Re:Harmony

by starcross7

98 - Where your fears and horrors come true...

Chapter 98 - Where your fears and horrors come true…

Flash Sentry did his best to keep his composure in the excruciating heat of the glass-encased observation deck. This was expected of him as a Lord-General, but what impressed him more was that both guard and slave alike inside the deck was able to put up with it as good as he did.

The deck overlooked an extensive maze-like sally port designed to keep the influx of slaves in line as they marched to their assigned work groups to work on Pegaspolis's many crucial weapons. Usually they would only bring in dishonored pegasi, half of whom were clipped, and half of whom had their wings bound for breaking the sacred laws of their society. With Gaea gearing up to wipe them out, the Empress Commander decreed that all available hooves be brought over from Seaddle to Los Pegasus. Most of the floors of the Factory were lined with steel anyway, and while it would be no trouble to manufacture and distribute Feather Fall shoes for earth ponies or clipped pegasi, the citizen-warriors would openly revolt if anypony felt charitable to these slaves.

He did not see Soarin at his lounge chair, and neither his primary earth pony attendant was there waiting for him. Nopony would blame him if he snuck out with a poor excuse buffered by his authority as a Lord General. The deck sweltered around 37 degrees (100 at Gaea's unit of measure) and rising. All the heat came deep within the encased armor of the Empress Commander herself. If she sat on any chair not made of reinforced steel, she would have ignited it, if not outright melt it.

"Empress Commander," spoke Flash. "I will make preparations for the Factory tour."

He deemed his act to leave his Empress Commander's presence as a valid excuse, but a discerning citizen-warrior could see it as cowardly. Still, the Empress Commander made no objections to it, and she barely nodded her approval based on the subtle movement of her draconian helmet. As respectfully as he could, he walked past the Empress Commander and her cadre of nubile slaves and out of the sweltering observation deck. Flash let out gasp of relief. Even a few degrees of coolness felt soothing, and it became more comfortable the further he trotted away.

Knowing Soarin, the whitish-blue pegasus would once again be sneaking off another bite of apple pie. To find him, Flash only needed to follow his nose. Soarin's addiction to apple pie was starting to get out of hoof, which made the rumors of him personally enslaving a few earthian survivors of Appleloosa for his own gluttonous pleasures seem truer than ever. It would not be surprising to Flash if it was, but he really needs to control his addiction.

Flash caught him and his personal stallion slave in a compromising position in a dark corner of the Factory's administrative wing. The slave, frightened by Flash's appearance, bowed his head towards him as he immediately trotted backwards to wait for his master further down the steel halls. The master, on the other hoof, took one last bite of his pie and quickly licked the gooey cream off his cheeks. By his submissive expression and his flattened ears, Soarin knew what he did wrong, but Flash was not going to chastise him for it. Flash waited until his compatriot regain his commanding composure when he spoke to him.

"Hey," said Flash. "We need to secure guard detail for the Commander for the tour."

"Sure," replied Soarin.

"Still no sign of Lord General Surprise?"

"She radioed in that she's going to be late. We'll know when she arrives."

We'll know? Flash dreaded hearing those words, because each time Surprise arrived…

He could not complete the thought when his feathers tingled. Usually this would be a normal sensation whenever a pegasus flew by or there was a scheduled change of weather. This wind felt different, but this was something he felt it in his gut rather than in his wings. His fellow Lord General caught wind of it too. As a Wind Master, Soarin knew the source and was looking straight up towards it.

"Flash," said Soarin. "It seems that they have something to report."

Just as he suspected. Flash knew that they have existed in the shadows since Pegasopolis's inception, but they were above them clinging to the ceiling almost like insects. There were three mares, one stallion, and one griffon of an unspecified gender. Aside from their outlines, he could not make out any other distinguishing features.

"Identify yourselves," said Flash.

"Captain of the Shadowbolts Stealth Division, reporting," replied one of the mares. "We caught sight of a suspicious slave transport scheduled to arrive in forty minutes."

"And none of our patrols stopped them?"

"They tried, but they kept letting them pass. They always seemed to fly away from the slaver skiff with a funny look in the eyes, the kind that tells me that a unicorn was involved."

"There's no way those horned devils would still be alive," said Soarin.

"But they are, and our spies are finding more of them infiltrating Gaea and the Chroma Pirates."

"So the Starswirl Prophecy is coming true," said Flash. "This is such great timing."

"Do not worry, my Lord Generals. On my pride as a Shadowbolt, we will eliminate the intruders before they would get within striking distance of our beloved Empress Commander and the Factory. We will not disappoint you."

They vanished into the shadows just as they arrived, but they left behind something unbecoming of their namesake. The Shadowbolts Stealth Division were the Empresses' elite black ops unit who were tasked to perform clandestine missions. Rumor has it that they often performed dishonorable actions against the enemy and traitors for their country, but as discreet as possible. They were supposed to leave no traces of themselves behind, but this was an exception.

What they left was a strong sickening smell, and because of it both Flash and Soarin nearly threw up.

---

She had been pacing nervously in the kitchenette almost the entire last leg of the trip. Twilight and the others had told Fluttershy that it was going to be all right, but the constant midair stops did not reassure her.

Every stop had been initiated by pegasi patrol who would ask the pilot to display their Heaven's Insignia. While both Derpy and Flitter wore fake ones, half the time the patrol would request to board the slave skiff and inspect the interior. When that happened, both Twilight and Sunny hid themselves and cast a hypnosis spell to convince the patrol pegasi that everything was all right. Fluttershy did voice some concerns of possible brain damage, but Twilight assured her that the spells were almost always harmless. Still, the yellow pegasus did not like the fact that they had to resort to trickery to get into Pegasopolis, even if their society was a brutal one.

The skiff then made one more stop. Panic built up within Fluttershy. She could hear her friends conversing in the cockpit and the other rooms, but nothing indicated that a patrol guard stopped them. It did not seem like a maintenance issue, but Fluttershy would not know the subtle differences between a Pegasopolis airship and one manufactured by the Gaean military.

Though fearful, she did muster up the courage to step out of the kitchenette to find out what was going on, but she couldn't. The door swung open, and a pegasus mare with a black and gray mane and a light gold coat stepped in with an authoritative slam from her hoof. Fluttershy yelped and hid underneath the table, peered up to her captor with pleading eyes.

"Relax Fluttershy, it's me."

Fluttershy blinked. It sounded like her. She had the same rose-colored eyes, but on her flank was what appeared to be a badly drawn compass rose.

"Rainbow Dash?"

"How do I look? Pretty cool, huh? Rarity was excited to dye my coat and mane as part of my M.O. as Daring Do of Pegasopolis's Magical Artifact Recovery Team. Twilight figured that if I acted like her, we can get in much closer and snatch the Sky Key right off of the Empress Commander's neck."

"What about your Cutie M--I mean, Insignia?"

"You're talkin' to the biggest fan of Daring Do's exploits here. I know her Insignia inside and out."

"But it looks badly drawn."

"Okay, so I made a draft of her Insignia in a hurry just to show you my new 'Do'. Pinkie Pie is working on the final one. So, you ready to bust some pegasi tail and save the world?"

"Oh, I don't know. I'm getting more nervous the closer we get, but why have we stopped moving?"

"There's a long line of slaver skiffs ahead of us. Apparently that speech on TV spooked the Empress Commander to quickly build up their fleet and their ultra-secret weapon. Something about a big bomb of some sort. We should probably suit up. Heaven knows how long it'll take with Rarity involved."

Fluttershy dreaded the arrival of this moment, but she had come too far to back out. It took her some time to climb out from underneath the table and follow the disguised Dash out in the hallway and into the cabin shared with Rarity, Twilight, Sunny, and Fluttershy. Almost everypony involved with the operation were inside getting dressed in slave clothing: bridle and reins for the muzzles, loosely-fitted metal wing binders for the pegasi, and saddles on the backs. Fluttershy's friends left her a set over at her bottom bunk bed, but she hesitatingly putting them on. Twilight had reassured her back at the Rainbow Falls mountain base that they were made of synthetic leather. Still, the notion of ponies using animal skin as clothing sickened Fluttershy greatly, and upon putting her slave clothing on her, she could immediately imagine the humiliation and misery the slaves of Pegasopolis they suffered under. At least her friends took to wearing the clothing better than her. Twilight, Sunny, and Applejack had no problem with theirs, although Applejack had to store her hat in a tele-orb she hid underneath her mane. Pinkie Pie appeared too happy as she bounced around the room trying to "ride" an annoyed Applejack. As for Rarity, she preoccupied herself trying to make a selection from a trio of jewel-encrusted saddles of various shades.

"Rares, we're dressin' up as slaves," said Applejack. "I don't think the majority of them are gonna have diamonds on their saddles."

"Then I shall be the exception, Applejack darling," said Rarity. "I am sure that this 'Daring Do' character is a high-ranking pegasus, so she must have a slave or two that act as an equivalent to a royal concubine."

"Fine, whatever. Jus' pick a saddle already. We've practically arrived at Cloud 2, and you still need to hide yer horn."

Rarity let out an annoyed grunt. She resumed using her magic to rotate her focus in picking out her saddlewear, and in the meantime the rest of the ponies loaded themselves up with hidden tele-orbs, scraps of paper, and pencils as a way to communicate to one another should they become separated. After that, Twilight and Sunny cast their cloud-walking spells on themselves, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity while she was not looking. When Rarity finally settled on a purple-magenta saddle with ruby gems, Twilight immediately hid her horn with a spell. Then she motioned to her to not cast any more magic from hereon before she could even blink.

Finally they were ready. They were dressed in their proper attire, and all the unicorns had their horns hidden. They all filed out and lined up in the hallway with Rainbow Dash taking the lead as Daring Do with a properly drawn Heaven's Insignia on her flank. Rarity pulled up behind her as her "concubine", followed by Applejack, Twilight, Sunny, and Fluttershy herself. Flitter, garbed in a dark blue armor, pulled up the very rear with a whip in her mouth. She had been designated as Daring Do's slave handler that stood in stark contrast of her feminine nature. She looked adorable with her pink bow when she made her first appearance. Without that bow, she appeared more like the fearsome warrior pegasi common throughout the cloudlands of Pegasopolis. It should not be surprising, for Flitter had fled from Pegasopolis right as she gained her Insignia, and Fluttershy recalled her reason for volunteering was because she had some "unfinished business" at her home country.

It was a good thing Flitter and Rainbow Dash were on their side, but now they were deep in Pegasopolis territory. Fluttershy's heart skipped as the slave skiff lurched forward every few minutes. The closer they advanced, the louder the Factory thunder and gears became. Aside from wearing the clothing that would be made from animal skins, Fluttershy could only imagine the horrors that took place in Cloud 2. The little courage she had mustered minutes before slowly began to evaporate.

"Uh, maybe I can stay behind with Spike and Derpy," said Fluttershy.

Too late. Either nopony heard her words or they rushed out right as the port door ejected open. The line advanced outside, and Fluttershy's hesitation in stepping out resulted in an abrupt jab on her behind.

"Sorry," said Flitter, "but you have to move. Just playing my part."

The yellow pegasus mare squeaked. She hurried as best as she could with wearing all the slave implements on her back, wings, and muzzle. Even though they were loosely-fitted for immediate discarding, they still felt too heavy for her.

The flash of lightning above caused her to lag behind briefly. She resumed following her friends on a very long platform dock extending out from the Factory of Cloud 2. This platform was one of many, with dozens left and right of Fluttershy and dozens more above and below her. Lines and lines of ponies trudged on shackled and bridled by their pegasi slave drivers. They were a mixture of earth and pegasus ponies, many of whom had suffered scars from their constant abuse. Many had patches of their fur falling out, and many had bald manes. For the pegasi slaves, some suffered further mutilations of painfully plucked feathers or wing clipping at the joint.

The disheartening sight would have overwhelmed Fluttershy. There were perhaps thousands or tens of thousands marching to build weapons of mass destruction. She could shy away from all this, but she did not. The brutality of this nation motivated her hooves to keep pace with the rest of their friends.

Putting up a brave front tested Fluttershy. The long walk into the Factory was hindered by long waits on the precarious steel platform. She had to ignore the shouts and slurs of the slave drivers and the sound of whips beating on skin. A few distant screams were heard, and in the corner of her eye she saw one or two ponies being thrown off to their doom to the ground below. She had to be strong. She held back her tears, gnashed her teeth, and bit into her lips to fight the anguish in her mind. She could not lose hope right now, else she would revert to her feral self that lived in the Everfree Forest for so long.

Eventually, her group arrived at the Factory proper, staffed by a large group of intimidating pegasi guards. Fluttershy had to be ready because her friends were ready. Rainbow Dash was more than ready. With a convincing disguise and costume, she swaggered up to the check-in station occupied by a gray pegasus stallion who had his muzzle buried in a clipboard.

"Hey there fellow citizen-warrior," said Dash as Do. "I'm just here droppin' off the slaves to aid us in the war effort against the rascally Gaean earth ponies."

"Sure," he said as he set aside his clipboard. "Just point your Heaven's Insignia towards the Reader."

Fluttershy gulped. Pegasopoils was known to keep extensive records of all ponies and their marks on their flanks. While most of her friends displayed varying degrees of nervousness, Rainbow Dash retained her cool and relaxed smile as two pegasi slaves rolled up the Insignia Reader towards her. The Reader sprayed lasers all over the neatly-drawn compass rose, and the slaves and the pegasus stallion guard stared at the Reader's attached monitor as it beeped and booped.

The guard's eyebrow shot up, and then he shot his eyes towards Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy and her friends became really nervous, and sweat dripped from their brows even though the air was cold. Daring Do's Insignia should have been drawn perfectly. Any slight variances would arouse suspicions in Pegasopolis's computer systems.

"What's your name, ma'am?" asked the guard.

"Uh, Daring Do?" Dash answered.

"I knew it! You're the legendary treasure hunter everypony's talking about! I've read all the logbooks you have sent to Cloud 1! Guys, Daring Do is here!"

Many, if not all the guards within the vicinity abandoned their posts and gathered around Rainbow Dash with excited smiles and books for her to sign. Despite her relishing in the attention, her friends however became even more nervous. One particularly creepy stallion guard who joined the fan entourage stood by Fluttershy's flank and snorted heavily upon her. She tried sidestepping away bit by bit, but Flitter cut her off and cracked her whip in the air.

"Fluttershy," Flitter whispered. "Don't break from the group. I really don't want to hurt you."

She was right. Even with all the attention diverted towards Rainbow Dash, the Factory still had their long line of security cameras mounted high up in the ceiling and a few stalwart guards stationed at their posts. Fluttershy would have gotten back in line, if not for a horrific sight she saw just past Flitter.

At the next line over, there was a bruised pegasus colt lying prone in the middle. He trembled hurtfully, and one whip to his side elicited a brief yelp from him. That whip came from a surly-looking brown pegasus stallion with a horned helmet. He motioned to what looked to be a gray earth pony beast tamer who pulled in a frothing two-headed dog beast with a jagged chain. Before long, a lanky dark-blue pegasus stallion slave jumped from the back of the line and stood between the colt and the beast.

"Fluffy Clouds, you best step away from colt," said the surly pegasus stallion. "Or else I'm gonna have my half-brother Crateos sick the orthros on you as well."

"Be merciful on Rumble!" cried the blue pegasus slave. "He's still recovering from an ankle sprain."

"Mercy? I've knew you to be a sniveling pacifist wretch, but to beg for mercy from another pegasus is disgraceful. I've had it with you, Fluffy Clouds. You and the colt are going straight down to Tartarus."

Rumble? The same Rumble that the captured prisoner Thunderlane had talked about? Even if he was an unknown colt, Fluttershy could not stand him being eaten by the orthrus. She pushed her way through Flitter, who had put some effort at holding her back. The yellow pegasus threw off her bridle and saddle and blasted her stare out at the slave driver, the beast tamer, and the orthrus, who began whimpering and immediately started laying prone on the floor. Fluttershy was ready to take on the two bully stallions. She had her Element of Empathy, and if needs be, she had the powerful "gift" Ingrid and Bellamena Pie gave her before she left the Crystal Empire.

Then it became really quiet. Instead of lunging at Fluttershy, the surly slave driver and his beast tamer compatriot turned towards the center of the Factory and started bowing like the rest of the slaves and the guards. Only Fluttershy herself and her friends remained standing as they beheld something glowing red-hot approaching them past the checkpoints.

The sheer heat caused the air to warp, and it came from a heavily armored pegasus accompanied by two stallions at each side. The armored pegasus marched slowly towards the checkpoint several feet away. It was still far, and yet Fluttershy could feel the blazing hatred and anger emitting from that pony. She soon realized who that pony was, because a shimmering lightning-shaped pendant dangled from the neck on top of the chest plate.

The Sky Key! Fluttershy looked to her friends and saw them tensing up. Yet Rainbow Dash appeared the tensest, and her sweat began to melt the dye off her mane and coat. It was not the heat that caused her to sweat more than the others. Her large gulp and twitching legs displayed her fear of the Empress Commander. She might not be ready to fight, but her friends were. Twilight waved her hoof to signal Applejack, Sunny, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Flitter into formation. Their actions caused the air to both heat up and blow harder. A few slaves and pegasus soldiers fled in fear, and a few more fainted from overwhelming heat exhaustion. A big battle was going to commence, and the rest of the pegasi guards slowly rose up to fight for the Empress against Fluttershy and her companions.

From a distance, a line of explosions rang from the farthest dock and gradually reached Fluttershy's general direction. She could not believe it. Everything around everypony was exploding, and any pegasi who could fly flew away. Amidst the panic and the screams, the Factory checkpoint was falling apart. A big explosion separated Fluttershy and her group, but then she saw metal girders falling towards Fluffy Clouds and Rumble.

Right then and there, Fluttershy activated her Element, and flew to their aid.

Comments

[The Well Dressed Ninja]

Hmm... That's a lot of chapters. Is this about Twilight getting the team together? Or is Sparkle someone else?

[The Ohvist]

6506176 ...maybe you should start reading from chapter 1 to understand this story... jus' sayin'...

[GMZ_Casper]

And the mission began, with one of the big boss at the head. It would figure that something would reveal them, and honestly, I don't blame Fluttershy one bit. I wouldn't stomach that crap myself. But now, we got ourselves a major and burning issue to deal with...

C&Cs:
His deemed his act to leave his Empress Commander's presence as a valid excuse...
> Replace ‘His’ with ‘He’.
...but there were above them clinging to the ceiling almost like insects.
> Replace ‘there’ with ‘they’, then comma after ‘them’.
She had to ignore the shouts and slurs of the slave drivers the sounds of whips beating on skin.
> Comma after ‘drivers’.
Fluttershy would have gotten back in line if not for a horrific sight she saw just past Flitter.
> Comma after ‘line’.
From a distance, and a line of explosions rang from the farthest dock and gradually reached Fluttershy's general direction.
> Remove the first ‘and’.

[ShadowedEmber]

hot damn I love this story!

[Scarheart]

6515524 No. She is definitely not Chrysalis. She may be a different queen, but unlikely. She is just pony Hitler.

[PiMan]

6506176
Yes, 'Sparkle' is Twilight Sparkle.

[Shining Dawn]

6580490 It's someone's fan-art for what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest stories on the site.
Behold!
penraker.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/behold_his_mighty_hand_01.jpg
Antipodes

[Derpface127]

[Reads title] OH FUCK IT'S THE RAINBOW FACTORY