This wasn't the cool reception Dash expected. This was a different kind of cool. Instead of smiles, she saw frowns and stares. It wasn't like she intruded into their own personal party. This was a Lord General's guest chambers, and all the hunger from all the running as well as the smell of sweet apple pie and the taste of apple cider led her here. For pony's sake, she left a few for them to eat and drink.
Then the cute purple one pointed her horn dangerously close to her body.
"Nice try, changeling," said Twilight. "You're only trying to distract us while you let your Queen escape."
"Hey, watch where you point that thing," said Dash. "And why do you think I'm a changeling?"
"Twi, she's tellin' the truth," said Applejack. "I know you're tryin' to make up for the other changeling trickin' us, but we gotta focus. Dash, did you see where the Queen and her pawn skedaddle off to?"
"The room's empty when I got here."
"Then what's gotten your ropes twisted in knots?"
"About that—"
The cool blue pegasus closed her mouth when she felt a sharp tingle in her feathers. The air changed. The subtle breeze from the outside grew into a storm that rattled the floor and walls. It was too much for her to hope that she lost her pursuer from before, but considering that it was him, she knew deep down that he would eventually catch up.
"Get out of here, now!" Dash cried.
Her friends read her face right, and they all piled out of the room right as a torrent of wind blew apart the guest chambers, pie and all. They had no second to rest, and Dash frantically galloped ahead as a deadly tornado followed her and her friends as it ripped apart the chamber and random lobbed its torn parts in their path. Fortunately, that was just one tornado, and the glow from Twilight's horn allowed them to illuminate and avoid the falling debris.
Then there were two. Damn it. Her and her big thoughts. Dash might be able to see it, but the other tornado cut ahead of her and her group in a spiraling pincer maneuver. They soon caught up to it, and the two tornadoes spiraled around the group of little intruders like swimming sharks. High above them hovered the armor-clad wind master who silently scowled upon the targets below him.
Soarin. Lord General Soarin. Soarin of the Wind. Sometimes he was called Soarin of the Cutting Wind, which Dash would sometimes snicker under her breath. Now was not the time for laughter, as Dash's pursuer beamed his hateful eyes down upon her. As a matter of fact, he looked angrier than usual when he first spotted her wandering the Factory halls.
"You…" he growled.
Dash looked around to see if he was pointing to anypony else standing on a metal island suspended by a web of weakened girders. Then she pointed at herself to see if Soarin would react. His expression did not change much save for a regularly twitching eyebrow.
"You… ate… my… pie."
Dash licked the crumbs off her cheeks. Yep, she did.
"If it makes you feel better, the pie tasted really good," smiled Dash.
Bad move. That made Soarin gnash on his teeth harder, and with one loud shout he recalled his two tornadoes into a concentrated ball of Atmos Particles between his hooves. Then he threw it all down towards the grounded mares below.
This was really bad. Dash couldn't fly. Applejack and Twilight didn't look like they were any shape to fight back as well. Then the pink-maned alicorn, disguised as a pegasus no less, calmly and coolly stepped forth with her eyes focused on the column of destructive wind barreling down her path. What was she going to do? Sunny had one cursed wing and one good wing. Handicapped pegasi do not survive long in Pegasopolis, and they certainly would not survive against a Lord General. At this rate, Dash and her friends would be ripped to shreds. If not, they floor beneath their hooves would give way, and everypony would fall to their deaths.
Then Sunny did something cool. Dash never thought it would be possible, but that white alicorn, deflected Soarin's wind with one wing. One wing! And that column of wind diverted itself to brutally tear up another part of the factory.
Soarin angrily summoned another ball of wind that he threw down to the group, and like last time, Sunny easily deflected it. He did it again. And again. And again. That legendary alicorn was amazing! All her blocks sent away Soarin's wind to hit another part of the Factory without weakening its overall structure. It was good thing she was part of Dash's crew.
However, Dash noticed Sunny grunting after each block. It was too good to be true. Sunny could not keep it up, and signs of her weakening began piling up. First came the molted feathers. Then came the bleeding. By then, Twilight and Applejack finally noticed, and their mouths dropped in horror as they heard a loud crack coming from Sunny's joints. If this kept up, Soarin might actually cut off the alicorn's good wing. She'd regrow it, if alicorns could regrow wings, but this wasn't looking good.
"Sunny, stop!" Twilight cried. "You'll kill yourself!"
"I am an alicorn," said Sunny. "I can handle it."
"But you're not invulnerable!"
"And I don't think that pegasus is tirin' out," added Applejack. "We gotta get out of here, now!"
"Do not worry, my little ponies," smiled Sunny. "Good things come to those who wait."
She already planned ahead? Well, she is an alicorn for who knew how many years of experience, but even in pain she still retained that cool smile on her pretty face. She seemed to be taking advantage of Soarin's growing frustration until that angry hunk of a stallion boiled over. With one loud cry he formed four massive hurricane vortexes around him. This was his ultimate Atmos Arts technique, the Hurrican, and the powerful winds of his technique pulled the parts of the Factory into the "mouths" of the four beasts.
Dash thought Soarin would throw these down like huge discuses, but that didn't happen. Instead, the four vortexes gathered right behind him, and he used it like a springboard to dive down in a flash. This was it. An awesome technique was going to take place, and she was going to die by it.
In a split second, Sunny's horn reappeared, and she cast a solar flare-like spell that blinded everypony. It looked like Dash would not see Soarin's ultimate Atmos Arts technique, but at least she was going to survive.
Or perhaps not. The light died down, and Dash saw the killer smile on Soarin's face. He was just a muzzle above Sunny's muzzle.
"Nice try, Alicorn," he said.
"Indeed," Sunny retorted, "and it was successful."
Right before Sunny's sun spell died down, a stream of bubbles fired off from the side and swarmed all over Soarin. In less than a second, an impenetrable bubble trapped Soarin, and Sunny sidestepped to allow him to bounce off the ground. Dash recognized that technique as Derpy's Bubble Barrier Entrapment, and nopony had ever escaped it.
Nopony except Soarin. The Lord General easily sliced through the bubble barrier with the tip of his hoof. He immediately zeroed on Derpy's location and fired off another of his Tornado Bolts at her. A painful yell cried out from the shadows, and Derpy spiraled out from hiding with her wingsuit shredded and her mane and feathers frazzled. She hovered for a while before she succumbed from her injuries collapsed nearby. If Derpy couldn't trap him, then…
He heard a colt's battle cry from above. Or rather, a baby dragon's. Riding on a lanky indigo pegasus stallion, that pudgy little guy awesomely dove straight down to Soarin. The Lord General easily swatted the lanky blue pegasus stallion out of the way with his front hoof. Spike, while still in the air, inhaled deeply, and then blew out a flurry of green fire all over the Lord General. The green flames consumed Soarin, and he screamed in terror until he was no more.
What a shame. Dash wished she could have met the Lord General under different circumstances, maybe as allies, or maybe as lovers. But these thoughts were replaced by the sight of Spike stumbling on the ground while clutching his stomach. For a baby dragon, he looked pretty sick, like he was going to throw up. One burp later, he plopped down on his butt with a sigh of relief. Then the sack he was carrying starting to bulge in and out repeatedly. He started panicking when the sack escaped his shoulder, and he leapt on it with his whole body to keep it down.
Out from a sack flew a black orb with green highlights. Spike immediately tackled it, but it took hold and started bouncing him up and down.
"Twilight!" cried Spike. "The pegasus trapped in here is really mad! I don't think we can hold him much longer!"
Pegasus? Him? Did they somehow trap Lord General Soarin into that Tele-Orb?
"Then we'll have to send him away for the time being," said Sunny. "Spike, disable the aether link on that orb and let it go."
The little tyke did so by pressing a button that Tele-Orb, which then prompted Sunny to magically grab it before it bounced away. She surrounded the orb with her golden magical aura, and the alicorn struggled to hold it as Soarin continued to fight his way out of it. Then, without much effort, she easily launched it off towards the southern horizon like she was shooting a cannon. Soarin was going to be gone for a while, but now a bigger focus came into Dash's mind. Right now, that pink party pony wasn't here. Flitter wasn't here. Rarity wasn't here. And most importantly, Fluttershy wasn't here.
"Hey, where's the rest of the gang?" Dash asked.
"Flitter is on our slaver skiff, recovering after a battle with her former wingmate," said Sunny.
"We don't know where Pinkie Pie and Rarity are," said Twilight.
"And Fluttershy is still deep in the Factory."
"Then what are we doing here horsin' around?" Dash asked. "We gotta go back in and rescue them!"
"In your state?" asked Twilight. "We need to regroup and plan our next attack."
"We don't have time for plans! Captain Dash never retreats when her friends are in danger! Everypony, follow me!"
"You're going the wrong way."
"Follow me over here!"
"That's still the wrong way."
"Hey, I didn't make you Captain! Are you gonna obey my orders or what?"
"Rainbow Dash, you’re still wounded."
"Like that's gonna stop me! Fine! I'll go find them my--"
She did not realize she was losing her balance when she barked out her orders. Dash had been veering left and right for several minutes before the lightheadedness blanked out her mind. Then she finally keeled over.
Ah, what a nice nap.
Naps are the greatest when you have hordes of handsome stallions and hot mares at your service.
Naps are the greatest after eating ten plates of Sweet Apple Acres-quality apple pie and after downing a barrel or two of apple cider.
Naps are the greatest when you have your best friends sleeping with you.
This wasn't a nice nap.
The lack of a warm body next to her rouse Dash to waking, and she shot up only to bang her head on the medicine cabinet. Ouch. She gathered her senses, and found herself almost muzzle-to-muzzle to a familiar mare with a Stetson resting on her blonde mane. The blue pegasus puckered lips and leaned forward towards the rebel mare, but the intended recipient pushed her away with her hoof.
"Seriously?" Applejack cried. "Can't you get your hormones in line?"
She was right. This wasn't the time. Rainbow Dash lay by herself in the cramped infirmary, and the sexy and angry nurse of an Applejack scowled at Dash for an attempt of lewdness before turning around to moisten a clean towel from a bowl. She would like to escape and perform her awesome rescue, but a certain orange pony looked hell-bent in blocking her path. In this cramped space, Applejack would have the upperhoof with her Geo-voodoo or whatever.
"Your lil' nap lasted a few hours," said Applejack.
"Few hours?" said Dash. "Where are we? Have we escaped already?"
"We haven't escaped just yet. We parked the slaver skiff in the heavily damaged areas and move it every once in a while. Sunny had a cast a spell that made it look like a hunk of junk, so the guards are jus' passin' right by it, provided that they didn't bring their magic detection tools. "
"You haven't sent out a search party?"
"A few volunteer pegasi went out, but this here Factory is a mighty big place. We had to recall the latest search party 'cause more and more guards were comin' in."
"Well, I've rested enough, so let's form a super-awesome team to find our friends."
"Hold on there, missy. I know Twi' and Sunny got somethin' planned already, but there's somethin' I gotta talk to you about."
"We ain't got time to talk."
"It's about Doomie."
"Doomie?"
"I thought I could trust changelings, at least him."
"Doomie's a she."
"Whatever. I mean, she did rescue Sweetie Belle, but I don't know why she would betray us for the Changeling Queen."
"Doomie would never betray us."
"She's sidin' with a bug queen who mind-raped me!"
"Okay, maybe this Changeling Queen you mentioned is a big baddie, but I'm sure Doomie has her reasons for siding with her. Doesn't your Element tell you that Doomie's still on our side?"
"I… haven't asked."
"You don't want to find out, do you?"
Applejack didn't have to answer. Her uneasy expression and her silence told Dash everything, and with Applejack still being mad might mean that she could not focus on using that jeweled golden necklace hanging off her neck underneath a blue neck scarf.
The rebel mare's silence also weakened her guard and attention, which allowed Dash to easily brush her aside as she left the infirmary room. Legs and hooves were still sore from her last battle, but she did not feel any pain when she flexed her wings underneath her bandages.
She could hear the chatters in the other quarters of the slaver skiff, and she could feel the metal floor throbbing as dozens of hooves moved around. At least once or twice, Spike squeezed through carrying a pile of bandages and food nearly double his height. At least this mission wasn't a total bust. It looked like somepony or two rescued a lot of slaves from the Factory, but at the cost of three friends.
They gotta be alive, Dash repeated in her mind. She knew Pinkie could survive in the depths of the monstrous factory, and as prim and prissy as Rarity was, she was definitely a fighter.
Fluttershy, however, gave Dash more worries. Gentle, kind, and beautiful Fluttershy was strong, but she might not have enough courage to brave the horrors of the Factory and Pegaspolis at large. It wracked Dash's mind to agonize over her. Something about her seemed so… magical, and yet so right. Dash hardly asked anypony out. In fact, this was the first time she did so after overcoming her fears of being touched by any other pony.
She sensed Applejack behind her, and together the two started off towards the cockpit bridge. Dash pressed on somewhat hurriedly, hoping that her earth pony friend would not have gall to drag a recovering pegasus back into the infirmary. If needs be, she would buck her and dash straight over to the bridge and takeover the skiff.
"You think Fluttershy will be okay?" Dash asked.
"She might not look like it," said Applejack, "but she is strong. Why the sudden interest in her all of a sudden?"
"I dunno. Say, do you know what kind of ponies she prefers?"
“Really?”
“I just asking, that’s all.”
Applejack sighed. It looked like she was preparing her answer.
"I don't know her long enough to know,” she said, “and I was one of the first ponies she came in contact in the Everfree Forest for a long time. But I can tell you that she probably ain't ready for a relationship."
"She needs practice, right?” Dash winced. “What better pony to do so than the awesome Rainbow Dash, captain of the Chroma Pirates?"
"I hope you ain't gettin' her in bed."
"I'm not! I promised her a regular date, and if we don't find her, that ain't gonna happen!"
They reached the cockpit bridge door, and right as Dash was about to knock, it swung open. The blue pegasus stood face to face with Twilight Sparkle, who jumped back a few inches in surprise before regaining her nerdy thinking composure. That composure soon turned to worry, and she frantically gestured Dash and Applejack to cram themselves inside the cockpit bridge with Sunny, who now had both of her alicorn wings bandaged.
"This is bad," said Twilight. "Really bad."
"What's wrong Sugarcube?" asked Applejack.
"I had the perfect plan to go back into the Factory to find our friends, but something come up that threw everything in a loop."
"Tell us what it is?"
Twilight nervously motioned to Sunny to push a button on the comms desk. One of the panel lights lit green, and out from the exposed main speaker garbled a sinisterly static message.
"Greetings to all who hear this," spoke a familiar voice. "I am Lord General Flash Sentry, speaking on behalf of our Empress Commander, and we have a message to the intruders who dare to strike one of our many military installations of Pegasopolis. We have captured one of your own, the pacifistic pegasus named Fluttershy, and we will publicly execute her in one hour. The avenue of our time-honored ceremony will be in the Grand Hall of Black Cloud."
Dash felt her blood boil. Her worries turned into anger, and it filled her bones and cartilages with energy. She thought she could immediately dash out the cockpit, but a magenta field of magic enveloped. Miss Purplesmart was fast, but she struggled to hold the blue pegasus in place. She might be cute, but Dash was not about to give in. Rainbow Dash might have to injure her pretty face if she was not going to let her go.
“Rainbow Dash, you have to calm down!” cried Twilight. “It’s obvious it’s a trap. They want to lure you in!”
“This is the Empress we’re talkin’ about!” cried Dash. “She’s gonna kill Fluttershy right away!”
“I really wanna agree with you Twi," said Applejack, "but I’m agreein’ with Dash. We really gotta get out there and save Fluttershy and fast! It might be too late!”
“This is no time for munity, girls!” Twilight cried back.
“We gotta go now, ‘cause Fluttershy is the Empress’s daughter!”