Chapter 1

Celestia glides high above the land, even above the cloud layer, surveying their domain as they drift on thermals. Although they departed Canterlot with little fanfare and elected to travel without escort, they can still detect a fair number of ponies pointing them out and gathering to watch the monarch as they gently flap their wings. The princess’s visage is iconic and distinctive enough that even from a substantial distance, they are quite recognizable.

Celestia smiles imperceptibly, as they think about those on the ground, imagining the conversations as they would question whether they had really seen the Princess of the Sun. But as they fly, the sight of Equestrian civilization gives way to the wild, and that smile disappears. Beneath them now is the Everfree forest.

Celestia can’t help but gaze northwards to the castle poking out of the immense forest with a twinge of pain. It has been years since they had last seen it, and centuries since they had visited. Patience. Celestia thinks, steeling themself to present the calm and regal princess that their subjects expect. You’ve waited centuries; you can wait another hooffull of years.

Celestia puts those thoughts from their mind and focuses on the task at hoof. Flapping their wings harder, they pick up speed. For most of their reign, the vicinity of the Everfree Forest has been completely deserted, the subject of dark rumor and superstition. But now, there is a small village on the edge of the Everfree, named Ponyville. A village that, to the princess, is practically brand new. It’s by far the closest anypony had gotten to the monarch’s old home since that fateful night nearly a millennium ago.

But that village is not their destination. Rather, a far older and more familiar city is. Floating above Ponyville is the pegasus capital of Cloudsdale, performing its typical weather service for the agrarian settlement below.

Banking in flight, Celestia wheels around the cloud city before gliding down to a landing at trotting speed on a plaza near the Wonderbolts academy. The ponies around show the typical deferential, awed expressions that Celestia is used to seeing, magnified by surprise at the princess’s visit. Folding their wings up, Celestia strides up to the guardpony on duty; the Wonderbolts are technically military personnel after all, so their compound is always under watch.

“Y-y-your highness!” The nervous guardspony gulps and lowers his head in a steep bow. Celestia takes the panicked reaction in stride and smiles at him reassuringly.

“At ease, guardspony. May I know your name?” Celestia asks, cordially. A millennium of reigning alone had given them plenty of practice with how to set ponies around them at ease; in their experience, the excessive formality that most ponies outside of Canterlot treated them with was counterproductive to getting to the heart of matters.

“U-um, I’m Blizzard Feather.” The pegasus certainly looks the part, with his blue coat and white wingtips. Celestia nods encouragingly.

“Well, Blizzard Feather, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Celestia smiles at their subject warmly. Though this is essentially padding to get to the point, they aren’t lying; Any day they are able to leave court at Canterlot and see their subjects going about their daily lives is a good day, as far as Celestia is concerned. “Perhaps you can help me with something. There was recently a magical surge over half of Equestria, I’m sure you must have seen it. It could only have been a sonic rainboom, and I would very much like to see the pegasus who accomplished such a feat. Do you know who it was?” Celestia asks, keeping their tone pleasant and casual.

“I, um, don’t know. Your Majesty,” the pegasus states, nervously, keeping his head bowed.

Celestia cocks their head to the side curiously. “You don’t know? Were you not stationed there when it happened?”

Blizzard Feather shakes his head. “No. I mean, yes, I mean ... I was stationed here, but the rainboom didn’t come from here. It came from the lower levels.”

Celestia pauses. They had just assumed that the rainboom must have come from a Wonderbolt—after all, they were the most talented fliers in all of Equestria. But here they were, hearing that it had come from the lower levels. That ... makes no sense. The lower levels are largely for cargo containers, shipping, and flight camp. Why would such a talented flier be there?

Nonetheless, it was a lead to go off of. So, Celestia kicks off the ground once more, and nods their head at Blizzard Feather. “Very well. Thank you for your help, Blizzard Feather. Oh, and give my regards to Windrider. I particularly enjoyed his last performance in Canterlot,” Celestia states warmly.

“Y-yes, ma-am! I mean, sir! I mean, princess!” Blizzard Feather salutes as Celestia takes off once more, ascending away from the long airstrip and cloud base that serves as the Wonderbolts headquarters.

While they fly down, Celestia ponders why such an event would occur down in the training camps. Perhaps one of the fillies fell, and an instructor had performed the rainboom in their struggle to save them? That would certainly be a commendable feat. There are other buildings down here, of course—maintenance areas, housing for some pegasi who work in the shipping business, and the large cargo stations used for handling shipments to and from Cloudsdale. But it seems highly improbable the rainboom had anything to do with them, even more so than the training sections.

The flight camp area is not like the rest of Cloudsdale; there aren’t many things one would consider ‘buildings’, just a variety of clouds connected by columns and pillars, with obstacle courses, racing circuits, and goalposts as far as the eye can see. These training fields serve not only the youth of Cloudsdale, but all of Equestria, with young pegasi traveling to Cloudsdale to learn.

Looking from cloud to cloud, a hubbub of attention catches Celestia’s eye. There is a large group of excitable fillies, and one gryphon, all gathered together, cheering. Ah. These must have seen the Rainboom. Celestia thinks to themself before gliding down to join the group.

“Good morning, my little ponies. Can any of you tell me where the wave of light an hour ago came from?” Celestia asks gently. The young fliers, interrupted from the center of their attention, notice the princess and gasp in shock in unison.

“Is that ... who I think it is?” “P-P-Princess Celestia!?” “I-I’m talking to the princess! T-the princess is talking to me!”

Celestia waits patiently for the awe of the ponies around them to fade, while a lone filly from the group struts up in front of Celestia boldly. She’s a young, cyan toned pegasus with a messy prismatic mane. Unlike all of the other ponies around, this filly doesn’t look even a little nervous or deferential to the princess, puffing out her chest proudly and standing upright and tall. Celestia raises their brow; it’s rare to see anypony, even young ponies who didn’t know better, who would approach the monarch of Equestria so readily.

“It was me!” The filly announces. “I was racing to protect Flutters’s honor, an’ I made the rainboom happen by going so fast to the finish line!”

Celestia giggles a little. Not only is the filly bold, but she has quite the imagination as well. Celestia lays down, putting themself on eye level with the filly, who stares into Celestia’s eyes with fierce pride writ upon her features. “Oh? And what is your name?” Celestia asks, softly.

Putting her chin up in the air and flaring her wings out to the sides, striking a quite heroic looking pose, the filly announces with all the gravitas she can muster, “Rainbow Dash!”

What a feisty little pony. Celestia thinks approvingly. It is a nice change of pace, compared to the normal deference—even fear—their presence usually instills. Like that experienced by all of the other colts and fillies around, who are currently standing back in nervous awe. “Well, Rainbow Dash, are you sure it wasn’t somepony else? Maybe one of your instructors had to catch you...?” Celestia gently asks. They don’t want to directly accuse the filly of lying, but there is obviously no way such a young pegasus could have pulled off such a feat, which had never before been accomplished by any mere pegasus.