//------------------------------// // The Struggle, Part 1 // Story: Families // by Darth Link 22 //------------------------------// Things were not at all happening the way Olive Branch had thought they would. He was trying, and failing, not to show this, much to Celestia's continued amusement. "I have her drugged!" he yelled. "She won't be awake..." "You're lying," Celestia said bluntly. "You would have brought that up first thing if it were true, and you're far too nervous besides." "...Well, I have others! The Element of Loyalty, and a member of the Wonderbolts..." "The fastest flyer in Equestria and a member of the military? Do you honestly think that will work out better?" "You can't take that chance! I'll send the signal right now and have them killed." "Go right ahead." Olive Branch gaped. Even Luna looked a little unsure at the bluntness of the statement. "Tia..." "You're bargaining with their lives! I knew it, you're a tyrant..." Celestia put her face very close to the unicorn, causing a shiver to run down his spine. She spoke slowly, menacingly. "Rainbow Dash, as you said, is the Element of Loyalty, as in, loyal to her friends, loyal to her town, and loyal to me. She wouldn't want me engaging in actions that would harm others, even to save her own life. And the Wonderbolt? It doesn't matter who it is... likely Soarin, I'd guess, Luna told me they were dancing together at the wedding... every member of that squad has pledged to serve others with a level of conviction that a pony like you can't comprehend. So go on, send your signal. I will not disrespect their values to appease a foal like you." Silence hung in the air. "Fine," Olive Branch said angrily, lighting up his horn. Speedy Delivery glared at his two captives, watching as Rainbow Dash struggled, trying to work her way out of the bonds. It was no good, they were tied too tight. Soarin had not put as much effort into getting free, but was instead carefully talking to his captor. "Do you really think this will work?" "I know it will work," the mailpony said dismissively. "Celestia is a foal. An invasion happened right under her nose. She'll fold to Lord Olive Branch's commands. Then, when he is king, he's promised me a place in his court. I'll be able to pull my wife and daughter out of poverty." "Scootaloo's going to suffer no matter where you take her," Rainbow Dash spat. Speedy made a move to hit her again, but by now she was too far into the cage to be hit. At that moment, Speedy Delivery straightened. Then he let loose a sigh. "Just got the word. See, this is what your Princess thinks of you. She won't even give up her power to save your life." "I wouldn't want her to," Soarin spat. "Neither would I," Rainbow Dash added. "Idiots," the mailpony muttered as he placed the key in the cage lock. After opening it, he grabbed a knife, not a fancy one, just a sharp looking kitchen knife, and came towards them. He passed by Soarin and straight to Rainbow Dash, giving her a kick to the muzzle. As she cried in pain, he spoke. "This is what you get for trying to take my foal away from me." He raised the knife up. A hoof to the back of the head stopped him as he fell to the ground. Soarin was up, and he tossed aside the ropes before clenching on to Speedy's fallen knife. "How'd you get free?" "These were amateur knots," Soarin noted around the knife as he cut through his marefriend's bonds. "Honestly, this whole thing seems pretty poorly planned out." As soon as her binds fell away, Rainbow Dash was in the air. Instantly she regretted it. She felt dizzy, like she had just done several aerial loops. “What th...” “It’s the drug,” Soarin said. “Whatever they hit us with still has us dizzy.” “Then why doesn’t it affect you?” “It does, I’ve just been trained to handle myself. Now come on, Speedy won’t stay down forever.” "Then let's get Scoots and get out of here!" She quickly sped out of the cage and up the stairs. "Wait! They might have..." As soon as Rainbow Dash opened the door, a blast of magic sent her to the bottom of the stairs. A unicorn and an earth pony pushed their way down, effectively blocking the exit. "...backup," Soarin finished wearily. The unicorn aimed and fired at him, which missed him by a great distance thanks to his superior combat training. In no time at all he was on his opponent, striking him in the eye. The pony grunted in pain as his comrade struck Soarin on the head, sending him staggering to the ground. Rainbow Dash, recovered, flew to help him, but another blow to the back to the head sent her to the ground. As she groaned, she flipped onto her back, looking up at the very angry face of Speedy Delivery. Another blow to the face, and another. By now Rainbow Dash was sure she had a black eye, and she felt blood caked on her upper lip. She dodged the next stomp by shifting a bit, then swung her foreleg upward. Her aim was true, and she hit Speedy, not too hard, but hard enough to stop the attacks momentarily. That moment was all Rainbow Dash needed. She let loose a flurry of strikes, each hitting the object of her rage. Her punches weren't as strong, but they were much faster, and he was showing clear bruises, unable to get his own hits in. After a few moments, she decided to fly back and slam down onto her opponent. She flew back, and found herself hitting the wall. Suddenly she struck the back of the wall. It hit her roughly five seconds after the wall did. In tight quarters she was robbed of her greatest strength, her speed and her manuverability. She was handicapped farther than the mere aftereffects of a drug. The last true fight she had been in was with the changelings, and she was beginning to realize that fighting them and fighting Speedy were different things. The army she faced was made of several weakened units, given strength by sheer numbers. The entire invasion was a ploy to get love, and Rainbow Dash wondered, in the back of her mind, if the soldiers she fought were weak from hunger. Speedy, by opposite, had strength, not Big Mac's level but enough to cause damage. Her punches were certainly hurting him, he could still keep going. She flew forward to punch him again, but by this time he was beginning to recover from shock. Finally mustering up the concentration, he reached out and struck his opponent in the face. The temporary pause was enough to get another punch in, pushing her against the wall once more. "So... you can get a hit in that's not a cheap sucker..." She was cut off by a punch to the stomach, and another to the nose. Before a third strike could follow, Speedy's unicorn companion came crashing down on top of him. Rainbow looked up the stairs just in time to fly out of the way of Soarin and the earth pony, who came crashing down after him in a ball of violence. "Go get Scootaloo," he instructed as he tried to keep his opponent pinned. Rainbow Dash needed no second bidding. She flew up the stairs, her hooves never hitting the ground at her speed. She was up on the ground floor before long, looking around. "Scoots? Scoots?" "You stay away from my foal!" Quick Delivery screamed, coming toward her menacingly. Or at least, in an attempt to be menacing. She ended up stumbling on her face. Rainbow Dash just stared at this a minute. "Just... just give me a minute," Quick slurred. Rainbow Dash refused. She flew back through the house, calling Scootaloo's name. Owlowiscious was not happy with recent events. Flying into Twilight's home that night had been the best thing that had ever happened to him. He was made a pet, a much sought-after position among animals. It meant escaping mother nature's harsh design and avoiding being prey, or having to take prey. Twilight worked him hard, but fed and rewarded him well, Spike had proven a good companion after his initial jealousy, and he thought fondly of Peewee as an apprentice. So he was alarmed when he learned of the Changeling Invasion nearly destroying them, further alarmed by Garble and his friends targeting Spike specifically. And now... there was this. A group of ponies... thirty, at least... were at the door of the Golden Oaks Library. He was currently the only one home, since Rarity had whisked away Spike and Peewee. He could get away quite easily, but there was so much knowledge in this tree... "Let's burn him out!" a cry came. "No. If we act unruly, it will alert the town to our presence. We're not equipped to handle a whole population." "But Rabble..." "I said no! Don't forget it!" Owlowiscious was relieved, but this was still a problem. "Hold still while I get this door open," a voice said, as the doorknob began shaking. Owlowiscious thought a moment. He wondered if he should try to take them on, but he knew it was foolish. There were a good deal many more than he could hope to make a difference with. He needed to get help. Stretching his wings, he flew out the window. Twilight galloped on toward Ponyville, her determination managing to outstrip her cohorts despite their superior physical prowess. Not that this surprised any of them at the moment. "Twi... what's th' plan when we get into town?" Applejack asked between breaths. "We find them and kick their flanks." "Wait!" Clyde said, trying to run up to her. "We can't... take them all on and..." "You can't," she clarified. "But won't this cause more problems? Dragons are already known for causing..." "I. Don't. Care." "Wait!" Clyde grabbed her by the foreleg, nearly causing her to fall. Skidding to a stop, she turned and glared at the rockfarmer, magical energy glowing in her eyes. "Let go of me," she demanded. Clyde gulped, but held his ground. "Please, Miss Twilight, just listen..." "I said let go of me!" "Twi!" Applejack yelled, grabbing her friend. "Remember th' weddin'? You lost it like this an' it just made everythin' worse?" That snapped Twilight out of her rage. Her expression was stunned for a moment. Then, tears began forming in her eyes. "But... Spike! My son..." "Ya can figure this out, sugarcube, I know it." Twilight took a few deep breaths. "We... we need to think about this on the way there," she said at last. "We can't afford to wait here." "Why don't we just teleport?" "I wasn't thinking at first," she admitted. She blushed. "But it would be a bad idea. With how far of a head start we got, we could end up teleporting right in the middle of the mob. I don't think even I could fight them all of if they lunged at me all at once." "See?" Clyde said. "I think a more rational means would work better." "I guess you're right..." Twilight was silent for a few seconds. "And I know just the trick. Come on, we better get moving, I'll think of something." Rainbow Dash found her in her room, curled up onto a ball on top of her cover, sobbing her eyes out. "Scoots!" she said in alarm. "R-Rainbow..." "Come on, we're getting out of here!" the older pegasus said, moving toward her. "B-but my d-dad..." "Scoots, forget him!" she yelled. "He's trash! Come with me, I'll make sure you never get hurt again!" "But..." She was cut off by Speedy tackling her to the ground. "Get away from her!" "You get away from her!" she shot back, wildly swinging her hooves. Scootaloo wailed, but it did nothing to stop the two brawling ponies. She hopped off her sheets and scooted under the bed, trying to hide from the melee between her two loved ones. "No, Scoots! Run!" "You stay put, you little brat!" "S-stop it!" she sobbed. "Please, just... stop!" "Scoots, please..." A swing of the hoof to her stomach silenced her. "See? This was never a problem before she came along. She's ruining your life just by being in it!" "Shut it!" Rainbow Dash roared, trying to get the upper hoof. Speedy Delivery wrestled with her eventually landing a blow that sent her back into Scootaloo's end table, causing the lamp resting on top to shake. Undaunted, she grabbed the lamp and tossed it, striking him in the side of the head. Speedy hit floor, groaning. In a flash, Rainbow Dash was on the floor, belly first, reaching under the bed to get her student. "Scootaloo, please, come here." "N-no," she sobbed, scooting back. "Please, Rainbow Dash, just go. He's already really mad at me, you're just going to make it worse..." "I'm going to make it better! You won't have to put up with your dad ever again, I promise!" "But..." "Listen, I know you think you have to be loyal to him, but you don't, because he's not loyal to you. If he was, he'd treat you better than he treats you. He keeps telling you things that hurt you, but I've seen what you can do! You're an amazing filly! You deserve better than this creep! Please, Scootaloo... don't let him treat you like this." Scootaloo shook for a moment. Then, slowly, she started trotting towards her. "That's it... that's it..." And then the lamp came down on her. With a cry, Rainbow Dash's head hit the floor. Speedy Delivery stood above her. "Scootaloo... you're in trouble." Celestia hated the taste of popcorn. And yet, it best made her point, so she continued to pop them into her mouth, her composure never wavering as she watched Olive Branch, who was looking more and more nervous. "I believe we can give them another thirty minutes," the Princess of the Sun waved it off, clearly enjoying the chance to drop her regal demeanor for a time. “Maybe they just have a miscommunication.” Olive Branch just sat in a puddle of his own sweat, clearly not happy by the recent turn of events. He should have gotten confirmation that his hostages were dead by now. “Must we continue to play this game, dear sister?” Luna said. “I think it’s clear the Bearers are in no danger. Let us commence with the arrest.” Olive Branch’s eyes widened. Luna noted this and decided to add, “I believe this constitutes high treason, with compromising several of Equestria’s defenses. The sentence could be severe.” “Indeed it is,” the older sister answered. “I really wished to hear from Twilight first, but I’m sure she’s fine. Unless, of course, you have any other futile attempts to add?” Olive Branch sighed, looking resigned. “Very well,” he said. He lit up his horn again. There was fire. A ball of it. Not used as a weapon, as Luna thought it was at first. It simply engulfed the three ponies that had tried to blackmail them moments before. “What? No!” Celestia yelled, suddenly feeling alarmed. She cast a spell in an attempt to stop what she recognized the spell was doing, but it was in vain. When the flames dropped, there was only scorched tiles left. Olive Branch and his assistants were long gone. “A teleportation spell... clever,” Celestia sighed, poking the floor with her hoof. “He couldn’t have gone far,” Luna said quickly. “The castle is defended against unauthorized teleportation in or out. What was that foal thinking?” “Perhaps he was being foalish,” Celestia said. Then, her eyes widened. “Or perhaps he set up a distraction so he could slip out...” Outside the walls of the palace, the guards were beginning to feel more at ease. Not completely, but enough that they had managed to convince themselves that this wasn’t going to be a problem. The group of ponies, and it was a large crowd, were still waiting for Olive Branch to emerge and let them know what victory they had won today. They were shooting the guards dirty glares, but so far nothing had happened that had required them to step in. That is, until a ball of fire erupted in between the guards and the crowd. “Citizens of Equestria,” Olive Branch’s voice erupted from the flames, “If you’re hearing this, it means that I have fallen. As I suspected, Celestia has had me killed for speaking out against her. But even though I have fallen, my ideas live on! I beseech you, storm the palace now and fight back! I did not go down easily, and she is weakened! You saw she can be defeated at the wedding, now go forward and do your duty!” The guards eyes widened. They looked at the crowd, hoping that the crowd would be questioning whether it would be really worth it to go against the immortal sun goddess. As it turned out, they didn’t. Some surged forward immediately. Desperately, the guards put their shields up. Had the numbers been smaller, they could have won. But it was only a handful at the door on what had been expected to be a peaceful day. They were overwhelmed. Thankfully, they hadn’t been blood-crazy enough to do anything more than knock the guards out. They had bigger fish to fry.