SMASSSSH!
Smashed crates and wooden splinters rained all across the corridor.
Rainbow Dash slid to the side, pressing her body against the tunnel wall as debris scattered around her.
"Blblblblblblblblblbbbb!" Pinkie twitched all over. Overwhelmed with Pinkie Sense, the ghost collapsed entirely, her eyes rolled back.
"Gnnngh!" Twilight Sparkle clutched her skull. Her horn pulsed as she winced in Rainbow's direction. "She's a very powerful magic user!"
P-POWWW! Rainbow winced as an energy blast blew a hole wide in the wall above her. She flinched, frowning through the falling dirt. "Ya think?!"
Fl-Flaaaaaaaaash! Longaze calmly marched down the tunnel, firing stream after stream of mana. "Give yourself up, Rogue!" Flassssh! The unicorn's brown eyes swept the walls and floors, searching for the barest hint of a blue coat. "You don't have any steam clouds to aid you here! No three-legged griffon to bail you out!"
"Hey!" Rainbow stuck her head out from hiding. "I could have kicked your lousy tail just fine back in Red B—"
"Rainbow!" Twilight hollered, her horn flickering.
Flaaaaaaaaaaaaaash! A hot stream of magic burned towards her.
"Crud monkeys!" Rainbow dove for cover, narrowly dodging the blast. BLAMMM! Chunks of soil rained down all across the corridor.
"You have to be more careful than that, darling!" Rarity exclaimed. She looked up, panting. "This place wasn't built to withstand mayhem like this!"
"She came alone!" Fluttershy stammered as dust and debris phased through her. "Maybe there's a way to lose her in this place?"
"Your stay in Braum is over with, Rogue!" Longaze hollered, marching closer. Her hooves crunched over fallen chunks of debris. "Come with me willingly like a good little mare."
"Goddess." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "I could write a book." Twilight and Rarity blinked confusedly.
"Trust me. You don't want the Talon to take you instead." Longaze's brow furrowed. "The pony I'm working for only needs you to make a statement. If the Court had their way, they'd make literal mince meat out of you."
"You're the only one trying to mince anything here!" Rainbow hollered. She peeked her head out from hiding. "Just what did you do with Kayman and his buddies, huh?!"
"Who?"
Rainbow frowned. "The ponies Sarda sent to make peace with Steamfall!" Rainbow gnashed her teeth as more dirt and debris fell over her head. "You work for the Consortium, don't you? How the heck else would you know that I was here?!"
"Kayman and his friends are in one piece," Longaze droned, marching closer. "If they hadn't started talking, however, they would have ended up in several."
Fluttershy gasped, clasping a hoof over her muzzle.
"You creepazoid!" Rainbow hissed. "You tortured them for the info, didn't you?"
"Don't concern yourself with the peasants of Braum," Longaze spoke in an emotionless tone. Her horn glowed again. "Right now, you should only concern yourself with holding your own blood."
"Rainbow!" Twilight yelped. "She's about to unleash more magic—"
"Don't need to tell me twice!" Rainbow dove out from hiding as—
FL-FLASH! Two bright bolts of mana overshot her. Rainbow flinched, her hooves grinding to a stop. All of the sudden, she found herself sliding backwards.
"Huh?" Rainbow blinked. "What—whoah!" The pegasus flipped backwards.
Longaze stood firmly in place, tugging Rainbow towards her with glowing telekinesis. "I've wasted too much time and sweat on this stupid chase. You're coming back to headquarters with me."
"Rainbow!" Rarity yelped, phasing through walls and crates. "Do something!"
"I'm..." Rainbow wheezed, spinning in mid-air. "...flailing!"
"Dashie!" Pinkie spontaneously stuck her ghostly head out of the blurring wall beside her. "Kick the bucket!"
"...!" Rainbow spotted a rusted round container between her and Longaze. "Not gonna question that twice!" With a grunt—Clang!—she flung a hoof out and struck the object in question during her flyby.
Fwooosh! The bucket spilled loose its contents—which turned out to be a pile of partially crushed dredge coal. The rocks dissolved as they were swept up into Longaze's telekinetic current.
The unicorn gasped as she saw a fine cloud of toxic dust flying towards her nostrils. Her horn pulsed, and she reversed the manastream completely. Longaze leaned back, wincing. After a few seconds, she inhaled clean air. She squinted to see the material floating just a few bare inches in front of her. With a frown, she parted the dust and marched on through.
A petite blue figure streaked around the nearest corner and bolted off to the side.
"Dammit..." Longaze gnashed her teeth. With a boost of magic—POW!—she gave chase, forming a crater in the walls of the corridor behind her.
Rainbow Dash nervously galloped down the corridor, panting and sweating.
"She's chasing after us!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "And f-fast!"
"Rainbow!" Twilight flew in front of the pegasus, slack-jawed. "If she's the same mysterious mare that you fought at Red Barge, and she works for the Consortium, then that must have been the outside party that Skagra was associated w—"
"Dang it, egghead! Does this look like the time for friggin' thinking?!" Rainbow spun a look to her other side. "Rarity! I need a way out of here!"
"She blocked the only exit from Braum, darling!"
"Then find another one!"
"Uhm..." Rarity nervously pointed forward. "Two spaces down, a left, and then the nearest ramp to the surface!" She gulped. "It'll take you to the cellar of the village tavern!"
"Good enough!" Rainbow scampered faster. "Let's make like Josho's butt and split!"
"But Rainbow!" Rarity gasped. "The Talon will be searching—"
"Let's outrun one peril at a time, okay?!"
"Woooooooooooo-boy!" Pinkie hovered parallel, clutching her tail with all four limbs. "Twitchy-tail times eleven, yo!"
Crkkkkkkk!
Rainbow's twitching eyes shot up.
The tunnel's rooftop ripped apart, showering dust and wooden planks down on the mare.
"When it rains..." Rainbow snarled, then juked left and right, dodging layers of debris by centimeters.
Thud! Th-Thud!
All the while, blasts of mana surged through the streaming curtain of earth, slicing at Rainbow's figure. Fluttershy and Rarity shrieked while Rainbow plowed through a mess of debris and scrambled to make a left turn.
A steely-frowned secretary angrily followed her from a distance, gaining speed, leaving the tunnels behind her in ruins.