Author's Note: Massive revisions for anyone who read before 09/18/12. After a nearly 1 year hiatus, a new chapter will finally come soon, and I'll try and keep up a half decent pace now.
Fluttershy looked off into the distance, night was setting in and her field of view dwindling. A chill wind rolled in, as always; In a flying city the nights were always comparatively colder than on the surface, even in the summers, as there was little to buffer the wind's path. Her pink mane blew in the wind as her mind trailed off in wonder about her predicament, When Rarity had been captured it had at least been by a bumbling pack of incompetent mutts. These pegasi were more competent, organized, and perfectly willing to... In her mind she couldn't bring the sounds together. That word, that vile word, that sounded more like a groan than anything else. murder.
In Equestria, death is something the ponies knew little about, rarely contemplated, and almost never spoke of. It was something they knew existed, but actively chose not to face, even was it was upon them, and as a side effect, did not accept. But even more intolerable a subject then death was the concept of murder. The entire concept was just repugnant, unthinkable to them. The idea of a pony ending another one's life was... indescribably cruel, something out of a terrible horror story, and it had not happened in Equestrian history, at least, not in recorded Equestrian history.
Fluttershy knew that something needed to be done, but lack of confidence and an aura of fear of the unknown clouded her thoughts and made her attempts at rattling her brain for an answer fruitless. In desperation she looked down at the barren landscape below, and then to the spire jutting up out of the landscape and whispered, "Rainbow Dash, please let me find you." She fell back, her body strewn across the clouds and her eyelids heavy, and drifted off into sleep.
Some time later she was woken but by something small, like pebbles, falling onto her face. Then, a rumble, and more pebbles. Then another. And another... It was around the third consecutive rumble that Fluttershy mustered up the good sense to move out of the way. She picked up one of the pebbles and found it was somehow tiny crumbles of cloud.
The rumbling seemed to keep coming nearby, it sounded like a blunt instrument striking a wall. Fluttershy hovered along the side of the cloud scape, scanning for the source of the disturbance. Eventually, she came upon what seemed to be a small window in the clouds, barred up for some reason, though it barely looked big enough for a pony to squeeze through. Fluttershy flew up to the little windows and looked through the bars, and her face lit up with surprise. Rainbow Dash, was standing as far from the wall and the cell would allow, and preparing for another go at the wall.
"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy squeaked out, happy to see her friend relatively unharmed.
"Wha?' Rainbow Dash looked around the cell, unable to find a body for the voice, Rainbow Dash cynically said, "Oh, good, I'm going crazy, thought it would take longer than a few hours of isolation before I broke. Kind of disappointed in myself." Before dropping back into her ready stance.
"Rainbow Dash, up here, it's me!" Fluttershy managed to eek out louder.
"Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash said in abject disbelief, Flying up the bars to meet her friend and banging her head on the ceiling in her enthusiasm. "Ow... How did you get here? Why did you follow me?"
"Fluttershy looked down and said plainly, "I saw someponies carrying you away, I couldn't just let them take you who knows where." Looking into Rainbow Dash's face, Fluttershy noticed that even though she had only been gone for a day, she looked like she hadn't slept in a week.
"And you didn't tell anypony else what was going on first? I- I thought you learned your lesson after what happened with Philamena?" Rainbow Dash said upset at Fluttershy's rash actions.
"There was no time." Fluttershy said in her defense, "If I went for help, they would have been too far away to follow. I'm sorry."
Rainbow Dash face softened up in guilt, "No. No, don't apologize for trying to help... Still, this is arguably both the dumbest and nicest thing you've ever done. Thank you so much!"
"You can thank me more when I get you out of there, how am I going to get you out of there?"
"Well, I've been working on this cloud wall, but I don't seem to be getting anywhere with that. They always told me I had a thick skull back in flight school, not thick enough I guess! Haha..." Rainbow Dash chuckled dryly, trying to inject humor into a bad situation, it was all she could do to keep from panicking.
"But you break through clouds for a living, what's so special about these ones?" Fluttershy said, stifling back giggles.
"Hey! This isn't your regular old Ponyville brand cloud, this is... I don't really know what kind of cloud this is, but it's hard! Like, rock hard!" Rainbow Dash shouted indignantly. "Still." Rainbow Dash said as she tapped on the bars blocking the window and guessed they would probably yield easily. "Alright, you pull on these bars, and I'll buck them, together we should be able to knock them out and make me an exit. On three." Fluttershy grabbed the bars as well she could, and Dash prepared for impact. "Just another cloud, just another cloud." She thought. "One. Two. Thr-ree!"
Rainbow Dash's efforts were not greeted by the satisfying 'pop' she was expecting, but rather a loud blunt thud, overlapped by a slight cracking noise. For a brief moment, she just hovered there, her brain trying to catch up, then, fiery pain shot up through her hind hooves. She fell to the floor and groaned. looking at her hooves, beet red clashed with her light blue mane. "How could anything made of cloud be so tough!" Rainbow Dash shouted in grating frustration. "Fluttershy? Could you try getting into the spire?"
"I did. The gates are closed, and they have guards watching them."
Rainbow Dash thought back hard to her trial, she remembered seeing large open windows above her in the main hall. "Fluttershy, there's another way in, if you fly up you can get in through these big windows."
"Won't they have guards posted there too?"
"Nopony will see ya, besides, who'd they find to be on guard duty this late?"
"Alright, I'll do my best."
Rainbow Dash decided against telling Fluttershy about Princess Celestia's failed attempt to spring her out, mostly because it would not have helped her confidence any, Trying to think of words of encouragement, she decided against the always popular cliche of, 'you're my only hope.' and simply settled on a, "Good Luck," as Fluttershy flew up toward the Spire.
Rising above the round base of the massive building, Fluttershy did indeed see the windows, tall and wide, like a gaping maw threatening to swallow her up. It appeared deserted, but she still flew in very cautiously, her eyes buzzing around constantly, scanning for the tiniest hint of a threat. A chill ran down her spine as she saw two pegasi, both near the podium, a small torch providing the only source of artificial light in the room. Struggling to keep her nerves steady, she floated to the seats and hunkered down, hoping to remain unseen. She could just barely see what the two pegasi were doing. The one sat on the podium penning away onto a scroll of some sort. The other, clad in armor, stood nearby, doing his best to divide his attention between the scroll and his surroundings. That division of attention is the only reason Fluttershy managed to sneak in.
Stratus looked intently at the windows, "You know, we really should commission some glass panes for those windows. Some pony could fly right in."
"Nopony is going to use those windows, besides if they did it'd be the last flight they ever make!" The Head Pegalite said proudly, dismissing Stratus' (founded) suspicions. Fluttershy swallowed hard.
"Could I at least put some guards on them. I feel like we're exposed just leaving them be."
"Fine, if your so hard pressed about it, then shuffle some guards... Take some pegasi of perimeter patrol, it's not like we need to worry about ponies coming into the city." The head Pegalite said in the sort of half groaning tone you have when you're exhausted.
"You're simply too lax, sir. It's a changing world we float above and we should remain vigilant." Stratus said still as proper as ever.
At this remark, the Head stopped writing, laid down the quill and looked at Stratus surprised, "Well, that's an unusually progressive viewpoint for you Stratus, what could have sparked it?"
Stratus shrugged and replied, "It had been centuries since we've interacted with the dirt crawlers, all I'm saying is that you can't expect even them to not make some sort of progress in that time."
The Head went back to writing, "I think you are giving them entirely too much credit, I imagine they still are living the same static existence they were a thousand years ago, and the thousand before that too."
A few moments of silence passed, then Stratus spoke up again, "Have you given any though to what Celestia said?"
"What? You mean all that about the ancestors repressing some memories from long ago? Tch, the transparent ploy of a desperate diplomat watching her arguments crumble around her."
Stratus merely uttered a "Hmm" in reply.
"Commander Stratus, I certainly hope that 'hmm' doesn't imply that you're questioning the infallibility of our forefathers? Why, that would be high treason, and even one of your post isn't above the law."
"No, No. I have no doubt in our progenitor's honesty, but... She sounded so genuine."
"In her supposed immortality I'm sure she's had centuries to master the fine art of deceit." The Head brought the quill down hard, marking the final period. "Done. hmph, this is a fine quill. Where'd you get these?"
"Some of our men interceded in Equestria and secured a shipment of quills meant for some store, 'Quills and Sofas.' I don't have a clue what a 'sofa' is though... I certainly hope no dirt crawler needed a quill that week..." Stratus replied.
"Regardless, It's a quality quill, they though they may have been a society of earth walking troglodytes, but it can't be said they never provided anything of note. Stratus, be sure to tell one of the scribes to add a footnote somewhere up there about the quality of Equestrian quills, will you?" The Head requested as he placed a seal on the rolled up scroll.
"Very well, Sir. On the morrow I will commission a quote chronicling the credible quality of Equestrian quills..."
The Head Pegalite didn't so much as chuckle at Stratus's alliteration, he just sighed and said, "We've both been awake for far too long, Commander. How about we finally turn in for the night."
"Very well, sir. Oh, and if I may, what were you writing on that scroll?" Stratus inquired.
"Nothing, just another edict, a fine night to you, Commander Stratus." The Head Pegalite said as he exited the through the main gate. Stratus stayed behind briefly to blow out the torch, which would have left the room pitch black if not for the moonlight streaming in, and then flew through the gate as well.
Fluttershy allowed herself a moment of relief, cut short as she heard a loud noise. The gate into the room was closing quickly, in a moment she'd be stuck in here with no way of opening from the inside. Losing all abandon, she flew for the dwindling exit, barely clearing it before it slammed shut with a resounding boom. Fluttershy pressed herself up against the roof, waiting for Stratus to move on. Heavy hoof stomps echoes through the empty chamber, growing softer and softer until they barely reached a whisper. Fluttershy took several deep breaths before landing and beginning to look for the path downstairs.
As she walked through round the Spire's entrance, she looked at the walls around her. They were covered in murals of various ages and styles, from traditional to abstract, as well as a few caricatures. Praises of Pegalysium's glory were strewn around them, and oddly enough, a few had been scraped out. One particular mural caught her eye, it was a picture of a large blue orb, shining like the sun, with dozens of clouds were swirling around it; Pegasi in the painting watched in amazement, and there was one other figure, but it had been scraped out, then crudely painted over, making it almost unidentifiable. Fluttershy was so busy looking at the mural she didn't even see the stairs to the prison below, and went tumbling in a heap, bashing her head, back, and legs as she collapsed down the steps.
The softer floor on the bottom provided a tinge of comfort. Fluttershy wasn't usually the clumsy type, but she was so focused on trying to figure out what the smudged figure in the mural was. It appeared to be some kind of white shape, almost mistakable for a cloud, with a protrusion near it's top, maybe a horn? As well as two what appeared to be wings? The only pony with both those features, and that color (that she knew of anyway) was Princess Celestia, and Fluttershy had a hard time believing the Princess had anything to do with this place!
Steadying herself, Fluttershy began walking down the long corridor towards Rainbow Dash. The cells were divided up in a honeycomb like fashion, with long hallways leading to even more cells, stretching so far she could barely see the end of them. If the scale from the outside gave any indication, there could be thousands of cells, there were certainly enough Pegasi in the city to fill them all.
Wandering around the cold dripping tunnels, Fluttershy eventually came upon what she imagined to be the Warden's office. Not much of an office though, consisting of little more than a desk and a chair, but also a key-chain hanging oh-so tantalizingly on a small hook on the wall, containing one key oddly enough. It was not a particularly ornate key either, just a simple skeleton key, but what was weird about it was was the edges, instead of being a series of bumps, they were in the shape of a cloud. Seemed fitting enough to Fluttershy, what better to open a cloud door then a cloud key? As she grabbed the key off the hook, she could swear she heard noises in the distance.
Fluttershy tried to work out in her mind exactly where Dash's cell would be. She knew it was on the edge of the cloud structure, but she wasn't sure where that put herself. "The entrance is in the center, so If I go up until I hit a wall, then work my way around, I should find Dash eventually... Wait a minute, Is there no one else down here besides me and her?" Fluttershy thought to herself as she walked. Now that she was paying attention she noticed that, indeed, for all the dozens of cells she was passing, there wasn't a soul to be found in this prison.
As if to answer her thoughts however, she began to hear distant echoes of foreign hoofs, Fluttershy picked up her pace to a trot as the sounds got louder and louder, she spared barely a glance for each of cells and eventually broke out into a run. Unfortunately, she stopped looking where she was going and ran right into the cell Rainbow Dash was in. She got up and rubbed her head, while Dash flew up to the bars, wings fluttering with excitement.
"Fluttershy! You made it! And You found the key?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed happily.
"Mim ot it rie ear." Fluttershy tried to say, muffled by the key-chain she held in her mouth. She dropped into her hooves and made for the lock, then suddenly, she heard voices coming up the hallway, panicking, she hid in one of the corridors.
"Fluttershy? Where are you going? Flutte-" Rainbow Dash quickly sealed her mouth shut at the sight of the two guards responsible for her being here, she wondered what were they doing here so early.
"-still haven't found something to kill her with yet?" Silent Gale asked slightly aghast.
"Nope. Hopefully they'll find something soon." Solar Wind replied.
"They'd better, I've lost track of how long it's been! Months at least. The crowds are getting awful testy."
"She won't last long, they stopped feeding her weeks ago. She'll be so weak that eventually a butterfly'll be able to do her in."
"Why don't they just let her dehydrate?"
"The crowds would hate that. No. After all she's survived they want to watch and savor her being torn limb from limb."
The two pegasi walked up to Rainbow Dash's cell unfazed, and maybe a little amused as she shot them a death stare. "Well, you're still here? I'm actually a little surprised." Solar Wind said.
"What are you two doing here so early? It's not even close to sunup!" Rainbow Dash complained.
"It's a long walk to the edge of Pegalysium, and we're taking the scenic route." Silent Gale replied matter-of-factly.
"Don't I get a last meal?" Rainbow Dash asked, half serious, half sarcastic, she hadn't eaten anything since she was captured. Which begged the question, how did these ponies get food enough to feed an entire city anyway?
"Nope, you get to die hungry, tired, and in pain." Silent Gale said surprisingly nonchalantly, given he was about to perform an execution, and a decidedly bloody one at that.
Rainbow Dash was chained down before she a chance to make a break for it, she was led out of her cell and began the long walk to the edge of this city, she did all she could to hold back her screams of frustration. She was so close to getting out of her cell. But she was glad Fluttershy didn't try to open it with the guards coming along, she didn't want her dragged into this whole mess. She was doing her best to handle the grisly situation, and managed to hold her composure rather well. Fluttershy though, she was so sensitive, she'd crack like a waterlogged eggshell under this kind of pressure.
Fluttershy was doing her best to follow the guards without being seen or heard. She blamed herself, if only she had been faster, if only she hadn't been distracted, Dash would be free and they could just go home and never think about this awful place ever again. But because of her "dawdling" Dash was on a slow walk toward her demise. There had to be something she could do, If she could just get Dash alone, maybe the key could unlock her harness.
It definitely was a long walk to the edge of the city, the entire place was very much built with its flying denizens in mind. Why this ceremonial edge had to be just so and couldn't be any other ordinary edge Dash didn't know, nor did she very much care, maybe it was just a way for them to draw it out. While the situation looked hopeless, Rainbow Dash refused to give up, the last few months in Ponyville taught things have a bizarre habit of working out in times like this. She would keep her hopes up right until the end, and even then, it's not like she'd have much time to drown in her sorrow anyway.
The two guards did a very poor job masking their anticipation, it'd be more honest to say they didn't try. Occasionally a grin would break out on their faces, or they'd giggle or chuckle. They certainly weren't as disciplined as the guards in Equestria. In fact, at that moment the thing Rainbow Dash wanted more than anything else were some coins, these goons would probably sell out for a free day's lunch! As they walked down the street, the sun slowly but surely began to rise and overtake the sky the entire city looked beautiful bathed in the golden light of dawn, how could ponies this jerkish build something so impressive? She was completely convinced they were not the self made ponies they led on to being.
After walking through the entirety of sunrise, they reached the execution platform. It was a tempered cloud that jut out over the edge of the city, tapering at the end where the unfortunate victim would make their final flight. The whole thing was caked with bloodstains, to the point where if you didn't know what it was for, you think it had simply been painted red to begin with. In the center of the platform were four chain cuffs, similar to the one the guards had to used to secure Rainbow Dash to them, but instead embedded into the platform, their purpose was clear, make sure there is no escape for the Pegalites twisted idea of justice.
Rainbow Dash was secured to the platform, the whole walk over she hadn't said a word, she was bottling up her frustrations, saving it... Solar Wind took a deep breath and slipped out a key, the key to the harness that Dash had been wearing for a cumulative 24 hours and was sick of. Despite the fact that they had had her restrained since about two minutes after their meeting her, the two brothers still knew they had a hoof-full on their hands.
The key unlatched the harness with a satisfying click, Rainbow Dash stood motionless. Solar Wind lifted the harness. The moment the fresh air hit Dash's wings they lit up, unfurling and whacking Solar Wind's face with so much force the armored pegasi staggered back and tripped over himself. Rainbow Dash fought against the restraints, buzzing around like a bee in a jar after it been shaken up. Whenever the two guards would try to approach her, she'd dart into them, knocking them back, and more often then not leaving them with a nasty welt.
Silent Gale got tired of being a punching back and drew out a curved blade about a foot long, with a blade dulled bot from use, but by design. His brother saw the fury in his eyes, and rushed to his brother's side, grabbing him by the wing. "Stop, what are you planning to do?" He asked.
"I'm planning to lob off her wings and whatever else I want to chop off!"
"You can't do that! We have traditions!" Solar Wind said, desperately trying to talk "sense" into his brother.
"And I have welts! Now get off of me." Silent Gale said, knocking back his brother and turning back towards Rainbow Dash still testing the limits of her chains, hoping perhaps to break the things, never really bothering to question if and how exactly clouds could rust.
Fluttershy was watching nearby in shock, it took all of her will to keep from turning away, it seemed the guard was about to brutally murder Rainbow Dash, she focused so intently on the pegasus, and the blade in his hand, she didn't even register as a light yellow flash scanned it's way across her peripheral vision.
Solar Wind, scrambling to his hooves, didn't notice until it was too late, when a light yellow pegasus with a very distinctive wing, delivered a a flying buck with his back hooves straight to his helmeted head, knocking him out cold. A loud clang rang out from the blow, diverting Silent Gale's attention.
"What now?!" He sighed, deeply aggravated and wanting nothing more than to be through with Rainbow Dash. he turned his head back to observe the commotion and was rewarded for his concern with a second another wing smack. But this was different, with Dash the pain came from the shear force of the smack. Here, the pain came from what the wing was made out of. Leather? Or maybe bat hide? And with metal framework of all things? Whatever it was it felt like getting a whip lashed across your face. Disoriented, he dropped the dagger but quickly came to his senses and knocked it away before the unknown pegasus could make use of it.
They both leaped for the weapon, and began wrestling over it. The stranger noticed Fluttershy hiding behind a small mound of cloud and commanded, "You! Get the key, free your friend, it's on the unconscious one'sbody!" Before immediately going back to the struggle. Fluttershy brain processed the order as fast as it could in this commotion, and galloped over to Solar Wind, feeling around his armor, she eventually found a small pocket, in which she could barely feel a small metal object. She grabbed the little thing, and sure enough, there was the key.
Silent Gale saw yet another stranger poking around on his brother's body, or corpse for all he knew, and snorted in rage, he began charging towards Fluttershy shouting, "Get your hooves off my brother, you wor-" His death threat was cut out as the other fighter grabbed his tail with both hooves and yanked bank, knocking the wind out of him and putting him back in a grapple. Fluttershy darted over to Rainbow Dash as fast as she could, and began to undo the metal cuffs. One, click. Two, click. Three, click. Four, click.
Rainbow Dash was free , and she was boiling mad. The moment she was sure she wasn't being held back. She charged at Silent Gale, who had gained both the blade and broken the grapple, and was now on top his opponent, ready to stab him through the chest. Rainbow Dash smashed forehead first into his back. He was so focused on the matter at hand that he didn't notice, and the two of them tumbled head over tail again and again, until Rainbow Dash came out on top. She put all the frustration she was harboring into one punch, and delivered it squarely into Silent Gale's face. His head fell to the side, his jaw slack, and his eyes went shut.
Rainbow Dash's face was damp with sweat, she took deep, long breaths to keep from hyperventilating. When she felt suitably calm, she looked over to see the yellow pegasus with the fake wing dragging Solar Wind's body towards the edge of the clouds. "Wait!" She cried out. "Wha- What are you doing?"
"I'm getting rid of them... They're out cold, they won't even feel a thing." The pegasus replied, his voice void of concern.
"You can't just kill them." Fluttershy interjected.
"Why not? They were moments away from killing your friend, and you for all you know."
Rainbow Dash took her first long look at her incidental rescuer, a light yellow coat with an all white tail and mane, he was a older pony, about the mayor's age, and had the worn face of a hard lived life, stern but not coldly so. What attracted most of her attention however was that his right wing was some kind of prosthetic, attached to a short nub where a wing would normally be. It had a metal frame and was lined with a strange black leather, it was very expertly crafted and seemed to function like the real thing. going so far as being able to retract on cue. His cutie mark was a large eagle feather.
"I. I know, but, but in the end, I guess... They were only doing their jobs." Rainbow Dash replied almost disappointed, as angry as she was with the two guards. She couldn't bring herself to wish death upon them. She didn't even know them, nor did she know the kind of things this city did to ponies.
There was a long silence before the pegasus asked, "Well, lookie here, a Pegalysian with mercy, now I've truly seen everyth-?" He was interrupted as he began to stare deeply into Rainbow Dash's eyes.
"Um? Would ya stop that? that's really creepy..." Rainbow Dash said confused and a little disturbed.
"You... And you friend, you aren't. You aren't from here, are you?"
"Why No, as a matter of fact we're from-" Fluttershy started to say, trotting up to the Rainbow Dash, before being interrupted.
"Equestria!" The pegasus said in awe. He quickly looked around before starting to get panicked. "Oh no, No No No. We- We have to get you home, I can't let you stay here."
"How can you tell where we're from, old timer?" Rainbow Dash quipped.
"It's your eyes, that look. That look of unspoiled innocence and purity. The youthful gaze of someone who hasn't seen any of the awful things that I, and many ponies unfortunate enough to not dwell within Equestria's border, have. Yes, I've seen that same look in every Equestrian eyes, even the most cynical and embittered."
"You've been to Equestria, when?" Rainbow Dash followed up, The pegasus ignored her and started pacing and talking to himself. "And if an Equestrian is here, and was about to be executed, then that means that... Oh no, this is bad. I have to do something about this." His voice started to become more and more panicked.
"Do something about what!? Look, I'm really grateful you saved me, seriously, but you've got to help me out here, 'cause I got nothin'. Dash interjected.
"Must get a message out, I must. But I can't now... And I can't trust any of my underlings to do it for me... Maybe."
"Maybe...? Maybe what? Maybe I can help you if you tell me what's going on!" Dash shouted, getting agitated.
"Wait, What? You help-? Oh no, no. I owe her too much to do that. Well, Hmm, Maybe if I didn't make you do anything that endangered you, but even then I'd need her permission, and by that point you'll already be home..."
"Who are you talking about, who is 'she'?" Fluttershy asked.
"Tell me, Equestrians, Celestia still rules in Equestria, right?" The pegasus answered Fluttershy's question with a question of his own, whilst sounding only half sure of himself, there was a look of desperation in his eyes.
"Well, yeah? Why would it be any different." Rainbow Dash stated matter-of-factly.
"Are you friends with the Princess, sir?" Fluttershy added.
The pegasus sighed with relief, "Yes, and old friend, relatively speaking that is. Listen to me, I need you to go home, and tell the Princess I'm not dead. Then, as much as it pains me to ask, Tell her that I request her permission to use the both of you as a part of my plans. Please remember though that you shouldn't feel any pressure, If you decide to return, your lives will be in constant danger."
"What? You don't think that I can handle it?" Rainbow Dash said smugly.
"Well, I'm simply suggesting you put serious thought into whether or not you truly wish to return her, you were nearly killed, remember." The Pegasus replied.
"Hey, hey, hey. That's just because they caught me off guard, m'kay? I have razor sharp perception, and I will not surprised again!" Rainbow Dash insisted.
"I see." The Pegasus said flatly.
"Maybe, we should take his advice, Rainbow Dash, I don't really want to come back, and It's so close to harvest time, I really should be tending the garden, Angel is hardly qualified to-" Fluttershy started to ramble before Dash put her hoof over Fluttershy's mouth, interrupting her.
"Yeah, Yeah. You go ahead and sit this one out, Fluttershy, I've got this taken care of, just like I took care of that dragon back in Ponyville." Rainbow Dash bragged, putting poorly veiled emphasis on the word "dragon."
"A dragon, Eh?" The pegasi chuckled. "Well, if you took on a dragon, than a battalion of twenty armored, war-trained pegasi should be barely a warm up."
"You're darn right it's a... Wait a minute, you're being sarcastic, Do you know my friend Twilight? She's always using that on me!"
The pegasi laughed, than replied. "High Feather."
"What?" Rainbow Dash muttered.
"My name, It's High Feather. For when you deliver my message to the princess? Which you really should be doing. Right now. We can talk more when we meet again- if we meet again." High Feather said as he signalled to two towards Equestria.
"Wait, How will we find you if we come back?" Fluttershy asked.
"Just keep a low profile, and don't worry, you won't find me, I'll find you." High Feather said slyly.
With the final nod, the two pegasi began the flight back home to Equestria. Both understandably perplexed on who exactly this High Feather was, and what kind of connection he could have had with the Princess. The sun was warm and inviting, like the Princess herself, as the two set a course for Equestria, The far off tips of Canterlot Castle as their compass.