Cloud burned rubber as he gave chase to Kadaj and his gang. The Main 7 held on tight to his bike as they raced up the on-ramp and onto the highway. Kadaj plowed through the construction barrier as the four motorcyclists raced through the elevated road. Cloud barely had time swerve out of the way to avoid the tumbling barrier.
"Bad guy at three o'clock!" Rainbow yelled.
Everyone turned turned to see Yazoo pointing his gun at the team. He fired several shots, all barely missing as Cloud swerved violently. Loz then came up beside them and rammed them against the center divider.
"This is not good." Spike said. his face inches from the concrete divider.
Loz readied his Dual Hounds for an attack. Thinking quickly, Cloud mechanically opened the sword cases on his bike. The mechanism pushed Loz’s bike off of Cloud’s, which sent Loz careening into the parallel wall. He spun out of control along the highway.
Cloud pulled out his trusty Buster Sword and pulled a 180 degree turn. Yazoo fired more bullets, but Cloud was able to block them. He locked blades with Yazoo, but, knowing this was a waste of time, Cloud forced them both apart and raced after the gang leader.
Kadaj reached a fork in the road. He turned right, racing up the elevated road. Cloud was about the follow after, but Loz suddenly came up from behind them. He leaped into the air, ready to come down with a devastating punch. The Main 7 watched with terror.
"Cloud, get us out of here!" Rarity screeched.
The blond mercenary spun his bike out of the way just as Loz buried his fist into the asphalt.
"T-T-That w-was...close." Fluttershy stammered feebly.
"Too close." Spike said, clutching his tail.
While they had avoided Loz's assault, the last second maneuver forced our heroes onto the wrong road in reverse. Now, they were completely separated from Kadaj. Cloud turned his bike, facing it forward and continued down the highway. Loz watched the group with an exasperated look on his face. In a flash, he jumped back onto his bike and chased after Cloud and the Main 7 with Yazoo not far behind.
Kadaj, while on a different road, could still see Cloud and the Main 7 thundering down the parallel road. Both Kadaj and Cloud stared at each other with hateful glares. Our heroes entered a tunnel with the other gang members in hot pursuit.
"They're gaining on us." Twilight announced worriedly.
Loz then rode up the side of the tunnel and onto the ceiling where he was right on top of Cloud. He jumped down from his bike, ready to slam these nuisances into the ground. Cloud blocked his attack, but now they were spinning out of control down the tunnel.
"Ah'm gonna be sick." Applejack giddily.
"Forget that." Rainbow said sharply.
She rammed against Loz in an attempt to knock him off Cloud's bike. The remnant grunted, but held his ground. With a combined effort, Cloud and Rainbow pushed Loz off. However, he was able to land back on his bike.
Cloud pulled out another sword just as Yazoo began firing again. This time, Twilight casted up a shield in front of them to deflect the bullets. With the front protected, Cloud raced up alongside Yazoo and locked blades with him yet again. Loz, however, wasn't done. He slammed his fist into the road, tearing up the asphalt. With the newly-created anchor point, Loz lifted his bike and swung it a complete 180. He let go and watched it fly straight at Cloud and Yazoo.
Cloud saw the bike zeroing in on them. Yazoo smiled and chuckled evilly before sliding underneath. The Main 7 saw the incoming bike, too. They all gasped.
"Sweet Celestia! Incoming!" Rarity wailed in terror.
Twilight was about to stop the bike with her magic, but Cloud leaped off his bike and, as if it were in slow motion, he swung his sword upward, slicing the massive machine in two. The Main 7 looked with mouths dropped.
"Holy horseapples." Rainbow said in shock.
Suddenly, Loz appeared right in front of Cloud and swung. Cloud, however, was ready. He dodged and kicked Loz right into his sliced ride. What followed was a tremendous explosion. Cloud landed back onto his back.
"That was incredible." Spike applaused.
"More than incredible. It was epic!" Rainbow said, giving Cloud a light punch on the shoulder.
"Yeah, you showed that meanie who's boss." Pinkie said happily.
Unfortunately, Loz wasn't down for the count yet. With incredible speed, he appeared on Cloud's bike and deliver an uppercut to the mercenary. This was followed up with a kick to the face. The Main 7 were all dumbfounded.
"He survived?!" Rarity asked in shock.
"That guy is like a stubborn apple in a tree." Applejack said with a mix of surprise and annoyance.
Although in shock of Loz still being alive, Rainbow flew after the two. She reared up, preparing to buck Loz's face.
"Not this time." Loz said angrily.
He caught the pegasus' back leg and glared at her.
"Hey! Let go." Rainbow said fiercely.
"You and your stupid friends have caused more than enough trouble." Loz growled.
He mercilessly through the blue pegasus back at Cloud's bike. Twilight caught Rainbow with her magic and set he down next to her.
"You okay, Rainbow?" The Element of Magic asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Rainbow answered.
"What else can we do to help, Cloud?" The ivory unicorn asked.
They didn't need to worry about that much longer. As Loz and Yazoo began to gang up on Cloud, he steadied his two swords and counter both attacks. The three men spun around, but Cloud was able to kick them apart and slash at them repeatedly.
Loz's Dual Hounds was now sliced open. He pulled it from his arm and threw it against the wall just as it exploded. Both Loz and Yazoo landed on their remaining bike and the two screeched to a stop. Cloud and the Main 7 raced by them.
"Ha! Take that you jerks." Rainbow taunted.
Pinkie blew a raspberry at them. Both gang members stared on hatefully. Yazoo threw his, now halved, gun to the side and the two raced away in the opposite direction.
"I can't believe you were able to take those two down by yourself." Twilight said, impressed.
"Ya got some mighty fine skills there, Cloud." Applejack complimented.
"I'm able to handle things myself." Cloud said bluntly. "But, I appreciate the help."
"Happy to help." The purple alicorn said in appreciation.
"You can count on us with stopping bad guys. We're the Elements of Harmony after all." Rainbow said bombastically.
Meanwhile, At the other side of the tunnel, a helicopter was parked at the end. Reno and Rude stood at the mouth of the tunnel, ready for their plan.
"Hey, partner. This thing got any bite?" Reno asked, holding a makeshift bomb.
"Shinra technology at its finest." Rude answered.
"Oh, so you made this." Reno said.
"If nothing else, it's flashy." Rude said, holding up a second bomb.
"Oh-hoh." Reno said, amused.
"You love it, I know." Rude said charmingly.
"Looks like today we're clocking out early." Reno said.
Cloud and the Main 7 exited the tunnel. As they raced by them, Reno and Rude swore they saw Pinkie waving at them. Neither paid any mind, though. They watched as the group raced into the distance.
Yazoo and Loz had turned around, both itching for a second round. They were about to exit the tunnel, too. Then Yazoo saw the bombs ticking down. Reno gave a mischievous smile. Before anything could be said or done, a mighty explosion shook the entire road system.
"Sweet Celestia." Twilight said aghast.
"Eep." Fluttershy squeaked.
Kadaj rattled in his seat as the bombs went off. He looked up just as Cloud launched off the road above and zeroed in on gang leader. Kadaj turned his bike sideways and readied his sword. The two locked blades as their bikes skidded down the road. It was then that Twilight noticed that, not far up ahead, the highway ended and that there was nothing to keep them from falling off.
"Cloud, there's a dead end up ahead." Twilight warned fearfully.
Neither Cloud or Kadaj relented. They continued their swordfight until they both rocketed off the unfinished road. The Main 7 held on to each other as the screamed in fear. All except Pinkie who had her hooves up high having to time of her life. They all fell down onto a dusty hillside.
Cloud and Kadaj thrusted their swords at each other. While Cloud had barely missed, Kadaj was able to pierce Cloud's left sleeve, though it didn't hit skin. The Main 7 stared in shock. Then, as quickly as it happened, the two bikers separated. The two stared at each other for a second. Kadaj chuckled arrogantly before speeding off. Cloud braked to halt and watched Kadaj drive away. The mercenary grunted and put his Buster Sword away.
"Why'd you stop?" Applejack asked.
Cloud didn't answer. He looked over at his torn sleeve and ripped it off, revealing a red band around his arm. More importantly, however, his Geostigma infection on his arm was now on full display. The Main 7 all gasped with surprise and worry.
"So you are infected" Twilight said worriedly.
"How long have you had that?" Spike asked in concern.
"Several weeks. I try not to think about it. There are more important things to worry about." Cloud said without emotion.
"But, darling, you're sick." Rarity said, with unease in her tone. "You need to get that checked out."
"I've already told you there's no cure. I can worry about it later, but we need to take care of Kadaj." Cloud pointed out.
"Even in that condition?" The Friendship Princess asked. "Even from what little you've told us of the Geostigma it sounds pretty serious."
"If we don't stop Kadaj, the infection well be the least of our problems." Cloud answered grimly. "We have to put an end to this now."
Twilight and her friends looked amongst themselves, deciding whether they should continue or not despite Cloud's deteriorating health.
"Alright. Let's take down Kadaj." Twilight said.
Cloud nodded and drove after Kadaj.
"After this you are going to the doctor, Mister." Fluttershy sternly.
Cloud was a bit taken aback by Fluttershy's sudden forwardness.
"She just cares about you lot, darling. We all do." Rarity whispered.
Cloud didn't respond, but deep down, he felt heart-warmed.
Kadaj raced into the abandoned church and screeched to stop, destroying the flowerbed in the process.
"Mother!" He said worriedly.
He looked into the capsule through the large crack and found it was empty. All of the contents had leaked out of it during the chase. He couldn't believe it. All the hard and desperate work to get his "Mother" back had been all for naught. All of it gone, the one thing he had left.
"Mother. Mother!" He shouted, heartbroken.
Kadaj began to cry, holding the capsule close. He whimpered and yelled mournfully. Then, Kadaj heard to sound of an engine and turned his attention to the doors. He saw Cloud and the Main 7 through the crack. All the sadness he had, now transformed into rage.
"Hold on." Cloud called out.
The Main 7 held on tightly as Cloud pulled a wheelie and broke down the giant church doors. Kadaj faced his bike forward and shot a powerful blast at an unstable stone column. It tipped over, creating a makeshift ramp for Kadaj to escape out of the building. Our heroes watched Kadaj drove up the column as it collapsed. Cloud drifted onto his side under the pillar just as it crashed onto the ground. He slowed to stop.
"Could you not keep putting us through near-death experiences. My heart simply can't take it." Rarity said dramatically. "And neither can Fluttershy."
The fashionista softly fanned the poor yellow pegasus, who was on the verge of fainting, with her hoof.
Cloud wasn't paying attention. Instead, his attention was on Kadaj who fired another blast at the group. The resulting explosion catapulted everyone off Cloud's bike and filled the entire building with dust. Kadaj laughed sadistically as he stared into the dust cloud. Cloud staggered up, clutching his infected arm.
"Is everypony okay?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, ah think we all are." Applejack answered, coughing through the dust.
"You won't be for long." Kadaj shouted sadistically, charging up another blast.
"Uh, oh." Pinkie said.
All of sudden, the hole from the prior blast began guzzling up majestic-looking water. Cloud, Kadaj, and the Main 7 watched with wonder as spires of the liquid towered up and created a giant fountain that began raining down on everyone.
"Oh, c'mon! This is the last thing I need right now!” Rarity pouted as she wrung the water out of her, now ruined, mane.
Kadaj grunted in pain. The water felt like acid on his skin. Cloud on the other hand noticed his infection started to disappear. The others noticed, too. The Main 7 were caught completely off-guard by such an unexpected miracle.
"The water must be the cure." Twilight concluded.
"Yippee, we can save the kids now." Pinkie cheered happily.
Kadaj couldn't take it. He revved his bike and raced away as fast as he could. Cloud held his, now healed, arm, taking in the revelation he had just discovered. As he looked at the petals floating on the massive pool forming, he heard a familiar voice in his head.
"Let's go, Cloud."
"Let's go." Cloud said with determination.
"Right." The Main 7 all said.
And with that, they were giving chase to Kadaj once again.
"We have to tell everypony about this. We can heal all of those infected now." Twilight said excitedly.
"You mean everybody." Cloud pointed out.
"Right. Sorry." Twilight blushed.
"We still need to take down Kadaj though." Spike said.
"That's what we'll do first. And then this will all be over." Cloud said.
"Sounds like a good plan to me." Rainbow said.
"Agreed." Rarity said.
"Yay." Fluttershy said softly.
Unknown to any of them, it was far from over. Things would go from looking up to utterly nightmarish soon.