Chapter 5: Begging the Question

As the wind buffeted the mare; her eyes darted among the landscape. Each rustle and clearing targets for her sight. Seeing as she couldn't be sure if she was any closer to Twilight as she had been a few hours ago. A small rocky outcropping came into view past the rolling hills shortly after.

Rainbow landed on the top of said landscape, and preceeded to catch her breath. She had no idea where exactly the base was. Only a rough idea of where it might be. Her mind however was racing twice as fast.

I've been searching this damned forest for hours! I haven't even seen a trace of her....

The rainbow haired mare let out a sigh and calmed down. She looked as far as she could in every direction. The only landmarks among the forest was the large mountain range to the South, and the abrupt end to that offshot of the Everfree to the East.

I know that an army base wouldn't be in the middle of a grassy expanse. I know that, if anything, they would be at the very EDGE of Romanea. Soooo, that means West it is. She even nodded her head in approval at this thought. Before taking back into the air yet again.

The sun shone overhead as she went West, her scanning continuing, but this time with a hint of optimism. The reason Rainbow knew these things, or at least came to reason them, was because when she was a filly she had wanted to go to the Cloudsdale Flying Academy.......

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"Dad! Why can't I?" Piped up an adolescent filly

"Because, Rainbow! I won't allow you to. I can't have my only daughter joining a military school!" Lightning Dash stated with a sense of finality.

The small multicolored pegasus had wanted to join the Cloudsdale Flight Academy, one of the most prestigious schools that any pony wanting to serve in a branch of the pegasus military could be in. She had thought it through, and knew that she was a fan of speed, speed, and more speed. AND one of the perks was that most of the Wonderbolts had come from that school. She was set on it, but her father was having doubts.

The regiment would be tougher, and the classes would cost many times more than an average school. Another thing, however, was that this was a private school. Meaning she would have to live away from her parents.

"But Daa~d, it's my dream! I wanna be a Wonderbolt!" She squealed, her voice cracking from her being on the edge of tears. All her hopes cracking in front of her eyes.

"I said, NO, Rainbow!" He said, losing some of his composure at her constant begging.

"Rainbow..." A mare stepped out of the kitchen, her dark blue coat and grey mane distinguishing the father-daughter pair from herself. She strode in gracefully, and came to a kneel by Rainbow Dash.

In the filly's mind, her hopes were getting brighter, maybe.... Maybe her mom would let her go?

"Yes mom?" The filly said with the saddest eyes she could muster.

"RainCloud?" Lightning stepped forward as though to stop her. But at a firm glance, he closed his mouth, adopting a passive glance.

"You can't go to the Cloudsdale Flying Academy. Me and your father love you very much, and I don't want to see you go through that. I don't think you would want us to either... would you?" She said in a soft voice, almost so soft that it was a whisper. And the blood pounding in Rainbow's ears almost masked it entirely as she felt the heartache of her wishes being crushed.

"I....I can't.....? I wouldn't want...I mean.... Please......." Said a tearing up filly.

At this point Lightning stepped forward, wrapping his hoof around her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Dashie. Are you okay?" Empathy was in his words, but to her....to her it felt like the most bitter slander of herself that she could possibly endure.

And for the first time she could remember, she cried. And cried. And later, when everypony was asleep, she grabbed some of her things and left in the middle of the night. Not intending to stay at a place where her parents "hated" her.

They don't care about me..... They can't see... How much I want this... I bet they'll be sorry if I'm gone! What am I talking about, they probably won't even notice.... They're better off without me anyways..... The filly thought as she grabbed her things and headed to the Academy in the middle of the night, her saddle bags clanking on the way.

When she got to where she was going she set the bags to the side and got ready to fly. She imitated the posture she had seen the Wonderbolts take when they were about to race. Wings in the air, head lowered, breathing calm. And on the cloud obstacle course, her breath was fogging from the chilly temperature. Then....she flew.

She flew faster than she ever had, pretending to be in the middle of a fierce competition between her and then leader of the Wonderbolts at that time, Maverick Sweep. Soon that fantasy became reality, and her body began to feel the tug of G-force as she made each turn, the wind becoming a hinderance to her speeding body. So as she made the last loop around the track, ducking in and out of the cloud pillars, she tucked her wings in after one last burst of speed.

The colors around Rainbow became less than blurs as she came close to super sonic speed. And then, as she neared the finish, she bumped the last pillar. Just hard enough to throw her off trajectory and throw her to the cloud tops. The landing had taken the wind out of her, but aside from that she was fine. As her eyes focused, she saw one of the most wonderous sights she ever would see. There above her, slightly to the right was the face of the very same Maverick Sweep. He was holding an amused smile.

"Are ya okay? That was quite the crash..." He said as he offered a hoof to her.

She took it without a second thought, but there was something nagging her at this point. "What are you doing out here?"

He smiled and turned back to the track, "What do ya see when ya look out there?"

Rainbow's eyes looked over the track, half expecting to see something she hadn't ever seen before. But after the second pass she said, "It's a track." Her face a mask of seriousness.

"Hehe, no, what do ya SEE. When you're out there? Adoring fans? Teammates? The princess watching yer every turn? Do you feel the rush of the wind? Or the apprehension in yer gut? The adrenaline in yer veins? What is the reason ya wanna go fast?" He said, looking directly into the filly's eyes. His green irises reflecting off of the moonlight, his WonderBolt jumpsuit pristine in the night.

She looked once more. This time, she knew what she saw. "I see my uniform, the respect of all the little fillies and colts, I'm a hero to them....." She explained, truly imagining being the perfect role model, much like Maverick was to her.

He smiled broadly, and then looked up at the sky. "Is'at so? That's a fine answer, and might I ask if your going to Cloudsdale Flight School? I'm one o' the teachers there, and I'd love to see ya..."

He couldn't see, but Rainbow had grimaced at that statement. As she tried to speak, she felt her tongue tie, she had come out here to forget the words her parents had said. Now they crept back on her, choking her eyes with tears. "...I don't think I'll be going to Cloudsdale...Flight School..." She said as she stared at the ground.

He looked just in time to see the tears in her eyes before she looked down, and he quickly put a hoof on her chin and made her look up. "Now, now. What's wrong, little un'?"

"..M-my...mom and dad...th-they said...said I couldn't....goooo." She wailed, uncharacteristically, in front of her foalhood hero. But he didn't miss a beat.

He pulled her close and hugged her, shushing and stroking her mane until she stopped her waterworks. "Is'at so? Well, we'll just have to have a talk with these "parents" o' yours. Right?" He offered, making the filly look up. She remembered those caring eyes, and agreed.

"...Right."

"Ya should grab yer things, huh?" He said as they left for her house.

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A smile caressed Rainbow's face as she remembered that kind memory, one of the best one's she had. The smile was erased, however, when she thought of how he had died in a flying accident. And with nopony to help her with all her lessons, or to aid her with finances, she ended up dropping out. She didn't even go to the funeral, she didn't want to think of him that way. Just happy memories.

These thoughts were cut short, however because of the massive scorch she found under her. The trees themselves had been charred beyond recognition, leaving only ash and smoke in it's wake. There was definitely a battle here, no natural fire could have left pony remains here and there. All of the dead were mostly blackened and decomposed already from the temperatures they would have sustained. And the smoke that still crept from some of the orifices of nearby trees told her that it had only been a couple days since this fire had been started.

Rainbow made a few arial loops, then decided to land and observe these assumptions more closely. There weren't any ponies in the unburned brambles at the edge of the impromptu clearing, so she assumed that there had to have been some form of assault. Concentrated and swift, considering there didn't appear to be any of the assailent's dead.

The ones that were there had paint markings in the places that weren't burned, and there was only one she found that was obviously killed by a slash to the throat. Aside from that, there was nothing else to decipher.

This has got to be the work of the military base, that's the best way to go, it can't be too far from here. She thought.

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Twilight walked past Luna, who was ensuring the last preparations were in order before they set off. This would be the last stop before they crossed the border, and the party of four could not afford to be under-prepared. The evening air was beggining to set in with a chill. The winds from a week ago had returned, apparantly being a common cycle in this part of Equestria.

"Is everything in order, princess?" The purple mare uttered past the clanking of armor and ruffling of cloth.

At first she seemed to be focusing intently on something, but soon her thoughts refocused on them. The princess looked over at the guards and at Twilight, then said, "As well as we'll ever be."

"What route will we be taking, m'lady?" Crimson spoke.

"Direct, they have no clue that we're coming, and they would assume that we would bring an army. I doubt we have anything to fear. Besides, we've wasted enough time already."

With those last words, she took to the auburn sky. Soon followed by Crimson, NightSear, and Twilight. The journey trailed on in silence, each hour melding into the next. With little in the way of landmarks and scenery, considering the fact that the night had taken over. And the moon was completely absent that night, to the will of Luna, she made sure there was no chance for them to be spotted.

Soon, though, the green hills and rolling expanses of livery were replaced with patches of dirt. Then sand, as they neared the border of Romanea. After close to a four hour flight, the night was in full bloom, and they decided to stop over one of the last overhangs before they crossed the borders, to face what lie on the other side.

Twilight got off of NightSear's back gingerly, the ride having taken a toll on her thighs.

He really needs a saddle. She thought.

She followed Crimson's lead to the edge of the cliff, looking side to side along the dry desert below. The dropoff, for the cliff, had to be a steep hundred meter dive. Easily. And the more interesting thing that Twilight noticed, was the emenating magic field hovering over what had to be the edge of the country.

"Do you sense that magical energy? It's like Shining Armor's shield spell that he used over Canterlot. Only.....bigger." She added, chills crawling down her spine. What kind of unicorn could sustain that kind of shield?

"Yes, this is one of the first indicators that something was indeed wrong. No country should be able to produce a spell of that size, unless with the aid of an alicorn." Luna said in her most serious tone. But in it was.....sadness?

"There's alicorn magic at work here?" Twilight gasped as she thought of the implications. Alicorns were meant to control major events for ponies' lives. The sun, the moon, and true love were the only ones she had ever heard of.

What could another alicorn possibly control? And one of this power?

"Much more than that, Twilight. Much more." The lunar princess said, falling into silence as her horn erupted with light, blinding the gathered ponies slightly.

The sphere in front of them appeared as a black cloak; pulsating with raw tendrils of magical energy. There in front of it though, was a hole tearing past the fabric of the spell. Luna was creating an opening in it, causing the earth to tremble as the two forces fought.

Not long afterwords, the group was heading into the country of Romanea, with slightly more apprehension than was in their hearts before.

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Moving at supersonic speeds, was a multi-toned pegasus heading straight for a base that was peeping from the tops of the trees. But as she came closer, specks of gold and white came towards her at matching speeds. Clearly intending to intercept.

Ugh, what do these guys want? She thought irritatedly.

As they neared, both parties came to a halt, the white ponies with golden armor armed and prepared for a fight. The wind was at a standstill as the sun shined slightly behind her.

"State your business here." The lead pony stated, his voice carrying easily over the twenty feet seperating them.

"I'm looking for my friend. Have you seen her?" She asked, looking at their eyes for any reaction.

"What does she look like?" The other pony queried, obviously being the more amiable of the two.

"Purple, with a darker mane that has a purple and pink strip. She has a starlike cutie mark. And her name is Twilight Sparkle." This time there was a definite reaction from them.

"Y-you have to leave. Go back home, there's nopony like that here." The lead pony asserted.

"Yeah, you're better off leaving now." The side pony tensing up.

"Fat chance, I'm gonna find her. Even if I have to go through BOTH of you to do it!" The rainbow mare shouted and dashed in close. Her years of speed training and practice came to her aid as she bucked the lead pony in the chest after a swift mid-air flip. And without losing any momentum she dropped while still traveling at half the speed of sound. Closing in on the tops of the trees as they rushed up to meet her.

A quick flap of the wings and a burst of speed, she was blazing past the canopy, the side pony and lead pony in tow. They were no newbies, and they soon began to gain on her, much like her plan had entailed. With a manuever she had learned from Maverick all those years ago - she spread her wings wide, catching the maximum amount of drag in the wind. Forcing her past the chasing soldiers as she slowed to an abrupt halt, them having to recover with wide arcs to sustain their speed and redirect themselves towards her.

She used this time to head towards the side pony and intercept his arc midway through, he had little chance to block her attack due to the limitations in his armor. Rainbow tackled him, forcing them to drop into the forest, and subsequently the soldier pony was rammed into the trunk of a tree. Crumpling his chestplate inward and ripping a scream from his throat as he broke several bones. Rainbow, however, had let go before the impact and was able to escape the same fate.

His helmet should've kept him from being hurt too bad... She reassured herself. Rainbow didn't want to be responsible for the death of an innocent pony doing his job.

She soared high into the air, becoming aware that she had lost sight of the lead pony. As she turned her head, the lead pony was on top of her. Quickly he turned to the side and gave a wild slash to her side. The pain exploded across her wing as the blade ripped through the skin, forcing her to lose control of her flight path. His assault was not finished, as he took another swipe and managed to catch her lower back. This strike made her lose the altitude she had gained after dispatching that other soldier.

And this time, as she looked up into the eyes of the soldier, he slammed his fist into her face. Blackness followed.

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Rainbow awoke to the clang of her cell doors being opened. She shook her head, and tried to focus her eyes. As the fuzzy mess cleared, she was left in the presence of princess Luna. She rubbed her eyes, and made a hasty bow. Still wondering if all this was real.

"Rise, loyalty. Rainbow Dash, I presume?" The lunar princess offered as she looked around the stone walls.

It was a small cell, and there was little more than ten feet wall to wall on the sides. The windows gave away the fact that it was slightly underground, as it reached up to ground level. She could hear the shouts of ponies training on dummies or each other.

"Yes, princess. Do you.... know where Twilight is?" She asked, looking the alicorn over. It was a little after six, if she had to gauge from the lack of light outside.

She seemed reluctant to answer, but managed to say, "Yes, she is in my company. Why?"

Rainbow noticeably sighed, and said, "That's a relief, we thought she was in danger. That somepony had taken her from us. What are you guys doing all the way out here?" She said in a more lighthearted voice. The pegasus attempted to walk up to the princess, but was hindered by burning on her back and wing. She looked back at her wing, seeing the dried blood and torn skin. Her back fared no better.

The princess only raised her eyes, looking over the damage. A quick spell later, the mare was completely healed, not even a scar was left from the wounds. But before the mare could thank her, she was interrupted by a hoof.

"If Twilight did not tell you her purpose for being out here, then it isn't my place to tell. I have to trust her judgement, however."

"What do you mean? Is it about the 'fate of Equestria'? Because I am not going to sit by and watch my friend do something without me!" She said, her pride echoing in her voice.

"You may not want to... But you will. I won't let you interfere with this mission, it is of the utmost importance that we remain a steady course. And you at least know that we are doing something that involves everpony in Equestria, so you have no place to question or involve yourself." She said with finality.

Rainbow's heart dropped, not being able to help, or even to see her friend....or could she?

"Can I at least see her again? One more time.....then I swear I'll leave." She asked with hope in her heart.

Maybe...I'll be able to tell her how I feel...finally get it out... She thought.

"No. But my guards will release you as soon as we leave. There's no way you'll be able to follow us where we're going." Luna said as she turned to take her leave.

Rainbows insides twisted, but she managed, "Wait! Where are you going? Is...is it Romanea?" She called out.

The princess looked back, and was going to say something but choose not to answer. That gave Rainbow as much answer as she needed. They were headed to Romanea, and they were leaving soon.

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Author's Note

It's been awhile since I've updated this story, which is entirely my fault (^.^')

BUT, I can say that I do have more things in store, and this was just a primer chapter to get me back in to the habit of writing again. I also imagine Maverick Sweep to have an Irish accent, sooooo I have no clue how well that was conveyed....

I appreciate comments, likes, and ESPECIALLY feedback on it

Have a hoof /]

(Also in the last chapter is said DeadGraveRock, the answer was LivingTombstone!)

~PickleBarrel~