~~~~~~~??????~~~~~~~
Rainbow Dash had a philosophy after all of these years spent palling around with the Elements of Harmony. It was arguably the only thing that had kept her from just flipping out and going as crazy as Pinkie Pie. The only way to get through the crazy adventures that happened to them on a regular basis was to just take things in stride. So when a crazy looking magical portal had sucked them through the fabric of time and space to Celestia knows where and dumped them into the middle of a dusty warehouse dressed up like Daring Do characters, she just went with it.
Twilight on the other hoof still hadn’t quite learned that lesson, and looked about two breaths away from completely losing her cool. Fortunately there was a crisis to solve and Twilight was really good at focusing when there was something she could apply logic to. Of course, it wasn’t a big help to Dash that Twilight had suddenly turned into a purple version of Princess Luna. And given that Dash was already kinda… sorta… crushing on Twilight and Princess Luna...
Quickly, Rainbow Dash picked her way through the narrow passages between, under, and around the stacked crates while trying not to think too hard about the implications of that. Not that she’d told either of those ponies about how she felt. Besides being completely insane, I mean, they’re princesses and even though I am pretty awesome that’s kinda pushing it, it would’ve been way too awkward to bring it up with how gossipy her friends could be. Thankfully, neither Twilight nor Rares seemed to realize she was trying to hide a faint blush every time she looked at Twilight moving that hot flank- Gah! Get your head in the game, Dash!
As they walked through the mildly creepy warehouse the voices became louder and louder, and more identifiable... "Look, I don't know who you creeps think you are, but you'd better let me go.” The voice was achingly familiar to Dash’s ears, but there was something just subtly off about it that made her doubt her instincts. Whoever that somepony was, she was brash and arrogant and altogether too confident in herself.
A braying, sinister laugh answered the other somepony even as Rainbow Dash tried to figure out how she could get closer without making herself a target.. "Or else what ya little filly? Ya gonna go cry to yer momma?" A number of other voices laughed in response to that, and some slapped thighs and hoots followed as well. The sound of a hoof smacking a face echoed through the warehouse, the voice now growling dangerously. "Yer just lucky the boss thinks yer worth the trouble, else me n' my boys would be havin’ a little party of our own right now!"
Dash looked over at Twilight, who looked both angry and mortified at the sound of that suggestion. Dash bit at her lip, then pointed her hoof up and made flapping motions with both forelegs, hoping to get across her desire to take flight. Twilight looked concerned, but nodded. Dash spread her wings carefully and slowly rose above the line of crates. Looking up, she spotted a series of strange looking overhead lights hanging from what looked like metal lamp shades, each one sending a pool of faint gold light to the ground.
Eventually, Dash poked her head above a tall pile of crates and saw… She had to bite her lip to keep from yelling out. Daring Do had been lashed, wings and all, to a stiff backed wooden chair - surrounded by four burly looking earth ponies wearing cheap suits and ties, and ratty hats. All of them were mud-colored, and the one who was right in Daring’s face had a spectacular sneer on his face while also looking weirdly familiar. Daring herself was in full adventuring gear and glaring fiercely back at the pony, eyes narrowed. “Yeah? And since when does the Big Apple break her word, huh Crispy?” She growled out the words with more disdain than Dash had ever heard from her before.
Dash stared in shock as the earth pony turned his head away and growled at her, “This isn’t about the Big Apple, bitch. This is about you gettin’ my brother and our friends sent up the river.” He spat to one side and glared at some of the other drab looking earth ponies. “What’re y’all standin’ around for? Go watch out for the Doc.” He turned and sneered at Daring, his eyes narrowed. “He’s gonna fix you up proper, little filly.”
Dash could only just see Daring’s face, but it was clear even from here that her body had gone rigid in fright. Who the Doc was Dash could only speculate, but she sure as Tartarus wasn’t going to let somepony get away with threatening her friend. Dash coiled up the muscles in her back and flared out her wings, gathering up strength in her hindlegs and poising herself for takeoff…
Then, utterly without warning, there was a roaring sound from somewhere on the opposite side of Dash. Almost predictably, all of the thugs turned to stare at the source of the sound. One of them even went so far as to say "What the-" before some kind of crazy looking cart came crashing through the crates and crushed one of the thugs under its wheels spectacular fashion. The cart careened through more crates and vanished behind a wall of collapsing woodwork, leaving the remaining thugs to stare in its wake.
Dash didn’t wait for another second. She flung herself out from behind the crates at top speed, spinning in midair and decking the gangster that had threatened Daring with both her rear hooves in a massive flying dropkick. The thug went spinning away from her and crashed into a set of the crates... the upper ones promptly falling down and burying the thug beneath their miscellaneous contents. It was without a doubt one of the most satisfying blows she’d ever delivered in her life.
Behind her, that bright and familiar voice exclaimed happily. “Cloudsdale Dash, you crazy son-of-a griffon!! About bucking time you showed up!” Dash turned her head, barely keeping the grin off her face at the sight of Daring looking fiercely happy. “Now get me out of this - LOOK OUT!”
Dash ducked instinctively at the warning, and felt something big and heavy whiff over her head. “Your left!” Daring yelled, and Dash pivoted in place as the heavy thing smacked into the ground with a metal sound. Dash gave off her best warrior cry and spun into a roundhouse kick that collided with the thugpony right in his jaw and sent him unconscious to the ground. “Nice one, kid! Now get me outta this thing!”
Dash whirled around and grinned at Daring. “Stay cool DD, I’ve gotcha covered.” She quickly trotted over and grabbed hold of one end of the rope in her teeth and began to tug. “Ugh, thith tath like butt!” She muttered around the rope and kept pulling on it to try and unknot the rope. She glanced up and tried to look around for Twilight… only to see the blur of an incoming blow from a new thugpony coming right at her face. Time seemed to slow down, and Dash knew she wouldn’t even have enough time to block.
Fortunately, the thugpony didn’t have any such time either as a lily white hoof took him clean off his hooves and sent him tumbling to the ground with a dumbfounded look on his face. “Don’t you dare put your filthy little hooves on my friend, you ruffian!” Rarity sniffed disdainfully, somehow not even putting a single thread of her dress out of place in the process of the punch. How she did that, Dash was sure she’d never know.
“Thanks Rarity.” Dash muttered with a sheepish grin. and shook her head. “Could you help me with this rope? And where’s Twilight?” Rarity shook her head as though she didn’t know, and quickly put her unicorn magic to work on the rope. The knot was stubborn, but Dash knew that no one could undo a knot like Rarity could.
For a few moments, all was calm and Dash had a moment to glance around her. The area looked like it had been purposefully cleaned out just to provide a space to hold Daring, and now that she wasn’t freaking out she could see the words ‘Port of Manehatten’ stamped onto the outside of many of the crates around them. Well, at least we’re not that far from Ponyville. It was a relieving thought, though a wrinkle still remained. What had happened to Twilight, and why were they all wearing these strange costumes?
She didn’t know, and unfortunately given the sound of pounding hooves quickly approaching them, they probably didn’t have much time to figure it out. “Hurry up, Rarity, we’re gonna have company any minute!” Dash knew that was a cheesy line, but what else could she say? Of course, moments later a crowd of angry looking earth ponies charged around the corner at them yelling obscenities. Dash whirled to face the crowd, though she had to admit feeling a bit uncertain about taking on such a huge mob.
Luckily, it never came to that.
Twilight Sparkle dropped down from the ceiling and spread her wings to their full and awfully impressive length before the gang, all of whom came to a skittering halt in front of her. One and all they stared at her with awed and terrified eyes, and Twilight spoke in her sweetest and most reasonably voice to them. “I think you all need a little time out.” Her words came out in a sing-song, and a moment later her horn blazed with a magical power Dash had only rarely seen Twilight wield before. In an instant, every last earth pony thug vanished, seemingly into thin air…. only to have the faint sound of hooves pounding on the sides of crates reveal what she’d done.
Twilight heaved out a sigh, then sucked in a deep breath. “Sweet Celestia, I didn’t know I could do that.” She whispered reverently, a familiar tone of excitement creeping its way into her voice. And it didn’t take her very long to go into full on geek out. “Ohmygosh, I just translocated twenty three ponies into specific locations within a fifty meter radius! I successfully completed the same transmagical relocation maneuver that Star Swirl invented! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Twilight started bouncing up and down in place and then started doing little circles with her hops.
Dash sighed. “Twilight, you’re such an egghead.” She sighed and then laughed faintly, shaking her head before turning back to Daring Do. Her kinda-sorta friend was dusting off her jacket and re-securing her pith helmet. “You okay, Daring?” Dash asked cautiously, giving her a once over but not seeing any kind of permanent damage.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She half grumbled in good humor, then tipped her helmet at Rarity. “Thanks for the help, Ma’am. So. Dash.” Daring eyeballed her, looking a little dubious. “Do you mind telling me when you started hanging out with Royalty?” Dash stared at her for a moment, wondering where in the heck that had come from. Daring nodded over her shoulder. “Where’d you find the Lady? And who the heck is she?” Daring was adjusting her helmet and looking a little nervous. “Not that I mind doing work for the Lord and Lady, but I’ve never even heard of an Alicorn that looks like her.”
All at once, Dash felt her heart clench and her blood go cold. She had almost been sure things had gotten simple, once she’d seen Daring and found herself in Manehatten. She had been sure that all of this was just another madcap adventure by one of the coolest ponies she knew. But Daring knew that Twilight was a princess. Sure, she looked really weird right now, that still didn’t mean she was unrecognizable. But Daring wasn’t bluffing one bit, she seriously didn’t recognize Twilight or Rarity.
Something told Rainbow Dash they weren’t anywhere close to home. “That’s uh…” She coughed, trying not to dance about nervously. “That’s kind of complicated, DD.” She put on her best grin for the moment, trying to project confidence past the worry.
A few moments later, Twilight trotted up happily next to them and Daring Do sighed with tolerant amusement. “It always is, Cloudsdale.” She eyeballed Twilight then shook her head. “Let’s go find Scooter and her car. We’ve got to get out of here before the rest of the mob shows up.” She quickly began trotting off in the same direction that the strange machine had gone careening.
Twilight of course, had to speak up. “What’s a car?” she asked, curiosity bright in her voice.
~~~~~~~
Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Magic and Equestria, personal student to Princess Celestia and total geek for all things mechanical had to pause, even in that moment of danger and panic to marvel at the device before her. The chassis was obviously some kind of steel, beautifully shaped into sleek curves around a set of large spoked metal wheels bound in some kind of black springy material. Rubber, maybe. The whole machine was done up in slick and shiny chrome and a dark red paint job that looked, in no uncertain terms, awesome.
Inside the machine, a red-headed teen aged mare sat in the front seat while wearing a dark jacket and a pair of flight goggles. In front of her was a large steering system of some kind, that looked like a wheel attached to some kind of shaft that went down into the belly of the beast. The mare turned and grinned broadly at the grouping of them as she pulled up alongside, the strange machine purring like a massive tiger. Her voice was almost distractingly familiar, and carried a very cheeky tone, "Ain't no time for gawkin' pretty fillies. Get yer flanks in here and let's move! The Doc’s got another wave of goons coming from the south warehouses as we speak!"
Twilight traded looks with Rarity and Rainbow Dash, but Daring Do was already hopping into the seat next to the new mare. Rarity shrugged and after a hesitant step on a side panel, gracefully hopped into the back of the vehicle. Dash joined her a moment later, and gave her a sardonic look. “Come on, Twi! You can gawk at it later!” That was enough to get her over the edge and into the rear seat.
“I really don’t see how this could be faster than fly-iiiiiiiiiiiiing…” Twilight’s words were drowned out as the machine roared to life and took off under the lights of the warehouse at an astonishing speed. She’d been taking more and more lessons in flight lately under Dash, and had come to really enjoy the sensations of flying. The wind in her mane and through her all too sensitive feathers, the sight of infinite sky before her and all the possibilities that flight brought to her life.
But this was so much more intense. The roar of the vehicle nearly drowned out the roar of the wind around her as the red-headed mare steered the thing using the large wheel. The pure, unrestrained energy of this thing was utterly intoxicating. What was left of Twilight's normally rational mind coldly noted that wheels were turning at a truly fantastic speed as they blazed down a central 'hall' of boxes through the warehouse. The front wheels are steered by that central column, which is attached to the smaller wheel. Simple leverage - clever. Those wheels are obviously filled with air. Also clever, cushions against bumps, provides minimal contact with the road, increases energy efficiency.
The rest of Twilight's mind, however, was much too preoccupied with the speed. This was like flying right above the ground through a densely packed city. Any moment could bring disaster or impact into one of the structures but somehow their new found friend was in full control, deftly manipulating the steering column as she bobbed and wove through the warehouse. Ahead, a large metal door of some kind was raised to reveal an inky black night outside.
Seconds later, they were outside and Twilight was plunged into darkness… only for as long as it took up to see the world they’d been plunged into. Lights covered the horizon and traced up into the sky on the sides of dozens of tall buildings. Far away, the bright lantern of the Mare of Liberty hung proudly in the night. This was Manehatten, there was no doubt about that, but this was not Manehatten as Twilight knew it.
It was all she could do to stare in awe at a city so much bigger than she'd ever imagined existing. The roads were even paved differently, made out of some kind of pitch black material that ran silken smooth along the ground. She could smell the tang of the salty sea not too far away, and the stars shone brightly overhead. It was a perfect sight, marred only by the knowledge that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. Manehatten was a huge city, there was no doubt, but this was easily twice the size of the Manehatten she knew.
“Aw, buck me.” Daring Do’s voice cut through her thoughts, and when Twilight turned to look at her, she was gazing up into the distance. “Neightzi’s. Why the buck is it ALWAYS Neightzis?!” She smacked the side of the vehicle with her hoof, and after a moment of tracing her gaze, Twilight saw what she was looking at. Four looming, bulky black forms against the sky advancing towards them.
They were massive and vaguely spheroid in shape, and though the night was dark they each had a set of lights along the side which illuminated a strange red-white-and-black symbol on their side. They were also unmistakably coming straight for them. “They must’ve been the ones who hired those lunkheads to grab me. Scooter, do we have a safe house around here?” Daring’s voice was sharp, agitated, and easily identifiable as scared.
‘Scooter’ shook her head. “Uh uh. It’s a good twenty minutes from here to the Blue Note, and that’s the closest place I can think- HEY!” Scooter’s exclamation was preceded by a blur of rainbow magic taking off from the back seat of her car. “What in the world does that crazy pegasus think she’s going to do!? They’re not going to throw bad language at her!”
It instantly clicked for Twilight, of course. Rainbow Dash was aggressive, foolish, and reckless as all get out sometimes, and especially when her friends were in danger. Rarity’s hooves came up to her mouth as she figured it out a moment later. “Gracious me Twilight! Surely she isn’t going to-”
“I think she is Rarity!” Twilight replied, and bit at her lip. “We need to get under some kind of cover, Miss Do! My friend is…” She looked up and swallowed, Dash had already crested the top of her flight path high above their heads and was coming down in a plummeting, meteoric style. “About to show off her very best trick.” She could not describe the knotty feeling of worry and horror in her stomach, and wished that she dared try to go up there to stop her. But no matter what she might feel for Rainbow Dash, she knew she’d just be getting in the way.
Both of the other mares stared at her for a moment, then whipped their eyes back up where dash had become a tiny streak of bright white light rocketing towards the airships. All around her, tiny explosions seemed to be trying to desperately catch up to her, but Twilight knew they were all in vain. Daring spoke a moment later, her voice astonished, "Waitaminute... Cloudsdale can’t fly that fas-." was all Daring Do got out before a flash of bright white light scorched the horizon.
Twilight felt her stomach lurch in the oddest way she’d ever felt it. She had no idea why it’d done that, nor why she suddenly felt a sense of awe as the rainbow ring began to spread outwards from the impact point and engulf the three strange aircraft. Something had just happened that wasn’t supposed to happen, and there was no telling what the consequences might be.
~~~~~~~
Rainbow Dash was not afraid to admit she was a bit of a hothead sometimes. She knew that sometimes, when her friends were in danger especially, that she was prone to doing really stupid things. But hurt her friends? You didn’t do that, no matter who the buck you thought you were. She’d never heard of Neightzi’s before, but they sounded like seriously bad news and that was all Dash needed to know.
But it also became really clear as she soared into the air above Manehatten that this was not the Manehatten she knew. This was a city easily twice the size of the one she remembered, with strange looking ships sitting in the harbor and way more lights than she remembered from their brief trip. But way more distracting was the three huge bulks hanging low in the air, somehow utterly unsupported by either clouds or obvious magical propellers. They looked like nothing more than ultra-sized versions of Twilight’s hot air balloon… and that gave her an Idea.
So she crested her ascent, almost a thousand feet above the strange balloons and felt a grin cross her face. These losers thought they could try and kidnap Daring Do and get away with it? They were about to find out just how dumb an idea that really was. So she swept out her wings and began to flap as hard as she could, the gentle breeze of the height she had stopped at turning into a blaze of wind right into her face.
She poured on the speed, the baseball cap that adorned her head somehow refusing to fall off until she was halfway into her dive, when it finally ripped away by the sheer force of her flight. The first explosion came seconds later, barely missing her and forcing her to adjust her course just a little in mid wing beat. What the buck was that?! Her mind thought, even as her body poured on the speed. She could feel the heat and shockwave of more explosions behind her as she flew, but the white magic of her speed began to strain in front of her, and soon that was all she could think of.
Moments later, the Sonic Rainboom came with the same exultant feeling as it had every time she’d done it before. The energy from the pure speed rushed through her body and left a trail of Rainbows in her wake. She couldn’t see the shockwave behind her, but there were no more explosions to follow her path. By the time she’d properly banked in the air, still high on the potent magics of the Rainboom, she could see the three airships slowly descending towards the water below.- Their balloon envelopes ruptured and the steel and spars warped and beaten to hell all around them.
Satisfied, she turned in place and raced towards the speeding vehicle in which Twilight still sat, staring up at her in awe. Now that that had been taken care of, it was time to find out into what crazy adventure Daring had dragged them into… and what had happened to Sweetie Belle.
~~~~~~~
A massive wave of wind and sea spray slammed into the three ponies standing on and next to the mechanical vehicle, and the wave of energy rushed over all of them as it slowly dissipated into the atmosphere. Daring's helmet went flying off her head and rattled to the ground some twenty feet behind her, and the red-headed earth pony spoke in awe, "Sweet Solaris, it's a Sonic Rainboom." She whispered, practically bouncing on her seat as she said it and reminding Twilight rather strongly of Scootaloo. That oath was odd though...Solaris?
Rarity sighed and brushed an invisible speck of dirt from her dress. “That’s our dear Rainbow Dash for you. Always overdoing things.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Still, she seems to have brought our pursuit to a rather decisive halt.” Her lips twitched up into a smile, and she touched her hoof there. “Really, Twilight. We need to find more constructive ways for her to impress you.”
“What!?” Twilight snapped, almost out of reflex. Emotion hammered in her heart, and it took a lot of hard work to keep it from hammering out of control. “That’s ridiculous, Rarity. She’s just overprotective. Impressing me.” She snorted in a very un-princess like fashion, then glared up at the incoming pegasus.”Still, I wish she wouldn't overdo it so often.”
“Um… if I might interject, uh… Your ladyship?” Scooter rose her voice, Daring still staring dumbfounded up at the cresting Rainboom. Twilight turned to regard the young pony, and wondered why she seemed so familiar. “Was that… really a Sonic Rainboom? I mean…” The mare swallowed, but her grin was fit to burst out of her face. “I knew Dash had been trying to pull that one off for her entire life, but I thought it was supposed to be impossible.”
Twilight began to nod and speak, but Daring shook her head slowly. "No way. It is impossible. Rosetta proved that there wasn’t any pegasus alive who could do it. Cloudy’s been trying to pull that one off since she was a filly. This is..." Daring Do, the heroine of so many books Twilight had read and loved rubbed hard at her eyes for a few seconds, then went to recover her helmet. "Well, at least I don't gotta worry about the damn Neightzi's for the moment. C'mon Scooter, we better go meet up with Cloudy... and then we can all sit down for a nice long chat."
The look she gave Twilight and Rarity was cloudy at best, but there was also a strange sort of hope there. What was she thinking in that moment? “Because I think we’ve all got some stories to tell.” Daring finished as the vehicle lurched to life, and began to pull away down the road.