Explosions rocked the tower walls. Rarity would've noticed Dan, Phoenix and the others flying up to her level if she hadn't been ducking. She looked back over the side.
"Is everyone all right? That was quite loud."
All five of them were on their backs, staring up at her from a smoldering crater.
"Yeah, Rarity, we're fine. I think it's your turn to get blown up next- wanna come join us? The weapons-grade explosives are great today!" Dan said, aggresso-sarcastically.
Twilight began levitating the battered gang back up to the tower again.
"Okay, umm... well, we'll get back inside the complex," Twilight said. She was even levitating herself to give her burnt wings a rest. "We should be safe there from the explode-y ball things."
"Yeah, if the cannon is sturdy enough to survive Barro's orbital strikes, it should be able to handle regular explosives. I hope," Cap said.
And to dampen their hopes further, the flying steel donut fired again. But this time, it wasn't a missile, but a beam. A lance of sliver-blue energy struck the base of the complex just where they had been blasted moments ago. The energy didn't explode outward, but climbed up the walls of the tower and spread across the sand. By the time Dan and company reached the top of the tower, so had it.
"Wha-what's happening?!" Rarity backed away from the edges of the tower. They turned to ice before her eyes, an ice so white it didn't seem to be ice at all but pure magic of some kind. Super-cooled magical energy.
The icy substance enveloped half the tower and the western side of Bursavis. Twilight set them down with Rarity on the inner side.
"They're gonna freeze the cannon so we can't use it," Dan said.
"And they're using the ice gun from the Plasma Frigate," Phoenix added. "That's not even fair! WE didn't even get to use that!"
Chris raised an inquisitive look at him. "What exactly would you have used a flying, wooden sailing ship-mounted ice cannon for, Nick?"
"Would've frozen Payne with it," he said without hesitation. He then glanced over to see both Chris and Cap nodding at him.
Dan also nodded, though to himself. "I have trained him well. Also, I did not know there was an ice gun. This is a CLEAR violation of... which rule, class?"
Cap, Chris, Phoenix, Twilight and Rarity said in unison, "Rule five."
"Which states?"
"Dan shall be made aware of all weapons-grade devices, tools, toys and other such items at the earliest possibility or upon acquisition."
"-quisition." Chris just echoed the last syllable, but either nobody noticed or nobody cared.
Dan nodded. "Very good, revenge apprentices." Interrupting Dan's satisfaction, the Cogsdale fired again. An icy cold beam hit more or less the same spot, and the ice at their feet continued its outward spread.
"FLAMETHROWER!" Dan instinctively grabbed Twilight and used her as a flamethrower. A jet of flames spewed forth from her horn, but quickly she separated form Dan's grasp.
"I can work faster on my own. Go, Dan- you and the others find something to shoot that thing down with, Rarity and I will handle the ice," Twilight said. She then stopped herself. "Wait... I'm going to activate the cannon."
"You are?" everyone asked, once again in unison, plus Dan this time.
"We need to get it started now while we can."
"Twilight?" Rarity raised a hoof. "I don't know how to use fire magic. Fire and fabric don't make the best company."
Twilight swooped down to put a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "You're about to learn very, very quickly. Dan, go with the others. Find a way to defend the cannon while we ready it to fire."
Dan saluted. "Aye aye, Princess Twi. Gentlemen, with me. We're about to go with Plan Q-99. I will explain en route."
"There better not be a test on this afterward," Chris muttered.
"There's always a test afterward," Phoenix said. (And I'm doing better on them than Chris Redfield! For once.)
While Rarity did her best to fight ice with fire, Twilight flew to the center of the facility. She was beginning to understand exactly the cannon's puzzle. The four statues had to be turned to face each other and their hooves raised high all at the same time, synchronization only possible through powerful magic. Only a very powerful unicorn, or more accurately, an alicorn could accomplish this feat.
It was meant for Luna.
All around the prison complex, the cities of Donquestria and even on the railroad itself were subtle clues the donkeys left behind. Luna's cutie mark, or the moon in its various phases, was left to guide others, with the crescent being on the outer-most marks and the full moon being in the center. So devoted were the donkeys that a nation kept a promise through its history, to this very day.
Carefully, Twilight reached out with her magic and felt the statues atop the four tours. More carefully, she turned them to face each other, all at the same time. Slingshot, telescope, rifle and bottle- inspiration, revelation, creation, celebration, the key tenants of Donquestria's harmony, were raised as one.
Stone shifted, walls parted and the wind that incessantly swirled filled the passages. The sand in the center of the complex that had formed the intake yard suddenly disappeared, swallowed by a chasm that opened beneath.
"What the hell is that noise?"
"Focus, Chris. Alright, so once we get the magnet-"
"I hear it, too," Cap said.
"Me too," Phoenix said.
A whistling, the kind of tune sung on the playground, was heard throughout the complex. Not echoing or reverberating, but carried through the halls.
We will rise
We will rise
Raise your glass and dry your eyes!
Turn your hopes up way up high
We will rise!
"Who's singing that?" Dan asked. They looked around but there was no indication of where the music was coming from. It seemed to be everywhere.
The sand covering the entire center of the country slid down. As Twilight shifted the statues into their final position, the cannon began moving on its own.
"Okay, you guys all know what the plan is," Dan focused them again. "Cap, you and Chris go and find us a giant magnet. Nicky and I are going to find Sammy J. We need to buy a little more time and then we're taking this thing outta here."
"Ready?"
"Ready."
"Break!" The four men parted as the four corners of the facility came together. The stairway was opened.