All of the soldiers flew up the mountain city over the rooftops with their now in chains captive being once more carried along with them. It was clearly an odd sight for the citizens and other soldiers of Pegasopolis as many of them stopped what they were doing to watch Rainbow Dash’s procession fly by. Meanwhile it was absolutely humiliating for the blue pony from Equestria. There had been a few other times in her myriad adventures when she had been captured and locked up and she never stopped despising it. Now here she was practically on public display. That made it even worse! It’s like she was some kind of prize or dangerous criminal. Well… she was dangerous but only to bad ponies and monsters. She definitely wasn’t some criminal and these guys had attacked her first when she was just trying to fly north anyways.
Still, she had to admit that this was basically the kind of adventure she was looking for. It may have started in an annoying way but everything else was just looking like exactly what she had been searching for when she came up to the True North. She couldn’t disregard that.
Not having much else to do she looked down below at the buildings and streets. Plenty of ponies milling about were looking up at her, not just adults but fillies and colts as well. The roads made of clouds sometimes stopped and started without reason. As expected of a pegasus city where you would mostly just fly anywhere. The roads here were probably meant for the young, the infirm, and those carrying something that was too heavy to fly with. They flew over one large building that had its roof space taken up by a number of chairs and tables and beyond that came to what looked like a residential section of the city where large individual homes were plopped down on the clouds chaotically. All of them having their own fences and “yards” while roads curved around them. It was different from most of the rest of the city where the buildings were much more tightly knit and close together. Like going from Manehattan to Ponyville. What was a dense city center became a sparse suburb. Rainbow Dash looked up and saw that this was abnormal for the entire place, she couldn’t see anywhere else in all of Pegasopolis that was this open. Maybe these homes were for a few special or rich ponies. They looked big enough.
A few more courageous colts actually flew up to follow them and get a closer look while they traveled up the city but some of the soldiers bringing up the end gave the colts a few stern looks and that was the end of that. Still it spoke volumes of how unusual this must be. She had a pretty big entourage bringing her to those council chambers or whatever too. Rainbow Dash could feel it in her bones that there was some sort of excitement and conflict brewing here. An adventure just under the surface and waiting to erupt.
There was something else they were coming up on now. A large coliseum with a glass dome top built on its own cloud that hovered slightly above this level of the city. Must’ve been a sports stadium or something for other events.
After that they kept flying at a slant up the side of the mountain and the city built on it. The buildings got more regal and ornate the higher they went, tall columns, high windows, flying buttresses and all that jazz. Taller towers too with some castle-like buildings entirely made from clouds all forming a royal-level complex. If there was a pegasus specific version of Canterlot anywhere in the world this city was certainly it.
“How long have you guys been living here?” Rainbow asked, although she doubted she’d get a real response.
“It’s no concern of yours,” East Wind—er, no, his twin said to her.
As expected.
Rainbow Dash scowled at him. “Hey! What’s your name anyways, how can I tell the two of you apart?”
The twin looked back at her. “I’m West Wind. And fine, although I doubt it will matter, if you want to tell us apart in the future you can look at our Cutie Marks. We both have marks of the wind blowing, but in the opposite direction. Not like you can see them anyways with our armor on.”
She decided that was the best she was going to get and quieted down again. She still had more of the city to view anyways. So much of it she couldn’t really get a good look at at all since it covered so much space and they were just going in a straight line up the mountain to the highest levels of it. There were sprawling blocks to her right and left below her on lower levels of the city that she could only vaguely guess at being the same as what they had flown over near the start.
Finally they came to the last part of the city that overlooked the rest. Only halfway up the mountain it sat well below the snow-capped peak and the clouds here held but one large building. It was less of a palace and more like an administrative building, rectangular in shape with a trapezoidal roof and huge columns that covered the front of the building. A simple yet effective design that said the building was made by those who valued practicality far more than style.
When they got level with that building the soldiers descended to the cloud ground in front of it and began walking with Rainbow Dash.
Guess this is where we’re going. She thought as they all walked between the tall columns to the interior of the building.
A large doorway (that didn’t look like it had any doors to close it) sat right behind the columns and Rainbow Dash was brought inside it. From here she could see numerous soldiers lining the walls or guarding other doors and hallways while toga wearing pegasi walked and flew about all over. This first part of the interior looked like a large atrium that stretched the entirety of the front of the building with several balconies on higher floors. The soldiers transporting her gave no looks to anywhere else though, walking without hesitation straight to an oval-shaped set of doors that was high enough to let Discord walk through without ducking.
While her soldiers were calmly doing their duty she saw a lot of others in the building looking and whispering at her. Why’d they have to make this such a spectacle?
Rainbow Dash and her soldiers went through more and more doors until they came to a large inner chamber and most of the soldiers spread out to stand along the walls instead of entering. Only East and West Wind now walked with Rainbow Dash between them to this next chamber. The cloud doors were pulled open by the two guards stationed beside them and the three pegasi entered the chamber.
Rainbow Dash found herself at the tiled floor of the round council chambers, directly ahead of her stood a raised platform where five elderly pegasi sat while to the right of that there was an alcove and another lower platform where Commander Blizzard stood. Rainbow Dash glared at him the moment she saw him but if he noticed he gave no reaction. On the second level of this chamber there was a gallery wrapped around it for viewing whatever took place among the councilors and their visitors, held up by a sequence of eight pillars at even intervals. Rainbow Dash noted that every single seat up there was currently occupied. She was popular already.
East and West Wind took her to the very center of the chambers and stopped. She had to crane her neck up slightly to see the five pegasi up on their stand but that was it.
“Alright, let’s get this underway already,” the center most pegasus said. He was a wizened old stallion with a puffy white mane that looked like a cloud stuck on his head. His coat was a fading yellow that had certainly seen better days. “Elder Tornado presiding. Commander Blizzard, would you please explain why you felt the need to scrap the rest of our schedule for today and call an emergency session that required a full meeting of the council?”
Rainbow Dash blinked. So they didn’t know yet? The guy sounded pretty annoyed at Blizzard too.
If the Commander was offended by the Elder’s attitude he didn’t let that bother him either. “I can assure you all that this is of the utmost importance. Recently one of the Ice Sentinels that guards our border was destroyed.”
That sent a wave of murmurs throughout the peanut gallery and the Elders all looked surprised as well.
“When were you going to tell us this?” Tornado looked down at Blizzard.
“After we had investigated the cause.” Blizzard didn’t bother returning his gaze, keeping his eyes on Rainbow Dash.
Tornado seemed to get the clue and followed along to the rainbow-maned pony that he didn’t recognize now standing in the council chambers. “It was this runaway? How?”
“It was her, but she’s not a runaway.” Commander Blizzard smiled. “This pegasus is from Equestria.”
This time the chamber erupted into full out shock. The gallery wasn’t even attempting to keep themselves quiet and the Elders all looked just as surprised and disbelieving as them. Of course Rainbow Dash was also pretty surprised.
“Hold on!” She shouted at Blizzard before anyone else could speak, already having been on the verge of angrily telling off all the pegasi in here. “You know about Equestria?”
“This is absurd! There’s no way this mare could be from Equestria!” One of the other Elders shouted. His balding head covered by a few thin wisps of black mane and beady eyes glaring out at Rainbow Dash from behind a pair of exceptionally thick glasses.
The other Elders were all trying to talk over each other too while Tornado sat there looking rather conflicted. In contrast, Blizzard was standing tall with a smug look on his face.
“Enough, enough already!” Tornado finally shouted. “Quiet down, all of you!” He rapped his hooves on the stand before him to get the gallery and everyone else back into order. When the room had quieted down he returned to looking straight at Rainbow Dash with a troubled expression on his face. “Mare… are you truly from Equestria?”
Rainbow Dash snorted. “Yeah. I am. So what? I didn’t even know you guys knew about Equestria. Seriously, who are you guys anyways?”
It wasn’t one of the Elders who answered her but Blizzard who decided to take the reins. “We are the true pegasi. The descendants and inheritors of the true way before the great betrayal of unification.”
“Huh?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head at him with a look on her face that said she thought he was crazy.
“Is it not a story still passed down in Equestria? Hearthswarming? Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy?” Blizzard raised an eyebrow at her.
“Well, yeah, it is. But what the hay do you mean by great betrayal and all that other crazy stuff you just said?” Rainbow Dash would’ve scratched her head if it wasn’t for the cuffs. “Hey… is this why you called me a traitor and fake or whatever?”
“You are a descendant of the ones who betrayed the old ways and joined with the earth ponies and unicorns to create that accursed land of Equestria. So yes, that’s why.” Blizzard told her.
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s your problem with Equestria? The tale of Hearthswarming is about ponies setting aside their differences and becoming friends in the name of survival. Because of that they all came together and made Equestria. It’s a happy story. What’s the big deal?”
“How blind and brainwashed you are,” Blizzard shook his head at her before looking around at all of the pegasi in the gallery. “Look! See how a pegasus from Equestria doesn’t even realize how they’ve been led astray? See how our long lost brothers and sisters have been corrupted? This mare doesn’t even know her own history. She cares nothing about what it truly means to be a pegasus!”
“Okay, you’re making me mad dude!” Rainbow Dash started to stalk towards him but was held back by East and West Wind.
Blizzard unfurled his wings and pointed one of them at Rainbow Dash. “The truth about Hearthswarming is that it was a betrayal of everything that made pegasi pegasi. And after that our way of life was completely expunged. There were no more pegasi in Equestria. Merely “ponies”. Commander Hurricane is the great traitor who destroyed our old kingdom and gave it all up. He no longer cared or believed in our ways, it was nothing more than “Out with the old, in with the new” to him. He, Pansy, the other rulers, none of them thought about the fact that maybe not every pony wanted to throw away their history and way of life.”
“It was better!” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “What do you think you know about Hearthswarming and Equestria? Ponies changed so they stopped fighting and hating each other so much. That’s the only thing that was thrown away! I’m not even some historian egghead and I know that!”
“I know that Equestria is a land founded on betrayal. That’s all it is or ever will be,” Blizzard coldly said.
Rainbow Dash had had enough, she headbutted East Wind in the chin and kicked West Wind in the side with her back leg. Running as fast as she could over the floor to Blizzard. Which wasn’t fast thanks to her cuffed forehooves and the chains wrapped around her barrel. East and West Wind were both able to recover and jump on her, tackling the angry Equestrian to the ground.
“At least you have some fight in you. That means you aren’t a complete loss as far as being a pegasus goes,” Blizzard said.
Rainbow Dash glared up at him, still fighting to get the twins off of her. “I’m an awesome pegasus! And I’ve got a ton of friends back in Equestria that are the most awesome ponies you’d ever know!”
“Blizzard, can you please bring this situation back under control? This was supposed to be an actual meeting, not a show for you to put on,” Tornado said from above.
“Of course,” Blizzard acquiesced and nodded to East and West Wind. The two soldiers then carried Rainbow Dash back to the center of the room.
“I want to go back a few steps,” Tornado said. “One of our Ice Sentinels has been destroyed. She was indeed responsible for this?”
“Yeah! I was! That thing attacked me!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
The five Elders looked between each other before another one on the far left of the stand spoke up. “And just why is it that you were traveling here in the first place? What reason did you have? We want to know why after all this time has an Equestrian come here.”
Before Rainbow Dash could explain herself, Blizzard cut in again.
“Her reasons are unimportant. She is clearly a sign that more Equestrians will come someday. I would not be surprised if she purposefully flew from Equestria to us as an agent of theirs. This mare is a harbinger of the future, and a warning that we must heed.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “You’re crazy! Nobody, and I mean nobody, down in Equestria even knows about you guys! And I just came up here for fun.” The fact that she was friends with a Princess was probably something she shouldn’t say right now.
“So what do you think should even be done with her?” The same Elder that had just spoken asked Blizzard. “If she’s mistreated Equestria may seek reprisal-”
“The only thing Equestria would seek is to become friends with you guys. Princess Celestia would be happy to have you and make you see how much nicer things are after Hearthswarming,” Rainbow Dash grinned and added quietly- “Flash Magnus would probably get a kick out of this too...”
Blizzard heard her. “Flash Magnus you say? A renowned hero, one who truly embodied what it meant to be a true pegasus. I only wish he were alive today so he could see our Empire.”
“Yeah something tells me you wouldn’t be too happy to see him,” Rainbow Dash laughed.
“What do you mean? You speak as if you personally know him.” Blizzard frowned while the Elders leaned in, the name of Flash Magnus drawing all of their interest.
“That’s cause I do. Flash Magnus is alive and well,” she smirked at the big pegasus.
“Impossible,” Elder Tornado said. “We all know Flash Magnus lived and died well over a thousand years ago.”
“He didn’t die, dude. He was stuck in limbo. Me and my friends were the ones who freed him too, it happened not that long ago.”
More chattering and hushed conversations poured down from the galleries, a stark contrast to Blizzard’s stunned silence. Rainbow Dash felt pretty good about getting that reaction from him. The Elders also convened together as they debated on whether or not Rainbow Dash was telling the truth about one of their heroes. She kind of enjoyed constantly getting this reaction from these ponies. As always, being the center of attention was something she wouldn’t trade for the world. So she decided to stir the pot further and really give these ponies something to think about.
“Yeah and guess what? He loves it in Equestria. And seriously, how much did you guys even really know about Flash Magnus? Cause he was close friends with unicorns like Starswirl the Bearded and earth ponies like Rockhoof. Flash Magnus is all about being an Equestrian pegasus and it doesn’t make him or me any less awesome!” Rainbow Dash attempted to smugly sit back and fold her hooves over her chest but the cuffs stopped that so she just kept standing and hoped no one noticed.
“Liar!” Blizzard screamed at her, his wings angrily opened to their fullest span. “You think you can say such things here? Perhaps you truly are an agent sent by Equestria specifically to try and change us, bring us into the fold so to speak, have us renounce our ways like Hurricane and the other traitors did so long ago.”
“Blizzard-” Tornado started but a sharp glance from the Commander made him clamp his mouth shut.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed slightly at that. They’re afraid of him…
“I see now what should be done here. This wayward pegasus is not a harbinger of doom. She’s a gift,” Blizzard was speaking to the entire gallery and all the pegasi present. The Elder was right earlier, this was a show he was putting on. “A pony so ignorant of their true history and culture. We must show her the way. Though currently she seeks to get us to renounce ourselves and change, we will instead make her see the light and become like us. A true pegasus. Rainbow Dash shall not be punished nor imprisoned. She will be given a life in my military and see what it means to be one of us. I am certain I can get her to renounce Equestria and the way of the false pegasi descended from Hurricane and the other traitors.”
“After all-” he continued. “We have thrived here in this harsh land due to our own strength and nothing else. Who better than our current military commander to show her our indomitable will and the superiority of our way of life. We are the descendants of those who chose to split with Hurricane, those unwilling to bend and change, who came here to eke out an existence despite the difficulty because they were true pegasi!”
“I guess that answers some questions,” Rainbow Dash grumbled under her breath.
“So you wish for responsibility of this pegasus to be handed over to you?” Tornado asked.
Blizzard nodded. “Indeed.”
The Elder shared a few glances with the others on his stand before rubbing his hooves together nervously. He looked a bit conflicted but obviously didn’t have the guts or power to say no. “Well… the issue with the Sentinels is a military affair as well after all. And I suppose you have the right of it that there’s none better suited than you to handle this. The Elder Council has decided, the fate of Rainbow Dash from Equestria is left up to Commander Blizzard.”
“Thank you,” Blizzard smiled.
There was some chattering up in the gallery, surely this would be gossiped back and forth across the entire city by tomorrow. Which was probably exactly what Blizzard wanted even though Rainbow Dash wasn’t entirely sure why. He definitely set this all up even if some things had surprised him as well. At times it felt like he was reading from a prepared speech and Rainbow Dash was sure it was all to get to this point at the end. Even though she still didn’t know the grander reason he had for any of this.
Also it was all a moot point since she didn’t intend to let him get his way at all. And she wasn’t about to take any of this sitting down.
“Hey!” She shouted across the whole chamber. “Maybe you’re all forgetting this or just crazy but I’m not just letting you do whatever you want with me. If you take these chains off me I’ll show you that I’m not someone you can mess with! I’ll whoop your butt, Blizzard!”
A hush fell over the pegasi in attendance.
Blizzard’s smile stretched a fraction of an inch wider as he hopped off his platform to the tiled floor.
“Is that a challenge?”
“You bet it is!”
For the first time she had seen him he started chuckling lightly. “Very well. I have no problem with your challenge. As true pegasi we rule by the strong. If you can defeat me and prove yourself stronger then you may do what you wish. Leave or not, you’ll have earned the right. As Commander however… I am the strongest pegasus in the Empire. That is what that title means.”
Rainbow Dash blew hot air out of her nostrils and narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t scare me one bit.”
“Good. I don’t want to fight a coward anyways. I just thought you should know that no other pegasus can compare to me,” he cracked his neck and loudly projected his voice so everyone could hear. “The first battle between a true pegasus and a false sister from the south has reached our empire. The coliseum shall be prepared.”