//------------------------------// // Wish for Hope // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// And meanwhile, elsewhere in the city… “Well here’s where the fun begins,” Lead Screw said to Starry Kiss. “So long as it makes things easier for the Captain...” Starry Kiss grimaced. A large contingent of Royal Guards—armored pegasi flying in the sky and armored earth ponies and unicorns marching down the street—came to meet the riot. They vastly outnumbered the resistance ponies and the few who had decided to join with them in the “revolution”. A lot of those same brave civilians now found their courage vanish, most threw down their signs and ran away, fearing retribution. The resistance ponies couldn’t exactly blame them, a lot of them were just as frightened. “No Inquisitors. That’s both good and bad,” Lead Screw said. Starry Kiss nodded. “We can only hope we’ve thinned the castle’s numbers enough by drawing these ones here that our comrades can do what they need to.” “And hopefully they’ll finish their job before we’re all dead,” Lead Screw gulped as the small army came near. The two sides were about to charge into each other at full force. “We can hope,” Starry Kiss said and lit up her horn, preparing for battle. The wave of Royal Guards smashed into the resistance ponies at full force, simply bowling them over while the pegasi guards dove in from above. It was too one-sided from the start to call a battle. And yet it wasn’t over so quickly. The resistance ponies were overwhelmed but they didn’t run away or give up at once, knowing how important this fight and their distraction was. It didn’t matter that every one of them was being thrown and beaten down by five or more guards, they were fighting back until they were out cold. Every second longer it took for the guards sent from the castle to pacify them was a boon to their comrades. They had to occupy these guards for as long as they could. Lead Screw and Starry Kiss were both fighting back as fiercely as they could despite guards having already dragged them to the street. Shouting and curses echoed across the buildings, but it was getting quieter every moment. Most of the resistance had been dealt with and only a few of the loudest and rowdiest were still causing problems. “Will you just stay down?! You’re only making things worse for yourself!” A guard said as he held Lead Screw in a headlock. “Never! You’re the ones who should stop! We’re trying to save Hoofica, don’t any of you realize what you’re doing is wrong?” Lead Screw said before being punched hard in the stomach, the wind leaving him. “Shut up… you think we want to do this?” The guard who punched him said. “You can help! You always had the choice!” Starry Kiss shouted at them before being silenced as well. “There isn’t a choice anymore. It’s over and the Queen’s word is law. You’re all coming back to the castle with us now… I feel sorry for you,” another guard said. Lead Screw coughed, his eyes drifting down the street in the direction of the castle. “Not as sorry as I feel for all of you… when Hoofica is saved… how are you all going to live with yourselves?” Over twenty ponies were racing through the central part of the castle to make it to the east wing and the royal chambers that resided within it. Rainbow Dash, Wish, Red Wing, and the other leaders of the resistance and the ponies they could gather were all grouped together. Rainbow Dash was flying slowly to keep pace with them—and also because she might not have been able to go any faster at the moment. Wish kept glancing over at her, worried. But at least thinking about Rainbow Dash kept her mind away from her own issues. She wasn’t sure what was about to happen with the Queen and that crystal though, was another big fight about to break out? She didn’t want to see that, and certainly didn’t want to be in the middle of it. Knowing Rainbow Dash though she doubted she was going to let Wish get in any danger. Leaving Wish on her own was probably a total no too, so this was the best thing to do. Soon they made it to a place that was actually quite familiar to Wish: the room right outside the large throne room of Hoofica Castle. The doors to it were blocked off however by a large group of ponies. Not just guards. While Wish and Rainbow Dash’s group outnumbered the armored guards standing there, there were also several dozen others standing in front. Maids, butlers, chefs, servants of all sorts had been gathered to defend the throne room and what lied beyond it from the invaders. Some of them Wish even recognized well. They looked terrified, they had no weapons or anything to defend themselves with, they had clearly just been lined up to act like a big pony shield. The guards behind them as well didn’t look too happy about the state of affairs. “Seems the Queen got desperate when she heard about our attack,” Red Wing growled at the new inconvenience. “We need to get through that door,” Brass Hoof said. “But we...” Star Petal grimaced. “Look, there’s nothing to worry about!” Rainbow Dash said. “We don’t need to hurt anypony too bad, right? Just give them a tap on the back of the head and that’ll be it! I know it’s lame but if you want you can blame it all on the rough outsider if anypony complains!” She started flying at the assembled castle servants. “Now come on, we’re forcing those doors open!” “You heard the lady,” Red Wing shrugged with a grin and flew after her. “I still kind of wish I never did,” Brass Hoof grumbled and followed. Wish stayed back while the rest of the resistance went into the fray on the heels of Rainbow Dash. She was worried for Rainbow Dash with the condition the pegasus was in but Rainbow didn’t seem to put the slightest thought into that. Seeing that they were about to be attacked, the servants seemed like they were going to break and run in every direction instead of stand strong against the invaders. A rather quick-thinking Royal Guard at the back made sure that wasn’t going to happen though. “Obey your Queen’s command! If you don’t, the Head Inquisitor will deal with you!” He shouted to the assembled servants. The threat of her was more than enough to make sure these ponies would stay here and fight for now. Wish winced as the two opposing sides finally clashed with each other—Rainbow Dash naturally at the very front and starting things off. Despite her weakened state she was still stronger and faster than any normal pony, and she seemed to somehow still be able to draw up energy from somewhere, like this kind of thing simply invigorated her. Wish didn’t want to see what she’d be like when the adrenaline wore off but for now it’s what they all needed. Against a pony like her, conscripted cooks and maids that were terrified out of their minds didn’t stand a chance. The servants didn’t even want or even have a rudimentary knowledge of how to fight aside from the most basic knowledge of throwing your hoof out in a punch or jump on top of your opponent. Rainbow Dash didn’t even really give the closest ones to her a chance to do that. She slipped around and past them and delivered quick, precise, blows to the backs of their heads just like she had said. With her elbows, wings, and hooves she safely knocked out as many as she could. The rest of the fighting wasn’t going quite so cleanly, though it also wasn’t nearly as vicious as the fighting against the Inquisitors in the other parts of the castle was going. Red Wing and the others—despite their training and discipline—didn’t have the finesse that Rainbow Dash did. A few black eyes, dislocations, lost teeth, and even broken bones were going to be the result. That was made more apparent when the guards joined the fight as well in the middle of the melee, trying to use the confusion to their advantage and move through the fighting mob of servants. Brass Hoof found herself facing off with one of the armored guards. And she was a pony who didn’t even have finesse in her dictionary. When he ran out from behind a pair of maids to attack her, she held her position and let him crash into her, armor and all. To his surprise, her muscles won out despite his best efforts to bowl her over and tackle her to the ground. The two fought each other for supremacy for a second with each trying to move the other back before a headbutt to his unprotected face sent him reeling backwards with a broken nose. A step forward by Brass Hoof and a hoof that was like a rock gave him a broken jaw to go along with it. That was one guard down. Star Petal on the other hoof was playing it all much more defensively, she was clearly uncomfortable fighting with her hooves and merely put up protective shields either in front of herself or between other ponies to help her comrades out. Rainbow saw her doing this and figured “magical expert” probably didn’t mean “giant laser beam” the same way she associated it with Twilight and Starlight. Red Wing found himself not fighting any servants from the start—they all recognized him and even the fear of Vox couldn’t make them directly attack him. Instead he now was surrounded by three Royal Guards, ponies he had once commanded. Ponies he knew well. “In the essence of being your former leader, I’m going to give you the opportunity to stand down,” Red Wing said to them, his gravelly voice cold. “You know we can’t do that, Red Wing,” one shook his head. “You betrayed the Queen.” “And the Head Inquisitor would-” “Yeah, that’s enough,” Red Wing cut them off. “I don’t need to hear anymore. I know why you’re all doing this and if this is still the path you’re going to take? Then fine. We’ve both made our decisions.” He moved before they did, at the one directly in front of him. The guard cursed under his breath and lowered his head, ready to meet the charge while the other two came at Red Wing from the sides. He of course was once Captain of the Royal Guards for a reason though. An extra push from his wings gave him a surprising burst of speed and he reached his first opponent before the other two could close in on him. Red Wing threw a hoof at his face that the guard attempted to block with one of his own right before Red Wing swiftly drew the hoof back and launched a lightning fast punch with the other. The guard couldn’t react to the change-up in time and ended up taking a dizzying punch across the face that spun him around. While the other two were still coming at him from the sides, Red Wing extended his wings out and caught the both of them in their throats. The two gagged and reflexively stepped back, allowing Red Wing the opportunity to rush the one on his right and hit him with another powerful punch. That left one guard in fighting condition and he hesitated to take the chance to attack Red Wing from behind. That moment of fear was something Red Wing was counting on. He immediately turned back around and flew at the last guard, tackling him to the ground before slamming a hoof down onto his face. Out cold. However the first guard was still conscious and was beginning to regain his senses. His dizziness was just about coming to an end when another hoof smacked him across the other side of his face—and that put him down for the count. The fight was going poorly for the guards and the unfortunate servants forced to fight with them. Everypony could see it. But so far the doors to the throne room remained unopened. It was just a complete mess right outside it. That was until Rainbow Dash decided to change things at least. Rainbow knocked out one more maid and then backed up, squinting at the guard at the back of the mob—the one who had threatened all the servants with Head Inquisitor Vox. He was standing right in the middle of the doors, right where they met. A devilish smile graced her face as she hovered up and aimed right at him. With speed that surprised even her—she shot at him and practically carried all the ponies around her with her thanks to the powerful air current and whirlwind she was dragging behind her. The guard only had the time to gasp in shock before Rainbow Dash plowed into him like a train. The doors of the throne room were smashed open with enough force to crack their hinges and a bunch of guards, servants, and even some of the resistance ponies came tumbling in as well. The fight quickly spilled over into the throne room and now Red Wing led the charge of whoever remained behind him. Wish as well skipped over to keep up and saw Rainbow Dash floating in the middle of the throne room’s entrance, above the still ongoing melee, panting and sweating heavily. She had probably taken more energy out of herself than she meant to. Rainbow Dash looked over and saw her, flashing a grin. “Hey kid! Get in here and hide behind a pillar or in one of the alcoves or whatever, just watch out, and once I’m done in here I’ll grab you and we can keep going!” “O-Okay!” Wish shouted back, hoping her voice reached over the noise of the battle. Rainbow Dash nodded anyways even if she hadn’t heard and dropped down to the floor to keep participating in the fight as well. Not like she hadn’t done enough already. Most of the servants had been taken out of the fight or fled anyways despite the threat of the Head Inquisitor, a lot were lying around right outside the throne room. Inside it, just past the doors, the resistance ponies were dealing with the last few guards left standing as well. Sucking in a deep breath and calming herself down, Wish quickly started running to the throne room to find someplace to momentarily hide. “Wish.” The whisper came from behind her and a hoof touched her back and the next thing she knew she had disappeared in a red flash. She reappeared somewhere else—the sounds of the fight muffled behind a wall—and a hoof pressed against her mouth to quiet her. “Hi there, silly filly. You’ve certainly been on an adventure today, haven’t you?” Vox said to her. “Mmf!” Wish tried to scream and knock Vox’s hoof away but the Head Inquisitor was much stronger than her and easily held her down. She looked around in a panic, they were in some dark corridor that must’ve been near the throne room, in a corner that she couldn’t see out of. “Shh, none of that,” Vox grinned. “I’m not here to hurt you anyways, alright? Well, I doubt you’ll believe that but it’s still true.” Wish continued to struggle until Vox reached another hoof up and tugged hard on her mane. “Stop.” Vox ordered. “I’m here because of your father, understand?” Wish paused, looking up at Vox in confusion. “I’m going to take my hoof off your mouth, but you have to promise me you wont yell or try and get away. You want to know why your father sent me to find you, right? You want to know how he’s doing?” She said. Her eyes then narrowed and she peered at Wish much closer. “You want to know why all of this has been happening? I can take you to him.” She did. Wish had tried to bury it momentarily. She had tried to ignore what might happen from here on out, and she had agreed to let Rainbow Dash help her. But he was her father. Wish had to go see him. With a slow nod, Wish agreed to not cause a fuss. “Okay,” Vox smiled and let her go. Wish took a deep breath and looked up at Vox. Her fear of the Head Inquisitor was still there, but it was overcome right now by her own desire and the recent strength she had found in herself. “Please, take me to my father. I want to know why.” She grimaced at the sounds of the fighting dying down. “B-But why now? Why so suddenly?” “It’s just finally finished,” Vox shrugged. “You’ll see what I mean up there. I don’t understand it all myself, but I’m sure he has the answers for you. I don’t know entirely why he’s been doing all of this or what his end goal is, but he always said his happiness and your happiness were the same. He was always vague in what he said but if I had to guess… I guess his dream is finally coming true. Yours too. Whatever it all is.” “Alright...” Wish steadied her body, only realizing just now that she had been trembling. Rainbow Dash’s face flashed through her mind but… she had to go. She had to. Before anypony else reached him, before this ended, she had to see her father. “Let’s go.” Vox smiled and took her by the hoof. “Right this way.” A swift kick to the head knocked out the last Royal Guard that was fighting in the throne room and Rainbow Dash sat back briefly to catch her breath. Red Wing and the resistance ponies were helping each other up (and helping out some of the injured servants for that matter) but they didn’t have much time to waste. The Queen’s chambers and the barrier crystal were close now. “You guys go on ahead, I… I just need a little bit of a breather...” Rainbow Dash said, wiping the sweat from her brow. Am I really almost at my limit? She grit her teeth in consternation. “Take all the time you need, Rainbow Dash. We’ve always wanted that for you,” Red Wing said. He gathered up Brass Hoof and Star Petal and together they led the resistance ponies still capable of fighting onward. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and tried to focus on her beating heart and quick breaths. “What I wouldn’t give for some cider and a cake right now...” She opened her eyes and cracked her neck. “Alright, come on kid, let’s get going too!” There was nothing but silence. Rainbow Dash blinked and looked around the throne room. “Kid?” She didn’t see her anywhere, the filly had disappeared. Worry was breaking out through Rainbow Dash’s body. “...Wish?”