Chapter 22: The Elusive Truth
Celestia's reply to Twilight Sparkle's letter did not arrive until the next day, after Fluttershy had come to take Dawn home and Twilight had had the opportunity to explain the incident to her friends. They reacted with varying degrees of distress and disbelief. Though, perhaps unsurprisingly, the one least surprised behind this turn of event was Applejack.
"Ah knew that lyin' snake in the grass was up to no good," muttered the farmer under her breath.
The letter itself was delivered by a pegasus courier, Celestia having opted to spare Spike anymore strain for the time being. The letter she sent was met with mixed feelings once Twilight had read its contents.
My dearest student;
It distresses me greatly to know that one of my Knights was capable of acting in such a fashion. I have great expectations for all of them, but Swift Stride was exceptionally special in my opinion. Over the course of his years of service, he has accomplished a great deal of good. I have always placed my trust in him and never doubted his loyalty to Equestria and the ponies who call it home. Even now, given what you have reported, I believe that he acted with the best of intentions, however heinous the actions he has taken may have been.
That said, it does not excuse what he has tried to do. Even if it was in the interest of preventing disaster in the future, deliberately threatening the life of a pony who is innocent of wrongdoing is unforgivable, especially when such a threat is carried out by one who has sworn himself to the service of the very ponies he has tried to harm. There is no question that Swift Stride must be held to account for his actions.
Thus, it is with a heavy heart that I revoke Swift Stride's status and authority as a Knight of the Celestial Order. He no longer acts with my authority and may no longer enjoy the privileges accorded to him according to his position. He is to be arrested and brought to me for trial and review, followed by sentencing. The other Knights are being notified this as expediently as possible, though, as always, it may some time for this message to reach all of them.
I am sure that you understand that Swift Stride has most likely not abandoned his plan to kill you and may, even now, be looking for another opportunity to take your life. I am sorry that you would find yourself in such danger so soon after your ordeal with Elderflower. I can only hope that the rest of my Knights are able to apprehend him promptly, before he can make another attempt. Please be on your guard.Sincerely; Princess Celestia
"What does she mean, 'revoke his status?'" demanded Twilight irritably, staring at the letter, "She should have stripped him of his title immediately."
"Functionally, it's the same thing," said Arkenstone softly, "Though Swift Stride still bears the title of a Celestial Knight, he no longer has any of the status normally accorded one. Celestia will not consider actually stripping him of his title until he has been tried, at which point his discharge from the Celestial Order will be part of his sentence. If he is killed before he can be apprehended then she will try him en-absentia and revoke his title posthumously."
"But why wait for a trial?" asked Twilight, "It's clear as day that he's committed a serious crime."
"It's a matter of law and procedure," replied Arkenstone, "It serves as a reminder that, even with our status and position, we Knights are still beholden to the law. Our privileges allow us to supersede certain laws and authorities, but there are laws that even we must bow to. It reinforces the fact that, however independently we act, we are still ultimately bound to Equestria and its ponies." He sighed. "I know it sounds like so much empty rhetoric, but it is an essential piece of our identity, our obligations as Knights."
Though she didn't really like the answer, Twilight nodded. Though the Knights of the Celestial Order were not as bound by ceremony and tradition as other knightly orders (most of which were now defunct in the wake of the dismantling of the Noble Court), they were still ultimately bound by their tenets.
"Has this ever happened before?" asked Twilight, "A Knight betraying the Order?"
"I cannot say I recall any precedent for this," admitted Arkenstone, "Though, as you can see, the Princess did foresee the possibility and has measures in place for it. When push comes to shove, it will fall to us to bring Swift Stride to justice."
Twilight hoped that would come sooner rather than later. The last thing she wanted to do was spend months sitting and looking over her shoulder for one of the most dangerous ponies in the world to make another attempt on her life.
The very same day that Celestia's reply arrived, so too did Spitfire. She wasn't alone. Though the Wonderbolts remained in Cloudsdale, she was accompanied by two ponies, one of whom Twilight and her friends were especially happy to see.
"Rainbow Dash!" squealed Pinkie Pie, leaping forward to tackle the cerulean pegasus in a hug that sent them both sprawling across the ground.
"Pinkie! Easy!" yelled Rainbow once she recovered from having the wind knocked out of her lungs.
"But you haven't written in forever!" protested Pinkie, continuing to squeeze her arms tighter around Rainbow's shoulders, making her bones creak.
"I wrote you last week," replied Rainbow as sardonically as she could, given the circumstances.
"Yeah, I know," agreed Pinkie with one of her trademark, face-splitting grins, "Like I said...Forever!"
Spitfire and the her other companion, Firefly, made no effort to stifle their chuckles as Rainbow wriggled and struggled to get free of Pinkie's steel grip.
"Thank you for coming," said Twilight, coming forward and extending a hoof to Spitfire.
Spitfire took the proffered hoof and gave it a friendly shake, her expression becoming grave. "It's not like I could afford not to," she said, "Having one of us Knights go off the reservation like this is a serious problem. Plus, this is Swift Stride we're talking about. I don't think that just one of us is up to the job of bringing him in."
"I can certainly attest to that," said Arkenstone as he traded nods with Spitfire and Firefly.
Firefly said nothing, but smiled warmly before turning her attention to other matters. Besides Twilight, her friends, and Arkenstone, Dawn was there as well, along with the other members of the Crusaders (though Dawn was technically the only actual "Crusader" remaining). Even Scootaloo and Rumble had been released from their grounding long enough to say hello to Rainbow Dash as she arrived. Now that Rainbow had finally managed to pry Pinkie Pie off of herself, she was presently engaged in sharing an enthusiastic hug with the orange filly.
"It's good to see you doing well," said Firefly with a smile as she approached Dawn, "I understand you've been through quite the harrowing ordeal."
"Given how quickly Swift Stride stood down, harrowing is not the word I would use for it," said Dawn with a raised eyebrow.
That got a laugh out of Firefly. "I don't believe I was talking about Swift."
Dawn blinked. "Oh...you mean Terra Heart then?"
"Correct," said Firefly, "Though, from what I've heard from Arkenstone about the matter, you managed to acquit yourself quite well."
"I ended up paying the price for it," said Dawn, thinking back to his weeks of convalescence, which had been some of the longest and most difficult of his life, which, considering everything else he had been through, was really saying something...and his actual injuries hadn't even been all that bad.
"We all go through those times, sooner or later," said Firefly with a shrug, "I've experienced Wing Stroke myself. The recovery period is no picnic." She gave Dawn a conspiratorial wink, using a wing to gesture discreetly towards Scootaloo and Rumble. "I also understand that your fillyfriend and that colt over there acquitted themselves quite well in Canterlot recently."
"Indeed," agreed Dawn, giving Firefly a wry smile, "Though they are now paying the price for it in their own way."
Firefly burst out laughing, drawing the eyes of everypony in the vicinity. It took her a moment to calm down. When she did, she waited until everypony was distracted by their own conversations again before leaning down to speak to Dawn in a whispering tone. "Quite true. I don't believe I've ever experienced being grounded for sneaking off to save a foalnapping victim from her captors. Your friends have truly broken new ground." Pulling back with a chuckle, she beamed down at Dawn. "Still, you must be quite proud of your student, considering how well she performed."
Dawn looked over and smiled fondly as he watched Scootaloo chatting animatedly with Rainbow. "That I am. Though I think I'm proud of her for other reasons as well."
Firefly brushed a hoof through Dawn's mane as she watched him. The little ones grow up so fast these days. They make me feel old...in a good way.
In the meantime, Spitfire was deep in conversation with Arkenstone and Twilight.
"So you're not staying?" asked Twilight, shifting nervously.
"I'm afraid I can't," said Spitfire, "Having me stick around town for no reason would look weird. I need to stick with my team. Having all the Wonderbolts come down to join me here for any length of time would look even weirder. I could claim that I'm taking a leave of absence, which I've done occasionally. Even I need a vacation every once in a while. But that excuse would only last for so long."
"I figured as much," said Arkenstone with a nod.
"However, Firefly is gonna stick around. The only reason she was with us to begin with was for Rainbow Dash's training. They can do that just as easily here as they can in Cloudsdale. Firefly is our most senior Knight, so if any of us has any chance of catching Swift Stride, it's her. Even if he does prove to be too much, between her and Arkenstone, they should be able to hold the jerk off until I can get to you."
"Normally I would agree," said Arkenstone, "But Swift Stride greatly surpassed my expectations. He took me down in a matter of seconds."
"Yeah..." Spitfire wished she had some encouragement to offer on the subject. Arkenstone had been caught unprepared by one of Swift's tricks. But unprepared was pretty much a default state of affairs when dealing with the notorious trickster. For every one of Swift Stride's gimmicks or techniques they'd figured out, he could just as easily have a dozen more secreted away and was probably developing new ones all the time. It was like trying to put together a puzzle where all the pieces kept changing shape.
"It's the best we can hope for," she said finally, "Firefly's no pushover. I'm leaving you some more of Ouranos' feathers. Aside from that, all we can do is keep our feathers crossed...those of us who have feathers."
"It's not a perfect solution," said Twilight, "But there rarely ever is one."
Firefly had been idly listening to their conversation with one ear as she quietly chatted with Dawn and Fluttershy, who had warmed up quite nicely to the older mare. Seeing that Spitfire was wrapping up, she nodded to Dawn and Fluttershy before going back to Spitfire.
"Taking off?" asked Firefly with a smile.
"Yeah," said Spitfire, "Look after them for me...and don't get too soft on my rookie just because she's back in her hometown."
Firefly bobbed her head. Spitfire took a moment to say her goodbyes, to Rainbow in particular before shooting off into the sky, leaving a streak of flames in her wake. Turning to Rainbow, she said, "You can take the rest of the day off. We'll get back to your training tomorrow. Go ahead and spend some time with your friends."
"Thanks!" exclaimed Rainbow before grinning down at Scootaloo. "Um...hey...squirt? Are you okay with me using your house...you know, just while we're staying here."
To her surprise, Scootaloo blushed and sheepishly averted her gaze. "About that...it's kinda...occupied right now."
"Huh?"
"Rumble's family is staying there, since their house got trashed during the fight." Scootaloo sighed. "Their house hasn't been fixed yet and it won't be for a couple more weeks. Sorry Rainbow."
"Hey, it's okay," said Rainbow, wrapping an arm around Scootaloo's shoulders, "First off, it's your house now, so that's your call to make. Secondly, it's awesome that you'll let your friend live there after losing his home. It's okay. Firefly and I will figure something out."
Mentally, Rainbow began to tally their options. Since her old cloud house was not available for the time being, they would have to stay elsewhere. Her friends' places were not exactly viable options, given that many of them were in similar situations. Sugarcube Corner had been wrecked and, like Rumble's home, was still in the process of being rebuilt. Twilight's library was short on guest space, especially since Arkenstone was staying there now. Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Flaxseed, and Coco Pommel were all staying in Rarity's parents' house while they waited for repairs on the Carousel Boutique to be finished, which meant that house was also fairly packed right now. Fluttershy's cottage had never really had a guest room to begin with and the extra room she had furnished now belonged to Dawn. As a last resort, Rainbow supposed that she and Firefly could bed down in one of Applejack's barns or possibly get rooms in the Apple Family bunkhouse, where Pinkie Pie and the Cakes were currently staying. That was probably the most viable option for the time being.
"Excuse me."
Rainbow's introspective examination of the situation was cut off by the sound of a familiar voice. Looking up, Rainbow saw the familiar face of Melon Cream as she approached the group.
"Mom? What's up?" asked Scootaloo.
"I heard that Rainbow Dash had come back and I wanted to say hello," said Melon with a smile, "I also just heard what you were talking about. You don't have a place to stay right now, Rainbow?"
"Not really," said Rainbow, "Me and Firefly will figure something out."
"I don't think you need to," said Melon, reaching out and pulling Scootaloo up against her in a motherly hug, "We have a guest room at our house. I think it's big enough for the both of you, if you don't mind sharing a bed."
Firefly, who had come to stand beside Rainbow, smiled back and nodded her agreement to the proposition. "I don't think we mind at all."
"I'm surprised Scootaloo didn't offer it up herself," said Melon, who glanced down at her daughter.
Scootaloo blushed and looked away. "Well...I didn't think I was allowed to. I'm already in trouble and I didn't want to get any deeper."
Melon giggled. "It's all right, dear. I don't mind you offering our guest room, especially for a pony like Rainbow Dash. Besides, it's been a while since we last got the chance to sit and talk."
"Yeah," said Rainbow, thinking about the times she would occasionally come over to chat with Melon, "That'd be nice."
"Well, since the housing issue seems to be settled, I'll leave you with your friends," said Firefly, "I want to scout things out for a little while." As she turned away from Melon, Scootaloo, and Rainbow, Firefly looked pointedly at Dawn, who noticed her gaze and returned it. Spreading her wings, Firefly took to the skies, leaving the group behind.
As she did, Firefly's ears caught Melon's words as the ground fell away. "So...I hear you've been training with a Celestial Knight. You'll have to tell me all about what that's like."
As the sun began to dip towards the horizon, Firefly settled on a hill near the outskirts of town, one that allowed her to get a good look at all of Ponyville as it sprawled before her. She supposed that, on most days, this made for a picturesque view of a horizon filled with white-walled houses sporting quaint thatched roofs. However, the view today wasn't quite so impressive. Many homes still looked broken with walls caved in or sections off the roof missing. Others almost looked like they had been pulled apart and put back together wrong. The wooden skeletons and scaffolding that marked where houses were being repaired or outright rebuilt dotted the landscape and the detritus of construction littered everything in between.
"Not exactly a pleasant sight," said Dawn Lightwing as the ebony colt settled in for a landing next to Firefly, who smiled when she realized she'd barely noticed his approach.
For a colt who was supposed to be out of practice after not being able to use his magic at all for several weeks, he had moved surprisingly smoothly, his flight barely disturbing the air currents around him. Furthermore, the colt didn't seem to even be aware of it himself. It seems that he had the opportunity to refine a few other things, she thought as she looked down at him.
"I suppose the sight seems even less pleasant when you feel at least partially responsible for it," she said softly.
Dawn's posture stiffened slightly before he relaxed himself again. As expected, he felt at least a little guilty, given the fact that Terra Heart had come for him. Arkenstone's fight with Terra, which was what had actually caused so much damage in the first place, was a direct consequence of that.
"This sort of thing happens sometimes," said Firefly, ruffling the colt's mane before extending a wing and wrapping it around him, "I won't contest your right to feel guilty about it, but I should remind you that feeling guilty won't change what happened. Ponies are picking up and moving on with their lives and that's what really matters."
"I suppose so," said Dawn, though his heart wasn't in it as he spoke.
"Here's something else to keep in mind," said Firefly, "I've been in this position before, where you feel responsible for a large amount of destruction, even if it was something you never wanted to happen. The important thing to remember is what truly needs to be protected. Property and buildings are all well and good, but they can't hold a candle to pony lives. You, Arkenstone, and the others had plans to ensure that ponies weren't endangered by just the sort of situation you ended up facing. As a consequence, the only life in jeopardy, the only pony who was truly being threatened, was you. Arkenstone, those two mercenaries, they stepped up to protect you. Yes, they may have been hurt as a consequence, but they were hurt knowing that their mission was a success because of their efforts. Thinking about it like that is much more fulfilling than stewing in guilt over it, don't you think."
Dawn nodded. "Thank you," he said, a small smile playing across his lips, "But I get the feeling you didn't want me to find you just so you could give me a pep talk."
Firefly chuckled. She was glad that Dawn had gotten the gist of their little nonverbal exchange earlier. "That is true. I actually wanted to talk to you about Swift Stride."
"Just me?" asked Dawn, raising an eyebrow.
"For now," said Firefly, "I'll be able to talk to Arkenstone and Twilight Sparkle about it soon enough. However, I want your impressions regarding him and his actions."
Dawn frowned and looked down at the grass in front of his hooves. "He stayed with us the night before that. I got the impression that he was a good pony or, at least, not somepony who would do something like that."
"Well...he is a liar after all," said Firefly, "Perhaps the most skilled deceiver in all of Equestria, maybe even the world. It also makes me wonder...just which part about that was the lie?"
"What do you mean?" asked Dawn, looking up at her in confusion.
"That he's a good pony or that he's capable of attacking an innocent the way he did," mused Firefly, "Just which part of that is the lie?"
Dawn pursed his lips. "Isn't a bit presumptuous to assume that one of those is the truth?"
"He could be lying about both, I suppose," said Firefly, "But I genuinely get the feeling that, maybe, at least one of them is true."
"And you think that he is a good pony?" asked Dawn.
"I think so," said Firefly, "Celestia has had her errors in judgment before. She has even misjudged ponies terribly. However, she places a great deal of trust in her Knights and so she vets us very carefully. With all the power and privilege afforded to us, it is telling that, since the foundation of our Order, not a single Knight has betrayed her vows before this."
"First time for everything," muttered Dawn, earning a dark chuckle from Firefly.
"That may be true...but I wonder..." said Firefly, once again looking up to study Ponvyille. The darkness was descending and the lamps were being lit for the night ahead. Like the homes and streets they illuminated, the lampposts had not passed through the battle unscathed. Thus, they formed small clusters of light, surrounded by pools of darkness.
"What do you wonder about?" asked Dawn as Firefly's silence stretched out.
"It just seems a bit convenient to me," she said, "Even if you were there, even if you were determined to fight, I cannot see Swift Stride giving up so easily. What about you? When you think back about the incident, was there anything that stood out to you."
Dawn's eyes narrowed and he looked down pensively. In his mind, he began to play back the events of the previous day, from walking in on Swift trying to stab Twilight in the back to his abrupt departure. In fact, Dawn had barely even begun to think about it when he already hit upon something that struck him as unusual.
As Firefly had said, it was convenient, too convenient, that Dawn had walked in exactly when he did, just as Swift was standing there, blade extended and poised to strike. It was a picture-perfect interruption, the timing of which was just too miraculous to take on its own. Then there was the strike itself. Though Dawn had shouted and moved to intervene, there had been a tiny, almost imperceptible gap between Dawn's shout and Swift actually striking. In that gap, Twilight had turned around and seen Swift there. Swift hadn't struck until Twilight had seen him. As skilled and deadly as the stallion was, Dawn couldn't imagine Swift hesitating long enough that somepony like Twilight, for all the training in battle magic that she had, to block and evade him. He should have been able to kill her before she had even begun to turn her head...But instead, he had waited. Why?
"You're suggesting that he wanted to put on some kind of display to make us think that he was going to kill Twilight Sparkle, when he actually wasn't," said Dawn, "But why would he want us to think that?"
"I wonder..." mused Firefly, "...if we were even the ones he was putting that little act on for."
"You think Swift Stride had another audience?"
"Possibly," said Firefly, "I just wanted to bounce the idea off of you. Arkenstone is taking this rather personally, given that Twilight is his fillyfriend. I can understand that and I think it's something that Swift was banking on. More importantly, the fact that Swift has not talked to anypony about this plan probably means that he wants us to play along for now."
"So...if you do find him, you'll apprehend him?" asked Dawn.
"If," agreed Firefly, "Which is very unlikely. I've never known Swift Stride to ever be found unless he wants to be found. All we can do now is what is expected of us."
"I suppose it makes sense," said Dawn, "But...I wonder who Swift Stride's performance was for then."
"We'll probably find out in time," said Firefly, "I already have an idea on that." She smiled down at Dawn. "So I take it that Rainbow Dash is still with her friends."
"Yes," replied Dawn with a small smile of his own, "Pinkie Pie has turned it into an impromptu party. It's small...but very noisy."
"That certainly sounds like the Pinkie Pie that Rainbow told me all about," said Firefly with a laugh, "I suppose there's nothing for it. We'll have to rejoin the celebrations."
"If you say so," said Dawn with a shrug. He'd gotten more used to Pinkie's antics, including her prolific party penchant. Fortunately, this gathering was smaller than her usual celebrations, which made it more bearable for him.
The two of them took to the air and winged their way back to the library. Sure enough, as they got closer, they could pick out the sound of music coming from the tree, along with the shouting voices of several ponies. Given that all of Twilight's neighbors were currently staying in the camp outside of town while they waited for their homes to be rebuilt, there was nopony around to issue noise complaints.
As Dawn and Firefly came in for a landing, the front door slammed open and Twilight Sparkle(1) came stomping out, a look of absolute consternation on her face, teeth bared and eyes glaring as she stamped away from the library, fuming under her breath. She was so wrapped up in her frustration that she almost missed the two pegasi who'd landed right in front of her.
"I can't take it anymore! She always does things like this and it drives me crazy! No! I don't get how anypony can just look at it and not question it! I was right from the very beginning! The ponies in this town are CRAZY!" She froze and blinked when she realized Dawn and Firefly were standing right in front of her. Her anger faded and she gave them both a sheepish grin. "Oh! Hi you two. Welcome back?"
Firefly lifted a hoof to stifle her giggle while Dawn canted his head as he asked, "Is something the matter?"
Twilight opened her mouth, looking as though she was about to unleash another angry tirade. However, she hesitated, seeming to think better of it before letting out a gusty sigh. "No. Not really. It's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie."
"I don't follow..." said Dawn.
"Just look for yourself. You'll see." Twilight continued to walk away from the library. "I just need to take a break from all her craziness."
"Don't wander too far," said Firefly as she looked over her shoulder.
"I won't," Twilight called back.
As Dawn and Firefly came up to the door, it opened again and Arkenstone came trotting out to follow Twilight. Firefly and Dawn relaxed a little, knowing they would have less to worry about as long as Arkenstone was with her. It seems that, no matter what we do, we just seem to trade one crisis for another, thought Dawn resignedly as he followed Firefly into the library.
Once they were inside, it only took them a few seconds to see the sight that had frustrated Twilight to such an extent. Rainbow Dash was relaxing at the table, one wing wrapped around Scootaloo as the orange filly leaned up against her idol, smiling contentedly. She was regaling Rarity and Fluttershy with stories of her experiences with the Wonderbolts, including many of the unique personalities she had encountered there. Besides the two mares, Rumble and Sweetie Belle were also seated at the table, hanging onto Rainbow's every word.
Off to one side, Melon Cream was casually chatting with Cloud Chaser and Thunderlane, possibly comparing notes about their grounded foals. On another side of the library, Flitter and Coco Pommel were enjoying a conversation of their own.
On the floor in the center of the library, Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Spike whooped and hollered as they danced to the music, clearly enjoying themselves. Watching them having their fun made Dawn smile until he noticed and odd shadow that seemed to belong to a fourth pony on the dance floor, despite the fact that there was no one else there. Looking up, Dawn's eyes widened as he saw just what had driven Twilight around the bend.
Pinkie Pie(2) was also dancing, which would have been perfectly natural, if she wasn't prancing about the ceiling light, giggling like a foal, dancing on the ceiling as naturally as though it were the floor. The sight made Dawn's wings dangle and his jaw hang slack as he just stared up at it.
"Looks like Rainbow wasn't exaggerating about what that mare can do," said Firefly wryly as she watched the display.
Pinkie Pie stopped dancing as she suddenly noticed the two newcomers. Without the slightest hesitation, she jumped off the ceiling, descending with a cartwheeling flip and landing with a gymnast's precision right in front of Dawn and Firefly. "You're back!" she exclaimed, "I'm so glad. We need more ponies to make this a proper Welcome Back Rainbow Dash Party, especially since Twilight became such a grumpy-pants and had to leave all of a sudden."
"I'm sure she and Arkenstone will be back," said Dawn, now finally able to close his mouth.
"Sure they will," said Pinkie, "I'm gonna set up some games."
As she turned to go, Dawn looked over to Firefly and muttered to her, "I wouldn't mind so much if she wasn't clearly breaking the law of gravity."
Pinkie stopped and grinned over her shoulder at Dawn. "Sure, but I never studied law."
Once the party wound down, Firefly and Rainbow Dash joined Scootaloo and her mother at their home. Over the next few days, things quieted down considerably. Even with the presence of an extra Knight in Ponyville, the threat presented by Swift Stride still loomed large in Twilight's mind and she found herself looking over her shoulder nearly constantly whenever she went out. Arkenstone stayed with her as much as possible, accompanying Twilight constantly, whether she was out on a shopping excursion or visiting one of her friends.
For Dawn and his friends, things adopted a much greater sense of normalcy. Dawn's magic was soon fully recovered and he was able to once again start training in earnest. As such, he and Scootaloo fully resumed their original schedule for training, meeting in the morning to go through their forms and going to the quarry in the afternoon for heavier, more intensive training. Dawn had run through his forms on a regular basis while he'd been recovering. Because of that, it didn't take him long to get back up to his full capacity. If anything, he felt as though he had a better understanding of himself now that he'd had the opportunity to train without his magic for a period of time.
Furthermore, now that she had demonstrated an impressive degree of growth since she started learning the Gale King, Dawn now felt that Scootaloo was ready to move on to the next level of her training.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Scootaloo with a nervous swallow, staring at the wooden post Dawn had hammered into the ground. It was a fairly tall pole of wood, slightly thicker than the average fence post.
She'd been slightly confused when Dawn had told her that he would meet her at the quarry before going off on his own. Still, Scootaloo had done as he had said and gone to the quarry. While she waited, she went through her forms, using her magic in conjunction with the motions, sending powerful gusts of compressed air sweeping across the open ground, smashing rocks into gravel and cracking large boulders. It was second nature to her now and she'd grown to love getting wrapped up in the feeling of becoming one with the wind and dancing through the air. The rhythm of her hooves against the ground, the ebb and flow of the air around her were like music to her, music that she followed with her mind and body, not just her ears. She also knew from experience that it was music that could hold Dawn captivated whenever he watched her.
When she had finished running through her forms, she noticed that Dawn had arrived, carrying the wooden post with him. Along with the post, he had brought a hammer and spike. Using the spike and hammer, Dawn bored a hole into the packed earth in a space that hadn't been completely churned up by Scootaloo's practice. After that, he'd used the hammer to drive the post into the hole he'd made. While Dawn was no earth pony, years of practice had given him a body of taut, dense muscle that allowed him to work through the task quickly.
Completely baffled as to what the colt was up to, Scootaloo almost forgot to breathe when she learned what the post was for and what Dawn was expecting her to learn.
"I'm sure," said Dawn, "The second base technique of the Gale King is tricky to learn, but I think you're more than up to it. It's essentially a natural extension of what you're already learning, it simply requires more focus and control, as you're essentially doing two things at once whenever you use it."
"Okay..." said Scootaloo, sweat breaking out across her brow.
Dawn's eyes narrowed. "It should go without saying that using this technique against another pony is forbidden. In fact, until I give you permission, you should not attempt to practice it outside of my supervision and never in a situation where other ponies might be around."
Scootaloo didn't feel any sense of frustration at Dawn's restrictions. She'd gone through this before during the previous phases of her training, where Dawn had frequently restricted her practice to keep the chance of her hurting herself or other ponies to a minimum. However, this was a different situation. Scootaloo had no desire to go against Dawn's instructions, primarily because she was just as nervous about learning this technique as Dawn clearly was about teaching it.
After all, this was the technique that Dawn used most rarely. Even though lightning was technically the more advanced and difficult skill, Dawn still preferred it to the second base technique of the Gale King, the vacuum blades. The technique produced blades of air capable of slicing through nearly any material substance, even nearly indestructible materials, like mithril. Scootaloo had seen Dawn use the technique before, but only during the most desperate of circumstances...or when he was truly angered enough to be vicious. A shudder ran down her spine as she recalled the memory of Dawn almost using those blades of wind to slice the wings from her father's back.
It was understandable. Unlike a blade of solid material, a strike from the Gale King's vacuum blades could not be blunted. There was no "back" or "flat" of the blade to strike with, which meant that, when the attack hit, it always cut its target. Therefore, using it in a nonlethal fashion was almost impossible unless one was incredibly discriminating about what they cut, a skill that even Dawn had yet to master.
"I understand if you're nervous," said Dawn, "That's good. This technique should be treated with respect because of how dangerous it is to others. I've never felt comfortable about using it." Coming from a colt who could toss lightning around with ease, that truly meant something.
Swallowing hard, Scootaloo turned to face the post. "So how do I do it then?"
"It starts with how you hold your wing," said Dawn, extending his own wing, spreading the feathers out, giving the appendage the look of a bladed weapon, "This technique looks like a line from the front, but it actually spreads out in the form of a plane from the point of origin, which is the wing."
"Obviously," muttered Scootaloo. Nonetheless, she held out her wing in the same way that Dawn did.
"The next part should be easy for you," said Dawn, "Begin by rotating the air directly above your wing."
Through her wind sense, Scootaloo felt Dawn beginning to do exactly that. "Does it matter which way?"
"No. Whichever way you are comfortable with is fine."
With a nod, Scootaloo extended her magic out into the environment around her, stirring the air directly above her wing into motion, relying on just her magic, not using the motion of the wing itself. Following what she sensed Dawn doing, Scootaloo didn't extend her reach out too far, but instead focused on spinning the air just above her wing, creating what seemed like a rotating disk of moving air.
"Now comes the trickier part," said Dawn, "Again, using your magic, begin spinning the air below your wing...in the opposite direction."
Pressing her lips together tightly, Scootaloo used her wind-sense to feel what Dawn was doing and did her best to imitate him. True to his words, it was tricky. Her body's impulse was to spin the air under her wing in the same direction as the air on top of her wing. However, focusing carefully, she was able to do it. However, that was only the first difficulty.
As the disks of air spun, they pulled the air around them into their rotation, like two tiny tornados. The primary source for the air that they were drawing from, came from the air between the two rotating disks, along with her wing itself. Scootaloo felt a faint tugging sensation from both sides of her wing, along with another tug forming along her wing's leading edge.
She was unable to maintain the rotations for long and eventually dropped her wing, letting out a breath as she relaxed, realizing that her body's muscles had gone taut in her efforts to focus on her tasks.
"Good," said Dawn, giving Scootaloo an approving smile. "That's the first step."
"That's tough," said Scootaloo.
Dawn gently nuzzled her cheek. "So was getting off the ground at first," he pointed out, referencing her first flying lessons with him, "You have no problem now. The more you practice it, the more natural it will feel to you."
"So I'm guessing the technique is spinning the air really fast and then launching it off the edge of your wing," said Scootaloo.
Dawn nodded. "That's the basic gist of it. The rotating currents draw the air out from the space between them, creating a vacuum. That vacuum is what forms the blade's edge. In order for it to be effective, the space must very narrow and thin, less than the width of paper."
Remembering how Dawn had taught her the rapid movement skill used by the Gale King, Scootaloo nodded. "Start with big motions, then make them small, right?"
Dawn's smile widened and he kissed her on the cheek. "Exactly." His touch sent a warm thrill through Scootaloo. "My Master described it like this. Imagine that you are grinding those two small whirlwinds together, as though you were trying to sharpen a blade between them. The tighter you grind them together, the sharper your blade's edge will be."
"Okay," said Scootaloo.
"However, the first thing is to get used to the feeling of rotating the air in two different directions with the same wing," said Dawn, "So, for the time being, I want you to practice that for now. Start with one wing, then the other. Alternate evenly between them. Eventually, you'll work on doing them both at once."
Scootaloo nodded, a little bit of nervous sweat beading on her brow. It sounded like Dawn was working her up for a tricky juggling act. Good thing I already know a bit about juggling, she thought wryly. After all, she'd spent the autumn practicing using air currents to levitate stones over her wings in order to gauge how to moderate the force of her blows. She hadn't been confident enough in her skills to practice such moderation during her fight with Inkwell, but she now realized that that practice had actually prepared her for learning this technique and all the complexities that came with it.
"By the way, what's the post for?" asked Scootaloo, looking at the object in question.
"That is for when we are ready to begin testing the technique itself, once you begin launching it," explained Dawn, "I know I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, but I thought I would take advantage of the surplus of tools and materials in town while they're still here. I don't know how long this will take."
"Oh," said Scootaloo, looking at the pole again. Even if she broke it, the hole Dawn had made for it would remain, so he could replace it at will, now that it was dug. They would just have to make sure that it wasn't destroyed when Scootaloo went through her forms.
"Ready to begin?" asked Dawn, bringing Scootaloo's mind back to the present.
Squaring her shoulders, Scootaloo spread her wings and took a deep breath to clear her mind. "Yeah."
"Looks like those kids are working hard?" observed Firefly with a small grin as she peered down on them from above.
"Of course they are," said Rainbow Dash with a confident smirk as she leaned back into the cloud the two of them were on, lounging as though it were her personal couch, "That's my little sis down there. She knows the importance of training hard."
"So she does," agreed Firefly, "What about you? Just because we came back to your hometown doesn't mean that you get to skimp on your own training."
Rainbow's smirk vanished and she rolled back onto her hooves. "Right," she said.
"Have you made any progress?" asked Firefly.
With an angry sigh, Rainbow shook her head. "No. It doesn't matter how hard I try or how much I think about it, I just don't get what you're talking about. I can't see these 'Wings of the Heart' no matter what I do."
"Give it time," said Firefly, "There's no need to rush. I know that you have them. Every pegasus does. Concentrate on that feeling you get when you're soaring through the air, when you've gone through another loop or even pulled off a Sonic Rainboom. It's not something you'll find simply by thinking about it hard enough. Your wings are something you feel."
"Okay," said Rainbow with no small amount of uncertainty. She closed her eyes and extended her wings, taking deep breaths to clear her mind. Following Firefly's instructions, Rainbow allowed herself to get lost in the feeling of flight, her magic lifting her off the cloud's surface as she embraced the sensation, remembering the thrill of every twist, loop, and dive of her career. She'd flown harder, practiced longer than just about any pegasus her age. She'd flown high and low, reveled in the feeling of her wings cutting through the air, working clouds with her hooves, looking down from above and seeing all of Equestria laid out before her.
Firefly grinned as she watched Rainbow. Though the younger mare didn't realize it yet, the fruits of her training were already beginning to show. Shimmering, rippling light danced across the surface of Rainbow's wings, swirls of color matching the lines of her namesake mane twisting and curling across her wings, occasionally lining up in stripes to dye her feathers in all the colors of the Rainbow.
She's getting closer, thought Firefly, She's tapped into her magic more deeply than just about any other pegasus around, even those kids down below. She's already using her wings as the medium. All she needs now is the image. Find those wings, kid. I know you can.