The Revenge of Dr. Negative

~~~~~~~??????~~~~~~~

Twilights eyes cracked open and slowly adjusted to the dim but clear light all around her as she tried to stand up on slightly sore hooves. Twilight winced silently, and held her position on the stone-cold floor, gently checking with her hoof for blood or other serious injuries and... miraculously, finding none. She pushed herself up to her hooves and looked around her, her eyes adjusting to the dark gloom of the... warehouse?

Sure enough, she was surrounded by wooden crates stacked up far above her head - piled atop a solid grey concrete floor. Only a few dimly lit spark-lights overhead provided any illumination.  "H-hello?" Twilight ventured, all too quietly. Her voice echoed off the boxes, but brought back no immediate reply. Twilight licked her dry lips, and wondered where the hay she could be... quietly, very quietly, she picked her way down the cramped hall-ways between the boxes. She didn't know how long it was until she heard noises... what sounded like ponies talking. Arguing.

Quickly, Twilight picked her way through the narrow passages between, under, and around the stacked crates - doing her level best to remember all of the stealthing techniques that Pinkie Pie had taught her years ago. It felt weird to think of Pinkie Pie as sneaky, but she'd been surprisingly adept at the art. The voices became louder and louder, and more identifiable... and one of them was Rainbow Dash! "Look, I don't know who you creeps think you are,  but you'd better let me go or else..." That was unmistakably Dash, in all of her pride and arrogance.

A braying, sinister laugh answered her even as Twilight tried to get closer to the voices. "Or else what ya little filly? Ya gonna go cry to yer momma?" A number of other voices - all of them obviously less than reputable - brayed laughter in response to that. The very sound of which began to boil Twilight's blood in anger, her eyes narrowing as she slipped up under a set of crates towards a much brighter patch of illumination...

Rainbow Dash had been lashed, wings and all, to a stiff backed wooden chair - surrounded by four burly looking earth ponies wearing cheap suits and ties, and ratty hats. All of them were mud-colored, and the one who was right in Rainbows face had a spectacular sneer on his face. "Yer just lucky da boss thinks yer worth the trouble, else me n' my boys would be havin a little party of our own right now!" He sneered softly at Dash, who was sweating heavily, but masking her fear well. Twilight knew Rainbow hated being unable to move, and being bound up like that must be pure torture on her...

Twilight's eyes narrowed and she quickly examined the scene, her mind working like a well-oiled machine. Four targets, spaced approximately four meters apart. Earth ponies, obviously fighters. Tough. Won’t go down to light stunbolts. Her eyes darted around the scene, taking in every minute detail and making up a battle plan. Drop crate on first two, farthest from Dash. Use distraction to stun leader - big bolt. Final pony will charge. Dodge blow, counter attack with buck to the chest. Use magic to free Dash. Tag team. Victory.  Twilight inhaled deeply and prepared to charge in - she had no idea who these punks were... but no pony hurt her friends like that and got away with it...

Then, seemingly without warning, there was a roaring sound from somewhere to their left. Almost predictably, all four of the thugs turned to stare at the source of the sound. One of them even went so far as to say "What the-" before some kind of vehicle came crashing through the crates and crushed one of the thugs under its wheels spectacular fashion - a dark coated mare with an artfully styled red mane gripping onto what looked like some kind of steel bar and screaming incoherently... and obviously having fun doing it.

By the time Twilight could process this stunning scene - the tan blur of a pegasus came flying out from where the vehicle had come and struck one of the other gangsters with both her rear hooves in a massive flying dropkick. The thug went spinning away from her and crashed into a set of the crates... the upper ones promptly falling down and burying the thud beneath their miscellaneous contents.

Twilight stared as that same pegasus slowly floated to the ground - her black mane covered by a beige pith-helmet and her violet eyes glaring at the other thug. Twilight's jaw dropped to the ground. Impossible. Her thoughts whispered, as though through denial she could proclaim that none of this was actually happening.

Then the Pegasus turned on her four hooves and smiled challengingly at the thugs. One of whom cried out a moment later. "By Solaris' Beard, It's Daring Do!"

~~~~~~~Mysterious Warehouse~~~~~~~

Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia and bearer of the element of Magic had seen a lot of strange things in her life. She'd seen clouds made out of cotton candy and a royal wedding crashed by a villain straight out of legends. But never before has she seen a character from a fictional novel come to life before her very eyes. She was absolutely perfect, right down to the smile on her face and the black and charcoal mane. Just as predictably, she threw the first punch, launching a strike right at the face of the gaping earth pony gangster.

He ducked that one, and threw one right back at her, which Daring nimbly dodged. Then her eyes went wide as she ducked the second, much more rapid punch that barely cleared the top of her helmet and rolled to the side, trying to get under the gangster-pony's guard... only to be bracketed by the second one. The two bigger stallions grinned toothily at Daring Do... and Twilight's eyes narrowed considerably as one of them chuckled heavily. "Got nowhere to run little filly." He leered at her in an almost comical way.

Twilight didn't see much humor in it though... and she wasn't about to let this go on. Weird situation or not, somepony was in trouble and she was gonna do something about it. Twilight thought only for a split second before calling Number 8 into her horn - her first self-defense spell, a pretty potent little stun bolt that had never failed to satisfy. She leaped out of her little hiding spot and let the spell go, she felt a curious sort of tingle... and what came out of her horn was not Number 8! It flashed like a lightning bolt and blasted the stunned looking guard pony in the chest - sending him comically flying across the room.

Twilight gaped for a moment at the physical impossibility of the spell she had just cast... one that had left a smoking black spot in the middle of the cheap suit he was wearing. Until Dash's voice cried out "Duck, Twilight!" And she did, working from the pure instinct that had been drilled into her to trust her friends when they said something like that. A heavy looking hoof barely cleared her mane from the other grim looking earth pony - only to have the look of anger wiped off his face by a double-hoofed kick to the chin from Daring Do herself.

Just like that, all four guards had been knocked unconscious or otherwise dealt with... which meant that Twilight could now take a few moments to fully process what had just happened in that room. Or perhaps not, as her ears caught the sounds of other yelling ponies, and many hooves striking the concrete floor of the warehouse. "Damn!" Said Daring, turning to Twilight with an arched eyebrow. "You got anything bigger in your arsenal, miss? Because we could sure use it right now!"

Twilight rolled her eyes and pushed past her, shaping her telekinetic power into a blade and deftly slicing the ropes holding Rainbow Dash in bondage. "Of course I do." Twilight snapped a little, pulling Dash up to her hooves, who was apparently still trying to take in the fact that they were standing right next to Daring bucking Do. "And what in the name of Celestia was that thing!?" She continued, pointing her hoof towards the wreckage of boxes the strange machine had left behind... only to nearly leap out of her skin as it roared back, coming to a screeching halt alongside them.

Twilight's mind had to pause, even in that moment of incredible danger, to marvel at the mechanical device before her. She'd never seen anything quite like it in her entire life, with its sleek lines and shining steel pipes it looked like nothing less than a growling beast out of myth and legend.  It had two wheels on the main... chassis, which was the word. The front wheel was attached via a set of thick rods to a broad bar, which appeared to turn the front wheel like a ship's till.  But for the life of her, Twilight simply could not fathom what the heck the thing was.

The red-headed mare atop it lifted a pair of flight goggles and grinned broadly at the pair of them. "Ain't no time for gawkin' pretty filly. Get yer flank on here and let's move!" Twilight squawked as a dark-red hoof came down and hauled her physically up onto the padded seat . "DD! Grab the colorful pegasus! We gotta haul flank, the Doc's goons are gonna be all over us in a sec!" The red headed pony yelled... Twilight's mind finally processing that she was a mare, and an earth pony to boot.  Then she didn't have time for thinking too much, because the demonic machine between her rear legs roared to life and took off, carrying her with it.

Twilight had once, with the aid of a feather-fall spell, jumped out of a window in Canterlot Castle to get a more up-close and personal relationship with gravity. She remembered quite vividly the incredible feeling of the wind rushing through her mane for a few glorious moments before Celestia had snatched her out of the air. She had also remembered the severe scolding she'd gotten after, and the commands to never again attempt spells that mimicked flight in any way, shape, or form. She had never forgotten that feeling, though...

But this was so much more intense. The roar of the vehicle nearly drowned out the roar of the wind around her as the red-headed mare steered the thing using the bars. What was left of Twilight's normally rational mind coldly noted that wheels were turning at a truly fantastic speed as they blazed down a central 'hall' of boxes through the warehouse. The front wheel is steered by that central column, which is attached to the bars. Simple leverage - clever. Those wheels are made out of some kind of rubber, obviously filled with air. Also clever, cushions against bumps, provides minimal contact with the road, increases energy efficiency.

The rest of Twilight's mind, however, was too much preoccupied with the speed. Was this how Rainbow Dash felt when she really put her mind to it? Twilight could barely keep her eyes open, her mane was so far beyond 'flyaway' that Rarity would pitch a fit if she saw Twilight in this state, and yet... She couldn't possibly be enjoying herself more, she felt a smile slowly spread across her face as her hooves grabbed for the nearest support - which was the mare in front of her.

Luckily, it didn't seem like she much minded Twilight hanging on for dear life as they rapidly approached what looked like a doorway out of the place. "Hang on, little filly! YEEEEEHAW!" The red-headed mare ducked her head down below the handle bar and Twilight followed suit, just in time for the machine to crash through the warehouse door and send them barreling into the night...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash could not quite believe what was going on -  maybe she'd smacked her head on a post in Twilight's library again and was having some kind of insanely vivid dream. Dream or not though, this was awesome in every sense of the word. There were bad guys chasing them in a massive horde behind them, a shady warehouse, and a crazy mare on some kind of weird machine. Of course, the biggest piece of the awesome was just a little bit behind her. Her wings beat powerfully behind her as she began to pick up speed...and realized that she was only a little bit faster than Daring Do.

Daring Motherbucking Do!

Right there! Right behind her and keeping up with Dash no less! Dash dodged, whirled and barrel rolled around the warehouse crates as the spirit of adventure filled up her soul. Of course, she was also dodging the incoming steel shot being fired at them out of some odd looking sticks held by the gangsters, and the occasional explosion as someone launched some kind of bomb at them. Not that any of that crap could hit Rainbow Dash - she was just too damn fast for them to track her as a target. Wasn't even a challenge for the best damn flier in all of Equestria.

She swooped around a hanging spark-light and gave a mighty kick to a stack of crates that sent them tumbling onto a mass of their pursuers. "HA! Take that, ya lunkheads!" Dash taunted behind her as she tried her darnedest to follow in the wake of Twilight and that crazy looking bike she had been hauled onto. The thing had a definite turn of speed to it, but Dash and Daring Do were both faster on the wing. Even the possibly lethal projectiles being hurled her way couldn't dampen Rainbow Dash's spirit as she flew... and caught the wicked confident grin of Daring Do behind her.

Dash saw the machine crash through the door ahead of them, leaving a somewhat convenient hole for the two of them to follow. Was gonna be a tight fit. Threading the needle trick time! Drop down to five feet above the deck. give yourself one last full wingbeat, tuck them in three seconds before the doorframe. Three... Two... Drop! Dash spun in midair, and dropped down to just above head-height for most ponies... Daring had slowed down a little to take the door the safe way, but Dash couldn't resist a chance to show off.

It was the kind of trick that took countless practice runs and countless crashes into thick cloud walls, the kind that you either got exactly right every single time or your flank was a smear on the stands. It was also the kind of trick that when you did it, it made every single spectator stand up and cheer their minds out. That meant that, in Rainbow Dash's mind, it was the very best kind of trick. Which is why she was so damned good at it.

She powerfully swept back her wings and then tucked them in tight against her body, spinning through the air like an arrow shaft and out through the doorway in a flash of color and speed. The cool night air hit her body like Pinkie Pie on a sugar binge, but she snapped open her wings in perfect time with the stunt and soared high up into the skies to get a good look at where the buck they were.

Dash stared in awe all around her... at a city so much bigger than she'd ever imagined existing. Towering structures soared into the sky, lit with bright yellow patches of light in the shape of squares on their sides. Paved streets, like Manehatten's except there were more of them, created a grid between the buildings big and small. Below her, a massive expanse of squad looking stone buildings - likely more warehouses - sat silently along the seacoast as waves rolled into piers and docks that stretched out as far as her eyes could see.

It was... Incredible... her thoughts whispered softly... turning slowly in midair until a blazing beige form pulled up beside her. "Holy crap, kid! That was some flying!" Said the charcoal maned adventurer, a huge grin splitting her lips. "But now isn't the time for seeing the sights, we got bigger problems!" She grabbed Dash's shoulder and hauled her around to face... four looming, bulky black forms against the sky advancing towards the piers from the seaside. Dash stared at the... flying things that sure as buck weren't clouds or any weather pattern she'd seen before. "Airships." Daring said softly. "Worse, those look like Neighzi markings and they're coming this way."

Dash's eyes quickly scanned to the ground - following the path of the bike as it sped down one of the lonesome streets in between the warehouses. It was pretty obvious the fast moving black blobs Daring had called 'air ships' were gonna intercept Twilight. I dunno who these punks are, but I'm not gonna let em get to Twilight! "Can you get down there and keep em safe?" She turned, still astonished that she was talking to the Daring Do. "I can handle those jerks so long as I know Twilight'll be okay."

Daring raised a disbelieving eyebrow at Dash. "Normally I'd argue, but I've got bigger worries." Daring nodded at dash, flaring out her wings as she did so. "I'll get em safe. We'll meet you at the end of the docks." She pointed down to the far end of the piers, where Dash could just barely make out what looked like a rickety house of some kind. "Good luck, Kiddo." She remarked and peeled out from where they'd been hovering, diving down towards where they were speeding away. Rainbow Dash grinned a little.  I don't need luck. I've got speed.

Dash turned in place and beat her wings hard downwards, trying to get as much altitude as she dared... Let’s see how those things like a Sonic Rainboom!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight was beginning to adjust to the insane speed at which she was currently traveling, which gave her a few moments to notice all of the other oddities of the world around her. For one thing, there were a lot of spark-lights lining this particular road. Even big cosmopolitan cities like Manehatten preferred to rely on the much cheaper oil lanterns for their street lights. Even more incredible were the buildings, made out of some kind of solid and flat grey stone that had no obvious seams in them - they appeared to have been carved out of some massive, single piece of rock.

Up in the sky however, was Twilight's single biggest thought. She had to strain her eyes in the darkness of the night, but the moon was bright enough that she could see that rainbow trail that was Dash's signature. She appeared to be gaining altitude, but why? Logic dictated that Dash would likely have come immediately back to Twilight... except she hadn't. Which meant two possible things - either Dash didn't know where she was and was trying to get higher to spot her, or... Or there's another threat up there of some kind.

Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat she hadn't even known was there. She had always trusted Dash to keep herself in one piece, but that was back home. Who knew what kind of weapons or magic they might have here? Dash could get hurt or killed and then what would she do? Twilight tried - oh Celestia, she tried - not to think of the million and one possible scenarios that would unfold from those two results.  It was no use though, especially given the events that had preceded their rather speedy introduction to this familiar but still strange place.

Twilight was sure of many things, thanks to a lifetime of careful research and learning - but when it came to emotional things, Twilight knew she was still a foal in the woods compared to, say, Rarity. She had learned so many wonderful things in these past years, living in Ponyville with those five remarkable mares who had come to be her friends... and one thing that had stuck with her more than anything was that you needed to work hard to keep those friends close to you. The last thing Twilight wanted was for an argument over a stupid story to be the last conversation she had with Rainbow Dash.

These were her thoughts as a charcoal maned pegasus caught up with their riding machine - and yelled over the din of whatever was making that growling noise. "What the buck is your friend up to?" She was obviously directing that question at Twilight, which caused the unicorn to start and stare up into the sky... where a streak of rainbow light was plummeting towards the ground at ever increasing speed and... Oh, Ponyfeathers! Twilight's mind screamed, as she realized just what in the heck Dash was doing.

"We need to get under cover! NOW!" Twilight screamed back, and luckily it seemed both of the other ponies had heard her. Oh Celestia, quick Twilight... Distance... She quickly eyeballed it, and ran a few quick calculations given the trajectory, speed, and size of Dash in comparison to the moon. We ought to be safe so long as we're someplace steady...  The vehicle had slowed considerably, and turned sharply into what looked like a covered stone porch.

The red maned earth pony arched an eyebrow at Twilight. "We can't stay here all that long, but I'm with Daring here. What the heck is that pegasus up to?" She queried, squinting her eyes up into the sky. "I can barely make her out, but it looks like she's headin' straight for the middle of that airship."

Twilight sucked in a deep breath, now that she had stopped she could finally collect all of her scrambled thoughts and emotions and deal with them quickly and efficiently. Well, she hoped she could. The Sonic Rainboom gave off a tremendous shockwave of magical energy, and there was no telling how it might impact this world as in comparison to their own. There were far too many dimensional variables to figure that out, so the best thing they could do was hunker down and wait and see. "My friend... Rainbow Dash is quite the flier." Twilight quietly remarked. "She's also the first pegasus in centuries to be capable of doing what... I think she's about to accomplish right now."

Both of the other mares stared at her for a moment, then whipped their eyes back up where dash had become a tiny streak of bright white light rocketing towards the air-ships that were over the seas. "Waitaminute... She isn't gonna..." was all Daring Do got out before a flash of bright white light scorched the horizon, followed by a rapidly expanding shockwave of rainbow energy exploded out from just above the three bulky black forms. The shockwave sliced right through the three vessels as though they were made out of tissue paper, sending all three of them slowly crashing towards the waves below.

Moments later, a massive wave of wind and sea spray slammed into the three ponies standing on and next to the mechanical bike, and the wave of energy rushed over all of them as it slowly dissipated into the atmosphere. Daring's helmet went flying off her head and rattled to the ground some twenty feet behind her, and the red-headed earth pony said in an incredibly awed and excited voice. "Sweet Solaris, it's a Sonic Rainboom." She whispered, practically bouncing on her seat as she said it and reminding Twilight rather strongly of Scootaloo. That oath was odd though...Solaris?

Daring shook her head slowly. "No way. That's impossible. That's..." Daring Do, the heroine of so many books Twilight had read and loved rubbed hard at her eyes for a few seconds before reopening them as Dash etched the letters "R D" in the sky in a trail of rainbow light before zooming down towards the end of the docks. Daring shook her head slowly, then went to recover her helmet. "Well, at least I don't gotta worry about the damn Neighzi's for the moment. C'mon Scooter, we better go meet up with her... and then we can all sit down for a nice long chat."

Daring took off a moment later, and the mare Twilight could now identify as Scooter turned around to grin at her. "Well, shall we go then?"