Where Loyalties Lie: Ghosts of the Past

by LoyalLiar

XI - Brayce Canyon

Rainbow soared through the night sky, relishing the chill against her coat as a stark contrast to the heat of the day.  The feeling of the cloud she was dragging against her belly made her want to lay down and embrace a good night's sleep.  There were more important things to do, though.

Ahead was her destination.  Two red stone mesas, so tightly connected that they looked like only a single mass from the direction of Brayce Canyon.  It wasn't more than a few miles by wing, but the winding passages of the canyons put plenty of distance between Rainbow's friends and the bandits who were their quarry.

As her cloud drifted down toward the rough brush covering the dusty ground between the stones, her ears perked up to the sound of singing.  At least, that was what the noise seemed like amidst the little gusts of wind that drowned out all other sound around her.  As she grew closer to her destination, the sound grew louder and clearer.  There were no words, or at least none she recognized; only a lingering sense of sorrow was.

Then their little campfire came into view from around the side of the stone.  Reckoning sat beside it, washing his eye patch as he tended to their dinner.  The cactus slices he had seasoned smelled like the Summer Lands to Rainbow.  Soldier On was nowhere to be seen, though her bags and coat still sat by the fireside.  With a flick of her wings, Rainbow hopped from her cloud and entered the firelight.  Reckoning smiled in the course of hurriedly replacing his eye patch.  "How'd it go?"

"It worked just like you said.  None of them even looked up."  Rainbow paced beside the fire, trying not to lose the adrenaline in her blood.  "There were at least twelve outside, and I didn't see Rocket.  There's a cave, but I couldn't get a good look inside.  Most of them were still awake.  I think they were having a party or something."  Her muzzle twisted at the thought of the bandits’ enjoyment.

The singing continued softly from the distance as Reckoning nodded.  "On was right, then.  We'll move in at sunrise."

"Why can't we go now?"  Rainbow shouted.  The singing paused for a moment, and then returned slowly.  Growling, the young pegasus mare scanned the horizon.  "Is that Soldier On?"

"Yeah."  The scout gestured with his good wing off to the left.  "She wanted to clear her head.  I think the kid's getting to her."

"Well then let's go save him!"
        
Reckoning looked up at Rainbow with a cold stare.  "Sit down and relax, Dash.  We've had this talk three times already, and I’m not about to have it again."

The mare gritted her teeth, collapsed on a stone opposite Deadeye, and folded her forelegs over her chest.  "I hate having to wait."

"I know the feeling," Reckoning answered, as he reached forward to rotate the cactus fruit on their spit over the fire.  "You just have to remind yourself that us waiting is what's best for him."

Rainbow pulled the sheath containing her transparent sword from her back and set it against her seat.  She settled down, staring into the fire.  Her patience lasted at most thirty seconds before her hoof began to tap on the ground.  

Reckoning's ears folded ever so slowly against the back of his head, until they were pinned flat against his mane.  He leaned forward, his muscles flaring with exertion as if the simple act of standing up were some great feat of strength.  When he was finally on all four of his hooves, he lifted the spit from over the fire, and began sliding the cooked and seasoned cactus fruit into his own overturned hat.  "Go bring this to On; it ought to be enough for the two of you."

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"You were gone for almost an hour, Rainbow," Reckoning replied, making a shooing motion with his wing.  "On's probably hungry, and she'll make for better company than me tonight."

"But..."  Rainbow wilted slightly at the disappointed glare that Reckoning gave her.  "It's not like we're going to have anything to talk about.  And she's kind of an asshole."

Reckoning shot Rainbow a sour glare with his single eye.

"Well she is.  I'm not the one saying we have to go running around killing guardsponies!"

Deadeye sighed.  "Do you remember what you thought of me when we met?"

"That's not the point―"

Deadeye cut her off bluntly.  "I don’t see the difference.  Give her a chance, Rainbow.  She wants to save your father just as much as you do."

"Probably more," Rainbow snapped, before her eyes widened as she realized what she had said.  "I mean..."  The words trailed off.

"You're still mad about him leaving you and your mother behind?  I'm not going to blame you for that, Rainbow."  Then Reckoning offered his little lopsided smile.  "That'd be something to talk to On about, if you can get her to open up."

Rainbow's shoulders rose and fell.  "Fine.  I guess I'll do it, if you really want to get rid of me that badly."

"I just need some space, Rainbow.  Also, between you and me, I'm not about to let a mare that size get hungry.  No telling what could happen."

The pegasi shared a chuckle as Rainbow collected Deadeye's hat and wandered away from the campfire toward the sound of Soldier On's mournful singing.

The pony had been so close.  So, so very close.  But a crippled leg and broken wings did not make for a fast escape, and a trail of blood left stealth impossible in the open wasteland that was Suida.  And yet as the limping pony struggled to flee, the warrior had to reflect that he had been a worthy foe, even if he was not an honorable one.

There had been four boars chasing him; he’d cut them down one by one, ambushing them and luring the group apart.  Now, the lone survivor was left panting, as sweat mixed with the blood dripping from the wound in his shoulder.  It wasn’t nearly a fatal wound, but the pony’s strange bone-sword stung like nothing else the boar had ever felt.

The pony spoke in his strange tongue, begging desperately for his life.  Even if he could have understood, the warrior would not have spared him.  Focusing the Arcana of his tusks, the warrior grabbed onto the pony’s neck, and twisted.  It was a dry, crisp noise which heralded a quick and painless death.  On reflection, it might have been more than the pony deserved.

Reflection ended slowly when the pony’s body rippled, revealing bristly gray hair beneath his bloodstained blue coat.  The boar leaned forward, taking in the sight.  

His life ended, with no greater fanfare than a little whistle and a bit of blood.

The Commander pulled the bone of his own leg out of the boar’s spine with a single sudden jerk, and the unfortunate creature collapsed atop a rapidly fading illusion.  Even as Discord’s magic faded, the Spirit’s voice reached his ears on the wasteland wind.

“I guess your plan worked out.”

“Better than I’d hoped,” the Commander answered coldly.

“How did you know it would work?”

The stallion wiped his would-be sword on the cleaner parts of the dead boar’s coat, before pinning it beneath one of his limply hanging wings.  “Because it worked on me.  Masquerade turned Morning Star against me.”

“Was he the one with the sort of yellow coat–“

The Commander’s words came with no more audible spite than usual, despite their obvious meaning.  “You turned him into a couch.”

“Oh, him!  No, no, see, it was supposed to be a love-seat.  But then I got to thinking about you and Celestia, and I realized there needed to be some more room for her huge...”  Discord’s utterances devolved into chuckling, until he noticed the growl of anger building in the Commander’s throat.  “Oh.  Right.  Uh, I’m… sorry for your loss.”

The soldier didn’t answer for a long moment, and when he did it was in a calm and level tone.  “You didn’t kill him.”

“It doesn’t mean I can’t be sorry, right?”

The Commander shook his head.  “You didn’t know him.  He didn’t mean anything to you.  I don’t need hollow apologies; I need directions.  Where are the camels?”

Discord seemed amused.  “Well, as long as we’re okay.  Point yourself toward the moon and you’ll be going the right direction.”

The Commander nodded.  “Can you teleport me some of the way?”

The spirit actually laughed at that.  “I can barely talk to you; as long as I’m still out back on pigeon duty, I’m not going to be of much more help for you, unless you need moral support.  I’m rooting for you up here!”  The sound of a cheap party noisemaker wheezed in the stallion's ear, and he winced from the uncomfortable sound. He glared in the general direction of Canterlot, and he could almost feel Discord sheepishly lowering a flag and a foam finger. "...moral support?"

“I have enough motivation to get back already,” the pegasus replied grimly.  “Although I may have to come back for vacation.”  The words were so dry on the stallion’s parched tongue that it took Discord a few seconds to realize the stern pony had made a joke.  The spirit’s laughter continued for some time, providing a background tune to the five-beat rhythm of the Commander’s limping gait on the desert ground.  

Only when the sound began to fade did chaos incarnate lose its amusement.  “My magic’s running out.  Remember our deal, Commander.  And good lu–“  

And then the stallion found himself alone once again.

Rainbow had been expecting to find Soldier On sitting against the mesa, but the titan of the Honor Guard was nowhere to be found.  In her place, the young pegasus found a very different pony.  Perhaps her coat was the same off-white, and her mane still the color of parchment, but in the light of the desert stars, they were of little concern.

The mare in the desert had not just lost the discipline of Soldier On’s tightly bundled, short mane; she had abandoned it altogether.  Strands of hair ran down her back and neck wildly, straying at times in front of the matted spots of her coat around her eyes.  She wasn’t crying, but that fact was clearly a new development from the way the trails on her cheeks twinkled in reflection of the midnight sky.  Some unknown force had spread her tears against what had once been a rigid sketch.  Gone were the hard lines of her shoulders, her stance, and even the way she looked at the world.  In their place were soft and rounded edges that bled into the darkness like water on charcoal.

“Hello, Rainbow.”

The younger mare shook herself in surprise.  She had assumed On’s thoughts had kept the earth pony from noticing her approach.

“Are you alright?”

“Fine.”  The answer was far too terse to be the truth, but Rainbow could tell easily enough that pressing the issue wouldn’t earn any answers from the ex-guardsmare.

The pegasus dropped Reckoning’s hat, and then sat down a good few feet to On’s side.  “Here’s dinner.”

On grabbed a piece of the cooked cactus and bit off a huge chunk.  Rainbow waited for a moment before taking a piece herself.  The fruit was juicy, though it didn’t hold the mare’s attention for very long.

“We call it ‘The Lullaby’.”

“What?”

“The song.”  On took another small bite of the fruit in her hoof, and swallowed it without bothering to chew.  “You were going to ask, weren’t you?”

Rainbow shrugged.  “I guess.  What’s it say?”

“That’s not a question for tonight.”  On wiped her cheeks with rather bushy fetlocks, and the watercolor mare was gone.  Back were the cold edges and the level gaze that set Rainbow off in just the wrong way.  If it hadn’t been Reckoning’s idea to talk, she knew she would have walked away then and there.  “You aren’t ready to hear my story.”

“Fine.  Whatever.”

On looked up grimly.  “Were you hoping to talk about something else, or did Reckoning just send you with dinner?”

Rainbow’s nose wrinkled, and she reared back.  “Hey!  I’m not just some waitress, you know!”

“I never said you were.”  On devoured another piece of the cactus fruit.  “But I thought you wanted as little to do with me as possible.  You can go back to Reckoning now.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes.  “Don’t sound like you’re gonna miss me so much.  Reckoning wanted some time alone.”

“Hm.”  The soldier seemed disinterested in Rainbow as she stared at a third piece of her dinner.  Her tone remained as level as the desert horizon.  “Well, I suppose I can foalsit you.”

Rainbow’s hoof battered a loose stone against the far-larger mare’s cheek.  She didn’t flinch.  “Screw you, On.”

“I was joking, Rainbow,” the mare noted flatly, brushing off her cheek before laying down on her belly and resting her chin on her forehooves.  “Sorry.”  

What followed was a chilling silence, echoing in the absence of the mare’s music and her sorrow.  Rainbow shifted on her hooves anxiously, and picked at a few more pieces of fruit, though her stomach was quickly satisfied.  Where her youth kept her from sitting still, the slightly older mare nearby seemed to be only a sliver removed from a statue.

“What’s wrong, Rainbow?  Can’t stand the quiet?”

The voice jolted her from stillness, though she resisted the urge to call out at the stallion’s voice.  For just a moment, she swore she could see him on the horizon.  She bolted upright, and stared for just a moment, before speaking to On with an obvious sense of urgency.

“Tell me about my dad.”

“What?”  Rainbow might have found herself surprised by the interest that On afforded to her distress, were it not for the distraction of the voice in her head.

“Oh, aren’t you going to tell her what you’re hearing?  Genius, Rainbow.”  Steel Lining’s voice was biting, sharp, and cruel.

Rainbow hadn’t really been thinking about the question; she just wanted a topic.  Having her request questioned left a sinking feeling in her gut, and for a few spare seconds, she struggled to come up with some purpose behind the question.  “I never got to know him that well.  The only time I ever really met ‘him,’ it was Masquerade.”

It took a rather large motion for Soldier On to sit upright, but for the first time in the conversation, she gave Rainbow her full attention.

“Steel Lining saved my life more times than I can count.  He―”

Unlike her first question, Rainbow suddenly realized what she was really asking.  “No.  I mean… I know he’s supposed to be some superhero-guardspony or whatever.  Bucking lightning bolts and wearing Commander Hurricane’s crazy magic armor and whatever.  It seems like that’s all anypony ever says.  But what’s he like?”

On smiled, just a little.  It frightened Rainbow, until she began to speak.  “That’s a much harder question.  Your father is…”  She closed her eyes in thought.  “I wouldn’t call him a quiet stallion, but he certainly is reserved.  You’ll have a hard time getting him to talk about himself, or even to tell you what he’s thinking.  It might be his way of trying to be humble.”

Dash’s curiosity found itself at odds with a bitter thought from the back of her mind.  She struggled to keep her tone level with her next question.  “So he’s like you?”

On shook her head, either missing Rainbow’s commentary or simply unbothered by it.  “Sometimes, I wish I was like him, but I’m not sure I could live his life.  He never lets himself get too attached to anypony.”

Rainbow’s hoof ground slowly over the pebbles and dirt of the desert as a way to control her growing irritation.  “Is that supposed to be why he flew out on my mom?”

That time, On clearly noticed exactly what Rainbow meant.  Her eyes narrowed subtly.  “I’m just telling you the truth, Rainbow.  If you don’t want to hear it, you don’t have to.”  On held her tongue for a moment, but Rainbow gave no further protest.  “I lost what I cared about.  He chose to give it up.”

“Or maybe he just doesn’t care,” Rainbow snapped.

On flinched.  “When you talk to him, you won’t think that.  He might not let you get close, but you can tell he cares.  Or, at least, I can.”  The words steamed in the settling heat of the desert night, before she picked up again.  “But foremost, he’s a leader.  There is a reason everypony calls him ‘the Commander’, after all.  That’s why I can’t do what he does.”

“Hold on.  Didn’t you start the whole rebelliony-revolutiony thing in Stalliongrad?”

“Did you think I woke up one day, sat down for breakfast, and decided that I really wanted to start a rebellion?  After all the work we put into getting things the way they were?”  On’s brow creased.  “I’m a farmer, Rainbow.  Not a leader.  You know how well I managed that when Celestia told me to take his place.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have tried to kill Luna―”

“I did nothing to her.  I didn’t pay for the assassin, or get the phage seeds.  All I did was choose not to speak up.”  On glared up at the sky.  “It’s better than she deserves.”

Rainbow ground her hooves on the ground.  “So its the same with you and Deadeye?  I get that you’d be mad that Nightmare Moon killed that one other mare, but it wasn’t Luna!”

On turned back to Rainbow.  The anger on her face was tainted by surprise and confusion.  “You think this is about Loose Cannon?”

“That’s what Deadeye said.”

The ‘farmer’ released a single breath in a snort that spoke of bitter amusement.  “That might be his story, but it isn’t mine.  And it sure as Tartarus isn’t your father’s.”

Rainbow’s wings flared, and the subtlest hint of smoke permeated the scent of the night air.  “Then I guess he’s an asshole too.  Would he have stayed quiet too, or would he have helped Masquerade?”  Before the earth pony could respond, Rainbow turned her back.  “You know what, I don’t even care.  Goodnight, Soldier On.”

“Rainbow, wait.”  On’s voice wasn’t desperate or rushed, but it did catch the younger mare’s attention.

“What?”

“I… that wasn’t fair of me.  Your father wouldn’t do what I did.”

“Why do you hate her so much, then, On?”

On took a deep breath.  “She took somepony very precious away from me.”

“Nightmare Moon wasn’t―”

“It wasn’t Nightmare Moon, Rainbow.”  On turned back to the sky.  “I’m not going to talk about it.  I’m sorry if that bothers you.  You should get some sleep; it won’t be too long before we move.”

A portly unicorn with a bellowing voice placed a hoof on the pegasus guardspony’s cuirass and shoved him backward.  “Was my first warning unclear?  Cadenza is in no mood to deal with your incompetence right now.

“Yes, but sir, the caverns―”

“If you are not off of this balcony in the next six seconds, I will make a hobby out of destroying your career.”

“Please, sir, listen―”

“Six.  Five.”

With an exaggerated sigh, the pegasus took to air.  “Please, at least let her know that we tried to get in touch with her.”

“As you wish.  Now get out of my sight.”

As the guardspony flew away, Sforzando Eccesivo opened the glass Prench doors to the balcony and strode back inside the House of Wig.  He was barely a moment into the parlor when he found himself accosted by a croaking yet powerful voice.

“I hope that wasn’t too much trouble, Sforzando.”  Count Powdered Wig, who had the almost impressive distinction of being the fattest unicorn stallion in the parlor, gestured to an open space on a couch opposite his armchair.

“Just another incompetent servant,” the Bitalian ruler replied.  “Nothing worth halting our discussions over.”  Sforzando took his seat, and turned to the mare at his side.  “Cadenza, are you alright?”

The pink alicorn found the strength to nod slowly, though she seemed to lack the drive for any more meaningful motion.  Her normally impeccable mane hung in a loose approximation of its usual style, casting a shadow across her features.  The Bitalian prince wrapped a foreleg over his daughter’s shoulders and pulled her close to his side.

“You look pale, dear.  Have you been eating enough?”  The mare’s voice belonged to the fourth pony in the room: Marquise Haute Couture of Prance was a delicately aging mare defined by clothing that would make most other nobles blush, given a look at their price tags.  The unicorn’s magic popped a cork from a bottle of champagne and poured a glass, even as it simultaneously assembled a plate of crackers and apple slices and other hors d'oeuvres 

Cadance stared at the luxurious platter that floated to her side of the parlor’s coffee table, though she made no motion to actually eat anything.  “I am fine.”

“If you insist,” the Marquise muttered, obviously unconvinced.

Count Wig added another thought.  “If there’s anything we can do for you, dear, do let us know.  I don’t promise that this conversation is going to be easy for you, Princess, but your father and Haute and I all felt that you deserved a say in it.”

He continued by placing his hooves heavily on the coffee table.  “We’re here to decide who the next Captain of the Royal Guard will be.”

“What?”  Cadance cocked her head.  “Princess Celestia chooses the Captain of the Guard.”

It would be unfair to say that the room erupted in laughter, but it certainly did break into a light chuckle.

“Sforzando, how did you manage to keep her so innocent?”

The prince of Bitaly coughed slightly into his hoof.  “I wouldn’t be so quick to use the term, Marquise.  Nopony stares down the Queen of the changelings or some ancient shade...”  Sforzando’s voice trailed off.  “Cadenza, what was his name again?”

“King Sombra,” the crystal princess whispered.

“Oh, it doesn’t matter now.”  Count Wig’s laughed broke down into a brief coughing fit, causing the rolls of fat on his belly to undulate with every violent motion.  By the time he was done, the room’s joviality had died.  “We needn’t worry about long-dead monsters.  The point, Cadenza―can I call you Cadenza?―is that Princess Celestia doesn’t have the slightest clue how to tell if somepony will make for a good guard.  I mean, just look at her most recent choice.”

“Watch your tongue, Wig!”  Sforzando roared, actually shaking the champagne in Cadance’s glass simply by his tone.

The fat stallion recoiled.  “I didn’t mean Captain Armor, Sforzando.  I was talking about the Baron’s son.  The new bodyguard.”

Sforzando’s fury evaporated like snow on the wings of the pony in question, though Cadance found herself needing a futher explanation.  “The Baron?”

“Oh, of course.  He prefers ‘Czar’.”  The way he pronounced the misspelled ‘C’ as a distinct syllable would normally have earned a wince from Cadance.  Instead, his words continued without pause.  “I’m, of course, referring to Watchful Eye of Stalliongrad.”

Sforzando grumbled at the base of his throat.  “A stallion with absolutely no respect for tradition.”

“Actually, he’s the reason I called this meeting.”  Powdered Wig poured himself a flute of champagne and took a slow sip.  “But let’s return to what you mentioned earlier, Cadenza.  You were partially right; we certainly aren’t the only ponies with influence over who gets chosen as Captain of the Royal Guard.    The other pony who helps advise Princess Celestia on that decision is her bodyguard.  In the past, each domain would put forth their foremost policepony or military leader for the position, alongside one or two candidates from within the Royal Guard itself, and the bodyguard would choose between them.”

Cadance nodded slowly.  “Shining said he got the job because Unending Vigil put him forward...”

Haute smiled and tilted her head slightly.  “Precisely.  He was one of the candidates and Commander... would it be Coil at the time?”

“No, the more recent one.  Councilor Lining’s son.”

“Ah, yes.  Commander Lining clearly thought that he would be the ideal choice, and so he got the position.  Now, I can’t claim we were all happy with the choice, but in the end, maintaining the status quo is better than taking power away.”

Cadance’s brow dipped.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Count Wig levitated a bit of cheese to his lips, before offering a wide smile.  “You’ve only lived through two Captains, if memory serves.  Captain Vigil had a very long... well, vigil.”

Polite laughter masked the fact that everypony in the room felt Wig was about as funny a pony as the average terminal disease.  He continued with utter disregard for their veiled lack of amusement.  “Both Vigil and Armor were commoners―”

“Vigil is from the line of Platinum, Wig,” Haute interrupted.

The Count huffed.  “An earth pony in the line?  I very much doubt that.  No, Vigil and the late Captain Armor had none of our blood―”  His eyes darted to Cadance.  “―and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.  But it does mean that none of our families have held Celestia’s ear for a while.  At least, not quite in the same way that, say, Lord Crucible did.”

“Who was Lord Crucible?”

“My uncle,” the old pony answered.  “The Captain of the Royal Guard before Vigil.  In his time in office, the Domain of Trottingham annexed the island of Shetland from the Domain of Canterlot, our foundries received contracts for all of the raw steel in the Guard’s armor and weapons, and we received immense benefits from the less tangible effects of his influence.”

Cadance stood up, wings flared.  “This is about political power?”

“Cadenza, please sit down.”  Her father reached up with a heavy hoof, though its touch on her shoulder was gentle.  “Nopony is here to offend you or insult you.  But you’re the ruler of a Domain now.  Some day, you’ll rule two domains.  If you hide from decisions like this, you’re going to be hurting your subjects.”

The alicorn gritted her teeth, but she allowed herself to fall back to the couch.  “I don’t like this; if we aren’t picking the right pony for the job―”

The Prench Marquise cut off her thought. “Oh, we aren’t putting somepony incompetent in place.  We always choose the very best.  But I think you’ll find that there are plenty of competent military leaders in Equestria.  As long as you stay away from the Flag family, you’re sure to do fine.”

Sforzando and the Marquise shared a chuckle that obviously brought some shame to Count Wig, who suddenly began to resemble a tomato.  “That isn’t funny.”

“Oh, live a little, Wig,” Sforzando advised, as his own amusement died down.  “What was the point of that diatribe again?”

“The point that I was trying to get to,” Powdered Wig began. “was that Stalliongrad is developing far too much power in Canterlot.  Watchful Eye’s son, Red Ink, is the first ‘noble-born’ bodyguard ever.”

“Noble-born is stretching it.  He belongs to the line of Cyclone.”  The Marquise’s disdain was potent enough in the air that Cadence almost felt the need to wipe off her face.  Or perhaps that was the spit that accompanied the way the Prench mare emphasized the first syllable of the ancient pegasus’ name.

“And again we’re getting distracted.”  Sforzando placed a hoof to his brow.  “Get to the point, Wig.  I would very much like to be back in Neighples tonight.”

“You have my apologies, Sforzando.  My point is this: Ink will want to choose another Stalliongradian as the new Captain.  Unlike the long line of nopony pegasus stallions who’ve preceded him, he has a predjudice.  We can’t allow that to win.  We’ve already seen what Watchful Eye’s ideals have done to Stalliongrad.”

Cadance’s eyes widened as a bit of her fighting spirit rose.  “Watchful Eye has done his best to create equality for his ponies.”

“And they’re perfectly equal, if one doesn’t mind living in a police state.”  Powdered Wig shook his head.  “Our families, Princess, have survived because our ways are needed by Equestria.  And now we have an obligation to protect those ponies from this ‘Tsar’ of Stalliongrad.  So now, I’m asking you three to back my proposal for the new Captain of the Royal Guard.”  The Count of Trottingham clapped his hooves once, and the wooden doors of the parlor opened in a burst of pale green magic.

“You called, Sir?” asked a mare, clad in steel.

“I was hoping to introduce you to some friends.”

She wasn’t some unnatural giant, but what Cadance could see of her physique beneath her armor was impressive.  Her mane was styled in a pair of buns, parted cleanly down the middle in what was obviously a mixture of noble fashion and necessary practicality.  Unlike the mane’s compromise, her harsh eyes were all business.

“Reflection,” she offered with a curt bow and a single hoof crossed in front of her chest.

“Properly, that would be Lady Reflection, the daughter of the late Lord Spitting Image, now head of the house of the same name.”

Haute Couture slowly lowered her flute of champagne.  “If memory serves, wasn’t old Spit’s heir a stallion?”

Reflection and Powdered Wig shared a glance and a minor chuckle.  The count spoke up.  “He won’t be of any concern to the Stable of Nobles, I assure you.  Certainly not compared to Watchful Eye.”

“What are you so afraid of, Wig?” Sforzando wondered aloud.  “Sure, he’s an alicorn, but―”

“The problem, Prince, is that Eye is a demagogue, and a cult of personality.  Every day, he preaches to his masses about ‘equality’, and his subjects eat up every word.  I do so hate to interfere in Stalliongrad again.  But he’s close to abolishing the idea of nobility in Stalliongrad, and I won’t stand for his ideas leaking out.”

“What’s so wrong with his ideas?” Cadance asked piercingly.

She hadn’t been expecting Reflection to respond.  “Have you been to Stalliongrad, your highness?  It is an icy hall of Tartarus, plagued with monsters in the wilds, and civil war in the streets.”

“I’d heard they had the lowest crime-rate―”

“Stalliongrad has no prisons, Princess.  The ‘Czar’ claims this is to avoid the legacy of Baron Frostbite, but it only provides an excuse for their black-cloaked soldiers to execute anypony who commits a real crime.  Few ponies are willing to go against that.  So instead, they turn to their ‘Czar’ to represent them.  Either he is a canny foe, to come up with such a tactic, or he is blind to the actions of his own subordinates.”

Count Wig waved a hoof.  “There’s no need to be quite so harsh against the guard of Stalliongrad, Reflection.  As history has taught us, a domain resembles the will of its ruler.”  The ruler of Trottingham turned to Cadance.  “If Watchful Eye’s ‘liberties’ start leaking out of Stalliongrad, other parts of Equestria will follow.  His philosophy may seem noble from a page, but it simply does not stand the test of reality.  I’ve tried to sway him from his approach, but he is resolved.  So now I turn to you, my friends, to help undo the damage he has already done to Equestria.”

“By my guess,” Haute Couture noted, “keeping him from having the Royal Guard in his pocket would only maintain the status quo.  We’d be no closer to ridding his influence.”

“The first step to turning the tide is to stop losing ground.”  Count Wig leaned forward, and lowered his head.  “But I’ve already set some other plans into motion.  In a few months, the ‘Czar’ will suffer a rather unfortunate political accident.”

“What?” Cadance rose again.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing drastic,” Wig replied.  “Just another step in our competition.  I have no intention of hurting anything but his pride.  With luck, he’ll step down and leave the domain to his more rational son, Foresight.  And that, my dear Cadenza, is where you come in.”

Cadance felt the room’s gazes settled upon her heavily.  She swallowed once, heavily, but she didn’t have a chance to ask before Wig began to speak again of his own accord.

“Foresight is a very reasonable stallion, but he shares some of his father’s tainted ideals.  We need somepony with a better outlook to temper those ideas.  Cadenza… we would like you to marry Foresight, and rule Stalliongrad.”

By way of response, Cadance said nothing.  As the tears slowly pooled at the corners of her eyes, she turned to the balcony doors, flung them open with her magic, and took off into the night.

“Hey, Rainbow”

The voice jarred the mare from her sleep, and she shot bolt upright.  “Deadeye?”  Her eyes scanned their little campground, only to find both Reckoning and On still fast asleep on their respective sides of the small fire.

“Guess again.”  The voice came from across the firepit in the center of their camp, where a stallion could be seen leaning on a guardspony’s helmet.

At first, she didn't recognize him. It wasn't the glow of the fire or the way he sat that gave him away, but the smooth black plating of the headpiece beneath his elbow. “Dad?  What are you―”  Rainbow shook her head, both to clear away her grogginess and to dispel the hallucination.  Though she felt a bit more awake, the figment remained.  “You aren’t even real!  Just go away!”

“That’s no way to speak to me, Rainbow.”  The silhouette placed the helmet on his head, and slowly walked around the fire.  It was only when he rounded the flames that Rainbow truly saw his face.  

Somehow, she’d expected him to be happy, or at least gratingly self-satisfied as Discord had so often been.  Instead, the blue-grey stallion simply stared at her with dead brown eyes, as the light of the fire glimmered off Commander Hurricane’s legendary armor.  “I’ve been hoping to talk to you for a while, Rainbow, but you keep pushing me away.  It almost makes me wonder if I’m really the one you’re out here for.”

Rainbow swallowed heavily, and for just a sliver of a moment, her father’s eyes locked onto her throat.  “N…no, I’m here for―”

“For a stallion who betrayed you?”  The Commander interrupted, before shaking his head.  “That’s still what you think about me, isn’t it?  The stallion who left your mother dying in the hospital when she needed me most.  The stallion who put a knife through your foalhood, perhaps?  That’s got a bit of a ring to it.”

“Screw you!”  Rainbow charged at him, head lowered.  She hadn’t really meant to hurt him, but that mattered little when his hooves moved.  He caught her across the neck with an armored shoulder, thrust himself forward, and bowled her over onto her back.  Before the vertigo of the sudden flip and the pressure of his blow had passed, his hoof cracked across her jaw, leaving her staring up at a sky with far too many stars.

“I don’t have time for you if you’re going to be a foal, Rainbow.”  He scoffed as he stepped away from her.  “Why do I even bother to try and help you, if this is what I get?  Some ‘awesome’ flier who can’t even get her hooves up in time to block an old, half-crippled stallion.  What happened to the Rainbow Dash who could buck lightning like her father, without needing a cloud?  What happened to the Rainbow Dash who killed a grown wyrm in single combat?”

“I never wanted to kill Smog!”

“Then you’re weak, Rainbow.  That’s all there is to it.  And tomorrow morning, if you don’t kill anypony in that canyon, you’ll be dead.  Again.  Just like your colt-friend.”

“I’m not… that’s…”  Rainbow struggled not just with words, but the motivation behind them as well.  The anger in her voice fell to confusion.  “I mean, he’s too old...”

Before she could complete her stuttering thought, her father began to laugh.  “Really?  That’s what you can come up with?  He looks plenty young to me.”  The Commander paced over to Reckoning’s sleeping form.  “Take some advice on love from your father.  All you need is determination.”

“I’d rather take dating advice from Twilight.  At least she wouldn’t abandon her foal!”

Steel Lining turned away from Dead Reckoning, wearing the smug grin that Rainbow had been expecting when he first approached.  “I got exactly what I wanted from that whore, just like Reckoning and Morning Star did.  The only difference is I got something else I didn’t really want on top of it.”  He shook his head.  “Then again, you are out here trying to save me, so I guess I can’t really complain.”

This time, Rainbow’s wings were burning when she lunged.  “Don’t talk about Mom like that!”  Her forehooves landed three blows against his jaw before he outright hurled her aside.

“Or what?  You’ll try that pathetic excuse for an attack again?”  He brushed a foreleg across his jaw, smoothing the offended part of his coat.  “You don’t even have the resolve to admit you want Reckoning here.  For Celestia’s sake, Rainbow, you can’t even admit it to yourself.  But you expect you can do anything to me?”

“I’ve got plenty of resolve!”

“Another lie you’re telling yourself.”  His head shook not with amusement, but disappointment.  “I might as well spare you the pain.”

The fire in the center of the camp had begun to die, and in the darkness, the Commander drew the sword strapped to his side.  Procellarum glittered in the starlight as Rainbow lunged forward.  She was fast, but his sword was far closer to its finish line than her wings to hers.  The ancient Cirran weapon’s gleaming edge contrasted against the dark fur of Reckoning’s mane.

“No!”

A second bolt of lightning fell from the sky, just as Hurricane’s sword cut down through the air.  It struck Rainbow’s father on his right flank, throwing him backward.  His body smashed through the fire pit, sending sparks flying every which way.  Just as he finally found his way back to his hooves, a midnight blue blur smashed to the ground before him.

“We shall assist you here, Rainbow Dash.”

“Princess Luna?”

“Nightmare!”  The Commander turned smoothly for his surprise, swinging his blade for Luna’s neck.

She didn’t react.  Rainbow had no time to even scream a warning before the blade met her flesh.  When it passed, it left no mark, nor did Luna seem the least bit troubled by the attack.  In fact, the Princess turned away from her attacker completely, and walked calmly toward Rainbow.

The Commander roared around the handle in his teeth, and swung again for Luna.

“Princess, look out!”

Though Luna remained facing Rainbow Dash, the tip of her left wing extended, catching Procellarum with a single feather.  The ancient sword snapped it in half with an ear-piercing crack of thunder.  Rainbow’s father dropped his broken weapon, and spread his wings to chase after Luna.  Again, she chose not to turn, and again, her gentlest touch reached out to meet him.  Where his coat met her leading feather in the subtlest of grazes, the appeared the spark of a tiny ember.  A moment later, only ashes remained.

“Dad!”  Rainbow launched herself forward toward what little remained of the stallion.  The same wing that had turned him to powder wrapped tightly around Rainbow’s body, holding her close to the alicorn.

“Calm thyself, Rainbow Dash.”  

“You killed him!”  Rainbow struggled in the Princess’ grip, but her efforts were in vain against Luna’s calm strength.

“I did nothing of the sort.  This is a dream, Rainbow Dash.  Nothing more.”

Rainbow’s struggles slowed as rationality overpowered emotion.  In the end, her only motion was the panting rise and fall of her chest against’s Luna’s coat and wings.  Luna held her tight as that too slowed. “Only a dream,” she whispered, running her feathers slowly down Rainbow’s back before releasing her.

Rainbow stepped away for a moment, and then shook herself.  “Thanks, Princess.”

“As I recall, when we last spoke, you had agreed to use my name.”  Luna chuckled.

Rainbow nodded slowly.  “Right, sorry.  Luna.  Anyway, thanks for coming to help me out.”

“Truth be told, I had found myself ‘in the area’.”  Luna smiled sadly.  “I was searching the dreamscape for the soldier, Dead Reckoning, and I found your troubles more pressing.”

“You were looking for Deadeye?  Is something wrong with him?”

“No, I would have gone to him now if there were.  He sleeps peacefully.  I was simply hoping to inquire about the progress of his mission.  But now I would prefer a chat, if you will spare me the time.  It has been too long since we spoke, and it is the least I can do to offer you reprieve from troubles.”

Luna stopped speaking for a moment, and then waved her hoof.  Gone was the desert horizon, and in its place, Rainbow found herself in a small sitting room.  Two cushions were placed beside a small fireplace, and the air was scented with lilacs and lilies.  At the Princess’ gesture, Rainbow took a seat, nestling herself into the down of the expensive cushion.  Luna joined her side, sprawling widely in a pose of exhaustion.  Rainbow took note of a bruise on her cheek, and a few dozen feathers out of place, as if the Princess had spent many recent hours in hurried flight.

Luna seized the initiative of the conversation before the pegasus could comment.  “You said something most curious to me.  Is that stallion truly your father?”

Rainbow nodded with hesitance.  “His name’s Steel Lining.  It seems like everypony just calls him ‘The Commander,’ though.”

“Did you not know him?”  Luna’s brow rose.

“I didn’t even know it was him until after Masquerade…”  Rainbow realized what she was saying and let the words trail off unfinished.  “We thought he was dead.  I still can’t believe it, honestly.”

Luna tilted her head.  “Why would he not tell you?”  Rainbow’s lack of an answer was answer enough for Luna.  She looked away slowly.  “Perhaps I am prying, but I had been led to believe your father was another stallion of your peculiar rainbow mane.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes.  “You’re thinking of my uncle Bifrost.  Everypony does.  He lives down by Las Pegasus.  That’s how he spends all his money.  I haven’t seen him since I was little.”  Rainbow felt a strange chill in her wings, and shifted toward the fire.  “My mom’s brother.  Papa didn’t like him very much.”

“I see.  Now, though, I must ask another question.  You and… ‘Deadeye’... are quite far from Ponyville.  I had not expected to find your dreams in his company.  Where are you, in the physical world?”

“We’re on our way to save my dad, down by San Palomino.”

Luna smiled.  “You and he are truly heroes, Rainbow Dash.  First you save my life, and now his?  One might think you made an occupation of it.”

“I’m trying not to.  My dad’s kind of a dick.”

“A… dick?”

Rainbow suddenly found it very difficult to swallow, with all the blood making its way up her throat toward her cheeks.  It took a moment for her to produce an acceptable comment.  “He’s not a very nice pony.”

“Ah.  ‘Dick’.  That would explain his dislike of my sister’s pet name for him.”  Luna waved a hoof at Rainbow’s raised brow.  “I should not have mentioned it.  If you do not enjoy his company, that would certainly explain your dream.  Though then I must wonder why you travel to his aid.”

Rainbow hesitated.  “It’s… uh…  I guess I just need to.”

“Do you?  So it is loyalty that compels you to travel?  I find that curious, Rainbow Dash.  You describe your father as a ‘dick’, you have never truly met him, yet you feel loyalty toward him?”

Rainbow had to think about the question for a moment.  The words that echoed in whispers within her mind came from the phantom of her father, but they did not concern him.  “I didn’t come for my dad.  I came to help Deadeye.”

“I see.”  Luna nodded.  “You certainly have a strong sense of honor, Rainbow Dash.  But I can only sense one other in your company, beside your friend.  Was my sister so frugal in assigning you a company of guards?”

Rainbow quite literally flinched.  “Uh… well, you see… Princess Celestia didn’t actually―”

Luna raised a hoof, silencing the struggling pegasus. “I had feared she would not condone your mission.  You need not fear my reprisal; I will support your actions.  But if she did not grant you an escort, who else supports you?  Applejack, perhaps?  Or Rarity?  I struggle to imagine Twilight Sparkle going against Celestia’s wishes.”

“Uh, no.  It’s… um… Soldier On.”

Luna stared blankly.  “What?”

“Soldier On.  You know, Stalliongradi mare, almost as tall as you―”

“I know well of whom you speak, Rainbow Dash, but I have to wonder why you would welcome the company of a traitor and a killer?”

“Deadeye said we needed somepony else.”

Luna closed her eyes for a very long moment.  Had Rainbow’s vocabulary included such a word in the first place, she would have forever tied ‘inscrutable’ to the expression on the princess’ face.  Regardless, when Luna did choose to speak, it was with a resolved tone.  “Interesting.  I will ask him directly, then.  But first, there is one other thing that we should discuss before we part ways.  This dream of your father; has it happened before?”

Rainbow hesitated.  “I’ve heard his voice a couple times, but I’ve never really seen him.  Not like that.  Why?”

Luna nodded slowly.  “The pull upon your soul from my sister’s spell is growing stronger.  I was afraid that this would be the case.  If you recall my proposal―”

Remembering Reckoning’s warning, Rainbow shook her head.  “I’m fine, Luna.  I can tough it out.”

“This is a most serious matter, Rainbow.  I would at least have you hear me out.”

The pegasus shook her head.  “Look, Luna, I’m sorry.  I get it.  You’re worried.  But right now, I just want to live my life, save my stupid dad, and get back to Ponyville without anypony sneaking around doing crazy magic on me.  I’ve had enough of that for one lifetime, okay?”

Luna wilted at the forceful refusal, though the expression only lasted a moment.  “If you insist.  I will gift you a calmer sleep, Rainbow.  Farewell.”   

Twilight stopped on the street, panting.  She knew her hooves were resting on the street by the fact that the snow was two inches shallower there than on either side of the path.  She moved a hoof to wipe the sweat away from her brow, only to find it literally frozen into her fur.  Despite the trouble it had caused, she found herself incredibly grateful for the heavy black jacket Rarity had fashioned.

“Damn, it’s cold,” Going Solo observed, as if Twilight had somehow managed not to notice.  “Do you know any heat spells?”

The youngest Archmage in the history of Equestria rolled her eyes.  “No, Solo, for the seventh time, that’s Empatha.  We should just keep going for a few hours, until we reach Trotsylvania.  If you want fire before then, it’s your job.”

Solo shivered, though Twilight got the sense that the motion wasn’t from the cold.  “I’d rather freeze to death, thanks.”

It was the sort of comment that the inquisitive unicorn would have pressed on, had it not been for the interruption of snow crunching beneath the runners of a sled coming up the path.  Out of the haze of the constant snow of Stalliongrad came three black-clad figures.

From overhead, Solo’s hooves wrapped around the unicorn’s shoulders.  “Twilight, what are you doing?  Run!”

Twilight held up a hoof, and also held her ground.  “Relax, Solo.  They’re the Stalliongradi guard.”

Solo released her ward, though she remained hovering as if hoping to remain out of reach of land-bound ponies.  “Princess Celestia’s gonna be pissed at me if you’re wrong.”

There was no time for further conversation as the sled pulled up alongside the two waiting ponies.  Three Black Cloak stallions stood harnessed in front of the enormous maple vehicle.  It looked almost like a noble’s carriage from Canterlot, complete with gold trim and family crests emblazoned on each side of the door.  Twilight didn’t recognize the red five-pointed star on a gold circle any more than she did the rest of the vehicle.  A glass window set into the cabin door looked in on a well cushioned chamber, though Twilight couldn’t see its occupant in the relative darkness.  Her attention didn’t stay on the vehicle long enough to get a better look, as the stallions pulling the opulent thing through the snow began to speak.

"Посмотри-ка на эту. На ней одна из наших курток. Думаешь, из мятежников?"

"Скорее воровка. Ты хоть раз видел мятежника, разгуливающего вокруг в одной из наших? Они дорогие, эти куртки."

"Хотя, выглядит, как по ней шита."

"Бьюсь об заклад, она одна из ‘подруг’ коменданта Росчерка. Посмотри на другую. Её явно 'подпалило'."

Twilight scowled at the light chuckle of the ponies.  “I, uh…  Мы... хотим... попасть в... Трысьсильванию.”

“Explain?” Solo whispered.

“I have no idea what they said,” Twilight replied in kind.  “Something about ‘tan lines’, I think.  I asked if they could take us to Trotsylvania.”

The door to the sled opened just a crack.  From the shadows within, a mare’s voice with a thick Trotsylvanian accent called out.  “They will not understand you with such a thick accent, Tvilight Sparkle.  Come, join me, and we will speak a more civilized tongue.  ”

Twilight looked at Solo, and Solo replied with a look that quite eloquently wondered if the voice was ‘for real’.  She was barely stifling a laugh, behind both her hooves.  A gesture from the archmage answered the question, and the guardsmare recruit moved to the carriage door.

Twilight followed, placing a hoof on the folding step she found offered, and entered a different world entirely.  The carriage was upholstered in red silk with golden buttons.  Two couch-like seats faced each other across a small coffee table of polished maple, fixed to the floor.  Opposite the door, a fireplace of stone was set into the wall, keeping the room toasty in stark contrast to the outside weather.

Solo had taken a seat on the couch closest to the ‘front’ of the carriage, as far away from the open flame of the fire as possible.  Opposite her would-be bodyguard, Twilight caught the first glance of her host.  The mare was a unicorn, who couldn’t have been more than Twilight’s age.  Her scarlet mane framed a face paler than the snow covering the landscape.  A tightly-fitted dress clung to her slender form in a muted red that served to accent the fiery nature of her mane.

She licked her lips as Twilight climbed into her carriage.  “Vell, vell.  My dear Tvilight.  It is such a pleasure to make the acquaintance of a heroine.  I ahm Countess Padayuschaja Zvezda, though you are welcome to call me Star.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Countess.  I’m Twilight, and this is my friend Going Solo.”

“Solo.  An interesting name.  Well, I will be blunt.  These are dangerous times, and I find myself wondering what it could be that brings two Canterlot mares here to Trotsylvania.”

“We’re looking for my brother,” Twilight told her.  “He was chasing a criminal from Canterlot when―”

“I ahm quite conscious of Sir Armor, Masquerade, and her plot.”  Solo coughed to muffle a laugh, earning her a subtle glare.  “Given the curfew that Predvidenie put in place, I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire Domain knew her name.”  For a moment, a glimmer of anger appeared on Star’s expression.  It didn’t last long before she once again became her level self.  “But if you are wishing to find somepony in Stalliongrad, you must go to the city at the heart of it all.  Fortunately, I can be of some great assistance in this matter, if you will in turn help me.  You see, I have heard rumor of a unicorn stallion involving himself in the civil war, from one of the old abandoned castles.”

“Abandoned castles?” Solo asked.  “That doesn’t sound creepy at all.   I didn’t sign up to play Daring Do, Twilight.”

Twilight placed a hoof on Solo’s hind leg.  “Relax.  They’ve all been empty for thousands of years, since Commander Hurricane’s time.  I’ve even been inside one before.”  She once more faced Countess Star.  “You’re talking about Castle Black, right?  Near the ruins of Coltpenhagen?”

“I told you exactly as I had heard.  ‘One of the old castles’.  I would assume either they referred to Castle Black, or to Onyx Ridge.  There is, of course, the Castle of Nightmares as well, but I doubt anypony would brave the curse.”

Twilight rolled her eyes.  “There’s no such thing as a curse.  Arcana doesn’t work that way.”

Countess Star seemed amused.  “Oh?  Then perhaps there is a better name for the magic of that place.  Nightmare Moon didn’t simply leave her home unguarded, after all.”

Twilight visibly winced, earning a concerned glance from Solo.  “Well…  I guess Onyx Ridge and Castle Black are easier to reach anyway, and they’re both in the direction we want to travel.”

Solo snorted, unable to contain her comment any longer..  “You Stalliongradians sure like your things named after ‘black’ stuff, don’t you?”

“Don’t be rude, Solo,” Twilight cautioned.

Countess Star, however, humored the comment with a laugh.  For a seemingly pleasant, if over-the-top mare, Solo had to reflect that the echoing chortle was surprisingly villainous.  “We chose the color because it stands out well against the snow,” the noble concluded.  “And because that its the color of the stone one finds if one digs beneath the ice.”

“I’d heard Onyx Ridge was destroyed,” Twilight noted.  “Something about dogs, or wolves…?”

“Vargr,” Countess Star replied.

“What’s a ‘War-gur’” Solo wondered aloud.

“That isn’t her accent, Solo,” Twilight corrected, taking on a scholarly tone that Solo was quickly learning to dislike.  “They’re called ‘Vargr.’  Or ‘wargs’, in more modern Equiish.  Giant, carnivorous diamond dogs who carve crystals to do magic.”

“Ah,” Solo replied sarcastically.  “Well, that sounds much more safe.  Now I really think it’s a good idea to go searching old, abandoned castles.”

“If you could get some Black Cloaks to go with you, it would be very safe indeed.  Their leader made something of a specialty out of hunting the volf-beasts  And that is where my proposal comes in.  Though that, I believe, can wait.  It is still an odd hour of the night, and I had intended to catch up on my sleep as I traveled.  You are welcome to do the same; you certainly seem fatigued.  Tomorrow is what you would call ‘Tsyklon Day’, and you will enjoy the hospitality of Trotsylvania Manor and the Zvezda family.  We can worry over castles and monsters when that time is past.”

Twilight smiled, nodded, and laid herself down on the cushioned seat.  Solo wasn’t quite so quick to accept the strange mare’s offer, as she whispered a few quiet words more to herself than to Twilight.

“I’ve got a real bad feeling about this…”

Sundown Point looked so small from overhead, a few hours before the sun rose.  Just a little crack in the dusty landscape, filled with maybe two dozen ants.  Maybe they walked on four legs, and lay in half-drunken slumber following the previous night’s party.  Maybe they spoke Equiish, and wore the clothes of ponies.  But in Rainbow’s mind, the little dark specks in the shadows had to be ants.

Ponies wouldn’t cut off a foal’s wings.

The thunderhead rumbled against her belly, just before Deadeye spoke.  “You’re sure you filled this thing?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes.  “I’m a weather team manager, Deadeye.  I know how to fill a cloud.”

“Weather team manager…”  Reckoning idly scratched his chin.  “Kinda weird to think of you doing such a boring job.”

“Watch it.”  Rainbow tapped the cloud, feeling the little shocks jump onto her hoof.  “It’s good pay.”

“I’m not saying it isn’t; just that it doesn’t seem like your job.  When I hear ‘weather team manager’, I don’t think of a cute young mare who’s the best flier in Equestria.”  Rainbow couldn’t help but feel her cheeks grow the slightest bit warmer… at least, until he continued.  “I imagine some old stallion who’s spent his whole life pushing clouds and finally got a chance to sit behind a desk because he complained about the arthritis in his wings.”

Rainbow shot her now-young friend a serious glare.  “Really?  That’s funny, ‘cause when I think of a guardspony, I usually imagine a crazy old stallion who spends all his time in Zebrica, whining about how he isn’t in Canterlot and hallucinating about back when guardsponies used to matter.”

“Low blow, Rainbow.  Low blow.”  Reckoning shook his head, only to stop with a glimmer in his sole remaining eye.  “There she is.”

Rainbow darted to the edge of their little thunderhead and carefully leaned forward to get a better look below.  Given her size, and the lack of effort she put into concealing herself, Soldier On wasn’t a particularly difficult pony to spot.

Her duster swayed in the morning breeze as she approached, hoof after hoof crushing down on the dust.  She had donned a black cowpony hat, which cast a shadow over her eyes.  Her hooves gleamed with skysteel bladed shoes, whose wings stuck out behind her like spurs.    

One of the bandits, a dusty orange earth pony, had enough lucidity left from the previous night’s party to see her approaching.  “Hey!  Hey, you!”

“Where’s Sundown?” On asked.

The bandit’s eyes widened. “Everyone!  Everypony, get up!  There’s somepony here, lookin’ for the boss!”

“You idiot!” another shouted.  “She’s the one from yesterday!  The one who tried going after Ace ‘n Jig!  Get ‘er!”

The orange lookout turned around just in time to see On’s hoof jab into his throat.  Her hoof came away red, and he collapsed with a gurgle.  Before the other stallion who had shouted could clear the distance to her, Soldier On ‘drew’.  Her right hind shoe rose into the air as her body coiled back for an Apple-family two-legged buck.

A sharp tug on her shoulder pulled Rainbow back before she could see the weapon find its mark in the bandit’s body.  “Whoa!”

“You need to get moving, Rainbow!” Reckoning ordered, pointing his good wing at the cavern in question.  “I don’t see the foal from here, so they’re probably keeping him in the cave.  Go fast, get the kid, and get out.”

Rainbow nodded, and spread her wings, only to be stopped by another touch of Deadeye’s hoof on her shoulder.  She turned back to face him, anticipating his warning.  “I know.  ‘Be careful.’”

“Sure doesn’t look like you know it.  You should at least get your sword out.”

Rainbow reached down to her side and pulled her transparent blade out from under her poncho.  For just a moment at the site of the skysteel, she thought of Papa.  What would he think, if he could see her?

Then the thought was gone, like lightning, replaced by the same hoof on her shoulder.  “Come back in one piece, Rainbow.”

“Like something else could even happen.”  Rainbow leapt off the cloud, and almost immediately regretted her parting comment.  It had sounded so much more awesome in her head.  Still, she wasn’t about to turn around and look like a total ditz to Reckoning.

As she fell into the canyon with her wings at her sides, Rainbow turned back to where On was distracting the bandits.  One of them swung for her face with a steel shoe of his own.  She caught the attack on the inside of her own leg, and then twisted him around so that his foreleg was pinned behind his back like the victim of a schoolhouse bully.

The difference was, she didn’t stop pushing the leg forward when his shoulder found the limit of it’s joint.  Rainbow didn’t see the end of the motion, but she did hear the crack of bone, and the ear-piercing scream.  Thankfully, the sound was short lived, though the second crack of bone told Rainbow that On hadn’t simply let go.

The pegasus spread her wings mere feet from the ground, and she felt dust rise against her belly as she soared into the little crag that led into the cave at the edge of the canyon.  Once she’d lost her fall, it was simple enough for her to fold her wings again and fall to her hooves.  Flying was great, but even she wasn’t stupid enough to try it in a cave―and a dark one at that.

As the sounds of pitched battle and pain continued, incredibly muffled, from the light just behind her, Rainbow focused on what Reckoning had taught her.  It was dark, and light came from fire.  It didn’t take long picturing the severed wing On had thrown on the table the previous night to create the sensation of heat on the tips of her wings.

The cave was bigger than Rainbow had expected.

A lot bigger.  

She could probably fit her whole house inside, were it not for the miniscule size of the entrance.  And that was just the first ‘chamber’.  Even in the little lights of the fires on her wingtips, the little tunnels to other parts of the cave were obvious.  She probably would have continued to examine the space if it had been empty.  However, the moans of at least a dozen sleeping, hung-over train robbers disturbed by her flaming wings suggested that there were more pressing matters for her attention.  A deep breath snubbed out the fires on her wings before anypony could wake up, but it also presented a new problem.

As the firelight disappeared, the cave was plunged into darkness, and Rainbow could no longer see where the robbers sprawled out on the floor were, any more than she could see where Rocket was being kept.  And while the cave was was big enough to fly in, her flapping wings and the gusts of wind would be more likely to awaken the bandits than the lights of her tiny flames.  Though she was the best, a quiet flier Rainbow was not.

That left only one option.  Rainbow slowly, hesitantly, stretched a hoof out in front of her, remembering that she had at least a few feet until the first bandit.  She felt only the cold dirt of the cavern floor.  

Then came another step.  And another.  Dirt crunched underhoof, and a loud snore stopped Rainbow in her tracks.  Her heart skipped a beat, and she held her breath around the handle of the sword in her mouth.  What followed was bitter silence, save the snoring of the bandits.  Were it not for the echo, the noise might have been helpful in telling where the ponies were, but given the resounding sound, it was hard to tell where the voices had even come from.  

Another step.  Another crunch.  Her hoof shook as she stuck it forward.  Crunch.  Step.  Crunch.  Step.

The rough feeling of dirty fur.

“Huh… who… Spurs, I swear…”

Rainbow pulled her hoof back, and listened in silent terror to the sound of the other pony momentarily flailing in the dirt, trying to find her hoof.  She wasn’t sure what to do, so Rainbow went with her instincts.  Don’t wait; act.  She took a step forward, and leapt clear over the stallion laying on the floor.  

The crunch of her hooves on the ground left Rainbow wincing, but she wouldn’t have turned back to see if the sound had woken anypony, even if her eyes could have seen them rouse.  She pressed forward through the dark, feeling for the walls.

“Left, Rainbow.”

Her eyes widened.  She’d heard enough voices in her head, between Fallaner and the phantoms of her parents, that the sound itself wasn’t a surprise.  But it was a mare’s voice.  A young mare, at that.  Probably younger than Rainbow herself, though with a sterner edge than she would have found in the voices of any of her friends.

She hesitated for a moment over a dozen different questions she couldn’t ask aloud out of necessity for silence.  Who did the voice belong to?  Could she trust it?

When the sound of a body shifting heavily against the dirt echoed through the cave, Rainbow’s decision was made for her.  She turned left, held out a hoof in front of her, and walked forward.

“Little bit too far.  You’re looking for a hole about the size of a doorway.”

She shifted a little bit back toward the way she had been facing and progressed forward.  Soon, her hoof found the cold stone of the cavern wall.  She slid her way along it, using her wing to stay close by.  It only took three strides before she found the path in question.

The flash from outside sent a single beam of blinding white light into the room, but the crack that accompanied it echoed deafeningly for what seemed like a lifetime.  Rainbow hadn’t been frightened of thunder or lightning in years, but the rousing train-robbers put ice in the mare’s heart.  She lunged into the darkness of the deeper chamber.

“Wait here.  They’re all headed outside.  Your friends did you a favor.”

The voice had clearly meant it to be a calming comment, but Rainbow’s heart panged for Reckoning.  Would he be safe out there, with all those bandits?  She almost turned back to check.  Only an echo held her hoofsteps.

It was a sniffle.  A little foal, hurt and lonely.  She turned to the darkness, and closed her eyes.  The fire came faster this time, though the flames were barely larger than a single feather on each wingtip.

In the firelight, Rainbow saw two ponies.  Rocket was tied with his back to a stalactite.  Dried blood on his back spoke to the wound concealed by the ropes.  The little stump where a wing should have been.

The other pony’s eyes shot wide for a little splinter of a second, before they narrowed into something like annoyed amusement.  “Rainbow Dash?  Not exactly the pony I was expecting.  You’re with Stoikaja now?”

He was an earth pony, with a coat that sat somewhere between orange and yellow, a red mane, and eyes to match.  Painted in the blue light of Rainbow’s wing-flames, he took on an eerie, almost unnatural purple sheen that highlighted the wrinkles around his snide grin.  Steel shoes decorated his hooves, though Rainbow’s eyes were drawn to the open scar at the base of his neck.  It was black, sickly, and looked as though it ought to have already killed him.  The loose neckerchief around his neck would have covered it, had it been pulled up just a bit higher.  And where his cutie mark should have been, she found more plain sunset-colored fur.  It might have warranted a question, were it not for the urgency of her objective.

“Let Rocket go!” Rainbow shouted, grateful that the curve in her sword’s handle allowed her to speak.

“My, my.  Straight to business. Well, Rainbow Dash, my name is Sundown.  I’d be lying if I said it was a pleasure to meet you under these circumstances.  You see, dear little Rocket here is very important to me at the moment.”

The foal stirred.  “R-Rainbow Dash?“

“Quiet, Rocket.  The grown-ups are talking.”  Sundown returned to attention to Rainbow, where he noted that the fires on her wingtips had doubled in size.  “You know, I have to confess I’m surprised dear old Stoikaja hasn’t killed you for doing that.”

“He’s distracting you, Rainbow.”

Rainbow stepped toward Rocket, only to have the leader of the bandits remove one of his shoes.  She knew perfectly well what it implied.  She hesitated for a moment, worried for Rocket’s sake.  “Just let her go, and you can leave.” she offered.

“Oh, that’s a delightful deal, but here’s the problem.  If I take that deal from you, what happens when your bigger friend shows up?  Stoikaja isn’t exactly the forgiving type, and neither are the San Pal Rangers.  So I’m gonna walk out of here with little Rocket, and you’re not gonna stop me.”

“You expect anypony to just let you go?!  After you cut off his wing?!”

Sundown scoffed, taking obvious offense.  “That would be plural, and don’t insult my aim, filly.  I’m the best bucking shot in San Palomino.”

Her entire wingspan flared into fire.  “Let him go, now!”

“Duck!”

The bladed shoe whistled through the air, shaving away a few of Rainbow’s hairs, and drawing a drop of blood from her ear.  She could still hear his voice when it was done.

“I can’t let him go.  Not until I’ve lost you, and Stoikaja, and the Rangers, and whoever else is following me.  So get out of my way.  I ain’t gonna hurt him.”

“You expect me to believe that?  After what you did?”

“Stoikaja knows the rules―heck, she practically wrote ‘em back in Stalliongrad.  Now, Rocket ‘n I are leavin’, and if you don’t wanna get hurt, I suggest you get out of the way.”

“Rainbow Dash, help!”

Rainbow felt helpless.  She needed to do something.  Her own mind tore her in half as she wondered over her options.  Yet when she needed it most, the voice in the back of her mind was silent.  

Another strike of thunder echoed through the cave.  Rainbow swallowed slowly, and turned back toward the entrance to the cave.

“That’s right, big-shot.  Just head back on out an―”

She felt the crackle of electricity between her legs.  She reared up, and bucked as hard as she could.  The crack of thunder filled the room, echoing amongst the stone walls.

But the lightning never came.

“I don’t know if that’s supposed to be pegasus magic, or what, but if ya try something again, I’m liable to put one of these shoes in yer neck.  I’m the fastest draw in the San Pal, and the straightest shot to boot.”

“Rainbow!  Help!”

The pegasus spread her wings, dropped her sword, and took a deep breath.

“Don’t!”

That time, she didn’t listen to the voice.  She turned, and flew as a blur.  The clash of hoof on steel was the only herald to a sharp pain on her cheek, well below but in line with her right eye.  She howled in pain, even as her hooves wrapped around Rocket.  What should have been a smooth flight turned into a painful tumble, as she wrapped her wings and legs around the foal to protect him.  They rolled together, until Rainbow’s back slammed into stone wall on the far side of the cavern.

It took her too long to regain her sense of direction.  By the time she was ready to stand, she found another steel shoe against her throat.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you, Rainbow Dash.”

“Are you actually that stupid?” called a familiar voice from the entrance to chamber.

Shocked, Rainbow twisted toward the welcome sound. “Deadeye?”

The one-eyed stallion smiled, carrying a little green flame on his wingtip for light.  “Look, bandit, maybe you haven’t thought this through.  So let me help you out here.  You want to be the pony who slit Rainbow Dash’s throat?  You want me and Soldier On out there to go back to the Princesses who’ll judge your soul, and tell them that you killed her because you wanted to get away with your treasure after you robbed a train?”  Deadeye had the gall to laugh.  “If you think the Rangers are trouble, you should really meet a Night Guard.  Here’s your chance not to have that happen.”  The scout stepped out of the way of the exit.  “I can’t give you a pardon… but I’ll give you a head start.”

Sundown looked down at his hoof, and then up at Deadeye.  And then, without hesitation, he ran.

“What a great stallion,” Dead Reckoning muttered, before walking across the cave.  He only paused to pick up Rainbow’s sword between his teeth.  “Hmph, Rmpckpt”

“What?” the foal asked.

Reckoning took a few more steps, dropped the weapon at Rainbow’s hooves, and repeated himself more audibly.  “I said ‘Hey, Rocket’.  You doing alright?”  It was clear from the flash of feeling across the stallion’s scarred face that he regretted the question almost immediately.  

“I’m fine,” the foal lied.  “Thanks to Rainbow Dash.”  And then he grabbed onto her side.

Reckoning turned to the mare and rolled his eye.  “It’s a bit of a miracle that Rainbow is fine, though.  Is your face alright?”

“Well, I can’t exactly see it right now,” Rainbow snapped, irritated.  “Probably better than yours.  Is On okay?”

“Better than you were,” Reckoning answered.  “But we should get going.  I don’t like leaving her alone out there.  But we’re going to have a serious talk about acceptable risks.”

“Or risks at all.”

Rainbow shook her head; she’d hoped it was a small enough motion to escape notice, but Reckoning’s raised brow told her he had clearly seen.  “Something wrong?”

“Just… thought I heard something.”

Reckoning looked to Rocket thoughtfully, and then moved to help Rainbow to her hooves.  As his good wing wrapped over her back to pull her up, he whispered in her ear.

“Your dad’s voice again?”  When Rainbow gasped, he explained.  “Princess Luna told me last night.  I guess she talked to you first.”

“Why would she―”

“Because she’s worried.  And I am too.  But we’ll talk about this later.”  The three pegasi began walking out of the cave together, though only one of them could hear the parting words of the conversation.

“You don’t need to be worried about hearing me, Rainbow, but you can’t be so reckless.  We’re all counting on you to save Dad.”

On’s hoof came down on the crown of the bandit’s head, and the shudder she felt from his flesh told her that he hadn’t felt a thing as he died.  Her instincts, her Endura, and her mental count of the bandits in the canyon all told her he was the last of her immediate threats.  The voice that rang out in the remaining half of her right ear told her otherwise.

“Stoikaja?  Damn it, he said I could go if I left the foal behind!”

“Are you going to keep running?”

Sundown shuddered in place.  “I know what you used to do to the Black Cloaks who ran away!  I’m not turning my back!”  He ripped off a shoe, and bucked it straight into On’s chest.  She didn’t flinch as the steel bounced off the breast of her duster, even as a stripe of blood began to stain the fabric.

“So you really did fight for the rebels.”  Her eyes settled on the scar in his neck.  “And Roscherk caught you.   The black dagger hurts, doesn’t it?”  

He bucked another shoe.  This time, On’s hoof moved with unnatural speed, swatting it out of the air mere inches from her face.  Again, she ignored where the blade left a shallow gash in her flesh.

“Please, Stoikaja… All I wanted was the money, just like you.  When the Black Cloaks…”

On walked slowly toward the stallion.  “You think I wanted money?”  With every fall of her titanic hooves, little pebbles and dust rose from the canyon floor.

“That’s what the rebellion was about!” Sundown yelled.

On’s eyes caught Rainbow, Reckoning, and the foal coming out of the cavern.  She held up a hoof, advising them not to involve themselves.  They took it as a sign to stay inside, and watch from around the rocks.  That was fine by her.

Using the same leg that had guided the others, On struck Sundown’s jaw with the back of her hoof.  It flipped him over completely, and left him skidding across the rough ground.  “Maybe for the others.  But for me, it was never about money.  It was about getting rid of ponies who didn’t deserve power.  Evil ponies.”  Having walked to his side, On knelt, placing a hoof against Sundown’s neck.  “Do you know why I started the rebellion?  It’s because Roscherk framed me for killing his brother.”

“An’ he took away my magic with his black crystal dagger!” Sundown cried.  “Don’t you see, Stoikaja?  We’re the same!”

On’s hoof pressed down, and Sundown began to choke.  “The same?  No, we aren’t the same at all.  You fought because you wanted money, and when you couldn’t get it in Stalliongrad, you came here.  You took everything I taught those ponies about fighting for justice, and you turned it around for robbing trains and foal-napping.  You think we’re the same because we both suffered?”  On’s words had been growing in intensity, but by this point, she was shouting.  “You and I have nothing in common.  When I look at you, I see Roscherk Krovyu.  I see a stallion so power-hungry, he’d burn my son alive, and throw my daughter off the Wall and onto the ice.  I see a stallion who cuts the wings off foals for money!”

Her hoof rose from his neck, and he gasped for breath.  “Please…”

“Don’t worry.  I’m not like him.  I’m not going to torture you.”  On’s hoof scraped across the ground.  “I promised a better pony than either of us that I wouldn’t do what I do for revenge.  When I kill you, it won’t be about you.  It will be about all the victims you’ll never have.  And you won’t feel a thing.”

On raised her hoof, but it would never find time to fall.  A strong, bellowing voice called to her from down the canyon.

“Keep yer hooves on the ground, ma’am, and we can do this nice ‘n easy-like.”

Her head snapped to face a stallion with a black waxed moustache.  He wasn’t alone.  A dozen earth ponies in Ranger’s uniforms stood to his sides, cutting off the sole exit to the valley.  They wouldn’t have the decency to come at her one or two at a time, like the drowsy, hung-over bandits laying dead across the valley had.  She didn’t like those odds.

She needed to buy time, so she greeted the stallion she knew from the covers of Honor Guard reports.  “Sheriff Silverstar.  Going to throw some pies at me?”

“That’s Marshal Silverstar now,” the stallion countered, tapping the badge pinned to the lapel of his denim vest. “And seein’ as yer wanted for treason and murder, I went ahead and brought something a bit more appropriate.”  The stallion peeled open the flap of his vest, to reveal three short-fused sticks of dynamite.  “Now, first question: where’s yer posse?”

On’s hard-earned instincts kept her from glancing to the cave where Rocket, Rainbow, and Reckoning were hiding.  She could only hope they weren’t stupid enough to do something like try to help her.  “They should be well on their way to Suida right now,” she lied, hoping Reckoning would pass the message on.  Though Rainbow seemed a good mare, On doubted she would catch the hint.  “I stayed behind to mop up these train-robbers.”

“Awful noble, fer a traitor.  Well, I guess we can thank ye for brushin’ up on them desperadoes.  Now, ye’ll be a kind mare for us ‘n step away from that stallion.”

The second she gave Sundown space, he rose to his hooves and sprinted into the canyon.  A few of the younger Rangers moved to follow, but Silverstar’s raised hoof and muffled cough were enough to stop their motions.  “He’s small-time, compared to her.  Ain’t gonna do no harm off on ‘is own, and there’s always another chance.”

“Small time?”  On’s head turned in horror as Rainbow stepped out of the cave.  She saw Reckoning move to follow, and it was only by holding up her hoof that she got the stallion to stay where he was hidden.  Thankfully, Silverstar seemed to have assumed On’s gesture was meant for Rainbow, as the irate pegasus continued forward.  “He cut off Rocket’s wings!”

Some of the Rangers flinched, but Silverstar stayed cold.  “Well, now.  Rainbow Dash.  Been a long time since Appleloosa.”  His head didn’t move, but his eyes swiveled cleanly toward the older, larger mare in the canyon.  “Looks like that makes ya a liar now, Soldier On.”

“I was hoping somepony could take a hint, and meet up with Reckoning in San Palomino City,” On replied, struggling to make the implication as obvious as possible and desperately hoping it would sink in.  “Though if you’re hoping to catch her, Silverstar, you’re out of luck.  She’s a lot faster than anypony you’ve got.”

“I’m not going anywhere, On!” Rainbow shouted.

On growled, deep in her throat.  She didn’t have time for a subtler expression.  “Don’t be an idiot, Rainbow.”

“I don’t leave my friends behind.”

On turned fully away from the Rangers to shout at Rainbow..  “Then its a good thing I’m not your friend!  Somepony has to save the Commander!  Take Rocket and fly south!”

“But―!”

“For once in your life, listen to me!,” On continued, despite the sinking feeling in her belly that it was the last she would ever see of Rainbow Dash.  “For your father’s sake, if not your own!”

On gulped when Rainbow moved to turn back toward the cave.  The Rangers weren’t stupid enough to miss a hint like that.  “What about Reckoning―”

On’s lunged forward with her hoof stretched out, grabbing Rainbow by the cheek and swinging her head around so that the two mares were staring into one another’s eyes. “He’s already gone, Rainbow!  Don’t you get it?  There’s no reason for you to stay here!”

From where she was standing, On knew that Rainbow could see over her shoulder to where Reckoning was standing in the cave.  The earth pony wasn’t sure what the stallion had mouthed or motioned, but it seemed to set Rainbow’s resolve.  As the Rangers moved forward tentatively amidst the corpses of On’s handiwork, she scooped Rocket onto her back and spread her wings.

“Uh… goodbye, I guess?”

“You don’t have to pretend to like me, Rainbow.”

It hurt to part on those words, but they would be easier than leaving Rainbow with a lingering regret at leaving her behind.

The sound of Rainbow’s takeoff echoed through the valley.  As the Rangers watched her go, On shot a quick glance to Reckoning’s hiding place.  He needed help too.  She steeled herself, and set her hooves.  Silverstar’s troops stopped, watching her with sudden, shuddering fear.  

Then she turned tail and sprinted away.

Sundown sat at the edge of a tiny fire as the sun rose, alone in the middle of the desert.  He still wasn’t sure he’d gotten over the sensation of Stoikaja’s hoof on his neck.  He stared into the fire, hoping for something else to think about.  He didn’t notice the stallion approaching on the sands until he’d reached the edge of the fire’s glow.

“Hello, Sundown.”

“You!”  Sundown’s hoof found his last bladed bucking shoe.  True to his claimed titles, it was too fast for the other stallion to avoid.  It slashed straight through his eyepatch, and sent the hat toppling from his head.  There, one end of the shoe stayed lodged, caught in the stallion’s skull.  

When he laughed, Sundown shivered.  “Wh-what are you?”

“Just an ex-guardspony,” the stallion answered.  “You don’t seem to be in much of the mood to talk, so just let me say my peace, and we can be done here.”  The pony paused, and then slowly pulled the shoe from out of his skull.  What should have been a bloody eye or an empty socket instead stared back, slitted and yellow.  “We didn’t get much of a chance to introduce ourselves back in Brayce Canyon, so let me introduce myself.”  He opened his mouth, and Sundown scrambled backward at the site of a set of pearly fangs.  “My name’s Dead Reckoning, but I’m rather partial to Deadeye.  I don’t like ponies who hurt foals, and I especially don’t like ponies who try to hurt Rainbow Dash.  And I might not be the fastest draw in San Palomino…”

He stomped on the shoe he had pulled from his own skull, and watched as it hovered in the air.

“...but I never miss.”