Big Mac was on his way to town for his scheduled rendezvous with a certain blue Pegasus. The morning sun was once again showering Ponyville in it's full, candescent glory, promising another day of beauty and warmth. This boon, however, still wasn't enough to drown out Big Mac's contemplations of last night's nightmare. Despite it's bizarre surrealism, the dream had been so lucid. He remembered every detail of it. Also, the things ponies dreamed in nightmares usually didn't seem so frightening with retrospect, seeing as the conscious mind functioned differently than the subconscious. He remembered how one of his foalhood nightmares had sent him running to his parents' bedroom (Man, I wish I hadn't caught 'em doin'...THAT. But that's how AJ got here...) with utter horror. Even though he had been too young to understand the psychological implications of it all, his five year old self realized the next morning how stupid and not at all scary the dream had been.

This most recent dream wasn't the case. Simply thinking about it still sent nauseating chills throughout his body. And it had been so strange...not in a million years could he have imagined it. He knew that dreams were subconscious amalgams comprised only of what the conscious mind had seen or thought...but this...? It had seemed custom-tailored to make him almost shit himself. He probably would have, if the dream had occurred in real life. And he didn't need to talk to a psychologist to know what the dream was about. (My psychosomatic know-how is rudimentary at best, but it ain't too hard to figure out.) Thankfully...as disturbing as the dream had been...it hadn't been his recurring dream. The one he had been having ever since he'd returned home...running in a bog...mire..whatever the fuck. Swamp, maybe? It filled him with dread to even recall a single detail, so he decided to divert his thoughts to other things.

Mac banished the obscenity of the nightmares from his thoughts and continued down the old, forested country road that lead to Ponyville, trying to relax his worry-laden mind. He took in the sweet smells of the earth, trees, and flowers. He exhaled a heavy breath, and the horror of last night's dream loosened it's hold on him. He could see the taller buildings peeking over the forested road's treeline. Ponyville was fairly small, but some ponies had decided it was large enough to warrant a general hospital, movie theater, and train station. When he was just a colt, the town had existed just outside the borders of the Equestrian Empire.

Even though his grandmother's famous recipe for Zap Apple Jam had put Ponyville on the map (somewhat) and expanded it's population to over 600, Mac knew that the majority of the town's current population had only moved there in the past ten years. Most of the immigrants were city-folk from Fillydelphia and Manehattan who were disenchanted with the depressing, utilitarian concrete cityscape and excessive noise. Ponyville had turned from a tiny pioneer settlement that skirted the edge of civilization into a quaint, little country town replete with suburbs and charming shops. These late-comers, having arrived after most of the hazards of the wilderness had been tamed, had virtually no idea how dangerous living here had been in his grandmother's youth.

Back in those Frontier Days, the town consisted of only 56 ponies, all of them pioneers and settlers from neighboring border towns. His eight year old grandmother's family had been the first to settle the land 70 years ago, building a diminutive log cabin on where the now two-story farmhouse stood. Princess Celestia and the Imperial Senate had collaborated to create the Pioneer Amnesty Act as an incentive for ponies to expand the Empire's borders into unsettled lands. The act guaranteed that there would be no taxes or fees levied whatsoever upon any pioneer pony's settled land upon it's annexation into the Empire, and any property settled or claimed there prior to annexation was entirely owned by it's original proprietor. This meant anypony's family could claim jump any plot of land in the wilderness without having to submit twenty request forms and jump through all the red tape of the Imperium. Tax-free.

It was a decent incentive...but most ponies knew better. Those had been some rough years. He was surprised his great-grandparents had even been able to survive, let alone start settling the area. The unsettled lands near the borders were horribly dangerous, as they were both in close proximity to the Everfree Forest and the Drackenridge Mountains. The settlers had virtually no protection from the Equestrian military, and they had to constantly fend for themselves. Although the Apples had never encountered the bandits (Thank God..) or the hydras and manticores of the forest (They knew better'n to go traipsing off inta' the woods...usually.), the timber wolves attacked them in no short supply.

The timber wolves were magical constructs comprised of fallen timber from trees that formed into massive, hyper-aggressive, wolf-like automatons. They had virtually no intelligence to speak of, attacked and killed anypony on sight, and couldn't feel fear or pain. Those kinds of constructs could only be animated by a rune resulting from a very powerful unicorn's final spell: a death curse. The Everfree Forest from whence they came was in an inconveniently close proximity to Sweet Apple Acres. His great-grandparents, parents, and even his current family had fought them off. Seeing as the wolves had been a near constancy in Sweet Apple Acre's history, they had almost seemed like estranged family to Big Mac.

No matter how many times the Apples had fended off the beasts with torches and axes, they always returned in greater numbers and ferocity. The death rune that kept reanimating the timber wolves replenished itself with every full moon. Normally, runes this powerful were cast by Imperial Unicorn sorcerers in the form of warding runes to suppress the aggression of wild animals and destructive weather. Some ponies said the warding runes had a secondary, more dubious purpose, but Mac doubted this. Mac knew that a series of four runes like these had been cast around the town by an official entourage from the Castle after Ponyville's annexation. It was powerful magic...one of Twilight Sparkle's duties was to report any magical anomalies she found in Ponyville. The runes included.

The Apples were simple folk (in the exception of Ma), and as such had no idea that they could lift the curse by finding the spot of it's creator's death rune and casting a dispelling rune to scatter the source of the dark magic. Mac had learned this while training in one of the many prerequisite schools for his later recruitment into the SF. An Earth pony or Pegasus could use a dead Unicorn's horn as a catalyst for the spell and activate it by shocking or igniting it. Thanks to his extensive campaigns against the bandits, Mac had many of these horns...albeit most ponies would be horrified to find them in his possession...for practical reasons or otherwise. But the horns he had hidden in the tool shed came in handy one day after AJ had been attacked by the timber wolves during the incident with Spike's "Dragon Code."

He had gone out into the forest, using a piece of tree limb broken from a timber wolf as a divining rod to find the death rune. As he got closer to the curse's locus, the tree branch vibrated more and more violently until he came upon the desired spot: an unremarkable patch of dirt near the center of the forest. Every nearby piece of wood was vibrating or twitching, threatening to come alive upon the curse's next surge of lunar power. After drawing the counter rune, planting the horn into the ground, and igniting the copious amounts of lighter fluid he'd poured over it, the curse ended anticlimactically with not a single indication of it's passing. The wolves never returned. No pony ever had any idea as to who cast the curse or why.

"Not that it mattered none. Curse was gone. So was the asshole who done cast it. But them bandits...man...they made the wolves look trivial after some of the shit I heard 'em do."

The Drackenridge Bandits had earned a horrible reputation throughout Equestria as the most fearless and insane criminals in all of the Empire's history . No pony dared to even come near the mountain range. ('Cept fer AJ and her crazy, little friends...) Only dragons flew over the mountains and roosted there occasionally, but even they weren't safe from the wrath of the local, meth-addled ponies. After a while, large trophies made of dragon bones began to be displayed on the outskirts of the mountain range, serving as warnings against entering their territory. There was such a minimal chance of surviving a trek through those mountains that ponies used the phrase "going to Drackenridge" as a euphemism for suicide. Despite the unnerving similarities between the Badlands bandits he had fought and the ones from Drackenridge , Mac knew the ones from his grandmother's youth were worse.

The bandits were especially vicious and dangerous, seeing as to how all of them were escaped convicts from a nearby high-security military prison. There was a reason the Equestrian government had wanted the prison as far away as possible from the more populated areas, isolated and hidden in the desolate Drackenridge Mountains. Fort Leavenhoof had been home to over 400 former soldiers who'd been convicted of only the most heinous crimes (murder, rape, pedophilia, torture,...sometimes all four in one..), as the more mild-mannered military convicts were housed in their duty stations' local brigs. The high-security prison hosted a wide array of offenders and offenses. But they all had one thing in common: addiction.

Over 70 years ago, the Imperial Army began experimenting with a newfound chemical cocktail of methamphetamine laced with phencyclidine and opioid painkillers that had been discovered by Neighponese chemists. The untested drug seemed to show great promise for martial use, as it promoted aggression and fearlessness in soldiers and greatly mitigated the need for food or sleep. Strangely, the relatively unevaluated drug was immediately put to use...the consequences were severe. High-ranking military leaders began authorizing the drug's generous distribution to an elite recon company in the form of tablets included in their first aid kits. (Project Heathendust...hmm..fittin'.) The results were horrific. The subsequent bouts of stimulant psychosis, maddened hallucinations, and withdrawal drove many of them completely insane, leading to terrible acts of psychotic rage. As an added bonus, the hallucinogenic state of lowered inhibitions coupled with an increased libido lead to multiple cases of rape...even pedophilia. It was entirely unknown as to which military leaders had authorized the drug's distribution...no pony acknowledged responsibility. Of course, Project Heathendust was top secret. Celestia herself hadn't even known about it.

The Leavenhoof Maximum Security Prison was built almost exclusively to house the test subjects of Project Heathendust, but it was only allotted a small handful of guards and a disproportionately large armory. It didn't take long (in fact, only a month) for the well-trained convicts to devise a plan of escape: flooding every toilet in their cells at once with toilet paper and feigning mass suicide. The guards had no choice but to try and restrain each prisoner outside his cell to stop the "suicide" or clean the mess. Mac knew brig guards weren't too bright...he'd been to the brig himself once. The resulting massacre was a chilling tale in Equestrian history as each prison guard was brutally murdered and sodomized...and not necessarily in that order. The convicts appropriated the armory for themselves and took to the nearby mountain range to take up banditry as a means of income to feed their new addiction. And they were in no shortage of supply due to the fact that the massive military warehouses stocked with "heathendust" had been raided by enterprising drug dealers from within the military itself. These dealers had somehow stolen enough heathendust, barbiturates, combat amphetamines, and medical morphine to keep the bandits on the wagon for years. What especially bothered Mac was that he and his unit had found quite a bit of the very same antiquated boxes of drugs in the camps of the Badlands bandits as well.

The years of chaos resulting from the bandits' rampaging throughout the countryside led to an inevitable military campaign commanded by Princess Celestia herself, where she led several battalions into the dreaded mountains to end the madness once and for all. She had the numbers and logistics, but she hadn't taken into account the inferior training of her small army of regulars and the fearless violence of the bandits' guerrilla-style ambushes. The end result wasn't pretty. Over 4,000 regulars and every last bandit had died in the ensuing battle. (All 'cept fer one.) In total, the mad stallions of Drackenridge had claimed the lives of thousands of settlers and soldiers. An unusually tall and exceptionally insane pony called "Long John" had been both the bandits' former company commander and leader. Long John was said to have been the worst one of them all, which made sense if one considered the company he kept. The stories about what the mad Earth stallion had done even gave Mac himself chills. Long John and the drug dealers were never caught...just like the mysterious leader of the Badlands bandits. They had snuffed out several of his (or maybe "her?") lieutenants, but he had never been so much as been identified. But somepony had to have rallied them all together. The only lieutenant captured alive for interrogation merely spit at them when asked about her chain of command.

But Mac and his squadmates had uncovered one tidbit of information from her: She had visited the ruins of Ft. Leavenhoof to meet somepony important. Sadly, this unreliable scrap of knowledge wasn't enough to merit even a quick investigation of the place. But it made too much sense to Mac to entirely dismiss it. The infamy of the deserted old prison would have made it a perfect rendezvous spot for bandits wanting to avoid surveillance. The locals stayed far away from it. Some ponies said that the ruins of Ft. Leavenhoof were haunted. Mac had heard stories that some of the more adventurous ponies had encountered nightshades living in the burnt halls of the prison. Nightshades were things of pure legend...no pony really knew exactly what they were, but they were supposedly drawn to places of madness and death like asylums, battlefields, and prisons. These creatures were purported to be the embodiment of absolute terror...were they to even exist. But Mac had no desire to travel to the infamous prison to confirm their existence. Hearsay was good enough for him.

Mac couldn't help but shudder at the thought that his sweet, little grandmother may have never made it to her current age, if the mad stallions of Drackenridge had decided that her fledgling community was worth a visit. It was one of the reasons he had enlisted in the first place: to protect his family and restore the military's lost honor. It was a noble goal, but it was also the idealism of a naive colt. (It rarely works out the way ya' plan.) The Drackenridge Bandits themselves had been former military, ergo it was no guarantee of honorable conduct. There had also been an Apple family tradition amongst the oldest stallions to enlist upon reaching the age of 18. His great-grandfather, grandfather, and father had all been veterans. His own father had served for four years during the Gryphonic Wars, battling the winged creatures in the Northern Wilds between the two kingdoms' borders. Having to fend off the timber wolves at a tender age with his father had kindled in him a desire to protect those who mattered to him.

But another pony from outside his family had also inspired him. The commanding officer of one of the battalions sent to fight the mad bandits had been known around Ponyville as a local hero but was relatively unknown throughout the rest of Equestria. The only thing that attested to his heroism was a small, modest plaque just outside city hall. Brigadier General Virgil Sentry was a former knight of the Order of Malleis Irae and the youngest stallion to ever achieve the rank of general. ("Virgil" ain't really much of an epic name, though. Sounds like an accountant's name.) According to rumor, he had personally saved Princess Celestia's life from a bandit that had sneaked into her tent one night while camped just outside the infamous mountain range. According to the account of Mac's history book from the library, BG Sentry had slain over 50 of the savage bandits....singlehoofed.

Despite the fact the awful bloodbath that had ensued there was a result of Celestia's miscalculation, BG Sentry publicly took the blame for the whole affair. He resigned from his post in shame, despite Celestia's attempts to promote and decorate him for his valor. The Earth pony took up residence in the fledgling town of Ponyville and took to mercenary work to make a living. Big Mac knew that much of the reason that the tiny community had survived was due to Virgil's constant vigil over the pioneers. Virgil had personally killed hundreds of wild beasts and timber wolves in the service of Ponyville. But even though the courageous stallion greatly helped to reduce the timber wolf population, he never discovered the source of the errant magic that animated them. (They didn't know as much back then 'bout curses as we do now.) Mac felt that his dispelling the curse himself was a tribute to his idol's memory.

Also, the former general was purported to have been Celestia's discreet lover...a rumor that didn't have much in the way of substantial evidence to support it. Granny Smith once swore up and down that she had seen the two of them sitting together outside Virgil's humble cottage over 50 years ago. But then again, his grandmother had also sworn that she had seen Princess Luna swan diving into their muddy pig pen one night over a week ago...so...yeah. Regardless, Virgil Sentry was Big Mac's idol. He tried to emulate his laconic, austere mannerisms down to the tee. Mac wanted to be just like his father and idol, protecting his family and nation from the horrors of despotism and wild beasts. It was a grand, noble goal. But grand goals born of sophomoric nobility rarely held up in the face of objective reality.

Mac suddenly heard an unusual noise coming from the treeline to his left. He stopped and turned, listening with an attentive, trained ear. After confirming the direction from whence it came, he stepped off the trail and silently strode into the nearby wood. He found the source of the cacophonous malaise: A wild tomcat was being bombarded by a pair of blue jays protecting their nest. Most city ponies had never seen animals behaving as nature intended, due to the creation of the warding runes that forced them to coexist with a magically augmented semi-sentience. Mac had grown up in Ponyville before the creation of these runes, so he knew this was simply normal behavior for wild animals.

But this shouldn't be happening...this particular wood was well within the runes' range of effect. The tomcat and birds should be getting along. To a normal pony, this wouldn't seem like much of a big deal, but Big Mac knew better. Either the wards were failing, or something was interfering with their magic. Something powerful. But, hey...he had been wrong before. AJ's little, yellow Pegasus friend had a pet rabbit that had always behaved aggressively and was prone to tantrums. What was her name again?...Stutterfly? Bumblesty?

"That asshole bunny rabbit was always pickin' fights with the other animals. Maybe he was an exception or somethin'...was he an enchanted rabbit or somethin'? I dunno'. I'm probably makin' a mountain outta' molehill again." He decided to drop the subject. If the wards were indeed in danger of failing, then Princess Twilight would've been the first to notice. It took a lot longer than a single day for the full magic of a warding rune to dissipate unlike a death rune. And all the animals on the farm had been behaving as their normal selves.

He had made into the town square of Ponyville with the familiar, desert-themed visage of Sugarcube Corner directly in his line of sight. He had been focusing on some fairly dark things of late. He knew he needed to lighten up. Luckily, his new, little filly friend seemed to know how to do just that. Simply being in the presence of her company had cheered him up the other day...albeit their conversation alone together had been rather awkward. But whatever...waffle bar!

"Hard to stay inna' pissy mood with an endless waffle bar, I reckon." Thankfully, he hadn't forgotten the original purpose of this excursion. He walked up to the pink door of Sugarcube Corner, praying that Pinkie Pie wouldn't ambush him with another session of one-sided conversational ping-pong. He opened the door and stepped inside. A warm rush of delicious smells greeted him.

He had made a decision on Rainbow's proposition.

Rainbow had gotten to Sugarcube Corner 30 minutes early in anticipation of her meeting with a certain red stallion. Thankfully, Mr. and Mrs. Cake had started opening the restaurant for breakfast a little before 6:00 A.M. She had burned through three cups of coffee waiting, somewhat understanding how Pinkie Pie must feel every day...(Jeez..I'm gonna' crash like crazy later.) Slowly, ponies began entering the establishment, placing orders or sitting down in the booths to be waited upon. Where was he? She looked at the clock to see she it was fifteen til. She had barely slept last night due to her excitement of potentially making both a new training partner and friend. Especially him.

She didn't really have any colts for friends (or...that kinda' friend, either), so she was understandably nervous. Her knowledge as to how to best behave in their company was extremely limited, as her awkward behavior the other day had belied. She had been crushing on Mac ever since she had first met him as an eight year old filly, albeit she was a bit advanced for her age. The then teenaged, handsome colt had just seemed so...cool...like he didn't give even the slightest fuck about anything. (He was ripped even back then, too.) She had seen him that one afternoon twelve years ago, after she and her father had visited Sweet Apple Acres to try some of the Apple's famous cider...to which she would later become addicted. She loved the stuff.

She had seen him...he had been standing on a tall hilltop with the wind blowing his strawberry blonde mane. The sixteen year old colt had been trying to sneak a cigarette, taking his yolk off and tossing it on the ground. The sun had started setting behind him...he looked like a hero of old. His profile against the sunset had been statuesque. Like some sort of epic figure. She'd thought that he must be so passionate and intelligent...she had just known he was the one for her. He had to be. At that moment, Rainbow vowed to save herself for him when she got older. Rainbow knew this was likely her own projection and a rather immature eight year old's projection at that...but still...she had been obsessed with John Apple for years. She wasn't entirely proud of it, considering her "tough girl" visage as a fearless stunt flyer, but she couldn't help it. He was always there...in the back of her mind. She had constantly visited the farm as a flimsy pretense to just get a glimpse of him. She knew it lame. It was stupid. She barely knew him, and she felt ridiculous about it all sometimes...but she didn't think this way about anypony else. Sometimes...it was even a little insane. One time, she had even stolen his pillow case! It had his scent...strong. Masculine. (Jeez...maybe I really am crazy...)

She had always entertained the cute but childish notion that one day he would notice how cool and awesome she had become since then and ask her out...an unlikely scenario. She had an ulterior motive for why she had asked Mac to compete with her. She'd never so much as had a single conversation with John Apple in all the years she had fawned over him. She hoped that getting to know the big guy as a training partner and fellow competitor would make her more comfortable around him. Then she might find the courage to ask him something...something she'd thought about for years...maybe. But she was scared. If he rejected her, then her childhood crush would be an utter waste of her life. She'd be too devastated to ever love again...Rainbow was far more fragile than her friends knew. But a sudden noise in the cafe disrupted her reminiscence. Her wait had ended: the pink door swung open once more, producing the massive, red form of her awaited friend. Big Mac's enormous hooves made great, booming echoes on the creaky, wooden floor with each step. He was wearing that hat again along with some leather bags. She waved to catch his attention.

"Hey! There's the stallion of the hour. How'd you sleep, man? Saved you a seat right here!" Thankfully, she seemed to be more comfortable around him in the presence of other ponies.

"Fine, thank you. How're you this mornin', Miss Dash?" The big stallion seated himself into the booth's seat across from her, just barely fitting his ponderous bulk into it. He removed his hat and placed it by his side, allowing Rainbow to take a full survey of his features. He looked...tired.

"I'm rad, bro. But could you stop calling me "Miss?" It's kinda' makin' me feel uncomfortable. Just "Rainbow" is fine." She wondered if her remark had come across as too caustic. Or did he like chicks with an attitude? AJ had said he didn't like weak, whiny ponies a while back...so maybe it was an okay thing to say...or not. She was starting to feel nervous again.

"Eenope. Always used "miss." Simple respect to greet a lady ya' barely know. Regardless, I don't see no point standin' on ceremony. I made a decision last night." Rainbow held her breath and leaned forward, raising both eyebrows in anticipation.

All her worries and planning for this event would be for naught, were Mac to refuse to participate. She knew she couldn't compete with some of the other mares in the strength-based events, though she'd likely wipe the floor with them when it came to speed. Even though she was too proud to admit it, she guessed she only had a 50/50 chance of pulling out any sort of medal without a partner. She would still compete regardless of whether he came along or not, but she hated the prospect that she might not win anything at all. She had always been competitive, a trait passed down to her from her father. If the two of them won, they could split a hefty sum of bits between the two of them...not to mention maybe foster a closer relationship...(heheheheh...)

"I'll do it." Rainbow's reaction was instantaneous. She jumped out of the booth, taking to the air to express her enthusiasm.

"Awww, fuckin' A, dude!! You won't regret it, man!! We'll kick so much ass together, I promise!!" She was delighted to see an amused expression on his face, albeit he probably didn't approve of her language in the presence of the other patrons. In fact, Mrs. Cake audibly expressed her disapproval.

"Rainbow! Please settle down and watch your language. We have other customers in here." The middle-aged mare cast her a stern, motherly look. She buckled immediately.

"S-sorry. My bad. Anyway...so when do you wanna' start training?! We can start right now! Oh, wait..breakfast! Gotta' carb up 'n shit." She sat back down, making sure to use her ill-practiced "inside voice."

"Regardless as to how incomparably adorable 'n invigoratin' as yer enthusiasm strikes me, Miss Dash, let's discuss the terms of our partnership and mutual efforts in this here competition 'fore we just jump in hooves first." Rainbow was stunned. Not only had this been the most words she'd ever heard Big Mac speak at once, but he was surprisingly eloquent. (A-and...did he just call me "adorable?!" What does that even mean? Was that sarcasm?!! Oh, crap! He thinks I'm a friggin' tool...)

"U-uh...sure. But didn't you read the flyer last night? Is there something else you wanna' know?" She was nervous again.

"I did indeed. But I need to know some particulars 'bout the events and scorin' system. Also, I need to know how the prize money's gonna' get divvied up." He seemed so...cold...and impersonal. Was this how he always acted? Maybe it was just a front....yeah. That was it.

"Umm...yeah, sure. But aren't you totally stoked to be doing this? I know I am."

"Eenope." (Huh? Really?)

"Umm...can I ask why not?" She honestly couldn't comprehend how a pony could NOT be psyched to do this. The will and passion involved...the intense training...that single, powerful moment where you pushed yourself to the breaking point against all odds through sheer determination to win. How couldn't he love it like she did?

"Eeyup." She leaned over, anticipating his answer. He merely returned her gaze with one of a complete lack of expression.

"Well?"

"Well what, Miss Dash?" (Is he seriously going to be this much of an asshole?! Just answer the question!)

"Why are you...like..uhh..why are doing this...if you don't really want to?" (He doesn't like me...he thinks I'm annoying... That's it isn't it?!! He doesn't wanna' have to hang around me 'cuz of my stupid, prepubescent colt's voice!)

"No superior alternatives."

"To uhh..what exactly?"

"Payin' off the farm's debt." He didn't want to be around her at all. He was only doing this for sake of the farm...he didn't like her...

"Is that it?"

"Eeyup."

"Really? You don't wanna' kick some ass? Totally own everypony at the competition?"

"Eenope. That's yer domain of endeavor, Miss Dash." She blushed at the perceived compliment, but it didn't offset her disappointment.

"Dude, come on! We're gonna' compete with hundreds of the toughest ponies in Equestria for some mad bank!"

"Alright."

"Jeez. Mind if I check your pulse for a second?" The red stallion only snorted with mild amusement at her lame attempt at a joke. He was judging her...she just knew it...

She couldn't help but be disappointed. They were going to put their hooves on the line and compete against some of the best athletes in Equestria! And they could win a ton of cash! How couldn't he be excited like she was? Maybe she had misjudged the big stallion. Maybe he didn't have the same passion as she did. He had virtually never even talked to her until just now, and all he had ever seemed to care about was farming and shit. Maybe all of her secret, romantic notions that he was some sort of passionate warrior dude just waiting for the right girl to wake up the fire inside him had indeed been childish. He'd never shown any sort of desire to do anything but be some sort of...big...farming automaton who never talked more than just saying "eeyup/eenope." At least AJ loved going on the occasional adventure...but this guy...it was like he was on life support. Maybe he literally just didn't care about anything at all...more than she'd thought before. Nonchalance was cool and all...but Mac took it beyond that level...to a place where she couldn't even begin to follow him. Maybe she had just projected all the things she'd ever wanted in a stallion onto him...as some sort of..."target" or "prize" to win like in a competition. Was it just by his physical attributes how she'd judged him? He seemed...bored. And dead to the world. Or was this all just his incredibly convincing "poker face?"

"Yeah...sure...no prob." She barely disguised the hurt and disenchantment in her voice.

"You alright? Minute ago, you were jumpin' up 'n down."

"Yeah, fine. Well, there's like a few events total: powerlifting, wrestling, 3 mile mud run, barbed wire low crawl, cross country run, pull ups, wind sprints...stuff like that. There's one big, final run that's like 20 miles...up the side of a mountain. That event counts for the most points. They tally up the points for the stuff you win and count it toward what medal you get." She was trying to re-inflate her enthusiasm for competing in one of the toughest competitions in history. She'd always been too busy with her flying to ever compete in it before now.

"Some of that sounds like it's boot camp stuff." The red stallion had actually scoffed!!

It was a hard competition! Ponies had died trying to finish it! You had to sign a liability waiver! What was this guy's fucking problem? Where'd he get the balls to pretend that he was too "hardcore" or something to compete with her on the same level? Was it because she was a girl? Her temper was getting the best of her. Tears of anger and disappointment were beginning to mist her eyes. Was her childhood crush really nothing at all like she fantasized? She calmed down, hoping that she'd just misread his reaction.

"W-well...yeah...some of it. B-but it's pretty hard. We'll have to train."

"Eeyup. Understood." The red stallion's only expression was his signature, emotionless "poker face." (Was this asshole made in a laboratory or somethin'?)

"When do you wanna' start training? We got at least three months until preliminaries."

"How's tomorrow mornin'? Same time?" She couldn't believe she'd had a crush on this guy. He was such a tool! The only thing he had going for him was that he was hot...well...really hot. But that wasn't all she wanted.

"Uhh...yeah, cool. I knew it was a good idea getting an Apple on board. You guys got that "retard strength." She had just rattled that off with no forethought. She assumed he would immediately take offense, but something miraculous happened, seeing as to how it was entirely contradictory to Big Mac's personality.

The massive stallion was trying to suppress a snicker!! After subsequently failing in this endeavor, he began giggling, his face alight with a beaming smile. He was actually giggling!! She didn't know boys giggled!! It was quite possibly the cutest thing she'd ever seen, amplified by how funny it seemed on such a big, macho stallion who clearly took great pains to seem stoic. His giggling became contagious, and she began herself. And his freckles!! (Awww...I just noticed he's got freckles!!) The great, red beast finally got control of himself, covering his eyes with his massive hooves.

"Heheheh...man, it's been awhile since I heard somethin' like that! You kinda' remind me of my old LT...that guy could make the most depressin' situation funnier'n hell. Hehehe..."retard strength"....more of the former than the latter. Ain't never met a pony who could roll off somethin' that funny without tryin'. Yer somethin' else, Miss Dash." She couldn't help but blush and giggle. He actually had a sense of humor, thank Celestia! And a personality. Maybe her fears had been unfounded.

"Heheheh...uhh...sorry, dude. I just say whatever comes to mind sometimes. Guess I'm a little weird..." (Stop sounding so friggin' beta!)

"Heheh...trains don't stop where you live, do they, baby girl?" He had simultaneously insulted her and called her "baby girl." The hell did that mean?

"H-hey!"

"I was only jokin', Miss Rainbow. Now don't tell me you can dish it out, but ya' can't take it?" He had a mischievous grin on his face. Maybe she was just overly sensitive. (Stop being so self-conscious.)

"What? M-me? Oh...y-yeah! I can totally take a joke! I can take it like...all the time! I can take the hardest... (wait a minute...no...don't use that...) ...uhh...the worst you got, bro! Yeah. Do your worst!" Rainbow was inwardly kicking herself. She was babbling like an idiot. He had completely thrown her for a loop...she was nervous again.

"Err...I'm sure you can, Miss Rainbow. Ya' don't strike me as the "wiltin' violet" type. I reckon normal mares ain't tough enough fer this kinda' thing. Says a lot 'boutcha." Huh? What did that mean?

"Y-yeah...I guess. But whaddya' mean by all that?"

"I meant that yer made a' stronger stuff than most ponies. You ain't fragile." (Oh. Phew.)

"Okay...thanks, man....so uh...waffles?"

"Yeah, alright. Mrs. Cake? Two for the waffle bar with two coffees, please." Mrs. Cake nodded and went to fetch their coffee while Mr. Cake's slender form was preoccupied wrapping up orders for pick up. Rainbow wasn't sure how well another cup of coffee was going to agree with her. She was already jittery.

The pink door opened once again as they had just gotten their plates, producing the form of an elegant, white Unicorn. (Rarity?!) Rainbow's fussy friend looked over towards where she and Big Mac were sitting, a small, knowing smile gracing her lips. She trotted daintily over to their booth, taking a seat next to Rainbow....without even asking. She did that sometimes. Rarity was a bit of a gossip and a busybody. The prissy Unicorn often injected herself into affairs that weren't any of her own business only to later regret it. But she always apologized for overstepping herself once she realized she'd done so.

"Good morning, Rainbow. And a good morning to you, Big Macintosh. How's the day treating you? Very well, I suspect..." Rainbow didn't like that grin of hers. She was nervous enough as is without her teasing her!

"Mornin', Miss Rarity."

"Hey, Rare. Here for breakfast? We're buyin'."

"Oh, just a cup of coffee for me, thanks. I ran out of coffee grounds in my kitchen. I appreciate the offer, but I'll cover my own tab, thank you. I have a good bit of work to do today to stay for too long, anyway. So...might I ask what it is the two of you are discussing?" The beautiful Unicorn giggled. (Does every friggin' pony know about me 'n Mac?! How'd Rare find out? AJ better not have blabbed!!)

"U-uh..we were just going over the Iron Pony competition stuff...ya' know...training and whatnot..jeez, Mac! Think that's enough food, man!?" The massive stallion had acquired two massive platefuls of scrambled eggs, waffles, and fruit from the buffet. Rainbow had a fairly quick metabolism herself, but this was ridiculous!

"Pardon?", he asked while making sure to not speak with his mouth full. (Man...he's got better table manners than me or AJ.)

"If you seriously eat all that, you're most def gonna' clog up the toilets at Sweet Apple Acres." Mac's face contorted in discomfort, but he thankfully laughed in spite of himself. She was glad. She liked his laugh. Rarity didn't approve of her choice of topic, though.

"Goodness! Rainbow! A lady doesn't say such things! Especially not in public!"

"Hehehe...I reckon she says whatever comes to mind in public, Miss Rarity." He thought it was funny. Good.

"Pfft...I ain't a lady, dude. (Err...that came out wrong..) Anyway, it's cool. We were just goin' over some stuff about the competition. It's not like we're in a fancy restaurant or some shit." Rarity gave her a disapproving look while sipping her coffee, her cup bathed in the indigo magical aura of her horn.

"Oh, believe me, I know. I've tried everything with this one, Mr. Apple. There's simply no refining her. But there are many other qualities she has that make her worthwhile to know. Wouldn't you agree?" Rarity was trying to intercede on her behalf. She was going to blow it for her, if she kept this up! She subtly tried to mouth the words "beat it" to her friend. Rarity seemed to understand.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm beginnin' to see that. Anyway, Miss Dash, I have a question." Rarity was hurriedly sipping her coffee. She realized she'd overstepped by jumping into their conversation like that. Rare had always been cool like that.

"Yeah, sure. Shoot"

"Suppose one of use wins some prize money and the other don't. What guarantee does anypony have that the winner's gonna' give the other half?" The thought hadn't occurred to Rainbow. She'd just assumed they were on the "honor system."

"Uhh..well..there isn't really any guarantee besides...wait! Are you saying I might win and skip out on you?! Dude! I'm the Element of Loyalty!" She may cheat and lie, but she'd never betray a friend.

"That is true, Mr. Apple. Rainbow's word is golden." Rainbow shot her another look. (Dude! Stop trying to sell me!) Rarity took her coffee to-go, standing up to leave. The elegant mare realized she'd overstayed her welcome.

"Leavin', Miss Rarity?"

"Yes, I'm afraid I've been procrastinating from my work for long enough. I'll leave you to get to know one another. Play nice, you two...heheheh." As Rarity was leaving, Rainbow shot her a simple look of gratitude. But seriously. Did everypony know about her crush except for well...her actual crush? AJ had been teasing her for weeks after she had let it slip during an otherwise casual conversation, but she had been sure no pony else had known.

"Bye, Rare. Anyway, dude...are you sayin' I'll cheat you or something?! I'd never friggin' do that!" How could he think that?...think so low of her?...

"I said nothin' of the sort, Miss Dash. You can't exactly skip town what with bein' my sister's best friend an' all. But how can you trust ME? Words from acquaintances often don't count for much, as I've come to realize from my past line of work." What was his past line of work, anyway?

AJ had said he was a soldier or something...but she'd never seemed to know exactly what he had done specifically. Rainbow knew there were a ton of jobs in the Equestrian military and had considered joining the Imperial Air Corps once herself...of course her mother had talked her out of it. (It was a non-combat job! I'd just be flying like orders and stuff back and forth. It was easy money.) But this guy...he never talked much until now. And when he did, he sounded like some sort of philosophical kind of dude. Had he ever...killed another pony? She knew it would be a rude question to ask. She had asked AJ the same question once. Her Earth pony friend only told her that her brother was a "hero", and she shouldn't bother him with questions.

"Well...you're always at the farm, and...like...you're AJ's brother and junk. So, I'm pretty sure I can trust you. Why're you even asking this, dude? I'm not greedy or anything. I don't mind sharing the spoils with my buds. What's the point of money, if you can't spend it on your friends? Besides...you're definitely not the type of pony who'd do that kinda' shit. You're one of those "good guy types." I bet you'd walk ten miles back to a store to like return some extra change they gave you. We're gonna' be training together for the next three months, so it's not like we're just gonna' be business partners or some shit. I couldn't fuck over a friend like that, and I don't think you could either. Good enough for ya'?" Big Mac snickered at her candor but seemed entirely reassured.

"Hmm...yes, ma'am...your assessment of my character is kind but unwarranted. I just needed to hear your reasons. One can always tell the conviction of another's words by lookin' 'em in the eye while they're bein' said. I trust you entirely, an' I myself promise to uphold our agreement." His tone had gone from impish to austere. He stared directly into her eyes while making his promise.

And that was when Rainbow first noticed his eyes. Her heart skipped a beat and her breath stopped entirely. If there were such a thing as coup de foudre, a Gryphonic phrase of Twilight's, then this moment had to be an example of it. They were doubtlessly the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen. She had always just assumed he had the same sap green eyes as Applejack...but upon closer inspection, she found they were entirely different. His eyes had a blazing azure ring that circled the verdant pools of emerald. The deep blue rings seemed to branch into the lovely emerald pools with little flecks of azure gracing them, giving his eyes a blue-green almost cerulean hue.

And they were so bright and fucking intense. They almost seemed to glow with passion and intelligence. The gorgeous eyes were piercing right through her, staring right through her as though they could illuminate the most hidden, Stygian depths of her soul and mind. Looking into those eyes had shattered any doubts she'd had that this stallion had no passion or will of his own. Rainbow realized that her crush had just come roaring back in full strength...maybe even double strength. And also she had been staring at him for a solid 20 seconds with a childish daydream of their potential life together racing through her mind, her cheeks stained with a deep blush. (God...I'm turning into friggin' Rarity..)

"Uhh...Miss Dash? You okay?" She snapped out her beautiful daydream and stammered out a reply.

"O-oh...uhh, yeah! Cool! So, we're all good?" Mrs. Cake silently set the check for their meal down on the table. The two of them nodded politely at her

"Absolutely. You keep me in high spirits with them jokes of yers, an' I'll work myself to the bone fer ya'." She couldn't help but giggle. (Heheheh..he said "bone!") She had been doing a lot of that lately. Some pony she knew was going to catch her acting like a tool and then spread the news all across town. She still remembered the Gabby Gums article that had made her out to be a pampered wuss.

"Sweet. I'm sure we'll be great together...uhh...like...partners an' stuff...not like...I'll shut up now..."

"Yes, ma'am. Can we start trainin' same time tomorrow? I know it ain't gonna' be much fun tryin' to plow them fields with sore muscles, but if 'n we win that prize money then "je ne regrette rien." The red stallion had rolled off that last phrase effortlessly in that fancy, frou frou Griffon language. (Or is it "Gryphon?" Whatever. Gilda was Equestrianized...so she couldn't speak any of that stuff.) Without any semblance of his country accent tainting his pronunciation. Seriously. Who was this guy?

"Uhh...okay, then. Well, I'm done eating. I'll get the tab."

"No, no. I'll get it, if' ya' don't mind, Miss Rainbow." Big Mac placed a silver 20 bit piece and three copper single bit pieces on the check.

"If you want, but like...don't feel obligated or something. I got my own money, dude."

"Understood. But it just ain't right fer a lady to pay her way when a stallion is present." Rainbow wasn't exactly feministic, seeing as it was a bit redundant in a matriarchy ruled by two mares, but she still didn't like being treated as a useless, wilting violet. But for some reason, Big Mac's chivalrous behavior seemed sweet and sincere rather than insulting.

"Hey, it's your money, man. So, how 'bout we meet just outside Sweet Apple Acres? I know a killer mountain we can train on. I know you're strong as hell and whatnot, but I wanna' test your endurance. You know...see whatcha' got. Well, I gotta' get goin'. I need to meet somepony in Cloudsdale."

"Alright, 0700 outside the farm it is, Miss Dash. I think I know which mountain yer talkin' about. I think yer gonna' be a bit surprised...hehehe..." He seemed confident. But she had something wicked planned for their first training session.

"Alright. Peace. But you need to work on all that "Miss Dash" stuff. Just call me, Rainbow." She stood up from the booth, walking to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow....Miss Dash." Big Mac grinned.

"Uggh...you're hopeless."

"I'll defer to yer superior appraisal of one's potential...Miss Dash." She giggled.

She opened the pink door and walked out. She was pleased with how the meeting had gone.

But she had promised a certain somepony that she'd come to visit.

Twilight Sparkle was sitting at her cluttered desk inside her Castle suite, reading over a brief summary of Equestrian history. She knew that many of the theories on the founding of Equestria were just myths that were propagated by the ignorant or zealous. She had to meet the Saddle Arabian emissary in two hours...he had sailed in for the consortium all the way from the southern kingdom of Camelu, better known as "Saddle Arabia," to discuss advances in magic and also to open potential trade agreements between the two nations. He was purported to be one of the most learned and powerful wizards alive. As if that wasn't pressure enough, two other Unicorn emissaries from the Ib'Xian Empire and Neighpon would be present for the consortium. This would be the first time in history that any diplomat from the East had set hoof in Equestrian lands, so she was understandably nervous. Reading history books tended to calm her down a bit. Spike lay lazily across her bed, snoring up a storm. Normally, the little dragon could calm her down when she worked up like this...leave it to him to be fast asleep when she needed him. He needed his rest, though. He was still just a baby after all.

Oh, she had so many academic and cultural questions for them!! Imagine the wealth of knowledge they could share with one another! She stopped herself and began wondering how they would communicate with one another...would Celestia and Luna have a translator present for the consortium? Or did they already speak Equestrian? What if she said something in Equestrian that was an insult in one of their languages? Or what if she made a gesture that held some pejorative connotation in their cultures? She tried to relax....seeping deeper into thought upon the founding of the massive Empire.

The Royal Sisters had been born on the same day, February 24 of the years 1021 and 1031 P.E., in the now tiny kingdom of Germaneigh roughly over 800 years ago. Celestia had been born 10 years prior to her younger sister, albeit to a near-immortal Alicorn 10 years would seem minute. Their Alicorn parents were King Morgenstern and Queen Nachtstern, honorable and just rulers who shared the power of the crown. They were well-loved by their people, and they loved both their daughters and their subjects. The Royal Sisters grew up under the fair but stern hoof of their parents who knew that one day either of them could inherit the throne. All seemed to be going well for the Royal Family. But by Celestia's 200th and Luna's 190th birthdays, the two sisters began to notice a change in the gentle, loving countenance of their father and ruler.

King Morgenstern had slowly began to show signs of late-developed schizophrenia, becoming angry, cold, and paranoid. The disease still wasn't well-understood in Twilight's time, but it was a complete mystery for the physicians of medieval Germaneigh. He began to see and hear "conspirators" plotting to take he and his wife's crowns everywhere, often making the claim that "behind every door and window, there are conspirators waiting." He no longer showed affection to his beautiful queen or children, and he began falling into dark pit of rage and paranoia. To defend his crown from the "traitors" who plotted his death, King Morgernstern created a personal police force comprised of his hand-picked knights to conduct questionings of the peasants and nobles who were thought to be conspiring against him. As the king's madness grew, the questionings turned to torture and executions. Loyal subjects began to disappear from his court. The Inquisition went on for a sum of five years, taking the lives of over 100,000 citizens of Germaneigh before some ponies grew bold enough to resist.

Princess Celestia and her mother realized that Morgenstern was ill and a threat to the welfare of their nation. After quickly convincing Princess Luna and acquiring her support for their cause, they staged a political campaign to limit the king's power and authority. They tried to unite the terrified nobles and peasants to support them in deposing the mad king. When they felt they had sufficient backing, the three Alicorn mares confronted the wild-eyed, disheveled form of their beloved father and husband, asking him to abdicate himself temporarily from the throne and seek help for his illness. They knew the king wasn't in his right mind, so they pleaded with him to think of how his illness had hurt so many ponies that he had once loved...including they themselves. But the insane king was furious. He accused them of being the founding conspirators and blamed Celestia for poisoning his youngest daughter and beloved bride's minds, turning them against him. He exiled his two daughters in a fit of despair and rage. He forgave his wife for her perceived crimes, after she swore fealty to him. Still, the queen was grief-stricken by the banishment of her daughters and still made efforts to limit her husband's insane destruction. The two sisters now had no country...no home.

The Royal Sisters traveled south, roaming across the lands in search of a place to call home. They happened upon the tiny village of Derbyshire just outside the borders of their homeland. The timid village ponies welcomed the regal sisters, despite their banished origins and foreign accents. Thankfully, having been well-educated for over a hundred years by court tutors, the sisters had no difficulty communicating with the villagers in their native tongue. But they soon learned that the town had severe problems that it's meek denizens couldn't solve. The village was stricken by attacks from vicious bandits that had taken up residence in the nearby forest and dragons who were searching for valuables and trinkets to add to their hordes.

Pitying the poor, defenseless Earth ponies, the Royal Sisters united their powerful magic and slew a great many of the dragons and bandits, driving the rest away in fear. They erected a powerful barrier to stop invaders and a series of four runes around the formerly magic-less town. The runes' magic suppressed the predatory, aggressive tendencies of the wolves and bears from the nearby forest, and the runes also limited the destructive power of thunderstorms and other kinds dangerous weather. The town was ecstatic with the sisters and begged them to take power and rule them in a protective, mayoral capacity. The sisters were hesitant to seize power after the insane abuses of their father's own authority, but the local Earth ponies pleaded that they hadn't the strength or knowledge to rule themselves.

The Royal Sisters agree to take stewardship of the Kingdom of Derbyshire, ruling jointly under their original, Germaneighan titles of "princess." Even though they had personally destroyed many of the town's adversaries, they knew they were physically frail, and their magic would be useless if an enemy quickly closed the distance with them. They needed muscle and numbers to help protect Derbyshire. They got to work immediately, recognizing that the village's first priority was a strong, protective force. Their first step taken in protecting their new home was to arm the citizens, and so they taught the local ponies how to smith iron weapons like the ones in their homeland. They decided that a potent military required both regulars and elite troops, and they raised a large army of volunteer stallions to serve as the primary force to protect the land.

But they knew that the regulars were virtually powerless to stop any dangerous beasts like dragons, as they only could fight in rigid formations with spears and shields. The phalanx tactics of their new army was fine for warding off simple bandit attacks, but it was useless in fighting massive beasts. They created a small, elite order of knights from only the most intelligent, strongest, and bravest stallions who volunteered, teaching them to fight using the same training methods employed by their father's elite knights. This order of knights became known as the "Ut De Ira Malleis" or simply "Hammers of Wrath." These knights were well-armed and trained, having learned to battle the great aberrations and beasts that threatened Derbyshire by exploiting their weaknesses with special tactics and weapons. These knights also served as an elite assault force, called upon to break sieges and fight the standard armies of other nations. With a strong military protecting it, the small Kingdom of Derbyshire destroyed it's enemies, securing a brief period of peace.

With the fear of extermination extinguished, the Royal Sisters began showing the villagers how to build paved roads, create fortifications, and expand their properties. They created a large body of professional stonemasons and carpenters to build public buildings, create and maintain roads, erect bridges, and build naval vessels. The sisters implemented a small tax on the villages to pay these workers and their military, albeit they made doubly certain to not overtax their subjects as their father had done in their homeland. The sisters expanded trade relations with nearby villages and even offered to annex them into their sphere of protection from the hostile wilds and criminals. Many of the neighboring villages had heard stories about the might of the two Alicorns' magic and armies, and a great many villages swore their fealty to the Royal Sisters in hope of receiving the same protection as Derbyshire.

The Kingdom of Derbyshire grew into a collection of cities such as Stalliongrad, Dappleshore, Trottingham, and Haliflanks, all looking for mutual commerce and defense. After expanding the borders and power of their kingdom for 50 years, the Royal Sisters' small monarchy entered a golden age of wealth and security. It's population had grown to almost twice that of Germaneigh. The fledgling kingdom had naturalized many Pegasi from the city-state of Windsoar and many Germaneighan Unicorn refugees seeking asylum from the mad despotism of King Morgenstern's Inquisition. Seeing that these three races with varying cultures and languages were peacefully coexisting, the sisters declared that Derbyshire's native tongue was to be the national language, due to the great majority of of citizens who spoke it. On the day of December 13th, 1371 A.R., the sisters realized that they could create a great empire through peaceful means where people of any race, culture, or even species could unite under a single banner. The Royal Sisters renamed their now bustling handful of cities as the Equestrian Empire and declared the date of December 13th to be a holiday celebrating the nation's birth, otherwise known as "Hearth's Warming Eve."

Of course, King Morgenstern had learned of this new "empire" that his banished daughters founded, believing the new, massive nation would invade his and depose him forcibly. He ordered his knights and armies to ready for war, despite his high chancellor and queen's protests for peace. Ashamed by her fearful capitulation to her husband's decision to banish their daughters and exacerbate the fervent, delusional persecution of the Inquisition, the queen decided that her king's madness had gone on long enough. She confronted him publicly in the throne room, demanding he demobilize his military machine and offer to ally himself with the new Equestrian Empire. She declared that he was starting a war they couldn't win against his own children, and that both nations would endure grievous casualties...all for no reason. The king responded by murdering her in a fit psychotic rage in full view of his entire court. High Chancellor Festergrund, having witnessed the full extent of his ruler's madness, responded to the murder of Queen Nachtstern by appealing to the Royal Princesses in the southern Empire for aid in deposing Morgenstern. If the king could murder his own queen in public...then no pony was safe.

The Princesses agreed to help him and sent him a handful of 300 knights from their elite order to help the chancellor overthrow the king. The chancellor garnered support from the besieged noblemen and their soldiers, knowing that the king's own fanatically loyal knights, the Orden des himmlischen Sterne, would have to be killed before relieving him of regency. The Chancellor brought his force of 22,000 soldiers to the gates of Castle Geburtsstern, demanding that king step down voluntarily or be forcibly deposed and executed. The insane regent refused to surrender, emerging from his castle with only 200 loyal knights in tow to do battle with these new "conspirators."

The king and his knights chose a defensive position on the small island that connected the mainland to the castle across from the castle bridge, where they couldn't be surrounded and numbers wouldn't count for much. The resulting battle was nothing short of a bloodbath. The heavily armored elite knights, although terribly outnumbered, managed to slay thousands of the Chancellor's army by pulling small numbers of their adversaries into the bottleneck position of the tiny, narrow island. King Morgenstern himself, being the founder of his Orden des himmlischen Sterne knights, was a martial terror to behold, cutting down foe after foe with sword and magic in a berserk frenzy and daring the main body of the Chancellor's army to try and cross their bridge.

The Chancellor realized his large formations of soldiers were useless at fighting in the close quarters of the bridge and island, so he decided to use the Equestrian knights that he had been loaned. He could have never guessed how effective their unconventional tactics of warfare could be. The Chancellor was shocked by the prowess of the foreign knights. The Equestrian knights sprinted across the bridge to the island before the king's knights could cut off access to the bridge, taking small, metal spheres of two different variations off their belts and throwing them into the king's formation. The spheres erupted, spraying a smokescreen over the king's knights to limit their tactical awareness battlefield. The other spheres spewed forth noxious clouds of caustic gas, entering the knights eyes and noses and preventing them from using their magic.

Coughing, slobbering, and spitting uncontrollably, the king's knights could barely breathe or see let alone fight. The Equestrians capitalized on this handicap and entered the fray, slaying most of the king's knights in a mere five minutes of fighting. The mighty king himself, raging from the pain of his wounds and the confusion of the gas and smokescreen, refused to lay down his sword. The massive Alicorn king thrashed madly about at the nearest pony with his blade, condemning the "foreign mercenaries" and the "cowardly traitors" in a frenzied slur. Finally, his wounds wore him down and the great King Morgenstern collapsed from blood loss. The Equestrian knights had subdued the great warrior-king.

High Chancellor Festergrund seized power over the kingdom and had the mad king tried in court by a fair trial. His crimes were many. The king's Inquisition had killed thousands of Unicorns...all of them were his own subjects. Morgenstern refused to admit any wrong before a verdict was reached, his madness-addled mind seemed entirely incapable of understanding the scope of how horrific his offenses were. He was entirely unrepentant, claiming that he was the true ruler of the land, and that the Chancellor only wanted to seize power for himself by colluding with Equestrian mercenaries to overthrow him. The jury had no vacillations in reaching a verdict deciding the former king's fate: guilty of genocide and regicide and to be punished by death. Ironically, the king's head fell to the very same executioner's axe that so many of his so-called "conspirators" had before him.

The Chancellor was crowned as the new king of Germaneigh, and he immediately extended an offer of friendship to the Equestrian Empire and personally offered the sisters the opportunity to return to their homeland to help him rule. The two Alicorn princesses realized that they no longer had any commonalities with their homeland after the death of their parents. They had long since lost their Germaneighan accents, and they had their own great nation to rule. Therefore, the Royal Sisters decided to stay in Equestria but chose to accept his offer of peace. With the adversity of war and despotism quelled, the two nations went on to enter a new age of prosperity and peace. Only until very recently had the Empire experienced stability problems with the Nightmare Moon Rebellion and Discord's self-imposed "Age of Chaos."

"Princess? The consortium has been assembled and are awaiting your appearance." A large Earth pony soldier with a husky voice had just interrupted her reading.

"Thank you. Tell them I'll be there very shortly." Twilight felt immensely less nervous than she had originally after having read one of her favorite chapters of history. She decided to let Spike sleep rather than have him grumpily attend a consortium he didn't care about to begin with. She hurriedly gathered her notes into her saddlebags and headed out the door towards the audience chamber where the emissaries were.

"I have so many questions for them!!" She could barely contain her enthusiasm.

Rainbow Dash soared gracefully over the fluffy, white landscape of her place of birth and hometown, Cloudsdale. She had promised a certain pony that she'd come and visit her more often, and she always tried to keep her promises. The golden, midday sun warmed her back and feathers as she scanned the cloudy apartments below her for a particular one. She counted the numbers of the various apartments in search of Apt. 131. (127, 129, ah!...here we go..) She landed at the base of the stairwell and jogged over to the door, knocking on it with her hoof. The occupant inside answered immediately, opening the door to reveal a the form of a very familiar cyan mare.

"Oh, Rainbow! It's so good to see you, pumpkin! I haven't seen you in ages. I'm glad you finally decided to visit, sweetheart." That last comment was clearly intended as a guilt trip.

Cloudia Rainmaker Dash was a 48 year old petite, cyan-coated mare with a pixie-cut, dark blue mane and deep cerise eyes. Rainbow could immediately see where she had gotten her own coat and eye color, seeing as Cloudia had the same of both respectively. Her mother worked at the Imperial Rainbow and Weather Fabrication Factory as one of the top engineers and weather techs, where she devised new methods of weather management and distribution. It was a very respectable position, but the pay was disproportionately modest to the level of education her mother had. Also, Cloudia was every bit Rainbow's opposite in terms of personality. Her mother was shy, reserved, and studious, often choosing the tedious repetition of the routine over wild, spontaneous adventure. Her mother was also very meek and feminine as another contrast. Ladylike, even. Rainbow had inherited her own personality almost exclusively from her brash, reckless father. That wasn't to say that Rainbow didn't love her...or that she even disliked her...they were merely very different.

"Hey, Mom. Good to see you, too. Can I come in?"

"Sure, sure! I'll put a pot of coffee on, sweetie. I wish you'd let me know more about what going on in your life, though. I haven't heard from you for over two weeks. I was worried." Rainbow loved her mother, but she was a worry-wort. That's why she knew better than to tell her mother that she might be getting laid off soon and whatnot. (She'd probably like...have a panic attack if she had heard what the six of us have been up to with Discord and Sombra and shit.) Cloudia let her daughter into her immaculate, little apartment where she'd spent her childhood.

"Jeez...Mom...how do you keep this place so clean?" There wasn't so much as a single carpet fiber out of place. How much time did her mom spend cleaning each day? She couldn't imagine the dedication it took (or the obsession) to keep someplace this clean.

"Oh, you know. I can't stand a mess. So, I'll just go put the coffee on, and you can have a seat where ever you like." Rainbow plopped down onto one of the cushy sofas. From the kitchen, her mother continued her interrogation.

"I've heard some disturbing things in the news recently, sweetie. They say that all the local weather stations are being turned over to Nimbus Weather Control Inc. They laid a ton of Pegasi off...have you heard about any of that?" It sure didn't take long for her mother to jump to the worst possible conclusion...but in this particular case..she probably had a good reason to worry.

"Uhh..yeah...but my boss put in a really good word for me, so I don't think they'll can me. I pretty much single handedly took care of all the weather in Ponyville. You worry too much." Rainbow knew better than to let her mother know how stressed she'd been for the past two days.

"Oh, okay. I hope they keep you, pumpkin. If not, then you can move back in with me until you get back on your hooves. Do you need any money?" Rainbow couldn't stand to ask her mother for more money, no matter how much she knew she needed it. Her mother had already hooked her up with a cushy job and apartment, so she couldn't bear the thought of her sponging off her mother's frugal pay again. And to move back home after all she'd been through? Still...it was an option. Although it was greatly frowned upon for colts her age to still live at home, there was no such stigma in Equestrian society for mares.

"No, Mom. Hold onto your money. I'm fine. I got friends. Anyway, how've things been at the plant?" Her mother reemerged from the kitchen, carrying a tray with two coffee mugs in her hooves, her sky blue wings flapping gently.

"Boring as always. There are only so many ways you can streamline the efficiency of a weather factory before you hit a wall. But I want to hear about you, sweetheart. How are your friends doing? Are you going to take any college courses next semester? Met any stallions you like?"

"Jeez, Mom. One at a time! Well, my friends are alright...and you know I want to get back into the Wonderbolts Academy. As for stallions..uhh.." She wasn't so sure she should tell her mother about Big Mac.

"Ohhh...I know that look! What's his name? Is he cute? What does he do?" (Crap.) She couldn't divert the subject now.

"Err...it's nothing..like...serious or anything. It's just this guy I know. He's my best friend's brother. We've only talked and stuff.

"Hang in there, sweetheart. You've got a lot to offer. He'll figure that out eventually. Just be sure to plant your flag on him before some other mare does! I just know he'll see what a great gi-Rainbow! What have you done to your pretty face?! Did you pierce your nose and lip?!" (Aww...shit. I forgot all about that.)

"It's not a big deal, Mom. If I get tired of 'em, I can just go back to the parlor and get 'em taken off."

"Well, I sure hope you do, sweetie. You have such a lovely face and complexion. I can't believe you had some degenerate, tattooed pony fill your face full of metal! What if it gets infected?! Please, Rainbow...at least get a second opinion before you go and do something like this!"

"Jeez, Mom...it won't get infected. Don't worry so much. Sorry for not going....uhh...sorry." Rainbow thought about arguing that it was HER face and not her mother's...but she decided against it.

"I wish you weren't so brash and reckless all the time, Rainbow. You're just like your father...and I still don't understand why it's so important for you to keep chasing this "Wonderbolts pipe-dream" of yours instead of getting into a good college." Rainbow was getting angry.

"No, Mom...you don't understand why I have to do it. Dad would understand...so just cut me some slack, okay? And college isn't for everypony. I'm not really much of a bookworm, and I suck at studying. And getting into the Wonderbolts isn't a friggin' "pipedream." I have a good shot at it. I was captain of my last class at the Academy, and Soarin and Spitfire know me by name! Why should I blow my money on college tuition, when I need it to sign up for the next semester at the Academy?" Rainbow realized she had almost been yelling. A few more decibels would've done it.

"If it's that important to you, I won't stop you, baby...but I know how you get your hopes up for things that aren't guaranteed to fall through. And don't say you're not a good student! You're extremely bright, Rainbow."

"Yeah...I don't think I'm stupid or anything...but...you remember how high school went, right? Anyway, I didn't mean to yell atcha', Mom...sorry. I've just been having a rough week, I guess."

"It's okay, sweetheart. Me, too. Just remember that I'll support you, no matter what you choose to do. Just try to be the best you can be." The saccharine platitude was heartfelt and sincere, but it wasn't any less corny. Still, it was nice to know how much her mother loved her.

"Sure, thanks, Mom. Hey, you mind if we go check out my old room? I haven't seen it in ages." Rainbow had drained the last of her coffee and was eager to look at some old photos and things of her dad.

"Okay. I've kept it the same as the day you left, Rainbow."

"Thanks, Mom." The two of them sauntered into her childhood bedroom.

Her old room was full of Wonderbolt memorabilia, trophies, music posters, and a rather risque pin-up of Soarin's Playmare centerfold debut over 3 years ago. (I need to remember to take that back home with me..hehehe..) As she was scanning her old room, a realization struck her...her apartment bedroom wasn't much different. Was she...immature? It hadn't seemed as though she'd grown up much at all. But she didn't have time for another self-inventory like last night with Tank. She banished the thought from her mind and focused her attention on a black photo album. (Dad.)

"It's been about 7 years, hasn't it, Rainbow?" Her mother's voice was suddenly awash with emotion. It was understandable. She and her father had been high school sweethearts. She herself had been trau-(NO! Don't think about that!!)

"Y-yeah."

"I know he'd be proud of you, sweetie. You were always just like him."

"Yeah. Uhh...Mom?"

"Yes?"

"It's been over 7 years, you know. Haven't you thought about moving on and stuff?" Rainbow wasn't exactly sure how to word what she intended to communicate without coming across as calloused.

"How do you mean, sweetie?"

"You know...get out there and start dating again. You're stuck here all alone in this apartment, and I worry about you. I just want you to be happy."

"Oh! No, no! I couldn't! I'm too...old for that sort of thing now, Rainbow."

"No, you're not. You're not even 50 yet! I'll bet the guys'd be crawlin' all over you!" Cloudia was pretty and still had her figure. Rainbow couldn't help but feel as though her mother's beauty and intellect were being wasted.

"I-I...don't know...I haven't dated anypony in so long...and I don't think I could ever make that sort of connection with another stallion like I did with him..." Her mother had started to choke up. Rainbow hadn't meant to upset her. She pulled her in for a comforting embrace. Cloudia began weeping.

"I-I didn't think I'd start crying all of a sudden, Rainbow. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, baby. It's just that...there won't ever be another pony like him. It'll be our 25th anniversary in two months..." Rainbow just held her mother, letting her vent. After a bit, Cloudia had seemed to regain her composure.

"...sorry about that, Rainbow. I'll let you go through the photo album, if you want. I don't think I-...I don't think I can handle it right now, though. I'll be in the living room."

"Okay, Mom. Take it easy, alright? I'll be out in a minute." Her mother went into the living room, sniffing and holding back tears as she went. Rainbow wasn't sure she'd do much better herself. She and her dad had always been so close. Her stomach knotted at the thought of reminiscing over her youth with her father.

She opened the photo album. The first picture was of her twenty-something year old father and mother. It was taken just before her mother had gotten pregnant with their only daughter. They looked so happy together. Her dad, Colton Skyblazer Dash, was so handsome. She had gotten his rainbow-colored mane and fiery temper. His eyes were a lovely shade of golden green. His hoof was lying over her mother's shoulder, pulling her close to pose for the picture. She smiled. Her dad had always seemed to have a roguish smile on his face, as though there were some great joke that only he understood. Rainbow flipped the pages of the album, stopping on a picture of the two of them wearing matching Wonderbolts caps. (I still have that cap.) Another photo showed the two of them at the announcement of the Equestria Games.

The two of them had always been so much alike. She remembered her father telling her why she was so much like him. Supposedly, he had always wanted a son and had no idea how to relate or bond with a daughter. Rather than just allowing his little girl to grow up with frills, tea parties, and dresses like her mother had wanted, Colton had shared his hobbies and passions with her, fearing he'd be unable to relate to her otherwise. Basically, her dad had just decided to treat her like a feminine-looking son. They played catch together, had belching contests, and argued about who would win in a fight: Batmare or Spidermare. Of course, this somewhat backfired when she turned 12 and started noticing the other gender...her dad had suddenly become terrified. His "little slugger" had her first period, and she began exhibiting signs of femininity. But they had both taken it all in stride...it was kind of endearing even. He'd been so confused as to what he should do. Rainbow smiled.

Rainbow realized she was fighting back tears. She remembered how badly she had treated him that day...she said that she hated him...and told him to keep his nose out of her business. He had been so proud that her dream was to become a Wonderbolt. He had once been a Wonderbolt himself, until he injured his wing during a stunt gone awry. So, he started teaching a junior flyers class to make ends meet. She had met Blue Bolt the first day of her father's class when she turned 13. After a few months, the two of them quickly became close friends...he was one of the few colts who understood and loved her for her (Maybe it was just puppy love..maybe not.)...he had tried to kiss her. But Rainbow still had feelings for Mac. She'd thought she was saving herself for him for when she was old enough. She loved her friend, but she didn't feel the same way...but her dad had caught the two of them. He was furious. His over-protective "Papa Bear" instincts kicked in. He said that Blue was trying to take advantage of her, and 13 wasn't old enough for a filly to be running off with boys.

She had screamed at him...called him names....she had no idea that it would be the last day she had to spend with her father. She had dreams about him all the time...she dreamed about that day...in the restroom...the blood splattered over the linoleum...the screaming...the fucking teeth...grinding...yellow and jagged...crazed yellow orange eyes...("Shhh...hush now, baby doll..."....NO! Oh, God no!!nonononofuck....) It had been so awful. No pony deserved that. If only she'd listened to her father...she had been so cruel and ungrateful.

Rainbow knew she was fucked up. When her father had died a part of her died with him. She was angry. Bitter. Her life was shit. So was her mother's. Her once enthusiastic and cheery but shy mom was now a shut-in. She barely talked to anypony besides her daughter and didn't want to make any friends at work. Her husband had been the outgoing pony of the two. He'd opened her up to the world...he'd made her want to try. Her father had been the light of both their lives. She and Rainbow had lost what had made them feel whole after his death. Now...Cloudia was miserable...afraid to face the world. Just like Rainbow. But Rainbow had made a promise to her dad. She couldn't just give up like her mom. It was what had kept her going for so long...and her fantasies about Mac. She couldn't just give up on life. She was Rainbow Dash after all...the toughest, most fearless flyer in all Equestria. She couldn't quit...couldn't...but she'd lost one of the best parts of her life...

"The best..."

Rainbow had been plagued by a recurring nightmare after her father left her. Constantly. Despite what scientists said, Rainbow had always thought that there were only two kinds of dreams one could have: Daydreams and the dreams of a deep sleep. You could control daydreams. You just zoned out...lost in thought. They were nothing but fantasies usually. Wants. Desires. Random, errant thoughts. You could lie to yourself in those. Make stuff up. Like her daydreams of honoring her dad. Like Mac. But not actual dreams...no. You had no true control. Your mind just went rampant...your subconscious held you hostage. There were no lies in those. You couldn't change them. Like the nightmare. Like the one she'd had for so long. The horrible one that always started off so beautifully. She dreamed of ways to honor his memory...ways that she could make everything right...ways that she could make him proud...ways to let him know how much she had loved him. But those were two different kinds of dreams entirely...she felt like she was breaking down. Her life was worthless.

But she had to fight it! She could fight it all off. She was awesome! She was motherfucking Rainbow Dash! She was fearless! Tough. She could get over anything. Come back from any wound...no matter how terrible... She could do anything...she could...she...

...broke down and began sobbing.

Author's Notes:

Don't worry about the relevance of the bandits and all the other stuff I inserted. It all has a place and purpose, albeit you may find it boring. So, if you actually enjoy the story enough to keep up with it, then it'll all make sense in the end. Like I've said earlier, I'm planning a VERY long story, so if it seems to be taking a while to get to the "good stuff"...that's why.

Perhaps a bit too ambitious for a first-time writer...but fuck it. Balls-to-the-wall, all or nothing.

Just bear with me. It'll get a lot more interesting.