//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 - Three Fateful Flights // Story: Ghosts from the Future // by Pix //------------------------------// Chapter 13 – Three Fateful Flights Flying was normally all it took to clear Rainbow Dash’s mind when she was preoccupied with something. The feeling of the wind in her wings and the air through her mane had always felt so freeing. Not today though. For some reason Rainbow just could not clear her head. As she flew, all she could think of was the criticism she had received from Flash Sentry over the last few days, which was ruining the experience for her. And if she tried to block those thoughts out, her mind fell upon the devastating stories she had heard from Maud and others, of ponies dying without anypony there to help them. And she would think of Luna, and the inadvertent sacrifice she had made. She had realised that she needed something else to focus on, but when she had decided to practise her routines, she had found that they had lost their appeal too. After seeing how useless those tricks had been when facing off against Flash, they seemed hollow somehow. Had he ruined flying for her? He wanted her to do things differently, but this was how she flew, dammit! As she rolled through the air above the Crystal Empire, muttering to herself, she noticed a huge crowd of ponies leaving the Equestria Games Stadium. She flew closer to see what was happening, and identified some familiar ponies still in the arena. An idea struck her, and she came to a decision about what she could focus on to clear her head and feel she was achieving something useful at the same time. A few seconds later she landed next to Twilight and Shining Armor, who were having a conversation near the edge of the arena. She couldn’t have cared less what they were talking about at the moment, and so she made a lot of noise as she touched down, attracting their undivided attention. “Rainbow! How’s training going?” “Fine,” she grunted. “Actually not that great,” she quickly amended. “You’ve been doing well from what I heard,” Shining said, confused. “Maybe you set your expectations too high?” “No, I should be doing better than I am.” Twilight grinned cheekily. “I don’t suppose you’re being distracted by your instructor…?” Rainbow’s patience, which had already been at its limit, snapped. “Twilight, don’t you start that as well. I’ve been getting sick of Applejack’s ‘meaningful glances’ and ‘knowing winks’, and I’ve had to avoid Rarity completely. It’s not like that, so just shut up about it.” She stomped around in circles, trying to spend her anger out through her hooves. “I’m just bored, okay? I don’t like all this routine, or this waiting around without anything happening. I want something to do!” Twilight was taken aback at the intensity in her friends’ voice, but only for a moment. “Well we shouldn’t be waiting around too much longer. Shining and I were just suggesting that when Cadance returns, we could make our trip up north. The six of us girls will go, along with some guards for extra protection.” “But that won’t be for another day at least, right?” “Probably not, but you have to remember that not everypony has been as ready for an adventure like this as you are. This ‘waiting around’ has been very useful preparation time for most of us.” Rainbow sighed. “I know, but I want to do something now. You remember you promised me that you’d find a pony that was coming back from the future and I could go after them? Let me do that now! Find the nearest one and I’ll chase them down!” “Alright, but I’ll warn you now, there might not be anypony nearby. Fewer and fewer have been arriving, I think most ponies who are coming back have done it already.” She closed her eyes and her horn lit up. “Okay… I can only sense two. One is right near here, just in the fields to the north of the empire… but probably won’t be arriving until early tomorrow. The other is way down south, but much sooner.” “I can fly south. Where am I going?” “Dodge Junction. You’d have to be very fast, I’m not sure you can make it in time.” Rainbow laughed, her spirits higher already. “Ha! Remember who you’re talking to.” She jabbed herself in the chest. “Fastest. Pony. In Equestria!” Twilight and Shining both smiled to see her back to her usual self. “Okay, but be back as soon as you can.” Rainbow saluted and launched off into the sky. Immediately it felt right. Now the wind in her wings and mane did feel refreshing. She increased her speed and directed herself towards the image of Canterlot she could see in the distance. That would mark roughly halfway in the journey. Could she do it before then? It had been a long time… She ducked her head and felt her heart start pounding in anticipation. She could sense the air pushing against her now, and held her hooves forwards to press back. Her eyes were watering, and she could barely see the cone that was forming in the air. Any… second… now… Her heart leapt as the resistance suddenly departed and she was cannoning through the Equestria sky at her maximum speed. She didn’t glance behind her to see the rainbow she knew would be there, nor would she be able to hear the explosion that marked the successful execution of her iconic move. For Rainbow Dash, nothing mattered now but the speed. It felt like only moments later that she rocketed right past Canterlot and out towards the fields further south. She realised she was going to need to pay more attention soon, or she might overshoot her destination, but the temptation to remain at one with the air was overwhelming. It was only by remembering the last time she had made a flight like this and had just missed the pony who had appeared in the Badlands that Rainbow was able to rein herself in. She would not allow herself to fail a second time. The haphazardly arranged wooden buildings of Dodge Junction were in sight now. She slowly diverted her path towards the small town, but did not let up her speed. If she came in at just the right angle, she could slide along the dirt to land without needing to slow down first. She veered closer to the ground and braced herself. It did not go quite as smoothly as she had imagined, and she tumbled over at least three times in the attempt, but she decided she probably looked cool enough while doing it anyway. A few ponies were around in the dusty streets, and they were all watching her eagerly. She must have been an impressive sight, as usual. Pleased with herself, Rainbow bowed to some of the spectators, before turning to walk towards the centre of the town. It was only at this point that she realised she had not asked Twilight where in Dodge Junction the pony would be arriving. Was she going to have to explore the entire place? The answer to that question was no, it turned out. Rainbow had barely walked a few hundred feet when she heard shouting from around the corner in a nearby street. As she approached, she realised that the voice she was hearing was coming from the very pony she was looking for. “You… you’re an imposter!” the infected mare was yelling at another mare nearby, her voice a little hoarse. “What in Equestria do you mean?” asked the other pony sourly. “I mean… I mean it’s not really you! I remember that! Won’t anypony listen to me?” Rainbow walked up to the infected pegasus, who was spinning her head frantically around to glance at the ponies surrounding her. She had gathered a lot of attention, by the looks of it. The pony she had been addressing, and calling an imposter, was a pale yellow earth pony mare with a scarlet mane. Rainbow Dash thought she recognised her, but was having a hard time remembering where from. “Whoa, hey there,” Rainbow began, keeping her voice soft. “Calm down, I’m here to help you. Or, well, talk to you at least.” “Then you have to listen to me,” the crazed infected pegasus continued. “That there isn’t Cherry Jubilee, you’ve got to believe me!” Cherry Jubilee; that was the other pony’s name. Rainbow remembered her now. “Uh, I think it is. I’ve met her before.” The pegasus, whose body was slowly becoming coated with the horrific shadowy crystals Rainbow was learning to associate with the Infection, turned towards her in exasperation. “No, I mean that… AAAHHH!” Rainbow spun around in horror, but there was nothing behind her. “Wha? What’s wrong?” “YOU!” The pegasus mare pointed a hoof at Rainbow, which then slowly crystallised in front of their eyes. She looked as though she couldn’t care less about her diminishing form however. “You!” she repeated, her voice furious. “Me?” “You killed my sister!” It looked like the mare was trying to get to her hooves and charge Rainbow down, but the draining effect of the Infection was making that an impossibility. “I… I did?” Rainbow looked nervously around at the other gathered ponies, who were all standing back from the confrontation, although still watching her with that same strangely eager expression. “Yes! And she trusted you! She was your friend!” She stopped to cough and then continued, unrelenting. “And how many more did you kill? I can’t bear to look at you. You… You traitor!” Despite the fact that the crystallising pegasus could not move, Rainbow still found she was stepping back apprehensively. “Uh, no I didn’t. I haven’t killed anypony, I swear!” “Oh, you will,” she spat, her voice dripping with venom. “No, I promise I won’t, I-” But she didn’t need to continue, because at that point the mare let out a gasp of air and disintegrated. For the first and hopefully only time, Rainbow was glad to see a pony die. Her heart was pounding against her chest as she glanced at the onlookers surrounding her. This would be a lot to explain. Oddly enough, none of the crowd seemed put off by the fact that a pony had just disintegrated in front of them. They were all still eyeing her, and Rainbow cleared her throat nervously. “Uh, hi,” she said weakly, addressing Cherry Jubilee since that was the only pony in the crowd that she knew, even if she didn’t know her particularly well. “Hello.” “So, err, strange things that pony said, huh?” “Indeed.” Cherry smiled. “She, uh, called you an imposter huh? Wonder why that might be.” Rainbow’s mind was whirring away, trying to examine the situation. Something was beginning to feel horribly wrong. “She called you a killer,” Cherry replied, still beaming. “Wonder why that might be.” Rainbow gave a weak attempt at a laugh. “Ha, say, Cherry. Remember when we last met?” Cherry nodded. Rainbow decided it was time to invent something on the spot. “Remember that buffalo we took down together?” Another nod. Rainbow gulped, the situation becoming clearer by the second. “Well that buffalo is behind you, look!” She pointed wildly. It probably wasn’t Rainbow’s best ever plan, but it somewhat worked. Cherry, or whoever it really was, glanced over her shoulder, and immediately Rainbow launched into the air. At this point she just wanted to get out of there. As she made her way into the sky, she heard several crackling sounds from behind her, and suddenly she was being followed. She spun around nervously, only to find herself face to face with a crowd of changelings. One final crackle and flare of green flame, and Cherry had also transformed, before flying up to the stunned pegasus. “Rainbow Dash.” “You! Queen Buggy! I thought we got rid of you?” The changeling queen laughed, and the other changelings followed suit. It was a harsh, chittering sound. “You could never get rid of me, pony. My family and I are survivors. We will outlive all of you.” For a second Rainbow wondered if she should attack, but the sensible part of her brain realised that she was hopelessly outnumbered. It looked as though everypony in this town had been a changeling. How long had that been the case for? No, her best option would be to flee, and return with backup. She flapped her wings to launch herself higher into the air, but as soon as she did so, several changelings swooped above to block off her escape. She threw herself towards some of them, swinging her hooves, but even as she connected she felt blasts of magic nearby and had to dodge back into the crowd to avoid them. Panicking, she tried to roll out of the way of another blast of magic, but every movement she did was picked up on immediately by the changeling queen, who would always be ready to attack her once more. It was as though she were being read like… like an open book… Rainbow thought back to the words she had heard not too long ago: “You advertise everything you’re about to do before you do it.” Flash Sentry had been telling her that for days and not once had she actually tried to change anything. Why hadn’t she listened? Finally, inevitably, a blast of magic clipped her wing and she fell to the ground below. Immediately she was covered by a swarm of changelings, and she began to feel a strange gooey substance cover her. She struggled as much as she could, but within seconds her body was immobile, and the last thing she saw before her sight was blocked was a leering black face with two sparkling green eyes. --- Cadance had thought that she was flying fast, but the colourful blur that had rocketed past her as she reached Canterlot made her realise that she could have been a lot quicker. Okay, so she knew that she could never match Rainbow Dash for speed even if she tried, but she had evidently been slowing down as Canterlot grew closer. The truth was, she was not looking forward to this conversation. She had known Celestia for many years, and while she may have once found the princess of the sun intimidating, those days were long gone. But Celestia had always seemed distant and unattainable. She truly was the definition of ‘benevolent’, at least in Cadance’s mind. The idea that Cadance was supposed to be talking sense into her did not fit into that framework. She landed in the courtyard in front of the castle. True, she could have flown into a window or onto a balcony directly, but this seemed politer, especially since Celestia had not exactly invited her. As she entered the large halls, the guards, usually so stoic, all seemed exceedingly relieved to see her. She hoped that they weren’t expecting her to stay and rule in Celestia’s stead if she failed to rouse the ageless princess. She stepped into the throne room and immediately spotted her cousin lounging in the royal seat at the top of the steps. As he noticed her in return there was a brief instant where his body tightened and guilt crossed his features, before he caught himself and lounged even more emphatically, clearly trying to accentuate just how suited for the throne he was. “Cadenza! It is good of you to visit me.” “Blueblood,” she murmured darkly. “You’ve been making yourself comfortable I see?” “As is my right.” He gestured at the fine furnishings around him. “I am the top royal of Canterlot now.” Cadance gaped. “And what about Celestia?” “Auntie Celestia supports me fully,” he sniffed. “Really.” “I visited her just the other day in fact. She thanked me for all I have been doing, and then dismissed me.” He frowned. “She should be more polite to me now that I outrank her.” “Out… Outrank her?” Cadance started stomping towards Blueblood, who noticeably cowered. “And what have you been doing during your ‘reign’?” “Oh, it’s simple, I don’t have to do anything really. Occasionally peasants come to ask things of me, but if I just say I’ll address their concerns then they leave before I can get bored of them.” “And do you address their concerns?” He raised an eyebrow. “Cadenza, I don’t even listen to them.” Cadance growled and almost raised a hoof before she stopped herself. It was not worth wasting any time on him. “Where is Celestia?” “In her chambers, most likely.” “Right.” Cadance turned and left, without even saying goodbye. Blueblood would no doubt find that incredibly insulting, which brought a small smile to her face. She could not comprehend how he could act like that, but then, nor was she particularly surprised. He was unlikely to be particularly upset at Luna’s death; she remembered him commenting on how she had been too easily forgiven after the Nightmare Moon incident. More guards acknowledged her as she made her way up through the castle, and Cadance could understand their hope upon seeing her a little more now. If they had been dealing with that spoilt Blueblood this whole time… Just as she had in the flight here from the Crystal Empire, Cadance found she was slowing down as she reached her destination. She was hoping that by the time she reached Celestia’s room she would have worked out the perfect things to say, but nothing was coming to her. As she finally reached the door she stopped entirely, lacking the motivation to knock. This was stupid. She had never been afraid to speak to Celestia before. Celestia, who had once been like a mother to her. She raised a hoof and tapped it gently against the door. There was no response from inside, so she knocked harder. Still no response. Unbidden, her heart lifted at the thought that Celestia might not be here, but her brain knew that that would not solve anything. There was only one thing for it, and so she pushed the door open and walked inside. She had never seen the room so dull. The wide archway across from her that opened up to the balcony seemed to be letting in no light, and the air tasted musty and damp, as though the room had not been cleaned in years rather than just a week. Settled on the large round bed in the centre of the room was Celestia, looking just as diminished as her surroundings. She did not even appear to notice that she had a visitor. “Celestia?” The ageless princess did not respond. Her pastel mane, which would usually sway with ethereal magic, was hanging limply at her side. Cadance found it painful to see her like this. “Auntie?” Celestia rigidly turned her head to face her niece, eyes dull and lifeless. “One thousand years,” she said, voice monotonous. “One thousand years I was without her. One thousand years I was alone.” Her eyes finally focussed on the mare in front of her. “Do you know how I coped?” “How?” Cadance asked, her voice weak. “Because I knew there was a chance I could get her back.” She blinked a long slow blink, and as her eyes reopened they were glazed over once more. “Not so this time.” Cadance slowly walked up to beside Celestia and wrapped a wing around her. Up until this point she had been unsure what she would say, or what she could say. She had been nervous, and stressed, and had almost hoped that she wouldn’t find Celestia at all. Now those thoughts and worries went straight out the window, and she wondered why she had not come sooner. “Auntie, you will never be alone.” She could say more, but she felt that her presence was more important than any words could be at the moment. Celestia rested her head on Cadance’s shoulder, and the two alicorns sat in silence for what felt like an hour. “Celestia?” Cadance eventually said, breaking the tranquillity. There was no vocal reply, but she felt the weight of a head leave her shoulder. “You can’t shut yourself away like this.” “Why not?” Celestia asked, voice hollow. Cadance’s eyes widened in shock. “It is not healthy! And Equestria needs you.” “Equestria will be fine. My ponies are strong.” “Canterlot is already suffering from your absence.” “Isn’t my nephew reigning in my place?” “Blueblood? If you could call that ‘reigning’.” Celestia screwed up her face and Cadance wondered if this was the first time she was really considering the decision she had apparently made to allow Blueblood to take her throne. “You could rule here instead,” Celestia eventually suggested. “I could not,” Cadance replied, firmly. “There is a lot happening in Equestria right now, and particularly near my empire. I do not know how up to date you are on the situation, but I cannot abandon my ponies now.” “Twilight then.” Cadance sighed. “Celestia, this is not just about Equestria, this is about you.” She stood up to stare into the eyes of the ageless white princess. “This is not good for you.” “I can’t just move on, Cadance. I have loved and lost many ponies in my time, but never her. Luna was always supposed to be by my side. We were intended to rule together. What am I without her? What is the point?” “There is every point. You and Luna were closer than two ponies could ever be, and I could never know how you feel. But I do know that you are incredible just as yourself. Those one thousand years that you ruled alone? They were strong and prosperous years for Equestria.” “Not nearly as prosperous as the years since.” “Maybe not, but Equestria only survived at all because of you! Twilight and I do not know Equestria like you do, we need your help, especially at the moment.” Cadance smiled as warmly as she could. “Nopony could ever replace your sister, but you will never have to rule alone again.” For a second, just a second, Cadance thought she had gotten through to Celestia. Certainly she seemed to be considering Cadance’s words, and there was more life in her than there had been in the entire conversation so far. But then, abruptly, she shook her head. “I’m sorry Cadance. I need more time.” There was a blinding flash, and Cadance was suddenly staring at an empty bed. There was no indication where Celestia had gone. Cadance took a couple of deep breaths, and then yelled in annoyance, not caring who might hear her. --- “I’m thinking there’s nothing here Fleets, we should fly back.” “There must be something!” “I’m thinking Fluttershy was saying the truth.” Fleetfoot opened her mouth to snap a retort back at her partner, but then hesitated. He was probably right, overly trusting oaf as he was. It looked like what Fluttershy had said about the north checked out, everywhere below them there really was nothing but snow. The entire mountains were covered with it, with no earth in sight. And it was still falling through the night air, from the thick clouds that had apparently floated south from the frozen wasteland. “Maybe you’re right.” “Yeah, you should listen to me more often!” “You are sometimes helpful,” she admitted grudgingly. “Not just sometimes! You remembers when we saw Fluttershy? She’s not opening up to us if I doesn’t make her comfortable first.” “Yes, you were very clever, and I might have been more impressed if you hadn’t kept mentioning it for the last few hours.” She sighed. “But fine. Let’s head back.” As they flew side by side towards the lights of the Crystal Empire in the distance, Fleetfoot tried to piece together everything she had learned over the last few days. There were some creatures called Shards who killed ponies and could then turn into them, or something like that, and the elements of harmony were planning to head north to try and find where they came from. She didn’t envy them heading into all this snow, it looked deep enough to bury an average sized mare. None of that answered her questions about the ponies who had appeared out of nowhere, but they were probably linked. From what she had heard, the ponies killed by Shards died in the same way as the ponies they had met. But Wave had said the pony he met had been talking about the future? That still didn’t made sense. “Hey, idiot, you sure there’s an alicorn Shard?” she asked, gears still turning. “That’s what one of the guards says when I talks to him.” Fleetfoot nodded absently. So if Shards took the shape of ponies they killed… then could that explain why the two royal sisters in Canterlot were still missing? Had they somehow died? Or one of them at least? Fleetfoot found it difficult to imagine that it were possible, but she also knew that the princesses weren’t completely invincible. Ever since Celestia had been overpowered by the queen of the changelings during their attack on Canterlot, many of the Wonderbolts had started to take their secondary role as protectors of Equestria more seriously, Fleetfoot included. Before then it had seemed unfeasible that there could ever be a threat the princesses could not deal with by themselves. As the different thoughts all ran through her head she suddenly recalled the night a week ago when the moon had not risen for a few minutes, leaving the night sky empty. Hmmm… “What was that alicorn Shard called? ‘Black’ something?” “Something like that.” “Dammit, I always liked her.” Wave Chill looked confused, but after a moment he appeared to decide to ignore her. He had grown used to letting her think aloud without having any clue what she was going on about. Fleetfoot wasn’t sure she wanted to tell him what she had deduced anyway, it would probably really get to him. They had finally escaped from the snow-covered mountains and reached the fields to the north of the empire. It was ridiculous just how neatly the snow ended at the border of the mountain range. It was as neat as any pegasi-directed weather, which was impressive considering no ponies had been controlling these clouds. Or at least, a stallion she had accosted returning from a flight north had said that the clouds were moving under their own steam. She slowly came to a stop, still in the air. Wave Chill didn’t notice for a few seconds, continuing into the distance for several feet before realising and turning back to look at her curiously. “Fleets? You thinks of something?” She tried to pull all the pieces together again. Had she really missed something so obvious? “That pony I talked to said these snow clouds weren’t being controlled by pegasi, but I don’t think that’s true.” “Aww, Fleets no, you’re far too polaroid.” “Paranoid.” She held up a hoof. “And please, let me think.” Everypony she had talked to said that while Shards may be dangerous, they were at least stupid. But what if they were wrong? Despite the disparaging remarks she liked to make of her companion, and his constant failure to grasp common language that did not help his case, she knew well that just because somepony seemed unintelligent, that did not mean that they were. “This snow is too neat. It’s covering the entire mountains, at a consistent height, and not one foot further south. Could random snow clouds do that?” “I dunno. Maybe?” Fleetfoot held her head in her hooves. If she had been trying to attack an empire that had a sizable defence force, what would she do? Lull them into a false sense of security. Make them think nopony was nearby. That they still had time. “Shards take the magic of the ponies they kill, right?” Fleetfoot phrased it like a question, but she didn’t even listen to Wave’s response, mind still whirring to the exclusion of all else. “So pegasi Shards could control the weather if they wanted?” Again she ignored Wave’s reply. “I, er… think we should check something.” Fleetfoot flew down to the ground below, landing right next to the border with the mountains where the snow began. How should she do this? Give it a flap? “Help me out here Chill,” she demanded, as the big blue shape landed next to her. “We’re clearing some of this snow.” Together they flapped their wings ferociously for a few seconds, and a portion of the snow in front of them flew up into the air, revealing the sodden earth beneath. Or at least, they had assumed it would reveal the earth beneath. Instead, the ground remained concealed, but now by a strange shadowy mist that had been residing beneath the snowfall. At once, the mist started to surge towards them. Fleetfoot flapped again in panic, but the mist was not affected. It seemed far too concentrated for a simple blast of wind to pull it apart, as though it had been congealing for days, which she supposed it might have been. She retreated rapidly, as did Wave, and they watched the mist return to settle in the open patch of ground, surrounded by the remaining blanket of snow. “What’s that?” Wave asked. “I’m… not sure…” As if in response to their questioning, the mist suddenly formed into the shape of a pony. As it slowly solidified in front of them, the bit finally dropped for Fleetfoot. All around them, and as far into the distance as they could see, the snow covering the mountains was shifting, as though beasts beneath the snow were awaking from their slumber. “It’s… it’s a Shard army. They’ve been here, gathering under the snow this whole time.” She spun to face Wave. “Get a message to Spitfire, now.” He nodded, realising the seriousness of the situation, and kicked off into the air. “Wait!” She flew up to him and gave him a kiss. “Be quick. Get back quicker. If a battle’s begun when you return, don’t you die before you find me, you got that? I need my idiot beside me. The only way you’ll be dying is if I kill you myself, okay?” Wave grinned stupidly, and she could even detect a little redness in his cheeks as he turned and blasted off into the distance. Fleetfoot looked back at the snow. The slowly emerging Shards were not yet approaching, but it was probably only a matter of time. Angling herself towards the palace visible in the distance, Fleetfoot rocketed off with more speed than she had experienced in months, as though the very safety of Equestria depended on it. Unfortunately, it probably did.