Burst your bubble

by Verzeih Turncoat

Limit reached

Spike had an close eye on Dinky - after all she sat in the adult section of the library - and he noticed something. Every now and then she returned to a earlier chapter of the book before she returned to her reading. As the greyish purple unicorn did it again he asked her about it.

"It´s a murder case, Mister Spike. The general of the Pegasopolis Regime, a rebel group formed after the the first attack of the Changelings on Timbucktu. The pegasi whom did not beliefed that the Princesses could protect the Cloud Cities properly where united under the General Stormcloud. She... It´s... it´s complicated, Mister Spike."

Spike smirked: "You do know whos assistent I am, right?"

Dinky turned her head away staring out of the window. For a few moments there was only silence. "Okay. Mister Spike, General Stormcloud killed General Firefly. After years of working together to protect the heaven from griffins, dragons and so on. Stormcloud drowned her former friend..."

"That is horrible" - Spike said - "do you know why she would do that?"

"The Celestia|Luna Rift. Stormcloud lost the last trust in Princess Celestia while Firefly became her loyal general. During the Pegasopolis Regime´s coup d'etat in the third Celestial Year of peace they clashed with the Wonderbolts. There it happend." The tiny unicorn fondled the pages and wispered: "I wish I could talk to her."

"Why so?" The dragon stared at the filly. She had a hurt look on her face.

"For my mom, she always looked up to..."

"Your mom?"

Dinky was panicking and began to stumble over her tongue. "I mean... You see... I... my mom... Mister Spike... It... It´s family."

"The murderer of Firefly, THE Firefly, is your ancestor... don´t let Rainbow Dash hear that." The library was empty just the two of them sitting on the table.

"She probably knows. Mom is not even allowed to try out for the Wonderbolts. The whole family is banned from ever become a part of them. One of mommy´s broken dreams. -" Dinky sighed - "Please, Mister Spike. Keep it a secret, will you?"

"You can count on me."

"How deep a hero can fall." Dinky fondled the pages again.

The little filly had gone for hours as the dragon cleaned the library. He was unnerved - why had he promised to not talk about this. He was nervous, tried to not keep thinking about what Dinky had told him, but it was useless. So he put the broom against one of the shelfs and was going to get the book -The three Generations of Desperation - to read for himself.

The young unicorn was lying in her bed. Her pegasus mother sat on the side of her, gently tucking her in. "Mom, could you please tell me a story again?"

Derpy showed a soft smile on her muzzle: "Let´s see... how about the Grizelda the Princess of the Griffon Kingdom and the little green pegasus that..."

"How about Stormcloud?"

Derpy looked at her daugther and told her: "But you already know all the stories about her."

"Please..."

Soft grey feather tickled Dinky´s nose. "Okay, let me tell you the story of..."

Spike sat down on his chair in the throne room. The constant glow of the Cutiemarks of Twilight and her friends on the map will be a perfect light for his readings. He opened the book on the same page Dinky did and looked at the title: `The victory of Two´

Back in the days as Cloudsdale was nothing more than a stopover between Timbucktu and Horizon there where two young fillies growing up in it. The troubling times seemed to be over for a while. Ponykind called the time previous to them the two generations of pain, sadly they were mistaken. Soon there would be new trouble but for now at least the sky was save. The fillies became young mares and the few years of peace ended for our little friends. A swarm of pony-like creatures destroyed Timbucktu.

The young mare with the name Stormcloud stood in the center of the marketplace. Her wings wide open she shouted to a crowd in frustration: "The sky is no longer the limit for the evil forces that want to destroy ponykind! Far too long we have counted on the princesses to protect us. They could not defend the Crystal Empire and now they have let Timbucktu fall. Commander Hurricane would spit on us! We have to fight on our own. Who shall fight with me?" Not sure why nopony joined her that day. Maybe it was her inexperience. Maybe nopony thought she could achieve anything. Maybe the pegasi were just affraid. But that day only her foalhood friend Firefly stood on her side.

Half a year later things had gotten much worse for the sky cities. The Griffon War had begun, weakend due the lost of Timbucktu has every major city start to defend themself leaving every little cloudvilliage a prey for the griffins and occasionally dragons. So it came the day Plumefield was on the line. Six full grown dragons attacked the town for its food reserves. As they sat on the townhall to fed on their loot, there was a ever growing rumbling noise coming closer every second. Two mares broke through the cloud cover under the feet of the dragons. Their hooves covered in soild gold horseshoes like the ones the royal guard a wearing them today, with them they charged directly under the chins of two of dragons. One of them biting of his tongue off due the hit. Knocking them over onto the cloud cover that had been turned into thunderstorm clouds by the pegasi as they had flown through them. The lightning bolts take out three of the other dragons, but one of them charged after the mares. The Plumefield pegasi watched as the three rose higher and higher till they lost sight due another cloud. All of the sudden the dragon fell back to Plumefield. The membran of its wings were burning. The fireproof wings of a dragon had catched on fire. The dragon fell on towns square. The dragon lying on towns square laught in relief noticing that he had just landed on clouds. A giant blow of fire shoot up to the mares that dive towards him.

The eye witnesses discribed the dragon getting more and more frigthen as the pegasi continued flying through his flames. Than the mares landed on his nose. The soft pink pegasus trots over his snout stared him in the eyes. Rage filled purple eyes pinned him down as she spokes: "What of the flames?! Nothing burns hotter than my own fury!"

The grey mare floated over him for everypony to see and shouted: "This town is protected by the Pegasopolis Regime, dragon scum. Take the word and spread it."

Derpy finished the story airborned, after playing both roles - Firefly and Stormcloud - pointing her hoof down to Dinky in her bed.

Spike turned the page and kept reading about the rise and fall of the two.

Meanwhile there was something going on in the woods nopony could have seen coming. Shadows sneaked through the undergrowth breaking branches as they made their way deeper into the woods.

In their struggle Firefly and Stormcloud crashed into the forest that surrounded our old castle.

The surface of the small pond boiled in the moonlight. The ever changing colors were as mesmerizing as the night before. Two foals had pressed Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle so hard that they spilled the beans about how they had gotten her cutiemarks.

As the mare sat infront of me. Failed to unthrone me. The fallen hero of the pegasi did not ask for forgiveness, she only asked if she could be banished to the waters were she drowned her former friend.

Bubbles hit the surface of the pond. The colt came out of it with his new cutiemark. Two bubbles. The thin filly dived into the water. A scream under water and came back out of the water. One bubble.

Stormcloud spoke to me a last time before I banished her into the water. "One day Celestia ponies will see you for what you really are."

The water had gone wild as soon as she had left it. The cutiemarks on their flank glowed and the pond gone bright white. The pictures of the bubbles burst with a sound. Out of the water shoots up in the air a full grown mare. Her grey wings spread wide open. Her yellow wild mane like a flash on her grey body. She was dressed in a golden armor similar to the one of Celestias royal guard but the helmet had no crest. Also she was wearing bridles. Over her right eye was patch. Sweetie Belle asked unsure: "Miss Derpy?"

But the mare did not hear her over her own scream:

"!!!Down with Celestia!!!"