I just never liked mascots

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"Come on, Dash. It'll be fun! How can you say no to cotton candy, fun rides and a ROLLER COASTER?"
Dash sighed, and lounged back on her cloud. "I just don't have time for this Pinkie. I need to practise for the Wonderbolts. I just don't have time to waste on something as stupid as this."
Pinkie gasped and moved her hoof powered helicopter closer, "But Dash, I bought these tickets just for us. And there will be candy. Candy, Dash. You just need to go with me."
Dash rolled over and stared into empty air. "Why do you care so much? Why not bring somepony else? What's wrong with Applejack?"
"That's not the point Dashie. I noticed you haven't been smiling as much lately. Plus you seem to be avoiding us. I guess I just thought this would cheer you up." Pinkie grumbled, "I went through all the trouble of getting these tickets for us, and I'm not leaving until you accept them." Pinkie crossed her hooves, and slowly sunk towards the ground. She hastily put them back on the pedals and kept peddling, rising back into the air.
Dash spun around to face Pinkie again, and begrudgingly asked, "Fine, tell me again what you want me to do?"
Pinkie smiled, and started to explain again. "This great new theme park is opening up just outside of Manehatten. I've managed to get us two tickets for the grand opening. According to the poster, the park will feature the largest roller coaster ever seen in Equestria, multiple shows by travelling and talented artists, some of the finest food around and a best of all, they're gonna have a housed size birthday cake to celebrate finally opening!"
Rainbow Dash yawned, and turned away from Pinkie. "It's sounds awesome, I'm sure you'll have a great time."
The pink pony furrowed her brow, "But Dashie, why don't you want to go?"
Rainbow sat up, and placed her hooves in front of her, "I'd love to Pinkie, I really would, but I can't just leave. I have a duty as part of the weather team I can't ignore."
Pinkie smirked, and pulled a slip of paper seemingly out of thin air. Rainbow looked at it, her smile dropping. She read over it aloud. "Dear Rainbow Dash, it has recently come to our attention that the new amusement park, Smile Land, will be opening soon. On the advice of a friend, we have agreed to give you one free day in which to enjoy the sights and sounds of this new place. We expect you to be back on work by Monday."
Dash opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, before choking out, "Pinkie, how did you get this?"
Pinkie shrugged, and just smiled at Dash.
Rainbow Dash sighed, and added, "Well, I still can't go. It wouldn't be right to leave Twilight and the others without the awesome that is me. I'm afraid you'll have to go without me."
Pinkie Pie smirked again, and pulled out a clump of notes. Each was signed by one of her friends. The cyan pegasis pulled one out at random, and read. "Umm, Rainbow Dash, we really wouldn't mind if you wanted to go. I have my, um, hooves full taking care of Angel so I couldn't go if I wanted. And Pinkie seems like she really wants you too, if that's alright."
Rainbow dropped the letter, and watched it drift slowly to the ground.
"Are they all like that?" She asked. When Pinkie nodded, she scrambled for another excuse. "Well, I just remembered I offered to help Mayor Mare repair the town hall."
The pink pony pulled out an official looking scroll, and offered it to the pegasis. Rainbow Dash ignored it and struggled for another excuse, so Pinkie threw it behind her, and watched it as it descended to the ground.
"Derpy Hooves asked me to help her bake muffins!"
Pinkie pulled out a fairly crumpled letter, tied to a muffin. She tossed it behind her as Dash continued.
"Have to help Spike clean."
Pinkie pulled out a gemstone. Dash assumed that Spike had given it to her. She dropped it and the hard rock hit the ground far below them with a thud.
"Need to assist Zecora as she gathers herbs."
Pinkie pulled out a rather large wooden mask. Dash recognized it from Zecora's hut. The pony dropped it to the ground, and it buried itself upright in the grass.
"Promised to teach Scootaloo to fly!"
Pinkie Pie pulled out a small orange filly. It managed to let out an excited squeal before Pinkie dropped it beneath her. Scootaloo let out a muffled shout before landing safely on a cloud.
Rainbow Dash jumped off the cloud she was lounging on, and grasped for another excuse. "I, um, I, need to keep training for the Wonderbolts. Only the best make it in you know."
Pinkie smiled, and pulled out a poster. Dash recognized the ponies on the front, and grabbed it away from Pinkie quickly. A grin broke out on her face as she read. "The Wonderbolts will be appearing for the grand opening of this park? Why didn't you say so sooner Pinkie?"
Pinkie shrugged again. Rainbow keep switching her attention between the poster and the pink pony, before commenting, "Oh my gosh, when is this opening? Tomorrow? I need to get ready!" With that, Rainbow dashed off, leaving a rainbow trail in her wake.
Pinkie blinked, and stopped peddling. She spoke to herself as she slowly sunk down to the ground. "I really hope this is the kind of trip where nothing goes wrong."

The ponies gathered on the station, creating a plethora of different colours. Standing at the head of the group was six ponies everypony recognized. The elements of harmony. The train rattled into the station, it's large metal frame blocking out the sun. The pullers of the train waited patiently for the ponies to file into the train carts. Rainbow turned to her friends and let out a few short words. "Well, I'll see you guess I'll see you again when I get back. Shouldn't take long. Fluttershy, remember to feed Tank. That's about it."
Rainbow Dash hurried into the train, anxious to avoid taking to her friends any longer than necessary. They waved good bye, and turned to the pink pony standing nearby. Twilight carefully voiced what everyone was thinking. "Pinkie, are you sure this is such a good idea? This kind of thing requires finesse."
Pinkie nodded quickly, "Of course it's a good idea, silly. Who couldn't be happy at an amusement park? That would be like being sad when someone gives you great present. Or a backrub."
Applejack stepped forwards, "It's jus', this is our friend here. Ah feel we need ta be there for her."
Pinkie shook her head, and turned to leave, "Don't you worry Applejack, The great Pinkie knows how to make anypony feel better. Me and Dashie will have the greatest time ever!"
The four ponies watched as Pinkie climbed into the train, and waved back at them. With a loud ring, the train started to move forward. Pinkie leaned out the window further to keep her eyes on her friends, but was suddenly pulled back in by somepony behind her. She turned to see who it was.
"Come on Pinkie, lets find our seats, I don't want to stand the whole way there." Rainbow said, slightly annoyed.
Pinkie replied, "Okey Dokey Lokey," and the two of them moved deeper into the cart, searching for an open seat. They found one near the back, and sat down. Pinkie Pie got the window seat, and looked out upon the constantly moving plain. Slowly, the heavy grassland of Ponyville was replaced by a wide desert. The red sand reflected the sun into Pinkie's eyes painfully, and, besides from the occasional green cactus, there was nothing of interest to see. Pinkie felt a sharp jab in her side, and turned to face the rainbow mare. There was a terrified look on her face, and her wings curled and unfurled erratically. She looked at Pinkie, and managed to squeeze out, "Pinkie, you don't think this park will have mascots do you?"
Pinkie thought for a moment, before responding, "Well, I suppose it might. But what's wrong with mascots? Mascots are half of the fun. Most of them are just plain crazy, though. Who ever heard of a hue-man? What's it even suppose to be? A monkey? Where's the fur? But like I said, just plain crazy."
Rainbow Dash looked over at her stupidly, "I just never liked mascots." She said, as the train rumbled on to it's destination. Pinkie had neglected sleeping the night before, and was tired, so she planned on catching up on any missed sleep on the clearly uneventful train ride to the amusement park.

Pinkie awoke roughly when Rainbow poked her in the side. She had been dreaming about the time she filled a pool with jelly, and just spent the rest of the day doing a kind of eat/bounce hybrid. She called it bounting. With a chuckle, she realised that her mane had lost it usual plush. Pinkie held her nose and breathed outwards, puffing her mane back up into a large untidy mass. Rubbing her eyes, she looked over to Rainbow. "What's wrong Dashie? Are they not serving peanuts? That does seem like a problem." Pinkie yawned out.
Dash shook her head, "No, it's not that. I just need to use the bathroom. Save my seat for me."
Pinkie nodded, and attempted to give a thumbs up, but it came off more as her simply lifting her hoof. After several more discreet attempts, she nodded quickly. Rainbow nodded back, and got out of her seat.
Pinkie responded by staring intently at the spot where she sat. It had a slight groove in it from where the pony had sat, and was more worn out then Pinkies seat. "No pony's gonna take this seat. I've got my eye on it." The pink pony thought.
Several minutes passed, and Pinkie felt the need to blink. No one had attempted to take the seat yet, but you could never be too careful. Her right eye started to twitch from the exertion and she winked to clear it. Then her other eye did the same. She winked again, and soon fell into a routine.
She realised quickly that it wasn't working. She eyed the other occupants of the cart carefully, making sure none of them seemed especially shifty. Her eyes were aching and she could feel a head ache coming on. Struggling to keep her eyes open, she thought to herself, "Surely one blink wouldn't hurt. Just a quick one."
Pinkie took one last glance around the train, and closed her eyes for a split second. When she opened them again, she found her view was blocked by a large creature sitting next to her, calmly reading a newspaper.
"Aw come on!" She cried out, frustrated.
The creature next to her, a dark grey minotaur, looked over to where she was sitting. "Is there a problem, Madam?" He asked.
Pinkie raised a hoof to her chin, and replied thoughtfully, "Well, it's just that, my friend was sitting there before you did, and if she can't sit there than that means she'll need to sit somewhere else, and then we won't be able to talk and I won't get the chance to ask her whether Bat mare or Iron Mane would win in a fight."
The minotaur reached over to a suitcase near the aisle, and opened it hastily. From within, he pulled out a small pipe, along with a monocle. Placing both in their appropriate spots on his face, he responded to Pinkies claim. "Well, my dear, while I was perusing the state of this fine machine, I happened to observe that this particular spot on the automotive happened to be empty of occupancy. Along with this, I happened to deduce that no pony on this ride happened to have their attention fixed to it. Happy, I wandered over here to take my seat. While I apologise for the fact that your friend will have to stand, I kindly ask why you wouldn't keep special track of the place where she was residing." He stopped to move his pipe out of his mouth, and added, "Also Iron mane would win, he's got dope as hay lasers."
Pinkie cleared her mind by shaking her head, and retaliated, "No way, Bat Mare's got all that fancy gadgetry." She quickly realised what she was talking about, and swung back to the original problem. "And I was watching that seat. I blinked for half a second and you practically teleported into it. I just want you to move to a different spot."
The mountain of a creature next to Pinkie crossed his legs, and turned the page of his newspaper, "Would you perchance have any evidence that your friend was sitting here; or even that she existed at all? I think not." He sputtered out.
Pinkie looked over offended, "The seats still warm from when was sitting there! There's a bag of half eaten peanuts in front of you! I continually stated she was once here! What more evidence do you need?"
He gave an ungentlemanly snort, and lowered his paper to look at Pinkie. "Never the less, dear, I hearby proclaim this spot as my own, and none shall take it from me."
Pinkie threw herself sideways onto the back of the seat in exasperated frustration. Watching over the creature next to her, she tried to think of a way to get him out of Rainbow's seat. She noticed the suitcase and with a devilish grin, reached over the minotaur to grab it. The half bull tried to stop her, but he was too slow, and Pinkie found herself with a closed suitcase in front of her. She placed it out of reach of the owner and looked over it's silver casing.
"My my, what an interesting suitcase. I wonder what could be inside it." She teased, poking her head towards the minotaur.
Drips of sweat started to form on the creatures head, and he responded hastily, "You wouldn't dare madam!"
Pinkie smiled harder, and flipped the top open. She was immediately thrown into the window with enough force to nearly shatter it, as two dozen bottles of shaving cream was launched out of the suitcase into her face. The pony could see pretty stars floating around, despite it being the early morning and the fact that she was inside. Clearing her head, she pulled herself off the wall. Picking up a can, she asked hesitantly, "Why do you have so much shaving cream? Are you trying to give it to needy ponies?"
The grey minotaur let out an indignant huff, and responded, annoyed, "A true gentlebull never leaves home without adequate supplies, incase he is in an accident of the most grave. Now I kindly request you stop digging through my possessions, lest you get hurt once again." The minotaur reached over for the suitcase again, but was still out of it's reach.
Pinkie Pie shrugged, and dove back into the suitcase. With a small amount of struggle, she managed to dislodge a large cane from the pile of shaving cream. It was made of strong black wood, and adorned with a dark multicoloured opal. Pinkie held it awkwardly, and the minotaur explained. "A gentlebull must always be seen in public events holding the ceremonial cane of bull hood. It dates back to time when calf's would become bulls by striking themselves on the horn until they passed out. A truly manly way of being a bull. Now please release my possessions, or I shall pretend to forget the part of the gentlebull's code concerning the proper way to speak to a lady."
Pinkie nodded, ignored the minotaurs pleas and started to root back through the case. A small bowlers hat was next, and Pinkie placed it on her head without waiting for the owners permission. The minotaur ground his teeth, but otherwise attempted to stay in his chair.
Pinkie felt something large in the suitcase, and pulled with all her might to dislodge it. She couldn't, and the force of her letting go launched her against the window again. The owner of the luggage remarked calmly, "Please Madam, do not attempt to remove my spare chariot while we are in a moving vehicle. It could cause some problems. Besides, I would hate to attempt to squeeze it back in there again."
Pinkie pealed herself off the window again, and crawled back over to the suitcase. This would be the last attempt to remove the creature from Dash's seat using this method. Looking through the suitcase, she pushed aside some cans of shaving cream, and smiled deviously. Silently, she pulled the thing out of the case. Holding it in front of the owner, she asked slyly, "Is this a wig? Are you bald, mister minotaur? Why would anypony want to become bald, hair is amazing!"
The owner let out a frightened gasp, and grabbed the wig off Pinkie. Standing up, he reached over, shoving Pinkie to the side, and grabbed his suitcase. He pushed his way out onto the aisle, and turned to the pink pony, "Miss, it is with due regret that I leave you alone on this trip, as the rules say that a gentlebull must always accompany a lady, but your antics have pushed me too far. I wish you a good day, and kindly request you do not attempt to contact me. Good day!" He said, throwing his nose in the air with the last two words. Pinkie watched him as he worked his way down the train, eventually disappearing in the crowd of creatures.
Pinkie gave a relieved sigh, adjusted her new bowler hat, leaned back comfortably, and closed her eyes. She doubted someone would try to take Dash's seat after a display like that. She could finally relax for the rest of the trip, there was nothing more to worry about.

She heard a loud cough next to her, and opened her eyes hastily. It was about time Rainbow got back. She opened her mouth to greet her back, when she realised that she wasn't talking to Rainbow Dash. A huge mountain of a creature was standing in the aisle. He was a dark yellow, and wore only a pair of tattered pants. His arms rippled with muscles, and his head was devoid of hair. The thing Pinkie noticed most was the lack of a second eye. Instead, this creature had one huge eye covering the top of his face. The cyclops extended one of it's powerful arms towards Pinkie, and asked roughly, "Ticket?"
Pinkie patted herself down, searching for her ticket, when she realised she had given it to Dash soon after the boarded the train. Pinkie tried to explain, "I don't have my ticket here, but if you'll just wait a moment, Dashie will come back with the tickets. Then we can all have a good laugh, I'll give you some cake and we can both go on our way. Is that super ok?"
The cyclops flexed his muscles, and responded slowly. "Brontes doesn't like it when little ponies try to sneak onto the train. Brontes recommends that you give Brontes your ticket."
Pinkie felt sweat run down her head, "Silly, if you just wait, Dashie will be here with the tickets any moment now."
The cyclops stared down at Pinkie, and a scowl spread across his face, "Brontes doesn't see a ticket. Boss says, 'No ticket, no ride'. Brontes will follow that order now. Please assume the party escort position while Brontes works."
Pinkie smiled, "There's a party? I love parties! Where is it?" She said excitedly.
With a quick lunge, Brontes threw himself towards Pinkie, grabbing her in his arms. With a shout, he threw her towards the window. The window, already cracked and weakened from before, gave way, and Pinkie went flying out into the open air.
"THIS IS NOT A PARTY!" She yelled.
Things slowed down more than they already did for Pinkie, and she saw what was going on. She was slowly falling to the fast moving, and the window she was thrown out of was speeding past her. The cyclops in the train smiled at a job well done, and Pinkie felt angry. She struggled to find a way to save herself, but nothing came to her mind.
The pink pony considered giving up right then, but remembered why she was doing this. Dashie needed her help, and she wasn't going to let a little thing like being thrown out of a moving train stop her! If she didn't recover from this, Dashie could be lost forever, and she would have no one to prank with. She remembered all the times she and Rainbow played together, baked together, messed around together and expressed their friendship. If she failed now, all she was doing was for naught.
A crazy idea hit her like a bolt of thunder. She would have only one chance. Things started speeding up again.
Reacting quickly, Pinkie pulled a large rope of black liquorice out of her mane, and spun it above her head in a crude impersonation of Applejacks lasso. Griping it tightly in her mouth, she threw it towards the train. With a dull thud, it tied itself to one of the many useless pipes sitting on the roof of the cart. The sudden force of the moving train caused Pinkie to be propelled backwards, and toward the train. Flinging herself upwards, she landed gracefully on the roof. This was followed by a quick sucking sound, as Pinkie ate the remaining liquorice like it was spaghetti. The pony nearly lost her balance when the cart rocked violently, and Pinkie saw something climbing out the window onto the roof of the cart.
"Brontes will follow orders from boss. Brontes will remove little pony from train, make many people happy. Brontes continues to ask that you sit still while Brontes works."
Pinkie Pie looked around worriedly, and pulled some cake out of her mane. Cutting it into 8 separate pieces, she started to lop it at the cyclops, hoping to deter him from climbing higher. Half of the cake missed entirely, and one of the remaining pieces landed helplessly on Brontes' throbbing muscles. Two more were eaten in Pinkie's quick lunch break. The final piece though, it him in the eye. Brontes nearly fell of when he found himself blinded, but recovered by kicking against the train. The sheer force sent him flying into the air over the train, and he landed on the roof roughly. He rubbed his hands against his eye, and attempted to look intimidating while he did so.
Pinkie bounced over to the other end of the cart, and faced the cyclops. He succeeded in cleaning the cake out of his eye, and stared at Pinkie back. The two creatures stared at each other, and neither wanted to break the stalemate. Eventually, Pinkie relaxed and asked, "Dashie should be back now. There's still time to throw a party if you stop chasing me now."
Brontes creased his forehead, and shouted back, "No time for parties, only time for JUSTICE!"
The huge creature broke into a sudden sprint, charging across the top of the train cart at an incredible speed. Pinkie responded the only way she knew how. By taking two steps to the left and extending her hoof. The cyclops' foot caught the top of Pinkies, and he fell to the ground. He sent out a shockwave as he hit the roof, and the excess force caused him to roll off the side, landing in the boiling dessert below. He stared as the train raced away, and yelled into the sky, "Brontes will have his justice!"
Pinkie Pie sighed, and wiped some sweat of her head. Glancing around, she searched for a way to re-enter the train cart. With a quick double take, she leapt down between the two carts, and pushed open the door to her cart. Bouncing her way through the crowd of creatures, which included one very upset minotaur, Pinkie returned to her seat. Rainbow still hadn't returned, but Pinkie didn't care at the moment. Now, finally, she could take a rest, and wait for the train to arrive at the station.

The train lurched suddenly, and Pinkie was thrown forward. She sat up quickly and looked around. Rainbow was standing in the aisle next to her, and extended her hoof. "Come on Pinkie, we're here. I don't want to miss the wonderbolt show because of you, so hurry up. Also good job with the seat, though it turned out I didn't need it anyway."
Pinkie nodded slowly, "Are we there already? Where did all the time go? I suppose it could of flown out the window, but then it would hit the butterflies and be chased by a cyclops." Pinkie remarked absent-mindedly.
Rainbow Dash pointed that out, "What happened to the window anyway? I was certain it wasn't broken when I left. Plus there's shaving cream everywhere, and where did you get that ridiculous hat?"
Pinkie Pie tapped her head, and noticed she was still wearing the minotaurs bowling hat. She looked up at Dash lazily and said, "Alot of fun happened, lets just leave it at that."
Rainbow shrugged, "Good enough for me." She said.
The duo worked their way out of the train. Rainbow Dash flew out with much vigour, while Pinkie simply collapsed once getting off the train.
She lay there, face in the dirt, for a while but perked up immediately when she saw what was in front of her. A large arch with the words, 'Smile land' written across the top, glowing brightly. Just behind it was a huge roller coaster, stretching through out the entire park. Along with all this was the occasional bolt of firework magic that would launch into the air, and the constant cheering of those already inside.
Pinkie's hair took on a whole new level of plush, and she leapt into the line next to Rainbow. With a huge smile already on her face, she said to Dash, "This is going to be the best day ever!"
Rainbow Dash looked up at the sky, bored, "More like the longest day ever, the Wonderbolts don't start until the end of the day." The rainbow mare said sarcastically.

Without a doubt, perfectly safe.

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Pinkie Pie jumped high into the air, getting a brief glimpse of the creatures in front of her. The line moved at a snail's pace, and it had already been several minutes since the two entered the line. Several ponies had gathered behind them, boxing them in. At this point, they had no choice but to advance slowly with the line, gradually making there way towards the entrance. A large hedge was next to them, and many of the ponies in the line had to resist eating it as they waited. Not that the large gathering of ponies or the convenient food source stopped Pinkie Pie from talking, and Rainbow Dash from nodding tiredly.

"So there I was, surrounded by the royal guard, holding the Princesses crown and trying my best to look completely innocent. It didn't work though, and I knew if I wanted to capture the treasure of Pinkbeard, I would need a plan that would result in me, the crown, Spitfire and three hundred bits worth of cream cheese all leaving that warehouse unharmed. It was at that moment I noticed Gummy sneaking up from behind, and knew exactly what needed to be done. Taking out my magic boomerang, I...." Pinkie was cut off suddenly when Rainbow Dash grabbed her mouth, and physically stopped her from speaking.

"Pinkie, I'm sure that this is an interesting story and I'm sure you spent a lot of time thinking it up, but just for five minutes, could you shut the hay up?" Dash asked angrily.

The pink pony took a step backwards in shock, bumping into one of the creatures behind her. With a quick apology, she walked back forwards. "What's the problem, Dashie? You seem different recently." Pinkie questioned, concerned.

"Look, I just have a lot of work to do. There's training, work, rest, umm, I visited some friends in Canterlot, Still need to teach Scootaloo to fly and on top of all this, I have to take time out of my schedule to come to this stupid amusement park. So forgive me if I have to sacrifice a little of our time together." Dash replied.

Pinkie Pie kicked her hoof awkwardly, "But old Dashie had to deal with all that stuff, and she got on well enough. Plus, old Dashie would have told us if she went to a party in Canterlot. Seriously, how long ago was this? Was I involved?"

Dash shrugged, "It wasn't a party, it was just a small gathering of some friends from flight school. There was no need to tell you guys."

Pinkie Pie tried to sit down and cross her hooves, but was pushed forward by the crowd behind her. "I'm not sure I believe that. I think there's something you're not telling me. But don't worry, Professor Pinkie will solve this mystery."

Rainbow sighed annoyingly, "There's no problem Pinkie, so drop it."

Dash recoiled when a large magnifying glass was pushed into her face. Pinkie sat on the other side, staring intently into the curved glass. She raised an eyebrow knowingly and asked, "Why don't you want to tell me? What are you hiding?"

Pushing the glass away from her, Dash replied, "I'm warning you, drop it Pinkie!"

"Drop what? My magnifying glass? But how will I see you better?" Pinkie wondered, confused.

Dash growled in anger, and grabbed the glass off of Pinkie. With a shout, she threw it on the ground and stomped on it. There was a quick crack as the flimsy frame snapped in two, and the glass broke into a million pieces. Pinkie could only look on in shock. Her mouth fluttered open and closed until she managed to squeeze out, "Did..Did you just break my magnifying glass? It had a wife and foals you know!"

Rainbow smacked herself in the head with her hoof, "I don't care, Pinkie."

"But...but...he was married!"

"You should of dropped it Pinkie!"

"But...NOOOOooooo Mister Reflects! Why did you have to leave us so soon? You were so young! So young."

There was a nervous cough from behind the two ponies, and Pinkie looked up to see that they were at the front of the line. Sitting in the booth in behind them, smiling her face off, was a white unicorn wearing extremely oversized purple glasses. Tapping her hoof on the table, she addressed the two ponies.

"Listen dudes, I don't mean to interrupt anything, cause that just ain't my style, but I feel the need to tell you that the line behind you is getting longer."

Dash glanced back at the line behind her, and blushed. She walked over to the booth, and stood next to Pinkie, who had already gotten there before her.

"That's better. Now, got any tickets you wanna show me?" The unicorn asked.

Pinkie started to dig through the contents of her mane, searching desperately for something in the wild tangles of her mane. She made the occasional chewing sound, but otherwise worked quietly. While she did, Dash stared at the unicorn in the booth intently. Pushing aside her concerns, she asked, "Do I know you from somewhere? You look familiar."

The mare flipped her multicoloured blue mane to the side, and responded. "It depends, you go to much raves?"

Rainbow shook her head, "There was this one about a week ago, but I don't think that's it."

"Hmm, maybe you're a fan of my other works? I tried my hoof at painting for a while, but that was too slow for me."

Rainbow nodded, and turned to Pinkie, "Hey Pinkie, you find those tickets yet?" She asked.

Pinkie shook her head, and looked over to Dash, "I thought you had the tickets silly. I was just checking to see if I still had my spare balloons." Pinkie said quickly, pulling a balloon out of her mane. She blew into it until it expanded, and released it into the air. It drifted free for a while, and all three ponies looked at it stupidly. Eventually, it became a dot against the blue sky.

Dash started to sweat, and her breath came out faster, "Pinkie, you always had the tickets, you're the one who bought them! How could you lose them?" Dash questioned.

"I didn't lose them, I gave them to you!" Pinkie responded happily.

"Pinkie, I don't have the tickets, please tell me you have the tickets." Rainbow begged.

"No silly, you do have the tickets!"

"I don't have the tickets."

"Yes, you do."

"No I don't."

"Yes. You do."

"No. I don't."

"Yes?"

"No!"

"Yeeeees?"

"NO!"

"Relax you two, I have a way to solve this. Just shut up and listen." The unicorn cut in, offering her help.

The two ponies, who had moved shockingly close to each other in the time they were arguing, spun their heads towards the unicorn quickly. Pinkie's childish smile disappeared as soon as she recognised the pony in the window.

"DJ Pon-3! What are you doing here?" She asked.

Dash shook her head, and thought to herself, "The DJ. Of course!"

Vinyl faced Pinkie, and asked, "It's just Vinyl Scratch at the moment. Management won't let me use my stage name. You a fan?"

Pinkie nodded, "Yep, you performed at some of my parties. Well, one of my parties, but it was a pretty good party, as long as you don't count the others."

Vinyl rubbed the back of her head, "Was that the one that ended with the fire? Man, that party was the bomb. All good shows should end like that." She remarked.

"So what are you doing here?" Pinkie asked again.

The unicorn fiddled with some things below the counter, and replied, "It's a long story. Basically, some fireworks went off, ponies got hurt, and my show was ruined. I regret nothing though, the explosions went along with the song perfectly. Anyway, Octavia basically forced me into this to pay for the damages, but I don't see why, that was the best show I've had in a long time."

Pinkie nodded, "You know, it is kind of odd that all your shows end with somepony catching on fire." She remarked.

"Like I said, girl, all good shows end with a bang."

Rainbow Dash interrupted the two ponies, and looked over Vinyl condescendingly. Coughing loudly, she asked. "You mentioned you could help us with our ticket problem?"

Vinyl Scratch fiddled with some more things under the booth, and replied, "Yea, just gimmie a minute, I just need to..." Vinyl disappeared under the counter, and the conversation ended. The occasional spark of electricity could be heard, along with the muffled sounds of the DJ working. After a minute of waiting, and a short argument with an angry goat behind them, the counter started to smoke. Black clouds of the fume drifted lazily into the air, and vanished into the sky. "Ignore that, everything's under control." A shout came out from below. Another minute passed, this time the sound of electricity arcing could be heard, along with the occasional curse from the unicorn inside the booth. Rainbow sat lazily on the ground.

Suddenly, two giant speakers swung out from inside the booth and two more sprung out from the top of the roof. Rainbow jumped in surprise, and, once she was sure the danger was passed, examined them. They were covered in a fine film, and had six major sound point things, Dash wasn't quite sure what to call them. Her attention was grabbed by the white unicorn re-emerging from the mess of wires beneath the booth. Her mane was stuck up from the shocks of electricity, and her coat was covered in a thin black soot. Noticing Rainbow, she asked. "Beauties, aren't they? Three pounds of pure, undiluted sound backed up by two and half pounds of bass. Twelve base sound crystals supported by eight amplifier gems and costing around 2000 bits. It has 140 DBs of sound pressure and is strong enough to knock out a ursa major. It's also the thing that's going to find your tickets."

Rainbow snapped her mouth shut, and looked over the speakers carefully. "How exactly is this going to help us?" She questioned, slightly concerned.

"It's simple, my rainbow friend, the tickets are made out of a special material that is sensitive to vibrations. I play some music over these speakers, and the tickets start dancing around to it, and we know where they're hiding. Now before we begin, are you two sure one of you has the tickets?"

Pinkie bounced in front of her, "Of course we're sure, what kind of pony would lie about that? That would be like taking two muffins when the basket says to take one."

With a smile, Vinyl pulled out a large pair of turntables, and placed them carefully on the counter. A tangle of wires found their way into the appropriate slots. The air hummed with anticipation, and Dash suddenly felt very fearful. Standing in front of Vinyl, she asked nervously, "Is this safe, Vinyl? Has it been tested?"

Vinyl flipped her glasses down onto her nose, showing her dark red eyes, "This is, without a doubt, perfectly safe."

Pinkie hopped onto Dash's back quickly, and pointed at the unicorn. "Hit it, DJ!" She shouted.

"Awww Yeah." Vinyl shouted back, and placed her hoof's on the turntable. She flipped a switch on the side, and music started to explode out the speakers.

To say that the music exploded out of the speakers is an understatement. It would be more appropriate to say that every pony, minotaur, goat, horse, donkey, animal, bird, insect and zebra within 500 meters was immediately rendered deaf from the sudden outburst of sound. Everything living thing in sight collapsed to the ground, clenching their ears in pain. The music continued on, showing no relief. The song drummed through Rainbow's ears, causing a painful throbbing in time with the music. Fighting through the pain, Rainbow glanced upwards to find Vinyl Scratch and Pinkie calmly talking to each other over the noise. Neither seemed effected by the loud noise, and the unicorn was even bobbing her head in time with the music. The rainbow mare forced herself closer to the duo, with the intent to stop the pain. When she basically pushed her head into Pinkie's mouth, she could faintly make out what the two were chatting about.

"So Vinyl," Pinkie said, nearly dwarfed by the sound, "How have things been going between you and Octavia?"

Vinyl scratched her chin, and responded thoughtfully. "Actually better than I expected. I thought she'd leave after the first week, at the most. Not many ponies can handle my lifestyle. I think you've found the right mare when she can ignore the large amounts of property damage you make on a daily basis."

Pinkie nodded in response, "That is something to consider. The only person I know who puts up with my damage is Gummy, and he doesn't really count, since he was wanted by the royal guard for a brief period of time."

"What do you think of my music choice?" Vinyl asked. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see two gold slips of paper floating in the air. They bounced in time with the music, and Vinyl was almost fully distracted by their movements.

"You turned the music on already? I can't really hear it. Would you kindly turn it up a bit more?"

Rainbow let out a scream that disappeared into the torrent of painful white noise. Lunging forward, she grabbed the turntables, and ripped the machine out of it's socket. The music echoed for a few minutes, and a loud ringing resided in Rainbow's ears. Every creature there let out a sigh of pure relief, and many remained stuck to the ground, unable to get back up. Vinyl looked down at the disconnected machine sadly. "Aww, the best part was coming up." She remarked.

Pinkie stared at Dash, who was curled up into a ball until the noise stopped running through her head. "Come on, Dashie, the song wasn't that bad." Pinkie said, when she noticed two small shining slips of paper. "See, I told you; you had the tickets. Let's go in!"

Pinkie grabbed the two tickets, and carried them over to Vinyl, who was contemplating plugging her machine back in. The ticket master looked up, and noticed the two tickets. "All right! Hand em over Pinkie and lets get you two in!"

Pinkie placed the papers on the counter, just past the turntables, and Vinyl picked them up quickly. Upon seeing them though, her huge smile started to sink. Staring at the tickets, she asked Pinkie, "Umm, dude, this....this is drawn in crayon. Like, the fillies colouring stick crayon. Where's the real tickets?"

Pinkie appeared behind her suddenly, and examined the tickets from behind Vinyl. "These are the real tickets. Aren't they all like that?" Pinkie asked worriedly.

Vinyl stared at her, "What, no! Of course not! Why did you think we made our tickets in crayon?"

"But the salespony said that all the tickets were like that." Pinkie responded, looking down sadly. Appearing on the other side of the glass again, she asked slowly, "Vinyl, we're good friends right? Could you possibly let us in regardless?"

Vinyl shook her head, "Sorry, girl. As much as I'd like to, I can't. If I did, my boss would kill me, then Octavia would kill me, then the guard would kill me. I just don't have that many lives to spare. Besides, I'm already on thin ice after they claimed I caused a few busted ear drums. Like, just because I like loud music doesn't mean I go blaring it over the intercom. But anyway, you'll just have to leave. No hard feelings?"

Pinkie shook her head, "No hard feelings." She said as she walked over to Rainbow Dash, who was just recovering from the music. Pinkie kicked her hoof awkwardly, and told Rainbow the news, "Alright, I have some good news, and some less good news."

Dash rubbed some blood out of her ear, and questioned Pinkie, "What's the bad news?"

"The tickets are fake, and drawn with crayon." Pinkie responded.

"What's the good news?"

"I just thought of a way to sneak into the park!"

Dash rubbed her head. "Will this result in us dressing up in a crazy trench coat and pretending we don't need tickets?"

A lightbulb appeared over Pinkie's head, and she shouted, "I have a better idea now. Follow me!" With a hasty movement, Pinkie grabbed Rainbow's hoof, and dragged her into the hedge on the side of the line.

"Pinkie, this plan is stupid, and there's no way in Equestria that it's going to work." Rainbow Dash said.

Pinkie Pie looked up at Rainbow and responded, "Of course this will work, when have trench coats ever let me down?"

Walking awkwardly on her back legs and balancing Rainbow with her front, Pinkie stumbled out of the hedge. The two of them were wearing a large oversized trench coat, with Rainbow standing on Pinkie's shoulders, and Pinkie was completely hidden beneath it's folds. Rainbow's head poked out the top, and she was wearing Pinkie's bowler hat to hide her face.

The two of them stumbled over to the tickets booth, and Vinyl couldn't help but do a double take. "You're a pretty large guy," she commented, "Anyway, ticket?"

Rainbow Dash glanced down quickly at Pinkie Pie. When she had no answer, Dash improvised, putting on a deep voice to mask her own, "Huh, No I don't need a ticket, I work here."

Vinyl nodded slowly, "Sure you do hotshot, I would recognize you, now where's the ticket?"

Dash tried again, "I'm a VIP, we don't have tickets."

"Then you won't mind showing me your VIP pass." Vinyl replied slowly.

Rainbow nearly lost her balance, but recovered long enough to make another excuse, "I actually own the place. Yea, I put a lot of work into this here park. No need to check tickets."

Vinyl jumped back, and wiped her forehead, "Oh, I'm sorry sir, I didn't recognize you, go right in," she said hastily, pushing a button on the side of the desk. "Please forgive me for the mistake, sir."

"Really?" Dash asked surprised.

"Of course not, I've already called security, you have about two minutes to get the hay out of my sight." Vinyl said bitterly.

Rainbow Dash was about to snap back, when she found herself getting pulled away by the mare beneath her. She was helpless to slow Pinkie down, so she simply clung on for dear life as the pink pony sprinted away. They shoved past the line of creatures who had gathered to watch their display. Rainbow blushed, and grabbed Pinkie harder.

Eventually, she slowed, and Dash feel off her shoulders and hit the ground harshly. Watching the stars orbit her head slowly, she asked Pinkie, "Can we go home now?"

Pinkie shook her head, and rubbed her chin, "Not yet, we just need a new plan."

Rainbow tried to scare the stars away, with no success, "Because the last one worked perfectly." She said sarcastically.

"No it didn't. But I have a better plan this time! Follow me!" Pinkie said excitedly, running away from Dash

Rainbow Dash sighed sadly, and followed after the energetic pink pony.

The two ponies sat outside the fence separating them from the inside of the park. Despite being relatively new, the fence was covered in a variety of plants, each one interlocking with the metal frame to create an impenetrable barrier against those that sought to get in without paying. Pinkie took one look at the wall before turning to Dash. "Alright, you ready? On the count of three, you fly over and get in. I'll follow behind."

Rainbow looked at the fence. She could probably fly over it easily, but that wasn't the hard part. She turned her attention to her companion, "You know they probably monitor this right?"

Pinkie nodded, and replied, "Come on, Dashie. We have to get in there. We just gotta! So get ready."

Dash sighed again, and extended her wings. "Alright, but if we get caught, I'm leaving you." With that said, Dash took a few steps back. Charging forward, she leapt into the air. Just as she did, someone shouted at her. She turned in the air to see who it was, and caught a glimpse of something running towards Pinkie Pie. She panicked slightly, but kept on track, and landed silently on the other side of the fence. She sat down out of sight, and waited for Pinkie to follow her over.

Pinkie spun around to face whoever had spotted her, and jumped backwards in fear when she recognized him. A large yellow creature with a single eye was running towards her. He was wearing different clothes since Pinkie last saw him though. The cyclops was wearing dark blue pants, made out of thick cloth. He was also wearing a matching jacket, with the words 'security' written on the front and back. His eye was nearly covered by a pair of dark sunglasses that looked awkward against his eye, and on his head he wore a denim hat. Despite all this, he neglected to wear any kind of footwear.

Dwarfing Pinkie greatly, the creature looked down at the pony, and asked roughly, "What are little pony doing?"

Pinkie smiled nervously, and took a few steps back, "Who me? I was just arranging a party for my best friend! She's not here yet though."

The cyclops squinted his eye sceptically, "Little pony no sneaking into park? That makes Steropes very happy!"

Pinkie sighed, relieved, "So you're not Brontes?"

The giant creature smiled, and clapped his hands dumbly, "Little pony knows Steropes' brother? Make Steropes very happy. Is party for brother?" The cyclopes asked.

Pinkie nodded, and Steropes clapped harder, "YAY, Steropes loves parties! Can Steropes party with pony?"

Pinkie looked around quickly, and pointed out a few problems. "Yes, everypony can party. Parties are great! Well, except for bad parties, but they're usually good too. But we can't party yet, there's only two of us, and we have no party supplies."

Steropes rubbed his chin, and took of his glasses, "Steropes knows where party is! Party is in park! Little pony wait while Steropes gathers party things!" He said excitedly

Pinkie shook her head, and responded, "But what if my friend shows up? Then I'll have to leave, and we won't have a super duper party! Plus we still don't have any other guests."

"Steropes knows! Pony can met Steropes in park, have many friends in park. Do not worry about pony's friend while gone, Steropes will be good greeter and tell Brontes about party." Steropes responded while grabbing Pinkie's tail, and lifting her into the air roughly. Pinkie let out a squeak, and Steropes started to spin her around by her tail. She kept going faster and faster, until everything combined into a blur, and she felt like throwing up. Suddenly, the cyclops let go, and Pinkie went flying into the air. Despite the danger, Pinkie couldn't help but let out a happy cheer. Falling down to earth quickly, looked down and saw a familiar looking pony. Directing herself towards it, Pinkie cheered again. Rainbow Dash looked up half a second before a bright pink blur slammed into her. The two went sliding along the ground as the force of the impact forced them to move. Stopping, Pinkie rubbed her back, and rolled off of Rainbow.

Looking over the now crushed pony, Pinkie apologised, "Whoops, Sorry Dashie, guess I accidentally hit you. You all right?"

Rainbow pushed herself to her feet painfully, the stars around her head had returned and she felt extremely dizzy. There were three Pinkies standing in front of her, and she pointed at the one on the right. "How....What...Flying...Me...What?"

Pinkie smiled, showing all her teeth as she did, and Rainbow simply shook her head, "You know what, I don't really care. Your plan somehow worked, amazingly. So good job."

Pinkie looked away from Rainbow to examine her surroundings. Everywhere she looked, there was a range of colours. Creatures of every shape and size wandered through the park, buying nik-nacs from the many shops set up in the park. There were several entrances to the rides scattered around the park, each filled with customers waiting for their turn.

Pinkie looked over everything with the largest smile she could muster, and turned back to Dash, "Come on silly. We can't wait here, there's so much to do!"

Maximum Overdrive

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Pinkie hopped through the park happily, avoiding any of the creatures that got in her way. She smiled the whole way, and spun her head around randomly to look at everything in awe. Every few seconds she would stop, and Dash, who was trying her best to look like she wasn't associated the crazy pink jumping randomly through the park, caught up to her. During one of these stops, Rainbow managed to get a few words in before Pinkie dashed off again.

"Pinkie, could you please stop running around? It's getting hard to keep up with you." Dash said.

Pinkie stopped in mid air, and looked down at Rainbow, "But Dashie, how can I just walk when there's all this fun stuff to do!" Pinkie asked.

Rainbow Dash grabbed Pinkie, and pulled her back down to earth. Here hat inexplicably stayed stuck in the air. "You can still have fun, just be more normal while you do it."

Pinkie sat down. Her eye's expanded and filled with tears while she did. Creating the saddest looking face she could, she looked up at Rainbow Dash and asked, "You don't think I'm normal?"

Rainbow shook her head, and rubbed her mane, annoyed. "No, what I mean is, just, stop bouncing everywhere, and try to calm down a bit."

Pinkie sprung back up into her bowler hat, smiling. "Okey Dokey Lokey, Dashie."

Rainbow Dash moved closer, and lightly punched Pinkie in the side. Pinkie gave her a slight push back, and continued. "So what should we do first Dashie? Buy some candy? Ride the roller coaster? See a show? Befriend a struggling performer? Get into lovable mischief? Uncover a secret plot involving robots? Foil a plan for world domination? Annoy the other guests?" Pinkie continued through the list of all the things they could do, as Dash silently listened. When Rainbow remembered that Pinkie would probably never stop talking, she cut in hastily, voicing her opinion.

"How about we go over to the flight stadium, and wait for the Wonderbolt show to start?"

Pinkie kicked her off impatiently, "No way, It won't start for hours and there's still plenty of things we haven't done yet. We can't go until we've done everything!"

"Well, you can go do everything, but I'm going to go wait for the Wonderbolts." Rainbow retorted.

Pinkie's grin disappeared, and she stopped Rainbow Dash from moving forward. Looking her in the eye, she said seriously, "You can't do that. You need a separate ticket to get into the Wonderbolt show and I have it hidden in a place only I know."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, "Are these tickets also written in crayon?" She teased sarcastically.

Pinkie shook her head, and Dash pushed past her. She prepared to take off, but stopped when the news Pinkie told her finally sunk in. If she wanted to see the Wonderbolt show, she needed to stick with Pinkie, regardless of how much she didn't want to. With a sigh, she curled up her wings and turned around.

"Alright Pinkie, what do you want to do first?"

Pinkie thought for a moment, and jumped into the air. "I want to buy candy!" She landed, thought some more and jumped back into the air, "No wait, I want to go on the rides!" She landed again, then immediately flew back into the air, "No, I want to see the performances." Landing back on the ground, she stopped herself from jumping again, and merely shook excitedly. "I don't know, there's just so much."

"Well, make up your mind, the sooner the bet...." Dash stopped, as she heard something that was vaguely familiar. "No, it can't be." She thought to herself.

Leaving Pinkie behind, Rainbow sped off through the park, chasing the familiar sound.

"That's right, cry you foolish foal! That's what happens when you doubt the power of the great and powerful Trixie!" A powerful voice shouted out from behind one of the multicoloured booths. Rainbow Dash turned a corner quickly, and nearly collided with a small filly running in the opposite direction. The young pony was fighting back tears, and pushed past Rainbow roughly.

"Yes, you better flee. None can match Trixies power!" The voice called out again.

Rainbow Dash moved closer, but the booth was placed into a groove in the ground, and all Dash could see was the roof of the structure. The voice called out confidently, asking a question, "Does anypony else wish to test their measly strength against the great and powerful Trixie? Trixie scoffs at your futile attempts. Come and just try to beat me!"

Rainbow slid down the groove, and stood at the window of the booth. Inside, a dark blue unicorn with a white mane was laughing manically. She was wearing a large wizards hat, and her cutie mark was hidden by the purple cape she was wearing. Her horn poked out from underneath the hat, splitting her mane to one side of her head and out of her face. She stopped laughing as Rainbow watched her, and with a sneer, she asked, "So, does another pony wish to try and beat the great and powerful Trixie?"

Rainbow pointed her hoof at Trixie, and shouted, "Yea, I demand a rematch. What you did last time was a nasty trick!"

Trixie chuckled, "Rematch? Have we met before? You see, I have a rare medical condition where it's impossible for me to remember losers such as yourself." She taunted.

Rainbow took a step back, and snapped back, "Loser? I could beat you any day!"

"You couldn't beat me the last time." The unicorn said slyly.

The pegasis clenched her teeth, and an anger rose in her stomach. This smart-mouth was going down! Rainbow tensed her muscles, and prepared to tackle Trixie through the booth. Trixie simply leaned backwards, and chuckled again. Rainbow Dash spread her wings, and leapt forward. Just before she entered the booth, Trixies horn glowed a dark pink and a similar coloured aura surrounded Dashs tail. With a squeak, Rainbow was pulled backwards and went flying backwards onto the ground. Pushing herself back to her feet, her breath came out in heavy pants. She tried again, faster than before. Trixie watched intently, and did the same thing again. Through clenched teeth, she sneered, "That's not fair! How can we fight if you keep throwing me out of the booth?"

Trixie smiled, "Fight? What ever gave you that idea? Trixie's boss would fire her if she fought, and that simply won't do." She said.

Rainbow Dash's confidence wavered, and she asked angerly, "But what about matching your power?"

Trixie laughed again, and her horn glowed. As it did, an mist of magic surrounded her whole booth. The wall behind her shimmered and faded, revealing a line of oddly sized, multi-coloured circles. They looked old and worn out, and a few were dripping with what Dash assumed was water. From the window side, four small devices rose from the wood. They looked like a black soda can with an oversized straw sticking in the front. Attached to the things side was two handles, also dripping wet with water. Finally, an assortment of multi-coloured lights pushed through from the sides of the booth, and flashed randomly, showering the show in a river of ever changing lights. A sign descended from the ceiling, and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but read it.

'Trixie's Terrifically Tricky Trapezoid Tracking Tins', it read.

Rainbow Dash rubbed her head, and looked over the entire booth. After much thought, she pointed out, "Now, I may not know much,"

"Good to hear you admit it." Trixie cut in.

"But I know my shapes, I worked on the weather team, and I'm pretty sure that those are circles." Dash continued, pointing at the red and black circles behind Trixie.

Trixie turned around, and examined the targets. After a quick moment, she retaliated, "No, those are trapezoids."

"No, they're not. See trapezoids usually,"

"Nope, shut up."

"have two parallel lines,"

"Shut up, they're trapezoids."

"and are kind of square shaped,"

"Trixie demands you stop talking!"

"cause they have four sides,"

"SHUT UP!"

"where these circles have no sides, or one if you want to get all egg head about it." Sitting down, Rainbow finished, smiling smugly.

Trixie shook her head harder, and tried to compose herself. She failed, and snapped at Rainbow, "I am the owner here! I think I know what my shapes are!" She shouted.

"Whatever," Rainbow replied, "Let's play your game than. How do we do that?"

Trixie tried again to calm down, and said begrudgingly, "Trixie will use small words so you can understand. See those things in front of you? They are called 'water guns'. By squeezing the handle, they shoot out a small stream of water. See these trapezoids behind me? They are called 'targets'. To win, you need to hit all the targets before Trixie can fill and throw this bucket of water at you, which Trixie will enjoy greatly."

Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin, and listened carefully. When Trixie was done with the instructions, she asked curiously, "What do I get when I win?"

Trixie sighed, and adjusted her hat to hide her eyes, "If, somehow, you do win, Trixie will give you one compliment, and will be as sincere as she can be about it."

Dash yawned, and walked towards the booth. Placing her hooves on the strange device, she started to develop a feel for it. It could swing in all directions, and the line of water was strong and accurate. Grinning, Dash decided to give it a quick test. She pointed it at Trixie and squeezed on the handles as hard as she could.

Trixie closed her eyes as the water ran down her face, and she sighed. She removed her hat and cloak and placed them on a small table that appeared out of the side of the booth. She spun to face Rainbow, and water hit her in the nose. She couldn't care less. With the calmest voice she could muster while getting shot in the face with water, she said, "Are we really going to do this? Trixie thought we could at least pretend to be....passing acquaintances...while the two of us played."

Rainbow Dash loosened her grip, and the stream slowly dried up and went back into the cylinder. Trixie shook the water out of her mane, and her horn lit up again. This time, a trapdoor above Rainbow opened up, and a bucket of water fell onto her head. The two ponies stared at each other, and Trixie smiled, "Now we're even." She said.

Rainbow grunted, and stared at the circles in front of her. Trixie noticed this, and asked sneakily, "Are you ready to lose?"

Dash focused her vision, and nodded.

Trixie's horn glowed, slowly the circles started to move. Up, down, left, right, occasionally passing over one another and Dash swore she saw two small ones combine into one hug circle. Trixie's horn lit up more. Dash prepared to start, when suddenly, someone grabbed the water gun next to her. Rainbow Dash looked over quickly, and grinned as she recognized her.

Pinkie released one of her hooves, and pointed at Dash. "If you wanted to go play some cool games, you didn't need to rush off. What is this anyway? Do we need to hit Trixie?" The pony asked, shooting a thin stream of water towards Trixie.

Trixie stopped her spell, and the circles started to slow down, "No, you do not need to hit the great and powerful Trixie! You need to hit the trapezoids." She shouted.

Pinkie looked over the booth, and asked, confused, "Are the trapezoids behind the circles? That seems like a mean trick to pull."

Trixie's eye twitched, and she exploded her voice to Pinkie, "NO! THE CIRCLES ARE THE TRAPEZOIDS!"

"Don't trapezoids usually have two parallel lines?"

Trixie pointed at Pinkie, and motioned to her eyes. She then pointed at Pinkie. She repeated this for a while, before finishing with, "Don't you start too! I will personally kick you out of this park." She said, strangely calm.

"No need to be a meany mane! Please continue with the magic spell." Pinkie replied, smiling.

Trixie nodded and a pink mist covered her horn. The circles started to increase in speed, the smaller ones moving at a blinding pace, while the bigger ones raced the snails. Above the field of circles, a small stream of water drizzled down from the roof. It rushed along the top of the field, and poured down the side, landing in a large metal bucket.

With a shout, Trixie yelled at the top of her lungs, "GO NOW!"

Dash reacted quickly, squeezing on the handles. A stream of water shot out of the barrel quickly. It travelled through the air, leaving a faint rainbow in it's path, before suddenly stopping when it hit Trixie in the eye. Trixie flinched, and Dash gave a smile, before aiming at the quickly moving targets. She noticed that a few had already been hit, the clear substance running down the front of the larger circles. Dash kept her eye on the targets, and fired. She picked of a few of the faster circles, then eyed the next shot carefully. It was the smallest circle that she was after. It zipped around the field, turning at random intervals, disappearing and reappearing in different places and occasionally splitting into two halves, which would run around the back wall on their own accord. Dash's eyes raced around the box, chasing the circle and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The circle slowed for a split second, and Dash took her chance. She fired, squeezing and pushing down as hard as she could. However, something else appeared in the path of Dash's shot. A second stream of water flew ahead of her water, and splattered against the target. Rainbow's water hit the same target a split-second later, but the effect wasn't the same. Choosing a new target, and keeping her eyes focused, she called out to the pony next to her.

"Pinkie! That was my target." She said menacingly.

Pinkie turned to Dash, and smiled, "It was? I'm sorry Dashie, you can have the next one."

Dash shook her head, and fired randomly at the targets, "There won't be next one, that was the only one."

"Was it? I could of sworn there was two." Pinkie thought aloud, confused.

"Listen Pinkie, I know you love games and stuff like this, but me and Trixie need to battle this out. I need to win this alone, and I can't have you messing up my chances." Dash said plainly.

"I won't mess up your game, I can help!" Pinkie shouted.

Dash shook her head, "Just let me do this alone." She asked, motioning for Pinkie to step away from the water-spraying device.

She did, and took a few steps back. "I could help." She said quietly, while kicking her hoof nervously.

Dash refocused on the game, and fired hastily. One by one, the targets were hit by the stream of water. The large ones were the easiest, most likely by design, while the smaller ones gave Dash some trouble, causing her to miss every second shot. The bucket lying on the ground next to the field slowly filled, and Trixie's smile grew wider as it did.

Eventually, there was only three circles left. Trixie focused her head, and sped them to eye blinding speeds. Dash tried to follow their paths, and get a clean shot, but they moved so fast all she could do was stare at the blurred colours. The sheer speed of them made Rainbow dizzy, and she resorted to firing randomly, hoping to get one of them with a lucky shot. After a brief moment, Trixie looked up at her.

"Hey Rainbow," She teased, "What's soaking wet and clueless?"

With a practised movement, Trixie grabbed the bucket in her magic and threw it towards Rainbow. The rainbow mare tried to dodge the projectile, but was too slow. The metal bucket flew above her head and emptied it's contents. The torrent of water pushed Dash to the ground and thoroughly soaked her to the bone. After the monsoon of water stopped, Dash pulled herself back to her feet. Her mane was clinging to her face, and half of it covered her eyes, stopping her from seeing.

Wiping away the hair, she was meet with the over confident smile of the great and powerful Trixie.

"Well, well, well, now we know who the better mare is. Again." She sneered.

Dash shook the water out of her fur. A few drops ran into her eyes, but her anger kept them from doing any harm. Her legs ached from the water crashing onto her and she clenched her teeth together. She swore she could see steam rising off of her, heated simply by her restrained fury. She stared at mare in front of her, and wiped the water from her eyes.

"Again!" She shouted, lunging forward onto the gun, "Lets do this again. This time, I'll win!"

A flash of light erupted from Trixies forehead. Dash closed her eyes to block the sudden flash, and when she reopened them, the booth was dry. Not a single drop of water remained inside the booth, outside it though, Rainbow remained soaked to the bone. Trixie took a few steps back, and focused her magic. The now dry circles started to move again, and Rainbow gave them a moment to speed up. Nothing was going to stop her from winning this.

Pinkie appeared next to her, probably to get a better view, but Dash ignored her. The circles sped up, crossing over each other and moving around like the surface of a disturbed lake. "Pretty appropriate." Dash thought, before shaking the thought out of her head and staring at the board intently. The water started to drip down from the roof again, and Dash prepared to fire the harmless weapon.

Trixie raised herself onto her back legs, and smashed into the ground with her front. An explosion of smoke appeared around her, and she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Begin!"

Dash fired instantaneously, spraying one of the larger targets. This time, her anger forced her to focus, and the targets fell faster. A little one, a big one, another smaller one, it didn't matter, Rainbow Dash hit each one with the same force. Her hooves started to ache from the strength she was putting into her shots, but she ignored the pain, and redoubled her efforts. Trixie's face fell as the targets did, and she also increased her power. With a shock, she realised that there was only three targets left, and the bucket was only half filled. With a scowl, she put all her might into the circles. They moved at the same blinding speed, and Dash fired at them. She missed every shot. She tried again, and again, missing every time. Eventually, Trixie smiled, as she released she had won yet again.

Or did, as a trickle of water, moving as fast as the targets, smashed into one of them. Trixie faulted as the circle exploded, showering her in faulty wood.

Dash jumped back from the gun, and turned to the pony next to her. Pinkie was sitting at the small device, a look of deadly seriousness on her face, a view of implacability between her and the targets. Her head moved at the speed of the targets, giving her the impression of a constantly moving piece of smoke.

"Rainbow! Get back on the gun and lets win this thing!" She shouted.

Dash stared at her confused, and cautiously walked back to the device. She grabbed it slowly, but kept her attention on Pinkie's constantly moving head.

"Give up, Pony! None can beat the great and powerful Trixie!" Trixie yelled, moving the circles even faster.

Pinkie, amazingly, kept up with the new changes. It started with her head, already moving impossibly fast, and travelled down from there into her arms, which moved with the same speed. From there it spread again, moving to her gun. It moved in all directions, but always remained focused on one of the blurry lines. Dash completely ignored her own gun, and focused on Pinkie. Finally, she fired.

The water flew through the air, graceful yet extremely fast. Time seemed to slow down as the water travelled through the air, a faint trail behind it. It seemed for a moment that the water would miss, until the last moment, when the circle turned suddenly, and moved directly into the path of the shot. The circle turned a dark red as the water sunk into it, and Trixie looked shocked at the development.

A drop of water and sweat ran down her face, as she pushed all her magical energy into making the final circle move. The magical aura around it was so strong it turned the whole target pink. Through her ragged breaths, Trixie managed to choke out, "What now, pony? No one can stop me when I go into MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE!"

Pinkie's gun remained locked on the circle, but no matter how many times she tried, the target was always one step ahead. The time ticked down quickly, and Dash realised that it was nearly extinguished. She turned her gun on the board, and fired a few times, not even coming close to the final target. With a crushing realisation, she accepted that the final target was impossible. Her attention drifted between Pinkie, the board, and Trixie.

Then it hit her. Trixie. Rainbow Dash aimed her gun at the unicorn instead. The magician was to busy focusing on the game to see her, and Dash fired reluctantly. The water hit her in the eye again. This time though, she was so focused that the water came as a complete surprise. Her magic wavered for a split second, and Pinkie took over, firing the final shot of the game.

The water hit the target, and there was an explosion of noise. Confetti and streamers came flying out of the roof, and a siren blared their victory to all the ponies in the park. Trixie's mouth hung open in shock, but she quickly regained her composure. Levitating her hat and cape back onto her self, she trotted over to the front of the booth.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie smiled victoriously, and exchanged glances. Rainbow raised her hoof into the air, and Pinkie did the same. They both slammed their hooves into each other, and turned to Trixie.

"Alright Trixie, pay up. I want a good compliment, maybe about how I'm the fastest flier ever, or how much better than you I am." Dash said confidently.

Trixie smiled at her, and opened her mouth. Dash leaned forward expectantly, and let out a confused look when Trixie turned to the pink pony next to her.

"Congratulations, pink pony, you have beaten Trixie. As a reward, Trixie would like you to know that your hat is one of the fanciest and well kept hats she has ever seen. Again, congratulations, now please leave while Trixie fixes the damages you did."

Dash pulled herself onto the front of the booth, and stared down at unicorn, "What are you doing?" She shouted, "I won this, compliment me!"

Trixie glanced up at Rainbow Dash, and calmly turned away from her. "Really? I seem to recall that it was the other pony who hit the last target. Ergo, she won."

Dash leapt into the booth, and grabbed Trixie's cloak. "No, I won. I did this! IT WAS ALL ME!" She shouted.

Dash found herself surrounded by a pink aura, and she was shot backwards, like she was fired from a cannon. She crashed into the hill roughly, and stared up at the two ponies.

"The pink pony won. Trixie's word is final, now leave." She said, using her magic to float a large curtain over the front of the booth. The words, 'Closed', were printed on the front in dark blue, standing out against the curtains dark red. With an exasperated groan, Rainbow threw herself backwards and lay on the ground.

Minutes passed as she lay there, and she didn't even notice when Pinkie lay down on the ground next to her. Pinkie's presence made Rainbow feel slightly better, and she sighed happily. There was still a faint voice at the back of her head, telling her to break down the curtain, and take her prize, but it was easier to ignore with Pinkie next to her. More minutes passed, and the two received strange looks from the passing customers, but they didn't care. Eventually, Pinkie spoke up, breaking the silence.

"I didn't even want the compliment. You should have taken it." She said sadly.

Dash rolled over from her back, and stared at Pinkie. Pinkie was staring at the sky, and doing her best to ignore Dash's gaze. "I didn't mean what I said Pinkie." Dash replied.

When the pony lying next to her didn't reply, she continued, "I was angry. It wasn't all me. If you weren't there, I would of gotten soaked again. You hit the targets, you deserved that reward."

Pinkie rolled over, and stared deep into Dash's eyes. "Can I ask you a super secret question Dashie?" She asked.

"Go ahead."

"Why have you been so angry lately?" Pinkie asked, maintaining eye contact.

Dash broke away quickly, "You already know why, don't you? Isn't that the reason you dragged me here?" Dash said, annoyed.

Pinkie shook her head, and responded, "I brought you here because my bestest friend was being a grumpy pants, and grumpy pants are no fun to party with."

Dash stared at the sky, and noticed there was several other pegasi in the sky. She stared at them for brief moment, before responding to Pinkies question. "It's because.....maybe I'm not the best flier."

Pinkie's mouth dropped open, "That's crazy Dashie. You're the fastest pony I've ever seen. What about that race through Gastly Gorge, or the time you created that whirly wind, or the time we cooked cupcakes together?"

"We've never cooked cupcakes together."

"Really? I'm pretty sure we did."

Dash turned to Pinkie yet again, "Pinkie, look at my butt."

Pinkie looked around uncomfortably, and responded, "Now isn't really the place for that, Dashie."

Dash threw her hoof into her face, and rubbed her nose, "No, I mean, look at my cutie mark."

A wave of comprehension washed over Pinkie, and she looked down at the small cloud with the rainbow lightning bolt that made up Rainbow Dash's cutie mark. "What about it?"

"Three times. That's how many times I've done a sonic rainboom. My only talent is doing a sonic rainboom, and I've only done it three times in my entire life." Dash said honestly, hiding her face from Pinkie.

"What's the problem? Most ponies can't do any sonic rainbooms." Pinkie responded.

Dash sat up, "You don't get it. How would you feel if you only threw three parties in your whole life? Or if Rarity only made three dresses, or Applejack only bucked three trees? Everything says I should be able to do this easily, but I can't. It's infuriating!"

Pinkie struggled to find the words that would make her friend feel better, but nothing came up. For the brief moment, she felt scared. Why couldn't she say something? They were there somewhere, why couldn't she find them? Pinkie tried to force the words out, but there was no words to say. Eventually, Dash pulled herself to her feet, and extended a hoof to Pinkie. "Come on Pinkie. Lets go do something you want to do."

Pinkie uneasily grabbed Dash's hoof, and pulled herself up. The ponies released each other, and worked their way up the hill, and away from Trixie's booth. Right into the face of a monster.

It had two gigantic eyes, each a dark purple, protruding out the side of it's head. It's muzzle, or maybe it was a snout, extended far out of it's face. It's mouth was stuck into a permanent smile, and it's oversized ears stretched into the sky. A multicoloured mane, all the colours of the rainbow, ran down the back of it's head, and it was styled into a tomboyish spike. The mane stood out against it's light blue coat, and Dash could just see two undersized wings sticking out of it's back. With a mechanical crackle, it enthusiastically greeted the terrified pony.

"Hello, I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest pony in all of Equestria!"

Dash took a step backwards in fear, and fought the urge to flee, and never return, but she couldn't leave Pinkie to face this thing. Dash managed to chatter out a few words, not even realising she was shaking. "Pi...Pinkie, keep that...thing away from me!"

To her surprise, Pinkie was rolling around on the floor laughing. In between laughter, she managed to choke out, "Hehehehe, Dashie, the mascot is you! Hehehe, it's you!"

The mascot moved closer, and Dash took a few more steps back. Getting a closer look, the thing did have a huge resemblance to herself. However, this was one time Rainbow Dash didn't want to see herself. She took a few more steps back, and bumped into something behind her. She turned and realised with a shock it was another mascot.

This one was in the likeness of Applejack, except she was missing her signature hat, and the amount of freckles on her face was greatly exaggerated.

Dash, not knowing what to do, curled into a little ball. "Oh Luna, there's two of them." She repeated to herself. She would occasionally peek out, only to see that the two mascots were still there, staring into her soul, their mouths never moving as they talked. Shivers shot down her spine, and she was overcome by unstoppable shaking. She wondered briefly whether Pinkie would sweep in to save her, but remembered quickly that Pinkie was probably still laughing on the ground. Soon, she resorted to talking to herself, repeating the same line over and over again. "Two of them. Two of them. Two of them."

It wasn't until something picked her up by the neck roughly that she snapped out of her fear induced coma. She was pulled into the air hastily. The two mascots continued to stare at her, and she grasped whatever was holding her harder in fear. She clenched her eyes shut, and someone spoke to her. "Excuse me, can you come with me please?"

Dash clenched her eyes shut tighter, "Are the monsters still there?" She asked nervously.

What ever was holding her swung around quickly, probably searching for whatever Rainbow Dash was talking about, it quickly stopped, and spoke to Rainbow, "Yes?"

Rainbow opened her eyes, and searched around. She could see a large blue blob in the distance, and assumed the mascots had left. They really were deceptively fast. She felt a huge wave of relief splash over her, and she realised that her breath was coming out in ragged pants. She faced her had forward to see who she was clinging to.

It was another large cyclops, or, from Dash's perspective, the first cyclops she'd seen. He was wearing a thick cloth jacket, with the sleeves ripped off to show his powerful muscles. His pants were made out of a material Dash couldn't put her hoof on, but it shined brightly in the bright sunlight. It was well kept, and there wasn't a single crease on either the jacket or the pants. Hanging around his neck was a bright silver whistle, standing out against the pale yellow of his body. Squirming around in the beasts grip, Dash got a glance of some writing on the back of the jacket. 'Arges, Security'. Struggling to turn around, Dash faced the one eyed monster. "I'm sorry, what?"

Arges the cyclops shrugged, and repeated himself. "I believe we have evidence that you entered this park without paying. I just want to ask you a few questions."

A drop of sweat ran down Rainbow's cheek. "I would prefer we stay here."

The large creature nodded, "That is acceptable." He replied, trying to place Rainbow carefully on the ground, but failing, and sending her flying across the road. He let out a gasp, and picked her back up. "I am so sorry ma-am, please forgive me."

Trying again, he placed Rainbow on the ground. Rainbow stood up roughly, and stared up at Arges. "What happens if I fail the questions?"

Arges raised his eyebrow in an attempt to look smart, "I will escort you out of the park."

Dash nodded, and tried her hand at lying, "Good thing I paid, right? If you could find my friend Pinkie, she can explain everything."

As if from the sheer magic of hearing her name called, Pinkie appeared behind Arges, clinging to his back. She poked her head over his shoulder, "Another cyclops? Can we just stop for a moment?" She asked, annoyed.

Pinkie hopped down from the cyclops back, and stood in front of the two confused creatures. Taking in a deep breath, she exclaimed, "Just how many of you are there? I need to know this! How can I throw a party for each of you at the end of this story if more of you keep appearing? Just tell me how many cakes I need to make before we're done."

The large security guard scratched his head, and adjusted his jacket, "Have you met my brothers? Do you know why one is missing and the other is throwing streamers over the back fence?"

Pinkie nodded her head, "It's because I threw one off the train, and convinced the other to throw a party!" She replied, smiling. She spun around and nodded to Rainbow Dash, who was giving her a look of total confusion. Rainbow raised her hooves and opened her mouth, but she couldn't form the words, so all she did was wave her arms around stupidly. Pinkie spun back to face the cyclops, and realised her mistake. The security guard in front of her was preparing to reach out and grab her. Through his angry breaths, he voiced his mind, "Please sit still while I CALMLY and CAREFULLY escort you out of the park."

Pinkie responded by calmly spinning around, and facing Rainbow. "Well Dashie, It seems I screwed up," She said, "I am going to run, meet me up at the roller-coaster if you don't get thrown out." With that, Pinkie vanished, inexplicably leaving a pony shaped cloud where she was standing.

Dash took one look at the angry cyclops in front of her, and raised her hoofs. She inched closer, leading him into a false sense of security. When he blinked, blocking his view from the outside world, Dash took her chance, flying away from him in a random direction.

Arges watched her go, and grabbed the whistle around his neck. He blew into it, releasing a long, high-pitched noise. The two winged mascots, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, moved through the crowd quickly to reach him, and when they did, he pointed at the quick moving blur.

"Mascots, attack mode! Bring me that pegasus!" He shouted over the roar of the crowd.

The mascots, hearing this command, started to change. The wings on their backs spun forward, revealing a small hollow tube. Their feet exploded in flames, pushing them into the air, and their faces bent backwards, making them more streamlined and causing their eyes to glow a bright red. One of them screamed through their mouths, blasting a loud police siren. The two of them fired a couple of small metal pellets from their wings, making sure everything worked right. Then, the two mascots hasitly rose into the air, and gave chase to the rainbow mare.

Get inside Tom, quickly.

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Dash pumped her wings forward, and pushed herself to move faster. She needed to get out of here, needed to escape. She just needed to find Pinkie, no way was she leaving without her friend. She was flying just above eye level, and would occasionally crash into someone's mane, causing a varied range of reactions. A rainbow trail blazed behind her as she flew, making it extremely easy for someone to find her. The wind pushed against her powerfully, slowing her, and she landed. Surely she had gotten away from the mascots.
She sighed, and glanced behind herself. Her heart skipped a beat, and a pain rose in her chest. A large yellow pony, hooves wreathed in fire and perfect pink mane stuck running down the side of its 'head', was hovering just above Rainbow. It's eyes were a light shade of cyan, and a small white bunny sat motionless on it's back. A loud siren blasted out of it's plastic mouth as it descended down to earth. Dash covered her ears to block out the sound, and spread her wings, ready to fly away again. The Fluttershy mascot placed it's hooves on the ground gracefully, and turned off the siren. A loud click echoed through the park as it turned it's rockets off. The sound of static came out of it's mouth briefly, before it spoke in a voice that was similar to a cool summer river.
"Umm, if you don't mind, could you please come with me? We just want to help you, if that's ok?"
Dash took a step back. The huge difference between the mascot and its voice was jarring, and made Dash feel uncomfortable. She took another step back, and Fluttershy did the same. Static was heard again, followed by, "I really wish you would just come with me."
Dash felt something behind her, and tore her eyes off of the robot. Her back was pushed against a large metal fence that was so tall Rainbow couldn't see the top. The metal of the fence was old, and rusted in a few areas, yet other parts looked relatively new, creating a kind of checkerboard effect. Dash spun back around, and let her fear get the better of her. "Stay....Stay back! I'm warning you!"
The robot ignored Dash's pleas, and took another step closer. It's backwards wings locked onto Rainbow, and they seemed to surround themselves with an air of superiority. The sun glinted off their pale yellow barrels, and the robot they were attached to moved closer still.

Dash felt a deep fear in her heart. They were so close that they could touch one another if they wanted. The robots large, emotionless eyes stared at Rainbow, showing no emotion, just a blank stare of nothing. Dash swore she could hear someone breathing, and realised that she was hearing her own breath. The mascots head turned to the side with an unnatural mechanical movement, and Dash saw it's eyes change from cyan to dark red. Or did they? They kept switching between the two colours, and the robot rose bigger. Her mind struggled to find a reason for this, but found none.
Dash felt herself falling, and opened her wings to catch herself, but it didn't work. There was no wind to ride, no air to grab. She flapped helplessly as she fell, and the park zoomed away from her. All that was left was a huge void, cold, empty and alone. She continued falling, until an abrupt mechanical laugh broke into her mind. It echoed incessantly, driving out all thought, and replacing it with fear. The void around her began to change, gaining colour, taking shape. A million ponies surrounded her, each standing perfectly, facing forward. She hit the ground roughly. A jolt of pain ran through her, but she managed to pull her head upwards. The laughing remained in her head, but the ponies had vanished, leaving six in their place.
Dash recognized her friends, or rather, their robots. She panicked again, this was too much. Pain ran through her again as she tried to run, and she realized with a gasp of horror that she was stuck to the ground. Her friends moved closer, smiles stuck on their faces in an eternal metal glow. Their eyes however, their eyes were real. They showed deep fear, similar to what Dash was feeling. Their eyes pleaded out to Rainbow as their bodies moved forward. Dash struggled to escape from the ground, glancing down for just a second as the robots moved closer. She snapped her head back up, and tried to fly backwards as the ponies leapt into her face. Twilights counterpart raised her hoof, and brought it closer to Rainbow's neck. Dash struggled with all her strength, determined to break free, but was too slow. The hoof grabbed her neck, and Dash struggled for breath. Twilight was relentless though, and Dash felt her strength draining away from her. She gasped one last time in an attempt to grab air, and blacked out.

Rainbow snapped back to reality and faced the robot in front of her. What just happened? Where were her friends robots? Rainbow looked up, and saw that Fluttershy's mascot was still standing in front of her. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she acted out of pure fear. She didn't even notice her hoof flying towards the robot until it hit. The small white bundle sitting on Fluttershys back went flying through the air, and crashed into the ground with a mechanical crunch. The robot Fluttershy hesitated, then it's mouth stretched into a freakish grin. Static again, then, "Oh my. You hurt poor little Angel. I suppose I should do something." There was a brief moment, until it spoke again, "Then again, he was always a little rough. Maybe a little tough love will teach him to be kinder."
The robot drew her attention back to the pony backed against the wall, only to notice that she was gone. She spun around confused, and saw a tell-tale rainbow trail leading away, right over her head. Rockets shot out of Fluttershys feet again, and she gave chase, shouting out to Rainbow as she did. "Please don't run, we can help you."

Rainbow forced herself to move faster, flapping her wings at an incredible speed. She could hear the protests of the ponies beneath her, but ignored them in favour of moving faster. She realised with a shock that she had actually attacked one of the robots! She stared at her hooves as she sped through the air. Her hoof ached from the rough metal of the robot, and she shook it to try and relive the pain. She suddenly grasped something that was hanging out of her view before. These mascots definitely weren't ponies, and they weren't afraid to attack her. To take her mind of this fact, she glanced behind herself, only to notice that her pursuers had vanished. She slowed down, expecting them to lunge out from behind something, but they didn't. She stopped completely, and hovered in the air. Looking around confused, she wondered where the mascots had went.

She landed on the ground, and glanced around. She was in a large open area, and there were no ponies this far off the road. A large rock was postioned on the ground near her, but other than that, only small blades of green grass surrounded the rainbow pony. She sighed, and rubbed the sweat off of her head.
"Psst, Rainbow!"
Rainbow Dash jumped into the air in fear, and sped behind the rock. She poked her head out the top and scanned the field, but she could only see the tents of the amusement park. She turned her eyes to the sky, and tried to pick out whoever had called her name.
"PSST, Rainbow!"
Rainbow jumped into the air again, and flew around the rock, hiding on it's other side. She still couldn't see anyone, and looked around confused again. With a jump, she saw the mascots rising into the air, searching for her. It wouldn't be long until they saw her cowering behind the boulder.
"PSST, RAINBOW. DOWN HERE!"
Rainbow looked down, and realised with a shock that the rock was looking back up at her. Two large white eyes were poking out the side of the boulder, and staring up at her. A split second passed as the two stared at each other, then the rock started moving. It rolled over to the side, revealing a large hole hidden beneath it. More important though, hanging off the edge of the pit was a familiar pink pony. Pinkie had lost the bowler hat, and a strangely serious expression graced her face. There was also a small scar running down the side of her face. Despite this, Rainbow greeted her friend.
"Pinkie! How did you get under the rock?"
Pinkie leapt out of the hole, and poked Rainbow in the face a couple of times. After the fifth time, she stopped, seemingly satisfied. "Dashie, you're ok! Well, sort of ok. Not injured though."
Dash looked at her confused, "Of course I'm not. Those mascots couldn't catch me if they tried."
Pinkie slipped behind Dash, and started to push her towards the hole, "We need to get out of here STAT. Get inside Tom, quickly, and I'll explain more."
Dash resisted, "What why? Didn't you want to come here in the first place?" Dash asked nervously. While she did want to get out of the park before more trouble arrived, she wasn't expecting Pinkie to agree with her.
"No silly, we need to get out of here, this field." Pinkie explained.
Dash reacted with a simple, "Oh."
The pink pony jumped ahead of Dash, and disappeared down the hole in the earth. Her head poked up a second later, and her hoof waved Dash closer. "Come on, quickly."
Dash edged closer, and poked her head over the edge of the hole. She couldn't see the bottom, and everything was covered in a small later of dust. The darkness stretched deep into the hole, and Dash was reminded of whatever had happened when she faced Fluttershy. "Actually, I think I'll stay up here, Pinkie."
Something large crashed into the ground next to her and she turned quickly. A cyan coloured robot with a brilliant rainbow mane was standing next to her, shaking the dirt of it's eyes. It stood up, and stood perfectly still. The mascots colours shined brightly in the sun, projecting rays of light into the sky. Each ray was a different colour of the rainbow, though each branched into a different direction, destroying the illusion. Slowly though, the rays started to lower, seeking the earth. The violet ray was the one closest to the ground. It passed over Rainbows face, and she suddenly felt tired. Extremely tired.
Why hadn't she noticed how tired she was feeling?
"Surely it was all that flying around." She thought to herself. She glanced at the grass. It seemed to have become softer, and the green grass created a sheet of soft light to sleep on. Dash took one last look at Pinkie, before collapsing to the ground. Pinkie was looking on in abstract horror, but Dash didn't care. She pushed her head closer into the dirt and closed her eyes.
Something grabbed her by the leg, and she was pulled against the ground. Suddenly, she was falling. Rainbow snapped her eyes open, and flapped her wings quickly. A grinding noise filled the air above her, and the light above her head cut out. She flapped uselessly in the darkness for a moment, until something landed on her back. She fell, and crashed into the ground roughly. She extra weight on her back caused her to leave a Rainbow shaped hole in the ground as she hit the ground.
"Oopsie, sorry Rainbow Dash. Are you ok?" Pinkie said, climbing off Rainbows back and standing in front of her.
Dash lay on the ground for a moment, and waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. "No, I usually lay in holes perfectly shaped like my body, Pinkie. The truth is, I'm half diamond dog." Dash commented sarcastically. She was sitting a long tunnel, seemingly dug beneath the amusement park. Wooden pillars lined the walls every 3 metres, though some were occasionally placed in areas of high stress or weight. The ground beneath Rainbow was moist, and the sound of casually dripping water echoed though the tunnel.
"Where are we Pinkie? What's going on?" Dash said, yawning while she did so.
"We don't have long, I'll explain while we hop." She said, leaping away from Rainbow deeper into the tunnel.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes; Rainbow trying her best not to make too much noise, and Pinkie leaping forward a few steps every time she hopped, then waiting for Rainbow to catch up. Eventually though, Rainbow tired of the near perfect darkness, and asked again, "Pinkie, can you please tell me what is going on?"
Pinkie stopped, and scratched her chin, "Okey Dokey Lokey. Where should I begin?" She questioned.
Dash slowed down the rate of the questions in her head, and focused on voicing them one at a time. "How did you get that scar on your cheek?"
"I got it when I pushed you out of the way of that rampaging bull. What was his problem? Someone should really throw him a relaxation party. Do you think I could that? Or would that be rude?"
Dash took her eyes of the darkness in front of her, "Hang on, what bull?"
"The bull you angered when you go back in time to save me from the bull you angered." Pinkie said simply.
"What are you talking about?" Rainbow asked.
"Did I forget to tell you? I'm sorry, it's just like that time I forgot to tell Gummy not to eat the cake, and then he ate the cake and I got in trouble even though I never touched the cake, then I had to go and make a new one in record time before the Princess arrived and then there was a party." Pinkie said hastily.
Rainbow grabbed Pinkie, and forced her to stop jumping around, "Focus Pinkie, what did you forget to tell me?"
Pinkie escaped the mares clutches, and trotted deeper into the tunnel. "I'm from two chapters in the future. I came back because I had to save you, and Doctor Whooves said the universe would collapse if I didn't, which would be really sad because then I wouldn't be able to talk to you or Twilight or Applejack or Fluttershy or Rarity."
"Chapters? Future? Pinkie is this a joke?" Rainbow asked, concerned.
"Nope, I'm 101% honest." She replied.
"So where are we going then?" Dash asked, hoping for a simple answer.
Pinkie pointed into the darkness, and responded quickly, "I parked the time machine at the end of this tunnel. Whooves said you would know what to do when you got it. Which is odd, because I don't remember you knowing how to time."
"But why do I need a time machine at all? We need to get out of here."
"I told you, you need to go back in time to save me from the bull you angered when you went back in time so I can come here to tell you about the fact that you need to travel back in time to save me from the bull you angered when..." Pinkie continued her infinite loop for a few minutes, until Dash finally decided to put her out of her misery.
"I'm confused." She commented simply.
Pinkie nodded, "Me too, though that happens a lot for me so I got used to it and now I just roll with whatever happens next."
The two turned a corner, and Pinkie raised her front hooves dramatically. Yelling at the top of her voice, she said, "Behold Dashie, the most powerful machine in the universe, powerful enough to rip time itself and send it user hurtling into the past. A single piece of this machine could bring years of darkness and danger to the world, and the whole thing could threaten all of reality. NEIGH, ALL REALITIES. It is the most advanced piece of technology in all of Equestria and it is.......not here any more."
Pinkie nodded her head slowly, and turned to Rainbow Dash, "Dashie, I'm afraid we've made a doozie of a mistake, and not the small kind of doozie, the large kind that usually results in someone getting covered in tar and or feathers."
"We have?" Rainbow asked, confused.
Pinkie nodded again, "Dashie, this is super duper important. You need to find out where the machine is, travel back in time, eat some cotton candy, fight some robots, rescue me and be a hero. I would help, I really would, but the rollercoaster closes soon, and I can't miss it." Pinkie said, strangely serious.
"Isn't this a little more important than riding the rollercoaster?" Dash asked, a drop of sweat running down her forehead.
Pinkie chuckled, and turned around, "Silly Dashie, nothings more important than the rollercoaster. Except bumber-carts, or pie." She commented, hoping away into the darkness.
"Hang on, come back." Dash shouted into the darkness. Pinkie ignored her, and continued on her way.
Dash sat down, and stared into the tunnel she was sitting in. "I am so confused. What do I do?" She thought to herself.
She leaned against the wall, and pondered deeply on how she should proceed. She realized quickly that she didn't really have much of a choice. She could head back through the tunnel and run into those horrible mascots again, or she could head forward to try and find another way out, and if she happened to find this 'time machine' Pinkie was talking about, then she could decide what to do next if that happened.
There was an indention in the ground where some sort of heavy machine had sat, and it looked like it had only been moved recently. The weight and size of the machine caused it to leave a groove as it was dragged across the ground, and Rainbow followed this groove with her eyes. They faded into the darkness, but Dash could still see that they stopped suddenly, probably pulled into the trapdoor installed into the roof. She wondered briefly how she had missed it earlier.
Dash flapped her wings, and rose into the air. She flew over to the door roughly, and pushed up, causing it to swing open.

"I say, brother of mine, what a precariously pretty piece of pompish platinum we appear to have found."
"Indeed, fine brother, it's a veritable vibrant volcano of vacant volume."
"An astounding array of abandoned assets?"
"Indeed, an incredibly interconnected idol of interesting information."
"Ahh, I agree, it does seem to be a gigantic goblet of ghostly gold."
"A metaphorical mannerism, I presume?"
"Of course, brilliant brother."
"May-haps we should end our miraculously merry and mightily melancholy rhyming session until this memorable meeting of machines is manageable?"
"I thought you would never ask, dear brother."
Rainbow poked her head over the edge of the trapdoor, and hastily took in her new surroundings. She was now in a huge circus tent, it's thin cloth made out of fine reds and blues. Seats for the audience formed a perfect circle around an arena set up in the middle of the tent. Two large poles, stretching to the ceiling, stood on either end of the room. A thin rope spread between them, and a large spotlight focused on the pole on the right. Looking down, Dash followed the sound of the voice to find two ponies chatting between themselves. Behind them was a large machine, about three times as long as a pony, but Dash couldn't see what it was, because the ponies had covered it in a large white sheet. The two ponies were nearly identical, save for the fact that one was sporting a small moustache. They were both taller than a usual pony, and each wore a blue and white striped vest. They were a pale yellow, and their manes were a dark red and white, giving them the appearance of bacon. Their cutie marks were strangely similar. One was a small red apple with a neatly cut piece missing, and the other was a neatly cut apple slice. It seemed like the two were made for each other.
Dash floated out of the hole in the ground, and landed on the ground softly. Scanning the room, she could see a small opening on the other side of the room. The two ponies were infront of her, and directly blocked her from sneaking out unnoticed.
She ducked behind one of the chairs, and tried inching her way around the circumference of the tent. She was making good progress, until something cracked under her hoof. She looked down at her feet to see a broken twig underneath her hoof. She looked up, scared that the ponies might have heard it. After a few minutes passed without her being detected, Rainbow started moving again.
Suddenly, a yellow hoof smashed down in front of her. Rainbow launched herself into the air in fear. This resulted in her crashing into the pony behind her, who tried his best to lessen the effects of Rainbow's mistake. Standing up, she stared at the two ponies sheepishly, before realising who they were.
"Flim! Flam! What are you doing here?" She asked excitedly.
Flam looked at his brother slyly. "Why Flim, why haven't you told me about this dexterous and delightfully polite mare? Have you been keeping secrets from me, Flim?"
Flim leaned back, appalled, "Why of course not, Flam, I thought you were the one who had previously met this fine mare."

Rainbow corrected herself quickly, "No, we don't know each other personally, I was in Ponyville when you tried to sell us cider using the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy."
The two ponies exchanged glances, and asked, "6000?"
"Yea." Dash answered.
"Ahh, yes, I remember now, do you, Flim?"
"Indeed I do, shame about how it ended but we're partially to blame."
"Yes, it was our own fault for serving faulty cider. Still, business moves on and more opportunities wait to be grasped."
Dash interrupted the conversation by poking her head between the two ponies. "So what are you doing here?" She asked.
Flam decided to answer, cutting off his brother, "Why, we're in charge of the machines! The owner of this fine establishment took quite an interest in our cider machine."
Flim cut in, adding to the sentence. "Indeed he did. Brilliant creature he is, he bought that old cider machine and hired us as the official mechanics of Smile Land. And I say, there is quite a lot of work to do here, isn't there dear brother?"
"Of course." Flam replied, "And what are you doing here, fine mare? Are you an employee here too? Have you come to help us repair the mascots?"
Dash hesitated, searching for an answer. The mascots? Did Flim and Flam really make those, and did that mean that they were coming here? Dash felt her heart beat slightly faster, she needed to get out of here. However, she stopped. Maybe she could destroy the mascots while they were helpless. No more mascots, no more problems, no more fears. She nearly said yes, until she remembered her friends. What would Applejack think of her if she lied? Surely she would be saddened, and what would Fluttershy think? She wouldn't want Rainbow to hurt anything, regardless of whether it was a machine. And Pinkie, Pinkie would...well, surely she wouldn't be as happy.
Dash sighed, and answered the question, "No, I just snuck in here. I'll leave you two to do your egghead stuff."

The pony in front of her stood in her way, "Now hold on there, madam. Surely you could still be of some use to us. What do you think Flam?"
"You mean with the machine? Indeed, bring her closer." Flam responded.
Dash hovered in the air, putting nearly thought into the rhythmic flapping of her wings. "Hang on, what are you talking about?"
"Come here, madam, and we will explain more." They said in unison, hopping over the chairs and making their way towards the covered machine in the middle of the tent.
Dash shrugged, and flew over to it. She waited patiently while the two earth-ponies made their way towards her. After a few minutes of waiting, she impatiently called out to them, "Hurry up and get over here." The ponies made no effort to move faster, but were still making good progress towards Rainbow. When finally reached her, she opened her mouth to talk, but was cut off before she could. "Well, my fabulous friend, I bet your wondering why we called you over here." The moustached pony explained.
"Well actually, I got here first so technically..."
"You see, it's because me and my dear brother have been having an argument." Flim continued, "A most tremendous argument indeed."
"No see, I called you over..."
"Indeed we have, dear brother. One we were hoping you could help us settle." Flam said.
Dash dropped her gaze, and rubbed her head with her hoof sadly, "Fine, forget it. What's the argument about?"
"This!" They shouted dramatically, pulling the covering off the machine with their magic. The sheet went flying into the air, landing roughly on the ground and revealing the machine that was hidden beneath it.

Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped as she beheld the now visible device. She flapped it up and down uselessly for a few moments, even glancing her head to the two ponies for an answer, before finally grasping what was in front of her. The machine in front of her was odd. It resembled Flim and Flam's cider machine, in the fact that it had four small wheels stuck on either end. Unlike the brothers machine though, this device was more streamlined, with nearly nothing poking out of it at uneven angles, save for a large...thing...poking out the back. The thing looked like someone had simply stuck two large metal boxes onto the device. If it wasn't for the large pipes and wires connecting the two to the vehicle, Dash would of assumed that it was out of place. Best of all, the entire thing was painted in as many colours as the owner could find, reds, blues, greens, all the colours of the rainbow. They ran from the front to the back in straight stripes, adding to the streamlined appearance. Rainbow was instantly amazed at the device, but attempted to play down her wonder.
"So? It's a thing. How does this include me?" She asked.
"Why, my brother and I were wondering about who built it. We assumed that because of your mane and the devices painting..." Flim explained.
"...You would know who the constructee is." Flam finished.
Dash moved closer, and poked around the machine with her hoof. She rested on a small handle poking awkwardly out of the side. She pulled on it, and a section of the machine pulled upwards into the air. Dash flew backwards quickly, worried that she had broken the machine. Her fears melted away however, as she saw the two brothers smirking to themselves. Slightly calmer, she landed on the ground, and poked her head into the machine.
There were two seats, both worn out from continuous use. Between the two chairs was a strange box, however the box was strangely empty. A couple of empty wires showed that something was originally wired into the box, but Dash decided to ignore this. She turned her head towards the large window on the other side of the vehicle. There was a whole bunch of dials and levers that made no sense, and a thin circular wheel poked out in front of one of the seats. Next to it was a small display of numbers. They showed the day's date, all the way up to the year.
Rainbow pulled her head out of the machine, and stared at the FlimFlam Brothers.
Shaking her head, she said to them, "Nope, I have no clue who build this thing."
The brothers exchanged glances, "Are you sure? We just assumed, because of the painting..."
Dash stopped him, and replied, "As awesome as the paint job is, I don't even know what this thing is."
There was an awkward silence between the two parties; Rainbow glancing around nervously. Eventually, Flim coughed, and commented, "Well, if business is done, I assume you would want to go."
Flam picked up from where Flim left off, "Indeed, don't let us two stop you."
Dash nodded in agreement, and started to fly over to the large door. Before she did though, she decided to voice some of the questions that were bothering her about the machine. She turned, still flying backwards, and asked, "Before I go, what was the thing in the box?"
"What box?" One of the brothers asked.
"I believe she means the powerbox of the vehicle, dear brother."
"The one behind the chairs?"
"The very same."
"What a truly odd place to put a generator, wouldn't you agree, Flam?
"Indeed I would Flim."
Dash threw her hoof into her face, before carefully thrusting both her front hooves in front of her to make sure her point would get through. "Stop, stop talking, so it was just a simple generator?"
Flam shook his head, "Not exactly, my dear rainbow, not exactly."
"You see, this generator does more than simply power the machine." Flim added.
"This machine has the power...to control time itself!" They yelled in unison.

Dash froze in the air, and searched over the faces of the Flim Flam brothers, trying to determine whether they were being honest. This was the time machine Pinkie was talking about? More importantly, Pinkie was being serious about the time machine? Dash shook her head, this was a surprise.
"So this 'time machine generator thingy', where is it now?" Dash questioned.
"Well, this is a delicate and clearly dangerous piece of technology, far larger than anything we've worked with before."
"So we studied it for several long minutes before shoving it into an extremely experimental piece of our own work."
Dash raised her hoof to point out what kind of problems could rise from what they did, but lowered her hoof quickly, "So what did you put it into?"
The two brothers exchanged glances. A moment passed, and the two whispered to each other. Rainbow sat their impatiently, waiting for them to hurry up and answer her question. Eventually, they turned to Rainbow, and spoke in unison. "Tell us, madam, would you be interested in helping us test a perfectly safe and scientifically tested machine?"
Dash raised her hoof to her chin in an attempt to convince the brothers that she was thinking about how to respond. Truthfully, she already knew what she wanted, and that was to find Pinkie and get out of the amusement park. She opened her mouth, but instead of saying no, her instincts and curiosity took over, "What does it do?"
Flim smiled, and wandered away from his brother, while Flam explained exactly what was going on. "If our assumption is correct, this fantastic device will revolution the way pegasi work. It will single hoofedly change everything you know about flying. It will be used by weather mares, racers, stuntponies, even simple factory workers. It is easy, efficient, simple and all around amazing. All we need is somepony to give it a test flight." Flam explained, before turning behind, "Flim, bring in the 'Amazing Airfoil Assistance Asset'!"
Flim came back into view, carrying what seemed to be an oversized saddle on his back. Unlike a normal saddle though, this one had the large metal skeleton of two wings protruding from the side. There was also a small triangle connected to the middle, with three shiny bars leading to the middle of each corner. Flim placed the device carefully on the ground, and motioned for Rainbow to try it on.
She looked at it nervously, and glanced back up at Flam. "You still haven't said what it does." She said angrily.
Flim put on an exaggerated look of shock, "Why brother, have you neglected to tell her about this brilliant device?"
Flam returned the look, and added, "Why, it slipped my mind, brother. Should you do the honours?"
"Indeed I shall. This device, when worn, will increase the flight capabilities of the one wearing it, making them move faster and with more precision. It will allow even the weakest pegasus to fly with the skills of, dare I say, one of the wonderbolts. Now, if the testee would kindly step over here so we could get it fitted."
Dash shrugged, and walked over. This entire machine sounded flaky, but if it could make her fly even faster, than surely that could only improve her chances of joining the wonderbolts, right? Besides she loved to go fast, she was good at fast. As Flim fitted the machine over Rainbow's back, she started to think to herself. Pinkies words echoed back to her however, filling her with doubt once again.

She supposed that now she would need to figure out what to do. Did she try to take the time machine? Did it even still work? Did she lie about owning it in the first place? Did she ignore the whole thing? Rainbow had no clue what to do next. A million possible options spun through her head and she didn't even notice something enter the tent from behind her.
The two brothers, however, noticed quickly. "Ah, dear brother, it would appear that one of the mascots has become injured."
Dash froze in place, and refused to turn around. Maybe it wouldn't notice her if she didn't move.
Flam stared at his brother, and added, "Indeed, shall we take a look at it?"
"Of course we shall, brother of mine. I shall leave it to you while I help our dear guest." Flim stated.
Dash fought through her cowardice, spun her head back, and got a glance of the terrible machine that was rolling into the tent before Flim asked her to look forward again. It was a light purple, with a mechanical looking darker purple mane. A bright pink stripe ran down its mane, stopping at the base. Poking through the thin metal of the mascots hair was an absolutely huge horn. Dash guessed it would be bigger than Celestia's horn. On it's flank was an explosion of magic. It didn't take a genius to guess that this mascot was supposed to emulate Rainbow's friend, Twilight Sparkle.
She could faintly hear Flam diagnose the machine, almost as if it was a living pony. This creeped Dash out slightly.
"Would you look at that, someone's fully disconnected the visuals. Poor thing can't see anything. What's more, back leg is mangled beyond belief, and has what appears to be...rock candy...jammed into the circuits. Mane is dreadfully out of place, horn is damaged and the neck has...I use this term loosely since it obviously cannot apply to robots... been bruised."
Flim nodded at his brother, "How very peculiar brother, what could of possibly caused this?"
"I know not, Flim. Let us hope that it was merely an unfortunate accident."
"Indeed." Flim replied sorrowfully.
Flam perked back up quickly though, "Well, brother, no permanent damage, lets work on fixing her up." He said.
The yellow pony got to work on fixing the machine, occasionally rushing into Dash's field of vision to grab more parts. The yellow ponies brother tried fit the mechanical saddle onto his patients back, taking extra care when it came to threading the skeleton through Dash wings.

Eventually, after several minutes of silence, Flim spoke, directing his question at Rainbow. "Alright, the machine is fitted. It may feel a bit heavy for a few moments, but that'll pass. It's just running a few tests on your body for maximum efficiency. If it doesn't fit properly though, or is uncomfortable, you'll need to come back here to get it checked by us. Got that madam?"
Dash nodded, and stretched her wings. The metal skeleton of the device was fitted awkwardly between her feathers, and the cold steel felt unnatural against her bare skin. On her back, a small box was balanced precariously, three small lights glowing in it. Hundreds of small pipes and wires hooked into the box, and spread along the length of the device. Dash struggled to make the box comfortable on her back, but the weight of the box was simply to much. The earth pony turned away from her, and faced the other pony in the room.
"How goes the repair on Twi-bot, brother?" He questioned.
Flam wiped a drop of sweat out of his mane, and looked up at his brother. "I just need to get the eyes working again, then she'll be good as new."
Rainbow struggled against the box again, before moving over to the mascot. It was kind of ominous, seeing the thing she feared being laid out in front of her. She bent down, and stared deep into it's giant glass eyes. It stared back emotionlessly, showing no fear, no hopes, no dreams. For some reason, this was scary for Dash. It was an odd look, one that wasn't usually found in nature.
Dash broke her gaze, and looked at the two brothers. "What are these things?" She asked them.
"The mascots? Why, only a piece of extremely advanced technology." They replied.
"No, I see that, I mean, what ARE they? In your opinion."
"Machines of course. Nothing more, nothing less. Highly advanced, extremely well programmed machines, but machines none the less."
"So they don't scare you or anything?" Dash continued.
The two chuckled, "Of course not, my dear. Why would they?"
Dash swallowed, "I don't know, aren't you afraid they might replace you? I mean, if they can do what you do, but better, then why keep you around?"
"You need to stop reading so many comic books, my dear. Machines could never fully emulate a pony. They lack emotion, they lack drive, dreams, hopes, fears, all the little things which make a pony a pony. It's true that they may be stronger, or smarter, or faster, but that's only to follow the orders they've been given. They just simply don't have free will. Besides, who would want to create an artificial pony anyway?" Flam replied.
Dash stared into the glass eye of the mascot. It stared back at her, and seemed to penetrate through her coat, through her flesh and bones, directly into her soul. Dash felt a shiver go down her spine; she was reminded briefly of a couple weeks ago, and the reason she was here. A couple weeks ago. Dash started to drift off, until suddenly the robot blinked at her.

Rainbow jumped backwards, and floated in the air. The machine on her back was lighter now, and she nearly forgot she was wearing it at all. The mascot blinked again, and pulled itself to it's legs. Flam was thrown off it's back as it did so, crashing into his brother. The robot looked around, seemingly confused about where it was. It closed it's eyes, and said loudly through a mouth full of static.
"Warning: Damages detected. Emergency Battery is offline. Unable to power horn."
"Warning: Damages detected. Program 'Twilight Sparkle is offline. Attempting reboot."
"Ow ow ow: I'm injured. My back left leg hurts. I need to get somepony to look at that."
"Ow ow ow: I'm injured. My neck is preventing me from doing my very best. I need somepony to look at that."
"Well, now that that's done, let's take a look around."
The Twilight mascot scanned over the room with it's eye, stopping once it hit the two brothers. "Friends found. It's Flim and Flam, the mechanics. I don't have any reason to be angry at them." It said, scanning through the room again.
It stopped on Rainbow, and hesitated a second. There was a moment of silence, until the static returned, "Friend found. It's Rainbow Dash, priority target. I should show her my friends."
The three ponies waited to see what the robot would do next. Dash remained on edge, making sure not to let her muscle's relax. The mascot sat there quietly, until it took a few steps toward Dash. It's mouth remained exactly the same as it spoke, "Hello, Rainbow. Could you help me with something? It'll only take you a minute and I can't find Spike anywhere."
Dash glanced around nervously, and shook her head slowly. "No, I really need to go. Pinkie's waiting for me."
Twilight moved closer, "It'll only take a moment, Rainbow. You know me, I wouldn't want to burden you."
"No, I really do need to leave. You have fun with Flim and Flam, I'm sure they'll fix you right up." Dash replied, a drop of seat running down her neck.
"I insist, Rainbow." Twilight crackled out. Rainbow opened her mouth to retort, but shut it quickly when the robot lunged at her. Dash flew up just a few seconds before Twilights giant horn stabbed into the air. The mascot took a step back, and tried again. Dash dodged, and flew behind the Flim Flam brothers. "That thing nearly killed me! Stop it."
Flim looked over in shock, "I...I don't know how, madam. It's programmed never to attack a pony. Right brother?"
"In...Indeed brother." Flam replied, looking equally shocked.
"It tried to attack me!" Dash shouted, jumping back when Twilight crashed through the two ponies in front of her.
The mascot feigned right, and Dash fell for it, flying right into it when it leapt to the left. The tackle winded Dash, and she struggled for breath as the robot stood above her. It lowered it's head, and it's purple horn shoved roughly into Rainbows ribcage. She could feel her heart beating powerfully in her chest, and her breath came out quickly. The mascot pushed forward, punching into Dash's chest. She breathed in hastily as a burning sensation spread out from the hole. She could see her dark red blood oozing out from the wound. The mascot pushed in deeper, and the pain increased. Dash grit her teeth and tried to push the robot off, but she already knew she couldn't even if she didn't have a hole in chest. Black spots spread on her vision, and she suddenly felt extremely tired. She closed her eyes for a split second.

"Hey, get off my friend you big MEANIE!"
Rainbow's eyes snapped back open, and she threw her head backwards to try and see who was talking. The pain in her chest flared up when she did, bringing tears to her eyes. The pain went away mysteriously when she saw who was standing in the door. Pinkie moved quickly, and something flew through the air. It smashed into Dash's nose, then kept flying directly into the mascots face. The robot was pulled back by the object, and practically flew off of Dash. It's horn dragged across Dash's body leaving a large scar. Dash winced, but took this opportunity. She flapped her wings into the ground, and dragged herself away from the mascot. The metal bars of the AAA clattered against the ground as Dash moved. Spinning around, Dash pulled herself back into the air. Just in time to see Pinkie run past her, holding one of the largest milkshakes Dash had ever seen. Dash pulled in a lungful of air, and watched over the scene unfolding. The purple robot's face was covered in cake, and it twitched erratically at random intervals. Despite this, Twilight's mascot got to it's feet quickly, and charged at it's pink attacker. Pinkie, rather then try to dodge, simply launched the milkshake directly at the robot. It collided with a loud splash, and the robot collapsed to it's knees; the occasional spark of electricity shooting of it.
Satisfied, Pinkie turned to Dash and started laughing. "Hehehe, you got a little cake on you Dashie." She chuckled out, pointing at Dash's nose.
Dash tried to laugh, but it caused a pain in her chest to do so. Instead, she simply wiped the icing off her nose. Watching Pinkie laugh her head off in front of her, Dash had a sudden urge to hug her. She fought against, but couldn't help put pull herself closer to her friend. Before she knew it, her hooves were stretching around her friend and she pulled her close. "Where have you been Pinkie?" She asked.
"Sorry I'm a bit late Dashie, but I had to grab the cake, and then some balloons and then some pie, but I ate that so I had to buy a milkshake instead. But I'm here now and you're ok and that's great. In fact that's better than great, that's super great."
"Lets get out of here." Dash yelled.
"Okey Dokey Lokey. You go first." She responded, pointing at the door.
Dash glanced at the robot on the ground; it would occasionally kick it's legs out at random and it's eyes blinked erratically. Rainbow shrugged, and headed over to the door. The flap of the tent waved in the wind, and Dash took no time in pushing through it. The bright sunlight immediately crashed into her eyes, causing her to squint. While she did, everything came out in a darkened blur. The rainbow mare sat down from a moment, and placed her hoof on her injuries while she waited for Pinkie to come out after her. The fresh blood sunk into her coat, leaving a dark red blotch over her chest. Something walked towards her from the path, and Dash placed her hoof over her eyes to get a better look. She froze in fear as recognized the pony walking towards her. After all, nopony else had rainbow hair like her. Dash wanted to run again, to separate herself from this thing before it took another step, but Pinkie was still inside the tent, and she couldn't leave her like she had before. Rainbow's mascot walked closer, and stopped just in front of Dash. The rainbow mare winced as she pulled herself to her feet, and stared into the robots eyes.
There was a brief burst of static, then the mascot was speaking. The voice that came out was nearly identical to Dash's own. "Come on. How many times are you gonna run? You can't just sneak in here and expect there not to be consequences. I mean, who do you think you are? Princess Celestia?"
Dash swallowed, and fought back her fear long enough to respond. Her voice was quiet and full of voice cracks, but she was amazed she could even use it. "I...I don't want any trouble. Just let me and my friend go and we'll get out here. No need to chase us or anything."
There was an awkward silence between the two, until the robot responded with a hasty rebuttal. "Nah, you see, the problem with that is, I don't really think that would work. The boss said we need to bring you in to security, and I need to do that. He also said to restrain you in any way possible."
There was a high pitched scream from within the tent, and Dash's attention was forced away from her clone. The rainbow mascot took this chance to lunge forward, smashing Dash in the chest again and forcing her through the cloth walls of the tent. The hole in her chest started bleeding again, and the robot forced her into the ground. If it could move it's mouth, Rainbow guessed it would be smiling victoriously. What it wasn't expecting however, was to be thrown sideways violently as a bolt of green magic shot into it's side. Dash pushed herself into the air, and faced her savour. Flim smiled, and wasted no time with pointless gestures. "I don't know what you did, madam, but it seems your presence upsets the mascots. I kindly request that you leave before more physical harm comes to you."
Dash shook her head in response, "I can't yet, Pinkie's not here."
Flam appeared next to his brother and focused his magic, creating an aura around Dash. "She already left. She said to meet her back at the roller coaster, like you were suppose to." He said, carefully throwing Rainbow through the wall of the tent, creating a second hole.

Dash shook her head, and laid on the ground pathetically for a moment. Why would Pinkie just run away like that? Again? Dash sighed stupidly, and flapped her wings. The metal device strapped to her back responded to these movements by pushing down quickly, causing Dash to be propelled into the air. She flapped again to regain control, and searched through the park for the roller coaster. It wasn't hard to miss, it was only the largest thing in the park. Celestia's sun glistened off the polished metal of the ride, sending rays of painful light in all directions. Dash turned and began to move towards it, when there was a loud ripping sound from beneath her. Dash glanced down quickly just in time to see her doppelgänger charging towards her. It's hooves were covered in fire, and a large dent spread across it's side. It gazed up at her emotionlessly, and Rainbow could make out the faint sound of static. She fought the urge to run away just long enough to her what it was saying. "So it's a race you want? Well, I can do that. If I catch you, I win. If you escape to the roller coaster, I still win, but for a different reason. Ready?" Dash had a split second to start moving before the mascot lunged up at here, screaming "GO". Dash exhaled hastily, and flew out of the way. Glancing back, she sprinted off, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. The mascot turned it's head towards her and gave chase.

Dash panted, and flew forward. Sweat was running down her coat as she sped forward, occasionally dripping off her to land on the heads of the ponies below. She slowed down for a split second to turn to her pursuer. The mascot took this chance, and glided up to the air above Rainbow. The heat from it's rockets burned the rainbow mares mane, and she pulled down in an effort to avoid it. The robot also lowered itself, keeping the pressure on Rainbow. Suddenly, the AAA on Rainbow's back let out a loud click, and the pegasus was propelled forward at an incredible speed. The wind pushed against Dash's face, but the metal contraption on her back gave her more than enough power to push through it. It stretched her wings, and would some times clip into her feathers, but the result was more than worth a little pain. Rainbow turned to taunt the mascot before dashing off, only to notice that it was still following her. Even worse, it was somehow catching up. Dash swallowed in fear, and pushed harder. The machine responded in kind, and the went even faster. Looking around, Rainbow could see that they were no longer even in the park, having flown over it's fence's ages ago. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something. A cone of blue electricity was spreading outwards from her hooves. She moved her legs in fright, but the cone remained, shooting lightning into random directions. Rainbow wondered briefly whether this was the beginning of a Rainboom, but passed over that. Rainboom's didn't start as blue lightning. The mascot appeared next to her, it's horrible face just barely poking into her field of vision. "Well, this is boring. Shame, I thought you were suppose to be good. The best, in fact." It teased. Dash heard a mechanical spinning noise, and was immediately reminded of the device the mascot called it's wings. "Well, Rainbow. Guess I was just better." It added. The rainbow pegasus remembered how fast the things fired out of them moved. A single shot would cause her to crash. She searched around desperately for somewhere to hide, something to stop the robot. Seeing nothing, she closed her eyes tight and waited for the mascot to attack.

The mascot pointed it's wings at Rainbow, and fired. A loud bang went out through the sky, followed by a brilliant flash of light. Dash disappeared, though her signature rainbow trailed continued moving through the air for no reason. The metal balls passed harmlessly through the empty air, hitting the ground with a soft thud. Dash's mascot came to a complete stop, much faster than a normal could, and scanned around vacantly for it's prey. It was no where in sight. Rainbow Dash had completely vanished.

A bright flash of light hit Dash's face, forcing it's way through her eyelids. She also started shaking uncontrollably and realised with a shock that she was freezing. Her feathers had a small film of ice gathered on them, and the machine on her back felt like it had been dunked in a pot of icy cold water. She glanced around for her attacker, and wondered where it had gone. Through chattering teeth, she landed softly on the ground, and looked around confused. After several minutes of waiting, Rainbow let out a nervous laugh. "Yea. That's why you don't mess with the Dash." She choked out. The bright rays of the sun hit Rainbow in face, and she basked in it's warmth. The sun lit up the large desert she had found herself in, and the light reflected into her eyes painfully. Why was it always the eyes? The sun peeked over the distant hills, and Dash suddenly realised what that meant. The sun was rising! Dash rubbed her head even harder, and tried to make sense of what had happened. One moment she was running for her life, facing the end of her rope, and the next moment she was standing in an empty field, a full day later, completely safe. There was a low rumbling from behind her, and she turned to it, searching for answers. There was a train full of passengers rolling towards her, firmly stuck to the track near her field. "How did I miss that." She wondered briefly. The rumbling grew louder, and the train rushed past her. Dash made a mental note to follow it when she gained enough energy.
Suddenly, something large crashed into the ground near her, sending sand flying up into her face and body. She shook herself like a dog to erase the sand, and the thing next to her yelled at the top of it's voice.
"BRONTES WILL HAVE JUSTICE!

Candy Cannon: Deploy

View Online

Rainbow Dash poked her head out of the bush she was hiding in, and scanned through the crowd again. She was searching for someone, somewhere in this line. There were creatures of every shape and size; ponies, minotaurs, Diamond Dogs, even a couple of griffins. Every single creature except the one she was searching for. How the hay do you even hide bright pink hair? She searched through the line again, searching for Pinkie, when the small tree she was crouching behind exploded into the air. She jumped back in the fear, afraid the mascots had found her, before realizing that they wouldn't actually be looking for her just yet. Dash glanced around quickly, stopping on the giant yellow thing that had ripped the tree from the ground.

"Brontes doesn't like hiding. Hiding is for baby cyclops. Brontes is not a baby." He shouted. Rainbow Dash sprinted behind the nearest tree, and bent her neck around it to see if anyone had heard him. The line continued to move forward slowly, and not a single creature paid the duo any mind. Dash sighed in relief, and flew up to face Brontes in the eye. "Listen, buddy. I know you don't like hiding, but it's the only way to catch Pinkie. You do want to catch Pinkie don't you?" She asked.
The cyclops broke his gaze, and stared at the ground. "Yes. Brontes wants to catch little pony. But how does rainbow pony know how to catch little pony?" He whispered out, ashamed.
"I don't. You can't really catch Pinkie, she's too random. She'd probably disappear in a puff of smoke of something. I'm just going to hope that I get a chance to talk to her before...things happen." Dash replied.
"What things?" Brontes questioned.
Dash hesitated, this was one of the security guards. She would need to be careful to avoid letting anything bad out. "Just little things. It'll take too long to explain. Now put the bush back and crouch down, everypony can see you." She declared, pointing at the line full of creatures.
Brontes turned and stared at it for a moment, and a smile broke out across his face. With a shout, he started waving to the ponies gathered in the line. The cyclops jumped up and down, causing a soft thumping sound whenever he landed, as he tried to grab the attention of the line. Dash panicked, and moved quickly. She appeared at his side, and pushed against him with her body. Brontes wasn't expecting this, and fell to the ground. Dash quickly followed, and stood on his chest angrily.
"What the hay do you think you're doing? We're trying not to get noticed."
Brontes glanced around nervously, and taped his index fingers together, "Boss says to greet guests when they come. Brontes was only following orders. Did Brontes do bad?"
Dash slowly raised her hoof to her head, and rubbed her temple carefully. She closed her eyes and leapt off of the cyclops. Landing roughly, she felt around for another bush to hide in, and reflected back on how she got stuck with such a moron.

"BRONTES WILL HAVE JUSTICE!
The creature, which Dash guessed was named Brontes, leapt to it's feet. It wasted two seconds scanning around for the train it had fallen off of, before sprinting after it as fast as he could. Dash rubbed her eyes to make sure this was real, and rose into the air. The machine on her back hung off like dead weight, and it no longer helped her fly. Inside the box, the three lines of light were extinguished, leaving the inside a deep black. Rainbow attempted to balance the weight, to no avail. Eventually, she shrugged, and took off after the creature.
She caught up to it easily, after all, nothing was faster than Rainbow Dash. The thing was deceptively fast though, Dash was putting in 60, maybe 70 percent to try and match him. Dusty sand was kicked up behind him, spreading into the air and making the whole desert a painful red. Licking her lips, she flew up next to it, and tried to start a conversation. "Hey, buddy, slow down a bit, I want to talk." She yelled, wiping the dust out of her eyes.
"No stop. Justice must be served." Brontes replied.
"Justice on who? Why are you running so fast? Just slow down a bit." Rainbow expressed.
Brontes responded by squinting his eye, and running even faster. Dash grinned, and sped up too. While she did, Brontes explained. "Little pink pony threw Brontes off of train. Brontes doesn't understand why little pony would do that. Brontes was only following job and trying to get tickets for train."
Dash chuckled, but stopped when the wind caught in her throat. "Pink pony? Did she have a large poffy mane? Kinda energetic? Have a candy obsession? I'm looking for her."
Brontes stopped suddenly, digging his heels into the ground. He left two huge grooves in the ground as he slide to a stop. Dash kept flying though, trying her best to stop flying before Brontes got impatient. She turned around quickly, and landed in front of him. "Good, you stopped. Anyway, have you seen her? And how did she get on the train? I thought she was going to the roller coaster." Dash asked.
Brontes grit his teeth together, and for a moment Dash was concerned he wouldn't talk, until he broke the silence roughly. "Little pony was poffy. Ate lots of candy too. Do you know the little pony?"
Dash puffed her chest out, and smiled proudly, "More like she knows me. I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest pegasus that ever existed." She exclaimed excitedly.
At the mention of Rainbow, Brontes opened his eye in surprise. He reached a hand out to Rainbow, and pointed at her accusingly. "The little pony mentioned a rainbow pony. Does rainbow pony have tickets for train? Brontes will be happy if do."
Dash shook her head. She was certain that she didn't have any tickets for the train. She vaguely remembered accepting some tickets from Pinkie before they left, but those were for the morning train, not the afternoon train. She opened her wings to improve her shrug, and smiled awkwardly.
Brontes dropped his hand, letting it rest softly on the sand. "Brontes no have tickets. Brothers and Boss will be very angry with Brontes. Brontes only wanted to help."
Rainbow walked over to the large creature, and stared up into his eyes. "I'm sure they'll understand, it's not like you messed up that bad."
Brontes kicked his legs forward, and collapsed onto his butt. He raised his arms up to his face, and started to wipe at his eyes. "Brontes did mess up bad. Now little pony get free ride, is bad for business, Boss says."
Rainbow glanced around nervously. She wasn't exactly the best pony to handle this mushy emotion stuff. Still, no one else was around to help, and she couldn't just leave him out here in the desert. In an attempt to lighten the mode, Rainbow gave the cyclops a soft punch in the side. "Come on, you tried your best. I'm sure your boss will understand."
"Rainbow pony not understand, Boss not let Brontes into after work party if Brontes does not have tickets. Brontes not want to miss after work party." Brontes replied, wiping his arms on his faded cloth pants.
Dash slowly raised her hoof into her face, and let it rest there for a moment. "That's what the big deal is? You miss a party? I don't really see what the big deal is." She commented, running her hoof through her mane.
"The party is a big deal for Brontes." The cyclops said simply, sniffing his nose loudly.
Dash managed to break her attention away from her partner, and stared down the empty train tracks. The train that Brontes had fallen off of was a small blur in the distance, and the rails seemed to exist without end in the other direction. Dash shrugged, and pulled the old tickets out of her mane. She held them in her mouth tightly, and offered the slips to Brontes. The yellow mountain opened his eye toward the pony, and tried vainly to wipe the tears off his face. "Look, I know these are for the morning train and not really valid anymore, but I figured, you know, since I can't use them....Look, I'll give you these tickets if you agree to stop crying alright?" Dash offered awkwardly.
Brontes' eye widened at the site of the paper, and he grabbed it out of Dash's mouth roughly. He stared at it for a moment, before an angry scowl spread across his mouth. "Why did rainbow pony lie about tickets? Why make Brontes sad?" He shouted.
Dash jumped into the air, and moved a tiny bit backwards. "It's for the morning train. Not even valid." She managed to stutter out, before her partner lifted his arm into the air, and pointed at the rails.
"That was the morning train." Brontes pointed out.
"No, that's impossible. The morning train left about 2 hours ago, I should know, I was on it!"
"Brontes was also on train. Got thrown off. That was the morning train."
Dash's mouth opened to continue the argument. There was no way she was wrong about this, she clearly remembered riding the train. She prepared to give this cyclops the greatest smack down he had ever seen, until she remembered what had happened earlier. She remembered the blue funnel cone, and how her doppelgänger had disappeared when it exploded. The AAA was heavy on her back when she came to the realization. She spun her head up to search for the sun, but instead of being high in the sky where it should be, it was cresting over the hills of the horizon, creating long stretched shadows across the sand.
Rainbow swallowed nervously, and rose to the eye level of her conversational partner. "Umm, what, what time is it now?" She asked, hoping to confirm her suspicion.
"Time is morning. Morning is best train, meet many people on the morning train. Brontes doesn't like the people in this morning train though. Very mean." Brontes replied, losing track of his chain of thought.
Dash shook her head, "No, back up. What time is it?" She asked again.
"Morning. Brontes doesn't know actual time."
Dash felt her wings click into the side of her body, and didn't even try to stop herself from hitting the ground. Lucky for her, the sand was soft, and quite cold from when Brontes kicked it with his feet, but the psychological damage had just started worming it's way into Dash's head. Pinkie was right. Pinkie had found an actual, working time machine, and travelled back in time to save Dash from the mascots. Dash buried her head in the sand, of all the things Pinkie had claimed before, 'we're in a tv show', 'I have discovered the secret to LIFE', 'I can't eat any more cupcakes'. Of all the things she had claimed, this had to be the one which turned out to be true. The time machine.
Dash felt something rest on her back, and was pulled roughly into the air. Brontes moved carefully, and placed Rainbow on his shoulder softly. Dash extended wings to keep balanced, and looked into Brontes' eye. He blinked, and started moving forward, explaining while he did. "Brontes will help rainbow pony to park. Brontes like rainbow pony more than little pony."
Dash attempted to move off of the cyclops' shoulder, but was met with an angry look, so instead she sat down and tried to get comfortable.

Dash snapped her eyes back open, and focused back on her task. If she could manage to stop Pinkie from getting into the park, then they could avoid the mascots, the security guards, Trixie, all the trouble they had faced. She just needed to find Pinkie before it was too late. She scanned through the crowd again, and gasped when she saw a bright pink mane leaping out of the line. Dash ducked behind a nearby tree, and pointed at Brontes, who was still lying on his back.
"Alright, I see her. Stay here while I go get her, and don't wander off. I need you to still be here in case Pinkie somehow screws this up." Rainbow ordered.
Brontes nodded, and started to play with his fingers absent-mindedly. Dash slowly rose into the air, keeping on eye on her partner in case he did something strange again. A moment passed, and neither moved, until Dash started to float over the crowd, losing sight of the cyclops.
She started out well, easily making her way over everyone gathered, until she felt the machine on her back start to lean over to the left. The weight was pulling her sideways, so she spun in the air to realign the box with her back. This had the unintended side effect of causing the box to hang over her right side. She began to drift to the right, and tried spinning again. The machine finally balanced perfectly, still weighing her down, but at least it wasn't causing her to crash. She looked back up to locate Pinkie again, just in time to see a pair of perfectly chiselled abs collide with her face.
With a loud ompf, Dash slammed into the wall of stony flesh. The pain in her chest flared up again as she collapsed back into the ground. The machine attached to her back made a noisy crunch as she landed on it, and the metal frame dug into her back. Rainbow rubbed her head, and looked up at the creature she had crashed into. A trio of stars orbited her head and a loud ringing filled her ears, but she could still make out the noises her victim was making. She closed her eyes, and tried to make sense of the words he was saying. His voice was incredibly deep, and sounded like the owner ate raw nails for breakfast.
"Who dares to try and push in front of Iron Will? Is it an easily excited fan, well, I guess it's a lucky day to meet me if you are. Or maybe a no good trickster, hoping to steal Iron Wills place in the line? I pity the pony who thinks he can shove in front of me!" The voice shouted. His loud yelling made it easy for Dash to understand him, though she wished he would be quiet long enough for her to regain her hearing again. She forced her eyes open, and noted that there was only one star this time. What an improvement. Dash rubbed her eyes again, and tried to identify who was talking to her. Though she assumed it was whoever 'Iron Will' was.
The giant of a minotaur in front of her was intimidating in it's sheer size. He looked like he could beat a mountain into submission with his bare hands, and still have time to eat a healthy breakfast of rocks and old chariots. His huge muscles were probably larger than Rainbow Dash's entire head, and the minotaur seemed to take every opportunity to show this to Dash. He was a pale blue, with a long black tie wrapped around his neck. His entire lower body was covered in thick black hair, ending just before his pitch black hooves. Two large horns spiralled out the side of his head, before pointing to face the sky. Dash had just enough time to take this all in before Iron Will started shouting again.
"I ask again, who dares to test their might against Iron Will?" He yelled, projecting his voice towards the worried pegasus.
Dash fumbled to get to her feet, and choked out a response, "Rainbow Dash, and it was an accident, I swear. See, I have this really heavy thing on my back, and can't figure out how to get it off. I think."
Iron Will flexed his muscles, making sure the gathering crowd could see how strong he was. "Well, then Rainbow, I think I can forgive a little accident. But try to cross me again and I'll have to use force. Remember folks, If somepony tries to cut in line, you make them whine. Show them you're confident in yourself. And remember, Iron Will's assertiveness seminar will be showing later today. Don't miss it." He shouted, showing his wares to the audience.
Dash rubbed her sore neck, and looked up at Iron Will. She wasn't exactly sure whether Iron Will was still talking to her, or just advertising is own show, but she decided to reply anyway. "No, thanks, I've got plenty of assertiveness. You could try my friend Fluttershy though, she's pretty shy. You'd have to come to Ponyville though, she doesn't travel."
The giant minotuar squinted his eyes, and some smoke shot out of his nostrils. After a quick second though, his expression changed, and he broke into a smile. "Ahh, Fluttershy. I have already met your friend. I would actually consider her my best student." He noted.
Dash shook her head, "Really? Because she still seems pretty nervous." Dash countered, flapping her wings so she could rise into the air.
"What? That's nonsense. Somepony confident enough to stand up to me should the most assertive pony on the planet. You're probably just trying to trick old Iron Will." He shouted.
Dash ignored him, gliding into the air above his head. He glanced through the line up, searching for her friend. She could see something pink at the front of the line, standing outside the booth. A familiar blue pony was also there too. "Guess that means I did go back in time, no questions now." She thought.
A large box folded out the side of the booth, and Dash panicked as she remembered what happened next. How could she forget something like this? Dash stopped flapping her wings, hoping she could hit the ground before the song started. It didn't work. A shockwave of ear splittingly loud music ripped through the crowd, kicking up an ocean of dust as it moved. Rainbow was caught in the wave before she could hug the ground, and the resulting force sent her flying backwards away from the park. The world wizzed by her quickly, stopping only when she collided with something extremely firm. And yellow.
"What was that, Rainbow pony?" Brontes asked, pulling Rainbow to the ground.
Dash took a moment to catch the wind that had been forced out of her lungs when she collided with the cyclops' fist, and thanked the fact that the AAA could absorb most of the force applied to her wings. So at least it still did something. Dash stared back up at the childish creature, and forced out a reply between coughs.
"That was the pony at the booth helping a guest find their tickets. It also means we took to long to find Pinkie, and she'll be in the park soon."
Brontes smiled uncertainly, "That's good? We can monitor the park, pink pony can't hide in park well."
Dash returned the smile, giving Brontes the confidence to turn his smile into an authentic one. "We can? Wait, of course we can, can you get me into the park? There's still time to stop Pinkie from...doing certain things." Dash said.
Brontes nodded. "We can go to Steropes! Steropes is brother who has key to back door. Should be around the back, with door."
"Are you talking about Steropes or the back door?" Dash asked, unsure which was around the back. She assumed it was the door.
"Both are around back, with door," Brontes said, lifting Dash onto his shoulder again. "Come, we will talk with Steropes together."

Dash had gotten used to the strange two legged motion of her carrier's walking, so instead she focused on the wound on her stomach. It had closed again, though it still ached roughly whenever Rainbow moved too much. Without a second thought, her mind drifted to when she received it, and more importantly, what her doppelgänger had said after. Something about needing to meet the boss of the park? Dash wondered who even owned the park. She would need to ask Pinkie when they got out of here, or even better...
"Hey Brontes, who's in charge of this dump?" Rainbow asked, swinging her attention down at the one eyed figure.
Brontes raised his free hand over to his chin, and rubbed it thoughtfully. "Brontes is not sure. Arges was the one who got job for Brontes." He replied, adjusting his shoulders so Rainbow could sit more comfortably.
Dash dozed off in the warm sun, her gaze drifting into the air. A mote of dust floated through the air in front of her, and she couldn't help but make the connection between this dust and Pinkie.
Both were pink, both were always moving, both looked generally untidy, both were screaming loudly.
Dash snapped out of her trance, dust didn't scream. Rainbow searched through the sky carefully, and saw that the mote of dust was actually Pinkie herself, flying through the air gracefully. She only looked like a mote of dust because she was so high in the air. With a look of abject horror, Rainbow watched Pinkie stop her upward momentum, and rocket down to the ground. She landed inside the park, and there was a loud shout of both herself and Pinkie when she landed. Dash ran a wing over her back, remembering how much it hurt when Pinkie landed on her. She briefly wondered how she even got up that high in the first, until a rough voice broke her train of thought. It wasn't as tough as Iron Will's voice, but it could give it a fair challenge. Or maybe it's roughness was diminished by the fact that it's owner was singing noisily to himself.
"Party time. Party time. Does whatever a party does. Can it party? No it party, Party time." The owner shouted out, giving no thought to rhythm, tone or song writing in general. Dash swore she could fell her ears close themselves once the cyclops started the second verse.
Luckily, she was saved from the terrible singing when Brontes addressed his brother. "Steropes! There's a party? Why you not tell Brontes? Brontes is very upset." He said, forgetting the whole reason he was looking for the other cyclops the second a party was mentioned.
"Yes, little pink pony preparing party. Need supplies though, and need friend," He replied, before he saw Rainbow resting on Brontes' shoulder. "Good day, Brontes found pony's friend. Now we just need party things." Steropes added, focusing on whatever it took to make the party a reality. Brontes gritted his teeth at the mention of Pinkie, but remained quiet. He really wanted a party.
Dash shook her head hastily. "No, no no no, no parties yet. We need to find Pinkie. Can you get me into the park without trouble?" She questioned.
Steropes stared at her stupidly for a moment, before smiling. Dash wondered why everyone was smiling recently. Before she could elaborate further, Steropes interrupted her, "Of course. Need pink pony for party. Would be rude. But how can we find pony and get supplies? There is only one Steropes!"
Dash tried to fight the movement in her hoof, but the sheer stupidity was enough to bring the hoof up to her face by it's very senselessness. The cyan hoof rested on the gap between her eyes, and she shook her head sadly. After a minute of silence, in which both Brontes and Steropes rubbed their chins thoughtfully, in unison, Dash spoke up. "Why don't you let me into the park, and I can find Pinkie and bring her back here?"
If it were possible for a lightbulb to appear over the slightly slow cyclops' head, it would have exploded from the huge amount of intelligence that Steropes was know holding in his brain. He threw his hand forward, and pointed at Rainbow Dash dramatically.
"Steropes knows! We can send rainbow pony over fence to find little pony. Then rainbow pony can bring party pony to Steropes!" He shouted.
Brontes threw his hand forward too, and pointed at his brother, "That is good idea. Come rainbow pony. Let's not waste time!" He yelled, grabbing Rainbow by her wing roughly, and throwing her, football style, over to his brother. Steropes caught the pegasus with a surprising amount of grace, and held her upside down by Dash's tail.
Dash coughed nervously, and glanced between the brothers. She cleared her throat, and voiced her objections. "You better let go of my tail before you get a hoof full of whoop flank. I'm not kidding."
Steropes scratched his head dumbly, and responded slowly, "Whoop flank? What do that mean?"
"It means I'm going to go all Daring Do on you, completely destroy you, you know. In a fight." Dash added.
The cyclops shook his head sadly, "Steropes no want to fight. Instead, want party. Not waste time, let's get pony into park."
Dash sighed in relief. Despite the fact that she was hanging by her tail, at least she was making progress. Finally, she was one step closing to getting Pinkie out of here. She just needed to find her once she got inside and...why was she moving in a circle?
The world spun around her hastily, and she could feel the large cyclops pull on her tail harder. She tried to fight back, but the speed of her movements pinned her hooves out in front of her face. She grit her teeth, and fought through the pain. Her tail felt like it was being slowly pulled off as Steropes continued to spin Dash in a large circle over his head. Rainbow felt tears well up into her eyes, but the wind picked these up and scattered them across the ground. When the pain was growing unbearable, and she swore she would break and call out for help, Steropes released her. She shot high into the air like a bullet, and hung in the sky stupidly for a moment, before plunging back down. She panicked when the ground started to rush out to meet her, and she opened her uninjured wings quickly. The sudden stop hit her like a truck, and the pain ran through her ribs as it did. Whipping the water out of her eyes, she looked down to try and find her friend. While it wasn't how she had hoped to enter the park, she couldn't really argue with the results. Smiling, she saw something bright pink hop though the park slowly, occasionally stopping to lick a large pile of cotton candy she had somehow gotten attached to her hoof.

Dash landed softly, and glanced around to make sure no one had noticed her arriving. Quietly, she snuck up behind Pinkie, and jumped onto her back. Dash moved her hooves quickly, and pinned her friend to the ground.
Pinkie grinned in surprise, and took a bite out of her candy, which had managed to fall on her face. "Dmmphe! Hmph mmpm ymph mmph phmm..."
Dash carefully let go of one of Pinkie's hooves, and removed the obstruction. "Dashie! That was amazing, how did you move so fast? I didn't even see you turn around, which is odd because that was the only way to sneak up behind me, unless you were invisible, or a changeling. You're not a changeling are you?" Pinkie said, talking at her usual fast rate.
Dash shook her head, "No Pinkie, I'm not a changeling, listen, this is import...."
Pinkie raised her voice, cutting Dash off. "Then how did you get behind me?" She asked, before her eyes were drawn down to the wound on Dash's chest. "Oh no, Dashie you got hurt! Don't worry, Pinkie Pie is here to make sure you feel better. Nothing bad is going to happen while Pinkie is here. Does it hurt? Do you need a bandage? Does it still bleed? Should a get a rag? A towel? I can't think of anything bigger, can you? Maybe a blanket but that would be terrible in a medical situation." Pinkie continued, hardly stopping to get an answer from Rainbow Dash.
"Pinkie, I'm fine, stop talking. We need to get out of here, we're both in dan..." Dash tried to say, still trying to get Pinkie to understand the situation they were in.
Pinkie didn't stop though, and just continued her monologue, noticing the metal frame built into Dash's wings. "Ooooh, what's that? Is it a party device? Can it create cake, probably not, you would need some kind of opening to fit the cake in, and how would you even fit the ingredients in? Why are you so quiet, what does it do?"
Dash sighed, "It makes me fly faster, apparently. It's been pretty useless so far."
"Where did you get it and how did you get it on? You only left a few seconds ago, why did you do that?" Pinkie asked, stopping Dash from talking again.
This time, Dash moved her free hoof over to Pinkie's face, and blocked her mouth. Pinkie made a few squeaks in protest, before Dash started to talk over her. "Listen. For five minutes, just listen. I'm from the future, and I came back to get you out of here. There's something going on with the mascots and it's dangerous. It's how I got injured. Now, I'm going to let go of you, promise not to chase after the me that just left, ok?"
Pinkie nodded, and Dash jumped into the air. Pinkie stood back up, and started to eat her candy again. "Where did you go anyway? You rushed off and left me all alone. That wasn't very nice." Pinkie lectured, giving a sad look over to Rainbow.
Dash stumbled over her tongue, and mumbled out some random words. "You mean you're not surprised? About the time thing? Because I was pretty sceptical in the beginning."
"Why would you lie about that? Besides, it isn't the first time I've met a time traveller. Hay, it seems like everypony is time traveller today, even Derpy! Though she mostly uses it to sneak muffins out off my hoof before I eat them. Now why did you rush off?" Pinkie replied, moving out of the way of one of the creatures that was trying to shove past her.
Dash was about to answer Pinkie's question, until she suddenly remembered that Pinkie would most likely chase after her anyway. She attempted to change the subject discretely. "ABSOLUTELY NO REASON! THERE WAS NO REASON FOR ME TO LEAVE, HOW ABOUT WE GET OUT OF HERE, PINKIE?" Dash shouted while sweating profusely, rivalling even the great royal canterlot voice in her volume. She shifted her eyes quickly to make sure no one could see through her perfectly crafted excuse. The force blew the pink pony's candy into her face and a large chunk got caught up in her hair. Pinkie pulled the candy out of her mane, and took another bite. She stared at Rainbow suspiciously. Taking another bite of her candy, she continued to stare at Dash, and voiced her objections. "Dashie, are you lying to me?"
Rainbow smiled nervously, and the gears in her head spun at hyper speed. "She knows! Quick, tell the truth. No, keep up the lie. No, even better, ask her how her candy is still here despite the amount of bites she's taken. Wait, tell the truth. Lie, truth, lie, truth." Dash saw stars begin to rotate around her head, and spouted out the first thing that popped into her head.
"I thought I heard a really old friend! I wanted to talk to her again, please don't be mad."
Pinkie jumped back, nearly colliding with a goat that was sneaking behind her. "Well, why didn't you say so? Here, hold my cottony candy, I want to meet this friend." The pink pony practically pounced perfectly forward, leaping over the confused pegasus. Dash was just able to hear Pinkie talking to herself before she disappeared inexplicably behind a crowd of tough looking Diamond Dogs. "Ohh, I wonder if she likes parties. Oh what am I saying, everyone loves parties. And balloons, and cake, and cupcakes, and milkshakes and pie....." Her voice slowly grew softer as Dash tried to come to grips with what she had said.
Had she just called Trixie, TRIXIE of all ponies, an old friend? Even worse, did she really just let Pinkie hop away, after all the effort she went through to talk to her? There was no way this happening, there was just no way she was that stupid. She swore she could see reality start to disappear as she woke up. Surely this was just a bad dream. A bad dream which she will soon wake up from. She closed her eyes tight, and stood perfectly still. The sounds of the amusement park slowly melted away, leaving an empty gaping void. Dash felt like she could just slip in if she wasn't careful. It just sat there, sucking in all substance, all matter. The sheer emptiness of the void would frighten a more smart pony. Luckily, Rainbow Dash wasn't the smartest of ponies. She stared into the abyss, and something started to move closer. The thing reached out to grasp her. It's hoof strange and deformed. Suddenly, something broke her concentration and her eyes snapped open, banishing the thing.

"Iron Will wishes to know whether you are planing to eat that delicious confectionery you have." The giant blue monster asked.
Rainbow stared up at the minotaur, then glanced down to a large pink cloud that was stuck to her hoof. The rainbow mare assumed that Pinkie must have given it to her before she disappeared, though Dash had no memory of the exchange occurring. Man, that candy looked delicious. Her stomach growled as she stared at the candy, before giving a half minded reply to Iron Will. "No way, this is my candy. Go buy your own." She whispered, just loud enough for her partner to hear her.
"Well, it couldn't hurt to ask. Where did you buy it though? I can't seem to find the store." Iron replied, glancing around his surroundings.
Dash quickly did a take of her own, and realised that there really was no vendor nearby selling cotton candy. Rainbow took a bite out of the cloud, and wondered where Pinkie could of gotten it. It didn't matter though, Dash guessed the answer would mostly dissolve into the randomness level of Pinkie rather than an official explanation. Dash shrugged, the machine on her back jolting the sleep from her eyes as it clattered. "I don't know where I got this. My friend Pinkie just gav...."
"Now listen here Rainbow! I demand and henceforth order you to tell me where I, Iron Will, may find the source of that tasty looking treat!" The pale blue creature shouted, catching the attention of several passing ponies.
Dash jumped into the air, stretching her wings hastily while she did so in case she need to get out of there. "Calm down. If I knew where to buy some cotton candy I would tell you. I'm not keeping it a secret just to mess with you."
"Then where did you get your own candy?"
Dash smacked her hoof into her face, a little to hard to be comfortable. Everypony was watching her argue with a ridiculously strong minotaur about cotton candy of all things. How did everything change so quickly? A few minutes, nearly a few seconds ago she was about to save Pinkie and get out of here, and now she was stuck arguing with an easily tempered bull. "Listen, Will. I did not buy this candy. My friend Pinkie bought this candy, and gave it to me when she left. If you want to have your own cotton candy, then you need to either find Pinkie again, or continue looking for a place that sells it. Not standing around here arguing with me. Got it?" Dash countered, hoping her point didn't come out too rough. Iron Will really was insanely strong.
"I still demand that you tell me where you found it." Iron replied, refusing to step down from his original point.
Dash sighed in exasperation, "I found it two steps to the left of where you're standing, when my friend came over and put it into my hooves." Dash said exhaustedly, pointing to where she meant.
Iron stared at the spot, and walked over to it. "This spot here?" He asked.
"No, no, a little more to the left."
"Here?" He questioned, moving to a completely different spot.
"No, that's too far. Go back right."
"Now?"
"Still no, you need to move....wait why am I doing this? There's no candy here, Iron! I'm leaving now, I've had enough." Dash gave one quick nod to Iron Will, a nod to the crowd of interested ponies that had gathered around to see what was going on, and flew off into the park. She could hear Iron Will give one last shout before he disappeared from sight, but what he was saying was muffled by the everyday noise of the amusement park. Looking around, he hoped she didn't waste too much time talking with that insane minotaur and that there was still time to save Pinkie before the mascots happened. Licking her lips, she knew that one thing was certain though, Pinkie, understandably, had great taste in candy.

By the time Rainbow reached Trixie's stand, Pinkie was no where to be seen. This wasn't good, that meant there was only a few minutes left before it was too late to change anything. Dash flew into the air, and scanned the ground. Despite the number of ponies wandering around on the ground, the one thing that stuck out was a small group, consisting of two rainbow pegasi, a large cyclops, a grinning pink pony, and an oversized orange pony. Dash sighed, and floated back to the ground.
It was too late to stop Pinkie from angering the mascots, and Dash's entire plan was ruined. A rainbow exploded past her head, and she looked up in time to see herself fly around a corner, followed by two mechanical monsters. The real Dash placed her hoof on her chin, and thought. Even though she had messed up, there was still time to get out of the park. All she needed to do was find Pinkie, and this time, this time, Dash would personally carry her out of here herself. Dash felt her spirits drop as she realised she didn't have a clue where Pinkie was. Rainbow didn't even know how she had disappeared and escaped from the mascots earlier. Her expression dropped, and she flapped into the air. She nearly forgot about the machine on her back, and it threw her off balance at first, but she recovered quickly. She needed to find Pinkie.
Dash searched through the ponies from the air, trying to pick out Pinkie's signature mane. After a full minute of searching, and nothing to show for it, Dash decided she would need a different tactic. "Alright Dash, think. If you were Pinkie, where would you be?" She thought. Almost immediately, she smacked her eyes at her own stupidity. How could she have not seen it sooner? Grinning, she moved hastily, making her way across the huge park.

Rainbow could see the candy shop long before she got the chance to land there. She could also see Pinkie standing there, casually buying sweets as if nothing was wrong. Dash's smile widened, she was so close! All she had to do was reach over and sweep her off her feet. Dash flapped her wings, intending to glide forwards. Instead, she crashed to the ground as something grabbed her around the stomach. Making a slight OMPH sound, Dash smacked into the ground loudly. She coughed some dust out of her lung, and was thrown through the air again, this time landing on top of some salespony's stall. The surprise on the pony's face confused Dash, but not long enough for her to really think about it before she found herself in the air again. "Not again, not this time." Dash gritted her teeth together, and flapped her wings against her attacker. Whatever was holding her loosened it's grip, and Rainbow landed on the ground hastily. Reacting quickly, she identified her attacker.
It was Applejack's robot. Her large glass eyes were shining red, and focused on Rainbow Dash. The sun shined off her orange coat menacingly, and the ponytail in her mane was pointed into a long sharp spike. Connected to the bottom of her hoof was a long rope; it's end currently wrapped around Dash's midsection. Dash connected the dots quickly, and tried in vain to get the rope off of her. While she did, she saw the other patrons of the park walk past her, like nothing was wrong. Dash started to panic again, why weren't they doing something? A soft click hit Rainbow in the ear, and a force pulled on her side. The orange mascot stared on emotionlessly as the rope receded back into her leg. Dash struggled to fight back, but the robot responded with more force, and soon Dash found herself staring Applejack in the face. The tight rope around her stomach caused her wound to hurt again.
She swallowed nervously, and pushed against the rope with all her might.
"Ah tink ya shuld stop tha! Ah need ma rope fa bucking all da aples." The mascot crackled out.
Dash stopped, and tried to process what the mascot said. Maybe it malfunctioned? Those didn't even sound like words, just random letters heaped together. Dash sincerely hoped that the creator hadn't tried to copy her friends accent with that garbage. Applejack did not sound like that. The rainbow mare quickly shook the confusion out of her mane and went back to fiddling with the rope.
"Ah sad stop messin' wit tha rope. We ja wanna tak ya in fa questionin'. Stap wit the rope fiddlin' or ah'll hav to use farce!"
Dash blinked again, and pushed against the rope. This seemed to be the final straw, as the robot holding Dash suddenly let out a loud shout. Or crackle, since it was filtered through the weak microphone of the robot. Dash panicked, and bit down on the rope holding her in place. With a snap, she leapt forward, just in time to avoid a shiny red projectile aimed at the spot she was held. Dash spun around in the air, and saw that the mascots other hoof had opened up it's tip to reveal a long hollow tube. A small red object flew out of the tube at a high speed, missing Rainbow by a mile.
"Hold stall, ya varmit, Ah needa hit ya wit the aple canon!"
Dash shook her head, and looked eyes with her opponent. She was sick of running. "Fine then, come closer. Put em up and lets do this!" She shouted. She jumped onto her back legs, and waved her arms threateningly. The mascot cocked it's head sideways slowly, and stepped forward, lowering it's 'canon'. Dash did the same. They continued this game of chicken for a few minutes, each waiting for the other to strike first. They inched closer, step by step, in silence, until they were within hoofs reach. A slow circle, and Dash swore she saw a moment of weakness. She struck out, slamming her hoof against the robots metal body. A pain vibrated up her arm, into her body. Suddenly she remembered why we refused to fight the other mascots. Metal is extremely painful to punch.
The rainbow filly felt a drop of sweat roll down her forehead, and she launched her hoof forward, pointing at something behind Applejack's doppelgänger. "Hey, look at that interesting thing. I think that creatures trying to steal some apples!" She shouted, pointing at the first thing she saw. The robot couldn't help but turn, and it locked it's eyes on the largest thing in sight, a pale blue minotaur.
When the robot turned back, Dash was gone, leaving a signature rainbow trail behind her. The mascot decided in a split second what to do next, and turned towards the apple thief. No pony stole apples while Applejack was around!

There was a loud clanking sound as the candy inside the barrel clattered against the sides. The machine spun in circles quickly, coating it's contents in a thick layer of sticky candy. Pinkie's eyes spun in circles as she kept an unbreaking stare on the candy. Her lips were already puckering up for the delicious candy. She could already taste the hard candy, starting out sour, but getting sweeter the longer she sucked on it. She drifted off, trying to remember all the times she'd eaten hard candy in her life, until her concentration was broken by her friend landing next to her. She was bruised all up her stomach, and a long rope burn ran around her body.
Pinkie suddenly felt guilty as she remembered what she was supposed to be doing. Finding her friend. She was planning too, she really was, but the candy was just to much of a temptation. Still, the least she could do was apologize.
"Dashie! You found me, which is good because I saw you fly in the opposite direction and I was worried that we might lose each other. I'm sorry about upsetting the security, and not telling you what happened on the train. I pinkie promise not to lie to you again, and to tell you every little detail you want to know. Every detail, even the embarrassing stuff." Pinkie said, staring at the rainbow filly.

Dash stared at the pink pony, trying to process what Pinkie was saying. She decided quickly that it wasn't important, and cut right to the point. "Listen Pinkie, we need to get out of here. The mascots are evil, and also robots, and I think they want to kill us." She said in a panic, hoping her tone would break through Pinkie's crazy exterior.
"No silly, you're just being silly. Mascots aren't robots, they're ponies in costumes. Didn't you know that? Did I spoil the surprise? I'm sorry." Pinkie replied, completely missing the point of Dash's concern.
"No, trust me, they're definitely robots. One of them has some sort of apple launcher for a leg, and another one has a horn longer than Celestia's and Luna's combined. One can even fly faster than me!" Dash explained, becoming frustrated at Pinkie's response.
Pinkie thought for a minute, and caught herself turning towards the candy again. A random thought drifted into her head, and she finally understood why her friend was so concerned. "So that's the reason you've been all grumpy. You're scared of robots!" Pinkie announced, smiling at her own brilliance.
Dash stared at her for a moment. She refused to give an answer, to even make a sound, until her brain could figure out how Pinkie had made the connection between pony killing robot and Dash being upset. There was a long moment in silence, in which Pinkie drifted back towards the spinning barrel of candy. Rainbow took another moment to regroup her thoughts, before shouting out a simple "What?" bluntly.
"You're a scaredy cat when it comes to robots, and that's why you've been all grumpy. You have to work with a robot, maybe. But just remember that robots are ponies too. It's just like when we met Zecora, sure, she may have seemed all mean and scary, but then you talked to her and laughed at her rhymes and everything's good. Robots work the same way." Pinkie announced.
Rainbow turned her head sideways slowly, hoping it would somehow understand what Pinkie was trying to say. "Pinkie, I...That doesn't even...I don't..." Rainbow started waving her hoof, trying to find the words she was trying to say. "I'm not scared of robots, I'm scared of mascots. Normally I'd deny this, but just once I'll admit it." She expressed, still missing the word she was looking for.
"Well why are you scared of mascots?" Pinkie asked.
"Why does it matter? We need to get out of here."
"Mascots are funny, why are you scared of them?"
"I'm not telling, lets go already." Dash said, getting anxious. This conversation was heading into places she'd rather not talk about.
"I want to get some rock candy first. Mrs Cake says I can't make any more since I destroyed her entire collection of pots and pans. It wasn't my fault, who knew rock candy wasn't actually made out of rocks? And why won't you tell me what's wrong with mascots." Pinkie added, turning back to the barrel. At this point, the candy was clearly taking shape, and the owner of the stall was watching the two ponies talk, feeling slightly like a third wheel.
"I'm not telling you Pinkie, stop asking." Dash shouted, annoyed.
"I want to know Dashie. I don't like it when you're sad." Pinkie replied, staring at the ground. Dash suddenly felt very guilty about yelling. She weighed her options, and decided to go for a compromise.
"If I tell you, do you promise to leave with me right now?" Dash said, glancing behind Pinkie to see if any mascots had tried to sneak up on them.
Pinkie nodded, "Even better, I pinkie promise." She crossed her hooves quickly and tapped her eye softly.
Dash sighed, "It began back when I was a little filly..."

I could barely fly, and my parents decided to bring me to a travelling carnival..

"Come along Rainbow, you don't want to be left alone do you?" The mare said. Rainbow wasn't quite sure of her name, but every creature on the planet didn't need a name to recognize their own mothers. A small blue filly, rainbow mane shining out from her head, picked up her feet and pushed herself forward.
"Nope." Rainbow huffed out, nearly tripping over her own feet. She caught herself at the last moment, and used the extra momentum to break into a run. She loved to run, the air in her mane, the clouds beneath her hooves. It made her feel big, feel like an adult. Twisting around, she settled for running around her busy mother, who was searching through the crowd. She glanced down at her daughter, just long enough for her to catch Rainbow when she tripped again. With a flick of her wings, she lifted the small filly onto her back, and spun her head back to face her. "That's enough running for now, Rainbow. Take a break." She cooed softly.
Dash scrunched her face, and crossed her hooves. "I want to keep running." She said crossly.
"Well, I want you to rest. Maybe if you behave for once I will buy you a little souvenir." Dash's Mother replied smugly.
The foal opened her mouth to argue, but her attention was quickly grabbed by another filly walking by with a bright red balloon. Her mother walked forward, and Dash kept her eyes on the floating balloon.

Dash opened her eyes quickly. Beneath her, the cool fur of her parent calmed her nerves and she cooled down quickly in it's comfortable embrace. She couldn't even remember falling asleep and she had no idea how long she's been sleeping. It was still day though, and the sounds of the carnival still buzzed around her. Rubbing her eyes and yawning loudly, she called out to her mother. "Are you still there?"
"Of course, Rainbow. Why wouldn't I?" Was the response. The filly recognized the voice, and she buried her head in her mother's back.
"When can we go? This place is boring." Dash announced, her voice slightly muffled.
"Tired already? I guess we can leave soon. I just want to try a few more of these fun games. The carnival might not come into Cloudsdale next year, and this could be my last chance." Her mother responded, shifting her weight to make Rainbow more comfortable.
"Aww, but you always take so long. Can't we just go?" The blue foal complained.
"Soon, Rainbow, soon." She responded.
Dash sighed, and rested her head against the older pegasus' back.

The rainbow filly was jolted awake again by her mothers shoulder shoving her roughly off her back. She landed roughly on the ground, and looked up at her parent. Her mother glanced down at her and, seeing as the weight was no longer on her back, stood on her back legs. She spread her wings to balance herself better, and lifted a small round ball out of a basket. Dash looked on curiously, and struggled to pull herself onto the stall window. A wing wrapped around her, and she felt her legs float off the ground. She was softly set down on the counter, and stared back up at her protector.
The mare had her eyes locked firmly forward, refusing to let a single thing distract her. She leaned back slightly, and thrust her arm forward. The ball dislodged from her hoof, and soared through the air. There was a slight thump as it collided with the triangle of glass bottles set up across the stall. They toppled, save for a single one resting near the corner.
"Well, well, well, now we know who the better mare is." The owner sneered.
To a casual observer, it would seem that Dash's mum hadn't changed at all. She still had the same determined face on, the same posture, the same focused grin. It was only Rainbow who could see the slight changes. The slight grimace in her lips, the unnoticeable lean forward, the heat wafting out of her eyes. It was kind of scary. Things had gotten serious.
Dash's guardian licked her lips slowly, and lifted another ball out of the basket. "Again."
"Again? Hoping to lose again?"
"AGAIN!" She shouted. Dash recoiled slightly.
"Fine, fine, more bits for me than." The owner of the stall said. An aura surrounded his horn, and the bottles started to place themselves back into their formation.

The little filly turned her head back towards her mother, until her attention was caught by something different. There was a commotion of other fillies behind her parent, and Dash's curiosity caught the better of her. She thoughtlessly leapt off the counter, hitting the ground roughly. She started to make her way through the crowd. Something was wrong though.
There was too many ponies. Everywhere she looked, there was a pair of legs, or a thick body, or the flap of a wing. There was simply too many. Dash turned to head back to where it was safe, only to find in horror that the way she came from was blocked by the same legs. Everything was too big, and Rainbow felt small. Occasionally a pegasus would stop to ask her her name, but she pushed past them. Maybe if she kept walking forwards, she would eventually find her parent. She started to panic; move faster, crash into the legs that surrounded her. Something caught her hoof, and she collapsed downward.
The cloud flooring made a soft landing, but Dash couldn't find the energy to get up. She started to cry. She wanted to go home, she wanted to see her mum, she wanted to feel safe, she wanted to escape. A minute passed, and she felt something push on her back.

Dash looked up, into the strange face of the thing that had pushed her. It had huge glass eyes poking out the sides of it's head. It had a small hole where it's mouth should be, and barely enough hair to call a mane. Dash moved backwards in fear, but the thing stepped forwards. "Hello, what's your name?" The thing asked.
It's sheer size frightened the filly, but Dash wasn't going to let whatever this was go answered. "Umm...Rain..Rainbow Dash." She replied hesitantly.
"Hello, what's your name?" It asked again.
"Rainbow...Dash." The filly repeated.
"Hello, what's your name?"
Dash swallowed nervously, "I just..just want to go...go home." Rainbow said, fighting back tears."
The mascot walked closer. "Helo, wat's your aim?" It questioned, it's voice distorting as it spoke.
Dash glanced around for a way to escape, but all exits were blocked off by a sea of moving legs. The mascot moved closer, it's voice fluctuating wildly. Dash pulled herself backwards, and she hit the back of her head on something behind here. She turned her head hastily, expecting to see her mother. Instead, she leapt backwards as another one of those things materialized out of the crowd. "Would you like a balloon?" It asked, shoving a string into Rainbow's face. The blue filly panicked, and leapt forward.
Dash sprinted forward, crashing into random ponies legs in an attempt to escape the mascots. Her legs were already tired, and her breath came out in pants. She turned around for a brief moment, only to suddenly crash into a wall that had appeared in front of her. A ringing started to fill her head, and she sat against the wall. The filly closed her eyes, and started to cry.
The sound of hoof steps slowly rose over the noise of the crowd, and Dash peaked her eyes open. Adrenaline shot into her body as she saw three mascots walking towards her. One of them started talking, and Dash couldn't find the strength to run. She curled into a little ball, occasionally twitching and stroking her tail. The mascots only started talking louder and faster, eventually turning into a high pitched whirring. Dash clenched her eyes, covered her ears, and prayed for something to save her.

"I stayed there for I don't even know how long. My mum claims it was only half an hour, but it felt so much longer."

Pinkie kept her eyes on the candy in the barrel. Her eyes spun in circles as she did until she broke her gaze and looked over to Dash. She lifted a hoof, and placed it on Dash's head. "Well. Um, that certainly wasn't fun, was it?" She said, unsure of what she should do.
Rainbow knocked the hoof off her face, and looked past Pinkie to see if anypony was trying to sneak up on them again. "No, Pinkie, no it wasn't."
The pink pony rubbed her mane awkwardly, and offered her apologies. "I can see why you didn't want to come to this totally amazing amusement park then." She added, her seriousness strangely odd when compared to her normal self.
Dash shook her head, "I didn't want to come because I have better things to do then sit around here and talk about stupid foalhood fears. Now lets go, you promised." Dash whispered quietly, a bitter whiplash in her statement.
"I guess this means you don't want to see the Wonderbolts any more?" Pinkie asked.
Rainbow shook her head, "I can always see them later when we're not getting chased by murderous robots. Now come on."
Dash grabbed Pinkie, and pulled her sideways. Pinkie fumbled under the sudden movement, but regained her balance and started to walk alongside the pegasus.
"Now, if we can just get to the fence without any issue, we should be home fr....Oh for the love of Celestia." Dash explained, catching sight of what was in front of her.

Standing in the middle of the road, diverting traffic around herself, was a large purple monstrosity. It's purple tinted glass eyes scanned over the path, locking onto the two ponies. Dash remembered the wound this mascot had given her, and her stomach hurt in recollection. Despite her fear, Dash took a step forward. No way was she going to look like a coward in front of Pinkie, and there was absolutely no way she was letting this robot so much as glance at her friend. She leapt into the air, and raised her aching hoof threateningly. To her surprise, Pinkie took a position beneath her. There was a short burst of static, and the purple pony spoke, "Oh, there you two are. I've been looking everywhere. I don't suppose you would mind coming with me for a moment? The two of you are so interesting, I have such questions." She crackled out.
Dash shook her head hastily. "No, we've already done this. So many times. I suppose you won't want to let us go too?"
The robot cocked it's head to the side, "Why would I stop you? A true friend wouldn't force her friends to help her if they didn't want to."
Dash rubbed her ears to make sure she had heard that right. The mascot was just letting them go? Slightly suspicious, Dash landed back on the ground, and slowly walked towards Twilight's doppelgänger. "Are you lying to me?" Dash questioned.
Pinkie Pie appeared out of the air near Rainbow, and stuck her face into the robots eye. "Yea, are you trying to play a nasty prank?"
The mascot shook it's head slowly and mechanically. "Of course not. That would be rude. You are free leave at any time."
Dash squinted her eyes, and walked past the purple pony, until it stuck a hoof to stop her. "Of course, as a employee of Smile Land," She added.
Dash rolled her eyes. "Here it is." She announced, sure of what would be said next.
"I do have to at least attempt to stop you. The boss isn't very happy about ponies sneaking into his park." She affirmed.
Pinkie sighed, "Why's he unhappy about ponies? The more ponies there are the better the party is." Pinkie chuckled out.
"That's irrelevant, I still need to stop you." Twilight confirmed.
Rainbow grinned, trying to convince herself she would be fine. "Well, then, come at me! I'm ready for ya." She shouted.
A purple aura suddenly surrounded the pegasus, and she found herself lifted into the air. She gasped for a moment, before the spell disappeared, and she was thrown backwards. She hit the side of a stall harshly, and jumped to her feet quickly. She glanced around just in time to notice Twilight pointing at her with her horn. Reacting quickly, Dash flapped her wings, the metal device clanking suddenly, and rose into the air. Twilight's robot did its best to try and focus on Rainbow, but the rainbow pony took advantage of the robots inability to look directly upwards; sitting carefully in the mascots blind spot.
While she did so, Pinkie stared up at her. "Dashie!" The pink pony shouted. "I have an idea! Stay here."
Dash looked down at her stupidly, "Yes, because I have so many options." She shouted back sarcastically.
Pinkie nodded, not picking up the subtle cue, and hopped away, leaving Dash alone to fight the mascot.

She did an ok job avoiding the occasional line of purple magic that was fired upwards in a vain attempt to hit her. Dash grew confident, even occasionally yelling a taunt such as, "How does a robot use magic anyway?" or "My grandma was a better shot.", down at the mascot. Unexpectedly, she felt something grab her tail, and turned to see a familiar purple glow engulf the tip of her rainbow. "Aw hay." She managed to cry out before she was yanked roughly to the ground. She swore she could feel her tail fall off before she hit the hoof toughened ground. The shine of magic engulfed her again, and she was dragged across the ground into the face of her attacker. "Now are we going to co-operate, Rainbow, or do I have to use force again? I really want you to pick the first choice." Twilight said.
Dash swallowed awkwardly, "How do you know my name?" She asked.
"Umm, I don't? Besides, you're..you're clearly trying to escape." Twilight snapped out, lowering her horn towards Rainbow.
Dash started to panic. Imaginary pain shot through her chest again, and she started to struggle. Anything to escape this again. The purple horn continued to move, until it's point rested cleanly on Dash's chest. "Wait, stop! We can talk about this. I'll go quietly, just please don't stab me again." Dash begged, the words sour in her mouth.
The mascot placed a hoof on it's chin in mock thought, and responded with a simple yet elegent, "No."
Dash squeezed her eyes shut, and braced for the pain to start again. Instead, the following sound was music to her ears. "Hey." Pinkie shouted out. She was standing on her back legs, and hiding her front hooves behind her back.
Twilight stopped, and pulled her head up to look at Pinkie. "Hey?" The robot said tentatively.
"I know this is sudden, and also rude, but I was wondering whether maybe you two had stopped fighting? Maybe?" Pinkie questioned.
Dash shook her head so fast she felt like it might break. Pinkie saw this, and responded by nodding slowly. "Well, I guess there's only one thing left to say. Candy cannon: deploy!" The pony shouted, pushing her hooves forward.
Attached to her hoof by a thick rope was the barrel that was used to create the rock candy earlier. It was connected to a small device in her other hoof by multicoloured small wires, and the barrel spun around slowly. It's shiny metal exterior was overshadowed by the huge hole cut into the end, filled to the brim with rock hard candy. The whole thing spun slowly and menacingly, and the pink pony smiled as she pulled it to her eye level. Pinkie focused the strange device on the mascot, and pushed a button on the controller with her nose, shouting every time she did. "Get. Off. My. Friend."
With each button press, the main barrel sped up, and fired a steady stream of hard candy towards Twilight. The candy bounced off the robots metal shell harmlessly with a nearly unnoticeable ting. Pinkie kept up the assault for a minute, doing absolutely no damage to the robot. The robot turned to face Pinkie, and turned it's head sideways in confusion. "You do realize that metal is typically stronger than candy?" It asked.
Pinkie slowed the barrel down, and leaned on it heavily. "It always worked in the movies. What went wrong here?" Pinkie questioned. Dash stared at her in awe for a moment, amazed that her very life was currently held in this ponies life. Pinkie scratched her head, and examined the device. After an awkward moment, Pinkie grinned, switched around some wires and pointed the device back at the mascot. "Ok, I think I fixed it. Now step away from Dashie!" Pinkie reaffirmed.
The mascot gave a mechanical laugh, and glanced back at the injured pegasus. "I would really like to, but I need to bring the both of you into questioning." Twilight replied. Pinkie shrugged, and pressed the button. This time, she was blasted backwards by the force of the exiting candy. The target of the attack took a single step backwards in fear, before taking the shot straight to the horn. A loud crack followed the damage, and the robots horn bent backwards towards it's body. It recoiled, and tried to throw a defence against the onslaught of sugar.
The occasional piece would slip through the cracks though, causing major damage to the delicate equipment. Dash seized the chance, and flapped her wings across the ground. She was launched backwards, and landed next to Pinkie, who was still firing her makeshift cannon at the enemy.
The robot sat there patiently, until the stream of rock hard candy settled to a trickle, eventually speaking again. "Well, that was mostly use..use..use..use..use..use..useless." Twilight replied, her comment glitching. "Now sit still..still..still..still. I don't want to..to..to..to..to hurt you two..two..two..two..two too much."
The purple robot tried to point it's horn at the ponies, switching between her targets at an impossible speed. Instead it seemed more like it was throwing it's head forward and back in a crude imitation of a chicken.
Dash faced Pinkie, and threw her hooves together, "Quick Pinkie, fire that thing again!" Dash ordered.
Pinkie threw it off her hoof, and grabbed Dash by the shoulders. "I'm out of candy, Dash! Out of candy! This is the worst thing that could happen." She replied.
Dash spun her head back to the robot, and felt a fear build back into her stomach when she saw it limping closer. She stared into it's glassy eyes, and was briefly reminded of her childhood experience. She wanted to run, why did she even come here? It's been nothing but a disaster. She remembered her nice house, floating high in the air. Why couldn't she be relaxing up in her bed at this moment. She remembered her pet, Tank, slow though he was. Why couldn't she be out spending time with him? She remembered her friends, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and especially Twilight. She just wanted to go back to Ponyville and return to their arms.
Then she remembered Pinkie.
Pinkie was here with her, and she needed her help. Dash dug her hooves into the earth, and prepared to fight. Her arm stung slightly from when she'd fought before, but she ignored the pain. Pinkie was relying on her. Nothing was going to make her move, nothing was going to harm either her or Pinkie. Dash narrowed her eyes, and pointed at the mascot. She was Rainbow Dash! Owner of the element of Loyalty, only living pegasus to perform a sonic rainboom, fastest pony in the air, toughest pony from here to Canterlot, and she wasn't afraid of some stupid robot. "Pinkie," Dash whispered, "I want you to get out of here. I'll hold it off, just get out of here. Don't get distracted by any shiny colours or something, because I am serious. I want you to leave."
Pinkie shook her head, and jumped onto the barrel of the candy machine in order to gain a height advantage. "Silly Dashie, I'm not gonna leave you alone, not after you told me how scary mascots are. I'm staying right here." Pinkie responded, raising her hooves into the air.
Dash stole a glance at the robot, and spun back to Pinkie, "I'm serious Pinkie, leave. Now!" Dash shouted back.
"And I told you, I'm not leaving! Unless you're with me, and in one piece too. Though it would be interesting to see you come with me in two pieces. It would be like having two Dashies."
Dash sighed, and faced the mascot. "Fine, Pinkie. See if I care!" She shouted angrily.
"Do you care?" Pinkie asked.
Dash let her guard down, and rubbed her temple. This day just kept getting worse. She opened her mouth to respond, before a loud shout interrupted her.

"Steropes will save little pony and rainbow pony. Then have party!"
A large beast of muscle burst out of the crowd gathered around, and tackled the surprised mascot in the side. The two flew backwards, and crashed into the ground noisily. The cyclops attempted the swing himself onto the robots back in an attempt to restrain it, and the purple mascot fought to keep the security guard pinned to the ground. Their commotion attracted even more creatures to gather round, and soon Rainbow found herself buried in the crowd.
She searched for Pinkie hastily, and managed to grab her mane through the sea of bodies. "Come on, Pinkie, lets get out of here!" Dash said, hoping not to many ponies overheard her.
Pinkie nodded, and the two managed to slip quietly through the group. Or would, if someone hadn't grabbed Pinkie at the last moment. A swift eep escaped her lips as she was pulled backwards, leaving a smoke cloud shaped like herself. Dash noticed immediatly, and turned to face whoever had grapped Pinkie. She was prepared to fight another mascot, but relaxed slightly when she was faced by a pale blue wall of flesh.
"Iron Will is tired of being ridiculed by you, foalish pony. Prepare to defend yourself, for as I say at my seminar, 'If somepony sics a robot on you, fight against them too!"
Dash shrugged nonchalantly, "That rhyme was pretty bad." She said.
"Yes well, it's usually paired with a better one." Iron Will replied, flexing his muscles.
Dash changed her tactic, hoping to avoid fighting. She just wanted to get out of this place. "Come on, Iron, I just want to go, do we really need to fight?" She asked.
Iron Will nodded his head, "If I don't stick by my principals, what can I stick to? My principals say to fight, and that's what I shall do!"
Pinkie, who was dangling upside down by her tail, gave out a little laugh, and waved her hooves. Her movements caught the large minotaurs attention, and he pulled the pony into his face. Pinkie took this chance to make her opinions clear. "Hey, Will, remember me? It's Pinkie, from Ponyville. Listen, I know you want to fight Dashie and stuff because it's what you do, but I was wondering if you could put me down first? Because the last time I was upside down everything started to change colours and I got really dizzy and I don't want that to happen again. So could you please put me down?" Pinkie asked, oddly cheerful.
Iron Will thought for a moment, and threw Pinkie towards Rainbow. The rainbow pony was caught by surprise, and didn't have enough time to move out of the way. She struggled under Pinkie, and eventually pulled the top half of her body out from under the energetic mare. Suddenly, the weight was released as Pinkie dove off of Dash's back. The device on Dash's back clanked uselessly as she flapped her wings, and rose back to her feet.
She looked up just to see Iron Will rubbing his hooves against the ground. Dash was given a short second to realise what this meant, and then the minotaur charged forward. His horns glinted dangerously in the sun, and smoke escaped from his nose.

Everything seemed to slow down for Dash as Iron Will moved closer. Pinkie was standing in front of her, between the rainbow pony and her attacker. She seemed oblivious to the danger, and stared at Dash dumbly. Rainbow panicked, and blinked. She was overcome by a vision of Pinkie impaled upon Iron Wills horns, her blood sinking softly into the ground. Two large holes ripped into Pinkies body, cleanly opening her insides to the elements; And Iron Will, looking on evilly.
She snapped back to reality, and things started to speed up again. Their attacker left heavy hoofmarks in the ground as he ran, and he quickly closed the gap between them. Rainbow acted on instinct, and grabbed her friend by the mane. Pulling her body sideways, she lifted Pinkie into the air, and threw her through the air again. The blue minotaur was closer then expected, and one of his horns scrapped roughly against Pinkie's cheek. The party pony landed, sending dust into the air. A thin stream of red flowed down her face as she looked up at the two fighting creatures.
Rainbow had managed to grab the minotaur by the horns, and has pushing against them with her entire body. Iron Will was reaching forward with his arms randomly, hoping to grab one of Dash's legs. The two were locked in a stalemate, until the pony lost her footing. She lost her balance immediately, falling to one knee. Her attacker took this chance, locked her between his two ivory horns and threw her into the air. She fumbled around, trying to vain to stabilize herself. Two cyan wings shot open, supported by a metal frame, and Rainbow spun her body in a circle to land on the ground. She took off in a sprint, running towards her friend. Rainbow knew enough about fighting to know when to run. Though she did hate to run, she liked living slightly more than making a point.
"Pinkie we need to go now!" She shouted, grabbing Pinkie by the hooves before she could reply. She jumped into the air, and stared flapping her wings The sudden increase in weight caused Dash to pull down, and Pinkie's feet dragged against the ground. A loud yell reverberated from behind the fleeing pony, and the sound of hoofsteps told Dash that her attacker was chasing after her. She turned a corner desperately, thinking this would throw her pursuer off. She glanced behind her to check whether she was safe, and found she was. The minotaur ran across the opening to the small gap between the two stalls, and Dash sighed in relief. She looked down to see if her friend was injured, but everything seemed fine. Finally, she focused her eyes forward to see where she was going, and saw a blank wall.
She pulled up, sure she could easily fly over it. Or could, were she not carrying a pink party pony by the hooves beneath her. She smashed into it with a thump, and the wall crumbled from beneath her. She kept moving forward, until she landed on top of Pinkie, who was lying face down on the floor.
Dash leapt off her, and poked her in the side jokingly, "You alright, Pinkie? Nothing bruised?"
The pony on the ground pulled her head up, and stared around, "I'm Okey Dokey Lokey, Dashie. I didn't see it before, but Iron Will was kind of mean."
Dash nodded, "You think?" She commented.
She searched through the room, getting a feel for her surroundings. Besides the large hole in the wall, the room seemed empty. There was only a single table propped against the wall, with a combination of strange machines and coloured vials resting on it. A single light waved in the ceiling, spraying shadows throughout the room. A lamp was tucked into the corner, though it didn't appear to work. Dug into the middle of the room was a small trapdoor, with a group of hoofprints spread out around it. Dash rubbed her chin, until a cry from behind her once again caught her attention.
She spun around to find Iron Will slowly walking towards them from the alley. He was walking slowly, clearly unsure of where his prey had gone.
Dash licked her lips and she felt sweat building up under her wings. "Pinkie, when I distract Iron Will, you get out of here. I'll follow behind when I'm done." She said, turning her head towards her friend.
Pinkie shook her head, and grabbed Dash from behind. "I'm not letting you fight, Dashie, that's no fun."
"Have you got any better ideas, Pinkie?" Dash whispered back, careful not to let Iron Will know where they were.
The pink pony's eyes glanced over to the door in the floor, and she made an opening motion. Then a walking motion. Then a hiding motion. Then some kind of cheering/partying motion. Dash got the idea.
"It probably doesn't even go anywhere." Dash argued.
Pinkie scrunched her face up, and made a sad face. Rainbow tried to continue the argument, but she couldn't stand against those levels of cute. Slowly and hesitantly, she replied, "Fine, but if it doesn't go anywhere, it's your fault."

Silently, the duo crept over to the door, and lifted it open. Unsurprisingly, it led to another room deeper in the ground. The darkness swallowed the stairs about halfway down, and Dash couldn't see the bottom. Her pink friend gave a cheery smile, and jumped down, ignoring the stairs completely. Dash took one glance back at the hole in the wall, and considered closing the trap door to buy her friend some time, but decided against it. Pinkie would hate her if she abandoned her. Closing her eyes and stepping forward, Rainbow fell into the dark abyss; the door slamming shut above her.
She landed roughly next to Pinkie, and looked forward. She was back in the tunnels where she had first found the time machine. It was so familiar that she half expected to see herself walking towards her from the darkness. Instead, as her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw a door materialize out of the shadows. Seeing as there was no where else to go, Rainbow flew towards it. With a light tap, she sent the door swinging open, and harsh light flashed into the tunnel. From inside, an unfamiliar voice called out.

Prince Blueblood was right

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"Is that you, Derpy? Listen, if you could lend me a hoof, I appear to have gotten a little..ugh..stuck."
Rainbow Dash looked around the room she was standing in, full of awe. She completely ignored the voice calling out to her, and instead focused on trying to take everything in. Pinkie wandered over to her side, and Dash could tell she felt the same way by the fact that her jaw slammed into the ground. Literally. The pink pony's eyes darted around the room, like a filly in a candy shop. Dash smiled, and tried her best to understand what this room did.
The entire room was covered in sterile white tiles, though you could hardly see them through the huge number of strange devices gathered in the room. Hanging from the shining ceiling was a set of lights, that would occasionally flicker for no discernible reason. Along the left wall, a cluster of tables had been connected together to form one huge desk, and sitting upon it was beakers of every colour and strange machines that ranged from hoof sized to pony sized. Every minute and a half, each of the devices would let out a burst of steam in unison and return to a low humming noise.
In front of the ponies were several larger machines. The first one was as large as a chariot, except it's wheels were twice as large as the body, and instead of a body, it had a large hollow tube. Rainbow shivered as she was reminded of Applejack's apple cannon. It teetered precariously on the oversized circles, only still standing because it was being kept in place by the lump of metal next to it. Dash wasn't sure what it was. It appeared to be a statue of some sort, closely resembling a gorilla with no fur. It was also a dark green and holding a torch into the sky. The thing was wearing a hat decorated with with spikes, and a dark green robe ran down it's body. Dash rubbed her head in puzzlement, and focused on the last item. It was a large metal pipe. It's tip was a large dome, made of blue glass. With a quick glance, the rainbow pony could see groups of huge wires from through the glass. Just a single wire would be almost as large as the two of them put together. Swinging over to her right, she scanned the shining wall. Another door was built into it's perfect surface, and Dash crept over to it. Pinkie stayed where she was, still transfixed by all the machinery around her.
Silently pushing the door open, Dash peered into the next room. It was slightly brighter than the room she was in, due to the fact the roof was significantly lower. Resting in the centre of the room was a device that Rainbow recognized clearly. It was the same device that she had found in Flim and Flams tent. It seemed cleaner here though, and it lacked the rainbow colouring it had when Rainbow last saw it. The main difference though; was this time there was a pony jammed into the window, struggling to free himself from his imprisonment. The strange pony wiggled his back legs randomly, and called out again. "Derpy? I know you want to go home and everything, but this is important. So stop standing in the doorway and pull me out."
Dash shrugged, and flew over to the pony. Grasping him by the sides, she pulled backwards. The pony responded by connecting his hooves to the side of the time machine, and pushing outwards. Dash groaned as she pulled, until a loud pop echoed through the room and the pony was propelled towards her. The duo slammed into the wall, and Dash felt the metal machine on her back crumble as she landed.

The rainbow pegasus felt something move on her chest, and she looked down to see that the pony she had helped was resting his face on it. It stung slightly, but she could bare it until the pony moved. She wanted to push him off, but the walls kept moving from around her, and she found it hard to concentrate. Instead, she merely focused on finding out what this mysterious pony looked like.
He was a chestnut brown, with a mane that spiked into the air like a buzzsaw. On his flank was the picture of an hourglass, with grains of golden sand trickling into the two chambers. Around his neck was wrapped a small bowtie, red and connected by a thin white cloth. He smiled stupidly as he looked up at Rainbow. Quickly regaining her sight, she kicked him off roughly, and jumped back into the air. Her mind buzzed with questions, and she decided this pony would be the one to answer them. "Get off me, who do you think you are? Rainbow shouted.
The pony adjusted a small tie that was wrapped around his neck, and extended his hoof. "I'm the Doctor, pleased to meet you." He responded, apparently oblivious to Dash's anger.
Dash rubbed her head, "Doctor who?" She asked.
"Just the Doctor." He replied, smiling like he had done this a million times.
"No seriously, Doctor who?" Dash asked again.
The Doctor moved over to the machine he was working on, and poked his head back inside. "I already told you, I'm the Doctor. I do have to ask you something though, Ms Rainbow." He added, looking Dash in the eyes.
Dash glanced out the door to make sure Pinkie was still there, and turned back to the Doctor. "No, I need to ask you something. What are you doing here? How do you know my name?"
The Doctor ran a hoof through his mane, as if he was looking for something. After a quick moment, he placed his hoof back on the ground quickly, apparently not finding what he was looking for. "It's not important why I'm here, it's you I'm interested in. How did you get down here, there isn't any doors in the building above." The Doctor asked, glancing at the wall. Dash guessed that he was pointing at the trap door in the next room.
"I asked first, how do you know my name?" Dash shouted. From behind her, she could hear Pinkie jump into the air, and begin to rush over to her.
"Honestly, Rainbow, how many ponies have you seen with rainbow manes? Much less in this time period." The Doctor explained.
Dash mentally slapped herself, of course it was her mane. What was she expecting? "So what are you doing here then?" Dash asked, doubling back on her original question.
The brown pony shrugged, "I lost the TaRDiS. Well, not lost, more like locked. Locked the TaRDiS. I need a place to hide until I can find the key. Fix the key." The Doctor continued, "But enough about that, you two need to get out here. Much safer than staying here." He added.

Dash shook her head quickly, "We can't leave, Iron Will is probably still outside. He'll kill me!"
The Doctor ran a hoof across his face in exasperation. There was a moment of silence, until he spoke. "Fine, you can stay. But only until it's safe to leave. And you can't touch anything. One mistake and the whole park goes tumbling into the time vortex, and I would like to keep that from happening." He said, turning back to his machine. He was clearly unhappy with having to entertain the two ponies.
Dash and Pinkie exchanged a glance, shrugged and turned to leave the room. Pushing the door open, the two exited the room, just as the Doctor began talking to himself again.
Glancing across the room, Dash stretched her wings. The device that Flim and Flam put there hung uncomfortably on her wings, and she shuffled her back in an attempt to remove it. It proved futile, so Dash sat down in defeat. This was the worst day she had ever had. Hastily, Pinkie sat down next to her, resting her head against the wall. They sat silently for a few minutes, keeping track of the time by the bursts of steam. It was peaceful and Dash found herself drifting off. Her body was tired from all that had happened, and she wanted rest.
She closed her eyes, and embraced the darkness that came. It was bliss for a moment. She couldn't feel the pain in her stomach, her legs didn't ache, her wings were calm. It was perfect.
Gazing deeper into the darkness inside of her eyes, she started to make out shapes. Vague pony shapes sat in front of her, slightly illuminated in red. Something hit her on the bottom of her feet, and she landed. Besides, what was the danger? She was clearly dreaming, she felt like she was floating in the air and her aches were gone; besides, she needed the sleep. She rested there, unable to tear her eyes away from the shadows. They were peaceful, drifting through the air like visible wind. Eventually, after much time, they all blurred together, smothering her in a warm blanket. The red outlines remained on everything though and the darkness was chased away suddenly by the bright red. Something was different though, this wasn't peaceful any more. Something lunged out at the rainbow pegasus from the red and Dash opened her eyes to avoid it. This was a dream, she just needed to wake up.
Only to realise in panic that her eyes were open. The thing smashed into Dash and she was sent across the ground. As she stared up at the thing, her surroundings took on more texture. A platform; a perfect circle formed around her. She couldn't see over the edge but she guessed it was high up. Her attacker also took on more shape, twisting it's arms and legs unnaturally until they locked into place. It's red outline lightened, becoming yellow, and Dash realised in terror that her attacker was a yellow pegasus.
"Ohh, there you are. I was so worried when I couldn't find you. Are you hurt? Do you need nurse Fluttershy to help you?" It asked, sweetening it's expression.
Adrenaline pumped through Dash's veins as she jumped into the air. She looked around in confusion, where was she? Suddenly, something crashed into her chest, winding her. She gasped for air, and flew higher. The Fluttershy thing chased her, rising higher. "Please don't run away again. I don't want to be...to be alone again. Please don't leave. Please." It begged, pushing itself higher.
Dash kicked down on it's face, creating an ugly purple bruise. "Get away from me!" She shouted. What was going on? Where did Pinkie go? Where was she?
The thing responded by grabbing Dash's left wing in her teeth. The pegasus tried to keep flying, but she couldn't with only one wing. Fluttershy pushed herself on top of Dash as they fell, twisting something in her wing. She flapped helplessly, fighting through the pain, as the ground grew closer. She was so close, and Fluttershy's weight was pushing down on her. Dash closed her eyes, and braced for impact.

Then something hit her entire upper body, and she woke up. She jumped violently as she woke, expecting to be in immense pain. Instead, all she could fell was the dull pain of her chest, coupled with a couple of blisters on her wings. She studied her surroundings in a hurry, truly making sure she was safe, until she noticed the mare pushing on her chest.
Pinkie's hooves dug into Rainbow's chest, feeling remarkably similar to Fluttershys. She rested on what had happened for a moment, was she dreaming? Did that really just happen? She poked her wings a few times, but they seemed fine. Was it just her mind dreaming a reason for Pinkie's prodding? Dash hoped so. Besides, it was silly to think she was in danger; It was just a bad dream. Caused by her stressed out mind and her fear of mascots. Or fear of Fluttershy, Dash wasn't sure which.
She suddenly realised she had been ignoring Pinkie, though the pink mare had hardly even noticed.
"Are you awake yet Dashie? What about now? Or now? Or now? Or now? Will you wake up if I give you a cupcake? I don't have any here, but I bet I could find something to make them out of. Anyway, Wake up sleepy head." Pinkie monologued, showing no signs of stopping.
Dash ran a hoof over her arm, and gazed up at Pinkie, "Alright, I'm awake, I'm awake." She replied, silencing Pinkie.
"Oh, that's good, I was worried you wouldn't wake up and then I would be stuck here alone for forever, which is a really really long time. Like, even longer than a year, and that's pretty long." Pinkie replied, starting up her motor mouth again.
Dash sighed, she was too tired to handle this. Though, she wouldn't admit she was thankful that Pinkie had woken her up from her nightmare. "Pinkie, calm down. Why did you wake me up? How long was I out?" Rainbow asked.
Pinkie stopped jumping, and sat on the ground carefully. She raised a hoof to her chin, and hopped back into the air when she remembered what she had forgotten. "I wanted to ask you a question. A questiony question that sounds like a question. Or a query. What is a query anyway? Is it like a rock farm? I don't like rock farms, everypony's so boring there."
Dash pushed herself back to her feet. There was a soft crack as her bones stretched with the sudden movement. Dash stretched to get the last kink out of her system, and looked back to the energetic pony. "What's the question Pinkie? You might as well get it over with now that you've woken me up." Dash responded, gazing over her surroundings absent-mindedly.
"Right, the question. Why are you still here?" Pinkie asked.

Dash cocked her head sideways in confusion. What was Pinkie talking about? "What do you mean?" Dash questioned.
"If you hate mascots so much, why did you come back? I wouldn't have come back, unless there was a party, or balloons, or cake, but that's where I draw the line." Pinkie responded, elaborating on her original point.
Dash chuckled. She was the element of Loyalty, of course she would come back. She wouldn't want to be stuck here alone, and she certainly wouldn't leave her friends in danger. She could fight through a little fear as long as it meant her friends stayed safe. All right, a lot of fear. There wasn't anything special about Pinkie that inspired her to come back, she would of done it regardless of who she left behind.
And yet, there was still a nagging voice in the back of her head. Would she have come back if it weren't for Pinkie? Sure, she enjoyed Applejack's brashness, or Fluttershy's grace, and there was no doubt she would of at least attempted to save them, but there was something about Pinkie she couldn't pick out. Something which inspired her to fight against clearly losing odds when she wanted to run. Would that feeling be there if it weren't for Pinkie? Would she have acted the same way if Twilight was in danger, or Rarity? Would she still have fought against the Iron Will, the mascots, the security guards? Dash sat down subconsciously, and stared up at her friend. She was still hoping there, waiting for an answer. Why was this question so hard to answer? Dash opened her mouth in panic, and blurted out the first thing that popped into her head.
"I would of done it for all my friends. You're nothing special."
Pinkie stopped jumping up and down, and stared at the ground. "I'm not?"
No, no, no, no. She was special, just say it. Why did she even say differently? Dash opened her mouth, and attempted to correct herself. "No, it's not that you're not important, it's just that I don't want anypony in danger. Including you." Dash mentally slapped herself. No, no, no, that was wrong. Correct yourself before it's too late.
Pinkie nodded sadly, and sat down. Her previous energy seemed to have sunk away. "So I'm just a friend? Like Twilight or Applejack?" She asked.
No, yes, no, yes, no, "Yes." no, yes, no. Dash slapped her hooves over her mouth when she realized she actually said one of those yes'. That wasn't right, was it? Dash had no idea, this was all so confusing. She silently wished for something, anything, to break this awkward moment.
Pinkie suddenly exploded into the air, confetti shooting out from where she was sitting. Her hair shot into the ceiling, and various party supplies fell out as it did. "Okey Dokey Lokey, Dashie." Pinkie shouted.
Dash stood there petrified, unable to force her muscles to work. She needed to correct this, to set things right. If she could just get her mouth open.
"Where are you two? Come here, I'm about to do something clever and I want ponies to see it." The Doctor shouted, poking his head out the door. His voice shattered Dash's chain of thought, and left her head floating in a pool of confusion. She slowly gathered her thoughts back together, and pieced together the words she wanted.
"Wait, Pinkie, I was wrong, Pinkie. I was..." Dash spun around, her muscles finally letting her move again, only to see that Pinkie was gone. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the pink pony's tail disappear behind the door frame.
Dash sighed, and jumped into the air. Maybe it wasn't to late to change this.

Rainbow sprinted into the room and slid across the floor. Pinkie was nowhere to be seen, and the Doctor was sitting inside the machine that he had built. His head was bent out of view, and Dash ignored him while she searched for Pinkie. She needed to do this. She walked around the metal shell of the device, and caught Pinkie peering her head into the inner workings of the Doctor's device. Dash snuck up next to her friend, and moved her face next to the pony's. "Pinkie, listen. I was wro..." Dash started, before Pinkie pulled her head away. Rainbow looked up at her for a moment, before a loose panel from the device crashed into her head. There was brief second of darkness, until the pegasus managed to pull her skull out of the machine. She glanced around again, interrupted when the Doctor called out again. "Pinkie, what do things look like from your side?" He shouted.
Pinkie appeared next to him, sitting comfortably in the free seat. "The pipey things are piping, the spinny things are spinning, that one weird lollypop thing is rotating and still doesn't taste good and the home fusion energy reactor is full of reaction. I think." Pinkie replied, ignoring the Doctors surprised gasp.
After a moment of confused pointing, the Doctor shrugged and looked forward. "Only one more thing left to do then." He commented.
"What's that?" Pinkie questioned.
With a grin, the Doctor threw one of his hooves onto the wheel in front of him, moving his other one into a small keyhole in the dashboard of the machine. "ALLONS-Y!" The brown pony shouted, twisting the key sharply to the right. The car made a loud sputtering, shot some smoke into the surprised pegasus' face and returned to silence. Dash coughed the smoke out of her lungs, and looked back over the front of the device. "Was that it?" She asked.
Inside the machine, the Doctor was beginning to panic. "No no no no, don't do that. Work!" He shouted, twisting the key a couple more times. Each time, the machine would splutter, and remain still. With an disappointed, the two ponies exited the vehicle. The Doctor shoved past Dash impatiently, and threw the loose panel into the air. He peered into the mish mass of different machine parts, muttering to himself while he did. "Maybe if I ran an unfocused takion pulse through the overfield matrix...no, that wouldn't work. Think Doctor, think."
Dash walked over to him, slightly annoyed that she had been pushed, but more curious about what was going on. Even Pinkie apparently knew more than her. "Alright, I've had enough, what are you doing here? Where did you get a time machine, did you build it?" Dash asked, pressuring her partner for an answer.
"What I'm trying to do is here is prevent a total three dimensional collapse of time and space. But it's not working, I can't get a solid signal through to the time vortex, it needs a catalyst. Something to push it through the vortex, but I can only achieve that through something already tuned to the time vortex. And I would hardly call this a time machine, it's a bicycle at best. A space bicycle, that also sends it's driver back in time." The Doctor replied, annoyed.
"Geez, you talk more than Twilight. All I understood was time + bicycle = awesome." Dash replied.
For the first time in a over 500 hundreds years, the Doctor had to resist raising his hoof into his face, and cradling his head gently. For some reason, this mare had managed to completely and totally miss the entire point about what he had said. Even further than that, she had barely even listened to his explanation. Sighing sadly, he looked over the pony. "It's probably safe to go now. I suggest you leave before things get dangerous, they have a habit of doing that whenever I'm around." The Doctor added.
Dash nodded. She didn't want to spend any more time in this park than was necessary and she was fairly certain she could live without understanding this egghead techno stuff. She turned around, and waved a hoof to Pinkie. "Come on, lets get out of this dump." She said, hoping Pinkie heard her. She wanted to explain some things to her.
Before she could exit the room though, she heard the brown pony shout out to her. "Hang on, what's that on your back?"

Now that the Doctor pointed it out, Dash was suddenly aware of the FlimFlam brothers device on her back. It had gotten colder since she was last aware of it, and the weight seemed unchanged. She shrugged, causing the machine to rattle. "Something I found out in the park. It apparently helps me fly faster." Dash replied.
The Timelord waved his front hooves randomly, "But how? It's powered by a burned out three point flux capacitor. Where did you find this?" He asked, a hint of panic peppering his words.
Dash felt something build in her stomach. "Why, what's wrong with it? Is it dangerous?" She asked, trying her best to hide any fear she had.
The Doctor shook his head, "No, it's just that, I'm the only pony in all of Equestria who knows how to build one. If someone else could it would revolutionize pony life as we know it. Bring the entire pony race out of this era. Since I don't remember making one, that means the entire universe is in terrible danger. More than it already is." The Doctor replied, suddenly turning serious.
Dash swallowed nervously. "It was given to me by Flim and Flam. They...they said that they didn't know how it worked."
The Doctor rubbed his hair in worry. "So it can't be replicated, that's good, but it's very existence still threatens the universe. If this flux capacitor gets out into the world, it'll change the future permanently. I can't let you leave until you give me the thing Rainbow." The Doctor announced.
"Fine then, take it, it doesn't work anyway." Dash replied, trying to slip her wings out of the device. She quickly realised that it was futile, as the metal skeleton of the machine was weaved between the feathers of her wings. "Lil help?" She added.
The Doctor nodded, and walked over to the impatient pegasus. Rainbow rolled her eyes, and sat down comfortably so that her companion could get an easier grip. She felt the Doctor grab the box that the flux capacitor was in, and pull backwards powerfully.
Dash grit her teeth together, and forced herself to remain stuck on the ground. Slowly, the box began to loosen from it's holding. Pulling harder, the Doctor leaned back, putting any muscle he had into removing the box. Eventually, there was a slight pop, and the capacitor flew out. The brown pony found himself stumbling backwards, but managed to regain his balance by grasping the machine behind him.
The pegasus the device was attached to wasn't so lucky. When the box dislodged, the force sent her flying face first into the ground. The world went black for a moment as she blinked a second before impact, then everything was pain. The sudden bang vibrated through her neck, and into her stomach. It ached as she pulled her head back into the air. She saw a pink blur move up next to her, and a wet rag pushed against her nose gently.
Above her, she could hear the Doctor mumbling to himself again. "I just don't understand where they got it in the first place." He whispered, lifting the extinguished light to his eye.
Dash spoke out, her voice slightly muffled by the cloth at her nose. "They said they found it in your time bicycle." Dash answered.
The Doctor appeared to have ignored Dash's answer, until he suddenly spoke again. "But that's impossible, my machine doesn't even work." The Doctor replied, still staring at the small box. "Unless..." He added suddenly.
"Unless what, Docty Wocty?" Pinkie asked, determined to be involved in the conversation.

"Unless...Ohh ohh, you brilliant mare. That's absolutely brilliant! If I can put this in my time machine, I can send it back in time to be put into my time machine. A stabilized time loop. Oh, that is clever." The Doctor shouted, smiling as he did. He was practically bubbling as he carried the device to the opening in his contraption.
Dash took the time to clear her head, and stood back up. She'd have plenty of time to explain to Pinkie how she felt. Right now, she wanted to know what had made this strange pony so happy.
"Hey Doc, what exactly are you doing in there?" She asked, talking into the machine from the side.
The brown pony stopped what he was doing, and looked over to Dash. He was still smiling. "This power source is a great danger to everypony at the moment. It won't be properly invented for another two hundred years. So I need to contain it until then. Since the device was found in this very time machine, I can use that to trap it in this section of time. You find it in the past, bring it here, I send it to the past ad infinium. A stable time loop. No pony can take it out of that without proper time manipulation abilities. As long as everything is the same as when you found it, we can avoid a paradox. Therefore, it's contained, the universe is safe and we all go out for muffins. Simple." The Doctor replied, being sure to slow down whenever his conversational partner seemed to lose focus.
"So, when do we add the paint?" Dash asked, seeming to understand what the Doctor was talking about.
Stopping his work a second time, the Doctor stared at Dash. "The what?"
Dash rolled her eyes. "When I found the bicycle, it was painted to look awesome. So I assume we need to paint it so we can avoid a pair of docks. Don't worry about explaining what those are, I can see how two docks would be a problem in such a small area." Rainbow explained.
The Doctor let his mouth hang open for a moment, before turning back to his work. He had already managed to get one of the lights on the device working, and a few more minutes of tinkering should fix the others. He waved his hoof absent-mindedly in Dash's direction. "It's paradox, not pair of docks, also it's not a bicycle, it's a car, probably made in 1985. My time, not yours. Anyway, we should stick to the original timeline as closely as possible. The paints somewhere in the other room, find it and it's yours." He responded, too busy to pay any more attention to the cyan pegasus.
"Alright, cool." Dash added, grinning. She was going to make this the coolest looking time machine in the history of cool looking time machines. She pondered briefly on how many time machines there would actually be in that competition, before deciding it didn't really matter. She had work to do.

The Doctor laughed, and stepped away from the machine. Inside the cockpit, a small glow shined from behind the seats; the only sign of the device installed there. Closing the door carefully, the Timelord looked up. He stared at the new paint job that his two assistants had been working on, before turning to stop them from continuing. "Well, while I was expecting something a little less flashy, I trust you know what you're doing." He said. Walking over to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie, he gave a slight nod. "Now before I go, there is something important I need to ask. Am I missing anything on this machine?" He asked, leaning in close.
Dash looked over the device. Everything looked the same way it did when she found it, except for it's driver. Dash distinctly remembered Pinkie was the one who went back in time. Dash shook her head in answer to the Doctors question. She didn't have time for this; If Pinkie went back in time, the pegasus would have to go through all the trouble of tracking her down again. She wasn't going to do that, not after all she went through to finally keep her safe.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure, Rainbow? Because if you're not, and something is different, everything I've done here is for nothing. Plus there's the slight chance you could destroy three fourths of the universe." He questioned.
Rainbow hesitated for a moment. There was no way the Doctor was telling the truth, how would you even measure that? A long stare at his face though, revealed he was as serious as he could be. The pegasus really wanted to leave as soon as possible, but something told her she needed to do this. Dash let out a small whine, similar to a foals, and whispered out, "It may have actually been Pinkie driving."
The Doctor pricked his ear up, and moved closer. "Excuse me? What was that?" He asked.
"The driver may have been Pinkie." Dash reiterated, still refusing to raise her voice. Maybe if she was very quiet, then her problems would just disappear. She felt kind of like Fluttershy in this state of mind.
It failed to work though, and the brown stallion moved closer still. "Who was the driver, Rainbow?" He asked again.
Dash spoke up again, slightly louder. "I think Pinkie is suppose to drive."
The Doctor chuckled slightly, until he realised the implications behind this. "Hang on, Pinkie? This Pinkie?" He questioned, glancing around the lab looking for the pink pony.
Dash nodded nervously, and the Doctor ran a hoof through his mane. After a moment of silence, he spoke again, "Is it more dangerous to risk destroying the universe than it is to give Pinkie a time machine? Why do I even need to consider this?" He asked, debating mostly to himself. The pony stood silently for longer than Dash expected, mulling this question over. Eventually, he dropped his hoof to the ground, and spun around, heading towards the door. "This can't possibly end well." He said.

Pinkie sat on the soft cushion of the chair, her hooves resting on the wheel. The Doctor sat nearby, his head poking in the window, instructing Pinkie on what button would and would not cause the extinction of every unicorn in a six hundred mile. Rainbow Dash sat nearby, absent mindedly chewing on her hooves in anticipation. She really didn't want to go through with this. Eventually, the brown pony pulled his head back, and traded glances with Rainbow. He nodded, and turned to Pinkie. "Do you understand all that Pinkie? I need to know you understand." The Doctor finished.
Pinkie nodded, but raised a hoof to her chin, "I have a question."
The Doctor sighed. "What is it?"
"Which one of these buttons breaks the fourth wall again, or am I suppose to bring my own?" Pinkie asked, smiling happily.
Rubbing his temple, the Doctor moved away, "Enough jokes, are you ready Pinkie?" He questioned.
Pinkie locked her eyes forward, and put on a serious face. "I was born ready." She said.
The Doctor nodded at Rainbow again, and she pushed a button on the wall. Immediately, the wall in front of the time machine opened up, showing a long dark tunnel. No pony gathered could see the end, and the Doctor silently hoped it would be long enough. He hadn't really gotten around to measuring it yet. "Allons-y, Pinkie!" He shouted.
There was a moment of silence, followed by Pinkie poking her head out, "I just want to correct myself. I was actually born to party, though I didn't realise that when I was born. Funny how things work out. Anyway, I was made to party, not to test drive time machines. Just clearing up." She said, removing her head from the window.
Rainbow flew over to her, and pointed forward. "Just go already! We'll meet at the roller coaster, ok?" She shouted. "And be careful. I want to talk to you about some things when you get back." Rainbow added, turning away from Pinkie. Now wasn't the time to talk about her emotions.
Pinkie grinned, and pushed her foot against the pedal. The wheels of the machine spun quickly, struggling to gain traction. Smoke shot into the air as the rubber of the wheels burned, and a loud squealing exploded from the ground. Quickly, the device shot forward, sending dust flying into the air behind it. It flew down the tunnel, gradually picking up speed as it moved. Quickly, a light blue cone formed around it's front, sending sparks shooting down the tunnel. Pinkie let out a cheerful shout as the entire underground was flooded in a sudden flash of light. Two rows of fire continued to run down the tunnel, but the machine that the pink pony was driving had completely disappeared.
The pony next to Dash cheered, and ran into the moist tunnel. "Hahaha, It worked!" He shouted into the empty air. Rainbow looked over confused, until the brown pony eventually calmed down and walked over to her.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go pick her up." He said enthusiastically.
Dash pointed at the now empty tunnel, "Are you crazy? You just reduced my friend to a pile of ashes!" Dash shouted, not grasping the implications of that at the moment.
"Ashes? I just sent Pinkie back in time! A feat that many would consider impossible under the best conditions. And I did it in a cave, under a theme park. Oh I am brilliant." The pony explained, complimenting himself under his breath.
Dash continued to point at the tunnel. "So where's Pinkie then?" Dash asked, struggling to grasp the concept of time travel.
The Doctor adjusted his bowtie, and walked back into the workshop. "Where did you ask her to be?"
Dash rubbed her head in frustration. The last minute had been a blur, she struggled to recall what she had said, and a name jumped out at her from her memories. "The roller coaster."
Walking past Rainbow, the Doctor pushed the door to the other room open, "Well then, no use sitting here gathering dust, lets go pick her up." He urged, holding the door open for Rainbow Dash.
Dash shrugged, and flew towards the door. Before she entered it though, the brown stallion holding it swung it closed. Dash struggled to stop in time, but crashed into the wood roughly instead. The Doctor winced as Rainbow slid down the door, and offered a hasty apology. "Uhh, sorry about that, but I was just thinking; we should get that useless thing off your back before we go. It'll help us run faster."
Looking up at the two Doctors, Rainbow rubbed the bump forming on her head. "How long will it take? I really want to get to Pinkie." She questioned. "Why would I need to run at all?"
The Doctor looked over her wings for a moment, and poked at one of the bars woven between her wings. He gently lifted a few feathers, and noted how each individual wire connected to each spot. Stretching Dash's wings to their limits, the Doctor studied how the machine worked. Eventually, he snapped Dash's wings shut, and offered his advice. "Usually I could get this off quickly, but I misplaced my...err...sonic screwdriver recently, so we'll have to make do without it. I estimate five minutes, tops."
Dash finally managed to decide which Doctor was the real one, "Just get this thing off me. Pinkie's waiting."
Twenty minutes later, a loud clatter ran through the tunnels, followed by a high pitched cheer. The rainbow mare, finally free from the cumbersome device, shot into the air to test whether her wings were working. Without the weight of the machine, she felt lighter, more precise. The wind blew through her feathers, finally allowed to move after so many hours of being trapped beneath metal. Rainbow felt free, unobstructed the clunky machine. Landing back on her feet, she turned to the pony who had helped her remove the device. "Thanks, Doc. This feels so much better." She said.
The Doctor placed a screwdriver he was holding in his mouth on the floor, "Just what I do. I am going to have to ask you to stop flying for a while though. If I missed a spare bolt or, Luna forbid, a screw, it could seriously damage your wings." He warned, stepping behind Rainbow Dash.
Dash turned, and tried to put her wings to rest. It was too hard, they just wanted to stay free. "What? No no no, I need to fly now! I need to get to Pinkie."
The Doctor sighed, and pointed at the door. "Then lets go already. You'll just have to make do with walking." He said.
"But..but.." Dash stuttered.
The Doctor pushed against her, moving her closer to the door. "It's not permanent, you just need to walk until I'm sure it's safe to fly again." He assured her.
Dash swallowed, and moved forward of her own accord. She didn't like it and right now she would give anything to fly into the sky, but something about the Doctors gaze told her he was telling the truth. She would just need to walk for now. She stretched her wings, what point were they if she couldn't even use them?

"You know what I love most about this era? The inventions. All you ponies rushing off into different sections of science, leaving your own special touch. Dams, chariots, turntables, all made because you ponies needed something, and had the talent to make it a reality. The right spell here, the right machine there, and you have the founding for a whole new city. It's brilliant; and you did it all without thumbs. Or fingers. It completely boggles my mind; And don't get me started on the practical inventions." The Doctor monologued, not really caring that Rainbow stopped listening a long time ago.
The two made their way through the streets, occasionally capturing the attention of the other ponies who heard sections of the Doctors rambling. Stalls of every shape and colour lined their sides, peddling their overpriced wares to whoever they could find. The Doctor stopped at one of the stalls suddenly, and Rainbow didn't notice he was gone until he stopped talking. She slowed down and made a U turn, stopping directly next to the Doctor.
"This is what I'm talking about, muffins. Not the food item, made of flour and milk and all those other things, but the idea behind them. Did you know no other race has developed more than one type of muffin? It's only you ponies that have banana flavoured and whole grain and english muffins. All because one pony sat down and decided to add bananas to her mix. A whole new invention. An age of industry. It's absolutely astounding." He continued.
Dash nodded her head slowly, "That's uhh, really interesting, but I would like to get to the roller coaster." Rainbow mumbled out while attempting to get the Doctor to start moving again.
"Now now, all in due time, I need to do something first." Was his response. "One blueberry muffin, please." He asked the shop owner. There was a quick movement of hooves from behind the wooden bench, and the pony lifted a single muffin out from its hiding place.
"Three bits." He said gruffly. The Doctor grinned, and pulled a small piece of paper out from behind his bowtie. He held it up in front of him, letting the store owner get a good look of it. After a short moment he nodded slightly, as if confirming some sort of unsaid agreement, and turned away from the Doctor.
The brown pony sighed, and glanced at the paper in his hooves. "Ha, I'm a muffin inspector now. Derpy would love this job." He commented, before turning back to Dash.
Dash just shot him a look, one that was half confusion and half impatience. The Doctor grinned, remembering that Rainbow had no idea what the paper was, and held it up for her. "Psychic paper. Shows you whatever I want you to see." He explained.
"But it's blank." Dash commented.
"I don't want you to see anything." The Timelord replied cryptically. "But, lets not waste time, your friend is waiting." He shouted, attracting more attention from the other visitors. Moving into the middle of the street, the Doctor raised the muffin into the air. It's warm exterior sent a delicious scent into the wind. He held it there for a moment, before shouting. "Derpy! Derpy! Come on, we have adventures to do! Derpy!" Nothing changed. He called out again, hoping that the first time was just a tiny fluke. After another moment of confused silence, the Doctor lowered his hoof and took a large bite out of the muffin. "This is bad. Very bad." He said to Rainbow, before walking past her and continuing down the street.
"Why? What's going on?" Dash asked. She was beginning to grow frustrated with the Doctor. She just wanted a straight answer. Luckily, the Doctor seemed happy to explain.
"I sent Derpy into the park a while back to find out what was causing....certain problems. I've also seen Derpy fly through a solid steel door for a muffin. Since she didn't come when I offered her one, that means something happened. Something bad. I need to find her." He replied.
Dash shrugged, and offered her views. "It's Derpy, I've seen her get lost in a straight hallway. She's probably just distracted by some flashing lights or something. There's plenty of those around here."
Shaking his head, the Doctor replied, "Miss Hooves is not stupid, if she was sent here to do what I asked, she wouldn't let herself get distracted. We need to find her quickly." He sped up, breaking into a fast trot.
Rainbow ran to catch up to him. "And what about my friend? We still need to get to Pinkie before the mascots do." Dash begged, hoping that the brown pony would listen to her.
Instead, the Doctor dug his hooves into the ground, stopping himself hastily. Dash did the same, and stood next to him. He pointed at Dash, and stared at her deeply. "Wait, what did you say?"
"We need to get to Pinkie." Dash answered.
"No no no, after that, about the mascots."
Dash glanced behind her at the mention of the robots. "The mascots here are dangerous. One of them even managed to stab me, and another could fly faster then me. Plus I can't do anything about it, because they're robots! It's so frustrating." She explained.
Dash shook his head, "Are you absolutely sure they were mascots?" He questioned.
Nodding her head, Dash stared forward; what was the problem? The Doctor also glanced around nervously, before motioning for Rainbow to move closer.
"Rainbow, I don't know how to tell you this, but you're in incredible danger." He said.
"Tell me something I don't already know."
"No, see, this amusement park," He added, "doesn't have mascots."

Dash sat there for a moment, having trouble processing this information. Eventually, she snapped her jaw closed, and started to laugh. "Bah ha ha ha. You nearly had me there. For a minute I almost believed you. I didn't think you were the kind to do practical jokes." She chuckled out nervously. She really wasn't expecting the Doctor to pull something like this.
The brown pony however, was dead serious. "I'm not joking, Rainbow. If these things are here, then something is very wrong. Much more wrong than I thought." He replied, trying to get Dash to realise the seriousness of the issue.
The pegasus stopped laughing as it finally sunk in. "No, I saw them with my own eyes. This park does have mascots. Robot mascots, shaped like my friends." She explained, grasping at straws.
The Doctor shook his head from side to side. "That's...but that's impossible. When Derpy and I arrived her, I ran a scan seeking out any advanced technology. There were no results. By all evidence, there are no mascots." He said.
"Umm, Doctor..." Dash interjected, before she was cut off.
"Which is what makes this interesting. What race could benefit from this? It's not Sontarans. Certainly not the Daleks. So what's the point? What am I missing?" He shouted in frustration.
"Doc, I really think you should turn around..." Dash repeated.
"It's staring me in the face, and I can't see it." He added.
"Freeze, criminal scum!" A voice crackled out from behind the brown pony.
The Doctor raised his hoof, and pointed behind himself. "There's one of them behind me, isn't there?" He asked.
Nodding softly, Rainbow kept her eyes locked on the new mascot. This one was a blinding white, with a flawless purple mane, polished to perfection. It's very presence seemed to bright up the street, her coat reflecting the sun harshly. A huge horn stuck out of her forehead, though it had no effect on the style of her mane. Unlike Twilights horn, this one was more intricate. A triple spiral of purple, white and gold. They intertwined between each other like the threads of a dress, creating the illusion of a single horn. Like everything else on this mascot, the horn was beautifully polished, blending in with the mane when it reflected the sun. The Doctor took one glance at it, and moved over so he was next to Rainbow Dash.
"Well, this is an interesting little thing isn't it?" He joked, motioning towards the mascot.
There was a second of silence, and then Rarity's mascot spoke again. "I simply cannot let you run around dressed like that. It would be a crime against my art as a seamstress. Come, Rainbow, I have much better clothes in the questioning room." She said, with a slightly refined accent that was completely lost when run through a cheap microphone.
"I would prefer not to. I need to find Pinkie first." Rainbow replied, nervous.
The stallion next to her nodded, "Yes, well, that can wait. I want to know who you are." He added.
Rarity's mascot let out a shock of static that could be confused for laughter. "My dear, I am the one and only Rarity. Holder of the Element of Generosity. I work as a seamstress in Ponyville, where I design dresses for the ponies in Canterlot. Now come, I'm sure the others will find Pinkie for you." It replied.
The Doctor shook his head again. "Now we both now that's not true. So who are you, who built you?" He responded.
There was another moment of silence, one that dragged on for slightly too long. Dash glanced around nervously, when the robot spoke again. "I...don't understand. I'm Rarity, I wasn't built. I was born, like any other pony!" It shouted.
The Doctor rubbed his head thoughtfully. "This would be so much easier if I had my sonic. Why are you doing this? What are you trying to cover up? Who. Built. You?"
Rainbow Dash motioned to the road behind her, "Doc, I think maybe we should leave before the robot get's all...stabby."
"I wasn't built! I was hired by the boss to be a mascot here, I accepted her offer, that's it."
Shaking his head yet again, the Doctor sighed. "There's your mistake. I know the real Rarity, she's a good friend of mine. I know her well enough to know she would never wear something as tacky as that metal clump you call a suit. So who is this boss who presumably hired you? Who is the pony who thinks he can take my friend, and throw her in a metal machine for the same effect? I would like to have a word with this pony." The brown pony said, his words bristling with a kind of hidden menace.
"I...I can't tell you. It would be unladylike." It responded. "I...I need you to bring you both into questioning now." The robot lowered her head, and the delicate horn pointed at the closest target dangerously.
"Uhh, Doc, do mind if I..." Dash asked, staring at the robot stupidly. It really was a very beautiful robot. It's perfect shine, it's perfect mane. It might have been the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She wasn't sure how to react at this moment. Before she could finish her sentence though, the Doctor filled in the blanks with his own thoughts.
"Run? Not at all." He continued, still standing perfectly still.
The robot stepped closer, still not moving it's head, until it broke into a gallop. The duo stood still, stuck to the floor, until the Doctor regained his senses, and shouted at the top of his voice. "Run!"
The spell broke instantly as the Doctor yelled, and Dash jumped into the air. She sprung her wings open, and prepared to fly, until she remembered the Doctors words. No flying. Her wings snapped shut of their own accord, and she fell to the ground. Using the force of the momentum to propel herself forward, she sprinted as soon as her hooves hit the ground. She glanced behind her to try and catch her pursuer. To her surprise, the first thing she saw was the Doctor racing up behind her. For somepony who sounded older than Rainbow, she had to admit he was an extremely fast runner. Directly behind him, she could see the mascot chasing after them furiously.
She slowed down enough to let the Doctor catch up to her, and the brown pony started flying off his mouth off as soon as he got the chance. "Listen Rainbow, I am sorry. I am so so sorry I dragged you into this. At the very least, I can set things right. You need to get to the roller coaster. Find Pinkie and get out of here. I'll distract the robot."
Dash sighed in exasperation, "That's what I've been trying to do!" She shouted. "Hang on, what?"
The Doctor pulled away from Rainbow, and shouted out to the mascot behind them. "Hey..uh..Rarity. Your dress is..uhh..unfashionable!"
"I'm not wearing a dress at the moment." She cracked back.
"Well, maybe you should. To cover your...uh...ugly hide." He retaliated.
"My coat is shining, flawless and you know it." She replied.
The Doctor sighed, annoyed, and redoubled his efforts. "I think Photo Finish was right!" He shouted.
Rarity ran faster, but it was hard to tell whether it was because of the Doctors insults or not. "Photo Finish couldn't tell a dress from a garbage bag in the street."
Grimacing, the Doctor realised he had no choice. If he wanted the mascots attention, he would have to use THAT insult. The insult so bad, so gut wrenchingly wrong and terrible that it's mere thought was enough to cause Rarity to move faster, almost as if she could already hear it. Swallowing nervously, the Doctor yelled into the sky. "Forgive me Rarity, but I have no choice. I think that Prince Blueblood was right, you are an ugly mule." He called back.
Almost instantaneously, a change went over the robot mare. Her eyes shot out a blinding red light, that resembled the fire of a thousand broken promises. Her horn split open at the tip, becoming a three pronged trident. Magic bolts of lightning fired off the trident dangerously, and would occasionally fly forward, sparking anypony unlucky enough to be standing in front of the mare. The mascots coat turned a bright red, as if it was heated to a fiery temperature by the rage contained within the pony. The robot put all it's effort into sprinting forward, effectively tripling it's speed; a deafening scream charging from it's mouth as it ran. "You shall not mention that rainbow waste in my presence. He was hardly worthy to look at me!
The Doctor's smile dropped to a panicked look before stretching back to a childish grin, and he turned suddenly, bursting through a crowd of ponies covering their ears. "Remember Rainbow!" He shouted. "Get out of here!"
The rainbow pegasus slowed down as the robot stopped pursuing her. She caught a glance of it's tail disappearing into the crowd, it's sole existence now based on catching the Doctor. Rainbow slowed to a trot, before remembering that Pinkie was still missing, and breaking into a gallop again.

"No no no no no, not now. I don't have time for this." Dash repeated to herself, glancing behind her back, worried. She'd been standing outside the entrance to the ride for several minutes, waiting for Pinkie to magically pop out of the background like she usually did. She still hadn't appeared, and the sound of ponies screaming in joy was starting to get on her nerves. She glanced inside the small building that contained the entrance to the ride, and noted how large the line was growing. A noise appeared next to her, and she jumped in fear. She blushed though, when she realised it was only a small filly, holding a balloon. This whole experience was making her paranoid. She considered going inside, to hide from any mascots that might be able to fly, before deciding against it. She needed to stay here for when Pinkie finally arrived.
A familiar scream pierced the air, and Dash turned quickly. She begged silently to Celestia that she was just hearing things. She didn't want Pinkie to be hurt. She scanned around, trying to pick out where Pinkie was screaming from. Instead, her fears sank into the ground as she realised exactly where Pinkie was. On the roller coaster.
A small carriage zipped across the steel lines, carrying it's single passenger. Pinkie Pie yelled in joy as the wind kicked through her mane, and the ride swung the cart around at impossibly fast speeds. Dash sighed angrily, and made her way inside the building. The ride would have to return to the beginning eventually and she would be ready to catch Pinkie when it did.
"Excuse me, ticket?"
Dash turned towards the mechanical voice scared she'd been found. A small box sat off to the side, with the amusement park logo stamped across the front. The strange device had a speaker poking out the top, and a two small indentions installed in the front, just above the logo. One of the indentions was clearly meant for bits, while the other was shaped in a flat funnel. Dash guessed it was used to dispense tickets.
Walking over to it, Dash gave it a couple of pokes. It rocked side to side, but didn't actually do much. Shrugging, she flew past it. She didn't need a ticket anyway, she just needed to get Pinkie. Flapping her wings impatiently, she flew above the line of ponies and made her swift way towards the roller coaster tracks. Or did, until the machine behind her started blasting out a loud siren. The rainbow pegasus froze in mid air, not quite sure what to do, until her brain caught up to her wings and she spun around. Practically tackling the box, Dash pushed one of her hooves to her lips, not sure what she was doing.
"Shoosh shoosh shoosh, please be quiet, don't make noise, please don't make noise." She begged, before realising she was talking to a machine.
She felt the crowds curious eyes burrow into her back, and leapt off the machine. A loud crunching sound told her the cart had returned to the station, and she wasted no time fighting her way through the top of the crowd. Pushed forward by the angry shouting behind her, Rainbow Dash landed on the platform and glared angrily at the pink pony. Pinkie Pie, however, seemed oblivious to this.

"Hey Dashie, you need to try this! This ride goes up and down and down and up and occasionally to the right. Or was it the left? Anyway, sit down and lets go already." Pinkie chuckled at Rainbow.
Dash couldn't shake her head faster. While she was happy to see that her friend was still alive and well, every moment they spent in this park could result in that changing rapidly. "Pinkie! Now isn't the time. We need to get out of here! I think I may of set off some kind of alarm." She replied hurriedly, anxious to get Pinkie out of the park.
Instead, Pinkie choose to glance behind the pegasus, and looked at the ticket machine. "I think it may be a little late for that. We've got party-goers at six o clock." She said, her smile twisting into a devious grin.
Dash spun around, just in time to duck under a fast moving red projectile. The apple exploded against the cart behind her, and the rainbow pegasus faced Pinkie with a new determination. "Pinkie, out. Now. We are leaving while we still have wings to fly with." She announced.
Pinkie shrugged, throwing her hooves into the air while she did so, "But I don't have wings. All I have is balloons; or a party helicopter; or occasionally a hot air balloon but only on Wednesdays and when there's an important event."
Ducking underneath another attack, Dash grabbed the pink pony. "Pinkie, this isn't a game, could you please be serious for one minute?" She squeaked out, shaking Pinkie to try and hammer her point in.
This momentary movement however, caused her to pull her attention away from the mascot behind her. She heard a high pitched whistling next to her ear, which immediately exploded into an ear shattering crack. Something punched her in the back of the head, and she flew forwards from the force, smashing her head into the roller coaster. The machine left an ugly red bruise stretched across her forehead. Wet apple juice sunk into her mane as a dull ache spread through her head. Everything had become eerily silent, like someone had turned off the sound. She could look up and see Pinkie shouting into her ear; a huge smile irremovable in it's place. The angry crowd behind her was a slow drone, like the beatings of one of Fluttershy's hummingbirds. Something grabbed her head, but she could hardly feel it. It didn't feel like cold steel though, so Dash assumed it must have been her friend.
Pinkie pulled her hooves to her chest hastily, pulling Dash along with her. The sudden movement snapped the pegasus out of her trance, and her senses were immediately bombarded by the environment.
She took a second to glance behind her, towards the exit, and panicked when she saw two mascots standing there. Applejack and Fluttershy. The orange mascot was pointing her cannon at Dash and Pinkie threateningly, while the second was quietly whispering into the others oversized ear. Not knowing what they were talking about, Dash was surprised when Applejack's mascot lowered her hoof. The two started to argue, if their hasty movements were any indication. Seizing any opening she got, she spun around quickly to focus on the pink pony.
"This is our chance! Come on, we'll sneak out while they're distracted." She urged, attempting to pull Pinkie out of the ride. To her frustration and displeasure, Pinkie was firmly locked into the ride, with a thick harness wrapped across her back and tied into two supports at the sides of the seat.
Surprisingly, Pinkie shook her head, and fought against her friend. "Dashie, it won't work. You need to ride the roller coaster." She replied.
"What are you talking about? We need to go now, before it's too late! Come on!" Dash practically shouted back. She was scared, and stressed. So much had happened, she just wanted to go home. No more adventures for today, just rest. She pulled harder, hoping to break the harness through sheer strength.
"Dashie, trust me. You need to ride the roller coaster." Pinkie repeated.
In a split second, Dash glanced behind her suspiciously, and spun back to Pinkie. From what she could see, their pursuers were beginning to calm down, and the crowd of disgruntled ponies were becoming anxious. "If we ride the coaster, they'll catch us when it comes back here. Now please Pinkie, just come on!" She said, being reduced to begging.
There was a slight change in the air, nearly invisible. Something big had changed, and it was reflected in the very tension of the moment. Pinkie dropped her smile, sat up straighter, licked her lips and began talking, dropping some pretence of her playful personality. "Dashie, do you remember when Ponyville was attacked by parasprites? I asked you to trust me, and everything was fine. Do you remember that old meanie pants Gilda? I told you to believe me, and everything was fine again. Dashie, I want you to Pinkie promise that you will trust me, and hop in. Everything will be fine. Better than fine even. Super fine. Maybe even Super Duper fine but only if you get in now." She monologued, returning to her old self by the end.
Sitting still for a moment, trying to process this change, Dash rubbed her head. A hollow thunk rang out from behind her, and she ducked to avoid another apple to the head. Gritting her teeth, she leapt into the empty seat next to Pinkie, and waited patiently while the harness connected to her body automatically. The two robots hurried to make it to the platform in time, but with a creaking groan, the ride moved forward, pushing the two mares away from their captors.

The ride creaked underneath them; the wheels running on worn out rails. The blue paint of the track had predictably been sheared clean off by the movement of the carts, and as a result a long brown line was visible, running a clear path along the empty rails. Dash cautiously glanced behind herself at the robots. Since they seemed unable to chase them, she decided to take in the roller coaster itself. The cart was a bright silver, and built into the design of a giant needle. The seats, which were currently filled with the pegasus and her friend, were situated in eye of the needle. The cart, and indeed the entire ride, had a new and fresh gleam to it, like it had only been built yesterday. Maybe it had. Shrugging, Dash put the thought away for a minute and stared at her pink friend.
She really hoped that she had a plan beyond 'ride the roller coaster'. Dash wasn't usually the kind to abandon one of her own ideas, and she hoped Pinkie realised how much trust she had in her at the moment. While it was true that Pinkie had a history of getting herself out of these situations, she had the same amount of history of making the situation worse. Wishing that this moment would be one of the former, Rainbow relaxed herself in her seat, and looked forward. The ride was just beginning it's accent to the apex, and Dash couldn't deny she was looking forward to the descent. She just loved going fast.
Glancing over at her friend though, she was given a second to react. Her arm moved like a blur, grabbing the side of Pinkie's head tightly. Her friend got one good glance at the panicked pegasus, before her head was slammed into the ride in front of her. A noisy clang echoed into Dash's ears as Pinkie quickly pulled her head back up. Rubbing it softly, she looked at her friend.
"What was that for? It's not nice to do things like that. Remember Gilda?" Pinkie asked.
Dash simply gritted her teeth, and slammed Pinkie's head down again.
"Dashie, why are...?" Pinkie choked out.
Pointing past the pink pony, Dash shouted, "Just look."
Pinkie turned, and was immediately faced with a large yellow construction staring back at her, dropping the hoof it was preparing to jab into the side of Pinkie's face. The two stared at each other for a moment, while the ride slowly rose higher into the sky. Pinkie absent-mindedly poked it with her hoof, letting her arm rest on the metal hull of the robot. After another long moment, Pinkie turned back to Rainbow. "Hey, did you know these ponies could fly? That's so cool!"
Dash resisted the urge to remove her hooves from Pinkie and place them on her own face long enough to push down again, causing Pinkie to smack into the ride. A fiery yellow hoof just barely missed the pony, instead singing a perfect hole into her mane. Pinkie straightened herself and tried to shake the stars out of her head. "I think you don't need to do that anymore. I'll dodge the mascot from here on out." She fumbled out. Placing a hoof in her mouth, she blew into it, and her mane repaired the damage that the evil robot had done.
"I don't want to fight you. I just want to talk." The mascot sighed out sweetly.
Dash chuckled sarcastically at the irony. "Then stop swinging at us!"
The mare shook her head sadly. "Oh, but I couldn't do that. Not after what the boss said you would do."
"I'm so sick of this boss! Why doesn't he come out and get us himself, huh?" Dash yelled back angrily, finally sick of everything. She didn't even care anymore, she just wanted to fight something that wouldn't beat her.
"I...I can't tell you, she wouldn't like that. I don't want to make anypony sad."
"Then stop attacking us! We just want to leave!" Rainbow responded loudly. She took this break in the conversation to look at the track in front of her. She was only halfway up the ascent. She'd seen this mascot fly, once they went down the fall, she wouldn't be able to keep up with the cart. They'd get another chance to get away. She just needed to keep her distracted.
Luckily, something else grabbed the yellow mares attention. Rainbow felt a sense of hope grow into her, until she realised what exactly was distracting the robot.
Another mascot floated near her side of the cart, suspended in the air by the constant fire shooting out of her feet. It's spiky hair was brown from dirt, and it's normally light blue coat was dotted with ugly spots. A red fire shined through her eyes, betraying the anger masked beneath her cool exterior.
"I want a rematch. That blue sonic rainboom thing was totally cheating!" She whined out.
Dash blinked dumbly, "No it wasn't." She retorted, unable to respond with much else.
"Yes it was!"
"No, it wasn't."
"Yesitwas!"
"Noitwasn't"
Watching the scene unfold, Fluttershy decided she had better stop this argument before it descended into one word responses or, Celestia forbid, petty name calling. "Rainbow, where have you been? You disappeared while we were searching for these two."
"Disappeared? This pony is the one who disappeared! We were having a perfectly fine race, and then she goes and vanishes right before the finish line! It's not fair." The robot retorted.
Dash felt offended, "It was perfectly fair, you were trying to kill me!"
Her doppelgänger shrugged, "Not until you crossed the finish line, I wasn't." It said simply, as if it was the most casual sentence in the world.
Dash pulled her head back, and sighed into the sky. The two mascots began to argue, and she smiled. The cart was nearly at the top of the track.
Creasing her eyebrows, she realised with a shock that there was already something at the top of the track. The sun shined against the pony's back, and Dash couldn't identify who it was. She clenched in fear as she assumed it was another mascot, until the pony turned and waved at her. She raised her hoof to block out the sun, and the pony waved at her again.
A faint buzzing sound filled the air, and the ride suddenly doubled in speed. Sparks shot out the side, landing directly in the eyes of the mascots hovering to the sides of the cart. They flew backwards in shock, but Dash ignored them. She was too interested on the mysterious stranger at the top of the incline. Suddenly, he jumped off the rails, and fell towards the ground. Rainbow tried to leap out of the cart to save him, but the harness kept her securely locked in. She barely got enough time to grasp her surroundings again before the ride reached the top of the bump.
She could see the entire park sprawled out in front of her. Everything from the largest tents to the smallest stall. A symphony of the park floated up to her ears, created from the voice of every creature gathered below. A beautiful picture, formed of both the flashing colours of the park and the music of the customers, sat upon Rainbow's eye for a split second, before gravity seized control of the ride.
The pink pony next to her grinned happily, and looked at her friend. "Say WEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee, Dashie!" She offered.

Fast. She was going too fast, this ride was going too fast. This wasn't a controlled fall, this was basically a freefall. Dash was all right with going fast, after all, it was her namesake, but there was a difference between flying and falling. She knew that difference well, and they were definitely falling. The wind kicked into her eyes, trying to force them closed with sheer speed, but Dash was used to that. Her mane was stuck permanently backwards from the wind, and everything became a coloured blur.
Fighting through the pain of turning her head, she managed to glance at Pinkie. She was inexplicably sitting in the exact same position she was when they started, and was even screaming in joy at the speed they were going. Dash tried to pull her head to face forward, but the wind pulled it back into her shoulder; and staring back at her was a familiar rainbow mare, hovering next to her. Dash tried to shout out a warning to her friend, but the wind forced her tongue into the back of her throat. The mascot would have grinned at this display, but decided not to waste time. She pulled one of her fiery hooves out of the air, and aimed it at her likeness.
Suddenly, the ride speed up. Dash didn't even think it was possible to make the cart move faster then it was. She grinned as the robots punch missed completely, burying it's owner in the back of the ride. The mascot let out angry static as it was pulled along with the coaster, losing control of it's flight while it was pulled off balance. The ride lurched as it reached the ground, and it's occupants were pulled forward when it shot back into the air, following the rails back into the sky. Dash's head slammed into the cart as the momentum changed, and she took in a huge gasp of air.
The static behind her continued, and she could feel her heart beating through her chest. She turned to Pinkie, and her body relaxed as she saw a gleeful smile looking back at her.
The cart reached the top of the incline, and Dash could once again see the whole park before her. She prepared herself for another ride down, this time expecting what speed she would be moving at. The ride shook however, and a loud crunch rang out from behind them. Something blue blocked the rainbow mare's vision, and random static filled her ear. Or at least, it sounded like random static. She swore she could hear words being formed in the white noise. "...Coming with me." They said.
Whatever was blocking her view disappeared, and the ride shot down the rails. This time however, there was only one passenger.
Pinkie's empty chair sat next to Rainbow, it's harness broken cleanly down the middle. Immediately, Dash started to struggle against the cloth tying her to the seat. She scanned around crazily, searching for her friend. She needed to save her, if Pinkie fell off the ride...Dash shuddered at the implications. She struggled harder, but the wind rushing against her combined with the strength of the straps kept her pinned.
Finally, she spotted her friend. She was falling. Fast. She was nearly exactly next to the cart, although she was no longer in it. Her happy smile still remained on her face though, creeping Dash out. With a desperate lunge, the strap finally broke with a snap and Dash leapt at her friend.
At the same time, Rainbow's mascot did the same thing.

Reaching out, Rainbow managed to grab her friend just in time to shield her from the robots attack. A loud snap rang through the park, and Dash creamed in pain. The force of the attack knocked her out of the air, and she started to spiral downwards. The green grass on the ground was rapidly coming closer, and Dash didn't plan on landing any time soon. She was getting out of this park if it killed her. Spinning around in the air, she managed to get Pinkie hanging off her back, with nothing more than a hasty "Hang on," to keep her safe. Thankfully, Pinkie seemed to understand, and two pink hooves gripped Dash's stomach. She winced as they ran across the rope burn she had, but fought through it. She had stuff to do.
She twisted her wings around in order to slow herself. It did little to help, and the ground continued rushing forward. The sound of fire told her that her pursuer was just behind her. She needed to change tactics, this would never work. Gritting her teeth, she stopped flapping, and let gravity take over. The earth embraced her, and at the last moment, Dash extended her wings, and kicked downwards as hard as she could. The ground split apart as her hooves collided with it, sending dirt and grass into the air. Her momentum was reversed by the kick, and she started to shoot back into the sky.
A splitting pain ran up her legs, adding to the pain she already felt, and she threatened to pass out. Shaking her head, she flapped her wings again, and sprinted for the sky. Fear continued to fuel her as she flew, as she didn't hear her mascot smash into the ground. She had to admit, whoever built them knew what they were doing.
An ear splitting scream broke her train of thought, and she twisted in the air just in time to avoid a flying tackle from an indiscriminate yellow blur. The blur stopped quickly, and faced Dash.
The rainbow mare ignored her, and flew higher. She needed more height for her plan. She kept rising, dodging attacks from both of the mascots at once. Eventually, the two doppelgängers decided to end it. The blue one flew up onto Rainbow's right, while the yellow one cautiously flew to her left. There was no where else to go now. The four ponies flew upwards, until one of them broke the noise of the blowing wind.
"'I'm only giving you one more chance Rainbow. Land now and come into questioning." Rainbow's mascot said.
"You know, I don't really think there is any questioning." Pinkie replied, barely awake. Dash wondered how she could be tired at a time like this.
Fluttershy responded carefully, "Oh, that's not true, we have excellent questioning. There are donuts and cute little bunnies in it."
The real Rainbow Dash chuckled. "You want me to land? You got it!" She shouted, twisting her wings around and reversing direction hastily.
Her pursuers were caught completely off guard, and continued flying up into the air as their prey escaped them. Hastily though, they regained their senses and followed Dash to the ground.
The wind whistled through Dash's ears, and everything became a blur around her. The only thing that remained constant were the joyful screams of her friend, being whipped into the air above them, and a shining pink hoof that occasionally waved past her face. Despite this though, she needed to go faster. Flapping her wings downwards, she straightened herself so that was nearly vertical. She then stuck her hooves out so that they were in front of her face, leaving Pinkie to hold on all by herself. Her powerful thrusts forced her to fall faster, much faster than what was safe; though at this point it was more controlled falling. The ground rushed to meet her, and she could make out the faces of the panicked ponies on the ground. They probably thought somepony was falling to their deaths. Dash grinned though, she knew exactly what she was doing. The wind rushed into her mouth and eyes, pushing them back into her face, but the rainbow pony still forced a smile onto her face. A nearly invisible cone of wind was beginning to form at the tip of her hooves.
The cone stretched to cover her arms and the force of keeping it there strained against her painfully. She would do this though, she NEEDED to do this. It was her only chance at saving Pinkie. Nothing could catch her when she did a sonic rainboom, not even robots. She just needed to go faster. Eventually, the force of the air started to stretch her body, and she groaned as the sensation reopened all her aches and wounds. Pinkie did the same, and braced herself for impact. A small hole, the size of Rainbow's hoof, opened up at the tip of the cone. Dash pushed forward, attempting to force it open more, when her wings failed. A faint wisp of green smoke disappeared into the air as Dash's wings buckled under the strain.
She was given a second to come to grips with this, before her hooves were forced back into her face by the rebounding cone. The air she was pushing around suddenly smashed against her, forcing her back into the sky with the same speed she was falling. The empty sky flashed by her as Pinkie's screams filled her mind.
Two vaguely pony shaped blobs appeared in front of her, and Dash squinted her eyes. She wasn't going down without a fight. She wrested her hooves from her chest, and pointed them at the blobs. At the speed she was going, it took less then a second for her to whiz past the mascots. As she did, her hooves smashed into the bottom of their oversized heads. All of Dash's upwards momentum clashed with the robots downwards momentum, and the mascots were flipped backwards by the hit. A loud crack echoed through the park and Dash screamed in pain. She couldn't even feel her hooves any more. Just a dull ache that covered her entire body.
Everything became quieter, and Dash finally thanked the fact that Pinkie stopped screaming. She felt tired. Really tired. A black cloud fell over her eyes, and she stopped trying to flap her wings. Something was shoving her in the back, why couldn't it let her sleep? Couldn't they see how tired she was? Surely it wouldn't hurt to rest for a tiny moment. Drifting off, her pain finally floated away. She smiled as her body felt like it was submersed in a cool pond.
She didn't even notice when she hit the ground.

Everything hurt. The rainbow pile that was curled into a small ball groaned in pain, and tried to remember why. Something about...robots? No, that couldn't be it, the premise itself was absurd. No pony would take it seriously. She briefly remembered falling. That must have been it. She fell during one of her tricks, and any moment now one of her friends would hop over to make sure she was ok. She lay there, waiting for a helping hoof.
None came, and slowly the memories of what happened flooded her mind. PINKIE! Dash uncurled her wings away from her body, and stood up quickly. Pain shot through her again as she moved, but she could barely feel it. She needed to find her friend. She glanced around hastily, searching for any sign of her. The pegasus could hardly believe that she'd passed out. She was so stupid and now Pinkie was missing, possibly injured, or worse!
The mare was standing in an open field of carefully cut grass. The supports of the massive rollercoaster reached around her like a snake. Other than that, the field was empty. Not a single creature was in sight, and the isolation shot fear back into Rainbow. She just wanted to leave, why did everypony hate that?
She extended her wings to fly into the sky, since her search still hadn't found Pinkie. However, a crippling pain held her back, and she collapsed back to the ground.
Tears fell to the grass as she cried. She was in pain, Pinkie was missing, mascots from hell wanted her blood, she'd failed to do a sonic rainboom and now she couldn't even fly at all. Rainbow had hit rock bottom, and all that was left to do was cry.
Time lost meaning, and Rainbow simply cried. She didn't care if anyone saw her, it didn't even matter any more. The most she could do was sit there and wait for the mascots to find her and take her in for 'questioning'.
Eventually, she heard something disturb the peace of the field. She looked up, half expecting it to be her friend. Instead, she looked up to find five huge figures walking towards her.
Something built in her gut, and she stood back up. Her tears felt hot against her face, and she tried to dry them before the mascots arrived. It didn't work, and the robots started to circle her.
In front of her was a dark purple mare. Her hair was carefully moulded down her face, and dyed to be a lighter purple. She seemed taller than Dash remembered, and her horn was fixed from the last time that they met.
To Twilight's right was a piercing orange pony. A metal stetson was firmly plastered to her head, and she would occasionally cock her head to the side, as if contemplating a difficult question.
Next was a shy yellow pegasus. The mascot continually broke eye contact from Rainbow Dash, and kicked her hoof awkwardly. She seemed nervous. Dash couldn't imagine why. It wasn't like there was much she could still do.
To Twilights left was another unicorn. This one was a blinding white, and everything about her seemed designed to compliment her beauty. The mascot was confident, and shined with an aura of supremacy.
Finally, a familiar blue pegasus sat at the end, detached from the following spectacle. The real Dash stopped for a moment, and wondered why. If the positions were reversed, she had no doubt that she would gloat, at the very least.
Rainbow eventually stepped forward though. She might as well get it over with. "Well?" She shouted. "What are you waiting for? Come over here so I can fight you properly."
There was a burst of static from Twilight, which Dash guessed was laughter. "We don't want to fight you Rainbow." She replied.
"Then why are you here? Give back Pinkie!" Dash shouted, raising her hooves into the air.
The purple mascot shrugged, and stepped forward, impossibly fast. Dash tried to react in time, but not even she could move that fast. A purple hoof found it's way onto her neck, and she was pushed into the dirt. The grass cut against her face, and she struggled to fight back. She couldn't find the energy to defeat her opponent, and accepted her position. What was even the point in fighting?
"Since you've proven too hard to bring into questioning, we've decided to bring questioning to you. Simple problem solving." Twilight's mascot explained cheerfully.
Dash gritted her teeth, and tried one last time to fight back. Instead, the mare at her throat pushed down roughly. Rainbow struggled for breath, and gasped uselessly into the air. Her hooves managed to press against the robots body, but she couldn't find the strength. Darkness started to spread across her eyes again as her life dripped away.
She was reminded briefly of why she was here in the first place. It was all Pinkie's fault, her and her insistence. If she hadn't pressured Dash to come with her, she could be resting up in her home at the moment. Sadly though, she realised this wasn't the truth. Pinkie was only trying to help Dash out of her rut. A rut she was only in because of the same technology that was now pinning her to ground.
But time was growing short, and she knew it. She wasn't ready for this; there was still so much she needed to do. Join the Wonderbolts, perfect the sonic rainboom, tell Pinkie how she felt. She couldn't actually.....die, could she?

Suddenly, something changed and air rushed back into the rainbow mares lungs. She breathed in deeply, coughing violently between gasps. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the purple mare walk away from her, and take position with the other mascots. Rainbow rolled onto her side, and continued coughing.
"This is the mare you have had trouble containing? Pathetic." A voice rang out.
Dash forced herself back to her feet, and rubbed her neck. An ugly bruise was already forming, and it hurt to breathe. Looking back over the mascots, Rainbow managed to squeak out a short reply. Every word seemed to chop her throat up. "Who said that? Show yourself."
The mascots glanced between each other nervously, or at least they appeared too. It was hard to tell without facial expressions. One or two occasionally whispered to each other, attempting to keep Dash out of the loop. She was having none of it. "I said come out, or are you scared?" She taunted, not actually able to back up the threat.
"Do you ever shut up? That is no way to speak to royalty."
Twilight's mascot 'coughed' to capture Dash's attention and started explaining. "We figured that if this was a real questioning, then you deserved to meet the pony who was in charge. It's just good manners."
From this, Rarity continued her sentence. "With that said, we would like to introduce you to our employer, our boss, Nightmare Moon."
The mascots moved to the side, letting the large alicorn into Dash's sights. The pony's coat was a dark purple, bordering on black. It occasionally waved like the surface of a disturbed lake, or a rustling of grass. This gave the mare an illusion of being larger than she actually was. Her mane was a reflection of the night sky, and disappeared on the wind as if it never existed once it reached a certain length. Stars shone through the alicorns celestial mane, providing pale contrast to the sun in the middle of the sky. Finally, over her head was a light blue helmet that ran over her ears and down the back of her neck. The strange metal glistened in the light, but didn't shine, choosing instead to suck in all the light around it. The large mare stepped closer, almost close enough to touch Rainbow, and bent down to her level. "Hello, Loyalty. Remember me? Did you think I was gone?"

Dash swallowed nervously. She could see why the robots were scared now. "Honestly? Yea, your defeat was pretty convincing. With the screaming and everything." She replied.
Nightmare Moon raised a hoof to her chest, and put on her best sad face. "I'm offended. I thought I had left more of an impression on you."
Dash shook her head, and remembered who she was talking to. Flexing her useless wings, Rainbow raised a hoof. "Enough! How are you here? What do you want? Where's Pinkie?" She questioned.
Nightmare Moon grinned, "Well, aren't you impatient. Funny thing, patience. I seem to have a lot of it; but that's neither here nor there. What rude questions too. Is a queen not entitled to the land around her throne? I am the princess, and I have the right to do whatever I please with my subjects. As for what I want, I suppose it would be entertainment. You're an interesting subject, Loyalty. All that anger, all that fear, chewing away beneath your skin." She replied, grabbing Rainbow's neck with her mane and forcing the pegasus to look into her eyes. "You can feel it now. Burning behind your eyes. You would want nothing more than to banish me again, wouldn't you? You and your worthless friends. They don't have the same drive as you though, Loyalty. You are nothing more than a pawn among gods, and you will do as I see fit. That is what I want." She finished, releasing Dash from her grip. Falling to the ground, Dash forced herself to stand up again. She had no clue what the alicorn meant. Sure, she was angry, but it wasn't a burning was it? Shaking her head to clear her mind, and reacting in surprise when clumps of dirt fell to the ground from her mane, she stepped forward again.
"Where. Is. Pinkie." She said clearly, leaving no room for error. She would find her friend, even if she had to fight through Nightmare Moon to do so.
Instead, she was greeted with a chuckle. "Always so impatient. You haven't even bothered to listen to my demands."
"Demands? What are you, a cartoon villain?" Dash taunted back.
The mare responded by dashing at the pegasus, and laying a quick smack across her head. "That is no way to speak to royalty. You will have respect; and if you won't have that, fear." She shouted.
Dash forced a grin. "Make me." She responded, ignoring the pain on the side of her face.
Another smack, and the alicorn stepped away. "Are you ready to play along now, or do I need to leave Pinkie by herself longer? It must be lonely where I left her." She asked.
Locking her eyes on the ground, Dash swallowed her pride. If she needed to do this to save her friends, then her pride could take the hit. She nodded slowly, and the mare of darkness cackled evilly. "Very well. Let's begin the 'game,' shall we?" She said. "I have taken your friend, the element of Laughter, and hidden her somewhere in this park. You're only hint to finding her is this note, written by the mare herself." Nightmare explained, levitating a small slip of paper over to herself.
"So that's it? All I have to do is find Pinkie; and you'll let us go?" Dash asked, hopeful.
"If only it were that simple Loyalty. Finding your friend is only half the game. The other half is escaping alive. Throughout our 'game,' you will be hunted by my dear friends here. There will be no questioning this time. Any interaction will result in your untimely demise, and the disappointment of your princess. You lose the game if you die, simple as that." The mare in the moon continued.
"And I win if I escape with Pinkie?"
The alicorn chuckled, "No, my little pony, you win by leaving. Laughter is merely a prize for choosing to play. You are perfectly capable of leaving at any time, all you need to do is fly over the fence." Her expression changed suddenly, becoming deathly serious. "If you leave though, I can't guarantee what will happen to your friend. There are many rides here, Loyalty, and I can't be sure that each of them are 'accident proof.' It would be a shame if your friend were to go on one of these rides." Nightmare continued, making her intentions crystal clear.
Dash swallowed nervously. "So avoid the mascots, find Pinkie, get out?"
"If only it were that simple, but yes. That is what you must do. So, do you accept?" Nightmare Moon affirmed.

Dash stopped for a moment, and considered the situation. This entire thing sounded dangerous, and there was no doubt that she could actually die if she said yes. Safer to say no then. She could escape, return to Ponyville, find Twilight and race up here to save Pinkie. But that wouldn't work. She'd be gone by the time they got back. Leaving Pinkie here alone wasn't even an option. Dash would rather die than leave her friend trapped in the care of this insane princess. Besides, what would the others think? They would hate her for abandoning Pinkie. She needed to say yes, it was the only option available to her, and Nightmare knew this.
But was she saying yes from circumstance or her own will? All her life, she'd done things for the praise. Won races, saved fillies, defeated monsters, performed a sonic rainboom. All these things she'd done so that ponies would recognize her, would cheer her name. She'd be lying if she claimed she didn't enjoy it. The roar of the crowd, the adrenaline, it was intoxicating. But one thing stood higher than that.
She needed her friends, and they needed her. She'd gladly trade away fame if it would make Fluttershy happy. She'd be the first to offer fortune to Applejack if it made her smile. A simple wave, a friendly hello. To any other ponies, these would be small gestures, but to Rainbow. To Rainbow they were the greatest things in the world, and if she was in danger of losing the greatest smile of them all...
"Bring it on, starshine." She replied enthusiastically. "I'm going to win this game, save my friend, return home a hero, gather the elements and kick your sorry flank back to the moon!"
The alicorn smiled; a devilish grin that sent a shiver down Dash's spine. "I was hoping you would say that. The game shall begin when you regain conciousness." She explained.
Dash choked out a hasty "What?" before the mare lunged at her. Her attack was powerful and precise. Dash wobbled on her feet, and collapsed sideways, darkness gathering around her eyes. Before she passed out completely, the last thing she saw were the five mascots, slowly walking away, and a pair of inky black wings rising into the sky.

She wasn't sure how long she was out for before she woke up, but she assumed it was a long time. Glancing around, there was no sign of the evil princess, or her robots. Instead, a small piece of paper lay on the ground in front of her, wedged cleanly under a rock. Dash sat up, only to fall back down as the world spun out from under her. Closing her eyes, she decided to rest again. Pinkie would remain safe for five minutes while she rested, right?

M.C. Rainboom vs D.J. Rare

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An ear splitting scream shot through the air, waking Rainbow from her nap. She flew to attention immediately; dead set on finding the cause of the noise. Her wings felt crumpled from where she'd fallen asleep on them, and hurt to use heavily. Despite this, she managed to pull herself into the air, maintaining a steady wing beat to avoid any pain. Glancing around, she quickly remembered where she was. The dark blue pillars that held the roller coaster up towered around her like the trees of a metal forest. On the rails, ponies screamed and cheered, completely oblivious to the rainbow pony gazing up at them. She cradled her head; trying to come to terms with her own stupidity before moving on.
She couldn't believe that Nightmare was still alive. More than that, the fact that she had time to build an entire amusement park with the soul intent of capturing her friend boggled her mind. This was more suited to the stories of a Daring Do book than reality. Rainbow realized with a shock that she hadn't even learned how she'd survived their encounter. Nightmare had simply avoided the question, and Dash admitted she was too clueless to pursue it. Despite all this though, there was something off about their interaction, she just couldn't place her money on it. When they met, she wanted to take over all of Equestria, and nearly succeeded in doing so. Stepping down to the level of petty amusement just didn't seem like the pony Rainbow had met; and what about Luna? If Nightmare was back, did the Princess disappear? Could the elements even stop her a second time? They didn't seem to have worked the first time. These questions whirl pooled through Dash's mind, until she shrugged all of them off. She wasn't the kind for pointless thinking, she was a pony of action. Action was needed more now anyway, her friend was still missing.
Glancing around, Dash's senses noted several things. She was clearly alone in the field, save for the customers screaming and the whistling wind, though the grass was still out of place from when the mascots had arrived. At the very least she could say that she wasn't out too long. There was no sign of the immortal alicorn either, despite the assumption that she would be watching Dash throughout the 'game' as she called it. Dash hated that term, it made it sound like it was a childish sport instead of the potential blood bath it could be; or indeed was. The most notable thing though was a scrap of paper, standing out like a beacon amongst the green field. What had Nightmare said about it? Written by the mare herself? Was she talking about Pinkie; had Pinkie written the note? Dash grinned at the revelation. If Pinkie could simply tell her where she was, this game would hardly last a minute. It would be laughably easy. Which was why Dash's hoof felt heavy as she reached for the rock keeping it pinned.
The rock itself probably weighed next to nothing, but to Dash it represented far more. If she picked up this rock, read the paper beneath, then she would be committed. It would become impossible to turn back. The knowledge would forever be stuck in her mind, and she knew nothing would be able to remove it. She wondered whether she was ready for something like this, then remembered that she was already doing something like this, only this time she was smarter about where Pinkie was. This task should of taken a few seconds, so why couldn't she bring herself to do it? Eventually though, with a slight knock of her hoof, the paper was released from it's earthy prison and Dash brought it to her face to read better. She was going to win this game.

The writing on the note was a bright pink; unmistakably the same colour as the mare Dash was searching for. Rainbow was thrown off guard though, when the note was revealed to be written entirely in crayon. The letters were scrawled across the page, which Dash assumed was because Pinkie had written the note in haste. Not that her hastiness had caused her to drop her silly exterior.
Dashie, Dashie, guess what? That grumpy pony from the moon came back. Like, came back to life. Isn't that amazing? I wonder what else she can do, maybe she can also wish things into existence. Like balloons, or cake. Though I wish she can't because baking cakes is the greatest thing ever. Also three, the answer to the question before is three cakes. Hang on, she's telling me I'm losing track again. Right, I was suppose to tell you where I was.
Dash closed her eyes sadly, and sighed. Of course Pinkie would make things as hard as possible. It's not like she could just name a place to pick her up. She had to go through her entire unique thought process in order to show how she got there. Dash liked her friend, but she couldn't deny her air headedness was her greatest fault.
So I'm in a place. It looks like that place from before, but with purple and white instead. There's...a stage. Kinda old looking though. Do you think the owner would mind if I fixed it up? Do you think he would smile? Wait where you are a minute.
There was a large gap in the writing, as if Pinkie had suddenly left and returned at a later time.
Ok, anyway. Where were we? Oh right, there's also a friendly pony here. Not a mascot at all. She's pretty sad though, it took me a whole minute to get her to smile. I think she plays an instrument too, isn't that amazing? So, to recap, purple and white tent, large stage, friendly but depressing pony. I'll have a cake waiting for you when you arrive.
Dash let the note flutter to the ground; picked up in one of the air currents rushing through her feet. Biting her lip to stop herself from shouting out in anger, she landed on the ground again and rubbed her temples. Nightmare must have known this would happen. There was no other explanation. She hated to admit it to herself, but she had no idea where Pinkie was. She couldn't even focus herself on one subject long enough to provide any help. A depressing pony? That could be anypony.
Sighing though, she stepped forward, taking a moment to figure out where the road was. There was no chance of her finding her friend if she simply sat where she was. Maybe she could find something to give her another clue, or maybe she would even stumble upon Pinkie by accident.

The busy crowd threatened to engulf Dash, and she rose above it all in order to avoid it. There were so many ponies here, eating, talking, running, haggling; each forming together into an ocean. The pegasus had no clue where to begin. Any one of these ponies could know about a white and purple tent or know about a depressing mare. Watching each of them though, she knew that she had to begin. The beat of her wings slowed, until she hovered gently into the crowd, not caring whether she hit someone. Besides from a few surprised shouts, though, no attention was paid to her.
She pulled ponies off the street at random, with a nearly feverish speed.
"Have you seen a pink pony with a cotton mane?"
"Is there a white and purple tent nearby?"
"Maybe a large concert or a play?"
"Anypony acting strange? Besides me, Einstein."
"Any particularly depressing ponies?"
Each of her questions was answered with a quick no, or the occasional shaking of heads. All this work was getting her nowhere, and she felt ready to pull her mane out. She just needed a single clear answer. As another pony politely shook her head though, Dash could feel every little annoyance build back into her again. The ponies around her were left with a loud booming sound as Dash took off, disappearing into another section of the park at an incredible speed.
She landed, and started to question the customers again. It was too risky to fly too high, even if it would be easier to find the place she was looking for. The second the mascots figured out where she was, she lost. So she stuck to the ground, careful to only draw attention from the ponies she was talking too.
As the minutes continued to drag on though, and her questions continued to go unanswered, she realised that it wasn't working. She needed to try something new. Rainbow considered flying into the sky anyway, but a dull ache reminded her why that was a bad idea. Sighing, she started to walk along the path. There wasn't much else she could do.
The stalls and ponies blended together, becoming nothing more than a background for the depressed mare. She couldn't do this, she needed a clue. A hint. Something to point her in the right direction.
She stopped for a moment to regain her thoughts and regret the fact that she didn't keep Pinkie's note.
A low guttering sound broke off from the crowd behind her, and she jumped to the side instinctively. The mascot that had jumped out at her crashed into the ground harshly, and Dash didn't waste any time. She sped away from the mechanical beast, moving as fast as he legs could move. She couldn't believe they were attacking her already, she'd barely begun.
Weaving between the ponies in the crowd, Dash glanced behind her. A cyan coloured beast was already in hot pursuit, simply bashing it's way through the ponies gathered instead of bothering to avoid them. Dash sped up, temporarily losing sight of the robot. Dash leapt into the air to take advantage of her strengths, increasing speed while she did so.
For a split second, everything slowed down. Dash's wingbeats came out slowly, making a feathery thump each time they pushed down. She could see the looks of every pony gathered; some were terrified, some were confused, most hadn't even noticed her. The stalls lined across the sides of the path, leaving large gaps between them. Behind them, large buildings loomed ominously, casting everything in a blurry shade. An opportunity to escape her pursuer for good opened up, and in her adrenaline fuelled state, there was no chance of her missing it. Carefully, her wings leaned to the side ever so slightly, each of her feathers dripping with precision. The currents of the wind shifted, catching in the pony's wings and pulling her sideways. She slipped between the rough wooden constructions, and vanished into another alley between buildings.
She crouched in the shadows, not yet ready to rest. It would be safer to know where the mascot was in case she needed to escape again. Her mind wandered will she focused on the only entrance to the alley. Why were their so many buildings anyway? What did they all do? Springing back to reality, Dash watched a blue blur zoom past the exit, barely paying any mention to the gap.
Dash released the sigh she had started holding the second her doppelgänger moved into view. Glancing around, she sat down and ran over her options. Asking ponies obviously didn't work, walking around nearly got her killed, flying into the air would certainly result in great physical harm on her body and she was plain out of ideas. What would Pinkie do in this situation, she wondered. She bit her lip when she remembered the answer would probably be something crazy, like fire herself out of the party cannon or ride one of the mascots like a mechanical bull.

A faint click rebounded through the alley, nearly unnoticeable to the average ear. Dash heard it instantly however. Spinning her head towards the exit, she noticed it was now blocked by something big. Big and moving. The pegasus barely had time to react when something clipped her in the chin, pushing her into the air. Another impossibly fast movement, and she found herself pinned to the wall, a hot metal hoof shoving roughly into her neck.
She grabbed at the hoof uselessly, trying to pull it off her. She could already feel herself growing weaker as her body drained itself of oxygen. The bruises on her neck stung as she struggled, and her feet couldn't reach out far enough to kick her attacker.
Carefully, she felt the pressure relive itself from her neck. She tried to breath in, but the obstruction made that once simple task painful.
"Stop squirming for a second, seriously. I don't want to hurt you."
Dash stopped struggling, and looked at the mascot in front of her. It was her, her doppelgänger. Despite the situation she was in, she couldn't let her attitude slip. She spent a lot of time on it. "Because you're such a reliable mascot." She choked out sarcastically.
The mascot shook it's head. "I'm going to remove my hoof, okay? Don't be stupid and try to fly off, I don't want to chase you down again." It crackled out, cocking it's head towards Rainbow.
The mare nodded quickly, anything to remove the pain from her neck. The robot showed no emotion, but slowly moved it's hoof backwards. Dash fell to the ground, and immediately took off. No way was she dying just yet. Everything became a blur as she picked up speed. She just needed to get back into the crowd. Then she could disappear from view and everything would be fi-
Rainbow let out a pained squeak as she collided with something obstructing her path. Looking down, she could see another blue hoof stretched over her stomach, pushing itself roughly into her chest. Her wound opened up again from the impact, but Dash could hardly notice over the sound of her own gasping.
"Look, if I wanted to kill you we would already be done here. I could take you down faster than a wonderbolt could fly."
The real Dash leaned against the wall, her arms wrapped around her stomach. "How did you do that? I was moving too fast." She asked.
"Simple, I asked what would I do in your situation. Of course, I was right."
Dash looked up, staring the mascot in the face. "What do you want? I would prefer you don't waste my time."
The robot slowly raised a hoof to it's chin and leapt backwards, fire shooting out it's legs to give it a bigger push. It landed roughly a few paces ahead of Dash, but kept it's hoof rigid. "What I want is answers. From you." It responded.

The injured mare fought back a chuckle growing in her gut; or was that blood? Either way, it was a feeling she wasn't expecting to feel any time soon and it's very presence seemed like a joke in itself. "You want answers from me? What do I know? If anything, I want answers from you."
The robot nodded, "So we're both in agreement? I answer your questions, you answer mine?" It confirmed.
Dash's hooves found themselves suddenly waving themselves in front of her body, trying to portray her emotions correctly. "What? No no no, why should I tell you anything? You keep trying to kill me!" She babbled out.
"Dash, I am you. If you stop to think about this, you'll see that this is the best course of action to take, since we both get what we want without unneeded stab wounds. I'll give you a moment, since your small brain clearly needs it."
Rainbow stopped for a minute, and considered what her Doppelgänger was saying. She wanted answers to the questions flying through her head, she didn't want any more injuries and escape seemed impossible. That wasn't to say that she couldn't escape, but playing it safe seemed like a better idea. In return, all she had to do was answer a few simple questions. With a gasp, she realized that the mascot was right. Sighing, she made sure to set a few ground rules first. "Alright, but here's a few things first, one-"
"One, you won't tell me anything about how to hurt your friends, two, you won't tell me how to hurt yourself, three, I have to let you go unharmed when we're done and finally, I can't tell the others that this happened. This what you planned to say?" Her robot interjected, cutting her off.
Dash stood back up. Pain spread through each section of her body, but she found the strength to get through it. "Stop doing that! You don't know what I was going to say." She shouted.
In response, the robot took an angry step forward. "I do know exactly what you were going to say. I know exactly what you're thinking at this very moment. I know everything you've ever done, because I. AM. YOU. Get that through your head."
Swallowing nervously, Dash stepped backwards. "What do you mean you're me?"
"It means that I, Rainbow Dash, am the pony Rainbow Dash; all the way down to the microscopic level. Also, that's your first question, my turn."
"What, that wasn't my question. No fair."
"Too late, should of thought of that before you asked a question."
"No, I want a do over." The real Dash shouted.
"I already let you go first, isn't that enough for your ego?"
"I didn't even realise that we were starting!"
The robot shrugged, "Too bad, my turn."
Dash bit her lip, but remained silent. She waited anxiously for the mascots question, running over everything she knew in her head. She was going to be ready for anything. She briefly pondered what her mascot could want that would inspire this behaviour, before refocusing herself. She needed to stay focused.
There was a brief stint of static, and Rainbow's voice fired out of the mascots mouth. "Why Pinkie?"

Dash nearly laughed again, until it became apparent that the mascot was serious. Dash covered her mouth, and tried to confirm what she had heard. "What about Pinkie?"
The mascot shook it's head, attaching two hooves to it's head while it did so. "Don't do this Dash, you know what I mean. Why go through this all for Pinkie? I need to know this."
"What could you possibly need this for?"
"Shut up and answer the question."
Dash glanced around nonchalantly, trying to think of an honest answer. She needed something convincing, something true. While she did like Pinkie a lot, was she really worth going through all this pain for? Was there even something special about Pinkie at all, besides from her ability to summon cupcakes from the greater elemental plane of cupcakes? Maybe she would simply do this for all her friends. Yes, that sounded more realistic than there being something between both of them. "There's nothing special about Pinkie. I would go through this for anypony. Even Spike!"
If the mascot could have raised an eyebrow, Dash guessed it would have done so at this point. "So Pinkie means nothing to you? She's just another friend?"
Dash nodded, and added quickly, "You're supposed to be me, surely you already know the answer to this."
The mascot nodded, causing Dash to blink in surprise. "I suppose so, I just needed to hear it from you."
The real Dash leaned against the wall again, and glanced out the alley. It would be so easy to simply fly out while the mascot was distracted. All she needed to do was jump. Shaking her head though, she turned forward. "My turn, right? Where's Pinkie?" She asked.
The mechanical pony turned away. "I can't tell you that, the boss would have my head; or worse, my wings. Try a different question."
Dash sighed in frustration. Of course it wouldn't be easy. "Fine then. How did Nightmare Moon return? How did she manage to build this entire place before ponies noticed?"
"That's two questions. Luckily, I'm feeling generous." It said, stroking it's chest at it's own compliment. "Understand though, I still can't tell you too much. In her own words, it would 'ruin the game'. Anyway, the problem is, you don't see the big picture. You see Nightmare Moon and think 'Oh, Nightmare Moon is back, I'm sure this will be a pleasantly fun day'. When you met Nightmare the first time, did she seem like the kind to waste time playing games? No, that was Discords thing. So maybe you should be asking yourself why you're running through this course. Is it because Nightmare has a plan that only all the elements can stop and therefore she intends to keep you separated, or are things not as they seem?"
"That doesn't help much. How is she back?" Dash asked again, growing exasperated.
"Nope, my turn now. You asked your question."
"But your answers don't actually answer anything! They just make things more confusing." Dash retorted.
The robot shrugged, "Too bad. My turn again."
Rainbow sighed in frustration, and stared at the ground. After a minute that seemed to drag on forever, she looked back up. "Fine, fine. What's the question?"
The mascot took a step closer, and made sure it was looking Dash in the eyes. "Who am I?" It asked.
"A collection of wires and gears?" Dash replied uncertainly, a childish grin spreading on her face.
"Not what am I. Who am I?"
Dash pushed herself off the wall, and stood back on her own four feet. "Take off the mask and we'll find out together. Unless you really are a robot, in which case I'm actually pretty surprised."
Something whistled past Dash's ear, and she found herself gasping for breath again. Black lines gathered on the edge of her vision, connecting together like an imaginary spiders web. Something pressed down on her chest, and she looked up to see her mascot standing on her. "Quit messing around! This is serious. Do you have any idea what I'm going through? This is the biggest thing of my life and you're here making jokes? Just shut up and answer my question."
Struggling for breath, Dash choked out a response. "I don't...I don't know who you are."
"I don't even know who I am! I'm not just a copy of you, Rainbow, I am you. Down to the slight obsession with Daring Do. I can remember my first flight, the first time I did a sonic rainboom, fighting Nightmare Moon, all the things we did when we were younger. I can remember, no joke, getting on the train to come here. I was Rainbow Dash. I had a flying turtle called Tank, and I wanted to join the Wonderbolts." The mascot stopped for a moment, and stepped of Dash's chest. "Then you came along. The real Rainbow Dash; and I don't know what to believe."
Dash forced her legs to push her back to her hooves, and every bone in her body ached in defiance. "Tank is actually a tortoise." She corrected, not quite sure what to say. To either her relief or displeasure though, the rainbow mascot continued.
"It's not just me either. You simply existing throws our entire lives into question. All six of us. If we're not the elements, than who are we? Each of us are handling this differently. Twilight's thrown herself into those worthless friendship reports, Rarity won't stop fixing her mane, Applejack wanders around in a broken daze, Fluttershy...well, I couldn't even find Fluttershy until recently. The only one who's handling this well is Pinkie and she can't even bring herself to look at you."
Dash glanced around awkwardly. Was she supposed to feel sad for an inanimate object? She wondered whether her emotions made any difference at all. Still, she couldn't leave herself feeling down like this, she loved herself. She just needed to find the right words. "So how are you coping with this?" She asked.
The fake Rainbow stared at the ground for a moment, before whipping it's head back up. "I'm going to kill you Rainbow. Either you'll die, in which case I'm the real Rainbow, or I'll die, in which case everything I know is a lie and I don't want to live any more." It responded harshly.
"So why aren't I dead?" She asked, stopping for a moment to realise how grim that sounded. Death wasn't even a subject that came up much in Ponyville, and here she was using it so leniently. It really showed how quickly she'd adapted.
To her surprise, the mascot chuckled. "Because I'd win. I don't want that. I want a fair fight, a real race. You and me, duking it out. A worthy opponent, the Ahuitzotl to my Daring Do."
"Why am I Ahuitzotl? It's obvious I should be Daring Do."
"No, I'm Daring Do. I like her more."
"Like hay you do, I own every book in the series."
"So do I! We're the same pony! Why can't you get that?"
"Are you going to fall back on that everytime we talk? You need to lighten up. I honestly couldn't care less who are, and I find it hard to bring myself to care. You kidnap my friend, beat me repeatedly, freely admitted to wanting to kill me and work for an obviously evil and insane alicorn. Now you're here, blabbing on about how hard your life is and I simply can't bring myself to care. Frankly, I don't give a griffons tail feather who you are." Dash replied, finally getting this off her chest. "Stop trying to kill me and I'll see what I can do though." She added, making sure to lock eyes with the mascot.
A minute passed slowly without either of the mares talking. Dash wasn't going to risk looking weak by glancing away from her opponent, and it seemed her doppelgänger had the same idea. Another minute passed, dragged on by the tension rising in the air. Dash swore she could see sparks flash between them, causing bright blue flashes against the dark rock.
Eventually though, Rainbow blinked, breaking her connection with the robot. Almost instantly, the mascot took a step back, leaning against the wall roughly. "You didn't answer my question." It said coldly.
Dash grinned childishly, "Too bad. I suppose it's my turn?"
The robot nodded, so Dash thought deeply. Despite all the questions running through her head, she struggled to pick one out. Each thought forced itself over the other, striving to reach the surface. She couldn't pick out one she wanted more though. Sighing, she settled for the first thing that managed to crawl out her mouth. "Why haven't I met Pinkie? Your Pinkie, I mean." She questioned.
The mascot shrugged. "She doesn't want to see you. Something about ruining the narrative and screwing with the future. I think she just doesn't want to admit that she's not the real Pinkie though. Besides, I already told you this before."
The real Dash rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Oh yeah." She mumbled out hastily.
A burst of static hit the air, and Dash assumed her mascot was sighing. It struggled for a moment, raising it's hooves into the air awkwardly. The robot seemed to be trying to put the thought in it's head into words, hoping that it's arm movements could grab the needed words out of the air. Eventually, it simply threw it's hooves back on the ground and turned away from Rainbow. "We need to wrap this up. It's taken too long already. One more from me and we'll be off, alright?" It asked, anti climatically.
Dash leapt out to stop it from leaving. "Wow wow, hold up. Then you get more questions than me. How's that fair?"
"Are you stupid? You asked two questions before, if anything this makes us even."
"I want the final question." Dash responded easily.
The robot sat silently for a moment, before rolling it's head to the side in frustration. "Fine, no time to argue with myself. You get the last question."
"Awesome."
"How did you do that blue sonic rainboom? Was it the machine? It was the machine wasn't it?" The mascot asked, it's 'voice' cracking at the last moment.
Dash nodded nervously. That was the last question?
"I didn't think you would use something like that. I mean, after what happened..." It started, before getting cut off.
"We don't need to talk about that."
The robot nodded. "Right, of course you would say that. 'Power through it yourself' is the plan, right? Good luck with that."
A brief stare was shared between the two mares, and Rainbow Dash was sure she could see something change. Despite the fact that not a word was shared, the two ponies gained an understanding of each other. There was something in the mascots glassy eyes that calmed Dash. She'd found someone going through the same stuff she was. The realization finally hit Dash, like a rock falling into a pond. "So you're really me?" She confirmed.
"Yep. Far as I can tell."
"I suppose we should go now. No point wasting time when Pinkie's in danger."
The robot nodded slowly, before jerking it's head up. "PINKIE! That's right. Pinkie wanted to give you something."
Dash perked her ears directly into the air at the sound of the news. A smile spread across her face, and she focused on the robot. "Really? What is it? Do you have it here? Give it to me!"
"Yea, it's somewhere here. Just calm down and give me a moment."
Dash could hardly keep still. She jumped from hoof to hoof in excitement. There was just to much joy, she needed to release it. She opened her wings awkwardly, only to snap them closed. She needed to fly, she just needed to release all this energy. Eventually, her torment was released when the mascot passed her a small scrap of paper. It was barely in her hooves for a minute before she realised something was wrong. Looking up, she could only gesture towards the paper.
Her mascot shrugged. "Did I forget to mention it was my Pinkie? Because it is."
Dash felt her spirit drop, but decided to keep a strong face. "That would have been helpful. Yes."
The mascot looked back out of the alley, and a faint click signalled the fire that blasted from it's hooves. Dash took a step backwards from the heat, and shouted over the flames. "You never thought it odd that you flew by shooting fire out of your feet?"
The mascot released what could have been a chuckle, and turned back to Rainbow. "Not really."
With that, it started to move away, rising into the air with each step, until it didn't need to move it's feet.
The real Dash stared down at the paper in front of her, before realising with a shock that she'd forgotten something. With a twist of her wings, she shot forward, planting herself firmly in front of her mascot. An angry sigh escaped from it's mouth as it was thrown off balance and crashed back into the ground.
Dash landed next to it, and poked it until it forced itself back to its feet.
"What is it? What do you want now?"
"I didn't get to ask the last question." She replied childishly.
"That's what this is about? We need to leave Dash, if we get caught then they'll kill you."
Dash rubbed her head, "I thought you were trying to kill me."
"Not until the end of the race." It said, stepping forward. "Whatever, what's the question?"
Dash thought for a moment, and grinned, "Why am I so awesome?"

Slowly, the black blocking Dash's vision began to retreat. There was a tiny point of light in the distance, spreading closer. Like a piece of broken glass, chaotic lines of light ran through the black, breaking off larger and larger pieces until all the darkness was gone. Dash blinked awkwardly and fought against the pain ringing in her head. She made a mental note not to joke around with her mascot again. Apparently she doesn't know how to take a joke.
Breathing in deeply to remove the obstructing black for good, Dash rolled onto her stomach. She regretted it quickly, as this only served to bring in a second round of pain, this time from her gut. After a moment of resting on the ground and attempting to numb the pain, Dash pushed herself back onto her hooves.
A quick glance around the alley told her that she was alone again. The only thing that remained of her mascot was a circle of burn marks, gouged into the grass beneath her. Dash scanned the alley again, this time resting on the scrap of paper that was floating through the air in front of her. Reaching forward, she grabbed it in her mouth and placed it back on the ground. Rainbow began to read the note again, taking care not to forget anything it said. From the small glance she got of it before, she knew that it was too important to simply forget.

Okie dokie, I need to be brief. Like a bag, or a case. A case full of brief, or a bag of brief? Briefbag? I owned a bag once but I wouldn't call it brief. I still own a bag actually, sometimes I carry useful things in it, like Gummy. What was I writing about again?
OH, I needed to warn fake Dashie! You need to get out of here, fake Dashie! Everypony is depending on you. Ms Angry Nightmare is planning something big. Bigger than you would ever believe, but it depends on you. I can't say why, but just know it's really bad for both of us. The longer you stay here the more dangerous it is for everypony. Well, not everypony, I suppose the elements would be safe, plus the princesses. Also, Moon would obviously be all right. So everypony except those ones is counting on you.
But you won't go. We have your friend and it would be totally sad and not nice at all if you left her. BUT, if you can get your friend, than you can leave. If you leave, everypony is safe. If everypony is safe, then me and fake me can throw a totally awesome party. With cheeses shaped like wheels. And then we can roll it down a hill and chase after it; that sounds fun.
Where was I going with this letter? I needed to tell you something important about the elements. Elements, elephents, ailments, what was it?
Rarity! That was it. Fluttershy too. Maybe Twilight, but you might not have time to read that. Listen, or read, actually. Reading would probably be more helpful, unless somepony is reading this for you. If they are, tell them I said hello. Also, why are they reading for you? Don't fight Rarity. I know you think you could take her on, but you can't. She's got this crazy fashion magic, you can't touch her. Which is bad because she needs a hug.
Don't fight Fluttershy either. Actually, now that I think about it, don't fight any of my friends; that's not nice. Just run whenever you see any of them; also don't look at Flutter's eyes. You remember the stare, right, fake Dashie?
Pinkie's in Octavia's concert tent. Don't tell Nightmare I told you this; she wouldn't be happy. Get in there and get out of here before anything happens to you.
And stop calling yourself Dashie, you're not fooling anypony.

Dash ran through the words again, making sure to gather the whole message. After a moment of thinking, she came to a simple conclusion. She was in way over her head. Nightmare Moon, the monster who had been locked away for a thousand years, the creature that had threatened to cover the world in endless night, was clearly using her for something.
The feeling was enough to cause an empty pain to grow in her gut. She felt like a pawn, a useless piece to be discarded when her purpose was done. Maybe that was how Nightmare Moon saw the whole situation. It wouldn't surprise Dash. The mare couldn't help but wonder whether actually knowing what Nightmare's plan was would make her happier or sadder. Right now though, she just wanted to fell less used.
As she turned to leave, it crossed her mind that the mascots may have been lying. Could it all have been a trick to gain her attention? She wondered why she was even bothering to listen to what her killers were trying to tell her. For all she knew, there could be a cartoonishly large vat of acid with a thin rope above it waiting for her at 'Octavia's Tent,' as Pinkie had said. That didn't even help anyway! Who was Octavia? Where was her tent? Why could no one simply point her towards Pinkie? Shrugging though, she passed the thought off. It's not like she had any other leads. Another one could only serve to help her.

Cautiously, Rainbow poked her head out of the alley. The street was mostly empty, with the exception of the stall owners who stared at Dash inquisitively. She ignored them, but kept close to the stalls anyway in an attempt to remain hidden. The street came to an end quickly, splitting into two different paths.
The first path turned to the left, leading deeper into the souvenirs area of the park. Unfortunately, that road was as barren as the one Rainbow was just walking down. If she was going to play this game and survive, than she needed to stay hidden. She needed to blend in with the crowd and make her way across the theme park silently. Then again, she didn't ignore the fact that her mane was basically a beacon that stood out even amongst the craziest crowds.
The second option was to go right. Glancing down the road quickly, Dash could only see one other pony walking down the street. However, this path led deeper into the park, towards the amusement and entertainment of the park. If it was a tent and a show she was looking for, odds were high that it would be found further along that road. Nightmare might be expecting her to think that way though, and everything that had happened could still be part of a sinister plan to lure her to her doom.
Mentally flipping a coin, the pegasus turned right. More ponies to hide between, more chances to find Pinkie and less chance of getting hassled by random store owners. Nodding her head to assure herself that she had made the right choice, Rainbow rushed down the street.
Dash flew higher into the air, despite the risks it presented. Not too high, just high enough to see over the tops of the buildings blocking her view. Despite this, the fabled purple and white tent still managed to avoid her detection. Landing back on the ground in frustration, she stomped her hooves angrily. She needed a clue. This sneaky puzzle thing was Twilight's job, not hers. She solved her problems by kicking, not by thinking.
Sighing, Dash swallowed her pride. She needed help. Glancing around one final time to make sure that no mascots were sneaking up on her, she glided over to the other pony on the street. Even if she could only point her in a vague direction, it was better than what she already had.

Drifting closer, Dash could start to pick out more details about the mare. The most notable was the fact that her face was permanently pinned down by a large...Dash struggled for a better word than box. The box was made of a reflective black material, similar to the costumes the Wonderbolts wore, except several times tougher and rigid. Half the box was nothing more than a long line, which ran along the pony's neck and forced her to stare at the ground as she walked; the other half had a vaguely hourglass shape, and two metal latches to keep it closed. Dash realised it was more like an impractically-shaped and oversized suitcase.
The light grey coat of the mare herself somehow managed to blend in with the road as she walked. If it wasn't for her dark mane curling down the ponies face or the large case on her back, Dash guessed it would have been possible to miss her. As she got closer, a sweet lavender smell struck her in the face; growing stronger as she flew closer.
The mare stopped walking when she heard flapping behind her, and poked her head out from beneath the thing on her back. Seeing that it was only another pony, she quickly focused her attention back to the ground in front of her.
Dust that had gathered on the road kicked up as Rainbow landed next to the mare. She walked alongside her for a moment, before clumsily attempting to start a conversation.
"Hey. How's it going?"
The other pony turned to face Rainbow again, and blinked in confusion. A short moment passed between them, and Dash worried that she wasn't going to respond, until a voice managed to worm it's way out of the mare's mouth. It carried a refined tint in it, reminding Dash of her friend, Rarity. "Well."
Another moment passed while Dash waited for the mare to elaborate. When she didn't, Dash decided to continue. "Well what?"
The mare sighed sadly, like she had to deal with this kind of thing daily. "I'm simply well. Did you not want your question answered?" She replied.
"Well yes, but I've never heard someone reply with well."
"Clearly, you and I prefer different company then." She continued. "Is there a reason for beginning this conversation, or do you intend to bore me with your small talk?"
Dash shrugged, "I get the message, I'm not stupid. I just need to know if you know where Octavia is performing."
Raising an eyebrow curiously, the other pony replied carefully, "Perhaps the two of us do belong in the same crowd. I was just heading to Octavia's show myself. I must admit though, it truly is sad times when a performer such as herself has to work in a place such as this." The pony made a sweeping gesture, covering the entire park in front of her.
Dash struggled to find the correct words to express herself. Finally, she could find where Pinkie was. No more playing it safe or sneaking around. Floating closer to the pony, Dash practically shoved her nose into the mare's face. "You know where Octavia's show is? Where? Is it nearby, can you tell me?"
The mare stopped, and Dash followed suit. Sighing again, the pony walked around Dash in an attempt to avoid her. "Are you going to be like this the entire way?" She asked.
Dash nodded hastily, and the mare breathed in deeply. "Very well then. If you insist on walking alongside me, I would like to know why you need to go to Octavia's show so badly, without even having the knowledge to recognize the mare herself on the street." She said clearly.
It took a moment for this revelation to process inside Dash's head. When it finally did, Dash could feel her cheeks start to grow hot, and begin to take on a pinkish tinge. "You're Octavia?"
"Don't blush, you have enough ridiculous colours as it is."
"Hey, I happen to like my mane." Dash responded sharply.
Octavia's lips spread into a faint smile. "To each their own, I suppose. But back on the subject, why do you have such an interest in my show?"
Dash chuckled to try and relieve some of the tension in the air. It was largely ineffective. "If I told you the truth, you'd probably call me crazy and tell me to stop following you, so let's just say that I've always secretly enjoyed your music." She replied.
"And what kind of music would that be?" Octavia asked, obviously unconvinced.
"Umm, classical?" Dash guessed, dragging the letter L along as she finished.
Octavia snorted, breaking the façade of refined upperclassmare. "Lucky guess. Come on then, it's just up ahead. Since you're such a big fan though, you won't mind carrying my cello."
"What's a cello?" Rainbow managed to ask before the large case on Octavia's back flew towards her. She couldn't react in time, and the cello case managed to plant itself firmly on her back. She shouted in panic as the sudden weight pulled her downwards. The pegasus' wings were useless while pinned beneath the weight, and Dash landed, annoyed.
The owner of the case simply trotted forward, paying no mind to Rainbow as she moved. "You have two guesses on what a cello is." She added, still not facing Rainbow.
Dash shuffled restlessly under the case, but did her best to bear it. Anything to get closer to Pinkie.

Panting heavily, Dash struggled to keep her legs moving. She'd lost track of how long she'd walked, and the weight on her back pushed down harshly, forcing every inch of strength and resolve out of her. She wasn't expecting the case to be so heavy and it was all she could do to follow the grey mare in front of her. Her chest ached from the exertion and her wings had developed a cramp from being kept perfectly still. Finally, after what Dash guessed was hours, Octavia stopped walking and turned to face the exhausted pegasus.
Dash sighed in relief, and let the instrument fall to the ground. She could feel her blood rushing back into her wings, washing away the pricks and points that had built up. Stretching once to get the wake her wings up fully, she pulled her head up to look at her companion. Her companion who was nearly glowing red in anger.
"What in Canterlot do you think you're doing?"
Dash glanced around, confused. "Stretching?"
"Not that, you absolute rut. You can't just throw a cello on the ground, it's a very precise instrument! There are many small parts that could come loose. Strings could break! I understand that to one such as you, dropping things on the ground is a common practice, but where I come from you need a certain air of elegance." She replied.
"So? It's just a giant guitar, it's not like it's the last one in the world." Dash shouted back, before adding, "And what do you mean 'to one such as me?' Do you know who I am?"
Octavia rolled her eyes, "An egotistical weather mare?"
"NO! I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria."
"Right, like I said, an egotistical weather mare."
Dash took a step closer angrily, "Like you can call me egotistical. You're no better."
Octavia cocked her head to the side, and stood silently for a minute. "I suppose I'm not, am I? Just...just don't drop my cello again." She eventually answered.
Dash glanced back at the reflective case on the ground, and began to notice her surroundings. Between the pain of carrying the heavy instrument and the argument with Octavia, she'd barely been given a chance to take it all in. Not that there was much to take in anyway.
A large cloth building stood in front of her, stretching out of reach on her sides. The white and purple streaks stuck out from the dry green field awkwardly, as if it were trying to catch the attention of everyone that walked by. The entrance was currently closed with another cloth sheet, that hung across the only door. The occasional rope swung down from the top of the tent, but Dash didn't really see any need for them. Trotting closer to the door, Dash simply stared at it.
She needed to be fast. Get in, get out. She couldn't let Nightmare Moon even know what she was doing until it was too late. She swallowed nervously as she remembered what would happen if she screwed up. Nightmare would win, she would most likely get killed by her own duplicate and worst of all, Pinkie would be hurt. Taking in a deep breath, Dash turned to the pony gathered with her. "Sit back, Octy, I think this would be safer if you waited out here."
Octavie grinned, and stomped her hoof impatiently. "Firstly, this is my performance. I see no reason to wait outside when I could be spending time rehearsing. If anything, you should wait outside; It's bad luck to hear an unfinished piece. Secondly, even if there was somepony in there, I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself. Canterlot, despite it's fame, isn't the city of dreams. Finally, Octy? Don't call me that again.."
Dash shook her head, trying to clear her mind, "Look, it's just, things might get a little dangerous."
"What could possibly be dangerous in MY OWN PERFORMANCE?" Octavia shouted back.
Dash sighed, and turned back to the entrance. "Just stay back." She commented.
With a flick of wings and a lick of her lips, Dash thrust the cloth holding her back to the side.

Everything froze for a moment. Rainbow had intended to burst in before anyone inside realized that she was there, but that plan was stopped as her brain tried to process the absurdity of the scene in front of her. A large stage was set up at the back of the tent, with a spotlight hanging from the ceiling to capture the flair of anyone who performed on it. Two large speakers, similar to the ones that Vinyl had used at the entrance of the park were set up at the sides of the stage, dwarfing the small stand between them.
Dash didn't notice this; her eyes were too focused on the centre of the room. Sitting there was a large glass tank, about twice Rainbows height, filled with a bubbling green liquid. Tiki torches lined the top of the tank, marking in a circle the open lid. A table with two chairs was suspended above the open hole, hung in place by thick metal chains descending from the ceiling. Sitting in one of the chairs, obliviously sipping her cup of tea despite the danger, was a large robot Dash recognized.
A loud cracking sound shot through the room, and Dash was broken out of her trance. She acted instinctively and leapt forward aimlessly, rolling across the ground. She jumped upwards, attempting to regain control and stop her spinning, only to be greeted by a thick glass wall. The sound of hoofsteps appeared behind her, and her companion couldn't help but comment.
"Well, this was unexpected."
Rarity's mascot carefully placed her cup down on the table, and turned her head to face her guests. Her pale yellow dress shined slightly in the sunlight, and the tight-fitting hat on her head obscured her horn. "There you are, Octavia. You simply must come up here and join me. Have you heard the latest news about Fluer de Lis?" She asked, not bothering to raise her voice. Dash glanced behind her, not understanding why she was being ignored.
The grey mare shook her head, "I'm afraid I haven't. Perhaps we could discuss it later? I have a show beginning in little over an hour and I need to set up. I expect you will remove this...obstruction in time for my performance?"
Rarity nodded, before adding, "Shouldn't take too long, I just need to bring my friend Dash into questioning."
Rainbow snapped her mouth shut, and started to run off the questions building in her head. "Wait, hang on. Did you know about this Octi? Are you working for them? How could you do this to me, I thought we were cool." She stopped for a moment, and turned back to the mascot. "Why are you still calling it questioning? I thought we got over that. Either decide to kill me or take me hostage, stop switching between the two. Where is Pinkie?" Dash stopped for a moment as this question sunk in. "Where is she!"
The mascot released to short bursts of static, creating a quick tsk tsk. "Did you expect the game to be easy? We wouldn't want you to finish too fast. Consider it a lesson in finesse, Dearie. You always did need lessons in finesse."
Dash saw Octavia make her way across the room towards the stage, before clearing her head of distractions and focusing on her aggressor. The tension she was holding in her wings was released in a gust of power as she shot into the air, closing the gap between her and the mascot.
"NO. NO. I'm not doing this. You bring Pinkie back here right now!" Dash shouted.
"I don't even have the power to do so, dear. What I do have however," Rarity stopped as she fumbled around on the table, before levitating a small scrap of paper off it. Her white aura blocked Dash from reading it, but she didn't need to be a genius to know what it was.
"Is this."
Dash swallowed angrily, "Another note from Pinkie? Stop wasting my time and hand it over then!"
Rarity's double chuckled. "I'd rather throw one of my dresses into this acid." She commented.
Dash grimaced, and flew closer. She needed to pay attention though, if she got to close her wing might collide with the mascot, and she would go tumbling into the acid beneath her. "Give me the note, Rarity." Dash said sternly.
Rarity stared at her opponent. The tension rose into the air, rising to a powerful pitch, until she replied with an indignant "Make me."

Dash moved quickly in an attempt to gain the first punch, only to be knocked out of the air by the mascots hoof connecting with her chin. The world spun around randomly as she fell, and she blinked hastily to try and make everything right again. Her wings, used to the strain of moving quickly, adjusted themselves almost immediately to compensate for her sudden lose of height. Almost involuntarily, she found herself hovering in the air, the lethal pit of green ooze beneath her.
A pain had already begun to spread through her lower jaw, and Dash browsed around quickly for whatever was causing that low pitched ringing noise. She noted that Octavia was apparently more interested in her instrument than the fight breaking out, but that hardly explained the noise. A new noise, nearly unnoticeable in it's volume, managed to reach Dash's ears. With a second to react, the pegasus stopped flapping her wings, pulling her dangerously close to whatever was in the tank. The alternative though, staying still and letting the floating butterknife cut her wings off, was an option Dash wasn't willing to take.
Grinning as the adrenaline finally hit her body, Rainbow pushed her wings powerfully. She flew quickly, nearly parallel to the acid beneath her, and made a desperate push towards the edge of the tank. Two torches crossed against each other in front of her, but Dash didn't even have time to react. Twisting sideways, she managed to lessen the blow against her slightly. It wasn't much, but every bit helped in a fight.
Landing hastily, Dash scanned around quickly for her opponent. Something smelled like burning fur, but Dash ignored it for the moment. Probably just burned herself a little. She noted Octavia standing nearby, still too busy to acknowledge the fight, but was struggling to find Rarity. She heard something behind her, like the click of a unicorns horn, and turned as fast as she could.
For some reason, Rarity was still sitting in the exact same position as she was before. She hadn't even bothered to get down from the table. Instead, she gave Dash a second to realize what she was planning, before releasing a rain of sharp metal down upon her. Forks, knives, cups, whatever Rarity had placed on the table.
Dash swallowed nervously and gritted her teeth. Nightmare Moon was going to need a lot more than spoons to stop her.
A slight explosion of rainbow colours appeared where Dash was standing as she shot into the air. Dash kept her eyes locked forward, focusing on each individual projectile. Something sharp grazed against her mane, and she barrel rolled out of the way of another knife.
Far away, in an unexplored corner of the cosmos, an ageing rabbit smiled in pride. He couldn't explain it, but for some reason, he felt fulfilled, as if he'd completed his purpose in life. His companions, noticing this, shook their heads sadly before returning to their duties.
Dash continued moving steadily forward. Other than a few scratches from when she had been distracted, she was no worse for ware. She dove out of the way of another attack, before rising quickly to dodge the fork waiting for her. Her target was just out of reach, she needed to get closer. A whistle broke her concentration at the last second, and Dash turned quickly. Another knife, smaller than the rest, was racing towards her head. Dash reacted the only way she could.
The knife flew forward, until it was suddenly stopped by a pair of shining white teeth. Rainbow gripped the knife tightly in her mouth and pushed backwards with her wings. The momentum of the knife and the power of her gust forced her back quickly, directly into the path of the Rarity imposter.
Dash grinned victoriously as she pulled her front hoof back. All it would take is a slight push, and Rarity would go plummeting into the acid below. Her hoof was a cyan blur as she swung, until Rainbow stopped to look at Rarity. Instantly, hundreds of thoughts rushed through the pegasus' head.
It was just so perfect. Everything about Rarity was perfection. Her shining coat, her trimmed mane, the way her dress blended in perfectly with her body, even the hat on her head added to the image. This wasn't a pony, it wasn't even a mascot. Dash wasn't one for poetry or even art in general but this was something which made her freeze. This was a piece of art, a slice of both perfection and godhood. Dash hesitated for a second. How could she destroy something so amazing? How could she even damage something so brilliant?
Rarity took advantage of the split second wait, and threw her own hoof into Rainbow's face.
Dash tumbled, still spell struck, until she felt the wind push against her back and realised what happened. A pain returned to the side of her head and she levelled out again, retreating back to the ground.
She spun back around to prepare for an attack, grabbing a glimpse of the mascot while she did. Looking up at her, Dash had no clue what was going on. She wasn't that pretty.
Dash gritted her teeth in an attempt to stave of the pain of her battle, and flew into the air again. This time, no getting distracted. Rarity changed her tactics to suit the situation, and instead pulled the kitchen ware gathered on the ground into the air.
Light reflected off of each one, making the floor look like a disco instead of the packed dirt it was. The cutlery floated around each other aimlessly, and Dash let her curiosity get the better of her. Slowly, the metal items began to spin around each other, gaining speed with each passing second. A mini tornado formed around the wares and a high pitched scratching noise began to fill the tent. The pegasus could feel the building get warmer and rubbed her forehead to remove the perspiration that was gathering there.
When she removed her hoof, the weapons of the robotic unicorn were gone. In their place stood a giant ball of molten metal, held together with nothing but magic and the anger of every physicist in the universe.
A bubble formed on the surface of the ball, exploded and rushed towards the stunned pegasus. Dash snapped out of her trance quickly, and focused all her strength into one push of her wings. Rushing upward quickly, Dash took in all these revelations as fast as she could.
First, the ball of magma was chasing her. It was moving slowly, but if Dash got distracted for a split second, it would all be over.
Second, Rarity was controlling the magma and still hadn't moved. If Rainbow could just get one punch off on the unicorn, she could easily win the fight and stop wasting time dodging through the air like a fool. Fashion magic or not, Dash wasn't going to let a victory this easy slip her by.
Finally, Octavia was still just watching the fight. She'd apparently given up trying to tune her instrument, and now just watched the two legends fight each other over a pit of acid. Occasionally, she would click her hooves together and glance around the room, but otherwise paid close attention to the battle.

Dash grit her teeth together for the hundreth and something time that day, and focused on her target. All other distractions faded slowly, until only her and Rarity remained. A slight wind, nothing more than a current, ran through Dash's wings, and she smiled. This was her zone, the sky was her zone.
On the ground, that's where the Earth ponies fought. Fighting through the dust and the mud, the leaves and the rocks. A flat battleground, with plenty of distractions and obstacles. There was nothing like that in the air. No trees for her target to hind behind, no tricks for her prey to pull.
Rarity was an idiot for thinking that she could fight Rainbow in her zone, in her domain. The unicorn should have stayed on the ground.
The pony's wings bent slightly to catch the air and the pegasus was propelled forward. She could feel each breath of wind on her skin, and sensed the ball moving closer. Dash closed her eyes and dived down. Her back felt like it was on fire as she skimmed the surface of the improvised weapon.
A sliver of wind rushed into the ball, and Dash foresaw the incoming explosion. She turned in the air again, switching air currents, and her back burned again as she narrowly avoided the attack.
Hot wind, like steam, began to vibrate off of the molten core and Dash quickly realised what it meant. The mare opened her eyes quickly to see the ball shaking as the magic holding it together fell apart. She searched desperately for a way to escape, and grabbed the first chance she got. A single forgotten current.
The hot air pushed her into the sky quickly as the core exploded beneath her. Even more hot air rushed into her back, forcing her forward even faster. She didn't bother to turn around and witness it though, her target was right in front of her. Dash pulled back her arm, and pushed forward with all the force of the sky behind her.
"Suck on my missile punch, Rarity!"

Rainbow wasn't sure what happened next. She rubbed her head sorely and tried to brush the dirt out of her mane. She hastily tried to form thoughts again, trying to figure out what went wrong. A feminine laugh sounded behind her and everything came back quickly.
She'd fallen for it again. She couldn't hurt that damn 'work of art.' The mare remembered pulling away at the last second, and flying past the mascot as the explosion flared behind her. She'd struggled to find the air currents again, they were all wrong, all messed up, and she'd tumbled to the ground.
Groaning painfully, Dash turned around to face Rarity. She wasn't going to give up, not now. She didn't care if she needed to fail a thousand times, she was going to save her friend. The taste of dirt built up in her mouth, and she spat indignantly. She was going to save Pinkie, if it killed both of them.
The robot looked down at her coldly, and flared her horn. Dash looked up at the robot cruelly, and revved her wings. A moment of tension lingered in the air, until a bell rang inside the heads of the two competitors. Dash lunged up, aiming directly for the mascot.
Only to crash directly into the ground again when a grey pony leapt into her vision.
A squeak escaped the cyan pony's lips as she crashed again. Immediately, she pulled her head up to make sure the robot wasn't attacking, before spinning to face Octavia.
"Are you crazy? Get out of here!"
The refined mare shook her head. "Listen Rainbow. My performance is due in little over thirty minutes now. This fight is as effective as teaching Vinyl to play the double bass, so I intend to finish it." She ignored Dash's angry response, and scanned around for the other pony. "Rarity, dear, this fight is unbecoming for everypony involved. How would you respond to solving it in a more classy manner?"
A low hum echoed out of the building as the fake Rarity raised a hoof, "Hmm. I must admit, this has been tiring. What do you suggest?"
Dash leapt back to her feet, and shoved her nose into Octavia's face. "Classy? I don't do classy. If this is something prissy, like a fashion show or a shoe shopping marathon, I'm just going to fly back to Rarity right now."
"If you had cared to let me explain, perhaps you would not be so opposed. If you would move back, I will explain what I am expecting." Octavia answered, refusing to move out of Rainbows glare.
Hesitantly, the pegasus moved backwards. Crossing her arms, she stared at the mare. "Fine. If this lets me finish faster, let's hear it."
Octavia nodded, satisfied. "What I am about to suggest is a simple, fast, non violent challenge between the two of you. In the past, this practice was used to settle disputes between the lower class, who refused to conform to 'prissy' activities, and the upper class, who refused to lose their status by competing with the lower class. It was specially crafted by Princess Celestia over five hundred years ago as a way to solve the problem, by providing a middle ground for both classes, something both would agree to. It is an ancient and time honoured tradition, and it's greatest practitioners have gone down in history and reformed as legends."
Octavia stopped for a moment, letting her speech sink in before continuing. "I speak of course, of a rap battle."

A heavy silence hovered in the air, followed by a quick snapping as Dash pulled her jaw back into her mouth. She struggled to create words, seemingly overwhelmed with the revelation. Eventually, she wiped the foam away from her mouth and shouted at the top of her voice. "YES! Yes yes yes. Always yes. We are doing this!"
An indecisive groan rang out from the table above the tank. "I'm not so sure. Are you certain that this is an actual thing, Octavia?"
The questioned mare simply grinned. "Of course it's a real thing. It would be a crime to lie about the ancient art of rap. There have been hundreds of famous rappers, who made a high class living by solving disputes amongst ponies the only way they knew how."
Rarity was still unconvinced. "Uhh, I don't know. It would be a lie to say I wasn't enjoying putting this fake Rainbow in her place."
Rainbow responded quickly, pointing at her enemy. "We've been over this before, I'm the real Rainbow. You're the fake one."
"I'm fake in the same way your mane is." Rarity responded.
It took a moment for Rainbow to understand this insult, but when she did, everything got serious. The pegasus turned to Octavia quickly, shoving herself back into the mare's face. "Oh it's on. Octavia, how do we do this rap battle? I want to destroy her."
The other mare sighed sadly, stepping backwards. "First, you get out of my face and learn a thing or two about personal space. Then, you and Rarity face each other, I issue the challange, the rap ensues, I decide the winner, everypony is happy and we can finally get rid of the giant tank of acid before my performance because seriously where the hay do you even get that much acid?" She explained.
Dash shrugged and flexed her wings. "I can do that."

The loud crack! of Rainbow launching herself echoed through the tent as she flew towards Rarity. The white mare zoomed into Dash's vision, filling it, and she stopped quickly. The rush of wind kicked her in the back, but she managed to hold her own against it. The two took a moment to stare into each others eyes. For Dash, it was to try and find out what was really going on through the mascot's head. Why did they think they were the real elements? If they did, why were they working for Nightmare Moon? What was a sign of weakness in a robot, and how could she use that?
Was this machine better than her?
For Rarity's fake, it was to try and settle her mind. Who was she? She was Rarity, wasn't she? That was why she obsessed over clothes, cleaned herself to perfection. She had to be Rarity, there was no other option. This mare, this fake Rainbow, wanted to destroy everything she was, to destroy her very faith in reality. She needed to win, it was the only way to find the true answer to the question plaguing her mind.
Who are you, Rainbow?
Eventually, the rivals broke off their contact. It was powerful, almost like losing a limb. Dash recoiled for a split second, before turning to Octavia.
"All right, ready to do this?"
The grey mare nodded, before pointing out a very important problem. "I just need a name. It is both unlucky and undignified to go without a name in a rap battle.
Dash shrugged again, an impressive feat considering she was flying in the air. "Just call me...what's that fancy thing everypony put's in front of their name?"
"M.C?" Octavia suggested.
"Yea, that's the one. What does it even mean?"
The grey mare made her way across the floor, eventually settling in front of the large stage. "It stands for Master of Ceremonies. Usually it's reserved for the pony hosting the event, who would be me, but I assume you don't care about that."
"Call me M.C. Rainboom." Dash shouted.
Octavia sighed, "Of course you don't." The pony directed her attention to the shining white robot sitting next to Rainbow, and asked, "And you?"
Rarity thought for a bit before replying, "Unlike my opponent, I will be modest. You can call me D.J. Rare."
"Still doesn't make sense, since I know a disk jockey and you barely know what a turntable is, but okay. Let us begin."
Octavia lifted a large instrument to her side. It was huge, almost as large as the mare herself, and four strings ran down from the tip of the object to the bottom. A low ringing vibrated through the room as Octavia pulled a thin stick across the face of the instrument.
There was a brief moment as Octavia settled into a groove. While the instrument wasn't the best settled for a strong sound, in the current situation, it managed to try it's best. Dash spun back to the robot, and decided that now seemed like the best time to begin.
Before she could though, the music stopped, and Octavia pointed at Rainbow Dash.
"Let the rap battle of M.C. Rainboom vs D.J. Rare, begin!"
The pegasus took in a deep breath, and spouted out the first thing that came to her head.

"Alright let's go,
can't go slow,
like a crow,
cause this show,
with the flow
is all. about. me.

They call me Rainbow Dash
the mare with the clash
I have so much cash
and I'm making a splash
cause to me you're just trash
who needs to shut up and play.

You say you shine that coat?
I say you're a liar.
You say you got the high note?
Now you're in the fire.
Cause M.C Rainboom is in the tent
and she ain't living till y'all are spent."

Dash swallowed silently as she caught her breath. She wasn't sure if that was how you did it, but Octavia didn't seem to be calling foul, so Dash assumed she did something right.
Rarity, on the other hand, was just staring at Dash stupidly. A brief moment of silence fell over the tent as the gears ground together in Rarity's head, until eventually, something crackled out of the speaker in her face, slightly distorted by the static.

"Is that all you've got?
Please, it's barely hot,
Call yourself a big shot,
I have to ask 'what?'
You don't have a shot
because in this lot?
it's all. about. me.

D.J Rare is my name,
and my claim to fame,
gonna win this game
and prove you're lame
put you over a flame
cause you can't even fight.

You're got a mane full of rainbow
like it ain't even fake
Do you need me to slow
because I'm bout to make
glue out of this competition
like a rhyme technician.
Got a plan and a mission
on the fourth edition.

Dash pulled her jaw back into her mouth for the second time in the last hour, and pointed slyly at the mascot. "I wasn't expecting you to actually know how to rap." She commented.
"I was surprised at your skills, actually."
Dash grinned, "Well let's go, round two."

I don't need a plan
cause I'm the man
like Flim and Flan
with a coat a' cyan,
can hit like a van
who's bout to can
a prissy. stupid. mare

My mane's fake like fire
and yours ain't better
my mane can inspire
yours looks like a sweater
I'm running circles round ya
so go back to ya spa.
fore I take you down
and ruin your gown.

Dash stopped again, swallowing nervously. She glanced back to Octavia, who was too wrapped up in her music to pay attention. She spun back to Rarity, who cocked her head to the side before crackling back to life.

My mane is perfect,
you know it's the truth.
you're just a stupid reject
who's really uncouth.
You smell like a dog
and look like a frog
so why continue this slog;
when you know. I'll. Win.

The robot stopped, her mechanical voice dissipating into the air. Only the high pitched ringing of Octavia's music remained in the air. Dash floated silently, glancing around the room awkwardly. Another moment passed, and Dash focused her attention on Rarity.
"Is that it?"
The mascot simply stared at Rainbow. Dash guessed she was trying to...blink maybe? The all too familiar sound of static slapped her in the face again, and Rarity spoke.
"Length does not begat quality. One verse is all I shall need to win this. The entire thing is a pitiful display of idiocy anyway."
A soft chuckle rose out over the music and the music faltered briefly. It collected itself quickly though, and continued the same repetitive beat for a couple for minutes. The mare weaving the tune opened her eyes open, breaking herself from the sound of her beat. Two pairs of eyes remained locked on her as she did, and slowly, the music stopped.
The sound hovered in the air for a few moments more, before being overwhelmed by the sounds of the park outside and disappearing forever.
Octavia sighed sadly, and pulled a piece of fluff out of her ear. "Is it over?"
Dash and Rarity exchanged looks. "It was over a couple of minutes ago." Dash said.
"Why didn't you say something then instead of sitting around like pair of semi disabled geese?"
Dash flew closer to the musician. "I didn't say anything because I thought you'd be paying enough attention to notice. Clearly you couldn't do that, could you?" Dash said calmly, a sliver of annoyance escaping her words.
"I could judge a battle in eight different languages. It's just that..." Octavia bit her lip, and broke eye contact.
Instead of focusing on Rainbow Dash again, she turned to Rarity. "It's just that, I've never heard more terrible rap. A piece of my soul was lost today, and I fear it may never be found. Foals are weeping in the streets over how terrible it was. It single handedly managed to revive not only Discord, but also everypony related to him in the past two hundred years. I only managed to survive with my sanity by physically blocking the sound from my ears." Octavia explained, placing her cello on the ground and leaping off the stage.
Rarity was silent for a moment, until this information processed. "But you're the judge! How can you judge without hearing the competition? How could you even hear your own music and when did you find the time to insert the ear plugs anyway?"
Octavia simply shrugged and Rainbow picked up where the mascot left off. "So who won? It was me, wasn't it? Don't lie to me, I totally won that."
"Darling, nopony won, she wasn't even listening." Rarity called down.
Octavia raised her hoof into the air, and pointed at Rainbow. She kept tight eye contact with Rarity though, barely daring to break it. "Actually, M.C Rainboom was the winner."

The words floated through the air, disappearing nearly as quickly as they arrived. Both of the competitors stood silently, not reaching the common conclusion. Octavia switched her attention between both of them, and pointed at Rainbow again. Dash simply stared at the hoof quietly; gears grinding in her head.
"Shall I repeat it? Rainbow is the winn--"
"WHAT?" Rarity shouted suddenly.
"Rainbow is the winner. She won the battle. The victory belongs to her." Octavia smirked at Rarity as she continued, "Shall I go on?"
"THERE IS NO NEED FOR THAT!" Rarity said, still shouting.
A loud cheer exploded out from behind Octavia as Dash shot into the sky. The winner pumped her hooves into the air, shouting loudly while he did. A bright rainbow trail followed her across the room, and a slight wind picked up as she soared clockwise through the air. The trail stopped suddenly as Rainbow froze directly in front of Rarity's face, and shoved her hoof into the robot's nose. "In your face! Bet you're wishing you had that extra verse now, aren't you. Haha, I became the greatest rapper who ever lived today, what have you done? Besides lose." She taunted.
The robot shoved Rainbow back, ignoring Dash's childish squeal as she flew backwards. "Impossible! Lies! This contest was rigged! You didn't even listen to it." She shouted down at the judge.
Octavia simply stared up at the mare, keeping her calm composure. "Are you implying I made my decision in haste? Are you saying that my award was indecently given? To do so would disgrace the ancient name of rap; something I will never do. I do not need to hear the rap, and I am glad I didn't. Simply reading your lips was enough."
"You can't make a decision off simply lip reading! I demand a do-over."
Octavia spun around, turning her back to the mascot. Slowly, she made her way across the tent, ignoring the cries from the mare behind her. Her instrument lay on the stage in front of her, and in a swift movement, she lifted the bow of the cello into her hoof. Rainbow rushed down to meet her before she could turn around, and asked a question that was building on her mind. "Umm, Octy--"
"Octavia, no pony calls me Octy."
"What about Vinyl?"
Octavia shuddered. "No pony noteworthy calls me Octy
"Right, right, Octavia then. Rarity has no lips. So how can you...you know, lip read?" Dash pointed out, pointing at the robot while clenching her teeth.
Octavia turned away from Dash, and made her way back towards the giant tank in the centre of the tent. "As long as she doesn't realise she doesn't have lips, I think I can get away with it."
A loud thump wavered through the air as Dash landed harshly on the stage. Her wings burned from the sudden stop in movement after such a long use, but Dash ignored it as she watched Octavia intently.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
Octavia grinned. "Watch, I have a feeling things may get uncivilised soon."
"-op ignoring me! Don't make me come down there. There is no way in Tartaris that I'm losing to somepony like Rainbow." Rarity shouted, still trying to get the ponies gathered to listen to her.
"Now now, Rarity. You lost fair and square. Hoof over the letter as we agreed and we'll all be on our way. Rainbow can rush off to do whatever it is she's doing, you can go nurse your pride and maybe learn some humility fit for someone hoping to be high class and I can finally get rid of the cartoonishly monolithic tank of acid and prepare for a proper show. Seriously, where could you even find all this acid?" Octavia said, gripping her bow harder. A hint of something different hung behind her words though, turning each one into a subtle threat. Dash couldn't pick out what it was, but something had changed in the air.
The robots eyes stared out blankly at Octavia, before a simple reply buzzed out. "I refuse."
Octavia smacked her tongue against her teeth, creating a short tsk tsk, before responding. "Give me the note, Rarity. I can solve this without either one of us getting hurt."
"I will not lose Sweetie because of some stuck up mare and her stupid rap traditions. I will stop Rainbow, even if it takes me all day."
Dash blinked for a moment, and suddenly Octavia moved. A cloud of dust drifted off her hooves as she balanced on the edge of the tank. The sun caught on her polished bow; wielded horizontally at the end of her hoof. She looked up, locking eyes with the robot suspended in the air.
"Your first mistake was offending me,"
Octavia moved again, leaping high into the air. She hung at the apex of her jump for a moment and Dash considered rushing out to save her. Luckily, Octavia managed to land on the open seat hanging next to Rarity's. She maintained eye contact, twisting her mouth into a possessed grin. The bow glinted dangerously, the string along the edge hardened to a diamonds edge.
"Your second mistake was belittling rap."
Rarity realised what was going to happen a fraction too late. The chain holding the table to the roof cracked as the string of the bow cut through it like Batman cuts through villains. The mascot tried to fight back as her horn lit up, but the effort was wasted. The table and it's contents went tumbling down into the tank, splashing it's contents onto everything in the tent. Octavia kept a calm demeanour as the ground fell out from under her. A quick push with her hooves, and the mare managed to escape her death, just barely landing outside the tank. A faint grunt of pain managed to worm it's way out of her chest as she rolled, eventually stopping on her back.
"But the final straw was attempting to delay my show for an entire day."

A wet snap disappeared as soon as it appeared when Dash snapped her mouth shut. She rushed over to Octavia, careful not to say anything that might anger her again. She extended her hoof out to help Octavia of the ground, and released the amazement raising in her chest.
"What the hay just happened? How did you do that?"
Octavia grabbed Dash's hoof, and pulled herself off her back. "I live in Canterlot. It pays to learn a little self defence."
"That wasn't self defence, that was something I'd expected to find in over indulgent Daring Do fiction."
"Well, I did train exclusively in kick-flank; and it only improves my chances by being an Earth pony."
Dash swapped glances between Octavia and the tank of acid, focusing her hardest on figuring out whether she was being sarcastic. Eventually, Octavia released her from her misery with a cheerful smile.
"I'm kidding. There is no kick-flank fighting style." Octavia clarified, before switching topics suddenly. "It would be most helpful if you moved the tank for me. I'm afraid it's a little to big for me."
Dash's situation slammed back into her. She turned around quickly to look over the acid, and leapt into the air. Scanning over the surface of the tank, Dash tried to pin point the sunken table. At a lose for words, she faced Octavia. "Oh no oh no oh no. Octavia, did you manage to get a piece of paper for you jumped off? Covered in pink writing?"
Octavia's smile didn't waver. "Did it look like this?" She asked, lifting a small scrap of white paper off the ground.
Dash rushed towards it, ripping it from her mouth harshly. "Thank Celestia." She voiced to herself.
The other mare poked her head behind Dash's and tried to figure out what the big deal was. "It's just a slip of paper, calm down. Are you really amused by things such as this?"
Dash lowered the paper as she looked up. "No, I'm not amused; but this is very important. I need this to find Pinkie. She's been foalnapped."
Octavia's expression changed instantly, taking on a serious glare. "What? Who did it? Where are they?"
Taking a step back in shock, Dash struggled to hammer out the words. "It was Nightmare Moon. She's come back. I'm not sure, but I think she may be hurting Pinkie and she was the one that built the mascots here."
"That's impossible, she'd have to own the place to do that." Octavia said, her expression softening.
"She does own the place! Everything!"
"Now you're just being crazy. I've met the owner. He's an old friend of mine, white mane, kinda slow. Knows his music though."
Dash was prepared to shout out a quick response, but her tongue stuck to the back of her throat as this revelation hit her. "What? No, no, Nightmare owns this place. She built the mascot!" Dash yelled, pointing to the acid.
"I'm asking you to stop. This park doesn't have mascots. Whatever that thing was, it didn't work for this park. And I will not tolerate you offending the owner of this establishment by calling him a foalish child's tale." Octavia purposefully bent down and lifted her bow off the place where it had fallen. "Do I make myself clear, Rainbow?"
Dash swallowed the saliva that gathered in her mouth. "Ye...yes. Sorry."
Octavia pointed at the exit with her bow. "I would leave now. There is much for me to do."
Dash glanced at everything in the room. Octavia, the exit, the simmering container of acid, the note in her mouth, and nodded silently.
A rainbow trail followed behind her as she rushed out the door, eager to continue her journey and to save her friend.

Behind her, back in the musicians tent, Octavia sighed sadly. She fiddled with her bow for a second, adjusting the string to relieve some of it's tension before it snapped. Time passed quickly as she sat there, lost in a world of her own creation, until she was satisfied and stepped forward. The tank filled her vision, blocking out everything else tethering her to the world.
She placed her hoof on the glass surface, and tapped hastily. A hail of green liquid covered her, and a brilliant white mare shot out of the tank.
It took a deep 'breath' and pulled itself over the edge, landing harshly on the ground. Another moment passed as it gathered its senses.
"Can you believe she fell for it?" Rarity's mascot asked, facing Octavia.
"I know, how stupid can you get?"
"The stuff glows GREEN for crying out loud. Amazing what ponies believe when you repeat it enough."
Octavia simply nodded, and raised her hoof. "You need some help there?"
Rarity turned her head to examine her coat, before snapping it back forwards. "I must look dreadful right now. Why am I the one who got dunked in water?"
"Because, peasant, only you would work with Octavia. The mare's insufferable." Another voice called out, shaking the foundations of the tent.
The two ponies turned to face the newcomer, and Nightmare Moon stepped down from the stage. She strode across the floor, keeping an air of silent dignity while she did. When she reached the pair though, the illusion was broken the second a powerful slap pierced the side of Octavia's face.
The refined mare hit the ground, clutching the side of her face. "What was that for?" She shouted, gritting her teeth.
"You nearly ruined everything. The plan has barely begun, and I won't let some low class fool stop it this early."
Octavia glared back at the royal alicorn. "What? What did I do? I followed everything to the letter!"
Nightmare sighed, and placed her hoof on Octavia's chin softly. "Poor delusional Octy. Can you not see it?"
Nightmare waited a moment for a response, until she realised none was coming and pushed down harshly on Octavia's neck. "Pinkie wrote about you in her note! She told Rainbow you were working for us! If the mare in question wasn't as thick as a herd of buffaloes, the whole plan would have fallen apart. It's pure, blind luck that you managed to intercept her before she got here."
Octavia grappled with the hoof at her throat, struggling to take in air. Her efforts were wasted when Nightmare simply pushed down harder, throwing her weight onto the mare. "I will not tolerate failures in my army. Give me one reason you should continue to live before my patience is up."
Octavia gasped weakly, unable to form words from the lack of air. A few more pitiful gasps, and her hooves fell to her sides effortlessly.
"She can still be useful." Rarity chirped up, attracting the alicorns attention.
Nightmare raised an eyebrow, and motioned for Rarity to continue.
"You don't have that many ponies willing to follow you. Every one you mindlessly slaughter is another job that needs to be filled by more competent ponies such as myself."
Nightmare pushed down on the musician harder, and formed her response. "We have others. One extra lost makes little difference."
"Don't let your own anger cripple you this early in the game. Let Octavia go."
Nightmare Moon faltered, glancing between the mascot and the pony trapped beneath her hooves. With a swift sigh, she moved forward, stepping off the mare. Octavia lay still for a moment, before coughing violently and gasping for air. Her pained breaths were the only sound in the tent, until Nightmare decided to interrupt.
"Any of her mistakes are on your head, Rarity. Understand this."
Rarity nodded silently, and the alicorn turned to leave. Her starry mane wavered in the air for a second before disappearing, leaving the two mares alone.
Octavia gasped for several more minutes, before forcing out her thanks. "Thank...thank you, Rarity."
"It was nothing, dear. She tends to get a little emotional at times, it helps to stay out of her way in those times."
Forcing herself to her unsteady feet, Octavia coughed again. "No need to tell me. So what do we do now?"
Rarity turned away from her companion, and sighed. "Now we rest, and hope Rainbow knows what she's doing."

The prickly point of this pretty park.

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The buzz of the crowd overwhelmed Rainbow Dash as moved through the air. Clasped in her mouth was a small scrap of paper. She held it so tightly that her gums started to ache from the pressure but she knew that this was important. If she lost this paper, she lost Pinkie, and that was more than enough reason to keep the note safe. The next clue to the puzzle was tantalizing close, but she needed to be safe before she read it. There wasn't nose or tail of the monsters that were chasing her and letting her guard down now was just asking for one of them to jump out and cut her in half.
She slowed for a moment, despite the danger. The implications of what had just happened were finally catching up to her. She'd managed to kill one of the mascots. Not just injure or incapacitate, but straight up murder one of the creatures. She tried to smile in relief, or at least pride but the smile never came. The final words of the creatures hung heavy on her mind, and when combined with what her mascot said, cast a dark shadow over Dash's actions. Had she made the right choice? She'd barely even thought about it since she'd arrived, but now it was unavoidable. It was impossible to deny that the mascots acted extremely similar to her friends, and that they truly believed they were the real elements. The thought finally managed to get beneath Dash's skin, and she shivered. How would Twilight react to someone pretending to be her? How would Rarity, or Fluttershy? They'd try to help them, figure out their motives, to reason with them, not fight aimlessly.
Dash raised her hoof as she slowed down more. On the other hand though, they were simply machines. Nothing more, nothing less. She'd even watched one of them be repaired. Reasoning with one would be impossible. They did what they had to do, and that was that.
Swallowing nervously, Dash landed in the crowd. Several of the ponies present shouted at her sudden appearance, but she paid them no mind. The paper still needed to be open. Scanning through the sea of ponies, Dash tried to pick out a safe place, a bastion from anything that sought to harm her. Someone shoved past her, causing her to swing forward and capture a glance of the most beautiful thing she could have seen.

An empty stall sat on the side of the road, covered in a faint film of dust. A large red cloth covered the stall from the elements, and the prying eyes of anyone flying overhead. Spiders walked across the surface of the wooden counter, before retreating back into their nests as Dash came closer. It wasn't what she was expecting, but there wasn't time to waste searching for a better place. Leaping over the top, Dash landed on the other side gracefully. She crouched behind the counter, hiding her from the crowd passing by. Only someone sneaking up from behind would be able to see her now. Glancing around one final time for her attackers, Dash spat the note onto the ground. A neat crease ran down the middle of the note, folding it in half and smothering the words within. Dash moved to open it, but stopped when she realised her hoof was still planted firmly on the ground.
How could she open it? Not five minutes ago, she'd been made painfully aware of just how much danger she was in. She'd nearly been burnt to a crisp by a shameless copy of one of her friends. Anything could be written on the other side of that note. Pinkie could be injured, or dying or even dead, and this note would be all that was left. All to tell her about the terrible deed. Yet she needed to open it, the only way to save Pinkie was to brave whatever fear was holding her back. Shrugging, Dash pushed forward, finally flipping the dreaded note open. Whatever news it had for her, it was better to be prepared. Besides, she couldn't hide forever.

Hiya Dashie, they moved me again. I didn't want to but the scary pony says it's like a game and that I should play, which is sweet because I like games. Is this game fun for you Dashie? It's like the time we beat Celestia in flying dodgeball, only with less balls and more blindfolds. I don't see why the blindfolds are necessary though. Oh, they say I need to tell you where I am. I'm sorry it took so long for me to get to this, you're probably reading this on the fly. Literally. Well, let's see here. I spy with my little eyes, something that feels. Metal; and slimy. Also, some sort of water, maybe a log ride? I hope so, I wanted to go to the log ride today but I couldn't figure out how to fit it into the schedule so instead we shot Trixie with water guns.
Have you talked to Robo-Pinkie yet? She's really interested in you, even more than Nightmare is. She can really talk your ear off though, sometimes I just wish she would stop talking so I could talk, but she just keeps going and going. It's a good thing I know when to stop, unlike her. The two of us are going to throw a party when this is all done, but I'm not sure I like her ideas because really, who eats cheesecake on a Wednesday?
Oops, black pony says I lost track again, but that's crazy because a track can't move. Anyway, I suppose this is where I end it. If you come across a candy shop, can you remember to buy me some chocolate before we rush off? I could really use some chocolate right now. Being a damsel in distress is tiring.

The note drifted to the floor slowly as Dash threw her weight against the stall behind her. Her gaze drifted upwards as she focused on the clouds drifting lazily through the sky. Years of working for the Ponyville weather force gave her a kind of instinct when it came to stray clouds, and she felt the urge to fly up there and tidy them up. Moving though, seemed like a challenge. All the bruises and battle scars she'd gathered through her short adventure at the park crashed down on her once she stopped moving and it took most of her will power to stay awake.
She knew she should get going. The stall was barely a safe place to begin with and the longer she waited the more danger she placed everyone in. Focusing all her strength into a single arm, she tried to lift it into the air. It struggled up to her face, before she dropped it limply. She gritted her teeth as she adjusted herself, placing her in a more comfortable position. Her eyes drifted close and she was unable to stop them.
For a moment, everything was perfect as the pain disappeared for a second. The warm sun on her fur provided an indescribable change from her worries and Dash reviled in it. Her pained mind drifted through a sea of thoughts, eventually settling on the happiest one.

She was resting on a cloud back in Ponyville, without any killer robots, or insane dictators, or kidnapped friends, or any of the harsh reality crashing down on her. Slowly, the memories of her day came back to her. She needed to go and visit her friend Pinkie Pie soon. She'd gotten so caught up in her exercises earlier that she'd nearly forgotten that Pinkie had asked to meet her at Sugercube Corner at three. That was the reason she was tired, all her exercise. Pinkie hadn't said why or what they would be doing, but knowing Pinkie, it could be anything. Dash glanced up at the sky to check the time; stopping in confusion when she was faced by a large black ball.
She stared at it for a moment, not sure what to think. Where'd the sun go? Dash scanned the ground hastily, making sure that the sun was still shining down on everything. Content with what she saw, Dash spun back up to look at the hole in the sky. It had changed while she was distracted, growing two large distinct red blurs out of its sides. The wire like hands stretched down to Dash, and she moved to dodge them. Too late, as the red gripped her wings tightly. More wires, twisted like branches, reached up to her face, forcing her to gaze upon the hole. A sound began to emit from it, something loud that pierced her soul, forcing Dash away from her dream.
Her eyes snapped open, revealing the scene in front of her. Reacting quickly, Dash leapt back, pushing her wings into the stall behind her. A pained groan broke her lips as she moved again, focusing on the creature in front of her. A huge cyan robot.
The dreams of her sleep faded away as she struggled for words, simultaneously trying to figure out how long she'd been asleep. She hated the fact that she'd let her weakness get the better of her. It boggled her mind that she could fall asleep while her friend was in grave danger. Still struggling to make sense of everything, her mascot decided to give her a friendly push.
"Congratulations. You murdered a weapon-less, stuck up fashionista by dunking her in a tank of acid, how do you feel?"

Dash gave it a moment of thought before responding. "Tired, I guess. Maybe a little sore."
"I'm drowning in my own laughter."
"Well, I thought it was pretty funny. Doesn't that mean you should?" Dash asked.
"It's a little hard to laugh under the circumstances."
Dash stood back up, stretching her wings while she did so. She scanned her surroundings hastily, tapping her hoof quickly. Focusing back on her clone she said, "Enough small talk, you here for the race? Think you're up to the Dash's level, huh? I'll take you down easily, you won't even get the chance to see me."
"Quit bragging, we both know I would win."
"Like hay you would."
"I'm here on something more important than that. I should have done this ages ago, but I honestly thought I didn't need you." The mascot said.
"Hang on, what? What's important?"
The robot cocked its head sideways. "I thought I could get through this myself, but time's running out. I thought I could silently push you towards figuring this out yourself, but it seems I'm denser than I think."
Dash raised one of her eyebrows and stepped forward, keeping a careful eye on the mascot the whole time. The ponies on the street paid no mind to the two creatures, other than the occasional stray eye. "I am not dense, I just don't bother with the details when the big picture is more important."
"We don't have time to argue, listen, have you noticed anything strange about this park since you got here?"
Dash stared at her clone stupidly, "We gonna start the list?"
The mascot shook her head, "No, what I mean is, have you noticed anything strange when you sleep?"
Dash rubbed the back of her head, wincing when her hoof ran over a large bruise there. "Who has time to sleep? I don't have time to worry about sleep."
"You were sleeping just now."
Shaking her head, Dash blurted out a hasty response. "No...no I wasn't. I was...I was waiting. Yea, waiting for the perfect time to save Pinkie."
"Because Celestia knows you've done a top notch job of that so far."
"Like you would do better."
The robot waited for a moment, cocking its head sideways occasionally in an attempt to process its thoughts more clearly. Finally, it spoke again, strangely clear through the static. "Can we please just move past this? Forget the big picture for a moment and listen to me. There is something important I need to show you. Ponies will die if you are not aware of this fact, Pinkie will die. There are plots running across this park that I can't even begin to explain, and you need to stop being so...so Dashie and let me help you."
Dash shrugged. "You would like plots running all over this park, wouldn't you?"
"Again, same pony. Is it really that hard to understand for you? You just made fun of yourself."
"Why would I want your help anyway? I don't want to end up dead, and you seem to want that to be our end goal here. Why would I want the help of the one pony in this park out to kill me? Why would you want to help me in the first place? Nothing you do makes any sense, and it's driving me crazy. What do you want from me?"
The mascot stepped forward, stretching its 'wings' to make itself appear larger. "Is this how you accept my help? I'm off risking my flank hiding us from the insane alicorn and all her little minions running the park, and you think you have ANY right to complain about my intentions? You are only still here because I want you to. I could have swept both you and Pinkie up out of this park and back into safety and that would be that, if only you would listen to me."
Dash, not one to be intimidated, stepped forward too, pushing her nose into the mascot. The cold metal shocked Dash for a second, but she fought off the disorienting effects quickly. "So why don't you? What are your intentions? If you can get Pinkie out of here, do it. I thought you were suppose to be me, and I would have saved Pinkie."
"You want to know why I haven't done that? Huh, do you? Why don't you take a quick nap and find out? Even better, I'll help you!"
With that shout, Rainbow's mascot threw its hooves into the air, punching them forward occasionally. Its fore legs heated up with every movement, eventually becoming a raging inferno of heat and fuel. The glass eyes of the mascot watched on emotionlessly as the two tubes of fire swung towards Rainbow.
Dash simply hoisted herself into the air, staring down her opponent. The attack simply passed beneath her harmlessly, throwing the mascot off balance.
"It's on!" Rainbow shouted.

Dash leapt forward, swinging her back legs forward. A heavy thunk vibrated up her legs as she made contact and she spun around hastily to make another attack. In the time it took for her to face her attacker again, the mascot already had a super-heated punch flying in her direction. Dash subconsciously bit down on her lip as she thrust downwards with her wings, sending her just high enough to avoid the swing. The other hoof punched up uselessly to try and grab her, but it was a wasted effort as Dash rose higher into the air, well out of the mascot's range.
"Haha, can't touch me up here, what now?" Dash shouted at the ground.
Rainbow's mascot simply placed one of its hooves on its forehead, not even fazed by the heat. It cradled its head for a moment, before rising into the air slowly. The faint whir of the rockets beneath her were just loud enough to drown out Dash's cries of indignity.
The two fighters stared at each other for a moment, neither one prepared to actually throw another punch. There was no reason to fight over something so trivial, not when time, precious time at that, was slipping away. Beneath the duo, ponies had gathered to watch the spectacle. Dash glanced down, letting her mascot escape her sight for a split second, before the danger she was in clicked.
Plain sight, she'd thrown herself into plain sight. More than that, she'd done it while screaming at the top of her voice and causing the largest gathering of ponies at the park to form beneath her.
She looked back up at the mascot and swallowed nervously. "Maybe...maybe we didn't think this through."
Her mascot nodded, "Yea, you kinda screwed up."
"This was your fault! You attacked me!"
"Only because you won't listen to me. Can you hear the words coming out of my mouth? Pinkie, is going, to die."
Snapping her mouth shut, Dash's 'witty' response died before it even began. Pinkie was...dying? Dash shook her head. "No...no, Pinkie is safe, you said yourself 'Pinkie is safe.' Even Nightmare said it! You're lying."
"Look, come with me, I'll explain everything I know."
Dash glanced back down one last time, scanning the crowd for any sign of the other mascots. If they were in the crowd, it was extremely hard to pick them out. Snapping her head forwards, Dash nodded hastily. "Let's get out of here before the others show up. I don't want to have to beat another one of you."
"Like you could."

Dash blinked the wind out of her eyes as she flew. A painful itch had developed on her wings from the strain of flying so fast, and she could already see black dots marking her vision. She kept her teeth tightly clasped on her tongue though, using the fresh pain to stop her from slowing down. The mascot next to her showed no signs of exhaustion and Dash had the suspicion that it wasn't even going as fast as it could.
Despite this though, she wasn't about to ask it to slow down for her. She was Rainbow Dash, fastest pegasus alive. A fancy paint job on a tin can wasn't faster than her, no way.
Panting heavily, Dash swallowed the bile building in her throat long enough to question her mascot. "Where are...where are we going?"
"You slowing down there or what? Come on, keep up."
Dash exhaled painfully. "Where...are we...going?" she asked.
"Don't worry, we're nearly there. It's not safe to talk here, even if we are flying. Just be patient for another minute."
"I can't be...patient. Pinkie...danger...something something...ah screw it." Dash cursed beneath her breath as she slowed down. The strain left her body and the wind finally stopped pushing against her as her mascot raced on ahead. She wanted to keep moving, prove why she was the true Rainbow Dash, but her body could only take so much abuse. Without the continuous struggle of keeping up with her companion, all the battle wounds from before raced back into her.
She simply hovered silently, fighting down the urge to vomit. The cool wind blew against her again, softer than when she was flying. It was cool, relaxing. Dash closed her eyes and felt the currents, hoping that they would do something to ease her pain.
Eventually, a hot wind rushed back to her and Dash opened her eyes to face her mascot again.
"You don't look so good. Everything finally building up on you, huh?" the robot said, glancing behind itself.
Dash swallowed her puke again before forming an answer, "I'm fine. Just a little...little tired. What could be building up on me, these are nothing. Just scratches, I've had worse."
Rainbow's clone shook its head. "I don't know. I've never seen myself after an accident, but I don't think we would look that bad."
"Just shut up. How much further?"
"Oh, we're nearly there. You can see it actually, just over there." It said, pointing somewhere near the edge of the park.
Dash pulled her head up, focusing on where they were going. It appeared to be a small shack, constructed out of worn metal. Dash was forced to close her eyes as the sun reflected off the building into her face.
The mascot spun back to face Rainbow Dash, static already building in its mouth. "Listen, Dash...about before."
"What...what before?"
The robot simply ignored Dash, continuing whatever it was trying to say. "All of us, the real elements that is, all of us are...well, we wanted to say...you see, weren't expecting something like this to happen. It's normal that we would freak out a bit, after all, after the wedding...what I want to say is we're sorry about being so rash. We really shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."
Dash flew forward, pushing past her mascot. A moment passed in silence as the robot waited for Dash response. Slowly, Dash spun around, still keeping her pace backwards. "No, that isn't good enough. I don't care what the hay you're doing out here in this moon damned park, you have no right to nearly kill me and then just wave a magic stick and go, 'I'm sorry about the misunderstanding.' Stealing a Daring Do book was a misunderstanding, this is straight up wrong. You're suppose to be the elements, why are you doing this? My friends, the real elements, do their best to protect ponies. What have you done, besides hunt me down and break my wings?"
Another moment passed and the mascot moved closer to Rainbow Dash. She tried to pull away, but her body broke down before she could. Pulling up to her side, the mascot tried its best to defend itself. "We are protecting ponies. Have you met Nightmare? Mare's crazy. If we weren't here to keep her in place, do you have any idea how many ponies she could hurt? It's like clearing a few clouds to contain the storm."
Dash swallowed again, taking her pride with it. She couldn't keep pushing herself this hard. "Can we...we go there slower? I'm just hanging on here."
Her mascot cocked its head sideways, eager to drop the situation. "Rainbow Dash? Wanting to go slow? Is this really happening? Is this still real life? What's wrong, can't keep up with the true Rainbow Dash?"
"Just you wait, it's coming to you, I'll make sure of that. I just can't dash well like this." she replied.
"Sure thing, slowpoke. We'll take this easy, just for you."
Dash choked out a smile, pushing herself forward again. Her wings stung with every repetition, but she could fight through that. Next to her, the cyan robot gave her the occasional lift, helping her get through the air. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

"So what's the deal?" Dash said, resting against the wall as she talked. The metal sides of the building were effective at blocking out any light the sun might offer, limiting Dash's vision to a few paces in front of her. There was a light in the roof, but it was old and worn down, barely lighting the room at all. Every now and then, the entire structure would creak as the wind blew against, confirming the belief that it was an incredibly old building.
"Not yet, will you please be patient?" was the reply. It echoed across the room from the large mascot, only visible from the lights behind her eyes. Dash couldn't tell what she was doing.
Pushing herself off the wall with one of her battered wings, Dash stepped forward. "No. No I won't. I'm getting pretty annoyed at this point, and telling me that I need to wait even longer to get an answer isn't helping. What's happening, how's Pinkie in danger? What do you need me for?" Dash stopped for a moment as her thoughts rushed to catch up with her mouth. "This is a trap isn't it? That's why you won't say anything and why you've handling Rarity so well. This freaky mind thing works both ways, buddy. If the real Rarity died, I know I'd be freaking out a lot more than this, what's your plan?"
"This isn't a trap, would you please just trust me on this. It's just...just easier to show you everything than it is to explain it."
"What's easier? What are you doing over there anyway?" Dash stepped closer to the mascot, waiting a second as her vision adapted to the darkness.
Dash's eyes widened as she saw the answer to her own question. Hundreds of emotions rushed into her and with them, hundreds of questions. Each one flew past her face for a split second, leaving their mark as they did. Slowly, her face twisted into confusion and a single question rose to her mouth.
"Why are you making a bed?"
Her mascot simply stared at her, dropping the sheets back onto the bed as it did. Its hoof rose to its chin hastily, as if it was trying to remember something it had forgotten. A sparkle of comprehension shone in its eyes as it turned back to bed, picking the sheet back up. All pretense of seriousness though, was dropped when the robot crackled out its response. "So you can sleep."
"Obviously, but what...why...how does this help anypony? I thought you were going to show me something shocking, not practice your ancient prench folding technique."
The mascot released what could have been a sigh. "Alright, listen to this then. It is very important that you go to sleep now. Dreams, emotions, impulses, these all play a big part in this. Each one is going to be needed. You've got the impulse part down, but you've skipped the dream stuff. How many times has it slapped you in the face and you didn't notice it? How many times have you sat in the face of danger without even realizing how close you were to dying? Dreams, not impulses, are going to guide us through this."
Dash nodded, a blank gaze stuck on her face. "Sounds like something Twilight would say."
"Don't tell her I copied her then. Now get in the bed, I'll follow after."
At this, Dash threw her front hooves into the air. She waved them as if the movement would help her catch the words she needed. "Whoa whoa, I'm not going to sleep."
"Yes, you are. Get in."
"No way. I get in there I become a sleeping duck. Before I know it, you've got me tied up and it's over." Dash turned around and made her way towards the rickety door. "I can see right though this. Now excuse me, I have a Pinkie to save."
Her way was suddenly blocked by the cold metal of the machine. "Will you please let go of this attitude for six sec...actually, you know what? Go. Go out there and die already, I don't even care. Why am I wasting all this time and effort to save a useless clone of myself? You want to go out there and try to stop Nightmare? Fine, just don't expect me to save you." A swift kick flung the door open, flooding the room with light. "Go on, out. Me and the real elements have an alicorn to fight. After all I've done, I can't even believe that you don't at least think that I may be on your side."
Dash breathed in deeply, closing her eyes as the sun blinded her. She took a stunned step forward, expecting her mascot to step in and stop her. When it didn't, she focused on the mascot's face. She could feel the heat of the robots barely concealed rage. A moment passed as Dash tried to comprehend it.
So much had already passed, yet she'd learnt so little. It was insulting, that's what it was. Couldn't it see what Dash was going through? Half of her troubles were caused by the robots, why shouldn't she be suspicious? It was smarter to be suspicious, better suspicious than dead. They had taken Pinkie, abused her, trapped her within a park of doom and were mascots all the while. What right did it have to get angry?
Dash stepped forward, slamming her foot into the floor. "Oh, like you ever cared. How much of my troubles could you have stopped? You say that you're the real Rainbow Dash, but when have you shown that? Every interaction I've had with you guys have ended with you punching me between the eyes and knocking me out. The one time we met and didn't immediately fight each other ended like that. Why do you have such a hatred towards me? Why won't you let me just take Pinkie and leave?"
Taking a step back from the outburst, Rainbow's clone backpedaled. "Alright, I get it. I'm not you, can we drop that now? You've been waving it around like flaming tree branch. You know why I haven't stopped this? We need you. Assuming, for a moment, that you are the real element, then we need your help to stop Nightmare. I am...sorry, for attacking you, and I know this isn't going to help my case, but please; just listen for once.
Dash lowered her eyebrows in a combination of anger and confusion. Opening her mouth, she prepared to ask if that was it, until something cold smacked her in the maw. The robots hoof continued swinging forward, pushing itself into Dash's mouth. With a wet smack, it finally hit something, filling Dash's vision with black spots.
She wavered on her legs for a split second, before succumbing to the punch. Everything from her earlier fights rushed into her and were numbed back down into oblivion as she slowly lost her grip on reality.
Choking back something building in her throat, she coughed out a near silent "What?" before finally blacking out for good.

Dash snapped her eyes open again instantly. Something felt different. Not odd, but simply different. She stayed on her back, trying to figure out what it was. Carefully, she rolled onto her side, still not sure what had changed. With a faint grunt and a push on her wings, Dash pulled herself back to her feet, scanning her surroundings for whatever was making her feel different.
It wasn't until she stretched the needles out of her wings that it occurred to her. Her wings didn't hurt anymore. All the strain, all the punches; the layers upon layers of bruises she had gathered during her adventure had simply vanished. This realization flowed through her as the full extent of great she felt made itself clear. The ringing in her ears was gone, her stomach refused to ache, the burn down her neck disappeared; she felt like a new born baby.
She hadn't even noticed how much everything had hurt until she was forced to remember how she felt before the pain. It was blissful. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a vague memory of danger lingered, drowned out by the ecstasy of not being in a state of agony. A lethargic hoof swung forward, pulling the drunken pony behind it forward.
Dash stopped for a moment, realizing a very important fact. Two facts, actually. She was no longer in the run down shed with her mascot self, and Fluttershy was staring at her timidly. Not the robot Fluttershy, but her actual flesh and blood friend Fluttershy.
Fighting against her better instincts, Dash stood perfectly still. Her eyes drifted through the empty field she was standing in, trying to pick out any thing that didn't fit. Switching between her friend and the clear sky, Dash continued to scan for danger. A couple of trees blocked her view, but each of them were far too small to hide behind anyway. With a hoof full of hesitation, Dash took a step closer to Fluttershy.
More questions flashed in her mind. Always questions, never answers. That's all she wanted really, an actual answer to one of her questions rather than a cryptic riddle.
Despite her best efforts to stay subtle, and every instinct shouting at her to get under cover again, Dash sprinted forward.
Fluttershy let out a cute squeak as Dash tackled her, wrapping her hooves around the pegasus. The pair rolled for a split second, eventually resting in a two pony pile. Dash refused to release her grip, pulling herself closer.
Fluttershy's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink. "Umm...hel...hello. Rainbow?"
Dash sobbed quietly and grabbed her tighter. "If...if you tell anypony I cried I'll...I'll tell them about your tail extensions."
Fluttershy's hooves hovered in the air around Rainbow, before she made her choice and brought them down over Dash's back. "There there? Are you okay?" she asked.
Pulling her head up, Dash looked into the eyes of her friend. "I've been through a lot today. I needed a familiar face."
"Umm...do you want to talk ab--"
"No. I really don't want to talk about it. Can we just sit here for a moment?"
Fluttershy shuffled uncomfortably, releasing Dash while she did so. She struggled to remove herself from Dash's arms, eventually stopping when she realized how impossible it was. "Dash, I...we need to move soon. If that's okay."
Dash stared at Fluttershy for a minute, letting her hooves drop uselessly to her sides. Silence sat between the two, breaking suddenly when Dash threw herself back to her feet. "Listen, Fluttershy, where are we?" she asked, wiping the water out of her eyes and pretending nothing had happened.
"Oh, we're somewhere."
Dash's hoof found her face again. "I can see that Fluttershy, but where are we? How did you get here?"
Kicking her hoof, Fluttershy turned away from Rainbow. "Are you...alright, Rainbow? You're acting weird."
"I'm acting weird? Where am we? Did the mascots take me here? Did they take you? I swear, if they hurt you--"
For a moment, Fluttershy's pace wavered. Despite this, she continued moving forward, ignoring Dash's questions. Eventually, the questions dried up and Dash was left simply watching Fluttershy walk towards the middle of the field. Her steps were heaver than usual and seemed to carry the weight of an unseen responsibility. Fluttershy breathed in deeply, taking in the smell of the field as she took her place at the center of the field. Around her, a dull sort of wavering appeared, like someone was lighting a fire beneath her.
"You're not the real Rainbow Dash, are you?" she asked.
Dash tripped over her own tongue trying to form a response. "What? Of course I'm the real Rainbow Dash. Do I look like I'm made of soup cans?"
Fluttershy simply closed her eyes. "But...but we are made of soup cans."
Dash was about to ask what the hell she was talking about, but stopped when the answer began to show itself.

It started with the trees, a slow ripple that chased away the vibrant greens and browns of the powerful trunks. They flew into the sky like flecks of paint, eager to escape whatever was coming next. The outline of the trees remained, darkening to a deep red and with it; every branch of every tree started to reach outwards. Each red line cut through the air like a sword, stretching itself into the sky. Connecting together with a meaty 'pop' the once trees reached further, only stopping when every connection was made. A circle had been made, a perfect hole in the middle of reality.
The ground began to change next, crumbling away beneath the ponies feet. Rainbow Dash leapt forward suddenly, narrowly avoiding tumbling into a dark abyss that appeared beneath her. Colours began to drain again, dripping off the land into the hole below, only to be swallowed by the encroaching darkness until only lines were left. Faster than Rainbow could blink, the lines darkened like the trees. Instead of joining their brothers in the sky though, they reached down like roots, encircling the land from below. With a rip, the section of land containing the plain was pulled into the air, saving it from crumbling with the rest.
Dash released a breath she was holding, maybe a little faster than she wanted. She'd seen this before, she'd seen it all. It was like her dreams. She took a step back, nearly falling off the island she was suddenly on. Her breathing came faster and heavier as she realized she was trapped. She needed to get off, this wasn't safe. Her wings swung open reflexively, preparing her for flight. All it would take is a single step off the edge, and she could wake up. It would all be safe.
The only thing stopping her was Fluttershy. Dash spun around, searching the dark red landscape for her friend. She was still sitting in the middle of the field, staring up at the circle in the sky. The darkness reached out to stop Rainbow as she flew, did its best to keep the mare grounded, but Dash wasn't having any of that. The mist parted slightly as she landed next to Fluttershy, giving her a strong push as she did.
"We need to get out of here, Fluttershy!" Dash shouted. It was too quiet though, something was wrong. The darkness and the mist and the smoke and all these distractions continued to push against Rainbow, making doing anything nearly impossible. She gritted her teeth, physically punching through the clogged air to reach her target. It was so constricting; she could feel it seeping into her mouth and her lungs and her mind.
She panicked again, grabbing Fluttershy by the wings. Roughly, she shook the mare repeatedly, trying to snap her out of whatever had caught her. Instead, Dash received one simple word.
"Watch."
A ripple ran through Dash's spine as the word cut through the smoke. It retreated hastily, pulled into the air like the colour before it. With the sky clear, Dash finally looked up, seeing exactly what her friend was talking about.
Something was coming closer, clawing its way out of the hole in the sky.

A faint whining hovered in the air as the thing came closer. Dash tried to look away, tried to do anything except look at this thing moving towards her. It was just so odd, so wrong, a mockery of everything she knew and believed in. She blinked, and her vision blurred with it. Her tears hit the glowing red ground, barely even leaving a mark. Why was she here? What did she do to deserve witnessing something so horrendously out of this world that the mere sight reduced her to tears? Her feet remained glued to the floor, despite everything telling her to run far, far away.
The thing reached forward further, stretching a gnarled hoof over the edge of the hold and towards the ground. Everything slowed down as adrenaline hit Dash again, adding another voice to the hundreds telling her to flee. She remembered the last time she talked to Pinkie, and how she'd never know the truth between them. She remembered the cause for her depression in the first place, god, it felt so unimportant right now. The memory of her first Wonderbolt show, leaving Cloudsdale, meeting her friends, fighting Nightmare and Disord, sleeping. Always sleeping, why did she have to waste so much of the time she had sleeping?
The thing from the hole finally reached the earth, gouging into it as its hoof dug in to grab a better hold. Dash tried screaming, but nothing came out of her mouth. She wasn't ready to die, at least not like this. She wanted to join the Wonderbolts, be rich and famous, meet her fans. She didn't want to go.
She could taste the bitter tears running down her face. Then slowly, Fluttershy stepped forward.
Dash could hardly watch as Fluttershy, the most timid pony she'd ever met, walked closer to this monster that had reduced Dash to a whimpering foal. Her wings sprung open, throwing off a thin sheet of dust as they did. Fluttershy took a moment to adjust herself, and simply flew directly towards the breach.
"What did I tell you!" she shouted.
It was slight, perhaps a tiny shudder, but Dash swore she could see the thing react to Fluttershy's shout.
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU!"
There was a definite change this time. The giant hoof buried in the ground flinched, throwing dirt high into the air. Dash covered her eyes from the spray, and watched in dull amazement at her friend.
"If I ever, EVER see you come here again, then I will show you why you should hide in that hole of yours."
Dash gasped in fright as the hole started to break. Red wires snapped apart from the pressure, flailing wildly in the air. The darkness around Dash lurched into the sky, pulled towards the rapidly shrinking hole. Inside, the thing shouted in fury as its escape closed around its head, trapping it back where it came from.
Not without a fight though. As a final resistance, the thing pushed forward, trying to force itself through the hole. Force its way through the smoke and mist that kept its true face hidden. For the first time since Dash arrived at park, she finally got an unobstructed view of the thing haunting her dreams.
Two serpentine eyes focused on Rainbow, and the sheer hate, the sheer wrongness, the unstoppable wave of negative emotions rushing into her from the creature's gaze overwhelmed her. It felt like someone was punching her in the chest each time her heart beat; and slowly, so slowly, the thing retreated. Dash collapsed to her knees, physically tired. She just wanted to go home and forget all this. A wave of exhaustion flowed over her, and her worn out body failed on her once again.
She faded from the dream, the soft smile of Fluttershy guiding her back into the realm of sleep.

Dash flinched as something pulled at her wing. A dull ache took over from the sudden sting and Dash forced her eyes open to find the cause. A blinding yellow light stopped her instead, forcing her to close her eyes again. Spinning her head around out of the light, Dash tried again, only to find the same result. She tried again, and again, each time being greeted with the same blinding light.
Slowly, the lethargy of her sleep faded, and she began to realize someone was stroking her wings. Preening, actually. Dash relaxed a minute as she pondered on why. It hadn't occurred to her that she might have gotten dirty, it was almost certain though, but why bother cleaning her now?
Flapping her wings once, she forced whoever was with her away. Preening was for ponies like Rarity anyway, Dash didn't need to look pretty. Bored and confused, Dash tried opening her eyes again. It worked however, causing a note of surprise to leap out of Dash's mouth.
Instantly, Dash looked over to see who was with her, sighing in relief when she was greeted by the soft yellow of her friend.
"Oh, are you awake? I was just...well, I...never-mind. Are you hurt, I can help with that."
Dash rubbed her head, looking around as she did. She was still on the grassy plain, though it was once again stuck to the ground instead of hovering over a dark void. In fact, it looked nearly exactly the way it did before...before the thing appeared. Dash shuddered. She and Fluttershy traded a stare, before she leapt back to her feet.
"Of course I'm fine. Just took a little nap, all's fine. Are you all right though, you tackled that thi...you tackled it like a champ." Dash replied, trying to avoid encroaching on that subject. It hurt too much to think about what she saw.
Fluttershy pulled her gaze down, "It wasn't that amazing."
Dash opened her mouth to correct Fluttershy, to tell her how brave she was, until someone beat her to the punch.
"That's crazy talk, Fluttershy. No matter how many times that happens, it'll still amaze me."
Glancing behind herself, Dash took a double take at what she was seeing. Or more specifically, who she was seeing.
A flesh and blood copy of herself. Fierce-browed determination sat behind her copy's eyes as she trotted closer. Two rows of polished teeth shined out of her mouth, rivaled only by the energy nearly visibly radiating out of the other Rainbow.
Dash's mouth closed itself as her copy began to speak. "So you see now, Dash? This is why I'm not lifting you and Pinkie out of here. If we leave without dealing with Nightmare first, that's what goes wrong."
A dull burn spread through Dash's chest as her confusion kindled away to confident anger. "What's going on here? Who are you and why the horseapple do you look like me?"
The fake Rainbow shrugged. "I am you, we've been over this before, so many times. Why can't you just listen for once? Have you really forgotten everything we talked about?"
Dash glared at her impostor, until precious realization hit her over the head. "My mascot?"
"Yep. Good to see you're as perceptive as ever."
Dash glanced around again, flying into the air slightly to get a better view. "Same pony, stop insulting yourself. Wait, hang on. Why do you look like me?"
"You've always looked like me, that's the point of a copy. Though I know you're referring to why I'm not made of metal."
Before she could explain, Fluttershy took over her point. "It's.. um, because this is a dream. Nightmare's dream. So...so everypony looks like how Nightmare thinks they look like."
Nodding, Dash responded slowly. "I don't understand."
"None of this is real, idiot. It's a dream. And in the dream, we look like you, because that's what we think we should look like."
"Well...technically it's how Nightmare sees us..." Fluttershy corrected, sinking into her chest at the sudden attention it brought her.
Dash nodded, a blank gaze fixed on the duo. "Still don't get it, but there are bigger things. What the hay was that thing? Oh sweet Celestia, it was...it was terrifying."
Almost instantly, Rainbow's copy threw a hoof in Dash's direction, releasing a loud shout of 'Ah ha' as she did. "I knew it! She agrees with me, that thing is straight up 'banished to the moon' levels of freaky."
"It really isn't. It's just a giant hoof. It was...was scary the first time and the second time...and all times after that, but all it does is stamp the ground." Fluttershy replied.
"Don't give me that, it's two against one now. That thing is freaky."
Dash sighed and pushed herself between the two ponies. Capturing their attention by passing each one a quick glance, Dash tried to fix the situation. This must be how Twilight feels every day. "Shut up, what is that thing?"
Focusing on Fluttershy, Dash felt something drop inside her when she was met with a simple shrug. Spinning back to face her copy; a half scared, mostly confused smile on her face, Dash asked again. "What. Is. That. Thing?"
Her copy broke eye contact. "We don't know. I'm sorry but, we don't know. We think Nightmare might be trying to break it out, and we know you and the other Pinkie have something to do with it. Beyond that though, we know as much as you."
Dash nodded, "All right, so lets not give her the chance. Pinkie's in danger--" Dash stopped herself as the words passed her lips. How could she forget, how much time had she wasted already? Her best friend was in danger and she'd gone and passed out again. She needed to focus.
"Pinkie's in danger, what danger? What's going on?"
"Nightmare's getting impatient. I guess she thought you would be more interesting or something, that's not important. She wants to get this over and done with. She's getting bored; and when Nightmare gets bored, bodies tend to start piling up. Usually, we'd try to get you and Pinkie out of here as fast as we can, but...even if you leave, that thing's still waiting here. Sooner or later, Nightmare's gonna get it out."
Dash instinctively stared up at the sky, worried that whatever it was could appear at any moment. "Hang on, you want me to fight that?"
Her copy nodded.

"What about the Princess, or the other elements? We should be getting them in here! I can't fight that thing alone. I can barely look at it!"
The other Dash clicked her lips together, making a quiet 'tut tut' sound. "Think about it, Rainbow. You saw how close that thing was to escaping, how long do you think you have? By the time you get to Ponyville, there's no telling whether it would have escaped. You may just be learning this, but Nightmare is very good at planning. Nearly all of your options end with her winning."
Dash could feel the gears grinding in her head. If she started fleeing now, she might be able to gather Twilight and the others before the thing got out, but Pinkie would be left at the mercy of Nightmare. If she saved Pinkie and tried to flee, the thing would be breathing down their necks by the time they got home. Simply saving Pinkie and staying to fight wouldn't work either; without the other elements Nightmare would be near invincible, not to mention Rainbow risked waking up the thing herself by unwittingly following Nightmare's plan.
Clutching her head, Dash fell to the ground. She didn't want this, it was suppose to be a simple day at the park, not a world changing adventure! Fond memories of Ponyville found their way into Dash's head and with them, a renewed sense of purpose. Even if she didn't know what she was doing, at least she was doing something, right? Better to go down fighting than cowering.
Dash breathed in deeply to calm her nerves and stepped back so she could focus on both of the mascots. "Okay, all better. Where's Pinkie?"
"Underground. There's a series of tunnels built beneath the park--"
"Yes, I know, me and Pinkie used them to escape back when you guys were trying to kill me." Dash replied.
Her clone grinned. "So that's how you did it."
Dash paced forward, trying to keep her mind focused. "Why did you guys do that anyway? I mean, I understand the whole 'I'm the clone' thing, but still..."
"It was a mixture of Nightmare's urging and blind panic, and I already said sorry." Dash's copy said.
Rainbow could feel her hoof moving on it's own, slowly rising to her face in the holy matrimony that was the face hoof. "Yes, but why are you helping her at all?"
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash traded glances as something passed over their face. Worry? Confusion? The real Rainbow couldn't tell. It was something so subtle that it was nearly impossible to describe.
"At first, it was because we had no choice. It was either help Nightmare or she'd...well, kill us. Lately though, it's been a convenient place to subtly mess with her plans. She doesn't have a clue."
The real Dash nodded, as if all the pieces and questions she had were finally getting answered. One question stuck out though, something which didn't fit in among the rest. She knew it was there, just dangling on the tip of her tongue. Why was it so hard find?
Struggling for a moment more, Dash finally managed to grasp the wayward thought. It dissolved in her brain, finally bringing the last pieces together.
"There's something I don't get though." Dash said, causing her clone to look at her questioningly. A soft 'hmm' escaped from the pony's mouth.
"Why are you here?" Dash asked.

The simple question hung in the air, taunting in its simplicity. Too simple, in fact. Straight and precise and plain unnoticeable in its sheer simplicity, it was probably the one question that had never been asked. Dash's clone could only cock her head sideways, trying to figure out what Dash meant. As she searched the question though, digging through it to try and find the double meaning it had to have, it finally dawned on her.
"I...I don't understand." She said. That was a lie, but she needed to hear the confirmation of her fears.
Dash raised a hoof to help explain her point. "Why are you guys here to begin with? What was the point of creating a bunch of robots to imitate my friends? Why create robots at all? Nightmare has enough bits to keep this whole park running and has a security force consisting of the three most burly figures I've ever met. Why make robots?"
Waiting a moment for a response, Dash could feel the tension rising in the air. Neither of the ponies in front of her wanted to make a noise; each one struggling to come up with an answer.
"Maybe...maybe she needs loyal servants?" Fluttershy said.
Dash scoffed. "You're the least loyal workers I've ever seen, besides, why bother giving you my memories than?"
"Nightmare's insane, who can guess why she does anything? We're wasting time obsessing over pointless questions that don't matter, while the thing is slowly breaking free. Dash, lets get out of here already. The sooner we stop Nightmare the better."
Nodding hastily at her copy, Dash hesitantly agreed. "Alright, alright. What's the plan here? How do we stop Nightmare?"
Dash's copy grinned like a school kid in front of a toy store. Her tongue traced a line across her lips as she began. "Okay, listen up, because I'm only saying this once. Here's what we're gonna do. Nightmare's not going to expect you to know where Pinkie is, this gives you a small opportunity to strike back. We need you to distract Nightmare long enough so that Twilight can cast her brother's shield spell. Hopefully, this'll be strong enough to keep Nightmare contained until you can rush out and bring back the elements. You pass the elements to us, the real ponies of harmony, we wipe the floor with Nightmare, everypony's happy and you and Pinkie get to return home to wherever you came from. Badabing badaboom, simple and easy."
"Sounds flimsy."
"If you have a better plan, I'd like to hear it."
Dash shrugged, throwing off the blow to her ego. "Good point, but how do you expect me to distract the invincible alicorn?"
"How should I know? Figure something out."
"I will then, useless piles of junk." she whispered to herself while leaping forward.
She stopped as Dash suddenly remembered her surroundings. She wasn't in the park anymore, she was still trapped in some freaky dreamworld. Rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, Dash spun around. "Umm, how do I...you know...leave?"
The grin on her clone's face grew wider. "Same way you entered."
Dash glanced around, expecting to find some kind of door or blatant exit. While her search proved fruitless, the soft noises of hoofsteps began as the mascots moved closer.
Staring at her mascots, Dash was painfully reminded of how she entered the dream to begin with. Luckily for her, a half baked 'wait' was all she managed to spit out before her clone delivered a painful punch into her side.
This time however, she wasn't going to go down easily. Disoriented from the blow, Dash swung out blindly; feeling her hoof connect with something meaty before being thrown off balance. Her vision split as she locked onto her clone, taking another swing at her. A punch of her attacker hit her at the same same as her own, digging Dash's teeth into her lips. Her wings sprung open on their own to get Dash a better fighting position, both by springing her into the air and throwing her back from the other ponies. Her vision cleared for a second, just long enough for her to see a cyan blur rushing towards her. Dash crossed her hooves instinctively, tanking the tackle with her lower arms. Her wings pushed down strongly, propelling Dash into the air away from her attacker. While she rose, something smacked into her foot and her clone reeled backwards from the unexpected kick.
Stopping her ascent hastily, Rainbow turned her advantage back on her opponent. Gravity worked on her side as her hoof crashed down on her clone's neck; pushing them down. Both of the ponies braced themselves for impact as the ground rushed forward. Clumps of dirt and mud splashed up into Dash's face; combined with a shock wave travelling up her arm. Beneath her, the mascot struggled to breathe, gasping pathetically while thoroughly winded. Dash couldn't help but smile.
"You know, I think I like you more like this. Gives me a fair fight, unlike last tim--"
Pain exploded out of Dash's mouth as her teeth bit down onto her tongue. All she could taste was the coppery liquid of her own blood as it rushed through the new hole she'd cut into herself. Black lines rushed into Dash's vision as her thoughts finally caught up with her body. Another pain stretched out from the back of her head, spreading to any place it could reach.
Dash finally gave in to the sudden pain, letting her heavy eyelids collapse onto themselves.
Behind her, the kitchen pan clattered to the ground as Fluttershy lost the nerve to hold it. She couldn't stop her shaking hooves no matter what she tried, nor could she so much as blink. Instead, Fluttershy carefully lifted Dash's unconscious body off her friend; checking to make sure there was no permanent damage to either of them. The two clones simply sat next to each other, with Rainbow occasionally wheezing and rubbing her neck.

Pain.
Why was she in so much pain?
It was a jarring experience, to be sure. One Dash didn't want to have to repeat. The 'transfer,' if it could be called that, happened nearly instantly. Her eyes closed slowly in the dream and the eyes on her body opened in return. Usually, this wouldn't be something interesting, if it wasn't for the fact that her body was currently battered blue and that the short rest had done nothing to soothe her injuries.
If it were possible to measure, Dash would assume it actually hurt more than before. It was important that she started her part of the plan before something else could happen, but despite her efforts, her body simply wouldn't drag itself out of the bed.
She wanted to stay in bed; let someone else handle the danger. She'd done her part already, let Twilight swoop in and save Pinkie, or let Applejack jump the fence and stop Nightmare, just find someone else to do her job so she didn't need to get up. It was just so comfortable.
With a sigh as heavy as her smile, Dash finally gathered the willpower to throw her leg over the side of the bed. Her hoof rushed down to meet the floor and Rainbow winced as the pain flowed back through her. It was the pain of staying still for so long mixed with the pain of her bruises and burns. Feeling something like that so early after waking up really brought Dash down to earth quickly.
Once again, she became aware of how terrifyingly final everything was. She needed to be perfect for there to be any chance of saving Pinkie. Perfect at sneaking, perfect at fighting, perfect at distracting, perfect at being perfect. Not a single screw up or it was all over.
Leaping out of the bed, Rainbow cringed as everything exploded around her. Not a single part of her didn't hurt. Maybe it was the sudden transition between being in no pain to being in excruciating pain.
Rainbow breathed deeply to calm herself, with the hope that it would also do something about her aching body.
Seeing as it didn't, Dash stepped forward.
The rusty door creaked as she pushed it open, quickly adjusting her eyes to the light. In the distance, she could see ponies walking around, completely oblivious to any danger. Not one of them realized what was really going on behind the scenes.
Dash replaced the grimace on her face as she looked around.
The first part of the plan involved getting beneath the park. There was always the entrance hidden beneath Tom, or the one in Flim Flam's tent, but those would take too long. Surely there were other entrances. Dash didn't have time to waste flying back through the park, and she doubted she'd even be able to in her current state. Somewhere nearby, there had to be an entrance, she just knew it.
A slight sound rang out behind her, so quiet she nearly missed it. She spun around hastily, expecting to see her mascot again. It was odd now that she had time to notice it, that her mascot wasn't waiting for her when she woke up. Wasn't she important in this plan? Even a passing hello would have helped her calm her nerves. Instead, she was greeted with something different.
A perfectly circle hole was cut into the ground. A simple glance told Dash that it went straight to where she was looking for. She couldn't fight through her suspicions though. A waft of empty green magic floated out of the hole as Dash tried to figure out the safest option.
This was clearly a trap, right? Too convenient, it was too convenient. Nothing had gone her way this trip, and now the entrance was just opening up for her? Where was the struggle? Where was the resistance of loyal Nightmare Moonians?
Dash shook her head slowly, scanning around herself as she did so.
She was just being paranoid. The mascots were on her side now. They figured out every tiny little detail for her, all she needed to do was follow through. Really, what was she scared of? Nightmare didn't have a clue she was coming, there was no way she could have set a trap. Right?
Dash swallowed nervously, and jumped into the air. The scars from her battles protested, but Dash could beat them down.
It was only a short flight anyway, and most of it would be falling.

The only sounds Dash could hear were her own heavy breathing and the slow repeating drops of falling water. The ground beneath her was moist, causing every step to stick her to the ground. She really wanted to simply fly over this mess, it would be so much easier, but even if she could, stealth was more important.
A huge tunnel stretched out in front of her, lit every few steps by candles drilled into the walls. The flickering shadows did nothing to help relax Dash's nerves. How could they, when any one of them could hold a surprise attack?
Slowly, as Dash trudged forward, something else appeared at the end of the tunnel. A faint green glow.
Dash's feet picked up on their own, pushing her forward faster than before. It was impossible to pinpoint what was going through her head as she rushed closer, at this point, it could be anything. A soft breeze floated down the tunnel, cooling Dash's face and soothing her muscles. With it though, came something else.
A plethora of smells. The polished, metallic smell of her enemy. Something new, the smell of a freshly watered farm. Why would there be a farm?
And...candy?
Dash shook her head, no, that couldn't be right. Her mind was playing tricks on her. Chuckling, Dash entertained the thought. She'd done it, she'd gone insane. The stress, the pain, the mascots, it finally got to her. All she needed now was to start seeing purple donkeys and the cycle would be complete.
Still laughing, Dash passed the threshold of the light, stopping for a moment as her eyes adjusted to the change.
It was like stepping into a whole other world. Dash stepped forward, careful to avoid one of the many puddles of goo on the floor. The walls were lined with a strange kind of glowing moss, the source of the light. Dash poked it lightly to make sure it wasn't dangerous, before drawing her attention to the other things in the hall.
A bulbous plant, about the size of Dash's head sat together in thick clumps. It too was glowing, along with occasionally deflating into an empty sack. Sticking to her morals, Dash poked the plant.
A loud 'pop' echoed down the hall and Dash wiped the gunk off her face hastily. The green sludge had covered Dash from head to toe. It tasted terrible, and Dash couldn't spit it out faster. Walking back into the middle of the hallway, she made a mental note not to touch the bulbs anymore.
Finally though, the end of the hall came into her sight. A pair of stone steps, twisting back to the surface. They looked out of place; perfectly clean in a place full of rubbish.
Dash waited a moment to calm her nerves and stepped forward.
This was it, nothing was getting in her way. Now was the time to save Pinkie and be the hero. Nothing would stop her now.
"Dashie?"
Except that.

Dash reacted nearly instantly, turning herself mid step. This had the unintended side effect of causing her to trip over her extended feet; smacking into the ground painfully. The ache however, vanished as soon as her brain understood what she was looking at.
There, blind folded, tied up and safely behind bars but alive, was Pinkie.
Dash forgot everything. The plan was meaningless at this moment, her pain couldn't even attempt to hold her back; in the pure unfiltered joy that coursed into her body at the mere sight of her friend, she even forgot where she was.
And it didn't even matter. There was Pinkie! Dash wanted to laugh or cry or smile or rage or do something other than stare blindly in awe. It took a moment for Dash to recover her tongue, "Pinkie? Is that really you?" she said.
Pinkie looked around wildly, seemingly forgetting that she was wearing a blindfold. "Dashie? Are you there?"
Rainbow shook her head, trying to scare away the stars swirling around her head. Rhythmic breaths forced their way out of her mouth. She needed to calm down, needed to focus again. "Stay there, Pinkie. I'll get you out of there."
Dash threw herself at the bars, putting all her strength into pulling them off. Her hooves dug into the oily ground roughly, but the bars still refused to move. Dash tried pushing instead, not expecting a different result. She glanced around hastily, surely there must be something she could use to break the bars.
"Of course I'll stay here, silly. I can't move. What are you doing here?"
Stopping for a moment, Dash turned back around. Alright, attacking the bars didn't work and there was nothing in sight she could use to force them apart, that left only one option. Dash moved over to the door, nearly rusted away into dust, and stared at it intently. She poked it a couple of times, gaining a feel for its weight and size. "What are you talking about? I came here to save you. I can't leave you here with Nightmare, she'd kill you. Now stand back, I'm breaking the door down."
"But...but she said you would t--"
"Take longer? Change of plan. You know the mascots? They're on our side now. I can't waste time now, so I'll give you the run down when I get that blindfold off." Dash said, facing away from the door. She took a deep breath, and kicked backwards. The sudden stop caused by the door was enough to override Dash's bliss, bringing back the aches she had gotten through her journey. What was more surprising though, was the door slamming open at an amazing speed. Dash turned back around, examining the hole she'd opened up.
She had to fight off the urge to smack herself in the face when she realized that the door wasn't even locked to begin with. The confusion passed as she rushed over to Pinkie, tearing the cloth off her eyes.
Instead of a happy smile though, a concerned glare greeted her. "The mascots? But...but they brought me here! They're the reason you're here at all! We could have gone by now."
Dash stopped again. Something was wrong, she could feel it in her gut. The moment passed, like last time, and Dash quickly got to work untying Pinkie. "No no, see, we can't just go. There's this thing here, Nightmare's trying to wake it up and needs us to do it. We need to stop it or it'll destroy Equestria." she explained.
"But you just said Nightmare needs us. We wouldn't even be here if it weren't for the mascots."
"Yes, but they need our help to stop Nightmare."
The ropes finally slipped off Pinkie as the final note was undone. At the same second, Pinkie launched herself back to her feet. "Well, why can't they stop Nightmare? What do we need to do?"
Dash smiled, this was more like it. "Simple, we just need to distract Nightmare long enough so that robot Twilight can cast Shining's shield spell, containing Nightmare and that thing in this park. Then, we rush out and gather the others, bring 'em back and send Nightmare back to the moon."
"Wait, so you're really going to do this Dashie?" Pinkie asked.
Dash faltered. "Yes?"
"Are you crazy? You can't just walk up to Nightmare Moon! She'll rip you to pieces. What did they do to you? The real Dashie wouldn't fall for something like this."
"Pinkie, this isn't a trick. I trust them. This...I saw that thing myself, they were trying to stop it." Dash said, backpedaling.
Pinkie stepped forward, forcing Rainbow to step back again. "Were they, Dashie? How do you know that? Think about it, they sent you straight to Nightmare. It's a trick, Dash."
"No no, it's not a trick. They're trying to help us."
Pinkie stepped forward again, causing Dash to jump into the air. "So they foalnap me, tie me up, beat you, force you to jump through hoops to save me, tell you everything you want to hear and send you straight to the one pony who has been trying to kill you this entire time? And you still trust them? Why? We need to get out of here, Dashie. We can't trust them, they tried to kill me, tried to kill you! And you just trust that they won't turn on you?"
Whatever emotion Dash was feeling before burned away into general annoyance. It didn't matter who it was, whether Pinkie or Celestia herself, after all she'd been through, no one was going to talk to her like that. She didn't risk her life to listen to Pinkie complain about how stupid she was. She was an adult, she knew what she was doing. While Pinkie was off playing the easy role of damsel in distress, Dash was out there fighting tooth and nail for her. She could make her own balanced decisions.
"Listen Pinkie, and really listen. Through-out this day, I have been burned, stabbed, shot, punched, kicked, slammed, thrown around, acid-ed and crashed into the ground more times than I can care to count. There is a lump the size of an apple on the back of my head, my lips and tongue bleed when I talk too much, my vision occasionally splits for no reason, there is a hole in my chest and rope burns around that, all four of my legs feel broken, I have more bruises than a week old apple, I'm pretty sure there is a spoon stuck in my tail and I lost feeling in one of my ribs somewhere around the beginning. Then I come here, risking my life further to save you and what do I get? Not a hug, not even a smile. I get a whinny ass who thinks she knows better than me. News flash Pinkie, I've been through so much today that if I say that the mascots are on our side, you believe that the mascots are on our side."
Dash stopped, breathing deeply again. She couldn't bear to look at Pinkie, it hurt too much. Maybe she was too harsh? Rainbow shook her head again, no, she wasn't. She said exactly what needed to be said. "Are we clear Pinkie?" she asked.

The silence in the air was unbearable. It was the exact opposite of what Dash wanted; she wanted laughter and congratulations and smiles, not ear piercing silence and tension thicker than most butter. Dash knew she needed to stand her ground though. It tore at her heart, but that terrible feeling vanished into the air when Pinkie finally found the strength to break the silence.
"You're...you're right, Dash. I'm sorry. You've been through so much and...I'm sorry."
Dash still refused to look at Pinkie, but it was clear from the breaking of her words that she was starting to cry.
"It's just...I'm scared, Dashie. I just want to go...go home and make cup...cupcakes and the only pony helping u...us is the same pony try...trying to kill us."
Biting the bottom of her lip, Dash finally broke, looking back at Pinkie. The glance between them lasted a second, and Pinkie took it as a sign to move closer. A little too close, actually. Dash tried to step back, tried to find some personal space, only to find her legs refused to move.
"But...but you won't let them, Dashie. You're...you're gonna go out there and stop...stop Nightmare and I'm scared you won't come back."
Pinkie moved in closer, shoving her face against Dash's neck.
"I just...want you to know that, you're the best friend I've ever had. When I look at you, Rainbow, my chest feels like a hundred little ponies are having a party and my breathing speeds up like I just saw a giant cake and everything feels so warm and I don't want you to go."
And then time slowed down as Pinkie pulled back and kissed Dash straight on the lips. Dash couldn't even describe what it was like before she pulling back forcefully. Something disgusting built up in the back of her throat, and she coughed violently to get it out. Between fits, Dash managed to catch brief glances at Pinkie; who was staring horrified. Eventually, the fit stopped and Dash pulled her head back up while wiping blood from her mouth.
Almost immediately, Pinkie was at her call. "Oh, oh, I'm sorry, Dashie. Please don't be mad, don't be mad. Are you hurt? I didn't mean to...it was suppose...are you fine?"
Dash shoved past Pinkie hastily. She couldn't think straight, everything seemed too large or small or far or near. Some things were flashing and some weren't and other things shook and moved and the ground felt rumbly and her legs were weak and flimsy as she walked. She stumbled clumsily over to the door, trotting through it easily. A quick look told her where the stairs were, and Dash threw herself onto them.
The feeling in her gut was back and she couldn't deny it any more. Something was wrong. Breathing out in an attempt to calm her nerves, Dash struggled to put together everything that had happened.
Pinkie had...had kissed her. Dash ran a hoof through her mane. Pinkie had kissed her, that was a thing that happened. What did she do now? Was she suppose to go back and comfort Pinkie? Did she forget it happened? This was a good thing right, it meant Pinkie felt the same way, didn't it? Dash wasn't even sure she felt that way, and Pinkie pulls something like this?
Dash heard something behind her and watched carefully as Pinkie walked back into view. A look of false determination sat on her brow as she walked closer to Rainbow. "I'm sorry, Dashie."
Rainbow stared at her friend, trying to make sense of the rush of thoughts clashing in her head. She didn't know how to respond. No, that wasn't right. She didn't want to respond. Not until she was, until there was no doubt. She got one chance, she wasn't going to ruin it like back in the Doctor's lab. She needed to be sure.
"Lets...lets just go. No time to waste, Pinkie." Dash said, jumping to her feet. Not even looking back to see if Pinkie was behind her, Dash rushed up the stairs.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, it occurred to her that this was it. All the pain, all the fear, all the deceit; it ended now. No more mistakes, no more injuries. This was it. Nightmare was going down.
Somewhere else in her mind, Pinkie's words echoed back into her ears. This wasn't a trap, it couldn't be. She knew herself and she wouldn't lie like that. At least, she hoped she wouldn't. It was just so hard to wrap her head around. How would she act in her clone's position? Surely she would try to stop Nightmare, regardless of the cost.
These two voices had been arguing with each other the entire time Dash was climbing the stairs. She'd lost track of how many there were, between her own nerves and Pinkie's constant apologies, it was impossible to remember how long they'd climbed anyway.
Placing her hooves on the large metal door, Dash ran through her thoughts one final time. Focusing mainly on why she was here. It wasn't too late to run after all, once she left the game was over, right? Nightmare would let them run back to Ponyville, and they could warn Celestia. Or the others.
And how trustworthy was her mascot anyway? How much did she really know, how much of what she was told were lies? What if it was all a lie? There was no danger, no clones, no freaky dream monsters; just a single long lie, designed to bring her to this point for...what, exactly?
Why was she the one needed? It came as a shock that she had never bothered to ask. How did she play into all this? What was her role in Nightmares plan?
Dash pushed these questions out of her head. She needed to focus. The trust she'd found in the mascots was sincere, regardless of what Pinkie might say. With a single push, the doors swung open in a wide arc, coming to rest softly against the walls.
Dash hadn't noticed how stressed she'd gotten in the short walk up the stairs or the adrenaline that had rushed into her body as a result. Everything seemed slow, just enough that it was noticeable. Grinning, Dash took advantage of this to scan the room, taking in everything she could.
Nightmare wasn't in the room; or at least, not in Dash's vision. There was nothing in the room in fact, save for a giant stained glass window directly opposite Rainbow. Through the patchwork of colour and paint, Dash assumed she and Pinkie must have been nearly six stories high.
Taking a step forward, Dash glanced around the room. There was nothing, nothing! Just a perfectly circular room with a door and a window. A sliver of panic began to creep into Dash's mind.
That single spark flared up when a loud slamming echoed through the room. Dash spun herself around quickly, calming quickly when she realized it was only the door closing. She chuckled slightly at her own nervousness.
"Pinkie, you...you're still fine?" Dash asked.
"Yep."
Dash sighed in relief. She was over reacting. Of course the room would be empty, why wouldn't it be? She'd stumbled across it randomly, only a complete idiot would assume that someone like Nightmare had time to waste sitting in an empty room. In hindsight, Dash should have asked for more instructions, asked more questions. That would have been better than shooting into the dark.
At that moment, another sound began to ring out through the room.
It was a slow, methodical clapping.

Dash licked her lips and slowly turned around. To her surprise, a large throne had appeared in front of the window. The dark black rock of the seat however paled in comparison to the colour of the pony sitting on top of it. A pony that demanded absolute attention, absolute loyalty and absolute control.
Nightmare Moon, a sinister grin glued to her face, clapped her front hooves together, waiting for Dash's attention to fall on her.
"Well, this was certainly surprising. I had expected more sport from you, Loyalty."
Dash took a step back, glancing around the room again. A smarter pony would have figured out something to say in response, but Rainbow simply fumbled her words.
"Really, it amazes me that you would come here. That you would even know to come here. But that's not the question is it?" Nightmare said, standing up.
Slowly, she moved across the room, an air of confidence following behind her. "Why are you here? You can't possibly think to defeat me, you can barely stand."
Dash grit her teeth, stepping backwards again as Nightmare came closer. Dash tried desperately to pull the words she needed out of her mouth, stopping only when Nightmare continued.
"Perhaps you've come to beg than? Not a bad choice, maybe I'll choose to spare you. Though that isn't very 'you,' is it Loyalty?"
Something clicked into place, and Dash found the words she'd lost. "No way. I'm here to take you down. You can't just sweep in here and kidnap my friend and expect to get away with it."
"Yeah, that's what meanie pants do! Get 'er Dashie."
Nightmare moved impossibly fast, leaving a trail of shadow as she dashed forward. Dash barely got time to blink before Nightmare was in her face. Dash tried to move her face out of the way, but Nightmare forced her to remain still.
They traded a long stare into each others eyes; Dash could feel her opponents gaze burning in the back of her eyes. Slowly, Dash regained the control of her head, long enough to see Nightmare walking away from her, tendrils of shadows tucking neatly into her mane. "My my, you're serious. You actually think you have a chance here. Hmm..."
The room became silent. Dash had to spin her head around to make sure that Pinkie was still there, struggling to figure out the cause of the silence while she did. Nightmare was speaking, but the sound of her words disappeared into the air and fell into empty air.
"I wonder why?"
With those words, the sound rushed back into the room. The sheer force of it pushed against Dash's body, blowing her mane into the air. Dash blinked the air out of her eyes, focusing back on Nightmare just in time for her to elaborate. "Why is it you fight me, Loyalty?"
Nightmare cocked her head sideways. "Is it your pride that forces you? I had noticed that, that small voice in your head that forces you to step forward when no others will. You're not one to back down ever, if memory serves. A whole pony, built around the idea of being the greatest. To fly the fastest, to fight the strongest, to be more famous than any other, how can you chase this dream? The realization would have crushed any other pony, except for you," Nightmare paused for a moment, pulling her head straight again, "Or is that you never actually thought about it? How there is always somepony better? How no matter how much you train, there will always be somepony better. Does it not anger you? I am your better, Loyalty. I am everything you will never be. I am the strongest, the fastest, the smartest and you will never compare."
Dash shook her head hastily. "Shut up!"
Nightmare simply grinned. "But that's not the reason, is it? Perhaps it's the same anger I just ignited in you, the same fire to hurt me. I did more than kidnap your friend, Loyalty, I stole her from you. How angry does that make you? You want revenge? Another reason you are so interesting to me. No other pony I've found can match the pure heat running through your blood, no other pony contains the very basic urge to hurt as much as you do. And in the end, how does that make you better than myself? I hurt nopony. All I ask for is loyalty, plain and simple. Those who have loyalty are safe within my walls and those that don't have no reason to complain about their danger. I am helping ponies, and you are hurting them."
Dash couldn't move her head faster. "You're lying! I've seen you hurt ponies."
"Am I, Loyalty? Or is this the honest truth? You can't deny the anger within you. So embrace it, throw the first punch, let me be done with you already. But before you do, consider one final thing. I know why you're here." Nightmare said, stepping off her throne. Her steps were dainty, carrying a thin illusion of delicateness as her mane wrapped around the alicorn's body. Dash rushed forward, seconds too late to stop Nightmare from disappearing with a sudden green flash.
Dash sat still for a moment, tracing through the smoke in the room with her eyes. It was barely a second before Nightmare appeared again, pulling herself out of the mist filling the room.
Appearing right behind Pinkie Pie.

Dash was on her feet in an instant, preparing another lunge at Nightmare. She could already see it was too late though. A dark green aura was already surrounding her friend, binding her in the air. Pinkie struggled against Nightmare's magic uselessly, before admitting defeat and simply staring at Dash with pleading eyes.
Nightmare opened her mouth to comment further, but Dash wouldn't even give her the chance. A quick twist of her wings and she was already on a head first charge towards Nightmare. Or was, until the same magic spell holding Pinkie materialized around her.
Dash struggled hard. She wasn't going to give up now, too much was at stake. She just needed an edge, or advantage or something. Where the hell was her mascot? This wasn't part of the plan.
Nightmare clicked her teeth together, making a hollow rattling sound. "How rude. Not even letting your princess finish her speech. Still, rude interruptions aside, do you know why you found yourself here? Not because of your pride, not because of your anger, but for one predictable reason. Her! Why her? What is it about her that makes you go through so much to keep her safe?"
Finally stopping her struggles, Dash simply resigned to listening. Her teeth carefully ground against each other as she waited, hating every moment of her imprisonment.
"I've obsessed over this, Loyalty. I've been watching you, watching her. Every second of every minute of every day, I've been watching, trying to answer a single question. Why her? And as I watched and thought and questioned, I came to a conclusion. You love Pinkie. Admit it."
Dash chuckled lightly. "What? No. Sure, Pinkie's a laugh but I don't...I mean, I wouldn't..." Dash's tongue suddenly stopped working mid sentence, trying desperately to catch up with the thoughts in her head.
She needed to make a choice. It may not have been the best time to make it, but clearly there was no choice. Nightmare expected a response, any response. Why couldn't Dash give her one? All it would take was a single sentence and it would all be over with. No more lovey dovey, no more confusion, just the shining light of certainty.
And yet, Dash couldn't do it. She needed to say no, everything she knew about herself was telling her to say no, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words.
So the answer was obvious then. If she couldn't say no, then yes was the only remaining answer. Or it would be, if yes didn't sound plain wrong. As much as Dash tried to force it, yes was always unsatisfying, never living up to what she truly wanted to say.
Dash sighed, releasing the tension she had built up in her body. She had no clue what to say, she needed more time.
"I don't...I don't know."
Nightmare's grin dropped. "What's that? You don't know? What a terrible answer. That is not what I want to hear, Loyalty. Perhaps you need a bit of reminding then? A little jolt to jog your memory of this no doubt fantastic mare." she said.
A second passed as a flash of light crossed over Nightmare's horn and a loud gagging sound echoed through the room. Pinkie grasped at her throat, desperately trying to suck in air. Despite her efforts though, a faint blue tinge coloured her face as she struggled.
Dash had been confused before when Nightmare had said how angry she was, but now...now she could understand completely. If she was given the chance, Nightmare wouldn't just die, she would die as slowly and painfully as possible.
"Stop it! Stop that now!" Dash shouted.
"Then admit it, Loyalty! Admit you love Pinkie. Or, maybe she's just another expandable pony to you."
"Fine, fine, I love Pinkie, now please, just let her breathe."
Nightmare replaced her smile with an angry sneer. "With passion, Loyalty. Let it be the truth."
Pinkie slowed down, losing control of her legs as she ran out of air. A dark shade of purple covered her face as Dash sighed heavily. Make it real. "Pinkie, I know this is sudden but, I think I may love you. I may say this about a lot of things, like the Wonderbolts or Tank, but this is something more. When I look at you, I want to spend every day near you. You're more than a friend to me, more than a pony I like to hang out with. And when we're done here, and I've kicked Nightmare's ass, you and me are going to sit down, and I can finally tell you about all the ways I feel about you."

A shiver ran down Nightmare's spine as she sighed heavily in ecstasy. Pinkie dropped to the ground, gasping loudly while Nightmare loomed over her. Dash was released a moment later, rushing to her friends side quickly. Nightmare could wait until Pinkie was safe.
Nightmare however, hadn't even noticed that Dash had moved. She struggled to maintain a grip on reality; shaking her head from side to side powerfully. Another shiver rocked through her body, and Nightmare stopped her struggles.
And she grinned a grin that could only be found by those that had complete confidence in themselves, the kind that could only be found on the end of a person that had planned and schemed and deceived until finally, everything came together.
"Heh, good work Rainbow. I'm impressed."
Dash pulled her attention away from Pinkie, content that she was going to be fine. Injured, but unarguably alive and okay. Carefully, Dash stepped over Pinkie, stretching her protesting wings in preparation. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on her target, standing there smiling and laughing; she was going to knock that smile right off.
Nightmare was unfazed. "Really, I was worried when you found your way here, but I can see now that everything went as expected."
Dash felt something drop in her gut. "Shut up! Enough of this talk about me, this isn't a case study. Fight me!"
Nightmare stepped forward, a new purpose behind her step. "You really are thick, aren't you? Don't you get it? You can't win. You could never win, from the moment you entered this park, you had lost. And it was so very easy."
"I said stop talking!" Dash shouted.
"Did you never stop to ask why Vinyl was out the front handling tickets? Or why Trixie was running a game stall? Or the Flim Flam brothers, the Wonderbolts, Octavia, Derpy, how could you never once just ask what they were doing here? Did you think they were here because they enjoyed it? And the tunnels, did you think they were made naturally? You used them to come here, and still you couldn't grasp their use. They were here for one purpose, this whole park is here for one purpose."
"So what was the purpose? Me beating you?"
Nightmare raised an eyebrow. "Pinkie?" she asked, nodding slightly.
Pinkie was back on her feet in an instant, ignoring the bruises growing around her neck. "Oh oh, I know this one! See Dashie, the prickly point of this pretty park is to make us fall in love."
Dash was forced to lower her guard for a moment as a train of thoughts rushed into her head. Most of them collided together uselessly, with only a handful actually reaching her mouth.
"Pinkie, how do yo--"
Dash was stopped as a loud crack tore through the room. It sounded like a great explosion of thunder just above the ceiling. It was loud enough to cause Nightmare to stop her monologue; directing her attention to the window across the room. Through the cracks of the stained glass window, a huge purple dome was rapidly covering the park.
Nightmare pushed past Rainbow, simply staring at the magic spell sealing her in.
Dash couldn't tell what she was thinking, though she did note that Nightmare's smug smile slowly drained from her face as she comprehended what was happening. Turning around though, another emotion flashed across her face for a split second. Dash couldn't tell whether it was concern or confusion. Frankly, Dash didn't even care anyway.
The mascots weren't lying to her.
A new hope running through her body, Dash stepped forward, completely forgetting her question before. "What's wrong, Nightmare? Something the matter?"
"How are you doing this? Tell me!"
Dash opened her mouth to tell Nightmare that she could take any explanation and shove it up her dark side of the moon, until Pinkie shoved her to the ground, bouncing in the air excitedly.
"Oh, I know. I know again! Pick me. Pick me."
"Yes, 'Pinkie?'"
Pinkie stopped for a moment, raising her hoof in a cheap imitation of Twilight. "It was the mascots, miss. Dashie was all 'Pinkie, the mascots are on our side now,' and I was all confused because the mascots are on our side and then she said Twilight was casting a spell that would dome us all and that didn't sound smart so I tried to trick Dash, but she was just sooooooo trusting. Didn't listen for a second. Don't even get me started on--"
A cyan hoof swiftly lodged in Pinkie's mouth, stopping her constant stream of conciseness. Dash's lips soon found themselves pressed Pinkie's ear. "What are you doing, Pinkie? You'll get us killed!"
"Hmm, the mascots. How odd. I suppose the process was always flawed."
"Trust me, Dash. Just trust me."
"Really, something like this was inevitable. There's only one solution then."
"What? Pinkie, I don't see how...I just..." Dash sighed, "Just don't tell her anything important. We need to get out of here."
"As much as I hate to leave my plans waiting, it seems there is more important things to take care of first."
"Don't worry, you can trust me, I'm Pinkie Pie."
Nightmare clapped her hooves together. "It would seem I have some troublesome workers to hunt down, so I'm afraid that I won't have time to fight. Pinkie, if you would."
Dash didn't even see the attack coming. It happened with the speed of someone who ate candy for a living and smoked raw sugar. The world spun around impossibly fast, stopping suddenly when Dash's head collided with the ground. She tried getting back up, pushing against the floor powerfully, but Pinkie stopped her attempts with another kick. The physical pain was only slightly more than the mental.
Gathering her thoughts back into one place, Dash finally gave up. She didn't care anymore. If someone was going to fight her, she was going to kick their ass. Pinkie, Nightmare, herself, it didn't matter. No more trusting Dash.
Or at least, that was the plan. It probably would have stayed the plan, had Dash not noticed a familiar sound hastily racing towards her. The sound of burning, of pride and mystery and speed, all charging directly at her. Dash pushed Pinkie off of her just long enough to brace herself.

Dust and debris fell from the roof as a familiar machine rushed to the ground. Turning its rockets off with a faint click, Rainbow's mascot fell to the ground heavily, immediately sliding itself between Rainbow and Nightmare. Dash's joy quickly turned to confusion though, as another pony leapt off the mascots back.
Pinkie landed on the ground harshly.
"Get!"
The strange device attached to Pinkie's hoof hummed ominously as Pinkie pulled it into the air. It took Dash far longer than she'd care to admit to realise that it was the same machine Pinkie had used against Twilight. What did she call it, the candy cannon, that's right.
"Off!"
The barrel started to spin up, rattling the contents of the tube.
"My!"
Pulling the contraption up to her eye, Pinkie focused on her target, the false Pinkie standing over Rainbow. She ran a few steps closer, drawing on all her power of balance to stay upright.
"Dashie!"
A sound like a thunder clap ripped through the room as Pinkie's gun went off. Unlike before, where the candy had come out in a single orderly line, this was more relatable to a sudden cone of rock hard pellets. Fingernail sized pieces of candy flew in every direction, with the majority directed at the Pinkie standing near Rainbow Dash. She never even had a chance to dodge, not that she could.
Miraculously, Dash was entirely untouched by the wall of oncoming pain. Pinkie was quickly picked up by the attack and thrown across the room, smashing into the stone wall of the tower painfully. She wasn't moving, so Dash assumed she was unconscious. Or worse.
Then her vision was blocked by a bright pink hoof. "Up you get, silly. It's not a very good time to sleep right now. It's time to go."
Dash refused to move, simply trading glances between the Pinkie in front of her and the one on the floor. Despite the danger, her confusion and her surprise, Dash just wanted everything to slow down. "No, no. Who are you? Who is she? What is going on? Are you Pinkie?"
"Of course I'm Pinkie! I'm pink aren't I? Unless..." Pinkie gazed at her hoof for a second, before continuing with a smile, "Nope, still pink. Though you're not blue anymore, well, mostly not blue. You're more purple than Twilight at the moment." she said, poking Dash lightly.
Rainbow winced. "Then who was that? What was that?" Dash asked, pointing at the fake Pinkie.
A second of silence sat between the two as Pinkie processed the question. When the implications hit her though, Pinkie's hooves found themselves at her mouth, hiding her shocked expression. "You don't know? No no, that's bad. Dashie, tell me you know. Tell me you didn't say anything to her!"
"Who is she?" Dash asked, panic cracking her voice.
"You don't know. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Dash, we need to go. Right now. That thing...it isn't...I mean, how do I explain this softly? Oh, I know. Dashie, Nightmare isn't Nightmare."
"What?"
"Nightmare isn't Nightmare! She's actually--"
Pinkie was interrupted by a sudden explosion, ducking just in time to avoid being crushed by Rainbow's mascot. It flew through the air, narrowly missing crashing into the two idling ponies. The machine was smoking badly and stray sparks of electricity popped out of the massive hole torn in its side. And through the hole, past all the intricacies and wires, something twitched. That wasn't the important thing though. Standing triumphantly in the place where the mascot was standing rose something different.
At a distance, one might have confused the creature for another pony. After all, four legs, a horn, pony face, what else could it be? Then one would notice the transparent bug-like wings springing from the things back and the many holes cut into its body. After that, the chitinous shell around the creatures midsection would serve as another warning that something was out of place. Finally, they would notice two pointed fangs sticking out of a grinning maw and never be heard from again, another pony lost among the thousands.
Dash was a bit smarter in this regard. She was able to recognize the creature instantly.
Pinkie however, was the one to put the creature to words.
"Chrysalis."

And suddenly, everything clicked into place. Dash ran through her memories; more and more pieces connecting together. Slowly, the gravity of the situation hit her. Just as she was reminded of what she'd done.
She'd fallen in love with a changeling. And that was very, very bad.
"Well, that saves me the trouble of having to hunt down six troublesome drones."
Chrysalis stepped forward, slowly advancing towards Pinkie and Rainbow. "I must say, it was a wonderful attempt. Turning the mascots against me, casting Shining's shield spell, confronting me. You nearly even had a chance. But how did you handle it? You threw it away, handed yourself to me on a silver platter to save...nopony. Not a single pony. But now, now I have everything I need. Your love, Rainbow. The love of somepony with such rebellion in their heart is a very potent thing, and I must thank you for providing it."
Chrysalis stopped directly in front of the duo. Her tongue lingered on her lips as she simply stared, trying to figure out the most efficient to handle the situation. A green glow radiated off her coat as her horn lit up. For a second, nothing changed, until a ring of green fire spread around the edges of the room, painting the walls black with heat.
Dash's eyes ran through the room. She needed an edge, an advantage, something she could use to get out of there. Why was there nothing in this room? All it would take was a single sliver of leeway and they could get out of here. The plan was still in effect right? All she had to do was get the other elem--
Dash's thoughts broke slightly as Chrysalis' aura glued her head forward, directly into the waiting eyes of the queen.
"It's a shame your services are no longer needed."
The magic surrounding Dash's head started to spread, flowing down her body like caramel. It felt like caramel too, all sticky and thick and completely unmovable. She tried to fight it, pulling back with all her might against the magic, but she was forced to remain still as the glow engulfed her.
And then Pinkie was there, swinging her empty cannon at Chrysalis' head. It connected with a satisfying thunk and for a split second, the magic holding Dash wavered. Her hopes hit rock bottom again as Chrysalis redoubled her efforts. Pinkie only got a chance to make a pained squeal as Chrysalis swept her hoof sideways, swatting Pinkie across the room. It was only by pure luck that Pinkie managed to avoid falling into the flames.
Chrysalis' hoof felt cold against Rainbow's chin as she was pulled into the air. The magic stretched her body as she moved, bringing back the pain Dash had nearly forgotten.
Air was difficult to grab, and Dash was reminded of just how final everything was again. This was her last moment. All she'd done, everything she'd accomplished, it ended here, all because she was unable to stop Chrysalis. All because she wanted to help Pinkie. She didn't even feel her heart beating through her chest anymore, or her breathes coming out in ragged gasps. Strangely, she didn't even feel angry at Chrysalis. There was no regret, no tears, no final questions. She simply felt hollow. For the first time, she felt defeated.
Chrysalis smirked, her horn flashing again, and Dash found the wind whistling through her mane as she flew backwards. Fast. A sudden pain exploded out of her entire back as she smashed into something, accompanied by a sharp crack. She'd been lying if she said this wasn't the worst pain she'd felt yet. Something was broken, she was sure. Her entire back was numb from the pain, and heavy black blotches filled her vision.
Fighting to stay awake, Chrysalis flashed her horn again, smiling in glee as Rainbow went flying again. Through her fading vision, Dash could see the remains of Chrysalis' throne; a large hole now torn through the space she smashed through. Dash was prepared for the next collision though, bracing herself for another bout of pain. She couldn't even figure out why she bothered.
Her bracing was pointless anyway, as her next crash caused her to fly clean through the window.

Dash forced her eyes back open, not caring if glass managed to sneak its way in.
Everything seemed slow though, or at least slower than it normally was. A shard of jagged glass, deep green, flew past her face impossibly slow. It seemed like she could just reach forward and snatch it out of the air. The glass drifted past her head, knocking against her ear as it flew, only to be replaced by an entire windows worth of glass rushing towards Dash.
Chrysalis walked as if she was wading through water, slowly and with great difficulty. It would take ages for her to reach Rainbow at that pace, much too long.
Out of the corner of Dash's eye, something pink stood up. If she could, Dash would have turned her head to better focus on Pinkie, but for some reason she couldn't move fast enough to do that. Maybe the world had slowed down?
And then everything sped up to normal speed again. Dash couldn't bring herself to flinch as the glass smashed into her person, leaving small cuts along her body. She did manage to watch them fall to the ground though, so many stories below her. Like little pieces of snow.
When she pulled her head back up, lacking the energy to do anything more, Chrysalis was already in her face. Her shattered hoof stretched forward, taking a firm grip beneath Dash's chin. Confident with her grip, Chrysalis released her magic, letting it fade away into the air and taking Dash's full weight in her arms.
"I had such high hopes for you, Rainbow. You were suppose to do better than this."
All Chrysalis was met with an defeated stare. Chuckling to herself, she continued, "Why, I was planning to give you a throne at my side, surely you would have earned it had you went with the plan. But this? All this backstabbing and deceit, why would you do it? None of what you did is what you truly wanted."
Dash remained silent.
"And what was the trigger for all this? Trust one who knows, Rainbow, it was love. And that was where you went wrong. You can't change who you are for love, it doesn't work like that. You were so caught up in trying to protect your little marefriend that you let it get in the way of what needed to be done. You needed to kill me, Rainbow, and you were so distracted trying to...what's the slang? 'Rut' your friend that you ignored every advantage I gave you. And now, it is too late."
Dash didn't dare speak, but her brain was whizzing away busily trying to comprehend what Chrysalis was trying to explain. Surely she was wrong, Dash had acted the way she always would...she would have done the same regardless of Pinkie's involvement. Chrysalis was wrong, it wasn't about love.
Twisting her hoof, Chrysalis gave Dash a look of the entire park. Or, what was the park.
Where before there had been stalls and tents, there were now dark green mounds. The paths running through the park took their true form, melting into hard packed dirt. The occasional plant could be seen peaking out of the roads, but they were engulfed by the lines of green that crisscrossed the black dirt. Occasionally, a loud scream would break out from the ground and Dash would quickly lock onto a single pony sprinting down the roads, a hoard of changelings in pursuit. A familiar pony actually, not that it mattered now. And then Derpy was gone, pulling the crowd of insects behind her. Dash stared further, noting the huge dark spires that reached into the sky.
Not a tower, a spire. Dash made the connection easily. She was never in a tower, it was always a spire. And with that, the whole masquerade fell apart. The whole terrifying truth came out.
There was never a park at all. There was no place called Smiles Land, it was all a trap. It was a beehive disguised as a honey pot, designed to lure in the gullible. Dash's mind boggled at the amount of power needed to maintain an illusion of that power for so long, she doubted Twilight would be able to do it.
Chrysalis twisted her hoof again, bringing Dash back into her eyes. "The hive will spread, Rainbow, thanks to you. We are unstoppable now, a force of nature instead of a mere colony. All of Equestria will be covered by our homes. None shall be spared, those that we can't use will be removed. All because a single insignificant mare couldn't keep her feelings to herself. How does that make you feel?"
Dash choked on Chrysalis hoof for a second, before coughing out her reply, "If I'm so insignificant, then why did I apparently come so close to winning?"
The grin ran away from Chrysalis' face, replaced by an angry sneer. She took a moment to compose herself, pulling Dash close to herself. "I suppose you'll never know."

And with those words, Chrysalis angled her hoof downward. Gravity quickly overtook Rainbow, pulling her out of Chrysalis' hoof. There was a brief moment when Dash hung in the air, with nothing tethering her to the ground until reality realised she wasn't suppose to do that and dropped her.
Dash could almost grin in joy. Chrysalis was an idiot, who in their right mind would try to kill a pegasus by dropping them? A quick flick threw her wings open as Dash prepared for the sudden deceleration, along with being careful not to scrape herself against the walls of the spire. This was her zone, she was the queen of the air.
And then her grin ran away when it became apparent she wasn't slowing down. No no no, this was her zone, nothing goes wrong in Dash's zone. Rainbow twisted her wings, grasping desperately at the slivers of air that rushed through the holes in her wings. She winced as she moved them again, pain rocketing through her back. Why was there pain? The air shouldn't bring pain.
The spire sped past her as she picked up speed. No, this wasn't happening, this was another crazy dream, that's all. Dash twitched her wings through the sky, surely she was just doing it wrong. It didn't matter if something like this was simple, clearly she was doing it wrong. If she was doing it right, she wouldn't be falling. But she wasn't falling, of course, this was all just a dream.
Falling, the word lingered on Dash's mind. Oh god, she didn't want to die. Not like this. A pegasus should never fall to their death, that was the first thing you learnt. Only rejects and the injured fell to their death, Dash wasn't a reject. She just needed to find the right airwaves, that's all.
Tears started to spring into her eyes. She was falling, in a dream, maybe? Or was it reality? No, of course not, she wouldn't fall in reality, she was better than that. She was Rainbow Dash.
She was going to join the Wonderbolts, save the world, maybe write a book, if that wasn't too hard. She couldn't actually die yet, there was still so much to do. Pinkie was still waiting for her to return, to tell her the truth. Dash couldn't die yet.
The ground was coming awfully close now. Breathing deeply, Dash tried to calm down. Her useless wings snapped against her side, obviously pointless at this point. Determination crossed her face.
She was Rainbow Dash. She needed to protect her friend. Nothing was going to stop her, nothing.
The ground rushed closer. Adrenaline kicked in, reading her body for the impact. At the same time, her brain kicked into overdrive. She needed to do something, anything. Maybe if she grabbed the spire? Or maybe if wished really hard something would swoop in and save her? Or she could try flying again, clearly she was doing something wrong. Or maybe...maybe she could...there must be something...
There had to be something. She was Rainbow Dash! She was the fastest flier in Equestria! The air was her domain, no one else's. She was...she was...
She was kidding herself.
It was all Dash could do to close her eyes before her body smashed into the grass. A single loud crack echoed through the park as she crashed. The glass peppering the ground dug into her body, bringing what little blood was left out to the surface. Who was actually convinced by her act? This was it; she'd lost it all. Pinkie, Equestria, the fight and finally her life.
The fire behind her eyes faded as Rainbow gave in to the pain.

The Longest Day

by Nazkan

I just never liked mascots

Without a doubt, perfectly safe.

Maximum Overdrive

Get inside Tom, quickly.

Candy Cannon: Deploy

Prince Blueblood was right

M.C. Rainboom vs D.J. Rare

The prickly point of this pretty park.