Rainbow's Quest

by Zetriax

Thieves

Chapter 17- Thieves
The light left Shadow’s and Scootaloo’s eyes as realization set in. Just when a spark of hope appeared, it was instantly snatched away. Rainbow still lie on the floor with her ears drooping. She stared blankly ahead, subdued.
“Why would Chrono want that book?” Scootaloo asked.
“Obvious. Either to stop us from finding a clue to locating the other stone, or to use it in a design of his own,” Rainbow replied, straining to keep her bitter disappointment from showing in her voice. Letting out a sigh, she rested he chin on the floor.
Shadow glanced at the two of them. “A better, more useful, question would be: where would he keep it?” he stated.
Rainbow lifted her head from the ground, ears pricked. Up until this point, she had never wondered where Chrono was staying. In fact, most of her antagonism had been directed at Dash. She knew Chrono was up to something in the background but Dash seemed to be an immediate threat. Was that just a distraction set up by Chrono? Rainbow’s mind flashed back to the day when Chrono had found Dash in the library. An eerie thought wormed its way into her mind. Had Chrono known she was there? It was becoming clear to her that Chrono was a greater threat than she had previously thought. Rainbow was also willing to bet he had staged the attacks by Dash. Well, at least the one at Scootaloo’s house. She had to keep him from summoning Ragnarok, for that was surely his goal. All signs pointed towards that. It was the way he said in the library, “Let’s just say I have a few days to pass until I have to leave,” and when Dash had attacked her the night before last when he said, “If you kill her, her spirit will return to her time and our time will resume its normal flow. If that happens, what will become of our master plan?” It was all coming together. He was in control. He held all the cards. That is, unless they could find that book.
“I think I have an idea as to where to find it,” said Scootaloo, interrupting Rainbow’s thoughts. Rainbow and Shadow looked at her, both wearing surprised expressions on their faces. She was the last one Rainbow would think to have any clue pertaining to the book’s location.
“You see,” the orange mare stated, “I’ve crossed paths with Dash every now and again. And, nine times out of ten, she’s walking with Chrono. I think he might be staying at her house.”
Shadow shook his head. “No, that wouldn’t work. Only pegasi can walk on clouds, and Dash’s place is made of clouds.”
“But,” Scoots argued, “Chrono is a unicorn. He probably knows a spell that allows him to walk on clouds. I’ve seen him do some pretty high level magic. I mean, I don’t know much about magic levels or anything like that but some of the stuff he does is really impressive, if not creepy.”
“You’ve seen him using magic? What kind of spells did he do?” Shadow queried. Rainbow wondered if he was annoyed for her not telling them sooner. She knew she was. However, she would keep her mouth closed, not wanting to discourage the young pegasus.
“Well, he does teleportation a bit. He knows how to conjure fire and stuff. But weirdest is when he manipulates time. I’ve seen him slow it and speed it up. One time I think he stopped it because he had Dash throw this spear at him but as it was flying it vanished and appeared, snapped in half at Dash’s hooves.”
Shadow’s eyes widened. “This is bad. Manipulating time is indeed a very high level spell.” As he spoke he began to pace. “I’ve only been training under Twilight for a few months. This may interfere with my plan.”
Rainbow rose from the floor and looked at him. “A plan?” she asked, wanting further explanation.
Shadow matched her gaze. “Yes. If Chrono is indeed staying with Dash, we need to have a plan to get in, right? Well, I was thinking of using an invisibility spell so we could sneak in and steal it that way, but if he’s as powerful as Scoots says, he might easily see through the spell. I’m not even that great at the spell to begin with.”
“So what do you suggest? Rainbow asked.
“What about a distraction?” Scootaloo butted in.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Shadow agreed.
Rainbow pondered out loud, “What kind of distraction would we use?”
“Maybe we could make a dummy?” Scoots suggested.
“I don’t know. That may not work. It wouldn’t be able to distract them for long,” Shadow gently rejected the idea. Scootaloo deflated a bit, nonetheless.
An idea struck Rainbows mind. “Shadow, do you know how to do good illusion spells?”
He glanced at her. “I think so. Why?”
Rainbow chuckled mischievously. “Alright. Here’s what we’ll do.”
---
It was high noon as the three ponies came to a halt in front of Dash’s house. The plan was simple. Shadow would hide and create an illusionary Rainbow Dash to lure Chrono and Dash away. Meanwhile, the real Rainbow and Scootaloo would sneak in, find the book and leave. If Chrono and Dash returned, Shadow would give a warning, giving the two pegasi a chance at escape.
Shadow took refuge in a tree with broad leaves that concealed him thoroughly, yet gave him a clear view of the road for quite a distance. Rainbow and Scootaloo hid among bushes nearer to the building. A close-to-exact replica of Rainbow shimmered into view, hovering above the ground. Now, it was time for action.
“Hey Dash!” Rainbow yowled, “You and Chrono come out here! We have something to discuss!”
They waited a moment. Nothing happened.
“Come out now! We’ll settle this once and for all! Mare to mare!”
Again nothing. Rainbow would have to try a different tactic. She glanced at the tree where Shadow was hidden. From what she knew, Dash had a crush on him. That may be used against her.
“You know what? I think Shadow likes me more than you!” Rainbow couldn’t believe what she was about to say next. “And what’s more, I think he would rather you go back in time instead of me so we can be together forever!” The illusion flickered for a moment. Rainbow cringed. She didn’t want to shatter Shadow’s focus.
There was a loud clang from the cloudy building. A black pegasus shot out of the building, stopping only to spot Rainbow. Or rather, the illusion Rainbow. “You!” Dash spat loathingly. She darted towards the phantasmal pegasus, and the illusion flapped away.
“Wait! Dash! Don’t let her provoke you like this!” Chrono shouted appearing from a doorway. Seeming to realize Dash hadn’t heard, he teleported himself away in pursuit.
“Now!” Rainbow whispered to Scootaloo.
The two pegasi flew up to the airborne house, entering without hesitation. They split up and began to search for the book. Rainbow checked all the places she would keep a valuable item like that. After searching through two rooms she came upon a room she hadn’t been in in a while: the guest room. She opened the door and gasped. Many pictures hung from the walls. Arrows pointed from one picture to another, little notes written and pinned up. It looked like a tangled web. However, at the end of the web was a picture of a dragon. Ragnarok. So she was right. That was his ultimate goal.
Rainbow shook her head and returned to the search. She noticed the helmet and watch Chrono had worn the night she was attacked by Dash lying on the bed. Here and there were strewn papers and a couple items were in the drawers. However, there was no book.
Rainbow left the room and turned to the last room in the hall: her room. She opened it and was relieved to see little had changed. It was a little unkempt but it was easy to navigate the room. She flew to the one place she could think of to hide a book in here. In the nightstand, there was a drawer with a secret compartment in the bottom. Rainbow found the compartment and gazed inside. Sure enough, the book was sitting in the bottom. She lifted the book from its hiding spot and turned to fly out.
However, in the doorway stood Dark Rainbow Dash. Her red eyes sparked with rage. She wore an expression of pure fury and hatred.
“Oh, you think you’re real funny, don’t you?” Dash spat venomously. “You would use the one thing I used to care about and use it against me? Well it’s my turn. I may not be able to kill you but you’d be surprised what you can live through!”
“Come at me then!” Rainbow challenged. She wasn’t going to let herself be beaten senseless this time.
Dash was caught off guard. “Oh, you seem to have regained your old recklessness. This ought to be interesting!” Dash flew forward hooves outstretched. Rainbow ducked under her attacker and bolted out the door, fast as lightning. She weaved her way through the hallways and was outside quickly, Dash on her tail. The cyan pegasus flew as quickly to town as possible, that would be the only place to hide. Dash was only a few yards behind her and gaining.
“You can’t run forever, Rainbow,” Dash threatened.
Rainbow turned her head, “Ha! Neither can you! You can’t keep this pace for long! I am a full ten years younger than you!” Rainbow knew that her goading had worked. She was right on Rainbow’s tail. Now it was time for Rainbow’s true escape. Picking up speed she felt energy crackle around her. The sound barrier was bending in front of her. Just a little more speed and…
BOOOOM! Blinding light mixed with the deafening sonic boom threw Dash off course. She spiraled and crashed into the ground. “Yes!” Rainbow cheered victoriously. The Sonic Rainboom had succeeded! She flew around the corner of a building and rested in the shade to catch her breath.
“Rainbow!”
Rainbow turned to see Dash standing there, wings in tatters, a strand of blood coming from her mouth. Her face was contorted in rage. Rainbow was dumbfounded. How had she found her so quickly?
“I’m sick of you and your meddling! Get out of my time!” Dash drew a knife and hurled it at Rainbow. Rainbow clenched eyes shut and tried to duck, knowing that the knife was going to hit her. She braced for the pain she was about to experience.
It took a few seconds to realize that the knife should have struck her already. She opened one of her eyes, spotting the knife in midair, mere inches from her muzzle. She stood and backed away from the weapon. Dash stood perfectly still, not blinking, not breathing.
“Go,” said a voice calmly behind her. It was Chrono. She noticed the aura around his horn. He was using his magic to stop time.
“Why would you save me?” Rainbow asked him.
“You are still my most valuable tool,” he replied plainly.
Rainbow didn’t press further. She gathered the book in her hooves and quickly flew off in the direction of the library. She noticed time began to flow normally again. She made it away unscathed this time, but Dash’s rage was building like a furious storm. Rainbow only wished she would get home before that storm finally broke.