The deep blue pegasus mare zoomed through the sky, making a beeline for the terrace where Radiant Dawn and Tanith stood. The two withdrew, and Radiant Dawn threw up a magic shield, unsure of this pony's intentions. It didn't help that the pegasus wore armor, black chased with gold, and had a severe expression on her muzzle.
When she reached the parapet, she slowed down, and landed sharply on the grass of the terrace, clicking her hooves together. "Princess Radiant Dawn, I presume?" she asked, saluting with one wing.
Radiant Dawn let down her shield. "Y-yes," she stammered. "Who are you?"
"Private Stratosphere," the pegasus said, "of the 14th Legion of Pelopponysus, ma'am!"
Tanith hissed. "What businessss does Pelopponysssusss have with Daybreak?"
"I don't know," Radiant Dawn whispered. "I've never heard from them before." All she knew about the rather insular pegasus state was that it was located in the vast tablelands somewhere to the south of Daybreak, beyond the mountains. She cleared her throat and looked back to the pegasus. "What brings you here, Stratosphere?" she asked.
"Private Stratosphere, ma'am," the mare said. "I come bearing a message from our leader, Commander Cloudkicker. Your help is needed in Pelopponysus. She requests a visit from you as soon as possible."
Now Radiant Dawn was really confused. "What does she need my help with?" she asked. Nothing like this had ever happened before. She was not involved in the politics of other Equestrian lands.
"That's classified information, ma'am," Stratosphere said. "She will brief you when you arrive." Her light blue eyes moved to Tanith, and narrowed slightly. "Are you bringing the lamia?"
"Wait—I didn't really agree to this yet," Radiant Dawn said, feeling a bit of panic rise up in her. "Why do you need my help, specifically? Is this something Princess Celestia needs to take care of?"
Stratosphere looked back at her and frowned even more severely. "Ma'am, Pelopponysus and Canterlot are not on good political terms. Commander Cloudkicker requests your assistance, as her nearest alicorn ally."
Radiant Dawn grimaced. How did these pegasi think she would be able to help them? She might have been an alicorn, but all she really knew how to do was govern her kingdom and spread happiness, and she didn't know if Commander Cloudkicker had a problem with either of those things. In fact, judging from Stratosphere's demeanor, it seemed the pegasi of Pelopponysus were not really that interested in happiness.
But, she could never turn down a pony in need. And although she did not feel nearly as capable as Celestia, Radiant Dawn was still an alicorn and a princess of Equestria. Celestia would not have made her such if she could not handle things like this. Radiant Dawn nodded. "I hear your request and accept, Private," she said. "My companion and I will leave for Pelopponysus tomorrow."
Stratosphere nodded, then froze at the mention of a companion. Again she gave Tanith a dour look. "Ma'am, are you sure you want to bring the lamia?" she asked.
"I'd rather be left behind," Tanith said. "Believe me."
"Tanith," Radiant Dawn said, "Celestia tasked me with helping you to be happy. I can't do that if I'm not around, and I'm not sure how long this excursion to Pelopponysus is going to take. Would you please come with me?"
"You don't know what you're asssking," Tanith said. "My race is from the tablelands, Radiant Dawn. For untold ages we have warred with the pegasssi of Pelopponysssusss."
Radiant Dawn put her hoof down. "Well, then, it's time to put that to an end," she said. "Happiness lesson number—number whatever: let go of animosity. It's not doing anypony any good. I would like you to accompany me to Pelopponysus, so we can show the pegasi that lamiae and ponies can get along." She turned to a rather shocked-looking Stratosphere. "Is that all right?"
The private blinked. "Er—whatever you think is best, ma'am," she said. "It's not my position to give you orders. I'll report back to Commander Cloudkicker with your reply. Thank you."
"Have a safe flight home!" Radiant Dawn said as the pegasus took off into the air.
Stratosphere froze, a confused look passing over her muzzle like nopony had ever said that to her before. "Uh—thanks—ma'am," she said before soaring into the sky.
Tanith leaned against the stone of the castle wall. "Thisss is going to fail horribly."
"I'm not giving up," Radiant Dawn said. Somehow, Tanith's pessimism just heightened the alicorn's drive to help Pelopponysus. She wanted to prove Tanith wrong. Things worked out, things got better, and Radiant Dawn wanted Tanith to see that first-hand.
They left the next morning, via pegasus-drawn chariot. Radiant Dawn left Red Tape and Majordomo in charge of the kingdom while she was gone. The two were capable leaders in their own right, and had done a wonderful job of looking after things in the past whenever Radiant Dawn ventured out of Daybreak. So there were no worries there.
No, what caused her anxiety was what lay ahead—as well as what sat next to her in her chariot. Tanith was draped over one side of the vehicle, her tail lolling in the air, watching as the clouds rolled by. "You could have just flown," she mentioned. "You have wings. Although you ssseem to keep forgetting that."
Radiant Dawn puffed out one cheek. "I can fly," she said, "but you can't. And I'm not leaving you behind. At any rate… I'm not the best flyer, and Pelopponysus is quite a way away." She watched the flapping wings of her escort, two pegasus stallions who also served in the royal guard force. Daybreak had no standing military except for these royal guards, but it never needed one, something Radiant Dawn was grateful for.
"Why is Pelopponysus so militant?" she asked Tanith. "I thought—well, it just doesn't seem very… pony-like."
"Pegasssi are warriors," Tanith said. "It'sss in their blood. In ancient days, they were fiercer and mightier. Surely you've read about that in hissstory booksss." She smirked a bit. "King Early Light did put up quite a good fight before I banished him."
"I did read about the history of Cloudsdale," Radiant Dawn said. "Long ago, around the time of the founding of Ponyville and the first Hearth's Warming Eve, the pegasi of Cloudsdale seemed much like Pelopponysus is now."
"Long years of assssociation with Canterlot have sssoftened mossst of the pegasssi," Tanith said. "They are no longer interesssted in warfare or military might—they put mossst of their energy into weather manufacturing and stunt flying now. But there are always holdoutsss, essspecially in more remote areas. I am not sssurprised Pelopponysus is ssstill going ssstrong." Looking down, her eyes widened and she sat up. "Ah—my homeland—"
Radiant Dawn followed the lamia's gaze to the ground and drew in a breath. Before them stretched miles and miles of flat, open land, devoid of trees and carpeted in low scrubs. Canyons cut into the plains like somepony had sliced the earth with a blade, exposing sheer cliffs of many-layered rock faces. From the basin floor rose colossal sheets of stone, flat-topped mountains with vertical sides, sitting like miniature continents in a sea of air.
"No wonder they call it the tablelands," Radiant Dawn said.
Tanith was speechless. Her tongue flicked in and out of her mouth as she gazed longingly at the place she had once called home, and tears welled in her golden eyes. Radiant Dawn had never seen the lamia look so fond of something—it seemed there was still some love lurking somewhere in Tanith's heart.
Suddenly Tanith gripped the side of the chariot. "Down there," she said, pointing a claw.
Far below them, Radiant Dawn saw a cloud of tan dust. Something was moving. Among the dust, scales flashed in the sun, scales belonging to enormous writhing serpent bodies. "Are those… lamiae?" the alicorn asked.
Tanith nodded. "Looksss like they're on a hunt."
She and Radiant Dawn watched until the scene passed from their view. Then Tanith sat back in the chariot, seeming rather sobered.
"Do you want to join them?" Radiant Dawn asked, suddenly full of pity for the creature. "They're your own kind—I shouldn't keep you from them—"
"No," Tanith said. She looked ahead, unblinking. "Lamiae are a quarrelsssome lot. My tribe is mossst likely long gone. I do not think those lamiae would greet me with open coils. I am sssafer with you."
"Oh… I'm sorry," Radiant Dawn said. All the same, she sort of wished Tanith would just give it a try instead of giving up before even doing anything. She decided that when this business with Pelopponysus was over, she would take Tanith on a diplomatic mission to the lamiae.
"Your Highness," one of her pegasus guards said. "We're now approaching Pelopponysus."
"Thank you," Radiant Dawn said, and then "Wow…"
They were headed for the largest mesa in the vicinity. Instead of having a flat top, it looked rather like somepony had parked Cloudsdale on top of the rock—clouds had been woven into a complex of buildings that stretched not only across the mesa, but into the sky above and around it. Pegasi were everywhere, and from a distance the city looked like a hive of busy bees.
Two pegasi, both wearing black and gold armor, winged toward the chariot. "Halt!" one of them said. "State your name and business!"
"Princess Radiant Dawn," the alicorn said, sitting up straight. "Here on official business at the request of Commander Cloudkicker. And my companion, Tanith." Tanith waved casually.
The two pegasi gave the lamia dubious looks, but seemed to take Radiant Dawn's word for it. "We've been expecting you, Your Highness," one of them said. "You're cleared for entry."
"We'll accompany you to Cloudkicker's fortress," the other said. "Please, follow us."
Radiant Dawn nodded to them, and her escort pulled her chariot closer to the city while the Pelopponysians flew in tight formation ahead of them. Now she could see that a good number of pegasi wore gold and black armor, and most of them seemed to be doing drills of some sort, working out or otherwise training. "You weren't kidding about them being big on the military," the alicorn said.
"Lassst I remember, it was practically all they did," Tanith said. "Ssseems that hasn't changed. They're always training to be prepared to fight off the next big threat to Equessstria… and to keep them sssatiated until then, there are plenty of ssskirmishes with lamiae and other creatures that live in the valleys."
As they flew through the cloud-constructed city, Radiant Dawn looked around at the stark architecture, the somber-faced ponies in armor, and the civilian pegasi who quietly plied their trades in marketplaces. At one point, the chariot passed a school where foals were doing calisthenics, led by their teacher. They all looked up when they saw Radiant Dawn pass by, their eyes wide with amazement, before their teacher ordered them back to their exercises. The princess tried to wave at them, but only a few waved back before remembering what they were supposed to be doing.
She realized that nopony was smiling. The cloudy lanes were silent, instead of being filled with laughter and song like in Daybreak.
"Oh my," she muttered under her breath. "Perhaps this really is a job for the Princess of Happiness."
Tanith waved a hand at her. "They enjoy thisss lifessstyle."
"You're being oppressed!" somepony shouted down below. "Cloudkicker is unfit to lead us! Her policies are unfair!"
A pegasus stood on a street corner, passing out pamphlets to everypony who passed her. Most of the ponies refused them, but some took the pamphlets in confusion and began to read them.
"What's going on down there?" Radiant Dawn asked the soldiers escorting her.
"A protest," one of them grunted, rolling his eyes. "Pay her no heed. She's being misled."
"And we wish we knew by who," one of the other soldiers muttered.
A pair of armor-clad pegasi began to move toward the protester. "What is this insurrection?" one of them asked. "You know we must pledge loyalty to our Commander."
"See?!" the protester shrieked. "Oppression! I'm loyal to Pelopponysus, not that tyrant Cloudkicker!" She threw the pamphlets at the soldiers' faces and took off into the sky.
"Hey!" one of the soldiers barked as he zoomed after her. "You can't say that—it's treason!" His companion stayed behind to collect the pamphlets, crumpling them up with a scowl.
Radiant Dawn chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Yes, something is definitely wrong here," she said.
"It'sss not your problem," Tanith said. "Let'sss jussst do what Cloudkicker wantsss and then get out of thisss messss."
Their escorts took them up to the highest point of the cloud-city, where an enormous, imposing fortress had been sculpted out of cumulus. Guards lined the ramparts and patrolled the skies, but they nodded to Radiant Dawn as her chariot approached, and let her pass.
Her vehicle touched down outside the fortress gates and she stepped off onto soft cloud—and then she looked up at Tanith and realized her mistake. "Whoops," the alicorn said. "I forgot that you can't walk on clouds."
"Not a problem," Tanith said. She stretched out her claws and her eyes glowed purple. Suddenly a dark aura erupted around her form. A thick tendril of it lashed out and globbed onto a bit of cloud near Radiant Dawn. A second tendril shot out and stuck to the fortress wall. Like a spider on her web, Tanith pulled herself out of the chariot and suspended herself next to the princess. "That'sss better," she said.
Radiant Dawn's eyes widened. "I—I thought you couldn't use your magic," she choked. "It feeds on despair."
"I can't use it in Daybreak," Tanith said, inspecting her claws. "But here? Oh, there's plenty of dessspair here. Even if it'sss nothing as drassstic as what I did to your kingdom centuries back. Ssstill—a dropped ice cream cone here, a broken heart there… it all adds up."
Radiant Dawn wrinkled her muzzle. "I'm sorry," she said, "but that sounds awful."
The gates opened and they moved inside. Tanith kept in motion by continuously sending out tentacles of dark magic, pulling herself through the courtyard alongside her happiness mentor. "What?" she asked. "I'm not causing misery thisss time. I'm just using what'sss already here."
"I suppose that's fair," Radiant Dawn muttered.
Their escort led them into the vaulted hallways of the fortress interior, where more soldiers strutted about on official business. Despite their severe expressions, seeing Radiant Dawn and Tanith made them stop in their tracks and stare for a moment before continuing. The princess wondered what surprised them more—an alicorn or a lamia in their midst.
Finally, she and Tanith were let into a large room with maps and diagrams all over the walls. The crest of Peloponnysus, a golden winged shield on an ebony background, hung above a wide, round table with many chairs, the only furniture in the room. The table was covered in papers—including a few pamphlets like the ones the protester had been handing out. And sitting there, examining them, was a pegasus.
She was a white mare with a curly, sky-blue mane and tail, and she wore elaborate gold and black armor decorated with several medals. Her pink eyes scanned the papers with a severe gaze as she grumbled to herself. Next to her chair stood a set of armor, complete with a fierce-looking helmet that would obscure a pony's entire head. It seemed to be sized for a rather large stallion, and was probably placed in the war room for decorative purposes.
When she heard the door open, the pegasus glanced up. "Ah, Princess Radiant—lamia!" she shouted, leaping into the air.
"Wait!" Radiant Dawn said, stepping in front of Tanith. "It's all right—she's with me. It's a long story, but she's not here to cause trouble."
"Don't think I want to be here," Tanith hissed. "She made me come along. I'm her 'happinessss pupil'."
The pegasus mare eyed the lamia warily, then slowly sunk back to her chair. "I admit I was not expecting this," she said, clopping her front hooves together, "but I will not pretend to grasp the workings of alicorns. I trust you will keep the lamia under control during your stay here, Your Highness."
"Keep me under control?!" Tanith hissed, drawing herself up. "I am not an animal!"
"I know," Radiant Dawn said. "Commander Cloudkicker, correct?" The pegasus mare nodded. "Tanith doesn't mean anypony any harm. She is under my protection. She's—my friend."
The lamia blinked. "I am?" she asked, raising a scaly eyebrow.
Radiant Dawn nodded. "Of course you are. And that means I expect Tanith to receive the same respect I do, is that understood?" she said to Cloudkicker.
The commander grimaced, but nodded. "Fair enough," she said. "I've got bigger things on my hooves right now, anyhow. Please, sit down."
Radiant Dawn took a chair across the table from the commander, and Tanith moved a few chairs aside to accommodate her long body. The lamia glanced over at the set of armor next to Cloudkicker, and her forked tongue flicked in and out.
"I was told," Radiant Dawn said, "that you needed an alicorn's assistance. What may I assist you with, Commander?"
Cloudkicker sighed and nudged the pamphlets forward. "Somepony wants my government dismantled," she said. "The Pelopponysian Army has governed this state fairly for thousands of moons, keeping its citizens safe from outside threats." She glared at Tanith. "We are the finest warriors in all of Equestria. Our citizens are trained as soldiers from foalhood, and our state is carefully regimented to ensure the utmost efficiency and loyalty."
She put a hoof down on one of the pamphlets and frowned. "And now, somepony wants to ruin all of that."
"Do you know why?" Radiant Dawn asked.
Cloudkicker shook her head. "From what we've been able to gather, somepony's been spreading subversive ideas to my citizens, telling them that I don't care about their welfare, that I'm a greedy tyrant keeping them under my hoof out of a love of power. I've noticed many civilian ponies becoming less than satisfied with the way I run things."
Radiant Dawn cleared her throat. "Well, um," she said, "from what I've seen, life around here does seem a little… severe. It might help if you lightened up a bit. See, I'm the Princess of Happiness and—"
The look Cloudkicker gave the alicorn was enough to silence her. "I don't need to be told how to run my state, Your Highness," the pegasus said. "We are perfectly content the way we are—and we cannot afford to take life less seriously. I called you here because I need the help of an alicorn."
She looked to the suit of armor beside her, and then leaned over the table toward the princess. "We've apprehended and arrested several insurgents, and are keeping them in the dungeons, but they're not telling us where they're getting their ideas. They're obviously organized, so they must have leadership." Her eyes narrowed. "I wager alicorn magic can make them talk. I need you to interrogate them and—"
Radiant Dawn's stomach twisted. "No, thank you," she said firmly.
Cloudkicker paused. "Excuse me?"
"I'm not going to use my magic like that," Radiant Dawn said. "And—and I think if you stooped to those kinds of tactics, you'd be exactly the sort of leader these insurgents want everypony to believe you are. Don't descend to their level."
The commander looked aside and tapped her hooves together again. "Well, do you have any better ideas?" she asked.
"I do," Radiant Dawn said. "I can use my influence as a princess in other ways." She smiled. "Let's pretend I've come here on a diplomatic visit. I can tour the city and talk to ponies, and use that as an excuse to do some snooping."
Cloudkicker thought for a moment. "I suppose that might work," she said. "Yes—I think that stands a chance. One of our prisoners let slip that their leadership is somewhere in my upper ranks. Obviously, I could do mass arrests of my officers, but I'm not that cruel." She looked up at the suit of armor again. "I hate to doubt any of my officers, but this might be the perfect way to determine where the weak links lie without unfairly punishing my loyalists."
Radiant Dawn let out a sigh of relief. Perhaps this whole thing wouldn't go so badly, after all. She knew a spell that would let her discern when a pony was lying. She would have this intrigue sorted out in no time.
"And General Ironclad will be your escort," Cloudkicker added.
Suddenly the suit of armor next to her flared its wings. "What?!" it cried in a deep voice, taking a halting step back.
Radiant Dawn jumped and nearly fell out of her chair in surprise. "Y-you're a real pony!" she gasped.