Celestia looked to her younger sister. "Luna" she paused momentarily "You must go below and take care of the troops on the ground. They will be melting shortly, and we don't need innocent Pegasi being slaughtered by our confused troops" Luna nodded in agreement and rushed to the door.
"What do we do princess?" asked Twilight
"Hmmmmm"
Rain was now beginning to wake up. "ohhhhh.. my head... what happened?" He asked in confusion
"That's what you guys can do. Stay here and keep watch over this young one" Celestia exclaimed.
"WAIT!" Shouted Rain in fear. "The rest of my party... They vanished. I have to find them"
"It's okay Rain. We found them in a chamber as we were clearing the Factory out. I teleported him to safety. There is no need to worry"
"Wait then why don't you just teleport US to safety... no offense."
"None taken. It is an reasonable question. You see... Magic DOES take a lot of energy. I was not expecting to find any other soldiers along the way"
"Wait... My comrades didn't mention me?" He said in a heartbroken voice
"No no... They did. They said you had been taken to be used on the rainbow machine hours ago. They said the guards told them you were already dead. So I ported them to a safe place and now I do not have the energy. Twilight and anyone who can't fly" she paused a moment and looked to Rain "That includes you. You're going to kill yourself if you try. Your bones are newly formed and they aren't strong yet. They will shatter very easily". She looked to them all and nodded, then proceeded to the door before taking off in flight.
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Fluttershy was creeping on Rainbow unnoticed. Though her voice was still quiet and she was still as shy as ever, she now had a much tougher exterior to her. She was able to complete her job of keeping Rainbow out of trouble with ease. As she began to close in on her, she could see the insane Pegasus running into walls and from the looks of it, trying to kill herself.
"DASHIE STOP!!!" Shouted Fluttershy. Rainbow stopped in her tracks and turned to face the other pony.
"What did you call me?"
"D....Dashie... it's what we y..y...used to call you. Don't you remember?"
"What are you trying to pull huh?"
"wh..wha?" She said in major confusion
"WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO GET IN MY HEAD?!?! Who are you with?"
"Rainbow it's me... Fluttershy" she said. Rainbow gazed at her in puzzlement.
"Don't play games. I will destroy you" She screamed. These words sent chills down Fluttershy's spine. She knew in her current state that she wouldn't hesitate to act on her words. The mad Pegasus turned around and took off in the other direction. Fluttershy, quickly realizing this, tried to catch up to her as quick as possible.
"It's a good thing I went back to flight school" She thought to herself. Even though she had fallen behind, she could still see her target ahead of her. Rainbow made sharp right turn around a corner. By the time Fluttershy made it around the turn she could see Rainbow make another turn, this time left. She gave all her might to fly faster to keep up with her, but by the time she made it around the next turn she had lost sight of her. Fluttershy panicked and flew higher into the air to get a better view, but there was no luck. Rainbow had vanished... Fluttershy began to tear up slightly. She had failed Twilight. The one simple task she was given and she couldn't handle it, but most of all... She had failed Rainbow Dash. This was probably the only chance she had of saving what was left of her sanity. She began to land on the street below near the coliseum where all Hell had begun. Before she even touched the ground, she could see a flash of red as she was tackled by the one and only Dash; or what was left of her anyway.
"The taste of innocence" She said as she licked Fluttershy's face. "Tell me... Why are you here? There is a battle about to occur and an innocent one such as yourself has no part in this massacre.
"DASH!" Fluttershy screamed, causing Rainbow to shoot her a evil and defensive look. "LOOK AT YOURSELF! You're off your rocker. None of this is real... none of it. Now get a hold of yourself and come with me. We can help you. Twilight can bring back your memories. Rainbow Dash was clearly displeased and didn't believe a word coming from her mouth
"You filthy little pissant. You're gonna say fuck you to the pony who is telling you to save yourself? TRYING TO LET YOU KEEP YOUR INNOCENCE!?!? FUCK ME?"
"Rainbow I never said..."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Rainbow quickly shot a glance Eastward. "THEY'RE HERE! WE'RE TOO LATE!" Fluttershy looked in the same direction. She could see a swarm of beautiful multicolored birds coming towards them. A storm was following and rolling up fast. They could hear the thunder cracking louder and louder as it approached in no time.
"Rainbow. It's just a flock of.... birrrdddssss...." She finished slowly as she began to see that these birds had curling horns and razor sharp teeth within it's already deadly looking beak. The thunder roared as the flock clapped their wings together in perfect sync with one another, while the lightening seemed to be emitting from the snakes that gave a toxic looking glow. "No..." She shrieked... IT CAN'T BE! NOT.... THUNDERBIRDS!!! THEY DON'T EXIST!" Rainbow looked down at the pony she was still holding down.
"You must go!" She insisted.
"DASHIE NO!!! It's impossible to take them all at once. Not by yourself"
"Why should I listen to you? You haven't listened to a thing I've said all day"
"Alright Dashie. Please... I'm sorry. I should have listened to you, but what did you expect? You don't even remember who I am"
"I REMEMBER WHO I AM! AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS! I KNOW MY MISSION AND NO ONE WILL GET IN MY WAY OR THEY... WILL... DIE!!!". Rainbow shot off in the other direction directly into the flock of birds. Before she reached the storm, she began using the wind to pick up more speed and get into formation to create a twister. How can she know all this stuff? Fluttershy thought to herself. She doesn't remember anything. She's lost it, yet she can do all these tricks?
A Twister began to form. Fluttershy began to fly away. She couldn't argue with what Rainbow had said. She knew that Rainbow could snap her in half without even trying, and she sure wasn't ready to try when she knew there was no chance. She could see a huge flash of lightning and the strong winds of the tornado died. She instinctively looked behind her. Rainbow Dash was dropping. She panicked for a moment, not knowing what to do. She decided to try. She dashed forward with every ounce of energy she had. Flying arrogantly into the storm. The birds hardly acknowledged her passing through. Once through the storm she shot down perpendicular to the ground. She could see Rainbow still falling. She started to cry as she picked up speed. She knew she wasn't going to make it in time. Her friend was about to be crushed on the ground below and she could have prevented the whole thing.