vain.

Author's Note

Five day break.

The Eternal Furnace XVIII

A bonfire burned in front of the great door that separated the lower and upper levels of the city. After some debate the ponies had agreed to start it for some heat, fearing the cold far more than they feared running out of air. Even then the heat from the fire couldn’t do everything and the cold surrounding the ponies down here was still encroaching on them. Despite being huddled up and the fire growing in size the more things were torn up and thrown on it from the buildings in the promenade, the cold coming in through the floor and the walls was overpowering. It was nothing more than a delaying tactic really. And it made their breathable air situation worse.

Double Duty, Acid Rain, Frayed Wire, Nut, Soot Mane, Night Reader, and Brilliant Star were all sitting on the inner edge of the large bonfire circle. They watched the flames together and basked in its heat while others constantly shifted about or conversed around them. Silver Tooth and the rest of the Black Hoofs were stuck on the outer edge alone. The gang leaders had nothing to say or do anymore, they had done their part and attempted all they could when it came to comforting and supporting all the ponies down here.

Everyone was pretty much out of ideas on what else they could do. This temporary fix was all they had. Night Reader and Brilliant Star were leaning into each other for extra warmth and comfort but they too didn’t have much in them when it came to hope or other ideas. And now everyone was starting to get a little hungry.

“Does… does anyone have any good ideas for passing the time?” Soot Mane suddenly asked their group, the Diesel King unable to take the boredom anymore. “A game to play or any stories to tell?”

“I want to go out and fly around or do something but I know we should be conserving energy,” Acid Rain grumbled.

“I’m not in the mood for talking,” Double Duty said, frowning at the bonfire.

“I wouldn’t mind something like that but I can’t think of anything myself,” Frayed Wire said. “Never really been into games or that kind of stuff but I guess we could use the fun right now.”

“Suppose some of us could travel back to the casino and at least pick up a deck of cards or two?” Nut suggested.

“Maybe,” Acid Rain nodded. “It’s not a bad idea or anything. Tables probably can’t be transported though.”

“I just wish...” Brilliant Star suddenly said and all the gang ponies, and her husband, looked over at her. “I just wish that when things changed here and Resin took over that she didn’t make sure all our old books and everything weren’t taken away and thrown into the furnaces. We had cookbooks, and albums, and diaries, and storybooks too. But now it’s all gone.”

There was a moment of silence between them all as they shared in the memories and remembered what had been taken from them.

Night Reader grimaced awkwardly and hugged his wife closer after a minute. “We’ll get it all back someday, or at least be able to set the way for our children.”

“If this door ever gets opened,” Double Duty pessimistically mused.

“It will be,” Nut frowned and stated strongly to him. “There’s no way Rainbow Dash will let us down at this point after everything else. I think Frayed Wire and I know that best, right?” She looked at her comrade.

He looked surprised but nodded after a second. “Um, well yes, of course. Not to say I don’t have doubts or worries of my own or anything but I know she’s definitely trying her best to help us. Even if she’s having trouble up there for whatever reason there’s no way she’d abandon us.”

“I didn’t say she was either, but she could’ve easily been captured by Resin at this point or from the very beginning,” Double Duty said.

“Well there’s no reason to get negative about it and make us all feel worse even if that’s the case,” Soot Mane frowned.

“Fine, fine, I get it,” Double Duty waved his hoof around. “Weren’t we going to go get some cards or something?”

Acid Rain nodded. “Yes, and I’ll go too, I really need to stretch my wings.”

“The rest of us aren’t going anywhere,” Nut said and lied down on the metal floor, her chin pointed at the bonfire as she watched it.

Acid Rain and Soot Mane both left soon after, grabbing a unicorn Diesel King and bringing her along with them for a light, and went back to the Black Hoof’s casino. It was going to be a cold and quiet trip but at least it would end up providing some fun and entertainment for everyone once they got back. Neither of them just wanted to sit around doing nothing either, if no one even had a story to tell or anecdote to pass the time then this was better even if they would be freezing in a moment. So while those three left to do their thing the remaining ponies on the inner circle of the fire did their best to keep their spirits up while they waited. Not an easy thing to do especially for ones who had already been broken for so long but they tried.

“Do you remember what your favorite story was as a filly?” Night Reader asked his wife.

“It was a picture book, the kind that popped up when you opened it,” Brilliant Star said.

Night Reader smiled. “What was it called?”

“The Rambunctious Little Furnace. It was a story about a living furnace that wanted to gobble up more and more wood and coal and anything really so it could burn as hot and strongly as possible. It ran all over the city looking for and stealing anything it could get in its mouth, burning it up and sending smoke everywhere,” Brilliant Star said, a small smile tugging at her lips. “I remember my father reading it to me and showing off the pictures.”

“I… I had that book too as a foal,” Double Duty suddenly said while trying to conceal a blush on his cheeks. “My mother was the one who read it to me though...”

Brilliant Star smiled warmly and sat up straighter. “I know the whole story by heart, does anyone mind if I recite it?”

“I don’t think anyone will have a problem with that. In fact it should calm everyone’s nerves,” Double Duty said as he looked over at the others.

“This coming from the one who was making everyone else nervous the most?” Frayed Wire said, though there was a grin in his voice.

“I’m well aware...” Double Duty frowned.

“Don’t let him tease you like that,” Nut said and playfully bopped Frayed Wire on the shoulder. She then looked over at Brilliant Star and smiled. “I’d love to hear you tell the story too.”

By the time Brilliant Star started telling the story more ponies had gathered around to listen to it. Everyone was silent and listening in intently as one of their childhood stories was related back to them, even if they didn’t remember it or read it when young. It was such a simple thing to take comfort in, it almost carried with it the nostalgic joy of a parent helping them to sleep soundly, making them feel happy and warm after a long day. She started fairly quiet at first but her voice grew in confidence the longer she went on until she was really getting into the story, using voices and inflection and even moving around and waving her hooves as she told it. Much to the delight of everyone. They all needed this sort of happy distraction while the cold, stale air, and hunger settled around them and the bonfire. All of that was forgotten as Brilliant Star got more and more into her story.

She had been telling it so long and so vividly that no one even noticed when Acid Rain, Soot Mane, and their dragged along unicorn came back with a couple decks of playing cards. Those three ended up getting caught up in the story as well. By the time Brilliant Star was done she was actually sweating a little and fairly tired, but she had a big smile on her face and was being cheered at by everyone for helping to brighten things up.

“That was a great job,” Night Reader said as he affectionately nuzzled and hugged his wife.

“Thank you,” she responded with a blush. “I’m surprised how much I got into it… and everyone else too.”

“Well it was a good story, can’t blame us,” Double Duty grumbled in an effort to not show any embarrassment. It was kind of a failure.

Soot Mane suddenly pushed back between them. “Er, we’re back too. Made it in the middle of the story. We have some cards if anyone wants to play… or if everyone wants to listen to another story, I’m fine with that too.”

It was clear from the crowd that they wanted stories right now.

“Um, okay...” Brilliant Star somewhat hesitantly acquiesced. “There are some more I know that I can tell to pass the time. I hope I can tell them all just as good.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” Night Reader reassured her.

“Yeah, bring on the story!” Nut cheered.

“Alright, alright, settle down everyone and get quiet so she can actually tell another one,” Frayed Wire said with a genuine grin on his face.

“What he said,” Double Duty couldn’t hold back a chuckle at it all.

“Missed the beginning of the first story after all, don’t want to miss the next one,” Acid Rain said.

After catching her breath, Brilliant Star got ready to tell the next story. She stood in front of the bonfire as if all the other ponies were a real audience who had come to see a show. It made her feel good—it made them all feel good. This was something the ponies down here could enjoy together and by golly were they going to enjoy it. Even if the worst happened they could at least go happily.

Luckily for them all, things were finally looking up.

A heavy metal sound came from the gargantuan door as if huge gears were turning inside and around it. The entire assembly of ponies turned to face it as the airtight seal of the door broke and it began to rise from the floor. Light, warmth, air, it all started to rush in from the crack of the open door and more and more came in as it rose higher. The ponies from the lower levels had to turn away thanks to the light almost blinding them after they adjusted to the near darkness for hours previously. But they could still feel the return of warmth and how comforting it was, still breathe in air so much easier now.

When the eyes of the gang leaders and other leaders of the group adjusted they looked beyond the rising door to see a figure standing there.

She was standing straight and proud, managing to look strong and in control despite the dirt and grime on her body and the ragged state she was in. Piercing eyes gazed out over everyone and they all couldn’t help but look right back at her. Everyone was in a state of shock until the door finally opened all the way and freedom and salvation had been brought to the ponies of below.

Rainbow Dash smirked as she saw them all, her eyes picking out ponies like Double Duty, Night Reader, Soot Mane, and the others she knew. “You guys doing alright?”

Frayed Wire couldn’t help but laugh. “I think—I think we are now.”

“You really did it, huh?” Acid Rain asked, an almost unbelieving smile on his face.

“Sort of,” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. “Things aren’t finished with Resin, not by a longshot, but you guys are all at least okay now. In fact, you should all really come over to this side now.”

“You heard her!” Double Duty shouted. “Everyone, go to the other side of the door! But do it calmly! We don’t need any stampeding or trampling going on.”

“Anyone who’s part of one of the gangs stick with your leader and come over to me after everyone else is safely through!” Dash called out as well.

Thankfully despite the intense fear so many had been feeling earlier they had been calmed enough where it didn’t become a madhouse as soon as the door was opened. The civilian ponies made their way calmly out of the promenade and into the rooms leading out of it, it was cramped since there was such a huge sea of them but the deeper they went the more room they’d have to spread out. Once they were in and it was just the gang ponies and leaders left Rainbow Dash could tell them the situation and what the plan was. On their way by her, Night Reader and Brilliant Star both gave a brief smile and thank you.

Rainbow Dash was already feeling really good now.

Double Duty, Frayed Wire, Acid Rain, Nut, Soot Mane, and Cast Iron now too all stood in front of Rainbow Dash with the assorted minions and lower-ranking members of the gangs behind them. Silver Tooth and the Black Hoofs were “politely” nudged to go along with the other ponies. Rainbow Dash took a moment to look everyone over before she started pacing in front of them.

“So to put things bluntly—we just need to get to the top of the city and change where the power is going.” Rainbow Dash told them. “The only problem is the whole security force is going to be against us and Resin has a bunch of these metal monsters that she can sic on us too.”

“So Resin really did completely shut off power to the lower levels? She’s trying to kill us?” Frayed Wire asked.

Rainbow Dash nodded glumly. “Yeah, I’m sorry to say but that was her plan and it’s kind of my fault that it went like this.”

“I think something terrible like this was going to happen at some point anyways,” Double Duty shrugged.

“That’s not all though,” Rainbow said.

“What?” Nut asked while the others looked on at Rainbow for elaboration.

“She’s had the security team use the fail-safe system on all the nonessential parts of the city and been jettisoning them off the mountain. Crush was doing that until just recently,” she told them.

“Wait, what? How much of the city has been lost?” Double Duty asked, shocked.

“I’m not totally sure but probably everywhere that isn’t super important on the top few levels,” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “But there’s some good new about that in a way. Crush is… dead. Don’t ask me about it but he’s dead, and he was the only one who had the keys and everything to jettison the parts of the city. So at least that’s going to stop.”

Frayed Wire snorted. “Good riddance if you ask me.”

Rainbow Dash winced but she wasn’t going to make an issue of it. They didn’t know, and they didn’t have the time to talk about it anyways.

“Our city is going to be irrevocably changed from all this though,” Acid Rain muttered.

“It’ll still be our city though. We should focus on taking it back from Resin now,” Nut said.

“Nut’s right,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “So here’s what we’re going to do. It’s gonna sound simple, straight-forward, and maybe even kind of stupid but that’s just how I do things. I’m not some genius strategist you know? We’re going to storm to the very top of this city where the command center and ceremonial flame are, Resin would never abandon it, and we’re going to take it over. I don’t know how much we’re going to have to get through but I’m planning to go and try and destroy the flame, that should distract Resin and force her to use some of her strength to defend it. Meanwhile you guys can shut off the fuel line to the flame and redistribute power equally everywhere. Careful though, those metal animal monster things she has are really dangerous. But just leave Resin to me.”

Rainbow Dash had other reasons for wanting to handle Resin herself. She wanted to do it for Crush, to make sure Resin wasn’t hurt or treated too badly whether or not she deserved it. Things had been bad here enough. Resin didn’t need to be made to suffer too, but Dash knew the other ponies here wouldn’t think twice about doing that.

“Then let’s get to it already! We can’t just stand around like this anymore!” Double Duty said.

“Yeah!” Acid Rain and Frayed Wire both yelled.

“Good,” Rainbow Dash grinned, things were fine for now. “Then let’s get up there and take this city back together!”

The Eternal Furnace XIX

The ocean of ponies from the lower levels spread out through the first big atrium and then into the massive cross-shaped room and still on, everyone looking to find space for themselves while still being somewhere warm. They knew crazy things were still going on right now in their city so they couldn’t just relax or find a new home here just yet but it was still better than being in the dark and the cold. And it was safer than trying to go up any further. The ponies needed the okay from Rainbow Dash and the others that Resin was dealt with and the city was going back to normal, until then they had to wait some more.

Wait for the battalion that was heading through them right now to undertake that mission to stop Resin and save them. Rainbow Dash and the former gang ponies were all going in the direction they needed to make it up to the top of the city as fast as possible. Rainbow had gotten a decent enough grasp of the city in her earlier ascent and descent and the warriors with her had plenty of prior knowledge of the city and its layout as well. They didn’t know when they’d first start to face adversity, since the security force may have been in chaos without Crush around, but they knew they’d hit something sooner or later.

Rainbow Dash led her army past the others towards the stairs and elevators that went to the upper levels. Everyone was going to go as high as possible. When they did finally get to the tall room that just shot up and up, Rainbow Dash had to resist the urge to just fly up it at full speed. She needed to stay with the others for now, this wasn’t supposed to be a chaotic rampage through the upper levels, it was supposed to be a coordinated assault.

Because of the dozens upon dozens of ponies traveling up with her though it was slow going for her tastes. Acid Rain and a number of other pegasi floated up with her too, all of them surveying the various levels they were passing. It was possible there were ponies of the security force they were passing entirely but that was a good thing. They didn’t need a pointless fight right now and the security forces couldn’t even do anymore damage to the city without Crush.

At the same time, Dash knew they’d eventually start having to roam through one of the upper levels since this place didn’t lead directly to the top. And Resin’s actions may have changed the layout of the city to where new routes had to be found.

Things still went mostly uneventful for the large group until they finally got to the top level of this room and they all joined up together again on the floor.

“Okay everyone, it’s here where we start to go on the attack!” Rainbow Dash said to them all. “We totally outnumber them so don’t worry but don’t go crazy either! Any groups of security ponies you see just overpower them and detain them, try and remember they’re still your fellow ponies.”

There was some grumbling from that but she hoped they’d take her words to heart.

“Let’s get on with it then. We may have to split up some to cover all the area of these levels as we make our way up but that’ll at least let us deal with any security ponies and find every possible way up,” Double Duty said.

Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement and their big force of ponies started heading down the hallways. The simple problem they had was their group was too big and most of the hallways too narrow for them to easily travel down in a big group. So they started to be stretched a little thin right from the start. Dash and the leaders were at the head of the biggest group going for the direct path to the stairs and other paths she knew would eventually take them to the top level where Resin resided.

And lo and behold was it not even five minutes of walking through these narrow hallways that they came out into a larger room where a patrol of security ponies had just finished escorting the civilians living up here into their interior rooms while the jettisoning was (ostensibly) still being carried out.

They stood and stared at each other for a moment as if in a mutual state of disbelief. The security ponies only numbered six in total and they all certainly recognized just who these ponies were that had suddenly appeared up here. And they all knew how badly outnumbered they were. The likely captain of the patrol regained his wits quicker than the others and blew into a whistle, all of them then turned and ran down another corridor. Looks like they were smart enough not to try and fight.

But they weren’t fast enough to get away from Rainbow Dash.

“Come on!” Dash yelled to the others. “Don’t let them join up with more of their forces!”

She and Acid Rain then bolted ahead while a number of others ran and flew right behind them. Double Duty was rallying his guys and Frayed Wire was charging along with Nut and Cast Iron. The two pegasi shot into the corridor the security ponies were running down and Rainbow Dash sped up to catch them. It looked like they were running to some kind of station built into the middle of the hallway that sat at an intersection. Was it a security outpost? Either way Rainbow Dash had no intention of letting them do what they wanted.

Rainbow Dash tackled the straggler of the group to the ground right as the rest of the party got to the station, the captain had pulled the door open on it and rushed inside but his fellows weren’t quite so quick. Acid Rain jumped on the next closest one while Rainbow Dash kicked her target into the wall and knocked him out before jumping over to Acid Rain while he relentlessly pummeled the one he had jumped on. Rainbow grabbed his hoof to make him stop, the guard he had jumped on was long out of commission and they had four more to go.

The three others were standing outside the door now trying to defend it while the captain was inside doing something that Rainbow Dash couldn’t see. It didn’t matter, Rainbow and Acid Rain could easily handle themselves and if by some miracle they got stalled they still had an ocean of reinforcements coming to back them up. So Rainbow shot like a bullet at the next closest while Acid Rain shot forward fairly quickly but not quite so much as her at another. The leftover one obviously saw Rainbow Dash as the biggest threat and he went to back up his ally.

The first security pony didn’t even really have time to react to Rainbow Dash colliding with and throwing him into the wall of the station behind him. His armor protected him slightly, in so much as he didn’t get knocked out, but he still groaned in pain and was slow to get up. The second one however was a unicorn that was charging up his horn for some kind of spell as he came over. Rainbow Dash doubted he’d be strong enough to restrain her like Crush was if it was something like that but she still didn’t want to give him the opportunity.

She quickly ducked down and practically glided over the metal floor to him, surprising the security unicorn at her nimble movements, and uppercutting him in the jaw before he could lower his horn at her. That powerful strike discombobulated him and made him stumble backwards until he fell over. The other one had recovered by that point and tried to tackle Rainbow Dash from behind but once she felt him trying to grab her she just grabbed him by the hoofs instead and flipped him over, smashing him into the metal floor. Grabbing his mane in her teeth she then swung him into the googly-eyed unicorn and bowled the both of them over.

Rainbow looked over just in time to see Acid Rain bashing his opponent’s head into the wall, and thankfully this time he didn’t keep going in for more. She grinned at him and the two of them stepped to go inside the station and deal with the captain while the others all came running down the corridor behind them.

“Whatever you’re doing in here you can put a stop to it right now!” Rainbow yelled when she and Acid Rain bust into the small station.

What they saw was a round desk with the last security pony inside it trying to work a radio built into the desk.

“And just who do you think you’re trying to call?” Rainbow grinned and in an instant appeared by the captain’s side, grabbing the transceiver out of his hoof.

Back out in the corridor, Double Duty and the rest of her forces had arrived and were rounding up the unconscious security ponies. The gang leaders then all came in to join her with the captain and the radio. Naturally none of them were happy to see that he was trying to either warn others or call in for reinforcements.

“We knock him out too now?” Frayed Wire asked and punched his hooves together.

“Yeah but don’t go overboard, I just want to...” Rainbow Dash trailed off as she looked at the security pony and the radio.

Acid Rain frowned at her. “Something wrong?”

“Uhh, no, but… can you guys give me a second alone in here? I want to talk to Resin,” Rainbow said.

“I don’t see why you need to contact her for anything. We already know what we need to do when it comes to her,” Double Duty scowled.

“I get it but I just want to speak to her first for a bit. I might be able to draw her out and make things easier for us when we get up to the top too,” Rainbow said.

“Suit yourself,” Double Duty shrugged.

“Thanks,” she nodded at him before looking at the security pony. “I don’t know who you were trying to call with this thing in the first place but I want you to patch me through to Resin’s control center. Can you do that? If you do I promise no one will hurt you.”

The security pony took one look over at all the gang ponies still standing in the station before quickly glancing back at Rainbow Dash and fervently nodding his head. “Y-Y-Yes.”

Rainbow Dash shooed the others out and had the guy work the radio for her, thankfully any radio system like this could contact Resin’s. Once she was dialed to the right place and calling the tyrant she had the guy step aside. Now Rainbow Dash was standing here with the microphone in front of her and the receiver in her hoof. Waiting for Resin to pick up.

There was just a low staticky sound coming from it but finally the sound of something on the other end being moved, or a switch being flipped, came through and Resin’s voice came from the other end.

~Hello? Is everything going alright with my orders? Is that you, Crush?~

“It’s not Crush, Resin.” Rainbow Dash said.

~...~

“Are you still there?”

~I am, I’m just surprised to hear your voice again, Rainbow Dash. Why are you calling me on the radio?~

Rainbow Dash sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I’ve got a few reasons. For one, Crush is dead. I thought you would want to know that.”

~Why?~

“What do you mean why?!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t stop the flash of anger. “He was your brother! Yeah, I know about that, and he was loyal to you, always doing everything he could to help you even when he thought it was wrong! So you tell me why?”

~None of that matters, if he’s dead it just means he gave his life in service to the flame as all ponies should. It’s a shame that he won’t be able to fulfill the orders I gave him though.~

“You know what? Maybe I’m just stupid but I really thought you would care about him more, deep down,” Rainbow Dash told her.

~I already told you the only thing I care about is the flame. It’s the only thing that matters.~

“Well your crazy plan for it is failing all over. I saved all the ponies from the lower levels, and with Crush dead no more of the city can be blown off the mountain. We’re all coming to put a stop to you now. You hear that?”

~Did you really? You’re working so hard to subvert the flame, it’s so sad. That drive could be used for far better purposes. It doesn’t matter in the end anyways. The flame will burn as brightly and hotly as it can, forever. You won’t be able to stop it. You already know what I have defending it and myself and there are even more in the city as well.~

“I know about those metal animals, yeah. They don’t scare me and they can’t stop me. You’re really underestimating me, Resin. Do you think you can keep your command center and the flame safe both at once? Cause I don’t know where everyone else might be going but I’m telling you that I’m heading directly to that dumb flame room and I’m destroying that thing. I’ll bust fuel lines, break pipes, turn off valves or whatever until your stupid flame fizzles out!”

~...~

“Cat got your tongue again, Resin?”

~No. I will not allow you to bring any harm to the flame.~

“Then try and stop me,” Rainbow said and turned off the radio. She took a deep breath to steady herself and just stared ahead for a moment. Finally she remembered the security pony still standing there and she glanced over at him. “If you were listening everything I said was true. Crush is dead, just get out of here and stay out of our way for now.”

He seemed almost pale but he nodded and once Dash and him stepped out of the station he ditched everyone down another corridor, with Dash telling everyone to just let him go.

“Let’s get ready to go to the top,” Rainbow Dash told her followers. “I’ve got Resin right where I want her, she’ll be waiting in the flame room for me, I’m sure of it.”

Double Duty nodded with the other leaders flanking him. “Then let’s finish this.”

Meanwhile, all throughout the maintenance areas of the top levels, panels and closed off compartments opened up and the sound of mechanical whirring and skittering spikes emerged. Dozens upon dozens of spider and crab monstrosities started to pour out of them. Resin had activated and unleashed them all. They knew their enemies and they were about to make things much more difficult for Rainbow Dash and her freedom fighters.

The Eternal Furnace XX

On the next level up things had gotten a bit hairy…

“How many of these things are there?!” Double Duty yelled as a mechanical spider jumped on top of him, the fanged mouth trying to chomp down on his face.

Frayed Wire blasted it off him with a beam of magic from his horn and helped his former rival up. “I don’t know—too many.”

“I had to deal with these things when I was flying through the city earlier!” Rainbow Dash shouted over the sounds of the melee. “I didn’t know there were still all these left!”

In a large lobby area on the level they were on that was probably somewhere that was scheduled for jettisoning, the army suddenly found themselves attacked by dozens of the metal spiders and crabs. They crawled from the ceiling, from vents in the walls and out from panels and gratings on the floor. In an instant Rainbow Dash’s forces were thrown into a pitched battle. They weren’t used to fighting things like these either and the metal monsters were very dangerous with their pincers and even just their sharp legs. So Rainbow Dash was doing a lot of the heavy lifting again.

That wasn’t to say everyone else wasn’t trying their best and some of the tougher ponies like the leaders and ones like Soot Mane and the unicorns in general were a lot of help. Rainbow Dash just had to fly around and make sure no one was getting overwhelmed, often prying or kicking the monsters off of ponies who just couldn’t handle them. She pulled a crab off of a screeching pegasus mare and tossed it on the ground before they both stomped on it with all their weight a few times, making sure it was broken. The stupid monsters kept crawling along the walls and ceilings though so you had to lookout everywhere. One spider attempted to drop on Dash but her awareness and reflexes were too sharp, it just got a stiff uppercut for its troubles. But a lot of the other ponies here weren’t as fortunate and Dash was stuck on rescue duty for a while.

“These things are creepy,” Soot Mane said as she and Cast Iron swung one into a wall together and snapped a few of its legs.

“Tell me about it,” Cast Iron said as she reached forward and tore off a few important looking wires from it.

When a spider leapt from the ceiling, Acid Rain and two of his pegasi crashed into it, kicking it to the ground and letting Double Duty smash it before the thing could recover. Acid Rain continued on working like that, much the same as Rainbow Dash since he was one of the faster pegasi. Frayed Wire meanwhile kept blasting any he had a clear shot at with magic. It didn’t always disable them but it went a long way.

One crab came out of the crowd and lunged at Double Duty, its pincers aiming right for his head to clamp down on. He ducked and back-stepped out of the way but then found himself accidentally backing into a wall and cornering himself.

“Uh oh,” Double Duty gulped as the crab jumped at him with pincers at the ready.

Nut slammed into it from the side and tackled the crab, the two of them rolled across the floor until they stopped with the crab on top of her and trying to pinch her now. She screeched and moved her head to the side while its claw slammed down on the empty metal floor right where her head had just been. Nut then wormed her back legs up to her chest and kicked out, knocking the crab off her and onto its back. Before the crab could right itself she jumped on top of and started pummeling it, looking for any loose wires or tubes that she could pull out and break. Double Duty ran over and stomped down on the crab’s pincers for a moment to make sure it couldn’t retaliate, and soon enough Nut had done enough damage to make it inoperable.

But more and more just kept streaming out from everywhere and continuing the battle.

“There’s just no end to these wretched things...” Double Duty growled and threw the broken crab at a spider on the wall, the metal crunch signifying another broken machine as the spider slid to the floor.

“Well it’s one more down at least,” Nut said, panting.

Rainbow Dash found herself on the floor facing off with five spiders while an equal amount of other ponies stood with her. The spiders liked to jump a little more than the crabs and jump they did, with Rainbow Dash leading the charge against them. Her ponies met them in midair and the two groups of adversaries tackled each other with some ponies winning out and pinning the spiders and some spiders winning out and pinning the ponies. After that it was just work for Rainbow Dash to bash her opponent’s chassis in and then move on to one of her comrades who was less fortunate and needed help dealing with their spider. In a quick minute the five spiders had been dealt with and aside from some bruises and bruised egos everybody else was fine.

“Don’t let up, everyone!” Rainbow Dash then shouted so everyone fighting could hear her. “There’s gotta be a limit to how many of these things there are, just keep fighting and help each other out and then we can keep moving!”

A rallying cry went up from the ponies and they fought the metal monstrosities with renewed vigor. Acid Rain landed on top of one of the crabs and twisted around the pincers at their joints until they snapped and fell limp, Frayed Wire used his magic to lift a spider up and repeatedly slam it into the ground, Double Duty simply bucked a spider out of the air that tried to jump on him right into the wall. The others like Nut, Soot Mane, and Cast Iron kept fighting just as hard and helping out the ponies that weren’t doing as good.

Rainbow Dash zoomed over the heads of several ponies and landed a lightning quick strike on a spider that was just coming out of one of the vents. She then reached a hoof to its underbelly and snapped a bunch of exposed wires, the glowing red eyes turned off and the spider whirred about for a moment longer until an elbow drop from Dash dented its back and the whole thing went limp. Rainbow Dash then peeked into the vent and saw one or two more of these metal beasts coming from deeper inside. She clicked her tongue and chucked the destroyed spider back inside at them to delay them for a moment.

“Get out of my face!” Soot Mane yelled from close by her as she pivoted and bucked a crab monster away, making an opening for a bunch of other ponies to dogpile it.

“Nice one,” Rainbow Dash grinned at her.

Soot Mane grinned back. “Thanks but I think we should be saving all that for after the fight.”

Double Duty meanwhile had a crab monster in a headlock while Frayed Wire pinned down its legs and pincers with his magic. The earth pony leader quickly snapped its head around backwards and broke it.

There were still quite a few spiders and crabs but their numbers did seem to be thinning out. Not as many were coming out of the walls anymore and groups of ponies were getting better at dealing with the ones who were still here. Rainbow Dash was flying with Acid Rain now, the two of them forming a duo and picking off any spiders or crabs that were alone on the outskirts of the fight and watching for new ones emerging. They were fast in their job and made good support for the ponies on the floor who couldn’t keep track of everything or watch all their sides at once. The two flew right past several ponies fighting with a crab monster and took out the spider that was trying to sneak up and attack them from behind.

Cast Iron and Nut, two mares who decidedly did not like each other just a few short days ago, were also in the middle of helping each other out against a spider. It was kind of like that all over. Ponies who had been at best rivals and at worst mortal enemies were now fighting together to defeat their true enemy. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but feel proud even though they were still in the middle of a dangerous fight for their lives. The tides had turned completely at this point though.

Rainbow Dash proved that when she and Acid Rain crushed another crab and looked around, not sure where the next one they needed to take out was. And if there were so few left that that was the case then it was a pretty good thing. No more new ones were coming, they had finally gotten to the end of Resin’s reserves when it came to these miniature metal guards. Now all that needed to be done was mop up the ones remaining.

“Hah!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she punched a crab in the face hard enough to shatter the red plastic of its eyes and knock it against the wall.

There weren’t anymore for her to fight after that, she just watched and listened as ponies like Double Duty and Nut destroyed the rest right up until the last one fell. When it finally did—at the hooves of some earth pony whose name she didn’t even know—there was a brief moment of rest and then a grand cheer as the army of ponies celebrated their victory. This was their first real battle against Resin and they had won. Rainbow Dash knew there were bigger monsters ahead but this was a real confidence booster and it helped unify and bring everyone together.

She was admittedly really tired though. She had been pushing herself constantly all day and she was running out of adrenaline to keep pulling out of thin air. And she couldn’t even let it show, Dash had to be strong in front of the others.

“Okay everyone, that looks like the end of those things but we’ve still got a lot of work to do,” Dash called out across the army. “If you’re injured don’t push yourself, just stay back here and let yourself heal up, there are still plenty of us to handle the rest.”

“What she said. I don’t want to see anyone forcing themselves to fight, you’ve all done well,” Double Duty said.

Rainbow nodded to him with a smile. He had changed a bit if he was willing to look out for the other ponies like that. “The rest of us get ready to head to the next level. We’ll be at the top soon.”

The Eternal Furnace XXI

“I really hate to admit this but I’m getting a little more nervous the closer we get,” Frayed Wire said as they headed up the stairs that took them higher and higher up towards the top level of the city and where Resin resided.

“Normally I’d have a snide remark for you but honestly I feel the same way,” Double Duty said as he ran up alongside him.

The rest of the gang ponies at the front had a muttering of agreements. Rainbow Dash couldn’t blame any of them either, they knew what Resin was like, they knew they had worse things to face very soon, it was a nerve-wracking experience. At least they were still all being good together, they didn’t need an argument or insults breaking out right here at the end.

“I get that it’s kind of scary but just believe in me and each other,” Rainbow Dash said. “Remember that you’re not tackling this alone, we can all rely on each other and work together, that’s been the plan from the start! That’s what ponies do; help each other.”

“Right!” The gang leaders said in unison, making Rainbow Dash smile.

“We’re almost to the top now, so get ready for another big fight!” Rainbow said.

They had been charging up the stairs for a decent while now and Rainbow Dash knew it was coming to the point where eventually they’d be directly on track for that final level. Once they got there she’d have the rest of them branch off and head right down the circular corridor to the control room while Dash went left to the flame room. She knew for sure that Resin was going to be waiting for her there. What she didn’t know was if Resin was going to be bringing any of those friends of hers with her or if she was going to leave them all to defend the control room. Dash kind of hoped for the former, she believed in her new friends’ ability to take down those metal monsters but they were still really dangerous. It would probably be better if Rainbow Dash was still fighting some of them.

The platoon rounded another flight of stairs but had to stop before charging up the next—they had company.

“There they are!” A large group of security ponies yelled from atop the stairs, likely warned or called in by Resin earlier.

“Just bowl them over!” Rainbow Dash yelled and she and the others bolted up the stairs.

There were a solid twenty security ponies though and they had the high-ground, it allowed them to brace themselves when Rainbow Dash and the others crashed into them. So instead of them quickly getting through these guys they got stalled in another fight. Rainbow Dash and some of the other pegasi flew over and on top of the guards and attacked them like that while Double Duty and Frayed Wire were at the front lines leading the charge on the stairs. Headbutts, kicks, and bites were the name of the game when it came to the brutes pushing against each other trying to overpower the other side. The security ponies were essentially the last line of defense and they didn’t want anyone getting through. Meanwhile Dash’s army knew they were so close to taking down the tyrant they were defending.

To help out her guys, Rainbow Dash and the other pegasi with her started pulling security ponies away from their group and attacking them at the back. Now they had to deal with an assault on both sides. She punched the first guy she found herself face to face with right across the jaw and grinned as he spun around and fell to the floor like a sack of dirt. Like this they could make short work of these security ponies.

As soon as the back half of ponies turned around to fight the pegasi that had circumvented them, Rainbow Dash found herself dodging and blocking a number of hoof strikes and baton smashes meant for her. It felt good to be in the middle of a fight though since she wanted to keep her adrenaline flowing at high speed. She ducked under a baton swing aimed at her temple and dodged back from a hoof jab going between her eyes. When one security officer came at her from the side she extended out her wing and struck him in the face with it, dragging her feathers across his eyes to temporarily blind him.

It was a game of whittling down the security force with their superior numbers and the downright unfair advantage of having Rainbow Dash on their side. She was so much faster, stronger, and just better than them all that none of them were a remote challenge to her. That wasn’t a surprise to her though, she was the amazing Rainbow Dash after all.

Another security pony lunged at her and Rainbow Dash fell onto her back, grabbing his hooves as he flew over her and kicking him in the stomach, launching the unfortunate fool into the wall behind her. By that point Double Duty and the others were breaking through their lines on the front and making it up the stairs to the landing. Fighting on stairs while your opponents were on the level landing above you was pretty difficult so it was good for them that they could press on and finish things on equal footing. And now that that was the case the rest of the security force that had rallied to Resin’s defense crumbled. They simply didn’t have the numbers or fighting ability to stop the swarm of ponies that Rainbow Dash was leading.

Nut lowered her head down and headbutted the guard right in front of her, knocking him out. And that was the last of it. The last few security ponies still standing raised their hooves in surrender and Rainbow Dash was more than willing to accept that.

“You guys just look over your friends, okay?” She asked the security ponies and gestured to all the groaning and unconscious ones on the floor and stairs. “Things will be done here soon and we didn’t really want to hurt any of you.”

“Funny way of showing it...” One of the security ponies had the courage to grumble.

Rainbow Dash just shrugged at him. “Sorry, but we’re in a hurry too. No one will bother you from here on out though so just make sure none of them are hurt too bad.”

The security ponies didn’t entirely look like they believed Rainbow Dash’s altruistic words but it was clear they wouldn’t be fighting anymore. Her army was left to now travel up unassailed. Unfortunately some more of them had been injured or exhausted and had to be left behind too. Rainbow Dash wasn’t happy about their numbers being whittled down before they even made it to the top but she wasn’t about to push injured ponies into such a dangerous fight. She and the others would just have to make up for it. That was fine, Rainbow Dash could cover.

“Everyone get back together and follow me! We aren’t stopping until we get to the very top this time!” Rainbow Dash yelled and waved to the others, flaring her wings and flying up the stairs while everyone ran after her.

It was really the moment of truth now. Though Resin had managed to stall them and even weaken their forces a bit there were still plenty of ponies coming up to fight and put a stop to her. Rainbow Dash had full confidence in herself and her friends, victory was at hoof and then this city could go back to normal. All the ponies living in this mountain could feel hope and happiness again.

“Once you’re all in the control room just try and get to the power distribution if you can!” Rainbow Dash said to them. “Don’t be too preoccupied with fighting those metal animals she has unless you absolutely have to get through all of them first. The power, fuel, and everything is the more important part.”

“Got it, but getting past them may not be so easy.” Frayed Wire said.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “I know, but you also all know their weak spots now too. You may not have seen one of the big ones yet but don’t be afraid, I told you what they can do and how to fight them.”

“We’ll try our best,” Acid Rain said.

“That’s all you need. Do your best and work together,” Rainbow smiled at him and the others.

Because of certain areas of the city being gone now they had to find another route circumventing things once they got close to the top level before they could reach that final few flights of stairs that took them to the peak. On their way they ended up passing a number of curious civilians who lived up here, ones who had gotten tired of staying in their rooms after being forced in by the security force earlier. They didn’t know what to make of the army and stayed out of its way but still couldn’t help but watch. As for the gang ponies, seeing how much brighter and cleaner these top levels were the whole time they had been charging through them did a good job of making them angrier. They could use that anger in the upcoming fight. It wasn’t fair to them that they had to do the most grueling and difficult sort of work and then Resin was just going to discard them and let them all die. She’d pay for that.

Finally after this climb, after starting out down at the gate separating the bottom and top levels, after fighting through the security force and the metal crabs and spiders, they finally reached the stairs that would take them to the top level. Rainbow Dash had them pause for a moment so everyone could catch their breath, and then with a wordless nod they slowly walked up the stairs.

She saw Nut shaking a little bit out of the corner of her eye before Frayed Wire put a calming hoof on her shoulder. Soot Mane was standing stalwartly with Double Duty, the both of them supporting each other. The rest of the group was doing much the same until Rainbow Dash finally reached the top of the stairs and stepped up to the round corridor that stretched around the top level. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and turned around to face the others.

“This is it. I’m going to go this way-” she nodded to her right. “And deal with Resin. Fight hard.”

The others nodded to her and as Rainbow Dash strode down the corridor they came up the stairs and went the other way. Rainbow Dash calmly walked to the ceremonial flame room she knew was close, she could feel the heat already. After all she had been through she wanted to conserve as much energy as possible since she was unfortunately on the verge of collapse despite everything. There was very little power and adrenaline left in her body to pull out.

But she was still confident enough in her ability to beat Resin. Because she was awesome.

Rainbow Dash reached the open doorway and turned into the large room with the raging inferno in the center, the brass furnace still reaching up into the ceiling while the strong fire inside it burned and burned.

Resin was waiting for her there, of course. Looking just like she had when Rainbow Dash met her earlier, wearing the same clothes and facing the fire at such a close distance that it had to practically be burning her face. Her obsession was unmatched. She wasn’t alone this time though. The metal wolf beast was standing beside her, its red eyes staring down Rainbow Dash. Resin too seemed to realize she had company and the tyrant stood up, turning around to fix Rainbow Dash with a blank stare for a moment before her mouth twisted up in a smile.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to harm the flame. It will burn forever.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head. “You know I honestly think I’m doing this for your own good too.”

The wolf growled and flames bellowed from its mouth as it started stalking towards Rainbow Dash with Resin standing in front of the furnace.

“Alright, if that’s how it’s gotta be then fine. I love a good fight anyways,” Rainbow Dash punched her hooves together.

The others meanwhile stood at the entrance to the control room and the dangerous opponents inside it. The metal bear, ram, boar, and lion all stood together, just waiting for the first pony to step inside that room and become their prey. Double Duty, Frayed Wire, Acid Rain, Soot Mane, Nut, Cast Iron, and all the other ponies with them were on edge. These things were fearsome, far more than the spiders and crabs had been, and none of them were pretending they weren’t afraid.

But they knew what they had to do.

With a roar from one of the ponies, nobody knew exactly who, the entire group charged into the control room and at the monsters.

The Eternal Furnace XXII

The Wolf lunged at Rainbow Dash and swiped its claws at her as she flew up off the floor to give herself some maneuvering room. Despite her beleaguered state she had more than enough speed to fly above its attack. The Wolf was one of the more agile metal monsters though and before Rainbow Dash could land on its back, where it wouldn’t be able to adequately defend itself, it had jumped out from beneath her and whirled around to keep her in its sights. Rainbow Dash floated in midair with Resin calmly standing at her back and the Wolf staring her down, it didn’t seem like Resin was planning to attack her at least, she was probably going to let the Wolf do everything.

Works for me. Rainbow Dash thought to herself and watched the Wolf to prepare for the next time it would leap at her.

It was taking its time to slowly pace around her right now, always just at the limit of how far it could leap to reach her. Rainbow Dash’s wings flapped patiently in the meantime as she used only the barest amount of energy needed to stay in the air. But still keeping tense and ready enough that she could react to either the Wolf or Resin in a fraction of a second.

The attack came as instantaneously as she expected and totally without warning. One moment the wolf was slinking around and the next it was running full speed at her. Rainbow Dash was up slightly too high for it to reach her without jumping, this gave her a big advantage, and she was waiting to see if it would try to jump at her from directly below or come at her with more of an arc from the front. With a growl and more flames billowing out its mouth the Wolf jumped at Rainbow Dash from about ten feet away, reaching her height easily and coming straight at her with its claws extended.

“You’re not getting anywhere just coming at me from the front again and again!” Rainbow Dash mocked and flapped her wings to jump above it.

The Wolf sailed past her… and rebounded off the brass furnace that was directly behind Rainbow Dash, using it to push itself back at her at a heightened speed while Rainbow Dash was in the middle of turning around.

Rainbow wasn’t really expecting that kind of strategy or the decent speed the Wolf was moving through the air at, she had to beat her wings hard and juke to the side as best she could. It wasn’t entirely enough though, as she dodged right the Wolf’s outstretched claws raked across her own left wing. A number of feathers were scratched out and the metal claws dug shallow gashes into the flesh underneath. She squawked in pain and went tumbling to the floor thanks to the hit and sudden imbalance. Rainbow was still able to recover quickly on her hooves and backed away to get some room between herself and the Wolf but she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to fly anymore in here.

A quick glance down at her wing answered that question. Wing assisted jumps? Fine. Actual flight? No good.

It was already hurting and throbbing a bit with several streams of blood dripping down it and mixing together. Her best asset was now damaged. Not broken but still hurt and mangled enough that she couldn’t fly effectively anymore and might as well not even try with this Wolf coming after her. She’d just have to outrun and beat him on the ground.

“Oughta be simple enough,” Rainbow muttered to herself. She still knew this thing’s weaknesses and how to fight it, her confidence wasn’t going down so easily. A quick look over to Resin showed the earth pony just watching her.

Unlike Resin, the Wolf wasn’t going to take things slowly at all anymore and it came charging at the grounded Rainbow Dash. She hunkered down low to make sure she could move like a spring when it got close enough and watched it intently for what its first attack would be. Her eyes picked out the subtle moves of its leg joints and practically before it even started to attack she was already in the process of dodging. A high swipe from its right front claw at her head that she ducked under and stepped back from and then a low swipe from its left that she jumped over. Then a fiery bite that came at her when she was still in the air. But Rainbow Dash kicked off the left leg when it was still going past her and used that to dodge the bite, leaping away from the Wolf and sliding to a stop on the metal floor a dozen feet away.

This time Rainbow Dash was going to go on the offense before the Wolf could keep things running at its own pace. She charged towards it, zig-zagging to keep its head swinging back and forth so it couldn’t respond as easily, before pivoting on her hooves and then sprinting at it dead on as fast as she could. The Wolf breathed fire at the floor in front of her but Rainbow Dash jumped over it like lightning and punched it as hard as she could in one of its eyes before running along its back and jumping off it. The Wolf’s tail tried to lash out at her in a desperate attack but she avoided it and came to a halt a few feet behind it, panting.

When the Wolf turned around, Rainbow Dash grinned.

The eye she had punched was broken and cracked, it wouldn’t be able to see out of that one anymore. One more and it would be totally blind if she just didn’t defeat it normally first. That broken eye opened up more opportunities for her to attack, she was going to tear this dumb metal Wolf to pieces soon.

Rainbow Dash looked over to Resin. “I guess you’re not much of a fighter if you were going to let this guy do everything but unless you help him out its just going to be a wrecked pile of nuts and bolts soon.”

“I don’t care much for fighting but if it’s to protect the flame I would do anything,” Resin said. “And despite your grandstanding I can tell you’re on your last legs. The metal beast can still handle you… and if not then yes, I will deal with you using my own hooves. Everything for the flame.”

Resin and Rainbow Dash stared each other down while the Wolf renewed its attack.

Double Duty had his hooves tight around the metal neck of the Lion monster while it tried to shake him off. The thing’s tail lashed around, smacking a few ponies who got too close, and the heat and painfully angular metal jabbed into Double Duty’s underbelly but he still managed to hang on. The Lion was about to roll over when Frayed Wire lit his horn up and encased its paws in his bright blue magic, stopping it from rolling and crushing Double Duty. Acid Rain then came down from the ceiling and landed hard on the Lion’s head, making the mechanical joints and rotors buckle as it was smashed into the floor. The three of them worked pretty well together now.

The Bear meanwhile had just swatted a pegasus into the wall while a number of other ponies tried to bring its large bulk down, but it was the biggest and heaviest of all the monstrosities and something like that wasn’t easy. Nut charged at its back legs and hit them right in the knee joints, trying to either weaken or break them since they were already supporting so much weight, but the metal was a bit too strong for her. All she did was make it wince slightly. The Bear then breathed out a column of fire towards the ponies trying to fight it and they all had to scatter in fear.

“How are we supposed to take this thing out?!” Nut yelled.

“We have to go for the exposed wires and hoses! Those might be the only way!” Cast Iron said as she ran up to join her.

The two of them were then flanked by Soot Mane and a pegasus mare formerly from the Thunderbirds with a purple and yellow swirled mane. The Bear saw them confronting it and turned to fix its red eyes on them while more fire leaked out from around its fangs. Challenge accepted.

“We’ll take this thing apart even if we have to do it one screw at a time,” Soot Mane said.

“Right!” The others shouted in unison and ran at the Bear.

The Lion itself wasn’t finished yet either, damaged, but still operational, and Frayed Wire didn’t have the magical strength to keep it pinned down forever. When it got back up it ran for the closest one of them, Double Duty. Its entire head was somewhat dislocated and hanging at an odd angle but that didn’t stop it. Double Duty had to avoid swipe after swipe of its claws while Acid Rain came from behind the Lion. However he had to avoid its wildly swinging tail and Frayed Wire was still catching his breath and trying to recharge his magic.

“Stupid thing!” Double Duty yelled, fed up with retreating, and turned around to buck the Lion as hard as he could. It was dangerous and he knew it but he didn’t want to just keep running from it.

Double Duty was both rewarded and punished for his efforts. His strong legs impacted and dented the Lion’s chest but he was left exposed by his attack and the Lion clawed his back legs even as it was launched away. Double Duty bit his lip to keep from screaming in pain and fell over onto the ground. However, his attack had also given an opening to the other two.

Acid Rain came down on the Lion’s head again and kicked it stiffly, wrenching its neck around and making it even more lopsided while sparks erupted from its head. Frayed Wire then decided to use his magic in a slightly different way by grabbing a bunch of the exposed wires and tubes with it and snapping as many as he could. The Lion whirred and shook while wires sparked and gas leaked from it, it only took a few more steps before collapsing in a pile.

“One down,” Double Duty growled as he stood up, pain lancing through his legs.

“Three to go,” Acid Rain said.

They watched as the Ram monster ran at full speed into the wall of the control center trying to pulverize a pony. That pony had luckily jumped out of the way just in time and instead there was just a massive dent left in the metal from the Ram’s horns and head hitting it. The Boar was doing much of the same, running around wildly while trying to gore ponies on its tusks and burn them with fire.

The leaders still had their work cut out for them.

Meanwhile the mares were still dealing with the over-sized Bear monster. All four of them were running or flying around it to divide its attention, distracting it so it didn’t know which one to attack and hitting it quickly whenever they had an opening. The Bear simply didn’t have the speed or articulate movement needed to defend or react to this sort of attack. Its only strength was its size and the mares were still whittling it down and dealing little motes of damage that were going to add up over time.

The pegasus mare landed on its back and started punching a few pieces of metal that looked a little thinner than the surrounding ones before grasping a bundle of wires and tearing it off when she flew away before the Bear could roll or attempt to bring one of its big paws up and hit her. While that happened, Cast Iron ran in and hit it in its back right leg to weaken the joints, the Bear attempted to turn around but was distracted by Nut running right in front of its face. Seeing new prey it tried breathing fire on her but she scrambled away just fast enough where she only felt a few intense licks of heat. And of course right at the moment it tried attacking Nut, Soot Mane came in from the left and hit its other back leg, finally making the Bear stumble to the floor.

“Keep going!” Nut yelled.

All four of them renewed their attack now that they had an opening, pummeling the Bear on all sides with their hooves, tearing wires, hoses, and tubes and denting and breaking whatever pieces of metal they could. But the Bear’s larger bulk kept it moving and operational despite all the damage it had taken and the thing roared and swung out with its paws all around itself, making the mares have to leap away and regroup. Gas, motor oil, and all sorts of other fluids were leaking down the Bear and the flames from its mouth were no longer coming but it still roared and charged at the first mare it saw again, Cast Iron.

“Need some back up!” The mare yelled for her allies.

The pegasus came flying around towards her while Nut and Soot Mane ran towards the Bear’s front legs. The two of them hit the Bear right at the knee joints while Cast Iron was grabbed and rescued by the pegasus as the Bear’s legs faltered and it fell to the ground, sliding across the metal floor. And this time when it tried to push itself up to continue the attack the joints in its front legs snapped and broke to pieces. The Bear roared as it fell back to the ground, helpless and unable to stand up properly.

Nut and Soot Mane caught their breath while Cast Iron was let back down on the floor by the pegasus and the four mares looked over their adversary.

“Okay… looks like it’s a little less dangerous now,” Soot Mane said.

Nut nodded. “I think you’re right, so let’s finish this and smash it to pieces.”

On the other side of the room, Double Duty and Frayed Wire were sprinting directly at each other while being chased by the Boar and Ram respectively. This was risky but it was the best idea they had with the way these vicious things were tearing through the ponies under them. The two ponies got within five feet of each other and then both jumped to their respective rights at the last moment. The Boar and Ram couldn’t stop or change direction in time and they both crashed head first into each other in a loud wreck. Parts and pieces of metal were blown everywhere and all that was left were two mangled piles mashed together that barely even looked like the metal animals anymore.

Double Duty and Frayed Wire were both panting hard, Double Duty in particular in a great amount of pain thanks to his legs now that the adrenaline was wearing off, but they knew what had just happened. They had won. All the metal monstrosities were destroyed, the control room was theirs.

No one had the energy to cheer for it and a lot of ponies were hurt though. And some important work still needed to be done.

“The control panels! We have to bring this city back to how it used to be!” Double Duty shouted.

He, Frayed Wire, and Acid Rain all jetted over to them while the other ponies recuperated. None of them had been up here before and knew exactly what to do so it might take some time to figure things out. Maybe some of them could’ve gone to help Rainbow Dash but none of them were really in fighting condition anymore and her fight could’ve been over for all they knew. Besides, they had one thing they had to do for her first.

“Shut off all the fuel to the ceremonial flame,” Acid Rain said. “Turn it off completely!”

“I’m looking for the darn dials to do that, shut up for a second,” Double Duty said back to him.

All of them looked over the consoles in search of the power and fuel distribution to change it. In a way they had already won, but things weren’t completely over just yet.

Rainbow Dash stayed on the blindside of the Wolf so it couldn’t properly react to her attacks or make a good offense of its own. She didn’t need to fly to be super fast either so whenever it tried to get her in its sights she’d just skirt around it some more while peppering it with punches. One solid punched twisted the metal of its back left leg, giving the Wolf a permanent limp.

It tried to jump back from Dash to give itself some room to fight but Dash wasn’t in any mood to go easy on it. She followed its jump and scrambled onto the Wolf’s back, punching and pulling at any weak and exposed parts of the metal beast. The Wolf roared and useless flames came out of its mouth as it ran along the floor before Rainbow Dash reached over and dropped a stiff elbow onto its other eye. That light blinked right out and now the Wolf was totally blind.

Rainbow Dash jumped off it with a grin and watched as it flailed about helplessly, throwing its claws out everywhere in a futile effort to hit Rainbow Dash.

“Finally just about done with these things,” Rainbow Dash said and ran towards the Wolf. She ducked and dodged under its claws and uppercutted it in the jaw before running underneath it and tearing out any exposed wire she saw. The Wolf’s tail came stabbing down at her but Rainbow Dash was able to easily grab it on the safer part and jammed it up into the Wolf’s own belly. The whole Wolf shook and spasmed while Dash ran out from under it and onto its back again, stomping down with all her strength while steam and sparks shot out from all over its body.

At last the whole Wolf collapsed like an unplugged appliance. It was wrecked beyond repair with Rainbow Dash standing atop it victoriously.

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Well, Resin, are you ready to-”

She didn’t have time to complete her sentence as a powerful hoof collided with her cheek and knocked her off the Wolf with enough strength to launch her into the wall of the ceremonial flame room. Rainbow Dash painfully bounced off it and fell to the floor with a dull thud and a groan. She slowly pushed herself back up, her vision blurry, and shook her head before looking in the direction of where she had been punched.

Resin was walking around the destroyed Wolf with a blank expression on her face, her single cold eye kept on Rainbow Dash. “You’re exhausted, Rainbow Dash.”

And you’re a lot stronger than I would’ve guessed. Rainbow Dash thought while she faced Resin. Now her face and back were hurting too and she was injured and tired enough where her legs were shaking. The intense heat inside this room was making her sweat too, she hadn’t adjusted to it well enough yet.

“It doesn’t matter that you destroyed my metal animal, you aren’t going to touch that flame,” Resin said as she walked towards Rainbow Dash.

Her body wasn’t coming into focus either. Rainbow Dash blinked a couple of times but her vision stayed blurry, the fighting and that hit had taken more of a toll on her than she thought. Double-vision and pain all over. Wonderful.

The blurry looking Resin suddenly jolted at her and Rainbow Dash tried to raise a hoof to block but Resin’s punch went over it and cracked against the other side of Rainbow Dash’s head. Earth pony strength helped contribute to Rainbow Dash being knocked across the floor again, her vision temporarily going black and her brain forgetting where she was until she stood up. Rainbow Dash tried to fly up on reflex but was rewarded with an awkward climb and pain from her damaged wing that made her spiral back down. Where Resin immediately ran forward and rammed into her chest, throwing Dash against the back wall of the room.

This isn’t going as well as I hoped… Dash mused as she coughed and rose back up on her shaking hooves. She has one eye… she’s not a real fighter either, but I can’t last much longer.

“Everyone who tries to go against the flame will suffer the same fate as you,” Resin said as she made her way to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “It’s already over...”

“The flame will never be over!” Resin shouted and quickly ran at Dash before she could react, grabbing her by her rainbow mane and tossing her across the room. Dash landed with a thud closer to the front and rolled a bit before stopping.

Rainbow Dash wheezed on the ground for a moment, trying to catch her breath. She wasn’t sure if she actually had the strength to stand anymore. But a sudden feeling washed over her body—or perhaps it was more accurate to say that something that was constantly washing over her body disappeared. Rainbow Dash blinked. Something just-

She didn’t have time to finish that thought as Resin stood over her and wrapped her hooves around her neck, strangling the life out of Rainbow Dash. “I won’t let you cause anymore problems here for the flame. The flame is everything to me! It should be everything to everyone! It brings happiness, and love, and safety, and purpose! Stop ruining things!”

Resin shouted and shouted at Rainbow Dash as she wrung her neck, Dash’s own hooves trying to force her off but she just didn’t have the strength left in her body. Rainbow Dash tried to suck in any air she could but the grip of Resin was like a vice. She looked up at the manic, bloodshot, eye of Resin. The mare looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown herself with how angry Rainbow Dash had made her. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to last now though, the powerful mare kept her pinned down and the oxygen in her lungs was running out, darkness crept along the edge of her vision.

She only had the strength to maybe do one last thing so she had to make it count.

Rainbow Dash grabbed Resin’s hooves and used every last ounce of strength she had in her body to slightly lift them off her neck so she could breathe and speak for just a moment. “Resin...”

“Shut up!” Resin yelled.

“It’s gotten… colder in here...” Rainbow Dash smirked before her hooves went limp, strength gone.

But Resin’s eye opened as wide as it could go and she let Rainbow’s neck go anyways. She hadn’t noticed because she was focused on Rainbow Dash but it had gotten suddenly colder in the flame room. Which was impossible. The flame was supposed to be burning as bright and strongly as it could without interruption. If it had gotten colder…

Resin’s head swung over to the brass furnace.

“AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

The piercing shriek made Rainbow Dash wince and cover her ears. It was a horrifying sound, the scream of a mother who saw her child in danger.

“No! Nooo!” Resin screamed as she ran from Rainbow Dash towards the brass furnace. The flame was gone, unlit, the fire had completely shut off with not even the minor candlelight that it used to be on and flickering anymore. “Why?! How?!” Resin banged her hooves on the grill of the brass furnace, despite how insanely hot the metal still must’ve been, and pressed herself up against it. “What happened to the flame?!”

Her choked cries echoed throughout the chamber as Rainbow Dash coughed and sat up, totally forgotten.

“Come back! Please come back!” Resin continued to shout and shout at the empty furnace, a hissing sound coming from her as she burnt her own fur and skin on the metal. Tears streamed down her face from her open eye as she seemed to totally realize what this meant and her shouting turned into mindless, wordless wailing. “Ahh… gaaaah...”

It was like a baby mewling now, Resin slid down to the floor in front of the furnace, her back turned to it as she curled into a ball and cried. “Come back… come back… please come back...”

The tyrant just repeated that endlessly with her unfocused eye staring off into nothingness.

Rainbow Dash stood up and watched her for a moment until it was clear that Resin wouldn’t be doing anything else. She didn’t have a victorious or happy look on her face at all, just a pitying frown and sad eyes for the broken mare. Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head, turning around to head out of the ceremonial flame room. Maybe she shouldn’t have felt bad for Resin but she did. She might’ve had to apologize to Crush too but this was the best she could do. Hopefully Resin would one day recover.

The Revived City

Rainbow Dash relaxed on a bed in a formerly empty apartment in the upper levels of the city. Well, relaxed may not have been the right word. She was uncomfortable, upset, and still tired even after sleeping through the night. The food in this place was still no good either. Yesterday she had passed out right after walking back to the control room and meeting up with Double Duty and the others, and only later did she learn that the nearly catatonic Resin had been carted off and thrown into a jail cell somewhere up here. It wasn’t exactly what Rainbow Dash wanted but she knew the others, after all they had suffered through, couldn’t be placated so easily. She’d have to get them to go easy on Resin before she left the city but for now she needed to regain her strength.

From what she had heard from the others things were actually looking pretty good though. The power was being distributed equally throughout the entire city again and the security ponies had been rounded up and either convinced about what had happened and joined up with them, or were being momentarily detained. Rainbow Dash was going to try and convince the others to let them out as quickly as possible too. Honestly the security ponies didn’t deserve to be punished that badly, once Rainbow Dash told them what Crush had told her she was willing to bet the rest would come over to their side anyways.

“Whatever,” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself and slid out of bed, yawning. She had spent enough time in there and some important work still needed to be done. Her body was still sore and in a decent amount of pain but she could live with it.

Things actually looked kind of nice when she left the apartment. Not only were the lights still on and things were clean but there was just a different and more welcoming aura to everything. As she walked down the hallways she saw some ponies just casually out walking as well and they were actually smiling. It was a shame that a number of sections had been launched off the mountain or ponies would be even happier. Maybe in the future they could rebuild but for the moment they needed to get everything else back into working order first.

Rainbow Dash walked in the direction of the stairs she needed to take to get up to the control room. She knew Double Duty, Acid Rain, Frayed Wire, and probably quite a few others too, were using it as a temporary base of operations and had been overseeing everything there since yesterday. It was her hope that they would do the right thing and completely shed their old selves so they could truly fix this city and bring back hope and happiness to all the ponies. She believed they would… but she also wasn’t sure how they’d treat Resin, Silver Tooth, and some others. Rainbow Dash wasn’t against punishing them but she didn’t want her friends to go too far either.

And after seeing Resin’s reaction to the flame disappearing… maybe that was punishment enough. It’s like what Crush said, Resin was a child. A scared and broken child.

As she made it up the stairs quite a few ponies recognized her along the way, her comrades she had fought with and helped, but a quick smile and a nod was all she had to give them as she passed them by. Some of them may have wanted to talk more with her but she didn’t have the time. They’d always remember her for helping them back when they were still just in gangs and then some though.

Rainbow Dash got to the top level with the circular corridor and just happened to see Soot Mane walking down it in the direction of the ceremonial flame room.

She saw Rainbow Dash and smiled. “Rainbow Dash, how are you?”

Such a different reaction compared to when they first met. “I’m fine, just came up here to talk with everyone about some stuff. What are you doing?”

“Actually I’m going to the flame room to clean it up. We’re planning on turning the fire back on at some point, but only at a weak level. After all that flame still holds a lot of importance to us and this city.”

“Got it,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “The others all still in the control room?”

“Yep! They’ll probably be happy to see you up and about. When you collapsed yesterday we were all kind of worried for a moment,” Soot Mane’s smile turned into an awkward grin.

“It’d take way more than what I went through to keep me down. I’ll see you later,” Rainbow Dash said and then walked by Soot Mane.

The mare gave her a wave and the two went on their separate ways. It actually could’ve ended up being the last time Rainbow Dash spoke to her depending on how things went today. She was planning on leaving soon now that her work was done, just like she had done everywhere else before. That was just the nature of her adventure. She simply wasn’t satisfied quite yet and wanted to get on to the next part of her journey now. When would she be satisfied? Only time could tell. Once again she was proud of what she had done here to help but the burning desire in her heart wasn’t quenched yet either.

Rainbow Dash walked into the control room with a neutral expression on her face, seeing the former gang leaders and some others working on the control panels. She walked up to them to say hi. “Hey!”

They turned around at the sound of her voice and smiled just like Soot Mane had. Still funny to think about.

Frayed Wire was the first to greet her back. “Rainbow Dash, it’s good to see you back. Feeling better?”

“Like a million bits,” she said. “Seems like you guys and the whole city are feeling the same way too.”

“I’d say we are. It’s weird considering how long we were just—well—you know, but now everything is looking up and I can’t help but smile,” Double Duty said. “I feel bad about all that time I spent just being awful, and all the things I did to other ponies.”

“Well considering how things were for you guys I don’t totally blame you, we all make mistakes I guess,” Rainbow Dash awkwardly rubbed the back of her head.

“What are you here for now anyways? I think we’ve got things more or less under control,” Acid Rain said.

“Just to talk and, well, maybe say goodbye.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Goodbye?” The voice of Nut came from her side and Rainbow Dash looked over to see the mare, she hadn’t noticed her there at first. “You’re leaving?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Probably soon, yeah.”

The leaders all walked up to her now, concerned and confused as to why she was leaving so soon.

“I don’t understand, I thought you would be helping us out here?” Double Duty asked.

“I already did,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Honestly I wouldn’t really be any help when it comes to rebuilding or making sure everything here works again anyways. My part was making sure you got here, now I’ve gotta get back out there and fly. More places to go, more places to see, it’s like that.”

“You did do quite a lot so it’s not like I’m being ungrateful but I had hoped you would stay longer too,” Acid Rain said.

“What do you even have to do instead anyways?” Frayed Wire asked.

“Anything. I don’t know if I really had the chance to tell you guys about all this but I came up here looking for adventure and excitement. Found a lot of it already but not enough, and since the major stuff I needed to help you guys with here is done it’s time for me to go and find somewhere else. I know there are more adventures out there,” Rainbow Dash explained.

“Well I hope you find some fun out there I suppose, and help any others who might need you,” Frayed Wire shrugged.

“Me too, good luck out there, Rainbow Dash.” Nut smiled.

“Thanks, but I’m not leaving just yet. I’ve got one or two things I want to talk about and then someone else I need to see before I go,” Rainbow said.

“What do you want to talk about?” Double Duty asked.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath before affixing all of them with a more serious look. “I know you’re not going to like what I have to say but I want to talk to you about Resin.”

The mood got a bit cooler in the control room, the other ponies definitely weren’t happy to even hear her name mentioned. But it needed to be said.

“What about her? We’ve already got her imprisoned and everything, nothing more needs to be said,” Double Duty said.

“I just want to make sure that that’s all that’s going to happen to her. You may not think she deserves it—I’m not even sure if she deserves it—but I want you guys not to hurt her or do anything else to Resin. She’s already lost, just let it end like that. In short… go easy on her?” Rainbow Dash winced at the awkwardness of her own request.

Frayed Wire frowned. “I’m not even going to pretend to say that I want to do that. After everything she did there’s still so much rage boiling inside me at her.”

“Same here,” Acid Rain said. “It’s not something we can forget so easily.”

“I know that,” Rainbow Dash held up her hoof to stop them. “I know. I’ve dealt with a lot of bad guys and was asked to forgive some of them and it didn’t always sit right with me at first. But I’m asking you, as a favor to me at the least, to not punish Resin anymore than this. Just let her stay in that cell. She’s not healthy, you had to have seen that yourselves when you took her out of the flame room. Show how much better you’ve become and don’t do anything pointlessly cruel. Make it your first big step to bringing this city back to how it was in the past.”

The four ponies looked between each other, doubt was on their faces, discomfort as well, but in the end they knew Rainbow Dash was right. At the very least it was true they owed this much to her.

“Alright, Resin can just reside in her cell. No one will bother her or do anything to her,” Double Duty said.

Rainbow Dash smiled. “That’s all I ask. Now if it’s not a problem, can you show me where her cell is?”

A lonely cell at the very back of the jail, it had but one light that was barely strong enough to illuminate it. No one else was imprisoned in this entire block, or if they had been they were released or moved elsewhere, it was Resin completely alone. The cell itself was small with only a single bed and a blanket thrown over it with a pillow at the head. Resin was curled up under the blanket, still like the same fragile ball that Rainbow Dash had last seen her in.

“Hey, Resin.” Rainbow Dash said to her from outside the bars, looking in.

The pony on the bed didn’t stir in the slightest. Rainbow Dash could tell she wasn’t sleeping, but whether she was actively ignoring her or too shocked to even notice the visitor in the first place she didn’t know.

“I guess you probably don’t care but no one’s going to be hurting you or anything like that. You won’t be bothered.”

Still nothing.

“You know Crush told me everything about you? I feel bad for you, and I’m sorry you had to go through that but I’m not sorry about stopping you. But now I wanted to make sure you knew that Crush still always cared for you, and he really regretted not being able to help you sooner.”

Resin still didn’t move or acknowledge her words in any ways.

Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head. “Alright, I just wanted to see how you were doing. I’m going to be leaving real soon so you won’t have to deal with me anymore at least.” She shrugged and turned to leave before stopping and glancing back at the shrouded form. “By the way, I hear they’re going to turn on the flame again.”

A twitch.

“Just a little bit, but it’ll be back on again. Maybe… maybe someday you’ll be able to see it again.”

Rainbow Dash watched her to see if she would move more, but the mare under the blanket was still. So Rainbow Dash picked her hooves back up and left the cell block and Resin behind for good. This didn’t feel as good as when she beat Blizzard and Karkona. She wasn’t exactly happy about it, but it was the best she could do.

A few short goodbyes and requests to tell that she said goodbye to some of the other ponies in the city and Rainbow Dash was down at the exit hatch that led out to the exterior catwalk that ran the circumference of the mountain. It rose with a hiss and she stepped out to enjoy the open air for the first time in days. A cool, fresh breeze washed over her and she closed her eyes to take it all in and enjoy it to its fullest. There was nothing like the outdoors.

Rainbow Dash walked to the edge of the catwalk and looked out north to the horizon. It was the middle of the day and the sun was still bright and the sky unclouded. Once more she didn’t know what north of here held for her but she knew where she was going.

The way was lit for her and she wasn’t stopping anytime soon.

A smile tugged at her face despite things and she opened her wings to their fullest. She could feel the air currents, she could hear her own wings begging her to fly. “This is what I was born for.”

And Rainbow Dash flew off from the mountain, resuming her journey.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the mountain surrounded by junk and garbage, a loud and constant banging noise came from a small jettisoned section of the city.

Heartless bucked against the heavy steel bars keeping her inside the section. Bucked, headbutted, punched, whatever was working to warp and bend the bars to eventually give her enough room to squeeze through them. It was slow going but she never stopped or paused in her efforts to get free. Nor did she ever stop smiling. Her relentless attack was working too, the bars were already showing the signs of stress and had dented or shifted in some places.

However in mid-buck she suddenly stopped for the first time since she began. Glancing up, even though her vision was blocked off, she could see Rainbow Dash’s bright life-force leaving and going north away from the mountain. But if anything her smile only widened.

“In two or three days I’ll be out of here and back on your trail, Rainbow Dash. Don’t go too far.”

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlQsC-o2y5c

For the foreseeable future chapters will now be released every other day.

Close to the Top

Below Rainbow Dash was an icy terrain of two huge glaciers sliding against each other. She could see the massive, jagged, crack between them and occasionally hear the thunder-like cries from the ice as they split and cracked due to the stress and pressure. There wasn’t more than a light dusting of snow on top of those monumentally huge ice shelfs and no rocks or mountains around for miles either. No life around for that matter too. Rainbow Dash thought she might’ve seen some large birds flying around above it in places but besides that it was still.

Of course that also meant there were no houses, no cities, no castles, or really any sort of civilization around here at all. Which also meant she probably wasn’t finding a new adventure today. Not unless a meteor came falling from the sky and smashed into the glacier and a gigantic monster emerged from it. That would’ve been awesome!

Rainbow Dash eagerly looked up at the sky to await the meteor crashing through the clouds.

Nothing.

“Well, I knew it was kind of a long shot,” she frowned.

A breeze swept over her and Rainbow Dash shivered. Though she had gotten used to these freezing temperatures for the most part it was still getting colder the further north she went. If she stopped moving and naturally heating up her body frost would probably form over her wings and extremities in only a minute or two. Which also meant she’d need to find some cover or shelter before she decided to sleep tonight. Or she was just going to freeze and not wake up.

That probably meant she was going to need to fly a long ways and get past these glaciers or maybe try and build a little cloud house up in the sky. But for now she still had many more hours before she would need to do something like that so at the moment she just enjoyed the view and kept flapping her wings along. She wasn’t hungry either, having gotten her fill of food yesterday, so that was one less thing to worry about. Considering how often she had to worry about food on this journey of hers it was kind of fortunate that for once she had a full belly.

It was amazing just how quiet and calm things were too, although she figured that’s probably what most of the True North was really like. Tranquil and empty. There had just been so many parts of it for her that were much louder and frenzied.

Rainbow Dash flew down lower to the glaciers until she was but a few feet above their surface. She hummed along while thinking about how long ago it was she had started on this adventure. This was easily the longest she had ever gone without seeing one of her friends ever since they all came together back during that first Summer Sun Festival. She really did miss them but wow was she gonna have a lot of stories to tell when she got back. She could just picture how fun that party was gonna be.

“Who knows when that’s gonna be though. I don’t know when I’m turning back...” Rainbow said to herself. “I don’t even want to turn back now.”

Despite some of the things she had to deal with she didn’t regret this journey one bit, it had brought her the excitement and adventure she had been looking for and there was no telling what else she might experience. Rainbow Dash was just never satisfied and she wanted more and more from the True North. Anything it could give her she would take. That’s what this adventure was all about.

“I’ve met so many awesome creatures so far too,” she smiled as she thought about her soldier friends back at the Empire, Dust Bunny, Larkon, and even now those silly gang members at the metal mountain. So many personalities, so many new friends. That alone made the journey worth it.

There were certainly plenty of creatures that she wasn’t happy to reminisce on but they were part of her journey too.

Blizzard, Karkona, Resin, that weirdo Harlequin guy, and… Rainbow Dash shook her head, not thinking about her.

It was all part of any grand adventure. And if she had to take the bad with the good then so be it. Resin may have left a sour taste in her mouth but Rainbow was at least satisfied that she hadn’t failed yet, everywhere she visited was now better off than when she first arrived thanks to her and her awesomeness. How many more villains would she topple? As many as she needed to.

Hopefully there were more fun fights in the near future. Rainbow Dash had had a few good ones lately but she wanted another epic battle like she had with Karkona. She smiled as she thought about that fight, not only did it feel good to beat that smug, bloodthirsty, mammoth into the ground it was an exhilarating fight that made her go all out. Nothing else on her journey so far compared to the pure satisfaction she had of beating him with her own hooves. There had to be more fights like that she could find up here. And hopefully ones that didn’t have so much riding on them or were built on the suffering of others. Rainbow Dash would even be really happy for just a fight between friends as long as it was good. That’s something she could really go for right now.

If it was a fight where the fate of the world hung in the balance… well, that would be pretty awesome too. Rainbow Dash would also be happy if she had to have one of those.

“Twilight would be so jealous… actually no she wouldn’t be. She doesn’t like fighting. She’d just be happy that I saved the world. Applejack would—no she wouldn’t care either.” Rainbow Dash frowned. “Pff, whatever. Someone would be jealous.”

Rainbow Dash flew back up away from the surface of the glacier, climbing higher so she could see far out into the distance. While these glaciers were both gigantic they both did clearly end somewhere up there. Rainbow Dash would be able to easily reach the end of them before evening and then she could look for a place to stay. Maybe there would be something right past these two huge sheets of ice, who knew?

Even as cold and desolate as things might get, Rainbow Dash’s determination wouldn’t waver. She knew she was coming to the end of what could be called the north soon. Eventually she’d be at the top of the world and the only way to go would be south. She had traveled so far that there really couldn’t be that much left, the True North will have been completely conquered by her. If she ever went back to that Yak checkpoint she was going to laugh in Archibald’s face about it. Proved him wrong, didn’t she? Once she actually did get to the north pole she was going to dance on it.

“How do I tell when I’m actually at the north pole for sure though?” Rainbow Dash wondered to herself. “Eh, I’ll figure something out. Maybe if I fly high enough I’ll be able to see the whole world curving down… that’d be awesome.”

She put some extra power into her wings and blasted over the glaciers towards the horizon. Forget conserving energy or taking a break now, she wanted to see what was next.

Landless

Rainbow Dash had passed the glaciers a little while ago now. Things still stretched on and on without the sign of civilization so far but at least what she was flying over now was much different than what she was used to in the True North.

A lake. An absolutely gigantic lake.

Well maybe she was exaggerating a little, it’s not like it was an ocean or anything and she could still see the sides of it while flying at the altitude she was, but it was definitely still a really big lake. She was surprised to see it since she naturally expected everything to be frozen over but here it was. It was bigger than any lake she remembered seeing in Equestria and what was especially notable about it was that it was totally calm. There was zero motion on the surface, nothing floated on it, no ripples went across it, it was the most placid lake she had ever seen.

It was reflective too. She couldn’t see into the depths of it at all, instead she and the sky were perfectly reflected off its mirror-like surface. Rainbow Dash kind of wished she had a rock to throw into it just to see what the ripples would look like. Or a flat stone that she could try skipping across it as many times as possible. This lake was just made for that.

She half considered dropping down and diving into it to see what it was like under the surface but it was probably ice cold and then she’d just be wet everywhere and more susceptible to freezing after. Not a good idea. She was still really curious and wanted to do that though…

Maybe if she got bored enough and nothing else came up to excite her while she flew over the lake. But wow there was really nothing out here. Just water, water everywhere. No ice floes even though there probably should be some. Rainbow Dash was beginning to wonder if there was something magical about this lake, maybe akin to the mammoth’s Sacred Spring. It didn’t feel like that or anything but the fact was a place like this probably shouldn’t exist up here. Not like she was the type to really think too hard about that or care in the first place but when you had nothing else to do your mind just kind of naturally starts to wander.

Rainbow Dash made a long exhale of her breath as she flew, watching the cold air make her breath visible as soon as it came out her mouth. Unlike back when she was flying over the glaciers she could make out for certain what was past this lake: snowy ground and a flat tundra, with tall but narrow mountains even further beyond that.

She was willing to bet that was the last mountain range of the True North. There couldn’t be anymore after it, there just wasn’t enough room until the north pole. The mountains looked a little weird, almost more like spires or gigantic spears of rock piercing high into the sky. They lacked the beefiness of normal mountains. But there were still a ton of them and enough close together that she couldn’t really see more than a few mountains into the range from where she was. Something different to look at and fly through in the near future, one positive she could think of. There was also a higher likelihood of animals or thinking creatures living there. At least there was in Rainbow Dash’s mind.

And if there wasn’t then she’d keep on flying. Like always.

The pegasus rose higher up into the sky to see if she could get to an altitude where she could look down and see the entire expanse of the lake. Going to a height where she would’ve been able to look down on Canterlot Castle, Rainbow Dash hovered as she checked out the lake below.

And tilted her head.

“Why’s it shaped like a duck?” She pondered. And indeed she was correct, now that she could look at it with her bird’s eye view it was plain to see that the lake was shaped like a relaxing duck. Was that natural? Certainly some lakes would end up looking weird just by chance, probably. Twilight probably knew some sciency term for things in nature that end up looking like something else.

It had to just be a coincidence. Why would anyone make a lake shaped like a duck? And this place was way too cold for any ducks to live in. Rainbow Dash wasn’t exactly an expert on lakes, she knew the water cycle that pegasi performed but that only tangentially had to do with lakes. Maybe things were different here at some point though. Technically this lake shouldn’t even exist, it should be totally frozen on top or even all the way through. There was that random oasis she had encountered right after leaving the Pegasus Empire that was warm and green even though it shouldn’t have been.

Rainbow Dash threw up her hooves and shrugged. “I have no idea.”

Again, she wasn’t a thinker she was a doer and she wasn’t going to get anywhere just thinking and wondering about something without any actual info.

That was just dumb and boring to Rainbow Dash. So instead she flew back down and returned to going north instead of up with a lot of the lake still below her.

On a whim she flew lower, just until she was right above its unmoving surface, and looked down at her reflection. Might as well have been a bathroom mirror. She opened her mouth wide to check out her teeth, pearly white as ever, she shifted her head to look over her mane, rubbing any stray hairs down with her hoof. It was kind of nice for this thing to be here so she could look herself over. Even as she zoomed over it her form didn’t blur at all because the surface was completely flat and the water totally still.

And finally, Rainbow Dash just couldn’t help herself. That water was too perfect. She had to see it break.

With a grin she dipped down her hoof until it was less than an inch above the surface of the water, still flying over it at high speed, and then she pressed it down, breaking the impossibly tranquil lake. The ripples spread out quickly and her hoof created a triangular distortion in the water as she continued to fly and drag her hoof through it. Her reflection disappeared and water bubbled slightly around her hoof, with the surface broken she could now look deeper into the lake and see what was down there.

Nothing, really. It was too dark for her to actually see anything in the water. If there was anything even in there in the first place.

Rainbow Dash’s hoof was getting cold so she pulled it out of the water. Now the rippling would eventually stop on its own and at some point the lake would go back to normal. Return to its boring and placid self. Maybe some ponies would appreciate the quiet beauty of nature up here, Fluttershy and Rarity for instance, but she was getting tired of the plainness by now.

She’d be past the lake pretty soon though. Then she’d speed up and go towards those mountains in the distance.

Despite being bored of it now the lake had at least been a fun departure from the nothingness she was so used to seeing on her long flights during this journey. She could appreciate it for that. It was better than endless snow drifts, she had to admit that. With an extra flapping of her wings she shot across the final span of the lake and hit the far shore, the water was now behind her and she was going over the snowy tundra that lied beyond it.

So back to snow.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Whatever, I’ll be at the mountains pretty soon.” She sped up her flight as her next goal was in sight. By the end of the day she’d be at those mountains and hopefully she’d find something more fun than just a glacier or lake.

Snow Griffons II

The attitude towards her had changed immediately upon her mention of Gambien. Rainbow Dash was whisked inside the castle and taking into a large dining room lit up by torches where she was placed at the head of a long table. Griffons ran and flew all around her as they prepared a great banquet while Rainbow Dash looked on in stunned surprise. She hadn’t even had a chance to say anything and now here she was watching servants throw plate and bowl after plate and bowl of food on the table in front of her.

Those six teenage griffons joined in, sitting on the sides of the table, while the lady sat directly across from Rainbow Dash at the other end. Another male griffon, one quite elderly and wearing a fur cap, sauntered in and took a seat beside the lady as well.

Rainbow Dash didn’t really know what to make of this or what to say so she just sat there for now and looked at the food. A lot of the dishes were clearly for griffons. She knew that because they were meat, the sight and smells of so much cooked meat almost made her queasy but she kept it down. Most of what was placed in front of or close to her was salads, vegetable broth soups, breads, and other specialty vegetable dishes. So at least they knew what a pony ate.

“I hope the food is to your liking,” her host said to her once everything was fully placed

Rainbow Dash decided to find out for herself and dunked her face into the nearest salad bowl, eating up a huge chunk of it and tasting how it was. It didn’t compare to Shibu’s cooking but it was a lot better than gruel. She looked up at the griffon across from her and nodded. “It’s good.”

“Wonderful, you can eat as much as you like, you’re our guest of honor now,” she said back to Dash, although there wasn’t any warmth in her voice. She was being polite but treating Dash as she would a business partner. Serious and informal.

“Thanks,” Rainbow said. “So I didn’t catch your name? Figure I should at least know who’s treating me so well.”

“I am Galia of House Stormwing. Currently the interim leader of the House until an appropriate replacement can be found,” at that she glared at the various teenagers sitting around the table.

Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “What do you mean interim leader? And who’s he?” She asked, pointing at the elderly griffon next to Galia.

“This is my uncle, Greely, castellan of our House. And I’m the interim leader because only male griffons can be considered the true leaders and heir of any House in our society. But at the moment we don’t have any adults from the main bloodline of my family that can take the role, so I’m temporarily doing it,” Galia told her. She then gestured with a talon towards the other teenage griffons. “The children you see here that you’ve already met are my assorted half-brothers and sisters from my father’s second wife.”

“He was the former leader of the House before his passing,” the teenage male who had been rude to Dash earlier said right before chomping into what looked like a large, cooked rat.

“Oh,” Rainbow Dash said.

“And that topic brings us back to why you’re sitting here,” Galia said, clasping her talons together and staring at Dash. “Gambien is dead, isn’t he?”

Rainbow Dash grimaced and slowly nodded. “Uh, yeah. Sorry to tell you. Are you related?”

“He was my brother,” Galia calmly replied.

“Oh, uh… then I’m really sorry,” Rainbow awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck and looked away.

“He was a moron and I’m assuming he died doing something moronic. Either way it isn’t important, the fact that he’s dead is the only thing that matters,” Galia said, quite a bit of icy anger seeping into her voice.

Rainbow Dash really didn’t like how she didn’t seem to care at all that her brother had died. She narrowed her eyes at Galia. “That’s all you have to say? He was your brother and you’re going to say that about him?”

“Gambien is the reason for our current predicament. He got a foolish idea in his head and threw away all of the obligations he had just to chase his selfish passion. Forgive me if I don’t speak fondly of him. We had suspected something had happened to him for some time now thanks to our own investigating done in Ice Valley but we weren’t willing to check further. We’ve been treating him as dead or gone for good this whole time, now we at least have confirmation.” She shrugged and sat back, a more solemn look coming over her. “Thank you for telling us this though. He was still at one point the heir to House Stormwing and he deserves to be properly acknowledged as such and his true fate recorded if possible. We owe you for this.”

“Well alright...” Rainbow Dash picked up a spoon and had a little soup. After swallowing it she looked back up at Galia with a questioning expression. “So you had heard that something happened to him but you didn’t know what?”

“Somewhat. Gambien had been going on and on about his dream for ages and when he finally finished building that stupid ship he said he was going to come back after its first flight and brag to us about it. He never did. We later learned that he arrived in Ice Valley looking for passengers and other things before setting off again. From what others in Ice Valley said he never came back there either. Nor did any of his passengers.”

Rainbow Dash gulped, knowing the sad fate of all those creatures.

“We lacked the ability to search and investigate more thoroughly than that,” Galia finished.

“I guess I’m glad I came along so you could learn the truth then,” Rainbow said.

“Yes,” Galia nodded. “But how exactly did my brother die?”

Rainbow didn’t know if she should tell the whole truth right now. Applejack would but she wasn’t Applejack and she honestly didn’t see any benefit to telling them the whole story about what had happened on The Glory of Gambien’s maiden voyage. It would probably just make them uneasy and angry… even though they didn’t exactly seem to care about or hold their deceased brother in high regard. And she certainly didn’t think it would be good if they tried to look for the one responsible for Gambien’s death either.

Better to just keep it simple. Even if it made Gambien look a little worse than he was.

“He crashed. Or—well—his ship crashed. I saw it on a mountainside down south somewhere and flew down to investigate. Found his journal and everything but I didn’t bring it with me, sorry. But uh, anyways, he wrote down that the pilots had fallen asleep or something in the middle of the night. And that’s why they crashed. He was injured in the crash and I guess they were stuck in a really remote place… so none of the passengers ended up making it back to Ice Valley and Gambien just kind of… died there on the mountain with his ship,” Rainbow Dash told them.

Galia sighed and picked up a slice of meat, taking a bite out of it and chewing for a second before swallowing. “I see.”

“So what now?” Rainbow asked, wondering if she was going to immediately be kicked out of the castle or something.

“Nothing,” Galia shrugged. “We finish with our meal and… as a token of gratitude I’ll allow you to stay here for a few days if you’d like. You said you’ve traveled far and have been on an adventure, if you want to see our home and how the various Houses of us northern griffons live you may. I’ll vouch for you and allow you to acquire whatever you need while you’re staying with us. No other families will give you the trouble we have.”

Sounded good to her. “Alright, let’s eat then.”

She managed to scarf down a massive amount of food since it was basically the first real meal she had had since leaving the mammoth city. It was good to eat stuff like this again. The sight of the griffons tearing into meat and cooked animals wasn’t exactly a backdrop she loved but she could deal with it. It wasn’t the first time she had seen griffons eat. Along the walls of this dining room a number of servants stood, patiently watching and waiting until a dish was empty before coming to take it away. Seems whatever turmoil House Stormwing may have been in they were still pretty well off.

Rainbow Dash wondered what the rooms for guests were like in this castle.

Decent.

Galia and Greely had both led her up one of the castle’s towers to what would be her room. It honestly wasn’t that much different in size from her room back home but it had a large four-poster bed with drapes around it. There was a single window with a wooden shutter over it that didn’t do much to block the cold from outside but there was also a brazier for heating that she could light up from time to time. All in all not too bad, just not lavish to the level of something like Canterlot Castle. That was fine for Dash though, she didn’t exactly need the extra comfort, she was tough.

“This will be your room obviously. Don’t hesitate to traverse the rest of the castle, however. Nowhere is off-limits to you, do what you like.” Galia said.

“Cool, I was planning on exploring anyways,” Rainbow Dash said as she looked all over the room.

“Right,” Galia rolled her eyes. “If you have any questions about the castle or us, now’s the time to ask.”

“Well I’ve been in a few castles in my life, besides what I’ve already seen what else more is there to this one?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Galia rubbed a talon under her chin for a second as she thought. “We have a library, the bathhouse, a few hidden patios if you like someplace quiet and breezy to relax, the kitchens if you want something fresh, I suppose you could always see what my idiot brothers and sisters are up to. Besides the eight of us it’s only servants that still live in this castle.”

That’s still a lot more than Twilight’s castle. Rainbow Dash idly thought. The library sounded… she didn’t want to say interesting exactly but maybe they had some cool books up here. Griffons liked action stories too, right? She could at least check it out and see if there were any fiction stories or if it was just a bunch of dusty old tomes. The bathhouse though was definitely somewhere she was gonna go. And relaxing out on some balcony or whatever while she looked up at the clouds didn’t sound so bad either.

She didn’t exactly have much desire to get to know those teenagers though.

And now after the meal and getting brought to this room it was moderately late. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to go look around or just sit here until she was tired enough to sleep.

“Is there anything else you wanted to ask?” Galia asked her.

“I think I got it for the most part. How many other Houses like House Stormwing are there though?”

“Four. You’ll be able to see the four other castles similar to this one on these mountains. Everything else is a private residence of other families or some other building, like our observatory. But the four other major houses are House Snowfall, House Razorbeak, House Lightfeather, and House Frozenflower. I’ll be sending missives to all of them telling them about you. I don’t see any reason why you’d want to visit any of them but if you’re curious then go ahead. Their castles are much the same as ours,” Galia told her.

“Alright, thanks then,” Rainbow Dash grinned up at her.

“Whatever. Go and do whatever you want for the next few days. Let’s go, uncle.” Galia said and walked out of the room, Greely giving Rainbow Dash a curt nod before he left too.

“Definitely not the friendliest of hosts,” Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath once the door closed.

She flapped her wings and floated right up onto the bed, laying down and looking at the canopy above her. Was this place going to be the site of her newest adventure? Honestly she wasn’t so sure. Things seemed pretty quiet, there didn’t seem like there was any conflict between the Houses, at most House Stormwing just had a minor succession crisis cause the only available choices were a couple of immature brats. She’d give this place a chance and maybe help out and look around for a few days but if nothing came up she’d just keep going north. If nothing else, having someplace to rest for a little with good food was pretty nice.

Not every place she stopped at would have something crazy going on. Maybe.

“Kind of lame that a castle doesn’t even have guards or soldiers or anything,” Rainbow said to herself. After a blink and a frown she realized that the lack of those things meant any kind of serious conflict among this society of griffons was really unlikely. House Stormwing was clearly in some kind of trouble but apparently they didn’t think they were in danger or had to worry about anything like that. So these northern griffons probably didn’t have what she wanted while on her awesome adventure.

“I should probably at least learn the names of those kids though even if I don’t plan on hanging around them too much. Why didn’t Galia tell me their names? Why didn’t I ask?” Rainbow Dash frowned and flew off the bed for a moment, gliding over to the window.

She could feel the cold easily seeping in from outside. Something that would probably get worse the later it got. Rainbow Dash opened up the wooden shutters and stared outside. The window was facing west and she was able to see a good portion of the other mountains that had buildings on top of them. She saw at least one of the other castles that belonged to a major House out there, the rest of them were out of her field of view. But like Galia had said the castle was pretty similar to the Stormwing one she was already in. Rarity would probably think they had boring style up here.

A lot of the smaller buildings did kind of look like villas or other big houses, she didn’t see anything that looked like an observatory but that was something she wanted to check out. If nothing else this would be yet another cool place to see a different way of life. Rainbow Dash shrugged to herself and closed the shutter, for all the good it did, and flew back over to the bed. All the blankets and pillows wrapped tightly around her at least made her somewhat warm.

Snow Griffons III

Her eyes shot open the following morning but all she saw was darkness. Confusion reigned for but a split-second until she remembered she had wrapped herself up in the blankets on the bed. Rainbow Dash groaned and slowly began the process of extricating herself from the linens, not enjoying the sudden decrease in temperature. That wad of comfort had been pretty nice to sleep in.

“What am I even going to do today?” Rainbow groggily asked herself and then yawned.

After getting all the blankets off she immediately hopped down to the stone floor of her room and winced at the cold that assaulted her hooves. She wasn’t super hungry thanks to the huge dinner she had yesterday but she still wanted something for breakfast so Dash figured she’d hit those kitchens first. It would be a minor adventure actually figuring out where everything is in this castle. She stretched her legs, her wings, and her back until she heard a nice pop and sighed in relief, then made her way out the door of her room. Of course she made sure to close it back up so as little cold as possible could get in.

“Okay, time to find those kitchens,” Rainbow said as she headed down the spiraling stone staircase that led up and down the tower. She wondered if there were more rooms like hers if she kept going up or if it just led to the roof. She could check it out later.

Rainbow Dash got back down to the main floor of the castle that the dining room was on and started floating down hallways, either following her nose or looking for someone who could give her directions. No servants (or any of those teenagers) were spotted just yet though so she kept wandering about on her home. This castle couldn’t actually have that much floorspace unless there were a ton of basement levels so it shouldn’t be too hard for her to find her way.

Each time she entered a new room she took a sniff to see if she could smell any food that would lead her to the kitchens. It was time for breakfast by now wasn’t it? Even if it wasn’t time for Galia and the others to eat there should still be servants preparing it by now. Rainbow Dash learned that kind of stuff thanks to Rarity and her time spent in Canterlot.

Her nose eventually took her to a stairwell that went down from the main floor. Coming out of it she entered a torch lit hallway with several doors on each side of it and noise coming from the end. Rainbow Dash floated down it until she got to the end, where it branched to the left and right. To the right it looked like more doors but to the left she saw a larger open room with numerous griffon servants running about it. It smelled good too.

“Bingo,” Rainbow Dash grinned and went left.

The room was a large kitchen, clean, with lots of long tables, sinks, pantries and ovens all along the walls. The griffons in here were working on cooking things for their lords and Dash watched as one of them pulled a tray of pastries out of a nearby oven. Yum. There were other things like salads and plain bread being prepared as well, nothing as lavish as what she had at the dinner last night.

They all hadn’t noticed her floating there yet, they were too busy. “Uh, hey?” Rainbow Dash said, waving at them to try and get their attention.

Some of the servants stopped and saw her. Remembering she was their lords’ important guest they stopped what they were doing.

“Okay you guys don’t need to do anything like that,” Rainbow Dash raised her hooves up and awkwardly smiled at them. “Can I just have one of those pastry things you made?”

“Of course, honored guest,” one of the chefs said and grabbed the whole tray of pastries before carrying it over to her.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes but grabbed one anyways. “It’s just Rainbow Dash, but thanks.”

“It’s our pleasure to aid you in any way you need while you stay here,” the chef bowed and took the tray back.

“Good to hear I guess,” Rainbow Dash shrugged while floating back out of the kitchen and taking a bite out of the pastry. It was very warm and fluffy on the inside with a flaky outside. “Not bad.”

If this was going to be her normal breakfast during her stay here she wasn’t going to complain. Now she could eat on the go while she looked around the rest of the castle. But where was she going to check out next? She still didn’t really have a real plan or idea for what she wanted to do or see. Unlike a few other places on her journey there wasn’t an obvious problem to solve or villain to beat up either. So unless something suddenly came up, like an evil ice dragon or something randomly attacking the mountains, she might just end up meandering around for a day or two.

She went back up the stairs to the main floor of the castle since it didn’t seem like anything major was down here. Once she got out and finished the last bite of her pastry she groaned in frustration. “Ugh, why didn’t I ask them where the library and stuff actually was?”

Rainbow Dash ended up lazily flying about the castle after that, occasionally looking out windows and seeing if she could find any of those hidden patios Galia had mentioned. All she saw was a single small balcony that overlooked the courtyard so far though. If Galia, Greely, or those kids were awake she hadn’t come across any of them yet. Normally Dash would’ve slept in for a long time too but when she had a place to explore and a possible adventure to go on she didn’t really have a problem getting out of bed.

After ending up back in the dining room she had been in last night she took a different route and came to an empty and quiet hallway with a single door halfway down it. Since she hadn’t been here before she decided to check it out. It didn’t look like just someplace for servants to go or anything either. Rainbow Dash made it to the door and pulled it open before fluttering inside and taking a look around.

“Well there’s one thing off my list,” she said as she looked over the library.

In terms of size it was maybe double Twilight’s in area but the ceiling was much lower and the shelves not as big either. Still a decent collection of books along with some tables and chairs mixed in among the shelves. While Dash looked over the shelves though she didn’t see anything that signified what kinds of books they were holding. Nothing that read “fiction” or “non-fiction” or any genres or anything like that. She wasn’t even sure if any of the books were alphabetized. She grabbed a random book off the nearest shelf and looked at the cover: “Oral History of Gendar, Fourth Leader of House Stormwing”.

“Oral History? But that’s-” Rainbow Dash said before shaking her head. “Whatever.”

She put the book back on the shelf and resumed looking around the rest of the library. It was very cramped in here with the shelves all placed closely together and the light being fairly weak—it almost functioned like a maze. Rainbow Dash found herself yawning again, maybe not totally awake yet, as her eyes glanced up and down the spines of the books she flew past. If she saw something with a cool title like “The Legend of the Pirate Griffon!” she’d grab it but so far nothing looked like that type of book.

“Come on, isn’t there anything like Daring Do in here? What do you griffons read for fun?” She huffed.

“As Galia would say, reading shouldn’t be for fun. It should be for learning,” a voice behind the shelf she was looking through said.

Rainbow Dash perked up and flew over the top of the bookshelf to see who it was. “Oh, hey.”

It was one of the teenage griffons of House Stormwing. One of the guys, though she didn’t know which aside from he wasn’t the main one she had been talking to yesterday. He sat at a table with a book open before him. Only thing was is that the pages were blank.

“Hey as well,” the griffon nodded. “What is this Daring Do you speak of by the way? Sounds quite adventurous.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Daring Do is an awesome book series about a pony adventurer who finds ancient treasures, fends off monsters, and outwits other unsavory ponies. And she’s a pegasus just like me!”

“I see… that certainly does sound like a fun story to read. Unfortunately you’ll find nothing of the sort in here. Some of the histories of our ancestors are interesting and rather adventurous but I doubt they would satisfy you. After all you must’ve seen quite a lot just on your journey up here from that Equestria place you say you come from,” he said.

“You bet,” Rainbow Dash said and dropped down to sit across from him. “So you guys don’t have books like that at all?”

He shook his head. “Learning materials, history books, journals, nothing besides that really.”

“Pretty lame. One of my friends might think that was okay but I like books that are cool. No offense,” she said.

“None taken,” he shrugged and looked down at the blank book he had.

“Uh… so whatcha got there?” Rainbow Dash asked him.

“My hobby,” the griffon said, not looking back up at her.

“Uhh...”

He sighed, probably sensing she was gonna keep poking and prodding at him until he gave a better answer. “Galia and the others may see no need or have no interest in fun adventure stories or romantic tales, but I don’t share those sentiments. I’m trying to write a story of my own. My own fiction.” He picked up the book and flipped a few pages back, showing that he had actually wrote down quite a lot in it already, he was just currently looking at a blank page. “Unfortunately at the moment I can’t think of anything. I’m stuck.”

Rainbow Dash’s face lit up as he told his story. “Oh, that’s actually pretty cool though! You’re really trying to write your own adventure story?”

“I am,” he nodded.

“Well good luck, what have you got so far? I mean, with all the stuff I’ve read and all the extra awesome stuff I’ve done maybe you can bounce some ideas off of me?” Rainbow Dash suggested.

He paused and rubbed a talon under his beak. “I’ve never had anyone else to talk to about this… maybe that would be helpful.”

“Cool, so what’s your name then by the way?” Rainbow asked as she stuck a hoof out towards him.

He gingerly accepted and shook it. “Glenn.”

“You’re not as much of a jerk as I would’ve thought from meeting you guys yesterday,” Rainbow told him.

“I imagine. That’s more or less how it is with House members like us though. We trade barbs and insults with the other Houses every day. It’s practically a sport to see who can come up with the most creative insult, so being abrasive and rude is second nature to all of us when it comes to outsiders,” Glenn said.

“Well that explains some things...”

“Since you’re our guest now though there’s no reason to be that way anymore. I doubt the others will really care enough to bother you either,” Glenn said.

“Good, cause I was pretty close to punching your brother in the face,” Rainbow said and punched her hooves together.

Glenn snorted. “That would’ve been quite the sight to see.”

“Seriously,” Rainbow nodded a few times and then moved over around the table to another chair so she could sit next to Glenn. “Alright, so why don’t you tell me what you’re writing?”

“Well it’s about a griffon that’s the heir to a very powerful and prestigious House who falls in love with the sister of the heir to a rival House. The two of them face all sorts of adversity as they try and find a way to make their relationship work. Eventually it’s supposed to end with a duel between the main character and his rival but I’m having trouble making the rest of the story come to life and fill it up with enough meaningful events to make it worth reading in the first place. Never having experienced romance in my life either I’m not sure how realistic the relationship I’m writing is,” Glenn sighed. “I’ve hit a complete stall after the protagonist is forbidden by his parents to meet with her again and I can’t think of a good enough idea to circumvent this. His love as well is being kept in her House’s castle and isn’t allowed to go out.”

“Hmm… you can’t have him sneak out somehow?” Rainbow suggested.

“No I was considering that but it still doesn’t change how he wouldn’t be able to meet up with her again if she’s also trapped inside by her family,” Glenn leaned back on his chair. “Since our protagonist is the heir to his House his parents can’t just lock him away but that’s not the same for his love. And logically her parents would do something like this as punishment, I don’t want to do something illogical just to make the plot move forward.”

“Huh, I get what you mean. It’s not really satisfying when something just comes out of the blue and resolves the plot or whatever. Especially when it doesn’t even make sense,” Rainbow Dash folded her hooves in front of her chest and thunk.

“So I’m in a bit of a predicament without even being halfway through the story,” Glenn mused.

“Well I’m sure we can think of something to get the plot moving again without it seeming too stupid at least,” Rainbow said. “Is the love interest totally locked in her room or is she just forbidden to leave the castle?”

“She can go about the castle but she’s under watch the whole time,” Glenn told her.

“Okay, okay, I think I’m getting an idea here...” Rainbow Dash grinned and rubbed her chin.

Glenn raised an eyebrow at her. “What?”

“These Houses are big and important right? And rich? From what I know about rich creatures they really like to flaunt their wealth and status. So why not have the House the love interest is part of throw a big party? Like a dance, or ball or whatever? That’ll give an excuse for the girl to be out and doing stuff where others can see and meet with her.”

“Yes that’s true but the protagonist still wouldn’t be able to do anything. Even if he snuck out to the party the other House wouldn’t let him in,” Glenn said.

“Only if they recognize him,” Rainbow winked.

Glenn seemed confused for a second before he caught on and a grin twisted up his beak. “A disguise. Yes I see, that’s quite the dashing and daring move. Our protagonist disguises himself back home in some manner, sneaks out under the beaks of his parents, and flies to the other House while their ball is going on all just to meet with the one he loves again.”

“Right? Maybe he can be found out and it’ll lead to like—I dunno, another fight or more drama or something. Or he can just get away with a promise to return again or something. I’m more an action type, my friend Rarity would have better advice for when it comes to the romance stuff. Even though she’s been single forever,” Rainbow said.

“You don’t need to be so concerned, actually this idea helps me out quite a bit already. Even if it doesn’t pan out completely it will be good for me to be able to write something at least,” Glenn said. “Yes, I can see it coming together now...” he trailed off and picked up a quill, dipping it in a little bottle of ink and starting to write out the first few lines of this new story event on the formerly blank pages of his book.

Rainbow Dash smiled and playfully hoof bumped him on the shoulder. “Good for you, dude. Even if I can’t find an adventure book here to read at least I can help make one I guess.”

Glenn chuckled and nodded at her. “Yes, thank you for this.”

“I think I’m gonna go to the bathhouse now,” Rainbow said. “Honestly was thinking of doing that first thing when I woke up but I guess I got sidetracked.” She flapped her wings and got up from the chair, almost turning around before stopping and looking back at Glenn with a frown. “Uhh… can you tell me how to get to the bathhouse first?”

Snow Griffons IV

Rainbow Dash walked down into another basement level of the castle after Glenn pointed her in the right direction for the bathhouse. She sorely needed a bath and something like a good wash was just going to feel really good. Especially since they probably had the waters heated by fires, it was going to make this great. She whistled to herself and hopped off the last step of the stairs, an open doorway at the end of this new hallway that Glenn helpfully told her led to the bath.

She could hear some giggling and splashing coming from it. Seems she wouldn’t be alone.

When Rainbow Dash got closer she could feel the heat from the room and steam started to slightly fog up her vision. Buzzing up with her wings she blew away some of the steam as she flew into the room and took her first look at the bathhouse. It was spacious but not as much as she would’ve thought, with a single large bath that looked almost like a pool carved into the floor. It was hot and steamy with a large partition built into the middle that Rainbow Dash assumed was used to separate the male and female sides. Numerous narrow slits were carved into the far wall of the bathhouse for steam to escape to the outside.

The half of the bath she could see was empty and considering how feminine those giggles she heard were, Rainbow Dash was willing to guess this was the male side. She flew around the partition and peeked in to see three familiar griffon teenagers. The girls she had just met yesterday.

Their eyes met at once and the griffons went silent as they stared at each other until Rainbow Dash raised a hoof and awkwardly smiled. “Uh, hi?”

“Hello,” one of them said back to her. Rainbow Dash instantly recognized her voice as the one who had spoken to her yesterday. To be honest they were all a little difficult to tell apart based on looks thanks to their snowy features that all kind of blended together.

“Room for one more?” Rainbow asked.

The three griffons looked between each other for a moment before moving closer to the partition, allowing Rainbow Dash plenty of room to jump on in.

“Sweet!” Rainbow said and dropped into the warm water, dunking herself in completely right at the start and letting the warmth rush into her body. She then shot her head above the surface and let the water drip down her now flattened mane. “Now that is nice. Thanks!”

“Our home is your home for as long as you’re staying,” the griffon shrugged.

“And I’m gonna enjoy it. So do the three of you take a bath every morning?” Rainbow asked them.

“And every evening,” one of the other griffons answered.

“Cleanliness is our pride,” the last one said.

They’d get along well with Rarity. Rainbow Dash nodded. She took a big stretch in the water and let the bath cleanse her body and massage her sore muscles. For a second she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the edge of the bath to relax. Just resting there for a moment was nice, she used to be embarrassed about how much she enjoyed this stuff but it’s not like she had to put on a front right now.

She opened her eyes back up and looked at the griffons. “So what are your names by the way? I don’t know how long I’m going to be here but I figured I should at least learn them.”

“If you feel you must,” the first one said with another shrug of her shoulders. “My name is Gale.”

“I’m Genna,” the second one said.

“My name is Gwenyth,” the third said.

“Alright,” Rainbow Dash grinned at them all. “Nice to meet you for real then.”

“Likewise. I won’t exactly be apologizing for what we said to you yesterday but we’ll treat you more amicably from now on,” Gale told her.

Rainbow Dash didn’t see a reason to push the issue and get in an argument over it. Especially when she was trying to enjoy this bath. “Eh, works for me then.”

“And we have our own lives so don’t expect us to make extra time for you or treat you special either,” Gwenyth said. She had a more haughty and aloof attitude to her than the other two seemed to.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Rainbow fought to keep from rolling her eyes.

“If you wish to join us for these baths that would be fine however. Since it’s always part of our normal schedule you wouldn’t be interrupting anything,” Genna said.

Rainbow thought for a second. “I might take you up on that, yeah. I don’t know if I’m going to bathe every evening like you do but I can probably come here in the mornings.”

“Well that would still be more than our brothers,” Gale giggled.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at her and looked at the partition, thinking about the empty guys side behind it. “Yeah I was gonna ask, actually. They don’t come here as much?”

“Hardly at all. It’s revolting,” Gwenyth made a disgusted face.

Honestly Dash could appreciate that too but she wasn’t going to say anything. “I guess they don’t value cleanliness like you do.”

Gwenyth curled her beak. “Our brothers are vulgar.”

“We’ll be getting some breakfast as well after we finish bathing, would you join us?” Genna asked. “That wouldn’t be a break in our day either.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I already ate, and there’s still more stuff I kind of want to look at here. And not just in this castle but on all these mountains. I want to see what your whole city is like.” She absentmindedly rubbed at her mane and then frowned. “Uh, so do you have soap and shampoo here too? I could kind of use some.”

“We do,” Gale said and floated through the water to the far end of the bath. It had been partially obscured by steam but there was a bucket with a number of bars of soap and glass bottles containing shampoo and other luxuries for the bathing griffons. Gale put the bucket in the water and Rainbow Dash watched as it floated on top of the surface, the griffon then pushed it across the water to her. “Take whatever you would like, we have plenty.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash said and looked over the various soaps and shampoos. Tons of different scents were in the basket, from flowers to the smell of rain and even types of wood. Again, Rarity would enjoy this a lot.

Rainbow Dash didn’t really care about smelling any particular way though. She grabbed some of the unscented soap and a bottle of shampoo labeled “rose” since that seemed like the plainest one they had. She wasn’t exactly the most thorough washer or anything, she liked some spa visits every now and then but showering was lame, she was just enjoying this cause of how warm and relaxing the water was. It was still good to put in some shampoo and get all the grime out of her hair though. This was the first time since… back in the mammoth city that she had really gotten to wash and had a good treatment like this? It almost made her pause when she thought about how long ago that had been. She had been going on a pretty rough and dirty adventure, hadn’t she?

Her entire time inside the metal mountain was a mess. This was looking like the opposite so far.

With the soap in one hoof she vigorously scrubbed across her fur until the water on and around her got soapy, then she took a bit of a gentler time cleaning her wings and making the feathers as glorious as possible. Some shampoo in her tail and a wringing out of it pretty much finished up what she considered getting clean. If Aloe and Lotus were here it would be a little different but Dash didn’t really care about doing anything more thorough herself. She could already tell how much better she looked and felt after this wash with the soap and shampoo.

“Alright, that’s gonna be a lot better,” she said as she wrung out the last bit of suds from her mane as well.

“You’re already done?” Gwenyth raised an eyebrow at her. “We bathe for much longer than this.”

“Well I’ve got a lot of stuff I wanna do and I feel pretty clean so, yeah, I’m done.” Rainbow answered.

“I was hoping you’d be a bit more concerned with your appearance but I suppose I was expecting too much,” Gwenyth said, looking away from her.

“Kind of not a high priority when you’re out adventuring and saving the world and stuff,” Rainbow Dash did roll her eyes this time.

“Hmph,” Gwenyth stuck up her beak at her.

Rainbow Dash was fine with that. She didn’t really think they’d have much in common or anything to talk about anyways. The other two griffons in here didn’t seem to care half as much as Gwenyth either. After putting everything back in the bucket and letting it float into the middle of the bath, Rainbow Dash took another stretch and lifted herself out of the water. Floating above the steamy bath, water dropped down from her and back into it.

“That was great,” Rainbow Dash said, taking a big sigh. “Got any towels in here?”

Gale pointed a claw to the other end of the room on the far side from the door. Rainbow Dash turned around and looked to see a large wardrobe in the corner with a hamper next to it, she quickly flew over to it while still wet, dripping a fair amount of water onto the stone floor of the bathhouse. Opening up the wooden cabinet she saw several shelves currently stocked with a number of fluffy white towels. Taking one down she quickly began to dry herself off until she was no longer wet and dripping water everywhere she went. Her mane took the longest to make sure it was totally dry and once that was done, Rainbow Dash tossed the now wet towel into the hamper.

She looked over at the three griffons and waved. “I’ll see you later today, maybe. Or tomorrow morning.”

“Be seeing you,” Gale lazily waved back.

“Enjoy the rest of your day,” Genna nodded.

And Gwenyth just ignored her entirely.

Rainbow Dash grinned and chuckled to herself, flying out of the bathhouse and back into the rest of the castle. She still didn’t have a real plan for the day but there was a lot she could choose from to do. Whether she’d spend more of it inside the castle or finally leave to check out the other buildings on the mountains up here. This place may not have been like the mammoth city, nor was she thrown into conflict immediately like at the metal mountain or the pegasus empire, but there was still a lot to discover and experience. That’s something she was certain about.

Author's Note

It always annoyed me when you had big fantasy adventure stories and no one had the same name. So I reused the name Gale. Seems just as fitting for a Griffon.

Snow Griffons V

She had found one of the hidden patios of the castle. It was below the “ground” floor where the dining room was, carved into a corner of the castle where two walls met and overlooking the mountain range to the east. Nothing was out here but a single small table and a chair. Would’ve made a decent place to chillax if it wasn’t so cold.

Now that she was really looking for the first time too she saw that the sky was much clearer today. There were less clouds below these mountain peaks blocking off her view of the rest of the mountain range and the mountains that weren’t as tall as these ones the griffons built their homes on. Even the fog at the very bottom along the ground had cleared up some. Only Rainbow Dash was now too high to really make out anything of note down there.

“I wonder how tall this mountain is?” Rainbow asked herself as she looked down the near vertical side of the mountain. “Not as tall as Mt. Everhoof, definitely, but it might be taller than Canterlot Mountain.”

The reason why this little patio wasn’t covered or buried in snow was because there was an overhang directly above it to keep this spot bare. If she maybe brought a blanket out here it would be alright… especially with a Daring Do book or something. But there wasn’t anything like that here either. Although now that she thought about it, Glenn had said that Galia didn’t approve of stories like that but were the other Houses the same? Maybe some of their leaders had libraries with grand adventure novels filling the shelves? She could check that out later too.

Rainbow Dash stopped looking out and admiring the scenery for now, she had other stuff to do, and went back inside the castle. What she had learned was there was indeed a lot of extra little basement levels and rooms dug into the mountain, there were apparently a ton of passages and places mostly just servants went. If she ever got bored enough she could explore them all. But at this time she had actually found all the stuff she really wanted to find in this castle. The kitchens, the library, the bathhouse, she had even had a real conversation with some of those kids and got to know them for real. More or less. There were just those two other griffon guys she hadn’t run into again and gotten the names of. Maybe they weren’t even in the castle right now anymore.

She didn’t give it too much more thought as she flew up through the castle (briefly stopping at the kitchens again to get a glass of water) all the way to the front door. She wanted to check out the small courtyard and some of the towers and walls. Pushing on the heavy wooden door she buzzed out onto the stone pathway and took a look up at the sky. She could see the sun directly this time, with only a few clouds blocking the way, and the wind wasn’t so bad either.

It was probably the closest to “nice” this part of the world got.

With a flap of her wings she flew up on top of the wall over the front door and surveyed the castle. The outer walls and all the little crenelations had been cleared of snow, as had the steps leading up from the edge of the cliff. She did however spy some servants currently knocking icicles off the undersides of some of the towers. Must be for safety. You sure as hay wouldn’t want to be walking underneath one of those when it fell.

“Am I done with this castle?” Rainbow Dash pondered. It was kind of cool to look at but there wasn’t really much left to see.

She turned around and looked north to the multiple mountains and the buildings on them. She could see the other castles out there. “Guess I’ll go check the rest out.”

“If that’s what you’re planning on doing would you care to join us?” A voice asked from above.

Rainbow Dash looked up to see two griffons descending to her from the sky. “Oh, so that’s where you two have been.”

The last two teenage griffons whose names she did not yet know landed on the roof with her. One the jerk from yesterday and the other one she hadn’t spoken to yet at all. Rainbow Dash looked between the both of them and raised a questioning eyebrow, both were grinning at her in return. Finally the one who had spoken coughed into his talon and strode up to her.

“Yes, now allow us to introduce ourselves to you, since yesterday was quite the chilly reception we gave you,” he said.

“One way of putting it,” Rainbow Dash snorted.

The griffon shrugged. “Regardless, introductions are in order. My name is Glaive and my younger brother here is Gordon.”

“Charmed,” Gordon gave her a small nod.

“Likewise,” Rainbow nodded back to him, though she didn’t smile or anything. Her eyes then turned back to Glaive. “And you asked me if I wanted to join you for something?”

“That is correct!” Glaive pointed up a single talon. “You see my brother and I were going to fly over to House Lightfeather and meet with the younger brothers of the heir to the House. We were wondering if you would care to join us?”

Rainbow Dash flatly stared at him for a moment. “That’s not all, is there?”

Glaive grinned. “Nope! I’m not sure if you’re aware of this yet but we, we as in every young group of heirs and griffons among the Houses, make a game of insulting and belittling each other and each other’s Houses. Some of us will meet up and lob the most creative and even made up insults that we can back at each other, whoever runs out of insults or can’t think of anything fast enough, or if your insult is just bad, loses!”

“Glenn did mention something like that...” Rainbow said.

“Ah, so you already met our other brother as well? Normally he would come along too but he said he was busy,” Glaive said.

“This is essentially our favorite way of killing time and having fun up here, I think you’ll be able to enjoy yourself somewhat,” Gordon said.

“I guess. I didn’t have any other real plans aside from finding you two and learning your names anyways,” Rainbow Dash told them. “And that part’s done so whatever.”

“Fantastic! Let’s go then!” Glaive said and patted her roughly on the back before shooting off the roof and into the air. Gordon gave her a wry smile and followed along.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and zoomed up after the both of them, Glaive waving at her before he started heading in the direction of another castle to the northwest. She was no stranger to trading barbs and insults, the only difference being that it was usually just friendly playing between her and Applejack, so this didn’t sound like the worst thing in the world to do. And she’d at least be able to partially mark off another thing she wanted to do in going to see what some of the other Houses and castles were like. She was wondering too if Glaive and Gordon were planning to show her off as kind of a new special guest they had at their House and brag about her to the others. Alykon, and Aurora before her, had both wanted to do something similar to that. Rainbow didn’t mind being shown off and fawned over so she wouldn’t care. In fact she’d probably be annoyed if a big deal wasn’t made out of her.

“So you said it was House Lightfeather?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew up beside Glaive and Gordon.

“That’s right, their castle is the closest to ours, we’re always messing around with each other,” Glaive answered.

“I wonder if they’ll be surprised to see you with us?” Gordon wondered, putting voice to some of Rainbow Dash’s own thoughts.

She shrugged. “I dunno. Galia said she was writing to all of the other Houses about me. Maybe they’ve already heard.”

“It’s possible, I don’t think they’ll care much either way, same as us.” Glaive said.

“You guys seriously don’t care at all that I’ve come from really far south and gone through a ton of stuff to get here? And how I’ve been to Griffonstone and know a bunch of griffons from it?” She asked.

“It doesn’t really interest me,” Glaive shrugged.

“Really seems like it should. I mean, isn’t one of you supposed to be the head of your House eventually? Shouldn’t you know about this stuff like Galia does? My friend back home is a Princess and she’s always put a ton of effort and work into studying and learning everything she could… although to be fair she did that before she became a Princess too,” Rainbow said.

“It has to end up being either me, Gordon, or Glenn so who cares?” Glaive replied. “I don’t really care too much about having the position anyways and it’s not very important. We’ll just keep living the same sorts of lives griffons have up here for centuries.”

Gordon coughed to get Rainbow Dash’s attention. “He is more or less correct. While it’s somewhat embarrassing it’s not like not having a leader puts us in any danger. No one fights up here, there’s no sort of warfare, no seizing of property, we party and eat nice food and marry fitting griffons from other Houses. That’s it.”

“I think I’d go crazy if I lived here then. It sounds really… well, boring, sorry.” Rainbow Dash said.

“I for one enjoy having to do nothing while getting to dine on exquisite food and insulting my obnoxious neighbors,” Glaive grinned.

“And I can think of worse ways to live,” Gordon added.

“Whatever,” Rainbow shrugged. “Not like I really know what it’s like to live here. Don’t know what things would be like for me if I was expected to, like, become a Princess too one day or something.” She shuddered at the thought. “That’d just be weird.”

After that the three of them flew at a leisurely pace towards the next castle, with Rainbow Dash looking around at any other mountains and buildings they passed up here among the clouds. Occasionally she spotted other griffons out flying and some in the buildings and homes that weren’t one of the castles of the five main Houses. When they got closer to the Lightfeather’s castle, Rainbow could see some specks out flying around it. Once they had gotten a little closer the specks also seemed to notice them and flew out to meet them halfway.

“And there’s our welcoming party,” Glaive said.

Rainbow Dash watched as three griffons from House Lightfeather came to meet them in the air. All of them were guys as far as she could tell and they came to a halt right before Rainbow, Glaive, and Gordon with smiles on their faces.

“I say, is this two of the louts from House Stormwing come out along with their no name guest?” The one in the middle asked.

Before Rainbow Dash could respond to that, Gordon put a talon in front of her and Glaive spoke up instead.

“And is this the three nincompoops of House Lightfeather, so disregarded by their elder brother that they have nothing better to do but come out here and debase themselves?”

The Lightfeather on the right chortled and raised a disapproving eyebrow at Glaive and them. “What a poor showing from the poorest and most crass of all Houses. How unsightly, how pathetic that one brother couldn’t even bother to come out here. If we’re so low then what does that say about the family that can’t even muster three actual family members together to meet us? As much of an embarrassment as Gambien was surely it would be better if he was around?”

“My what a wordy response, did my brother’s words cut so deep?” Gordon smirked. “Well that’s to be expected by those with such an inferiority complex, knowing you don’t even have a chance to become leader of your house because of how much smarter and better your brother is at everything.”

“And is that Gordon speaking?” The last of the Lightfeather’s on the left said. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening, just like everyone else when you open your mouth. Even your own family.”

The eyes of the griffons now turned to Rainbow Dash.

“Oh!” She pointed to herself. “It’s my turn?”

“Yes,” Glaive nodded.

“Uh, okay… one second,” Rainbow Dash bit her lip and looked at the three from House Lightfeather. What was something she could say about them? “Sooo, you guys spend your time insulting each other for sport, but that’s the best you’ve got? I’ve heard better insults from a parrot. Is that the best House Lightfeather can do? Oh, wait, I know it’s not cause you’re not the best from House Lightfeather, are you?”

Gordon and Glaive both chuckled and clapped for her while even the three griffons from Lightfeather shot her appraising grins.

“My, my, the flying rainbow speaks with strong words. Not half as strong as those garish colors that make up her mane and tail, but strong nonetheless,” the center one said again to her before flicking his eyes over to Glaive and Gordon. “Perhaps she should just replace the both of you when it comes to volleying insults? Sounds like she’d do a better job than you two guttersnipes.”

“You feather-brained, squirrel-chasing, snow-eating, dullards, you wouldn’t know what a good insult is if it came up and bit your pompous, fat, bottoms,” Glaive taunted. It seems cleverness was being thrown out for basic name calling.

“The more you open your mouth the more I’m amazed at how many words your pea-brained, sun-addled, clipped-wing, up-side down sleeping, mountain-sick, dirt-loving, tree bark-sniffing self can put together!” The next Lightfeather responded.

Gordon snorted and shook his head. “House Lightfeather itself must be weeping to have the three of you as part of its family. I estimate that if we give it just one year you’ll be a bigger embarrassment to your House than Gambien is to ours.”

“Says one of the heirs mocked by every griffon in the city,” the last Lightfeather started again. “A group of losers, bug-eating, cliff-clinging, lead-winged, rain-scared, fried-chicken, losers!”

Now it was Rainbow Dash’s turn again. She smiled before she let loose. “Boy I’m not impressed with these insults. I hope the other House’s have people who know how to throw around insults for real, you Lightfeather guys are just a bunch of lame-tongued, beak-tied, wobbly-winged, talonless, talentless, joke-brained, hole-in-the-ground, mole-envying lame-os!”

It went on and on for quite a bit after that. Rainbow Dash had numerous turns to volley insults of her own and she picked up quite a few choice good ones from the others. This may not have been an adventure per se but she was certainly enjoying herself, she had to admit. Maybe she’d accompany them again when they went to trade insults with the next House. For the rest of the day there was still some other stuff she wanted to do and explore.

Snow Griffons VI

An observatory had been mentioned and even though Rainbow Dash wasn’t big on stars or astronomy it still sounded like the most interesting place to check out in these mountains. The observatory was in the middle of the mountains that the griffons called home, she had gotten the directions from Glaive and Gordon, and now she made her way towards it. It sat on a relatively smaller mountain peak that didn’t have as much room to build on. So the observatory itself was only about the size of an ordinary house and it took up the entire peak. The top was domed but she didn’t see any telescope poking out of it just yet, it must have to open up first.

Rainbow Dash flew to it and looked around the sides for an entrance, finally seeing a landing on the opposite side with a railing on it and a door leading into the observatory. Rainbow Dash floated over to it and landed, resting her wings for a second before walking up and knocking on the door. It was a solid knock but she didn’t get an answer or hear any movement inside. She frowned and knocked even harder. Still nothing.

“Oh whatever...” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and grabbed the door handle, opening it up on her own.

When she stepped in she took a look around the griffon observatory. It was all one big room, the center of the floor dominated by a raised platform where the currently receded telescope stood, the sides full of cabinets overflowing with charts and journals, decorative stars and a night sky painted on the dome ceiling, and a single table to the side where an absolutely ancient griffon sat. Snoring.

“Are you asleep?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and walked over to him. A lot of his feathers were missing and wrinkles dominated his features, he was probably the most elderly griffon she had seen before. And he was indeed in a deep sleep that Rainbow Dash couldn’t snap him out of even by repeatedly poking him. “Come on, dude, get up already.”

He only snorted slightly and shuffled in his seat, turning away from her. Rainbow Dash frowned and started to shake him by the shoulders but he still only kept snoring. It was good he was clearly just sleeping or she’d worry he was dead with how heavy of a sleeper he was.

But this was getting a little ridiculous. Rainbow Dash grit her teeth in frustration and leaned in close to his ear. “Wake up!”

The yell echoed throughout the entire observatory and more than anything echoed loudly inside the griffon’s head. He squawked in surprise and leaped up out of his chair, feathers falling from his plumage, and tripped over his own talons to fall to the floor. Rainbow Dash winced and stared down at him in concern, grimacing with her hooves held up to her chin.

“Oops… uh, are you okay there, buddy?” She asked the griffon astronomer.

“I was okay,” he said as he slowly picked himself up off the floor and stared at her over his table. “Until I was so rudely awoken. Now who might you be?”

“My name’s Rainbow Dash, I’m kind of just visiting here and wanted to check out the observatory,” she shrugged.

“Here? As in our whole domain?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yeah, I’m from pretty far away. Been on a really long trip and a big adventure. Right now I’m staying at the castle for House Stormwing,” she pointed a wing back at the wall in the general direction of the castle.

“I see, you’re no ordinary visitor then. And we hardly ever get any ponies here to begin with,” the astronomer said as he stood up straighter, dusting himself off and walking around the table. “You said you wanted to check out the observatory, does that mean you have an interest in the stars and astronomy?”

“Uhh… not really,” she awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck and looked away. “I’m exploring and checking out everything here and from what I was told about the observatory just sounded like the most interesting thing. I wasn’t told too much about anything up here.”

“Very well,” the old griffon rolled his eyes. “You picked the wrong time to come to an observatory anyways. It’s too early to look out and see the stars, we need to wait for night to roll around. And who knows if the sky will be clear enough in the first place.”

“So do you just look at the stars then? What for?” Rainbow asked.

“To find new constellations, to map the paths of comets, discover things like nebulae and other heavenly bodies, that kind of thing.” He told her.

“But… why?” Rainbow asked again.

The old griffon snorted. “I suppose to you there might not be much interest but to some, like me, looking up at those stars has meaning and value all in its own. It’s a wonderful, endless, ocean up there.” He then shot her a bored frown. “But if you truly wish for a practical use, astronomical charts have been used by explorers to figure out their location by looking at the stars and constellations in the sky for ages. Not as useful anymore, but still, there it is.”

“I guess that’s kind of cool… and uh, sorry for belittling your hobby and everything, I didn’t mean to come off that way.” Rainbow Dash apologized. It was true too, with all the myriad interests her friends had and all the times she had to walk in their horseshoes she wouldn’t just insult someone’s passion like that. She learned that lesson after reading her first Daring Do book. And she’d never want someone to insult her for her love of that or her obsession with racing and the Wonderbolts.

She could picture some kid looking up and asking her “Why?” too.

“It’s fine, I know the life of astronomy and gazing up at far away stars through a telescope isn’t for everyone,” the griffon replied, a wistful tone in his voice.

“Yeah, I’ll admit to liking more active things for the most part,” Rainbow Dash said. “So what’s your name? Is there really nothing around here to do until night time?”

“More or less, that’s why I was asleep. And because I hardly get any visitors here,” he grumbled before looking over at her and reaching out a talon. “My name is Gabriel.”

Rainbow Dash shook it and smiled. “Nice to meet you, dude.”

“Likewise I suppose. It’s not like I was doing anything besides sleeping,” Gabriel said.

“You don’t even get visited much by the griffons here?” Rainbow asked.

Gabriel shook his head. “They don’t particularly care either, so long as I do my job, update any charts that need updating, and so forth. They have their own lives and the stars aren’t their concern.”

“Geez, sorry dude but it sounds pretty lonely up here,” she said.

“Oh I won’t deny that, but I’m used to it.”

Rainbow Dash frowned and looked around the observatory. “Do you actually live in here too?”

Gabriel nodded. “Yep, there’s a trapdoor on the other side of the platform with the telescope. It leads down to an apartment. Got my own bed and everything, it’s actually pretty cozy.”

“More power to you then, I guess. How many years have you been living in here?”

“Hmm...” he looked up for a second in thought. “Couldn’t say… been so long I can’t remember exactly when I took up residence in here. I was always working at the observatory even as a child, helping out my predecessor, I think I moved in as soon as he passed away but I couldn’t tell you how many years ago that was. A long time for sure.”

“What are you going to do when you… you know? Do you have a student?” Rainbow asked.

“Not in the slightest! None of the brats here have shown any interest in working at this observatory,” Gabriel laughed. “One of the Houses will just force someone to be a replacement.”

“Well that’s at least something I guess,” Rainbow shrugged.

“As long as the observatory is looked after I won’t be upset. Someone else who cares and loves the stars as much as I do will come around again eventually,” Gabriel said, that wistfulness back in his voice.

He trailed off after that, looking up at the painted ceiling of the dome while Rainbow Dash watched him. She wondered what he was thinking about but instead of asking him she decided to look up at those stars too. Maybe she could see and feel the same things he did. Rainbow Dash attempted to imagine it as an actual night’s sky but it was a little difficult. The stars didn’t make a constellation and the sky was just a deep blue color instead of the black it should be. Try as she might she couldn’t lose herself in these stars like Gabriel could.

After a few minutes though the griffon snapped back to reality. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, didn’t really have any more questions or anything to talk about anyways,” Rainbow said.

“Hmm...” Gabriel hummed and tapped a talon under his beak. “That being said… would you like to see something?”

“Sure, what?” Rainbow said, raising a single eyebrow at him.

“Just a moment,” Gabriel smiled and then went over to the cabinets that ringed the whole floor of the observatory. He started rummaging through them and carelessly tossing out scrolls and books from inside them onto the floor. Rainbow Dash watched as he went from cabinet to cabinet muttering to himself. “No, no, no… where is it? It should be somewhere around here...”

“Uhh, need any help?” Rainbow asked.

He waved a talon back at her. “Not at all, just stay right there, I’ll find it in just a moment.”

Gabriel was turning the observatory into a mess with how fervently he was searching for whatever he was. Rainbow Dash was honestly thinking of quietly slinking out of the room while his back was turned if this kept up for too much longer. The old griffon had entirely lost himself in the search, humming to himself while more and more things were tossed out, one book even thrown so that Rainbow Dash had to duck her head out of the way. At last he stopped his frantic searching and pulled out a single folded up chart.

“Aha!” Gabriel shouted and held it up high.

“Looks like a chart. Or a poster,” Rainbow Dash looked up at it, somewhat unimpressed.

“It is a chart, but a very special one,” Gabriel said with a smile and brought it over to the table, unfolding it out and spreading it over the furniture.

Rainbow Dash looked it over and saw that it was a chart of numerous constellations, all of them perfectly drawn and recorded across the night sky. But it was a little off, they were only drawn inside of a semicircle on the chart. Rainbow wasn’t sure exactly what it meant. The more she looked at it the more she noticed how some of the constellations were a little more faded than others, as if the chart wasn’t drawn at once but over a long period of time and more and more constellations got added as it went on. The paper it was on in general looked pretty worn and old too. Rainbow Dash could see a lot of tears at the edges and pieces flaking off.

“This chart shows every constellation of note that can be seen from this observatory. It was compiled and completed over decades of work,” Gabriel proudly stated. “It’s far older than even I am. As you can see it’s hardly a full map of the sky but it is a full map of the sky as seen from the northern hemisphere of this planet! Depending on the time of the year you can look up and see all of those constellations from here. It’s marvelous.”

It was pretty cool knowing so many griffons had worked to make this thing. Twilight would definitely think it was awesome, she could appreciate this way more. But Rainbow Dash could appreciate the hard work and passion that went into it too. The observatory must’ve really been standing here for ages and these griffons did something that Rainbow Dash frankly wasn’t sure anyone else in the True North had done or even cared about doing. It was impressive.

Rainbow Dash grinned at him. “Yeah, that’s actually pretty awesome, Gabriel. You guys have worked really hard up here.”

“And it’s why I’m going to keep working in this observatory and search for more and more wonders of the sky,” he puffed out his chest… and then started coughing, his age catching up with him.

“Woah, easy there, buddy,” Rainbow Dash chuckled and patted him on the back.

“Thank you,” he smiled back at her. “Er, if you wish you can look over this chart all you want. I’m not really sure where you’re going or what you’re doing but if you’re ever lost you can look up at the night sky and try and judge your position based on the constellations you see.”

“Thanks but considering what I’m doing I’m not sure I really need that,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

Gabriel nodded. “Fair enough.”

“Also I think I’m gonna get going now, it was cool to see your observatory again but I’ve got more stuff to check out.”

“Like what?” He honestly asked.

“Uhh...” Rainbow Dash stammered, actually he had a point. She didn’t really have any plans for anything nor was she crunched for time. She didn’t even know how many days she would actually bother staying here. “Actually never mind. I don’t really have anything else to do today. Not really.”

A wide grin split his beak and he clapped a talon on her shoulder. “Then if I could make a suggestion? Won’t you please join me tonight for a viewing of the stars? It will be a while till nightfall but why not spend it here if you didn’t have any real plans in the first place? I’m certain we’ll both have a magnificent time. Perhaps I can even give you an appreciation of those heavenly bodies. And if we need to pass the time until the stars are ready to view, I’m certain you have stories to tell?”

Rainbow Dash matched his own grin with a very wide and smug one of her own. “Oh yeah, you’re right about that.”

Snow Griffons VII

The following evening had Rainbow Dash attend another big dinner with Galia and the other members of House Stormwing. Last night was a long one with her staying at the observatory with Gabriel for hours until she finally flew back to the castle and made it to her room. The temperatures outside when she had been flying back were below freezing and Rainbow Dash felt herself lucky that she hadn’t caught a cold. At least the blankets of the bed had functioned well enough for comfort and heat.

Because of how late it was when she finally got back she fell asleep nearly instantly once she stopped shivering from the cold. She ended up waking quite late because of the long night though and missed breakfast, having to again get herself a snack all alone down at the kitchens. Nobody was still at the bathhouse when she made it there either. She ended up bathing alone and taking an extra amount of time just kind of lying in the hot water, still a little tired after the previous evening.

At least Gwenyth would be happy to know she was still bathing once a day. That was a lot better than Rainbow Dash’s usual average.

It was already way past noon by the time she got out of the bath and most everyone else in the castle was either away or had their own thing to do. So Rainbow Dash saw it as prime chillaxing time. Instead of going to that other patio she had already found, Rainbow Dash went up to the top of the castle’s highest tower. It was nice and secluded in its own way, gave her a commanding view of the entire griffon domain, and it had been cleaned off by the servants.

It was also incredibly cold. The weather today was colder and windier than it had been so far up here, even if there wasn’t much snow left on the tower there was still a layer of ice and newly forming ice over a lot of it. If Rainbow Dash really wanted to chillax up here she would’ve had to bring up a fire. Or her own igloo.

So unfortunately she ended up leaving the tower and headed back inside. It was not a day where she wanted to be out if she could avoid it. And since she didn’t have anything else to do or anyone to meet up with today she just went back to her room. She could wait until it was dinnertime and go down to eat with everyone again. At that point she lit up the brazier to get as much heat as possible in the room and curled up in her cocoon of blankets. She hoped she was able to only nap for a couple of hours and wouldn’t sleep past dinner or anything too. It wouldn’t have been the first time she did something like that.

Luckily for her her stomach had indeed told her when to wake back up. And when Rainbow Dash went back down the tower into the main part of the castle she bumped into Galia and was invited to dinner.

So that takes us to the present where Rainbow Dash was now eyeing a pea soup that smelled a lot spicier than peas were supposed to be. Were there peppers in there? How did they get peppers in a place like this? Scratch that. How did they get peas in a place like this? Rainbow Dash didn’t know and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Maybe it was some kind of secret griffon magic. Either way she grabbed her spoon with her wing and took a big gulp of it.

The soup was the exact opposite of the weather outside. Hot.

Very, very, hot.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes watered as she felt her lips and tongue burn, but she didn’t cry out or immediately go for the water. She wanted to look tough and if she had a reaction like that it would’ve been totally lame. So as painful as it was she just sat there while the fiery feeling in her mouth grew and grew. It was only the relative temperature of the dining room that kept her from breaking out in a sweat.

And to make sure the masquerade wasn’t discovered she drank another spoonful of soup. It was not a good idea.

“Are you enjoying the soup, Rainbow Dash?” Genna asked her. It was an innocent question, she had no idea the turmoil Rainbow Dash was going through on the inside.

“Y-Yep...” Rainbow Dash shakily nodded and smiled at the griffon, hoping her lips weren’t red.

Genna smiled back. “I’m glad you like it, that soup is my favorite.”

“It’s really special,” Dash managed to say before reaching for a roll of bread to try and stifle the heat. It worked a little bit. Her throat was burning too as she tried to swallow it all down but at least no one had seemed to notice.

“I’m sure you’ll enjoy eating our food for however many more days you feel like it,” Gwenyth said while making a pointed decision to not actually look at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash knew what she really meant by those words and flatly stared back at her. “Who knows?”

“Do you normally eat such extravagant meals back in your homeland? What was it called?” Gale asked her.

“Equestria. And not really. I like big meals and stuff and I could definitely have more if I wanted to but I’m fine with eating normally most of the time. Especially since I want to keep in shape,” Rainbow said.

“I see getting to enjoy lavish meals like this whenever we want as a privilege of being born into a House,” Gale shrugged. “So if the opportunity is here I’m never going to forsake it.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes (Glenn and Genna did the same, while the rest at the table weren’t really paying attention) and resumed eating some more food. These griffons weren’t exactly all the hoity-toity rich type she was used to seeing in Canterlot but they weren’t the most down to earth or charitable creatures either. Kind of like how griffons had been back in Griffonstone before Dash and Pinkie helped Gilda bring the magic of friendship back to them.

Well Rainbow wouldn’t have been totally against doing that here too. It would be an adventure as well, just a different sort of one from what she really wanted.

All she could really think of doing was making Glaive, or perhaps Gordon or Glenn, care about becoming leader of their House. That could at least partially solve the problems here and heal House Stormwing. She wasn’t exactly sure why Glaive came to her mind first. He just came off as the most assertive of his brothers, the one likely to take charge and be a leader even if maybe he wasn’t the one most fit for the job. The thing is he just didn’t seem to care about growing up. Rainbow Dash would’ve thought it was cool to become the leader of an ancient, important House like this but obviously Glaive didn’t see eye to eye with her on that. She started tapping her hoof next to her plate before glancing down the table at Galia.

“Hey, Galia?” Rainbow Dash asked her host.

The temporary matriarch looked up from her food, a half eaten rodent of some sort, and raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. “Yes?”

“How did you griffons get up here? How long ago was it? You know about Griffonstone and Equestria and everything so I’m just wondering what your story is.”

“Well we did branch off from the griffons of Griffonstone a long time ago. Shortly after the founding of Equestria. The complete history can be found in our library if you’re really interested but honestly I don’t think there’s much of a story to tell,” she said.

“Oh. Well uh, why did you guys come up here?” Rainbow implored. “And also… did your ancestors have to find their way through the wasteland to the south? And that huge cliff that blocks everything off?”

Galia gave her a questioning look, puzzlement showing itself on her face. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. There’s no record of any such thing in our histories.”

“That’s… weird,” Rainbow Dash frowned. “For me to get up north here from Equestria I had to fly over this huge wasteland where nothing grew and then into this one narrow passage through these tall cliffs. If you griffons didn’t have to do that I wonder if you came up another way. Or maybe it wasn’t always there?” She knew the yaks were cast out of the True North hundreds of years ago and the barrier and wasteland existed then, but if Galia was right and the griffons came up slightly after Equestria was founded then that was well over 1,000 years ago. That was one part of history she at least wasn’t totally ignorant of.

“I don’t know to be honest,” Galia shrugged. “But to answer your other question the reason we left Griffonstone originally was due to essentially losing an argument over where our kingdom should be centered. My ancestors wanted us on the peaks of the tallest mountains. The ones who stayed in Griffonstone didn’t. And uh… things became slightly violent, kind of a griffon thing, the lines were drawn, and at the end of it we left. We weren’t cast out or exiled, we willingly left, it just wasn’t very amicable.”

“Sorry about all that,” Dash said.

Galia grunted, and then her eyes narrowed and she glared at her brothers and sisters. “And I bet it’s the first time any of these layabouts have learned about that too!”

Glaive just rolled his eyes and popped a biscuit into his mouth, chewing on it while he responded to her accusations. “So what? History is boring and the important part is that we’re here anyways.”

“Those who don’t learn the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them. Things might be nice but one day something bad could happen and you might end up having to fly off and look for a new home,” Galia sharply pointed a talon at him. “You wouldn’t like that would you? Forced to do something so unpleasant, where you can’t just rely on your servants or expect to have a nice meal every day?”

“Of course I wouldn’t like that but that’s not reality so there,” Glaive smugly retorted and tossed another biscuit into his mouth.

“Imbecile,” Galia shook her head. She then looked at the other five. “The lot of you are the same, no sense of duty, no worries, just carefree, not forward-thinking at all. It’s disgraceful.”

Rainbow Dash awkwardly ate the various breads and salads around her while the griffons argued with each other. She didn’t exactly want to butt in on what was essentially just a family squabble. She made sure to keep away from that pea soup though. The other griffons though… aside from Glenn and maybe Genna they really came off like a bunch of spoiled and entitled brats. They really weren’t interested in any of this? Gwenyth wasn’t paying attention at all, Gale looked like she was annoyed—or possibly feeling even a little guilty, Gordon was just eating with a kind of sad look in his eyes, Genna and Glenn were both looking at Glaive and Galia as they continued their argument.

“Haaahhh~” Glaive yawned and leaned back in his seat, acting as lackadaisical on purpose just to annoy his big sister. “Your lectures always make me so tired.”

“You’d be smart to listen to them or something else might make you dead,” Galia threatened.

“I’ll take that chance,” Glaive said.

“Why do I even bother,” Galia sighed and went back to eating her food, much to the joy of Glaive and some of the others.

It looked like things were going to just go back to normal, but then a griffon who hadn’t spoken once in Rainbow Dash’s presence decided to add his two bits as well.

“You should be more receptive to what your sister is saying,” Greely said. His voice was old and tired and—even though he was still clearly annoyed—even Glaive didn’t interrupt or say anything rude while he was talking. “Everything you have was built on the backs of your ancestors… don’t just spit on their memories… they had to live much harder lives than you. You owe them respect for allowing you to have such peace. A lot was sacrificed to make this haven for us griffons up here...” His voice trailed off after that, the old castellan becoming tired and returning to eating a porridge he had in front of his seat.

That at least sobered the other griffons. None of them wanted to speak out against their elder and some of them even looked a little ashamed. Rainbow Dash doubted it would lead to a sweeping change in attitude for Glaive or anyone but at least it showed they could have some respect when it was appropriate. And tomorrow was yet another day, maybe something would happen or Rainbow Dash could help them realize that they could be so much more than what they were. They should be able to live up to the griffons of old and make them proud.

Snow Griffons VIII

“We’re having a dance?”

“It’s a ball, officially.”

Rainbow Dash had actually been woken up by Galia this morning so the griffon matriarch could tell her about what was going on. It was a surprise to Dash—who had been planning on sleeping well past noon—for a multitude of reasons. She didn’t really expect this kind of thing from griffons in general and these guys didn’t seem like they really engaged in this kind of sociable stuff. Even though these northern griffons and Houses were kind of noble and fancy they just didn’t get along well enough from what she had seen. Glenn wrote about parties and stuff in his stories, but those were romanticized, weren’t they?

“And I’m invited?” Rainbow Dash asked her as she threw off the covers and hopped out of bed.

“We’re bringing you along. If you want to come of course,” Galia said.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I didn’t have any other plans for today. Not really.”

“Excellent, you’ll be a real treat at the ball. Be prepared to get dance requests from many griffons,” Galia told her.

“Oh,” Rainbow Dash frowned. “Well, uh, alright.”

“You do know how to dance, don’t you?”

“Yeah, it’s just not my most favorite thing or anything like that. But I can do it. So who’s going to be at this ball? Is it being held here?” Rainbow asked.

Galia shook her head. “Of course not, there’s not enough room at any of our castles. And everyone—every family member I should say—from the five Houses are going to be there. I don’t know how much longer you’ll be staying up here but this is an opportunity for you to meet everyone of import.”

So nobody not in one of the Houses is important to you? Rainbow Dash thought. That kind of thing rubbed her the wrong way, especially after the fun she had had with Gabriel. But that’s just how these types were. Rarity was annoyed about that kind of thing too, always saying that Fancy Pants was one of the few from Canterlot’s royal elite that wasn’t such a snob.

Rainbow Dash took a deep yawn, she was too tired to pick a fight over something as lame as this. “Okay, let’s go to the ball then.”

“Well it’s not for a few more hours. I just woke you up now so you could get ready. And I still have to gather up the hooligans that make up my brothers and sisters, which will take me some time,” she said.

“Yeah I can definitely imagine that...” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck.

“If you go take a bath and freshen up, Greely will come back to fetch you later,” Galia told her.

“Great,” Rainbow nodded.

The bath was totally empty this time. Galia hadn’t been joking about having to gather up the others, they probably had known about this ball far longer than Rainbow Dash and clearly didn’t have a great desire to go to it. Gale, Gwenyth, and Genna, despite their love of cleanliness, weren’t around at all. And she hadn’t seen a one of them or the three brothers on her way down here. Rainbow still wasn’t exactly in love with bathing or anything either and with no one around to talk to she only took a quick dip and got back out to dry off and take care of whatever else she needed to do. Since she didn’t know if the ball was going to be catered she decided to stop off at the kitchens and grab a bite to eat too. And if it was being catered well she could still fit plenty of food in her stomach.

As she made it back to her room now to wait for Greely she idly wondered if this was a normal thing up here that happened all the time or if one of the Houses set it up only recently. She was also a bit suspicious that maybe someone had gotten wind of her and that’s why this was going on. Although Galia’s reaction to her when they first met kind of threw water on that idea. She hadn’t really cared that much about who Dash was or where she came from. More than her siblings but that really wasn’t saying much at all.

So Rainbow Dash made sure to stretch and relax a little and sure enough it was only a few hours after she returned that Greely came to get her.

“You coming to the ball too?” She asked the old griffon.

He slowly shook his head before a sudden coughing fit overtook him, coughing so hard that a number of his feathers came out and Rainbow Dash worriedly fluttered over to steady him. “N-No… not me.”

“You know, I was going to ask why but I think I can kind of guess,” Dash said.

“Mmm, just a little bit too old for dancing. Even the slow waltzing that you’ll see at the ball,” Greely answered. “I need my rest...”

“Yeah dude, no offense, but you look like you need it. You want me to help you back to your room? Or just down the stairs?” She offered.

Greely was happy to accept. “If you would be so kind...”

She helped the old castellan to his chambers and then made her way out to the little courtyard in front of the castle per his instructions. Everyone else was already there, although none of them looked happy. Glenn and Genna were probably in the best mood and they only showed total ambivalence and apathy on their faces while the others were annoyed and tired. Especially Galia. She sported a nasty glare on her face and her eyes narrowed every time they landed on Glaive.

“Uh, hey?” Rainbow Dash waved to them as she came out, hoping the mood could lighten a little.

Galia’s ears perked up and she looked over at her. “Oh, good, you’re here. We can head to the ball now.” Her voice was still strained a little but she was attempting to still be polite to Dash.

“Alright,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “So where is it, anyways?”

“The ball is held on a large platform built on top of one of the mountains near the northern edge of our domain. It’s used specifically for large functions such as this. I think you’ll find it very nice,” Galia explained.

Rainbow Dash grinned and flew up from the ground. “Cool! I’m about to show you griffons how to dance!”

Well as it turned out the terms “ball” and “party” had a pretty big distinction. A party would’ve been a lot more casual and wild and Rainbow Dash really would’ve cut loose. A ball unfortunately was very, very, formal. Slow dancing (“waltzing” as Greely had called it) seemed to be all they were doing or allowed at the ball. Not that Rainbow Dash couldn’t do that either but she liked faster dancing, like what she got to enjoy with Dust Bunny down in their little underground city.

Galia was right about the place being nice though. It was a huge stone platform supported by a number of beams going from its underside to the sides of the thin mountain. The surface on top looked like polished and incredibly smooth marble—perfect for dancing—and the outer edges were covered in pretty bushes and planters with luscious leaves and flowers growing from them. Vines even cascaded off the sides dozens of feet down off the platform. It made it almost look like a high up sky garden or something.

There were already dozens of griffons around it too, either flying above and around it or some who had already landed and were mingling with each other.

Of course they noticed her immediately but unlike some places she didn’t get suddenly mobbed. The griffons of the other Houses allowed her and the group of House Stormwing to land peacefully. Apparently Rainbow Dash was just going to be a quaint source of amusement here, though she was indeed still prepared to be asked to dance quite a bit.

“None of you better make fools of yourself here,” Galia said to the others. “There is a time and place for insult trading and a time and place for civil and courteous behavior. This is the latter. I want you all dancing and engaging in pleasant conversation with heirs and family members of other Houses in minutes. Do you understand?”

“We get it, Galia. This is not our first ball,” Glaive said, irritation dripping from his voice.

“Then hurry up and get out there,” she growled and shooed them off before turning to Rainbow Dash. “You can just mingle and do whatever you want, someone from one of the other Houses will ask you to dance soon enough.”

“Sounds like a blast,” Rainbow sarcastically quipped.

Galia just grumbled in response and the two of them stood there on the edge of the marble dance floor, waiting for some griffon to show up and offer them a dance. In the meantime Rainbow Dash watched the center of the dance floor, there was a large ring of griffons all dancing in unison while other couples stayed on the outside. Now that she was here she could also see how many of them were wearing things like tophats and well-pressed suits. Something totally absent from her griffons of House Stormwing. She would’ve asked Galia why that was the case but she already knew that answer—Glaive and the others would come here quietly but you sure as Tartarus weren’t getting them to dress up for it.

The more Rainbow Dash stood here and watched the “waltzing” the more she wished she could magically trade places with Rarity for the rest of the day.

Or Applejack. Because that would be funny.

Galia was right though, just as Rainbow Dash was starting to get a little bored a couple of griffons flew down from the sky and landed in front of Dash and Galia. Both of them were guys and one of them was middle-aged while the other looked closer to Galia’s age. The older one actually had quite the elaborate tuxedo on with a fancy bowtie at his neck and a lapel so sharp it looked like it could cut glass. The younger one merely had a black hat and a pair of gold-rimmed eyeglasses that he wore on top of a fake smile.

“Hello, how are you two lovely ladies enjoying the ball so far?” The older one said and took a slight bow.

While Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, Galia did the exact opposite. All traces of annoyance were totally gone from her as she put on a happy smile and giggled at the two griffons. It was such a shocking change that Dash had to fight to keep her jaw from dropping open.

“Lord Razorbeak, you’re always so kind,” Galia said, a blush appearing on her face. “We’re having a wonderful time.”

“Splendid, splendid, my son and I just arrived and when we saw the two of you still alone we had to come over,” Lord Razorbeak said. “It is dreadful to think you ladies weren’t asked by any others to dance immediately upon arrival.” His keen eyes peeked over to Rainbow Dash. “And please allow me to properly introduce myself to you. We have all read about you thanks to the pleasant letters sent by Galia here but this is our first true meeting. I am Lord of House Razorbeak and this is my son and heir, Gunther.”

“Charmed,” Gunther said, nasally, his head dipping in a slight bow similar to his father.

“Nice to meet you two,” Rainbow Dash said as pleasantly and measured as she could manage, waving a hoof at them.

Lord Razorbeak smiled at her. “Of course. So would you two ladies care for a dance? Galia, you can dance with Gunther and I shall dance with our pony guest here.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him. She didn’t know why he would be dancing with her, didn’t he have a wife? She had figured griffons like Glaive, Glenn, and Gordon would be dancing with her. Not the actual heads of the big Houses. And Galia was the de facto head of House Stormwing right now so why wouldn’t he dance with her? Rainbow shot a sneaky glance over at Galia and Gunther, the male griffon sporting a lecherous look on his face.

Oh.

Creating new bonds and marriage alliances between Houses, huh?

Lord Razorbeak then offered her a talon and Rainbow Dash took it while Gunther did the same with Galia. The group of four now walking out to dance.

“Do you know how to dance like this?” Lord Razorbeak asked her.

“I can pick it up quickly,” Rainbow replied. “Just start us off.”

“Very well,” he smiled and pulled her between two other dancing couples, grasping her right hoof tightly while placing his other talon on her left shoulder.

Rainbow Dash responded how she needed to and worked her hooves so she could follow along to his movements. Thankfully he was leading so all she really had to do was keep up with him. And after watching the other griffons waltz around before this she had a decent enough idea of what their dance was like. She could handle it.

The two of them perfectly weaved into the larger group, flowing along and waltzing like any other pair out there. It still wasn’t her preferred dance but it beat standing around.

“Once we’re done members from House Snowfall, Lightfeather, and Frozenflower will surely come to ask you to dance as well,” Lord Razorbeak said. He then leaned in closer to whisper. “If I’m being perfectly honest though none of us are too interested in you, we’re only doing it for face and to project politeness.”

Rainbow Dash wryly grinned. “I had actually kind of figured that, dude.”

The older griffon held back a snort of amusement. “It was too good an opportunity to pass up, to force my dear contemporaries to dance with you less they look bad. My apologies.”

“Don’t worry about it, I don’t hate dancing or anything,” Dash said.

“You do seem to have a decent knack for it,” he said.

“Thanks,” she grinned and the two of them kept waltzing together for a bit longer until she decided to ask him about Gunther and Galia. “So are you like—trying to set your son up with Galia?”

“Yes, actually,” Lord Razorbeak answered totally shamelessly. “She may not be the real head of House Stormwing but she’s an important griffon. Daughter of a previous leader and sister to the future one. I’d love to have her marry my son, it would strengthen the bonds between our Houses.”

“No offense but I don’t think that plan of yours is going anywhere,” Rainbow grimaced as she looked over at Galia and Gunther dancing. While her face may gave been pleasant, Galia’s body language was showing something else.

“I’m aware she has little to no interest in such a thing at the moment—regardless of who it is going after her—she’s much too invested in getting House Stormwing stable. But that doesn’t mean I can’t try and plant the seeds for after those things are taken care of,” Lord Razorbeak shrugged.

“Fair enough. She seems pretty into your guys’s traditions and culture up here. At least enough that she’s always ragging on her brothers and sisters for not living up to it,” Rainbow Dash told him.

“Well we all hope House Stormwing will fix its problem… more or less. We aren’t exactly close or friends or anything, none of the Houses are, but we’re all in this together,” Lord Razorbeak said.

“You guys could always work on that part you know? I’m from Equestria and we’re kind of really big on the whole friendship thing. Even Griffonstone is really big on friendship nowadays,” she said.

A wider smile split across his beak. “I suppose we can consider it. But, pray tell, what else can you tell me about your home and Griffonstone? I would love to hear about them both.”

Rainbow Dash was happy to fill him in while the dancing went on, up until they had to part for the next round of waltzing. Lord Razorbeak wished her well and he and his son left her and Galia to their own devices again. It was actually a way nicer conversation and experience than Dash had been expecting to have with one of these griffons. She only hoped the others that would soon come to ask her to dance were as easygoing and upfront as Lord Razorbeak. And of course there was even less time for her to stand around now, not while there was waltzing to be done, she saw other griffons now flying down to her and Galia. Snowfall, Lightfeather, Frozenflower—she wondered which House was going to get to her next.

After having to dance with the (already married) heir of House Lightfeather and listen to him gush about his wife while Galia danced with the incredibly old and ugly brother of the current Lord, Rainbow had had enough of waltzing. She politely excused herself away from anyone else trying to dance with her and left to the edges of the ballroom platform. There she could mingle with a lot of the others who weren’t dancing either. She had already decided to find Glaive and the others because she doubted they, or most of them, were dancing either.

That thought actually turned out to be kind of wrong though. Rainbow Dash spied both Genna and Gwenyth dancing with griffons from other Houses while Glenn and Gordon were engaged in what looked like pleasant conversation with some others. That just left Glaive and Gale somewhere.

Rainbow Dash had to fly around a bit through the groups of griffons that were in the air and not dancing down on the platform to find them since she couldn’t really just butt in on the others. There were so many up here just flying and hovering around, casually talking or whatever, that Rainbow Dash was having trouble. And since she stuck out like a sore thumb and there were probably others who had to ask her to dance to keep up appearances she might end up sidetracked if she didn’t find those two quickly.

“You two didn’t go flying back to your castle, did you?” Rainbow Dash wondered to herself. She kind of doubted it though, Galia would be really mad if they did something like that.

Her eyes scanned down around the edges of the platform to see if she missed anything there but all she saw were some couples hanging out around the bushes and flowers.

Er, wait, that wasn’t quite all. It was a little tough to see because of some of the vines hanging down but Rainbow Dash could see underneath the platform where a lot of the support beams were. Two familiar griffons happened to be hovering down there, mostly out of sight of the rest.

“There they are,” Rainbow Dash grinned and began her flight down towards them. “Don’t know what you’re doing but whatever.”

When she made it to the vines and shot through them, both Glaive and Gale noticed her presence. They were surprised to see her but all Rainbow Dash did was wave.

“What’s up? Why are you two down here?” She asked them.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash,” Gale said before shrugging. “No real reason, we just didn’t want to dance.”

“We’ll come up later and do one or two dances that we have to but otherwise it’s too much of a bother,” Glaive grumpily said.

“I guess as long as you haven’t outright ditched Galia wont be too mad,” Rainbow said.

“Mrm,” Glaive grumbled.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him. “Something wrong?”

Glaive shared a look with Gale for a brief moment before she waved her talon, motioning him to talk. The pompous, and yet flighty, griffon sighed before affixing Rainbow Dash with a bothered gaze.

“If I’m being totally honest, yes. I hate to say this and I’ve been doing my best to ignore it but ever since you came here I’ve felt… bad,” Glaive said.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but snort. “And if I’m being honest, that’s a little tough for me to believe.”

“Well it’s true. I’ve been thinking of some things. Gambien, House Stormwing, what Greely and Galia say, you. Perhaps it took an outside perspective or something to shatter our normal day to day life but I feel now how empty everything I’ve been doing is. Even the exchanging of insults with House Lightfeather didn’t cure this feeling. Instead it just made it worse after wasting my time on those louts. I want to do something that matters now. I think possibly I understand how Gambien felt and why he left—although I have no intention of following his moronic path,” Glaive said.

“You almost sound a little selfless there,” Rainbow Dash grinned.

He shrugged. “It’s true I don’t want to be selfish and cause problems like my deceased half-brother. Not anymore at least, that’s part of the strange feeling I have in me now.”

“Which you’re the source of,” Gale said to Rainbow Dash. “You and your talk of friendship, what you said about Griffonstone, how even Genna, Gordon, and Glenn like you quite a bit already, it’s all had an impact on this featherbrain here.” She hooked a talon at Glaive.

“It’s made me want to be a little… responsible,” Glaive said. He then sighed though and looked up at the underside of the platform. “That still doesn’t mean I like this kind of thing. The Heads of the other Houses will be trying to foist their daughters on me and their sons on Gale. It’s annoying.”

“Hey, it’s gonna happen at some point,” Rainbow Dash nonchalantly told him.

“Yes, thank you,” Glaive rolled his eyes.

“You’re essentially the true heir and the one who will lead House Stormwing in the near future after all, it’s only natural,” Gale told him.

“I know but I’d like to do this kind of silly matchmaking on my own terms,” Glaive said.

“If you’re actually serious about doing all this and becoming a fit ruler or whatever for your House I bet Galia would spread that news as quick as possible. I’ve only been here a few days but I know how eager she is to get House Stormwing back to normal,” Rainbow Dash said. “...which is also why I think the two of you should come back up there with me and start dancing. What do you say?”

Glaive clicked his tongue and folded his arms over his chest. “I despise the waltz.”

Rainbow Dash reached forward and patted him on the shoulder with a smirk on her face. “Yeah I get that, but how about dancing with me then so no one else bothers with you tonight?”

Glaive slowly smirked to match her. “That sounds alright.”

The group of three flew out from under the platform and joined back up with Galia, who was presently talking with some other griffons from House Lightfeather. When she saw Glaive arrive she seemed annoyed at first before phasing back into a pleasant mask for the other Houses. Rainbow Dash and Gale then went around and gathered up the other four griffons of House Stormwing and brought them together. The whole group was going to perform a waltz together and merge with the others dancing (while Rainbow Dash stuck with Glaive the whole time). It was a nice sight and they got the attention of the other members of the Houses present. House Stormwing had become the center of attention thanks to Rainbow Dash and this special waltz. While in the middle of it, Glaive silently made the decision to himself to tell Galia everything he had resolved on soon and become the true heir to the House she had always wanted one of them to be.

Author's Note

500,000 words. Another big milestone.

Snow Griffons IX

Two days after the ball, and when Rainbow Dash was considering soon leaving the domain of the northern griffons, she got to see how they conducted a funeral. Greely, the elderly castellan of House Stormwing, had quietly passed away. Rainbow Dash was planning on paying her respects to him before leaving in search of another adventure. She had spent a good deal of time here and had helped out already, and these griffons weren’t going through anything like some of the other places she had been so far on her journey. It was simply time to leave and try and find more excitement elsewhere. Like what she had always been doing.

These griffon Houses never really seemed to contain the kind of adventuring she was looking for in the first place. It had ended up being more of a side-trip than anything. Rainbow Dash didn’t regret her time here but enough days had passed and the rest of the True North was still out there before her.

But she was getting ahead of herself. It was time for the funeral and she should keep herself focused on that.

Galia led her brothers, sisters, and Rainbow Dash down deep below the castle and into the depths of the thin mountain while four servants carried the white blanket wrapped body of Greely between them. Rainbow Dash didn’t know what their final destination would be but she hoped they got there soon. It was dark down in these passages, just barely lit up by torches. Maybe they had a cemetery or crypt down here where they buried the bodies of the members of House Stormwing that passed away? She could just ask Galia but everyone else was being quiet right now so it probably wasn’t the proper time.

Rainbow Dash had already pretty much invited herself along to the funeral in the first place. When Galia woke her up and told her what had happened and what they would now be doing today she decided to tag along too. It was out of genuine respect for Greely too though. She only knew him briefly but he had been nice to her, he seemed pretty cool so this was the least she could do.

The procession continued down and down more flights of stone steps inside the mountain, the walls were left as unsculpted rock with only a single torch placed for each set of stairs. She wasn’t sure how far down they had gone yet. Maybe ten stories worth. Either way these mountains were tall enough that it still would’ve counted for close to the top of them, they were probably still in an area thick with clouds. Since Rainbow Dash was at the back of the group while they all walked in two lines to the right and left of Greely’s litter she could look up and see the faces of Glaive and the others as they walked along. Glaive’s own face was relatively blank, almost introspective as if he was deep in thought. Gale wore a sad frown, Glenn and Gordon the same, Genna looked to be thinking hard too, her brow was deeply furrowed, and lastly Gwenyth looked upset but Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure if it was over Greely’s passing or her having to do this now.

She couldn’t see Galia’s face but she imagined the “matriarch” was pretty despondent. She knew the two of them liked each other and got along well. And they were family, Rainbow Dash didn’t want to meet the creatures who didn’t get depressed at something like this.

Eventually they reached the bottom of the stairs down into the mountain and turned a corner down an archway. Rainbow Dash’s internal sense of direction said they were now walking north. There couldn’t be a lot of space to go before they hit the wall of the mountain now. She tried to stretch her neck and peek ahead but being the shortest creature here that didn’t really work too well for her. She’d just have to wait for something else to happen or for Galia to announce wherever it is they were. Her wings fluttered restlessly by her sides but she stayed on the ground, not wanting to do something that might not be appropriate during a funeral procession.

Something did come up soon though, they went past another large archway and came into a room that was actually carved and had more lanterns hung up along the walls. There seemed to be a large wooden door built into the northern wall that must lead outside and the two servants placed Greely’s still wrapped body down in front of it. The servants then went to the sides of the rooms where two large clay pots stood, pulling off the wooden lids they started fishing around inside for something while Galia took a deep sigh and turned to face her siblings and Rainbow Dash.

She looked as bad as Rainbow Dash had thought. Heavy bags were under her eyes and all the life seemed drained out of her.

“We can say our last goodbyes to Greely now and then send his body on its way,” Galia said to all of them. “I don’t mind which of you starts first but I’ll finish up.” Her eyes swiveled over to Rainbow Dash. “You can just watch and see how our burial ceremony goes, as our guest you don’t have to do or say anything if you don’t want to.”

Rainbow Dash frowned and looked at Greely’s wrapped body. “Uh, no, I’ll say something too I guess. I’ve got a few words I can say.”

Galia nodded and watched as the servants finished up getting what they needed out of the large pots and brought them back over to Greely. Some kind of canvas sheets of some sort, Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure what they were until the servants actually started tying them around Greely’s body and fluffed them up. That’s when her eyes widened as she realized what was going on.

Parachutes… they’re putting parachutes on him. Rainbow thought as she looked at the big wooden door.

It was clear now. Their “burial” ceremony was a burial at sky. That wooden door would open up right out on the side of the mountain and Greely’s body would be sent floating away. She looked at the parachutes, judging by the size of them and Greely’s weight he should fall at a steady pace towards the ground far below, coming to rest peacefully at some point as long as the wind didn’t get him. So that’s what they did with their bodies up here? Give them one last flight. She could appreciate that kind of thing.

“I’ll get this down,” Galia said as she walked up to the door. There was a lever on the left side of it that she had to crank a few times but eventually the heavy door fell down and opened up into the open sky, letting the air in while it became a slightly downward facing ramp that Greely’s body could be slid down.

Rainbow Dash had to raise a hoof to cover her face a moment as the cold air rushed in before the currents stabilized and then it was only a steady breeze. Cool wind ruffled her feathers and her mane as everyone got prepared to say what they needed to to Greely before they sent him away.

A sigh came from Glenn and he stepped up beside Greely’s covered body and placed a talon on it. “I know we never quite measured up to what you wanted but I promise we’ll get better. You were always patient with us, more than we deserved even, and you always took your role seriously. It may not look it just now but you’ve left House Stormwing in good talons, you can rest easy now.”

That was all, and as he walked away Rainbow Dash shot him an approving smile and nod.

Gwenyth actually came up next, possibly just to get it over with, and also laid a talon down on him. “Goodbye uncle, rest well now.”

It was short but she did sound genuinely somber so Rainbow Dash gave her a smile too.

The others then came out and said their pieces too with Rainbow Dash silently watching and listening along. It was an understated but sweet and respectful affair. Rainbow Dash had been to a few funerals back in Equestria and usually they had a lot more ponies at them and a lot more crying. This was different but no less valid a form of grieving and honoring one’s dead.

Glaive was the last, besides Galia herself, to come up and speak to Greely and Rainbow Dash found herself intently leaning in to see what he had to say.

“Even with us, our parents, and our older brother not making it easy for you you still always did your duty as castellan well. You stayed here at our sister’s side and acted as the steady rock she needed while our family was in turmoil. You tried to guide the rest of us and you always could silence us with a single word when we acted out of order. And you deserved to see yours and Galia’s efforts pay off, I wish you were still alive so you could see me become the heir to House Stormwing that you always wanted. Things will change around here for the better. Thank you, uncle.”

He patted him with his talon and stepped away, giving a curt nod to Galia.

She regarded him with a much more positive expression than she normally did. A little bit of the fatigue and weariness had left her eyes.

“Okay,” Galia said after taking a steadying breath. “Thank you, all of you, for your words. Rainbow Dash? You wanted to say something now too?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash nodded and walked up beside her and Greely’s body. She felt a little uncomfortable doing something so personal—that only his direct family members had done so far—but obviously it wasn’t an issue to them. She cleared her throat and placed a hoof on the covering over his body. “No speech from me or anything, I only knew you for a couple days and we only talked once or twice, but I wanted to tell you that I thought you were a pretty cool dude.”

She looked back at Galia with a raised eyebrow and got a small grin in response. Looks like she managed to not make a fool out of herself or offend them. Taking a few steps back she joined up with Glaive and the others so Galia could do her thing and then Greely’s body could be sent away.

Galia took a long look at the wrapped up body before gently laying a talon down on him and affectionately stroking the sheet before stopping. She took another great breath and closed her eyes, hanging her head low to speak. “Greely… I have so much more I wish I could say to you that I wont get the chance to anymore. You meant a lot to me, you’ll always mean a lot to me, and I hope you really knew just how much. I’ll keep doing the best I can out of respect to you. I… honestly feel like I knew you better than my own parents and brother, and I think I had a closer relationship with you than them. I’m going to miss you a lot.”

She took her talon off of him and looked over to the two servants. They acted at once, each going to one side of Greely and grasping his covers. They were pulling open the parachutes and making sure they wouldn’t catch on anything or get tangled up and not open when his body was pushed off the ramp. Working with them, Galia steadied Greely’s body and started him down the ramp while Rainbow Dash and her siblings came to look. They were all going to watch as he flew off down the mountains one last time.

His white-clad form drifted off the ramp without much more effort and dove down for a moment before the wind caught under the parachutes. Now with the two of them holding up his body he slowly and slowly floated down into the mists, only swaying slightly thanks to the fortunate weather today. Perhaps nature was being respectful too. All of them stood in the doorway and watched the body as Greely went on his last flight, they watched until he disappeared completely and then even for some time after. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure what to feel right now. She knew eventually she’d be making her last flight someday. Just hopefully not a day that was coming around anytime soon, but if it did happen she’d like to go off in a way like this.

Not even death could stop her from flying. That’s what she wanted to say.

Finally Galia thought it had been enough and she got everyone to back up from the doorway as she closed it again. “Alright, the ceremony is over, thank you all for your kind words to Greely. I’m sure he’d have been happy to hear them.” Her eyes found Rainbow Dash and she smiled. “You as well, I’m sure this isn’t exactly the kind of thing you wanted to experience up here but thank you.”

“I’m really sorry for your loss, and it’s just part of life so don’t worry about it,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Well regardless we should get back up to the castle. I’ll need to start writing a number of letters to the other Houses to inform them of Greely’s passing,” Galia said.

“Allow me,” Glaive suddenly cut in, causing the others to look at him in surprise.

“You want to write those letters?” Galia asked incredulously.

Glaive stiffly nodded. “I meant what I said to Greely. I’m going to take things more seriously and work hard to become a worthy heir. The first step is doing work that the true Head of House Stormwing should be doing.”

“I… thank you, Glaive.” Galia said, stunned.

“No need to thank me. And I can’t exactly say I’m surprised by your reaction...” He muttered.

“Well I think it’s really cool!” Rainbow Dash said and flew over to him, throwing a hoof over his shoulders. “Buddy, you’re really coming up in the world, good on ya!”

“I don’t really want to congratulate myself just yet after all the time wasted and all the awful behavior, but I’m working on it,” Glaive said. He then reached a talon up and cleared his throat. “And Galia is right that we’ve been down here long enough, this is no place for any sort of grand discussion, let’s head back up the stairs.”

They did so, traveling much faster this time and making it back to the actual castle in relatively short order. The servants were dismissed and went off to do whatever else they needed to while Rainbow Dash’s group now stood in the hall right behind the front door of the castle.

“I’ll get to work on those letters immediately, I’ll be using our father’s office that you had been using, Galia.” Glaive said.

She nodded at him in affirmation before looking at the others. “Well after that I think we should all freshen up,” Galia said. “A bath is certainly in order, would you care to join us, Rainbow Dash?”

“Please say you will,” Gwenyth insisted.

“Uh, actually...” Rainbow Dash awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck and looked away. “I’m kind of thinking of leaving. Like right now.”

The others all looked at her with surprise and confusion evident on their faces. Galia was the one who broke the silence. “But why? Is there something wrong?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No, and that’s kind of the point. You all know I’m up here for big adventures and it’s pretty clear I’m not going to find any here. It’s been fun, I’ve seen and done some cool stuff, but I need to head out and get more excitement. Also I think I already helped out a little bit, so that feels pretty good.” She grinned over at Glaive, who grinned and nodded back at her. “And I think it’s kind of funny how now you seem concerned about me leaving compared to when I first got here. No offense.”

“You’ve been a good guest, and a break in monotony,” Galia shrugged, though there was the slightest hint of a blush on her face.

“Heh, anyways, I really do gotta go and I’m really impatient so I’m going soon,” she told them.

“I was hoping we could talk about my story some more but I don’t want to be selfish and keep you either,” Glenn said, wilting under the gaze Galia sent him when he mentioned his “story”.

“I know dude but you were already doing a good job, besides I’m sure at least some of your sibling can help you out with that,” Rainbow said to him.

“I wouldn't mind, actually,” Genna said. “If you need someone to talk to about whatever it is you’re writing you can come to me, brother.”

“Thank you,” Glenn said to her.

Rainbow Dash then turned her attention to Gwenyth. “And you. Stop being so stuck up and live a little. That’s Rainbow Dash’s life lesson and it’s like—the best advice I give.”

Gwenyth merely rolled her eyes.

“Since Glaive is new to working like this and taking his life seriously he’ll probably need someone to help him. That’s where I come in,” Gordon said proudly, puffing out his chest and walking to stand side by side with his brother.

That left Gale, who walked up to Galia with a knowing grin. “And I guess I’ll get married, like a certain someone should’ve already done.”

“Put a cork in it...” Galia grumbled and pushed her away.

Rainbow Dash held back a snicker and took another look over them. She didn’t spend a lot of time here and it was way more relaxed than the rest of her journey had been but she wouldn’t be forgetting these griffons anytime soon. “I’m gonna see myself out then. All of you take care of each other and keep being awesome!”

“You too! Good luck on your adventure,” Galia said to her.

“Good luck out there, Rainbow Dash,” Glaive said and waved.

Rainbow Dash saluted the rest with a self-assured grin and opened up the door leading outside. It was a nice day, the weather was good, and adventure called to her once more. Rainbow Dash instantly shot up into the sky and looked north. She knew she was going to be at the north pole soon, there wasn’t much more to go, what would she find there? How much more fun and excitement awaited her? On course to the top of the world, Rainbow Dash blasted away out of the northern griffon’s domain leaving a rainbow trail behind in the sky.

How Far?

Rainbow Dash’s legs carried her over a frozen tundra after she made the decision to rest her wings for the day. The ground cracked beneath her hooves while above her the sun shined surprisingly brightly. Not that that did anything to diminish the intense cold of the tundra but at least it didn’t make it worse. Her hooves were a little numb from walking over the permafrost and a chilly breeze was already blowing at her, making her shiver and her teeth clatter each time. It was funny to her that now she wasn’t walking or flying over huge drifts of snow and yet it was still just as cold as anywhere in the True North.

The tundra was hardly flat either, plenty of hills rolled up and down and the ground was depressed in numerous places. Rainbow Dash was finding walking to be a big annoyance. But she had really been pushing her wings lately and she wanted to save them for the moment if possible. For that she could endure a little cold in her hooves and a little soreness in her legs.

“I just wish it wasn’t so boooooring!” She shouted loudly across the tundra and listened to it echo in the distance.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. It was hardly the first place she had traveled across that was quiet and empty, she’d just have to get used to it again. If only she had someone to talk to or knew there was some big adventure on the horizon waiting for her… but she really didn’t. She should’ve asked Galia and the others what they knew about the rest of the north, or if any of them had really flown up here or beyond. Maybe it would’ve ruined the surprise for her but at least she could anticipate something then.

Well if she didn’t have a companion or any entertainment coming from the outside world then maybe she could make some herself?

So Rainbow Dash started whistling.

It wasn’t the best whistling since her lips were chapped and her teeth kept clattering but at least it was something to pass the time with. No melodic tunes were coming from her but that was fitting in this frozen arctic land anyways. Perhaps if she was a more poetic pony she could find something pretty, and wordy, to say about this landscape that stretched in every direction. Describing the scenery with flowery words and the sort of romanticism that would make Rarity and Fluttershy gush. But she wasn’t. She often got to see the whole world from the most beautiful and advantageous position any creature could dream of—but mountains were just mountains, rivers were just rivers, and snow was just snow. That didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate some really cool or interesting things in nature, but she wasn’t going to write a book about it either. She cared far more about traveling through something or flying as fast as possible than she did looking around and wasting time. Rainbow Dash was Rainbow Dash.

Five more minutes of walking. Five more minutes of whistling. Five more minutes of thinking. Rainbow Dash crested a small hill and saw something.

“What’s that?” She paused in her steps.

Out in the middle of the tundra there was a dilapidated, half-destroyed building. It looked like it was only a single story but it was kind of hard to tell since almost the entire roof was missing. What was left were a bunch of shingles hanging around the edges of the gaping hole in the middle of the building. Off to the side of the building was a brick and mortar cylindrical tower that was also half collapsed like a bite had been taken out of its side. Whatever used to be at the top of the tower had fallen off long ago, all Rainbow Dash could see down around its bottom was a bunch of destroyed and rotten wood.

So she found something but she doubted she would find someone. What was the purpose of something out on its own here in the middle of nowhere anyways? Whatever it used to be it was clearly long abandoned, mold or moss of some sort had even started growing up the sides of the building and the tower.

She started walking towards it to see if there was anything else special or interesting about it. It had a rather forlorn appearance but she was hardly put off by something like that. A quick jog around the exterior didn’t tell her anything else about the building but the ground behind it looked like it had been dug up and tilled repeatedly over time. Thanks, Applejack. But besides that the only other thing she learned was that the front door had been totally taken off its hinges. Wherever it was now she didn’t know. The tower was more interesting to her and she was pretty sure she knew what it used to be, especially with the wood lying around it.

This was a windmill, wasn’t it? Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she looked up at it.

A windmill could’ve been used for a number of things in a desolate place like this. Drawing up water, grinding grain from wheat to help make bread, and so forth. It had collapsed for some reason and the interior was all a mess but she was certain that’s what this had been. So this place was someone’s little, secluded house that they lived in and farmed for themselves. But what had happened to do… this?

Rainbow Dash looked at the destroyed roof, that thing definitely didn’t just collapse naturally or from the wind. Something did that. It must’ve been years ago but something bad had happened here.

Since there was nothing else to do outside though she decided she might as well walk in and see if there was anything lying around inside the house. And if not at least it was a place for her to rest. Destroyed as it was it still offered some protection from the cold wind out here on the tundra. So Rainbow Dash walked up and through the partially demolished doorway to inspect the insides. Unsurprisingly it was mostly just a big and dirty mess just like the exterior suggested it would be.

Tables and chairs still existed inside but they were either all broken or thrown haphazardly onto the floor. A desk had also been overturned, any papers hat might’ve been on or in it had long been carried away by the wind. A hearth existed on the back wall along with a mantle that was cracked and crumbling away, tin candlesticks lay on the ground in front of it, a number of candles were around them but the wax looked like it had started to fall apart and disintegrate. The rest of the building was the same, not only no signs of life but nothing like a portrait or nameplate or anything to indicate who the former occupant was. It had been stripped clean of identification either intentionally or unintentionally.

Now it was just empty.

It might have been a house or place of business once but not anymore. It probably never would be again.

Rainbow Dash found a back room that had a demolished bookcase in it but no books anywhere. Shrugging, she decided there was no point in looking anywhere else. Instead she was going to put that hearth to good use and stay for the rest of the day. She gathered up a bunch of pieces of the bookcase and brought it out into the main room, chucking them into the fireplace until a suitable pile of wood had formed. It was all dry too so no problem there. The only thing left was she needed to light it somehow.

She didn’t have any matches and she doubted she’d find any lying around. So it looks like she was going to have to do things the old-fashioned way.

Rainbow Dash grumbled and grabbed two pieces of wood that were kind of just sticks, putting them together the right way and then quickly rubbing the one between hr hooves to get a spark or a little fire started that she could light the fireplace with. It was gonna be slow going doing it like this.

“Stupid survival skills… Applejack would’ve been able to get this fire started already,” Rainbow Dash grumbled to herself. She unfortunately didn’t know a better way to get a fire going than this, maybe she should’ve listened to Applejack and Twilight when they camped more. Even Fluttershy probably would’ve been a good pony to ask about this kind of thing.

Rub.

Rub.

Rub.

It was taking a while and she was getting impatient, her hooves were getting a little raw too. There was nothing else she was doing today but still, this was the kind of thing she hated getting caught up on. Rainbow Dash grit her teeth in frustration and really sped up to try and get this stupid fire going as quickly as possible. Patience was not a virtue. Getting things done was virtuous to Rainbow Dash. Getting things done so she could go on to do things way more fun.

A little bit of smoke started to rise up from the other stick.

On the Horizon

The pegasus from Equestria (who was now incredibly far from home) was warmed up and well rested thanks to how easygoing she took it yesterday. Her wings were once more carrying her high over the world with nothing but snow and rocks whizzing by below her. She was pleasantly humming to herself with the wind blowing through her mane, the cold was at a near freezing temperature with her flying up like this but she ignored it. Maybe some frost would gather on her feathers but so what? She’d shake it off just like always. By the time she returned to Equestria she was going to be so used to cold weather it would probably start to feel hot on a normal day.

There wasn’t much of anything in front of her that she could see so far when she looked. A dense fog, or mist, clouded the horizon. Whatever was further north was yet still a mystery. Although there couldn’t be much left for her to see and travel over until it became “south”. That was one absolute certainty that Rainbow Dash knew: the north pole was close.

Close enough where she doubted there could be anything big or major in-between her and it.

That misty whiteness on the horizon was getting closer now and Rainbow Dash flapped her wings harder so she could shoot through it like an arrow. There was a feeling she had inside her heart telling her that the goal line was approaching and all she needed to do was get through this one last spot. She kept herself pretty low to the ground as she flew hard towards the mist, it was possible she could’ve flown above it completely but she wanted to go into it in case anything was in there. Although she suspected that wasn’t the case and what she was after would be beyond the mists.

Once she hit the mists she felt the extra moisture in the air collect on her and ice formed on her extremities. No surprise there. It was extremely cold now flying through here, almost like an ice shower, but Rainbow Dash was enduring. The cold was just a reminder of being alive anyways and she had dealt with much worse. Rainbow Dash made a sharp corkscrew in the air in order to both get her blood pumping some more and blast away the cold mist around her. No matter where she was or what she was doing in the sky she loved her air acrobatics.

It was a truly wondrous feeling to be up here and flying with her whole side of the world below her. Rainbow Dash may not have fully appreciated that accomplishment but it was something amazing nonetheless.

How many ponies had ever been up here? She hadn’t seen a pony since leaving the metal mountain. How many creatures in general could ever say they had traveled up here or had gone as far anywhere as Rainbow Dash? Not many. Not many at all.

And she was still going with the top of the world being her next destination and stop.

The wind picked up as she traveled through the white mist, buffeting her as she blindly forced her way onward. She had to squint her eyes to keep it from hurting too much—now that she thought about it the metal mountain would’ve been the perfect place to get goggles. There was no way they wouldn’t have had something like that or similar in there. But it had totally slipped her mind while she was inside the city. So now it was still just her and the raw weather out here.

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and ignored it all, she could whine and complain about stuff later. A shake of her head got all the frost off the tips of her mane and yet another burst of speed from her wings freed her up from the rest. When she blasted ahead again she left a little frost outline of a pegasus behind for a brief instant before it was blown away. Now a cone of wind was around her, spreading from her outstretched hooves in front of her, and she was picturing in her mind shooting out of the mist and discovering what lied beyond.

And at long last did she make it out.

With a final puff and a harsh flap of her wings the whiteness that obscured everything else disappeared and Rainbow Dash found herself in a wide open expanse of land with the sun shining down at her once more. The world was back into focus and her adrenaline kept her heart pounding in her chest. Coldness still dominated her sensations and an icy wind that was even more chilling than what she had felt before blew about her fur and feathers.

Perhaps that was a sign, or a symbol of where she was now. Rainbow Dash slowed down her flight before eventually coming to a stop and hovering in place as she looked at what was before her.

The blue pegasus was hovering over a tall cliff that plunged down seven hundred feet towards a lake that stretched from east to west as far as the eye could see. Massive ice floes and ice bergs floated around in it, crashing into each other and against the unyielding rock of the cliff. Barely any of the actual water down there could be seen between all the ice, crossing it would be suicidally treacherous for anyone that didn’t have wings. Past the lake the shore on the other side was rocky and jagged with a field of snow beyond the rocks that led to… something that looked very familiar to Rainbow Dash.

“So this is it, huh?” Rainbow Dash said as she looked upon the absolutely massive stone walls that rose up on the horizon.

Like the lake, they too stretched east to west before disappearing off in the distance. Rainbow Dash recognized this kind of thing well, too. It was exactly like the barrier that she had passed to enter the True North. The cliffs to the north were impossibly, unnaturally, high, piercing the heavens themselves. Could she fly above them? She would try if she had to but she honestly didn’t know if such a thing was even possible.

That said, though, there was something different about this wall of rock that made her think she wouldn’t have to try something like that.

A gap directly in front of her that would’ve been large enough to fit a city inside. It was a far cry from the narrow passage that she had learned about from the yaks and flown through near the start of her journey. Of course the gap wasn’t just empty space, no, there was something else filling it up that might make getting past this barrier even more difficult. A massive swirling tornado of dark clouds shot up through the entire gap, offering not even the slightest amount of space to travel through. Rainbow Dash looked up towards the sky but the tornado just kept going up into the clouds, looking as unnatural as any crazy weather she had seen.

It reminded her briefly of the massive storm created by that giant pegasus she had conquered. But that was more akin to a vast hurricane, this was indeed a much more centralized and focused tornado. Just a single column of intense wind that stayed right there in-between the two walls of rock that separated this part of the world from the next.

And Rainbow Dash knew in her heart of hearts that that was it. That was the north pole she was looking at.

She had made it to the top of the world. She didn’t know why a giant tornado was spiraling around and surrounding it but she was going to find out. After all, she’d flown through worse. That tornado didn’t scare her one bit.

Author's Note

Twenty chapters left.

North Pole I

A grin split across Rainbow Dash’s face as she flew up a little more and aimed herself right at the center of the huge tornado. Rainbow Dash knew a lot about weather phenomena like this and the wind speed of this stationary tornado was decent but not the worst she had ever observed. She could beat it and break through easily. It would be as simple as flying through a simple rainstorm for her after her earlier escapades in that massive storm down south.

Before she did that she took one last look at the rest of the world up here to see if there was anything else. This was likely the end of the True North and the other side of the world was beyond that tornado and wall of rock. Rainbow Dash kind of wanted to take this all in, she had done a lot of adventuring in the True North and now might really be the day she left it. Or even potentially started traveling back south through it to get back to Equestria. Either way it was a big event and a huge change in her journey that she was facing today.

It didn’t look like she had missed anything below, the lake was still mostly a bunch of ice and the rocks and snow on the other side were unmolested. It was just Rainbow Dash and the cold wind blowing up here.

Rainbow Dash inhaled a deep breath and held it in her chest for a moment before exhaling, the breath becoming visible in the air in front of her. She then took a few more normal and steady breaths while rotating her limbs and working out all the kinks in her body. Rainbow Dash flipped over once, twice, just for fun, and cracked her neck. She was as ready as she would ever be to break through that tornado just flying out here.

“Here I come,” she confidently stated and zoomed towards it in an instant.

The speed she flew off at wasn’t quite at Sonic Rainboom levels but it was enough to blast away most of the mist behind her. The near-frozen over lake was passed before you could even say “Rainbow Dash” and she flew like a rocket over the snow on the other side right up until the darkness of the tornado filled her vision. With that smug grin still on her face, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes for a brief moment as she hit the spinning winds. For just a second it felt like diving into a particularly thick cloud but then the wind hit her and Rainbow Dash had to brace herself to keep from being swept away. The tornado was spinning counter-clockwise so the winds were coming at her from the left, but like she had known from the start this was hardly the worst wind she had dealt with in her life and Dash was able to adjust fairly quickly. Thanks to her powerful flying ability and sheer grit she was able to maintain a straight course deeper into the tornado.

To get inside the tornado would be quick and easy. It just didn’t have the size of something like a hurricane despite it still being much wider than the average tornado. Then she could see if there was actually anything at the north pole and maybe stop there. If there wasn’t anything then maybe she’d just fly right through or possibly even turn back. She wasn’t sure yet, she wanted to get her eyes on the north pole first and then she could make up her mind.

Thankfully despite the obviously magical and unnatural nature of this tornado it wasn’t “alive” in the same way that old storm was and wasn’t trying to force her out. The winds didn’t get stronger and nothing strange happened to her to suggest that the tornado knew she was here and cared about what she was doing. Better for her then. She didn’t know how thick these outer winds of the tornado were but she should be through them soon even with the city-sized area the tornado covered. Rainbow Dash felt a lot of pride knowing she had made it this far and the excitement was running through her veins now that she was overcoming what seemed like the final obstacle on her journey. So much time, so many events, was it all coming to a head here?

It was only fitting that a final flight through some kind of inclement weather would signal the end of her journey. Her past job as a weather pony, her first accomplishment being flying to the top of Mt. Everhoof, Rainbow Dash didn’t care for poetry but it must mean something, right? She had left so fast that she hardly had time to say anything, always doing stuff on her own, and now she was finally at the top of the world thanks to her boundless determination.

Rainbow Dash pushed through the last layer of the tornado and came out inside the north pole.

And whatever she was expecting the north pole to be like, this was not it.

The winds had stopped all around her, the fierce tornado she had just exited not affecting the interior at all. Now Rainbow Dash floated in a deathly calm patch of air even though she was but a few feet away from the spinning vortex that contained this place. Inside the tornado, inside its city-sized limits, was a massive floating chunk of earth. Well, not quite floating. Huge veins, or branches, or bridges or whatever else you might want to call them, of stone were supporting the plateau of land that sat calmly on the north pole. The stone veins were also emerging from the winds of the tornado right where the massive walls of rock on the east and west sides of the plateau were. They had to be coming from those barriers and holding up the plateau. It was such an unusual sight—even by her standards at this point—not many places she had been were of such fantastic geography.

And that wasn’t even the half of it. Below the plateau there was a raging whirlpool of dark blue water. It spun with such intensity that it looked like it might even be going faster and stronger than the tornado. Anything that fell off the plateau… probably wasn’t coming out of that whirlpool. Dash had seen whirlpools in the ocean and stuff before but this thing was ridiculously huge and strong, it was impossible to see how deep it was. And this was the north pole? She’d figured it would be a huge chunk of ice or something more cold and frosty, how was this even happening?

Part of the answer may have been the fact that it was warm in here. Weirdly warm, like a pleasant day back in Ponyville. That should be totally impossible up this far especially with how things had been right outside the tornado. And it was perfectly bright in here even though most, if not all, of the sunlight should be blocked. Rainbow Dash frowned and looked up, upon which she found the source of both the light and heat in here.

“That explains it,” she squinted her eyes at the floating ball of crystal in the sky hanging hundreds of feet above the plateau. It looked spherical to her at first but that was just because the intense light obscured it a bit, in actuality dozens of sharp spikes shot off from the center of the crystal. Rainbow Dash had no idea what it was but if its purpose was to bring light and heat to the inside of the tornado then it was fulfilling its job very well. She knew the Crystal Heart could give off light and show its power all across Equestria, maybe this crystal was similar to that in how it worked? But then obviously some creatures would be needed to feed it.

Rainbow Dash looked back down at the plateau. Probably the creatures that lived in the city she saw on it.

It was a surprisingly beautiful and classical looking city, utterly different from anything else she had seen in the True North, with white marble buildings, tall spires, castles with golden minarets on every tower. Fancy, fabulous, fantastical, just some of the words to describe the miracle city on top of the world she was now looking at. It spread over quite a lot of the plateau and there were numerous different districts with multiple huge castles popping up all over its expanse. The edges were all a verdant green while almost impossibly bright blue rivers snaked through the plateau before dumping off the sides in a multitude of places. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure where that water kept coming from to do that but she saw at the far end of the plateau a large rock formation shot up from the ground that a powerful waterfall fell from, constantly replenishing the lake below it.

“This is nicer than most of Equestria...” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself. And it was true, it combined the wondrousness of both Canterlot and Cloudsdale in her eyes.

She saw things like small parks and open stadiums from her high vantage point, along with clusters of houses and buildings even in the more remote parts of the plateau. And as she raised a hoof over her brow and squinted down at the city she was pretty sure she saw creatures walking about down the streets. It was still quite the distance but there was definitely something or other moving about down there and the city was definitely inhabited.

Rainbow Dash smiled and nodded. “Alright, time to say hello.”

She flew down closer to the city and looked for one of the busy and more populated areas. Not like she was trying to sneak in or anything after all. The creatures who lived here were probably friendly anyways, right? I mean how could they be bad if their city was so awesome and inviting looking?

Buuut… were they used to visitors? There didn’t seem to be any way in or out of this place that Rainbow Dash could see. Not for normal ponies or other creatures at least. She had come in through the tornado but you had to be able to fly to even attempt that. Maybe they had some sort of vehicle, or magic, or other way to get in and out from their plateau. Or maybe they didn’t even care to and just lived in here, totally secluded.

Rainbow Dash was going to find out.

The closer she got the more she was able to make out. The creatures walking around the clean and polished streets looked vaguely equine but also a little off from ponies, Dash felt something familiar looking at them but she couldn’t just place what yet. She now saw a busy street leading directly to one of the castles that a bunch of other stores and buildings were alongside of. With a nod, she decided that’s where she would land. Rainbow Dash started circling above it, a few times, gliding lower with each pass, and planned to come in with a fashionably impeccable landing right in the middle of the street.

She bet there were already plenty of creatures down there that saw her and were pointing up and whispering to each other but Dash wasn’t paying any attention to them right now. She came spiraling down with the white street taking up more and more of her vision while her wings were fully spread and allowing her to ride the wind. Finally she angled down sharper and reached the same height as the buildings on the street, turning to make sure she would safely land right between them on the street. Her eyes and quick reflexes were all she needed to not accidentally land on anyone either when she was coming in.

Rainbow Dash swiftly slid along the ground, her hooves just barely touching it until she came to a full and complete stop with her wings still extended. She then put on her most swagger-filled face and tossed her mane back. “Sup?” She said to the street of creatures.

No one really reacted that much to her arrival.

The swagger and confident smirk on her face slowly began to drip away. “Oookaaay, I’m happy to not be mobbed but I was expecting a little bit of interest.”

Some of the creatures were smiling in a little amusement at her and gave her polite waves when she looked at them but that was about it. Obviously they either were used to this thing or they took unusual events in stride. A pretty unflappable group that kept to their own devices and didn’t stick their noses in other’s business. They were letting the stranger have her privacy.

And now that she was down here on the street with them, Rainbow Dash knew exactly what sort of creatures they were and where she recognized them from.

Quadrupedal furry creatures with black hooves, they stood on average a bit taller than Rainbow Dash while also being lithe and thin. They didn’t have wings or horns but instead the males of the creatures had a set of antlers on their heads while their necks were fluffier than the rest of their bodies. And instead of long whispy tails like ponies they had small tufts. While they did seem to come in a myriad of colors, Rainbow Dash noticed that most of them were brown or shades of brown with a few outliers of blue and green.

Reindeer. She thought to herself. Is this their home? Is this where Reindeer come from?

They looked pretty friendly to her even though none had come up and spoken to her either. They all just happened to be wearing pleasant smiles on their faces and she saw a number engaged in warm conversation or greetings. Despite this being a busy street and city she saw no shoving and heard no arguing. It was just… tranquil. That was the right word. Not something she would really say about Manehattan or Canterlot, as much as that would annoy Rarity.

One of the Reindeer walking down the street saw her and looked over, briefly meeting Rainbow Dash’s eyes.

Dash gave as friendly of a grin and wave as she could to the Reindeer doe. “Hi.”

The doe dipped her head in greeting and smiled back. But she didn’t stop or say anything.

“Maybe not as friendly as I thought,” Rainbow Dash frowned as she watched the doe walk away. She looked around and saw a lot of others who only gave her the slightest notice too. “You all really keep to yourselves that much?” She asked under her breath. It’s like cause she wasn’t directly involved with any of them and not making a scene that they just really didn’t care.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. She knew there’d be someone to talk to in this Reindeer city eventually, even if she had to walk up to that big castle that was a bit of a ways down this street. For now though she could satisfy her curiosity herself. It was time to look around this city and see if there was anything interesting in the first place. It was interesting looking, yes, but did that mean it contained the kind of adventuring she wanted right now? Not necessarily. So she started walking around, going over to the right side (the north side) of the street and looking at the buildings, stores, and Reindeer she passed by.

A peak into one turned into a momentary stop as Rainbow Dash found herself looking through the glass window of some kind of diner. There was a tiled floor inside alone with a counter and a number of red stools in front of the counter. A doe was speaking to the buck behind the counter and as Rainbow Dash watched he brought out a big spoon and scooped up an ice cream cone for her.

She licked her lips. “Ice cream parlor...”

Unfortunately any hopes she had about getting some of the ice cream for herself were about to be dashed. The doe reached up her hoof and before taking the cone she handed over a few blue things that looked like tiny crystals to the buck, who then deposited them in a cash register and happily gave the cone away.

“And I don’t have any money. Just great,” Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head. After enviously watching the doe lick her cone for a minute, Rainbow Dash dragged herself away from the window and started walking back down the street.

There was a hustle but not a bustle to the street and all the Reindeer the further down she walked. And Rainbow Dash saw things like furniture stores, classy restaurants, gyms, open lots where little parks had been built in-between buildings. Her eyes then drifted ahead to the large castle in the distance. It was probably about the size of Canterlot castle and one of the few other castles Rainbow Dash had seen in her life that could make a claim for being as pretty. What was it about white and gold that made things look so good? Even Celestia rocked that combo. She then looked down at the street she was walking on, the white stone underneath her hooves wasn’t marble or granite, she wasn’t sure what it was but it was very sleek and just made things look even prettier than the paved or dirt roads of Equestria.

She didn’t see any carriages or wagons around so maybe the Reindeer walked everywhere or they just weren’t common in this part of the city. After a short time of just looking for random stuff she also began to look for a hotel or a gathering spot for Reindeer. Even if she didn’t have any of their money maybe she could work something out with them. Or it could be better to find who was in charge of this place. But they might not even care about her either—she couldn’t expect to get the sort of treatment like she got in the mammoth city. They’d probably like to know an outsider was in their city at best but it’s not like she came here with anything to give them or tell them. Not anything that pertained to them at least.

Rainbow Dash snorted out her nose and ignored thinking about that for now. She was still looking around the rest of this city at the moment.

“Excuse me.”

She rotated her shoulders and yawned, taking a few heavy strides down the street while keeping a lookout for any interesting stores. Maybe they had someplace cool she could at least look through?

“Excuse me.”

It was still totally bright in the city too thanks to that floating crystal sun thing. Rainbow Dash wondered if it was like that all day. Did they have a “night” here inside the tornado? She hadn’t been here long enough to make sure.

“Excuse me—pony!”

Rainbow Dash jumped with a start and spun around—seeing a reindeer buck standing there with an easygoing and welcoming smile on his face. He was panting a little, somewhat out of breath.

“Are you actually talking to me?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and pointed at herself.

“I do not blame you for being surprised,” his warm smile stayed on his face as he bowed slightly to her. “My name is Ark’Nogt and as an Embracer please allow me to welcome you to the city of Nogt.”

“Oh, uh, thanks. My name’s Rainbow Dash,” she reached a hoof forward and was happy when he took it, seems some greetings were universal. Of course though she then immediately frowned. “I’ve got a few questions though...”

“I’m sure you do, please ask away!” Ark’Nogt politely said.

“What’s an Embracer?”

“An Embracer is a Reindeer of the city whose job it is to personally welcome and assist outsiders and travelers in any way they need.”

Rainbow Dash looked around at the other Reindeer for a second before looking back at Ark’Nogt. “Is that why no one else spoke to me or anything? Cause they knew you or another “Embracer” would?”

“Correct! I saw you in the sky and began to make my way over here immediately. Usually outsiders do not come into Nogt in such a way, so we were both very fortunate that I happened to see you circling above.”

“Okay, okay. And what’s with your name? Were you named after the city?”

He flashed a knowing grin at her. “I am to assume you do not know how Reindeer naming convention works?”

“I’ve met like three of you in my entire life, dude.”

“I will take that as a no then. My name “Ark’Nogt” means “Ark from Nogt”. And Nogt in our ancient tongue means top. Obviously you can tell why we named the city that.”

“Heh, I think so, yeah.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “So Nogt, huh? The city at the top of the world, right on the north pole, here I am.”

“And we welcome you. Is there any particular reason you’ve come though? Like I said, as an Embracer I am to assist you in anything. Would you also perhaps be from Ice Valley?”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but throw her head back and laugh a little. “Second time I’ve been asked that lately, but no, I’m not from Ice Valley. I’m from Equestria.”

“Equestria… Equestria...” He rolled the name back and forth for a second. “I’m afraid I don’t recognize the place you’re speaking of. And my apologies, Ice Valley is merely the closest settlement we know of that has a large pony population. It’s where most ponies who actually come to Nogt hail from.”

“I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of Equestria, it’s kind of far away. And don’t worry about it. But you do get other ponies coming here?”

Ark’Nogt nodded. “The city of Nogt is a popular place to visit for many. As you can see it’s a somewhat special place, and to Reindeer like myself it holds even greater importance.”

“How so?”

“I’m glad you asked. You see, Reindeer society is scattered all across these cold northern lands, we have no true country or capitol, but Nogt exists as a sacred place for us due to being the first city founded by Reindeers 2,000 years ago. Our ancestors discovered this land during their travels, breaching the tornado, the walls of stone, and braving many dangers until they arrived here.”

“So you guys didn’t make this, it was just always here...” Rainbow Dash said as she looked around.

“That is correct. We made the city itself of course but the tornado, the violent whirlpool below us, the land we settled on, and that crystal sun were always here. There was no sign of who or how this place was created by the time our ancestors arrived. Even then it was already ancient. Nogt was constructed on this ground and ever since has remained a gathering place for Reindeer. It holds spiritual importance to us and every Reindeer is required to make at least one pilgrimage here in their life, no matter how far away they might live.”

“That must be a real trip. Going through the cold out here and everything.”

“Most Reindeer cities are already cold. We’re used to it. Nogt is special for a variety of reasons as you now know.”

“Yeah… like, since you guys can’t fly how do you even get in and out of here?”

“I’m not surprised you didn’t see or figure it our yourself, if you’re coming to Nogt from the outside world the tornado probably grabs all of your attention. But in reality there are a number of doorways and entrances built into the walls of rock that separate one part of the world from the other, both of them. The passages are like a labyrinth, having been constructed and mapped out by Reindeer for two millennia now. Some of them lead from the ground all the way to the various branches of rock that hold up this plateau of land and emerge out into the city. That’s the way most Reindeer and other creatures get to Nogt.”

“Heh, I kind of went the hard way on accident I guess. Not that I mind, I kind of like stuff like that.”

“I was quite surprised to see you come in, that is true.”

“Okay so what now?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I know you’re here to assist me and whatever but I don’t even know what I want here right now. And I kind of don’t have any money.”

Ark’Nogt shook his head. “That is alright. Money is only used between Reindeer citizens of Nogt. We make sure to welcome and help any and all outsiders regardless of their circumstances.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Geez, if I was a more suspicious pony I’d start to think this was all too good to be true.”

“I assure you we’re just friendly,” he said with that same nice smile.

And Rainbow Dash believed him. She was pretty good at sniffing out liars and bad creatures and these guys just seemed way too honest and genuine. The way this city looked, the way the Reindeer acted, maybe this is what paradise was? She still wanted to see a lot more but so far things seemed pretty cool in Nogt.

“So you didn’t come here for any real reason?” Ark’Nogt asked her.

She shook her head. “Just looking for adventure. I didn’t even know this place was here.”

“Hmm… then how about following me? I can take you to a communal living center for outsiders, you can stay there for as long as you want. If you think of anything else you want to ask about along the way, please, don’t hesitate.”

“Works for me.” Before she took a step though a grin opened up across her face. “Hold on, there’s something right here I want to ask you about.”

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhlPAj38rHc

North Pole II

The bell above the door to the ice cream shop rang as Rainbow Dash and Ark’Nogt walked inside.

If she was being happily allowed to freeload then she was going to take every advantage of that opportunity. And the first advantage was a big, heaping, mountain of ice cream. The shopkeep looked in their direction and smiled in greeting to both Dash and Ark’Nogt. As Dash had come to expect, he didn’t show any particular interest in her being a pony or outsider. No skin off her bones though, not at this point, she just really wanted to eat something delicious that she hadn’t gotten to have since starting her journey.

So Rainbow Dash hopped up onto one of the red velvet stools while Ark’Nogt sat beside her and laid both her hooves on the counter. “Give me the biggest bowl of ice cream you have.”

“Right away, miss!” No questions asked, he was eager to fulfill her order in a way that Dash had only ever seen from Pinkie Pie.

“I see you’re quite hungry,” Ark’Nogt said to her.

“Even if I wasn’t I’d want a giant bowl of ice cream right now.”

The shopkeep then set a huge, but still empty, bowl down in front of Rainbow Dash. It was big enough to hold a dozen apples piled up in it. “What flavors would you like?”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow as she looked at the bowl and then over at the freezer where a good dozen or so buckets sat, ready to have their contents scooped up. “What do you got?”

“Well we have chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, rum raisin, cake batter, cookie dough, mint, black walnut, butter pecan, pistachio, orange sherbet, cheesecake, caramel, and double dark chocolate.” He told her with a big smile on his face.

“Um. How about... all? All of that?” Rainbow Dash blinked.

“Okay! One big scoop of it all for the pegasus!” He cheerfully said and pulled up a large scooper, getting to work immediately.

Rainbow Dash licked her lips. “Is this paradise? I’m not dreaming, am I?”

“I don’t believe so,” Ark’Nogt chuckled at her positive response.

Soon enough a mountain of ice cream was scooped up into the bowl and placed before Rainbow Dash complete with a polished silver spoon for her to wolf it all down with. She drooled in sheer delight at the sight before her and got started, digging the spoon into the top of the sundae and taking a huge mouthful of vanilla. It was so tasty she almost squealed after that first bite. Ark’Nogt and the shopkeep both happily watched her as she scarfed it down like she hadn’t eaten in weeks. Rainbow Dash practically inhaled the mountain of ice cream until only a few melted bits of it were left in the bottom of the bowl.

She tossed her spoon into the glass bowl and sat back on her stool, patting her belly. “That... was pretty good.”

“I’m glad you liked it!” The shopkeep said and took her bowl and spoon back for cleaning.

“I as well, it’s always great when a new visitor has a good first impression!” Ark’Nogt beamed.

“Yeah? Well if this keeps up my second, third, and fourth impressions are going to be pretty darn good too.” Rainbow Dash said.

“You are truly too kind, Rainbow Dash.”

“Hey, I’m honest. You better believe that whatever comes out of this mouth is what I really think. I aint really the type to sugarcoat things or keep my mouth shut when I’m not happy.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. I hope you’ll also be more than honest with your appraisal of me as your Embracer as well.”

She grinned. “You’re doing a good job so far.”

“Wonderful. Then would you like to stay here for a little more time? Or head elsewhere?”

“By the looks of it I’ve got a lot to see in this place so let’s get back out there. I’m not a pony who likes to sit around in one place.”

“I can not say that admission surprises me,” Ark’Nogt’s lips tugged up even more.

“And so that’s why I started my adventure in the first place. You wouldn’t believe all the awesome stuff I’ve been through on my way here. I was fighting for my life like a dozen different times, it was awesome.” Rainbow Dash told Ark’Nogt as they walked through the streets together. “Seriously, even before I really came north I had to teach this big yak a lesson cause he was being a jerk. And then I fought this flying ice monster--it was seriously super cool. If I have time to tell you the whole story I will, dude.”

“I would love to hear it, although I am privy to the stories of creatures from all over, yours sounds especially entertaining and intriguing. I can safely say I’ve never had the good fortune to meet someone from as far away as you either. While I am glad to listen to any guests’ tales I have not been so excited for one in quite some time,” Ark’Nogt said.

“Great! I love to tell creatures all about what I’ve done, so keep anticipating it.”

“I shall!”

Rainbow Dash smiled and looked in the direction of the big castle. With a shrug she ignored it, why not mingle with the common Reindeer more? It seemed like everything would be taken care of for her already and she’d rather just look around on her own here than deal with some stuffy politicians. It was then, that as the light reflected off this perfectly white street, that she realized there was something she had forgotten to ask about. Rainbow Dash looked up at the floating crystal, still giving off the same immensely powerful light as when she had first arrived.

“Hey, Ark’Nogt?” Rainbow Dash stopped and asked him.

“Yes?” He paused alongside her.

“Does it ever, uh, you know? Get dark here? Do you have a nighttime?”

Ark’Nogt looked up with her and chuckled. “Ah, of course, naturally you’d wonder about that.”

“Yeah. I mean, what even is that thing?”

“I have no idea.”

Her head swung around so she could look at him with a dumbfounded expression. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

“It was here when our ancestors first arrived, along with everything else,” he shrugged. “Unicorns, pegasi, and other creatures more in tune with magic and such things have studied it over the years but they never came up with any answers either. As far as we can all tell it simply always existed here inside the tornado. Perhaps a magical being of great power created it all long ago.”

“The more I learn about this place it sounds like something Discord would make for a laugh...”

“Who?”

“Nevermind,” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “So does it turn off?”

“Yes. It blinks out every night for exactly half the day. Things would be completely dark in here were it not for our own sources of light.”

“So it’s got its own day and night cycle. Huh. I keep seeing crazy weather stuff up here,” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck.

“I’m sure there are plenty of things where you come from that I’d consider crazy as well,” Ark’Nogt smiled.

"Yeah, good point.”

Rainbow Dash and Ark’Nogt traveled through the streets some more but Rainbow Dash didn’t see anything quite so important to her as that ice cream shop. It was more of what she had seen before: that this was a normal functioning city. Just a very pristine one. But it didn’t change the fact that you could switch out Reindeer for ponies and it would more or less be like walking through any Equestrian city. It seemed creatures were truly alike all over. She did start to notice a lot of cleaners picking up any sort of trash or wiping down any dirty surface, the Reindeer really wanted this place spotless.

“Are all Reindeer cities this clean?”

Ark’Nogt shook his head. “No, Nogt merely has greater importance to us as you know. Other cities are exposed to the elements more anyways, they can’t be kept clean in such a way.”

“Fair enough.”

“Would you like to take a walk through more greener areas? I can understand how you might get tired of traveling down these streets. Everything looks the same.”

“Yeah, no offense cause it’s still really nice looking, but yeah.”

Ark’Nogt smiled. “Wonderful, let us depart to the nearest park. I will take you through the grasses and we can see one of our rivers of liquid ice as well. We’ll need to travel over it to get to the communal living space I will be taking you to.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Liquid ice? You mean water?”

Ark’Nogt sent her a knowing smirk. “Not quite. You’ll see.”

She took his word for it and shrugged, letting Ark’Nogt walk in front now as he led her through the streets to the outskirts of the more populated and developed area. It wasn’t long before the verdant green grass opened up before her. So marvelously lush that most earth ponies would be enraptured by it. There didn’t seem to be a lot of flowers or smaller bushes in the area, just extremely well-kept patches of grass and trees with one of the rivers Dash had seen from above in the distance. Although there were stone walkways through the park, Ark’Nogt just walked out onto the grass with his bare hooves and Rainbow Dash followed him.

When her hoof first hit the grass she felt a noticeable crunch underneath her. Not the normal feeling of stepping on grass at all. She looked down and saw that all the blades of grass had an imperceptibly thin frost coating and the ones she had stepped on and bent were now cracked all over. When she lifted her hoof up however, the frost went back to normal and the individual blades of grass all stood up perfectly straight again as if Dash had never stepped on them in the first place. She knew grass would bend back into shape for the most part but this was more than that. And it kept happening with every step she took, once she lifted up her hoof it was like it had never even been there.

“You’ve got some weird grass here,” Rainbow said to Ark’Nogt.

“Wait until you see the river,” he called back to her.

“Okay, but it better be as special as you’re hyping it up to be.”

“I can guarantee you you wouldn’t have seen its like in the rest of the north.”

“I dunno... I’ve been to a lot of different places up here in the north. I already told you a little about what I’ve seen but I’ve also seen something that’s kind of like your sun up there. A little different though.”

“I envy your worldliness. Let us hope then that I’m not wrong about the uniqueness of our rivers then,” Ark’Nogt smiled politely.

“Not interested in there being another fake sun out there somewhere else in the north? I would be interested if I heard there were two other Alicorn sisters living on the other side of the world or something.”

Ark’Nogt shrugged. “I do not have any issue with it. We live simple and easygoing lives as you have noticed. I would not be against searching for and seeing such things, but I will not go out of my way either.”

“Hey if that floats your boat then more power to ya. Me? I’m a little different.”

“And I find that difference quite refreshing and enjoyable,” Ark’Nogt smiled. “Now, we’re here.”

Rainbow Dash looked ahead of him at the river that cut through the park. Even from here she could tell it was a little off. When Ark’Nogt stopped by its side she trotted up next to him and looked into it, her face twisting in confusion at what she saw.

It was about ten feet across and dug out in a nearly perfect semi-circle in the ground, already a little unusual, but more than that was there was no splash along its sides. The water slid by perfectly and didn’t lap up or make the grass around it wet at all. And the water... it was so blue. Far too deep and dark a blue for just a small river. The more she looked at it the more confused she got, it didn’t even really look like water. And it didn’t sound like water. It sounded more like someone was dropping sand through a sieve, or salt. Raising an eyebrow and tilting her head, she looked over at Ark’Nogt, who only grinned and nodded back to her.

“This isn’t... this isn’t water at all, is it?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes and no. Dip a hoof in, you’ll see.”

Rainbow dash did so and the “water” parted around her hoof effortlessly. A few inches in and Rainbow Dash grinned, she saw what it was now. Liquid ice was accurate, this was a river of incredibly tiny grains of ice all flowing together. She saw and felt them going by her hoof like someone was pouring sand over it, totally different from the feeling of water. But the grains of ice were also far smaller than any grain of sand. Far smaller and also totally smooth instead of coarse. It was such a strange feeling, and so strange looking.

But Ark’Nogt was right. She hadn’t seen a river like this before.

“This is really cool...” Rainbow Dash grinned some more as she splashed some of the liquid ice about.

“I’m glad you’re interested in it. It seems I was correct that you haven’t seen something like this before?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No, never.”

“This is what all the “water” in the rivers here actually are. It’s what cascades down from the mountains on the far side of the plateau. It replenishes endlessly even after falling off the sides into the World Drain. Another wonder of Nogt and the north pole that even we Reindeer do not fully understand even after generation upon generation living here.”

“Wow... this place really is something else. That tornado, the rock bridges that hold it all up, and you’re saying this stuff just comes from nowhere? It just pours out of those mountains and flows everywhere?”

“That is correct. Nogt is a magical place.”

“No kidding,” Rainbow Dash tossed and turned some more of the liquid ice around in her hooves before looking back at Ark’Nogt with another questioning gaze. “What’s the World Drain?”

“The thing you saw when you came in through the tornado. The massive whirlpool below the plateau that should also not exist.”

“Oh. Yeah I was wondering about that. Is that thing safe? It didn’t look like you really had a fence or wall around the plateau to keep anything from falling into it.”

“In short? No. It isn’t safe. Nothing that has ever fallen into the World Drain has ever been recovered or reappeared elsewhere. As far as we can tell it goes nowhere or completely claims whatever has the misfortune of falling inside it. There is no fence at the edges of the plateau because the ground already thins out too much, only the rivers can travel unimpeded through it to eventually flow off into the World Drain. Any effective barrier would just collapse so Reindeer simply know to keep back from it. It is quite the view to look down into it though, I must admit.”

“Yeah I thought it was pretty intense looking from above.”

“Would you care to see it again? With your ability to fly I believe it would be perfectly safe. Although I wouldn’t fly down and get to close to it either if I were you.”

“Maybe, but I’d have to leave you behind, so some other time. What are we going to do now?”

Ark’Nogt pointed to a small bridge leading over the river to another portion of the park and a walkway that went off into the distance. “Let me take you to the communal living area you will be staying at. Any further questions you have I can answer on the way, but it’s getting close to the day’s end and I’d like to show you that place before it goes dark. There are others there who I believe would like to meet you as well, especially since you’ll more or less be living together while you are here in Nogt.”

“Well then all I gotta say is “lead the way” again.” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

While they walked together to Rainbow Dash’s temporary home, instead of her asking questions about Nogt it turned into her telling Ark’Nogt more about her journey so far. She spared no detail (except the ones that made her look bad) and she even had a lot of fun telling him about her recent encounters with the griffons a little to the south despite it not being a very adventurous tale. Ark’Nogt of course took it all in with a smile. And as Rainbow Dash talked they passed smaller little areas of Nogt where Reindeer lived. Just little clusters of buildings, maybe a house and a granary together, one or two windmills, an outdoors auditorium, stuff like that. It was all so nice looking too, just like the rest of the city and parks. Rarity would’ve especially loved it here but all of her friends except for maybe Applejack would really appreciate it.

“And so I’m still kind of like--not satisfied by my adventure yet. I don’t know why. I’ve done a ton, I’ve kicked the butts of some really bad jerks, but it’s just not enough, you know? And I dunno but I guess I was expecting something more awesome up here at the north pole. Like, I’m literally at the top of the world, and no offense, but this isn’t exactly the kind of cool and amazing cap to my journey I wanted.” Rainbow told Ark’Nogt.

“Understandable. While the feeling eludes me I can see why you would want something different after talking to you.”

“Yeah... but like, I don’t even know what I want now. Or what to do. I was just going north looking for awesome stuff, found a ton of awesome stuff, and now I’m just kind of... bleh. I don’t know, I’m not good at talking about feelings and maybes and stuff. I’ve always just done stuff.”

“Not an unworthy way to live.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Right?” The grin slowly left her face. “But I guess... maybe I was thinking I would have the biggest, grandest, adventure so far when I got up here? And now I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”

Ark’Nogt awkwardly smiled back at her. “My apologies but due to the love I have for Nogt and its tranquility I must admit I am happy that I don’t see such a thing happening either.”

“Heh, don’t blame ya,” Rainbow Dash clapped a hoof on his back.

His smile returned to normal and he looked ahead, a brief widening of his eyes as he spotted their destination. “Ah, there, you see?”

Rainbow Dash looked and saw a building in the middle of a cement ring surrounded by a grassy area. Two rectangles joined together at the ends to form a perfect right-triangle, they were made of polished white stone and stood three stories high. The building was tilted so its point was perfectly centered in the ring while its open side also faced straight out. There were entrances at the ends of both wings of the building and Rainbow Dash saw a number of Reindeer and, for the first time so far in Nogt, other creatures around it.

“So this is where I’m staying?” Rainbow asked.

“That is correct,” Ark’Nogt nodded.

“Well thanks for taking me here and showing me around and stuff. I don’t know how long I’ll be staying cause, uh, kind of aimless right now, but thanks.”

“It is no problem. As an Embracer it is both my duty and joy to help you. And I have decided that I will continue to help you.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean by that?”

“It is the slow season. Pilgrims, tourists, and even the odd businesscreature are uncommon in Nogt. My duties as an Embracer are not as widely needed as during other times of the year. That is why I have already decided that I shall be your personal attendant for the duration of your stay in Nogt. I shall always be close by and help you to an even greater degree than I normally would.”

“That’s really awesome, dude. Thanks!” Rainbow Dash gave him a slight hoof bump to his chest.

“Yes, I shall help check you in, show you to an empty room, and take up a room of my own. I must admit I have personal reasons for this though, you are simply far too interesting of a visitor for me to wish us to part so easily,” Ark’Nogt said.

“And that’s another thing I don’t blame you for, heh,” Rainbow laughed a little. She started to walk towards the building but stopped when she noticed Ark’Nogt wasn’t following along. “What’s the hold up?”

“Well... there was something I also wanted to ask you before the day ended and we left each other’s company,” Ark’Nogt sheepishly replied. “It concerns what you’ve been looking for on this whole big journey of yours you’ve told me about. I believe there may be something here in Nogt, something about us Reindeer, that you would find quite exciting.”

Rainbow Dash fully turned to him with a still confused look on her face. “Now you’re making me interested, what are you talking about?”

“Forgive me asking you such an obvious question but--do you like to fight?”

“Well yeah. Duh.” Rainbow Dash blinked, perplexed. “Whether it’s some awesome showdown where I’m saving the world or just a good clean fight between me and a friend. I love getting to fight, the only thing that gets my blood pumping more is a good race or flight.”

Ark’Nogt smiled widely. “Then I would be overjoyed to invite you to sign up for the fighting tournament that is to be held here shortly, Rainbow Dash.”

Author's Note

Chapters will now go back to being released every day.

North Pole III

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up,” Rainbow Dash shook her hooves in front of her. “A fighting tournament? Dude, I seriously mean no offense when I say this, but looking around here and learning about you Reindeer and everything really didn’t make me think you guys liked fighting.”

“It is indeed the truth, we Reindeer love to fight!” Ark’Nogt happily proclaimed before a more formal expression came over his face. “However I will need to tell you right from the start that these fights aren’t like the ones you have gone through on your way up here. We fight in formal, sanctioned, matches with rules and referees. We fight for sport, not to the death, and we take pride in this.”

“Hey, I have zero problem with that. I’m just really surprised,” Rainbow Dash shrugged, she still had a fairly disbelieving look on her face.

“So would you like me to tell you about the upcoming tournament then?” Ark’Nogt asked.

Rainbow Dash beamed, shooting right up to his face with her eyes practically sparkling. “You bet!”

“Wonderful, wonderful!” Ark’Nogt laughed. “I’m not a tournament official so I only have general information for you but I’ll do my best. In five days we have a small tournament starting up, normally the big ones are kept for the seasons of pilgrimage when the most Reindeer will be here. However there still might be upwards of a hundred entrants and I know for a fact that some of the others staying at this communal living area have come up here specifically for this tournament.”

“So they’re like, professional fighters?” Rainbow asked.

“Exactly. Or it’s a hobby to them they’re very passionate about.”

“Awesome. If there are Reindeer that care about it that much... this should be a lot more fun than I thought. And so you don’t mind other creatures like ponies fighting too?”

Ark’Nogt shook his head. “There is nothing stopping a pony, griffon, or even a sabertooth from fighting in the tournament. But. There are certain rules you’ll have to keep in mind.”

“Like what?”

Ark’Nogt pointed at her wings. “No flying. The rules are of course based around Reindeer, and we can not fly nor use magic like your unicorn brethren. So as expected none of that is allowed. You can still jump and use your wings to attack or block but flying or even just hovering is against the rules.”

“That’s fine with me, I can still fight plenty good without flying. I’ll just call it a handicap,” Rainbow smugly grinned. “So where do I sign up?”

“Well it’s too late in the day for that now, things are closing up, we’ll have to go there tomorrow. Also it’s not just that these aren’t fights to the death, they’re fairly civil matches. You aren’t allowed to do anything permanently damaging to your opponent, nor break any bones, or use excessive force. And as for registering you probably saw the stadium from above at least for a moment when you came in through the tornado.”

“I think I did, yeah...” Rainbow rubbed the back of her head.

“That’s where we’ll go first thing tomorrow morning,” Ark’Nogt smiled. “But yes, for now let’s get you settled in here. I think you may enjoy the company as well.”

“If there are fighters at this place then yeah, I think we’ll have something to talk about.”

“Let’s head inside then.”

Rainbow Dash and Ark’Nogt walked together until the path joined with the cement ground that the building sat on and then they walked towards the door at the end of the building they were closest too. Rainbow Dash saw a few Reindeer going in and out but there were also a couple of ponies and griffons, none of them looked like they were fighters though. When they got inside the building, Dash looked around for reception or anything but all there was was a mostly empty front room with stairs to their right and left. It didn’t look like any Reindeer worked here or managed the place. Down the hallway it seemed like there were a bunch of individual rooms on each side but nothing besides that.

“Uh, am I missing something here? We don’t need keys or have to pay for a room or anything?” Rainbow Dash asked Ark’Nogt.

He shook his head. “As I told you, money is no issue for visitors, so naturally the place specifically built for their home would not require such a thing. And no, you aren’t missing anything. If someone comes here they merely take a free room for themselves and that’s that, let us find a free room for you.”

“Okay,” Rainbow shrugged and followed Ark’Nogt as they started walking down the rows of rooms.

She quickly noticed something about the doors to those rooms, they all had a sliding red placard in the middle of them. It looked like it could be pulled out easily, she wondered what the purpose of them was. Ark’Nogt wasn’t even giving these doors with the red placard a second glance. He walked right by them clearly in search of something else. A door opened up in front of them and they had to pause briefly as a tall and muscular Reindeer came out, he was someone who looked like a fighter, and nodded to them. Despite his more fearsome appearance he just smiled politely like every other Reindeer Dash had seen in Nogt.

But a few more doors down, Ark’Nogt finally stopped. “Aha! Here we are.”

Rainbow Dash glanced at the door to see if there was anything different about this one. And indeed there was. Instead of a red placard there was a golden one that Ark’Nogt quickly slid out of place and flipped over, to reveal a red side on the back, and then slid it back into place.

“There, now this notifies everyone that the room is taken.” Ark’Nogt said.

“Oh, so all of these things can just be flipped over when you come and leave?”

“It’s a simple way of doing things, but yes. Now let me show you what is inside your new room,” Ark’Nogt pulled the door open and led them both inside.

A pretty plain affair, it was a one-bedroom apartment with a closet and at least her own bathroom and shower. But the bed was pretty small and only meant for one creature, and not a very big one at that. She did have her own nightstand and lamp beside it though and a window that let her see outside. All in all it was an okay looking enough place to stay in. Like most of the rest of the Reindeer city it was very white too, the sheets, the mattress, the carpet, and the curtains were all just eggshell white. Clean but boring. If this was Rainbow’s room she’d definitely have some cooler and louder looking stuff in here. When she checked inside the bathroom even it was still just sheer white tile.

“Seems like everything is in order,” Ark’Nogt said.

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash nodded and turned the faucets on the sink and shower to make sure they worked, and when warm and cold water came out she was satisfied.

“Don’t worry, we make sure that all the necessary upkeep is done here.”

“Wasn’t doubting you, just really wanted to take a hot shower as soon as I could.”

“Well you’ll be able to do that shortly. First I wanted to tell you a little more about this building and some other close by places I think you might find of interest.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him. “Kay, shoot.”

“First of all there is a pool on the roof of this building. I don’t know if you enjoy swimming, you probably prefer flying, but it can be used for exercise as well. It’s open to anyone, you just need to go up the stairs or fly outside to reach it.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Swimming aint my main thing but I don’t hate it. Sounds like a good place to chillax too. What else?”

“I don’t know what chillaxing means but... anyways, if you go past the building on the opposite way from the direction we came from, you’ll find yourself at another park that has an outdoor exercising area. Weights, equipment, all sorts of things that, again, anyone can use are there. I think you’ll find it useful if you’re entering the tournament.”

“Does sound pretty good, I think I’m in pretty darn good shape, what with all the flying and stuff I’ve done to get up here, but I could always beef up these legs of mine, heh.” Rainbow said and rubbed along the muscle of her foreleg for emphasis.

“Good, good,” Ark’Nogt smiled and nodded. “I think that’s everything pressing then. I don’t know if there’s another empty room on this floor or nearby but I’ll find one for myself and leave you be now.”

A knock came on their open door and both Ark’Nogt and Rainbow Dash turned around to see who made the sound.

A doe was standing there with a somewhat embarrassed blush on her face. “Excuse me, but I was walking by and couldn’t help but overhear...”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head at the doe. Despite being a doe she had a far more athletic appearance to her than most bucks Rainbow had seen in the city, with a more defined musculature than Ark’Nogt standing here. She had big green eyes and stood decently taller than Rainbow Dash while also wearing a red scarf around her neck.

“Uh, what’s up?” Rainbow Dash asked her.

The doe smiled and let herself in. “My name is Sia’Lorna, I heard Ark’Nogt say you were interested in entering the soon to occur tournament?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “My name’s Rainbow Dash, nice to meet you. Are you going to be fighting in that tournament too?” She then looked between Sia’Lorna and Ark’Nogt. “And you two know each other?”

“Sia’Lorna is a common participant in the tournaments held at Nogt. I have met her many times,” Ark’Nogt explained.

“Yes, I know the Embracers of Nogt well. I travel here more than most Reindeer or other creatures ever do,” Sia’Lorna said, nodding to Ark’Nogt before looking back at Dash. “And yes, I am here again for the next tournament. Usually at these smaller tournaments it’s nothing but Reindeer, so when I heard you speaking, my apologies, but I just had to talk to you.”

“Well talk away. I love talking about myself,” Rainbow said.

“Sia’Lorna was one of the Reindeer who I knew was here that I figured you would want to meet. And vice-versa,” Ark’Nogt said. “And I do believe you have no further need of me for the moment, I will depart and find a room of my own while you two converse with each other.”

“Take it easy, dude. See ya tomorrow?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yes, I will drop by as soon as the light crystal turns back on. Farewell for now,” he nodded once to her and to Sia’Lorna and left, closing the door behind him.

Sia’Lorna waved goodbye to him and turned to Dash. “Do you enjoy fighting?”

“Kind of depends but for the most part yeah. And I’ve been in some pretty epic fights in my life,” Rainbow said.

“Then I hope we get the chance to fight each other in the tournament. I would relish the opportunity. Even at the bigger tournaments there are few opportunities for me to fight anyone besides other Reindeer, and they are mostly the regulars who I already know well.”

“Sounds like you really want to have a good fight? Or just do something different than wailing on other Reindeer?”

Sia’Lorna nodded. “Yes, fighting is my passion and I’m always looking for a real challenge or something new to experience. I’ve fought only a few pegasi like yourself before and I’d love to see how you compare to them.”

“Better. That’s how I compare,” Rainbow confidently stated with a smirk on her face.

“I hope your confidence is warranted, you’re making me very excited in anticipation. That is if we actually get the chance to fight.”

“I can guarantee it’s more than warranted. I hope you can keep up,” Rainbow Dash said but winked at her to let the doe know it was all good-natured.

Sia’Lorna giggled. “Oh I believe I can.” She looked at Dash with a questioning face. “So Ark’Nogt already told you about what matches in our tournaments are like?”

“Yep! No flying, no magic, no permanent damage, yadda yadda yadda.” Rainbow Dash said. “And no horns either but I guess you don’t need to worry about that, huh?”

“That’s right,” Sia’Lorna grinned. “Do you know how matches are decided? Or what the format of this tournament is?”

“Uhh... maybe that stuff slipped Ark’Nogt’s mind. He kind of had a lot of stuff to talk to me about,” Rainbow said.

“Well the way the tournament works is fairly simple, especially since this is a smaller one. There will be preliminary matches that aren’t even watched by an audience to thin out the competitors until only thirty-two remain. And after that it’s single match after single match until we have a winner. I can’t even count how many matches I’ve been in in my life...”

“Okay, so no second chances or loser’s bracket or anything. If you lose once you’re out.”

Sia’Lorna nodded. “That’s right, I can recall a few bitter memories of my own from being eliminated at the very beginning. But that hasn’t happened in a long time.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled at the implication of that statement. “What else then?”

“Well there are four ways to win a match. First of all, all matches have a ten minute limit, and if the match last’s the entire ten minutes then the decision for who the victor is goes to the judges. Along with the referee who makes sure nothing against the rules is going on, there are three judges watching who take everything about the match into careful consideration to make their decision. But besides decision, you can also knock out your opponent for a win, or get a ring-out, where the referee will count to ten as soon as someone is knocked or thrown out of the ring, or you can win by your opponent giving up and conceding the match. Those are the four ways.”

“More ways to win, just makes it easier for me,” Rainbow dash shrugged.

“I’m sure Ark’Nogt will also go over more with you and help you out tomorrow. I unfortunately will be busy starting a more intense training regimen tomorrow morning.”

“I guess I’ll probably need to get on one of those too. Not like I’m not awesome enough already, but, you know, I wouldn’t want to be rude to anyone by making it seem like I’m not trying.”

Sia’Lorna smiled happily. “I think you’ll just come off as amusing to everyone else.”

Before Rainbow Dash could respond, the light coming into the building from outside vanished and they were plunged into darkness for a brief moment. Dash almost jolted up and asked what was going on but then a light in the ceiling automatically turned on. She looked back at the window and saw that it was suddenly dark outside with only a few points of light elsewhere that she could see.

“The crystal light in the sky just went out. In twelve hours it will return, for now our electrical lights will make do.” Sia’Lorna explained to the clearly confused Rainbow Dash.

“Riiiight, Ark’Nogt mentioned that. So I guess it’s “night” now, huh?” Rainbow Dash said as she looked around.

“That’s right, and don’t worry about that light in the ceiling, it came on automatically but there’s a switch by your door for it,” Sia’Lorna said and moved to the side so Dash could see. “And if you would like, I have some tea brewing back at my room. It is still a few hours before I would retire for the night and you seem like quite the interesting creature. I believe we could have quite a lot to talk about, there is plenty more just about our tournaments I could tell you.”

Rainbow Dash smiled at the hospitable Reindeer. “Sounds awesome. First though, I really want to shower, so how about you tell me which room is yours and I’ll come by when I’m done?”

Sia’Lorna matched her smile and nodded. “Of course, I’m only three rooms down on this side of the hallway in the direction of the center of the building.” She said and pointed the opposite of the way Dash and Ark’Nogt had come in. “I’ll be waiting for you.” She waved goodbye to Dash and opened up the front door, stepping back out.

“See ya soon!” Rainbow said and waved to her as well before closing the door. And now it was time for a hot shower and some relaxation. Her first day up in this mystical Reindeer city and it had gone pretty well. And it looked like there was going to be something pretty awesome for her to take part in too. Maybe things were going pretty well for her.

North Pole IV

Rainbow Dash got to enjoy a very refreshing shower and after toweling herself off went to Sia’Lorna’s room to enjoy some tea as well. Tea was never exactly her drink of choice but she wasn’t going to refuse something like it either. The shower didn’t have a lot of room but the water was just as hot as she needed. Of course thanks to the weird nature of Nogt it wasn’t actually that cold up here in the city at all. She had been so surprised by everything else but the truth was that the inside of the tornado was surprisingly warm, which might have been due to the sun crystal thing or some other magical property. Either way it had to at least be somewhat warm for all the grass and plants to grow like they did—even though those were weirdly frosted over too. Twilight could probably figure all of this out.

“Whatever,” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I just said thinking isn’t my thing. Not like the fate of the world hinges on figuring this stuff out anyways.”

She reached the door to Sia’Lorna’s room and pulled it open without bothering to knock first. The doe naturally had quite a few more things in her room, likely all personal belongings she had brought up to Nogt with her. There were several large bags stacked up against the far wall and she had a set of heavy weights laid out at the foot of her bed. Other than that there was a pot of tea on the nightstand along with several teacups.

“Welcome! I know there isn’t much space but please make yourself at home,” Sia’Lorna greeted.

“Sure thing, Sia,” Rainbow Dash said and then stopped as she noticed the uncomfortable wince from the Reindeer. “Er, what?”

Sia’Lorna recovered quickly and put a smile back on her face and waved for Dash to come sit down and join her. “It’s not your fault, Ark’Nogt must’ve forgotten to mention it, but it’s against Reindeer custom to shorten names like that. Just for the future I want to tell you to make sure you always call a Reindeer by their full name, our personal names and our city of origin.”

Rainbow Dash smiled apologetically. “Sorry… didn’t know.”

Sia’Lorna giggled and waved Dash off. “That’s exactly why it’s nothing you need to apologize over. I had assumed Ark’Nogt would’ve already told you.”

“Well Ark’Nogt really helped me out a lot so I won’t hold it against him,” Rainbow said, sitting on the bed, which was the only place to sit in here.

“I’ve always thought he was a great Embracer,” Sia’Lorna nodded.

“You want to come with us tomorrow morning or anything? I know you said you’ve got training to do but I’m just wondering,” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I appreciate your offer but I do think I have to decline. I don’t want my regimen interrupted so soon, but perhaps later tomorrow night I’ll be free. Perhaps we can even train together. Although since we’re both going to be competing against each other, maybe not.” Sia’Lorna grinned.

“Heh. Good point. So I guess you’re already registered? Ark’Nogt said he’ll take me to the big stadium tomorrow for that.”

“I am. And I wouldn’t worry about that, registering is quick and easy for a small tournament like this.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “You keep saying it’s a small tournament, I kind of really wish I was here for one of the bigger ones.”

“I do too, it would be quite the spectacle. Unfortunately this is what we have to put up with for now,” Sia’Lorna shrugged.

“Yeah, and I won’t be here long enough for the next big thing. I never am.”

“Going somewhere else?”

“Not… really. I’m just always looking for something new and exciting. I’m from really, really, far away. I’ve been in a ton of really incredible fights since leaving home but I just can’t settle down. I always just want to fly off for more adventure. So I’m thinking that maybe this’ll be it. I win this fighting tournament at the top of the world and then I end up going somewhere else again. Or even back home. It would’ve been more awesome if it was your Reindeer’s biggest tournament or something but oh well.” Rainbow Dash explained to her.

“Yes, it sounds like you’re quite the special creature. Getting to fight more Reindeer, and having more of our people see you fight, would’ve been better. It sounds like you’re likely from farther away than any other creature who has partaken in one of these tournaments,” Sia’Lorna rubbed her chin.

“I can pretty much guarantee that I am,” Rainbow grinned.

“I’ve fought ponies before, and griffons, and wolverines and some other creatures throughout my career. What kinds of creatures have you fought on your long adventure?”

Rainbow Dash wiped a hoof across her forehead. “Wooh, where do I even start?”

“From the beginning?” Sia’Lorna snarked.

“Heh, I didn’t know you Reindeer could be smart like that,” Rainbow winked and playfully punched Sia’Lorna’s shoulder. “But fine, the beginning then. Well I fought a yak, which is a really big and hairy creature, like way beefier and stronger than a pony. That was kind of a draw. I won the fight but I didn’t really knock him out or anything. And like right after that I fought this living ice monster that I told Ark’Nogt about, that wasn’t a real fight though, since I couldn’t really touch it… but then there was also this huge jerk pegasus I had a few fights with after that. He was super strong. And after him I fought these big mammoths-”

“Mammoths?” Sia’Lorna suddenly interrupted. “You’re saying you not only encountered mammoths but you fought them? Our histories speak of those creatures...”

“Oh boy, I have a lot that I should probably tell Ark’Nogt about those mammoths when I get the chance. There’s a lot my old pal Larkon would probably want me to say...” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. “Uhhh, as for the fighting goes though it’s a little different than what you’re probably thinking. Yeah mammoths are super big and strong but I was magically powered up by something else. So it wasn’t a normal fight for me or anything like that.”

“I see… I was a bit worried for a second there when you said you had fought mammoths. We Reindeer learn about them when we’re young, incredibly large and powerful creatures who had warred with our ancestors, but we thought they had disappeared.”

“Not quite. But they’re really different now. Honestly just going off politeness they’re kind of like you.”

“An interesting idea to think of...” Sia’Lorna wryly grinned. “But do go on. What other fights have you engaged in on your adventure?”

“Nothing as impressive after the mammoths. I fought some normal ponies and these metal monsters but they weren’t really tough. That’s kind of the reason I’m not satisfied, I want a good fight with someone who’s my equal, someone I can be really happy about beating just with my own power on my own terms. No magic enhancements or outside help or anything like that. That’s the kind of fight I need to win. I’ve done a lot of cool stuff on this adventure but… having a good clean fight honestly isn’t one of them.”

“Hmm, I can see why that would be unsatisfying. I understand your feelings.” Sia’Lorna nodded.

“Especially cause you love fighting too?” Rainbow Dash smirked.

“I’d say that is indeed the reason why I can understand you,” the kindred spirit chuckled.

“None of my friends back home really like to fight—I don’t blame them or anything—but like, I can’t talk to them about it. And on this adventure things have been way more serious for most of the ponies and other creatures I’ve met for them to care about fighting for fun. You know, just to feel your blood pumping?”

“Despite us Reindeer loving competitive fights there are plenty who don’t see what’s so good about it. I have plenty of family members who don’t understand my passion,” Sia’Lorna sighed. “Along with one or two I’ve even alienated quite a bit. But I can’t help it, I’m mostly traveling and training these days.”

“Hey, don’t let anyone get in the way of your dream. I didn’t,” Rainbow Dash clapped her on the shoulder. “I mean, yeah it would be awesome if you could fix your relationship with your family too but I guess I’m just saying you shouldn’t let that get you down. If fighting is your thing and you want to dedicate your life to that then go for it.”

Sia’Lorna smiled at Dash. “Thank you. Those are words I’ve told myself, and admittedly have heard from others, but it always helps to hear from another. And it’s reassuring to know creatures are alike all over.”

“No problem. It’s just fun to talk to someone like you too,” Dash said.

“It certainly is. Anyways, things are starting to get late, let me pour you some tea.” Sia’Lorna said and got up to get the tea and teacups for the two of them.

“Sure, I know you want to get a lot of good rest before tomorrow so don’t let me keep you up. Normally I like to sleep. A lot. But I guess I have a big day tomorrow too.”

“This tea is good for relaxing ones nerves and helping with sleep. It’s quite the healthy drink,” Sia’Lorna said as she poured out some hot tea into the teacups and hoofed one over to Dash while keeping the other to herself. “The flavor is very soothing, it’s an old Reindeer specialty that has been brewed since the discovery of Nogt.”

Rainbow Dash eyed it, the tea was a deep, dark green and smelled very earthy. She took a single sip and allowed the smooth liquid to run down her throat. It was pretty good, better than she expected. “Hey, that’s not half bad.”

“I’m glad you think so. That tea blend is just one of many things we Reindeer take pride in,” Sia’Lorna beamed. “I’m not a sommelier or connoisseur or anything so I hope it’s good enough. If you get the opportunity you should definitely visit a tea shop in Nogt.”

“It’s plenty good for my tastes. My friends Fluttershy and Rarity drink way more tea than I do, they’d probably have more to say about it. I just think it’s good,” Rainbow shrugged and took another sip.

“Well I suppose that’s good enough for me then.”

The two fighters and soon to be rival contestants in the upcoming fighting tournament finished their tea together, and despite having plenty more to talk about with each other they said their good nights’ for now and Rainbow Dash went back to her room. While Sia’Lorna quickly slept with the aid of her tea, Rainbow Dash was still bristling with excitement and would take much longer to calm down. This was it. This was going to be the grand finale to her adventure and she was excited for it to begin tomorrow. She was going to make sure to make the best of this tournament and her inevitable, glorious, victory.

North Pole V

The following morning had Rainbow Dash woken up by the knocking of Ark’Nogt on her door. How long had she been asleep? He said he was coming back as soon as it was bright again but she felt like she had been passed out for a really long time. Whatever it was she was happy to throw off her blanket and rub the sleep from her eyes. She walked over to the door and pushed it open to see the smiling Ark’Nogt standing there.

“Good morning! Did you have a nice first night of sleeping in Nogt?” He asked her.

“Yeah actually. Sia’Lorna and I talked for a while after you left and then I came back here. So where’d you end up getting a room?” Rainbow asked.

“Second floor, almost right above this one. Was there anything else you wished to do or see today or do you want to immediately register for the tournament?”

“You said registering shouldn’t be a hassle so I’ll probably have time to do all sorts of stuff afterwards, right? So let’s just get registering for the tournament out of the way and then we can decide on what’s next,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I really want to see the stadium it’s gonna be held in too.”

“Of course, then let us be off.”

Rainbow Dash and Ark’Nogt both left the communal living area with Ark’Nogt taking them in a direction towards a more concentrated area of Nogt. It didn’t look as dense as the part of the city she had initially touched down in but there were still a lot of buildings and more actual streets instead of just little walkways through the grass. Once they got closer it was pretty easy for her to see the stadium that would hold the tournament, since it was by far the largest building around. The only buildings she had seen in Nogt that were larger were a few of the castles. But the stadium itself was a very large rectangle of polished white stone, it looked like it could’ve sat several thousand inside of it easily. Depending on how much space the grounds and ring for fighting took up. Around the stadium were numerous shops and business that as far as Dash could tell mostly had to do with food. Go figure.

Thanks to Sia’Lorna her eyes were busy looking for a teahouse too. That was something that could wait even if she did see one though.

“What do you think of it?” Ark’Nogt suddenly asked her as they approached the stadium.

She looked over at him with an even expression before checking out the building again. “It’s a big stadium yeah, pretty nice looking and all. I’ve seen a coliseum and a sports stadium at some of the other places I’ve been to on my journey—and back in Equestria—but I think this is bigger than those.”

“As long as there are others there to watch you fight I think that’s all that matters to you?” Ark’Nogt grinned.

“Heh, I’m not gonna be upset at a larger crowd or anything either.”

“In a few days there will be quite a few more Reindeer here. Not a full crowd, but still sizable of course. If it was one of the bigger tournaments it would be absolutely packed full and then some. Even a week before a major tournament this entire area would be crowded with Reindeer.”

“Everyone making sure they’re full of food and having fun, huh?

Ark’Nogt nodded. “Correct. The big tournaments are just as much an occasion for socializing and reunions as they are for watching fights. Some families and friends will use it as an excuse to take week long vacations and then some.”

“Nice. Think any of the Reindeer watching this tournament are from far off? Do you think I might be the first pegasus some of them have ever seen?” Rainbow asked him.

“Hm, not as likely on both accounts I’m afraid. Aside from the children I would wager that most Reindeer have seen at least one or two pegasus before. Although likely none quite so colorful as yourself,” Ark’Nogt said. “And most Reindeer watching the tournament will either be from Nogt itself or one of the closest cities like Melas, Zel, and Lorna.”

“Guess I’ll keep those names in mind the next time I meet any new Reindeer,” Dash said.

Rainbow Dash and Ark’Nogt then walked from their path onto the grounds around the stadium, heading right to an opening built into the end pointing north. Compared to the white and smooth streets that she had seen at the inner city area the ground here was more like a paved asphalt or concrete. Different styles for different things, huh? She also started looking around for other Reindeer or other creatures that might be coming to the stadium too but she didn’t see any. It was just her and Ark’Nogt going here for the moment.

“So is everyone else already registered?” She asked him.

“Yes. Normally most entrants would have arrived and registered themselves long in advance. There isn’t a deadline or anything, it’s just how we are.”

“Last minute entries are cool anyways. Way more exciting. Think about it—awesome mysterious fighter from out of nowhere, who nobody knows, signing up for the tournament at the last second and then mopping the floor with everyone? Doesn’t that sound way awesome?”

Ark’Nogt chuckled. “It does indeed, does that mean you already see your own victory?”

“I always see myself winning. At anything. It’s just how I handle things, it’s how I make the impossible possible. Gotta believe in myself over everything else, dude.”

“It would require a strong will to keep that attitude up one’s entire life. Obviously it has worked out for you very well though,” Ark’Nogt smiled to her.

“You bet it has. And I wouldn’t be Rainbow Dash if I didn’t know I was gonna succeed at whatever I was doing,” she pulled up a confident grin as the two of them finally made it to the front of the stadium and the archway leading inside it. “Well, lead the way some more I guess.”

Ark’Nogt was happy to oblige her and the two traveled into the well lit stadium. While it looked like this entrance went all the way into the middle of the stadium where the fighting ring would be, Ark’Nogt had them make a right turn down a hallway that went deeper under the stands and walls of the stadium. As they walked down it Rainbow Dash finally saw a few Reindeer cleaning the floors and moving boxes and crates of stuff, probably food, as they prepared for the upcoming tournament. She really wished she could see this place during a big tournament to see if it really was the beehive Ark’Nogt said it was.

Soon they reached the end of this hallway and came to a series of several doors on the walls that led elsewhere into the stadium. But Ark’Nogt walked right by them to the very end of the hallway and the door there that was labeled “Main Office”. Without knocking, he entered and Rainbow Dash followed along with him. The interior of the room was carpeted and pretty spacious with a lot of desks manned by Reindeer and a wall at the back of the office covered in portraits of other Reindeer. Squinting her eyes at it she realized all the pictures looked like they were taken of Reindeer wearing gold medals around their necks. Records of tournament winners, most likely. Directly in front of them now was a wide desk that an older doe sat behind and two chairs were stood in front of. The doe raised her head the moment Ark’Nogt and Rainbow Dash entered and gave them both a warm smile.

“Ark’Nogt, hello. And is this an acquaintance of yours? Are you here as an Embracer of the city?” The doe asked him.

“Yes on both accounts. This is Rainbow Dash from the far away land of Equestria and she would like to join the tournament,” Ark’Nogt said to the doe and then turned to Dash. “And Miss Rainbow Dash, this is Tiza’Nogt, the commissioner of tournaments.”

“Nice to meet you,” Rainbow Dash waved to her.

“The feeling is mutual. I always enjoy meeting new competitors. Please, won’t the two of you take a seat?” Tiza’Nogt offered.

“Thank you,” Ark’Nogt said and the two of them sat down at the chairs. Rainbow Dash noticed that a lot of the other Reindeer in here were watching them.

“So it’s just a registration then?” Tiza’Nogt asked, looking directly at Dash now. “We just have a form for you to fill out and have to make sure you understand the rules.”

“Ark’Nogt and another fighter have done a good job filling me in. I know there’s no flying and no permanent injuries or anything like that. Judges can decide a match or you can win by knockout and stuff. I think if there’s anything else then this dude can fill me in,” Dash grinned and hooked her hoof at Ark’Nogt.

“Sounds like it, you do seem to have the basics down.” Tiza’Nogt nodded.

“I am working personally now as Miss Rainbow Dash’s Embracer,” Ark’Nogt said. “Anything she needs I’ll be available at all times for her. When it comes time for the tournament as well I’ll make sure to gather her up and have her here on time.”

“Good. The tournament starts in four days in case you didn’t know,” Tiza’Nogt said to her.

“I didn’t, so thanks. Only knew it started soon,” Rainbow Dash grinned.

“So since you’re from a far away place—admittedly I have not heard of Equestria—have you ever fought against a Reindeer before or in a tournament such as this? What piqued your interest?” The commissioner asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nope, never fought a Reindeer before. I’ve fought a lot of different creatures in my life but so far you guys haven’t been one of them. And nothing really piqued my interest or whatever—I just wanted to fight,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I like to fight. Ark’Nogt told me it’s something Reindeer are pretty passionate about for the most part and since you’ve got this tournament coming right now I thought it was a really awesome opportunity.”

“I think you’ll also bring a little extra “awesomeness” to our tournament as well… being a total outsider completely new to Nogt and our tournaments, from a land foreign and unknown to us, is a treat. It’s something that might make this small tournament as exciting as the bigger ones. You’re hardly the only pony that will be participating even in just this tournament but I think you’ll be quite the draw for our interested audience,” Tiza’Nogt positively beamed at the prospect.

“That sounds pretty awesome to me. You want me to be some kind of special event for your tournament to drum up interest? Well I love being the center of attention, heh.” Rainbow Dash grinned and leaned back in her chair, folding her hooves over her chest and trying to exude as much “coolness” as possible.

“Then it seems we have mutually beneficial desires. Well, besides all that, there’s certainly no reason to bar you from participating in the tournament. I’ll just have you fill out the form and then you’ll officially be entered,” Tiza’Nogt said and looked over to the left to a Reindeer sitting behind another desk. He nodded and retrieved a piece of paper from a binder, bringing it over and setting it down in front of Tiza’Nogt. “Here you are, Miss Rainbow Dash.” The commissioner said and slid the registration form to her while also pulling a pen out of a pen holder beside her.

“I’ll have this done in a second,” Rainbow said, taking both paper and pen and looking over the form. She doubted she’d have to think too much about anything on here. In fact she wanted to just write her name down and be done with it, but there was some more stuff for her to write down besides just her name.

Height, weight, what kind of creature she was, where she came from, any illnesses or disabilities. Stuff like that. General information that would be pertinent to a contender and the ones in charge of the tournament. She wondered if someone who had a disability or was missing a leg or something had extra stuff to sign or go through if they wanted to compete. But Rainbow Dash was just able to check most everything off as healthy and filled in her other information. At the bottom of the form she wrote her name in big, blocky letters as a signature and slid it back to Tiza’Nogt.

“That’s everything,” Dash said.

Tiza’Nogt looked it over, her eyes quickly scanning everything. “It seems so. Congratulations then, Miss Rainbow Dash, you are officially entered in the tournament, and best of luck to you.”

“I don’t need luck,” Rainbow Dash smiled widely and one of her teeth sparkled. She couldn’t wait.

North Pole VI

Rainbow Dash lifted up the heavy dumbbell with her hoof, laying sideways down on a bench, and brought it all the way up so it was parallel with her face. Sweat glistened off her brow and she grunted as she managed the feat before letting the dumbbell back down and dropping it on the ground. That was fifty reps all at once just with her right front leg and she had already done the left leg before that. She now lay on the bench, panting and sweating, resting for the moment until she could start a different workout.

It was funny to her that normally she wouldn’t bother with something like this but she really wanted to win that tournament and she had to make sure her entire body was as strong as possible since flying was off-limits. That took away her biggest advantage after all. She mostly always punched and kicked with her hooves anyways but it was going to be different not being able to buzz around whenever she wanted. She knew she wasn’t as quick just on the ground either, so she’d probably have to do some running and stuff to make her as agile on four legs as she could.

“Wooh...” Rainbow Dash said and sat up on the bench, she was at the outdoor workout area that Sia’Lorna had told her about yesterday, it was only a few short hours after Dash had gotten registered.

Sia’Lorna herself wasn’t here but Dash saw a number of strong and tough looking Reindeer that she figured were probably competitors in the tournament. Mostly bucks but there were a few doe too. Like what Rainbow Dash had come to expect from Reindeer they looked friendly but kept to themselves and their own training. It was pretty crowded here with several dozen fighters and bodybuilders taking up space, Dash for the time being could only use these free weights she had been lifting but there were several machines she wanted to try out. And a bench press with an adjustable barbell that was screaming her name. Unfortunately that was in use at the moment too.

Bulk Biceps would love this place. Rainbow Dash grinned as she thought of her overly-muscled friend.

Rainbow Dash hopped off the bench and took a slow walk around for a moment, thinking of how best to maximize her workout time. She was no stranger to working out thanks to the regimen and training she went through as a Wonderbolt but she wasn’t an expert in muscles and stuff like that either. Usually what she did was fly to her limit and maybe do some wing push-ups. Nothing that really helped her out here.

That did give her an idea though; why not just do regular push-ups? Do an Applejack style workout. She knew the farmer didn’t really exercise exercise since her work naturally kept her in shape but she still did some stuff occasionally. And all she had were her four legs to work with, Rainbow Dash could just emulate her friend now.

She also planned on going swimming later today, using that pool on top of the communal center’s roof. Full body workout, great cardio exercise, that’s what she had always heard about swimming. Right now though it was time to beef up her muscles. Rainbow Dash saw someone leave one of the machines and walked over to it. It was a type where it had ropes tied to some heavy weights and you sat down facing away from the weights and pulled on the handles at the ends of the ropes to lift the weights. Rainbow Dash sat down where she needed to and grasped the handles over her shoulders and started pulling them one by one. It worked out a different set of muscles than just lifting the free weights, she could feel a lot more being utilized than just some in her legs whenever she curled one of those dumbbells.

Rainbow Dash grinned, this was a good exercise. She was really getting the best out of her time by being here. It was a little to light for her though so she adjusted the weights to make it even heavier.

“Now we’re talking! Time to make this a real workout!” She started pushing herself fast and hard enough on the machine that she was almost in danger of straining herself. But Rainbow Dash knew her limits and she also knew she was in practically the best shape a pony could be. She definitely wasn’t going to do something embarrassing like accidentally hurt herself or pull something before the tournament.

Soon she was sweaty and getting sore all over again so Rainbow Dash stopped on this machine and took another rest. Where was a machine that she could use to exercise her back legs with?

She saw one that a very muscular buck was currently using. He was lying inclined on his back and with his back legs was pushing a heavy metal sheet that had several weights slid on behind it. It looked like he was pushing at least a couple hundred pounds like that. Rainbow Dash grinned, that was going to be her next thing. And she bet she could handle even more weight than him, she might not be able to buck like Applejack but she was pretty proud of the strength in her back legs too. The only problem was that there was a little line for that machine already. She clicked her tongue and trotted on over to it anyways, she still needed to catch her breath after all.

The Reindeer she ended up standing behind in the line to use the leg machine glanced back at her and smiled. “I haven’t seen you around before, are you here to compete in the tournament?”

“Yep!” Rainbow Dash happily smiled back at him. “You too?”

He shook his head. “No, this is just my regular exercise spot, but the buck currently on the machine is a competitor.”

Rainbow Dash took a harder look at the muscular buck, he definitely looked strong but his muscles weren’t crazy like Bulk Biceps, she could take him. “Guess everyone has the same idea for getting ready for the tournament.”

“More or less. There are other places in Nogt, and some of the more seasoned competitors have their own personal routines and trainers,” the helpful Reindeer said. “Truthfully I’ve always been interested in the tournaments, I probably pay more attention to them and the competitors than most Reindeer.”

“But not a fighter yourself?”

“No, I don’t have the talent for it. My passion ends with watching.”

“I guess that’s why you’re talking with me instead of leaving me to my own business like most Reindeer?” Rainbow Dash asked.

His eyebrows suddenly shot up and he seemed dismayed. “Oh! My apologies for my impertinence, I didn’t wish to be invasive.”

“Whoa, whoa, hold on!” Rainbow Dash waved her hooves around. “I didn’t mean it like that or anything, I was just saying.”

“Oh,” he smiled lightly again. “My mistake then, just you being a pegasus pony and a competitor… I got a little too excited.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Hey dude, no problem there. I’m pretty awesome so I get it. Actually it’s kind of refreshing to have one of you guys actually talk to me.”

“Then I am glad I made the decision to.”

The two ended up chatting a little bit until it was first his turn to use the machine and then hers, once he had finished he wished her well and headed off in the direction of a spot for bench pressing. Then Rainbow Dash got to some serious work on her back legs. She put on extra weights and made sure she was showing off to everyone around. The mechanism came down at her quickly and her legs almost buckled under the weight but Dash grit her teeth and pushed it back, she was sweating after just one push and a vein was popping out of her neck but she kept going and going for it.

She would be sore tomorrow thanks to not really exercising these muscles this harshly normally but she didn’t care. As long as she was in tip-top condition for the tournament that was all that mattered and Rainbow Dash was making sure she was prepared for it. The weights came down again and Rainbow Dash strained for a second before pushing them back up, she didn’t have the chance to spare a glance at all the Reindeer around here but she bet they were impressed with what she was doing.

After another few presses she finally got off the machine and let the next Reindeer get their workout on it. Her legs wobbled a bit as she walked but that was only a good sign to her. While everyone else continued working out here, Rainbow Dash looked in the direction of the communal living center.

“Okay… let’s hit that pool now.”

Rainbow Dash took a large gulp of air as her head shot out of the water and she came to a stop at the pool’s edge, having just finished going ten laps in it. This was a much easier, but very efficient, workout compared to what she had been doing with the weightlifting and exercising machines. There were several lanes made from floating dividers in the pool and she had one all to herself, with the pool itself being about a hundred feet long. There were other Reindeer swimming in it but most of them looked to just be using it for fun. In fact the only creature she saw who was explicitly exercising was a wolverine with a nasty expression on his face. He charged up and down the lane he was in like a madman and Dash didn’t have any intention of starting up a conversation with him. He was probably here for the tournament too.

She took another deep breath and went for a few more laps of freestyle, gliding through the water as cleanly as if it was air. Oftentimes she would use her wings when she was swimming but not now since just like before all this training was about exercising the rest of her body. She couldn’t rely on her wings this time, they could strike, block, and parry, but she wouldn’t be able to win a fight against serious opponents just by using them. Her legs would be stone and her muscles bands of iron for the tournament.

Rainbow Dash decided to go all out and completed another ten laps in total before pulling herself out of the pool and shaking herself dry. It would still be light out for a few more hours by her guess and she wanted to talk to Ark’Nogt and see if he had any better ideas for preparing for the tournament. Or potentially find Sia’Lorna and ask her the same.

The pegasus cracked her neck as she went to the door that led back into the building. Her body was screaming at her in that intensely good kind of way it does after a real, heart-pounding exercise. She’d have to come back to the pool again, maybe with either Ark’Nogt or Sia’Lorna so she could race someone. Making a competition out of the exercise would make her even more enthusiastic about it. Rainbow Dash knew from personal experience that she could push herself much harder and perform better when she was actively competing against someone.

A grin broke out on her face. “This is gonna be great.”

North Pole VII

Ark’Nogt indeed had a good idea for something Rainbow Dash could do to prepare for the tournament. It was something he set up for her the morning after she had registered and already began her training.

A fight.

He had found a Reindeer who had previously competed in a number of tournaments for her to fight with so she could get some real experience fighting Reindeer and with their rules. Rainbow Dash was really thankful to him for it and now they were in the basement of the communal center. She hadn’t been told about the basement yet but it had a ring set up in it (along with a ton of other stuff for entertainment since the center wasn’t just for visiting fighters) that they could use. Rainbow Dash also now learned that “ring” was something of a misnomer. What they would be fighting in was a square arena with ropes around it.

“The actual stadium ring is much bigger than this, more than double in size, but this works fine for what we need.” Ark’Nogt told her.

Rainbow Dash glanced over it, it looked to be about 15 x 15 feet. “Guess you like giving everyone plenty of room to fight and move around in.”

“I’ve fought in the stadium plenty of times. It’s also to make it more open and easier for the audience to see,” the Reindeer who she would be fighting said. “But it is also to accommodate more mobile fighting styles.”

Rainbow Dash glanced over at him. He was an adult buck at least a decade older than her but still in good shape. Apparently he was too busy with other stuff at the moment to actually compete in the tournament but he had the time to help out Ark’Nogt with this favor.

“Guess I should’ve looked at the ring yesterday while we were there...” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“Seen one, seen them all,” her opponent said and walked to the ring to step up into it.

“True enough,” Rainbow Dash said and floated over the ropes to join him in the ring. “So what’s your name? Didn’t catch it earlier.”

“Ral’Nogt. Ark’Nogt has already informed me that you are known as Rainbow Dash,” her opponent told her.

“Don’t wear it out,” she grinned at him. “So how are we going to start this? We don’t have any referees or judges or anything.”

“Although I’m not qualified to be an actual referee or judge I can still watch over the fight to make sure you don’t break any of the rules, Rainbow Dash. And this is just to give you familiarity with how Reindeer fight in the first place,” Ark’Nogt said to her, standing beside the ring.

“Kay, sounds good,” Rainbow nodded.

There were others down here in this basement, with the majority of them just playing games or lounging previously, but now a lot of them were coming over to see what was going on in the ring. Rainbow Dash was happy to see that she was already generating a decent crowd. It was mostly Reindeer again but a couple of ponies and a griffon were down here too, she wondered if they were all from Ice Valley along with that wolverine? She was going to put on a show for everyone watching and get some good fighting experience at the same time; what more could a pony ask for?

Rainbow Dash looked at the floor of the ring—chiseled stone in a grid design. It would hurt pretty fierce to get slammed onto that. She raised an eyebrow at Ark’Nogt. “So the main ring in the stadium is stone too?”

“Correct.”

“Geez, pretty painful thing to fight on for guys that say they don’t want to see any serious injuries. I thought it would be like a canvas or something.” Rainbow Dash rubbed the top of her head.

“It forces you to not be excessively rough with your opponent, lest you be punished and disqualified.” Ral’Nogt told her.

“Still feels like putting the cart before the pony but whatevs,” Rainbow shrugged.

“Are you two competing in the tournament?” A Reindeer asked from the crowd suddenly.

Ark’Nogt smiled at them and fielded the question. “No, no, only Miss Rainbow Dash, the pony, is participating in the tournament. This is merely training for her.”

“Ohhh...” the Reindeer nodded in mild awe. Rainbow Dash noticed he was fairly young looking.

Rainbow Dash stretched her limbs and rotated her shoulders before slinking down like a cat and taking a big full-body stretch. “Aaaaaalright, I’m ready to fight now. We getting on with it, Ark’Nogt! Just ring the bell or whatever to start us off!” She started bouncing up and down on her hooves, sizing up her opponent and smirking confidently at him. Ral’Nogt in turn tensed up and braced his back legs, lowering his head and getting ready for her.

“I don’t know what ringing a bell would have to do with any of this, at the tournament a trumpet is blown to signify that a match has begun. But since I have none here with me I will merely shout.” Ark’Nogt cleared his throat and then took a deep breath. “Begin!” He yelled at the two fighters.

Rainbow Dash shot towards her opponent as fast as she could—this was no time to think or measure her opponent—she was gonna take it to him immediately. She preferred being on offense to begin with. It was clear from his expression that he hadn’t expected her to be so fast and he couldn’t block her first punch in time. Her blue hoof collided with his chin and knocked him back a few steps while she back-stepped and looked to see how he would recover. She doubted a single punch would be enough to drop a Reindeer who did so much fighting, right?

Ral’Nogt shook his head as he stepped back a bit further to get some distance between himself and her. He brought a hoof up to his cheek to wipe it off and grinned at Rainbow Dash. “That was some impressive speed.”

“You should see me when I’m flying,” Rainbow said and darted towards him again, knowing now that he could keep fighting. She zig-zagged back and forth to keep him on his toes and try and juke him out, but the Reindeer knew what to expect now and his eyes paid careful attention to her movement. When she finally reached him and tried uppercutting him with her left hoof he swiftly moved his head out of the way and then lurched his body forward to try and shoulder check her.

Of course Dash’s reflexes were way too quick for that and she hopped back away from him. But he jumped right after her with his strong limbs, they looked like they could perform bounding jumps more easily than a pony’s, and brought his right hoof at her face in a powerful hook. Rainbow Dash ducked under it but found his other hoof coming straight at her in a jab too. She grit her teeth and side-stepped it but still ended up on the defensive much to her annoyance as Ral’Nogt kept making quick little punches at her face.

She was being pushed back to the ropes so she figured now was a good time to put a stop to his assault. And this was her first real challenge, since in any normal fight she’d just jump and fly above her opponent. But she couldn’t do that here so something else had to be done.

When he tried to jab at her next, Rainbow Dash didn’t dodge the attack, she brought up her hoof to parry it and stepped forward at the same time. His hoof slid over hers and just barely grazed the top of her head while her other hoof came up right at his chest. Ral’Nogt saw it coming though and blocked it with the shin of his other front leg. The two limbs fought and quaked against each other for a moment before both pony and Reindeer disengaged from one another.

She suddenly had the urge, the reflexive instinct, to fly low and around him. But she had to quash that immediately. If she accidentally did something like that in a real match she would’ve been instantly disqualified.

Still, her wings were begging to be used so she figured she might as well oblige them. With a grin she sailed forth at Ral’Nogt once more. The Reindeer got in a low, defensive, position and waited for her. When she got in close she acted like she was going to throw out a left hook but instead she drew her hoof back in a feint and shot her wing forward at the side of his head instead. Ral’Nogt was blindsided by the sneaky maneuver. He had initially started to lean back to dodge her hoof but when he saw her pull it back he thought she wouldn’t be attacking from that direction anymore. Only to instead get a stiff wing in the face.

“Hrk!” Ral’Nogt let out a grunt and closed his eyes as he was knocked slightly to the side, leaving him open.

Rainbow Dash took the opportunity presented to her and dove in at him. Several punches quickly peppered his open stomach and underside before she finished with a stiff jab with her left hoof on his shoulder. Ral’Nogt was thrown off his hooves and slid across the stone floor of the ring. Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, wondering if that was too much, or if the fight was over. But instead Ral’Nogt stood up with a grin on his face and cracked his neck as he stared Rainbow Dash down.

“This is quite invigorating,” he said to her.

“I’m with you on that,” she said back to him and ran in again.

This time Rainbow Dash assaulted him with her wings from the beginning. She wanted to see if she could totally overwhelm her opponent with a flurry of blows from both her wings and hooves at the same time. Rainbow Dash was trying to make it a barrage no Reindeer could adequately protect against. Ral’Nogt did his best to block and dodge everything he could but a few attacks still slipped past his defense and landed. That’s when he shook his head about and tried to knock her limbs away with his antlers.

One of her wings collided with the bone appendages and she winced and pulled it back, stopping her attack. She looked closely at Ral’Nogt’s antlers; the sharp points of them were ground down to nubs so they wouldn’t accidentally stab anyone during a fight. But it still hurt hitting them. Rainbow Dash would need to consider and look out for that whenever she fought a buck at the tournament.

Ral’Nogt took her momentary pause as a sign to take the offensive. Perhaps he was also thinking about her and what she’d be going through soon since he lowered his head and led with his horns. Rainbow Dash dodged out of the way of this dangerous headbutt but Ral’Nogt swung his head again at her, trying to smack her across the face and upper body with his antlers. This time she ducked too low for a simple antler swipe to hit her, practically becoming prone on the ground, before shooting back up once the antlers passed over her and uppercutting him in the throat.

He grunted but didn’t let the single attack stagger him this time and brought a hoof down towards her. Thanks to her extended position she couldn’t recoil quickly enough and his hoof struck her in the chest. Rainbow Dash gagged and was knocked backwards, rolling across the hard stone floor of the ring before stopping herself and shooting back up to her hooves in case she needed to respond to anymore attacks.

Ral’Nogt hadn’t followed up though, the Reindeer needed to take a bit of a breather himself. Rainbow Dash decided to slowly stalk around him like a beast circling its prey while she caught her breath too. The Reindeer kept his eyes on her the entire time and Rainbow Dash felt herself smirking. This was turning out to be a lot of fun.

Before she even realized it herself she was running at him and preparing to end this fight with a series of quick punches to the face. Ral’Nogt turned to face her directly and prepared himself, right as she threw out her first punch with her right hoof he matched it with a powerful straight punch at her face too with his right hoof. He was trying to at least make it a draw or make her flinch and reconsider her punch to try and dodge or block his. Since his limbs were a little longer he’d strike her first if she didn’t change anything and that would either send her off-balance or take away a lot of the force from her own punch.

So instead she did something she could only do thanks to her wings. Rainbow Dash brought her left leg up and her left wing down and caught his hoof in between her knee and wing in a cross-block. It took really precise timing and strength to get it down perfectly but Ral’Nogt found his hoof stuck and his punch stopped completely while Rainbow Dash’s blue hoof was still coming at his face.

“Ugh!” He yelled out in pain as she landed a powerful punch right across his chin, knocking him back to the floor of the ring where he lay sprawled out.

Rainbow Dash grinned and bounced back and forth on her hooves as the adrenaline pumped through her. “Had enough?”

Ral’Nogt looked up at her and considering the pain he was in and how the rest of the match had gone… he nodded. “Yeah, you win. That was a good fight.”

“I was about to call it as well, anyways,” Ark’Nogt said from outside the ring as he stepped up and through the ropes to join them. The others who had been watching clapped their hooves and some even whistled for Rainbow Dash. It had been an entertaining bout, and she was a rather special occurrence. “For a training match that’s really as far as it should go.”

“I know my limits, Ark’Nogt… but I agree that I wasn’t going to be winning after that,” Ral’Nogt said with a sigh and stood up.

“Hey, I think you put up a good fight. I’m just too awesome,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Uh, it was really helpful though, the antlers especially, I’ll definitely be better prepared when I fight a Reindeer for real in that tournament.”

“I’m glad I could help but if I were you I’d still be training hard and not underestimating any of your opponents,” Ral’Nogt said as he moved around his jaw to make sure it wasn’t dislocated or anything.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him. “Why’s that?”

He looked at her with a somewhat sheepish and somewhat warning look in his eyes. “I’ve never won a single tournament I’ve fought in.”

North Pole VIII

While it was now dark out in the city of Nogt; Rainbow Dash, Ark’Nogt, and Sia’Lorna sat calmly and quietly inside of a small teahouse as they waited for the tea master to finish brewing their beverages.

Sia’Lorna had come back to the communal center later in the day after finishing her personal training and found Rainbow Dash. Deciding to take matters into her own hooves, she invited Dash and Ark’Nogt to her favorite place for tea in the city now that they were all free after their training for the day was done. Naturally Dash didn’t complain since it was free stuff again and Ark’Nogt saw it as a good opportunity to get her more in touch with their culture and traditions. Sia’Lorna too wanted to ask about Dash’s progress with training and how excited she was for the tournament now that the both of them were registered.

So for the moment the three of them sat in a small room at a polished black table, being quiet because according to Ark’Nogt you weren’t supposed to speak while the tea was being prepared. This was a time for rest and anticipation. Rainbow Dash wryly thought to herself that Sia’Lorna didn’t bother with any of that stuff back when she had some tea brewing in her room but obviously this was a much more serious and formal situation. She could picture Twilight and Applejack appreciating that sort of thing. Though Applejack probably wouldn’t really care about the “tea” part of it.

Now Rainbow Dash wasn’t a pony that could typically be called quiet or patient. And shortly after she started tapping her hoof on the table out of boredom she received a look—a polite look—from Sia’Lorna telling her to stop that too. It was difficult for her to remain still and there wasn’t even anything for her to look at our anything in this tiny room. They were secluded inside the teahouse and the tea room was totally undecorated with the vinyl floor and the walls being a boring tan color. She had to figure it was designed to make you bored and not distract you so you could just relax and meditate or whatever.

Well fat chance of that happening. Rainbow grunted. Her mind usually went a mile a minute anyways, especially when she didn’t have anything for her body to do. She glanced over at Ark’Nogt and Sia’Lorna, who were both sitting perfectly still and quiet. How do they do that? This tea better be worth it.

Ugh. She could just picture Pinkie Pie of all ponies trying to sit here and do nothing while just waiting for tea. And then she’d probably ruin it anyways by pouring a ton of sugar in it first thing.

Rainbow Dash looked at the table, there wasn’t any sort of sugar or anything on it though. Either their tea was supposed to be drunk exactly as it was served or everything came out together with it. She wouldn’t be surprised if you were just supposed to drink it plain, and nothing to eat with it either. This seemed like the kind of place for that. You’d be “Fully enjoying the aroma and divine taste of the tea itself, darling” as Rarity would put it. Rainbow Dash was going to have to try and not guzzle it down immediately when it was brought to her. That’d probably be embarrassing both for herself and her two companions.

Sia’Lorna and Ark’Nogt were both being really nice to her so she didn’t want to do that. She was pretty thirsty at this point though and her impatience was only growing…

Just as she felt like she was going to groan and flop onto her back out of boredom, the door opened up and the master of the teahouse came inside. Rainbow Dash bit back a “Finally” and watched with excitement as the doe carried their tray in to the table. Three cylindrical teacups sat on the tray, they weren’t porcelain like Dash was used to but pewter. The teapot as well was pewter and Dash could see the steam rising from its spout.

The aroma was noticeable instantly too. Powerful, almost like someone had lit incense in the room. It was a very flowery and light scent, filling the room completely but not overwhelming Rainbow Dash’s nose. She tried to place what exactly the flower scent was but she wasn’t sure yet. It definitely wasn’t roses, she would’ve recognized that, or daisies or daffodils, also common enough for her to know. Compared to the earthy scent that Sia’Lorna’s tea had this was definitely different too and she kind of wondered why. It must’ve just been a different brand or way of brewing it.

The doe put the tray down on the table and placed the three teacups in front of Rainbow Dash, Ark’Nogt and Sia’Lorna. Then, slowly and steadily, she grasped the teapot and poured the greenish looking tea into each teacup, filling them up to just a little bit below their rims. After she was done with the initial pouring she placed the teapot back on the tray and left it in the center of the table for them.

“You may begin,” the tea master said with a quiet voice and bowed, backing out of the room and sliding the door shut again.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at her as she left and looked at the teacup in front of her. “Oooookay? So we just drink now?”

Sia’Lorna giggled. “Yes, we drink now. And we can speak now too obviously. Tell me what you think of the tea after you have your first sip.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged and picked up the teacup. She squinted at the slightly clear liquid inside before smelling it, still not sure what exactly the flower scent was that was coming from it, before putting it to her lips. “Here goes nothing.” She said and took a sip.

Immediately the flavor and unique sensations of the tea filled her mouth. It was a sweet taste with a strangely buttery undercurrent. Rainbow Dash found herself unconsciously savoring it and closing her eyes before swallowing down the tea. It warmed her gullet and stomach on the way down and she let out a satisfied sigh when she was finished.

“Woah… that’s some good tea.” Rainbow said.

“Wonderful, I’m happy you like it,” Sia’Lorna smiled.

“Me too,” Ark’Nogt said.

“It’s tasty and really warming. And it smells different than it tastes, what is that?” Rainbow Dash asked, still sniffing the tea to figure out what it was.

“That scent you’re smelling is oleander,” Ark’Nogt said.

“Oleander?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him. “That’s a flower, right? I feel like someone else mentioned that to me before… Roseluck maybe? Or could have been Daisy or Lily Valley I guess.”

“It is a shrub that flowers,” Sia’Lorna nodded. “And it is quite a poisonous plant at that.”

Rainbow Dash paused. “Wait. What?”

“The tea is imbued with the fragrance of oleander but it’s carefully harvested and treated in a way that removes the poison from it,” Ark’Nogt told her. “That’s what gives the tea its exceptionally sweet scent.”

“Seems a little unnecessary but as long as I’m not gonna die from drinking it I guess that’s okay,” Rainbow Dash shrugged and took another sip.

“I can assure you that such a thing wont happen,” Sia’Lorna said.

Each little sip Rainbow Dash continued to take just made her feel better and better. Any leftover fatigue or muscle pain from all the working out she had been doing was leaving her body. It was practically like the Reindeer tea was healing her, she was starting to feel blissfully unaware of anything else right now. Each time she closed her eyes and really savored the tea it was the same as relaxing on a floating cloud on a warm summer day above a beautiful grass field full of flowers.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say there was something magic in this tea to make it as good as it is,” Rainbow Dash said as she set her teacup down, now more than halfway empty.

“Nothing magical, just generations of refinement and work to make it the best tea you’ll ever drink,” Sia’Lorna said.

“I’ll take your word for it. It’s definitely the best tea I’ve ever had at least,” Rainbow picked the cup back up and drank down a larger gulp, almost emptying the cup. “How much is left in that teapot?”

“Enough to fill up all three of our cups one more time,” Sia’Lorna said.

“And I for one intend to have my refill,” Ark’Nogt said with a smile.

Rainbow Dash grinned at him. “Yeah, me too.” She took another sip and looked over to Sia’Lorna. “You still doing more of your own training tomorrow?”

“I am,” Sia’Lorna nodded.

“Me too. I think I’m going to do a bunch of running, work out my legs even more you know? Cause I’m still way, way, way more used to flying than running. I want these things to be the best they can be,” Rainbow Dash said and patted her legs.

“I understand, you’ll need them at their strongest if you want to win,” the doe said.

“And like I said, I’m definitely winning,” Rainbow stated and finished off the last of her tea before reaching for the teapot to fill it back up.

“You’ll have to get through a number of tough opponents for that. Me least of all. But I admire your confidence,” Sia’Lorna smiled.

“I hope we do get to fight. And that’s fine by me anyways, it aint worth winning if I’m not beating up on strong creatures,” Rainbow shrugged.

“It’s only a couple of days now, I’m very much looking forward to watching you participate in the tournament,” Ark’Nogt said to her.

“Thanks for telling me about it in the first place.”

Sia’Lorna suddenly coughed into her hoof to get both their attention. “I know it’s fine to talk now but generally speaking we should be talking more about the tea and more relaxing things. The time for fighting is coming soon, this is a time for something else.”

If it were any other creature Rainbow Dash would’ve probably heard some veiled annoyance or exasperation from Sia’Lorna. Instead it sounded like she was trying to be as honestly kind as she could be while illuminating their customs as they pertained to drinking tea. “Heh, sorry. Let’s just relax and finish off this teapot then?” Rainbow suggested.

“Yes, lets,” Ark’Nogt said.

Sia’Lorna smiled and the three, much more quietly and calmly, finished drinking the delicious and relaxing tea that had been brewed for them.

North Pole IX

Rainbow Dash ran. She ran so hard she was panting and sweating as she pushed her limbs almost harder than she ever had before. Her wings were kept pinned at her sides by rope so she couldn’t even accidentally use them if she wanted to. Down at her ankles she was wearing special weighted bracelets to get even more out of her work out. She didn’t often do this kind of strength-training but she might as well go all out for this tournament. And if you could combine endurance with muscle building all in one exercise then that was pretty nice for her.

She had been running for hours and hours at this point, since before the crystal sun had even lit up again this morning. And she wasn’t even close to stopping since she planned to run around the entire plateau. That was her exercise for the day, to make a complete circuit around the entirety of Nogt. She had been running close to the edge that fell off into the World Drain this entire time, pushing herself to run faster and harder. It was maybe a little dangerous what with her wings bound and all but that only made it more exciting too.

Every now and then she passed by some Reindeer who owned farms out here or just lived near the edges of the plateau in quiet solitude compared to the more bustling areas. She would wave and say hi before darting off again to work those legs of hers. It was quiet out here on the outskirts with only a few buildings near the edge and not too many trees either. She had found a problem when she encountered one of the “rivers” and had to go upstream looking for a bridge before she could get past it. That had happened a couple more times since then and she knew it was gonna keep happening.

Rainbow Dash started whistling to herself as her hooves crunched over the frosty grass with each bound. It was a beautiful and warm day and here she was outside training through it so she could kick butt easier.

Pretty nice way to spend it in her opinion.

Not as nice as getting on a cloud and sleeping through it but she had something awesome to do instead so that was pretty good. Her hooves were finally starting to feel a little heavy but in Rainbow Dash’s mind that was a good thing. She’d keep going until it felt like she was dragging along cinder-blocks. That just meant the weights around her ankles were working cause normally she’d never start to feel like this from just a normal run. No pain no gain, she’d even go for a swim again after she got back from this run.

She found herself approaching a field of flowers that practically grew right up to the treacherous edge of the plateau. Rainbow Dash saw a number of Reindeer walking through it, picking out flowers and putting them in baskets. She wanted to keep going in a straight line but that would end up with her trampling through a lot of the flowers so instead she’d have to find a pathway through the field.

Rainbow Dash ended up going down quite a ways before finally finding an open spot and then running through the field. It was suddenly so much more colorful all around her because of this, and it smelled great. Now this was the kind of thing that made a run worth it. One of the things about flying was that she was usually too high up when she did it to really smell much of anything aside from smoke sometimes. Down on the ground she was close enough to so many things that she could really experience them with more than just her eyes like she was used to.

As she zoomed by a Reindeer carrying a full basket of flowers she heard a startled “Oh my!” and waved back at the Reindeer with a grin on her face. Then she kept on going with the wind from her sprinting body rustling the sea of flowers around her.

Once she got out of the field of flowers she angled herself back to getting out close to the edge and came across a pair of Reindeer kicking a ball back and forth with one another. Father and son if she had to guess. Really made her heart yearn for some good ol’ fashioned fun like that too but she still had her adventuring to do. Rainbow Dash waved at them too as she ran by in a blur and was happy to see them doing their best to wave back.

She hoped some of the random Reindeer she was running across out here would come watch the tournament. It would be awesome if they saw her fight and recognized her as that crazy pony running around the edge of the plateau.

The crunching grass underneath her hooves soon gave way to dirt as Rainbow Dash entered a new area of the city that she hadn’t been anywhere near before. A rocky and uneven terrain, it wasn’t exactly suited for running through but Rainbow Dash decided she could just add something else to her exercise. With a grin she started running through, over, and around the rocks, jumping off some, running up others only to slide down the backside of them. The weights clattered each time she landed hard back on the ground only for her to take off at a dead sprint again.

Here there didn’t seem to be any other Reindeer, Rainbow Dash looked towards the center of Nogt and saw a number of large boulders and cliffs separating this last zone of rocks and dirt from the populated areas. So it was her place and her place alone to run around in. As she saw a boulder about the size of a watermelon lying half-buried in the dirt she idly thought that she should’ve put something on her back too. Like a backpack full of rocks to make this running really tough.

Rainbow Dash ran up a lopsided boulder and jumped off it once she got to the top, galloping again the moment her hooves hit the dirt.

To her complete obliviousness she didn’t notice that she had jumped over a Reindeer sleeping on the other side of that boulder. And to his obliviousness, the sounds of her running and hitting the ground didn’t wake him up at all.

Rainbow Dash was sweating quite a bit now, the light from the crystal sun felt hotter to her as she ran over this dirt ground compared to the frosted grass. Maybe that magical chill that kept the grass like that kept things cooler too and now that she was off it the powerful rays of heat from the crystal were beating down on her unimpeded. She was definitely going to be taking a dip in the pool when she got back to the living center. And then a nice shower after that.

But for now she was still on an adrenaline rush and the sweat was just another sign that the workout was going well. She’d keep running until she made the whole circuit or she flat out collapsed trying. That’s what it meant to push yourself. And she was having a lot of fun pushing this body of hers and being the best athlete possible.

She started to envision that she was in a race to pump herself even more. An imaginary crowd cheering for her and an imaginary opponent for her to beat and rub their nose in it. Competing always brought out the most from her—it brought her to 110%. Sometimes she could get a little too competitive according to some, not like she believed that, but she knew that either way if she had something to really win it was like she was somehow able to be even more awesome than normal.

The only thing that could make her stronger than when she was competing was when she was protecting her friends. And it didn’t seem like anything like that was gonna pop up here.

Rainbow Dash sprinted out of the rocky area and back out onto the grass, the cool feeling beneath her hooves returning and washing a pleasurable wave over her body. Her limbs were still tired and heavy but her strength wasn’t anywhere close to fading. After flying for most of her journey, and most of her life in general, it was like her legs were saying that it was finally their turn and they didn’t want to be overshadowed.

Up ahead she saw another river but this one was much thinner than the previous at this point.

And Rainbow Dash got a devilishly dumb but awesome idea in her head. Charging up she ran even faster towards the edge of the river, biting her lip and keeping her head low to negate wind resistance. As soon as her hooves hit right at the start of the flowing blue “liquid ice” she leaped with all of her strength to the other side.

Airborne for a decent second she could feel the weights around her ankles trying to pull her down and make her fail the jump. And with the weights, her body already being pushed this hard, and the river’s current, she might be washed out over the side if she didn’t have the distance she thought she could get. Not that she didn’t have full confidence in herself. Confidence that was well placed when she landed safely on the other side and kept running and running.

Two Reindeer kids who were playing catch nearby had seen her make the jump, and they watched as she continued to laugh and whistle in celebration while running by.

North Pole X

Back at the communal living center, Rainbow Dash had actually deigned to take a shower right after getting back from her run instead of doing anything else. Now after that she was back on the roof lazily backstroking while looking up at the sky. The crystal still shone brightly and the swirling vortex ascended up to the heavens, what a crazy place this was. She should fly up to the very top of the tornado at some point. Just to see what was up there if anything. Go above the top of the world and all that, it would be cool, right?

The warm shower had done wonders for her muscles and now the cool water of the pool was doing a good job relaxing her too. Her swimming right now wasn’t meant to be a serious exercise, more like a cooldown so she didn’t overdo things. At the same time there were more Reindeer in here really doing some serious swimming of their own. Rainbow Dash assumed they were either preparing for the tournament too or were professional swimmers of some sort. That wolverine who she was sure was in the tournament was here swimming too.

“Wonder what I should do next? I wanna have another fight...” Rainbow Dash said to herself as she floated on her back. “I guess I could find Ark’Nogt and have him arrange another one. Where has he been today anyways?”

Rainbow Dash was surprised to realize she hadn’t seen her personal attendant today yet. Strange since he was normally so attached to her and usually always made sure to greet her in the morning and check up on her. He must’ve been busy doing something else… but that didn’t make sense since he said the reason he became her personal attendant in the first place was because there was nothing else around. He was probably doing something that revolved around her training and getting her more familiar with Nogt again. Not like she was gonna be mad if he ended up caught up somewhere anyways.

Her eyes traveled back to the floating sun. How long until it turned off?

Turned off. The sun. That was a weird thing to think about no matter how she put it. What would Princess Celestia think if one day Rainbow Dash flew back to Equestria and asked her to turn off the sun for an hour or two? Well whatever, as soon as their fake sun up there turned off she’d get out of the pool and head inside for something to eat.

Getting bored of her slow paddling (even though this was supposed to basically be rest) Rainbow Dash flipped over and decided to speed up for the last few laps. With how much running she had done it wasn’t going to be day for much longer here. So this was her last spurt of exercise until the false nightfall.

With a grin she started to match the swimming wolverine a few lanes over. He either didn’t care or didn’t notice her little faux-competition with him. Rainbow Dash powered up and surpassed his speed until she could practically swim two laps before he had even swam one. If the tournament was a swimming contest she was willing to bet she could take the gold medal in that too.

Right as she hit the edge of the pool and was getting ready to shoot back out for another lap a voice caught her attention.

“Ah! Rainbow Dash! I was looking for you!”

She stopped mid-stroke and bobbed up and down in the water, looking at the side of the pool to see Ark’Nogt standing there. “Oh, hey dude. What’s up?”

“I had been waiting for you to return to your room, I had figured you would before night time, but you didn’t so I searched around the center for you. It seems I was lucky that you were up here taking a swim and not exercising somewhere else,” Ark’Nogt smiled.

Rainbow Dash paddled over to the edge of the pool and pulled herself up, shaking like a dog and spraying water everywhere, before walking over to Ark’Nogt. “I was kind of wondering where you were today too. So I guess you didn’t want to just say hello before I went to bed?”

He shook his head. “No, I wanted to invite you to a special dinner.”

“What makes it so special?” She tilted her head at him before shaking it. “Actually—I don’t care, food is food.”

Ark’Nogt chuckled. “I figured that would be your response. Come; walk with me.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged and came along, the two of them heading back inside the building. And not a moment too soon either—the sun turned off a second later and the electrical lights all switched on. Instead of going to their rooms though Ark’Nogt led them across the building to the other wing. Once they made it to that side they took the stairs down towards the basement. Was the basement on this side the same as the other where she had her exhibition match or was there something else here?

“Are you still curious?” Ark’Nogt asked her as they stepped off at the basement.

“I mean, I guess so. What’s the big deal about dinner?”

“Normally I would agree but this is something special I thought up in the spur of the moment. I’ve been going around all day to put it together.”

“Then let’s see what’s so cool about it,” Rainbow said as they walked down the hallway of the basement towards a door at the end. Already this was different than the big entertainment lounge on the other side.

“You can consider it as something done in your honor,” Ark’Nogt smiled as they reached the door and he put a hoof on it. “But not just yours.”

Ark’Nogt pushed the door open and revealed a large banquet hall built in the bottom of the communal living center. In the center of it all was a long rectangular table already filled up with food and plenty of seats taken by Reindeer. Rainbow Dash recognized a few that she had seen around the center over the past couple of days, Sia’Lorna was here too, and so were a couple of griffons.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at the scene. “So what is all this?”

“It’s a dinner celebration for you and all the other guests at the center who are going to be fighting in the tournament!” Ark’Nogt beamed. “Please, take a seat and enjoy meeting with some of your fellow competitors.”

“Works for me,” Rainbow Dash smiled and quickly took a seat by Sia’Lorna. “Sup?”

“Hello, Rainbow Dash. I was surprised when Ark’Nogt told me about this but it’s turning out to be quite enjoyable. There are a lot of Reindeer from other cities here, and fighters I think you would like to meet as well,” Sia’Lorna greeted.

“Are there?” Rainbow Dash grinned and rubbed a hoof under her chin.

It was certainly true that all of the other creatures here had a fierce and tough look to them, there wasn’t a scrawny one of the lot. Over by the door Ark’Nogt still stood and waited for any stragglers to join them. Only one or two more Reindeer came in after Rinbow Dash but then so did that swimming wolverine from the roof as well. Dash kind of wanted to learn about him, so maybe he’d sit by her and she could ask.

“How many wolverines have you fought?” She quietly asked Sia’Lorna.

“A few. They’re rare even at the larger tournaments.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and watched as the wolverine came over and sat across from them before immediately devouring all of the food directly in front of him like some sort of wild animal. His sharp and tearing teeth made her think that he probably wished there was meat at this banquet too. Alas Ark’Nogt had only acquired food that hadn’t been previously alive. Rainbow Dash doubted that you could even find meat to eat in Nogt. The only place she had really been to up in the True North that had creatures eating meat was the snow griffon domain she had just passed through.

“Hey buddy, what’s your name? Been to a few tournaments up here before?” Rainbow Dash asked the wolverine.

He looked up at her with a glare as if he was annoyed that she interrupted his eating. But then he grunted and in-between chews answered her. “You can call me Wandering Claw. And yes.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him. “I can call you that?”

“Non-wolverines can’t correctly speak the wolverine language. That’s the name I go by to other creatures,” Wandering Claw said and took a giant bite out of a loaf of bread.

“Oh, well I’m Rainbow Dash. It’s my first tournament up here. Mostly just seen a bunch of Reindeer but I’ve seen you swimming a few times so figured I’d say hi. That’s what this whole dinner is about anyways I think.”

“Mrm,” Wandering Claw grunted.

“Not super talkative, are you?” Rainbow Dash continued to prod him.

“I don’t have anything to talk about. If we meet in the tournament we meet in the tournament and that’s all there is to it,” he looked up at her with a glare, not a mean one this time but a competitive one. “And I intend to win this tournament.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “We might have a problem there cause so do I.”

“I believe everyone competing intends to win,” Sia’Lorna said from the side with a giggle.

“Heh, probably.” Rainbow Dash laughed and looked back at Wandering Claw. “Well I hope I get to fight you personally, dude. Never fought a wolverine in my life.”

“I’d make the experience one you’d regret,” Wandering Claw said and bit into a tomato, letting the juices run down his chin.

“Fat chance,” she shot back.

“I’ve fought plenty of ponies before, I know how you work.” Wandering Claw said.

“You’ve fought plenty of ponies but you’ve never fought me.”

That actually got a dark chuckle from Wandering Claw. “True, true enough, overly colorful pegasus. I think you’d be impressed by my ferocity though.”

“And I think you’d be surprised by my speed.”

“Speed, eh? Even without the use of your wings? I know how much you pegasi rely on those things.”

“I guarantee you I’m speedier and more agile than like—basically any other pony on the ground. That’s just how awesome I am.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Wandering Claw shrugged and went back to eating.

Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Pff, okay bud.”

“It all comes down to the tournament. And I think this is going to prove to be a surprisingly interesting and exhilarating one,” Sia’Lorna said.

“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash smugly grinned.

Sia’Lorna and Wandering Claw both snorted together.

After that Rainbow Dash got busy chowing down and stuffing her face too. It was a banquet in her (and others) honor after all. And the food proved to be pretty darn good, but that’s basically what she had come to expect for Nogt. She hadn’t had a bad meal yet. In fact she really, really wanted to go back to that ice cream shop at some point. That could wait until after she totally kicked butt at the tournament and won the whole thing. It’d be her grand prize for being the most awesome pony in the world.

Rainbow Dash looked over to the door of the banquet hall and saw Ark’Nogt still politely standing there. Guess he was just acting as the host of this whole thing and letting the fighters talk and get along with each other on their own. She’d definitely have to thank him for all this later tonight.

“Do you want to get to know some of the other Reindeer fighters here?” Sia’Lorna suddenly asked her, snapping Rainbow Dash out of her thoughts. “I personally know them all, I can introduce you.”

“Sure, I wanna know who I’m gonna beat on in a couple days.”

“Keep that confidence, some of these Reindeer have won multiple tournaments.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Even better.” A thought then occurred to her and she raised an eyebrow at Sia’Lorna. “What about you? Have you won any?”

Sia’Lorna returned her smile with a proud one of her own. “I’ve won eleven.”

“Woah, nice. Even some of the bigger ones?” Rainbow Dash was admittedly impressed. She didn’t know what the record was but that Ral’Nogt guy hadn’t won any and he was a decent fighter. So Sia’Lorna must have been really impressive.

“Of course. Big or small though I only want a good challenge too,” Sia’Lorna said.

“Amen to that.”

Rainbow Dash spent the rest of the banquet walking around with Sia’Lorna and saying hi to some of the other Reindeer here. Since this was the communal living center for visitors none of them were from Nogt. Just as she was excited for a good fight they were excited to fight someone from so far away. This small tournament was indeed turning into something a lot more special. Rainbow Dash stuffed her face full of food throughout the entire meet and greet before it got late enough where people started retiring to their rooms. Soon they’d see each other again anyways, in the arena.

North Pole XI

“It’s a race. We’re having a race!”

“A race? Why a race?” Sia’Lorna asked Dash as the two of them stood outside the center with a number of other competitors who had been staying there.

“I got the idea last night thanks to that banquet. Consider it a competition before the tournament if any of you are up for it,” Rainbow Dash said to them all. She was again wearing the ropes around her barrel that kept her wings down.

“Is this about what I said about not believing how fast you were on legs until I saw it?” Wandering Claw asked.

“Yep!” Rainbow Dash grinned. “I’m gonna prove you wrong and get some awesome exercise in at the same time. And I figured it was the perfect opportunity for everyone else to get involved too, What do you say?”

“I’d say I’d rather be swimming, it’s a better exercise,” Wandering Claw said before the corners of his mouth twisted up in a smile. “Buuut if it’s to beat a cocky pony like you I don’t mind doing this either.”

A few mumbles from some of the Reindeer around reached Rainbow Dash’s ears. She could tell they were agreeing with Wandering Claw, having gotten a good handle on Dash’s personality and attitude at last night’s banquet. Some of them were pretty tough dudes and obviously wanted to prove they could beat a pegasus who was normally used to flying in a “foot” race. Sia’Lorna also seemed interested.

“Well?” Rainbow Dash asked again. “We doing this or what?”

“I wouldn’t mind,” said a big buck by the name of Rem’Melas who Dash had met yesterday. “But where’s the finish line? How long is this race going to be?”

“Already thought of that,” Rainbow Dash said and pointed off to the large rock formation at the far end of the plateau from where she had come in, the same rock formation that the rivers of liquid ice all ran from. “From here to there. First one wins, obviously.”

“Should we get Ark’Nogt to officiate things?” Sia’Lorna asked.

Rainbow Dash winked at her. “Actually way ahead of you on that. I woke Ark’Nogt up early and already told him about everything, by now he’s waiting for us at the finish line. He thought it was a, and I quote, “swell” idea.”

“That does sound like him,” Sia’Lorna giggled. “And let’s do it then. I had planned for light exercise this last day but a good run will work wonders too.”

“Cool! Everyone else?” Rainbow Dash looked around the group, having already gotten confirmation from some of the others anyways.

“I’m down.”

“A race sounds fun, count me in.”

“I’ll join as well.

“Me too!”

“I’m confident in my running ability.”

And so on and so forth did every competitor for the tournament that was staying here voice their assent. It was a better outcome than Rainbow Dash had expected, she figured at least a couple would tell her no but Reindeer were just too darn polite. And Wandering Claw was into it too—another surprise. Rainbow Dash had the whole group walk to the… north(?) edge of the communal living area. Technically it might’ve been south but she was still thinking in a “Behind me is south” kind of mindset.

Once they were right at the boundary, Rainbow Dash smiled and turned to the others. “Okay! Everyone get in a line and then once we’re all ready I’ll have the race start at the count of three! Got it?”

“Got it!” A chorus of voices answered.

The group of visiting fighters all got in a single line together facing the massive rock formation at the far end of the plateau. No one was going to have any advantage over anyone else, everyone started from the same distance. There were obstacles in the way like buildings, little rivers, trees, etc. but they’d just have to maneuver past all that. It was more than just run in a straight line but Rainbow Dash was confident in her ability to win any sort of race.

Rainbow Dash looked left and right as she stood in the middle of the line to make sure everyone was ready. Satisfied, she took a deep breath. “One!”

Everyone tensed up.

“Two!”

They dug their hooves and claws into the ground.

“Three!”

And in a blast of wind the entire group shot forwards like a salvo of cannonballs. Huge divots of dirt were torn out the moment they reached the frosted grass as every last one of them sprinted right from the get go. This was no marathon to pace yourself in, this was a full-throttle battle race. Rainbow Dash naturally found herself at the front to start with but a lot of the Reindeer were keeping up really well thanks to their long and agile limbs. Wandering Claw on the other hoof… he was doing his best.

Sia’Lorna was right by Rainbow Dash and the two of them bounded over the ground together, dodging past trees and running over stone walkways whenever they came up. Rainbow flashed a grin to Sia’Lorna and got a challenging one in return. The two of them were going to have a lot of fun competing against each other in this race and then the tournament. The first little river of liquid ice was coming up in the distance and a few competitors were moving up and down looking for a way across it. But not Dash, Sia’Lorna, and some of the other brave runners. They all charged full speed at that river.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Dash asked Sia’Lorna.

“I’m thinking you should save your breath!” The Reindeer chirped back at her.

“Heh, no way, no need!” Rainbow Dash yelled and barreled towards the river with Sia’Lorna.

Forget being worried about getting washed away, she had a race to win here! At the last moment Rainbow Dash jumped over the river with Sia’Lorna right behind her, the two of them just barely having enough distance to clear the river and land safely on the other side where they continued to run full speed ahead. Coming out of their jumps and getting back into motion was easy. The two sprinters were at the front of the group now even compared to the others who decided to jump the river.

Rainbow Dash was always just a teensy bit ahead of her even though Sia’Lorna was doing an admirable job keeping up. That might change though with the houses coming up right in front of them. It seems they had come across a small residential area on the outskirts of one of the larger developed spots. A lot of Reindeer, totally oblivious to the race at the moment, were out walking around. Things were about to become a little messy.

“Hey! Stampede coming through!” Rainbow Dash yelled to get the Reindeers attention right as she and the horde of others emerged onto the streets.

“Gah!” A family of Reindeer jumped out of the way immediately, Rainbow and Sia’Lorna both running right by them.

She heard yelling and surprised shouts from all around and behind her as the rest of the racers intruded on the formerly peaceful morning. Rainbow Dash had to weave in and out of a group of Reindeer and once she passed the last house she winced and waved over her head back at them. “Sorry!”

That little mishap had probably scattered the group even more and now Sia’Lorna wasn’t directly next to her anymore either. Rainbow Dash grinned excitedly as she was sure she was well in first. The next big obstacle on the race was a forest of thick trees. Now she could just imagine doing a Running of the Leaves and think about kicking Applejack’s flank the next time that came around too. Applejack really wouldn’t know what hit her when she saw how much faster Rainbow Dash had gotten on legs.

Sweat was starting to drip from her brow though thanks to how hard she had been running and the rock formation was still a ways away. Sprinting so hard might’ve had its drawbacks but she doubted anyone had the pacing or speed to punish her for it. Chancing a look over her shoulder she saw that she indeed had a good lead on everyone else but they were all putting up a good fight too. She could even see Wandering Claw a little farther back giving it his all as he practically bowled over the Reindeer back in that little town. Sia’Lorna was her closest competitor still but Dash had several full pony lengths on her and she bet that was only going to grow as she nimbly started to dodge and zip around the many trees in this new forest.

She took in a deep breath and pushed herself even harder, something she was great at doing, while running around the many tree trunks. Her eyes and reflexes were great enough where she could easily pivot and dart around any trees that popped up out of nowhere. This was practically her favorite kind of thing in the world and even though it wasn’t the sort of race she was normally used to she could still feel her heart pounding harder and making her way more passionate than she normally would be. A smile was perpetually stuck on her face the faster she ran and the longer this race went on. In the end as much as she wanted to win she also wanted the others to challenge her even more, to make that inevitable victory that much more satisfying.

“Come on! Is that all you’ve got! Really run like you wanna win!” Rainbow Dash yelled out to the sky as she ran through the forest, loud enough for most of the other racers to hear her.

Immediately she heard the pounding of hooves on the ground grow stronger.

“That’s more like it!” She yelled again and then ducked her head to be as aerodynamic as possible while completing her run through the forest.

She had to burst through some bushes but she soon emerged from the forest and out onto open ground with the rock formation now dead ahead. Rainbow Dash was on the home stretch of the race and the others weren’t far behind either. Squinting her eyes she saw a figure standing atop an outcropping of the rocks on the ground: Ark’nogt. That was her goal, reach him before anyone else.

The huge rock formation that now towered over them all was a sight to see too, with rivers and waterfalls of the liquid ice pouring out of it and flowing along through the rest of Nogt. The sandy colored rocks were placed atop and next to each other like a great mountain of blocks. Behind her she heard most of the others emerge from the forest as well, Rainbow Dash just barely looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Sia’Lorna practically right behind her. The Reindeer hadn’t given up but Rainbow wasn’t about to let her win.

With her eyes focused back entirely on Ark’Nogt and the rocks, Rainbow Dash pulled out all the last stores of energy she had in her body. Even after fully sprinting the full time she somehow managed to get even faster and pull ahead a little more.

Yelling in victory she zoomed right past the rock Ark’Nogt was standing on and came to a screeching halt. Trenches of dirt were blown up from the ground and smoke practically came from her burning hooves as she stopped.

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof while the others also reached the finish line.

Sia’Lorna walked up to her, panting heavily. “You are… indeed… very fast.”

“Quite so,” Ark’Nogt agreed as he hopped down to join them. “I don’t think any Reindeer here could beat you in a race whether it be a contest of speed or endurance.”

Rainbow Dash grinned and mimed rubbing some dust off her chest. “Well, yeah. I’m just awesome, remember?”

“You had best remember though!” A sharp voice suddenly cut in and Wandering Claw emerged from in-between the other finished racers (who also looked exhausted just like Sia’Lorna) “That… the tournament… is not a race. It is a fight… the speed you can run doesn’t… mean everything in the ring. Or much at all… truly.”

Rainbow Dash cracked her neck and kept the cocky grin on her face. “I know that. I just wanted to prove that I’m not all wings. And I think I did. I’m still looking forward to the real action up here. So I hope all of you bring it.”

“You can guarantee… that we all will,” Sia’Lorna grinned as well.

“Good,” Rainbow Dash reached to the ropes around her barrel and started to undo them. “Now I don’t know about you, but I could really use a shower.”

North Pole XII

It had been an exceedingly nice and restful night of sleep Rainbow Dash had gotten. She had made sure of it since today was the day the tournament began and she was going to be at a hundred and ten percent for it. Preliminary matches, main event matches, she was going to kick butt and take names through the whole thing. As she had told Ark’Nogt the previous night, he was to wake her up as soon as the crystal sun turned on so she had plenty of time to eat and prepare. Then they could go to the stadium together.

So with a knock coming to her door, Rainbow Dash’s head snapped up from out under her pillows and the pegasus slowly sat up. Rubbing her eyes and yawning she flapped her wings and hovered out of bed and onto the floor.

“Time already, huh?” She muttered to herself and walked to the door.

When she opened it the smiling face of Ark’Nogt was there to greet her. Just like it should have been.

“Hello and good morning, Miss Rainbow Dash! It’s a wonderful day today!” He happily said.

“Don’t I already know?” She grinned and rubbed the last bit of sleep out of her eyes before clapping her hooves together. “I’m ready to fight.”

“The actual preliminary rounds will take place in a few hours, so we have plenty of time to get something to eat and for you to check in once we arrive,” Ark’Nogt told her. “After that you’ll be able to enjoy all the fighting you want and more.”

“Then what are we waiting for! I need to eat a big breakfast so I got plenty of energy to fight with!” She started hopping up and down on her back hooves and throwing out punches with her front ones.

“Let us get a meal here and then we can go.”

Rainbow Dash had eaten from the center’s small cafeteria a couple times already during her brief stay in Nogt. She wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone (she still had yet to have food as good as Shibu’s since leaving the mammoth city) but it served its purpose. This morning she scarfed down a big bowl of grain cereal and washed it away with a glass of vegetable juice. Healthy, filling, and full of the kind of vitamins and energy she needed for the tournament. By the time Rainbow Dash finished and she and Ark’Nogt left the center she was practically vibrating with excitement.

“Oh man, oh man, it’s finally the big day!” She grinned widely. “This is gonna be awesome!”

“Big day for you, yes. I unfortunately won’t be able to watch any of the fighting until the individual rounds,” Ark’Nogt said while they walked through Nogt to the stadium.

“Forgot about that. Sorry dude, but I promise I’ll make my matches worth it for you.”

Ark’Nogt smiled. “I’m certain you will.”

Rainbow Dash glanced over to him while they walked and thought about how for all of Ark’Nogt’s help and how much she had talked to him she didn’t really know a ton about him personally. She had told him a ton about her own life and adventure but all she really knew about Ark’Nogt was that he was an Embracer. She had learned much more about Sia’Lorna’s personal life and history than Ark’Nogt’s. He obviously wasn’t intentionally hiding anything, he just didn’t see it as relevant to his job of helping her out. Well Rainbow Dash felt like changing that.

“So Ark’Nogt, you got a family or anything?” She asked.

He turned to her with a surprised look on his face and raised an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious,” she shrugged.

“Well yes, I do have a family. My wife and three children, all fully grown and all moved away from Nogt,” he told her.

“Kind of surprised you have a wife honestly. Uh, no offense, I just mean cause you must not have seen her like at all the past few days.”

“She’s aware that my job sometimes requires me to spend time away from home helping others. Besides, I was able to briefly hop home and say hi to her while you were exercising one day.”

“That’s good at least. But all three of your kids moved away too? Do you ever even get to see them anymore?”

“It’s very normal for Reindeer to leave home when they grow up. We like to travel all over and Nogt had simply become boring for them, they wanted to see more of the world. My eldest daughter, Vias’Nogt, eventually made it all the way down to Ice Valley. She fell in love with a buck and has recently started a family of her own. My eldest son, Sulan’Nogt, decided he wanted to visit every Reindeer city at least once in his life. Thanks to our scattered nature he’s still working on that but I’ve never received a letter or word from him where he was complaining, he loves his journey. And my second daughter and youngest child, Tek’Nogt, loved to perform and entertain for others. But she also wanted to create something of her own so she went to Lorna and started her own theater. It’s not as easy or comfortable as joining a group here would’ve been but she’s happy. I’m proud of her and all my children. Even if my wife and I get a little lonely sometimes.”

Rainbow Dash reached over and patted his shoulder. “Sounds like you got a pretty nice and awesome family at least. Maybe you’ll be able to have some reunion some time and see everyone again too?”

Ark’Nogt smiled. “That would be a rather “awesome” occasion if it happened.”

“Hay yeah it would!” She cheered and briefly looked back at the approaching stadium. They were getting closer and she could see more Reindeer milling and walking around outside it than last time. “So what about you though? Why’d you decide to become an Embracer?”

“I enjoyed meeting and helping others who visited Nogt. Also I love Nogt and teaching outsiders about it, especially ones like you who were completely ignorant to our holy city’s importance and existence. I think the main reason though is I like learning about other places and peoples from those who come to Nogt. Whether it be Reindeer from one of our far away cities or ponies like you. Well, pardon, there are no other ponies I’ve met like you.”

“Sorry I’ve kind of spoiled visitors for you for the rest of your life. I’m just the most awesome you’re ever going to see.”

“Well I don’t regret your visit one bit. These past few days have been wonderfully entertaining and I expect the entire tournament will be as well.”

“Promise it will be,” a thought suddenly occurred to Rainbow Dash and her eyebrows perked up. “Hey! Why don’t you bring your wife once the fight’s start? What’s stopping you? It’ll be totally cool if you’re there to watch me kick butt with her.”

Ark’Nogt thought for a second, rubbing a hoof to his chin. “I think she would love that, actually...”

“Then do it! Come on, it’ll be so cool! You said there probably aren’t going to be as many Reindeer watching as normal cause this is a smaller tournament, right? Well I want as many watching as possible!”

“Very well, I’ll go and talk to her as soon as I know you’ve checked in at the stadium and are getting ready for the preliminary fights,” Ark’Nogt smiled. “I suppose now the next few days will be even more fun than I expected.”

“That’s what I’m all about, dude. Never underestimate the fun while I’m around. So—uh, what’s your wife’s name anyways? I’ll probably meet her at some point now too.”

“Her name is Mera’Nogt. We first met when I was at the castle back when I worked as a cleaner. It was my first job actually, I was quite young. She was relaxing in a courtyard while I was cleaning the stone paths and I, er, spilled a bucket of water on her and the book she was reading—utterly ruining it. She was very, very, cross with me after that. We kept bumping into each other for a while after that and while she was initially upset to see me, time changes things. We got to know each other and eventually...” he blushed and shrugged, trailing off.

“Heh, nice. So what’s your wife do?” Rainbow asked.

“She’s a researcher. She researches the oddities of Nogt, the history of us Reindeer and our relationship to the city, as well as where we came from and what’s on the other side of the barrier.”

That piqued Rainbow’s interest a little. “Oh yeah? So what is past the tornado? More cold mountains and snow and stuff?”

“More or less but… well, it’s not exactly a very positive thing to talk about, especially right before your fights. Suffice to say that my wife’s research, like the research of our forefathers, hasn’t always produced results.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him. “I get it but I’m a really curious pony too so I’ll probably ask about it again. But yeah, today’s the day for fighting.”

Ark’Nogt smiled. “Indeed it is, and now we’ve arrived.”

Break Day

Her opponent collapsed to the ring like a puppet with its strings cut after the devastating barrage of blows she had visited upon him. It was her third match of the day and her victory here signified her moving on from the preliminaries and into the main event. The other fighters of A Block (who could) all clapped for her as Rainbow Dash stepped out of the ring and looked herself over.

“We’ll give you a checkup, there’s no need to worry about that,” a nurse said to her as they came to recover the Reindeer she had just pummeled into the ground.

“Awesome,” Rainbow Dash nodded and began to look around at the other rings until one of Tiza’Nogt’s officiators came up to her.

“Rainbow Dash! Congratulations on getting out of the preliminaries. We’ve recorded your advancement and once everyone else is finished we’ll announce the first round of matches for the day after tomorrow,” he said.

“The day after tomorrow?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him.

He nodded. “Of course! There’s a full day of rest between each round so the participants can get ready for their next fight. The true tournament matches need to be taken more seriously and we wish to avoid injuries and creatures overexerting themselves as well.”

“Guess I don’t mind some extra sleep before getting to kick more butt,” she shrugged.

“That’s the spirit! You can head over to the nurse’s station now while you wait for the other blocks to finish up.”

Thanks to her naturally being one of the fastest to get through her matches she still had plenty of other blocks to wait for. Including Sia’Lorna’s and Wandering Claw’s. So without anyone to talk to for the next few minutes at least she decided to go over to the nurse’s station and get her promised checkup. And of course because she was so awesome she barely had any injuries and wasn’t really tired at all, it was a totally routine checkup and she basically used the time to just sit there and watch some of the other fights at the closest rings. Rainbow Dash was easily going to be in tip-top condition for her next fight.

After a short time she was able to hop away from the nurses and soon most of the preliminary matches had finished up as well. Rainbow Dash was happy to see that both Sia’Lorna and Wandering Claw had won their blocks and she quickly trotted over to the both of them. She wasn’t exactly sure if she should just leave yet or something, having already advanced, so she figured it would be best to ask Sia’Lorna what happened next down here.

“Hey! Nice work you guys!” Rainbow Dash said to the both of them.

Wandering Claw just grunted in affirmation while Sia’Lorna smiled to her. “Nice work as well, Rainbow Dash.”

“Yeah so I guess we’ll be kicking butt together next round. So what now? We need to stick around here for something?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes, actually,” Sia’Lorna nodded. “Once all the blocks have a victor, Tiza’Nogt and the other officiators will create the bracket for the main event with all the fighters on it. When that’s done and we all know who we’ll be fighting everyone will be dismissed until the day after tomorrow. The ones in charge will spend the day between advertising the tournament and who’s fighting who for the general audience.”

“Awesome, so that means we all get to see who we’re fighting really soon?”

“Yes.”

“Then I hope we’re on opposite sides of the bracket,” Rainbow Dash grinned and Sia’Lorna grinned right back.

Wandering Claw snorted. “Silly. Like it matters.”

“It matters cause nothing is stopping me from getting to the finals,” Rainbow Dash boasted.

The trio was then yet again interrupted by another blowing of a whistle. All the matches had ended while they were talking and now Tiza’Nogt had the tournament bracket ready to show everyone. It was done up on a huge chalkboard she and her subordinates had wheeled in, with the names of all thirty-two fighters on it at the bottom lines. Rainbow Dash scanned over and looked for her name (hoping Sia’Lorna’s wasn’t right next to hers) and finally found it on one line. She was surprised when she saw who her first match would be against though.

“Graham?” Rainbow Dash spoke the decidedly un-Reindeer name and looked around the crowd. Her eyes ended up landing on a griffon that was also staring right back at her. “Huh, what are the chances of that?”

“Just random luck but it seems you’ll be fighting one of the few other fighters who isn’t a Reindeer from the very beginning,” Sia’Lorna said to her. “And unfortunately right after that...”

Rainbow Dash looked at her to see what she was going on about and then followed her outstretched limb as it pointed at the chalkboard. “Oh.”

Sia’Lorna’s name wasn’t right next to Rainbow Dash’s, but her opponent’s was.

“Looks like we’ll be meeting up in just the second round of the tournament,” Sia’Lorna sadly smiled to Rainbow Dash.

“If you both even make it that far,” Wandering Claw chimed in.

Rainbow Dash frowned at him and looked back at the board. Wandering Claw was all the way on the end of the bracket, neither Dash or Sia’Lorna would end up fighting him until the finals if it came to that.

“Well since I know who I’m fighting I’m gonna get out of here. See you once the tournament really begins,” Wandering Claw said and started walking away.

“Bundle of fun...” Rainbow Dash grumbled. She then shrugged and looked over at Sia’Lorna, putting a happier smile on her face. “Sucks that we’re gonna have to fight each other that soon but it’s all good. At least it’s definitely gonna happen. Cause neither of us are losing that early in the tournament, right?”

Sia’Lorna giggled, holding a hoof up to her mouth. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”

“I guess we’ll go train on our own then though… since we’re gonna be fighting each other and all. But I’ll still see you later, and I guess we’ll all be gathered again on the first day of the tournament,” she hooked her hoof over her shoulder and pointed back towards the griffon that would be her opponent. “Right now I gotta get myself ready to knock that guy’s block off.”

“That’s right, I’ll be doing special training of my own but we’ll meet up the day after tomorrow. Let’s both put on a great show for our first round and show the whole audience who the two best fighters in the tournament are.”

“Ninety-five… ninety-six… ninety-seven… ninety-eight… ninety-nine… one-hundred!” Rainbow Dash yelled and flopped back onto her bed after finishing her set of sit-ups. She didn’t know if core strength was what she needed to beat a griffon but it was good exercise regardless.

Despite this being a rest day she felt like she needed to get all she could out of her time between matches if she wanted to win. The competition would be harder from here on out and she knew Sia’Lorna was going to be a tough opponent. And besides, she was Rainbow Dash, she had energy to spare. All it was going to take would be a single night of good sleep and she’d be good to go the next day. That’s why the moment she had woken up she got busy.

Sia’Lorna wanted the both of them to be as explosive as possible tomorrow and Rainbow Dash had absolutely zero problem with that. She’d excite that crowd as much as possible and get herself drowning in cheers.

Rainbow Dash had already told Ark’Nogt who she was fighting next and what was going on. He wished her good luck and supposedly went to go speak with his wife some more. Rainbow Dash was looking forward to seeing them tomorrow at the tournament.

It was funny to think her next opponent was going to be one who also would normally be flying around but instead they were both grounded. She doubted there was any sort of exception to the rules saying that if two creatures with wings were fighting they could fly. Even if there was, Rainbow Dash kind of didn’t want to utilize it or anything since she needed to get more used to fighting without flight. She had already had a few fights with Reindeer now but until she fought someone who was really on the level of a potential tournament winner she didn’t want to take anything for granted. After all the next Reindeer she was going to fight was going to be Sia’Lorna after all, Rainbow Dash was looking far beyond the match against her griffon opponent tomorrow.

She lied down on her bed sweating for a little longer before rolling off it and onto the floor. “Whew… what next? Bet Wandering Claw is just swimming again.”

A smile graced her face. “Well if I’m not going to be flying I might as well be running. Next best thing!”

Rainbow Dash threw the door to her room open and took a deep breath before running out into the hallway like a lightning bolt. She zoomed through the communal living center, dodging anyone else unlucky enough to be in here at the same time, and left to go head northeast.

“If I’m running I’ll just redo my big race again! I’ll beat my old time and do this thing even faster!” She shouted to herself as she ran towards the huge rock formation once again, all the obstacles and space to run waiting for her.

Meanwhile, a lone wolverine did indeed continue to swim laps back and forth in the pool.

One on One

The first day of the true tournament came quickly, much to Rainbow Dash’s glee. By herself she had traveled back to the stadium and signed in again and was then brought out to the grounds of the stadium where the large ring was. Walking out there she finally got a look at the stands to see how many Reindeer were in attendance. She was disappointed that the stands weren’t completely overflowing but most of the space was still taken up. With her eyes she searched back and forth for Ark’Nogt but before she could find him she ended up being interrupted.

“Rainbow Dash, are you ready for your match?” Sia’Lorna asked as she walked up to her.

She turned and grinned to her Reindeer friend. “Hay yeah I am! Only problem is I don’t want to wait at all!”

"At least you’ll be able to watch a good fight or two before it from the competitor’s area,” Sia’Lorna said and pointed to a covered area on the left side of the stadium right below the stands. It was adjacent to the judge’s table and where the referees were. “That’s where we wait for our matches.”

“Cool, so are we waiting for something to start? I wanna show everyone here how awesome I am already.”

“Tiza’Nogt will speak to the audience and announce the beginning of the tournament. The first pair of fighters will then enter the ring and the rest of us will go to our waiting area. It should happen-” Sia’Lorna’s eyes lit up and she pointed to the ring. “Oh, look!”

Rainbow Dash looked and saw Tiza’Nogt walk into the middle of the ring carrying a large megaphone. The crowd cheered even louder at her appearance and stamped their hooves along the stands. She waved for a second once she got into the middle before clearing her throat and taking a deep breath to prepare for the tournament’s beginning.

“Hello everyone and thank you for coming to this tournament!” She paused for a moment to let the cheering die down. “In but a moment we will get underway with our first match of the round, I know you will be entertained and enjoy yourselves. Please give your support for all of these fighters from near and far as they battle to achieve their goal of total victory!”

A wave of yells rolled across the audience and it made Dash stand taller and puff out her chest as she drank it all in. Soon that cheering would be happening just for her.

“May the first two competitors please enter the ring!” Tiza’Nogt shouted.

Two Reindeer strode up and entered between the ropes while Rainbow Dash watched. A pair of bucks, both fearsome looking in their own right compared to the ones Rainbow Dash had fought so far. She was excited to see how good these two would fight. Tiza’Nogt wished good luck to them both while she stepped out of the ring and a referee took her place, she then went over to the judge’s table and spoke into her megaphone once more.

“All of the other competitors may now wait in the designated area!”

Rainbow Dash went with Sia’Lorna to their spot now. She saw Wandering Claw also standing around on his own and the griffon she was going to fight today kept glancing at her too. Probably trying to size her up before the match. Well, she didn’t really care about that since she had total confidence that she was going to win anyways. For now Rainbow Dash sat down and watched the two Reindeer facing each other. The match hadn’t started yet as the referee was still talking to the both of them but then he finally nodded over to Tiza’Nogt. The head of the tournament committee then traded her megaphone for a trumpet that had been on the table.

With a deep breath she blew loudly into the trumpet and the first match officially began.

The two bucks charged towards each other and smashed their antlers together, both trying to overpower the other. Seeing it was a stalemate they detached from each other and jumped back before charging forward again and releasing a devastating barrage of punches. Neither was backing down from this and both of the Reindeer just powered through every blow they took.

The whole time, Rainbow Dash just watched in growing anticipation of her fight.

When it was finally time for her to enter the ring she was practically exploding with excitement and energy. Here at last at the top of the world with a huge crowd of thousands getting to watch and see how awesome she is? There was no way she could stop herself from grinning. She walked alongside Graham towards the ring after being wished the best of luck by Sia’Lorna. The both of them stepped through the ropes and onto the stone floor they would be fighting on. In the middle the ref was waiting for them and the two fighters took their place on either side of him.

“You both understand the rules completely?” The ref asked them.

“Yes,” Graham said.

“Yep,” Rainbow Dash nodded.

“Then I wish the both of you an excellent fight,” the ref smiled and nodded towards Tiza’Nogt once more.

The both of them locked eyes and focused on each other as they waited for that trumpet to blow once more. Rainbow Dash had a confident smirk on her face and Graham a more neutral expression. Neither of them were giving anything away but both their bodies were tense and ready to react instantly. Graham was bigger than her (obviously) but just like her his greatest advantage in these fights was unavailable to him. Except it might’ve been even worse since not only could he not fly but he couldn’t gouge or cut with his talons either. He had still made it this far though and his calm attitude towards her gave Rainbow Dash the impression that he could fight plenty well without his wings or talons.

She could fight plenty well without her wings too though.

The trumpet blew.

Graham came at her with an underhanded right punch that was aimed to hit her right in the chin. Rainbow Dash just barely leaned back away from it to let his balled fist sail past her head. It didn’t put him off-balance at all though and his left fist came shooting straight at her chest. Rainbow Dash decided not to dodge this punch, she wanted to see how strong he was and how much force she could take. So she crossed her hooves in front of her chest and allowed him to punch her with all his might.

She grunted as his heavy fist impacted her front legs and sent her sliding back across the ring. That was a little stronger than she was expecting but she had taken far worse blows in the past. Her legs were still a little bruised where she had let them get hit though. But she was still able to fully block the blow nonetheless, her chest wasn’t injured at all.

“I thought you were supposed to be fast but you couldn’t dodge even a simple punch like that?” Graham looked down at her with a smirk on his beak.

Rainbow Dash smirked right back, happy to trade barbs with anyone she was fighting. “Actually I could’ve dodged that in my sleep, I just wanted to see how tough you were. Not impressed.”

“Oh ho ho, then let’s keep going,” Graham darkly chuckled and ran at her.

“Just what I was about to say!” Rainbow Dash ran to meet him.

Graham threw out a right hook aimed at her temple that Rainbow Dash ducked under and then she punched with her own right hoof towards his chest. However his left hand shot up and blocked her hoof, the talons then clenching down around her blue hoof and held her trapped there. Her eyes briefly widened before she found herself lifted up and over Graham’s body before he roughly slammed her onto the stone floor of the ring. He didn’t let his grip go either, picking her up again to slam her back down until she was out cold. But at the apex of the arc, Rainbow Dash twisted her body around and kicked his arm, making him release her as she flipped over to land safely on the ground in front of him.

Oookay, that really hurt. And I’ve gotta watch out for him trying to grab me again. That’s something he can do that Reindeer can’t. Rainbow Dash thought as she tried to ignore the throbbing pain in her back.

Graham wasn’t about to let her recover though, he came at her again and this time extended his long and broad wings around her like a great pincer to try and restrict her movements. Then he brought his fists up and prepared a one-two combo against her, satisfied that his superior strength would allow him to easily knock her out after just a few clean blows.

He wasn’t expecting her to extend her own wings to try to knock his away. And he sure as hay wasn’t expecting her wings to be so dang strong they were actually capable of doing that.

But they were. His wings buckled and folded back away from her, but Rainbow Dash kept running straight at him anyways. Graham growled and threw out his first punch with his right fist but Rainbow Dash parried it with her left hoof. His left then came at her head but she turned that to the side too. Now with all their limbs out of the way, neither of them could block or attack. Except with one thing.

Graham’s eyes widened as he realized too late what Rainbow Dash’s plan of attack was, she bent her legs and lowered her body and head together before shooting back up at him with a vicious headbutt. The crown of her head impacted the bottom of his chin and beak and sent him reeling with stars exploding in his eyes and pain cascading up from the bottom of his face.

For a moment he didn’t know where he was until he felt two powerful punches from her blue hooves hitting him in the chest as well.

The griffon fell over backwards onto his side and rolled away, trying to recover and get a little distance between himself and his opponent. When he looked up he saw that Rainbow Dash was still standing a little ways away from him, catching her breath and rubbing her head.

“Not used to headbutts… kind of hurt myself there,” Rainbow Dash muttered.

Graham snorted and rubbed his pained jaw. “Not as much as you hurt me.” He stood up and stared her down again. “I’m surprised how strong those small wings of yours actually are too.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “I’m the fastest flier in the world. Of course they’re strong.”

“Well as fast as you are you’re still going to need to hit a little harder if you want to beat me. I’ve still got the advantage in this fight, pony.”

“You’re acting like I’ve been taking this remotely seriously,” she told him, as obnoxiously as possible just to make him mad.

“Oh keep laughing as long as you can...” he blinked the last bit of dizziness away and ran at her.

Rainbow Dash was ready for him and decided she’d show off some of that speed that she was really known for. With a greater burst of speed than she had showed anyone in the tournament so far, Rainbow Dash circled around him to his left, almost fast enough to leave a trail of rainbow color behind. He wasn’t able to totally follow her with his eyes so he was still in the middle of turning to face her when she plowed into him.

The air left his lungs as he grunted thanks to Rainbow Dash leading with her elbow and jamming it into his side. Rainbow expected him to be knocked down again but much to her shock his eye spun around to glare at her as he dug his talons into the stone to stay up and swiftly opened up his left wing, hitting her right in the face with it. While Rainbow Dash winced and closed her eyes his fist came around and pummeled her across the face with a right hook. She was spun around and collapsed onto the floor of the ring while Graham wheezed and rubbed his bruised side.

Neither of them were having as easy of a time as they wanted.

But as Rainbow Dash struggled to get to her hooves she started to hear all the cheers from the crowd around them. They weren’t all specifically cheering for her or anything but they were still cheering. The Reindeer watching were having a great time and so many of them were watching her fight right now. It was clear they wanted more so certainly she wasn’t going to let them down. Nor could she stand the thought of losing in front of such an audience.

“Alright, alright, let’s have some fun.” Rainbow Dash licked her lips and sprinted at Graham.

With incredible speed she turned at the moment she got about five feet away from him and started running around and around in a circle. She was so fast that most of the creatures watching the fight could only see a blur. But Graham was a griffon and his eyes were much sharper than most creatures, and after last time he was used to this kind of speed from her. So when she finally did come at him from the right he was ready for her.

“You aren’t getting in close this time!” Graham shouted and extended his wing to smack her in the head with it. He smirked as she was going way to fast to dodge to the side or stop herself, she’d take herself out right here and now.

Rainbow Dash suddenly ducked under his outstretched wing and slid between his legs, jumping back up and punching him in the face before he could do anything. Another blow after another came at him as Rainbow Dash kept wailing away at Graham’s face. At last he was able to regain some of his wits and put up his talons to block her strikes, also wildly swiping out at her to try and defend himself and get her assault to stop. His attacks were far too uncoordinated though and Rainbow Dash dodged each one of them while still peppering his body and face with punches of her own.

Her blue hooves may not have packed the wallop that his bigger fists could but Rainbow Dash was still a very strong pony and the speed with which she struck added to the damage she could do. Graham attempted to grab her hoof again the next time she punched at him but the moment his talon began to close around it, Rainbow Dash pulled it away at lightning speed and did a backflip, kicking him in the chin as she went. She landed safely on all fours while he staggered back after the painful blow to his already injured chin. Rainbow Dash wasn’t in the attitude of giving him time to recover though, she was going to end this fight here while the cheering surrounded her. Going straight at him again she dodged the lazy right hook he attempted to hit her with and grabbed his right arm. Digging her hooves in she decided to repay the favor he gave her at the start of the fight.

Rainbow Dash turned and pulled his arm with all her strength over her shoulder, lifting the griffon off the ground and then slamming him back onto the ring.

It took a lot of her strength and she was panting pretty heavily but Graham was in way worse condition. The griffon was groaning in pain and not even attempting to get back up to fight more. When his eyes met hers and he saw how much energy and fight left in her he knew there was only one thing left to do.

“I… give up… you win.”

The referee immediately grabbed his whistle and blew into it. “Victor, Rainbow Dash!”

The crowd erupted in greater cheers and Rainbow Dash dropped Graham’s arm to take it all in. Victory. She had beaten her first real opponent at the tournament and it felt really good. This was just the kind of thing she had been looking for.

Preparation for A Showdown

Rainbow Dash deigned to not be dragged off by the nurses along with Graham. That could happen later. For now she wanted to watch the rest of the fights. More specifically she wanted to watch Sia’Lorna’s fight. So it was a blessing and a curse that they were right next to each other in the bracket, she didn’t have to wait at all. When she made it back to the competitor’s area she gave a brief nod to Sia’Lorna as she walked past and then took a seat to watch.

Sia’Lorna stepped into the ring with a buck who was twice her size and looked like he could pretty much just fall on top of her and win the fight that way. And yet, he was the one who looked wary about facing her.

While ignoring the pain from her injuries, Rainbow Dash watched as the referee spoke to the two of them and went over the same thing he did with her and Graham. After that he gave the signal to Tiza’Nogt that the match could begin. Rainbow Dash was practically tipping over because of how much she was leaning towards the ring in anticipation. She wanted to see what Sia’Lorna could do and how fast this match would go once the trumpet was blown.

The high-pitched sound of the trumpet rang out and the fight began with Sia’Lorna’s opponent instantly thrusting a hoof forward and attempting to strike her in the face. It was a straightforward jab that had good speed behind it, Rainbow Dash wanted to see exactly how Sia’Lorna handled this kind of attack.

The Reindeer doe leaned away from it. Leaned just every so slightly to the side so that his hoof sailed past her face and struck nothing but empty air. It was the smallest possible movement she used to completely dodge his attack. When the buck drew his hoof back he threw the other one forward towards her chest. Sia’Lorna deftly took a single step back and avoided that one too, but the buck wasn’t letting up so easily, he kept attacking with punch after punch in a lightning flurry of blows, trying to hit her just once.

Rainbow Dash knew there was nothing wrong with his punches either, they were all pretty fast and aimed well, but he just couldn’t hit her. Sia’Lorna’s dodging was effortless, she danced around every attempt to hit her with the softest of movements. It was totally different from how Rainbow Dash wildly fought. Sia’Lorna expended the least amount of energy possible when it came to dodging her opponent’s blows, a slight moving of the head, a small lean in one direction, a tiny jump backwards, she managed to make it look like she was just playing around with her opponent even as he resorted to more and more types of attacks to try and hit her.

A sweeping kick aimed at Sia’Lorna’s legs were jumped over followed by a thrust of his antlers that she stepped back from. When the buck pulled back, Rainbow Dash noticed he was panting despite Sia’Lorna not hitting him once. He was just tiring himself out.

That wasn’t the end of it though, he took a step back to take a deep breath before immediately lunging at her again. He feinted with his right hoof and then shot out a very quick left punch at her to try and take her off-guard.

But Sia’Lorna was too quick and aware for that. And she was done with simply dodging. She ducked under the left punch he tried to land on her and went in close, bringing up her right hoof and striking him quickly across the chin with it. The hit disoriented him and he stumbled backwards, letting Sia’Lorna land a quick chop on his throat. When he automatically lowered his head after that chop she brought up an elbow and clocked him in the back of the skull with it.

Her opponent collapsed in a heap, unconscious.

Three surgically precise strikes from her were all it took and she hadn’t taken a single hit herself. Rainbow Dash smiled and shook with excitement, the two of them were definitely gonna have a good fight. While the referee declared Sia’Lorna the winner and the crowd cheered, the victorious doe looked over to the competitor’s area and locked eyes with Rainbow Dash. There would be no more talking between the two of them until their match. Until then they would be getting ready to fight each other.

“She’s really quick and good at dodging so it’s gonna be different from the other fights I’ve had so far. But she’s definitely not used to fighting or dodging attacks from someone as fast as me. So I still think I’ve got the advantage,” Rainbow Dash said as she did a set of one-hoofed push-ups in the outdoor workout area.

“I’ve watched Sia’Lorna win multiple tournaments and I do believe she’ll be your toughest opponent,” Ark’Nogt said as he watched her.

“Yeah, and just the way we fight is different too. I’m like a hammer and she’s like a needle. Without being able to fly it’ll be really tough trying to outmaneuver her. And she attacks really fast and precise too, nothing’s wasted, so I can’t be as careless as I was in my last fight,” Rainbow said.

“I’ll admit you took more hits from the griffon than I was expecting you to,” Ark’Nogt nodded.

“Heh, not the cleanest fight,” Rainbow Dash chuckled and stopped her push-ups, standing back up and stretching her back. “Glad you and your wife watched the fight though.”

“She enjoyed it just as much as I did, it was a great day,” Ark’Nogt smiled at her.

“Then she’ll enjoy the next round even better. I can tell already that mine and Sia’Lorna’s fight is gonna be one for the ages,” Rainbow Dash cracked her neck and rotated her right front leg. “I need to work on my speed and reflexes even more now though. I’m totally taking her down.”

“Are you sure you shouldn’t just rest? I know the nurses gave you a clean bill of health after the checkup but-”

Rainbow Dash silenced him with a hoof. “I’m fine. This is how I get ready for a big fight. Not resting or sitting around and waiting.”

“I understand. And you certainly know your body’s limits better than I do.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Sure do. I know you’re probably just concerned and all but you haven’t seen half of what I can do. And I told you I’ve been through way worse.” She sighed as she looked up at the sky. “I really wish I could fly though, then you’d get to see the most awesome thing in your life.”

“Since your biggest advantage is still gone and Sia’Lorna gets to fight like normal do you have any real strategy for beating her?”

“Not really.”

“Win then, I’m guessing?”

“That’s right. I’m gonna come at her and give her the most awesome genuine fight she’s ever had. It’ll be something the whole crowd will love. And just because my opponent is strong doesn’t mean I have to change the way I fight. Sia’Lorna is gonna get her fight against Rainbow Dash at her most Rainbow Dashiest!”

“My wife and I will be cheering loudly for you then. Sia’Lorna is a good friend as well, but she’s already won tournaments before, it would be more exciting if you won.”

“Thanks, that means a lot to me actually. I love having all those Reindeer cheering but most of them don’t really know me or anything. It feels different when it’s a real friend cheering for you, you know?”

“I don’t actually but I understand how strongly you feel about it.”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “Pff, yeah. Either way it’s still cool.”

Ark’Nogt looked around the workout area, he noticed that a lot of the usuals here were watching him and Rainbow Dash. They had probably been in the audience yesterday. “Are you just going to stay here doing push-ups and lifting weights?”

“No way, I’m gonna go running. That’s the best way for me to exercise—er, for this fight at least. Cause normally I’d fly.”

“I see. If you would care to return to your room when it gets dark I can have food and tea ready for you?”

She flashed him a smile. “That’d be awesome, dude.” Rainbow Dash started stretching her legs and jumped up and down a few times to make sure she was ready. “Okay, I’ll see you later tonight.”

With a speedy departure she ran off and left him in the dust. There was so much to run through here, she decided to go in the exact opposite direction of where she had ran to previously. Instead of the big rocks she was going towards the castles and the densest populated area of Nogt. Maybe it wouldn’t be very appreciated to have a pegasus running through a bunch of busy streets but Rainbow figured the Reindeer were polite and easygoing enough to not say anything. Either way running through there would give her way more to look at and a bunch of streets to run down and through. She could essentially come up with her own track.

Rainbow Dash soon made it to the more developed areas and ran and ran through them until her heart was pounding in her chest and pleading with her to stop. Her legs were on fire but Rainbow Dash ignored it all as she pushed herself to greater heights. She worked on her reflexes and reaction time by intentionally almost running into things and Reindeer and then just barely pivoting out of the way at the last moment. She could do that kind of thing while flying in her sleep but doing it on her legs was a little different. At full speed she wanted to be able to do that same kind of effortless dodging as Sia’Lorna. Where it was more like she was dancing around than running or fighting.

She ran even harder to get all the way across the city back to its outskirts until she had left the miraculously polished roads and made it closer to the edge and the World Drain below. The huge and beautiful castles overlooked much of this area, Rainbow Dash wondered if there was anyone up in those towers watching her. Just some Reindeer idly looking outside only to see some random colorful pony running around for seemingly no reason.

Rainbow Dash came to a stop at the edge of the plateau and looked off it into that massive whirlpool that threateningly spun about beneath it. What a crazy sight. She accidentally dislodged a small pebble from the plateau and watched and watched into it fell out of sight and then into oblivion.

“Yeesh, I wouldn’t want to be this close to this thing if I didn’t have wings,” Rainbow said and flapped her favorite limbs for good measure. She then looked at the both of them, she had been using them moderately well in her fights so far but she bet she could be using them better too. Theses were her wings after all and even if she couldn’t fly with them they should still be her greatest weapon, shouldn’t they?

She threw a few experimental wing punches and grinned. “I’ll use you more against Sia’Lorna, she won’t be able to dodge everything at once.”

With a confident grin she stepped away from the edge of the plateau and back towards the city. She still had more running to do.

When she got back after dark, Ark’Nogt was indeed waiting for her with food and tea. The two of them entered her room and relaxed together. Rainbow Dash was happy to get something she knew was so good and revitalizing for her right before she went to sleep the night before her big fight with Sia’Lorna. Along with the tea he had brought oats and an apple. It was almost perfect for her.

“Thanks for all this, I needed it.”

“I only hope it allows you to fight at your absolute best tomorrow.”

“It will,” she chomped down some more apple and grinned at him. “And I guess I don’t really have anyone else to compare to, but I’d say there’s no way you aren’t the best Embracer in Nogt.”

He smiled. “It makes me happy for you to say so.”

“Yep, I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy things here half as much if it weren’t for you. And now I’ll pay you back by winning tomorrow,” Rainbow Dash told him. The two then finished their meal together and before long Rainbow Dash was getting ready to sleep. Her mind was full of excitement and anticipation for tomorrow, she had trouble falling asleep at first, but eventually she managed to get some much needed rest.

Clash

While there was another match that had been fought first, Rainbow Dash didn’t pay any attention to it at all. She was too focused and excited for her match against Sia’Lorna to care. And now the time for that had finally come. Rainbow Dash was facing off against her in the middle of the ring, the words from the referee going in one ear and out the other.

“I’ve been looking forward to this,” Rainbow Dash said to her.

“So have I,” Sia’Lorna responded.

“Umm… does that mean you understand and acknowledge the rules?” The referee asked.

“Yes,” both combatants responded at once.

Despite the cheering the whole rest of the world seemed to disappear around Rainbow Dash for a moment as she looked into Sia’Lorna’s green eyes. She instinctively knew this would be the hardest fight of the tournament for her. Nothing else mattered right now but winning. Sia’Lorna clearly felt the same way as she returned Rainbow Dash’s stare, a powerful and heavy atmosphere was swirling around the both of them.

When the trumpet was blown, neither of them moved at first. The referee even uncertainly looked between the two of them because they just kept smiling at each other.

With a sudden twitch of her hoof, Rainbow Dash ran at Sia’Lorna, sprinting so fast she was in front of her face in a second. Sia’Lorna’s eyes kept up with her the whole time and she was ready to react to whatever first attack Rainbow Dash had planned. When Rainbow Dash’s right hoof came up towards her chin she was prepared to minusculely lean away from it, only for Rainbow Dash’s left wing to also thrust out at her at the same time. Rainbow Dash was making two attacks at once and with her speed one was already tougher to dodge then the usual attack from Sia’Lorna’s normal opponents. Her reflexes and instincts were sharp too, the wing was going exactly where Sia’Lorna wanted to lean her head to to avoid the punch. Rainbow Dash was trying to make her exert more energy than normal to avoid her attacks. She was trying to put her off-balance by forcing her into making bigger movements and get out of her elegant comfort zone.

So Sia’Lorna ducked under the attack entirely, dodging the punch and the wing jab and then thrusting her own hoof right towards Rainbow Dash’s open throat. But Rainbow Dash was able to perfectly follow her moves too and with a combination of her back legs and right wing she pushed herself backwards. The hoof of Sia’Lorna ended up uppercutting the air less than an inch in front of Rainbow’s nose. And now because she had missed she left herself open too. Rainbow Dash propelled herself back at Sia’Lorna and aimed a punch with her left hoof at the Reindeer’s right side. Sia’Lorna hopped away from it but found another hoof coming at her face, then another, and another. Rainbow Dash refused to let her dictate the pace of this fight or dodge so simply. Her attacks were coming with a speed and precision that forced Sia’Lorna all across the ring.

One of the punches Rainbow Dash sent towards Sia’Lorna’s face was met not with a dodge but a block. It surprised Rainbow Dash enough where her momentary pause allowed Sia’Lorna to throw a hoof of her own at Rainbow’s face. Rainbow Dash had to duck under this only to see Sia’Lorna’s other front hoof already coming right at her.

The powerful hoof struck Rainbow Dash right between the eyes and knocked her backwards. Rainbow Dash did her best not to wince or look away, knowing Sia’Lorna would certainly press the advantage against her. And indeed she did, coming at Rainbow Dash with a high punch aimed at the side of her head. Rainbow was able to block it with her leg and she tried to grab Sia’Lorna’s exposed limb and pin it against her side. Doing that would give Rainbow Dash way more openings since she had two more limbs to work with. But Sia’Lorna drew her blocked leg back too quickly, it slid out from between Rainbow’s leg and body before she could lock it down.

Rainbow Dash was still hardly letting things slow down and she came at Sia’Lorna from the front again but low this time. She feinted an uppercut towards Sia’Lorna’s chin but pulled back and turned around, shooting out her back legs as she practically slid over the floor of the ring in an effort to sweep the Reindeer’s legs out from under her. Sia’Lorna still managed to jump over them safely—and slightly backwards to get a little distance between herself and Rainbow Dash so the pony couldn’t instantly chain another attack. Rainbow Dash clicked her teeth when she saw this and jumped up before instantly running to the side of Sia’Lorna.

Naturally Sia’Lorna turned to face her so Dash ran around to her back. But before she could try to launch an attack from behind, Sia’Lorna again rounded on her. She wasn’t going to be able to get an attack in like this moving at normal speed.

So of course she did one of the things she did best: speed up.

Rainbow Dash became nothing more than a blur as she ran in a tight circle around Sia’Lorna. It was a similar tactic she had used against other opponents to great success but Sia’Lorna had better reflexes and senses than most. When Dash attempted to shoot out from the vortex she had created right at Sia’Lorna’s back, the Reindeer managed to react in time and turned to block Rainbow’s punch. Like a lightning bolt though, Rainbow returned to running around and preparing another attack. Sia’Lorna couldn’t match this kind of flat running speed so she was essentially stuck inside Dash’s circle.

To the other competitors and the audience it was impossible to follow, Rainbow Dash was just going too fast. They were still mesmerized by it though since it was so different from the other fights. How often did these Reindeer get to see a creature with the speed of Rainbow Dash?

Every second Dash made a new attack against Sia’Lorna in an attempt to land a real hit on her. She came from her left, then instantly again from the right, the front, the back, again and again she relentlessly assaulted her opponent. But Sia’Lorna’s defense was still impeccable. Every quick attack by Rainbow Dash was blocked or dodged thanks to the reflexes and quick reaction time of her opponent. Whether it was a high punch to the head or a low kick to one of her legs, Sia’Lorna managed to defend against the much faster Rainbow Dash.

Seeing her high-speed individual attacks weren’t doing much for her, Rainbow Dash decided to change strategies. Otherwise she was going to tire herself out well before Sia’Lorna got exhausted.

She stopped running around and let the blurring vortex stop before coming towards Sia’Lorna’s right side. Sia’Lorna again turned to face her but found herself under attack not just from Rainbow Dash’s hooves throwing a series of rapid-fire punches at her, but also from her wings jabbing back at forth anywhere Sia’Lorna attempted to dodge or dip away to. Despite Sia’Lorna’s best efforts she couldn’t keep up with the sheer number of lightning fast attacks and every now and then a hoof or wing would graze against her. It still wasn’t a serious it but if Rainbow Dash kept it up she might finally land one. So Sia’Lorna knew she had to somehow counter or go on the offensive to get the flow of the fight back in her favor.

A wing came thrusting straight at her face and Sia’Lorna decided to do something Rainbow Dash had done a few times so far when fighting Reindeer. She used her hoof to parry the wing coming at her and then punched along back its length in a cross-counter, her hoof going for Rainbow’s face. However, being on the other end of this previously, Rainbow Dash expected it. As Sia’Lorna’s hoof got closer to striking her she quickly raised her knee and lowered her wing, pinning Sia’Lorna’s hoof between them and stopping her attack.

Catching her.

Gotcha. Rainbow Dash grinned as she saw Sia’Lorna’s look of surprise. The Reindeer was momentarily trapped and couldn’t dodge so Rainbow Dash threw a powerful right hoof at her as fast as she could before Sia’Lorna could get out of Dash’s hold.

The punch impacted Sia’Lorna’s face and knocked her spinning away from Rainbow Dash, wrenched out of her grip from the force of the blow. Sia’Lorna didn’t fall though, she stumbled but still managed to regain her footing, and she returned to squaring off against Rainbow Dash will bringing a hoof up to now rub her bruising face.

“That’s the first real hit I’ve taken this tournament so far.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled and wiped off her hoof. “It won’t be the last either.”

“Then let’s keep going,” Sia’Lorna grinned and ran at Rainbow Dash.

It became an even trading of blows with both of them shooting out their hooves and blocking or parrying the other’s attacks. At one point Rainbow Dash would be pushed back, matching every strike trying to hit her legs, and in the next Sia’Lorna would be pushed back, dodging around Rainbow Dash’s wings. This went on for a minute until they ended up near the ropes, with Sia’Lorna’s back to them. She grinned inwardly as she planned for something Rainbow Dash wouldn’t expect and then jumped backwards at the ropes, bouncing off of them and propelling herself at Rainbow Dash.

The sudden change in movement and then the surprising speed took Rainbow Dash off-guard. She wasn’t able to raise her hooves in time and Sia’Lorna struck her in the face, exactly where Rainbow Dash had hit her earlier. But for good measure she also brought up her other hoof in a powerful hook and hit Rainbow Dash on the other side of the face.

The one-two punch did a number on Rainbow Dash and she was groggily sent away shaking her head. Sia’Lorna was quick to take advantage of this opening and she went in to try and finish things with the quick and precise sort of strikes at vital spots she favored. However, Rainbow Dash recovered in time to hit away Sia’Lorna’s hoof with her wing and take a few steps back until she had totally regained her senses. The two then warily looked at each other, sizing their opponent up. Both found that they were breathing harder than normal too thanks to the fight being so tense even if neither of them had been beaten too badly just yet.

“We’ve been fighting for over half the length of the match,” Sia’Lorna said.

“So in less than five minutes we’ve gotta finish things or leave it up to the judges?”

Sia’Lorna nodded. “Yes. But I have no intention of leaving it up to the judges.”

Rainbow Dash cracked her neck. “Me neither.”

The two both sprinted at each other again and Rainbow Dash did something she hoped would also be unexpected. She jumped. Not a wing-assisted jump that would get her disqualified but a normal jump only with the strength of her legs. She sailed over Sia’Lorna’s head and twisted in mid-air to bring her two back legs down directly on the Reindeer’s back.

Sia’Lorna was barely able to react in time, turning over and bringing up her front left leg to take the double kick from Rainbow Dash. The block was good, it made Sia’Lorna wince in pain but it stopped Rainbow Dash from hitting anywhere serious. Rainbow used the leg as a springboard and jumped off and away from Sia’Lorna before running right back at her. She then ducked right as she got to the Reindeer and pivoted on her front legs, turning on a dime and bucking her back legs at Sia’Lorna. Sia’Lorna tried to jump back away from the attack but Rainbow’s legs had too much reach and the two blue hooves hit her in the chest and her front legs when she tried to block them at the last second. She grunted in pain instead and when Rainbow Dash wheeled around to start punching at her, Sia’Lorna foregoed any effort to be elegant and graceful and just shoulder checked the pony instead. She smacked into Rainbow Dash and thanks to her superior mass and momentum, knocked the pony to the ground.

Rainbow Dash skid to a stop on the stone and got up, groaning. She dusted herself off and looked to her opponent who was now slowly circling around her. Well Rainbow Dash was never going to take anything slow. She darted right back at Sia’Lorna and aimed a kick at her legs. Sia’Lorna was prepared for it though and knocked Rainbow’s leg away with her own. The two of them kept that up for a little longer, practically tap dancing as their hooves clattered against each other. Rainbow Dash and Sia’Lorna were both trying to trip up and entangle the other’s legs but both of them were moving so fast they couldn’t do more than just hit back and forth and smack away.

At last Rainbow Dash suddenly thrust a wing out and stiffly hit Sia’Lorna in the face with it. This disoriented the Reindeer enough for Dash to kick her legs out from under her and try to tackle her to the ground. But Sia’Lorna reached up a hoof as she went down and grabbed the back of Rainbow’s neck, throwing her over her so the both landed roughly on the stone ring.

Rainbow Dash got up and threw a lazy punch that Sia’Lorna didn’t even attempt to dodge. She just took it on her chin and sent one of her own to Rainbow Dash. The fight was devolving into a total brawl as both fighters were trying to show who was the toughest. Neither was giving an inch even as the clock wound down and their faces were covered in bruises. After a last simultaneous punch between the two of them, they both dropped their hooves and stood there panting as they stared at each other.

“One more?” Rainbow Dash said.

“One more,” Sia’Lorna nodded.

Both fighters took a step forward till their faces were right in front of each other and then reached a hoof around the back of the other’s neck. Rainbow Dash and Sia’Lorna sucked in a deep breath and leaned back—then slammed their skulls together in a resounding headbutt that was heard and felt through the entire stadium.

And everything went black for Rainbow Dash.

Awakening to Disappointment

Eyes slowly fluttered open to see a bright light and white ceiling above them. Her body lied in a bed with a sheet covering most of her and a curtain for privacy walling her off from most of the rest of the world.

“So I lost, huh?” Rainbow Dash said as she woke.

“I’m afraid so, yes,” a voice from beside her said.

She glanced her head to the side where she saw Ark’Nogt sitting there on a stool. “How long have I been out?”

“A couple of days. The final match is starting soon as a matter of fact,” he told her.

“Sia’Lorna?”

“She’s in it of course, facing off against Wandering Claw the wolverine.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and sunk her head back into the pillow, just staring up at the ceiling again. “Good for them, I guess. How long have you been watching over me?”

“Well I was there when the nurses first took you away and I’ve been checking up on you since. But I’m only here for your waking on account of a doctor notifying me you’d be waking up soon.”

“Still, thanks.”

“It’s simply my duty,” Ark’Nogt happily replied.

Rainbow Dash lied there for a minute longer, her mind practically empty as she just didn’t know what to think about. She remembered the fight and she remembered how confident she had been. And also how happy she had been to think she was going to get the perfect cap to her journey. Now that had all fallen apart and she just felt so… so… done. She had made it to the top of the world after going through so much else only to be disappointed in herself. Unsatisfied. Embarrassed. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go at all. She was going to win this tournament and then probably go home and tell all her friends what an amazing adventure she had just gone on. But that just felt ruined for her now. It wouldn’t be right, she’d feel way too unhappy with herself.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, opening them back up. “I want to watch the fight.”

Ark’Nogt smiled. “I figured you would. And no need to worry about your head or anything, the nurses told me you’re fine once you wake up.”

“I’d go even if I wasn’t...” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she threw the covers off herself and hopped out of bed. She raised an eyebrow at Ark’Nogt. “You said it was starting soon?”

He nodded. “An hour at most. We have plenty of time to get there, my wife is already at the stadium.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “At least I get to meet her then.” She walked up to the curtain and threw it open too while Ark’Nogt hopped off his stool. “I’m ready to go if you are.”

Mera’Nogt was, unsurprisingly, a very positive and social Reindeer who immediately wrapped Rainbow Dash in a hug when they met.

“My husband has told me much about you and your fights were a wonder to watch! It’s a true pleasure to meet you!” She said to Rainbow Dash.

“Heh, thanks,” Rainbow Dash tried to appear normal and smiled but she felt a wince inside when her fights were brought up. The fresh loss was going to bother her for a while.

Ark’Nogt was a bit more in tune with Rainbow Dash’s feelings and ushered them along to their seats. “Come, come, let us sit down first and then maybe we can talk more.”

They had met Mera’Nogt at the stadium and the three of them were now walking through the stands together. Rainbow Dash noticed a lot of the other Reindeer here watching her. Which was really no surprise after the fights she had had, they obviously recognized her. Like this though it didn’t feel good to be the center of attention. Instead it just kind of made her feel worse. She should’ve been standing in the middle of that ring listening to their cheers and then celebrating her grand victory. Now she was just some other competitor who had lost, even if her fights were good.

Despite asking to come here she wasn’t even really sure if she wanted to watch the fight, or how much she would pay attention to it. She supposed she still wanted Sia’Lorna to win. She supposed that it would at least be nice if the one who beat her won the whole thing. But mostly she just still felt empty.

The three of them sat down together and Mera’Nogt started asking Rainbow Dash all sorts of questions. Which normally she would love but now she was just on autopilot as she answered. It went that way until Sia’Lorna and Wandering Claw finally came out and stepped into the ring. Rainbow Dash practically froze up as she watched the two of them, neither one was probably giving her a second thought at all. Would it be a close fight? All she knew was how much they were focusing on each other, totally unknowing that Rainbow Dash was watching them right now.

It should be me down there right now. Rainbow Dash frowned.

“Do you think Sia’Lorna will win?” Mera’Nogt suddenly asked her.

Rainbow Dash still just stoically looked at the ring while she answered. “I haven’t fought Wandering Claw but yeah, I think she will.”

Everything else was basically a blur as the fight started soon after.

Even though it was a good fight, and she should be invested in it more, Rainbow Dash found herself having almost no reaction to it. Wandering Claw’s wild and full-body way of fighting was intense and Rainbow Dash would’ve loved facing off against it too. She would’ve loved facing Sia’Lorna a second time in that ring. But she didn’t get to do any of that. All she got to do was watch.

And it was lame. Lame even when Sia’Lorna won and Rainbow Dash mechanically clapped her hooves together along with everyone else. Lame when Mera’Nogt and Ark’Nogt both cheered for Sia’Lorna and asked Dash what she thought about the fight. Lame when she gave hollow, cliché answers.

Lame, lame, lame, lame, lame. This isn’t how her adventure was supposed to end.

“Do you want to go speak with Sia’Lorna and congratulate her?” Ark’Nogt asked. “I will certainly understand if you say no, but I believe Sia’Lorna will enjoy seeing you.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “It’s fine, I want to say hi to her too and everything...”

Ark’Nogt kissed his wife goodbye and she said farewell to Rainbow Dash too. While the rest of the Reindeer in the stadium were filing out after Tiza’Nogt presented Sia’Lorna with the medal, Ark’Nogt and Dash were going back into the underbelly of the stadium. Sia’Lorna and Wandering Claw were both going to be down there getting a check up from the nurses, Wandering Claw hadn’t been knocked out like Rainbow Dash had. There were plenty of officiators down here who waved at and greeted Rainbow Dash and she could only hollowly grin and wave back.

When they made it to the basement stadium the two went right over to the nurse’s station and Rainbow Dash came across the two finalists, including the victor, sprawled out on their own beds and being treated for the injuries they incurred. Wandering Claw was grumpier than normal and trying to shoo away any nurses that came near while Sia’Lorna was calmly lying in bed. Despite winning, she didn’t seem especially exuberant. Maybe because she had already won so many times or because she didn’t get to face Rainbow Dash in the finals. Whatever the reason, she simply looked “satisfied”.

She perked up a bit when she saw Rainbow Dash though. “Rainbow Dash, you’re awake! Did you watch the fight.”

Rainbow Dash kept the false grin on as well as she could. “Sure did! Nice job.” She grimaced a little awkwardly as she looked over at Wandering Claw. “Er, sorry dude, but it was close!”

Wandering Claw snorted and turned over on his bed, facing away from the rest of them.

“I’m glad you were able to come, since I didn’t get to say anything to you after our match ended...” Sia’Lorna smiled to her.

“Yeah… I mean, not gonna lie, I’m disappointed with myself for losing. It really sucks and it’s totally lame, but I’m still happy for you,” Rainbow shrugged.

“I know, but it was only right to go all out. If it makes you feel better I think you’d beat anyone if you were allowed to fly,” Sia’Lorna said.

“It doesn’t really. I was really trying to prove something, but thanks anyways.”

Ark’Nogt seemed to notice something had changed again with Rainbow Dash’s attitude and he glanced over to her in concern. “Is there something the matter, Miss Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow Dash blinked a few times as she looked between him and Sia’Lorna. “Uhh… I guess I wouldn’t really put it like that but...” She took a breath as she lifted up a hoof to lazily rub the top of her head. “I just decided right now that I’m gonna be leaving. I’m gonna head home.”

The area grew quiet as even the nurses could tell that something was amiss between these friends.

Rainbow Dash looked away, past the wall of the stadium, staring off into nothing. “I’ll go tomorrow.”

Decision

The following morning saw Rainbow Dash on the roof of the communal living center as she stared at the inner walls of the spinning tornado. Staring in the direction she had come in from. The direction back home.

Once she had woken up she came up here without a fuss and had been sitting here for hours since. The strange dissatisfaction with her journey and her latest adventure here in Nogt were eating away at her. It was so weird because she kept telling herself she shouldn’t be feeling like this after everything she had done. After everything she had accomplished and all the ponies and creatures she’d saved and all the villains she had defeated. So why was it still not enough? She wasn’t satisfied with how she defeated Blizzard so she kept going north. She tasted a true victory against Karkona but still needed more. Resin left her with what felt like unfinished business but she had still helped everyone else so much. If she returned home just like this she’d have so many awesome stories to tell and all her friends would be more than happy with her for what she had done. But was that all Rainbow Dash wanted?

What did it mean if she herself knew she could be even more awesome? What did it mean if she didn’t hit her own standards and blast beyond them?

“Why’d I come up here in the first place?” Rainbow Dash sadly looked at the tornado.

“I had hoped to find you here. When I saw your placard switched I feared you had already left. I have been searching around for you all morning.”

Rainbow Dash turned her head to him with a blank expression on her face. “Hey, Ark’Nogt. Sorry about that but… yeah.”

“Well I’m probably just butting in and being an annoyance right now anyways so you don’t need to apologize,” he said as he came to stand beside her. “If you want to leave it’s certainly your prerogative and it doesn’t have anything to do with me as an Embracer.”

Rainbow Dash still just kind of blankly looked away back to the tornado, not really responding.

Ark’Nogt winced and took a seat. “I just think it would be a shame for us to part while you’re so upset.”

“I lost. I lost fair and square when it was supposed to be the grand finale to my whole adventure,” Rainbow Dash glumly rested her face on her hooves. “I hate losing, and now it’s like I have to go home like this? I would have been super proud to go back if I had won the tournament. Ending on a high note you know? But now the last leg of my big awesome adventure ends like this instead.”

“Why?”

Rainbow Dash turned to look at him and furrowed her brow. “What do you mean why?”

“I mean why does this have to be the end? It seems arbitrary to me, like you’re beating yourself up for no reason,” Ark’Nogt shrugged. “You told me all about your journey and how you started it by just traveling north on a whim looking for adventure. And just because you made it to the north pole that means it has to end? Why?”

“Uhh...”

“From everything I’ve seen of you, everything you’ve told me, you didn’t seem the type to take anything sitting down or get stuck down in the dumps. I admittedly haven’t known you for long but, and forgive me for this, you’re not being very awesome right now, Rainbow Dash.”

She frowned and faced away from him. “Yeah well so what? I’m mad! I’m mad and I want to… to...”

“Yes?”

“I want more. I want to do more. And I don’t want things to end like this!” Rainbow finished with a shout, her wings flaring. But just as quickly she deflated again. “But I’ve already gone so far and done so much… my life was crazy full of adventure even before I came up here, more than any other pony ever maybe! Is there really more? Are things going to be as awesome as I want them to be?”

“You have certainly gone far and traveled more than most other creatures in all of history but...” Ark’Nogt paused, thinking, at last he glanced over his shoulder. “Why not go further?”

“Further?” Rainbow Dash repeated and followed his gaze to the other side of the tornado.

Ark’Nogt stood up, walking around the pool to the other side of the roof and standing there. Rainbow Dash frowned and joined.

“What you need, Rainbow Dash—is a goal.” Ark’Nogt told her. “Instead of just flying and hoping to find something amazing out in the world, you need to be flying towards something, doing something you can put all your heart, soul, and body towards.”

“A goal...” Rainbow Dash whispered as she stared at the tornado barrier. The barrier that separated the world she knew from the world beyond.

“To be the first pony—nay, the first creature ever—to fly around the world! All the way around! I know in my heart that no other creature in history could have possibly done such a thing, you would be the very first for sure!” Ark’Nogt proudly proclaimed.

“Flying around the world from north to south, from Equestria to back...” a smile slowly tugged up Rainbow Dash’s face. “That’s… that’s… awesome!” Her wings flapped strongly and carried her into the air, hovering there above Ark’Nogt she thrust her hoof out at the tornado. “Alright! This here is the start of a brand new adventure! Rainbow Dash is going to fly south, she’s going to do a whole bunch of awesome things, meet all kinds of awesome ponies and creatures, and then she’s gonna make it back home and be the first pony ever to fly around the whole world! Yeah! It’ll be the greatest thing ever cause I’m Rainbow Dash!”

She allowed herself to float back down right beside Ark’Nogt and she flashed a grin at him. “Thanks dude, I needed that. And when I get back home I’ll totally tell Twilight you gave me the idea.”

Ark’Nogt shook his head. “I just didn’t want to see you unhappy. You’re too much of a treasure. Are you still going now?”

“Yeah, yeah I am, I want to get started as soon as possible. You know I hate sitting around doing nothing.”

“Allow me to at least please get you some tea before you go? I’ll go get some from downstairs right now and then I can give you a proper goodbye,” Ark’Nogt smiled. A more thoughtful look then came over his face. “Also I should tell you what we Reindeer know about the lands directly beyond the tornado on the other side of the world—mostly what I know from my wife. It is not exactly what one would call a hospitable place. But something tells me that just makes you more excited.”

“It seriously does. And that’d be awesome dude,” Rainbow Dash bumped hooves with him.

Ark’Nogt nodded and soon turned to head back down the stairs to the cafeteria, if he had the time he would’ve gotten the most high class tea he could from a shop but obviously Rainbow Dash wouldn’t want to wait. He still felt good though. Something about helping her just made him feel so much bigger than he usually did. Rainbow Dash meanwhile was ecstatically keeping her eyes on the revolving tornado winds, absolutely excited for the new adventure she would soon be going on. She felt revived, reborn, re-

“You’re not seriously doing this, are you?”

Rainbow Dash groaned and rolled her eyes, turning around to see a well-built navy blue earth pony with a slick black mane and tail standing there. “You again? I’m not in the mood right now. And—what—you’re an earth pony now?”

“I’ve always been an earth pony, those other times were optical illusions,” Harlequin Grey said, his magenta eyes flickering to deep purple and then back to magenta.

She snorted. “You’re full of it. And you can buzz off too cause I’ve got a new goal that I’m going to be flying towards.”

His brow furrowed and his jaw clenched in the closest thing to anger Rainbow Dash had seen from him. “You should just go home, are you really too stupid to see that?”

“Yep!” Rainbow Dash grinned and proudly thumped her chest just to annoy him.

“I was hoping you would be satisfied upon making it here or finally realize it was time to go back.”

“Well you were wrong, hay, even if I won the tournament I’m not sure I’d even be totally satisfied now after talking with Ark’Nogt. I might have still decided to keep going.”

Harlequin Grey regarded her silently with his annoyed eyes for a moment. It was getting on Rainbow Dash’s nerves.

She frowned and walked right up to his face. “What? You gonna do something about it?”

“I told you I hate fighting,” he coldly said and then narrowed his eyes at her. “But if you keep pushing me, you may find you’ve aggravated the wrong creature.”

“Do it. Just try me,” Rainbow Dash challenged, poking him in the chest.

“Just go home. You’ve already done enough you pest. You’ve had enough adventure for ten lifetimes,” Harlequin Grey answered.

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Heh, knew you wouldn’t do anything.” She turned away from him and walked over to the edge of the roof, looking back at the tornado and what lied beyond it. “Sorry but not sorry. I’m not stopping until I’ve had enough adventure for a hundred lifetimes and maybe not even then! I’m Rainbow Dash and I’m going to fly around the whole awesome world!”

She heard Harlequin Grey huff from behind her. “Feh—fine then. With any luck you’re about to die anyways.”

Rainbow Dash looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. “What are you-” but he was gone. “Hey, where’d you go?”

A shadow passed over her head and a smiling figure came to rest on the roof beside her.

“Hi there! Finally caught back up to you,” Heartless said.

Rainbow Dash blanched and backed away. “Crud...”

“Heehee, you may not be happy to see me again but just getting to be near you again to feel and see the warmth of your life up close is so wonderful. I told you I would never stop coming for you and I meant it. You’re my goal, Rainbow Dash. I want to feel your life. All of it.” Heartless took a step towards her. “And now there’s nothing to get between me and you.”

“You’re crazy,” Rainbow Dash glared at her.

“Don’t care,” Heartless shrugged. Another step forward

Rainbow Dash gulped and her eyes darted around, looking for something, anything. “Okay, if you want the truth, I was hoping I never would see you again. But fine, you weren’t lying about still coming after me. There’s just one problem though.”

“And what would that be?” Heartless tilted her head in amusement.

“It’s—what the hay is that?!” Rainbow Dash yelled and pointed behind Heartless.

“Hm?” Heartless looked over her shoulder.

And saw nothing.

When she looked back there was a cloud of dust on the roof from where Rainbow Dash had shot off at full speed, flying high into the sky. Heartless giggled as she looked up after the rainbow blur streaking above Nogt. “Heehee, oh Rainbow Dash, you’re so full of life and energy. I can’t wait to take all of it.”

Her pink hooves levitated off the ground and Heartless flew into the sky after her.

Crud, crud, crud, crud! Rainbow Dash thought in the meanwhile as she flew through the sky. What do I do now?! I can’t touch her, there’s nowhere to fly to, I don’t know if I can lock her up or trap her anywhere like what happened last time, do I just fly out of the tornado and try and get as much distance from her as I can?

“Rainbow Daaaash!~” A singsong voice came from behind her.

The blue pegasus in question paled and looked over her shoulder to see a pink earth pony somehow not only flying with her but also almost matching her speed. “Gah! How the?!”

“I won’t let you get away again! Now with you right here in front of me I feel more alive than I’ve ever felt. My heart is full of warmth! Please, just come back here and let me have your life!” Heartless shouted for her.

“Grr!” Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and beat her wings even harder to try and get more distance between her and Heartless. She flew up higher into the skies above Nogt, higher than the crystal sun, and tried to wrack her brain for a solution. Okay, okay, okay, I hate having to think and not just be able to punch her so this is really lame right now! Maybe I still can touch her if it’s really quick but… I dunno. She’s always used her hoof to drain the life of ponies from what I saw but then she absorbed all of Crush’s magic just right through her whole body too. Can I hit her before she has time to take my lifeforce or will it just happen automatically? Can I grab her tail? Argh! I don’t know! I don’t know and I’m not smart enough to figure this out!

“I’m not going to get tired, Rainbow Dash! You’ll get exhausted eventually but I never will!” Heartless said from behind her, slightly gaining on the pegasus.

“Just shut up already!” Rainbow Dash barked back at her. It’s like when I fought the Ice Sentinel isn’t it? I can’t beat Heartless normally so I have to come up with something else. Let’s see… she’s not very smart, she’s totally single-minded, and her reaction time is slow. She almost literally only sees me and she doesn’t pay attention to or care about anything else. But I can’t safely touch her for maybe more than a second and I really have to avoid her hooves. She doesn’t seem to feel pain and take injuries like a normal pony. And she can sense me wherever I am so even obscuring her vision probably won’t do anything.

Sweat started to drip down her brow but a sudden thought occurred to Rainbow Dash. An idea. The Ice Sentinel and Blizzard, I had to beat them by using the environment around me. So what’s something here that I can use to beat Heartless?

Her eyes dropped to the raging World Drain below Nogt.

“Bingo,” Rainbow Dash grinned.

“Stop wasting so much energy, Rainbow Dash! I don’t want you to be tired when I’m holding you in my hooves and taking everything from you! I want every last bit of wonderful, warm life you have all for me!” Heartless yelled, a delighted smile on her face.

“Sorry to disappoint you but if you want something as awesome as me you better be prepared to work as hard as you can for it!” Rainbow Dash yelled back and mockingly saluted Heartless before going into a wide curve and starting to loop back down towards Nogt.

“That energy and brazen spirit just makes me even more excited for when I inevitably take it all from you!” Heartless laughed and matched her. “Ohhh, I just can’t wait! All the lives I’ve taken until now are meaningless. Empty shells compared to you, Rainbow Dash! You call out to me so much I know that I’ll finally at last be satisfied forever with your life! You give me meaning!”

“Whatever, psycho!” Rainbow Dash snorted and dove at full speed to the ground of Nogt, barely pulling up in time to keep from crashing and flying like a missile over the grass and through the trees towards a very particular spot.

Down at the outdoor workout area, a very muscular Reindeer was on the bench, lifting a heavy barbell up and down. While in the middle of this daily routine of his a rainbow blur suddenly passed right by him and grabbed the barbell out of his hooves.

“Borrowing this!”

“What the?” The Reindeer said in confusion as a pink blur then shot right by him too.

“Hnnnng, this is heavy! I can’t fly as fast as normal while carrying this for long, gotta finish this quick!” Rainbow Dash said as she hefted the barbell in her hooves and now flew towards the roof of the communal living center.

“I’m getting closer, Rainbow Dash!” Heartless giggled from behind her.

Rainbow Dash ignored her and kept her eyes on the roof of the building, specifically the pool up there. She flew in close and reached a free hoof down to the surface of the water, grabbing one of the lane dividers and yanking it out of the pool. The speed she was flying at easily made the rope snap from its moors at both ends and now the divider with its plastic floaters was billowing out behind her. She held it in one hoof with the barbell held in the other.

“Borrowing this too!”

Wandering Claw, who had been swimming in that lane at the time, looked up in shock. “Wha—Rainbow Dash?”

She now had to work extra quickly, good thing that was her specialty. While her wings continued to do more than just carry their weight and keep her mercifully away from Heartless, her hooves and teeth worked to tie one end of the rope around the barbell. Despite the hectic urgency of the situation she was as good as ever under pressure and a neat bowtie was made around the middle of the barbell.

Awesome. She grinned at her handiwork and started flying out towards the edge of Nogt, following one of the rivers of liquid ice that flowed right off the edge.

Behind her, Heartless was getting closer.

Rainbow Dash flew closer to the edge of the plateau and suddenly dropped the barbell onto the ground by the river. With that weight gone, she turned around and faced Heartless with the other end of the rope in her hooves. Of course Heartless didn’t stop this time—she shot right towards Rainbow Dash with all the intent to grab her and drain the life out of her.

Which Rainbow Dash knew she was going to try and do. She was counting on it.

Despite Heartless’s surprising speed, Rainbow Dash was easily able to dodge to the side of her when she shot by. Heartless could go fast in a straight line but she didn’t have the same reflexes Rainbow Dash did. It’s like her mind moved slowly or so apathetically that she didn’t react to most things normally. So while she was still turning her head towards Rainbow Dash, the pegasus had already zoomed around her midsection a few times and tightly tied the divider rope to her, pulling the knot taut with her teeth. Carefully avoiding actually touching the pink monster just in case.

“What are you doing?” Heartless asked as she stopped in midair and fully turned to reach out a hoof towards Rainbow Dash.

“Getting rid of you!” And now Rainbow Dash took a big risk. She deftly flapped back away from the hoof, ever so slightly that the pink appendage just barely missed scratching her, and then belted Heartless across the face as hard as she could. She knew the punch wouldn’t really do anything and it was possible that just touching Heartless like that would drain some of the life from here even with the contact being really quick, but all she needed was that split-second flinch.

Heartless didn’t even make so much as a grunt of pain but for a moment she did flinch. Rainbow Dash flew behind her and grabbed her sparkly white tail in her teeth and threw Heartless to the ground. Immediately after, Rainbow Dash then dove down and landed right by the barbell, putting a hoof on it and getting ready to roll it into the river. She was panting, exhausted, and her heart was beating like crazy in her chest, but she was about to win.

Heartless stood up and dusted herself off as if nothing else had happened, then blinked a few times and tilted her head as she looked at Rainbow Dash and the barbell. Her eyes followed the divider to where it was tied around her and she finally seemed to realize the situation. “Oh.”

“Yep. Bye Heartless,” Rainbow Dash said and rolled the barbell into the river, where it was pulled along by the strong current towards the plunge that would take it off the plateau and into the World Drain.

She didn’t shrug or anything else. She still just looked back at Rainbow Dash and smiled. “This won’t stop me either.”

A second later she was yanked into the river and then over the edge, Rainbow Dash floated over to watch her fall into the whirlpool and saw Heartless just falling, not even fighting it. She waved to Rainbow Dash and then was gone in the rapids. Rainbow Dash kept hovering there for a few minutes longer before a smile slowly broke out across her face.

“Awwwww, yeah!” She cheered and pumped her hooves in victory. “I win!”

She shot high into the sky above Nogt again and faced the wall of the tornado that led to the other side of the world. “Sorry Ark’Nogt, but it’s no time for tea anymore. It’s time to be awesome.” With her body full of excitement and anticipation, Rainbow Dash flew into the tornado, heading south.

The End

.

.

To be continued in: Rainbow Dash Around the World

Author's Note

Oh boy, so I have a lot of explaining to do.

First of all, yes, this was always planned as two stories. I just didn’t want to spoil things by mentioning the sequel and what it was titled. Cause that pretty much gives away how this story ends. Secondly it will come out sometime early next year. I have another story to write first and then some preparation to do for Around the World.

For those who may feel cheated or disappointed that things end on an “And the adventure continues” note with this story, Rainbow Dash Around the World will have a conclusive ending, I guarantee you that. It’s a duology, not a trilogy. It may also be rated T instead of E due to certain arcs/moments in particular that really stretch the E rating I’ve always had for these stories.

But anyways I would like to thank you all for reading, this has been a mammoth undertaking of mine and I certainly hope you all enjoyed the first half of Rainbow Dash’s adventure. Like a few other stories this one underwent some mutations while I was writing it. Despite planning it completely, putting more care into it, and outlining it more than my other stories, unexpected things happened even to me. I am especially glad the reaction to Heartless has been good, since she’s been sitting there in the back of my mind for ages. There is much more to come. Tomorrow an epilogue chapter and a blog post will be posted that will further detail things.

Thank you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCEwUFtjAr4

Beyond the Rainbow

Twilight Sparkle trotted through the streets of Ponyville with a skip in her step. It was another beautiful morning in her home and seeing all the happy faces of her friends and neighbors brought a smile to her face. It was a day off at her school so she was planning on just spending the day in her castle with Spike and Starlight after finishing up her walk. There was supposed to be a shipment of books coming in soon and she couldn’t wait for it to arrive so she could organize them all! Spike and Starlight would probably be excited about it too!

“Nothing beats a day of hanging out with my friends and organizing new books!” Twilight giggled as she trotted along. “Speaking of my friends, I should try and make time for all of them today. I’ll probably have plenty but I’ll need to go over my schedule...”

Twilight paused in her step, a blank expression settling over her face. “Well, there’s one friend I still won’t be able to see no matter what.” She sighed and looked up at the clear blue sky. “You’ve been gone for a long time now, Rainbow Dash. I bet you’re having a lot of fun but we all wish we could see you again too.” After a second she smiled. “Hehe, I know you’re thinking about us too though. It’ll be great when you’re back.”

She picked up the pace and started walking again, heading back to her castle.

Meanwhile, at a small outdoor cafe right by where Twilight had been walking, two mares sat together drinking their morning coffee. One watched Twilight Sparkle go with a frown on her face and turned to her friend.

“You hear that? Rainbow Dash is still out on some kind of adventure. Dinky told me that’s why she wasn’t teaching at the School of Friendship lately,” Amethyst Star said to Berry Punch.

“And so what?” Berry Punch raised an eyebrow at her friend. “What’s the big deal? Rainbow Dash and them are always going on adventures and stuff.”

“It’s unfair! I’m always just sitting around here in Ponyville, I bet I could go on an awesome adventure too!” Amethyst Star pounded a hoof down on the table.

“Not this again...” Berry Punch sighed and shook her head.

“I’m serious! One day I’m really gonna go on an adventure too and I’m gonna prove that I can be just as special and amazing as Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and all of them!”

“Just drink your coffee, Amethyst.”

“I’m back!” Twilight said as she walked into her castle’s library. “Have the books arrived?”

“Not yet, Twilight, sorry. And welcome home,” Spike said to her as he and Starlight were sitting together at one of her tables, currently engaged in an intense game of Connect Four.

“Welcome back,” Starlight also said to her with a smile as she dropped in one of her pieces to make a diagonal series that Spike hadn’t seen coming.

Spike frowned at the game and slid the bottom out to make all the pieces fall. “Okay, best four out of seven.”

“If you say so,” Starlight rolled her eyes and chuckled.

Twilight also giggled in amusement at the two of them. “Well I knew they might not be here yet so that’s okay.” She sighed as she walked over to them. “You know while I was out on the town I thought about Rainbow Dash and what she might be up to right now.”

“Knowing her I’d say probably getting into some kind of trouble,” Starlight grinned.

“Heh, yeah,” Spike said. Upon noticing Twilight’s frown he quickly added- “Uh, but I’m sure she’s doing great too. She’s Rainbow Dash after all.”

Starlight stood up and patted Twilight on the shoulder. “Spike’s right, I don’t think you need to worry about anything. Rainbow Dash wanted to go have a big adventure and now she’s having one.” Starlight shrugged. “I bet she’ll be back here soon someday bragging about the whole thing.”

Twilight smiled. “I guess you two are right about that at least.”

“If you want, how about we get everyone else together and just have a party or something tonight?” Starlight suggested. “Just for fun.”

“That sounds great actually, thanks Starlight,” Twilight said.

Spike also grinned and shrugged. “And hey, any excuse to see Rarity is a win in my-”

He was cut off as a sudden belch of green flame came out of his mouth and a neatly wrapped scroll appeared in his claws. “Oof, message from the Princess for you, Twilight.”

“Thank you, Spike.” Twilight smiled and levitated the scroll out of his grasp. Breaking the seal she rolled it open and began scanning down its contents. As Starlight and Spike watched her, Twilight’s eyes positively lit up with joy and she started hopping up and down on her hooves in excitement. “Spike! Starlight! Can you believe it? It’s a message about Rainbow Dash!”

“For real?” Spike’s eyes widened.

“What’s it say?” Starlight asked as she sidled up to Twilight to try and also read the scroll.

“Apparently just earlier this morning, two pegasi arrived at Canterlot Castle to meet with Princess Celestia. They said they came from an ancient kingdom far to the north that Rainbow Dash visited! They said she saved all their lives and freed them from a horrible tyrant before leaving north looking for more adventure!”

“Definitely sounds like Rainbow Dash,” Starlight said.

“The message also says that they want to meet with me later today because Rainbow Dash told them all about me too. This is so wonderful!”

“Well at least now we know something about what she’s been doing out there,” Spike shrugged.

“Right? Talk about amazing coincidences!” Twilight happily squeed.

“Wouldn’t Rainbow Dash say “awesome” coincidences?” Starlight smirked.

Twilight laughed. “You’re right—but really, this is just what I needed.”

Suddenly a green and pink flash erupted in the middle of the library, the force from the magical burst of energy knocked the two ponies and dragon backwards. Books and papers were scattered about while a wagon materialized from out nowhere and landed on the floor. A very familiar looking wagon that was embedded with glowing crystals all over its frame.

“Huzzah!” A cheerful voice yelled as the wagon’s door was thrown open. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has arrived!”

“Trixie—what?” Twilight said as she got up, rubbing her head and frowning at the stage magician.

“Yes! I have returned from an amazing journey where I have discovered new and wondrous magical abilities!” Trixie boasted as she stepped down from her wagon and walked up to Twilight with an incredibly smug grin on her face. “Jealous?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Actually, if you’ve really discovered new magic I’d love to just study it. But why did you have to teleport your wagon into my library?!”

“Because I had to make an entrance? Duh,” Trixie nonchalantly answered and fluffed her mane.

“Grrrrr!” Twilight could feel the vein in her forehead about to pop.

“Don’t do this again, Trixie.” Starlight said with a frown as she came up to her best friend.

Trixie blushed in embarrassment and tried to give a placating smile to her bestie. “Oh, sorry Starlight, didn’t know you were here too.” The magician then coughed into her hoof and recomposed herself. “But anyways, there’s another reason I came here. I was supposed to deliver a message.”

“A message?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Not to you, but to Rainbow Dash. However, since Trixie has no idea where that crazy pegasus lives she decided to come here,” Trixie said.

“If it’s a message for Rainbow Dash you’re a little late,” Spike said. “Heh, try a lot late actually.”

“Oh,” Trixie frowned.

A pit was starting to form in Twilight’s stomach, something about this was worrying her. Starlight noticed this too and decided to question Trixie.

“What was the message, Trixie?” Starlight asked.

“I didn’t really get it but I was told to tell Rainbow Dash to not fly north cause apparently there’s something really dangerous up there,” Trixie shrugged.

“Ugh!” Twilight groaned and facehooved, exasperatedly rubbing her head to try and fight off the coming headache.

Starlight also sighed and shook her head at her friend. “Could’ve used that message a long time ago, Trixie.”

The magician at least had the decency to look a little ashamed as she nervously sweated. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have taken so many detours on my way back...”

In another part of the world...

A tan earth pony in a gray and blue uniform looked out the window of his spacious office in boredom. Outside he saw hundreds of ponies busily shuffling through the streets, moving carts of ore and precious metals and digging equipment. The sounds of heavy machinery were a near constant, so much they were practically white background noise to him now. Overhead hung hundreds of gigantic stalactites forming the cavernous ceiling of the underground city, with electric lights and lamps strung up all over them.

“Same old, same old, can’t anything fun happen here? Am I just going to be stuck in this position for my whole life now?” The earth pony sighed.

A knock came on his door and three other earth ponies entered, wearing red uniforms.

“Lord Copper?” The central figure said, an imposing pony that also wore a red helmet unlike the two others. “Lords Silver and Gold are waiting for you at the meeting. They wanted me to make sure you would not be late. Again.”

The eponymous Lord Copper rolled his eyes, out of sight of the red uniformed ponies, and turned around. “Very well, I suppose our weekly meetings are far too important for me to just ignore entirely.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

The helmet wearing pony frowned but said nothing else, and Lord Copper exited his office peacefully.

Some decidedly unpeaceful thoughts were running through his head though. If I can’t count on anything happening here, then maybe I should make something happen here myself?

In a small village nestled in an evergreen forest...

Two doctors wearing fully protective gear, full body white suits, gas-masks, and thick rubber gloves, walked up and down rows of patients in the town’s auditorium that had been temporarily converted into an infirmary to deal with the many sick. Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns, stallions and mares, young and old alike, were lying ill from a disease that had spread through the town the past few weeks.

Green blotches like fungus were on all of the infecteds’ coats, along with high fevers, dehydration, and debilitating joint pain.

The cause of the illness was known: A strange airborne spore from the forest surrounding the village had appeared suddenly. It was luckily only located in one area but unfortunately before the villagers knew how dangerous it was, many were infected. The doctors were now working tirelessly on trying to find a cure for it but so far they had had no such luck.

“Do we quarantine ourselves? Or evacuate those who are healthy?” One doctor, an older stallion, asked the other.

“We can’t take the risk of evacuation, there could be others infected and spreading the disease, we still don’t fully know how it works,” the other doctor, a young mare, said.

“You’re still going on about that? The only ones who have gotten sick are those who directly came in contact with the spores. There is no evidence that the disease is contagious or transmissible.”

“It could take longer for it to grow and symptoms to show themselves. If you don’t think there’s a danger of transmission then why are we wearing all of this?”

“It’s typical safety—you’re the one putting others in danger by not letting them leave. We know the spores are the cause and it’s possible they could spread further from the forest and directly into the village. What then, Anathema?”

She wheeled on him, fury in her eyes. “I am not letting a potential plague leave this town! I am not!”

Before the other doctor could respond the doors to the auditorium were thrown open and a nurse (also bedecked in protective gear) ran inside. She was panicked and out of breath when she reached the doctors, trying to find her voice. “It’s… it’s!”

“Calm yourself!” Anathema said. “You’re making the patients nervous!”

“I’m sorry, doctor, but it’s Gauze Strip. He didn’t show up for work and when someone went to check up on him… he had the disease. And not just him but his entire family too, they all started showing symptoms overnight,” the nurse told them.

Anathema and the other doctor stiffened in fear. Gauze Strip was a nurse who had been working with them. He had never been to the forest, nor had anyone in his family.

Anathema gulped and looked at her coworker. “I’d say that’s evidence for the disease being transmissible without direct contact with the spores.”

In a vast desert...

Daring Do stood atop a sand dune overlooking a small oasis in the distance that had a settlement built up around it for travelers. She was standing with three other ponies; a scarlet red mare with a deeper red mane and tail wearing sunglasses and a black vest with a black beret. It was a wonder she didn’t overheat from her outfit. Next to her was an orange earth pony stallion with a straw colored mane and tail and a black scarf around his neck, lastly was an ugly unicorn stallion with a gray-white complexion and a greasy black mane and tail.

“So, Valentine, you think we’re still ahead of Shining Diamond?” Daring Do asked the scarlet mare.

“I’d hope so, we can’t let him get to the treasure before us or he’ll take control of the entire desert with an iron hoof,” she said—and then playfully grinned at Daring Do. “And it’s Miss Valentine.”

“Considering this place isn’t on fire I don’t think he’s quite found the trail for the treasure yet,” the orange earth pony said. “Coin Flip and I can go in and check though.”

“Oh no,” Daring Do said, putting a wing in front of the two stallions. “You two aren’t going anywhere without supervision. Especially not you, Birdseed.”

Birdseed rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to do anything. We’re all in this together, stopping Shining Diamond from finding the Crystal Sea and the map to Cinnabaron’s temple takes precedence.”

“Yeah, why don’t you trust us?” Coin Flip said, grinning with his ugly yellowing teeth.

“Because she’s got a brain and I’ve worked with you two lunkheads before and I know your type,” Miss Valentine said. “Enough of this though, let’s just go, we have to keep a step ahead of Shining Diamond and his thugs.”

“Right,” Daring Do nodded and the four of them together began walking down the dune towards the oasis.

In another part of the desert…

A drunken mare stumbled into the inn she was currently staying in, it wasn’t much but it beat sleeping out on the sand. This tiny village didn’t offer much for her other than the drink but that was fine by her for the moment. She was a reed thin yellow unicorn with a fiery orange and red mane and tail and a horn that was double the size of most unicorns while she had the Cutie Mark of a violent explosion. The others inside the inn were wary of her and everyone gave her a wide berth as she clumsily stepped up the stairs to her room.

When she made it to her room she grumbled as she fumbled about with her key a few times before finally getting it in the hole and opening up her door. Walking in she shut the door behind her and a single spark from her horn lit a candle beside her bed. The mare sighed in comfort and prepared to lie down on her bed-

“It’s been a while, Supernova.”

“Gah!” The mare shot up in fright and turned around, her horn lit up and sparkled with powerful magical energy. But the face she saw filled her with even greater fear and she canceled the magic, backing up and almost tripping over her bed. “Y-You… what are you doing here?”

Harlequin Grey regarded her with a bored expression. “As imbecilic as ever even with your incredible power.”

Supernova’s brow furrowed and she tried to put on a strong face. “I-I don’t need to take that from you!”

“Yes. You do.”

“Umm… okay,” Supernova gulped.

“I have something I need you to do for me,” Harlequin Grey said as he stepped towards her.

“I-I don’t want to do anything for you. I don’t want to have anything to do with you at all! Y-You said that all I needed to do was take your power and that was it! That I could just go and do whatever I wanted!” Supernova said, shaking her head.

“I gave you that power specifically because one day you might be useful to me. And now you are. You owe me, Supernova.” His face darkened as he narrowed his eyes. “Unless of course you’d like to go back to the way things were before you had that Cutie Mark?”

“No! No, anything but that!” Supernova got down on her knees and pleaded before him. “I’m sorry, I promise I won’t say anything again, I’ll do whatever you want just don’t take my power away from me, it’s all I have!”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re absolutely pathetic, power without anything else. A worthless existence. At least now I might finally make you useful.”

“I’m sorry… w-what do I have to do?” Supernova squeezed her eyes shut, tears building up at the corners.

“Look at me.”

She raised her head and fearfully looked him in the eyes as he glared down at her.

“Some time from now, a pegasus by the name of Rainbow Dash may come through here.”

“And what do you want me to do about her?”

“Kill her.”

In an unknown place…

The filly stared through a crack in the door and watched what was happening in the room beyond. A pony stood in there, her father, in front of a huge series of electrodes, strange equipment, and a gigantic glass sphere more than halfway filled up with a strange black liquid. Arcs of electricity shot from the electrodes and ran up across the ceiling of the laboratory while the black liquid churned about in its glass prison almost like a living creature. It suddenly seemed like there was somehow more liquid in there than there was a second ago, like it had grown.

“Yes, yes, it’s almost ready!” Her father yelled as he looked over his work. Outside dark clouds roiled about perpetually in the sky while thunder and lightning screamed. “Soon it will finally be full and at last my dream will come true!”

The filly didn’t understand what he was saying, she didn’t know what she was seeing, but she knew it terrified her. Without a sound she turned away from the door and began to run away.

Only to instantly collide with the legs of another pony who had been standing right behind her the whole time.

The filly looked up to see a white mare smiling down at her, but not pure white, her coat was more a murky white until it was almost cream colored. She had a pink mane that was shaved away completely on the left side of her head while it hung long and straight down the right side of her face. Her eyes were red and her horn was glowing as she currently held something behind her head in her magic grip.

“Well now, silly filly,” the mare said as she levitated a syringe from behind her head and held it beside her face, her smile and eyes growing wider. “Just where do you think you’re going?”

In a land of lush and fertile fields…

It was the monthly harvest festival and everyone was out celebrating as baskets of fruit and vegetables were carried into the center of town. Fillies and colts played about in the streets while the sun was shining down and neighbors engaged in dance and song. Wreaths of flowers were set up everywhere, seeds were being thrown about from bags with no care as to where they fell and took root. Every little cottage was decorated with ribbons and straw.

A bright earth pony mare with a lime-green coat and a crown of flowers in her earthy brown mane danced with her two friends, hoof in hoof they swung about in a circle, laughing without a care in the world.

In a vast and dangerous swamp…

Several ponies on small rafts made of reeds hid in the trees of a large swamp, totally camouflaged and imperceptible to their quarry. At least they hoped. Mud caked their features to hide their scent and bright coats, hats of grass and moss covered their manes, and robes of reeds and sticks covered their backs and tails. Dressing and preparing like this was the only way to move safely through the swamp at this time of day. Less you run the risk of being feasted upon by the monstrous beast the ponies were finally trying to overcome.

They watched from their hidden position, deathly still, as a large catfish that they had hunted down earlier hung from a tree. A hook was pierced through its tail as it gently swung there as bait. The ponies now gripped spears tipped with flint as they waited and waited until the predator they sought appeared to devour the catfish.

“Will it come?” One of the ponies quietly whispered to the leader of their hunting party.

“Quiet,” he glared back. “It will come.”

They must’ve been waiting there for over an hour in total silence. No one wanted to risk ruining everything. At last there was a ripple in the waters further away in the swamp. Lily pads shifted away, all the birds and crickets grew quiet, flowers and reeds floated on by as the disturbance underwater spread. The ponies did their best to conceal their fright even as beneath the mud their hooves were white from how tightly they gripped their spears.

The beast was here.

On an ocean…

Daylight Gleam peered through the spyglass at the large ship following behind theirs. A frown filled up her face as she took in its fearsome features. A large galleon with three masts of black sails, multiple decks, and rows of cannons along both sides, the jolly roger that flew about above the crow’s nest showed a unique and recognizable design: a griffon skull flanked by two golden wings.

The pirate ship completely dwarfed their own sloop and it was enough to worry Daylight Gleam immensely. She quickly climbed down from the crow’s nest of their ship and walked to the stern. The captain of the ship, a seasoned seafarer by the name of Breakwater, had his jaw clenched as he held onto the ship’s wheel with his hooves. He knew well that they couldn’t outrun the larger vessel coming for them, not with its superior amount and size of sails.

Daylight walked past him to the two other creatures onboard, a merpony and a griffon both standing by the stern.

“Well?” She asked the merpony as she came to a stop standing in-between them.

Senax lowered the magical Horn of Listening from her ear, using the golden treasure of Ponyseidon to eavesdrop on the pirates coming for them. “They’re intent on chasing us down. And you were right, Daylight. It’s him.”

Both unicorn and merpony glanced over to their other friend.

Gilbert twiddled with his mustache as he stared at the pirate ship sailing over the deep blue waters of the ocean as it gained on them. Frowning with his beak he repeatedly tapped a single talon on the back of the ship.

“Ready for a family reunion, Gilbert?” Daylight asked him.

“Perhaps if I had a sword,” Gilbert answered.

“I really wish I had one of those right now too...” Breakwater grumbled.

Daylight winced and looked back at him. “Sorry, Breakwater. For dragging you into this and everything.”

He snorted in annoyance and dismissively waved her off without looking. “So long as you have a plan to actually deal with that.”

“Do we?” Senax asked her friends.

“If we’re planning on appealing to my brother’s kindness and mercy I might as well tell you right now that that isn’t going to end well,” Gilbert said.

Daylight Gleam shook her head, a serious and determined look on her face, she adjusted the black bow she wore until it was steady behind her horn, “No, I’ve got a real plan. We’ll be alright, and then we can get back to searching for Merlantis.”

In the Stormlands…

Fizzlepop Berrytwist hadn’t been in the Stormlands in a while, not since she saw herself as Tempest Shadow. A part of her didn’t really ever want to come back, but when Princess Twilight said she wanted to open up better relations with the creatures still living here and see if maybe some of them even wanted to come to her school… well, there was really no one better to be an ambassador. And she figured saying hi to Grubber wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, annoying runt that he was. So she ended up not just in the Stormlands but in the Storm King’s old castle getting to feast and enjoy herself for the past few days while meeting with her old “friend”.

But she wasn’t the only outsider who happened to come here around this time.

As announced one evening by a Storm Creature, a boat had arrived on their shores carrying with it a group of envoys from a small island kingdom to the west.

Fizzlepop was curious, she had never seen these creatures before. Apparently they were called “Trolls”. They were big and strong bipedal creatures just like the Storm Creatures and Minotaurs were, with long and strong arms, hunched backs, sunken beady eyes, and shaggy brown fur covering them all over. Surprisingly though they had on some really elaborate and colorful outfits. Fizzlepop definitely wouldn’t have expected that.

“Thank you for your hospitality, former denizens of the Storm King,” the troll in the center of the group said, taking a knee with the others before Fizzplepop and Grubber. He was wearing an orange robe patterned with yellow suns that ended in a green trim symbolizing the ground at the robe’s bottom.

“Oh yeah, no urp no problem,” Grubber said as he continued to eat a huge sandwich while talking. “So, uh, what’s up? You guys never really came around here before.”

“We come on behalf of the new King of the Troll Kingdom, King Terluff. I am Tyluck and I have been tasked with tracking down a dangerous criminal who escaped from us. We believe he has traveled here and is hiding somewhere in the Stormlands,” Tyluck said.

“Dangerous criminal?” Fizzlepop raised an eyebrow.

“Indeed,” Tyluck nodded and reached into his dapper outfit to pull out a piece of paper. “Allow me to show you this painting of him.”

Tyluck held the paper wide open for Grubber and Fizzlepop to see. The creature there was definitely a troll but he looked a little different from the others. He was drawn as wearing naught but dull gray pants and unlike the trolls standing here before Fizzlepop his fur was painted as streaked and speckled with white.

“His name is Berten,” Tyluck said. “And we would like you to help us find him.”

Back to the True North...

A pink pony pulled herself out of a raging whirlpool and stood in the winds of the tornado that blew unceasingly around the north pole. Heartless’s mane and tail billowed about around her as she stood there with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. She could still feel the warmth, slowly going south now. Opening up her eyes she began to walk again to Rainbow Dash.

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJEAwZRTUXU

Journey Begins

“Twilight, I’m sooooo bored.”

“Yes, Rainbow Dash, I heard you the first time.”

In the library of the Castle of Friendship there were currently two ponies and one dragon spending their time. The two residents of the castle busy working on Twilight’s latest experimental reorganizing of her books to see if the new system was slightly more efficient and logical than her current one while their blue guest lazily lied on top of the library’s table, her wings fully splayed out and her hooves falling over the sides.

“And furthermore-” Twilight Sparkle continued as she looked over at her friend with an unamused expression on her face. “I don’t see the reason why you needed to come here just to tell me that. Spike and I are busy right now.”

Rainbow Dash stuck up her head and frowned at Twilight. “I came here because I was bored and I was hoping that maybe there would be something to do.”

Twilight paused in her work for a second while Spike continued to stack up books on the shelves above them, the small dragon shaking his head as he listened to Rainbow Dash. The Princess of Friendship thought as she rubbed her chin and her eyes roamed off to the side. “Well if you want you can help Spike and I do this? Reorganizing everything in my library takes quite a bit of time and your help would be greatly appreciated.”

“Ugh!” Rainbow Dash groaned and threw her head back, bonking it against the table. “I don’t want something like that to do!” Her love of the Daring Do series didn’t have anything to do with making her enjoy books in the way Twilight did.

“But reorganizing books is fun! Think of it like this-”

“Twilight, just stop,” Spike cut in. “That’s not going to convince anybody. And definitely not Rainbow Dash.”

“Seriously, egghead. Starlight isn’t even here to help you out with this. It’s not the kind of fun I’m looking for here. And I use the word “fun” very loosely,” Rainbow Dash said as she stared up at the ceiling.

“Okay,” the slightly miffed Twilight Sparkle started. “Well just what are you looking for?”

Rainbow Dash sighed and flapped her wings to fly up above the table, putting her hooves behind her head and essentially reclining in midair. “It’s just like… nothing has happened lately! We used to go on adventures and do cool stuff all the time but it’s totally been ages since I got to do anything like that. I’m bored! I need to go out and do something awesome!”

“Haven’t you had enough awesomeness in your life?” Twilight raised an eyebrow at her.

Rainbow Dash just looked down and scowled at her.

The purple alicorn rolled her eyes. “Right, stupid question. I forgot that enough awesomeness for ten ponies is nothing to you.”

“That’s right,” Rainbow Dash nodded, missing the jab.

“Aren’t the Wonderbolts doing anything right now?” Spike asked.

“Not really, we’re planning for tryouts. I was thinking of taking a vacation if something cool came up,” Rainbow shrugged.

“But there’s nothing?”

“Nothing!” Rainbow Dash threw her legs up in defeat and floated back down to the ground, plopping herself into one of the library’s chairs. “Like, can’t a monster attack Ponyville again or something? Or some evil villain can try to take over Equestria for the tenth time?”

“Don’t wish for something like that,” Twilight admonished her. “Knowing us it’ll actually happen.”

Rainbow Dash smirked at her and wiped her hooves together. “And then we save the day, no big deal.”

“No. No, it is a big deal. And I have to deal with a lot more stuff after the fact than you do. Being a Princess and all.”

“Oh come on. Twilight. Are you seriously saying you’d rather sit all cooped up in here and sort books instead of fighting… I dunno, Discord’s long lost brother Terror?” Rainbow Dash flitted out of the chair to get right in front of Twilight’s face, wiggling her eyebrows in question at the alicorn.

Twilight, unsurprisingly, furrowed her brow at Rainbow Dash as she monotonously responded. “Yes. I can safely say I’d rather organize books than do that.”

“Laaaame!”The loud exclamation from Rainbow Dash caused a few books to shake from the reverberation in the library, earning her a pair of scowls from the alicorn and the dragon. “Er, sorry.”

“Rainbow Dash, you know that most of the time I love your company. But if you could please let Spike and I finish up here, that would be swell. Maybe we can talk again tomorrow? Or maybe one of our other friends has an idea for an adventure that you’d like,” Twilight Sparkle said through a fairly forced smile.

The Wonderbolt crossed her forelegs in front of her and scoffed. “Pff, yeah fine. It’s Ponyville, there’s probably gonna be something crazy happening here sooner or later.” Without a second to spare she blasted out of the library and out of the castle, leaving a whirlwind of books and papers and an agitated Twilight Sparkle behind her.

Rubbing her forehead in annoyance while Spike began to clean up, Twilight muttered under her breath. “Again, please do not hope for that.”

Despite her speedy exit, Rainbow Dash soon found herself lacking in enthusiasm as she glided over Ponyville. It looked so normal and quiet down there. Not what she wanted at all. A normal day was going to be even more boring and worse than it already was with how she was feeling right now. With a groan, she made herself a tiny cloud to rest on and decided she might as well take a nap for a bit instead. If Pinkie Pie, or Rarity, or someone else had something fun going on she could ask them once she woke up.

In fact it was such a pleasant day outside that the light breeze, the quiet murmurings from below, and the warmth of the sun on her back, lulled her to sleep almost immediately. She didn’t dream about fighting Changelings anymore for obvious reasons, instead the marauders of her dream were a mixture of dragons, monsters from the Everfree, and those beasts that made up the bulk of the Storm King’s forces. Anyone watching her sleep would’ve noticed the pleased smirk on her face as Rainbow Dash crushed her opposition and beat up all the monsters coming at her in her dreams.

If only that dream was real.

The sudden roar of a great beast made Rainbow Dash’s eyes snap open, waking her from her wonderful nap and dream.

Perhaps her prayers were answered.

Another roar that seemed to shake the air itself around her caused Rainbow Dash to smile wildly and hop up onto her hooves. “That sounds like a monster attack to me!”

Rainbow Dash bent her head down to listen for the next roar so she could find where the monster or hopefully rampaging wild animal was coming from. A roar mixed with the screaming of a few ponies in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage and the edge of the Everfree Forest told her all she needed to know.

“Yes!” Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof in excitement and flew off to confront whatever was attacking Ponyville. More than excited at the prospect of a fight and the praise and exaltation she’d get from everyone after single-handedly saving the day.

She heard a screech from Fluttershy as she made her quick approach and could see other ponies running in the opposite direction.

“Fear not everybody, Rainbow Dash is here!” She shouted over them in a dazzling display, finally impacting into the ground like a rainbow comet and skidding to a halt right in front of Fluttershy’s cottage. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy! I’m-”

The words died in her throat as her jaw dropped at the scene in front of her.

A large creature that looked like a cross between a crocodile and a boulder lied on its back, defeated. Its four legs were hog-tied together and Applejack stood on top of it, tugging the rope tighter to make sure the creature wasn’t going anywhere. Fluttershy lightly floated right over her, checking over the croco-rock thing to make sure it hadn’t been hurt too badly.

“Oh come on!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

Applejack and Fluttershy both looked over at her, now aware of her presence.

The farm pony smiled at her close friend and rival. “Well hey there, RD. Don’t worry none about this fellow, I took care of him. Right place at the right time.”

“Ughhhh!” Rainbow Dash groaned and flopped over backwards, lying spread eagle on the torn up ground. “No! Totally wrong time, Applejack! I wanted to fight that monster!”

“Uh, why?” Applejack questioned her friend as she hopped off the croc with Fluttershy also coming to a confused landing next to her.

Rainbow Dash jumped up and buzzed right over to them, jamming her nose right up against Applejack’s. “Because I’ve been super bored lately and I wanted an adventure or a monster to fight or something, geez! Why’d you have to take it out all on your own?”

Much like Twilight, Applejack was unamused by Rainbow’s attitude and flatly stared back at her after pushing the pegasus away from her face. “I’d say it’s because I was more concerned about doing the right thing and helping my friend than letting you be a glory hound?”

“Well that would’ve helped me!”

“Um, just to be clear,” Fluttershy quietly spoke up between them. “The Boulderdile isn’t a monster. It’s a usually very calm animal you can find in various spots in Equestria. Just saying.” The shy pegasus finished as she pulled on her mane.

Rainbow Dash groaned in annoyance some more and flew up a bit higher into the air. “Oh whatever. I just wanted something exciting to happen around here!”

Without waiting for a response from her two friends, Rainbow Dash flew off again.

Applejack shook her head as she watched the rainbow pony go. “That mare sometimes.”

“Why did Ponyville and all of Equestria suddenly get so boring?” Rainbow Dash wondered as she flew through the clouds above town. “I mean seriously, how am I supposed to be awesome when the most exciting thing happening around here is Pinkie Pie sneaking chili powder into her cupcakes.”

A hacking noise from below caused Rainbow Dash to roll her eyes.

She looked out to the horizon, where Celestia was beginning to lower the sun. The sight annoyed her since all it meant was another day wasted. Another day of boredom where she wasn’t out on an adventure or kicking butt. Even the Cutie Map hadn’t called on her in ages. When the hay was she finally going to be able to go on another epic adventure? Back in the day she was always a thrill-seeker to begin with but now after all the super amazing things she’s done since becoming an Element of Harmony that stuff in the past just couldn’t compare.

Rainbow Dash halted in midair and looked straight up into the slowly darkening sky. “Come on world, give me an adventure already.”

It was like a sudden epiphany struck her. An errant ray of sunlight reflected across the darkening sky and brought Rainbow Dash’s annoyed attention to the far-off sight of Canterlot Castle where the Princess currently in charge of lowering the burning object resided.

Canterlot. Just slightly north of Ponyville. And beyond Canterlot was the Crystal Empire. And beyond the Crystal Empire… was what?

The magenta eyes of the pegasus widened. “I’ve been going at this all wrong. I shouldn’t be waiting for an adventure. I should be looking for one.”

Twilight Sparkle and Spike meanwhile had just about finished their reorganization work for the day (thanks to Starlight choosing to take a long bath instead of helping them in the afternoon) and were preparing to get a late dinner started up in celebration. Everything was on the shelves exactly where it should be according to her new format. The Princess was merely giving everything a thrice-over before she called it a day.

“TWIIIIIILIIIIIGHT!”

“Oh no...”

A rainbow lightning bolt blasted into her library, coming to a freeze right in front of her face while the shockwave from her arrival knocked over all the furniture and Spike in the library.

“Ow,” the young dragon moaned from his prone position on the ground. “Nobody mind me, I’ll be alright.”

Before Twilight could say anything, Rainbow Dash grabbed her by the shoulders and invaded her personal space enough that all she could see was the pegasus’ smiling face.

“What’s north?”

“What?” Twilight responded in confusion.

“What’s north of the Crystal Empire?!” Rainbow Dash eagerly asked the egghead Princess.

“Oh,” Twilight near instantly flipped to her lecture mode, a pleased smile appearing on her face as she coughed into her hoof so she could begin answering her friend to the fullest measure of her knowledge. “Well it depends. True north is Mt. Everhoof and the rest of the Yaket Range. To the northwest is of course Yakyakistan and to the northeast is the top of the griffon lands and then the domain of the Bug Bears. Why do you ask?”

“And what’s beyond all that? What’s even further north?” Rainbow Dash demanded, ignoring Twilight’s own question.

“Beyond Mt. Everhoof is mostly uninhabited as far as I know,” Twilight shrugged.

“As far as you know?”

Twilight smiled apologetically. “It’s not a very traveled place, especially by ponies. The yaks probably know about it the best. Pinkie Pie might know something too.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Perfect.”

“Perfect?” Twilight repeated as she raised an eyebrow at her friend.

The showy blue pegasus let Twilight go and flapped her wings to rise above her. “Alright, Twilight. Sorry to give you such short notice but I’m gonna be gone for a while. Fun and adventure calls.” She saluted and sped off right back out of the library like a missile, leaving the confused and flustered Princess of Friendship in her wake.

Rainbow Dash quickly made it back out of the castle, soaring high into the sky, high enough where she’d even glide above the peak of Canterlot Mountain, and looked to the far reaches of the north. A confident and exhilarated smirk was born on her face with the whole world before her.

“Adventure, here I come.”

And with a rainbow burst she was off.

Author's Note

Updates daily. Enjoy.

Yak Party

Late in the evening but not late enough to be called night and Rainbow Dash was still gliding over the wide valley between Mt. Everhoof and the northern limits of the Yaket Range. Her eyes still sharp and capable enough of seeing much of the world around her that flying at this time of day wasn’t a problem. She thought about making it all the way past this valley and maybe even those last few mountains tonight but figured there was no reason to push herself just yet. It was probably just going to be more of the same over there so why not take her time and make sure she didn’t miss anything cool.

So far it didn’t seem like there was much at all to this valley though. Now that she was in it she could plainly look west and see it indeed traveled possibly all the way to the borders of Yakyakistan before curving out of sight. East was merely more of the same until it reached the ocean. Below her was a thick forest of pine and redwood trees that were so densely packed there were hardly any places where she could see the actual ground through them. Although there had to be a river to feed all these trees somewhere in this valley, right? Dash was sure she’d find it or something else sooner or later if she kept flying above it.

The cool night air felt good on her coat and feathers, not oppressive like the freezing winds she expected from the north. Colder than she was used to but a comfortable sort of cold reminiscent of a calm winter day, where the snow fell slowly and you could catch snowflakes on your tongue. Those days where a snowball fight with your friends was the best fun any pony could have.

“I could go for beaning Applejack or Twilight in the face right now,” Rainbow Dash snickered.

That would probably have to wait for a long while though with what she was doing now. She took a deep breath and flew down closer to the tree tops, getting a strong scent of pine in her nose and smacking her hooves on some of the highest branches to shake the snow and frost off of them to pass the time. She was keeping her ears wide open in case she heard anything, even if it was just the hooting of an owl, she wanted to know.

Rainbow Dash glanced up at the gray clouds that created a solid bedsheet above the valley. With them blocking out most of the light from the moon and stars it would be nearly pitch black here as the night wore on. Maybe it would actually be best to go down into the forest and find some shelter? The thought kind of annoyed her since she already was making slower progress than she had originally intended, she already made the concession of not going past the mountains and now what? She was only going to go halfway through the valley before the day ended?

She flapped her lips and sighed. “Probably should’ve expected there wouldn’t actually be that much to do up in the north like this.”

The pegasus bolted up and started flying a bit higher above the valley again, her eyes looking around for anything different or weird or out of place. Not that she expected to see anything now after-

Oh.

Rainbow Dash nearly paused in midair as she saw something on the ground out of the corner of her eye. The pegasus hooked around and flew lower to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.

A flame, a faint flame on the forest floor in a gap between the trees. It was moving too, slowly to the west. Now looking at the flame’s path, Rainbow Dash could see that there was a thin gap between the trees in the line it was moving. Probably a trail at ground level that she wouldn’t have noticed before.

“There’s someone carrying a torch down there,” Rainbow Dash smiled. “Awesome! Who lives in this valley? I wonder if they’ve ever met a pony from Equestria?!” She was getting a bit ahead of herself as she dove low, the excitement impossible to ignore.

She curled in her wings to slip right between the trees and fly above the path in the woods as she came up behind the slowly marching flame ahead. The flame was too weak and the distance too far to make out just who or what was holding it yet. But where her eyes were temporarily failing her her ears instead made up. For a low musical sound was coming up from the forest floor, coming right from that flame, and although it was subdued and quiet it was still a sound she recognized very well.

“Is that a yovidophone?” Rainbow Dash raised a perplexed eyebrow, the yak’s traditional musical instrument all too familiar to her by now thanks to her pink friend.

Whoever was playing it down there was playing it mechanically like a marching tune, step by step, a way to keep one focused as they walked through the cold evergreen forest with that single torchlight the only thing to guide them. Sharp and flat, one tune after the other in endless repetition.

Rainbow Dash was now close enough to make some more things out. This was indeed a party of yaks traveling through the valley, heading in the direction of Yakyakistan, although at this pace it would take them a solid week to get there. One big yak at the front of the party held the torch in one of his hooves and the yovidophone was done up on a rig suspended over his neck. Behind him were maybe a dozen younger yaks, Yona’s age at best, all following in lockstep, while at the very back of the line another adult yak brought up the rear.

Obviously she wasn’t making first contact with anybody but her curiosity was still piqued. “Hey!” She shouted through the night sky as she flew over them, coming to a hover right in front of the torch-carrying yak.

The yak, along with the others behind him, was clearly surprised to see her but he didn’t have a startled reaction to the blue pegasus suddenly flying in front of his face and halting their procession. His mouth left the pipes of the yovidophone so he could question her. “A pony from Equestria? What brings you up here to Yaketian Valley?”

She gave her most winning of grins to the yak, also looking past him briefly to see the younger yaks that were looking up at her in surprise too. “Name’s Rainbow Dash, and I’m up here cause I’m going on an adventure. And Yaketian Valley, huh? So that’s what this place is called. What are you guys up to? You’re pretty far from Yakyakistan.”

“Haha,” the lead yak gave a throaty laugh. “We are on sacred yak pilgrimage. Yaks best at pilgrimaging.”

“Heh, I’ve heard yaks are best at a lot of things,” Rainbow Dash chuckled and dropped to the forest floor.

“Yak’s name is William,” William told her and looked back over his shoulder. “Take rest!” He shouted to the others.

“Woah, hey, you guys don’t need to stop on account of me. I just wanted to see what was up,” Dash told him.

But William just shook his head. “Close to stopping anyways. Takes time to set up camp for the night. Pony from Equestria here is good change, looks like fun.”

“Well I may not be Pinkie Pie but I am pretty fun,” the pegasus cockily told him.

“Pinkie Pie?” William’s eyes widened a bit more. “Pink pony is well-known among yaks. She is friend of yours?”

“Uh, we’re like best friends dude. I guess you might not know about me but I’m a pretty big deal back in Equestria,” she brushed her mane to the side and smiled brightly at William.

“I am very pleased to make your acquaintance then!” William bowed his head lightly. He then grasped his torch and thrust the spiked end into the ground so he didn’t have to carry it anymore. “Please allow us to talk more.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Yeah alright.”

The young yaks gathered around the other adult and as far as Dash could tell started getting tents set up between the dense trees. Relatively small tents for yaks that were still more than big enough for just her if she needed one. Now that she was standing pretty much still she was thankful for that torch, otherwise the chill of the north would probably be getting to her. William took some time to dust around where the two of them were standing as well, apparently quite honored to meet Rainbow Dash he really didn’t want to rub her the wrong way. The big yak gently took his yovidophone off and placed it on the ground, taking a seat next to it while Dash plopped down right across from him.

“So like, what’s this pilgrimage about? I’ve never heard about yaks doing something like this before.”

“Coming of age ceremony. Yak children walk from Yakyakistan on this trail through the Yaketian Valley all the way to the eastern coastline and then walk back. Builds character,” William proudly thumped his chest with a hoof.

She thought it sounded kind of boring and slow for something she’d like to do. Even though the walking part would make it difficult it wouldn’t be the fun kind of difficult. “Sounds like a trip. So I guess you guys are on your way back then, good luck and all.”

“You should stay with us for a time. No sense flying at night with no light of your own I would think,” William smiled at her.

Rainbow Dash thought about that for a second, moving her head from side to side. “Wellll-”

“We have stew.”

“Kay, I’m down.”

“Gahahaha!” William let out a big belly laugh. “Certainly a better idea to eat and get a good night of sleep at this point than keep flying wherever it is you’re trying to go, pony. You sound like one who has great stories to tell to pass the time as well.”

“Definitely not gonna deny that. I’ll be sure to fill you in on whatever you want to know about me while we eat,” Dash said.

“Yes, and you said you were going on an adventure right now? Pray tell what kind? Why have you chosen to come fly over the Yaketian Valley?” William asked her.

Rainbow Dash gave him an honest shrug back. “Honest? I’m just flying north and looking for fun.”

One of William’s eyebrows perked up from behind his bushy face. “North? As in you’re going to keep going north from here?”

“Yep,” was her simple, smug, response.

“Do you… know what is north of Yakyakistan and these mountains?” William’s voice had gotten decidedly more serious as he leaned forward to affix her with his stare.

“Uhhh, no? That’s why I’m going partly. You alright, buddy?” He was kind of freaking her out now with his sudden change from the boisterous yak he was before.

William rolled his shoulders and snorted, mulling over his thoughts for a second before responding, still completely serious. “There are some things you may want to know about the north.”

The Ice Sentinel I

Rainbow Dash woke up cold and covered in snow.

“Oof, not one of my better ideas,” she said as she stuck her head out of the igloo that was little more than a big pile of snow on the ground now.

The pegasus fluttered her wings to knock most of it away and shook like a dog to get the rest off her head and back. Still cold, but better. She looked up into the sky to see that it was already late morning, she slept longer than she wanted. The good news was that the sky was clear and blue and the sun was shining down on her. The weather for the rest of the day would probably be fine and even quite a bit warmer than she had expected. Still nothing that would approach a hot day or even average for Ponyville standards but something easily manageable and perfectly relaxing for a tough pony like her.

There was no snow falling anymore either, everything that buried her must’ve come during the night, so she could easily see the mountains in front of her and fly up through them without issue. Now that it was bright out though and she was so close she had a much better view of them than before. The one she was right at the foot of gently sloped up enough she could walk up it and the lower part was covered in pine trees that had the bottoms of their trunks covered up in freshly fallen snow.

Feeling like she had flown enough the previous day, Rainbow Dash decided that she’d try walking up this mountain at first. After all, she’d only walked down a mountain before this. This thing wasn’t nearly as big as Mt. Everhoof either, should be easy. The stone that made up the mountain was dark though. Much darker than typical gray granite, almost black like obsidian although with the sturdiness and density of granite or quartz. Ice and snow covered the peak and the peaks of the other mountains in the range but there were plenty of rocky spots uncovered as well as plenty of trees that Dash could see from down here.

With one last shake of her back hooves to get the final bits of snow off she started her climb up the mountain. Perhaps there was a town or entire civilization nestled in the various valleys that lied between each peak, or hidden inside caves chiseled out of the mountains. If there was anything like that she’d find it.

She took a deep breath of the cool mountain air as she plowed on through the snow, the pine scent overpowering everything else around. Countless amounts of pine needles rested atop the snow, adding a second bit of crunch whenever she stepped her hooves down. It was an easy walk up so far with the trees dense enough that they obscured her vision of what lay higher up on the mountain. There was probably a pass or way to walk around or up it completely, depending on what she chose, and if not then she could always fly. At the moment it was a straight climb through the snow and forest of pine trees.

The pegasus came to a spot that looked like the start of a trail winding up the mountain but it was currently blocked by a boulder. Whether it was placed there on purpose or had fallen from higher up she didn’t know. Regardless, it was no problem to her, and she flapped her wings once to hop over it and go higher up the mountain.

Here the path she was on was still snowy and lined with trees but it led to the valley directly behind this mountain and in-between the ones bordering it instead of just going straight up or spiraling around this first peak Rainbow Dash had stepped onto. Now with her slightly up the mountain she had a bit of a vantage point and could see what was coming next.

She stopped at a small ledge with a single large pine tree half growing out the side of the rocks, its twisted roots dangling in the open and the pine needles up above her head slightly frosted over. The pegasus looked out over the valley that sat between the various mountains in this area, seeing a wide forest partially covered in snow with a glacier in-between the two mountains directly north of her and a frozen river running from east to west through the middle of the mountain range. There were several small hills and frosted over rock formations inside the valley as well, contrasting with the perilous peaks of the mountains that rose up much higher in the sky.

Rainbow Dash yawned and instead of walking down to the valley and wasting some time she opened up her wings and glided through the air towards it.

She settled down in a clearing between the trees and started walking through the forest, the mountains casting long shadows on the valley thanks to the morning sun but also blocking out most of the wind. The only places that would be really windy right now were the air corridors higher up between the mountain peaks, down low like this there was currently no wind to speak of.

And as a small scurrying sound reached her ears, Rainbow Dash looked over to see the first sign of life she had seen so far in the True North: a squirrel.

The small brown animal was running across the snow away from her, it must’ve been startled by her arrival. But the sight of it was still refreshing to Rainbow Dash. There were probably tons more animals in this hidden valley, along with all the food they would need to survive.

Her hooves carried her deeper into the forest, it was never so dense that she couldn’t see the sky or feel the sun shining down on her but it was also never so thin that you could put a house down and settle anywhere without first chopping some of the trees down. She saw some movement to her right as she walked and was barely able to pick out a white fox running through the snow and into some bushes. The color of its fur would’ve made it difficult to spot were it not for her sharp eyes. Rainbow Dash grinned, her eyes were even better than a griffon’s she was willing to bet.

Speaking of bushes though there were a number ahead of her as well with some red berries on them. Rainbow Dash trotted towards the bush and sniffed at the berries, they were practically completely frozen over but that didn’t diminish their sheen at all nor the tantalizingly sweet smell that came from them. Still, she frowned.

“Okay, what are the chances of these actually being poisonous?” Rainbow Dash grabbed a few off the bush and popped them into her mouth, smiling at the sweet taste. “Mmm, tasty!” She gulped their remnants down and grabbed a few more to eat as she walked through the forest. Thanks to her wings it was easy to carry stuff like that even without any bags.

Rainbow Dash was feeling very refreshed thanks to the surprisingly pleasant morning and now those berries—what was supposed to be so dangerous about this place again? She could even easily scoop up some snow whenever she got thirsty. Her hooves eventually brought her to the frozen river that spanned the valley and to her entertainment she saw that only the very top of the river was actually frozen and the water was still flowing beneath it.

“Cool,” she tapped the ice, creating a series of cracks in its thin membrane. It was good that she didn’t try to walk over it without stopping to look first or she would’ve broken right through and gotten soaked.

But if it was only frozen this much in the first place then it was obviously not the coldest it could get here. Maybe this counted as fall or something when it was still only getting kind of cold for the True North. She looked across the river to the other side, a distance of less than twenty feet, and shrugged. Unfurling her wings to take her up and over the partially frozen river, Rainbow Dash decided to keep rising higher and go above the treetops on the other side as well. There could hardly be more to look at in this valley. She had already learned that there was indeed animal and plant life up here so that was one thing off the list that had been bothering her. The only thing left was to find some kind of civilization, which certainly would need her to travel a bit further for. Unless there really was some secret cave city or something in these mountains.

She wouldn’t find that either just by wandering around the valley though. Rainbow Dash continued flying higher and faster, going up towards a glacier that rested between two more peaks north of the valley. The forest of pine trees beneath her was left behind as she grinned, already thinking about her next destination. Whether it was something in these mountains or not she didn’t care so long as it was fun.

“There’s gotta be more stuff coming right up and I’m gonna find it!” She shouted out into the air. “Come on mountains, you’ve got more than some valley and foxes, right? If there were animals in here but nowhere else before it then something has to be up with this place!”

The howling wind around the higher portions of the mountains didn’t see fit to answer her and she kept flying towards the glacier without pause.

On a high mountain peak overlooking the valley from the east, a large outcropping jutted from the summit. The narrow rock ledge hung perilously over the air, piercing the low-flying clouds at the same time, and looked precarious enough that walking on it might crack the entire thing and send it all falling down in a landslide a thousand feet to the valley below. It would have been something experienced mountaineers would’ve avoided with caution when climbing the mountain.

And yet there was something standing on it.

Perched right at the very tip where the ledge tapered off into a point no thicker than an ironing board, a great beast of ice stood and stared down at the valley. It was vaguely avian in appearance, with huge eagle like wings currently folded on its back and talons emerging from the ends of its skeletal limbs with a large and sharp beak of ice for a mouth. But it also had a long spine-like tail reaching behind its body that ended in a sharp spearpoint and a mohawk of ice spikes emerging from its head and cresting all the way to the base of its skull. Far longer but very thin spikes continued to emerge from its spine down its back, almost all the way to the thing’s tail.

To anyone who saw it up close they would’ve assumed it to be an unmoving gargoyle made of ice. Its body no more than a skeleton of carved ice with ribcage exposed and no organs beating underneath.

That would’ve been an incorrect assumption to make, however.

The movement of Rainbow Dash down below was all the trigger the ice gargoyle needed. From its empty eyesockets came a glowing blue light and the monstrous thing awakened.

Like the sound of cracking ice its wings shot open, revealing a wingspan greater than even the largest of griffons and feathers like razor blades of ice. The tail jolted behind it same as a snapping whip and with every other movement of the gargoyle more sounds of breaking and sliding ice screeched out into the sky around the mountain, a horrifying and eerie noise. Each individual talon opened and closed as if the thing was testing whether it could still move right and finally its head swiveled to the speck that was Rainbow Dash flying in the sky, her rainbow mane and tail easy to pick out even at a distance.

Whatever this “creature” was and for whatever reason it was here its glowing eyes were fixated on the flying pony.

It stood up to fully reveal its skeletal frame made entirely of sharp and jagged ice in a facsimile of a living creature’s and then slouched over, putting all four of its talons at the tip of the ledge like a winged cat about to pounce. With another sound of shattering ice the gargoyle leaped from its perch into the sky, the force of its jump sending tremors through the stone and breaking the ledge apart, letting it all uncaringly fall down the mountain.

The wings of the gargoyle stayed spread wide, only fluttering slightly once or twice to keep its high altitude, as it glided over the valley towards Rainbow Dash.

Author's Note

https://youtu.be/iCEDfZgDPS8

True Pegasus VII

“I think it’s absolutely amazing that you’re from Equestria! Wow! And to think you even somehow destroyed Sentinel 13—this is really quite special!”

The toga wearing pegasus eagerly shook Rainbow Dash’s hooves with a wide smile on his face. He was far happier to see her than any other pegasus she had met so far in the Empire. It was honestly a little weird.

“Uhh, thanks?” Rainbow Dash stopped his shaking and pulled her hooves away.

“Oh I’m so sorry! Where are my manners? My name is Gale, and you’re Rainbow Dash,” he pointed at her chest. “East Wind informed me about everything!”

Rainbow Dash glanced to the side, where the captain in question happened to be standing. She had been cornered by him earlier this morning right after breakfast and told that Elder Tornado had wanted to speak with her and show her exactly what her crime was that she had committed against the Empire. So now here she was, with Wild Wind also tagging along, the corporal had said that as her direct superior now it was only natural that he should watch over her as well and East Wind had allowed it. Judging by Tornado’s grumpy face though and the way he stood away from East Wind he probably wasn’t too happy that the military pony had decided to stay after bringing Rainbow Dash to him. He definitely had wanted to talk to Rainbow Dash alone but Blizzard had probably realized that and made sure East Wind would keep an eye on things. With Rainbow Dash officially in the military there would’ve been no way for the Elder to speak or meet with her without him first contacting the Commander about it. And the Commander sniffed out his true intentions.

Although Rainbow Dash could figure that from Tornado’s body language and how they had all acted around each other back when she was first dragged before the council she still didn’t really know just why the Elder would’ve wanted to talk to her.

The five pegasi were all in a large building high up on the southwestern side of the city. It overlooked quite a number of other buildings and the wide window that made up one side of this room made for a good viewing experience. According to what East Wind had told her on the flight over this was the control and monitoring center for the Ice Sentinels.

This yellow, glasses-wearing, pegasus was the one in charge here. He didn’t seem to care in the slightest that she was responsible for destroying one of the Sentinels aside from admitting to being “quite shocked” when he saw it happen. Apparently he was just too interested and intrigued by a pony from the south who had the capability to do such a thing in the first place. To him it was a fair trade off.

“So like, what are those things anyways?” Rainbow Dash asked Gale as she walked past him to the multiple stands and floating crystals that took up most of the room.

“The crystals or the Sentinels themselves?” Gale inquired as he walked up alongside her.

“The thing that tried to kill me,” the blue pegasus shot an unamused glance at Gale.

“Hehe, right...” despite his frivolous attitude he had the sense to look a little bit apologetic as he smiled. “Well the Ice Sentinels have a bit of history to them. At their core they are constructs of ice created by pegasus weather magic based on old records of windigos. That’s where the idea came from.”

“Windigos? That’s not exactly a good thing… and I’ve never seen pegasus magic do something like that,” Rainbow Dash interrupted as she looked at one of the floating crystals. She went to poke it with her hoof but saw East Wind silently shaking his head at her out of the corner of her eye.

“Right? Neither has anyone else here,” Gale shrugged.

Rainbow Dash quickly turned her head to him with a puzzled frown on her face. “Huh?”

“The Ice Sentinels were created seven hundred years ago by the greatest mind to ever come out of the Empire. Weathervane. A pegasus scientist responsible for a good deal of other things we use here. The Ice Sentinels are solely his creation and none have been able to replicate them since,” Gale stepped up beside her and looked at the crystal. “It’s truly a shame, they are amazing things after all as I’m sure you can attest to.”

“In a way...”

Gale continued on. “The thirty Sentinels that were left to us, well, twenty-nine now, are scattered along the southern and western borders of our territory and by all accounts they have done a fantastic job of keeping anything from coming through. In the distant past there were all sorts of creatures and monsters that kept invading us, simply too many enemies to deal with. Weathervane has allowed us to protect half of our borders without having to do pretty much anything. I only wish we could figure out something to deal with the Frost Wolves now, then no one would have to get hurt fighting them anymore.”

East Wind grunted in annoyance but Rainbow Dash paid him no mind, she was more interested in what Gale had been saying.

“Frost Wolves? I think someone’s mentioned them to me before. If you guys are getting attacked by them why not put some of those Sentinels in the direction they’re coming from? Can you not move them?” She asked the crystal monitor.

Gale shook his head. “Oh no, no, it’s nothing like that. The Sentinels could be moved or shuffled about easily. It’s just that there’s no point.” His eyes looked past her at both East Wind and Tornado before flickering back to her. “I suppose no one has told you yet but the reason the Sentinels are only put on the western and southern borders of our Empire is because nothing ever comes down from the north and the only thing to the east is the Frost Wolves. The wolves may look like normal creatures at a glance but they’re actually more like ice and snow given form. In a lot of ways they’re quite similar to the Ice Sentinels, although we believe they’re natural and not artificially created.”

“Like Timberwolves,” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“Pardon?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Nothing, just talking to myself. They just reminded me of something from back home.”

Gale’s eyes lit up and his smile threatened to split his face in two. “Right! Back home in Equestria! Would you be willing to tell me all about it? I would love to know and-”

“Ahem.” A grunt from East Wind interrupted the monitor and the two of them looked back to see the captain slowly shaking his head with his eyes narrowed at the yellow pegasus.

“Er—never mind,” Gale nervously scratched the back of his head. “So anyways, back on topic, the Sentinels simply cant do anything to the wolves. Any other creature… well I’m sure you know what happens. The wolves though are only vulnerable to something warm-blooded.”

“I guess fighting them yourselves can’t really be avoided if they keep invading your territory,” Rainbow Dash said as she walked between the various pedestals.

Elder Tornado snorted, earning himself a glare from East Wind.

Rainbow Dash didn’t know what that was about so she continued her conversation with Gale. “So you can tell the Sentinel things to do whatever from here? That’s your job?”

“No, not at all.” Gale vehemently shook his head. “I only monitor the crystals to make sure the Sentinels are operating as they should. The only one who can control them and give them orders is Commander Blizzard. You see it was something that Weathervane did back when he created them, the crystals are attuned to the magical signature of the current Commander and only he can change that. When he chooses the next Commander he’ll pass on ‘ownership’ of the crystals to him. So at the moment the only one who can actually move and give orders to the Sentinels is Commander Blizzard, just like the Commander before him and the Commander before him.”

“Wow, that Commander of yours sure is something,” Rainbow Dash said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“He is quite amazing,” Gale nodded, not getting it at all.

Rainbow Dash looked back over at Elder Tornado. “You must be super happy to have Commander Blizzard around, right? Bet there aren’t any problems at all.”

The white-maned Elder’s face didn’t change but his emotionless tone suggested he wasn’t entirely serious when he spoke. “Oh yes, we’re all very blessed to have the Commander.” His eyes narrowed slightly at Rainbow Dash, the two of them having a silent agreement with the other. Elder Tornado was quite livid on the inside that he was practically being spied on by East Wind and couldn’t speak to Rainbow Dash like how he wanted to.

As if on cue, Captain East Wind grunted and motioned for the two of them to stow it. So Rainbow Dash continued her “tour” of the Ice Sentinel station with Gale.

Wild Wind meanwhile was thoroughly confused at this point. You could practically see the question mark above his head.

Rainbow Dash and Gale next walked by the now vacant pedestal where the crystals that monitored and controlled Sentinel 13 once stood.

“I’ll say, I was worried I was going to be in trouble when the crystal for Sentinel 13 broke,” Gale joked with her.

“My bad. Nothing I could really do about that though.”

Although that may not have technically been true. She probably could’ve just flown away. But if she admitted that destroying the Sentinel was actually something avoidable it probably wouldn’t end too well for her. And she didn’t know if these things had a set area they couldn’t leave or not without being ordered to. The Sentinel was extremely persistent in chasing her down, she couldn’t imagine it just stopping even if she flew well out of its sight for days.

“How exactly was it that you were able to destroy the Sentinel? As you can see that’s the first one that has failed in all seven hundred years of their service,” Gale inquired.

“Commander Blizzard would like to know that as well,” East Wind interrupted before giving a pointed look to Gale. “However, he would like to learn that in private. For obvious reasons.”

Gale gulped under the stare. “Yes, yes, security reasons and all that. Do forgive my curiosity. It wouldn’t make do to have just anyone knowing such secrets about our valued Sentinels.”

“Certainly not the one in charge of watching over them,” Tornado sniped with a roll of his eyes, earning himself yet another glare from East Wind.

“Yeah...” Rainbow Dash looked at the crystals on one of the pedestals nearest her. She tried to wrap her mind around how this would even work. It looked like something unicorns would do, not pegasi. She was far more used to pegasi magic just being responsible for clearing the skies and managing the weather, nothing like this. That Weathervane guy must’ve had some kind of crazy weather-manipulating powers. Twilight would’ve gone nuts seeing this. A weird and cool new function of pegasus magic that was impossibly rare even up here? She could already picture how disappointed her Alicorn friend would be that she didn’t get to see it herself.

Rainbow Dash looked over at East Wind. “So what then? Am I due for a meeting with the Commander later today now too?”

The Captain shrugged. “Today, tomorrow, sometime soon to be sure.”

“Commander Blizzard is not held to the whims of lesser ponies. He works on his own schedule,” Tornado added.

Rainbow Dash had to bite back a laugh at how this old guy was constantly insulting their Commander right in the face of one of his underlings. Gotta respect a pony like that. He clearly wasn’t taking any of the nonsense he disagreed with the Commander over. She hoped they could talk one day too, it would probably be a pretty interesting conversation when they both had a lot of grievances they could share about Commander Blizzard.

Before the Captain could get angry again, Rainbow Dash began to talk some more with Gale.

“So what kinds of stuff came in from the west and south that you guys had to deal with? Did Weathervane make these things just to guard your borders?”

“Actually I’m not sure. His original intentions for the Sentinels could’ve been different but we just find this use for them to be the most practical and necessary. From the west there came giant birds back in the past that preyed on our patrols, and the south according to records used to be full of all kinds of creatures. But in the immediate years after creating and positioning the Sentinels there was a sharp decline in anything but Frost Wolves coming past our borders. Whether it be a band of traveling marauders or just some simple dangerous animal, the Sentinels dealt with every little problem.”

“Well from what I saw I don’t think you guys have to worry about anything coming up south from the hole I left. There was nothing there anymore and I seriously mean nothing,” Rainbow Dash told him.

East Wind cleared his throat. “The details of your adventure are also something that the Commander would like to first hear personally himself.”

“Yeah whatever...” Rainbow Dash waved her hoof dismissively. She looked back to Gale. “Thanks for showing me all this stuff though, my friend Twilight would be way more interested in it and all that history stuff but I think it’s kind of cool too. Maybe just cause of how dangerous it was.”

Before Gale could accept her thanks, Elder Tornado stepped up to them. What was with everyone interrupting everyone else in this room?

“Perhaps now you understand the importance of what you’ve done? Whether defending yourself or not the fact of the matter is you’ve destroyed something that can not be replaced. Something very important to us that has helped guard our borders for seven hundred years. I feel you should know that there were more than one ponies on the council who wished you to be punished quite a bit more harshly and imprisoned,” he told her. “I was not one of them but the point still stands. You didn’t exactly start your time here in the Empire in the best way. The Elder Council will definitely call you in for our own inquiry at a later date. I think it may also be good for you to officially meet the Elders and other councilors.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I don’t have a problem with that. Right now I’m just doing whatever these military guys want me to, I’m already missing one day of training doing this so I doubt they’d care if I missed another sometime.”

“You could always just start doing official work,” Gale piped in. “In fact I think it would be a great way for you to learn more about and get a greater appreciation for the Sentinels! You should go on border patrol for a day! Since you’ve already been south why not fly out to the western border? You’ll probably get to see some different things and look at a couple of the Sentinels as they watch over things.”

“Why do you have border patrol if you have the Sentinels?” She asked him with a puzzled expression.

“It’s not like that,” East Wind said. “The border patrol is only an occasional few groups of soldiers sent to fly up and down the western and southern borders of our territory right by the Sentinels. It’s done to make sure they’re still there and nothing has happened, since we don’t want to entirely rely on the crystals that we don’t even know how to recreate. It is still a legitimate job though so I would possibly be alright with you taking part in it.”

The Captain looked over at Wild Wind, who had been smartly standing by quietly this whole time.

“How has Rainbow Dash integrated into your squad so far?” The purple pegasus asked him.

Wild Wind glanced between him and Rainbow Dash for a second, nervous at all eyes now being placed on him. “I believe things are going well, sir. We’ve had no problems with Rainbow Dash and she’s been giving the training and drills her all.”

“I see...” the Captain’s eyes flickered to Rainbow Dash. “It sounds like you certainly wouldn’t abandon them if given the chance, would you?”

“Them”, not “Us”. Rainbow Dash heard that well and what he meant by it.

Her eyes narrowed at the Captain. “No, I wouldn’t. I don’t quit and I’m not just going to fly away from here. I’ve already made up my mind on that.”

“Well Commander Blizzard will be happy to hear that,” East Wind said in a tone that said he clearly didn’t believe her or suspected there was something more to it. And he would’ve been right about that. Still, he didn’t press things and returned his gaze to Wild Wind. “Can I trust you to get Rainbow Dash signed up for the next patrol?”

Wild Wind nodded and saluted. “Yes sir. I’ll talk to Lieutenant Moon about it as soon as we get back.”

“Good. I suppose that’s all we have to talk about here. It would be best for you to get back to base and make up for the training exercises you missed,” East Wind went to walk out the door of the monitoring station before pausing and looking over his shoulder at Elder Tornado. “And I trust everyone else will get back to their own assuredly busy schedule as well.”

Tornado clenched his hooves, anger clearly bristling right under the surface. “Of course. I wouldn’t want the Commander to think of me as lazy.”

Wild Wind walked up to Rainbow Dash to lead her away as well. She’d have to say goodbye to the floating ice crystals and Gale for now.

“See ya dude,” she said as she waved goodbye to Gale.

“Goodbye for now! It was a pleasure speaking with you,” he gave a friendly wave after her.

Rainbow Dash knew how badly he wanted to talk to her too and maybe some day she’d be able to indulge him. Hay, she’d love to indulge all of the pegasi up here, they’d probably be super amazed by her stories. She could totally brag to them about all the adventures she’d been on. If she wasn’t flying or sleeping bragging was maybe the first or second thing she’d rather be doing. These guys who have been secluded up here for at least a thousand years would be the best kind of audience. Not to mention whatever stuff Tornado wanted to talk about. Rainbow Dash was looking forward to the opportunities, hoping Blizzard wouldn’t quash them.

True Pegasus VIII

The following day saw Rainbow Dash flying through the clouds to the western border of the so called Eternal Pegasus Empire. Joined by the cousins Skychaser and Flashbolt, they made up a patrol of three ponies that officially were out here to check up on Sentinels numbered 23-25. Unofficially it was really just an excuse for Rainbow Dash to get out here and see the western border as well as where the Sentinels were perched. She couldn’t care less though, anything that allowed her to fly free through the skies like this was good in her view. She didn’t even mind having the other two tagging along. Even though she was forced to go slower because of them this still beat running around on top of clouds a whole bunch. When she was woken up this morning it was by Wild Wind who told her what would be happening and she couldn’t stop herself from literally jumping out of her bed and screaming “Yes!”.

It was cool that this was her first real duty as a soldier of the Empire. What else was she gonna get to do? She remembered that when she was first being brought to the huge administration building to go on trial she saw a bunch of soldiers flying around the city like they were watching over and policing it. She expected to be doing something like that in the future. Commander Blizzard wanted her to totally embrace their society and culture so it was likely she’d be made to see all aspects of it at some point or another.

For now she floated lazily through the clouds, drifting back and forth, up and down, dragging a hoof through the soft pillows around her while Skychaser and Flashbolt followed.

“Do you guys do this a lot?” She asked them without turning around.

Flashbolt’s mouth opened up but Skychaser was far quicker. “Every now and then, although normally we’re just called upon to patrol the city or the eastern border. There are a lot of scouts sent over Frost Wolves territory to spy on them too.”

“That’s just what I was about to say,” Flashbolt mumbled under his breath.

“Well then speak up faster next time,” his cousin huffed.

Rainbow Dash chuckled a little at the two of them. Despite the cousins usually being forced to work together and sharing the same bunk-bed they probably got along the worst of any of the ponies in her squad. Part of that was due to Skychaser thinking that because he had the slightly faster tongue he could speak for his cousin at the same time. And Rainbow Dash thought the other part was Flashbolt actually being slightly faster at sprints, something she had noticed after watching them more closely during the drills.

Either way the two bickered like brothers more than cousins.

Rainbow Dash flipped upside down and started flying along her back with her hooves folded behind her head for support. She stared up at the sky while her two comrades watched her, unable to fly like that themselves. She was probably one of the only pegasi up here that could fly in her elaborate ways and make the kind of aerial maneuvers she loved. Things she had either come up with on her own or learned as a Wonderbolt.

And she knew there was no one here who had seen a Sonic Rainboom. Maybe she’d show them one someday.

“Are we flying too slow for you? Do you want us to try and speed things up?” Flashbolt asked her.

Rainbow Dash turned back over and shook her head. “Naw, it’s no big deal. Even if you guys did go faster it would still be too slow for me. Just fly however you want.”

“I can believe that,” Skychaser said. “The two of us watched your fight with Commander Blizzard. Until then neither of us thought there was another pony who could fly that fast. No one at the base could come close to doing what you do.”

“Thanks.” Rainbow Dash grinned, always happy to receive praise.

Although at the same time she had to try and ignore how that fight went.

Flashbolt kneaded his two creamy front hooves together, a somewhat nervous look on his face as his eyes looked back and forth between the clouds around them. “Sooo… since there’s plenty of time until we reach the western border… can I ask you what Equestria is like?”

Skychaser halted in midair and grasped his cousin by the shoulder. “We’re not supposed to-”

“I know what we’re not supposed to do!” Flashbolt angrily smacked his hoof away. “But aren’t you curious at all?”

“Of course I am! Everyone is! But that doesn’t change things, we have our orders.” Skychaser frowned and looked away, defiantly folding his hooves over his chest.

“You are such a stooge, if Crescent Moon told you to jump off a cloud with your wings tied behind your back you would!” The walnut-maned pegasus jabbed his cousin in the side.

“Well you’re such a troublemaker! And that’s Lieutenant Crescent Moon,” Skychaser pushed his cousin right back.

“He’s a moron!”

“He’s our superior officer!”

The two of them kept shoving each other and it looked like it was about to get worse. Rainbow Dash grimaced and flew back to them, squeezing herself between the two cousins and pushing them away from each other.

“Guys, cut it out!” She glared at the both of them. “Geez, can’t you two get along at all? I just got here and I can already tell how much you two probably fight. I’ve been on one mission with you guys and you start fighting on it.”

Both of the cousins had the decency to look ashamed, with Skychaser naturally being the first to speak up.

“I’m sorry that we couldn’t be more… professional for you,” his blue mane fluttered in the breeze.

“Yes, and I’m sorry for starting this. I know we’re not supposed to ask and it probably puts you in a bad spot-” Flashbolt started saying before Rainbow Dash cut him off.

“Hey, believe me, I get it. Seeing someone as totally awesome as me and learning I’m from Equestria? Can’t exactly blame you for getting curious.” She looked both him and Skychaser over, thinking about some things in her head and how she’d really like to indulge Flashbolt, but surprisingly common sense won out in Rainbow Dash in the end. The blue pegasus sighed and looked at Flashbolt. “Sorry dude, as much as I want to tell you everything you want to know I don’t want to get you in trouble. Maybe some other day when I don’t have ponies breathing down my neck.”

Flashbolt nodded sadly. “I understand.”

“If the Lieutenant says it’s okay I wouldn’t mind hearing what you have to say about Equestria either,” Skychaser admitted with a slight blush tinging his cheeks.

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash smiled and gave them both hoofbumps. “You guys’ll love hearing about it. Come on, let’s get back to flying.”

Rainbow Dash really did want to share as much as she could, not just for her own sake but theirs as well. They deserved to know about Equestria and it was something that could change them. Something that could lead them to a better life and world than what they had now. If she was going to help the pegasi up here and subvert Blizzard it was something she’d have to do at some point. They needed the truth about Equestria and why Commander Hurricane and all the others had willingly chosen to go along with it. The friendship, the happiness, the harmony. Some day she’d tell them.

For now though they had work today and the three pegasi resumed their flight through the clouds. It was a long flight, one that was supposed to take the better part of a day just to make it to the border, not even counting the return trip. For that, Flashbolt had a bag of food and other supplies he was carrying with him. At Rainbow Dash’s full speed it would’ve been different but there was nothing she could do about that. Hopefully by some point there would be more to see than just the clouds drifting by, it was still pretty early in the day and the three hadn’t even broken for lunch.

Wanting to break her boredom, Rainbow Dash tentatively started up conversation with the cousins again.

“So like, how long have you guys been in the military?” She asked the two of them as she flew slightly ahead of and above the two.

“We entered at the same time,” Skychaser said. “Or to be more accurate we were entered at the same time by our families. Essentially all able-bodied stallions are supposed to go through at least one year in the military, after that you can either continue on or do something else.”

“Naturally Commander Blizzard insists that you stay in the military but even he knows that there are other things that need to be done. Especially since mares aren’t exactly allowed to do most work either,” Flashbolt added.

“Cousin...” Skychaser warned.

Rainbow Dash frowned at that. Had she even seen another mare in the city yet? She had seen some fillies playing around she was pretty sure. But she definitely hadn’t spoken to any mares of the Empire yet, she knew that. Were they really so disconnected from the military and other important jobs? Did they just stay at home entirely?

“Hey… sorry if this is kind of putting you guys in a tough spot, but what do mares do in the Empire? I’ve heard from enough ponies up here that what I’m doing is totally unusual. So what kind of work do the mares besides me do?” She asked.

“It’s okay, I don’t think there’s a problem with it. After all you’re supposed to learn about the Empire so I really don’t see why there would be.” Flashbolt started. “Anyways traditionally mares aren’t supposed to work at all. Mares are homemakers. They cook, they clean, they raise the kids.” He shrugged. “That’s how it’s been since the beginning. Sometimes a headstrong mare will get assertive and force her way into work somewhere, or we’ll have a shortage and need the extra help, but for the most part it’s frowned upon for a mare to do anything like that.”

“Bleh,” Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue. “I’d get so bored! I mean, yeah I’m sure there are tons of mares happy living like that but I’d go totally crazy! Even Rarity would lose it if she couldn’t run her business!”

It was strange to think about what she might’ve become if she didn’t even have a choice. If as a mare she wasn’t allowed to become a Wonderbolt and was just expected to marry some stallion and spend all day cooking and cleaning up the house. The thought made her shudder personally. Rainbow Dash felt bad for the mares here, maybe they didn’t know what they were missing but she couldn’t imagine living without the freedom she had had in her life.

“I assume it’s different in Equestria?” Skychaser asked before his eyes went wide as he caught himself. “Er, not that I’m asking or anything!”

Flashbolt and Rainbow Dash both took the opportunity to snicker at the embarrassed pegasus.

“Oh—let’s just move on!” The hazel pony said as he flew past Dash and his cousin, trying to hide his even redder than before face. “You don’t need to feel bad for the mares here, they’re well taken care of!”

Rainbow Dash didn’t voice it but she still had a few thoughts on that. Being comfortable isn’t the only thing that matters…

“Ahem,” Flashbolt cleared his throat to get both of their attentions again. “We kind of went off on a tangent there. To answer your original question, my cousin and I are in our second year of actual military service. Before this we had gone through school but now that we’ve chosen to continue being in the military you could say it’s our actual job and path in life now. We’ve made a commitment and must follow the orders of Commander Blizzard.”

“What a joy that must be,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

Skychaser frowned. “You may not like the Commander but he works to protect and better the Empire. He’s wholeheartedly invested in the true pegasus way.”

“I more or less agree with my cousin. There are just a couple of things I don’t like,” Flashbolt said.

“I get it,” Rainbow Dash allowed. “So you guys can’t just leave the military then?”

“Not anymore,” Flashbolt shook his head. “It is our way that the Commander has total control over all military forces. Now that we’ve chosen to be a part of this we must serve and do as he commands until we’re older... or something less fortunate happens to us. As I’m sure you’ve heard it’s “rule by the strong” up here. Commander Blizzard has the authority to do whatever he wishes with his forces.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s the pegasus way and we’ve all accepted it. It’s the right way of life for us,” Skychaser added with a slightly harsh tone. He could tell his cousin was practically complaining.

Rainbow Dash flew back past him. “You don’t need to justify it to me or anything. I get where you’re coming from, like I said.” She added under her breath, too quiet for him to hear. “I just don’t agree with it.”

Celestia, Luna, Twilight, they were all followed and listened to because the ponies trusted them and knew they had their best interests at heart. They didn’t denigrate or look down on anyone and they didn’t force ponies to follow them. They were loved because of that. That’s how a leader should be. Rainbow Dash didn’t pretend to fully know Commander Blizzard or what went on in his head, but the discord he had with the Elders, the fact his soldiers didn’t even cheer for him that hard at their fight, it told her a lot.

The conversation between the three died out after that and they flew on and on for the rest of the day. A short stop was had so they could eat and then they resumed their flight, it got colder and colder the further they went west, the further they got from the city specifically. Rainbow Dash knew weather magic was being used to make their domain in the clouds warmer than it should’ve been up here. Wearing metal armor in freezing temperatures also didn’t sound so good but thankfully it hadn’t gotten quite that cold yet.

The three of them came out of the clouds when it was far later in the afternoon and just a few hours before it would be dark. Judging by the time they’d either be sleeping out in the clouds or doing some night flying to get back to the city. But that came second to their actual “task” out here of checking up on the Ice Sentinels.

Rainbow Dash didn’t see the Ice Sentinels just yet, however. No, her eyes were taken in by the wild landscape that stood far to the west. Dark clouds that rained downed dozens, perhaps hundreds, of lightning bolts onto the ground a hundred miles from where she and the others flew. A constant storm of destruction from north to south. The ground was cracked and cratered and devoid of any greenery or water. If there were rivers at one point they had dried up, leaving nothing but an ashen gray field of dead earth. Slightly further from there she could see jagged and angular mountains shooting up like sharkskin everywhere. It looked like a nightmare land of horrible weather and deadly terrain.

“So there was actually stuff living over there that came to attack you guys?” Rainbow Dash asked as she pointed a blue hoof to the storm clouds.

“Hundreds of years ago at least,” Skychaser shrugged. “Who knows what it’s like over there now. The Ice Sentinels have kept everything boxed in.”

Rainbow Dash looked down towards the ground, directly below them it was still relatively green but it slowly got worse and worse before finally fading out into those wastes. She looked to see if one of the Ice Sentinels was down there somewhere but she couldn’t see it. If it was on the ground it would’ve been nothing more than a spot with how high up they were.

“So where are they? We’re supposed to check out three of them, right?” She asked them.

“Hold on one second,” Flashbolt said as he reached into his bag and pulled out a small telescope. The soldier used it to search all over a certain part of the ground below. After a minute or two of carefully checking over each spot to make sure he didn’t miss anything, Flashbolt paused and held the scope steady. “There it is. Look here-” he passed the telescope to Rainbow Dash for her to hold and directed it right where he had been looking.

Rainbow Dash squinted one eye closed and looked through. When everything came into focus she saw it.

It looked exactly like what had attacked her. Only this one was sitting so still you could confuse it for an ice sculpture. Just sitting and peering out into the west. Rainbow Dash noted that because of where they were this one wasn’t perched on or in the valleys of a mountain, it had to just stay on the ground. She took her eye off the telescope and looked to the north and south right on a line of where the Ice Sentinel was. It was fairly flat for a good portion of the land out here with her only barely being able to make out some mountains to the north.

“So it just sits there and does nothing? I was kind of expecting there to be like a mountain range or at least a big river or something right on the border line but there’s nothing like that,” Dash said.

“Essentially the Sentinels are the border now. Some of them sit up on mountains, others like this one sit in wide open areas. It doesn’t really matter, they attack anything that crosses from west to east,” Flashbolt told her.

“Would they even attack us if we flew in front of them and tried coming back?” Rainbow asked, a frown on her face.

“Maybe. I really wouldn’t want to find out,” Skychaser said. “Hopefully whatever’s done to control them gives them enough sense to know we’re what they’re supposed to be protecting.”

Something in Rainbow Dash’s head that had been festering in the back of her mind suddenly broke out. Her eyes narrowed and she turned to the two cousins. “Do… do you think maybe they’ve intentionally been told to attack things coming from the inside too?”

Flashbolt’s face was a mask but Skychaser raised a confused eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

Rainbow Dash bit her lip, remembering something she had heard a few times now. “I’ve heard a few ponies here mention runaways. They thought I might’ve been one.”

For once it was Flashbolt who was quicker to respond. “Runaways, as the name implies, are pegasi who have abandoned the Empire and fled. Stallion, mare, military or not, anyone who turns their back on the Empire are labeled a runaway and a fugitive.” He glanced to the ground below where the Ice Sentinel sat. “You’re suggesting that if they indeed did attack things coming from the east… the reason for that is to make sure no one leaves the Empire alive.”

“O-Official military policy for runaways is that they are to be captured and returned to the city,” Skychaser interjected, but his wavering voice told a lack of confidence in his words.

Rainbow Dash and Flashbolt shot each other a couple of frowns before looking back at the hazel pegasus with a pitying gaze.

“Does Blizzard really seem like the type who would take the chance of anyone getting away from the Empire?” Dash asked him.

There was clear distress building up on Skychaser’s face, his mouth opened and closed a few times and he gulped, a cold sweat starting to form on his brow. It was clear he was conflicted. And clear he didn’t want to think that Rainbow Dash might’ve been right. “F-Forget about all that! We have a job to do and there are still two more Sentinels we need to check up on before it gets dark. Let’s just go already!” He stammered out and flew north towards the spot of the next Sentinel.

The two ponies left behind followed after him shortly, the unpleasant revelation weighing heavily on the both of them. Any unfortunate runaway in the past who had traveled south or west likely met with an ill fate, and because of the Sentinels existence in the first place those pegasi would’ve likely thought them to be the safest directions to travel in when fleeing. Was that all intentional? Rainbow Dash hoped not, she hoped Blizzard wasn’t that evil. A difference in opinion could be talked over, Starlight was one of her closest friends now after all and she knew how happy Twilight would be if she could just talk things over up here and make everyone friends. But something like this? It would be difficult for Rainbow Dash to forgive.

True Pegasus X

The last time Rainbow Dash was inside the coliseum it had been packed full of soldiers with nary an empty space to be found. And she was one of the ponies fighting. This time was a bit different as she sat side by side with Clear Skies on the closest row of stands to the wall of the arena, with not even half of the stands behind her full. Obviously the fight that was about to commence did not even have close the drawing power that her bout with Blizzard did. Not that she was complaining. She liked being a special event. Or would have at least if she had won.

The reason she was here now though was because Clear Skies had invited her, knowing she had never seen a fight in the coliseum as a spectator. Apparently he had some kind of personal investment in the fight that was happening today and Crescent Moon had given him leave to watch it. When Wild Wind had suggested that it might be a good idea for Rainbow Dash to see a normal fight, Clear Skies was more than happy to invite her and Moon gave the okay. She continued to get a lot of looks (same as always) when she went flying out through the city with Clear Skies and touched down outside the coliseum but she was used to that by now. Although it was kind of grating since she could feel multiple pairs of eyes boring into the back of her head from pegasi sitting behind her.

Inside the coliseum was different if you came here to watch instead of fight, she wasn’t stuck down in the bowels of the building but got to walk through several open halls and concourses that ringed the building on the way to her seat. Would’ve been simpler if they could’ve just flown in from the top and sat down but that dome blocked off anything like that.

“So there isn’t actually any popcorn or something in here to eat?” Rainbow Dash asked Clear Skies.

“No, it’s considered rude to eat during a fight,” Clear Skies responded in his deep and mellow voice. It was like listening to a smoother Big Mac.

Dash shrugged. “Fair enough.” She looked down at the still empty arena with the clouds making up the floor waiting for the two ponies to come out and fight on them. “So what’s the personal investment you have in this fight? Why’d Moon let you skip out on a day of training just to watch a fight?”

He looked past the bangs of his violet mane at her. “My little brother is fighting.”

“You have a little brother?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yes,” Clear nodded. “Do you have any siblings back home?”

She shook her head. “Nah, only child. Although I’ve got someone who’s basically a little sister to me.” Rainbow Dash smiled at the thought of Scoots, she’d have a lot to share with her once she got back to Ponyville.

Clear Skies smiled too. “That’s good at least. I have a few little sisters and a couple more brothers as well, I come from a large family. The house was never quiet back when I was just a colt.”

“Sounds fun,” she said honestly. “But so what’s up with your little brother that he’s fighting now?”

The soldier sighed and leaned back on the stands as he folded his arms over his chest and stared out at the arena. A frown grew on his face until his jaw settled into a hard line and his nose twitched as he sucked in a deep breath through it. “A mare.”

“A mare?” Rainbow raised another eyebrow at him.

“He’s fallen in love with a young mare he’s known for many years, she’s a friend of the family, and he wants her hoof in marriage,” Clear Skies explained.

“Uhh… okay, I got that. But what does that have to do with fighting in here?”

“She has another suitor. So the two of them are fighting with her hoof as the prize,” Clear grunted in annoyance.

“Oh. Do you think your brother is going to win?”

He looked over at her and ran a hoof back through his colorful mane. “Do I think he’s going to win? Well I certainly want him to win. But I think he’s going to get his butt kicked. It’s a shame, I don’t want him to get his heart broken but on the other hoof I think this will be a good lesson for him on not being an idiot.”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “I take it the other guy was dating the mare he liked first?”

“Yep,” Clear nodded. “And my brother butted in like a moron and now… this has happened.”

“Good luck to him I guess...” Rainbow Dash said with wry amusement.

It didn’t take much longer for the gates down below to open up and the two competitors to walk on out onto the clouds. Cheers from the audience began to rain down on them but it wasn’t the ecstatic and loving kinds of cheers Rainbow Dash would hear if this was a Buckball game, it was more the ‘We finally get to see some skulls cracking’ sort of cheers from bored ponies that wanted entertainment. From the gate to their right an angry looking pegasus with a dark complexion and lightning blue mane and tail stepped out, staring down his opponent across from him. The one who emerged from the left gate was an orange pegasus doing his best to appear strong and confident, although Rainbow Dash could easily tell he was struggling not to shake and show fear. Somewhat curiously to her was that they were both clad in armor as well.

“Hey? Do you guys normally wear armor in these fights?” She asked Clear Skies.

“Yes. The only reason Commander Blizzard didn’t wear any was because you didn’t have any either,” he told her. “That was actually quite fun to see by the way. The Commander had a number of fights postponed so he could duel you, I’m glad it was worth it.”

“Glad you liked it,” she rolled her eyes. “How many fights are there normally?”

“A day? Two or three at least. More depending on how many pegasi wake up in a bad mood on any given day,” Clear shrugged.

“You sound like someone who hopes there are as many fights as possible.”

He glanced at her with a grin. “With always being busy with training or patrolling I can’t see near as many fights as I want to so I have to hope that there’s always at least some going on that I can see when I’m off. What do you do for entertainment back home?”

Rainbow Dash gave him the smuggest smirk possible as she put her hooves behind her head. “Buddy, I am the entertainment.”

His grin widened but his eyes shifted back to the arena. “Watch, it’s starting.”

She looked back to the arena and saw the two pegasi circling one another. They were sizing the other up, deciding how and where to strike best. She knew in her case that any fight was gonna be won by her superior speed but for these pegasi that couldn’t dream of being as fast as her they were probably going to fight much more directly and trade blows with each other. It wasn’t just going to be one pony zipping around the other. Rainbow Dash watched as the dark pegasus feinted forward and Clear’s brother jolted backwards, she winced in sympathy at how clearly scared he was.

“Err… is your brother not a soldier?” She asked Clear Skies.

“He is but the pony he’s decided to pick a fight with has a certain foul reputation and is a veteran of numerous fights in this coliseum. My poor brother has unfortunately bitten off more than he can chew,” Clear said through narrowed eyes that didn’t move from the arena. “As can be obvious from the way he’s acting, just because you’re a soldier in our army doesn’t mean you’re a good fighter.”

“Yeah I know that pretty well from when I first met Crescent Moon...” Rainbow Dash frowned as she watched the mismatched opponents.

This next time the dark pony didn’t feint, he lunged forward with decent speed and punched Clear’s brother across the jaw. The orange pony had attempted to dodge the strike but was a fraction of a second to slow and he ended up knocked to ground and skittering across the clouds. His opponent gave him no time to recuperate though as he ran after him, intending to finish this quickly before Clear’s brother could even stand back up.

Fortunately the orange pegasus was able to kick himself up off the ground and took to the air, with his opponent angrily clicking his teeth in response and flapping his own wings to follow him. The fight now turned into a slow chase momentarily as Clear’s brother tried to regain his bearings before attempting to fight more.

“You should’ve just stayed down,” Clear mumbled to himself.

“No way, dude!” Dash frowned at him. “He’s gotta at least try his hardest even if he does get his butt kicked.”

“I enjoy watching fights, not seeing my little brother get humiliated and beaten to an inch of his life,” Clear responded, still not tearing his eyes away from the two flying ponies.

“Well… guess that’s pretty fair. Yeesh, I’d hate to watch Scoots go through something like this,” Rainbow Dash gulped.

Clear Skies didn’t respond any further or ask if “Scoots” was the pony Rainbow Dash saw as a little sister, he was far too preoccupied with watching the fight. The dark pony proved to have quicker wings and superior flying ability as he caught up with his prey and flew around to kick him in the side. It wouldn’t have hurt much thanks to the armor but it would’ve thrown a pony off-balance easily with how much force was put into the kick. Thankfully this time the orange soldier was able to react quickly enough and beat his wings hard to avoid the kick. Still, he was on the back hoof as the dark solider kept up a relentless pace of attacks. Kicks, punches, wing jabs, the only good news was that Clear’s brother had enough focus now to avoid them. But he likely couldn’t keep that up for long.

The dark pony wasn’t just faster or a better fighter either; he was smarter. Now that he had closed the gap he kept his movements small and efficient and wasn’t flying around like a showboat in the way Rainbow Dash would’ve done things. He was making Clear’s brother use far more energy to dodge his attacks. The orange pony flying up there would tire far quicker. Every now and then he tried to throw out a punch of his own but his were clumsy and sweeping. Far too slow and wide to hit someone with the reflexes and clear fighting speed as his opponent.

Rainbow Dash felt that he needed some encouragement. She cupped her hooves around her mouth and went to cheer for him. “Come on—uh… what’s your brother’s name?” She asked Clear Skies.

“Mellow Skies,” he grinned slightly.

“Come on, Mellow Skies! You can beat that guy! Just fight harder!” She yelled up at him.

He may not have even heard her with all the adrenaline running through his veins as he tried to win over the mare he loved. Sweat was dripping from Mellow’s brow thanks to the exertion and the stress weighing on him, it threatened to fall into his eyes and make a bad situation even worse. Unconsciously, he brought a hoof up to wipe it away and gave his opponent the opportunity to kick him in the stomach.

Mellow wheezed in pain as the wind was knocked out of him and he slowly floated to the cloudy ground of the arena.

His opponent looked to come down right on top of him and force Mellow into submission but Mellow looked up with enough time to see the threat and roll out of the way. Rainbow Dash grimaced as she watched, there didn’t seem to be any way for Mellow to win this fight with how his opponent was a clearly superior fighter and faster flier.

“What do you think he should do?” She asked Clear Skies.

“Forfeit.”

“Besides that.”

“Go back in time?”

“You’re very confident in your brother,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and watched how the rest of the fight would play out.

Mellow tried going on the offensive and lunged at his opponent, by the looks of things he was trying to tackle and grapple with the dark pegasus. It wasn’t a bad idea since his opponent was so much more skilled than he was. Turning things into a simple brawl could’ve easily gone in Mellow Skies favor if he got a couple of lucky hits in or managed to get his opponent beneath him and just hold him down until he gave up.

But the dark pony backpedaled and Mellow stumbled down in front of him. The dark pony grinned and harshly kicked Mellow in the face, making Rainbow Dash and Clear Skies wince at the pain of the hit. Mellow didn’t take it too well either; clutching at his face as he groaned on the arena floor and rolled around in agony. That was hardly the end of it too—the pegasus stepped forward and repeatedly stomped on and knocked Mellow around. Clear’s brother had no chance to retaliate, the best he could do was meekly hold his hooves and wings up in a haphazard defense as he was badly beaten.

“Looks like the fight’s over,” Rainbow Dash glumly said as she watched with an uncomfortable look on her face as Mellow Skies continued to get beaten more and more until he couldn’t even manage to defend himself. “Shouldn’t someone stop this?”

“It’ll be done soon, even the most vicious fighters make sure to not do anything permanent in the coliseum. And to be fair Mellow should’ve conceded the fight by now, he’s just being stubborn,” Clear said, chewing on his tongue as he watched his brother get kicked around some more.

One final hard kick to Mellow’s chin and the orange pegasus was laid out on the ground. That was it.

A chorus of cheers rang up from a number of soldiers in attendance and the dark pegasus held up his chin in victory. Mellow had never even managed to land a real hit on him. The gates were opened back up and the victor sauntered his way back to where he had come from while two toga wearing pegasi came out of the other to gather up Mellow Skies.

“He’s gonna be feeling that for a while...” Rainbow Dash said.

“In more ways than one,” Clear nodded.

“Think he’ll be even more upset about losing the girl?”

“Oh yeah. I’m gonna have to do something to try and cheer him up next time I’ve got leave.”

The two of them got up from their seats and made to leave the coliseum. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure how she felt about her first fight that she wasn’t part of. It was so one-sided, and there should’ve been like a ref or something to call when it was clearly over, did they not have a referee for anything here? She knew it could’ve been a lot more brutal too and she was thankful that it wasn’t but it still didn’t exactly make her feel good. Rainbow Dash loved competition, and she loved winning, but didn’t they have any normal sports here or maybe just competitions of strength and athleticism that didn’t involve one pony being possibly hospitalized? That was more her kind of thing.

If probably had to do with this being used to settle grievances and disputes instead of just something done for sport. Friendly bouts or a tournament with some real rules would probably make things more civil and more the kinds of fights she would like to have with normal ponies. Where she could just prove how much better she was without really hurting anybody.

Unless their pride counted.

Halfway through the arch that would take her and Clear Skies back onto the concourse the orange pegasus threw a hoof across her chest, stopping her.

Rainbow Dash looked up at him. “What gives?”

“Well I was just thinking...” Clear Skies grinned at her. “If we leave now we’ll just have to go back and do our training like normal for the rest of the day. But why not stay for the rest of the fights? Crescent Moon won’t know how long my brother’s fight went.”

The blue pegasus returned his grin. “Hey, sounds like a plan to me.”

True Pegasus XX

Rainbow Dash and her squad sat at their usual table in the mess hall. This morning they were the recipients of quite a few looks and the topic of numerous whispered conversations for more than just one reason.

It was bad enough that Rainbow Dash was the new hero in town after being “responsible” for taking out a major enemy Frost Wolf but the sight of a lieutenant eating with the normal troops was quite unusual too. Actually it wasn’t just unusual—it was unheard of. You weren’t supposed to do that. The officers had their own sleeping quarters and their own offices and everything. And yet Crescent Moon was eating oats with his squad while one of his squad also happened to be the mare from Equestria.

It was a special table in the mess hall.

They had had to requisition yet another chair for elsewhere so Crescent Moon could sit with them but after that the eight had gone about their business as if nothing was different.

“So is this the same kind of food they feed you officers or do you get some deluxe meal or something?” Rainbow Dash asked the Lieutenant.

“No, we all eat the same food as you. It all comes from the same farm and the Commander isn’t a fan of anything “fancy”. He wants pegasi to eat simple foods that are as nutritious and plain as possible,” Crescent replied.

“That guy gets more boring with every new thing I learn about him,” Dash frowned as she took a bite out of a potato.

“Could you not say such bad things about him all the time?” Skychaser asked in a hushed whisper as he looked around in worry that the other tables might have heard.

Flashbolt rolled his eyes at his cousin. “I say stuff like that all the time.”

“But not normally around so many other ponies!” His cousin put his head down and covered it with his hooves.

“I’ll admit it makes me a little uncomfortable too but I don’t really know what to think lately,” Crescent Moon said as he stared down at his oats. “Well, I’m not afraid of anyone here doing anything at least. Complain away, Rainbow Dash.” He lifted up his bowl of oats and started directly scarfing them down from it.

“Gladly,” Dash grinned.

“I’m happy that we’ve at least decided to eat and everything this morning, and having the Lieutenant around should protect us from any immediate punishment, but what else are we going to do now? I can’t imagine we’re sitting in the mess hall all day doing nothing?” Wild Wind asked.

Summer Rains nodded. “Yeah, I suppose this is the best time to talk about that. I wouldn’t even mind getting some kind of exercise or something in for today before lunch. Right now it’s not like we have anything planned or something else to do.” His eyes drifted over to Rainbow Dash. “Although there was something formerly forbidden to us that I don’t think is anymore that I’m certain we’re all curious about.”

Rainbow Dash saw his look and quirked an eyebrow at him. “What?”

“Equestria,” he elaborated. “You can tell us all about Equestria now. No one here is afraid or cares that we weren’t supposed to learn anything about it anymore, right?” He asked, looking around the table.

Only Skychaser and Crescent Moon were a bit hesitant. Wild Wind, Clear Skies, and especially Fierce Current eagerly nodded. Rainbow Dash’s very existence and how abnormal she was always made Equestria something interesting to them even if they were formerly too loyal and too worried to ask about it. But the history it shared with the Empire, how different it was, just what was it like in general, all of it was far too enticing now. Rainbow Dash could teach them everything. More than that they wanted to learn, wanted to hear about how pegasi lived down there and how great it was. Equestria was a taboo world of mystery that any pegasus would be curious about and here they were with the perfect pony to tell them all about it. And the possible consequences no longer held them back.

Even the two who were more worried couldn’t deny how much they wanted to hear about it. Which came as a shock to Crescent Moon, he thought he had made himself not even want to know anything about Equestria. He had considered himself a firm believer in the Empire and its ways, so much that even a word about Equestria would be treated as dissent to his ears and there was no point to learning about their wrong ways. But now with the way things had gone recently it held a grasp over him too.

Rainbow Dash looked to the seven others. Fierce Current’s wide smile, the small grins on the faces of Summer Rains and Clear Skies, Wild Wind’s expression was more neutral but the way he leaned forward betrayed his curiosity, finally Skychaser and Crescent Moon despite their more apprehensive looks were still clearly intrigued as well.

“So you guys really want to know all about Equestria?” She asked.

“Yes,” Summer Rains answered for all of them.

Rainbow Dash smiled, a sudden thought overtaking her. “Well… I can tell you about Equestria whenever. But weren’t we also thinking about what we could do lately? And for exercise and stuff?”

“That’s right,” Wild Wind nodded.

“And wasn’t there something I had already told you about that was from Equestria? A certain sport?”

“Buckball?” Clear Skies said.

“That’s right!” Rainbow Dash punched a hoof onto the table. “Let’s play! Or I’ll at least show you how to for real this time. I mean, we’ve got the space out there on the clouds and we don’t need that much, let’s do it! It’s literally perfect! You guys can learn about and do something from Equestria at the same time as we all get in some good exercise.”

“That does seem to be a good idea,” Wild Wind thought about it.

Flashbolt agreed. “Yes, and honestly if anyone else wonders about what we’re doing we could just say we invented the game on our own.” He grinned. “Although it would be more fun to tell them that yes, we are indeed playing a game from Equestria.”

“Er, I’m sorry but I’m a little lost,” Crescent Moon said as he raised a hoof to get their attention. “What’s Buckball?”

Rainbow Dash had been more than happy to explain how the game was played to her lieutenant while the eight of them left the mess hall in search of what they needed to get started. He was a bit uncomfortable (as expected) with it being a game originally intended for unicorns and earth ponies as well but at this point he figured he might as well go all in. Now, after gathering up some things, they all stood in an empty area of the training grounds close to the barracks. Buckball didn’t really need much space or any actual court or arena to be played on, unless you wanted things really official, so Dash thought this was fine.

It also put them in plain view of basically every other group of soldiers and the sergeants out doing their normal training exercises. Rainbow Dash hoped they would get curious. Let them.

“So is this all we need to play?” Clear Skies asked as he dropped a sheet bunched up into a ball on the ground while Flashbolt and Skychaser did the same with two buckets they had taken from the mess hall.

“Well we would definitely want, like, an actual ball. That bounces,” Rainbow Dash said flatly as she stared at the poor excuse for a ball.

“This was the best I could do on short notice!” Clear protested. “I bet one of my little brothers has a ball like that, next time I can take it from my house.”

“Alright, well I guess we weren’t really gonna play a big game today or anything,” Dash sighed and shook her head as she picked up the “ball” and unceremoniously dropped it on the ground. It plopped down with a depressing thump and sat there. “Whatever. I’m gonna divide you guys into teams now.”

Rainbow Dash flew up and held her chin in her hoof, thinking about how the teams should be made up. Clear Skies and Fierce Current were the most athletic, they should be on separate teams, the cousins were usually paired together already so they probably had good teamwork, Wild Wind seemed like he’d be good with anyone, Summer Rains too.

“Okay, so this is how we’re going to do it,” she said after a moment of thought. “Clear Skies, Flashbolt, and Skychaser are gonna be one team and Wild Wind, Fierce Current, and Summer Rains will be another. Maybe we can switch things up later too.”

“You’re not going to play?” Summer Rains asked.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I’m gonna be coaching you guys. Besides, it wouldn’t be fair if I played.”

“What am I going to do?” Crescent Moon asked.

“You’re going to be the referee. Sorry that the game’s meant to be played with six ponies, so something like this was always gonna happen,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

Crescent Moon didn’t seem to mind, making a meh face. “It’s probably a more fitting role for me anyways. Better to let my squad all play together. But just one question?”

“Yeah?”

“What is a referee?”

“Eugh...” Rainbow Dash dragged a hoof down her face. “Give me a second. I guess you guys wouldn’t know about that, you don’t even have any refs or officiators at your coliseum. Do you know what a judge is at least?”

“Yes,” Crescent Moon nodded.

“Well a ref is kind of like that. You just watch the game and the players and you make sure nobody breaks the rules or anything like that,” she told him.

“But I barely know the rules,” he didn’t seem very confident in his ability to be referee.

“It’s fine,” Rainbow Dash tried to reassure him. “Just make sure no one hits anyone or goes out of bounds… uh, I’ll make a circle and you guys just try to remember the limits and play inside it, okay?”

A few grunts of acknowledgment was all she needed to hear and Rainbow Dash flew in a tight circle close to the ground, trying to mark the clouds as best she could. She was pretty sure she had made it as large as a normal Buckball field. Either way it would be plenty of room for them. Now there was just one more thing to go over before they could actually play.

Rainbow Dash flew up to float between the other ponies and gazed intently at each of them. “So what position should each of you guys play?” She asked herself. “I guess we can just change things at any time too but who would be the best for what?” She looked to the first team. “Okay, I think I’ve got it for now at least. Clear Skies is gonna be the Defender, Flashbolt will be the Catcher, and Skychaser will be the Attacker. I think you guys will have the best synergy like that. Uhh, and for you guys!” She zipped over to the other three. “Fierce Current will be the Attacker, Wild Wind the Catcher, and Summer Rains is the Defender. That’ll be how you do your first game, got it?”

“Considering our unfamiliarity with the game it would probably be best to listen to you no matter what,” Flashbolt shrugged. “If we lose ten games in a row we can just change positions ourselves.”

“Good attitude!” Dash high-fived him with her wing.

“Should I stand in the circle or watch from outside while they play?” Crescent Moon asked.

“Outside!” She directed him, a growing smile on her face as the game was soon to begin.

“Uh, so who gets the ball first?” Clear Skies asked as he grabbed the very sad ball back off the ground.

“Oh yeah. Crescent, don’t go out yet, at the beginning of the match you throw the ball into the air and both of the Attackers will go to fight over it. And I don’t mean actually fight. Whoever can reach it and grab it first gets it. This isn’t a gladiator fight or whatever,” she explained. “Now, Flashbolt and Wild Wind, get your buckets and go to opposite sides of the circle and then Skychaser and Fierce can get to the middle and I’ll have Crescent throw the ball up.”

It was practically like directing children in their first sports game but Rainbow Dash was so enthusiastic about it she couldn’t help herself.

Finally everything was ready and every pony was in position. The first game of Buckball in the Empire. A game from Equestria that had been made by the three tribes of ponies working and playing as one. She wasn’t exactly the sentimental type or anything like that but even she thought it was cool. Twilight would probably have a field day with documenting it even though she didn’t really care all that much about sports. Applejack was gonna be super jealous about this when she got back too, Rainbow could hardly wait to rub this in her face.

“Shoot, I wish I had a whistle to blow or something,” Rainbow Dash said as she hovered off to the side. “Crescent! Just throw up the ball whenever!”

“Alright,” the officer shrugged and prepared to throw. “Get ready!”

He tossed the ball high into the air between the two Attackers and then fluttered out of the circle so they could fight over it.

Fierce Current got to it first and kicked the ball to the ground… where it plopped like a sack of clothes and almost fell apart.

“Ugh,” Dash facehooved.

The two Attackers still went after it, regardless of if they could bounce or dribble the ball, with Skychaser getting to it just a bit faster. He grabbed and held onto it, flying over to Flahsbolt holding up his team’s bucket. Skychaser just attempted to throw it inside but Summer Rains swooped down and kicked it away. He was probably trying to kick it to Fierce Current but the balled up sheet wasn’t exactly aerodynamic. It waffled around in the air for a second before coming to a rest in the middle of the circle.

“Something tells me this isn’t how it’s supposed to be going,” Crescent Moon glanced at Rainbow Dash.

“It’ll be better when we have the right equipment...” she grimaced.

This time the ball was still closer to Fierce Current so he flew over to get it while Wild Wind brought his bucket around and tried to make it as easy as possible for his teammate to get the ball in. The cherry pegasus grabbed the ball off the ground and quickly tossed it in the general direction of Wild Wind, letting the corporal try and adjust on his own.

Wild Wind gawked at the fairly off-target throw and held his bucket out to try and make sure the ball went in. But they had both forgotten about the other team’s Defender. Clear Skies flew down and blocked the ball with his wing before juggling it to his other wing and slinging it towards Skychaser. Fierce Current tried to be a little more proactive and intercept the slow-moving projectile in mid-flight but he was just a fraction of a second off and Skychaser was able to grab the ball.

Skychaser was a little more careful with how he handled the ball and perhaps it was a certain intuition that came from them being cousins and always working together but Flashbolt had already started to move before his cousin threw the ball to the bucket. Skychaser tossed it towards the bucket with as much strength as he could but the cloth ball started unraveling on its way, considerably lowering its speed.

Summer Rains saw his chance and went down to block it and knock it away with a kick. But the moment his hoof came in contact with it the sheet unfurled completely and covered him. The pegasus soldier inside let out a muffled yelp as he collapsed to the ground with his wings getting caught in the fabric. The others watched as he struggled to get out of the sheet, unsure of what to do.

Slowly, they all turned their eyes to Rainbow Dash.

The rainbow pony from Equestria scratched her mane as she too watched the still struggling Summer Rains. “Uhhh… we can call that a tie. Next game will go better, let’s shuffle positions!”

While that had been going on there were plenty of other pegasi soldiers flying about and working out in the training area. And more than just one or two squads noticed what Rainbow Dash’s squad was doing. They didn’t quite know what was going on but they could tell it was something different and that it had to do with their new arrival from the mystical land of Equestria and their new hero. So naturally it gathered quite a bit of interest. While practicing flight formations one corporal stopped the rest of his squad in the middle of their routine.

“What are they doing down there?” He tilted his head, puzzled.

“I have no idea,” another one said as they all started floating down to get a better look.

One of the sergeants was about to yell at and reprimand them when he followed their line of sight and saw what was going on too. Then he was about to fly over to them and chew them out, right up until he saw Lieutenant Crescent Moon already there.

“What the… what’s going on?” The perplexed sergeant asked himself as he found his wings moving on their own and carrying him over to Rainbow Dash’s squad.

All across the base soldiers were having the same reaction as they caught sight of the Buckball game. Rainbow Dash, the special hero from Equestria, was doing something interesting and different. And her lieutenant clearly didn’t have a problem with it so it must be okay, right? The curious pegasi slowly gathered more and more as the next game was played, eager to see and learn about what was happening.

Rainbow Dash Rises IV

“We don’t have the time to gather up more soldiers from across the city!” Summer Rains yelled to Crescent Moon as they flew at high speed over the city towards the Ice Sentinel station.

“And we have no idea how many of Blizzard’s soldiers there actually are guarding the crystals,” Fierce Current said.

“I’m very well aware of this, okay?” Crescent Moon frowned and kept his eyes ahead. “We’re just gonna have to do it ourselves!” He tried to sound as confident as possible but if what Blizzard said about them being badly outnumbered was true they could be in for a difficult, if not impossible, fight.

“It’s okay, we can do it,” Wild Wind tried to reassure the others.

“Baseless confidence? I’m all for it!” Skychaser sarcastically said and threw up his hooves in resignation.

He found himself slapped on the back of his head by his cousin. “Stop that, we’re all going to need to give it everything we have. No whining.”

“Yeah whatever...” Skychaser whined.

“Just think about who you’re fighting for,” Clear Skies said with a look of steely determination in his eyes as visions of his brothers played in his head. “We’ve all got families.”

That was true. Whatever was waiting for them they just needed to think about how important this was and what failure would mean. Rainbow Dash had left saving the city up to the seven of them while she fought Blizzard all alone, there was no way they could let her down when she was willing to do that. All of this was to save the Empire and make it a better place for the pegasi who lived here, if they didn’t have the courage to fight against such odds for its sake then what were they even doing? Rainbow Dash wasn’t even from here and she was willing to do that. This was their home, and they were going to show the resolve they had to save it and fix it.

Two blue pegasi faced off against each other. One a lighter sky blue, the other a darker deep-ocean blue. Besides that though they hardly had any similarities. Blizzard thought he knew Rainbow Dash well, thought she was rather alike him in ways like wanting a challenge, wanting to be the absolute best at something and not taking second place for anything. But he had misjudged her too. He thought she would’ve been a perfect fit for the true pegasus way but didn’t acknowledge all the problems she had with it. He didn’t see how much she valued friendship and freedom and everything else that made Equestria so great. He didn’t see how much she hated others getting hurt for no reason. And he didn’t accept how she could become so strong following the traitorous ways of Equestrian ponies.

Besides Rainbow Dash’s friends and allies there were a few other civilians peaking out of windows and watching them. Scared, but far too awed to look away entirely. All of them had heard about the previous fight between these two. And now all of them knew how important this rematch was. It was the fight to decide the fate of this city and all the lives in it.

“You don’t stand a chance,” Blizzard said to her.

“You’ll never keep me down for good,” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I’m stronger than you and now I’m gonna prove it.”

“The only thing that’s going to happen is I break your limbs. Again.”

“No way dude, you’re fighting a different Rainbow Dash today, and we aren’t in the coliseum either. I’m gonna fly circles around you,” she grinned.

“You can flit around like an obnoxious fly all you want. It’s not going to change anything,” he glared.

Dash’s grin got even smugger if that was possible. “Your whole city is about to see me beat you. How does that make you feel?”

“You’re living in a fantasy world if you believe that!” He yelled and crossed his wings over his chest before snapping them back at lightning speed and unleashing a blast of wind at her.

Rainbow Dash effortlessly flew over it, the wind not even tickling her tail. Blizzard didn’t have the advantage of fighting inside a relatively cramped coliseum now. Out here Rainbow Dash had so much more room to fly and Blizzard couldn’t take control of the air currents either. She was already a bit faster than him and she knew his tricks, it wasn’t just hot air when she said she would fly circles around him.

“You know you’ve gotta be faster than that!” Dash taunted him.

The Commander was in no mood for banter considering the situation, his rage fully overtook him and he flew at her like a missile. “Graaaahhh!”

Rainbow Dash knew how to deal with hot-heads (especially since she was often one herself) and she dodged to the side of his head with fairly minimal effort. She could easily make tiny adjustments to her position in the air thanks to the great talent she possessed and how strong and accurate her wings were. While he passed by her she even lashed out with her hoof and kicked his helmet off his head, the metal object falling to the ground.

Not like he needed a helmet with how tough he was but it was more a hit against his ego than anything.

Blizzard sharply turned around, his mane wildly being tossed around in the wind, and came back for Rainbow Dash again. Like the skilled fighter he was he didn’t allow his anger to cloud his judgment this time, stopping short of just trying to fly into her and instead punching and jabbing at her with his hooves and wings. His speed was impressive and his reflexes like lightning, something Rainbow Dash had learned well in their previous encounters, but it wasn’t enough for him to actually land a blow on Dash when she was keeping focus. She ducked and weaved through all of his attempted punches with a dexterity matching and even surpassing his own.

He swung his wing out at her right at neck level, and when she ducked under it he leaned back and brought up his hindlegs in an attempt to kick her but Dash propelled herself backwards with her wings to avoid him. Aerial combat in the open sky like this really allowed for practically anything, you could fight on any level, move anywhere, twist and turn your body in ways you couldn’t if you were on the ground, Dash had limitless options for dealing with Blizzard. She just needed to keep her cool this time and not underestimate him.

Of course even all of her options for avoiding and dodging him didn’t give her a way for beating him. Everything she had thrown at him in their previous fights was like an ant trying to take down a manticore.

“Coward! Always flying around to avoid everything, you know that if even one of my punches lands it’s over for you!” Blizzard yelled.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, totally sorry that I’m not just letting you beat on me. I guess it’s not very honorable or whatever. Get over it, jerk.”

“You’re still just delaying the inevitable,” Blizzard said and began flapping his wings as hard as he could in her direction, creating another, more widespread, whirlwind.

This one couldn’t be dodged, it was like an ever expanding cone of wind that he was at the apex of, but it wasn’t so powerful that it blew her out of the sky because of that. It wasn’t focused or precise enough. The force was spread too wide. The houses below and behind Rainbow Dash were also feeling the wind and the ponies inside them had to shut their doors and windows. Rainbow Dash raised a hoof up to keep the wind from her eyes and beat her wings hard enough to maintain her position. Even though she could’ve given in a little to make it easier for herself, letting his wind slightly take her away, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of that.

Seeing that he couldn’t knock her away with wind like that he stopped and rocketed towards her again. This time spinning around like a turbine while Rainbow Dash recovered. The high-powered spinning he was doing made him more dangerous than if he had flown straight at her, his outstretched wings gave him more reach and the force from even a glancing blow would probably knock Rainbow Dash to the ground.

Rainbow Dash had to blow some mane out of her face and when she did she saw the spinning spear that was Blizzard coming right at her. With a click of her tongue she dove under him but Blizzard saw her movement and dove lower to to head her off. Rainbow Dash had to grit her teeth and push herself even faster to avoid him, barely making it under the spinning Blizzard in time before he hit her. Even then she could feel the air being blown around him scrape across her back. Once she safely made it past him though she dove up and watched as he stopped spinning and turned around to seethe at her again.

But this time Rainbow Dash went on the offensive. Zooming at him fast enough to leave an after-image where she was, she went right up to his face and rapidly pummeled him all over his big mug before he reared up and tried to smack her away.

She avoided his punches and kicked him in the chest, he didn’t buckle at all, partially cause unlike her he was still wearing armor over his body, and she had to swiftly fly to the side to avoid another punch aimed at her head. When she did he tried to bring his left wing down vertically right in the path of where she was going, but Dash was able to stop and punch his wing hoisting herself over it and letting herself jump past him.

Blizzard did something she didn’t expect though. When she was passing his body his tail whipped out at her, Dash’s reflexes were quick enough to keep her from getting smacked in the face by it entirely but it still snapped her across the cheek under her left eye and she rolled away from him, a sharp pain burning where he had struck her. She floated above the streets and rubbed the sore spot, it definitely had a bruise already forming.

“It seems the hair on my tail can hurt you more than your hooves can hurt me,” Blizzard said as he turned around to disdainfully stare at her. “What are you going to do now?” He was speaking loud enough for his voice to carry to the buildings and all the ponies below watching.

“Tch,” Rainbow Dash bit her lip. He had a point.

From below, Aurora and the others were watching this all play out, hoping for Rainbow Dash but deathly afraid for her as well. They, especially Aurora, wished they could help her. But how? Two of them couldn’t even really fly, the others weren’t fighters, and even if they were they couldn’t fight on the level of Blizzard and Rainbow Dash. Aurora winced when she saw Rainbow Dash get hit by Blizzard’s tail and her lip trembled when Blizzard taunted her. What was going to happen?

“We need to help her,” Aurora said to Snowshine, tugging on her braided mane.

Snowshine grimaced, she agreed with the sentiment but… “I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do.”

Aurora looked to the others. Elder Tornado’s eyes were glued on Rainbow Dash and Blizzard, Gale was shifting around and trying to avoid meeting Aurora’s gaze. As the filly looked at the buildings around the street she saw the other ponies watching too. But no one was helping. No one was doing anything. Rainbow Dash was the first one to do anything, couldn’t they pay her back for getting them this far?

Aurora couldn’t just stand there anymore. She ran out into the middle of the street while Snowshine called out for her to come back. Taking a deep breath she yelled as hard as she could:

“Rainbow Daaaaash! You can do it! Don’t let him win!”

Both of the fighting pegasi heard her and looked down in surprise, but Aurora wasn’t finished yet. The filly looked to the ponies hiding in their homes and Snowshine and the others behind her.

“Come on everybody, Rainbow Dash needs our help! Don’t be afraid! Cheer her on, tell her how much you want her to win!” Aurora looked back up at Rainbow Dash with a smile and started jumping up and down. “I know you can beat him, Rainbow Dash! We’re all counting on you!”

Seeing the filly fearlessly hooting and hollering in support of Rainbow Dash when Commander Blizzard was right there lit a fire in Elder Tornado’s heart. She was right.

The old pegasus stepped up alongside her and cupped his hooves to his mouth. “Go, Rainbow Dash! Knock his stupid block off!”

Snowshine and even Gale quickly joined in, yelling all the encouragement they could. And seeing all four of them courageously doing that in the middle of the street it drew something up from the ponies hiding in their homes as well. Windows were thrown open all the way, pegasi walked out onto their roofs, doors were opened and even more came back out onto the streets. And all of them yelled and cheered for Rainbow Dash.

“You can do it!”

“We believe in you!”

“Beat him, Rainbow Dash!”

“Win!”

“Rainbow Dash!”

The pony from Equestria smiled as she heard and saw everyone coming out and cheering for her, right in the face of their scary and dangerous Commander. It reinvigorated her, totally filling her up with fresh determination and a new fire. Blizzard on the other hoof had a rather negative reaction. The Commander clenched his hooves and grit his teeth as he looked down on all those pegasi proclaiming their support and admiration for Rainbow Dash.

“What is this disgusting cheering? It infuriates me just to hear it!” He growled.

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s just the sound of you already losing. Don’t you get it? Things will never be the way you want them to, the ponies here don’t want to follow you, it’s over!” She pointed at him. “And now all I need to do is beat you for them.”

“Well, brother, look at the traitors who have come here to stop us.”

“A rather sorry lot I would say.”

East and West Wind looked out from their position within the broken window-frame at Crescent Moon and the rest of his squad as they hovered in front of the station. The two-dozen guards loyal to Blizzard also flew in between them, making it a standoff so far as neither side had attacked the other yet.

“Why don’t you fight us one on one—er two on two! And then we’ll see who’s sorry!” Crescent yelled back at the twin Captains.

“No can do, Lieutenant,” West Wind shook his head. “Our orders to guard the crystals are more important. You won’t be getting past us.”

Crescent and the others knew they didn’t have time, but they were completely outnumbered. Twenty-six versus seven. Not very good odds. If they had found some help on the way over it would’ve been really nice but they weren’t so fortunate.

“This aint looking so good for us,” Clear Skies rubbed the back of his head.

“No, but that’s pretty much what we expected,” Wild Wind shrugged.

“It doesn’t change that this is something we have to do,” Fierce Current clapped his hooves together.

West Wind laughed as he heard them pumping themselves up. “Oh please, you can’t possibly think this is going to end well for you?”

“Do you two even know what you’re doing?!” Flashbolt yelled at them. “Do you have any idea what Blizzard ordered the Ice Sentinels to do?”

“Yeah, we’re all in danger here!” Skychaser backed up his cousin.

“Whatever it is it doesn’t matter,” East Wind replied. “We’ll follow Commander Blizzard no matter what. You traitors can either fly away… or you can try to fight us.” He glared at them.

Summer Rains sighed and shook his head at the Captains and the other soldiers blocking them. “I wish we had the time to just talk this out, but we really don’t. We’re gonna have to force our way through them and destroy those crystals right now. I just wish we weren’t outnumbered almost four to one.” He took a deep breath to steady himself and prepared for the fight with the big group of soldiers.

“Well we’ll just have to do what Rainbow Dash would do in this situation then,” Crescent Moon said, a determined look on his face.

Fierce Current raised an eyebrow at him. “Beat the crud out of all of them?”

Crescent nodded. “Yep.”

The Invisible King

Rainbow Dash was flying through the empty sky with her eyes on the horizon. It was pretty much what she had been doing the past few days since she still hadn’t come across any sort of civilization since leaving the mountain range with Dust Bunny and the others. She sighed and sped up a little bit, she was still excited about what was coming up next but she just wished it would hurry up and get here already!

This day was even more boring than usual too since it was just an empty field of snow below her. After what happened last time, Rainbow Dash was making sure to keep close attention to the land she traveled over but so far hadn’t seen anything of note. It looked like another boring day for her. The exact kind of thing she was trying to avoid by coming to the True North.

Rainbow Dash lazily rolled over, watching the world turn upside down and then right side up. Maybe she could mess around and do some tricks and stuff to make the day of flying a little less boring. But that’d make her slower. Did she want to waste more time like that? Probably not.

“Come on, when’s my next adventure gonna be?” She said to the empty sky.

“Excuse me.”

“Gah!” Rainbow Dash jumped in midair, startled by the sudden voice coming from right next to her. “Where did you come from?!” She asked the pegasus stallion flying to her right.

“I was always here. But that isn’t important right now; my name is Harlequin Grey and I would like to speak with you,” he said to her.

Rainbow Dash raised a single eyebrow at the weird pony who had popped up out of nowhere. He was a powerfully built stallion of middle-age, with a navy blue coat and a lustrous midnight black mane and tail. His mane was slicked back on his head and despite the winds from their flying speed it didn’t budge or waver an inch like hers did. Strangely his flank was completely devoid of any sort of Cutie Mark, was it painted over? His eyes also looked silver to her at first but the next time she blinked they were magenta much like her own. She didn’t really know what to make of this guy.

“About what? Name’s Rainbow Dash by the way,” she told him.

“I already know. I just came to talk to you about this adventure you’re on,” he replied with a voice of pure stony impassiveness. The only sign that he had any emotion at all was the slightly furrowed eyebrows he had as he gazed at her.

She wasn’t sure how this guy knew her or anything. Was he one of the pegasi back at the Empire? Had he been chasing after her too? She didn’t recognize him, and he didn’t really act like one. “So what about it?”

“I would like to please ask you to stop and turn around and go back home to Equestria,” Harlequin Grey said.

“Pff!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help it. “Hahahahaha! You’re joking right?”

She stopped flying to grab her belly, laughing at the stallion.

He stopped with her and fully turned to face her. “I don’t make jokes. I am completely serious. I would like you to go home.”

“Why?” She snorted, wiping away a tear.

“Because you’re causing problems and you’re going to keep causing even bigger ones the further you go,” he told her. “You’ve already brought so much chaos and harmony to places that should’ve been devoid of them, and you’ve caught the eye of something else even more problematic.”

“Dude, what are you even talking about?” The smile left her face and she frowned at the stallion, not liking what he was saying.

Harlequin Grey sighed in exasperation, as if bothered by the very fact he had to explain things to her. “The north should’ve been a calm and unchanging place outside the reaches of harmony and chaos and completely separate from the influence of Equestria. Your adventure up here has changed all of that. You bring both chaos and harmony with you everywhere you go and it’s very bothersome for me.”

“For you?” She narrowed her eyes. “And look, I’ve done nothing but try and help people out up here and find awesome stuff to do. So I don’t see what the problem is. And how do I bring chaos and harmony at the same time? That doesn’t even make any sense.”

“You bring a positive type of chaos equal to change that sets the foundation for harmony,” he told her, the words pretty much going over her head. “You’ve already upset a perfectly quiet and stagnant civilization that should’ve stayed that way.”

She knew what he was talking about there. “The Empire should not have stayed like that. I don’t care what you say, there’s no way what I did up here with them was a bad thing.”

“Just a matter of different opinions. I was hoping you wouldn’t be able to make it through that storm either and you’d get discouraged and turn back. But you’re rather resourceful.”

Rainbow Dash’s narrowed eyes widened back up as she realized something. “You’re the pony that giant guy was talking about that told him to set up his storm there aren’t you?”

He shrugged. “Possibly. It isn’t really important anymore, you’ve done a good job of destroying a lot of the hard work I’ve put in to keep the north as closed off and stagnant as possible. Even the Sentinels I helped Weathervane make are gone now because of you.”

Rainbow Dash lurched forward and grabbed him by the shoulders. “You made those things?! I oughta knock your teeth out.”

Harlequin Grey slipped out of her grasp like water and flew back a step. “Please, I would prefer not to fight. I dislike conflict and it would draw the attention of your obnoxious friend. Who I wish to avoid more than anyone.”

“Discord?” It was the most obvious choice to Rainbow Dash.

Harlequin Grey quickly looked over his shoulder and then back at her. “Please refrain from speaking his name in my presence.”

“Whatever,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and folded her hooves over her chest. “I’m still really mad right now you know? And there’s no way I’m stopping my adventure. I haven’t gotten to be awesome enough yet, I know there’s way more for me to do up here.”

“If you won’t listen to reason then perhaps you will listen to me when I say I’m here to warn you too you know.”

“What do you mean?” She tilted her head at him.

“Can’t you guess? You just read about that thing the other day.”

Rainbow Dash twitched slightly. “Oh. You’re talking about what happened with Gambien.”

“If you keep going north you’re going to regret it. Simple as that,” Harlequin Grey told her. His voice was as empty as ever but his eyes carried a harder look to them.

“Look, I’m not afraid of anything!” Rainbow Dash shouted at him. “And I’m not gonna stick my tail between my legs and fly home just because of whatever that was!”

“Whether or not that is the case or whether or not that has any point this is for your own good. It truly would be beneficial to the both of us if you simply went back home. Otherwise more and more problems will arise and you’ll only find yourself in more dangerous situations.”

“I like dangerous situations,” Rainbow Dash grinned. “That’s part of the whole point in coming up here!”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, of course you do.”

She went back to frowning at him. “And another thing, I don’t know what your deal is but I don’t think I want to do anything that’s beneficial to you.” She flew right up to him and poked him in the chest. “I don’t trust you. Got that?”

“Very well,” Harlequin Grey clicked his tongue and he looked away from her. “If you want to be annoying like that then continue on your pointless adventure, the power of harmony that you carry causes nothing but problems for me...” His eyes wandered back to meet hers. “You truly aren’t satisfied with what you’ve already done?”

“No,” she glared at him. “And I’m not going home until I am totally satisfied. So you can just buzz off.”

Harlequin Grey sighed. “You ponies have always been good at agitating me. I’ll leave for now, but I still implore you to stop this nonsense. The north doesn’t need your Equestrian influence disrupting the pleasant stasis it’s been in for centuries.”

Before Rainbow Dash could reply to him he flew off high into the sky until he disappeared completely into the clouds. She kept her eyes on the last spot she saw him for another minute until she was totally sure he was gone, then she got ready to start flying back north.

“Yeah, get out of here you jerk,” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself and flew off to the horizon.

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlB7SEZ4DJc

Five day break.

So as it turns out despite the huge buffer zone I gave myself I'm still publishing faster than I'm writing. As of now I still have a lot of chapters to go before I catch up with myself but I'm still on pace to do that. This little break is to allow me to organize things and in two months or so it's possible I may change from releasing a new chapter every day to every other day. Some unexpected business has also come up for me the weeks of Thanksgiving and the first week of December so I may not be able to release a chapter every day of those weeks either.

A Mammoth of a Problem XI

A few hours before the sun had completely descended and turned the northern world into night, Rainbow Dash was flying back down the road leading away from the quarry and towards the city. The traffic on the road had picked up considerably as even more mammoths were traveling back and forth between quarry and city. Some of the wagons she saw going towards the quarry were filled up with food and water while the ones going to the city were of course still full of stone and dirt.

Dirt, huh? Did they use the dirt taken from the quarry as fill elsewhere in the city? Maybe it was healthy enough to use as soil for some of the personal gardens that mammoths had. She could always ask Larkon now, or Korsa the next time she saw him.

As she made it back to the city limits with the homes and other buildings outside the wall she started thinking to herself; she really hadn’t checked out this area that much. In fact aside from a few cursory glances earlier in the day she had essentially ignored it. But now it would take barely a minute to actually get to Larkon’s, maybe she could go looking around here? There might’ve been an interesting shop or place somewhere nestled in this area.

So once she got to the buildings she left the path of the road and went down some alleys and side streets. She mostly saw small (for mammoths) homes and some homemakers cleaning up their yards or getting ready for dinner. With a wave and a smile to whoever saw her she flew on through these buildings. A couple things stood out, like a well that was placed in a small open area, and a grassy park that was so much smaller than what she had seen in other parts of the city she hesitated to even call it a park in the first place.

Maybe because of the hour she hardly saw anyone else outside of their homes or just hanging out, there were only a few mammoths obviously in the middle of work carrying packages and other stuff down the streets. Compared to the liveliness she had seen in the main part of the city yesterday this “suburb” was pretty subdued. Almost at a level where it felt lonely and unwelcoming.

Larkon had told her that not everywhere in the city would be especially inviting to her but she thought he mostly meant that slum all the way beyond the river.

She turned a corner and flew past a brick schoolhouse that had a jungle gym built right outside it. That put a smile on her face at least.

Until it was wiped right off her face by a snowball whizzing past her head.

“What the?” Rainbow Dash halted in midair and looked in the direction the snowball had came from. Three young, maybe even barely teenage, mammoths the size of yaks were standing in the street, two of them gathering up bits of snow that had been left over and packing them into balls while the third one smirked at her.

“So you’re that dumb pony thing or whatever that everyone’s talking about?” The smirking mammoth said.

These are just some dumb punk kids. Rainbow Dash frowned and flew over to them, hovering just slightly above their reach. “What’s your problem?”

“You!” One of them who had finished making a snowball said before launching it at her with his trunk.

Naturally she just slightly moved out of the way to avoid it and raised an eyebrow at the delinquent mammoths. “Me?”

“Yeah, you’re not welcome here! This place is for mammoths and mammoths only!” The last one said and threw his snowball as well. “Get out!”

Rainbow Dash backflipped to let it fly over her and came back up right where she had been. “Okay? I mean, you know the whole senate and basically everyone else I’ve met has been happy to welcome me here, right?”

“Well I don’t like how you fly either!” He stuck his tongue out at her.

“And your rainbow hair is dumb. Did you paint that yourself?” The smirking mammoth snickered.

“Seriously...” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. These really were just some dumb kids whose parents hadn’t taught them respect. She wasn’t going to get angry, she was the adult here and working at the school had done a… decent… job of making her get along with unruly brats. “Look, you kids should just go home. I’ve got places to be anyways so just run along.”

“Shut up, pony!” One of them reached up with his trunk to try and grab her tail.

“Quit it!” Dash zipped out of the way, only to see the others packing up more snow. “Are you brats seriously trying to start a fight?”

The smirker launched another snowball at her. “Get out, loser!”

Rainbow Dash batted it with her wing, letting it crumble to dust. “Look, I’m being nice here but if you don’t stop I’m gonna have to teach you a lesson. I don’t think your parents are going to like that.”

“And what’s the stupid pony going to do, huh?” One of the mammoths said as he jumped up and tried to grab her with his trunk.

The other attempted that too, trying to hit her out of the air. “You’re like a dumb flying bug! And that tattoo on your butt is stupid!”

A vein popped out on Rainbow Dash’s forehead. “You asked for it!”

Now she still wasn’t going to get angry angry. Or get in a serious fight with some annoying kids who didn’t know any better. Larkon definitely wouldn’t like that and she didn’t want to get in trouble for giving a mammoth kid a black eye. But she couldn’t exactly just let this stand, she needed to discipline these kids cause obviously they also shouldn’t be doing such a thing to a guest of the city. What if someone else had come here and this was the kind of reception they got? If these brats were their first encounter with mammoths? Well that would ruin pretty much everything that Larkon and the rest of them were trying to do.

When the smirking mammoth struck his trunk out at her, Rainbow Dash grabbed it with her hoof and zoomed down between the three mammoths before they could react. With lightning speed she grabbed the other two trunks and tied them all together in a knot that would only become worse the more they tried to just pull their trunks free.

“There,” Rainbow Dash grinned and flew back up, wiping her hooves together in a job well done.

“Ughh!” They all grunted as they tried to pull themselves loose to no avail.

“Put our trunks back!” The smirker (who wasn’t smirking now) yelled at her in a nasally voice distorted by his trunk being in a knot.

“Sorry, but you kids need to learn to respect others,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Have fun.” She turned to leave but paused, looking back at them with a smug and knowing expression. “Oh yeah, it would be pretty embarrassing if anyone knew it was a dumb pony that got the better of you three, wouldn’t it?”

They glared at her while she flew off laughing.

As it turned out, Larkon was waiting right outside on his porch with the rest of his family. Rainbow Dash hoped she didn’t keep them there waiting too long. For whatever it was they were going to be doing now. Apparently the surprise he had been keeping for her also involved his family, and she had zero ideas of what it could be. She also wanted to ask him about why he had suddenly had to leave earlier today and just who that other mammoth, Abalun, was. But whatever he had to do was obviously long finished, now he was back to being her guide.

“Rainbow Dash!” Larkon waved as he saw her coming down from the sky.

“Yo,” she waved back coming to a stop on his porch. Shibu and Alykon looked happy to see her but Samarkon just ignored her completely. Well two could play at that game.

“Did you enjoy the rest of your day? Again I’m sorry I had to leave you alone,” Larkon asked.

“It’s fine, I had a fun time.”

Shibu raised an eyebrow at her husband as they talked. “Why did you have to leave Rainbow Dash off on her own anyways? You were supposed to show her around the city weren’t you?”

Larkon coughed and tried to avert his gaze from his wife. “Some things just came up, I told you.” He regained his composure and looked to Rainbow Dash. “Regardless, I’d love to hear about what you did today after we parted ways but it will have to wait. Tonight we have a special event to go to.”

“You’ve been hyping it up all day so what is it?” Rainbow Dash smiled. “Something fun?”

“Oh yes, something I believe you will find especially fun as a very sports inclined creature yourself,” Larkon smiled back.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes shot wide open and she buzzed up to look him right in the eye. “Sports? You guys have a sport you play here? What is it?!”

Larkon laughed and patted her back with his trunk. “Rainbow Dash, get ready to experience your first game of Trunkball.”

A Mammoth of a Problem XXIV

Rainbow Dash didn’t know or care about how late it was. She zoomed over the mammoth city towards those slums like her life depended on it. There were lights constantly blinking out below her as the city began to sleep but despite her earlier wishes it didn’t look like Rainbow Dash would be getting any such sleep tonight.

“Samarkon, you idiot...”

She couldn’t believe him. How could he willingly want to meet Karkona? How could he agree with that guy? Larkon had definitely taught him plenty of the mammoth’s history and everything bad about what Karkona wanted. She just didn’t get it. There were limits to being a rebellious teenager, that was something Rainbow Dash understood, this went too far.

With her speed she made it to the river in an instant. But she stopped there for a moment. While there were still plenty of lights on in the rest of the city the slums were much darker and she couldn’t see down into them well. Not to mention she had absolutely no idea what the layout down there was like. However, Samarkon probably didn’t either. She’d have a good shot of finding him as long as she stayed in the air. She glanced down at the river first and sure enough saw a drawbridge that had been lowered across it, so Samarkon could’ve easily used it to travel into the slums already.

Did Karkona know he was coming? She had no idea how long or how often that drawbridge might’ve been left down for anyone to go back and forth from the slums and the old part of town.

Since Samarkon definitely used the drawbridge to get into the slums, Rainbow Dash flew down to it and went along the path it led into the slums. She stayed just a little above roof height to keep out of view of any mammoths that weren’t looking up. With the darkness of the night she doubted anyone would see her unless they were really looking. Mammoths weren’t used to creatures that could fly at all either, why would they look up?

The slums… it was her first real look at them. She wished it was daytime so she could actually see them better. But she could already tell that the buildings were very shoddy and looked to be made of anything that had been found lying around, along with the fact they were all smashed together and irregular looking. Random heights, shapes, sizes, some of them sticking halfway out into the street, some made of sheets of metal that were bolted together, others an amalgamation of wood, plaster, and brick. All of them poor and low quality looking.

Like slums. Obviously.

The streets were very tight and narrow, most of them wouldn’t be able to hold two mammoths walking side by side, and Rainbow Dash couldn’t even begin to imagine the labyrinth that was contained inside. It would’ve felt claustrophobic having to walk down in those slums. And scary with blind corners and dark spots dominating the entire network.

She didn’t see any happy cafes like Norma’s. No one playing music on the streets. No open market. The only mammoths she did see that were out shuffled about like they were hiding something, looking this way and that and casting nasty looks at any other mammoth they saw. Every now and then two would bump into each other and almost come to blows. It was practically a different world here.

Rainbow Dash frowned and looked harder. “Samarkon, where are you?”

Samarkon ran down the narrow streets of the slums. He didn’t know where he was. He didn’t know where to go. And he didn’t care, Karkona was somewhere here and that was all that mattered. His breathing was heavy and he was panting hard after running here at full speed from his home ever since he ran into Alykon at the door.

The young mammoth winced and a hurt look appeared on his face for a moment. He didn’t mean to do that to her. Or say that to her. He—no! He shook his head. Forget her! Forget dad, forget mom, and most especially forget that dumb pony!

All that mattered now was what lied before him.

Karkona. He knew Karkona would welcome him warmly. Karkona needed young mammoths just like him, ones who could fight someday, ones who didn’t like the dumb, boring, way mammoths lived today. And he was special another way because he was Larkon’s son. Everyone in the city knew Larkon was vehemently against Karkona, way more than even the senate would dare to say. And he was the historian of the mammoths who proudly said how great things were today.

How much better mammoths were now than how Karkona wanted to make them.

Samarkon just got angrier and angrier the more he thought of his father. He just didn’t understand! He wouldn’t even give Karkona a chance even though Karkona had proved he was strong and knew how to lead mammoths after taking over the slums. He knew how to run a city way better than the dumb senate that even dad complained about. Was it so wrong to have the kind of ambition Karkona had?

No, his dad was just crazy. He cared too much about the past and thought it meant mammoths could never be anything else again. They could never be strong again. But Karkona knew otherwise.

Karkona could be scary sometimes but that’s what it meant to be a strong leader, he needed to be that way for the future when mammoths went back to fighting all the other dangerous creatures and empires that existed up here and in the rest of the world. Destroying that cart was just about sending a message. He had to show how strong and serious he was to the other mammoths at the festival, they were all so soft they needed that kind of wake up call. None of the other mammoths from the slums that came with him to the festival would listen or follow him if they didn’t respect him as a leader or know his strength. Samarkon may not have known how things were here from personal experience but everyone said the mammoths here in the slums were rough and tough, and Karkona ruled them all. Other city mammoths just didn’t get that you needed to be tough to be King.

No, they all were all raised on dumb stuff like Trunkball and flower crowns. Yuck.

Samarkon just didn’t understand how anyone could like that silly stuff, what was the point of it all? Didn’t they feel bad just like Karkona that mammoths only did and cared about stupid stuff like that nowadays? Didn’t they want to do anything special or important? Mammoths used to have bigger cities and ruled so much more than just this dumb valley.

Karkona could set things right. And Samarkon would help him.

He could just imagine now how happy Karkona would be to see that Samarkon was here to join him. After coming here completely against his father’s wishes, going through the city and the slums on his own, everyone would think he was brave too. Karkona would definitely have something big and special planned for him, he knew it.

“Where is he? Where does he live here?” Samarkon said to himself as he continued searching through the slums.

The biggest building made sense to him. But like everything else he didn’t know where that was. All he could do was keep blindly going through the streets and hope that he stumbled upon Karkona or found someone who knew him. There weren’t signs, there weren’t indications, there was no logic in how the streets went. A couple of times he turned a corner only to be met with a dead end and he had to backtrack. It was late, he was tired from running so much and he just wanted to hurry up and find Karkona already.

The freshly fallen snow crunched under his heavy feet as he searched and searched through the slums and the night only grew darker.

He thought he could hear something loud in the distance but it was muffled from all the buildings around him.

In another minute he came to a four-way intersection. Straight? Right or left? Did it even matter? Making his choice he went left, his heavy breathing evident and his lungs burning. He should’ve exercised more just like his sister did, a fighting mammoth needed to be in better shape than he was. Karkona would probably have plenty of mammoths that could help him with that though. They could teach him how to fight too.

More twists and turns. More empty narrow streets. Closed doors, shut and barred windows, gates, fences. Nothing that told him he was anywhere closer to Karkona.

And finally yet another dead end.

“Great,” Samarkon frowned. He clicked his tongue and spun around-

And two other mammoths were blocking his path.

He had to stop. Where did they come from? And what did they want? They were both adults who towered over him, taking up the entirety of the narrow alley he had been running down. They had threatening and unfriendly looks on their faces that made Samarkon take a step back from them. And unlike the tusks of most mammoths in the city theirs were still sharp.

Samarkon still tried to act unafraid, standing as tall as he could. “What do you two want?”

The one on the left stepped forward and spit on the ground, narrowing his eyes at Samarkon. “What’s some kid from the darn city doing here in our slums?”

“It’s not your slum,” Samarkon glared at them. “It’s Karkona’s. And I’m here looking for him, he wanted to see me!”

The mammoth spat again. “So what? I don’t see Karkona around here right now, do you?” He asked the other.

“Nope, don’t see anything,” the mammoth on the right grinned as he faked looking around.

“Yeah, all I see is some dumb kid getting on my nerves,” left walked up to Samarkon, threateningly showing off his tusks. “Karkona may be the one in charge but I aint letting you run through here like you own the place. Not some dumb brat from across the river.”

“You’re making a big mistake,” Samarkon warned them.

“Oh yeah? Gonna go crying off to your daddy and mommy?” Right snickered.

“No! I’m already with Karkona! And if you do anything to hurt me then he’ll-” Samarkon said but was interrupted as left kicked up some snow into his face.

“Shut up, kid. We don’t care.”

“He’s probably lying anyways.”

“I am not! Now let me go so I can see Karkona!” Samarkon stomped his foot on the ground.

“I think the brat needs to be taught a lesson,” right said to his buddy.

Left nodded. “I think you’re right. Let him go crying to Karkona after instead, like a baby.”

Samarkon grew red in the face. “I wouldn’t go crying to anyone!”

“Whatever,” left snorted. “You gonna try running away, kid?” It was a stupid question. The wall of another building was practically right behind Samarkon and there was no way to squeeze past the two of them. The real question was if Samarkon was going to curl up and take whatever they did to him, or if he was going to fight.

Karkona would fight. Samarkon stood his ground and practically growled at the two mammoths. “I’m not a coward!”

“After we beat you black and blue you won’t be coming back here, little boy,” right grinned maliciously as they both stalked towards Samarkon.

“Giving you a free lesson of how the slums work,” left snarled. He lifted up his trunk, motioning to strike Samarkon.

Samarkon couldn’t help but shrink back and wait for it-

When a blue and rainbow blur flew into the mammoth and kicked him right in the eye. While Left howled in pain, Rainbow Dash turned and roughly kicked Right with her backhooves right in his surprised eyes too. Right yelped and fell back against the wall of the street while Left brought his trunk up and covered his own injured eye in shock.

Rainbow Dash looked down at Samarkon, grinning. “Hey brat, you okay?”

Samarkon grit his teeth and positively glowered up at her.

The pegasus merely rolled her eyes at him. “Not even a thank you, huh?”

“Who are-” Left started as his vision came back into focus and he saw the pony floating right in front of him. “That pony! You’re the stupid creature everyone in the city has been going crazy over.”

“My eyes… I can’t see...” Right whined as he rubbed at his eyelids.

“You two should just get out of here if you know what’s good for you,” Rainbow Dash threatened them.

That just made Left even angrier. “You think a mammoth would ever back down from a pony? You’re gonna get a lot worse than just a lesson! Mammoths are strong! And one day we’ll crush all the creatures like you beneath our heels!”

He swung his trunk at her but she ducked under it and he ended up cracking his friend in the temple with it. Right went down like a sack of bricks but Left didn’t care in the slightest, he reared up on his back legs and tried spearing Rainbow Dash with his tusks but the pony was too small and fast a target, she flew back slightly towards Samarkon to avoid him. His trunk darted out at her again but Rainbow Dash just smirked and flew aside, kicking the prehensile appendage for good measure.

“Raaargh!” Left roared and swiped again and again with his trunk, trying to flatten the obnoxious fly.

Rainbow Dash just had to laugh at his attempts. “Hey, so when do you want me to go on offense? How fast do you want to get beaten up by a pony?”

It was somewhat baseless confidence though, the size of the mammoths would make actually fighting this guy tough unless she only targeted his weakest spots. Hitting him in the gut or limbs would probably be like trying to cut down a tree with a butter knife. Still, Rainbow Dash had fought plenty of solid chunks, especially lately, and this was very important so she had to fight.

But when Left ran up to her and shook his head side to side to try and hit her with both his trunk and tusks at the same time she saw a figure approaching from behind him. Another mammoth? Whoever he was he was wearing a cloak over his body and walking silently while carrying something in his trunk. Rainbow dodged and watched at the same time as this new guy came up right behind Left, lifted a heavy wooden chair over his head, and smashed it down onto the thug mammoth’s skull.

Rainbow and Samarkon both winced as the chair broke into pieces. Left teetered on his feet for a second before collapsing in a lump.

“Uhh...” Rainbow Dash said as the interloper discarded the piece of wood he was still holding and made sure the two thugs were out cold. Satisfied that they were he stepped over their bodies and walked up to Rainbow Dash and Samarkon.

Pulling back his hood, he turned out to be someone Rainbow Dash recognized.

Her eyes widened. “Hey, you’re-”

“Shh!” Abalun said as he held a foot up to his mouth. “Don’t say my name, others might be listening.”

“But what are you doing here?” She asked him.

“I saw Samarkon, and you flying as well. Figured that that couldn’t mean anything good,” he said.

“Heh, guess I was wrong about mammoths looking up… least it turned out to be a good thing,” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck.

Samarkon just frowned and looked between the both of them. What was going on? “Who are you?” He asked Abalun.

Abalun and Rainbow Dash looked down at him, the older mammoth frowned. “Best you don’t know that.”

“Hey dude, Larkon is coming here right now to meet up with me and find Samarkon. He’s probably not at the bridge yet, should we go there and wait for him?” Rainbow asked Abalun.

Before he could respond, Samarkon let them know what he thought of that idea. “No! I’m not going back with my father!”

Rainbow Dash groaned and scowled at him. “Yes you are.”

“Make me!” He lifted his trunk up and tried to smack her with it.

She rolled her eyes and easily grabbed it, bapping him on the head with his own trunk. “Stop that.”

“Ow!”

Abalun pulled the hood of his cloak back up and then came and put his trunk around Samarkon, pushing him to come walk out of the narrow alley. Together they left, Samarkon dragging his feet the whole way, and walked (or flew) down the labyrinthine expanse of the slums. Abalun at least knew exactly where to go to make it back to the bridge and neither he nor Rainbow Dash were letting the rowdy teenager out of their sight. Hopefully Larkon would arrive soon and then this night could be put behind them. Although Rainbow Dash was left with many questions and her curiosity was burning inside of her. She wanted to ask some more things of Abalun but he had made it clear they shouldn’t talk around Samarkon or in these narrow streets where any number of slum-dwelling mammoths in their hovels could be watching or listening in.

Rainbow Dash kept on the lookout for anymore mammoths that might think about coming out of the woodwork but probably because of how late it was they weren’t further accosted by anybody on their journey to the bridge. Finally after enough twists and turns to make her head spin they emerged out of the slums and right at the still fortunately down bridge… and just in time to see a certain mammoth running across it.

Larkon was winded and out of breath, clearly this was more exercise than he usually got. But when he saw who awaited him on the other side he doubled his efforts and ran over.

“Samarkon! Rainbow Dash!” He yelled.

Rainbow Dash grinned and waved to him while Samarkon just looked away, a nasty expression on his face. Abalun had to nudge him with his trunk to get him to walk out onto the bridge. Larkon seemed to notice the cloaked mammoth for the first time and instantly recognized him, Rainbow Dash wondered if certain secrets were about to be revealed but all Larkon did was give Abalun a curt nod without saying anything.

The father then bent down and instead of scolding his son like Rainbow expected he just hugged him. Samarkon looked equally surprised but he fought in annoyance to get out of his father’s tight grip.

“Stop it, son.” Larkon said, the sigh evident in his voice. “We’ll talk when we get home.”

“I don’t want to go home...” Samarkon muttered but Rainbow and Larkon could tell the fight was out of him. For tonight at least.

Larkon got up and looked at Rainbow Dash. “Thank you. Let’s go back now.”

Rainbow Dash frowned, looking back at the hooded Abalun for a second before replying to Larkon. “Hold on… you can take Samarkon home, but I was thinking of staying here for a little longer. Maybe the next day.”

Larkon’s eyebrows perked up and for a second Rainbow thought he would fight her on it but after sharing a look with Abalun he just nodded. “I see… if that’s what you want to do then so be it. It’s only fair.”

“I’ll take care of her,” Abalun said.

“Thanks,” Larkon nodded to his friend again and turned back on the bridge with Samarkon in tow. Father and son headed back to the rest of the city and their warm home, leaving Rainbow Dash and Abalun at the edge of the slums.

Rainbow Dash looked over at him and whistled innocently. “Sooo...”

“I can tell you’re very curious about a lot of things, but we should head to my flat first. Let’s go,” Abalun said and walked back into the narrow streets of the slums.

Rainbow Dash shrugged and floated along behind him.

A Mammoth of a Problem XXVII

Shibu was not done with Rainbow Dash. Not by a long shot. Rainbow Dash learned this the following day when she was dragged out to the marketplace and taken into one of the busy shops close to town’s square.

A shop for jewelry.

Specifically tusk jewelry, the kind that Shibu loved to wear and she had seen many other mammoths, guys included, wearing all across the city.

“Okay look-” Rainbow Dash started as they entered the store. “I’m not totally against wearing stuff like this, I’ve worn it before and all, but it’s still not my thing, you know?”

“But some nice accessories would perfectly complement your pretty new hairdo,” Shibu smiled at her. A half teasing smile.

Rainbow Dash tossed the braided mane she was still wearing back behind her head, it kept falling one way or the other and getting in the way, and frowned at Shibu. “That’s part of the problem. Besides I don’t know how you’re going to get jewelry specifically made to fit or hang off a mammoth’s tusk to work for me.”

Shibu frowned as she looked Rainbow Dash up and down, thinking on how best to tackle that problem. “We’ll figure something out. The employees here are experts when it comes to jewelry and style too. By the end of the day we’ll have found the perfect look for you.”

“Noooo...” Rainbow Dash weakly whined.

Despite her protests they went deeper into the store, Rainbow flying past shelves and other mammoths shopping. Perhaps unsurprisingly, all the mammoths she saw shopping in here with them had way more jewelry and ornamentation on their tusks than the average mammoth. There were lots of ear—tusk rings that hung off their tusks along with bands painted gold or silver and embossed with intricate designs. Some of the hanging jewelry had pretty little bells at the ends that jangled with every movement of the wearer. She saw a lot of dangling hoops that were attached by thin golden chains, and glass that was colored and fired to give it the appearance of crystal.

A place for Rarity more than her. Rainbow Dash just blanched at the sheer variety of stuff she saw in here and how Shibu was clearly willing to go through every little thing until she found something for Rainbow Dash. She was going to be used as a ponnequin and be forced to model and exhibit all kinds of stuff, she just knew it.

“Uh, can I just go back home?” Rainbow asked Shibu. “I could just let you pick something out for me and I promise I’ll wear it at least once.”

Shibu grinned at her. “Not a chance, dearie. We need to make sure it fits you perfectly.”

Rainbow groaned and flew about a display case that contained sequences of rings to fit on your tusks with fake diamonds studded all in them. Some of the golden bands may have fit perfectly around her hooves or up her legs, or even around her neck if there were any that unlocked like that.

But then I’d start looking like Zecora. Rainbow Dash thought, the picture vividly coming to her head.

Hopefully Shibu would just find something nice looking soon and Rainbow Dash could be temporarily put out of her misery.

“Ladies!” Shibu suddenly said as they got to the back of the shop. “I have a special customer for you!”

The back counter of the store was occupied by three old mammoth ladies with graying fur and an assortment of jewelry on their own tusks. When they saw Shibu and Rainbow Dash their eyes lit up and they moved with a fiery passion that Rainbow wouldn’t have expected from their age. The three ladies burst from behind the counter and ran up to Shibu and Rainbow, their stampeding steps shaking the cases and display sets around them.

“Shibu, it’s been ages! And Miss Rainbow Dash is here too?!” The first one who reached them said, she wore thick square bifocal glasses on her face that she squinted at Rainbow Dash through.

“Hi...” Rainbow Dash hesitantly waved to her and the other two.

“Rainbow Dash, let me introduce you.” Shibu said and pointed to the first lady with her trunk. “This is Nallo.”

“A pleasure,” Nallo said and grasped Rainbow Dash’s hoof with her trunk, shaking the pegasus vigorously.

“Y-Yeah...” Rainbow said after she was let go as she watched a number of her feathers fall to the ground.

“And this is Gobu,” Shibu said to the next mammoth in line, who looked to be the oldest of the trio.

“We’ve read a lot about you from the newspaper, and a few customers have been gossiping back and forth about you too,” Gobu said politely.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that comment but she smiled anyways. “Thanks?”

“And last but not least, we have Kallok!” Shibu said of the last of the proprietors. Kallok had the most jewelry on her tusks of the three, you almost couldn’t see the bare ivory beneath everything she was wearing.

Kallok also shook Rainbow Dash’s hoof with her trunk, although she at least did it gently enough where she only shook her hoof and not her entire body. “Are you interested in jewelry too? We haven’t seen you around here before, Miss Rainbow Dash.”

“I decided that she needed something nice,” Shibu stated with a big smile on her face. “Don’t you think she’s just so pretty? She needs to accentuate it.”

The three ladies looked Rainbow Dash up and down, making her thoroughly uncomfortable. It was just like with Shibu, they were imagining what they could do with her and make her wear, who knows how much she’d have to model before they were satisfied that they had found the perfect thing for her. Other customers were watching the whole affair now too. Rainbow could hardly blame them, who wouldn’t be intrigued by the only pegasus in the city being fitted for their culture’s jewelry?

“Uhh… I’ll just leave this all in your trunks, cause I have no idea about anything,” Rainbow Dash gulped. “Just… at least try to pick out something cool, okay?”

Shibu chuckled at Rainbow Dash and gave a knowing look to Nallo, Gobu, and Kallok. “Please find her something extra cute.”

“Noooo…”

The next hour for Rainbow Dash was spent just as she expected: with all manner of jewelry being foisted upon her and tried on.

Business in the store stopped completely as all the customers came to watch as well. She had alternating rings of silver and gold slipped over her hooves, down her tail, around her neck, etc. Chains with glistening “crystals” at the end were attached to her ears to see how that looked, but most were oversized. All of the ladies tried their trunks at finding a way to accessorize her wings, to very mixed results.

Gobu fit a golden “necklace” around her neck that was originally meant for mammoth tusks. It had a set of orange rectangular crystals all around it that went well with her coat.

“I think that’s the best looking thing we’ve gotten so far,” Gobu said as she looked around the pony’s neck.

“You might be right,” Kallok said as she slid a pair of silver bands engraved with a floral pattern up both of Dash’s forelegs.

“Nnnn...” Rainbow Dash groaned in discomfort the more and more was done with her.

“Let’s try this,” Nallo said and removed the pink bow that Rainbow Dash had on her tail and replaced it with a golden loop. “Simple, but nice.”

“True,” Kallok nodded. “But it’s just not cute enough, the bow was cuter.”

“Do we have a loop with pink beads or crystals in it?” Nallo asked.

“Maybe somewhere...” Kallok muttered as she put two more silver bands on Rainbow Dash’s hindlegs.

Shibu this whole time was patiently watching and nodding along as the wide variety of jewelry was exhausted on Rainbow Dash. She would frequently smile or frown depending on what was put on the pony, the final word on whether something was cute enough or not. Rainbow Dash was certain that if there were cameras here she and every other customer would be snapping tons of pics.

In the end, after being used as a living prop, Rainbow Dash was left with four silver bands that had flowers engraved on them on each leg, a golden necklace with orange crystals around her neck, hoop earrings that dangled from thread-thin golden chain, and a golden loop studded with pink pearls at the end of her tail. Combined with the fashionable way her mane and tail were done and she looked fit to party in Canterlot.

Rainbow Dash looked down at herself and grimaced. “Couldn’t you, couldn’t you at least have found something patterned with like swords or lightning bolts instead?”

“No, you look adorable, it’s perfect,” Shibu said, patting her on the back.

“I am not adorable,” Rainbow grumbled.

Shibu was undeterred. “What does everyone think of the final product?” She said, stepping away from Dash so absolutely everyone could see the jewelry bedecked pony.

Rainbow blushed as almost twenty different mammoths clapped and voiced their approval for what Nallo, Kallok, and Gobu had put her through. It was probably really good advertisement for the three of them. But she really wished it would just be over. She was confident that she could just about rock any sort of look, and still be awesome and kick butt even looking like this, but standing around while everyone thought about how cute she looked? It was very embarrassing.

Please let’s just go home already. She lamented.

“Bwahahahahaha!”

“Pffff! Hahahahahaha!”

Both Larkon and Alykon were rolling on the floor laughing at her when she got back and Shibu happily showed her day’s work off to them. Samarkon just snorted in derision and walked away. Rainbow Dash glared at the two mammoths the entire time, looking forward to being able to take off all this stuff the moment she got away from Shibu. It couldn’t come fast enough.

A Mammoth of a Goodbye

It was the dawn of a new day.

Literally. It was the day after Rainbow Dash defeated Karkona and the children he had kidnapped were rescued. Rainbow Dash hadn’t even bothered telling anyone about Blizzard when she came back to the city last evening, instead she made a beeline straight for Larkon’s house. Not finding him there she went to town’s square where everything looked and sounded very busy. She was welcomed back by happy mammoths, especially so when she told them that she had succeeded and defeated Karkona, and in the excitement she almost forgot to ask about Larkon in the first place.

But she did. And that took her to the hospital.

While Larkon did his best to not make her feel bad she couldn’t help but be upset at what had happened to him. She felt like it was her fault, and that she could’ve done more. Larkon had absolutely none of that though. As he told her it was his choice and he didn’t regret making it. Besides, she had defeated Karkona and saved the day, which was exactly what he wanted and believed in her to do. Shibu, Alykon, Norma, Ansel, and Mallom all welcomed her warmly and congratulated her on her victory. And soon after the non-family members left to spread the word to everyone else who didn’t already know, Mallom told her that by tomorrow things would be back to normal and she’d be regarded as the hero of the city.

That made her feel a little bit better.

Almost as good as when Samarkon apologized to her for everything he had done and how he had acted. Rainbow Dash smiled and patted his head when he did that, the kid still had a long way to go and repairing the relationship with his family would take time but he had at least taken the first step. Rainbow Dash knew she wouldn’t be here much longer but she wanted to spend some of the time she had left with Samarkon if she could. Some real, personal, time.

If it wasn’t for Larkon’s crippling it would’ve felt good in that doctor’s office. Things could be peaceful again and it was mostly thanks to her saving the day. This was the kind of adventure she had always wanted on this journey.

After Rainbow Dash finished telling Larkon everything the doctor said they really should let him have some rest, so Rainbow Dash and his family bid him farewell for the night and went back home. She gave him a brief hug on the way out and made him promise not to tell anyone about it.

Despite her regrets she slept well that night in Larkon’s guest bedroom.

But now it was the new day and much needed to be done. There were a lot of mammoths for her to meet up with, a lot of celebrating to be had, and most likely a lot of goodbyes that she needed to say before she left. Which was likely today now that her job was done. Other adventures called after all. She wouldn’t rush things but she was going to make it clear to Larkon when she met up with him later that she intended to go soon.

The first thing she did today though was have a big hearty breakfast with Shibu, Alykon, and Samarkon.

“Now this, this is some good kelp,” Rainbow Dash said as she chomped down on her breakfast.

“You don’t have to flatter me, Rainbow Dash,” Shibu said, although she still puffed up in pride. “But I’m glad I’ve made you a true believer in kelp.”

“Mhm,” Rainbow Dash nodded with a mouth full of the stuff. Maybe she could take some dried kelp with her when she left?

“What were you going to do today after visiting Larkon?” Shibu asked her.

“Hm,” Rainbow Dash feigned thought. “Well I’ve got to talk to Bakol and the senate probably, there are some other mammoths I want to check in on too...” her eyes drifted to Alykon. “I’d like to say hi to Dathon and see how he’s doing.”

Alykon smiled, she had been a little melancholic even with Dathon’s return but she was trying her best. “He’d be happy to see you, me, Makom, and Orsal are going to visit him later today too.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Great, I’ll tag along.”

She looked over at Samarkon too but he was only paying attention to his food. If Alykon had been a little melancholic then Samarkon was full on depressed. She didn’t feel any of the anger from him anymore or the barely restrained annoyance. He didn’t seem like he was holding himself back from saying something mean to his family, he just had nothing to say. Guilt was hurting him pretty badly. Guilt and sorrow.

Might as well try something.

“Hey, Samarkon? You want to come with me when I go to see your dad?” She asked.

He jumped slightly, surprised that she was talking to him, and looked over at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Alykon and Shibu were surprised too, although Shibu’s face was much more reserved. Samarkon seemed to be thinking for a second before he just looked down at the floor and frowned.

“I don’t know… I don’t think so,” he said, his voice a shell of its former robust self.

“Come on,” Rainbow Dash said. She put just a little bit of force into her voice so Samarkon would know this wasn’t exactly a request. “I want to talk to you, and your dad will be happy to see you.”

“Umm...” he clearly wanted to decline but he saw in Dash’s eyes that she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Alright. I guess we’re going soon?”

“Yep!” Dash nodded. “Just gotta finish eating first.”

After finishing their meal and saying goodbye to Shibu (and promising Alykon that they’d meet back up later today) Rainbow Dash left the house with Samarkon and started to make her way to the doctor’s office Larkon was still staying at. The doctor said he’d only need to be there a couple of days and Rainbow Dash was going to try and see if she could take him out to Tarmok’s Hall so they could speak with Bakol and the others together. She was expecting to have to get in argument with the doctor when she suggested that though…

Rainbow Dash was lost in her thoughts that it was a surprise when Samarkon actually spoke up without being prodded first.

“Why do you want to talk to me? Don’t you hate me?” He asked her, his eyes still looking down at the ground as he walked instead of up at her.

She looked up in thought and rubbed her chin for a second. “Hate? No, not really. Never did actually. I hated Karkona, but you always just came off as a dumb kid. No offense.”

He winced. “I-It’s fine...”

Dash rolled her eyes and lowered herself in the air so she could get right at eye level with him. “Hey. Look at me. You want to know something about one of my friends? Her name’s Starlight Glimmer, she was a huge, huge, jerk who did some awful things. And she did them as an adult too, not as a kid like you. I’m not saying that what you did wasn’t bad or that you can just excuse all of it by saying you’re just a kid. But what you can do is make up for it, and if you’re honest and genuine I’ll be totally willing to be your friend and forgive you. Cause I’m just awesome like that. Everyone makes mistakes, you’ve just gotta be willing to put in the effort to fix things. At least to me it looks like you at least know what you did was wrong.”

“I just… I thought it was right.” Samarkon sniffled.

“So did Starlight,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “It’s at least better than being selfish I guess. That’s one of the reasons I never hated you, and still don’t, sometimes as a kid you can’t help being ignorant and get the wrong idea about things. Or put your faith into the wrong creature. It happens.”

Samarkon was silent for a moment before he looked ahead down the road. “I want to help make things better, for my father. I want to show him that I care now and what I believe in.”

“That’s the spirit!” Rainbow Dash reached over and ruffled the fur on top of his head and then flew in front of him. “Then let the first thing be that you can show him is how you’re friends with a pony!” She stuck out her hoof at him.

Samarkon stood there, staring at her hoof, before a true smile appeared on his face and he lifted up his trunk to grasp her hoof.

Rainbow Dash grinned and shook it up and down. “Friends.”

The two of them continued their walk/flight to the doctor’s office in silence, enjoying each other’s presence and carrying big smiles on their faces. More snow covered the ground than usual this morning as it seems many mammoths were taking a day of rest or helping out with other things that concerned recent events. Town’s square was still a bustling center of activity when they got there as many parents were out having fun with their children or wanting to lift the spirits of the city as best they could. Dash saw a greater number of musicians and performers than she had ever seen in one place before in the city. It was a satisfying and rewarding sight to her. A few masons were also working on fixing up the broken stones from where Rainbow Dash learned last night Larkon had fallen. Soon it would be nothing more than a memory.

Now of course once Rainbow Dash was seen by the mammoths around town’s square she was instantly mobbed by them. Adults and children alike asking her questions about what had happened in detail and thanking her for defeating Karkona. Normally she’d bask in this like a celebrity but she really needed to get to Larkon and this was clearly making Samarkon uncomfortable too. He was shying away from everyone else while they swarmed Rainbow Dash.

“Okay, okay, thanks everyone but I really need to go do some important stuff today,” Rainbow Dash said as she flew over their heads. “Sorry but I bet you’ll be able to read about it in your newspaper tomorrow—and I’ll try and get back here and celebrate with you all some more later today.”

The crowd was disappointed but they respected her wishes, besides, they had plenty of partying they could do on their own.

“Thank you, Rainbow Dash!” One kid holding a balloon said and waved to her.

She smiled and waved right back before heading out of the square with Samarkon. This place was one of the few areas of the city that actually was cleaned up and bereft of snow just thanks to all the mammoths that had been coming in and out. While she went down some of the streets on the way to the doctor’s office she saw so many kids out playing and families having a good time together. She wondered if some of them were senators and their children, she really didn’t know the senators well enough to recognize all but a few of them.

Either way the sight warmed her heart and made her even more proud of herself. She flipped over a couple of times while she flew along and then glanced at Samarkon.

“If you try hard enough then maybe one day you’ll be a mammoth the rest of the city adores,” she said.

He actually blushed slightly in embarrassment, staring at the road as he walked. “I’d like that but I don’t even know where to start.”

“Hey, it’ll come slowly,” she shrugged. “Just start by being nice.”

That was really all the advice that was needed. And even though she was pretty confident in her ability to make rousing speeches she wasn’t as good at this kind of stuff as Twilight was. “Be awesome”, that’s all she needed to say, right?

After that they made it to the doctor’s office in short order. Larkon was staying in a room for recovering patients, at the moment he was the only one in there. When they first flew into the office though the doctor was chatting with another mammoth in the waiting area.

“Sup, doc!” Rainbow Dash waved. “Larkon awake?”

The doctor scowled at her crass interruption and nodded, getting right back to the conversation with the other mammoth.

“Thanks!” Dash said and took the lead as she and Samarkon went through another door in the office and ended up in a hallway that took them to a number of different rooms.

“That mammoth he was talking to was a senator,” Samarkon said when they were in the hallway. “If he had kids one of them might’ve been hurt and is getting treatment here...”

Rainbow Dash nodded and looked down at him. “Hope you’re not letting yourself feel guilty about that? Besides, I heard no one was seriously hurt. Let bygones be bygones at this point.”

“Mm,” Samarkon grunted noncommittally.

They got to the room where Larkon was and Rainbow Dash pushed the door open. Six beds took up the majority of the room, only one of them in use at the moment. Larkon lied on his stomach on the one in the middle and on the left side of the room, his head perked up immediately when they entered and he smiled at his visitors. Rainbow Dash could see the surprise on his face when he noticed Samarkon had come with her but it was the good and happy kind of surprise.

“Rainbow Dash! Samarkon!” Larkon beamed and beckoned them over with his trunk.

“Hey Larkon, how do you feel?” Rainbow Dash asked with an awkward smile on her face. It still hurt to see him like this and know he couldn’t walk anymore. Samarkon was probably feeling way worse too but they still both went up to his bedside.

He dismissively waved his trunk at her. “Fine, fine, don’t bother with that. I assume you came here first thing because you wanted to get the boring stuff out of the way?”

“Kind of… figured the senate would want to know the specifics about what happened, and what you would want to do now,” she rubbed the back of her neck. “Do you think your doctor will be mad if you go to Tarmok’s Hall?”

“Hahahaha,” Larkon laughed at the idea. “Yes, he would be. Tarmok’s Hall is not exactly very accessible to a mammoth in my condition either, but it’s no matter, I’ve taken care of it.”

“Yeah?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.

“I had an assistant of the doctor’s run off to the Hall to fetch Bakol and some of the others so they can come here. Then we can discuss things,” Larkon said.

Samarkon looked back and forth between the two of them while they talked, confused. “Uhh, what do you mean by what you’re going to do now?”

Larkon smiled at his son. “I’m glad you asked, because it’s something I think you can help with a great deal. I’m going to request the senate approve the demolition of the slums and the reintegration of all the mammoths still living there back into the city. It’s the right thing to do. Especially with the threat of Karkona and his most ardent followers gone.”

“I… me? You think I can help with that?” Samarkon pointed at himself with his trunk.

Larkon chuckled and nodded. “Yes, if you want to.”

The young mammoth seemed hesitant and he looked up at Rainbow Dash to see what she thought. A quick wink from her gave him all the assurance he needed. He gulped. “I’ll do it.”

“I’m proud of you, Samarkon.” Larkon reached out his trunk and pulled his son into a hug. “I meant what I said yesterday. And don’t you dare ever blame yourself for what happened to me. Same as Rainbow Dash.”

“Okay...” Samarkon sniffled and leaned into his father’s hug.

Rainbow Dash smiled at the warm family moment before stretching her wings and letting herself plop down onto the bed right next to Larkon’s. “So I guess we wait now until Bakol and whoever else is coming gets here? I wonder if I should have the doc take a look at me? I feel pretty good thanks to how tough the Spring made me but Karkona still got a few nasty hits in.”

“Speaking of that...” Larkon said as he looked across at her. “How long will that power stay with you? Did it truly go off without a hitch?”

“Far as I can tell?” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “And I think I’ll only be like this for another day maybe. I already feel different from yesterday.”

Larkon nodded and sighed in relief. “That’s good, no offense to you of course but I don’t want that power to be used at all if possible.”

“Naw I get it. I know what it means to you, I don’t care that I’m gonna lose it soon, I’m pretty much pure awesomeness even without it anyways,” she said.

Samarkon snorted. “How many times have I heard you say something like that?”

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash laughed—that was the first thing Samarkon had said or done lately that seemed like his own self, but much friendlier. “Don’t lose your lip, kid.”

Rainbow Dash had to do something she hated after that: wait. It took some time for Bakol and the others to get to the doctor’s so she spent the time just talking about nothing with Samarkon and Larkon. It was kind of okay though since for the first time Samarkon was interested in hearing about Equestria and some of the other stuff Rainbow Dash had done before she got here to the mammoth city. By the time their visitors made it here she was already halfway through telling him how her one time nemesis Starlight rescued her and her friends from the Changelings. But that friendly conversation had to pause for now as they heard voice and the sounds of multiple mammoths coming down the hallway. Soon the door to the room was opened and in stepped the party from Tarmok’s Hall.

The first thing Rainbow Dash noticed was the crutch Bakol was using to walk with thanks to Karkona stabbing him only two days ago. It probably wasn’t an easy trip for him but he had made it here anyways. The second was the familiar senator Harrak, Ansel, and Mallom all being in the group as well.

“Larkon,” Bakol smiled sadly when they entered the room and saw him there.

“Hello, Bakol, everyone.” Larkon greeted.

“Hey,” Rainbow Dash waved as well.

An awkward silence hung over the room for a minute before Harrak spoke up. “We… the senate I mean… would like to apologize to the both of you. For perpetuating this situation and ignoring what you said about Karkona.”

“There’s nothing we can do to thank you enough,” Bakol said. “Especially you, Rainbow Dash. This isn’t even your city, your people, and you still put your life on the line for us.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “It’s just what I do. I’m glad you guys and your kids are okay, but yeah, this probably wouldn’t have happened if you listened to Larkon.”

“There are other things too that we need to talk about,” Larkon said to the assembled mammoths. “Not just about what recently happened with Karkona, but problems that have been in our society for too long now.”

Bakol and Harrak shared a look and the speaker looked back to appraise Larkon. “It seems you’ve been wanting to have a talk like this for a while.

Larkon nodded. “Yes. And there is much to discuss.”

With the actually important government and rebuilding stuff out of the way for her, Rainbow Dash wanted to spend a little more free time in the city revisiting some of the mammoths she had met during her stay. If this was her final day she at least wanted to show her face around one more time. She had left Samarkon with Larkon for now so they could talk one on one, something they sorely needed to do. And after saying bye to Mallom and the others she had sped off out of the hospital. Too many mammoths to see and places to go in one day. And she didn’t even have a full day free to herself to do it since she’d need to meet up with Alykon and say hi to Dathon and the others too later.

And then around supper time, Larkon said that the whole family would be coming to the doctor’s office to visit him, along with Abalun. Rainbow Dash decided it was then that she was going to tell everyone she was leaving.

But Rainbow Dash’s speed was no empty boast and now that she wasn’t leisurely flying around just looking for whatever she could at least get to anywhere she wanted in the city in an instant.

And outside of the city in an instant, since the first place she actually ended up going to were the farms and the quarry. The pony from Equestria was briefly popping in to visit everyone she had before and show her face around the city. Now she wasn’t just some guest but a celebrated hero and she flew low everywhere she went so mammoths on the ground could see her and she would wave down and smile at them.

There weren’t really any mammoths out working at the farms today but there were still mammoths around, and the ones who lived out at the barns and big farmhouses. Rainbow Dash remembered her first visit here, and her second one didn’t really end up being any longer. She ducked her head in and said hi to the surprised old farmer and his mammoth family while telling them they had a great city and she was really happy to be able to visit and see it before she flew back out onto the next stop.

The quarry was actually even more devoid of other mammoths but there was a skeleton crew who had come to make sure the snow didn’t bury too much and do a modicum of work to make it so things didn’t fall too far behind. Again Dash only showed her face for a moment to say hi to the overseers and the few teams of mammoths working down in the quarry. Everyone deserved to see her at least one more time before she left the city so that’s what she was going to do. These guys were friendly and she had a good first visit here, she owed it to them that they personally got to see their new hero.

Her next stop was Captain Gollak and the docks. She hoped he was around there since she had no idea where he actually lived. But fate was smiling on her (like it normally did) and she found him at the same building for sailors that she had first met him at. He was surprised to see her again, and eternally grateful for what she had done for his people. His one wish that she sadly couldn’t let him fulfill was taking her out on a cruise over the lake again. She said goodbye to him and his crew after a few minutes of talk and telling them how exactly she had beaten Karkona, then she was off into the sky.

To get a nice snack at Norma’s.

Naturally Norma was more than happy to give Rainbow Dash an herb crusted roll of bread for free, which Rainbow graciously accepted. She also was forced to accept a crushing hug. But it was worth it if it meant the great food. She told Norma about talking to Larkon today, and how he was looking alright, something she was very happy to hear. Besides that Norma wanted to know if she was doing alright too, and the same with Samarkon. Well even if Rainbow was feeling bad she wouldn’t let anyone know it so she just told Norma that she was fine too. Samarkon would need a little more work still though. Norma hoped that Larkon and his son would be getting along better now, and on that point Rainbow Dash gave her a smile and reassured her that they definitely would.

After that there were only a few more minor stops for her before she eventually went to find Alykon. She visited the stylist and her daughter that had worked on Rainbow Dash’s mane at the behest of Shibu, she visited the jewelers that she had also first met thanks to Shibu. And then kind of backtracking across the city she also hung out with Orsak and his guards at the eastern gate to the city, playing another couple of rounds of cards with them before flying off again. Her flight took her over the eastern wall and she checked out the area around which those punk kids had tried to bother her, the Trunkball court where she had also first met Alykon’s team was in this area too. It was nice to just be flying over everything without anything hanging over her head. Rainbow Dash was well satisfied (for the moment) in her desire for adventure and excitement. So now she was just giving all the mammoths a treat and appreciating their city at the same time.

From there she went all the way to the other side of the city and flew over the homes in the old part of town where a lot of the elderly mammoths lived. Even they had become aware of what had happened and greeted Rainbow Dash with smiles when she flew in low down their streets.

The slums were right across the river too… but Rainbow Dash decided not to go back to them. She had seen enough of the slums and soon they would be gone soon. Now it was Larkon and Samarkon’s job to fix and help the mammoths that lived there. It wasn’t a task for Rainbow Dash.

The rest of her time was spent with her just meandering about in the skies above the city, she flew all over, said hi to any mammoths she saw, hung out at town’s square for a little while and partook in the happy festivities. It was a Rainbow Dash kind of day. There was only so much she could do before she ran out of time though and had to find Alykon. So she finished up the snowcone she had gotten with a bunch of mammoth children and said her farewells to them, blasting away from the square while the hundreds of mammoths all waved their trunks at her.

It ended up with her meeting Alykon back at their house and the two of them taking a nice walk all the way up to Harrak’s house on the north side of the city. Rainbow asked that they went through backstreets instead of going through town’s square again right after she left it. Alykon was talkative, telling Rainbow Dash how happy she was that Rainbow had stopped Karkona, and because of her that Dathon was okay. She also made it clear that she was still angry at Samarkon, something Rainbow couldn’t blame her for but at least tried to persuade her to give him a chance. Alykon also went on about how nice it would be to play Trunkball together with her team again and have Rainbow Dash coach them. Something which sent a pang of guilt through blue pony.

At least she’d get to see Dathon, Makom, and Orsal before she left. Those three earned it and she hoped they would keep getting better and better at Trunkball and become a real team that could contend with the best.

The welcoming at Dathon’s house was very warm, his mother personally thanked Rainbow Dash for what she had done as well. And Harrak ended up apologizing some more. As much as she told him to stop. After that was done with though she just hung out with Dathon and the others, who had already arrived before Dash and Alykon. They asked Dathon what being kidnapped and stuck in the slums was like and he rolled his eyes in annoyance. Then naturally the Trunkball players were very interested in how Rainbow Dash had fought against the unstoppable Karkona. And of course Dathon, Makom, and Orsal all asked her to help them at their next practice and watch their next game, just like Alykon had.

She had to brush that off.

But she still gave them her undivided attention while she was here and when it was time to go she shared a hoof bump with all three of them and waved goodbye when she and Alykon left through the front door. She was going to miss them, they were some cool kids. At least she knew how much she had helped them and all the confidence she had given them. One more accomplishment in this city.

This big city… she was going to miss all of it.

The patients’ room was very crowded when Rainbow Dash returned to it. The doctor had begrudgingly allowed this get together just because of it being for Larkon and Rainbow Dash’s sake. So now Larkon stayed on his bed surrounded by his wife, his children, his old friend Abalun, and his new friend Rainbow Dash. Shibu had brought a thin stew from home for them all to share for supper, it was something Larkon could more easily stomach than something solid.

“You really didn’t all need to take the trouble to do this,” Larkon said to his gathered friends and family.

Shibu playfully slapped him on the head with her trunk. “Yes we did.”

“Even if you’ll be fine to go home in a few days I figured you could use something like this too,” Abalun said.

“I hope you don’t really have to use a cart to wheel yourself around in forever, dad,” Alykon said as she came up beside his bed.

“It looks like I may have to,” Larkon said as he hugged his daughter. “But if it was for all of you then I would make that trade again and again.”

Samarkon looked like he wanted to say he was sorry again but stopped when he remembered his father’s earlier words. “I’ll help you out however you need me too, dad.”

“Thank you,” Larkon smiled. “I imagine I will have some difficulty getting used to it at first, I’ll probably need to rely on you all for a bit of time.”

Rainbow Dash then flew over by his head. “Don’t worry dude, you’re pretty awesome so I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it quickly.” She smiled and offered him her hoof and Larkon grinned back before bumping it with his trunk. Rainbow Dash then stretched and looked over at Abalun. “So what about you? What are you going to be up to now?”

“Actually Larkon asked if I could help out Samarkon with his task, since I know the most about the slums and the mammoths that live there,” Abalun said and looked over at Samarkon with an appraising eye. “I look forward to working with you.”

“Me too,” Samarkon nodded.

Larkon smiled and looked across the gathered mammoths (and pony). “I’m glad we can all be here together like this. I’m glad things are finally alright in this city.”

Dash smiled too and there was a moment of silence between them all. Which to her was as good a sign as any that now she should finally speak up.

“Uh, I have something to say,” she said as she raised her hoof for everyone to see.

“What is it?” Larkon raised an eyebrow at her while the rest turned to look.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and steadied herself, dropping to the floor. “I’m leaving. Tonight.”

All of them reacted at once, with Shibu looking sad, Abalun and Samarkon surprised, Alykon incredibly shocked and disappointed… and Larkon knowingly with a small and sad smile on his face.

Alykon actually ran right up to Rainbow Dash and nearly bowled her over. “You can’t leave! What about—what about everything?!”

“Sorry, Alykon, but—I’ve got other places to go,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “This was great but I’ve still got more adventuring to get back to. I was never going to stay here for that long in the first place and now that Karkona’s taken care of… there’s just nothing that I need to do here anymore.”

“But does it have to be so soon?” Shibu asked her as Alykon sputtered.

Dash nodded. “Yeah. Sorry again but I can’t get caught up for days and days saying goodbye to everyone and getting roped into other stuff. I wanted to say goodbye to you all for sure cause you’re all important to me but otherwise I need to get back out there. If I don’t leave now I don’t know when I’ll get it in me to leave again.”

“That’s not fair!” Alykon cried, wiping away the newly forming tears at her eyes.

“Alykon, don’t be like that,” Shibu said.

“But-” Alykon started.

“It’s alright,” Rainbow Dash said and flew up, patting Alykon on the head. “You just keep being awesome and win your next Trunkball game for me, okay? And then the one after that and the one after that too.”

Alykon sniffled and looked like she wanted to say a whole lot more but in the end she just nodded. “Okay...”

Rainbow Dash grinned and looked at the others. “And that’s the same for the rest of you too. Keep being awesome.”

Samarkon, Abalun, Shibu, and Larkon all smiled back at her fully now. The first true friendships between mammoths and ponies since… ever. They had created something amazing here.

“I knew you would want to leave soon,” Larkon said. “Though I wished you would stay longer I won’t try to convince you to. Adventure calls, doesn’t it?”

“It really does,” Rainbow nodded.

“I have one request then,” Larkon got serious. “When you return to your home, tell them about us. The good and the bad. Let others know the truth about us mammoths and that we’re still here doing the best we can. If on your journey you’re asked what you’ve seen so far in the north tell them about us too. It has been too long that the mammoths have been locked away and forgotten. Even if we are met with fear we will simply have to face that and do our best to make others love and trust us.”

“You’ve got it, Larkon. You don’t have to worry about anything, I’ll set the record straight on you mammoths,” Rainbow Dash told him.

Larkon smiled, a single tear glistening at his eye. “Thank you.”

Rainbow Dash took in a breath and exhaled. “Well, guess that’s it then. I’ll be going now.”

“Wait! Hold on just one moment,” Shibu said before Rainbow Dash could go.

“What’s up?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at her.

“I’m giving you a parting gift,” Shibu winked and walked up to her, her trunk reaching to Dash’s mane and beginning to curl up the wild locks.

Rainbow’s eyes widened and she attempted to back up, but was caught in the mammoth’s grip already. “No! No way! No more hair braiding!”

“Oh hush now,” Shibu smirked. “You’ll let me do this one last time for you, won’t you?”

“Oh come on… guilt tripping me like that isn’t fair,” Dash blushed.

“You look good in braids anyways,” Larkon laughed at her.

“Shut up...”

And so her last few minutes in the mammoth city were spent in supreme embarrassment as everyone watched Shibu braid her mane and then made a number of very appreciative and complimentary comments about it. After that was finished she said a final goodbye to them all and made her way out of the doctor’s office. The sun was close to setting as she rose into the sky over the city and gave it all one last look, her gaze lingering on both Tarmok’s Hall and the slums for a moment before a smile broke across her face. Tossing her braid over her shoulder she spread her wings and aimed herself true north—the next part of her journey, whatever it may be, was dead ahead.

Someone further north knew she was coming.

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnNehKK64as

The Eternal Furnace XI

Rainbow Dash didn’t want to bother Night Reader and Brilliant Star by returning to their home so late at night so she ended up sleeping in the maintenance tunnels with the Nail’s Wrenchers. As it turned out, Frayed Wire and his group kept whole barrels of chilled gruel around. It was disgusting but what else was she going to do? At least it meant she didn’t have to go to bed on an empty stomach. There were also some ragged bedrolls they used to keep themselves from having to sleep on the cold metal, so those were warmly welcome too.

She wasn’t sure exactly what her next move was going to be but having one gang on her side and relatively neutral still made her feel at ease for the moment. She had some inroads made with the Diesel Kings too so it might be best to get back to working on them too. Although she wasn’t sure how they’d react to her coming back after working with the Nail’s Wrenchers. Probably poorly. Especially if they ended up getting word of her reuniting the two factions back together, helping their enemy wouldn’t go over well with either the Diesel Kings or Thunderbirds. Regardless of her motive. Hopefully she’d be able to still work with them and get them to realize that what she was doing was to make none of them a threat to each other and help them equally. But would they see that far ahead?

Rainbow Dash stretched and yawned as she finally woke up the following morning. Later than she had wanted to. “That’s what I get for doing so much after work was over and not just getting to bed.”

It almost made her feel bad for the Thunderbirds and all the other ponies who had to travel down the housing blocks before they got to their homes. Now that her mind was on the gangs though she frowned as she thought about the Black Hoofs. Were they going to keep interfering and attacking her? Or maybe they got the message after failing twice in a row. Either way she was going to keep her eyes sharp when it came to that gang and then she could deal with Silver Tooth in time too.

“So you’re finally awake?”

Rainbow Dash turned to the voice and saw Cast Iron standing in the cramped tunnels with her, she had two bowls of gruel and she slid one over across the smooth metal floor to Dash. “Eat up then.”

“Thanks,” Dash said as the bowl came to a stop by her hooves. It wasn’t exactly the best gift she could’ve hoped for but some more food before work was good too.

Cast Iron at least wasn’t being horrible anymore either. Though still not exactly talkative.

It took only a second for Rainbow Dash to gulp down the gruel with Cast Iron also eating her share as the two sat down with each other. Rainbow Dash swallowed and wiped her mouth clean before shooting a questioning look to Cast Iron. “So what time is it anyways? When’s work going to start?”

riiiiiiiiiiiinnnggggg!!!

“Oh,” Dash said as she looked up at the ceiling of the tunnel. “Guess that answers that.”

Cast Iron nodded as she stood up. “Yep, better get going.”

“Alright, I’ll come with you guys for now,” Dash said as she stood up and stretched once more. “But I’m probably not going to work with you today. I’m thinking of going back to work with the Diesel Kings to win them over too.”

Cast Iron frowned. “Hrn, can’t exactly say I’m happy to hear that. I still think what you’re trying to do is pretty outlandish”

“If the Diesel Kings come around to my way of thinking you won’t have to fight them anymore though,” Rainbow shrugged.

“I guess...” Cast Iron thought for a second and scoffed. “Just do whatever you want, that seems to be your strength anyways.”

“You’re right about that,” Dash grinned and they started walking through the tunnels to the work area together.

She caught up with Nut and Frayed Wire (who were both working today) and told them that she wasn’t going to be working with them again for today. Naturally the both of them had responses similar to Cast Iron but the fact of the matter was they owed her enough to let her do what she wanted. Nut was at least approaching something that could be called “nice” towards Rainbow Dash and Frayed Wire was pragmatic enough and didn’t want to cause any schisms by going back on what he had said yesterday.

So for just a bit she followed them and then branched off with Nut to go to the furnace room, and going from there to walking across the work area on her way to where the Diesel Kings worked.

Out of curiosity’s sake, she looked up at the ceiling of the work area to check out the catwalks the security team used to watch over everything. Crush was up there. She could see his big form as he stalked back and forth on the walkways.

“Relax up there while you can, buddy,” Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow. She was going to bring this whole system down and enjoy it.

Because of the time it took to get from the tunnels to here the Diesel Kings were already well at work by the time she arrived. And she just ended up getting a bunch of unwelcome stares from most of them and the rest ignored her. She didn’t see Double Duty at all either, maybe he wasn’t working today? That was kind of unfortunate since she wanted the chance to talk with him about her plans and desires.

Soot Mane was there giving her the nastiest look of all though. The mare ditched what she had been doing to walk right over to Rainbow Dash in these ultra-cramped quarters.

“Well, look who’s back. You have enough fun with the Wrenchers? Think you can just come back here and us Diesel Kings will treat you all nicely again?”

“You never treated me nicely. But yeah, I guess?” Dash shrugged. “I know you need as many hooves working as you can get. And I’m here to help all of you, which is what I’ve been saying from the beginning, so here I am.”

Soot Mane scowled. “Then get to work or buzz off then!”

“Fine by me,” Dash replied.

“And don’t try and push any of your garbage here cause we aint buying it! Maybe if you had really joined up with us we could’ve done something with you but you’re just a snake who’s trying to play all sides. No loyalty to anyone.” Soot Mane said.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed. “I’m made of loyalty. There’s no angle here, Soot Mane. I want you Diesel Kings to get back to normal so you can all stop being so terrible to each other and living so horribly. That’s why I’m talking and working with everyone down here.”

“Whatever. Diesel Kings only care about other Diesel Kings,” Soot Mane said as she went off back to her work, leaving Rainbow Dash alone.

She still didn’t have the best grasp of things to do down here so for the first couple of minutes she wavered about looking around for something that suited her. It ended up with her taking a wire brush and scrubbing grime and grease off the ceiling of this under room and any pipes that ran up there. The privilege of being a pegasus. Even though with how squat this place was a unicorn would probably have a better time of doing this. So much of the dirt and stuff just fell onto her face or her wings and she had to constantly try rubbing it out with a rag—that was also dirty. So she ended up just as greasy and grimy as what she had been cleaning as a trade-off. Couldn’t really complain though since everyone else was about the same.

There was no one who asked her to do anything else this time though, and no one who showed her anything specific. She was essentially being shutout by the Diesel Kings. Even the ones she recognized and had helped out the last time she was down here refused to pay attention or actually associate with her.

“Ostracized, huh?” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself as she dug her brush in and out of between two pipes. “Thanks for the vocab lessons, Twilight.”

A short time later she found herself under the machines armed only with a screwdriver and poking away at the rats trying to eat at the wires and making a mess of things. It was bad work but if she was going to be here she was still going to show the Diesel Kings that she’d take on the worst of the worst down here. Fluttershy would not approve of what she was doing but it’s not like Dash could talk to animals and just politely ask them to stop breaking things. The ponies living in this city relied on these machines to keep running.

She poked a particularly big rat and watched as he and the rest all scattered and ran into open pipes and holes on the floor, kicking up a bunch of dust and making Rainbow Dash cough.

“Hrk!” Rainbow Dash coughed a few more times and shimmied backwards to get out from under the machine. “Ughh, this is awful...”

Now she was even messier than before and she really didn’t want to think about the fact that not all of it was dirt.

Rainbow Dash cracked her neck and looked around for a new rag that could hopefully clean her up a lot better. She doubted anyone here would be willing to give her one though. Rainbow Dash was probably going to be feeling and smelling pretty awful for the rest of the day.

A loud clamoring noise then grabbed her attention and the attention of the other Diesel Kings around her. It sounded like a big machine was going on the fritz. Rainbow Dash and a bunch of others ran towards the sound, shortly feeling vibrations coming through the floor and hearing some others shouting. Rainbow Dash recognized Soot Mane’s loud voice among them. Rounding a corner, Rainbow Dash came out in front of the toxic waste machine that she had worked out last time. It was shaking and growling with steam coming out of the seams and oil leaking from the front panel.

The stallion who she had worked with was being yelled at and shaken by Soot Mane in front of the machine.

“What’s going on?! What did you do?!” Soot Mane yelled at him.

“Nothing! I don’t know why this is happening!” The stallion yelled back, pale in the face.

“Turn it off, just shut it down!” Another pony yelled.

“We can’t have it break down in here it’ll flood the floor with toxic waste!” A fourth voice joined in.

Rainbow Dash gulped as she watched the shaking pipe that fed into the machine from the ceiling. The screws and bolted plates that kept it down looked like they were in danger of snapping. “This aint good...”

Soot Mane noticed how bad things were too and tossed the stallion to the side, running to the side of the machine and punching open a panel that Rainbow Dash hadn’t noticed on it before. The panel popped out and inside was a single red lever with a dusty sign above it reading “Emergency Shutdown”. Soot Mane hesitated for a second before grabbing the red lever and pulling it down, grunting because of how stiff and unused it was.

Once the lever was pulled down the machine gave a final lurch and whine before all the gauges switched off and the shaking stopped. It seemed the worst had been avoided.

But they weren’t out of danger just yet. Sparks started to fly from the panel around the lever, it seems that thing wasn’t kept clean or maintained well enough, and Rainbow Dash could hear something grinding and about to snap inside the machine. She bolted over quickly as Soot Mane took a fearful step back and squeezed her eyes shut, able to tell that something bad was about to happen.

Rainbow Dash reached her and knocked her out of the way just as the panel exploded right where her face would’ve been, jagged metal, gears, fire, and splurts of toxic waste blowing out of the machine. Rainbow Dash and Soot Mane collided with the wall next to the machine and collapsed down to the floor, shaken but more or less okay.

“You...” Soot Mane said as she looked at Rainbow Dash and then at the toxic waste covered spot on the floor where she had just been standing.

“I saved your life. Probably,” Dash grinned and also looked at the gross substance down behind them. “Kind of my thing. Although twice in two days is unusual even for me.”

“But-”

Rainbow Dash silenced her with a hoof. “Don’t ask why. Please. I did it because it’s the right thing to do and that really shouldn’t be tough to get.”

She stood up and turned around to face the other Diesel King’s down here. “And that goes for all of you and anybody else! I would’ve flown in to save anyone just like I did Soot Mane. Does that surprise you? Cause it really shouldn’t! You all spent today ignoring me because I helped some others—but now I hope you know that I’m willing to help anyone in need so much I’ll even risk my own life.” She looked back at Soot Mane. “It doesn’t matter how you acted to me Soot Mane cause I’d do that again and again.”

The mare looked conflicted, not knowing if she should thank Rainbow Dash or what. At least she looked grateful but just too embarrassed or ashamed to voice it.

“Don’t you all want to live in a place where something like that is normal?” Rainbow Dash went back to talking to all of them. “Cause I’d be willing to help make that happen.”

A lot of the Diesel Kings shared uneasy looks with each other. Some of them sad, others just uncertain. Did they have any hope left in them? And if they did did they have the courage to speak up and maybe be the first ones in this gang to try and go a different direction? They had seen the will of Rainbow Dash, her determination and honest beliefs and feelings. And speaking like she just did she had a powerful and commanding presence.

“Thank you,” Soot Mane finally said, barely above a whisper.

Rainbow Dash looked back at her to see her sadly staring at the floor. “It’s no problem.”

“I...” the mare fidgeted and a tear dripped down from her eye. “I think I want us to change… to be more like you.”

Rainbow Dash reached out her hoof and Soot Mane took it, the pegasus from Equestria pulling the city mare back to her hooves. “Okay, it shouldn’t be so tough. I promise things are gonna get better here.”

Demons VI

Down in the housing blocks mass panic had broken out when the lights went out and it had only gotten worse once ponies began to realize that the heating and air had been shut off too. Night Reader and Brilliant Star were fortunate enough to have one of their neighbors be a unicorn who knew how to make a flashlight out of his horn. He led them and a number of others on their row safely down the stairs where everyone could talk in the middle without worrying about hitting anything. At that point though, with no one who really knew what was going on and no pony in a leadership position, it started to devolve into chaos.

There were too few lights, things were getting cold, and they could all hear panic from the next housing block over. It wouldn’t be long before things really got bad and they were already going through their oxygen quicker than they should thanks to this chaos.

“Do you think Rainbow Dash has something to do with this?” Brilliant Star whispered to her husband.

“I think that’s a very strong possibility,” he answered while being jostled by some other ponies around them.

One of the ponies in the crowd tried shouting over the others. “So what do we do now? Can we get into the work area?”

“The hallway looks totally dark, there’s no way it’s open!” Another answered.

“What about the way to the upper levels?!”

“Why would that be open back up?”

And so it kept going, arguing and panicked shouting back and forth as they tried to think of a solution. Things were deteriorating quickly in here and it was starting to make Brilliant Star, Night Reader, and quite a few others scared. The floors had become so cold beneath their hooves too and despite the body heat of everyone else in here the temperature was just going lower and lower.

A new sound soon broke over their petty arguing, lots of voices were coming from the door that led to the entertainment section and promenade. The regular ponies of the housing block all gathered together in fear at what might be coming. Was it the security force? What was happening?

But instead out of the doors spilled a ton of ponies they all recognized well; gang leaders and members who Rainbow Dash had been on an endeavor against to get them to stop being so awful to themselves and others. From what most of the civilian ponies here knew she had succeeded since they hadn’t heard or seen as much of these guys in the past couple of days. That still didn’t mean they weren’t apprehensive about them all being here while the rest of this disaster went on.

“What’s going on?” Night Reader managed to ask. “You all just came down from the promenade didn’t you, do you know what’s happening?”

“Nothing good,” Double Duty growled, sounding a lot more confrontational than he probably wanted to.

Since that just worried the other ponies more, Nut stepped forward. “This is going to sound really bad—and in truth it is—but we’ve gotta stay calm too.”

She and the others waited for the ponies in the housing block to calm down before she continued. “What’s happened is this: Rainbow Dash, the pony from outside who recently came here for those of you who don’t know, went up to the upper levels to find and talk to Resin.” She paused and bit her lip since none of them knew for sure what had happened up there. “We don’t think it went too well and we aren’t sure what happened to Rainbow Dash. But we’re all sure after talking about it that Resin has completely turned off the power to the lower levels of the city.”

“Then what do we do?” Brilliant Star asked. “If there’s no power for the heating or the ventilation system...”

“We know,” Frayed Wire held up a hoof. “We’re all well aware of what’s going to happen if the power doesn’t come back or that door doesn’t get opened up.”

“For now we wanted to come back here and gather everyone together and take you all up to the promenade so we can be by the door in case it opens,” Acid Rain said.

“Every pony in the housing blocks,” Nut nodded.

That was good to hear but it simultaneously worried a lot of the ponies here too. There were a lot of them and it would take time to get everyone up to the barrier that led to the upper levels. And for something that might never even happen. The energy it would take, while the air got more stale and the temperature dropped, they wouldn’t be in good condition by the end of it.

“All of you can go to the promenade now while we round up the others. Let’s do this as fast as we can,” Double Duty told them.

There wasn’t much disagreement. It did take quite a long time but while the civilian ponies traveled into the entertainment area and up the stairs the gang ponies went throughout the other housing blocks to gather and notify everyone else, including their other gang members. Ponies like Cast Iron and Soot Mane joined up with their leaders and eventually all of the myriad ponies who lived down in these lower levels were brought together and went to ascend to the door that for now was their only hope. With everyone together as well they could start discussing alternative plans and possibilities. After all with this group they had full knowledge of the lower levels. Every last nook and cranny was well known if they put their minds together.

“What about the outer hatches? Why don’t we just go outside?” Soot Mane asked the others.

Frayed Wire shook his head. “They wont open without power.”

“What do you mean they wont open without power? Isn’t there a manual override?” Soot Mane was getting frustrated.

“The outer hatches are specifically designed to not open without power,” Nut explained.

“Who’s the idiot that came up with that design...” Acid Rain sighed and sat down, shaking his head.

“It’s not like it would really do us any good, most of us at least,” Double Duty said. “There’s no food out there, it’s freezing, and only the pegasi would actually be able to get down from the mountain in the first place. At best getting out of the city through the bottom hatches would just delay the inevitable. We need this door to get opened or for the power to come back on.”

Night Reader and Brilliant Star were sitting by the arguing gang leaders and heard everything. Their eyes were now affixed to the door as they thought about Rainbow Dash and wished her well. Soon down here a lot of the unicorns who had been straining themselves would run out of energy and have to turn off their light spells. Others might step up, others might start to rotate, but it was going to get darker among the horde of ponies stuck here too. Colder, darker, and eventually suffocating, that was the near future for these ponies if something wasn’t done.

Stamper the security officer was slammed into the wall and held there by the angry blue pegasus while his team lied unconscious on the ground behind her.

“Where’s Crush?!” Rainbow Dash yelled in his face.

“I-I don’t know!” The scared security officer, who already had one black eye, shook his head. “He’s just somewhere above us going through the jettison procedure, a number of sections have probably already been launched off the city! He’s the only one who can actually jettison the sections so he’s probably carefully going top to bottom while they’re all prepared.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash said and socked him in the jaw, knocking him out.

She was already a decent way back up the higher levels and that was the first group of security ponies she had come across. If he was telling the truth then Crush should be up higher. She needed to really search out through the levels now though, if she came across a jettisoned section it likely meant she had gone too far. But more than doing it carefully she had to do it fast. Already the city was being irreparably changed and there were ponies whose lives were at stake.

Rainbow Dash zoomed through the corridors at full speed even though she had been tired since earlier after dealing with the Crocodile and all the little spider and crab metal monsters. It didn’t matter, she didn’t intend on fighting anybody else in here for now. She could easily fly past and avoid any of the amateur, up-jumped security guards on her way to Crush. And… hopefully she didn’t need to fight him either. Rainbow Dash was pretty sure she wouldn’t have to, he was reasonable, just apathetic. He knew what Resin was doing was wrong but still followed her out of obligation and guilt but after talking to him Rainbow Dash was sure that even he wouldn’t go along with what she was doing if he knew the whole story.

She bit her lip. She couldn’t have told them everything, they wouldn’t be obeying her if they knew the ponies down below were dying. Would they?

Rainbow Dash shook her head. Crush would listen to her, he had to.

When she went a level higher she actually did end up flying past another patrol. They shouted for her but she just ignored them, Resin had probably given them orders to capture her too if they could. Futile orders.

“Tch,” Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue after going around another level and seeing nothing but ponies being herded to interior sections. “I’m going to ask the next group of security ponies if they’ve seen Crush...”

She flew up the nearest flight of stairs and found herself in an argument. In one of the sections that was to be jettisoned a number of ponies were refusing to go along with the security team and get out of there. It looked like it was just some old empty storage section with a dim light in the ceiling and some vents going in and out of it but for whatever reason the ponies in there didn’t want it jettisoned. They were near to fighting with the security ponies so Rainbow Dash flew down and figured she might as well help resolve things in a peaceful manner.

“Hey!” She shouted and landed on top of one of the security officers, pancaking him to the floor while the others jumped in fright at her appearance. “Why don’t you pick on someone else?”

“You’re that outsider we’re supposed to watch out for!” One of them said, there were three others besides the one Rainbow had landed on.

Rainbow Dash snorted and rolled her eyes after stepping off the pony. “What was your first clue? Now I’m gonna give you guys a choice. Either leave these ponies alone and tell me where Crush should be right now or I’m gonna show you how useless that body armor you’re wearing is.”

“No need,” a voice from behind said.

Rainbow Dash turned around right as a red band of magic wrapped itself around her wings, keeping them pinned to her midsection and then dragging her body to the floor.

“Ngh!” She grunted as she was slammed down onto the cold metal and looked up to see Crush walking up to her with his horn alight.

“Found you first. Guess you’ve been causing even more problems since you ran away from Resin,” Crush said. He then looked over at the ponies who had been refusing to leave the section. “Get out and go home.”

They didn’t dare question or fight back against him. With nary a glance to Rainbow Dash the ponies she had been trying to help ran off. Crush watched until they had turned the corner to the stairs before addressing his officers.

“Now the four of you—help that idiot on the floor first—get out your cuffs and restraints and tie this one up,” he nodded at Dash.

“No! Crush, listen to me right now!” Rainbow Dash yelled but had to stop as the band of magic tightened around her body, making her wince in pain.

“I’ve had enough of you, especially with everything else I have to do today,” Crush scowled and walked over to a panel on the wall that was by the section everyone else had been standing in. He pulled a key out from one of his pockets and opened it up while his team grabbed Rainbow Dash and carried her to the floor just right past the perimeter of the nonessential section. The four, including the one helped by his friends, pulled out hoof cuffs and wires from their uniforms that they wrapped around Rainbow’s hooves and wings to keep her restrained. Ending with her bound tight enough to keep her from standing up or walking.

“Crush, you don’t understand!” Rainbow protested. “You don’t know what Resin’s doing!”

“I’m well aware of her plans, why do you think I’m doing this?” He said as he lifted a hoof to hit button number 1 and bring down the bars.

“She’s killing everyone down below!”

Crush stopped right before he touched the button. He, and the others too, looked at Rainbow Dash with surprised and confused expressions. “What are you talking about?”

“She didn’t tell you, did she? She’s not just having you get rid of all these extra parts of the city, she turned off all the power to the lower levels! Everyone down there is going to freeze or suffocate now! You have to believe me! Untie me, tell me what you changed the code to so I can go and save them right now!” She pleaded.

The other security officers were worried but they looked to Crush for answers, waiting for him to make a decision. None of them had the courage to say anything or make a suggestion themselves.

“That’s… that doesn’t make any sense. Resin, even she wouldn’t do something like that,” Crush shook his head although Rainbow Dash could see the doubt and fear in his eyes.

“Yes she would, Crush! You know what’s happened to her, you know she would!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

Crush hesitated. “I… we’ll go and ask her. I’ll take you with me and we can talk to her together!”

Rainbow Dash banged her head against the floor in frustration. “No, Crush, there’s no time! I’m telling you the truth now-”

In the middle of her sentence the grating on a vent inside the soon to be jettisoned section was knocked off. All of the ponies looked over to it in surprise as a pink hoof came out of the vent that was barely big enough for a pony to fit in. The hoof grasped the edge and a pony pulled themselves out of the vent and landed on the floor. She quickly dusted herself off and shook her white mane before looking up with a smile in the direction of the others standing just outside the room.

Heartless’s eyes landed directly on Rainbow Dash and her smile grew while her blue eyes twinkled. “Found you.”

Snow Griffons I

The peaks of these tall and thin mountains were covered in snow while strong winds whipped around them, making flight difficult for her or anyone else who might’ve been up at these altitudes. It was cloudy too with a number of peaks being totally obscured and others poking out above the lowest layer of clouds. The peaks themselves were narrow but not as much as Rainbow Dash would’ve initially thought back when she first spied the mountains. Instead of spears that tapered off into a thin tip the mountains were more like poles with a relatively flat peak that had a decent amount of room on them. Probably enough where you could even build a pretty large building on top of them. But who would want to do that?

A blast of stronger wind buffeted Rainbow Dash and she found herself dusted with a layer of snow.

“Tch,” she clicked her tongue and shook the snow off her while navigating around the nearest mountains. Right and left she flew between the relatively thin but overall still massive pillars of stone. “Instead of a mountain range its like a forest.”

Things were foggy too, down below and ahead she could only see a couple of mountains in the distance before the rest were all obscured by fog. The ground itself was completely invisible due to an impenetrable wall of fog. She was thinking of heading down and checking out the ground and what might be down there but for all she knew it was so foggy she wouldn’t be able to see anything. Not like the ground was going anywhere so she could check it out later, for now she’d stick around the peaks where she could actually see things.

Wind tugging and pushing at her was starting to get annoying up here though. Random currents kept blowing into her face every time she rounded another mountain. For maybe the thousandth time she really wished she had some goggles for her eyes so she didn’t have to squeeze them shut or try to block the wind with her hooves all the time. At least it wasn’t doing something like hailing, raining, or even snowing too bad, so it wasn’t as close to as difficult flying here as it had been in that gigantic storm she had gone through earlier in her journey. Some average winds were no big deal, just annoying.

A loud screech going through the mountains caught Rainbow Dash’s attention and she looked to her right to see a large hawk flying from an outcropping on one of the mountains and diving to the fog below. So there were at least animals here, that was one plus for her. It meant there had to be food and water and a higher chance of other creatures somewhere around too. Rainbow Dash flew closer to the mountain the hawk had gone from and saw a number of nests all built on various lone rocks and secluded areas of it. Some were empty but others had hawks currently resting in them. With her sharp eyes, Rainbow Dash even saw some eggs in the nests.

It brought a smile to her face, though not as much as it would have Fluttershy’s.

She always thought hawks were cool animals, not as cool as tortoises but still really cool. There were probably a lot more in these mountains too and there had to be plenty of prey for them at the same time. Seeing that one hawk dive to the ground, Rainbow Dash was willing to bet there was a forest or at least some sort of place where mice and squirrels and stuff lived. Maybe she should go through the fog right now to check it out? Nah, she still wanted to look up here around the peaks first.

She caught a lucky breeze this time that was coming in from behind and she let herself glide with it past another mountain that actually had some trees growing on it. Their powerful roots dug into and cracked the stone around them, turning most of the face of the mountain into a mess of radiating cracks and fissures. Rock slide city if even a little bit of force was applied to the right point. Considering the shape of these mountains a lot of them were probably in a pretty precarious situation. She wouldn’t be surprised if some ended up naturally collapsing.

With her eyes she tried to pick out if any of these trees had fruit or nuts or something growing on them but she didn’t see any. Would’ve been nice to have a snack but she wasn’t actually hungry yet so it wasn’t a huge deal. Rainbow Dash shrugged and flapped her wings to gain a little more altitude, high enough where she was over most of the peaks again instead of flying between the mountains.

A lot of the ones further into the range were higher though, Rainbow Dash craned her neck up to check them out but they were either surrounded by clouds or shot through them completely. Rainbow would have to fly above the first layer of clouds to see everything if she felt like it. Instead she landed on one of the nearby peaks and took a look around. The snow atop the peak was more akin to a layer of ice painted over it and the whole peak itself was about wide enough you could’ve built two houses side by side. You could do some decent ice-skating up here too. Rainbow Dash lightly tapped her hoof against the ice and it didn’t even crack. Like so much of the snow and ice in the True North it was the kind that never melted or changed even as the seasons did thanks to how far north they were and how high in the sky it was.

Rainbow Dash took the short time up here to give her wings a slight rest and she walked over to the side of the peak and looked down. Pretty much just a straight drop that wasn’t really obscured by anything because of how narrow the mountains were. No outcroppings or cliffs got in her way of seeing to the fog covered ground. These really were more like gigantic rock pillars than regular mountains. She yawned and then winced as a gust of wind blew into her face.

“Ugh, enough messing around. Time to get through this mountain range if there isn’t anything else here,” Rainbow said to herself and extended her wings. She didn’t blast off from the peak but basically fell off and let herself be carried by the wind for a while.

That quickly changed before she let herself descend though, Rainbow Dash sharply lifted up and angled higher and higher. Her wings propelled her to the top of the mountain range and then some, the pegasus not quitting until she touched the clouds. It was much colder even with just a little extra altitude and Rainbow Dash quickly found herself being dusted with snow and frost. And of course because clouds are just water, when Rainbow Dash passed through the first one it made her fur slightly wet before freezing. Good thing she was already blue or the cold would’ve turned her that color anyways.

She didn’t like this obnoxious weather though and now she couldn’t even see how much higher she needed to go until she broke through the cloud layer. What a pain with how cold it was and the sorry state she was in with frost caking around her eyes and over the feathers of her wings. At least she knew she wasn’t going to suddenly hit something. That didn’t stop her from shivering and grumbling to herself about the cold, just as she had done an innumerable amount of times on this journey already.

Grumbling was one of her talents.

Now she liked to think she was relaxed and cool enough to not be as big a complainer as Twilight, Rarity, and Starlight could be, but honestly she just got annoyed too easily. Especially since she didn’t really get to have as many pleasant naps as she wanted when she was out on adventure. And even with her getting “used” to the cold that still didn’t mean she enjoyed it or liked being covered in frost.

Maybe she should’ve flown east or west back at the start to try and hit someplace tropical. Had to be more enjoyable than this.

“But that wouldn’t be as much of a challenge probably,” Rainbow thought.

And a big challenge was the whole point. So bring on the storms, bring on the cold, and bring on the mountains and deserts of snow. Rainbow Dash could take it even if she wasn’t planning to stop complaining about it anytime soon.

Since she wanted to get above these clouds already she decided to speed up and put some more strength into her wings, shooting up through the clouds before she even really had the chance to get wet from them. Her eyes narrowed as the wind tugged at her. This was higher than she thought the first layer of clouds would go. Did any of the mountains actually go this high or were the obscured peaks she had seen earlier totally stuck in the middle of the clouds? Looks like she was gonna be mistaken about at least one thing no matter what.

With a frustrated spurt of energy, Rainbow Dash pushed herself through the last little piece of cloud to emerge into open sky. She popped out of the white pillows and stopped in-between those fluffy clouds that blanketed the lower portion of the sky and the much higher vapor like clouds above. “Wooh,” she said and took a moment to stretch. “What do we got up here then?”

Rainbow Dash looked north and her eyes immediately widened. “Oh.”

Ahead of her a couple dozen of the tallest mountains poked out of the first layer of the clouds with her. But the peaks of these mountains weren’t bare or just covered in ice. Castles and mansions were built atop them. Every last one had some kind of stone structure built up on top of them, with some being only about the size of a large house back in Ponyville while others rivaled Twilight’s castle. However as Rainbow Dash peered on she saw there weren’t just things built on the very peak but also along the sides. More buildings and structures were built either on the cliff faces or into them, some of them going down quite a distance, and possibly doubling or tripling the size of the structures in total.

“Who the hay lives up here?” Rainbow Dash asked herself and rubbed the top of her head with a puzzled hoof.

The buildings were still harsh looking, all constructed in dark stone and wood gathered from across the mountain range no doubt. Snow and ice covered many of their features although it looked like most of the roofs and some other spots were bare of it. Which meant there were probably creatures up here that tended to and cleaned these buildings. Which likely meant they were inhabited as well.

“Okay, okay, things are finally looking up again,” Rainbow Dash grinned and started flying towards the mountains and the buildings atop them. “It’s kind of like a city all in its own. Never seen a city like this though.”

The more she looked the more she noticed that none of the mountains had any sort of bridges connecting them to each other. Flight would’ve been the only way to travel between them. Or magic too she supposed. But it was probably flying creatures like herself that called this mountain city their home. Rainbow Dash didn’t see anybody out in the sky just yet though, even though it was the middle of the day. Maybe they just didn’t have a reason for leaving their homes. Even though Dash preferred her cloud city of Cloudsdale to anything else this place wouldn’t have been too bad to live at either. If it was further south and not so cold. But being high up like this where the only way to get anywhere else is by flying? Yeah, she definitely liked that.

Forgetting about those thoughts for now, Rainbow Dash glided closer to one of the larger castles. It was the biggest one that was closest to her so she decided it would be where she landed. The castle might not have been able to compare in size or splendor to Canterlot castle but it looked pretty cool to Dash too. Far more angular with sharply upturned points wherever the roof hit a corner with a number of square towers shooting up from it and crenelated walls all across the lower portions. Most interesting of all there was a staircase that came down from a set of huge wooden doors in the middle of the castle that just led down to… nowhere. The steps went right to the edge of the mountain and then just stopped.

Anywhere else and Rainbow Dash would’ve thought it was a joke or construction error but for this castle she knew it was intentional. Anyone flying in could land on those steps and walk up easy peasy. It was the same for anyone leaving the castle, they could just walk down to the last step and then jump off into the sky.

“Cool,” Rainbow Dash said and angled herself down to land on those steps.

The stone wasn’t as slick as she expected it to be. Instead of any dangerous ice coating it it was actually dry, probably the result of some kind of cleaning or maintenance earlier today. The walls of the castle around her also protected her from any wind that might’ve blown her or anyone else off the steps. Rainbow Dash briefly looked up to her right and left at the outer castle walls that went around the whole peak before she started walking up the steps to what she supposed was the main entrance.

Still nobody around but her though. It was quiet aside from the sound of the wind around the mountain peaks. Almost enough to make her think she had been wrong about anybody living here.

When she got close to the top of the stairs she was able to get a better look at the huge wooden doors. They were big, not mammoth sized, but big the same way Twilight’s castle’s doors were. There wasn’t any kind of opening or slot for whoever was on the inside to look out of, nor did she see any kind of locking mechanism. Just two large rings of black iron on each side of the door for pulling it open.

Well so long as it wasn’t locked from the inside, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have a problem with opening it up. She shrugged and went to the left side of the door and grasped the large ring. Heavy of course but still easy for a pony like her to pull it. The wood didn’t creak or groan either so it was probably used to this. When Rainbow had enough room she slipped inside the door and took a look around.

As it turned out she wasn’t inside. Technically. She actually found herself inside a small courtyard built on the other side of the door and the outer walls. It must’ve been too obscured by the rest of the castle and walls while she was flying towards it for her to see. A stone path leading directly from the door to the actual doors of the castle was present while to the left and right of the path there was grass.

Genuine green grass. It was actually kind of weird to see. Rainbow Dash had to walk over and touch it and the dirt underneath it with her hoof a few times just to make sure it was real.

“Wow, how’d they even do this?” She tilted her head at it before shrugging and getting back on path. The front door that led to the castle’s indoors looked much the same as the courtyard doors. She walked over to them while her hooves clicked along the stone.

Until she sensed the presence of others.

Rainbow Dash didn’t pause but she did slow down slightly and her ears perked up. She could hear creatures flying down through the air above her, they were intentionally trying to keep quiet but she had managed to pick them out. If they thought they could get the drop on her they were mistaken and if they tried to attack her she’d be ready. At first she kept walking towards the door, the ones flying over her not changing their speed or making any aggressive motions, but once she touched the iron ring that would let her open the door they finally descended for real.

She stood there and let them drop in a half circle around her, surrounding her from behind.

“That’s far enough, pony.”

Rainbow Dash turned at the voice and saw some very familiar creatures.

“There are griffons this far north?” She said as she looked around at the six that surrounded her. They looked just like the griffons she knew from Griffonstone except for how they were colored. While a lot of griffons, like her friend Gilda, had white feathers around their heads, these guys were white all over. Their feathers were like snow with only some black or gray dots across their bodies. Dash looked back and forth between the six, seeing an even number of girls and guys. They didn’t wear any sort of armor or had weapons so they probably weren’t soldiers or guards of the castle or anything like that either.

“This is our home after all,” the same griffon spoke up. He was a male and one of the ones standing directly in front of her while a female griffon stood beside him, now that Rainbow was looking she noticed that all of them only looked to be teenagers. “What are you doing here? We’re not exactly interested in visitors from Ice Valley.”

“I’m not from Ice Valley,” Rainbow Dash told him. Now that she thought of it though, she had seen that other griffon in Ice Valley, hadn’t she? So she knew some griffons lived up here but she had never seen a griffon city or community or anything. The only other griffon she remembered was that guy she had found with the crashed airship. What was his name again? “I’m from Equestria.” She ended up just telling them.

He shrugged. “Never heard of it.”

She frowned. “Well have you heard of Griffonstone?”

“I’m rather fond of the name but no, I haven’t heard of that either. Have any of you?” The griffon asked his friends but they all shook their heads or responded in the negative in some other way.

“Seriously?” Rainbow Dash looked between them all. “I thought that was where all griffons came from. Or something. I guess I don’t really know...”

“Well regardless of where you are or where you think griffons live it doesn’t matter to us. You can be on your way,” he made a shooing motion with his talon.

That attitude was starting to annoy her quite a bit. Not only was she wanting to ignore him out of spite but she had been flying around for a while now and finally had found something cool. She didn’t just want to have to leave. “Yeah, how about no? Maybe you don’t think it’s a big deal but I’ve flown like, halfway across the world, I bet someone here would want to talk to me.”

“Seen one pony, seen em all,” another of the griffons to her side shrugged.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I guarantee you’ve never seen a pony like me.”

“If we’re talking about the obnoxious intensity of your hair then you would be correct at least,” the first griffon smirked at her.

“You wanna fight?!” Rainbow Dash growled, stepping towards him in anger.

“Are all ponies from this Equestria place so brash and violent?” The female griffon standing next to him laughed.

“Grr!” Rainbow Dash felt a vein throbbing in her forehead. “Look, why don’t you all just-”

She couldn’t finish her sentence as the door behind her was thrown open and it smacked her on the butt thanks to her proximity, knocking her to the ground.

“What’s this racket out here?” A much louder voice came from inside the castle.

Rainbow Dash winced and rubbed her butt while looking back at the new arrival. A larger and older female griffon, her snowy feathers were just beginning to gray and she wore a thick red muffler around her neck. When their eyes met the older griffon raised a single eyebrow at Rainbow Dash.

“A pony?” She asked and then looked at the other griffons. “What’s she doing here? And are you kids back already?”

“It was a short trip,” the male griffon said with a shrug.

“Whatever,” the older lady cut him off before she glanced back at Rainbow Dash, who had stood back up and was appraising her as well. The griffon snorted a sharp breath out her beak and narrowed her eyes at Dash. “We don’t have any business with Ice Valley, you go back and-”

“I’m not from Ice Valley,” Rainbow Dash repeated, clearly impatient.

The griffon glared down at her, obviously not liking her tone or the fact that she was interrupted. “You’re one of those weird fire worshipers from the metal mountain then? That doesn’t have anything to do with us either, go away.”

“No I’m not from there either!” Rainbow Dash angrily stomped a hoof on the stone. “I’m from Equestria and I’ve been flying north for months doing all kinds of awesome stuff and now I’m here!”

“Equestria?” The griffon’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at the name.

“You’ve heard about it?” Rainbow was surprised, her anger momentarily subsiding, raising an eyebrow of her own.

“But of course, it’s right across the ocean from Griffonstone.”

“Wha—but, these-” Rainbow Dash sputtered and gestured back at the teenage griffons. “They didn’t know about Equestria or Griffonstone at all!”

The older female griffon looked up from Dash and glared out at the youngsters. “That’s because some kids don’t like reading or care to learn their history. Instead you all just goof off, you’re not fitting as members of House Stormwing!”

While the teenage griffons either rolled their eyes or just ignored her, Rainbow Dash was hit with an immediate feeling of recognition. She remembered now, that other griffon’s name and what he had written in his journal. He had mentioned something about “Houses” and being heir to House Stormwing. Was this his home? Did he come all the way from up here originally?

The adult griffon then frowned back at Rainbow Dash and sighed. “Look, even if you’re from Equestria we have no reason to entertain or accommodate you. We keep to ourselves for the most part and-”

“Wait!” Rainbow Dash shot up a hoof and stared her hard in the eyes. “Did you know a guy named Gambien?”

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moL4MkJ-aLk

The Fighting Tournament at the Top of the World

Rainbow Dash and Ark’Nogt were both allowed to walk right through the front gateway of the stadium without fuss. Everyone running the tournament knew who they were and now it was just a matter of Ark’Nogt taking Rainbow Dash to where the check-in and later the preliminary fights would be held. Ark’Nogt had told her that there wouldn’t be an audience for the preliminaries, which was kind of lame, but she figured they were still fighting in the main ring.

She was wrong.

As it turned out there was a large basement underneath the stadium for things like this. A place where fighters would gather, Reindeer could work, and the smaller matches be held before moving on to the big ones. There were also things like the nurse’s station, showers, and food just for the competitors. Seemed smart to Dash, they could be totally removed from everything going on above and not be bothered or interrupted by other Reindeer when the real tournament started.

She looked around and saw Sia’Lorna, Wandering Claw, and a whole bunch of other fighters she had briefly met before. A lot of the tournament officials were down here too. There were several smaller rings for fighting set up, similar to the one in the basement of the communal living center. Rainbow Dash figured they would have a number of matches going on at the same time to speed things up even more.

“So top 32, huh? That’ll be easy,” Rainbow Dash said with a grin as she and Ark’Nogt walked over to an official sitting behind a makeshift desk. “Hey! Rainbow Dash is here and I’m ready to fight! When’s it happening?”

The Reindeer politely smiled at her and looked through a long checklist before finding her name on it. “Ah, Rainbow Dash, there you are. Thank you for entering and good luck in your first tournament. We will be holding the preliminary matches shortly, feel free to mingle with the others or relax in any way that suits you.”

“Great!” Rainbow Dash said and looked over at Ark’Nogt. “What about you?”

“This is where I’ll be taking my leave for now. But you’ll see me tomorrow and I’ll see you when the real fights begin,” Ark’Nogt told her.

“Alright, thanks for everything, dude.” Rainbow smiled at him and gave him a hoof bump.

Ark’Nogt returned her smile and nodded. “You as well.”

She waved goodbye to him as he left the basement and then turned to go find Sia’Lorna again. Rainbow Dash didn’t know how long it would take to get through the preliminaries or if she might even have to fight more than one match. And she didn’t care, she was way too excited. She squeezed her way past some of the other Reindeer and the odd griffon to find Sia’Lorna already talking with Wandering Claw. Perfect, two friends in one spot.

“Yo! What’s up you two! Ready to fight?” Rainbow Dash asked as she approached, giving a hoof bump to Sia’Lorna and a nod to the standoffish Wandering Claw.

“I certainly am but hopefully not with you. Not yet at least,” Sia’Lorna said.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow Dash cocked her head at her.

Wandering Claw snorted. “She means, moron, that she doesn’t want to fight you until it’s a main event match where everyone is watching.”

“He’s right. It would be so disappointing if we had to fight in the preliminaries. I hope none of us are in the same group,” Sia’Lorna said.

“Yeah, that would be super lame. I really hope the fights are starting soon though, I seriously can’t wait, I’m shaking all over.” Rainbow Dash said as she leaned back and forth on the balls of her hooves.

“Try and contain yourself, pony. It’s hardly the first time you’ve fought after what you’ve told us,” Wandering Claw said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah but this is a big deal to me! After the huge adventure I’ve been on I really have to cap it off with something awesome!”

“You’ll have to win first of all then,” Sia’Lorna giggled.

“Indeed. I’m certainly not going easy on you just because you have some delusional idea in your head,” Wandering Claw told her.

“Good,” she said to the wolverine and then narrowed her eyes at Sia’Lorna while a predatory smirk appeared on her face. “And I intend to win it all.”

“I can tell you’re good just from looking at you but I’m confident in myself as well,” Sia’Lorna said.

Rainbow Dash was about to respond with some more cocky boasting when a shrill whistle cut through the air of the stadium’s basement. Tiza’Nogt was standing on top of a small platform in the middle of the basement with a whistle grasped in her hoof. Once it was clear she had gotten everyone’s attention she put it down and smiled.

“Thank you all for coming to this tournament, even though it is not our grandest. You will now be sorted into a variety of groups so we can come up with our final thirty-two fighters. Please wait where you are for our officiators to come to you and give you a letter designation. That will determine your block and the ring you will be fighting in today. Due to the number of competitors we have, everyone advancing to the next round will fight a minimum of two matches today and possibly more. That is all,” she finished and stepped down, letting other tournament officials spread into the crowd of fighters.

Rainbow Dash waited for her turn with bated breath and wouldn’t you know it that she got put right into “A” block. Sia’Lorna was “G” and Wandering Claw “B”.

“Awesome,” Rainbow said as she saw the results. “Is there any, like, ways they go about choosing who goes to which block?”

“When it comes to smaller tournaments they make sure outsiders are as spread apart as possible. Aside from that though, no, not really,” Sia’Lorna shook her head. “Also I’ve been paying attention to the others called for A Block, I think you’ll have an easy time getting out.”

Rainbow Dash sputtered her lips. “Pff, of course I will! I don’t even know who I’m fighting and I still could’ve told you that.”

Another whistle blow from Tiza’Nogt cut their conversation short. “Everyone has their group now, please head to your designated ring.”

“See you later, I guess,” Rainbow Dash said to both Sia’Lorna and Wandering Claw and waved goodbye to them. She was sure she’d reunite with the both of them in the main tournament. For now it was time to beat her opponents today into the ground.

All of the rings down here had a sheet with a large number on it draped over their sides. Rainbow Dash went to the front of the rings and found her A ring right where it should be. As she had come to expect from what Sia’Lorna had said there were nothing but Reindeer around it, most of them probably right here from Nogt too. She recognized one or two from the exercise yard she had been using. Rainbow Dash confidently walked right up to all of them and yawned.

“So, who wants to get beat up first?”

The Reindeer were still just as polite and friendly as ever so no one was upset or annoyed by Rainbow Dash’s overconfident boasting. A volunteer raised his hoof and he and Rainbow Dash stepped into the ring while the others watched from around it. Every Reindeer in A Block was a buck, there were only a few does besides Sia’Lorna that Rainbow Dash could see participating in the whole tournament. The one who had decided to challenge Rainbow Dash was tall and sinewy, he’d have greater range than most Reindeer already had on her but it should also make it a little tougher for him to defend himself and respond to her movements. Rainbow Dash was confident she could easily dodge and dart around him when the fight started.

Speaking of that, a referee assigned to their ring was in there with them. He looked over both of the competitors before asking: “Are you ready to begin?”

“Ready,” the Reindeer said.

“More than ready,” Rainbow Dash grinned.

“Up above a trumpet will be blown to signify the start of the match but down here we just use whistles. So without further ado...” the referee said and put a whistle to his lips before shrilly blowing into it.

Once Rainbow Dash heard that noise she shot towards her opponent, going on the offensive right from the start. He didn’t show any surprise at her speed, it was likely he had heard about or seen her as well, and instead hunkered down to make himself less exposed to her. Well Rainbow Dash wasn’t planning to use any strategy or technique when fighting if she didn’t need to anyways. She barreled right towards him and instead of going for any blind or open spots just attempted to punch him straight in the face.

He wasn’t about to let that happen though and he lowered his head so his antlers were in the way of her. Just because they weren’t sharp didn’t mean they wouldn’t really hurt if she just ran right into them so she had to stop and jump to the side instead. When she tried to attack him there he pivoted and once again put his horns in the way of her attack.

“Tch,” Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue. He’s just turtling. If I could fly I could easily speed around him or attack from above…

It seemed like his strategy may have been to wait for her to tire herself out or get frustrated and do something stupid. But he didn’t seem to think she’d attempt to do something outrageous instead. When she dashed towards him next she didn’t bother stopping because his antlers were sticking out at her. Instead she grabbed the antlers with her outstretched hooves and yanked his head towards her. It was risky cause is he reacted in time he could just pull back, throw her away, or shake her off. Or potentially just have shaken his antlers around from side to side in the first place. But his reaction time wasn’t quite good enough for that. With a lurch he was pulled towards her and she kicked him in the top of the head with one of her back hoofs, releasing his antlers at the same time and letting him fly backwards.

“How’d that feel?” She cockily asked him.

He rubbed his head but didn’t actually look any worse for wear. Raising his head he smiled at her. “Just like a tap.”

“Ooooh, so you wanna trash talk too? Glad I’m not the only one.”

She didn’t let him respond as she ran at him at full speed again, zig-zagging around to keep him on his toes. He didn’t try to lower his antlers again and instead ran out to meet her. With his longer limbs he was able to send out a punch at her lithe body before she was in range to retaliate with the same—or she would’ve been unable to if she didn’t have experience with this kind of thing already.

Instead of simply blocking or dodging his punch she parried it with her hoof and let his leg slide alongside hers to outside her body while still propelling herself at him. He was defenseless and her hoof smashed right into his ribs, making him cough and step backwards.

Thanks for the exhibition fight, Ark’Nogt! Rainbow Dash thought and pressed her advantage. Two more punches to each side of his face shook him while a final spin kick to his chest sent him reeling and collapsing to the hard ground of the ring.

Rainbow Dash kept her eyes on him, unsure if he was down for the count and unsure if even if he wasn’t if she should keep going or if any further beating might disqualify her for being too rough. Luckily she had the answer in another second when he hopped to his hooves and ran at her. She grinned as he was now going on the offensive, she wanted to show off what she could do more, it was good the fight wasn’t over yet. He came at her with a flurry of blows, sharp and fast jabs aimed mostly at her head. Thanks to his reach and height it was easy for him to keep her on the defensive like this so long as he didn’t overextend himself and paid attention to her movements to evade or neutralize any counters she threw.

So Rainbow Dash just had to beat him with pure speed of her own and the use of some extra limbs he didn’t have. She backstepped to get some distance between her and him and then charged, knocking his first punch away with her left wing and his second with her right. He ground his teeth as he was forced to step back as well less he leave his body open to her again. But this still gave Rainbow Dash enough time to easily close the distance to him with another burst of speed he wasn’t expecting. A few more body shots got a wheeze out of him and when he tried to elbow her across the face she blocked it with her wing and uppercut him in the chin.

“Normally I’d be flying all around you but since I can’t do that I’ve had to get a little more creative with my wings,” Rainbow Dash said to him while he was dazed by her blow. “I think I’m pretty lucky that my wings were already so strong. I really am just awesome.”

He wasn’t about to let himself be knocked out of the tournament so easily though. Her opponent lowered his head at her and charged antlers first. Rainbow Dash jumped back and to the right but he quickly swung his head around and continued to try and thrust his antlers into her. He was either able to just barely peak out at her with his eyes or he was listening closely to her movements to follow them. Now he’d be wary enough with his horns too that he wouldn’t let her grab them, and he probably had brute strength on his side too.

Rainbow Dash tried to run around him in a wide circle but he was able to turn and match her easily, always keeping his antlers pointed at her. So without anything else to do she resorted to another frontal attack. He saw her coming and was prepared to quickly jab at her when she got close or yank his antlers from her grip if she tried that again. But it didn’t look like she was trying to do that, instead at the last moment she thrust her own hoof out at his head. He didn’t understand it since even if she landed a punch his antlers smashing into her would hurt her far more.

With a wide grin on her face, Rainbow Dash swatted the nearest branch of antlers down towards the ground, the bone-like appendages scraped against the stone floor and her opponent faltered as he was thrown off-balance. At the same time though she had used her momentum to catapult and flip herself above him (not using her wings at all while doing so) and elbowed him harshly in the back.

He grunted in pain as he collapsed onto his stomach with Rainbow Dash then immediately bringing a hoof down and pushing herself off his back to his side and kicked him in the ribs. With a heavy whumpf he slid across the stone to the side of the ring and lied there with a groan.

The referee was quick to see that he wasn’t getting up and continuing the fight and blew his whistle before Rainbow Dash could do anything else. “We have a winner!”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash jumped up and shouted. “One day and, uh… some more to go!”

The ref went over to check on her downed opponent while a nurse came over to help too. Rainbow Dash waved at the guy as he was being attended to and gave him a friendly smile. “Good job, dude, better luck next time.”

He managed to grin back at her. “And good luck to you… for the rest of the day... doubt you’ll need it though.”

Rainbow Dash hopped out of the ring and looked around at the other Reindeer in A Block who had just watched her fight. All of them looked rather apprehensive at how easily she had handled things despite her handicap. “So do I wait for the rest of you to fight or does someone want to give me my second match right now?”