Armed with new knowledge, Dasher made her way up to Cloudsdale the following morning. Doing a few twists and turns to avoid the air traffic, Dasher decided to take the east entrance, as that had the least amount of ponies entering through it. Landing, she looked at the guards. There were four in total, two pegasi wearing the insignia of Cloudsdale, proudly displayed on their light armor. They were the ones that interacted with those in line. The other two Dasher recognized as the ‘hooded ones,’ draped in their dark purple robes with silver streaks. These two were positioned on each end of the door, ready to assist if a pony needed to be escorted off.
With three other ponies in front of her, she took the time to glance at the city through the gate. The beauty of Cloudsdale never ceased to amaze her. Spiraling buildings rose high in the air, surrounded by perfectly chiseled clouds. Eventually though, her sightseeing was cut off when one of the guards called out to her.
“You are up, miss. State your name and business coming here,” said the green-maned stallion.
“Hello, my name is Rashed, and I am here to meet a family friend for a potential job opportunity,” replied Dasher, looking over his curiously blue-spotted coat.
“Arlight, Miss Rashed, do you have any identification with you?” he continued.
“Uh yeah, let me grab it real quick.” She rummaged around in her pack, looking for the forged papers she had been given. The guard looked them over before nodding his head.
“Do you have your Lunar tablet with you? Just to make sure.”
“Well… I don’t actually have one… err... one with me at the moment,” said Dasher hastily. The guard simply raised an eyebrow.
“Why not? Did you lose it? You know you can just get another one…” he said, clearly annoyed.
“I didn’t lose it… I just can't find it, that's all,” said Dasher, embarrassed.
“Mares, amirite,” chuckled the guard to his buddy, before turning back to Dasher. “That’s fine. We just need to do a couple of tests before we can let you into the city.”
“What sort of tests?” asked Dasher nervously. They never said that there would be any tests! Fidgeting, she watched as the other guard moved to stand next to her.
“Oh, it’s not really, just some things we need to do to make sure you are a real pegasus,” he said nonchalantly.
“Ouch!” exclaimed Dasher as the other guard ripped one of her feathers from her wing.
“Looks pretty real to me,” said the second guard, beaming.
“Do you do this to everypony that comes here?” Dasher grumbled.
“Only to the pretty mares like yourself,” said the first guard, giving her a toothy grin. The other guard just laughed and put her feather into his mane. Dasher just rolled her eyes in response.
“Is that all?” she continued, growing more annoyed by their shenanigans.
“Just one more thing, we need you to move this cloud,” said the first, producing a miniature cloud and trying to hold in his laughter. It was Dasher’s turn to raise an eyebrow now.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, normally we just need to--OUMF!” he began before the cloud was thrown onto his face. Dasher smirked, and the second guard continued to laugh.
“Alright, Cumulus, we have had our fun. Let her into the city,” said the second guard, letting her pass. Sneaking a glance up to the two hooded guards, she saw… nothing. No change in their position, they stood still like statues. It creeped her out, but she continued on nonetheless.
Once through security, the city opened up to her, and she was exposed to the full sight of everything. She had only seen the rooftops before, now she had a clear view of the buildings. Houses and stores were alive with light and ponies, pegasi were flying around and through golden arches and waterfalls, while unicorns were walking and talking together. The many businesses lining the streets sold complex and amazing items that Dasher had never seen before.
Dasher stared with mouth agape, only slowly pulling herself from the lull of wonder. Deciding to distract herself by focusing on getting a better layout of the city, she began looking and going down alleyways and sidestreets, making sure to trace directions and take note of possible hiding spots or escape routes. Her understanding of the flow of structures grew, and after a few hours of walking, was able to create a rough mental map.
Proud of what she had accomplished, she remembered her instructions. Rummaging through her pack again, she produced the name of a hotel. “The Prancing Puppet, huh. What kind of name is that?” read Dasher. With the help of a few passersby, she was directed to the place. Entering her booked room, she was a bit surprised to find a note half-hidden underneath a desk. Lighting a candle, she read.
Dasher,
We hope this finds you well. You will meet with the city officials tomorrow. Do your best to inquire about the happenings of the city, and whether or not they will support us. Remember your training and your codewords for the mission. Be careful how you speak with the representatives. Good luck.
Reading over the note a few times, Dasher grabbed the candle and burnt the message. Seeing as she still had most of the day, she decided to enjoy the city and its wonders. Going out, she went to one of the shows she had seen advertised earlier. It had been a long time since she had been to a theater, and the play was gripping. The plot kick-started with the protagonist losing a few loved ones, followed by a daring escape. Many adventures afterwards, with a delightful twist at the end with an alive queen coming onto stage. She felt like she could really resonate with the pains the protagonist had, and the losses he experienced. Once the play was finished, she made her way to one of the deliteful restaurants, ordered their signature sandwich and sat at a park nearby.
Watching a group of foals playing together on one of the playsets brought a smile to her face. Joy in these times was hard to find, and seeing foals having fun unaffected was nice. A few played tag, chasing one another, while others pushed each other down slides. One in particular caught Dasher’s eye. A young filly, flapping her wings to try and catch one of her friends. After struggling a bit, the little pegasus eventually got off the ground, flying over to reach the other filly. The first filly reminded Dasher of Moon Scoots, a young pegasus that had adored her while she was still in Ponyville. Thinking of Ponyville reminded her of her old life of being carefree and lazy. She sighed, the image of the small hamlet forming in her mind. How were ponies in Ponyville doing? Was she or Flutter Moon even remembered? How was Moon Scoots dealing without her?
Lost in thought, Dasher didn’t notice a mare walking up to her. “Hello, I noticed you sitting over here alone and looking a bit sad. My name is Stella, Stella Moon,” said the mare, sitting down next to Dasher. Startled, Dasher’s wings flared and her hooves shot up to her face.
Stella gazed at her curiously. “Oh sorry, yeah, I was just lost in thought. Nice to meet you, Stella Moon, the name’s Rashed,” said Dasher, rubbing her neck sheepishly.
“I don’t think I have seen you before, Rashed. Do you have a foal playing over there?” asked Stella, pointing a hoof at the playground.
“What? Oh no... I just came here to think, and one of the foals reminded me of a filly back at home that I had to leave behind,” Dasher said somberly.
“I am sorry to hear that. It sounds that you two were pretty close?” continued the mare.
“You could say that. She was a little squirt that followed me around and idolized me. I am just thinking about what she is doing right now,” Dasher muttered, subconsciously tracing her hoof over the bench. She felt uncomfortable talking about her feelings with a complete stranger. What am I doing, I don’t know her! She clenched her teeth.
“Sounds like you are a bit homesick. If you are looking for any work, I know most of the moms in my group could use a foalsitter. They need ponies that are good with colts or fillies, if you would be interested,” said Stella, indicating the group of mares standing a few meters from them.
“Thanks for the offer, but I actually have something else to do. Maybe another time,” Dasher responded. Why is she being nice and offering me a job all of a sudden? She doesn’t know me.. Deciding to end the conversation, Dasher got up. With a bit of a pained expression at her getting up, Stella forced a smile.
“See you around then,” she remarked as she watched Dasher leave.
How is everypony so happy all the time? Don’t they see the evilness of Nightmare Moon? thought Dasher as she trudged back to her hotel. She was slowly losing focus of where she was walking, occasionally bumping into other ponies. “Oh sorry!” “My bad!” “I didn’t see you there.” Dasher simply mumbled an apology in return as she continued. Nopony is even getting mad at me! How is this… wait. Then it finally hit. It was a facade, it had to be! I bet it’s to attract ponies, like flies to nectar. Once caught, nopony escapes. I need to get out of here, I need to… but her train of thought was derailed as she stumbled back into the Prancing Puppet hotel. Finally reaching bed, ideas on trying to figure out what to do tomorrow swirled in her head as she fell asleep.
Okay Dasher, you got this. Do your best to convince them to support the resistance. Don’t let your emotions get in the way! thought Dasher, patiently trotting up and down the corridor that she had been directed to by the secretary. As the minutes turned into an hour, then into three, she became impatient. What is taking so long…
Eventually the door opened, and she walked through the opening. Looking around, she counted five ponies in total, sitting around a table. “Ah, Dasher, thank you for joining us,” called a grey toned pegasus with a forced smile. “My name is Titanus Moon, and I am the governor of Cloudsdale.”
“Hello. Well, since you already know my name, then you know why I--” began Dasher
“Yes, we know why you are here,” cut in Titanus Moon, shifting into more of a bored manner.
“Then… you already know my question. Do you have an answer?” asked Dasher, trying to muster an air of authority.
Everypony glared at her. “Cloudsdale has been one of the oldest cities to have ever been built. It has the largest population of pegasi, barely rivaled by Las Pegasus, and continues to grow every day,” started Titanus Moon, getting up. “Ponies come here to get away from the despair of the land, of the annoyance between petty rivalries and politics.” He cleared his throat. “Queen Nightmare Moon has given us enormous tax reductions, more land to cultivate, and has donated a large amount of bits to our cloud production. In return, we neither meddle in her affairs, nor do we need to focus on what happens on the ground.” He walked around, the other councillors nodding.
“Seriously? You know that Nightmare Moon will become a tyrant! Pretty soon, she will have you under her hoof and there will be nothing you can do to stop her,” exclaimed Dasher, barely holding herself from slamming a hoof on the table.
“So far, she has only shown us a token of her kindness. We focus on the pleasures of life, and Queen Nightmare Moon has enabled us to do so. What can the rebellion offer that she has not already given us?” asked Titanus Moon.
“When we win, we can offer you a horizon! Don’t you re--” countered Dasher.
“If, if you win. The Queen has proven she is quite powerful, and it would be suicide to oppose her. We have chosen the winning team, and you should too,” interrupted Titanus Moon, steepling his hooves together.
“So then you would gladly accept her bribes, rather than deal with the problems that are happening everywhere else? Loyalty should not be purchased!” Dasher exclaimed, looking at each of them in turn. Some of them met her gaze, while others flinched away.
“What is it to us, the happenings of the earth? Is it just for the heavens to invade what is below? If it does not affect us, it is none of our business,” said Titanus Moon coldly.
“But you have it all wrong! Nightmare Moon’s reign, unchecked, will bring destruction to us all! Can’t you see that she wants us to stay seperate, to worry about our own corner of the world?” said Dasher, slamming a hoof down in anger.
“I believe you are the mistaken one, Dasher. To answer your question, no, we will not support the rebellion. It is not our ways, it is not our problem,” Titanus Moon stated evenly.
“Very well, but when we are victorious, we will remember who sided with whom,” retorted Dasher angrily.
“And when your little rebellion is broken and dismantled before your eyes, don’t come crying to us for protection. You have no hope against the crown,” finished Titanus Moon calmly.
“There will always be hope. Hope is the worst thing to give up in times like this. But it seems you have all come to a conclusion, good day then,” said Dasher, shaking her head before turning and leaving. Before the door closed behind her, she spotted grins on their faces, and her heart plummeted.
Dasher felt sick to her stomach. Something was missing, but she couldn't lay a hoof on it. Some essential part that should have been a defining factor, but wasn’t. Shaking her head, she played over the words that Titanus Moon had said. Coupled with the previous day’s events, Dasher was starting to question whether or not she was doing the right thing. She began wondering if the cause was worth it, if the price was high enough. She could easily run away from it all, start a new life here.
As she was turning down a street to get to her hotel, not really paying too much attention, a gruff voice called to her, “Would you please step into this alleyway?” Mentally slapping herself for her lack of observance, Dasher looked around, seeing two ponies hidden away in an alley. Hesitating a moment, Dasher was deciding between running or fighting, when the voice called again.
“Dasher, come out of the street. We need the answer,” hissed the voice. Stepping in, she noticed that the two were hooded in a familiar cloth. “Confirmation?”
“The jail keeper has been spoken with,” replied Dasher.
“And will they let out the raven?”
“The cage has been raddled, whether they kill it or not may change. Yet they refuse to release it,” said Dasher, sadly.
“This is very concerning news. I am sorry to hear that your first mission was not successful. Your orders are to remain in the city for a quarter of a day, and then return for debriefing. Confirm?”
“Confirmed, stay safe,” farewelled Dasher, as she watched the two walk into the busy crowd on the other side of the alley. Making her way back to her hotel, she collapsed into her bed. She had failed, crying as she felt the weight of responsibility. If the resistance was unable to convince other cities to join the cause, then truly all hope would be lost.