Empire of Mercy
Copyright© 2025 by Daelyx Len Auphydas
Chapter 6: First Impressions
After being shown to her quarters, Rainbow Dash is left alone in the cozy chamber, on the mid-floor of some tower or another. Clearly, somepony had been in here to make the room a little more comfortable, familiar, for the pegasus; the ground has been covered in a cloud carpet, and the furnishings are all vaguely reminiscent of Cloudsdale, though there is still a certain air of Canterlotian sophistication to the room.
This is at least 200% bigger than my room back home. Rainbow Dash thinks to herself, diving onto the bed which is presently far larger than she actually needs, flopping over onto her back and staring up at the ceiling. Instead of familiar fluffy clouds, fine marble stonework hangs over Rainbow Dash.
The bed is soft and comfortable enough that Rainbow Dash is a little tempted to stay in it, but having spent so much time in a hospital bed lately, in no time at all she hops back up to her hooves, flapping her wings and then taking off. Lazily, she floats over to the window where she can look out over the city beyond the palace. On the way in, she had been too distracted to really take in the sights.
Wow, everything is so fancy ... Rainbow Dash gapes. It’s not quite as different from Cloudsdale as she might have expected, it at least looks more similar to the pegasid architecture back home than most towns or cities. She has to imagine that it’s much harder to build, though, buildings built out of solid rock and glass rather than clouds. That will definitely take some getting used to.
I’m free to go now, right? That means nopony will stop me from going out for a walk. Rainbow Dash reasons to herself, heading over to the door. She can get settled in later, right now, she is sick of laying still and just wants to get moving. Even if she has to take it easy, any movement is better than nothing.
It doesn’t take much prodding from her own brain to convince Rainbow Dash to take off to explore the palace. Despite that, as she pokes her head out of the door, she still looks side to side cautiously as if worried somepony would stop her, before she takes off down the spiral stairs of the tower.
There are a couple floors between her and where the tower connects with the rest of the palace, which Rainbow Dash passes by without much thought. In short order, she is wandering down the unfamiliar hallways of the palace, not entirely sure where she is actually headed. The echoing clip-clop of her hooves on the stone tiles beneath her distracts her, unfamiliar to a pegasus who’d spent her entire life until now walking on clouds.
Just as she comes to the end of a hallway, she practically walks directly into a guardspony. At least, that’s what she assumes he is, given that he is wearing armor, but he looks like no guardspony she’d ever seen; A unicorn with a dazzling white mane, pale blue coat, and bright golden eyes, wearing a silver breastplate with scale armor underneath in stark contrast to the usual golden armor of the palace guard. But the main confusing factors are his slouched, casual posture and age. By Rainbow Dash’s reckoning, he looks only a handful of years older than her, in the tall-but-lanky stage most ponies went through.
“Woah, there! And just how did you get in here, huh little explorer?” The guardspony asks, cocking his head at her curiously. “The palace isn’t open for visitors to just walk around, ya know.” Despite that statement, his gentle smile dismisses any worries that Rainbow Dash was in trouble.
“Uh, I’m supposed to be here!” Rainbow Dash proclaims, standing upright. “I’m just um ... Looking for the princess, right now.” She states, hopefully.
The guardspony raises a brow, skeptically, but only for a moment before a look of understanding dawned on his face. “Ah, you must be Rainbow Dash! I remember ‘Lestia talking about you. So you got released from the hospital ward, huh?” He chuckles. “I think my brother is still in there. Silly doc doesn’t know how to treat fillies and colts, but he’s good at his job at least. I’ll take you to the princess, they’ll wanna see you.” The unicorn smiles warmly and jerks back with his head.
Rainbow Dash hurries along after. “Um, thanks, sir...” Rainbow Dash trails off, realizing that she hadn’t gotten the young stallions name.
“Mooncrescent!” The stallion flashes a smile back at her, revealing a pair of sharp snaggleteeth. “I’m part of the Royal Companions! Lemme tell ya, Celestia took off right quick after you did that Rainboom. Didn’t even have time to say goodbye to us.” Mooncrescent giggles, trotting along down a long hallway lined with doors and large arched windows, oblivious to Rainbow Dash lagging behind as the filly looks all around in wonder. A handful of other guards pass by, giving Rainbow Dash confused looks, but since she is with Mooncrescent she doesn’t get bothered.
Mooncrescent reaches a particular door that seems to be his destination, an ornate door with intricate patterns in gold leaf running down it. Mooncrescent raises a hoof to kick the door open, only for it to magically swing open with the aura of Celestia’s magic around it, leaving the Princess of the Sun standing on the other side staring down at Mooncrescent perplexed.
“I believe I told you to stop opening my door that way.” Celestia states, tone somewhere between irritation and bemusement. “Were you going to kick me...?”
“Heh, sorry, Princess.” Mooncrescent gives a half smile to the Alicorn and quickly bows his head; not nearly as formal as a proper bow, but still a show of some deference. “Somepony here wanted to see you.” Mooncrescent steps aside, revealing Rainbow Dash standing behind him.
Celestia looks surprised, and leans over. “My, are you supposed to be up?” Celestia asks, concern writ on their features.
Rainbow Dash nods. “Mhm! The doctor said I was free to get up now, I just had to check back in later.”
Celestia raises a brow. “And he didn’t send for me? I’m going to have to have some words with him, later.” The Princess says, strictly, before kneeling down to speak to Rainbow Dash at more-or-less eye level. “I was just on my way to lunch, and there is somepony I would like very much like you to meet. Would you care to join me?”
Rainbow Dash blinks in surprise. There is something decidedly uncanny about the way Celestia talks to her; Like they are talking to an equal, and not a princess speaking to a filly commoner. Even most regular adults didn’t do that, let alone ones that are royalty to boot. “Um, of course!” Rainbow Dash responds, trying to hide her sense of bewilderment. Celestia turns to Mooncrescent and narrows their eyes.
“Incidentally, aren’t you supposed to be off training about now...?” The Princess asks pointedly.
Mooncrescent nods. “I was on my way when I stumbled on this little explorer here. I’ll get back to it now.” He smiles while saluting before trotting off, an odd bounce in his step as he goes.
“Now, my little pony, follow me. Your timing could not be better, I was just on my way to lunch.” Celestia beckons with a wing, making sure Rainbow Dash is following before trotting off.
Rainbow Dash scampers after them, looking around in a daze. “Princess Celestia?” She asks, unsurely but trying to keep the foibles in her voice to a minimum.
Celestia looks down at her with an expression of keen interest. “Hmm? Is something the matter?”
Rainbow Dash shakes her head. “No, no. It’s just ... When I was in the medical ward, the doctor told me that the magic you used on me was really difficult, and you normally don’t even use it on guardsponies. So ... I was just wondering, why did you do that for me?”
Celestia clucks their tongue in a playful display of annoyance. “My, Bonezaw tattled on me, huh?” The princess giggles—A sound Rainbow Dash never thought she would hear. The monarch of all of Equestria, and here they are giggling like a schoolfilly. “I asked you to come down here personally, without thinking of how you would get here. I made assumptions that resulted in you getting hurt, and I simply couldn’t conscience if such a brave young filly like you had to bear scars of that error of judgement her whole life.” Celestia explains. “Besides, since your body is smaller, it didn’t require as much magic as it would have for an older pony.”