Empire of Mercy
Copyright© 2025 by Daelyx Len Auphydas
Chapter 4
Rainbow Dash trots in through the door of her home with considerably more enthusiasm than she had left it earlier that day. It’s still not that late in the day, and her mother and father are currently having breakfast at the table. But as soon as Rainbow Dash opens the door, they both whirl around, faces lighting up.
“Oh, sweetie, you’re back! Did you have fun with your friends?” Windy asks, and Rainbow Dash shrugs.
“Maybe. Not important right now. I’ve thought it over, and I want to go to Canterlot.” Rainbow Dash announces, not mincing words. Once she made up her mind, that was all there was to say.
Windy Whistle blinks at Rainbow Dash, surprised. “Just like that? After all that fussing about you did this morning?”
Rainbow Dash nods, and jumps up on one of the chairs to talk to her more directly. “I made up my mind, what more is there to say?” Rainbow Dash states, bluntly. “I mean, I gotta go tell my friends I guess.”
Bow walks up by his daughter and ruffles her mane. “There’s the Dashie we know, always eager to run off at a moment’s notice!” But after that statement, his tone turns more serious. “But, that might be for the best. Cloudsdale will be heading south soon and the trip will only get longer. I’m afraid you’ll probably have to fly there, the train from Ponyville isn’t operational yet, and the forest is too dangerous to cross on foot.” Bow frowns. “That’s quite the journey to undertake. I should go with you.”
“No!” Rainbow Dash rejects the offer quickly, shaking her head so quickly her mane whips from side to side. “No, no, I can get there on my own just fine...” I do not want my first impression in Canterlot to be getting a noogie from Dad ... Rainbow Dash groans internally at the thought.
“But, honey, it could be dangerous...” Windy protests, but the filly just jumps up onto the counter, striking a bold pose.
“You’re always telling me how awesome I am, but you don’t think I can fly to Canterlot? I could fly there with one wing tied behind my back!” Rainbow Dash boasts. “Watch me!”
“That won’t be necessary!” Windy quickly relents, sighing. “Alright, sweetie, we just worry about you, you know that. But you are pretty amazing. If you were any other pony...” Windy shakes her head. “Well, Celestia themself showed up and seemed to think you could do it, given that they didn’t give you any other way to reach them ... So I guess that’s good enough for us.” Windy looks at Bow to confirm, receiving a nervous nod in return. “But, I want you to write to us as soon as you get there! And don’t you even think about leaving us out of the loop, young lady, understand?” Windy tries to say firmly, although the impact is lost as she starts tearing up at the thought of her daughter going away for a prolonged period of time.
Uh-oh. Better get out of here before the waterworks start. “Well, there’s no time to waste! I’d better set off now if I wanna get there in time, Cloudsdale is moving tonight!” Rainbow Dash blurts out, eager to get going.
“Woah there, Dashie, are you sure you’re ready to go, just like that?” Bow asks, reluctantly.
But Rainbow Dash was prepared for such a question. “I can’t keep the princess waiting, can I? What if they change their mind? And I’m sure they’ll have whatever I need in Canterlot, anyway, so I should only pack the essentials.” Rainbow Dash justifies.
Bow and Windy look at eachother, then back at Dash reluctantly. “You ... Have a point.” Bow admits. “Still, you should at least pack some basic survival equipment. I know you’re a good flier, but ... Bad things happen to good fliers all the time.” He finishes a bit darkly.
If I agree, I’ll be able to get out of here faster. Rainbow Dash nods. “Uh, duh, I’m not stupid.” ... Even though I wasn’t planning to do anything of the sort until you brought it up. Rainbow Dash keeps that thought inside, wanting to make sure to portray herself as responsible and competent as possible. She flies around the house in a blitz of speed, ransacking the rooms to get whatever she felt she would need- Some light saddlebags that wouldn’t weigh her down too much, survival flares, and a snack. In ten seconds flat, she is once again standing in front of her parents, fully packed and tapping her foot impatiently. “There! Can I go now?”
Bow and Windy just sit there with their jaws hanging open in awe for a long moment. “You really are amazing...” Windy eventually breathes out, almost in shock. “We’ll come see you in Canterlot as soon as we’re able to get time off of work. But you have to remember to write to us! We want to know all about everything you get up to!”
“I ... I guess we can’t keep you around all day, huh?” Bow replies, frowning and glancing out the window. He would have preferred to think this through more, talk to his daughter for longer. But Rainbow has a point- Flying to Canterlot would be much harder if she waited until after the cloud city moved, and it isn’t safe to fly at night. Right now is the best time to go. “But be careful, it would kill us if you got hurt!”
Rainbow Dash nods. That was all the excuse she needs. “Alright Canterlot, here I come!”, and with that a prismatic blur bolts out the door.
“You’re really going, huh? This is ... Really happening?” Gilda sounds unusually hesitant, her cool veneer slipping for just a moment. “You’re sure?”
Rainbow Dash nods, confidently. “What’s the point in second guessing myself?”
“Well ... Alright. You’ll write, right?” Gilda asks, an undertone to her voice that suggests nervousness, even reluctance. Rainbow didn’t think she’d ever seen the griffin like this before.
“Uh, yeah, of course.” Rainbow Dash replies. That sure is going to be alot of letters I gotta write ... Rainbow Dash groans a little inwardly, trying to keep her reluctance from escaping. Writing is ... Not really her strong suite. But if all her friends and parents wanted her to write, then write she would.
“That’s awesome! As soon as flight camp is over, I’ll be able to see you again!” Cloudkicker beams at Rainbow Dash excitedly. “Oh, there’s so much I’d wanna show you in Canterlot, just like you showed me here in Cloudsdale! It’s going to be awesome!”
“You know it.” Rainbow Dash winks and hoofbumps the pegasus, then the griffin in turn- Even if Gilda was oddly hesitant about it. “Well ... I don’t think I can wait much longer. I’ve got to get a move out if I wanna get to Canterlot before evening.”
“Yeah, alright.” Gilda snorts, the cool veneer sliding back into place. “Cloudkicker and I gotta ... Go ... Practice our flying, anyways.”
Rainbow Dash winces a little at the coldness in her friends voice. Just what’s going on with her? But despite that, she flaps her wings, pulling into the air. “Alright, you two. Stay cool, now!” Rainbow Dash salutes the two of them one more time before zipping away.
Despite what she said, there was still one more stop she had to make before she left Cloudsdale for real. Returning to her oldest friend Fluttershy’s house, she knocks at the door. A faint-looking Fluttershy peaks through the curtains of the window, trying to be stealthy, though Dash saw her immediately. The yellow pegasus then disappears for several moments, before the door slowly opens, with Fluttershy inside looking a little pale.
“H-hello?” Fluttershy asks, unconfidently. “Did you forget something?”
Rainbow Dash shakes her head. “No. I just came to say goodbye.” She takes a deep breath and puffs out her chest. “I’ve decided to go to Canterlot.”
“Oh, wow...” Fluttershy pins her ears back. “Sounds scary ... I’m glad you’re going, and not me.” She shudders a little. “Though it would be nice to see all the animals there. Ah, maybe one day...” She states, wistfully.
“I don’t have long ... I gotta get going just about now.” Rainbow Dash explains, frowning slightly. She almost wishes she could say more, but she wasn’t really one for sentimental words. “I ... I’ll miss you. But I’ll come back up and visit when I’m able, alright?” Rainbow Dash promises, before giving her longest lasting friend a quick, awkward hug.
“Please do ... I hope you know, I’ll miss you alot, Dash.” Fluttershy states. “I’ll always be grateful for all the ways you’ve helped me. I wouldn’t be nearly this confident if not for your help.”
Rainbow Dash resists scoffing at that notion. She wouldn’t exactly describe Fluttershy as confident on a good day ... But that was not something that needed saying right now. “Well ... I gotta go, I guess.” Rainbow Dash finally says, reluctantly. “Duty calls.” Rainbow Dash shoots one more salute Fluttershy’s way, before zipping off. As she goes, she can only dimly hear the ‘Take care of yourself, now!’ that Fluttershy practically whispers on Rainbow’s way out.
Goodbye’s out of the way, Rainbow Dash lands at the northern edge of Cloudsdale one more time, steeling herself for the trip she would be going on. She still isn’t entirely sure how she was able to talk her way out here so quickly, but she can’t deny a certain feeling of nervousness looking over the vast distance. She is a good flier—That much she knows, even the princess had recognized it. An amazing flier, even. But still, it’s a long way to Canterlot, and she had never had to fly that far before. For that matter, she’d never even touched the ground before, or been near it. It was always just ... A distant landscape far beneath her. I wonder what it feels like, to walk around on dirt and rocks. Rainbow Dash wonders idly.
Well ... Nothing for it but to go, now. Rainbow Dash’s wings buzz to life and she leaps from the edge of the city. It’s mostly slightly downwards on the way there, so I should mostly just glide to save energy.
As soon as she catches flight beyond the rim of the city, Rainbow Dash feels her nerves relax. Whatever might await her when she arrives, right now, she is free, soaring through the wild blue skies.
The filly closes her eyes, feeling the wind in her face and running through her feathers. This, right here, is what she lived for. That feeling of pure freedom, the rest of the world just passing by in a blur as she soars through the endless blue yonder. Rainbow Dash opens her eyes, just in time to avoid running head-first into a black stormcloud ahead.
Woah! The filly flaps her wings hard, climbing up over the black cloud. That’s right, I’m over the Everfree Forest now! Weather out here is unpredictable, I have to be careful. Rainbow Dash reminds herself, dipping down to the top of the cloud, just enough to dip the tip of her wing in the top. It feels different than the white fluffy clouds she is used to, thrumming with electricity and turbulence. Nopony out here to tell me what to do! Just me and the sky! Rainbow Dash grins broader, and with one hoof she scoops up a chunk of stormcloud just as she passes the outer side of it, watching the dark particles released from it as the small chunk of cloud dissolves.
“Ow!” It takes Rainbow Dash a second to realize the voice came from herself, as a jolt of electricity stings her hoof. “Stupid cloud...” She mutters, shaking the rest of the storm cloud on her hoof off and directing her attention back to the landscape ahead.
The landscape ahead is vast and untamed, not a pony in sight, as she soars across the expansive forest. The sky is unruly, with an easterly breeze and dozens of clouds scattered at various altitudes. It is one of the most interesting skies that Rainbow Dash had ever seen, at least. If nothing else, she would have safe places to rest if she needed them.
It’s only when she glances downwards that Rainbow Dash feels a pang of unease. The forest below her has a grim reputation, and its appearance doesn’t do it any favors either; The canopy seems completely impenetrable, thick with dark needles and leaves. Who knows what kind of things stalk the land in the shadows beneath the treetops? As if the weather moving on its own isn’t bad enough...
As if to fuel Rainbow Dash’s slowly developing feeling of paranoia, an unearthly wail echoes from somewhere far below, standing the fur on the pegasus filly’s neck on end. Ugh, creepy. Rainbow Dash shakes her head and tries to keep her attention on her destination in the mountains, to avoid thinking too long about what could have made such a noise.
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