//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 - The Sun'll come out... // Story: Cloudsdale Dash and The Revenge of Dr. Negative // by Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch //------------------------------// ~~~~~Manehatten University~~~~~ Twilight could only stare as the massive structure slowly swam its way over Manehatten, its very existence a challenge to everything she knew about industry, science and physics. The vague black shapes of the Neightzi airships could have been any size in the skies over Manehatten Bay, but in the sunny light of the dawn the sheer mass of this thing was undeniable. “The Forward Unto Dawn. Largest airship in all of Equestria, and flagship of the fleet.” Rosetta said with an understandable ring of pride. “I helped design the propulsion system when I was fresh out of college, actually. It’s a heck of a machine.” Her eyes sparkled as she said it, and Twilight had to imagine what ‘helped’ might imply. The Forward Unto Dawn shone in the sky like a gold and silver shrine to to Equestria. The massive prow of the ship bore a pair of carved golden icons side by side: One easily recognizable as Princess Celestia, and the other a strong-jawed, bearded alicorn wearing a frilled helmet that had to be this mysterious ‘Lord Solaris’. The thing easily had to be four hundred yards long, and easily a hundred yards wide. Probably wider than that. A massive, oblong shaped balloon dominated much of the bulk of the craft, but the rest was no less impressive for that. Long and wide steel barrels extended out of ball-shaped turrets along the length of the craft on its side, interspersed with clusters of smaller barrels on swivel-mounts, where Twilight could just barely see pegasi in coats and flight goggles slowly turning the things as they scanned the skies. Along the bottom, she could see what looked like an armored passenger cabin that rode the length of the vessel and it too bore the signs of large armaments all along its length. Rosetta pointed up at the icon’s on the prow. “That’s actually something of a misdirection. The central command post is in there, along with all of the steerage and communication. It’s a fully functioning warship, though we’ve blessedly never had to test it in the heat of real battle.” She grinned, slightly. “It’s fast, too. Not as fast as the fixed-wing attack craft out there or even a lot of the skirmish airships, but anypony who thinks that thing is going to be slow and ponderous in the turns has another thing coming.” She chuckled brightly. “I’m actually surprised. I didn’t think the Lord and Lady would bring it here.” Twilight blinked at her. “Why not? It’s obviously very impressive, and probably a lot more convenient than flying themselves. It might even give us a little protection from those Neightzi’s.” That seemed logical anyway. Rosetta wasn’t in agreement though, she shook her head as she continued to scan the skies. “That’s a major piece of military hardware right there, and it’s not nearly the fastest vessel they’ve got. If they weren’t expecting trouble, they’d be in their own personal vessel. That would be the Andromeda Ascendant which ought to be.. Ah!” She pointed, and Twilight had to squint to see the much smaller, but still very impressive looking airship flying alongside the flagship. It was colored a vibrant, dark blue and seemed to be moving at a remarkable speed in the air. “It’s actually something of a technological and magical marvel itself,” Rosetta said quietly, but then she shook her head slowly. “But exactly why’s a bit of a secret. The rest of the support fleet should be coming in soon, but I think we ought to get ready to meet them. If they’ve brought both vessels, that means they’re expecting trouble.” “Are they wrong?” Twilight felt the need to quip sarcastically, and Rosetta gave her a wry smile in response. Descending back down into the Manehatten University labs where Rosetta lived was a relatively speedy trip. Downstairs, Rainbow Dash had already changed into what looked a lot like a dress shirt, a black tie and a blue vest, but that was impossible. “Dash?” She half whispered, astonished at the fact that somehow Daring Do had gotten Dash into nice clothes… and had even gotten her to comb her mane back. “What?” Dash snapped, then grumbled. “Not as though I don’t know how to clean up you know. I did have to learn how to wear a uniform for the Wonderbolts.” She cast a worried glance at Rosetta then, but the other unicorn was just smiling faintly. “You sure this is a good idea, Twilight? I keep getting this weird vibe about this meeting…” She shivered a little, and her feathers frayed out like she’d just been hit by lightning. “Like something big is going to happen, and it might not be a good thing.” Rosetta shook her head. “You shouldn’t worry, Cloudsdale. It’s not like this is the first time you’ve dealt with the Lord and Lady before.” She half smiled, then nodded to Twilight. “I’ll go fetch Daring. We’ll meet you two downstairs.” And off she went, hurrying out through the apartment. Dash was still looking very worried, though… She was often so very sure of her gut feelings, since they served her so well in the air. Twilight wanted to dismiss that feeling… but she really just couldn’t do it. Something was itching at the back of her mane, right where she couldn’t reach. She knew it had something to do with the magic that filled the world around her, but she couldn’t figure out why it was spazzing out. It’s weird, too. Like I should know this feeling, but I’m not sure from where. That was more annoying than anything else, but it did worry her a little. Still, she couldn’t stress about it now. “Dash, don’t worry so much.” She put on her best smile, and Dash smoothed her feathers out nervously. “We can handle whatever it is, I’m sure.” She offered up her hoof, and Dash gave her a bump with a tremulous smile. “Besides,” Twilight felt her lips peel into a grin.”It’s Princess Celestia, for pete’s sake. Like she would ever do anything to hurt us!” Dash gave her a wary look, and shook her head once. “Hate to break it to you Twilight, but this is ‘Lady’ Celestia…” She turned to gaze out the window at the encroaching airship. “And we don’t know a single bucking thing about her.” Twilight wanted to dismiss that statement, but the sight of the massive airship made her wonder. Princess Celestia had never been one for shows of military force as a means to accomplish goals… So whose idea had it been to bring that thing along? ~~~~Aboard the Forward Unto Dawn~~~~ Goddess, why do I feel so… tense? Celestia tried very hard not to fiddle with her torque or any number of other little twitches that might give away her nervousness. If she did, Solly would undoubtedly tease her for the rest of the month about it. Certainly, she was excited to see Cloudsdale Dash alive and well… but well, truth be told, she wasn’t truly nervous for that. She was nervous about… the other one. This mysterious, purple Alicorn that was sending shockwaves of magic throughout the Harmony of her world. Usually something powerful enough to get her attention was just another magical threat to the peace of Equestria. On the rare occasions that it wasn’t… The last time was a thousand years ago, and a young wizard named Star Swirl… She sighed softly. Too often, those powerful enough to be peers were the leaders of other nations or those who simply wished to observe the world as it passed them by. It was far too rare to find anypony powerful enough to share her life with. Even her mortal pony friends, as close as they could be to her… Then Solly gently touched her shoulder. “Relax, Celestia. It’s going to be alright.” As always, he took on a teasing tone and poked her side. “I have a good feeling about this.” He sing-songed the words, and kept poking at her middle. Celestia rolled her eyes at him. “That’s what you said when we met Discord for the first time, in case you’ve forgotten that.” Solaris snorted at her, but didn’t argue the point. Of the two of them, she had most definitely had the best instincts for this sort of thing. She sighed silently, and glanced around her as the dozens of young pegasi soldiers scurried about the deck as they prepared to make port. “At least we ought to make her think twice about sending soldiers into our cities again without asking first.” She huffed softly. “At least then we’d know for certain what they were after…” Solaris hummed softly. “I don’t think that’s much of a mystery, dear. I’m fairly certain she’s after the same things we are. Though how she gets her information…” He shook his head once and stomped his hoof down. “Funny, I thought you’d be a little more critical of bringing the Flagship.” He eyeballed her suspiciously. “You had to have another motive for letting me get my way.” “Aside from the fact that the Liebe Krystall is a rather dangerous vessel all its own?” She faintly smiled at him, wondering sometimes how they ended up so alike. “Because I do not wish to take any chances. If there is a powerful new Alicorn in this city, this is the one and only vessel capable of containing her should she prove dangerous.” She shivered once, and took a deep breath. “Or have you forgotten why we’ve spent the last three hundred years preparing for the worst?’ Solaris’ teasing face went solemn, and he nodded once. “I don’t think it will come to that, Celestia.” He glanced over the railing, down at the brilliantly colored city below. “No, I think this is going to be something much more complex. I can already sense her down there…” He looked up with a grin. “And yes, I can tell it’s a her and not a him. She’s hiding behind some fairly substantial shields, and oddly enough seems to be suppressing her power fairly hard.” That made her both elated… and worried .Why would she feel the need to hold back her ability? What exactly had been happening in this city over the past few days? “We ought to be ready then. Can you go consult with the Wing Commander?” It was a basic precaution really, informing the First Air Wing of their intentions on the ground. So… why did her heart ache to give the suggestion? Solaris nodded at her once and left without another word. Celestia stared back into the city, and felt as though something was tugging at her heart. What was Harmony trying to tell her now? Had she missed some vital thing about their strange guest? Or was fate about to throw another wrench in her carefully planned works… She didn’t know. That frightened her. “Port, ho!” Yelled a voice from high up, and Celestia shook her mane out. Whatever her concerns, they were about to become utterly and thoroughly moot. ~~~~~~~~~ The rush of air through her wings was a lovely counterpoint to the necessities of remaining on board during voyages. Silly necessities, but it kept the Fleet Admirals happy and so Celestia was prepared to indulge them. But now they were here in Manehatten, one of the crown jewels of Equestria, and winging their way towards their planned meeting at Manehatten University. Doubtless Rosetta would have copious amounts to report to them and Daring would just as predictably try to angle in better funding for her archeological studies, but they were not the reason for this trip. They’d been flying for all of ten minutes when First Air Wing took up guard positions alongside them. The unmistakable uniforms of the Wonderbolts blended well into the bright skies around them, and made it possible… for a little while, anyway… to pretend she was alone in the sky with Solaris, and naught between them and the world but the clouds. That wasn’t going to happen again for a long time, of course… not until this business with the Neightzi’s was straightened out and certain un-named individuals brought firmly to heel anyway. But she could enjoy the illusion and so she did so, pirouetting in place and performing a respectable mid-air barrel roll before executing a textbook aerial dive towards the University. Behind her, Solaris squawked like a parrot and beat his wings to catch up with her while the Wonderbolts just kept pace alongside her. She knew that below them, her wonderful little ponies were likely taking in the show with a little bit of scandal and a whole lot of excitement. It was not often that the Wonderbolts went on tour these days, but when they did the shows were never anything short of spectacular. And Celestia loved to join them whenever she could. The freedom of the sky was one of the few she could always count on to cheer her up, even in these difficult times. It wasn’t until she hit about half a click from the ground that the feeling hit her, like ploughing into the water at speed. It nearly threw her off her wings, but she had been far too well trained to let a wind buffet make her crash. The aura of magic was so thick she was astonished that the local Mages’ guild hadn’t come investigating it. But then… perhaps they had simply been too afraid. What power… She had to whisper. The strength was an order of magnitude greater than every other unicorn in Equestria. It was powerful enough even to give her a moment’s pause as she began to pull up for her landing, Solaris pulling up alongside her with a concerned look of his own. She could level the city if she wanted to. She might even be able to hold one of us to a standstill. There were all of seven other individuals who could do that sort of thing in the entire world, at least that she knew about. One of them was imprisoned in stone, two on the moon, one in Tartarus, one in the forgotten Crystal Empire, and the other two, well… If we are lucky, they shall be happy with the treaties we have signed and we need never fear their wrath. That put her new little guest in very… elite company, so to speak. So intimidation was right out, then. So was aggressive negotiations. No, she’d have to bring on the soft sell for this one, and that meant she had to be very careful. Very, very careful. “Are you ready, Celly?” Solaris’ quiet voice shook her out of her thoughts, and she nodded at him. She had to be, didn’t she? He nodded. “Right. You’re up first. I’ll be right behind you if you need it.” Celestia took a deep breath, and dove for the rooftop garden where the answers awaited. ~~~~~~ Twilight shifted uncomfortably in place as she gazed up at the two figures descending from the sky. It was distinctly strange, as all of her instincts screamed in happiness at the familiar sight of that multi-hued mane descending from the heavens. Celestia is here! All is saved! Her mind chanted over and over again, waving tiny Celestia banners and doing little dances. She wanted to facehoof until she remembered nopony else could see those mental images. Good thing too, since she wasn’t entirely certain that her instincts weren’t just lying to her. She was the picture-perfect image of the Princess that Twilight had known for most of her life. The crown, the torque, the boots, the mane, the smile… it was all there, like it ought to be. Except with every wingbeat she took, Twilight was more and more conscious of the fact that they were strangers in a strange land. And here, there were no guarantees that all of the rules would be followed. But still… She had to have some faith. Celestia landed gently, flared out her wings and then folded them against her back in a single smooth action. An instant later, a second figure landed next to her and made Twilight’s throat go tight. He was broad shouldered and easily a foot taller than Celestia was, with a square jaw covered by a full, flaming red beard and military cut mane. He wore a flared, ancient pegasi styled helmet and a full breastplate of armor. Even his boots were far more militant than Celestia’s delicate jewels. But his eyes… His eyes were the same as hers. Calm pools of bright violet that regarded with world with a sparkle of hidden humor. Stern, oh yes, stern… but kindly and loving all the same. Another moment later, and six more figures hit the ground, each wearing the unmistakable uniforms of the Equestrian Special Air Unit… “The Wonderbolts,” Dash half whispered, and then let out a strangled sound as her eyes crossed the lead flier. Her mane was considerably more under control than the last time they’d seen her, but it was unmistakably her. Dash’s face turned into a mask of professional control, and Twilight took a moment to eyeball the rest. Spitfire and Soarin’ were there, but so was Thunderlane and Cloudchaser. The sixth pony Twilight didn’t immediately recognize, with her bright blonde mane and white wings. The six glanced around for a moment, and finally Lightning Dust nodded, turning her head to speak into a little box strapped to the collar of her uniform. “Area is secure, wing commander. Dispersing to primary guard positions.” She turned and half smiled at Dash, and Dash blinked in surprise. “Good to see you in one piece, Cloudsdale. Make sure to come up and say hey to the wing commander. We all missed you, and I owe you a drink.” She grinned fearlessly, and before Dash could say anything herself they were skyward again in a flash of energy and the tang of lightning hanging in the air. Dash stared at them retreating, and Twilight shook her head in wonder… a wonder she didn’t have time to really think about as Celestia slowly walked towards her. She turned to face her mentor-that-was-not-her-mentor head on, lifting her head imperiously. Celestia paused in mid-step and set her hoof down. “I rather don’t think we’ve any need to hide anything now, do we?” She glanced to each side at the rest of those assembled. “It would be rude not to put all of our cards on the table, now that we’ve come this far.” Twilight swallowed, but nodded. Unweaving the illusion was the work of a moment, and seconds later she was nearly looking eye-to-eye with Celestia herself. It was almost a relief to realize she was still a little shorter than Celestia, since it made walking around in this bizarre form a great deal less awkward. They were three feet away from each other, and Celestia’s eyes had gone wide. Not from surprise, no… from something else. Twilight felt the lump melt away in her throat, and marveled at the sea of emotions that washed over Celestia’s face. “You…” She half whispered, her eyes darting to Twilight’s cutie mark and back again. “You’re…” Celestia stumbled over her words again. What was so wrong? Why was she looking at her like…”I remember a little purple filly…” Celestia began, as though she couldn’t believe what she was saying. And in an instant, Twilight could see the faint images of a very young her, sitting on the ground in a mess. A little doll lay forlornly at her side, and she was crying. “I remember finding her on the steps of my school, crying her heart out. Her dreams in shattered shards all around her.” Celestia took an unconscious step forward. The ghostly little filly was surrounded by scattered bits of ripped up paper. A rejection letter, her mind told her… and somehow she knew what it had to mean. “I’d seen other foals like her before, but never before her had my heart so ached for one.” Celestia swallowed around a lump in her throat, and Twilight could feel the tears threatening in her eyes. Why? It wasn’t her… and yet in a sense, it was her. Just a her she’d never had to meet, because Dash had changed everything… Celestia sat down next to the little ghost, and whispered. “I wanted to help her so very badly, but I did not know how. She’d been rejected by my school, and even I could not intervene with that. So I found out her name,” She looked up, and half smiled. “I did what I could for her, even if I could not be the somepony she needed… It’s been so very long since I learned that name, that I’d almost forgotten… Twilight Sparkle.” For an instant her eyes closed. “I failed that little filly, in the end. And now here she stands, back from the dead…” Celestia opened her eyes, and she smiled beautifully. “Two mares I’d thought long lost to me,” Her eyes traveled to Dash, and she beamed with all the pride of a parent, “Alive and well. Harmony be praised…” Her voice caught on the last word, and Twilight had well and truly had enough. She marched across the ground that had separated the two of them. “Princess Celestia, I-” Twilight had wanted to speak in firm tones. She wasn’t the mare Celestia remembered, and neither was Dash. They didn’t belong here, and neither did Rarity or Sweetie Belle. But she got within a foot of the Princess, and she couldn’t bring herself to say it. There were barely withheld tears in her eyes, and a smile so bright it could’ve been the sun itself. Celestia’s hoof came up and stroked down her cheek. “Ha… I remember when you called me that the first time.” Her eyes shut and she giggled. “You insisted somepony as pretty as me had to be a Princess, even if I hadn’t been one of those in centuries.” Twilight… did remember that. She remembered that because she’d said the same thing when they’d had their first lesson together. She looked up, blinking away tears as Twilight wrestled with her own heart. “And you, Cloudsdale Dash…” Her voice turned stern and motherly, “You get your fat-flank over here right this instant. Making me worry like that…” She huffed, and a few moments later Dash was right next to her, looking confused and awed. Twilight didn’t know what was going on. It scared her, looking up at Celestia and knowing that speaking the truth would only bring her pain… She had to say something. “Celestia, I’m not…” She bit at her lip unconsciously. “I’m not… the filly you knew.” It took a lot of effort to force those words out, but when they were it felt so much better. There, now we can get on with solving this problem... But Celestia was just smiling at her. “No, Twilight. You’re so much more than that now.” She eyed Twilight’s broad wings, and turned to gaze directly into her eyes. “Though how this came about must be a truly incredible story. I must hear every detail.” She turned to smile at the male Alicorn - the one everypony had called ‘Solaris’ - and winked. “Go take Rosetta and Daring downstairs, Solly. I’d like a few minutes alone with…” She paused, and in that single instant Twilight could feel a massive snap of energy pulse around them. When she spoke next, it was with a ring of quiet triumph. “Lady Twilight Sparkle.” ~~~~~~~~~ Solaris had been worried before. Now? Now he was panicked. Daring was already out of her dress shirt, as he’d expected of her. Rosetta though, was standing stone-faced in the stairwell and watching her retreat into the apartment. Solaris grabbed her shoulder and pitched his voice as low as he could. “You could’ve warned me, you know.” He half growled at her, and instantly regretted it. There was a look of pain in her eyes unlike any he’d seen before, save for once. “I was hoping that I was wrong.” Rosetta whispered back to him, her hooves tucked around her body. “I was hoping she’d have forgotten about that day, all those years ago.” Solaris shook his head slowly. “Celly never forgets things like that, Rosie. You know that.” He wanted to bite at his lip, but instead he stared off into the distance. “They can’t be from our world. Neither of them. Which means…” “Cloudsdale is likely dead,” Rosetta spoke in a purely professional voice. Cold, detached, determined. “Probably when she went to go look into Skull Mountain for us. Whatever world they’re from, Cloudsdale never went through…” She bit off the last words, and Solaris didn’t blame her. She’d always hated them talking about that day. “It gets worse. Butterfly already knows about her, and the Kommandant has already seen the other too.” That made Solaris want to swear, a very great deal in fact. “So what do we do? They’re not going to want to stay, Rosie. But I know my…” He huffed out a breath. “I know Celestia. She’s seen salvation for her soul, and more importantly they’ve both got a powerful connection to the Lost Artifacts.” He made it clear in his tone what he was talking about, though he dared not speak the name of them in public. Rosetta did swear, then. “Oh, fuck me.” She leant her head against the wall and stared up into the ceiling. “If they’re connected to those, the Lady is going to be willing to do anything to keep them here. Which means…” Solaris grit his teeth. “Which means we’re in deep trouble.” He shook his head slowly. What could he do now? Gather information, and plan accordingly. He fixed her with a glare. “Alright, Agent Rosetta. I want a full report on everything that’s gone on here, and fast. I need to know absolutely everything before Celestia gets downstairs. Then I need to know your plan for getting their friend back as quickly as possible.” He rubbed his eye with an armored boot, and hoped he wasn’t about to get a headache. Rosetta nodded, and gestured for them to go downstairs. “Sir, before I do… I need to know.” She looked nervous, and that was never a good sign. She looked at him with those soft eyes of hers, the kind she always got when her emotions got tangled up with her job. “Is them staying here… really such a bad idea?” Solaris stared at her for a moment, and wondered where that thought had come from. “I don’t know yet, Rosie.” He had to admit it, even if he didn’t much like it. “But with your help, I hope we can find out before the decision is taken out of our hooves.”