XIV
Reunions
- - -
Solo soared through the chilled air, reveling in the sharp contrast it offered to the warmth that had filled her flanks only minutes earlier. North Baltimare had been a city slumbering in the night, and while the south was lively in the darkness, even its lights had been left behind. All that was left was the great swamp, and the little tendrils of civilization struggling to burrow into its depths.
The furthest of these bastions of order and organization visible over the towering canopy of elms and maples and willows was a white manor-house. The patches of moss visible on the crumbling shingles and holes in its roof suggested that it would soon give way to the reclaiming vines and roots of the swamp. In the meantime, it was a place of dark shelter and secrecy, removed from anywhere that decent ponies would dare set hoof.
There were no guards, because such a thing would be stupid. The road leading up to the structure was completely unmanageable, as overgrown and dense as it was. Only wings let the young Canterlot smuggler approach, and even then she did so out of desperation.
She needed to find Shining Armor, but the task was made difficult by their previous rough parting. She had no idea where the captain had run off to, and her hopes of tracking him from city hall had been shattered by a Closed sign. That left only one lead, provided by her unfortunate partner. It led to the creepy, run-down house, where a little light was visible between the rotting rafters. She soared down toward it slowly, until she could make out a faint whispering. To avoid drawing attention to herself, she landed on a sturdy-looking beam. It creaked loudly under her weight.
"What was that?" The voice was gruff and loud, but also familiar. The sound of steps on loose floorboards brought a recognizable griffon into view. Solo had met him no more than two hours prior, under less serious circumstances.
"This old house is falling apart, Alexandros. It's just the boards." The second voice was boorish (or, more accurately, boarish), and bellowing. "Do you have the lodestone cone?"
"Right here," the familiar griffon answered, producing a rough cone of dark gray rock from beneath his wing. He walked back toward the boar's voice, accompanied by the sound of floorboards croaking beneath a shift in his body weight. "But we don't need it yet, right? She's out cold."
"Hitting someone over the head isn't a science, idiot. She could wake up soon, and I'd like to be out of here before she does." Solo had to guess the voice belonged to Bataar, the boar of the strange trio she had met earlier in the night. "Where in the Void is the thief? He was supposed to be back by now."
"If I had to hazard a guess, probably rutting the brains out of that ponyess." The griffon's speech hovered over a rather awkward pause. "What do they call their females again?"
"Mares, Alexandros. And if we're planning on working in Equestria any more, you should take the time to learn that."
"Bah. The ponies don't even have wars anymore. What kind of work are we likely to get here? Give me my own kind any day."
"Say what you like, but Masquerade pays well."
"I still don't trust her. You saw what she did to that big pony we brought her. Makes my feathers stand up."
"Yeah, well, it wasn't-" The words stopped instantly to the sound of a loud wooden creaking. Solo froze in place, but she knew all too well that the sound hadn't come from her own support. Something else was there. The boar picked up his words a moment later. "I'm gonna go check it out. You watch the unicorn."
The sound of a door opening on rusted hinges served as the prelude to the boar's slow steps. With only one of the criminals left in the room, Solo saw her chance. She gripped her stolen knife between her teeth and dropped down through the hole in the ceiling, using her wings to soften her landing. There was still a sound, which ought to have attracted the griffon's attention, were it not completely overridden by a far more potent noise.
The scream was the boar's, and it was sharp and pervading in the relative quiet of the massive house. However, perhaps most notably, it was also very short. With the griffon Alexandros distracted by the sound, Going Solo took the opportunity to dive out of sight behind a dusty plastic-covered couch nearby. As she moved, she caught her first decent glance at the full room, though it only lasted for a moment. All she cared to note was the scattering of furniture, and the unconscious unicorn crumpled over in an armchair. White Flag looked terrible, with a massive bruise rising from her neck, just above the shoulder.
Solo crouched down behind the couch, and pressed her head against the floorboards. The damp smell of mildew was strong, but the little crack of vision between the bottom of the couch and the floor was worth it. Alexandros' paws and talons paced slowly toward the door, though her vision ended at their ankles.
He was perhaps halfway across the room when the motion became irrelevant. There was no better way to describe the event than to say that the door exploded. A shower of splinters and dust erupted from the former entryway, followed by a short gasp of pain. The griffon stepped back, as heavy hoof-falls moved forward out of the cloud.
It was clearly a pony. An off-white coat ended in four of the largest hooves Solo had ever seen, all covered in bladed steel shoes. Their strides forward were secure, steady, and intimidating.
"Bataar!" Alexandros shouted. The hooves moved forward. The griffin shuffled back. "Look, you can take him. Just let me go."
"What were you planning to do with her?" The voice was surprisingly female, given the likely size of its owner. Solo had trouble imagining a mare attached to those massive hooves.
"I'm not-"
One of the enormous hooves lifted off the ground. Bataar screamed alongside a crisp *snap*, not unlike a cracker being broken in half. A moment later, something long, curved, and white fell onto the floor. Solo had to stare at it for a moment to recognize it as a tusk, snapped off at its very base. Her heart skipped a bit in surprise.
"Answer me." The mare's voice was the only calm noise in the room, yet it came across clearly over the gasping of the griffon and the bellowing of the boar.
"Suida," Alexandros answered. "We were taking her to Suida."
"Thank you." The mare's leg shifted, and Bataar fell to the floor. Almost immediately, one of her hooves was lifted, out of Solo's line of sight. It returned to the floor wet, following a muffled gurgling and a small puddle that began to grow around her hooves. As if ignorant of the wet red mess adorning her fetlocks, she began to walk toward the griffon.
"What? St-stay back!" He was clearly desperate. He moved to the chair where Flag was lying, unconscious. One of his talons rose from the ground, no doubt wrapped around her throat. "I'll kill her. Let me go, and you can have her."
The mare's response was calm and collected. Her left forehoof slid smoothly out of its shoe. The weapon sat momentarily on the ground, but it did not go undisturbed long. What followed was hard for Solo to track from her hiding place, especially given the speed of it all. A hoof stomped in the back of the shoe, flipping it into the air the way one might bounce a bit. As it lifted up, the mare turned around, bringing her back legs to bear. They were lifted up in what one might call a buck, preceding the ringing clarion call of metal striking metal. Then there came the clear whistling of a blade speeding through the air, which ended in an almost indescribable fleshy nose. The whole process took less than a second.
Alexandros collapsed to the floor. The mare's shoe was buried all the way through his throat, deep enough to be touching his spine. She walked over to him, retrieved the bloodied shoe, and returned it to its place on her hoof. She didn’t even bother to wipe it down. Then she turned. "Come out, mare. I know you're there."
Solo locked up, simply unable to move. The hooves came closer, stopping immediately on the other side of the couch behind which she had intended to hide her presence. Then, with little more effort that one might expect it would take to sneeze, the furniture was gone, and Going Solo was hidden no more.
The other mare was an earth pony, with a short but loose eggshell mane hanging down her off-white coat. Her body matched her hooves in its enormity, towering over Solo by not only a head, but a fair portion of a neck as well. She spoke again in her calm contralto. "Where is Masquerade?"
"I don't know!" Solo shouted, leaping backward with her wings. "I'm not with them. I was trying to find Captain Armor."
"Can you prove that?"
"Uh..." The word betrayed Solo's lack of confidence in the face of the towering killer. The earth pony strode forward slowly, closing the gap Solo had made with her wings. She realized it had been the wrong choice when she glanced up and realized that the earth pony now stood between her and the hole in the ceiling that was her only easy escape route. She very-nearly panicked when she felt cold, musty wood against her back. There was nowhere else to go.
The pegasus and the earth pony both turned to the sound of a unicorn's voice. "Wait, Captain." White Flag stepped down out of her dusty chair onto shaky hooves, and held up a leg that seemed to indicate a reprieve. Alexandro's blood dripped from her face, having fallen there from the earth pony's fatal attack. "She's... not one of them. Damn, the boar hits hard."
"You'll survive," the 'Captain' responded. "Did they do anything permanent?"
Flag shook her head quickly. "They didn't even drug me. Amateurs. Got lucky sneaking up on me like that. I was expecting you." The rolling of her neck produced a series of very distinct pops, as her spine settled back into place. Then she slid a hoof over her face, wiping away the sickening red. "Nothing like a splash in the face to wake you up. Captain, the civilian there is Going Solo. Armor needed her as an in to Grizzaloo, and I understand she's been accompanying him. Solo, this is Captain Soldier On, of the Honor Guard."
Recognizing the name from numerous mentions in Shining Armor's company, Solo found herself unable to do anything more than stare at the pony in awe. It was much easier to take White Flag's earlier warnings seriously while standing in front of the mare. "You're...?"
"You've heard of me?" On focused her attention back on the civilian pony, and her unusually placid expression twisted into a frown. "What are you doing here in Baltimare?"
"We thought Masquerade was here," Solo blurted out, hoping to grab the attention of the two soldiers. "But Shining was poisoned."
"What?" Flag's drowsiness was swept away in the shocking statement.
"That would explain a lot," Soldier On muttered aloud, though much more to herself than the other two present mares. "He's north, across the river. Summer Sun Apartments, number 812, when I last saw him." On took two heavy steps toward the door before Flag stepped into her path.
Flag seemed surprised at her comment. "You aren't coming?"
"No. I'm going to Suida to kill Masquerade."
Rather than gasping out in shock, the older of the guardsponies pressed a hoof onto her muzzle in annoyance, just below her horn. "I hope you aren't thinking of trying to fight her alone. She killed the Commander."
"It wasn't a fair fight," On muttered coldly and, above all, factually. Solo took sudden notice of the analytic scowl that seemed to spread down from White Flag's horn across her royal blue face. Ignoring the tactician, Soldier On moved to the wreckage that had once been a door. "I'm leaving tonight."
"Wait!" White Flag yelled, with a tinge of desperation. "If you're going that far, at least come with us to the safe-house and gear up. You'll need lodestone shoes to fight a mage like her."
"Fine." The earth pony stomped out of the room.
Solo moved to follow, only to be caught by White Flag's outstretched leg. The desperation of past moments lingered in her expression, and her voice whispered forcefully. "When I tell you to go, you're going to fly north of the river and find Shining Armor. I have to take her in alive, which means there's going to be a fight that you wouldn't survive. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, I got it." Solo spread her wings to slap away the guardspony's leg, accompanying the motion with a cynical glare. Flag responded by donning a blank expression and making her way down into the ancient house.
- - -
Shining Armor stumbled down the road. He'd popped the shoulder of his left foreleg back into place, yet it still felt off. Even that lingering trouble was nothing, however, when compared to the awkward void he felt in his horn. It had taken him almost an hour to wander down to the docks and hire a ride across. In that time, his magic ought to have begun to regenerate. Instead, he felt completely spent and empty. The painful stress of having overspent himself was absent, leaving him wondering exactly what was wrong.
He'd stumbled his way to a huge, open-air marketplace, totally devoid of shoppers at one in the morning. Oil streetlamps ignited his path, but the side streets were paved with shadows. He was aiming for the Honor Guard safe-house that White Flag had given him directions to, though the aches across his body kept suggesting that just about any hotel would do just as well.
When his leg stumbled again, near the center of the market square, he decided it was time for a break. A huge fountain decorated the center of the area, and with very little effort, he sidled over to it, leaning against the low railing that held in the water.
A glance upward saw Shining face to face with a smoothly sculpted stone dragon. Four indistinct guardsponies stood atop the corpse, while a fifth held a spear that had been driven home in its neck. Unlike the others, her face was revealed beneath a helmet as both distinct and familiar. Shining didn't know the history of the statue, but he recognized the mare. In the haze of fatigue, his mind wandered to the day he had first met his predecessor, Unending Vigil.
The statue portrayed her as young and bright-faced, though Shining knew better. Even during the Dragon Wars, the Captain had looked like she was pushing sixty. He'd heard it had been her intent to retire those twenty years ago, but that was before White Flag's incident.
Shining Armor's thoughts were swept away as his ears perked to the sound of wind flowing over wings. His eyes glanced upward to observe a dark red pegasus flying toward him in a rather tacky noir-style trench coat. A moment later, the stallion landed at only speaking distance away.
"Captain Armor. It is you truly. I am surprise you are here." The Stalliongradi's tone was short and emphatic, suggesting urgency.
"Red Ink." Shining nodded, casting a firm glare in his counterpart's direction. "Are you here for Soldier On or Masquerade?"
Ink seemed surprised by the question. "Mine guards say that Masquerade has not been in Baltimare for weeks at least. But I have tracked On here, and I intend to claim her." The Honor Guard looked over Shining's body, obviously noticing his bruises. "I see you have tried once already. You are still alive and your horn is still attached, so perhaps I am giving Royal Guard too little credit."
"Glad to see your opinion of the Royal Guard has improved."
"You misunderstand me, Armor. I am meaning you. Royal Guards is still pathetic. You alone are decent fighter." Shining's face furrowed into a frown that Ink bluntly ignored. "That is why I make offer to you. I have ambush set up for On, here, in coming hours. White Flag is leading her here soon. If you will help me, we have better chance to take her living."
Shining elevated an eyebrow in surprise. "You want my help?"
"Personal grudge are stuff of foals story book. I did not live through Revolution by trying to be hero, fighting things on my own - well, save dragon. But that is different. I am not fool enough to think I will be better stallion for taking On alone. I find satisfaction when she is brought justice, not by humiliating her myself." He chuckled. "That would only be pleasure. If you are helping me here, perhaps we forget our bet on her, and consider only Masquerade."
Shining was about to comment on his lack of magic when the sound of heavy shoes hitting cobblestone echoed up the street leading south from the market. Ink's head shot toward it, and then he took to wing. "Already? Listen, Armor. Many shop buildings here. Get her inside one, and grab oil lantern. I will take care of rest."
Ink shot into the sky, leaving Armor alone to rest against the fountain, and struggle for magic that would not come.
He saw them approaching, three wide. Soldier On was in the center. Her mane hung down loose over her neck, rather than the tight ponytail she'd worn earlier. The change did a surprising deal to help hide the absence of half her right ear. Otherwise, nothing about the mare differed from their previous encounter, little more than an hour past. She fixed Shining with a surprised gaze and turned toward him.
The second of the approaching group was White Flag, who remained completely unchanged since they'd spoken over dinner. She seemed concerned to see the captain resting against the fountain.
It was the third mare approaching, however, that put a knot in the guardspony's stomach.
"Shining?" Going Solo muttered aloud, before darting forward in the air. "Are you okay?"
Shining Armor gasped in pain when the pegasus mare tackled him in a tight hug. The sore bruises on his chest screamed in resistance, though the pain faded to a sort of warm comfort as the mare embraced him. He leaned back to answer the motion, before Cadance's face flitted through his mind. With a sudden discomfort, he pushed Solo away. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because Masquerade had you poisoned," White Flag responded, walking forward slowly to join in the conversation. "She's gunning for us. Guardsponies, I mean."
"Poisoned? I feel fine..." and then he stopped. "My magic."
"I'm sorry, but what?" Flag asked. "There's no such thing as a magical poison."
"My mana has been low all day, Lieutenant. I think that might be what she means. Not a 'magical' poison. A poison that targets mana."
Flag clearly disagreed with the idea, but On pushed the smaller unicorn mare aside, moving forward to stand over Shining Armor. "Such a thing does not exist if you are very strict in your concept of a 'poison'. But I guarantee you that Shining will survive the night. Ask Reckoning when you next see him, and he will explain further. As for you, Armor, it seems I was mistaken about your weakness."
"His weakness?" Solo shot the towering guardspony a curious glance. "Wait, you knew about this?"
"Who else could have given him those bruises?" The Stalliongradi mare responded, gesturing to the scuffs and raised spots on Shining's legs and neck. "While we are speaking of this, Flag, I suggest you stop playing ignorance. I don't know if you truly still have faith in me, or if Armor here thought this would make a good plan to capture me, but you cannot take me alone, and he has no magic."
Flag was quiet, staring down at her hooves. Soldier On glanced between her and Shining Armor, before turning away. "It is good that I am no longer a guardspony, anyway. It would be inconvenient if I started another war with the boars." Her hooves carried her north, toward the river.
"Wait!" Armor yelled, standing up. "Soldier On, if you really aren't behind this, then tell us how to cure Luna!"
The earth pony didn't turn, though she did stop pacing for a moment. "I do not know. Though I would not tell you if I did. Perhaps you can ask your sister, if you do not understand. For now, my only advice is this. Luna will die. Feel free to blame me, or Masquerade, but do not blame yourself. Equestria will need somepony to look to, and Celestia will not be up to the task. When you look for her conspirator or the pony who killed your friend, though, you are right to look to Stalliongrad."
She trudged forward until the flapping of wings arrived on the wind. Her head shifted upward, and spoke simply. "I almost feel that I should have been expecting you, Red Ink."
"You weren't? I am imagining you expected to get away here with revolution like you try in Stalliongrad. Thought you could be overthrowing Celestia?"
Soldier On stomped. The cobblestone beneath her hoof cracked, releasing dozens of stone shards. She trapped one under her shoe as she spoke with fury in her voice. "You could never understand my loyalty to the Princess, Ink. I do not expect you to. Today, I will free Stalliongrad and Canterlot both from your oppression."
"You are intend to fight all of us? Armor, Flag, and I? You would be smarter to try and run, like you always were doing in Stalliongrad. Many times I saw your flank darting into alleyways."
Soldier On stomped on the rock. As it flew upward, she spun and bucked it toward Red Ink. He dodged with surprising speed, keeping his forelegs folded across his chest. "The Honor Guard taught me a lot, Ink."
"You mean the Commander did? Do not speak as if you were to be known to him."
Soldier On responded by lowering herself to the ground. "I have had enough of your words. When you are as broken as your lying words, I will kill you."
"Confidence is surprising, I think. Do not worry, On, I shall sing you lullaby when you are gone."
Armor watched as Red Ink flapped forward to hover directly over Soldier On. She rose to her hind legs as he folded his wings and simply dropped.
By his guess, she ought to have decapitated him in the first blow. Her bladed shoes aimed for his neck, but he twisted nimbly as he fell, using his wings to twist in ways Shining thought impossible. Rather than holding himself up and striking at On, Red Ink let himself fall all the way to the ground. Landing on all fours, the bulky but relatively small pegasus was much lower than Soldier On's balancing form. His wings flapped once, sending his shoulder into her belly forcefully. The attack tipped her onto her back, and he leapt atop her.
On kicked at him, but Ink was too fast. For each attack the huge pony offered, he landed two swift strikes to her face. Blood began to trickle down her muzzle. Realizing her plight, Soldier On pressed a hoof down on the cobblestone of the Chocolate Market's streets. Her incredible strength threw Ink off her chest, even as she rolled over onto her hooves. Her opponent caught himself in midair with his wings, and landed level, ready to continue the fight.
"Your assistance is being welcome, now," Ink muttered in Flag and Shining's directions. The taunting tone of his humor had disappeared from his words, replaced with grim seriousness.
Soldier On slid a foreleg over her muzzle. When the blood was wiped away, Shining Armor was stunned to see no wound formed at all. The mare's flesh and coat were perfect, uncut and uninjured, save the little stains of blood that remained. He'd never heard of such magic in an earth pony before, and the idea was troubling.
This time, it was On's turn to go on the offensive. She galloped forward with massive strides in Ink's direction. He lowered himself, ready to strike. She continued until he was within striking distance, and then leapt into the air.
Ink's bladed wings covered him, ready for a strike. It took him half a second to realize that nothing was coming, but in that time, Soldier On had cleared his body, and made her way at a sprint toward a nearby market stall. Though her head was turned away from the fountain, she nevertheless managed to duck perfectly in time to avoid a trio of stunning bolts thrown from White Flag's horn.
"Don't do this, Flag!" On shouted, as her hooves decimated the stall. Beams and planks shattered at her strikes. "I don't want to have to kill you."
"But you want to kill Princess Luna? You claim to be loyal to Celestia, yet you'd sacrifice her sister for revenge?" Flag's horn ignited again. Soldier On leapt away with a long plank tucked under her leg like a lance, as the rubble of the rest of the stall assembled into a trio of wooden ponies.
Seeing her distraction by the simple golems Flag had created, Red Ink flew quickly to stand behind the traitorous mare, flanking her with the wooden ponies. On shot a quick glance over her shoulder, and then turned back to the original threat. When the effigies leapt at her, she grabbed the first tightly with both forehooves and spun. The rough, jagged hooves of the other two tore through her side and back like claws as she completed her motion, throwing the third at Red Ink. He dove out of the way, and then charged forward. With On's focus on the two wooden creatures, Ink was able to leap onto her back and wrap his forelegs around her throat in a chokehold.
Even in that terrible position, Soldier On fought on almost unhindered. Her hooves smashed through the golems as if they had been made of mud rather than wood. Shattered into splinters, their magic faded, leaving the ex-guardspony to face her rival. Rather than struggle against his grip, On simply flipped backwards, intending to smash the smaller pony's body between her own form and the hard ground. Ink released his grip and slipped out from under the large mare, though not before her entire weight smashed down on his left rear leg.
Ink's wings pulled him away, though he landed limping. As the scowl on his face spread, he shook his wounded limb to regain its motion. Then the pegasus flew to the fountain and landed in the water. His eyes flickered briefly to Shining. "Help me, Armor."
The unicorn stood up as Ink shot back into the air, trailing drops of water. Shining's attention was stolen away by a tapping on his armored shoulder. He glanced back to Going Solo, who was staring at him with obvious concern. "Shining, don't! You don't have any magic. Let's just leave!"
The captain afforded himself a deep breath before responding. "I can't, Solo."
"What?"
Shining Armor nodded slowly, pacing forward toward the battle. Though it was clear that Going Solo had more to say, she held her tongue as White Flag approached. "Captain Armor, your magic is stronger than mine." With no more explanation, she placed her horn against the polished amethyst of his armor. Platinum's Ward glowed and hummed with the infusion of raw mana from Flag's glowing horn, and Shining could sense the energy building at the base of his horn. Flag had given him a surprising volume of mana, and with that, he was ready.
On the far side of the marketplace, Red Ink took a heavy blow to the jaw from Soldier On's elbow. Thrown aside like a ragdoll, his absence gave the Captain of the Royal Guard a clear shot.
One, two, three, and four shots were directed from Armor's horn, all aimed for the traitor. Rather than face the onslaught, she leapt behind another of the open-shuttered stalls and took cover. When the bolts had stopped, Armor took a moment to regain his focus as Red Ink stood up.
On's voice called out from her hiding place. "Don't forget my warning, Shining Armor. Stay out of this!"
"I can't do that. Surrender and come out peacefully."
"I know the guardspony speech, Armor. Save your words."
Red Ink laughed, but rather than jovial and taunting, his tone was hollow. "She is afraid now. Too many of us for her to handle. Like wounded animal. Dangerous. We finish it now."
Armor gave a curt nod, and Ink flared his wings, revealing the thin blades across their crests. White Flag nodded as well, and the three approached On's hiding place.
The market stall exploded as On emerged. Her hooves sent a pair of bladed shoes flying in the direction of the two approaching unicorns. By instinct, Shining threw up his most potent shield. The metal weapons bounced off the rosy arcane surface, but through his horn, Armor felt their force. There was mana behind their strength - no mere muscle could give such an attack, even from Soldier On's hulking build.
In the time it took Shining to lower the shield, the traitor charged at Red Ink. Rather than ducking back or shielding himself from the unrelenting force that was Soldier On, the commandant answered by charging himself. They struck like freight trains, and the power was clear in the way their muscles rippled on impact. Ink brought both his forehooves together against the sides of On's skull, smashing her ears and drawing blood with each blow. In exchange, On's still-bladed right forehoof scraped across Ink's chest just below the neck. A stretch of fur and skin as wide as Shining's muzzle was ripped off of the stallion, leaving behind a gaping wound of blood and muscle and exposed ribs. He stumbled backward, and Soldier On might have killed him there, had Armor not intervened with another shield.
"Damn it all!" Red Ink roared, before his furious scream lost all language together, becoming a twisted mess of growling and shrieking. His wings carried him up to one of the nearby oil lamp streetlights, which he smashed with his bare hoof. The glass cut his arm, but that was nowhere near as frightening as the flaming oil that spread across his body.
Shining, Flag, and On watched in stunned silence as flames engulfed the Honor Guard captain's body. His ruined trench coat burned into ashes, and the glowing orange blades on his wings fell away as the straps holding them in place were incinerated. The fireball that was Red Ink swooped down toward Soldier On, no longer bleeding.
"You'll pay!" he roared, as a wave of his wing sent a massive wall of fire toward the mare. It was magic Shining Armor had never seen, nor conceived of. His horn ignited, but this time it was aimed at the fiery stallion.
"Stop it Ink! We need her alive!"
White Flag ran alongside Shining, and her own magic formed a shield around Soldier On. Shining might have criticized it on the practice field, but at the moment, it held against the firestorm that issued from Red Ink's furiously flapping wings.
"She doesn't deserve to live!" Ink roared back. When the pegasus found Shining's magic pressing against his wings, he turned his flames toward the captain of the Royal Guard. Shining saw the fire coming, and made himself a shield. The tight bubble of rose magic was surrounded on all sides by tongues of red and orange flame. The guardspony waited, but only the crackling of fire could be heard, and it did not let up.
Shining felt his borrowed magic growing thin. Every moment he held off the flames was a moment that White Flag's gifted magic dwindled, and his shield would not hold when the mana was no more. He put his whole focus into his defenses, but it would take an outside intervention to save him.
His ears perked to a familiar voice, overtaken by the fury of battle.
"Don't you dare hurt him!" The flames let up as Going Solo shouted at the flaming pony. The smoke parted just in time for Shining Armor to see the smuggler buck Red Ink across the face with both hooves. He winced at the pain that crossed her face as her hooves ducked into the fire, but the twist of his neck was enough to spare the captain a fiery death.
Though the blow was strong, it did little to the rage that dominated Red Ink's whole being. His eyes locked onto Going Solo, and with the full force of his flying body, his foreleg was brought across her face in a forceful smack. Even from the ground, Shining could hear the crack that accompanied the blow. Solo was thrown through the air, and Red Ink sent a wave of flame after her. Her face crashed through a window, and in her wake, the structure was set aflame. Innocent voices screamed, and the unbridled hatred in Red Ink's eyes faded. The fire covering his body grew less intense, revealing his form beneath. Though his thoughts were his own, the commandant still ignored the flaming building, in favor of Soldier On. "Your hooves, On! Your blood!"
She offered no answer, instead focusing on ending the last of the brick golems White Flag had made to restrain her. Aware of the attention she'd earned from both Red Ink and Shining Armor, the traitorous guardspony turn toward a nearby building and ran. Rather than stop at the wall, the earth pony lowered her shoulder and plowed through the bricks like they were paper.
"Just like the Changeling Hive!" Flag shouted. "You two, keep up!"
"But Solo-!"
Flag cut off Shining's protest. "I warned her, Armor. We have to move now!"
Red Ink, body still trailing flames, darted into the hole in the wall. Shining Armor saw White Flag offer him a last glance, before turning to follow. "She knows we're on to her. She's trying to escape like she did in Suida!"
As his companions left, Shining turned toward the burning building. Skylark A artments. The 'P' was missing, leaving an awkward space beneath the wall of climbing flames. Shining hadn't expected a wooden building to burn so quickly, but he didn't have time to lose on contemplation. The window was on the fourth floor, out of seven. Three right of the door. With the count in his mind, the Captain of the Royal Guard charged inside.
Almost immediately, he could feel the mana in the air. Whatever Red Ink had done, the fire that burned in the structure was unnaturally hot and powerful. Its smoke was thick, and choking, and it filled the lobby in a dense haze. Shining prepared a light shield over his muzzle, hoping to keep in as much fresh air as he could, and then made his way to the stairs.
Up he ran, two floors, until a wall of flames blocked his path. He knew his shields could carry him through the fire, though how long they would hold, he was not sure. Instead, he turned to the third floor hallway and broke into a run.
The ceiling was burning, and smoke filled the hall. His eyes burned, but he couldn't spare the magic to shield them. Heat and sweat built beneath his armor. His eyes darted from door to door, reading signs for room numbers, until he came to a little arrow next to a jagged line. Stairs. He broke into a full gallop, knowing every second was a chance his companion wouldn't survive.
His hooves faltered at the sound of crying, in two pitches. His eyes wandered toward the stairs, but his decision was made before he even turned back. He ran, listening and hoping as the sound grew louder. Overhead, beams creaked and flames crackled. Here and there, patches of the plaster on the ceiling fell away to reveal beams and heavy boards. He ducked them as best he could and continued on, until at last he reached the source of the sound. The door gave in with a strong buck, though Shining felt himself panting at the effort.
Inside, two foals - a colt and a filly - were bawling their eyes out in a crib. Shining glanced around, but could find no parent nearby. Without a moment to spare, he pulled both the babies onto his back with magic and cast a simple ward to hold them in place. The drain on his magic was light, but every drop mattered.
He ran out of the room and further down the hall. He'd nearly reached the stairs when one of the overhead beams fell. A wall of fire, it blocked his path almost completely. His mind raced. Breaking it would take too much mana. Lifting it away, more still. He had only one option.
A quick burst of his mana created a shield tailored against heat. It wrapped around his own body, as well as that of his passengers. He felt Flag's gifted mana growing scarce, but he had no other option. He stepped back, and then ran forward and leaped through the flames. After that, the stairs went quickly.
Up a single flight of stairs, he was confronted with terror. The fourth floor was painted in orange tongues that lapped up the walls and ceiling until nothing was safe. Worse, with his detour, Solo's room was at the far end of the hall. He focused himself, took a single deep breath, and charged.
His shield grew weak as the fire lapped at his coat and mane. His hooves fell fast and hard against the weakened floor, which shifted and cracked under his weight. Twice he was forced to leap over wide holes, and left only to pray that the ground on the other side would hold.
He knew he'd reached her room when he found a doorway without a door. Instead, a pile of ashes marked the direct path of Red Ink's fury. Inside, the flames had died down into a pile of cinders and holes in the floor. A pile of glass surrounded a charred and bloodied body that barely resembled the smug pride that exemplified Going Solo. Shining Armor wasn't sure whether the water on his face was from the smoke pressing against his eyes. He ran forward and threw the unconscious mare over his shoulders alongside the two sobbing foals, and turned back to the door.
Then the wall collapsed completely. A thousand pounds of rubble and flame poured down on the far side of the room, blocking off all hope of escape with flame and wood and plaster. Shining's mouth hung open, too decimated to even make a noise in response. His simply stood there, wondering why.
He turned back to the broken window, but shook his head at the thought. He had nowhere near enough magic to teleport down. He might survive a four story jump himself, with luck and a good roll, but the foals and Solo would not.
It was then that Shining Armor felt his armor's glow fade. He hacked as a surprisingly calm breath was accompanied by the burning scent of acrid smoke. The temperature he felt grew suddenly hotter, as though he had stepped into a furnace. It was with those sensations that his hope faded.
"Sh... Shi... ning?" The broken, gasping voice over his shoulder grabbed his attention, and he turned back to the awful scent of burning hair, and the grim sight of black scorched flesh covering a once beautiful robin's egg blue coat. Solo's eyes were red and her lashes covered with ash. "What...are..."
"Quiet, Solo."
To his surprise, she slid forward softly. A short, dry, and ultimately unsatisfying peck landed on his lips. When she pulled back, her chapped, cracked lips were smiling. "Tha...nk... you..."
"Hold on, Solo!" Shining screamed. Though she struggled to obey, her eyelids fluttered shut, and a soft breath brushed over the dirty coat of Shining's shoulder. "Damn it!"
The guardspony's head darted around the room, searching desperately for an exit. His bruised and tired form moved to the nearest wall, and he pulled back a hoof. A swift strike put a dent in the wall, but it wasn't nearly enough to create an opening. He pulled back and struck again. Again. Again. His hoof ached. Smoke filled his lungs as well as his eyes, and tears dripped down his cheeks.
It seemed all hope had faded just before the cracked wall collapsed. He hadn't struck it. He stared, in shock, as an opening hung before him. "Thank Celestia."
"Not yet, Captain Armor," a mare's voice added, stepping out of the flames. "Follow me."
"Soldier On?"
The earth pony didn't answer, instead breaking into a run toward the nearby staircase. Shining followed without the luxury of questioning her motives, though the fatigue in his legs and the weight on his back left him much slower than the mare.
All around him, the building collapsed. They reached the main stairs, where fire had blocked his path before. Soldier On walked away from the fiery doorway to a nearby wall. Without hesitation, she smashed it down with a two-legged buck. Rubble rained down on her head, but the dust cleared with a new way out, a short jump above the descending stairs. Shining followed the path gratefully, and then broke into as much of a run as he could manage.
Never before had the frigid night air felt so welcome. The market was filled with the unfortunate denizens of the apartment. A sobbing mother saw Shining leave the building and rushed toward him. Her words were hollow in his ears, as the foals were pulled off his back. He spent his first few moments coughing and hacking, blinking and trying to restore vision not dominated by orange and red.
Solo's weight was removed from his back. It took him a moment to realize that Soldier On had taken the burnt mare. The traitor stared at the burning building with something like remembrance spilling over her face. The orange glow turned to amber against her coat, dancing in patterns across her face.
When the Captain had recovered his breath, he spoke to her. "You came back for me?"
"Not you. The children." Soldier On looked into Shining's eyes, and he saw in her flat, expressionless face the most pain that he could ever imagine. "You are a good guardspony, Shining Armor. I wish I had the luxury to be the same."
"Why...?" Shining struggled with his words. "How did you-?"
"It is very easy for me to buck a hole in a wall, Shining. It is also easy not to go through one. Ink still has not learned how I escape him." She growled. "Feel free to tell him when you see him next. He'll laugh when you speak of this." Her hoof gestured to the flames.
They sat there in silence, as Shining found himself too tired to move. When he could bear the burden of his curiosity no longer, he spoke up. "Tell me, Soldier. What did you do?"
On sighed, and shook her head. "Nothing. That was my treason. I remained silent." Her huge shoulders rose and feel with a deep breath. "Take your friend to Canterlot. Whether you seek a doctor or an undertaker, the best are there." She rose with the greatest of ease. "A train leaves not long from now. I'll take you there."
Shining stood, and followed. "Soldier On... why are you doing this? Why help us? Why let Luna die?"
"You see the world through foal's eyes, Shining Armor. All black and white, without gray. It's easy to see why ponies would follow your white over this." Her hoof gestured to her own off-white coat, stained a bitter gray by the smoke of a burning building.
Shining looked down at the smoke and ash and soot that stained his own coat and wondered just how far he would have to go to find the truth.
- - -
Rainbow awoke to the sound of an avian scream. It issued forth from the dense jungle, echoing amongst the mist and the tree trunks until the pegasus could not discern its direction. She only knew it to be nearby.
The sun was on the verge of rising, and its orange glow had already ignited the sky overhead, giving enough light to inform her that she had slept too long. Her tree was less hospitable than a cloud, as the aching in her lower back and wings testified. When she quickly rolled over to sit upright, the paired wounds on her flank erupted in agony. A crust of dried blood could be felt covering the upper part of the white cloud depicted on her right side. Though she'd been roused by the sound, the weight under her eyes told her that true rest hadn't reached her body.
She watched the mists, listening and waiting. From time to time, the cracking of a branch or a muffled gasp would escape the wall of hanging water, though nothing could be seen save shadows. When the silent pauses were broken, she realized the sounds were coming closer.
Her options flashed through her mind tragically briefly. The blades on her wings were still present. She could try to fight, but she had no intention of drawing blood after what she had seen, and if the threat did turn out to be Reckoning, she wasn't sure she'd be able to hold him off again. Without knowledge of where the echoing danger was approaching from, let alone other dangers, running into the mist was suicide. Staying still spelled the same grim future. That left only one choice. Her wings spread swiftly, as she recalled the last words of a dying elk. You already hold the guide in paper, Rainbow. Luna slumbers west of here, at the great ridge.
A second scream of the same voice stopped Rainbow before she could take off. It was close - no more than a dozen feet beyond her vision. She stood perfectly still, trying to avoid any tiny noise, and squinted into the darkness. A moment later, something struck the trunk of her tree, and she barely maintained her balance. A glance down was all it took to steal the warmth from her body. She saw blood, spilled across the ground, and a severed wing. It was huge, too big to belong to a pony, though the feathers were in the same layout. Its brown tone suggested a griffon. A moment later, a wet gurgling confirmed her suspicions, as a griffon body was flung into vision.
"Kill him!" a feminine griffon shouted.
Rather than a voice, the words were answered with a bloodthirsty roar. Rainbow didn't dare wait any longer, and so she leapt up into the air. Her wings, weighted down by their blades, panted through air that seemed too thin to support them. Her desperation pushed her forward when her muscles could not, slicing through the fog until she escaped above the canopy of the trees. A glance down saw only mist and leaves, thick enough to protect her from whatever horrors had been lurking so close by only moments before.
The next step was to set her path. The sun rose in the east. The fact was known to every weathermare in Equestria, and she was the best. Rainbow turned her back to the glow of Celestia's fiery orb, spread her wings, and soared.
Where her legs and back ached, her wings instead screamed of glory and pleasure. For the first time in days, she was truly free. Open, beautiful blue stretched out above her in all directions, as a weak wind rustled her dirty mane and bloody tail. A muted red diluted the streaking blur cast by the loose hairs, leaving her usually inspiring trail tainted with grim overtones. She paid it no mind, as her eyes were too busy scanning for the predators Reckoning had warned of. First and foremost in her mind was the scout himself. The sight of his empty eye socket, bleeding from a dozen shards of glass, still lingered in her mind. She'd promised him that they would leave together. Though she knew he'd made it out safely, the thought of leaving him alone in the jungle trapped within his own mind felt like she had failed him. Admitting there was nothing she could do to help him was a bitter pill to swallow, and it stuck firmly in her throat, lingering on the verge of tears.
A strange beast that Rainbow didn't recognize roared up out of the jungle. Wide wings spread from its leonine back and body. Rainbow half expected a griffon's face, but instead its head was bald, like that of a monkey. Its fanged teeth and wrinkled flesh roared, but it gave up quickly when it realized it had no chance of catching the young mare.
She soared on for nearly an hour without further pause. What next made her stop was not a threat or an encounter, but simple awe.
Gilda had told her of Grivridge. She had called it 'a big canyon', but the words were as insufficient as comparing the ocean to a teacup. The problem with calling Grivridge a canyon, it seemed to Rainbow, was that canyons had floors. Instead, she seemed to have found the seam of the world. The sheer, steep rocky cliffs in front of her dropped down miles and miles, until fog and shadow obscured the vertical surfaces. Carved into the walls of the rock, she could see the facades of little villas and dens, with barrel vaulted doorways and rounded edges. Jutting out of the stone were heavy logs forming terraces with bazaar-like stalls and shops.
And then there were the griffons. From high above, Rainbow recognized them only as dots of gray and white and black and brown. They flew up and down, in and out of the little holes that made their homes, in the untraceable chaos that was life.
The mare might have flown down then and there, were it not for the sudden and unexpected pressure of a talon that clamped down on her neck.
"A pony? Oh, this must be my lucky day."
Dash struggled, but the griffon's grip was tight and strong. The creature lifted her, and turned her around to face it. He was a stallion griffon, and large at that. More than a head over Gilda's height, his beak was short and wide, and the feathers cresting his head had been forced back to stay out of his angry golden eyes. Black fur covered his lion hindquarters, where they weren't concealed by scaly armor and an immense axe.
"Hey, let me go!"
"Oh, I don't think so, spy. Ponies aren't welcome in Grivridge. The Legate will decide what to do with you."
"Hey!" Rainbow slapped at his arm with her forelegs, but her blows seemed to bounce off him like calm waves. She moved a wing, and with surprising speed, he grabbed it by the shoulder. The pain that followed was intense, though no real damage had been done. After gasping, Rainbow struggled to explain herself. "I'm not a spy! I came here to help Princess Luna!"
"I am not the one to decide the truth of your words, pony. Though if you wished to be believed, you might not have come armed." His talons moved to the straps of her wing blades, stealing them away. He tucked them into a folded pocket of his scaly armor, and then produced a length of chain from the same container. Dash watched uncomfortably as he twisted it with one talon until he had produced a strange, slipknot-like loop. Despite Rainbow's struggles against his action, he slipped it over her head like a collar. His free hand maintained tight control of the rest of the length of chain. "You are welcome to try and escape me, but if you fly off too fast, this will snap your neck. Now follow me, or I will kill you myself."
She was released rather bluntly and without warning, falling to her rump on the dirt. Her hooves briefly tested the bindings, but a sharp and painful tug prevented her from loosening them. Disgruntled, she took to wing, and followed after the insisted creature. "What's the big deal, anyway?"
"If you truly do not know, you are humorously undereducated. Our kinds were at war not even a full six years ago, pony. Now silence yourself, and do not waste words on my ears."
They soared downward, slowly, toward the masses of griffons below. They looked up as Rainbow approached, and gawked in awe and amusement as she was led past them like a disobedient pet. With every sideways glance and mocking glare, heat built in her cheeks and a fire of anger grew in her stomach.
On closer inspection, the moving shapes weren't all griffons, however. A surprising number of zebras lived amidst the rocky outcroppings, as well as at least a few cows and pigs. They seemed weak, and downtrodden, with ribs showing and bony malnourished legs. Those few who could muster the will to look up at Rainbow did so with sorrow and envy, and in their gazes, she saw broken spirits and desperation.
To what little she could call fortune, however, their destination was not far by wing. A forum of arches and pillars had been carved from the stone of the near cliff wall, centered around a towering circular structure with latticed beams supporting an overgrowth of ivy, and tiny openings serving as a small excuse for windows. Her militant guide landed at the edge of the forum and essentially dragged her along.
The heavy wooden doors of the central structure gave way to a huge circular room. What Rainbow would have called torches provided light on the dark gray polished stone that made up the floor, walls, and ceiling. Some sort of paint added a hint of color here and there, but in the faint light, the dull colors only seemed to depress the room's unwilling occupant.
At the far side of the space, a chair that bordered on a throne was centered on a raised dais. Lounging in it, lazily leaning to the side, was a rather small female griffin garbed in blue. Her talons were busy picking through a bowl of meat on a small table beside her seat. Idly, she flipped some tiny giblet into her open beak before she allowed her eyes to flit up to the pair of approaching beings. She saw the griffon guard, turned back to her food, and then shot a glance back again in surprise toward Rainbow. Almost immediately, her entire posture changed. Her wings folded properly behind her back, and she sat upright. Her bloody talons released her snacks and wrapped tightly over the arms of the chair.
"Is that a pony, Malthus? Not a zebra?"
"Yes, Legate. I found her sneaking around the West Ridge at the Dawn Mark."
"Hey, I wasn't sneaking-"
"Silence, horse," the Legate snapped, leaning forward. "He is not the one we've been looking for."
"She!" Rainbow yelled, only to be fixed with a furious glare.
"Last warning, pony. Now, Malthus. Was she armed?" He nodded, tossing Rainbow's wing blades onto the floor. They slid with a sort of hissing noise across the polished stone, coming to rest at the foot of the Legate's dais. She glanced at them with amusement, picking one up and handling it as a child might with a new toy. "Blades for your wings... I suppose they would make a passable substitute when your kind lack talons. Now, ponyess, as you have so bluntly told us, what is your name?"
"Rainbow Dash," she stated boldly. "And I'm here to save Princess Luna. I'm not a spy, or whatever you think I'm supposed to be."
The Legate tapped the tips of her talons together as she rested her elbows on the arms of her seat. "The Emperor mentioned that name, though I don't know much of its owner. Tell me, Rainbow Dash, what are you saving this 'Princess' from? Why come armed and unannounced? And who are you to be sent on such a mission?"
Dash nodded. "She was poisoned, but the doctors don't know what with. I'm..." She hesitated for a moment, before speaking with renewed vigor. "I'm part of the Honor Guard, so I got sent out to find a cure."
"An Honor Guard... A soldier, in fact. Most interesting." The Legate turned to Malthus, and a smile spread across her beak. "So much more fascinating than a zebra. Malthus, bring me that chain."
"What?" Rainbow flared her wings, resisting as the cold metal around her neck was pulled toward the dais.
"A specimen as unique as you will make an excellent prize when I meet with the Praetorians tonight. They will decide if you represent the threat of a pony invasion. Perhaps I'll give you to the Emperor, though I confess the idea of keeping you for myself is tempting."
"I- I'm not some pet! Let me go!"
"Let a pony free in Grivridge?" The Legate laughed. "You'd be torn to pieces in seconds. Our kind live long enough to remember the dishonors you caused us."
Rainbow struggled, and twisted, but Malthus was stronger. As she was slowly pulled forward, an idea tickled the back of her mind. She crouched forward on her front legs, and aimed a double-legged buck in the griffon's direction. Pain surged from the wounds on her flank, but she ignored them in desperation. She got a crack of thunder, as she had intended, but the bolt of lightning meant to accompany it was nowhere to be found.
The Legate rose suddenly, wings flared. "An aeromancer?"
Malthus lacked her surprise, and tugged on the chain. Rainbow was pulled toward him painfully by her neck, leaving her off-balance long enough for his talons to pin her wings. He stepped forward onto her belly, and the lion's claw at the end of his hind leg pressed against her skin. Her struggled died quickly, unable to shake the massive weight of the creature above her. They might have remained there for some time in silence, had the doors of the chamber not slammed open, rattling the torches overhead.
"Legate!" From around Malthus' leg, Rainbow could see a half-dozen heavily armored Griffons limp into the room. One was bleeding heavily from a bash on his brow. Another was missing a leg entirely. Haphazard bandaging covered most of them, though one smaller creature near the rear of the group seemed unharmed. It was her voice that spoke up next, hesitant and confused.
"Dash...?"
She knew the voice, almost too well to be believed. "Gilda?"
The Legate looked down at Rainbow, confused. "You know... shut up, both of you! Centurion, report!"
"We were attacked, Legate. We were doing deep border patrol, on your orders. About a ten minute flight out of the elk's swamp, it started getting really foggy. It was weird... Aeromancer Grathus couldn't do much about it. Then something came at us."
The lead griffon's eyes hinted at fear as he continued. "It came out of the mist. We thought it was the elk at first, but it was too small, and it could fly. We lost three legionaries before we even got a good look at it. It was a pony."
The legate's eyes narrowed in Rainbow's direction as she spoke a simple word. "Continue."
"His face was all bloody, like he'd been in a fight, and he held a sword in his mouth."
Rainbow's eyes widened, and almost immediately, she regretted the action. The Legate leaned down to the side of her face, running a talon under her chin. "I saw that, pony. Is he your friend, this ghost in the mist? What is his name?" Dash held her tongue, until the Legate grabbed the chain around her neck and yanked on it. A choking pressure stole the pony's breath, putting dots in her eyes as she gasped for air.
"Stop it, Legate!" the young griffon yelled, stepping forward from the wounded crowd. To Rainbow's surprise, the pressure relented, allowing her to turn her head toward the speaker.
Without her purple eye shadow and the wide bang of feathers hanging down over her eyes, Gilda looked older, and also angrier. Her body was covered in thick steel plates, adorned in places with spikes and thin blades. A thin purple scarf was coiled around her neck at the collar of the armor.
The Legate glared. "Centurion, who is this griffoness?"
"Legate, my apologies, this is Agildania, daughter of Legate Tressius."
"I don't need you to talk for me," Gilda snapped at the heavily decorated griffon who seemed to be the leader. "And the whole name is so lame. Just 'Gilda' for me."
The Legate pinched her nose. "Tressius' daughter. Delightful. I have no interest in playing politics now, Gilda, so if you would kindly go back to your company, I will refrain from troubling your pet until matters have been taken care of."
"I-" Rainbow's words were cut off by Malthus leaning very heavily on her chest, forcing the air out of her lungs in a single gasp.
"Thank you, Malthus," the Legate observed. "Centurion, continue."
"Yes, Legate. He was old, and he was missing an eye. At first, we tried to fight him conventionally. He was very fast, though, and he faded into the mist whenever two of us tried to get to him. After we lost three more, and suffered injuries on six, we ordered a retreat."
The Legate moved back to her throne, wearing a surprised expression. "Surely, Centurion, you don't mean to tell me you lost five legionaries to a single aged pony?"
"With respect, Legate, they weren't mine to lose. I've been a Centurion for all of twenty minutes. Centurion Damios was the first casualty. Senior legionary Severus, his successor, was next. And, with apologies, we lost eight legionaries."
The Legate glared at the assembled wounded soldiers, and then slammed a talon down in a fist on the table beside her seat. Her bowl of raw meat spilled across the floor, as the vessel itself shattered into tiny shards of porcelain. She said nothing.
"We... we think he's the one you wanted. He had the map on his flank, as you said, though I didn't get a good enough to look to see where it was meant to go."
"That is... fine, Centurion. Of all days, today is the best to bear such news. The Praetorians will be arriving shortly, and they will make pleasant game of a hunt for this... insipid creature. In the mean time, you and your survivors are to return home. Inform the new most senior legionary that I intend to see them about filling the gaps in your ranks. As for 'Gilda', stay here. We need to discuss the fate of this creature." Her talon flicked briefly in Rainbow's direction.
There was a long silence as the griffons poured out of the room. Rainbow watched them go from her place on the floor. With every wound, her mind saw Reckoning's machete dancing back and forth, drawing blood without mercy or remorse. The thought was frightening. She now knew he was alive, although in his current state, she wasn't sure whether or not to consider that a good thing.
When the doors to the chamber slid shut, the Legate had removed the wing blades from the floor and placed them behind her seat. As Malthus pinned the pony, she linked the chain leash onto a hook on her throne, and then gestured loosely with her hand. Malthus seemed to have understood the motion, as he stepped back to allow Rainbow breath. She rose to her hooves, taking in gasping breaths.
The Legate, as usual, took command of the conversation. "So, Gilda, how do you know this animal?"
"Hey, lay off, Legate. Dash is cool. She's not gonna flip out or anything."
"Given her compatriots behavior, I'm not inclined to believe that. But you haven't answered my question."
"Right. Yeah, okay. So, you know how the ponies wanted hostages after the Jungle War?"
The Legate's brow rose. "Your father volunteered his own daughter?"
"He thought it would give us an in, y'know? So I could be cool with them, if we needed to get something done on their turf. Anyway, I got shipped off when I was just a cub, and stuck with this lame pony suit - er, uh, like a Senator for them - who was in charge of making clouds in one of their cities. I hated it, until one day he took me to one of his meetings. There was another one of their bigwigs there, who had a granddaughter about my age. And that was her." Gilda pointed toward Rainbow. "Rainbow Dash."
"I see." The Legate tapped the tips of her talons together slowly. "So your knowledge of her was only from your youth?"
Dash allowed herself a nervous gulp, realizing there were about ten thousand ways that Gilda's next words could bite her in the flank.
Gilda shook her head. "Nah, I caught up with her a couple years back. Must have been three or four, but a lot sooner than back then. I had a hard time fitting in up in Grall when they finally let me come home, so I wandered around for a long time. I went back to see Dash, figured I might just stay with the ponies, since I knew 'em so well." The young griffon shot Dash a quick glance. "She was still as chill as ever, but the town didn't work out so hot for me."
"I see," the Legate repeated. "And yet I find it unlikely that this pony would turn up armed, mere miles away from a site where another armed pony attacked and killed a scouting patrol of legionaries."
"Armed?" Gilda laughed. "Yeah, right. Dash wouldn't hurt a fly. I mean, don't get me wrong, I've seen her slap some dweebs and bullies around fierce - heck, I taught her how to brawl myself - but she'd never kill anything. It's not in her."
Rainbow turned away from the Legate and Gilda, hoping to hide the shame spreading over her face. Neither seemed to notice.
"She tells me she was sent here to cure a 'Princess Luna'. Do you know that name?"
"Huh?" Gilda nodded. "Yeah, I've heard of it. She's like the Emperor, you know. Another god. Celestia's little sister, who she trapped on the moon for a long time. Actually, I heard Dash here was the one who saved her in the first place, so I guess it would make sense."
At those words, the Legate glanced down at Rainbow. A curious and troubling look spread across her face. "Very well, Agildania. For now, the pony is your concern and your property. Return her to me this afternoon for my meeting with the Praetorians, though, or I will have you face Tribunal." The Legate slipped the chain from around Rainbow's neck and dropped it on the ground. "And I expect her back unharmed. A winged pony is valuable."
"Yeah, thanks," Gilda muttered. "Come on, Dash, let's bounce."
"Right with you," Rainbow answered, though her tone lacked much of its usual confidence. The events of the last hour, let alone the night that preceded it, had left her far too shaken and unsettled to focus on her coolness.
Outside the round structure, Gilda almost immediately sat down and looked into Dash's eyes angrily. "Now that that stiff is out of our feathers, what the buck are you doing here, Dash?"
"Just what I said! Princess Luna is dying, and I need to find a cure."
"Okay, so why come to Grivridge?"
"That's... kind of a long story, G."
"I bet." Gilda shook her head, clearly annoyed. "You look awful Dash. Do you want to go get something to eat?"
It didn't take long for Rainbow to build up an enthusiastic nod. "Yeah!"
"Then follow me. But don't think you and I are all okay just because I bailed you out back there. You're still a lame flip-flop, Dash, unless you're about to do something to change my mind."
To tired to care, Rainbow merely shrugged.
Thanks to SatoshiKyu for pre-reading.