A small sliver of light made it's way through the dark cave before illuminating a tiny patch of ground. Slowly as the sun rose the patch of light expanded to land onto Rainbow Dash's eye. For almost a minute she ignored it but finally the light caused her to sleepily raise her head. She sneezed as she woke up and turned to look at Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash had one of her wings spread over her friend who had tucked her face into Rainbow Dash's side. Rainbow slowly tucked her wings back in and stood up. Fluttershy yawned as her warmth started to leech away.
“Good morning Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy said with a smile before stretching out her stiff wings. Rainbow Dash smiled back before looking to where Paradox's fire had been. Nothing but a perfectly circular hole existed there. Rainbow Dash stuck her head in for a quick look. The hole was very deep but she was pretty sure that she could a glimmer of the green fire at the bottom of the hole. Is that flame just going to keep burning? When is it going to stop? She thought to herself. Well not really my problem. She thought with a shrug before trying to pull her head out.
“Umm, Fluttershy? My head's stuck.” Rainbow Dash called and she continued to try and pull herself free.
“Oh dear. Here let me help.” Fluttershy's voice was muffled by the rock around Rainbow Dash. She felt a tug on her tail as Fluttershy bit down. “On fre?” Fluttershy asked through the mouthful of hair.
“Right.” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “One, two, three!” Rainbow Dash pulled as hard as she could and tried to ignore the pain of Fluttershy pulling on her tail. Fluttershy couldn't provide enough force though and Rainbow Dash remained stuck.
“Hang on a second Rainbow I'll be right back.” Fluttershy called before walking away. Rainbow Dash sighed and continued to tug on her head, hoping to get free by herself. Soon she heard Fluttershy returned as well as a low growl. “You understand what to do Mr. Bear?” Fluttershy asked. A grumble answered her. “Thank you!” She chirped sweetly. Rainbow Dash felt a sharp grip on her mane and nicking the back of her neck. “Please be careful!”
“W-wait!” Rainbow Dash called. Fluttershy quickly got the bear to release Rainbow Dash. “Isn't there any other way?” Rainbow Dash yelled.
“I'm sorry, but umm, I can't think of anything can you?” Fluttershy said. Rainbow Dash thought for a few minutes.
“Lets get this over with.” Rainbow Dash groaned and braced herself. The steel grip returned on the back of Rainbow's neck. “On thr-” A mighty yank interrupted Rainbow Dash. The force popped Rainbow Dash out and lifted her entire body off the ground for a brief moment before being released, landing on her hooves. “Ow” She gasped as she rubbed her neck and ears.
“Oh! Rainbow are you alright?” Fluttershy rushed over to Rainbow Dash and began looking her over for injuries. “I told you to be careful Mr. Bear!” She softly scolded the beast. It pawed the ground in response. The bear yawned and looked outside before wandering off. Rainbow Dash ignored the bear in favor of stretching out her neck the best she could. “Let me help Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy said softly as she began to massage Rainbow Dash's neck. Fluttershy's skilled hooves quickly removed any stiffness and pain from Rainbow Dash as she began to work her way down Rainbow Dash's back.
“Mmm, as good as this feels we really should get a move on,” Rainbow Dash sighed, now lying on the ground. Fluttershy stopped massaging for a second and Rainbow Dash took that opportunity to get back up. “Right! Lets get going. We've got to go save Equestria after all.”
“Okay Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy nodded her agreement.”
“Thanks for the massage.” Rainbow Dash said giving Fluttershy a quick kiss before flying out of the cave. Fluttershy trotted out less then a second later. They were greeted by an unexpected sight. Five large griffons holding nets and clubs flew up to the cave.
“I told you I heard voices.” One of the griffons said to the largest.
“Yeah, yeah. Alright ponies! Are you going to come along peacefully or are we going to have to beat some sense into you first?” The largest griffon said brandishing his club.
“I'd like to see you try!” Rainbow Dash shouted back, flaring her wings in preparation to fight.
“You heard her boys! Get em!” The griffon ordered. The griffons all rushed the two pegasi. One of them tossed his net at Rainbow Dash who ducked under it with contemptuous ease. Lightly spinning on one hoof she quickly bucked the griffon in the chest. Another rushed at her side trying to hit her with his club in a powerful vertical strike. Rainbow Dash just moved slightly to the side and grabbed the griffon's talon with one hoof. Sticking out one of her lower hooves she neatly tripped the griffon allowing his momentum to send him careening into his comrade. The boss himself finally tried to take on Rainbow Dash. He also tossed his net and this time Rainbow Dash took to the skies and easily cleared it. He chased after her swinging his club wildly from side to side. Rainbow Dash dodged each blow and was literally flying circles around the large griffon, only pausing to send a quick jab into the griffon's skull.
“Is that all you've got?” She taunted as she punched the griffon again. “I was hoping for a-” A shrill scream from Fluttershy interrupted her. Rainbow Dash's stomach plummeted at the sound. Losing her concentration she opened herself up for an easy strike and took a powerful blow to the head. She fell to the ground but quickly sprung back up and looked over to Fluttershy. Her love had been caught in a net by the two griffons that Rainbow Dash hadn't fought. Fluttershy was struggling the best she could making it difficult for the griffons to drag her. One brought his club down eliciting a yelp of pain from the bound pegasi.
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash cried out as she leaped back into the air. Her frantic flight forward was intercepted by the three griffons she had been fighting.
“You boys get that one! We'll hold her off til you get away!” The leader shouted as Rainbow Dash tried to get around them, but every time she started to make some ground she'd immediately lose it in dodging a powerful attack from one of the three griffons.
“Get out of my way!” She screamed as she changed tactics. Now she pounded the griffons as hard as she could with her hooves. Her three opponents changed tactics and now fought defensively, doing their best to weather the furious pegasi's attacks. Rainbow Dash could barely see Fluttershy anymore as the griffons dragged her away. Rainbow Dash redoubled her efforts and was just beginning to get past the battered griffons when a powerful roar halted the fighting. Rainbow Dash recovered first and used the distraction to finally break free and fly to Fluttershy. The sight that greeted her caused a smile to break across her face and a relived breath to escape her lungs. Fluttershy was slowly pulling herself free of the net while her two captors tried to escape the bear that had returned at Fluttershy's scream. The bear had already snapped the two griffon's clubs like dry twigs and was currently smashing the griffons into the ground with his powerful paws. Rainbow Dash ignored the griffons and just flew over to Fluttershy. She seemed to be fine, but winced when Rainbow softly poked her wing.
Meanwhile the last three griffons had joined the fray against the bear. Seeing that Rainbow Dash was about to rejoin the fight the griffons grabbed their wounded and beat a speedy retreat. Rainbow glared at them but let them escape. She had a much more important pony to worry about.
“How are you feeling?” Rainbow asked returning to Fluttershy's side.
“My wing hurts every time I try and flap it.” Fluttershy couldn't help but sob in pain. “W-why were those griffins so mean? We didn't do anything wrong!”
“Shhh, it's alright Fluttershy. I won't let them hurt you anymore.” Rainbow Dash drew Fluttershy into a hug and gently ran her hoof through Fluttershy's mane. Fluttershy cried in Rainbow's embrace for a few minutes more before regaining her composure.
“So what now?” Fluttershy whispered wiping away her tears with a hoof. Rainbow Dash reluctantly released Fluttershy and pointed at her wing.
“Well with that bruised wing of yours you won't be up for some long distance flying and I figure those griffons had to come from some place nearby. So I say we track them down, report them to the authorities, and let you rest up. Sounds like a plan Flutters?”
Fluttershy nodded in her head and slowly got to her hooves. “Should we get going? Oh I almost forgot!” Fluttershy rushed over to where the bear had been standing guard and gave him a big hug. “Thank you so much for protecting me." She whispered to the bear before giving him another hug. Rainbow Dash waited patiently for Fluttershy to say goodbye to her ursine friend and join her in tracking the griffons. They headed off in the direction they saw the griffons flee in and soon came across some tracks.
“I knew it!” Rainbow Dash bragged “At least one of those griffons is too hurt to fly properly and his friends aren't willing to carry him. Now all we have to do is follow this trail and we'll find a town in no time!”
“Um, but what if they aren't nice and try to capture us again? I mean um, why are you so sure that they won't just attack us?” Fluttershy asked
“Remember Gilda? Way back when she used to tell me stories of griffon clans. According to her griffons were all about honourable duels. None of this sneaking up and ganging up on ponies. So I figure if these griffons are anything like Gilda's clan then they'll be in trouble for trying to ambush us.” Rainbow Dash explained as they walked on.
After that they mostly followed the trail in silence. Occasionally Fluttershy would find a squirrel or some other animal and stop for a chat. At other times Rainbow Dash would fly up ahead to scout, though she never went very far. Eventually the tracks disappeared into a wide and well formed trail. The two pegasi were briefly at a loss on which way to go but Fluttershy simply asked a nearby mouse for directions and they were on the move once again. As they got closer to their destination they noticed signs that winter had been wrapped up in this area at least. Squirrels and bunnies came out to greet Fluttershy and there was barely any snow on the ground. Finally they reached the end of the forest which opened up into a wide field. In the distance ponies could be seen dragging ploughs across the fields, past the fields the town loomed with unpainted stone buildings while simple cloud homes orbited above overhead. The two ponies attention was immediately drawn to a massive stone coliseum as it was decorated with bright and colourful flags. It dominated the the centre of the town and from the noise it seemed that most of the town was in the coliseum at the moment.
“I wonder what's going on?” Fluttershy whispered as they walked through the mostly quiet town.
“I don't know. Sounds fun though.” Rainbow Dash responded as another big cheer arose from the arena. “Hey there's a pony! Lets go ask what's going on.” Rainbow flew off leaving Fluttershy to try and catch up as she flew up to the earth pony in question. He was cooking food and setting it up on display. He was also wearing a collar.
“Hey what's going on?” Rainbow Dash demanded.
“It's Fight Day.” The stallion replied. Seeing the confusion on the blue pegasus' face he explained, “you know, the day when all the big duels are settled? Nearly everypony gets the day off so they can settle whatever duels they have.” The stallion sighed and muttered something under his breath.
“What was that?” Rainbow Dash leaned closer as she asked.
“Nothing! Now go away, can't you see that I'm busy?” The stallion snapped and turned back to his cooking. Shrugging Rainbow Dash flew back to Fluttershy who hadn't caught up yet.
“So what's going on?” Asked Fluttershy.
“I'm not sure. I think the griffons have their duels today or something?”
“Why was he wearing that collar?”
“I don't know, didn't ask.” The two pegasi shrugged at each other and continued on their way. The headed towards the coliseum deciding to get a look at all of the excitement. They had just reached the entrance when the doors opened and a massive herd of ponies and griffons all poured out. Rainbow Dash instinctively took flight but Fluttershy cowered instead and was quickly pulled away with the crowd. Rainbow Dash tried to dive after her but her fellow pegasi and griffons kept getting in her way as they joined her in the air. Rainbow Dash dodged, dove, and dipped to avoid a collusion but as a result her progress was slowed. Finally she managed to catch up to Fluttershy only to see a large griffon looming over the frightened pegasus and trapping her in an alley.
“HEY! Back off!” Rainbow Dash yelled, landing between the two of them and glaring at the griffon.
“This has nothing to do with you pony! Back off!” The griffon just glared right back.
“Are you kidding? I'm not going to allow anypony mess with Fluttershy on my watch!” Rainbow snorted as she prepared to fight. Surprisingly the griffon backed off.
“I suppose I should have know better then to assume that such a beautiful pegasus would remain free for long. How much do you want for her?” The griffon sighed dramatically.
“W-what?! I wouldn't give Fluttershy up for all the bits in Equestria- no the entire world!”
“I will have that pony and though I would prefer to settle this peacefully I'm not averse to using force.” The griffon snarled, any previous veneer of friendliness having vanished.
“Bring it on punk! I'll smash you into the dirt any day of the week!” Rainbow Dash declared bringing up her hooves to fight.
“It's official then,” the griffon gave an unpleasant smile before shouting “UNCLE!” The two ponies just stared at him but in less then a minute a smaller, older griffon showed up sporting a massive golden moustache and and elegant wide-brimmed hat. He took one look at the scene and sighed.
“What have you gotten yourself into this time nephew?” His voice was raspy, like sandpaper.
“A duel Uncle, for that yellow beauty over there. If I'm to fight that rainbow'd brute then I need to go prepare. I trust I can leave things to you?” The griffon said ignoring Rainbow Dash's murderous glare. The uncle just nodded and the griffon smiled before flying away. Rainbow continued to glare and mutter unheard insults as she watched the griffon fly. The raspy voice of the uncle broke her concentration though.
“I apologize for how crude my nephew is. I suppose he didn't even introduce himself did he? My name is Cushy Feathers. May I know the names of who I am dealing with?” Cushy Feathers said with a bow.
“I'm Rainbow Dash and this is my marefriend Fluttershy. I hope you don't mind but I am going to pound your nephew into the ground.” Rainbow Dash growled as Fluttershy slowly began to uncurl to see this new griffon.
“That is your right, of course, but did you say marefriend?” Cushy Feathers' eyebrows rose in exaggerated shock.
“Yeah that's right! Do you have a problem with that?” Rainbow Dash glared.
“Oh no, no, no! I don't have any sort of problem! But you should probably keep your dear, Fluttershy was it? Status a secret unless you want to take official responsibility for her.” Cushy Feathers lifted his talons in a placating gesture. “Regardless I think what my nephew is doing is absolutely horrid. Trying to separate a couple that is so clearly in love? I swear this generation has no true sense of honour.” The elderly griffon said with a sniff.
“So what do we do now?” Fluttershy asked quietly
“Pardon?”
“She said what do we do now?” Rainbow Dash repeated impatiently.
“Oh right. If you'll just follow me I'll show you to the prep room in the coliseum. The announcer will call your name and then you'll fight my idiot nephew and hopefully teach him a thing or two about respect.”
“What are the rules?” Rainbow Dash asked as the trio began making their way to the coliseum.
“They're very simple really. No weapons allowed but other then that anything goes! The fight goes til one side gives up or isn't capable of fighting.” Cushy Feathers explained. From then on the pegasi and griffon mostly just flew in silence. Occasionally Cushy Feathers would attempt to make small talk but Rainbow Dash would only answer in one or two words and Fluttershy was too shy to talk at all. Finally Cushy Feathers left them alone inside a stone room whose walls were covered in banners depicting past champions of the coliseum. For a few minutes they waited in silence while Rainbow Dash looked at the different banners but eventually Fluttershy spoke up.
“You don't have to do this Rainbow Dash.” She pleaded. “It's not that big of a deal really.”
“You heard him Fluttershy. He offered to buy you as if you were a product in a store! No way am I letting a scumbag like that off the hook! Then he threatened you to top it off! Nopony threatens you and gets away with it! Ever!” Rainbow Dash argued back. “Besides its too late now. If I tried to back down now we'd likely get thrown into prison or worse.”
“Really?” Fluttershy squeaked “Are you sure?”
“Almost positive,” Rainbow nodded her head, “Griffons take duels very seriously. I mean just look at the size of this building or these banners! This entire town practically revolves around fighting.”
“If you say so.” Fluttershy hid behind her mane and bowed her head.
“Aw, come on Fluttershy. This guy doesn't stand a chance against me. It'll be over in ten seconds flat.” Rainbow Dash said putting a hoof under Fluttershy's chin to make her look up. “Now c'mere.” Rainbow Dash drew Fluttershy in and gave her a big hug. She couldn't help but grin when she heard the yellow pegasus give a little squeak at the pressure.
“Now for our next match Bleakbeak vs Rainbow Dash!” The distant announcer called.
“Just hold on Fluttershy, I'll be back before you know it.” Rainbow Dash said before giving Fluttershy a quick kiss. Fluttershy gave a small smile in response.
“Good luck.” She whispered as she watched her rainbow fly out into the arena.
The arena was bright and loud. An empty field of hard dirt was circled by a massive stadium full of cheering and yelling ponies and griffons. Rainbow Dash even thought she saw a minotaur or two. Still what had most of Rainbow Dash's attention was the arrogant young griffon from before by the name of Bleakbeak. Just the sight of him was enough to get Rainbow Dash's blood boiling and she impatiently looked up at the referee for the signal to begin.
“BEGIN IN THREE SECONDS. ONE.....TWO......THREE!” The referee announced. At three Rainbow Dash took off like a bullet. She slammed into Bleakbeak and just kept going. Her momentum and speed were so great that she carried her opponent across the entire arena and slammed into the opposite wall. Letting go of Bleakbeak she dropped to all four hooves turned around and bucked Bleakbeak as hard as she could right in his face. There was a large crack followed by a shriek in pain. Bleakbeak collapsed, grabbing his beak in both talons. A large crack now ran down the centre of the upper half of his beak and blood was beginning to well up. Seeing Rainbow Dash raise her hoof threateningly Bleakbeak quickly threw up a talon in submission.
“I give, I give!” He cried. The crowd was silent for a moment.
“A NEW RECORD FOLKS! LETS HEAR IT FOR RAINBOW DASH!” The referee screamed and the crowd erupted in cheers. Rainbow Dash gave a wave and grin to the cheering crowds before zooming back to where she left Fluttershy. She was met by a fierce hug from the yellow mare and couldn't help but grin.
“What did I tell you? Ten seconds flat.” She whispered to Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash leaned in for a kiss but the two pegasi sprung apart in surprise when Cushy Feathers burst in.
“Good show, good show! My idiot nephew isn't going to be able to talk for a week let alone get into more stupid fights.” The elderly griffon chuckled.
“What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash said flatly.
“To congratulate you on your marvelous victory of course!” Cushy Feathers smiled as Rainbow Dash glared at him, “and to bring you your winnings,” he finished. He whistled and a blue unicorn mare with a yellowish white mane entered the room. She wore a collar and had a crystal globe as her cutie mark. “This is Clear Thought who has served my nephew as an adviser these last few years to little avail. Hopefully you'll get more use out of her.”
“Greetings Mistress, how may I serve you?” Clear Thought said with a bow. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy just stared in shock and horror.
“Did you not realize what was on the line? If you had lost either you or your friend there would have become my nephew's slave.” Cushy Feathers explained seeing the look of shock on their faces. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Fluttershy's hoof. The yellow pegasus had grabbed Rainbow Dash from behind and was holding her close.
“Please Rainbow Dash, lets just get out of here.” She whispered into Rainbow Dash's ear. “Thank you for your help.” Fluttershy said to Cushy Feathers before fleeing the room with Rainbow Dash behind her. The two pegasi left the coliseum as quickly as they could and took to the skies immediately after. They raced out of town and didn't land until they were a good distance out of town. For a few minutes the pair stood in silence as Fluttershy caught her breath.
“Why'd you stop me?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Because-”
“Here you are!” Clear Thought exclaimed as she ran up. “Why did you run off Mistress?”
“Don't call me that!” Rainbow Dash snapped.
“My apologies. How shall I address you then?” Clear Thought bowed deeply.
“Stop it! You don't need to bow to me or call me anything special!” Rainbow Dash yelled.
“But you are my owner, and I should treat you with respect.”
“No! Consider yourself free! I will not own another pony! That's just sick and wrong!” Rainbow Dash was panting after she finished. Fluttershy came up and nuzzled her. Clear Thought sat in shock her mouth hanging wide open.
“You're so strong and yet you think slavery is wrong?” Clear Thought asked in a daze.
“Of course it's wrong! Ponies shouldn't own one another!”
“Why do you think it's right?” Fluttershy added.
“The strong should rule and the weak should support the strong. That's what this entire civilization is based on. If you lose a duel you must either give up a slave or become a slave to the victor. Your owner must care for you but you must serve your owner the best you can. Everypony is born free and anypony can be challenged to a duel. These are the rules we all live by and in doing so we've propered.” Clear Thought explained slowly and dully.
“Everypony is strong in their own way! Just because I can beat somepony in a fight doesn't mean I'm stronger then them in every way. If there is anything the last two years have taught me it's that strength and greatness comes from working together in harmony.” Rainbow Dash argued back. Clear Thought stayed silent for a few moments,
“Well what now?” Clear Thought said trying to keep her voice steady.
“I don't know. Me and Fluttershy are going to keep heading home to Equestria. You can do whatever you want.”
“Please don't leave me! If you go away I'll just get caught again and I don't want to be a slave anymore! I'm not strong enough to win any duels.” Clear Thought was openly sobbing now as she desperately grabbed onto one of Rainbow Dash's hooves.
“Oh you poor thing,” Fluttershy rushed to Clear Thought and gave her a hug. “Just calm down, you're safe now and Rainbow Dash and I won't let anything bad happen to you.” Fluttershy promised as she stroked the crying mare's mane.
“B-but I can't keep up with pegasi! You'll fly away and leave me!” Clear Thought wailed.
“Then we'll just have to stay.” Rainbow Dash declared.
“What about Equestria Rainbow Dash? Don't we need to stop Paradox?” Fluttershy asked.
“Equestria can handle Paradox for a while, he doesn't seem that destructive at least. And we can't just leave all of these ponies to suffer can we? No we'll stay until every last slave is freed!” Rainbow answered stomping her hood on the ground. Fluttershy smiled and nodded her support as Clear Thought started to calm down.
“Free every slave? How are you going to do that?” Clear Thought asked with a snivel.
“Don't worry, I've got a plan.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “This is going to be awesome.”