The Koprulu Sector

by TheKopruluSectorUnion

Chapter 67: Arrested Development

In the freezing skies of Cadia, Rainbow Dash flew across the rooftops as she made her way back to the Golden Icicle where the others were waiting for her return. Even though the blizzard had grown worse, she was in a good mood as she made her way back to the others at the Golden Icicle. She looked up and saw dozens of cargo ships flying down from orbit to the starports, bringing with them the much needed relief supplies for the Cadians.

She smiled under her hood as she thought about their escape plan. Due to the Matriarch’s funeral, the lockdown had been temporarily lifted but only shuttles carrying dignitaries and cargo ships were allowed to travel between the surface and the orbital stations. However, this also meant that most of the militia would be busy protecting the palace and the starports, which gave them the opportunity they’ve been waiting for.

The plan was for them to have Tom pose as one of the cargo ships returning from a delivery and blend in until they reach the security checkpoints on the station. There, Apple Bloom would use her program to bypass the scanners while Sweetie Belle uses her psychic powers to fool any guards that come onboard. After that, they’ll quietly make their escape, with no one the wiser.

Rainbow Dash started snickering when she imagined how mad Twilight would be when she finds out that they’ve slip right through her hooves. Her smile grew wider when she saw the Golden Icicle in the distance and sped herself up. However, as she got closer, she saw that the windows to their suite had been broken into and there were ponies that were moving around inside.

Not wanting to be spotted, she flew back and landed on a building across from the hotel. She then pulled out her binoculars and zoomed in on the broken windows where she saw more ponies moving inside though she couldn’t find any sign of where her friends were. She saw that some of them were in military uniforms while the others had what appeared to be downscaled power armor and every one of them bore the symbol of the Imperial Dominion.

“Twilight, you bitch!” Rainbow hissed before she brought out her communicator and pressed the call button. “Come on, come on, answer already!” she grumbled impatiently. She soon received an answer as Eye Glass’ voice came through the device.

“What is it, Miss Dash? I was busy moving the-” Eye Glass said before Rainbow cut him off.

“No time! Get Tom running and get over to the hotel, now!”

“What? What happened?” he asked.

“Twilight happened, that’s what!” Rainbow exclaimed, “She just sent a bunch of Dominion soldiers to the hotel and I need your help to rescue the others so hurry it up!”

“Look, I know you’re worried about the others, I’m worried too but I don’t think charging in like that is going to help them so why don’t you come back to the ship so we can figure out what’s going on and come up with a plan to save them, okay?”

“No, that’s definitely not okay! While we’re wasting time with stupid plans, who knows what Twilight could be doing to them!” Rainbow Dash argued. “If you’re not going to help me then I’m doing this on my own!”

“Miss Dash, please calm down and li-” was all the stallion could say before Rainbow turned off the communicator before putting it away and replaced it with a pistol. She would have preferred her Scythe pistols but time was of the essence.

“Hold on squirt, I’m coming to save ya.” Rainbow muttered before she jumped over the railing, fell down several feet before she spread her wings, and flew up towards the broken windows, full speed ahead.

---

“Miss Dash, please calm down and listen to-” Eye Glass said just before the line went dead, cutting the call short. He tried calling her back but she wouldn’t respond, which meant that the reckless mare had more than likely just charged in without thinking things through.

“Damn it Dash!” the stallion swore as he turned the communicator built into his armor off and started pacing around Tom’s cargo hold as he tried to make sense of what had happened to the others. Unfortunately, all he knew was that Twilight had sent some Dominion soldiers to the hotel and that wasn’t enough for him to go on. He was worried about Rain and her friends and was tempted to do as Rainbow asked and take the ship to the hotel but shook his head at the impulsive thought.

“That mare is starting to rub off on me.” He muttered before he raised his arm and flipped open the computer built into his suit and typed a series of commands into the device as carried out its designated function.

When Hawkens gave him this mission, he had also equipped him with a number of special tools that would help him carry it out successfully. One of these tools was an electronic device built into his power armor that allowed him to tap into any active communication channels, encrypted or otherwise, completely undetected.

The device was an advanced variant of the one issued to all non-Ghost operatives in DI so they could keep up with their psychic counterparts out on the field. The main difference between this and the standard version was that it gave the user unrestricted access to Dominion comlinks as well. It was originally intended for gathering evidence of Twilight’s treachery but Eye Glass figured that Hawkens wouldn’t mind too much.

A long list of comlink frequencies soon appeared on his HUD, followed by the noise from countless conversations taking place all across Cadia being streamed into his helmet, all at the same time. “Gahh! My ears!” Eye Glass screamed before he started fumbling around with the computer until he found the mute button.

After the ringing in his ears had subsided, he let out a soft sigh, “I really need to read the instructions on these things.” He then inputted some new commands to filter out the public frequencies until he had a significantly shorter list of encrypted frequencies left on his HUD. He searched the list for Dominion frequencies since Rainbow said the soldiers at the hotel were from the Dominion. He found a few frequencies from the Dominion and selected the first one, hoping he would get lucky.

“Dominion Command, this is Ursa One returning from patrol, over.” A voice Eye Glass assumed belonged to a pilot called out.

“Copy that Ursa One. Please proceed to Docking Bay 12, over.” An operator replied before Eye Glass switched to the next frequency but just the like one before, it wasn’t what he was looking for so he moved on to the next one, then the one after that and the one after that until he listened to all of them with nothing to show for his trouble.

He was about to give up and turn off the device when another comlink frequency appeared on his HUD. Thinking that there was nothing else to lose, he selected the frequency and was surprised to hear Twilight’s voice on one end of the line.

“What is it, Captain? I’m kind of busy at the moment.”

“My apologies admiral, but I’d like to inform you that we’ve successfully apprehended the last target.” The captain’s voice replied tiredly.

“Excellent work though I’m guessing she didn’t make it easy for you and your men?” Twilight asked knowingly.

“No, she didn’t. She took down two of my men by surprise before we were able to subdue her.” The captain explained, “She’s currently on her way to the detention centre where the other terrorists are being detained. The interrogator should arrive there shortly to extract information from them.”

“No, send the interrogator back. I want to interrogate these terrorists personally.” Twilight ordered.

“Are you certain, admiral? It might not be safe for you to be in the same room as them.” The captain cautioned.

“Believe me captain, I was a field operative before I became admiral so I know how to handle myself. Now do I make myself clear, captain?”

“Yes, Admiral Sparkle.” the captain said before the comlink ended.

Eye Glass frowned as he turned the computer off and started pacing the cargo hold again, wondering what he could do in such a situation. He now knew that Twilight was keeping Rain and the others in the same detention centre where Rainbow was being taken. He could probably track down the detention centre’s location but had no way of breaking them out on his own.

He racked his mind as he tried to come up with a plan to get the girls out of Twilight’s clutches but had no idea where to begin. He was so caught up on his thoughts that he didn’t look where he was walking and knocked against a crate. The crate teetered from the weight of his armor before it fell over, spilling its contents onto the floor when the lid popped open.

“God damn it!” Eye Glass swore as he moved to put the items back into the crate but paused when he picked up a helmet from a set of power armor, which had a blood-smeared hole in its visor. It took him a moment before he realized that he was looking at part of the armor that Rainbow Dash’s sister, Jet Stream had died in.

He muttered a wordless prayer for the dead filly before he put the helmet back into the container and started gathering everything else that had fallen out but stopped when he picked up a shoulder guard bearing the Diamond Dog’s emblem.

The gears in his head started turning as a plan formed in his mind. It was a crazy one but it gave him the best chance of rescuing the others. He put the shoulder guard down and turned the computer back on as he reconfigured his communicator so that his signal would be recognized as someone else’s before he made a call to the Dominion Space Platform.

“Dominion Command, this is Private Palomo from Recovery Squad Seven, do you copy, over?”

“This is Dominion Command, we read you loud and clear, private. What’s your situation, over?” the operator asked.

“I need a recovery team dispatched to my coordinates. I found an abandoned shuttle hidden in the outskirts and I think it belongs to the terrorists, over.”

“Can you confirm that statement, private?”

“I’m sending you a live feed now.” Eye Glass replied before he picked the shoulder plate back up and raised it up to his helmet, making sure that the camera could clearly see the Diamond Dogs’ emblem on it.

“Understood Private Palomo, a recovery team will be dispatched to your coordinates soon. Please standby until their arrival, over.”

“Roger that Command.” Eye Glass replied before he shut the communicator off and let out a deep sigh of relief. “Well, they bought it.” He muttered before he looked at the stealth generator sitting in the corner of the cargo hold. “Guess I better hide this before they get here.”

---

Rain Sight felt the cold touch of metal on her cheek as she started to stir awake from her chemically induced slumber. She let out a low groan as she opened her eyes and squinted at the bright light hanging overhead.

“About time you woke up. Thought I’d have to use a stimpack to wake you up.” A familiar voice called out to her. Rain lifted her head groggily off the table’s cold metallic surface and looked around until she saw Twilight standing at the opposite end of the table with a smug grin on her face. “Did you sleep well?”

“You! What did you do with the others?” Rain Sight demanded.

“Relax, they’re fine, for now. I’d worry more about myself right now if I were you.” Twilight said as she pointed at the hoof-cuffs securing Rain’s forelegs to a metal bar attached to the table.

“Why did you send Special Forces to capture us? I was already doing what you told me to do.” Rain Sight said.

“Then why were you all planning to escape the system when the lockdown was lifted?” Twilight asked in return.

“How did you-”

“Find out? It wasn’t that hard to figure out when a member of the recovery crew working on the Iron Will was found trapped inside a building on the city outskirts. Cross-referencing the items missing from the ship led me to the conclusion that one of you, most likely Apple Bloom, was building something… ”

Twilight paused as she levitated something from under the table and showed Rain a laptop before placing it on the table, “…like another laptop that could shut down Cadia’s Battlenet for example.” She said as she tapped the device with her hoof.

“Apple Bloom…” Rain muttered as she recognized Apple Bloom’s laptop.

“Indeed. I checked it out and I’m quite impressed with Miss Apple’s ingenuity but suffice to say, your plan failed the moment you thought you could outsmart me.” Twilight said as she put the laptop away, “However, I’m a very forgiving mare, and I’m willing to let bygones be bygones, on a few conditions.”

“Conditions? What do you mean?” Rain asked.

“As you probably know already, I’ve been promoted to Admiral and made Director of DI.” Twilight said as she proudly displayed the new four-star symbol on her uniform. “And I’ve been given the task of hunting down the ‘terrorists’ that attacked Cadia a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, not everyone on Cadia is happy that someone from DI is here so I need to prove myself to them by presenting them with the terrorists that I’ve already caught…”

Rain Sight’s eyes widened in surprise when she realized what Twilight was planning and slammed her hooves down on the table. “I’m not going to let you make us your scapegoats!”

“Oh really, and how are you supposed to stop me stuck like that?” Twilight said as she jangled the hoof-cuffs’ chains tauntingly with her magic. “Besides, I didn’t say I’d hand all of you over to the Cadians, now did I?”

“Wait, you’re not?” Rain asked.

“Well, technically yes and no. You see, you, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom are still useful to me so I’ll let you live, provided that you all agree to work for me.” Twilight replied.

“I understand why you want me but why those two?”

“Sweetie Belle is potentially one of the most powerful psychics the Dominion has ever seen, well aside from yours truly, of course.” Twilight said as she gestured to herself vainly, “And Apple Bloom is the mare that singlehandedly penetrated the Dominion’s Battlenet on two separate occasions with a computer she made from spare parts so you can see why I would want their skills in my service.” Twilight explained.

“And what about Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, what are you going to do with them?”

“Oh, them… well, the thing is, I called Rainbow here so she could be a scapegoat for this incident in the first place. Having Scootaloo take the fall with her will make it even more convincing. Personal touch.” Twilight cheerily replied.

“You’re nuts if you think that we’d even consider working for you when you’re planning on handing our friends over to be executed like that!” Rain shouted.

“Oh I think they will, especially after a short memory wipe and a dip in the resoc tank. They’ll forget all about their soon-to-be dead friends and will only see me as their new friend and boss.” Twilight stated coolly as she leaned in closer to the table. “And all you have to do is just play along and keep them that way.”

“You know what, Twilight? I was wrong, you aren’t nuts.” Rain said as Twilight smiled at her.

“Glad you’re coming to see things my way, Lieut-” Twilight said just before Rain lunged forward and punched Twilight right in the muzzle, knocking the unicorn reeling back into the wall.

“You’re completely out of your mind, you crazy bitch!” Rain yelled as she tried to get in another hit but was held back by her restraints. “I swear if you go through with this crazy plan of yours, I’m going to-aaahh!” she screamed when her body was injected with a surge of electricity.

Twilight tossed the stun-gun aside before she got up and pressed her hoof against her muzzle where Rain had hit her. She felt something wet on her hoof and looked down to see that she had been cut as her blood stained her fur. She narrowed her eyes at Rain who was breathing heavily on the table as her body twitched from the stun-gun’s lingering effects.

“You know, I was going to let you keep most of your memories intact, but after this…” Twilight said, gesturing to the cut on her muzzle, “…I’m not so sure anymore but as I’ve said, I’m a forgiving mare so I’ll give you some time to cool off and reconsider my offer. You can either serve as my right hand mare in DI, or you can spend the rest of your days in a permanent coma, your choice.”

All Rain could do was glare at Twilight as she turned around and opened the door where a guard in power armor stood outside. “I’m done with the interrogation. Put her back in the cell with the others.” Twilight ordered as she left the interrogation room. “Oh, and don’t be too rough with her. She may prove to be useful later.”

“Yes Admiral.” The guard responded as he saluted her. Twilight lips curled into a satisfied smirk as she walked down the corridor.

“It’s good to be in charge.”

---

Scootaloo let out a long drawn out yawn as she got up and stretched her limbs before she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes became confused when she looked around and saw that she wasn’t sleeping on her warm soft bed inside of her room at the hotel anymore.

Instead, she found herself lying on the cold hard floor of what appeared to be the familiar confines a jail cell, reminding the pegasus of her time at the Icehouse. She slowly recalled what happened back at the hotel and became angry when she realized that she had been caught in Twilight’s trap.

However, her anger was quickly forgotten when she noticed her friends were seemingly asleep there on the floor with her. She got up and went over to Sweetie Belle to check on her first and noticed a strange ring locked around her horn but ignored it for the time being as she started shaking her by the shoulder.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle, can you hear me? Wake up.” Scootaloo said to her friend but the unicorn didn’t respond as she just kept on sleeping. She decided to try her luck with Apple Bloom and started shaking her as well. This time, she got a response as Apple Bloom let out a groan as she woke up and saw Scootaloo standing over her.

“Scootaloo? What is it?” Apple Bloom asked groggily before she lifted her head and saw her surroundings for the first time, “Wait, where are we?”

“Jail, by the looks of it.” Scootaloo replied, “This has Twilight written all over it, she probably planned this from the very beginning. We should have known she’d pull something like this!” she then stomped her hoof angrily against the floor. “We should have been prepared for this!”

“There’s no way we could’ve known what Twilight was up to and it’s no use getting angry over it now so calm down, would ya?” Apple Bloom said, trying to keep her friend from getting too emotional.

“I…you’re right.” Scootaloo said as she took a deep breath and sat herself back down on the floor. “Sorry about that, it’s just that thinking about everything that Twilight did to us just made me really angry.”

“I know it does, I’m mad too but we should save our strength for when we need it.” Apple Bloom said before she looked at Sweetie Belle asked, “Is she alright?”

“Not sure, she didn’t wake up when I tried waking her. The tranquilizer mustn’t have worn off yet.” Scootaloo said before she creased her brows, “What, do you think something’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure but…” Apple Bloom walked up to Sweetie Belle and pressed her hoof against her friend’s forehead before she yelped out in surprise and pulled it back, “Whoa! She’s burning up with a high fever. Here, help me get her onto one of the beds.”

“On it.” Scootaloo said as she effortlessly scooped up Sweetie Belle into her arms and noticed how badly she was shivering as she carried her over to one of the bunk beds in the cell. She put Sweetie Belle down on the bed as gently as she could and covered her with the blanket on the bed.

“Make way.” Apple Bloom said as she came over and placed a moist cloth on Sweetie’s head, “There, that should cool her down.” They relaxed when their friend stopped shivering though remained cautiously optimistic of her condition.

“What do you think happened to make her so sick?” Scootaloo asked.

“I’m not sure.” Apple Bloom admitted, “She was just fine when we were back at the hotel.”

“Do you think that it was the tranquilizers Twilight’s goons hit us with?” Scootaloo asked.

“How should I know? I’m an engineer, not a doctor.” Apple Bloom said before sitting herself down by Sweetie Belle’s bed, “I sure wish Rain was here, she’d probably know what’s wrong with Sweetie and help her already.”

“Yeah, she probably would…” Scootaloo said before she saw that Apple Bloom was glaring at her, “What, you think I’m gonna give you some cliché pep-talk about friendship? We both know that I’m not into the sentimental stuff and besides, medicine isn’t our thing. Remember the time when we tried to get our cutie marks in first-aid when Big Mac broke his leg?”

Apple Bloom snorted and smiled at the memory, “And yet we somehow ended up wrapping every part of him in bandages. Well, every part besides the broken leg.” The two girls giggled at the mental image of the big red stallion wrapped up like a mummy.

Unfortunately, their trip down memory lane was cut short when the door to their cell swung open just before a guard in power armor entered the room, followed by a second guard who was carrying Rain Sight over his shoulders.

“Rain!” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom exclaimed as they walked towards the guards but stopped when the first guard pulled out his gun.

“Stay right where you are, terrorist scum!” the guard warned as he pointed his gun at them.

“Terrorist!? Who the hell are you calling-mmph!” Scootaloo shouted before Apple Bloom clamped her hooves over her friend’s muzzle.

“Alright, we’ll back off. Just don’t shoot us.” Apple Bloom said as she struggled to hold Scootaloo back.

The guard nodded before he gestured for his partner to go ahead while he watched the prisoners. The girls watched the other guard apprehensively as he carried Rain over to the bunk beds on the other side of the cell and put her down on the bottom bunk not too gently, eliciting a groan from the earth mare.

“Let’s go. I don’t want to be here with these terrorists any longer than I’d have to.” The guard said before he headed for the door followed by his partner who kept his gun pointed at them until they were both outside the cell. Once the door closed, the girls rushed to Rain’s side.

“Rain, you alright? What happened to you?” Apple Bloom asked worriedly.

“Apple Bloom?” Rain mumbled as she opened her eyes and saw Apple Bloom and Scootaloo standing over her with worried looks in her eyes, “Yeah…I’m alright, I think. I’m still a little numb from the stun gun Twilight used on me.”

“Twilight did what!? Why did she do that?” Scootaloo exclaimed before Apple Bloom shushed her.

“Quiet down, would ya? Sweetie’s still resting and I doubt Rain is in any mood for loud noises right now.” Apple Bloom scolded.

“Sorry…” Scootaloo mumbled sheepishly.

“It’s ok though what did you mean about Sweetie resting?” Rain inquired, “Is something wrong?”

“Well, she’s out with a really high fever but we don’t know if it’s the flu or something else so we were hoping that you might know what’s wrong.” Apple Bloom explained. “Though looking at you, I think you should rest a bit before doing anything else.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve gone through worse things than getting shocked by a stun-gun. Now let’s see if I can help Sweetie Belle.” Rain Sight said as she lifted herself up and hopped off the bed, only to wince at the unpleasant sensation of pins and needles coursing through her legs when they touched the floor.

“You sure you don’t need to rest first?” Scootaloo asked as she looked at the obvious signs of discomfort on Rain’s face.

“I’ll be fine.” Rain insisted as she shook her limbs to rid herself of the numbness and made her way over to Sweetie Belle where she started examining her for anything amiss. She stopped after a while and crossed her forelegs together as she hummed to herself.

“Well Rain? Do you know what’s wrong?” Apple Bloom inquired.

“It’s definitely not the flu, or any other common sickness that I know of.” Rain replied. “My best guess is that her body is fighting some kind of virus or infection but without the proper tools, I can’t tell for sure.”

“Do you think it could be the tranquilizer they hit us with?” Scootaloo suggested.

“I doubt it cause we’d all be down with a fever ourselves if that was the case.” Rain said, gesturing to Sweetie Belle. “Besides, this doesn’t really sound like what Twilight would want since it doesn’t really follow her plans for us.”

“And what are Twilight’s plans for us?” Scootaloo asked curiously.

“Yeah, I’d like to know what they are too.” Apple Bloom added.

“Alright, you girls deserve to know the truth but I think you should make yourself comfortable cause what I’m about to tell you isn’t going to be good.” Rain warned. The two mares sat themselves down on the other bed and looked to Rain expectantly as they waited for her to tell them the news. Rain took a deep breath before she told them of what had happened in the interrogation room with Twilight.

The girls weren’t too shocked when Rain told them that Twilight knew of their plans to escape though they were surprised at how she had learned of them so easily, making them wonder what they could have done to have stopped her from finding out in the first place.

They were further surprised when they learned of Twilight’s intentions to forcibly recruit Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom into her service through brainwashing, and infuriated when Rain told them that Twilight was going to use Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo as scapegoats to appease the Cadians.

“Damn that purple bitch!” Rain raised her brow at the comment and cleared her throat, “You know what I meant!” Scootaloo snapped before she hit her hooves together, “I’d like to give her a piece of my mind.”

“Would ya calm down? I know you’re upset but you’re not making it easier for the rest of us either.” Apple Bloom said.

“Calm down? Easy for you to say, you’re not the one being handed over to a bunch of angry ponies to be executed.” Scootaloo retorted.

“Apple Bloom’s right, you need to calm down before the guards come back and give us a reason to be quiet.” Rain Sight said in Apple Bloom’s defense.

“How can you be so calm about this, Twilight is threatening to put you in a coma for the rest of your life if you don’t accept her offer… you aren’t, are you?” Scootaloo asked, her voice heavy with suspicion.

“No, I’m not, I would never ever consider working for that psychopath if that meant putting your lives at risk.” Rain Sight firmly replied,

“And as for the reason why I’m so calm is that if you recall correctly, not all of us were caught back at the hotel.”
Scootaloo stared blankly at Rain Sight for a few moments before she realized what she meant, “Wait, you’re talking about Rainbow and Eye Glass, aren’t you?”

“Yes I am though I wouldn’t be talking so loudly if I were you.” Rain said as she pointed to the door.

“Right, gotcha.” Scootaloo said as she lowered the volume of her voice, “How long do you think it’ll be before they realized that we’ve been captured and rescue us?”

“Rainbow should’ve seen the Dominion marines at the hotel and warned Eye Glass about it by now. Hopefully, they should have moved Tom to a different location in case Twilight knew where it was. It might take them a while to find us but I’m sure that they’ll figure out a plan to get us out of here…I hope.” Rain Sight added hesitantly.

“You hope?” Apple Bloom asked, her brows raised, “You make it sound like you’re worried that it’s not going to work.”

“Well, I have to be honest here; having to depend on those two to rescue us isn’t exactly inspiring.” Rain admitted, “I know Eye Glass is a bit…silly at times but I trust him to do what needs to be done. It’s Rainbow that I’m worried about since you know what she’s like. I wouldn’t be worried as much if it was you or Sweetie Belle out there with Eye Glass instead of Rainbow.” Rain said, looking over to Apple Bloom.

“Hey! What am I, chopped liver?” Scootaloo protested as she crossed her forelegs over her chest.

“Says the mare that suggested assaulting a military installation to escape the lockdown was a good idea.” Apple Bloom pointed out, much to Scootaloo’s annoyance.

“Pfft, whatever.” Scootaloo scoffed, “Besides, I’m sure that between the two of them, they’ll come up with a plan to bust out of here in no time.”

“Yeah, I hope so too, for all our sakes.” Rain said as she smiled at her friend’s confidence though their moment was interrupted when the door to their cell opened up again and the same guard from before stood in the doorway with his gun at the ready.

“Stay where you are or I’ll start shooting.” The guard threatened before he stepped aside to allow his partner to enter the cell who was carrying a beaten and bloody Rainbow Dash over his shoulders, much to Rain and the Crusaders’ surprise.

Instead of carrying Rainbow Dash over to the beds like he had done earlier with Rain Sight, the guard simply dumped her onto the floor, causing her to groan out in pain before he reached behind his back and brought out a large med-kit which he threw haphazardly next to Rainbow Dash’s prone form.

“Admiral Sparkle wants all of you alive so be grateful for the mercy she’s showing you.” The guard sneered before he left the cell with his partner following behind him before the door slammed shut.

“Dash!” Scootaloo called out as she went over to Rainbow Dash’s side, “Dash, are you alright?”
Rainbow opened her blackened eyes and looked at Scootaloo, “Do I look alright to you?” she asked sarcastically before she managed a weak smile, “Still, it’s good to see you and the others are alright.”

“Umm, about that…” Scootaloo started as she wondered how she was going to explain Twilight’s plans for them to Rainbow Dash without upsetting her.

“We can talk about that later.” Rain cut in as she opened up the medkit. “Right now, we need to get patched you up before your wounds get infected. Scootaloo, can you carry Dash to one of the beds for me?” before turning to Apple Bloom, “Apple Bloom, I need you to get me some water to wash off Dash’s blood.”

“R-Right.” Apple Bloom stuttered as she looked away from the sight of Rainbow’s injuries and went over to the sink. Scootaloo bent down to pick Rainbow up like she did earlier with Sweetie Belle but Rainbow Dash stopped her.

“Hey, I’m not so beaten up that I can’t walk.” Rainbow protested as she tried to get up on her own only to fall back down shortly afterwards, “Okay, maybe I could use a little help…” she admitted as she let Scootaloo pull her up to her hooves and lean against her for support as she limped her way over to the bed.

“Here you go.” Scootaloo said as she helped Rainbow onto the bed.

“Thanks…sis.” Rainbow said in return.

Scootaloo smiled and nodded, “Anytime…sis, anytime.”

“Here you go.” Apple Bloom said as she handed over a moist cloth to Rain Sight who now had on a pair of precision gloves she had found in the medkit.

“Thanks, I’ll take over from here.” Rain said as she approached Rainbow with the cloth in one glove and the med-kit in the other, “Sorry Dash but looks like there aren’t any painkillers in the med-kit so I’m going to have to stitch you up without anesthesia.” She warned.

“Figures, but I’ve dealt with worse before so just hurry up and get it over with.” Rainbow grumbled as she laid her head down on the bed. Rain complied as she used the cloth to clean the dried blood caked from the more serious cuts on Rainbow’s body before she started working on stitching them shut.

Despite her bravado, the pegasus mare hissed in pain as Rain stitched her wounds, making Apple Bloom queasy at all the blood as it reminded her of how bloody Sovereign was when he had perished. She turned away and walked over to the bed Sweetie Belle was so she could calm down.

“Apple Bloom, you doing okay?” Scootaloo asked as she sat herself down next to Apple Bloom.

“I-I’m fine….” Apple Bloom lied before changing the subject, “What about Rainbow Dash, think she’ll be alright?”

“She’ll be fine, especially with Rain taking care of her. Besides, we Reapers have survived way worse at the Icehouse.” Scootaloo said proudly as she hit her chest with her hoof, though her pep talk did little to improve her friend’s mood. “But something tells me that’s not the only thing on your mind so spill it.”

“We’re not getting out of this, are we?” Apple Bloom asked dejectedly, as if she knew the answer already. “I mean, with Rainbow Dash stuck in here with us, the chances of us getting rescued was cut in half if not gone completely.”

“Hey, don’t talk like that!” Scootaloo said as she grabbed Apple Bloom by the shoulders, “Sure, Rainbow Dash is stuck here with us but Eye Glass is still out there so there’s still a chance of us getting rescued.”

“But…” Apple Bloom started.

“Nuh uh, I don’t want to hear any talk about ‘buts’. I know that old coot doesn’t look like the most reliable pony out there but Rain believes in him so you should too. Got it?”

“I…” Apple Bloom was going to offer a rebuttal but she knew how stubborn Scootaloo could be once she sets her mind on an idea so she simply sighed in defeat, “…alright, I got it.”

“Good, now go get some rest. Like you said, we should save our strength for when we need it.” Scootaloo said as she got up. “I’ll go check if Rain needs some help with Dash.”

“Alright, you win.” Apple Bloom said as she climbed up onto the top bunk, “Oh, and Scoots.”

“Yeah, what is it?” Scootaloo asked.

“Thanks for being here for us.”

“That’s what friends do, right?” Scootaloo said and received a nod in reply, “Now get some shut-eye.”

Apple Bloom smiled as she pulled the blankets over herself and closed her eyes, hopeful that her friend was right and that they would be rescued soon from the terrible fate that Twilight had in store for them.

Comments

[Amethyst Blade]

Well, following starcraft principal of dark and dreadful...the bad guy had won this round. We will see if the bad guy win this new round.

[TheKopruluSectorUnion]

6517349 Indeed we will. Tune in next week to find out

[Amethyst Blade]

6517649 On Kropulu sector Z.