Revenge is Bittersweet

by P-Berry

Ch.4: Dropped

Chapter 4: Dropped

I saw Firespark: she was crying, hanging her head low, and running; running away from me. The sky around us was covered in a deep black, and single cracks of thunder drowned her terrible weeping.

Without hesitating, I got under way and followed her, running after the red filly as fast as I could. But she was faster than me, she ran faster than I had ever seen her running before; I didn’t think that a pegasus could actually run that fast.

Within seconds, I realized that I wouldn’t catch up, so I shouted for her, frantically telling her to stop. As a response, she quickly turned her head; her green eyes were soaked with tears as she shouted: “No! No, I can’t come back! I-I failed!”

In an attempt to overhaul her, I launched into taking off, but my wings didn’t move, remaining neatly folded at my sides. Breathing heavily, I desperately yelled: “I DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THAT! FORGET ABOUT CLOUDSDALE! FORGET ABOUT EVERYTHING AND COME TO ME! WE CAN CARRY ON; WE CAN LIVE ON THE GROUND TOGETHER!”

Still running faster than ponyly possible, she narrowed her eyes and looked to the ground, whimpering: “No we can’t! I failed you! I failed every-“ her voice suddenly got cut off as she fell through a hole in the grey clouds and vanished from the surface.

Letting out a horrified scream, I made a huge jump, then slid, and quickly came to a stop at the edge of the hole. Sticking my head through the opening, I hastily searched the black sky for the red filly, but didn’t see anything but grey clouds.

Tears flooded my eyes as I shouted for her, but got no response. I took a deep breath and launched into shouting again, but just as I was about to scream, I suddenly heard a thunder, breaking loose directly next to me.

The sound seemed to blow my eardrums; a massive blast wave pressed the breath out of my lung and forcefully slung me away from the cloud and into the black sky.

I fell. Again.

---

Drenched in sweat, I started and hastily looked around: the sky was covered in orange, the sun was just setting. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and got to my shaky hooves, quickly heading upwards to the next visible cloud; nightmares were the last things I needed.

After several minutes of jumping from cloud to cloud, I finally reached the top and stepped on the soft ground of Cloudsdale. I took a deep breath of the homelike air and looked around in an attempt to orientate myself.

Fortunately, I recognized the small market-square I was standing on and notionally planned the shortest route to Poppyshine’s house. I was sure that she would help me to find Firespark; she still was her daughter after all!

Finally having selected a road, I looked up and nodded in determination. Just as I was about to take the first step and head towards a small street on the opposite side of the square, I suddenly froze. I remembered the letter I had read earlier that day: I had been banished; if somepony, or even a guard, would recognize me, they would imprison me and chop my wings… I choked and cut myself off.

I thought of an alternative to the public roads: regarding the poor condition of my wings, I certainly couldn’t take the airway to Poppyshine’s house. But from my childhood, I knew that there were several hidden paths in Cloudsdale: with an expert eye, alleys, backyards, and sewer tunnels could be found all over the city.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t used those paths since I was fourteen, so I didn’t remember even one of them; and even if I would: the risk of getting lost in the white labyrinth of clouds was extremely high, so I might have ended up having to ask one of the other pegasi and risk getting busted.

Letting out a sigh of discomfort, I realized that I had to take the ‘official’ route if I wanted to have at least a little chance of survival. So I hung my head low in order not to attract more attention than necessary and slowly crossed the nearly empty square, heading towards the street I had focused before.

Just when I passed a narrow, dark alley coming up next to me, I heard it: the one sentence I feared more than anything else at that time; the sentence of which I knew that it would seal my fate. “Hey, you’re that pony that went nuts at the flight test, right?” a scratchy voice sounded from inside the alley.

I froze; my eyes widened in terror and the muscles in my wings tensed, preparing for a desperate, but eventually pointless attempt to escape. My head spun around and I focused the alley, ready to give my potential opponent a quick look.

Before I could get a clear image of the pony, I felt a strong arm grabbing my body and tearing me into the alley; I oppressed a scream, for I knew that alarming the guards wouldn’t help me either. Before I managed to bring out a word, the pony forcefully smashed me against a wall and pinned my hooves down, completely preventing me from moving. Instinctively, I closed my eyes, preparing to get beaten up.

Nothing happened.

I quickly opened my eyes again, entirely seeing my assaulter for the first time: his light blue fur was covered by a dirty, grey overall; his thin, dark blue hair glittered with dandruffs and fat. Blowing his musty breath into my face, he dryly chuckled: “You’re quite bold to return after you got banned. You can call yourself lucky that I found you before the guards did. … But next time you stray through Cloudsdale, you should get a disguise.”

Nausea from the cloud of stench floating over to me, I stuttered: “Wha- who the hell are you!?”
He shoved my head upward and made me look into his face; his green eyes gleamed with bitterness as he huffed: “Don’t you know me? Hell, how low can I get that even a goddamn outcast doesn’t recognize me!?”

I reflected for a second: his appearance, his voice, his nature… everything seemed familiar; I remembered to know him from my foalhood. Back then, he was a hero for me: I always looked up to him; always hoped to be like him someday.

My eyes widened as I stuttered: “S-Soarin?”

He suddenly let up on me, making me fall to the ground. The declined stallion looked down at me and grinned widely, showing me his gangrenous teeth: “Ha! I knew somepony would still know my name. One does not simply forget a national champion!”

Still unable to understand, I slowly got to my hooves and continued: “B-but … what happened to you? I-I mean … you were a Wonderbolt! You were … you were a hero!”

His smile instantly vanished and he snorted dryly: “You say it!” he growled in anger, “I was a goddamn hero!” he lunged out and gave an empty can in front of his hooves a hard kick, making the jar crash against the opposite wall and land in the darkness of the alley with a loud clang, “And how do those buckers thank it to me!?” panting with rage, he forcefully knocked over a nearby trash barrel, “BY MAKING ME PICK UP THEIR TRASH!?”

Breathing heavily, he hastily shook his head, obviously making an effort to calm down: “But that doesn’t matter now.” He looked up and gave me a superior smile, “Because you, my fellow, entered the city illegally, and I just chased you down!”

My eyes widened; I stiffened again and launched into taking off, knowing that I wouldn’t stand a chance against a former Wonderbolt.

He soberly placed a hoof on my shoulder and pinned me to the ground, saying: “Look, if I wanted those motherbuckers to chop you up, we wouldn’t have that talk now. I might be a bum, but I still have a sense of justice … and I’m still a civilian of Cloudsdale – in opposite to you.”

I jugged and slightly relaxed: “Then what do you want from me?”

He smirked: “I thought I’d help you out.” his voice turned into sarcasm, “I mean … if that’s okay with you of course.”

My jaw dropped: “Help me out? But … why? And with what?”

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what you’re up to.” He soberly answered.

Not understanding his point, I silently raised an eyebrow.

He ran a hoof through his sticky hair and said: “Well, maybe I just got something wrong; maybe you aren’t searching for your own flesh and blood after all. Let me wrap up what I know: your daughter failed her flight test and fell through the cracks of this floating blot of ignorance, right?”

I hesitantly nodded.

His inflection turned into teasing: “And you as a commendable father didn’t accept that your little shooting star screwed up, so you put your flank on the line and tried to prevent those buckers from taking her,” he chuckled dryly, “and got your face smashed in for insurging.”

Thinking of Firespark and remembering that she could be in peril of her life, I rolled my eyes and snarled: “You’re wasting my time!” I wanted to leave the alley, but he stepped forward and blocked my way.

“Will you let me continue, for buck’s sake!?” he shouted at me, “Don’t forget, I can still blow the whistle on you - your cute little wings will be chopped before you even realize what’s going on!”

I moaned, but hesitantly stepped back and let him continue with his summary.

He cleared his throat, blowing another wave of musty breath into my direction, and continued: “Well, like I said, you got your flank kicked, but now you’re back and ready to move heaven and earth to get your daughter back.”

Unable to hide my surprise about his knowledge, I remained silent.

“Well, I can ensure you two things. First: you won’t find your daughter on the bucking market. No matter where they bring the failures, they certainly won’t sell her with the vegetables. Second: if you continue your ‘search’ like you did until now, you’ll be rid of your wings and get a free one-way ticket to the ground in less than one hour; the lardass has positioned her motherbucking guards all over the city.”

My face turned pale, making him grin complacently and say: “Yes, I just saved your flank. You can thank me later. So, where did you want to go, oh you heroic adventurer?”

Ignoring his teasing, I said: “I …I wanted to look for my ex-wife. I mean: Firespark is also her daughter, so she’ll help me to search for her.”

For a second, I saw a touch of skepticism in Soarin’s eyes, but he quickly shook his head and returned to his teasing style, asking: “And where does your sugar-poo live?”

“At the other end of the city.” I soberly responded.

He raised an eyebrow: “Well, then we better get going!” he shoved me aside and walked deeper into the alley, adding: “From the way your wings look, I suppose that you can’t simply fly there, right?”

It took me a few seconds to understand what he had just said. I stiffly nodded and quickly hurried after him, unbelievingly asking: “Wait, are you … are you coming with me?”

Soarin passed a junction in the alley and chuckled: “Well, I can show you a secret path through the city and get you over there unseen … but I can also stay here if you prefer to be captured and killed. Not a problem at all!”

Walking next to him and still eyeing him unbelieving, I asked: “But … why?”

He slowed down and finally came to a hold: “Would you believe me if I told you that I do this out of pure sympathy?”

I stopped next to him and slowly shook my head.

Nodding satisfied, he under way again: “Good, because I don’t. I would lie if I said that I don’t have any empathy with you, but I do this mostly because I want revenge on that city … and most of all on Spitfire.” He grunted, “That devious whore.”

I raised an eyebrow: “Seriously, what happened to the two of you? When I was young, you were the best friends; some ponies even talked about a relationship, but now? She’s … like, the most famous pony in town, and you are … well … a nobody. ... What happened?”

He snorted dryly: “Can you imagine what happens to somepony who grows too old to keep up with the Wonderbolts? Do you think he gets a pension? Any kind of thanks for dedicating his entire life to those buckers?”

We passed another junction of dark, dirty alleys, and I hesitantly said: “Well, I thought pensioned Wonderbolts would-“

“THEY DON’T GET A FLYING BUCK! Hell, I can consider myself lucky that I used to be friends with Spitfire! On that way, I at least got a job at the garbage disposal; I’d have been banned otherwise!” Soarin yelled furiously.

“Why don’t you like her then? I mean, she basically saved your life.” I asked him slightly confused.

He bared his teeth: “Why I don’t like her!? The hell, we were basically equivalent back then! She officially was the captain of the Wonderbolts, but she couldn’t do shit without my approval! We were equivalent, I tell you!” he stared at me and caught his breath for a second, “And now? She’s the bucking mayor - I have to rummage through her trash in order to survive!” he pointed at his dirty overall, “She has everything, I have nothing!”

He growled and looked into the distance: “For buck’s sake, this isn’t fair! Why didn’t those douchebags offer me the job as a mayor instead of her!? I was just as qualified as that whore! … And why the hell did she leave me to rot at the Wonderbolts instead of offering me a promotion when she saw that I went to the dogs!?”

I remained silent, but intimated that I understood.

“Do you now understand why I want to see Cloudsdale go down? That goddamn city and its motherbucking government! I tell you: one day, I’ll sandbag that entire joint! They will all pay for dropping me like a bucking piece of trash!” he announced in determination.

I felt sickness crawling up my throat as I remembered that I just talked to Soarin; my foalhood hero. What had become of him? Completely determined to avenge himself on Spitfire, he only was a shadow of the proud, strong, and honorable pony I looked up to back then.

Giving the scruffy stallion a bitter look, I swore myself that I wouldn’t become like him: focusing one’s entire life on revenge and letting the hatred take control of oneself obviously couldn’t turn out all right; one would end up as a wreck.

Hesitantly, I said: “Erm, no offense, but … how do you want to manage this? I mean … you’re a garbage pony; don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think that you have that much influence on how things are running here.”

A superior grin appeared on his face and he ensured: “Oh, believe me: I know what to do when time has come. I know this city; I know its darkest secrets, and I know how to bring it down. I just have to wait for the right moment to pounce…” he gave me a mischievous grin, showing his decayed teeth once again, “And something tells me that this moment will come soon - very soon.”

I raised an eyebrow in confusion: “What? What do you mean?”

Soarin grinned and looked into the distance again: “Nothing. Time will tell, believe me.”

Following his glance, I spotted the familiar, small house about one mile away and noticed: “Hey, that’s my wife’s house.”

He stopped and nodded satisfied: “Well then, good luck with finding your daughter.”

I thought I’d heard a touch of sarcasm in his voice, but I wasn’t sure. Turning towards him, I said: “Well, thank you very much for your help, Soarin.”

My companion nodded dryly: “You’re welcome … Fippo.”

My eyes widened slightly: “You know my name?”

He nodded approving: “Did you think I’d forget the name of my … how did you call it back then? Biggestest fan?” he chuckled and -for the first time- a happy smile showed up on his face: “No for real, how could I forget the pony that almost fainted when I shook his hoof for the first time?”

I blushed and looked away: “Well, yeah … good old times…” I hastily shook my head, “Anyhow, thanks for the help, and for saving my life, and-“

“Like I said: you are welcome.” He cut me off dryly; his happiness vanished again.

“Alright then … goodbye I guess.” I said and departed towards Poppyshine’s house.

He grinned slyly: “See you soon, my friend.”

I quickly turned around, asking: “What do you mean?” but he had already vanished into the darkness of the alley we came from.

Slightly confused about his sudden disappearance, i shrugged, but quickly walked towards Poppyshine’s house without thinking about him further.

---

I approached it a couple of moments later and hastily knocked at the door. Poppyshine opened almost instantly; her eyes widened in surprise as she saw me: “Fippo?”

Her outfit slightly surprised me: instead of her normal fatigues -a full-body spandex-suit; the standard uniform for the Wonderbolts– she now wore a white lab coat with a grey name badge fixed to her chest, making her look like an employee of the Weather Factory.

But I passed over my surprise, stepped closer to her and rushed: “Poppyshine, we don’t have much time! That announcer, those ponies from the stadium, they abducted Firespark!”

She raised an eyebrow in incomprehension, but remained silent.

Making an impatient gesture into the direction I came from, I shouted: “Come on, we have to find her!”

She didn’t move and, after a few seconds, dully asked: “Why should we?”

I froze, staring at her in disbelief and asking: “What!?”

Her sober look rested on me as she asked: “Why in Tartaros should we look for her?”

I leaned forward, still not believing what I heard: “Are you bucking kidding me!? She’s our daughter! She’s been foalnapped! And you seriously ask me why we should look for her!?”

She slowly shook her head: “She hasn’t been foalnapped.”

“Damnit, I saw it by myself! Those bastards took her and threw her into a carriage! You unfortunately weren’t there to help me!” I shouted at her angrily.

Poppyshine shrugged: “And why should I have helped you?”

I stiffly blinked for a couple of times, not understanding her sobriety, then shouted, “Because they ab-“

“Like I said before: they didn’t abduct her, they simply departed her.” she explained calmly.

My rage grew as I shouted: “It doesn’t matter how you express it! They took her somewhere against her will!”

She shrugged again: “Of course they did. She’s a failure.”

My body stiffened as I started to understand: “What!? How … how can you call her a failure!? She’s your bucking daughter!”

Poppyshine shook her head: “Not any longer. My daughter would have never failed her flight test. That failure you’re talking about isn’t my daughter anymore.”

I was about to collapse: “What!? You … But … How can you …”

She forcefully shoved me backward: “And now get lost! And stop confronting me with that topic; my daughter died in the moment she failed her test! … And don’t expect any further help from me; I’ve got a job to do!”

She slammed the door powerfully, leaving me stand in front of her house completely unbelieving: she repudiated her daughter, she even called her a failure! … But how could she? I knew that the test was very important for the pegasi, but I would have never thought that it could actually make a mother lose the faith in her daughter; in my daughter!

I turned around and slowly trotted away from the small house. What should I do? Asking Poppyshine for help was the last possibility I’ve had! I sighed and numbly dropped my head: so much for getting help from my ‘beloved’ ex-wife.

But the anger and disappointment seemed to get something in my head moving: I suddenly got gripped by a mixture of rage and determination and forcefully stretched my bruised wings, yelling: “Well, if nopony wants to help me, I’ll have to look for my daughter all by myself!” I turned around, facing Poppyshine’s house again and shouting: “Heard that, you whore!? I won’t give up! I’m gonna find her! You’re gonna regret repudiating her!” without waiting for a response, I turned around again and ran away from her house, sprinting into the direction of the stadium. I already knew where to begin with my search.

---

Not giving a damn about other ponies or guards seeing me, I sprinted through the mass of ponies, purposefully heading to the big road leading to the main entrance of the stadium.

I knew what would await me: I had to find the way the carriage had taken, then follow it to wherever it lead, and then free Firespark from the grip of the government. This certainly sounded much easier than it would be.
But I tried to ignore my doubts: Firespark was the only thing I had left to fight for, so what did I have to lose? I at least had to try to find her. On that way, I might also show the rest of the world the crimes committed to innocent foals and finally make the government abolish the unnecessary flight test and close down the place the rejects were brought.
Coming to think of that, I realized that I actually had no idea of that place; I knew neither where it was, nor what happened there. Regarding Derpy’s admittedly rough description, my best guess was that it was something like a labor camp: there always was need for cheap workers in Cloudsdale, so why shouldn’t they just use ‘worthless’ foals instead of daywage ponies?

---

To my own surprise, neither the other ponies, nor the few guards I met on my way seemed to recognize me, so I could pass the few miles to the stadium without major incidents and finally stopped in front of its impressive entrance - the stadium was empty; even the employees seemed to be absent.

I quickly took off -it was a bit easier than before, but it still hurt- and slowly encircled the stadium, trying to remember the place where Firespark had been picked up by the announcer and his companion.
Giving the inside of the arena a quick glance, I sighed in relief: everything was empty, so I could look for the spot undisturbed.

A couple of seconds later, I spotted a small cloud directly underneath the center of the arena and landed on it, painstakingly nosing its surface.

My body stiffened as I spotted a weak touch of Firespark’s scent. I looked up to the stadium to orient myself and then reconstructed the way the pegasi must have taken, trying to find the place where they threw her into the carriage. I took off and lifted my body by a few meters, searching nearby clouds for hints.

When flying by, I spotted a few bloodstains on a small cloud nearby and concluded that this must have been the place where the announcer attacked my wings. As if by command, I felt a sharp pain coming from them that made my entire body flinch; I definitely couldn’t fly for too long.

But I ignored the pain and thought of Firespark: I had to find her at all costs! I couldn’t lose my faith in her like my wife did! Raising my last power-reserves, I shot forward, following the track which I concluded the carriage must have taken.

---

I flew for a couple of minutes and looked around, searching for clues that the abductors had taken that way. But I didn’t find anything: the whole sky was as blank as usual; no clouds, no hints, no hope. The pain in my wings returned, being stronger than before, but I oppressed it: I couldn’t give up! I had to find her!

I clenched my teeth and kept on speeding forward, unsure whether I still was on the right way or if the carriage hadn’t stopped or changed its direction already miles ago.

A perceived eternity passed and I still didn’t see anything indicative. I didn’t even know what to look for: the only hint I had was that Firespark may have been brought to a factory, and that hint came from an obviously distracted pony. But even if she would have been right: I didn’t know anything about another factory in Cloudsdale; the only factory I knew was the Weather Factory.

But I quickly excluded that possibility: why should they bring Firespark to the Weather Factory?

The thought of the rejects being used as forced laborers came up in my head again.

No, that seemed to be ridiculous: I’d been to the Weather Factory multiple times and there hadn’t been a sign of any dark secrets: the Factory actually was one of the last colorful places in this ravaged country. Especially in the past few months, I’ve always enjoyed being there; it seemed to be something like a sanctuary, one of the last happy places in Equestria; it might have been caused by the rainbows, but whenever I was there, their colorful happiness seemed to stain on me and I could forget about the real-world problems for a second.

Still, I tried to spot something that looked like a factory, but again didn’t see anything but a clear, blue sky; the weather pegasi had been really industrious.

I let out a painful groan as another load of sharp pain shot through my body; the agony forced me to close my eyes for a second.

As soon as I opened them again, I noticed that my flight slowly lost by speed and I lowered more and more towards the ground, only hovering a few meters above the grassy surface. I tried to compensate the loss of height by flapping my wings faster, but the pain had grown too strong, almost making me faint with every movement of my wings.

In a desperate attempt to continue my flight, I flapped them faster a couple of times, but couldn’t avoid the inevitable: jerking from my agony, I finally landed on the ground as careful as possible and kneeled down, breathing heavily while giving my strained wings a rest.

After catching a breath for a few moments, I looked up and let my glance wander throughout my environment: I landed somewhere on a meadow, near a small path. I noticed the impressive silhouette of Canterlot presenting in front of me and reflected: I couldn’t return to Cloudsdale at the moment -my wings would certainly break- but I may approach Princess Celestia about the issue: if she would find out about foals getting abducted, she would certainly help me, right? She just had to help me!

Getting my hopes up, I ran off and hurried along the path to the castle-like city.

---

A few minutes later, I approached the ostentatious walls of Canterlot and stopped in front of the big gate sealing the entrance to the city.

A royal guard of the Celestial Empire, dressed in the default golden armor, stepped in front of me and blocked my way into the city, snapping: “Stop! Who are you and what do you want in Canterlot?”

Avoiding eye-contact and speaking as calmly as possible, I answered: “My name is Fippo. I request to speak to Princess Celestia.”

The guard gave me an unbelieving look, then broke out in derogatory laughter: “Ha-ha. You have humor, pegasus. So, what do you really want in Canterlot?”

I sighed and at him, a determined look on my face: “It is really important that I see Princess Celestia immediately! She has to learn of a horrible crime!” I said in a serious inflection.

His expression became serious: “I’m sure you’re kidding. Nopony of the plebs is allowed to visit the highness! How shall I even know that you aren’t one of those dirty rebels?” He leaned forward and gave me an investigating glance.

I looked up, telling him what he wanted to hear: “Please! I’m just an average pegasus, not a rebel! If I’m not allowed to see our highness, may you at least grant me admission to this magnificent city?”

The guard didn’t release me from his strict glance: “Can you identify yourself as a civilian of the Solar Empire?”

Regretfully shaking my head, I answered: “No, sir. That’s the reason why I would like to enter the city … to apply for a citizenship.” I said and internally slapped my back for that idea.

The armored pony gave me another investigating glance, but finally stepped aside: “Fine. But if I see you spreading inflammatory thoughts, I’ll do you in by myself!” he threatened and ruggedly poked my chest with his hoof.

Giving him a grateful smile, I crawled: “Thank you very much, sir. I would never even think about rebelling against this wonderful nation or our great leader!” I literally had to force those words out: I wasn’t a convinced rebel at that time, but it simply went against my principles to praise a tyrant like Celestia; she was a means to an end - the only one who could help me at the moment, but definitely not my leader.

He nodded seriously: “Better for you. Now get in there before I make you!”

After giving him another appreciative nod, I hastily stepped through the impressive gate and entered the capital of the Empire.

That admittedly had been easier than I thought: usually, it was very hard, not to say impossible for ‘non-subjects’ to enter the city, but a little crawling apparently helped.

I walked through the streets without giving the population a further glance: I already knew that everypony in this city was a sympathizer of Princess Celestia; I was certain that I’d get arrested if I’d even mention Princess Luna.

However, the war didn’t seem to affect Canterlot as much as Ponyville: except for the propaganda-posters of Princess Celestia hanging at every corner, the city hadn’t really changed - the ponies behaved like they always did: walking around with head held high and not giving a damn about other ponies, especially if they weren’t unicorns. But I appreciated that circumstance: Cloudsdale and Canterlot were independent from each other, but news of a wanted pony would spread out sooner or later, so I was glad that nopony paid particular attention to me.

After a couple of minutes of straying through the city, I finally found myself standing in front of the main entrance to Canterlot Castle. A quick glance towards the door made the hopes that I might sneak past the entrance fade away: the gate was guarded by four ponies in heavy armor, looking even fiercer than the guard at the entrance.

Looking at the high walls of the castle, I spotted a small balcony at one of the walls; concluding from its position, it should lead somewhere into Celestia’s private rooms. I shook my head: there was no reason to enter the castle illegally without even trying to use the door. I didn’t really think that an average pony would be allowed to enter the palace though.

As I came closer, the guards stiffened; one of them harshly shouted: “Stop right there! What do you want!?”

Deciding to at least give it a try, I calmly said: “I request entrance to the palace.”

The guard chuckled dryly: “And what exactly do you plan to do in the palace?”

“I wish to talk to the Princess.” I explained soberly.

A second guard shook his head slightly amused: “Go home, pegasus. The Princess doesn’t have time for your issues!”

Intending to avoid trouble, I nodded understanding and slowly stepped back: “Alright, alright. I don’t want any trouble. I’ll just … turn around … and go home!” I span on my heel and walked away, “Just like you said. I’m a good subject.”

“That’s the spirit! And now get lost!” the guard shouted after me.

Taking a quick look over my shoulder to make sure that the guards didn’t look, I hastily stepped behind a corner: I wouldn’t give up that easily! The Princess had to be informed about that crime! She would send out her soldiers and make them free the abducted foals! She had to!

Driven by unmistakable determination, I carefully stretched my wings: they still hurt, but it had to work over that short distance.

Under a massive effort, I managed to lift myself up and landed on a nearby roof. I rested there for a second and focused the balcony again: it was about a quarter mile away from my position; I should be able to approach it, despite my hurting wings. I clenched my teeth again and, trying to oppress the pain, flapped my wings a couple of times; I managed to take off after a few seconds.

Fortunately, the guards seemed to be focused on their duties on the ground and consequently didn’t look up to notice me, so I could approach the balcony after a few moments without having further issues.

I looked through a large glass door connecting the small ledge with the inside of the castle and nodded satisfied: the door led directly into Celestia’s throne room. I gave it a powerful shove, but apparently, it was locked from the inside and didn’t move.

Preventing the frustration from coming over me, I stepped back and took a deep breath: “I came that far, I won’t give up now!” I clenched my teeth in determination, “I’ll do that for you, Firespark! ONLY FOR YOU!” I shouted to myself and lifted off, flying a few meters away from the balcony. Hovering in front of the balcony, I turned around and took another deep breath before jerking forward and speeding towards the door with all of my remaining power.

A mixture of satisfaction and agony came over me as I felt my right shoulder colliding with the glass and heard a loud crash.

I fell for a couple of seconds, then crashed onto the thick, red carpet of the huge room.

Letting out a sigh of pain, I slowly opened my eyes: two heavy-armored royal guards and the Princess herself looked at me, their eyes widened in surprise.

Ignoring the wounds the splintering glass had caused, I jumped up and ran towards the Princess, shouting: “Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia, I have to talk to you!”

The two guards flicked their right forelegs; two mid-size swords slid out of sheaths underneath their armor. One guard stepped forward and shouted: “Stop right there, dirty intruder!” They held their hooves out, making me freeze in my movement and stop right in front of the silver blades.

Without hesitating, I looked up and focused the Princess: “Your highness, I have to tell you about a horrible-“
One of the guards shoved me backward with his hoof, making me silence and exhale forced. “The Princess doesn’t have time for the problems of an obscure subject!” he harshly shouted at me.

I gave the Princess another desperate look, ignoring the guard’s hoof pressing on my chest: “Princess Celestia, please! You have to listen to me!”

The Princess gave me an inspecting look, then raised her right foreleg and dryly said: “Stop.”

The guards froze and turned towards their leader in disbelief. “But, your highness, this subject has trespassed into the palace! We have to-“

“I said stop. I am in a good mood at the moment, so I will listen to this subject’s concern.” She looked at me determined, commanding: “Speak!”

I hastily nodded and explained her the reason for me to ‘trespass’: “Princess Celestia! Since you were at the flight test, you certainly know what I’m talking about when I say that my daughter failed at it.”

She nodded soberly.

“After she had received her dismissal, two stallions -including the announcer from the stadium- abducted her!” I shouted, feeling the horror coming up again.

The Princess still didn’t show any kind of emotions and dryly said: “Elucidate the term ‘abduct’.”

I sighed in discomfort; it hurt to remember that moment: “They … grabbed her and … and departed her in a windowless carriage.” I explained with a quavering voice.

The Princess gave me a skeptical look: “And where is the problem with that?”

My eyes widened in horror: “That she got abducted!” I hastily shook my head, “If you don’t understand: they took her against her will! I already tried to approach my wife, but she won’t help me! You’re my last hope! Please, do something about it! Please try to find out where they took her; you’re the ruler, it won’t cost you much time, you just have to-“

“Is that pony serious?”, she asked her guards, cutting me off. They didn’t react, so she looked at me again: “I am fully aware of the process with failures. The factory has been a very important place for the Empire all along.”

My jaw dropped: “You … you know about it? You know what happens to the foals?”

She nodded coldly: “Yes. It is not nice, but we cannot take the ponies their rainbows away … that would end in a disaster.” she interrupted herself hastily, “And now get this intruder out of my sight. I have to plan the last details of the upcoming -“ she cut herself off again and furiously pointed to a large door at the other end of the room, shouting: “Get him out already! I’ve already said too much!”

The guards grabbed my stiff body and tore me out of the room; I was far to horrified to resist: the Princess knew about it! She knew that the foals were departed! That they were abducted and brought to a factory that somehow was related to rainbows! The huge doors swung close as the guards continued to tear me throughout the castle and finally dropped me on the road in front of Canterlot.

Still not able to order my thoughts, I looked up and focused the two ponies with a terrified look. One of them gave me a harsh glance and snapped: “If we ever see you in this city again, you’re a dead pony!” he turned around and powerfully closed the massive gate behind him.

Unable to move, I limply sat on the ground: that was it. My daughter was gone, I slowly doubted that she still was alive; my wife refused every kind of help, and the Princess knew about the foals being abducted.

I weakly moved my head and looked at my body: additionally to the bruises caused by the announcer’s attack and the fall from the clouds, some smaller cuts were visible, caused by the crash through the window. But the wounds looked worse than they were: it was the internal pain that tortured me more in that moment.

It took a perceived eternity, but finally, I managed to get up and numbly trotted along the single path. I suddenly heard a voice, breaking the silence of the night; I needed a few seconds to realize that it was me talking to myself: “What now, huh? It’s over, just accept it! Your daughter’s dead, your wife doesn’t give a buck, and the head of the state even supports that entire thing!” I sighed, “What now? … What prevents me from just jumping off a cliff? Nopony would care anyways, so what cause have I not do it!?”

My look slowly wandered up to the nightly sky, searching for an answer in the seemingly endless firmament. The full moon enlightened the whole sky and coated my environment with a pale shimmer.

I didn’t know what was happening, but somehow, the light seemed to give me new hope, and I suddenly came to a decision.

Determined not to waste any time, I quickly got under way and shouted my thoughts into the night: “Forget about that lardass of a Princess! Forget about that traitor of an ex-wife! Forget about that ignorant city! There’s another state! A state where everypony’s equal and where nothing is concealed! A state where a massive crime committed to innocent foals isn’t simply ignored! A state of liberty, of equality, and of fraternity!”

I sprinted along the road heading to Ponyville and shouted: “From the beginning of the next day, I’ll be a free pony! And then I’ll make everypony pay! The tyrant will pay, the traitor will pay, that devious jury will pay, and that announcer will pay! THEY WILL ALL PAY!”

I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath of the cold air. An anticipative grin on my face, I shouted: “My revenge will be sweet!”

Author's Note:

Yay, an update!

Seriously, I hope the next chapter won't take that long.