//------------------------------// // Confrontation // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash and Barnaby both walked down the busy streets of the Copper Section towards Lord Copper’s administration building. The lights in the city had turned on a couple of hours ago; it was a brand new day. And they were going to start it by giving Oreville a brand new future. The memories of what had happened last night and the decisions they made after Dolph’s death were still fresh in their minds. Nothing had turned out like they wanted it to, but Barnaby and Rainbow Dash still knew they had to confront Lord Copper and put a stop to all of this. Their faces were cold masks of ice as they reached the building and prepared to go in. “I just don’t even know,” Rainbow Dash said as she shook her head, the flames of the bomb still dancing in the tunnel ahead. “What am I even going to tell Eleanor now?” Barnaby too was staring at the flames as he let out a heavy sigh. “You don’t have to tell her anything. I’ll take care of it.” “No, I’m going to tell her,” Rainbow was adamant. “Rainbow Dash, it’s not your job. It’s not even your city.” She turned her head and glared up at him with fiercely narrowed eyes. “I’m. Telling. Her. I promised her we would find Dolph. I gave her hope. I’m telling her.” Barnaby opened his mouth but just as quickly closed it. He knew Rainbow Dash wouldn’t waver on this. “Alright. But for now we have other business to take care of. We should get back to that safehouse and turn it upside down, though I doubt we’ll find anything incriminating, and then we’ll get back to my office. I’ll have other constables come here to take over investigating and getting everything out of the safehouse… and I’ll have to write up a report of what’s happened. That explosion probably damaged the street above as well. I’m also going to send a message to Lords Silver and Gold, telling them everything before we leave to apprehend Lord Copper.” “Awesome,” Rainbow nodded, though her voice had no trace of joy to it. “There’s a big day ahead of us tomorrow, come on, we have a lot to do,” Barnaby said and turned around. Rainbow Dash didn’t say another word as she turned to follow him back to the safehouse. “Excuse me, is Lord Copper currently in?” Barnaby asked the secretary in the front office of the Copper Section administration building. She had a lemon coat and a summer green mane and tail, young with wide open eyes. “I… I believe so?” The worried looking lemon-colored secretary said as her eyes darted between Rainbow Dash and Barnaby. It might have been normal apprehension at the Chief Constable coming to pay an unexpected visit but there was the possibility that she was wrapped up in Lord Copper’s business too. After all, she was already on his payroll. But Dash didn’t want to be so paranoid and untrusting of ponies she didn’t even know so she’d give the secretary the benefit of the doubt for now. “Could you please radio his office for us? Right now,” Barnaby said a bit forcefully. “Tell him that the Chief Constable is here to see him and it’s a matter of the utmost importance.” The secretary gulped. “H-Has there been another bombing? I-I heard about the first two and-” “Just radio him, please,” Barnaby cut her off. “There isn’t anything for you to worry about.” “R-Right,” the secretary said and got on the line. While she did that, Rainbow looked around at what was going on in the lobby. This building wasn’t even remotely as big as the one in Gold Section but it was still pretty huge. Ponyville’s town hall would pretty much just fit inside this lobby. A lot of other ponies were going in and out of the front door and to other places inside the building, ponies with briefcases, ponies running to meetings, and other civilians who looked like they had business of some sort in here. A lot of them were now paying attention to Rainbow and Barnaby as well. They likely knew that something important must be going on if the Chief Constable was here, and by now they had probably read about Rainbow Dash in the newspapers too. Some of the ones walking close by had also probably heard Barnaby’s demand to meet with Lord Copper. It was easy to feel the tension in the atmosphere now. Everypony could tell something was happening. Barnaby’s hoof rapped up and down on the front desk while the nervous secretary waited for Lord Copper to turn on the radio at the other end. After a minute it was clear he wasn’t answering. “I’m sorry, Chief Constable. Lord Copper either isn’t in his office or he’s busy, would you like to book an appointment to see him?” The secretary asked. “No, we’ll go and find him ourselves,” Barnaby said and walked around the desk towards the stairs, Rainbow Dash right on his heels. “W-Wait!” The secretary sat up. “Even as the Chief Constable you can’t just go to his office or intrude on business without an appointment or warrant!” Barnaby glanced over his shoulder at her and narrowed a cold eye. “Tell security then.” She gulped and sat back down. “Um… enjoy your visit and I hope your meeting goes well.” “Do we have to worry about security?” Rainbow asked as she and Barnaby headed to the stairs leading out of the lobby. “As you can probably already tell, there’s not as many security ponies here as in Gold Section’s capitol building. While legally we don’t exactly have the right to just go wherever we want at the moment in here, none of them are going to have the guts to say no to me and you. And if they do I think you’d like what happens next,” Barnaby answered. Rainbow grinned. “I think so too.” Their walk took them up five flights of stairs, unlike at Gold Section’s building, Lord Copper’s main office was not as high as possible, instead he was somewhere around the middle floors. Once they stepped off the stairs and into the single hallway that led from them, Rainbow Dash noticed a checkpoint dead ahead with two security guards at it. Their first encounter with Lord Copper’s personal guards, Rainbow Dash recognized their uniforms from that day she had entered Oreville and got beaten senseless. Would they let them pass without a fuss? Rainbow kind of hoped they didn’t. The two guards seemed surprised to see Rainbow Dash and Barnaby and they stood in front of the metal gate that sectioned off the rest of the hallway. “What are you doing here, Chief Constable? We’ve gotten no notice of any meeting you have with Lord Copper.” “That’s because I’m not here on any business that’s so formal. I am here to speak with and potentially arrest Lord Copper,” Barnaby said. The security guards backed up in shock, jaws hanging open in disbelief. “A-Are you out of your mind?” The other one asked. “Barnaby, there’s absolutely no way we’re letting you past without a warrant,” the first one shook his head. “Well that’s more of a problem for you than it is for me,” Barnaby narrowed his eyes. “You see, Lords Silver and Gold have been notified about what I’m intending to do and why and they will be here, in Copper Section, shortly. However, this is a matter so grave and so serious that I could not wait for a warrant or their approval. Which is why I came here unannounced to “meet” with Lord Copper. You can now let us through to find him, or you can be seen as obstructions to justice and accessories to a megalomaniacal villain. And also be arrested.” The two guards winced and shared a nervous look. Rainbow wasn’t sure if Barnaby was exaggerating or not either. “Ah, whatever… not paid enough for this,” the first guard said and stepped aside. “W-What he said,” the second said and opened the gate for Barnaby and Dash. “Thank you, I’ll remember your cooperation,” Barnaby said. Barnaby and Rainbow Dash walked through the gate and shortly began to make their way through the inner areas of the building. Lord Copper’s office was close by but he might truly not be there. Much like in Gold Section’s building, Rainbow Dash saw a lot of art and fancy sculptures as they walked down hallways and past doors, actually, she saw even more than in Gold Section. Lord Copper was probably trying to make his place appear grander. Besides that there weren’t many other ponies around anymore, not that she saw at least, they could all be busy inside whatever these various rooms were. “You don’t think we’ll have a problem with security anymore?” Rainbow asked Barnaby. “Any other guards we come across will know we got past those other two. They probably won’t start anything because of that either,” Barnaby answered. The two rounded a corner and came to a wider hallway that had a large set of heavy marble double doors in the middle of it, flanked by two large potted plants. On the opposite side of the wall a clock and a couch sat. Likely for ponies waiting to visit Lord Copper would use. Rainbow Dash and Barnaby had no intention of sitting around. Naturally Barnaby grabbed the door handle and attempted to open it only to find it was locked. He furrowed his brow; “Well he’s either not in or his door is just locked.” He brought a hoof up and started to knock loudly on the door. No answer. “I think he isn’t in, cause that guy would definitely be the type to get all snobby and annoyed at somepony banging on his door and get up to make a fuss about it,” Rainbow said. “Agreed,” Barnaby nodded. “Let’s go find him.” They actually didn’t need to search much at all. No sooner had they left the door and gone to walk down the hallway did the sound of another set of doors being opened somewhere around the corner reach them along with the sounds of numerous ponies conversing and walking with each other. Barnaby and Rainbow Dash stood and waited, hearing a very distinct and very haughty voice mixed in with the others. As soon as Lord Copper and his retinue of businessponies and clerks rounded the corner they stopped. Two pairs of cold eyes were locked dead on them. Lord Copper didn’t seem surprised to see them (something Rainbow took note of) but he did seem supremely annoyed. The others were a mix of confusion and apprehension—no one in this building was happy to see the Chief Constable. “Lord Copper,” Barnaby loudly said, projecting his voice down the entire hallway. “A word with you, please.” The Lord frowned and narrowed his eyes, looking back between Rainbow and Barnaby. At last he huffed in derision and turned to the others with him. “Head down to the Onyx conference room on the second floor, I’ll be with you shortly to finish things.” The ponies excused themselves and quickly walked past Barnaby and Rainbow without daring to meet their eyes. Once they were around the corner, Lord Copper snorted and came stiffly walking towards them, his eyes glanced over at the clock to check the time. “And just what is it that you want, Constable?” He asked Barnaby before his face twisted in even more annoyance as he glanced at Rainbow. “And you, diplomat? I am a very busy pony.” Rainbow Dash had to hold back from outright socking him in the face. “We know exactly how busy you are.” Lord Copper raised an eyebrow in an attempt to feign ignorance, but a bead of sweat rolled down his brow all the same. “Excuse me?” “Forget it, Lord Copper. You aren’t going to just lie and pretend your way out of this,” Barnaby shook his head. “We found out about the stolen TNT from your warehouses. We found the safehouse you set up where the TNT was stored. And we found Dolph.” “Dolph? I don’t know any ponies named Dolph,” Lord Copper said. That set Rainbow Dash off and she got right in Lord Copper’s face to let him know it. “Dolph’s the innocent pony you threatened into setting off bombs for you!” “And this Dolph pony told you this?” Lord Copper dangerously sneered at her. Rainbow’s eye twitched. “H-He-” Lord Copper looked at Barnaby. “Hah, of course he didn’t. After all I still have no idea what you’re talking about. You seem to be implying something very sinister here, Barnaby. Perhaps you should interrogate this Dolph pony more thoroughly.” “He’s dead!” Rainbow roared and almost grabbed Lord Copper by his suit before Barnaby held her back. “He’s dead because of you! Because he was trying to protect his family!” Lord Copper took a few steps back as Rainbow glared at him, he coughed and turned his head to the side. “Well I’m sorry to hear that but it has nothing whatsoever to do with me. None of this does.” “Oh really?” Now Barnaby took over again while Rainbow seethed. “Lord Copper, there’s far too much going on around you to be all a coincidence. I know you purchased the warehouses that store the mining TNT in them from their previous owners, what reason did you have for this?” Lord Copper shrugged. “I simply think it’s better that something so serious and important to Oreville should be under direct government control. There are many records of the change in ownership and you can ask numerous other ponies who work here of the meetings and discussions had on the subject. Is that all?” “Your day shift supervisor has also been receiving exorbitant amounts of money outside his regular salary, care to explain?” Barnaby asked. “Care to explain what? What does that have to do with me? If he’s making some extra money that doesn’t suddenly mean I’m paying him under the table. He already gets his normal salary from working with me,” Lord Copper turned up his nose at the two of them. Rainbow Dash and Barnaby both looked at each other, Rainbow biting her lip. “We also know about Malthus,” Barnaby said. “Who? Again,” Lord Copper asked, rolling his eyes. “I suppose you don’t keep up with small time criminals in Oreville,” Barnaby sarcastically said. “We have an eyewitness who says Malthus and his gang removed a crate of TNT from one of your warehouses. This happened in the middle of the day with many workers there and for some reason nopony stopped them or told the authorities or did anything. As if they were told to keep it a complete secret. That crate of TNT was found—half empty—in the same safehouse Dolph was residing in.” Lord Copper just stood there in front of them for a few moments, as if waiting for them to continue. “And?” He finally asked. “And what?” Barnaby furrowed his brow. “And where’s the proof? Is that all? Because it doesn’t sound like you have any solid evidence that I’m involved with any of this,” he shrugged and looked between them as both Barnaby and Rainbow Dash struggled to come up with words. “I see, that’s it then? You really don’t have anything proving that I’m responsible for all this, you’re just hoping I’d admit my guilt or say something incriminating. Hm? Trying to catch me off-balance? Well I’m afraid you’re wrong. All of this is mere coincidences and lots of circumstantial evidence. I haven’t done anything.” Lord Copper gave a single laugh of amusement. “Hah! I know you, Barnaby. If you really could prove any of this you wouldn’t have just come for a “talk” with this outsider pegasus. I’d already be in chains and Lords Silver and Gold would be here too.” “Lords Silver and Gold are on their way and they’ve been informed of everything,” Barnaby coldly told him. “Well what a waste of a trip you’ve had them go on then!” Lord Copper shouted. “They’ll see right through this pointless charade as well and know there’s no grounds to arrest me or tie me to these bombings at all. There’s not even a motive!” “Oh for the love of—so what?!” Rainbow Dash roared at him. “We know you’re behind this, we may not be able to prove it, we may not even know why you’re doing all this awful stuff, but that doesn’t matter! If you think you can just talk your way out of this you’ve got another thing coming! I don’t care if you call it coincidences, I’ve been around the block enough times to smell a rat when I see one!” Lord Copper’s eyes widened in fear as he stepped away from Rainbow. “C-Constable, she’s threatening me! A-As Chief Constable don’t you think you should be doing something about that!” “Relax, Rainbow Dash,” Barnaby said and tried to calm her down before glaring at Lord Copper. “And personally, I very much agree with her and any such threats she makes against you.” Lord Copper’s lip trembled as he angrily looked back at Barnaby. “Y-Y-You’ve always had it out for me! And now you’re just bullying me because you can’t find any legitimate reason to arrest me. Well I’m sorry to disappoint you but you won’t be arresting me for this either. I think I’ve had quite enough of the two of you!” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “I am far too busy today anyways, Oreville doesn’t wait.” He went to walk past Barnaby and Rainbow Dash and head towards his office but Barnaby grabbed his shoulder. “Now you wait right there, we aren’t done talking yet,” Barnaby told him. Lord Copper huffed and retrieved a key from his suit, bringing it towards the door. “No, I believe we are quite done. And if you think otherwise then-” He didn’t get the chance to finish that sentence as an explosion went off from inside his office and blew apart the doors, blasting Rainbow Dash, Barnaby and Lord Copper to the floor. For the third time in recent memory, Rainbow Dash got up in a daze with her blurred vision only slowly coming back into focus. Burning rocks that formally made up the doors to Lord Copper’s office lied all around the three of them and the furniture had all been knocked over. Barnaby and Lord Copper were both struggling to their hooves as well. Still groggy and confused—Rainbow Dash looked towards the office Lord Copper was about to step into. It was a devastated inferno. Any desk that may have been inside at some point was completely gone, the high walls were covered in flames climbing to the vaulted ceiling and the large glass windows that made the back of the office were completely blown out. Rainbow Dash could hear voices from outside shouting in a panic at what had just happened. Lord Copper’s large, spacious, office was nothing more than a smoked crater. Rainbow Dash was staring in stunned silence at it, Barnaby in disbelief, and Lord Copper finally manged to gulp and turn to the Chief Constable. “P-Perhaps you believe me now?” Rainbow Dash blinked and looked over at the haggard Lord. He was a sweating, disheveled mess. And she still didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him.