“We’re going to die …”
The thought replayed itself over and over again inside Rainbow Dash’s mind like a bad Justin Neighber song, while she desperately flew threw the cold night sky. Oh wait a minute … all of his songs are bad. Rainbow Dash probably would have laughed at this if it wasn’t for her current situation.

Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight, and what was left of the infiltration team, were being chased through the Everfree forest by the Equestrian Royal Guard. There were currently fifty-three of them in total. The punishment for trying to break inside the Canterlot castle, no matter the reason, usually ended with somepony receiving capital punishment. The infiltration team was composed of ten ponies, besides Dash and her friends there were: two changelings, a unicorn, a pair of earth ponies, and a pegasus. Since the chase began, four of Rainbow’s teammates had been captured. Dash, her three friends, and the other two members were near complete exhaustion. With nothing but the trees inside the Everfree forest stretching out or as far as the eye could see, the small group started to lose all hope of getting out of their current situation alive.

“Everyone …,” said Fluttershy in between heavy gasps for air. “I can’t … go on much longer…”
“No! Don’t give up on me now Fluttershy! Just a little bit farther!” The irony of it all was that Rainbow Dash wasn’t too far off from collapsing as well.
“I’m … sorry … but … I can’t feel my wings anymore … please … just go on without me!” pleaded Fluttershy, in between heavy gasps for air.
“Please Fluttershy! You can do this! We’re almost there!” pleaded Twilight. In truth, they still had a long ways to go before they reached their new destination. Deep down, the small group was aware of this, but acknowledging it would only make their situation seem even more hopeless than it already was.
The other two members of the infiltration unit, one an earth pony stallion, with a dark red coat, and white mane, the other a male Changeling, looked at each other with pained expressions, and then nodded. The pair came to a sudden halt, surprising Rainbow Dash and the others.

“We’ll hold them off for off for as long as we can! Go on without us!” the Changeling shouted, as he prepared himself for the guards who were closing in fast.
“Don’t do it! There’s too many of them! You’ll only get yourselves caught!”
“Shut up Twilight!” snapped the earth pony. “No one cares about your dumb fast facts! We can’t afford to lose any of you, especially the Captain, to Celestia! This is our fight now, our mission! If it means giving you all extra time to get away, then I’m more than ready to sacrifice myself! We have nothing to lose! Now get moving!” The stallion shot a defiant smile at the guards who were only a few yards away now. “This is a glorious day to die! But I won’t be going to Tartarus alone! I’m taking every last one of you down with me!” He burst into a wild fit of laughter, and then, fearlessly, charged towards the enemy, leaving behind the changeling, his captain, and three saddened mares.
Now it was the changeling’s turn to speak. He shot a final glance towards the four mares. “It’s all up to you four now. Don’t let our sacrifice be in vain. And Captain,” The changeling looked into Rainbow’s nearly defeated eyes. Anymore casualties from this failed mission and her nothing-can-phase-me-because-I’m-too-awesome outer front would shatter.

Rainbow was feeling guilty, and at the moment, she was doing a terrible job of hiding that. She was in charge of this mission, and because they got detected, her team members were paying the ultimate price. The changelings next set of words surprised her. “This isn’t your fault. No matter what happens when you get back to our hideout, no matter what some of the others might think of you … you’re a great leader. Try not to beat yourself up over this.” The changeling stopped when he caught sight of a few tears building up in his commander’s eyes. The Changeling ignored the signs of weakness that Rainbow was unintentionally showing, and looked away. “Well … that’s enough talk. It’s about time for me to help Guillotine take out the trash. I can’t let him have all the fun now can I?” The changeling took a deep breath, and then charged into battle.

Almost immediately after the changeling raced off into battle, Fluttershy collapsed onto the ground. Rainbow Dash descended from the air, and carried her weary friend on her back. Due to the extra weight on the already exhausted Rainbow, the cyan pegasus was forced to continue the dangerous journey by hoof. “Come on guys…we can still get away.” The two unicorns nodded in agreement.

The four mares had been traveling through the forest in silence for about ten minutes now. They finally slowed their pace to a slow gallop. They had clearly lost their pursuers once and for all this time. At last, they could rest a little bit. Twilight decided to use the moment to lighten up the mood a little.
“You know … without the guards chasing us…this forest seems kind of pretty, don’t you think?”
Rarity looked into the night sky and smiled. She couldn’t help but agree with her friend. The moon was full. Its light was serving as a bright candle in the darkness, and the crickets seemed to be putting on a private symphony just for them. The new tranquil environment filled her with a sense of inner peace.
“Wow. You’re right Twilight! I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Everfree forest look this beautiful!”
A devious looking smirk took root across Rainbow’s face as she said, “That’s probably because you’re usually too worried about getting dirty to come through here.”
Everyone, including Fluttershy burst into heavy laughter.
All of a sudden, Rarity didn’t feel so happy anymore. She was about to tell that smart-mouthy pegasus off when a sound was heard that made every hair on the back of her dirt stained coat stand straight up.
“There they are! Found em!”

The four mares turned around, only to be greeted by the sight of Celestia’s knights once again. It was the same unit that had been chasing them since they fled from Canterlot. Fluttershy, who was still being carried on Rainbow’s back, started to hyperventilate with panic.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! How’d they find us?!” shouted Twilight in shock.
“These guys don’t know when to quit do they?!” Shouted Rainbow Dash as she broke out into a full gallop, while still carrying Fluttershy, and with Rarity and Twilight trailing close behind. “Sound like anypony you know?” asked Twilight with a smile. Rainbow ignored Twilight, and turned her attention to the pegasus that was being carried on her back. “Hey Fluttershy, are your wings any better yet?!” Rainbow could feel her heart sink when the timid Pegasus shook her head. Rainbow knew that at the rate things were going, at best, they’d all be serving the rest of their days in a prison by tomorrow morning.
“Rainbow, over there!” shouted Rarity.

Rainbow gazed off towards the direction Rarity was pointing, and was more than pleased at what she saw. Off in the distance, not far from their current position, was an old bridge that was falling apart. Beyond the bridge were the remains of an old castle. It wasn’t much, but maybe they could hide inside it for awhile. If nothing else, they could rest there for a few minutes. All of the pain in Rainbow’s legs, and the inferno wrecking havoc on her lungs, started to fade for a moment. All they needed to do was get inside that castle, and then they could finally rest for a moment or two.
“Alright, change of plans! Running through the forest isn’t getting us anywhere, so let’s try hiding inside that castle!” shouted Rainbow Dash to her friends, who quickly nodded in agreement.
Shortly after crossing the bridge, Twilight used her magic to server the ropes holding the bridge together. “That should buy us some time!” shouted Twilight. Rainbow smiled with approval at Twilight’s quick thinking.
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The four ran through what was left of the Castle’s front doors. Only one of the doors of the doors was still standing ... until being knocked off its hinges after receiving a gentle tap by Rarity. Perhaps hiding here wasn’t such a smart idea after all? Oh well, too late for regrets now. The only thing they could do was move forward. Once inside the castle’s walls, Rainbow gently lowered Fluttershy from off her back. The group took this time to actually study their new environment. The roof of the castle was in shambles. Broken glass and debris were scattered everywhere. The walls of the once great castle looked as if it had been targeted by meteor showers every moment of every day for a year. Rarity almost screamed as she knocked away a spider that decided to crawl across her coat.
“Wow … it doesn’t look like anypony’s lived here for thousands of years …” Said Twilight in astonishment
“Once again … stating the obvious as usual, you little egg-head,” thought Rainbow.
“We aren’t here to sight-see Twilight. We need to find a place to hide,” said Rainbow, who wasn’t in the best of moods at the moment.

After glancing around for a few seconds, Rainbow spotted an open door in the corner of the room. Further inspection showed that it led to a basement of some sort. This was as good a place as any to recover and plan a nice getaway. Rainbow signaled for the others to follow. Once everypony walked passed the door and the coast was cleared, Rainbow quietly closed the door behind them.
“Uh … um …”
“What is it darling?” asked Rarity.
“Well … uh … it’s just … don’t … you …”
“Quit stalling and spit it out already! We’re running out of time here!” Any louder and Dash’s statement would have come out as a shout.
Flutershy’s body began trembling in response to Rainbow’s raised voice tone. “Can’t we go somewhere else? It’s dark down here …”
Rainbow rolled her eyes in irritation as she shot a glance to Twilight. Twilight understood and charged her horn with magic, producing a bright purple glow. “Is that better Fluttershy?” asked Rainbow sarcastically. The shy Pegasus smiled weakly, and nodded.

The steps were made out of an old fashioned type of stone, and the stairway wound towards the bottom floor in a large spiral. The four had to watch their steps carefully. These steps hadn’t been used for several life times. It wasn’t that big of a drop to the bottom, but it would have undoubtedly been enough to break a few bones. If just one of the steps gave way under the combined weight of the four mares … Fluttershy quickly pushed the thoughts from her mind, and willed herself forward. She needed to conquer her fears and stay brave. She couldn’t afford to let her fears get the better of her. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairway, the four stood before a long hallway. At the end of the hall, a bright light could be seen, revealing what appeared to be a large room off in the distance.
“Twilight,” Said Rainbow with uncertainty in her voice, “Can you use your Detect Life spell for a second? I want to make sure we aren’t walking into a trap or anything. The door to get down here was left wide open after all.”
The glow around Twilight’s horn changed from a bright purple, to a dark blue. She nervously turned to Rainbow and said, “There’s something down there, and it’s alive. I think it’s a unicorn, and there’s a high amount of magic radiating from it.”
The brave pegasus began to feel uneasy. Could the unicorn up ahead be one of Celestia’s Guards? She paused for a few seconds before asking, “How high?”
“Very. I’ve never felt anything like it before.” said Twilight with a serious expression on her face.
“… Alright, I’ll take the lead. If something bad happens, we attack together.”

About halfway down the hallway, Rainbow turned around to see Fluttershy sneaking off towards the stairway that lead to the basement. Fluttershy was willing to brave the dark hallway for her friends’ sake, but possibly getting into a fight with a unicorn that made even Twilight feel uneasy was where she drew the line. “Uh, the mysterious room is this way Fluttershy.” Said Rainbow who wasn’t about to tolerate retreat. Fluttershy reluctantly paced back towards her friends.

Rainbow’s heart started to race as she and her friends zeroed in on their destination. “Alright … on three. One … two … three!” yelled Dash as she charged into the brightly lit room. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the light. The only thing in the room was a large white sphere. Various magical runes danced around the object. Despite her better judgment, Rainbow decided to examine the strange object. She walked directly in front of it. She could easily make out her reflection on whatever this thing was. She smeared her hoof across the exterior of the object. Whatever this thing was, it was cold. In a lot of ways, it felt like Rainbow was resting her hoof on the outside of a block of ice. Apparently the object was covered in fog, because after carefully studying the area where she wiped her hoof, Rainbow found that she could clearly see something inside the object. It was a unicorn alright. Rainbow could see its horn clearly. It wasn’t moving, and its eyes were closed as if it was sleeping … or … as if it was a corpse resting peacefully inside a coffin.
“Well? What’s in there?” asked Rarity while taking a few steps towards Rainbow.
“There’s a unicorn in here just like Twilight thought … but besides her diagnosis, it isn’t showing any signs of life.”
Rariy, Twilight, and eventually Fluttershy, took their turns examining the pony suspended inside the white orb.
“Whoever, or whatever, that unicorn is … it’s been in there for a long time … probably since before this castle collapsed. But … how’s that possible? Nopony besides Celestia can live for that long. This thing … it might be some sort of life support pod …” said Twilight, who was now growing more and more fascinated by their new discovery.

Rainbow decided to study the pod a little more. “Then how do you explain the magic symbols floating around it? Looks to me like somepony built this thing in order to keep that unicorn sealed inside,” said Rainbow, as she gave the pod a few light taps with her front right hoof. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy’s cutie marks all began to glow with a bright blue light for about ten seconds. Before any questions could be asked, cracks started to form across the foggy glass on the pods exterior. The four mares watched in horror as the unicorn inside suddenly opened its eyes, which shined with a magical white light. “Um … maybe touching that life support pod wasn’t such a good idea Rainbow,” said Twilight while nervously backing away. “I think you might be right …” said Rainbow Dash, who was contemplating whether or not to run away.
Fluttershy let out an earsplitting scream, as the being inside broke free from its prison.
“Hey guys! I just heard a scream! I think they’re down there!”
“DAMN!” screamed Rainbow, in her mind, as she shot Fluttershy an angry glare.

After quickly realizing just how grim the situation became thanks to her mistake, the shy Pegasus held her head down in shame. She couldn’t bear to look Rainbow in the eye anymore. She’d just doomed herself, and her friends, to suffer the wrath of a small unit of very pissed off henchmen.

The guards that had been tailing them charged into the room. One of the guards, a muscular looking pegasus stepped forward. Rainbow assumed him to be the leader, as he was the only soldier in the room wearing golden armor. His armor, and white coat, had been tainted with blood stains. From what Rainbow could make out, he couldn’t have been that much older than she was. He laughed when he took notice of Fluttershy, who was cowering behind Rarity with tears in her eyes.

“Do you have any idea how long we’ve been chasing after you? I have to give credit where it’s due! You guys move pretty fast! We’ve chased you all from Canterlot, to Ponyville, and into the Everfree. All while putting up with resistance from your other squad members. Those last two really did a number on us though. They actually managed to kill about twelve of us! Not bad for a changeling and an unarmed earth pony!” He started to smile with satisfaction now that he had finally trapped his prey. “But now … now there’s no where for you to run this time! Did you really think you could break inside the castle unnoticed?”
Rainbow gritted her teeth in frustration. All that work trying to escape for nothing! Her other two comrades had thrown their lives away for nothing …

The leader continued to speak. “And … what’s this?” He’d finally taken notice of the unicorn that had just recently broken free from its mystical prison. The unicorn had wings as well as a horn. An Alicorn … how interesting … and from what he could tell, it was female. She had teal eyes, a dark purplish blue coat, an almost translucent light purple mane that seemed to contain the night sky itself, was taller than the average pony, and had a cutie mark shaped like one of the phases of the moon. The Alicorn had a fatigued look on her face, as if she had just been awoken from a much needed rest after a long days work.
The Pegasus walked directly in front of the Alicorn with a smile. “An Alicorn eh?” said the pegasus while brushing his hoof slowly across the Alicorn’s cheek. “Amazing … I thought the princess was the only one in existence …” the Pegasus slowly began brushing his hoof down the Alicorn’s neck.
The Alicorn, suddenly feeling more alert, knocked his hoof away. “Touch me again, and I’ll tear your leg from its socket, and then crush every bone in your left wing.”

Everypony in the room jumped a little, in shock at the bold statement from the mare standing before them. The fact that the alicorn spoke in such a calm tone, and appeared completely un-phased, was what truly caught everypony off guard. She was either extremely over confident in her ability, was pretending to act tough, or was completely unaware of the danger she was in. Rainbow on the other hoof, jumped with excitement. This was one tough alicorn, and she wasn’t about to let these idiots walk all over her! Rainbow hadn’t even known her for five minutes, yet she liked her already.

“Oh! You’ve got a mouth on you! I like that!” The smile on the pegasus’s face was slowly replaced with a look filled with malevolence. “But after the day I’ve been having … I’m not in the mood for any kind of disrespect. Not to mention that it’s illegal to threaten an Equestrian guard …” The pegasus slowly paced towards his men. “Our orders were to capture the trespassers, and bring them back for questioning. You on the other hoof … we can do whatever we want with you … and after that little threat you made … I’m not very happy …”
The alicorn had a bored expression on her face. She clearly wasn’t interested in hearing the pegasus ramble on like this. “That wasn’t a threat. It was a promise.”
“Oh, she’s done it now …” said an earth pony, wearing silver armor, as he took quick notice of the enraged look in his commander’s eyes.
“That’s it! All of you, when I give the order, kill her! I want her head brought back to the training grounds as a souvenir!” yelled the pegasus.
“You uncivilized barbarian! That’s no way to treat a lady!” barked Rarity.
The pegasus stared back at Rarity and smiled.

“After the alicorn gets dealt with, break that white unicorn’s horn off. She’ll be a lot easier to drag back to the castle if she can’t use magic.” The pegasus then turned his attention to Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. “Next, slice off those two pegasi’s wings, no need to be gentle. Be sure to start with the Rainbow one. I think she led the invasion on the castle. She’ll regret it soon enough.” His smile returned as he glanced over at Twilight. “And as for the lavender one over there -”
Before the pegasus could finish giving his orders, the alicorn fired a blinding white light from her horn. Rainbow and the others were forced to shield their eyes from the intensity of the blast.
Rainbow Dash’s jaw nearly fell to the floor once it was safe for her to lower her hooves from her face. There were now thing but scorch marks where Celestia’s guards once stood.

Next Chapter: Chapter 2 Estimated time remaining: 47 Minutes