Echoes of Loyalty

by Silent Whisper

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, Science Fiction, Profanity, Violence, Narcotics, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 8319

What cost is worth paying to live in the City above the clouds? Whatever it takes for Rainbow Dash to feel alive.

What cost is worth paying to live in the City above the clouds? Whatever it takes for Rainbow Dash to feel alive.

While this fic is a sequel to I wander, no prior knowledge is necessary to enjoy this fic.

Written for the Science Fiction Contest.

CW: violence, injury, use of hallucinogens

Published 2022-01-06 23:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-01-06 23:50:00 UTC

Another Dawn

Rainbow Dash greeted the morning the way she always did: with a deep, cat-like bow. She stretched her wings and let out a sigh, feeling the last bit of tension and aches melt away with the sun. It was a good morning to be alive, and her City came alive with her.

Golden beams of sunrise touched the tips of spires, stretching to the heavens. True, few ponies were out and about at this hour, but it wasn’t the ponies that made Rainbow Dash’s heart sing. It wasn’t quite the view, either. It was the energy of the City, the thrill of her job, and the joy of feeling alive, above it all.

Whistling to herself, she waved a hoof to the window overlooking the City itself. The glass wavered for a second, then melted like a sheet of water. A breeze rustled Rainbow’s mane as she stepped to the edge of the window-sill, taking in the fresh dew-dripped air of the morning.

It was a breathtaking view, of course. Twists of skyscrapers rose to pierce the heavens themselves, wrapped in thick dollops of cloud. The majority of the cloud cover began about twenty floors down, making the City look as though it were resting on top of a cottony sea. Rainbow knew that, of course, the City continued beneath the clouds for miles downward, but nopony really went down there anymore.

No pony that mattered, anyway.

She crouched, feeling her hind legs tense like a coiled spring, artificial fibers woven through her muscles making her as strong as any earth pony. Unlike an earth pony, she didn’t need new lungs to be able to thrive in the thin air, and she didn’t really need the magnetic-grip shoes to cling to the walkways when the wind picked up. When all else failed, she had wings to catch her.

She leapt into the sunrise, and for a moment, before gravity took hold, all was still. The crops growing up the side of the building blossomed and bloomed, each tiny bud opening to greet the dawn. Solar panels wound their way up and around her window, one of the many rooms in the apartment buildings.

Unlike the earth pony and unicorns, though, she got one of the few outer rooms. There were no rings of hallways to let her into the elevators that snaked their way up and down, like one of the many blood vessels of the City, but that suited her just fine. She could fly, and neither earth ponies nor unicorns got to start off their day by jumping out of a window.

The calm was broken only by gravity’s gentle insistence. Rainbow let it tug her down for a few heartbeats, towards the Underneath and the darkness, before she unfurled her wings and levelled out her freefall into a controlled glide. This was her City, and the darkness wouldn’t win her over that easily.

She grinned as she looped her way towards the garage. On a whim, she blinked, powering on her visor for anything of interest. Colors bloomed in the corners of her vision, data looping on the sides of the screen. The display zoomed in on a speck on the distant horizon, floating on the breeze. Looked like another early-bird pegasus.

For a brief moment, she wondered where they were flying. Nopony’s jobs started that early, not even the Underneath workers. The only reason Rainbow Dash was up that early was because she wanted to get a bit of riding done before her actual shift started.

Rainbow angled herself downwards, towards one of the many domes in the pod-like garage. Seven, six, five, four… a few mere moments before she’d have impacted the glass, it melted away to reveal her bike.

Flying was great and all, but if you wanted to go fast, you got yourself a hoverbike. Or, rather, you saved up for one, and hoped somepony with a permit lost their mind and decided they didn’t want theirs. Or, in Rainbow’s case, you managed to convince your higher-ups that you needed it for work, and that you were worth the cost of building a new one.

It was the only thing more beautiful to Rainbow Dash than the City itself. It curved organically, sinuously, and thrummed with power the moment Rainbow set her hoof on it. Sure, anypony could theoretically own a bike, but this one? It was made for her and it recognized her, down to her DNA. She unclipped her earpiece and hooked it into her ear before grabbing for her helmet.

With a subtle whir, her bike powered on. A telltale glow of blue mana flickered to life beneath it as she settled herself atop it. Rainbow Dash was ready to ride. As if on cue, her earpiece chirped in time with her engine’s revs.

Seven beeps. 7am, on the dot.

If the City was a living creature, then Twilight Sparkle was its heart. The broadcast hummed to life as Rainbow Dash released the break, leaving wisps of cloud in her wake.

“Good morning, [Rainbow Dash]!” the voice chirped into her ear, as lively as anypony she’d meet on the street. She was more than a stranger, though; she was personalized, tailored to each individual’s desires. A part of Rainbow felt that she’d somehow lucked out and gotten the best possible Twilight. There was something about her. She just got Rainbow, in a way that nopony else did.

“It’s a beautiful Tuesday here in the Upper Reaches of the City. You have five new messages, three of which are from a resident you’ve told me to ignore.”

Rainbow laughed as she followed her visor’s highlighted path across the arches and rooftops, making a lazy loop above shops and residences. “Lemme guess. Zephyr Breeze?”

“Who else?” Twilight’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “We’ve reached a milestone, though. He’s now officially misspelled your name for the four-hundredth time! Congratulations!” Pixelated confetti showered across Rainbow’s visor.

Rainbow smirked before shaking her head, clearing her screen. “Yeah, yeah. Hey, I’ve got a great idea. You should totally send his Twilight a reply! Make it look like he’s reached an achievement. Oh, but don’t say it’s from me, or mark it as an official response or anything.”

“Noted. Shall I read you the two remaining messages?”

“Sure, fire away.” Rainbow turned on her blinker. Nopony was out on the roads and pathways above the main spires of the buildings to see it, but she liked the methodical click anyway.

Twilight hummed, and a trail of dots made their way across the bottom of Rainbow’s visor. “Message one, from Spitfire. ‘To whom it may concern, and by whom I still mean you, dammit.’ Then there’s a moving picture of a pony rolling their eyes. Would you like me to display it onscreen?”

Rainbow laughed. “No thanks, I think it’s the emote she always uses.”

“Affirmative. She’s quite fond of that one. Continuing, it reads, ‘I’ve been going over what you said last week, and I was wondering if you’d be willing to reconsider my offer. It may not be as-’, and then there’s a little money sign, followed by a gemstone sign, and then a golden leaf symbol, and then it continues ‘-as some of the other offers you receive, but I’d appreciate it if you let me know when you’re available. An RSVP would be appreciated. Hell, send it through the mail, then I’d finally get to see your legendarily crummy hoofwriting!’ And then her signature. Specifically, the one I initially flagged as a threat to your life.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll reply to that later,” muttered Rainbow, turning on the other blinker and going the opposite direction it indicated. “Just… remind me later. After work, or something.

“Are you sure? I could send an automatic reply right now, you know,” Twilight let out a few quiet beeps. “I’m sure she’d appreciate it if you told her whether or not you were interested right away.”

Rainbow shrugged, coasting over a grocery store, watching the open sign blink to life. “Yeah, well, not even your systems could write something that she’d consider an acceptable answer, and skies forbid she finds somepony else to flirt with. I think they’d either faint dead away or take a running leap with their wings shut if they didn’t know what to expect from her.”

“Shall I add it to your calendar?” Twilight’s voice sounded almost amused.

“The date? Eh, sure, why not, pencil it in on Friday or something, and remind me later to tell her I’m available then. You said there were two messages, right?”

“That is correct. The second message is from the Administration.”

“Shit.” Rainbow took her hoof off the gas, and let the hoverbike coast to a stop. She let a slow breath out before blinking a few of the idle data screens on her visor away. “Well? What’s it say?”

“‘Golden Oaks Apartment. 34th and Belle. 5pm.’”

“Shit,” she said again, revving the engine idly. “Did they say how many?”

“I think they’re leaving it up to you again, and expect you not to disappoint them. By my estimate, that’s exactly two more than you’re comfortable with. I’ll give you the exact number I’ve calculated to be sufficient later, as you’ve requested.”

Rainbow sighed, and stared down at the sensual curves of her bike. Her hoof gently rested against the top, brushing it reverently. The things she did to feel alive. “Alright. Thanks, Twi. Connect me to a radio station. I don’t care which one. And set an alarm for... 4, I think. Yeah. 4.”

“Connecting you to Hoofbeats Radio, now playing “Griffons Don’t Dance” by the Hive Five.” An upbeat jazzy tune faded into the background of her headset, making the corners of Rainbow’s mouth lift slightly.

Twilight let out a satisfied chirp, before turning down the music again for a moment. Her voice stuttered for a moment before she whispered. “And… just... let me know if you need anything, [Rainbow Dash]. I’m always here for you.”

“Will do, Twi. Thanks for being here,” Rainbow said softly, but the swell of the music drowned out her words. It was okay, she reasoned, slowly accelerating her bike again. It didn’t matter if Twilight heard it. She was just an assistant, and everypony knew A.I.s didn’t feel things like gratitude or friendship.

Even if a part of Rainbow wished they could.

A Friendly Encounter

By the time she parked her bike back in the garage, she had nine hours left to burn. Nine hours before she had to get to work. It felt like an eternity to wait. A part of Rainbow wished it would arrive already so she could just get her job over with, but the rest of her dreaded even thinking about it. It wasn’t as though it was the worst job she could possibly have, but she hated the period of waiting beforehoof.

If she could, she’d ride her bike the whole time, but ponies were really out and about now, enough to constitute a hazard, and the last thing Rainbow wanted was to get her license suspended for running somepony over. Again.

A pleasant chirp from her headset distracted her from her thoughts. “You’ve got an incoming audio message,” hummed Twilight, switching the visor’s display from the bike navigation mode to a regular chat and map screen. “Would you like me to play it?”

“Sure,” she replied, trying to keep the relieved tone out of her voice as much as possible. “And set a route to somewhere I can get lunch. I don’t care which spot, though. Surprise me.”

An arrow appeared on the visor, dancing in front of Rainbow’s vision as the audio message began to play.

Good morning, Rainbow Dash! The message purred in a sugar-sweet tone. You’re probably out flying somewhere, and I don’t mean to bother you if you’re busy, but I was hoping you’d have enough time to swing down to the Nightgill Club sometime today. Rarity and I have a booth saved right now, and it’s not a party without you in it!

The caller paused, and the sender’s microphone barely picked up an indistinct murmur in the background. Oh, right. It’s Fluttershy, by the way, in case you couldn’t tell. My earpiece doesn’t really like the vapors in here, it makes the mic go all fuzzy. Or maybe that’s me. We’re so fuzzy, Rainbow Dash. Anyway, stop by if you can!

Rainbow shrugged, following the arrow as she flew towards the crowds of shopping ponies. “Eh, Twilight, after I’m done eating, direct me to… that club. Nightgirl.”

“Nightgill!” Twilight giggled. A logo of a fish surrounded by a cloud of multicolored wisps popped up in a corner of her visor. Rainbow flicked it away without really glancing at it, but the AI ignored her. “It’s supposed to be one of the most unique clubs in the City. First stop, though: the Hungry Hippogriff!”

Rainbow’s brow creased as she turned a corner. “That’s not one of my usual places.”

“You did say to surprise you! Variety is the spark of life, and you could do with something different. By my calculations, it has a 64% chance of increasing your mood.” Twilight sent a flurry of translucent happy faces raining down Rainbow’s vision.

“Ugh, fine.” She huffed, landing on the street in front of a fairly crowded shop. “Just because you know what’s best for me doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“Noted,” the A.I. said, before the music faded in again. It was a sweet, lilting tune, something that made Rainbow Dash almost forget her concerns.

Almost.

She took a deep breath as she stepped inside. Despite the City being mostly open-air, above the clouds and whatever else laid below, the air inside the Hungry Hippogriff somehow tasted fresher. The scent of fresh-baked oat bread and cinnamon-laced concoctions tantalized her senses. It was busy, but otherwise relatively quiet inside, enough that she felt comfortable turning down the volume of her personal music.

“I’ll be right there, alright? Gimme just a second!” A voice trilled from behind the counter. Rainbow waved towards it absentmindedly as she looked around. The windows were ceiling-to-floor, with garlands of petals suspended inside of clouds strung in between the panes. Mismatched tables and plush chairs littered the floor. About half of them were filled with ponies reading, chattering quietly into their earpieces, or just sipping their drinks quietly.

She stepped up to the counter, a burgundy-red stone that was cool to the touch, and gave a cursory glance at the menu. Pictures of each item lit up as she examined each item. Frilly pastries floated in her vision, tiny tomato-toppped tarts and sweet carrot scones that she could smell from the customers around her. A part of her understood why it was so popular, even if the rest of her resented trying something so outlandishly different. Her typical places were usually smoky, dim, and quiet; not cheery, open, and loud.

“Sorry for the wait,” sang the pony behind the counter, forcing Rainbow’s gaze to the strange mare staring expectantly at her. Her bubblegum face was wreathed in a ridiculous halo of curls that moved as though they had a life of their own. A small half-visor was tucked up next to her ear, folded out of sight, but that was the only piece of tech Rainbow could see on the pony. “You’re new here, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, uh,” Rainbow belatedly remembered to blink. “This isn’t my usual sort of place.”

A pink hoof thrust itself around the cash register. “I’m Pinkie Pie! It’s super-duper nice to meet you! Oh my gosh, we haven’t had a new pony here in days! Not that regular customers are bad, of course. It’s great to see them each and every morning! But you’re a new friend, just waiting to be friend-ed!”

The hoof waved back and forth, swaying to an unheard rhythm. Rainbow stared at it.

“You’re supposed to shake it! Unless you think you’re sick or something, in which case I’d be a little worried about you coming out here, but you don’t look sick, and you’d probably be at a doctor’s office getting an immune booster instead of here ordering food, unless you really really wanted to eat something, and then I’d get you whatever you were hungry for and send you on your way because sometimes you just need a snack to feel better!”

After a moment of contemplation, Rainbow turned the volume to her music back up a little bit.

“Or you could bump it. Some ponies like bumping hooves instead. That sort of trend goes in and out, you know? I remember back when the foals used to tap the sides of the hoof together, first the inside then the outside, and that was what everypony did. Do you remember that? It was an interesting time, but ponies are back to bumping the ends of the hoof together like a clap! And-”

Rainbow couldn’t bump the proffered hoof fast enough. Anything to mute the near-vibrating cafe worker. The hoof retracted, apparently satisfied.

She looked up to see Pinkie Pie studying her with a slowly-fading grin. “You’re not much of a talker, are you?”

“I’m here to order a pastry,” Rainbow replied, feeling a headache coming on. “That’s it.”

The pink mane deflated slightly, but Pinkie’s smile grew wider again. “That’s fine! Friends can take a long time to realize they’re friends, and I’m happy to wait. What can I get you? We’ve got lots and lots of treats for you, and if you want I can even make something special just for you!” Her hoof curled around her muzzle as she gestured Rainbow closer conspiratorially, volume not decreasing in the least. “Just don’t try the Brussel Bites, okay? They make your breath smell like floor moss!”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Rainbow gagged, making a mental note to better define what “surprise me” should mean for Twilight’s future search parameters. The menu looked a lot larger now that she had to narrow down her choice. “I’ll, umm… take a muffin?”

“What kind?” Pinkie flung herself halfway across the counter, twisting this way and that to scrutinize Rainbow from different angles. “You don’t look like a Cosmic Corn type of mare, I don’t think. I’d suggest you try the Peacheriffic Pudding-cake muffin, but we’ve been out since…” She frowned, sprawled across the countertop, and put a hoof to her chin. “Since our delivery mare stopped showing up to bring us the peach flavoring, I guess. I haven’t seen her in moons. Huh.”

Rainbow wondered how anypony managed to place an order at all. “Maybe she decided to make her deliveries somewhere else. Anyway, I think I’d like a Real Fruit Juice and a-”

“Oooh, Real Fruit Juice is the best!” The earth pony sproinged back behind the register, all melancholic contemplation forgotten. “You can taste a whole bunch of different things in there! Let me think, muffin flavors for my new friend, umm… Oh! I forgot to ask, I’m so sorry, but what’s your name?”

“Rainbow Dash,” she replied irritably. “And I’d like an Appleish Crisp muffin and the juice to-go, if you don’t mind.”

Pinkie was a blur behind the display case before she’d even finished her order. “Sure thing, Rainbow Dash! Don’t worry, I’ll remember your name, and I’ll even send you a coupon on your birthday! Twilight, add her to my calendar and bill her account, please-and-thank-you!”

Rainbow’s visor flickered as the transaction went through. The second the bag with her muffin and her to-go cup touched the counter she snatched them, cradling the drink with her wing. She was halfway out the door when Pinkie’s “It was super-dupery nice to meet you, Rainbow Dash! Come back soon!” reached her ears, but she didn’t bother to respond. A ping from her Twilight notified her that she’d been sent a friend request, and she didn’t even need to check who it was before she set it to “Ignore”.

The fruit juice was about as mediocre as Rainbow had expected it to be, but the muffin, she discovered as she flew out of the shop, was almost annoyingly delicious enough to be worth a return visit.

Almost.

Flying High

There were many things that Rainbow Dash could say of Fluttershy’s taste. The soft-spoken mare found the strangest nooks and crannies to drag Rainbow into, and most of them were either too loud, too bright, or too unnerving for Rainbow’s taste. Give her an open sky and a fast ride on her bike over the odd spots Fluttershy adored, but hey, when Fluttershy found a place, it was the sort of place that reeked of the new, the fresh, and the different.

No wonder Rarity hung out with her so much. Those two were perfect for each other, and Rainbow sometimes wondered if part of the reason they invited her along so often was out of a strange sort of pity. They didn’t think she got out enough, and Rainbow didn’t have a rational enough argument or enough scheduling conflicts to convince them otherwise.

Twilight’s map led her down winding alleyways and into darkened corners that she’d never look twice at otherwise. The long shadows of the buildings huddled together blocked out the sunlight of the afternoon, revealing neon-lit signs of secretive shops.

If it weren't for the affirmative hum of her visor, Rainbow would've walked right past the club. A neon fish surrounded by swirling vapors was the only sign that there was anything behind the beaded doorway worth investigating. A bored-looking bouncer leaned against the door, perking up only when Rainbow stopped in front of him.

“Identity check. Stand still and unlock your visor, please.” To an inexperienced observer, he looked like an average unicorn taking a break in a questionable alley, but Rainbow knew enough about the way he sized up a situation immediately to know he wasn't to be messed with.

“Really?” She sighed and switched off Twilight’s total-scan restrictions.

He made a huffing noise that could’ve been mistaken for a laugh. “Yeah, really. You’re new here, huh? Gotta say, you don’t look like the type. Most ponies that go for this experimental jazz seem half-high when they enter Nightgill. You ever been high on vapors before?”

“Once, yeah.” It was true; she’d tried a whiff of Cirrus with Rarity on a dare once, and couldn’t remember most of the rest of the evening. She had a sneaking suspicion that it had involved singing.

“This stuff’s different than a lot of the other kinds you’ll try. It’ll mess with your mind a bit, and make time feel weird, but ponies have been clamoring to get in because of how quickly it fades. Since it’s experimental, we’ve gotta double-check that everypony’s old enough to partake.” He gave her a smile that was about as attractive as microwaved lettuce. “Looking good so far, Ms. Rainbow Dash, almost done with the verification.”

“Oh? Most vapors don’t go away fast enough.” This was welcome news to Rainbow, since it meant she wouldn’t have to sit in an Insta-Sober booth for half an hour of headaches and nausea.

“Don’t worry, they’ll wear off once you’re outside again, real quick. See the sign? ‘Effects wear off immediately,’ which means you give it five or ten minutes to feel just like you did before you walked in.” His horn lit up the sign next to him, which did little to improve the readability of the grimy parchment.

“Why does anypony even go to this sort of place? Isn't the whole lingering effect what most customers want?”

The guard’s face darkened. “Sure, they say they want that, but then they forget that they’re not safe to trot home alone, and a few take a tumble over the edge of the walkways and we’re the ones that have to hear about it. If you want that sort of place,” and Rainbow could hear the mockery in his voice, “just go to a pub with the other drunken idiots.”

Rainbow chuckled nervously, locking her visor again. “As if. Thanks for the tip, but I’ve gotta meet some friends inside.”

He turned his head back to the street, and just like that Rainbow felt like she was invisible to him. “Have fun,” he said disinterestedly, and after a few seconds of awkward silence Rainbow wandered through the beaded curtain and into the club proper.

The first thing that hit her was the scent. It smelled like a pair of young dragons had gotten into a heated fight in a candle shop. A whiff of vanilla one second, then the lilting sweetness of jasmine, then a sharp scent of firewood… the assault on her nostrils was almost enough to have her leave the club immediately, but after a few seconds of sensory overstimulation it suddenly became much more tolerable, the smells fading into the background.

Above her head neon fish swam through a sea of multicolored mist that ebbed and flowed through the club. A trick of the light, no doubt, with cleverly-placed lasers strobing against the moisture, but that realization didn’t stop Rainbow from batting her wing through one of them to see what it felt like. As expected, nothing different, though the tips of her feathers were tingling.

She’d gone there for something, hadn’t she? Right, Fluttershy and Rarity. Rainbow made her way in between booths and cushions spread out around the main bar and lounge area. The ponies around her didn’t notice as she wove between them. One of them was singing, another drank from an empty glass that reflected the light onto his muzzle like a prism, and a third simply swayed where she sat perched on a cushion, eyes closed and content with life.

“Rainbow!” A familiar voice whispered, words swaying in time with the faint music. A sleepy-looking pegasus waved her over, strands of her mane pulsing in the colors of the rainbow in greeting.

“Hey, Fluttershy. Thanks for saving me a, uhh…” Fluttershy’s wings were draped across the booth. She’d made no move to shift them when Rainbow approached, so she settled for leaning against the table. “A seat, I guess. Did I miss Rarity?”

“No, she’s at the bar. I think she was trying to… I don’t know. I wasn’t listening very hard. Something about salt and diamonds? The food is reasonably-priced, all things considered.” Fluttershy smiled unhelpfully, blissfully unaware of her surroundings. “Are you early? It feels like you’re early.”

“I’m, um… late, actually, and I already ate.” The room looked a lot brighter than it had a moment ago. Did they turn up the lights? “The colors are so pretty up there.” Had she said that out loud?

“Aren’t they?” Fluttershy smiled at them, then at Rainbow Dash, then she said something else but Rainbow wasn’t listening because she wasn’t worried about whatever it was she was supposed to be worried about. She watched them for a little bit before a flash of something distinctly not misty and swirly nearly clipped her in the muzzle and brought her back into the moment.

Fluttershy was dancing on the table, her tail flicking back and forth, nearly missing Rainbow’s face by a few inches each time. The fiber optic strands woven in her tail strobed between yellow and blue, in a precise pattern that gave Rainbow the vague sensations of a distant migraine. She tried to tap Fluttershy’s hind hoof a few times to get her attention, but Fluttershy was too far out of it to notice.

Whatever. Rainbow set her chin on the table and wrapped her hooves around it. The steady hum of the background music carried on, lulling her into a tranquil state of mind. Some ponies might have tried to snap Fluttershy out of it, but she worked for the Administration, just like Rainbow Dash, though she couldn’t remember quite where. Some awful desk job, probably. Fluttershy rarely complained in her few clear-headed moments when Rainbow talked about her bike, so she supposed she couldn’t begrudge her the strange escape of a vapor club.

So she sat there, head buried in her hooves, vapors swirling in and out of her vision. For what she could’ve sworn was just a few minutes, she could’ve sworn that the table and floor were perfectly transparent, and she could see all the lost ponies wandering in the dark hundreds of floors beneath the Upper Reaches of the City, down down in the Underneath.

It made her nauseous, looking down. Most ponies didn’t even think about what was down there. Most ponies made it a point never to look down, but Rainbow couldn’t afford not to, not with her line of work. It made it difficult not to wonder.

Slowly, deliberately, she craned her neck upwards, and a burst of comforting neon made the corners of her muzzle twist up. Fluttershy was no longer dancing on the table, but Rarity was sitting next to her in all her clothed glory, eating from a bowl of something that looked as though it had once been nachos. Nachos, according to her hazy memory, didn’t usually come in that many colors.

“Where’s Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked, idly reaching out a hoof towards Rarity’s food, then deciding against it. She didn’t want to know what that shade of purple tasted like, anyway.

Rarity shrugged and stuffed her muzzle with iridescent cheese. “Probably swaying her hips at some poor fool that isn’t a regular, darling.” She squinted in the general direction of Rainbow’s face. “Are you feeling alright? I’m quite aware this isn’t your usual sort of venue. Why don’t you go ask the bartender for a drink? No alcohol, of course, but you won’t know the difference; I never do. They’ll know whatever it is will help you. It’s their job.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me about… about jobs.” Rainbow wove to her hooves and unsteadily made her way towards one of the few empty seats at the bar. In what felt like a few moments, a primly-dressed mare appeared in front of her stool. They peered into each other’s eyes for a few moments, the bartender’s irises shifting colors underneath the black lights before the mare whisked off again to go mix a drink.

It tasted of cinnamon and regret, and was exactly what she needed. The world became a blur of bubbles of light and gentle waves of sound. Rainbow was pretty sure she’d kissed somepony at one point, but couldn’t remember who or why, and it comforted her a little to know that the feeling was mutual. Color strobed across her fur, dappling her wings until she felt like a real Rainbow. Music faded in and out, distorting and rippling the air.

The club was gone, and she was lost in the sky, the City far from view and the clouds a welcoming presence. There was nowhere she had to be, and she could soar as high as the stars above if she wished. There was, there was… somepony was talking to her, as she was flying.

“I hate to interrupt,” Twilight whispered in her earpiece, snapping Rainbow back to the present. “It’s just… it’s already 4pm. You’ve got a job at 5, remember?”

Crap. Nothing like a cold splash of reality to partially wake her up from the pleasant haze of a vapor club. Rainbow propped herself up against the seat and waved at her friends to get their attention. Fluttershy was slumped against the table, her mane pulsing with a gentle white light in time with her dozing heartbeat. Rarity teetered back and forth a few feet away from their booth, but her eyes managed to focus on Rainbow for a few seconds before she was out of it again.

That would have to be enough of a goodbye, she figured as she stretched out her half-asleep legs. She doubted they’d notice whether she left either way, but at this point it didn’t matter. It was time to work, and she had somewhere to be.

Brought Low

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath before parking her bike at the base of the hanger. Golden Oaks Apartments. One of the better apartments the City had to offer, it boasted rooms with ceiling-to-floor windows with the best views of the city, and reinforced glass to protect its non-pegasus customers, of course.

Compared to the Nightgill, it was a plain residence. Sure, a few coffee-colored circuits wove their way up the cream-colored walls, circling around ivy that looked as though it’d been freshly watered that morning and therefore had to be fake, but it was shockingly neutral compared to many of the other places she’d been to. That was part of its charm, she supposed. Understated. Quiet. Dull. Some ponies liked that sort of thing, and so somepony had built it.

It was a shock that she’d sobered up quickly enough to notice. Effects fading away immediately, indeed. A part of her wished for them back, but it was more important that she keep a clear head during work. Her gaze flicked up to the numbers hovering at the top corner of the screen. Five minutes til 5pm. Barely on time, as far as the Administration was concerned.

She always cut it as close as she could, despite their gentle warnings about punctuality. A part of her tried to insist that it was because she could get her job done so quickly and efficiently, she didn’t need the extra minutes, but deep down she knew it was mostly because the less time she’d spend doing her work, the more time she could take distracting herself from it.

Of course, that meant she had very little time to get started. She flew up the stairwell in the hanger and burst through the door, skidding to a stop in the apartment’s lobby.

A tired-looking stallion beamed pleasantly at her. “How can I help you, miss? If you’re here looking to move into an available room, I’m afraid we’ve reached capacity, along with our sister location, Honey Oaks. Might I recommend the lower apartments down on 14th Street? There’s less of a view and it’s just above cloud cover-” The stallion and Rainbow shuddered in unison. “-but I promise they’ve got plenty of space.”

“That’s actually why I’m here,” she said, tapping her visor. One side lit up, displaying her ID to the receptionist. “Rainbow Dash. The Elements of Justice sent me.”

The stallion’s visor, an older curved model, flickered to life as he silently checked the digits. “Oh,” he said at last. “Good, then. I’m glad they’ve sent somepony.” A few thin lines of text scrolled across his line of sight as he swallowed nervously. “Let me see… the two-hundreth floor - seventeen floors up - and above could be cleared. We’ve had a few noise complaints from one of the rooms, and another on that floor has been late on their payments. Will that suffice?” His gaze focused on her again, eyes twitching in their supreme effort to look cordial.

“That works. Which way’s the elevator?” She tried to sound professional, but a part of her mind was already calculating what she’d need to do. At least this building had windows. She hated working in ones without. There was too little access to the sky, and what lay beneath it.

“Left one’s the closest, it’s right down the hall,” he said, shuffling a few paper-thin screens together into a neat stack. “If I’m not at my desk when you get back, I’m probably answering questions from the other residents. Do try to keep it down up there, would you?”

Rainbow nodded as she headed towards the lift’s doors. He was lying, of course, about answering questions from the other residents. Most of the front desk ponies coincidentally “went on break” during her work, and she couldn’t really blame them one bit.

The elevator let out a cheerful ding as she stepped inside. The second the doors slid shut, Twilight hummed gently into her earpiece.

“Your heart rate’s up,” the AI murmured consolingly. “Deep breaths. Looking at the floor plan and current list of residents, evicting this floor should be more than enough for the Administration. Why, they might even note down your dedication to the job for this!”

“Great.No really, that’s fantastic.” She slumped against the elevator wall as it smoothly began its ascent. “What I really want in life is to make them proud of my work. It’s what I live for.”

Twilight gave a chastising beep. “Your sarcasm is noted. Not officially, of course, but I know you hate your job. You get like this every time. Should I start scheduling in a brief meditation session beforehoof? Would that help?”

“No.” Rainbow wearily got to her hooves as she felt the elevator gradually slow and began stretching her limbs one at a time. “Last time we tried that, it only made me tired. What have we got today?”

“Your first one’s… oh, it looks like a pretty strong stallion. Might I recommend a more charismatic approach?” A few lights on the corner of her screen danced to form a rough outline of a well-built pony. “I’ve already let his Twilight know, and she says that he’s more receptive to friendly advances than romantic ones. After that we’ve got a few foals, so try to save your energy if you can. The young ones tend to respond less… predictably.”

She chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment before taking a deep breath and summoning all the charm she possessed. This was going to be a long night.

After all, if the City was a living creature, Rainbow Dash was a scalpel, whether she liked it or not.

Rainbow Dash took a shaky breath as she leaned against the wall. There was next to no mess in the other room; it wouldn’t take the floorkeeper ponies much to clean up and reset everything to the way it was. The old mare hadn’t even put up much of a fight. She was as ready as she’d ever be for the next one, or at least that was what she told herself as she walked up to the door. Twilight’s interface flashed on her screen reassuringly before disappearing. Last one. She could go home after this and drown out the memories in adrenaline until her next job.

She gave herself a few seconds to steel her shoulders before knocking on the door. There was a muffled thump as somepony set something down, and a few weary hoofsteps grew louder. Darkness enveloped the one-way peephole for a split second before the door swung open.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Rainbow Dash herself!” said the mare, beaming up at her. “Ah haven’t seen ya since we were both in school! Still flyin’ fast?”

Shit. As it turned out, she wasn’t ready, but that wasn’t an acceptable reason for not finishing the job, and she was a professional. “Hey, Applejack. I’m doing alright. Mind if I come in?”

“Sure, sure!” The earth pony waved her inside, a grin lighting up her face. Rainbow gave her an easy smile back, watching out of the corner of her eye as Applejack closed the door behind her. “Ya should’ve told me you were visiting! Ah would’ve gotten the family together to welcome ya!”

She surveyed the room, letting herself relax into a friendly stance. “You’ll have to tell them I said hi, then. I wouldn’t want to bother them, you know?”

“Oh, you’re no bother,” the earth pony laughed, trotting around Rainbow towards the living room, shuffling a few reading screens aside to make room on the couch. “Can I get ya anything? Fizzy drink? Heh, remember how you drank so much you thought you’d pop, back when we were fillies?”

“I’m fine.” Rainbow fidgeted, walking towards the windows. Her visor discretely flickered to life as Applejack followed. A few readouts dancing around her vision, percentages, encrypted commands. For a second, she thought she saw an apologetic emote from her Twilight, but then it was gone. “I’m actually here on a more professional matter.”

“Oh? Didn’tcha make the bike team? Why, Ah remember you were the best in our school year! Ah don’t work in plaques, ya know. If ya need a trophy engraved, I know a mare down the hallway who-”

“I’m with the Elements of Justice, actually,” she interrupted, dismissing the final line of code from her visor with a blink before turning to face her fillyhood friend. Prolonging it would’ve made it worse, she told herself. Best to get it over with.

Applejack’s brow creased with concern. “Ah don’t understand. Did we do somethin’ wrong? Big Mac’s projects are loud, but Ah didn’t think anypony would complain all the way to the Elements about it.”

Rainbow shook her head, gesturing out to the distant neon of the city as she paced. “No, not at all. You’re fine. A model citizen, in fact. We’ve just been having some, um, difficulties with something, and need your help.”

A relieved grin split Applejack’s muzzle as she brushed a few locks of mane away from her face. “Whew, well, Ah’m happy to help! Just say the word, Rainbow! No need to get the Elements involved; I’m more than happy jus’ to help a friend!”

Her heart pounded in her ears. “It’s about the population measures. You… I…” Dammit, there was no way to sugarcoat it, and prolonging it would only make it worse. “I’ve been sent to evict you.”

“Wait.” The smile fell as quickly as it had appeared, and Rainbow could see the concern build in Applejack’s expression as her mind caught up to the situation. “Ah heard a rumor about how… how ponies would…” She looked back out the window and her gaze flickered down towards the inky clouds that pooled beneath the City’s skyscrapers.

There was no time for hesitation. Rainbow made her move. Bracing her back hooves, she sprung forward, tossing her head to the side as her chest made contact with the soft side of Applejack’s barrel. The breath left her frie- no, opponent with a heavy oof as she snapped out a wing and brought it up to slam into her face.

Rainbow was fast. It was what she was known for, what she was born to be. She’d been scouted for her agility, and it’d saved her hide more times than she could count. It also often meant that the fight would be over shortly after it began.

Rainbow was fast, but Applejack was desperate.

Teeth closed around Rainbow’s wing as Applejack pulled back with the impact, her muzzle clasping the wiry muscles before she pulled, throwing Rainbow against the glass before twisting her hips. A part of Rainbow’s brain told her that she should roll away, but her legs weren’t obeying her and that was Applejack, and everything was happening too fast and too much at once. It was all that she could do to suck in half a breath before Applejack’s buck connected with her.

The glass, built to withstand the mighty winds of the upper atmosphere, didn’t shatter. Rainbow’s wing, on the other hoof, did. A ragged scream escaped her lips as she slumped towards the ground. Applejack was already moving, racing towards the door as fast as her calloused hooves could carry her. Raising a hoof to check the damage to her wing, she spared a glance at the screen on her spiderweb-cracked visor, confirming what Applejack had yet to discover. Twilight’s status was noticeably absent, as she often was during the actual process.

“APPLE BLOOM!” Hollered Applejack, her untrained limbs trembling with adrenaline as she fumbled against the door. “BIG MAC! GRANNY! GET OUT OF HERE! THE ELEMENTS ARE COMING FOR US! RUN!”

Rainbow grunted as she picked herself off the ground, wincing as her ruined wing dragged against her side. Every second counted, but she needed to get a hold of herself and the pain before she puked. They’d done a lot of things to her in training, but destroying her wings wasn’t one of them. It was like snapping off a unicorn’s horn. Sure, it could be done, but it was a low blow, and most ponies didn’t think to do it until after said unicorn turned them into cinders.

She’d have to alert her superiors. Maybe they’d add it for future agents. It wouldn’t hurt to keep them prepared.

“Apple Bloom?” Applejack’s hooves pounded against the door, as though not comprehending the idea that it was locked, that somepony else could have overridden the mechanism. Rainbow stumbled, extending her other wing for balance as she waited.

“Gr- Granny Smith? Big Mac? Answer me!” Only silence responded as Applejack’s hooves faltered. Most earth ponies could break through normal wood, but the rooms in Golden Oaks, along with many of the other higher-end apartments, were magically fortified. All the better to keep you safe from anypony jealous of your station, the advertisements claimed. The pegasus watched as Applejack came to terms with what Rainbow already knew: she was trapped.

Slowly, with horror and fury in equal parts dawning on her face, Applejack turned around to face Rainbow, who was panting but staying upright, trying to ignore the blood dripping down her feathers. “What did you do?”

Rainbow didn’t answer. She just stood there, eyes watering and limbs trembling.

“Did ya kill them too, Rainbow Dash?” Her voice was low, dangerous, and it sent a chill up Rainbow’s spine. She ignored it.

“I didn’t kill them.” Rainbow grit her teeth and forced herself to stay steady. “So long as they survived the fall, they’ll be fine. There’s food and shelter beneath the City. You’ll probably be able to find them fairly easily.”

“If there’s enough food for them, why would ya- how could ya-”

“Food isn’t the resource we’re worried about,” hissed Rainbow. The room was starting to sway. She looked down. There was an awful large puddle beneath her wing. Blood and bloody feathers. She forced herself to look back up before she joined them on the floor. “It’s space. The higher we build, the less room there is at the top. It’s like a triangle. The base has to be huge to support the tip. But why you, specifically?” Rainbow shrugged, which made her suck in a ragged breath. Shrugging was a bad idea. “The Elements decided that.” And the damned receptionist. “It wasn’t up to me.”

“So ya would kill a friend just because they told ya to?” Applejack spat, her ears flattening against her skull. “Ah thought ya were made of better stuff.”

“What can I say?” The room wobbled, or maybe it was just Rainbow who wobbled. “I’m loyal ‘til the end.”

With an animalistic shriek of rage, Applejack surged forward. Seconds before she connected, Rainbow sent one last command over her visor before flinging herself away from the base of the window, her broken wing trailing behind her.

It was as though it happened in slow-motion. The glass pane behind them melted like water as her heartbeats thudded in her skull. Rainbow’s head whipped to the side as she watched her friend’s horrified face, then hooves, then tail pass through the spot where her body had been, before Applejack pitched into the darkness below.

It was a few minutes before Rainbow could bring herself to stand up again, and when she did manage to get to her hooves again she stared at the darkness below. It was a clear shot down, at least. Applejack was unlikely to have hit any buildings, at least at the angle she had been falling at, and something usually managed to pad an unfortunate victim’s fall. That was the sort of thing Twilight always told her after each eviction, and at that moment she was clinging to any sort of reassurance she could find.

A breeze picked up, rustling her tail as she stumbled over to the door. The world was swimming before her eyes, and she blinked forcefully at the first thing she could focus on to clear her vision. A hat was hanging on the hook, an old style that Applejack had always insisted upon wearing when they were smaller. Sighing, Rainbow carefully picked it up before giving it a light toss out the window.

Applejack would probably need it wherever she ended up.

Rainbow frowned at the hoof-marks that’d made a few scuffs against the door. This one hadn’t been nearly as clean as she’d hoped, but at least the job was finished for the night. She let herself into the hallway before closing the door behind her.

“That went well, all things considered,” chirped Twilight after a sullen pause.

The pegasus didn’t answer, she just concentrated on putting one hoof in front of the other. One step, then the next. Straight to the elevator.

“I’m sorry I didn’t warn you, I really am, but I predicted an 80% chance of some level of resistance if you’d known that it was somepony you recognized.”

No response. What could she say? Twilight was right, just like she always was.

“It’s a shame you got hurt. I’ve discreetly called a few medics to the lobby. They should be able to reconstruct your wing, and I’ll have them deliver your bike to the garage. Okay?” Twilight’s voice sounded almost frantic, some sort of artificial pangs of loyalty that made Rainbow’s head ache. “I’m just doing my job, and you’re just doing yours. I don’t want to hurt you, I really don’t! I genuinely care about you, [Rainbow Dash]! You understand that, right?”

Rainbow bobbed her head wearily but made no comment as she trudged down the hallway, one wing pressed against her side and the other dragging against the ground.

The things I do, she bitterly thought to herself, to feel alive.