An ear splitting scream shot through the air, waking Rainbow from her nap. She flew to attention immediately; dead set on finding the cause of the noise. Her wings felt crumpled from where she'd fallen asleep on them, and hurt to use heavily. Despite this, she managed to pull herself into the air, maintaining a steady wing beat to avoid any pain. Glancing around, she quickly remembered where she was. The dark blue pillars that held the roller coaster up towered around her like the trees of a metal forest. On the rails, ponies screamed and cheered, completely oblivious to the rainbow pony gazing up at them. She cradled her head; trying to come to terms with her own stupidity before moving on.
She couldn't believe that Nightmare was still alive. More than that, the fact that she had time to build an entire amusement park with the soul intent of capturing her friend boggled her mind. This was more suited to the stories of a Daring Do book than reality. Rainbow realized with a shock that she hadn't even learned how she'd survived their encounter. Nightmare had simply avoided the question, and Dash admitted she was too clueless to pursue it. Despite all this though, there was something off about their interaction, she just couldn't place her money on it. When they met, she wanted to take over all of Equestria, and nearly succeeded in doing so. Stepping down to the level of petty amusement just didn't seem like the pony Rainbow had met; and what about Luna? If Nightmare was back, did the Princess disappear? Could the elements even stop her a second time? They didn't seem to have worked the first time. These questions whirl pooled through Dash's mind, until she shrugged all of them off. She wasn't the kind for pointless thinking, she was a pony of action. Action was needed more now anyway, her friend was still missing.
Glancing around, Dash's senses noted several things. She was clearly alone in the field, save for the customers screaming and the whistling wind, though the grass was still out of place from when the mascots had arrived. At the very least she could say that she wasn't out too long. There was no sign of the immortal alicorn either, despite the assumption that she would be watching Dash throughout the 'game' as she called it. Dash hated that term, it made it sound like it was a childish sport instead of the potential blood bath it could be; or indeed was. The most notable thing though was a scrap of paper, standing out like a beacon amongst the green field. What had Nightmare said about it? Written by the mare herself? Was she talking about Pinkie; had Pinkie written the note? Dash grinned at the revelation. If Pinkie could simply tell her where she was, this game would hardly last a minute. It would be laughably easy. Which was why Dash's hoof felt heavy as she reached for the rock keeping it pinned.
The rock itself probably weighed next to nothing, but to Dash it represented far more. If she picked up this rock, read the paper beneath, then she would be committed. It would become impossible to turn back. The knowledge would forever be stuck in her mind, and she knew nothing would be able to remove it. She wondered whether she was ready for something like this, then remembered that she was already doing something like this, only this time she was smarter about where Pinkie was. This task should of taken a few seconds, so why couldn't she bring herself to do it? Eventually though, with a slight knock of her hoof, the paper was released from it's earthy prison and Dash brought it to her face to read better. She was going to win this game.
The writing on the note was a bright pink; unmistakably the same colour as the mare Dash was searching for. Rainbow was thrown off guard though, when the note was revealed to be written entirely in crayon. The letters were scrawled across the page, which Dash assumed was because Pinkie had written the note in haste. Not that her hastiness had caused her to drop her silly exterior.
Dashie, Dashie, guess what? That grumpy pony from the moon came back. Like, came back to life. Isn't that amazing? I wonder what else she can do, maybe she can also wish things into existence. Like balloons, or cake. Though I wish she can't because baking cakes is the greatest thing ever. Also three, the answer to the question before is three cakes. Hang on, she's telling me I'm losing track again. Right, I was suppose to tell you where I was.
Dash closed her eyes sadly, and sighed. Of course Pinkie would make things as hard as possible. It's not like she could just name a place to pick her up. She had to go through her entire unique thought process in order to show how she got there. Dash liked her friend, but she couldn't deny her air headedness was her greatest fault.
So I'm in a place. It looks like that place from before, but with purple and white instead. There's...a stage. Kinda old looking though. Do you think the owner would mind if I fixed it up? Do you think he would smile? Wait where you are a minute.
There was a large gap in the writing, as if Pinkie had suddenly left and returned at a later time.
Ok, anyway. Where were we? Oh right, there's also a friendly pony here. Not a mascot at all. She's pretty sad though, it took me a whole minute to get her to smile. I think she plays an instrument too, isn't that amazing? So, to recap, purple and white tent, large stage, friendly but depressing pony. I'll have a cake waiting for you when you arrive.
Dash let the note flutter to the ground; picked up in one of the air currents rushing through her feet. Biting her lip to stop herself from shouting out in anger, she landed on the ground again and rubbed her temples. Nightmare must have known this would happen. There was no other explanation. She hated to admit it to herself, but she had no idea where Pinkie was. She couldn't even focus herself on one subject long enough to provide any help. A depressing pony? That could be anypony.
Sighing though, she stepped forward, taking a moment to figure out where the road was. There was no chance of her finding her friend if she simply sat where she was. Maybe she could find something to give her another clue, or maybe she would even stumble upon Pinkie by accident.
The busy crowd threatened to engulf Dash, and she rose above it all in order to avoid it. There were so many ponies here, eating, talking, running, haggling; each forming together into an ocean. The pegasus had no clue where to begin. Any one of these ponies could know about a white and purple tent or know about a depressing mare. Watching each of them though, she knew that she had to begin. The beat of her wings slowed, until she hovered gently into the crowd, not caring whether she hit someone. Besides from a few surprised shouts, though, no attention was paid to her.
She pulled ponies off the street at random, with a nearly feverish speed.
"Have you seen a pink pony with a cotton mane?"
"Is there a white and purple tent nearby?"
"Maybe a large concert or a play?"
"Anypony acting strange? Besides me, Einstein."
"Any particularly depressing ponies?"
Each of her questions was answered with a quick no, or the occasional shaking of heads. All this work was getting her nowhere, and she felt ready to pull her mane out. She just needed a single clear answer. As another pony politely shook her head though, Dash could feel every little annoyance build back into her again. The ponies around her were left with a loud booming sound as Dash took off, disappearing into another section of the park at an incredible speed.
She landed, and started to question the customers again. It was too risky to fly too high, even if it would be easier to find the place she was looking for. The second the mascots figured out where she was, she lost. So she stuck to the ground, careful to only draw attention from the ponies she was talking too.
As the minutes continued to drag on though, and her questions continued to go unanswered, she realised that it wasn't working. She needed to try something new. Rainbow considered flying into the sky anyway, but a dull ache reminded her why that was a bad idea. Sighing, she started to walk along the path. There wasn't much else she could do.
The stalls and ponies blended together, becoming nothing more than a background for the depressed mare. She couldn't do this, she needed a clue. A hint. Something to point her in the right direction.
She stopped for a moment to regain her thoughts and regret the fact that she didn't keep Pinkie's note.
A low guttering sound broke off from the crowd behind her, and she jumped to the side instinctively. The mascot that had jumped out at her crashed into the ground harshly, and Dash didn't waste any time. She sped away from the mechanical beast, moving as fast as he legs could move. She couldn't believe they were attacking her already, she'd barely begun.
Weaving between the ponies in the crowd, Dash glanced behind her. A cyan coloured beast was already in hot pursuit, simply bashing it's way through the ponies gathered instead of bothering to avoid them. Dash sped up, temporarily losing sight of the robot. Dash leapt into the air to take advantage of her strengths, increasing speed while she did so.
For a split second, everything slowed down. Dash's wingbeats came out slowly, making a feathery thump each time they pushed down. She could see the looks of every pony gathered; some were terrified, some were confused, most hadn't even noticed her. The stalls lined across the sides of the path, leaving large gaps between them. Behind them, large buildings loomed ominously, casting everything in a blurry shade. An opportunity to escape her pursuer for good opened up, and in her adrenaline fuelled state, there was no chance of her missing it. Carefully, her wings leaned to the side ever so slightly, each of her feathers dripping with precision. The currents of the wind shifted, catching in the pony's wings and pulling her sideways. She slipped between the rough wooden constructions, and vanished into another alley between buildings.
She crouched in the shadows, not yet ready to rest. It would be safer to know where the mascot was in case she needed to escape again. Her mind wandered will she focused on the only entrance to the alley. Why were their so many buildings anyway? What did they all do? Springing back to reality, Dash watched a blue blur zoom past the exit, barely paying any mention to the gap.
Dash released the sigh she had started holding the second her doppelgänger moved into view. Glancing around, she sat down and ran over her options. Asking ponies obviously didn't work, walking around nearly got her killed, flying into the air would certainly result in great physical harm on her body and she was plain out of ideas. What would Pinkie do in this situation, she wondered. She bit her lip when she remembered the answer would probably be something crazy, like fire herself out of the party cannon or ride one of the mascots like a mechanical bull.
A faint click rebounded through the alley, nearly unnoticeable to the average ear. Dash heard it instantly however. Spinning her head towards the exit, she noticed it was now blocked by something big. Big and moving. The pegasus barely had time to react when something clipped her in the chin, pushing her into the air. Another impossibly fast movement, and she found herself pinned to the wall, a hot metal hoof shoving roughly into her neck.
She grabbed at the hoof uselessly, trying to pull it off her. She could already feel herself growing weaker as her body drained itself of oxygen. The bruises on her neck stung as she struggled, and her feet couldn't reach out far enough to kick her attacker.
Carefully, she felt the pressure relive itself from her neck. She tried to breath in, but the obstruction made that once simple task painful.
"Stop squirming for a second, seriously. I don't want to hurt you."
Dash stopped struggling, and looked at the mascot in front of her. It was her, her doppelgänger. Despite the situation she was in, she couldn't let her attitude slip. She spent a lot of time on it. "Because you're such a reliable mascot." She choked out sarcastically.
The mascot shook it's head. "I'm going to remove my hoof, okay? Don't be stupid and try to fly off, I don't want to chase you down again." It crackled out, cocking it's head towards Rainbow.
The mare nodded quickly, anything to remove the pain from her neck. The robot showed no emotion, but slowly moved it's hoof backwards. Dash fell to the ground, and immediately took off. No way was she dying just yet. Everything became a blur as she picked up speed. She just needed to get back into the crowd. Then she could disappear from view and everything would be fi-
Rainbow let out a pained squeak as she collided with something obstructing her path. Looking down, she could see another blue hoof stretched over her stomach, pushing itself roughly into her chest. Her wound opened up again from the impact, but Dash could hardly notice over the sound of her own gasping.
"Look, if I wanted to kill you we would already be done here. I could take you down faster than a wonderbolt could fly."
The real Dash leaned against the wall, her arms wrapped around her stomach. "How did you do that? I was moving too fast." She asked.
"Simple, I asked what would I do in your situation. Of course, I was right."
Dash looked up, staring the mascot in the face. "What do you want? I would prefer you don't waste my time."
The robot slowly raised a hoof to it's chin and leapt backwards, fire shooting out it's legs to give it a bigger push. It landed roughly a few paces ahead of Dash, but kept it's hoof rigid. "What I want is answers. From you." It responded.
The injured mare fought back a chuckle growing in her gut; or was that blood? Either way, it was a feeling she wasn't expecting to feel any time soon and it's very presence seemed like a joke in itself. "You want answers from me? What do I know? If anything, I want answers from you."
The robot nodded, "So we're both in agreement? I answer your questions, you answer mine?" It confirmed.
Dash's hooves found themselves suddenly waving themselves in front of her body, trying to portray her emotions correctly. "What? No no no, why should I tell you anything? You keep trying to kill me!" She babbled out.
"Dash, I am you. If you stop to think about this, you'll see that this is the best course of action to take, since we both get what we want without unneeded stab wounds. I'll give you a moment, since your small brain clearly needs it."
Rainbow stopped for a minute, and considered what her Doppelgänger was saying. She wanted answers to the questions flying through her head, she didn't want any more injuries and escape seemed impossible. That wasn't to say that she couldn't escape, but playing it safe seemed like a better idea. In return, all she had to do was answer a few simple questions. With a gasp, she realized that the mascot was right. Sighing, she made sure to set a few ground rules first. "Alright, but here's a few things first, one-"
"One, you won't tell me anything about how to hurt your friends, two, you won't tell me how to hurt yourself, three, I have to let you go unharmed when we're done and finally, I can't tell the others that this happened. This what you planned to say?" Her robot interjected, cutting her off.
Dash stood back up. Pain spread through each section of her body, but she found the strength to get through it. "Stop doing that! You don't know what I was going to say." She shouted.
In response, the robot took an angry step forward. "I do know exactly what you were going to say. I know exactly what you're thinking at this very moment. I know everything you've ever done, because I. AM. YOU. Get that through your head."
Swallowing nervously, Dash stepped backwards. "What do you mean you're me?"
"It means that I, Rainbow Dash, am the pony Rainbow Dash; all the way down to the microscopic level. Also, that's your first question, my turn."
"What, that wasn't my question. No fair."
"Too late, should of thought of that before you asked a question."
"No, I want a do over." The real Dash shouted.
"I already let you go first, isn't that enough for your ego?"
"I didn't even realise that we were starting!"
The robot shrugged, "Too bad, my turn."
Dash bit her lip, but remained silent. She waited anxiously for the mascots question, running over everything she knew in her head. She was going to be ready for anything. She briefly pondered what her mascot could want that would inspire this behaviour, before refocusing herself. She needed to stay focused.
There was a brief stint of static, and Rainbow's voice fired out of the mascots mouth. "Why Pinkie?"
Dash nearly laughed again, until it became apparent that the mascot was serious. Dash covered her mouth, and tried to confirm what she had heard. "What about Pinkie?"
The mascot shook it's head, attaching two hooves to it's head while it did so. "Don't do this Dash, you know what I mean. Why go through this all for Pinkie? I need to know this."
"What could you possibly need this for?"
"Shut up and answer the question."
Dash glanced around nonchalantly, trying to think of an honest answer. She needed something convincing, something true. While she did like Pinkie a lot, was she really worth going through all this pain for? Was there even something special about Pinkie at all, besides from her ability to summon cupcakes from the greater elemental plane of cupcakes? Maybe she would simply do this for all her friends. Yes, that sounded more realistic than there being something between both of them. "There's nothing special about Pinkie. I would go through this for anypony. Even Spike!"
If the mascot could have raised an eyebrow, Dash guessed it would have done so at this point. "So Pinkie means nothing to you? She's just another friend?"
Dash nodded, and added quickly, "You're supposed to be me, surely you already know the answer to this."
The mascot nodded, causing Dash to blink in surprise. "I suppose so, I just needed to hear it from you."
The real Dash leaned against the wall again, and glanced out the alley. It would be so easy to simply fly out while the mascot was distracted. All she needed to do was jump. Shaking her head though, she turned forward. "My turn, right? Where's Pinkie?" She asked.
The mechanical pony turned away. "I can't tell you that, the boss would have my head; or worse, my wings. Try a different question."
Dash sighed in frustration. Of course it wouldn't be easy. "Fine then. How did Nightmare Moon return? How did she manage to build this entire place before ponies noticed?"
"That's two questions. Luckily, I'm feeling generous." It said, stroking it's chest at it's own compliment. "Understand though, I still can't tell you too much. In her own words, it would 'ruin the game'. Anyway, the problem is, you don't see the big picture. You see Nightmare Moon and think 'Oh, Nightmare Moon is back, I'm sure this will be a pleasantly fun day'. When you met Nightmare the first time, did she seem like the kind to waste time playing games? No, that was Discords thing. So maybe you should be asking yourself why you're running through this course. Is it because Nightmare has a plan that only all the elements can stop and therefore she intends to keep you separated, or are things not as they seem?"
"That doesn't help much. How is she back?" Dash asked again, growing exasperated.
"Nope, my turn now. You asked your question."
"But your answers don't actually answer anything! They just make things more confusing." Dash retorted.
The robot shrugged, "Too bad. My turn again."
Rainbow sighed in frustration, and stared at the ground. After a minute that seemed to drag on forever, she looked back up. "Fine, fine. What's the question?"
The mascot took a step closer, and made sure it was looking Dash in the eyes. "Who am I?" It asked.
"A collection of wires and gears?" Dash replied uncertainly, a childish grin spreading on her face.
"Not what am I. Who am I?"
Dash pushed herself off the wall, and stood back on her own four feet. "Take off the mask and we'll find out together. Unless you really are a robot, in which case I'm actually pretty surprised."
Something whistled past Dash's ear, and she found herself gasping for breath again. Black lines gathered on the edge of her vision, connecting together like an imaginary spiders web. Something pressed down on her chest, and she looked up to see her mascot standing on her. "Quit messing around! This is serious. Do you have any idea what I'm going through? This is the biggest thing of my life and you're here making jokes? Just shut up and answer my question."
Struggling for breath, Dash choked out a response. "I don't...I don't know who you are."
"I don't even know who I am! I'm not just a copy of you, Rainbow, I am you. Down to the slight obsession with Daring Do. I can remember my first flight, the first time I did a sonic rainboom, fighting Nightmare Moon, all the things we did when we were younger. I can remember, no joke, getting on the train to come here. I was Rainbow Dash. I had a flying turtle called Tank, and I wanted to join the Wonderbolts." The mascot stopped for a moment, and stepped of Dash's chest. "Then you came along. The real Rainbow Dash; and I don't know what to believe."
Dash forced her legs to push her back to her hooves, and every bone in her body ached in defiance. "Tank is actually a tortoise." She corrected, not quite sure what to say. To either her relief or displeasure though, the rainbow mascot continued.
"It's not just me either. You simply existing throws our entire lives into question. All six of us. If we're not the elements, than who are we? Each of us are handling this differently. Twilight's thrown herself into those worthless friendship reports, Rarity won't stop fixing her mane, Applejack wanders around in a broken daze, Fluttershy...well, I couldn't even find Fluttershy until recently. The only one who's handling this well is Pinkie and she can't even bring herself to look at you."
Dash glanced around awkwardly. Was she supposed to feel sad for an inanimate object? She wondered whether her emotions made any difference at all. Still, she couldn't leave herself feeling down like this, she loved herself. She just needed to find the right words. "So how are you coping with this?" She asked.
The fake Rainbow stared at the ground for a moment, before whipping it's head back up. "I'm going to kill you Rainbow. Either you'll die, in which case I'm the real Rainbow, or I'll die, in which case everything I know is a lie and I don't want to live any more." It responded harshly.
"So why aren't I dead?" She asked, stopping for a moment to realise how grim that sounded. Death wasn't even a subject that came up much in Ponyville, and here she was using it so leniently. It really showed how quickly she'd adapted.
To her surprise, the mascot chuckled. "Because I'd win. I don't want that. I want a fair fight, a real race. You and me, duking it out. A worthy opponent, the Ahuitzotl to my Daring Do."
"Why am I Ahuitzotl? It's obvious I should be Daring Do."
"No, I'm Daring Do. I like her more."
"Like hay you do, I own every book in the series."
"So do I! We're the same pony! Why can't you get that?"
"Are you going to fall back on that everytime we talk? You need to lighten up. I honestly couldn't care less who are, and I find it hard to bring myself to care. You kidnap my friend, beat me repeatedly, freely admitted to wanting to kill me and work for an obviously evil and insane alicorn. Now you're here, blabbing on about how hard your life is and I simply can't bring myself to care. Frankly, I don't give a griffons tail feather who you are." Dash replied, finally getting this off her chest. "Stop trying to kill me and I'll see what I can do though." She added, making sure to lock eyes with the mascot.
A minute passed slowly without either of the mares talking. Dash wasn't going to risk looking weak by glancing away from her opponent, and it seemed her doppelgänger had the same idea. Another minute passed, dragged on by the tension rising in the air. Dash swore she could see sparks flash between them, causing bright blue flashes against the dark rock.
Eventually though, Rainbow blinked, breaking her connection with the robot. Almost instantly, the mascot took a step back, leaning against the wall roughly. "You didn't answer my question." It said coldly.
Dash grinned childishly, "Too bad. I suppose it's my turn?"
The robot nodded, so Dash thought deeply. Despite all the questions running through her head, she struggled to pick one out. Each thought forced itself over the other, striving to reach the surface. She couldn't pick out one she wanted more though. Sighing, she settled for the first thing that managed to crawl out her mouth. "Why haven't I met Pinkie? Your Pinkie, I mean." She questioned.
The mascot shrugged. "She doesn't want to see you. Something about ruining the narrative and screwing with the future. I think she just doesn't want to admit that she's not the real Pinkie though. Besides, I already told you this before."
The real Dash rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Oh yeah." She mumbled out hastily.
A burst of static hit the air, and Dash assumed her mascot was sighing. It struggled for a moment, raising it's hooves into the air awkwardly. The robot seemed to be trying to put the thought in it's head into words, hoping that it's arm movements could grab the needed words out of the air. Eventually, it simply threw it's hooves back on the ground and turned away from Rainbow. "We need to wrap this up. It's taken too long already. One more from me and we'll be off, alright?" It asked, anti climatically.
Dash leapt out to stop it from leaving. "Wow wow, hold up. Then you get more questions than me. How's that fair?"
"Are you stupid? You asked two questions before, if anything this makes us even."
"I want the final question." Dash responded easily.
The robot sat silently for a moment, before rolling it's head to the side in frustration. "Fine, no time to argue with myself. You get the last question."
"Awesome."
"How did you do that blue sonic rainboom? Was it the machine? It was the machine wasn't it?" The mascot asked, it's 'voice' cracking at the last moment.
Dash nodded nervously. That was the last question?
"I didn't think you would use something like that. I mean, after what happened..." It started, before getting cut off.
"We don't need to talk about that."
The robot nodded. "Right, of course you would say that. 'Power through it yourself' is the plan, right? Good luck with that."
A brief stare was shared between the two mares, and Rainbow Dash was sure she could see something change. Despite the fact that not a word was shared, the two ponies gained an understanding of each other. There was something in the mascots glassy eyes that calmed Dash. She'd found someone going through the same stuff she was. The realization finally hit Dash, like a rock falling into a pond. "So you're really me?" She confirmed.
"Yep. Far as I can tell."
"I suppose we should go now. No point wasting time when Pinkie's in danger."
The robot nodded slowly, before jerking it's head up. "PINKIE! That's right. Pinkie wanted to give you something."
Dash perked her ears directly into the air at the sound of the news. A smile spread across her face, and she focused on the robot. "Really? What is it? Do you have it here? Give it to me!"
"Yea, it's somewhere here. Just calm down and give me a moment."
Dash could hardly keep still. She jumped from hoof to hoof in excitement. There was just to much joy, she needed to release it. She opened her wings awkwardly, only to snap them closed. She needed to fly, she just needed to release all this energy. Eventually, her torment was released when the mascot passed her a small scrap of paper. It was barely in her hooves for a minute before she realised something was wrong. Looking up, she could only gesture towards the paper.
Her mascot shrugged. "Did I forget to mention it was my Pinkie? Because it is."
Dash felt her spirit drop, but decided to keep a strong face. "That would have been helpful. Yes."
The mascot looked back out of the alley, and a faint click signalled the fire that blasted from it's hooves. Dash took a step backwards from the heat, and shouted over the flames. "You never thought it odd that you flew by shooting fire out of your feet?"
The mascot released what could have been a chuckle, and turned back to Rainbow. "Not really."
With that, it started to move away, rising into the air with each step, until it didn't need to move it's feet.
The real Dash stared down at the paper in front of her, before realising with a shock that she'd forgotten something. With a twist of her wings, she shot forward, planting herself firmly in front of her mascot. An angry sigh escaped from it's mouth as it was thrown off balance and crashed back into the ground.
Dash landed next to it, and poked it until it forced itself back to its feet.
"What is it? What do you want now?"
"I didn't get to ask the last question." She replied childishly.
"That's what this is about? We need to leave Dash, if we get caught then they'll kill you."
Dash rubbed her head, "I thought you were trying to kill me."
"Not until the end of the race." It said, stepping forward. "Whatever, what's the question?"
Dash thought for a moment, and grinned, "Why am I so awesome?"
Slowly, the black blocking Dash's vision began to retreat. There was a tiny point of light in the distance, spreading closer. Like a piece of broken glass, chaotic lines of light ran through the black, breaking off larger and larger pieces until all the darkness was gone. Dash blinked awkwardly and fought against the pain ringing in her head. She made a mental note not to joke around with her mascot again. Apparently she doesn't know how to take a joke.
Breathing in deeply to remove the obstructing black for good, Dash rolled onto her stomach. She regretted it quickly, as this only served to bring in a second round of pain, this time from her gut. After a moment of resting on the ground and attempting to numb the pain, Dash pushed herself back onto her hooves.
A quick glance around the alley told her that she was alone again. The only thing that remained of her mascot was a circle of burn marks, gouged into the grass beneath her. Dash scanned the alley again, this time resting on the scrap of paper that was floating through the air in front of her. Reaching forward, she grabbed it in her mouth and placed it back on the ground. Rainbow began to read the note again, taking care not to forget anything it said. From the small glance she got of it before, she knew that it was too important to simply forget.
Okie dokie, I need to be brief. Like a bag, or a case. A case full of brief, or a bag of brief? Briefbag? I owned a bag once but I wouldn't call it brief. I still own a bag actually, sometimes I carry useful things in it, like Gummy. What was I writing about again?
OH, I needed to warn fake Dashie! You need to get out of here, fake Dashie! Everypony is depending on you. Ms Angry Nightmare is planning something big. Bigger than you would ever believe, but it depends on you. I can't say why, but just know it's really bad for both of us. The longer you stay here the more dangerous it is for everypony. Well, not everypony, I suppose the elements would be safe, plus the princesses. Also, Moon would obviously be all right. So everypony except those ones is counting on you.
But you won't go. We have your friend and it would be totally sad and not nice at all if you left her. BUT, if you can get your friend, than you can leave. If you leave, everypony is safe. If everypony is safe, then me and fake me can throw a totally awesome party. With cheeses shaped like wheels. And then we can roll it down a hill and chase after it; that sounds fun.
Where was I going with this letter? I needed to tell you something important about the elements. Elements, elephents, ailments, what was it?
Rarity! That was it. Fluttershy too. Maybe Twilight, but you might not have time to read that. Listen, or read, actually. Reading would probably be more helpful, unless somepony is reading this for you. If they are, tell them I said hello. Also, why are they reading for you? Don't fight Rarity. I know you think you could take her on, but you can't. She's got this crazy fashion magic, you can't touch her. Which is bad because she needs a hug.
Don't fight Fluttershy either. Actually, now that I think about it, don't fight any of my friends; that's not nice. Just run whenever you see any of them; also don't look at Flutter's eyes. You remember the stare, right, fake Dashie?
Pinkie's in Octavia's concert tent. Don't tell Nightmare I told you this; she wouldn't be happy. Get in there and get out of here before anything happens to you.
And stop calling yourself Dashie, you're not fooling anypony.
Dash ran through the words again, making sure to gather the whole message. After a moment of thinking, she came to a simple conclusion. She was in way over her head. Nightmare Moon, the monster who had been locked away for a thousand years, the creature that had threatened to cover the world in endless night, was clearly using her for something.
The feeling was enough to cause an empty pain to grow in her gut. She felt like a pawn, a useless piece to be discarded when her purpose was done. Maybe that was how Nightmare Moon saw the whole situation. It wouldn't surprise Dash. The mare couldn't help but wonder whether actually knowing what Nightmare's plan was would make her happier or sadder. Right now though, she just wanted to fell less used.
As she turned to leave, it crossed her mind that the mascots may have been lying. Could it all have been a trick to gain her attention? She wondered why she was even bothering to listen to what her killers were trying to tell her. For all she knew, there could be a cartoonishly large vat of acid with a thin rope above it waiting for her at 'Octavia's Tent,' as Pinkie had said. That didn't even help anyway! Who was Octavia? Where was her tent? Why could no one simply point her towards Pinkie? Shrugging though, she passed the thought off. It's not like she had any other leads. Another one could only serve to help her.
Cautiously, Rainbow poked her head out of the alley. The street was mostly empty, with the exception of the stall owners who stared at Dash inquisitively. She ignored them, but kept close to the stalls anyway in an attempt to remain hidden. The street came to an end quickly, splitting into two different paths.
The first path turned to the left, leading deeper into the souvenirs area of the park. Unfortunately, that road was as barren as the one Rainbow was just walking down. If she was going to play this game and survive, than she needed to stay hidden. She needed to blend in with the crowd and make her way across the theme park silently. Then again, she didn't ignore the fact that her mane was basically a beacon that stood out even amongst the craziest crowds.
The second option was to go right. Glancing down the road quickly, Dash could only see one other pony walking down the street. However, this path led deeper into the park, towards the amusement and entertainment of the park. If it was a tent and a show she was looking for, odds were high that it would be found further along that road. Nightmare might be expecting her to think that way though, and everything that had happened could still be part of a sinister plan to lure her to her doom.
Mentally flipping a coin, the pegasus turned right. More ponies to hide between, more chances to find Pinkie and less chance of getting hassled by random store owners. Nodding her head to assure herself that she had made the right choice, Rainbow rushed down the street.
Dash flew higher into the air, despite the risks it presented. Not too high, just high enough to see over the tops of the buildings blocking her view. Despite this, the fabled purple and white tent still managed to avoid her detection. Landing back on the ground in frustration, she stomped her hooves angrily. She needed a clue. This sneaky puzzle thing was Twilight's job, not hers. She solved her problems by kicking, not by thinking.
Sighing, Dash swallowed her pride. She needed help. Glancing around one final time to make sure that no mascots were sneaking up on her, she glided over to the other pony on the street. Even if she could only point her in a vague direction, it was better than what she already had.
Drifting closer, Dash could start to pick out more details about the mare. The most notable was the fact that her face was permanently pinned down by a large...Dash struggled for a better word than box. The box was made of a reflective black material, similar to the costumes the Wonderbolts wore, except several times tougher and rigid. Half the box was nothing more than a long line, which ran along the pony's neck and forced her to stare at the ground as she walked; the other half had a vaguely hourglass shape, and two metal latches to keep it closed. Dash realised it was more like an impractically-shaped and oversized suitcase.
The light grey coat of the mare herself somehow managed to blend in with the road as she walked. If it wasn't for her dark mane curling down the ponies face or the large case on her back, Dash guessed it would have been possible to miss her. As she got closer, a sweet lavender smell struck her in the face; growing stronger as she flew closer.
The mare stopped walking when she heard flapping behind her, and poked her head out from beneath the thing on her back. Seeing that it was only another pony, she quickly focused her attention back to the ground in front of her.
Dust that had gathered on the road kicked up as Rainbow landed next to the mare. She walked alongside her for a moment, before clumsily attempting to start a conversation.
"Hey. How's it going?"
The other pony turned to face Rainbow again, and blinked in confusion. A short moment passed between them, and Dash worried that she wasn't going to respond, until a voice managed to worm it's way out of the mare's mouth. It carried a refined tint in it, reminding Dash of her friend, Rarity. "Well."
Another moment passed while Dash waited for the mare to elaborate. When she didn't, Dash decided to continue. "Well what?"
The mare sighed sadly, like she had to deal with this kind of thing daily. "I'm simply well. Did you not want your question answered?" She replied.
"Well yes, but I've never heard someone reply with well."
"Clearly, you and I prefer different company then." She continued. "Is there a reason for beginning this conversation, or do you intend to bore me with your small talk?"
Dash shrugged, "I get the message, I'm not stupid. I just need to know if you know where Octavia is performing."
Raising an eyebrow curiously, the other pony replied carefully, "Perhaps the two of us do belong in the same crowd. I was just heading to Octavia's show myself. I must admit though, it truly is sad times when a performer such as herself has to work in a place such as this." The pony made a sweeping gesture, covering the entire park in front of her.
Dash struggled to find the correct words to express herself. Finally, she could find where Pinkie was. No more playing it safe or sneaking around. Floating closer to the pony, Dash practically shoved her nose into the mare's face. "You know where Octavia's show is? Where? Is it nearby, can you tell me?"
The mare stopped, and Dash followed suit. Sighing again, the pony walked around Dash in an attempt to avoid her. "Are you going to be like this the entire way?" She asked.
Dash nodded hastily, and the mare breathed in deeply. "Very well then. If you insist on walking alongside me, I would like to know why you need to go to Octavia's show so badly, without even having the knowledge to recognize the mare herself on the street." She said clearly.
It took a moment for this revelation to process inside Dash's head. When it finally did, Dash could feel her cheeks start to grow hot, and begin to take on a pinkish tinge. "You're Octavia?"
"Don't blush, you have enough ridiculous colours as it is."
"Hey, I happen to like my mane." Dash responded sharply.
Octavia's lips spread into a faint smile. "To each their own, I suppose. But back on the subject, why do you have such an interest in my show?"
Dash chuckled to try and relieve some of the tension in the air. It was largely ineffective. "If I told you the truth, you'd probably call me crazy and tell me to stop following you, so let's just say that I've always secretly enjoyed your music." She replied.
"And what kind of music would that be?" Octavia asked, obviously unconvinced.
"Umm, classical?" Dash guessed, dragging the letter L along as she finished.
Octavia snorted, breaking the façade of refined upperclassmare. "Lucky guess. Come on then, it's just up ahead. Since you're such a big fan though, you won't mind carrying my cello."
"What's a cello?" Rainbow managed to ask before the large case on Octavia's back flew towards her. She couldn't react in time, and the cello case managed to plant itself firmly on her back. She shouted in panic as the sudden weight pulled her downwards. The pegasus' wings were useless while pinned beneath the weight, and Dash landed, annoyed.
The owner of the case simply trotted forward, paying no mind to Rainbow as she moved. "You have two guesses on what a cello is." She added, still not facing Rainbow.
Dash shuffled restlessly under the case, but did her best to bear it. Anything to get closer to Pinkie.
Panting heavily, Dash struggled to keep her legs moving. She'd lost track of how long she'd walked, and the weight on her back pushed down harshly, forcing every inch of strength and resolve out of her. She wasn't expecting the case to be so heavy and it was all she could do to follow the grey mare in front of her. Her chest ached from the exertion and her wings had developed a cramp from being kept perfectly still. Finally, after what Dash guessed was hours, Octavia stopped walking and turned to face the exhausted pegasus.
Dash sighed in relief, and let the instrument fall to the ground. She could feel her blood rushing back into her wings, washing away the pricks and points that had built up. Stretching once to get the wake her wings up fully, she pulled her head up to look at her companion. Her companion who was nearly glowing red in anger.
"What in Canterlot do you think you're doing?"
Dash glanced around, confused. "Stretching?"
"Not that, you absolute rut. You can't just throw a cello on the ground, it's a very precise instrument! There are many small parts that could come loose. Strings could break! I understand that to one such as you, dropping things on the ground is a common practice, but where I come from you need a certain air of elegance." She replied.
"So? It's just a giant guitar, it's not like it's the last one in the world." Dash shouted back, before adding, "And what do you mean 'to one such as me?' Do you know who I am?"
Octavia rolled her eyes, "An egotistical weather mare?"
"NO! I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria."
"Right, like I said, an egotistical weather mare."
Dash took a step closer angrily, "Like you can call me egotistical. You're no better."
Octavia cocked her head to the side, and stood silently for a minute. "I suppose I'm not, am I? Just...just don't drop my cello again." She eventually answered.
Dash glanced back at the reflective case on the ground, and began to notice her surroundings. Between the pain of carrying the heavy instrument and the argument with Octavia, she'd barely been given a chance to take it all in. Not that there was much to take in anyway.
A large cloth building stood in front of her, stretching out of reach on her sides. The white and purple streaks stuck out from the dry green field awkwardly, as if it were trying to catch the attention of everyone that walked by. The entrance was currently closed with another cloth sheet, that hung across the only door. The occasional rope swung down from the top of the tent, but Dash didn't really see any need for them. Trotting closer to the door, Dash simply stared at it.
She needed to be fast. Get in, get out. She couldn't let Nightmare Moon even know what she was doing until it was too late. She swallowed nervously as she remembered what would happen if she screwed up. Nightmare would win, she would most likely get killed by her own duplicate and worst of all, Pinkie would be hurt. Taking in a deep breath, Dash turned to the pony gathered with her. "Sit back, Octy, I think this would be safer if you waited out here."
Octavie grinned, and stomped her hoof impatiently. "Firstly, this is my performance. I see no reason to wait outside when I could be spending time rehearsing. If anything, you should wait outside; It's bad luck to hear an unfinished piece. Secondly, even if there was somepony in there, I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself. Canterlot, despite it's fame, isn't the city of dreams. Finally, Octy? Don't call me that again.."
Dash shook her head, trying to clear her mind, "Look, it's just, things might get a little dangerous."
"What could possibly be dangerous in MY OWN PERFORMANCE?" Octavia shouted back.
Dash sighed, and turned back to the entrance. "Just stay back." She commented.
With a flick of wings and a lick of her lips, Dash thrust the cloth holding her back to the side.
Everything froze for a moment. Rainbow had intended to burst in before anyone inside realized that she was there, but that plan was stopped as her brain tried to process the absurdity of the scene in front of her. A large stage was set up at the back of the tent, with a spotlight hanging from the ceiling to capture the flair of anyone who performed on it. Two large speakers, similar to the ones that Vinyl had used at the entrance of the park were set up at the sides of the stage, dwarfing the small stand between them.
Dash didn't notice this; her eyes were too focused on the centre of the room. Sitting there was a large glass tank, about twice Rainbows height, filled with a bubbling green liquid. Tiki torches lined the top of the tank, marking in a circle the open lid. A table with two chairs was suspended above the open hole, hung in place by thick metal chains descending from the ceiling. Sitting in one of the chairs, obliviously sipping her cup of tea despite the danger, was a large robot Dash recognized.
A loud cracking sound shot through the room, and Dash was broken out of her trance. She acted instinctively and leapt forward aimlessly, rolling across the ground. She jumped upwards, attempting to regain control and stop her spinning, only to be greeted by a thick glass wall. The sound of hoofsteps appeared behind her, and her companion couldn't help but comment.
"Well, this was unexpected."
Rarity's mascot carefully placed her cup down on the table, and turned her head to face her guests. Her pale yellow dress shined slightly in the sunlight, and the tight-fitting hat on her head obscured her horn. "There you are, Octavia. You simply must come up here and join me. Have you heard the latest news about Fluer de Lis?" She asked, not bothering to raise her voice. Dash glanced behind her, not understanding why she was being ignored.
The grey mare shook her head, "I'm afraid I haven't. Perhaps we could discuss it later? I have a show beginning in little over an hour and I need to set up. I expect you will remove this...obstruction in time for my performance?"
Rarity nodded, before adding, "Shouldn't take too long, I just need to bring my friend Dash into questioning."
Rainbow snapped her mouth shut, and started to run off the questions building in her head. "Wait, hang on. Did you know about this Octi? Are you working for them? How could you do this to me, I thought we were cool." She stopped for a moment, and turned back to the mascot. "Why are you still calling it questioning? I thought we got over that. Either decide to kill me or take me hostage, stop switching between the two. Where is Pinkie?" Dash stopped for a moment as this question sunk in. "Where is she!"
The mascot released to short bursts of static, creating a quick tsk tsk. "Did you expect the game to be easy? We wouldn't want you to finish too fast. Consider it a lesson in finesse, Dearie. You always did need lessons in finesse."
Dash saw Octavia make her way across the room towards the stage, before clearing her head of distractions and focusing on her aggressor. The tension she was holding in her wings was released in a gust of power as she shot into the air, closing the gap between her and the mascot.
"NO. NO. I'm not doing this. You bring Pinkie back here right now!" Dash shouted.
"I don't even have the power to do so, dear. What I do have however," Rarity stopped as she fumbled around on the table, before levitating a small scrap of paper off it. Her white aura blocked Dash from reading it, but she didn't need to be a genius to know what it was.
"Is this."
Dash swallowed angrily, "Another note from Pinkie? Stop wasting my time and hand it over then!"
Rarity's double chuckled. "I'd rather throw one of my dresses into this acid." She commented.
Dash grimaced, and flew closer. She needed to pay attention though, if she got to close her wing might collide with the mascot, and she would go tumbling into the acid beneath her. "Give me the note, Rarity." Dash said sternly.
Rarity stared at her opponent. The tension rose into the air, rising to a powerful pitch, until she replied with an indignant "Make me."
Dash moved quickly in an attempt to gain the first punch, only to be knocked out of the air by the mascots hoof connecting with her chin. The world spun around randomly as she fell, and she blinked hastily to try and make everything right again. Her wings, used to the strain of moving quickly, adjusted themselves almost immediately to compensate for her sudden lose of height. Almost involuntarily, she found herself hovering in the air, the lethal pit of green ooze beneath her.
A pain had already begun to spread through her lower jaw, and Dash browsed around quickly for whatever was causing that low pitched ringing noise. She noted that Octavia was apparently more interested in her instrument than the fight breaking out, but that hardly explained the noise. A new noise, nearly unnoticeable in it's volume, managed to reach Dash's ears. With a second to react, the pegasus stopped flapping her wings, pulling her dangerously close to whatever was in the tank. The alternative though, staying still and letting the floating butterknife cut her wings off, was an option Dash wasn't willing to take.
Grinning as the adrenaline finally hit her body, Rainbow pushed her wings powerfully. She flew quickly, nearly parallel to the acid beneath her, and made a desperate push towards the edge of the tank. Two torches crossed against each other in front of her, but Dash didn't even have time to react. Twisting sideways, she managed to lessen the blow against her slightly. It wasn't much, but every bit helped in a fight.
Landing hastily, Dash scanned around quickly for her opponent. Something smelled like burning fur, but Dash ignored it for the moment. Probably just burned herself a little. She noted Octavia standing nearby, still too busy to acknowledge the fight, but was struggling to find Rarity. She heard something behind her, like the click of a unicorns horn, and turned as fast as she could.
For some reason, Rarity was still sitting in the exact same position as she was before. She hadn't even bothered to get down from the table. Instead, she gave Dash a second to realize what she was planning, before releasing a rain of sharp metal down upon her. Forks, knives, cups, whatever Rarity had placed on the table.
Dash swallowed nervously and gritted her teeth. Nightmare Moon was going to need a lot more than spoons to stop her.
A slight explosion of rainbow colours appeared where Dash was standing as she shot into the air. Dash kept her eyes locked forward, focusing on each individual projectile. Something sharp grazed against her mane, and she barrel rolled out of the way of another knife.
Far away, in an unexplored corner of the cosmos, an ageing rabbit smiled in pride. He couldn't explain it, but for some reason, he felt fulfilled, as if he'd completed his purpose in life. His companions, noticing this, shook their heads sadly before returning to their duties.
Dash continued moving steadily forward. Other than a few scratches from when she had been distracted, she was no worse for ware. She dove out of the way of another attack, before rising quickly to dodge the fork waiting for her. Her target was just out of reach, she needed to get closer. A whistle broke her concentration at the last second, and Dash turned quickly. Another knife, smaller than the rest, was racing towards her head. Dash reacted the only way she could.
The knife flew forward, until it was suddenly stopped by a pair of shining white teeth. Rainbow gripped the knife tightly in her mouth and pushed backwards with her wings. The momentum of the knife and the power of her gust forced her back quickly, directly into the path of the Rarity imposter.
Dash grinned victoriously as she pulled her front hoof back. All it would take is a slight push, and Rarity would go plummeting into the acid below. Her hoof was a cyan blur as she swung, until Rainbow stopped to look at Rarity. Instantly, hundreds of thoughts rushed through the pegasus' head.
It was just so perfect. Everything about Rarity was perfection. Her shining coat, her trimmed mane, the way her dress blended in perfectly with her body, even the hat on her head added to the image. This wasn't a pony, it wasn't even a mascot. Dash wasn't one for poetry or even art in general but this was something which made her freeze. This was a piece of art, a slice of both perfection and godhood. Dash hesitated for a second. How could she destroy something so amazing? How could she even damage something so brilliant?
Rarity took advantage of the split second wait, and threw her own hoof into Rainbow's face.
Dash tumbled, still spell struck, until she felt the wind push against her back and realised what happened. A pain returned to the side of her head and she levelled out again, retreating back to the ground.
She spun back around to prepare for an attack, grabbing a glimpse of the mascot while she did. Looking up at her, Dash had no clue what was going on. She wasn't that pretty.
Dash gritted her teeth in an attempt to stave of the pain of her battle, and flew into the air again. This time, no getting distracted. Rarity changed her tactics to suit the situation, and instead pulled the kitchen ware gathered on the ground into the air.
Light reflected off of each one, making the floor look like a disco instead of the packed dirt it was. The cutlery floated around each other aimlessly, and Dash let her curiosity get the better of her. Slowly, the metal items began to spin around each other, gaining speed with each passing second. A mini tornado formed around the wares and a high pitched scratching noise began to fill the tent. The pegasus could feel the building get warmer and rubbed her forehead to remove the perspiration that was gathering there.
When she removed her hoof, the weapons of the robotic unicorn were gone. In their place stood a giant ball of molten metal, held together with nothing but magic and the anger of every physicist in the universe.
A bubble formed on the surface of the ball, exploded and rushed towards the stunned pegasus. Dash snapped out of her trance quickly, and focused all her strength into one push of her wings. Rushing upward quickly, Dash took in all these revelations as fast as she could.
First, the ball of magma was chasing her. It was moving slowly, but if Dash got distracted for a split second, it would all be over.
Second, Rarity was controlling the magma and still hadn't moved. If Rainbow could just get one punch off on the unicorn, she could easily win the fight and stop wasting time dodging through the air like a fool. Fashion magic or not, Dash wasn't going to let a victory this easy slip her by.
Finally, Octavia was still just watching the fight. She'd apparently given up trying to tune her instrument, and now just watched the two legends fight each other over a pit of acid. Occasionally, she would click her hooves together and glance around the room, but otherwise paid close attention to the battle.
Dash grit her teeth together for the hundreth and something time that day, and focused on her target. All other distractions faded slowly, until only her and Rarity remained. A slight wind, nothing more than a current, ran through Dash's wings, and she smiled. This was her zone, the sky was her zone.
On the ground, that's where the Earth ponies fought. Fighting through the dust and the mud, the leaves and the rocks. A flat battleground, with plenty of distractions and obstacles. There was nothing like that in the air. No trees for her target to hind behind, no tricks for her prey to pull.
Rarity was an idiot for thinking that she could fight Rainbow in her zone, in her domain. The unicorn should have stayed on the ground.
The pony's wings bent slightly to catch the air and the pegasus was propelled forward. She could feel each breath of wind on her skin, and sensed the ball moving closer. Dash closed her eyes and dived down. Her back felt like it was on fire as she skimmed the surface of the improvised weapon.
A sliver of wind rushed into the ball, and Dash foresaw the incoming explosion. She turned in the air again, switching air currents, and her back burned again as she narrowly avoided the attack.
Hot wind, like steam, began to vibrate off of the molten core and Dash quickly realised what it meant. The mare opened her eyes quickly to see the ball shaking as the magic holding it together fell apart. She searched desperately for a way to escape, and grabbed the first chance she got. A single forgotten current.
The hot air pushed her into the sky quickly as the core exploded beneath her. Even more hot air rushed into her back, forcing her forward even faster. She didn't bother to turn around and witness it though, her target was right in front of her. Dash pulled back her arm, and pushed forward with all the force of the sky behind her.
"Suck on my missile punch, Rarity!"
Rainbow wasn't sure what happened next. She rubbed her head sorely and tried to brush the dirt out of her mane. She hastily tried to form thoughts again, trying to figure out what went wrong. A feminine laugh sounded behind her and everything came back quickly.
She'd fallen for it again. She couldn't hurt that damn 'work of art.' The mare remembered pulling away at the last second, and flying past the mascot as the explosion flared behind her. She'd struggled to find the air currents again, they were all wrong, all messed up, and she'd tumbled to the ground.
Groaning painfully, Dash turned around to face Rarity. She wasn't going to give up, not now. She didn't care if she needed to fail a thousand times, she was going to save her friend. The taste of dirt built up in her mouth, and she spat indignantly. She was going to save Pinkie, if it killed both of them.
The robot looked down at her coldly, and flared her horn. Dash looked up at the robot cruelly, and revved her wings. A moment of tension lingered in the air, until a bell rang inside the heads of the two competitors. Dash lunged up, aiming directly for the mascot.
Only to crash directly into the ground again when a grey pony leapt into her vision.
A squeak escaped the cyan pony's lips as she crashed again. Immediately, she pulled her head up to make sure the robot wasn't attacking, before spinning to face Octavia.
"Are you crazy? Get out of here!"
The refined mare shook her head. "Listen Rainbow. My performance is due in little over thirty minutes now. This fight is as effective as teaching Vinyl to play the double bass, so I intend to finish it." She ignored Dash's angry response, and scanned around for the other pony. "Rarity, dear, this fight is unbecoming for everypony involved. How would you respond to solving it in a more classy manner?"
A low hum echoed out of the building as the fake Rarity raised a hoof, "Hmm. I must admit, this has been tiring. What do you suggest?"
Dash leapt back to her feet, and shoved her nose into Octavia's face. "Classy? I don't do classy. If this is something prissy, like a fashion show or a shoe shopping marathon, I'm just going to fly back to Rarity right now."
"If you had cared to let me explain, perhaps you would not be so opposed. If you would move back, I will explain what I am expecting." Octavia answered, refusing to move out of Rainbows glare.
Hesitantly, the pegasus moved backwards. Crossing her arms, she stared at the mare. "Fine. If this lets me finish faster, let's hear it."
Octavia nodded, satisfied. "What I am about to suggest is a simple, fast, non violent challenge between the two of you. In the past, this practice was used to settle disputes between the lower class, who refused to conform to 'prissy' activities, and the upper class, who refused to lose their status by competing with the lower class. It was specially crafted by Princess Celestia over five hundred years ago as a way to solve the problem, by providing a middle ground for both classes, something both would agree to. It is an ancient and time honoured tradition, and it's greatest practitioners have gone down in history and reformed as legends."
Octavia stopped for a moment, letting her speech sink in before continuing. "I speak of course, of a rap battle."
A heavy silence hovered in the air, followed by a quick snapping as Dash pulled her jaw back into her mouth. She struggled to create words, seemingly overwhelmed with the revelation. Eventually, she wiped the foam away from her mouth and shouted at the top of her voice. "YES! Yes yes yes. Always yes. We are doing this!"
An indecisive groan rang out from the table above the tank. "I'm not so sure. Are you certain that this is an actual thing, Octavia?"
The questioned mare simply grinned. "Of course it's a real thing. It would be a crime to lie about the ancient art of rap. There have been hundreds of famous rappers, who made a high class living by solving disputes amongst ponies the only way they knew how."
Rarity was still unconvinced. "Uhh, I don't know. It would be a lie to say I wasn't enjoying putting this fake Rainbow in her place."
Rainbow responded quickly, pointing at her enemy. "We've been over this before, I'm the real Rainbow. You're the fake one."
"I'm fake in the same way your mane is." Rarity responded.
It took a moment for Rainbow to understand this insult, but when she did, everything got serious. The pegasus turned to Octavia quickly, shoving herself back into the mare's face. "Oh it's on. Octavia, how do we do this rap battle? I want to destroy her."
The other mare sighed sadly, stepping backwards. "First, you get out of my face and learn a thing or two about personal space. Then, you and Rarity face each other, I issue the challange, the rap ensues, I decide the winner, everypony is happy and we can finally get rid of the giant tank of acid before my performance because seriously where the hay do you even get that much acid?" She explained.
Dash shrugged and flexed her wings. "I can do that."
The loud crack! of Rainbow launching herself echoed through the tent as she flew towards Rarity. The white mare zoomed into Dash's vision, filling it, and she stopped quickly. The rush of wind kicked her in the back, but she managed to hold her own against it. The two took a moment to stare into each others eyes. For Dash, it was to try and find out what was really going on through the mascot's head. Why did they think they were the real elements? If they did, why were they working for Nightmare Moon? What was a sign of weakness in a robot, and how could she use that?
Was this machine better than her?
For Rarity's fake, it was to try and settle her mind. Who was she? She was Rarity, wasn't she? That was why she obsessed over clothes, cleaned herself to perfection. She had to be Rarity, there was no other option. This mare, this fake Rainbow, wanted to destroy everything she was, to destroy her very faith in reality. She needed to win, it was the only way to find the true answer to the question plaguing her mind.
Who are you, Rainbow?
Eventually, the rivals broke off their contact. It was powerful, almost like losing a limb. Dash recoiled for a split second, before turning to Octavia.
"All right, ready to do this?"
The grey mare nodded, before pointing out a very important problem. "I just need a name. It is both unlucky and undignified to go without a name in a rap battle.
Dash shrugged again, an impressive feat considering she was flying in the air. "Just call me...what's that fancy thing everypony put's in front of their name?"
"M.C?" Octavia suggested.
"Yea, that's the one. What does it even mean?"
The grey mare made her way across the floor, eventually settling in front of the large stage. "It stands for Master of Ceremonies. Usually it's reserved for the pony hosting the event, who would be me, but I assume you don't care about that."
"Call me M.C. Rainboom." Dash shouted.
Octavia sighed, "Of course you don't." The pony directed her attention to the shining white robot sitting next to Rainbow, and asked, "And you?"
Rarity thought for a bit before replying, "Unlike my opponent, I will be modest. You can call me D.J. Rare."
"Still doesn't make sense, since I know a disk jockey and you barely know what a turntable is, but okay. Let us begin."
Octavia lifted a large instrument to her side. It was huge, almost as large as the mare herself, and four strings ran down from the tip of the object to the bottom. A low ringing vibrated through the room as Octavia pulled a thin stick across the face of the instrument.
There was a brief moment as Octavia settled into a groove. While the instrument wasn't the best settled for a strong sound, in the current situation, it managed to try it's best. Dash spun back to the robot, and decided that now seemed like the best time to begin.
Before she could though, the music stopped, and Octavia pointed at Rainbow Dash.
"Let the rap battle of M.C. Rainboom vs D.J. Rare, begin!"
The pegasus took in a deep breath, and spouted out the first thing that came to her head.
"Alright let's go,
can't go slow,
like a crow,
cause this show,
with the flow
is all. about. me.
They call me Rainbow Dash
the mare with the clash
I have so much cash
and I'm making a splash
cause to me you're just trash
who needs to shut up and play.
You say you shine that coat?
I say you're a liar.
You say you got the high note?
Now you're in the fire.
Cause M.C Rainboom is in the tent
and she ain't living till y'all are spent."
Dash swallowed silently as she caught her breath. She wasn't sure if that was how you did it, but Octavia didn't seem to be calling foul, so Dash assumed she did something right.
Rarity, on the other hand, was just staring at Dash stupidly. A brief moment of silence fell over the tent as the gears ground together in Rarity's head, until eventually, something crackled out of the speaker in her face, slightly distorted by the static.
"Is that all you've got?
Please, it's barely hot,
Call yourself a big shot,
I have to ask 'what?'
You don't have a shot
because in this lot?
it's all. about. me.
D.J Rare is my name,
and my claim to fame,
gonna win this game
and prove you're lame
put you over a flame
cause you can't even fight.
You're got a mane full of rainbow
like it ain't even fake
Do you need me to slow
because I'm bout to make
glue out of this competition
like a rhyme technician.
Got a plan and a mission
on the fourth edition.
Dash pulled her jaw back into her mouth for the second time in the last hour, and pointed slyly at the mascot. "I wasn't expecting you to actually know how to rap." She commented.
"I was surprised at your skills, actually."
Dash grinned, "Well let's go, round two."
I don't need a plan
cause I'm the man
like Flim and Flan
with a coat a' cyan,
can hit like a van
who's bout to can
a prissy. stupid. mare
My mane's fake like fire
and yours ain't better
my mane can inspire
yours looks like a sweater
I'm running circles round ya
so go back to ya spa.
fore I take you down
and ruin your gown.
Dash stopped again, swallowing nervously. She glanced back to Octavia, who was too wrapped up in her music to pay attention. She spun back to Rarity, who cocked her head to the side before crackling back to life.
My mane is perfect,
you know it's the truth.
you're just a stupid reject
who's really uncouth.
You smell like a dog
and look like a frog
so why continue this slog;
when you know. I'll. Win.
The robot stopped, her mechanical voice dissipating into the air. Only the high pitched ringing of Octavia's music remained in the air. Dash floated silently, glancing around the room awkwardly. Another moment passed, and Dash focused her attention on Rarity.
"Is that it?"
The mascot simply stared at Rainbow. Dash guessed she was trying to...blink maybe? The all too familiar sound of static slapped her in the face again, and Rarity spoke.
"Length does not begat quality. One verse is all I shall need to win this. The entire thing is a pitiful display of idiocy anyway."
A soft chuckle rose out over the music and the music faltered briefly. It collected itself quickly though, and continued the same repetitive beat for a couple for minutes. The mare weaving the tune opened her eyes open, breaking herself from the sound of her beat. Two pairs of eyes remained locked on her as she did, and slowly, the music stopped.
The sound hovered in the air for a few moments more, before being overwhelmed by the sounds of the park outside and disappearing forever.
Octavia sighed sadly, and pulled a piece of fluff out of her ear. "Is it over?"
Dash and Rarity exchanged looks. "It was over a couple of minutes ago." Dash said.
"Why didn't you say something then instead of sitting around like pair of semi disabled geese?"
Dash flew closer to the musician. "I didn't say anything because I thought you'd be paying enough attention to notice. Clearly you couldn't do that, could you?" Dash said calmly, a sliver of annoyance escaping her words.
"I could judge a battle in eight different languages. It's just that..." Octavia bit her lip, and broke eye contact.
Instead of focusing on Rainbow Dash again, she turned to Rarity. "It's just that, I've never heard more terrible rap. A piece of my soul was lost today, and I fear it may never be found. Foals are weeping in the streets over how terrible it was. It single handedly managed to revive not only Discord, but also everypony related to him in the past two hundred years. I only managed to survive with my sanity by physically blocking the sound from my ears." Octavia explained, placing her cello on the ground and leaping off the stage.
Rarity was silent for a moment, until this information processed. "But you're the judge! How can you judge without hearing the competition? How could you even hear your own music and when did you find the time to insert the ear plugs anyway?"
Octavia simply shrugged and Rainbow picked up where the mascot left off. "So who won? It was me, wasn't it? Don't lie to me, I totally won that."
"Darling, nopony won, she wasn't even listening." Rarity called down.
Octavia raised her hoof into the air, and pointed at Rainbow. She kept tight eye contact with Rarity though, barely daring to break it. "Actually, M.C Rainboom was the winner."
The words floated through the air, disappearing nearly as quickly as they arrived. Both of the competitors stood silently, not reaching the common conclusion. Octavia switched her attention between both of them, and pointed at Rainbow again. Dash simply stared at the hoof quietly; gears grinding in her head.
"Shall I repeat it? Rainbow is the winn--"
"WHAT?" Rarity shouted suddenly.
"Rainbow is the winner. She won the battle. The victory belongs to her." Octavia smirked at Rarity as she continued, "Shall I go on?"
"THERE IS NO NEED FOR THAT!" Rarity said, still shouting.
A loud cheer exploded out from behind Octavia as Dash shot into the sky. The winner pumped her hooves into the air, shouting loudly while he did. A bright rainbow trail followed her across the room, and a slight wind picked up as she soared clockwise through the air. The trail stopped suddenly as Rainbow froze directly in front of Rarity's face, and shoved her hoof into the robot's nose. "In your face! Bet you're wishing you had that extra verse now, aren't you. Haha, I became the greatest rapper who ever lived today, what have you done? Besides lose." She taunted.
The robot shoved Rainbow back, ignoring Dash's childish squeal as she flew backwards. "Impossible! Lies! This contest was rigged! You didn't even listen to it." She shouted down at the judge.
Octavia simply stared up at the mare, keeping her calm composure. "Are you implying I made my decision in haste? Are you saying that my award was indecently given? To do so would disgrace the ancient name of rap; something I will never do. I do not need to hear the rap, and I am glad I didn't. Simply reading your lips was enough."
"You can't make a decision off simply lip reading! I demand a do-over."
Octavia spun around, turning her back to the mascot. Slowly, she made her way across the tent, ignoring the cries from the mare behind her. Her instrument lay on the stage in front of her, and in a swift movement, she lifted the bow of the cello into her hoof. Rainbow rushed down to meet her before she could turn around, and asked a question that was building on her mind. "Umm, Octy--"
"Octavia, no pony calls me Octy."
"What about Vinyl?"
Octavia shuddered. "No pony noteworthy calls me Octy
"Right, right, Octavia then. Rarity has no lips. So how can you...you know, lip read?" Dash pointed out, pointing at the robot while clenching her teeth.
Octavia turned away from Dash, and made her way back towards the giant tank in the centre of the tent. "As long as she doesn't realise she doesn't have lips, I think I can get away with it."
A loud thump wavered through the air as Dash landed harshly on the stage. Her wings burned from the sudden stop in movement after such a long use, but Dash ignored it as she watched Octavia intently.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
Octavia grinned. "Watch, I have a feeling things may get uncivilised soon."
"-op ignoring me! Don't make me come down there. There is no way in Tartaris that I'm losing to somepony like Rainbow." Rarity shouted, still trying to get the ponies gathered to listen to her.
"Now now, Rarity. You lost fair and square. Hoof over the letter as we agreed and we'll all be on our way. Rainbow can rush off to do whatever it is she's doing, you can go nurse your pride and maybe learn some humility fit for someone hoping to be high class and I can finally get rid of the cartoonishly monolithic tank of acid and prepare for a proper show. Seriously, where could you even find all this acid?" Octavia said, gripping her bow harder. A hint of something different hung behind her words though, turning each one into a subtle threat. Dash couldn't pick out what it was, but something had changed in the air.
The robots eyes stared out blankly at Octavia, before a simple reply buzzed out. "I refuse."
Octavia smacked her tongue against her teeth, creating a short tsk tsk, before responding. "Give me the note, Rarity. I can solve this without either one of us getting hurt."
"I will not lose Sweetie because of some stuck up mare and her stupid rap traditions. I will stop Rainbow, even if it takes me all day."
Dash blinked for a moment, and suddenly Octavia moved. A cloud of dust drifted off her hooves as she balanced on the edge of the tank. The sun caught on her polished bow; wielded horizontally at the end of her hoof. She looked up, locking eyes with the robot suspended in the air.
"Your first mistake was offending me,"
Octavia moved again, leaping high into the air. She hung at the apex of her jump for a moment and Dash considered rushing out to save her. Luckily, Octavia managed to land on the open seat hanging next to Rarity's. She maintained eye contact, twisting her mouth into a possessed grin. The bow glinted dangerously, the string along the edge hardened to a diamonds edge.
"Your second mistake was belittling rap."
Rarity realised what was going to happen a fraction too late. The chain holding the table to the roof cracked as the string of the bow cut through it like Batman cuts through villains. The mascot tried to fight back as her horn lit up, but the effort was wasted. The table and it's contents went tumbling down into the tank, splashing it's contents onto everything in the tent. Octavia kept a calm demeanour as the ground fell out from under her. A quick push with her hooves, and the mare managed to escape her death, just barely landing outside the tank. A faint grunt of pain managed to worm it's way out of her chest as she rolled, eventually stopping on her back.
"But the final straw was attempting to delay my show for an entire day."
A wet snap disappeared as soon as it appeared when Dash snapped her mouth shut. She rushed over to Octavia, careful not to say anything that might anger her again. She extended her hoof out to help Octavia of the ground, and released the amazement raising in her chest.
"What the hay just happened? How did you do that?"
Octavia grabbed Dash's hoof, and pulled herself off her back. "I live in Canterlot. It pays to learn a little self defence."
"That wasn't self defence, that was something I'd expected to find in over indulgent Daring Do fiction."
"Well, I did train exclusively in kick-flank; and it only improves my chances by being an Earth pony."
Dash swapped glances between Octavia and the tank of acid, focusing her hardest on figuring out whether she was being sarcastic. Eventually, Octavia released her from her misery with a cheerful smile.
"I'm kidding. There is no kick-flank fighting style." Octavia clarified, before switching topics suddenly. "It would be most helpful if you moved the tank for me. I'm afraid it's a little to big for me."
Dash's situation slammed back into her. She turned around quickly to look over the acid, and leapt into the air. Scanning over the surface of the tank, Dash tried to pin point the sunken table. At a lose for words, she faced Octavia. "Oh no oh no oh no. Octavia, did you manage to get a piece of paper for you jumped off? Covered in pink writing?"
Octavia's smile didn't waver. "Did it look like this?" She asked, lifting a small scrap of white paper off the ground.
Dash rushed towards it, ripping it from her mouth harshly. "Thank Celestia." She voiced to herself.
The other mare poked her head behind Dash's and tried to figure out what the big deal was. "It's just a slip of paper, calm down. Are you really amused by things such as this?"
Dash lowered the paper as she looked up. "No, I'm not amused; but this is very important. I need this to find Pinkie. She's been foalnapped."
Octavia's expression changed instantly, taking on a serious glare. "What? Who did it? Where are they?"
Taking a step back in shock, Dash struggled to hammer out the words. "It was Nightmare Moon. She's come back. I'm not sure, but I think she may be hurting Pinkie and she was the one that built the mascots here."
"That's impossible, she'd have to own the place to do that." Octavia said, her expression softening.
"She does own the place! Everything!"
"Now you're just being crazy. I've met the owner. He's an old friend of mine, white mane, kinda slow. Knows his music though."
Dash was prepared to shout out a quick response, but her tongue stuck to the back of her throat as this revelation hit her. "What? No, no, Nightmare owns this place. She built the mascot!" Dash yelled, pointing to the acid.
"I'm asking you to stop. This park doesn't have mascots. Whatever that thing was, it didn't work for this park. And I will not tolerate you offending the owner of this establishment by calling him a foalish child's tale." Octavia purposefully bent down and lifted her bow off the place where it had fallen. "Do I make myself clear, Rainbow?"
Dash swallowed the saliva that gathered in her mouth. "Ye...yes. Sorry."
Octavia pointed at the exit with her bow. "I would leave now. There is much for me to do."
Dash glanced at everything in the room. Octavia, the exit, the simmering container of acid, the note in her mouth, and nodded silently.
A rainbow trail followed behind her as she rushed out the door, eager to continue her journey and to save her friend.
Behind her, back in the musicians tent, Octavia sighed sadly. She fiddled with her bow for a second, adjusting the string to relieve some of it's tension before it snapped. Time passed quickly as she sat there, lost in a world of her own creation, until she was satisfied and stepped forward. The tank filled her vision, blocking out everything else tethering her to the world.
She placed her hoof on the glass surface, and tapped hastily. A hail of green liquid covered her, and a brilliant white mare shot out of the tank.
It took a deep 'breath' and pulled itself over the edge, landing harshly on the ground. Another moment passed as it gathered its senses.
"Can you believe she fell for it?" Rarity's mascot asked, facing Octavia.
"I know, how stupid can you get?"
"The stuff glows GREEN for crying out loud. Amazing what ponies believe when you repeat it enough."
Octavia simply nodded, and raised her hoof. "You need some help there?"
Rarity turned her head to examine her coat, before snapping it back forwards. "I must look dreadful right now. Why am I the one who got dunked in water?"
"Because, peasant, only you would work with Octavia. The mare's insufferable." Another voice called out, shaking the foundations of the tent.
The two ponies turned to face the newcomer, and Nightmare Moon stepped down from the stage. She strode across the floor, keeping an air of silent dignity while she did. When she reached the pair though, the illusion was broken the second a powerful slap pierced the side of Octavia's face.
The refined mare hit the ground, clutching the side of her face. "What was that for?" She shouted, gritting her teeth.
"You nearly ruined everything. The plan has barely begun, and I won't let some low class fool stop it this early."
Octavia glared back at the royal alicorn. "What? What did I do? I followed everything to the letter!"
Nightmare sighed, and placed her hoof on Octavia's chin softly. "Poor delusional Octy. Can you not see it?"
Nightmare waited a moment for a response, until she realised none was coming and pushed down harshly on Octavia's neck. "Pinkie wrote about you in her note! She told Rainbow you were working for us! If the mare in question wasn't as thick as a herd of buffaloes, the whole plan would have fallen apart. It's pure, blind luck that you managed to intercept her before she got here."
Octavia grappled with the hoof at her throat, struggling to take in air. Her efforts were wasted when Nightmare simply pushed down harder, throwing her weight onto the mare. "I will not tolerate failures in my army. Give me one reason you should continue to live before my patience is up."
Octavia gasped weakly, unable to form words from the lack of air. A few more pitiful gasps, and her hooves fell to her sides effortlessly.
"She can still be useful." Rarity chirped up, attracting the alicorns attention.
Nightmare raised an eyebrow, and motioned for Rarity to continue.
"You don't have that many ponies willing to follow you. Every one you mindlessly slaughter is another job that needs to be filled by more competent ponies such as myself."
Nightmare pushed down on the musician harder, and formed her response. "We have others. One extra lost makes little difference."
"Don't let your own anger cripple you this early in the game. Let Octavia go."
Nightmare Moon faltered, glancing between the mascot and the pony trapped beneath her hooves. With a swift sigh, she moved forward, stepping off the mare. Octavia lay still for a moment, before coughing violently and gasping for air. Her pained breaths were the only sound in the tent, until Nightmare decided to interrupt.
"Any of her mistakes are on your head, Rarity. Understand this."
Rarity nodded silently, and the alicorn turned to leave. Her starry mane wavered in the air for a second before disappearing, leaving the two mares alone.
Octavia gasped for several more minutes, before forcing out her thanks. "Thank...thank you, Rarity."
"It was nothing, dear. She tends to get a little emotional at times, it helps to stay out of her way in those times."
Forcing herself to her unsteady feet, Octavia coughed again. "No need to tell me. So what do we do now?"
Rarity turned away from her companion, and sighed. "Now we rest, and hope Rainbow knows what she's doing."