A Canterlot Rebellion

by Minds Eye

Chapter 1: Promises

Rainbow Dash focused her eyes on the moon with a feeling of surprise. Not because Princess Luna had raised the moon as usual in spite of the attack on Canterlot. She hadn't even thought of Luna until this moment. Was Luna captured too? Was the moon her sign to Equestria that she was still free? It didn't matter. Rainbow just couldn't believe that much time had already passed. The sun was up when the attack started. And she had been in this room since the "meeting" with the queen.

Teach her some respect.

The weight of a changeling on her back pinned her body to the floor. The feeling of his hot breath on her ear made her skin crawl. The pain from her wings nearly blinded her as two more changelings pulled and twisted them at obscene angles. She kept her eyes fixed on the moon outside the window. Nothing else existed in her world. She ground her teeth and braced herself for the inevitable break.

Teach her some respect.

And then the guards were gone. Rainbow groaned as she started to stand. She pulled herself to a wall for support. Daggers of pain pierced her chest with every breath. Her head throbbed. As Rainbow's vision cleared she looked around the room. Two changelings stood in the center blocking her path to the door. A third hovered in the air beside the window. The furniture had been pulled to a wall and out of the way. Why did they stop?

Teach her some respect.

They were toying with her. When they first dragged her in here all three of them attacked. She resisted, but she never had a chance. One of them always held onto her, pinning her in place, keeping her from making a real effort to fight back. She willed her legs to move, slowly making her way towards a corner. The changelings watched her progress. The only sound in the room was her shallow breathing. Finally, one of the two moved in on her.

No way out. The guard stayed by the window to block an aerial escape, and her walk to the corner told her she wouldn't have the speed to run around the others. She had to fight. Surprise them, she thought. It's your last chance. She turned as the changeling walked closer, facing the corner. She bent her knees and heard laughter from behind her. It looked like she was cowering. They thought she had given up. Good.

She planted her front hooves as the guard approached. Her back legs bent upwards and shot out quick as a whip driving into her enemy's chest. She felt resistance for an instant, and with a loud CRACK that instant was gone. She turned her head and saw the guard behind her doubled over on the floor. Applejack would have been proud. One down.

She charged the guard in the center of the room. Pain racked her body as she ran, but she ignored it. She had no choice. Rainbow turned her head at the last instant and drilled him with her shoulder. The changeling staggered back, but was able to wrap his front legs around hers. He held her in place, and then the third guard was there. His kick slammed into her body and drove the wind out of her. When she was released she sank uselessly back to the floor, gasping for air.

They left her there and went to help up their injured friend. He locked eyes with Rainbow as he rose, clutching his chest with one hoof, breathing as hard as she was. Rainbow smiled, admiring her work. That minor victory felt good after so much failure. "The Apples say 'hi' bird bait."

The changeling's blue eyes burned with anger. The other two rushed forward and dragged her to her feet. The injured one stood in front of her and lashed out with a hoof to strike her across the face. Rainbow's world spun for a moment, and then went black.

---

She came to with a start. Cold seeped through her body from the stone floor she found herself lying on. Two changelings stood outside a doorway. Behind them was a wall holding a pair of torches. The changelings slammed shut a door made of metal bars before she could stand and walked off to their left. Stone floors, metal bars, and a hallway of torches? Rainbow Dash pushed herself up and chuckled. Another day, another dungeon.

"R-Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow turned in surprise. In the corner of the cell lay a shape, hidden behind a long pink tail. A pair of bright blue eyes looked out at her. The figure stood to reveal a pale yellow coat. Fluttershy. Rainbow just couldn't believe it. Was it really her?

"Oh, Rainbow I was so worried. You were so limp when they brought you in. I thought you were...R-Rainbow? What are you doing?"

Rainbow Dash had taken a fighting crouch, back to the stone wall of the cell, her eyes burning a hole through the creature in front of her. She would make him pay for this. "I won't fall for this trick." She immediately saw a young Fluttershy lying on a cloud, taunted by bullies. She remembered the righteous anger and the need to stand up for the young filly, and pushed the memory out of her mind.

"I...I don't understand."

"It took three of you to beat me last time. I don't care how much they hurt me. I won't lose to you!" She saw Fluttershy running from tornado practice, crying in fear, and again forced herself to forget.

The changeling looked ready to cry. Just like Cadance at the wedding rehearsal. That meant nothing. It took a step forward. "Rainbow, it's me. Fluttershy. What's wrong?"

This sick joke had gone on long enough. She lunged forward, eye-to-eye with the thing in front of her. "Change back! This is pointless. Didn't your friends beat me enough for you? So just change back!"

The blue eyes went wide in surprise, and then she saw them tear up. The changeling reached forward. Rainbow Dash clenched her eyes shut. She couldn't do it. They picked the one pony she could never bring herself to hurt. She lowered her head and braced herself for the attack. The changeling wrapped its foreleg around her shoulders and pulled her in. The other front hoof grabbed the back of her head. Warmth spread through Rainbow's body as she was held against its chest.

And all was still.

She looked up at her friend. "You...you're real?"

With tears streaming from her eyes, Fluttershy answered with a heartbreaking smile.

Rainbow Dash collapsed. Fluttershy held on, guiding her down to the floor. Rainbow buried her burning eyes into Fluttershy's coat. The tears finally came. She failed Celestia when her princess couldn't protect Equestria by herself. She failed Twilight Sparkle when her friend was at the mercy of that evil witch. She held onto the tears while she endured those thoughts during her punishment from the guards. Now in Fluttershy's embrace, after trying to attack her, she couldn't hold them back anymore.

She tried to get a hold of herself. She tried to say something and become Rainbow Dash again, even just an apology, but her voice broke every time. Fluttershy cradled her head. A moment later a pair of wings wrapped around her body. Fluttershy rested her own head on top of Rainbow's mane. She bristled again at the feeling of breath on her ear, but instead of pain, there was only the sound of a whisper to go with it.

"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now..."

Rainbow slowly began to smile as the lullaby continued. How many animals had Fluttershy comforted like this? But, she supposed, that's what I looked like to her. A wounded animal. She sighed as the warmth of Fluttershy's soft feathers eased her sore body. The gentle melody weighed down her head. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and slept.

---

A loud, vicious snarl woke Fluttershy. She was lying on her side and could feel Rainbow Dash still sleeping next to her. She quickly looked around and saw nothing. Did she dream it? A low, angry growl paralyzed her with fear. Something was in the dungeon with them.

And it was right behind her.

She turned and was blasted in the face with another snarl from Rainbow Dash's mouth. A still sleeping Rainbow Dash. Another quick glance around confirmed the lack of Timberwolves, dragons, griffons, cockatrices, manticores, hydras, or basilisks. She still waited to hear a few more of Rainbow's snores before allowing herself to breathe again.

She took it as a good sign that Rainbow was snoring, curled up on her wing like it was a cloud. Oh, her wing! It was completely numb. She considered pushing Rainbow off but decided against it. If her friend needed to sleep, then her friend needed to sleep. Especially this friend. She remembered how helpless Rainbow Dash looked between the two changelings as they dragged her to the cell. How Rainbow, always so strong and confident in the air, fell like a piece of trash when she was thrown in. The pain in her eyes when she confronted Fluttershy. The shame when Fluttershy hugged her.

Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut to force the images out of her mind. She never wanted to see Rainbow Dash like that again. With Celestia as her witness, she never would. A sore wing was a small price to pay for that.

"Oh, sorry Fluttershy." Her eyes snapped open. Pins and needles filled her wing as Rainbow stood up. "Have you been awake long? You could have rolled me off."

"No, no, I'm OK." Fluttershy sat up and flapped her wing. "You needed your rest."

"Yeah, um...thank you. I...well, thanks." They traded smiles. Rainbow started stretching. "Where are the others?"

"They took Applejack away as soon as the queen sent us out. Rarity was taken away soon after. I...I don't think they liked her talking very much. And then Pinkie and I were separated when we got to the dungeons." She turned as she spoke to follow Rainbow jogging around their cell.

"What about Twilight?"

"I don't know. I think the big one kept her. You know, their leader."

"Has anything else happened?"

Fluttershy watched in disbelief. Now she was doing wing-ups? "Well, two guards came into the cell before they brought you. They didn't do anything. They just stood...and watched me."

"Huh. So have you found anything that can help us?"

"Help us? What do you mean?"

"Escape! You've been here longer. Any loose bars on the door? Secret tunnel? Some kind of puzzle contraption in the walls? Maybe-"

The sound of approaching footsteps made her silent. The two ponies took an involuntary step closer to each other. Rainbow looked at her with mild surprise. Three changelings stepped into view. One held a key in his mouth. After inserting it into the door, he raised a hoof and pointed at Fluttershy.

Time stood still. Rainbow stiffened beside her. Me?

The changeling pulled the door open. The two others stepped forwards. Rainbow shouted something and charged. The two stepped back and the door was pushed shut. Rainbow hit the hard metal and was thrown backwards by three beams of green light. She struck the back wall and sank to the ground. It all happened a thousand miles away.

Me?

Fluttershy came back to reality when she was shoved aside by one of the guards. All three were inside the cell. All three walked towards Rainbow Dash, who was struggling to stand. Trapped. They would hurt her. It was going to happen again right in front of her. Because of her.

"Stop! I-I'll go. Please, don't hurt her."

Rainbow froze with two of her legs straight and the other two bent at the knee. Fluttershy rose as one of the guards walked over to her. The other two never took their eyes off their target. He wrapped a leg around her neck and dragged her out as the other two began to back away. She looked back at Rainbow Dash, still frozen in place. "I'll be fine. We'll both be fine. It-"

The slam of the door and lock of the key snapped Rainbow out of her shock. "No! No, you won't be fine. They'll-” The guards hissed as Rainbow approached the door. They shoved Fluttershy down the hallway. She could hear Rainbow pounding against the metal bars, testing them for weakness. "Fluttershy!" The changeling tightened its grip around her throat to cut off any reply. Rainbow's cry repeated several times as she was herded out of the cell block.

---

scrape... scrape... scrape

Rainbow Dash dragged her hoof across the wall knocking off loose bits of stone and mortar. She ground the bits up on the floor as best she could and pushed them towards each other. Fluttershy had been gone too long. She guessed at least a day had passed.

scrape...scrape...scrape

She failed. Again. And what Fluttershy said, "don't hurt her," ate at her constantly. Fluttershy was protecting her. She knew that. But that made her feel worse. She was surprised by the magic attack. That wouldn't happen again.

scrape...scrape...scrape

She swore for the thousandth time that she wouldn't fail again. That she would find Fluttershy and rescue her. That she would protect her from then on. That when the changelings tried to hurt her friends again she would be ready for them.