Spike was starting to feel like he could explode. His every pacing step brought him closer to an outburst of some kind, just as every second seemed to bring him closer to the resolution hanging above his head.
If only they could pass faster.
The only thing keeping him from screaming, or an attempt to wrestle with the bars of their new cage, was his increasing sense of exhaustion. Indeed, a quick estimation told him he had last slept over twenty hours ago, if his guess of the current time was correct. Incidentally, his frantic pacing back and forth was as much an attempt to chase the tiredness away as it was to hold off sleep itself.
Things could happen any minute now, and he wanted to be fully awake and focused for what was to come.
The massive room they had been brought to sported rows upon rows of seats, sloped in stair-like ways from the two wider walls. The other two walls held doorways, mostly, as well as a large, elevated courtroom bench. From somewhere in the darkened ceiling, the large chain holding their cage descended, letting them sit, swaying lightly, in the very center of the room. The cage hovered a few inches above the floor, next to a strange cloud lever jutting upwards. The cage’s floor consisted of two rectangular panels of metal forming a square, providing slightly more comfort and stability to Spike’s steps than mere bars would have otherwise.
Blue banners hung on every wall, each adorned with a stylized white tower.
The three of them had been brought here directly after their capture, and had been left in this new cage ever since. Two guards stood by, to ensure no more escape attempts. The same blue sash as the captain who had captured them; with the same white tower, adorned their necks.
Spike stared at one of them, and for a moment was reminded of just how hopeless the situation seemed; they were trapped, prisoners of some unknown group whose motives were just as nebulous as their current actual location. Everything was confusion and worry, and he couldn’t even begin to fathom how they would get back on track.
“I’m sorry girls, I shouldn’t have dragged you in this mess…”
Spike’s apology provoked an annoyed huff from Scootaloo, who had remained sitting in a corner ever since they had been dragged into this cage close to an hour ago. “Seriously, Spike? How many times are we going to have to tell you we decided to follow you? Stop acting like you could have made it this far without us!”
“And what does it matter how far we go if we just end up in jail for the rest of our lives or something?”
Both Scootaloo and Rarity opened their mouths to reply; one with an obviously growing frustration and the other hoping to calm the spirits, but at that moment the door slammed open and a new pony walked in.
He stumbled slightly after pushing the door, rubbing his eyes while he drunkenly advanced and climbed the steps to take a seat in the upper rows of the room. Free of the burden of supporting his weight once they could rest on the back of the forward seats, his hooves went to massage his temples and forehead while he emitted sounds halfway between sighs and groans. He eventually managed to look up at them under his disheveled mane. Eyes narrowed in obvious confusion, he muttered the words “What the...” before blinking once, groaning, and apparently deciding that his head belonged on the soft cloud structure in front of him. In less than a minute his snoring could be heard.
Spike let his legs rest at last; things were probably on the verge of getting too interesting to let him fall asleep. He sat down. Both ponies with him were already doing the same, with Rarity staring intently at the sleeping stallion.
Only a few minutes passed before another newcomer came to sit next to the still-sleeping pony. The mare seemed just as hastily-woken as the stallion, holding a small mirror and trying to straighten her mane with her wings while she whispered to him.
“Hey, Hey.” Only when she prodded him with a hoof did he stir, blinking groggily with a groan. “What’s going on? Who are these,” she cast a quick glance at the caged travelers, “…Ponies?”
“I have no idea, I just got some guy beating on my door to tell me I needed to get here absolutely right now, and that it was an order from the grand commander. Look, I don’t know anything, and I’m tired, and I don’t really care and… Ugh, can you just let me snooze a little?”
The mare huffed and returned to her mane while her compatriot let his head fall back on his would-be pillow.
Slowly, one by one as the minutes ticked by, more ponies trickled in, all in various stages of obvious fatigue. Most followed the first stallion’s example and tried to catch up with the rest they’d been denied, while some simply held whispered conversations.
Spike sat there, looking at them through the growing haze of his clouding mind. How long had he been awake now? Twenty hours? More? Insomnia might not have been new to him, but it still took its toll. He did not think of pacing some more to fight the exhaustion; too many eyes already watching him, too many stares whose attention he could draw.
And then the door opened once more, slamming into the wall as it did. Instead of the sound of wood impacting a wall, the vigorous movement sparked a minor clap of thunder between the cloud constructs, startling the sleeping ponies. A wooden table was hurriedly carried into the room on the back of a new guard, with another one following closely behind carrying several bags on his own back. The first one set the table a few feet from the cage, while the second guard tossed several bags on it.
Recognizing the bags was fairly easy for Spike; he had carried one for weeks now, and had been seeing the other for just as long. The third ‘bag’ was a simple knotted bundle of fabric, a bedsheet unwittingly stolen from a small town called Stoneshade.
A mare then entered the room, walking with confidence in her steps and a look of barely-restrained fury on her face. She spared only a short glare in their direction, a sneer of pure hatred that was quickly hidden as she passed them on her way to the central bench. It seemed she had only just barely refrained from spitting on them.
“All rise for the honorable Lightning Dust, grand commander of the Stratofortress!” the four guards bellowed in unison, prompting the assembled ponies to straighten up in their seats and quickly salute.
“At ease, everyone,” the turquoise mare said neutrally as she seated herself at the highest seat in the room. “We’ll begin once everyone is present.”
“Wait, begin what?” Spike asked, immediately answered by a jab in the side of the head from the blunt end of a spear.
“Silence!” the nearest guard shouted, “You will speak when the commander tells you to!”
Rarity caught the young dragon before he collapsed, cradling his writhing body as he groaned in pain. She looked up angrily at the mare looming above them, a mare she recognized somewhat. The golden-maned pegasus only spared a short glance before returning her gaze to her desk, where she seemed to be quickly reading or skimming unseen documents.
Obviously she had no intention of allowing them to speak.
Spike, for his part, was suddenly much more aware. Aware of the searing pain pulsing in his head, of the gentle hooves holding him; and, after a few moments of silence spent nursing his bruised head, of the door once more slamming ajar to let through a struggling Rainbow Dash dragged along by yet two more guards.
“Nrgh,” she grunted, “Let me go, you idiots! I can walk on my own!”
The guards brought her near the crowd of unknown ponies, slamming and pinning her to the floor on the other side of the table where the travelers’ belongings rested. With not much else to do, and for the first time since she’d entered the room, Rainbow opened her eyes fully.
Their path around the vast room took very little time, as did the rapidly growing look of panic on her face. The pegasus’ rose eyes locked onto Spike’s, or on Rarity who stood just above; or perhaps on all three captives. Spike’s heartbeat quickened when he recognized her new, sudden expression.
Fear.
“Oh, woah,” she stammered, looking up at the high-sitting mare in a way that let Spike notice the single trickle of drying blood that had apparently leaked from her mouth. “W-what’s going on? Dust, what-“
“You will speak when I allow you, Major!” Lightning Dust rose from her seat, straightening her forelegs in a way that would have made her tower over every other soul present even had she not been standing on the most elevated section of the room. She raised her voice to cover the struggling, muffled objections of Rainbow Dash, whose face was being pressed into the floor in an attempt by the guards to silence her. “Gentle mares and stallions of the jury, I summoned you here at this… early hour for a very important, urgent matter. A great crime happened tonight; these three… enemies of the stratofortress,” she gestured dismissively at the cage in the middle of the room, “tricked a loyal member of our community into helping them. They made her free them from our prisons, and convinced her to steal our resources for them.” She pointed at the table and the bags resting on it.
“What?” Rainbow’s shout drew stares, and she had the time to add “What are you talking about? They’re my friends! That’s their stu-“
“They used their friendship with Major Rainbow Dash to turn her against us,” Lightning Dust continued while Rainbow was being once more gagged by a mouthful of floor clouds. “And we are gathered here to judge these enemies of the Stratofortress, bring them to justice, and clear the major’s name.”
She went back behind her desk, rummaging through papers for a second. She then looked up, directing her gaze towards Rarity. “You, white mare. Your name is Rarity, yeah?”
Rarity nodded timidly, unsure about her chances of speaking without being assaulted by zealous guards.
“And you’re a unicorn, right?”
Another nod.
“What happened to your horn?”
Rarity looked at the surrounding guards, watching for signs of being on the verge of receiving a spear to the forehead if she dared answer. “I… lost it,” she finally said. The guards did nothing to her. Lightning Dust, however, erupted in mocking laughter.
“Ha hah… yeah sure!” She barked, wiping an imaginary tear from her cheek. “Hey, that reminds me, I forgot my wings in the shower! Maybe someone wants to go get them for me?”
A short, awkward, nearly-whispered laugh spread through the jury, most of them trading looks of unease as they chuckled.
“How many innocents did you kill, unicorn?”
What little dishonest mirth had built up in the audience turned to rapt silence by Lightning Dust’s question.
“Why, I…” Rarity stammered wordlessly for a moment, a hoof coming up to her chest in indignation. “None! I never hurt anypony! I lost my horn before the Signal could affect me!”
“Let me guess,” Lightning replied, “That ‘signal’ you just mentioned is some kind of weird magic mind-control thing… machine or whatever, and that that thing is what’s responsible for your… kind, killing so many innocents?”
“Yes, exactly! Rainbow Dash told you about it, didn’t she? Unicorns are innocent! It’s not-“
“Oh, yes,” the turquoise pegasus interrupted, “She told me about that nonsense. She also told me dragons were responsible, at least according to you.” Her head turned slightly, suddenly facing Spike. “Hey, speaking of dragons, here’s one right here! What a coincidence!”
Rainbow Dash’s struggle let her free her mouth long enough to shout. “Lightning! What the hay are you doing? I told you they’re innocent! They’re trying to stop this unicorn crap on the surface! What’s this about? What are you going on ab-Ow!”
The guard holding her pinned to the floor with a hoof pressed between her wing and her stump had silenced her with a gentle punch in the back of the head. Rainbow found herself once again muffled by her face being driven into the floor.
“Did you hear that, dear members of the jury? Did you hear how completely they turned her to their needs? How they made her turn to the enemy?” Lightning rose to her full height, towering above everyone else present. “And make no mistakes; these are enemies of the stratofortress! The unicorn needs no explanation; you were all touched by their disgusting betrayal nearly six months ago. And don’t forget your history either; how even before Equestria was united, dragons and pegasi fought for the sky! They are our enemies, and they don’t deserve compassion!”
“Oh yeah? And what about me?”
All eyes fell upon Scootaloo, defiantly standing as close as she could to the bars of the cage, facing Lightning Dust. Spike and Rarity were the only ones close enough to see the tremors of her legs. Whether they were shaking from fear or anger was hard to tell.
“Stop,” Lightning ordered to the guard about to punish Scootaloo for speaking. He lowered his spear, and the grand commander shifted her gaze back to the filly. “I was getting to you, filly.”
She shuffled the papers on her podium for a second, bringing a worn document to her eyes. “If this is correct,” she seemed to read from the page in a much softer tone than she had previously used, “your name is Scootaloo, born here in Cloudsdale nine years ago. Your family moved down to Ponyville, near Canterlot, three years back when you were diagnosed with a birth defect ‘stunting the development of your wings’. Is that correct?”
The orange filly’s eyes wandered downwards, and she nodded with a frown. “Yeah.”
“And have you been able to fly since?”
“No,” Scootaloo replied, before straightening again. “But last year when we went to the doctor’s place, she said I’d be able to in about five years! And what’s this have to do with anything?”
“Well,” Lightning began, sitting back down as she dropped the papers back to her desk, “since you’ve lived most of your life here in Cloudsdale, you’re officially still a citizen of our fair city; that’s why I want to offer you the chance to live these five years here, in the safety of the stratofortress. You just have to officially renounce all ties to these two enemies of the state, forever deny any affiliation with them or any of their kind, and swear loyalty and allegiance to Stratofortress Cloudsdale.”
A few seconds passed while the young pegasus contemplated the offer. “And what if I say no?”
“Then you’ll be declared a traitor to the stratofortress, and suffer the same punishment as these two.”
“NO!” Rainbow Dash had screamed. A real, full, bellowing scream, of sudden yet increasing terror. “No, no, no no no no NO! Don’t do this, Dust!”
Rainbow’s struggle intensified, causing one of the guards formerly watching the cage to come and assist in restraining her.
“So, what’s your answer, Scootaloo?”
Scootaloo looked at Rainbow Dash, her eyes meeting her idol’s. Rainbow stared back, shaking her head as much as she could with the weight of three ponies pinning her down. Scootaloo studied her idol’s face for a moment, trying to determine what was causing such distress to the mare. Maybe she was worried that the young pegasus would say yes? Scootaloo smiled reassuringly, before looking away to answer. “No, I’m with them all the way.”
“Nooo!”
Confused, Scootaloo glanced back towards Rainbow Dash, who was suddenly struggling with even more intensity. Her attention was drawn by Lightning dust once more, as the mare spoke next.
“Very well. I think we have enough evidence to vote now, members of the jury. These three are enemies of our nation, a danger to the stratofortress, and the cause of a betrayal. All in favor?”
“Lightning, stop that! Don’t you dare do this!” Rainbow shouted from her spot on the ground, almost succeeding in getting up.
“Why isn’t she restrained yet?
“We’re trying, Ma’am!” the guards replied to the question Lightning Dust had snapped at them.
“Anyway,” Lightning said, addressing the jury once more, “All in favor of declaring these prisoners enemies of the stratofortress?”
The ponies of the jury traded unsure glances, some of those nervously jumping between the three captives, Lightning Dust, and Rainbow Dash. “I said, all in favor?”
A few hooves slowly rose up, some of them shaking from sheer hesitation. Rainbow shouted some more, half-insulting and half-begging them to lower their limbs.
Lightning Dust ignored her. “All opposed?”
Four ponies raised their hooves this time, although one lowered his back down when his eyes met the Commander’s scowl.
“We have a majority vote. As the grand commander of this establishment, I hereby declare these three individuals enemies of the stratofortress, to be punished as such. The punishment for this cri-“
“Lightning! This trial is crap and you know it! Call this off right now or I swear to Celestia I’ll k-gah!”
The bulkiest guard behind Rainbow hooked had just hooked a leg around her neck, lifting her from the floor in a crushing chokehold.
“You’ll speak when I order you, Dash! The punishment for this crime is death! All in favor?”
The single hoof immediately shooting up did not seem to be enough for the commander, as she slammed a hoof on her desk and screamed at them. “I said all in favor!”
More hooves joined the first, enough to outnumber the ones who didn’t.
“NO! This is so unfair! We didn’t do anyth-aah!” A quick jab in the ribs from the blunt end of a spear was the only answer to Rarity’s objection, followed by another between Spike’s eyes when he tried to shield her while ordering the guard to stop. Scootaloo only had time to shout “You idiots brought us h-“ before the act of dodging the spear cut off her sentence.
“Since none of you can fly,” Lightning Dust’s voice rose above the din, “the method of execution will be freefall. Seal the pressure doors, open the trap.”
“No!” Rainbow managed to yell, pushing the strangling leg away from her throat. “Stop! Stop this, Dust! You can’t do this! Why are you doing this? You’re completely insane!”
The entrance to the room was tightly shut, cloud mechanisms slid into place to prevent it from opening again.
“This is what happens to traitors, Dash.”
The strange crank on the floor, near the cage, was pulled. A short hiss of air followed as the room suddenly dropped to the pressure of a seemingly considerable altitude. Rainbow’s eyes went wide at the sight of the gaping hole in the floor, directly below her friends.
“Noo! Don’t do this, Dust! Don’t you dare do this, you bastard! I’ll murder you! I’ll kill you with my own hooves if you do this!” As she gasped for breath, a realization sparked into her mind. “You,” she nearly whispered. “Traitor? You… you’re just doing this to get at me, aren’t you?”
Lightning Dust’s amber eyes stayed as impassive as her voice, and she simply stared at Rainbow for a moment. “Drop the prisoners.”
A guard clamped his teeth around a flat metal rod sticking out of the cage, at the meeting point of the two floor plates. Setting a hoof on the cage itself, he pulled with his mouth, and pushed with his hoof. With an echoing sound of steel jarring loose, the cage’s floor split, sending the three occupants sliding towards the middle; and then through the gap.
As her friends’ terrified eyes slipped out of sight, and their screams filled her ears; Rainbow’s mind emptied like a field of dried grass in a raging firestorm. She… she screamed, something that could no more have been a word than the wails of a foal, and the emptiness consumed her senses. Sounds, sights, smells, pain. All made way to a single voice.
Punch.
She punched the guard on her left. Headbutt. Her head flew back, colliding with the snout of the strangling guard. Spin. Her hind legs pushed in opposite directions, sending her into a twist that let her front hooves batter the guards and push them away from her. She stopped spinning when she began to fall back down, facing the hole in the floor.
Jump. Her front hooves dug into the cloud floor even as her hind legs pushed forward, propelling her cleanly over the table standing in her way. Ballast. Take. Her arms swept wide, clamping around the three bundles of cloth and fabric filled with unseen, indeterminable things. She slid on her stomach on the table’s surface, hooking her hooves through the various straps and knots of the packs as she did. Roll. She landed with a tumble between the table and the cage, her movements letting her see the guards who once held her; barely recovering, and still standing where she’d left them. Kick. She ended her roll with another leap, slamming into the side of the cage with all her might. The cage swung, away from the hole, and gave her a view of the deep tunnel extending below the room. Dive. As soon as the cage swung far enough to let her slip through the hole, she pushed her legs; diving straight down towards the darkness of the ground far below. Towards the shrinking, already miniscule dots of color she could see between her and it.
Save them.
And she was gone, a brown flash of her coat flapping once behind her.