Reunions
Chapter 15: Reunions
Fluttershy paced back and forth across the floor of her cottage. Countless pairs of eyes followed her every movement as her entourage of animals looked on. After seeing Dawn off that morning, Fluttershy had returned to her cottage and seen to her animals. However, the chores only lasted her a short time, giving her plenty of time to wallow in anxiety. She had given Dawn her permission to go with Rainbow Dash. But that did not mean that she was completely okay with it. Her son was off in Cloudsdale, potentially risking his life. Not only that, but her oldest and dearest friend was also there, putting her own well-being at risk.
Fluttershy froze at the sound of a knock at her door. With a squeal of excitement, she bounded towards it, wondering if Dawn had returned early. Swinging it open, Fluttershy greeted the pony on the other side with a delighted grin, only for her good mood to deflate when she realized that it wasn't Dawn that was waiting for her on the other side.
Caramel grinned nervously at her around the handle of the picnic basket he carried in his mouth. Doing her best, Fluttershy tried to rally and return his smile, although her effort was half-hearted at best.
After the conclusion of their very pleasant first date, Fluttershy and Caramel had continued to get together. They had yet to do anything as formal or fancy as their first, but there was no questioning the fact that their subsequent outings had been equally romantic. They enjoyed strolls through the park, walks through the whitetail wood and visits to the less expensive and the less crowded restaurants that could be found throughout Ponyville. While they had often gone out on their own, they had also brought Dawn with them on several occasions. At times like that, Fluttershy had been able to imagine them as a whole family. The thought delighted her.
However, standing there at that moment, with Caramel standing before her with what could only be a blatant invitation to go on another date, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel disheartened. "I'm sorry," she said, "I think it's a bad time for this."
To her surprise, Caramel's expression didn't betray an ounce of disappointment. Instead, he lowered his head to let go of the basket. Then he leaned forward, nuzzling her cheek before stretching his neck out to rest it against her own. "I understand," he said, "Pinkie told me about what's going on."
"She did?" gasped Fluttershy.
"I know it's scary to think about what might be happening," said Caramel, gently rubbing against her neck, "Especially since the only thing you can do is wait. But there's no reason you have to wait alone." Picking up the picnic basket, Caramel flicked his head, giving it a deft toss and catching it on his haunches. "Come on," he said, gently nuzzling her.
That was enough for Fluttershy as she followed her coltfriend out the door. As she closed the door to her cottage, Fluttershy paused as she remembered something. "What about work?"
"Don't worry about that," said Caramel, "When Bon Bon heard what was going on, she practically forced me to take the day off so I could see you."
Fluttershy couldn't suppress a giggle at that. She made a note to thank Bon Bon the next time she encountered the cream-colored mare.
The two of them made their way to one of their favorite spots, a grassy hill that overlooked Ponyville. It was an excellent place to share a picnic lunch. As the two of them relaxed, chatted, and ate, Fluttershy realized that Caramel was right. It really helped to pass the time with a friend. The wait was more bearable now. But even so, she couldn't help but cast uncertain glances at Cloudsdale in the distance.
Rainbow, Dawn; please be safe.
Rainbow's eyes wandered over the room she had just entered. From its size, she supposed that it had once been a conference room. However, the table and chairs that would have normally dominated the center of the space had obviously been removed. Feeling something odd about the floor, she looked down to see that, rather than standing on packed clouds, her hooves were sinking into a genuine cirrus-weave rug.
The thin and wispy cirrus clouds used to make these rugs were rarely produced in any great quantity. Adding to that, they were delicate to work with and it took a large amount to weave together into a rug that could stand up to being trod on by a pony's hooves. Only the richest ponies in Cloudsdale would have been able to afford such a luxury. And only a seriously wealthy individual or family would have been able to afford one that could cover the entire floor of a conference room like this one.
The wall to her right was dominated by an altostratus tapestry dyed with liquid rainbow, a difficult and painstaking process as it was difficult to keep the colors from blending together. It was just another sign of the wealth and status of the owner, who could apparently afford to have one that covered the entire wall of the conference room turned office.
Across from the tapestry, the other wall was taken up by a single window that looked out into the open skies. Rainbow realized that she must have been on the side of the weather factory that faced away from Cloudsdale. Turning to look straight ahead, her eyes found the room's sole pieces of furniture, as well as its occupant.
The section of the room ahead of her was dominated by a single, rather large desk. To Rainbow's surprise, rather than being made of clouds as well, the desk looked to be some form of exotic wood...teak maybe (Rainbow wasn't a very good judge of these things). Its presence alone was a surprise, as it took a lot of work to get non-cloud items to stand on clouds. Twilight Sparkle's cloudwalking spell could be applied to inanimate objects as well as ponies, but it was a temporary measure at best. If one wanted to have an earthly object installed in a cloud building, one generally had to use skysteel, which was much the same as regular steel, but incorporated clouds (infused via pegasus magic) into the construction. The resulting metal was functionally the same as regular steel, but able to rest on cloud structures. The armor of the Cloudsdale Guard, as well as much of their equipment was made of skysteel. Other materials made use of similar methods, but all shared the downside of being pricy to produce and complicated to make. As with this desk, most furniture had their feet fixed with a small portion of skysteel or similar substance to keep it from falling through.
The pony behind the desk looked up from her work to glare at Perlin before her eyes fell upon Rainbow Dash. A slow grin spread across her face at the sight of the sky-blue mare and Rainbow felt sick to her stomach at the sight. She had expected that the leader of these tribalists to be somepony unpleasant, maybe even somepony she had heard of. She hadn't expected it to be somepony that she knew. And worse, she hadn't expected it to be one of the last ponies she ever wanted to lay eyes on again.
"Well well...Rainbow Dash. So good of you to join us." Meadowlark's sadistic grin was getting wider with each passing second. "I was wondering when you'd pay us a visit."
Forcing a stoic expression onto her face, Rainbow faced down her old enemy from Flight School. Meadowlark was from one of the oldest pegasus clans in Cloudsdale, the Song Clan. From the moment she had entered Flight School, Meadowlark stood out from the rest of the students, her bright red coat setting her apart from the crowd. Initially, she had tried to befriend Rainbow. However, such a friendship lost its appeal, partly due to their mutually abrasive personalities and mostly due to Rainbow's refusal to play lackey to the alpha-mare and spend her school days trailing behind that black and white striped tail like the rest of Meadowlark's entourage of yesmares.
For a while, they had simply gotten by, avoiding one another when they could, and ignoring each other when they couldn't. But then came Rainbow's friendship with Fluttershy, earning her a metric ton of scorn from the other students, which Meadowlark was all too happy to promote. After Fluttershy had left Cloudsdale to pursue her life of animal care in Ponyville, Meadowlark and her clique hounded Rainbow mercilessly, taunting and harassing her at every turn while the instructors looked the other way. Then came the incident...
"Would you look at that, Rainbow Crash actually thinks she's a real pegasus." Meadowlark tittered at her own taunt while her usual gaggle of followers all chuckled and laughed sycophantically.
Rainbow Dash, fresh from another course record, both for herself and the school, smirked back at the red mare. "Would you look at that," she retorted, "Meadowfart actually thinks she's original."
Meadowlark was lucky that her vivid red coat concealed the angry blush that spread across her cheeks as one or two of her supposed "friends" actually chuckled at Rainbow's riposte. Rainbow quickly went of the offensive. "I can't believe you're still using that tired nickname for me. That insult was old six months ago. I can't blame you though, you're too busy getting high off your family name to actually think of something for yourself. And you're too busy being lame to do anything about the fact that your times on the obstacle course can't even touch mine." Seeing Meadowlark's teeth clenching, it was all Rainbow could do to keep from grinning.
"Maybe that's what you'd like to believe," sniped Meadowlark, "But nopony actually cares what your scores are. The accomplishments of a pretend pegasus don't matter to anypony here."
Pacing forward, Meadowlark began to circle Rainbow like a shark. "After all, no matter how tough you play it, everypony, from the school director down, knows what you really are. We all remember your little cuddlebunny. By the way, how is little Fluttershy? We miss her."
"Like hay you do!" snapped Rainbow, "She's away from you, which is better. The city dump is a nicer place than anywhere near you."
"Oh come on, we know she's in that dumpy earth pony town...Phonyville...or whatever it's called. You should go join her there. Chickens should be in the coop together after all."
It took all of Rainbow's self-control not to snap at being compared to the flightless bird. She knew she couldn't afford to rise to Meadowlark's bait.
Meadowlark pressed on further. "But really, tell us all about Fluttershy. I'm sure you know so much about her since the two of you were such good friends. You two spent so much time together." She paused, waiting. But Rainbow had decided not to give her the satisfaction of a response. However, Meadowlark sensed a chink in Rainbow's armor and went for it. "So you won't talk about her...that's fine. We were going to pay her a visit anyway."
That got Rainbow's attention. "What?" Her voice was nearly a snarl.
"Oh it's nothing big," cooed Meadowlark, "Just me and a few friends were planning on hitting that Phonyville place. You know; seeing how the ground pounders do things. It's going to be fun. I thought we could drop by Fluttershy's place and see how she's doing." Pausing dramatically, Meadowlark tapped her chin for a moment, pretending to be deep in thought. "You know, it's a bit of a disappointment for her to drop out of school so early. While we're there, we might have to teach her a lesson. We could even clip her wings since she doesn't need them."
"Don't even think about it you two-bit mule," hissed Rainbow.
Meadowlark continued on as though she hadn't heard Rainbow's insult. "You know, we should get a couple of the boys to accompany us. In spite of her being a pathetic sack of manure, I've heard them talk about how Fluttershy has a pretty nice flank. If she's living on her own, maybe the boys could teach her some more adult things."
The next thing Meadowlark knew, Rainbow's hoof slammed into her face, knocking her off her own hooves. Before she had even hit the clouds, Rainbow was on top of her, raining blows down on the helpless mare.
"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT TOUCHING FLUTTERSHY!!!"
"Help! Stop!" Meadowlark's posse of followers were too stunned by Rainbow's sudden ferocity to react. However, the instructors quickly rushed in to stop the fight.
Rainbow's actions led to her immediate expulsion. At the inquiry, they didn't even bother to listen to her story about Meadowlark's provocation. The instructors had been looking for an excuse to kick Rainbow Dash out of the school and she had given them one. Meadowlark's father had stepped in as well, his influence threatening Rainbow's parents with the loss of their jobs. The family had been forced to move to Fillydelphia to escape his persecution. Rainbow herself moved to Ponyville shortly afterwards, at least part of the reason being that she wanted to be around to make sure that Meadowlark or her lackeys never tried to make good on their threat to Fluttershy.
"You're looking pathetic as always," said Meadowlark, stepping out from behind the desk, "But then, that's to be expected."
Rainbow smirked at the jab. "You're one to talk about being pathetic. I seem to remember a certain mare who couldn't do anything if she didn't have her little army of goons backing her up. I also remember that you liked to dish it out, but couldn't take it. And I remember you always having daddy step in to solve your problems for you."
The crimson mare halted her advance, a grimace flashing across her face. Perlin didn't even bother trying to stifle his chortle at her expense. She shifted her gaze to glare at the silver-winged colt. "I thought I told you to mind your place."
"I will when you can actually make me," replied Perlin casually, "Because that went so well last time. Did what's-her-name ever manage to get that leg reattached?"
Clicking her tongue, Meadowlark turned her attention back to Rainbow. "Anyway, we've been waiting for you to show up. We want to show our appreciation for that little stunt you pulled in Ponyville."
"You mean that stunt where you tried to arrest me illegally and got caught doing it?" asked Rainbow sarcastically, "Gee Meadowlark. I'm so sorry your scumbag friends got caught being scumbags. I'll make it up to you sometime."
"Oh you will," snarled Meadowlark, "We've got a whole grand ceremony planned for you. And you're really gonna like how it ends. I've heard that Equestria hasn't had a public execution in a long time. We're going to fix that tomorrow."
"You'd really stoop that low," said Rainbow, "You think that Princess Celestia is gonna take this sitting down?"
"It doesn't matter anyway," replied Meadowlark airily, turning back to her desk, "Our plans are almost complete anyway, so she'll regret trying to fight us. And soon, we'll rearrange this country to the way it should be."
She settled back behind the desk. "Of course, that means weeding out some of the weaklings and traitors like you. But once we've finished cleaning house, we'll be able to put the unicorns and earth ponies back in their places, serving under us."
"You're crazy if you think that's gonna happen!" snapped Rainbow.
"It's not going to matter to you," replied Meadowlark, "Because tomorrow, you're going to die in front of all of Cloudsdale, an example of what happens to anypony who tries to betray the cause of all pegasi."
"It's not the cause of all pegasi if you have to control them through fear and force!"
"Anypony who doesn't stand with us is merely a traitor," said Meadowlark dismissively, "And traitors have no value whatsoever. So there is no need to worry about their feelings."
Perlin, who had been watching the back and forth between them, stifled a yawn. "As fascinating as it is to listen to both of you bicker, I have places to be. I'm sure your regular guards can handle things from here." Not waiting for any kind of dismissal, the colt turned towards the exit.
As he stepped away, Rainbow saw her chance. Waiting until he had moved a little further, so that he couldn't reach out and cut her in an instant, she made her move. Rainbow's wings snapped out and she launched herself to the left, slamming booth hooves into the massive window at the highest speed she could manage. The glass cracked and shattered, allowing the sky-blue mare to launch herself out into the open sky with a yell of elation.
Perlin had already begun to turn to pursue and attack before she had even left the floor, rushing out through the hole Rainbow made less than a second after her. Behind them, the door slammed open and the two ponies standing guard outside rushed in to find Meadowlark alone in the room, shaking with rage.
"AFTER HER!!!" she screamed, "DON'T LET HER GET AWAY!!!"
Not wanting to deal with their very temperamental leader, the two guards quickly launched themselves through the hole in pursuit.
Now outside, Rainbow shifted the course of her flight, doubling back and rushing over the factory's roof. Perlin was still in hot pursuit behind her. She was certain that, as long as he was chasing her, Perlin wouldn't give up so long as he could keep her in his sights. The last thing she wanted to do was lead him anywhere her friends might be. With any luck, she could use her speed and agility to lose him among the spires of Cloudsdale.
In close quarters, Rainbow wouldn't have been able to avoid Perlin's razor-edged wings, his training allowing him to sense her intentions and react before she could move. But out in the open, Rainbow Dash poured on the speed and easily gained distance on the colt.
She wasn't out of the woods yet. An alarm was sounding throughout the factory and Rainbow could see several of the armed guards she had spotted earlier streaming out the entrances, taking to the sky. Several of them quickly moved to try and cut off her avenues of escape. It was a bitter reminder that the silver-winged colt behind her was not the only only problem she had to deal with right now.
Still, there was no way they could close off the entire sky. And the sky was Rainbow Dash's domain. Accelerating, she rushed between the closing formation of armed thugs and dove down, hugging the wall of the factory as her pursuers did their best to follow her. Rainbow leveled out over the streets and barreled headlong towards the nearest line of buildings, preparing to weave through them until the ponies chasing her couldn't see her anymore.
Once the line of sight was broken, all Rainbow had to do was slip away and meet back up with Dawn and Storm Front before they headed back to Ponyville. She had seen what the tribalists were up to now and it was her duty to make sure her friends and Princess Celestia knew.
Risking a glance behind her, Rainbow's eyes widened when she saw a pony pulling away from the pack pursuing her. Even more surprising was that it wasn't Perlin. It was hard to discern the features of the pegasus from this angle. All she could pick out was a light blue coat and bluish-gray mane. If the goggles were any indication, this pegasus was a serious flyer.
Looks like this isn't gonna be as easy as I thought.
Turning her attention back ahead of her, Rainbow rushed past the first building and turned right around it, before weaving around the back of another one. Her ears picked up the sound of the chasing pegasus still behind her. It seemed like this one was the only one though.
That makes things simpler, she thought as she threw some more random turns to try and confuse the pony behind her. Looking back, she was shocked to see that, in spite of the complex maneuvers she had just pulled, the pursuing pegasus had actually managed to close the distance. At this distance, Rainbow could discern that he was a light-blue stallion. Who is that guy?
Deciding to get serious, Rainbow turned a corner and flared her wings. She actually set all four hooves onto the side of the building before kicking straight off across the street and shooting down an alleyway. She briefly heard the sonic screech as her pursuer rocketed past the alley's entrance. Rainbow wasn't sure if he had seen her or not, but he would lose precious time doubling back to get on her tail again. She figured that once she was past the alleyway, she would take a couple of extra turns to be sure she had lost him before making straight for the edge of the city.
However, as Rainbow came out of the alleyway, she was tackled from the side. A flash of blue on her right told her that the pegasus she had thought she had dodged was the one who slammed into her. He must have circled all the way around the building to find where the alley came out and intercept her. That would have required both incredible speed and a rather intimate knowledge of the city layout.
In either case, Rainbow had a fight on her hooves. She tried to attack the enemy stallion, but he quickly locked his forelegs around her, trapping her own against her sides, her wings as well, as his weight bore them to the packed-cloud street below. Writhing in his grip, Rainbow tried to wriggle free, but failed to get away as they skidded to a stop. He let go of his own volition. But before Rainbow could get away to take to the skies again, he had already taken a set of restraints out and locked them around her.
Her legs and wings bound, Rainbow could do nothing but thrash around as the stallion finally stepped away, his chest heaving from exertion. "Let me go you jerk!"
"Sorry Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow's struggles ceased when she heard his voice. She knew that voice. "No," she whispered, wanting to throw up. Cautiously, she turned her head to get a look at her captor, her eyes widening as she realized that she recognized this particular stallion. "No! It can't be! Why are you here?"
The second-in-command of the Wonderbolts, Soarin', refused to meet her eyes. Instead, he directed his deep green eyes towards the ground, looking ashamed of himself as he stood over the mare he had just captured.
"Why?" repeated Rainbow, her voice choked with a sob.
"It's something I had to do," replied the stallion somberly as his comrades descended to the streets around them, surrounding the two. At this point, Rainbow Dash realized that she wasn't getting away.
"Thank you so much," said Fluttershy as she and Caramel headed along towards her cottage, "I had a wonderful day."
"Do you feel any better," asked the tan stallion as she leaned against him.
"A little." The day had gone well. After the picnic lunch, she and Caramel had simply spent the day wandering about Ponyville and visiting their friends. They had visited Bon Bon in her store, Ditzy at the Post Office, as well as Melon Cream and Scootaloo at their home. They had also gone to see Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack. Everypony had done their best to help keep Fluttershy's mind off of her anxiety, even though her four closest friends had all been equally worried (along with her) about Rainbow Dash's wellbeing. However, as the day wore on and there was still no sign of Dawn, Rainbow, or Storm Front coming back, her worries reasserted themselves. How long would it take for them to finish and return? If anything happened, would she even learn about it? Or would she spend the rest of her days, anxiously awaiting news that might never come? Thoughts like that made Fluttershy's heart hammer alarmingly in her chest. What if she never saw her son or her oldest friend ever again?
They came right up to the threshold of Fluttershy's cottage. Caramel, being the gentlecolt that he was, politely opened the door for her, only to find that Fluttershy couldn't take another step as she stood there outside the entrance to her own house, trembling. "Fluttershy?" he asked cautiously, reaching out to touch her shoulder.
That little contact was all the provocation Fluttershy needed as she launched herself against the stallion, knocking Caramel back on his haunches. His arms instantly went around her, holding the mare close as she sobbed against his chest.
"I'm so scared," she choked out between sobs, "Rainbow Dash was so afraid of going back to Cloudsdale. What if something happened to her or Dawn? What if I never see them again?"
"It's okay," said Caramel, slowly repeating the line again and again as he held his fillyfriend, rocking her back and forth gently. Slowly, he lifted Fluttershy's chin with a hoof, until their eyes met. Giving her his most encouraging smile, Caramel did his best to reassure her. "Believe in them. Rainbow Dash and Dawn are both strong ponies. They'll come back."
Caramel leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers. Fluttershy let out a quiet gasp, her wings fluttering lightly before her feelings overtook her and she began to kiss him back. The two of them sat there for a moment, reveling in their closeness and exchanging kisses that were slowly growing in intensity. Suddenly, Fluttershy pushed against Caramel, shoving him back across the door and into her cottage, never breaking the contact between their lips.
Only when they were both inside did Fluttershy pull away from Caramel to close the door. As she did, she saw her animal friends scattering into their holes to give the two ponies their privacy. The door closed and latched, she went back to Caramel's embrace, nuzzling into his chest as he held her tightly.
"Please," she whispered, "Please stay with me tonight."
Caramel's cheeks turned bright red. "Uh...I..."
"Oh dear," squeaked Fluttershy, backing away from him, "I...uh...I didn't mean it like that...that is...I just..." She looked down, her pink mane falling across one of her eyes. "I just don't want to be alone tonight." Her cheeks flushed with spots of red. "But...um...if you wanted to..."
She stopped as Caramel swept her up in another embrace, gently kissing her forehead as he did. "Fluttershy, I'd never do anything like that before you're ready. I'll be happy to stay with you."
"Th-thank you," whispered the yellow mare as she led her loving coltfriend up the stairs and into her room.
Rainbow didn't even bother looking up as the barred door to her cell slammed shut. She hadn't even made an effort to escape when the guards had taken her restraints off. Instead, she slumped silently to the floor of her cell and stared listlessly at the wall, her ears listening to the low hum as the storm clouds connected to the bars sent a constant electric current down their lengths. It was a common feature in most pegasus housing. In Rainbow's house, everything, from the lights to her kitchen stove, was hooked up to a thundercloud in the center of her house, which provided a steady stream of electricity to them for as long as its charge held. Once it was expended, she could generally recharge it by agitating it with her pegasus magic, allowing her to be fairly self-sufficient, unlike her earthbound friends, who lived dependent on the electric supply provided by Ponyville's dam.
In this case, because bars made from solidified cloud were not the most durable of materials, the thundercloud in the prison kept them electrified. If Rainbow tried to break through them, she would be given a painful jolt for her troubles. In the meantime, the walls, ceiling, and floor were all too thick and dense for her to smash through.
She didn't know how long she lay there in her depressed stupor, before her ears picked up the sound of approaching hoofsteps. Even so, she didn't bother reacting in any way as her visitor walked up to her door. She half-expected it to be Meadowlark, there to taunt her in her captivity.
"I didn't want it to be like this."
Looking up at the familiar voice, Rainbow saw that her visitor was actually Soarin'. "Then you should have thought about it before you joined those jerks."
Soarin's ears went flat against his skull. "Do you think we really had a choice?"
Rainbow felt her heart skip a beat. "We? You don't mean...?"
Soarin' nodded slowly. "All of us. Spitfire wasn't happy to hear about what's happening with you."
It can't be! Tears began to stream from Rainbow's cerise eyes as she turned them back towards the walls of her cell. Never in a thousand years would she have thought that Spitfire and the Wonderbolts would side with a bunch of tribalists. A sick sense of betrayal wormed its way into her stomach. Even her foalhood heroes were her enemies now.
"Why?"
A soft sigh was the first thing she heard. "We didn't really want to. But Spitfire didn't really have a choice. If fighting broke out, all of Cloudsdale could suffer. And that would have even worse consequences for the rest of the nation."
"So you thought the right answer was to join the side of the ponies who are trying to starve our distribution zone," snapped Rainbow.
Soarin' opened his mouth to argue further, but apparently decided that saying anything more was pointless. Instead he sighed again. "We really tried to find a way to get you out of this, but Meadowlark insists on an execution. Oh and..." Soarin' threw something between the bars, which landed next to Rainbow.
Rainbow looked over at the bundle of cloth. She saw it was a shade of deep purple that looked disturbingly familiar. Whatever it was, its color was darkened with splotches of some liquid. Picking it up, Rainbow unfolded it to see a shirt with white embroidery on the collar and cuffs. Now she knew where this shirt had come from. Worse, she knew what those dark stains were. Any hope remaining in the sky blue mare died in her chest.
"No." Her voice was hoarse and cracked as she fought to keep from sobbing. It was a losing battle.
"We found your friends hanging around in the skies outside the weather factory," Soarin' explained, "They fought well. We weren't able to take them alive." He stepped closer to the bars. "Rainbow, I am so so-"
"Get out!" Soarin' reared back in the venom in Rainbow's voice.
"Rainb-
"GET OUT!!!" roared Rainbow as she whirled to glare at Soarin'. She didn't bother hiding her tears now. She couldn't anyway. "I will never forgive you for this. I thought the Wonderbolts were something to look up and aspire to. But now I know that you're scum just as bad as Meadowlark. I never want to see you again. GET OUT!!!"
Soarin' lowered his head, a weak whimpering sigh escaping as he turned and did as he was told. A moment later, the sound of his hooves faded, confirming that Rainbow was once again alone. Left to her own thoughts, Rainbow turned her attention back to the shirt resting draped over her forelegs. Trembling, she clutched it close and curled up into a ball, whimpering and crying as the impact of the situation sank in.
I brought them with me. I put them up to this. I couldn't even do anything to help anyone in the end. Storm Front, Dawn, Fluttershy...everyone; I let them all down.
Unable to keep the shattered remains of her composure up any longer, Rainbow sobbed and wailed. All the while, in between her mournful cries, if there had been anypony who cared to listen, they would have heard her whispering two words over and over and over again.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."
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My heart shattered when I realized what became of the two(according to the story).
No... there is something else going on here!! No way would Celestia let the Wonderbolts be part of this!!
There has to be more to it!!
Lol I see what ur doin here and I luv it. I see that people are freaking out but I've read to many good stories to not see this one coming. It's a testament to how talented an author u r. Never the less I know infiltrators wen I see um. The Wonderbolts are spies ladies and gentlemen. Red River and Dawn are not dead. They be joining the Wonderbolts wen they save Rainbows flank.
Has anyone seen a corpse? No? What could that possibly mean?
i know they aint dead and that is only a disney death but omg,.........THE FEELS
Most likely there alive and he wanted to sike her out
as harry dresden would say BULL SHIT THEY AREN'T DEAD UNTIL I SEE THE GOD DAMNED BODY
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Calling it before I read the next chapter:
They weren't able to take them alive; in fact, they weren't able to take them at all.
I don't know why, but I keep imagining Meadowlark to be a pegasus version of Sunset Shimmer.
Also, we all know Dawn will survive, but if Storm Front is dead, then so help me...
fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/201/f/8/mlp___fim__angry_pinkamena_by_sileresp-d413vjf.png
"Think we're dead Dawn?"
"Of course not, I have main character immunity."
"Ah, We'll be fine then."
"Whoa hohohoooold on there buddy. I said "I" have main character immunity."
Might consider correcting that to lasted.
Other than that, great chapter.
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Holy ****
-_- really fucking really
So, I'm sorry, but I basically found this chapter unrealistic and dreadfully transparent. This having taken place after the royal wedding, Rainbow being able to rainboom on command and having a route to the open sky basically means there is no way whatsoever she would have been caught, especially by Soarin', a pony she is canonically faster than. Holy run on sentence, Batman. Anywho, there also being the fact that, regardless of the Wonderbolts combat abilities, any fight that ended in Dawn's death would also involve destruction on a fairly large scale. As Rainbow didn't notice any conspicuous new holes in Cloudsdale during her attempted escape, Soarin's claim of her friends demise is pretty easy to see through. The entire idea of the Wonderbolts, essentially Celestia's personal pegasus brigade and an actual military entity, capitulating with an essentially terroristic element of pegasus society is hands down ridiculous. Any report to Celestia, or, you know, anyone above them in their chain of command would have brought immediate reprisal via the royal guard. The whole scenario is insane, as it's not like they would be seemingly joining to ferret out more information when the level of threat has already reached the point of essentially a bomb factory and the endangerment of an entire population zone through their causing a widespread drought and eventual famine. The idea of putting so many people in danger in pursuit of so to speak bigger fish is recklessly negligent, so that theory is right out. An inability to interfere for political reasons is similarly infeasible, as if they are afraid to act because exposing the extent of Cloudsdales crimes would reflect badly on the pegasus population as a whole, giving ammunition to the unicorn and earth pony supremacists to create civil unrest between the races, IT'S TOO LATE. People know, and it would be impossible, not to mention immoral, to cover up how far they've already gone. Not to mention the hints dropped that Spitfire is another of the Knights means there has been an agency both capable and imbued with the authority to handle this situation on site from the get-go, but instead observed it for months. MONTHS. And even if she, herself, is not a Knight, she has been shown to be in contact with one, namely Arkenstone. In essence, my point is that Celestia cannot be unaware of the situation, or its extent, and has ample proof of it. Not immediately handling it in an expedient manner is, while not necessarily outside of her character, depending on your interpretation of it, most certainly a dereliction of duty to the ponies experiencing the effects of Cloudsdales impromptu drought. Watching on as her little ponies suffer is most certainly something outside her character, and something that would definitely warrant her immediate personal intervention. I could go on, but this comment is already too long, and honestly more vehement than I tend toward.
Suffice it to say that while I will continue reading this, and enjoying most aspects of it, this chapter is the point where I could no longer expect to find a reasoning given through the storyline that would make the actions of the characters make sense in any reasonable or logical way. From here on out I don't think I'll be able to see the setting as something that could actually come about, and unfortunately it completely breaks my immersion. So, I guess I won't be able to enjoy it on the same level that I have been up until this point, but oh well, such is life. If you end up having a reasoning for these events that I was unable to come up with that explains certain poeples actions, sir author, I will be both extremely and pleasantly surprised, and I can only hold out hope that you do. End rant. Please don't be offended. I'm an unpleasantly analytical and persnickety person, but these words aren't meant as any kind of judgement on your work, so much as my own inability to continue to stretch my idea of these characters to where they've been taken. I do apologize if the start of this comment comes off as antagonistic. Looking back on it, I was actually quite annoyed when I started writing it, but as it winds down, I feel like the actual act of doing it has acted as a form of catharsis. Actually... Yeah, I just wanted to use another form of act.
Toodles, I'm off to continue reading. Hopefully my next comment will consist of my bashfully admitting I was too quick on the trigger.
Okay let's look at the Tribalist pal nhere. After months of work they have enough Thunderheads to destroy Ponyville or damage manehattan. If they go through of it what can they be possibly planning beyond that. They don't have full control of Cloudsdale, there's no sign of the other Cloud cities under their control in anyway so part of one city vs the whole of Equestira and that's not even counting the sisters might. How could that end well for them?
6392539 Racism and rationality don't mix very well. That probably don't have anything planned beyond that due to their judgement being clouded by hatred
Idiots don't care about the future and therefore is killed in the future.
The temptation to respond to the negative comments is so high. But it is far too late and I know far too much to do so.
6392539 Don't forget Princess Celestia's Knights.
Also on a side note, why didn't rainbow remember on how powerful Dawn was unless the thought of her fan team broke her and made it where she forgot how powerful he was.
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*Chuckles* This is the third time I've decided to read this series, and when I'm done it'll be the second time I've read it to completion, this book series is one of a small list I'd be able to read and still learn more about that world while being immensely entertained after reading it multiple times.
So basically... This is the best and longest series I've read to date.
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It's the primary rule in comic books too. No body=not dead.
Why is it that they don't get that it might not be a good idea to piss off somepony who can juggle the sun and moon around, her sister who can do the same thing and also enter their dreams and pull what ever she wants from them, oh and let's not forget all the ponies (and possible others) that would side with them, like the Knights (though it's possible they don't know about them), oh yeah and Twilight Sparkle who i do NOT want to see on the warpath.
You realize of course that the numbers you intend to "weed out" will be around two thirds or more of the pegasus population of Equestria right
.... oh who am i kidding of course you don't 
That is a deep cover the Wonderbolts are playing at. I suspect that Spitfire may be a Knight, based on her pheonix friend, and they have to do what they can, including breaking Rainbow, to make their loyalty seem genuine so that they can get a chance to disrupt Meadowlark's scheme after she has shown her hand.