//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: A Still More Glorious Dawn Awaits // by CDRW //------------------------------// A Still More Glorious Dawn Awaits Chapter 7 By CDRW Rainbow Dash Comprehension ~ Day 2 I'm screwed. The how and the why escaped her, but the one thing that was obvious to Dash was that she was in more trouble than she'd ever been in her life and she'd gotten another pony caught up in it too. The white pegasus guard, Ivory Tower, led the little procession through the palace hallways at a swift pace that bordered on a canter and Dash knew that it wouldn't be long at all before she met her fate, whatever that was going to be. Shining Armor, the unicorn who had her trussed up, came right behind him while levitating Rainbow Dash in front of himself and holding her so tight that she couldn't even turn her head to look back at him. Or at Red. How was she supposed to react to this kind of situation? Nopony would like being held like that, but for somepony like her, never not moving except when she was sleeping, it was... Well, her first reaction was to try and break free, and buck him in the face. She just barely managed to stop herself before doing something stupid. This is wrong! Her eyes shot back and forth, looking for what, she didn't know. Not help or anything like that, just some way to get out. Though she wouldn't turn help down if somepony offered. Maybe one of the other ponies in the hall would realize how wrong it was and try to stop them. There had to be all sorts of nobleponies here. One of them had to be a decent pony, right? But no one stepped forward. In fact, everypony just stood back and gave room for the group of guards to pass while staring hard at her. Dash gritted her teeth and tried to shrug her shoulder in spite of herself. If she could just open her wings... I didn't do anything wrong! Red didn't do anything wrong! She never attacked the Empress! She hadn't even gotten in a fight with anypony at all since leaving flight school! Hay, the last person I ever hit was Gilda, and she forgot all about that ten minutes later! Her eyes caught on the long gold mane of Ivory Tower marching in front of her and her stomach sank another inch. He at least should know what this was like for a pegasus. Why wasn't he doing anything? What was all that stuff about a rainbomb? He had said she'd done a rainbomb. And that was an act of war? What in the hay is a rainbomb? He wasn't talking about her wrecking the landing pad was he? That was nothing! They could fix that no problem, and nopony got hurt anyway. Anypony could make an explosion like that if she was going fast enough, and she'd just done a freaking Sonic Rainboom! It was just an accident! You don't commit acts of war by accident! I was just trying to get a job. Dash's eyes started itching, but she blinked it away before anypony could get the wrong idea. The hallways in the palace were really fancy, but everywhere she looked—which was pretty much just in front of her because she couldn't turn her head—the floor was littered with shards of broken glass. Mixed in with the scurrying nobleponies, there were dozens of others all dressed in black and white uniforms who were sweeping up the shards. From the looks of things, they were going to be at it for hours. A cool breeze blew through the open windows to tease a few hairs from the servants' tightly tied manes, and she suddenly wondered if anypony really had been hurt. If someone was standing in front of one of those windows when she'd done her Sonic Rainboom... Her stomach did a little flip-flop. Buzzing the palace had been a freaking stupid idea. ...and for assault on the Empress's person... Ivory Tower's whistling voice shot through her mind and a little piece of understanding clicked into place. She was suddenly glad that she hadn't eaten anything this morning. What's the penalty for hurting the Sun Goddess? Imprisonment? Banishment? Both? Could she be hurt? Whatever was happening, it was going to be bad. Really bad. She rolled her eyes back to try and catch a glimpse of Red, but it wasn't any use. She couldn't see him. Rainbow Dash's increasingly distraught thoughts were interrupted by one of the weirdest sights she'd ever seen when Shining Armor floated her around the corner. Sitting on her rump in the middle of the glass-strewn corridor, completely ignored by all the nobleponies and servants, a pegasus mare her own age was playing with some toys. She was all white, from her mane to her coat to her tail. In fact, she looked like she'd fallen into a vat of bleach as a filly or something. The only spots of color on the mare were her purple eyes and her cutie mark—a bunch of light purple sparkle shapes that looked like they were being sucked into the center of a swirling vortex that was a different shade of purple so dark it was almost black. The mare was setting up a bunch of pony action figures in a circle around a spiky wingless dragon toy. When she was done with that, she picked up the dragon with both her front hooves, heedless of the shards of glass all around her, and started knocking the ponies down with a growl that Dash realized was supposed to sound fierce. It sounded more like a kitten caught in a blender. As the group of guards and prisoners drew closer, the mare noticed them and dropped the toy. She smiled hugely and waved wildly like they were on opposite sides of the Cloudiseum instead of only a few paces apart. "Stop that Starswirl," Ivory Tower spoke for the first time since he'd arrested Rainbow Dash. The mare's hoof slowed down as if she was confused, and then when the golden-maned pegasus shot her a look, she finally put it all the way down with a worried and slightly hurt expression. "Take your toys and go home," he continued in a slightly more gentle voice. "You're going to cut yourself on the glass, and you know you're not supposed to come here while I'm working anyway." The mare's—Dash was having a harder and harder time not thinking of her as a filly—wings drooped almost to the ground and she said, "Okay." Then without another word she scooped the toys up into a brown paper bag lying nearby—miraculously managing not to cut herself in the process—and vanished down a small side corridor carrying it in her mouth. Ivory Tower watched her walk away for a second, and then they continued down the corridor, leaving Rainbow Dash with nothing to distract her from her thoughts but the accusing stares of the ponies they passed. And of the ponies behind her. Red was looking at her. She could feel his gaze on the back of her head like a nearby fire. That hot feeling was by far the worst part of all of this, worse than being attacked out of the blue, worse than being wrapped up in this unicorn's magic so tight she couldn't move, even worse than the horrible sensation of hardly being able to breathe at all. That feeling was what finally pushed her to act. It was pretty safe to say that what she was about to try was stupid beyond belief, but it wasn't like she could get in anymore trouble than she was already in, right? The pegasus put every ounce of strength she had into a sudden surge against the magical field that held her. She pushed out with her legs and wings as hard as she could. She strained to get free, turn her head, twitch her tail, swivel her ears, anything at all. Rainbow Dash didn't know what she was going to do, she just needed to move, to do something besides be carried along like some helpless foal. If she caught this Shining Armor off guard she might be able to break free and take out the guards that were holding Red, or cause a commotion so he could get away—she gasped in pain as the strain caused instant charlie horses to knot throughout her unmoving legs and wings—or just look at him and say she was sorry. She couldn't see Shining Armour's expression because he was behind her, but his response was immediate. He tightened his magical grip around her neck to choke her out. Dash panicked. A part of her burned with shame at that, but that wasn't enough to stop her. In an instant, her mind was flashing through every single possible way she could think of to pry that grip away from her neck, and her body did its level best to follow through. Anypony would be scared right then, but for an athletic pegasus like Rainbow Dash the threat of blacking out took on a whole new level of horror. It was something you always lived with when you pulled dangerous stunts, but it was also something you never allowed to happen under any circumstances. Blacking out in the middle of a stunt was practically guaranteed pony pudding. It was better to straight up crash than to black out, because at least that way you could try and aim for something soft and roll with the impact. It was the first and last thing they trained you for in any high-intensity flying situation, right up there with "don't fly tired." Once in flight school before she dropped out, they showed pictures of the aftermath of when a Wonderbolt rookie made too tight of a turn at low altitude and passed out. That kind of trained-in fear wasn't something that just went away because you weren't flying at the moment. Dash swore that she could feel the magic give just a little as she tried to push her back legs hard enough to buck the guard in the face. It wasn't enough though. Even with her new-found adrenaline rush and all the strength panic could lend, she couldn't hold on. After only a second or two, she felt herself slipping away from consciousness. The last thing she felt before she went under was a deep, consuming hatred towards the unicorn. *** When she woke up, Rainbow Dash felt strangely refreshed, as if she'd just gotten a full night's sleep. She couldn't have actually been out for very long though, because she was still being carried by Shining Armor. She almost tried to get away again right then and there. Ivory Tower moved on without a word or a glance back, and everypony followed him up a huge set of stairs at the end of what had to be the palace's main corridor. At the very top, there was another long hallway. This one was lined on both sides with stained-glass windows that were somehow still intact, showing lots of little flat ponies in weird poses and candy-colored scenes with lots of pinks and purples. It was an enclosed sky-bridge from the rest of the palace to the Tower of the Sun. Empress Celestia's throne room. She could hear a lot of ponies walking behind her, more than just the guards; probably some of the nobleponies they passed following to see what was going on. She could also hear Red breathing heavily. Couldn't blame him. They were closing the distance between themselves and the door much faster than she liked herself. In spite of herself, Dash couldn't help but grimace a little bit at the irony that she, of all ponies, wished they would slow down. Two guards standing on either side of the heavily decorated doors saluted Ivory Tower, then started pushing them open. They were obviously straining against the weight, but the doors swung open on completely silent hinges. Probably magic. The first thing she saw in the widening gap was Empress Celestia sitting on her throne at the far end of the long room, framed by the shattered remains of a window that had once been the entire wall behind her. The throne was on top of a large dais, below which milled a crowd of ponies that were all dressed in really fancy clothes. A white unicorn with a very light pink mane at the back of the group noticed the opening doors out of the corner of her eye and tapped the shoulder of a stallion wearing a suit and a mustache. He glanced back and when he saw the group he turned around to look at them with an inscrutable expression. One by one, the gathered ponies stopped talking and turned to stare at Rainbow Dash. She barely noticed though, because she couldn't tear her eyes away from Celestia's. The Empress's gaze was trained directly on her, and she was not smiling. Dash gulped as the last vestiges of hope that this was all a misunderstanding flew out the window. Even from across the room, the Empress's eyes seemed like they were trying to consume her. They were a light shade of purple and seemed to be at once deeper than the ocean and filled with a fury that threatened to spill out and consume everything they rested upon. Being overshadowed was an unnerving feeling for Rainbow Dash, enough that when Shining Armor put her down and let go of his magic, she barely spared a glancing glare for him. He prodded her in the side to make her start walking. For one brief second, Dash considered making a break for it, but her common sense chose that moment to chime in with a bazillion reasons why that was an incredibly stupid idea. Why it hadn't said anything sooner, like before this whole mess started, she couldn't fathom. She would have given the thing a good buck in the face if she could have. The bright clop of hooves on the stone floor sounded like thunderclaps, underscored by the constant low-level rumble of murmuring. She had never felt so much like a little filly in her entire life as she did walking through that room, even when she really was a little filly. The crowd parted around them to form a pressing corridor of well-dressed ponies so close that she could smell that someone in the group hadn't brushed that morning. She was pretty sure that the only thing that held them back from rushing her was the presence of the guards and Celestia. Some of them looked curious, but most had really angry expressions on their faces. They made their way all too quickly to an open space just below the dais. Shining Armor herded her front and center, and the two pegasi guards who were holding Red brought him forward to stand next to her. Dash tried to give him a confident look across Shining Armor's back, but he just glared back at her. The rest of the guards spread out around them. Ivory Tower came up on her left and saluted the Empress, saying, "The prisoners, as you requested your Highness." Empress Celestia didn't say anything, didn't even acknowledge that he'd spoken. She just sat there on her throne, watching Dash with unblinking eyes. What she'd thought was an angry look from across the room, Dash was a little relieved to see was actually not a look at all. Celestia wasn't frowning. In fact, her face was was as blank as a doll's. The complete lack of lines suggested that neither frowns nor smiles actually showed up on her face very often. It didn't make her look young though, just not old. If Rainbow Dash had met some normal pony with a face like that in the streets she wouldn't even have been able to begin to guess her age. Celestia was big, much bigger than anypony Dash had ever met before, with wings that she could use to hide a foal underneath if she wanted, and a horn big and sharp-looking enough to drive straight through the throne-room doors, with enough left over to skewer the poor guard on the other side. Her coat was every bit as white as any cloud that Dash had ever flown across, and her cutie mark—an image of the Sun with thick wavy rays coming off it—almost looked like it was made out of actual gold and sunshine. Then there was the thin line of blood oozing slowly from the cut on her cheek. The Empress still hadn't moved from her spot on the throne. If it weren't for the fact that her mane billowed in the air as a stray breeze coming through the broken window caught it, Dash might have been tempted to imagine that she was a statue and everypony in the room was just crazy. Was she waiting for her to talk first or something? Dash was doing her best to keep her trademark confidence on her face, but this was seriously starting to get freaky. Dash shifted from one hoof to the other and then opened her mouth, only to have Shining Armor smack her in the back of the head. She shut her jaw again and shot a glare back at the guard, who returned it with one of his own. Then she quickly brought her eyes back to bear on Celestia. She had something more important to worry about than an angry guard. The ponies in the crowd were getting antsy too. They made rustling sounds as they jostled each other to get a better view of the non-existent action, and there was even the hiss of a few nobleponies whispering into the ears of others around them. Out of the corner of her eye, Dash even saw one of the guards fidget a bit before Ivory Tower somehow shot him a glare without taking his eyes off the Empress. Nearly ten minutes of increasingly uncomfortable silence passed, and Celestia never took her eyes off of Rainbow Dash. At first Dash met her gaze because she wasn't going to let anypony stare her down, Goddess or not. Then she met her gaze because this was all wrong and she was pissed. Then she met her gaze because she'd been staring too long to look away. Did Goddesses not need to blink or something? After what felt like an eternity, Celestia stood up. The murmuring and shuffling of the crowd had been growing by the minute as everyone waited to see what the Empress was going to say, but now they all fell silent. The Alicorn stepped down from her throne and turned to her right, finally breaking eye contact with Rainbow Dash and leaving the pegasus feeling very relieved to be able to look down. Step by careful step, she walked across a bunch of glass shards to stand at the window behind her throne and looked out on the city below, turning her back on Rainbow Dash and the nobleponies in the process. The murmuring started up again in full force. Rainbow turned one ear back and heard a nearby stallion whisper, "What is she doing?" A question she desperately wanted to know the answer to herself. Unfortunately, nopony had an answer for him. Minutes passed and the background noise grew until some ponies weren't even bothering to whisper anymore. "Whoa, she's mad!" "Why isn't she saying anything? Maybe she doesn't know what to do?" Another pony snorted. "The very thought! There's nothing here to be confused about here. Everypony saw what happened and the law is crystal clear. I'd bet my entire estate she's planning something." "It must be something big for her to act like this." "Who's the mare?" "I can't for the life of me say. I would certainly remember a mane like that if I'd seen it before." Dash smiled to herself at that one. Heck yeah they would. But then she remembered where she was and turned her attention back to the Empress and her smile faded into a confused frown. Why was she just standing there? "No, she was looking at the Express pony, and can you blame her? He's pretty good looking for an older pony." "This is not the time for jokes!" "She's not doing anything. You think she's hurt? I mean, more than that cut?" "Are we not supposed to be here? Should we leave?" "Are you insane?" Rainbow Dash couldn't tell how much time passed, but it felt like hours. The conversations grew more heated as the crowd debated everything from what idiot hired her to assassinate an immortal Goddess to what sort of punishment Celestia was thinking of that had her so lost in thought. Some of the ideas bandied around had Dash feeling more than a little bit queasy, and she had a pretty strong stomach. But it wasn't until a young stallion started talking about what the manticores in the Everfree Forest were probably going to do with their corpses that she couldn't stand it anymore. "He didn't do anything!" she blurted out. An instant later, a purple magic aura from Shining Armor's horn forced her mouth shut, but it was too late. Several ponies gasped out loud when Celestia looked over her shoulder and gave her a long look. "What is your name?" she asked at last. There was no expression in either her face or her voice. It was quiet, even, and emotionless, but even if the crowd had been at full roar, nopony could have missed hearing it. Shining Armor dropped his magic so she could speak. "R—" She swallowed and shifted from one hoof to the other and stretched her wings nervously. She desperately hoped that the wobbly feeling in her legs was just in her head. "I'm Rainbow Dash... Your Majesty," she remembered to tack on at the end. "Rainbow Dash..." the Empress said in that same expressionless voice. Slowly, she turned the rest of the way around to face the gathered ponies. "Do you understand why you are here?" "Umm." No, not really. Not at all. A little bit. Because I was the first pony to do a Sonic Rainboom ever. Because I hurt the Empress. Because I don't think before doing anything. Because everypony here is crazy and making a huge deal out of a stupid busted landing pad. Because I could have really hurt somepony. "Red didn't do anything! He was just watching me while I flew by!" "I see." Celestia paused and then said, "Your loyalty to your friend is commendable." She picked her way back through the shards of glass to stand in front of her throne and then sat down. Lifting a hoof to her face, she wiped away a drop of blood that had been growing at the lower end of her cut before it had the chance to fall to the floor. "Yes, you are right. I happened to be looking out the window when you went past, and I saw what happened." Rainbow Dash exchanged a confused look with Red. She wasn't sure the older stallion would like being referred to as her friend, but it looked like he at least might get out of this. "Red has proven himself to be a most capable courier over the years, one whom I can entrust important messages to without fear of them flying afoul of their destination. I do not believe he would knowingly include himself in something like this." Red knows the Empress? In her astonishment, Dash turned to look at him with wide eyes. He met her gaze with an equally wide-eyed look that shouted as plain as day this was news to him too. Celestia turned her gaze to the pegasus stallion as well. "Would I be correct in assuming you have a delivery for me? I was expecting a scroll this morning." Red started and reached into his pack, fumbling to grab the scroll he was supposed to deliver. After a few clumsy attempts, he pulled it out. The guard on his right took it from him and climbed the dais, bowing low as he offered the scroll to the Empress. It was enveloped with a golden glow as she took it with her magic and set it down on the arm of the throne. "Thank you," she addressed Red. "You are free to go." Red sighed a huge sigh of relief as the guards stepped away from him to let him go. He looked at Dash with a smile that seemed both grateful and worried. She tried to return it with a "Don't worry, I've got this," look, but it was more than a little stiff. With one last glance over his shoulder at Celestia, he then moved quickly through the surrounding crowd of ponies and made for the doors. They cracked open just wide enough to let him through as he approached. A few ponies sent curious glances after him, but no one else left. There was still more to see in here. When the doors closed behind Red, Empress Celestia lowered her eyes back down to meet Dash's. Rainbow Dash shivered. Honest to Celestia shivered. The Empress's expression was still exactly the same as always, like the face of a statue whose creator was trying to carve something even more expressionless than the blank white marble it was carved from, but her eyes weren't the same as her expression. "Now, I ask again. Do you understand why you are here?" The power in that question would have made a dragon cower, and Rainbow Dash had the feeling that those purple eyes were windows into a realm filled with something much, much hotter than just flames. As a filly, she'd never quite been able to wrap her head around the idea that there was a pony in Canterlot who had lived forever. Sometimes she used to wonder if it was all pretend. That there was some unicorn who got dressed up in a costume and pretended to be a Goddess, and when she died, another one took her place and everyone pretended that she was the same pony. She was wrong. Dash knew that she was wrong and if any of the ponies in the crowd used to think that too, they didn't now. She was so very, very much wrong. Actually saying anything was beyond her. The wobbling in her legs was so bad that she knew everypony in the room could see it. It took everything she had just to shake her head. Silence reigned over the Hall of the Sun. Nopony moved. Nopony so much as coughed. "Very well then," Celestia said at last. "I have decided." What? No! She hadn't gotten a chance to say her side of what happened! Dash almost worked up the courage to protest, but she was still looking into those eyes. Her throat closed up before she could say anything. Celestia spoke on, with absolutely no inflection to her voice. "You will begin your duties tomorrow morning at sunrise. Report to Ivory Tower's office in the barracks and he will see to your training as the newest member of my personal detail. Do not be late." After another pause, she continued. "Welcome to the Royal Guard, Rainbow Dash. I look forward to working with you. You are dismissed." Celestia stood up and addressed the crowd of gathered nobleponies and guards. "I will not be holding court today. You are all dismissed as well, except for you." She addressed those last words to Shining Armor, who looked absolutely furious. "Please come with me Shining Armor." Celestia walked out of the room with the scroll in tow and the guard left Rainbow Dash's side, following a respectful distance behind her. When they were out of sight on the other side of the now open doors, the crowd exploded.