//------------------------------// // True Pegasus XXIV // Story: Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego // by MagicS //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash was having a very pleasant sleep on a bed far more comfortable than the simple cot she had gotten begrudgingly used to in the barracks. The bed provided to her by Summer Rains’ family was practically Celestia-sent, and so much better in every way. She could stretch out, it was soft, the pillow was fluffier, the sheets were fluffier. It allowed for a quality sleeping experience that might’ve even been better than a nap she could take on one of her own clouds. She had no idea how long she had been asleep or what time in the morning it was, she was too comfortable to really wake up and get out of bed. The loud knocking on the door changed that. It reverberated through the entire house. She slowly blinked her eyes open and stuck her head up, wondering what the racket was about. Unlike her there were others in the house who had already been well awake and Rainbow Dash could hear a couple of them walking towards the front door. Figuring it was none of her business she yawned and curled up in the comfortable sheets once more to try and get some extra shuteye. But when the door was opened and angry, muffled voices rose up through the floor it gave her something of a bad feeling. She knit her brow and frowned behind closed eyes, worry building up in here. “S-Summer! Rainbow Dash!” She heard the scared voice of Snowshine yell up into the house. “That’s really not good...” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she got out of her comfortable bed and left the room. Floating into the hallway she saw a sleepy Aurora poking her head out of her own room. Dash glanced over to her and shook her head. “Stay in your room, kid.” The filly nodded, a frightened look on her face when she saw how serious Rainbow Dash was for once. “Okay.” Rainbow Dash flew down the stairs to the first floor, on her way she heard Summer coming out of his room and flying to his panicked wife as well. The two of them made short time until they landed right at the bottom of the stairs together to see what was going on. When they got there, Summer was bewildered at what he saw while Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. Captains East and West Wind along with a squad of soldiers were standing on the porch. She didn’t know why they were here but the twins looked even unfriendlier than usual with the way they were staring at her. Snowshine and her parents were nervously standing before them, unsure of what was going on. “They were asking for Rainbow Dash,” Snowshine quietly said as she stepped back to her husband and guest. “Not asking. Demanding,” West Wind remarked. Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow and walked up to him. “And what are you demanding me for, huh?” “Commander Blizzard has ordered you be brought to the administration building before the Elder Council and put on trial for fostering dissent against the Empire,” West answered. “What?!” Summer Rains shouted, walking up alongside Rainbow Dash. “She hasn’t done anything!” East Wind put up a hoof to stop Summer Rains. “You’re in enough hot water yourself, soldier. And need I remind you of the chain of command? Stand down already. We’re taking Rainbow Dash with us.” “Taking me?” Rainbow Dash glared at the Captains and the soldiers behind them. She and they both knew that if it came down to a fight Rainbow Dash would win or at the very least be able to escape easily. “That’s right. And we’d prefer it if you came peacefully,” West Wind said to her. “Otherwise you never know who could get caught in the crossfire.” He threateningly stared past her at Snowshine and her parents. Rainbow Dash grit her teeth, she might be okay but she wasn’t going to get her friends hurt. “I get it.” She angrily spat out. “Good,” East Wind said. “We’ll be departing immediately. The Commander is quite angry with you and it would only get worse to keep him waiting or cause more trouble.” “Quite angry doesn’t even begin to describe it. All the goodwill he’s shown you is gone, Rainbow Dash. You’re finished here,” West Wind told her. Rainbow Dash didn’t bother talking back to them as she was led like a prisoner between the squad of soldiers. They all flew off together towards the administration building, giving her a bit of a feeling of deja vu to when she had first arrived here. If the Commander really was as angry as they said, and he had realized that she would never become like him or embrace this city while she had also broken the taboo of talking about and teaching others how great Equestria was, then it looked like things might really be ending here for her in one way or another. Regardless, the normal days as a soldier were over for Rainbow Dash. This was a familiar sight to her. The only difference this time was that she wasn’t in chains. But here she was again being stared down by five old pegasi, including the one she had briefly met at the Ice Sentinel control station, with Commander Blizzard standing off to the side. Despite his supposed rage he was doing a good job of appearing neutral and just looking at her with feigned disinterest and apathy. There were a lot of ponies up in the viewing chambers watching her as well, and one of the other Elders was sneering down at her from his bench. “Rainbow Dash,” the Elder in the center said. If she recalled correctly his name was Tornado, and currently he looked rather upset. “Our Commander Blizzard has accused you of subverting the values and morals of our grand empire along with corrupting other pegasi and spreading lies about the supposed greatness of Equestria. Is there anything you would like to say?” The pegasus from Equestria was too tired to bother. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and stood proudly. “I wouldn’t put it in such a bad way but yeah, all that stuff is true.” There was a small amount of outrage when she said that. Some of the other Elders were angry and a lot of shouting and murmuring rose up from the ponies viewing the trial. Commander Blizzard himself finally betrayed his real attitude with his wings twitching and a threatening glare appearing on his face. Tornado for the record looked like he was holding back a smile. “How dare you! To act so proudly after admitting such things!” The sneering Elder shouted down at her. “I never once said or promised anything about going along with you guys and joining your Empire or whatever. That’s just what he-” Rainbow Dash pointed to Blizzard. “Wanted. I’ve been sticking true to myself and staying loyal to Equestria and what it really means to be a good pony. So yeah, you bet I’m proud to say that I’ve been trying and hoping to get other ponies to open up and see that there’s nothing wrong with me being from Equestria and there’s definitely nothing wrong with being a little more like it!” She stomped her hoof on the ground at the end to make her point. Shocked silence was the response from most of the pegasi in attendance at the “trial”. The sneering Elder gaped at her as if she had just said something impossible while the others besides Tornado looked on with differing levels of worry. Tornado himself was now full on smirking and she thought she caught a wink from him. Commander Blizzard had a more overt reaction. “So that’s it then. It seems I misjudged you greatly, Rainbow Dash. The filth of Equestria is far too ingrained in any pegasi from it, even one who shows as much promise and ability as you,” he icily said to her. Each word out of his mouth seemed to lower the temperature in the chamber by an octave. “Yeah, guess you did,” Rainbow Dash scoffed at him. She was not intimidated at all by his display. “You shouldn’t be so arrogant. There’s nothing for you now but a cold prison cell for the rest of your life,” the Commander said, stomping towards her and projecting his voice to the rest of the chamber. “This mare has insulted our Empire, brought unknown harm to us all with her words and actions, and must face the consequences. I had thought I could change her for the better, shed her of her despicable Equestrian ways, and make her a valued part of our Empire. But instead she betrayed my goodwill and used the freedom and opportunity I gifted her in an attempt to destroy us.” Rainbow Dash angrily glared at him as he approached. She had had to listen to his stupid, grandiose, self-serving, speeches before and she was sick of them. Especially when he was saying stuff like “betrayal” and calling her a traitor. “You jerk! You just wanted to use me to send a message! You don’t even really care about this city or the ponies in it, you don’t care how good their lives are as long as they’re living the only way you think is right!” She yelled. “Well sorry, but things were changing before I even got here and that’s what makes you so mad. And you’re talking about me hurting the Empire? Well what about all the horrible stuff you do just because it keeps your true pegasus way or whatever the hay it’s called going? Why don’t you just be honest about what you really want, what you’re really like, and tell everyone the truth of how this place works and why you do the things you do? Cause I’m done!” Commander Blizzard stopped a few paces from her as the murmuring grew from the audience. The Elders as well were staring on, wondering what might happen next or what might be revealed. The Commander’s cold face looked down upon Rainbow Dash as he spoke quieter so only she could hear. “So you know some things? So you think you could cause this whole city to collapse if you told everyone about the Frost Wolves, about me, about whatever else you know? I’ll let you know something else then. I only ever kept myself from becoming a king because I believed in our ways. If you want to try and start a revolution against me you’re free to do so. We’re here in the council chambers, say whatever you want, but it will only result in me taking total control of this city by force. I may not be loved, but I’m feared and there are many loyal soldiers in this city. And most importantly of all there’s no one who’s strong enough to face me. Do you really think there would be a revolution with me around? Of course not.” “Commander, what is Rainbow Dash saying? Are you-” Elder Tornado started before the Commander’s head whipped over his shoulder to silence him with a glare. “There is nothing left to say,” Blizzard shouted out to the entire chamber again. “Rainbow Dash is clearly guilty and she will be imprisoned.” “There’s no way I’m letting you do anything like that!” Rainbow Dash growled. And then, the Commander smiled. “Is that so? Well if you want, there is another way to solve things. The way everything should be solved in truth,” Commander Blizzard flapped his wings and rose up towards the ceiling of the chamber. “Will you step back into the coliseum with me? If you defeat me then as the strongest you’re free to do anything you want by our own laws. Do you have what it takes?” He wants me to fight him. Rainbow’s eyes narrowed in realization. He wants to beat me down in front of everyone. “Well, Rainbow Dash?” The Commander arrogantly called down from above. “You’re not possibly… afraid, are you?” Rainbow Dash shot up like a lightning bolt, getting face to face with him. “I’m not afraid of you at all! You want a fight? You’ve got one!” “Good,” Commander Blizzard grinned. “Do you hear that, everyone? This ordeal shall be decided in battle, prepare the coliseum!” Gale did not often go to see fights in the coliseum but on such an auspicious occasion he decided he could make the time for it. Seeing Blizzard fight personally was a rarity in and of itself and he already missed the first time he did battle with that mare from Equestria. He did feel a little bad about things though, that mare seemed quite nice. Blizzard on the other hoof he had never been a fan of, he was always so brusque and rude whenever he came to the Ice Sentinel crystals that Gale watched over. But Gale had no illusions that Blizzard wouldn’t win this fight. He only hoped Rainbow Dash wasn’t hurt too badly. It wouldn’t surprise Gale if quite a few that came to watch would be silently rooting for Rainbow Dash, he had heard that she had become quite popular and well-liked recently. The yellow pegasus kept his toga on for his visit to the coliseum. Word had been spread quickly through the city much like last time and the coliseum would certainly be overflowing with pegasi of all walks of life interested to see the big fight. He was confident that his relatively early arrival would net him a seat at least. Walking out into the stands he saw with some worry that it was almost filled up already, but a bench a few rows below from where he emerged had some space on the end. With a relieved sigh he flew down to it and slid on, sidling up to the caramel pegasus in armor that was next to him on the bench, only leaving about enough room for one more pegasus to sit next to him if anyone chose so. “Pardon, but you weren’t holding this space for anyone, were you?” Gale asked the soldier. He nearly jolted upright, as if he hadn’t noticed Gale’s presence until the yellow pegasus opened his mouth. “Huh? Oh, no, not at all. Be my guest.” “Thank you, my name is Gale by the way, I work with our Ice Sentinels. You are?” “Crescent Moon. Lietunent Crescent Moon. The uh, mare fighting Blizzard was assigned to my squad,” Crescent Moon answered, looking down at the cloud grounds of the arena. “Ohhh… er, my condolences,” Gale awkwardly said. “Yes,” Crescent Moon licked his lips. “I know that as a soldier I should want the Commander to win but… recent events in my life have changed me quite a bit. I hope the best for Rainbow Dash, even though I think her fight is futile.” “I hope the best for her as well,” a new voice said from besides Gale. Both other pegasi looked over to see Elder Tornado sitting down on the bench, wincing in slight discomfort. “E-Elder? You’re going to be watching the fight?” Crescent Moon asked in surprise. Tornado nodded. “Yes. I have to.” Gale now felt quite nervous due to the ponies he was stuck between. He remembered Tornado from their last meeting and certain things he had said, and this Crescent Moon now as well, both of them seemed like they could get him into a lot of trouble if someone thought they were together. He may not have been fond of Blizzard but he didn’t want anyone to think he was a subverter either. “I think a new dawn is approaching us here,” Elder Tornado said as he watched the arena below. “I’d have to agree,” the Lieutenant said. “Whatever happens here now things are going to change.” Gale ignored that chain of conversation and kept an awkwardly plastered smile on his face. “W-Well let’s hope the fight starts soon then...” They didn’t need to wait much longer for that. Rainbow Dash again stood before the barred gate leading out to the arena as she waited for her fight with the Commander to begin. The only real difference this time was the armor she now wore. She had thought about just fighting him again previously, she wanted to fight him and beat him so he couldn’t hurt any ponies and she could maybe fix this place. But she didn’t know if she could actually beat him. She definitely wasn’t scared but for once in her life she wasn’t full to the brim with confidence either. If she had figured out some weakness of his or some way to fight him she’d be feeling better but the simple truth was she hadn’t. “I would wish you good luck but I don’t want to,” East Wind said from behind her. Rainbow Dash frowned and looked over her shoulder at him. “You’re a real comedian there, East Wind.” “You’ve brought this on yourself,” he shrugged. “I’m going to make you eat those words once I’m done with Blizzard,” she snorted and looked back at ahead. East Wind couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. “Oh yes, I would love to see that.” Rainbow Dash didn’t really have an answer to his words, so maybe it was fortunate that the gate rose then and there and she was able to step out into the arena for the second time to fight Commander Blizzard. She was still scowling as she did so but she couldn’t help but feel some small pride knowing she had gotten a full coliseum to watch her again. If anything it looked like there were somehow even more pegasi stuffed inside coming to watch her and Blizzard fight. The other gate had opened up at the same time and Blizzard walked out to meet her. Like her he was wearing armor this time, no helmet though since Rainbow Dash never got a replacement for her dented and warped one. The two of them now stood less than ten feet apart, staring each other down. “I won’t be putting on a show this time,” Blizzard told her. “But this won’t be a fight either. It will be a slaughter, and if you think all I’m going to do is knock you out again you’re sorely mistaken. I will break you, I will crush everything you stand for so every true pegasus watching can see my superiority.” She blew an angry breath of air through her nostrils and unfurled her wings. “Try it.” Blizzard ignored her challenge and briefly looked at the audience of pegasi. All stallions, mostly soldiers, they were sitting on the edge of their seats while others crowded around the top and aisles. “My pegasi. Now you will witness me destroy the very symbol of everything we stand against. Everything our ancestors fought against, braved hardship for, and created this Empire to serve as a representation of what it truly means to be a pegasus! The fight to prove that our way is the only way begins now!” Blizzard then launched himself at her, taking Rainbow Dash by surprise since he had been so stationary the first time they fought. Of course she wasn’t the fastest pegasus in Equestria for no reason and it was easy for her to fly out of the way even though he was disturbingly fast for his size and strength as well. Rainbow Dash flew over him to hover over the center of the arena while Blizzard turned and strongly flapped his wings to race back at her. Like before, the powerful gusts of wind he could create from his wings shifted the air currents in the coliseum around. But Rainbow Dash was used to that this time and she didn’t falter. The Commander flew straight at her again and tried to clothesline her with one of his wings but she dove over it and kicked him in the side of his head while she passed him. To no effect. He was just as much of a rock as she remembered. He tried to lash out and hit her with one of his back legs as she flew by him but Dash was able to dodge that as well. The two quick and agile pegasi kept flying around the air of the coliseum, Rainbow Dash’s smaller size and superior reflexes allowing her to avoid his attacks and land some of her own. But with Blizzard’s strength and now the armor he wore her blows had no ability to phase him. He came around and aimed a punch at her head but Rainbow ducked under it and laid out a rapid-fire series of punches on his stomach as she flew below him, then whipping around his body to his back and stomping right between his wings as hard as she could. The metal of his armor actually dented a bit from her hits and she knew an ordinary pony would’ve been hurt and forced to the ground, but Blizzard didn’t even grunt. “Are you even trying to hurt me?” He taunted and rolled in midair, bringing a wind around that would’ve hit Rainbow Dash if she didn’t jump away from his body in time. “Sorry, I forgot how dense you were,” she glared at him as she gained more altitude, flying over the stands towards the transparent domed ceiling of the coliseum. “And you’re a rather annoying pest. Always buzzing around, afraid to exchange blows with me. You know you couldn’t withstand even one of my punches,” Blizzard accused. “I’m just not an idiot. There are plenty of ponies who can hit harder than me and stuff, if we were competing at what I was best at we’d be racing.” “Well too bad for you. A true pegasus solves things by fighting,” the Commander crossed his wings in front of his chest before strongly flapping them, unleashing a blast of wind at Rainbow Dash. It was too wide and fast too avoid, Rainbow Dash only had the time to squeeze her eyes shut and put her hooves in front of her face before the wind hit her and knocked her into the wall of the coliseum. She hit right on the edge below the dome, in-between two of the artificial lights, and was stuck there as the wind continued to blow into her like a turbine. Blizzard rocketed towards her, looking like he was just going to slam into her and the wall together. Rainbow Dash used all of her strength to peel herself off the wall and overcome the wind holding her down. Beating her wings against the wall she pushed herself off it right as Blizzard collided with where she just was. The force of the huge, armored, pegasus hitting the edge of the coliseum obliterated that portion of it and Rainbow Dash was sent tumbling through the air by the shockwave of his impact that she only narrowly managed to avoid. The coliseum itself was shaken and many of the soldiers watching from right below there panicked and tried moving to other spots. Blizzard quickly recovered and pulled himself out of the hole he created so he could return to hunting down Rainbow Dash again. Dash meanwhile shakily landed on the ground of the arena and took a breather. The Commander scowled and pushed his wings to dive at her, Rainbow Dash backed away as he came in low and leveled off, gliding slightly above the ground with his hooves extended. Like this she wouldn’t be able to fly under him, taking away one of her options. She buzzed her wings to lift up as he came in and started throwing punches at her. It was like a boxing match as she darted around his heavy hooves, the jabs from him were quick and dangerous, a glancing blow would make her see stars. His hooves were a flurry as he pressed his attack and his longer reach kept her from trying to punch him at the same time. She could only land a few blows on his outstretched limbs as he tried punching her but nothing on his body or face. Finally on one wide hook she flew inside his reach and headbutted him in the chin. It actually did manage to get him to jerk back a bit, unlike most of her attacks, but she wasn’t sure if she had actually hurt him. She followed it up with a punch to his throat and then quickly flew away as he tried to grab her for getting so close to him. She could tell he was getting angry that he couldn’t just crush her immediately. He may have been confident in his ability to withstand anything she could put him through but the point of this fight was to savagely beat her, not have her fly around and constantly evade him. Even if she tired eventually the longer it took the worse it made him look. Blizzard glared at her and rose again into the air, but this time he didn’t fly directly at her. The powerful Commander spun and spun around in the middle of the coliseum, creating a violent tornado around himself that sucked all the air towards him at the center. Pegasi watching in the stands had to fight to not be lifted from their seats. It was an insane maelstrom that made Rainbow Dash feel like someone was trying to suck her up with an over-sized vacuum. She beat her wings to fight against his pull but the tornado he made was far too powerful. The raw force he could draw up was too much. She found herself flying through the air, drawn in to him, with nothing she could do about it. She might as well have been trying to stop all of Equestria’s bad weather at once. Rainbow Dash was tumbling end over end and totally unable to regain control of herself. And once she had gotten close enough Blizzard stopped his spinning and reached out with his left hoof, grabbing Rainbow Dash by the throat and stopping her cold. “I’ve caught you, insect,” he glared right into her eyes. She showed him no fear, glaring right back, but no matter how she struggled she couldn’t get out of his grip. Blizzard then sharply flew down to the ground and slammed Rainbow Dash into the clouds as hard as he could, the force of the blow reverberating through the coliseum and making all of the pegasi wince at the roughness of the slam. “Gah!” Dash cried out as pain erupted over her back. She was struggling to breath or say anything else with the hoof on her throat too. But before she could even get used to the pain from her back, Blizzard stomped down hard on her stomach. Dash twitched and coughed, sputtering beneath him. “I think I win. But that’s not nearly enough,” Blizzard removed his hoof from her neck and grabbed her mane, lifting her up by it while Dash breathed in some ragged breaths. With his other hoof he grabbed the collar of her now beaten up armor and tore it right off her body as if it was tissue paper. Discarding it to the side he dropped Rainbow Dash to the ground. She had the time to look up at him right before his hoof collided with her face. Rainbow Dash was sent sprawling across the ground, clutching her face in agony. It was like being hit by a brick thrown into her face. “Arghhh!” She screamed, fairly certain her muzzle was broken. Desperately opening up her eyes in an attempt to defend herself she saw Blizzard come right down on her right wing. His front hooves bent the wing at an odd angle onto the ground and snapped multiple small bones inside of it. “Gahhhhh!” Dash yelled as her wing was broken. But even that wasn’t enough, Blizzard kicked her hard in the side, hard enough she could feel and hear her ribs crack, and launched her into the wall of the arena, where she roughly bounced off it and came back to the ground with a dull thud. "By the sun, he’s killing her...” Elder Tornado ground out from his seat while Crescent Moon had gone pale. Gale as well was horrified by the brutality. Rainbow Dash did her best to stand up—and actually got to her knees—before Blizzard clubbed her across the face and knocked her down again. She had the misfortune of falling onto her injured wing as well, making her hiss in pain and roll off it onto her equally pained back. “I don’t like you still thinking you can go on,” Blizzard said as he stood over her. Grabbing her left foreleg he pressed his other hoof to her shoulder and twisted, yanking the leg out of its socket. Dash gasped at the sudden shock of pain and squeezed her eyes shut, doing her best not to cry. “Remember. This is to break you.” The Commander kicked her in the other side of her chest and she felt another few ribs crack from the blow as she was tossed away. Now he could take his time walking over to her. “Well, well, well, is this what you wanted, Rainbow Dash? You should’ve known your actions would lead you here. You’re lucky you’re not meant to die,” Blizzard snorted as his shadow fell over her, the pegasus from Equestria heaving and unable to get up, but her eyes still kept their gaze on him. “Whether it’s willingly or because you’re afraid of this happening to you again you will become the symbol I need and one day stand by my side.” Blizzard raised his head and looked around at the pegasi watching. “Brothers! The villain with her disgusting and weak ideals that sought to destroy us has been defeated! Our way is the true way!” He lifted a hoof up and prepared for a knockout blow as his cold eyes returned to settle on her. “No weakling from a filthy place like Equestria could ever beat me.” He stomped down towards her head... but his hoof was stopped halfway there. Blizzard’s eyes widened in surprise as Rainbow Dash’s right hoof held back his own. It was trembling, creaking under the pressure, and she could barely put any strength in it. But still she did so. Blizzard looked past their struggling hooves and into Rainbow Dash’s eyes. The magenta orbs burned with defiance and unbreakable willpower as the pony from Equestria stared at him. “Say whatever you want...” Rainbow Dash got out between coughs, her voice raspy but still strong. “But I’ll never do what you want… Equestria isn’t weak… and I’m a million times stronger than you.” Blizzard’s pupils shrank in anger and his jaw clenched down so hard he was pretty sure he just cracked a tooth. Pulling away his hoof he batted away hers with his wing and stomped her head into the ground. Rainbow Dash was out like a light with a smug smile on her face while the crowded coliseum of Empire stallions watched in silence.