The Pale Land

by OrphiusOlyandra

Chapter 15

"Come on, let's go."

Dash groaned and rubbed her eyes, blinking wearily up at the unicorn, and sighed. Yet again, she found herself ripped out of her dream, and yet again, she had to stop herself from punching that horned freak in the face. Rolling over, Dash stretched out her limbs and cracked her neck, relief flowing through her entire body.

"Really? Middle of the night again?" yawned Dash as she untangled herself from Lightning Dust's wing, shivering as the warmth fled immediately. "Fine, whatever, but we'll be scouted out by the Wonderbolts before we're even three steps out."

"Considering their lookout is fast asleep? Highly unlikely," smirked Twilight as she brushed past. "Now come on, and try not to make too much noise."

"Wait, they're asleep?" hissed Dash. "What the fuck are they doing sleeping?"

"It probably had something to do with the sleeping drought I put in Soarin's food. That stallion cannot say no to food apparently," chuckled Twilight.

"You poisoned him!?"

"Shhhhh, geez, it's like you want us to get caught. And it's not that big of a deal, it merely makes them fall into a really deep slumber. It's not actually poisonous, you know." Twilight looked out the cave entrance and leapt down and out of sight.

For a brief second, she considered waking Spitfire, but then Dash caught sight of a pair of yellow eyes gazing unblinkingly at her. Swearing under her breath, she quickly followed Twilight onto the outcropping, and Spike came swooping down after her. With their flanks against the wall, they began edging across the ledge. Dash was no stranger to heights, in fact she loved them, but as she slowly made her way along the cliff face, along the all too narrow and crumbling ledge, she felt something like panic grip her. It wasn't fear though, of course not! After all, only useless pegasi feared heights.

If that horned freak could stroll along the edge as though she was walking through a field of snow, then so could Dash. Eyes narrowed, Dash took a deep breath and began moving forward once more. The ledge beneath her hoof crumbled, but with the reflexes only a pegasus could have, she leapt forward. A quick glance behind her revealed the entire section had dropped away and she felt her heart leap to her throat. She looked over the edge, just in time to see the stone hit an outcropping and shatter into a million pieces before continuing out of sight.

Gulping, she got back onto her shaky hooves and shook the image from her mind. She was a pegasus. She was not afraid of falling, she was not scared of heights. Her shaking hooves was because of the adrenaline and nothing more. There was no need to read into it.

"Twilight, this is too risky," said Spike.

"It's the only way." She stopped and began looking around. After a couple of seconds she turned and tried to climb up the mountain side only for the hoofhold to break, sending her back down. "Damn it! Spike, help me look for a way across."

"Twilight, there’s no way across from here."

"Then find one," she snapped.

"And leave you two to freeze?" As if to emphasize his point, he slipped out of Twilight's shirt and flew over to Dash, slipping under her jacket. "I think not."

"Spike..." she said warningly and Dash rolled her eyes.

"Look, how far away is the temple?" Dash craned her neck out and looked down the canyon. "I can probably do some light gliding so if you've got some rope, I can hop across to that ledge down there and set it up."

"Very well." Twilight reached into her bag and drew out a bundle of rope. "As long as you think your wing can take the strain."

"Of course they can. " With a bit of shuffling around, Dash managed to get her good wing out, but her injured one stayed firmly stuck inside her jacket. With a growl of frustration, she bit down on the fabric and pulled hard, straining it at the seams.

"Here, let me help."

"I don't need your help!" yelled Dash and the sound of rumbling could be heard in the distance.

"Keep your voice down," hissed Twilight as she began fiddling with the button. After a second it popped open. "Spike, can you help me with these bandages?"

"Sure." Spike slipped out, leaving Dash shivering uncontrollably as he began working on the bandages. After a minute of silence she heard a growl. "Damn it, how does a pony get bandages on so tight without claws?"

"Meet Fluttershy," smirked Dash, "the best damn medic you'll ever find, and Sun help you if you find yourself on the receiving end of her care."

"Until you've seen Pinkie playing medic, you don't know what fear is," muttered Twilight under her breath.

Before Dash could ask what she meant by that, she felt the bandages loosen and she immediately threw her wings open, shivering in delight as the wind ran through her feathers. With a manic grin, she leapt off the ledge, completely ignoring the yells of the horned freak as she caught the wind under her wings. A spike of pain ran through her back, causing her wings to falter and drop her a couple meters in the air. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to flap once to regain height. Even then, her hooves only just clipped the ledge and she crashed head first into the ground. Groaning, she rolled onto her back, and shook the snow off her body before climbing back onto her hooves.

"You forgot these," said Spike as he tossed the bundle of rope down to her. "And nice landing."

"Oh suck it," snarled Dash as she grabbed the rope. "There's nowhere to tie it down to."

"Think you can hold onto it long enough for her to swing across and climb up?" he asked.

"Do you trust me enough to do that?"

"When she gets like this? Nothing will convince her otherwise, and for once, I'm forced to agree with her. We need to get there before the Wonderbolts, and considering they can fly? Every second counts." Spike sighed and shook his head. "Look, just... hold onto it and try not to slip alright? And I'll get this over and up to the Twilight."

"Whatever." Biting down on the rope, she stepped back from the ledge and dug in her hooves. A couple seconds later there was a gout of flame from the opposite side, and Dash flared open her wings, too. After a second of stillness, the horned freak jumped off the clip, the rope went taut, and Dash felt her neck being ripped out of its socket.

Snarling, Dash pulled back and began dragging the rope with her. Just how fat was this horned freak She wrapped the rope around a hoof and moved onto her hind legs, leaning backwards in an attempt to balance the weight out. Muscles straining, she took one step, then a second, then third, and as she took the fourth, a purple hoof appeared over the edge. A second later, Twilight crawled up, sweat dripping down her brow, the air before her misting over as she panted heavily.

No comments were made, nothing was said. Instead, Dash collected up the rope and hung it around her neck as she brushed past. With a shrug, Dash followed and this time, when they reached the end of their little outcropping, there were enough hoofholds to make it up to the next ledge.

In total silence, they moved through the night, leaping from ledge to ledge with practiced ease. More than once Dash had to fly ahead, but not once did she drop that horned freak, after all, she still had a mission to complete. This unicorn obviously knew more than she let on, and if the temples were trapped, then the best chance of surviving them came from that freak. But it would have been so simple, too simply let the rope 'slip,' and let the unicorn plummet to her death. And if she used magic to survive? Well, that meant she could use magic, and that was a piece of crucial information.

As the sky began lighting up, they found themselves huddled inside a small indent in the cliff face, hidden from the wind as Spike scouted ahead.

"Where is he? He's been gone for hours now," said Dash as she tried to rub some warmth back into her legs.

"I imagine he's found something and is getting a good overview."

"Or we went the wrong way and now we're fucked," muttered Dash.

"Regardless, we should give him the benefit of the doubt. He has not failed me yet, and I do not expect him to start anytime soon." Like the insane freak that she was, Twilight actually stuck her head out into the wind without her hood on. "Actually, come take a look at this. Your eyes are better than mine."

Rolling her eyes, Dash trotted over, but stayed out of the wind. "What do you want me to look at?"

"The hurricane to the north, is it larger than before?"

"What?" Frowning, Dash put her hood up and glanced her eyeing the mass of swirling clouds and the mountain range behind it. "It looks the same size. "

"Exactly. And we're further south than before, which means it should be smaller, but it's not." For the first time since Dash had met her, Twilight actually seemed worried. "This is not good. Not good at all."

"It's just some hurricane," snorted Dash.

"And did you forget about how it's always been there? How it’s inseparably entwined with magic? Whatever's hidden behind there, the unicorns want it. Whatever's behind there, the pegasi desire it. The only reason why the earth ponies haven't fought over it as well is because their territory is in the south!" Twilight groaned and rubbed her temples. "Something like that should not exist, and yet it does."

"And how do you know all this?"

"I've got my sources."

"As if."

"Believe what you will, but I'm telling you, that hurricane is important. I just don't know how or why."

No doubt that was a lie for her to report to Spitfire. If that hurricane was important, she surely would have heard about it by now. There was no way something that big, that insane, that important, could be hidden for so long without it leaking out.

Before she could retort though, Spike dived in and shook the snow from his body. "Okay, I've found the temple, and it looks like they're all still there."

Twilight swore under her breath. "Any way for us to sneak in undetected?"

"Unlikely. From what I overheard, supplies were meant to arrive this morning but never did, so they're on high alert. It could just be timberwolves, but better safe than sorry," said Spike.

"Anything flammable?" asked Dash. "We can always smoke 'em out."

"And let them know something is up? That's pure stupidity," said Twilight. "What we should do is slip in now and get to the temple before most of the guard is awake."

"A bit too late for that. With the missing supplies, all the guards are already awake," said Spike.

"Did you at least get an overview of where everything is?" asked Twilight.

"Couldn't get inside, but from the look of things, it's two temples on opposite sides of the canyon. They've built a bridge linking the two, or fixed it up, not sure which. At either end, it's just a simple tunnel into what I assume to be the main temple. If it's anything like the other one we found, there'll be some sort of trial we need to get through in order to actually get in, and once we're in, it'll probably be a singular chamber. "

"So where's their base then?" asked Twilight.

"There's a cave just to the side of one of the temples. It's large enough to store supplies and sleep in, so that's what they've been using."

A grin began forming on Dash's face. "Say, Spike, how easy would it be for you to get in there and, I dunno, accidentally set their supplies on fire?"

"What is it with you and fire?" said Twilight.

"Actually, that's a pretty interesting idea. If it’s like the other temple, all we really need to do is touch the door," said Spike.

"That's a very big 'if' and consider their placement relative to each other and what they symbolize. The sun and moon. If the legends are to be believed, there's some sort of duality there and that means we probably have to do both simultaneously, " said Twilight.

So that was it. That was why she hadn’t been left behind in that cesspool. The freak needed somepony for the other half of the trial, and better an enemy you know than one you don’t. Everything had been calculated, strings had been pulled, and now Dash found herself grinding her teeth together in frustration. No doubt that horned freak also knew about her connection with Spitfire, and deliberately took her along so that if she failed, nothing would get back to the Wonderbolts. The worst part was, they needed this bitch and as long as that was the case, there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

"What if we got into position, had Spike start a fire, and then slipped in?" asked Dash.

"You'd still have to get to the other side, and there's no way to get across that bridge without being seen," said Spike.

"So in other words, we're fucked," said Dash with a groan. "You know what would have been easier? Just sticking with the Wonderbolts. At least that way we would’ve had help taking the place down."

"Actually..." Twilight trailed off, gazing off into the distance. "Maybe we could still use that. When the Wonderbolts strike, we can cross in the confusion."

"Better idea," said Dash as she grinned at Twilight. "I beat you up a bit, you grab what supplies we have left, and stumble in with some story about being attacked. I wait on this side, you get led to the other side. Spike starts the fire and we slip in."

There was a beat of silence as the horned freak and drake both stared at Dash.

"That's... actually a good plan," said Spike.

"It might work," said Twilight slowly, "but if it fails, it will fail spectacularly. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of choice in the matter. Alright, so here's the plan: Spike will keep an eye on me while I bluff my way in. Dash, you’ll stay on this side and wait for the guards to come out. Once you think it's safe, run inside. If it's like the other temple, just go up to the door and put your hoof on it."

"Well, it's not really a door," said Spike."It's more of a portal thingie. Don't worry, you'll know it when you see it."

"Right." Dash stretched out her wings and grinned. "Just make sure you don’t mess up."

"Dash," growled Twilight, "safe means no killing."

"Pffft, maybe for a horned freak like you, but a bit of blood never hurt anypony," said Dash. "Plus, it's not like they'll be able to take me down anyway."

"That overconfidence will get you killed someday," said Spike.

"Why do you care?" she snapped back. "Can we get on with this? We know what we're doing, we know how we're doing this, and I thought we were in a hurry."

Spike opened his mouth to answer, but Twilight merely shook her head and said, "Very well. Spike, you're with me and Dash? Try not to get yourself killed."

"Go suck yourself."

"No doubt you'd love to watch that," replied Twilight as she walked back out and threw her hood up against the cold. "You coming or not?"

Muttering curses under her breath, Dash followed then out, making sure to keep far enough back that she'd get a chance to hide if another horned freak popped up out of nowhere. Still, this plan was better than anything the freak could have come up with. There was probably some evidence on how the horn made them dumber. After all, it was a horn sticking out of their freaking head and that definitely had to have consequences.

This time, it took barely an hour before the bridge Spike had seen came into view. It hung suspended in the air, just below them, but it was so far up that when she looked down, all she could see was swirling white mist. On the near side of the bridge, there was a set of even more rickety looking scaffolds that led up to the cave entrance.

Together they settled down, barely hidden behind a small outcropping of rock. Even in the chill cold of pre-dawn, there were already horned freaks swarming the entire area.

"Over there is the entrance," said Spike pointing to a ledge a good couple hundred meters away. "If you move up to that ledge up there, you can swing down with a rope."

Dash looked over the gorge and for the first time, she could actually make out the other side. It was blurry, it was tiny, and even with her expert vision, she couldn't make out a single thing about the other side, not even if there was a scaffold over there.

"You stay here. Once we go a bit further, Twilight will signal the unicorns, they'll come along and investigate. Once we get to the other side, wait for the smoke and flames."

"Burn the bridge," said Twilight after a second. "Split up their forces and prevent them from responding in time."

"Are... you certain?" Spike frowned, but relented when Twilight nodded. "Very well."

"That good for you?" asked Twilight.

"It's passable," replied Dash. No doubt with a bit more time and a map, she could come up with a flawless plan, or at least one that was cooler and awesomer than this lame thing. Fire was good and all, but it also attracted attention.

"Alright, stay out of sight then." Before Dash could respond, Twilight leapt down, disappearing into the mist. A second later, she reemerged later down the path as she climbed up onto another small outcropping. As she watched the unicorn jump from ledge to ledge, dipping in and out the mist, Dash found herself growing bored.

Unbidden, she turned around and gazed back along their path. A part of her wished for the Wonderbolts to come into view, for something, anything to happen so that she could get out of this death sentence. Another part, though, wished they wouldn't, because if they did, they might end up proving Scoots right. After all, Lightning Dust, a Wonderbolt? Not that she wasn't glad to see her friend get in, but... there were few pegasi more reckless than her. Everything came down to being the best, being the coolest, showing every other pegasi just how awesome she was and that wasn't leadership material. Lightning was a good pony, a great one even, but she was far too reckless to be a Wonderbolt! She was willing to take too many risks, to have a plan with too many if's and too willing to put others in harm's way just so she could stand out.

And if Lightning got in, wouldn’t that be true for all of them? Would every single last Wonderbolt be willing to rush headlong into a suicide mission without a second thought? She didn't want to believe it, she couldn't believe it and she didn't want to take that chance to be proven wrong. Hoof slamming into the ground, Dash let out a growl of frustration, biting back a scream just in time.

She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. Slowly, she exhaled and opened them, returning her gaze to Twilight. Three guards had surrounded her, and though Dash was too far away to know what was being said, she could guess. Probably some stupid excuse that wouldn’t fly past the most brain-dead pegasus, but the unicorn guards seemed to be swallowing whole.

She immediately began analyzing the situation before her. Each unicorn was numbered, tracked, and their role identified. Twenty guards in total; six roaming the bridge, ten guarding the actual entrance, and another four on lookout in the scaffolding in an attempt to get vision no doubt. There were a couple more horned freaks walking around, probably egghead types sent in to examine the temple. Not that it'd do anything considering how stupid they were, but their flailing around was worth a good laugh.

Sighing, she began inching forward, keeping an eye on the guards on the scaffold. With the height advantage and her distinctive tail, all it would take was one quick glimpse and she was done. Licking her dry lips, Dash reached out for the first hoofhold and tested its stability. With a satisfied nod, she began climbing up, and though some loose rock crumbled beneath her weight, her superior pegasus reflexes allowed her recover without a problem. She ignored the sweat that stung her eyes and the burning of her limbs as she pulled herself up and over. Rolling over onto a ledge, she allowed herself a couple deep gulps of air before climbing back to her hooves.

It was only once she was above the scaffolding did she finally relax and stretch out her wings. A quick glance over at the other side of the chasm revealed no flames, no panicking, no signal that Twilight was ready. Her eyes darted back to the guards and though one was looking in her direction, there was no tension in his frame or anything to indicate he had noticed she was there. Nonetheless, she moved slowly, each step placed with expert care. He could look all he wanted, but as long as her mane and tail were hidden, there was no way he'd be able to see a thing. Typical blind horned freak, really.

She had expected it to be subtle. She had expected it to start off as some smoke and maybe a slow response from the guards. What she was not expecting was a sudden gout of flame that exploded from the cliff wall, sending unicorns screaming in all directions. As guards rushed over to help out, the trap was sprung. Just as the majority of them were on the bridge, one end was freed, sending countless horned freaks to their deaths. A sneak attack was one thing, but this was outright slaughter. In one move, that monster had killed off at least half the horned freaks. Sure, she didn't feel any love for them, but to do something like this, even to a bunch of traitors, left a pit in Dash's stomach and it took all her willpower to not throw up right there and then.

Gritting her teeth, Dash raced forward, leaping off the ledge and throwing her wings open. She tried to ignore the screams and cries for help as the unicorns fell to their deaths, but even with the rush of wind and the adrenaline, their voices kept echoing her in mind. Why did she care how they died? They were horned freaks, they were the bloody enemy, every single last death was a good thing, every one killed made the world a better place.

She slammed down onto one of the guards, instantly snapping his neck. Rolling with the momentum, she came right up into the second guards face, but he immediately teleported back. Typical freak cowardice. Rushing forward, she sidestepped the downward slice and slid in under his guard. Two quick punches followed by a low sweep sent him tumbling down the side of the cliff.

All the warning was a flash of light behind her, but with her superior reflexes, that was all Dash needed. She flung herself off the side, using her wings to angle herself towards the scaffolding. Skidding to a stop, she skipped back, dodging two blades coming straight her before slipping off once more onto the level below her. Like an idiot, the unicorn before her began powering up a spell and Dash moved in. A quick strike to the chest to throw him off balance, followed by a blow to the base of the horn, easily cracking it off and sending the spell out of control.

He screamed in pain, the smell of burning flesh filled the air as sparks flew in all directions. Dash leapt off, grabbing hold of a net dangling off the edge. Bolts of lightning struck the wooden structure again and again, sending the entire thing crumbling to the ground before an all-consuming explosion sent Dash flailing through the air towards the cliff face. Twisting in midair, she landed with a roll and dusted herself off. Useless freaks. When they couldn’t just blow everything up with their magic at long range, they were useless.

She ignored the screams, the pleading, the freaks on fire and simply began making her way up the cliff face once more. She ignored the unconscious bodies on the ground, not even bothering to kick them as she entered the cave. Once more she returned to her cautious walk, eyes constantly darting around as she stepped with light hooves. If they were smart—a big ‘if’—then there'd be some guards posted inside the cave.

And yet there was nothing, just an empty room with a weird, shimmering portal at the end. It looked like a mirror, standing as tall as the large double doors of the palace in Cloudsdale, and was even classier, with golden leave s and pictures of the sun etched around the entire frame. When she stepped fully into the room, it felt as though she had walked into a hot bath. Everything was just so hot, unbearably so, and she was forced to open the front of her jacket or be melted.

Walking far more cautiously than she probably needed to, she approached the weird thing, wings half-unfurled. Slowly, she reached out with her hoof and touched the surface, blinking surprise at how cool it was. Ripples moved outwards and she pulled back in surprise. Or at least, she tried to. Instead, she found her hoof stuck to the mirror, unable to move as it began drawing her in. Panic flooded her as she struggled against the pull, but it was useless. She was drawn, in inch by inch.

And then the pulling stopped. Sure, she was shoulder-deep in the blasted thing, but at least it stopped. Taking a deep breath, she pressed her free foreleg against the frame, but just as she was about to begin pulling out, there was a hard tug and she went stumbling through head first.

Slamming into the ground, a groan escaped and she lay there, trying to fight the pain away and get back onto her hooves. For all she knew there could be horned freaks all around her waiting to attack. But when she went to move, her limbs would not respond. She could feel them, and they felt unrestrained, but they simply would not respond.

She turned to look to the side, or at least, she tried to. She willed her head to turn, forced it to turn, put every single last shred of willpower she had into turning her head, but even that didn't work. Had... had she broken her neck or something?

She looked around, but all she could see was inky darkness. At least her eyes could move. It had to be magic, there was no other explanation, some horned monster must have found her on the other side of the portal and done this to her. Some sick, twisted experiment no doubt.

"Well now, this is interesting."

Dash blinked. "T-Twilight?"

"Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah, where are you?"

"I don't know, it's completely dark," she replied. "I'm on the floor, floating almost and I can't move any of my limbs."

"Same. Where's Spike?"

"Outside, providing our distraction."

"I take it this didn't happen last time?"

"No. This wasn't expected at all."

Silence descended.

"We're fucked, aren't we?" asked Dash, her voice swallowed whole by the darkness.

"Perhaps. Can you see anything useful?"

"Can't move, remember?"

"Still, there must be som- Wait, I think I see something. You're... you're below me?"

"What?" Dash looked down and just managed to catch the barest hint of purple before her. It almost looked like a muzzle, but it was impossible to tell with the position she was in. In fact it almost looked as though... "We're reflections of one another. I walked through a mirror-like thingie and now we're reflecting each other."

"Reflections you say? Yes, I can see that now." Twilight fell silent for a couple of seconds. "I want to try something, I need you to slowly move your head to the right."

"Okay?" As much as she hated doing it, she followed that monster's instructions, and to her surprise, her head actually moved. Not as fast as she wanted it to go, but it still moved. In many ways, it felt like she was dragging her head through sludge. "I actually moved. I moved!"

"It's just as I feared, then."

"What?"

"We're mirror reflections of each other and that means for me to move, you have move in the exact same manner."

Dash frowned. "So for me to move my head to right, you had to move your head to the left."

"Exactly. When I imagined teamwork, I was not imagining this."

"You're telling me," muttered Dash.

"I don't know about you, but this position is killing my back. How about we get out of it?"

Typical horned freak, complaining about useless things. Still, maybe she had a point, it wasn't painful or anything, but now that she had mentioned it, Dash did feel a bit of a strain along her back, particularly around where her wings were.

"Fine," spat Dash, "how do you suggest we do this then?"

"Slide your right foreleg out, then the left, then we'll push up fast," said Twilight.

If she could move her head, she would have nodded. Slowly, as though she was moving through sludge, Dash began sliding her hoof out. Some of it felt natural, but sometimes it felt as though something was fighting against her. It was almost painfully slow progress, but as long as they wouldn’t die from the cold, time was meaningless and this place was warm as could be. It reminded her of being snuggled in bed with the fire roaring away beside her.

"Hindlegs now," said Twilight, "same as before."

"I'm not an idiot, you know," Dash growled, even as she did what was asked of her and soon they were standing up. "Now what?"

"I... don't know."

"Surprise, surprise," muttered Dash and this time, she felt a slight tugging sensation on her head. Instead of fighting it though, she turned with it and found herself scanning her surroundings. "I'm just glad we're not hearing each other's thoughts."

Though it wasn't her body that shuddered, Dash could still feel it. "Don't say things like that. I swear, that'll be a fate worse than Tartarus."

"Agreed." Dash blinked, eyes snapping down to look at the horned freak. "Wait, what is that supposed to mean!?" She looked down at the horned fre- Dash's eyes widened further. "Wait, you're missing your horn!"

"And you're missing your wings," Twilight replied dryly.

"I'm what!?" Dash tried to look backwards, but she could feel Twilight resisting her. "Come on! This is important! No pony, and I mean no pony, messes with my wings!"

"Fine, if you insist," sighed Twilight.

Together their heads turned around and Dash stared at the empty spot on her back. "My... my wings. My beautiful wings..." She grit her teeth. "Alright, that's it, I'm kicking the flank of whoever took my wings and I better get them back or I'll make that bitch suffer."

"Stop acting like a foal and help me!" yelled Twilight and Dash allowed her head to snap across, momentarily letting Twilight take the reins. "There must be a way out of here, a path or something."

"Well, might as well start walking." It felt so dirty, so wrong to actually work together with that monster, but there was no other way to survive this, and, most importantly, find out what was being protected. Sure, Dash was no horned freak, but she knew strong magic when she saw it and this? This was well beyond the reports they had of what unicorns were capable of.

And as they took that first step, a ripple rang out from the point of contact, and in its wake glass was formed. There was no wind, not even the barest hint of magic as a small platform appeared beneath their very hooves and before them lay a single narrow corridor. A quick glanced behind them, a quick look to the sides and they found themselves forced to walk this singular path. It was weird. Neither really wanted to take the lead. Sure, they both needed to want to move, but felt so natural to drop into leader-follower roles. One pony to set the pace and moved the limb, and the other passively let it happen. Of course, Dash needed to want it to happen as well, but it was far more passive than before.

It just felt wrong to force someone out of their own mind, their own body, even if it was a horned freak. It felt too... demeaning. Was that the word she was looking for? Fluttershy had used it once, and it seemed to fit now. Maybe.

"So what, we just keep walking?" asked Dash, finally breaking the silence.

"Seems like it."

Dash began looking around, and felt Twilight following along with her actions. "You're the horned freak, what's going on in here?"

"I do not know, this is far beyond anyt-" The sound of shattering glass could be heard. "Did you just hear what I think I heard?"

Slowly, the two looked behind them, and their eyes widened. The platform had shattered into a million pieces and the walkway was collapsing at an alarming rate. Five, maybe six seconds, and they'd be falling off the edge to their doom. Both reacted simultaneously, both tried to run and in that split second, their limbs froze as they fought each other in panic.

"Right leg!" yelled Twilight and Dash immediately began moving her right leg. "Other right! My right, your left!"

The glass fell away from their hind hooves and they stumbled, searing hot pain flooding Dash's senses as the glass cut her leg. Reacting far faster than that freak could have, Dash found herself in charge as they leapt forward, just managing to get back onto solid land. Ignoring the pain, she began limping forward as fast as possible. As the ground before them dropped away, she felt Twilight getting ready for the jump and Dash immediately stepped back, letting that freak make the leap. Hitting the ground on the other side, she t ucked themselves into a ball, rolling with the momentum.

The walkway before them shifted, splitting up into a series of small platforms, spaced out all over the black void at varying heights.

"Oh fuck me," grumbled Dash as they made the next leap. "I can get us through this if you let me."

"I was about to say the same thing." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Very well, you have free rein for now, you’re a pegasus, after all."

"Damn right I am! And when I get my wings back, I’m going to kill whoever took them away."

Leaping down to the platform below, Twilight passed through her, sending a jolt through her. For a brief second, she saw somepony, a unicorn, with white coat and blue mane, and with it, Dash felt a flash of anger. But as quickly as that image appeared, it vanished, and she found herself hitting the platform below far harder than anticipated. Gritting her teeth against the ground shock, she forced herself forward, taking the turn at reckless speeds before blasting down the corridor, leaping forward, letting her hooves slam into the vertical panel on the left. One, two, three steps, then she left off and landed on the other side.

Hitting the spiral staircase, she took the steps two at a time, and once more she found herself passing through Twilight on the way up. This time, though, she saw something else, a ruined room. She saw ash coating the ground and armor lying in heaps. Even as the image slowly faded away, a sense of sadness, numbness and disgust remained.

As they hit the top of the steps, they found themselves on a wide circular platform with a single mirror at its center, a perfect replica of the one she walked through to begin with. She made to walk towards it, but the horned freak stopped her.

"Wait. This feels like a trap. Think about it, if it was this simple, the unicorns would have managed to get through as well." Twilight frowned, and they looked around. "There must be something more."

"Maybe it's just a portal to the next challenge," replied Dash, trying to shrug. "We've got nowhere to go, so we might as well go forward."

"I suppose you're right, but I do not like this. Not one bit."

A sigh escaped and Dash felt Twilight give in, letting them walk forward. Now that the adrenaline had drained away, the throbbing came back in full force, and Dash found herself limping forward. Each step caused another stab of pain, but she grit her teeth and kept going. There was no way she was going to let that horned freak see her in pain.

"Did you... did you see anything?" asked Twilight as they stopped before the mirror. "When we passed through each other, did you see anything?"

"...No. No I didn't, why?"

"No reason. Must have been a trick of the light," she replied and before Dash could react, their hooves were pressed up against the portal and a blinding white light filled her vision.

---

"A-Are you sure?" Fluttershy winced at the sound of something slamming into the wall. "You, um, want me to go in there?"

"Yes." That was it. No further explanation, no reassurances, nothing. Just one simple word as Eclipse knocked on the door, ignoring the whimper that came from Fluttershy. "General, I've got the pegasus you wanted."

The door clicked open and Fluttershy immediately slipped behind Eclipse, easily hiding behind his larger frame. They might have been animals, highly intelligent ones at that, but once they were that angry, very little could be done. It was best to just stay out of the way, keep them isolated until the anger wore off and everything calmed down. A cornered beast was the most dangerous kind of beast, after all. Or... or maybe she had been asked to come here to calm the beast down? That certainly made a lot of sense, though she wasn't quite sure how one went about calming down an enraged earth pony or unicorn. If they were anything like timberwolves, and they probably were, then perhaps a calm voice with small gestures would be best? Yes, that made sense. After all, despite the ability to talk, the art and their intelligence, they were still beasts on the inside.

Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy emerged from behind Eclipse and reached for the doorknob.

"That's not a good idea, the General doesn-"

"I'm sure I'll be fine," replied Fluttershy with a small smile. "After all, she did ask for me."

Before he could say another word, she turned the handle and stepped through. The first thing she saw was an upturned desk and a snarling pink pony pinning a mint green unicorn against the wall. But where was the pegasus? Where was the general? Had... had something happened to her?

"Um... Excuse me," said Fluttershy and she immediately mentally chastised herself. She had to be firm with creatures like these. It took a firm voice a long with a strong, but gentle hoof to get the message across to these creatures. "Look here missy, you will put that mare down right this instant!"

Both mares just stared at her.

"Please?" squeaked Fluttershy.

The pink mare turned to the unicorn. "This her?"

"Y-Yes!"

The earth pony stepped back, letting the unicorn slump to the ground, gasping for breath as she rubbed her throat.

"General Pinkie Pie, I suppose you could say I'm the one in charge of this place," said the pink mare and Fluttershy found her mouth dropping open.

This... this was an earth pony! In charge! How did that make sense? Surely one of the pegasi here would make a better commander. Any of them would have made a better commander! They wouldn't have that inherent aggression or cowardly attitude that the earth ponies or unicorns had, and pegasi were naturally superior. With their reflexes, eyesight, and so much more, surely there had to be a pegasus here who was just as qualified, if not more so. The mere fact that there were pegasi here meant there was a pony more qualified!

"And I'm Lyra, second in command!" The unicorn waved a hoof from her upside down position on the floor. "And we've been waiting for you!"

S-Second in command? What was wrong with this place!? To have these two animals in charge when there were perfectly healthy pegasus out there who were more than capable of doing it? There was no way these two foals were more competent than pegasi. Even Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust would have been more competent!

"Yeppers peppers we have!" Fluttershy shrunk back at Pinkie booped her nose. "We've looked high and low, low and high, high and low for you, and now here you are! I can tell we're just going to get along marvelously!"

"Um... well, that is... er..." Fluttershy looked back at Eclipse helplessly, but he was already gone. "What can I help you with...?"

"Your friends, Rainbow Dash and Twilight, do you know where they're going?" asked Pinkie.

"Where... they're going?" Fluttershy tilted her head to the side. "No, I assumed we'd be staying here, for a while longer at least."

"And you're telling the truth?" asked Pinkie as Lyra's horn lit up.

"O-Of course!" At their flat stares, Fluttershy stumbled back towards the door, only to find it shut tight behind her. "Why, did something happen?"

"They've gone missing, and you're telling me you know absolutely nothing about it?" snarled Pinkie and all of a sudden, Fluttershy found herself pinned up against the wall, a blade at her throat. "What do I look like, an idiot?"

"N-No!" Fluttershy gulped and glanced down at the blade, seeing her own fearful eyes in the reflection. "I don't know anything! None of them told me anything! Spike didn't say a word about whatever their mission was, and Dash would never leave me behind."

There was a pause as the Lyra and Pinkie exchanged a look.

"She seems to be telling the truth," said Lyra with a shrug. "Of course, I've been wrong in the past."

"Should we go with something more... aggressive?" asked Pinkie, causing Fluttershy to shrink back further. The aggression was expected, but coming from the earth pony? That was a surprise indeed. After all, earth ponies were really pegasi that lost their wings due to their cowardice, so for her to be so aggressive, so forward, was concerning to say the least.

Or maybe... maybe it was for the best. If they regained their courage, maybe they'd get their wings back, and if that happened, there would be no more fighting. She wouldn't have to hold their hooves as they passed away, she wouldn't have to say the rites or burn their bodies. She wouldn't be the only one who cared that they were dead.

Lyra was suddenly in her face too, peering down at Fluttershy curiously. "So you're saying you've got no clue where they are."

Eyes flickering up to the glowing horn, Fluttershy swallowed nervously. "Y-Yes!"

"Yes, what?" hissed Lyra and Fluttershy felt something slimy slide around her neck.

"I don't know where they are!"

"Have they said anything? Plans or whatever?"

"N-No."

The grip suddenly tightened, causing her to gasp for breath, her heart hammering away even faster as her hind hooves flailed uselessly in the air.

"Think. Carefully," growled Lyra.

"No! No plans, not even the faintest idea where they could be!"

The grip tightened and though she tried to scream, nothing came out. Her breaths came in short gasps, desperately trying to draw in air, but she found it impossible, and soon the corners of her vision began blurring. She tried to move her hooves, to fight back, to push this insane mare off her, but they were held down, pinned to the wall as though she was nothing but a weak filly.

Just as the edges of her vision began darkening, the magic vanished and Fluttershy collapsed onto the ground. On her knees, she drew in ragged gasps of air, her lungs burning each and every single time.

"She's telling the truth," said Lyra.

"Useless," snorted Pinkie as they righted the table and laid out a map on top of it. "And you're certain this site marked out is fake?"

"Definitely. If it wasn’t, Twilight wouldn't have left the map behind."

"Perhaps she left them behind knowing you'd think that."

"That's why I sent the Blaze brothers to scout out the site just in case. They're the fastest I have, and they're competent enough to not get killed or eaten."

"Mind if, um, mind if I take it look at the map?" whispered Fluttershy, who suddenly found herself on the receiving end of two glares.

"Well, it's not like it's our map," said Lyra. "There's nothing important marked on it."

"Very well, I suppose it couldn't hurt nd it might jog your memory." Pinkie placed the map on the ground so Fluttershy could see it. "Anything at all jump out at you?"

The pegasus frowned and let her gaze wander across the map, from the Crystal Forest, to Canterlot Mountain, and down to Ghastly Gorge. "I think they said something about the valley?"

"That valley extends through the entire forest, almost into earthpony territory," growled Lyra.

"But it's a smaller area to search," said Pinkie, "and they only took enough supplies for two days. They either need to restock, or they can only travel one day out."

"Rainbow Dash is injured, so she can't fly," added Fluttershy. "But Spike can hunt and they can eat timberwolf sap."

"And they can just burrow under the snow at night," added Pinkie.

"Not really. The forest is known for dangerous creatures and from my studies on timbrewolves, they have excellent smell and digging powers. I'm uncertain about manticores, since I haven't been able to capture one alive, but the various reports I've gotten suggest they have acute hearing. As for dragons, well, Spike can apparently see body heat so hiding under snow is definitely out of the question," said Fluttershy absent-mindedly as she looked over the map. "That means they can travel for one day, maximum unless they refuel. Given timberwolves travel in packs of six at a minimum, that's too many for two ponies and a drake to take on."

The two ponies just stared at Fluttershy with their jaws hanging open.

"That is, if, you know, um..." she trailed off before squeaking and hiding behind her mane.

"And how do you know all this?" asked Lyra.

"Well... um..." Fluttershy looked away and scuffed her hoof against the floor, the rest of her words trailing off.

"Okay...?" Shaking her head to clear it, Pinkie returned her gaze to the map. "So we know it's a unicorn encampment, they probably have supplies there meaning they'll probably steal some. That means they probably have a two day maximum radius, three if they really push it." She drew a circle on the map. "So they must be in this area somewhere and since they marked out this northern place as the site, we can assume the actual site is actually in the south."

"Alright, I can get a group and get down there within a co-"

"Ma'am!" There came an urgent knock on the door. "Smoke has been spotted to the southwest."

"Or they can just burn down the entire forest," sighed Pinkie. "What is with that mare and fire? Alright, Lyra, gather up some ponies and get down there. You're in charge of this one, so show me what you can do."

"Righty-o! You can count on me, Oh Unbeatable General!"

Pinkie rolled her eyes and shoved Lyra towards the door. "Just get out there and do your thing."

"Well I'll make sure to have a blast of a time. Keeps the limbs nice and limber, from what I've heard."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Pinkie's lips. "Live life like a party: don’t regret a thing."

"Exactly!"Lyra opened the door and gave a mock salute. "Live fast, party hard!"

"And enjoy everything you do because if you're not enjoying it, it's not worth doing," chuckled Pinkie. "Get out of here before I start tripping down memory lane with you."

"Is that an order?"

"Nope, but I do order you to live, you crazy mare!" yelled Pinkie as Lyra finally vanished out the door. "I swear, she's more insane than I am."

"Ah..." Fluttershy licked her dry lips, unsure of how to respond to that comment.

"But more importantly-" The pegasus suddenly found herself on the wrong end of the blade yet again. "-I'm curious as to why you're helping us. After all, this is your friend we're talking about here."

And then, Fluttershy did something she had not done in a long time. She looked up from the ground, and stared Pinkie straight in the eye. Almost immediately, the earth pony froze, limbs trembling slightly as she was forced to stare back.

"I'm not doing this for her, and I'm not doing this you. I'm doing this for me," said Fluttershy, deliberately talking slowly so her words would sink through that thick earth pony skull. "I want to see how close earth ponies and unicorns are. I want to see if things can be reversed, and healed. And if it can then... then perhaps we can all get along. "

Pinkie nodded slowly and lowered her sword.

And if they can be cured of their afflictions, of the curse that had been placed on them, then perhaps they could return to the pegasi race. Maybe not this generation, maybe not even the next, but in time, they would all return to the pegasus race. If the unicorns could be cured of their arrogance and lust for power, if the earth ponies could be cured of their cowardice and inability to fight, then, and only then, would they return. And then this war could finally be over.

This place, this would become her experiment. Here she could continue her studies and maybe, just maybe, bring the end of the war in sight.

Comments

[OrphiusOlyandra]

So for those of you who are wondering what's going on with the update schedule, it's still weekly barring unforseen circumstances. Last week was missed because Doom basically had to take a break so now I've got Ragin editting for me so if you see some oddities here and there, blame him

[BronyPonyMan]

man, fluttershy's not nearly as open minded as i though she was.

[Meowy]

.........

Fluttershy just stared down Pinkie....

A-w-e-s-o-m-e!

I bet ten bits Twilight/Dash will find the Alicorn Sisters in that temple... or at the very least clues on where to find them

[OrphiusOlyandra]

2977071 FS is eeeeeeeeeevil
2977080 See above
2977207 Excuse me while I rig the betting ring

[BronyPonyMan]

2977490 i fucking knew it!

[Lelouch Vi Britania]

Looks like fluttershy's been fed a bunch of lies for far too long.

[Iron Nebula]

Man, I feel bad for Fluttershy. Her views are so messed up, but innocent. I wonder how she'll take the news that everypony is how they're supposed to be.

[OrphiusOlyandra]

2978383
My biggest issue with FS is breaking her actually. With RD, it's easy and obvious, with FS? So much harder.

2978443
Look on the brightside, at least I don't hate FS like y1 does otherwise things would get real nasty, real quick

[Xaiya]

Well then.
At least Rainbow Dash is simply in denial and constantly trying to force herself to continue to believe the lies she's been fed.
Applejack just sees unicorns as cold-hearted monsters, which is reasonable considering what she's been subject to, but is slowly realizing.
But Fluttershy. Oh my. She scares me more than Pinkie Pie here.

[Connor Gorden]

I was thinkin (probably too much as I tend to do.) about the end of the war. Assuming it dosent end with everyone a slave, or even if it does considering history about the diffirence there will always be between this outcome, and maneverse. In the cannon there's always been a lot of equality among the races, but by the end of the war( or perhaps a bit longer) things will turn into 1950s America.

Anyway, bit of a tangent, but I just figured Id share my thoughts.

[OrphiusOlyandra]

2979170 My job here is done
2979355 The end of the war will be... interesting.

[Connor Gorden]

Your an excelent writer friend, I have no doubt.you'll master the ending. :)

Also everyone seems to think Shy is a racist, but I don't get that vibe. I think she's very impressionable, and she's been led in the wrong direction for too long (not to mention Pinkie choking her half to death isn't helping.) Rscism is suppose to be all about hatred, but Fluttershy dosent hate the other races. She really believes they need help, snd she wants to give it.

[OrphiusOlyandra]

2981659
Who knows? (I do) But we'll see together

[Arzoo]

2977490

I bet Twilight and RD end up Alicorns. Dash's reaction to getting the horn would be priceless

[OrphiusOlyandra]

2985001 Oh gods. RD with a horn. That would be beyond epic

[Arzoo]

2986129

She would be screaming at Twilight to get it off, then notice Twilight has wings. Then I wonder if she would think Twilight being closer to Pegasi is good or insulting.

In the end I imagine she would implode from confusion while Twilight, who has no control but now infinite power, overshoots her sun raising attempt and ends up launching the Sun into Equestria, destroying the world.

Then Discord is freed, but finding nothing but empty space and a scorched world, he leaves to find another world to torment... Until finally he discovers a federation vessel run by captain Piccard...

[Connor Gorden]

You Arzoo are an interesting individual. :)

[ForSpite]

2981659
Hers is a different kind of racism than that born of hate, the kind that simply comes from repeating what you've been taught by others when what you've taught was developed by the kind of racists you're thinking of (because "earth ponies are pegasi that lost their wings due to cowardice" is not a story you make up without a lot of negative emotions), but it's still racism.

The thing is that without the hate, it's possible for her to learn better. Though in Fluttershy's case she's so good at keeping what she's thinking to herself and so much more subtle than Dash that it may be hard.

[Arzoo]

3014069

uh, your new chapter appears to have vanished...

[nonspecific13]

Muttering curses under her breath, Dash followed then out, making sure to keep far enough back that she'd get a chance to hide if another horned freak popped up out of nowhere. Still, this plan was better than anything the freak could have come up with. There was probably some evidence on how the horn made them dumber. After all, it was a horn sticking out of their freaking head and that definitely had to have consequences.

my god can you tone it down with the racism? we get it, they hate each other, but its really annoying. especially reading from rainbow dash`s point of view, the constant insults are just such a pain In the ass.

[nonspecific13]

"Over there is the entrance," said Spike pointing to a ledge a good couple hundred meters away. "If you move up to that ledge up there, you can swing down with a rope."

the slur "horned freak" has been used so many times atp that it doesn't even sound like a real word. we get it, they're racist, try something new for gods sake

[nonspecific13]

She immediately began analyzing the situation before her. Each unicorn was numbered, tracked, and their role identified. Twenty guards in total; six roaming the bridge, ten guarding the actual entrance, and another four on lookout in the scaffolding in an attempt to get vision no doubt. There were a couple more horned freaks walking around, probably egghead types sent in to examine the temple. Not that it'd do anything considering how stupid they were, but their flailing around was worth a good laugh.

again, just a whole lot of unnecessary toxic hateful shit clogging up the story