//------------------------------// // True Pegasus XVII // Story: Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego // by MagicS //------------------------------// The eyes of Commander Blizzard opened up at exactly the same time that they did every morning. Precisely one hour before dawn. With nary a thought occupying his head he automatically rose from his bed and inhaled deeply, stretching and flexing his muscles while he stood like a stone statue. When that was done he unfurled his wings once to pop them and remove any cricks and then finally stretched his neck until he felt a satisfying pop and exhaled. His morning routine. Just the little things he did right after waking to make sure he could take on the day in the best possible condition. Commander Blizzard, much like the Elders, lived inside the administration building at the highest level of the city. While he could’ve chosen to make his residence anywhere he preferred it here so he could look out and survey the entire rest of the city. Right now it was still dark out and there was nothing to see through the ice sculpted windows but as soon as dawn arrived and sunlight illuminated his city he always made sure to give it a look every morning. A reminder to himself. He moved from the spot right beside his bed to an open area of the floor where a large pair of weights sat. Grasping them with his wings he effortlessly lifted the several hundred pound weights and curled twenty times before setting them back down. Just a minor workout to make the blood flow through his incredibly strong wings. Feeling the cold morning air the Commander looked up, a hole in the roof of the building allowed him to fly in and out without disturbing anything else. The cold that permeated his home due to this open skylight was never a bother to him. If anything he saw it as endurance training. With a single powerful flap of his wings he shot up through the skylight and into the early morning sky. For a moment he closed his eyes and hung there, basking in the feeling of floating in the open sky. There was nothing he liked more than being able to fly with the clouds. It was the natural home and state of the pegasus tribe and if it was possible he’d even fly in his sleep. Opening his eyes once more he got started on another segment of his morning exercise; flying around the mountain peak. He never flew at full speed around the city or he might disturb too much of the cloud coverage or start making sonic-booms but he got close to it as he ringed around the top of the mountain. To untrained eyes he would’ve looked like a solid blur as his wings flapped with unparalleled power. He didn’t push himself too hard or beat his wings into a fervor, that wasn’t the point of this, but he flew with a speed and power most pegasi could never dream of. After his fiftieth lap he stopped, his exercise complete. He never got tired of doing this every morning—it was far too important to stay in peak physical condition. He had to be at his absolute best always. Never did he allow himself to miss out on exercising. Not from being busy and not from being sick. Never. Vigilance was one of his favorite words and he was always working to keep as vigilant as possible. There were some who wouldn’t see the point of what he was doing or think he could’ve gone a few days without doing it. Those people were weak. They didn’t understand the importance of keeping a strict regimen, how you had to work yourself every day, how you couldn’t falter a single time. How you had to purge yourself of any weakness or laziness. Blizzard scowled as he flew back down into his home, he knew that in the past the pegasi took such things far more seriously. Today it seemed only he was fully invested in sculpting his body into the best specimen it could possibly be. That was why he was superior to all the others in this city, it wasn’t some natural strength he was born with, it was his drive. His willpower. His diamond-hard belief in what he was doing. Despite his efforts to increase support and interest in physical workout and body building most stallions seemed to be fine with just not being out of shape. Instead of aiming to be the best they could possibly be like him. It was sickening. He couldn’t help but feel contempt for his fellow citizens. That sort of weakness is what he had been trying to stamp out ever since he became the Commander. It was why he did everything he did. He had seen the signs, seen the approaching weakness, seen the growing apathy for their traditions and customs. He had seen it all and knew he must stop it lest they betray everything their forefathers stood for. There could be no compromise, no change, the first allowance would be the first hoof on the slippery slope until eventually they turned their backs completely on the true pegasus way. No one understood what it meant to be vigilant. No one understood that you couldn’t bend or waver at all. The slightest weakness, the smallest crack, in the foundation would lead to everything falling apart. Why couldn’t they understand this? Why didn’t they have the same strength of will or belief as him? Why were they so weak? His hooves set down back inside his room and with his jaw in a tight frown he went to put on his armor. There wasn’t any real work for him to do today but he was having East and West Wind come by to update him on Rainbow Dash. At least he could rely on the twins for the most part, they were loyal and capable. Hopefully they had good news to bring him about that unclean Equestrian mare and how she was fitting in. Blizzard knew eventually she would see the light, how could she not? He just wanted it to come sooner rather than later. But she was strong, she wanted to prove herself and make herself the best she could possibly be, she clearly understood power and despised weakness, there was no way that she wouldn’t eventually come around to seeing that the Empire is the ideal world for her. That the true pegasus way is better for her than her silly Equestrian ideals. He almost smiled as he thought of the sheer joy he would feel when she agreed with him and embraced the Eternal Pegasus Empire. It would be proof. She would be a symbol to all the others. There would be no more weakness, no more apathy, no more uncertainty about their ways. That was for later though, for now he would work on running through the halls of the administration building. Always in areas that no one would be in at this time. It was still a bit before the sun would rise and others would begin to wake up so he essentially had it all to himself right now. He had given his wings enough of a workout so now it was time for his legs. Exercising like this always focused his mind and calmed him down, everything else was banished from his mind as he focused entirely on his workout and his own body. He wouldn’t say he felt happy when exercising or training but he did feel at peace. The twins would be around early in the morning and after that he would either take some time watching the Elder Council or perhaps go to the coliseum and see if there was any fight worth watching there. He had been considering starting a tournament for soldiers to fight in, although he didn’t like the idea of competing for the sake of competing. Fights should be real. Maybe if there was a prize for it it would be better and more would be interested. Perhaps whatever young soldier won he would gain the hoof of a pretty single mare in marriage. Seemed a decent prize to him. He turned a corner in the administration building and came out into a long and empty hallway. With a pause he took a small breath of air and then sprinted down it at full speed. When he got to the end he skidded to a halt and then sprinted back to where he had started. Again and again he did this until his legs were screaming at him. Blizzard was panting when he stopped, but only for a moment as he got his breathing back under control. He never showed any sort of weakness or exhaustion to other ponies. In the rare times he fought or did battle himself he always used the bare minimum of force to win, never over-exerting himself or doing anything unnecessary. It made him look fully in-control and overwhelmingly powerful to any other pegasi who would be watching. He appeared as if nothing could hurt or tire him whatsoever and he could defeat anyone else effortlessly. The fight he had with Rainbow Dash in front of so many others was something he was quite proud of. She really was such a blessing. He was worried when he heard about one of the Sentinels being destroyed, thinking it may have been a runaway who somehow figured out how to disable them. But then when he met her… it was like an epiphany, a sudden nirvana, he knew exactly what she was and what he needed to do with her. And everything had gone perfectly thanks to him since. He almost lost his composure once or twice but he still managed to handle things and now it was a mere waiting game. He began walking slowly again, his exercise done for now. It wouldn’t be much longer before the sun was out and others woke up. Despite his large frame and the armor he wore he walked with a grace and ease that made him silent as he stepped down the halls. He was not the type of pony who forgot about the importance of flexibility and agility, two things just as important as physical strength to being able to fight at your best. In the end he decided to make it back to his own private office that sat at the front of the administration building so he could watch the first rays of sun hit his city. Even as he quickened his pace he still walked like a quiet phantom. His mind naturally began to wander back to Rainbow Dash and Equestria. How could it not what with everything he still needed to know about her home? He was still dismayed about what she had said concerning Flash Magnus, among other things. Commander Blizzard was certain that one day he would have to personally fly down to Equestria. To confront and convince all the wayward souls his ancestors had left behind at the unification. Whether he would go there to wage all out war or not was uncertain for now. He didn’t wish to hurt any pegasi who would be willing to join the true way but it was likely he would need Rainbow Dash to convince such ignorant and pathetic pegasi that had spent their whole lives in Equestria that the Empire was where they belonged. But… it was possible that most would be so corrupted after generations of living with earth ponies and unicorns that it was all pointless anyways. Maybe he should just go to war with them from the start to prove Hurricane, Pansy, and all those who followed them were wrong in the first place. Maybe they just deserved to be destroyed. He certainly didn’t like the idea of Equestria going on existing as always when it was a nation founded on betrayal. The more he thought about it the angrier he got. Angry at all those “happy” pegasi down there living their false lives, lives built by the disrespect and abandonment of their ancestors. They weren’t even truly happy, no pegasus could be truly happy living outside the true way. They were weak. Disgustingly weak. He had to see it for himself someday. To see if there were any even worth bringing onto the true path or if it should all just be destroyed. Rainbow Dash said Equestria didn’t know about them and wouldn’t care, except they would try to become friends. He couldn’t allow something like that to happen. Just as surely as anything else, fostering a relationship with Equestria would lead to the destruction of his Empire and the true pegasus way. It was either us or them or a complete lack of contact. That was why none could leave. No pegasus could leave this Empire and threaten it like that. That was why if he did rescue the weak and misguided pegasi from Equestria he would have to either conquer the rest of it or make sure they wouldn’t come after them. Maybe some fools would say live and let live. But Commander Blizzard refused such a pathetic notion. There was only one way to be a pegasus and he would prove that their way was superior. He could not allow the insult that was Equestria and the way pegasi lived there to go on. It would’ve been a constant reminder of what happened in the past and a constant enemy of their Empire if other pegasi thought it was “okay” to live like that. Blizzard’s jaw clenched as he finally made it to the window in his office and watched the city begin to wake up. Rays of sunlight poured from the sky onto the cloud buildings but despite the pleasant view it did nothing to fix his mood. Too many problems both inside and out with his Empire. A waiting game… he needed that rainbow pegasus to join him soon.