Raindrops stumbled up the staircase as fast as she could, tears flowing down her jasmine yellow cheeks. Sweat ran from her tiffany blue mane and got in her eyes.
She did not know how many stairs she had climbed, but she knew the door she was looking for had a colorful wooden frame with the words "Welcome Home" written on it. She quickly looked for it on each new floor.
Finally she saw the door, tripping on the last step she made it to the door without falling. Her hooves pounded on the door harder than her throbbing heart beating in her chest. The door was unlocked; she kicked it wide open and hurried inside the dark apartment, calling the name of her filly sister.
"Flora I'm here now." Raindrops yelled exhausted. "Where are you, please don't let it be too late"
She trampled into each room and came to a quick stop entering the living room where she found her sister hanging from a rope over the table edge. Her lime green wings bound to her sides, lying at her small hooves and lavender tail was Solo, a plush lion, the only gift and memory she had of their mother.
“This isn’t real, Flora” Raindrops could not breathe “don’t leave me alone.”
Her legs became weak; she shifted her weight to her wings and slowly flew up to the filly and got her down, nibbling at the knot. She brought her sister to the floor, embracing her limp body. Raindrops thought of the last time her sister smiled as she tended to her flowers, wanting to show her big sister how much they had grown. She realized she would never see her smile again and she would never get the chance to buy flowers at the shop Flora wanted to open when she grew up. Above all she could no longer protect her little sister, where she was going.
“Couldn't protect her here either.”
Raindrops wanted to scream, but no matter how hard she tried she could not add sound to her cries. Her tears made the room blurry; she saw the curtains dance in front of a wide open window. Her sadness turned into a flame of anger in her chest when she thought of the name Flora left in that letter.
After laying her sister to rest in a bed with the lion at her side Raindrops fixed her gaze on the open window. She dashed towards empty night, leapt out and spread her wings.
Raindrops opened the window a crack and looked around the dark room behind her before she climbed out and flew down to the wet alley down below. The rain beat against the windows and the garbage bags inside a metal container. Raindrops was dressed in an all-black outfit with a small saddlebag.
Coming out from the alley she had no problem sneaking past two garbage ponies complaining about the weather while emptying the trash cans. Raindrops climbed up on the roof of the garbage carriage and lay as flat as she could, so she would not be discovered. The rain made her clothes tight and cold. As the carriage took off for her next destination she hoped her saddlebag was more waterproof than her outfit.
Reaching Ponyville the carriage stopped at the library, the roof of the carriage was at the height of a window that usually stood ajar. With her wing she undid the clasp that held the window and climbed in.
She was in a small office with only a desk and a bookcase with folders, paper collections and scrolls. The rain had made her cloths too heavy, it restricted her movement so she removed them and threw them out the window onto the garbage carriage just before it took off.
She carefully opened the door to the main library. From her saddlebag she pulled out a few books and proceeded to sort them into their respective shelf.
"Now what books should I take this time" She wondered, when a sound from the other room caught her attention. "Is there somepony else here?"
It was the sound of something heavy hitting the floor, not loud enough to wake anyone, but loud enough to investigate. Raindrops put her ear against the door, trying to get some more information, but she heard nothing.
She pushed the door open with her head, looked up and tried to adjust her vision to the darkness. She caught a glimpse of a winged silhouette before she was attacked and pulled into the room.
After a short wrestle— both in the air and on the ground— Raindrops managed to pin her opponent to the ground placing a hoof on each wing.
“Hey, are you a thief too?” asked a happy voice between the wings. “Can you help me?”
“What?”
“I need help moving that machine,” the voice continued “but it’s too heavy and I can’t lift it on my own and the doctor told me, ‘Stitchy, you bring that machine out here.’ But then when I tried to lift it, it was too heavy so I dropped it and then you…”
“Quiet!” Raindrops interrupted. “You’re going to wake somepony, and why wound I help you?”
Raindrops stepped of her wings and the Pegasus got on her hooves. She was the size of a filly and her mane was wild and uncombed.
"That's right, we have to be sneaky." Stitchy whispered, but the volume of her voice gradually went up again "We thieves have to stick together, 'There's no bond stronger than that of a shared secret.' That’s what the Doctor says, 'knowing your opponent before knowing if he knows himself.' Getting in and out unnoticed, not leaving anyone behind, unless they're too slow to keep up. That's the code of the thief, always..."
"Shhh! I get it now stop talking, and I'm not I thief, I just..." Raindrops still didn't have what she came here for. "I'll help you, but you have to be quiet."
Stitchy saluted, accepting her new mission. She gestured for Raindrops to follow, and led her to the back of the room where the machine was. It looked advanced and was the size of a grown pony. Raindrops didn’t see how the little filly was supposed to get it out all on her own in the first place.
“Ok, you take that side and we’ll fly this towards the window” Raindrops instructed.
The filly answered with a few quick nods; together they lifted the machine of the ground and into the air. But the smaller pony was not strong enough and lost control of her side. She flew backwards and crashed the machine into a scroll rack, knocking it to the ground with a loud clatter. The light was turned on in the other room and they heard hoofsteps closing in on the door.
Before Raindrops could consider her options the door swung open. The room lit up and blinded both ponies, but the one standing in the doorway was no purple mare. It was an old sky blue unicorn with messy snow white mane. With the cutiemark of a screw and nut surrounded by lightning.
"What are you doing in here?"
"Doctor!" Stitchy replied with a smile "We're stealing the secret machine."
"For the last time you silly filly, we are neither thieves nor pirates." The Doctor said "Twilight gave us the key so we could borrow the machine when she was away."
"But why are you here in the middle of the night?" Raindrops asked.
"Who is this pony?"
"She's a friend,” Stitchy replied while collecting scrolls of the floor. ”she’s helping me carry the machine."
"My name is Raindrops."
"That's fine I guess." The Doctor said entering the room with a wooden cart. "I'm Dr. Screw Loose and we’re doing this at night because I’m a very busy genius. I’m not going to adjust my schedule when the only time I have to spare happens to be at night.”
“I guess that makes sense.” Raindrops said turning to Stitchy “So you’re his assistant or something?”
"I'm his right-hoof-pony." She answered with a scroll in her mouth.
Stitchy was a light gray filly with burgundy red mane and tail. With the light turned on Raindrops saw her scars. She had stitching all over body, seemingly holding most of her limbs, neck and one of her ears. Even her cutiemark of a screwdriver was stitched to her flank.
"Oh my, what happened to you?" Raindrops said "Those scars..."
"We don't have time for life-stories." Screw Loose interrupted. Raindrops didn’t want to be rude, so she let it go for now. "Yellow pony, help Stitchy get the machine on the cart and let’s make some progress here."
"Yes sir." Stitchy and Raindrops replied in unison. They proceeded to load the machine onto the wooden cart and as they took it outside Raindrops caught the sight of an elaborate mechanical carriage.
"That's so cool!" She said in awe.
"Yes, now secure the cart to the rear of the carriage" Screw Loose said as he climbed up to the front seat.
"How does it move if nopony's pulling it?" Raindrops asked while inspecting it.
“Magic!” Stitchy exclaimed as she finished connecting the wooden cart to the metallic carriage. “Screwy is electrical.”
“I told you not to call me that.” The Doctor corrected. “But climb on curious one and I’ll show you the fruits of my genius.”
“Can I really?” Raindrops said and flew up next to Screw Loose.
“Sure you can,” Stitchy said as she sat next to Raindrops “The Doctor loves showing off his inventions.”
“Well, it would be a crime to keep such talent a secret, now wouldn’t it?” Screw Loose added.
His horn began to glow in a yellow light, metallic sounds came from inside the carriage and it began to quake.
"His magic lets him control electricity," Stitchy said as the carriage took off towards the Everfree Forest "it's what makes his inventions come to life."
"I'm pretty sure she already figured that out dear." The Doctor said.
"I did," Raindrops said "but it's still amazing, and I'd love the chance to see more machines like this."
"Say no more, you will be our guest. It's too late to drive you home anyway." Screw Loose declared as the carriage left Ponyville. "In the morning I'll show you everything, you must be very excited to see all of my incredible creations."
"I am, I..."
"Of course you are!" He interrupted. "But more importantly, Raindrops, what were you doing in Twilight's library in the middle of the night?”
"I was, just returning some books." Raindrops answered while looking down at her hooves. "Like you said, she wouldn’t be home anyway so the time of day doesn't matter."
"A likely story," The doctor said looking down the road "but you don't strike me as the kind of pony who can't spare a few minutes during daytime to visit the town. Also," He continued, turning towards Raindrops "Twilight wouldn't need the books back in a hurry if she wasn't going to be home anyway."
"It's okay, you can tell us." Stitchy said placing her hooves in Raindrops lap and looking into her face. "We won't tell nopony, we thieves have to stick together remember?"
Raindrops smiled, patting the filly on the head. “Well I’m not a thief. That library belonged to my mother before that purple pony and her dragon moved in. So she’s the one borrowing my books. I grew up in that library, we both did, me and my sister.”
A filly Raindrops ran into the library, where a white pegasus with golden yellow mane sat with a tiny green sleeping filly in the hooves.
“Ah, no fair Mom, I want hugs too.” She said as she jumped up on the couch.
“Come here you.” The mother said, cuddling both her fillies under her wing. “Were you a good filly at Berry Punch’s house?”
“I was,” Raindrops answered with a muffled voice as she used her mouth to pull her mother’s wing over her shoulder like cover “I was super good, I even ate all the corn and you know I don’t like corn.”
“I know that sweetie, and I’m very proud of you.”
“It’s because they look like tiny me’s.” The yellow filly said, making her mother laugh. ”Mom?”
“Yes dear?”
“Is daddy coming home soon?”
The mother paused to find the right words before answering the question. "Do you remember what I told you about the war?"
"Yeah, daddy is a hero!" Raindrops replied as she flew up from her mother’s cover and started shadowboxing in the air. "He's fighting the pink dragon Cegila and her army of evil ponies."
"That's right dear, but not so loud, you'll wake your sister.”
"Sorry mom." Raindrops flew down to her sister. "Don't worry Flora; your big sister will be here to protect you from all the evil ponies until daddy comes home."
"But he never did.” Raindrops said looking down on the gray filly in her lap. “After my father died, my mother began to work more. She worked for the army too; she was a scientist, developing weapons. She’d spend long nights in her lab, always telling us how she would avenge my father and stop the war. One night, she was sent in on an emergency. She told us not to worry and that she would be home before we woke up. The house never felt as empty as it did that morning."
Stitchy's eyes wandered up to the blue pony sitting next to Raindrops. "Doctor?" She whispered.
He had tears pouring from his closed eyes and with hoof covering his mouth, trying to hold back. "Cloudfire was your mother?" He finally managed to say with a broken voice.
Cheerilee was pushed to the hard stone floor and the bag over her head was yanked off. She quickly adjusted to the dark red room lit by torches. The sight before her was of a large red velvet throne with a black frame. Sitting upon the throne was a slim neon pink dragon roughly the size of two ponies with a long sharp tail and deep purple wings.
"You sure picked a bad day for a field trip Miss Cheerilee." The voice of the dragon was smooth and elegant.
Cheerilee could not find the courage to get on her hooves. "I don't." She stuttered before being interrupted.
"Don't bother with the; ‘Where, why and who’." The pink dragon said with a high head. "I will fill you in on what's happening here, but since you are a teacher and everything I trust you know who I am."
The dark pink pony forced herself up on shaky legs before answering with a weak voice. "Yes I know who you are; you're Cegila, the Black Hill Demon."
"I always liked that name; it has a nice ring to it, fun to say too." The dragon added. "Witch leaves us with the ‘where’ and the ‘why’."
The dragon stepped down from her throne and slowly approached her captive. "We are in the Black Hills and I have brought you here because there are some things I need and some things I don't need."
Cheerilee staggered backwards as she looked around the dark throne room for an exit. "Where are my students?"
"What I don't need is for one of my best generals to be locked up inside Celestia’s dungeon." The dragon continued as her voice became more sharp and threatening as she closed in on the pony. "What I do need is for you to not cooperate so I get the chance to try out some of my new toys." Cheerilee backed into something soft. When she turned around she got a black bag pulled over her head and was knocked unconscious.
Cheerilee woke up with the bag still on her head, her vision was pitch black but she could hear faint voices. She was lying on her back on a tilted surface, unable to move any of her legs and as she yanked at her shackles the voices silenced.
The bag was pulled off her head by the mouth of a young pegasus mare. Her coat was dark green; she had a ruby pink mane and an eye patch over her right eye. The pegasus' other eye looked calm and determined as she stood next to the majestic pink dragon.
“This is Toxic, my protégé.” The dragon explained placing her claw on the mare's shoulder. "She will be in charge of today's interview and try to be understanding Miss Cheerilee, this is her first time."
The bound teacher looked at the pegasus with caring eyes. "You poor thing," she said with a soft voice "you don't have to do this."
"Oh Miss Cheerilee, there is no need for you to worry." Cegila said in a sarcastic tone. "You see Toxic here enjoys the sight of agony maybe more than I do and she is rarely the one to miss out on a good torture. Isn't that right?" The dragon turned her long neck towards the pegasus beside her.
"Yes your highness." Toxic replied with her eye on Cheerilee.
"Great, then get to it." Cegila said shoving the green mare forward. “Start by explaining to your captive what you need from them, her reply is going to be something along the lines with…”
“I won't help you with anything until I see that my students are safe.” Cheerilee interrupted with a worried look in her eyes. “But please, don’t tell me.”
“Exactly thank you Miss Cheerilee; you are so educational.” Cegila added as she softly flew over to the tool table behind Cheerilee's line of sight. “As you can see she will be reluctant at first but with the right motivation she'll come around."
Cheerilee heard the sound of metallic equipment being shuffled around behind her. "I personally like the hoof-remover or maybe the tail-puller," the dragon said "but we will get to that later.”
"Would you like me to start your highness?" The eager green pegasus asked as she stepped forward.
"Go right ahead." Cegila answered with an encouraging gesture without turning her head from the tool table. "Show us what you have learned."
Toxic walked up the teacher and raised her right foreleg to show the bracelet on her hoof. It was a black metal bracelet with a red flame pattern. “Do you know what this is Miss Cheerilee?”
“I do know what that is; I have seen that kind of weapon before” Cheerilee answered as she studied the bracelet. "I'm guessing it would be a spear or a sword."
"It's not just any sword." Toxic said as she took a step back and a thin metal tongue rolled out from the bracelet and hardened to the shape of a long dark blade with a glowing red pattern. "This sword was given to me by Gravel Dust, the greatest warrior in all of Equestria. I'm sure you saw him on your field trip to Celestia's dungeon."
“You mean Gravel Dust, the leader of The Soot Valley army?” Cheerilee said with a concerned look on her face.
That’s right; he’s the only earth pony to ever reach the rank of general and I’ve been given the honor of rescuing him.” Toxic said with passion. “I owe him for the time he saved my flank during the battle for The Oakheart Meadow. I’m going to show him how much stronger I’ve become and you're going to help me get him out”
"But I'm just a teacher, how could I be of any help in freeing a criminal from a heavily guarded prison?" Cheerilee tried to sound accommodating.
“Gravel Dust is no criminal,” Toxic raised her sword to Cheerilee’s neck “he’s a war hero.”
“Yes of course he is I’m so sorry,” Cheerilee said submissively “but what do you need me for?”
"You have given the tour of Celestia’s dungeon for years, you know more about it than anypony." Toxic said and lowered her sword as the blade swiftly rolled back into the bracelet.
"Well I'm not going to help you with anything until I see that my students are safe." Cheerilee said defiantly.
"Here you go," Cegila landed next to Toxic and handed her a device that looked like a brass boot with a thin needle sticking out from the side of it "this might make her more compliant."
"Yes your highness." Toxic received the boot and began strapping it to Cheerilee's hoof.
“What are you doing,” she resisted “what is that thing?”
"I'm about to teach you something Miss Cheerilee." The dragon cupped Cheerilee's cheek with her claw. “This boot is called The Hoof Vice and that needle you see has a screwing mechanism to it. We will slowly drill it in under you hoof-nail, one hoof at the time. But most ponies don't make it through the first hoof.”
"Oh dear Celestia, please don't." Cheerilee panicked. "I don't want this; it's going to hurt a lot. I'll help you with anything if you promise not to hurt my students."
Cegila swung the back of her claw across Cheerilee's face, leaving a three-stripe wound on her cheek. "I know you will," she said as she gripped Cheerilee's throat with her claw "but I'm trying to educate my dear protégé here. As a teacher, you know how important it is with a proper education."
Tears began pouring down her cheeks and mixing with the blood from her wound as she tried to gasp for air. The dragon squeezed the teacher's throat tighter and stared intently into her horrified eyes.
She was interrupted by a knock on the door and released the grasp. Cheerilee coughed trying to fill her lungs with air.
“What is it?” The dragon yelled towards the door. “Enter and state your business.”
The door opened and a gray stallion clad in armor entered. “I've brought the foals you asked for your highness.”
“You're a bit early but I guess that's fine.” Cegila said with her claw on Cheerilee's head. “Bring them in here.”
The guard led a pack of ten foals followed by another guard into the chamber.
“Cheerilee!” Applebloom was the first to spot their bound and bleeding teacher. “What are you doing to her?” She ran towards her teacher only to be knocked back by one of the guards and tumble to the ground.
“Don't hurt them,” Cheerilee cried “please I'll help you, just let my students go.”
“Now Miss Cheerilee, that's enough out of you.” The dragon said and strapped a gag to her mouth.
The rest of the class' reaction was a mixture of fear and confusion. Some cried for help while others cowered on the ground. “Why are you doing this?” Asked a squeaky voice.
“I suggest you calm down my little ponies ,” Cegila said in a soft tone “if you don't want to wake the dreaded Odnam; an evil monster who eats rowdy little children.”
The class managed to calm down to only whimpers and sobs.
“This is not all of them your highness,” Toxic said as she looked through the class of tiny ponies “there was also a white skinny one.”
The class looked around; whispering to each other. “Where is Featherweight, is he still hiding?”
“Toxic my trusted protégé, would you mind retrieving this lost little pony?” Cegila asked and Toxic answered with a nod before heading out the door. “Now class, I will entertain you with a story while we wait for Toxic to return with your friend.” The guards pushed the foals forward and forced them to sit down in front of the pink dragon.
As Toxic searched the room where the class had been kept she heard a whimper coming from one of the beds. She pulled the covers of the bed and looked underneath it to find a quivering little pony with a cream colored coat and brown mane.
“Hi there,” Toxic said with a kind voice “you don't have to scared anymore, I'm a friend.”
The colt seemed afraid to answer.
“I'm sorry about the eye patch, it's just a disguise.” Toxic said and that seemed to calm his breathing. “My name is Toxic, you're Featherweight right?”
“The guards took my friends,” the colt stuttered “but I hid under the bed.”
“You did very well in hiding kid and I'm going to save your friends too,” Toxic reassured and extended her hoof to help him out from the bed “but for now we have to get you to safety.”
Featherweight wiped his tears and let toxic pull him out. “What do we do now?”
“You have to be brave now Featherweight,” Toxic said and pointed to a door across the room “you see that door; it leads to an unguarded hallway witch will take you to the pantry. It should be a safe place for you to hide and I will come back for you when I've rescued your friends. Do you think you can do that?”
“Okay, I can do that; I will be brave for my friends.” He replied with a determined look, but his tears had not stopped flowing.
“Go on then, we have no time to spare.” Toxic said and watched as Featherweight ran across the room. She went over to a rack of spears; grabbed one of them with her mouth and threw it across the room. The spear impaled the colt and pinned him to the door.
“What in Equestria is wrong with you?” The stuttered question came from a guard standing in the other doorway.
“Just clean it up.” Toxic replied with a smile as she passed the guard on her way out.
She returned to the room to see the whole class of foals crying as they sat in front of a dragon who was laughing at the top of her lungs.
“Did I miss the story?” Toxic asked with a smile still on her lips.
"You knew my mother?" Raindrops asked. "What happened to her? Did she work with you in the lab? You have to tell me."
Screw Loose calmed down. "Your mother was no lab rat, kid." He wiped his cheeks and took a deep breath. "You just brought back some heavy memories."
Suddenly the carriage came to a screeching halt, the three ponies lost some balance and Stitchy would have fallen off Raindrops lap if she had not caught her.
“What happened?” Raindrops said as she looked around trying to find a reason for the sudden stop and found they had reached a major clearing in The Everfree Forest. “Why did you stop here?”
“I didn’t.” The Doctor replied with a sharp eye.
In the darkness ahead of the carriage there was a purple glow illuminating an angry mare and half a dozen stallions clad in gold armor at her side.
“Twilight,” Screw Loose said under his breath “to think she'd find me here.”
“You won’t get away this time Doctor Screw Loose,” Twilight declared as she spread her wings and took flight “not with the royal guard at my side.”
The stallions charged towards the carriage, two of them in the air and the rest galloped through the knee-high grass. Poles formed between the forelegs of the flying pegasi and extended on one end to the shape of spears.
“What do we do Doctor?” Stitchy said as she hid behind the awestruck Raindrops.
“Stitchy get Raindrops to the mansion,” Screw Loose said as he leapt off the carriage “take her too the room behind the bookshelf.”
The two pegasi dove with their spears aimed at the blue unicorn, but as sparks surrounded his horn a hatch opened on the carriage and shot out a wire net trapping the two guards. Before they hit the ground Screw Loose sent a electric current through the wire; frying both of them.
Stitchy and Raindrops jumped off the carriage and hid behind it. “But I'm not allowed behind the bookshelf.” Stitchy said as the other guards closed in on them.
“You are now,” Screw Loose replied as another hatch opened on the carriage “there is something Raindrops needs to see.”
A high pressure water cannon fired from the hatch at the galloping guards, but the thick water stream was repelled by a purple barrier; shielding the stallions who stopped in their tracks.
“Don't run through the wet grass; you'll get electrocuted,” Twilight shouted as she flew behind the guards “I'll handle this.”
“You have to get out of here now.” Screw Loose yelled as he fired smaller volleys of water at Twilight.
“What about my mother,” Raindrops said while Stitchy tried to drag her away by her tail “I have to know what happened to her.”
“I can't hold them off forever kid,” Screw Loose said as a giant boulder crashed down near the carriage “run you foals.”
Raindrops turned and flew towards the thick forest with Stitchy barely keeping up as she heard more boulders hitting the ground behind them.
They flew until the sound of the battle was far behind them and they could no longer see the clearing through the trees. They tumbled to the ground exhausted trying to catch their breath.
“Where is The Doctor?” Raindrops asked lying on her back panting for air.
“Don't worry, Twilight won't kill him,” Stitchy replied lying next to her “she'll take him to Celestia's dungeon; probably lock him up forever.”
“Well we have to save him,” Raindrops said as she got back on her hooves “he's the only one who knows what happened to my mother.”
“Of course we'll save him,” Stitchy said still lying on the ground “but The Doctor said to head for the mansion, it's not too far from here.”
