Paper Spike and the Thousand Year Door

by Sakunyan

Chapter Ten: The Glitz Pits

Chapter Ten: The Glitz Pits

Rainbow Dash kicked back in the chair of Iron Will's office, stretching out after the competition.

"So, Dash, what is it you wanted to ask me?" Iron Will asked, sitting down at his desk.

"Well, Will, it turns out my little Ponyville friends are here because one of my other friends from back home is in trouble. Honestly, she probably gets into stuff like this more than any of us from back home. But really, they need my help so I wanted to tell you that I'm going to head back with them for a while and-"

"No, I don't think so, Dash. You can't leave the Arena." The Pegasus looked up, a bit startled.

"What do you mean?" She laughed a little. "Oh, I get it, you're just joking around. It's not like I'll be gone forever, just about a week while I help them get things sorted out!" Iron Will kept his cold, hard stare. "Come on, you can give up the act now!"

"Dash, you can't leave the Arena. You're under contract. You can't leave Glitzville at all!" Rainbow Dash laughed a bit again, but it faltered out as his expression remained.

"Heh, you can't be serious, right? I mean, you guys can't just keep me here forever. I'm Rainbow Dash! No one can restrain me!" He kept his glare on her.

"I'm serious, Dash. No leaving. You'll just have to tell your friends that you have to stay here." Rainbow Dash sighed.

"Fine, I'll go talk to them." she grumbled.

"What do you mean you can't leave this place?" Spike asked furiously. "They can't do that!"

"Well, apparently, they can and they will." Rainbow Dash pouted. "But hey… I can still give you the Element of Loyalty. Come with me and check out my pad!"

The room Rainbow Dash was staying in was located in the Glitz Pits building. Everything was gold-themed and extremely plush. Trophies and photos of Rainbow Dash were hung along the walls.

"Alright, give me a sec and I'll get the Element for you guys." She crawled underneath of her bed and pulled out a box.

"You keep the Element under your bed??" Sweetie Belle asked. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Hey, I don't tell you how to run your life!" she said in annoyance. She opened the box to reveal the Element of Loyalty. "Alright, you guys are going to return this eventually, right?" Spike nodded his head.

"Oh, don't worry, Rainbow Dash. I'll be sure it gets back to you as soon as we're done using it!" Fluttershy told her reassuringly. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, Iron Will wants you to the arena immediately!" Scootaloo was at the door, waiting outside.

"What? Again?" She groaned in annoyance. "I'll be right there…" As she left, Fluttershy watched with a concerned look.

"Poor Rainbow Dash, they can't just keep her here!" She stood poised. "We have to help her!" Scootaloo looked over at them.

"What do you mean help her? She seems fine to me." Sweetie Belle shook her head.

"Apparently, they're forcing her to stay here and not letting her leave to go back home." Scootaloo furrowed her brow. "Want to help us get her home?" Scootaloo shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm kind of getting bored of this place anyways." Sweetie Belle smiled.

"Great! You can help us get around the place, too!" Scootaloo nodded as they left the room. As they were walking down the hall, they ran into Spitfire, who wore a concerned expression.

"Spitfire? Aren't you supposed to be in the Arena?" She looked up, as if snapping out of a trance.

"H-huh? Oh, yeah, squirt. But Will decided he wanted to have RD show off for the paparazzi again so my fight was delayed." Spike tapped his chin.

"Hey wait… if some of the Wonderbolts are here, where's that other guy? Soarin?" Spitfire's eyes went wide, but she quickly changed her expression back to normal.

"Oh. Yeah, he was here for a little bit. He decided to leave this place though and hasn't been back." She looked like she was becoming nervous. Sweetie Belle noticed she had started trembling slightly. "Yeah, he said he was too cool for this place. He would rather be racing in Cloudsdale than fighting it out in here." She forced a smile. The fillies looked at her quizzically.

"Oh… well, is Iron Will out in the Arena or do you think we could talk to him?"

"The big man? I think he's just watching from the side. The paparazzi run should be over soon, though, so you don't have much to worry about." She half smiled at the group. "I'm gonna go for a little bit… I'll see you guys later, 'k?" She hurried off down the hall. The fillies watched her go, wondering what had been the problem.

"Hmm, well, let's just go see if we can talk some sense into that Minotaur guy." Spike said, leading the way back into the large Arena.

"So, you see our problem then, right big guy?" Spike nudged Iron Will with his elbow. "We can't just use the Elements of Harmony without the holder of the Elements, right? Besides, she's the Element of Loyalty! She has to be there to help her friends in need!" Iron Will scratched his chin in thought. He turned down to look at the tiny dragon.

"Yeah, I don't think so, kid. This mare's popular around here and she's making me some big bits. I can't afford to lose out on a deal as sweet as this. You have to look at this from my point of view." Spike glared.

"Well, you can't just keep her here forever! Even if you say she can't, what if she tries to leave herself?" Iron Will leaned down to give him a had stare.

"You don't want to know what happened to the last Pegasus who tried to leave this place, kid." Spike gulped and stepped backwards.

"S-sorry for wasting your time, sir." He hurried back to the other three, sighing. "Sorry, guys, I couldn't get him to listen to me." He looked back at the stage where Rainbow Dash was posing for her friends. He swore her smiles looked too forced to be coming from the real Rainbow Dash.

"We've just got to help her, though! She can't just stay here forever!" Fluttershy cried out. Scootaloo raised her hoof.

"Wait! Why don't we get Spitfire to help us? She's been here longer than Rainbow Dash, maybe she'll know some things!" The other three nodded in agreement. "I know where her room is, but I don't have access… we're going to have to be sneaky, ponies and Spike."

Scootaloo's version of 'sneaky' happened to be her, Sweetie Belle, and Spike sneaking through the vents above Spitfire's room. Finally, Scootaloo stopped them near a vent that overlooked the inside of her room. When they reached it, they heard a muffled crying noise.

"What's going on?" Spike asked, being in the back of the line.

"I think… Spitfire's crying?" Scootaloo whispered back. She and Sweetie Belle scrunched together in the tight space.

"Hey, guys, let me get in there!" Spike cried, trying to push in between them. He pushed a little too far, though, and ended them pushing them into the ventilation grate. With a pop, it fell out and landed with a thud in Spitfire's room. She abruptly looked up at them.

"Who's there? What are you doing?" The fillies and Spike, losing their balance, toppled out of the vent and crashed in a heap on Spitfire's floor. "Scootaloo? What are you doing in here! I should report you to security right now and have you-"

"Spitfire, stop! Wait! We need your help!" The mare's glare faded out. "Iron Will is trying to keep Rainbow Dash here and we need to convince him to let her go!" Spitfire stood silent for a moment before beginning to tear up again.

"I know. We have to stop him. We have to stop that monster." She sat down on a floor. "But… I can't do it alone. I just can't. Not after what happened…" She began crying again. Scootaloo ran up to comfort her.

"We can help you, Spitfire. We can help all of us. Don't worry, it's alright." She stroked the sobbing mare's mane. She sniffled and wiped her eyes.

"No, you're right. We have to stop him. Let's go now… before it's too late, we have to stop him before she does anything reckless." She stood up. "Let's go."

Without questioning what Spitfire was talking about, the three young ones followed her out back into the main hallway. Fluttershy was waiting at the ventilation grate they had entered earlier.

"She's going to help us, then?" she asked Spike in a whisper.

"Yeah… she said some other stuff too, but she's going to help us." Fluttershy nodded as Spitfire opened the door to the Arena. Luckily, the paparazzi had left and Rainbow Dash was resting on stage, Iron Will standing beside her with a towel.

"Iron Will!" He turned to see Spitfire storming onto the stage. "It's time your tyranny of Glitz Pits has come to an end! The madness stops now!" He stared at her and laughed.

"What in Equestria are you talking about, darling? Haven't got enough water today?" Rainbow Dash chuckled slightly to the side.

"You know very well what I'm referring too, Iron Will. Don't you dare think I've forgotten for a second about what you did to Soarin." His expression changed drastically. Rainbow Dash's face morphed in confusion.

"What do you mean? Didn't you say Soarin left…" She turned to Iron Will. "Wait, you mean Soarin got to leave and I don't? What's up with that?" Iron Will glared at Spitfire.

"You've said too much, mare. I don't think you realize what you've done." He stood up from his chair, fire blazing in his eyes. Angrily, he picked up the chair and hurled it at the shocked Pegasus.

"Spitfire, no!" Rainbow Dash cried out, a bit too late. She was hit full force and knocked to the ground. Scootaloo ran over to her to find her unconscious.

"How could you do that to Spitfire?" the filly asked angrily. Rainbow Dash walked in front of him.

"What did you do to Soarin??" she demanded. He turned to Rainbow Dash.

"That's information you don't need to know, Dash. I recommend now you go back to your room and pretend you never saw this." She glared and pawed at the ground.

"I don’t think so, Will." She charged at him, hitting him with her side at full force. He stumbled slightly.

"Come on, Dash, just because you're the Champion doesn't mean you think you can actually defeat me, right?" Pulling back an arm, he launched a fist at the mare's head, knocking her to the other side of the arena. She struggled to lift herself up.

"Dash!" Scootaloo cried, still next to Spitfire. She glared wildly at Iron Will. "How dare you mess with them! You can't do that!" The minotaur laughed.

"Yeah? And what are you going to do about it, pipsqueak?" She glared at him, but wondered if there truly was anything she could do. She looked over at Sweetie Belle and Spike.

"Sweetie Belle… what do we…" As she struggled to keep herself calm, Fluttershy's anger had built up to the extreme. She stomped her way up to Iron Will.

"You… hurt… my… FRIENDS!" She glared at him with her trademark stare, making him flinch. "How DARE you!" She turned around and gave him a powerful hind kick, knocking him into the wall of the arena stage. He clutched his stomach as she walked over to him. "Do you promise to be nice and let my friends go?" she asked harshly. He struggled to look up at her.

"…Fine, I promise to let them go."

"And what did you do to Soarin?"

"Soarin is… he's being kept underneath the Glitz Pits…" He pointed to an area on the other side of the stage. "There's a secret door… over there." Spike hopped up onto the stage and felt around on the floor, finally finding an area which moved. He pointed down.

"There's a tunnel down here!" Iron Will coughed as he passed out due to Fluttershy's blow.

The Glitzville police arrived quickly, taking accounts of the stories all the witnesses had shared. Iron Will was taken away by the Glitzville police while Soarin was recovered, scruffy but not starved. After he and Spitfire reunited, they turned to Fluttershy.

"Thanks for the help, kid. We really owe you one." She smiled warmly at them.

"Oh, it was nothing. I'm only glad that I could help."

"Nonsense! You saved my skin!" Soarin said, shaking her shoulder playfully. Rainbow Dash scratched her head and walked up.

"Yeah, you really saved our flanks back there, Fluttershy. That was pretty awesome." She laughed a bit. "But… now I'm gonna have to stay behind to take care of the Glitz Pits for a little bit now that Iron Will is gone. So much for getting time off to go help out!" She sighed. "I know I really should help, but I know you guys will be able to manage. Do your best to help out little Princess Rarity, alright?" The group nodded. Scootaloo turned to Sweetie Belle.

"Hey, you think I could still tag along with you guys? I wouldn't mind heading back, even if hanging out with Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts is really cool." Sweetie Belle nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course it's alright! We can always use more help!" The Crusaders smiled as they clapped hooves, Spike rolling his eyes at their ritual and heading towards the balloon back to Rogueport.