Loyalty's Breath

The speed, the adrenaline, the wind in her mane......it could only get her going for so long before, even she got bored. Yes, our number one flyer was bored.

Rainbow Dash had been flying since morning—after, of course doing her weather duties—and it was tiring her out. She was near the library of her dear friend, Twilight Sparkle. It was a nice open area near the Golden Oaks Library, perfect for her newest tricks. Usually her tricks were meant for the Wonderbolts; to impress them, but since she already did so, successfully joined their ranks as a reserve, and flew her first show with them—in place for Wind Rider of course, she simply made her tricks to impress other ponies, more specifically, Scootaloo. Why wouldn't she? She was like a sister to her, in fact they had competed in the Sisterhooves Social together just a few days ago.

With nothing else to do, Rainbow glided towards the library and knocked on the door. "Coming." A muffled voice came from inside. The door opened, and behind it was Spike the dragon.

"Oh, hey Rainbow Dash. Come on in." He beckoned her to follow.

She followed him, and looked around the library for what seemed like the hundredth time. A wide, spacious area with bookshelves in the walls, a few tables here and there, and some quills and spare parchment lying around.

"Twilight's reading on one of the tables." He pointed in the direction Twilight was and walked upstairs, knowing him, probably to sleep.

She walked in the direction Spike pointed and quickly saw Twilight with her nose buried in a book, quite literally. Dash smirked as an idea popped in her head.

She quietly walked behind Twilight, she would've flown behind her, but flapping made too much noise. She bit her lip as she stifled her laughter, she raised her hooves and pounded them on the floor, hard.

"AAAAAAHH!!!!!" Twilight screamed, and her wings shot out from her sides.

Rainbow snorted, and fell to the floor laughing. "Pfft, haha, priceless!!"

Twilight calmed down and glared at her. "What was that for?!"

"Pfft, cool your jets there egghead, since you're an alicorn now, I wanted to help you notice even the tiniest disturbances in the air, did ya notice a little twitch in your wing before I scared you?" Dash asked, smirking.

Twilight blinked, there was a little twitch in her wing before her, oh so spectacular jump-scare, but she just shrugged it off, there was more to flying than met the eye...wasn't there?

She sighed, knowing it was impossible to reason with Dash. "Very funny."

"Aren't I?" Dash chuckled, but Twilight just rolled her eyes.

"So, watcha' readin'?"

"I was reading a book I borrowed from the Cloudsdale library, since I can fly now, it's about Pegasus history. For some reason the pegasi don't give this particular book to non-pegasi, but I admit, the era of Commander Hurricane's reign is pretty interesting!"

Rainbow's expression suddenly turned serious. "I know your new to being an alicorn and all, but, we don't like to share a particular piece of history that's in that book, we are a mighty race and proud, but our it is one thing we don't like to share. I'm gonna tell you something most—if not all—of the pegasi know." She took a deep breath. "As you know, Commander Hurricane led Pegasopolis in alliance with the two nations right? Yeah, but nopony knew what happened after that. Only something about a bloody war between our own. Commander Hurricane had died and his successor took charge of Pegasopolis, till, of course, the princesses took the throne after defeating Discord." She finished.

Twilight's mouth hung agape. "H-how did you know all that?!? I didn't take you for a history buff."

"I'm not. It was something the princess told me, no idea why but, whatever." Dash shrugged.

"Wow."

"I know right? Commander Hurricane was awesome!!" Dash grinned.

"Yeah......Oh! And speaking of, Princess Celestia wanted me to find some ruins across the Northern Luna Ocean, she suggested to bring you along!" Twilight said, smiling.

"......Epic quest? Count me in!!" Dash did a flip in the air.

"Alright, we'll be leaving tomorrow at dawn, and we'll fly. Alright?" She asked, grabbing a few books with her magic.

"Alright. What ruins are we searching for anyway?"

"We're searching for Pegasopolis's ruins!" Twilight replied excitedly.

"Oh, cool."

"Alright, so now that's out of the way, I'll go over a list of things we'll need to bring..." Said Twilight while levitating a clipboard over.

"Oh no." Dash sighed miserably. This was gonna take a while....

-----

The morning arrived fairly quickly and both Twilight and Rainbow Dash were ready and standing towards the northern outskirts of the town facing Canterlot.

Rainbow Dash had gotten up early and had cleared all the clouds, good thing it was supposed to be a clear, sunny, cloud-free day. So the birds were chirping and the sun was shining and all that cliche stuff.

Twilight had told the rest of the girls where they were headed and the girls, in return wished them good luck.

Speaking of Twilight, she had a map hovering in front of her face and trying to find a clear path to where they'd be headed. "To get to the Northern Ocean, we need to fly straight towards Cloudsdale and turn left when we reach the far side of the city, fly through Luna's Ocean and then..." She suddenly stopped and blinked. "....I have no idea where to go from there."

Dash groaned. This was taking forever! "Whatever, we'll figure it on the way. Now, come on!!" Dash decided, and pushed Twilight into the air.

"Ok, ok!! Sheesh." She grumbled.

And so, they were off...

-----

Their trip to Cloudsdale was a short one to say the least. They had arrived in a span of a few hours, and the great city still looked as mighty as ever with its tall majestic pillars and the rainbow falls, needless to say it was all breathtaking.

Dash didn't see what the big deal was since she grew up there, but Twilight insisted it was. Dash just rolled her eyes and they continued flying.

Soon they arrived at their destination and the serenity of the Luna's north sea was majestic, with the sunlight reflecting off the water and giving it a sparkling effect.

"Whoa!" Twilight gasped flying over the sea.

"You said it!" Rainbow whistled.

They flew further and further across the sea, and Rainbow was getting more impatient by the minute.

"Do you even know where we're going!?!? It's almost sunset!!!" Rainbow yelled.

"Well—" Twilight was cut off by a gust of wind, that kept throwing her off. Rainbow immediately took action and flew to Twilight's aid.

"Gotcha!" She grabbed Twilight's hoof and helped her fly straight again.

"Phew, thanks Dash." Twilight smiled, but Rainbow was looking elsewhere. Random gusts of wind were not supposed to come out of nowhere. "Hmm..." She then looked up. Her eyes widened. Oh no, she thought.

"...Twilight, whatever you do, do not look up."

Twilight gulped. "O-okay."

"We need to get outta here, quick!!" Dash said as she started to fly faster. Twilight nodded and tried to keep up with Dash's speed.

.......But it was too late.

Before any of them knew what was going on, thunder struck and a white flash blinded them both for a second and the next thing they knew they were falling through the air and felt water engulfing them both. They desperately looked for land. They felt their vision darkening, feeling the oxygen getting drained out of them, they tried swimming back up, but, to no avail as they both succumbed darkness...

-----

A black abyss was all that she could see, stretching on for miles and miles......

But wait, a voice!

"When the storms approach once again...she will be drawn here...and fulfil her destiny, as an immortal..."

It was a stallion's voice, but it seemed so familiar...

"...She with the rest of her council...her friends."

Those red eyes...fierce, determined and strong...why does it feel like that she'd seen them before?

-----

"Ughh." Dash groaned as she regained consciousness. The first thought that popped in her head was, I'm not dead?

Alive she was, and Twilight was just a few feet away from her still unconscious. Dash decided to take a look at her surroundings. She gasped. This was not what she expected! She thought she'd be on a beach if some-sort, but not this!

She was on clouds!! How did that work anyway? From one of the lowest points of land to one of the highest. Maybe Twilight had gotten her here...right?

She wanted to find out and trotted over to Twilight and nudged her awake.

"Blakwa?" She popped her eyes open and looked up at Rainbow Dash.

"Dash?" Then realisation hit. "We're alive?!?!?!?!!! Oh my gosh!! How did you manage to save us?"

"...I didn't. I thought you did..." Dash was confused, if Twilight didn't then...who did?

"Umm, on the other hoof...where are we?......and how did we manage to get on clouds?!?!" She freaked out.

"I don't know......" But then she noticed a large gate...right behind her. "What the hell?!" How did she not notice that?!

"Pegasopolis?!?!" Twilight read the engravings on the almost broken gates.

"...Looks like we found the ruins Twi." Dash stared wide-eyed.

"Let's go take a look." Suggested Twilight.

Dash simply nodded and they entered. Pegasopolis looked strikingly similar to Cloudsdale, in architecture of course but the colors we're a much brighter sky blue, it really did look like something from a history book. The houses were pretty much almost all destroyed but they had a majestic look to them. They went deeper and deeper into the empire when they finally reached the centre. It was a wide area, the houses were in a circle around the centre which was a statue of a stallion. He had his hoof stretched outwards while standing on his hindlegs with a look of determination on his face, his mane was swept back, he was wearing armour and had his wings at full span.

Twilight trotted forward and read the engravings.

"Commander Hurricane..." She read with disbelief.

"Dash look!! Hurricane!! Commander Hurricane!!!.........Dash?" She looked back at her colorful friend, but Dash wasn't listening, instead she was studying the statue curiously, and as if in a trance she flew over to the statue and studied it's face; fierce, determined and strong.

"Dash?"

She continued to ignore Twilight and touched her hoof at the statue's outstretched one. An extremely bright light followed, but Dash didn't even bat an eye. Her eyes still locked with the statue, she glared, but then a pony figure started to take shape from the light. Dash snapped back to reality and flew backwards, gaping. She landed next to Twilight who mirrored her expression, staring intently at the light.

From it emerged...a dark grey pegasus stallion, with a rainbow coloured mane, ruby colored eyes, wearing armour and had a cutie mark that resembled the Wonderbolts logo, but the lightning bolt was colored red, yellow, blue and there was only one wing.

The stallion really resembled the statue too......wait...

They looked back and forth, from the statue to the stallion standing before them...statue, stallion, statue, stallion, statue—NO WAY!!

"COMMANDER HURRICANE?!?!?!" Dash and Twilight yelled out in unison.

That was impossible...how?

They stood there gaping at the impossible. "You're supposed to be dead!!" Dash yelled out.

Commander Hurricane just smiled but looked like he was suppressing a chuckle.

He stepped forward in front of both of them still smiling, and bowed......to Rainbow Dash.

"Uhh..." Dash blinked. "I think you meant to bow to Twilight......Commander Hurricane?" She said unsure of what to call him.

"Please call me Hurricane, and why would I bow to her?" He motioned to Twilight. His voice was deep and strict but had an aura of peace in it.

Dash was even more confused. "...Cause she's the princess?"

"Princess?" He curiously looked at Twilight, both her horn and wings.

Then realisation hit. "That's right! He was dead before the coronation of Princess Celestia and Luna...or even alicorns!" Dash whispered to her.

"Oh, right."

"But nevermind that. Could you explain how in the wide, wide world of Equestria you're alive?!?!" Dash screamed.

"Oh. Yes, I'm sorry I guess I owe an explanation, don't I?" Hurricane asked.

Twilight rose an eyebrow.

"To explain everything...I must show you." He said with a serious expression. He then stomped a hoof on the ground and white surrounded them.

They gasped, a Pegasus was performing magic without a magical artifact or horn! This was surely a dream, right? Right?!

Commander Hurricane then looked at Dash. "You are here because you are somepony special, drawn here to fulfil your destiny, but, to fulfil your own you must first know mine."

Everything disappeared and a memory from long ago started playing before their very eyes.

"This is of how it all began..."

-----

"What's wrong Hurricane?" A teenage mare asked trotting into a beautiful gardens on the clouds. She continued to walk towards a young Hurricane who was sitting on a bench leaning on to one of the pillars.

"It's nothing Speedy..." The said mare Speedy was a navy blue mare with a light, almost white mane. She had a short spiky mane. Her cutiemark was a yellow lightning bolt, and her eyes were an emerald color.

"Oh come on! I know that look, what's on your mind?" She pouted.

"What look?" He asked suspiciously.

"Ya know, this!" She puckered her lips and gave big puppy dog eyes.

"Ok, ok! I do have a lot on my mind, just..." He looked at her and she encouraged him to continue. He sighed knowing it was impossible to escape now.

"I'm really......scar—worried. I don't think I'd be a good leader for the pegasi. My father had expectations and always told me I'd do great things, and my mother...encouraged me no matter what, but they're both gone, I don't have anybody to be like they were..."

Speedy rolled her eyes. "Is that all?"

Hurricane looked at her and gave her a flat look.

"What I mean is, you've got me and Thunder Storm and we'll support you all the way!" She smiled.

"Heard my name?" A dark grey pegasus stallion with a blue and purple mane and silver eyes walked in, smirking.

"Always the one to eavesdrop, eh Thunder?" Hurricane said, glancing at him.

"Oh ha ha." Thunder laughed sarcastically. "Watcha guys up to?"

"Hurricane here was moping and was like 'woe is me, I can never be a ruler', and I was telling him here that we'd see through everything in the end, together."

"Is it true?" He snickered.

Hurricane just rolled his eyes.

"But really Hurricane we'll be all together in the end....Right Storm?"

"Yeah."

Hurricane smiled, he was lucky to have such good friends. They all joined in a hug filled with friendship and love for eachother...and all that sappy stuff I can't think of right now.

"Forever..."

-----

"But, oh how wrong I was." Hurricane said as the memory ended. "Things never last forever. Our case wasn't any different, at least it wasn't between Storm and I."

He saw their confused looks and said. "Perhaps another memory is in order."

Another memory started, this one though was much more different that the previous...

-----

Storms...they were popping up at random places in the ponies now newly formed land. The pegasi were not making those storms and couldn't stop them either. The ponies shrugged it off because it was helping the crops, since that little drought.

But Hurricane was more than suspicious, storms didn't come out of nowhere, never. While it never bothered his subjects or the other leaders, he couldn't shake the feeling of something working under the shadows...

He was right. For once he wished he wasn't because it had resulted into an all out war. The armies were standing there waiting to battle.

Commander Hurricane with the pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies and their leaders in front were on the left, all battle ready.

To the left were the rebels, with their masked leader in front.

"Well Hurricane...it has come down to this, hasn't it?" A leader spoke a deep voice behind the mask.

"That's Commander Hurricane to you!" He glared.

"Oh? But I thought you'd make an exception for a dear old friend." He hissed out the last word and took off his mask, revealing...Thunder Storm?!

Hurricane gasped. "Storm!?! H-how? W-we thought you had died because of the rebels, Speedy and I..."

"Didn't see this coming? Too bad, boo hoo hoo. I don't care! Whatever I did, you always outshone me in the end. No matter what it was! Oh but you were always great in their eyes. When you made peace with those pathetic unicorns and earth ponies, that was the last straw. I knew this was not right, it never was..." His eyes seemed distant as if recalling a memory.

"Storm..." Hurricane's eyes softened and held out a hoof. "We can stop this now, please...I don't want any blood shed."

Storm studied his eyes his ears flopping down, but then he glared.

"Never."

And the war began...

The unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi fought hard against the rebels. Private Pansy, Chancellor Pudding head, Smart Cookie, Clover the Clever and even Princess Platinum were fighting alongside Commander Hurricane. Blood was everywhere in a matter of minutes. Since Storm had 'died' and Speedy being second in command in the Wonderbolt Guard, Hurricane had spent more time with the rest of the leaders and their secretaries.

Hurricane was fighting one of the rebels and he proved to be well trained in combat. He trained in the Wonderbolt Guards with Speedy long enough to know a fearsome fighter when he saw one.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a glint of white. "Hmm?" He turned around a little and saw a magic blast...heading straight for Speedy.

"NO!!" He left the rebel he was fighting with and flew as fast as he could to Speedy.

BOOM!!!

The battle halted. Everyone turned to the source of the sound only to see Commander Hurricane standing with shaky hooves and smoke rising from him.

Speedy gasped. "Hurricane...y-you..."

He looked back and smiled shakily. "Forever..."

"Well that was unexpected, but nonetheless a win is a win." Storm grinned triumphantly while holding a stallion unicorn in a chokehold with smoke rising from his horn.

But then, just as they thought it was over, a bright light surrounded him and a red lightning bolt shaped gem appeared. Magic concentrated around the gem and it bolted through the army and straight to Thunder Storm.

"What?!!! No! NO!!!!!"

The light blinded everypony and when they could finally see they saw all the rebels imprisioned, including Storm...and Hurricane lying on the ground...dead.

"Hurricane!!!!!!!"

-----

They were back at the centre of Pegasopolis and the memory had ended but Hurricane continued from where it left off.

"And from what I remember I was in a trance and all I could see was white, I didn't know what I was saying, but now I do. And with my last breath I spoke these words; when the storms approach once again, she will be drawn here, and fulfil her destiny, as an immortal, she with the rest of her council, her friends."

Dash's ears perked up, those were the words she had heard during when she was unconscious! But she'd thought it was just her imagination.

"Sound familiar?" He asked Dash, smirking.

"Well, uh, yeah."

"When?!" Twilight pouted looking at her.

"When I was unconscious, after lightning struck us." She said, recalling their little encounter. Come to think of it, how did they survive?

"You survived because lightning isn't supposed to kill you and the rest? Figure it out." He winked.

"Can you read my thoughts now too?" She sighed, nothing like having a nice little conversation with a pony who was supposed to be dead.

"Well, we are connected..."

"WHAT?!" Dash freaked out.

"Oh right! I'm sorry. The spirit of one's body is not connected to the brain so it is normal that I forget."

"What?" She shot a puzzled look at him.

He cleared his throat and got ready as if he was about to say something life changing, psh, as if!

"Rainbow Dash, you are different...someone with great loyalty and determination. Things that don't easily come by to many ponies." He took a deep breath at what he was about to reveal. "Did you ever wonder that why only your family has a rainbow mane? No? Only the purest of pegasus bloodlines have a rainbow colored mane, and your family, your ancestors, were one of the greatest warriors in our history. Rainbow colored manes were common in those times. Our speech was much different too, the only reason I'm talking like this now, to communicate with you well." He then put a hoof on her shoulder. "You, in your family have been chosen for great things, for you are...my reincarnation."

Things were silent for a while when Dash burst out laughing. "Good one! This is a good joke!......right?"

"No! It is most definitely not a joke!" He stomped a hoof in anger.

"...Dash, I don't think he's joking." Twilight spoke up who seemed to be calm about the whole ordeal.

"Well shoot, this is an unexpected turn of events..." She chuckled. "I guess I have a hard time wrapping my head around this. I mean I just found out I'm the reincarnation of one of the greatest ponies to ever live...yup, totally normal."

"I understand your disbelief and I will give you time, you'll need it. You can call on me whenever you need help...when you're ready. Alright?" He looked at her calmly while smiling.

"Alright...soo...how do we get outta here...?" She asked looking around the endless sea of clouds.

"Up." Was all he said.

But she got what he said and flashed a confident smirk. "Come on Twi, this'll be one hell of a story to tell back home!" With that she started to take off.

"There's a storm coming...just like last time. And you need to stop it."

Dash glanced back, but there was nopony there anymore, but she smiled and whispered.

"I will."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N

I hope you enjoyed! Did you get two references? One in the title and one somewhere in the story ;)