Lith and Rainbow Dash lied on the ground in the closet with their eyes closed and their respective back and left side against the walls. Their ears perked up at the sound of the barrier dissipating. Their eyes slowed into an open and they stretched their bodies. Spitfire stood at the other side of the closet with a rage that not even absolute zero temperatures can put out. Their guts shrunk into their hips and their hearts stopped.
“Do you realize how much trouble you two are in?!” Spitfire shouted, eliciting sharp winces of the eyes of Rainbow Dash and Lith. “If I had to scale how much trouble you are in on a grade of one to ten, you are hanging around a twelve.”
“A fight at a club put us in that much trouble? That’s a bit absurd.” Lith noted.
Spitfire shook her head and held out her left front leg. A hologram displayed itself above her watch, detailing footage of the fight in the club.
Rainbow Dash should know this, but I don’t expect you to know the law of Neo Canterlot; if you put the lives or the livelihoods of others in jeopardy without good reason, you’re as good as dead meat. You will be executed.”
Lith’s lungs stunted themselves upon hearing Spitfire’s words. Her mouth quivered in suspense.
“Executed? You mean that if I do anything wrong… I die?!”
Spitfire nodded with a stern movement of her head.
“That’s right. This holding cell is just a H.O.R.S.E. closet, as we do not actually have any proper holding facilities for perpetrators. Thus, we take any sort of crime very seriously. You are just lucky that Council Lady Luna placed Rundas in the Night Guard last night, or else you two would have been dead.”
Rainbow Dash and Lith glanced towards each other with apologetic eyes. They turned towards Spitfire and tilted their heads down with the weight of shame behind them.
“I never expected the consequences of our actions to be so grim. Commander, I promise to pay for any damages that I caused.” Lith reasoned.
A comical chuckle seeped from Spitfire’s breath. Her amused smile formed into a stern grimace. She glared at Lith.
“Good luck trying to pay for the five-hundred thousand bits worth of property you destroyed then.”
Lith’s knees gave out upon Spitfire’s words passing through her mind. Her mouth stammered, bringing forth incoherent babbling from her.
“Five-hundred thousand bits?!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “I barely break the fifty-thousand bit mark on my annual salary! How are we supposed to come up with five-hundred thousand bits?!”
“Thankfully, I’m not that cruel to force you the bill even if it would be justified in this case. However, it doesn’t mean you are going to go unpunished!” Spitfire declared. “Lith, since you instigated the situation, I’m putting you under a month of probation. You cannot leave H.O.R.S.E. grounds without my personal approval.”
Lith bowed her head and frowned. She shut her eyes and nodded with acceptance.
“Y-yes Commander.”
Spitfire turned her direction towards Rainbow Dash and maintained her unsavory glare.
“As for you, Rainbow Dash, I’m demoting you from your commander position into scrub pony third class.” Pointing towards the gray-fiber mop in a silver bucket, she said. “Now go and mop up the restrooms.”
Rainbow Dash glanced towards the bucket with broken eyes. She approached the stalk of the mop and grasped it with her hooves. She lifted the two objects and sighed without a spark of life in it. She walked out of the closet and exited the room she cooped herself in. Spitfire’s shoulders lowered and she glanced towards Rainbow Dash with sad eyes.
“What’s wrong with her?” She asked out of concern.
“She has… a lot on her mind from last night. But tell me Commander; is my brother alright?” Lith asked with eyes invested in worry.
“Mono?” Scratching her head, Spitfire responded. “I think I heard a bunch of commotion down in the Medical Division regarding him.”
Lith sprinted out of the closet and exited the room. Spitfire raised her right front leg forward with her mouth agape. Her back twisted in knots, eliciting a sharp wince.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Rainbow Dash sat at a round table with only a dim light from above keeping her company. On the table sat a crowd of glass mugs, half of which are empty and the other half are filled with fizzy golden liquid. With a depressed frown on her face, she took a mug filled with bear and downed it on one go. She grunted and shook her head.
“Nope… it still hurts.” She muttered to herself.
She slid the glass towards the crowd of empty mugs and grasped a mug filled to the brim with beer. The heavy door leading into the room opened with a loud creak, revealing Rey and Thunderlane. The two avionic beings glanced towards Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash frowned and forced a fierce stare towards the two.
“C-could you two just leave? I want to be alone right now.” She requested.
Thunderlane and Rey both glanced towards each other and shared a wince of eyes. They set their sights back towards Rainbow Dash and walked into the room.
“Are you alright chica? You don’t look too good.” Rey asked.
“We saw you walking down here carrying four boxes of Liberty Wings. I kind of grew worried and followed you in here to check on how you are doing.” Thunderlane explained with a voice sick in worry.
Rainbow Dash glanced towards the Pokémon and pegasus in front of her. With a depressed frown on her face, she flew towards the crates in the storage and pulled them towards the cardinal sides of the table. She sat back in her chair.
“Are you two heavyweights? I’ll be willing to tell you my problems if you become my drinking buddies right now.” She proposed.
Rey shrugged his wings and flew over towards a crate by Rainbow Dash’s side. He wrapped his opposable feathers around a handle of the glass mug. He lifted the beer and downed the entire liquid in one gulp. Thunderlane sat opposite of Rey and grabbed a frothy mug of beer. He placed his mouth on the glass and poured the golden liquid into his mouth. He slammed his empty mug onto the table and sighed with content.
“Looks like you are stuck with us, Rainbow Dash.” With narrowed eyes and a satisfied grin on his face, he stated with a confident tone.
“So tell me Rainbow Dash; why are you more depressed than a Cubone who lost his mother?” Rey asked.
Rainbow Dash glanced down towards a cup of beer, gazing upon her reflection within its flat surface. She shut her eyes and frowned.
“Tell me, Rey and Thunderlane; did Mono hurt himself?” She asked.
Rey and Thunderlane glanced towards each other and then back towards Rainbow Dash.
“Why do you ask?” Rey questioned.
“Lith told me that Mono gets suicidal night terrors after he drinks alcohol.” Rainbow Dash answered.
Thunderlane and Rey hopped back from their seats with widened eyes. Surprise shocked their nerves with shockwaves running down their spines.
“That’s a bit much there, mija. I’ve never heard anything like that happen. Why are you bringing that up?” Rey asked.
“Because I did something stupid and pressured him into drinking alcohol. It’s something that has been haunting me when I slept. If he died… then…”
Thunderlane detected tears forming within Rainbow Dash’s eyelids. In her shroud of durability, Rainbow Dash grasped another cup of beer and downed it in one go. With a grunt of satisfaction, an intoxicated smile appeared on her face.
“I think you might have had enough beer as it is, Rainbow Dash.” Thunderlane noted.
Rainbow Dash turned towards Thunderlane with a drunken smile on her face.
“Nonsense. I only had enough if I could forget about the pains of losing him.”
Rey and Thunderlane glanced towards each other with eyes risen with curiosity.
“Him?” The two males stated in unison.
“My dad. Back when I lived in Cloudsdale ten years ago, my father and I lived alone. We only had each other. He used to hug me all the time and made it known that I will always be his little filly. But…”
Rainbow Dash grasped another mug filled with beer and brought it to her lips. Thunderlane frowned with stoic eyes on his face and brought his right front hoof onto Rainbow Dash’s gripping hoof. He lowered the beer onto the table.
“Finish up the sentence before you get another sip of that beverage.” He demanded.
Rainbow Dash swiped her hoof away from Thunderlane and stared at him with empty anger. A depressed sigh left her mouth once more.
“Do I even need to tell you that the Van’Goth appeared in Cloudsdale? My father and I were flying away as quick as possible. During mid-flight, my left wing got snagged within a cloud. I wriggled within its grasp, feeling the fear of death get to me. My father heard my panicked screams and came back to my aid. He freed me from the cloud, but… but…”
Drops of tears streamed down into the empty mugs that once contained beer within them. Rey hummed with an understanding tone and brushed his leek-holding feathers against the bottom of his bill.
“That gave the Van’Goth pursuing you more than enough time to kill your father, did it not?”
Rainbow Dash nodded without any words in her mouth. She blinked once and shook her head with a despondent aura hanging around her head.
“I thought it was just a bad dream. I thought I would have waken up from that horrible nightmare. But… the nightmare was real. I lost my dad before my eyes. But, it was thanks to his sacrifice that I was able to make it to Neo Canterlot.” She drank the smooth beer in her mug in one sip and slammed the table with it. “But I should have died that day! Not him!” She shouted with incomprehensible anger.
Thunderlane and Rey’s eyes jumped open at the sudden change in the atmosphere surrounding the trio. They leaped out of their seats and glanced towards Rainbow Dash with uneasy expressions. Rainbow Dash’s grimace lowered into a small frown and the rage in her eyes subsided.
“…Sorry.” She muttered out. “That one event filled me with a gaping hole in my heart that could never be replaced. It was shortly around the time that I came into Neo Canterlot when I discovered alcohol. I began with drinking one can a day and escalated into drinking large amounts of the stuff in my mid-teens. I’m usually pretty sobered up when on duty though.”
“It sounds like to me that you are dealing with something known as survivor guilt.” Rey explained. “But you don’t need to drown out your sorrows and guilt in alcohol. It’s just not right.”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and she held out her front legs out with desperation.
“I know! But… how else can I deal with the pain? Alcohol helps me cope with reality long enough for me to get my head back into the game.”
Rey shook his head and rubbed the top of his head with his right wing. A pondering hum vibrated from his throat and reverberated throughout the cellar room.
“I am not sure whether this would help or not, but would you like to go on a flight through the Twiluminescent Jungle tonight?” He proposed.
“Wait… tonight? I don’t know… Commander Spitfire is still a bit upset with what I did last night.” Rainbow Dash responded with a hesitant voice. “I don’t think we would be allowed to take a jet there.”
A wide grin appeared on Thunderlane’s face.
“Do the two of you have the stamina to make it to the Twiluminescent Jungle continent by wing?” He asked.
“Bragging is dishonorable, but I do take pride in my ability to fly to faraway locations when compared to other Farfetch’ds. Crossing over into another continent is easy for me to do by flight.” Rey responded.
“Of course I do! I do a rigorous exercise regimen every day. Flying to the Twiluminescent Jungle would be a breeze.” Rainbow Dash bragged.
“I bet I could fly over there as well. I’ve been meaning to go there for some time.” Thunderlane answered. “Then it’s settled; the three of us are going to fly into the jungle tonight and explore to give you something else to do than just drown your sorrows.”
“Great! But… I still have to mop up the restrooms.”
Rey shook his head and smiled.
“We took care of that already.” He said.
“…Seriously?” Rainbow Dash responded with utter disbelief. “How??”
“With that bucket and mopped you dropped off at your home. Yes, we followed you.” Thunderlane responded with a shameless tone.
Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders with a happy smile on her face.
“Well, it looks like I have to come with you two now!”
Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane and Rey flew into the violet night sky, where an ocean of stars overlooked the cool-colored sea below. Feeling the cool breeze rolling from underneath his wings, a content sigh founds its way out of Rey’s mouth.
“This night weather feels good underneath my wings.” He stated. He glanced over towards Rainbow Dash’s back, where a green trident the size of a giant crab’s claw and a volt purple rifle hoisted itself upon. “What’s with the weapons, Rainbow Dash? Do we really need that?”
“You do realize that the Twiluminescent Jungle is a dangerous place to go to regardless of the reason going there, right? The creatures there are bigger than anything else in the world!” Rainbow Dash explained.
Thunderlane brought his front hooves onto a curved knife with a dark red blade on his right flank and a deep blue-colored cylinder the size of his torso on his back.
“Rainbow Dash is right. Going to that continent unarmed is the same as asking to come back home in a coffin. We really don’t want that.”
A jolly burst of laughter broke out from Rey’s voice. He looked towards the two pegasi to his right.
“I see. With how you make it sound like, these creatures can be as big as Groudons! They would probably be worthy foes when they face off against my leek I dubbed ‘Masamune’.” He called out with an interested smile on his face.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes towards Rey in confusion.
“Why did you name your onion ‘Masamune’?” She asked.
“You’ll see…”
Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane and Rey descended upon the thick of the jungle. The three of them breathed with heavy panting. A refreshing midnight haze hung upon the atmosphere of the dark green vegetation, cloaking the flora with an ethereal glow of cool colors. A smile appeared on Rey’s face.
“Wow. That’s very pretty.” He noted.
“I have to agree with you there, Rey; I don’t think that the Terraformed Wilderness has anything on the Twiluminescent Jungle at night.” Thunderlane responded.
“So… what’s first?” Walking ahead of the group with a smile on her face, Rainbow Dash asked.
Rey raised his wings with a shrug of his shoulders. His beak and eyes emanated the puzzled confusion stored within his mind.
“I do not know. I thought we would have come here to help your spirit by freezing those terrible memories of yours in place.”
The canopy above rustled with increasing ferocity. A buzzing noise of a sharp frequency reverberated from above the squad. They glanced upwards, where brown and black-spotted roaches the size of minivans descended towards the trio. Their soulless eyes gazed at the group with hungry eyes. Rainbow Dash smirked and pulled out her trident, stood on her hind legs and held her massive weapon on her right front leg.
“Looks like I know what we are doing first.” She said with a cocky tone.
Rey brandished his leek, holding it out and brushing his right wing against its green and leafy edge. Thunderlane grasped his knife with his right front hoof and flipped the hilt towards his body’s direction. He pointed the blade of the weapon towards the giant insects.
Rainbow Dash tossed her trident into the crowd of flying roaches with a flowing movement of her hoof. The points of the trident stuck themselves into the roach in the back of the group, planking it into a nearby tree. The roach’s many legs squirmed in desperation and it opened its wings with an attempt to flee. Rainbow Dash yanked on a vine attached to the opposite end of the trident and grabbed the flying lance with her two hooves.
Rey leaped into the air, his height meeting that of the flying roaches. He threw his leek towards one of the roaches, which approached it at phantasm speeds. With the blade of the leek stabbing into its chitin, the roach’s wings flapped at a lower speed. Rey flew towards the side of the roach in a blink of an eye and extended his wings towards the stabbing leek. With a sleight of wing, he swiped the blade through the roach, causing it to drop to the ground with its body open in half.
Thunderlane’s knife clashed against the legs of the roach he approached against in the air. He hovered towards the right of the roach and lifted the knife above the strike. With a descent of his hoof with the speed of its ascent, he plunged the knife through the chitin of the roach. Removing the knife, he unleashed a series of stabbing motions against it. With green fluid leaking from its back, the roach fell to the ground.
With seamless movement, Rainbow Dash swapped her trident with the rifle on her back and aimed it towards another roach in the air. She fired a sharpened round towards it. The bullet pierced through the roach’s body. With agitated movement, it rushed towards Rainbow Dash and tackled her. Rainbow Dash’s hind hooves dragged along the ground. She set her eyes forward and saw the same roach approaching her at light speed. Rainbow Dash lifted her rifle into the air and fired a bullet through its head.
“Nice shooting, Rainbow Dash!” Rey complimented.
Rainbow Dash swapped out kicked her rifle into the air and pulled out her trident. The rifle fell onto its holster on her back, gripping it with a snug hold.
“Thanks Rey.”
Holding his leek into the air, four phantoms of clashing swords surrounded Rey. With the swords inverting their position and disappearing, a ferocious white aura surrounded the Farfetch’d. He expanded his wingspan and took flight into the air. The aura around him flared with the intensity of a shooting star. He flew through the horde of roaches, slicing them in half with the sheer force of his body.
Thunderlane grabbed the cannon on his back with his two upper hooves and aimed them towards a group of roaches heading towards him. With it a whirring light and a pulsating noise, the weapon fired off a brilliant beam that pierced through the canopy. The roaches within its orange trajectory vanished from sight. The beam died down.
Rey landed on the ground with exhausted eyes and hefty panting. His body cloaked itself with a light green aura. A smile of relief appeared on his face. Rainbow Dash glanced towards Rey with confused eyes and a mouth agape with disbelief.
“Rey, why do you look so exhausted right now?” She asked.
“That’s the cost of my most powerful move known as Brave Bird. For the damage I inflict upon my targets, I take half of it as my own damage.” Rey explained.
“That seems a bit dangerous.” Putting away the cannon back onto his back, Thunderlane noted.
“It did the job, did it not?” Saying these words, Rey stood up and pointed his leek towards a spiraling path that led deep into the jungle. “I am not sure about you caballitos locos, but we should probably continue down this jungle if we want to keep exploring and not stick around for more of these bugs.”
He walked forwards into the lush vegetation of the tropical forest. Thunderlane glanced towards Rainbow Dash, who put away her trident with ease.
“You know, I find it impressive that a mare of your size can hold a weapon that big.” He commented.
Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders and flashed an innocent smile towards Thunderlane.
“What can I say? Muscles are meaningless sometimes. It’s not about how big they are, but it’s how you use it.” She responded.
“Ummm… what?” Thunderlane responded with a confused tone and a slight blush building over his black coat.
A lighthearted chuckle burst itself from Rainbow Dash’s voice. She walked forward towards Rey’s direction and flipped her right front hoof towards Thunderlane’s direction.
“Come on, Thunderlane. We don’t want to leave Rey by himself, now do we?”
Rey, Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane walked deeper into the dense jungle territory. The light from the moon faded into a fraction of its current brilliance. Thunderlane glanced towards Rey’s leek with cautious eyes.
“So Rey… about that leek of yours.” He began asking.
“With the tone of your voice, you must be curious about why I even carry a leek around, no?”
“That… and how your leek isn’t even destroyed.”
Rey smirked and patted his leek with loving attention.
“We Farfetch’d always carry a leek. They are connected to our life force.” He explained. “If anything bad were to happen to this leek, I’d be dead!”
“Seriously?!” Rainbow Dash asked with a tone wrought with disbelief. “That seems like a stupid gimmick for your species, Rey. No offense, but wouldn’t that make your kind endangered or something?”
“Of course! It also doesn’t help that our leeks are used in making delicious stews, so we are constantly hunted for them.” Rey answered with a positive tone radiating honesty.
“I didn’t even think that your kind was endangered!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“It’s alright. I do not blame you for asking about the bloody history of my kind.” Rey stated. “This particular leek also happens to be passed down from the generations of my clan. The amount of Farfetch’d life forces within its blade makes it exceptionally strong when compared to other leeks.”
“So that’s why you named your leek Masamune; it’s the leek of your clan.” Thunderlane said.
Rey frowned and shook his head.
“But alas, the Magnified Clan had been hunted to its extinction because of our especially tasty leeks and bodies. I am the last member of this prestigious clan.”
A small frown appeared on Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane’s faces. Their eyes emanated pity for their fine-feathered friend.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. It must have been tough for you to go through.” Rainbow Dash said.
“What’s in the past is in the past. Besides, I’m a part of a good bunch of mercenaries. We are sellswords, but we are a good family.” Shrugging his shoulders without a thought in the world, Rey responded.
“Well, family is important. I always worry about Rumble and my mother, even if they are fine.” Thunderlane answered.
Rey stopped in his tracks and held out his right wing in pause. He smashed his leek into the ground and placed his right side of the head against the stalk. Vibrations of moving gears and shooting pistons reverberated throughout his eardrum. A low growl emitted from his beak.
“We got company.” He declared.
“Company?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I heard a faint noise within the jungle. The earth confirms that there is some sort of factory up ahead, and it isn’t filled with friendlies.”
Smirking, Thunderlane placed his front hooves together and cracked the joints within them.
“I was starting to get a bit bored here. Let’s investigate.”
Rainbow Dash glanced towards Thunderlane with worried eyes and a nervous hum.
“Don’t you think it would be better to get the other H.O.R.S.E. operatives involved in this? I mean, giant roaches are one thing, but a factory filled with deadly foes? I don’t want to risk it.”
“Come on Rainbow, we’ll be alright. We have an incredibly strong and agile mare who can tear through defenses like butter, a master swordsman duck Pokémon, and the handsome stallion with a strong knife and a big cannon.” Thunderlane announced with a proud huff and prance of hooves.
“Haha very funny.” She uttered out with a sarcastic tone. “But… it would give us the chance to do some recon and report to H.O.R.S.E. if we discover anything.”
“Then it is settled; we investigate what lies ahead. If we find something of note, we report it.” Rey announced.
Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane and Rey trampled through the mess of vegetation in their path. The leaves they pushed away with their limbs tickled the flesh underneath their coats and feathers. Moving through the last of the vegetation, the group stepped into a clearing.
Their hearts stopped and their mouths dropped at the sight in front of them; a black building crafted out of black metals stood tall in the center of the clearing. Vines and vegetation coated its exterior and ran along the cracks of its surface. A large door stood in front of the trio. Rey slammed his leek into the ground and placed his ear against it. His eyes narrowed and his face grimaced.
“It seems as though my suspicions were correct; this factory is still active.” He said with a grim tone.
“Active? But it looks abandoned.” Rainbow Dash noted.
“It could be one of those automated factories that were around during the descent of the Van’Goth.” Thunderlane theorized. A wave of fear overcame him, eliciting shaky hooves and a shivering spine. “I don’t think we should go in.”
“Are you not curious as to what lies within? After all, the path to the truth lies on a road of unpleasant circumstances.” Rey called out.
“Ummm…”
“I understand if you do not want to enter inside of it, but I will still enter regardless because it will contain some vital information with helping out your war efforts. I may be a stranger of this world, but I wish to give you all a fighting chance because no one deserves to see the ambitions of a genocidal race of aliens come to fruition.”
Rainbow Dash smiled with a layer of inspiration built up from Rey’s words. She walked towards the factory gate’s frame and looked back towards Thunderlane and Rey. A sly smile curled on her face.
“You know it is improper for adult males to keep a mare waiting, right?”
Rey walked down the path towards the factory with graceful steps. Thunderlane smiled with a sheepish giggle and tiptoed his way towards the factory.
The trio lurked through the interior of the active factory. The pistons pumped a city’s size of steam, humidifying the air. Dim lights hung upon the ceiling that lit up the pathway, allowing the group to see large gears turning with eternal longevity. The arms of the machines grasped onto metallic materials within a pile and dropped them onto conveyor belt that led into a different section of the factory.
“A factory without any type of personnel operating it.” Rey said with an empty voice.
A shiver went down Rainbow Dash’s spine. She embraced herself and shook underneath the sudden pressure exerting itself onto her body.
“That’s just creepy. There aren’t even any machines operating the machines. Where do we even go?”
Thunderlane glanced up towards the ceiling, where silver-coated mechas with unlit optic fibers hung. A bead of sweat dripped down his face and his teeth bore themselves with anxiety.
“I think the machines are above us.” Pointing towards the ceiling with a slow hoof, he stated.
Rainbow Dash stared at the ceiling with eyes dull with a lack of interest. She glanced towards Thunderlane with a disappointed frown and a shake of her head.
“They’re inactive, Thunderlane. Don’t act like such a kitten about it.” She chided, taking a step forward.
Her right front hoof stepped on a tile that slid down by an inch. The eyes of the mechas above lit up with a bright blue. Their arms twitched. The hooks their bodies hung upon slid beyond the ceiling. One by one, the storm of mechas dropped down from the ceiling, landing on their left hands and right knees. Rainbow Dash and Rey’s eyes lit up with panic. Thunderlane grinned and pointed towards Rainbow Dash with an enthusiastic pose.
“Hah! I was right to be worried!” He called out with an immature tone.
“Yeah yeah so you were right to be worried.” Rainbow Dash uttered out with an annoyed tone. “But… we still have to fight these robots that you just had to notice!”
“I know, but at least I was right.”
Rey shook his head with disbelief and smacked his forehead with his right wing.
“You two act like such a married couple.” He noted with an aggravated tone.
“No we don’t!” Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane shouted with anger obstinate in their voices.
Rey readied his leek with his right wing, grasping it towards his left side. Seeing the mechas walk towards the group, he narrowed his eyes.
“You two shut up and pull out your weapons. These foes will be much tougher than the roaches we fought back in the jungle.”
With frowns and scowls on their faces, Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane pulled out their melee weapons and pointed it towards the mechas. The mechas lifted their fists towards the group. A shower of bursting bullets rained down upon the trio. The trio flew away from the radius of the bullet spray and set their gazes towards one mecha.
A grassy vine shot out of the center spike of Rainbow Dash’s trident and wrapped itself around the arm of the mecha. Rainbow Dash yanked the trident, lifting it towards her with her awesome might. The vine retracted back into the trident. Rainbow Dash leaped towards the mecha heading her way and held her lance towards its torso. Rainbow Dash jabbed her torso forward and the mecha launched its right fist towards Rainbow Dash. The two titanic forces collided against each other, unleashing shockwaves that engulfed everyone within its pressurized field.
Rey landed on the ground and sprinted towards the mecha with its fist extended towards Rainbow Dash’s trident. He leaped onto Rainbow Dash’s back and hopped overhead. With his leek over his head and flipped forward in the air. His leek sliced an inch into the head of the mecha. He landed on the ground and glanced behind him. He flipped his leek to its side and gripped it in reverse. He charged towards the mecha and brought it to its hips. The leek bounced off it without any effect.
“These are some durable robots!” He gritted through his beak.
Thunderlane leaped on top of the mecha’s head and brought his knife down into the area chipped away by Rey’s leek. A stream of lightning shot down from the knife and into the mecha, zapping its entire body from the inside-out. He leaped off of the head and landed on the ground. The mecha turned its head towards Thunderlane and its eyes ignited with a luminous blue. Thunderlane’s heart fell onto the bed of his intestines.
“Seriously?! Not even a critical Thunderbolt does anything against them?!” He shouted with fear in his tone.
Rey shifted his sights towards all of his surroundings. A sea of mechanized beings surrounded him at every conceivable angle. His eyes glanced towards an open tile of stairs that led to a lower level. He glanced towards Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane, waving his left wing.
“There is no shame in running away. Let’s flee!” Rey stated.
“But how?! These robots have us all surrounded!” Rainbow Dash asked with a panicking tone.
Rey brandished is leek and pointed it towards the stairs. He narrowed his eyes and breathed with an even air.
“Our blades shall forge a new path amidst the forest of deceit and danger. Let’s go!”
Shouting these words, he dashed into the crowd of mechas with the speed of a raging typhoon. He leaped towards the individual machines in his path and struck the blade of his leek against them, pushing them back and opening space. Thunderlane nodded with a serious aura in his eyes. He sprinted towards the opened area and flew through the air.
Anxiety locked up Rainbow Dash’s nerves. Time froze around her. She heard each individual beat of her heart resonating throughout the environment. Within the confines of her head, the sounds of whirring blades tearing through flesh resonated out into the current area. The pained screams of an adult male haunted the catacombs of her mind.
“Rainbow Dash!” Waving his leek with pretentious shakes, Rey shouted.
Rainbow Dash shook her head and became alert to reality. She glanced towards Rey with alert eyes. Her eyes filled with determination and survival instinct. She sprinted towards the cleared path with a sonic cone forming around her. She leaped into the air and beat her wings, creating a rainbow shockwave that changed the colors of the entire area into those belonging to a rainbow. Rey’s beak held itself agape. His brown feathers turned into a pink tinge. He blinked once and looked down upon himself.
“I’m not a shiny!” He shouted, running towards the stairs.
The trio of avionic crawled along the catacombs of the lower floor. The lighting along the ceiling resonated with weaker energy than the main floors of the factory, creating a grim atmosphere of gloom that grasped onto the spines of the operatives. Tubes filled with luminous blue fluid and embryonic creatures littered the eyes of the group. Rey hugged himself and shivered.
“I do not know what is in those tubes, nor do I want to know their purpose there.”
“What even is the purpose of this corridor anyways? It looks like something straight out of a science horror flick.” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I think we might have found something interesting to tell H.O.R.S.E. Why is there a factory that is within the middle of nowhere on this continent? Why does it have no personnel to speak of? Why is it still actively producing products?” Rubbing the bottom of his chin, Thunderlane questioned.
“Let’s hold off on telling H.O.R.S.E. anything. We still do not know if this place is an active danger or not yet.” Rainbow Dash instructed.
One of the embryotic life forms within a tube the trio walked across twitched and opened its pin-strained eyes, bringing a cold shock of dread down their tails.
“Okay, so they are definitely alive.” With his feathers shaking with fear and anxiety, Rey relayed. “Can we please hurry this up?”
Rainbow Dash shot a glare towards Rey’s direction.
“This was your idea, eggs for brains. Besides, we’ll get creamed if we turn back!” She chastised.
“Sorry Rainbow Dash. I am not really too fond of the creation of artificial life. It is very disturbing on a mortal and metaphysical level.” Rey responded.
“Ummm… isn’t one of your partners an artificially-created Pokémon?” Thunderlane asked.
“Inge is different. At least she wasn’t created in a test tube like them.”
The darkness of the hall dissipated with a room with bright lighting approaching within the group’s eyes. Walking into the room, their eyes set themselves on a cage where a muscular quadruped with a burgundy coat. A head of a goat and a head of a lion placed themselves upon the top of his torso. A scorpion’s tail affixed itself off of its end. Two bats wings sprouted from his back. Sleek machinery encased itself within portions of his body. Seeing the trio in front of him, he roared out in aggression and tackled the cage.
“What… what is that thing?!” Thunderlane shouted in fear.
“It kind of looks like a chimera and a manticore put together.” Rainbow Dash guessed.
“So it’s a mix-and-match of two mix-and-match creatures?” Rey asked. “Where is a Unovian rapper that pimps cars when you need him?”
“We really didn’t need the joke Rey.” Thunderlane complained. “But why is this chimera-manticore hybrid locked up here?”
“Because you Equusians and your war did this to him!”
The trio looked over towards their left, where a quadruped with the body and head of a tiger, an additional head of a goat and a snake for a tail dropped down onto the ground. To her left walked a tall lion-like creature with bat wings and a scorpion’s tail with an intimidating stare directed towards the trio.
“What are you doing in our home?!” The manticore shouted out.
“Your home? You mean you made this factory lab your home?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed with shock ringing in her voice.
“Yes!” The chimera called out. “But that is enough for that. What are you three doing here?”
“Forgive us for intruding on your property madam.” Bowing with a humble movement, Rey responded. “We decided to wander the Twiluminescent Jungle to help our friend Rainbow Dash and we seemed to have come across an abandoned factory. We decided to investigate, triggered the robots upstairs and we are now down here.”
“Well, you are right with believing that this factory was abandoned. When we first came upon here, there was not a soul in sight.” The manticore stated.
Thunderlane glanced towards the chimera and manticore with an eye raised in curiosity. He walked up towards them with a slow movement.
“So… this is your son? What happened to him?”
The chimera swiped her claws towards Thunderlane, knocking him back and creating three slits along the surface of his torso. He grasped the stinging flesh and stared towards the chimera and manticore with wincing eyes.
“What did you do that for?!”
“We don’t take to kindly to you society dwellers. We nature dwellers were always wary of your actions towards us and then the galactic war broke out. Our son here was a casualty of the chemical warfare inflicted against what you called the Land of Deer.” The chimera replied.
Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane’s heads jolted upwards from the news of the last sentence. Rey glanced towards the duo with wary eyes.
“Chemical warfare? Your kind used chemical warfare?!”
“Well, yeah! We used napalm and hydrochloric acids to try to defeat the Van’Goth.” Rainbow Dash explained with a tone ridden with guilt.
“It didn’t work.” Thunderlane responded.
“Our son was the victim of that warfare. He was burned and maimed by the chemicals your kind threw at him! We barely saved his life because of the biomachinery in this place, but it left him too aggressive! Are you proud of yourselves!? Is this how you go about your war effort?” The manticore shouted.
He pointed over towards the cage where the chimera-manticore hybrid stood, which clawed at the bars of the cage with pained howls. Guilt gripped Rainbow Dash’s heart. She looked away from the chimera and manticore and stared at the ground.
“It’s my fault… it’s always my fault! I always do all these stupid mistakes that get others hurt or killed.”
Rey narrowed his eyes and flew in front of the chimera and manticore couple. He banged his leek into the metal floor and stared at the two quadrupeds with an intense fire glowing in his eyes.
“I do not appreciate you putting the blame of your son’s problems on my friends. She wasn’t even old enough when it happened! Yes, the Equusians made mistakes when retaliating against the Van’Goth, but mistakes happen.” He reasoned.
“Their mistakes hurt out son!” The chimera roared out.
“Okay, so maybe some mistakes are more costly than others and you are still paying for it. We are not the ones that did it. If you are planning on continuing your worthless accusations out of the pain you feel, then you leave me no choice.” Rey pointed his leek towards the manticore and chimera. “I shall challenge one of you to a duel of honor!”
“A duel of honor? You are in no place to propose such a thing, bird.” The manticore called out.
“So you refuse?”
The chimera held her right front leg out and blocked the manticore’s path. All three of her heads looked into the manticore’s eyes. The manticore nodded in understanding and took three steps back.
“I shall be your opponent. If I win, then my family will be allowed to slaughter you and your partners and feast on your corpses. If you win, then you can do whatever you like with us.” The chimera proposed.
“Very reasonable terms.” Nodding his head, Rey stated.
“Reasonable?!” Thunderlane shouted. “Rey, if you die, then we die! That is not a reasonable!”
“Trust me, Thunderlane; I would not be doing if there was no other alternative. These beasts would kill us regardless. Besides, no one dishonors one of my friends.”
“I must warn you; I do not hold back.” The chimera stated with a serious tone.
She leaped forward with blurring speed and extended her claws. Rey parried the strike with his leek. He leaped above her and aimed his blade towards the center of the chimera’s spine. The snake grinned with a smug smile and coiled herself. Rey fell towards the chimera’s back with his sword primed, but the snake wrapped around him, squeezing his body.
“H…how did I not foresee this coming?!” Rey grunted out.
“Just because we are one being does not mean that we do not have minds of our own.” The snake replied.
“Rey!” Rainbow Dash shouted out in fear. The manticore glared over her body.
“Do not worry, Rainbow Dash. I’ve been through worse!” Rey stated.
He bit the body of the snake, causing her eyes to shoot open and loosen her grip. Rey flew out of the tail’s grip and hovered above the chimera, where the body glanced towards the snake and rubbed the bit area with loving care. His leek flashed with a light green cutter and he flew down towards the tiger head. His blade struck against the skull, knocking the chimera back.
With his leek still flashing, he smashed the blade against the body of the chimera. An audible groan emerged from her voice. Rey flew into the air and dropped towards her with his blade reinforced by the green light shimmering with a higher intensity. The goat head on the chimera bit the blade of the leek with her flat teeth, stopping it in place.
Rey dropped the grip on his leek and flew backwards. His body cloaked itself with his Brave Bird’s aura. He tackled into the chimera, causing an explosion of smoke that engulfed the two. The chimera leaped out of the smoke cloud with her claws primed to the ground. Rey flew out of the smoke with his leek back in mouth. His right eye winced from the pain and exhaustion running through the annals of his body. He spat out his leek back into his right wing.
“My, you look a bit exhausted there. Do you mean to tell me that you have difficulty keeping up with me?” The chimera chided with a teasing voice.
“You are a very crafty foe, I will give you that. I am far from done, however. I have overcome worse obstacles.” Rey responded.
“Then let us see how long you shall last against our relentless might.” The chimera stated.
She lunged forward and bore her tiger fangs towards Rondo. Witnessing the ferocious attack with the chimera’s ravenous mouth, Rey leaped up towards the ceiling with the force of a pressurized torpedo underneath his webbed feet. He sat upon the chimera’s back, roosting on her. A healing energy surrounded Rey, invigorating him. The tiger head of the chimera glanced behind her and snarled at Rey.
Rey leaped off of the chimera and held out his leek. His leek flashed with a green light and he smashed it against the chimera’s torso. Dropping onto the ground, he slashed at the chimera’s head once more, staggering her body. He gripped his leek with both wings and slashed with a diagonal angle, knocking her away. The chimera collided against the cage door. The manticore’s eyes widened and he sprinted over towards the chimera.
“Are you alright?!” He asked with concern emanating from his voice.
Each head of the chimera winced. She lifted herself off of the ground with a shaky rise of her body.
“I’m fine. That just hit-“
Rey pointed his leek towards the tiger head’s neck. His leek pulsed with an intense light four times stronger than when it first wrapped around it.
“I suggest you do not move if you do not want for me to hit you with my Fury Cutter again. After all, it doubles in power each time it hits you.” He said with a cold tone.
Each of the heads on the chimera whimpered with fear. They each closed their eyes and looked down onto the ground.
“Very well, you have defeated us.” All three heads of the chimera stated in unison.
“What?!” The manticore called out with shock and fear reverberating in his voice. “You can’t be serious! Does that mean…”
“Yep; you will have to honor your losing proposition. We can do whatever we want with you and your family.” Rey stated.
The hybrid behind the bars of the cage glanced towards the hinges of the door, witnessing them hang with a loose disposition. He tore off the hinges with his powerful claws. The door fell backwards. At the moment it dropped onto the ground, the hybrid lunged towards Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash glanced towards the hybrid charging towards her. Not even a reactionary breath allowed itself to pass through her upon feeling the stinging claws of the hybrid pin her down onto her back through her front hooves. The four eyes of the hybrid looked down upon her face and saliva dripped down from her teeth and onto her uniform. Rainbow Dash’s heart beat with the strength of a gong strike and her nerves wracked with the cold fear of death.
“Hey! Tell your child to get off my friend, now!” Rey shouted.
The chimera’s heads looked away from Rainbow Dash and their child. A tear dropped from the snake’s right eye.
“He cannot be reasoned with.” The goat head on the chimera responded. “You see that tech on him? He’s only alive because of it. It cost him his sanity, however. I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do.”
Thunderlane pulled out his ray cannon and flew over towards the hybrid. Standing in front of the beast, he fired a beam from his weapon and knocked the hybrid backwards. With his body not pinning her down, Rainbow Dash flew from underneath the shadow.
“You got no subtlety!” Thunderlane shouted with a cocky tone.
The hybrid dropped down onto his four legs and glanced towards Thunderlane, staring noxious death towards the stallion’s direction. The hybrid sprinted towards Thunderlane with blurring speeds, appearing before him within a blink of an eye. His claw held itself high above Thunderlane’s head.
Rainbow Dash pulled out her trident and dashed between Thunderlane and the hybrid. The claw of the hybrid collided with Rainbow Dash’s trident. She flipped backwards and kicked the jaw of the hybrid with her right hind leg during the revolution. Leaping into the air, she held her trident high in the air and unleashed a dust of green powder into the atmosphere. The dust descended upon the hybrid.
The hybrid’s eyes dropped with rapid descents. His legs trembled underneath his body’s weight. His eyes shut and his body collapsed onto the ground. A loud snore sounded out from the sleeping beast. A relieved smile appeared on Rainbow Dash’s face.
“You alright there, Thunderlane?” She asked.
Thunderlane flashed a smile and nodded his head. He held out his right front hoof with an upward diagonal position. The manticore glanced towards the two pegasi and his son. A small smile formed on his face. He approached Rainbow Dash and nodded his head.
“Thank you for not killing my son. I know that he isn’t exactly the social kind of being, but he always put the well-being of others above himself… at least prior to his accident.” He stated.
“It’s not much of a problem. I didn’t really want to kill him. Otherwise, I’d be putting you through losing a family member.” Rainbow Dash responded with a chilled tone.
The chimera stood up from her position and walked towards her sleeping son. Gazing upon the slow rises and falls of his chest, a comforted smile appeared on all of her faces.
“This is the most peaceful that I have ever seen him. It doesn’t look like he is in much pain.” The goat head on the chimera stated.
The snake on the chimera frowned and shook her head.
“But he’s only going to go back to screaming in pain after he wakes up.” She said with a despondent tone.
A frown appeared on Rainbow Dash’s face. She hovered by the chimera’s side and placed her right front hoof on her shoulder.
“If it means anything, I promise that I will find a way to get rid of his pain and have your family live a happy life. It’s the least I can do for you.” She offered.
“You are sweet to propose, but there isn’t much that can be done here. We would use some of the factory’s research on L.I.F.E. to restore him, but it seems very dubious and could leave him in an even worse condition.” The chimera responded.
Thunderlane’s jaw dropped at the words dropped by the chimera. He approached her with a shaky head.
“Wait, what was that last tidbit you said about the factory?!” He shouted.
“Perhaps we should explain.” Walking towards Thunderlane with a sagacious gaze within his eyes, the manticore responded. “When we first delved into the depths of the factory, we found some documentation on something known as Last Incubation of Finite Existence. From what we’ve read, it creates artificial life that is immune to the grasp of death.”
“So all those creatures in those tubes… they are products of L.I.F.E.?” Rey asked with his tone drenched in concern.
“Yes. They are created through the DNA of fallen Equusians and are recreated through the technology of this factory. We want to shut it down due to its unethical implications, but this research can save our son. We are just holding out and continuing the research on L.I.F.E. until we are certain that we get our desired result.” The chimera responded. “I ask that you do not reveal this secret to your organization. I feel that they might destroy this factory if they found out.”
A war broke out within Rainbow Dash’s mind. The urge of telling H.O.R.S.E. stood strong against the desire to protect an unfortunate family caught within the galactic war. The walls of her urge weakened against the strikes of her desires. Within her desires, she heard the calming voice of a stallion run through her head. She glanced towards the chimera.
“The three of us will not tell anyone about this factory’s existence.” She stated.
“What?!” Rey and Thunderlane shouted in unison. “Are you crazy?!”
Rainbow Dash glanced towards her partners and flashed a strong stare into their eyes.
“Listen; these three are casualties of a war we have. They do not want any part of our conflict and we will not force it upon them. If we do, then we are no worse than the Van’Goth that killed millions upon millions of lives just to achieve their goal.”
Thunderlane and Rey stared towards Rainbow Dash in silence. Uneasiness rose within their stomachs alongside bile. They glanced towards the ceiling and into Rainbow Dash’s eyes.
“I’ll probably hate myself for saying this, but alright.” Thunderlane stated.
“I would agree… only if we find a way to deal with the robots above.” Rey said.
The manticore walked over towards a desk and pulled on a blue cabinet, revealing a silver clip. He grasped it with his mouth and handed it to Rey.
“This clip will give you the ability to cut through any metal you desire. We have no use for it, so we do not have any attachment to it. You would be able to get the best mileage out of it, however.”
Rey grasped the device with his bill and slipped it over his right wing. He felt a burst of energy shoot through his body. A smile appeared on his face.
“Thank you very much for this gift. Again, we apologize for invading your home. We had no idea that there were still others here.” He stated.
A mecha stormed down from the hallway and into the room. It glanced towards Rey with daggers directed into the Farfetch’d’s eyes. It held up its arm, curled its fist and shot it towards Rey. Rey leaped into the air and bisected the mecha with his leek. The mecha fell onto the ground with its metal warping around the slice mark. He glanced towards the clip and shrugged his shoulders.
“Very effective! This will definitely give me a much-needed edge against Steel-type Pokémon.” He stated.
“Ummm… so can we leave now?” Thunderlane asked.
“That is all what we wanted for you three to do upon coming here. Leave us, and never come back.” The chimera stated.
The trio of operatives looked down the hallway and ran down the corridor. Rainbow Dash glanced back towards the family and grinned.
“Thanks!” She said out loud.
The tiger head on the chimera smiled and looked towards the leaving operatives.
“Thank you for caring.” She stated.