With all of the others locked up in the brigs of the massive airship, there was only one anthrony that could be making any kind of difference for the group. And that very anthrony was nopony else then Rainbow Dash herself. Even though she had let them all hang during both the fight and their capture, she was still out there, alive and kicking. She was hidden in plain sight. Rainbow had seen everything with her own eyes and wasn’t happy about it for one bit.
Her eyes had seen just how the brutal arrest went and the fight between her partners and the griffons. The sounds still rushed through her head as she wanted to get it all out of there. But the case may not have been that. She had to do something, to get them all out of there. One way or the other, they would be getting off of griffon ship.
For Rainbow Dash had managed to hide herself way up within the clouds after she had come down again. The clouds that were used to disguise the top of the mountain also had become her place to stay during the fight. She had a perfect view on the platform but said to herself not to make any intervention. The reasons behind it was that she knew how the griffons worked. Rainbow could be speaking of actual luck that they didn’t found her or went looking for her.
That was pretty much the saving grace that the mare had. The fact that none of them actually went searching for her meant that she could remain hidden and not move from her location. Only when the group of griffons and anthronies moved did she move as well. The thoughts of terror went through her as she skipped from cloud to cloud within the air.
Never did she took her eyes off of the group while those same eyes also warned her about the dangers that laid in every other direction. From time to time she even had to hide herself within a cloud just to avoid glaring eyes. Whether those eyes were hostile, or friendly.
Her first objective was to stay hidden from everything until she knew where the mares would have been brought. After that could the plan be formed of getting them out as well as the possibilities of all the errors that she would be making. Though that was a thought she rather skipped in the first place.
Finally she did she caught the dark clouds and the clouds did their job very nicely. They managed to scare the pegasus down to her very soul. Clouds that dark only could have meant the most severe of thunderstorms in her mind. She was terrified that the griffons were actually flying straight into the place before they disappeared out of her sight.
“Impossible,” the major said to herself in a trembling tone. Rainbow had to shake her head a couple of times. She just couldn’t grasp her head around the fact that the griffons had not only entered the clouds, but that there wasn’t anything happening either within them. If those clouds would have been static charged, they would have been toast a long time ago.
What was unknown for the pegasus was that within the clouds, the massive airship could be found. A tactic that was used often in the conflict. But also one that had sunken deep down in her mind. The pegasus was oblivious to the facts as they were.
The mare remained hidden within her little cloud for as long as it was needed. Of course she just wanted to rush right in and get the other anthronies back. But she couldn’t let her disguise drop in broad daylight. If even one of the griffons that was chasing her –or belonged to the group that captured them all– would have spotted her, it would have been over.
The thoughts of being torn to pieces by the claws and beaks of the barbarians was an unsettling one. Yet also one that made her determination of not being found only bigger. Naturally there were griffons that flew by from time to time. Griffons who didn’t seem mind that little cloud to be there. The threat levels of that tiny cloud compared to the giant thing were next to zero. There was nothing inside of that little bundle of white fluff that could possibly be of harm for the vessel, or the emperor.
The griffons made only one little mistake though. For Rainbow Dash was dangerous enough to just be that on her own. If she had to, she would end the lives of all the soldiers that came in and out of the clouds to find her partners.
While the sun had set and the moon rose gentle across the skies, the pegasus had remained hidden in the clouds. The beginning of night would have been time to get to the others. With no light to work with, were it the eagle sharp eyes of the beasts that worked a little bit less. Which meant mostly that Rainbow could get past them undetected. That was the plan she had at least.
Rainbow made sure that there were no other beings in her nearby area before she dared to leave the cloud. Her wings made powerful flaps to propel her forwards in silence. The last thing she needed in the moment, was to be spotted and speed was of the essence. The first one was debatable in her mind. For she wasn’t sure whether or not she could remain undetected until the very end.
Speed however, was something that she did possess. The major could fly at an incredible speed thanks to years of training, her body was almost to the limits of its capabilities. All those years of training finally paid off when she could use the skills all at once.
Darkness then followed, complete and utter darkness followed the pegasus while she had entered the dark clouds. Yet she could feel straight away that the clouds were just for show. There was no static electricity that was flowing through them at all. She almost wanted to say that the clouds had been ‘dead’ for a long time.
‘Dead clouds’, as many residents from Cloudsdale referred to those kind of clouds. They were clouds that looked like they would be carrying something, but instead were empty. It was something every pegasus had to know and had to learn the differences between a dead one, as well as their counterpart. Which were of course the living ones.
“Dead clouds, I should have known. Not even the griffons are stupid enough to make their homes inside of fully charged thunder clouds. Though no doubt they are able to make some if they want to,” whispered Rainbow to herself while she continued to soar through the darkness.
Only to have her eyes blinded by something she never could have predicted to have seen in her life. All of the sudden did the light shine right into her eyes. Without any sound that left her mouth was an arm brought before her eyes to make her look away.
The pegasus made the wise decision to return back into the clouds for a moment and re-see the situation as it was. Something unexpected had happened and she didn’t happen to be the greatest of fans when it came to the unexpected.
Once again hidden within the clouds did she remained only a small distance within them as the arm was removed from her eyes. Rainbow had to see just what it was that almost blinded her and she wanted to know it there and then.
Once the eyes could be looking again towards the origin of the light, she was standing for a massive surprise. At first there was a deep gulp that came from her throat before the words dared to leave in a whisper. “Oh no…”
Within her eyes she caught it, just as the rest of them had seen it earlier that very day. The massive airship of the griffons still laid there, just hovering within the air as the great fires fueled the balloon that was used to carry the thing through the air. Those very fires happened to have been the cause of her being blinded.
Yet on the rest of the deck there wasn’t any other light to be found. It almost seemed as if the griffons were cocky enough to spare themselves the trouble of setting up torches all along the upper deck. And who could be truly blaming them? They were having the fires of the burners that kept the ship level.
Even though the sights that she was presented with were almost coming out of an old tale, she knew that the rest of them happened to be on that very ship. Rainbow had to get aboard and find them without being noticed before the hardest part would come in: getting them all off.
Time was of the essence once again, the nights didn’t last all too long in their specific area. The pegasus shook her head a couple of times before one strong nod of determination was given. She was more than ready to finally begin upon the journey she had to make. The hope was only that the others were ready for the breakout.
Her wings were spread to their furthest before the mare took off with an incredible speed. The journey towards the ship was made literally within a couple of seconds as her rainbow trail could have been the only giveaway. Something that faded only a mare second later out of the skies.
Rainbow had landed down on the deck near the bow of the ship as silently as she could. Her whole weight was carried by her wings until she had made touch down. She didn’t dare to crash herself into the wooden planks because of the noise it could make, thus attracting any griffon out.
Once she stood safely on the deck were the wings tucked behind her back and she stood within the darkness of the night. Even though the light of the burners was bright, it wasn’t enough to lighten up the darkened bow of the vessel. Which in return was a massive relief for the pegasus. Her eyes then glanced over deck as a whole with the intention of watching a guard or two.
But she didn’t saw any living being upon the deck of the ship. Of course there was the wonder where they could have been. The thoughts were disturbed by a roar that came from behind her and up. Quickly did the pegasus turn herself around as she made herself as small as possible as well. Her magenta red rimmed eyes looked over the skies in the fear of seeing a griffon heading straight towards her.
There she saw the griffon, flying through the air. Its speed was normal, its attention away from the ship. It wasn’t heading right for her as she had expected, instead it seemed to have been just circling around the ship. “So that’s where the guards are, not aboard, hm? At least one deck is safe, but what about the others?” said Rainbow to herself. She gently rose back up on the deck.
All of her thoughts raced through her mind as to where she would be going first. Of course she was familiar with the layouts that the ships of the griffons had. The mare had been studying them for months during the great conflict so long ago. But the one she happened to be on was one unlike anything she had ever seen. One that must have been built after it.
Next to being captured was getting lost her second greatest fear aboard. The body turned itself back around towards the rest of the ship, her hooves began to make the delicate steps on the wood. She had to go beneath decks no matter what.
The longer she was out there, the greater the chance was of her being captured. Meaning the rescuer needed some rescuing. Perhaps the levels of fear that surged through her body could be deemed as unnecessary, wherefore the mare could be stamped as just paranoid. Yet all of the pegasi that were in the air force had to be afraid. If they weren’t, they weren’t even allowed to go in the air.
Fear was the drive that made them to the decision that could either make or break their battles. The fear surging through the body caused them to be alert of everything, to notice all that moved almost instantly. Their reflexes were almost unmatched when they were in battle. That was the whole reason why they were also so jumpy, and not to mention: shady.
Hunched over and sneaking at a slow pace, Rainbow had managed to gain ground while her eyes looked out for everything. Not only was she looking for other griffons, but she was also heading towards a hatch that could be leading her beneath the deck.
Something that resembled an entrance way would have been more than welcome within her eyes. And finally did she notice it, finally did she notice the staircase that would be letting her move down. The only problem was the little fact that it laid right next to a burner. She would have been spotted right away even if she tried.
But it was perhaps the only chance that the pegasus had without flying off the ship and squeezing herself through one of the cannon holes at either of the sides. It was a risk that needed to be taken. The griffons were out there and circling the ship as they kept the guard. But what about somepony standing at the helm?
Another thought began to circle through her mind. Rainbow felt herself getting more and more uncomfortable. Everything just came to a screeching hold within her mind, the helm! She hadn’t thought about the helm during her time being there. It could have been a massive longshot, but if she could make her way up to the helm, there must have been some manner where she could be descending to the lower decks.
It was of course a thought of utter madness. But given the location she was on, a bit of madness would have been the least of her worries. She had to try it, whether it would fail or succeed she didn’t care about.
The pegasus would have set everything on everything before she took the first steps. There wouldn’t have been any turning back anymore. She had continued her journey through the light and towards the helm of the ship. Only the goddesses would be standing at her side, hopefully.
Constantly did the eyes of the pegasus move themselves up and down, from left to right. All to make sure she would haven’t have been captured or taken away. The thoughts always lingered deep within her mind as she feared every second could have been her last. The healthy –or close to unhealthy– dose of paranoia was surging through her body like always.
Her heart was beating inside of her throat while all of the senses were set on the detection of the griffons. Rainbow was terrified. Her face might not have shown it at all, but she was in fact scared to death. Little strains of sweat could be seen traveling down the sides of her face as she wondered what on earth she was doing there.
Second after second did time crawl by. Every second was more dreadful than the last. Rainbow only became more and more uncomfortable about the whole situation. But she had made it. She had managed to sneak her way over the light engulfed deck. She stood right next to the massive helm of the equally massive ship.
A great relief went over the mare. Rainbow felt like she had done something that seemed to have been just impossible to do. But her quest was far from over though. She still had to find a hatch that would be leading her down to the lower decks. And from there would another quest begin.
The quest to find the weapons of the rest of the anthronies so that they could at least be fighting for themselves if they had to had also begun. Rainbow pulled out one of her own flintlocks and pulled the hammer back it just in case. She was ready to kill a griffon on sight if she needed, and probably wake up the whole of the ship afterwards.
She slipped through the hallways of the vessel as if she were a ghost. With all of the creatures that were aboard, were presumed asleep. There was a little bit more freedom which she could be taking. It still was an utmost requirement for her to be as silent as possible though. One wrong step and the griffons would be waking up.
It was a literal and constant fear that never ceased itself down in the mind of Rainbow as she walked over a deck that was just filled with massive cannons. But not only was that her only problem, the sun was one as well. Or better said, the upcoming day. Something inside of her told her that she had to hurry up and get them before dawn. As that very dawn was only an hour or two away.
A gulp was given off by the rough and tough major of the air force as she then continued her way to find the next staircase. After she had walked down the hatch behind the helm, she had come in the little compartment where all of the higher officials would be finding their rest in actual beds instead of hammocks.
Not to mention the fact that the deck she was on, was only connected to the vessel via that very hatch. Twilight nor the rest of them had ever seen the deck Rainbow was on as the spinal staircase was just shut upon that deck. Given the fact that the heaviest cannons were standing right there, Rainbow could be making sense out of it. Even if it was just a tiny bit.
To her it meant that she had to walk all the way back to the bow, past a couple other quarters before she finally could descend another deck and get on the spinal staircase that would be leading her to both the armory as well as the other mares.
In silence had the pegasus managed to sneak her way through the whole of the deck and she had just reached the quarters as a ray of light was cast out of one of them. The door of one of the cabins was open just a little bit. Yet that little bit could have been enough to seal her fate. The voices that came out of the room were interesting enough for her to begin with.
Yet there was one voice within that very room she could be recognizing out of thousands. “Gilda,” she said with only her lips moving. No sound ever came from the mare as she inched her way closer. She needed to hear just what was being said within the room and more importantly, to whom it was being said.
Anything that was having Gilda involved, meant a lot of trouble was heading their way no matter what. She couldn’t let the opportunity slip by her as she inched even closer to the door opening. She would have made certain to actually stay out of the rays of light as her ears were perked like never before. She was ready to play her role as a spy for a change.
Though the words that would be caught, wouldn’t have been glad ones.
Inside of the cabin was Gilda wandering up and down, while another griffon was just sitting on her bed. His attire spoke the fact that it must have been some kind of higher official. But the female griffon had her hands behind her back and wore a bit more casual attire for some reason. “We have four of them, four anthronies captured and right in our midst as they wanted to do something on top of that very mountain. Imagine the damage if their bodies are send to Canterlot itself,” said Gilda to the griffon, her voice was overjoyed. Almost sadistic even.
The other griffon stretched his wings just a little bit before a chuckle was being released. “Oh they would crawl to Cloudsdale with the news and they would be giving of the declaration of war at the snap of a talon. And then the whole conflict shall be repeating itself once again. But with this time, it shall be us who come out as the victors. To expand our territory in Equestria itself.”
“The world would be too big, but if we can get Equestria to fall under griffon rule, that would mean we can control the world to our liking. You know what that means right? Griffon, supremacy,” told Gilda to him. Her beak managed to form a sickening smile across it.
But then she turned her attention away from the other griffon and glanced over to the door. Something deep inside of her told her it wasn’t right to have it open and the cold breeze of air that went over the wings could have been an indication of just why. A shiver was given off by the griffon as she then walked over to the door and slammed it shut.
Rainbow gained a little bit of a scare before she then blinked a couple of times. The pegasus was having a great amount of trouble to actually process all the information that was unwillingly given to her. Not to mention the little fact that it made her angry as all hell. The griffons wanted to take over Equestria and therefore the world?
What kind of madness had they been brewing up in the years after the other conflict? It was only one of the many thoughts that rushed through her mind as she wanted to know the finer details of course. But those details were blocked out from her forever. With the door being shut was there no other way she could be listening.
Though the feelings of just rushing into the cabin and literally knocking some sense into the griffons was almost getting the upper end of her. She wanted –if not needed– to punch something so hard that the bones would be snapping. The panting of the adrenaline that was surging through her body almost seemed to have driven her right of the edge.
The urges were becoming just that big and she was getting almost that desperate of actually doing it. She couldn’t control herself anymore, she felt like she was going to explode and go almost berserk. Yet one tiny little bit of her managed to remind her about a little fact. The fact that she was having a mission of her own that needed to be completed.
Despite the fact of her wanting to give the griffons such a good payback, doing it alone wouldn’t have been right. But with the group she had been traveling with for so long already, the chances would only be getting better and better.
The rage and fury that was surging through her body managed to calm itself down as she quietly walked past the door and made her way down the other set of stairs. She had to find the rest of the company before she would be doing anything else.
Caution and safety were standing high for her once more. But the boiling rage would never cease from her body and mind. The time to free her partners had come to her. Even though she wouldn’t be having any plan about what she would be doing next.
~~~~
After a series of decks where Rainbow could just be walking through as if it was nothing had the pegasus eventually set her hooves on the lowest of the lowest deck. No lights were on but her eyes had gotten adjusted to the dark by then. She could be seeing well enough to recognize any shape or form that was hidden within it.
Her eyes looked from left to right before she finally noticed the very brigs where the rest of the mares had been locked up. Of course had she tried to find the weapons of the anthronies, but without success. She had figured out that they were in the armory, but said armory was locked with two separate keys that probably were hanging around the necks of two random griffons.
So the luck of getting their arms was out. But the luck of finding the rest of the mares was actually there. Which in and of itself was another major relief for Rainbow Dash. Finally she seemed to have found the rest of the group as she walked over to the brigs.
The silence was almost unbearable and dreadful as she walked at the tips of her hooves. If it weren’t the anthronies she was looking for in the cages, who knew just what might have been inside of them? Questions rose up as if they were nothing while the answers were kept waiting from her. Time would reveal everything to her. She just hoped that time wouldn’t let her wait long enough.
Eventually she just set one of her hands on one of the doors and looked inside of the cage to the best of her abilities. She thought to be seeing nothing that resembled any of the anthronies she had been traveling with, but when she listened came the definitive answer.
All of the beings inside of the cages had been rolled up in a blanket for the night so their forms were unrecognizable, but the sounds of a steam powered leg could be recognized out of thousands. Finally had she found the group again. Finally they were all reunited like that again the relief that was going through the pegasus almost had become too much.
“Girls, wake up! It’s me,” the major spoke up in a whisper. Rainbow was hoping for the others to become awake. Speaking louder was one thing that she didn’t wanted to do aboard.
What followed after the calling of Rainbow Dash were a couple moans and groans as the voice of Applejack suddenly filled the air. “Lemme sleep Dash, it ain’t mah watch.” She then turned herself around in order to sleep further before her eyes shot open wide. “Rainbow, Dash?” Applejack added when the shock of the realization had gone through her.
The admiral was the first awake and she scooted over to the door of her cage to see Rainbow. She needed to have a couple of good words with the mare about manners, but just seeing her standing there was a sight in and of itself. “Ah would slap yar head off if it weren’t for these bars,” she added to her already so colorful pallet of words.
“Yeah, well get in line. The griffons won’t be too happy when we are all broken out of here. Speaking of…” Then the others were woken up by a gentle whistle that came from Applejack’s very own leg. All of the anthronies shocked awake. They began to rub their eyes under yawns and winches of pain.
“What on earth was that good for?” the voice of Rarity mumbled just before she charged up her horn. Within the light of the horn was the face of Rainbow revealed as it stood on the opposing side of the bars. “Oh hey there Rainbow.”
Silence then came from Rarity before she blinked a couple of times. Her mind was having some trouble to process the very fact that Rainbow Dash was standing there, outside of the barred door. “R-Rainbow?!” she then exclaimed as quiet as she could.
Soon it was Twilight’s own horn that became charged as well. Which allowed the cyan skinned face of the pegasus to be coated in both a sapphire blue and raspberry light. “Yes, it’s me. All me, here and now. Before you all blame me for not partaking in the fight, be glad I didn’t. Because if I did, we would all be inside of there and who would be saving you then?”
“So, you have a plan on getting us out of here?” Twilight asked. The mare had some genuine wonder within her voice. She couldn’t truly believe that a mare like Rainbow would be having a fully doctored out plan. She was a major after all who used to receiving commands from higher up only. Something that greatly worried the unicorn.
But the other unicorn couldn’t help herself with chuckling. “Oh this is just too rich, but if you happen to be having the keys to these cells, I think we would be greatly in your debt.” Rarity spoke up after she had managed to calm her voice down.
“And, have you thought about the fact of just how exactly we would be getting down from, oh I don’t know, a freaking airship?” added Twilight in a whisper. Alarming the griffons on duty wasn’t something she wanted to do. But in return she only got a shady look from the pegasus.
“Hey, be glad that I’m at least this loyal to have crawled my way over a massive airship from the griffons, alright? Secondly, I make the plan up as I go and I shall find those keys for you Rarity.” Rainbow as before she turned herself around. “Right, the keys.”
Behind her were three deep groans of annoyance as two slaps could be heard. The pegasus closed her eyes for a moment and pretended that it hadn’t happened. Then her eyes were opened once more and glanced over the stuff that could be seen in the light. “You really think they would be hiding the keys this close to the cells?” she mumbled to herself before her eyes started off again.
The search for the keys was going within full motion before all of the five anthronies began to realize one little fact. Even though the darkness of the clouds it could easily be picked out and the cracks within the woods told all the same story.
Rainbow turned herself around to face the brigs as she gasped for air. All of the other mares followed her example as they walked over to the doors of their cells. The light that was penetrating through the wood could have meant one thing and one thing only. “Sunrise,” the admiral whispered. Applejack shook her head greatly from side to side. She couldn’t believe the facts as they were.
But from the looks of it, they had ran out of time. Time that was precious to the lot of them. “Hide!” Rarity whispered after she had turned herself around quickly towards Rainbow. The major understood it immediately and began searching for a little hiding place.
Just in time she had managed to get away from the peeking eyes, as a griffon came down the stairs. It’s full armor clunked with every step there was being taken. But Rainbow noticed how he held one key in his hand and another ton at the side of his body.
There was only one logical explanation that she could be giving to the situation and it wasn’t a happy one. For the broad griffon looked menacing enough. Yet he was nothing else but, “the keymaster,” whispered Rainbow when she stroked her chin.
Another griffon made his way down the stairs and the mares were taken out of their cells and lined up. For what though? Rainbow didn’t knew. But she knew she had to join the group if she wanted to have any chance when it came down to finding out what would have been going on.
So when both of the griffons were locking the doors again, she slipped out of her hiding and joined the queue in silence. None of the mares were cuffed, which was a massive relief for Rainbow. Simply because it meant she could just join them. Though she would have gotten a couple of strange looks from Rarity who was standing last in line.
The keymaster and the other soldier turned themselves around to see the prisoners standing there. “Oi, there were only four of ‘em, right?” the soldier asked after he was done counting the mares.
“Who cares, four or five, it’s early morning. You think I’m clear right now? ‘Specially after last night? Let’s bring ‘em all to the emperor. He’ll decide with to do with ‘em. Four remain, one gets eaten, I don’t know and couldn’t care less ‘bout it,” the keymaster replied before he commanded all five anthronies to march forward.
Twilight was right, they would be given an audience with the emperor. Finally they would be having the chance to speak to one of the mightiest griffons in the whole world. If only there would be some degree of reasoning. That was the fact that kept on gnawing at the mind of the mare.