Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

Dashing Plan

Sleeping in a real bed for the first time in… boy, how long had it been now? Felt really, really, good to Rainbow Dash. It wasn’t a great bed or anything, just a small feather mattress on the floor, but it was still a bed. She had gotten some medicine and some basic ointment to rub on the joints of her wings to speed up the healing process and shortly after that she went off to sleep in the underground barracks of the resistance. And of course she had gotten a bite to eat first too.

She woke up feeling well rested and full of energy, testing her wings a little bit and rotating them around in their sockets told her that they were getting much better. There was still some pain when she moved them the wrong way but she was willing to bet that they’d be all better in just a day or two. Now since she had time to kill she could go around and get to know some of the other ponies here better. They all used the same room for sleeping but most of the other ponies in the resistance were awake and gone by the time she had woken up.

There were just a few left as Rainbow Dash yawned and they didn’t look like they were getting to leave anytime soon either. The group of four was standing around a table that had some cards and a few cups of water placed on it. She trotted on over to their group to introduce herself more personally.

“Yo!” Rainbow Dash waved hello to them and grinned. “What’s up?”

The group all slowly looked to her together.

Rainbow Dash put her hoof down. “Uhhh...”

One of them—a heavyset earth pony stallion with a scar over his left eye—sighed and rubbed the side of his head. “Look, we get that you’re no friend of the Inquisitors, and supposedly you’re going to be helping us out. But you’re still just some outsider. You’re not from Hoofica. This aint your country and it’s not your friends and family on the line. Thanks for the help, but don’t expect us to get all chummy with you. We’ve all been working together from the start, going through the same struggles. You haven’t been part of that. You want a little more respect from us you’re gonna have to earn it.”

“Yeah, well...” Rainbow Dash frowned and ground her teeth back and forth before sighing. “Yeah, okay. That’s fair. I get that. But I’d still like to be given a chance too you know? So what are your names? Cause I think it’d be best if we could get along.”

The heavyset stallion looked at her for a moment before giving a small nod. “Alright, you deserve that at least. My name’s Tango.” He glanced at the others and gestured for them to introduce themselves as well.

“Starry Kiss,” a maroon unicorn mare told her.

“Lead Screw,” another earth pony stallion with a greenish-brown coat nodded.

“I’m Blitz,” the lone pegasus stallion said.

Rainbow smiled at each of them in turn. “Okay then, nice to meet all of you. So how come you guys are here while everypony else has left?”

“It’s our turn today to hold down the fort while the others check things out around the city,” Tango told her. “We’ve got a lot to prepare for—the Vice-Captain said you already know for the most part.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait to take it to those Inquisitors and rescue the ponies in the prison,” Rainbow Dash punched her hooves together. “You guys just watch me, I’ll be a way bigger help to you than you can imagine. Just wait till my wings heal.”

“Well I hope you’re telling the truth,” Tango grunted.

“I am. I boast, and I brag, but I aint lying when I say how awesome I am,” Rainbow Dash told them. “And oh yeah, been meaning to ask this too, but are you guys all former Royal Guards?”

“I was,” Tango said. “A lot of the others in the resistance are, but some came from other positions in the castle or were gathered up along the way when we fled.”

“I was a butler in Hoofica Castle,” Blitz said. “One whose job was to work for and aid the Royal Guards.”

“I worked in the castle for the King and Queen,” Lead Screw said.

“And I was a clerk at the capitol’s jailhouse. I personally knew Captain Red Wing from my work,” Starry Kiss said.

“Well thanks for being willing to fill me in a little bit, it’s one step closer to us becoming friends, heh. And if we’re all going to be working together, I wouldn’t mind telling you guys about me too. I mean—are any of us doing anything else today?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

Tango shrugged. “No, not particularly. If you wanna talk go right ahead. I suppose learning more about each other can be helpful. Don’t know about being “friends” and all that though.”

Rainbow smirked and winked at Tango. “If you’re at least willing to give me a shot then that’s good enough for me. Okay...” She looked up and tried thinking about where to start. “Let me tell you about a few other places I’ve been to recently...”

---

Head Inquisitor Vox strode down a row of cells with a smug grin on her face. She hummed to herself while swirling around a half-empty wine glass in her magic. Behind her, Dotted Easel and another Inquisitor walked with her as she inspected the cells and the prisoners inside. Each cell was crowded, holding a multitude of prisoners due to the limited space in the converted courthouse. Vox of course seemed to revel in the poor conditions.

“Who do I want to blow off some steam with?~” Vox said in her sing song voice as she looked into the cells. “And who is going to be lucky enough to join us when we return to the castle?~”

So many of the imprisoned ponies grimaced, shook in fear, and did their best to look away and not meet her eyes.

Vox giggled. “I wonder, I wonder~”

Behind her, Dotted Easel and the other Inquisitor shared a frown with each other. The Head Inquisitor had been in an especially nasty and erratic mood over the past few days ever since they had met that pegasus. It was making working around her even more stressful and frightening than normal. Dotted still had a faint ring around her neck even. But speaking up or trying to rein in the Head Inquisitor was an even surer death sentence. All they could do was go along with her for now.

Vox came to a stop in front of one of the cells and looked in at it with a smile. Inside was a group of guards from this city and other nearby ones.

“Well, well, looks like you’re it.”

---

In two days Rainbow Dash’s wings had healed completely. During that time she had gotten to know most of the resistance ponies at least briefly, as well as explore their underground base (though she wasn’t allowed everywhere). She was getting pretty kooked up though and it was about time for something to happen. Now finally both Red Wing and Brass Hoof were addressing the rest of the resistance and briefing them on the specifics of the plan to break out a bunch of prisoners at the courthouse.

“As you know, this is what we’ve been working towards here in Gentle Creek, and I think it’s about time we rescue our friends,” Red Wing said. His usual gravelly voice raised a bit louder so he could project to everypony in the underground base. “This is going to be a fast strike where we can rush the Inquisitors and take them by surprise, getting our ponies out and safely into our hideouts before the Inquisitors can muster all their forces together. However—afterwards we’re going to have to quickly leave our base here behind. They’ll be coming after us and no stone will be left unturned. This is a big moment for us.”

He took a deep breath. “If any pony wants to bow out, you have the right. You can simply leave here and blend right into the ponies of Gentle Creek. I’ll not hold it against you.” His eyes scanned out across the ponies of the resistance, but not a single one raised their hooves or made any motion to leave. A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips before vanishing and he nodded. “Alright. I’m glad to fight with all of you, I’ll leave the details of our attack plan now to the Vice-Captain.”

He stepped aside and Brass Hoof took center stage, she had been carrying a small wooden barrel on her back that she deposited on the floor in front of her.

“For those of you that don’t know, this is one of about ten barrels we’ve filled with black powder. It’s a bomb,” she said.

Rainbow Dash frowned—her experience with bombs had been poor. And she noticed a number of other ponies who seemed surprised and worried.

“Don’t be getting so scared. We’d never use these on our fellow ponies. Not even the Inquisitors,” Brass Hoof shook her head. “This will be used to blow a hole in the side of the courthouse. We already know where it’s safe to do so—no ponies will be hurt.”

“And so we’re charging through there?” An earth pony mare who Rainbow recognized as Honey Bee asked.

But Brass Hoof again shook her head. “No. The explosion is nothing more than a distraction, and the hole for them to think they’re being attacked from there. In reality our intrusion will come from everywhere. It will occur in the dead of night when it’s impossible for them to see anything without a direct light source. We’ll have pegasi come from above, going through the windows, and other small teams of unicorns and earth ponies coming from the streets and the sewers. It’ll be an all out rush.”

“That said, we’re not looking for a real fight. Don’t get caught up in anything. We’re there to rescue our fellow ponies and that’s it. This is something that needs to be done fast. Is that understood?” She finished with a sharp glare at everypony.

“Yes!” Everypony responded, aside from Rainbow Dash who was caught off guard.

“Good. It happens tonight in just a few hours, I’ll be leading the group that sets the bomb and lights it. Meanwhile, the pegasi will be circling overhead in the darkness until they see the explosion. That’s your signal to come down. When everypony else hears the explosion it’ll be your signal as well. The Inquisitors aren’t going to know what hit them,” a grimace settled on her features. “Now of course… we know the Head Inquisitor is there too. If you see her, just run. Nopony needs to try and be a hero here.”

Now that was one order that Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure about listening to. She kept that thought to herself though. If it came down to it and she could help this mission by occupying Vox… she was going to take that opportunity.

Brass Hoof’s eyes roamed over each and every other pony of the resistance, settling on Rainbow Dash for a second longer than most, before she returned to looking stalwartly ahead. “Alright. The last thing of course is that we all need to know when it’s time to retreat after the prisoners have been rescued. Our magic expert—Star Petal-” she nodded towards a sparkling tan unicorn with a velvety blue mane. “Will shoot up a firework at that time. It’ll be loud and bright, loud enough where even any ponies still inside the building will hear it even if they can’t see it. That’s the signal to retreat back as quickly and discreetly to our hideouts and tunnels under the city. So now you all know what to do so let’s do this. Our first strike back against the Queen, Dreamweaver, and the Inquisitors. Let’s make it a good one.”

The group of rebels cheered Brass Hoof’s words and this time Rainbow found herself cheering along with them. This was the kind of thing and sentiment she could really get behind. She knew any pony held captive by those Inquisitors couldn’t be doing good—it would be a great thing to rescue them. And then she was one step closer to fixing this whole country and bringing all of the villains down. Rainbow Dash licked her lips, she almost couldn’t contain her excitement, night couldn’t nearly come soon enough.

---

It was so dark out she felt almost like somepony had put a bucket over her head. She really couldn’t see anything in the sky and there were only a few lanterns and torches lit up in the city below her and the other pegasi from the resistance. Red Wing was the only one not out here himself but from what she had learned that seemed more to be a case of Brass Hoof forcing him to stay back than anything else. It was fine, in truth Rainbow Dash was a firm believer in her ability to handle every single enemy in that prison alone. Especially now that she was healthy.

“So none of the windows are barred or anything, right?” Rainbow Dash asked the others stealthily flying with her.

“Only where the actual cells are. It’s still just a converted courthouse and not a fortress or anything. We’ll be able to get inside,” Blitz told her.

“Cool,” Rainbow nodded and continued to look below for the explosion that would signal their attack.

The anticipation was building and building inside of her. She could feel it in her bones, this was a real chance to fight back against the Inquisitors. It always made her feel better when she could be proactive and do something. Now instead of running she was being the aggressive one. She was taking the fight to evil just like she should’ve been doing from the very start.

A loud explosion suddenly erupted from the ground below, the heat and blast wave from it rushing up into the sky. Rainbow Dash could see the side of the large courthouse down below illuminated by the flames as a chunk of the building was blown off. Looks like Brass Hoof had started things off without a hitch.

“Let’s go!” One of her fellow pegasi shouted and they all dove down to the courthouse, Rainbow going with them.

She dropped like a falcon with the wind whipping around her. From the ground she could hear the shouts and whistling of ponies as they responded to the explosion. The rest of the Inquisitors’ forces had likely also noticed the large explosion and were probably already on their way. Pity them. Rainbow Dash flew around to the back of the large building, the side that faced the waterfront, right up against the river. She had only been given the briefest, er, briefing, on the layout of the building and she knew there were a lot of windows back here. And it wasn’t even her job to actually go to the cells and free the ponies held prisoner there. Other groups were doing that. Rainbow Dash was meant to be a distraction and deal with any Inquisitors she came across that might cause trouble for the rescue team.

Not getting in a long drawn out fight though. She was a speedy pony, all she needed was to punch a pony in the back of the head and knock them out, cause some chaos, and then leave with the rest of the resistance.

Rainbow Dash found a window at the back of the building on its top floor and grinned before smashing through it without hesitation. Shards of glass and bits of wood scattered to the floor as Rainbow Dash hovered above it and looked around. Seemed like an old office that was being used by the Inquisitors, she could tell a group of ponies had hastily just ran out of it thanks to several things and drinks left on the desk. The door leading out was even slightly ajar.

“Alright, time for the fun stuff,” Rainbow said and flew out the door and into the hallway beyond.

To smack almost first face into another pegasus that had been coming back to the office.

“I’m telling you I heard—Ahhh!” The pegasus Inquisitor yelled in fright, there were three others further down the hall who were looking back at her and Rainbow Dash now.

Rainbow Dash acted as quick as she ever did and flew right behind the other pegasus at blinding speeds before swiftly clubbing her in the back of the head. There was only a small grunt from the pegasus as she collapsed in a heap and by then Rainbow Dash was already flying at the other three.

One of them was a unicorn and he fired a beam of forest-green magic at her that she was easily able to dodge. Rainbow closed the gap before he could do anything else and she gave him a fast punch right across his jaw to rattle his brain and knock him out cleanly. The other two Inquisitors were both earth pony mares, and in all honesty they probably didn’t even want to fight Rainbow Dash. But they didn’t have the luxury of making that choice. Both of them lunged at her from the left but Rainbow was easily able to just fly herself above them. One of them tried to jump up and grab at her but found her hoof kicked away by Rainbow’s own. She then quickly darted in front of both their surprised faces and grabbed their heads before clonking them together.

Both mares eyes’ rolled back into their heads as they collapsed along with the other two.

“Something tells me most of you Inquisitors are here against your will,” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at the poor showing of the four. It was true that hardly anypony she had met on this journey was a real match for her when she was serious—she was just too fast—but these ponies were essentially soldiers, weren’t they? Or at least a kind of enforcer. So far it was only the Head Inquisitor herself who had proven a danger to Rainbow Dash.

Speaking of her, Rainbow couldn’t just waste time messing around in this hallway. She had more work to do. At the end of the hallway was an open staircase leading down, while from elsewhere, including on the floor she was on, she could hear fighting and chaos breaking out. Shouting, whistles being blown, the sounds of ponies brawling.

Ahead of her one of the doors in the hallway was knocked off its hinges onto the floor and a resistance pegasus stallion came with it, being tackled by and held down by an Inquisitor. The pegasus was struggling to get the Inquisitor off of them so Rainbow quickly zoomed over and kicked the Inquisitor in the side of the head, sending them sliding down the hallway. She smirked and then looked down at the other pegasus before offering a hoof to help them up. They took it and pulled themselves up, wiping some sweat from their brow.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Can’t let any of the rescuers get in trouble during a rescue attempt, you know?” Rainbow Dash chuckled.

“Yeah, we should probably go down to the next floor and help the others,” the stallion nodded.

Rainbow Dash cheekily saluted. “Way ahead of you.” And she zoomed off like lightning to the stairs. The courthouse was a large building, this was only one set of stairs on one side of the building and it didn’t go entirely to the ground floor. Instead she stopped one floor below where she saw a pair of Inquisitors and guards wearing black armor walking from down the hallway towards the stairs. They paused right as they saw her—recognizing the rainbow pegasus.

She narrowed her eyes at them. “Well are you going to be smart and just run away or do you want a fight too? Cause I’m fine with either.”

They wanted a fight.

All four ran at her while Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and flew at them. The Inquisitors were a little faster, being less encumbered, and Rainbow Dash dove at them with full force. She held out her front legs and clotheslined the pair of Inquisitors as she flew by them at too fast a speed for them to react. They choked and were knocked onto their backs while Rainbow Dash landed on the floor and quickly spun about, shooting her back legs into the face of one of the armored guards. He crumpled against the wall. The very last guard took a swing at her, a clumsy and slow one, that Rainbow Dash ducked under. She moved over him like water until she was hovering just barely over his back in the space of a blink. A sharp elbow to the back of his head then dropped him too.

“This is just too easy,” she grinned and tossed her mane back. “Come on, if this is the best you can do then the resistance doesn’t even need me. Outnumbered or not.”

“So does that mean you’ve made some new friends then?!” A familiar voice shouted at Rainbow Dash from behind.

Dash frowned and turned around to see Head Inquisitor Vox at the other end of the hallway.

“Well, well, well, if this isn’t a nice surprise. Been looking for you for days, had my ears open for any word about you. But nothing. And lo and behold it turns out some other ponies were here all along. What a night this has been,” Vox started to laugh. “Rescuing the ponies I’m keeping prisoner here? So what. There are more all across the country. And you know what? We don’t need them either. This whole prison? It just exists for my own amusement whenever I’m away from the castle.” She slowly walked forward towards Rainbow Dash. “But of course… it’s not like I want to lose my source of fun. By now the rest of my forces in Gentle Creek should be arriving. With me here we won’t be letting you get away with this. And I certainly won’t be letting you get away in particular, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow’s ruby eyes glared at the Head Inquisitor and she dropped to the floor, flaring her nostrils and exhaling. “Go ahead then. Try whatever you want. I dare you.”

Vox licked her lips. “Oh I’ve decided. Dying out here, being imprisoned out here, it’s far too good for you. I’m bringing you back to the castle. You’re special, I really can see it. Dreamweaver is going to want to meet you. You might be just what he’s looking for and I’m going to have an exquisite amount of fun with you back in my dungeon.”

There was the briefest silence between them after Vox finished and then both ponies moved at once. Vox’s chain came snaking out of her suit like a striking cobra and went low for Rainbow Dash’s leg. Rainbow Dash hopped over it and extended her wings, flying directly at Vox. As soon as she saw Vox’s horn start to light up, Rainbow Dash started juking and flitting from side to side, making it difficult for Vox to aim at and concentrate on her. She could almost feel the red magic trying to grasp at her but it just wasn’t fast enough. A fraction of a frown appeared on Vox’s face as Rainbow’s blue hoof came within an inch of striking it before she disappeared in a red puff.

She reappeared under Rainbow Dash and uppercutted her in the gut. Launching Rainbow Dash in a flip to the floor.

Rainbow grunted hard in pain but recovered quickly enough, looking to see Vox’s chain now whipping out to her face. Instead of dodging it this time she did something unexpected and caught it—pulling Vox towards her. She saw Vox’s eyes widen in surprise before Rainbow Dash shoulder-checked her in the chest and knocked her to the floor. Before she could jump on her though Vox’s horn fiercely lit up.

“You little-!” She yelled and blasted Rainbow Dash with a powerful shove of red magic.

“Ngh!” Rainbow Dash was thrown through a nearby door and into what looked like a utility closet, full of shelves overflowing with supplies and a small window at the back facing to the river side of the building.

Vox jumped in right after her and slammed Rainbow’s shoulders down to the floor but was immediately punched across the face by Rainbow and tossed right off her, into one of the shelves. A bunch of old junk like cans, binders, paintbrushes, and more went falling everywhere and kicked up a cloud of dust, making Rainbow Dash squeeze her eyes shut and cough. A second later she felt a hoof smash into her ribs and she was carried into the opposite shelf. There wasn’t a lot of space in here and she couldn’t fly around, Vox wasn’t physically that strong but without Rainbow’s big advantage they were basically equal. The Head Inquisitor grasped Rainbow by the sides of her head and slammed her skull against one of the shelves.

In return, Rainbow Dash punched her in the side of the head and pushed her away with her wings before grabbing her by the horn and throwing her against the back wall. She tried to lunge at Vox then but was blindsided by Vox telekinetically pulling everything on the shelf next to Rainbow Dash on top of her. A bunch of clutter fell over her back and head and she had to raise her hooves to shield herself.

Which was all the time Vox needed to form a red ring around her neck and start to squeeze.

Rainbow felt her air supply cut off and started to wheeze and struggle around inside the closet while Vox maliciously giggled and squeezed down harder with her magic.

“There, there we go. Hurry up and pass out you miserable little worm!” Vox yelled.

She was pressing Rainbow Dash down to the floor with the magic at the same time, keeping her pinned so Rainbow couldn’t fly away or move to attack her. It was impossible to try pulling or breaking the magical circle around her neck so Rainbow had to figure out something else before she was strangled into submission. Her hooves were still free and they roamed across the floor looking for anything that would help, her left hoof smacked into a tin can and Rainbow Dash grasped it before flinging it with all the strength she could still muster at Vox. It struck her directly on the horn.

“Urk!” Vox squeaked and closed her eyes on reflex as her magic cut out.

Rainbow didn’t take any time to hesitate or think about what she was doing next, she ran at Vox and slammed into her, carrying the unicorn and herself into the window and smashing right through it. The instant Rainbow cleared the building she let go of Vox and extended her wings, stalling in the air right outside the window while Vox continued to fall. The Head Inquisitor didn’t shout or have enough time to use another spell, she just glared furiously at Rainbow Dash until she fell into the dark river with a plop and disappeared.

“Take a dip,” Rainbow Dash said… and then frowned about a second later, looking side to side. “How come there’s never anypony around when I say cool stuff like that?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes in annoyance while a whistling noise went up into the air and another bright explosion went off in the sky. A red firework blossomed above her, the booming sound from it almost deafening in the dark night while the bright light illuminated the entire courthouse and the surrounding parts of the city.

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash grinned up at it. “This night turned out pretty good.”

With a speedy flash she was gone, flying back to the resistance’s base.

Author's Note:

Star Eyes, Starry Kiss, Star Petal, maybe they're all related.

Comments

[redmar]

At least the plan was mostly a succes.

[TheCommunistDog]

Well it went pretty good i guess

In today’s chapter: Rainbow assists in a prison break and defeats Vox for a second time...