//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: If the Nightmare Came True // by Curious Mew //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash ******** The basement is where Rarity said it would be, and it’s lined with neatly arranged boxes that are probably full of clothes stuff. I frown as we walk through it. When we reach the door at the other end, I whisper, “Wait! There could be somepony outside waiting for us.” Twilight nods slowly. “Good point. Applejack, would you mind opening the door as fast as you can on the count of three? I’ll be ready.” She lowers her horn and stares intently at the entrance. When Applejack throws open the door, there’s a flash of light, and a soft thump outside. Twilight stumbles for a second, but stays upright this time. “Okay, wow, I really hope I don’t have to do that again.” She laughs nervously. “Good work,” I say as I look behind me. “Rainbow Dash, what are you waiting for?” Twilight asks. “We have to go.” I look at her and then over my shoulder again. I make up my mind. “No, all of you have to get out of here, but I’m not leaving Rarity behind.” “I thought you didn’t trust her.” “Yeah, I didn’t. But does this look like a trap to you? Because it sure doesn’t to me. Only one guard out there? I was expecting them to come flooding in at us! I was wrong about her, and I’m not about to leave her to get arrested and thrown in prison for the rest of her life or worse. “And besides, you’re the one who pointed out that Captain Nightstrike isn’t just you’re average guard from some random backwater! He’s the captain of the Royal Guard in Cloudsdale, the largest and most important pegasus city! There’s no way she’s prepared for him!” I stomp a hoof in frustration. Twilight frowns, but her eyes soften. And then Fluttershy tackles me in a hug. “I’m so proud of you!” She pulls back and looks me in the eyes. “Just promise me that you’ll be safe, Dashie.” I give her the most confident smile that I can manage. “Of course, ‘Shy.” She nods and gives me a nervous smile in reply before heading over to the doorway. “Good luck, Rainbow,” Twilight says, holding out a hoof. I take it, but roll my eyes. “Geez, you guys are all acting like I’m gonna die or something. I’ll be back before you know it.” With that, I’m hurtling back through the basement to the kitchen; I’ve wasted enough time as it is. As I draw near, I hear Captain Nightstrike shout, “I promise you that your life will be over before the end of the year if the next thing out of your mouth is anything but the complete truth!” I growl. Oh no you don’t. And then I’m bursting through the door, flying past Rarity and right toward him. “Get out of here, Rarity!” I shout as I pass her. He reacts more quickly than I expected, though, and he’s ready when I collide. He lets out a small grunt, but he stays upright and wraps his front hooves around me. “Everypony, in here, now!” he barks. I struggle, but his hold is too tight. There’s no way I can break out, and I can hear movement from outside the room. Sorry, Fluttershy. I shout in agony and tears spring to my eyes as he forces me out of the air and my broken leg hits the ground. That has got to stop happening. And then there’s a thud and a yelp of pain, and his grip loosens just enough for me to get free. As I back away from him, I notice that a cabinet near his head is open, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t before. Nightstrike gives Rarity a murderous glare.”You’re going to pay for that.” The room floods with a blue light so bright that I have to close my eyes as Rarity throws almost the entire kitchen at him. She tugs on my tail. “Come on!” We rush into the basement, and she slams the door shut before levitating a bunch of boxes and shelves in front of it. And then we’re out of the building and past the guard Twilight took out, and I let out a laugh. “That was really cool. Thanks, Rarity.” “No, thank you, darling,” she says with a smile. I smile back and then flex my wings and turn around. “Hop on.” “What?” “If we’re going to catch up to the others, we should fly. No more talking, let’s go.” She does, holding tightly onto my mane. As I lift off, I hear shouting and look behind me. Guards are pouring out of the building, led by Captain Nightstrike. He’s tough, I’ll give him that. I shoot into the sky, thanking the stars that it’s cloudy. It will make finding Fluttershy and the others a little more difficult, but right now hiding is more important. I zip behind one and then begin my search, moving rapidly. It doesn’t take long, though, before Rarity exclaims, “Look! Down there! Do you see them?” She’s points a hoof toward the ground and, sure enough, there they are. I nod. “Get ready to land.” This is only the second time I’ve carried another pony like this, and the first time I’ve ever actually landed with one. And I had to do it with three legs. So it maybe isn’t my best landing ever. After Rarity staggers back to her hooves, she turns to face me. “T-thank you, Rainbow Dash, though I do think that I prefer my own hooves.” I roll my eyes. “Whatever.” Again, Fluttershy wraps me in a hug, and I hug her back. And then promptly stiffen and jerk my head as I hear the shout. What the actual buck? Is it really not possible for us to get away? This time, though, it seems to be a lone guard calling for reinforcements. Twilight drops him with that spell of hers again, but others are probably on the way. And she sways dangerously on her hooves until Applejack steadies her. I doubt she’s up for another fight. I shoot into the air. “Go, now! I’ll distract them, and catch up to you after I lose them!” Before any of the others can protest, I’m away, tearing through the sky. I hear more yelling, and I see guards rising into the air all round me. No arches to get in the way this time, so good luck catching me. I grin as I fly faster and faster. The air rushes past my mane, and I narrow my eyes against its sting. There really is nothing like flying. The air in front of me pushes back, but I push harder. I can practically feel it narrowing into a cone before me. My broken leg aches from how fast I’m going, but I clench my teeth and fight past it. It’s just like right after Fluttershy and I escaped from the orphanage. I had felt so happy, so full of life, that I had just flown, faster than I ever had before or since. And I had managed to pull off a Sonic Rainboom. Of course, that time, things had been tricky for the next few weeks with all the guards poking around since the last thing I had wanted was to draw attention to myself. At least I had gotten my Cutie Mark, and I guess it also helped Fluttershy get hers. But this time, I want to be noticed. I push through the final resistance the air provides, and the sky explodes with color. I lose myself in the pure joy of flight and keep flying for Moon knows how long. Finally, I begin to slow, and I look behind me. My eyes widen as I realize my mistake. Oh buck. Ponyville is well behind me, and there’s no sign of any of the guards trying to pursue me. And my rainbow contrail is rapidly fading. They won’t be able to find me. I loop around and head back in the direction I came, hoping against all hope that the others are safe and that I’ll be able to find them. Captain Nightstrike ******** I rub my left wing and groan. I really bucking hate unicorns. Twilight was one thing, but having this Rarity, this nopony, drop me with pots and pans? That’s a new low for me. My eyes scan thesky for Rainbow Dash and Rarity, but the clouds have allowed them to escape for the moment. I’ll have to trust my ponies to find them. They, at least, aren’t complete idiots. I turn to look at the Earth pony stallion, the captain of the Ponyville Royal Guard. I don’t remember his name, and I don’t care. And then I look back at the guard lying on the ground in front of the basement. “Would you care to tell me why it is that when I told you to have your ponies surround the building it would seem that you only positioned one at the back?” I kick the pony in question, and he lets out a grunt and slowly blinks his eyes. The Ponyville captain swallows. “Look, my ponies aren’t used to this kind of –” “I don’t care!” I hiss. “Maybe learn to be competent!” Shadowmoon smirks. “Having some difficulties? It must hurt your pride that you were beaten by a pony with a broken leg and a fashion designer.” I glare at her. “Not the time.” And then I jerk my head up as one of my guards lands in front of me. “Sir! They seem to be heading back toward the Everfree Forest!” The Everfree Forest? Are they just disoriented and running blindly? That desperate? Brave? Stupid? I shake my head. It doesn’t matter. The first hoof my have gone in your favor, Twilight, but not this one. As I lead the guards in the direction that was indicated, I see an unnmistakable pegasus streaking through the air back in our direction, and shouts go up around me, several guards rising in the air to pursue her. “No!” I call after them. “Idiots! She’s clearly a distraction and no longer matters!” Most of them don’t seem to hear me, so all I can do is glare after them. With a sigh and grunt of pain, I also take to the air and begin to circle, my Cloudsdale guards following me. At first, I don’t see anything, and I begin to wonder if they managed to slip into another building. From this height, I really should have no problem spotting them. I circle out widen, and this time I see them. Sure enough, they’re racing toward the Everfree Forest. Well, this has been mildly amusing, Twilight Sparkle, but it’s time for me to get you. There’s a flash of light in the corner of my eye, and I turn my head to get a better look. There’s a rainbow in the sky, extending rapidly away from me. Hmm… was that you back then, Rainbow Dash? What a pity. I turn away and quickly regain sight of my quarry before angling to intercept and beginning my dive. They got farther than I expected. I would have thought that Twilight would have slowed them down more; she must be exhausted after that little display of hers earlier. They don’t even notice me as I close the distance. I land almost directly on top of Rarity and slam her into the ground before kicking her in the stomach as I flip toward Twilight. That’s for your kitchen, you rotten mule. This time, I’m ready for her attack, and I drop to the ground and flatten myself against it, that bucking spell of hers whizzing harmlessly over my head. And then she topples to the ground. Not that surprising. I whirl around just in time to dodge the orange mare’s kick, and I sweep her legs from under her. My guards land around us. As they chain up our prisoners, Fluttershy surrendering without a fight after I subdued her friends, one of them asks, “Where’d the dragon go?” I look around and frown. Do I want this to end here and now, or do I want to see if that card of yours is worth anything, Twilight? Even if it is, I might be able to spin things to my benefit… And I really could use a bit more fun. Making up my mind, I say, “It doesn’t matter that much, but tell the Ponyville guards to continue the search for him.” Like they could find a rock if it hit them in the face. “Does anypony know where the Ponyville jail is?” A guard jerks his head toward a building close to us. “It’s right there.” I frown. Not the most secure location. Well, whatever. “Okay, get them in there, and alert the Ponyville guards that we have them. Let them guard their jail, and then the two of you” – I point to the closest two guards – “see if Rainbow Dash is still around, though she could be long gone by now. The rest of you should get back to Cloudsdale as fast as you can; we can’t afford to have that situation spiral out of control either, so we still need all hooves on deck. I’m going to inform Nightmare Moon that we captured them.” I launch myself into the air, wincing at the ache in my wing. At least Rarity should be in a lot more pain than me. I grin at the thought and circle, landing in front of Shadowmoon when I spot her still lingering outside Rarity’s home. I shoot her a condescending smile. “I got them.” She raises an eyebrow. “Even Rainbow Dash?” I wave a hoof. “If she comes back, we’ll get her. Besides, she wasn’t with Twilight Sparkle when we caught her.” Her eyes narrow. “That is playing dangerously close to violating the spirit of your orders.” Oh, if you only knew how badly I’ve crossed that line. As the thought crosses my mind, the slightest tingle of fear runs down my mind. Hopefully Nightmare Moon will agree that the dragon isn’t that important since we have Twilight. But, on the other hoof, what’s life without a little danger? And besides, I technically didn’t abandon the search for him. I shrug. “That determination is out of your hooves. Nightmare Moon is the only pony who outranks me on this, and you yourself told me that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash only mattered if they were still with Twilight when we caught her. And, speaking of Nightmare Moon, I need to alert her of Twilight’s capture. Can you send her a message, or does this place even have a dragonfire box?” She glowers at me for a moment before smiling. Uh-oh. “You can tell her yourself.” Her horn begins to glow. Buck. There’s a flash of light, and the world spins wildly.