//------------------------------// // Chapter 31: Consensus // Story: To Serve In Hell // by CoffeeMinion //------------------------------// Time slipped by unchecked in the firelight of Rarity’s chambers as Rainbow Dash pored over Zecora’s journal. The journal seemed to tease her with untold depths of information about pegasus legends, Zebraic mysticism, and analysis of her own flying techniques—yet Dash struggled to absorb it all through Zecora’s scratchy mouthwriting and cryptic turns of phrase. Nevertheless feeling drawn to try, Dash moved freely between the bed, the floor, and the desk, changing positions whenever the pains that twinged in her hooves and wing prompted her to. From time to time, knocks came at the door, sometimes accompanied by words that registered as updates about a worsening situation on Canterlot Mountain. But each time, Dash held her gaze on the journal, and shouted to whoever was outside that she needed time to rest. Dash had no frame of reference for how long she’d been immersed in study when a loud, heavy, insistent series of knocks at the door all but sounded like they might break it down. She lifted herself up off the bed with a grunt, and glanced at the door. “Okay, okay! What is it? I’m busy in here.” “Like Tartarus you’re busy,” Redheart said, the door muffling some of her volume but none of her irritation. “You want time to think about what our next move should be now that you-know-who’s locked up and Canterlot’s burning? Fine, take some time and think. But the longer you sit in there brooding and not letting me check your damn wing again, the worse off we’re all gonna be.” Dash sighed. She flexed her wing, feeling a jolt of pain through the middle as she stretched its fine bones and skin out to their fullest extension. “It’s just a deep bruise, Redheart. I told you.” “And I told you that you’re the last pony any of us should be taking seriously when it comes to knowing what’s good for her.” “And yet I’m in here and you’re out there, and the door’s locked. So what are you gonna do about it?” Redheart grunted. “I can buck it off its hinges if you want. Might piss off Rarity, but I bet she’ll believe me when I tell her I had to get inside to treat a pony suffering from severe brain damage.” Dash rolled her eyes, but smiled, then placed a bookmark in the journal. “All right, all right, keep your stupid little hat on, I’ll let you in.” She crossed to the door and unlocked it, then stepped back as it was pushed open by— “Scoots?!” The filly bounded into the room with Redheart behind her. She fixed Rainbow Dash with a misty-eyed frown. “Why did you lock us out, Rainbow?” Dash looked away toward the journal, biting her lip. “Squirt, I… I just…” She heaved a sigh, then glared up at Redheart. “You could’ve told me she was out there, you know. I would’ve opened it for her.” “Like I said: like Tartarus you would’ve.” Redheart entered the room fully and closed the door, then turned a frown at what Dash had been reading. “Rainbow, you’ve gone and crawled so far up your own rump with all this business about Zecora’s journal that I don’t think anypony could’ve reached you short of threatening to break and enter.” “‘Crawled up her own rump?’” Scootaloo echoed. Redheart cleared her throat. “Okay, let’s… forget I said that one. It means she’s hiding in herself instead of letting ponies in to help her. And right now, that’s the worst thing you could do. Yeah, keeping Wind Rider stashed away in Zecora’s former cell is bad, but we knew we’d have to deal with him eventually. And even if Canterlot’s starting to look like it’s not the best place to go either, there’s gotta be somewhere else that we can send Scootaloo to safety. But the longer you sit here, reading about the past, the less time we’re gonna have to figure that out.” “I don’t think it’s just about the past, Redheart. I mean, all this stuff Zecora wrote about ‘the rainbow that never was…’ like, the more I go through it, the more I think she’s not just talking about the world being messed up, or me flying weird, or stuff about a Sonic Rainboom. It’s like all those things are supposed to fit together somehow.” “And that’s why you’re hiding? Because of some crazy legend?” Dash shook her head. “No. I guess maybe it’s just force of habit. I’ve been hiding for way too long. Hiding under… bat wings and regret. But whether I do this alone, or with you guys… I gotta figure out what happened to me while I was chasing Wind Rider.” “You didn’t say much about what happened, earlier,” Scootaloo said. “But we saw the Everfree light up a little bit with color…” “Everypony did,” Redheart added. Then she narrowed her eyes. “Was that… you pulling off a Sonic Rainboom?” “Heh. Nah.” Dash tried to feign nonchalance, but the memory of chasing something unseen on the wind, as well as the electric feeling that had danced across her coat, all culminating in the sight of colored sparks shooting back off her wings… added up to more than she could easily dismiss. “Hey,” Redheart said, jarring her back to reality. “Rainbow. Was it a Sonic Rainboom?” Dash studied Redheart’s bright blue eyes, as well as the concerned expression that they bore. Her pulse quickened as she tried to think of something that would capture her experience in just a few words—and having Redheart’s pretty eyes and kind face pressed so close to her muzzle wasn’t helping. “I… don’t think so,” Dash said, finally giving up and looking at the floor. “Maybe I was close, though. I saw my wings light up with sparks, and it’s like I could feel something calling to me, begging me to catch it. It just… it leaves me feeling—” “Delusional?” Redheart offered with a grin. “I was gonna say ‘gassy,’” Dash answered, grinning back. “Eh, you’re right, I shouldn’t try to hold this all in by myself. I guess I don’t know what to do with it, and I worry that either doing anything, or nothing, is gonna be the wrong move. I mean, I don’t exactly have the best track record, y’know?” “Well, I don’t think that,” Redheart said. “I mean, I used to. It’s tempting to go with the argument that you betrayed me, and Scootaloo, and all the ponies who relied on you back at Ponyville. But what you did with Wind Rider… what you risked for us… made me realize I was wrong. You weren’t evil, or cowardly, back in the day; you were just a pegasus in the wrong place at the wrong time. And I don’t think that makes you any less worthy of having somepony to stand by your side now.” She paused, frowning. “Though if you want to beat yourself up for doing stupid things like not letting yourself get examined properly, be my guest, ’cause that’s just dumb.” Dash cracked a smile once again. It faltered as she stretched her wing out, though. “Oof. Yeah… doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that something’s messed up in there.” Redheart furrowed her brow. “Why would you get a brain surgeon to look at a bat wing?” “Same reason as I’d ask you to look at it: lack of competent staff, otherwise.” They both chuckled. Scootaloo eyed them nervously. “Kid, we’re kidding,” Dash said. “This is how ponies talk when they—OW!” She roared with pain and snapped her wing away from Redheart’s hooves. “Gimme that back, I wasn’t done with it.” “Well maybe you could tell a pony before you start jerking around with their wing!” “You could be paying attention!” “Guys,” Scootaloo said. She eyed them both for a moment before breaking into a small smile. “You’re starting to remind me of my aunts. They’re, ah…” Dash and Redheart both blinked. “What?” Dash asked. “…Never mind. Look, Rainbow, please let us help you. I don’t know what really happened out there with Wind Rider, but I know that we need to take care of you.” Redheart nodded. “She’s right. You matter to us, whether you like it or not. Now c’mon; I’m here to check out your bone, not wax loquacious.” “Heh, all right,” Dash said, offering her wing to Redheart. “Go on: bone me.” “So much like my aunts…” “What?” “Nothing!” “YEEEOOWCH!” Dash pulled her wing back again, flexing and unflexing it several times rapidly, trying to shake loose the huge flare of pain that erupted in its middle. She glared even harder when she saw that both Redheart and Scootaloo were smiling at her. Redheart gave Scootaloo a hoofbump. “Good distraction, kid. So the good news is, I think it’s just a sprain. Lucky you, you’ll be flying again in no time.” “That hurt!” “Yeah. Too bad I’m out of pain meds…” “I’ll numb your face with my hoof!” “Go ahead; I should get another look at that, too.” “Raagh!” Dash turned away from her friends, trying not to show how wide she was smiling. And the pain legitimately did help to suppress a fair bit of how good she otherwise felt. Like being with the two of them was somehow more fulfilling, more complete. Like she’d awakened to something that had been not only distant, but completely nonexistent, just a short time before. Like things were with Fluttershy, at least on the good days. Another knock came from the door. “Yeah?” Dash called. On the other side, a stallion shouted: “Sergeant Dash, ma’am! Reporting that there’s a group of ponies approaching the castle, ma’am!” Dash watched as growing expressions of dread crept across the faces of Redheart and Scootaloo. “Well… who is it, then?” Dash called. “Ma’am! Looks like Governor Blueblood plus an escort, ma’am! There’s a platoon of ponies in the Governor’s livery, as well as a few others, ma’am!” Dash furrowed her brow and whispered: “What’s the Governor doing here? And a platoon’s like thirty or forty ponies. Why aren’t they busy trying to get Canterlot back under control?” Redheart shook her head. “I don’t know. Should I take Scootaloo and hide?” Anxiety stirred in Dash’s gut as she regarded Scootaloo’s teeth-chattering trepidation, as well as the increasing frown-lines on Redheart’s muzzle. And yet, the very possibility that they might be in danger once again stoked a new feeling of confidence within her. It wasn’t the same feeling as going fast or being in charge—it struck her as deeper, more fundamental, and more powerful. “Yeah, do that, in case the worst happens. But I’ve got this.” “Are you sure?” Redheart touched a hoof to Dash’s shoulder. “Yeah, know this: Rainbow Dash can stick her neck out for her ponies. Maybe that wasn’t always the case, but it is now.” She grinned at Redheart. “How does that sound, Nurse?” “So much like my aunts…” “Knock it off! Now wait for me to get out of here, and then go hide in… I dunno, maybe Sassy’s chambers? I’m pretty sure I left them unlocked after Rarity grabbed her travel bag. And I mean, it’s not like anypony else would wanna spend time in there if they had the choice, right?” They nodded. And in that moment, Dash found a strength… bravery… she wasn’t sure what the word was. But she walked to the door, opened it, and grinned at the impatient-looking thestral guard who was waiting for her. “Come on, soldier, let’s get a move on. We don’t want to keep the Governor waiting.” Together, at a speed limited only slightly by her sore hooves, Dash and the soldier navigated several corridors and flights of stairs before emerging onto a parapet along one of the castle walls. A group of thestral soldiers stood there, gazing out in the direction of Canterlot Mountain through spyglasses. “Still looking pretty bad city-side?” Dash asked, approaching the group. “There’s almost as much smoke as when the Longest Night began, ma’am,” one said, bowing and hoofing his spyglass to her. She placed it to her eye. Much to her consternation, Canterlot itself was still a fiery mess of activity. It was far enough away that she couldn’t pick out many details, yet its level of churn and brightness were well outside the norm. Dash then swept the glass downward, seeking the main cart-path that wound through the Everfree. There she spotted a group of maybe three dozen ponies in the Governor’s livery, carrying spears. A few other ponies marched with them; some wore long, heavy cloaks, but at least one of the ponies wasn’t wearing much at all. “Rarity?” breathed Dash. “Yes, ma’am,” the guard next to her on the parapet said. “Overseer Saddles is with them, as well. Spotted them all coming around the curve in the trail about fifteen minutes ago.” “Huh, I barely recognize Sassy without the stupid armor. And where’s Rarity’s uniform, and why’s her hair down?” “Shall we open the gates, ma’am?” The guard licked his lips, perhaps nervously. “Or would you prefer that we ask Sergeant Wind Rider to deal with this?” Dash hoofed the spyglass back to him. “Ah… no. He’s still resting. Best leave this to me.” The guard nodded, but the hardness in the corners of his eyes made Dash question how much he truly believed her. It was possible that a few ponies had seen her and Wind Rider going at it after all. “I’ll go see what they’re up to,” Dash said, hopping into the air. Her wing still stung with pain, and in the back of her head she could imagine Redheart admonishing her to stay off it for a while, but she wasn’t willing to wait. The guard nodded again, and Dash flapped higher, clearing the wall and catching a cold breeze heading generally toward the mountain. Again, her wing was a source of irritation. On one flap in particular it felt like it might buckle on her. She gasped, pulling it partially closed on instinct, which threw her into a roll. But with gritted teeth she fought through the pain and stabilized. She landed somewhat roughly a few dozen paces in front of the platoon. Several liveried guards nodded at her, or touched hooves to their metal caps, but none slowed their march as the group passed around her and continued toward the castle. “Rainbow Dash!” Rarity called from the middle of the group. She was smiling, and Dash smiled back. But then Dash spotted Sassy, and noted that the tall unicorn was missing not only her armor, but also the characteristic springy confidence in her step. Dash frowned as she also noticed heavy circles around Sassy’s eyes—which looked like bruises. “Here she is: the assistant ‘Keeper-of-All-Keys-But-One,’” said a white unicorn stallion whose stride was so flamboyant as to make up for Sassy’s lack of bounce and then some. “Governor Blueblood,” Dash said, bowing deep. “What brings you out here? …Uh, Sir.” She glanced at Rarity again with deepening confusion, only then noticing a brown earth pony in a heavy cloak trotting close to her. “Wait… is that Lord Rich?” “It’s quite all right,” Rarity said—but Dash’s hackles rose as she realized Rarity was talking to the group, not to Dash. “Let me explain things to the Sergeant here. Sergeant, if you’d be so kind?” Dash looked from side to side at the various ponies as Rarity stopped and stood before her. Most of the others seemed willing to pass them by without further comment or even notice. One hooded pony with grey legs turned and eyed her, though, and Dash couldn’t escape the impression that the pony was sizing her up for a fight. “Sergeant,” Rarity said, smiling and reaching a hoof toward Dash. “Rares, what’s going on here? I thought you and Sassy were supposed to be uncovering that ‘Underground Sun’ thing, not dragging the Governor down here for a surprise visit. And what’s Sassy’s deal, anyway? Is she feeling sore because she finally managed to pull the huge stick out of her rump?” Rarity gave a small titter. “Oh, it’s much better than that, I assure you. The Overseer has had quite the change of heart about a great many things.” Her smile faded. “Including perhaps the most serious thing that two ponies might talk about amid such trying times.” Dash blinked. “What’s really going on here?” “We have come to retrieve the Elements of Harmony,” Rarity breathed. “You’re… what?! What are you talking about?” Rarity sighed, then continued speaking quietly: “Ancient artifacts of incredible power. I don’t know why Celestia failed to bring them to bear against Nightmare Moon in the first place, but the Resistance believes they can use them to defeat her.” Dash’s eyes widened as far as they would go, and her head drew back on instinct. “You… you want to fight her? You’re talking like that… crazy pony! You know, the disappearing knife guy—” “I’m not like him,” Rarity blurted, before quickly regaining her composure. “But I think, perhaps, that I understand him, at least in part.” She gestured at Dash’s wings. “Consider what you’ve lost; what all of us have lost. Then imagine finding the power to hide completely from the Nightmare’s sight, but at the cost of losing even more: the anchor of your very self. Now imagine living without that for years. Could you live without your soul… your cutie mark… for a day? A week? Longer? What would that do to you?” On seeing how Rarity’s eyes became distant and downcast, Dash reached a hoof toward her. But Rarity shook her head and plastered on a smile that Dash could see right through. “It’s no matter, darling. I’ve seen some… dreadful things of late. But I’ve also gained new understandings of the ponies who carried on the good fight after the Longest Night began, as well as the powers that we now find at our disposal. I’ve come very much to believe that the Nightmare can be stopped, and that you and I now have an essential role to play in stopping her. All I need is for you to grant us entrance to the Nightmare’s treasure room without alerting anypony to our intentions, which…” She chuckled. “I suppose I’m being so straightforward with you because I know that you abhor the Nightmare down deep, as I do. Are you aware that the Overseer held no particular love for her, either, but rather found her to be inexorable, and served her out of a simple will to survive?” “You’re kidding. I always thought Sassy was trying to get in there with the Nightmare, if y’know what I mean.” Rarity suppressed a laugh. “Now, let me share a bit of warning: you mustn’t under any circumstances mention the knife pony. You mustn’t do anything else that should scare or threaten the ponies accompanying us, either.” Dash saw Rarity’s eyes turning at once both hard and fearful. “The Resistance has committed everything to this. Everypony whom they think might realistically be able to wield the Elements is gathered here, now, including such luminaries as Lord Rich.” “But why can’t I mention the knife guy? I mean, are they tired of working with a psycho—” “Yes,” she hissed. “But a useful psycho… a knowledgeable psycho. A psycho with a vestige of a heart still buried deep below the layers of grief that drove him to psychosis. And a psycho with the deepest motivation possible to help us not only bring down Nightmare Moon, but also to recover those who might still be brought back from Tartarus.” Rarity looked away, shivering. “I wouldn’t say I trust him beyond that… nor am I certain he could have a place in a world made whole again. But I trust him to help us with our mission, and I will advocate for him, however secretly… on account of his being a psycho.” “All right,” Dash said at length. “But I don’t like how risky this is. I mean… yeah, I hate the Nightmare. Most ponies probably do. But since you’ve been gone…” She squirmed a little. “Things have kinda… started changing for me.” “Indeed?” Rarity’s eyebrows rose slightly but noticeably. “Ah… yeah. I’ve been reconnecting with Scootaloo, who totally needs a good role model, y’know.” She puffed her chest out. “And I’ve, ah… well… kinda been making friends with Redheart—” “The doctor, Redheart?” “Nurse, technically. But yeah. We’ve sort of… hit it off.” A smile stole its way across Rarity’s muzzle. “Indeed?” Dash blushed, but frowned and stamped her hoof to try to distract from it. “Yeah, you got a problem with that?” “It’s simply unexpected, that’s all. I was under the impression that you’ve distanced yourself from most ponies since entering the Mistress’s service.” “Yeah, well, deal with it. I guess… not long ago, I didn’t really care about anything. I wanted to live, but more because I didn’t want to not be living, y’know?” Rarity nodded. “I understand. But now, perhaps, you have found something to live for?” Dash kicked at the ground. Clear images of Scootaloo’s smiles, and vague recollections of so many of Redheart’s words, played back in her head. The memory of watching Scootaloo flail against the bed during her seizure nearly brought tears to Dash’s eyes, as did the warm remembrance of Redheart’s touch on her shoulder. The agony of being unable to fully control or protect either of them stung her heart deeply. Yet it also brought to mind a fresh awareness that, as Rarity said, she had somepony to care for. Two ponies. Maybe even three, if she counted herself… She looked up, meeting Rarity’s small smile and deep, sympathetic eyes. “I just have to ask: can you get Scoots somewhere safe before we do this?” “Of course, darling.” Rarity threw a foreleg around Dash’s shoulders. The feeling it gave Dash was surprising, but not unwelcome. It made her glad to still be able to feel. “Several members of the Resistance leadership have come prepared with personal teleportation charms in case things should go wrong… we’d only need to talk one out of giving theirs to Scootaloo.” “All right, maybe we can do this after all,” Dash said as much for her own sake as anything. “Come on; it’s time to kick the Nightmare’s butt.”