Upheaval: Reckoning
Chapter 46: A Pair of Foals
Rainbow Dash pressed herself against a wall and inched along the length of it. Right now, every open window meant danger. A single inch of her body exposed would swiftly invite an arrow to make its new home there. Longstride was standing on a perch somewhere out there, his bow drawn and his weird golden eyes searching for his target. She had to admit that it didn't make a lot of sense as to why he would want to shoot her now, but she wasn't taking any chances. Her flank still ached from the last poisoned arrow he shot at her and memories of her time with that ophidite slaver still lingered at the very edges of her thoughts.
"Hey, Rainbow! What are you doing there?"
Scarlet's irritatingly loud greeting nearly made Rainbow jump. She turned around put a hoof to her lips. "Shush!" she hissed. "Get down!"
Scarlet obliged and crouched next to her. "Why are we hiding?" he asked.
"It's Longstride," Rainbow whispered. "He's out there and I want to get to him without getting shot at."
"Longstride's not going to shoot at you!" Scarlet said with a laugh. Rainbow raised an eyebrow in response. "They've got some kind of ceasefire going on until we deal with whatever attacked the Royal Palace. Besides, the Thorns ran off as soon as all the fighting was over."
'That can't be right," Rainbow said. She bit her lower lip. Scarlet's response should have let her relax, but all it did was irritate her some more. "You mean they just came here to help fight Gravitas's soldiers and then went away?"
"Well, they might be hanging around somewhere in Canterlot," Scarlet said. "You know Black Rose's agents."
"No," Rainbow muttered. "I don't know the first thing about Black Rose's agents. That's the problem."
"So what are you going to do if you find him anyway?" Scarlet asked. "Kill him? We're sort of bound not to, you know. Heard it was Princess Celestia's orders."
"He shot me in the flank!" Rainbow grit her teeth, the pain and humiliation of that moment flashing within her mind again. She now understood why she hated being stuck in bed. Staying still made her think things through and she hated doing that. Confined to that bed, she had thought about plenty of things: from how she felt about racing Scarlet, to her time as an ophidite captive, to that time when she felt something she was sure had something to do with the Element of Loyalty. Also among them was how Longstride managed to hit her from so far away even though she was going very fast. "He deserves a bolt where his cutie mark should be!" She eyed the crossbow she had strapped to her side. "I'd beat him up at least!"
"Sounds like fun," Scarlet said. "He shot me in the flank too so I'd love to go too..."
"But?"
"Yeah..." Scarlet smiled sheepishly. "The Captain's got me saddled with a bunch of things to do before the Legion moves out for Sky Mirror Lake. Hope you catch him, Rainbow Dash. Bloody his snout for me, will you?"
Rainbow watched as Scarlet disappeared in a blink. His speed no longer surprised her, nor did his nonchalant violence. After what had happened to them with the ophidites, she had begun to agree with Vanguard Clash. Too much had been taken away from Scarlet to give him his speed and power. Some of the admiration she had felt back in Bastion City had turned into pity. How would have Scarlet turned out if those snake-monsters hadn't messed him up? Would he have been so much happier? She shook her head, however. She had other things to take care of. Things like hunting down a pegasus sniper and beating some answers out of him.
Rainbow rubbed her jaw with a hoof. Now, where would somepony armed with a bow that could shoot at anything in sight be? The most obvious location would be the highest tower in all of Canterlot, the spot where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would go to watch out for their subjects during times of trouble. She heard legionnaires call it "the peeping nest". She supposed that it could be used for that as well. Longstride could certainly use it to get his sights on anything he wanted in Canterlot. However, that spot was highly exposed. Anypony would quickly be able to tell that there was a sniper there as soon as Longstride took his first shot. No, it had to be a well-hidden spot that had a good vantage point.
'Not going to shoot at me, huh?' Rainbow thought. Scarlet's words did make some sense. During the earlier fight, Longstride was actually helping them. If he had wanted to assassinate her, he had plenty of chances. Still, her heart started beating faster when she dared to peek out a window. She stuck out as little of her head as possible. For the first time in her life, she cursed at her very visible rainbow-colored mane.
No arrow struck her head, however, allowing her a good look at the cityscape. Canterlot loved its long, thin spires. With her first sweep of the place alone, she spotted dozens of potential hiding places. She sat back down. Here was another time to think things through.
Rainbow considered asking for help. She knew that Special Operations had a lot of ponies out there to keep an eye and an ear on things. They probably already knew where Longstride had holed up, or, at least, had a really good idea. However...she didn't want to involve the Legion in this. They'd want to do things their way. They might try to arrest him, or they would chase him away. That wasn't how she wanted things to happen. It would be better if she could fight Longstride without a squad of legionnaires insisting on doing things by the book.
Her friends might be the better choice. She ruled Fluttershy out right away. Fluttershy was strong in her own way and good at a lot of things. Hunting down a pegasus sniper was not one of them. She was also a goody-four-shoes, and was more likely to protect Longstride if they did get the jump on him.
Applejack would just scold her for focusing on this instead of resting up like the princesses told them to do. Rarity would likely do the same. Rainbow didn't want to try. Applejack might use that magic chain to lasso her and tie her to a bed while Rarity would keep her fenced in with those blades.
There was no doubt that Twilight Sparkle would have a spell or two to help track down and detain Longstride. Or blow him up, electrocute him, freeze him in a block of ice, and melt him into a puddle. But Twilight was also guaranteed to be working on something more important than chasing after a Thorn who was not their biggest priority for the moment. She could be researching spells that could help against Gravitas this very moment and would snap at anypony who dared to disturb her.
That left Pinkie Pie.
"Yup, it's all up to me," Rainbow thought. She looked around again, marking each spire in her mind and creating a route that would allow her to check each of them out without double-backing and fast enough to avoid alerting Longstride. With a route and a place to take cover and plan again in mind, she started stretching her wings. Her heart was already beating fast and she hadn't even started warming up. Every encounter she had with Longstride, she wasn't aware that he was already watching. This time would be different. She was going to match her speed against his sight. This time, she was going to win.
The window frame and the palace hall she was hiding in were gone in a heartbeat. The overcast sky suggested more snowfall, Fenrir's snow of course, for the quickly approaching night. There wasn't much time to work with. The cityscape turned into a white blur as she flew into her first target. The stopped by one tower just quickly enough to peer into the window. When she saw nothing, she moved on, never stopping for more than a couple of seconds. She resisted the urge to follow a descending order, checking out the highest spots first before working her way downwards. That would be too predictable. Her chosen route moved up and down as erratically as she could make it. It seemed to be working too. She still didn't have an arrow in her flank.
More windows, none of which held what she wanted to see, streaked past her vision. She heard a couple of screams, some surprised gasps, an angry curse, and a desperate shout of "this isn't what it looks like". Still, no Longstride. She had zipped through nearly all of Canterlot's higher spires when doubt began to trickle in. Maybe Longstride wasn't even in the city. Maybe he did run off back to his mistress's lair as soon as he was done "helping" against Caro Artifex...
One window brought her to a sudden stop. She recognized the unicorn stallion lounging on a sofa and cleaning what looked like a curved blade. He spotted her too and his horn flashed briefly as he did so. Rainbow squinted at the light and then recognized who he was.
"What a pleasant surprise, Rainbow Dash, I would have thought you'd be resting by now." Lion Court sheathed his blade and walked over to the window.
"Hi, Lion Court," Rainbow replied. "I'm looking for Longstride, do you know where he is?"
Lion Court raised an eyebrow and stroke his impressive beard with a hoof. "Longstride? Now why would you be looking for him?"
Rainbow Dash slammed her front hooves together. "To beat him up for shooting me! Oh, and to...uh...ask him stuff."
Lion Court chuckled and grinned. There was something so predatory about the way he did so that Rainbow shuddered. "I suppose he does have it coming. You won't find Longstride in the city, Rainbow Dash. He's holed up in a niche up near the summit of Mount Unicornia."
Rainbow frowned. "Holed up in a niche?" she asked. "What's he doing up there?"
"His idea of 'being on stand-by'. Don't worry about getting shot at if you approach him. The mistress told him to give you a break after what he put your through."
Rainbow's frowned only deepened. She didn't need a "break". Black Rose and Longstride had some nerve treating her like a filly. "I'm off then," she said.
"Wait!" Lion Court walked towards the window and telekinetically lifted a small box towards Rainbow. "Give him this when you get to him, will you? That silly stallion's probably putting up with dried fruit again. He should really experience what Canterlot Cuisine has to offer!"
"Uh...sure," Rainbow replied. She took the box and and fiddled with some of the straps on her leather barding. When she had secured the box, she gave the unicorn a short wave. "I'm going now."
Lion Court's smile widened. "Take care now, Rainbow Dash. Don't strain yourself. A lot is expected from you in the coming days." Before Rainbow could take off, she saw the door to his room open and three mares, ones with cutie marks, entered. They giggled at Lion Court as he approached. "Ladies," he said.
Rainbow flew off before she had to see anything else. She made her way to the top of the mountain. Up there, with Canterlot's warmth and lights at a distance, the cold winds buffeted her hard enough to give her pause. She shivered as she looked around. Lion Court was right; she shouldn't be straining herself with something so important coming up. She should fly back to the city and get some rest. Longstride could wait.
Except that he was holed up out here, probably reacting to this cold about as much as a tombstone would. He might even be observing her right now. If she fled, he'd shake his head in disgust. Just imagining it was enough to push Rainbow forward. She circled the mountain peak, looking for some niche that could shelter a pony. Eventually, she spotted a rocky overhang that looked suspicious. When she flew over to inspect it, she spotted the small opening into the mountainside. A closer look revealed the dim glow of a fire inside. 'Gotcha!' she thought. She lingered briefly by the entrance just to check for snares or whatnot. Then she swiftly flew in, hoping to catch him unaware.
The "cave" was barely more than a short corridor of natural rock. The entrance was barely large enough to fit Rainbow, and she considered herself particularly sleek. A small fire flickered on the floor, serving more to fill the cave with shadows than light.
Then there was Longstride, sitting by the far end of the cave with his back to the wall. He looked up just as her silhouette filled the entrance. The sight of the surprise in his face filled Rainbow's heart with exhilaration. She got him! The chances were slim, but she got him! For an instant, the two of them stared at each other blankly.
Panic seized Rainbow. She was going to lose her chance, but what was she going to do? Faced with her target, her mind fumbled with the options. She had to do something before he recovered. The thoughts flew from her mind as she flapped her wings. The next thing she knew, she had struck Longstride's midriff head-first, slamming him into the cave wall so hard that dust fell from the low ceiling. The sound of his hurt grunt and the whoosh of his breath being forced out of his body jolted her into pure instinctive motion. She felt her hoof smash into his face, heard the crunch of his head bouncing off the rock wall and then hitting the floor, and saw him roll from the impact a few times. She was on top of him in an instant, ready to rain down blows.
Rainbow's hoof had struck Longstride's face a second time when her mind finally caught up with her body. Something wasn't right. Longstride had raised his forelegs to defend himself, but the surprise should be long gone now. He still wasn't fighting back. She stopped, still defensive, but now also curious. The haze of violence lifted and details of her surroundings began to register. Longstride's bow had flown from him after her initial strike and now lay just a few feet from the entrance. Their scuffle had scattered some of the piled pieces of wood he was burning, reducing the fire to a sputtering, barely-glowing mess of ash and cinder.
As for Longstride, he lowered his forelegs. Despite the blood trickling from his nose and lips, he kept his gaze locked onto Rainbow. At this distance, she could pick more details about his strangely golden irises. They seemed to glow slightly, making it easy to notice them despite the darkness all around. As she had suspected, they did have strange letters around them. What did they mean? And just how much were they capable of?
"Are you done?" Longstride asked. He wheezed and then spat out a glob of bloody phlegm. Rainbow raised a hoof and brought it down on his face. Hesitation felt like chains dragging her foreleg back. She stopped with her hoof just an inch from her face. Despite how close the blow was, Longstride didn't even flinch.
"No!" Rainbow grit her teeth and raised her front hoof again, but the feel of Longstride's body crumpling against her strikes, elating and satisfying as it was just moments ago, left her feeling nauseous. It wasn't fair! He shot her in the flank and left her to an ophidite slaver! He deserved so much more than this little beating! An idea hit her. Longstride wasn't fighting back. He wasn't trying to weasel out of getting his face getting smacked. "Why aren't you fighting back?" she asked.
"To what end?" Longstride asked in return. "Kill me if you have the nerve. Equestria is doomed. You are so stupid that the Elements of Harmony are bound to fail. What difference does it make if I die now or a few days from now?"
Rainbow struck. This time she completed the blow. Her hoof struck Longstride's snout and banged it against the rock floor. Instead of being satisfied, she winced. "I know what you're doing," she said. "You're trying to psych me out. This must be some kind mind trick snipers use when their targets get too close!"
"Psyching you out requires that you actually use your brain, stupid mare," Longstride said.
"Then why won't you fight back?" Rainbow grabbed Longstride by the shoulders and tried to slam him against the ground again. Her forelegs trembled from the effort and she contented herself with just shaking him vigorously. "You shot me in the flank! What's stopping you now?"
Longstride kept his gaze locked onto Rainbow Dash even though she shook him hard enough to rattle his teeth. "Go back to Canterlot already," he said once the shaking stopped. "You're not here to kill me; you would have used that crossbow already if you were."
"I want you to answer some questions first!" Rainbow retorted. She pinned Longstride's shoulders to the floor. "Why'd you shoot me?"
"Orders."
"I know that part! Why were you ordered to?"
"Get off me. It's hard to talk with your hindquarters on my belly."
"Yeah right, and let you grab your bow to shoot me?"
Longstride sighed, wincing as he did so. "I'm not going to shoot you, stupid mare, my orders were to leave you alone while you rested up before going to Sky Mirror Lake. Has it not occurred to you to question why I'm alone in a cave instead of keeping an eye on you?"
Rainbow paused for a moment and then slowly let Longstride back to his hooves. She pulled out her crossbow, loaded it, and aimed at him while he gathered the scattered logs to restart the fire.
Longstride's wild, green mane looked even more disheveled after the beating he had taken. Rainbow wondered if he used his leafy hair and his woodland brown coat to his advantage by standing around looking like a bush when his targets searched for him. His leather barding looked a bit scuffed, but was otherwise fine. As for his face, his cheeks and forehead were already beginning to swell. He bled from several scrapes on his head, a small tear by his ears, his busted lip and broken nose. He moved his jaw around and then spat at the corner. She heard something small and hard skitter across the stone. She lingered around his flank, considering returning the favor. But what if the shot left him unable to talk? She still had something to ask. She shuddered at the thought of having to nurse him until he was well enough to answer. "Well," she muttered. "Scarlet said something about a ceasefire...then Lion Court...but-but I had to be sure!"
Longstride looked ready to make another derisive remark while she was talking, but he stopped and frowned when she mentioned Lion Court. "Is that how you found me here?" he asked. "Lion Court told you?"
"Yeah! He even asked me to give you this-!" Rainbow stopped as a sharp pain seized her head. Lion Court asked her to do what? Something wasn't right here. Weren't Longstride and Lion Court friends? So why was she doing Lion Court favors? "Ow! Hey, wait! He's a Thorn! Just like you! How did he-?" She looked to the small box strapped to her barding. "And he even got me to deliver your dinner!"
Longstride searched the floor for a while and then picked up what looked like pieces of metal and stone. He struck them together, sending sparks onto the gathered bits of wood. "It appears you have a brain after all," he said flatly. "Lion Court had to manipulate something." His voice lowered to an angry mutter that Rainbow had to strain to hear. "He's going to pay for this."
"So why were you ordered to shoot me in the flank?"
Longstride settled into a corner once the fire was going again. "The ophidites are masters of turning ponies against their kin. If anything can draw out the Element of Loyalty, it's them. I shot you so you'd be captured. So the ophidites can test you."
"I could have been killed!"
Longstride's eyes narrowed. "Better that you had died then. Better to have you fail at that point instead of during a more crucial time."
Rainbow's grip on her crossbow tightened until it started to tremble. She flew into him, shoving him against the cave's wall and forcing him to rear up. "I should shoot you right now," she growled. "You're all alone in this hole: you've got nopony coming to bail you out, your bow's out of reach, and I've got a bolt to your face. Who'd be the stupid mare then, huh?"
Longstride didn't even flinch when the bolt pressed hard enough to draw blood. "You," he said. "Seeing as you're the only mare here."
Rainbow jammed her crossbow's stock just below Longstride's ribs before backing up. He doubled over, coughing and wheezing, but he still didn't look away from her. "And you're so great and smart, right?" she asked. "You and your super-eyes, and super-bow, and your super secret group!"
Longstride righted himself and sat down. He was breathing hard when he answered. "You don't understand, stupid mare. Not surprising with your short-sighted bumbling." He looked over to the bow still lying by the cave's entrance. "A great sacrifice was made to create that bow." He touched his eye with a hoof. "Another was made to create the eyes that could use it to its potential. A third to create the back that won't break while a lifetime was spent to master it." He settled down and caught his breath. "It's not about me being smart and great. It's about making sure that everything I do is worthy of what I've been given."
Rainbow pressed her lips together. She hated the idea of it, but she did feel as if she was shrinking when his gaze went from contemptuous to angry.
"And yet here you are, blessed with natural talent abundant enough for a dozen ponies, graced with a destiny worthy of so much sacrifice. You threaten to waste it all on what? Proving that you are the fastest? Revenge? You were given an important time to rest and to prepare for a difficult time ahead. Instead, you wasted your energy chasing after me. I thought you had gained some measure of caution during your ordeal, stupid mare. I was wrong. What a foal I was for having faith."
Rainbow lowered stepped back and lowered the crossbow. "I know I should be resting. But I knew you were around," she said softly. "I wasn't sure if I could find any other time to ask."
"Ask what? What's so important for you to know that you'd risk the fate of Equestria to find out?"
"Oh stop being so dramatic!" Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Is everything always about 'the fate of Equestria' to you Thorns?" Longstride continued to stare quietly, leaving Rainbow flustered. "Back in Ghastly Gorge...with that...that stallion," she said quietly. "Why'd you save me?"
The contempt in Longstride's gaze disappeared. For the first time since Rainbow burst into the cave, he looked away. "I...don't know."
Rainbow's frown returned. "What do you mean, you don't know?" she asked.
"I shouldn't have," Longstride continued. "But I did. I don't know why."
Rainbow nearly dropped the crossbow. She grit her teeth as confusion drew her chest tight. Her breathing grew shallow and rapid. "You don't know, huh?" she asked, forcing as much mocking in her tone as possible. "Guess you're a stupid stallion, doing things without thinking!"
"Yes. That's true."
"Don't admit it!" Rainbow snapped. "You're taking away the satisfaction!"
"Are you done?" Longstride asked. "Take what revenge you want and try to salvage some rest out of this fiasco."
Rainbow lowered her crossbow. "You risked my life, then you saved me. I'm not going to kill you just this once. You better have an answer when we meet again!" She faced the exit and started to flap her wings. As she came approached outside, however, it suddenly dawned on her that the winds around Mount Unicornia's summit had picked up to a fierce, howling blizzard. Shivering, she ran back in. "Foal of a nag, that's cold!" she said.
"Stupid mare," Longstride muttered. "So much for your dramatic farewell."
Rainbow turned around and sat opposite of the stallion. "Great, now everypony will think I've gone missing again!" She fell on her tail and rested her chin on her forelegs.
Longstride didn't say anything to that. Instead, he looked as if he was talking to his collar. "This is Longstride," he said. "Sablesteel, are you there?"
"I'm busy, Longstride!" came a very angry reply from, what Rainbow guessed, was a mare.
"The Element of Loyalty is here with me atop Mount Unicornia, please relay this information to the rest of the Elements of Harmony. She will return once this blizzard passes."
"How in the moon princess's star-spangled-! Nevermind! I'll get the information to them! Don't mess things up further, Longstride! And don't try anything stupid while the two of you are up there!"
Longstride turned from his collar and looked at the fire. "It's Rainbow Dash," Rainbow told him. He looked at her questioningly. Rainbow pushed a bit of wood closer to the fire and hugged herself for warmth. "My name's Rainbow Dash, not 'Element of Loyalty' or 'stupid mare'!"
"You're a mare and you've been acting stupidly," Longstride replied. "You also bear the Element of Loyalty. Show me something that befits 'Rainbow Dash' and I'll use the name."
Rainbow opened the box that Lion Court had given her. It was packed with mountain-grown rice, fresh fruit slices, and bamboo shoots. With her stomach rumbling, she grabbed a hoof-ful and stuffed her mouth. She had eaten about two-thirds of the meal when she slid the box over to Longstride. Lion Court had intended it for him after all. She waited for him to swallow a mouthful before speaking. "Do you mean that?" she asked.
For a moment, Longstride's stared at Rainbow as if she was still mocking him. Then he went back to staring at the fire. "Yes," he said softly.