When one is confined within four steel walls, one is often left to their own thoughts and reflections. For a certain chromatic Pegasus, her train of thoughts were no different as she idly stroked her half grown son’s mane, her eyes locked in a distant stare with her memories. He slept fitfully, snuggling close to her side and beneath her wing as he used to when he was but a foal, trying to hide from the thunder and lightning. The thumping of metallic engines in a steady beat could lull one into a sense of lethargic indifference. The colt’s dreams troubled him, but his mother’s touch soothed. The mare sighed and wondered how it all came to this.
Rainbow Dash had once been perhaps one of the most reckless, hard-headed ponies any could chance to meet. Her Pegasi heritage made her naturally aggressive and prone to taking chances. Battle was in her blood and she came from a long line of proud winged ponies. She achieved her dream of becoming a part of the Wonderbolts, an elite team of warrior ponies who specialized in being the public face of the Royal Army. She was trained to fight and learned how to handle herself in a skirmish. Though never personally involved in battles herself, she still trained under the watchful eye of veteran Wonderbolts like Spitfire, Fleetwing, and Soarin. She exhibited raw potential the likes of which had not been seen in a very long time.
She was brash, eager to show off, and willing to show anypony who would giver her but a moment of attention just how good she was at what she did. From her pure raw potential, Rainbow Dash was indeed the most gifted flyer Equestria had ever seen in nearly two hundred years. Not only was she loyal to her friends to a fault, she was also tough and ready to prove her loyalty by nearly any means necessary to get her point across. She got into plenty of fights once she became a part of the military, always struggling to prove herself as she found out the hard way being a Wonderbolt required more than having raw potential.
She learned. She battled. She endured. She adapted. She overcame. The challenge became more than personal and her friends encouraged her to not give up. Rainbow Dash found her dream of being a Wonderbolt realized after five years of training in the Wonderbolt Academy. During that time, she had an off and on again affair with Soarin, their fiery romance producing Lightning Dash, her son. Soarin loved mares too much to set himself into a monogamous relationship, even going so far as to pursue Rainbow’s reticent friend Fluttershy. He lied to her, as he lied to other mares for the sake of adding another notch to his list of conquests. In her anger upon discovering the deception, Rainbow Dash took her frustrations out on the timid mare and refused to speak with her even though she became aware of the truth shortly after splitting with Soarin.
She never forgave him and found it nearly impossible to face Fluttershy and simply apologize. She knew she was in the wrong and buried herself into splitting her time between work and being a single mother. Over the years, she drifted further from some of her friends as life happened. She met them when her schedule allowed it and was always happy to see them the few times her duties afforded her the chance. Rainbow matured into a more responsible mare, finding her role as a leader thrust upon her when Spitfire was forced to retire after a horrendous training accident. She became disciplined and developed an eye for detail. The chromatic mare was still brash and spoke with a blunt terminology, but she learned to become not only a leader, but a teacher in her own way.
Rainbow Dash led by example. Spitfire taught her that. Being a Wonderbolt pushed her physical limits to the edge and beyond, but she took the challenge with a grit and determination Applejack would have been proud of.
Her time with Lightning was precious. Given her own fillyhood, she refused to take her pride and joy for granted and became a surprisingly effective parent as well as the coolest mom in the world. Where her own father could never seem to find to time for her, Rainbow in turn always found a way to be there cheering her son on in his athletic competitions as well as any other school functions parents were asked to attend. She was never perfect about it as missed as many as she made, but she tried and made sure her son understood her job sometimes kept her from home.
During the summer months and whenever school was not in session, Rainbow Dash brought her kid with her to her performances. She taught him about being loyal, though even she had to admit he was smarter than her. Nothing pleased her more than watching Lightning Dust grow up watching her with awe while Scootaloo became a sort of big sister to him in the process. Between Rainbow and Scoots, the two mares kept the boy from straying too far off the straight and narrow. He also became a pretty darned good flyer for his age. He was almost old enough to compete in the Young Flyer’s Competition.
Lightning Dash had no idea how discombobulated he made his mother by stowing away on the Aurora along with his friends. Deeply disappointed in him, Rainbow felt his punishment wasn’t enough, but relented only because Luna wanted the children to learn how to be useful on board the airship for the duration of the voyage. In time, her anger did abate and she managed to stop grinding her teeth every time she thought about his little escapade. Not surprisingly, her renewed friendship with Fluttershy (they had that long-needed discussion shortly before the voyage began) enabled her to talk to her gentle friend. The butter yellow Pegasus convinced her to forgive her son, reminding her how her inability to forgive had nearly cost her a dear friend.
So, she encouraged her boy to hang out with Silent Wing. Despite the teasing from Applejack and Rarity, she was not a cougar trying to go after the prince. Lightning had few enough winged male friends to hang out with on a regular basis. Though she was not completely sold on the adopted son of Chrysalis, Luna vouched for him and bore that certain look of a mare definitely interested in a stallion. The strange kid was odd, kinda creepy looking, but managed to pull off ‘cute’ in an exotic way. Rainbow couldn’t quite put her hoof on it, but Silent Wing quietly managed to win her over as a friend after three weeks of watching him. Lighting seemed to like the young prince and Silent never put on a superior air. Guessing from the few stories the chimera spoke of himself, he was humble and polite.
He seemed more like a pony than a changeling, so far as Rainbow Dash was concerned. On top of that, he acted like a friend to Lightning and spent what little free time he had with her son and the other foals near his age. Despite being a prince, he was still a kid. The changelings under his command were themselves little more than cadets, most being around Silent’s age. They behaved like little soldiers and took their devotion to duty and honor to heights best reserved for the most hardcore of veteran soldiers Rainbow knew. They seemed like machines and rarely relaxed. Fun and play seemed a foreign concept to them. From what Silent had told the ponies on board the airship, fun and play meant training and more training as houses constantly competed against each other for status. The debacle of the three young fighters who seemed to snap had struck the body of changelings like a physical blow. Their mood matched their gloomy prince as they shouldered the shame as their own. It was telling the assault on Applejack was taken on a personal level for a group of kids who prided themselves with their self control.
Yet they did not abandon their mission. When the Aurora came under attack, Silent’s changelings remained at their posts in defensive positions over the ship and fended off the assault of the winged lizards called wyverns. With blades flashing in the sunlight, the descended upon the creatures with single minded intent and kept the unicorns free to maintain the shield.
When the dragon attacked, they did not shy away, but followed the command of their prince and harassed the beast. Some fell to his claws or buffeting wings. His hot breath seared the wings off others. They were not as fast as Pegasi in flight, but they had amazing lateral control and could change direction in the blink of an eye. Though they fell, they fought on to the last until the ship’s ballista were loaded and brought to bear.
Rainbow remembered the dragon’s dying screams, even as the ship shuddered. Huddling on the deck, she held Lightning close to her. Though at first glance it would be difficult to picture the mare as a motherly sort, Rainbow Dash was fiercely protective of her only child and was more worried about keeping him safe than joining the fight. She truly wanted to get her licks in, but her son came first and foremost. Besides, she was technically a civilian on this voyage as her career in the Wonderbolts had already lasted longer than most other members. A Wonderbolt could expect eight to ten years of being fit enough for the strenuous activities of maintaining the physical and mental toughness to pull off the spectacular and dangerous stunts. She could fight, but she had not actively participated in any combat drills in almost two years. For a Wonderbolt, she was practically retired.
She imagined Scootaloo would be one of the candidates for the captaincy. Rainbow’s unofficial little sister had proven to have a very good head to be an officer and had done very well at Officer Training School (Rainbow had been dead last in the list of those who graduated her class, but she did pass). Primed and ready, Rainbow believed she would be chosen to take her place and had full confidence the Wonderbolts would be in good hooves.
Lightning mumbled in his sleep and shivered. His movement interrupted Rainbow’s recollection of the events leading to the capture of herself and her friends just yesterday. Families were kept together, but separated from each other as they were given rooms normally meant for minor dignitaries or whatever—Rainbow really didn’t care. All she knew was she was in a locked room with a window just large enough for her to stick her muzzle out. She drew her forelegs around her colt and nuzzled him (there was nopony looking). A worried expression in the form of a frown creased her features. A shadow hovered over her spirit as she thought Princess Luna was dead, along with Prince Silent Wing.
Her quarters were cramped, meant for two with little room for personal effects. There was a small desk next to the bunk bed. She and her son were curled up on the bottom bunk of the bed, her tail reaching over the side of the thin mattress and to the metal floor. She could spread her wings to their full span and have their tips touch either wall. The berth’s length was roughly two ponies long and just high enough to allow for a pony like Luna to stand fully with some inches to spare for her horn. Thick chains held the bunks in place, which meant they could be stowed against the wall when not in use, but Rainbow hadn’t taken the time to mess with it yet. There was little in the room; she had already gone through the small closet and rifled through the drawers in the desk. A single light bulb hung over the steel door and was unshaded. Thankfully, the light was muted so as not to blind.
From the way the ship smelled, it seemed new to Rainbow. She counted the rivets in her room, but lost interest past one hundred. They white paint looked fresh and she could make out what looked like several pipes of different sizes along the ceiling and walls inside the hull. Some of them bore writing she could not understand.
“I’m here, baby,” she said to Lightning. There was a blanket next to her, folded neatly before she and her son invaded the bunk. Using her teeth, she reached over and took it up, unfolding it, and draping it over Lightning. “Ain’t nothing gonna happen to you,” Rainbow promised him.
The ship’s massive engines throbbed on, pushing the metallic leviathan through the water. The Pegasus felt the motion of the ship on the high seas, though barely. This monstrosity was a very stable platform on the ocean, though Rainbow felt a little queasy and also stifled in her prison. Pegasi were meant to be up among the clouds, dancing in the blue skies, not confined in a stuffy room!
“This sucks,” she sighed, draping her head over her son’s withers. “This really, really, completely and totally sucks.” The mare blew through her mouth, flapping her lips. This was boring. Very boring.
“Mom?” asked Lightning sleepily as he felt her head weigh down on his back. It wasn’t uncomfortable for him, but her movement disturbed his nap. “S’okay?”
Rainbow hugged him. “I’m fine, kiddo,” she replied, trying to sound unbothered by everything going on in her life the past twenty-four hours. “I’m just worried about the others.”
This was very much true; her friends had remained unseen since she and her son had been placed in this room some twenty hours ago. She could hear the constant sound of hoofsteps on the other side of the door and the voices of her captors, but she never heard a peep from her friends. Were they safe? She wondered. The mare could not think the changelings wanted them harmed but neither could she really understand why they had not been placed in cocoons, or whatever those green bags were called they placed captives in.
There was a loud thumping against her door. A heavy latch clunked and squealed as it was unlocked and lifted. The door with its rounded corners swung into the room and a tan changeling head peered in seeking out and quickly making out the mare and her child. Chittering to itself in what could be thought to be muttering under its breath, it retreated, leaving the opening uncovered for a brief moment. Rainbow Dash stared even as Lightning Dash shook the sleep from his eyes with sudden fear.
A large changeling female entered, her bent horn glowing with a copper aura. She was clad in what appeared to be some sort of white and gray naval uniform with black lapels bearing golden markings. Were they rank? They sort of reminded Rainbow of wheat stalks, though she wasn’t sure. Her body tensed as her ears perked forward as she gauged the intent of this newcomer. She recognized the changeling who had introduced herself hours ago as the sub commander of the ship.
She was thinner than some fashion models Rainbow Dash had seen in magazines. Her legs seemed like holed reeds, deceptively strong. Her wings were sheathed beneath her armored carapace and flaps of her uniform. Her tail was wrapped tightly in a braided loop and held in place with golden braids. A red sash adorned with several medals and ribbons slashed across her chest. She doffed her cap and handed it to the unseen changeling next to the door in the hallway, her golden eyes never once leaving the chromatic guest. Beneath her cap her mane was tied off in a severe bun with several strands artfully falling behind her eyes. For a moment her gaze settled upon the shivering Lightning, her lips a straight line. Even her fangs gave the impression of being impassive.
The changeling chittered over her shoulder, an irritated scowl on her otherwise smooth features. Rainbow thought changelings were terrifying in appearance. Having spent a month hanging around with them, they still looked weird to her, but there was just something...menacing about how they had those fangs and those freaky eyes.
“You are Rainbow Dash?” the mare addressed her when she was done addressing her subordinate. She had yet to turn her head, but an ear was swiveled at the two Pegasi. As a moment of silence descended between the captives and the changeling, her head slowly swiveled as the corners of her mouth upturned into a smile. With those fangs, it could easily be interpreted as nothing but predatory.
“Uh, yeah. What if I am?” the mare challenged as she slid from the bunk and to her hooves. Mindful to keep herself squarely between the bigger changeling and her foal, she flared her wings out slightly and puffed out her chest.
The changeling’s smile faded. “Do not concern yourself with thoughts of harm to you or your nymph,” she declared in a voice very much like a spoken hiss. “The captain would like to invite you and your friends to dinner. Though you are our prisoners, you shall be treated fairly and as guests. So long as you behave yourselves, you and your friends will be allowed access to the decks under close supervision.”
Rainbow Dash was not expecting this. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What’s with the nice routine?” she managed to ask even though she fought her fears. “Who are you?”
The Topaz changeling gave a slight shake of her head. “Ah, how rude of me. I never did formally introduce myself, did I?” She inclined her head slightly. “My name is Lt. Commander Shattershard. That is the closest approximation of my name in your Equestrian tongue. Captain Skyhorn Brittlespear wishes to convey her respects. She is a very big fan of the Wonderbolts.” Shattershard offered a slight smile.
Rainbow Dash was flabberghasted. “You guys know about the Wonderbolts on this side of the world?” she asked incredulously.
Shattershard smirked. “We also know there is only one pony alive who can do a Sonic Rainboom. We changelings have not the wings to build up such speed, but we revere and respect those who can achieve feats of wonder to glisten the very skies with the hues of the color spectrum. The captain hopes you might be able to accomplish the feat for her eyes one day.” She sighed, shrugged and offered a sad smile. “But perhaps when times are happier, yes?”
“Why’d you guys attack us?” Rainbow asked, gaining a bit of bravado at hearing she was famous on the other side of the world. That was so cool!
“We were waiting for you. Among you was one of our agents, watching and reporting your position since the day you left Canterlot. Noling you know. A good infiltrator. Perhaps killed in the battle. Perhaps not. The navy does not keep track of the Queens’ infiltrators. Know your journey was doomed the day you took to the skies.” Shattershard seemed almost apologetic as she explained. “The dragon then came, bringing with him his own soldiers and that Emerald traitor. Things cannot be simple these days, can they? But, he is dead now, the dragon. He is dead and can no longer threaten our traditions and our honor.”
“Wait, are you saying the attack was not intended?” Rainbow asked in a moment of clarity.
The changeling resumed her stoic mask. “One cannot change the past. What was done was done. Full honors will be given to the fallen and the wounded have been seen to. For the duration of the voyage and until you are formally turned over to the army, you and your friends are to be considered guests of the captain and the Vengeance.”
She turned to leave, nodding politely. “Dinner will be in an hour. You and your child are invited to dine with the captain. Your friends have all been invited as well. Guards will be by to escort you.”
There wasn’t enough room to accommodate the girls and their children in the captain’s private quarters, so the captain graciously moved the dining experience to the ship’s galley and mess hall. Curious changelings peered from behind corridors and around steel corners. The ship’s interior was painted an off white with the floor a dull gray. Almost all of the ship’s officers were female changelings. The rest of the crew were all males.
Changeling families of the Topaz Kingdom vied with the throne for great warships like the Vengeance to be placed under their command. The ship would be approved and given over to the family who won the command and it would become a mobile house for the matriarch. The matriarch would then select her most capable daughter to command the ship. The matriarch herself could assume quarters on board at any given time.
The crew were members of one house, the soldiers were directly from the thrones. Myzanum had been the royal representative and had soon after left once the last prisoner had been brought on board.
Captain Skyhorn Brittlespear was a little taller than her sister Shattershard and was only slightly less stoic. Considered humble in appearance by changeling standards, most of the ponies who saw her would think she had fallen through the ugly tree with her face shoved against the bark of the trunk all the way down. She was a mother of no less than one dozen changelings, having each one of them save for her youngest working on board the warship. The ship’s mistress absolutely adored children and was rumored to be wanting more if her body was capable of bearing them.
The nervous ponies were surrounded by off-duty changelings who blinked with solid eyes at the gathering of colorful creatures. Many changelings found Rainbow Dash to be a very gaudy looking individual as her mane and tail stood her out in a crowd. Her son was only less bright than she. The train of pony prisoners were treated like guests, as promised. No chains were put on them and the ship’s crew for the most part smiled when they were gaping in curiosity.
The food was spread across the table bolted to the floor. There was a bit of a raised edge around the edge of the table to prevent plates from sliding off in rough seas. Platters of foods from the sea was displayed like individual pieces of art, arrayed perfectly so the unsuspecting guests could have a view of the bounty no matter where they sat. Given the cramped conditions of the interior of the ship, orders were barked out and changelings scuttled and buzzed away, chittering to each other excitedly. Most were seeing their first ponies.
The conversation at the table was surprisingly pleasant, though the foals were very nervous and Applejack harrumphed and crossed her hooves over her chest. Her stetson had turned up missing and she was summarily hatless. Gilda was not surprisingly suspicious of the changelings until Captain Skyhorn explained the rules of combat at sea changelings followed. Honor was paramount and treating a defeated enemy with no means to defend themselves was not an opponent worth battling, but one worth respect if they fought well.
The Aurora had killed a dragon thought to be immortal, one from the brood of the Dragonking. Not all of Gilda’s crew was in the galley. Most of them were still coming up and would be sitting in at some of the other tables. The galley was designed to seat two hundred changelings in one sitting.
This what Rainbow and Lightning Dash saw when they first came into the low ceiling room. Applejack saw them and brightened considerably. Her foals beamed and resisted the urge to jump from their seats and rush over to Lightning. Rarity and her daughter had yet to make an appearance. The fashionista was more than likely fretting over having not a thing to wear. Spike wouldn’t go anywhere without her.
“Ah, Captain Rainbow Dash,” greeted Skyhorn Brittlespear with warm respect. “Tales of your aerial exploits are well-known to this house, this ship.”
“House?” Dash wondered in confusion.
The captain swept a pitted hoof grandly over the table. “This ship is not only a machine of war, but it is also the home of House Brittlespear.”
“A warship for a home?” Dash wondered loudly. She had to scratch her head at that one.
“Please, have a seat and join us. I am a very big fan!” A fanged grin flashed at the polychromatic mare. Her horn flared and Dash suddenly found herself encased in an amber glow and lifted off the deck. She drifted over towards the captain and placed next to her. The changing proudly wrapped a hoof around her shoulders and hugged her in close. A camera appeared. There was a bright flash.
“Hey!” cried a now disoriented Pegasus. She was plunked on her rear in a chair and a drink was shoved in her hooves.
“You’re big here, Dashie,” guffawed Gilda from the other side of Brittlespear. “Also, I snuck into the photo op. These changelings are pretty cool, once you get past the fact they really didn't do anything. The dragon burned the Aurora out of the sky and he’s blasted to smithereens.”
“Our queens have lost a major hold over us with the death of that dragon,” said Brittlespear as she sat down. “This changes a great deal for my house. My mother seeks to return the Topaz Kingdom to one free of the influence of false gods. Until your other friends are roused from their berths, I should like to hear tales from the greatest Wonderbolt in a century.”
Rainbow Dash puffed up proudly. She was only too happy to talk about the Wonderbolts!