Starcrash

by Blarghalt

Chapter Six: Take Me Home

The general glared at the alien on the other side of the glass, his eyes meeting hers. From what he could gather, the traitors had been calling the visitor 'Starcrash'. What a stupid name.

The alien had been uncooperative since she woke up, simply glaring at the one-way glass mirror in her containment cell once she came to in the chair they'd strapped her in. He'd taken every precaution to make sure she couldn't escape on her own; besides the chair, they'd also inscribed every anti-magic rune they knew of into her restraints, and had guards in her cell at all times.

The spellbook they kept as far away from her as possible. The white coats insisted that if she got a hold of her grimoire, even the restraints they had on her wouldn't be enough to keep her prisoner.

He sensed one of the scientists behind him. "Report."

"Vehicle disassembly is nearly complete, sir."

"You learned anything?"

"We know less about how the ship works now that we've taken it apart."

"Keep at it. And keep the parts segregated, just in case."

"What about the prisoner?"

"She's only said one thing since she woke up, and I get the feeling it wasn't polite. Doesn't matter. We'll learn all we need to from her book and her ship anyway. After that, she's a liability."

"Liability?"

He turned toward the scientist, staring her down. "This thing is a danger to all of Equestria. That innocent-looking package it comes in would just complicate things when I have to show my findings to the princesses. Best if it's not around at all in the end."

He turned back towards the glass. "Keep the armor, though. I'd like that stuff on my troops."

---

Rainbow Dash rocketed out of the new hole in the prison, the rest following close behind. As the Star Society escaped, Scourge turned for a second to belch another round of fire in the hole he'd blasted through the walls, cutting off the pegasus guards ready to chase after them.

Far Out, carried by Red and Truth Seeker, gave an excited "woo-hoo!". From the hole inside, they could see most of the guards starting to panic and flee the flames.

Now free from the building, they could see where it was. A grey, nondescript series of towers, floating on one of the outlying clouds of Las Pegasus. Rainbow Dash could make out a sign in front of it that read "EUP ARMORY - STAY OUT". A small shiver went down her spine; the general had himself a secret prison, in plain sight.

No time to dwell; they had to get to the base, and soon.

"Dash!" Truth Seeker called out, "Do you still remember where you got attacked by those timberwolves?"

"I think so!" she shot back. She scanned the forest below the city, pointing to where Scourage had picked them up the other day. "This way!"

She zoomed down, the others following her in a dive. Once near the ground, Truth Seeker and Red quickly dropped Far Out as they all scrambled inside the forest, eager to get out of sight.

Once under the cover off the canopy, they stopped to rest for a moment.

Scourge flopped down, hitting the ground with his rump. "Alright. I burned down a jail. What now?"

Dash pointed deeper inside the forest. "We keep going that way. Me and Starcrash must have been right on top of the base when we got attacked, we just never saw it."

Far Out voiced his concerns. "What about the timberwolves? What if they attack us?"

Scourge went 'ahem', getting Far Out's attention. He puffed a plume of fire out his nostrils.

"Oh. Yeah, that'd do it."

They started their journey into the woods, ignoring Far Out's outloud musings on how the timberwolves were even alive if they were entirely made of wood, and what even is wood, man, because really all that is is tree flesh and—

After a while a snarl came from the treeline, sending them all on edge. A few timberwolves emerged from the bushes, wooden teeth bared. Before Scourge could even threaten them with a display of fire, they caught sight of Rainbow Dash and immediately took off back into the woods, yelping in fear.

Red looked over to Dash. "What did you do to them?"

"Eh. Starcrash helped."

"Those were birch timberwolves," Truth Seeker observed. "We must be getting close."

Dash nodded, looking down the path they were on. "Look, there's the cliff where we got jumped. It must be just over there."

Once they arrived at the cliff, Dash cautiously fluttered up the face of it, peeking just over the edge. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, save a lot of the forest floor being bare of grass or any kind of plant. They had to be close now. She gave the rest a sign that the coast was clear, and the flew up to meet her on the cliff's edge, bringing Far Out with them.

"What now?" Red asked.

Truth Seeker produced her magnifying glass. "Let's see. The barren area around here means this is where they have to pour most of the herbicides. If they sprayed the whole area, there'd be no timberwolves to attack trespassers."

"So where's the base?"

"Underground, most certainly, but there has to be some kind of entrance above."

"So how do we find that?"

Truth Seeker tossed her magnifying glass up. It twirled in the air a few times before landing back down on its rim, tumbling to the dirt with its handle pointing into the woods.

"Follow the handle?" Truth Seeker suggested.

Red rolled her eyes. "I have a better idea."

With a flash, Red transformed into a birch timberwolf. "The probably don't like timberwolves this close to the base. If I pretend to be one and make a lot of noise, they'll probably come to chase me off."

She shooed them off towards one of the bigger trees. "I'll try to get a guard over here. You guys hide until I do. Also, don't laugh, my timberwolf howl is kind of rusty."

Once they'd filed behind the big oak, Red began howling. As soon as she started, she suddenly gagged, coughing a few times and awkwardly clearing her throat. Starting over, she lifted her head up and let out a long, much more convincing howl, keeping the noise up until noises could be heard from the trees.

A shape moved through the forest, getting closer to Red. Out emerged one of the general's soldiers, a weed sprayer lifted above him by his magic.

"Hey! Varmit!" he shouted. "Get lost before I clip some hedges!"

Red ignored him, continuing to howl until he was right up on her, weed sprayer's handle drawn all the way back.

"Last chance, Fido!"

The guard yelped when suddenly transformed into a large bear. He dropped his weed sprayer in surprise, scrambling away before Red picked him up by his hind legs.

The soldier dangled in her paw, mouth agape. "You're not a timberwolf!"

"I'm also not a bear. How about you tell us where the entrance to the base is?"

"I'm not telling, and you'll never find it!"

A relatively distant voice echoed out from the trees. "Hey, Shiny Medal! You chased that timberwolf off yet?!"

Red's prisoner crossed his front limbs. "That's an entirely unrelated guard."

"It sounded like it came from that direction," Red pointed out. "So what do we do with you?"

"Well," the guard replied, "perhaps we should just sit down and rationally discuss our situation while I GET AWAY!"

In a sudden twist, he wrenched his back leg free from Red's grip, fell to the ground head first, and knocked himself out. He fell on his side, his legs stiff and a large bump slowly emerging from his head.

"Great plan," Red complimented.

The rest emerged from the tree, walking up to Red as she transformed back.

"Well, that solves that problem," Dash said, "but how are we gonna get in there? There's probably a lot more guards and probably a big steel door thingie."

Scourge chuckled. "A big steel door thingie?"

"Yeah, for moving in big stuff. All secret bases have them. At least all the ones in Daring Do done...did."

"About that," Red interjected. Reaching under her wings, she brought out the ID card she'd shown at the soda shop. "Guards didn't check under here. Still have that ID I stole. "

Red held out the ID in front of her, squinting at the officer's picture on the laminated surface. "Let's see if I can remember the rest of this guy's body. Might have to eyeball it."

Keep the card out in front of her, a green flash enveloped her to reveal a young pegasus officer in a tan uniform.

She adjusted the hat on her head, and turned towards the others, waving her card. "I think the guy I stole this from was pretty high up on the ladder. If I wave this in front of them, they'll probably let me in."

"What about us?" Scourge asked.

Red began walking towards the trees, in the direction of where they'd heard the voice. "We'll figure that out on the way. Now come on."

They all followed, Truth Seeker bringing up the rear after snatching her magnifying glass back up. The guard they left behind, still splayed out on the ground.

---

From behind the trees, they watched the entrance to the base. For all its talk, the entrance to the fables Stable Zero was rather unremarkable, being little more than a squat piece of concrete sticking out of the ground, and a ramp leading down into the ground, ending in a huge set of blast doors just barely peeking over the ramp's entrance.

Red loudly whispered to the rest as they watched the base. "Right. My ID should get me in. I'll see if I can get them to open the big door, too."

"And if that don't work?" Scourge whispered back.

"Hm. We should probably try to sneak one more of us inside in case we don't get the big door open. Like a fake prisoner. Someone valuable."

"Someone believable."

"Someone that isn't a dragon."

"Someone fast enough to get around the base and find Starcrash in time."

They all turned to Dash.

She chuckled nervously. "Heh. Well, obviously I'm the best pick for a prisoner. So how should act? Struggling? Bruised from the fight trying to catch me? Pleading for my life?"

"I'm going to say you crashed and knocked yourself out."

"Why?!"

"If I say you put up some big fight, they'll know you were the one that made up the story. Now go limp, I'm gonna drag you over there."

Dash complained, but reluctantly complied and closed her eyes, falling limp on the ground. Careful to not catch the attention of the guards at their post, Red pulled Dash upon her back and trotted over to the base entrance, doing her best lockstep march as she approached the guards.

They saluted her on instinct, but their attention immediately went to her "prisoner".

"Is that who I think it is?" one of them asked.

"Yeah," Red lied, "she hit a wall after she escaped the prison."

"Ha! She would do that. I heard how much damage they caused breaking out. Did they catch the others?"

"That's classified, soldier."

"Yes sir. Also, did you happen to pass another guard on the way here? He went to go get rid of some timberwolves. Shiny Medal?"

"He was spraying around to make sure they didn't come back. Said he would be a while."

"More likely napping somewhere. Anyway sir, with the prison break I can't let anyone in without identification. One of the escapees was a changeling, after all."

Red dug out the ID, handing to the guard. He scanned the card up and down, looking for any faults or contradictions. After a moment he handed it back.

"Right. Follow me."

Red obeyed, trailing the guard as he left his post and walked down the ramp. Coming up on the blast doors, the guard stood in front of it. With no apparent speaker, buzzer, or any other way to contact the inside, Red wondered how they even let those inside know they needed it open.

The mystery was answered when the guard kicked a part of the blast door. It flipped, revealing a keypad that he then hunched over and punched in a series of numbers that Red couldn't see.

Mechanical whirring sounded from behind the doors. They slowly hissed open, just to reveal the darkness inside and let them through.

"Don't suppose you could open it a bit more?" Red requested.

The guard tilted his head. "Why do you want it open more? You can get through."

"Can I?"

"...Yes?"

"But should I?"

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Sir, I can't open the doors all the way without a reason. Watcher would kill me, you know that."

"As I do. Carry on, soldier."

After an awkward silence where the soldier stood there and didn't return to his post, he coughed.

"Sir. I have to close the doors behind you."

"Right!"

Opening the doors on the outside wasn't going to cut it. With that plan wrecked, Red took a deep breath and stepped inside the darkness of the base. As soon as she was in with Dash, the heavy doors hissed closed behind her, sealing tight.

Once her eyes adjusted, she could make out the base in detail. The room she'd just stepped in was an immense underground hangar, though she was only on the top level. A large slanted elevator, probably for large cargo, went to the bottom floor, with a small personnel elevator next to it. Huge lights strung the high walls overhead, and below she could see dozens of ponies scrambling all around the base, most of them in white coats. In the center of the ground floor, she recognized Starcrash's ship, but something was wrong. It had been almost entirely taken apart, with only the frame and a few parts inside remaining, scientists still poking at it with instruments.

Two soldiers approached her. "You caught Rainbow Dash? Why didn't you radio this in?"

"It just happened. She turned to ambush me, I think to steal my uniform."

"What about the others? I heard they burned down the prison getting out."

"We're still figuring out how exactly they escaped. In the meantime, where's the cell block?"

The guard shook his head. "You know I can't tell you that, sir. Just give the prisoner to us, and we'll take care of it."

"I insist I deliver Dash myself."

"Sir, you know protocol."

"Maybe you don't know protocol. I'm making sure Dash gets properly contained."

"You're not getting me in trouble just so you can look good in front of the general!"

The elevator to the side sprung into motion, its heavy cable suddenly pulling through the motor at the top. Red made note of it, intending to argue with the soldier until it was carrying her back on the way down. He'd probably fume until steam poured out his ears, but here cover wouldn't be blown.

What she hadn't counted on was the elevator bringing up General Stalwart Watcher himself, and the officer she'd stolen the ID from. They were in some kind of conversation and had just stepped off the elevator when general caught sight of Red, then looked back to his officer.

His expression turned grim as he scowled at his subordinate. "Bug stole your ID, didn't she?"

Red tried to salvage the situation. "General," she stated, and pointed a hoof accusingly at the officer. "I have it on good authority that pony is a changeling!"

The general shook his head. "Nice try. And Rainbow Dash? I know you can hear me. That's good. I'm making sure both of you don't escape this time."

Before Red could reply, the general leaped forward at blinding speed. She couldn't even scramble backwards before he was already upon her, his massive frame read to pin her to the ground.

Dash was quicker. Ready for the general this time, she suddenly sprung up from Red's back, throwing up a hoof right into the general's chin. The force threw him upwards, and onto his back.

He quickly recovered, scrambling up and rubbing his jaw. "You hit like a girl."

Dash was ready to throw down with Stalwart Watcher, but before she could ready herself, Red grabbed her close and began spinning with her.

"What are you—"

Red disappeared into green fire and became a perfect copy of Rainbow Dash. She threw the real Dash up into the air, calling out to her. "Hey, was was that for?!"

Dash got the message. Now there were two ponies to chase. Without a word, she flew down into the lower levels of the base, while notDash flew off in the other direction. The general hesitated for a moment choosing which to follow, then gave chase to the changeling with most of his troops, leaving only a few to deal with Dash. She easily outflew them, racing down onto the ground floor, dodging scientists and guards all the way.

But she'd never find anything while being chased. She suddenly reversed direction, and the two pegasi chasing her suddenly veered off course to avoid her. They both slammed into earth pony guards on the ground, creating a snowball of armored ponies smashing into other personnel. With a midair backflip, Dash landed and turned to the one scientist who hadn't been flattened by her stunt.

"Where's Starcrash?!"

The pony ducked behind his clipboard, meekly pointing to one of the large hallways off to the side. "Room 1947!"

She sped towards it at top speed, hoping Red was still keeping the general occupied. An alarm began to sound, and soon the whole base was pulsing with a red light.

---

While Red could copy Dash's body, she couldn't copy her speed. She was able to keep the troops behind her, but the general was constantly on her tail. Not only that, but he seemed nearly invincible as well; several times she'd just barely avoided him divebombing her only for him to spring right back up when he hit the ground.

Now he was right flying right beside her, slowly closing in. She dove and the general immediately followed, staying right on her as more of his troops closed in from above her.

She wasn't going to escape. And transforming wouldn't help.

Or would it?

She veered, intentionally crashing into Stalwart Watcher as she transformed. They fell out of the air, crashing down to the floor. The general threw Red off her, and she could see the rage under his cap as he looked back at a copy of himself.

Before he could yell, Red spoke first. "That disguise won't work, bug!"

"I should've known you weren't Dash!" the general shot back.

The troops flew down, looking between the two generals. "Which one's real?" one of them asked.

"I am!" they both declared at once and continued to accuse each other in unison. "You? That's the fakest copy I've ever seen! Your medals aren't even right!"

Red prayed Dash would find Starcrash soon, as she continued to argue with the general and stall for time.

---

Dash zoomed down the hallway, checking the numbers of each door she passed for the one the scientist gave her. She finally arrived at it, 1947, and bucked the door open. She rushed inside the sterile white room, inhabited by four armed guards and...

"Starcrash!"

She was strapped to a chair, her helmet removed and her body slumped. She stirred when he heard her name called, and looked over to Dash, blinking a few times in disbelief.

The reunion was cut short by the first guard attacked, throwing his spear forward. Dash stepped aside, grabbing it out of his hoof and using it as a bat to knock him aside, throwing him into the one-way mirror. The unicorn in the room brought up a spell to blast Dash, and she ducked as a bolt sizzled above her head. She ran further into the room, trying to get to Starcrash before another earth pony tried to grab her right as she'd reached the chair. She swept his legs, and turned to see the unicorn already throwing his spell. She ducked just in time for the spell to miss and strike one of the restraints holding Starcrash's arm down.

With a clang it snapped, and with her newly-freed arm, Starcrash began to pry away the rest of the restraints, working at them as the unicorn kept trying to zap the pegasus intruder.

Dash darted around the room, deftly avoiding bolts until the earth pony managed to grab her, holding her in place as the unicorn charged his spell.

Just as the light on his horn reached apex, a bolt struck him in the side, and the guard grabbing dash was suddenly hoisted by a blue aura and tossed towards the unicorn, landing on top of him. Dash looked over and saw Starcrash standing on her chair triumphantly, her hand surrounded by her magical aura.

They both looked over to the one guard who had stayed out of the fight in the corner. Starcrash extended a palm towards him, and he quickly spat out the sword in his mouth, backing against the wall with his hooves raised.

With the guards dealt with, Starcrash looked to Dash. Her smile was weak, but there, and her blue eyes misty. She quickly shook her head and rubbed her eyes, regaining her composure enough to give Dash a thumbs-up. She outlined a basic shape in the air, one Dash recognized.

She pointed towards the door. "I know where your ship is, but you're not gonna like it. You might need your spellbook."

Dash traced a rectangular outline. "You know? That book you had?"

Starcrash smacked her head, her eyes wide in disbelief. She looked down to her book holster, a reminder of what she'd lost. She then brought up a hand to the one-way mirror, blasting a hole through it. The glass shattered, revealing several scientists on the other side.

"So," Dash started. "Starcrash here lost a book."

A small pegasus stepped forward. "The general's gone completely nuts. Room 2001. Please get rid of that thing and get her out of here."

"Thanks!"

Dash flew out the door, pointing down the hall. "This way!"

Starcrash kept close behind, hands glowing and ready to deal with any threats. When they neared Room 2001, two guards rushed out to stop them. Dash jumped forward and deal with the first with a flying kick, sending them both skidding across the floor as Starcrash picked out the pegasi soldier. She threw two bolts; the first missed, but the second hit the guard right in his snoot and he fell to the floor, dazed.

The bolt that had missed went all the way to the ceiling, striking one of the huge lights overhead. The fixture exploded into a nova of sparks and electricity, and the sudden flash soon disappeared into a flickering, orange haze. It had caught fire, and the flames began to spread along the ceiling.

Dash looked up at the growing inferno. "Uh oh."

They both scrambled inside Room 2001. Another sterile white room like Starcrash's, the only thing inside were more terrified scientists. They backed away as Starcrash approached her spellbook, lifted it up with both hands, and opened it. The pages began to flutter, and a wind from nowhere swept through the room as she slowly began to float above the floor, her eyes glowing brilliant blue, and the book glowing even brighter. A loud hum of power reverberated throughout the room, reaching a crescendo and then slowing dying down, Starcrash floating back to the floor.

She closed the book, then looked to one of her hands, balling it into a fist. In a flash it surged with power, as much power as when Dash had first met her.

Starcrash held out a palm, and her aura slowly morphed into a holographic representation of her ship, with a questioning look at Dash.

"Wow," Dash awed. "You can do that?"

Starcrashed grinned, patting her spellbook.

"No wonder you wanted it back. Your ship's this way!"

Dash flew out the door. Starcrash began to follow her, but looked back to two of the scientists. Zebras, scared as the rest, but also looking strangely relieved. Something was off about him; a magical signature that she felt belonged to her, though she couldn't recall ever cursing him.

Just to make sure, she threw a hand towards them, drawing on the book to amplify her power.

They recoiled, yelping and trying to jump out of the way, but were too slow to avoid the dispel bolt she launched. It struck one of them and hopped to the other like chain lightning, consuming them with light and turning them back into their original forms. Once they were restored, one quickly checked himself to see what she had done to him, and looked up to her with amazement when he realized he was back to his old self.

"Oh. Thank you?"

Starcrash gave them a thumbs up, then sprinted out the door. Calling on her full magical potential again, she used it to increase her speed threefold, zooming down the hallway to catch up to Dash.

---

Red lost the argument. Once the general started throttling one of the soldiers for asking who was the real one, the others quickly realized she was the fake. They had wrestled her to the ground and the general began pushing her head into the concrete with one hoof.

"You know, I don't think I'll need to find Rainbow Dash or the alien," he began. "I think it'll be easier for them to come to us. Dash wouldn't let something happen to her friend, now would she?"

"Let her go!"

He calmly looked over to see Dash and the escaped Starcrash. Behind them, fires spreading to every available surface and personnel madly evacuating.

The general cracked his neck. "Well now, you just destroy government property wherever you go, don't you?"

Dash moved towards him, but he pushed his hoof down on Red's head harder, and Dash froze. "No. I'd hate to squish this bug of yours."

He narrowed his eyes. "Now, why do I get the feeling you did something else?"

His answer came, a white flash suddenly zipping up behind Dash and jumping over her. Starcrash floated up into the air, both her arms lifted up high as her spellbook surged with power. A white orb crackled into existence over her head, growing in size as she floated suspended in midair.

"Oh," he grumbled, regarding Dash with contempt. "You found the xeno."

She kept charging the spell, until the orb grew to the size of a boulder, her eyes firmly fixed on her target. All the soldiers around him retreated, wildly discarding their weapons and running for cover.

The general glanced up at Starcrash, and laughed. "You won't throw that thing. Now when I have your friend here."

While he was mocking Starcrash, Dash saw her chance. She charged him, hitting him in the sides with a full-speed headbutt, sending him flying across the room and into a shelf full of confiscated material. It collapsed on top of him, burying him under a mountain of folders and parts.

She quickly picked Red up, then gazed up to Starcrash, still charging her spell. "I got him. You can stop now!"

Starcrash moved her arms, but they barely budged. By the concerned look on her face, she couldn't cancel the spell. The orb kept growing in size, streams of light starting to peek out from the sphere. From Dash's experience with Twilight, that was always the sign something was about to explode.

She motioned away from them. "Throw it up!"

With great strain, Starcrash grunted and hefted the orb towards the ceiling. With a roar the spell took off, rocketing upwards and colliding with the ceiling. A huge flash of light erupted from the impact point, but the orb did not dissipate. A slightly smaller orb ricocheted from the crater, bouncing back towards the floor. It hit, creating another crater and veering off once again. Like a superball of death, it bounced around the base, gaining speed but losing size with each hit. When it was the size of a beach ball, it hit a wall and then careened towards the base's heavy blast doors at the top level. The blast doors weren't thick enough to stop it, and were blown open as the ball kept going, hitting off the ramp and into the sky. The gentle light from outside was overpowered by a blinding white light as the spell exploded high in the air above the base.

Starcrash floated down, shaking her hands off. It was then she noticed the state of her ship in the middle of the base, a bare skeleton frame, and only a few of the parts near it. She dropped to her knees in shock, hands on her head.

"They gutted her ship," Red muttered as got up from the ground. "Now what?"

"I saw her fix it with magic before, but..." Dash trailed off.

"Wasn't as bad as this?"

"Exactly. I'm not sure if she can fix it now."

Starcrash slowly rose to her feet. With a determined grimace, she cracked her knuckles, rubbed her hands, and floated her spellbook in front of her. It opened, and Starcrash's entire body became consumed with magic.

"Guess she's gonna try!"

The first few parts nearby flew off and into the frame of the ship, locking into place. As parts of the ship's hull were set back, more pieces started phasing through, going through anything in order to restore the ship to its whole. All the while, the fire continued to spread through the base, and the entire ceiling had become blanketed in black smoke. Every soldier and scientist was abandoning the base, fleeing out of the destroyed blast doors.

Dash sensed something behind her and ducked just in time for a valve to fly over her head. It was then she noticed parts weren't just coming from nearby, they were coming from every direction, and even out of the walls. Starcrash was summoning every part in the base to her ship, and setting it right inside her craft.

Against the flood of escapees, one figure came through the entrance. The fleeing personnel ignored them, too set on saving their own hides as they flew down. Truth Seeker.

"Red! Dash! We saw the door get blown off and everypony run!" Truth Seeker called out. She deftly dodged a part flying towards the ship, and noticed Starcrash in the throes of her spell. "Woah."

"Starcrash is fixing her ship!" Red cried. "We need to make sure she finishes before this whole place burns down! Where's Scourge and Far Out?!"

"I don't know! There was this big flash and then ponies were everywhere!"

The pile the general was buried under began to stir.

When she saw the mountain of junk move, she looked to Truth Seeker. "You and Red get out of here. I'll deal with the general."

"What? No!" Truth Seeker protested. "I don't care that this place is on fire! I'm seeing this through!"

Before she could argue further, Red flew up and began dragging her back to the entrance. "We're going, Truth. Dash has it from here."

As Red carried a reluctant Truth Seeker away from the burning base, Dash turned back to the pile just in time to see it erupt. The general tossed off his prison in one gigantic buck, then galloped towards Starcrash. Dash intercepted him, throwing herself in his path. He reared up, but so did Dash, and then front hooves met as they attempted to push the other over.

Dash confidently grinned at the general as they strained against each other. "You and me, Stalwart! Rematch! Let's go!"

The general howled in fury, throwing Dash away. She backflipped, and Stalwart Watcher raced towards her with his deceptively fast bulk. Landing just in time, she stepped aside as he threw a left hook at her, grabbed his leg, and pushed him into the ground. He hit the floor with a smash, but jumped right back up with a fast uppercut. Again she dodged, ducking and punching him in the chest. While it was like hitting a vault door, it was hard enough to work him up even more.

He gritted, and made a sound like an enraged bull as he kept charging Rainbow Dash as the base burned around them. While he was fast enough to make Dash work for it, with every punch and headbutt he got angrier, sloppier, and a little easier to dodge. Dodging each of the general's quick blows brought Rainbow into a zen-like state of flow, the same she always got during her best runs. The dodges came easily now, and she began to taunt the general as he continued to miss her.

"Having trouble, Stalwart?"

"Stop calling me that, you civvie!"

"I don't know what that is, but it's probably better than what you're gonna be after news of this place gets out."

"Shut up!"

Still dodging the general's assault, Dash noticed Starcrash's ship slowly coming together. Starcrash herself was still enveloped in blue light, her breathing becoming ragged and her face soaked with sweat. Parts were still flying from each corner of the base, and even ones that had been taken apart were re-assembling in mid-fight and phasing inside the ship. About half of the ship seemed done now. She had to keep the general angry and focused on her.

"So," Dash sneered, "You're pretty fast, but not as fast as me. Were you gonna be a Wonderbolt?"

He threw a punch, and she dodged right. "Did you go to the Academy? Oh! Did you wash out?"

He bucked, and she smoothly craned her neck sideways. "Did you fail the written part?"

He snarled, biting at her. She pirouetted away. "No no, let me guess. You made Spitfire mad. Seems like something you'd do."

Dash easily ducked from the flurry of jabs he tried to hit her with. "Nah, you were probably just too slow. They probably thought you were only good as a...what do they call it?"

Falsely searching for the word, she looked over again to Starcrash's progress. The final pieces were phasing into place. As the last ones came in, the stubborn piece from before floated towards the ship. As began to phase inside the ship, it stuck once more, forcing Starcrash to hold out her hands wide and throw in the last ounce of her power. With a flash, the final piece went in, and she collapsed, gasping for air.

After a final punch, she jumped up with a grin. "Oh, that's right! A desk jockey!"

Stalwart Watcher threw himself up into the air. His muscles bulged as he sprung up his entire body. "You little punk! You think this is funny?!"

"A little!"

"Let's see you dodge this, you TRAITOR! I'M GONNA MAKE YOU A RAINBOW-COLORED SMEAR ON THE FLOOR!"

The general launched himself at Dash with pure, raw speed. So fast, Dash realized she couldn't get out of the way in time. She braced for the impact, but when he was almost on her, a blue barrier shot up between the two. The general crashed into it face first, sending a thousand cracks through the shield of light. He slowly slid down and fell on his back in a ruined heap.

Dash looked over to see Starcrash still on her back, one hand glowing and pointed towards the general. With a few more labored breaths she brought herself up, walking over to Dash and the barely conscious officer. Dash tried to speak to her, but Starcrash pushed her out of the way, reaching a hand out towards the Watcher and magically lifting him up and towards her.

When his face was right in front of hers, she brought another hand up, spell charging in her hands as her spellbook floated above them. The general weakly cranked his head up at the alien ready to finish him off.

He grimly laughed through his pained coughs. "Go ahead, alien. Make me a martyr."

Starcrash ceased her spell, grabbed her book, and whapped it across Stalwart Watcher's face. His hat flew off his head, and he crashed to the ground, eyes rolling.

With a nod, she levitated her tome in front of her, and blew the dust off the front cover. With a twirl of her hands, she flipped the book in place with her magic several times, then slung it into her holster in one smooth motion.

Dash looked up at Starcrash, then to her ship. "So, it's been a wild few days, huh? Guess you gotta go now?"

Starcrash looked over to her completed ship. She pointed up.

"Yeah, yeah. What about that ceiling?" she asked, pointing towards the smoke-filled top of the base.

Starcrash brought a hand level, using her other to animate it penetrating through while she made a crashing, drilling noise along with it.

"Not a problem, got it. So this is it, huh?"

She struggled to find the words, and she suddenly found herself misty-eyed. Starcrash reached down, but she pushed her hand away. "Nah, it's just the smoke. You probably wanna get out of here."

Starcrash suddenly picked her up, bringing her into a tight hug. Dash returned it, holding her tight until Starcrash slowly let go and put her down. She was smiling at Rainbow, tears of her own in the corners of her eyes.

She choked something back, and suddenly began to look around for something. When she couldn't find it, he held one arm up high and made it glow. After a moment, her helmet zoomed out of the smoke of the burning base and returned to her hand. She brought it down on her head, sealing it in place.

With her helmet returned, she held out a fist. Dash smiled, bumping it. She couldn't mimic the motion Starcrash did with her fingers as she pulled away her hand, but did her best by waving her hoof.

Starcrash ran over to her ship, scrambling up the ladder and prying the door open. Just as she was about to climb inside, she looked over her shoulder. She arched her back, and gave Dash a firm salute. Dash returned the gesture, giving a salute worthy of any Wonderbolt.

The alien shut the door behind her. After a moment the ship sprang to life, and a low whine began to emanate from the bottom of the craft. It grew in pitch, and the runes lining the ship's surface began to flash in a wide array of colors.

But strangest of all was the music. A loud song began to play from the inside of the ship, in alien words that sounded like Starcrash's. She could hear guitars and pianos, along with someone singing as the ship began shaking. Just as the song seemed to reach its chorus, the ship launched.

It took off at a speed even faster than it had crashed. It blasted through the ceiling and rock above like it wasn't even there, puncturing a hole in the top of the base. The light from the outside was soon smothered by the escaping smoke.

Dash pointed up towards the sky, smirking. "See you, you crazy space wizard."

She suddenly remembered the circumstances around her, and the unconscious general laying on the floor. With a sigh, she flew up and hovered above the general, lifting him up by one hoof, straining under his heavy weight as she carried them both up towards the newly-created skylight.

Hacking through the smoke, she still managed to get them both through the hole. Once free of the column billowing out, she threw the general on the ground and in turn let herself collapse, exhausted. Up in the sky, she could see Starcrash's ship shooting up into the heavens, a brilliant white light disappearing into the blue sky.

Something stepped over her, blocking out the sun.

"Shoo," Dash mumbled. "I just saved an alien and maybe the world. Or something. There was definitely a bad guy."

As her eyes adjusted, she saw a white pony with a brown mane standing over her, and the worried face of Truth Seeker.

She squinted. "Truth Seeker? Red? Why are you Truth Seeker's mom?"

"Because I am Truth Seeker's mother."

"Oh."

Realization kicked in a second later.

"Oohhhhh."

Dash nervously smiled.

"I can explain."

Author's Note:

The Star Society

Comments

[tsaukpaetra]

Heh, yeah, even any excuse you can think of won't match the crazy adventure your vacation was supposed to be avoiding! 😆

[djthomp]

Now free from the building, they could see where it was. A grey, nondescript series of towers, floating on one of the outlying clouds of Las Pegasus. Rainbow Dash could make out a sign in front of it that read "EUP ARMORY - STAY OUT". A small shiver went down her spine; the general had himself a secret prison, in plain sight.

That's kind of a problem.

After a while a snarl came from the treeline, sending them all on edge. A few timberwolves emerged from the bushes, wooden teeth bared. Before Scourge could even threaten them with a display of fire, they caught sight of Rainbow Dash and immediately took off back into the woods, yelping in fear.

Her reputation precedes her.

Having a changeling available for a secret infiltration missions works pretty well.

"Ha! She would do that. I heard how much damage they caused breaking out. Did they catch the others?"

Her reputation proceeds her here, too.

The changeling continues to be pretty useful with those copying tricks.

It's interesting how much Dash cheats on combat ability more or less just on account of being fast.

A small pegasus stepped forward. "The general's gone completely nuts. Room 2001. Please get rid of that thing and get her out of here."

Hey, cooperation.

They recoiled, yelping and trying to jump out of the way, but were too slow to avoid the dispel bolt she launched. It struck one of them and hopped to the other like chain lightning, consuming them with light and turning him back into his original form. Once they were restored, one quickly checked himself to see what she had done to him, and looked up to her with amazement when he realized he was back to his old self.

A little benevolence can't hurt.

That spell worked out pretty well.

A climactic battle in the burning base doesn't seem like a great idea, but it also seems like a Rainbow Dash idea.

She ceased the spell, grabbed the book, and whapped it across the general's face. His hat flew off his head, and he crashed to the ground, eyes rolling.

Good plan.

[Fiddlebottoms]

The general cracked his neck. "Well now, you just destroy government property wherever you go, don't you?"

Rude and unfair. Dash also destroys non-government property wherever she goes.

"Let's see you dodge this, you TRAITOR! I'M GONNA MAKE YOU A RAINBOW-COLORED SMEAR ON THE FLOOR!"

Why so much rude?
10354318
I was at first thinking like an antenna. Or just have more magic focusing objects built into the hull since she can use the book at range.

[Blarghalt]

10354597
yeah, either/or honestly. General is expecting to find some kind of cannon, when he should be looking for an amplifier.