Knight of Equestria - On Distant Shores

by SupraMacPringles

Chapter 35: Power

Author's Note:

With the upload of this chapter, everything I've had stockpiled is up and all that's left is what I'm writing now. Updates will unfortunately slow down from here.

Also big thanks to any and all who've been reading the story!

The next day, the train from the Crystal Empire finally arrived with Twilight's brother and sister-in-law aboard it. Twilight, her parents, Matt, and Spike waited to greet them at the station. The train wasn't very crowded, as word had spread of the new King and ponies didn't want to head towards the danger. It wasn't long before Cadence and Shining Armor stepped out and onto the platform.

Twilight and her parents trotted over happily to greet them. "Mom, dad, Twily!" said Shining Armor, embracing his family. Cadence laughed and joined in as well. "We heard about what happened at one of our stops. I can't believe that maniac almost..." Shining Armor spotted Matt, standing next to Spike.

After the group hug ended, Twilight lead her brother and Cadence over him. "Shining Armor, Cadence, this is Matthew Nabal. He's the one who saved mom and dad yesterday."

"An honor to finally meet you, Matt." said Cadence, offering a pink hoof clad in a golden boot to him.

Matt leaned forward and grasped her hoof gently before calmly shaking it. "The honor is mine, your majesty." he replied. He had known Cadence was a princess beforehand, though he was still surprised with the sheer abundance of princesses in Equestria. As he let go of the princess's hoof, Shining Armor offered his as well. "And to you as well, my lord."

Shining Armor laughed as he shook the human's hand. "He's so formal. Where'd you find this guy, Twily?"

"You can be yourself, Matt. They're family, after all." Twilight responded with a giggle.

"Sorry, I'm just so used to talking to these stuffy Canterlot ponies. Present company excluded, of course." Matt replied, letting go the prince's hoof.

"Don't sweat it. Hey, let's head to the library and get settled in. Mind helping with the luggage?" Shining Armor asked the human.

"Of course not." Matt replied.

As they unloaded Cadence and Shining Armor's things, Matt waited until only he and Twilight were left. Twilight floated some bags with her magic and Matt pulled one bag with wheels and slung another over his shoulder.

Matt leaned down to Twilight's ear. "Why do I get the feeling that you told them?" he asked quietly.

"What? What do you mean?" Twilight replied.

"He looked at me like he was suspicious of something. Like a defensive older brother would." Matt clarified.

"Oh. Oh. I may have mentioned it before... Sorry, Matt. He's my B.B.B.F.F., I had to tell him." she said sheepishly.

"I just hope you'll have my back if he asks any weird questions... Twily." he said with a grin before walking ahead.

"H-Hey! Wait a minute!" she said as blush crept over her face at the use of her nickname before pursuing the human.

…...

High above them in the clouds sat a sky-blue pegasus. She sighed as she watched them go. Her original plan was to talk to Matt about how she felt to try and patch up the rift forming between him and her. At this point she wasn't even mad at him, but an aching feeling took root in her chest whenever she thought about him. She had talked about it with Fluttershy, who encouraged her to pursue him if that's what her heart wanted. Unfortunately for her, Twilight Sparkle now stood in her way. Rainbow Dash had known since the day of the first snowfall that Twilight was also interested in the human. Rainbow had thought about it as more of a competition, and she'd never thought she had a chance of losing.

She rolled over on the cloud and stared up into the higher clouds above her as she let her mind wander. She hadn't any weather duties for the day, so she opted to just relax. She would try to talk to Matt another time. She closed her eyes for a bit, thinking about what to do to occupy her time. She decided she had a craving for something sweet, so she flew down to Sugarcube Corner.

She opened the door as the bells rang to alert the Cakes or Pinkie Pie that someone had entered. Rainbow dash didn't see anyone inside at all. "Helloooo?" she called out. "Anypony home?"

Since no one responded to her, she quickly flew up to Pinkie's room, finding it empty as well. Not even Gummy was there. She began to leave through the front door, but noticed a rug on the floor had been noticeably moved and had what looked like a trapdoor under it. She approached it and opened it, gazing inside to see nothing. She flew down into the basement, the light from above being the only light available. The air was stale with mold. "Hello?" she repeated, but no one responded.

The door above her slammed shut and she felt herself get grabbed by something. She struggled as the thing seemed to strap her onto something and when it was done, she couldn't move at all. "Hey! Let me go! Pinkie Pie, if this is a prank it's gone too far!" she exclaimed.

"I don't know, it's pretty funny from where I'm standing." a gravely male voice replied.

Dash froze in her struggling as she had recognized the voice. A hanging light flickered on overhead and revealed a tall figure clad in red scales and black metal. He was turned away from her, standing over what seemed to be an operating table with a tray of tools next to him. She looked down to find herself strapped to a table much like the one he was facing.

"W-What are you doing here?" she asked, trying not to let any fear trickle into her voice.

"A bit of this, a bit of that." Gabriel said as he placed a tool on the tray and picked up another one. "Not that I need a reason to drop in on my favorite pegasus."

She tried to see around him to what he was working on, but couldn't quite see it. All she could see were traces of orange and purple, dotted with splashes of red. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Just what I said. You're a truly remarkable specimen, Dashie. In all my years wandering the earth I've never met another pony quite like you." he replied, followed by a slicing noise that made Rainbow wince.

"Well what do you want from me?" she asked, incredibly weirded out by the use of the odd nickname.

"Can't a man just chat with a friend without any ulterior motives?"

"We aren't friends." Dash responded quickly, disgusted by the very idea.

Gabriel peeked over his shoulder at her. "You wound me, Rainbow Dash. Fine. I did have another reason for talking to you." he admitted, going back to his work. "I'm handpicking candidates for the Wonderbolts."

"You're- you're doing what?!" she asked, dumbfounded.

"The Wonderbolts. I'm recruiting." he affirmed.

"But why would they have you recruiting for them?" she stammered.

"Because the Wonderbolts are also being reformed. No longer just a team of elite performers; but a force of my will, and Equestria's air superiority."

She didn't quite understand what he meant by that. "Whaddya mean, 'air superiority'?" she asked, speaking her mind.

A chuckle came from the human as he swapped out the tool in his hand for another. "Did you think stealing the throne was the only thing I returned for? No, the whole world is my goal. And think about it, Rainbow Dash, join with my new Wonderbolts and I can guarantee a life of fame and fortune. You'll be showered by diamonds. The entire planet will know and fear your name."

Rainbow Dash's mind was swimming at the man's words. The goal she had for most of her life was being offered to her on a silver platter.

Due to her silence, Gabriel decided to continue. "You'll be adored by our nation, most certainly. At that point you could have anything, anyone you please. All you have to do is say yes."

If her mind was swimming before, it was racing now. Anything, Anyone. Could this human really offer her anything she had always wanted? For a moment she found herself ready to accept the deal, it was too good to be true. But the more she thought about it, the more clarity was granted to her. Fame and love just given to her isn't what she wanted. She wanted to earn both. She wanted to deserve both.

"I won't do it." she said.

Gabriel dropped his metal tool onto the tray before flipping over the operating table he was standing by, which was followed by a large crashing sound and a sickening thud. He walked over towards her, a look of malice on his face. "How dare you. How dare you! I offer you everything you could ever want, and you have the gall to reject it?!" his clawed hand cut into the table near her face. "Are you really so foolish as to turn this down?"

"Of course I'll turn it down! Even with everything you could give me, fame and love don't matter if they aren't earned!" she exclaimed, almost as if she was trying to convince herself, too.

Up close, she could see Gabriel's sharp features and sharper teeth even better. It was an amazing contrast to Matt's much softer-looking face. "So you really refuse this offer? You won't join me and be given the power you've always wanted?" he asked.

"As if I'd ever join you, anyway! Element of loyalty, dude!" she said, mustering her pride despite her fear.

"How noble of you. So, you're content to lose him to Twilight..." he said, lips curling into a smile.

"How did you...?" she began to ask.

"I'll leave the offer open for you, Rainbow Dash. Something I hope you'll come to agree with me on one day;" he said, pulling out his claws and moving directly under the dangling light, reaching to grab its bulb. "Loyalty is no match for power."

He crushed the bulb and Rainbow was immediately free, finding herself on a tree, below where she was resting earlier. She looked around and saw no trace of the mad King, but did notice that some time had passed. She concluded that it had to have been a dream, despite how real it felt. She laughed to herself but lost her balance on the tree and began to fall.

It happened too suddenly for her to correct, so she braced for impact. When she did impact, it felt strangely like being caught by something and didn't hurt at all.

"Now this is the strangest rain I've ever seen." said a familiar voice. She opened her eyes to see that Matt Nabal had caught her. As he put her down, he continued talking. "You're a hard mare to find, Rainbow Dash."

"Don't you have something better to do? I know Cadence and Shining Armor arrived today. Shouldn't you be talking with them about this whole Gabriel thing?" she asked, somewhat dismissively.

"I was, but... politics are pretty boring. It's not like I could do anything about him anyway, Shining Armor and Cadence are the reinforcements. Besides, I wanted to see you." he said, sitting on the nearby bench and gesturing her to join him.

Rainbow Dash marveled at her luck while also cursing it, she hadn't wanted to have this conversation yet. "What did you want to talk about?" she asked, feigning ignorance. She had expected him to be disappointed in her.

"I'm sorry." he said. While it wasn't what she expected, it made her happy to hear it. He sighed and leaned back on the bench before continuing. "I truly didn't know how you felt at the time. Honestly, you and Twilight's affections completely flew over my head. Had I known... I would've been more straightforward with you. You're my closest friend and it was wrong of me to overlook you like that."

"I-I'm sorry too." she said. "I, uh, took it pretty hard. I just can't help what I'm feeling, y'know?"

"Of course I do, and you have nothing to apologize for. I just hate that I'm the one that put you through that."

They both stared off in different directions but somehow turned to the other at the same time. "Is their any future like that between us?" she asked.

"I don't know. But even if there isn't, I'll always be there for you." he replied.

She smiled at her human friend, which he returned. "I'll always be there for you, too." she said as they shared a hug. "But Twilight's still one of my besties, so you'd better not mess things up and hurt her." she added.

Matt snickered at her words. "I'll do my best."

After they separated, Rainbow moved closer to human, close enough to feel his warmth.

"Can we stay here a little longer?" she asked.

Matt wrapped an arm around his pegasus pal as they both stared into the sunset.

"Of course."