Chapter 15
Rainbow Dash felt a cold chill after hearing Celestia's voice behind her. She cursed under her breath for having to explain herself so early.
Would the Princess ever agree with my choice in kicking Lightning out of the squadron? He saved innocent lives with his actions. What right did I have to punish him for it?
"Rainbow Dash?" The serene voice behind her repeated.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Rainbow turned around to face the Princess. "Sorry your highness. I was lost in my own thoughts." She let out a sheepish smile to helplessly get rid of the uneasiness building in her chest.
"Oh? May I ask what you were thinking about?" Celestia inquired. Her raised eyebrow seemed to give off a feeling that she already knew what was going on. Like a mother who caught her foal in the cookie jar, but played ignorance to tease the foal.
"Uh..." Rainbow spoke hesitantly. "Sure, but can I ask a question first?" A quick nod from the Princess let her continue. "What do you tell somepony who throws themselves at danger just to save a life? Even if it meant getting them..." Rainbow swallowed hard. "... killed?"
Celestia's stern expression didn't help Rainbow's uneasiness. "Lightning Spark was the one who stopped that missile with his plane wasn't it?" Rainbow let out a barely heard affirmative. "I see. The answer is not a easy one to swallow. If he hadn't stopped that missile, it would've killed many innocents."
"It was a dud," Rainbow explained. "The only reason it exploded was from my gunfire after it was safely in the air.
"There couldn't have been a way to know that, Rainbow." Celestia said calmly. She sat down in front of the pegasus with a frown on her face. "It's terrible for your friend to risk his life, but war leads to such decisions. His actions saved many others and that makes him a hero. Did you dismiss him because of that?"
"No, I don't care if ponies see him as a hero or not. He's my friend and I don't want to lose him." Rainbow admitted finally as she hung her head. "I'm scared to lose my friends."
Celestia slowly wrapped one of her wings around Rainbow Dash and pulled her into a hug. She returned the affection by laying her head against Celestia's chest as a small whimper left her throat.
"Please Rainbow, you must stay strong. You've faced every obstacle in your way to get here, now is not the time to give up. If you truly wish for Lightning Spark to stay here and it will ease your mind, than I have no objections." They stayed like this until Rainbow Dash controller her emotions and cleared the wetness around her muzzle. Celestia broke the embrace by tucking her wings back to her sides. "Feeling better?"
Rainbow nodded and finally noticed Goldwing hiding to the left of Celestia. "What is she doing here?" Rainbow asked, a hint of sadness in her voice. Though she tried to sound angered for seeing the enemy leader still alive.
"Calm yourself, Rainbow. Goldwing has been a great help in discovering where the attack came from. Before I continue, we need the rest of your... oh, here they are now."
Spitfire and Mist trotted toward the group. Derpy was with them as well, but was clinging to Spitfire in fear.
"Derpy, the attack is over. You can let go of me." Spitfire stated, causing Derpy's face to scrunch in distaste.
"No way, there might be another attack!" Derpy looked around the room, her eyes not focusing on anything in particular. Thankfully, for spitfire's sake, Celestia used her magic to pry the frightened pegasus off to calm her down.
"You have a lot to answer for, Rainbow Dash." Mist Dancer glared.
"That will have to wait," Celestia intervened before the an argument started. She set down Derpy who smiled up at her before trotting back to her squadron. With a flashed of her horn, the map she had left in Goldwing's room blinked into existence to rest on the floor in front of everypony. "Goldwing and I had a discussion about who attacked. It is a group of gryphons who are not a part of the Gryphon Kingdoms lead by a Professor Gilford."
Celestia's eyebrow raised for a second when Mist Dancer shuddered from hearing that name. "From what I could gather, I believe we're dealing with a massive weapon of some sort located near the arctic circle." She poked a hoof at the location on the map. "Even from there, they are capable of attacking Equestria. As you have no doubt noticed."
"How long until another barrage?' Spitfire asked, looking at Goldwing.
"I cannot say," Goldwing spoke truthfully. "I haven't visited the place myself as I've only heard news about it. If we wish to know more about it, we will need the help of a ex-feather pilot named Gilda."
Rainbow Dash's left ear flicked in annoyance. "Gilda? Why the hay would we want to speak with her?"
"Because she has been inside the installation personally," Goldwing explained. "With her help, we might know a way to destroy Project Kingdom for good."
"Well the last place I saw her was in Ponyville. She may or may not still be there." Rainbow Dash shrugged.
"Which is why you're going back to there find her," Celestia said with a smile. "In the mean time, the rest of us will prepare for the coming battle. Good luck Rainbow Dash. I hope you can mend the friendship you both once had."
I hope you can mend the friendship you both once had.
What Celestia said bounced around in Rainbow Dash's head as she flew her jet toward Ponyville. It had been so long when she left Gilda for her other friends, but the memory was still clear. Gilda made a complete ass of herself over some silly pranks. It wasn't like she set them to embarrass Gilda. It was pure chance that she happened to trigger every one in a row.
An enormous dark cloud hovered over Ponyville while Rainbow Dash approached. She toggled her strobe lights on the wings of her jet so the control tower could see her plane. It was going to be difficult to see anything with these buckets of rain coming from the sky. The torrent hit her jet with the sound of a stampede over her canopy. She immediately lost vision all around her. Only seeing the white streaks of rain racing across her canopy and grey everywhere.
Thankfully the bright magic torches than lined every landing strip was still glowing bright as ever, cutting through the grey. She lowered her landing gear as a voice spoke through her headset.
"This is control, we see your strobe Rainboom One. Welcome back to Ponyville."
"Thanks," Rainbow Dash replied quickly. Even with the torches, the landing would be rough at best. The jarring impact of the jet's wheels slamming into the tarmac told her she had come in steeper than anticipated. Thankfully the jet stayed on course and came to a complete stop.
"Go ahead and pick any hangar except number three. Its already being occupied by a feather squadron jet."
"Roger, I'm taking hangar number one." Rainbow turned her jet toward her hangar. She looked to her right at hangar three with interest. "That must be Gilda's jet," Rainbow Dash thought out loud to herself. "Probably staying until this storm clears up."
Rainbow Dash parked her jet into the hangar. When she climbed out, several ponies soaked to the bone gave a small salute to her before preparing the jet for its next flight. She stood at the edge of the large wooden door, a hoofstep away from the full brunt of the storm. The wind had started to pick up soon as she left the hangar, putting a frown on Rainbow dash's face.
"Guess I'm hoofing it..."
Rainbow Dash walked toward the beacon of light ahead of her. The weather was terrible enough flying with a jet, so the idea of using her wings was turned down. Her rainbow mane flopped limply from being soaked with rainwater. The gusts of wind sent shivers down her spine. Having her flight suit drenched did little to help with that problem.
The sound of boisterous laughing came from the inn as she approached the door. Pushing on it with a hoof, it easily opened and she quickly walked in before the warmth in the room could escape. The establishment was indeed busy as every seat seemed taken. The same bartender was behind the counter. One of his hooves was busy at work cleaning one of the mugs with a small towel.
Looks like nothing has changed since I left, Rainbow thought with a chuckle. The small bit of sound she made caught the attention of a nearby patron who went wide-eyed.
"R-Rainboom One?" The sudden outburst from the stallion caused the rest of the room to look her direction. The inn was deathly silent for several seconds before an uproar of cheers came from the crowd.
"Hey everypony," Rainbow Dash waved. Not out of friendliness, but because she wanted to get this over with. Right now the only thing on her mind was finding Gilda and possibly a hot shower to get rid of this rain water. Trotting past several patrons, she greeted the bartender with a smile. "Hey, do you remember several days ago some gryphon pilots staying here in Ponyville?" The bartender stopped cleaning the mug with one last squeak before turning toward her.
"Yeah, they weren't the kind to forget easily." The bartender pointed a hoof toward the stairs. "One of them left a bunch of stuff in his room. I've kept it locked so nopony could steal it." He took a key under the counter and tossed it to Rainbow Dash. The number three was in red print on a tag attached to the keyring. "I'm starting to feel he's not coming back, so go ahead and look around."
"Uh, thanks," Rainbow Dash looked at the keyring before stuffing it in one of her flight jacket's pockets. Giving small nods and smiles at several friendly ponies, and ignoring the too friendly ones, she went up the stairs. Using the key on the matching door with the number three, she opened the door and shut it behind her. The room was pitch black. A flick of the light switch quickly fixed that.
The room was generally clean as if unused. A window between the two beds showed the terrible weather outside. Underneath one of the beds was a duffel bag and beside it was a acoustic guitar. She pulled out the bag and set it on the bed sheets to open it up. Inside there didn't seem to be anything special. She took out several items for grooming, fiction literature, and a spare brown flight suit. The feather squadron symbol was stitched on the shoulder.
Rainbow Dash continued to rummage through the duffel bag when she felt something metallic on the bottom. She felt around it and it seemed to be a square object, but she couldn't seem to grab it. There were no zippers or flaps inside the bag so she looked around the outside of it. Flipping it over, she found a velcro flap hidden underneath. Quickly opening the flap, she found a silver rectangle device about three inches thick. Rainbow Dash smiled to herself.
A Laptop! This thing must be packed full of information.
A commotion downstairs got her attention for a moment, but Rainbow ignored it. "Probably somepony getting too drunk and causing a scene," Rainbow thought to herself. Setting the laptop on the bed, she examined it closely and found it could be opened with a small button in the front. It immediately came to life as a screen turned on, the feather squadron symbol once again showing as the background image.
Steps could be heard going up the stairs as she examined the contents the laptop contained. There were two symbols located on the bottom-left of the screen. One of them was a document since it showed a small piece of paper. The other was a image which was shrunk to a barely visible size. Using the track pad, Rainbow Dash was about to click the document file when the door behind her burst open.
"Rainbow Dash! what the- what are you doing here?"
Quickly shutting the laptop, Rainbow Dash glared at whoever entered the room. Though she already knew who it was from the voice.
"I came looking for you, Gilda. We need your help destroying Project Kingdom." Rainbow Dash stated very bluntly.
Gilda's eyes squinted in suspicion upon hearing that. "How do you know about that? That has been a close kept secret, even from gryphons. How could a pony know about it?"
"Goldwing herself told me," Rainbow replied matter-of-factly.
"Bird feathers," Gilda cursed. "Everyone knows she died during the attack on Canterlot. That's all I've been hearing ever since this stupid storm."
News sure travels fast, Rainbow Dash mused.
"Believe me or not, It doesn't matter. Right now, we need you to help with the attack on the super weapon before another barrage of missiles come. Like I said, Goldwing herself requested-"
"Wait, wait, wait," Gilda interrupted. "Missiles? Super weapon? Project Kingdom wasn't supposed to be used as a weapon. When I was over there, it was full of scientists and junk." Gilda waved a claw nonchalantly to show how much she didn't care about the subject. "We were researching our own technologies to keep to ourselves. Away from pony eyes and ears."
"Well, that research must've been either a hoax or finding out new weapons. Either way, this laptop might have something of use." She opened the device again while Gilda slowly padded behind Rainbow Dash to look as well.
"Rummaging around Razorwing's stuff even after you shot him down? Way to show how much you care about the dead."
"There will be more dead if there is something of use in this laptop," Rainbow Dash shot back with a glare.
Putting the small white arrow on the document, she clicked it.The logo for Micropony word appeared across the screen, then disappeared as the screen flashed white. The entire document was blank except three lines of text on top.
Keep this information safe, Razorwing. I cannot trust this in the talons of any one here or in the kingdoms.
Long live Queen Goldwing!
Prof. GT
"The T is his last name. Professor Gilford Talon," Gilda pointed out.
Rainbow Dash nodded, half paying attention as she closed the text document and hovered over the picture. With a click, it expanded across the entire screen in blue. White lines covered the entire thing with numbers and measurements neither Rainbow Dash or Gilda could make out.
"This is..." Gilda's voice trailed off. Her beak hung open, eyes wide in shock.
What stood out was a long pair of lines jutting over the island in what seemed like a large cannon. The words "Project Kingdom's ascension" was in bold text on the top-left corner.