The disinfection on the door set them back a few minutes. If Pinkie Pie was going to help them, they would need to get her out as fast as possible. The small entrance let them out in a large hallway. Twilight stopped dead in her tracks. She looked to the left and to the right.

"We're being watched," Twilight whispered, looking at Applejack. "Scan for any traps." Applejack nodded and turned to her interface. A large holographic wall ran across the room. Rainbow Dash saw through the walls, at machines inside the walls. Twilight tossed a piece of cloth ahead of her. Sprays of bullets instantly fired at the cloth. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and covered her ears. When she opened, the cloth was gone. Twilight laughed.

"Well, looks like somepony was expecting intruders." Applejack chuckled. "Looks like this way is blocked. Ah can't fit through the vents, which are probably also full of traps. Rainbow Dash, ya think you can fly through here and try to find a way to shut them down?" Rainbow Dash looked at her and nodded.

"Piece of cake." she spread her wings and bolted through the hallway. She wasn't looking. All she heard was the sound of the bullets piercing her eardrums. She wasn't able to slow down, and smashed right into the wall. "Ow," she said, suddenly on the ground. "It's okay guys! I'm good." she got up and looked around. There were multiple hallways, branching off in different directions. She looked back at the large hallway. There were no wires leading to the machines, wherever they were. She looked back at the doors and saw they were all locked with codes. She sighed.

"Have you found anything?" Twilight called.

"No! There isn't a switch to shut off the guns, and the doors up here are locked." Twilight looked around the room, before stopping at a security camera.

"They're testing us," Twilight looked at Applejack. "You think she can 'borrow' the map of the labs?" Applejack looked at the map on her wrist.

"Yeah, she can use it as a 3-D map." Applejack said, beginning to pull off the holographic screen she used as her map.. She held it up and clicked a button. The map still worked, and the red blip was showing where Pinkie Pie was. Applejack turned back towards Rainbow Dash. "Ya think you can fly back here and get this?" Rainbow Dash nodded, and charged back through the hallway. Applejack handed her the map, which Rainbow Dash wore on her wrist. "Good luck," Rainbow Dash nodded again, before returning to the other side.

Rainbow Dash brought up the 3-D map. She saw layers upon layers of floors. About 25 levels down, she saw a glowing red blip. She saw a pre-made route that would take her there, through the vents. Rainbow Dash shuddered. She hated tight spaces, especially vents. Suddenly, a ping cam from the machine.

Tap, Tap!" Okay, it's working!" a voice came from the machine. "Rainbow Dash, it's me, Twilight. We have a copy of the map and can follow your path, and keep an eye out for any guards. Keep going."

"Uh, okay?" Rainbow Dash said, walking towards a small vent that was close to the ground. She went low to the ground, and pulled the cover off. She fit in better than she originally thought, but she still had trouble squeezing though. She barely had room for the map, it was too big. She saw a maze of ventilation shafts that seemed to go throughout the labs. There was one bright red path that showed her how to get to Pinkie Pie.

As she went on, she heard murmured voices. They weren't loud enough for her to understand what they were talking about. She often forgot that this place was full of ponies that wanted to kill her. She thought back to when things were normal. She thought about how suddenly Blitz appeared. He didn't have a reason to hate Rainbow Dash, he just did. She thought it was pretty stupid. She sighed, and continued down the large vent that seemed to be going nowhere. She could barely see three feet in front of her, and had to shine the map down the passage to be able to tell what was in front of her.

As Rainbow Dash stared down the shaft, she felt uneasy. She felt as though something was down there, waiting for her. Every inch she moved, it made a noise. She could not slide through slowly, nor could she turn back.

"Hello?" she called into the darkness. "Guys," she looked at the watch, which seemed to be making a static noise. She shook it, trying to see if it would respond. "Darn it!" she slammed it against the wall, causing the whole vent to shake violently. Suddenly, she heard a noise coming from the end of the shaft. It sounded like humming.

Rainbow Dash slowly made her way down the hall. As he moved on, the humming got louder, and she could make out what it sounded like. It sounded like a lullaby. She didn't recognize the song itself, but she recognized the voice who was humming it. Rainbow Dash rounded the corner, and saw a large opening. It was a circular room with multiple paths branching off. Sitting in the middle of the room was Blitz. He turned to look at Rainbow Dash and smiled.

"Hello Rainbow Dash. Long time no see." he said, turning around, towards her. "You have no idea how much fun it is watching your opponent try so hard to set things right, when you already know what the final move will be." Rainbow Dash got closer to him.

"What do you want with me Blitz?" she asked. "What did I ever do to you?" Blitz slammed his hoof on the cold metal floor.

"You did nothing! But what about other versions of you?" Rainbow Dash stared at him in confusion. He sighed. "Didn't Twilight tell you about parallel Universes? Anything at all?" Rainbow Dash thought for a moment.

"She might have mentioned it. I don't really remember." Blitz looked back up at her and smiled.

"Well, at least one good thing can come out of this. You're already starting to forget." he slowly got back up. "I'm not a part in this performance Rainbow Dash. Your the star of the show, but me? I'm just the Audience. See ya around. Also, I'd be careful as to where your choices are leading you. You wouldn't want to cause the Apocalypse or anything!" Blitz flew down one of the paths faster than Rainbow Dash could even get up. By then, he was gone.

"Darn it again!" she kicked the metal wall. "I'm so stupid! I could have grabbed him right there!" Rainbow Dash heard the communicator ping. Whatever was causing the static was gone.

"Rainbow Dash, what happened back there?" Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash sighed.

"It was Blitz. I should have grabbed him, but I wasn't thinking. He's gone." Twilight was quiet for a few moments.

"Keep going, there's a long way to go yet." Rainbow Dash looked back at her map. None of the paths led her to where she was going. The path went straight down into the floor. Rainbow Dash sighed. Of course it did. She got up, and walked towards the center. She jumped over and over again, trying to break through the floor. The vents weren't as strong as she thought because after a few minutes, the metal ground beneath her gave way and Rainbow Dash hit the marble floor.

"Ow," she said, slowly rising to her feet. She was dazed for a few minutes and unable to tell what was going on. When she came to her senses, she saw three very confused ponies in lab coats staring at her. "Oh, hello," Rainbow Dash said, feeling embarrassed. (And just a little terrified) "Well, I'm just the um... vent....uh... inspector! I just came through to... inspect these vents. I'll be off now." Rainbow Dash flew past the scientists, who tried to chase her, but were too slow. A few moments later, lights along the walls began glowing red and a loud alarm went off. Rainbow Dash sighed. She looked back and saw a few pegasi already chasing after her.

"You wanna race?" she smiled. She accelerated, much faster than she's had to fly in a long time. She knew how serious this was, and that Twilight and Applejack were already stressed enough. And sure enough, a few minutes later, Rainbow Dash's wrist pinged, signalling that Twilight was calling.

"Rainbow Dash, what the hell did you do back there?" Twilight shouted. "You do know what a 'stealth mission' is right?" Rainbow Dash was getting fed up with Twilight's grouchiness. She honestly preferred the antisocial egghead over the grouchy weapons expert.

"It was an accident!" Rainbow Dash was growing tired. "The path led me out of the vents, right in front of a group of scientists. They must have sounded the alarm."

"Okay, okay. Just- where are you now?" Rainbow Dash looked around the long hallways that were twisting and turning. She was surprised she hadn't found the end yet.

"I'm still following the path... more or less. But there are a whole bunch of guards chasing me." Twilight did not talk for a moment. She was thinking of what they should do.

"Hold on." Twilight stopped talking and through the communicator, Rainbow Dash heard footsteps and beeping noises. After a few minutes of silence, Rainbow Dash heard gunshots and explosions. "Okay, there we go. We're waiting at the doors for you." Rainbow Dash was about to ask what she meant, but she hadn't been watching where she was going and hit the wall at the end of the long hallway. She hit the ground with a thud.

When Rainbow Dash got to her fee, she heard the approaching guards. She saw an open door on the wall she it her head on, and rushed through it. Twilight and Applejack were standing there, waiting for her. Twilight ran over to the door, and locked it with the keypad.

"Wait, how did you get past the hallway?" Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight smiled.

"Easy, I used explosives and hacking." Twilight said as if that happened to her on a daily basis.

"But why didn't we just do that in the first place? Instead of having me go on ahead for no reason?" Twilight sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"You don't understand!" she looked back at Rainbow Dash. "This was supposed to be a stealth mission. The alarm would have gone off if we dismantled the controls from here. That's what you were supposed to do!" Applejack grabbed Twilight's shoulder.

"Would ya'll quit your arguing?" she pointed to the balconies that ran along the hallway. Ponies began emerging from the doors. "We got trouble! Let's go," Applejack grabbed their arms and ran through the doors. Rainbow Dash heard the gunshots coming from behind her. Applejack slammed the doors, and they found themselves entering the long hallway that had many doors running along the sides. "Which door are we going through?" Rainbow Dash pulled up the map. The path led from their position, to a door near the end of the hallway. There was a banging noise coming from the door behind them.

"Let's go," Twilight said, running ahead. "Pinkie Pie isn't far now." Applejack followed behind Twilight. Rainbow Dash tried to run, but was halted by a feeling that overcame her. She collapsed to the floor in pain. Her head was ringing, filling up with strange images. She heard Applejack and Twilight shouting, before losing consciousness.

In her head, she saw images of what was happening in the world. Celestia and Nightmare Moon made a peace contract before Nightmare Moon broke it by invading nations owned by the Solar Empire. The war did not start until Nightmare Moon slaughtered the city of Canterlot, killing hundreds of ponies including Celestia's niece Princess Cadence. She saw Discord destroying Sombra's army in the very first year of the war. The third year, he wiped out most of the Changelings, and chose to sit back and watch the fighting.

Rainbow Dash looked again. This time she saw Fluttershy's face. It was in the past when she was still a filly. She was looking at a large burning field. Raging flames consumed all in their path as it spread through what used to be a small village. Bodies of ponies lay across the burnt grass, with lifeless expressions. Tears ran down Fluttershy's face as she watched the horrors. There was no noise except for the crackling of the fire and... something else. Rainbow Dash heard somepony speaking.

"...you see what they have done to your home?" Rainbow Dash recognized the voice. "The Empire cares not who they step on, who's lives they destroy. Is that all you want to be remembered for, just another body lying beneath her throne?" There was nopony else besides Fluttershy there. Fluttershy did not speak. She watched in horror at how her life changed. "You know your parents would have wanted you to do the right thing. This is the right thing." Fluttershy slowly emerged to her feet.

"Yes," Fluttershy whispered. A figure appeared behind her. It was, as Rainbow Dash suspected, Nightmare Moon.

"Come my child, we have work to do," The scene went black, and Rainbow Dash found herself returning to consciousness.

When Rainbow Dash awoke, she found herself lying on a table. Her arms and legs were shackled down, giving her barely any room to move. There were ponies standing around her. None of them made eye contact, nor did they move. She struggled to break the shackles, but was still very weak. She groaned. Her head was killing her, and her muscles were sore. For five minutes, nothing happened. Rainbow Dash did not have the energy to talk. Suddenly, the large doors opened, and two ponies walked through.

The first was a shaggy older man. He had a bushy beard, and scars all over his arms and legs. He wore a large lab coat that stretched past his hooves and dragged across the floor as he walked. He wore thick glasses and walked around with a sly grin.

Rainbow Dash was unable to tell much about the second pony. All she could really tell was that it was a mare. She wore a mask that covered her entire face. She wore a dark blue robe-like dress that stretched about as far as the lab coat. Rainbow Dash saw her hesitate as she walked. After the two ponies entered, they stopped directly at the foot of the table.

"Well, well, well," the scientist-like pony said. "Looks like we have a stray here. Wouldn't you agree?" he turned to the mare, who simply nodded in agreement. "Now then, what do you think you're doing here? Window shopping? Trying to steal top-secret government property?" Rainbow Dash did not answer. She stared at the two ponies with hatred. The pony sighed. "Not talking then, oh well. It's time for Plan B." Almost instinctively, the mare began walking towards a large panel on the wall beside them. "Last chance," Rainbow Dash still did not talk. The scientist looked over to the mare, who reluctantly pulled the large switch on the side.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash felt a sharp pain in her wrists. It was brief but powerful.

"Ow!" she shouted loudly. The scientist walked over to her.

"It'll just get worse if you don't start talking. What do you want here?" Rainbow Dash still did not talk. The scientist waited a few moments before turning back to the mare. She pulled the switch again, and the pain was worse, and lasted longer. The shackles that held Rainbow Dash were electrocuted.

"Ahhh!" Rainbow Dash shouted, trying to keep her mouth shut.

"Why do you do this to yourself? It'll just get worse for everypony here." Rainbow Dash would not talk. "Okay then," he turned back towards the mare. "Let's make it about...20 percent more powerful." the mare was about to pull the switch, but something stopped her. Bang...Bang...Bang! The door began to dent and bend. "Change of plans. Let's go," he ran towards the mare. "Don't worry Rainbow Dash, we'll be back." the two of them vanished in front of Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash groaned, looking at the bending door, expecting to see Applejack standing there. Instead, when the door broke, she saw it wan't Applejack, but herself. She ran towards herself, who was lying on the table. Rainbow Dash woke up, lying on the floor, leaning against the wall. She gasped for breath, trying to figure out what had happened. Applejack and Twilight were sitting down, next to her. Applejack turned to her, when she saw she had woken up.

"Rise and shine Sleeping Beauty," Applejack said getting up. Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash before rising to her hooves. Rainbow Dash groaned again.

"Wait," she said. "Is this real? Am I really awake?" Applejack chuckled.

"Of course ya are! Where else would'ja be?" Rainbow Dash slowly got up, and looked around the unfamiliar hallway. She had no idea where they were, whether or not they were still in M.A.R.E. "Don't worry, Pinkie Pie is through there. We were waiting for you." Applejack's metallic hoof stretched out in the direction of a door that lay at the end of the hallway. Rainbow Dash approached the door, and walked inside. She was met with a red lit empty room. There was nothing in there, besides the pink pony lying in the corner. Rainbow Dash ran up to her.

"Pinkie? Are you okay?" Rainbow dash asked. Pinkie did not answer. She breathed quietly. Rainbow Dash thought she heard sobbing a couple times. She saw Pinkie's coat had a light gray tone to it, and her mane was straight down. She saw bruises covering her legs arms.

"Leave," Pinkie muttered under her breath. Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"No way, you're coming with me," Rainbow Dash went to pick her up, but was stopped when Pinkie turned towards her, glaring with a death stare. Rainbow Dash sighed. "Applejack!" Rainbow Dash turned around back at the door, where Applejack was standing. Rainbow Dash walked over to her. "Do you have any tranquilizer-like shots you can give her?" Pinkie's ears twitched. Applejack thought for a moment.

"I think so, let me check," Applejack turned around to check for any kind of shot that would knock Pinkie out for a while. Rainbow Dash turned around, only to discover Pinkie was standing in front of her. Rainbow Dash almost shouted, taking a couple steps back.

"Why do you need me unconscious?" she asked. "Are you going to hurt me, like they hurt me?!" Rainbow Dash had only just noticed the knife in her hoof.

"Uh, Applejack? You may want to hurry up!" Rainbow Dash turned to the door, giving Pinkie the chance. She leaped on Rainbow Dash. Pinkie tried to drive the knife through Rainbow's chest, only to be stopped by her hooves. Rainbow Dash tried to fight Pinkie's strength, which was very hard. Pinkie was a lot stronger than she looked. "Ap-Applejack! Would you... hurry up?!" Pinkie's strength seemed to double, and Rainbow Dash was no longer able to fight it. Suddenly, there was a large bang, and Pinkie fell on the floor.

Twilight stood there, holding a frying pan. Rather than thank her, Rainbow Dash seemed to question why she used a frying pan.

"Really?" Rainbow Dash said. "A frying pan? Out of everything you have in that bag that could've knocked her out, you chose a frying pan? The corniest gag in the world?" Twilight held the frying pan up to her.

"Don't talk shit about this pan." Twilight said. "I used to be a psychiatrist. Frying Pan Rehabilitation does more wonders than you know." Rainbow Dash slowly emerged to her hooves and scoffed. Then she began to wonder why Twilight had a frying pan in her bag in the first place. She looked at Pinkie who was on the floor unconscious. Applejack ran in the room.

"Ah found-" she looked at Pinkie on the ground with the large bump on her head, then at Twilight's frying pan which had a large dent in it. "Oh... that work's Ah guess," Applejack picked up Pinkie's unconscious body, and began carrying her through the door. Rainbow Dash was about to go through, when Twilight grabbed her arm.

"Wait," she walked in front of Rainbow Dash. "I know about the dreams you've been having. You're starting to forget about your old life, and remembering the new one." Rainbow Dash was about to question how she knew that, but was interrupted. "I know I said this war was already over and everypony lost, but I'm hoping you can prove me wrong. You know. Deep down inside, you know how to end this war, and it will come to you when the time is right." Twilight turned around and walked out the door. Rainbow Dash followed behind her, as they left the dark laboratories that seemed to never end.

Author's Note

Emotional Stress Break is OVER! More time for ponies!!