//------------------------------// // Search // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// Lord Copper had his nicest, freshly cleaned, suit on for this important morning. A watch around his left hoof told him the time and he wore a small radio with a microphone in the neck of his suit that he could use to quickly communicate with others. The outfit was finished with him wearing a confident and happy smile on his face. He briefly looked out the window of his office at Copper Section before turning to the security ponies he had gathered here. Not Jarvis and his squad, who didn’t have the time to make it back here after doing their job and who he couldn’t risk being seen with, but another group who he had also firmly bought the loyalty of to escort him today. After all he needed witnesses he could trust when it came to what he was about to do. Jarvis, Malthus, and the others were safely waiting in the sewers and old abandoned tunnels that only Copper really knew about. A glance at his watch told him they still had plenty of time but that they should probably get moving now anyways. No reason to cut things dangerously close. “Alright, my ponies, today is the day that change comes to Oreville. You’ll all be part of it and greatly rewarded, I promise you,” Lord Copper said to his guards. “A new Oreville with one ruler is about to be born. No more sections, no more lords, just Oreville.” His grin somehow widened even further as he walked through the guards towards the door. “Let us be off.” “I’m going to have every available constable come with me, the mines are vast and there’s no telling how many bombs could be down there,” Barnaby said as he and Rainbow Dash rooted through the main supply room of his office. “All good, I can handle Lord Copper and any guards he has with him. No offense but I don’t think most ponies in here can put up much of a fight,” Rainbow said. “None taken. Considering what you’ve been through and some of the other opponents you’ve dealt with I think we’d all be little more than punching bags for you.” Barnaby opened up a locker and finally found what he had been looking for. “Aha!” He pulled out the pair of radios and hoofed one over to Rainbow Dash. “Put that around your neck and put in the earpiece. Turn it on to frequency 1. I’ll keep my radio on that frequency too and we’ll be able to talk to each other just fine even when I’m down in the mines.” “You got it,” Rainbow said and quickly affixed her radio. Barnaby took a deep breath and smiled at her. “Rainbow Dash, I have to thank you for everything. Things would be even worse right now in Oreville if it wasn’t for you. Who knows where Lord Copper would be now. What we’re about to do is definitely dangerous, but it’ll all be worth it in the end. We’ll have taken down a dangerous lunatic and you’ll have gotten your adventure.” Rainbow Dash grinned and raised a hoof. “Right on.” Barnaby grinned and bumped it. “I’ll treat you to another meal once this is over and done with.” “That’s gonna give me even more motivation then,” Rainbow said and cracked her neck. She then stretched her limbs and opened up her wings. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna fly.” The pegasus then blasted out of the room, leaving a whirlwind behind that Barnaby had to shield his eyes from. She was probably out of the entire correctional facility in moments. Barnaby chuckled to himself, knowing Rainbow was getting a fast start on scouring the Copper Section for Lord Copper. It filled him with ease despite the potential danger. There was nothing else for him to do now but gather up his constables and get to the mines, once he was there he could get in touch with Crom and have him and the other miners help out as well. They were working against the clock, he just wished he knew how much time they had left. Barnaby left the supply room and went to the intercom at his desk, there he could send an announcement throughout the entire facility. He pressed the button that would enable him to send an emergency message through every speaker in the facility. “Good morning constables of Oreville,” he spoke calmly. “I’m afraid I have a very serious announcement to make...” Though Barnaby knew not every constable on his force was the paragon of loyalty and justice, it didn’t matter right now as the threat to Oreville was too great. He hoped that all of those he brought along with him, even those who may have been bought off by Copper at previous times, would see that. Right now what was going on was bigger than any individual pony. Civilians in the streets of the Copper Section gave them a wide berth as Barnaby and two-dozen other constables jogged to the main elevators that would take them down into the mines. Nopony else knew what was going on yet, and Barnaby didn’t want to scare any of them, but they could tell that something serious was up. At the mine entrances there were a number of his more trusted constables who had made their way over from the TNT warehouses. It made him happy to see that they had listened to orders well. A lot of the miners seemed perturbed and worried about what was going on but Barnaby couldn’t help that. He came to a halt with the others in front of the warehouse group and got a swift salute from all of them. Barnaby returned it with a salute of his own and looked over his force of constables he had gathered here. “Alright, you all know what the situation is and what we need to do now. Follow my lead to the staging area and then follow Crom’s lead if he asks anything of you. We’re going to need to split up into a lot of different groups so obey any orders Crom or the senior miners give you. They know the mines better than we do. Is that clear?” “Yes, sir!” The constables responded together. Barnaby nodded. “Good. It’s going to be a tense day.” The large group of constables quickly filed into the elevators and got ready to ride them down to the staging area. Barnaby had to make any other miners stop from coming down with them and told them to tell anypony else coming that the elevators were out of order. He tried not to sweat or show any hint of nervousness while he made the long trip down the elevator with his constables. It wasn’t easy. He hated just standing here when he knew they needed to act fast. There was no telling where the bombs were, when they would go off, or how many there were in the first place. The ponies working with Copper had several hours to do their work and plant bombs in the mines. Barnaby wasn’t sure how but he knew there were plenty of other tunnels and entrances aside from the main ones, Lord Copper must have had more detailed knowledge of them than Barnaby. But Crom at least would give them an edge, he’d know all the places any bombs could be secretly planted. The elevator finally came to a lurching stop and the grate in front opened up and allowed Barnaby and his constables to pour out. He ran right past the other miners minding the elevators, letting one of his subordinates tell them what was up, and traveled straight through the tunnel towards the staging area and Crom’s office. Just like above, a lot of miners were pretty darn confused to see what was going on. Barnaby ignored it all as he emerged into the staging area, seeing so many other ponies milling about, not even knowing they were in danger, it lit a fire beneath his hooves. He charged to Crom’s office and threw the doors open while his constables came to a stop behind him. “Crom!” Barnaby yelled. The veteran miner spat out some coffee he had been drinking and started coughing. He was at a desk surrounded by some of his other foremen and chiefs. “W-What the? What’s going on?” “We’ve got a huge problem and I need you to stay calm and help me out!” Barnaby said as he walked towards him. “Have you lost your marbles?” Crom raised an eyebrow at him. Barnaby grit his teeth and shook his head. “No, Crom, this is serious. Bombs have been placed inside the mines! It’s not just one this time either, there could potentially be dozens of them. I brought as many constables as I could on short notice down here but we need you to help us out too.” Crom stared gapingly at his friend, looking past him at the horde of constables standing just outside the office as well. “You’re... you’re serious, aren’t you?” “Unfortunately,” Barnaby nodded. “There’s no time to waste now, I need you to send a broadcast through the mines telling everypony to evacuate, but I’ll still need you and your top miners to help me and my constables look for the bombs. Got that?” Barnaby grimaced and bit his lip. “If... If you want to evacuate too though, I’ll understand.” “N-Now don’t be deciding nothing like that on your own. We’ve got your back,” Crom answered and looked at his fellow miners. “We can gather up some of the other tunnel supervisors as we go. But let me send out that broadcast over our radios first.” “Thanks, Crom,” Barnaby smiled at his friend and sighed in relief. “Don’t thank me until those bombs are found and deactivated or whatever,” Crom grumbled as he went over to the radio station in the office. “Yeah. I’m going to take a few constables with me onto the tram so we can get a head start. If you need to contact me, use frequency 2 on your radio, I’m keeping 1 for me and Rainbow Dash,” Barnaby said. “Alright... geez, I didn’t expect my day to go like this,” Crom shook his head and turned on the radio. Barnaby left him and the miners to their own devices for now, walking out of the office and to his gathered constables. The staging area had become much more still and quieter than normal as most of the miners in it were looking at the constables and wondering what was going on. At least they’d all be out of here and safe soon. Barnaby grabbed the four closest constables to him and lead them on the way to the tram. “Come on, you’re with me, the rest of you wait for Crom. We’re finding these bombs now.” Lord Copper and his entourage of guards calmly walked down the streets of the Copper Section. Much like Barnaby and his constables, they were gathering quite a bit of attention from other ponies as well. He just happily waved to all those who looked over at him though. This was a momentous occasion and his spirits were high. Some ponies had to make way to let him and his guards pass on this side of the street, Lord Copper tipped his head to them and smiled. “Good morning, my fellow citizens. And what a lovely morning in Oreville it is.” The ponies smiled back. “Sure is, Lord Copper!” One of them said. “Have a nice day now!” He waved and kept trotting along. Ah, this is truly wonderful. I feel on top of the world. He thought. Everything’s going to be so much better for me after today, I’ll finally be able to do what I truly want with my home. A blue missile crashed into the street in front of him and his guards, kicking up a cloud of dust and startling the ponies around them. “W-What?!” Lord Copper screeched, stepping backwards and nearly tripping over his own hooves. Rainbow Dash stepped forward from the cloud of dust and stared him cold in the eyes. The security guards formed up in front of Lord Copper but she completely ignored them. “Hey. You and I have something to talk about.” Lord Copper’s eyes glanced down at his watch. “Yes sir, I found him and he... n-no sir, I don’t know. He said it was a monster and... yes sir, a monster. He said that and said we were all in danger... l-lockdown? I don’t know sir, he... yes but he said we should run... I understand sir... I-I don’t know, but whatever did this has to have been in the Copper Section for hours now... a-are you sure that’s what... y-yes sir.” Carter turned off the radio after finishing talking to Lord Silver and realized he had been having a cold sweat the entire time. Herman was still lying there on the floor but it would be some time before anything could be done about that. Carter brought a shaking hoof up to his forehead and wiped away as much sweat he could before looking down the tunnel at the open door. He bit his lip, unsure if this was the right course of action or not, but there was nothing else he could do. His hoof came down and hit the button for closing the main entrance into the Copper Section, the door gliding down its track and landing on the ground with a thud, securely shut. Elsewhere throughout Copper Section, the rest of the lockdown was now beginning.