Twilight’s horn lit up as she cast her spell. “Now that the rain has cleared up, this spell should work correctly,” she explained. “Those two agents left a few mane hairs behind, and that should help us track them down.”
“And why wouldn’t it have worked last night?” Rainbow Dash asked demandingly, still unhappy towards the fact that the rescue was delayed.
“Just watch,” Twilight assured. Her magic flowed into a few hairs she had placed into a plastic bag. The magic swirled around, and then a bright flash sounded. When it cleared, the bag had become a bright orb of light, floating above the six mares, shining brightly. After a moment, it began moving forward at a decent pace.
“Follow it. If we lose it, I can’t cast the spell again,” Twilight said in a hurried tone.
The ponies obeyed, with Applejack and Pinkie Pie pulling a carriage behind them. The orb wasn’t moving too quickly, but it still required them to keep up at a brisk pace.
“All that water last night could have interfered with the spell. In fact, it’s best nothing touches the orb at all. This spell is delicate, a lot can go wrong with it.”
“I still say we should have gone out looking last night!” Rainbow Dash shouted to Twilight as she was hovering before the company, who could not see the frown etched onto their cyan friend’s face.
“Hey, Twi,” Applejack called. “You sure we’re gonna need a carriage for this?”
“We don’t know what Bloodwing is going to do to...” Twilight trailed off and looked at the cyan pegasus, who looked as if she had been slapped. “We... we better have a way to carry her if she’s... really hurt.”
Applejack just nodded. There was silence. Nopony felt like talking.
“H... how far away do you think they are?” Pinkie asked at last.
“No clue,” Twilight admitted. “Scootaloo would probably want to keep as far away from Bloodwing as possible, but he could have relocated in two years. Still, if it had been that far away I doubt that Blue and Black got far in the rain last night.”
“Well when we find them, I’m gonna send them flying to the sun!” Rainbow crudely said, pounding her hooves together as the memories of the two ponies came back to her.
“Ooh! Ooh! We can throw a ‘Welcome Home Party!’ and then we can throw a ‘Happy Adoption Party and...”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Twilight said. “We still have a long way to go.” She looked towards where the orb was headed. “And it looks like we’re heading into the Everfree Forest...”
Exhaustion was one the many factors influencing Scootaloo’s body, along with sheer will and desperation. She had no idea on how far she had travelled into the Everfree Forest, nor did she have a clue on how far away she was from Canterlot. All that mattered to her was to get there as fast as possible, regardless of her body pleading for rest or food. After what may have been an hour, her stomach let loose a carnivorous growl and memories of her last meal entered her fragile mind.
“I guess I’ll just have to ignore it for now...” she thought to herself as she progressed further into the enigma that was the Everfree Forest. Though her stomach did continue to rumble even louder than it had before. She looked around the forest floor to see if there was anything worthy of scavenging, but failed to notice anything within her sight, which was slowly becoming nothing but mist and haze from the constant tiring fatigue. Her body began to long for some rest, some sleep to ready herself for the journey ahead.
“No! I’m not gonna sleep! I won’t!”
The more she persisted, the harsher the pain in her legs became. Strangely, her wings were not affected by the agony that was coursing through her body. She stared back at the feathery masses on her back, ruffling them softly, wondering to herself if she could use them to hasten her pace. She turned to look forward, and reared herself in position.
She jumped and galloped around frantically, flapping her wings as hard as she could. Small torrents of air started to form beneath her. She could feel the gusts of wind hitting her face as she went along. She moved around like a young inexperienced pegasus filly would on it’s first flying lesson. She suddenly felt her body being lifted upwards, but her eyes were closed from the wind. By the time that she opened them, she was already soaring high in the sky, the ground lying far beneath her. She could see the forest’s trees and the muck on the ground, more importantly she saw Canterlot in the distance. Her instinct kicked in and she flew towards the city.
But not for long. Just moments later she felt herself descending. She desperately flapped her wings around in a torrent of feathers, but the ground seemed to come towards her at an increasing speed.
She winced as her already sore, aching legs landed on the ground roughly. Tears escaped her eyes as she fought the pain. No matter how unpleasant this was, it was paradise compared to what awaited if Bloodwing caught up to her.
Moaning, she picked herself up and kept moving forward. As she moved forward, memories of her last encounter with Rainbow Dash filled her mind, memories that were as painful as her body was sore.
“I don’t idolize you anymore, Rainbow Crash!”
“You’re giving me to him! I can’t trust you! You won’t protect me!”
“I don’t want to see you again! You gave me back to them!”
“I hate you!”
Scootaloo was speechless for a moment before she lifted her hoof to her eyes and noticed that she was crying tears of regret. Regret for saying those hateful words to her mentor, even if she did mess it up, she wanted to help Scootaloo out in the end. Scootaloo closed her eyes slowly before opening them up again and releasing a stream of tears.
“I’m so sorry...”
Rainbow Dash felt a sudden sting in her heart and she clutched her hooves to her chest, groaning slightly with the others taking notice. She felt a stream of tears flowing out of her eyes and wondered what this meant.
“Dash?” Applejack asked. “Ya okay?”
“I... I don’t know,” she sighed.
Rarity put a foreleg around her. “We’ll get her back, darling, I’m sure.”
Somehow, Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to be assured.
Meanwhile, in the back of the carriage, Spike, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle sat in silence, not wanting the adults to hear them , the only light emanating from a dying candle, just enough to illuminate their faces.
“How much longer do ya think we have to wait?” Apple Bloom asked.
“You heard my mom, it could take all day,” Spike reminded them.
“Aw shoot, we’re missin’ a full day of crusadin’ here.”
“It wouldn’t have been the same without Scootaloo anyway,” Sweetie said sadly.
There was another silence before Sweetie spoke. “Hey, Spike? What was that my sister read at the library?”
Even in the darkness, Spike’s blush was clear. “It’s... nothing...”
“It sure didn’t seem like nothing,” Sweetie said, grinning playfully.
Spike played with his tail a bit, looking flustered. “It’s just... after that whole incident with Rainbow Dash reading Daring Do, I asked what the big deal was about those books, I said anyone could write one, and Mom told me to prove it. So I wrote a story, and my mom said it was pretty good for my first time, so I just kind of... kept writing.”
“Writin’...” Apple Bloom brightened up. “That’d be a great cutie mark!”
Spike and Sweetie quickly shushed her. “We don’t want the others to know we’re in here!” Spike reminded them.
“Sorry!” Apple Bloom whispered in return, “Ah’m just real worried fer Scootaloo... Ah mean, why did them ponies take her away in the first place? Ah ask Applejack about it, but she won’t talk none.”
Sweetie hung her head low, “I asked Rarity too, but she says we didn’t need to know.”
Apple Bloom shook her in frustration, “Pony-feathers! She’s our friend, of course we need to know what them ponies want with her and what they gonna do with her.”
Sweetie and Apple Bloom looked to Spike, who was looking upwards as he let out a sigh, “Well... from what I gathered, they wanna do some experiments on Scootaloo.”
Apple Bloom was about to shout before Sweetie stuffed her hoof in her mouth, “What do you mean? Experiment?” Sweetie asked Spike, whose eyes showed deep concern.
Black moaned as he regained consciousness. He sat up, his head feeling like it had been split in two. Groaning, he rose to his hooves. Immediately, there was a sharp sting at his back, sending him back down to the ground. A swift kick at his gut silenced him, if only because it knocked the air out of him.
Blue was his assailant, holding a whip in his mouth and looking at him with the same neutral expression that he always had. Bloodwing, who was right behind him, his face etched with rage.
“Do you realize what you’ve cost us?! Subject Ten is missing! again!”
Black rubbed the back of his head in an attempt to soothe the pain. “How long have I been out?”
“Nearly an hour!” Bloodwing yelled.
“Well, a filly that small couldn’t have gotten far...”
Black recieved another lash, eliciting a groan of agony from the stallion
“Don’t you remember that Rainbow Dash was going to ask for custody of her?” Bloodwing reminded. “You told me so yourself! Those mares, one of whom is the Princess’s designate, are probably scouring Everfree now looking for her!”
“W-we can get her back,” Black said nervously.
“You best,” Bloodwing growled. “That subject is not expendable. You, however, are!”
Black gulped.
“Now then, Canterlot Castle can be seen from here. In all likelihood, she will head in that direction. At any rate, I say it’s time we moved our operations back to the home lab with how powerful Subject Ten has become. I’ll fly on ahead and tell the boys to get everything ready. You search the forest and bring the subject back.”
By now noon had rolled in, and the Bearers of the Elements were having a harder and harder time to fight the allure of sleep. Applejack and Rainbow Dash, used to extraneous work, were still fine, but the others were beginning to slow the signs of fatigue.
“Ah think we need to take a break fer at least twenty minutes,” Applejack suggested, but was met with a rebuttal from Rainbow.
“We can’t stop now! We got a long way to go and-”
“Ah don’t need no rest Rainbow, but the others do!” Applejack retorted to her friend as she pointed her hoof to the others, who were panting and sweating profoundly as their legs gave in to the pressure, causing them to fall on their stomachs. Rainbow let out a sigh and decided to rest up high in a tree, but she could not get her eyes to close.
“My back!” Rarity yelled out as she rolled on her floor dramatizing her supposed anguish to the others. Her friends however, who had been pulling a heavy carriage through the unforgiving wasteland that is the Everfree Forest, didn’t seem to be bothered at all.
Twilight simply face-hoofed and shook her head in disbelief, “Well maybe if you didn’t overpack your saddlebags, Rarity,” she told her friend, but just continued to groan as she lay on the ground. The lavender unicorn lit up her horn again, causing the orb to stop. “Still, maybe we should stop for lunch.”
“What? Come on!” Rainbow Dash argued.
Pinkie’s stomach made a loud growl and she smiled sheepishly, “How about we have some cupcakes, too! I packed some in the carriage!” she suggested to the others, who agreed with smiles.
Twilight made her way to the carriage’s door, “Excellent idea, Pinkie Pie,” she said to her friend as she opened the door and looked inside for any sign of cupcakes. She saw a basket with cupcakes and lifted it up, but she swore she saw a flash of green and purple where the basket stood but as she looked down again, she saw nothing there. Twilight shrugged it off and closed the carriage’s door as she made her way back to the others.
Inside the carriage; Spike, Sweetie and Apple Bloom came out from their hiding places and let out a long sigh.
“That was too close for comfort,” Spike whispered as he slumped on his back against the chairs of the carriage.
“Ya can say that again, partner!” Apple Bloom muttered to herself as she was looking at the door for any sign of moment.
Sweetie tried to look out the window, but was pulled back by Spike and landed in his arms. Spike and Sweetie blushed slightly as they let go of each other, but Sweetie was still upset with Spike. “Why did you pull me like that, Spike?!” she whispered to him in agitation, but Spike’s arms were crossed and his foot was tapping.
“You trying to get us caught, Sweetie?” he asked her sarcastically.
“No. I just wanted to see where we are,” she defended herself weakly.
Back outside, the adults ate their meal, along with hay sandwiches packed by Applejack. Rainbow Dash had already gulped down her portion within a minute and was currently flying back and forth above the camp, waiting for her comrades to finish.
“Easy there, Dash,” Applejack warned. “Ya ain’t gonna be no help to Scootaloo if ya wear yerself out.”
“I’ll be fine, when are you slowpokes going to be ready?”
“Rainbow Dash, really!” Rarity scoffed, but she calmed herself. If it was Sweetie, she’d probably do the same. “It’s only ten minutes.”
Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes. “Ten minutes in the Everfree. You know what’s running around in here.”
“Um, most of the dangerous creatures in Everfree are nocturnal,” Fluttershy explained. “The only really dangerous one still awake during the day are...”
And then, and piercing howl ripped through the air.
Everypony’s eyes widened.
“...timberwolves,” Fluttershy said timidly.
A snarl confirmed what they feared. A timberwolf stepped out from the trees, growling at the mares. Two more came out on either side of it, looking equally vicious.
“Of course, they hunt in packs,” Twilight moaned backing up.
“It’s only three,” Applejack declared, “We can handle...”
Four more crept out, coming forward.
“...never mind.”
As the carnivores came forward, Twilight’s horn lit up, as the others got in a fighting stance. “Get ready, girls. We’re in for a wild fight.”
One timberwolf jumped towards Fluttershy, who was too scared to react and closed her eyes expecting great pain. Instead she heard a yelp from the wolf and saw Rainbow Dash hovering before her, in fighting position.
“Stay back, Fluttershy. Let me handle them!”
Two more wolves jumped on the ponies, but one was caught mid air by Twilight’s magic, thrown against a tree and the other was bucked hard by Applejack. As soon as they were dealt with, two other wolves thought it best to attack Pinkie, but she was smiling deviously, as she pulled out her party cannon and shot compressed confetti at the fanged monsters. The impact of it made them fly across the forest, landing at an unknown distance. The one wolf remaining did not back away nor attack the mares, instead it let out a mighty howl which echoed throughout the forest. When it ended, more growling was heard and many more wolves appeared before the group, encircling them as they huddled up in fear.
Applejack’s expression was beyond worried as sweat was pouring from her forehead, “What do we do, y’all?!”
Fluttershy let out a small yelp, “Panic?”
Rainbow simply shook her head and rolled her eyes upwards, “That’s your answer for everything!”
Rarity was sobbing madly as she clung onto Pinkie, “Plead for our lives to these creatures? Maybe they have some sense of reasoning.”
Pinkie’s mane hung limply in front of her face in long pink streaks as she held onto Rarity in return with fear overriding her system, “I don’t think a party will be enough for them!”
Twilight looked to each corner and saw no way out. She was starting to lose her breath as the wolves came closer with each step. Memories flashed before her eyes, many of them revolving around Scootaloo. The memories of her son Spike, made her shed tears of sorrow thinking this was the end.
Suddenly, a jet of green flame encircled the Mane Six, surprising them in the process. The wolves let out a torrent of fearful howls and some yelped in anguish as they were set ablaze by the flames. The timberwolves retreated to whence they came and the fires died down when the last wolf left the scene.
“Twilight?” Applejack asked her friend as she was confused to what just happened.
Twilight shook her head in confusion, “Wasn’t me.”
Rainbow scratched her head, “Then who the hay was it?”
“Me.”
They looked at the top of the wagon to see Spike standing triumphantly, but his bravado disappeared when Twilight shot him an angry stare. In a flash of magic the dragon was in front of her, shrinking from his mother.
“Spike,” she said slowly, in a tone he had not heard her use since the Owlowiscious incident. “I told you to stay at home.”
“I... I know,” he said guiltily. “I just wanted to help get Scootaloo back.”
Twilight sighed. “Where’d you get all this stubbornness from?”
“From you, Mom... from you.”
After a pause, Twilight smiled, despite herself, giggling a bit. “Well, I’m torn. I really should be tanning your hide for disobeying me, but you did save our lives...” she approached Spike and held him close, nuzzling him affectionately as he hugged his mother in return.
“Wait a minute,” Applejack said, realization hitting her. It hit Rarity as well. The two went to the back of the carriage and opened it, entering inside. Seconds later, the cowpony emerged dragging Apple Bloom by her tail, and Rarity holding Sweetie by the ear with magic, both fillies squirming in protest..
“Now you both hush,” Applejack scolded. “You’re in enough trouble.”
Rarity sighed. “I’d recommend holding off on it. Now that they're here, what they have to go through may be punishment enough.”
Applejack sighed. “Ah know...” she hugged her little sister close. “Why couldn’t you stay safe?”
“Scootaloo’s our friend!” the filly yelled. “Ah ain’t gonna leave her behind!”
The cowpony placed a hoof on her head. “You...”
“Um, we should probably get going,” Fluttershy said nervously. “Timberwolves don’t like to give up on a meal.”
“Good idea,” Twilight said. “Kids, get back in the carriage. We’ll discuss this later.”
“Did you pack any pepper for the food, Applejack?” Fluttershy asked. The cowpony nodded. “We better get it out and spread it around. That will interfere with their sense of smell.”
“Ya got it,” Applejack nodded.
As they exited the area they were in, Applejack used the grounded peppers to leave behind a trail to confuse any would-be-pursuers. After a few minutes of walking, Twilight simply let out a sigh and a smile slowly crept to her face.
Applejack looked curiously at this, “Somethin’ wrong, sugarcube?”
Twilight simply shook her head as she smiled, “He’s just like me when I’m determined to do something,” she said to Applejack, as she walked onwards with the locator spell still active.
“Spike?”
Twilight nodded her head, but Applejack noticed a tear escaping her eye as it traveled to her smile, “He’s growing up so fast,” she said to herself as she fought the tears back.
Applejack smiled softly and laid her hoof over her friend’s shoulder, “They all do, Twi, even ma sis... important thing is just to be there fer the little boy,” she told her friend with sage-like advice, which was accepted fondly as Twilight smiled contently to her friend.
Although, Rainbow overheard this and she was starting to think of Scootaloo even more. She had always wondered what it was like for Twilight to just one day accept the fact that Spike wanted to be viewed as her son. She also wondered how much Twilight and Spike’s lives have changed since last month when they had their moment. Other thoughts that entered her mind were those of Scootaloo.
She thought of what she would do for her once she got her back, throw her a party, take her to Cloudsdale, teach her to fly, spend time with her, adopt her... she shook her head violently when that last thought came into her mind. Adopt her... before yesterday, she had not really given it any thought, but now since she heard of Scootaloo’s orphan status, a part of her mind wanted to take her in as her own. The idea itself was beyond frightening for her, for she was scared of messing things up. Though she thought she would make her happy, to have her role model take her in. Another part of her felt like Scootaloo really was hers, she really did feel a bond with the little filly she could not explain.
As more thoughts came into her head, a sudden sense of regret crept into her mind. She had failed Scootaloo, and not only did she cost her her home, but it may as well have costed her life thanks to her stupidity. Even if she tried to reason with herself on why she did it, she knew there was only one inescapable truth. She failed a helpless crying filly. A filly she has grown to love.
“Rainbow?”
The athletic pegasus looked up to see Twilight giving her a caring look, the kind of look that would always leave her feeling weak and mushy. She couldn’t stand that look. “Yes?”
“Thinking about Scootaloo again?”
Rainbow Dash simply lowered her head.
“We’ll get her back,” Twilight assured her again.
“I don’t doubt that,” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m going to make Bloodwing eat his feathers for kidnapping her. But... what about afterward? I mean, you know I want to adopt her... what if I’m no good at being a parent?”
Twilight just smiled. “You’re already worried about it. That’s a good sign.”
“I know, but...”
“Rainbow Dash, you will do fine,” Rarity said.
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Twilight said. “Yesterday, you recognized their ID cards, or at least, you thought you did. Why is that?”
The athletic pegasus kicked the ground. “Well...”
Suddenly, the tracking orb began blinking wildly, twitching and flailing.
“Wh-what’s goin’ on?” Applejack asked.
“Somethings interfering with the spell,” Twilight said, panicking. “A large surge of magic.”
“Can you fix it?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“No... but I don’t think I have to. If there’s something powerful enough to interfere with my magic, it’s probably Bloodwing’s lab. We better look around.”
By now, Scootaloo was sure her legs were going to fall off. Her muscles ached and begged for rest, but she pressed forward. She had stopped a few times when she found some berry bushes. She had eaten as much as she could, careful to leave no trace of her passing. But she was no woodspony, and she knew it. She must have been leaving a trail of some kind, one that Bloodwing could follow.
Thankfully by now she was out of the woods. She could see the mountain in the distance.
She briefly pondered what to do. Canterlot was only accessible through train and flight, which were options she didn’t have. Sighing, she pushed herself forward. She needed to get there, whatever it took.
The party came to a halt in front of a building having no earthly business in the forest. Rainbow wasted no time and flew towards the door, ramming it so hard it smashed into splinters. Though she groaned as some splinters were found on her hind hooves, causing stinging pain with each step she took. Twilight shook her head and concentrated her magic on Rainbow’s hooves, engulfing them in a lavender aura and the cuts and splinters began to fade away.
Rainbow shaked her hind legs slightly, grinning at the healing spell her friend performed. “Heh, that’s cool,” she commented to herself, but Twilight just stared blankly at her.
“Rainbow, I know you are desperate, but don’t do rash things like that. Think before you act and-”
“I thought before I acted with Scootaloo and look what happened!” she snapped at Twilight, who took a step back as her eyes showed panic. Rainbow took notice , softening her stance towards Twilight, waving her hooves at her. “I’m sorry, it’s just... well...”
Twilight sympathetically smiled and placed a hoof on her shoulder, “It’s okay, Rainbow...” she told her friend, who landed on her hooves before her. “Now let’s go inside and find Scootaloo!”
“Already ahead of you!”
Twilight’s ears perked up as she heard Spike’s voice, and saw him standing in the doorway next to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. She was about to say her part but failed when they entered the building, leaving the others behind with their jaws dropping slightly. Though three of them were beginning to fume at each of their respectable family member.
“That little whippersnapper’s askin’ fer it!” Applejack snapped as she galloped into the building, leaving the others behind.
Rarity followed after her, “Sweetie Belle! You know you’re not supposed to go into strange places without me!”
Twilight was still furious at Spike, just running into danger like that. A part of her felt a sense of pride for her son, taking such initiative. She just shook her head and sighed as she turned to her other two friends, “Come along, girls, we got a little filly to find.”
“Okie dokie!” Pinkie replied as she bounced towards the entrance with her infinite happy-go-lucky attitude.
“Um, okay,” Fluttershy said nervously.
Scootaloo reached the base of the mountain. She looked up, unsure of what to do next. Trying to go through the train tunnels would be suicide, there was no room for her to dodge an oncoming locomotive. She could wait until a train came by and try to hitch a ride...
“There you are!”
She tensed up, spinning around. Black and Blue had finally caught up with her, and were galloping up to her, a restraint belt ready. She began to panic. She couldn’t go back. She looked back up the mountain. Far above her laid a rocky ridge, her only means of escape.
Please let this work, she prayed, spreading her wings and crouching down. She gave a great leap, flapping her wings to gain altitude. She just missed Blue jumping for her.
She landed on the ledge, breathing heavily. She looked down to see to earth ponies glaring at her.
“Get down here right now, you little bitch!” Black yelled.
Scootaloo instead looked up at another ledge. With another leap she was higher up.
“Now what do we do?” Black asked. “We can’t climb up after her, and even if we could grabbing her could cause her to fall.”
“Stay here. If she falls, catch her. I’m going to go back to the nearest town and take the train to Canterlot. I can get the others and we can catch her there if she makes it, or send Red and Yellow to get her down if she doesn’t. You have the horn seal?”
Black nodded, setting the restraint on the ground and pulling out a metallic device meant for Scootaloo’s horn.
“Excellent. I’ll send a chariot for you.” And with that, Blue galloped off.
“This must be the main lab,” Twilight said, looking around the room. “It doesn’t look like anything’s happened here.”
Spike shrugged, “Well a mad scientist wouldn’t have his lab out in the open, he would most likely have it in a secret room... away from the public eye.” as he spoke those words, the others looked at him as though he had just made the discovery of the year. “What? It’s just common knowledge, thats all.”
“Spike, where did you learn this from?” Twilight asked him as she started looking around the room for any clues.
Spike chuckled as he helped his mother looking around the room, “Well I was raised by Princess Celestia’s most prized student who also loves to experiment with spells and potions.” he told her bluntly, failing to notice the sheepish blush and smile forming on her face.
Rainbow groaned out loud as she was zooming around the room, looking for any signs of entry to another. “Come on! If Daring Do could find her kidnapped niece in the Risen City, then I should be able to find my daughter and-” she stopped abruptly as she placed a hoof on her mouth, thinking to herself if she really said that? She noticed the others looking at her curiously, and she just continued looking for any indications.
Pinkie Pie bounced around the room, then suddenly stopped and did a hoof stand waving her hindlegs in the air, “Pinkie Sense is tingling!” The other saw this and waited for a response from her as she came back to her four hooves, “That way!” she pointed to a clean wall in the lab.
The others walked towards the lab and began to inspect the wall thoroughly. Applejack stared at the wall blankly before she too let out a groan, “What in tarnation are we all looking at a wall fer anyway!?”
Apple Bloom however walked up to the wall and saw a few cracks in the wall, where she placed her hoof and applied pressure. The part where she pushed began to move backwards and the sounds of mechanisms moving could be heard and the wall began to slide open, leaving a trail of dust in the air where the open space stood. Apple Bloom beamed at her sister’s astonished face, “That’s what we looking fer.”
Applejack grabbed her sister and ruffled her mane before nuzzling her, “That’s ma little sister fer ya right there.” Apple Bloom giggled slightly as her sister ruffled her hair, feeling proud for that moment of helping the others out.
Rainbow walked towards the opening, “Great job, Apple Bloom,” she told the little filly, who was now beginning to blush from every word of gratitude she got from the others. “Now let’s get down there! We got to find Scootaloo and fast.”
They walked down the through the secret passage, and began to make a downwards trip to it’s location. Sweetie heard a faint whimper. She looked around a bit and saw where it came from.
“Spike...are you okay?”
“Huh?” he said, jumping a bit. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” She knew that he was lying.
Twilight performed a illuminating spell that shined so brightly that it lit up the entire passageway. It seemed to calm Spike down immensely. The lavender unicorn looked at him with a knowing smile, which Spike returned appreciably.
“Thanks, Mom,” he whispered to Twilight, who smiled at his words.
Sweetie arched an eyebrow, but decided not to push the subject.
“Why would this guy have a secret room in an already secret lab?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but wonder.
“Security, probably,” Twilight muttered. “If somepony were to stumble across this place, he’d keep anything that could incriminate him in a secret place. Everything up there was probably just window dressing.”
The group of ponies came out into a room that branched out into several other rooms. “Spread out and search. If you see anypony, backtrack and regroup.”
The ponies obeyed, spreading out. Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and Rainbow Dash entered one room to find Scootaloo’s cage, with the leg shackles still laying there.
“Oh dear,” Rarity muttered, appalled by the thought a filly was kept in such conditions.
Rainbow Dash was silent. Her eyes were fixed on the shackles that lay before her, and she noticed the blood that was on them. Her face contorted as her rage was building up with every second that past staring at this abomination that held her Scootaloo. Her hooves landed with great impact on the shackles, denting them with her hoof marks. Rainbow closed her eyes, before opening them up again with a stream of tears cascading from them.
She let out a cry as she continued to stomp the shackles, breaking them in the process but her hooves had suffered as bruises began to form. She sniffed as more tears were flowing from her eyes, and she felt a hoof descend on her shoulder. She turned to see Rarity looking solemnly at her, as she shook her head. Rainbow closed her eyes and let out a sigh to calm herself down, if only for that moment.
“Psst. Hey!”
Spike’s whisper caught their ears. “Mom’s found something. Follow me!”
The three mares followed, regrouping with the rest to enter a room that Twilight and Fluttershy had chosen.
It looked like the office of a madpony, which was fitting since it was Bloodwing’s. There was only a desk and a bed for furniture, but the walls were decorated in old newspaper clippings and hastily scrawled notes.
“Look,” Applejack said, pointing.
Rainbow Dash gave a gasp. It was her. A photograph of her as a filly, looking like it wasn’t long after she earned her cutie mark.
“What the?” the cyan mare shivered. The thought that somepony had been secretly monitoring her for that long...
Twilight read the notes. “Sonic Rainboom speed estimated at mach three... record breaking... perfect for pegasus attributes. Project genetic material sponsor...” As she read these notes out loud, her eyes began to dilate in shock at the information written on the paper. Rainbow was becoming very disturbed at this, and Applejack placed a hoof on her shoulder as she was becoming worried for her friend’s state of mind. Spike was curious at this but he was nudged by Apple Bloom.
“What is it, Apple Bloom?”
Apple Bloom pointed to a few jars behind Spike, “Look.”
He saw this and approached the jars but gasped loudly, backing away from the jars. Twilight heard him and handed the notes to Applejack, who thought it best to not let Rainbow see the notes she was holding now. She made her way to a frightened Spike and held him close as she show his eyes displaying fear.
“What is it, Spike?”
Spike just pointed to the jars, and Twilight let out a gasp too, but she went up to the jars to get a closer look. Inside the jars were scales, dragon scales, more importantly pink dragon scales. She examined each jar before finding more notes beside them. She took the notes and saw a picture of Spike, when he just hatched out of his egg. What was more interesting, she saw a picture of herself when she just received her cutie mark. She read notes that were written about her there.
“Magic rating reading up to nine thousand... breaking record by five thousand... remarkable response to the entrance exam... perfect for unicorn attributes. Project genetic material sponsor...”
“He must have taken these back when he worked at the castle,” Spike muttered.
“What’s he mean, ‘remarkable results’?” Applejack asked. “Don’t ev’ry unicorn at that school hatch a dragon?”
“Not really,” Twilight explained. “Most are given a fake egg enchanted with a few protection spells. If they manage to hatch it, they get a stuffed toy dragon. But Princess Celestia sensed my strength and gave me a real egg to hatch.”
“But why do they care about Spike when making an alicorn?” Pinkie asked. “Is Princess Celestia part dragon?”
Twilight shrugged. “Maybe he still has a lot of my magic in him,” she guessed.
“Didn’t you know that curiosity killed the cat? Or in this case the pony?”
Twilight froze in place as she dropped the notes to the ground, whirling herself to the door’s entrance and seeing two pegasi standing there. The one who spoke was a mare who had a bright yellow coat and a darkish yellow short mane, her facial expression showing nothing but malice. The other pony, a stallion, had a bright red coat with spiky maroon mane who held only a grin on his face. Both of them were carry what looked like arsonist toolkits, indicating they were here to erase what was discovered or what could be discovered. The others came into a defensive position, as the younger three members stood behind their guardians.
“Now this is a surprise, two out of three genetic materials coming here at the same time,” the red one spoke casually as the yellow one laughed hysterically.
“You got that right! Wonder if they want that little princess back?”
“Who are you?” Rainbow Dash demanded. “And where’s Scootaloo?”
“You mean Subject Ten?” the red one asked innocently, with the yellow one laughing wickedly next to him.
“I. Mean. Scootaloo!” the cyan mare said through gritted teeth.
“Aw, how cute,” the yellow one mocked.
“Listen up,” the red one stepped forward. “The name’s Red. Got it memorized?”
“Yellow,” the other said bluntly.
“Great,” Applejack muttered, rolling her eyes. “We’re goin’ up against a whole rainbow.”
“Just us. Now I suggest you all move.”
“Why?” Rainbow Dash challenged. “There’s six of us and just two of you. Easy advantage.”
“...Now you see, that would be the case if you were facing ordinary pegasi from Cloudsdale,” Red said as he and Yellow lowered their arson equipment. “But there’s one thing different about the two of us.” They got into a fighting stance, spreading their wings.
“And what’s that?” Rainbow Dash challenged.
“...Bloodwing hasn’t worked on you.”
In a flash Red’s wings were aflame, fire dancing on his feathers. Then, much to their shock, they came off his body, spinning in circles at his side, looking extremely menacing.
Yellow’s feather’s, meanwhile, sparked to life. They flew off her wings, each crackling with electricity, as they pointed at the Bearers.
Rainbow Dash gulped. “That’s a pretty good advantage...”