//------------------------------//
// 02 - Before the Dawn 
// Story: As the Wind Blows 
// by Jeevesie 
//------------------------------//


As the Wind Blows - Before the Dawn


Shining Armour's hoofbeats were lighter than normal as he approached Free Bird's cell. He wasn't sure if he was trying to approach so delicately because he was nervous, or on the off-chance that the pegasus prisoner was sleeping, he might be able to get away with telling Cadence that he had tried to talk to her, and failed.  Either way, he felt a little ashamed of himself, and made a point of clearing his throat firmly to announce his presence as he arrived at the barred cell door.

To the unicorn's surprise however, he didn't need to declare his arrival. Free Bird was already looking right at him, sitting up on her bed, straight and tall. She was smiling, too. For a moment, he actually felt rather hopeful. 

Then he saw it. The look in her eyes. That empty, hollow stare. The twitching at the corner of her muzzle as she fought to keep her smile in place, despite every fibre of her heart begging her not to keep up the charade any longer.

Bowing his head, shaking it in worry and confusion, Shining Armour spoke.

"They tell me you've stopped eating."

Free chuckled dryly.

"They tell you? You say that like you don't believe it."

The unicorn raised his gaze, glaring angrily at Free Bird for a moment before he remembered where he was and the strain that this pony before him was under. She had every right to be upset, every right to be angry. He couldn't begrudge her a few sardonic comments.

"Maybe I don't want to believe it. Maybe I find it hard to believe that any pony would rather starve herself and waste away, than remain in a prison cell surrounded by ponies who want nothing more than to make her comfortable."

Free Bird glanced around herself, at the walls, floor and ceiling with which she was becoming intimately familiar.

"Comfortable? What part of any of this is supposed to be comfortable... what parts do you plan on making comfortable, over the four years I'm to stay here?"

She didn't raise her voice. Barely even changed the inflection with which she was speaking. It was clear that she was tired. Drained emotionally, yes, but physically too from lack of nutrition. Pegasii had higher metabolisms than earth ponies or unicorns, and even two days without a solid meal was more than enough to start having almost painful physiological effects. Another day or two longer, and things would start to get very serious indeed.

Shining Armour frowned. He pawed at the ground nervously with one foreleg, but opted to speak his mind anyway.

"Four years is a long time, I know. But... I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The world will still be there when you get out."

Again, Free smiled. That same humourless, agonisingly forced smile. 

"The question is, will I still be here when I get out? When you let this body free from its cell in four years time, will the mind inside it still be me? Still be Free Bird?"

She sighed. Her smile faded, and the pegasus pony raised her head. She met Shining Armour's gaze head on, and spoke far more clearly. Far more rationally than she had thus far. Unfortunately for the unicorn, that only made what she had to say all the more harrowing.

"I don't want to be weak. I don't want to give in and give up. But any time I think about getting through this... about staying strong and doing my time with the most positive mindset I can muster. The days... the weeks... they just stretch out in front of me. They blind me to anything else. Do you know how long four years is, Shining Armour? Because I do. I've counted. Four years, according to an Equestrian Standard Calender, is one thousand, four hundred and sixty one days. That's thirty five thousand and sixty four hours. Two million, one hundred and three thousand, eight hundred and forty minutes. A grand total of one hundred and twenty six million, two hundred and thirty thousand, four hundred seconds."

Tears were rolling down her cheeks by the time she finished reeling off that final number. Then she began to count. One second at a time.

"One."

Shining Armour winced.

"Two."

He closed his eyes. She seemed to notice this, increasing the volume of her voice.

"Three. You may want to join in, Shining Armour. This could take a while, and I could use the company."

The unicorn's eyes sprang open, and he cried out in frustration.

"Okay! O-okay. I get it. I... I understand."

Sniffing and wiping her eyes on one foreleg, Free Bird nodded.

"I know. At least, I know you want to understand. So... thanks. But, really, whether you understand or not... it doesn't change whether you can do anything about it, does it? And it doesn't change how impossible to survive all those seconds feel when they add up."

Glancing towards the window. That small, barred window that offered her such a teasingly pathetic view of the Canterlot skyline, Free smiled again. Not a fake smile on this occasion, but by no means one with any real happiness behind it. 

"I remember a story I was told when I was a foal. It was one of the first stories I ever heard that really changed my life. It was about a young colt. An earth pony, who could fly. A free spirit. He lived on an island with his friends, and had adventures, and fought pirates... one pirate even had a metal hook for a leg!"

Her voice began to perk up as she remembered the story, but trailed off as she caught sight of a pegasus flying through the air beyond the window. Her gaze fell away from the sky beyond the bars, and down the cold stone ground of her cell once more.

"That pony said that death... he said that death was just another, awfully big adventure. It may not be true. It may just have been a lie to make his friends in the story feel better when they thought his time was up. But, right now? That lie offers me more hope than my real situation. That's why I'm not eating, Shining Armour. And why I'm not going to start."

The unicorn stood still. Perfectly still. Not daring to move, for fear that the sight of his own shadow might be enough to send him into a furious rage. He couldn't ever remember feeling so angry. So helpless. So utterly without hope.

Snorting in frustration, he stomped at the ground.

"What would you have us do, Free Bird?!"

He began to turn back and forth, pacing rapidly up and down in front of the pegasus' cell door.

"Would you have us fight the griffins? Go to war for you? Would you have us go back on Celestia's word and make her into a liar... not to mention calling into question every treaty, pact and agreement she has ever signed?"

Free shook her head. Simply and definitively.

"No. I wouldn't ask you to do any of those things, and I haven't. I'm not doing this to make you act. I'm not doing this for any of you. I'm doing this... choosing this path, for myself. Because the only pony this situation should hurt, is me. And this way, at least the pain won't be dragged out for too long."

For a short while, Shining Armour continued to pace back and forth. Then he stopped, and simply stared straight at Free Bird. She said nothing, simply looking back at him with sorrowful acceptance. Then, finally, with a whinny of abject rage as he felt tears brimming behind his own eyes, the stallion turned and bolted out of the dungeon. 

Free Bird didn't react. She didn't even move. She just sat there, staring into the spot where Shining Armour had previously stood as the seconds continued to pass by her. One, by one, by one.


***************


"No. You can't do this!" 

A loud cry from somewhere close by roused Free from a deep slumber. Sleep came easily now. Three days without a meal made sleeping pretty much the only easy thing the pegasus could do. 

"Who's going to stop me, Twilight? You? I admit it, you've gotten much better with your wings, but I can still fly circles around you."

The first voice called out again, and from outside Free Bird's window she saw a magenta flash of magic.

"Fly all you want, Rainbow. But you can't do a thing about those bars without your tools or rope."

The second voice cried out in frustration, and Free Bird saw a rainbow tinted blur dart past her window several times in rapid succession.

"C'mon, Twilight. That's not fair. Y-you can't do that!"

Free Bird's eyes widened. Twilight? There was only one pony with the name Twilight that she was aware of. Princess Twilight Sparkle. Pulling herself up from the bed with a grunt of effort, the pegasus crossed her cell and pulled herself up on her hind legs, gazing out of the window in wonder.

"No, Rainbow Dash. You can't do this. You can't just break Equestria's laws because on this one occasion they don't align with your personal feelings. Ugh, Shining Armour was right. I never should have shared this burden with you all. We should just have kept it between those of us who needed to know."

Hovering in mid air a few metres away from the cell's window, Free Bird watched as the alicorn princess herself debated with a very irate looking, rainbow haired pegasus. She felt a sinking feeling inside herself the more she heard, realising that this argument was about her. About this pegasus pony, this Rainbow Dash, trying to free her. To break her out of the Canterlot Dungeon.

"Need to know? Need to know? Twilight, listen to yourself. The whole of Equestria needs to know about this. I'll be the first in line to defend the griffins and say they've had it tough. Me and Pinkie saw first-hand how bad things had gotten in Griffinstone. But this... imprisoning a pony for sleeping on some ground a flea-bitten bird says they'd claimed as their own, it's barbaric. It's wrong. It's... it's evil."

Twilight Sparkle's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Evil?! Rainbow Dash, this plan has been agreed on by all the princesses. By Celestia herself. By me. Are you calling us... evil?"

For a second or so, the pegasus remained silent. She closed her eyes, deep in thought. 

"You're a good person, Twilight. And of course Celestia and the other princesses are too. But... good people can still do evil things if they're pushed into it. And right now, imprisoning somepony you know is innocent, letting her starve herself to death for the sake of... what? Politics? Yes. I'd call that evil."

The two flying ponies bristled with rage, circling one another in the air angrily as though about to begin fighting at any moment. It was only when a third voice, weak but desperate, cried out, that they withdrew from their hostile stance.

"Stop!"

Shrieking from behind her window, Free Bird beat her hooves against the metal bars. She shook her head, and even after the ponies had fallen deathly silent she kept on crying out and hammering at those black iron rods.

"Stop... stop... just stop. I... I'll eat. Okay? I'll eat food. I'll stop this, just please... don't fight. Don't argue about me any more."

Her voice grew more and more faint, weaker and weaker with each word. Finally, with one last shake of her head, Free Bird felt her hind legs giving out beneath her, and she began to topple backwards from the window.

In a flash of magenta magic, Princess Twilight appeared in the cell; catching Free Bird before she could hit the stone floor and guiding the weary pony back to her bed. With a glare at the cell door, she blasted its lock open with her horn and darted out into the hallway beyond, much to the shock of the guard who was standing on duty. She returned moments later, levitating not only a glass of water, but a brimming plate of food from the guard's break room. 

"Here..."

Sitting down upon her haunches before the dingy mattress, Twilight Sparkle stroked Free Bird's forehead as she gently held the glass of water to the pony's lips. Little by little she fed and watered the exhausted pegasus, and it was only when Free Bird's body fell limp and the fatigued pony began to snore gently that Twilight so much as glanced anywhere else. 

At the cell door, the guard stood with his helmet tucked under one arm. His eyes wide, and a look of compassion and relief upon his face. 

"Princess... you... made her eat. I don't know how you did it, but... thank you. Watching her start to fade away like that, it was killing us. Your brother in particular."

From the guard, Twilight Sparkle's gaze turned to the window. Outside it, Rainbow Dash's face hung with an expression of anguished regret. As Twilight met her gaze, she turned away in shame. Another flash, and the alicorn was gone again. Floating in the air beside her dear friend once more, embracing her tightly in mid-air as they both began to weep. 

They may have gotten Free Bird eating again through their actions, but this was no victory. She hadn't started eating for herself... but only because she couldn't bear her predicament to be hurting so many other lives. All she had done was prove how good and kind hearted a pony she truly was, and yet still, she lay there in that cell. Still a prisoner, and still only an hour or so closer to freedom than before.


***************


"Free Bird?"

When the pegasus next stirred, the first thing she was aware of was the smell permeating her cell. A wonderful, savoury fragrance. Earthy, rich and warming.

She opened her eyes, and saw, standing within the bounds of her cell, another pony. A pony who by now looked pretty familiar to her, but had never looked quite so pleasing as he did now, ladling her out a large bowlful of the steaming vegetable stew which sat in a pot beside him. Shining Armour placed the bowl upon a small wooden table which was suddenly present beside the pegasus pony's bed, and nodded towards it.

"C'mon. Eat up. You have to get your strength back."

Nodding, still too weak and tired to resist, Free Bird lifted her muzzle over the bowl. She inhaled the heady aroma, almost passing out from joy as it filled her senses almost to overflowing. The smell, however, was nothing compared to the taste. It was, without a doubt, the most delicious bowl of stew she had ever consumed. As was the second bowl, and the third. 

By the time that final bowl of vegetable stew had disappeared down the pegasus pony's throat, her belly was pleasantly full, and her eyes wide with renewed energy. She felt better than she had in... well, since being brought here in the first place. But still, there was something different. Something which Free Bird couldn't quite put a hoof on. 

It was only when she looked at Shining Armour, and saw his eyes glance to one side with an uncontrollable smile, that she realised what it was. She followed the unicorn's gaze, and let slip a disbelieving whimper.

The cell door was open.

Its lock a charred, twisted mass of melted metal, and seemingly no effort having been made to close or replace it.

"Come on."

Tilting his head, gesturing for her to follow, Shining Armour turned and walked out of the cell. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder, realising that at first Free Bird wasn't following. She looked afraid. Terrified, actually. Again, he smiled. 

"It's not a trick, and you're not dreaming. I promise I'm not Princess Luna in disguise."

Slowly, cautiously, Free Bird stepped off that worn and thoroughly uncomfortable mattress. Hoof by hoof, step by step, she edged towards the door of her cell, and stepped out into the corridor beyond. She paused, taking a breath, waiting for the truth to come crashing down around her and for a set of guard to toss her right back into the cell. 

But no such cruelty was inflicted upon her. 

All she was faced with was Shining Armour's beaming face, gesturing once more for her to follow him before the unicorn set off towards the dungeon doorway and the stairs beyond. Stairs that led up to Canterlot Castle. And beyond that... the great outdoors. The sky. 

Freedom.

It almost broke Free Bird's heart when after arriving at the top of the stairs and stepping out into the Castle's broad, beautifully bright central hallway, they turned away from the direction of the front door; the path along which she had been led in chains when first she was brought here to answer for her crime. She held her nerve though, and felt her heart rate increasing for an entirely different reason as she followed Shining Armour towards another set of doors. A set which looked suspiciously grand and ornate, as though they might well lead into...

...into a throne room.

Free Bird felt her knees shaking as she saw the thrones. One emblazoned with a golden sun, the other with a shining silver moon. She followed Shining Armour into the royal throne room, around one edge of the beautiful chamber, to yet another set of doors. There at last the unicorn fell still, unfastening the doors with a brief glowing of his horn and gesturing with one foreleg for Free Bird to proceed through, alone.

"I hope I'll see you again, soon."

It was only when Free Bird was half way through the doors that Shining Armour's words began to resonate with her, their implied meaning sending her already pounding heart into overdrive. He hoped he'd see her soon?! That implied that her return wasn't definite. And if that was correct, then where was she going? Where was this short, rather bare little corridor leading her?

The pegasus soon arrived at another set of doors. She reached out with a shaking hoof to open them, but paused. This was a royal castle. She couldn't just wander around as she pleased, surely.

Gingerly, nervously, she knocked at the door with that same outstretched hoof.

From within, a melodic voice called out.

"Come in, my little pony."

Free Bird began to shake like a leaf. She knew that voice. Every pony in Equestria knew that voice.

She opened the door, stepped through, and...

"O-oh..."

Tears filled her eyes. She began to cry instantly and uncontrollably at what she saw. Falling to her knees, throwing her hooves over her face and starting to bawl like a newborn foal. 

Before she collapsed, before her vision blurred with tears, Free Bird had seen Princess Celestia standing before her. But more importantly, she had seen the sky. The sun. The beautiful open air stretching out before her, a slight breeze rustling her mane as she stepped out onto a balcony. 

The next thing Free knew, she was being scooped up in the warmest, most comfortable embrace she had ever known. She was being hugged. Cuddled, by Princess Celestia herself. The divine alicorn's voice whispered into her ear as Celestia held her tightly, and she could hear the almost tearful emotion in the princess' own voice.

"I'm so sorry for what we've put you through, Free Bird. We're all so, so sorry. But I promise... I give you my word, you will not go back into that cell. You will not be a prisoner within any four walls for even a minute longer as long as we Princesses rule Equestria."

For quite some time, Celestia held Free Bird tightly in her grasp, and the pegasus hugged the alicorn back in joyous gratitude. It was only when they released one another, both taking a step back to look each other in the eye, that the Princess continued to speak. She was still smiling, but less so than before, and with a slightly forced note that after her recent experiences Free Bird recognised all too well. Celestia, it seemed, was no better at concealing her emotions than she herself was.

"But..."

There it was. That sinking feeling. That gnawing element of worry which Free Bird had been waiting for. Suddenly the skies above her and all around looked ever more inviting. In an instant, she could be airborne. Leaping over the balcony rail and away. Sure, ponies could chase her, but catch her?! That was another matter entirely. She felt her muscles tensing. Her wings poised, ready to flare out and carry her skyward at a moment's notice.

"But I'm afraid your freedom will come at a cost. A cost either to you, or to me. That's why I've asked you here. So we can talk face to face, as equals, and decide which of us should bear the burden of this whole messy situation."

The alicorn wasn't smiling any more.

"I cannot ignore my responsibilities. Either to this realm I have been tasked to rule, or to its citizens which I have sworn to protect. So, if I grant you your freedom, complete and total freedom, as I am doing right now... I must take your place."

Free Bird whimpered softly. Surely, the Princess couldn't mean what it sounded like she meant.

"I must take your sentence on my own shoulders, and go to work for the griffins who claimed you violated the ancient treaty I signed with their ancestors... by sleeping on their land without consent or payment." 

The way Celestia said those words, it was clear she had little respect for those who had captured Free in the first place, nor their reason for doing so. And yet, she was still willing to turn herself over to them. Her, the ruler of all Equestria. 

"Before I give you the other option, I must tell you that I am willing and able to face the four year sentence they are offering. I trust my sister, my niece and Princess Twilight Sparkle to run Equestria in my absence, and when I return I shall continue to rule as I have for over a thousand years. To me... four years is... a tolerable punishment, however unjust its initial judgement. Do you understand?"

Nervously, Free Bird nodded. 

"Good. For you see, the other option is not something I say lightly. It is not something I am proud to acknowledge. But, I believe that after weighing up all the options, it is right to suggest it."

Celestia took a breath. She steadied herself visibly. The fact she had to do this made Free Bird tremble all the more violently with fear at what this option could possibly be.

"The other option, is that we do what no pony will expect. What no pony would dare to believe I would even consider."

She leaned closer to Free Bird, her eyes twinkling with simultaneous sorrow and defiant pride.

"The other option, Free Bird, is that we lie."



By Jeeves