A drop of cool water touched her lips. A wave of hooves circled around her, which then formed a fleeting cloud that produced several more drops that finally landed into her mouth. Fluttershy coughed and then gagged herself to waking. Her eyes eventually adjusted to the dimness of the room, and she beheld the glint of a dozen of eyes beaming towards her.
She screamed and jumped towards the side before hitting the wall on her corner. Her wings, sore from whatever injury she suffered, subconsciously shielded her face as she quaked on the floor in fear.
"Please don't eat me!" she yelped.
"Eat you?" asked a lanky pegasus stallion. "Ponies don't eat meat. At least the normal ones do."
"I didn't mean to do it!"
"But we are grateful for what you did. Rumble, the lights please."
Rumble? That name was familiar. The lights flickered on, and her fears were further assuaged as the ponies revealed themselves to be the slaves she wanted to rescue. Dozen or so earth ponies and pegasi packed themselves in a storeroom full of communications equipment, and a few kept watch at the sole entryway. Many of them were still chained by hoof or wing, but all showed signs of past injuries and malnourishment.
Then there was little Rumble standing and looking at Fluttershy worriedly with a bruise around his right eye. He too looked as if he had not eaten for days.
"Rumble?" asked Fluttershy. "Thank goodness you're okay!"
"It's all thanks to you, miss," said Rumble. "But who are you? You don’t seem to be a normal slave."
"A concubine?" said the lanky dark blue pegasus stallion. "No, it doesn't feel like it, unless you're from the Rainbow Falls Rebels."
"I guess you can say that I am," replied Fluttershy. "My name is Fluttershy. Sorry that doesn't sound like a warrior's name."
The slaves quietly whispered amongst each other as smiles stretched across their faces. Fluttershy could hear words such as "we're saved," though some have said that she might be a spy. Regardless, all eyes were on her again, and caused her to shrink back further into her corner.
"Oh, what a glorious day!" cried the lanky stallion. "Our prayers have finally been answered in these dark times! Fluffy Clouds at your service, miss. Please, lead us to freedom and away from this terrible soul-crushing factory."
"What?" said Fluttershy.
"Didn't you and your friends come here to rescue us?"
"Not really. We wanted to borrow the Sky Key from the Empress, but then the big explosion happened."
"You're not going to leave us, are you?" asked Rumble almost tearfully.
"I wouldn't! But I don't know the first thing to do in this situation. Oh, Twilight will know what to do. If I write to her…"
That was when she heard the distant barks of two angry hounds. The smiles disappeared from the faces of the slaves, with some ponies shuddering and whimpering.
"The orthrus," Fluffy Clouds hissed. "It's looking for us!"
"That two-headed doggie?" Fluttershy asked.
"It's no doggie miss. It is a hellhound spawned from the depths of Tartarus with an appetite for pony flesh!"
"I don't think he likes eating ponies."
"Miss, we can't stay here! The orthrus may not be a threat, but his owner is!"
Fluttershy hoped to believe that the orthrus would not favor pony flesh, but Fluffy Clouds was right. The dual-toned barks were getting louder, and the slaves in the storeroom shook in fear, and one mare fainted in a panic. She never thought of herself as the bravest of her circle of friends. Right now, she was the slaves' only hope.
"Um, okay," said Fluttershy. "Mister Fluffy Clouds, please get a head count of all the ponies in this room. Everypony else, please start breaking anything you don't need, but as quietly as possible."
"What for?" Rumble asked.
"I'll need anything broken to do my magic."
Confusion over a pegasus using magic filled the room, but when the barks resumed, everypony immediately pulled boxes and equipment from the shelves and started smashing them. They broke radios and circuit boards and chewed through many wires. It felt a little cruel for Fluttershy to issue such a command. Enslaved ponies probably made these things, and if inanimate objects had souls, she would be unfit to wield the Element of Empathy.
Then she reminded herself that she had no time for regrets when lives were at stake. After a deep breath, her golden necklace transformed into twin butterfly stars, with one attaching to a broken piece of communication equipment and the other to wing binders of Fluffy Clouds. The slaves stared with transfixed eyes as they witnessed restoration of a radio module while Fluffy Clouds's binders fell apart. The stallion extended his wings like a breath of fresh air, and he leapt to the air in tearful joy.
The other slaves clambered all over to each other in order to receive Fluttershy's blessing. The timid yellow pegasus nearly shrank back in the corner as panic overwhelmed her. Yet a brave little colt stood between her and the mob, and his dead-eye stare made everypony to stay back. Rumble was most certainly Thunderlane's little brother, and with a reassuring wink from him, Fluttershy regained her courage to help free the rest of the slaves from their restraints.
One by one she freed them, and she did so as quickly and orderly as possible. Some slaves were shackled for so long that they could barely walk. Even some pegasi had wings so badly scarred or molted that they could not fly. While they all smiled at their newfound freedom, they were still deep inside the Factory. The howls from the orthrus reminded him of their grim reality. The smiles disappeared, and panic began to set in.
"Everypony," said Fluttershy, "please bring whatever leftover broken equipment you can and follow me."
"Where to, Miss Fluttershy?" asked Fluffy Clouds.
"I don't know, but we have to leave.".
The ponies who had any remnants of strength volunteered themselves to carry the boxes of broken equipment. The fearful had already spilled out of the room, while the cautious lagged behind. Fluttershy became caught up in the chaotic exodus, and she found herself being moved down the hallway before discovering that it was blocked by the twisted remains of the mysterious explosion at the port. The mob turned her around towards an unobstructed path barely lit by the red emergency lights. She wanted to walk, but her hooves barely touched the floor. She wanted to fly, but it was too crowded and the ceiling was too low for her.
"Walk this way," she squeaked. "If you'll please."
Then they all stopped. Fluttershy twisted herself in the midst of bodies see looming over her an imposing metal door with a cycplotic red eye for a lock glared right back at everypony.
"A dead end!" cried Fluffy Clouds. "Miss Fluttershy, what should we do?"
Hearing the oncoming howls of the orthrus made the slaves shudder and quake in their hooves, and their distraught faces made Fluttershy distressful as well. Overcome with the fearful pressure of finding an immediate exit, the timid yellow pegasus motioned to Fluffy Clouds to throw a piece of broken radio equipment on the floor while she called forth her two Butterfly Stars. One wrapped onto the debris, and the other on the keypad panel on the door. Everypony watched intently as the radio equipment miraculously reassembled itself while at the same time the keypad cracked and imploded itself into pieces.
The bolts behind the panel, and several of the slaves rolled the heavy metal door open in a state of panic. This door, however did not lead to anypony’s salvation, and knowing this beforehoof made Fluttershy’s heart sink. She felt the dread enveloping their hearts as the innards of this cavernous factory revealed its seemingly endless curtain of chains hanging high up from the ceiling. Aisles upon aisles of tables and conveyor belts stretched from wall to wall. The myriad of steam pipes hissed upon all, persuading the slaves to take their stations and their shackles. Though dark, the heat from the dozens of boiling furnaces smothered the ponies. Nopony wanted to step into here, but straight across the chamber lied their possible exit to freedom.
Fluttershy gulped as she felt the pressure of responsibility placed upon her once more. She fought against the fearful shakes in her body as she crawled forth, and the quiet shuffling of the ponies behind her pressed her to move slightly faster. She suppressed her yelp when the steam pipes hissed at her and when the glowing furnaces bubbled loudly. It felt like a long time, but before she knew it, she was halfway.
Just a little further, Fluttershy assured herself. After that it should be, as Applejack would say, smooth sailing.
The dual-toned barks sounded out and petrified her. The orthrus felt closer, and Fluttershy could hear the paws and their accompanying nails scratching the metal surfaces as it transported its wielder.
A mare at the back scream out when a large black shadow leapt in front of her before hiding again. Several more ponies panicked, with some knocking each other and others bumping into the untampered sheets of metal. Fluttershy immediately unfurled her wings in desperate hope to double-back from where they came, but that black shadow flung large pieces of metal debris towards the entrance.
It did not block their way back entirely, but it was enough to stop them and for the enemy reveal itself. Fluttershy slowly turned around to see a snarling two-headed canine beast several hands taller than her, and in each of its mouth had so much drool that it almost looked like rabid foam.
Was this the same beast she encountered? Fluttershy could not tell with her own eyes. Despite her companions cowering behind her, she felt no fear with the orthrus growling towards her. Instead, she felt pain and sadness. This was the same orthrus from before, but there were wounds all over its body, and that was likely the cause of all of its aggression.
Fluttershy had faced down many beasts before. She encountered hungry bears, and she encountered mad manticores. An orthrus was another creature she needed to calm down, and cautiously she stepped forth and stroked its cheek. Gradually, the beast slowed its breathing and closed its pair of mouths. It then lay prone on the ground to allow the yellow pegasus rub her hooves throughout its two heads.
"I didn't mean to scare you like last time," she said to it. "I'm so sorry."
"Never have I seen such courage with kindness," said Fluffy Clouds.
"Well, it's only hurt because of the wounds caused by that explosion."
"I don't think he was wounded that way," said Rumble. "Those are whip marks."
"He's here," gasped Fluffy Clouds. "Slave driver Crafty Crate!"
The slaves shuddered and moaned louder than before, and some doubled-back to attempt to clear the metal debris at the chamber entrance. A loud crack like thunder briefly illuminated the room, and a brown, helmeted pegasus stallion dove through the ceiling while hanging off a pair of bullwhips attached to each of his front hooves. Fluttershy did not jump back in time. She would if she could pull the mighty orthrus back with her, but instead the orthrus used its mighty paw to push her back.
Fluttershy barely witnessed the attack. It appeared to her as a flurry of lightning-fast arcs striking the howling orthrus repeatedly until it collapsed. On its body stood the helmeted pegasus stallion cracking one of his whips in the air one more time, and it froze all the slaves in their tracks. She sensed anger from within him; burning anger and pain.
"Stupid mutt ruined the surprise attack," said Crafty Crate. "My half-brother ain't trained it right. Guess you can't trust earth ponies for nothin’."
One of the orthrus's heads whimpered, and Crate immediately silenced it by whipping its jaw shut.
"Please," said Fluttershy. "Stop hurting him."
"What's it to you?" Crafty asked. "He's just a dumb beast barely better than mud ponies and pansy pacifists like you." He whipped the beast again in spite, and the force of it caused several drops of blood to splash onto Fluttershy's leg.
Biting her lip was the only way she could restrain herself from lunging towards Crafty Crate as she drew her stare up towards him.
"I pleaded to you to stop hurting him," spoke Fluttershy, "and you had to harm him further. Did you not hear his voice? Did you not feel his pain? Ponies like you should be destroyed!"
She blasted her full aura at Crafty Crate. No wind blew into the assembly chamber, and no pegasus beat their wings. Crafty Crate, however, was blown away, and the aura blast hurtled him to the hard floor. There he lay behind the fallen orthrus convulsing and foaming pathetically in the mouth.
Fluttershy gasped. She realized what she had done. She did not mean to do that, and it might be possible Crate would wake up brain-damaged. Behind her, the slaves gasped and left their jaws hanging open. Some were shaking, not at the prospect of being captured, but because of Fluttershy.
“I didn’t mean to,” spoke Fluttershy.
“What kind of magic was that?” asked Rumble.
“I heard rumors of it,” said Fluffy Clouds. “That the lost art of Geosense was still being practiced in secret by the Elite Earth Party members in Gaea. I could only imagine the cruel experiments done to you or your parents. Miss Fluttershy, what do you command us to do with Crafty Crate and the orthrus?”
"Um, do you think we can take them with us?”
“We fellow slaves do not have a good history with Crate and his half-brother, and the orthrus is a bit heavy to carry along. If that is your wish, we shall heed your command as directed.”
"Only if you're not tired or hurt, but I'm sure they could survive by themselves until…"
The slaves already heeded her initial suggestion, and she did not have the courage to speak up to tell them otherwise. About four stallions lifted the orthrus and placed him on a rigid sheet of steel that they used as a gurney. Two more tended to Crafty Crate, but they tied him like hog before carrying off like what her animal friends did to pony intruders back in the Everfree Forest. As for the rest, everypony looked upon her fearfully and awaited her next command.
“We have a, uh, stolen slaver ship, waiting for us at the southeastern docks,” said Fluttershy. “We could perhaps escape in that, though it might have drifted away after that big explosion.”
“We at least have to try, though,” said Rumble.
“I guess so. I don’t know my way around the Factory, but I do have an old map stored in one of my Tele-Orbs.”
The yellow pegasus mare shook her collar and dropped her Tele-Orbs for immediate sorting. She realized she had one more than the additional set assigned to her friends.
A mutual friend of ours asked us to give you this. He told me that if you find yourself in a desperate situation, call out his true name and cast this orb towards the enemy.
Spike and Twilight's hoofmade Tele-Orbs were of a dark gray variety. The one the Unicorn Hunters gave her was nearly jet black. Fluttershy had, ever since she left the Crystal Empire, thought about discarding it, hoping that she would never need his assistance. She always had a chance to so. Rather, she was too afraid to get rid of it fearing his wrath or for her personal, selfish safety. The Element of Empathy and her "stare" were powerful weapons in of themselves. This black Tele-Orb, on the other hoof, represented total annihilation.
"Miss Fluttershy?" asked Fluffy Clouds. "Are you all right?"
The timid yellow pegasus suppressed her suppressed yelp, and she immediately released the map onto the floor from its Tele-orb hold. She was not good with maps, and the thoughts of winging it frightened her and made her sweat. Thankfully, Fluffy Clouds and several other slaves were able to decipher its cryptic diagrams and its Grecian lettering. From thereon under Fluffy's lead, the slaves and their captured captors filed out of the assembly chamber, and Fluttershy trotted from the rear with the fear that they still feared her.
It really did not matter anyway, so as long as they kept on moving through the darkened halls of this monstrous factory. Aside from Crate and the orthrus, the group had yet to encounter anypony else, and this fact alone made Fluttershy's stomach twist with worry. She kept eyes on them as best she could from behind the group, and she paid closer attention to the youngest of the group, Rumble, who, as they shuffled further in the depths of the Factory, started to realize that he was being stalked by his savior.
"Rumble," said Fluttershy, "I'm not scaring you, am I?"
"You are looking at me funny for a long time," said Rumble.
"Please don't be scared of me. I have this ability, or rather a curse that whenever I see my friends hurt… Well, you saw what happened. Sometimes, I can't control myself in those situations."
"At least you're on our side. Still, you're looking at me as if you know me."
"I don't, but I know your brother."
"Thunderlane? You've seen him?"
Fluttershy nodded. "We, um, picked him up in the Frozen North, and he's with the Rainbow Falls Rebels."
"As a prisoner?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Even in darkness, Fluttershy could sense a sad smile drawing across the colt's face.
"He's alive," said Rumble. "They never told me what happened to him after he joined the Wonderbolts, but I heard them saying that he died or that he turned traitor."
"I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be. Thunderlane and I weren't born in the clouds like normal pegasi. Our parents were part of the worker caste, which is barely any better than being slaves. Years ago, Thunderlane left to join the Wonderbolts so I could have a better life. Turns out, nothing much has improved since he left, and before I knew it, I was rounded up and branded as a slave. That's how I ended up here."
"Don't worry, little Rumble. Thunderlane asked me to find you if I ever enter Pegasopolis, and now that I have found you, you two can be a family again!"
Around that time, Fluttershy felt something rumble underneath her mane. Out fell one of her Tele-Orbs, and out popped a note written by Twilight Sparkle, indicating her and Applejack's present state and current location. Shortly afterwards, Rainbow Dash's note popped out, acknowledging the initial message.
Thank goodness three of her friends were okay. Fluttershy dutifully popped one of her Tele-orbs to procure her writing instruments for her response message. She had to lag behind a little as she balanced a pencil between her teeth and the paper on the tip of her wing to scratch out her response. Eventually the train of slaves had stopped moving, and she was given a chance to scribble her note back to her friends about her well-being and her status. All she needed to do was make sure these slaves were freed and away from this awful Factory.
The note had been sent by burning it with special flint derived from Spike's scales. The line had moved again, and happily she followed the group waiting for further news from Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Sunny.
Then the line stopped again. Ahead she heard a gasps and worried murmurs. Fluttershy extended her wings and floated above everypony else as she flew towards the dim light at the end of the ascending hallway. She stopped herself midair when she made it, and she could see why nopony put another hoof forward.
She could not believe this was the same place moments or hours ago. The slaver entrance area was filled with hundreds of ponies surrounded by railings, electrified fences, Insignia readers, and barb wires. Now there was giant hole of twisted metal debris below her, and above her was the very same. Her thoughts drifted to a certain pink pony that would delight in this destruction, but she quickly dismissed the idea. No, some other mad pony was responsible for this.
Happily, the frightening sight of destruction gave way to a lone slaver ship hovering beside of what remained of the slave docks. She flew towards against her better judgment, and further relief came when out stepped a familiar creature and a familiar friend.
"Fluttershy?" Spike asked.
Immediately, the yellow pegasus embraced her reptilian friend.
"I'm so glad you're okay," smiled Fluttershy. "Have you heard from our friends?"
"Just from Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and you. I'm not sure about Pinkie Pie or Rarity."
"I need to go back and look for them. Spike, do you think you can help bring these slaves to our ship?"
"What? That's a whole crowd, and I'm not sure we can fit them all in."
"Miss Fluttershy!" cried Fluffy Clouds. "This is bad! Rumble heard some guards coming in from behind us! They're calling in for reinforcements!"
"Everypony get in now! Fluttershy, where are you going?"
"I have to go back for our friends," replied the yellow pegasus, “and to cover for your escape.”
"But the guards! Wait!"
Panicked voices drowned Spike's cries as Fluttershy flew back towards danger while carrying a sack of broken radio equipment one of the freed slaves left behind. The loud orders of captains to the guards grew louder, and so did the furious beating of their wings and the march of their hooves. She knew what she was doing was unplanned. Stupid even, and Twilight would certainly reprehend her for such reckless behavior. The worry over the freed slaves had passed, for she could hear the slave skiff engines roar and aero-oars spin behind her. The worry over her friends pumped blood to her beating wings and made her fly faster in the Factory's depths.
Fluttershy did what she could to block any possible access back to the ruined slaver docks. With the broken radio equipment, she used her element to break locks, door handles, and caused a small cave-in in one of the hallways. She could do only so much with one bag, unfortunately, and her bid to tear her sack up to damage another pathway, she caught a glance of a half-dozen armored guards galloping down the hall. Fluttershy quickly darted down another hallway to dive through the nearest door. She caused a mess inside as she tripped over buckets and mops, but it did not seem that the guards heard her. Rather, she could hear them nonchalantly passing by her hiding place.
“I hope this is not another dead end, Sam. So, who are we fighting against now? There's sure a lot of big explosions.”
"A lone white pegasus mare."
"Not her."
"It's not her. This one has a pink mane."
"Is she fine?"
"The captains said that she's easily trouncing through all our units."
"My kind of gal! I'm gonna make her mine when I defeat her."
"If you defeat her."
The roaming guards laughed as the sped their way down the hall. After a long exhale, Fluttershy waited a while to make no other guards passed by or near this dark janitor closet.
"I don't know why I came back," she said to herself. "I'm not a fighter like Applejack or Rainbow Dash, and I can't use magic like Twilight."
"That's a shame."
That wasn't her voice. An electrified chill rippled from her tail and up her spine. She shrieked and dove out of the janitor closet lickety-split, and knocked the door off its hinges in the process. Fluttershy rose up as a shadow of a pony galloped up to her with a frantic gesture.
"Wait! It's me!"
The voice sounded familiar. Fluttershy nervously turned around and caught a glimpse a pony she should know: same hairstyle and the same face, except the colors were all wrong. Plus, she had an indigo cloak draped over her body, and the way she moved sounded like she had heavy armor on her.
"Pinkie Pie?" asked Fluttershy.
"It's me!” she sang. “Don't be frightened my friendo."
"But your mane and coat…"
Shifty-eyed, Pinkie Pie looked left and right before she trotted up for a whisper into Fluttershy's ear.
"I'm in disguise," she hissed. "I don't want anypony to know that I'm sneaking around. So, what brings you back here?"
"Well, I was looking for you as well as the rest of our friends,” Fluttershy replied. “All I know is that Twilight and Applejack are hiding in the Lord General's guest quarters."
"Hey, I was thinking of going there too! I bet there's pie waiting for us. So yummy. Come with me!"
"Um, sure, but don't you think we should consult the map?"
"Don't need it. I make my own maps."
One second later, they heard an explosion at another hallway. Instead of going away from it, Pinkie Pie happily trotted towards the ensuing smoke. Not wanting to be left behind, Fluttershy quickly got back up to her hooves to follow after her, though she gagged and coughed the further she went in.
Fluttershy barely kept up with Pinkie Pie who, in her usual gait, skipped and hummed happily to their steel hallways of the Factory. However, Fluttershy began to notice something odd about her friend's choice of songs. Usually Pinkie Pie sang about parties and cake, but right now she sang about blood and bombs. It must be a joke, right? Pinkie Pie had been known to play pranks on the airship and in the Rainbow Falls mountain base, so there really shouldn't be anything to worry about.
Except that Pinkie Pie did not appear to be lost in this dreaded Factory maze. She strode along with confidence. Perhaps too much confidence.
"You seem to know your way around," Fluttershy said as innocently as she could.
"Really?" said Pinkie Pie. "If you ask me, they keep changing the layout every time I'm here. That's why I keep blowing up the walls just to get around."
"That is just like you."
"I know, right? Like my nana always says, if there’s a wall in front of you, blow it up! Oh great, another dead end. Guess I gotta do my thing."
"Wait! Maybe we could, um, go around."
Pinkie pulled back her rolled up punch and stared at Fluttershy with a tinge of annoyance.
"Why?" Pinkie asked.
"Because the explosions, well, could alert the guards, and they'll be really mad at us."
"You have a point there, and ponies do say that I'm very destructive. All right! We'll try it your way. It could be fun!"
What a relief. Pinkie Pie turned around and bounced back the way they came and then took another winding path. If Fluttershy could guess, they were going through the northern end of the Factory, and were arcing closer to Twilight and Applejack. As strange as Pinkie Pie might seem at times, Fluttershy felt her hope and confidence build up. With a smile, she quickened her pace.
Then she knocked into Pinkie's behind unexpectedly. The disguised party pony stood silent and emotionless as she stared deep down the long hall.
"Can you see them?" she whispered.
"Who?"
"Baddies. This isn't good."
Fluttershy squinted. She was not used to seeing long distances, but sure enough she confirmed Pinkie's worries. Several guards milled around at the far end of the hallway that led into an open dock-like area. One of them was a bright orange stallion with gold armor, and he seemed to be dolling out orders to the other guards.
"I guess we should go another way,” said Fluttershy.
“Oh, I really want that pie, and I really don't want to talk to those guys,” said Pinkie Pie. “I guess there’s no way around this.”
“You’re going to fight them?”
“If they want me too.”
“But somepony will get hurt.”
“If they don’t want to, they’ll move out of the way. Come on, I’ll tell them to let us pass.”
“Wait!”
Fluttershy was torn between hiding and supporting her friend who bravely trotted forward towards the pegasi guards, and so it ended up that she stood several feet behind Pinkie Pie. Maybe Pinkie had some plan cooked up under her sleeve, and if anything, it would involve fighting and explosions. Fluttershy really wanted to speak out and protest this plan, whatever it might be, but the growing fear rendered her mute. Already, they had reached the end of the hallway and what appeared to be the northeastern docks. The guards and their commanding officer finally acknowledged the mares’ presence, although only the officer maintained his composure while the others shrank away and prostrated in fear. Maybe they would come out of this without fighting after all.
“You!” yelled the commanding officer. “Do you not comprehend the trouble you've caused us?”
“Yeah, I know,” Pinkie smiled innocently, “but when my warrior sense twitches, I can’t help but set up bombs so I can weed out the best fighters from the group. But hey, I saved the Commander, right?”
“Soarin and I could have effortlessly protected her. And who’s this mare?”
“Her? Say, I didn’t ask for your name. That’s so rude of me.”
“Pinkie Pie?” Fluttershy gasped. “What are you saying?”
“I’m not Pinkie Pie.”
The pony she thought was Pinkie Pie pulled off her cloak to reveal her armor and two white wings sticking through it. Fluttershy really wished this was a prank, but when the wings flexed, she could not deny their authenticity.
“B-but why did you answer that name?” asked Fluttershy.
“’Cause I sensed that you’re a strong pony, and I wanted to egg you on so you can fight me eventually. If not, your friends are really strong, and I can’t wait to fight them.”
"Surprise," Gasped the officer. “She is no slave or citizen-warrior.”
“I knew that, Flashy. That’s why I allowed her to live. You know, for bait and such.”
The yellow pegasus's hyperventilation began. How could she had been so stupid to realize that wasn’t Pinkie Pie? Her empathy-sense failed against a chaotic pony such as Lord General Surprise. With the commanding officer outing Fluttershy, the guards roused from the submissive prostrating and aimed their killing eyes at the intruder.
"You know what would really be fun?” Surprise asked. “We give her a five-second head start, and then we mercilessly hunt her down. Are you ready, girl? Five…”
Fluttershy immediately jetted off with her wings beating furiously against the air, but even at top speed she could feel the wrath of the guards and their commanding officer catching up to her. She did not know how far she flew, but midway she braved slowing for half a second to look behind her. Sure enough, the guards flew after her, but they rapidly slowed down before their unexpected landing.
Was this another trap? Fluttershy thought about slowing down to rest, but still she needed make sure she reached safety. It started to get warmer. She must be flying back towards the Factory’s many assembly chambers.
Then it started get hot. Really hot. The air in front of her started to warp, and sweat rapidly formed all over her fur. The unbearable heat slowed her wings, and she forced herself to land due to the utter exhaustion. The assembly chamber should not have produced this much heat.
Now the heat felt like a dragon’s breath burning through a forest. It made her dizzy, and caused her to stumble around trying to find an exit. Instead, a wall of fire blasted up from the first path she tried to take. She stumbled towards another way, and another wall of fire blocked her. She tried going back, and another wall of faire blocked her. Now they started to close in and burn her alive.
It was not just the heat she felt. Fluttershy felt the presence of another pony, and her heavily armored regalia emerged from the walls of fire as her heavy breathing hissed through her dragon-like helmet. The lightning-shaped Sky Key dangled from her neck. Fluttershy was so close. She desperately tried to reach for her collar where the black Tele-Orb latched itself on, but she quickly collapsed unconscious from both the heat and the hateful emotions radiating from the mighty ruler of Pegasopolis.