What She Doesn't See

by Carnelian-Fox

Chapter 8: Tables Turn; Chips Fall

Chapter 8: Tables Turn, Chips Fall

Scootaloo trotted behind Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, eager for the adventure. She was oblivious, though, to the soft, tired somberness in Fluttershy’s eyes. Rainbow Dash wasn’t, though, because rather than focusing on what’s ahead, she mainly focused on her yellow companion. She wanted to ask Fluttershy what was on her mind, but hesitated. What if she set her off? What if she jumped to conclusions and completely missed the mark?

“Do you think we’ll get that rush? You know, of feeling accomplished, like we’ve really helped somepony?” Fluttershy asked. “It’d be nice to know we’d made a difference…”

“We’ve always made a difference. Always will. Why do you ask?” Rainbow Dash asked, wondering where Fluttershy’s train of thought was heading.

“No real reason. It’s just nice to know I’m making an impact,” Fluttershy replied, glancing back at Scootaloo.

“Hey, we’ll make our mark. Scoots and her friends said it themselves,” Rainbow Dash assured.

“Better yet, we sung it!” Scootaloo recalled, happy to be brought into the conversation. “As soon as this is over, I want to introduce Seabright to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle! We’re gonna help her find her special talent for sure.”

“She’d like that,” Fluttershy mused, imaging the pure, blissful delight that would adorn Seabright’s face when she earned her cutie mark.

Before Scootaloo could reply, her smile vanished and her eyes bulged in bewilderment. Stopping, she pointed her hoof forward, as well as about 30 degrees upward. The filly was pointing to a cluster of clouds, well-placed columns, spouts and outcroppings, uniformly an ivory white. “Is that the weather factory?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash begrudgingly said. “That’s the place. That’s where the jerks are.”

“A testament to Cloudsdale’s pride, and ironically the source of this oppression,” Fluttershy added, her remark solemn and poetic.

It was a grand structure, a marvel among pony engineering and architecture. It was also closer to residential Cloudsdale than normal. Fluttershy thought that this was so that the Cloud Crusher Crew could make optimal use of fog production and regulation to commit their heinous acts. She doubted that they would be able to complete this quest without running into some trouble. She was afraid that Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo would get hurt in the conflict, but she was also afraid of how badly the stimulation would rattle her and how heavy hearted she would feel afterward. If she didn’t have her obligations, she might have even had trouble getting out of bed this morning.

“Hey, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash spoke up, retrieving the yellow Pegasus from her trance. When those teal eyes met hers, Rainbow Dash claimed, “I’m glad your dad retired when he did.”

Giving a nod, Fluttershy thoughtfully responded, “I was thinking about that the other day… And after meeting Seabright, I know that if Dad was still working, he’d be held captive, too. Maybe they would take Mom, too…” Thinking about the possibilities made her heart sink, like the inside of her chest was suddenly transmuted into lead and weighing the rest of her down.

“Hey, thinking like that won’t get you anywhere. C’mon, Fluttershy, the point I’m trying to make is that your folks are safe. Soon, everypony will be,” Rainbow Dash pointed out encouragingly, earning a relieved smile from Fluttershy.

Both Pegasus mares spread their wings and started flapping, hovering in the air. Rainbow Dash then used her forelegs to scoop up Scootaloo and the three of them flew into the weather factory. When they first entered, all seemed normal at face value. There was all manner of vats, gauges, presses and meters used for the concoction and quantification of various weather patterns and atmospheric phenomenon. Rainbow Dash set Scootaloo down before landing herself, Fluttershy following suit.

“Ooh! Ooh! Look over here!” Scootaloo excitedly exclaimed as she darted over to two wide, translucent tubes that went from the floor to the ceiling. The floor and ceiling within the tubes were metal vents, and large steel rings secured the structures in place. “These must be responsible for the creation of warm fronts and cold fronts!”

“Warm and cold fronts, huh?” Rainbow Dash echoed as she and Fluttershy focused on the massive tube.

“Yeah! Miss Cheerilee taught us a bit about meteorology in school and it really helped me to appreciate how important the weather factory is,” Scootaloo explained as her gaze shifted from the giant tubes to a series of cylinders and pistons, each having its own air pressure gauge. “And this must be what they use to simulate air pressure fluctuation in different regions of Equestria!”

“Have you been reading Twilight’s dictionaries?” Fluttershy asked, bewildered by the complexity of the filly’s vocabulary.

“Nope! Her physics books!” Scootaloo answered as she zoomed past, stopping in front of the pressure gauges. Reading the gauges, she informed her companions, “I originally borrowed some to come up with a plan to fly, but then I got so interested that I started asking her if I could borrow books on a whole assortment of sciences. A lot of them talked about the weather factory’s infancy during Equestria’s industrial age. As Equestria’s borders expanded and the fields increased in size, more rainclouds were needed and the Pegasi couldn’t keep up with the old ways.”

“You sure know your stuff,” a deep, masculine voice commented as a gray Pegasus wearing the signature weather factory hat and white coat flew over. “My name’s Dust Storm. How can I help you ladies?”

“Um, h-hello. We were wondering if we could get a tour of the cloud making facility,” Fluttershy meekly requested, receiving the aid of an invigorated nod from Scootaloo and a smooth smile from Rainbow Dash. Dust Storm’s pleasant expression faded into a less colorful expression of dark perplexity.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” the Pegasus stallion simply replied.

“How come?” Rainbow Dash inquired, trying to decide whether she should aim for the Wonderbolts special treatment or just get fired up off the bat.

“Umm… Liability reduction,” Dust Storm replied, clearly taking a shot in the dark with his excuses. He knew he’d missed by a country mile when earned three disbelieving gazes from the two mares and filly.

“What are you talking about? They’ve conducted tours of all the facilities, including cloud production, since before my dad was a rookie here. The factory’s always been safe for visitors,” Fluttershy interjected.

“Until recently,” Rainbow Dash added, glaring suspiciously at a now obviously nervous Dust Storm. “Look, we’re here on official—”

“Shhh!” Dust Storm shushed her, glancing this way and that in paranoia. “Please, keep your voices down. I don’t want to lose my job or worse…”

“We’re here on official business on behalf of Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Fluttershy informed him, speaking at her normal decibel level, which was quiet enough that it seemed to ease Dust Storm a tad. “We know the mayor is here and we think that the gang leader is here, too. We’re here to restore the bond between the city and its ponies.”

“Oh, thank Celestia…” Dust Storm sighed in relief. “But why the filly?”

“I was called here, too!” Scootaloo exclaimed, suppressing as much of her voice and excitement as a filly on a mission with her idol and the Stare Master could. “Is there a problem?”

“N-no, I just… Gosh, I guess even the kids in Ponyville are hardcore,” Dust Storm muttered, letting exhaustion settle onto his face.

“Hey, how long have you been on the clock?” Rainbow Dash asked, taking note of his exhaustion.

“Mmm… Since yesterday,” Dust Storm replied. When he received concerned looks from Fluttershy, he tried to justify his claim with, “It’s alright. Besides, I need the money. But geez, this place…I swear it’s like night and day. Wages were cut because of increased cloud production—”

“The fog,” Scootaloo amended in realization.

Dust Storm nodded, confirming Scootaloo’s brief moment of enlightenment. He continued, “Nopony’s job got cut because the weather factory needs horsepower. The ponies who work here are either scared or desperate now. Yesterday, a productions manager said he’d had enough. He said if things went on like this, he couldn’t look his daughter in the eye ever again. He hated seeing our work used just so a violent few could line their pockets. He hated seeing everypony work longer hours for the same pay they used to have, give or take.”

“That must be Seabright’s father…” Fluttershy mumbled.

“He spoke out against the goons who back the mayor. So they took him in a raid last night. Right before his daughter’s eyes…” Dust Storm went on, choking back rebellious tears to no avail. “He loves that filly more than anything in the world. I’m ashamed to say that I’m the one who had to lock him up… I can never call myself a stallion again…” The tears flowed freely now, beyond the stallion’s control. He stood there, weeping in front of three strangers while his soul marinated in his sins until something caught him off guard. A hug. A gentle, compassionate hug from the yellow mare with the soft pink mane and the brilliant blue-green eyes.

“I don’t think he holds that against you and I don’t think you should hold that against yourself. You’re just a factory worker trying to survive in the worst situation the factory could ever face. If you feel that you must atone, though, please help us take back Cloudsdale and its future… That filly’s future…” Fluttershy consoled, her words like a warm knife cutting through butter.

“O-okay…” Dust Storm sniffled. He looked around in paranoia once more, then wiped his eyes. Then, he headed down a corridor and beckoned the three females with his head. They took their cue immediately and followed him. They followed him down past the tens of assemblers and machine operators, all of whom passed them perplexed glances. Some were purely bewildered, while others were horrified of the unknown.

“They’re so uneasy…” Rainbow Dash mumbled in amazement. “I guess nopony likes what’s going on…”

“And their outlooks are so bleak,” Fluttershy softly added, tears forming as she unwillingly recalled the various spans of time she would have an outlook on life just as hopeless and static. “So cold and heavy… Like a broken heart that feels out of place, yet has nowhere to go.”

“Whoa! You should write a book, Fluttershy!” Scootaloo exclaimed, oblivious to the pain laced in her words. Rainbow Dash would have been just as oblivious, had she not been contemplating Fluttershy’s depression diagnosis since yesterday. She kept telling herself that she had to get a book from Twilight on the mood disorder once the mission was over.

“I don’t think it would sell,” Fluttershy replied, smiling somberly.

They had seen a large sign come into view that said “Cloud Production” when Dust Storm stopped abruptly. He turned to them, wearing that dark, weary gaze once more. “This is as far as I can take you three.”

“Thank you so much,” Scootaloo thanked, going ahead of the two mares before turning back and smiling at them invitingly. They followed, amused and amazed by her sense of initiative.

The three of them entered the cloud making corridor. All would be normal if not for the group of suited Pegasi in the middle of the room. Water pipes lined the high ceiling, conveyor belts bearing the puffy white phenomena covered the factory floor and stressed, overworked Pegasi stood groggily at the assembly lines.

One of the suited stallions, one with a broad chest, a pale blue coat and a dark, slicked back mane, took noticed of Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Scootaloo, and he approached them confidently, yet concernedly. His voice was deep, but not as deep as Big McIntosh’s, and it was much raspier. “Can I help you ladies?”

“Yeah. We’re looking for the mayor and the leader of the Cloud Crusher Crew. I assume you’re the latter?” Rainbow Dash coldly informed the stallion.

“Actually, I’m the former. Mayor Squall Line, and may I ask what you want with myself and my associates?” Squall Line inquired suspiciously, his face getting in Rainbow Dash’s.

“U-umm, sir, the entire city is in distress… Please, we want the ponies to believe in their city. They w-w-want their Cloudsdale pride back…” Fluttershy stammered, startled and annoyed by the mayor’s proximity to Rainbow. “We’re here on behalf of the Princess of Friendship—”

“I know who you are—well, maybe not the filly—but the weather factory is the staple of Cloudsdale’s economy. Our gains have been bountiful. Cloudsdale’s economy has been up thanks to saving money and debt collecting. Of course, keeping naysayers in line helps,” Squall Line informed the mares, paying Scootaloo minimal regard.

Gritting her teeth, Scootaloo glared at the mayor, the contempt in her eyes increasing with every word. Fluttershy gasped and scolded, “That’s horrible! ‘Debt collecting’? ‘Saving money’? ‘Keeping them in line’? That’s what you call slashing wages, robbing ponies and kidnapping protestors?! Are you kidding me?! I’ll have you know that there is a filly yearning for her dad to come back after these goons took him!”

“Oh, you must be talking about that manager’s kid—what was his name? Oh, yeah, Monsoon! It’s a shame—he was one of my favorites. A real hard worker. And his kid has his coat, but his mother’s eyes and mane. Too bad he couldn’t hold out for the only family he had left,” Squall Line recalled in mock fondness, smiling sinisterly at the fate of the one who intended to betray him.

“Don’t pull that crap with us. Where is he?!” Rainbow Dash growled.

“Thinking about what he’s done,” an oozy sweet, illustrious voice that was decidedly female informed them. The source of it, as Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Scootaloo soon learned, was a chili red mare with amber eyes and a coco brown mane and tail. She wore a dark leather jacket with holes in the back for her wings. Her right ear was pierced with two sterling earrings and her gaze was cold, mighty and daunting. “My name’s Heat Burst, and I’m the leader you’re looking for. The world chose to reject us, but soon it will grovel at our hooves. We’re taking what we deserve. We’re giving Cloudsdale back to the ponies.”

Rainbow Dash turned to the gang leader, wings flared and cerise eyes, furious. Fluttershy scratched at the floor with a hoof, looking as though she were ready to charge. Then, everypony froze at the sound of the shout, “YOU’RE DEPRAVED JERKS!” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy glanced over their shoulders, realizing that the outburst came from Scootaloo. The orange filly was panting heavily in anger. She raged on, “You’re not giving Cloudsdale to the ponies! You’re taking it all for yourselves! I don’t know what you’ve been through and I don’t care! I’ve been through my own Tartarus and even I can tell you that there’s no reason for you to do this!”

“Heh. Looks like you three won’t back down. In that case, there’s no point in asking you to leave quietly,” Heat Burst observed. Then, she smirked deviously and added, “There’s no fun, either.”

The suited stallions, either chuckling ruthlessly or scowling mercilessly, took to surrounding the two mares and the filly. Fluttershy looked around, trying to find a sizeable gap between them, but no openings she saw were worth the risk.

“Get ready…” Rainbow Dash cautioned. Scootaloo took a position that appeared as though she was ready to pounce.

“W-we’re going to fight? All of them?” Fluttershy squeaked in panic.

“We’ve got to survive if we’re going to put an end to this. Besides, I made a promise that I intend to keep,” Rainbow Dash reminded her. “Do you trust me?”

The stallions all took a step closer. Heat Burst advised the mayor, “Squall, stay back a few feet. We wouldn’t want you getting roughed up.”

“I trust you,” Fluttershy replied to Rainbow Dash, watching the stallions close in on them. They all looked ready to pounce on them.

“Three,” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“Two,” Fluttershy whispered.

The ring of stallions lashed forward, closing in fast.

“One!” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy exclaimed and shot upwards, Fluttershy elegantly grabbing Scootaloo at the last second. The gangsters crashed into one another, tumbling on top of each other. Heat Burst let out a groan of dissatisfaction, then spread her wings and launched herself at Rainbow Dash. The red and blue mares went spinning in a blur that almost looked purple from the speed. Rainbow pushed her assailant off of her in mid-air and bucked, landing a direct hit.

“Why you…!” Heat Burst growled, wiping the blood from her nose. She snarled and went for Fluttershy and Scootaloo this time, but Rainbow Dash divebombed her.

“You lay a hoof on them and I’ll tear you apart with my bare hoofs!” Rainbow Dash snarled, but she was unprepared for the headbutt she received at the end of her threat, nor the hoof that sent her tumbling backwards.

The factory workers fled before they were sucked into a fight they weren’t prepared for. Fluttershy’s mind went white. Every cubic centimeter of her body was being pumped with adrenaline.

“We have to get out of here!” Fluttershy squealed, holding Scootaloo close. “We were so foolish. There’s at least a dozen of them and only three of us!”

“We can still fight them!” Scootaloo insisted, though she didn’t even seem to believe her own words. She looked to Rainbow Dash, who started to catch up with them.

“If we’re gonna give Cloudsdale back to the ponies, we gotta unite the ponies!” Rainbow Dash decided as she easily caught up to Fluttershy and Scootaloo.

They rounded a corner and then Fluttershy, taking a gamble, went to open a storage closet. To her surprise, it opened, and the three of them dived in before closing the door. They heard hoof steps and wing flaps thunder by for a few seconds before the sounds eventually faded.

“Now what?” Scootaloo asked. “This bites…”

“I already told you. We gotta unite the ponies of Cloudsdale,” Rainbow Dash repeated herself.

“But how?” Scootaloo asked urgently. “Like Fluttershy said, we’re just three ponies.”

“The map always selects ponies for these jobs for a reason. Scootaloo, your talent is bringing out the best in others and their talents. Fluttershy, you’re the Element of Kindness. Ponies respond to acts of kindness with the utmost support. Most creatures do,” Rainbow Dash explained.

“Why do you think the map called upon you, then?” Fluttershy inquired, curious about Rainbow Dash’s train of thought.

“Because I’m awesome!” Rainbow Dash boasted with a beaming grin. Fluttershy felt herself do a double take on the inside, while Scootaloo started nodding in enthusiastic agreement. Then, Rainbow Dash added grimly, “That’s why I’m going to cover your escape.”

“What?!” Fluttershy gasped, her pupils shrinking as her eyes widened in horror. “Rainbow, we’re in this together! You can’t be a decoy!”

“This problem is big, bigger than just the three of us. Besides, I have to see where Seabright’s dad is being held. There are probably others there, too. I tend to get noticed because of my speed and flashy moves, so I’ll get their attention while you two duck under the radar. Get to your brother, your folks, anypony, everypony…”

“But Rainbow Dash, they could seriously hurt you…! They could…they could kill you… And then…then I…” Fluttershy sniffled and began to sob softly.

“Hey, now…” Rainbow Dash pulled her into a tight hug. “It’s all going to be okay. I trust you more than I could ever tell you. Fluttershy, you…you’re the coolest pony I know. You can do this. Scoots…she needs you. And we’ll see each other soon enough.”

“I… I… I love you,” Fluttershy blubbered, wrapping her forelegs and wings around Rainbow Dash.

“I love you, too,” Rainbow Dash replied, letting her own tears fall freely. She stayed still for a long moment, taking in Fluttershy’s scent one more time before she would run face-first into danger.

“You…” Fluttershy sniffled. “You make the heaviness in my head and chest go away… You’d better be okay by the end of this.”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Rainbow Dash Pinkie-promised.

“Good luck, Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo gave her idol her best wishes.

“Thanks, squirt,” Rainbow Dash thanked as she pulled away from Fluttershy. She then gave the other mare a quick peck on the lips before zooming out the closet door. As she zipped around the halls, she began to realize that her tears still streamed freely from her eyes. With a wry smile, she chuckled to herself, "Now you've gotten me all sappy..."

“Hey! I think they went this way!” a gangster’s voice called out, and the mob of them stormed by the storage closet. There must have been seven of them in the search party. Perhaps even more.

Fluttershy and Scootaloo listened carefully, then began to make their great escape. Thanks to whatever stir Rainbow Dash had been causing, escaping the factory had been foal’s play, but the farther they got from the factory, the more Fluttershy’s heart ached. She felt like she belonged by Rainbow Dash’s side. They should have been together.

If anything happens to her, I… Fluttershy thought to herself. She wasn’t sure she would be able to handle not seeing Rainbow ever again.

“What now, Fluttershy?” Scootaloo asked, snapping Fluttershy out of her thoughts. The mare looked down at the filly to see that those lavender eyes were holding back tears with all their might. “What do we do without Rainbow Dash?”

“We…we carry on. My brother’s the odd duck of the family. He has friends high and low. We’ll make this work…” Fluttershy assured, holding the filly close with her right foreleg as she started to flap her wings. Reluctantly and disdainfully, she began to fly in the direction of the mane therapy salon.

Author's Note:

Thank you all so much for reading! I hope you're excited for the coming chapters. I think you will find Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's roles in the story during their separation to be pretty interesting, but that's all I can say without giving anything concrete away.