Lancie's trembling stone hands covered his eyes. His rocky teeth rattled as he stammered into the ensuing silence. “Is... is it over...?”
“Eyes front, lil' guy,” Rainbow's panting voice said. “Fireworks are done with.” She gulped. “For now.”
The little statue pulled his paw and talon free. He blinked at the cavern floor as it was covered with moaning, groaning, and thoroughly bruised canines. Rainbow Dash stepped gingerly over the throttled bodies, kicking their weapons away and making sure none of them were getting up.
“Yeesh...” Lancie grimaced. “Someone should call PETA.”
“PETA?” Rainbow blinked at him.
“Indeed. Ponies Entitled to Too much Ass-kicking. Why don't you sautee 'em while you're at it?”
“Oh please. These guys had what was coming to them.”
“And little did I know you would come so unabashedly hard.”
“Not a fan of violence, Lancie?”
“Violence is one thing, my dear Sparky.” He flung a talon at the mangled mess. “But this?! This is Calamity's day at the gym!”
“Huh...” Rainbow Dash wiped her sweaty brow and smirked. “And here I thought you'd be proud.”
“Can someone be proud of a tornado once it's flattened an entire valley full of stables?” He glanced over her shoulder and suddenly ducked down into the saddlebag. “Zoop!”
“Hmmm?” Rainbow blinked, but then heard a voice clearing in front of her. She turned to look.
The deer stood up on wobbly legs. “Please...!” She backed up with timid trembles. “Please d-don't hurt me! I'm not worth eating! I promise you!”
“Hey! It's okay, girl!” Rainbow waved her forelimbs with a gentle smile. “I only pummel freaks who deserve it—and you totalllllly don't deserve it. Trust me.”
“You mean...” She gulped, her ears folded. “You're not here to eat me?”
“What, you full of hay'n'oats?” Rainbow opened her mouth wide, uvula flapping. “Aaahhh... thee? Thee dat?” She pointed at her molars. “Nod foh eabing mead! Bust daithees and gupgakes!”
“Then... then...” The deer gulped. “You're here to help?”
Rainbow snapped her jaws shut and smirked. “Looks like it! What's your name, doe?”
Lancie poked his head out of the saddlebag. “'Doe?'”
“Y'know...” Rainbow turned back at him and whispered, “A deer! A female deer!”
“What was that?”
“Er... n-nothing!” Rainbow thrust her hoof into the bag beyond Lancie and pulled out one of the loaves of bread she got at Sugarcube Corner. Breaking it in half, she held it out to the deer. “Here ya go. Courtesy of the Awesomeness Express.”
The deer looked at the crumbly morsels, then up at Rainbow Dash.
“Well, go on!” Rainbow smirked. “The bread's sure as heck not gonna eat itself!”
Fidgeting, the deer, clasped the meal in two cloven hooves and scarved it down ravenously.
“Whoah ho ho!” Rainbow chuckled, sitting back on her haunches. “And who says everyone from Whitetail is mega-dainty?”
“Mmmrffmmff... I'm... mmrfmmmff... n-not from Whitetail Woods... mmmfffmmff...”
“Then where you from, girl?”
“A place... mmfffmmf... f-far from here... mmfffmmf...” She about finished the bread, licking up every last crumb. “I was... on a research tr-trip with others from my university. The diamond dogs attacked our caravan and forced us into slavery. Ever since, we've been... uhm... w-we've been forced to dig for minerals, ore, and rubies...”
“You have any idea what for?”
“No... But I do hear things.” She gulped the last bites down and shuddered. “I'm sorry. I just... haven't eaten in so long...”
“Hey! It's okay! You're safe now. Besides, you can trust me.” Rainbow smiled. “I can totally be a kind pegasus.” A beat. She blindly slammed the skull of a diamond dog that was nearly awake behind her.
“Uhm...” The deer breathed easier. “My name is Autumn... Autumn Rush.”
“Nice to meet you, Autumn. I'd say you had a pretty name if—y'know—I was into that stuff.”
Autumn blinked awkwardly.
“Yes, I noticed too,” whispered Lancie from Rainbow's satchel. “She doesn't have an ounce of freckles on her.” A wing smacked him. “Ow!”
“So what kind of things do you hear around here, Autumn?” Rainbow asked. “Sounds to me like these canine creepazoids are trying to build something.”
“Yes...” Autumn Rush nodded. “For their leader. The one they call Top Dog.”
“Is that so?”
“It... it's hard to say, but from what I've heard—it sounds like they're trying to build him some sort of machine. A mobile device.”
“What, like a chariot or something?”
“No. Something a great deal more complex. Something that can operate automatically without ponies or cattle or anything else dragging it along.”
“Ew. Sounds gross.”
“Yes, well, they really believe in it... whatever it is.”
“Are these dogs even capable of building such a thing?”
“Not usually. But they've seemingly stumbled upon a rare fuel source that powers that which they've designed.”
Rainbow Dash's eyes thinned. She felt Lancie stirring in her saddlebag. Clearing her throat, she leaned forward. “Go on...”
“Now these diamond dogs won't stop at nothing until they have a large apparatus built around this strange power source. They've been working me and the rest of the slaves to death!” Autumn gulped. “Literally!”
“And how come Princess Celestia and the Royal Guard haven't done anything about it?”
“Well... uhm... the sun only sets on the surface world.” Autumn gazed sadly towards the ground. “I don't believe your ruler knows anything about our plight, Miss... Miss...”
Rainbow Dash blinked. With a firm frown, she trotted forward. “Rainbow. Rainbow Dash. But you can call me 'awesome'.” She rested a hoof on the emaciated deer's shoulder. “Why don't you show me where the rest of your friends are being held, Autumn.”
“You... you mean...” The doe's eyes glistened. “You're h-here to help us?”
“Pfft! Why not?” Rainbow Dash smirked. “If all I came here to do was beat dogs' snouts in, then I'm in for a big disappointment, don't you think?” A mutt stirred behind her, and she bucked it blindly with a vicious back-kick. Wham! “So... where to, girl?”