//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: If the Nightmare Came True // by Curious Mew //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash ******** I glare at the Royal Guard in front of us and growl, “Why don't you get out of our way?” He looks back at me and hisses, “Why don't you get back in that cell before I show you what a Captain of the Royal Guard can do to one injured mare?” Turning back to Twilight Sparkle, he says, “I'm disappointed, I really am. I was excited when I heard that I would get to work with Nightmare Moon's most talented student, but you have proven yourself to be weak and foalish. Now, I don't want to see even a hint of magic, or things will become even more unpleasant for you than they already are.” I take my eyes off Captain Nightstrike to look at Fluttershy. Absolute terror is visible in her eyes as she looks at the pony blocking our escape. I make up my mind in that moment, and launch myself at Captain Nightstrike, crying out quietly but urgently, “Get out of here, Fluttershy!” He stumbles back for a second before grabbing hold of me and slamming me into the wall. I grunt in pain and struggle against his grip, but he's too strong. With a shove, I’m on the ground and I scream as my broken leg hits the ground. “That was incredibly foolish,” he hisses. “Did you ever think that you could actually do anything to me?” I'm about to respond when there's a sudden flash of purple light, causing me to shut my eyes. I feel Captain Nightstrike's grip loosen and then vanish completely. I open my eyes and see Twilight with her horn lowered looking at me. I glance down and see Captain Nightstrike lying motionless on the floor. “Do you trust me yet?” she asks. I pause for a second thinking. Since she attacked him, it seems unlikely that she really is working with him. I'm sure that there would have been an easier way to do... what, exactly? If she's still working with him, why would they want us to escape? Well, even if she isn't still working for the government, I'm sure there's something in it for her. If even a small part of Fluttershy's stories are true, then Nightmare Moon is just out for herself, and I'm sure any student of hers would act the same way. So I still need to be careful, especially because Fluttershy is with me. “Let's just go,” I say, and fly down the hall. I prefer flying even under normal circumstances, but my leg is still broken, so I walking wouldn’t be a great idea even if I wanted to. “That should keep him down for a while,” Twilight says, “but there are still a few other guards.” I decide to just ask about what she wants, even though I doubt I'll get an honest answer. I glare at her distrustfully and ask, “Why are you helping us? What's in it for you?” “I told you, I know both of you are innocent, but you were going to be punished anyway,” she answers. The dragon on her back glares back at me and says, “We aren't getting anything out of this, you know. We're risking everything just to help you.” Since when did anypony involved with Nightmare Moon care about innocence or helping others? But I don't respond because I can't risk attracting any attention. Not with Fluttershy here as well. I stick my head around a corner and look out into the main room. There are only a few guards, and they all seem to be busy with paperwork. I turn back and look at Twilight Sparkle. I don't trust her, but she's more likely to know what to do than Fluttershy, if she's really helping us, that is. I hope. “Should we just make a break for it?” I whisper. She looks around and then glances at the dragon on her back before shaking her head. “I'll pretend that I need to move you somewhere else for more interrogations.” She motions for us to follow and walks out towards the guards. Her horn glows, and suddenly chains appear on my legs. I rear in surprise and am about to try to slam her against the wall when she whispers urgently, “Relax, it's just an illusion so the guards believe me!” I settle down, cursing myself. I need to think before I do something like that again! What if I had just gotten Fluttershy captured again? Or myself, for that matter. I look back at Fluttershy, who gives a small nod. “We'll be out of here in ten seconds flat,” I tell her in a reassuring tone before following Twilight. The guards seem slightly skeptical of Twilight's claim, but one says, “Okay, go ahead.” I let Fluttershy pass ahead of me and follow her out of the building, glancing over my shoulder. The guards have turned back to their work, so I catch up to Twilight and ask, “If you really want to help us, why the hay do you think that our escape has been so easy?” I glance down at my legs, noting that the illusion of the chains is no longer there. “Because I'm a student of Nightmare Moon,” she answers. “They trust my authority.” “And what was that spell that you used on the Captain?” She replies, “It was just something to knock him out. He should remain unconscious for perhaps an hour.” She bites her lip nervously and says, “Let's just get out of here.” The purple dragon on her back seems to be staring constantly over his shoulder, so I decide that it's safe to drop back and talk to Fluttershy. The street is pretty much empty, so I don't bother to keep my voice down when I say, “Look at that, we're free.” Then it sinks in: we still aren't safe. There's no way we can stay in Cloudsdale, and for all I know, we'll be wanted in every city in Equestria within a couple days. Where can we possibly go while being both safe and able to get food? Maybe some small town near the border? But there would still be Royal Guards, and it actually seems like there could be a higher chance of being caught in a smaller town... I snap out of my thoughts when Fluttershy says, “I think we can trust her.” “Who? Twilight Sparkle?” I ask in disbelief. “I don't know why she broke us out and hurt Captain Nightstrike, if she really hurt him, but she's a student of Nightmare Moon! We can't risk trusting her.” She looks directly at me and states, “I think she really does want to help.” I look at her for a few seconds before turning my head away and muttering, “I won't get into any fights with her, but I'm still going to keep an eye on her. But I think that we should just fly away now.” “But we can't do that!” she exclaims. “We can't just leave her alone after she freed us.” I look at her again and say, “You're too kind, Fluttershy.” I stop walking suddenly and ask, “Do you hear that?” I've learned to rely on my ears because you always need to hear somepony before they have a chance to see you to successfully steal something and get away, and I hear a flapping noise. I look up into the sky and see the silhouettes of several Royal Guards bearing down on us. A familiar voice calls out, “Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Spike, surrender now and we will arrest you unharmed. If, however, you resist, then we will be forced to do whatever is necessary to capture you.” I motion to Fluttershy to follow me and begin to rocket upwards, but her voice calls me back. “Rainbow Dash!” she shouts, “Twilight Sparkle can't fly!” I groan, “I'm just trying to protect you. Fine, this way, then.” I fly towards Twilight and shout angrily, “I thought you said that that spell would keep Captain Nightstrike down for a while!” As Fluttershy and I fly and she runs, she looks back at me and says, “It should have! Maybe the other guards went to check on him and woke him up!” I see real fear in her eyes and realize that she really is risking everything to help us. I don't know if she has a plan to benefit from this, but I decide that just in case she really is helping us because she thinks it's the right thing to do, I'll do my best to help her and the dragon escape with us. But I still need to be careful, just in case, for Fluttershy's sake. I look back and groan in exasperation. Fluttershy is trailing us and barely ahead of the Royal Guards. I fly back to her and grab onto one of her hooves and pull her along with me. I hear Captain Nightstrike call out to me, “It really is a pity that you're a traitor and a thief, Rainbow Dash. We could use ponies like you with courage and loyalty.” I call back angrily, “Is that some kind of cheap attempt to get me to join you or something?” “No,” he answers flatly. “I was just making an observation. Part of what makes you worthy is that your loyalties won't change, and even if they would, you are a criminal, and criminals must be punished.” I'm about to respond when Fluttershy stops me by whispering, “Save your breathe for flying, isn't that what you've always told me?” I look back into her eyes and nod silently. Twilight Sparkle shouts back, “Rainbow Dash, hurry up!” I fly faster, pulling Fluttershy with me and catch up to her. The dragon is now sitting backward, keeping an eye on the guards, so I focus on what's ahead of us. “You're a thief, so you know this city extremely well, right?” Twilight asks. “Yeah,” I answer, “probably a lot better than them, at least.” “I just wish I knew the area around Cloudsdale!” Twilight sighs. “Why?” I ask, trying to determine exactly where we are. As a general rule, I try to avoid anywhere with a strong presence of Royal Guards, so I really don't know the area as well as I would like. “This way,” I say, cutting down a side street that I'm pretty sure leads to an almost maze-like portion of the city. She glances at me and answers, “Because then I could teleport us out of here. Of course, actually seeing a spot is better than just a mental image, but that's irrelevant because I don't even know what the ground looks like to teleport to.” I look at her and disbelief and say,”You mentioned that you're using a spell so you can walk on the clouds, right? I think you said that when you first interrogated me. You can stop using that spell, can't you? And Fluttershy and I can drop below the clouds on our own so you can see the ground and get us out of here.” “But I... I've never actually tried to use the spell on other ponies before and trying to do it in a free fall..? It's too dangerous...” she says in a panic as I lead us through several winding streets, trying to disorient the Royal Guards. “Hey, we'll catch you if you can't do it, right, Fluttershy?” I respond. Fluttershy nods in agreement and I glance back at the Royal Guards. Buck, they're right behind us. Captain Nightstrike is only a few feet behind us now. It's hard to be certain in the dark, but his flight seems to be lazy, as if the whole thing is just a game to him. “We've got to do something!” I call out in desperation to Twilight. “Alright. Spike, hold on tight,” she says feebly and I see hear plummet and let out a scream. I pull Fluttershy down with me, hoping that Captain Nightstrike won't be as quick to follow. I fly us next to Twilight and grab hold of her, folding my wings against my side, making us fall rapidly. “Okay, cast that spell now, or they'll catch us!” I shout above the wind. She squints her eyes and stares at the ground, her horn beginning to glow. I glance over my shoulder and groan. Captain Nightstrike is plummeting towards us, followed closely by the other guards. I see the purple dragon begin to lose his grip around Twilight's neck, and then a sudden flash of light sears my eyes. I feel an odd jerking sensation and pressure on my entire body. And then I feel myself hit the ground and roll shakily to my hooves, doing my best to keep any weight off of my broken leg. I have mixed success there, so I quickly push into the air. I open my eyes and see Fluttershy, the dragon, I suppose he's Spike, and Twilight Sparkle sprawled around a small clearing in a patch of trees. I help Fluttershy to her hooves and look up at the sky. I can barely make out the shape of the clouds in the dark sky. I let out a laugh of excitement and cheer, “We did it, Fluttershy! We're free!” “But not really safe,” Twilight grumbles behind us. I know that, I'm still working on what we should do next. I eye her and comment, “Ya know, I think I'm ready to believe that you really do want to help us, but I'm still not sure that there's nothing in it for you.” “What could I possibly gain by betraying my teacher, the most powerful pony in Equestria?” she demands somewhat angrily. “I don't know,” I admit, “but that doesn't matter. For now, at least, we're all working together, so I'll stick by you and help you if you get into any trouble.” But that will change if you try anything that could hurt Fluttershy. My thoughts go unspoken, but I think that Twilight realizes them anyway. “Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy says suddenly, “I think I might know where we are.” “How?” I ask in surprise. “When have you ever been here?” “When you're gone, I sometimes come down here to see the animals,” she says sheepishly. “And, um, I think I've been in this clearing before. It's fairly close to the edge of a small town near that farmland where all those Earth ponies work.” I decide that it's pointless to say anything about her having not told me about this before, so I just shrug and say, “Then lead the way to someplace safe.” Spike gets back on Twilight's back, and we follow Fluttershy through the trees. I just wish you had told me about this before, Fluttershy. How am I supposed to protect you if I don't even know where you are?