89 - Chronicles: Rainbow Blaze
Chapter 89 - Chronicles: Rainbow Blaze
"Rainbow Dash," Lightning Dust whispered. "Wake your flank up. We're here."
I woke up with drool trailing down to my chest plate, and it took several minutes to realize where I was. Now I remember. Several months had passed, and Firefly woke us up one early morning. She didn't tell us what we were going to do other than advising us to wear our best armor and weapons and that we had to cram ourselves into a battle-worn cloudskiff as soon as possible or else she would immolate us with her Atmos Fire Arts. We were so cramped that our backs lined up against the windows, giving us little light to see each other's faces. I could sense that several colts and fillies felt terrified, but there were those beaming with bloodlust excitement. My foalmate Lightning Dust was one example. She didn’t shake in fear. Instead, her hooves rattled the floor with restless giddy.
"Remember," spoke Firefly, "if you do not fly back after killing one Gaean soldier, I will be the one who will burn off your wings and throw you down to the surface. I cannot stress that this is an important day for your transition into adulthood. Make your nation proud."
Firefly threw down the switch with an enthusiastic swing of her hoof. The cloudskiff's entire floor split open, and all the fillies and colts found themselves plunging through the cumulus cloud layer until we found ourselves out in the open and in the middle of an aerial battle where many of our cloudships surrounded a burning albatross-class Gaean airship. A good number of my foalmates plunged to the ground due to the heavy armor they were wearing, and some turned tail and flew away right as a shell exploded right in front of us. The rest of us stood in awe of the chaotic battle in front of us, and eventually we drew out our swords, daggers, and spears.
"Glory to Pegasopolis!" yelled Lightning Dust. She immediately led all of us into a cloud of missiles, cannon shells, jets, and explosions. Half of the group was shot down, and the other half were busy trying to shoot down jets with whatever Atmos skills they had. Ice and lightning bounced off metal, and some of us even attempted to go after the pilots themselves by sticking our bodies to the glass cockpits. I hovered in the middle of it all, trying to find the best target for a filly like me to take out. When I noticed Lightning Dust flying towards the bridge of the ugly airship, a stray missile curved towards her and exploded. All that was left of her were a flurry of green feathers flying towards me.
I didn't know what came over me, but my entire body awoke with rage. Sure she beat me to the title as Boss Mare of our herd of our junior barracks, and she even bullied the other colts and fillies hard. I wanted to be the one to beat her fair and square, and this earth pony fleet robbed me of that chance.
The Atmos Particles excited my wings and my blood. With my teeth clasping my battle knife, I stylishly dodged all the incoming missiles and bullets flying towards me before I landed on the deck. Here, I jumped right into the nearest hatch closest to the fore. I expected the crew to be all busy with the other pegasi groups bombarding them with thunder and hail, and if not for me being a pegasus, I would have been thrown off balance due to all the shaking going on. Once I landed on the catwalk of a massive hangar, I jumped off and landed on a stable floor, ready to face off against all the earth ponies this airship threw at me with a smile on my face.
The spotlight flashed upon me, and the backlights illuminated my opponents. I discovered right then and there that I wouldn't be facing off against a hundred earth ponies. They had hooves and fur, but these opponents were big. These opponents had horns. These opponents were bison, and they were armed with the heaviest shoulder-mounted firearms that I had only seen in war films. I really thought I would be facing off against earth ponies, but maybe I should've listened or stayed awake to Firefly's briefing that my foalmates and I were going to face off against Gaea's White Buffalo Air Legion.
But a pegasus never turns her back towards the enemy and she never flies from battle. My teeth gripped harder on the handle of my knife, and I launched straight towards the bison herd. I serpentined through all their bullets in the hopes of slicing one of their legs, hoping that my best plan of toppling them down like dominoes would work. Whether it was my speed or form, my attack failed. My knife broke upon impact, and I then tumbled through a forest of shaggy legs attempting to trample me to death. Fortunately, I was too quick for all of them, and I rolled away to safety as his hooves rocked the floor beneath me. I stole one of his grenades and flew back up to the catwalk of the airship hangar. I didn't know how exactly Gaean explosives worked, so I pulled the pin and threw it down to the bison herd.
That was the wrong one! I threw the pin! The grenade itself bounced between my front hooves before it I threw it at a random direction in a panic. Random would be a relative word to use, because I threw it in a munitions stockpile that then exploded in a bright big bang that rocked the airship more than I expected. The explosion threw me backwards, and I injured my left wing on a metal girder 'cause I didn't fold it in time. The explosion created a big hole that started sucking the bison and me outside. No matter how much I held on to the railing, another explosion finally pushed me outside and I was sent plummeting to my doom.
It felt like I was a goner back then. A citizen of Pegasopolis is dependent on her wings, and to lose the ability to fly means death. I must've blacked out when I was free falling. When I woke up, I found myself in an underground cave-room on top of a straw bed right next to a gas lantern. It was surprisingly warm and comfortable if you ask me.
All right, I thought to myself. I'm still alive. I can regain my honor if I take out the leader and escape. I didn't know who bandaged my wounded wing, but I didn't care because I hated being underground and captured by the enemy. The enemy must've been dumb 'cause they left the wood door unlocked and unguarded.
Or maybe it was a ruse to lure me out and clobber me for good. Broken wing or whatever, I snuck out ready to fight back against a sword-wielding Special Forces Mule or an army of Gaean clone soldiers. That wood door led me out to a carved hallway, and the walls had been stained long ago with a stream of rainbow coloring. Just down the hall, I saw the exit. I crept out cautiously, but I became disappointed at the same time because there was no earth pony waiting to receive the bite of justice I would give them should they rear their ugly heads.
Nothing happened even as I poked my head out of the entrance. It looked as if I was high up in the mountain, but there was a wide and flat clearing with a few broken airship parts, smashed crates, and some muddy pools of water dotting the scene. There were weeds and tall grass all over, but I knew for certain that there were areas freshly cut by a sickle. These were fresh markers for whoever captured me, and they made the mistake of leaving the door unlocked and unguarded.
Now I'm starting to think there's nopony here. If this was a test, then I hated it, and I had always hated tests. Suddenly, I heard the clanging of two rocks, and I hid quickly underneath the overgrown grass. Like a chimera on the hunt, I crawled towards the source of the noise and I found a plain gray mare with a plain purple mane and the plainest clothes I had ever seen. She didn't notice me, and all she was doing was kicking and pushing large rocks back and forth.
I couldn't run away, and whether she was a soldier or not, that mare was an earth pony, a pegasus's most hated enemy. I crouched still, building my courage and energy to lunge in to crush her windpipe or tear her ears off with the skin of my teeth. Before I knew it, I unleashed my battle cry and leapt towards that earth mare. Instead of hitting her, I missed! My forehead came in contact with a cracked boulder, and I staggered in place trying to regain my balance before the enemy could counterattack. But she didn't.
"Sorry," she said. "That was the softest and most sanitary boulder I could find. You should take it easy by the way."
Her deadpan words made me angrier. I didn't want any pity from the enemy, especially from an earth pony. I immediately regained my balance and lunged after her again. My teeth caught her left ankle. That's fine. I'll gnaw off her hoof if I have to, but no matter how much I chewed that gray mare, she didn't budge and she didn't flinch. It was like chewing on a hard rock, and I did not give up until I saw a uniformed greenish-blue mare with a wavy white mane swept backwards appearing before me.
"I'm okay, Fleetfoot," said the gray mare. "It's all under control."
"You don't feel that, Maud?"
"I do. I welcome the pain."
I gotta give that gray mare some credit at being able to put up with my biting ability. I mean, I bit at her at the hardest, and got very close to the bone. Yet she shrugged it off like I was some kind of a fly. Well, I knew then I was gonna be dealt with, so I sat back on my haunches and presented my neck for them to slit with their knives.
"Whoa, don't do that," said Fleetfoot. "We're not going to kill you."
"Why won't you?" I asked. "I'm beaten. I can't return to Pegasopolis in shame."
"She's not going to like it if we let you die, Rainbow Dash," said Maud.
"You know my name? You knew about the destruction of the White Buffalo Air Legion?"
"That was you?" asked Fleetfoot. "Then we definitely want to keep you alive for her. She's been waiting anxiously for your recovery."
I was prepared to die at that moment, but Fleetfoot's words got me all curious and stuff. Whoever this mare was, I'm guessing that she must be the leader of this earth pony guerrilla group, and I could regain my honor if I can take her head. So I got up and allowed Fleetfoot and Maud to escort me right back to the entrance of this faded rainbow mountain. The room I emerged from was just part of the cave system.
Where they took me turned out to house a bigger guerrilla group than I expected, possibly about a hundred or so. Yet, I was surprised that it consisted of both earth ponies and pegasi. It wouldn't be unheard of. There were tales of pegasi deserters to live among earth ponies in secret and pegasi clippers who volunteered spy deep within enemy territory. This place was different. Instead of one race dominating over the other like masters and slaves, they were actually being friendly with each other. I saw Earthian and pegasi colts and fillies happily running or flying down the walkways between crates of guns, grenades, and other supplies. Many of the adult earth ponies and pegasi were gathered at a stone-carved tavern, laughing and singing with forelegs or wings wrapped around each other’s shoulders. I couldn’t see more ‘cause Maud sent shivers down my spine by tapping my behind so that I would move forward. I would have attacked her again if not for her rock-like endurance and the fact I was going to meet their leader.
I felt some strange vibes from the ponies who were escorting me. Maud could be best described as a living rock, no question about it. As for Fleetfoot, there was something about her so pegasus-like that I could not put my hoof on. I did not see any wings bulging out from underneath her indigo uniform, so all I could assume was that she was a clipped pegasus or a skinny earth pony. There was still a lot of stuff I wanted to ask them, but they probably won't tell me 'cause they think I'm a spy. Then again, I already saw what their operations were like. I might be able to pinpoint their hidden base if I could find a map.
Maud and Fleetfoot led me down a long corridor to plain wooden door at the very end. One of them knocked before opening the door let me in, but only I stepped in. The door closed decisively behind me, and I faced a worn out wooden desk stuffed with rolled up maps and used quills. On the wall behind it hung the map of the western part of the continent where many points within No Mare's Land had been marked. A desk chair spun on its axis to face me, and I could not believe who it was.
I did not know what to say or feel. I was happy at first, but then I was reminded of the day Firefly took me to the grand hall in Cloud One. I had so much anger that I stood there frozen with my teeth gnashing at each other. I wanted so much to regain my honor by slaying the leader of this guerrilla outfit, but the pony who sat on that chair did not deserve to die by pegasi hooves.
"It's been a while," said Spitfire. "How's your wing?"
"Fine until I met you," I replied. "Not only did you lose your wings, but now you're a leader of deserters and traitors?"
"Freedom fighters, Dash. We are the Rainbow Falls Rebels, and we are ponies who freed ourselves from the shackles of pegasi slavery and Gaean oppression. I've been meaning to meet up with you for quite a while, and now that you're here, I can finally talk to you."
"I don't want anything to do with a traitor and a coward like you! You disobeyed an order and betrayed Pegasopolis!"
"I have, and I have no regrets in my decision. Listen Rainbow Dash, if it weren't for me, you would have been dead."
"I could have taken care of myself, thank you very much."
"You don't understand. If it weren't for me, you would have fallen to your death upon your birth."
My mouth froze open. I find it hard to believe 'cause I was told that right when I was born, I was already flying.
"Firefly was assigned to be your nursemaiden right after you were born," Spitfire continued, "and she and many other mares were part of your First Flight Ceremony in Cloud One. All newborn pegasi foals are immediately subjected to their first test by dropping them to the surface below. Those who are able to fly were deemed fit to live. The others… well, you could imagine what happened next."
"What's that got to do with me?" I asked.
"I saved you at the last minute right after Firefly dropped you. Initially I was hesitant to do so. The First Flight Ceremony was the most sacred of all pegasi rituals, and I didn’t want to break it. Then I remembered that I had to honor your father's last request that if he ever sired a child then I am to save her."
"You knew my father?"
"We were close… on occasions. He and I shared the same opinions on the futility of the war between Pegasopolis and Gaea. He told that me that he changed after his unit annihilated Mustangia. Or rather, he realized the impact he had on innocent ponies. I was in the same boat as he was. I was your age when I made my first kill, and it was a colt who died trying to protect his dead mother's body. My matron told me that I would get over it, but for years I had nightmares of that colt I killed and never told anypony about it. When I received my Heaven's Insignia, I had thought I gotten over it. It turns out I haven't, and I realized this after the destruction of the San Palomino Fort. My unit claimed another narrow victory against Gaea's military, but I was then given the order to execute mothers and their children--noncombatant ponies who were only there to live with their husbands and fathers. I was ready to incinerate them with my Atmos Fire Arts, but I relented at the last minute. Instead, I allowed them escape while I kept my fellow comrades at bay.
"On that day, I declared to myself, 'no more'. No more killing, and no more wars. We ponies were not meant to suffer or cause suffering, and with all the Insignias and Nature's Calls I've seen, we are not living up to the true destiny that the heavens have imprinted on our bodies."
"Wow," I said. "I never realized it. You really aren't a traitor and a coward. You're a big fat liar!"
"Dash, that is the truth. I saved you because your father wanted you to grow up in a world without war."
"A pegasus's only calling is war, and fighting is the only thing I know about. If this is your way of trying to get me to join your group, then forget it!"
"I figured you wouldn't believe me, but I swore that I would never force anypony to join our rebel cause. You're free to go, Dash."
"You're not gonna kill me for refusing?"
"Being alive means being free to choose your destiny, something Pegasopolis will not easily grant you. If you wish to return to the cloudlands, I won't stop you, but it would break my heart if you did."
I hesitated walking out early. Even without wings, Spitfire looked pretty fit, and she might be able to land a surprise attack on me if I let my guard down. I managed to walk backwards out the door without her making a move. I thought I was free to go, but I turned around to see Maud and Fleetfoot standing right before me.
"So you're ordered to kill me then?" I asked.
"Not quite," replied Maud. She then lifted a large rock over her head and used it to bash mine in.
Moments later I woke up on my good side in a charred forest clearing a top of a puddle. My good wing was still okay. My injured one was still bandaged, and another set of bandages wrapped around my aching head. Then I noticed had some kind of feathery headdress in my hoof, which looked like the kind bison leaders wore.
Almost immediately a pair of pegasi scouts spotted me. I thought I was goner for failing the mission, but when they saw the headdress they smiled and radioed in for a cloudskiff. That cloudskiff arrived with Firefly as one its passengers, and she immediately congratulated me with a jab to my bruised shoulder.
They airlifted me back to my barracks in Cloud 6 where I slowly recovered. I was showered with food as well as gifts in the form of new weapons for my apparent effort of taking down the captain of the White Buffalo Air Legion. I must have since I remembering blowing it up from the inside.
As the days passed, I soon realized that I was the only survivor of my herd, and part of me almost wished that Lightning Dust had survived so we can have a rematch. I had visitors, but they were few and far between, and I became the only filly living in my junior barracks. I became bored, and started thrashing the other cloud beds and shelves. I even attempted to read Field Agent Daring Do's logbooks, but I immediately lost interest after flipping right past the front cover. I never realized how much I missed my old foalmates. Sure, I was pretty mean and I beat up a few for their snacks and blankets (they did deserve it by the way). With my barracks becoming so quiet, I admitted to myself that I was lonely. I really missed them.
There was Firefly who lived in the room separate from us foals. She didn't look after me much other than bringing me food. She made me change my own bandages on my own wing, claiming that was a necessary survival skill I needed to learn on my own. She could have at least talked to me. I even tried to knock onto her door to let me in, but she ignored me no matter how loud I yelled.
Eventually, my wing healed but there was no pony to celebrate my recovery. I didn't bother cleaning up my messy barracks, and Firefly continued to ignore me until she walked out of her room on that day. She surveyed the destroyed cloud beds, and barely uttered a snort.
"Clean yourself, Rainbow Dash," she told me. "You're going to participate in the First Flight Ceremony as an honorary nursemaiden."
Huh. I suppose that would be my "reward" for defeating the White Buffalo Air Legion. I heard that only distinguished pegasi mares were the only ones worthy to carry and drop the newborn foals from Cloud One, but I barely paid attention to that part of lesson. I didn't really care anyway, 'cause I wanted to get out and relieve myself of this deadly boredom in my junior barracks. Maybe throwing a foal to the ground would satisfy me.
Now, pegasi warriors aren't picky about our appearances, but at least I bathed and brushed myself to be presentable. Firefly only gave me a ceremonial toga to wear, and I accompanied her to the white hallways of Cloud One. I could already hear the loud cries of the foals as we flew closer to the nursery. God, did I want to throw every one of them down to the ground. Once inside, the cries became louder, and I saw a line of cribs containing a wailing foal each. I was asked to choose a worthy newborn to test, so I chose the closest one to get it over with, and she happened to be the loudest.
Or she was the loudest. Right as I approached her, she immediately quieted down. She started smiling and laughing, and with her little hoof she bopped me on the nose. With that hit, I could tell she's not going to make it. A potential warrior would’ve already made my muzzle bleed.
I followed Firefly and all the other nursemaidens with the foal I selected on my back, and already she was tugging on the back of my mane. I was almost anxious to kick her off the cloudlands right then and there, but eventually I arrived in the Cloud One's grand hall. Here, we waited off to the side while I watched slave dancers failing to entertain the Empress Commander and her Lord Generals. A gesture of Written Script’s hoof across the neck cut off the performance, and about six armored guards moved in to forcibly escort the dancers out of the grand hall with spears. I couldn’t recall if I heard muffled screams just outside, but I do remember that we were then permitted to parade down the middle of the carpeted floor, the same one Spitfire had marched on before her sentencing. With the newborns on our backs, we displayed our respect with a low bow to the ground.
"Empress Commander Wind Whistler," said Firefly. "I present to you Cadet Rainbow Dash, the sole survivor and victor of the aerial battle against the White Buffalo Air Legion. I have chosen her to become an honorary nursemaiden and one of the youngest proctors of a newborn foal's First Flight Ceremony."
I could never recall hearing Wind Whistler speaking. I only remember her replying with low whistles, and somehow Lord Generals Written Script and the uptight Laurette understood her. Without a flinch, Written Script pulled a quill from his own wing and placed it on his hoof. He took aim and blew softly at it. Almost instantaneously his own quill shot out like a bullet and split the entire cloud floor in the middle. The nursemaidens and I scrambled to the sides as the floor opened up to reveal a long drop to a thick forest spreading across a jagged mountain. I didn't think anypony, pegasi or otherwise, would be able to float down there safely.
"Cast out the first foal to the land below," said Laurette, "so that she may be judged by the heavens."
I didn't realize Firefly was next to me until she nudged me. Apparently I was the one who was going to drop my newborn first, being that I had singlehoofedly took down the White Buffalo Air Legion, killed its captain, and became the only filly out of my group to come back alive. All these other adult mares carrying their newborns--I dunno what their deal is. They must be resting from battle like Firefly and everypony knew who she was. And it was Firefly who introduced me and me especially to the Empress Commander. Everypony now know who I was.
"Do not keep the Empress Commander waiting, Cadet Dash," said Laurette as she fixed her spectacles back on the bridge of her muzzle.
Firefly nudged me again. Carefully I trotted up to the edge of the opened cloud trench. I nearly threw up looking down at the ground below. Being that we lived high up in the sky, the cloudlands often bob up, down, left, and right due to residual winds created by the weatherpony worker caste. Stray clouds that swam below made things a little worse. So I looked away by standing up on my hind legs and held the newborn foal right in front of me.
She kept smiling and laughing. She had no idea that she was going to plummet to her death if she didn't flap her wings instinctively. Was I ever like this to Firefly when she dropped me? And if this filly died, it would mean I killed her. She would haunt me forever if she knew if foals were able to become ghosts. There wasn't going to be a Spitfire to save her. I knew I should throw her down, but something tugging at my heartstrings stopped me from doing so.
"I can't do it," I said.
A wave of angry gasps filled the Grand Hall, and already I could feel the offended eyes glaring back at me. Only Firefly kept her cool, and she nudged me one more time.
"Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?" Firefly asked. "We're in the presence of the Empress Commander here. If you do not drop that foal, you will be charged with treason."
"But why are we doing this?" I asked. "Don't we need every pegasi to defend ourselves against Gaea? Maybe she won't be able to fly, but she could still help us in battle."
"What kind of talk is that? Pegasi who are unable to fly are unfit to live. That is the tradition that enabled us to survive a thousand years of earth pony onslaught. We cannot show any weakness to the enemy or to ourselves."
"She's just a defenseless foal! All of us were born that way! If I wasn't saved at the last minute by Spitfire, then I wouldn't have defeated the White Buffalo Air Legion."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You knew all along. You knew that I wouldn't make it. You knew that it was my dad who gave Spitfire the order to catch me right after you dropped me in my First Flight Ceremony."
"Knight Colonel Firefly!" cried Written Script. "You are wearing our Empress Commander's patience. If that Cadet will not drop that foal, then we will strip her of her rank and privilege and condemn her to become a common slave."
"Hurry Rainbow Dash," said Firefly. "Do not give into whatever soft emotions you are feeling in your heart. You have the potential to become the finest warrior of Pegasopolis. One foal's life is but a small sacrifice to your greatness."
Her cold words struck me hard. All this time I had always thought to be awesome to be the best at everything, but to know that everypony who had died so far was so that I could live. It wasn't just the earth ponies and bison who we defeated, but my foalmates too. Even Lightning Dust was yet another sacrifice for me. I quaked in fear knowing that if Spitfire did not catch me, I would have been another sacrifice for another pony. I could see myself in the foal I held in my hooves. I was that foal. This wasn't right.
But I barely turned away when I was cut off from escaping. A breeze rippled through my fur, and before that uptight Lord General Laurette hovered in front of my with her purple leaf shuriken suspended around her through Atmos Wind techniques. She dropped her tethered spectacles below her neck so that her cold eyes could glare down at me.
"Refusal to administer the First Flight test is punishable by death!" she cried.
I shielded my foal and flinched right as Laurette launched her purple leaf shuriken. Yet a loud bang threw me backwards. When I opened my eyes I saw the entire grand hall in chaos. The nursemaidens and several guards were all up in the air fighting against what appeared to a rebel force of rogue pegasi and parachuting earth ponies. Dozens of old jets flew back and forth launching missiles and machine gun bullets onto the towering cloud columns and the Empress Commander’s raised throne. One lone helicopter floated amongst this chaos, and in my surprise, one pony in mechanical pegasi-like wings leapt out and delivered her signature Pinwheel Kick against a six pegasi guards led by Written Script.
It was just like the first time I saw her at the colosseum: Firefly landed coolly and the cloud floor and folded her mechanical wings back onto her body. I seriously don't know how she was walking on clouds, but she really was walking towards me. I was almost in tears when I saw her again, and the foal and I were smiling wildly as she gave each of us a loving noogie on both our manes. Her coming back for me meant that she truly did save me from falling to my death. Not just once, but twice.
"Spitfire!" I cried. "You came back! But why?"
"Call it a mother's intuition," said Spitfire. “Are you ready to go, Dash?”
"Very brazen of you to attack Cloud One directly," smirked Firefly as she emerged from the flames across from us. "But it is a futile tactic. Give up, Spitfire. Rainbow Dash is not yours to raise."
"You're right. Rainbow Dash is nopony's pony."
"Your corruption knows no bounds my friend. A pegasi's only loyalty is to her Empress Commander, to our nation, and the heavens. You will pay dearly for turning my prized pupil against the pegasus race."
The flames of the grand hall roared as Spitfire and Firefly stared each other down. The explosions and screams of battle became the overture of the showdown between two Fire Masters that it gave me goose bumps. Even the newborn foal I was carrying, whom I put on my back for safety, fell silent. As young as she was, she felt the same terror and awe I was feeling.
Then I heard that same low whistle again. All of sudden, something invisible literally sliced all the flames into nothingness. Everywhere and everything I saw, whether it was the cloud columns, the floor, and the invading jets were being sliced apart before exploding. In that instant, the skirmish between the pegasi guards and the invaders stopped, and the surviving ponies fled from collapsing grand hall with their tails between their legs.
I felt a very a bad chill on my back. My mouth dried up in shock. The newborn foal started crying. Firefly backed away from us with her head bowed as Empress Commander Wind Whistler slowly leapt off her burning throne and down towards us at the end of the Grand Hall. Even her landing was terrifying, because the cloudfloor below her had split apart.
"Dash, take that foal and fly," said Spitfire. "Fly as fast as you can."
"No way!" I said without thinking. "We can take on Wind Whistler together!"
"You mustn't! Wind Whistler is too strong for anypony, and I intend to fulfill Rainbow Blaze's promise of preserving your life, even if it costs me my own. Dash, whatever your path you take, cherish life and live."
"But--"
"Live! That's my final order!"
Truly, I wanted to believe I could team up with Spitfire, but I quaked on my hooves as I heard Wind Whistler's whisper her deadly words. Before I could even do anything, Spitfire detonated an incendiary grenade and created a wall of fire between us. The cloud I stood on separated from the rest of the floor, and as the foal and I flew out, I now saw the extent of the damage caused by Spitfire and Wind Whistler's duel. Half of Cloud One was on fire. Half of it was sliced apart by the wind itself.
A purple leaf shuriken whizzed by and sliced my cheek. Immediately, flew as fast as my little filly wings could carry me, and I could feel Lord General Laurette and two guards chasing my tail in the sky. I did everything I could protect the foal on my back and my own skin, but the purple leaf shurikens kept on cutting me. My pursuers were closing in. I couldn't fly any faster, and the little foal was crying.
But I couldn't disobey Spitfire's final order. She might not have been my commanding officer, but she had been watching me over since my birth. I had to fly faster for myself, for the newborn, for Spitfire, and for the pegasus race. I had to fly for everypony for who is alive, and for those who have died. I did not want to just win. I wanted to live.
That was when I saw it: I could not describe it, but it looked to be a rainbow tunnel of light before my eyes. My wings energized with so much Atmos Particles I felt that they were going to explode. Instead, it pushed me into neck-breaking speeds after a loud boom. Never did I felt such a rush that I couldn't resist grinning. My heart beat with a high I never felt before. Time felt like it stopped it stopped outside, and yet I knew I was flying faster than any known pegasi. Truly, this was what it meant to be alive.
Even as a filly, I knew that all good things must come to end. Besides, my wings felt like they were in fire in a bad way, and I was becoming lightheaded. I quickly stopped in mid-air, and started descending rapidly on the topmost branch of the closest tree I could find. I nearly fainted, but then my jaw dropped when I saw what I had done.
I heard legends of pegasi performing the Sonic Rainboom in the past, but never did I imagine I would be performing the same feat in my escape. An explosion of colors radiated from the sky from so far away that from my view I had travelled to the easternmost parts of Gaea. The path of rainbow I created was a telltale sign of where I went, but I was too amazed by it to feel any danger. I couldn't revel in the excitement alone. Luckily, the newborn foal held onto my back, and she had regained her laughter. I lifted her up and showed her the colorful sky.
"Awesome, isn't it?" I asked her. "Y'know lil' squirt, you're gonna need a name. I'm gonna call you--"
"Scootaloo," said a certain pegasus filly. "That was me in that story, and you named me Scootaloo after you got your mark."
"That's right," Rainbow Dash proudly proclaimed. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have become captain of the Chroma Pirates and you wouldn't have become my first crewmember. Hey, are you crying?"
"Of course I am! I'm crying 'cause I'm happy. I'm crying 'cause you chose me over nasty Pegasopolis. I love you Rainbow Dash!"
Right as the pegasus filly hugged the illustrious captain, a wave "aws" swept across the grand dining hall of the Spitfire, the ship Rainbow Dash named in honor of her fallen idol. Vinyl Scratch had rendered the rock n' roll tune appropriately to a mute so that everypony heard the awesome story the captain related to them. While she relished in the approving smiles, she noticed that newfound friends, mainly Spike, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Fluttershy, had their heads lowered in sadness. A fine captain such as herself might be brash and brusque at times, but she would never let anypony be needlessly offended.
"Um, is there something wrong with you?" she asked the group.
"Nothing is wrong," said Twilight. "As it turns out, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity got our marks when we saw that Sonic Rainboom."
"And the reason I was hatched from my egg," said Spike.
"The thing is," said Applejack, "we all got them after something tragic happened to us."
"What are you talking about?" asked Pinkie Pie. "I had a happy memory when I got my mark… Okay, so maybe I embellished on it a teeny bit."
"Teeny?"
"Most of the events were true, except that I got my mark right after my granny died."
"Aw, jeez," said Rainbow Dash. "I didn't mean to make all of you sad."
"It's not your fault," said Fluttershy. "It could have been just tragic coincidences, right girls?"
"I believe that Captain Rainbow Dash's actions was fate," said Sunny. For some reason, spotlight shone on the white alicorn in the middle of the dining hall as she marched up to the stage. Alicorns were indeed legendary, and any word Sunny would say would cause many ponies to step back in reverence. Despite having both wings and a horn, she still had the same height and build as a normal mare. Yet her presence made her seem regal and mightier.
"I cannot explain the reason why," continued Sunny, "and I may never be able explain it in the future, but I am certain that if that event had not taken place, then nopony would be here on this airship. Most certainly the events all of you have experienced were tragic, but out of those tragedies you emerged to become the ponies you are today. You have saved lives. You have saved an Empire. And you have made new friends. It was these reason why all of you have earned your respective Elements of Creation."
"Sunny," said Twilight. "I've been meaning to ask you this for a while, but who are you?"
"Why do you ask? Don't you know that I am the alicorn you freed from the depths of Tartarus 01?"
"That's not what I am asking. Who are you really?"
"I am your friend, Twilight, and nothing more."
Nopony spoke up. Nopony made any attempt to stop Sunny. The spotlight dimmed down as she turned her around, and her immaculate presence parted a sea of awestruck ponies as she made her way towards the exit. Rainbow Dash checked behind her to see if Vinyl Scratch was in on this ruse, but the unicorn DJ shrugged her shoulders in response.
"ATTENTION ALL CREW: GHASTLY GORGE SIGHTED. PLEASE REPORT TO YOUR POSTS TO PREPARE FOR LANDING."
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Good work in Rainbow Dash's background and how most are connected. Well, hope you keep it up.
HA! I knew it that RDs father unintentionally played part in Poseys life choices, but to have him and Spitfire create the "FOXHOUND" that would become "Philanthropy" is amazing
The feels! How appropriate that the foal that Rainbow refused to throw to her death was Scootaloo!
So, it seems to me that Spitfire is the current Empress Commander... Which suggests some kind of curse passed down to whoever kills the current (Previous?) Empress Commander... Best way I could think of to end the cycle is to let her die a natural death.
okay one more tragic story and i will sign off of this book for good i mean good god come on try some thing new different explain what happened to octavia or how she freakin survived a bomb mere inches from her self good god
if there is one thing i truly hope will happen, it is that twilight falls for, and pairs with sunny. Alas, it looks like that will not come to pass...stil. freaking epic story, a great read, I look forward to more ^^
This was rreally good, I liked this chapter!
Though Sunny just told them that RD was one of the elements and no one even thought twice about it seemed odd...
5565074
Just to ask, have you read JJBA part five? Cause that's what I was referencing, and I didn't really understand your comment.
5565090
I have no idea what jjba is, but i was referencing Grand Theft Auto xD
2-3 days of reading from start to now.....quite good, you've managed to take the scenario, tweak some cannon, and make it all work quite well, even after some others failed to keep reading (you know who you are). I do not know entirely what you have planned when the elements and a certain alicorn are all at peak, but its going to be one hell of a ride still.
The description has spelling errors.
5645443
Rest assured, it's not Fluttershy, even though it sounds like it is. Flutters doesn't come in until, like, chapter 30, I think. Might be mentioned earlier, but I can't remember. I tapped out on this story at chapter 43, and haven't gotten back to reading it for a while.
Wow, did she really just spew out that bullshit, and nopony comented on the total bullshit of it?
They are not loyal to "our nation, and the heavens" at all. After all, as Rainbow pointed out, if she had been dropped and died, they would have lost that battle. She even said Rainbow had the markings of the greatest warrior in the nation, but she was meant to die by this stupid test. Are the Pegasi really THAT stupid? In fact, how many Pegasi are there? If they throw every child, I am guessing 1 out of every 100 actually fly, the population should be very very VERY small, and growing smaller every day with every battle, constantly killing eachother over every little thing, and bearly any children surviving the test.
Wow, the only government that's moral here is the Empire.
I think you meant Spitfire m8