//------------------------------//
// Epilogue III - Moving On 
// Story: Where Loyalties Lie: Honor Guard 
// by LoyalLiar 
//------------------------------//


Epilogue III



Moving On


        Hearth's Warming Day fell on December 18th that year.  After the glorious Canterlot Pageant of the previous night, silence seemed a welcome thing.  There was a brisk chill to the air, and the soft snowflakes falling through the air set a perfect scene for cuddling with family in front of a roaring fire.

        Rainbow Dash knew little of those fires, or the comforting embrace of wings.  It had been so many years since she was in Cloudsdale for Hearth's Warming that she couldn't even remember how the Cloudosseum looked beneath a layer of snow until it was right in front of her.  She alighted on the cloud sidewalk in front of the building.  All the while, her eyes followed the little families and couples that made their way inside for the Wonderbolts show.  Watching them go by, she felt once more a sensation that had dominated her life since her return from Zebrica.  She was the odd mare out, set apart by random circumstance and fate.  In this crowd, it had nothing to do with friends worried for her soul or the sorrowful absence of a mentor.  Instead, Rainbow was marked apart because she was alone.  No mother or father to spread a wing over her back.  No stallion or mare to hold her cloud and share in the heat of welcome bodies.  Nopony at all.

        A single blue ticket decorated with a bolt of yellow lightning slid free of her jacket pocket, and was easily pinned beneath her wing.  She walked up to the line entering the building, and presented it without word.  A quick rip, and only a tattered stub remained.  

        "Box seats on Hearth's Warming?  You've got friends, kid."

        Rainbow shrugged as the stallion motioned her to pass.  Even after fifteen years she still knew the path by heart.  Turn right past the concession stands.  Grab a free candy cane from the mare at the orphanage charity stand.  Drop three bits in the little can.  Right again, and up the stairs.  Then all the way around the round structure to reach the big rooms.  Fancy walls of transparent cloud rather than glass permitted heat for the plush seats and couches within.  Rainbow knew every room; she'd helped to build them.  Of course, that had been a ten-year old filly who probably spent more time getting caught under hoof than actually moving the project along.  Still, for her, it had been heaven in its own way.

        She moved up to the door and found it unlocked already.  A simple push was all it took to enter.  Inside, the clouds had been colored and arranged in a glorious Wonderbolts theme.  Six bottles of gourmet root beer were arranged in a diamond on the nearby countertop, separating the seating area from a mini-bar stocked with all manner of drinks.  She ignored the subtle offer of what had once been her favorite beverage and wandered toward the seats.  

        Rainbow wasn't sure of what she had been expecting, but it had been something.  Anything.  Instead, the seats were empty.  Three opulent cushions played host to nothing more than the memories of happier ponies in better years.  The disappointment was nearly palpable.

        A raucous voice came popping over the loudspeaker.  "Fillies and Gentlecolts, welcome to the Cloudosseum!"  The crowd roared in response, and when they settled, the stallion continued.  "I hope you're all having a wonderful Hearth's Warming Day so far.  But I promise, it's about to get better.  Without further ado, I present… the Wonderbolts!"

        The roar came again from the crowd, but Rainbow could not bring herself to join in.  For just a moment, she glanced back at the door.  The thought of leaving and abandoning the show was tempting for perhaps the first time in her entire life.  In the end, she collapsed in a plush cloud seat, unsure of just why she had done so.  It only felt right.

        "Today, performing for your pleasure, we have Fleetfoot!" The roar of the crowd was deafening, though Rainbow could clearly hear the whistling of wings through the frigid air over the noise. 

        "Rapidfire!" Again, the crowd roared, but the pegasus mare merely shook her head.  Without even thinking, she identified the performing members as the Wonderbolt's 'first' team.  When the announcer spoke up, she joined him.  

        "Gale Force."  Her mumbled words matched the voice over the speakers perfectly.  "Then Soarin' and Spitfire."

        "I see you know your Wonderbolts, ma'am."  Rainbow jumped at the surprisingly close origin of the voice, and turned toward it.  Though a stallion, he wasn't who she had been expecting.  A faded green stallion in a blue formal shirt balanced a round silver platter on his wing, and offered it to her hesitantly.  "I was asked to deliver this to you.  It seems you have an admirer."

        Rainbow nodded, gesturing to the little end table placed nearest her seat in the opulent box.  The stallion set the tray down and then immediately made his way back to the door.  "Happy Hearth's Warming."

        "You too," Dash answered rather flatly.  Her eyes were locked on the contents of the tray.  A tall slender milkshake glass played home to a root beer float, decorated with a vibrant peppermint stick.  A faded foam hoof proclaimed support for Wonderbolt Captain Wedge.  A tiny envelope completed the assembly.  Clean, sparse script spelled out her name across its otherwise blank face.

        Her hoof dragged the envelope open first.  Two papers spilled out onto the silver and cloud.  One was a carefully folded letter on common paper.  The other was smaller and stiffer.  Thin card stock decorated with a glossy sheen proclaimed words that Rainbow recognized almost easily.  

        Quiniela: Cpt. Spitfire, Sgt. Fleetfoot; 15 Bits.  Redeem only at main counter.

        "Now that we've introduced the team, it's time to see some flying!"
        
        Rainbow's eyes shot up from the betting ticket to see all five Wonderbolts scream by outside her window in a perfect wedge.  Their trails of smoke and the scream of the wind over their wings sent an old thrill through her heart.  A little smile wound its way onto her lips as she watched the mostly-familiar performance.  Most Wonderbolts shows were brimming with new maneuvers and daring stunts, but the Hearth's Warming routine was a classic too precious to be tampered with.

        Her hoof reached out to her side without really thinking.  The root beer float came back to her, permitting a soft sip.  Though the flavor of peppermint didn't mix well with the rich taste of the soda, it did hearken back to the sweet tooth of a five–year old filly who couldn't bring herself to care about the conflict of sensations.  

        The foam hoof was surprisingly old for a disposable item.  She couldn't help but wonder where it came from, and how it had been dug up.  The name it recorded belonged to a retired pony, who'd led the legendary flying team when Spitfire was barely a recruit.  Captain Wedge was a legend amongst fliers, though his days racing through the clouds were over.  The thought of an old pegasus giving up seemed strange in memory of Reckoning.

        She tossed away the sorrowful thought, and turned her eyes back toward the show.  The four edge-fliers had peeled away from Spitfire, leaving the leader alone as she shot straight up into the air over the Cloudosseum.  What would follow was a trick known only to a rare few even amongst the Wonderbolts' ranks.  The 'Skull Dive' consisted of powering straight downward toward a solid plate of fortified cloud, or in other venues, stone.  The performer would spin as they dove, producing enough raw G's to send even the most hardened flier into unconsciousness.  At the last second, instead of pulling up, the daring mare or stallion would literally stop, snapping into an even hover mere inches from their death.  In a sense, it was a magic trick.  Rather than something to impress the audience which was easier to understand, its attraction lay in its mystery.  As a filly, Rainbow had spent years wondering just how it was done.  

        There was a subtle crack in the air as Spitfire's brilliant orange mane began to slice through the wind just ahead of her wings.  Though it wasn't sonic, the sound bore no less weight.  Rainbow's eyes were peeled tightly as she watched, wondering at the possibilities.  Yet for all the years that had passed, one thing remained the same.  Spitfire's wings snapped out at the last possible second, and Equestria's Fastest Flier was still at a loss as to how the trick was done.

        "Rainbow?"

        The mare froze at the sound of the familiar voice.  It was tired, and old, and she hadn't heard it in years.  "Papa?"  It took her a moment to build up the will to turn around and look at him.

        Silver Lining sat rather sheepishly in the doorway to the seating box, eyes locked in the floor midway between himself and his granddaughter.  "It's been too long, Rainbow.  I–"

        His words were cut off by the tight embrace of the younger mare.  "I've missed you."

        He stiffened for a moment, and then his warm breath and bushy moustache both brushed past her ear.  She moved to step away, but he held her tight.  "I almost didn't come."

        Rather than bother with words, Rainbow nuzzled the side of his neck.  "Why not?"

        At the question, the older stallion released his granddaughter and found himself staring at her hooves, unable to look her in the eye.  "I was afraid you wouldn't want to see me."  

        "Well, that was dumb, Papa."  They shared a soft laugh, and then Rainbow gestured toward one of the puffy cloud seats her grandfather had no doubt built with his own hooves.  "Come on."

        Silver Lining removed his expensive gray jacket, revealing both his naturally gray coat and the puffy silver-white clouds that marked his special talent.  The garment was placed gently on a firm cloud coat rack, alongside his muted red scarf.  Finally ready, he sat down beside his granddaughter and stared out at the Wonderbolts.  "Did I get the right bet for the race?"

        "You could've gone for the Exacta," Rainbow answered calmly.  "Spitfire never loses these days."

        "You could beat her," Silver Lining responded.

        "Yeah.  Well, I actually did, a few years ago."  A sudden grip of regret claimed Rainbow's heart as she turned toward her grandfather.  "The Best Young–"

        "–Flyer Competition?  I've been there every year since you left, hoping to see you.  I was there when you did the Sonic Rainboom.  I couldn't believe it."

        "Why didn't you come see me?  Why didn't you say anything?"

        Silver shook his head slowly.  "You were with your friends, and the Wonderbolts, and the Princess.  I didn't feel like I had any place intruding on your life."

        "And what if I want you to be part of my life?"

        Beneath his moustache, Silver Lining wore an enormous grin.  "Then you've got me."  The grandfather turned back to his jacket, and a little of his happiness faded. "I've got something for you, by the way."  He rose, and with both his neck and a wing, produced a surprisingly large box from the folds of his coat.  It was polished wood, at least two feet wide and half as tall.  Though it lacked any sort of wrapping, its purpose was obvious as he set it on the little side-table beside Rainbow's root beer float and the huge foam hoof.

        "What's in that?"

        "Something I always meant to give you when you grew up, if you ever cared.  I heard you joined the Guard, Rainbow, so I figured now was a good time."  He pulled open the lid, revealing three rows of radiant, glimmering medals and colorful ribbons.  They lay between a scroll and a rather plain but sturdy knife.  "These were your father's.  I know what you think about him and what he did to you, but it was time you had them."

        Rainbow placed a hoof, closed the box, and shook her head.  "It wasn't about me, Papa.  It was about Mom.  And I'm not with the Guard.  It was just for a little while.  Just a week."

        "I'm glad to hear that, Rainbow, but these are still yours."  He shut the box, and set it on the ground beside her seat.  It took a moment for his eyes to return to the show going on outside their window.  "Maybe we should talk about something better.  Remember when we used to come to the shows?  You always knew who was going to win."

        Rainbow nodded.  "I was too young to bet, but you always bought me the tickets anyway.  And then I'd tell you about all the moves, and all the fliers’ signature tricks from those cards you kept buying me…"

        "And you'd ask me to teach you how to fly."  He chuckled.  "It really has been a long time since I knew anything about flying that you didn't."

        She looked him in the eye and smiled.  "Let's go, Papa."

        "What?"

        Rainbow hopped to her hooves.  "Flying.  You and me, like when I was little.  Come on."

        Silver Lining was shocked.  "You want to leave a Wonderbolts show before it's over?  What did you do with my Rainbow Dash?"

        "Papa, I can out fly the whole team now.  Hay, it won't be too long before I'm out there myself.  I know you never really liked sitting through these shows.  So come on."

        Rainbow found herself waiting as Silver Lining pulled on his scarf and jacket.  Neither her grandfather's slow and steady movement, nor the wing he put over her shoulder to pull her close had changed in the years since they last spoke.  "You're wrong, Rainbow.  Maybe I never really cared about the team or the stunts, but seeing you smile that way made me the happiest pony in Equestria."

        As the ponies walked out of Cloudosseum and into the gentle snow of Cloudsdale, Rainbow nuzzled her grandfather's neck.  "Happy Hearth's Warming, Papa."


- - -


        Hearth's Warming Day fell on December 18th that year, and it could not have come on a more beautiful morning.  Though the air was brisk and chilled atop the Mountain of Dawn, loving families within their homes had no concern for the chill or the snow.
 
        One small family was gathered in a warm living room, seated on couches and chairs around a roaring hearth.  Five ponies smiled at one another over warm cocoa and eggnog, soaking up every minute of pleasant conversation.

        "So Shining, what happened to your shoulder?" Nightlight asked his son, taking notice of the subtle white bandage that nearly blended in with the stallion's fur.

        "Just something from work," Shining answered, placing a gentle hoof on the itchy wound.  He saw no reason to trouble his family with how deep the wound had cut, or how close it had come to stealing away his life.

        "You've been busy, haven't you, Shining?" his mother, Twilight Velvet, pressed.  "The Crystal Empire and the Guard?  I have to wonder how you do it."

        The stallion shrugged, before wincing slightly at the motion of his shoulder.  His head ducked to the side, nuzzling Cadance briefly.  "I've been busy enough dealing with the Guard.  She's the one doing all the real work of running the Empire."

        "Oh, it's not so bad.  Pretty soon it won't even be an Empire anymore; just another Domain of Equestria.  I have plenty of ponies helping me out, too."  Cadance smiled at her in-laws as her magic set about distributing the presents from beside the fireplace into convenient piles for their recipients.  "Why, just a few weeks ago the Tsar of Stalliongrad and his son left.  The accountants and bookkeepers tell me Foresight was incredibly helpful in accounting for the thousand years they were missing."

        "Oh my," Nightlight began, suppressing a chuckle at perhaps the most boring description of a pony in the world.  "He sounds like your kind of stallion, Twilight.  Maybe you should try and meet him."

        The younger Twilight rolled her eyes at her father and shook her head.  "If he's anything like his younger brother, I'm not sure I want anything to do with him that way."  She and Shining shared in a brief but knowing glance.  "And really, I'd appreciate it if you didn't try and drop hints about my love life, Dad."

        "Oh, come on, Twilight.  He's only teasing."  Cadance turned from her sister-in-law to her husband and smiled softly.  "They already got one of their kids married.  No need to hurry now."

        The little peck on Shining's nose was appreciated, but the awkwardness of anything more intimate in his parents presence caused the bold guardspony to address them.  "Dad, why don't you start, since you're oldest?"

        "Well, I never…" he responded with an obvious humor, before his magic began to gently undo the wrapping paper.  The object within shifted gently to his pressure, curling and bending like fabric.  

        "Who's it from dear?" Twilight Velvet encouraged with a less than subtle nudge to her husband's midsection.

        "Oh, who cares, dear?  It will probably be obvious anyway.  I have to guess it's from Shining and Cadance, since it clearly isn't a–" his hooves tore away the last of the paper to reveal a "–book."  

        The younger Twilight placed a hoof over her lips to conceal a slight laugh.  "I studied some illusion spells to help Shining on a case this summer, and I figured I'd make use of them."

        "Always our little mage," Nightlight answered with a proud smile.

        "Archmage in a few months, if what I hear is true," his wife added.  "What book is it?"

        The stallion levitated a pair of glasses onto his nose and squinted down at the spine of the work.  "A Traveler's Guide to Bitaly, Trottingham, and Prance.  Thank you very much, Twilight."

        "Just wait 'til Mom opens hers," the young mare answered.  

        Clearly excited, Twilight Velvet grabbed the envelope sitting atop a long box in front of her.  It opened with barely any effort, revealing a pair of glossed paper slips.  "Are these airship tickets?"

        "For your thirty-fifth," Twilight answered.  "There are hotel reservations and a few other goodies to go with them.  Shining pitched in too."

        The guardspony answered her with a wink, keeping quiet the truth that he had covered more than three-quarters of the cost himself.  The salary of a librarian was, after all, not much in comparison to that of a Royal Guard Captain and co-regent to an empire.  

        "You really shouldn't have–"

        "Please, Mom, we wanted to."  Shining smiled, before his attention was stolen by a knock at the door.

        "I'll get it," Cadance answered, hopping up with help from her wings before anypony else could really react.  Shining couldn't help but watch her wander off toward the front door of their Canterlot home.  Only when she was out of eyesight did he turn back to his packages.

        He had chosen a long, thin box from his parents and pulled it up onto the couch when Cadance called to him from the door.  "It's for you, Shining.  One of your guards."

        Shining grumbled incomprehensibly as he rose from his seat.  "…better not have to go running down alleys on Hearth's Warming morning."  His magic lifted his helmet and cuirass from their place on the armor mannequin he kept beside the door, though both clattered to the floor when he saw who was waiting for him.

        "Hey, Shining."  The mare's voice was hoarse, but her smile was genuine.

        "Cadance, go ahead back in.  I won't be long."  The unicorn let his wife pass, and then welcomed the 'guardspony' mare into his entryway.  Her coat and mane were both cropped incredibly short, and beneath their color, he could see the raw red and char black of painful burns.  A heavy coat of rather rough wool covered her body from the cold, but her wings sticking out the sides clearly showed a shortage of healthy feathers.  

        She glanced over his house with a sort of awe.  "They pay you guardsponies this good?  Why didn't you just buy me a new wagon?"

        "Maybe I liked your company," Shining answered with a soft but gentle smile.  "What are you doing here, Going Solo?"

        She shook her head.  "You say that like you aren't happy to see me.  Don't worry, I won't take long.  The doctors just let me out.  Said I was finally fit to walk again, even if it takes a month or so more for my wings to get back.  They called it a Hearth's Warming present."

        "It's good to see you're okay," Shining responded.

        "Well, mostly.  There are a few places on my belly where the coat won't grow back, but that's the worst of it.  They said I had you to thank.  So that's why I'm here."  Then, to Shining's horror, she leaned up to his face and kissed him straight on the lips.  "Thanks."

        "Solo, you can't–"

        "I know," she answered, turning back to the door.  "That's why I had to, just once.  I figure I'll head out of Canterlot, maybe find myself a place over the ocean.  They say Prance is nice in the winters."

        "So you're just going to go back?" the guardspony asked.  "Selling on the streets?"

        "It's what I do, Shining."  The mare shook her head.  "What else do I have?"

        "You'd make a fine guardspony," Shining answered.  

        Solo turned with a confused glance.  "You're joking, right?  I can't really fight, and I almost got you killed."

        "Fighting isn't what makes a good guardspony, Going Solo.  It's about in here."  Shining's hoof tapped the center of her chest gently enough to spare her any pain.  "And you've got more of it than most recruits I've ever met.  I can teach fighting, and detective work, and whatever else you need.  But I can't teach that."

        She shook her head slowly.  "I don't think it's for me, Shining.  I should get going.  The train for Trottingham leaves in a few minutes."

        She turned, and made it halfway out the door when Shining's sight found him forced to speak up.  "You sure about that, Solo?"

        She paused briefly.  "Yeah.  Why?"

        "I never saw it under your vest before, but your cutie mark says otherwise."  

        She glanced back at the black spade symbol displayed point up on the thin fur of her flank.  "Maybe staring at my good side has you confused, Shining.  My special talent is making stupid gambles.  You already know my story.  It hasn't worked out for me so far."

        "I don't think so."  Shining stepped forward, walking out the door until he was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the mare.  "I think it says you were born to be a guardsponies partner."  His magic tugged his amethyst helmet out into the cold, and from within the brim, he produced a pair of playing cards.  The Ace of Diamonds, and the Ace of Spades.  "My friend Mark Down and I ran off with these from a casino in Neighples when we were still recruits.  We kept them in our helmets for good luck."  He replaced the Ace of Diamonds within his own helmet, but then held out its pair to the young mare.  "We were partners for as long as we had them."

        "You want me to have this?"

        "Call it a Hearth's Warming present," Shining answered.

        "I can see how you hooked a Bitalian Princess," Solo laughed.  "Alright, fine, give me two more good reasons why I should join up with the Royal Guard."

        Shining paused for a moment in thought, and then turned back to his home.  "Because then you can spend Hearth's Warming here with me instead of on a train alone.  And because I still have that bottle of Shetland Scotch you made me pay for in August."

        Without a word, Going Solo allowed herself to be ushered into Shining Armor's house.  The guardspony shut the door on the frigid December morning and accompanied his newest recruit back to meet his family, grateful for hard-won peace and precious company.


The End












I'd like to offer a final special thanks to my pre-readers SatoshiKyu, Roflknief, and DarkPhoenix once again, as well as thanking Kawasakikx125 for his fantastic cover art, and Keyesty for her assistance in translating the Russian language.

The support of these fine individuals as well as readers like you makes writing a real pleasure.  I hope you've enjoyed the story (and imagine that, two-hundred thousand words later, you probably have).  

If you're looking for more to read, here are a pair of links:

Where Loyalties Lie: Ghosts of the Past: Act 2 of Where Loyalties Lie.

From Stalliongrad With Love: For those of you wondering what ever happened to Red Ink, and whether or not he finally got the punishment he deserved from Celestia, you need look no further than this.

Once more, thank you all.  It's been great so far, and the rest of the acts can only go up from here.

-Loyal Liar