//------------------------------// // Part Six: A Race To The Finish // Story: Fallout Equestria: Finding Rainbow Dash // by CivilWarPony //------------------------------// Part Six: A Race To The Finish It took the better part of two days to get back to Equestria. The escape tunnel that had been constructed two centuries ago was an amazing feat of engineering. The walls were concrete with small lights still beaming brightly overhead. From what Airborne could tell nopony had even used the tunnels before, which was a shame because he was sure that it could have protected anypony from the zebra’s balefire bombs. Finally after rounding the bend in the tunnel Airborne and his friends stood before a small staircase that led up to a warped and slightly rusted metal door. Pushing the door open with his forehoof Airborne is blinded by the bright sunlight, stepping out of the tunnel he feels something collide with his head. Falling to the ground he stares up at a Pegasus dressed in Enclave armor. Inside Airborne’s heart skips a beat and he thinks, “This can’t be happening. We just got the information that could change everything and now we are being attacked by Enclave thugs.” The Enclave pony looks down at Airborne who got the distinct impression that behind the visor of the helmet the pony inside was sneering at him. Airborne twists around to see his friends pinned to the ground, the Enclave ponies training the barrels of their battle-saddles at each of their chests ready to send instant death into them should they struggle any further. The Enclave pony pinning Airborne to the ground says, “So we have finally caught up with the infamous Dashite traitor Airborne and look we even managed to net the other traitor Starshine as well.” Airborne replies, “Why don’t you be a good little Pegasui and go back to the Enclave where you belong and leave us alone okay?” The Enclave pony kicks Airborne in the gut who coughs and sputters trying to catch his breath, the Enclave pony says, “Don’t be a smart with me Airborne, Steelwing’s wants you alive but I might just kill you here and now saving him the trouble of having to do it later. Once I have killed you, I will kill your friends and take the information you recovered from the Crystal Empire.” Airborne looks up at the Enclave pony still wincing from the kick to his gut and says, “What do you want with the information?” The Enclave pony laughs and replies, “For a long time you Dashite’s have been a pain in the flank of the Enclave and now we are cleaning house. We are going to make sure you Dashite’s all end up in a grave, why this week alone we must have killed at least seven of you. Truth be told, you and Starshine might be the only Dashite’s left in the Wasteland who either haven’t gone into hiding or left for your safe haven of New Cloudsdale. But Steelwing’s has made it a personal matter in hunting you down. After all you are responsible for his sister Shooting Star being dead and he wants to have his vengeance.” Airborne gulps as the pony points his battle-saddle at his head saying, “Unfortunately Steelwing won’t have the pleasure of killing you, because I want that pleasure myself.” One of the other Enclave ponies says, “I don’t think that’s such a good idea Stormcloud. Steelwing’s will be really pissed if you kill Airborne before he gets the chance too.” Stormcloud yells, “Shut up! If I kill Airborne I can go back to the Enclave as a hero and replace Steelwing’s who will probably be executed after all he has made a lot of enemies in the higher ups back in the Enclave.” Airborne can hear the Stormcloud’s battle-saddle whirring to life, he looks up into the emotionless mask that hides his killer’s face and then closes his eyes resigning himself to the thought of death, “At least I can die knowing I tried to clear Lightning Dust’s name. I was able to recover the information Fluttershy wanted and bring peace to the rulers of the Crystal Empire, how many ponies can say they have done that in their lives? I wonder when I get to Heaven will Lightning Dust and Thunderlane be proud of me after I tried to redeem them.” Airborne hears a number of large cracks fill the air as gunshots ring out; Stormcloud falls over with a large red hole straight through the middle of his forehead. The other Enclave ponies return fire at the now rapidly approaching group of Earth ponies. One of the Enclave ponies tries to take off and escape but is shot out of the sky before he can get more than ten feet off the ground. The other two Enclave ponies crumple to the ground blood pooling out of large wounds in their sides. Airborne looks at the group of Earth ponies one of whom says, “Glad to see we got here in time. Since we saw those buzzards flying towards somepony we knew it was you guys.” Airborne stands up saying, “Thanks for coming on time otherwise we would have joined Princess Luna in Heaven a little too quickly for my tastes.” Looking back he can see Fractured and Celestial removing pieces of the Enclave ponies armor and placing the pieces of armor on their respective barding’s. Airborne says, “While that armor is well crafted it wasn’t really designed for ponies who aren’t a Pegasus” Fractured replies “Who cares it’s a lot better than that rusted junk I was wearing before.” Looking at Celestial, Airborne says, “Now you will look more like a walking tank that a pony” he starts to laugh as Celestial blushes. Starshine looks at the armor and says, “I have forgotten what it felt like to wear this stuff. What about you Airborne? Do you miss wearing this?” Airborne shakes his head and nickers, “Not really, that junk always chafed in sensitive areas, if you get my meaning.” Walking back over the familiar landscape of the Equestrian Wasteland, Airborne pulls his hat down, protecting his face from the fierce sun’s rays. Starshine trots up to him and smiles Airborne feeling a tug at his heart and blushes slightly hiding his face underneath the brim of his wide hat. Arriving at Fluttershy’s compound Airborne notices there are no guards on the walls, the gates of the compound grind open to reveal that all the ponies of the compound standing in ranks with a single path going up through the middle of them. Each pony wears a black armband around each of their left forelegs, then as Airborne and his friends start to walk down the path each of the ponies lift their legs and salute them as they pass by. Reaching the building in which Fluttershy’s office stands in Airborne looks back at the group of ponies standing neatly in ranks, all of their heads have turned towards him and he says, “Thanks everypony for the fine welcome back but we still have much work to do.” Gem, Fluttershy’s secretary opens the door to Fluttershy’s office, as soon as Airborne crosses the threshold Fluttershy embraces him, hugging him as hard as she can he can feel the dampness of her tears running down into his coat. She says, “I am so glad to see you are safe Airborne and I am sorry to have heard about Darkstar. He died like a hero, I have already ordered for his name to be engraved on the Wall of Remembrance.” Airborne is taken aback by Fluttershy’s hug, in all of his years of living in the Wasteland he cannot remember when somepony had hugged him, and usually they were trying their hardest just to kill him. Airborne stammers and replies, “Thank you for your concern Fluttershy, it is good to be back. But how did you know we lost Darkstar?” Fluttershy pulls away from him and replies, “My scouts who found you reported he was not with you anymore and I knew what that meant.” Airborne then says, “What’s the Wall of Remembrance?” Fluttershy replies “Follow me.” She walks out of her office and into the courtyard of the fortified compound, trotting to a large wall that Airborne had first mistaken for the remains of some long bombed out home he can now see it is covered in names too numerous to count. Fluttershy gestures to the wall and says, “This is the Wall of Remembrance, I had it built a few years ago. On it lists the names of every pony that is known to have died in the War and on the Last Day. It is to remind us of all that we have lost, but for me it reminds me of all the ponies who died because of my foalish mistakes.” Airborne looks at the lists of the names and spots some he recognizes, the names Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and Applejack top the beginning of the list followed by the names of Equestria’s twin rulers Princesses Celestia and Luna then the list continues on, hundreds of names doubling into the thousands. Airborne gets the feeling that this memorial is not so much a way to remember the past but is an effort on Fluttershy’s part to give many of these ponies a final epitaph since many of them died instantly without a grave to call their own, many more simply vanished into the Wasteland even if they had managed to survive the destruction of Equestria. Airborne looks at the wall then says, “We have the coordinates for some location Rainbow Dash fled to but we don’t know specifically where in Equestria it is” Fluttershy replies, “While you were away, I had one of my tech pony’s clean up the remaining message that you saw before you left. I think you will find it most interesting.” Back in Fluttershy’s office Airborne listens to the last known words of Equestria’s most famous Pegasus, “I never meant for any of this to happen, everything is lost because of me. As everything ends I cannot help but think back to a happier time with my friends before the war. In the end maybe I should have refused the Princess when she offered to make me the head of the Ministry of Awesome. But regrets have not gotten me this far, please if anypony gets this message I am currently hiding in what could very well be my grave, I have ensured that this message contains my location, hopefully the right kind of ponies will find me and not those stupid featherheads back in the Enclave. I have constructed a large crystal chamber here made from the Etheric crystals I imported from the Empire. Originally I was going to use these crystals for the purpose of building better robots for Equestria’s armies but now that seems kind of pointless given everything that has happened. I plan to enter the chamber, it will place my body into a form of magical stasis, the energy source to power the spell needed for this will come from me. The chamber will use my very own soul; I got the idea from Rarity when she talked about soul jars. So if everything goes as planned the chamber will be indestructible and hopefully when I awaken I can finally get to work undoing all the wrongs I have done. So until then I will rest and wait.” The message ends and Airborne stares into the screen thinking, ““So she really is alive after all this time and just waiting for the right somepony to come along to free her.” Airborne looks at Fluttershy and hands over the small tablet saying, “This has the information we acquired in the Crystal Empire, hopefully it will help elaborate on Rainbow Dash’s location” Fluttershy takes the tablet and says, “I will have my ponies decode the information and once we have it you can set out immediately to find Rainbow Dash, but until then I suggest you get some rest. You have come far and still have a ways to go yet.” Airborne and his friends are escorted to individual rooms where they can rest up before they head out, during the night Airborne hears a knock at his door, trotting over he pulls it open to see Starshine standing there. She looks at him and asks, “Can I come in?” Airborne replies, “Of course you can Starshine.” Starshine trots inside the room as Airborne closes the door behind her saying, “What’s up?” Starshine flops down onto the bed and says, “I can’t sleep. I keep thinking of that we have seen and what we are about to do. To be honest I am a bit nervous now that the Enclave is breathing down our necks.” Airborne sits down next to her saying, “It will be just like old times then, you and I watching each other’s backs” Starshine smiles and gets off the bed saying, “Airborne just in case we both die on this journey I wanted to tell you that I love you and I am glad to be with you on this wild pony chase” Airborne looks at her and blushes saying, “I love you too but let’s make sure we both don’t die on this journey otherwise I would rather not have to face Darkstar on the other side and have him be disappointed with both of us” Starshine kisses Airborne and then both fall asleep together. The next morning after having something to eat Airborne and his friends meet with Fluttershy, she hands over the tablet saying, “We now know where Rainbow Dash hid herself. The place is called Ghastly Gorge, before the war Rainbow Dash was trapped there when a rockslide pinned her wing this was after she had a race to determine what kind of pet she would have. It also use to be the home to some very large and vicious eels but I doubt they are there anymore given that the radiation from the balefire bombs probably killed them off. The coordinates from the information you recovered in the Crystal Empire place the location of the Tomb of Dash in one of these long abandoned caves.” Airborne looks at his friends and then says, “How long will it take us to reach Ghastly Gorge?” Fluttershy replies, “It will take at least a three days trot to reach Ghastly Gorge but urge you to hurry there. From what my scouts have reported is that the Enclave is hot to find Rainbow’s final location before you. If they get there first before you do, I expect you will do everything you can to ensure her safety which I cannot stress enough is of the upmost importance” Airborne replies, “You can count on us Fluttershy, after all we have come this far I won’t let those high flying ponies from the Enclave beat me to Rainbow Dash.” After restocking their supplies of ammo, med kits, food, and the necessary climbing equipment Airborne, Starshine, Celestial and Fractured Heart leave Fluttershy’s compound galloping across the Wasteland, in the clouds above a group of Enclave ponies fly in standard formation at the head of the formation flies a fierce pony dressed in the finest Enclave armor its glided edges catching the sunlight making him look like a dragon in flight. After a day of traveling Airborne and his friends make camp in the shadow of the ruins of Ponyville. Airborne looks at the ruined village and tries to image it as a bustling little community with thatched houses with ponies traveling to the local market to buy muffins and other goodies, it seemed hard to think of this place filled the ponies going about their daily business before the life was blasted from their bodies by the bombs that destroyed Equestria. Airborne turns away from the devastated ruins and curls around the campfire. Getting up the next morning the ponies push themselves at a break necking pace, Fractured looks up at the burning Sun and says, “I dunno how you ponies can stand living here underneath all of this heat, I think I have probably sweated off at least ten pounds” Starshine turns and says, “Well at least that’s ten pounds less we have to bring back with us on the return trip” Airborne chuckles as Fractured looks at the ground deciding not to reply back. After another day of travel Airborne could see a large canyon in the distance, here the radiation from the bomb blasts had charred the trees black and the earth beneath their hooves crumbled into ash, the ponies passed by the remains of an old streambed, Airborne peering into the ancient streambed sees a few puddles of blackened irradiated water. Downstream a few skeletons lie in the pools of tainted water, Starshine says, “They must have died trying to get a drink of water just to quench their thirsts from the heat the balefire bombs gave off” Airborne replies, “That’s definitely no way to go, drinking irradiated water and feeling it mess with your insides.” Walking down into the gorge Airborne looks up at the steep walls and can see a number of caves embedded into them. The floor of the gorge is littered with the remains of the giant eels that once called the gorge home. Walking by the massive skeletons Fractured says, “I am sure glad we don’t have things like this in the Empire, I would hate to fight one of these.” Airborne stops and says, “According to the information Fluttershy gave us, Rainbow Dash’s location should be right up there” he points a hoof up at a cave right above them. Starshine pulls out the climbing gear from her pack and starts to prepare for the climb, Fractured says, “Why do we need to climb when you and Airborne are Pegasus’s can’t you just fly us up to the cave?” Airborne replies, “I would but Starshine injured her wing when we fought against a yeti back in the Empire and my own wings still haven’t recovered from the frostbite I had. So we will have to make due with climbing for now.” Starshine hands Airborne the grappling gun and says, “You’re a better shot than me, I would probably just end up firing this thing at the cave or miss it entirely and besides you should have the honor of being the first pony to step foot inside the cave.” Airborne fires the grappling gun at the cave and watches as it sails through the air and inside the cave, tugging on the rope to make sure its secure he says, “Alright he goes nothing.” Grabbing ahold of the rope in his mouth he slowly walks up the gorge wall, looking back he can see Starshine, Celestial and Fractured following closely behind him. Airborne reaches the cave and looks back down saying, “I will have a look inside just to make sure it is safe.” Trotting into the bowels of the very large cave Airborne looks down and sees the almost fossilized hoof prints of somepony who had come through here a long time ago. He places one of his fore hooves into the ancient marks and it doesn’t fit he thinks to himself, “I wonder if Rainbow Dash herself made these and if she did I am walking in the hoof prints of the very first Dashite.” Airborne almost starts to hop around with joy and then notices his friends behind him, Fractured raises an eyebrow and says, “Umm are you alright Airborne?” he nods quickly saying, “Yeah I am fine lets continue onwards.” Airborne rounds the corner in the cave and stops before a very large door; it resembles many he had seen when exploring the old Stables that lay underneath Equestria’s surface. He notices a large terminal built into the wall, brushing the dust off the screen he reads the words, “Seal protocol engaged. Password needed to unlock.” Airborne looks at the keypad underneath the terminal then back to his friends saying, “This stupid thing needs a password and I don’t think Fluttershy gave us one to open this door.” Fractured trots up to the terminal and from his saddlebags he pulls out a small toolkit saying, “I can hack pretty much anything let me open this door.” It takes Fractured almost twenty minutes to open the door but he says, “There that should do it, Rainbow was pretty smart having this thing password locked with a triple bypass security code. It took just about everything I had in my arsenal just to figure out the password” Airborne looks at Fractured and says, “What was the password?” Fractured replies, “The password was Friendship.” No sooner had the word left Fractured’s mouth when the massive steel door groaned open. Airborne stands back as the door swings on its hinges, then peering inside he can see a long tunnel snaking further into the depths of the cave. Trotting inside he follows the tunnel, above the lights flicker from the decades of constant usage, the tunnel echoes with the hoof falls from the ponies, Starshine trots to Airborne’s side saying, “I cannot believe we are really here in this place and who we are about to meet is even more astounding” Airborne nods and says, “I know how you feel, I can finally cleanse Lightning Dust of her shame when I confront Rainbow Dash and tell her who I am.” Entering a large cavern the walls cast with an eerie purple glow, Airborne looks at the large crystal chamber and sees the sleeping form of Equestria’s greatest Pegasus Rainbow Dash. Trotting to the chamber he gazes up at the legendary pony, the first of the Dashites, and member of the greatest group of friends in Equestrian history. He feels Starshine lean her head against him saying, “I cannot believe she is still here after all of this time and not a corpse” Airborne looks into her eyes and smiles saying, “I think we should let her out she has slept for long enough.” Looking around the cavern for a way to open the crystal chamber Airborne comes across a small desk, on it is an old photograph of Rainbow Dash with her friends, they all smile happily out from the ages at him, he sees that none of them are in their uniforms for the Ministries and he says to himself, “This must have been taken before the War back in happier days.” In a large locker next to the desk Airborne sees an old suit of Pegasus armor with deadly magical weapons harnessed to the battle-saddle. The weapons still hum after all these years letting Airborne know that they are still very much in working order. Airborne sees next to the large crystal chamber a smaller one with a strange almost gas like substance floating around inside of it. The shape morphs into the shape of a mark he knows all too well, the shape of Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark. He continues to look at the substance and places his hoof onto the small crystal chamber; the substance almost seems to beat with a pulse of its own then it presses itself into the bottom of the small chamber as his hoof comes into contact with the container. He continues to stare at it mesmerized by the substance and thinks,“It reacted as if it knows I as if it knows I am here.” He calls Starshine over and says, “Hey look at this!” She trots over and stares at the small chamber and sees the misty substance floating around inside asking, “What do you think it is?” Airborne replies, “I don’t know but it is intelligent it recoiled when I touched the chamber with my hoof” Starshine touches the small crystal chamber and watches in amazement as the misty substance presses itself to the bottom of the chamber. She says, “Airborne I think this is Rainbow Dash’s soul.” Airborne stares at the substance and realizes that Starshine is right, before him in this small container is the essence of the greatest Pegasus who has ever lived. Airborne says, “I think it is time to put her back where she belongs” looking over to Fractured he says, “Find anyway to open this thing?” Fractured nods and replies, “Yeah I think so, there is a small panel on the side of the chamber that I think will initiate the sequence to open the chamber.” Airborne trots around to the side of the large crystal chamber that houses Rainbows silent form and presses his hoof onto the button with the faded label that reads “Start up.” As soon as he presses the button the small chamber begins to glow then a series of tubes that connect it to the large crystal chamber start to rattle around. Airborne watches as Rainbow’s soul is drawn up out of the small crystal chamber and through the series of pipes. The large crystal chamber fills with the misty substance then gradually sinks into Rainbow Dash’s body that lets out a small sigh. Airborne can see the color returning to Rainbow’s sky blue coat and multicolored tail. Her ears swivel around and listen to the front of the crystal chamber grind down as Rainbow falls into Airborne’s outstretched hooves. Rainbow’s magenta colored eyes slowly open and she’s stares directly into Airborne’s blue eyes. He slowly places her onto her hooves, she shakes her head and begins to wobble a bit she says looking at Airborne, “Who are you and what year is it?” Airborne replies, “My name is Airborne and this is Starshine, Fractured Heart and Celestial. We have come a long way to find you Rainbow Dash, your friend Fluttershy sent us to find you.” Rainbow’s ears perk up at the mention of Fluttershy, she excitedly says, “Fluttershy sent you! That means she survived the zebra’s balefire bombs, I guess she was made of tougher stuff than I thought, in fact she might be just as awesome as me” Rainbow flutters her wings, “well just a little less awesome than me. So if she sent you does that mean my other friends are alright too?” Airborne gulps and tries to speak but he can’t not being the one to tell Rainbow Dash that all the rest of her friends died some two hundred years ago during the War. Starshine says, “I am sorry to tell you this Rainbow Dash but your friends have been dead for a long time” Rainbow looks at Starshine and says, “Just how long are we talking?, Weeks?, Months?, Years?” Starshine replies, “It has been two hundred years since the war Rainbow Dash. Your friends as far as we know died the day when the zebra’s dropped their bombs. Their deaths were instant so they would have not felt any pain.” Rainbow’s eyes fill with tears and her upper lip starts to quiver, she tries to compose herself saying, “I cannot believe I have been asleep for that long, I was sure somepony would have come to find me just after a few days. I left message making sure that somepony could come and find me if they needed me, I was sure when I entered this thing” gesturing to the crystal chamber behind her, “that it would only be a few days or maybe even a year for things to start to return to normal in Equestria then I could wake up and get to work by fixing the situation I helped to create but now it’s far too late to do anything for anypony since they are long gone by now.” Rainbow sits down onto her haunches and starts to cry lifting a fore hoof to hide her face from these ponies she had just met. Airborne pulls her into a hug and says, “I am so sorry Rainbow Dash that you had to find out this way, but we really do need you and you can still help the ponies of Equestria.” Rainbow Dash looks up at Airborne then wipes the tears from her eyes and pushes herself away from him saying, “What can I do?” Airborne replies, “In your absence a group of Pegasus’s who didn’t want to live in the Enclave formed calling themselves Dashites because of your refusal to not help the ponies of Equestria. Right now the Enclave is gearing up for war with the Dashites who now live in a city called New Cloudsdale, we need somepony who can unite all of the Pegasus’s under one banner and help Equestria heal from the war.” Rainbow Dash chuckles and says, “You want me to play hero huh? Sounds good to me it would be so awesome to knock the Pegasus’s in the Enclave off their high horse for once.” Rainbow Dash walks over to the locker and puts on her old Pegasus armor and says, “Well then what are we waiting for let’s get going” Airborne nods and says, “We will led the way, for now it is better if we travel back to Fluttershy’s compound on hoof than fly and attract the attention of the Enclave death squad which I am sure is on its way here.” Rainbow places the old photograph of her friends into her saddlebags and trots next to Airborne saying, “You remind me of a pony I knew a long time ago. His name was Thunderlane, and he was probably the most lazy pony I had ever met, is there any chance you are related to him?” Airborne nods and says, “He was my many times great grandfather” Rainbow Dash whistles saying, “Who would of thought Thunderlane’s descendant would be so good looking, who is the mare he snagged to become his wife?” Airborne replies, “He married my great grandmother Lightning Dust.” Rainbow looks hard at Airborne and says, “Now that you say that you do look like her, so what happened to them? Did they survive the War?” Airborne shakes his head and says, “No they did not. Lightning Dust was in the Cloudsdale Veterans Hospital when the zebra’s destroyed it, then Thunderlane died in Manehattan when they also destroyed the city. Lightning Dust never forgave herself for her behavior in the Wonderbolt Academy, every generation of my family has lived with her shame and I came on this journey hoping to find you and ask if you can forgive the way Lightning Dust treated you. So can you find it in your heart to forgive her Rainbow Dash?” Rainbow nods and replies, “Yes I can. I remember hearing the stories of Lightning Dust’s bravery during the War, I guess she had really changed because she would save wounded ponies on the battlefield and bring them back to a field hospital behind the lines even risking her life to make sure they got back there safely. So yes Airborne I can forgive Lightning Dust.” Airborne feels a massive weight lift from his heart, his family had lived for so long with the shame of his ancestor he didn’t even believe it was possible to live without it after all it had shaped his entire identity even when he was young colt living back in the Enclave. But now all of that was over and Lightning Dust could rest in peace now. As they leave the tunnel a voice says, “Well know isn’t this a surprise, three traitors and one of them happens to be the original one I guess today is my lucky day” before Airborne can train his battle-saddle in the direction the voice had come from they are surrounded by a large group of Enclave ponies. The voice says, “I wouldn’t do that Airborne if I were you unless you want me to gun down each and every one of you right now” Airborne watches as Steelwings emerges from the shadows of the cave and he says, “I wondered when I would see you again Airborne, you have been a most elusive quarry for far too long but that will quickly come to an end soon enough.” Airborne looks at Steelwings and says, “I had hoped I would have to see you again after I left with your sister's patrol Steelwings but I guess I was mistaken” Steelwings replies, “Indeed you are Airborne and you will pay for murdering my sister once I have taken care of Rainbow Dash and her followers.” Rainbow Dash looks at the Pegasus in the gilded armor and says, “I knew a Steelwings a long time ago he was a very brutal pony, I guess that would mean you are his descendent.” Steelwings clops his hooves together and says, “Very good Rainbow Dash, yes the name Steelwings has been in my family for many generations. But now it is time for you to die Rainbow Dash, after all we can’t have you leading an insurrection against the Enclave which you were so eager to abandon now can we.” Rainbow Dash replies angrily, “I didn’t abandon the Enclave, they abandoned Equestria the day they closed up the skies for good, leaving all the ponies down here to suffer and given it has been two hundred years since the War I guess they haven’t bothered to help Equestria get back to normal” Steelwings replies, “Equestria is beyond saving, the standard of living you enjoyed long ago is no longer the norm here anymore. I have seen ponies kill each other over scraps of metal and a few spare bullets, this land is not worth saving.” Steelwings turning to his soldiers says, “Bring them outside and destroy what’s left of this place I don’t want it becoming a shrine the Dashite’s can use to fuel their war.” One of the soldiers salutes Steelwings and pulls an explosive device out of his saddlebag and places it against the cave wall then programs the detonator to blow. As they are led out of the cave Airborne can see smoke on the horizon rising high into the air, one of the Enclave Pegasus’s says, “Like it? We attacked Fluttershy’s compound, they put up quite a fight but eventually we reduced the place to cinders. Although Fluttershy wasn’t among the bodies when we cleaned up the place so she must be somewhere else but that doesn’t really matter we will find her in time and kill her as well.” Airborne spits into the Enclave soldiers face who responds by kicking Airborne in the groin. Airborne sinks to his knees and says, “Even if you kill us here it won’t really matter there will be others to continue the fight” from within the cave a huge explosion echoes through with a resounding boom sending bits of dirt and dust everywhere. Steelwings trots up and stands in front of Airborne saying, “Now then it’s time to die.” Airborne cringes saying, “Go ahead, at least my conscience will be clear. I found Rainbow Dash and cleansed the sins of my family, I have no regrets.” Rainbow Dash looks at the young Pegasus and thinks, “Wow, he is really willingly to die for what he believes in. If these Dashite’s are willingly to fight for their freedom then I consider it an honor for them to be named after me. So I have to make sure it doesn’t end here.” Rainbow Dash surges forward and crashes into Steelwings knocking him over the cliff. Steelwings quickly flaps his wings and shoots his battle-saddle at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow dodges hearing the bullets whiz on by she taunts him saying, “What you can’t hit a pony who is right in front of you? I guess the standards for what counts for a soldier these days are pretty low if they let some third rate thug come after me.” Steelwings face flushes red and he surges after Rainbow. Meanwhile Airborne tackles onto the nearest Enclave soldier grabbing his battle-saddle away from the pony and chomping down onto the trigger bit fires point blank into the soldier whose brains splatter all over the entrance of the cave. Starshine struggles with the nearest Enclave soldier and yanks a pin out of one of the grenades the pony has wrapped around him; kicking him back she takes cover as the pony explodes into a fine bloody mist. Starshine sees one of the Enclave soldiers level his battle-saddle at Airborne who is trading blows with another Enclave pony, Starshine jumps in front of the pony as he fires feeling the bullets pierce her body in two places. She falls to the ground and raises her own battle-saddle firing into the Enclave pony’s head which bursts into pieces. Airborne seeing Starshine get shot cries out and quickly pins the Enclave pony he had been fighting with snapping his neck like a twig. Celestial and Fractured make quick work of the rest of the Enclave ponies with Celestial tearing their bodies to pieces with her powerful combat shotgun battle-saddle. Airborne cradles Starshine’s in his hooves saying, “Why would you do something so stupid? I thought we agreed that nopony else was going to die for me?” Starshine winces replying, “I am sorry to say I never agreed to that arrangement Airborne” Fractured looks at Airborne then at Starshine’s wounds saying, “We can still treat those Airborne but you have to let us look at them first.” Airborne can hear the flapping of somepony’s wings as they approach, but sees it is Rainbow Dash. She says, “That coward Steelwings flew off after I burnt more holes in his fancy armor than he would like with my magical weapons. So I am guessing there are more Enclave thugs on the way, he did say something about having to find Fluttershy and I have a pretty good guess where she will be.” Rainbow looks at Airborne then to Starshine saying, “We have to leave now if we are going to catch up with her and beat these guys to the punch” Airborne shakes his head saying, “No I want to stay here with Starshine, just to make sure she is okay” Starshine angrily yells at Airborne saying, “Don’t use me as an excuse just so you can hang around here. Don’t let me getting hurt send you into a mental tailspin Airborne I don’t like it when you are like this.” Airborne shakes his head and gets up off the ground checking his wings saying, “I think I can make the journey and thanks for getting my head on straight Starshine I won’t let you down” she smiles weakly saying, “You better not otherwise I will come back and kick your butt. Just promise me you won’t die.” Airborne replies, “I won’t” Fractured says, “Don’t worry Airborne, if Death wants Starshine he is going to have to fight for her, I won’t let her slip away.” Airborne hugs Celestial and Fractured saying, “I am glad to have friends like you” then looking to Rainbow Dash he says, “Let’s go.” Rainbow Dash flaps her wings and soars into the air with Airborne following close behind her. Starshine watches as they become two dots on the horizon then closes her eyes and hears no more. Airborne says to Rainbow Dash, “Where exactly are we going?” she replies, “To a small glen outside of Ponyville, Fluttershy would visit it frequently during the War as a place where she could get away from everything. With any luck she should be there” Airborne replies, “There’s probably nothing left of the place, it probably all burnt down when Ponyville was destroyed” Rainbow replies, “Well then where would you suggest we go?” he replies, “Let’s try her cottage near the Everfree forest, hardly anypony has visited the place in the last fifteen years” Rainbow Dash asks, “Who was the last pony to visit there?” Airborne replies, “Littlepip and her friends were” Rainbow Dash looks confused at Airborne who says, “Don’t worry I will tell you all about it on the way there.” The two Pegasus’s fly towards the growing green expanse of the Everfree forest, a place where few ponies fear to tread and the location of Fluttershy one of the last remaining members of the greatest group of friends in Equestrian history.