//------------------------------// // Chapter 40 // Story: Only One Speck of Dust // by TheMareWhoSaysNi //------------------------------// With her teeth, she slit de throat of the pony in front of her, his blood spurting into her face. Pinkie Pie couldn’t remember how many of her Equestrian pony folks she had murdered… Her pink coat was almost completely covered with hemoglobin, and she felt that if she ever stopped, her hooves would not hold her anymore. The fight was exhausting, but she had to keep on fighting, just like the other Members of the Militia. It had been a while now that the Fallen Heir Apparent had disappeared, and so had Rainbow Dash… Applejack also was nowhere to be found, and the pink mare hoped it didn’t mean her two friends had perished. Until they appeared again, may it dead or alive, they had not to let go any of their efforts. With a strength born of despair, Pinkie Pie kept on chopping, cutting, crushing… And to say that all she really wanted was to make the others happy. But a mare had to know when to be implacable and to put her sensitivity aside in order to survive. Laws of this country were tough, although they all were fighting to make sure they would not become worse. Pinkie Pie tried to take a glimpse at the amount of remaining fighters. It had diminished in the most dramatic way, and now only about twenty ponies from each clan were still standing, even if it didn’t mean they all were dead. Cloaks in pieces and injuries couldn’t help her to determine who was the winner. Not by looking that furtively, anyway. A stallion like from out of nowhere suddenly attacked her, a sword full of dried blood between his teeth. Her hoof scratched the wet and reddish floor, and frowning, she dashed forward with the intention of isolating him at a corner of the room, in order to cut his throat like the others. It demanded to jump above injured and dead ponies, and most importantly, to have a strong stomach. Anywhere the eye fell on, it met with death, agony and suffering, and among the ponies also were torn off limb and vital organs out of their box. But before she even reached her destination, she heard the pony behind her gasping in surprise, his mouth so opened it could get off his jaw, looking up. To the balcony where Prince Blueblood was standing earlier tonight. Her heart thumping in fear, Pinkie Pie stopped her race and looked up as well. Her two forelegs leaning against the bannister, Rainbow Dash was standing, with Prince Blueblood’s head between her teeth, that she held by the horsehair. All the fighting had stopped immediately, in a racket of metal and hooves. They all were staring at the mare, covered with blood too and which injuries had been bandaged. Behind her was Applejack, injured and healed as well, and alive as well. Rainbow Dash threw the late Fallen Heir Apparent’s head and it flew in the air for a couple of seconds, before it landed on the floor and rolled to reach the corpse of a soldier from the Unavowed Army. They could have responded, wanting to save their leader’s honor at any cost, but each had to face the obvious… Now Blueblood had died, their army was meaningless. They had been fighting for his Cause, for him to establish something no one else was able to accomplish now. A revenge would not have much impact on the future of Equestria. The only solution left to the remaining soldiers was fleeing. All those who tried did not have time to go any further. By the main door appeared Ponies of the Cavalry, led by their Leader Shining Armor, who was no one else than Twilight Sparkle’s brother. They intercepted the deserters, and gathered them all at the same spot, and went to unearth the guests of the wedding who had hid in an alcove during all this time – as well as the Trixie tropical plant, that Twilight hurried to disenchant. “Listen to me everypony”, Rainbow Dash said in a loud voice. “The Fallen Heir Apparent Prince Blueblood has passed away. Your army has passed away with him. All those who fought in the name of what they called the Cause, as well as all those who helped, are going to be judged by the Royal Court for Treason toward Our Highness Celestia and Luna, the only true rulers of Equestria. There will be no mercy for anyone, except dissident Fluttershy who’d been the tool of her own parents. Shame on them! Shame on them all!” The young pegasus mare, gathered with all the other actors of this rebellion which had costed so many lives, hid her face in her thick baby pink mane. Without further ado, since the Cavalry wasn’t famous for being delicate, she was led out of the circle of dissidents… Her parents’ imprisonment for Treason meant the loss all their aristocratic titles of all kind. She had nothing now… Except one thing, more precious than anything else – she was free. The only cloud on the horizon was that she would probably never see them again, which saddened her more than she would have first thought, after she hated them so much for everything they put her through. Even freed of his influence, these years spent as Prince Blueblood’s suitor would keep on haunting her. The ponies of the Cavalry busy arresting, both Applejack and Rainbow Dash went down in order to join their friends and Members of the Militia still standing. The loss was more important for the Unavowed Army, but their fighters weren’t in a sufficient number to protect Ponyville correctly. The months to come were not exactly going to be a walk in a park… They would have to recruit new members. As soon as they reached the floor, they both were welcomed by their mutual coltfriends. Caramel and Soarin, without even discussing it before, had both dashed forward in order to fly into their marefriends’ hooves. The pegasus stallion in particular was holding Rainbow Dash as if she could vanish away in the air. When she had gone to follow Prince Blueblood outside, he had not been able to help himself from being afraid… Although she was the most talented fighter he ever met, she was not perfect, neither was she sheltered from doing mistakes. If he had lost her, Soarin did not know what would have become of him. In so short an amount of time, she had become everything to him. Usually, such a display of intimate emotions in front of everypony would have disgusted her, but tonight (or was it this morning?), Rainbow Dash did not want to argue anymore. She too had been scared to lose him forever, not to be able to see him again. In the secret of her heart, she had promised this to herself: if anyone killed him, she would have ignored the laws in order to find this pony and to make sure they would die in the worst of agony. Thankfully, it did not happen. Soarin was alive, injured like all of them, but alive. Each of those who were her closest and dearest friends, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Caramel, Surprise, Twilight… They were still standing and no one had succumbed. She would never thank the Spider God enough for such a gift from above. Although nothing would ever redeem for the tragic loss of Big Macintosh… Cutting short these moving reunion, Shining Armor stops in front of her, straight like justice, a hoof against his forehead with his chest staged out, like the tradition wanted. “We’re ready to transport the convicts in the royal prison. Waiting for your signal, my Commander.” In the Cavalry, the Head of the Militia had to be called Commander. Rainbow Dash realized it was the first time she heard anyone calling her this way… Before Ponyville was attacked by the Unavowed Army, she would have drawn a great satisfaction out of it, proud of the honor from such a title. But today she realized how deprived of deep meaning the titles were for her. In Equestria, there were so many traditions that withhold the Continent from advancing towards progress, from protecting itself efficiently. It was about time that a pony comes and sets the cat amongst the pigeons! Things had to move. “Fine. Proceed to the pursuit of operations.” “Yes, my Commander.” Shining Armor was about to turn around to get to the convicts locked up in a cage Twilight had made created, when a big racket drew the attention of everypony towards the balcony. Unsure of why they did, they all dreaded for one last rebel from the Unavow Army to be here, or that a trap had been put in case of defeat and that this trap was about to clasp around them… Out of the corpses and injured ones, emerged a stained white coat and a messy purple mane… The whole Militia sighed in relief. It was Rarity. She was in a miserable state and seemed completely worn out, but she was standing and alive. “Tell me you had that jerk’s head chopped off”, she groaned between her teeth. “We actually did”, Pinkie Pie trumpeted with her high-pitched voice. In her turn, the beautiful unicorn sighed in relief. At least, she hadn’t done everything she had done for no result. While getting down the stairs in order to meet the others, Rarity went the reflections about how now she knew what she mistook for love had been nothing but a starry-eyed filly crush. If it had lasted for so long, it was because she got herself stuck in the mud of what she thought were true feelings. For years she had refused to face the truth – the image she had of him and who he really was were the same deformed reflection of a painting filled with flaws. Now dangers of any kind were removed, Shining Armor could finally lead his troops to the exit, not without holding his younger sister in his hooves first. With this simple gesture, he showed her she was forgiven for everything. Even the glance of hate Trixie addressed her as she was leaving in her prison brought by the Cavalry couldn’t get Twilight out of some kind of intoxicating euphoria. Inappropriate yet intoxicating. She had fought on the right side, had been glorious though she never been a real combatant, but a magician and a manager, what she considered a curse she had overcome and her family had ceased to repudiate her. Despite the pain from the loss, her joy was here and she could not ignore it. “Fine… And what about now?” Caramel questioned once the Cavalry and convicts were out. “Now, the Physician Mares are going to come and take charge of the injured, and AJ is going to bless the dead ones. Then we’ll need someone to bring the Princesses the proof of Prince Blueblood’s death”, Rainbow Dash answered by showing the stallion’s head with her chin. “If it doesn’t bother you, I would really like to take this responsibility”, Rarity intervened. “It doesn’t bother me at all. I’ll even say that this is perfect.” The unicorn levitated the Fallen Heir Apparent’s Head, surrounded by a dark blue aura and wrapped it in a makeshift package, made out of a piece of cloak. Once back home, she would wrap it inside tissue, and would transport it until Canterlot in a very chic hat box. Just because she would walk with the piece of a corpse did not mean she had to lose track of the elegance she characterized – usually. Applejack had taken back her first-aid kit, in which also was her necessary for the dead’s blessings, whether they were destined to go to the Cloth or to the Blaze. In a glass phial that was to break against the floor were cinders of a spider species destined to be sacrificed in order to feed the Spider God with strength. From these cinders were supposed to ascend a bit of this strength, which was helping the deaths to be guided to their final rest, along with a prayer, that they all whispered after Applejack, only one allowed to recite the words out loud. This step done, it was the Physician Mares who would take the relay until the funerals, also in charge of the Masters of Rituals. To the Members of the Militia that were no part of her Council, Rainbow Dash gave the order to go back home and rest. Only once each of them had left the Council was allowed to leave as well. The only pony whom was no part of the Council – and still no part of the Militia either – and allowed the stay with them was Rarity, since she had the duty to bring the dissident’s head to the princesses. Once back, surely the Head would think about giving her a well-deserved role in their organization. Or at least, it would be part of her directions. When they left the inside of the castle and stepped outside, something struck them… The sun. the thick clouds of the Ceaseless Night were removed one by one by the Weather Patrol, and its warm rays came to brush their muzzles. At their hooves, snow had already started to melt and its layer was nothing but a thin deposit of frost, now. A few trees had been cleared as well, and some animals were already reappearing. “We were so caught up in this war we all forgot Spring was on the forecast for this morning”, Twilight declared, her muzzle up. “Yes”, Pinkie Pie simply answered, measured for once. “It’s absolutely gorgeous”, Rarity went on. “Gorgeous…” Rainbow Dash repeated. The mare pegasus breath the Spring air on top of her lungs… And she realized. It was not because of this “war” they all had forgotten about the coming of Spring. It was because of the wars they were leading every day, as protectors of Ponyville and Equestria. Since she had been chosen as Head of the Militia, she had not seen any real rays of the sun until this very moment. Feeling this sweet warmth against her coat reminded her how much she enjoyed flying fast into the fresh air, caressed by nature, how much she enjoyed taking naps on trees and clouds, and fooling around in the water. She missed it all much more than she thought. To see her parents at broad daylight, to spend time with them outside of the Royal Tavern and Inn. Not to have her dreams poisoned with remembrances of the Night Watch. Not to wake up in the middle of the day with a thumping heart, scared to discover a threat had reached town and she had done nothing against it. “You know what? I quit!” They all turned to her, surprised, while she was taking off what was left of her cloak and transferred it on Applejack’s back. “You’re in charge, now.” “But… Dashie… Are you sure?” Pinkie Pie asked. “You’re the greatest Head the Militia ever had. The Cavalry calls you Commander!” Rainbow Dash softly laughed, and patted Pinkie Pie’s back. “That’s just a title, you know… A title doesn’t really matter. What matters is to stay true to your principles. I’ll never give up on Ponyville and Equestria nor on the oath I’ve made to protect them at the expense of my own life. But I’m only considering that my work as Head of the Militia is done. Now, I’ll be acting as a Member of the Greater Council… And they really need somepony like me to shake their feathers!” Conversely to what was believed, her decision was a rational decision, and not a simple impulse. While trying to fight against the Unavowed Army she had realized how much laws ruling Equestria stopped the Militia from reacted quickly in order to protect efficiently. Ponyville’s Militia had the most important voice in the Greater Council, and now Time Stellar was dead, she was the only one left to take charge of this duty. If she was elected Head of the Greater Council, she would have an even larger possibility to deeply reform the laws ruling their Continent. And, if she had visited Master Crimson Moon so often lately, it was not without a reason. The sour-tempered Fighting Master wanted to retire and, in her very personal matter, had repeatedly made her understand she was the only one on whom she relied to educate the new First Class Lieutenants, Members of the Head’s Council and Main Quartermasters of Equestria. So, when Caramel asked her what she thought she was going to do now, outside of the Greater Council, she did not hesitate: “I’m going to be the Militia’s Main Fighting Master, instead of Master Crimson Moon, of course… But just, like, twenty percent cooler!”