//------------------------------//
// Prince Blueblood was right 
// Story: The Longest Day 
// by Nazkan 
//------------------------------//

"Is that you, Derpy? Listen, if you could lend me a hoof, I appear to have gotten a little..ugh..stuck."
Rainbow Dash looked around the room she was standing in, full of awe. She completely ignored the voice calling out to her, and instead focused on trying to take everything in. Pinkie wandered over to her side, and Dash could tell she felt the same way by the fact that her jaw slammed into the ground. Literally. The pink pony's eyes darted around the room, like a filly in a candy shop. Dash smiled, and tried her best to understand what this room did.
The entire room was covered in sterile white tiles, though you could hardly see them through the huge number of strange devices gathered in the room. Hanging from the shining ceiling was a set of lights, that would occasionally flicker for no discernible reason. Along the left wall, a cluster of tables had been connected together to form one huge desk, and sitting upon it was beakers of every colour and strange machines that ranged from hoof sized to pony sized. Every minute and a half, each of the devices would let out a burst of steam in unison and return to a low humming noise.
In front of the ponies were several larger machines. The first one was as large as a chariot, except it's wheels were twice as large as the body, and instead of a body, it had a large hollow tube. Rainbow shivered as she was reminded of Applejack's apple cannon. It teetered precariously on the oversized circles, only still standing because it was being kept in place by the lump of metal next to it. Dash wasn't sure what it was. It appeared to be a statue of some sort, closely resembling a gorilla with no fur. It was also a dark green and holding a torch into the sky. The thing was wearing a hat decorated with with spikes, and a dark green robe ran down it's body. Dash rubbed her head in puzzlement, and focused on the last item. It was a large metal pipe. It's tip was a large dome, made of blue glass. With a quick glance, the rainbow pony could see groups of huge wires from through the glass. Just a single wire would be almost as large as the two of them put together. Swinging over to her right, she scanned the shining wall. Another door was built into it's perfect surface, and Dash crept over to it. Pinkie stayed where she was, still transfixed by all the machinery around her.
Silently pushing the door open, Dash peered into the next room. It was slightly brighter than the room she was in, due to the fact the roof was significantly lower. Resting in the centre of the room was a device that Rainbow recognized clearly. It was the same device that she had found in Flim and Flams tent. It seemed cleaner here though, and it lacked the rainbow colouring it had when Rainbow last saw it. The main difference though; was this time there was a pony jammed into the window, struggling to free himself from his imprisonment. The strange pony wiggled his back legs randomly, and called out again. "Derpy? I know you want to go home and everything, but this is important. So stop standing in the doorway and pull me out."
Dash shrugged, and flew over to the pony. Grasping him by the sides, she pulled backwards. The pony responded by connecting his hooves to the side of the time machine, and pushing outwards. Dash groaned as she pulled, until a loud pop echoed through the room and the pony was propelled towards her. The duo slammed into the wall, and Dash felt the metal machine on her back crumble as she landed.

The rainbow pegasus felt something move on her chest, and she looked down to see that the pony she had helped was resting his face on it. It stung slightly, but she could bare it until the pony moved. She wanted to push him off, but the walls kept moving from around her, and she found it hard to concentrate. Instead, she merely focused on finding out what this mysterious pony looked like.
He was a chestnut brown, with a mane that spiked into the air like a buzzsaw. On his flank was the picture of an hourglass, with grains of golden sand trickling into the two chambers. Around his neck was wrapped a small bowtie, red and connected by a thin white cloth. He smiled stupidly as he looked up at Rainbow. Quickly regaining her sight, she kicked him off roughly, and jumped back into the air. Her mind buzzed with questions, and she decided this pony would be the one to answer them. "Get off me, who do you think you are? Rainbow shouted.
The pony adjusted a small tie that was wrapped around his neck, and extended his hoof. "I'm the Doctor, pleased to meet you." He responded, apparently oblivious to Dash's anger.
Dash rubbed her head, "Doctor who?" She asked.
"Just the Doctor." He replied, smiling like he had done this a million times.
"No seriously, Doctor who?" Dash asked again.
The Doctor moved over to the machine he was working on, and poked his head back inside. "I already told you, I'm the Doctor. I do have to ask you something though, Ms Rainbow." He added, looking Dash in the eyes.
Dash glanced out the door to make sure Pinkie was still there, and turned back to the Doctor. "No, I need to ask you something. What are you doing here? How do you know my name?"
The Doctor ran a hoof through his mane, as if he was looking for something. After a quick moment, he placed his hoof back on the ground quickly, apparently not finding what he was looking for. "It's not important why I'm here, it's you I'm interested in. How did you get down here, there isn't any doors in the building above." The Doctor asked, glancing at the wall. Dash guessed that he was pointing at the trap door in the next room.
"I asked first, how do you know my name?" Dash shouted. From behind her, she could hear Pinkie jump into the air, and begin to rush over to her.
"Honestly, Rainbow, how many ponies have you seen with rainbow manes? Much less in this time period." The Doctor explained.
Dash mentally slapped herself, of course it was her mane. What was she expecting? "So what are you doing here then?" Dash asked, doubling back on her original question.
The brown pony shrugged, "I lost the TaRDiS. Well, not lost, more like locked. Locked the TaRDiS. I need a place to hide until I can find the key. Fix the key." The Doctor continued, "But enough about that, you two need to get out here. Much safer than staying here." He added.

Dash shook her head quickly, "We can't leave, Iron Will is probably still outside. He'll kill me!"
The Doctor ran a hoof across his face in exasperation. There was a moment of silence, until he spoke. "Fine, you can stay. But only until it's safe to leave. And you can't touch anything. One mistake and the whole park goes tumbling into the time vortex, and I would like to keep that from happening." He said, turning back to his machine. He was clearly unhappy with having to entertain the two ponies.
Dash and Pinkie exchanged a glance, shrugged and turned to leave the room. Pushing the door open, the two exited the room, just as the Doctor began talking to himself again.
Glancing across the room, Dash stretched her wings. The device that Flim and Flam put there hung uncomfortably on her wings, and she shuffled her back in an attempt to remove it. It proved futile, so Dash sat down in defeat. This was the worst day she had ever had. Hastily, Pinkie sat down next to her, resting her head against the wall. They sat silently for a few minutes, keeping track of the time by the bursts of steam. It was peaceful and Dash found herself drifting off. Her body was tired from all that had happened, and she wanted rest. 
She closed her eyes, and embraced the darkness that came. It was bliss for a moment. She couldn't feel the pain in her stomach, her legs didn't ache, her wings were calm. It was perfect.
Gazing deeper into the darkness inside of her eyes, she started to make out shapes. Vague pony shapes sat in front of her, slightly illuminated in red. Something hit her on the bottom of her feet, and she landed. Besides, what was the danger? She was clearly dreaming, she felt like she was floating in the air and her aches were gone; besides, she needed the sleep. She rested there, unable to tear her eyes away from the shadows. They were peaceful, drifting through the air like visible wind.  Eventually, after much time, they all blurred together, smothering her in a warm blanket. The red outlines remained on everything though and the darkness was chased away suddenly by the bright red. Something was different though, this wasn't peaceful any more. Something lunged out at the rainbow pegasus from the red and Dash opened her eyes to avoid it. This was a dream, she just needed to wake up.
Only to realise in panic that her eyes were open. The thing smashed into Dash and she was sent across the ground. As she stared up at the thing, her surroundings took on more texture. A platform; a perfect circle formed around her. She couldn't see over the edge but she guessed it was high up. Her attacker also took on more shape, twisting it's arms and legs unnaturally until they locked into place. It's red outline lightened, becoming yellow, and Dash realised in terror that her attacker was a yellow pegasus.
"Ohh, there you are. I was so worried when I couldn't find you. Are you hurt? Do you need nurse Fluttershy to help you?" It asked, sweetening it's expression.
Adrenaline pumped through Dash's veins as she jumped into the air. She looked around in confusion, where was she? Suddenly, something crashed into her chest, winding her. She gasped for air, and flew higher. The Fluttershy thing chased her, rising higher. "Please don't run away again. I don't want to be...to be alone again. Please don't leave. Please." It begged, pushing itself higher.
Dash kicked down on it's face, creating an ugly purple bruise. "Get away from me!" She shouted. What was going on? Where did Pinkie go? Where was she?
The thing responded by grabbing Dash's left wing in her teeth. The pegasus tried to keep flying, but she couldn't with only one wing. Fluttershy pushed herself on top of Dash as they fell, twisting something in her wing. She flapped helplessly, fighting through the pain, as the ground grew closer. She was so close, and Fluttershy's weight was pushing down on her. Dash closed her eyes, and braced for impact.

Then something hit her entire upper body, and she woke up. She jumped violently as she woke, expecting to be in immense pain. Instead, all she could fell was the dull pain of her chest, coupled with a couple of blisters on her wings. She studied her surroundings in a hurry, truly making sure she was safe, until she noticed the mare pushing on her chest.
Pinkie's hooves dug into Rainbow's chest, feeling remarkably similar to Fluttershys. She rested on what had happened for a moment, was she dreaming? Did that really just happen? She poked her wings a few times, but they seemed fine. Was it just her mind dreaming a reason for Pinkie's prodding? Dash hoped so. Besides, it was silly to think she was in danger; It was just a bad dream. Caused by her stressed out mind and her fear of mascots. Or fear of Fluttershy, Dash wasn't sure which.
She suddenly realised she had been ignoring Pinkie, though the pink mare had hardly even noticed. 
"Are you awake yet Dashie? What about now? Or now? Or now? Or now? Will you wake up if I give you a cupcake? I don't have any here, but I bet I could find something to make them out of. Anyway, Wake up sleepy head." Pinkie monologued, showing no signs of stopping.
Dash ran a hoof over her arm, and gazed up at Pinkie, "Alright, I'm awake, I'm awake." She replied, silencing Pinkie.
"Oh, that's good, I was worried you wouldn't wake up and then I would be stuck here alone for forever, which is a really really long time. Like, even longer than a year, and that's pretty long." Pinkie replied, starting up her motor mouth again.
Dash sighed, she was too tired to handle this. Though, she wouldn't admit she was thankful that Pinkie had woken her up from her nightmare. "Pinkie, calm down. Why did you wake me up? How long was I out?" Rainbow asked.
Pinkie stopped jumping, and sat on the ground carefully. She raised a hoof to her chin, and hopped back into the air when she remembered what she had forgotten. "I wanted to ask you a question. A questiony question that sounds like a question. Or a query. What is a query anyway? Is it like a rock farm? I don't like rock farms, everypony's so boring there."
Dash pushed herself back to her feet. There was a soft crack as her bones stretched with the sudden movement. Dash stretched to get the last kink out of her system, and looked back to the energetic pony. "What's the question Pinkie? You might as well get it over with now that you've woken me up." Dash responded, gazing over her surroundings absent-mindedly.
"Right, the question. Why are you still here?" Pinkie asked.

Dash cocked her head sideways in confusion. What was Pinkie talking about? "What do you mean?" Dash questioned.
"If you hate mascots so much, why did you come back? I wouldn't have come back, unless there was a party, or balloons, or cake, but that's where I draw the line." Pinkie responded, elaborating on her original point.
Dash chuckled. She was the element of Loyalty, of course she would come back. She wouldn't want to be stuck here alone, and she certainly wouldn't leave her friends in danger. She could fight through a little fear as long as it meant her friends stayed safe. All right, a lot of fear. There wasn't anything special about Pinkie that inspired her to come back, she would of done it regardless of who she left behind.
And yet, there was still a nagging voice in the back of her head. Would she have come back if it weren't for Pinkie? Sure, she enjoyed Applejack's brashness, or Fluttershy's grace, and there was no doubt she would of at least attempted to save them, but there was something about Pinkie she couldn't pick out. Something which inspired her to fight against clearly losing odds when she wanted to run. Would that feeling be there if it weren't for Pinkie? Would she have acted the same way if Twilight was in danger, or Rarity? Would she still have fought against the Iron Will, the mascots, the security guards? Dash sat down subconsciously, and stared up at her friend. She was still hoping there, waiting for an answer. Why was this question so hard to answer? Dash opened her mouth in panic, and blurted out the first thing that popped into her head.
"I would of done it for all my friends. You're nothing special."
Pinkie stopped jumping up and down, and stared at the ground. "I'm not?"
No, no, no, no. She was special, just say it. Why did she even say differently? Dash opened her mouth, and attempted to correct herself. "No, it's not that you're not important, it's just that I don't want anypony in danger. Including you." Dash mentally slapped herself. No, no, no, that was wrong. Correct yourself before it's too late.
Pinkie nodded sadly, and sat down. Her previous energy seemed to have sunk away. "So I'm just a friend? Like Twilight or Applejack?" She asked.
No, yes, no, yes, no, "Yes." no, yes, no. Dash slapped her hooves over her mouth when she realized she actually said one of those yes'. That wasn't right, was it? Dash had no idea, this was all so confusing. She silently wished for something, anything, to break this awkward moment.
Pinkie suddenly exploded into the air, confetti shooting out from where she was sitting. Her hair shot into the ceiling, and various party supplies fell out as it did. "Okey Dokey Lokey, Dashie." Pinkie shouted.
Dash stood there petrified, unable to force her muscles to work. She needed to correct this, to set things right. If she could just get her mouth open.
"Where are you two? Come here, I'm about to do something clever and I want ponies to see it." The Doctor shouted, poking his head out the door. His voice shattered Dash's chain of thought, and left her head floating in a pool of confusion. She slowly gathered her thoughts back together, and pieced together the words she wanted.
"Wait, Pinkie, I was wrong, Pinkie. I was..." Dash spun around, her muscles finally letting her move again, only to see that Pinkie was gone. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the pink pony's tail disappear behind the door frame.
Dash sighed, and jumped into the air. Maybe it wasn't to late to change this.

Rainbow sprinted into the room and slid across the floor. Pinkie was nowhere to be seen, and the Doctor was sitting inside the machine that he had built. His head was bent out of view, and Dash ignored him while she searched for Pinkie. She needed to do this. She walked around the metal shell of the device, and caught Pinkie peering her head into the inner workings of the Doctor's device. Dash snuck up next to her friend, and moved her face next to the pony's. "Pinkie, listen. I was wro..." Dash started, before Pinkie pulled her head away. Rainbow looked up at her for a moment, before a loose panel from the device crashed into her head. There was brief second of darkness, until the pegasus managed to pull her skull out of the machine. She glanced around again, interrupted when the Doctor called out again. "Pinkie, what do things look like from your side?" He shouted.
Pinkie appeared next to him, sitting comfortably in the free seat. "The pipey things are piping, the spinny things are spinning,  that one weird lollypop thing is rotating and still doesn't taste good and the home fusion energy reactor is full of reaction. I think." Pinkie replied, ignoring the Doctors surprised gasp.
After a moment of confused pointing, the Doctor shrugged and looked forward. "Only one more thing left to do then." He commented.
"What's that?" Pinkie questioned.
With a grin, the Doctor threw one of his hooves onto the wheel in front of him, moving his other one into a small keyhole in the dashboard of the machine. "ALLONS-Y!" The brown pony shouted, twisting the key sharply to the right. The car made a loud sputtering, shot some smoke into the surprised pegasus' face and returned to silence. Dash coughed the smoke out of her lungs, and looked back over the front of the device. "Was that it?" She asked.
Inside the machine, the Doctor was beginning to panic. "No no no no, don't do that. Work!" He shouted, twisting the key a couple more times. Each time, the machine would splutter, and remain still. With an disappointed, the two ponies exited the vehicle. The Doctor shoved past Dash impatiently, and threw the loose panel into the air. He peered into the mish mass of different machine parts, muttering to himself while he did. "Maybe if I ran an unfocused takion pulse through the overfield matrix...no, that wouldn't work. Think Doctor, think."
Dash walked over to him, slightly annoyed that she had been pushed, but more curious about what was going on. Even Pinkie apparently knew more than her. "Alright, I've had enough, what are you doing here? Where did you get a time machine, did you build it?" Dash asked, pressuring her partner for an answer.
"What I'm trying to do is here is prevent a total three dimensional collapse of time and space. But it's not working, I can't get a solid signal through to the time vortex, it needs a catalyst. Something to push it through the vortex, but I can only achieve that through something already tuned to the time vortex. And I would hardly call this a time machine, it's a bicycle at best. A space bicycle, that also sends it's driver back in time." The Doctor replied, annoyed.
"Geez, you talk more than Twilight. All I understood was time + bicycle = awesome." Dash replied.
For the first time in a over 500 hundreds years, the Doctor had to resist raising his hoof into his face, and cradling his head gently. For some reason, this mare had managed to completely and totally miss the entire point about what he had said. Even further than that, she had barely even listened to his explanation. Sighing sadly, he looked over the pony. "It's probably safe to go now. I suggest you leave before things get dangerous, they have a habit of doing that whenever I'm around." The Doctor added.
Dash nodded. She didn't want to spend any more time in this park than was necessary and she was fairly certain she could live without understanding this egghead techno stuff. She turned around, and waved a hoof to Pinkie. "Come on, lets get out of this dump." She said, hoping Pinkie heard her. She wanted to explain some things to her.
Before she could exit the room though, she heard the brown pony shout out to her. "Hang on, what's that on your back?"

Now that the Doctor pointed it out, Dash was suddenly aware of the FlimFlam brothers device on her back. It had gotten colder since she was last aware of it, and the weight seemed unchanged. She shrugged, causing the machine to rattle. "Something I found out in the park. It apparently helps me fly faster." Dash replied.
The Timelord waved his front hooves randomly, "But how? It's powered by a burned out three point flux capacitor. Where did you find this?" He asked, a hint of panic peppering his words.
Dash felt something build in her stomach. "Why, what's wrong with it? Is it dangerous?" She asked, trying her best to hide any fear she had.
The Doctor shook his head, "No, it's just that, I'm the only pony in all of Equestria who knows how to build one. If someone else could it would revolutionize pony life as we know it. Bring the entire pony race out of this era. Since I don't remember making one, that means the entire universe is in terrible danger. More than it already is." The Doctor replied, suddenly turning serious.
Dash swallowed nervously. "It was given to me by Flim and Flam. They...they said that they didn't know how it worked."
The Doctor rubbed his hair in worry. "So it can't be replicated, that's good, but it's very existence still threatens the universe. If this flux capacitor gets out into the world, it'll change the future permanently. I can't let you leave until you give me the thing Rainbow." The Doctor announced.
"Fine then, take it, it doesn't work anyway." Dash replied, trying to slip her wings out of the device. She quickly realised that it was futile, as the metal skeleton of the machine was weaved between the feathers of her wings. "Lil help?" She added.
The Doctor nodded, and walked over to the impatient pegasus. Rainbow rolled her eyes, and sat down comfortably so that her companion could get an easier grip. She felt the Doctor grab the box that the flux capacitor was in, and pull backwards powerfully.
Dash grit her teeth together, and forced herself to remain stuck on the ground. Slowly, the box began to loosen from it's holding. Pulling harder, the Doctor leaned back, putting any muscle he had into removing the box. Eventually, there was a slight pop, and the capacitor flew out. The brown pony found himself stumbling backwards, but managed to regain his balance by grasping the machine behind him.
The pegasus the device was attached to wasn't so lucky. When the box dislodged, the force sent her flying face first into the ground. The world went black for a moment as she blinked a second before impact, then everything was pain. The sudden bang vibrated through her neck, and into her stomach. It ached as she pulled her head back into the air. She saw a pink blur move up next to her, and a wet rag pushed against her nose gently.
Above her, she could hear the Doctor mumbling to himself again. "I just don't understand where they got it in the first place." He whispered, lifting the extinguished light to his eye.
Dash spoke out, her voice slightly muffled by the cloth at her nose. "They said they found it in your time bicycle." Dash answered.
The Doctor appeared to have ignored Dash's answer, until he suddenly spoke again. "But that's impossible, my machine doesn't even work." The Doctor replied, still staring at the small box. "Unless..." He added suddenly.
"Unless what, Docty Wocty?" Pinkie asked, determined to be involved in the conversation.

"Unless...Ohh ohh, you brilliant mare. That's absolutely brilliant! If I can put this in my time machine, I can send it back in time to be put into my time machine. A stabilized time loop. Oh, that is clever." The Doctor shouted, smiling as he did. He was practically bubbling as he carried the device to the opening in his contraption.
Dash took the time to clear her head, and stood back up. She'd have plenty of time to explain to Pinkie how she felt. Right now, she wanted to know what had made this strange pony so happy.
"Hey Doc, what exactly are you doing in there?" She asked, talking into the machine from the side.
The brown pony stopped what he was doing, and looked over to Dash. He was still smiling. "This power source is a great danger to everypony at the moment. It won't be properly invented for another two hundred years. So I need to contain it until then. Since the device was found in this very time machine, I can use that to trap it in this section of time. You find it in the past, bring it here, I send it to the past ad infinium. A stable time loop. No pony can take it out of that without proper time manipulation abilities. As long as everything is the same as when you found it, we can avoid a paradox. Therefore, it's contained, the universe is safe and we all go out for muffins. Simple." The Doctor replied, being sure to slow down whenever his conversational partner seemed to lose focus.
"So, when do we add the paint?" Dash asked, seeming to understand what the Doctor was talking about.
Stopping his work a second time, the Doctor stared at Dash. "The what?"
Dash rolled her eyes. "When I found the bicycle, it was painted to look awesome. So I assume we need to paint it so we can avoid a pair of docks. Don't worry about explaining what those are, I can see how two docks would be a problem in such a small area." Rainbow explained.
The Doctor let his mouth hang open for a moment, before turning back to his work. He had already managed to get one of the lights on the device working, and a few more minutes of tinkering should fix the others. He waved his hoof absent-mindedly in Dash's direction. "It's paradox, not pair of docks, also it's not a bicycle, it's a car, probably made in 1985. My time, not yours. Anyway, we should stick to the original timeline as closely as possible. The paints somewhere in the other room, find it and it's yours." He responded, too busy to pay any more attention to the cyan pegasus.
"Alright, cool." Dash added, grinning. She was going to make this the coolest looking time machine in the history of cool looking time machines. She pondered briefly on how many time machines there would actually be in that competition, before deciding it didn't really matter. She had work to do.

The Doctor laughed, and stepped away from the machine. Inside the cockpit, a small glow shined from behind the seats; the only sign of the device installed there. Closing the door carefully, the Timelord looked up. He stared at the new paint job that his two assistants had been working on, before turning to stop them from continuing. "Well, while I was expecting something a little less flashy, I trust you know what you're doing." He said. Walking over to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie, he gave a slight nod. "Now before I go, there is something important I need to ask. Am I missing anything on this machine?" He asked, leaning in close.
Dash looked over the device. Everything looked the same way it did when she found it, except for it's driver. Dash distinctly remembered Pinkie was the one who went back in time. Dash shook her head in answer to the Doctors question. She didn't have time for this; If Pinkie went back in time, the pegasus would have to go through all the trouble of tracking her down again. She wasn't going to do that, not after all she went through to finally keep her safe.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure, Rainbow? Because if you're not, and something is different, everything I've done here is for nothing. Plus there's the slight chance you could destroy three fourths of the universe." He questioned.
Rainbow hesitated for a moment. There was no way the Doctor was telling the truth, how would you even measure that? A long stare at his face though, revealed he was as serious as he could be. The pegasus really wanted to leave as soon as possible, but something told her she needed to do this. Dash let out a small whine, similar to a foals, and whispered out, "It may have actually been Pinkie driving."
The Doctor pricked his ear up, and moved closer. "Excuse me? What was that?" He asked.
"The driver may have been Pinkie." Dash reiterated, still refusing to raise her voice. Maybe if she was very quiet, then her problems would just disappear. She felt kind of like Fluttershy in this state of mind.
It failed to work though, and the brown stallion moved closer still. "Who was the driver, Rainbow?" He asked again.
Dash spoke up again, slightly louder. "I think Pinkie is suppose to drive."
The Doctor chuckled slightly, until he realised the implications behind this. "Hang on, Pinkie? This Pinkie?" He questioned, glancing around the lab looking for the pink pony.
Dash nodded nervously, and the Doctor ran a hoof through his mane. After a moment of silence, he spoke again, "Is it more dangerous to risk destroying the universe than it is to give Pinkie a time machine? Why do I even need to consider this?" He asked, debating mostly to himself. The pony stood silently for longer than Dash expected, mulling this question over. Eventually, he dropped his hoof to the ground, and spun around, heading towards the door. "This can't possibly end well." He said.

Pinkie sat on the soft cushion of the chair, her hooves resting on the wheel. The Doctor sat nearby, his head poking in the window, instructing Pinkie on what button would and would not cause the extinction of every unicorn in a six hundred mile. Rainbow Dash sat nearby, absent mindedly chewing on her hooves in anticipation. She really didn't want to go through with this. Eventually, the brown pony pulled his head back, and traded glances with Rainbow. He nodded, and turned to Pinkie. "Do you understand all that Pinkie? I need to know you understand." The Doctor finished.
Pinkie nodded, but raised a hoof to her chin, "I have a question."
The Doctor sighed. "What is it?"
"Which one of these buttons breaks the fourth wall again, or am I suppose to bring my own?" Pinkie asked, smiling happily.
Rubbing his temple, the Doctor moved away, "Enough jokes, are you ready Pinkie?" He questioned.
Pinkie locked her eyes forward, and put on a serious face. "I was born ready." She said.
The Doctor nodded at Rainbow again, and she pushed a button on the wall. Immediately, the wall in front of the time machine opened up, showing a long dark tunnel. No pony gathered could see the end, and the Doctor silently hoped it would be long enough. He hadn't really gotten around to measuring it yet. "Allons-y, Pinkie!" He shouted.
There was a moment of silence, followed by Pinkie poking her head out, "I just want to correct myself. I was actually born to party, though I didn't realise that when I was born. Funny how things work out. Anyway, I was made to party, not to test drive time machines. Just clearing up." She said, removing her head from the window.
Rainbow flew over to her, and pointed forward. "Just go already! We'll meet at the roller coaster, ok?" She shouted. "And be careful. I want to talk to you about some things when you get back." Rainbow added, turning away from Pinkie. Now wasn't the time to talk about her emotions.
Pinkie grinned, and pushed her foot against the pedal. The wheels of the machine spun quickly, struggling to gain traction. Smoke shot into the air as the rubber of the wheels burned, and a loud squealing exploded from the ground. Quickly, the device shot forward, sending dust flying into the air behind it. It flew down the tunnel, gradually picking up speed as it moved. Quickly, a light blue cone formed around it's front, sending sparks shooting down the tunnel. Pinkie let out a cheerful shout as the entire underground was flooded in a sudden flash of light. Two rows of fire continued to run down the tunnel, but the machine that the pink pony was driving had completely disappeared.
The pony next to Dash cheered, and ran into the moist tunnel. "Hahaha, It worked!" He shouted into the empty air. Rainbow looked over confused, until the brown pony eventually calmed down and walked over to her.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go pick her up." He said enthusiastically.
Dash pointed at the now empty tunnel, "Are you crazy? You just reduced my friend to a pile of ashes!" Dash shouted, not grasping the implications of that at the moment.
"Ashes? I just sent Pinkie back in time! A feat that many would consider impossible under the best conditions. And I did it in a cave, under a theme park. Oh I am brilliant." The pony explained, complimenting himself under his breath.
Dash continued to point at the tunnel. "So where's Pinkie then?" Dash asked, struggling to grasp the concept of time travel.
The Doctor adjusted his bowtie, and walked back into the workshop. "Where did you ask her to be?"
Dash rubbed her head in frustration. The last minute had been a blur, she struggled to recall what she had said, and a name jumped out at her from her memories. "The roller coaster."
Walking past Rainbow, the Doctor pushed the door to the other room open, "Well then, no use sitting here gathering dust, lets go pick her up." He urged, holding the door open for Rainbow Dash.
Dash shrugged, and flew towards the door. Before she entered it though, the brown stallion holding it swung it closed. Dash struggled to stop in time, but crashed into the wood roughly instead. The Doctor winced as Rainbow slid down the door, and offered a hasty apology. "Uhh, sorry about that, but I was just thinking; we should get that useless thing off your back before we go. It'll help us run faster."
Looking up at the two Doctors, Rainbow rubbed the bump forming on her head. "How long will it take? I really want to get to Pinkie." She questioned. "Why would I need to run at all?"
The Doctor looked over her wings for a moment, and poked at one of the bars woven between her wings. He gently lifted a few feathers, and noted how each individual wire connected to each spot. Stretching Dash's wings to their limits, the Doctor studied how the machine worked. Eventually, he snapped Dash's wings shut, and offered his advice. "Usually I could get this off quickly, but I misplaced my...err...sonic screwdriver recently, so we'll have to make do without it. I estimate five minutes, tops."
Dash finally managed to decide which Doctor was the real one, "Just get this thing off me. Pinkie's waiting."
Twenty minutes later, a loud clatter ran through the tunnels, followed by a high pitched cheer. The rainbow mare, finally free from the cumbersome device, shot into the air to test whether her wings were working. Without the weight of the machine, she felt lighter, more precise. The wind blew through her feathers, finally allowed to move after so many hours of being trapped beneath metal. Rainbow felt free, unobstructed the clunky machine. Landing back on her feet, she turned to the pony who had helped her remove the device. "Thanks, Doc. This feels so much better." She said.
The Doctor placed a screwdriver he was holding in his mouth on the floor, "Just what I do. I am going to have to ask you to stop flying for a while though. If I missed a spare bolt or, Luna forbid, a screw, it could seriously damage your wings." He warned, stepping behind Rainbow Dash.
Dash turned, and tried to put her wings to rest. It was too hard, they just wanted to stay free. "What? No no no, I need to fly now! I need to get to Pinkie."
The Doctor sighed, and pointed at the door. "Then lets go already. You'll just have to make do with walking." He said.
"But..but.." Dash stuttered.
The Doctor pushed against her, moving her closer to the door. "It's not permanent, you just need to walk until I'm sure it's safe to fly again." He assured her.
Dash swallowed, and moved forward of her own accord. She didn't like it and right now she would give anything to fly into the sky, but something about the Doctors gaze told her he was telling the truth. She would just need to walk for now. She stretched her wings, what point were they if she couldn't even use them?

"You know what I love most about this era? The inventions. All you ponies rushing off into different sections of science, leaving your own special touch. Dams, chariots, turntables, all made because you ponies needed something, and had the talent to make it a reality. The right spell here, the right machine there, and you have the founding for a whole new city. It's brilliant; and you did it all without thumbs. Or fingers. It completely boggles my mind; And don't get me started on the practical inventions." The Doctor monologued, not really caring that Rainbow stopped listening a long time ago.
The two made their way through the streets, occasionally capturing the attention of the other ponies who heard sections of the Doctors rambling. Stalls of every shape and colour lined their sides, peddling their overpriced wares to whoever they could find. The Doctor stopped at one of the stalls suddenly, and Rainbow didn't notice he was gone until he stopped talking. She slowed down and made a U turn, stopping directly next to the Doctor.
"This is what I'm talking about, muffins. Not the food item, made of flour and milk and all those other things, but the idea behind them. Did you know no other race has developed more than one type of muffin? It's only you ponies that have banana flavoured and whole grain and english muffins. All because one pony sat down and decided to add bananas to her mix. A whole new invention. An age of industry. It's absolutely astounding." He continued.
Dash nodded her head slowly, "That's uhh, really interesting, but I would like to get to the roller coaster." Rainbow mumbled out while attempting to get the Doctor to start moving again.
"Now now, all in due time, I need to do something first." Was his response. "One blueberry muffin, please." He asked the shop owner. There was a quick movement of hooves from behind the wooden bench, and the pony lifted a single muffin out from its hiding place.
"Three bits." He said gruffly. The Doctor grinned, and pulled a small piece of paper out from behind his bowtie. He held it up in front of him, letting the store owner get a good look of it. After a short moment he nodded slightly, as if confirming some sort of unsaid agreement, and turned away from the Doctor.
The brown pony sighed, and glanced at the paper in his hooves. "Ha, I'm a muffin inspector now. Derpy would love this job." He commented, before turning back to Dash.
Dash just shot him a look, one that was half confusion and half impatience. The Doctor grinned, remembering that Rainbow had no idea what the paper was, and held it up for her. "Psychic paper. Shows you whatever I want you to see." He explained.
"But it's blank." Dash commented.
"I don't want you to see anything." The Timelord replied cryptically. "But, lets not waste time, your friend is waiting." He shouted, attracting more attention from the other visitors. Moving into the middle of the street, the Doctor raised the muffin into the air. It's warm exterior sent a delicious scent into the wind. He held it there for a moment, before shouting. "Derpy! Derpy! Come on, we have adventures to do! Derpy!" Nothing changed. He called out again, hoping that the first time was just a tiny fluke. After another moment of confused silence, the Doctor lowered his hoof and took a large bite out of the muffin. "This is bad. Very bad." He said to Rainbow, before walking past her and continuing down the street.
"Why? What's going on?" Dash asked. She was beginning to grow frustrated with the Doctor. She just wanted a straight answer. Luckily, the Doctor seemed happy to explain.
"I sent Derpy into the park a while back to find out what was causing....certain problems. I've also seen Derpy fly through a solid steel door for a muffin. Since she didn't come when I offered her one, that means something happened. Something bad. I need to find her." He replied.
Dash shrugged, and offered her views. "It's Derpy, I've seen her get lost in a straight hallway. She's probably just distracted by some flashing lights or something. There's plenty of those around here."
Shaking his head, the Doctor replied, "Miss Hooves is not stupid, if she was sent here to do what I asked, she wouldn't let herself get distracted. We need to find her quickly." He sped up, breaking into a fast trot.
Rainbow ran to catch up to him. "And what about my friend? We still need to get to Pinkie before the mascots do." Dash begged, hoping that the brown pony would listen to her.
Instead, the Doctor dug his hooves into the ground, stopping himself hastily. Dash did the same, and stood next to him. He pointed at Dash, and stared at her deeply. "Wait, what did you say?"
"We need to get to Pinkie." Dash answered.
"No no no, after that, about the mascots."
Dash glanced behind her at the mention of the robots. "The mascots here are dangerous. One of them even managed to stab me, and another could fly faster then me. Plus I can't do anything about it, because they're robots! It's so frustrating." She explained.
Dash shook his head, "Are you absolutely sure they were mascots?" He questioned.
Nodding her head, Dash stared forward; what was the problem? The Doctor also glanced around nervously, before motioning for Rainbow to move closer.
"Rainbow, I don't know how to tell you this, but you're in incredible danger." He said.
"Tell me something I don't already know."
"No, see, this amusement park," He added, "doesn't have mascots."

Dash sat there for a moment, having trouble processing this information. Eventually, she snapped her jaw closed, and started to laugh. "Bah ha ha ha. You nearly had me there. For a minute I almost believed you. I didn't think you were the kind to do practical jokes." She chuckled out nervously. She really wasn't expecting the Doctor to pull something like this.
The brown pony however, was dead serious. "I'm not joking, Rainbow. If these things are here, then something is very wrong. Much more wrong than I thought." He replied, trying to get Dash to realise the seriousness of the issue.
The pegasus stopped laughing as it finally sunk in. "No, I saw them with my own eyes. This park does have mascots. Robot mascots, shaped like my friends." She explained, grasping at straws.
The Doctor shook his head from side to side. "That's...but that's impossible. When Derpy and I arrived her, I ran a scan seeking out any advanced technology. There were no results. By all evidence, there are no mascots." He said.
"Umm, Doctor..." Dash interjected, before she was cut off.
"Which is what makes this interesting. What race could benefit from this? It's not Sontarans. Certainly not the Daleks. So what's the point? What am I missing?" He shouted in frustration.
"Doc, I really think you should turn around..." Dash repeated.
"It's staring me in the face, and I can't see it." He added.
"Freeze, criminal scum!" A voice crackled out from behind the brown pony.
The Doctor raised his hoof, and pointed behind himself. "There's one of them behind me, isn't there?" He asked.
Nodding softly, Rainbow kept her eyes locked on the new mascot. This one was a blinding white, with a flawless purple mane, polished to perfection. It's very presence seemed to bright up the street, her coat reflecting the sun harshly. A huge horn stuck out of her forehead, though it had no effect on the style of her mane. Unlike Twilights horn, this one was more intricate. A triple spiral of purple, white and gold. They intertwined between each other like the threads of a dress, creating the illusion of a single horn. Like everything else on this mascot, the horn was beautifully polished, blending in with the mane when it reflected the sun. The Doctor took one glance at it, and moved over so he was next to Rainbow Dash.
"Well, this is an interesting little thing isn't it?" He joked, motioning towards the mascot.
There was a second of silence, and then Rarity's mascot spoke again. "I simply cannot let you run around dressed like that. It would be a crime against my art as a seamstress. Come, Rainbow, I have much better clothes in the questioning room." She said, with a slightly refined accent that was completely lost when run through a cheap microphone.
"I would prefer not to. I need to find Pinkie first." Rainbow replied, nervous.
The stallion next to her nodded, "Yes, well, that can wait. I want to know who you are." He added.
Rarity's mascot let out a shock of static that could be confused for laughter. "My dear, I am the one and only Rarity. Holder of the Element of Generosity. I work as a seamstress in Ponyville, where I design dresses for the ponies in Canterlot. Now come, I'm sure the others will find Pinkie for you." It replied.
The Doctor shook his head again. "Now we both now that's not true. So who are you, who built you?" He responded.
There was another moment of silence, one that dragged on for slightly too long. Dash glanced around nervously, when the robot spoke again. "I...don't understand. I'm Rarity, I wasn't built. I was born, like any other pony!" It shouted.
The Doctor rubbed his head thoughtfully. "This would be so much easier if I had my sonic. Why are you doing this? What are you trying to cover up? Who. Built. You?"
Rainbow Dash motioned to the road behind her, "Doc, I think maybe we should leave before the robot get's all...stabby."
"I wasn't built! I was hired by the boss to be a mascot here, I accepted her offer, that's it."
Shaking his head yet again, the Doctor sighed. "There's your mistake. I know the real Rarity, she's a good friend of mine. I know her well enough to know she would never wear something as tacky as that metal clump you call a suit. So who is this boss who presumably hired you? Who is the pony who thinks he can take my friend, and throw her in a metal machine for the same effect? I would like to have a word with this pony." The brown pony said, his words bristling with a kind of hidden menace. 
"I...I can't tell you. It would be unladylike." It responded. "I...I need you to bring you both into questioning now." The robot lowered her head, and the delicate horn pointed at the closest target dangerously.
"Uhh, Doc, do mind if I..." Dash asked, staring at the robot stupidly. It really was a very beautiful robot. It's perfect shine, it's perfect mane. It might have been the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She wasn't sure how to react at this moment. Before she could finish her sentence though, the Doctor filled in the blanks with his own thoughts.
"Run? Not at all." He continued, still standing perfectly still.
The robot stepped closer, still not moving it's head, until it broke into a gallop. The duo stood still, stuck to the floor, until the Doctor regained his senses, and shouted at the top of his voice. "Run!"
The spell broke instantly as the Doctor yelled, and Dash jumped into the air. She sprung her wings open, and prepared to fly, until she remembered the Doctors words. No flying. Her wings snapped shut of their own accord, and she fell to the ground. Using the force of the momentum to propel herself forward, she sprinted as soon as her hooves hit the ground. She glanced behind her to try and catch her pursuer. To her surprise, the first thing she saw was the Doctor racing up behind her. For somepony who sounded older than Rainbow, she had to admit he was an extremely fast runner. Directly behind him, she could see the mascot chasing after them furiously.
She slowed down enough to let the Doctor catch up to her, and the brown pony started flying off his mouth off as soon as he got the chance. "Listen Rainbow, I am sorry. I am so so sorry I dragged you into this. At the very least, I can set things right. You need to get to the roller coaster. Find Pinkie and get out of here. I'll distract the robot."
Dash sighed in exasperation, "That's what I've been trying to do!" She shouted. "Hang on, what?"
The Doctor pulled away from Rainbow, and shouted out to the mascot behind them. "Hey..uh..Rarity. Your dress is..uhh..unfashionable!"
"I'm not wearing a dress at the moment." She cracked back.
"Well, maybe you should. To cover your...uh...ugly hide." He retaliated.
"My coat is shining, flawless and you know it." She replied.
The Doctor sighed, annoyed, and redoubled his efforts. "I think Photo Finish was right!" He shouted.
Rarity ran faster, but it was hard to tell whether it was because of the Doctors insults or not. "Photo Finish couldn't tell a dress from a garbage bag in the street."
Grimacing, the Doctor realised he had no choice. If he wanted the mascots attention, he would have to use THAT insult. The insult so bad, so gut wrenchingly wrong and terrible that it's mere thought was enough to cause Rarity to move faster, almost as if she could already hear it. Swallowing nervously, the Doctor yelled into the sky. "Forgive me Rarity, but I have no choice. I think that Prince Blueblood was right, you are an ugly mule." He called back.
Almost instantaneously, a change went over the robot mare. Her eyes shot out a blinding red light, that resembled the fire of a thousand broken promises. Her horn split open at the tip, becoming a three pronged trident. Magic bolts of lightning fired off the trident dangerously, and would occasionally fly forward, sparking anypony unlucky enough to be standing in front of the mare. The mascots coat turned a bright red, as if it was heated to a fiery temperature by the rage contained within the pony. The robot put all it's effort into sprinting forward, effectively tripling it's speed; a deafening scream charging from it's mouth as it ran. "You shall not mention that rainbow waste in my presence. He was hardly worthy to look at me!
The Doctor's smile dropped to a panicked look before stretching back to a childish grin, and he turned suddenly, bursting through a crowd of ponies covering their ears. "Remember Rainbow!" He shouted. "Get out of here!"
The rainbow pegasus slowed down as the robot stopped pursuing her. She caught a glance of it's tail disappearing into the crowd, it's sole existence now based on catching the Doctor. Rainbow slowed to a trot, before remembering that Pinkie was still missing, and breaking into a gallop again.

"No no no no no, not now. I don't have time for this." Dash repeated to herself, glancing behind her back, worried. She'd been standing outside the entrance to the ride for several minutes, waiting for Pinkie to magically pop out of the background like she usually did. She still hadn't appeared, and the sound of ponies screaming in joy was starting to get on her nerves. She glanced inside the small building that contained the entrance to the ride, and noted how large the line was growing. A noise appeared next to her, and she jumped in fear. She blushed though, when she realised it was only a small filly, holding a balloon. This whole experience was making her paranoid. She considered going inside, to hide from any mascots that might be able to fly, before deciding against it. She needed to stay here for when Pinkie finally arrived.
A familiar scream pierced the air, and Dash turned quickly. She begged silently to Celestia that she was just hearing things. She didn't want Pinkie to be hurt. She scanned around, trying to pick out where Pinkie was screaming from. Instead, her fears sank into the ground as she realised exactly where Pinkie was. On the roller coaster.
A small carriage zipped across the steel lines, carrying it's single passenger. Pinkie Pie yelled in joy as the wind kicked through her mane, and the ride swung the cart around at impossibly fast speeds. Dash sighed angrily, and made her way inside the building. The ride would have to return to the beginning eventually and she would be ready to catch Pinkie when it did.
"Excuse me, ticket?"
Dash turned towards the mechanical voice scared she'd been found. A small box sat off to the side, with the amusement park logo stamped across the front. The strange device had a speaker poking out the top, and a two small indentions installed in the front, just above the logo. One of the indentions was clearly meant for bits, while the other was shaped in a flat funnel. Dash guessed it was used to dispense tickets.
Walking over to it, Dash gave it a couple of pokes. It rocked side to side, but didn't actually do much. Shrugging, she flew past it. She didn't need a ticket anyway, she just needed to get Pinkie. Flapping her wings impatiently, she flew above the line of ponies and made her swift way towards the roller coaster tracks. Or did, until the machine behind her started blasting out a loud siren. The rainbow pegasus froze in mid air, not quite sure what to do, until her brain caught up to her wings and she spun around. Practically tackling the box, Dash pushed one of her hooves to her lips, not sure what she was doing.
"Shoosh shoosh shoosh, please be quiet, don't make noise, please don't make noise." She begged, before realising she was talking to a machine.
She felt the crowds curious eyes burrow into her back, and leapt off the machine. A loud crunching sound told her the cart had returned to the station, and she wasted no time fighting her way through the top of the crowd. Pushed forward by the angry shouting behind her, Rainbow Dash landed on the platform and glared angrily at the pink pony. Pinkie Pie, however, seemed oblivious to this.

"Hey Dashie, you need to try this! This ride goes up and down and down and up and occasionally to the right. Or was it the left? Anyway, sit down and lets go already." Pinkie chuckled at Rainbow.
Dash couldn't shake her head faster. While she was happy to see that her friend was still alive and well, every moment they spent in this park could result in that changing rapidly. "Pinkie! Now isn't the time. We need to get out of here! I think I may of set off some kind of alarm." She replied hurriedly, anxious to get Pinkie out of the park.
Instead, Pinkie choose to glance behind the pegasus, and looked at the ticket machine. "I think it may be a little late for that. We've got party-goers at six o clock." She said, her smile twisting into a devious grin.
Dash spun around, just in time to duck under a fast moving red projectile. The apple exploded against the cart behind her, and the rainbow pegasus faced Pinkie with a new determination. "Pinkie, out. Now. We are leaving while we still have wings to fly with." She announced.
Pinkie shrugged, throwing her hooves into the air while she did so, "But I don't have wings. All I have is balloons; or a party helicopter; or occasionally a hot air balloon but only on Wednesdays and when there's an important event."
Ducking underneath another attack, Dash grabbed the pink pony. "Pinkie, this isn't a game, could you please be serious for one minute?" She squeaked out, shaking Pinkie to try and hammer her point in.
This momentary movement however, caused her to pull her attention away from the mascot behind her. She heard a high pitched whistling next to her ear, which immediately exploded into an ear shattering crack. Something punched her in the back of the head, and she flew forwards from the force, smashing her head into the roller coaster. The machine left an ugly red bruise stretched across her forehead. Wet apple juice sunk into her mane as a dull ache spread through her head. Everything had become eerily silent, like someone had turned off the sound. She could look up and see Pinkie shouting into her ear; a huge smile irremovable in it's place. The angry crowd behind her was a slow drone, like the beatings of one of Fluttershy's hummingbirds. Something grabbed her head, but she could hardly feel it. It didn't feel like cold steel though, so Dash assumed it must have been her friend.
Pinkie pulled her hooves to her chest hastily, pulling Dash along with her. The sudden movement snapped the pegasus out of her trance, and her senses were immediately bombarded by the environment.
She took a second to glance behind her, towards the exit, and panicked when she saw two mascots standing there. Applejack and Fluttershy. The orange mascot was pointing her cannon at Dash and Pinkie threateningly, while the second was quietly whispering into the others oversized ear. Not knowing what they were talking about, Dash was surprised when Applejack's mascot lowered her hoof. The two started to argue, if their hasty movements were any indication. Seizing any opening she got, she spun around quickly to focus on the pink pony.
"This is our chance! Come on, we'll sneak out while they're distracted." She urged, attempting to pull Pinkie out of the ride. To her frustration and displeasure, Pinkie was firmly locked into the ride, with a thick harness wrapped across her back and tied into two supports at the sides of the seat.
Surprisingly, Pinkie shook her head, and fought against her friend. "Dashie, it won't work. You need to ride the roller coaster." She replied.
"What are you talking about? We need to go now, before it's too late! Come on!" Dash practically shouted back. She was scared, and stressed. So much had happened, she just wanted to go home. No more adventures for today, just rest. She pulled harder, hoping to break the harness through sheer strength.
"Dashie, trust me. You need to ride the roller coaster." Pinkie repeated.
In a split second, Dash glanced behind her suspiciously, and spun back to Pinkie. From what she could see, their pursuers were beginning to calm down, and the crowd of disgruntled ponies were becoming anxious. "If we ride the coaster, they'll catch us when it comes back here. Now please Pinkie, just come on!" She said, being reduced to begging.
There was a slight change in the air, nearly invisible. Something big had changed, and it was reflected in the very tension of the moment. Pinkie dropped her smile, sat up straighter, licked her lips and began talking, dropping some pretence of her playful personality. "Dashie, do you remember when Ponyville was attacked by parasprites? I asked you to trust me, and everything was fine. Do you remember that old meanie pants Gilda? I told you to believe me, and everything was fine again. Dashie, I want you to Pinkie promise that you will trust me, and hop in. Everything will be fine. Better than fine even. Super fine. Maybe even Super Duper fine but only if you get in now." She monologued, returning to her old self by the end.
Sitting still for a moment, trying to process this change, Dash rubbed her head. A hollow thunk rang out from behind her, and she ducked to avoid another apple to the head. Gritting her teeth, she leapt into the empty seat next to Pinkie, and waited patiently while the harness connected to her body automatically. The two robots hurried to make it to the platform in time, but with a creaking groan, the ride moved forward, pushing the two mares away from their captors.

The ride creaked underneath them; the wheels running on worn out rails. The blue paint of the track had predictably been sheared clean off by the movement of the carts, and as a result a long brown line was visible, running a clear path along the empty rails. Dash cautiously glanced behind herself at the robots. Since they seemed unable to chase them, she decided to take in the roller coaster itself. The cart was a bright silver, and built into the design of a giant needle. The seats, which were currently filled with the pegasus and her friend, were situated in eye of the needle. The cart, and indeed the entire ride, had a new and fresh gleam to it, like it had only been built yesterday. Maybe it had. Shrugging, Dash put the thought away for a minute and stared at her pink friend.
She really hoped that she had a plan beyond 'ride the roller coaster'. Dash wasn't usually the kind to abandon one of her own ideas, and she hoped Pinkie realised how much trust she had in her at the moment. While it was true that Pinkie had a history of getting herself out of these situations, she had the same amount of history of making the situation worse. Wishing that this moment would be one of the former, Rainbow relaxed herself in her seat, and looked forward. The ride was just beginning it's accent to the apex, and Dash couldn't deny she was looking forward to the descent. She just loved going fast.
Glancing over at her friend though, she was given a second to react. Her arm moved like a blur, grabbing the side of Pinkie's head tightly. Her friend got one good glance at the panicked pegasus, before her head was slammed into the ride in front of her. A noisy clang echoed into Dash's ears as Pinkie quickly pulled her head back up. Rubbing it softly, she looked at her friend.
"What was that for? It's not nice to do things like that. Remember Gilda?" Pinkie asked.
Dash simply gritted her teeth, and slammed Pinkie's head down again.
"Dashie, why are...?" Pinkie choked out.
Pointing past the pink pony, Dash shouted, "Just look."
Pinkie turned, and was immediately faced with a large yellow construction staring back at her, dropping the hoof it was preparing to jab into the side of Pinkie's face. The two stared at each other for a moment, while the ride slowly rose higher into the sky. Pinkie absent-mindedly poked it with her hoof, letting her arm rest on the metal hull of the robot. After another long moment, Pinkie turned back to Rainbow. "Hey, did you know these ponies could fly? That's so cool!"
Dash resisted the urge to remove her hooves from Pinkie and place them on her own face long enough to push down again, causing Pinkie to smack into the ride. A fiery yellow hoof just barely missed the pony, instead singing a perfect hole into her mane. Pinkie straightened herself and tried to shake the stars out of her head. "I think you don't need to do that anymore. I'll dodge the mascot from here on out." She fumbled out. Placing a hoof in her mouth, she blew into it, and her mane repaired the damage that the evil robot had done.
"I don't want to fight you. I just want to talk." The mascot sighed out sweetly.
Dash chuckled sarcastically at the irony. "Then stop swinging at us!"
The mare shook her head sadly. "Oh, but I couldn't do that. Not after what the boss said you would do."
"I'm so sick of this boss! Why doesn't he come out and get us himself, huh?" Dash yelled back angrily, finally sick of everything. She didn't even care anymore, she just wanted to fight something that wouldn't beat her.
"I...I can't tell you, she wouldn't like that. I don't want to make anypony sad."
"Then stop attacking us! We just want to leave!" Rainbow responded loudly. She took this break in the conversation to look at the track in front of her. She was only halfway up the ascent. She'd seen this mascot fly, once they went down the fall, she wouldn't be able to keep up with the cart. They'd get another chance to get away. She just needed to keep her distracted.
Luckily, something else grabbed the yellow mares attention. Rainbow felt a sense of hope grow into her, until she realised what exactly was distracting the robot.
Another mascot floated near her side of the cart, suspended in the air by the constant fire shooting out of her feet. It's spiky hair was brown from dirt, and it's normally light blue coat was dotted with ugly spots. A red fire shined through her eyes, betraying the anger masked beneath her cool exterior.
"I want a rematch. That blue sonic rainboom thing was totally cheating!" She whined out.
Dash blinked dumbly, "No it wasn't." She retorted, unable to respond with much else.
"Yes it was!"
"No, it wasn't."
"Yesitwas!"
"Noitwasn't"
Watching the scene unfold, Fluttershy decided she had better stop this argument before it descended into one word responses or, Celestia forbid, petty name calling. "Rainbow, where have you been? You disappeared while we were searching for these two."
"Disappeared? This pony is the one who disappeared! We were having a perfectly fine race, and then she goes and vanishes right before the finish line! It's not fair." The robot retorted.
Dash felt offended, "It was perfectly fair, you were trying to kill me!"
Her doppelgänger shrugged, "Not until you crossed the finish line, I wasn't." It said simply, as if it was the most casual sentence in the world.
Dash pulled her head back, and sighed into the sky. The two mascots began to argue, and she smiled. The cart was nearly at the top of the track.
Creasing her eyebrows, she realised with a shock that there was already something at the top of the track. The sun shined against the pony's back, and Dash couldn't identify who it was. She clenched in fear as she assumed it was another mascot, until the pony turned and waved at her. She raised her hoof to block out the sun, and the pony waved at her again.
A faint buzzing sound filled the air, and the ride suddenly doubled in speed. Sparks shot out the side, landing directly in the eyes of the mascots hovering to the sides of the cart. They flew backwards in shock, but Dash ignored them. She was too interested on the mysterious stranger at the top of the incline. Suddenly, he jumped off the rails, and fell towards the ground. Rainbow tried to leap out of the cart to save him, but the harness kept her securely locked in. She barely got enough time to grasp her surroundings again before the ride reached the top of the bump.
She could see the entire park sprawled out in front of her. Everything from the largest tents to the smallest stall. A symphony of the park floated up to her ears, created from the voice of every creature gathered below. A beautiful picture, formed of both the flashing colours of the park and the music of the customers, sat upon Rainbow's eye for a split second, before gravity seized control of the ride.
The pink pony next to her grinned happily, and looked at her friend. "Say WEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee, Dashie!" She offered.

Fast. She was going too fast, this ride was going too fast. This wasn't a controlled fall, this was basically a freefall. Dash was all right with going fast, after all, it was her namesake, but there was a difference between flying and falling. She knew that difference well, and they were definitely falling. The wind kicked into her eyes, trying to force them closed with sheer speed, but Dash was used to that. Her mane was stuck permanently backwards from the wind, and everything became a coloured blur.
Fighting through the pain of turning her head, she managed to glance at Pinkie. She was inexplicably sitting in the exact same position she was when they started, and was even screaming in joy at the speed they were going. Dash tried to pull her head to face forward, but the wind pulled it back into her shoulder; and staring back at her was a familiar rainbow mare, hovering next to her. Dash tried to shout out a warning to her friend, but the wind forced her tongue into the back of her throat. The mascot would have grinned at this display, but decided not to waste time. She pulled one of her fiery hooves out of the air, and aimed it at her likeness.
Suddenly, the ride speed up. Dash didn't even think it was possible to make the cart move faster then it was. She grinned as the robots punch missed completely, burying it's owner in the back of the ride. The mascot let out angry static as it was pulled along with the coaster, losing control of it's flight while it was pulled off balance. The ride lurched as it reached the ground, and it's occupants were pulled forward when it shot back into the air, following the rails back into the sky. Dash's head slammed into the cart as the momentum changed, and she took in a huge gasp of air.
The static behind her continued, and she could feel her heart beating through her chest. She turned to Pinkie, and her body relaxed as she saw a gleeful smile looking back at her.
The cart reached the top of the incline, and Dash could once again see the whole park before her. She prepared herself for another ride down, this time expecting what speed she would be moving at. The ride shook however, and a loud crunch rang out from behind them. Something blue blocked the rainbow mare's vision, and random static filled her ear. Or at least, it sounded like random static. She swore she could hear words being formed in the white noise. "...Coming with me." They said.
Whatever was blocking her view disappeared, and the ride shot down the rails. This time however, there was only one passenger.
Pinkie's empty chair sat next to Rainbow, it's harness broken cleanly down the middle. Immediately, Dash started to struggle against the cloth tying her to the seat. She scanned around crazily, searching for her friend. She needed to save her, if Pinkie fell off the ride...Dash shuddered at the implications. She struggled harder, but the wind rushing against her combined with the strength of the straps kept her pinned.
Finally, she spotted her friend. She was falling. Fast. She was nearly exactly next to the cart, although she was no longer in it. Her happy smile still remained on her face though, creeping Dash out. With a desperate lunge, the strap finally broke with a snap and Dash leapt at her friend.
At the same time, Rainbow's mascot did the same thing.

Reaching out, Rainbow managed to grab her friend just in time to shield her from the robots attack. A loud snap rang through the park, and Dash creamed in pain. The force of the attack knocked her out of the air, and she started to spiral downwards. The green grass on the ground was rapidly coming closer, and Dash didn't plan on landing any time soon. She was getting out of this park if it killed her. Spinning around in the air, she managed to get Pinkie hanging off her back, with nothing more than a hasty "Hang on," to keep her safe. Thankfully, Pinkie seemed to understand, and two pink hooves gripped Dash's stomach. She winced as they ran across the rope burn she had, but fought through it. She had stuff to do.
She twisted her wings around in order to slow herself. It did little to help, and the ground continued rushing forward. The sound of fire told her that her pursuer was just behind her. She needed to change tactics, this would never work. Gritting her teeth, she stopped flapping, and let gravity take over. The earth embraced her, and at the last moment, Dash extended her wings, and kicked downwards as hard as she could. The ground split apart as her hooves collided with it, sending dirt and grass into the air. Her momentum was reversed by the kick, and she started to shoot back into the sky.
A splitting pain ran up her legs, adding to the pain she already felt, and she threatened to pass out. Shaking her head, she flapped her wings again, and sprinted for the sky. Fear continued to fuel her as she flew, as she didn't hear her mascot smash into the ground. She had to admit, whoever built them knew what they were doing.
An ear splitting scream broke her train of thought, and she twisted in the air just in time to avoid a flying tackle from an indiscriminate yellow blur. The blur stopped quickly, and faced Dash.
The rainbow mare ignored her, and flew higher. She needed more height for her plan. She kept rising, dodging attacks from both of the mascots at once. Eventually, the two doppelgängers decided to end it. The blue one flew up onto Rainbow's right, while the yellow one cautiously flew to her left. There was no where else to go now. The four ponies flew upwards, until one of them broke the noise of the blowing wind.
"'I'm only giving you one more chance Rainbow. Land now and come into questioning." Rainbow's mascot said.
"You know, I don't really think there is any questioning." Pinkie replied, barely awake. Dash wondered how she could be tired at a time like this.
Fluttershy responded carefully, "Oh, that's not true, we have excellent questioning. There are donuts and cute little bunnies in it."
The real Rainbow Dash chuckled. "You want me to land? You got it!" She shouted, twisting her wings around and reversing direction hastily.
Her pursuers were caught completely off guard, and continued flying up into the air as their prey escaped them. Hastily though, they regained their senses and followed Dash to the ground.
The wind whistled through Dash's ears, and everything became a blur around her. The only thing that remained constant were the joyful screams of her friend, being whipped into the air above them, and a shining pink hoof that occasionally waved past her face. Despite this though, she needed to go faster. Flapping her wings downwards, she straightened herself so that was nearly vertical. She then stuck her hooves out so that they were in front of her face, leaving Pinkie to hold on all by herself. Her powerful thrusts forced her to fall faster, much faster than what was safe; though at this point it was more controlled falling. The ground rushed to meet her, and she could make out the faces of the panicked ponies on the ground. They probably thought somepony was falling to their deaths. Dash grinned though, she knew exactly what she was doing. The wind rushed into her mouth and eyes, pushing them back into her face, but the rainbow pony still forced a smile onto her face. A nearly invisible cone of wind was beginning to form at the tip of her hooves.
The cone stretched to cover her arms and the force of keeping it there strained against her painfully. She would do this though, she NEEDED to do this. It was her only chance at saving Pinkie. Nothing could catch her when she did a sonic rainboom, not even robots. She just needed to go faster. Eventually, the force of the air started to stretch her body, and she groaned as the sensation reopened all her aches and wounds. Pinkie did the same, and braced herself for impact. A small hole, the size of Rainbow's hoof, opened up at the tip of the cone. Dash pushed forward, attempting to force it open more, when her wings failed. A faint wisp of green smoke disappeared into the air as Dash's wings buckled under the strain.
She was given a second to come to grips with this, before her hooves were forced back into her face by the rebounding cone. The air she was pushing around suddenly smashed against her, forcing her back into the sky with the same speed she was falling. The empty sky flashed by her as Pinkie's screams filled her mind.
Two vaguely pony shaped blobs appeared in front of her, and Dash squinted her eyes. She wasn't going down without a fight. She wrested her hooves from her chest, and pointed them at the blobs. At the speed she was going, it took less then a second for her to whiz past the mascots. As she did, her hooves smashed into the bottom of their oversized heads. All of Dash's upwards momentum clashed with the robots downwards momentum, and the mascots were flipped backwards by the hit. A loud crack echoed through the park and Dash screamed in pain. She couldn't even feel her hooves any more. Just a dull ache that covered her entire body.
Everything became quieter, and Dash finally thanked the fact that Pinkie stopped screaming. She felt tired. Really tired. A black cloud fell over her eyes, and she stopped trying to flap her wings. Something was shoving her in the back, why couldn't it let her sleep? Couldn't they see how tired she was? Surely it wouldn't hurt to rest for a tiny moment. Drifting off, her pain finally floated away. She smiled as her body felt like it was submersed in a cool pond.
She didn't even notice when she hit the ground.

Everything hurt. The rainbow pile that was curled into a small ball groaned in pain, and tried to remember why. Something about...robots? No, that couldn't be it, the premise itself was absurd. No pony would take it seriously. She briefly remembered falling. That must have been it. She fell during one of her tricks, and any moment now one of her friends would hop over to make sure she was ok. She lay there, waiting for a helping hoof.
None came, and slowly the memories of what happened flooded her mind. PINKIE! Dash uncurled her wings away from her body, and stood up quickly. Pain shot through her again as she moved, but she could barely feel it. She needed to find her friend. She glanced around hastily, searching for any sign of her. The pegasus could hardly believe that she'd passed out. She was so stupid and now Pinkie was missing, possibly injured, or worse!
The mare was standing in an open field of carefully cut grass. The supports of the massive rollercoaster reached around her like a snake. Other than that, the field was empty. Not a single creature was in sight, and the isolation shot fear back into Rainbow. She just wanted to leave, why did everypony hate that?
She extended her wings to fly into the sky, since her search still hadn't found Pinkie. However, a crippling pain held her back, and she collapsed back to the ground.
Tears fell to the grass as she cried. She was in pain, Pinkie was missing, mascots from hell wanted her blood, she'd failed to do a sonic rainboom and now she couldn't even fly at all. Rainbow had hit rock bottom, and all that was left to do was cry.
Time lost meaning, and Rainbow simply cried. She didn't care if anyone saw her, it didn't even matter any more. The most she could do was sit there and wait for the mascots to find her and take her in for 'questioning'.
Eventually, she heard something disturb the peace of the field. She looked up, half expecting it to be her friend. Instead, she looked up to find five huge figures walking towards her.
Something built in her gut, and she stood back up. Her tears felt hot against her face, and she tried to dry them before the mascots arrived. It didn't work, and the robots started to circle her.
In front of her was a dark purple mare. Her hair was carefully moulded down her face, and dyed to be a lighter purple. She seemed taller than Dash remembered, and her horn was fixed from the last time that they met.
To Twilight's right was a piercing orange pony. A metal stetson was firmly plastered to her head, and she would occasionally cock her head to the side, as if contemplating a difficult question.
Next was a shy yellow pegasus. The mascot continually broke eye contact from Rainbow Dash, and kicked her hoof awkwardly. She seemed nervous. Dash couldn't imagine why. It wasn't like there was much she could still do.
To Twilights left was another unicorn. This one was a blinding white, and everything about her seemed designed to compliment her beauty. The mascot was confident, and shined with an aura of supremacy.
Finally, a familiar blue pegasus sat at the end, detached from the following spectacle. The real Dash stopped for a moment, and wondered why. If the positions were reversed, she had no doubt that she would gloat, at the very least.
Rainbow eventually stepped forward though. She might as well get it over with. "Well?" She shouted. "What are you waiting for? Come over here so I can fight you properly."
There was a burst of static from Twilight, which Dash guessed was laughter. "We don't want to fight you Rainbow." She replied.
"Then why are you here? Give back Pinkie!" Dash shouted, raising her hooves into the air.
The purple mascot shrugged, and stepped forward, impossibly fast. Dash tried to react in time, but not even she could move that fast. A purple hoof found it's way onto her neck, and she was pushed into the dirt. The grass cut against her face, and she struggled to fight back. She couldn't find the energy to defeat her opponent, and accepted her position. What was even the point in fighting?
"Since you've proven too hard to bring into questioning, we've decided to bring questioning to you. Simple problem solving." Twilight's mascot explained cheerfully.
Dash gritted her teeth, and tried one last time to fight back. Instead, the mare at her throat pushed down roughly. Rainbow struggled for breath, and gasped uselessly into the air. Her hooves managed to press against the robots body, but she couldn't find the strength. Darkness started to spread across her eyes again as her life dripped away.
She was reminded briefly of why she was here in the first place. It was all Pinkie's fault, her and her insistence. If she hadn't pressured Dash to come with her, she could be resting up in her home at the moment. Sadly though, she realised this wasn't the truth. Pinkie was only trying to help Dash out of her rut. A rut she was only in because of the same technology that was now pinning her to ground.
But time was growing short, and she knew it. She wasn't ready for this; there was still so much she needed to do. Join the Wonderbolts, perfect the sonic rainboom, tell Pinkie how she felt. She couldn't actually.....die, could she?

Suddenly, something changed and air rushed back into the rainbow mares lungs. She breathed in deeply, coughing violently between gasps. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the purple mare walk away from her, and take position with the other mascots. Rainbow rolled onto her side, and continued coughing.
"This is the mare you have had trouble containing? Pathetic." A voice rang out.
Dash forced herself back to her feet, and rubbed her neck. An ugly bruise was already forming, and it hurt to breathe. Looking back over the mascots, Rainbow managed to squeak out a short reply. Every word seemed to chop her throat up. "Who said that? Show yourself."
The mascots glanced between each other nervously, or at least they appeared too. It was hard to tell without facial expressions. One or two occasionally whispered to each other, attempting to keep Dash out of the loop. She was having none of it. "I said come out, or are you scared?" She taunted, not actually able to back up the threat.
"Do you ever shut up? That is no way to speak to royalty."
Twilight's mascot 'coughed' to capture Dash's attention and started explaining. "We figured that if this was a real questioning, then you deserved to meet the pony who was in charge. It's just good manners."
From this, Rarity continued her sentence. "With that said, we would like to introduce you to our employer, our boss, Nightmare Moon."
The mascots moved to the side, letting the large alicorn into Dash's sights. The pony's coat was a dark purple, bordering on black. It occasionally waved like the surface of a disturbed lake, or a rustling of grass. This gave the mare an illusion of being larger than she actually was. Her mane was a reflection of the night sky, and disappeared on the wind as if it never existed once it reached a certain length. Stars shone through the alicorns celestial mane, providing pale contrast to the sun in the middle of the sky. Finally, over her head was a light blue helmet that ran over her ears and down the back of her neck. The strange metal glistened in the light, but didn't shine, choosing instead to suck in all the light around it. The large mare stepped closer, almost close enough to touch Rainbow, and bent down to her level. "Hello, Loyalty. Remember me? Did you think I was gone?"

Dash swallowed nervously. She could see why the robots were scared now. "Honestly? Yea, your defeat was pretty convincing. With the screaming and everything." She replied.
Nightmare Moon raised a hoof to her chest, and put on her best sad face. "I'm offended. I thought I had left more of an impression on you."
Dash shook her head, and remembered who she was talking to. Flexing her useless wings, Rainbow raised a hoof. "Enough! How are you here? What do you want? Where's Pinkie?" She questioned.
Nightmare Moon grinned, "Well, aren't you impatient. Funny thing, patience. I seem to have a lot of it; but that's neither here nor there. What rude questions too. Is a queen not entitled to the land around her throne? I am the princess, and I have the right to do whatever I please with my subjects. As for what I want, I suppose it would be entertainment. You're an interesting subject, Loyalty. All that anger, all that fear, chewing away beneath your skin." She replied, grabbing Rainbow's neck with her mane and forcing the pegasus to look into her eyes. "You can feel it now. Burning behind your eyes. You would want nothing more than to banish me again, wouldn't you? You and your worthless friends. They don't have the same drive as you though, Loyalty. You are nothing more than a pawn among gods, and you will do as I see fit. That is what I want." She finished, releasing Dash from her grip. Falling to the ground, Dash forced herself to stand up again. She had no clue what the alicorn meant. Sure, she was angry, but it wasn't a burning was it? Shaking her head to clear her mind, and reacting in surprise when clumps of dirt fell to the ground from her mane, she stepped forward again.
"Where. Is. Pinkie." She said clearly, leaving no room for error. She would find her friend, even if she had to fight through Nightmare Moon to do so.
Instead, she was greeted with a chuckle. "Always so impatient. You haven't even bothered to listen to my demands."
"Demands? What are you, a cartoon villain?" Dash taunted back.
The mare responded by dashing at the pegasus, and laying a quick smack across her head. "That is no way to speak to royalty. You will have respect; and if you won't have that, fear." She shouted.
Dash forced a grin. "Make me." She responded, ignoring the pain on the side of her face.
Another smack, and the alicorn stepped away. "Are you ready to play along now, or do I need to leave Pinkie by herself longer? It must be lonely where I left her." She asked.
Locking her eyes on the ground, Dash swallowed her pride. If she needed to do this to save her friends, then her pride could take the hit. She nodded slowly, and the mare of darkness cackled evilly. "Very well. Let's begin the 'game,' shall we?" She said. "I have taken your friend, the element of Laughter, and hidden her somewhere in this park. You're only hint to finding her is this note, written by the mare herself." Nightmare explained, levitating a small slip of paper over to herself.
"So that's it? All I have to do is find Pinkie; and you'll let us go?" Dash asked, hopeful.
"If only it were that simple Loyalty. Finding your friend is only half the game. The other half is escaping alive. Throughout our 'game,' you will be hunted by my dear friends here. There will be no questioning this time. Any interaction will result in your untimely demise, and the disappointment of your princess. You lose the game if you die, simple as that." The mare in the moon continued.
"And I win if I escape with Pinkie?"
The alicorn chuckled, "No, my little pony, you win by leaving. Laughter is merely a prize for choosing to play. You are perfectly capable of leaving at any time, all you need to do is fly over the fence." Her expression changed suddenly,  becoming deathly serious. "If you leave though, I can't guarantee what will happen to your friend. There are many rides here, Loyalty, and I can't be sure that each of them are 'accident proof.' It would be a shame if your friend were to go on one of these rides." Nightmare continued, making her intentions crystal clear.
Dash swallowed nervously. "So avoid the mascots, find Pinkie, get out?"
"If only it were that simple, but yes. That is what you must do. So, do you accept?" Nightmare Moon affirmed.

Dash stopped for a moment, and considered the situation. This entire thing sounded dangerous, and there was no doubt that she could actually die if she said yes. Safer to say no then. She could escape, return to Ponyville, find Twilight and race up here to save Pinkie. But that wouldn't work. She'd be gone by the time they got back. Leaving Pinkie here alone wasn't even an option. Dash would rather die than leave her friend trapped in the care of this insane princess. Besides, what would the others think? They would hate her for abandoning Pinkie. She needed to say yes, it was the only option available to her, and Nightmare knew this.
But was she saying yes from circumstance or her own will? All her life, she'd done things for the praise. Won races, saved fillies, defeated monsters, performed a sonic rainboom. All these things she'd done so that ponies would recognize her, would cheer her name. She'd be lying if she claimed she didn't enjoy it. The roar of the crowd, the adrenaline, it was intoxicating. But one thing stood higher than that.
She needed her friends, and they needed her. She'd gladly trade away fame if it would make Fluttershy happy. She'd be the first to offer fortune to Applejack if it made her smile. A simple wave, a friendly hello. To any other ponies, these would be small gestures, but to Rainbow. To Rainbow they were the greatest things in the world, and if she was in danger of losing the greatest smile of them all...
"Bring it on, starshine." She replied enthusiastically. "I'm going to win this game, save my friend, return home a hero, gather the elements and kick your sorry flank back to the moon!"
The alicorn smiled; a devilish grin that sent a shiver down Dash's spine. "I was hoping you would say that. The game shall begin when you regain conciousness." She explained.
Dash choked out a hasty "What?" before the mare lunged at her. Her attack was powerful and precise. Dash wobbled on her feet, and collapsed sideways, darkness gathering around her eyes. Before she passed out completely, the last thing she saw were the five mascots, slowly walking away, and a pair of inky black wings rising into the sky.

She wasn't sure how long she was out for before she woke up, but she assumed it was a long time. Glancing around, there was no sign of the evil princess, or her robots. Instead, a small piece of paper lay on the ground in front of her, wedged cleanly under a rock. Dash sat up, only to fall back down as the world spun out from under her. Closing her eyes, she decided to rest again. Pinkie would remain safe for five minutes while she rested, right?