Beyond the chamber where they left General Scales behind, Fox and Sunset discovered what could only be described as some sort of death-race course. Flame jets shot out from the sides of the track, glowing platforms caused the speeders to briefly turbo-boost when they drove over them, boxes fell from gantries to try and block paths, and the cavernous tunnel split and merged frequently to provide ample opportunities to attempt short cuts. The tinkerer sped ahead of the pair with the Spellstone, and it wasn't long after that they could hear two more Sharpclaws in pursuit behind them.
At first, the Tinkerer seemed to just be trying to get as far away from Scales as possible, but a glance back to see Fox and Sunset caused her to start to slow down...until she saw the other Sharpclaws in pursuit. After that, she shot ahead as far as she could get before popping open the front of her speeder, leaning over it as she used her feet and tail to steer while she messed with the engine. She somehow managed to keep the lead as she did so, possibly as much from audacity as skill, as Fox and Sunset stopped trying to catch up completely out of curiosity over what she was doing.
When she snapped the front of the Speeder closed, she was actually slower than the normal Speeder's max speed...unless Fox or Sunset started to catch up to her, at which point she'd hit a button and turbo boost. She'd also do this if the pursuing Sharpclaws were in sight.
As Sunset put all this data together in her mind, a complete loop of the track finished. As they passed by the starting point, they saw General Scales had vacated. Suddenly, a glimmer of an idea hit her. Sunset steered her Speeder over to Fox. "Dad, I need a big sand screen behind us! Can you help me with that when we next cross a sandy part?"
"Sure thing!" Fox promised, moving to one side of the track while Sunset moved to the other.
Once they reached the sandy portion again, both Sunset and Fox hit the brakes on their Speeders as they swerved towards and around each other. Guiding the engines into the sandy ground sent a huge cloud of sand up towards the Sharpclaws behind them. Just before the Sharpclaws reached the cloud, Sunset unleashed a charged burst of pure heat into it from one hand, fusing the sand cloud into a sharp glass trap. Brief screams were followed by explosions, and pursuit ended.
"If you can do that on command, I would recommend carrying some sand around with you at all times if you expect to encounter the General," the tinkerer observed as she turned around and drove back up to the pair. "Still hot glass would throw off the harmonics of the sonic weapon, which will protect your sunstones from shattering. Also, only the General has the sonic weapon, as I never made another one and no one else in his army could understand the blueprints..." Reaching into a pouch at her side, she pulled out a few scrolls bound tight and held them out to Fox. "If they had them, that is."
Fox stared from the scrolls to the tinkerer. "And...why are you telling us all this and giving us this?"
"Duh!" Sunset explained with a roll of her eyes. "Dad, she's trying to defect! It's why she was going to let us catch her until she saw her own people pursuing her." She held out her hand. "I know you know us, but formal introductions and all that. I'm Sunset Shimmer, and this is my Dad, Fox. What's your name?"
The tinkerer stared at the hand for a time, glanced at her own for a bit longer, then gently wrapped her hand around Sunset's. "Sharpclaw's only get names if they distinguish themselves...but I was referred to as Tinkerer. I...suppose 'Tinker' would do for a name...or 'Tink' for short." She then stared in confusion as Sunset shook her clawed hand up and down.
"Pleased to meet you, Tink!" she greeted warmly.
"Uh...not to sound ungrateful or overly suspicious..." Fox began awkwardly as he took the offered blueprints. "But...you seemed to be the General's second in command...or at least chief science advisor. Why would you want to defect from that?"
"That's a long story I probably shouldn't explain in too much detail with a minor present," Tink began awkwardly, "but it starts with our race's gender balance being 10:1 male to female, and us being a matriarchal society until General Scales somehow got enough power to take over and enforce his will on the entire race." She glanced from Sunset to Fox awkwardly. "And...why you probably haven't seen any other females of our race on the front lines..."
"Honestly, until General Scales referred to you as 'she', I didn't know the Sharpclaws had females," Sunset explained helpfully, plainly not following the conversation.
Fox, however, had gone cold from what Tink had explained. "You mean...it's a choice between his personal science officer...or his personal morale officer?" he asked cryptically.
"Not quite a choice," Tink corrected. "My position as science officer only remained so long as I was more useful to him that way. If at any time that usefulness came to an end..." She blinked her eyes as her jaw tensed. "As long as there weren't off-world forces capable of facing Scales, my only chance to survive long enough to enact change was to have my mind be more useful to him than my body. Once opposition did appear, I needed to stay close enough to Scales to encounter said forces, but not so close he decided to...indulge. Then I needed a way to make direct contact with the opposition unobserved."
"What happens to the Sharpclaws if Scales falls?" Fox asked carefully.
"I don't know," Tink admitted ruefully. "But letting Scales turn our race into monsters out of some insane quest for power isn't an option. If he wins, who we were is already dead. If he falls, there's a chance we might reclaim it...or at least reclaim honor before we are wiped out. To me, that is worth it." She glanced away. "And if my 'sisters' could voice their thoughts on the matter still, I am certain they would agree."
Fox nodded. "Alright. We've got the Spellstone. For now, we'll take you back to the Great Fox. We'll discuss whether that's as a POW or as a recruit later."
"Fair enough," Tink allowed. "I know a shortcut back to where you landed your fighter. This way."