Rainbow Dash crawled down the ventilation shaft, contorting her body into odd angles to make it through. Fortunately, Rainbow was fit and lithe, managing to make it inside the mine undetected. Smirking, she brushed herself off and started forward slowly. She was on a mission now, and there were eyes and ears hidden in the dark. If she wasn’t careful, she’d get caught before she snagged her prize. Imperial Witch or not, losing to patrolling guards would be a massive ding to her reputation. She had years of practice at her trade, and wouldn’t be stopped by amateurs.
Rainbow Dash’s ears perked as she heard the clopping of hooves coming from a corner up ahead. Quickly, she took to the air and flew up to the highest part of the cavern, desperately searching for some outcropping of rock to hang on to. Finally finding a hoofhold, she clung to it while pressing herself against the wall as tightly as she could. Moments later, two Neighshe ponies walked around the bend and directly underneath her. The adventurer contemplated spitting on them to see if they’d notice her, when she heard their hushed voices. Eagerly, she leaned down just a little, cocking her ears around at a better angle to hear them.
“So how can we be out of rope?” the first one asked. “We work in a bucking mine for crying out loud! The witch fell down that hole, and we can’t see the bottom, so she’s gotta be dead, right? Nopony could survive that fall!”
The second pony raised an eyebrow. “Are you kidding me?! She’s a bucking evil enchantress! She could probably fall a thousand hooves and still be fine! We’ve gotta rush down to the lower levels before she can get away!”
“I still don’t see why we can’t just...” Rainbow Dash, having heard all she needed, waited for the two ponies to walk out of earshot and spread her wings. Gliding instead of flapping, she traveled down the path the two bickering guards had come from. It didn’t take long to find the spot they had spoken of: a large section of floor and wall had collapsed. In the center, surrounded by rocks and coal, was a large gap.
Stepping lightly, Rainbow Dash peered over the edge and down the hole. The surrounding torchlight illuminated only a few hooves, making it impossible to see the bottom. Rainbow Dash pawed at the ground, her eyes narrowing the longer she stood there. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she jumped into the pit.
A whoosh of displaced air sounded out as Rainbow Dash snapped her wings open. Keeping her eyes focused, she circled the pit in a gentle glide. Twice she came close to impacting the walls, but a swift kick from her foreleg brought her back to the center of the hole. Sooner than she had expected, Rainbow Dash’s hooves made contact with the rocky floor. She stumbled a few steps before flapping her wings to stop her momentum. Now stabilized, she touched down and let out a sigh of relief. “Perfect landing.”
Sensing that she was alone at the bottom of the pit, she used her teeth to pull a self-lighting torch from her pack and struck it against the nearest stone wall. Wincing at the sudden bright light, she inserted the stick end into a receptacle sewn into her pack, freeing her mouth once again. Once Rainbow Dash’s eyes adjusted, the torchlight revealed an enclosed chamber with no exit. There was no sign of the missing mare.
Rainbow Dash searched the area for a few moments before she found some odd grooves on the ground. “Huh. This looks like somepony was dragged.”
She blinked, before flying in a panicked sprint around the enclosed space, her mind racing. “They beat me to her?! That’s not possible! I’m Rainbow Dash, the fastest treasure hunter of all time! I’ll show them! Why, I’ll just have... to...”
She slowed down, her gaze lingering on the tracks she had inspected earlier. She traced the marks on the ground right up to a stone wall. “But... the marks go right through! Okay, there has to be some sort of passage here, right? I just have to find it! I wonder if it’s like the other one...”
Rainbow Dash continued her search, spotting a stone that looked out of place, the coloration a little off compared to its surroundings. Frowning, Rainbow Dash pressed a hoof against it. The stone sank into the wall.
Immediately, the wall next to her began to move, the sound of stone grinding against stone filling the area. Soon, an opening revealed itself. Grinning at her success, she shot through the entrance, only to pull up short as she was faced with an army of small dragons.
The dragons almost came to her height, only having to look up slightly to meet the mare’s eyes. They were all different colors, most having three shades of scales: one for their chest, one for their body, and one for the spikes running down their backs to the tips of their tails. Matching colored spine-like projections jutted from the sides of their heads where ears were normally located.
“Buck.” Her eyes narrowed, her wing unconsciously reaching for her dagger strapped to her side.
Before she could arm herself, one of the dragons walked forward. He stood a head shorter than herself, his body scales a royal purple, while his spikes were a dark green, with his chest a lighter shade of green.
Rainbow Dash swallowed, putting on a wide smile. She waved, saying in a hesitant voice, “Heh, heh. Nice... cave you have here. Sorry for intruding like this! I didn’t know that you guys lived here or I would have knocked.”
The dragon crossed his arms, eyeing the pegasus from hoof to head. “What are you doing here? You’re obviously looking for something, so spit it out. Are you after our treasure? Our gems?! Our eggs?!”
~ A fast-talking dragon who speaks the words of ponies,
and who can summon the power of earth though his magical flames… ~
Rainbow Dash pursed her lips, short bursts of air escaping her mouth. Unable to hold in her giggling, she instead furiously shook her head as she saw the dragon’s face start to turn red. “No, no, nothing like that! If I was, then I swear you wouldn’t even notice I had been here!” She blinked, slapping her hoof against her forehead. “Gee, because that’s going to make me sound better than a common thief.”
The dragon continued to stare at her, frowning. Without warning, he jabbed a claw on the tip of her nose, saying in a commanding tone, “What’s your name and why are you here in my den? This is Spike’s Domain and I’m not gonna let any pony like you steal our eggs or gems!”
Slow and deliberate, Rainbow Dash pushed Spike’s claw out of her face. “Look, pal. I just said I wasn’t here for your stuff. I’m the one, the only, Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier and best Treasure Hunter in the world!” She puffed out her chest and flared her wings, grinning down at the dragon. Seeing Spike’s gaze harden, she continued, “Well, I’m looking for a mare—”
Spike’s face grimaced as though he had bitten into something sour.
“Not like that! I’m looking for that witch that’s running around. I heard that she was being controlled by some mechanical dohickey thingamabober. I came to see if that was true and get her out of here. If she really is an Imperial murderer, then... then I don’t know,” she said, frowning and pawing at the ground. “I ain’t an assassin, but if she meant to kill all of those ponies, then I should do something, right?”
Spike remained silent, scrutinizing her and rubbing his chin. At last, he took a deep breath and let out a thin stream of smoke. “Follow me. I’ve got a few of my guys keeping an eye on her. Maybe you should look at her yourself.”
The dragon led her on through a series of winding tunnels of dense rock. As they navigated the complex cave-system, Rainbow Dash’s eyes roamed the area, seeing countless piles of the gems, gold, and other valuable pieces of jewelry and weaponry. She swallowed hard, forcing her hooves to keep moving forward and her eyes straight. There was easily enough wealth in the few caves alone she had seen to let an entire town live like kings for the rest of their lives.
Resisting temptation, Rainbow Dash followed Spike to a small, dull grey room with a few beds set against the walls. The first bed on the right quickly caught the pegasus’ attention. There lay a purple unicorn, her face relaxed and her breathing even. She had several bandages covering her legs and torso and was curled up like a little filly, clutching her tail to her chest. Rainbow Dash walked up to the resting unicorn slowly, jerking to a stop upon spotting something odd on the mare’s coat. A six-sided magenta star covered her flank, like a tattoo. Rainbow Dash quirked an eyebrow and reached forward, poking the marking with a hoof. The slight jostling stirred the mare’s body, causing her to moan and squirm.
.o.O.o.
Twilight Sparkle let out a wide yawn, her eyes shut tightly as she groped at them with a hoof. Both hooves shot to the sides of her head as her skull throbbed, her head pounding with every heartbeat. She let out a pained moan as her body reminded her of her sudden fall in the cave. After the acute pain faded into a dull throb that she could bear, she slowly opened her eyes. Two blurry splotches of blue and purple filled her vision. Twilight blinked, clearing away the bleariness. This time, she made out a purple reptilian creature and a cyan pegasus with a many-colored mane and tail staring at her.
She froze, her eyes widening while her pupils shrunk which darted from one figure to the other. Her breath came in short bursts. The scene held until the pegasus spoke in a flat voice, “So what’s your name? What are you doing here?”
Twilight flinched away, her ears flattening against her head and her body shivering. She managed to stutter out in a timid voice, “T-Twilight Sparkle...”
Her eyes kept flickering around, trying to keep eye contact with the new mare, but the suspicious glare being sent her way forced her to look away. She jerked when the pegasus stomped her hoof, narrowing her eyes as she repeated harshly, “And what are you doing here, huh? Gonna do some weird magic thing to kill everypony with?!”
“I-I don’t know,” Twilight whimpered, shrinking back in her bed. “I don’t know anything!” She did have one memory, the horrible murderous memory of carnage and death that gnawed at the base of her skull. “I don’t know why I’m here, or how I got here!”
“She can’t remember what happened?” the cyan mare asked, glancing to the small purple lizard-like thing next to her. “She has, um...”
“Amnesia,” the lizard finished.
“Gesundheit,” the pegasus said, before hardening her gaze and turning once more to Twilight. “Yeah, sure... So what do you want to do? What are you trying to do?”
Twilight swallowed, letting out a small whimper. “I... I don’t know what I want... W-what am I supposed to want?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” the pegasus drawled. “So you’re saying you don’t want to hurt anypony?”
Twilight’s eyes widened in horror at the thought of hurting anypony else. She fought back the awful memory again. “N-no, of course not! That’s horrible! S-stop asking me all of these questions! P-please.”
“Then you’re not here to kill everypony?!” the pegasus said, shoving her muzzle into Twilight’s. “Gonna use your magic to go an—”
“NO! Stop it! I won’t do it! You can’t make me!”
Twilight dissolved into tears as a faint memory resurfaced, a scene of fire. Ponies burned all around her, many pleading for their lives. Her body rocked back and forth as she fought the memory, trying to force it down, but it kept rising back up, the screams of the tortured echoing in her mind.
.o.O.o.
Rainbow Dash stood there in shock, watching the “Witch” of the Empire weeping like a young foal as she begged for something to stop, pleading with the voices in her head to cease. Twilight began to scream and fixed her gaze upon the pegasus, begging her again and again to make the bad memories go away. Next to her, Spike began wringing his claws together, his features downcast as he witnessed the pony on the bed reduced to a crying mess.
Rainbow Dash had seen enough. Having no better idea for comforting the hysterical pony, she quickly grabbed a glass of water that was set on a table next to the mare’s bed and splashed it in her face. It had the desired effect, bringing her back to her senses.
Reaching forward, Rainbow Dash clumsily pulled Twilight Sparkle into a tight hug, one foreleg hooked around her body, while the other went to her head, stroking her mane. She worked her mouth but no words came out. Shaking her head, she said the first things that came to mind. “H-hey, it’s okay. You’re fine now. You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to.”
“B-but they... I...” Twilight blubbered, before breaking down entirely, her body shaking from her sobs as she clutched at the bemused pegasus.
“It’s not your fault,” Rainbow Dash spoke softly, still stroking Twilight’s hair. It took time, but Twilight’s crying slowly died down. “You’re safe now. You’re safe.”
Rainbow Dash had no idea what she was doing, but her efforts managed to calm the unicorn, who was no longer shaking quite so violently. Hoping that one of the diminutive dragons could help her, she looked for them, only to see that she had been left alone in the room with Twilight Sparkle.
“Wha-what happens now?” the unicorn stammered. “There’s no place for me. I-I’m... I can’t go back and I can’t stay here!” She collapsed in tears again. “What do I do?”
Rainbow Dash sighed, gathering her thoughts. “Um, well, listen, I’ll tell you what I do, and then we’ll talk more about you.” She pushed Twilight to foreleg’s length, allowing her to see Rainbow Dash’s determined face. “I, Rainbow Dash, am the most awesome, coolest, and fastest treasure hunter in the world! I give a lot of the small treasures and knick-knacks I find to families that can’t support themselves because they’re not as awesome as I am. Of course, I keep plenty of ’em too. The most important thing I do is work to stop the Empire. There are all sorts of different ponies who are trying to do the same thing. Of course, I’m kind of the most important, because I’m fast, dangerous, and awesome! With me involved, the Empire never knows what hit ’em! You know, you might think about becoming a freedom fighter yourself.”
Twilight blinked, taking in all that Rainbow Dash had said. “I... I don’t know,” she finally responded, frowning as she stared at the blanket covering the bed.
Grimacing, Rainbow Dash hesitantly said, “Umm, okay, well... what do you like to do? You know, like a hobby or whatever?”
“Erm... H-hobby?” Twilight asked, looking up shyly from her bed. “What’s a hobby?”
The pegasus facehoofed. “Come on! And ponies say that I’m not very smart.” Taking a slow, deep breath, she turned back to the oblivious mare on the bed. “I’ll be right back, okay?” Noticing a scroll on a desk next to the bed, she shrugged, tossing it to the bed-ridden mare. “Here. You probably can’t read anyway but at least that has something to look at. I’ll be back in a flash, just as soon as I find out where shorty went.”
Leaving Twilight to her own devices, Rainbow Dash left the room to locate her wayward “host”. She had hardly left the room, however, when she spotted Spike exiting a side cave, carrying a cloth-wrapped bundle in his arms. “Hey, what’s that?”
The dragon ignored her, heading straight for the infirmary, when a white and lavender dragoness rushed forward, holding another bundle that was taller than she was. “Spike, you forgot this!”
Spike stopped, turning around to meet the other dragon halfway. “Oh right, I would have missed that! Thanks, Pearl.”
The light dragoness bobbed her head respectfully before running off again. Rainbow Dash could only assume that the dragon had other duties to perform, so she just shrugged and followed Spike once more, saying, “So your name is Spike? What’s with that huge bundle? What’s it for?”
“You’ll see,” he answered simply, walking into the room.
Rainbow Dash groaned, rolling her eyes. She followed him inside, reaching forward to tap him on the shoulder, when she noticed that the lavender unicorn was deeply engrossed in the scroll, her eyes wide as she moved her head back and forth along the lines. Quirking an eyebrow, Rainbow Dash said, “Do you think she can actually read that? It didn’t seem like she knew anything before.”
Rainbow Dash walked over and peeked around Twilight’s shoulder. Shaking her head, she walked back to Spike. “It’s... just a little foal’s nursery story. I only grabbed it because I wasn’t familiar with it and thought it might be rare or something. Thought I would give it away to the next—” She stopped, the sound of dry parchment rustling against hooves no longer audible. Rainbow Dash turned her head, noticing that Twilight had reached the end of the scroll.
The tears welling up within Twilight’s eyes came as a complete surprise to her.
“H-how is that a happy ending?” Twilight said, her lower lip quivering slightly. “Their parents were killed, then kidnapped by the monsters that attacked! So what if they managed to kill the monsters later, they’re still orphans!”
Rainbow Dash swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. She glanced around the room, as though looking for inspiration on what to say, when Spike beat her to it.
“Not all stories have a happy ending. But most do have a lesson to teach, and this one has a fairly important one: bad things happen, and when they do, we must keep moving forward, and only then look for what we can change.”
Twilight wiped her eyes as she stared at the story before her. She sighed, looked up at Spike and made to speak but another beat her to it.
“Can you just tell me what’s in that bag already? I’ve been waiting for like, forever!”
“It’s been two minutes!” Spike yelled up at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus snorted, her focus fixed on the sacks at Spike’s side. “Fine,” he sighed. “Since we need to be going soon, let’s move this along.”
The little dragon set the two bundles down on the ground and then carefully unwrapped the first one to reveal a long, beautifully woven calamine pink cape. Rainbow Dash licked her lips, silently calculating its worth in gil. Shaking her head, she swiftly recovered, asking in what she hoped to be a nonchalant voice, “So who and what is that for?”
“This is something we dragons have that I want to give you, Twilight Sparkle. It’s a cape that will help keep you warm.” He carefully draped the cloth over her and fastened it around her neck. “I’ve been told this thing dates back all the way before the War of the Magi. It’s really neat and will warm you when it’s cold and cool you down when it gets really hot.”
“F-for me?” Twilight asked, her eyes shimmering. “Th-this is for me?”
Spike nodded, hopping off the bed to unwrap the second, slimmer bundle as he answered, “Yep. Rainbow Crash here already h—”
“That’s Rainbow Dash! D-A-S-H!” the pegasus yelled, her wings and feathers bristling.
“Eh, I was close,” Spike said, ignoring Rainbow Dash as he continued explaining to Twilight. “Like I said, Dash is already set for the cold, but if you stayed outside in what you’re wearing, you’d freeze into a popsicle in hours! If there’s anything that everypony needs in Neighshe, it’s some type of clothing.”
“Then why don’t you have clothes?” Twilight asked, tilting her head to the side.
Rainbow Dash let out a hearty laugh, grabbing her sides and shaking her head. Through a fit of giggles, she managed to say, “S-sorry, it’s just that even I know a thing or two about dragons. The scales this fella has”—she waved a hoof in Spike’s direction—“help them live just about anywhere. And I hear they can eat just about anything.”
“Uh, yeah, what she said,” Spike responded. “We got a little bit of magic in us too. And there are stories that we were a lot bigger before the war. Nowadays, we don’t get much bigger than this.”
“I think I like you better this size,” Twilight Sparkle murmured. Her hooves flew to her mouth, but the words had already been spoken. “I didn’t mean that as an insult!”
Spike chuckled, waving a claw airily. “Nah, none taken.”
“Ugh, is there anything else?” Rainbow Dash said. She spread her wings out to their full span and beat the air. “I’m bored! I need to stretch these babies already! Caves cramp my style!”
Rolling his eyes, Spike reached down and unwrapped the second bundle. “Keep your pants… uh… bandanna on! You could be a little more patient, ya know.”
Rainbow Dash gasped upon seeing a metallic sheen peeking out from the cloth. Already, her mind worked to calculate the worth of the contents. “This,” Spike explained quietly, showing it with great care to Twilight, “is also for—”
“No!” Twilight screeched, her eyes wide as she backed up against the wall. “I don’t want to take up a weapon again! I won’t kill! You can’t make me! You can’t make me!”
“Whoa chill, chill!” Rainbow Dash rushed over to the terrified unicorn, placing herself between Twilight Sparkle and the shining longsword that Spike had revealed. “Nopony’s making you do anything! Don’t you know what swords are made for?”
“T-to kill, to take away lives,” Twilight answered softly, her voice trembling. “Just like me.”
The pegasus shook her head. “No, you’re wrong. That is what they do in the wrong hooves. A sword, a true sword, is created to protect, not to destroy. That it the first lesson that everypony is supposed to understand when learning how to fight.”
As Twilight continued to stare at the sword, edging away from it little by little, Spike cleared his throat. “You need to take this, even if you don’t use it. If you appear harmless, then others will think you’re easy pickings. It’s a lot better to look like you can fight rather than looking helpless. Even scaring off a single monster is better than nothing.”
Twilight regarded the sword, wrinkling her nose at it as though it were giving off a pungent smell. “So I... I don’t have to use it, just wear it?”
Spike nodded, giving her an encouraging smile. “Yep. And I hope you never have to use it. Still, it’s better to have it and not use it, rather than needing it and not having it."
“But try not to worry!” The dragon paused and turned to Rainbow Dash, who was pacing anxiously across the room. “She and I will protect you as much as we can. Hopefully, you’ll learn how to keep yourself safe. So come on, it’s time to get going, and we still need to disguise you guys so we can get out of Neighshe without any problems. Let’s see...”
Walking over to the nearby fireplace, he waved the two ponies over, only to find them struggling to attach the sword under Twilight’s new cape. Shaking his head, he picked up some coal, easily grinding it down to dust with his claws. Spike marched back over to the struggling unicorn and coated Twilight’s mane and tail black with the powder, ignoring her protests as he made sure her hair was completely covered. Then he adjusted the cape, making sure that it covered the symbol on her flank.
Once he was finished, Spike turned to get to work on Rainbow Dash, but found her already dusting herself with ash, turning her bright mane and tail grey. “Heh, you catch on quicker than I would have guessed,” Spike said.
Rainbow Dash smirked, tying her headband tight against her head. “Have you not heard of me? I’m Rainbow Dash! I’m the definition of quick! If you looked in a dictionary for the definition, all you’d see is a picture of yours truly!” she finished, puffing her chest out.
“Yeah yeah, let’s just get moving already. We’ll need a story to tell the guardponies if we’re stopped for questioning.”
“Already got one,” Rainbow Dash said. “We’re escorting you to Fillygaro Castle to talk about the possible opening of a trade route between the dragons and the Kingdom of Fillygaro. Simple.”
“Alright, but why Fillygaro?” Spike asked as he led the way through his caves, taking side passages to avoid attention.
“Because it’s the closest city around, and any trade route further out would have to go through them, so it wouldn’t be as believable.” Rainbow Dash ducked her head as they passed a low-hanging doorway, exiting the dragon caves and re-entering the mining complex. She glanced around at the discarded tools and gutted walls, deducing that the tunnels hadn’t been used in some time. “More importantly, I have friends there.”
They walked in silence, working their way through the caves. After an hour, Rainbow Dash turned her head to check on the unicorn following them. Twilight trailed behind, keeping her head down. She was as silent as the tunnels around them. Sighing, Rainbow Dash focused her attention on the path ahead, keeping a vigilant eye.
“EEK!”
Spike and Dash whipped around to see Twilight Sparkle, “Witch” of the Empire, scourge of freedom, killer of hundreds of soldiers in mere minutes, screaming her head off at a bat. A small, non-poisonous, non-blood-sucking bat that couldn’t have been three months old.
“Bat!” Twilight Sparkle screeched at the top of her lungs, leaping so high that her horn almost touched the ceiling.
Before Rainbow Dash could pull her dirk out, Twilight had already drawn her newly acquired sword, flailing it about wildly in the general vicinity of the ‘monstrous’ bat, shrieking all the while with her eyes screwed shut. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
While the unicorn frantically slashed the air, the small, innocent bat proceeded to fly away, unhurt. Once it was out of sight, Rainbow Dash sighed, facehoofing as she announced in a monotoned voice, “Twilight, you got it. No more bat. You can stop swinging now.”
Panting for breath, her eyes still wide, Twilight stood still and darted her head back and forth, making sure there were no more bats in the area. Groaning, she slumped to the ground, her body going completely limp and her limbs sprawling to both sides of her stomach. Rainbow Dash stepped up to her, shaking her head. She opened her mouth to speak but the echo of beating hooves stopped her. Within seconds, several guards rushed into the area, their weapons held at the ready as the leader’s voice boomed in the tunnel. “Is everypony alright?! We heard a scream and...”
The lead guard came to a stop as he saw the two ponies and dragon, staring at them for just a moment before he took his own weapon out and held it at the ready in his mouth. “Ith tha th with?! Freeth! Domph moof!”
Twilight froze up as she looked at the lead guard pointing a gleaming blade at her. Spike glanced to Rainbow Dash for just a second, hoping to catch a clue as to how she wanted the situation handled, but the pegasus had only one word to say.
“Horsefeathers..."