//------------------------------//
// Chapter XI 
// Story: Journey to the center of Equestria 
// by Rarity Belle 
//------------------------------//

Both Twilight and Applejack were staring down the barrels of the flintlocks which were aimed at them by the rainbow color haired major. Whether she would actually shoot the two on the spot was a question that remained to be seen. Caution was given off by both of the other anthronies  though. Neither of them even dared to make any sudden movements.

Both of the guns were cocked and ready to fire when major Dash wanted it. The moderate cerise rims were constantly switching between both the soothsayer and the admiral. A deep huff was then released as she never even showed a grain of doubt. She was a pegasus, always one hundred percent confident of what they would be doing. Even if it meant that there would be nasty cost.

There still remained a lot of mystery around the major as Applejack knew that she needed to find any kind of manner to calm the mind of the pegasus. It had to be her as Twilight almost had a set of shivering knees while she continued to stare down the barrel. The fear and fright was actually readable within her eyes and not something that was particularly hard to miss.

Even Rainbow Dash saw it within the eyes but made the probably wise decision not to give any attention to it. Seconds seemed to have passed like hours while the silence had taken over the mood. One wrong word and it could all be over for the company. Under the blistering sun there was no room for error. One mistake and they could have waved their lives goodbye.

Applejack released a deep exhale through her nostrils. Her eyes had eased up but she also made a gentle growl that come from her throat. She wanted to speak her words so desperately yet she was secretly afraid that she would be the one that would blow the entire operation. Which was about the last thing where the mare had been hoping for to do.

Caution had to be executed on a regular base before the eyes of the soothsayer and the admiral finally met up with one another. Even though they didn’t said a word against the other, they knew exactly what they were thinking about. Two simple blinks acted as nods. Nods that spoke about the fact of understanding.

In the end though, was it Applejack who gave an actual calm but firm nod with her head. The admiral turned her attention back to the major with a pair of good eyes. “Major Dash,” she started in a respectful tone when her eyes met those of Rainbow, “would ya kindly lower yar weapons so we can discuss the matter that’s upon us? We ain’t demanding ya to listen, but ya gotta give us a try.”

The pegasus listened to the words as they came past her ears. There would be a deep exhale released by her that ended with a chuckle. But her weapons were never lowered. “Once you have been through what I have been, you’ll figure out that those most honest are either drunk, young or staring down the barrel of your gun,” she said to the both of them almost in a threatening tone. “So you, better start to tell me the truth before the clouds are painted red.”

Those words managed to get a massive scare from Twilight as she made a small yelp. A little something that broke the attention between the two military ponies. They glanced over to the soothsayer. It was in fact a massive mistake. It gave Rainbow Dash another point she could focus herself on.

Even though the major had never actually seen a soothsayer, she knew how one looked like the second she saw one. There was a gust of wind that came in and the tail of Applejack’s coat as well as the open jacket of Rainbow began to wave within it. The tension was even more present and the pressure was there. Something had to happen to bring the whole situation right down upon the right pair of legs. The only problem happened to be the question of what.

Seconds later did the attention of the two mares focus back upon the other and their conversation erupted. A conversation that was everything but pleasant to listen to. “Ah know, that even when facing the barrel of a flintlock one can still sell a lie as the truth. Yar logic ain’t applying on us partner. Ya need a new strategy if ya want any kind of answers outta us,” said Applejack in an honest tone. She placed herself a bit firmer upon the cloud-asphalt of the runway.

Yet those words didn’t fell in the right throat hole for Rainbow. She did a step closer and placed one of her guns right up against the nose of Applejack. The cold steel of the barrel against the nostrils was something that made her heart skip a beat before it raced faster. Out of all the close encounters that the admiral had, that one happened to have been a little bit too close for her liking.

“So you wanna take your secrets to the grave, I presume?” replied major Dash in a cold tone. She forced her weapon even the slightest bit more into Applejack’s face. The anger was truly visible within her eyes when somepony dared to question her authority. Twilight had the feeling that something terrible would happen and that was about the last thing she needed and wanted.

Against everything that was said and done already, it was Twilight herself who finally dared to open her mouth against Rainbow. The violet rimmed eyes focused themselves upon the cerise ones while the words left her mouth. “Listen, major, we never came here with the intention for a fight with you. We came here on the behalf of something else. Something, much more important.”

Rainbow’s attention turned over to the soothsayer. Then it were her own words that got hissed up behind her teeth. “What could be more important than the fate of Cloudsdale and the C.A.F. all together? Tell me, soothsayer. And when you are on an answering role, tell me also why you have left that castle of yours and why you look like that.”

It were rightfully asked questions where Twilight had little to nothing against. She had to tell the major the truth, but out there in the open did the wind carried their words. The wrong ears were always listening from the darkest corners was a thing she had learned. Somepony else could have gotten scent of their journey and what they could have planned wouldn’t have be helpful at all.

A deep exhale that was being released at first, then Twilight took a deep inhale while she gathered her guts in order to answer. Yet before she could say even one word, she was cut off by Applejack. “How ‘bout the land yar city flies under eh? Without that land, y’all be dead quicker than a ship sinks. ‘Member that y’all still require that very land as yar food source. Now imagine it all gone. Whole of Cloudsdale starving, cause ya couldn’t keep ya finger off the trigger.”

Powerful words were spoken indeed, that much had Twilight to admit from the admiral. Though whether or not it was enough to break the pegasus remained to be seen. Until then, it was perhaps better for Twilight to keep quiet. The matter didn’t ask for her help, never had been. 

Seconds slowly turned into minutes as the flintlocks of Rainbow never even moved one bit in her hands. The thoughts that were racing through her mind were certainly processing the words spoken by the admiral and she knew they were true. The city still depended on the land below and without it, they would all die of starvation.

Eventually there was a massive exhale that was released through her nostrils before the guns were raised into the air and uncocked before they disappeared again in the holsters under the waving jacket. The cerise eyes never lost track of the both of them. “So, what are you two planning?” the pegasus asked from the both of them.

Twilight released a deep exhale in relief. The mare was glad that she wasn’t staring down a barrel anymore. Applejack on the other end just scratched her nose a little bit before it began to twitch calmly. “Is there any place we can discuss this matter in private? It’s a really sensitive matter,” said Twilight in the hope that Rainbow would finally agree upon it.

Though much to both of their surprise gave the anthrony pegasus a nod as a confirmation to the words. “Yes, there’s a place where we can discuss it privately. The office of grand field marshal Spitfire. Follow me,” answered Rainbow Dash. Without a further word had the major just walked past the two of them. There wasn’t much that either Applejack or Twilight Sparkle could be doing then to follow the blue skinned, rainbow haired major of the Cloudsdale Air Force.


~~~~

                     
It was after a small walk over across half the runway that the three of them finally turned to a series of buildings. Once again was it the second that they had walked through the doorway that the cool air of the place took them over. While they did like the sun, its blistering heat had caused a strain of sweat to travel down their faces. Yet it was Rainbow Dash who didn’t even seem to be affected by it whatsoever.

Perhaps it was a little pegasus thing, given that they lived nearly constantly under the sun. Perhaps they had a built up some form of resistance through the gears of time itself it. Twilight could only wonder about it. Whereas Applejack couldn’t care less about it.

Through the hallways they walked with calm while other cadets came and went past them. None of them gave much attention to them but Twilight could hear them talking behind their backs from time to time. Not that she minded it too much at all. It was in fact a strange case to see the unicorn and the earth anthrony walking the cloudy floor of the buildings. Twilight and Applejack would have just shrugged it off before Rainbow opened a door. “If you please,” she said in a voice that was genuinely trying to be polite.

Both of the other anthronies nodded thankfully to her before they walked into the room. A rectangular room that held a couple of dossier cabinets, near countless pictures upon the walls of green and a desk with three chairs. The door was closed and locked behind Rainbow as she then pointed to the other two to sit in the chairs.

Without a question they just did what was asked of them. Rainbow walked even past them and the desk, only to lean up against the wall between two windows that were located on the backwall of either side of the desk. Her arms were crossed over each other as she looked the pair of them once more in the eyes. “So, now that we are in private, can you two finally tell me what you need of me?” Rainbow then asked of them. She had to admit that she was secretly curious as of what they had in store for her.

Twilight looked over to Applejack who did the same. But that questioning gaze with those violet rims were already enough of a hint to the admiral. She simply gave a nod to Twilight before she leaned her body a bit more against the back of the chair. “Allow her to explain,” said Applejack. The admiral gestured her hand over to Twilight. The story would be told by the one who knew it all.

The soothsayer all of the sudden gained the full attention of the major. One who waited in calm for the words to come. It was then or literally never that she held the power to get Rainbow Dash on their team. “Alright,” she whispered before most of her guts were gathered once again and a deep inhale was taken, “I trust that you are familiar with the tremors that have been causing havoc over the land of Equestria.

“Oh yes I am. Everywhere the city flies, there always seems to be another one happening,” commented Rainbow while she acknowledged the words. That did relief Twilight a lot as it meant she didn’t have to tell her that whole story either. “So, continue.”

“Hm? Oh, yes, sorry. Well, what we have planned is to gather a team and then try to find out what causes these tremors and possibly put a stop to them. That’s, basically what we’re going to try and do,” Twilight then spoke up as she realized once more just how insane her plan or quest happened to be.

Rainbow’s eyebrows both rose themselves up. Though her face turned into an expression of wondering as she really didn’t have a single clue. “Wait, wait, wait. Hold a moment here,” the major said then. She was in the need to know the finer details. “I’m a pegasus who has almost never set a hoof on the ground. Now you want to go under it, and find the source of the tremors that plague your land? Why would you be needing a pegasus for in the first place?!”

The words were directly turned around and fired back at Twilight. That very same Twilight released a gentle sigh through her mouth. There wasn’t really an answer that she could think about that would have been seemed as logical. For there was no actual logic in the entire operation to begin with. “It’s not a matter of how, why, when and whether you want or not. It’s a matter of being there for the right reasons. If you don’t join us, the world as we know it might change forever.”

All of the sudden was it Applejack who interrupted Twilight. She gave a really blunt example of a possible future. “Years from now, when Equestria has changed for the worse, they be asking y’all: what did ya do when the world changed? And all ya can answer with is this: Ah just stood by and watched after declining the solution. Ya wanna do that for yar city? Ya wanna dent yar pride that much? Accept the facts major Dash, yar needed for this and ya know it.”

With the interruption of Applejack were the feelings inside of Rainbow’s heart pumped up even more. The pegasus really didn’t have the slightest of clues anymore. She could decline but if it really would dent her pride that much, she was better off dead. Yet if she accepted the offer, there also would be a chance that she would die. Though then she would have died for the right cause.

It was morally difficult to say the least. Both of their words sounded honestly, but as Applejack had stated once before: even when looking down the barrel of a flintlock, the lie could still be sold as the truth. That was the saying that really drove the pegasus off of her edge. She suddenly flung the chair back before she just took place into it and leaned back within it.

Her head was dropped backwards as much as it was allowed. Then she released a massive exhale through her mouth. Both of the other anthronies could actually hear the strain that they had managed to place upon the mind of the pegasus. It wasn’t something good to begin with. Yet they could only hope on the fact that everything would be working out just fine for them. Though it was only a hope.

That very same hope was something where neither of them actually trusted upon a whole lot. Twilight continued to judge the moment as the seconds ticked by as Applejack simply laid back in her own chair while waiting for the answer to come.

Thousands of thoughts raced through the mind of the mare in the chair behind the desk. Thousands of thoughts that went about pretty much every aspect of her life. The offer that was given to her was something she never had expected to be given in her entire life. Growls and moans were released by the deepest part of the body as the back of the chair creaked and squeaked with almost all of her motions.

Unsure of what to do and deeply in doubt was the best way to describe the situation of Rainbow for the moment. “A soothsayer and an admiral of the navy, asking a pegasus to go underground to stop a series of tremors. Heh, sounds like the start of a bad joke really,” the pegasus then muttered up just loud enough for the two to hear them. “When you think about it.”

Twilight was shocked by the words while Applejack felt that Rainbow didn’t hold respect for anything anymore. “Tis a terrible joke when nothing being done ‘bout it partner. Ya really don’t wanna be the one responsible for the madness that shall follow.” Her words were honest and powerful, only adding to the mental scale in which Rainbow was weighing the odds in against.

Odds about her making it out alive and how well she would adapt to the surface. Madness, that was the best word for pretty much everything. Madness surged through all three of their minds as they literally had no clue of what would be working and what would be just full of baloney. Yet that was something perhaps a lot easier said than done.

Minutes had passed by like they were hours in the cooled down office of grand field marshal Spitfire. The silence of Rainbow was a thing that began to worry the other two more and more. In order to break the near endless waiting, Twilight had begun to look upon some of the pictures that were hanging in the office. Her interests were certainly peaked while she began to wonder what had been the story behind all of them. Perhaps tales she would have liked, but she assumed that more of them were tales of war.

Wars fought by the grand field marshal herself as she led her soldiers charge into battle. War was something that Twilight had never experienced before in her life and it perhaps was for the better. It was just about the thing that she wanted, to land in the middle of a warzone. Though with an admiral and a major joining the group, tensions could become high enough that a war would indeed break loose. She could only hope those two could behave themselves for the time being.

Her violet rimmed eyes then slowly turned over to the windows and she calmly peeked outside. The scenery that was given to her was basically the back of the city itself. Skyscrapers made out of clouds rose up after a field of open cloud as countless pegasi were flying through the air as if it was nothing.

It brought a gentle smile to her face. The unicorn enjoyed the pallets of color that showcased itself before the sides of each building. With the sun shining down against it all, it almost seemed like modern pieces of art were painted right before her eyes. The canvas was the building and the paint were the pegasi.

Yet Applejack had never taken her eyes off Rainbow during it all. She was still waiting for the answer to come. With a small huff it became known that she really was having more than enough of it all. But the pegasus was still doubting her mind off.

It was only after a grueling fifteen minutes that Rainbow Dash finally flung herself forwards in the chair and placed her arms against the desk. She glanced the two anthronies deeply in the eyes before her words were spoken in a lower tone than they had expected. “Alright then, I’m in. It’s another perfect opportunity to show the diversity of the city itself. So yeah, count me in as well. As long as she doesn’t command me.”

The index finger was waving into the direction of Applejack who released a simple huff. Twilight knew that she needed to step in before the fires would rise up again. So she nodded calmly to the words of the pegasus before saying some of her own in a kind but demanding tone. “Nopony listens to anypony but me. I have set up this plan, so I have the highest of authority.”

“Good,” said Rainbow before she chuckled, “chance of a certain death, risky plan with minimum chance of succeeding. Yeah, my kind of thing right there.” It was basically the entire actual reason of why Rainbow would have joined them. But it was discarded by her as a simple joke. A joke which both Applejack and Twilight didn’t really follow, or didn’t want to.

Though the two of them were relieved that Rainbow made the decision to join them and not leave them hanging. If the pegasus had declined, things could have looked a whole lot sour. Twilight knew that Applejack went with her because of protection and Rainbow for the kick she would be getting out of the journey. Neither of them actually went because they wanted to help the land.

Each of them had so their own plans and reasons to get along. Twilight could only hope that the two remaining beings –as well as the mysterious one– would be coming because they heeded the call that their land needed them. Though most likely they wouldn’t. Two out of the five didn’t, that proved already so much for Twilight.

Though she was also happy that she came along, as it meant that they had half of the team complete. Herself, Applejack and Rainbow Dash formed half of the team of six. But seeing how difficult it was before Rainbow finally said yes to the matter, it only troubled Twilight how long it would be taking the others.

It would have been a worry for later though. As they were still dealing with the pegasus herself. Applejack on the other end was of course happy that major Dash had joined their company, but she still had her own thoughts about the matter. It was a triggerhappy mare for certain and she could only hope that she was as loyal as Spitfire had made them belief.

A true opinion about Rainbow Dash couldn’t be formed yet by Applejack. That was for the simple fact she hadn’t seen her in any actual action yet. She did respect the pegasus on her rank, but on a much more personal level, she didn’t.

Twilight finally showed the pair of them a gentle smile. She had come out of her chair and placed both of her hands upon her knees. She wanted to stand up before one last thing came across her mind. Something that she had to tell Rainbow before anything else would be happening. “Major Dash, now that you’re part of this company, the central meeting point will become the castle of Canterlot. Once the others have been gathered, we shall make our departure as quick as allowed.”

Those words didn’t really fell into the right throat hole for Rainbow Dash as she calmly rose one of her eyebrows and glared at Twilight with a cynical glare. “Listen soothsayer, I hardly remember your name and now you think you can command me to come to that ancient castle? Hmpf, not going to happen. I can promise you that much already,” the major replied with a blunt tone. One that enraged Applejack’s inside. While the outside pretty much remained as if she was made of steel. Not even the slightest of changes were to be witnessed.

“Hey, if you have a better alternative, I gladly hear it,” exclaimed Twilight in response. Her voice was a bit higher pitched than she would have liked. It was a tone that caused both Applejack and Rainbow to look at her with a gaze of both question and wonder. Neither of the two knew what to do, whether they should be laughing or just not say something.

In the end they both made the possibly wise decision to not say anything about it and just continue with the conversation. “Fine, you want to call me on another manner? Here you go,” the pegasus then spoke up before she reached inside of one of her pockets.

Out of it came a whistle in the shape of a cloud and a thunderbolt. It lacked any kind of coloring but it seemed to have been old. Ancient even. “Blow on the cloud and aim the bolt to the skies. And watch the magic happen. But I warn you, only call me when you’re absolutely certain that you will be leaving. I don’t want to be flying over to that castle for nothing, understood?”

Twilight gently took the mysterious looking whistle over before Rainbow took out another one that was exactly identical with just one exception. The one the major carried was colored. The cloud was white whereas the lightning bolt was blue, yellow and red. Thousands of thoughts raced through the mind of the unicorn just before her fingers coiled up around her whistle.

Could it have been that that design was actually the mark of Rainbow Dash? It was only something that could be wondered about before Twilight shook her head. The unicorn tightened her grip around the whistle a bit more before Applejack got out of her chair.

A cloud of steam was being released by the leg before she fully stood straight again and both of the pegasus and the unicorn looked at her with a gaze of wonder. “What? Don’t look to me like that. Ah needed to recalibrate a couple of things here,” huffed Applejack out before the two pairs of eyes took themselves away from her. It was a massive moment of relief for the admiral before her hand went behind her leg and turned some of the valves. 

Yet one of the things where they both were still wondering about was that whistle. Twilight wanted to try it inside but that didn’t seem like a great idea in the slightest. So they could only just wonder whether or not it was something that would actually work or not. It was also strange really, that a whistle would have been able to call the pegasus, even if she was at the other side of the country.

The admiral didn’t really believe it but she still accepted the facts as they were. Even if she didn’t like them one single bit. Twilight on the other end actually believed that it would have been able to call Rainbow, but the trick was whether or not there was a maximum range on the thing. When the need would have been there, they would have figure it all out. Their only hope would be that it wouldn’t have become too late for them.

“So, shall we leave then?” Twilight then asked to the both of them. She felt that their business had been done there. Rainbow placed her own whistle back inside of the pocket where she took it from before she gave a nod to the soothsayer. They both left the comforts of the chair and it was Rainbow who was the first to walk walked up to the door and unlocked it.

It was a miracle that nopony had disturbed them during their little talking about the possible fate of their lands though. Yet that could have been seen as a good thing for the three of them. None of them wanted to think about the bad stuff that could happen during the trip as it seemed like that that would still be a long way away. Something they could have only hoped.

The door was opened again by Rainbow and the admiral was the first anthrony to leave, followed up by Twilight. Rainbow came third and closed the door behind her before she stretched one of her arms. “Oh oh,” whispered Applejack loud enough for Twilight to hear. Sshe then looked deeper into the hallway to see what was coming.

There she saw the grand field marshal coming her way. Her near golden skin reflected in the lights as the fiery mane almost looked like as it was on actual fire. The last thing they wanted was a run in with her. Yet much to their surprise had Rainbow taken another route. Where the two went right, she had taken left and was nowhere to be found. They were on their own and they knew it as soon as Twilight had turned herself around to see where the other pegasus was.

Spitfire came closer and closer. All the way until she was finally within talking distance of the two. And words were released immediately. “So, you three foals are finally done in my office. I will only ask you two this once: what did you do inside? What did you spoke about?” she spoke to them in a demanding tone. The mare really wanted to know the finer details about pretty much everything that had been going on.

She wouldn’t have gotten any word outside of Applejack though. The tough sailor remained on her ground firmly as she didn’t even look back into the eyes of the grand field marshal. The tension between the navy and the air force had always been there. Years of silent wars had caused that Applejack wouldn’t talk against any member of the air force unless it was absolutely necessary. And the case she was in, was everything but that.

A calm exhale was given by her before she gave a gentle shake of her head and began to walk again. She knew that trouble could be coming out of it but she really didn’t wanted to talk to Spitfire. Though the strange thing was the little fact that Spitfire actually allowed her to go just like it. But that never meant that Twilight was actually safe. For the soothsayer stood literally in the direct line of fire of the golden yellowish pegasus.

The white shirt that was worn under the normal attire was perfectly visible given the fact that the blouse had been unbuttoned from top to bottom. So when Spitfire made her turn to the soothsayer, it gently flew through the air before their eyes finally met with one another. “Which brings me to another question that I have, what is a soothsayer doing here?” Spitfire asked before she narrowed her eyes. Despite their rather seductive looks, they were still piercing through the soul of Twilight.

Uncomfortable was the best way to describe the situation for the soothsayer. So what she did was to bravely take a step forwards and just walk past her like Applejack did. All of her guts were gathered once again as she managed to keep a straight face. Closer and closer she came to the field marshal before she past her like that.

Everything seemed to have been packing out nicely for the soothsayer. The bit of confusion that was visible in the eyes of Spitfire once she walked by was oddly satisfying. But that same wonder suddenly turned into anger as Twilight could feel something squeezing in her upper arm. Her head quickly turned around to see that Spitfire held her and the eyes glared of thunder.

“I asked you a couple of questions of which I desire to know the answers of,” said Spitfire in a demanding, but also partly hissing tone towards the soothsayer. Whether Twilight liked it or not, it seemed like that she had to tell the field marshal the truth. Unless the soothsayer could be finding some kind of loophole that she could use.