Commander Rainbow Dash trotted heavily along the narrow hall. Her head was lowered and from time to time she gave off a grunt or a snort.
Whiskey Malone saw her tail twitch. He took a deep breath and stood at attention.
"Commander Dash, permission to speak."
Rainbow Dash paused and snorted again as she regarded the Corporal wryly. "Permission granted..."
Whiskey cleared his throat, a curl from his salt and pepper mane falling loose across his eye causing him to tremble. Commander Dash was not a pony to be trifled with and she demanded strict discipline amongst her ranks. Whiskey licked his lips hesitantly and decided to ignore the curl. "I have just received news regarding Mistress Fluttershy..."
"Well?! Where is the pathetic Pegasus?" Rainbow shouted cutting Whiskey off and causing his knees to knock.
"Um... It seems, Commander," Whiskey licked his lips again, "that Fluttershy was involved in a disturbance this evening..."
"A disturbance?" Rainbow Dash sniggered and gave Corporal Whiskey a nasty grin. "Are you playing me for an idiot, Corporal?"
Whiskey felt a sweat form on his brow. "No, Commander, never! I only..."
"I know Fluttershy, Corporal. Fluttershy does not get involved in disturbances of any kind." Rainbow Dash stared down the nervous Corporal. "Why, that pathetic pony is afraid of her own shadow!" Rainbow Dash scoffed at Whiskey and felt a surge of satisfaction from the uncomfortable look on his face.
Whiskey opened his mouth to speak, but did not know how to go about continuing his report. Commander Dash grinned at him from across the room. The dim lighting above glinted across the medals on her breast pocket, reinforcing her superiority. It was as though the medals themselves were mocking him. Whiskey swallowed hard and pulled himself straight again. Staring off into the distance, he spoke as if reciting a drill, "Mistress Fluttershy was overheard consorting with a radical this evening after she assisted him in the killing of three Magic Colts, Ma'am."
"Impossible! Fluttershy is a leading member of The Party. She's the element of kindness not some... Terrorist!" Rainbow stepped towards Corporal Whiskey and glared at him. "Don't you ever come to me again with false reports! Princess Luna must be bought under control and Fluttershy is essential to taming her! Just because you colts can't be bothered looking for her properly, does NOT give you license to make up lies concerning Party members! No matter how pathetic they may be! Harmony is all we have and it is OUR job to make sure that doesn't change! UNDERSTOOD?"
Whiskey had arched his back in an attempt to protect himself from Commander Dash's wrath. His bottom lip had curled under his top row of teeth and his body shook as he nodded half heartedly, attempting to stand erect once more. "Y-yes, Commander..." He raised a hoof to his head and gave an irresolute salute.
Commander Dash continued to scrutinise him. "You must think I'm pretty stupid to even TRY to bring me that half baked rubbish!"
"No, Commander Dash, I swear. I was only reporting what I was told..."
Rainbow Dash leaned back and smiled evilly. "Ah, so now we are blaming other ponies are we, Corporal?"
Whiskey shuddered. "Commander, please! I would never..."
"YOU JUST DID, CORPORAL!" Whiskey jumped as her voice nearly buffeted him away. "And that means you lied to me again!" Rainbow Dash grinned again, her eyes narrowing on Whiskey. "Perhaps you need a lesson in honesty?"
"NO! Please, Commander Dash, I promise you I never meant..."
"QUIET!" Rainbow Dash raised her hoof and swiftly brought it down against Whiskey Malone's cheek, twisting his head down to his right shoulder with a loud slap. He immediately ceased shuddering and bit his lip to hold back a tear. "No more excuses! I don't care what you have to do to find her, just make sure she's here within the hour. Otherwise..." Rainbow grinned again as Whiskey's eyes widened. He nodded solemnly not needing to be told further of the consequences should the Loyalty Guard fail their Commander.
"NOW GO!"
********
Fluttershy could never recall a time when she had moved so quickly. Behind her, she could still make out the sound of the alarms ringing as a pack of Magic Colts arrived at the scene they were fleeing. Her mind was a blur of panic as she dumbly followed D who strode out ahead of her effortlessly.
She couldn't help but be amazed that she was actually following this stallion. After all, he had just murdered three ponies without a moments hesitation. Who was to say that she was any safer in his company than back there with the Magic Colts. Surely Twilight would look after her should she fall under their custody.
But Fluttershy was no fool. She knew that after the things D has said in her presence, she was as good as dead to the Empire, regardless of who her friends were. In fact, it was likely that her name having been mentioned would not only implicate her in conspiracy, but the murder of those officers as well.
They had stopped, and Fluttershy was grateful. Her heart was thumping madly, so that she felt quite dizzy,and it had very little to do with her recent physical exertion. Fluttershy became acutely aware that her life may have just changed forever, and the shock of that was not likely to wear off soon.
"... , Fluttershy?"
"Wh-what?" She shook her head in an effort to shake off the dazed feeling she had.
"Do you like fireworks, Fluttershy?" D asked again, his voice calm.
Fluttershy stared at him dumbly. What was he talking about? Fireworks? "Um, sure..."
"Wonderful!" D exclaimed, grabbing her hoof again and pulling her along once more.
It took her a few moments to recognise where they were. The Ponyville station was not what it once was, much like the rest of Equestria. The station had been expanded somewhat during the war, but since then it had not been very well maintained. A tiled facade showed obvious signs of wear and tear, several tiles missing while almost all the rest had been either chipped or cracked. The original timber slats were stained and beginning to buckle. A large graffiti image of Celestia grimacing could still be made out against the side wall, the offenders had of course been jailed the day after and would likely never be seen again. A crew of cleaners had been hard at work on it during the day, but the paint was evidently quite strong.
Fluttershy followed D up to the platform. It was completely bare save three long steel benches and a swinging lamp hanging from the roof. On the centre of the inside wall was a poster encased in enchanted glass. It had a picture of two hooves intertwined at its centre, one blue, the other red. At the top of the image in bold lettering was the word 'HARMONY'. Beneath the hooves in smaller letters was the words 'IS STRENGTH'. Above this poster was a painted sign that contained the slogan of Celestia's new Equestria, which by law, had to be at every public establishment. It read; 'Strength in Harmony, Harmony in Obedience.'
Fluttershy grimaced as she read the poster and its counterpart sign. The repetition of these lines was relentless. And every time they were seen, it seemed only to remind Equestria's subjects of how false those words had become.
"ALL ABOARD THE FRIENDSHIP EXPRESS!" D chuckled heartily again after uttering the station masters words. Fluttershy jumped in alarm at the sound of his voice.
"Are you nuts? If you wanted to hand yourself over to the Magic Colts, you should have done it back there!" She hissed.
"Friendship," D said, unperturbed by her outburst. "is a magical thing. Friendship is synonymous with harmony. The state of being in mutual trust, of different pieces making a whole. And harmony.. Is strength. Do you agree?"
Fluttershy was flabbergasted. Who was this stallion? Had she just lost her life, everything she knew, at the hands of a mad pony?
D grew impatient of waiting. He was growing theatrical again, he began to pace agitatedly. "After all, that's what the posters say. The neon signs never lie. No, they light up truth, where books and speeches spread lies. What do honest hearted ponies know that catchy slogans don't?" D paused for emphasis, looking Fluttershy in the eye. "Strength in harmony, harmony in obedience!" He declared proudly.
Fluttershy watched him silently.
D turned as if to make an address to a vast audience, who weren't there. "Ahem! Ladies and gentle colts! Our society is founded upon a firm set of values. These values guide us through our day to day lives and maintain our societies high brand of morality and ethics. To be great ponies, we remember the importance of tolerance, respect and beneficence. But above all else, that which we esteem most, that which we treasure above all else, are our friendships. Friendships are the greatest gift we have. When we are friends, we do not need to be told to respect each other, give freely to and love each other. These things come naturally to friends. This is why friendships are solid, and form a strong foundation for our world."
"This train, is a symbol of that friendship we esteem amongst ponies. It is the thread linking the Equestrian states, though they be miles apart. This train means that when our loved ones live in another city, we can always be sure that our bond will remain strong because despite the distance between us, THIS train represents the eternal link that we will share. THIS train, assures us that we are never really far apart... "
Fluttershy had been listening warily to this speech when she suddenly gasped. A train was pulling out of the holding sheds and making its way towards the platform. The light from its face nearly blinded her as it began to slowly gain speed. But D, as before, remained unperturbed. Instead of pausing in his oratory, he merely raised his voice another several decibels higher.
"THIS train IS a direct symbol of our strength through harmony. Without this train, we are nothing. We are islands, separated by vast and in-traversable oceans! We are weak. We are broken. We are no longer harmonized. We are a cacophony of imbeciles!"
The train broke out into full speed and tooted loudly as it rushed past the station, tangling Fluttershy's hair across her eyes. She quickly began tugging at it, a growing anxiety building in her as Discord concluded.
"LADIES AND GENTLECOLTS! WITHOUT THIS TRAIN, HARMONY IS WEAKNESS!"
As he shouted his final lines, a loud cracking could be heard as within moments a giant burst came from the centre of the Friendship Express, bursting the sides of the central carriage. Two beams of purple shot up into the air and burst above into circles of colour. The train crackled loudly again as fire began to consume the carriages from the inside, more fireworks blasting out into the night sky.
The noise was deafening and within moments sirens were heard ringing out through Ponyville for the second time that night. Fluttershy was stunned, she felt her whole body grow numb and stiffen. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw D laughing hysterically, holding his sides in glee.
"I hope you liked the show!" He shouted merrily bounding up to her.
Fluttershy felt her jaw drop as all she could do was stare at him in disbelief. What had just happened? What was about to happen?
Fluttershy felt her knees begin to buckle and she prepared to curl up on the ground right there and begin begging for forgiveness now. But D suddenly squeezed her shoulder bringing her back to reality once more.
"Time to go again I'm afraid..."