Rainbow Dash finished her meal in record time. In the back of her mind, Dash was sure she looked the wild savage that many believed her kind to be. But the majority of her focus was on the food. It was far fresher than any she had recently. Trixie had only given them wilted leaves that were well on their way to full decomposition.
The unicorn, Twilight had been dutifully working on a letter to the ground pony leader. Queens in all but name Celestia and her sister, Luna ruled the night and day as well as the earth races. Both were regal and proud, manes flowing and coats unmarred by any stain or scar.
Thinking of the royal sister’s flawless beauty made Dash look to herself. Her fur was stained with dirt and blood, feathers and mane a ragged mess. Filthy, an animal living in its own filth. She needed a bath. But she would need to ask the owner of the house first. Pegasus custom demanded it. Even if she was unicorn.
“May I use your bathroom?” Dash asks begrudgingly.
Twilight doesn’t seem surprised. “Sure, it’s up those stairs, second door on the left.” The unicorn knows that it will be awhile before she sees Rainbow Dash again. Pegasi were a proud people and placed quite a bit of importance on physical appearance. Granted there was more than just social importance for good looks. Feathers had to be tended carefully if one were to fly properly.
Rainbow Dash quietly ascended the stairs and Twilight returned to her letter. In reality she had completed it before Dash had finished her meal, but had pretended to write so the Pegasus would not feel watched. The purple unicorn requested Spike send the letter and settled down with a book on pegasi to wait for Rainbow to return. It couldn’t hurt to brush up on Pegasus customs.
Rainbow carefully cleared the blood and dirt from her fur until it was clear of any indication of her ordeal. Aside from one mark on her shoulder, the whip had not touched her body. Dash’s wings however, bore full testament to her experience.
Her wings. The single greatest gift a Pegasus inherited from their ancestors was the legacy of flight. It was what (quite literally) put them above the ground races, who lived their lives tied to the earth. Rainbow’s people had long ago separated themselves from those bound by gravity. Back when Equestria was first discovered by Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy.
While the Earth and Unicorn ponies took shelter from a snowstorm in a cave, the pair of Pegasi rose above the storm. They rested on a bank of clouds high above the ground until the foul weather passed. The same clouds that would one day become the foundation of Cloudsdale.
The unicorn and earth pony tribes were from that day forward, united. Eventually the Alicorn rulers of the land came forward and welcomed the tribes under their protection. The Pegasi too, were offered this gift, but their pride would not allow them to kneel before a leader not of their own kind, and they turned away. The Alicorns respected this, and gave them the clouds and high places of the land where the unicorns and earth ponies would not live.
Many treaties were formed over the years, establishing trade between the two nations.
In the present day, Pegasi were less accepted than they were in previous years. Many thought of the sky races as little more than animals. Griffins, while welcomed in Pegasus cities were chased back to their mountaintop nests by fearful mobs. Pegasi were tolerated by the few cities not blinded by their ignorance. Most of them near Canterlot accepted the flight-gifted ponies, and traded crops for weather services.
But trade with the earth races was getting more and more dangerous. Rainbow Dash had first-hoof knowledge of this fact. She had been a weather pony before she was kidnapped by Trixie.
Rainbow Dash nudged the rain-laden cloud into place over the newly-seeded field. The Earth-pony farmer watched from the sidelines, Spring Stone was the head of one of the many old earth pony families. The Stones had worked with Pegasi for many generations, trading food for rain over their crops instead of the irrigation system many farmers used.
Rainbow herself had worked for the stallion many times and had come to enjoy the company of his family. Often she took his young fillies on small flights, barely hovering above the ground as the children squealed with delight. But today she had to return to cloudsdale early. After waving down to Spring Stone, Rainbow Dash banked right and soared towards her cloud home.
The blue mare skimmed over the treetops, paying little attention to her surroundings. Instead she let the joy of flight overtake her senses, the pure wind rushing through her mane, the power of her wings defying gravity as easily as a unicorn accessed its magic. This, this was what she was born for. Playfully, the Pegasus preformed mid-air stunts, spinning and twirling in an aerial ballet of her own design.
Caught up in her pleasure of flight, Rainbow Dash didn’t see the unicorns gathered below her. Didn't see their eyes burn with greed. And she didn’t see the heavy net that they tangled around her wings until it was too late.
The free life of Rainbow Dash came crashing to the ground beside her, shattering on impact with the unforgiving earth. Instantly the unicorns were gathered around her, holding her down with their magic. Rainbow Dash bucked and fought, but she was no match for the unicorn’s power. Far too easily, they had her pinned to the ground, helpless. “Who are you!? What’s going on?” Dash snarled.
A light blue unicorn stood over her, horn glowing. “I am Trixie, and you belong to me.”
Dash hissed as soapy water invaded an open cut on her wing, pulling her from the past and dropping her unceremoniously in the present. The bathwater was lukewarm now and she had run out of places to scrub, so the blue Pegasus reluctantly abandoned the tub to face the future before her.