I: Turbulence
A Nation Divided, Chapter I: Turbulence
She soared up, up past the clouds, closed her eyes, and rolled back in the air. She began to plummet, bursting through the thick layer of puffy clouds, feeling the cool moisture race across her mane and fur, then flicking off the end of her tail as she rocketed toward the ground. Her eyes snapped open and she somersaulted, kicking off a low cloud to shoot forward across the low skies above Ponyville. There was little activity throughout most of the town, as it was a bit before 6:00 am and most ponies were probably either still asleep or just waking up. Typically Rainbow Dash would be among them, but not today. She loved early morning flights, especially in such familiar skies. Everything always looked different to her in the morning: more calm, peaceful, and serene. It was times like this that really allowed her to think, without so many distractions. The clouds were white and puffy, the birds chirped away freely, and Celestia’s sun cast a warm glow over everything. In short, the sky was beautiful, and Dash loved it. What better way was there to think than while flying, which was more natural to the pegasus than walking?
And she did have much to think about this morning. Unfortunately this flight wasn’t just for the fun of it, she remembered as she scanned the quickly growing crowd below. A large number of ponies were gathering around the stage as the mayor prepared to give an important announcement. Now Dash didn’t typically follow politics or anything, but probably every pony in Equestria knew about this by now. About the princess’s announcement sent to the head of every community just the afternoon before. About the steadily growing unrest among Celestia’s citizens. No, Rainbow Dash wasn’t here to enjoy this lovely morning flight. She was here to scan the crowd with her eagle eyes, and make sure nopony got rowdy. Which was completely absurd. Not that she minded doing it, though. On the contrary, she volunteered to help out yesterday evening when the mayor announced she’d be revealing Princess Celestia’s decision this morning, along with every other community leader in Equestria. What really ruffled Dash’s feathers was that the mayor and police department felt that things could get messy in a hurry depending on how the Princess responded this time. Riots? In the streets of Equestria? In the middle of Ponyville? This was unheard of! And she was determined that it was NOT going to happen. Not in her town.
Dash circled around and swooped low over the crowd, scoping them out. The expressions on the ponies’ faces ranged from terrified, to worried, indifferent, confused, angry, and downright hostile. A few of them even scowled up at her as she passed over their heads. She squinted back, silently daring any one of them to try anything while she was around. When she lifted her head back up she spotted the mayor coming from behind the curtains, with Twilight Sparkle trailing just behind her. The old head of Ponyville solemnly walked up to the podium, the unicorn standing just to her right. Dash’s friend cast a worried look up to the pegasus, which she instead returned with a confident smile. She then flew up a bit more and settled above the middle of the crowd, hovering in place. From this height it was easy to spot all the police ponies mixed in among the other ponies in their blue hats, as well Applejack’s off to one side. The earth pony spotted her and gave a determined nod in her direction, which Dash imitated before turning her attention back to the mayor, who had just cleared her throat. This was it.
“I come to you this morning with an announcement of grave importance,” the mayor projected over the entire crowd with practiced ease. “Now hear me, common ponies and… dissenters alike-”
“Why don’t you call us what we really are!” she was interrupted by a pony near the front, as well as murmurings from the crowd. Dash’s eyes immediately locked onto the pegasus responsible, and she dragged a hoof across her face as she recognized him. She should’ve known he’d cause trouble…
The mayor cleared her throat once more and started over, ignoring the outburst. “Hear me, everypony, as I-”
“No! That’s not good enough!” the bright red, scarlet-maned pegasus yelled while stamping his hoof for emphasis, bolstered by light cheers and agreements from most of the ponies in the crowd. “We have a common name, a common goal…” he carried on, eliciting more and more whooping from the crowd as they got fired up. “…And we WILL be recognized!” he finished, pointing that hoof squarely at the mayor, who was starting to look worried herself.
“Woooooo!” Rainbow Dash could hear from beneath her. “You tell her, Swiftwind!” another chimed. “Go on, call us by name!” yet another one asserted.
This wasn’t good, Rainbow thought to herself. The mayor had barely gotten started and all these ponies had tensed up already. Just what was the deal with them? Why were they so… so… discontent?
“Alright, alright!” the mayor hastily gave in before things could get any worse. “Settle down, please!”
After a few tense moments of whispering and shuffling, the ponies quieted down and were still once more, waiting to hear the fateful news. Rainbow Dash exhaled, realizing she had been holding her breath. It was no wonder all these extra precautions were necessary, seeing how they got riled up so fast over something so little as a name. For the first time since all this started, Dash was beginning to truly worry herself. That Swiftwind… he was always causing trouble, but this was going too far. She steeled herself to the fact that she might have to tackle him at a moment’s notice to make sure nopony got hurt.
“Everypony listen!” the mayor started up again. “Citizens and… Misfits alike.” She paused, looking at Swiftwind in the front, but was not interrupted this time. She continued, “Princess Celestia has heard your pleas and given them due consideration,” she addressed the restless crowd closest to the stage, mainly composed of Misfits. “And… a decision has been reached.”
Rainbow Dash could practically feel the tension in the air, as all of Ponyville awaited the news with bated breath. “In the interests of this land, and for the safety of the Misfit community as a whole, by direct decree of Princess Celestia herself, your request to leave Equestria has hereby been… Denied. Now, if you could all-”
“What? No!” a pony from the crowd yelled. “It can’t be!” screamed another as they all heated up again. “How could she do that!?” a third pony wailed.
At that point Dash couldn’t make out any more of the comments because they all started screaming and yelling simultaneously, their collective fury quickly feeding off of itself as some of them started to jump up and down and wave their hooves in the air. The blue pegasus quickly snapped her head back and forth, watching for the first sign of trouble and keeping an eye on Swiftwind.
“Everyone, please!” a loud, magically enhanced voice roared over the din of the clambering ponies. On looking back up, Dash could see that Twilight had taken the podium. “I know you’re disappointed,” she lowered her volume a bit when she had gotten the crowd’s attention. “But the princess decided that because she truly feels it was the right course of action. She holds nothing but everypony’s best interests at heart, and-”
“How can you say that?” Swiftwind interrupted once again, very loudly. “How dare you stand up there and say that to us, when we know it can’t be true!” he exclaimed, flapping his wings and rising up to the front of the stage to face Twilight. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had scooped up a small cloud, and was crouching on it, poised to take off like a bullet and tackle that knucklehead in the side if she needed to.
Twilight was taken aback by the sudden outburst, but she stood her ground against the red-colored pegasus. “What do you mean?” she demanded back. “The princess has always been there for us when we needed her,” she said in utmost confidence.
“Oh, is that so?” Swiftwind snapped back. “Then tell me, where was she when Nightmare Moon invaded?” he yelled, amid raucous applause.
“I…” Twilight began, then faltered.
Swiftwind seized the opportunity and continued, “And where was she when Discord attacked Ponyville?”
“She was-” Twilight began, but this time was cut short.
“I’ll tell you where she was!” Swiftwind roared, turning his back on Twilight to address the crowd instead. “She was holed up in her castle like a coward!” he asserted, the other ponies cheering him on. “While she was safe and sound, she cruelly left us to our fates. She abandoned us!”
Where before there was cheering, now there were screams of approval coming from the majority of the assembled ponies. This whole situation was getting worse and worse by the second. If Swiftwind didn’t cool it, Dash would have to take him down before things got out of control and somepony did something stupid.
“Now wait just a minute!” Twilight stomped a hoof and spoke up herself, having had enough of that pegasus. “Who do you think you are, accusing the princess of all that?”
“It’s not just me,” he turned in the air and said to her before flapping backward to hover over the crowd. “It’s all of us!” he said, dramatically raising his hooves as the onlookers kept up their whooping. “Every single pony who’s been miserable here. Every single pony who’s tired of Celestia, and knows she’s no longer fit to rule. Every single pony, who asked to leave peacefully, and was just shut down today! Every single pony that feels they don’t belong here, and wants more out of their lives than this. Every, single, Misfit!” he finished at the top of lungs, the group of them going bonkers in approval beneath him.
Twilight tried to talk again, but Dash couldn’t hear her at all over all the commotion. She wanted to shut Swiftwind up now, but nopony had done anything other than yell yet, so all she could do was sit there and wait, every muscle in her body tense as she waited and hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
“Come, my fellows!” Swiftwind’s voice could barely be heard over the ruckus. “If Celestia won’t let us go quietly, then we’ll just have to force our way out-” Swiftwind’s sentence was suddenly cut short as Dash plowed into him from the side, knocking the breath right out of him before the two pegasi hit the ground with a thud. When his vision focused again, all he could see was Rainbow Dash standing over him, a look of fury on her face as she pinned him to the ground.
“Are you out of your mind, Swiftwind?” she demanded, breathing heavily as her nostrils flared. “What in the hay do you think you’re doing?”
The red pegasus squinted at his blue adversary, the two of them oblivious to the chaos around them as the police ponies tried to calm the horde of Misfits before any more physical contact was made. “Standing up for what we believe in,” he replied calmly, his golden eyes locked onto hers. “Exactly what you would do,” he finished.
“What I would-” Dash started to repeat in surprise, but was interrupted by the police pony pulling her off of Swiftwind.
“Thanks. We’ll take it from here,” he said curtly before walking over to Swiftwind.
“Uh, sure, no problem,” Dash responded, still eyeing the other pegasus as he was escorted away by the police ponies.
After a few steps, he turned around. “You know,” he said to Dash, that look of fierce determination still glowing in his eyes. “Out of all the other ponies in this town, I figured you’d be the one to understand us best, Rainbow Dash.” And with that he left, allowing himself to be taken to the station.
Dash stood there and watched him go, her head cocked a bit as she contemplated his words. It was true, she would always fight for her friends and what she believed in. There was no doubt about that. But seeing this pony in action made her wonder, just how far would she be willing to go? Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of hoof-steps coming from either side of her as Twilight and Applejack trotted up to her, one looking sullen, the other aggravated. Dash turned around to meet them and saw that it looked like things were starting to settle down, as the crowd of Misfits and other ponies was beginning to disperse.
“Nice job takin’ him down, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “Ah have a feelin’ things would’a gotten real ugly otherwise,” she said flatly.
“Yeah, that Swiftwind has always been a trouble-maker,” Dash responded.
“You know him?” Twilight asked.
“Yup, I met him at flight school a long time ago. We were actually pretty good friends for a little while. He was one of the only ones that never messed with me,” Dash remembered.
“Do you know why he seems to hate the princess so much?”
“I haven’t got a clue. I was gonna ask you that, Twilight.”
“Ah reckon they’re all just plumb crazy,” Applejack added. “Tryin’ to raise such a big fuss right in the middle o’ town like that.”
“It’s probably happening all over Equestria,” Twilight said. “I hope no fights actually broke out anywhere,” she finished with worry apparent in her voice.
“Aw, don’t you fret none, Sugarcube,” Applejack assured her. “Ah’m sure the princess’ll get this mess straightened out soon enough.”
“I certainly hope so, Applejack,” Twilight responded. “But for now, I guess there’s no need to let all this commotion ruin a perfectly good day, right?”
“I heard that!” Rainbow Dash piped up, suddenly taking off from the ground.
“Goin’ somewhere?’ Applejack asked.
“Eh,” she shrugged. “Just gonna go blow off some steam I guess. Catch you girls later!” she said before she took off, up and away toward the other end of Ponyville.
“Well, ah s’pose ah best be gettin’ off too,” Applejack said as they watched Dash fly away. “Promised Fluttershy ah’d help her fix up that shed this afternoon.”
Twilight nodded. “I’ll see you later then. Tell Fluttershy ‘hi’ for me,” she said.
“Can do, Twilight!” Applejack said as she began trotting off toward their friend’s cottage.
Twilight waved goodbye, then began walking in a different direction. She had been reluctant to schedule anything today until later in the evening, as she wasn’t sure how long the announcement and anything that might happen afterward would take. It was brief, however, and thankfully not much had gone on afterward before everypony dispersed and went home. This meant that she suddenly had a nice chunk of free time at her disposal, quite a rare occurrence for the highly organized and pragmatic unicorn. Given the way things actually turned out this morning, Twilight knew just what to do with her time. Numerous questions raced through her mind as she walked toward the Ponyville police station, where hopefully the pegasus with the answers would be willing to speak to her.
~~~
Dash flew in a lazy arc, easily soaring through the air while she vaguely watched the ponies in the streets below. She wasn’t paying much attention to what she saw however, as her mind was still on the last thing Swiftwind said to her before he was taken away. She figured the two of them were probably a bit similar, but at the same time felt that the red pegasus was probably getting at something deeper than that, whatever it may be. Oh well. It was probably nothing, she figured as she did a barrel roll or two to liven things up. Dash didn’t really have a destination in mind when she took off, which was pretty typical. But, it just felt good to go. To be moving, flying, if she could help it, toward… something. Always advancing. Where to didn‘t matter, so long as she kept going forward.
And go she did, all the way to the eastern end of Ponyville, where a familiar structure stood among the last few houses and a path out of town. Steelhoof Gym; she hadn’t been here in a while. Maybe that was where she was headed. Well, she had some time to kill, so that was where she was headed now, Dash decided as she landed with a thump in the doorway. She pushed the glass open with a hoof and trotted right on inside. Immediately the smell of sweat and cheap protein shakes attacked her nose. At first she wrinkled it at the musty scent, but the familiarity of it caused it to disappear in a matter of seconds. Normally Rainbow Dash liked to do her serious work outs alone, outside in the open most of the time. But, when it was just casual exercise, she tended to prefer working out in the presence of other ponies doing the same. It didn’t matter if she knew them or not. It was just the atmosphere of a gym, that sense of striving, of wanting to improve, so thick in the air she could almost taste it. It made her want to be a part of it.
There were only a few ponies in here at the moment, which suited Dash just fine. Despite her like of the place, packed gyms were just unpleasant and uncomfortable.
“Well well, if it isn’t Rainbow Dash!” the voice of the pony behind a counter boomed.
“Heya, Flat Weight,” Dash responded as she strode in.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” the massive, grey earth pony said. “Where ya’ been, huh?”
“Aw, you know,” she responded with a nonchalant wave of her hoof. “Around,” she finished with a smirk.
“Yeah, well, you better not be slackin’!” he said before returning his attention to the magazine on his counter.
“Pff, as if,” she scoffed as she made her way toward the large punching bags in the back. She wasn’t particularly annoyed anymore, but she had gotten pretty worked up earlier. Dash figured it’d be a good idea to relieve some of that built up tension. There was only one other pony in this corner of the gym, a turquoise-furred male with a bright blue, unkempt mane and tail. He was taking up most of the space back there even though he was a bit smaller than she was, as it looked like he was doing some kind of weird dance. As Dash got closer she saw him notice her, but he kept sliding and shuffling around anyway, occasionally jutting a hoof or two out in random directions. He didn’t seem to mind, so Dash just walked up to a punching bag that was a bit out of his way and made herself comfortable.
She took a moment to steady her breathing, and then began hopping around a bit to psyche herself up. Her gaze was now focused solely on the heavy bag in front of her as she contemplated a series of attacks. When she was ready, Dash jumped forward and stood on her hind legs, giving the bag two quick jabs followed by a straight before she turned around gave it a powerful kick with a back hoof. The bag swung away, then back, and she responded with a shoulder bash, stopping the bag and knocking it away a second time. Dash heard some thuds coming from her side, and she stepped out of the way of the swinging bag to glance over. The blue-maned earth pony had started hitting the bag next to hers, whacking it over and again with a series of quick, light strikes before spinning around and nailing it with the back of a hoof, sending the heavy bag sailing. He stepped out of the way of its return, and shot a sideways grin at Dash.
Rainbow Dash knew that look well, and she returned it with a slight narrowing of the eyes. She was being challenged. The pegasus stepped back, then leapt toward the bag with a flying kick, sending it back a little ways. Instead of waiting for it to return, Dash landed and lunged toward it again, giving it a fierce head ram followed by an uppercut. She used the motion to spin around backward and stand on her front hooves, finally giving the bag a powerful double buck that sent it into the wall in front of her. She hopped out of the way again and raised a brow at the other pony, who was now smiling even larger than before. They locked eyes for about a second, and Dash could plainly see the same competitive fire in his blue eyes that was probably shining in her own.
Dash watched as the earth pony stood close to the front of the bag and closed his eyes. He just stood there for a moment, then slowly crouched low to the ground. A second later Dash saw his eyes snap open as he jumped toward the bag and started a spin, hitting it with the back of his left front hoof. He carried through with the motion, twisting rapidly in the air and hitting the bag with his right elbow, then kicking it with his back left hoof. Dash’s eyes widened as she watched the still airborne pony keep spinning and rising with the bag, coming back around and hitting it with the back of his front left hoof again before finishing with a wide, sweeping kick of his back right hoof. The bag just barely missed hitting the wall, and Dash was just about to grin in victory, but the earth pony wasn’t quite done yet. He landed and crouched low once more while the bag started its return swing. He stood on his back hooves and quickly swung his front ones over his head and behind him, then rapidly thrust them both forward when the bag was in range. Both his front hooves collided with the bag at the same time, sending it flying back and crashing into the wall, both making a loud thunk and shaking the place a little.
“HEY!” came an agitated voice from the front of the gym, causing the two ponies to wince in surprise. “Watch it back there, you hear?” Flat Weight called to them.
“Sorry boss!” the male spoke up before Dash could. “My fault!”
“I figured as much,” the grey pony huffed. “Just keep it down, would ya?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he responded with a roll of his eyes before glancing at Dash.
“Alright, Mister Show-off,” she chuckled as she trotted over. “That was pretty impressive, I’ll give you that,” she admitted.
“Thanks!” he said with a big grin on his face. “I do a lot of training.”
“I can tell,” Dash said as she sized him up. Up close she could easily tell the guy was smaller than her, but he still looked really fit and well-muscled all the same, not to mention flexible if that earlier display was any indication. “So you work here, huh?” she asked.
“Yep, ol’ Flathead usually keeps me pretty busy.”
“That’s strange,” Dash said as she sat down. “I used to come here all the time, but I’ve never seen you around before.”
“Well, that’s because I only started here a couple months ago,” he responded, sitting down as well.
“Oh. Well I guess that makes sense,” Dash said. “Say, what’s your name, anyway?” she asked.
“Call me CD,” the turquoise pony answered, pointing a hoof at himself. “And you must be Rainbow Dash,” he said.
“The one and only!” Dash said as she swelled with pride. “I guess you’ve heard about me, huh?”
“Of course I have!” CD responded enthusiastically. “Almost everyone in town is calling you the best flier in Equestria.”
“Well, I’d hate to brag,” she said as she flipped her mane a little. “But they might just be right,” she finished with a big grin.
“No doubt,” he responded with a laugh.
“You’ve got some smooth moves yourself, ya know. That last thing you did was pretty wicked.”
“You really think so?” he asked, looking away and scratching his head.
“Totally!” Dash insisted. “I’m no martial artist, but I sure wouldn’t mind learning how to do something like that. Guessing you are, though,” she said, pointing an appraising hoof in CD’s direction.
“Yep, I’ve been doing it since I was just a colt. Hence this here,” he said, getting up and turning slightly so she could see his cutie mark properly. It looked like three circles, one on the outside, one inside the first, and another inside that one, all made up of lines that broke in a bunch of different places. Dash couldn’t really tell what it was supposed to be, but obviously CD knew what it was so she just left the issue alone.
“Well, if you’re such an expert, then maybe you could show me a thing or two?” she asked.
“I’d love to!” he said excitedly. “You know, you’re the first pony to actually take interest in what I do.”
“Really?” Dash asked. “Why’s that?”
“Well,” he said, sitting back down again. “Most folks just assume I’m doing a silly dance or something,” he said flatly.
“Oh, is that so?” Dash asked a bit sheepishly. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that was what she thought at first, too.
“Yeah. The worst ones go so far as laughing in my face, or making fun of me for it because of my name.”
“Your name?” she asked curiously. “What’s wrong with ‘CD’?
“Actually…” he started, his ears beginning to droop. “That’s just an abbreviation. I hate my real name, so I just ask everypony to call me ‘CD’ instead,” he answered. “Most of them don’t,” he sighed.
“Well, that’s pretty lame of them,” Dash said. “You seem like a pretty cool kind of guy, and I think ‘CD’ suits you, so I’ll stick with that,” she decided.
“Thanks,” he said, the smile returning to his face. “You know Rainbow Dash, you’re even more awesome than they say you are.”
“Yeah,” she said, lifting her head high and putting her front hooves behind it. “I am,” she agreed.
~~~
It didn’t take Twilight long to reach Ponyville’s police station, as it was pretty near the center of town as well as the stage. Unlike most of the structures in town, being made of wood or brick and constructed with more curves in mind, the police station was a large, flat-topped gray building made mainly of stone. She heard it was supposed to look intimidating to help deter crime. Whether that was true or not she didn’t know, but it sure made her feel more than a little apprehensive walking up to it and peeking inside by herself.
She couldn’t see much through the thick glass, but she was able to make out the shape of a large stallion sitting behind a desk. As quietly as she could, Twilight nudged the door open and stepped inside. Immediately she noticed it was rather chilly, though it wasn’t quite as gray inside as it was outside, as there was a thin carpet on the floor and a small number of decorations and plants scattered about the front office. Behind the desk sat Lone Star, Ponyville’s one and only sheriff. The large, sandy-furred earth pony was busy scribbling away at a paper on his desk, and hadn’t missed a step when Twilight entered.
The unicorn slowly walked up to the desk, keeping her eyes on the mustached law enforcement officer as his eyes darted back and forth over whatever it was he was so intent on writing. She waited there for a moment, but he never once looked up from his work. “Um, excuse me,” Twilight finally whispered.
“Hm?” the large stallion grunted and looked up with a frown. “Oh, Miss Sparkle,” his expression softened as he recognized the purple unicorn. “Trouble?” he asked in a more serious tone.
“Thankfully no,” she responded with a bit of a smile at the larger pony’s recognition. “I just came to ask if the pegasus named Swiftwind was still here.”
“Aye, he’s here alright,” the sheriff said gruffly. “Again,” he added dryly.
Twilight raised a brow, her curiosity piqued already. “Again?” she repeated, hoping for a bit of elaboration.
“Yep, he’s been a pretty frequent stayer lately. Nearly had to lock him up a few times, actually.”
“He hasn’t been imprisoned because of this morning, has he?” Twilight asked.
“No, no,” he quickly assured her. “He’s only being detained for a couple hours. But according to these reports,” he said, nodding at the papers strewn across his desk, “If your friend had waited much longer before taking the matter into her own hooves we might’ve been forced to arrest him for inciting a riot. Can you imagine?” he finished with a dismayed shake of his head.
“I’ve been trying not to,” Twilight admitted. “I wonder how many other ponies there are like him out there…”
“You know him?” Lone Star asked.
“Well, we had our first…” she began, but had to consider the next word carefully. “…encounter… this morning,” she answered.
Lone Star chuckled, apparently having a pretty good idea what she was getting at.
“If he’s here, would it be alright if I spoke to him for a little while?” Twilight asked, just now getting to the reason she came here in the first place.
“Sure thing. He’s right back here,” the earth pony said before he got up and motioned Twilight to follow. The two walked to a side of the room, then down a short hallway toward the holding cells. On this side, they consisted of a row of thick glass windows above a countertop with a few little holes in them and a slit along the bottom, each with a cushion in front for visitors to sit on. Lone Star stopped at the very first one and lightly rapped his hoof on the glass. “Swiftwind! You have a visitor,” he called, prompting the red pegasus from earlier to slowly trot up to the glass. “Be nice,” the sheriff warned sternly, prompting a scoff and roll of the eyes from the detainee. The earth pony then turned to Twilight. “I’ll be just around the corner. Holler if you need me.”
“Thanks. I will,” she responded.
Lone Star nodded, and walked back to his desk.
When he was gone, the unicorn turned her gaze to the pegasus behind the glass. He was sitting in front of the window, looking right back at her with an even expression, waiting for her to say something. He was about average-sized for a male pegasus, meaning he was a bit bigger and taller than the unicorn, and more muscular as well. Twilight sat down herself, and decided to get to talking right away before things got too awkward or she lost her nerve.
“Hello,” she started softly, testing the waters.
Swiftwind merely nodded slightly in return.
“Um,” she started, beginning to falter already. “You may remember me from this morning…”
“Twilight Sparkle,” the red pony said without warning. “Celestia’s protégé,” he finished, in a voice higher pitched than Twilight had come to expect and devoid of any of the furor he had possessed earlier in the day.
Up close, she could tell this colt was about the same age as herself, if not younger, which came as a bit of a surprise. Nevertheless, Twilight’s expression narrowed just a bit at the informal use of her mentor’s name, but she let it pass. “Yes,” she simply affirmed. “I’ve heard your name is Swiftwind?”
“It is,” he answered. “I assume you have questions,” he stated rather than asked.
“Many questions, if you’d be willing to answer them.”
“Then ask away. Just a warning, though. You won’t understand the answers I give you.”
“What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked, beginning to get annoyed with this pegasus already.
“Exactly what I said,” Swiftwind stated.
“Well, could you elaborate a little?” the unicorn asked, rolling her hoof for emphasis.
He lowered his head and sighed in response. “Being who you are, Twilight Sparkle, it will be impossible for you to truly understand the angle my fellows and I are coming from,” he began in a tone that suggested he’d said this many times before. “We could chat all day long if you like, but by the end of it you’ll still think I’m full of horse-apples.”
“I would appreciate it…” Twilight started, the walls of her patience finally cracked as her ears started to lower, “…if you didn’t presume to know how I would feel about a given matter before we even discuss it, or that I don’t possess the necessary intellectual capacity to grasp the concept of another pony’s viewpoint that significantly deviates from my own,” she finished with a glare.
For the first time since this conversation began, Swiftwind’s expression changed as his eyes widened a bit in surprise at the purple unicorn’s reaction. Evidently, he had struck a nerve. “I didn’t mean-” he began, but was cut off by Twilight.
“Furthermore…” she resumed, but stopped herself mid-thought and closed her mouth. Losing her temper wasn’t going to get her anywhere, she reasoned as an awkward silence resonated for a moment between the two ponies. “Look,” she started up again, though in a much less harsh tone. “Maybe it would just be best if we started over?” she offered, rubbing a hoof across her face to help clear her head for a moment.
“Agreed,” Swiftwind nodded in approval.
“Okay then,” Twilight said before taking a deep breath. “Swiftwind.”
He perked his head up, signaling that she had his full attention.
“May I ask you a few questions that came to mind during the aftermath of this morning’s announcement?” she asked, forcibly keeping her tone even.
“Please do,” he responded politely. “I’ll answer them to the best of my ability.”
“Thank you,” she returned. “First of all, why do you and the other Misfits hate the princess so much?” she finally asked the question that had been burning in the back of her mind all morning.
“We are ruled by two princesses, you know,” he said. “But to answer your question,” he raised a hoof and picked up before Twilight could interject, “I certainly can’t speak for all of us, nor can I say I’m very fond of the way she rules, but I personally don’t hate Celestia.”
“The way you spoke this morning suggested otherwise,” she prodded, choosing to ignore his subtle disrespect of the princess for the second time.
“I admit that some of the things I said weren’t the entire truth,” he conceded, prompting a rather satisfied look from Twilight. “But,” he continued, “the fact remains that I didn’t say anything I feel was untrue.”
“Swiftwind, I was there during all those events you mentioned,” she said. “Actually, I was right in the middle of them and I can tell you that the princess-”
“We know,” he interrupted. “We all know of your involvement. Everypony does. And I recognize the possibility of Celestia being a driving force behind your success.”
“Then why?” Twilight asked, starting to get a bit excited again. “Why would you say all those things about the princess if you don’t really believe them?”
“It was a means to an end, Twilight,” he answered, his expression hardening once more.
“To what end?” she nearly shouted. “Are you trying to promote ideas of rebellion and violence?” she asked, her front hooves now up on the counter and her face very close to the glass. “Of ponies fighting and hurting each other in the streets? Is that what you want!?”
“Celestia needs to see that we’re serious,” he began. “That we’re not backing down, and that we won’t take ‘no’ for an answer!” he said, raising his own voice as well as fluttering above the ground to remain eye-level with Twilight. “And if the path of violence and rebellion is the one we have to walk to achieve our ideal, then so be it!” he yelled, mere inches away from Twilight’s face on the other side of the glass.
For a full twenty seconds, the two ponies refused to budge, glaring with all their might into the other’s face, until the unicorn broke the silence. “We’ve nothing more to discuss here,” she said with as much contempt as she could muster, stepping down and away from the glass.
“No, I suppose we don’t,” Swiftwind responded as she began to walk away. “I’m glad I met you, Twilight Sparkle,” he said, prompting the purple pony to stop and look back. “I can’t help but feel we’ll be seeing a lot of each other in the near future.”
“Yes, I think you’re absolutely right,” Twilight said as she trotted away. She headed back down the hallway, into the office, and out of the station without saying another word, her head down and brow furrowed in thought. The unicorn didn’t even hear Lone Star wishing her “good day” as she went out the door.