An Altostratus Sky

Chapters

Watching the Clouds
Open the Armory
A Shaft of Clear Skies
Falling Pressure
Barometer Drop

Watching the Clouds

Author's Note

Though technically the sequel to Dripfeed, narratively this story picks up where The Children of the Storm left off in Cloudsdale.

Watching the Clouds

Applejack's jaw dropped as Thunderlane finished his tale*. Once, she might've doubted him, but ever since Twilight came to CHS that Fall Formal she'd found that what she considered believable had grown drastically, and aside from that, the unnatural body lying on the floor seemed to support his story.

"Tha's why you've been so quiet lately," she murmured, looking in horror at the corpse. "You've been waitin' for the other shoe to drop, for'm to stop just waitin' an' watchin'. An' now, now they have."

"And soon we'll drop with that other shoe," the governor cackled, a storm of humorless laughter. "You heard Thunderlane, bolts did nothing, and by the time we manage to get in range to use what worked, those nets and tridents of their's'll deal with us. Cloudsdale is doomed, and not all of Lord Skies' sunniness can change that. Soon, they'll strike, and for real, not just as a scouting mission or a raid. And when they do, all the 'valour' and 'courage' of the Stormlings will crumble and die, and fall screaming into their fools' tombs. But let those who want to fight; the end comes, and all should meet it as they think best. Let them die on the field if they wish; those who run won't be around long enough to care about their foolishness."

"Is all lost?" Fluttershy asked. "The battle Thunderlane described was a difficult one, yes, but not an impossible one. This," she gestured at the grey corpse. "is proof of that. If we mustered Cloudsdale, we might be able to-"

"Do you know how many of them there are?" Wind Rider cut her off. "If we mustered the state we could gather perhaps 50,000, but for all we know they have 100,000 or more. Even if they only had half as many as we did, it would still be a hard fight, and that's without taking the Men Thunderlane saw among them into account. And that's without the time it would take to muster, time we don't know if we can afford. We lack too much information to risk a fight, girl. We lack information, we lack numbers." A darker shadow fell across his face. "We lack hope."

"Not all hope," Soarin reassured him. "For all we know, the raiding party Thunderlane encountered was their army, or their reaction to his charge is something they all share. What we don't know is as much cause for hope as doubt, your lordship."

"A fool's hope," the governor snorted. "Only a fool puts trust in what he doesn't know."

"What I know is that there are 50,000 Stormlings waiting for you to give the order," Fluttershy said. "50,000 bravehearts ready to grab their spears and mount up if you tell them to, even if you tell them to ride to their deaths. Cloudsdale has faced threats before, your lordship, threats almost as great as this, and we didn't flinch before them. We held out hope, however slim it may have seemed, and fought on. Come," she stretched out a hand. "Let us do so again."

Wind Rider snarled. "I am Lord Rider of Storm's Deep," he spat, rising shakily to his feet. "chief of the great house House Rider, Warden of Storm's Pass, blood of Hurricane the Great, veteran of a hundred battles, decorated soldier of the Royal Guard, and I will not be lectured on the arts I have mastered by the likes of you."

"Now, hang on a minute," AJ said, stomping her foot on the ground. "Flutters' here's just tryna help."

"And she can help," Wind Rider seethed. "by minding her own business."

"She's tryna," AJ retorted. "Not her fault that business means she has to talk to you 'bout your's."

Wind Rider loomed taller, easily standing a good head taller than AJ. Though he wobbled, he still cast his shadow threateningly over her, face glowing with rage.

"I am the governor of Cloudsdale," he said in a cold, clipped voice. "My business is guiding the state, and it is no one's business but my own, certainly not that of every carrion-eater from here to Manehattan. Only one hand may wield the state's stamp, and I will not surrender what I fought so hard for to a teenage, Pansy girl from the soft city. Go, Applejack and company; I give you leave to fight, or whatever else you need. Arm yourselves, if you wish; grab your spears and shields and mount up. Ride out to death and glory. But rule of the state rests with me, and I will not order it to its collective death." He slammed his shaking fist on the desk. "Go," he ordered. "This audience is at an end. Clear Sky shall see to your rooms, if you wish to stay and die. Dismissed."

Soarin bowed, then tightly grasped AJ by the shoulder and led her and the others out of the office.

"Who does he think he is?" AJ fumed as the door shut behind them. "Flutters' was just tryna help and he almost bit'r head off."

"The governor is a proud man," Soarin sighed. "Proud, traditional, and drunk. I'm not excusing what he did, but I do understand it why he did it. I'm sorry about it, though, Fluttershy," he dipped his head. "Your heritage is something to be proud of, not ashamed."

"I know," she murmured, brows furrowing. "What worries we is why he said it. The way he put it wasn't just meant to deny my help, it was meant to deny my ability to help, to deny Cloudsdale the hope that I might be able to help. Combined with some of the other things he said, it felt almost like he didn't want hope. But why?"

"I don't know," Soarin replied. "I can't say I felt the same way, either; to me, it seemed more like he was protecting his authority and the decisions he'd made with it than rejecting hope like you said. But wordplay like this has never been my strong suit, I might have missed something you picked up on. There's another thing we need to consider, though; your mission."

"By the time we let Sunset know what's happenin'," AJ said. "it might be too late. She sent us to find out what was goin' on here, an' now't we know I ain't just gonna let y'all face it alone. I'm stayin' an' fightin', no matter what."

"It would be wise to let Sunset know what's going on, though," Fluttershy frowned. "If we don't and we fall, whatever's attacking Cloudsdale will be able to take Homestria by surprise."

"Maybe send a messenger?" Platinum offered. "Or a few, like Thunderlane did, make them harder to catch? We don't have to be the ones to tell her, after all; so long as we give them some way of letting Sunset know that we sent them, they should be good."

"That's a good idea," Soarin nodded. "It should be easy to find a willing rider, especially if it's for the princess or one of her ministers. Yeah," he smiled. "Yeah, that would work really well. I'll see if I can't find anyone soon. One question, though; do any of you want to join them?"

"I'm stayin' here," AJ replied.

"So am I," Platinum nodded.

"Cloudsdale needs me, as do my friends," Fluttershy asked. "How could I abandon them?"

Soarin nodded in acceptance, then said, "In that case, follow me. While I scrounge up some messengers, you'll need to scrounge up some armor." His face fell a bit. "Lord Rider was right about one thing, at least; magic alone won't be enough to win the day. I don't even know how much of a difference it will end up making, or if it will at all."

"Maybe not," AJ offered. "But we can hope that it will."

* A full account of which is given in Who Guards the Guards?

Soarin led them at a steady pace back the way they came, towards Windy Hill's armory. The creaking halls they marched through were almost empty, devoid of people, except for one.

AJ saw her out of the corner of her eye, a blur of movement curling around a corner. Frowning, she tapped Soarin on the shoulder and pointed down the passage. "Thought I saw some'n movin' 'round the corner there," she whispered to him. "You have any idea what it is?"

He nodded, then put a finger to his lips for quiet. Gesturing for the others to stay still, he began creeping down the corridor, boots barely making a sound as he softly treaded over to the corner. Leaning up against the wall, he crept the last few hairs over to the edge of his cover and waited, listening. After a few seconds, he gave a short nod, leapt out of cover, and wrapped his arms around the other corner-lurker.

"Thought you could hide from me, eh?" he growled at them. "What have I told you about spying on me, on anyone?"

"No fair!" the child wrapped in his embrace laughed. "How'd you see me, I was being careful!"

"Not careful enough," Soarin replied, grinning. "And you know what happens to spies who aren't careful enough." Lifting up one of his knuckles, he rubbed it fiercely into her hair, inviting squeals of mixed irritation and delight from his captive.

Eventually, the girl managed to wiggle out of Soarin's grasp and glared at him with a stony face, though her eyes showed her true joy at the meeting. "I'm gonna sneak up on you one of these days," she said. "And when I do, I'm gonna get you good. You'll need a hundred combs by the time I'm through with you."

"We shall see," Soarin replied, smirking. After a few moments, that smirk turned into a true grin as he clapped the girl on the shoulder. "It's good to see you, Sprint," he said.

"Good to see you too, Mr. Skies," she smiled back. Then, a wary look coming over her face, she turned to look at Applejack and the others. "Who're your friends?" she asked cautiously. "I know your guards, but who are the other three?"

"Allow me to introduce you," Soarin smiled as he began walking her over.

AJ had to bite her lip as the newcomer approached; they couldn't have been any older than Apple Bloom, and the way she'd tried to sound tough earlier but now almost hid behind Soarin, watching her and her friends warily, was so similar to the way her little sister had behaved in the past that she had to force herself not to race over, scoop the girl up, and tell her everything was gonna be fine, Big Sis was here. A hollow pang struck her gut as she looked into the eyes of that girl, purple instead of the orange she yearned for; she hadn't realized how much she'd missed her sister until then. She hoped she was doing okay, her and her little friends.

The newcomer came to a halt a few arm-lengths away from them, and Soarin did his best to fill some of those lengths with his arm. "Wind Sprint," he said, gesturing to each of the Rainbooms in turn. "meet Applejack, Fluttershy, and Platinum Brilliance."

"Howdy, Wind Sprint," AJ said, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes as she did so. "Pleasure to meetcha. Sorry for spoilin' your little game of hide'n'seek with Soarin."

"It wasn't hide and seek," Wind Sprint's cheeks puffed up in annoyance. "I was practicing my stealth. I need to be stealthy if I wanna get into the Guard."

"You want to join the Guard?" Platinum asked.

Wind Sprint nodded enthusiastically. "My dad was in it," she boasted. "Mom says he was the best Guard they'd ever seen, even better than Shining Armor. That's gonna change once I grow up, though; I'm gonna be the best Guard in the world, even better than Dad was. There aren't gonna be any bullies within a million miles of wherever I'm stationed, 'cause they'll be too scared of me. Burglars are gonna break in to put lost stuff back instead of stealing, and nobody's gonna hurt anyone else. Nobody's gonna lose their dad to an unlucky stab wound once I'm a Guard."

Platinum winced, and AJ followed her, even her mind being able to read the subtext in what Wind Sprint had said. AJ said nothing, though; she knew all too well how prickly the subject of loss could make someone, especially someone so young.

"You might do all that," Soarin teased. "if you learn to be sneakier than a cloud on a clear morning. There's more to the Guard-"

"-than wanting to beat people up," Wind Sprint rolled her eyes. "I know, I know, you've told me a million times, Mr. Skies. And I know what you're gonna say next; 'If it's worth saying once,'" she and Soarin echoed. "'it's worth saying a million times.'"

"Sorry, Sprint," he shrugged. "I know you've heard it before, but it does bear repeating. You don't learn how to do one of the Guard's special moves in one try, right? It's no different for this."

Wind Sprint pouted and turned away, clearly annoyed at her lack of a counterargument to Soarin. After a few moments, he sighed, clapped her on the shoulder, and said, "Anyway, if you're interested I'm taking them to the armory. They're planning to help with the... situation."

She gasped, then started jumping up and down in excitement. "Can I come?" she pleaded. "Can I, can I, can I? I promise I'll be good, I won't even touch anything!"

"Hmm," Soarin exaggeratedly hummed, over-dramatically rubbing his chin in thought. "I don't know..."

"Please, Mr. Skies," Wind Sprint pleaded, looking up at him with the dreaded watery eyes. "Mom's on another of her writing kicks. There's a whole three pages of it waiting for me on my desk, and she wants me to edit all of it, all three pages. I can't proofread all that, I'll die of boredom. Can I come with you instead, please?"

AJ watched Soarin waver before the heart-wrenching display, clearly struggling with whether to bow to her demands or tell her to listen to her mother. Between what he knew to be right and what would make Wind Sprint happy he wavered, until he found himself suddenly shored up, unexpectedly by Platinum.

"So," she asked Wind Sprint in a casual voice. "you think the Guard's for lazy people?"

"No way!" Wind Sprint shook her head. "The Guard's only for the best of the best of the best, not lazybones!"

"What about people who don't like following orders?" Platinum asked. "Do you think the Guard lets them join?"

"A Guard who doesn't obey orders," Wind Sprint replied, sounding as if she was quoting someone. "is just a bully in fancy clothes."

"What about if they don't want to do those orders?" Platinum asked, kneeling down to Wind Sprint's level. "What if they think they're boring? Would that be the behavior of a Guard?"

"No," Wind Sprint mumbled, hanging her head. She raised it again as Platinum put her hand on her shoulder, gently smiling.

"I know you don't like it," Platinum said. "I know it's boring. But you want to be a Guard, and a Guard doesn't not do something because they don't like it or it's boring. Sometimes, you need to do the boring stuff, like patrolling or training or proofreading, just like you need to eat stuff you may not like to make sure you stay healthy. A Guard doesn't run from that kinda stuff, they run towards it so that other people won't have to. What's waiting for you on your desk isn't three pages of writing, Wind Sprint; it's a test, a test of whether you really want to be a Guard or not. If you don't, you can leave it and come with us. But if you do want to be a Guard, if you do want to follow in your dad's footsteps, then you need to do what he did and obey your orders, even if they're boring. So what'll it be?"

Wind Sprint bit her lip, looking around in search of an answer. Then, closing her eyes, she found it and sighed. Mumbling "I'll see you later, Mr. Skies," she began trudging away back the way she came, trudging towards her duty. She was stopped, though, by a call from Platinum, who smiled at her.

"Your dad would be proud of you, Wind Sprint," she said. "Good luck with your Guard training, especially that test in your room."

Wind Sprint smiled back, a gap in her teeth faintly visible, then left at a decidedly faster and happier clip, almost bouncing like Pinkie Pie.

"Wow," Soarin whistled appreciatively. "Nice job handling that, Miss Brilliance. I'll be sure to tell her mom, she'll want to thank you for that."

"She's a good kid," Platinum replied as she stood back up. "Just needed a bit of advice, like I did after I got to CHS. Who is her mom, though, and her dad?"

Soarin's face fell. "Her mom's Clear Sky," he replied. "Her dad was a member of the Guard, riding a circuit through a few of the outlying villages back near the border. He died when she was five. I don't know his name; he worked in Showers territory, too far from Skyspear for me to have run into him, Wind Sprint barely remembers him, and it's too painful for Clear to talk about."

"Was he," AJ hesitantly asked. "was he the hero Sprint said he was?"

Soarin shrugged. "I don't know. Clear might have been trying to build him up in Sprint's eyes, or she might have been telling the truth, I don't know which it is. All I know is that Sprint idolizes him, and saying or even implying that he wasn't really the hero she thinks he is will almost certainly end badly." His eyes were locked in a glare at AJ as he finished, clearly trying to remind her of the disaster with Platinum on the journey there.

She winced at the reminder and nodded; she knew she needed to be more careful about uncovering the truth, the mission had taught her that sharply. Besides, she'd been in Sprint's position before, she knew that talking to her about it would need to be done carefully if she didn't want to cause an explosion.

"But just as Sprint has her duties to see to," Soarin said, drawing her out of her thoughts. "we have our's, and just like she met her's, we must meet our's. We should pick up the pace, we don't know how long we have to prepare. Follow me."

He began leading them again, this time at a faster pace, though AJ was still easily able to match it. They passed through the rest of the building quickly, reaching the shut entryway within moments. Soarin knocked on it, and the door guards outside shortly opened it. The opened doors showed a different scene than the one AJ'd seen when she'd arrived, though; it was much darker, too dark for the afternoon it should have been.

"Why's it so dark?" she asked the guards, squinting to try to pierce the gloom. "Is it nighttime already?"

"The time is about 4:30, so it is not night by the clocks," one of them, Quarter if AJ remembered correctly, shook his head. "But shortly after you arrived, a heavy cloudbank came covering the Sun and sky, and it's remained there since."

Soarin ushered the guards aside and walked out, looking up at the sky. AJ followed him and saw that the Guards spoke the truth; great billowing rainclouds loomed overhead, swallowing up whatever sunlight remained in the day. The sky was a storm-grey night, devoid of stars and threatening rain.

"It is not night by the clocks," Quarter repeated himself. "but my heart tells me that the clocks are wrong, that it is night under these clouds, and that we won't see day again until they pass."

"Some'n' tells me," AJ murmured back, an unknown fear fluttering at the back of her mind. "that your heart's right."

Open the Armory

The armory was a long, squat hall near one of the stables, attended by an anxious-looking woman in full plate. She ushered them in after Soarin explained their mission, directing them to the section where the gear for the reserves and volunteers like them lay.

Ranks upon ranks of armored mannequins greeted them, along with shelves of compacted staffs and shields. The lonely light overhead bathed them in a dusty orange light, though the arms themselves were almost spotless. Though the armory seemed sad and shabby, someone had taken care to make sure its inhabitants didn't turn out the same.

"There should be something that fits you here," Soarin said, looking around. "Look around, see what you can find."

AJ wriggled her way into another mail shirt, finding that this one actually fit her; the first one she'd tried had hung from her like she was a baby, while the second one had been too tight for her to climb into. This one, though, hugged her like a jacket, resting gently on her skin as she tugged the sleeves down to her wrists and the hem down to just above her knees. Giving a nod in satisfaction, she grabbed the pair of leggings she'd picked out and stepped out of her boots to try them on.

She'd asked Soarin if they needed to change out of their regular clothes, if the armor couldn't be worn over them, and he'd told her that it was actually recommended to wear something under them, both to prevent chafing and to offer at least some weak protection if the armor itself was breached. That probably wouldn't happen, though; made using Gleaming Shield's 'foam-mail' design and the almost alchemical materials of the High North, the armor would turn almost any slash aside and absorb most of the force from a direct blow. Soarin's description of how it worked mostly went over her head (far over it), but from what she understood the mail was like a solid wall of water, turning any attempt to break through it using sheer force into harmless ripples ringing across its surface. It wasn't invincible, it could be overloaded with ripples or pierced by a small or sharp enough blade, but it was very strong.

She finished dragging the leggings (which thankfully fit) on and lashed the two pieces of armor together with a belt, the staff and shield she'd chosen hanging compact from it. Stepping back into her boots and putting on a pair of gloves, she looked at herself admiringly in a dusty mirror.

"You said it's fine to sleep in this, right Soarin?" she asked, fiddling with the hem of her coat.

"I'd recommend it," he replied, helping Fluttershy put her hair into a ponytail. "We don't know when those things will strike again, and we don't know how long a fight against them will take when we do. Getting acclimated to that," he turned and nodded at AJ's armor. "would be a very good idea, and wearing that to bed will help with that as well as make sure you're ready when trouble comes."

"Good thing we're just goin' with this an' not plate, then," she chuckled. "Bet it's pretty hard to sleep in that."

"You don't sleep in plate," Soarin said. "It's meant to come on and off as needed, not stay on all the time like this. Think of it like a jacket, not a shirt like mail is; one you wear not to be naked, the other you wear if it gets too cold."

"But what if it comes off while you're fightin'?" AJ asked as she gave herself a final review. "If you can put some'n' on easily, stands to reason someone else can take it off just as quick."

"It's easy to put on in peace," Soarin corrected himself. "On the battlefield, trying to slip a kig of heavy plate off of someone isn't as simple."

"And trying to do so would leave them vulnerable," Fluttershy added as Soarin finished teasing her hair into shape. "either to you or your allies. It's faster and safer to try to work around plate. And it will be possible; no wall is perfect, and plate is simply a mobile wall. No matter how strong, there will always be a gap or flaw somewhere in it, something a dagger or lucky strike can slip through. Even Grief Giver had his weakness."

AJ stared at her, jaw dropped; Fluttershy wore her mail like it was a steel dress, its skirt elegantly flowing down to her silver-clad knees. She stood ramrod-straight, one gloved hand resting on her collapsed staff. The ponytail Soarin had helped her tie her hair into was lashed with a strand of rope, floating behind her stern face and fiery eyes.

"Guess she wasn't expecting that, Flutters," Platinum smirked as she finished gearing up.

"Why would I?" AJ asked defensively. "Back at CHS, Shy di'n't have any interest in fightin'. Heck, she tried to stop one if it looked like it was startin'."

"I've always had an interest in fighting, Applejack," Fluttershy replied. "just like a doctor has an interest in diseases. I know about war, especially its costs; Cloudsdale has no shortage of war stories, or laments for the dead. Not all wars are just, but all wars have losses, families broken forever by the fighting. That's why I try to stop fights; unless I know for certain that they're just, I can't view them as anything other than sources of unnecessary suffering, unnecessary death. My interest in war doesn't contradict my pacifism, Applejack, it supports it: I know how to wield a brand, which lets me know when it's wise to keep it sheathed."

"But what 'bout the way you were actin' on the way here?" AJ asked. "Seemed like you were spoilin' for a fight to me."

"There is a difference between trying to fight and trying to frighten," Fluttershy replied. "I wasn't trying to start a fight with you, I was trying to daunt you, stop you from digging up Platinum's secrets or using those you'd already learned. If I'd really thought a fight with you was worth the cost, you would have known."

"What 'bout Sunset in the old days?" AJ raised a brow. "Seems to me that fightin' her would've been worth it."

Fluttershy smiled sicklily at that. "Not all fighting is done with staffs and strength," she whispered. "If the Formal hadn't turned out so... strange, Sunset Shimmer would still have been toppled from her tyrant's seat. Celestia and Luna, contrary to her expectations, are not blind, nor were the other teachers; they'd been watching her since she broke her first friendship. They were not blind, nor stupid, and neither was I the pushover she thought I was. That too many think I am.

"I know what they think of me; kind, sweet, gentle, quiet, meek, pliable, delicate, weak. They think of me like a cute animal, a bunny like Angel perhaps; cute, sweet, non-threatening, easy to bully. But even bunnies still have claws and teeth, though they may choose not to use them. Fleeing from a fight might be the better option for them, not because they're afraid, but because they know the costs of fighting, and know that a given fight isn't worth it. If it is, though, they will still flee, but from fear, not fighting.

"I hear all that the old Sunset Shimmers say about me, Applejack, and I endure them, but do not think that that means I simply pardon them. I endure them because I know that trying to resist, to fight, oftentimes isn't worth it: saying mean things once or twice isn't enough to justify the suffering fighting will inflict. I endure, and try to understand why they do the things they do, but I do not pardon them: understanding is not absolution, it is simply awareness. And if what I become aware of seems to be worse than a simple foul mood or personal problem, if whoever is trying to bully me doesn't respond to time, empathy, or daunting, then they learn why I don't like fighting.

"I endured the old Sunset's reign of terror, protesting either feebly or not at all, because every tyranny of her's, every time she bullied me, was another arrow in my quiver. Celestia and Luna were trying to build a case against her, and every day would give me more evidence to give them. By the Fall Formal, if we were willing to weaponize secrets like she did, we could have forced her to do whatever we wished. I may not have fought her as flashily as you would have liked, Applejack, but I still fought her, and if it hadn't been for Twilight my blow would have needed none to follow it."

"But," AJ stammered. "but you are kind an' sweet an'-an' shy an' all."

"I try to be kind, sweet, and such, yes," Fluttershy admitted. "and I am shy on the stage, I will admit. But if it's the battlefield, not the stage, then I can't afford to be shy; if I let my fear rule me there, then I'll fail in kindness, fail in caring for those I love. I am shy sometimes, yes, but if it comes down to staying shy or kind, I'll choose kind every time."

"Huh," AJ furrowed her brow after a few seconds of silence. "Never thought of it that way before. Interestin' way of lookin' at it, though."

Fluttershy nodded, then said, "And now, kindness requires us to do more than simply navel-gaze in here." Then, she began marching out, her gait confident, a confidence born of need. The others followed her, the same need driving them.

The quartermaster signed their gear out, gave them a brief, wavering speech about how their equipment wasn't toys or a license of to do whatever they wanted, then sent them back out into the lightless dusk. The gloom had thickened while they were inside, and AJ thought that the clouds hung lower, but it was hard to tell in the darkness: she could barely see ten meters, let alone the sky.

"Head back to the governor's keep," Soarin told her, Platinum, and Fluttershy. "The guards should let you in, and if they don't ask for Clear Sky, she'll clear things up. We'll go see if we can't scrounge up any messengers."

AJ nodded, then watched the Skies soldiers vanish into the dark, swallowed up by the dimness. She wondered how many of them would end up swallowed by the coming war. And what about her and her friends? Would any of them make it through the storm?

A hand crinkled the mail on her shoulder, and she turned to see Platinum's eyes sloped with sympathy. "Worrying does no good," she murmured. "Come on; we should get heading back."

AJ nodded again, then followed her friends back through the empty city streets, back towards the central keep. While they walked, though, thunder rumbled overhead, booming rolls crashing over them. The sea of clouds above was roiling, churning and roaring like a sea in a storm. Fear began clawing up AJ's throat; it sounded like the clouds were about to burst, and once they did, the beasts Thunderlane had described would come with it, and twin storms of rain and war would swallowed up her and her friends.

But, though she and the others stood frozen, or perhaps stricken was the better word, for several minutes, the clouds never burst, only impotently rumbled and thundered. Eventually, the spell of fear they'd laid on her fell away, and she unclenched her hands. She breathed in deep, then exhaled. "If those clouds ain't gonna rain," she grumbled. "least they could do is be quiet."

Another booming crack of thunder showed what the clouds thought of that, shortly followed by a sharp gust of wind. As she tried to hold her ground against the wind, though, AJ could've sworn that she had laughing, shrill and cruel, the storm laughing at her anger at it.

"We need to keep moving," Fluttershy said as the wind tapered off. "before the storm decides that you're right, and that it doesn't want to be quiet."

More thunder rolled as they continued on their way.

A Shaft of Clear Skies

Thankfully, the door guards recognized them and let them in when they arrived at the keep, rescuing them from the cold, windy gloom outside. AJ shivered as the doors closed behind them; there was something unnatural about that cold, something that froze the spirit as well as the body. She rubbed her shoulders, trying to warm herself back up.

Soft footsteps echoed down one of the halls, Clear Sky coming to meet them. Her silver steward's pendant dangled over her blouse, faintly jingling as she walked. A serene smile was on her face as she reached them, looked them over, then gave a gentle dip of her head.

"I'm glad to see your search went well," she said. "and even happier to know that you're willing to risk your lives for us. Now that Lord Skies has managed to arm you, please, allow me to help house you. Come; I'll show you to your rooms."

"Thank you kindly," AJ smiled back. "A bed sounds real nice right 'bout now."

"I'd advise against using it right now," Clear Sky warned as she began guiding them. "Dinner will be in about an hour, and I'd hate for you to get comfortable only to be woken up an hour later."

"Thanks for the advice," AJ nodded. "an' the food." She frowned at a sudden thought. "Will the, uh, governor be joinin' us?"

"Oh, no," Clear Sky shook her head. "He prefers to eat alone, or at least sit alone; I've seen him work through so many mealtimes, sometimes I wonder when he eats."

"He's a hard worker?" AJ blinked.

"At least a stubborn one," Clear Sky giggled. "If his duties told him to stare a hole through a wall, he'd sit and glare until his eyes dried up."

"Really?" AJ asked, surprised. "From the way Soarin described him, he sounded..." Abruptly, she realized that, once again, she was about to put her foot in her mouth. "... a bit more laid-back," she hastily finished.

Clear Sky's face fell. "His work is tiring," she replied. "Some look at his weariness and call it laziness, not knowing or caring that he spends much of his day being very not lazy. I might wish that he would rest using sleep instead of wine, but I don't deny that he deserves the rest."

"Is his load so heavy?" Fluttershy asked. "When I was growing up in Rainbow Vale, people said that the governor only had to work one week a year. Have things changed? Were they wrong?"

Clear Sky sighed. "He tried to make things change," she said. "He tried to reform things, give the governor actual authority, but none of the great houses wanted that; having all the power and forcing all the responsibility on Windy Hill suited them just fine. He got a few things, mainly for relations between Cloudsdale and the other states, but not much. And now, since he lost his daughter, it's like all the fire's gone out of him, all the fight. He still works hard, does whatever you put in front of him, but he doesn't reach or ask for you to put anything there, now."

"He lost his daughter?" AJ asked. "How? What happened to'r?"

Clear Sky hung her head. "He sent her to a school in another state," she replied. "Your home state, actually; Crystal Preparatory Academy. Though he cried to see her leave, he refused to let his emotions get in the way of her education. It was," she dabbed a tear from her eye. "a hard day for all of us here. But we pressed on, refused to let her improvement sadden us, and her father used her departure to stoke his fire, even as he'd used the loss of his wife."

"He lost his wife, too?" AJ cried in dismay. "Does he have anyone left?"

"His daughter's an only child," Clear Sky sadly shook her head. "He and his wife had hoped to have more after the election, but there were... complications in childbirth." She bowed her head in grief. "That's partially why he refuses to simply retire, you know; he bought this position with August's blood, in his mind, and he refuses to give it up until he's repaid her."

AJ felt her heart fall into her stomach and pump it full of poison; she felt sick, sick with pity for the governor and sick at herself for saying the things she had at someone who'd suffered so much loss.

"Not all hope is lost, though," Clear Sky tried to cheer her up. "His daughter only disappeared, she wasn't confirmed to be dead. For all we know, she's simply lost." Her face fell. "Really, really lost."

"How'd she disappear?" AJ frowned. "Someone like the governor sends her to CPA, they'd watch'r like a hawk."

"Even a hawk can miss things," Clear Sky sighed. "They only learned about her disappearance the morning after she left, and they know nothing more about where, why, or how she left than we do. Cadenza's best guess was that she simply ran away for some reason, though what that reason might be she had no idea. Even now, over two years later, we have no clue what happened to her or where she went. It's like she simply vanished into thin air."

"What'd old Cinch have to say?" AJ asked, inwardly shivering as she remembered Crystal Prep's old principal.

Clear Sky's face darkened. "Too little," she curtly replied. "and too late. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you not to ask about her anymore; I... I don't like talking about her."

"Does anyone?" Fluttershy murmured.

Clear Sky snorted a laugh at that, then covered her mouth with her hand. "Officially, that never happened," she said. When AJ and the others nodded, she sighed in relief, then said, "Unofficially, then, you'll find that few in Cloudsdale disagree with you; after the Friendship Games, her reputation was torn to shreds, and it was never that solid beforehand. Cloudsdale sent Crystal Prep a lot of students, but no love. We didn't like Sombra, we feared Cinch... hopefully Cadenza proves herself to be better than them. Of course, proving herself better than Cinch won't be hard; honestly, it feels like most people see her as worse than Sombra. He did a lot of things, most of them bad, but at least he didn't make children his pawns."

"Speaking of kids," Platinum cleared her throat. "we ran into Wind Sprint a while ago."

"Oh, my little Sprint," Clear Sky shook her head, sighing with a voice full of love. "What did she do this time?"

"Nothing much," Platinum shrugged. "Soarin introduced her, we talked a bit, and then she went off to her room to do that proofreading for you."

"She did?" Clear Sky asked, eyes wide. "Just like that?"

"Not 'just like that' 'xactly," AJ smirked at Platinum. "Platinum here had to talk her into it, an' it took some doin'; she'd heard that we were goin' to the armory, so she was pleadin' like a kid in a candy shop. But Platinum," she clapped her now-blushing friend on the shoulder. "talked her into treatin' her proofreadin' like it was Guard trainin', some'n' she had to do even if it was borin'. It wasn't easy, but I don' think you'll have that much trouble with'r doin' it again."

Clear Sky swallowed heavily.

AJ frowned. "Ma'am?" she asked. "You okay?"

"I," she sniffled. "I don't know. What-what you told me, what you did to help Sprint, it just..." She swallowed again. "I'm just going through a lot of emotions right now, and I don't understand why."

"Would talking through them help?" Fluttershy offered. "We're willing to listen, you've listened to us enough. Unless you're uncomfortable, that's fine, too."

"No, no," Clear Sky shook her head. "No, that-that sounds like it would be helpful, thank you." She took a deep breath, then said, "I'm touched that you were willing to help Sprint like that, and thankful that you made my job easier with regards to that. I'm grateful that you were willing to pay attention to her interests, and think the way you used them like that was really clever. But at the same time, I'm a bit annoyed that you just came in and tried to, and I don't know why it feels this way, take my place in her life, and all that while I'm angry at myself for not thinking of doing what you did earlier; I'm her mother, I should think of things like that. To top it all off, you mentioning the armory reminded me of my fears of my little Sprint joining the Guard and dying like her father, and my fears of overreacting to those first fears and smothering her with overprotectiveness, preventing her from spreading her wings. I... I'm just a mess right now."

"You're not a mess," Platinum gently reassured her. "You're just a woman trying to give her daughter the best life she can. All those things you mentioned? Totally natural in your position. The fact that you're not letting them goad you into doing something stupid shows just how much you're not a mess."

"Wow," AJ whistled teasingly. "Platinum talkin' 'bout feelin's an' bein' a mom? Just how much were you hidin' from me?"

Platinum winced at that, while Fluttershy glared at her. AJ winced in sympathy, then sadly murmured, "Sorry, sugarcube. Was just tryna make a joke."

"It's a bit soon to joke about that," Fluttershy sternly said.

"Oh?" Clear Sky frowned. "Did something happen? Or would you prefer for me not to ask?"

"I tried to be Rainbow Dash," Platinum sighed. "I... I ended up trying too hard, so hard that... that here was the first place I tried not to be her, at least in front of Applejack."

"Wind Sprint does the same thing," Clear Sky nodded. "She tries so hard to be her father that she forgets to be Wind Sprint. She was similar to him to begin with, but after he... he passed, what few differences she'd had seemed to disappear. They're coming back, though," she smiled. "Quibble's helping her remember life outside of the Guard."

"Quibble?" Fluttershy furrowed her brow.

"My boyfriend," Clear Sky giggled. "He came out here one day to do some research for a book he was writing, and we just hit it off. It was rough at first, me feeling guilty about dating after my husband's death, Quibble's career forcing him to travel, and poor Sprint. She was so afraid that Quibble was trying to replace her father's place in our hearts, she did everything she could to break us up, and she almost did. But before that had a chance to happen, right before I was about to send him a letter telling him I couldn't be with him anymore, he," she wiped her eyes. "he came by and tried to talk with Sprint. He knew something was wrong, and he reached out to her, but the poor thing was so scared she lashed out. 'I don't care how many people care about you!' she shouted, 'They're not gonna make me forget about Dad!' And Quibble," she wiped them again. "walked up to her, knelt down, put his hand on her shoulder, and asked, 'Can you teach me about him? He sounds like an incredible guy. He has to have been, to have married your mother and raised you.'

"And then," she sniffled. "he said, 'I know you miss your dad, and that's good; if we miss someone, that means we loved them, and I can see that you loved your dad very much. But I'm not trying to replace him; I'm not good enough to fill the hole he left in yours and Cleary's hearts. I'll never be able to; only your dad can fill that gap. I can't replace your dad, nor do I want to; I want to give you and your mom new love, not take away the love you two have for him. I'm trying to build a new room in your hearts, not paint over his. I don't want to replace your dad, Wind Sprint,'" she sobbed. "'I want to join him, in your heart. Are you willing to let me in? Can I give you love,'" she cried. "'like your dad must've given you?'"

They halted, the Rainbooms encircling Clear Sky in a hug as she cried. They made no move to stop her; they knew that they were tears of love and joy, not sadness.

"He," Clear Sky wept. "he made her a promise, too, and-and he made her make him one. 'Promise me,' he said, 'that you'll always miss your dad, and I promise,'" she bawled. "'to always try to be as good as him!'"

Salt and love and joy streaked down her cheeks as the Rainbooms held her.

*snrk*

She wiped her nose with a handkerchief. "Sorry," she whispered. "Just got a little emotional, there."

"You ain't got nothin' to apologize for," AJ reassured her. "That story of yours almost had me tearin' up."

"It had Sprint tearing up, too," Clear Sky giggled, clearing the last of the gunk from her nose. "She apologized to Quibble for treating him so badly, and then to me for trying to break us up. He told her that letting him love her now made up for her behavior before, and I told her and him that the only trouble they would be in is if they tried to avoid the hug coming their way. Sprint and I became a family again that night, and Quibble really became my boyfriend. And Sprint," she sniffled one last time. "she and Quibble became friends, thick as thieves in their own ways. She'll never admit it, but whenever he's due for a visit I always catch her sitting at a window, tapping her finger as she waits to catch sight of him." She winced. "I hope he's okay," she murmured. "wherever he is. Never thought I'd be glad his work requires him to travel so much. But at least I'm sure he's safe. If he was here, too..." She nervously rubbed a burnished ring of bronze on her finger, her wedding band, a reminder of love enduring beyond death.

"The governor mumbled some'n' 'bout sendin' you an' your daughter away, after you left to grab Thunderlane," AJ offered. "Maybe you can take'm up on that. Or, Soarin's lookin' for a messenger to let Sunset know what we found; if you want, we could ask him to send you an' her instead."

"Maybe," Clear Sky murmured thoughtfully. "I know Sprint would hate 'running away,' but, for all her bravery, I'm not sure how much good she'll be able to do here. I'll... I'll have to think about it."

They continued walking in a comfortable silence after that, Clear Sky twisting her ring as she thought AJ's offer over. Eventually, they reached a pair of doors, facing each other across a corridor, both opening onto small though comfortable-looking rooms set for two.

"I'm sorry to force you to split up like this," Clear Sky apologized. "We tried fitting three beds in a room, but-"

"S'alright," AJ reassured her. "We understand. Shy, Platinum, you two wanna bunk together?"

"Actually," Platinum said. "I was thinking you and I could bunk, see about..." She winced.

AJ's eyes softened. "Helpin' me get to know the real Platinum Brilliance?" she offered.

Platinum smiled gently in thanks, then turned to Fluttershy, who nodded in approval. She crossed over to the door to her room, but, before she entered, she gave AJ one last warning glare. That glare burned into her even after the door closed.

"I'll let you know when dinner's ready," Clear Sky said, dragging AJ out of her fearful trance. Shaking her head to clear the last remnants of Fluttershy's spell, she gave Clear Sky a thumbs-up. The woman nodded, then gave one last bow before turning and walking away, her feet gently clicking down the wooden halls.

AJ pulled open the door to her's and Platinum's room, walked over to one of the beds, then collapsed on it with a sigh. Her eyelids threatened to drag themselves shut, despite Clear Sky's warning. She appreciated a hard day's work, but she also appreciated a well-earned rest after it, and today they'd all definitely earned a nice, long-

"Wind Sprint's lucky," Platinum interrupted her train of thought. "Her mom's great."

"Yeah," AJ sighed, sitting upright and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "She seems real nice. An' that Quibble fella sounds pretty friendly, too."

"I hope I can be like her," Platinum's voice was shaking now. "If I ever have kids, I mean."

AJ shrugged, forcing herself to try to stay casual. "Di'n't know you were interested in that kinda thing. Thought it would be 'too girly' for you."

Platinum raised a brow at her. "What part of protecting and training someone is girly? And," she sighed. "even if some parts of it are, now that I'm not trying to be Rainbow Dash all the time, I can let myself be girly--sometimes. Not all the time, I'm not all dresses and makeup like Rarity, but there is some girly stuff I like."

"Thinkin' 'bout bein' a mom bein' one of'm?" AJ guessed.

"I have a lot of fun helping coach people in football," Platinum replied. "I love being a big sister to Scoots. The thought of being able to be more than that, to do more and for more of someone's life..." She lifted a shaking hand. "...It just sounds incredible. And I know what you're gonna say, how being a mom's about more than just games or being awesome, and I know. But all that, all the pain and arguments and not-fun stuff, none of that scares me off; I think about that, and I think about how many attempts it takes for someone to learn how to dribble in football, or how much it takes to convince Scoots to do something she doesn't like. But more than that, I think of the payoff, and how more not-fun stuff is just going to make it even sweeter. It's like, seeing Scoots get the hang of one of her scooter tricks makes me feel all warm and fluttery inside, even though all the times I had to see her not get it or convince her not to give up didn't feel like that at all, they felt bad. If-if being a mom means that all those failures, all those problems, hurt even more..." She looked up at AJ with awe-filled eyes. "...I can't imagine how awesome it makes the good moments feel."

"Wow," AJ whispered, eyes wide as dinner plates. "I-Platinum, that was-I don' know what to say. Just... just wow."

"I know," she softly smiled. "Sometimes I feel like that, too. Like, when I'm helping Pinkie babysit Pound and Pumpkin, sometimes I just feel so... so light, like I could fly without ponying up, and so happy that-that not even Pinkie has a word for how I feel. It's, what's the word Twilight used, influence, influenza, ineffective... Ineffable!" she snapped her fingers. "That was the word, ineffable! She said it means something that no words can describe, something too big for any word, any word at all. When I'm helping with the Cakes, or thinking about having kids of my own one day, sometimes it just feels so intense it's ineffable."

"Huh," AJ whislted. "Gotta say, di'n't see this comin' when we left; your real name bein' Platinum Brilliance, you likin' kids, an' now you're usin' Twilight's big words right."

"Hey!" Platinum protested as AJ began laughing. Her protest quickly faded, though, and soon enough she joined in.

Their laughter trickled out, and then AJ sighed, ruffling her hair. It had felt nice to laugh like that again; hopefully, she and Platinum would be able to do it a lot more once they got home.

"So," the other girl asked her. "what about you? You ever thought about-you know?"

AJ shrugged. "I'm not really one for thinkin'," she replied. "I'm more of a 'do-the-job-in-front-of-you' kinda girl, y'know? Big Mac's the one with all them fancy mathematics an' plans, an' Apple Bloom's one'f'm real creative types; I'm just the girl they call in when they need help makin' their big, fancy plans happen. I'm pretty sure I'll have'm, kids I mean, someday, though: whenever I try to think 'bout me an' the farm in the future, I can't help addin' in a couple kids an' their pa, someone real strong an' sweet an' hardworkin', an' a family man, course. Other'n that, though, haven't really thought about it that much." She looked away in shame, and mumbled, "Haven't thought about anythin' that much, really."

Platinum frowned at her words, and said, "You're not dumb, AJ. I don't know what or who made you think that, but they're wrong. You're one of the most practical people I know. And-and even aside from that, if you were dumb, would you have thought about going to Soarin when you thought I was hiding something from you?"

"A smart person," AJ retorted. "wouldn't've tried to snoop on their friend in the first place."

"They would if they'd acted as suspiciously as I did," Platinum answered. Her eyes softened. "We both made mistakes, AJ," she said, voice gentle. "You've already apologized for yours, and I forgive you. Come on," she stretched out a hand. "Let's stop beating ourselves up about them and try to avoid repeating them. If dwelling on them makes you feel dumb and me feel ashamed, then what's the point? It's never gonna get us anywhere, just keep us trapped in a whirlpool of regret." She swallowed. "The Rainbow Dash who inspired me didn't let her grief trap her; she grieved losing her aunt, yeah, but then she moved on. I'm not gonna use her name anymore, and I'm trying to find my own way through my problems, but here I think it would still be a good idea to follow her. We've grieved for our mistakes, and that's fine. Now, we need to take what we can learn from them and move on."

AJ stared at her, at the familiar steel behind her eyes. It was a look she'd seen behind them many times before at CHS, one that sternly refused to allow the one it was looking at to give up. It seemed more genuine now, though, more heartfelt, more honest. She was seeing Platinum Brilliance, now, not Platinum Brilliance gazing out from behind her Rainbow Dash mask. The offer she was extending might have been inspired by that mask, like she said, but the action itself was her's alone.

AJ took the offered hand.

Falling Pressure

They fell to talking about less serious matters after that, dreams and thoughts and wishes. As it turned out, Platinum shared Rainbow Dash's love for sports, and had applied for an athletic scholarship to Crystal City University, though her goal there was to develop her coaching and, surprisingly, teaching skills as opposed to her athletic ability. "I know I'm not gonna be able to play football for forever," she said. "I'm not going to say no to training or playing while I'm there, but it's not going to be all I focus on."

As for AJ, she was planning to attend the same college, though focusing more on business and agriculture. She would have applied to Grandwood University to focus on agriculture, but her brother had convinced her to mind the business side of the farm as well. "He's not gonna be around to help me with fancy mathematics forever, after all," she mumbled.

"You don't need him to be," Platinum put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You're not stupid, AJ. And even if it does take you a bit longer to do math or read, you can bring that time down, just like I brought my track times down."

"With magic?" she snorted good-naturedly.

"With practice and training," Platinum replied. "The magic came later."

AJ smiled at her in thanks. She didn't quite believe Platinum's words, but she didn't quite doubt them, either, and even a potential boost to her confidence was appreciated in this area. Her difficulties with reading and math were a sore spot for her, one that the world after graduation would poke relentlessly. Big Mac had protected her from the worst of it by handling the farm's finances, but after graduation she'd lose that shield; she was growing up, coming into her own, needing to learn to stand on her own two feet.

"Why's everyone act like you're gonna take over Sweet Apple Acres, anyway?" Platinum asked. "I mean, Big Mac's older, right?"

"Tradition," AJ sighed. "Ever since Jane came outta the west, Arbor like us've planted the girls an' scattered the boys. Big Mac's the eldest, yeah, so he's gonna get most'f the stuff when..." She swallowed. "... when Granny passes..."

Platinum gently rubbed her shoulder; all of the Rainbooms knew that losing more of her family was something AJ didn't like to think about.

"... though Bloom's gonna get some of it, 'course," AJ pushed on through the pain. "But he's not s'posed to stay there with it; trees, even family trees, are supposed to spread their roots, not let them get all tangled up in the same patch of soil. He's gonna find someplace to start his own family, though I'm not sure just how far away that's gonna be: I've seen him make goo-goo eyes at Cheerilee enough times for Bloom to start askin' when her teacher's gonna become her sister."

While Platinum laughed, AJ continued, "But Sweet Apple Acres is s'posed to go to the eldest girl, me, so that way she can keep the family tree alive. Trees ain't s'posed to let their roots get all tangled up, but that don' mean they just keep stretchin''m out. They spread their roots to find good soil, not just for spreadin''s sake. It's gonna be my job to make use of the soil Granny leaves, Sweet Apple Acres, an' keep the family tree's trunk from keelin' over."

"What about Apple Bloom?" Platinum frowned. "And what if you don't want to stay, or what if Big Mac wants to?"

"Then we wouldn't have to," AJ reassured her. "It's our choice, don' worry 'bout that. We wanna do this, nobody's makin' us. As for Bloom, she can do whatever she wants, just like us, but it's usual for younger girls to stick around with the eldest, give the family tree as many shots at stayin' alive as it can get. It's up to her, though." Her face fell. "An' Sweet Apple Acres is up to me," she sadly murmured.

Platinum's gaze softened, and she gently cupped AJ's face. "AJ," she whispered reassuringly. "trust me. You've got this. Sweet Apple Acres is gonna do fine with you in charge, even better than it does now. You put your heart into it, and you're smart enough to know that that means you need to put your head into it as well. You love Sweet Apple Acres, just like you love your family, and I know that there's nothing you won't do for your family. Yeah, running it's gonna be hard, just like helping your family is. But you know something else? Just like with helping your family, I know that there's nothing you're not going to do to help Sweet Apple Acres. You've got this, AJ. You've got this."

"Platinum, I," she stammered. "I-I-"

"I know," Platinum reassured her. "You don't have to say anything, I understand."

AJ nodded, choked up with gratitude, then embraced Platinum with a bear hug of thanks.

A bear hug that, thanks to her geode, caused Platinum to choke up, too. "Air, AJ!" she gasped. "Air!"

"Sorry, sugarcube," she sniffled, slacking though not releasing her hold. "Forgot my own strength there for a second."

"S'alright," Platinum wheezed. "After Pinkie, I'm kinda used to that. Heh," she rasped a chuckle. "I wonder if she's already planning the party for after we get back?"

"Probably," AJ chuckled, though inwardly she grimaced. They were going to war, no two ways about it, and she knew what that meant; Pinkie's party wouldn't be for when they came back, but if they did. There was always that fear in the back of their minds whenever they confronted someone like Gloriosa or Juniper, but here it was different, more concrete; something in her gut told her that this time, her and the others' magic alone wouldn't be enough, that ponying up and firing the Rainbow Laser of Friendship (as Platinum put it) wasn't going to open the path home so easily. It would be hard, she thought as she set her jaw, but, like Platinum'd said, that wouldn't stop her. She loved her friends, and even if beating whatever those creatures were meant climbing Mount Everstep on one foot, she would do so.

"You'll find out what she's got planned, sugarcube," AJ murmured in promise, too low for Platinum to hear. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Eventually, they separated and fell to making small talk again, though this time, inspired by AJ's mention of the mythical Arbor founder Jane Appleseed, they found themselves discussing legends and stories, the tales they'd grown up hearing. Though AJ held back on mentioning the Battle of the Pass (she didn't want to find out if the rumors of Cloudsdale's prickly pride still hurting were true), Granny, Ma, and Pa had given her plenty of other stories about Jane to tell: her test at the Pillars of the West, the planting of Grandwood, hunting the dragon Onyx.

And Platinum had plenty of stories of her own, from the history of Rainbow Vale's name (they were infamous for changing standards and allegiances over time) to the death of Brave Hollow in the High North. There was one thread that connected several of her stories, though, a series of numbers that she mentioned again and again; three, four, five.

"Three great houses of the Leonidas, the heirs of Lion Heart," she said, tapping three of her fingers. "Warriors, builders, and miners. Four great houses of the Pansingas, the heirs of Private Pansy," she tapped four more. "Farmers, ranchers, scholars, and healers. And five great houses of the Hurricanias, the heirs of Commander Hurricane," she clenched her fist. "Warriors, knights, and leaders."

"An' the governor's one of the Hurricanias, right?" AJ asked. "Di'n't he say some'n' 'bout bein' the 'blood of Hurricane the Great?'"

Platinum nodded. "House Rider's Hurricane's closest descendant, like Blaze is for Lion Heart and Showers is for Pansy. Lion Heart helped build Storm's Deep, yeah, but the Commander was the one who ruled it. He never stayed there for long, though; he spent most of his time at the Spear Gate or Firehall, near where the actual fighting was."

"What about Private Pansy?" AJ asked. "Did she try to stop'm?"

"Sometimes," Platinum shrugged. "Sometimes, though, even she saw that they needed to fight, and other times she was too busy keeping the peace in Rainbow Vale to come. Boulderhead's been trouble forever, and before Zap settled Storm Valley there were the Wolf-Men to deal with, too."

"Wolf-Men?" AJ curled her lip. "I don' like the sound of that."

"Then you're smart," Platinum smiled. "They were bad, like worse than old Sunset bad. They seemed more like wolves than Men, most of the time, attacking and raiding their neighbors. They lived off of whatever they could forage out of White-tail Woods or steal from whoever was nearby." She looked around, leaned in, and whispered, "Some say that they lived off of whoever was nearby. They were as bad as the wolves, worse even, because they could think, and almost as bad as the nameless things they worshipped."

AJ licked her lips, even her stomach roiling at the thought on the edge of her tongue. "I'm guessin' those nameless things," she hesitantly gave voice to the horrible thought. "di'n't just ask for a coupla coins or an apple or two?"

Platinum shook her head. "And not just birds, either," she replied. Looking away nervously, she added, "Legend says that almost every tree on Sentinel Hill grew from the bones of a Cloudsdaler."

AJ clapped a hand over her mouth in disgust, bile rising in her throat.

"Fortunately," Platinum sighed. "they fought each other as much as the outside world, so Cloudsdale only had to deal with more than a few of them a couple of times. And when we did, they discovered that a few scavenged weapons mixed with stone and wood were nothing to storm-iron and gemsteel. Three times rose the Wolf Pack, and three times Cloudsdale put it down, the last time for good."

AJ swallowed. "There ain't no Wolf-Men anymore, are there?"

"Some of them reformed," Platinum replied. "White Tail helped Zap win the Battle of Storm Lake, for one, and there were some who were willing to try at least the Nocturne way of life after that, but most of them..."

She closed her eyes. "... most of them met the Nameless Ones a lot earlier than they'd thought. And the worst part? I can't blame whoever introduced them. After Storm Lake, someone told Zap that 300 Cloudsdalers had died, and he told them, 'Yes, but 300 more will live thanks to their sacrifices.' The Wolf-Men were horrible, and the Nameless Ones..."

She shivered, then turned a horrified gaze on AJ. "Zap, White Tail, and some others almost burned White-tail down trying to purge the ritual places White Tail told them about," she said. "If they had, even if it had never regrown, it would still have been worth it."

"Shucks," AJ shivered. "They weren't just worse than the ol' Sunset, they were worse than her after she put on Twi's crown."

"Yeah," Platinum nodded. "I like killing as much as you do, but I'm still glad Zap managed to beat them at Storm Lake as badly as he did."

"You've just called'm 'Zap' whenever you've talked 'bout him," AJ asked. "Does he have a first name?"

"Most of the great houses' founders are like Commander Hurricane," Platinum shrugged. "Whatever first name they had's been lost to time. For all we know, they could've just had the one name, like you."

AJ blushed. "You're not the only one with secrets, actually," she said, taking off her hat and hiding her face behind it. "My full name's Jacqueline Apple. Applejack's just a nickname. I wasn' tryna hide it from you girls, not like-I wasn' tryna hide it, I just... don' like usin' my full name, that's all."

While Platinum winced a bit at the barely-avoided reminder of her actions, she otherwise managed to keep her face calm. "Is it because of your parents?" she asked quietly, carefully. "I know you don't like being called Jackie 'cause that's what your dad called you, is it like that for this, too?"

"It's just too pretty for me, that's all," she shook her head. "I tried to be a Jacqueline after Ma an' Pa... passed, up with Aunt Clementine an' Uncle Moseley, but it wasn' me. Jacqueline's a fancy name, a pretty name, an' I'm neither. I'm not 'Princess Jacqueline,' no matter how much Ma called me that; I'm just regular, plain ol' Applejack."

"Pfft," Platinum snorted. "Please. 'Plain old Applejack?' If by 'plain' you mean 'simple,' sure, but if you mean something else, like 'boring' or 'ugly,' then I'm going to have to ask you to turn in your Element of Honesty."

"It's true, though," she protested. "Look at people you know're pretty--Rares, Shy, Sunset--then look at me. How can I compete with them?"

Platinum rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Okay," she grumbled. "Thought I was gonna have to use this on Scoots, but you leave me no choice. AJ, beauty's not a contest; just because you're not beautiful the same way Flutters or Sunset are doesn't mean anything. You know Bulk, right?"

Frowning in thought, AJ nodded.

"I'm not that big a fan of 'so muscular I can crush walnuts with one hand,'" Platinum continued. "but apparently he and Octavia have been going steady for a couple of weeks now. Does that mean she's wrong for liking him, or that I'm wrong for not?"

"No," AJ rolled her eyes, realizing where Platinum was going. "Everyone's beautiful in their own special way, I've heard it before, Platinum."

"But did you think about it this way?" Platinum pointed an accusing finger at her. "If everybody's beautiful in a different way, then it's impossible to have just one standard of beauty. You can't say you're not beautiful anymore than you can say you're not facing right; if I look at you like this," she craned her head. "you are, just like if someone with a certain standard of beauty looks at you you're beautiful to them.

"And you are beautiful, AJ," Platinum reassured her. "and I'm not just saying that to make you feel better. Yeah, you're not as glitzy as Rarity, or supermodel-shaped like Flutters, or got Sunset's aura of coolness, but you've still got game. Your hair's nice, skin's clear, and you've got enough muscle to look strong without being Bulk, but more than that..." She bit her lip, clearly trying to figure out what to say next.

Eventually, she settled on, "... you never really have to do anything to look like you do, right? You can roll out of bed and, after a quick brush at most, you look great. It's like," she gestured with her hands. "it's like you don't have to do anything to look special, like it's all you. Rares needs her makeup, Flutters has her fake eyelashes, and Sunset at least needs a comb, but you, you don't need any of that. All you've got is yours, and yours alone. You're... authentic, that's the word I was looking for. You're authentic, AJ; a guy can look at you and know exactly what he's gonna get."

"Yeah," AJ snorted. "A workhorse."

"Hard work," Platinum replied. "Determination. Commitment. Faith. Honesty." She smirked. "A pair of green eyes that Thunderbass loves."

AJ blushed, fiddling with her ponytail; her eyes were nothing special, why would someone like Thunderbass even notice them?

"The thing is," Platinum dragged her out of her embarrassment. "yeah, you're not Rarity, Flutters, or Sunset. So what? You're still pretty, still beautiful, in your own way, in a way totally different than them. But even if they were more beautiful than you in the same way, that wouldn't change the fact that you still are beautiful. Beauty's not a contest, AJ; it's not about looking prettier than everyone else, or passing certain goalposts so that you can be considered beautiful. It's about showing the world the good in you, and on that count you are beautiful, as much as if not more than Rarity, Flutters, and Sunset."

"Platinum, I," AJ stammered, blushing. "I dunno what to say. Do you-do you really mean all that?"

"Every word," she nodded. "If I was a guy, I'd've stolen your first kiss a long time ago."

AJ turned as red as Big Mac at that.

"Wow," Platinum chuckled. "Never thought Mom would be able to embarrass someone worse than me."

"Those were your mom's words?" AJ flailed for a chance to regain her composure. "I thought you said you meant'm?"

"I do," Platinum nodded. "and they weren't my mom's words exactly. She did teach me the core of them, though, back when I was a little kid. I... well, I was jealous of how pretty Flutters was, and one day Mom found me scheming about how to bring her down to my level." She sighed wistfully. "I wish we could have swung by Rainbow Vale, dropped in and said hi. You and her would get along like a house on fire."

"We'll go after this is all over," AJ assured her.

Platinum softly smiled back, then turned to the door as a knock came. Clear Sky poked her head in and said, "Pardon me, but dinner's almost ready." As AJ's stomach growled, Clear Sky giggled, "And it sounds like you're ready for it. Come," she opened the door. "I'll take you there."

"So who'll else'll be there?" AJ asked as their guide led them through the halls. "I know Shy." (Their friend had gone ahead of them at the request of Soarin, according to Clear Sky.)

"Lord Skies," Clear Sky answered. "as well as me and Wind Sprint. Speaking of," she turned to Platinum. "thank you for talking to her. She finished proofreading for me early, something she's never done before, and she asked if there was anything else I needed her to do. I almost fell out of my chair in shock at that. Whatever you did, whatever you told her, thank you."

"No problem," Platinum smiled. "It was really easy, once I realized what her goals were. She wants to be in the Guard, so make editing Guard training, and there she goes!" Her gaze softened. "You've done a great job raising her, Clear Sky. I know it can't have been easy, but you've still done a great job with her. I was only able to help because of that; if I hadn't had your base to build off of, I wouldn't have been able to talk to her. For all you've done for her, for raising an amazing kid, I thank you."

Clear Sky sniffled, then wiped her eye. "Thank you," she croaked. "Thank you, Platinum Brilliance. Come on," she cleared her throat. "I've already cried in front of you once today, I'd prefer not to repeat that."

The Rainbooms nodded, then followed her renewed lead, though AJ didn't miss the newfound twinkle in her eyes.

"What 'bout the staff 'side from you?" she asked, trying to distract their guide from her tears. "Will they be joinin' us?"

"No," Clear Sky shook her head, a few diamond droplets scattering as she did so. "You're visitors, and at Windy Hill visitors dine in the diplomats' chambers. If you were other residents of Windy Hill, they would be joining you in the main hall. They're not not joining us because they're not interested or because they don't like you, it's just a matter of protocol: the fewer ears listening in, the less the chance that something meant to be kept secret will be overheard, after all."

"How many other residents of Windy Hill even are there?" AJ frowned. "When we were out on the streets, they were pretty much empty."

Clear Sky's face fell. "They are, currently," she replied. "Lord Rider evacuated most of them, back when the current crisis began. He even evacuated the legislature, those who'd bothered to come. He didn't give any directions for where they were to evacuate to, though; he wanted them to escape, run, not seeming to care where they went."

She looked around cautiously, then whispered, "The captain of the guards here and I worked together to try to organize them, send them where they could potentially do some good. For the legislators that meant to wherever elected them, but for most of the civilians and some of the Guards it meant sending them up to Storm's Deep. They're safer there than pretty much anywhere, no matter how many of the invaders there are."

"Storm's Deep," AJ guessed. "That somewhere in Storm Valley?"

"No," Clear Sky shook her head. "but good guess. Storm Valley's along the southern border, while Storm's Deep is just a few hours west of here. It's an old stronghold, older and more defensible than Castellot; Lion Heart may have fortified it, but it stood for centuries before him, most notably under the person who gave it its name, Storm Stemund, though she's more popularly known as Storm Stonewall or Storm the Last.

"She ruled a large group of Rune-Men along the western edge of Cloudsdale during the Cold Age, succeeding her father Jarel in its last years. Her realm was centered on Hurricane Peak, focused especially on the stronghold her family had built in the Southern Cleft, what they called Stemund's Hall and we know as Storm's Deep. It would earn that name in the last year of the Cold Age, when some enemy attacked, driving Storm and her people into the hold. We don't know if it was other Rune-Men, some other tribe, or," her voice faltered. "if the stories about the 'Toad-Men' were true; all we know is that Storm was attacked by someone, someone rendered as monstrous in the stories of the period. Some think that the creatures that attacked Thunderlane, that have been haunting us for weeks, are descendants of those enemies, living proof of the truth of the tales, but we don't know for sure.

"Anyway," she shook her head. "whoever or whatever her enemies, they proceeded to besiege Storm, a siege that wouldn't lift for a year. While she was outnumbered, Storm's Deep's natural defenses made it almost impossible for the enemy to bring those numbers to bear, preventing them from simply sweeping Storm away as they might've been able to do to Flatmarch or even Firehall. Storm held the line, forcing the enemy to pay dearly for every scrap of territory, though she lacked the numbers to launch a full sortie.

"Eventually, the enemy tired of the siege, and their leader challenged Storm to single combat for control of the stronghold. She accepted, and fought Gorrangar on the plains before the keep's walls. There, her family's ancestral sword broke, shattering into four shards beneath Gorrangar's weapon. She knelt down over the shards as if in grief, and Gorrangar raised his weapon to deal the final blow.

"It never landed; she picked up one of the shards and slashed it through a gap in his armor, killing Gorrangar even as his weapon had begun to fall. Sadly, Storm shortly followed him, dying of her wounds. With her death, her family's line was broken along with their sword; she had no husband and no children.

"And many probably thought that she would have no people when Gorrangar's captain announced that he wouldn't honor his master's agreement, seeing as both parties to it were dead. However, before he could lead his attack, one of the shards of Storm's sword flew up and hit him right where she'd hit his master, though all her people were behind the walls. Now some doubt the story, or think there was a logical explanation for what happened, but for those present its meaning was clear; Storm would defend her people, even beyond death.

"The enemy, understandably, withdrew, and after a year of cold and death the siege was lifted. Storm's people remained in the keep for a while longer, not having the numbers to pursue the enemy, but eventually they left, and found the enemy gone, along with the worst of the cold weather. Stemund's Hall became Storm's Deep, the queen herself buried in the rear of the citadel, her sword's four shards carefully laid upon her tomb. To this day, some say, she still protects her people, and Storm's Deep has never been taken. Those few times it's been threatened, some have said that Storm's sword reforges itself and guards the walls, cutting down any intruders, while others say that a stranger occasionally relieved them of guard duty, a shard of jagged storm-iron glinting in her hands as she stood vigilant." She pursed her lips. "Storm's Deep's natural defenses are the main reason I thought it best to send most of the civilians there," she murmured. "but, with all the... extraordinary activity happening here lately, its supposed supernatural defenses also endeared themselves to me."

"I can see why," AJ whistled. "Even if it is just a story, it's a pretty good one."

Clear Sky looked at her thoughtfully. "Between the weather, the invaders' resemblance to the 'Toad-Men,' and now your magic?" she whispered. "I'm not sure there is such a thing as 'just a story' in Cloudsdale anymore."

Barometer Drop

AJ hissed as her knife scraped against the plate, looking nervously up at the head of the table. Thankfully, the person sitting there seemed either not to have heard or to care, allowing to silently sigh in relief.

Leaning over to her left, she hissed to Fluttershy, "I thought he wasn' gonna be eatin' with us."

"So did I," came the quiet reply.

Evidently it wasn't quiet enough, as the governor snapped, "I'm old, not deaf. I can hear your two's muttering just fine. As for why I'm here, can't a host sit down for a nice meal with his honored guests? Am I supposed to give you bread and bed and no company? Well, too bad; this is my roof, and under my roof my actions are my own, not yours."

"They meant no offense, Lord Rider," Clear Sky soothed him. "I told them about your habit of taking your meals elsewhere, so they probably thought that would be the case tonight."

"Not tonight, no," he grumbled. "No, tonight my work brings me here, to fulfill my duties as..." He threw quick, cautious glances at the Rainbooms. "... host." Turning back to his dinner, he grabbed his cup in a shaking hand and threw it back, red wine pouring down his throat.

AJ winced at the reminder of the governor's drinking habit, then paused as she saw a glint on the cup-holding hand: a ring of bronze, set with a stone of blue fire, sat there. She winced at the reminder of his status as a widower, and shakily said, "That's a real nice ring you've got there. I bet the woman you shared it with was just as nice."

The governor raised a brow at her, then followed her gaze. His face darkened as he reached its end. "August was a wonder, yes," he mumbled. "but this wasn't from her. A last gift from my little Nighty it was, before she-" His breath hitched. "-before she disappeared. Something to remember her by." He glared at the ring. "I would cast it into a storm if it meant I could see her again, even if only for a lightning-strike. But no," he rolled his eyes, rising shakily to his feet. "No, it's not mine to cast away, not even under my own roof. I'm blessed to be burdened so by my wedding ring, and cursed to be burdened so by this token."

He took a deep gulp of wine, then said, "I didn't want to send her to Crystal Prep, you know. I thought, I'd hoped, to send her to the Majesty twins: I met Celestia during the Gull Raids and she impressed me, and I hoped she could impress my daughter as well. But no, Abacus Cinch wanted more Cloudsdale representation in her little fiefdom, and the daughter of a lord such as I would be a perfect fit, the jewel in her crown. She pressed me, refusing to take 'no' for an answer, even threatening to harangue Celestia to transfer her to CPA after she arrived, until I had no choice but to give in." His fist paled around his cup as his grip tightened. "Would that she'd broken the Pac Homestria, then she would learn what it means to dictate terms to me. But no; she crossed propriety and morality relentlessly, but always shied away from crossing the law. If she had..." His hand clenched.

"She never broke the law?" AJ gaped. "Twi said she basically blackmailed her into the Friendship Games, how's that legal? Heck, just look at what she drove Twi to do there!"

"She would shade her threatening of Twilight Sparkle into cajoling," he snorted into his cup. "blend her actions with lighter and lighter shades of grey until they seemed almost white. As for her actions at the Games, there were no laws against magic at the time, leaving her in a field of grey, one of her favorite places to be. She's guilty, but she could twist the law to make it seem like she wasn't."

AJ clenched her own fist. "That's wrong," she muttered.

"You'll find no argument on that from Cloudsdale," Soarin assured her. "We hate the Masquerader as much as you do, if not even more."

"But what good did that hatred do?" the governor snapped. "What did all our years of loathing do? It didn't stop her from stealing my daughter, it didn't stop her from losing my daughter, it didn't stop her from arming and protecting her Washout thugs, it didn't stop her from almost killing Lord Zap's heir--we stewed and stewed in hate, but all it did was come out burnt. Cloudsdale's day is done; whatever fire or fury the Commander kindled in us was snuffed out by Unification, and without it what are we? Thugs like Lightning Dust? Relics of a fallen age? A touch of color on the Homestrian tapestry? What good are knights and warriors in peace?"

"Dad said there'll never really be peace," Wind Sprint offered. "not until the Shadow's gone for good. We still need knights, Lord Rider, and warriors; we just call them Guards, now."

"The other states train Guards, too," the governor shook his head. "and Homestria needs fewer Guards than she needed warriors in the past. And those warriors we do produce, those warriors that might help us in the current situation, are weak, shadows of the iron Riders the Commander trained. We've worn ourselves out fighting a hopeless war, a war against an enemy no soldier can defeat; peace. Cloudsdale's day is done; all that the current crisis will do is show that to the rest of the world. They shall watch the bright swords of the Stormlings, softened by peace, melt before sorcery and the enemies' spears like ice before a fire."

AJ swallowed, dejected by the governor's pity-inspiring words, and prepared to offer reassurance, but found herself preempted by Wind Sprint standing up.

"Lord Rider," the young girl asked. "would it be alright if I sang a bit? I-I know dinner's not over, but I think we could use some music now."

The governor waved his hand. "Do as you see fit," he mumbled. "The fire won't care what position we're in when it takes us."

Wind Sprint nodded, then sang, in a shaky voice:

"You fought, Hurricane," the young girl cried,
"Your foes you did battle and slay,
Yet their kin here I see with their eyes full of peace;
Do tell me the reason, I pray."

"I fought, 'tis true," Hurricane replied,
"And I sent their kin to meet Death;
But I hated them not, though them still I fought,
For a lack of no's evil's yes."

"You stood, Hurricane," the young girl cried,
"By the vanquished's side you stayed
And held on their feet through the long defeat;
Please tell me the reason, I pray."

"I stood, 'tis true," Hurricane replied,
"By the side of my conquered friend
For while blooms live a day and words pass away,
My loyalty stands to the end."

"You're dead, Hurricane," the young girl cried,
"You'll pass to Death's halls today,
Yet you walk to your doom with your face free of gloom;
Swift tell me the reason, I pray."

"I'm dead, 'tis true," Hurricane replied,
"Soon I will draw my last breath,
But it's not their end that chronicles Men
But the life that goes into that death!"

"Even if there's no chance that we'll win," she said. "even if there's no chance that we'll survive, we should fight. Dad... Dad told me something once, something that I've thought about every day; 'A Guard doesn't fight because they think they'll win, or because they like fighting: a Guard fights because it's the right thing to do.' Whatever that thing Thunderlane killed is on the outside, on the inside it's a bully, trying to make us do what it wants just 'cause it's stronger. Even if fighting leads us to Death, it'll be worth it, because we'll die doing what's right."

AJ watched the governor's reaction, watched his eyes widen as Wind Sprint spoke and his hand close around his burning-blue ring. She watched the debate behind his eyes, watched him waver in his despair.

But then he looked down at the ring, and the despair returned. "Thank you for your words, Wind Sprint," he murmured. "But I am weary now, and full of words. Goodnight, all." Then, before any of them could stop him, he dropped his cup and ran out of the room.

"Nice try, Sprint," Clear Sky sighed as she walked over to pick up the spilled cup. "I almost thought you'd convinced him for a moment."

"This isn't right," her daughter pouted. "Lord Rider's not a coward, why isn't he fighting?"

"Maybe it's some'n' to do with his daughter?" AJ offered. "I saw him lookin' at that ring she gave'm right before he ran."

"I doubt it," Soarin shook his head. "As far as I know, she's still missing, and if he knew anything about where she was we'd know."

"Wait a moment," Clear Sky furrowed her brow. "How could she have given him that thing? I don't remember receiving any letters from her around that time, and Cinch never allowed Lord Rider on campus or her off it, if she could help it. Come to think of it," she put a finger to her lips in thought. "I don't recall seeing him wear it until a few days after Cadenza let us know about the disappearance."

"Really?" AJ frowned. "But why'd he lie about some'n' like that?"

"I don't know," Clear Sky shook her head. "Maybe he... Well, maybe he just wanted to feel closer to his daughter, or maybe he wanted to give it some meaning it'd lacked before."

"Or maybe he hallucinated that that's what happened," Wind Sprint grumbled.

"Wind Sprint!" her mother gasped.

"What?" she retorted. "With how much he drinks and how little he sleeps, it could've happened."

"Just 'cause some'n's true," AJ flicked a glance at Platinum, sitting beside Wind Sprint. "doesn' mean you should just say it willy-nilly. Tellin' the truth's as much about knowin' the right time to say some'n' as knowin' what that some'n' is. Trust me on this."

Wind Sprint glared at her, murmured a sullen apology to her mother, then turned petulantly back to her dinner. After a moment, her mother sighed, gently ruffled her hair, then returned to her own meal. The others followed their example, though AJ's mind raced even as she ate, consumed with thoughts of the governor's mysterious ring.

Why had he lied about where he got it? Where'd he really gotten it from? Why was it so important to him? Was it magic?

She paused, bread halfway to her mouth. The ring being magic would explain why he hadn't seemed to react when she'd demonstrated her geode, but what kind of magic could the ring have? Was it good or bad? Was it going to turn out like Juniper's mirror?

She shook her head, then refocused on her dinner; driving herself crazy with questions like this would do no good. She needed answers, and there was only one place she could get them.

Just like there'd been only one place she could get the answers regarding Platinum's name.

She winced at the reminder of her actions on the journey to Windy Hill, then set her jaw; she still needed answers, but the governor deserved privacy. There was only one course of action for her to take, one unprecedented and radical:

She would find the governor after dinner, ask him about his ring, and accept whatever answer he decided to give her, even if that was none.

She crept through the halls of the capitol building, trying to remember the instructions Clear Sky had given her to the governor's office. Idly, she wondered why there were so many passages and rooms in the building if there were so few around to use them.

At last, she came back to the door behind which she'd first met the governor, and took a deep breath. Firmly, she knocked on the door, and waited for a reply. One came faster than she expected, and she walked in to see the governor sitting behind his desk, rubbing his mysterious ring over and over.

"Well?" he asked sharply as she closed the door. "What brings you here?"

"I was wonderin' about your ring, sir," she replied. "the one I thought was your weddin' ring. I know your daughter didn't give it to you, Clear Sky said the timin''s not right, but I also know you must've had a reason for sayin' she did. If you're comfortable tellin' me, I'd like to know where you really got it, an' why you don' like it. If you're not, just let me know an' I won' bother you 'bout it again."

The governor stared back at her, dumbfounded, for several seconds, before letting loose a wheezing laugh. "Oh, Applejack," he cackled. "I expected one of you to press me about it, but I must admit I didn't see you doing it this way. Ha! I thought I'd have to give one of you a scare when you tried to steal it, or had to deal with one of you breaking into my papers, not answer an honest question. Oh," he sighed. "Oh, but I must refuse."

Though frustrated, she nodded in acceptance, and prepared to leave. She dragged it out as much as she could, though, giving him ample opportunity to change his mind.

He never did. She left with her honor, but not any answers.

She sighed and sagged against the door as she clicked it shut behind her, then pushed off with a grunt and began trudging through the halls back towards her room. She understood that the governor had his reasons for refusing to answer her, and she was willing to accept it, but it still frustrated her. Knowledge, important knowledge, was lurking just out of her reach, just beyond her honor, a wall as impassable as the walls of Storm's Deep sounded. She'd already crossed that line once; never again. Painful as it might be, she-

Physical pain joined the mental pain as she crashed into someone else. "Oof," she grunted, backing up. "Sorry, there, pardner. Just got lost thinkin'."

"It's alright," Soarin reassured her as he brushed himself off. "I should've been watching where I was going. I'm glad I found you, though; I forgot to tell you at dinner, but I managed to send messengers off to Castellot. They should reach there in around a week."

"Hoped they could get there faster," AJ shrugged. "but late's better'n never. Either way, thanks for organizin' that."

"My pleasure," he smiled back. "It gave me the chance to send a message to my brother, too, let him know what's going on."

"That's right," AJ nodded. "You mentioned a brother when you joined up with us. What's he like?"

"Playful," Soarin replied, sighing in the irritated and adoring voice of a sibling. "He doesn't count a day as lived unless he's made someone laugh, preferably someone who tried to be serious. He seems to prefer finding ways to shirk his work to doing it, except with regards to competitions or contests, at which point you'd do well to get out of his way. He's smart, and clever, but he can't plan to save his life, and he has a habit of jumping into things feet-first without making sure he can jump back out. He acts like life's a story and he's the clever hero who outwits all his troubles, even though his wits are often the cause of said troubles."

"Wow," AJ chuckled, shaking her head. "He sounds like my lil' sister, Apple Bloom. She's a real smart kid, an' she seems to have a good head on her shoulders sometimes, but then there are times where she tries some'n' that makes me pull my hair out. How old is your brother? Sounds like he an' Bloom'd get along well."

"I'm not sure we'd survive two of them," Soarin shivered. "Anyway, Rapidfire's sixteen, going on seventeen, two years younger than me."

"Bit too old for Bloom, then," AJ mused. Then, eyes widening, she asked, "Wait, you're only nineteen?"

"Just turned it a few weeks ago," Soarin nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"I didn't think other places'd start their leaders out so young," AJ confessed. "Arbor communities do, but I know that they're the odd ones out."

Soarin's face fell. "Cloudsdale doesn't usually," he replied. "After Mom and Dad died, though, I had to step up, and fast: there were other branches of the family that had their eye on Skyspear, cousins and such, and I couldn't let them just take Skyspear away from me and Rapid then throw us out. Thankfully, Dad's steward, Fluffy Clouds, managed to buy me enough time to reach majority, and Rapid's charisma helped win over some of those holding out against my claim. It hasn't always been smooth, but I like to think I've done a fair job leading Skyspear since then. There haven't been any revolts or protests, at least, and Rapid's been able to afford all his tourney gear, though I leave most of the bookkeeping to Fluffy: Dad taught me that a leader's not supposed to do everything, they're supposed to unite people so that everyone can do what they're best at, in this case letting Fluffy handle the mountain's accounts. That's one of the reasons I was out on patrol when we met, actually: I like to spend time with those under me, get to know them and what they do instead of just commanding them to do it from afar."

"That's my kinda leader," AJ smiled. "If you dunno how to do what you're tellin' people to do, an' especially if you dunno what it even is, you got no business tellin''m to do it. It just doesn' work, anymore than those people tryna tell you how to do diplomacy an' politics would. You have to know what you're doin' to do it."

"Yes," Soarin nodded eagerly. "That's it exactly, thank you."

Before he could say anymore, bells from some hidden clock tolled out the hour, eighth of the night. At their reminder, weariness pressed down on AJ, and she yawned. "I think I'd best be off to bed," she said. "G'night, Soarin; thanks for talkin', it was nice."

"Good night, Applejack," he smiled back at her. "And likewise."

She waved goodbye, then marched down the halls back to her room, where she found Platinum already asleep. Collapsing on the unclaimed bed with a sigh, she shortly joined her, a faint blue spark dancing behind her eyes as she fell into the darkness of dream.

"..."

"Objection: ... delay."

"Rebuttal: The boy... diluted... Crystal blood... worth..."

"Judgement: Denied... too long... Sorrow-sowers... see to him."

Crimson lightning against a coal-black sky. A still, grey lake. Groaning Men. The crack of a whip...

And then the world changes; a grey-skinned prince sleeping: a whirlpool of war beneath the sea: a woman encased in armor staring at her with eyes of piercing cold...

AJ gasped awake, startling the carefully-approaching Wind Sprint. "Miss Applejack?" she asked. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," she panted, mopping her brow. "Just had a bit of a nightmare's all. Anyway, what brings you here?"

"Mom wanted me to get you up," Wind Sprint replied. "She's got breakfast ready, and then she wants you all to train with Quarter and the others, real Guard training." She pouted. "I'd come, too, but she said it's too dangerous, and that knowing when something's too dangerous to do is part of being a Guard."

AJ gave a chuckle at that, then sighed as she stretched out the last weariness from her limbs. Though the nightmares she'd mentioned had disturbed her sleep somewhat, she'd still managed to get enough, about as much as she'd need to tackle a regular day at the farm. A brief stab of homesickness struck her, and to ward it off she asked, "What time is't, anyway?"

"It's about six," Wind Sprint answered, any traces of pouting fading away to be replaced with thoughtfulness and concern. "but not in the morning."

"Wha?" AJ blinked mid-stretch. "You mean I slept for a whole day?"

"No," Wind Sprint shook her head, all bravado leaving her voice. "I mean it's six, but there's no morning to go with it. The storm's still outside, though it hasn't rained. It's just sitting there, blocking the Sun, turning the whole sky black."

Crimson lightning over coal clouds-

"There's a dawn after every night," AJ reassured Wind Sprint, and hoped her words were true.