Impetus (Dream Sequence)2,274 words
Flight631 words

Chapter Eight, part one: Motion

“Attention. Attention. This is Lofty Heights, your mayor. This is an emergency broadcast to all of Cloudsdale. A deadly viral outbreak has been detected throughout Equestria. We have reason to believe that several pegasi within the city may have been infected. Infected ponies will walk or fly erratically and have glowing red eyes. Do not attempt to make any contact with infected individuals. Everypony is hereby ordered to calmly evacuate their residences, proceed to the Cloudsdale Coliseum and await further instructions. The city guard as well as the Wonderbolts will be overseeing the evacuation: follow their orders and do not question their authority. Remain calm and we will get through this together. May Celestia and Luna protect us all. This message will repeat. Attention. Attention...”

“Ugh. That's gonna get old real fast,” Rainbow Dash said aloud, making her way through the crowded lobby. Everypony in the posh hotel – as well as the city beyond – had been awoken by the impossibly loud sirens and klaxons that had sounded prior to the repeating broadcast. The mayor's magically amplified voice boomed throughout the city, reverberating against marble floors and window panes, causing the latter to shake and rattle with each accentuated syllable. The growing group of pegasi, some still in the process of waking up, moved in the general direction of the doors at the end of the lobby. Many were trotting on the ground, hooves clip-clopping against the white marble; others had taken to the air, wings beating rhythmically and keeping them aloft.

Moments prior to making her way down toward the lobby, there had been a knock on Rainbow Dash's door. She was in the process of getting ready, sucking down three cups of coffee that had been hastily brewed after the Princess' departure. The cyan pegasus mare flew over to the door and opened it, reeling instinctively upon seeing a Wonderbolt in uniform.

“Spitfire! Did the Princess-”

“Yeah, she brought us all up to speed. We need to move quickly, but I just wanted let you know that I've got a little surprise for you.”

“A surprise? What kind of surprise?” Dash asked gleefully, trying her best not to squeal. Spitfire's face remained neutral – the responsibilities, coupled with the new information that Princess Luna had given her, weighed heavily on her mind.

“Just wait at the end of the lobby for us, next to the front doors. You should go – we'll all be down in a minute.”

“Y-you got it, Spitfire. See you soon!” The Wonderbolt merely nodded, turning to leave. She took to the air, expertly maneuvering the somewhat narrow hallway before disappearing behind a corner at the far end. Rainbow Dash quickly finished the last of her coffee, then stopped – Will I need any of my stuff? she thought to herself. She regarded the luggage that she had placed on the far side of her bed previously, but shook her head. Nah, if I put my saddlebags on, they'll probably just slow me down. I gotta be fast out there, in case any of those 'infected' ponies show up! She paused again, gulping. What if they do show up? Shaking her head as if to clear out any lingering doubt, her eyebrows lowered in determination as a cheeky grin began to grow on her face. So what if they show up? Cloudsdale needs me! They'll be a sorry bunch of ponies if they've got the balls to try and take on me and the Wonderbolts!

That particular grin more or less remained on her face the entire time she was walking through the lobby. Reaching the end of the cavernous room, she turned on the spot and extended her wings, rising up in the air to get a better look at the crowd. As she scanned the living mass of winged ponies, Rainbow Dash noticed just how scared everypony looked. There was a lack of resignation on their faces; rather, now that Dash was actually paying attention, she noted the varying degrees of trepidation and unease irreparably plastered to their collective visages. The cocky grin melted from her face, a worried frown rushing in to replace it. These ponies need me right now, she reminded herself. Yeah, it’s gonna be awesome working with the Wonderbolts and all, but I need to get serious. I can’t let them down.

A familiar pegasus sporting a yellow and orange mane rose up into the air at the far side of the room. She was dressed in a blue jumpsuit, goggles dangling from her neck; accompanied by five other identically dressed pegasi, the Wonderbolts made their way across the lobby in a flash. Several onlookers in the slowly moving crowd gasped in recognition as a hushed murmur spread throughout the room. A few pointed in their direction. Rainbow Dash suppressed the urge to grin, remembering just how serious Spitfire had looked just minutes ago.

“Rainbow Dash - good to see you again,” Spitfire remarked with a lack of any discernible feeling in her voice. The cyan pegasus let her eyes glance over the six uniformed pegasi hovering in the air before her. A few wore looks of dull shock, while others betrayed no emotion. She did see, however, a look of reserved determination on a certain light blue pegasus’ face. Additionally, she noted that Soarin was wearing a small saddlebag, affixed to his flank with a thin strip of fabric.

“Yeah, good to see you. Even though we hung out just a few hours ago, I forgot to thank you for saving my pie at the gala,” Soarin said cheerfully enough, his tone of voice a stark contrast to his body language. The light blue pegasus stallion’s muscles twitched underneath his fur-tight jumpsuit; it looked as though he was spring-loaded, ready for action at any moment’s notice.

“No prob, Soarin. Anything to help a Wonderbolt.” Spitfire cleared her throat, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. A barely visible look of annoyance crept into her face before she banished the notion.

“A-hem. Soarin, I think we’ve got bigger problems tonight, right?”

“Right. Sorry, Spitfire.”

“Don’t sweat it. Just keep your head in the game, ok? The Princess is counting on us - all of us - to make sure these ponies get to the Coliseum safe and sound. Soarin, would you mind giving Ms. Rainbow Dash that little gift we talked about?”

“Oh, sure.” Soarin turned and bent his neck, opening the saddlebag he wore with his teeth. Rooting around for just a moment, he produced a neatly folded item of clothing. Rainbow Dash recognized it all too well, and felt her heartbeat double.

“Rainbow Dash, I hereby present to you an official Wonderbolts jumpsuit, to be worn on a trial basis. We need to be the authority in the sky tonight, and the sooner ponies recognize that authority, the better.”

The fabric, folded into a neatly pressed rectangle, was none other than a genuine Wonderbolts outfit. Jagged yellow bolts of lightning adorned the area just above the fetlocks, with a large zig-zag of a lightning bolt running from the midsection up to the neck. With shaking hooves, Rainbow Dash gingerly accepted the gift, a look of reverence on her face. As the cloth became unfolded, her eyes were drawn to the seamlessly stitched symbols situated on each flank; a vibrant lightning bolt, with light blue pegasus wings stretching outward on either side. Dash could hardly believe that she was holding the costume in her hooves.

“I-I...a uniform...” The cyan pegasus fluttered back to the ground, lightheaded. Spitfire and the rest of her team followed suit, allowing Rainbow Dash to hyperventilate for a few seconds before continuing.

“I know that this means a lot to you, Rainbow, but I need you to focus. Put it on, and we’ll get started.”

“T-thank you! Oh my gosh, thank you, Spitfire! I promise, I won’t let you guys down!” A wide, manic grin spread across her face as she delicately accepted the uniform, slipping into the tight jumpsuit with relative ease. As the impossibly light fabric conformed perfectly to every contour of her body, Rainbow Dash felt enlivened. Though she knew in the back of her mind that she was not truly a member of the Wonderbolts just yet, the feeling of the uniform alone was like a crescendo on its own, a veritable orchestral swell of emotion as anticipation was alleviated. In the back of her mind, she knew that she was only being given the outfit because it was a necessity that the situation warranted; a less dedicated pony would have allowed herself to become slightly downtrodden with this glaring fact looming, but not Rainbow Dash. Regardless of the specific ‘whys’ and ‘hows,’ all that mattered to her was that she was finally wearing the uniform that she had dreamed of wearing for years. She stretched her wings and legs, breathing deeply.

“The fabric of a Wonderbolt’s uniform is hoof-woven, made from the highest quality materials,” Spitfire spoke. “Additionally, the fabric is filled with thousands of tiny perforations, cutting down on drag, which allows for the highest order of aerodynamic efficiency. It can handle high-altitude flights and repels moisture...and it can handle velocity far beyond what is needed to produce a Sonic Rainboom, in case you were wondering.” Spitfire allowed herself to smile, albeit briefly.

“I’ve put mine through the ropes - you better believe it!” one of the pegasus mares from the second team added. “Even flew right through a typhoon over the Zebrican ocean once. Didn’t even get a scratch!”

“Basically, anything you can throw at it, that uniform can take,” Spitfire finished. “Wear it with pride.”

“Y-yes, ma’am.” Dash meekly replied, still marvelling at the jumpsuit. She again took to the air, feeling lighter than a feather; she did a few cursory loops and twirls, getting an idea for how it would feel to fly with the uniform on. Surprisingly enough, it felt as though she wasn’t even wearing it - the air offered almost no resistance as it seemingly parted the atmosphere around it, allowing the rainbow-maned pegasus to float with the greatest of ease.

“Alright, Rainbow Dash. I’m glad you like it.” Spitfire sounded amused. “Well...let’s get started. Everypony, follow me.” With that, the six Wonderbolts extended their wings and kicked off of the ground in perfect sync, rising roughly six feet into the air as they followed their vibrantly yellow leader.

A significant portion of the hotel crowd had already made their way outdoors. Roughly two hundred pegasi stood uneasily on the clouds below their hooves, looking around, clearly seeking some manner of direction. Though it didn’t occur to Rainbow Dash before, she supposed it made sense; the vast majority of guests staying at the Cloudsdale Mareiott were more than likely out-of-towners, perhaps visiting Cloudsdale on business or for a vacation. The Mayor’s blaring looped message seemed significantly louder outside the walls of the hotel; clearly, the spell behind the emergency broadcast system was designed to make the message loud enough to wake the dead.

Ooh... Dash thought, ...bad analogy.

As if on cue, several shapes stirred in the background. Though they were yet undetectable to the still-gathering crowd and the seven uniformed pegasi that hovered above, they watched maliciously.

“All right, Wonderbolts. Since our numbers have temporarily grown from six to seven, I’ll be splitting up the usual squads for tonight. Soarin, you and Rainbow Dash are with me. Flash Flood, you take Thunder Cloud and scout ahead to the Coliseum - I want the two of you back here in ten minutes, tops, with a report.” Though Dash had only been properly introduced to Flash Flood from the second squad, she recognized the latter from the various performances she had attended in her years. “Amarillo, you and Hot Streak need to set up a perimeter around this crowd. Delta formation, twenty meter height, two minute intervals - you see anything out of the ordinary, you tell me.” The four nodded, and they were off without any hesitation - two took off in the direction of the Coliseum while the second pair flew up into the night’s sky, fanning out and encircling the crowd, intently scanning the ground below.

“Let’s keep a tight V-formation over the crowd. Rainbow Dash, I assume you know what a V-formation is?” Spitfire asked.

“Damn straight. Flight School taught me a lot of things...and trust me, I’m really familiar with the formations you guys use.”

“Really?” Soarin chuckled. “Well, how ‘bout an inverted cascading quadruple helix formation?”

“A...inver-...what?!” Dash asked, suddenly panicking.

“Soarin’, quit fuckin’ with the newbie. Dash, there’s no such thing,” Spitfire added, shooting Soarin a dirty look.

“What? C’mon, Spitfire, aren’t I allowed to have at least a little fun?” Spitfire suddenly rounded on the grinning pegasus stallion, eyes ablaze.

“Not. Tonight. Soarin, this is serious. The Wonderbolts are only loosely associated with Canterlot’s military division, and you and I both know that Princess Luna herself wouldn’t teleport into our rooms and ask for our help if the situation wasn’t completely and truly fucked. Know what that means? That means that if there’s a major foul-up tonight, and we could have done something to prevent it, then I’m responsible. I’ll be damned if I let this city down tonight, and I’ll be double-damned if one of my subordinates thinks that this is a fucking game. If you can’t get your shit together and keep your attitude in line, I swear to Celestia, I will buck you so hard that you’ll wake up in the next country. Do I make myself clear?”

Soarin gulped, ears drooping noticeably. “Yes, ma’am. Sorry, ma’am.”

“Good. V-formation. Now. I’ll take point - Rainbow Dash, on me.”

“Holy shit,” Rainbow Dash inaudibly muttered to herself as she fell behind and to the left of Spitfire. Very rarely had she ever heard a pony tell off another pony like that, no less one of her idols to another. And the language! Admittedly, Dash had a bit of a foul mouth, herself, when the situation warranted it - to hear a Wonderbolt curse like that, however, filled her with a strange combination of awe and fear. Any lingering giddiness or gaiety that had been lingering within instantly evaporated, quickly replaced with a cold sense of determination. After that brief, yet intense exchange between the two Wonderbolts, the gravity of her role in tonight’s evacuation hit her with the force of a speeding carriage.

As she felt the sharp claws of panic once again dig into her sides, Dash took several deep breaths in an attempt to banish the feeling, with mixed results. Her mind was racing, but she knew that he needed to focus. If she offered anything less than her complete and undivided attention to the situation at hand, she knew that the results could be disastrous; for one, her lifelong dream of becoming a member of the Wonderbolts could be forever compromised; for another, she would be letting down her birthplace. Further still, she would be letting down Princess Luna and - by proxy - her friends. If she didn’t do her absolute best to keep the citizens of the cloud city safe, then what point would there be in being a bearer of an Element of Harmony?

Spitfire looked back as the three uniformed pegasi fell into formation roughly three meters above the crowd. She noticed the look on Rainbow Dash’s face, and offered, “Look, Dash, there’s nothing to be nervous about.” Dash shot her a barely contained look of disbelief. “...well, ok. There’s plenty to be nervous about. You’ve been training your whole life to become one of us, and you’re probably a little bit put off by the suddenness of tonight’s events. Let me say this - don’t worry about it. No, seriously, don’t worry. You’re still one of the most realistic candidates out there - isn’t that right, Soarin?”

“Uh, yeah. That stunt you pulled at the Young Flier’s Competition was really something, Dash.”

“If it’ll make you feel better, just know that what happens tonight holds no weight in our decision-making process. We’re here to make sure as many of Cloudsdale’s ponies as possible make it safely to the Coliseum - I’m sure you know that Canterlot has a division of the royal guard stationed here, so if there’s going to be any fighting tonight, I think it would be wise to leave it up to them. That is, unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Believe me, Spitfire, I’m not afraid of getting into a fight - especially if one of those dumb ‘infected’ ponies tries to fuck with us.” Dash’s voice swelled with confidence that was just barely beginning to return, brilliant maroon eyes glittering softly. “Just tell me what I need to do, and I’ll do it.” Spitfire allowed herself to smile.

“Glad to have you with us, Dash.”

Several minutes passed, the mayor’s warning message continuing its incessant loop. The crowd of pegasi that had gathered outside of the hotel had swelled to roughly four hundred strong - Spitfire asked Dash to check the lobby for any stragglers. Dash nodded, offering a quick salute as she took off, rainbow-coloured tail streaking swiftly behind her. About a half dozen ponies were idly chatting in the lobby, casting shifty, nervous glances here and there as they made small talk in an effort to diffuse the tense situation. Dash gently but firmly suggested that they make their way outside and join the rest of the crowd; upon seeing the fresh blue uniform that the cyan pegasus was dressed in, they offered no objection as the silently exited the building. Rainbow Dash sped back to the formation, falling back into place as Spitfire nodded approvingly. The bright yellow pegasus mare cleared her throat, positioning herself in front of the bulk of the crowd. A scarcely audible whimper just barely escaped her lips as she began.

“All right, everypony, listen carefully. My name is Spitfire, and these are my comrades, Soarin and Rainbow Dash,” she motioned to her partners with her hoof, making sure the motion was not lost on the crowd. “As I’m sure you’ve all heard, we will be assisting with the evacuation. I’d like to ask anypony with any questions to get them out of the way swiftly so we can begin our trek to the Coliseum.” There was silence for a moment, a dull murmur rumbling through the crowd. “Anypony? Anypony at all. Come on, now, don’t be shy.”

“You guys aren’t even military,” a haughty voice finally rang out. “What can you to do protect us?” Though Spitfire could not precisely pinpoint the source of the neighsayer’s voice, she was interrupted by a youthful, brash voice before she could reply in earnest.

“Who said that?!” Rainbow Dash commanded, the fiery intensity of her gaze causing a good portion of the crowd to take a step backward instinctively. “I said, who said that? C’mon, show yourself!”

“It was I,” a dry voice rang out, its owner stepping forth. A well groomed pegasus stallion in an expertly tailored suit and hat regarded the newest addition to the Wonderbolts with a single eye, his gaze conveying a mixture of contempt and disbelief. “Young lady, I don’t believe that I recognize you - surely you are not a Wonderbolt. Are you certain that there isn’t a costume party someplace nearby that you’re missing?” His remark elicited a few nervous chuckles from the crowd, but little more. The vast majority of the pegasi remained silent, watching the exchange intently.

“Why you-” Rainbow Dash began, her wings beating furiously against the air. If this were any other night, Dash would have no reservations about giving the heckler a good thrashing - especially when he had the nerve to talk trash about the Wonderbolts! In a rare moment of clarity, however, she stopped; muscles still tensed, she hovered down to the cloud below, hooves soundlessly alighting the puffy stuff. She knew that beating on this jerkbag would lend little to no constructive value to the situation at hoof, and as much as she wanted to tell him off as loudly as possible - as much as she wanted to wring his neck and watch him squirm for having the gall to go against the mayor’s orders and insult the immediate authority...she knew that she could not. Still with a small inferno raging behind her eyes, Rainbow Dash trotted as calmly as she could manage over toward the stallion, who looked at the approaching uniformed mare curiously. She stopped just inches from the pegasus, nearly nose to nose as she cast her gaze into his unwavering eyes.

“Look, buddy,” she began, initially only softly enough for him to hear. “I know you’re scared. Shit, I’m scared, too. But the last-” she held up a hoof to silence the cultured heckler as he stirred, about to interrupt, “-the last thing we need right now is a pony like you riling everypony up. Look at their faces, dude. Just look!” She seized his head in her hooves, despite his monosyllabic protests, turning it so he got a better look at the winged ponies around him. “They’re fucking terrified,” she whispered into his ear. He gasped softly, the smallest of cracks beginning to form in his once-hardened facade. Leaning back, she continued, “They’re panicked, and you aren’t really helping things calling me and the Wonderbolts out like that, y’know? I’m sorry that all this is happening - really, I am - but this is the way that things have gotta be for a while. Everypony’s in the same boat here...like it or not, we’re in this together.” The stallion hung his head slightly, which would have been amusing under different circumstances - a mare easily half of his age was talking down to him like his mother. “Think you can get it together, buddy?” He paused for a moment, apparently lost in deep thought, then simply nodded. He lifted his head, giving Dash a somewhat apologetic look (or some bastardization thereof). “Good.” She raised her voice, just loud enough for everypony to hear. “Now, just keep it together, and we’ll get through this.” With that, she turned and took to the air once more, joining two very surprised uniformed in the sky.

“Whoa, Dash. What did you say to him?” Soarin asked incredulously as he looked at the stallion who, just moments prior, had been a problem. The stallion’s ears were pinned against his head as he silently rejoined the crowd, body language conveying the notion that he just been scolded.

“Just told him what he needed to hear, I guess,” Dash shrugged sheepishly, a rather light blush creeping into her cheeks. Spitfire regarded Dash with an almost unreadable look on her face - admiration, perhaps? Approval? Whatever it was, she quickly shook her head, clearing the look as she did so.

“Ok...anypony else have any questions?” Silence. “No? Right, then. If everypony could please follow myself and my comrades, we’ll begin. We will be skirting the outskirts of the city proper, since this is such a large crowd - stay close together, and speak up if you see something out of the ordinary. We should reach the Coliseum in a little over a half hour, if we move quickly. Now, c’mon! Let’s move!”

It took a bit longer to get the crowd moving as a whole than Spitfire would have liked, but within moments, the group of hundreds was in motion, obediently following the three pegasi that led them. Amarillo and Hot Streak expertly held their formation, encircling the group as their well-trained eyes scanned the clouds below for any sign of disturbance.

Still, the dark figures followed; deftly leaping from shadow to shadow, they remained just out of sight.

Roughly ten minutes passed without incident. The dull murmur that had previously permeated the crowd had escalated to idle chatter, their voices strained and overly polite. Though the situation undoubtedly sunk in, it was as though they were all doing their best to ignore the inherent dangers which could feasibly beset them at a moment’s notice. The crowd had fallen into a state of almost hyper-awareness, keenly in tune with their environment. Shifty eyes and sidelong glances were the order of business for a pegasus amongst the crowd of hundreds. At that point in the walk, Dash glided forward a few meters with a few wingbeats, temporarily breaking formation.

“Um, Spitfire?”

“Yes, what is it, Rainbow?”

“If you don’t mind me askin’...how come we’re making everypony walk? Wouldn’t it be easier for them to be flying, like us? We’d probably get to the Coliseum faster, too.”

“Let me ask you this, Rainbow - do you know what five hundred sets of wings flapping at the same time sounds like?”

“Uh...no?”

“Me neither, but I’m sure it’d be anything but subtle. Since this is such a large crowd, the last thing we want to do is draw attention...plus, if everypony were in the air, it’d probably...no, it’d definitely be too loud for me to give commands to my team or the crowd as necessary.” She squinted her eyes shut briefly, bringing a hoof to her forehead and rubbing it gently. “Celestia damn it all, my head hurts. I drank too much of that Dom Ponygon.”

“Yeah, you look a little...” Dash trailed off, suddenly realizing that she was probably getting a bit to familiar with a pony who was, in effect, her superior.

“A little what, Dash?”

“Uh, it’s nothing. Forget I said anything.”

“No...no, please. I insist. One of the reasons the Wonderbolts are the premier show team in all of Equestria is because we are able to communicate so well with one another. If there’s something on your mind, please, don’t hesitate to say it.” Spitfire offered a meek smile in an effort to encourage the rainbow-maned pegasus mare to loosen her tongue a little.

“Well, it’s just...you seem kinda stressed out, that’s all. And tired. Are you all right, Spifire?” The bright yellow pegasus sighed, the exhalation of air carrying a note of relief to it.

“To be honest...no, Rainbow Dash. I’m not. I’m sure you were surprised when Princess Luna just popped into your room like that, but at least you’ve met her before! For me, it was like...I dunno. It was like meeting the night itself. She’s calm, she’s cool, she’s collected, but holy shit is that mare scary.” She chuckled a bit, feeling a weight beginning to slowly lift itself off of her shoulders. Dash joined her, laughing for a moment before replying,

“Yeah, I totally get what you mean. She’s like a serious Celestia, honestly.”

“That’s a good way of putting it, I guess.”

“Almost shit myself when she came into my room!” Soarin chimed in, chuckling to himself. Spitfire rolled her eyes as Dash hardened a bit, putting on a more serious face as she said,

“Spitfire, don’t worry. I know that you’ve probably heard this line hundreds and hundreds of times before, but you’ve seriously been an inspiration to me - you and the Wonderbolts both! I’ve dreamed all my life about working with you guys, and even though I wish it were under better circumstances, I feel honoured to be flying alongside you guys. Princess Luna wouldn’t have asked for your help if she wasn’t confident in your leadership, y’know,” Dash added, her eyes expressing nothing but sincerity. The yellow pegasus nodded, appreciation clearly visible on her face.

“Thanks, Dash. Like I said, we’re glad to have you with us...and you’re right. With my team and your speed, I’m sure there’s nothing we can’t hand-”

A roaring sounded off to their left, the noise terrible and shiver-inducing. Several pegasi screamed.

Amarillo swooped down from her patrol with blinding speed, wings flapping swiftly as she approached the V-formation at the front of the crowd.

“Spitfire! We’ve got contact, 8 o’ clock!”

“Shit,” Spitfire cursed loudly, her head snapping to the left as she scanned the now-abandoned houses. Though they were lit by the occasional street lamp that sporadically adorned the cloud sidewalk, she could see little more than shadows in the crevices and crannies between the homes themselves.

“How many?”

“Three, ma’am, all moving in our direction.”

“Range?”

“Twenty meters and closing, last I saw.”

“On hoof or in air?”

“On hoof, thank Celestia. I really hope these things can’t fly-”

“-Duly noted, Amarillo. Regroup with Hot Streak and form up on the rear, Hot Streak takes point. Try to keep everypony calm, do you understand? If they scatter, we’re gonna have a fucking bloodbath on our hooves.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Amarillo quipped, not bothering to salute as she took off once more into the sky.

Rainbow Dash felt her pulse quicken as the adrenalin kicked in, her heart hammering against her chest like a jackhammer. Her wings, unfurled and erect, quivered in anticipation as she struggled to calmly maintain her altitude. She then shifted her eyes from house to house, looking for any signs of movement. Spitfire rose up several meters into the sky, turning about a full one hundred and eighty degrees as she tried her best to keep her voice calm.

“All right, everypony - we hoped that this wouldn’t happen, but it would seem that we’ve got some bogeys closing in on our position. My scout reports that there are only three of them, so there’s no reason for everypony to panic and take off-”

"Look out!" Rainbow Dash warned her comrades as three lumbering forms suddenly jumped out from behind a pillar. A colt, a stallion and a teenaged mare - eyes burning maliciously - trotted and stumbled their toward the uninfected. Short clips of vocalized rage escaped their muzzles as they eyed their victims greedily, believing in their unthinking rage that the large group of now-fleeing pegasi would be easy meals.

"Everypony, listen up!" Spitfire commanded, her authoritative voice rising shrilly over the growing din. "Fly to the Coliseum as fast as you can! Follow Hot Streak up front!” She motioned to the Wonderbolt who had just that moment fallen into place at the front of the crowd. “We'll hold them off, but you need to hurry in case there’s more of them! Stick together, don’t get separated!" The crowd which had been corralled together had no need of any further instruction, many already taking flight. The two Wonderbolts and the cyan pegasus mare glided quickly to the ground below.

Spitfire, Soarin and Rainbow Dash positioned themselves strategically between the civilian pegasi and the infected, wings flared outward. The Wonderbolts pawed determinedly at the clouds beneath them as they prepared themselves for the fight to come; Rainbow Dash lowered herself into an attack position, maroon eyes narrowed down to horizontal slits, carrying the resolve of protecting the citizens of Cloudsdale across her face. With three simultaneous roars from the infected (which, despite her resolve, still sent icy shivers down Dash's spine), the monsters charged forward mindlessly, shaking their twitching heads back and forth mindlessly as they chomped and bit at anything that moved.

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