They rode out shortly, the shopkeeper staying almost silent for the rest of their transaction. Once the horses were equipped and in their care, they mounted up and, after a brief good-bye, led their steeds out of town at a slow trot.
A green plain opened before them, rolling away west towards the north-eastern corner of the Cloudsdale Mountains. To the north, south, and east it rolled unto the horizon, though above that horizon they could faintly see hints of what lay further along; cloudy skies to the north, the barest hint of the leaves of the White-tail to the south, the speckling of lights and shapes that marked the other villages they'd traveled through in the crownlands to the east.
"Come on," Rainbow said as she sat atop Morkhest. "Our way in's a while's away, and I don't think any of us want to risk riding at night. Let's go, we're burning daylight."
Applejack, atop Jordskred, looked up at the Sun, now approaching noon, and nodded; they'd wasted enough time here. Gently clicking her tongue, she spurred her steed on, and soon they were crossing the grass at a brisk trot.
They made good time, keeping a strong, steady pace and eating lunch in the saddle, though slowing their mounts down to do so. The mountains grew and grew before them, until they seemed to touch the roof of the world, while the plains rolled themselves up beneath. As the Sun passed the halfway point on its downward journey for the day, they reached the feet of the mountains, though to Applejack's confusion they skirted them to the right, to the north, away from the main road through the mountain chain.
"Uh, Rainbow?" she asked the lead rider. "I thought you said you had a way in?"
"I do," she called back over her shoulder. "It's this way."
"I thought you meant you had a way through the main door," AJ replied.
"If the Spear Gate's closed, I'm not going to be able to open it," she called back. "When that thing locks down, it locks down; it'd pretty much take an order from the governor to open it, and even that might not work."
"So what is your way in?" AJ asked. "Some kinda secret entrance?"
"Hardly a secret," she replied. "People've known about Flatmarch for thousands of years, the Spear Gate's just quicker, closer to Castellot and the South. Here's hoping Swift hasn't gotten the same idea as them."
"Swift?" AJ furrowed her brow. "What's that?"
"Not what," Fluttershy answered. "Who. House Swift is the family of the March-Warden, entrusted by Cloudsdale with keeping Flatmarch safe. They're kind of mayors, keeping Flatmarch safe and running smoothly, though the position is inherited instead of elected. If I recall correctly, the current head of House Swift is Lady Fleetfoot Swift, though I can't remember how she was described."
"What if she doesn' let us through?" AJ asked. "What then?"
"Then we try the Northern Gap," Rainbow replied. "If that doesn't work, Storm's Pass. If worst comes to worst, we can try the Whispering Marsh, though I don't think bringing the horses through there would be a good idea."
"There sure are a lotta holes in this fence," AJ jerked her head at the stony walls of the mountains.
"And a lot more people keeping eyes on those holes," Rainbow replied. "Houses Thunder and Hail keep watch on the Northern Gap, Storm's Pass goes right past House Rider, Houses Zap, Storm, and Mist guard Boulder Pass, and House Mist is the only group of people who know their way through the Marsh."
"You sure know a lot about this place, sugarcube," AJ whistled.
"It's our home, AJ," Fluttershy replied. "Every child in Cloudsdale grows up learning these things, about the different parts of the state and the twelve great houses. We were taught to be proud of our home, as well as what exactly we were to be proud of. Though," her face fell. "I'm not proud of all of it."
"Don't forget what you told that shopkeeper, Flutters," Rainbow called in uplift. "Cloudsdale needs Private Pansies as much as it needs Commander Hurricanes."
Fluttershy softly smiled back at her old friend, then turned back to Applejack. "Some of the kids at the schools I went to made fun of me for being gentle and not liking fighting. They called me 'the pansiest of pansies.'"
"Sorry, Shy," AJ tried to console her. "For what it's worth, I like that about you; sometimes that kindness of your's is just what I need to cool my head an' think things through."
"Thank you, Applejack," Fluttershy smiled back. "That's worth a lot to me."
They fell into silence for a few moments, until AJ cleared her throat and asked, "So, what house do you belong to, if you don' mind me askin'?"
"I don't," she shook her head. "My family's House Flutter, not one of the great houses but still impressive. Funnily enough," she giggled. "if we'd managed to get in through the Spear Gate we might've been able to see them. Our lands are in the Rainbow Vale, just a bit southwest of the gate."
"Huh," AJ chuckled. "Is that where your family lives, Rainbow?"
"Yep," she nodded. "Been there for generations."
"Are they one'o them great houses Flutters mentioned?" AJ smiled, before smirking. "Has Rarity been missin' out on schmoozin' with Lady Rainbow Dash?"
A stark silence fell, along with a chill.
"No," came the quiet reply. "We're middle-class, nothing more."
"Dash?" AJ frowned. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," she blatantly lied. "Come on, I want us to get a little farther before we stop for the night." Digging her heels into Morkhest's side, she drove him into a gallop, pulling away from the others.
"What wassat?" AJ asked her down-faced companion. "Shy, do you know what's wrong with her?"
"Yes," she sadly murmured in reply. "But it's not my place to tell. Come," she clicked her tongue, causing Klartake to speed up a bit. "Rainbow's right, we should keep going while there's still light. Not as fast as she's going, though; she needs some time alone."
Frowning, AJ nodded, then spurred her own steed on, driving her at a canter towards the light of the dying sun.
As the last rays of the Sun bled away, they stopped, coming to a rest where the mountain nearest them began curving back in, a curve that Fluttershy said would lead them to Flatmarch the next day. While Fluttershy saw to the horses' grazing before convincing them not to run away in the night (they had nothing to hitch them to), AJ prepared dinner, if she could call it that, and Rainbow silently made camp. She laid out their sleeping bags closer together than usual; they lacked the materials for a fire, and might need more than the fall air to keep them warm.
They ate in silence, Fluttershy looking sadly at her old friend who seemed intent to focus only on her dinner, or at least to give the appearance of doing so. Eventually, they finished, and sat silent in the autumn air.
"I'm sorry, sugarcube," AJ sighed as the silence became unbearable. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, askin' about your family. Just curious, was all."
"It's okay," she murmured in reply. "If it's alright, though, I'd prefer it if you didn't ask about them again. Also," she shifted uncomfortably. "I'm going to have to ask you two not to call me Rainbow Dash once we're in Cloudsdale. Don't want to attract too much attention."
AJ nodded, her frown deepening as she saw the ease with which Fluttershy agreed; just what was it that was troubling Dash? What was so bad that she didn't want others to know she was back home?
"If you have to name me," she continued. "call me Platinum-" (AJ noticed Flutters' eyes widen at the name choice) "-and hope that that's enough. And, AJ, before you start worrying that I'm making you lie, don't worry, I'm not; my parents call me Platinum, sometimes. It is a name for me, just...not one I use that much."
"Like a nickname," she nodded. "I gotcha. I'll," she flashed a glance again at the somber-faced Shy. "try to remember."
Rainbow nodded, then laid back, as if the strings holding her up had been slackened. Her face, smiling so confidently back at the shopkeeper's, became morose, and, more worryingly, full of doubt. AJ frowned; what could be troubling her friend? Rainbow Dash never doubted herself, though that was sometimes more of a weakness than a strength. What was causing her to do so now?
She was pulled away from her concerns by the sound of Fluttershy humming, wordlessly singing a tune AJ'd never heard before. As she sang, her fingers twitched, almost imperceptibly, as if they were plucking an unseen instrument. After a few moments of the wordless, haunting music, Fluttershy began reciting the lyrics of the tune, chanting:
Beneath the mountain snowy, giant,
Lies the still Commander quiet,
Girt in armor black and golden
And bright cloak that hearts emboldened.
But breathless beats not wrinkled gorget,
Nor stir lips that once ordered it;
Still and shrunken lies his snow-beard,
Cold stony hands clutch his cold spear.
Joins his kinsman, burned and scattered
On the wind, no more to gather
Again as one until world's end;
Soon shall he likewise ride the wind.
By the bier her station keeping
Sits the Vingols' mother weeping,
Clad in black plate with silver marked,
A spear of grief piercing her heart.
Commander's bane, commander's hand,
Craven coward, bravest in land,
A sheep in war, a bull saving,
The last the Three Parents remaining.
Gives a nod, eyes full with sadness,
The dead's pyre the torch rammeth;
Hurricane flies in a storm of ash,
Private leal staying to the last.
"The funeral of Hurricane," Rainbow murmured sadly. "The passing of the father of five great houses, and the greatest leader Cloudsdale's ever seen. Lion had died years before, and Private Pansy quickly followed Hurricane, dying of a broken heart. Thus did the Vingols learn to do great deeds, that they might not be forgotten, and to do them soon, because no one knows when they will die."
AJ stared in shock at her friend's melancholy face. "Wow," she breathed out after a few moments. "That's-I've never heard you talk like that before, sugarcube. Never knew you could be so-so deep."
"There's a lot you don't know about me," she mumbled back.
AJ scowled. "I'd be glad to learn."
Silence. Then, "We should get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."
Reluctantly, Applejack obeyed, clambering into her sleeping bag with a thoughtful frown on her face. It would be a long day tomorrow, and it would be longer for her than Rainbow expected; somehow, some way, she was getting answers tomorrow.
She fell asleep to thoughts of discovery in her mind and Rainbow's pensive face taking first watch.
She woke up with the dawn, finding her friends' sleeping bags both empty. Warily, she climbed out of her own as quietly as she could, then looked around to see if she could find the others. Thankfully, she quickly found them, standing a short ways away on a small hill, watching the rising Sun.
"Rainbow," Fluttershy whispered, quiet to the point where AJ had to strain to hear her. "you know she won't abandon you over this."
"It's not just her, Flutters," Rainbow sighed in reply. "It's pretty much everyone I've ever met, aside from you and our parents. How many people would be willing to stand beside a fraud like me?"
"You're not a fraud," Fluttershy retorted as AJ froze in shock. "This is just a different aspect of your personality, no different than the way you care about Tank."
"Sure feels like I am," she grumbled.
Before she could explain why, AJ brushed over the grass, a movement Fluttershy's quick ears picked up. She turned around and smiled at the last member of their party. "Good morning, Applejack," she greeted. "Did you sleep well?"
"Just fine," she replied, rising to her full height. "You two?"
"I slept well," Fluttershy nodded.
Rainbow looked down at the ground. "I got enough," she blatantly lied. "Now that you're up, though, let's grab some breakfast, then get this party started."
They ate quietly and quickly, AJ glaring at Rainbow as if the sheer weight of her gaze would cause her to explain why she felt like a fraud. It didn't, and then they were in the saddle again, proceeding at a brisk trot. They were following the curve of the mountain to their left, Firehall Fluttershy called it, though they were still a good distance from its feet; aside from being rockier and steeper than the grasses and downs of the March, they were also more secluded, making travelers who rode through them more suspect: what reason would a law-abiding citizen have for trying to stay hidden, after all.
After about two hours of riding, Rainbow's caution (two words AJ'd never expected to use together, even in thought) proved wise; more hooves, distant for the moment but rapidly approaching, beat on the grass. She could faintly see the other riders, galloping out of the south, though she couldn't count how many of them there were at this distance.
"Flatmarch patrol," Rainbow grunted, slowing her steed to a halt. "We'll wait here for them; they've almost certainly spotted us, we can't outride them, and charging an auxiliary Guard force isn't the best idea."
"Any idea what they'll do to us?" AJ asked as Jordskred whinnied to a stop.
"Hopefully nothing," Rainbow replied. "They're peacekeepers, so as long as we're not disturbing the peace we should be good. If they've closed the border here, though, they'll probably show us off."
Fluttershy pulled up alongside them, and they waited and watched as the patrol drew nearer. Applejack could count them now, a little over two-dozen, all armed and mounted. Sunlight faintly glinted off of their staffs, and she shivered at the thought of them switching to their spears; Homestrian killing Homestrian was wrong, a relic of the past, something she had no desire to think of as tradition. Hopefully, even the famously-militant Cloudsdalers felt the same way.
Time passed. The patrol was within shouting distance now, a fact Rainbow took advantage of. Cupping her free hand to her mouth, she called out, "What news from the west, riders of Flatmarch?"