Half-Life: Equestria

by Ganymede

Pony Up

"And then," Rainbow said, flying up into a pose, "I whipped my hoof around, and WHAM! Right in the socker!"

"Uh-huh," Twilight said for the thousandth time.

They had been traveling down the pipes just outside the silo for a few minutes, during which Rainbow Dash had been giving them a blow-by-blow account of every punch, kick, and bite used in her triumphant defeat over the "dozen-tentacle behemoth" in the heart of the silo. Twilight would rather she simply write a book about it and be done with it.

Getting out of the silo had proven to be a challenge. The pit Rainbow had been dragged into was much deeper than Rarity or Twilight had thought, and they had needed Rainbow's help in getting all the way down. Once down there, Rainbow wheeled them around in a tour of the dark green-goo-glowing cave where she fought against the base of the stalks. There was even a deep pool of water in the middle that turned out to be a small reservoir that lead just outside the main Silo. It ended up leading them to a waste collection zone, where they were travelling now.

Actually, "Waste Collection Zone" was just the name Twilight gave it, based on the waterfall of less-viscous green goo that poured into a river-sized vat below them. The waves and running stream carried the waste to a Neighagra Falls sized set of roaring waterfalls in the distance that spilled hundreds of feet into a swirling vortex of green goo. Celestia-only-knew where it all went. Knowing Pony Mesa, Twilight guessed it was probably into some bunny-and-flower-infested forest somewhere.

The best part of all of this was that the pipes they were standing on hovered right over the raging river of slime. The entire time they had been walking, Twilight could see the river flowing below them, as well as the mist and smoke of the rushing falls up ahead.

"And then," Rainbow continued, "I whooshed around, and dodged another blow, like this."

Rarity leaned up to Twilight and ducked as Rainbow did a barrel roll over them.

"Dear," Rarity said, nudging Twilight. She nodded towards the falls up ahead. "Don't you think Rainbow should, you know..."

"—and then, just as it was about to—"

Twilight could barely see the massive chamber up ahead through the wafting mist of the falls. There was a much larger pipe hovering over the middle of the pit. She could just make out some sort of tiny wheel at the top, which she guessed was some sort of valve, and imagined that it had something to do with the large gap between it and the wall. The other end of the pipe wasn't connected to anything either, and judging from its jagged edges, it seemed to have broken clean in two. Had it not been for the cables holding it up, the little of the pipe that was there itself wouldn't even be there.

She leaned back towards Rarity. "I'll see what I can do."

Rainbow Dash was swimming through the air on her back next to them, demonstrating how she swam so casually after her big victory. She didn't even notice that Twilight had been eyeing her for the last few seconds.

"A-hem!" Twilight said at last.

Rainbow turned, mid-sentence. "Oh, right, of course!" she said, flying over to them. "How could I forget my assistants?"

"Assistants?!" Rarity spat.

"Well," Rainbow said. She put her hooves on her hips, "I couldn't have completely thwarted this thing without a distraction!"

Rarity blew a raspberry in disbelief. "You have got to be—Twilight, can you believe her?!" she said, pointing at Rainbow Dash.

Twilight ignored Rarity, and glared at the blue pegasus. "Rainbow, we need your help again."

Rainbow put her hooves on her hips. "Of course you do!" she said valiantly. "What's it this time? A giant bird of prey? A manticore? A fire-breathing dragon?"

Twilight felt a twinge in the pit of her stomach at the thought of Spike.

"Whatever it is, Airman Rainbow Dash will be there to save the day!" She put a hoof up and made a supercolt pose.

Twilight narrowed her lids and exhaled out of her nose. "We need you to carry us to the pipe," she said simply.

Rainbow Dash's hooves slacked, along with her face. "Oh. Well, okay, I guess." She put her hoof behind her and scratched her neck. "But you're sure—you're absolutely positive there's no, like, giant four-headed hydra about to jump out of here, right?"

Twilight glared at her.

"Okay, okay!" Rainbow said, lowering down to her. "It was just a question."

Twilight felt the hooves of Rainbow Dash around her waist again, but they weren't nearly as rough as they usually were. If anything, it was as though Rainbow was dragging her hooves the whole time.

Twilight felt a light spray as Rainbow flew over the cresting green-goo-waterfall. She tried not to look down. The pipe in the center may as well have been suspended over a bottomless pit, had it not been for the bright glow wafting up from the bottom.

"There's a wheel on the top," she said, pointing at the top of the pipe. There was a cable going from the wheel to the ceiling. "I'm hoping it controls the hatch to the pipe in the wall."

Rainbow hovered to the small wheel, and set Twilight on the top of the pipe. She wobbled as she tried to balance herself on the curving ground.

"Well," she said, "at least it's not slippery." She got her bearings, and carefully stepped around until she was facing the wheel. "Let's hope this works," she said, rearing back and placing her forehooves on it.

It wouldn't budge.

"Rainbow," Twilight said, jerking at the wheel a few more times, "can you get this open?"

Had she thought about it more, she probably would have had Rainbow fly out and do this herself. As it was, she simply backed onto another part of the pipe, and watched Rainbow have at it.

It wasn't a pretty sight. Rainbow tried lots of different approaches: pushing, pulling, flying, turning—none of them worked. All she accomplished was showing off her teeth and pouring beads of sweat. While entertaining to watch, it didn't do much for getting the hatch open.

"Let me try loosening it up a bit," Twilight said.

Twilight strained her horn, and concentrated on the wheel-shaft. Rainbow took this as an immediate sign to start pulling on the wheel again, and didn't let up the whole time Twilight worked her magic.

It was difficult to conjure something into areas you couldn't see, especially something like a viscous fluid. Twilight had to take her best guess as to where the metal was stuck the worst. She wrapped it first around the base of the wheel, and spread it into the socket, squeezing it between the small cracks.

"I... think it's... moving!" Rainbow said. "Just... a little... harder..."

Twilight could hear her really straining as she moved the fluid as far into the socket as it would reach.

There was a loud pop, followed by a voice-cracking yell, followed by a crash off to the left. Twilight stopped her spell, and noticed the wheel spinning around on its own. She looked around.

"Rainbow?" she asked.

Twilight looked at the waterfall, then the ceiling, then the wall with the exit pipe, and finally spotted a blue patch on the far wall just to the right of the hatch. It was almost spread-eagle, and would have made a nice abstract mural, had it not been alive. She heard it groan as a piece of the wall next to it cracked off and fell into the pit.

"It looks like we got the hatch open!" Twilight yelled over the roar of the waterfall.

She walked up to the edge of the pipe as Rainbow Dash extracted herself from the Rainbow-Dash-shaped crater in the wall.

"We'll need your help again getting through the hatch," she said, looking at the wall. "I don't we can jump that far."

Rainbow derped her way over to Twilight. "Yeeeeah," she said, flying around erratically, "about that."

Twilight put her hoof up to shield herself from the glow, and looked out over the waterfall. "RARITY!" she yelled. "ARE YOU STILL OKAY OVER THERE?!"

She could barely hear the faint "I'm fine, dear," in the distance, over the sound of the rushing green waste.

Twilight gave Rainbow a look, and Rainbow derpily put a hoof up in salute. "Got it," she said.

A streak of rainbow flew off erratically and crashed into one of the far pipes. "I'm okay," it said, and righted itself as it flew up to the white blur in the distance that was Rarity. Twilight couldn't make out Rarity's expression, but as Rainbow staggeringly lifted her off the ground, Twilight was sure it was anything but confident.

Twilight watched as Rainbow flew like a colorful moth back to the pipe, and passed right by it.

"Rainbow," Twilight said, pointing in front of her, "pipe, remember?"

Rainbow staggered back. "Got it," she said.

Twilight waited patiently until she heard the crash of Rainbow and Rarity in the exit pipe, and then called Rainbow back. She stood up inside the pipe, shook out her mane, tapped her hoof against her head a few times, as if trying to get water out of her ear, and took off again, this time no longer derped.

"It's a nice thing this pipe is so much bigger than the others," Rainbow said as she lowered Twilight. "Makes it a lot easier to hit from a distance." She set Twilight carefully inside the pipe, right next to Rarity.

Twilight was glad to be able to walk freely after being trapped on the island pipe, and promptly took off, leading them wherever the pipe would take them.

"So, what makes you think this is the way out?" Rainbow asked hovering next to her.

"Nothing, really," Twilight said. "In fact, there's really no signs or anything that says how to get out of here. I'm just basing it off the fact It leads in the opposite direction of the silo, that's all."

Rarity pulled in front of Twilight and stopped her. "Don't you think you're being a bit rash about this? I mean—"

Twilight walked right by her. "It's the only place to go, Rarity," she said, turning her head to look back at the other two. "Did you see another way?"

Rarity cantered next to Twilight. "I didn't exactly have time to look, dear. I was carried pretty directly."

Rainbow tailed behind them in the air, half-glancing behind her.

"Twilight's right," Rainbow said. "there wasn't much room to fly around in there. Believe me, I would have known."

"See?" Twilight said. "So long as we're not backtracking, we just have to keep walking and see where this pipe comes out." She picked up the pace, and rounded a corner. "For all we know, this could take us straight to the surface. Or better yet, into some laboratory somewhere!"

"Uh, Twilight," Rainbow said.

"I can already see it," Twilight said, closing her eyes as she walked. "Fellow scientists, all ready to welcome new members to their team, already charting out their path to the complex."

"Twilight," Rarity started, "you might want to—"

"And they'll have a map, too! A real map, of the entire facility!" she said. "And it'll—AHH!"

There was a snap, and Twilight felt the surface of the pipe fall out from under her as it pivoted downward. She tried looking down to follow the mouth of the pipe, but had no control over where her body was in the air. There was a clunk as the pipe struck something just before it went vertical, and she felt her rump hit the pipe and slide at a steep angle.

"RAINBO—"

Before she could finish screaming, she landed on something hard, and felt it crack beneath her rump. Her head snapped back, and she found herself on her back looking straight up. The last thing she saw was Rarity's own rump sliding down the pipe directly above her. The wind was knocked out of her as it slammed into her body.

She closed her eyes and grimaced. She would have groaned, but she didn't have any air left to groan with.

Rainbow Dash gently lowered herself onto the ground behind them.

"You know," she said, folding her wings, "you two need to stop doing that. It's getting kinda old."

=========================================================

Twilight got up on all fours and rubbed her back. The light concrete floor was covered with wooden debris.

"Well," Rarity said, still working on standing up, "at least that box broke your fall."

Twilight looked around the room at the myriad of other boxes sitting in every corner of the oddly-shaped storage closet. It reminded Twilight of some of the storage rooms they were in, back when the military was attacking them. The only difference was it wasn't as bright.

"I'm thinking it's the other way around," Twilight said. "My fall broke the box." She turned towards Rarity, "And considering what broke your fall, it's a good thing this suit is so strong. I'm not sure I could have survived that!"

Rainbow was busy poking around at some of the boxes in the room. "What do you think's in here?" she asked.

Twilight walked up to one of them. "I don't know," she said. "But considering the state of this facility, I don't think anyone would mind if we took a peek." She pulled out the crowbar and held it out towards Rainbow Dash. "I don't suppose you'd care to do the honors?"

Rainbow snatched up the crowbar and swung it around. "WOULD I?!"

Twilight stood back and ducked as Rainbow swung it back over her head, and kept going until it hit the box in front of them. There was a satisfying whack of metal on wood, followed by a blur of colors. Regardless of the fact the top of the box snapped in half after the first blow, Rainbow kept going at it until the entire box was reduced to saw dust...

... and then spun out into a rainbow tornado as she demolished every box in the room.

"Rainbo—whoa!" Twilight ducked as some of the wood pieces flew over her head. "You really don't—AH!—need to—ow!" Twilight kept putting her hoof up and flinching as more debris came her way.

Rarity got behind Twilight. "I think she's doing more damage to the contents than she is to the boxes."

The rainbow tornado stopped and spun out into a heaving Rainbow Dash, holding the crowbar like a blow torch. Twilight and Rarity gaped, first at Rainbow, then to the debris all around the room, then back at Rainbow Dash, completely lost for words.

Rainbow Dash glanced down at the crowbar, and then back up at Twilight. "This thing's pretty cool," she said, holding it up as though she was appraising it. "You don't mind if I hold on to this for a while, do you?"

At first, Twilight didn't say anything at all. She just stood there, unable to comprehend what Rainbow was asking.

"Uhhhhhhh..." she said, turning back to Rarity, then back to Rainbow Dash, then back to Rarity again. Rarity was shaking her head with her hooves up like she was a filly being offered some horrid vegetable.

She turned back to Rainbow with a stern look on her face. "You can keep it under one condition," she said, raising a hoof. "You have to use it away from us."

Rainbow threw her hooves up over her head. "WHOOHOO! Done!" she said. "The next monsterzilla I come across doesn't stand a chance with this thing!" She swooshed it around her head a few times before landing with a flourish.

Twilight ignored the face-hoofing Rarity standing next to her, and instead looked around at the debris. "What exactly was in these crates, anyway?"

Rainbow Dash turned around and looked at the closest one to her. With a swoop of her hoof, she picked up something small, green, and metal. "Looks like cameras," she said, holding one up at eye level. She put a hoof up to the front and twisted it, as if cleaning a lens.

Twilight also picked one up gently with her magic, and Rarity gazed over her shoulder. They were approximately small, green, metal boxes with a lens on the front. The metal casting was slightly decorated in shape. She turned it around a bit until the lens was facing them, and heard an "Ooo!" from Rarity.

"These look familiar," she said. "Where have we seen this?" She turned to Rarity.

She heard a snap, and turned to see Rainbow Dash hovering near the wall.

"Hey!" she said, looking up at a green spot on the wall. "They're sticky! Maybe they're like the cameras on the wa—HEY!" She ducked as a green light shot out. It was just dusty enough in the room that they could manage to see the green laser light shining out of the device. "What gives?! I didn't touch anything!" Rainbow stuck her hoof, as if to wave it around in front of the laser.

"NO-NO-NO-NONONONON—" Twilight and Rarity screamed out together, waving their hooves.

Rainbow stopped with a disappointed look on her face. "What?" she asked. "It's just a camera thing. What's it—"

"Trip Mine!" Twilight shouted. "We saw them in the storage rooms."

Rainbow's eyes went wide for a second, and she reached her hoof in back of her neck. "Huh." She got up close to it and eyed it. "So this is what they look like." She pulled back and looked at them again. "The ground troops said they had a few traps that they used. They never showed them to us, though." She crossed her arms. "They never let us airponies play with any of the cool toys."

Twilight trotted around the room and started levitating a few of them into a small storage pocket in the side of her suit. "These things might come in handy," she said. "We'll place a few traps if we get in trouble."

=========================================================

There was only one exit from the storage room: a long, winding hallway that looked like little more than an extension of the room. Twilight had only grabbed a hoofful of the trip-mines, but she was already feeling the bulge in the pocket of the suit. They weren't exactly comfortable.

Rainbow Dash took the lead, swinging her shiny new crowbar in front of her, as though warding off gnats. Twilight and Rarity stayed behind, keeping a close eye in case the crowbar happened to come hurling their way.

"Do you hear that?" Rarity whispered.

Twilight's right ear whipped up to listen.

"I don't hear anything," she said. "Just Rainbow Dash."

Rarity gave her a look, but didn't say anything else.

They had only been walking another few seconds before Twilight felt a rumble under her hooves. It reminded her of when she lived in the dorms of the Canterlot academy, and felt the rhythm of somepony's stereo system from downstairs.

She tapped Rarity on the shoulder, and stopped. Rainbow Dash continued to swing the crowbar around until a one of her dramatic swooshes sent her spinning a 180, and she caught a glance of the other two not moving.

"Yeah. And then I'll whip around like this and—Hey," she said, catching an eye of them and flying down to their level. "What gives?"

"Twilight thinks she found something, I suppose," Rarity said.

"Actually..." Twilight looked around confusingly, trying to pinpoint the source of the disruption.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "It's just an empty hallway," she said. "It's not like—"

The ground shook, sending a few dust stalactites falling from the ceiling.

"What the—"

It shook again, this time sending a few rock grains down the walls. A deep growl in the distance followed a third shake, and Twilight felt Rarity cling onto the side of her suit. Rainbow Dash had about-faced. Twilight couldn't read her expression, but Twilight had a feeling she had sensed another great terror up ahead.

Twilight gave Rarity a look, and Rarity gave an embarrassed grin and let go. They both looked at Rainbow Dash facing away from them, silently flapping her wings.

Rarity looked at Twilight. "You don't think she's going to—"

There was a WHOOSH and a Rainbow Streak, and Rainbow Dash was gone.

Twilight put a hoof to her face. "She did."

One exasperated groan later, Twilight and Rarity were galloping after her down the long hallway. They could hear another low growl in the distance, followed by the ground shaking.

There was a loud "yeah!" off in the distance, and Twilight and Rarity stopped to listen. Based on the occasional "take that" echoing back down the hallway, Twilight guessed (correctly) that Rainbow Dash had found something. There were a few clangs echoing back: probably the sound of a crowbar hitting stuff, followed by a distant whoosh that sounded like some kind of jet engine. Twilight could see a bit of orange shimmering against the wall.

"ow, ow, ow,ow,ow,OW,OW,OW!" Rainbow Dash came bolting back. Flickers of orange and red were licking the blue and rainbow. She swooshed right passed them, landed in a smoking heap. and then sat up and whacked a hoof into the edge of her wing to put some of the flames out before grabbing her tail to do the same.

Twilight and Rarity had already run up to her by the time she finally put out the fire.

"That thing has flame throwers?!" Rainbow said, throwing her hooves over her head as soon as she finished putting out her tail. "How am I supposed to compete with that?!" She flew up into the air, and Twilight could still see the blackened tip of her right wing.

"Oh, my!" Rarity said, looking around at Twilight. In fact, both of them were looking at Twilight. There was silence from the two of them, and for a few seconds, all she could hear was the sound of the creature stomping around and growling in the distance.

"Well," she said, "unless there's a way around it, it looks like we've reached an impasse." She sighed and hung her head.

Rarity poked the pocket of Twilight's suit. "Couldn't we set some traps for it?" she asked. "Something this big—it seems like the only way."

Twilight shook her head. "It sounds like it's too big to fit through this hallway. It would have come after us if it wasn't," she said. "And without seeing the area it's in, I wouldn't know how to fight it." She looked up at Rainbow Dash. "Did you see anything while you were in there, Rainbow?"

Rainbow scratched the back of her neck. "Not really," she said. "Just a big pile of blue monster in my face."

"She was probably too busy swinging your crowbar," Rarity whispered to Twilight. Rainbow Dash still managed to hear, and glared at her with her arms crossed.

Twilight trotted down the hallway. "Well we're not going to get anywhere without seeing what we have to work with," she said, ignoring the quiet pleas behind her to stop.

She ignored the bickering of the two behind her, and kept walking until she saw the exit to the tunnel. The bickering immediately stopped, and all three of them instinctively pressed up against one of the walls. None of them were close enough to the exit to see clearly, but they could all tell something huge was just on the other side.

Twilight got on her hind legs, pressed her back against the wall, and started inching her way towards the end, careful not to make too much noise with her hooves. She could hear the soft growl of the creature breathing. There was a large blue obstruction blocking most of her vision to the room.

Twilight looked back and saw the other two hanging behind, making frantic but silent motions for her to come back. She could feel the sweat pouring down her temple as she inched even closer, trying to get a peak of the inside of the room.

The blue obstruction finally came into full view as she held her breath and inched her way closer. It looked like some sort of over-sized bipedal baby, but much bulkier and calm. It was plated with some sort of natural shiny armor over its black and blue webbed skin. Luckily, she couldn't see its face, as it was facing away from her.

It looked around curiously, and took a few steps forward. Each step made the ground shake violently, causing more dust to pour from the ceiling, and a few of the loose pebbles on the ground to rattle. A soft glow could be seen in front of it each time it exhaled.

Twilight felt her legs involuntarily shake as she inched a few steps further, right up to the edge of the tunnel.

From what she could see, the tunnel exited into some sort of train depot, in the shape of a large underground dome. She could see the same kind of metal rails in the floor that were in the entrance to the silo, which all came to the middle around a giant turntable. She couldn't see where the rails lead to, but she assumed there must be at least one train somewhere.

Two things stood out on the far wall. The first was an entrance to another tunnel similar to the one she was in standing in. The other was a glass-less window peering inside what must have been a control room for the rails. She could see a few of the controls against the wall, as well as a pony peering out of the room, wearing a—

Business Suit, Twilight thought. Her limbs froze, and her eyes tunneled in on him. It was the same pony. Following me, she thought. They locked eyes. Neither of them blinked. The black stallion gave the tiniest of nods—did he nod?—and walked silently to the right and out of sight.

The creature let out a low growl, but Twilight's heart pounded above it. Her hooves nearly gave out from under her. Why was he here?!

She closed her eyes, breathed deeply a few times, and inched her way back down the hall to where the others were, knees shaking the whole time.

"And?!" Rainbow said, crossing her hooves.

Twilight collapsed onto the ground and took a few more breaths. "This isn't going to be easy," she said. She ignored the rolling eyes around her and continued. "That creature is blocking a giant bottleneck. Every path leads to and from that one room."

She looked around at the other two, who were both scratching their heads and looking around. "We need a distraction," she continued, getting back onto her hooves. "A really... fast distraction," she said, looking straight at Rainbow Dash.

It took a few seconds for Rainbow to catch onto what she was saying.

"Oooh, no," she said. "I'm not letting that thing turn me into a roast hunk of meat!" She swooshed further back down the hallway and threw her head back with her hooves crossed. "Count me out of this!"

Twilight put her face into her hoof. "You're the only one who's fast enough to avoid it!" she said. "Look, do you want out of here or not?!"

Rainbow shook her head, hooves still crossed. "Nu-uh! No way, no how!"

=========================================================

Rainbow hovered, poised on the verge of entering the room. Sweat was pouring from her temples, but she managed to keep perfectly still in the air.

"Come on, Airman Rainbow Dash," Twilight mocked. "You're the one who wanted to beat up something with that crowbar."

Rainbow Dash couldn't take her eyes off the growling blue creature. "Not something that shoots fire from its arms."

Rarity walked up next to Twilight. "Dear, don't you think we should reconsider?" she said. "I mean, what if it's more distracted by us?"

Twilight shook her head. "Don't need to. We'll give Rainbow Dash a head start, and sneak around behind it while it's distracted." She looked up at Rainbow, who was now gnawing on her hooves with chattering teeth. "I'm... sure she'll be okay."'

The creature was eyeing a large vaulted tunnel exit off to the right, which was gated shut. Twilight gave a nod to Rarity, and tiptoed out into the room. They could feel the air moving with each breath the creature let out, and the sudden increase in space around them was dizzying.

Rainbow Dash could barely be heard hovering behind them. Twilight could see a few glimmers from the corner of her eye, as the light reflected off the crowbar. Twilight stepped carefully over the threshold of the turntable.

There was a flash of green, and an electrical buzz of arcing energy. Twilight cried out and covered her eyes.

"RAINBOW!" she shouted. Two of the bipedal creatures they had seen back in the storage areas had appeared just in front of the tunnel entrance they were heading towards.

Her call had prompted an abrupt response from the mass of blue to their right. A low rumbling growl was quickly followed by the ground trembling as it started stomping around in a circle, looking for the source of the disruption.

"On it!" Rainbow said. She swooped into a rainbow blur straight at one of the smaller creatures, and with a loud whack, the creature flew back and landed in a heap on its back.

"No, no!" Twilight said. "The BIG one!"

Rarity was stumbling around, trying desperately to follow the erratic movements Twilight was making as she dodged out of the way of the heaping blue mass. There was a loud crunch as thick blue foot smashed into brown standing alien. Twilight kept her eye on the two flaming arms, whipping around to form orange streaks in the air.

Rainbow was fidgeting with the crowbar, swerving first this way, then changing her mind and swerving the other way.

"RAINBOW!" Twilight glimpsed one of the many tunnels that the tracks lead off into, and galloped towards it. The sound of a blow torch went off behind her, and she glimpsed back to see the creature randomly shooting flames into the air. Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen.

It was dark in the tunnel, but Twilight could just make out another wooden platform train sitting on the tracks, and prompted Rarity to follow behind her and hide behind its metal control box.

"Where is she?" Rarity asked, cuddling up as best she could.

Twilight peered around and could see the creature writhing around, as if it had an itch it couldn't scratch. The entire room was filled with deep rumbling and stomping as it moaned and turned, occasionally shooting flames at the ceiling in frustration.

"What's it doing?" Rarity asked, pulling in closer to Twilight.

Twilight squinted and looked closely around the room, then at the creature, then back at the room. Something was amiss, but she couldn't quite put her hoof on it.

Then she saw it: Rainbow Dash had managed to climb onto its back, and was swinging the crowbar into it like she was hammering a particularly stubborn nail. A flash of light and sparks flew up each time she hit, which Twilight had mistakenly thought was just a glaring reflection off its armor.

The creature let out a yell in frustration, and started stomping the ground like its feet were on fire. Each stomp made the ground shake so much, Twilight kept getting knocked off the train platform.

Twilight poked her head out over the top of the train controls and held on the best she could. "STOP PISSING IT OFF!" she shouted. She slipped off, and struggled to regain her balance. "You're supposed to be getting it away from the exit!"

Rainbow staggered off the creatures back and swooped high above it, trying desperately to dodge the random flames shooting up.

"I'm—trying!" she managed to get out.

Twilight's pupils were going crazy in their sockets trying to follow Rainbow Dash around in the air. It was a colorful blur of rainbow streaks, bright orange glows, and giant blue blob, all coming together in a small fireworks display.

"Come on," she said to Rarity. "At least it's distracted. We might have a chance at the tunnel."

She trotted out from behind the train, keeping her eye on the flames.

"But, Twilight!" Rarity galloped up to her, lip quivering. "We don't have a clear—"

Another green flash erupted to their right with a static bang, covering up the rest of Rarity's sentence. The blur of blue halted and turned towards the source of the noise. It swung an arm out, as if to swat the rainbow fly out of the way, and then charged towards the new alien spawn.

"Now!" Twilight yelled. "Run! RUN!"

Twilight felt her hooves pounding against the ground as she charged at the tunnel. There was a thwack in the distance, followed by a loud, voice-breaking scream, and a rainbow meteor crashed and slid in front of their path. Twilight and Rarity reared, and Rarity nearly fell over. Rainbow snapped onto her hooves and prepared to launch herself back into the battle.

"Tunnel, Rainbow!" Twilight said. She caught a glimpse of Rainbow looking around confused before dashing into the tunnel and out of sight. A war cry emanated from the tunnel shortly after, followed by the sound of metal whipping through the air. Twilight readied her gun.

The inside of the tunnel was chaos. Except for a few steps on the ground, and the hurricane of electrical flashes, it was identical to the tunnel they had just come out of. Creatures just like the ones that got stepped on in the depot were pouring in, and Rainbow had already knocked one of them on its back. She swooped on top of it, and landed her final blow.

Twilight slammed on her hoof, and riddled a few bullets into the side, where a group of four or five of the creatures were charging up their electrical attacks. They each clutched various parts of their slimy bodies and collapsed in all different ways.

"HEYAW!" Rainbow shot down at another shockwave and whipped a blow into the side of the newly-appearing creature's face, sending a splash of yellow fluid flying as the creature landed in a heap on the ground. "That'll teach you to mess with me!" Another shockwave burst behind her, and before she could turn, the newly spawned creature spat out an electrical bolt straight into her rump. Her mane stood on end, and she let out a noise like an injured mouse.

"Rarity!" Twilight yelled, pointing her hoof at Rainbow.

Rarity got the message, and promptly snapped her hoof into the ground, letting a mass of lead slam into the offending creature.

The battle lasted a few more minutes. Twilight's teeth were sore from the gun shaking them around so much, and Rarity looked like she was about to faint. Rainbow Dash was the only one who looked like she was enjoying herself.

Rainbow glared at the last creature falling into a heap on the floor, and wiped her brow. She whipped the crowbar around and struck a victorious pose before turning to the other two.

Twilight and Rarity were both heaving and lying collapsed on the ground. Twilight sighed, and Rarity let out a dramatic groan.

"Is it over?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow swooped down and lifted them both to their hooves. Rarity collapsed back onto the ground again, and had to be lifted two more times before she would stay up. Twilight was shaky, but managed to keep her balance.

"Looks like we did it, guys!" Rainbow said. "We really taught those things a lesson!"

All of them jumped as the ground shook violently, and the tunnel filled with a low growl. Rarity wrapped her hooves around Twilight and pressed her shaking body into the other's. Twilight looked around awkwardly at the mass of blue standing just outside the entrance.

"Heh. Maaaaaybe not quite."

=========================================================

The control center wasn't too difficult to find. Rainbow Dash half-lead half-dragged Twilight and Rarity around the corner to a boarded up entrance, and smashed through it with ease.

Both her and Rarity were now recovering on the floor while Rainbow Dash looked out the window, studying the clunky movements of the blue monster in the depot. Twilight stared at the old equipment and control panels against the walls, disappointed at the lack of any functioning sounds or lights. The big red "OFF" sign above it wasn't helping either.

"If we want to get out of here, we'll have to get the trains powered up," she said, leaning against the wall. "There's gotta be a power source around here."

Rainbow kept looking out the window. "Why bother?" she asked. "All getting on a train will do is give that monster out there a skillet to fry its lunch on." She glanced at the rusting panels against the wall. "That's assuming you can find the outlet to plug that thing in."

Twilight sighed. She was considering getting up when she heard her stomach rumble. She put her hooves over it, and realized she hadn't eaten anything since before the experiment and, in fact hadn't drunk anything either. She would give anything to have a bite of a sunflower sandwich right about now, and wondered how many days it would take before she suggested roasting some of the aliens just to get something in her tummy. Heck, it might be worth trying alien meat just to see Rarity's reaction.

Twilight chuckled at this, which got Rainbow Dash's attention.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

Twilight shook her head. "Just... this," she said, moving her hooves around at the room. She rolled over and got to her hooves, stretching out with many groans, before walking up to examine the equipment. She caught a glimpse of the blue monster in the distance, breathing quietly but deeply, a faint growl emanating with each one.

"I don't think there's a power switch on this thing," she said, poking a few of the controls with her hoof. "I also don't think there's a power plug. There's some sort of primary power source that's been turned off."

Rarity could be heard in the corner trying to get to her hooves. "You think the cables have been broken?" she asked.

"More like the source has been turned off," she said. "Purposefully."

Rarity's eyes widened, and she stepped up next to Twilight. "Certainly none of the scientists would do something like that in this kind of situation," she said.

Twilight shrugged. "They did it before," she said. "Back in the silo, they had their own power generator for the rocket, which one of the scientists had switched off. I wouldn't put it past them to do the same here."

Rainbow scratched her neck. "Lemme get this straight," she said. "You all are suppose to be a bunch of egghead geniuses working here, right?" She crossed her hooves. "And yet, you go around walking straight into enemy fire and turning off your only sources of power?" She rolled her eyes. "Some scientists, huh?"

Twilight was too tired to retaliate. "Look, we need to get the power back on, or we're not going anywhere."

Rainbow flew over to the window. "And YOU need to open your eyes! Giant flaming monster out there, remember?!"

"I know!" Twilight shouted. "Just... one thing at a time, okay Rainbow?" She paced around the room. "The least we can do is get the trains running. We can deal with the other obstacles when we get there."

She walked over to the door and peered around at the hallway just outside of the control room. They were on the second floor, which consisted only of a few ramps and catwalks suspended over the floor below. A ladder descended below. The room shook quietly as the creature in the depot stomped around, causing a few dust clouds to fall from the ceiling.

"Other obstacles?!" Rainbow Dash said, flying over to her. "It's the only obstacle!"

Twilight ignored her, and carefully descended the ladder. "This tunnel leads somewhere, and I want to see where," she said. "If we're in luck, it leads to some sort of power source."

Rainbow flew down next to her. "And why can't this tunnel go somewhere else? Like, oh, I don't know, away from here?!"

Twilight shook her head. "I'm tired of walking," she said. "Taking a train to the Lambda Complex would be a lot faster." She looked behind her for Rarity. "And besides, even if this tunnel did go somewhere, the chances of it going someplace we want to be is a lot less likely than it we take the train."

Rarity was inching her way onto the ladder. "Twilight has a point," she said, sticking out her leg to find the rung. "Ponies use trains to get to convenient places. Tunnels are for maintenance."

Rainbow flew up to Rarity and pulled her off the rungs and into her hooves. "Yeah, yeah," she said, carrying Rarity to the ground. "Let's just get moving. The further away we get from that thing, the better."

=========================================================

Twilight slammed on her hoof one last time, and watched the last of the bipedal creatures fall to the ground.

"How many more of these are there?" she asked with a sigh.

Rainbow Dash was at the end of the tunnel, turning a red steel wheel in an attempt to open a pair of large doors at the end.

"Don't ask me," she said. "You're the one who wanted us to come this way." She put her hind legs against the wheel and pulled. "Stupid... wheel..."

"You know," Twilight said, "it might work better if your legs were somewhere other than the wheel."

Rainbow stopped, looked down, and blushed. "I-I know that!" she said. She flew back with a giggle and repositioned herself on the ground.

Twilight turned around. "Now, there should be something on the other side of these doors that's important. They seem like blast doors of some kind."

Rarity blew a lock out of her hair and rolled her eyes. "It wouldn't put it past them to put a broom closet back here," she said. "Just like that time they hid a cruise liner turbine in the rocket silo."

Twilight and Rainbow looked up. "Huh?"

Rarity shifted her eyes between them. "Er, long story," she said, blushes and moving back.

Rainbow continued to struggle against her epic battle with the wheel. "Almost... got it..."

Rarity gave Twilight a look. "Dear, do you think you could lend a hoo—"

Before she could finish, there was a loud squeak, and both Twilight and Rarity covered their ears and shielded their eyes against a bright green slit appearing between the two blast doors. Twilight put her hoof down and squinted as the doors parted, and finally trotted up to have a look inside.

Her tail could still be seen amid the glow as she crested the threshold, and she looked up and sighed.

"More ladders," she said, turning back to the others. Rainbow and Rarity sighed in unison. "Just watch out for the radioactive pool," she said on her way back. "There's got to be a regulation or something that every silo-shaped room be filled with some form of radioactive material. Is it just not Pony Mesa if an area is actually safe?!"

Rainbow whooshed past her, making her mane whip around, and caused a rainbow streak to fly through the doors and up the shaft. Her voice could be heard echoing around the chamber.

"It doesn't look too bad from in here," she said. "Looks like it's only two stories."

Twilight sighed. "That's how much we climbed in the silo."

She put her hoof up and lead Rarity through the doors. It was a much smaller area than anything they had seen in the silo, and as a result, much brighter. Luckily, all the light was well below them, so there was nothing shining directly in their eyes. She walked up to the first ladder to her right and placed her hoof on one of the rungs. She looked up, and could see a glimpse of blue and rainbow moving around above the grated catwalks.

"Uh, guys," Rainbow said. She flew back down and hovered with an uneasy look on her face. "I don't think this is the right way. Why don't we just turn around and go back now." She gave a hasty grin and flew back through the blast doors they had just come through.

Twilight grimaced. "RAINBOW!" she shouted.

Rainbow flew back into the room and hovered over the pit. "What? I just don't think we should be going this way." Twilight turned to glare at her, and Rainbow backed up a bit. "It's... ummm... not safe?" She made a funny face, and then grinned really wide with a squee.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "You just took on a gargantuan monster, Rainbow Dash. I think you can handle whatever's at the top of this thing." She continued to climb the ladder.

"Twilight," Rarity said, starting to climb the ladder behind her. "What if Rainbow's right? There could be traps ups there!"

Twilight crested the top and turned to help Rarity up. "Then it's a good thing we have a military soldier to help us disable them, isn't it?"

Rarity shook her head. "That's not what I meant."

Twilight found the second ladder and started to climb, watching the green shimmer of the light against the wall.

"Yeah!" Rainbow said, flying up to her level. "Yeah, that's it! There are traps, Twilight. Big, huge, ugly traps." She threw her hooves out, her eyes going wide. "They're everywhere! We gotta get out of here."

Twilight reached the top of the ladder and crested it. "Now you're just saying that because of Rarity," she said, turning around to help Rarity. "Why don't you just tell us what's bothering you?"

Rainbow backed up and fidgeted. "Bothering? Me?!" She giggled nervously. "What could possibly bother me?! I'm a soldier!" She flew up and struck a pose, but Twilight could tell she wasn't really into it.

Twilight walked around the catwalk until she found the exit: a set of blast doors identical to the ones they came through. "Now you got me curious," she said. "Just what exactly did you find here?"

The first thing she could see through he doors was a wooden table against a wall that looked just like all the other tunnels they had come through. It had a few armaments sitting on it, but other than that, it didn't look at all out of place. Above it was a sign saying "Power Generator", which caused a smile to crest Twilight's face. Rarity saw it too, and made a point of mentioning it to her.

As she crested the threshold, however, she heard a strange white noise coming from her left, and she turned to see a rather elaborate setup. The white noise was coming from a radio, which was nothing more than a small dial-ridden box sitting atop a safe. It was accompanied, however, by crates of explosives and more armaments, as well as strategic maps, wooden chairs, a few guns, and some special leather coats with the letters "HECU" imprinted on them.

"Oh, my!" Rarity said, as she walked up behind Twilight. "Does this mean the military is here?"

Twilight walked up to the table and studied some of the maps. "Looks like it," she said. "The grunts here must not be too smart, just leaving this stuff lying around like this." She readied her gun. "We'd better be careful. We don't want to walk into an ambush."

Rainbow Dash could be seen fidgeting violently behind them, still on the other side of the blast doors.

"Come on, Rainbow," Twilight said, turning to the right, and starting down a new tunnel. "We have a power source to find."

Rainbow continued to fidget, not bothering to come through the door.

Rarity looked back at her. "Twilight. I don't think she wants us to come this way."

Twilight sighed, but didn't stop walking. "Of course she doesn't," she said. "But we need her, Rarity. Neither of us stand a chance against a bunch of trained soldiers." She stopped to put her head in the air with a smile. "That's where Rainbow Dash comes in. She's the perfect distraction!"

"WHAAAT?!"

Twilight and Rarity turned towards the blast doors, where the scream came from. Rainbow Dash bolted out the door and immediately started shaking her head and her hooves. "Oh, no, nononono, you are not putting me in that position." She crossed her arms. "A monster, I'll do. But that's it. I am not walking in front of my comrades in front of a bunch of scientists. They'll murder me!"

Twilight sighed. "They'll murder all of us if you don't distract them," she said. "Look, do you want to get out of here or not?"

Twilight turned to continue down the hallway, and Rainbow flew out in front of her to stop her.

"Look," Rainbow said, "you don't understand. I'm already on the fritz with these guys. They'll see right threw any move I make!"

Twilight pushed her aside. "Then I guess that's just a chance we'll have to be willing to take," she said. "We can't get the trains going without power. If you can't distract them, then at least try to get the power going yourself," she said.

Rainbow put a hoof to her face. "Guys, seriously. I can't do this." She flew back in front of them. "Look, can't we just have another go at the monster? We can totally just walk along the rails. It's no big deal!"

Twilight stopped. "Rainbow, if you don't think you can distract them, we can always just fight them head-to-head. Is that what you want?"

"WHA—I—YOU WANT... UUUUUUUGH!" Rainbow fell on her back on the floor and sighed. "I give up," she said. She got up and looked at them. "I'll try distracting them," she said, "but you two have gotta do you part. I won't be single-hoofedly responsible for messing this whole thing up."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "You're a soldier, Rainbow," she said. "You're one of them. Nothing's going to go wrong."

Rainbow let out a groan, and dragged her hooves through the air behind her.

=========================================================

"Go on," Twilight whispered.

Rainbow Dash looked at her, than around the corner, then back at Twilight. They were at the end of the tunnel, and the military presence couldn't be more clear. The tunnel had ended at a bend that opened into a large bunker. a few ramps descended into a sink in the middle, which took up the majority of the room. A single guard was standing watch at the end, peering out from behind a barricade of what looked like sacks of apples. Behind the guard, some more ramps crisscrossed up to an entrance at the top. Rainbow couldn't see where it went, but she could hear some radio chatter, and assumed that must be where most of them were hanging out.

She looked back at Twilight and pouted, quivering as though she was about to cry.

"You'll be fine," Twilight whispered. "Just get out there."

Twilight gave her a little nudge, and she flew out from around the corner. Immediately the guard stood up, hoof at the ready.

"MOVEME—" the stallion stopped short. "Rainbow?" The stallion moved his head away from the sight, revealing a red beret sitting atop a brown muzzle. His eyes were squinted, and he looked half-ready to jerk back and pull the trigger.

Rainbow hovered nervously, trying not to shake. She wished she still had the crowbar, but Twilight said she should hold onto it while Rainbow was with the guards.

She stood upright in the air and put her hoof up. "H-hey, guys."

The stallion's jaw dropped, and his eyes opened wide. Some of the other guards could be seen peering around the corner of the opening in the back.

"Weeeeeell," one of them started. He was a brown stallion with dark mane, and Rainbow immediately recognized him as Hoops, one of this fellow comrades. His mane normally would have covered his eyes, but it was brushed off to the side and held there by an enormous white helmet that covered most of his head. "If it isn't Rainbow Crash!" He flew out, together with a dark stallion with light mane, dressed in the same camouflage gear and helmet: Hoops's buddy Dumb-Bell.

Rainbow flew out into the room, trying not to glance back at Twilight and Rarity. The two stallions started circling her. "Haven't seen you in a while, Rainbow Crash," the Dumb-Bell said. "Not since you chickened out of our group."

Rainbow came down and landed on the ground, narrowing her eyes.

"Yeah," Hoops said, both of them landing next to her. "What's the matter? Scared of a little combat?!"

Rainbow scowled and whipped her tail. "Very funny, guys," she said. "I got lost from the group when the electrical storm hit."

The two of them laughed. "That's not what we remember," Dumb-Bell said. They both flew up off the ground, laughing and poking at each other.

"Okay, you two," the guard said, "enough horseplay." He turned towards Rainbow. "Get going," he said, indicating the door with his head.

Rainbow sighed and flew into the air. She could see the two other pegasi still laughing as they landed at the top of the ramps in the back and went back into the door.

"Hey, everyone!" Dumb-Bell said. "Guess who finally came crawling back."

Rainbow could hear chattering from around the corner, and put her hoof to her face as she followed behind. She glanced down at the guard as she flew overhead, but he just scowled back at her. She could hear laughs and jeers crying out as she came over the ramps and up to the doors. Many of the other soldiers had come up to the entrance to take a look.

"Well, if it isn't the prodigal rainbow!" said a blue soldier with a deep voice.
"What's wrong?" said a tan one with a nasal voice. "Aren'tya glad to see yer... buddies?" He burst out laughing and landed on the floor as more soldiers came up.
One of the bigger soldiers came out just as Rainbow landed on the ground, and hooked Rainbow around the neck. "We missed having ya around," he said, rubbing his hoof into Rainbow's scalp. "We've been without a punching bag for hours!"

Rainbow forced a laugh. "Heh. Yeah, guys. I... guess." She gulped, and struggled to look up against the grip of the other pony.

"Hey! Look what we got here!" he yelled out around the corner. "Taste the rainbow, everyone!"

He whipped his arm around, and Rainbow felt her neck nearly break off. He let go, and flung her across the room, sending her spinning into a central room where a dozen soldiers were standing around. She slammed into a couple of them like a bowling ball, and smashed against the opposite wall.

Rainbow blacked out for a second, and finally opened her eyes to see the blurred upside-down outlines of a dozen soldiers. None of them seemed to be paying any attention to her.

"Hey! No fair!" one of them said. "I wasn't ready." The talking blur came into focus, and Rainbow could see it turning around. It didn't have a happy face. "See how you like it!" the shape said, turning around.

Rainbow felt a sharp tug on her tail, and found herself being yanked off the wall with a sick peeling sound. "Take that!" the voice said. Rainbow felt her tail nearly rip out of her rear-end, and suddenly felt herself flying through the air again. She was only partially aware of her own voice-breaking yells. She could hear one of the more macho pegasi let out a deep "YEEEEEEEAH!" as she flew.

She skidded to a halt on the ground, and sat up, a few birds flying in circles over her head. Her head was swimming, and her vision was doubled and fading in and out.

"O... kay, guys," she said, her eyes derping. "It's... good to see you too?"

Dumb-Bell walked up to her, still laughing like an idiot. "What's the matter, Rainbow Crash? Afraid of a little dodgeball?!"

Rainbow shook the birds away from her head and bared her teeth.

"Heh," Hoops said. "I think she's just tired of being the ball."

Rainbow got up and flew into the air, grimacing at some of the scrapes and bruises. "Yeah, okay, guys," she said. "Joke's over."

A blue-gray pegasus came stumbling forward. He was more round than the other two, but still managed a smirky face, and Rainbow recognized him as Score, the third in the group. "Ah, come on, Rainbow Crash," he said. "You know we're just messin' with ya."

Rainbow felt a tug on her tail, and looked back to see Hoops holding onto it with his teeth. Dumb-Bell walked in front of her as she struggled against Hoop's grip. "Hehe, it's all in good fun, eh, Rainbow Crash?" Hoops yanked on her tail, bringing her down just low enough for Dumb-Bell to land a solid punch in her gut, knocking the wind out of her with an "OOF!"

Dumb-Bell lead Hoops and Score back to the rest of the soldiers in the common room, with Hoops still biting her tail. "Don't worry, guys," Dumb-Bell said, indicating the struggling Rainbow Dash. "Our rainbow balloon is safe and sound."

Hoops swung her around and onto the ground, and suddenly she found herself surrounded by a tightly-packed bunch of grunts, all looking down at her and scowling. Rainbow got to her hooves and shrunk back, forcing a laugh. They continued to encroach upon her.

"So, ummm," Rainbow started. "What'd I miss?"

Two dozen eyes stared down at her, and suddenly went wide-eyed.

"What'd you miss?" one of them said. "What'd you miss?!" Rainbow saw the soldier's head peek above the others. His face was crazed and contorted. "WHAT'D YOU MIIIIIISS?!" he said, wiggling his face around, and making some of the skin flop around. "AAHHHHHHBLGLGHGBHGLGHGGH!"

"CAN IT, Crackers!" another one said with a grunt.

Rainbow watched a hoof reach above the crowd and push the crazed pony back down.

A big black muzzle came down and pressed itself into Rainbow's. "You missed a tragedy," he said quietly. "Word has it we got some scientist rebels out there. Wanna try an' take us out."

"YEEEAH!" Crackers said in the background. "THEY CRAAAAAAABLGLBGZZY!"

The black pony ignored him. "They been takin' out mah buddies. Took out a whole plane of 'em." He put a hoof out, and pointed it right out next to Rainbow's ear. Rainbow flinched, eyes still wide. "They out there. An' we gonna put a stop to 'em." He pressed his muzzle into hers until it hurt. "Got it?"

Rainbow gulped and nodded, a bead of sweat inching its way down her temple. The muzzle left hers as abruptly as it arrived, and she found herself looking at the black pony's hind quarters shortly after. The other ponies quickly started chatting. "Yeah!" one said. "We gonna get 'em!" said another. They started hoof bumping and punching each other's shoulders.

Rainbow finally got a chance to look around as the ponies were busy, and noticed the entire room focused on a single grate sunk into the floor. The switch in the back suggested it was some sort of lift, although Rainbow Dash couldn't tell whether it went up or down. The rest of the room was mildly lit, and consisted mostly of radio equipment. A few small tunnels lead here and there, and Rainbow came to the conclusion that they must have gone around the perimeter of the larger area where the guard was.

"So, er, guys?" she said, trying to steer the conversation. "What exactly is the plan? I mean, do we even know where these, er, scientists are?"

One of the soldiers came over and slammed their hoof into Rainbow's back with a laugh, making her hooves slip out from under her. "HA! If we knew where they were, we'd be there, wouldn't we!"

The rest of the soldiers cracked up around him. Rainbow could see Dumb-Bell and Hoops snickering at her, their eyes narrowed maliciously.

Another soldier came up behind Rainbow and rested a hoof on her head, giving her another noogie. "That's why we're tryin' to shut everythin' down, little squirt," he said. "Why do you think we're here? Found a nice generator in the basement. Got it boarded up reeeeeeal good." He bent his head around so Rainbow could see his blue face. "Thems scientists ain't goin' nowhere."

Rainbow gave another nervous laugh and backed up. "Weeeell... let's sock it to them. Right guys?" She grinned big, and made a few weak punching movements in the air.

The blue pony scowled. "You'd better believe it, pal." He was about to say something else when another stallion came up and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey," the other pony said. He had slipped on a mask, and Rainbow couldn't see his face. "We got radio chatter," he said. "We think they might be in the area."

Every other pony in the room perked their ears at this, and all of them went silent before bursting out all at once and stampeding over to the radio equipment. Rainbow couldn't help but be kicked around as all the other soldiers flew around her. As they all got close to the radio, Rainbow quietly tiptoed back, and looked around. There was no way she could activate the lift without all the other ponies noticing. However, there might still be a way to the basement without needing to.

She glanced to her left, saw the tunnel was empty, hunched her back, and tiptoed out of sight.

=========================================================

Rainbow Dash flexed her wings and let the pain of her bruises and cuts wash over her. She closed her eyes and took a quiet breath, and then opened them to look around.

The passage she had followed revolved around the bunker area, and had exited onto an overhang on the side. She could see the tunnel she had come through with Twilight and Rarity off to her right. The guard was theoretically to her left. She hadn't looked yet, for fear of being seen.

The entire narrow passage she had just come through was devoid of any stairs or path that would take her to the basement. All she had found were more radios, ammo crates, and a few active trip mine traps: the same kind Twilight had picked up in the other room. The only way down would be to blast a hole in the floor.

Now that she could see the bunker from above, she noticed that it wasn't just a floor: it was a bridge. The area between the two ramps was actually suspended over a large hole that went down a ways. The bridge covered so much of the hole that she hadn't even noticed it when she was being greeted by the guard. Only a couple small holes on the sides indicated that there was anything beneath the floor at all.

She got down low, pressing her belly against the floor, and inched her way forward. There was a slight bump around the edge of the balcony where the hoofrails sat, and she was just barely able to hide her entire body behind it. She reached up with a hoof and pulled her mane down, trying to imagine what it must look like having a rainbow tuft sticking over the top. She lifted her left ear and placed it against the wall.

She couldn't hear anything. The guard must be very quiet. Careful not to make a sound, she lifted her head until her big oval eyes crested the rim. She could just barely see the ramps in the back, and the area immediately below.

The guard wasn't there.

Rainbow felt herself involuntarily squee, and squinted her eyes with a grin, shifting them from side to side. She peered her head all the way over the ledge, and found the space between the bridge and the wall. The hole it allowed her to see quite far, and she could make out a few other levels. She lifted her head and looked around once more, and then spread her wings.

With a movement like a bullet through the air, she silently whipped herself over the edge, through the hoofrails, and whooshed down through the hole. It was a practiced skill to move this quietly. It was like moving through a series of curtains. Each move, she worked her body and wings to push the air out of the way just so.

She watched the layers pass, feeling a spurt of wind as each one swept past her. Each layer held another floor. Some may have had soldiers, but Rainbow wasn't looking. All they would sense is a whiff of air as she went by.

As the last layer approached, and all she could see past it was a solid floor, she slipped out a hoof and latched onto the side of the last bridge. With the movement of an acrobat, she swung herself effortlessly around and under the bridge before pressing herself against the underside. Her wings were fluttering like mad to keep her hovering, but it was a small enough movement that nopony would ever notice.

Two soldiers were walking on the concrete floor a good twenty feet below her, moving to her left. All she could see were their camouflage outfits and white helmets. She looked around and saw four openings in the surrounding walls. A soft hum could be heard, and she guessed that the generator must be on the right, as that was where most of the noise was coming from.

She waited until the soldiers were out of sight, and the dropped straight down from the wall and swooped to the right. She swung around the corner, and peered out from behind the separating wall, just to be sure the soldiers weren't coming back.

She turned around with a deep breath and looked around the room. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth gaped as she found herself staring face-to-face with a control panel that covered the entire wall. It towered above her, and displayed a prominent power dial the size of a projector screen. Two switches, each half the size of her own body, were on either side of the dial. Only one of them was in the "ON" position. The dial was sitting in red.

Rainbow hunched her back and tiptoed up to the switch, looking all around just to be sure. She was just about to reach a hoof up to it when she heard voices from behind her.

"Hehe, yeah," said Hoops. "We rigged this thing up good."

"Better than good," said Dumb-Bell. "Nopony will suspect we actually boarded up the pump," he said. "the whole place is totally flooded. It's awesome!"

Rainbow shot straight up, and pressed her back against the ceiling again. She watched carefully as the voices grew louder.

"You really think the scientists would come all the way down here?" Score said. "I mean, we've been all up and down here, and I've never seen them."

"Eheh," Hoops laughed, "they're probably back in that train room, place... er... thing."

"Tryin' to get the power on, no doubt," Dumb-Bell said.

They all laughed, and Rainbow watched as they all came into the room just below her. Dumb-Bell was in the middle, with Hoops and Score on either side. The only way she could tell them apart with their helmets on was by their wing color.

"I wish we could turn the other one off," Score said. He flew up to the switch and whacked it with his hoof. "Darn handle ripped off. Must've rusted."

Rainbow squinted, and just barely made out the camouflaged double-handle levers on the switches. One of them only had a bar where the switch should have attached.

"This thing's trashed," Dumb-Bell said. He stepped up to the panel and kicked it with his forehoof. "Ow!" He shook it out and started hopping around.

"Hehe. Serves you right," Score said.

"Shut up!"

Rainbow Dash backed up as quietly as she could, until she was hovering just over the entrance. Then, pushing her wings back, she dived down and flew straight back to the other side of the tunnel, where the three had come from.

There was another entrance in the back that exited into a crude set of black spiral stairs. Rainbow grabbed hold of the bar they wrapped around, and swung herself around and down out of site, before any of the three pegasi could turn around.

She kept hold of the bar, and whipped around in circles, descending the stairs much faster than she could on hoof. She felt her hooves strike something towards the end, and skidded to a halt to find herself in waist-high water. She lifted her wings out of it and turned her head to watch them drip, sticking out her tongue in distaste at how mucky it was. She flapped them a few times before refolding them and trudging through the water.

The basement she had found herself in was completely trashed. Lights dangled from the ceiling, some of them flickering; Various trash, boxes, and supplies floated around in the water; Rust covered many of the pipes along the wall. In the distance, she could just make out a large metal contraption with a horizontal pump at its core. It looked like the soldiers had wedged everything they could find into the pump, and the whole thing now resembled a miniature trash compacter.

Rainbow waded carefully through the water, watching the rippling waves she created cause the trashing to bob around, and the distorted echoes of Dumb-Bell and Score could still be heard above her. She half-walked half-tread her way to the machine in the back, which was in a shadowing nook of the room. With a silent "bleh", she turned her head, reached in with both hooves, and started prying the gunk and trash out of the piston.

Within seconds, the water immediately around her was filled with broken jars, fried electronics, and empty soda cans. She even pried out what she thought was an old dried-up fruitcake. It could have been plastic for all she could tell, though.

With a loud clunk, the piston dropped as she pulled out a broken radio transmitter. Rainbow pulled her hooves back, in case it decided to smash whatever was left. She looked at what was left, and noticed only a steal beam wedged beneath the piston. Looking around to be sure she had enough room, Rainbow got right up close to the beam and wrapped her hooves around it and pulled.

It didn't budge.

She let go for a second, and then spat on both of her hooves, rubbing them together until they were nice and sticky. Then she placed them at the top of the beam, and wrapped her bottom hooves around it as well, as if she was trying to climb it, and spread her wings.

She was so preoccupied with this that she hadn't even noticed how quiet it had gotten. All she could hear was the water splashing around her. She could feel a few pieces of trash and debris brushing against her back as the waves washed them up to her, and she made a few movements to push them away.

With a deep breath, Rainbow flapped her wings forward, holding onto the beam as tight as she could. She could feel it starting to slip with each flap, and each time, she flapped a little harder.

She gave one last almighty heave, and with a snap that rang out around the room, she flew backwards, beam in hooves, and splashed straight into the water. Everything went blurry, and it took a second for her to get her bearings.

Finding the ground beneath her hooves, she pushed up and felt her head break the surface. She flipped her mane around, whipping the water around the room, and getting the water out of her ears. As she did so, a hum filled the room, followed by a loud rhythmic drone. She turned around a few times, and found the piston behind her, pumping away to a loud whirr of belts and fans. She took a deep breath, and spread her wings with a flourish, sending more water splashing to the side.

"One less thing to worry about," she whispered to herself.

She flew up out of the water with a splash, hovered for a second, and then whipped around back to the stairs.

"Hey."

Rainbow whipped her wings around and came to a halt just before the stairs. Dumb-Bell, Hoops, and Score were standing hip-deep in the water, just in front of the exit. Dumb-Bell was in front.

"Looky what we got here," he said, turning his head to the other two, and then back to Rainbow, and then around to the churning machine behind her. "Looks like Rainbow Crash has turned into little Rainbow Rat!" He laughed with a smirk, and the other forced a laugh along with him. "Serge is gonna love this."

Rainbow landed in front of them, and noticed the water level had gone down a few inches. "You wouldn't," she said with a snarl.

Dumb-Bell snickered, and then burst out laughing. The other two joined in as well. "You—" he choked up, trying to catch his breath. "You really think you're gonna get out of this one?" The laughs filled the room, and echoed above the increasing roar of machinery. "You think they're gonna believe you when you tell them the pump just happened to turn itself on, and you just happened to be in the room?" He stood up, changing his smile into a scowl, and placed his muzzle right up against Dash's. "I always knew you were a little snitch."

Hoops gave a few stupid chuckles behind Dumb-Bell. "What do you think we should do with her?"

Dumb-Bell turned around and whipped a hoof into Hoops's face.

"Ow!" Hoops cowered, and held up a hoof to his cheek.

"We are not gonna do anything, you idiot," he said. "Let the Serge deal with 'er."

"Hey!" Score whined. "Why can't we be the heroes?" He moped about. "I wanted to watch her squirm."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at all of this, and gave a loud mock-yawn. "Weeeeell, if you guys are done talking about me," she said, "I think I'd better get going."

Dumb-Bell put a hoof up in front of her. "You're not going anywhere," he said with a stupid smile. He reached around with his wing, and opened up a saddlebag on his uniform. "Serge is gonna deal with you first." He reached his wing into the bag, and pulled out a radio transmitter.

"Yeah, that's nice and all," Rainbow said. "Just one problem." She spread her wings just as Dumb-Bell put the mic up to his lips. He stopped short, dumbfounded. "You're assuming they can catch me."

She crouched low and blasted forward from all fours, launching herself at them so fast, their helmets were blown right off. She could hear Dumb-Bell's "WHAAA—" behind her as she grabbed hold of the staircase poll and whipped herself around and up at lightning speed.

As soon as the generator room came into focus, she let go, launching herself like a dart towards the panel in the back. As she slowed down, she could hear muffed shouts coming from the staircase. Without hesitation, she grabbed onto the switch and hoisted it up against the spring-loaded off position.

"I got—"
"Where'd she—"
"Get up there!"

She pushed harder, feeling the sweat pour from under her mane, and felt and snap as the switch gave in and slapped against the wall. There was a spark, and a hum of life, and Rainbow suddenly felt her mane and tail standing on end. Arcs of electricity sprung to life here and there along the panel, and the electric charge filled the room with a tingly feeling.

There was an "OOMF!" behind her, and she turned to see Dumb-Bell, Hoops, and Score piled on top of one another at the top of the staircase.

"GET HER!" Dumb-Bell yelled. He shoved himself out of the body-pile and pulled out his radio mic. "We have a Double Rainbow!" he said. "I repeat, we have a Double Rainbow!"

Rainbow Dash looked at him funny for a second as Hoops and Score continued to stumble over one another. There was some confused babbling over the radio, followed by Dumb-Bell saying "It means Rainbow double-crossed, you idiots!"

Rainbow heard a glimpse of "oh!"s and "okay"s come over the receiver. She giggled a bit as Dumb-Bell rolled his eyes.

Dumb-Bell pointed a hoof at her. "You won't be laughing when you're sitting in front of the interoga—intaga—iner—question-thing light!" Dumb-Bell said.

Rainbow glared at her. "I don't plan on it." She spread her wings, rose into the air, and did a backflip, landing on the wall just above the switch. "Sorry boys," she said. She grabbed hold of the switch handle with both hooves and rocked it back and fourth. "But I've got plans!" She pulled up hard, and with a creak and a snap, the handle broke clean off, just like the switch on the other side. She held it up for all three of them to see. "Looks like you all are out of luck."

Just as she said this, there was a swoosh from above her, and a half-dozen pegasi came tumbling through the holes in the ceiling, and landed with a thud on the floor in the central room. All of them were armed, crouched low, with wings spread, ready to fire.

"I wouldn't say that," Dumb-Bell said, walking forward.

Rainbow put her hooves behind her and stupidly grinned. "Hehe." She tossed the broken switch off to the side, and shifted her eyes from side to side as it clanged in the distance. "Ummm..."

The pegasi all scowled, and a particularly muscular pegasus sprung up in the back. "YEEEEEAH!"

"Uh," Rainbow started, scratching her head. "I'd... better be going now. Nice talking to ya CATCHEMEIFYOUCAN!"

She was already halfway to the ceiling exit before she finished. She arced straight up and through the break in the ceiling, wind howling in her ears as she crossed the threshold. She could just make out a few yells behind her as she rocketed through the floors, a bullet train whipping through a tunnel.

The pinhole end of the tunnel exploded into a full-size room as she breached the top, and she spun around to get her bearings: ramps on her left, hoofrails behind, soldier in front of the ramps—

"MOVEMENT!"

Rainbow let loose a voice-cracking yell, and flew off in the opposite direction. Her head followed as she righted herself, and she found herself starring at a wall which she promptly smashed into.

"Ow." She pulled her head out of the wall and shook the derp out of her eyes. A few bangs could be heard in the distance, and something was striking the wall around her. She stumbled to the right with a "WHOA" towards the tunnel exit, glancing back at the bullet-riddled wall.

She pushed herself against the ground and kicked off into another flight, following the tunnel. She could hear shouts behind her: orders being dished out. The walls on either side raced passed her, and she deftly tilted her wings to the rhythm of the path as it jogged to the left, then the right, then the left again, cutting corners within an inch of the walls.

Something purple and white zoomed under her, and she screeched to a halt. A voice behind her called out.

"RAINBOW!"

She flipped over and flew back to the blur, slowing down just enough to make out two ponies with crazed expressions on their faces. She could just make out the buzzing of wings in the background.

"Rainbow," Twilight said. "Where have you—"

"NO TIME!"

She swooped down and wrapped her hooves around them: Twilight on the right, Rarity on the left, and flapped hard against the weight.

"RAINBOW!"

Both of them screamed as she bolted forward. Everything blurred as she picked up speed, and all she could hear was wind and screams. The extra weights on either side were throwing her off balance, and she couldn't help but lean one way or the other. She rammed into one of the walls on her right and flipped into a barrel roll before catching herself.

"WHERE—" she could barely hear Twilight, "—ARE—WE GOING?"

Rarity was still piercing the air with a glass-shattering scream.

The end of the tunnel reared up in front of her, and she parachuted her wings to screech to a halt, looking for the blast doors.

"Soldiers!" she explained. "Flying!"

The wind whistled around her in short bursts as a few bullets flew past her, and she turned and bolted towards the green glow to her left. Her hoof slipped under the force of the turn, followed by a "RAINBO—AHHHHHHH!" to her right. Rarity was still screaming on her left, but Twilight completely slipped out as she entered the dive into the pit.

A sharp yank on her tail told her Twilight had managed to grab on. With all the skill from flight school, she arced her wings in just the right way, both pushing the wind, and guiding it. She push her body up until it righted itself from the dive, the Gs pushing back against every muscle, and barely missed the ramp as she cut across the corner and whipped through the bottom blast doors. She felt a bump as Twilight scraped against the ground, but managed to stay fast enough to keep her airborn.

"SLOW—DOWN!" Twilight's voice could barely be heard.

She heard a few crashes, and even a loud masculine scream behind her, and could only imagine the poor pegasi crashing into the goop and walls as they tried duplicating that maneuver.

Almost there, she thought. She pressed her body together and picking up speed.

She kept being tugged in intervals, and it wasn't until she felt a hoof on her backside that she realized Twilight was crawling hoof-over-hoof up her tail. She tried to keep her balance as Twilight stumbled up her haunches and onto her back. Rarity was now shifted below her, and she felt her weight come to the center again, easing up on the strain.

A boom and a rumble went off behind her, followed by another closely after. She came to a break in the path, and swerved to the right, not stopping until she got to the two-story dead-end with the catwalks halfway up. She slowed down, pulled up, and found the double-doors she was heading for the whole time.

"RAINBOW! WE'RE GONNA—"

She slammed into the doors and felt her head spin. Her hooves slipped, and she tumbled onto the ground after dropping Rarity from her grasp. Twilight flew off, and they rolled to a stop, scattered throughout the room.

Rainbow was on her hooves before the birds stopped flying, and the room was still swimming all around her. She could still manage to recognize it as the control room for the train, though. The large window was in the back, looking out over the depot.

There was a snap behind her, and she turned her head to see the doors magicked closed, and various items floating towards it in a purple haze. She turned around to see Twilight wincing, and her horn a glow. Rarity was in the corner, slightly tear-stricken, but still alive.

"Are the trains running?" Rainbow asked stupidly.

Twilight finished her spell, and galloped over to the window. She placed her hooves on the bottom and leaned out into the depot. "I—" She pulled back and looked around at the panel.

Rainbow followed her line of sight, and saw the large bold letters "OFF" just above the controls. She put a hoof to her face and groaned. "What now?!"

A gust of wind was followed by a loud bang as the doors jolted, making Rainbow and Twilight jump. Voices followed.

"It's jammed!"

Another set of wings fluttered down, followed by another voice.

"Don't just stand there. Force it open!" A slight pause. "Nimbus Squad, go through the debot. Stratus Squad, stay here and get that door down!"

Another whack make a few electronics fall off the pile in front of the door.

"What do we do now, Twilight?" Rainbow asked.

Twilight turned back to the lifeless panel. "I have an idea," she said, "but it's completely insane!" She walked up to the window and put her hooves against the sill.

"Waitwaitwaitwait, hold on!" Rainbow said. She flew over to Twilight and put her hooves up. "You're not gonna—"

Twilight looked out into the depot with Rainbow and stared at the thirty-foot monster with its back turned in a corner. It was just blocking a tunnel that lead off to the left. They could hear it breathing.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said. "I just don't know what else to do." She pulled back and crouched onto the floor. "It's either getting burned alive, or getting riddled with bullets. There's just no good choice!"

Another smash filled the room, and Rainbow looked at the door, then back to Twilight, then out the window. "Maybe not," she said, turning back to Twilight. "But sometimes crazy is better than nothing at all."

She swooped down and landed in front of Twilight, holding out her hoof. "Give me the crowbar, Twilight."

Twilight's eyes went wide. She reached back almost instinctively, but then pulled back her hoof. "You're serious?"

Rainbow scowled and put her hooves on her hips. Her glare was enough to make Twilight keep moving.

"Okay," she said, pulling out the crowbar, "but don't do anything too stupid."

Rainbow grabbed the crowbar and examined it under the light, watching the metal reflect it in a series of glimmers and sparkles. "I'm a grunt, Twilight." She swooshed the crowbar through the air a couple times and perched herself on the sill, looking out over the depot. She turned back at Twilight and derped. "I was born to do stupid things!"

Rainbow watched Twilight's eyes bug out and roll around, followed by watching her face droop into her hoof. She gave a weak smile, and leaped out into the depot, wings flared and teeth bared.

One whoosh later, and she was floating just in back of the breathing blue mountain in the entrance to the back tunnel. She hesitated a bit, holding the crowbar limp in her right hoof.

A faint sound echoed to her left.

"Remember. Look for a back entrance."

She glimpsed to the side and saw movement in the small tunnel exit. Soldiers were about to pour out into the depot.

An evil grin crept through Rainbow's face, and her eyes squinted into a glare. She turned her head towards the beast next to her, just feet away from the back of its head, and floated innocently to within a few inches of it.

She turned to it, placed the crowbar behind her back, and whistled with shifting eyes for just a second. Then, whipping it out from behind her,

"HEY FLAME-BREATH! CHEW ON THIS!"

She whipped the crowbar around, and it clanged satisfyingly into its armor, sending a few sparks flying.

There was a rumble, followed by a growl that grew into a roar, and suddenly the entire room was shaking. Rainbow backed up, her smile fading. Shaking the room in jolts with each step, the mountain turned around, revealing its would-be eyes. All that could be seen on its face was a red flaming glow where its mouth should be, but Rainbow could tell that, if it had a face, it would be all rage.

She put the crowbar behind her back, grinned big, and giggled. "Uh, gotta go!" She raced back into the room, and caught a glimpse of something to her right. Soldiers were pouring out into the depot. She stopped mid-air and looked down at them.

"It's Rainbow!" shouted one, pointing up.
"Get her!"

Another Equestria-shattering roar shook the chamber, and every soldier turned to face the storming blue mass charging into the room. A few backed up, while others yelled out. With a sickening crunch, the two forces collided, and the first thing Rainbow saw was a giant foot smash down onto one of the soldiers.

"WHAT THE—"
"HEEEEEEELP!"

More screams echoed around the room as the monster unleashed its flames across the fleeing crowd. More soldiers were pouring out into the depot, spraying a hurricane of bullets in their path, causing sparks to jump and fly off the impenetrable armor. The creature leaned back and shook the room with another roar as the new set of soldiers came charging out at it.

Rainbow swished her blue body down and into the tunnel they originally came in from in a haze of rainbow trail. All she could hear from behind her were war cries and screams, muffled by flames and growling. She turned around in the tunnel and flew up to the mouth, hovering so she could watch the battle.

Pegasi were now flying all around the beast as it tore its arms through the air, trying to swat at them hopelessly. Some of them tried clinging onto it, as Rainbow had done earlier.

"NO, YOU IDIOTS," one of the soldiers on the ground yelled. "FORGET THE BEAST! GET THE SCIENTISTS!"

Rainbow crept out of the tunnel, keeping her eye on the flaming sparking chaos, which was steadily acquiring bodies of soldiers at its feet. She hovered up to the control-room depot, where Twilight and Rarity were watching with stunned faces at what was happening. The door behind them had nearly been bashed open, and movement could be seen behind them as the frightened soldiers tried to get a glimpse at what was causing all the noise.

Rainbow floated right up to them, and glanced at the battle before looking at Twilight. "We gotta get out of here before we get creamed!" she said.

"Are you CRAZY?!" Twilight yelled, looking at her with an insane expression.

The door behind them crashed, and the pegasi could be seen clearly now.

"There they are!" one of them shouted.

Twilight turned and saw one of the soldiers aim their gun through the opening in the doors.

"Nevermind. Let's go!" she said, turning back to Rainbow.

Rarity only caught a glimpse of this conversation, and turned her head at the last minute. "What?"

Twilight put her hooves on the sill, and perched her hind hooves on it like a cat before leaping out of it onto the depot floor.

"Twilight!" Rarity yelled. "Twilight, wait for me!"

She stumbled a bit at the sill, but Rainbow didn't wait to see the disaster of her fall. She whipped over her, and lifted her off the ground, hovering down to the ground before dropping her on all fours.

"THIS WAY!" Twilight yelled, waiving a hoof at both of them. She sprinted off next to the battle, holding up her hoof to shield against the occasional bullet that whooshed past her. Rarity was screaming as she galloped after her.

The entire room was becoming a flaming, bloody mess as the monster tore the army to shreds right next to them. Rainbow hovered over them as they galloped towards the tunnel in the back, and only glimpsed back when she heard more soldiers rocketing out of the control room behind them.

There was another roar as the depot shook, and the air was blasted with flames so thick that the ceiling couldn't be seen. Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all turned to watch the new wave of soldiers fried alive in front of them one after another, all dropping to the ground in blackened crisps from the ceiling of fire.

Only a second later, the flames dissolved into smoke, followed by the creature leaning back and letting out a victory cry, and sending a few warning flames into the air for any other remaining ponies.

"Twilight," Rarity said, literally shaking from head to toe. "I really think we should—"

There was a grunt as the creature turned its head, and all three of them knew it was staring right at them. They locked eyes for a second, and it blew out a small flame from where its mouth would be.

"Um." Rarity started poking Twilight furiously, not taking her eyes off the creature. "Twilight. I think it saw us. I think it sees us. I think—"

"I know, Rarity!" Twilight yelled.

Rarity went wide eyed and nearly fainted. "What are we—how are we—wha—"

"We're," Twilight started, sounding just as scared, "going to—RUUUUUUUUN!" She reeled back on her hind hooves, waving her forehooves in the air, before bolting off in the other direction down the tunnel.

"Twilight, wait!" Rarity screamed, waving her own hooves in the air.

The monster gave another grunt, and then lurched forward, causing more Equestria-shattering booms and shakes each time its feet smashed into the ground.

Rainbow turned around to see Twilight and Rarity colliding with each other as they galloped in a frenzy down the hallway. Without so much as a thought, Rainbow shot down after them and hooked her hooves under each one in turn, lifting them straight off the ground.

"RUN, RAINBOW!" Twilight yelled, realizing what she was doing.

Rainbow flapped hard against the wind, feeling a hot gust of air hit her rump, envisioning the flames leaping out behind her. She picked up speed, dodging the parts of the ceiling falling down each time the ground shook. The walls were racing past her as she approached a corner of the tunnel.

Getting as close to the edge as she could, she banked and righted herself into the new branch of tunnel.

"DEAD END!" Twilight screamed, just before Rainbow saw it. A wall stood just in front of a massive contraption of electrical equipment that towered dozens of feel in all directions. There was a path cut through it, through which they could see a platform in the back.

Rainbow skidded to a halt just before hitting the wall, and lowered them to the platform.

"What do we do?" Rarity said as she landed on the ground. "That thing's right behind us!"

"We need a place to hide! Quick!" Twilight said. She looked around in all directions.

Rainbow looked to the right, and saw a small control panel at the end of the platform with a large switch in the middle. She spread her wings and launched herself at it.

"I say we get this thing on and get out of here!" she yelled.

Twilight looked at her as if just noticing the panel, and opened her eyes wide. The booms and shakes got louder, and they could see a charging blue mass in the back of the tunnel. She glanced at the switch, then at the tunnel, then back at the switch.

"Do it!" she said.

Rainbow grabbed the switch and pulled, pressing it against the spring-loaded off position just like the other switch. Twilight galloped up and threw her hooves onto it as well. With both of them pushing, the switch gave in easily, snapping into position. Immediately all their manes went flying from static, and the air cracked and snapped all around them as arcs flew around the equipment.

"It's on!" Twilight yelled. "Get us out of here!"

Rainbow leaped on top of Twilight, hoisting her up and heading towards Rarity.

There was another boom and shake, and Rainbow glanced up to see the monster just feet away from the contraption. She froze, feeling every muscle in her body tense up. It was blocking their only way out.

They all starred as it slammed its way through the crumbling tunnel, right in between the arcing electrical units. Rarity screamed and covered her face, and Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked away, putting a hoof out in front of them.

There was a deafening roar, followed by complete stillness as the stomping stopped. Rainbow Dash waited with bated breath to be cooked alive, and cringed as she awaited the flames.

They never came.

The roar rose up into a piercing scream, and they heard a few flames shoot out, accompanied by cracks and snaps of electricity. And then—

Rainbow Dash looked up to see the monster standing there, almost lifeless. It stared at them, arms slacked. Then, with a small puff of flame from its mouth and a small groan, it fell onto its knees with a thud before collapsing entirely onto the ground with a deep thunderous boom.

Silence followed, broken only by the occasional snap of electricity. All three of them just stared at the body lying on the ground in front of them. Twilight was the first to speak.

"Is it dead?"

Rainbow started to float forward to poke it a few times, but Twilight grabbed her tail with her teeth and pulled her back. "Not a good idea," she said, letting go.

Rainbow looked over and saw Rarity cowering on the ground in tears. She looked back at Twilight and scratched the back of her neck. "Uh, what just happened?"

Twilight paced around on the platform, still wide-eyed. "It... it was electrocuted," she said. "This power plant is so old, it must be leaking current all over the place."

Rainbow let her hooves drop, and stared at the giant blue corpse. "Wow..." She floated down to the ground and landed right next to Twilight. They both kept looking at the creature.

"I guess we don't have to worry about the military anymore," Rainbow said.

Rainbow couldn't see Twilight's expression, but from what she could catch in her peripheral vision, it wasn't joyful.

"You might have used a bit more stealth, you know," she said, turning her head towards her. "Being chased down a hallway wasn't exactly what I had in mind as far as an escape plan."

Rainbow laughed nervously and ran a hoof along the back of her neck. "Heh, yeah."

Twilight turned her head around and looked at her saddlebags. A glimmer of magic aura hovered around it as she opened it and levitated something out. "These traps came in really handy," she said. "It wasn't easy setting them up."

Rainbow made a confused face. "Wait, when was this?"

Twilight giggled. "When we were flying down the tunnel," she said. She closed her eyes and beamed. "I'm quite proud of it, actually. I managed to throw them onto the walls with my magic while I was on your back."

Rainbow gaped. "That was you?!" she said, thinking back to the explosions she heard while flying. "Wow," she said, wide-eyed. "You'd make a pretty good demolitionist if you were in the army," she said.

Twilight blushed, and walked over to where Rarity was still cowering.

"Okay, Rarity," she said. "You can get up now."

Rarity poked her head up like a gopher and glanced around. "Are," she started, "Are we still alive?!" She ran her hooves all around her body just to make sure.

Twilight laughed. "I wouldn't exactly say every pony is," she said. "But Rainbow Dash and I most definitely are."

Rarity got up onto shaking hooves, nearly falling over a few times. They all put their hooves around her to comfort her, and she took a deep breath as she calmed down.

All of them looked at the enormous corpse lying on the ground. Rainbow Dash gave an involuntary snort of laughter as she realized what they had just survived. Twilight glared at her, but ultimately smiled too.

"Let's," Twilight said, "not do that again."

Comments

[coppercore]

Nice work, just saw a couple of typos and maybe one or two tense errors.

I don't care if it's a ponified version of the Half-Life story, this is fucking awesome. The dynamic of the three of them just... works so well here. Keep up the awesome work!

[GordonFreebrony]

Bravo! Bravo! Encore! Encore!

[Bob Sausage]

Jeff Goldblum stating "You must go faster" just came to mind at that last bit

[saroeweft laevv]

But the gargantua explodes upon death every time they die.. not just falls over