Requiem
~~ Nato glanced about, frantically searching for detail in the completely white area he floated in. As he continued to focus, he felt solid ground beneath his hooves and a scene formed around him, slowly at first but quickly closing in on him. Grass tickled his legs as an orange sun warmed his coat. Looking up, he noticed a pony much taller than him smiling down.
After gazing at the gargantuan pony for almost a full minute, Nato's eyes traveled down to meet those of a … filly? As he stared at those entrancing, young, yellow eyes, her mouth turned up in a warm smile. It then dawned on him that because she met his eyes on level, he must be the size of a colt. Immediately after this realization the scene dissolved into vapor before his eyes and began swirling around him, transforming into a hole that he promptly dropped into.
He noticed a floor rapidly approaching, and braced himself for the inevitable –
But it never came. As he blinked open his eyes, Nato's vision blurred, and he notice what seemed to be a mare, laying on the floor, and … So much red. Shakily standing, he carefully tread over to her body, shaking all the way, and quickly noticed a mortal wound before turning away and nearly emptying his stomach. The door to the room nearly flew off its hinges as a blurred form stood in the frame. Once more the scene vanished before his eyes, and Nato collapsed. ~~
Rainbow Dash careened towards Ponyville, now only a minute or two away from the library. Before she put on an extra burst of speed, Drizzle, a pony from the weather team, struggled up to the cyan speed demon with sweat bursting from her sides.
"Rainbow... Dash..." she gasped, and motioned for a slight slow down. Rainbow didn't enjoy the concept of slowing down, but the look on her teammate's face didn't spell 'casual talk.'
"Heh... thanks." Drizzle caught her breath before continuing. "You remember the storm scheduled soon for the Whitetail Wood?" Rainbow nodded her head in acknowledgment. "Well, it got a little too big. Nothing major, but Ponyville's going to get a bit of unscheduled rain, and maybe some lightning."
After looking over to the horizon, Rainbow Dash nodded once more. "I'll make sure to let everypony know." She then blasted ahead at a breakneck pace, now altering her first stop in the cozy town.
Mayor Mare sifted through the last of her paperwork for the day. She absolutely loved every aspect of being mayor, especially the frequent visits by Princess Celestia. Ever since Twilight Sparkle, the Princess' prized pupil, had taken up residence in the library, visits from royalty skyrocketed and the small town even received mentions in the national news, with headlines from "Brave 6 from Small Town Stop National Threat" to "Equestria's Heroes Crash Gala?"
When she heard a knock at her door, she quickly tidied up her desk and cleared her throat. "Come in!"
Rainbow Dash practically burst into the room. "Miss Mayor?"
"Yes?"
The pegasus dropped down to the ground before stepping up to the desk. "Ponyville's about to get some unexpected rain, in about an hour. It's not too much, but I wouldn't want to be out in it."
The eminent earth pony nodded quietly and shooed Rainbow out of the town hall as she turned on the town's PA system. "Fillies and gentlecolts," she boomed in a well-practiced voice, "We are due to receive some unexpected rain in the next hour. It is expected to be a medium to heavy rain, so bring in anything that would be in danger of damage. Thank you." As soon as she finished, the mayor opened her windows and pulled her potted plants inside before quickly going home.
Twilight finished cleaning the last of Nato's scrapes. There were surprisingly more than she first thought, but none were any more than shallow. Just as she set the rag aside to be washed, there was a light knock at the door. "Um, can I come in please?"
No sooner had Twilight opened the door than Fluttershy zipped over to the stallion and began to disinfect and bandage the wounds. She took this opportunity to turn to Applejack. "So, what do you know of our little punching bag?"
Applejack scratched her head. "Well, ah know his name's Nato... An' he seemed really friendly and all..."
"But?" Twilight cut in.
"But there's just sumthin' off about 'im. Ah honestly don't think he's a bad pony, ah'm just... unsure about the whole situation. He just appears plum out of nowhere, don't even mention where he's from, an' to top it all off Fluttershy took to him like caramel on a candy apple. Ah'm not certain of how she found him, but ah know that she wouldn't be that comfortable around a pony she just met. Unless..."
Twilight jumped forward. "Unless what?"
The cowpony chuckled. "Nevermind. 'Twas just a thought, that's all."
Spike strolled out of the kitchen with a tray of sandwiches. "Anypony want one? They're daffodil and dandelion."
Applejack's stomach grumbled and she gave a nervous smile. "Aheh, ah guess ah will..."
"I'll take one too, I suppose," Twilight conceded, remembering how long it had been since she last ate.
Soon after the ponies finished their impromptu meal, the door rocketed open with an unexpected BANG as Rainbow Dash careened into the room. "Okay, first, there's a storm coming. It won't be really bad, just rain and maybe some lightning. Second, where's that guy? Is he okay?" Her voice nearly tripped over itself as she rushed to say it all at once.
Fluttershy was still on the ground, wings locked up in shock, and Twilight just stood there, staring at Dash. Applejack, however, advanced on the pegasus. "'Is he okay?' What, are you wantin' ta know so you can interrogate him? Do a follow up on the number you pulled earlier? Ah appreciate that you were just tryin' to protect us, but you didn't hafta go overboard!"
The cyan pegasus flinched. "Look, Applejack, I – "
"Don't you 'look, Applejack' me! Ah know fer a fact that yer gonna apologize to Nato over there," she stamped her hoof to indicate that it was more of a command, "But don't forget tha rest of us. You hurt us all with this one, maybe not a whole lot, but at least some."
"I know, I just thought that I... that I – "
"It's all about YOU, innit?" Applejack took a step forward every 'you,' eventually ending in Rainbow's face. "YOU were flyin' down here, thinkin' about making sure that people didn't think less of YOU for what YOU did in YOUR ignorance!"
Rainbow Dash, already visibly shaking, shrunk to the floor under the weight of her friend's anger, voice cracking as she spoke. "I know, I thought that I... had hurt him, really bad, and I just wanted to make sure he was okay. I couldn't stand knowing an innocent pony was hurting bad... because of me."
The orange earth pony softened her tone as she sat down next to her friend, putting a hoof around her shoulders. "Look, sugarcube, ah'm sorry. Ah don't know what came over me, but ah just exploded. Ah know you didn't mean it, it's just... sometimes, you don't think. And ah guess ah'm a bit vulnerable to that too." She chuckled, patting Rainbow on the back and rising to her hooves. "Now go on, do what you came here ta do in the first place."
The pegasus walked up to Fluttershy, voice low as she looked down, and then into her eyes. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy, I just thought that he was gonna hurt you and I snapped." She looked down again. "I did pretty crappy at slowing down."
Fluttershy nuzzled her friend warmly. "I understand, Rainbow Dash. And I'm really happy that you're so devoted to us." She quickly turned her attention back to Nato.
Rainbow turned around, toward Twilight and Applejack. "And I'm sorry to both of you. Twilight, for knocking a pony unconscious in your front yard and just flying away, and Applejack, for mindlessly attacking someone you thought was a friend."
"Jus' make sure and ask next time, 'kay sugarcube?"
"It's fine, really. Besides," Twilight chuckled, "I'm not the one that's going to hate you when he wakes up. Speaking of..." She glanced over her friend's shoulder at the other unicorn.
"Ugh..." groaned Nato as he attempted to roll over before being stopped by Fluttershy. "What happened... I feel like I was hit by a train."
Rainbow went a little pale, pupils shrinking to the size of a bit. She rubbed the back of her neck after turning around. "Uh, aheh, see, funny story..."
Applejack took over bluntly. "Rainbow Dash here flew into you faster than a stampeding cow and beat you senseless because she thought you were a creep trying to hurt me and Fluttershy." A coy grin seeped onto her face as Rainbow grew even paler.
Nato looked over at Applejack, then back to Rainbow Dash. He busted out laughing as hard as he could without hurting himself. Seeing the confused reactions, he quickly spoke up. "I just think it's funny that I'm so good at passing out that just being speed tackled was enough to do it. Honestly, I'm just a little sore now and in the good hooves of four – well I guess three – lovely mares." He chuckled at his own joke, but noticed the blank looks all around. "What, not even a smile? Wow, I guess I'm drier than I thought. Anyway, I see no point in getting my horn in a knot over something that happened while I was down for the count."
Rainbow Dash struggled to find words, still shocked at how well he took it. "You know, I'm still really sorry about what I did. I mean, if there's anything I can do – "
Nato cut her off by raising a hoof, then grimacing when he realized that it was a really bad idea. "What you can do is to accept my apology and not frazzle your feathers over it. And maybe a nice cup of tea, that'd really help..."
Twilight butted in. "Not to put her down or anything, but Rainbow Dash isn't the best in a kitchen. I'll get Spike to make it for you." Her assistant took the message and ran off to the kitchen to start the water.
Looking over at Twilight, the stallion did his best to smile through the pain. He had lied a tiny bit to make Rainbow Dash feel better. "I'm Nato. I would offer a hoof, but I've seen that's a bad idea."
The lavender unicorn giggled. "No worries. I'm Twilight Sparkle. It's wonderful to meet you, although it could have been on better terms..."
Nato nodded as Rainbow intently studied her hooves. "It is a pleasure. Only a day here and I've already met five lovely ponies, been beaten unconscious, and nursed back to health. That's what I call a good time. Minus the soreness, but it's not that bad."
Applejack decided to act on her doubts. "So, uh, Nato, where're you from?"
Nopony could have predicted what happened next. The unicorn stallion's eyes went wide, then his head sunk as he inspected the floor. The truth stuck out at him, but he shoved it down for a little fabrication instead. "I... I don't remember. I just remember that it's... really far away."
Everypony in the room stood agape, completely speechless. Fluttershy was, unexpectedly, the first to speak. "Oh, you poor thing. You must be so sad, being this far away from home."
"Well, I don't even remember much at all about the place. I'm kinda... uh..." His vision began to swim as the ponies rushed up to him. He felt a soft hoof on his forehead and Fluttershy mentioning something about a fever before he fell back to unconsciousness.
Twilight gazed down at the once again blacked out pony. "Well, I suppose I could move him to my second bed. That way we can – "
None of those present had noticed the rain that had started a few minutes ago until a crack of thunder interrupted Twilight. Fluttershy shrieked and hid behind Rainbow, before squeaking and moving halfway back into the open. The rain became a downpour within seconds. The rainbow maned pegasus sighed. "Guess that storm got a bit bigger than it was before. I don't think any of us are getting home until this lets up." Twilight nodded and once again enlisted Applejack to move Nato, this time to the extra bed in her room.
"Well," the shy pegasus began, "We could always play the quiet game. I'm the champion, you know."
Rainbow Dash facehoofed. "Somehow... that doesn't surprise me."
~~ "You know Nato, I really miss Mom." Nato's sister looked up at him, tears shining under the full moon in the corners of her deep yellow eyes. The field behind their house swayed in the wind as he pulled her close and held her.
"I know. I miss her too." The image, like the ones that came before, dissipated into smoke.
Another image pulled itself together, much more slowly than the rest, almost as if it was struggling, being held back. His father, with a coat of forest green and a mane of pure white, stared into the fire of his study. "When I first found you in that room, with your mother... " The stallion choked at the memory, but pushed on. "At first I thought the worst. But then after the investigation..." He turned to Nato, tears brimming in his eyes. "Few have been happier than that moment. For a ruler to discover that he didn't have to sentence his own son to exile, or death... There's no other feeling like it."
Nato gazed back upon his father, tears coming to his own eyes as he walked up to him. "I know, Father."
The imposing king bent down and nuzzled Nato. "My son, I can say that I am proud of the stallion you have become. And to be a unicorn, no less. My heart swells every day that I remember that you are my son." Tears flowed freely from both pairs of eyes as the scene slowly dissolved, first around the edges and finally, the entire image. ~~
