Dash pumped her wings forward, and pushed herself to move faster. She needed to get out of here, needed to escape. She just needed to find Pinkie, no way was she leaving without her friend. She was flying just above eye level, and would occasionally crash into someone's mane, causing a varied range of reactions. A rainbow trail blazed behind her as she flew, making it extremely easy for someone to find her. The wind pushed against her powerfully, slowing her, and she landed. Surely she had gotten away from the mascots.
She sighed, and glanced behind herself. Her heart skipped a beat, and a pain rose in her chest. A large yellow pony, hooves wreathed in fire and perfect pink mane stuck running down the side of its 'head', was hovering just above Rainbow. It's eyes were a light shade of cyan, and a small white bunny sat motionless on it's back. A loud siren blasted out of it's plastic mouth as it descended down to earth. Dash covered her ears to block out the sound, and spread her wings, ready to fly away again. The Fluttershy mascot placed it's hooves on the ground gracefully, and turned off the siren. A loud click echoed through the park as it turned it's rockets off. The sound of static came out of it's mouth briefly, before it spoke in a voice that was similar to a cool summer river.
"Umm, if you don't mind, could you please come with me? We just want to help you, if that's ok?"
Dash took a step back. The huge difference between the mascot and its voice was jarring, and made Dash feel uncomfortable. She took another step back, and Fluttershy did the same. Static was heard again, followed by, "I really wish you would just come with me."
Dash felt something behind her, and tore her eyes off of the robot. Her back was pushed against a large metal fence that was so tall Rainbow couldn't see the top. The metal of the fence was old, and rusted in a few areas, yet other parts looked relatively new, creating a kind of checkerboard effect. Dash spun back around, and let her fear get the better of her. "Stay....Stay back! I'm warning you!"
The robot ignored Dash's pleas, and took another step closer. It's backwards wings locked onto Rainbow, and they seemed to surround themselves with an air of superiority. The sun glinted off their pale yellow barrels, and the robot they were attached to moved closer still.
Dash felt a deep fear in her heart. They were so close that they could touch one another if they wanted. The robots large, emotionless eyes stared at Rainbow, showing no emotion, just a blank stare of nothing. Dash swore she could hear someone breathing, and realised that she was hearing her own breath. The mascots head turned to the side with an unnatural mechanical movement, and Dash saw it's eyes change from cyan to dark red. Or did they? They kept switching between the two colours, and the robot rose bigger. Her mind struggled to find a reason for this, but found none.
Dash felt herself falling, and opened her wings to catch herself, but it didn't work. There was no wind to ride, no air to grab. She flapped helplessly as she fell, and the park zoomed away from her. All that was left was a huge void, cold, empty and alone. She continued falling, until an abrupt mechanical laugh broke into her mind. It echoed incessantly, driving out all thought, and replacing it with fear. The void around her began to change, gaining colour, taking shape. A million ponies surrounded her, each standing perfectly, facing forward. She hit the ground roughly. A jolt of pain ran through her, but she managed to pull her head upwards. The laughing remained in her head, but the ponies had vanished, leaving six in their place.
Dash recognized her friends, or rather, their robots. She panicked again, this was too much. Pain ran through her again as she tried to run, and she realized with a gasp of horror that she was stuck to the ground. Her friends moved closer, smiles stuck on their faces in an eternal metal glow. Their eyes however, their eyes were real. They showed deep fear, similar to what Dash was feeling. Their eyes pleaded out to Rainbow as their bodies moved forward. Dash struggled to escape from the ground, glancing down for just a second as the robots moved closer. She snapped her head back up, and tried to fly backwards as the ponies leapt into her face. Twilights counterpart raised her hoof, and brought it closer to Rainbow's neck. Dash struggled with all her strength, determined to break free, but was too slow. The hoof grabbed her neck, and Dash struggled for breath. Twilight was relentless though, and Dash felt her strength draining away from her. She gasped one last time in an attempt to grab air, and blacked out.
Rainbow snapped back to reality and faced the robot in front of her. What just happened? Where were her friends robots? Rainbow looked up, and saw that Fluttershy's mascot was still standing in front of her. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she acted out of pure fear. She didn't even notice her hoof flying towards the robot until it hit. The small white bundle sitting on Fluttershys back went flying through the air, and crashed into the ground with a mechanical crunch. The robot Fluttershy hesitated, then it's mouth stretched into a freakish grin. Static again, then, "Oh my. You hurt poor little Angel. I suppose I should do something." There was a brief moment, until it spoke again, "Then again, he was always a little rough. Maybe a little tough love will teach him to be kinder."
The robot drew her attention back to the pony backed against the wall, only to notice that she was gone. She spun around confused, and saw a tell-tale rainbow trail leading away, right over her head. Rockets shot out of Fluttershys feet again, and she gave chase, shouting out to Rainbow as she did. "Please don't run, we can help you."
Rainbow forced herself to move faster, flapping her wings at an incredible speed. She could hear the protests of the ponies beneath her, but ignored them in favour of moving faster. She realised with a shock that she had actually attacked one of the robots! She stared at her hooves as she sped through the air. Her hoof ached from the rough metal of the robot, and she shook it to try and relive the pain. She suddenly grasped something that was hanging out of her view before. These mascots definitely weren't ponies, and they weren't afraid to attack her. To take her mind of this fact, she glanced behind herself, only to notice that her pursuers had vanished. She slowed down, expecting them to lunge out from behind something, but they didn't. She stopped completely, and hovered in the air. Looking around confused, she wondered where the mascots had went.
She landed on the ground, and glanced around. She was in a large open area, and there were no ponies this far off the road. A large rock was postioned on the ground near her, but other than that, only small blades of green grass surrounded the rainbow pony. She sighed, and rubbed the sweat off of her head.
"Psst, Rainbow!"
Rainbow Dash jumped into the air in fear, and sped behind the rock. She poked her head out the top and scanned the field, but she could only see the tents of the amusement park. She turned her eyes to the sky, and tried to pick out whoever had called her name.
"PSST, Rainbow!"
Rainbow jumped into the air again, and flew around the rock, hiding on it's other side. She still couldn't see anyone, and looked around confused again. With a jump, she saw the mascots rising into the air, searching for her. It wouldn't be long until they saw her cowering behind the boulder.
"PSST, RAINBOW. DOWN HERE!"
Rainbow looked down, and realised with a shock that the rock was looking back up at her. Two large white eyes were poking out the side of the boulder, and staring up at her. A split second passed as the two stared at each other, then the rock started moving. It rolled over to the side, revealing a large hole hidden beneath it. More important though, hanging off the edge of the pit was a familiar pink pony. Pinkie had lost the bowler hat, and a strangely serious expression graced her face. There was also a small scar running down the side of her face. Despite this, Rainbow greeted her friend.
"Pinkie! How did you get under the rock?"
Pinkie leapt out of the hole, and poked Rainbow in the face a couple of times. After the fifth time, she stopped, seemingly satisfied. "Dashie, you're ok! Well, sort of ok. Not injured though."
Dash looked at her confused, "Of course I'm not. Those mascots couldn't catch me if they tried."
Pinkie slipped behind Dash, and started to push her towards the hole, "We need to get out of here STAT. Get inside Tom, quickly, and I'll explain more."
Dash resisted, "What why? Didn't you want to come here in the first place?" Dash asked nervously. While she did want to get out of the park before more trouble arrived, she wasn't expecting Pinkie to agree with her.
"No silly, we need to get out of here, this field." Pinkie explained.
Dash reacted with a simple, "Oh."
The pink pony jumped ahead of Dash, and disappeared down the hole in the earth. Her head poked up a second later, and her hoof waved Dash closer. "Come on, quickly."
Dash edged closer, and poked her head over the edge of the hole. She couldn't see the bottom, and everything was covered in a small later of dust. The darkness stretched deep into the hole, and Dash was reminded of whatever had happened when she faced Fluttershy. "Actually, I think I'll stay up here, Pinkie."
Something large crashed into the ground next to her and she turned quickly. A cyan coloured robot with a brilliant rainbow mane was standing next to her, shaking the dirt of it's eyes. It stood up, and stood perfectly still. The mascots colours shined brightly in the sun, projecting rays of light into the sky. Each ray was a different colour of the rainbow, though each branched into a different direction, destroying the illusion. Slowly though, the rays started to lower, seeking the earth. The violet ray was the one closest to the ground. It passed over Rainbows face, and she suddenly felt tired. Extremely tired.
Why hadn't she noticed how tired she was feeling?
"Surely it was all that flying around." She thought to herself. She glanced at the grass. It seemed to have become softer, and the green grass created a sheet of soft light to sleep on. Dash took one last look at Pinkie, before collapsing to the ground. Pinkie was looking on in abstract horror, but Dash didn't care. She pushed her head closer into the dirt and closed her eyes.
Something grabbed her by the leg, and she was pulled against the ground. Suddenly, she was falling. Rainbow snapped her eyes open, and flapped her wings quickly. A grinding noise filled the air above her, and the light above her head cut out. She flapped uselessly in the darkness for a moment, until something landed on her back. She fell, and crashed into the ground roughly. She extra weight on her back caused her to leave a Rainbow shaped hole in the ground as she hit the ground.
"Oopsie, sorry Rainbow Dash. Are you ok?" Pinkie said, climbing off Rainbows back and standing in front of her.
Dash lay on the ground for a moment, and waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. "No, I usually lay in holes perfectly shaped like my body, Pinkie. The truth is, I'm half diamond dog." Dash commented sarcastically. She was sitting a long tunnel, seemingly dug beneath the amusement park. Wooden pillars lined the walls every 3 metres, though some were occasionally placed in areas of high stress or weight. The ground beneath Rainbow was moist, and the sound of casually dripping water echoed though the tunnel.
"Where are we Pinkie? What's going on?" Dash said, yawning while she did so.
"We don't have long, I'll explain while we hop." She said, leaping away from Rainbow deeper into the tunnel.
The two walked in silence for a few minutes; Rainbow trying her best not to make too much noise, and Pinkie leaping forward a few steps every time she hopped, then waiting for Rainbow to catch up. Eventually though, Rainbow tired of the near perfect darkness, and asked again, "Pinkie, can you please tell me what is going on?"
Pinkie stopped, and scratched her chin, "Okey Dokey Lokey. Where should I begin?" She questioned.
Dash slowed down the rate of the questions in her head, and focused on voicing them one at a time. "How did you get that scar on your cheek?"
"I got it when I pushed you out of the way of that rampaging bull. What was his problem? Someone should really throw him a relaxation party. Do you think I could that? Or would that be rude?"
Dash took her eyes of the darkness in front of her, "Hang on, what bull?"
"The bull you angered when you go back in time to save me from the bull you angered." Pinkie said simply.
"What are you talking about?" Rainbow asked.
"Did I forget to tell you? I'm sorry, it's just like that time I forgot to tell Gummy not to eat the cake, and then he ate the cake and I got in trouble even though I never touched the cake, then I had to go and make a new one in record time before the Princess arrived and then there was a party." Pinkie said hastily.
Rainbow grabbed Pinkie, and forced her to stop jumping around, "Focus Pinkie, what did you forget to tell me?"
Pinkie escaped the mares clutches, and trotted deeper into the tunnel. "I'm from two chapters in the future. I came back because I had to save you, and Doctor Whooves said the universe would collapse if I didn't, which would be really sad because then I wouldn't be able to talk to you or Twilight or Applejack or Fluttershy or Rarity."
"Chapters? Future? Pinkie is this a joke?" Rainbow asked, concerned.
"Nope, I'm 101% honest." She replied.
"So where are we going then?" Dash asked, hoping for a simple answer.
Pinkie pointed into the darkness, and responded quickly, "I parked the time machine at the end of this tunnel. Whooves said you would know what to do when you got it. Which is odd, because I don't remember you knowing how to time."
"But why do I need a time machine at all? We need to get out of here."
"I told you, you need to go back in time to save me from the bull you angered when you went back in time so I can come here to tell you about the fact that you need to travel back in time to save me from the bull you angered when..." Pinkie continued her infinite loop for a few minutes, until Dash finally decided to put her out of her misery.
"I'm confused." She commented simply.
Pinkie nodded, "Me too, though that happens a lot for me so I got used to it and now I just roll with whatever happens next."
The two turned a corner, and Pinkie raised her front hooves dramatically. Yelling at the top of her voice, she said, "Behold Dashie, the most powerful machine in the universe, powerful enough to rip time itself and send it user hurtling into the past. A single piece of this machine could bring years of darkness and danger to the world, and the whole thing could threaten all of reality. NEIGH, ALL REALITIES. It is the most advanced piece of technology in all of Equestria and it is.......not here any more."
Pinkie nodded her head slowly, and turned to Rainbow Dash, "Dashie, I'm afraid we've made a doozie of a mistake, and not the small kind of doozie, the large kind that usually results in someone getting covered in tar and or feathers."
"We have?" Rainbow asked, confused.
Pinkie nodded again, "Dashie, this is super duper important. You need to find out where the machine is, travel back in time, eat some cotton candy, fight some robots, rescue me and be a hero. I would help, I really would, but the rollercoaster closes soon, and I can't miss it." Pinkie said, strangely serious.
"Isn't this a little more important than riding the rollercoaster?" Dash asked, a drop of sweat running down her forehead.
Pinkie chuckled, and turned around, "Silly Dashie, nothings more important than the rollercoaster. Except bumber-carts, or pie." She commented, hoping away into the darkness.
"Hang on, come back." Dash shouted into the darkness. Pinkie ignored her, and continued on her way.
Dash sat down, and stared into the tunnel she was sitting in. "I am so confused. What do I do?" She thought to herself.
She leaned against the wall, and pondered deeply on how she should proceed. She realized quickly that she didn't really have much of a choice. She could head back through the tunnel and run into those horrible mascots again, or she could head forward to try and find another way out, and if she happened to find this 'time machine' Pinkie was talking about, then she could decide what to do next if that happened.
There was an indention in the ground where some sort of heavy machine had sat, and it looked like it had only been moved recently. The weight and size of the machine caused it to leave a groove as it was dragged across the ground, and Rainbow followed this groove with her eyes. They faded into the darkness, but Dash could still see that they stopped suddenly, probably pulled into the trapdoor installed into the roof. She wondered briefly how she had missed it earlier.
Dash flapped her wings, and rose into the air. She flew over to the door roughly, and pushed up, causing it to swing open.
"I say, brother of mine, what a precariously pretty piece of pompish platinum we appear to have found."
"Indeed, fine brother, it's a veritable vibrant volcano of vacant volume."
"An astounding array of abandoned assets?"
"Indeed, an incredibly interconnected idol of interesting information."
"Ahh, I agree, it does seem to be a gigantic goblet of ghostly gold."
"A metaphorical mannerism, I presume?"
"Of course, brilliant brother."
"May-haps we should end our miraculously merry and mightily melancholy rhyming session until this memorable meeting of machines is manageable?"
"I thought you would never ask, dear brother."
Rainbow poked her head over the edge of the trapdoor, and hastily took in her new surroundings. She was now in a huge circus tent, it's thin cloth made out of fine reds and blues. Seats for the audience formed a perfect circle around an arena set up in the middle of the tent. Two large poles, stretching to the ceiling, stood on either end of the room. A thin rope spread between them, and a large spotlight focused on the pole on the right. Looking down, Dash followed the sound of the voice to find two ponies chatting between themselves. Behind them was a large machine, about three times as long as a pony, but Dash couldn't see what it was, because the ponies had covered it in a large white sheet. The two ponies were nearly identical, save for the fact that one was sporting a small moustache. They were both taller than a usual pony, and each wore a blue and white striped vest. They were a pale yellow, and their manes were a dark red and white, giving them the appearance of bacon. Their cutie marks were strangely similar. One was a small red apple with a neatly cut piece missing, and the other was a neatly cut apple slice. It seemed like the two were made for each other.
Dash floated out of the hole in the ground, and landed on the ground softly. Scanning the room, she could see a small opening on the other side of the room. The two ponies were infront of her, and directly blocked her from sneaking out unnoticed.
She ducked behind one of the chairs, and tried inching her way around the circumference of the tent. She was making good progress, until something cracked under her hoof. She looked down at her feet to see a broken twig underneath her hoof. She looked up, scared that the ponies might have heard it. After a few minutes passed without her being detected, Rainbow started moving again.
Suddenly, a yellow hoof smashed down in front of her. Rainbow launched herself into the air in fear. This resulted in her crashing into the pony behind her, who tried his best to lessen the effects of Rainbow's mistake. Standing up, she stared at the two ponies sheepishly, before realising who they were.
"Flim! Flam! What are you doing here?" She asked excitedly.
Flam looked at his brother slyly. "Why Flim, why haven't you told me about this dexterous and delightfully polite mare? Have you been keeping secrets from me, Flim?"
Flim leaned back, appalled, "Why of course not, Flam, I thought you were the one who had previously met this fine mare."
Rainbow corrected herself quickly, "No, we don't know each other personally, I was in Ponyville when you tried to sell us cider using the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy."
The two ponies exchanged glances, and asked, "6000?"
"Yea." Dash answered.
"Ahh, yes, I remember now, do you, Flim?"
"Indeed I do, shame about how it ended but we're partially to blame."
"Yes, it was our own fault for serving faulty cider. Still, business moves on and more opportunities wait to be grasped."
Dash interrupted the conversation by poking her head between the two ponies. "So what are you doing here?" She asked.
Flam decided to answer, cutting off his brother, "Why, we're in charge of the machines! The owner of this fine establishment took quite an interest in our cider machine."
Flim cut in, adding to the sentence. "Indeed he did. Brilliant creature he is, he bought that old cider machine and hired us as the official mechanics of Smile Land. And I say, there is quite a lot of work to do here, isn't there dear brother?"
"Of course." Flam replied, "And what are you doing here, fine mare? Are you an employee here too? Have you come to help us repair the mascots?"
Dash hesitated, searching for an answer. The mascots? Did Flim and Flam really make those, and did that mean that they were coming here? Dash felt her heart beat slightly faster, she needed to get out of here. However, she stopped. Maybe she could destroy the mascots while they were helpless. No more mascots, no more problems, no more fears. She nearly said yes, until she remembered her friends. What would Applejack think of her if she lied? Surely she would be saddened, and what would Fluttershy think? She wouldn't want Rainbow to hurt anything, regardless of whether it was a machine. And Pinkie, Pinkie would...well, surely she wouldn't be as happy.
Dash sighed, and answered the question, "No, I just snuck in here. I'll leave you two to do your egghead stuff."
The pony in front of her stood in her way, "Now hold on there, madam. Surely you could still be of some use to us. What do you think Flam?"
"You mean with the machine? Indeed, bring her closer." Flam responded.
Dash hovered in the air, putting nearly thought into the rhythmic flapping of her wings. "Hang on, what are you talking about?"
"Come here, madam, and we will explain more." They said in unison, hopping over the chairs and making their way towards the covered machine in the middle of the tent.
Dash shrugged, and flew over to it. She waited patiently while the two earth-ponies made their way towards her. After a few minutes of waiting, she impatiently called out to them, "Hurry up and get over here." The ponies made no effort to move faster, but were still making good progress towards Rainbow. When finally reached her, she opened her mouth to talk, but was cut off before she could. "Well, my fabulous friend, I bet your wondering why we called you over here." The moustached pony explained.
"Well actually, I got here first so technically..."
"You see, it's because me and my dear brother have been having an argument." Flim continued, "A most tremendous argument indeed."
"No see, I called you over..."
"Indeed we have, dear brother. One we were hoping you could help us settle." Flam said.
Dash dropped her gaze, and rubbed her head with her hoof sadly, "Fine, forget it. What's the argument about?"
"This!" They shouted dramatically, pulling the covering off the machine with their magic. The sheet went flying into the air, landing roughly on the ground and revealing the machine that was hidden beneath it.
Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped as she beheld the now visible device. She flapped it up and down uselessly for a few moments, even glancing her head to the two ponies for an answer, before finally grasping what was in front of her. The machine in front of her was odd. It resembled Flim and Flam's cider machine, in the fact that it had four small wheels stuck on either end. Unlike the brothers machine though, this device was more streamlined, with nearly nothing poking out of it at uneven angles, save for a large...thing...poking out the back. The thing looked like someone had simply stuck two large metal boxes onto the device. If it wasn't for the large pipes and wires connecting the two to the vehicle, Dash would of assumed that it was out of place. Best of all, the entire thing was painted in as many colours as the owner could find, reds, blues, greens, all the colours of the rainbow. They ran from the front to the back in straight stripes, adding to the streamlined appearance. Rainbow was instantly amazed at the device, but attempted to play down her wonder.
"So? It's a thing. How does this include me?" She asked.
"Why, my brother and I were wondering about who built it. We assumed that because of your mane and the devices painting..." Flim explained.
"...You would know who the constructee is." Flam finished.
Dash moved closer, and poked around the machine with her hoof. She rested on a small handle poking awkwardly out of the side. She pulled on it, and a section of the machine pulled upwards into the air. Dash flew backwards quickly, worried that she had broken the machine. Her fears melted away however, as she saw the two brothers smirking to themselves. Slightly calmer, she landed on the ground, and poked her head into the machine.
There were two seats, both worn out from continuous use. Between the two chairs was a strange box, however the box was strangely empty. A couple of empty wires showed that something was originally wired into the box, but Dash decided to ignore this. She turned her head towards the large window on the other side of the vehicle. There was a whole bunch of dials and levers that made no sense, and a thin circular wheel poked out in front of one of the seats. Next to it was a small display of numbers. They showed the day's date, all the way up to the year.
Rainbow pulled her head out of the machine, and stared at the FlimFlam Brothers.
Shaking her head, she said to them, "Nope, I have no clue who build this thing."
The brothers exchanged glances, "Are you sure? We just assumed, because of the painting..."
Dash stopped him, and replied, "As awesome as the paint job is, I don't even know what this thing is."
There was an awkward silence between the two parties; Rainbow glancing around nervously. Eventually, Flim coughed, and commented, "Well, if business is done, I assume you would want to go."
Flam picked up from where Flim left off, "Indeed, don't let us two stop you."
Dash nodded in agreement, and started to fly over to the large door. Before she did though, she decided to voice some of the questions that were bothering her about the machine. She turned, still flying backwards, and asked, "Before I go, what was the thing in the box?"
"What box?" One of the brothers asked.
"I believe she means the powerbox of the vehicle, dear brother."
"The one behind the chairs?"
"The very same."
"What a truly odd place to put a generator, wouldn't you agree, Flam?
"Indeed I would Flim."
Dash threw her hoof into her face, before carefully thrusting both her front hooves in front of her to make sure her point would get through. "Stop, stop talking, so it was just a simple generator?"
Flam shook his head, "Not exactly, my dear rainbow, not exactly."
"You see, this generator does more than simply power the machine." Flim added.
"This machine has the power...to control time itself!" They yelled in unison.
Dash froze in the air, and searched over the faces of the Flim Flam brothers, trying to determine whether they were being honest. This was the time machine Pinkie was talking about? More importantly, Pinkie was being serious about the time machine? Dash shook her head, this was a surprise.
"So this 'time machine generator thingy', where is it now?" Dash questioned.
"Well, this is a delicate and clearly dangerous piece of technology, far larger than anything we've worked with before."
"So we studied it for several long minutes before shoving it into an extremely experimental piece of our own work."
Dash raised her hoof to point out what kind of problems could rise from what they did, but lowered her hoof quickly, "So what did you put it into?"
The two brothers exchanged glances. A moment passed, and the two whispered to each other. Rainbow sat their impatiently, waiting for them to hurry up and answer her question. Eventually, they turned to Rainbow, and spoke in unison. "Tell us, madam, would you be interested in helping us test a perfectly safe and scientifically tested machine?"
Dash raised her hoof to her chin in an attempt to convince the brothers that she was thinking about how to respond. Truthfully, she already knew what she wanted, and that was to find Pinkie and get out of the amusement park. She opened her mouth, but instead of saying no, her instincts and curiosity took over, "What does it do?"
Flim smiled, and wandered away from his brother, while Flam explained exactly what was going on. "If our assumption is correct, this fantastic device will revolution the way pegasi work. It will single hoofedly change everything you know about flying. It will be used by weather mares, racers, stuntponies, even simple factory workers. It is easy, efficient, simple and all around amazing. All we need is somepony to give it a test flight." Flam explained, before turning behind, "Flim, bring in the 'Amazing Airfoil Assistance Asset'!"
Flim came back into view, carrying what seemed to be an oversized saddle on his back. Unlike a normal saddle though, this one had the large metal skeleton of two wings protruding from the side. There was also a small triangle connected to the middle, with three shiny bars leading to the middle of each corner. Flim placed the device carefully on the ground, and motioned for Rainbow to try it on.
She looked at it nervously, and glanced back up at Flam. "You still haven't said what it does." She said angrily.
Flim put on an exaggerated look of shock, "Why brother, have you neglected to tell her about this brilliant device?"
Flam returned the look, and added, "Why, it slipped my mind, brother. Should you do the honours?"
"Indeed I shall. This device, when worn, will increase the flight capabilities of the one wearing it, making them move faster and with more precision. It will allow even the weakest pegasus to fly with the skills of, dare I say, one of the wonderbolts. Now, if the testee would kindly step over here so we could get it fitted."
Dash shrugged, and walked over. This entire machine sounded flaky, but if it could make her fly even faster, than surely that could only improve her chances of joining the wonderbolts, right? Besides she loved to go fast, she was good at fast. As Flim fitted the machine over Rainbow's back, she started to think to herself. Pinkies words echoed back to her however, filling her with doubt once again.
She supposed that now she would need to figure out what to do. Did she try to take the time machine? Did it even still work? Did she lie about owning it in the first place? Did she ignore the whole thing? Rainbow had no clue what to do next. A million possible options spun through her head and she didn't even notice something enter the tent from behind her.
The two brothers, however, noticed quickly. "Ah, dear brother, it would appear that one of the mascots has become injured."
Dash froze in place, and refused to turn around. Maybe it wouldn't notice her if she didn't move.
Flam stared at his brother, and added, "Indeed, shall we take a look at it?"
"Of course we shall, brother of mine. I shall leave it to you while I help our dear guest." Flim stated.
Dash fought through her cowardice, spun her head back, and got a glance of the terrible machine that was rolling into the tent before Flim asked her to look forward again. It was a light purple, with a mechanical looking darker purple mane. A bright pink stripe ran down its mane, stopping at the base. Poking through the thin metal of the mascots hair was an absolutely huge horn. Dash guessed it would be bigger than Celestia's horn. On it's flank was an explosion of magic. It didn't take a genius to guess that this mascot was supposed to emulate Rainbow's friend, Twilight Sparkle.
She could faintly hear Flam diagnose the machine, almost as if it was a living pony. This creeped Dash out slightly.
"Would you look at that, someone's fully disconnected the visuals. Poor thing can't see anything. What's more, back leg is mangled beyond belief, and has what appears to be...rock candy...jammed into the circuits. Mane is dreadfully out of place, horn is damaged and the neck has...I use this term loosely since it obviously cannot apply to robots... been bruised."
Flim nodded at his brother, "How very peculiar brother, what could of possibly caused this?"
"I know not, Flim. Let us hope that it was merely an unfortunate accident."
"Indeed." Flim replied sorrowfully.
Flam perked back up quickly though, "Well, brother, no permanent damage, lets work on fixing her up." He said.
The yellow pony got to work on fixing the machine, occasionally rushing into Dash's field of vision to grab more parts. The yellow ponies brother tried fit the mechanical saddle onto his patients back, taking extra care when it came to threading the skeleton through Dash wings.
Eventually, after several minutes of silence, Flim spoke, directing his question at Rainbow. "Alright, the machine is fitted. It may feel a bit heavy for a few moments, but that'll pass. It's just running a few tests on your body for maximum efficiency. If it doesn't fit properly though, or is uncomfortable, you'll need to come back here to get it checked by us. Got that madam?"
Dash nodded, and stretched her wings. The metal skeleton of the device was fitted awkwardly between her feathers, and the cold steel felt unnatural against her bare skin. On her back, a small box was balanced precariously, three small lights glowing in it. Hundreds of small pipes and wires hooked into the box, and spread along the length of the device. Dash struggled to make the box comfortable on her back, but the weight of the box was simply to much. The earth pony turned away from her, and faced the other pony in the room.
"How goes the repair on Twi-bot, brother?" He questioned.
Flam wiped a drop of sweat out of his mane, and looked up at his brother. "I just need to get the eyes working again, then she'll be good as new."
Rainbow struggled against the box again, before moving over to the mascot. It was kind of ominous, seeing the thing she feared being laid out in front of her. She bent down, and stared deep into it's giant glass eyes. It stared back emotionlessly, showing no fear, no hopes, no dreams. For some reason, this was scary for Dash. It was an odd look, one that wasn't usually found in nature.
Dash broke her gaze, and looked at the two brothers. "What are these things?" She asked them.
"The mascots? Why, only a piece of extremely advanced technology." They replied.
"No, I see that, I mean, what ARE they? In your opinion."
"Machines of course. Nothing more, nothing less. Highly advanced, extremely well programmed machines, but machines none the less."
"So they don't scare you or anything?" Dash continued.
The two chuckled, "Of course not, my dear. Why would they?"
Dash swallowed, "I don't know, aren't you afraid they might replace you? I mean, if they can do what you do, but better, then why keep you around?"
"You need to stop reading so many comic books, my dear. Machines could never fully emulate a pony. They lack emotion, they lack drive, dreams, hopes, fears, all the little things which make a pony a pony. It's true that they may be stronger, or smarter, or faster, but that's only to follow the orders they've been given. They just simply don't have free will. Besides, who would want to create an artificial pony anyway?" Flam replied.
Dash stared into the glass eye of the mascot. It stared back at her, and seemed to penetrate through her coat, through her flesh and bones, directly into her soul. Dash felt a shiver go down her spine; she was reminded briefly of a couple weeks ago, and the reason she was here. A couple weeks ago. Dash started to drift off, until suddenly the robot blinked at her.
Rainbow jumped backwards, and floated in the air. The machine on her back was lighter now, and she nearly forgot she was wearing it at all. The mascot blinked again, and pulled itself to it's legs. Flam was thrown off it's back as it did so, crashing into his brother. The robot looked around, seemingly confused about where it was. It closed it's eyes, and said loudly through a mouth full of static.
"Warning: Damages detected. Emergency Battery is offline. Unable to power horn."
"Warning: Damages detected. Program 'Twilight Sparkle is offline. Attempting reboot."
"Ow ow ow: I'm injured. My back left leg hurts. I need to get somepony to look at that."
"Ow ow ow: I'm injured. My neck is preventing me from doing my very best. I need somepony to look at that."
"Well, now that that's done, let's take a look around."
The Twilight mascot scanned over the room with it's eye, stopping once it hit the two brothers. "Friends found. It's Flim and Flam, the mechanics. I don't have any reason to be angry at them." It said, scanning through the room again.
It stopped on Rainbow, and hesitated a second. There was a moment of silence, until the static returned, "Friend found. It's Rainbow Dash, priority target. I should show her my friends."
The three ponies waited to see what the robot would do next. Dash remained on edge, making sure not to let her muscle's relax. The mascot sat there quietly, until it took a few steps toward Dash. It's mouth remained exactly the same as it spoke, "Hello, Rainbow. Could you help me with something? It'll only take you a minute and I can't find Spike anywhere."
Dash glanced around nervously, and shook her head slowly. "No, I really need to go. Pinkie's waiting for me."
Twilight moved closer, "It'll only take a moment, Rainbow. You know me, I wouldn't want to burden you."
"No, I really do need to leave. You have fun with Flim and Flam, I'm sure they'll fix you right up." Dash replied, a drop of seat running down her neck.
"I insist, Rainbow." Twilight crackled out. Rainbow opened her mouth to retort, but shut it quickly when the robot lunged at her. Dash flew up just a few seconds before Twilights giant horn stabbed into the air. The mascot took a step back, and tried again. Dash dodged, and flew behind the Flim Flam brothers. "That thing nearly killed me! Stop it."
Flim looked over in shock, "I...I don't know how, madam. It's programmed never to attack a pony. Right brother?"
"In...Indeed brother." Flam replied, looking equally shocked.
"It tried to attack me!" Dash shouted, jumping back when Twilight crashed through the two ponies in front of her.
The mascot feigned right, and Dash fell for it, flying right into it when it leapt to the left. The tackle winded Dash, and she struggled for breath as the robot stood above her. It lowered it's head, and it's purple horn shoved roughly into Rainbows ribcage. She could feel her heart beating powerfully in her chest, and her breath came out quickly. The mascot pushed forward, punching into Dash's chest. She breathed in hastily as a burning sensation spread out from the hole. She could see her dark red blood oozing out from the wound. The mascot pushed in deeper, and the pain increased. Dash grit her teeth and tried to push the robot off, but she already knew she couldn't even if she didn't have a hole in chest. Black spots spread on her vision, and she suddenly felt extremely tired. She closed her eyes for a split second.
"Hey, get off my friend you big MEANIE!"
Rainbow's eyes snapped back open, and she threw her head backwards to try and see who was talking. The pain in her chest flared up when she did, bringing tears to her eyes. The pain went away mysteriously when she saw who was standing in the door. Pinkie moved quickly, and something flew through the air. It smashed into Dash's nose, then kept flying directly into the mascots face. The robot was pulled back by the object, and practically flew off of Dash. It's horn dragged across Dash's body leaving a large scar. Dash winced, but took this opportunity. She flapped her wings into the ground, and dragged herself away from the mascot. The metal bars of the AAA clattered against the ground as Dash moved. Spinning around, Dash pulled herself back into the air. Just in time to see Pinkie run past her, holding one of the largest milkshakes Dash had ever seen. Dash pulled in a lungful of air, and watched over the scene unfolding. The purple robot's face was covered in cake, and it twitched erratically at random intervals. Despite this, Twilight's mascot got to it's feet quickly, and charged at it's pink attacker. Pinkie, rather then try to dodge, simply launched the milkshake directly at the robot. It collided with a loud splash, and the robot collapsed to it's knees; the occasional spark of electricity shooting of it.
Satisfied, Pinkie turned to Dash and started laughing. "Hehehe, you got a little cake on you Dashie." She chuckled out, pointing at Dash's nose.
Dash tried to laugh, but it caused a pain in her chest to do so. Instead, she simply wiped the icing off her nose. Watching Pinkie laugh her head off in front of her, Dash had a sudden urge to hug her. She fought against, but couldn't help put pull herself closer to her friend. Before she knew it, her hooves were stretching around her friend and she pulled her close. "Where have you been Pinkie?" She asked.
"Sorry I'm a bit late Dashie, but I had to grab the cake, and then some balloons and then some pie, but I ate that so I had to buy a milkshake instead. But I'm here now and you're ok and that's great. In fact that's better than great, that's super great."
"Lets get out of here." Dash yelled.
"Okey Dokey Lokey. You go first." She responded, pointing at the door.
Dash glanced at the robot on the ground; it would occasionally kick it's legs out at random and it's eyes blinked erratically. Rainbow shrugged, and headed over to the door. The flap of the tent waved in the wind, and Dash took no time in pushing through it. The bright sunlight immediately crashed into her eyes, causing her to squint. While she did, everything came out in a darkened blur. The rainbow mare sat down from a moment, and placed her hoof on her injuries while she waited for Pinkie to come out after her. The fresh blood sunk into her coat, leaving a dark red blotch over her chest. Something walked towards her from the path, and Dash placed her hoof over her eyes to get a better look. She froze in fear as recognized the pony walking towards her. After all, nopony else had rainbow hair like her. Dash wanted to run again, to separate herself from this thing before it took another step, but Pinkie was still inside the tent, and she couldn't leave her like she had before. Rainbow's mascot walked closer, and stopped just in front of Dash. The rainbow mare winced as she pulled herself to her feet, and stared into the robots eyes.
There was a brief burst of static, then the mascot was speaking. The voice that came out was nearly identical to Dash's own. "Come on. How many times are you gonna run? You can't just sneak in here and expect there not to be consequences. I mean, who do you think you are? Princess Celestia?"
Dash swallowed, and fought back her fear long enough to respond. Her voice was quiet and full of voice cracks, but she was amazed she could even use it. "I...I don't want any trouble. Just let me and my friend go and we'll get out here. No need to chase us or anything."
There was an awkward silence between the two, until the robot responded with a hasty rebuttal. "Nah, you see, the problem with that is, I don't really think that would work. The boss said we need to bring you in to security, and I need to do that. He also said to restrain you in any way possible."
There was a high pitched scream from within the tent, and Dash's attention was forced away from her clone. The rainbow mascot took this chance to lunge forward, smashing Dash in the chest again and forcing her through the cloth walls of the tent. The hole in her chest started bleeding again, and the robot forced her into the ground. If it could move it's mouth, Rainbow guessed it would be smiling victoriously. What it wasn't expecting however, was to be thrown sideways violently as a bolt of green magic shot into it's side. Dash pushed herself into the air, and faced her savour. Flim smiled, and wasted no time with pointless gestures. "I don't know what you did, madam, but it seems your presence upsets the mascots. I kindly request that you leave before more physical harm comes to you."
Dash shook her head in response, "I can't yet, Pinkie's not here."
Flam appeared next to his brother and focused his magic, creating an aura around Dash. "She already left. She said to meet her back at the roller coaster, like you were suppose to." He said, carefully throwing Rainbow through the wall of the tent, creating a second hole.
Dash shook her head, and laid on the ground pathetically for a moment. Why would Pinkie just run away like that? Again? Dash sighed stupidly, and flapped her wings. The metal device strapped to her back responded to these movements by pushing down quickly, causing Dash to be propelled into the air. She flapped again to regain control, and searched through the park for the roller coaster. It wasn't hard to miss, it was only the largest thing in the park. Celestia's sun glistened off the polished metal of the ride, sending rays of painful light in all directions. Dash turned and began to move towards it, when there was a loud ripping sound from beneath her. Dash glanced down quickly just in time to see her doppelgänger charging towards her. It's hooves were covered in fire, and a large dent spread across it's side. It gazed up at her emotionlessly, and Rainbow could make out the faint sound of static. She fought the urge to run away just long enough to her what it was saying. "So it's a race you want? Well, I can do that. If I catch you, I win. If you escape to the roller coaster, I still win, but for a different reason. Ready?" Dash had a split second to start moving before the mascot lunged up at here, screaming "GO". Dash exhaled hastily, and flew out of the way. Glancing back, she sprinted off, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. The mascot turned it's head towards her and gave chase.
Dash panted, and flew forward. Sweat was running down her coat as she sped forward, occasionally dripping off her to land on the heads of the ponies below. She slowed down for a split second to turn to her pursuer. The mascot took this chance, and glided up to the air above Rainbow. The heat from it's rockets burned the rainbow mares mane, and she pulled down in an effort to avoid it. The robot also lowered itself, keeping the pressure on Rainbow. Suddenly, the AAA on Rainbow's back let out a loud click, and the pegasus was propelled forward at an incredible speed. The wind pushed against Dash's face, but the metal contraption on her back gave her more than enough power to push through it. It stretched her wings, and would some times clip into her feathers, but the result was more than worth a little pain. Rainbow turned to taunt the mascot before dashing off, only to notice that it was still following her. Even worse, it was somehow catching up. Dash swallowed in fear, and pushed harder. The machine responded in kind, and the went even faster. Looking around, Rainbow could see that they were no longer even in the park, having flown over it's fence's ages ago. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something. A cone of blue electricity was spreading outwards from her hooves. She moved her legs in fright, but the cone remained, shooting lightning into random directions. Rainbow wondered briefly whether this was the beginning of a Rainboom, but passed over that. Rainboom's didn't start as blue lightning. The mascot appeared next to her, it's horrible face just barely poking into her field of vision. "Well, this is boring. Shame, I thought you were suppose to be good. The best, in fact." It teased. Dash heard a mechanical spinning noise, and was immediately reminded of the device the mascot called it's wings. "Well, Rainbow. Guess I was just better." It added. The rainbow pegasus remembered how fast the things fired out of them moved. A single shot would cause her to crash. She searched around desperately for somewhere to hide, something to stop the robot. Seeing nothing, she closed her eyes tight and waited for the mascot to attack.
The mascot pointed it's wings at Rainbow, and fired. A loud bang went out through the sky, followed by a brilliant flash of light. Dash disappeared, though her signature rainbow trailed continued moving through the air for no reason. The metal balls passed harmlessly through the empty air, hitting the ground with a soft thud. Dash's mascot came to a complete stop, much faster than a normal could, and scanned around vacantly for it's prey. It was no where in sight. Rainbow Dash had completely vanished.
A bright flash of light hit Dash's face, forcing it's way through her eyelids. She also started shaking uncontrollably and realised with a shock that she was freezing. Her feathers had a small film of ice gathered on them, and the machine on her back felt like it had been dunked in a pot of icy cold water. She glanced around for her attacker, and wondered where it had gone. Through chattering teeth, she landed softly on the ground, and looked around confused. After several minutes of waiting, Rainbow let out a nervous laugh. "Yea. That's why you don't mess with the Dash." She choked out. The bright rays of the sun hit Rainbow in face, and she basked in it's warmth. The sun lit up the large desert she had found herself in, and the light reflected into her eyes painfully. Why was it always the eyes? The sun peeked over the distant hills, and Dash suddenly realised what that meant. The sun was rising! Dash rubbed her head even harder, and tried to make sense of what had happened. One moment she was running for her life, facing the end of her rope, and the next moment she was standing in an empty field, a full day later, completely safe. There was a low rumbling from behind her, and she turned to it, searching for answers. There was a train full of passengers rolling towards her, firmly stuck to the track near her field. "How did I miss that." She wondered briefly. The rumbling grew louder, and the train rushed past her. Dash made a mental note to follow it when she gained enough energy.
Suddenly, something large crashed into the ground near her, sending sand flying up into her face and body. She shook herself like a dog to erase the sand, and the thing next to her yelled at the top of it's voice.
"BRONTES WILL HAVE JUSTICE!