Chapter Text
She froze.
Evidently the guards didn't give her as much cover as she initially thought. The pegasus that stood a few paces away was staring right back at her. Occasionally she would sharply look away, but her gaze continued to return to her. Her eyes were a vibrant magenta, blazing with confusion and surprise. Twilight shot her a flash of a smile, but it only confused the Wonderbolt more as she looked away again. It took everything in the princess to not laugh.
She didn't know what it was about her - other than the obvious rainbow mane cover up - that made it impossible for Twilight to look away. She knew staring was rude, but she couldn't help it. The pegasus finally looked back over at her again, and this time she didn't look away after a second or two. 'Hi,' Twi mouthed, the smile back on her face. The other finally reacted to her with the absolute smallest and briefest nod she'd ever seen. And she lived in the castle.
The applause finally snapped her out of it. She looked back behind the guards to the stage, where a commanding officer was accepting a medal from Basalt. Her eyes shot up automatically after getting the feeling she was being watched, and lo and behold, Celestia was glancing at her from her seat overlooking the stage. Twilight smiled sheepishly at her foster mother who returned the smile with an impressed one. Maybe I can... No, wait, what if she doesn't catch on? Still, she brought her attention back to the Wonderbolt, who was back to looking stern and fully focused on the event.
She had to know more.
"Your highness, may I speak with you?" Queen Celestia looked confused.
"You know you can speak to me whenever you wish, Twilight." The aforementioned princess smiled apologetically.
"I know, but this time, I'd like it to be... private?" Her foster mother's face dropped all hints of pleasantries and gently nodded. Twilight took a deep breath. Here goes. She began casting a spell, the drain on her energy already hitting her like a wall, something she was expecting. The sealing barrier eventually formed around the two of them and she sighed. "It's getting a little easier." Celestia chuckled.
"What seems to be the issue?"
"It's nothing bad! At least, I don't think it is. It's just-" Her brain almost immediately went off like an alarm and she frantically looked to her sides. Woah. Calm down. Nopony can hear anything. The spell she had cast was something she had picked up during one of her long nights reading until the crack of dawn. It disallowed anyone outside the barrier to hear or see what was happening inside of it, and she'd only ever cast it in a situation like this twice before.
I hope I'm right about this.
"I think one of the Wonderbolts... one of the ones that was standing at the ceremony, I think... I think she has..." Nopony can hear you. "I-I think she has a rainbow mane." It was Celestia's turn to freeze. Twilight was close to The Queen, more than anypony, but she'd never seen her so appalled.
"That is a very bold claim to make, Princess Twilight," she began after a moment of silence, her face slightly hardening. The evening alicorn saw the concern there too, though, and relaxed a bit. "What made you arrive at this conclusion?"
So she told her. About the missing back mane, about the very slight panicked expression she saw (though that might've been because there was a princess staring at her), and about the rest of the Wonderbolts there with her not possessing more than one color in their manes.
"I know this isn't a lot of information, or even evidence for that matter, but that's what I came to talk to you about." Oh please say yes please say yes please say yes- The pegasus flashed into her brain for a second -please say yes... "...I'd like the chance to either confirm or deny my suspicions. I would request to meet this Wonderbolt in my quarters and possibly ask her a few questions - with this same spell, of course." She watched Celestia's face intently, waiting for anything, watching for her thinking to stop. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, and a brief exhale:
"I will consult with the Wonderbolt's commanding officer-" an immediate smile creeped up that she couldn't stop, "-only under the pretense that if the Wonderbolts are harboring such an asset, that I must know why they chose to keep it a secret. I will also allow this under the fact that if I were to say no, I am aware you would stress yourself until near death wondering." A smile finally crossed Celestia's face. "I would not want that."
Twilight dipped her head in thanks, almost bowing but catching herself halfway. The excitement was near impossible to hold back. Something new! Something not even Celestia knows about! Something… Something? This was a mare she was thinking about. A pony. Like her. Why was she treating her that way? Was-
"You may dispel the barrier whenever you wish. I will have an escort retrieve you when the Wonderbolt arrives." Twilight nodded after a second, bringing down the spell she had cast. This time, she fully bowed before The Queen, who smiled warmly at her from the throne. As she began to walk out, Celestia spoke again with a chuckle, "Good work on your 'Princess Voice'." The princess gave her a flustered smile with a nod and exited the throne room.
Despite everything in her brain wanting to stop right there and break down what had crossed her thoughts, she held it in, past the portraits, past the guards (of which some gave her a weird but subtle look, and she didn't blame them), down the hall and into her room. She nearly exploded by the time she magicked the door shut.
"'Something'? " The princess breathed out, flabbergasted at herself. "Why did I think of her as a something? She's not-" Wait. I'm in my room. Her eyes fixated on the window directly in front of her. Continuing this up here... WHY DID I THINK OF THAT PEGASUS AS A SOMETHING? I've never called another pony a 'thing' before! That's not like me! That is not me! Royals don't talk like that!
Wait. Twilight froze mid-pace.
Did the word 'asset' count as a thing? That's a possessive pronoun.
Celestia used that word to describe the Wonderbolt earlier.
What?
What in Equestria had the Princess of It been doing there?
Rainbow Dash had heard that she was super analytical and did nothing but read, so the look on her face hadn't bothered the pegasus that much. The whole "staring at her for a prolonged period of time" part was what had alarmed her.
As she stretched inside the cool, makeshift tent the palace workers had set up for her and her comrades, she couldn't stop thinking about the purple alicorn that wasn't even there for more than a few minutes. In total, she hadn't even been there for most of the ceremony (which included the speech that went on forever), but The Princess was the only thing she could remember. She'd heard from Cirrus Summit and Midnight Breeze that the pony (what was her name again? Dawnbright? Moonwrite? Starlight?) she'd seen was pretty and all, but Dash hadn't expected to-
Stop. No emotions. You are as solid as stone. Let nothing break you down.
UGH, get out of my LIFE, militia mantra. Besides, she's royalty. They don't care about us.
Dash was under the firm assumption (that was fueled by passing conversation) that nopony in the palace gave a flying feather about anything but themselves. They never seemed to do anything but watch. Not a single time was any order ever administered by The Grand And Regal Queen Of Equestria, so why did any of them have to care about her? She didn't know the inner workings of the castle, sure, but it couldn't be that complicated. The war should be taking up all of their time.
It wasn't. She knew that for a fact. The hundreds of new outfits and books Wysteria Winds raved about getting the chance to see and wanting to read proved regular life was going on there, in the city of Canterlot, where life seemed to be unaffected by the thing that had claimed so many of her friends' lives.
Was Celestia aware of the total number of her subjects that were dead?
"Hey Dash," The Wonderbolt whipped around to see Jagged Dive standing there, expression as smug as their commander's on a good day. "Lost in the clouds again?" If there was a list of ponies she'd like to punch in the face, Jagged would be at the top. Nopony else intentionally got on her nerves as much as the snow-white mare in the entrance to the tent.
"What do you want, Jagged?" Dash said, watching the pegasus' smirk grow wider.
"I know what your game is."
"What 'game'?" She responded, annoyed. Jagged was extremely full of herself. RD was plenty aware of how jealous she was about the poorly-hidden-to-the-others "special treatment" Dash got. Get off my flank for a minute. I dare you.
"I saw you staring at The Princess," WHAT- "and don't you try to dismiss me. I know what I saw, miss 'I have no emotions in public and follow everypony's order to a T.'" Dash squinted at her after closing her mouth. "I'm surprised you feel anything at all."
"It's not like that!" The cyan pegasus retorted, trying to shove every thought that started to cross her mind to the side. The last thing she wanted was Jagged blabbering to the whole squad. "Why do you care?" She didn't think it was possible for the other Wonderbolt's face to get any more annoying.
"I'll tell Commander Glidewave that you slacked off - in front of The Queen, nonetheless - and that you drew attention to yourself. Who knows? Maybe you might get decommissioned for a few weeks or something."
The alicorn's stare and the endless drills flooded her brain simultaneously. They started to blend together and she flinched reflexively, hearing the shouting and the tainted image of what she had seen. She didn't want to, but the blended imagery of The Princess shouting orders and drilling mantras and how imperative it was to stay hidden was forming steadily in her brain. She had to make this stop. Think about it. Her method to calm herself down was to think about a scenario she had come up with, one that put her at ease almost instantly. Dash sighed after a while. Stupid mantra. ...Why would she care anyway?
"What do you want from me?"
"Stop stealing my spotlight. Just because you're in every unit doesn't mean you need to show off; don't rescue every single pony that looks like they slightly need help. I deserve this more than you do. I worked too hard to get to where I am. You get everything hoof-fed to you."
Nopony knew about her status except the higher-ups of the force - and, well, herself and the parents she didn't remember. They carefully made it so not even the other Wonderbolts knew and placed her in a division that would best fit her mane colors; red, for the strike unit, but her mane colors were a sneaky way of saying she belonged to all three of them. She understood Jagged's frustration; she wasn't too happy herself with the "hoof-fed privileges" she was given, either. It only meant she wasn't allowed to be herself, both physically and in the way she acted. She was supposed to blend in with the crowd and not make everypony stare. Failing to do so would... make her disappear from the planet. She'd be put into hiding for the rest of her life, like how it was when she was a filly.
Not that she remembered much about that.
Jagged glared at her intensely, now nearly in her face. I know I shouldn't agree to this, but if they found out... Besides, she belonged primarily to the strike unit, and if anypony thought about calling her out, hopefully they would recognize that. The two faced off for a brief moment before Dash finally reacted.
"Fine," she retorted, "but don't blame me for anything that happens." She knew drawing attention to herself was bad, but Dash couldn't help herself in those moments. She wouldn't let anypony else die. Jagged smirked at her and finally exited Dash's tent after getting her point across. How did that pegasus even get permitted into the academy?
As she resumed her stretching, a frown formed its way onto her face. It's not like she liked charging into battle for what felt like every breathing second of her life. It was always on-edge. Anything could go wrong at any minute. Dash hated it, the way her senses went on overdrive whenever she was out in the open, the kick in the gut all of the training was, how even when she was in a sturdy building everything felt like it was going to collapse on top of her. The war was her life, and she wanted nothing to do with it anymore.
She didn't have much of a choice. That was the biggest thing she wished she had: a say over her own life. Sometimes Dash caught herself down those long-winded daydreams, where she lived in a quiet town where the nation wasn't hostile towards anyone, able to fly wherever she wanted without having to fear that something would shoot her out of the sky. Occasionally she thought about the future, a dream she knew wouldn't come true, because it now suddenly involved Th-
Stop that! The pegasus batted away the mental image from before. There's no way anyone, let alone her, would pay any attention to you! Not in that way! I'm supposed to be hidden. I'm just a tool to them. A secret weapon. Her face morphed into a scowl. That's all I'll ever be.
She wanted to be something more.
"Private Dash,-" she shoved the want to groan all the way to the deepest pits of her mind, "-you're needed on official business. Come with me." Commander Glidewave directed, stepping out of the tent and striding off. Dash kicked away the last of her rested joints (and free time) and hurried to meet her commander's pace. They walked past the center of the makeshift camp they had made and started down a side road that led in the direction of Canterlot. She did her best to ignore the few glares directed at her as they left. Where were they even going? Glidewave wasn't taking her to a secluded spot to rat her out because Jagged told him anyway… right?
They steadily approached a few guards waiting outside of the gates to the grand city. She knew better than to prod her commanding officer for information, but alarm bells were still going off like crazy in her brain. Dash still bit back her tongue. Glidewave strode a few feet in front of her and she stopped when he did. He dipped his head to them, and the two guards nodded in reply, and all eyes turned to her. The sky-blue pegasus hesitantly took a step forward, and upon her fleet's commander not saying a word of disapproval, cautiously-but-sternly continued until she stood in front of the stallions.
The tallest among them opened the gate and entered, waiting for her to follow suit. Dash took one look over her shoulder, at Glidewave, who was already walking away, and stepped into the city. The other guard trailed behind them and they began making their way up a cemented street. The purple and yellow buildings that surrounded them were at least something to look at for a while as Dash struggled to form a sentence.
"Wh.. Where are we going?" She chose to say, hoping the question didn't get her lectured. Neither of the guards answered as they continued down the street. Smells and sounds hit her every so often; a waft of really, really good something that she couldn't place but would've loved to know, a loud outburst of laughter that oozed with arrogance, a nice candle in a window that nearly made her stop. The guard suddenly veered right and into a back alleyway, and the Wonderbolt hesitantly followed, the second stallion still behind her. The guard in front retrieved a key from a pouch on his armor and stopped suddenly, opening the door that stared back at them. Dash worriedly peered inside, expecting to see some kind of torture chamber or prison cell, but only saw a tunnel that was lit by torches on the wall.
The door shut behind them as the three of them walked down the corridor, which turned every so often, but the guard in front of her remained undeterred.
"We're taking you to the castle," A voice suddenly broke the silence, slightly echoing around them - and in her skull. What? "The Queen requested an audience with you and you alone." WHAT? What in Equestria would Queen Celestia want to talk to her about? Was The Queen somehow all knowing and was aware of how many times Dash had called her out internally? Of how many times she'd cursed her for seeming like Her Royal Highness didn't care?
Am I gonna die?
She thought about that for a second. No. Get it together. Not even The Queen would kill the only rainbow-maned pegasus in existence.
An invisible brick hit her right in the face. The Princess. The Princess of Equestria had seen her - and was ogling at her the entire ceremony as far as Dash knew. She was now completely positive the lavender alicorn was aware of her secret. There was no way she hadn't blabbered to her mom, therefore making her known to unwanted ponies and dooming her to a life permanently in secrecy. The shouting she had mistakenly accompanied the alicorn with before disappeared and now only that dumb smile on her face-
STOP IT.
The sunlight hitting her face made her stop for just a split second before entering the courtyard with the guards. Dash glanced upwards at where she thought the throne room was and felt her face harden. Pretty soon she was going to be standing in the last place she would ever want to be - aside from back on the frontline. Why was Queen Celestia even asking to see her? The royals didn't care about her, the Wonderbolts, or anything that wasn't immediately in the city.
As they continued up the staircase to the main doors, the pegasus' heart started to race. Even though she knew she shouldn't care, this was still The Queen she was going to see. The ruler of an entire nation and could request for anything and not be argued with. She could have Dash exiled for insubordination for thinking the things she did... if Queen Celestia knew, anyhow. Her legs and wings were screaming at her to run, to get away, to save herself from whatever was beyond those doors. The stallion in front of her opened the doors and stepped inside, and she was forced to follow suit.
The air inside was suffocating. The ceilings were high, but the immediate pressure she felt on herself was overwhelming. This was the palace, and she was actually inside of it. There weren't many Wonderbolts - or any low-ranking soldier in the force, really - that have ever stepped hoof inside the walls of the capital building of Equestria. Yet, here she was, in the marble palace that only seemed more intimidating the further they walked along.
Why am I freaking out? This is just... It's not like... What does it matter? I'll be in and out. What kind of reaction would Queen Celestia even give her upon their meeting? 'Ah, Private Dash of the Wonderbolts. How pleasant of you to join me this afternoon. Do you want to explain why you have a rainbow mane?' Mock-Celestia hummed in her brain, sitting at her throne. 'Oh, it's just something I was born with. I was forced into the war because of it - but now that you know I'm sure the rest of Canterlot does. Can you make sure my cell isn't full of spiders?' She replied to "The Queen". Ra- Dash shook her head slightly, tossing a few other scenarios to the side.
Another set of doors soon loomed over the three of them. They may have been the tallest doors she had ever seen. There were two guards standing post, and the unicorn between them nodded to the lead guard that had spoken to her and began opening the doors. When they did, the breeze that hit her was formidable. Was this it? Was she about to get the sternest talking to of her entire life?
A bright hallway graced her instead as they started down it, the two guards joining them. Chill out, RD. Get it together and you'll be fine. Instead of focusing on what was ahead (the throne room doors, she guessed), Dash looked around at the paintings that hung on the walls and nearly stopped in her place at the realization. All of the paintings, all ten or so of them that met her gaze, were portraits of important figures in the war. Officer Ivory, Captain Brisk Flight, Commander Crimson Dust... Each name rang out clear in her head as she noticed them. Her view of the royals, that assumption that they didn't care... Everything came crashing down internally.
She was wrong this entire time?
The doors in front of them slowly opened by the unicorn among the group, and the regality of the room was overbearing. She followed the stallion into the room, noting the stained glass windows that lit up the room - more so than the previous one. After a few more paces into the throne room, the guards began filing out in a line to either side of her; two on the left and two on the right. Directly ahead of them was The Queen herself, seated at the throne, her face unreadable but gentle. This whole time Dash had discredited her as somepony who didn't care about anything but acting pretty, but after seeing the last room, she didn't know what to think anymore. Who are you?
The clattering of armor next to her reminded her to bow, and after doing so, the two guards that had joined them in their walk here exited, shutting the doors behind them. Dash looked back to The Queen after rising, who was now staring at her, and the pegasus nervously held her gaze for a few seconds before looking down slowly. What am I supposed to do?
"Thank you for answering my summons," Queen Celestia spoke, her voice warm. Was she putting on an act? Dash wished she knew. "I know today must be busy for you all." The only response the Wonderbolt gave was a curt nod, unsure of how to react - or if she was even supposed to reply at all. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but this matter is most urgent."
Images of the worst flashed in her brain. Please, if you really are the way you seem, please don't send me to confinement. Please let me live. If you can hear me - PLEASE don't kill me or whatever. She had to force herself to not shake, the slight awkwardness of the situation only making her nervousness worsen. If Dash had really been wrong this entire time... What if it's just a front? The fact that we still never hear from the palace must be some kind of point against them, right?
Was she called here for the reason she assumed? Was it in her place to ask?
"C.. Ca-"
The doors behind them flung open in a hurry, cutting off Dash and saving her from whatever punishment might've been awaiting her.
"Sorry! I was just caught up in writing some things down and totally lost track of time." The voice got closer as it spoke, and the pegasus caught movement from the guard to her left out of the corner of her eye. Dash only dared to glance up as hoofsteps grew closer and eventually a figure stopped next to her, peaking her curiosity.
Her breath caught in her throat again as Dash's eyes met The Princess's. After all the half-pictured ways she'd thought about, the lavender alicorn was finally standing there, face to face with her, eyes as wide as her own. They stood there, gazes locked, neither of them able to move an inch. This was the first time she'd been this close to royalty and Dash wasn't nearly as mad as she thought she'd be.
The pegasus was stunned to silence. The Princess had very visible snarls in her mane and her eyes were even more stunning- piercing up close. Her horn had a noticeable chipped area at the base and freckles that dotted her face. She snapped out of it when the alicorn gradually looked away, and over to The Queen, and maybe none of those things were that noticeable and Dash had been focusing way too hard. She lingered on The Princess for a moment longer, spotting a pencil nestled behind her ear and underneath her crown. Maybe.
"That's alright, Princess Twilight." Twilight, the name echoed in Dash's brain. Her guesses from before were close. Queen Celestia's stature was unchanging as she spoke, "Gallant, Steelshield, you may leave us." The remaining guards, the ones that had led her to the palace, bowed before leaving the room to just the three mares. The Queen shut the door behind them.
Dash was left alone in a room with the two alicorns that she had believed this entire time to not care about the war. Conflicting thoughts fought in her mind as she felt the gaze of both of them on her.
"I understand this invitation here was rather sudden, but the matter at present is of dire importance." Does she always talk like this? The pegasus mentally kicked herself. Focus! "Recently, The Princess had discovered our archives on Wonderbolt history was left unfinished, and I would be grateful if you could assist her in completing our understanding of your fleet."
What? Dash's brain shut off. All of that worrying was for no reason? This was what the Royal Grand Queen Celestia wanted her help with? Why her and not any random Wonderbolt - wouldn't a Commander or Captain be more suited for this kind of job? How was it left unfinished? Wait- what about her rainbow mane??? Did The Princess really not know? Was Dash worrying this whole time for NO REASON?
"O-Of course, Your Majesty," The Wonderbolt stammered, realizing she had been standing there in silence for a good moment. "I would be honored." That was a tiny lie. I would rather want to do literally anything else. The history behind and of the branch of the military she belonged to was long - and sort of unnecessary to drill into each of their heads, but it was there. The Queen smiled warmly at her and dipped her head in thanks.
"We should probably get on that, then," Princess Twilight hummed, and she looked at Dash for a second before watching for The Queen's reply. The alicorn in question nodded again, and the excitement The Princess showed was hard to miss. Why is she so... interested in this? The two of them bowed, the Wonderbolt after The Princess, and she followed the purple alicorn out of the throne room. Only when the doors shut behind them (courtesy of Princess Twilight) did she allow herself to relax a bit. Thank the stars that part is over with.
Dash cautiously followed yet another pony back out of the hallway with the portraits, taking one last look at each of them before they exited that room as well. I really don't know anything about the royals, she realized, watching The Princess as she nearly bounded ahead. She didn't know what she was expecting, but this was definitely one of the last things. Hostility or disinterest was her first guess.
After another flight of stairs, the two of them stopped in front of yet another door, Dash hesitantly stepping in after Princess Twilight.
"Could you get the door, please?" The aforementioned Princess called out from the other side of the room, standing in front of a vast bookshelf, squinting at it intensely. The off-duty Wonderbolt nodded to the air and did as requested, turning around and taking in her surroundings afterwards. There was a window facing her a few paces ahead, a bed to her right (that looked ridiculously fancy, with the drapes and pillows everywhere), a desk to the left of the window that was full of pencils and quills and scattered papers, and a bookshelf on the left wall that housed the most books in one place that Dash had ever seen.
The alicorn's horn lit up her room and a pink aura began forming along the walls, steadily climbing until it formed a sort-of bubble around the entire space. The Princess sighed after the spell's effects slowly disappeared. "That's the second time I've had to cast that today," she spoke without looking over to her. What did she just do? Is she gonna kill me and casted that so nopony will hear? She glanced worriedly at the now lowered blinds over the window. The light fixture above them flickered softly.
Princess Twilight let out an 'aha!' and magicked a book down from its place on the shelf, hovering it in front of her and setting it down on the floor. She flipped it open in a hurry and paged through it as she sat down. "Is Celestia... a bad liar?" She finally spoke, taking Dash off guard. Huh? Alarm bells were ringing as clear as the day said Queen brought forth. Wh... Don't tell me. She righted her posture as The Princess glanced up at her and their eyes met again. "I mean, I know she is, but I was just curious if it was obvious to anyone else." The smile on her face was the most confusing factor. Can she see right through me?
"Your Highness, I... don't follow." Please tell me you're not about to. The Princess looked at her with her mouth open for a second before her eyes lit up.
"Oh! This isn't exactly about recording the 'inner history of the Wonderbolts' or anything like that," Dash's eyes shot open, "I wanted to ask you about someth- ...I wanted to ask you a personal question." Does she... There's no... Why wouldn't she have... Why did she lie to The Queen? Princess Twilight stood up and looked directly at her, and their eyes met for the utmost time. "The spell I cast before makes it so no one can hear us, so please don't feel like you have to lie to protect yourself or anything." Dash wasn't sure if she was controlling her emotions very well at the sign of The Princess' tiny smile.
Please don't ask what I think you're about to.
"Do you have a rainbow mane?"