Wings of Tomorrow ~ Lament of the World

by Keeper of Jericho

30. Preparing for battle

Wings of Tomorrow
Lament of the World

30. Preparing for battle

Twilight fluttered her new wings experimentally a few times, as if she wanted to convince herself that they were still attached to her body and working properly. It was an act she caught herself doing a lot lately, nearly once every fifteen minutes, almost instinctively. Four days had passed since she had gained them, but still she was not fully used to having them. Every time she glanced over her shoulder, she’d be startled to see the pair of extra appendages attached to her back. Moving them was still a decidedly strange experience and her flying was unsteady at best, but good enough to help her get up to one of the airships in the skies above the city, in case she had to evacuate.

Still, it was quite clear that she wasn’t a natural at the whole flying thing. Her only comfort was that she wasn’t alone when it came to that; Applejack wasn’t exactly Wonderbolt material herself. It was clear that Applejack didn’t really trust the wings she had been gifted with and preferred to keep her hooves safely on the ground, and she probably had only agreed to wear them because otherwise Rainbow Dash wouldn’t let her come along.

Rarity had taken much better to flying, no doubt due to having some experience from her former life when it came to wings. Pinkie was a natural though, and had been zooming around like a natural born flyer within an hour after getting her wings. Odd as it was, none of her friends had actually been surprised by this, only seeing it as yet more proof that the energetic mare was back to her usual self.

Twilight snuck another glance at her wings. Though she wasn’t very comfortable using them yet, she did admire the technological ingenuity that they represented. When Rainbow Dash had told them she’d give her friends a suit of armour and a pair of wings, her friends had been suitably puzzled by the remark. Images ranging from magical butterfly wings to somehow being turned into a pegasus or even an alicorn had crossed Twilight’s mind, but had turned out to be more than a little silly.

The wings Rainbow Dash mentioned had turned out to be artificially created, mechanical ones that only superficially resembled pegasi wings. They replicated the form and function of a natural wing, but were made entirely out of metal, with gears, wires and ‘feathers’ that were more like blades than anything else. They were connected to metal plating that was fitted on the wearer’s back across the entire length of the spine, with a slight bulge between the shoulders where the central mechanism was located.

Though mechanical and entirely artificial, Twilight and any other pony with such wings were perfectly capable of moving the wings as if they were real limbs of flesh and muscle, a true marvel of both mechanical and magical science. Within the central mechanism that made the wings function was a shard of manufactured magicite which, through a series of spells and enchantments that even in her previous life she would have found complex, directly connected her mind to her new limbs. It was exactly the same mechanism used in prosthetic legs when the real ones had to be amputated.

As far as Twilight was concerned, it worked well, though admittedly there were a few notable downsides to the whole thing. First of all, it required two needles to be piercing the skin between her shoulders at all times, which, while not a real pain or hindrance, was still not very pleasant. Secondly, while she could fly with them, her new wings were still mechanical in nature, meaning they weren’t as mobile or graceful as natural wings, and their movements were rather stiff. And though she moved them with her brain as if they were a real part of her body, the wings had no nerve-endings to pick up feelings or sensations with.

Still, one couldn’t have everything and Twilight wasn’t going to complain. To be honest, she was more bothered by her suit of armour. She understood perfectly that Rainbow Dash wanted them to wear some protection in what was going to be a warzone, but it was so heavy. She’d been told that the unicorn armour was much lighter than the variant Applejack and Pinkie were wearing, but to be honest she found that hard to believe, since neither of her friends seemed to have any problems with the weight of their armour. Then again, Applejack was one of the strongest ponies she knew and Pinkie was Pinkie.

“Alright, next pony. State your name, family and address.”

The gruff voice of the guard snapped her out of her thoughts and reminded her that she had a job to do. It was no secret to anypony that Twilight was good at organising, from putting the books in a library in their proper place to making sure an important event like Winter Wrap Up ran smoothly and got finished on time. Even in this life, this aspect of her character hadn’t changed, much to Rainbow Dash’s relief. Having been put in charge of evacuating the civilians, the admiral had called upon her studious friend to help her organise such a massive undertaking.

Twilight had gladly obliged, happy that she could make herself useful. She had to admit that when she had started with her task, she had been somehow afraid that she wouldn’t be able to do it, given that she hadn’t organised anything of this size in this life before. Her fears had proven to be unnecessary, however. It was odd, but despite the fact that her organising skills should have been more than a little rusty, everything had gone off without a hitch, with the evacuation running smoothly and even going faster than expected.

She watched as a pony stepped forward from the long line of evacuees waiting to be transported to Cantropolis. He gave his name, family and address, just like the guard had requested, and Twilight checked the long list of names she carried with her. Once she found the pony’s name, she checked it off and nodded at the guard, who returned the gesture and then mentioned to the refugee that he could board the airship that would take them to the royal capital. Once he had passed, the guard called for the next refugee, and the entire process was repeated.

As she continued her task, Twilight couldn’t help but smile as she remembered the praise she had received from Rainbow Dash and even the other two admirals for her work. She realised that it could be seen as kind of vain of her to bask so much in it, but she couldn’t help it. It made her feel useful, made her realise that she had made the right decision to come here. Oddly enough, here, in this city that was preparing itself for war, she felt strangely more alive than she recalled ever feeling before in this life.

She wasn’t sure what made her feel this way. Certainly not the idea of the coming battle, for she understood all too well what such a thing entailed and she abhorred it. Perhaps it was because she was actively working for something she believed in, for the first time in this life, instead of sitting at home mourning all that was gone. But whatever the reason, the feeling was not unwelcome and gave her the strength and conviction to carry on, despite the hard times that lay ahead and were now very close by. Somehow she knew her friends felt the same way.

There was the beating of strong wings and then Rainbow Dash landed next to Twilight. The admiral shook her wings a few times, putting the mechanical skeleton they were enforced and enlarged with in plain view, then folded them. She flashed her friend a grin. “Hey Twilight,” she greeted. “How’s it going?”

Twilight looked up from her list and returned her friend’s smile. “Hello, Rainbow. Things are going quite well. So far, all ponies on today’s lists have shown up, and we only have one more group to evacuate after this one,” she replied.

“That’s good to hear,” Rainbow Dash said with a relieved nod. “I’ve just inspected the other evacuation posts and from what they told me they’re not doing any worse than you guys here. At this rate, the last ship of evacuees is set to leave around sunset. Which is a lot earlier than I thought it would be when we started evacuating, mind you.” She smiled gratefully at Twilight. “So thanks for that, we couldn’t have done it without you.”

Twilight dipped her head shyly to try and hide her blush. “You’re welcome, Rainbow,” she replied. “But I’m sure you would have done a good job even without me.”

“Well, not gonna argue with you there. I am pretty awesome, after all,” the admiral grinned.

“I’d be careful if I were you,” Twilight teased back, a sly grin on her face. “Any more boasting and your head will have grown so big it’ll be impossible for the Republicans to miss it once the fighting starts.”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “As if those slowpokes have any chance of being fast enough to hit me. I could have a head the size of an airship and their shots would still be so poor that they’d make me wonder where the heck they’re aiming!”

“Keep on talking and you just might have to put that theory to the test,” Twilight chuckled.

“Nah, I’ll pass, I really should keep my hooves on the ground,” Rainbow Dash answered, sounding surprisingly sincere. Said sincerity had been faked, however, as the pegasus flashed her friend a mischievous grin the very next moment. “But only because it’d be too hard to get out of my armour with my head the size of an airship.”

Twilight swatted her friend playfully on the head with her list of names. “You’re incorrigible,” she said with mock-exasperation, but in reality she was anything but.

From the moment of their arrival, Rainbow Dash had been doing her best to keep her friends at ease as much as was possible in the current situation. She kept the mood light, engaged in good-natured teasing, and joked at the expense of the Republic to try and still whatever doubts they were feeling about the coming battle. Twilight and the others weren’t fooled, they knew exactly what Rainbow Dash was trying to do, but they were grateful for and touched by her efforts nonetheless. They had not seen the admiral during her entire life until only two weeks ago, yet still the bond of friendship between them was as strong as they remembered it to be, knowledge they all found very comforting.

Twilight blinked and shook her head, realising her mind had been wandering. Luckily, it appeared Rainbow Dash hadn’t noticed, she was too busy checking some of the documents scattered atop the small table that served as Twilight’s impromptu desk.

“Have you seen the others?” Twilight asked curiously, while she unfolded her list again and returned to her job, keeping one ear focussed to catch Rainbow’s reply.

“Well, I spotted Applejack from the air, while I was checking up on Rose Thorn and the others back on the Wonderbolt. She was carrying supplies to the walls, but I doubt she saw me,” came the casual answer, the admiral still browsing through the documents. “As for the others, I haven’t seen them since breakfast. Rarity and Fluttershy should still be helping out at the hospital to get everything ready, and I think Pinkie was scheduled for watch duty at the town hall.”

Rainbow Dash finally finished looking through the papers and stepped away from the desk. “Anyway, I gotta fly. All ponies on your list may have shown up so far, but the other evacuation posts weren’t so lucky. Some ponies didn’t show up in time for their scheduled evacuation, so I sent out guards to look for them, and I need to check on their progress. Oh, and contact Cantropolis to see if the evacuation ships are arriving on schedule. I thought I could just put everypony on a ship and be done with it, who knew evacuating a city took this much work?!”

“I did,” Twilight replied, puffing her chest forward proudly, if not a little smug.

“Yeah, because you’re an egghead,” Rainbow Dash grinned, swatting Twilight playfully on the shoulder with her wing. “A very capable egghead, though,” she added, her grin melting down to a sincere smile. “Don’t hesitate to send a guard to fetch me if you need me, though. They know any message of you guys is top priority for me.”

“Don’t worry, Rainbow, I will,” Twilight replied, smiling as well.

“In that case, keep up the good work, soldier!” Rainbow Dash said, her grin returning, as she spread her impressive wings, the gold of her mechanical exoskeleton glittering in the warm sunlight. “I’ll see you at supper, in case there’s no trouble here or I’m too busy to check up on you again. Later!”

And with that and a powerful flap of her wings, the admiral took to the skies once more and sped off. Twilight watched her go, the warm, satisfied smile still on her face, then went back to work.

---

Applejack grunted as she carefully put down the heavy crate she was carrying on her back. It would have been much easier and faster to let it simply drop to the ground, but given how the crate was filled to the brim with cannonballs, she didn’t think that to be very wise. Sure, they had told her that there was no danger of the dangerous orbs exploding prematurely, but she preferred to not take any chances.

Once the crate was safely on the floor, Applejack took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off her brow. “Whoo boy, that should be the last one, gentlecolts,” she said, turning around to face the two guards who were working on making a large cannon ready for battle. “Not a crate too early, too, though I don’t wanna sound like I’m complainin’.”

“I doubt anypony would blame you if you did, Miss,” one of the guards replied. “You’ve been carrying supplies to the wall all day, hauling crates that are usually carried by two ponies all by yourself. I think you’ve more than earned the right to complain.” He pushed the newly delivered crate next to the other one Applejack had delivered earlier that day, before kicking off the lid and glancing inside. None of the cannonballs inside seemed to have moved as much as an inch during transport, much to his relief.

“Looks like there are none missing either,” he muttered after doing a quick count of the crate’s contents.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Don’t rightly see why you’d doubt that, sugarcube,” she said, not sure if she had to be amused or offended. “It ain’t as if I’m stowing away any of those while nopony’s looking. Got no use for them balls.”

“Oh, I’m not doubting your honesty, miss Applejack,” the guard replied hurriedly, not wanting to give the mare the wrong idea. “We simply must check in order to make sure that no cannonballs went missing as they were being stored inside these crates. It might surprise you, but it has happened before.”

“That’s mighty weird,” Applejack remarked, puzzled. “Who’d want to steal cannonballs?”

“Saboteurs, spies, collectors, foals, madmares, take your pick,” the guard replied with a shrug, after which he put the lid back on the crate and went back to helping his partner with readying their cannon. Across the entire length of the great wall that encircled the city, other gunner pairs were doing the same. Everything had to be ready, for once the battle broke out there would be no more time for a thorough inspection of the artillery, to see if all parts functioned properly and to repair them in case they did not.

Throughout the long centuries during which the civil war had raged, Stalliongrad had often been the site of conflict and a constant hearth of unrest. The city had a long tradition of preparing for battle, leading to the city becoming more and more fortified as the war raged on, until it was more an impenetrable military fortress that just happened to have civilians living in it, than it was a real city.

The city’s geographical location was entirely to blame for it being a frequent target of attacks; Stalliongrad was situated at the entrance of the long valley formed between the great Foal Mountains in the south and the Neighara Mountains to the north. When the civil war broke out, Equestria was divided from north to south roughly along natural borders; the greatest being the aforementioned two mountain ranges, as well as the Everfree Forest further to the south. The deep valley was one of the few places were the terrain was passable enough to allow easy and swift transportation of both supplies and soldiers, two crucial factors for any invasion.

Which was why Stalliongrad was of such strategic importance. The fortress-city and its great walls barred the way for any invaders who wanted to pass through the valley to invade the kingdom that lay beyond. For centuries the royal guard had stood atop the walls, keeping a vigilant watch on the valley. A few times there had been an actual attack, but the city’s natural position had always given the defenders the advantage and the invading forces had broken upon the walls like the waves of the ocean against the cliffs.

Never before had there been an invasion of the scale the Republic was planning now, however. Added to this was the fact that the advent of airships and aerial warfare had weakened the defensive advantages granted by the city’s geographical position. The storm that was coming now would be much more destructive than those that had come before. Nevertheless, the guards now stationed all throughout the great fortress were determined to weather it, as they had the storms before, still having confidence in their great walls and strong gates, through which no Republican had ever passed.

As she stood atop of the walls and gazed at the valley floor, Applejack could see numerous guards busy with erecting extra defences. Trenches were dug and spikes of metal and wood were planted firmly into the ground. Confident in the strength of the walls the guards might be, but any second they could delay the enemy from testing that strength would be extremely welcome. It amazed her how fast they could work, too. When she had arrived in the city four days ago, the valley floor had still been empty.

The sight reminded her that she still had a job to do. Applejack didn’t have a lot of knowledge about warfare and setting up proper defences, but she did have a ton of strength thanks to a life of hard but honest work at Sweet Apple Acres. From the day of her arrival she had been putting that strength of hers to good use, carrying crates and other containers full of supplies to wherever they needed to go in the city. A lot of her loads, such as the crate of cannonballs she had just delivered, were heavy even by her standards, and it didn’t help that on top of her delivery she also had to carry a suit of armour of considerable weight around.

Never once did she complain, however, setting herself to every task she received with stubborn but honest dedication. Every delivery she made was one less that had to be done by a guard, giving said guard just that little bit of extra time to work on the defences or to get some extra sleep that might make the difference in the end. And so Applejack gave it her all, knowing that once the fight began there was little she would be able to do to help. Her contribution had to be made now and she wouldn’t waste the opportunity. For her friends, but also for the Princess, so unjustly imprisoned. It wasn’t right, and if there was one thing Applejack didn’t like, it was dishonesty.

She said goodbye to the two guards and began to walk towards the nearest stairs that would take her back to ground level. After a few steps, she stopped when she realised that she didn’t need to take that detour and had a faster way of getting back to the warehouse for her next delivery. Reluctantly, Applejack turned her head to look at her back, and the two new appendages that sat there.

To say that Applejack didn’t like flying would be an understatement. She preferred to keep her hooves safely on the firm, solid ground. The mechanical wings that were now a temporary part of her body felt alien and unsettling and in all fairness she didn’t really trust them. Not that she suspected Rainbow Dash of giving her friends something that wasn’t safe to use, far from it, but Applejack simply wasn’t comfortable with the idea. She was a pureblood earth pony and darn proud of her heritage. Wings and flying was something best left to pegasi, who were born to do such things. She, however, was not.

Regardless, even she had to admit that flying was considerably faster than walking, even for an unsteady flier like her, and time was of the essence. Every minute she saved by getting back to the warehouse faster was a minute that could be used to make another delivery. Looking at it from that perspective, there really wasn’t any argument to be had.

Applejack sighed as she spread her new wings, their golden surface gleaming in the sunlight. She made a few tentative flaps with them, to make sure they were still responding and working right. Once she had done that, she walked towards the edge of the wall and looked down. Sweat tickled down her brow and she gulped, the ground looking so far away and very, very hard. It would be a most uncomfortable landing should her wings stop working all of the sudden.

She stood there lingering on the edge for minutes, reluctant to jump, until she could not handle the pressure anymore. “Oh consarnit,” she grumbled, after which she leaped off the wall. For a moment she seemed to fall, but then the wind caught her wings and made her glide upon them. Her legs flailed helplessly for a moment as she desperately tried to take control of her flight. She flapped her wings a couple of times to stabilise herself and climb higher, just as she had been taught. After a few shaky seconds, she finally had enough control over herself to set course for the warehouse, though her flight was still wobbly at best.

“If Apple Bloom could see me now she’d laugh so hard she’d get a laugh-at-yer-sister-as-she-tries-to-fly cutie mark,” Applejack thought grimly. “The things I do fer my friends…”

---

“Oh, um, Rarity, I got the sheets you asked for,” the timid voice of Fluttershy said quietly, as the pegasus approached her friend almost hesitatingly, as if she was afraid of disturbing her. On her back she was carrying a tall number of white linen bed sheets, all folded neatly and stacked in a tall pile, which she stabilised with her wings.

“Just a moment, darling,” Rarity replied, not taking her eyes off of her work. The unicorn’s horn was glowing as she making a camp bed, her magic tugging at the sheet and blanket to make sure everything was tucked in properly, with not a single fold or wrinkle in sight. After that, she shook up a fluffy pillow and placed it neatly at the head of the bed, right in the middle. With that done, she stood back a step and eyed her work critically, to make sure nothing was out of place. Once she was convinced everything was in order, she smiled and relaxed, then turned to face Fluttershy.

“So sorry to make you wait, my dear. Let me help you with those,” she apologised, as she used her magic to pick up the stack of bed sheets from Fluttershy’s back. She gently deposited them on one of the beds, then picked one folded sheet of the pile and carried it with her towards the next bed that had to be made, humming all the while.

Fluttershy watched her best friend work for a few seconds, before taking a sheet from the pile herself and moving to one of the camp beds on the other side of the infirmary that were waiting to be made. Quietly she put herself to work, listening to the melodious humming of her friend as she did so. As she spread the sheet over the bed, she couldn’t help but let her gaze drift through the room for a moment.

The two mares were in the hospital of Stalliongrad and were, as they had since their arrival in the city, helping to prepare it for the oncoming siege. Neither of them had any particular skill in the medical field, aside from Fluttershy’s limited knowledge of animal caretaking, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t make themselves useful. The hospital needed to prepare much more accommodations in order to be able to house the swarm of injured guards that would arrive once the battle began. Camp beds were deployed on every available inch of space, and had to be provided with proper bedding, a task Fluttershy and Rarity, along with other volunteers and a few members of the hospital staff, had taken upon themselves.

Making up beds or fetching supplies to be able to make more beds was not very difficult, and after four days of doing nothing but, Fluttershy could practically do it with her eyes closed. It was quite monotonous, but she didn’t complain. She was simply glad she could make herself useful to Rainbow Dash and her cause, even if it was by doing something as simple as making beds.

However, though she didn’t regret her choice to follow her friends to this place, Fluttershy had to admit to herself that it had been getting more and more difficult to keep calm as the days moved on. No regrets or not, the thought of the oncoming fight still frightened her. She tried not to think about it and simply do her job, but it was hard due to the suit of armour she’d been forced to wear constantly reminding her where and in what circumstances she was exactly. She glanced at the golden plating that covered her body, and then at the mechanical skeleton covering her wings that would help to increase her flying capabilities. Both felt alien on her body, almost hostile even and she longed for it all to be over so she could take them both off.

With a sigh she tried to shake the grim thoughts off of her and went back to work, her hooves expertly tugging and pulling the sheet into its proper place. She had to remain strong, if only for her friends. They were depending on her and she couldn’t afford to let them down. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder at Rarity, but the unicorn did not notice, still humming as she concentrated on her work. She didn’t seem to be at all weighed down by the grim reality of the situation, of what lay ahead, an ability Fluttershy envied greatly. She wished she could be as brave as Rarity, humming while she did her job, as if nothing was wrong and this was simply another day in Ponyville.

Ponyville… Her peaceful, quiet life in the quaint little village seemed so long ago now, almost like a distant dream, even though it had been only a little more than a month since she had woken up to find a changed world around her. It felt like it had been so much longer. The new technologies, the changes in culture and norms, all of it felt familiar, as if she had been living in this changed era her whole life. She wondered briefly if this was what it felt like for her friends when they thought about their dual lives.

As she thought of her friends, she couldn’t help but steal another quick peek at Rarity over her shoulder. The unicorn was definitely the same mare that had been so dear to her in the other era, and the same could be said for all her friends. They remembered everything, just like her, every adventure they had been on, every moment of friendship they had shared. When she talked to them, it felt no different from when she had talked to them in their other lives.

And yet she couldn’t deny that there were noticeable differences, too, aside from the obvious ones such as where they lived or their occupation. The difference she was thinking of was more subtle, and probably not noticeable to anypony but her. They had another set of memories, had experienced things she had not, and those had left their marks on them, changed or sometimes even wounded them. Because of this, they sometimes she reacted to something in a way that surprised her, one that felt unnatural or out of character for them. It was made all the more jarring by the fact that most of the time, they acted and behaved in the way that she remembered, making everything appear the same when it in fact was not.

The same could be said for many things in this era, she thought. A lot of things were visibly different, while others appeared to be left untouched, while in truth they had not, their changes were only more subtle. So subtle, that only a time-displaced mare like herself could really spot them. All those changes, so many things lost, all because of a single stallion travelling back in time for reasons unknown.

“Is everything alright, darling? You’ve been staring at that bed for quite a while now. Would you like to take a break, perhaps?”

Rarity’s concerned voice snapped her out of her ponderings with a start, and Fluttershy found herself blushing like a filly caught with her hoof in the cookie jar. She turned to her friend and gave her an apologetic smile.

“I’m sorry, Rarity, I got distracted,” she replied.

“Evidently so,” Rarity chuckled good-naturedly. “Whatever had you lost so deeply in your thoughts, pray tell?”

Fluttershy didn’t immediately reply. She avoided Rarity’s questioning glance and pawed nervously at the floor with one of her hooves, causing Rarity’s brows to knit together into a frown, concern evident on her features.

“Rarity, do you… um, do you ever miss your old life?” Fluttershy then asked quietly, causing Rarity’s eyes to widen as the question caught her off guard. The unicorn stared at her in silence for a long minute, a contemplating expressing dominating her face.

“I most certainly do. Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, I daresay,” she then finally replied, her voice calm but serious. “In fact, if I had even the slightest clue of how I could turn things back to the way they were, I would not hesitate to do so.”

This seemed to surprise Fluttershy somewhat. “But what about your business? Your career? Your lovely home in Canterlot?”

“Well, I won’t deny that I would miss those, certainly. But I would like to think that what I managed to attain in this life, I can also attain in my old one. So if anything, were things to go back, it would merely be a temporary absence,” Rarity replied, a sly smile playing on her lips. “But I would never allow such a thing as wealth or prestige to get in the way of my friends’ happiness, or truth and justice, for that matter. I know what really matters.”

She gave Fluttershy a friendly nuzzle, before stepping back and looking at her quizzically. “What made you ask, though, darling?” she wondered aloud. “Did you doubt my feelings on the matter?”

“Oh no, I wouldn’t dare!” Fluttershy replied hurriedly, afraid that she had offended her friend somehow. “It’s just…” Her voice trailed off and fell silent, unable to continue for a moment. Her gaze drifted away and landed on the half-made bed. She realised in a horrifying instance that tomorrow, or ultimately the day after, a soldier would be lying upon it. Injured, bleeding or even dying. A shiver of fright ran down her spine.

Rarity noticed it and became even more concerned, now certain that something was definitely and greatly bothering her friend. She placed a gentle hoof upon Fluttershy’s shoulder, a simple gesture of comfort, but, judging from the timid smile she received in return, one Fluttershy really appreciated.

“Will things ever turn back to normal?” Fluttershy asked, finally voicing the question that had been plaguing her. She gave Rarity a pleading, almost desperate look. “Ponies are fighting, even though they know they could get hurt, or worse, because they believe things will get better if they win. But will it? What if freeing Princess Celestia doesn’t change anything? What if nothing changes even we managed to do that?”

Fluttershy’s voice had been rising higher and higher the more she talked, until she was clearly panicking. The fears and doubts she had been harbouring ever since her arrival in the Kingdom could no longer be contained by loyalty to her friends, and came bursting to the surface. She stopped, however, when she felt a hoof being gently yet firmly pressed against her chest. Startled, she looked up into the kind and understanding eyes of Rarity.

“I understand perfectly how you feel, darling, and I can honestly say that I have asked myself the same questions you just did more times than I care to count,” Rarity said, her voice soft, warm and kind, her lips forming a genuine smile.

“But please, do believe me when I say that, even if we knew that our fears would come true and nothing would change, we would still be here,” she continued, her voice growing a bit more firm and confident. “Rainbow Dash would still take up arms and fight, and I would still be here to help her in whatever way I could. As would Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie and with them numerous other ponies, guards and civilians alike.”

She reached up and placed her hoof on Fluttershy’s cheek and looked her friend straight in the eye. “And I know for certain, as do you,” she added, “that you would also still be here, afraid or not. Because you know, as we all do, that even if freeing the Princess changes nothing, it is the right thing to do.” The tone of Rarity’s voice grew determined. “It would be so even if it wasn’t Princess Celestia we are speaking about. A mare has been unjustly imprisoned and shamefully abused for centuries, an atrocity which has been tolerated for far too long.”

Fluttershy let out a soft whimper and averted her eyes, but she couldn’t deny the truth of Rarity’s words. Despite all her fears – and there were many – she couldn’t really say that she regretted coming here, a realisation she had come to before. It did make her feel good knowing that she was helping her friends and her Princess, no matter how small her contribution. But on the other hoof, she had never doubted that, nor had it ever been the source of her fears.

“I just wish there didn’t have to be any fighting,” she squeaked, hiding behind her mane.

“As do we all, darling,” Rarity assured her, as she reached out and pulled her friend in a comforting embrace. “But unfortunately, it lies not within our capabilities to prevent the fight from breaking out at this point. The storm clouds have gathered, so to speak, and all that is left to us is to endure it.”

Rarity smiled and gave Fluttershy a purely friendly nuzzle. “I know you are afraid, my dear, and to be honest I am certain almost every pony within the walls of this city is as well,” she said. “There is certainly nothing wrong with that. Just remember that the sun will always break through the clouds and shine again, even after the foulest of weather.”

“Oh, I hope so,” Fluttershy said timidly. Her eyes peeked from behind her mane towards the window, looking at the clear skies outside. “I just wish we knew how long this nasty ‘weather’ will last…”

End of chapter 30.

Author's Note:

Originally there was a plan for all members of the mane six to get a little scene, but I really couldn't come up with anything substantial for Pinkie Pie. Instead of writing something half-assed, I simply decided to drop the idea and move on. Otherwise, this chapter might have been delayed for a few more days.

Also, if you're having trouble picturing the mane six's wings, just google "steampunk wings" and pick whatever design you like best.

Comments

[Dead Turtle]

Poor Fluttershy...

[FredFredNineNine]

This is a tragically underrated piece of fiction. Keep up the good work, and I hope this fic eventually gets the recognition it deserves, because this story is awesome