//------------------------------// // Honor // Story: Aces High // by CrazedRambling //------------------------------// Aces High Chapter 2: Honor Shocked didn't describe how I was feeling as I left Blindside's office. I had been asked -no, ordered- to head to the palace to join up with the Princesses' personal guard. Me! I don't even have any real combat experience! One thing was sure; I was going to have plenty of questions for Celestia if this wasn't some elaborate goof up. I was going to seek answers to my most pressing concerns. First; why me? 'What do you expect me to do as a guard, I don't know if I can protect myself properly, let alone another pony! Especially the Princesses!' I might say to them. Then, maybe I could get some answers for my previous night's concerns. Why is there even a Royal Army at this point? These were problems that I could deal with later, my first priority being to actually make it to the castle at all. I wasn't making it easy on myself given my current state of confusion. I barely remembered my lonely walk down the hallway leading back into the barracks. When I arrived, I saw that many ponies were either in the process of packing, or had already finished, and were lingering to say goodbye to the friends. I suppose I had to face that fact now too. Ditch and Marble had already finished packing, the former assisting another pony in packing his saddlebags, and the latter chatting to Cherry as the pink pony packed up her belongings. Baluchi seemed to be packing slowly and despondently compared to everypony else though. Poor buck, he must be taking the Spec Ops deal hard. I trotted over to see if anything I could say might help. "Hey Baluchi. You seem a little... slow," way to go, just make him feel better alright. "It's not like you. Got anything you need to get off your chest?" I inquired, somewhat awkwardly. 'You've got your own problems too Dash, don't try and play it off and make this conversation weird.' I told myself. Baluchi looked up at me, startled out of his dazed concentration at the sound of my voice. "Can't be anything as bad as what you've gotten saddled with. Not if Blindside looked at you the way he did." he responded. There was some truth in the grey pony's words. "Pfff... Me? Nah. I'll tell you guys all about it later. Before we- Before we go." I choked on the last part a bit, still not ready to abandon my new friends already. Baluchi let out a sigh. "Alright then..." "It's my brother. That's what's got me worried." Baluchi revealed. "When he signed up for the Royal Army, he was placed into Spec Ops too. He... He didn't come out the same pony. Not quite right in the head. Something got to him. Bad." Baluchi explained. "When the Army discharged him, and he came back... He told us things at first. About the brutal training, the things they made him do... the torture. He was one of the ones that couldn't handle it. Now, he doesn't speak about it at all." Baluchi elaborated. "I mean, the things they did to him... Doesn't make any sense. Not to me. We haven't been at war for centuries," I took note of this, glad I wasn't the only one with doubts in the military. "I'm just worried I'll end up like him. Dash, he's been in a mental ward for three damn years. He's so drugged up that he hardly knows who he is anymore. That's all really." Baluchi concluded. Wow. Baluchi had really opened up his heart to me. "Hey," I started, putting my hoof on his shoulder. "You're going to be fine. You're the toughest one in this squad, the best prepared out of all of us. You can handle it. No sweat. You're probably twice the pony you brother is." I told him empathetically. My words quelled my own stormy thoughts, applying the words to myself. Baluchi sighed heavily again. "I hope so..." he said, straightening up as he did so, and looking up at me in the eyes. "Thanks Dash." he said before wrapping me up in a tight hug. I returned the gesture, somewhat alleviating my own fears. Once I began to feel better myself, I released Baluchi from the embrace, locking eyes with him again. "You're going to be fine." I reassured him one last time. Baluchi nodded at me, and then off to the side, signaling that I should go talk with the others too. Talking to Baluchi had made me feel better about my own problems I realized. What did I have to complain about? I was going to live a comparatively comfy life in the castle after all, what should I be complaining about. Everypony else was going somewhere else for more training, or being deployed to some backwater town. Not that Ponyville was a backwater town. Really, I should be considering myself lucky for being able to go to the castle instead. Worst case scenario, some bureaucrat can't find the bathroom and tries to file a complaint with Celestia or Luna. I strolled over to Marble and Cherry Tresses, neither of whom seemed to be having the same issues as Baluchi over their new assignments. In fact, Marble was chatting endlessly about how wonderful an opportunity it would be to become a true officer rather than 'those pretend roles' we played during the mock fights. "It's all I've ever wanted to be!" I heard her exclaim. Right. Chalk that one up as a surprise. For her part, Cherry was doing a good job of packing silently, nodding every so often as Marble babbled on and on. Cherry's saddlebags looked full enough to imply that she was done packing away her belongings. "...Honestly, I knew I was doing good as a squad leader during the fights, but not this good! Oh joy! Now I won't be put in some little backwater like the regular soldiers -not that there's a problem with that- but oh, I get to stay in Canterlot, and.." Marble trailed off, and I stumbled over my own hooves while walking over to the pair as Cherry levitated out a... stick of dynamite? "Shit, is that a-" I began before being cut off abruptly. "Shhh..." Cherry whispered harshly, hiding the dynamite in her saddlebag swiftly. "Yes, and you don't want to know what I had to do to smuggle it in with me." Cherry gingerly whispered to us. "Don't worry, its harmless now. I've diluted the chemicals so that it can't explode." Cherry said reassuringly. "Well what the hell do you still have it for then?!" I whispered angrily. I didn't like unnecessary fright, despite my past thrill seeking ways. "Just a keepsake from home. You know." No, I didn't know. I had left before my friends in Ponyville could give me anything to remember them by. That thought drilled into my brain for a moment, more guilt crushing into me. "Yes, well, glad we don't have to deal with that anymore. Heh... heh heh." Marble chuckled nervously. As far as she was concerned 'diluted' might mean 'I put even more powerful explosives into it,' and 'can't explode' only meant 'unwilling to explode'. "Anyhow," Marble said, facing me in order to change the subject. "It looks like your chat with Baluchi did him some good." she said, pointing over at him. Back at his cot, Baluchi worked industriously at packing his belongings with a look of determination. Yes, I had sparked a fire in him after all it seemed. I should be careful 'sparking fires' while that dynamite is still around, I thought sarcastically. "Yeah," I paused, considering my words. "Spec Ops is nasty business. He seemed like he needed it." Just as much as I had. It only sounded worse after what Baluchi had confided in me about his brother. And more importantly; his doubts. Marble nodded empathetically, leaning closer to me as she did so. "I've heard about some of the things they do to the ponies in training." she whispered into my ear. Continuing, Marble cupped her hooves around her mouth to ensure I was the only who would hear what she had to say. "Word is, they attack you in your cot one night, drug you, and take you away to an interrogation room where you're blindfolded." she paused for a breath. "Then, they start to interrogate you, torture you, to see if you'll break, and give up vital information. False information that the officers assigned to the pony just before they're abducted." Marble paused once more, this time her already worried face took on an even more grim expression. "Worst part is, from what I hear, the interrogator is typically a member of your training squad with a voice filter on so you can't identify them during interrogation." Well, figure the other members had to be trained in interrogation somehow. Really, they were just killing two birds with one stone this way. Nevertheless, I began to feel even worse for Baluchi, knowing he would probably be abducted in a similar fashion. I really didn't have anything worth complaining about anymore. I stood there in silence for a few moments, the news being a bit much to consider right then. Torture, insanity... body bags. All seemed terrifyingly close to Baluchi's once shining future. Too close for me to not be concerned for the young buck's health. I shook my head, trying to clear the negative thoughts away. I turned to face Marble, who had been waiting patiently for me to finish assessing the situation. "Well, Baluchi has his work cut out for him," I stated bluntly. "But he's a tough one he is, he'll take it all if he has to. What about you? How you feeling about you new official assignment?" I asked mainly to return the other pegasus to a more happy state of mind. Cherry moved away to check in with Ditch, having heard enough of this particular conversation already. "Oh, its going to be wonderful Rainbow Dash, I'll be able to.." I listened to Marble, thought not very tentatively. My own thoughts still burned about my -no, all of our futures. I didn't know how well I would adjust to my role, feeling I was undeserving of it. But I'd be damned if I didn't try and make it all work out in the end. ********** I wasn't sure I was really ready for this. My normally strong will shuddered under the brunt force of losing my new friends already. Damn I needed to stop that. Self pity didn't help anyone, and it's not like I was the only one leaving, we were all being separated. Still, we welcomed each other's presence, even if it was for the last time. Just a circle of my little ponies, standing at the gate to our home of the past few months... Okay, so Ditch wasn't little at all, but I liked to think of us all like that. "Well, looks like the gig's up everypony." Baluchi stated, his appearance of determination not quite gone yet. "Eeyup." Ditch said solemnly. A lot like Big Macintosh indeed. Once again, I was hammered with the fact that we might never see each other again. Wetness began to ring my eyes. Crying bad. Gifts good. Time to get on that. "Hey, yeah. I've got some stuff for you all." I managed to get out, a bit of a crack in my voice at first. Gently, I reached into my left saddle bag and pulled out a bundle of circular objects. Dream catchers, I had heard Zecora call them before. Well, whatever they were, they seemed to be memorable enough for me to make a few while I was at the camp. But they were no ordinary dream catchers. They were dream catchers made from me. Over the months I had gathered the fallen multicolored strands of my mane and wound them together like string. I had gone to another unicorn in the squad (since getting Cherry Tresses to do it would ruin the surprise) in order to get them properly wound together, and then tied off into the circular shape they were in. On top of that, I had the circles enchanted to hold up to abuse better, and to become more rigid. I had taken a few more strands of hair for each and spider-webbed them across the circles, tying off a molted feather in the middle of each one. The end result; four multicolored 'dream catchers' to hang over a bunk. Everypony else in the circle looked confused at the sight of the dream catchers, needing a little bit of explanation to understand just what they were for. "Supposed to be good luck or something like that. Catch 'demons' before they can enter your dreams and all that." I said weakly. I never really bought into all that paranormal mumbo jumbo Zecora had tried to explain to me, but it was a nice sentiment. Regardless of their remaining confusion, everypony took one of the dream catchers. If anything, they could still be admired in an artistic aspect since they were still quite a sight to see. "Say, thanks Rainbow Dash. I'll put this right above my bunk at the Sharpshooter's Academy." Ditch said with a smile. The rest of them echoed the sentiment, putting a nice smile on my face. Well shit. There go the dams. My tears finally came gushing out, unable to hold them back any longer. The others gathered as close to me as the confined spaces would allow, concerned for me now. But these tears were brought on by joy, not by the heart-wrenching sadness of only a few moments past. "I'm fine," I assured my four friends. "I'm just- I'm just happy that I get to spend a few more minutes with you guys." I managed to squeak out before collapsing on Marble, who was the nearest to me at the time. Quite quickly, that was not the case, as the other three collapsed in on us in a piled on group hug. Laughter erupted from my muzzle, the happiness finally truly winning out over the sadness. Looking up at her, Marble was experiencing the same feelings, the wetness of tears being relieved by laughter. Soon enough, we were all one big pile of sobbing, laughing, silly ponies. It was a good day after all. A good day for friends. *********** I managed to saunter out of the basic training academy still feeling giggly at everything. Every other one of my friends had been greeted by official military chauffeurs when they stepped outside. I had been left to find my own way to the Castle, which honestly wasn't too hard with its towering spires creating simple visual landmarks. Surely, the personal guard had more important things to do than pick up new recruits after all. Namely, you know, protecting the Princesses. Left to my own devices, I wandered around outside in a somewhat dysfunctional manner. Mustering my concentration, I focused my attention on flagging down one of the numerous chariots filling the streets and skies. I really didn't feel like I was in any condition to be flying or walking to the castle at the moment, so taking a sky chariot was probably the next best thing. After a few attempts, and proceeding failures to acquire a ride, one pegasus finally noticed my frantic hoof waving and dove down to greet me. The pegasus that pulled up had an off white, leaning more towards yellow, coat coloration, and had a glossy (clearly gelled back) baby blue mane. He gently glided down the last bit, landing as gracefully as a pony possibly could with a giant wagon attached to their hind half. "Well hello there young lady. Looking for a ride, right?" the stallion queried in a distinctly Manehattanite accent. "Rates are the fairest around Canter- hey!" the driver exclaimed suddenly. From the direction he was looking, he had just noticed my wings. "Now what kinda nonsense you tryin' to pull here, just yankin' my chain, huh?" the driver asked, annoyed. "I don't tolerate anypony fakin' me out!" the driver said as he began to take off again. "Hey, hold on a second!" I shouted at him as he began to leave. The pegasus turned back for a moment, if only to shout some obscenity at me as he left, but immediately saw my red-eyed and pleading expression. Visibly sighing, the pegasus wheeled back around to land back in front of me, looking like he already regretted his decision. Thankfully, the pegasus really did land in front of me again, instead of just giving me a false hope. "Okay kid, what's the problem. What could possibly drive any seemingly healthy pegasus to take a sky chariot if you ain't Celestia herself?" the driver asked curiously. "Runnin' away from mommy and daddy, wanna' see the 'real world' on your own as a free spirit?" the driver continued sarcastically. He probably thought I was just some rich pony rebelling and running away from her parents. "Cause I can tell ya', it's probably just as boring as..." he trailed off, finally noting my saddlebags were of the military issued variety. At that, he raised an eyebrow at me. "Fresh outta' training kid?" he asked after a momentary pause. I nodded slowly in response. "I just don't really feel like I should be flying right now, that's all..." I explained to him. The driver then took on a vaguely sympathetic look. "Alright kid, climb on aboard. I'll getcha' wherever you need to go." he said, nodding towards the chariot behind him. The fact had also probably occurred to him by that point that he would still be making money even if he was flying a pegasus instead of a unicorn or earth pony. As I stepped onto the chariot though, the driver stopped me once more. "Hey wait, you ain't drunk, are ya'?" he asked, concerned. "I don't want you throwin' up on anypony..." the driver continued until he saw me shake my head vigorously in response. "Okay, just had ta' check, you know? That's the only time I hear anypony sayin' they ain't fit to be goin' nowhere." he explained. "I'm not drunk," I assured him. "Just tired." "Hey, fair enough kid." the driver began as he took off. "Oh hey, by the way, name's DeLain. Tell your friends about me, I do special flights too. Stretch chariots are all the rage right now." the driver included as he took off. I breathed a sigh of relief as I began to move. "I just need to get to the Castle for right now." I said, pointing in the direction of the nearest spire. "Whoah. That ain't somethin' I see every day. Don't get to fly to the castle often, usually need special clearance to get in. What, gettin' put in at security?" DeLain inquired. "Something like that." I said hesitantly. I showed him the signed portion of my orders, allowing me into the castle, making sure to keep the specifics of the orders covered up. "Well no shit. Ain't that a sight to see." DeLain said in surprise. Circling back around, we began to set off towards the castle proper. I was growing somewhat anxious at the prospect of finally making it to the castle. I was still wrestling with the thought of being put into such an important position as protection detail for one, if not both of the Princesses. On the thought of both of the Princesses, I hadn't seen Luna for a long time, not since the day the Changelings had attacked four years ago. At least Celestia made public appearances at regular intervals, not to mention personal visits with Twilight throughout the rest of her tenure in Ponyville. Twilight had decided to stick around in Ponyville even past her allotted time to discover the importance of Friendship, much to the delight of everypony in town, myself included. It had admittedly taken a while to get to like Twilight, with her books, and seclusion in the library. Honestly, I had needed to find reasons to go to the library and visit Twilight once we all had discovered the special bond between ourselves. I had hated books, and I had hated the awkwardness and downright un-coolness with which Twilight presented herself, though not the pony herself. All of that had changed with time of course, mainly due to a particular accident which had left me unable to fly for some time. I had been resilient at first, unwilling to partake in the activity of 'pleasure reading', as Twilight had called it. Reading things for school had been bad enough, but the idea that there were ponies that read because they enjoyed it was... mind boggling, to say the least. And then, I found Daring Do. In my absolute boredom at being shut in at the hospital, I had relented eventually, and actually cracked the cover of one of the books that had been left by Twilight. That point was when the magic of reading began for me. It was like, a movie, but playing inside your head instead, and you could picture everything however you wanted. Daring Do herself, she was a lot like me (okay, maybe not quite as cool) and she went on adventures all over Equestria to find relics and treasure, fighting villains, traps, and her own inner conflicts. It was just so awesome. I couldn't help but keep reading, and, well one thing led to another and, you know... I read all the books. That, was when I had my epiphany about Twilight. She had an intelligence, and a vision which allowed her to view everything in a different light, change it in her head and play out the results. Come to think of it, that was probably why Twilight was so good at magic, both casting and creating. Twilight did what I had thought impossible before... and became cool. That, was when I really wanted to be friends with Twilight past the whole 'Elements of Harmony' thing. With reading, came my own increased thought process, the imagination I had always had, but never used. Life changed dramatically for me after that point, and all because of the purple pony I had dismissed with a wave of my hoof at first. It was fair to say that it was due to Twilight that I found myself in my current place, that it was because I had truly sat down to see the bigger picture of my life, and that I was wasting my life away chasing a dream. That forced me to grab for something closer, something tangible, attainable. And so I had signed up for the Royal Army, trying to do something more for the country I had done so little for up to that point in my life and how I was... how I was... How I was so scatterbrained. How had I gotten to Twilight and the revolution of my life from having not seen Luna in a while? Honestly, I seemed almost as bad as Ditzy Doo right then. Not that she was... "Hey. Hey, you okay?" came the voice of my driver. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just... thinking, that's all." I said, shaking away the cloud of concentration that had been building in my head. "Heh, I'll bet. With a job like yours, I might be thinkin' hard too." DeLain commented. "Anyhow, we're almost here." I turned my gaze upwards... and up, and up, all the way to the clouds. The highest spire in the castle seemed larger than life, despite the fact that I'd seen it plenty of times before during my other brief stays at the castle. Before I had known it, we were at the castle, my own thoughts eating away the minutes it had taken to fly here. DeLain began to swoop down towards the gates, closing in on the guards stationed there. Flying directly into the castle airspace was essentially a death sentence, the sharpshooters in the spire just waiting to take a shot anypony foolish enough to fly in. Not that you would be shot immediately, it would be just plain terrible if a young pegasus or unicorn colt or filly floated in harmlessly. A 'greeting party' would be dispatched from the courtyard to halt anypony flying nearby in order to turn them aside and warn them not to attempt it again. I paused for a moment, considering that Ditch could one day be one of the ponies stationed inside the spire, waiting patiently to shoot down an oncoming threat. I hoped that Ditch's skills would never be needed, he was a nice pony, and it was hard to imagine him having to shoot anypony else. Landing, we rolled up to the gate, where Royal Guards stood before us. The middle guard, a unicorn, was clearly the commanding officer due to the extra decorations and non-standard coloration of his armor. Rather than the plain golden armor, the officer had platinum armor with filigree inlaid with amethyst, several more exotic inscriptions indicating the armor was magically enchanted. The normal golden open faced helmet with the blue plume was also replaced by an enchanted platinum helmet with more arcane inscriptions and magical sight sapphires over the eye sockets of the enclosed helmet, with a regal purple plume complimenting the amethyst inlay of the body armor. The officer also levitated two wicked looking spears, likely also enchanted, at his sides. A fearsome looking anti-material rifle, in two pieces, the barrel on one flank, the body on the other, rested in slots of the armor. All in all, the pony was terrifyingly well armed and armored, another testament to the efforts placed in improvement of the military. Slowly, DeLain trotted up until we were both about fifteen feet away from the guard, where we stopped. The guard's eyes focused on us, not that I could see them, but I could feel the scrutinizing glare emanating off of the pony. "Who goes there?" the officer rumbled from inside his magical armor. I gulped, suddenly unsure if I really wanted to be at the castle after all. "Got a pony what says she should be here." DeLain responded for me, seemingly unfazed by the terrifying guard before him. "Show me." the guard pony rumbled back. I quickly pulled out my orders, unsure if I should step out, or have DeLain bring me up to the pony, though getting closer to the Pony of Death strained my courage. He was on our side right? Wait, we don't have sides... I needn't have worried about anything though, as the guard pony levitated my orders out of my muzzle the moment he saw the documents. The guard's sapphire eyes and horn lit up as he looked over the document, probably using his magic to see any trace signs of forgery, magical or otherwise. Seemingly satisfied, he magically folded the orders back up and sent them floating back to my saddlebags, placing them inside before I even moved to open them for him. "Rainbow Dash, is it? Everything appears to check out. You may proceed inside the gates to scanning." the guard confirmed as the regal metal gates opened from inside behind him, stepping aside to let DeLain pass as they did so. Scanning? That was new since the last time I had been to the castle, though that had been a long time admittedly. The death dealer pony at the gates was new, too. The Princesses had been beefing up the castle's protection since I had been here apparently. 'But why was that even necessary?' I asked myself. Patience, I told myself. I was almost in the presence the two most informed ponies in Equestria. My questions could wait until then. Inside the gates, more guard ponies, thankfully of the standard variety, stood at attention, while a bored looking unicorn in a far more scholarly outfit awaited us. The unicorn addressed us as we approached. "Alright, step out of the chariot and remove all saddlebags, jewelry, or loose articles of clothing, and will the driver please unhitch himself from the chariot and follow the same instructions." the unicorn instructed us in a bored tone. Clearly this speech gets old, but must be repeated every time since neither I nor DeLain had any jewelry or clothing on. I carefully let go of my saddlebags, pulling my orders out again just in case they were needed. Slowly, the unicorn went over my saddlebags, scanning it with his magic and pulling out a few miscellaneous items to observe them closer, and tidily packing them back in before performing the same process on DeLain's bags as well. Surprisingly, the unicorn also scanned the chariot itself, and then each of us individually. The magic of the unicorn passing over me felt... wrong, not like it was evil, but the magic felt like it made my innards tingle with energy. DeLain was a bit more vocal about the sense of wrongness from the magic. "Whoah, whoah, whoah. Hey! What is this?" DeLain demanded from the unicorn. "Calm down sir, it's simply a precaution to detect any dangerous or illegal substances either stored in your body or influencing you. We don't want anything to go wrong inside the castle." the unicorn explained in the same bored drone as before. Luckily, DeLain didn't press further, the answer seeming to satisfy him, though he did mutter under his breath for the rest of the process. When the unicorn finished with his detection spells, he signaled that we could put our saddlebags back on and get back onto the chariot. He dismissed my attempts to hand him my orders for observation as well. "Everything checks out with your orders already, otherwise Lieutenant Gravesend wouldn't have let you through the gates in the first place." he told me. The officer's name was Gravesend? As if he needed anything else to add to his intimidating influence, now I found out his name practically spoke of death. While the unicorn seemed to be in no particular rush, he urged us to continue into the courtyard at our 'earliest convenience', which DeLain took to mean right now. Quite reasonable though, as DeLain had other things to do with his day than being scanned and ushered about. Luckily, the courtyard remained the same majestic area of tranquility it had been for centuries. A marble fountain featuring an exceptionally benevolent looking Celestia dominated the center of the courtyard. Double deep rows of benches stood to the left and right of the fountain, enough seating for about fifty ponies in all, perfect for any diplomatic party at the castle. A small bungalow stood behind each set of benches, providing restroom services for the guests. Meticulously trimmed grass ringed the entire area, with several flowering bushes providing an elegant scent to the air. The courtyard was one of my favorite parts of the castle, though this was apparently as far as DeLain was willing to go in. "Okay miss. This is where I drop you off. I got more ponies to deliver and a party to escort later." he told me. I complied, stepping out of the chariot and onto the soft earth below. DeLain took out a small device which he used to determine the cost of the trip. "Okay, looks like your total is... thirty seven bits." he told me. My eyes widened a bit at the figure. Thirty seven bits! That was highway robbery! I rolled my eyes, but took out my bit pouch. "Well okay then... how about twenty five bits for one of 'Equetria's Finest'." DeLain bargained, clearly having caught me rolling my eyes. While still seemingly high, I took the significantly lower offer and dropped a twenty five bit piece into his waiting hoof. DeLain quickly put the money in his own bit pouch and stuck his forehoof out towards me. "Pleasure doing business with ya'." he said as I took his hoof and shook it. As he turned to leave, he looked back over his shoulder. "Remember to tell your friends about me! Fairest rates around!" he shouted at me as an afterthought. I shook my head, chuckling at the pegasus' continued advertisement. For some odd reason, I felt that this wouldn't be the last time I saw DeLain, though the odds of finding the same sky chariot driver without intentionally searching seemed entirely unlikely. I was still considering the thought when I heard a familiar voice cry out. "Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?" the voice asked confused. Before I even turned around, I was overcome with joy. When I did turn, I found Twilight Sparkle standing just off to the side of the fountain, surprise plain on her face. In this case, it was a happy surprise for the both of us. Twilight quickly beamed at me, a pleasant grin full of mirth, and proceeded to teleport directly in front of me. No sooner had the purple pony materialized than she wrapped me up in a hug, which I returned gratefully. "Rainbow, I'm so happy to see you!" she said, crying into my mane. I had returned the embrace by this point, my own surprise fading enough for me to react. "You barely said goodbye to all of us before you left, I was worried we had done something wrong." Twilight said before pushing herself back a leg's length away, but keeping her hooves on my shoulders. "We didn't, did we?" she asked, concerned. "No way!" I responded quickly, not wanting any of my friends to think they had done anything wrong to me. "I just... I just needed to do something important. I needed to make up for all the time I've wasted. All these years that I've let go by without pulling my own weight in the world." I explained, concern on my face this time. "I hope you can all take me back after I left you all without explaining where I was going or what I was doing..." I said solemnly. "Of course Rainbow, don't be a silly pony." Twilight said empathetically. "We couldn't dream of not having you back in the folds of our friendship." she continued. I smiled again, hugging her once more for good measure. Twilight happily returned the hug. Her eyes lit up suddenly as she pushed herself back again. "Come on, the others will want to see you too!" she said gleefully, nearly galloping off to tell the 'others' I was here. "Wait, who do you mean by 'others'?" I asked. Apparently it was my time to be confused. "Everypony else! The whole gang's here!" Twilight said excitedly, barely stopping her run to explain. Clearly it was also my turn to have my eyes light up. I was feeling better. Yeah, a lot better. Good enough to fly. ********** And fly I did. Twilight had galloped far ahead, but with my aerial speed, I managed to catch up to her easily. Noticing my efforts, Twilight slowed to a walk, allowing us to chat more as we continued down the hallway that had stretched out beyond the fountain. "So, what have all of you been up to while I was gone?" I queried. "Oh, not much." Twilight responded. I gave her a skeptical look, knowing all of my friends far too well. Twilight relented to the look and gathered her thoughts to explain the last three month's worth of events. "Well, I'm not really lying, nothing too exciting has happened in Ponyville." she began. "For starters, Applejack managed to win first prize in all events at the Equestrian Rodeo this year." she explained. I had heard about that, though all I had heard from the others in the squad was that somepony had won first prize in every event, though who the winner was had never been elaborated upon. I was happy that the stubborn pony whom a shared the occasional rivalry with had managed to accomplish such an amazing feat since I had left Ponyville. Applejack worked hard at being the best worker at Sweet Apple Acres, and this proved that not only was she the best back home, but in the entire country. "Rarity was contacted by Photofinish to create several dresses for her models. Rarity was kinda upset that she didn't get to be one of the models herself, but she still fainted at the idea that she would be able to show off her dressmaking skills on the big stage for once." Twilight continued. Very Rarity indeed. I didn't enjoy when Rarity fretted over me for being so unladylike when I 'could be the one of the most darling ponies in Ponyville' if I simply let her perform her twisted dress experiments on me. Rarity did win points in my book for being one of the most single-mindedly obsessive ponies in Equestria when she attempted to reach a goal. Even if said 'goal' was to get me to go to the spa for a hooficure and massage. "Pinkie Pie has officially taken over Sugarcube Corner since the Cakes decided to move back to Manehattan. Pinkie has been baking with a fury since then to get all the orders covered each day." Twilight paused. "But somehow she finds the time each day to throw parties for everypony's birthdays and still hang out with us." she added. Good old Pinkie Pie. She always knew how to brighten somepony's day, and she was the most fun loving pony of all of my close friends. Pinkie was just so random that I could always have fun with her, and she was a master prankster, even better than I was. Now though, I found that many pranks just weren't worth the time, that I should have been doing something more important with my time than trying to find a little amusement in others. "And lastly, Fluttershy single hoofedly stared down a flock of cockatrices that were terrorizing the town. Then she managed to get them to turn everything they had turned to stone back to the way they were before." Twilight concluded. Fluttershy. I knew her since I was a little filly back in Cloudsdale, but she kept finding ways to surprise me. From dragons, to cockatrices, to mean minotaurs, Fluttershy stopped them all in her own special way of handling things. Which typically meant by handling the situation with either extreme politeness, or with absolute terror. Kind of odd how such a scardy-pony could pull stuff like that off. I stopped abruptly in the hallway, Twilight reacting in kind a moment later, turning to face me, concern again splayed on her face. "What, is something wrong?" she asked, worried. I resumed my walk, answering as I went. "No, not at all. It's just that you never said what you did for all that time." I answered. "Oh!" Twilight exclaimed, and then chuckled. "Well, I just did the same thing I always do. I wrote reports, yelled at Spike, and read a few dumb books." she told me. Clearly Twilight was willing to downplay anything exciting that she had done, and for her sake, I was willing to allow her to do so. "So," Twilight said, pausing in the hallway, forcing me to turn and face her this time. "What about you, what kind of exciting things have you been up to?" she asked with a giggle. I bid her to keep walking down the hallway alongside me. Would this hallway just end already, I could have just skipped this part entirely then. At least for a little while. Seeing that Twilight had no intentions of stopping anytime soon, I forced myself to get my story out. "Well, I've been here in Canterlot," I began, somewhat hesitantly. "At the ERA training grounds." I finished, waiting for the expected response. What I got was completely different. I had expected something bordering surprise, or admiration, anger even. But Twilight responded far differently. Once again, the purple unicorn stopped in the corridor to give me a worried expression, this time mixed more with sadness. "Oh Rainbow Dash... what have you gotten yourself into...? Twilight asked solemnly. "I suppose you're here to see the Princesses, aren't you. We'd better turn around now and get you to them..." she said in a barely audible whisper, head somewhat lowered as she turned to go back the way we came from. No. Not right now. "Friends come first." At my insistence that we go to my other friends first, Twilight immediately rebounded to the happiness she had felt when she saw me in the courtyard. With my request, Twilight knew that I bore no ill will to her, or any of my other friends. Instead, she turned back to me, and began to race down the corridor at full speed, using her teleportation abilities to blink further and further away. I smiled grandly, glad to know that I was truly around my friends again. And if it was a race Twilight wanted, it was a race she would get. I stabilized myself firmly on the ground, ready to launch forward in the air. And launch I did. Twilight was far ahead of me, I couldn't even see her anymore. But I knew I could catch her. I felt the air around me shifting as my form cut through the stillness, creating an artificial breeze behind me, and warping the air in front of me. Picking up speed, I cruised by countless doors, lucky that none had opened up and put a swift stop to my race. I began to spot Twilight far down the corridor, knowing I would catch her soon. But the purple pony certainly wasn't trying to make it easy, pouring her concentration into one blinking teleportation spell after another, and I could see the neon purple flashes as she popped in and out of existence. Keeping my head lowered, I pushed my wings to propel me to even greater speeds. Unfortunately for Twilight, she seemed to think I could possibly have gotten lost in the straight approach of the hallway, and stopped suddenly and turned to head back and find me, only to see a rainbow colored blur rush by her head, ruffling her mane and tail as the displaced air struck her. I turned and slowed in order to see her laughing at having thought she could possibly beat me. I stopped, landing back on the floor as Twilight concentrated one last time to teleport herself right next to me. "Good thing you stopped Rainbow, they're only three more doors down." Twilight informed me. Happily, I trotted beside her again as we reached the door. "Let me go in first, they'll get more of a shock that way." Twilight said, some deviousness in her voice. She opened the door and walked in. I could hear my other friends greeting her as she came back from what I assume had just been a pleasant walk around the castle. I could also hear her informing them that she had found a special guest as she wandered about the castle. I could hear distinctly then who was asking what. "Well who've ya' got for us Twi'? I could hear Applejack say in her peculiar accent. "Yeah, who is it Twilight? Are you sure we can't throw a surprise party for them?" Pinkie asked excitedly. "Darling, you leave us on such short notice for these sorts of special events. I haven't even got the time to spruce up the place, maybe put on a nice dress, touch up my makeup..." Rarity scolded, before being distracted by what she could do to make a better appearance. "Um... it's not someone we don't know, is it?" I could barely hear Fluttershy whisper. "Oh, I dunno. I think she'll just have to come in herself." Twilight said mischievously. I took that as my cue to come on in, and as I did, I was happy to hear the chorus of surprised greetings. "Rainbow Dash?" came the surprised queries from everypony else in the room. Yes, it was good to have friends. ********** I passed by several hours listening to my friends regale me with their far more extensive versions of what Twilight had told me of each of them in the corridor. In return, I told all of them the reasons for me leaving Ponyville on such short notice, assuring each and every one of them that nopony had done something to make me leave. "Well shucks, if I had known you were in Canterlot while I was at the rodeo I would have came ta' check up on ya'." Applejack told me. "Giving up your own dreams for the good of everyone is very noble and generous of you Rainbow Dash." Rarity praised, lauding me for my will to put myself forward in the world. Pinkie Pie just eyeballed me closely a few times and then asked, "Are you sure you're the real Rainbow Dash?" she asked suspiciously, and I simply assured her I was the same Rainbow Dash, which sated her suspicions and cause her to resume her normal and cheery attitude. Fluttershy remained silent, not asking a single question of me, but sat there happily once I hold told her that there was nothing she had done to make me leave. Apparently, Fluttershy had been under the unreasonable assumption that I had left because of something she had done to make me mad, though I had no clue what the kind pegasus could possibly have done to make me leave. After my own queries about them, it turned out that Celestia had called all of them to the castle as well. A reason was given for each of their individual presences. Applejack to help plant some new apple trees in the garden with her expertise, Fluttershy to help the groundskeeper in handling some of the newborn animals of the gardens, while Pinkie Pie was to train the castle's newer bakers so that the full time ones could keep up their work, and lastly, Rarity was simply given a setup in the castle to create her new dresses for Photofinish. Twilight was of course supposed to follow her friends to see if she could learn anything new about friendship. Admittedly, I was somewhat suspicious as to the fact that all of us just so happened to be gathered together in the castle at the same time. I wanted so very badly to spend the rest of the day, and even well into the night in that room with my friends, sharing in their jokes and laughter. I wanted so very badly to be back in Ponyville, in Twilight's library, with these same ponies. I wanted so very badly to be somewhere I belonged, and that I truly felt that sentiment. Instead, I had to finish revealing my circumstances to my friends. "So I told all of you already why I'm here. In Canterlot. But... not why I'm here in the castle." I began, unwilling to finish my words. But they needed to be said. "When I was assigned after graduation from the training grounds, I was supposed to... I- I'm... supposed to be part of the personal guard for the Princesses." I spat out with difficulty. Silence reigned in the room for several moments. "Wow Rainbow." came the silence breaking words. Twilight was responsible for those words. "I figured you were here to at least visit the Princesses, but... to actually be part of their personal guard... and I thought that the castle guards were important." she continued. "But congratulations. I'm sure you earned it." she concluded with a smile. I nodded at the words, but failed to find any truth in them. "Really, I probably ought to go see the Princesses right now..." I said with my face to the floor. "But I've been too happy here with you all to let it end..." I trailed off, but with a smile on my face. "It's okay sugarcube, we know you've got an important job to do here now. You can run along now, we'll still be here when you get back." Applejack assured me. The others all echoed the sentiment in their own words. "Go ahead Rainbow. The raising of the moon has already happened, but Luna should still be standing vigil in the spire. Let her know you're here." Twilight said, encouraging me to visit the Princess. I looked at my friends one last time at the threshold of the door. They all smiled and waved me off. I didn't want to go. What if I never saw them again? What if I have to stay here forever, and I can't leave for Ponyville? No. That couldn't happen. If anything, they would come see me. They were my friends after all. And with that, I flew off down the corridor again to pay Luna a visit. ********** Here I stood, outside of the ritual chamber where the sun and moon were raised and set without fail each day. I noted as I had approached the base of the tower that all of the guards, had changed to Luna's night guards, even the scholarly unicorn pony that had been responsible for scanning me had been replaced with an equally bored looking scholarly unicorn, though this one had robes that blended more with the dark of night. The guards at the base of the tower had stopped me for my papers as expected, and I had been prepared enough to have them out as I approached. Shortly, I had been sent on my way. The spire had filled me with awe and wonder as I walked the path to the ritual chamber at the summit. Murals and sculptures of grand proportions adorned the wide walls surrounding the vast spiral staircase leading to the top. Several times I forced myself to stop gawking in amazement at the artwork around the building and I made my way forward. Eventually, artwork gave way to arcane relics of ages past, both functional and non-functional. The might of the Equestrian empire (and we truly were an empire, we simply did not call ourselves such) could be seen through centuries of relics from even before the time of Nightmare Moon. Eventually the relics transformed into levels upon levels of texts, both ancient and new in a grand library meant to store the history, magical practices, cultures, and just about everything else imaginable in Equestria in text format. The last few floors only had sparse furnishing, until even that ceased, leaving barren and empty rooms in the vast amounts of space in the behemoth tower. And then, before I had even fully overcome my astonishment at the sights I had seen on the way to the top, I was there. The path to the ritual chamber on the final floor housed towering statues of past heroes of Equestria, which seemed ready to simply burst to life and spring into action against any would be interlopers. If the inanimate statues weren't enough to intimidate away those that shouldn't be here, the heavily armed guards that flanked said statues all the way down the hall should. The guards all stood at perfect attention, near embodiments of the statues they stood near, as if proximity alone were enough to force them into motionlessness. Not a one moved as I walked towards the doors of the ritual chamber, until I reached the doors themselves, which were opened wordlessly by the two unicorns standing before them. Inside the chamber was a comparably small room, with a large bed dominating the right wall of the circular chamber, and an engraved obsidian table on the left side, with several comfy looking chairs around it. A recent painting of both of the Princesses together adorned the wall above the table, while the bed had a thin violet veil surrounding the mattress with its own matching sheets. None of these things drew my attention as much as the seemingly glowing figure standing on the balcony at the far end of the room. A majestic midnight blue coat encompassed the figure, as a ghostly flowing mane and tail shifted about like the gently moving night sky. From behind, I could see a horn which tapered to a sharpened point. The figure flexed her massive wings, settling them closer around her body, as if she were cold. Truly, Princess Luna was breathtaking. "WE CAN SENSE YOUR PRESENCE, RAINBOW DASH." the Princess boomed. I shrank back at the imposing voice, feeling smaller at its power. The Night Princess turned to regard me, and I lowered myself to the floor in as graceful a bow as I could attempt in my awe. "Please, rise." a much gentler and embarrassed voice said. I glanced back up at Luna, who had stepped closer to me, and greatly lowered the volume of her voice. I rose quickly, almost knocking myself off balance in my swiftness. I stood, listening tentatively to Luna once I had composed myself. "Please, do come in." she welcomed. As I entered, the door swung silently shut behind me. "Please join me on the balcony, I do find the night so beautiful." Luna requested. I took a step forward, and looked down as I stepped on the elegant rug I hadn't noticed in my earlier observations of the room. Continuing, I followed the Princess out to the balcony, where she was already lost gazing in the stars once more. I stood behind the much taller and regal pony in silence. "I already know why you're here Rainbow Dash." the Princess said softly, not breaking away from the night sky. "My sister made it a goal of hers to bring you here, to keep you safe, as well as your other friends. Only you six can activate the Elements of Harmony, which may end up being our most potent weapon." the Princess stated, and then fell silent again. I was confused, safe from what? And what could we possibly need the Elements for again? I only voiced my concern over our safety a moment later. "What could we possibly have to be afraid of in Canterlot?" I queried. Luna shifted her gaze down to me then, her eyes boring into my own. "The danger does not come from Equestria, young Rainbow Dash. It is from... elsewhere." she warned. "You know of the gryphons, yes?" she asked. I nodded in acknowledgment. "And of the minotaurs as well, correct?" she continued. I only vaguely knew of the minotaurs, my only real experience with them having been from Iron Will back in Ponyville. Nevertheless, I nodded once more. The Princess sighed heavily, and then returned to gazing at the sky. "Me and my sister both have limited powers of clairvoyance." she stated. "We have both seen into the future. A very specific part of the future, as it were. And we are... afraid." the Princess said, softening her voice at the last bit. I was suddenly filled with overwhelming dread. What could possibly cause both Princesses, let alone one Princess, to be afraid? Luna noticed my internal struggle. "In a short time, there will be an attack. This is what we have seen in our shared vision." she revealed. "In a mock fight between the gryphons and a regiment of the Air Corps." she continued. "Only... this won't be a mock fight. And only one side will be aware of that fact." Luna's voice darkened at this. "And ours will not be the one." she concluded. My jaw dropped. There was going to be bloodshed between ponies and... well... anything for the first time in centuries. But why? I attempted to articulate my confusion in some sort of comprehensible manner, but simply came out as "What... why?" Luna sighed once more, facing my still shocked form. "You know of Gilda. This is a fact. You also know that she stormed out of Ponyville, having been offended at her treatment by the ponies of Ponyville." the Princess stated, all truths. "What you may not know, is that Gilda is the daughter of one of the High Gryphon Council's members." the Princess told me. "When she arrived back home, she went directly to her father, and told him of what happened in Ponyville. Not only that, but she fabricated and overstated what had happened in your little town." the Princess continued. "Later, her father had convinced the rest of the Council to demand reparations for what they called 'mistreatment of an ambassador'. Politely, my sister and I refused, knowing the truth of the matter." Luna concluded. Noting my still perplexed expression, Luna added one final, resounding note to her point. "To the High Gryphon Council, this was taken as an act of aggression." she paused for a moment, and began again, sounding even more depressed. "In about fifteen minutes, the mock fight is to take place. The battle is supposed to be held above Ponyville." "Tomorrow morning, as my sister raises the Sun, Ponyville will no longer exist." The last words struck me like a freight train. Ponyville... wouldn't... exist? The simple words refused to register in my brain for a moment, and then I was struck with a fury like none I had ever felt before. "But we know about this right now, we can still warn them, get everypony out of Ponyville! There's still time!" I started to say frantically. "No there is not." Luna stated calmly. "Remember that I asked you of the minotaurs? They too took offense at one of their 'ambassadors' being kicked out of Ponyville disgracefully, demanding similar reparations, which we also refused." Luna continued. "The minotaurs and gryphons have already allied with each other, and the minotaurs have Ponyville surrounded on the ground, while the gryphons will fight ineffective air forces above the town." "They. Are. All. Doomed." Luna said slowly, and painfully. My jaw struck the floor again. Luna was on the verge of tears, sounding desperate. "There is nothing I can do. Celestia has already told every officer in the area not to take any orders from me without her explicit permission. Anything I tell them, they just ignore." she continued, this time actually losing any semblance of control, the tears flowing freely. I felt even more disheartened seeing the tears flow from such a powerful being that was truly powerless to do anything. But then my rage boiled over. Celestia knew. And she wasn't doing a damned thing. "Where is your sister?" I asked, sounding deadly calm. Luna looked to me, tears still in her eyes. "She sulks in her chambers, locked away, preparing to observe the battle from afar." Luna told me. "You cannot stop her. She has seen your coming in her vision as I have. She will have prepared." Luna warned. "That won't stop me." I told her. My eyes burned with a fire that I could have sworn was visible to any onlooker. With that, I flew straight off of the balcony to confront Celestia. ********** I pushed myself, trying to be faster than I ever had been. Not that I could reach that goal with the relatively short flight to the opposite end of the castle where Celestia's personal chambers lay. There were only ten minutes until the utter destruction of Ponyville, precious time that I realized I had wasted as I gawked at the stupid art and petty writings inhabiting the spire. Deep down, I knew that my confidence in being able to change what was about to occur was false, and that Luna was right. There's nothing I could do. But I wasn't about to spend two seconds to acknowledge that as the truth. The much smaller spire of Celestia's abode, twin to her sister's own spire, towered before me as I flew closer and closer. I intended to land directly on the balcony of the highest level, and intervene from there. But I slammed the brakes as hard as I could, when a glint of starlight revealed a spark of mystical energy protecting the balcony from intrusion. A gift from Luna, I thought, as much as she could do for me given the circumstances. I gave silent thanks to the one Princess who was willing to do something. With the warning in mind, I shifted direction, straightening downwards, blasting myself towards the doors. The guards who saw me offered no resistance, instead opening the doors for me as I made my way through them. I could not stop to gawk at Celestia's own impressive personal collection of artifacts, tapestries, and other such distractions. Only seven minutes left now, and I had to navigate with care since I was moving about the much more confined space of the spiral staircase, rather than the outdoors which I had just come from. Precious seconds ticked away, and while the flight to the top was still extensive, I appreciated that I was traversing the smaller of the spires. Seconds turned to minutes as I managed to reach the last level of the tower, its own statues dwarfed by those in the other tower, but they stood just as imposingly. Not that I took the time to recognize that at this time. The two lone guards stood at the doors to Celestia's inner chamber, blocking my path. It felt as if she was mocking me, placing almost nothing in the way of resistance all throughout the tower, and only now leaving two lone guards in my way. "Halt, the Princess is not to be disturbed at this time!" the guard on the left informed me. "Turn away now, and we will not be forced to move you aside by other means!" the right one commanded with authority. In a synchronized fashion, both lowered their spears to further dissuade me from continuing on my chosen path. Not that it helped them any as I kicked up the speed, smacking each of them straightly in the forehead with my forehooves. Continuing with my momentum, I pushed against the doors, being aided by the masses of the two guards impacting against them. With some slight resistance, the doors flew open... only for me to be greeted with a net in the face. The doors had been booby trapped with a net launcher, the resistance being the effort it had taken to set off the launcher. My momentum still managed to carry me into the room several feet. And there she stood, in all of her radiant beauty. Whereas Luna embodied the midnight beauty of the heavenly bodies, Celestia embodied that of the glorious daylight. Her coat shone with the glow of the sun, though on a far more tolerable scale than that of the sun itself. The majestic Princess's mane and tail emitted the light of a true rainbow, not the simple chromatic colors of my own 'rainbow' mane, looking nearly immaterial. Celestia's horn tapered to a point just as Luna's did, though were she to spread her wings, she would dwarf Luna's span, being the more physically mature of the two. But the regal beauty of the Princess was marred with the utter disappointment splayed across her face. I had fulfilled the vision she had foreseen, though she had hoped I could have strayed from the path of her vision. Instead, all played out as she had foreseen, and I had barreled straight into her chambers heedlessly, and directly into the net that awaited me. She simply stared at me with her disappointment as I struggled against the thick, binding ropes. "I had hoped this would have turned out differently, and not as I had envisioned it." the Princess said softly, in that oh-so elegant voice of hers, the smooth voice of a mother it seemed to many. She shook her head, the heavenly mane shifting in a non-existent breeze. "I wished that everything had simply been a misdirection of my own powers, that I was merely seeing things as I had feared they would work out, warping it all with my mind's silent concerns." she told me. "But I see now that Equestria is only moments away from entering another bloody chapter of its history." I struggled against the net, almost out of it as I felt the bindings loosen and pull away, a brilliant shining glow surrounding the ropes. Celestia was indeed untangling me, but then I felt as any movements I attempted to make slowed, until I couldn't move at all. Now, I was held as an unmoving captive of the Princess, being floated towards her as if I were a simple object she wished to have. "While I can make you more comfortable outside of the net, I'm afraid I can't simply allow you to roam free, young Rainbow Dash." the Princess said, sounding disappointed in me once more. "Why!?" I growled in my fury. "Why- how can you let this happen?! You! The Princess!" I exclaimed. Celestia looked hurt, as she deserved to feel, and I could see now that a pool of water had been formed in the center of the chamber. Within the water, I could see several pegasi forming ranks in the air, the night time fog obscuring specific colors and details of the ponies in the sky. It was about to begin, I could tell. Celestia sighed, a heavy, sorrowful sigh. "This has to be done to seal the fate of Equestria, Rainbow Dash. We need to be the victims." the Princess explained. "We need to be the good guys in this conflict. The ponies of Equestria need to know that we weren't the aggressors, that we're simply defending ourselves." she continued. Celestia suddenly turned to face the scrying pool, telekinetically dragging me through the air with her. A burst of light, a pinprick in the darkness, sudden confusion among the ranks of the pegasi, several more pinpricks of light in the night. It had begun. With that, the Princess stood silently, holding me aloft beside her as she watched the beginning of an extermination of one of her towns. Something she had knowingly done nothing to stop. I looked on in horror as dead and dying pegasi rained from the skies, the living ones flying about in confusion. At the same time, I saw light take shape on the ground, as flames sprung to life in the village itself. The minotaurs had arrived, and they were setting the town ablaze with torches while eliminating any sort of ground resistance from the townsponies. I was horrified into silence as my home of the past several years caught fire, and its inhabitants slain. All for the perceived aggression from those living in the small town. I turned my head, the only free part of my body, to face Celestia, my mouth agape as tears streamed down my face. I wanted to ask her... something. I couldn't even compile my thoughts to protest what was occurring anymore. What I saw of Celestia though was a grimacing face, full of the same pain and sorrow that I was feeling, willing itself not to cry. "We need a reason-" she said to me, choking in a heart wrenching sound. The regal Princess now seemed like a pitiful shadow of her former self, of the perfection I had witnessed mere moments ago. "We need a reason to fight this." she concluded. "And now... we have one."