Rainbow and her companion backed up, the group of Pegasi slowly advancing on them. Rainbow turned her head to check the progress of the door, finding it was halfway open.
“Don’t even try it.” Rainbow Factory Dash threatened. “You don’t know the layout of the front of the factory and I do. I’d catch you before you managed to escape.”
Rainbow groaned to herself. She was right, Rainbow had been haphazardly flying around all day trying to find a way out, it was likely that whatever was through this door was just as labyrinthian.
She also knew she couldn’t outfly her doppelgänger, having Scootaloo tied under her weighed her down and made her less nimble, especially since Rainbow didn’t want to injure the filly further.
“I’ll cut you a deal.” Rainbow Factory Dash said with a sadistic smirk, Rainbow's head snapping towards her, clearly listening. “You just hand over that parasite, and I’ll help you get back home. She’s not even you’re Scootaloo, why should you care about-”
“Buck you!” Rainbow interrupted. “Every Scootaloo is my Scootaloo, I don’t care what dimension they’re from! I wouldn’t give you to her even if you kept your word!”
Rainbow Factory Dash growled furiously and glared at her counterpart hatefully. “Fine. I’ll just harvest your spectra too.” The group of Pegasi continued to advance on Rainbow and her companion, waiting for any sudden movements from the two. “Just remember, I gave you a chance to leave.”
Rainbow was out of options. She couldn’t escape the factory and she couldn’t fight her way out. Even if she did manage to fly out of the exit, she had an injured Scootaloo with her and needed to find a town ASAP. The Rainbow Factory workers would be right on her tail the whole time, and she didn’t know how long she could-
“There’s a settlement a few miles to the east, I saw it while they were taking me here.”
Rainbow's thoughts were interrupted by the stallion. “What?”
“Please, don’t forget me.” Suddenly he kicked the keypad, breaking it beyond use, and grabbed Rainbow Dash, shoving her out the door.
Rainbow barely had time to look up as he grabbed the door and swung it closed, damaging the mechanisms and jamming it.
Rainbow gasped and jumped to her feet, hearing the muffled sounds of a fight and hooves against metal on the other side of the door.
She stood there dumbly, in shock at what just happened. “Rainbow?” She snapped out of it at the sound of Scootaloo's pained voice, quickly taking to the air and throwing off her mask and cloak.
“It’s ok kid, we’re almost out.” She said as she whipped through the stark white hallways and doors of the front factory, no doubt where they staged their public image and kept their administration.
She stopped when she found a large room with a desk and chairs, probably some kind of reception, and two glass doors that sunlight poured through, the Rainbow Factory’s logo emblazoned on the wall.
She raced through the room, startling a random janitor, and flew out the doors.
Rainbow squinted in the light of the sun, her eyes having grown used to the dark interior of the factory, before finally recovering a few seconds later. She flew as fast as she could away from the factory, landing in a thick forest to hide.
Rainbow panted for breath and flexed her wings as she untied Scootaloo from her, placing Scootaloo down and checking her leg.
The bandages still held, but were starting to soak with blood. “How do you feel?”
“It… it still hurts.” Scootaloo cringed as Rainbow set her leg down. “But a-a little less than when it first happened.” A silence passed between the two. “Are… are w-we safe?”
“Not yet, Squirt.“ Rainbow sighed. “They’ll find a way out of the factory eventually.”
“Then what d-do we do n-now?”
“First, we find a town, find out where we are, and get you a doctor.” Rainbow looked to the west, hoping to find this vague town her friend had mentioned. “Then I’m going to find my friends and hope they’re not a part of this too.”
“W-what about the p-princesses?”
“With something this big, I can’t guarantee that anypony isn’t a part of this. I hope the princesses aren’t a part of this too, but considering my counterpart was, I’m not giving anypony the benefit of the doubt.”
“Except for y-your f-friends?”
“Well, I need some help. If my friends here are anything like the ones back home, they would never tolerate this. I’m just going to have to give them a chance.”
Rainbow grabbed Scootaloo and placed her on her back. “Does Twilight have anything… new attached to her back?”
“Uh, no?” Scootaloo answered, not sure what Rainbow was trying to imply.
“Alright, that means she’s less likely to be a part of this but has less power to help me. Even if Celestia is involved, people will listen to Twilight since she’s the Element of Magic, but I have no evidence to back up my claim...” Rainbow sighed at the seemingly impossible task in front of her. “Alright kid, hold on tight and keep an eye out for any Pegasi.” She took to the air when Scootaloo nodded, keeping a steady pace so as to not agitate Scootaloo's wound.
Night fell, which would make them harder to spot but the town easier to find, no doubt the town having some light that would break through the darkness like a beacon.
Rainbow was right, as after what must’ve been a few hours of flying, she saw lights off in the distance. She picked up the pace and landed just at the outskirts of the town, sneaking in by weaving in between buildings, keeping out of sight and trying to find a clinic or a hospital.
She sighed in relief when she saw a large building with a medical cross out front, sprinting towards a figure that stepped out.
Candy sighed as she trotted out of the clinic, her white horn glowing as she adjusted her saddlebags. She brushed her pink and white mane out of her face and yawned.
She was exhausted. Today had been nothing but nonstop action, it felt like she had to deal with a hundred ponies every hour! All she wanted to do now was get home, sit back, and rela-
She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of hooves hitting dirt, looking over to see a cyan Pegasus carrying a young orange filly on her back. What was most surprising was the Pegasus’ rainbow mane and tail.
“Are you a doctor?” The mare asked desperately as she slid to a halt.
“I-”
“Are you a doctor?”
“I’m a nurse.” Candy answered. “All the doctors are inside, I can get you-”
“No!” Candy jumped at the pony’s outburst. “Bad ponies are after me and my sister is hurt, I can’t… nopony can know we were here.”
Candy looked conflicted. This pony wasn’t making any sense, but her sister was hurt. “I have a first aid kit at home.” She continued to walk forward. “Follow me.”
Rainbow Dash nodded and followed after the pony, watching every shadow for signs that this was a trap or that the ponies from the factory had found them. After a few minutes of traveling the empty roads, they stopped at a cozy looking cottage, Candy taking out her keys and opening the door.
Rainbow ran in and turned the lights on. “Where should I set her down?”
“Uh… on the couch I guess.” Candy answered as she closed and locked the door behind her. She opened a cabinet and pulled out a first aid kit as Rainbow laid Scootaloo on Candys couch.
“Do you have a map? I’m not sure where I am.”
“Yeah, it should be in that desk over there.” Rainbow nodded and walked to where Candy had pointed. When Rainbow was sufficiently distracted trying to look for the map, Candy leaned in towards Scootaloo and whispered. “Honey, are you safe? Did she foalnap you? You can be honest if she threatened you, she won't be able to do anything to you or your family if she's in police custody."
"N-no police." Scootaloo pleaded. "She saved m-me, the bad ponies w-were going t-to kill me. But she saved me before they could."
"And the bad ponies..." Candy began unwrapping Scootaloo's bandages, grimacing at the nasty gash. "Did they do this to you?"
Scootaloo nodded. "T-they also fractured my ribs, it h-hurts to breathe."
Candy merely hummed in response and began doing what she could for Scootaloos wound, Scootaloo occasionally jerking and gasping in pain as Candy worked. "What happened to you sweetheart?"
Scootaloo was quiet for a moment, trying to think of a convincing lie, trying to pass off her silence as struggling through the pain. "I-I was foalnapped b-by ponies in the g-government. They w-were going to take me a-away, but I tried to escape, so t-they decided to kill m-me."
Candy nodded. "And that pony over there, she's your sister?"
"Not by b-blood. I thought she w-was cool back home, so I-I asked her to be my sister." Scootaloo frowned, still reeling from her Rainbow's betrayal. "She r-rescued me and i-is trying to expose the b-bad ponies."
Candy wasn't sure if she believed everything this filly had said, but it seemed strange that a foalnapped filly wouldn't rat out her foalnapper when she had the chance.
"Where are we right now?" Came Rainbow's voice as she walked over wit the map.
Candy looked over it for a moment before pointing to where the town was located. "We should be right around here." She looked at Rainbow Dash. "Where are you from exactly?"
"I'm from Ponyville." Rainbow answered as she tried to gauge the distance between where they were and Ponyville, groaning at just how far it was. "Which is basically halfway across Equestria."
"Ponyville?" Candy racked her brain for information, finding the name familiar. Her eyes lit up when she remembered just why she had heard of Ponyville before. "You're Rainbow Dash, aren't you? The Element of Loyalty?"
Rainbow tensed. “Yeah, that’s me.” She looked back at the map. “Is there a train station nearby? Or even some kind of caravan traveling south east? I’d really rather not fly the whole way.” Not to mention it’d be safer than traveling out in the open.
“Here? No. But Vanhoover is a few miles south and is connected to the Trans Equestrian Railroad.”
Rainbow hummed in response, clearly not liking being out in the open for so long. “Mind if I borrow this and some supplies? I promise I’ll pay you back.”
“Of course, it’s the least I can do for the Element of Loyalty.” Candy awkwardly smiled, a hundred different thoughts racing through her head.
“Thanks, and uh... please don’t tell anypony we were here. We’re trying to hide from the bad ponies.”
“I won’t tell anypony” Candy placed her hoof on her heart. “You have my word.”
Rainbow relaxed and sighed in relief. She’d just have to trust this pony was sincere, not that she had much choice. “So, how is she?”
Candy looked back to Scootaloo, studying the new bandages around her foot. “I disinfected the wound and stopped the worst of the bleeding, having the foot elevated and placing an ice pack on it should be good for now. However, there's little I can do about her ribs nor do I know how bad they are, and she needs more treatment on her foot then I can provide.” Candy turned her head and shared a look with Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow immediately understood: Scootaloo was at the risk of dying if she didn’t get proper medical care, she just couldn’t say it with Scootaloo in earshot.
Yet another thing to add to Rainbow's growing list of problems.
“When this is over, the first thing I’ll do is take her to a hospital.” Rainbow turned around and made her way to Candy's kitchen. “I’ll get her an ice pack.”
“Good, I’ll get you a spare blanket and pillow. I assume you’ll be wanting to sleep out here with your sister?”
“I want to be as close to her as possible, just in case there’s an emergency.” She looked out the window for a second, worried they’d be found.
Candy nodded and trotted off deeper into the house, Rainbow returning with a bag of ice. She propped Scootaloo's injured foot on top of two pillows, placing the ice pack on top.
“Hey kid, how are you holding up?”
Scootaloo looked at Rainbow Dash with tired eyes. “Could be better.”
“Yeah, me too.” A long silence fell between them. “I’m proud of you. I know it wasn’t easy to stay so quiet while we were escaping. You’re a tough kid, you know that?”
“Yeah…” Scootaloo answered quietly. “What are we going to do next?”
“Well, you are going to stay here while I go to Vanhoover.”
“Y-you’re leaving me?”
“Not forever, just until this is all over. It’s dangerous and I can travel faster alone.”
“But I want to help!”
“And you can help by hiding and healing so I have one less thing to worry about.” Rainbow sighed. “You can’t travel in this state and she’ll use you to get to me. You’re… you’re my weakness, and she knows that.”
“Oh… sorry.”
“Sorry? Don’t be sorry!” Rainbow grabbed Scootaloo's front hoof. “I’m… I’m scared, Scootaloo, the most scared I’ve ever been in my life. I’m not sure how I got here and this all just feels so impossible, I’ve always had my friends at my side but I’m not sure I’ll ever even see them again. A part of me just wants to run away and hide, hoping that my friends will find me.” She squeezed Scootaloo's hoof. “But knowing that you’re in danger gives me strength to move forward. I won’t stop till you’re safe and the entire factory is torn apart, I promise.”
Scootaloo stared at Rainbow with tearful eyes, pulling her hoof out of Rainbow's grasp and turning away from her. Rainbow frowned and placed her hooves back on the floor, disappointed at Scootaloos reaction.
She really couldn’t blame Scootaloo for distrusting her.
“I’ll uh... I’ll get ready for tomorrow.” Rainbow stood up and went to find Candy.
When Rainbow was gone, Scootaloo nestled into herself and broke down, her sobs muffled against the cushions of the couch. For the first time that day, she was finally able to settle down and process everything that had happened. Especially the betrayal of her so-called sister, the one that promised to always protect her.