The Secret of Manehattan Mall

Chapters

Part 1 - The Premise
Part 2 - The Setup
Part 3 - The Twist
Part 4 - The Punchline

Part 1 - The Premise

By Dee Pad

Part 1: The Premise

The steady clickety-clack of the train’s wheels on the sturdy, iron tracks below were like the ticking of the world’s slowest clock, where each tick seemed to take eons to arrive as opposed to the typically allotted one second. It felt like days had passed, weeks even. The sun was still low on the horizon as it began its lethargic ascent into the morning sky. Had Princess Celestia slept in this morning, or did it simply feel like the whole day had already been wasted away?

A pair of impatient, magenta eyes watched as the sun crept higher at an agonizingly slow pace. It wasn’t even high enough yet to hinder her sight to any extensive degree. The pegasus leaned back in her seat, breathing an aggravated sigh as she ran her cyan hoof through the hot colors of her rainbow-streaked mane.

Rainbow Dash was not, by any means, a morning person. Her idea of a perfect morning was one she couldn’t remember because she had risen from her bed past noon. To see her not only awake, but with purpose at such an early hour was a sight that would raise many an eyebrow back in Ponyville. And she was tired, excruciatingly so. Normally, to wake this pegasus when the sky had not even transitioned into its signature blue, would result in the offender having a bad day. A very bad day. Rainbow Dash was not one to take a rude awakening very well. But there was one thing, and one thing only, that would convince her to open her eyes at such an ungodly hour:

The Wonderbolts.

Rainbow Dash’s irritation vanished instantly, being replaced by an eager smile which, itself, became a giddy grin. Just the thought of The Wonderbolts, her idols, her heroes, the amazing pegasi to which she owed and based every aspect of her life, was enough to get the lazy pegasus out of bed and onto the early morning train.

Rainbow Dash glanced down to her saddlebags that were lying on the floor of her train car. Poking out from the open pouch were a trio of blue pieces of paper, trimmed with gold and bearing the very emblem of her idols: a winged lightning bolt. Anypony who knew The Wonderbolts, knew Rainbow Dash, self-proclaimed number one fan of the acrobatic flying team, so, of course, nopony was surprised to learn that she had scooped up the first three tickets to their latest show in Manehattan. But obviously one pony can only use one ticket. The other two would go to her invited guests.

Rainbow Dash looked up to the plush, red seat ahead of her. Upon it was the adorable, sleeping form of a pale-yellow pegasus, her teal eyes obscured by her heavy eyelids as well as her long, flowing, pink mane. Fluttershy was Rainbow Dash’s oldest friend, so she was definitely her first choice to bring along with her to see the show, though the poor thing had a terrible time of just getting out of her cottage, let alone the train station. She kept mumbling something about naughty chickens who wouldn’t return to their coop at bedtime, forcing Fluttershy to pursue them into the late hours of the night. She needed to rest up now; once they arrived at their destination, it was going to be non-stop activity for the rest of the day.

At least, according to Rainbow Dash’s second invited guest.

Rainbow Dash could feel the seat vibrating underneath her. But it was not the clacking of the train’s wheels that caused it, but the constant, erratic movement of the pink earth pony sitting next to her.

Pinkie Pie bounced giddily up and down on her shared seat, her poofy, pink mane bouncing with her as if it were filled with springs. Rainbow Dash couldn’t conceive how anypony could be this energetic at such an early hour, but chalked it up to Pinkie Pie’s seemingly limitless exuberance, no doubt granted to her by the almighty power that was sugar.

Even so, Pinkie Pie was one of Rainbow Dash’s closest friends. Out of all of her friends, she was probably the one with whom she spent most of her time, whether she wanted to or not. The earth pony’s boundless energy possessed her to constantly seek entertainment and companionship, and Rainbow Dash just so happened to enjoy many of the same activities she did.

What was stranger than the pink mare herself though, was the fact that, despite how squirmy she was being, she hadn’t said much of anything since they got on the train. She just sat there—okay, maybe “sat” wasn’t the right word—smiling and looking around randomly in the empty train car. Perhaps it was out of courtesy for the sleeping pegasus sitting opposite them, or perhaps, more worryingly, she was thinking about something; planning something.

Rainbow Dash chose to ignore the peculiarly behaving earth pony, instead electing to take advantage of this rare silence. She regretted that her other friends weren’t with them; had they been available, Rainbow Dash would not have hesitated to purchase three extra tickets, even if it meant she would have to go without breakfast for a few weeks. However, life comes first, leisure second.

Twilight Sparkle had been given a “very important assignment” from Princess Celestia and was too involved in her studies to even notice that her friend had asked her a question. Twilight had a penchant for zoning out when she studied, drowning out everything else around her. Rainbow Dash had to grab her studious friend by the muzzle to get her invitation through to the unicorn, not wanting to feel like she didn’t give her a fair chance to say yes.

Rarity, on the other hoof, was not as difficult to get a response from. She hesitated at first though. Manehattan was a big city—huge in fact—and it wasn’t everyday that she was presented with the opportunity to visit. As a fashion designer, she wasn’t so much keen on going to see The Wonderbolts more so than to experience the rich culture of fashion that the metropolis was so well known for within her industry. Such a trip would likely open up many opportunities for her business and perhaps even result in some big-name partnerships. However, Rarity was incredibly busy with a large order already, and as it needed to be prepared by the next day—the day of The Wonderbolts’ show—she simply would not have the time. Her focus was the customer. Disappointing even one client could devastate her business.

Then there was Applejack. If anypony would want to see The Wonderbolts as much as Rainbow Dash, it was Applejack. The two shared a similar love of sports and sporting events, both being well-trained and strong, athletic mares. As a team—or even individually for that matter—the two could immasculate even the burliest of stallions. But when it comes to Applejack, her farm and her family take priority, and this time of year happened to be particularly hectic what with it being Applebuck Season. Sweet Apple Acres needed all the hooves it could get in order to get through the season on schedule. Of course, Rainbow Dash’s loyalty lay with her friends and she offered to stay behind in Ponyville to lend a helping hoof, even if it meant missing The Wonderbolts. Applejack, in all good conscience, couldn’t let her do it. She knew how important The Wonderbolts were to her friend’s life; she owed everything she ever did and ever was to them, and Applejack wasn’t about to let Rainbow Dash miss out on something like that just to stick around and kick a few trees.

So, of course, the two remaining tickets went to meek, little Fluttershy and bouncy, bubbly Pinkie Pie. The only obstacles in their way were finding somepony to look after Fluttershy’s animals and asking Mr. and Mrs. Cake for a few days off from Sugarcube Corner. Both were relatively hassle-free endeavors.

Rainbow Dash felt a tingle in her spine, the feathers of her wings ruffling involuntarily as if her body were anticipating something. On a whim, she stuck her head out of the window, peering into the distance in the direction that the train was chugging. Squinting her eyes, she spotted something on the horizon. She never removed her eyes from the target as it inched closer and closer. Gradually, something came into view beyond the first object: buildings. Enormous skyscrapers jutting up into the sky like beacons, calling out to her.

The first object finally came into view: a large sign placed near the train tracks to deliver a message to the passengers. The metal sign’s surface was decorated with a mural of the city beyond and spelled out in big, elegant lettering were the words she had been so desperately anticipating:

“Welcome to Manehattan.”

A colossal smile spread across her muzzle. She pulled her head back inside, plopping herself back into her seat and unable to contain her excitement. She couldn’t hold back a giddy squeal and she pumped her hooves against her sides.

“This is gonna be awesome!”

***** ***** *****

The train’s wheels screeched to a gradual stop at the Manehattan train station before letting out a loud burst of steam. The moment the door to their train car opened, the three Ponyville mares stepped out onto the train platform.

Rainbow Dash inhaled deeply through her nose, taking in the scent of the big city. Though not quite as fresh as the air in a rural town like Ponyville, Manehattan’s atmosphere had a distinct feel; it smelled of ponies and progress, a city above and beyond in technology, business, and architecture.

Fluttershy cautiously took her first step into the intimidating city, keeping her head low and one eye behind her mane to try and avoid contact with the many ponies that were present at the station alone. She was shortly followed by Pinkie Pie who didn’t quite step out of the train so much as she bounded from the door like an excited puppy. Contrary to the yellow pegasus, Pinkie Pie was actively seeking out the attention of the locals, zipping from one to another, introducing herself, shaking their hoof, and moving on before they could even register that she had been there.

“Pretty cool, right, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash said, finding nothing unusual with her pink friend’s behavior.

The timid pegasus replied quietly. “Oh, um...yes, it’s...cool.” She glanced around to see if anypony had been staring at her.

“You gotta lighten up, Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, appearing suddenly and draping a hoof over Fluttershy’s back. “We’re in Manehattan! The Big Apple as Applejack likes to call it. There’s nothin’ here but good times! It’s an endless world of funtasity!”

Fluttershy reluctantly straightened up, though still opting to shield herself behind her mane. “I guess...”

Rainbow Dash flicked a hoof dismissively. “You’ll grow to like it over time. Like Pinkie said, this place is full of stuff to do and the show isn’t until tomorrow, so we’ve got a whole day to explore and have fun. So buck up, cuz, believe me, we’re gonna paint the town red.”

“Oh, I got just the thing!” Pinkie Pie threw off her saddlebags and began to dig through them fervently, jamming her entire head inside the pouch. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had to actively avoid several items that she had cast aside in her search, everything from cupcakes to rubber chickens to a live lobster for some reason. She finally pulled her head back out, gripping between her teeth a paintbrush and the handle of a can of red paint.

“Not what I meant, Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle. “But I like your enthusiasm.”

Pinkie Pie shrugged and replaced the can and brush back into her bags before heading off to retrieve her discarded cargo that she had scattered across the train platform.

“So, what do you think we should do, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked. It was her first time in a big city outside of Cloudsdale and Canterlot, but those places had a much more homely feel than Manehattan and its more industrial atmosphere. Fluttershy thrived and lived amongst the vivid colors of nature, but this place just felt cold and sterile.

Rainbow Dash tapped her chin with a hoof. “That’s a good question. Does anypony have any ideas about how to kill time?”

Pinkie Pie, busy plucking a feisty lobster off of a passing stallion’s tail, zoomed back to her friends’ sides and shot her hoof into the air. “Oh, oh! Pick me! Pick me!”

“What about you, Fluttershy? What do you think we should do first?” Rainbow Dash asked, purposely ignoring her pink friend.

Pinkie Pie planted her rump onto the ground and crossed her hooves over her barrel, letting out a grumpy huff from her nostrils.

“Me? Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know anything about Manehattan. But I suppose I’d like to make sure we have a place to stay tonight. Can we reserve a room at a hotel?”

Rainbow Dash smiled. “Hmm, not a bad idea. Get the boring stuff out of the way first. Smart thinking, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy grinned bashfully at the compliment.

Rainbow Dash could feel a pair of bright, blue eyes boring a hole through her head. She smirked and turned to Pinkie Pie who was staring back at her anxiously. “Sorry, Pinkie. Did you have something in mind?”

“You betcha!” the pink mare declared. “I’ve never been to Manehattan before, but I’ve heard of a place where anypony of any age can have the time of their life!”

“And where would that be?”

Pinkie Pie flashed a sparkling smile. With a grand flourish, she pointed her hoof straight ahead of them, singling out an enormous sign at the very end of a long street reading “Manehattan Mall”.

“Manehattan Mall?” Rainbow Dash asked with a cocked eyebrow. “What’s so great about a mall? Shopping is more Rarity’s thing. Besides, we didn’t really bring a lot of cash with us.”

“Cash? Where we’re going, we don’t need cash,” Pinkie Pie explained. “Manehattan Mall is the biggest, most awesomest superstore in Equestria! They have absolutely everything! Ev. Ry. Thing!”

“Okay, okay,” Rainbow Dash conceded with a chuckle. “We’ll go to the mall and see what all the fuss is about.”

“Oh, but what about a hotel?” Fluttershy peeped.

Pinkie Pie waved a hoof. “That can wait. This city has lots of hotels with lots of rooms, we’ll be fine.”

“Oh, okay,” Fluttershy surrendered, somewhat dejected that her idea was being ignored.

“That’s not fair, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash defended her fellow pegasus. “Fluttershy made her suggestion first, so we should do that and get it out of the way. Besides, it’ll only take a few minutes.”

Pinkie Pie pouted. “Fine, but after that we head straight to the mall, right?”

The two pegasi glanced at one another before nodding in agreement. “Sure.”

The earth pony’s exuberant smile returned and she quickly took up position in front of her friends. “Then what are waiting for? Let’s go go go!”

***** ***** *****

Manehattan Mall loomed above the streets of the city, an enormous monolith that seemed to watch in bated silence as the miniscule citizens went about their daily routines. Its exterior was a brilliant, well-polished white that reflected the sun’s rays as if to illuminate the inferior structures surrounding it in a display of humble generosity. Breaking up its smooth, pristine walls were tall windows showing all that the magnificent building had to offer and the ponies that chose to accept its gifts.

The three Ponyville mares stood at the very bottom of the stone staircase leading up to the mall’s entrance; one with a look of pure astonishment as she beheld the inconceivably large structure; one cowering behind her mane, finding its sheer size excessively intimidating; one with a grin almost as bright and wide as the building’s own walls. Pinkie Pie was the first to step forward, opting to ignore the intended purpose of the stairs and simply hop and bounce her way up to the front door, weaving left and right to avoid the coming and going ponies. Rainbow Dash began her ascent as well. She had to turn around to make a silent gesture to Fluttershy, ensuring her childhood friend that everything was fine and encouraging her to follow. Hesitantly, she obeyed, taking extra care not to bump into anypony along the way.

Pinkie Pie waited impatiently at one of the many glass doors that lead inside, tapping a hoof against the concrete beneath her.

“Geez, Dashie, I never thought I’d say this to you, but could you hurry it up?”

Rainbow Dash, finally arriving at the top, raised an eyebrow at her pink friend. “Alright, I’m here already. When did you get so pushy, Pinkie Pie?”

“Ugh, I’m sorry,” Pinkie Pie groaned, her lips curling into an apologetic pout. “I’m just so excited to visit this place! I’ve heard sooo much about it that I can’t help but be super impatient! You understand, right?”

Rainbow Dash nodded her head in understanding. Had this been the stadium in which The Wonderbolts’ show was taking place, she figured that she would probably act the same way. It was hard to remain calm and poised when you knew something you’ve been waiting for for a long time was so close at hoof.

The two ponies were soon joined by the third member of their trio. Fluttershy cantered over to them, panting lightly. “Sorry if I made you wait. There are a lot of stairs here.” She took a deep breath. “I guess I haven’t been getting enough exercise lately.”

“I hope you’ve got some energy stored up in your reserve tanks,” said Pinkie Pie.

Fluttershy blinked. “My what?”

“Because we’ve got a full day of fun and activity ahead of us, and we ain’t stoppin’ until we’re droppin’!”

Fluttershy lowered her head. “Oh dear. M-Maybe I should just go wait at the hotel. I don’t know if I can keep up with you girls. I’ll just weigh you down.”

Rainbow Dash placed a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Relax, Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie’s just a little over-excited. We can all go at our own pace, it’s no biggie.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie agreed. “Like I said earlier, there’s something here for everypony. They got a food court, toy stores, an arcade, clothing stores, jewelry stores, a pet shop—”

Fluttershy’s ears perked up. “Pet shop?”

Pinkie Pie nodded her head rapidly.

Fluttershy finally managed to eke out a small grin. “That sounds fun. I’d love to meet all the little critters they have here.”

Pinkie Pie shot a hoof in the air triumphantly. “Perfect! Then what are we doing standing out here, twiddling our hooves? Let’s get inside!”

The eccentric mare stood before the glass doors, a determined grin on her lips. She rose onto her hind legs and with a grand flourish, pushed open the gates to endless entertainment. The air in the mall seemed to burst outward as if they had just released a cosmic energy out into the world, invigorating the three mares. Finally, they took their first steps inside and their jaws dropped collectively.

Despite all laws of reality, Manehattan Mall appeared even larger on the inside than it did on the outside. Though the building consisted only of four levels, the ceiling seemed like it was miles away; they almost expected to see clouds floating overhead. Each of the mall’s four levels were visible from the ground floor. Walkways stretched along the walls where the building’s many outlets were set up, and bridges even spanned the massive distance from one side to the other, allowing for quick and convenient access to the opposite side.

And the place was absolutely packed with ponies. Young couples strode side by side as they enjoyed a light snack purchased from the food court; foals were gallivanting around their parents, excited to play with the new toys they had bought for them; teenagers were loitering around the clothing outlets and taking up space on the benches placed throughout the mall, chatting and gossiping as if they were the only ones present. But they all had one feature in common: each and every one had a content smile plastered on their face. Evidently this place lived up to the hype.

And this was only the entrance. Elevators and escalators provided access to the upper floors, but one could only fathom how deep the mall’s halls ran. Off in the distance, the three mares could see that the mall split into multiple paths, all leading to vastly different areas with completely unique features and attractions. It could take days to fully explore the complex.

“Whoa. This place is ginormous!” Pinkie Pie bellowed. She giggled gleefully as the spacious structure echoed her words back to her as she hoped it would.

Rainbow Dash continued to stare in total bewilderment. “I don’t think ‘ginormous’ is gonna do it justice.”

Pinkie Pie tapped her chin as she pondered a suitable synonym. “Hmm. Bigantic?”

“Not quite.”

The pink pony shut her eyes in thought and pressed her hoof firmly against her forehead. “Umm...really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really—” She stopped and inhaled deeply. “—really really really really large?”

Rainbow Dash looked around, sizing up the interior of the complex. “Yeah, that’ll probably do it.”

The three mares continued their expedition, their trek taking them towards the vast, round intersection they had spotted from the entrance that seemed to be the center point at which each wing converged. There, the three found themselves standing before a large fountain. Fluttershy gazed in mezmorized awe at the beauty of the clean, sparkling water, losing herself in the peaceful sound it made.

“Isn’t it pretty?” Fluttershy cooed contentedly. “Can we just stay here for the rest of the day? It’s so tranquil.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged disinterestedly. “Yeah, it’s nice, I guess. But I really want to see what this place has in the way of more action-oriented entertainment.”

Fluttershy let out a defeated sigh. “Oh, okay. But how will we know where to go to find that kind of stuff. This place is really big. We might get lost.” No sooner had she said that did she notice a billboard set up near the fountain. Curiously, she approached it, her expression changing to one of realization. “Oh! I think this is a map. We can see where everything is here.”

Pinkie Pie shot a worried look towards Fluttershy and leapt between her and the map. “No! Don’t look!”

Fluttershy stepped back in surprise. “W-What’s wrong?! What’s happening?!”

Pinkie Pie tried desperately to obscure the map with her hooves, then, realizing it wasn’t enough, began to crawl over its surface, attempting to block it out with her entire body. “We can’t use a map!”

Rainbow Dash sighed with exasperation. “Why not, Pinkie Pie?” she asked, expecting one of her friend’s ludicrously inane answers.

“Because! It takes all the fun out of exploring the place ourselves! We need to wander these halls with absolutely no idea where we’re going. Then, when we finally end up someplace, we can be like, ‘Omigosh! How’d we get here? This place looks fun!’ It’s spontaneous! It’s exciting! It’s totally random! That’s the proper way to explore someplace new.”

“Couldn’t have put it better myself, my dear.”

Pinkie Pie dropped back down to the floor and the three mares turned to the source of the new voice. Approaching them rather casually was a tall, distinguished-looking, earth pony stallion. He wore a freshly cleaned, grey suit that no doubt Rarity would have taken interest in, and looked extremely expensive. The suit covered most of his brilliant, golden coat, but didn’t obscure his cutie mark: A silver dollar sign. His silver mane was slicked back with hair gel, its magnificent luster completely contrasting his age. Finally, he wore a pair of thin glasses upon his muzzle, just in front of his dark green eyes.

“I can think of no better way to experience the wonders of Manehattan Mall than to enter completely unaware of what it may hold,” he said, sweeping his hoof around to all the diverging paths surrounding them.

Rainbow Dash gave the stranger a skeptical look. “And who are you supposed to be?”

“Ah, my apologies. I have yet to introduce myself.” He bowed respectfully to the three mares, keeping his head down as he made his introduction. “My name is Vault Payroll, owner and operator of Manehattan Mall.”

Pinkie Pie’s quizzical expression was replaced by a surprised gasp and a wide grin. “You own this place?!”

Vault Payroll lifted his head from his bow to nod in affirmation. “That I do, miss. I inherited this enterprise from my father, who had inherited it from his father, who built this place from the ground up. And one day, I shall pass control over to my daughter, though I have no intention of retiring anytime soon,” he finished with a light chuckle.

“Yeah, that’s nice. So did you need something from us?” Rainbow Dash asked in a tone that suggested she was in a hurry.

Vault Payroll chuckled once more and shook his head. “Oh no, no. I simply wished to introduce myself to you three lovely, young mares while you were visiting our fair city.”

The three’s eyes widened simultaneously.

“How did you know we were visiting?” Fluttershy asked in mild amazement.

Pinkie Pie gasped loudly. “Are you psychic?!”

Vault Payroll let out a hearty laugh. “Ha ha ha! No, no, my dear. I just make a habit of knowing my customers. I know the names and faces of every citizen in Manehattan by heart.”

“Wow,” Fluttershy uttered in awe. “That’s a lot of ponies to remember.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Maybe somepony with an eidetic memory would interest Twilight, but the cyan pegasus remained unimpressed.

The stallion nodded to Fluttershy. “Indeed. And seeing as you three didn’t look familiar, logically that means you don’t live in Manehattan. So, in keeping with my habit, may I ask your names?”

“Sure!” chirped Pinkie Pie. “My name’s Pinkie Pie. This is my good pal, Fluttershy...”

“Hello.”

Pinkie Pie scooted over to Rainbow Dash, wrapping a hoof around her shoulder in an attempt to coax her into the conversation. “...and this grumpy Gus is Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash simply made brief eye contact with Vault and made a slight, almost inconceivable gesture with her head that somepony might just take as a greeting.

Pinkie Pie continued, “We arrived in Manehattan today all the way from—”

Vault interrupted with a shake of his hoof and a playful smile. “Wait, don’t tell me!”

Pinkie Pie halted and waited for him, eager to see what he was getting at.

Vault placed a hoof to his chin and sized up the three mares. “Let me guess. Hmm...” He removed a round watch from his suit’s breast pocket. “It’s quarter past two right now. Judging by the saddlebags you’re wearing, I presume you’ll be staying overnight. That means you probably paid a visit to a hotel upon your arrival. That would take about...half an hour? Yes, that sounds about right. So you most likely arrived in Manehattan between one thirty and quarter to two, which means you arrived on the one thirty train. Forgive me for saying, but you all look like you didn’t get a tremendous amount of sleep last night, so that means you caught an early train. The earliest train that runs to Manehattan starts at six o'clock. You took a five and a half hour train ride here. If that’s the case, then a five and a half hour ride from here would end you up in...the rural town of Ponyville. Am I in the ballpark?”

Pinkie Pie—who had been desperately refraining herself from blurting out the name of the town—finally let out her bated breath only to suck it back in for a stupefied gasp. “That’s it! You got it! Are you sure you aren’t psychic?”

Vault chortled in amusement at the pink pony’s reaction. “It’s logical deduction, my dear. Oh, but I feel I’ve overstayed my welcome.”

Rainbow Dash let out a barely audible sigh, relieved to finally see the end of this encounter approaching.

“You three have come here for a reason,” he continued, “and I won’t hold you up any longer. I have other business that needs attending to anyway. Please, enjoy everything we have to offer here at Manehattan Mall. Perhaps, if we’re lucky, we’ll see each other again before you leave.”

Vault offered a friendly smile to his guests before trotting away. Pinkie Pie waved goodbye to the older gentlecolt.

“Bye bye!”

“Goodbye, Mr. Payroll,” Fluttershy added. “It was nice to meet you.”

With that, Vault Payroll disappeared amongst the mall’s many visitors, leaving the three Ponyville mares to their own devices once again.

Rainbow Dash let out a huff and began to trot off in the opposite direction. Pinkie Pie was quick to catch up and cut her off, standing in front of her and blocking her path.

“What are you doing, Pinkie? You’re in the way,” Rainbow Dash huffed in annoyance.

“And you’re being a big ol’ grouchy pants,” the party pony quipped back. “What’s got your saddle sore? He was just being friendly and you treat him like he’s just in the way. Not the proper way to make friends, Dashie.”

“I’m not trying to make friends here. Especially not with that guy.”

Pinkie Pie frowned. “You don’t like him? But you only just met him.”

“He seemed really nice,” Fluttershy interjected.

Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. Something about him rubbed me the wrong way. Didn’t he seem a little pompous to anypony else? Talking about how he owns this place and knows everypony in the city. Seemed like he was trying to make us feel smaller or something, sticking his nose up at us.”

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy exchanged uncomprehending glances. “He seemed okay to me,” Pinkie Pie said.

Rainbow Dash groaned. “Maybe I’m just letting my impatience get the better of me. Let’s just forget about it and get to why we came here in the first place, huh?”

“Right!” Pinkie Pie agreed, shooting a hoof into the air to punctuate the proclamation. “So, what do we do first?”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head in thought. “I guess that depends on what we know is here. But we can’t really know if we don’t look at a map, can we?”

Pinkie Pie groaned in defeat. “Do we have to? I like all the random,” she whined.

“I know you like all the random, Pinkie, but I don’t think any of us want to end up in some frou-frou makeup parlor or something, right, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy looked up, surprised to be suddenly included in the conversation. “Huh? Oh, actually, I wouldn’t really mind if—”

“Besides,” Rainbow Dash continued, cutting off the quiet, yellow pegasus, “we probably all want to do different things anyway, and if we just wander around all day hoping to just stumble on what it is we want to do, we’ll end up wasting all of our time. So let’s look at the map, figure out where we want to go, and go there, ‘kay?”

Pinkie Pie hesitated. Her dejected eyes drifted over to Fluttershy for a moment who simply offered a smile suggesting that she agreed with Rainbow Dash. With a groan, she finally decided to cave. “Fine. Let’s look at the map. Even though that’s no fun at all.”

The three once again found themselves before the large sign displaying the map of Manehattan Mall. Pinkie Pie attempted to avoid staring straight at it as though it were a solar eclipse, shifting her eyes toward it for fractions of a second at a time in hopes that her brain wouldn’t register the information. She saw how her two friends were examining it carefully.

Fluttershy was slowly tracing a hoof over one of the many paths that lead away from the fountain, likely trying to memorize the mall’s layout and all of the lefts and rights so that they reduced the risk of getting lost.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, seemed to focus her gaze onto one particular wing of the mall, her eyes determinately not straying from it. The area she stared at was rife with sporting goods stores. It was evident she was interested in perhaps getting a little exercise in the future or looking for something that she and Applejack could do together when she got home.

Pinkie Pie was starting to realize that her friends were right. While simply wandering the halls randomly could lead to pleasant discoveries and fun times, there was also the chance that they might end up bored out their skulls. Had Applejack, Twilight and Rarity been able to join them, it really wouldn’t matter where they went since there would likely be something for at least one of them to enjoy. Pinkie was not willing to take that chance though.

Her line of sight finally made contact with the map for more than two seconds. Though she felt like she was betraying her sense of whimsy, she slowly began to see things that caught her interest. One area in particular stuck out, displaying outlets such as bake shops, snack stands and sandwich shops: the food court.

Pinkie Pie licked her lips thinking of all the snacks and confectioneries they could serve here. Staring at this map had accomplished one thing: giving her an appetite. She knew exactly where she wanted to go.

“Let’s go here!”

All three of them went quiet again as they realized that they had all piped up at the exact same moment, each pointing their hoof to a different location on the map.

Rainbow Dash looked to where Pinkie Pie was pointing. “The food court? Come on, we can’t eat yet. We should get a good workout first. You know, work up an appetite.”

Pinkie Pie was too busy looking to Fluttershy’s location of choice to hear Rainbow Dash. “A pet shop? Fluttershy, if we eat first, then all the little animals will smell food and they’ll get super excited and want to lick you and stuff. It’ll be so cute!”

Fluttershy seemed preoccupied by Rainbow Dash’s preference. “Sports? Animals have sensitive noses, Rainbow Dash. We can’t go over there when we’re all sweaty.”

The mares looked back and forth at one another. Clearly there was no unanimous decision here.

“Look,” Rainbow Dash sighed, “it’s obvious we all have different ideas of how we’d like to kill time. If we go one place, then two of us are gonna be bored while only one of us is enjoying themselves.”

Pinkie Pie spoke with a hint of worry in her voice. “Then what’re we gonna do?”

“The only thing we can do where all of us get to have fun: split up.”

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy blurted their reactions simultaneously. “What?!”

“But that defeats the whole purpose of coming here!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “We were supposed to have fun together!”

“And what if we get lost?” Fluttershy reiterated. “What if we can’t find each other again?”

Rainbow Dash pressed her hoof against her forehead. “We can have fun together, that’s why I invited you guys to come with me. We’ll have the whole day tomorrow when we all go to see The Wonderbolts, okay?”

Pinkie Pie was reluctant, but ultimately nodded in acceptance. “Yeah, I guess. We probably won’t have time to come here tomorrow, so having fun by ourselves today is better than not having fun at all.” She forced a smile. “Besides, we can all talk about how much fun we had when we all meet up again.”

“Right,” agreed Rainbow Dash. “Which brings up Fluttershy’s point. How about when we’re all finished what we’re doing, we meet back here before going to the hotel. Sit on a bench and wait, browse one of the stores near the fountain here to pass time, whatever. Sound good?”

Though Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie still weren’t entirely keen on the idea of splitting up, they nodded their heads.

“Good. So, I guess I’ll see you guys later.”

Rainbow Dash spread her wings and lifted herself off the ground, turning herself in the direction of the sporting goods department. She offered a wave to her friends before soaring above the mingling crowd below and disappearing around a corner.

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were left alone in the plaza, the latter nervously rubbing her foreleg.

“Can we be sure we won’t get lost? This place is pretty big.”

Pinkie Pie waved a dismissive hoof. “I’m sure there are lots of these maps all over the place. We’ll be fine. Dashie seems pretty confident.”

Fluttershy hung her head. “I guess...”

“Okey dokie then. Let’s see...” Pinkie Pie took one last look at the map she had formerly treated like a plague. “Sooooo, food court’s...that-a way,” she said, pointing a hoof to the left of the fountain towards the mall’s west wing. “See ya later, Fluttershy,” she bid her friend before bouncing on her merry way.

“Oh, uh, bye, Pinkie Pie.”

Fluttershy watched as Pinkie Pie entered the sea of ponies, getting brief glimpses of her friend as she hopped and bounded her way through the thick mob of mall goers. The pegasus took another look at her surroundings. The ceiling somehow seemed higher than it once did, and the crowd sounded louder. She swallowed pensively; she was alone now. The meek pegasus looked at the map in front of her one more time, pinpointing the location of the pet shop. A small smile crept onto her face. She wasn’t going to be alone for long. Soon she would have plenty of animal friends to keep her company.

Part 2 - The Setup

The Secret of Manehattan Mall

By Dee Pad

Part 2: The Setup

Going against everything she ever believed in, Rainbow Dash was taking her time as her wings carried her through Manehattan Mall’s corridors, swooping up and over and down and under all the interconnecting walkways of the upper levels. The sound of her continuously beating wings was all but drowned out by the cacophony of conversing ponies above and below her. It was still amazing to her just how many ponies were here; this place may as well be a city all on its own.

Even though she had yet to reach her destination, she was already having fun. The many walkways and hanging signs advertising nearby businesses made the place feel like an impromptu obstacle course. Rainbow Dash spun and looped through the hall, diving low occasionally to rile up excited foals that had been admiring her feats of aerial prowess from the ground.

She was enjoying herself and all, but she did have a destination in mind, something that she needed to remind herself of in order to keep her from getting caught up in her stunts and making a wrong turn somewhere. Near the ground she spotted another large map positioned near a souvenir stand. She swooped down and made a running landing, gradually slowing to a steady trot until she stopped just in front of the map. It didn’t take long to ascertain her location, indicated by a big, red circle and the words “You are here.” She was relieved to see that she was still on track and her destination wasn’t far from here—around the next corner in fact. There wasn’t much point in flying such a short distance. Besides, she wanted to conserve her stamina; if the map was any indication, this mall contained a full sized cloudball court, the official sport of Cloudsdale. She was definitely looking forward to that.

A short trot later and she had made it. Rainbow Dash stood before the doors of Manehattan Mall’s indoor stadium, the same title spelled out in large, red letters over the door. Rainbow Dash inhaled deeply, puffed out her chest, and put on her best game face, one that exuded confidence and experience.

She shoved the doors wide open. Her game face instantly faltered to make way for one of utter amazement. The room was absolutely enormous, she almost felt as though she were actually outside. That feeling was heightened by the extremely high ceiling which was painted a bright blue and decorated with images of fluffy, white clouds and even a round, orange sun. They had obviously gone all out to make this place seem as outdoorsy as possible without actually being outdoors.

Of course, the highlight here were the courts. Set up to her left were four regulation sized tennis courts. Two pairs of unicorns occupied one of the courts with a game of doubles, rallying the soft, yellow ball back and forth with the rackets they held in their multi-colored auras.

To Rainbow Dash’s right were a pair of basketball courts. A group of six stallions were busy with a game of three-on-three. They seemed to be amateurs, high school freshmen who weren’t cut out for the school’s team so they had to come here to play. They may not have been very good, but they certainly seemed like they were having fun.

Rainbow Dash could see adjoining hallways that appeared to lead to locker rooms where ponies could change into their exercise clothes, and showers where they could clean the sweat out of their coats and manes. Nothing felt better than a cool shower after stomping somepony in a good game.

None of this really held Rainbow Dash’s attention however. She never had an interest in sports like tennis and basketball, mainly because they had strict rules regarding pegasi. Pegasi were prohibited to use their wings in most sports as that would allow them an unfair advantage over earth ponies. The same applied to unicorn magic as well, but the rules were a little more lenient in that regard, allowing them to use their magic to hold equipment such as tennis rackets but not to dribble a basketball. Rainbow Dash was a mare who liked to spread her wings. These other sports were too restrictive for her, having to remain grounded and jump with only the power in your legs.

For these reasons, her focus was on the court towards the back of the stadium: the cloudball court.

Spanning almost the entire length of the stadium, the cloudball court was certainly gigantic. As the name would suggest, this sport could only be played by pegasi and took place entirely in the air; if you didn’t have strong wings, playing this sport would be like setting your wings on fire as games tended to run for quite some time. The field needed to be big considering that a pegasus can cover a larger distance more easily than earth ponies and unicorns.

On either side of the field were two striped goal posts suspended on clouds. The object of the game was to carry the ball through your opponents goal, with throwing the ball through netting less points than if you were to fly through with it in your grasp.

Of course, the game couldn’t be called cloudball without clouds. Many of the puffy cumulous were scattered throughout the field. They acted as obstacles and advantages provided one knew how to properly utilize them. The game was also prone to being struck by weather systems. Rain, snow, even hurricanes weren’t enough to postpone a game of cloudball, they just made the game more exciting.

Normally a game would be played high above the ground as well, but in the event a court was set up at ground level as this one was, touching the ground was considered out of bounds. The creators of this game went out of their way to ensure that the sport could be played only by the best fliers in Equestria.

And it just so happened that the best of the best was here today.

Rainbow Dash approached the court. Her eyes drifted up to a commotion amongst the artificial clouds. Four burly, pegasus stallions were darting from cloud to cloud, tackling one another and attempting to take possession of the white, oval-shaped ball.

The spectating mare sat beyond the court’s boundaries and watched in earnest as they carried out their game. They were skilled to be sure—aspiring professionals no doubt—but Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but notice that they made more than one amateur mistake here and there; they seemed to be more intent on inflicting physical harm on one another rather than actually trying to score. Typical jocks.

One of the stallions managed to commandeer the ball and had set his eyes on the opponents goal. Seeing an opening, he bolted forward, but halted after just a few feet. Rainbow Dash found his gaze had turned in her direction. She checked behind her to see if perhaps he had been looking at somepony else, but seeing nopony else there, she looked back at him.

The distracted stallion was about to be sacked by one of his opponents when he made a gesture with his forelegs, forcing his attacker to stop in his tracks. “Time out!”

The rest of his friends stopped and shared vexed expressions. Without bothering to give an explanation, the stallion that had declared the time out casually flapped down to the ground and landed in front of Rainbow Dash. He knit his eyebrows in unexplained irritation. “You got a problem or something?”

Rainbow Dash stood up wearing a confident grin. “Me? Nah, you guys just looked like you were having fun, so I thought I’d watch you play. Why? Something wrong?”

“We don’t need an audience,” he snapped as his friends touched down behind him. “Besides, this is cloudball. It’s the most masculine sport there is. You’d be better off playing hopscotch or something, little missy.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t know whether to bear her teeth in fury or burst out laughing; these guys were probably younger than she was. She decided to keep her temper in check for the time being. “Oh? Is that right? Well, it might interest you to know that I was team captain of the Junior Speedsters Flight Camp Cloudball Team.” Rainbow Dash flared her wings in a display of haughty superiority.

The four stallions tried and failed to suppress their laughter, much to Rainbow Dash’s annoyance. “‘Junior Speedsters’? That’s peewee stuff! And everypony knows mare’s sports aren’t nearly as intense as the real thing. What, did you apologize when you stole the ball?” Their laughter became more uncontrollable and significantly more aggravating.

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth behind her lips. “I wouldn’t laugh if I were you. Do you even have any idea who you’re talking to?”

The lead stallion forced himself to stop laughing long enough to respond. “You just told us: captain of the Junior Toddlers Cloudball Team.”

His hazing only proved to heighten his friends’ mirth as well as Rainbow Dash’s rage. The chromatic mare was never good at taking insults. “I was just trying to enjoy a good game of cloudball, but if you want things to get serious, then I can make things serious,” she said, accenting her anger with a sharp snort through her nostrils.

The stallion waved a hoof dismissively, completely unfazed by her threat. “Hey, look, if you want to stand on the sidelines and be a cheerleader or something, that’s cool. But why don’t you leave the actual sports to the actual athletes, Skittles.”

Rainbow Dash’s eye twitched. Her tone turned dark and foreboding. “What did you just call me?”

“Hey, dude,” one of the others piped up, still trying to contain his amusement, “I think you made her mad.”

The stallion smiled confidently. “Yeah? And what’s she gonna do about it?”

He was basically asking for a swift hoof to the jaw, and up until now, that’s exactly what she had planned to do. However, she once more forced her anger to the wayside, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath. Her eyes reopened again, accompanied by a cocksure grin. “I’ll tell what I’m gonna do about it. I’m gonna wipe the court with your sorry flanks, that’s what!”

Once more, her response was met with their insulting laughter. “Are you seriously challenging us?” She gave a simple, unwavering nod. “Alright, I think we can humor you. You got some pretty little friends to help you out?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged, but retained her smug smile. “I do, but I don’t think I’ll need ‘em. I can take you on myself.”

She was expecting another round of hysterical chortles, but instead they remained silent. They simply wore amused grins. “You against us? You don’t think that’s a little unfair?”

Rainbow Dash’s smile faded, making way for a more worried expression as she sized up the competition. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. That would be a little unfair...” Upon seeing their triumphant smirks, satisfied that they had asserted their dominance, she faked them out as her own grin returned to its original position on her muzzle. “...for you.”

The lead stallion chuckled. “Heh, you got fire in your belly, I’ll give you that. Tell you what, we’ll take it easy on you. I promise we won’t hit you too hard,” he said in a patronizing tone.

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and glided over them smugly. “Can’t say I’ll do the same for you.”

The four stallions followed her into the air, all five of them taking up positions in the center of the court with the four stallions facing down Rainbow Dash. As a final show of sportsmanship—or perhaps pity—the lead stallion offered her the ball first. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she accepted; if they were willing to give up the one advantage they had, that was their loss.

“Let’s just make this a quick one, okay?” the stallion said. “First to score a point by flying through their opponent’s goal wins. That sound good?”

The mare gave a short nod in agreement. With the ball snugly nestled in her foreleg, Rainbow Dash poised herself for the first play. She had no team with her, so she needed to rely solely on her own skills. That only served to boost her confidence further.

The lead stallion hovered at the ready. “All set?” Rainbow Dash gave a firm nod. “Alright, on three, we’ll start. One. Two. Three!”

The last thing the four punks saw was Rainbow Dash’s cocky grin and a multi-colored blur zooming past them before they were sent into a dizzying spin. Finally spinning to a stop, they all attempted to regain their bearings and set their eyes to darting about for the cyan mare. A sharp whistle blew from behind the quartet of befuddled stallions and they all turned towards their own goal.

Sitting casually upon the cloud where her opponent’s goalposts were planted was the mare in question, lazily flipping the ball into the air. “What’s the matter?” she said in a blatantly mocking tone. “Too fast for ya?” The stallions gritted their teeth at Rainbow Dash’s taunt, furious that they were being shown up by one little mare. “Tell you what,” she continued, “I’ll give you your advantage back so this game’s a little more fair. Here.”

Rainbow Dash hurled the ball towards the captain with a perfect spiral. The burly pegasus, though vexed as to why she would pass up the opportunity to score, held out his hooves to catch the ball. When it was just mere inches from his possession, it suddenly vanished in a flash of color. Following the trajectory of the rainbow-hued streak, they were once again greeted by the smug smirk of Rainbow Dash as she spun the ball expertly on her hoof.

“Oh, come on, don’t look at me like that. You might make me feel guilty about messing with you guys.”

Rainbow Dash waited for their witless responses, but when none came she cast another glance at her opponents. They didn’t seem as intimidated as she had hoped. In fact, the three of them looked pretty confident.

Wait, three?

Without warning, Rainbow Dash was tackled from behind, causing her to drop the ball to her opponents waiting below. The fourth stallion had used the cover of the clouds to sneak up behind, pinning her and preventing her from diving after the ball. The captain caught the falling ball and offered Rainbow Dash a mocking salute as he made a brisk pace for her goal. She could only watch as she let her arrogance lead to an early end of the game.

But they seemed to forget that cloudball was a contact sport.

With a loud grunt, Rainbow Dash swung her head backwards, the back of her skull connecting firmly with the stallion’s muzzle. His grip loosened as his instincts told him that nursing his nose was more important than holding down the female pegasus. Without wasting another moment, she took off after the ball. The captain was closing in on her goal. She just needed a little more speed...

An idea struck. Rainbow Dash dipped her head down into a nose dive, allowing gravity to help her pick up the pace. When she felt she had enough speed, she pulled up in a sharp curve, using the additional momentum to launch herself across the field like a stone from a sling.

Her trajectory was a little off, zooming a few feet in front of the pegasus carrying the ball. It was probably for the best anyway; at that speed, they would both likely suffer some serious injury. What it did do, however, was surprise the stallion, forcing him to stop abruptly just yards from Rainbow Dash’s goal. The mare looped in the air behind the confused stallion, popping up in front of him once more, this time swiping the ball from his grip as he continued to attempt to comprehend what had just happened.

She wasn’t about to risk gloating again after seeing where it got her the first time. Rainbow Dash made a beeline for their goal in hopes of ending this before she let her arrogance cost her the game.

But fate would have another say in the matter.

A loud crack of thunder boomed over the court. Rainbow Dash halted mid-flight to ascertain the source of the noise; how could their be thunder indoors? Her eyes drifted up as a large, dark storm cloud began to form overhead. Within seconds, rain began to pour and the air filled with static electricity.

A weather machine? Cool.

She had to admire the detail put into this court; whoever built it went all out to make the game feel authentic.

Another thunderclap sounded, this one accompanied by the sting of a lightning bolt as it grazed her flank. Rainbow Dash flinched and yelped, her eyes tracing the bolt’s path to a dark cloud where one of the stallions was preparing another buck to zap her again. She was no stranger to dealing with lightning and managed to deftly dodge the bolt. However, her momentary lapse of concentration had led her to be surrounded by her opponents.

She was trapped. With all four stallions taking up positions around her, she couldn’t find an escape route. Trying to fly over them would bring her too close to the enormous thunderhead looming above, going below would only mean there were even more clouds above that could zap her, and just blowing through at top speed would give her little time to react if a wayward bolt came her way. Not to mention being soaked by the rain basically made her a cyan lightning rod.

Only one option left then.

Rainbow Dash began flying in small circles while remaining within the boundaries that her opponents had set up. The four stallions were bewildered, but amused, by the display as she looked to be simply panicking. Their amusement faded, however, as a gentle breeze picked up, gradually growing in force. They knew for a fact that the court’s weather machine couldn’t create gusts of wind.

As Rainbow Dash circled at dizzying speeds, a vacuum was beginning to form. The storm clouds were being sucked into the growing vortex that the mare was building. Her face was contorted from the stress of her speed, her vision blurred from a combination of the rain and her watery eyes.

The four stallions soon found even their heftier weight being affected by the pull of the small, pegasus-powered twister. Before they knew it, they found themselves being helplessly pulled into the ever-expanding tornado and sent careening into an uncontrollable spin.

The other athletes in the stadium had stopped what they were doing to gaze at the spectacle taking place over the cloudball court. A now-gigantic, black whirlwind swirling maniacally and accompanied by crackling lightning, booming thunder, and the panicked shrieks of four stallions.

Rainbow Dash had almost completely lost track of what she was doing. For a moment, she thought she was simply performing an impressive aerial feat or practicing a routine until she noticed the ball that was still in her possession. While still maintaining her circular flight path, Rainbow Dash tried to peer out of the tornado she had created.

There, for just the briefest of moments, she could see her opponents’ goalposts. They almost seemed to light up as a beacon to her victory. With each revolution she tried to pinpoint exactly how long it took for the posts to come into view again. Another pass, then another, and another.

Three. Two. One. Now!

Rainbow Dash flared her wings and rocketed out of the twister. With the source gone, the tornado quickly died down, the storm clouds being flung at the stadium walls and disappearing with a puff. Rain water sprayed out in every direction, soaking even the spectating ponies below. It took all of half a second for Rainbow Dash to clear the goal and secure her victory. She turned sharply and made steadily slowing circles as she came in for a landing in the middle of the court where an unceremonious pile of stallions were groaning and trying to keep their eyes from spinning out of their sockets.

Rainbow Dash ran a hoof through her rain-soaked mane and cantered up to the upside-down captain, leaning in close with a triumphant smirk. The look of pure astonishment on the meatheaded stallion’s face only fueled her pride further. “And that’s Ms. Skittles to you, bub.”

She dropped the ball to the floor as she turned toward the exit and, with a haughty flick of her tail, casually trotted out of the stadium, leaving the four stallions, and even the other on-looking ponies, in a silent daze.

***** ***** *****

Manehattan Mall was practically an enormous aquarium, a large tank full of exotic fish that floated about the myriad landmarks, minding their own business with no concept of time. A veritable sea of shoppers traipsed here, there and everywhere, some with destinations in mind and others who had no idea where they even were at the moment.

One fish, however, stood out from the rest.

Pinkie Pie bounced and bobbed her way through the crowd, happily humming and paying no mind to where she was even going. The mob of ponies may as well not even exist to her as she leapt and skipped over their heads, miraculously avoiding any collisions, especially considering her eyes were closed.

She wasn’t exactly enthused about separating from her friends; having fun together was why she suggested they come here in the first place after all. She did find some solace in knowing that, wherever her friends ended up, they were no doubt having a blast. Her own destination shouldn’t have been too much further as well.

Pinkie Pie froze mid-bounce and her carefree smile disappeared to make way for curiosity. She turned to her left and craned her neck skyward at what lay before her. Her hooves finally touched the ground.

Arching over a rather large opening was a huge, plastic rainbow, its seven colors shining brightly as the mall’s lights reflected off of them. In a very child-like font, the words “Playground Paradise” were spelled out.

Pinkie Pie’s inner child was intrigued by the sight. The bright colors were no doubt intended to attract the attention of a simple-minded foal, and Pinkie just happened to be a simple-minded mare. She needed to investigate.

Stepping cautiously inside, Pinkie Pie’s ears were greeted by the overpowering roar of innumerable laughing children. Her eyes were then treated to just what was invoking that laughter, and they grew large in wonderment. Surrounding her on all sides were countless activity centers: slides, jungle gyms, and even a fully functional carousel occupied by smiling colts and fillies decorated the area with every color imaginable. A gargantuan maze of colorful tubes snaked its way throughout the whole area, full of foals playing hide and seek or embarking on make-believe adventures. It was a hub for all things fun. A whimsical wonderland.

Pinkie Pie was right at home here.

Contrary to what somepony who knew the mare would expect her to do, Pinkie Pie simply trotted slowly through, staring in amazement with a wide smile and taking in everything around her. She did notice, however, that there was a distinct lack of adults present. No doubt this was where parents dumped their nagging or whiny children so they could get some shopping done in peace.

Pinkie Pie stopped in her tracks once again, catching sight of something just ahead of her. It was a big, inflatable castle, colored mostly red with spires of blue and decorated with yellow stripes. Approximately a dozen foals were mindlessly bouncing about inside of it, laughing and carrying on without a care in the world.

Pinkie Pie’s smile grew as wide as her cheeks would allow and she let out an excited gasp.

“Bouncy Castle!”

The pink pony instantly shot upwards like a fun-seeking missile. She flipped and tucked and rolled repeatedly with the grace and poise of a professional high-diver, but as she passed the apex of her launch trajectory she ultimately decided to land with a good, old-fashioned cannonball.

The curled up mass of pink struck the center of the inflatable castle and was immediately swallowed up by it. The massive buildup of tension forced the foals to halt their bouncing, stopping to gaze in curiosity at the unidentified object until the castle finally decided to spit up the live projectile, the immense stress of the stretched rubber rocketing her body back into the air. Pinkie Pie unfurled mid-bounce, allowing herself to belly-flop back into the castle as if it were a pool of water.

“Woo!” she exclaimed excitedly. “That was awesome!”

Satisfied that her entrance was indeed grand, she slowed to a leisurely bounce of no more than a few feet high. The surrounding foals giggled and bounced along with her, Pinkie Pie’s superior weight tossing them around erratically much to their enjoyment. They were all thoroughly amused by the sight of a full grown mare acting so silly.

“Ahem.”

Pinkie Pie’s bouncing came to a stand still. The castle offered no resistance against her hooves, allowing her to stand properly. She peered outside to see a large stallion wearing a blue uniform and casting a rather stern look her way.

“Miss, would you mind stepping out of there?” he asked, though it sounded more like a demand.

Pinkie Pie looked around. The dozen or so foals present had also stopped playing, wondering what the problem was. “Why? We were having fun,” she said with a small pout.

“Please step outside, ma’am,” he repeated, his tone a tad harsher than it had been previously.

Upon hearing the magic word, Pinkie Pie complied with the order and hopped down onto solid ground. She could hear several of the foals groan with disappointment. “What’s the problem, officer?” she asked, hoping that showing him as much respect as possible would convince him to be a little more lenient about whatever it was she had done.

“You’re too big to be in there.”

Pinkie Pie blinked. “What?”

“This attraction has a height limit and you’re too tall,” he declared.

The pink pony gasped in shock. “Prejudice!” She stuck out her hoof against his nose; he looked none too amused. “How dare you deny me access to the bouncy castle solely because of my height! Why should one of the vertically inclined not have the same rights as those who are not?! Is that fair? Is that your so-called justice, officer?! You should be ashamed! To think that a place as wondrous as Manehattan Mall would be host to such a vile hate crime! I should sue the non-existent pants of you, mister.”

Pinkie Pie’s rant did absolutely nothing to remove the stuffy, annoyed expression from his face. He simply stood there, looking down the length of the leg pressed against his nose and glared at the body and face it was attached to. “It’s a safety precaution, miss,” he stated blandly.

Pinkie Pie’s glower vanished and she placed her hoof back onto the floor. “Oh. Well, why didn’t just say so in the first place?” she giggled. “Would have saved you the embarrassment.”

Satisfied by his simple response, Pinkie Pie happily skipped past him and back towards the playground’s entrance. Several foals waved goodbye to the quirky adult as she disappeared around the corner.

The security guard let out an aggravated groan. “Why do I always get the crazy ones?”

Even if her time was brief, the laughter of the foals made those few, fleeting minutes more than worth it. After all, spreading joy and happiness is what being the Element of Laughter is all about. Satisfied that she had put wide, toothy smiles on a group of innocent, young faces, Pinkie Pie set back on the path to her original destination.

Which just so happened to be twenty feet away from the playground.

Pinkie Pie’s pupils enlarged in an attempt to take in the majesty of the sight before her, a beacon of light shining down from the skylights above and a chorus of angels singing a melody only she could hear.

The food court was glorious.

An enormous, circular area lined with food stands, candy shops, snack bars and any other type of food-based business. Hungry ponies lined up in droves to get their fill, taking seats on nearby benches or upon the patio deck setup in the very center of the area mimicking the atmosphere of a backyard picnic.

And the aromas. Sweet Celestia, the aromas.

Pinkie Pie’s nostrils were invaded by all manner intoxicating fragrances, from salty pretzels to veggie-lover’s pizza; from caramel apples to lemon meringue pie. This place must have had absolutely everything.

Pinkie Pie had to fight back the urge to dive straight in and gobble up whatever food happened to be in hoof’s reach at the time. Instead she painstakingly trotted towards the deck area where she noticed that there were waiters delivering dishes to the customers. This area, in and of itself, was actually a restaurant, the kitchen hidden inside a small building attached to the deck. Pinkie Pie took a seat at an empty table, though one large enough to seat six ponies.

A waitress, noticing a new arrival, timely made her way to the pink mare’s table. “Good evening, miss,” she said courteously. “Would you like a menu?”

Pinkie Pie hadn’t even realized it was evening. How long had she been aimlessly bouncing about in the crowded halls? “Yes, please,” she answered politely. Despite her unorthodox behavior most of the time, Pinkie Pie was actually quite well versed in proper table manners and dining etiquette. Whether or not she chose to incorporate them into her meals was another story entirely.

With a curt nod and without wasting a moment, the waitress delivered a menu to her customer before leaving her to make her decision and tend to the other diners.

Pinkie Pie opened the menu and perused it’s contents. Everything certainly sounded tasty. Yup, absolutely everything sounded yummy...

She closed the menu and waved to the same waitress that had given it to her. The employee raised an eyebrow quizzically; she had decided her order so quickly. She put her smile back on and stepped over to the pink mare’s table once more. “Have you come to a decision?”

Pinkie Pie closed her eyes and nodded, her expression exuding an air of sophistication that her friends have probably never been privy to. She held the menu out to the waitress to return it. “Yes.”

There was a long pause. The waitress looked around in confusion, having expected more than just a simple affirmation. “And?” It was clear her patience was starting to develop a few holes.

Pinkie Pie popped one eye open. “‘And’ what? I said ‘yes.’” She pointed to the menu’s cover.

The waitress had to take a moment to decipher the mare’s meaning. She desperately hoped that she wasn’t implying what she thought she was implying. “Yes to what?”

“The menu,” Pinkie Pie stated matter-of-factly.

The waitress blinked. “The menu?” She gulped rather audibly.

“Yup, one of everything please.”

That’s exactly what she was afraid of. The waitress shakily retrieved the menu and warily made her way to the kitchen, double-taking a few times along the way to ensure she wasn’t having some lucid dream.

Pinkie Pie sat quietly and patiently for some time. The other seated customers could easily hear the cooks in the kitchen grumbling and cursing under their breath. Pinkie Pie, however, was completely oblivious to the mountain of work she had just given them.

After what seemed like hours, the doors to the kitchen flew open, making way for a line of waiters and waitresses carrying plates and platters of everything the menu had to offer, taking them straight to the table for six seating one. The table’s surface was covered immediately and there were still more waiting for room to clear, but they would have to wait until their recipient had finished what was already there. The table creaked and groaned under all of the calories stacked atop it; it was a wonder it remained standing at all.

Pinkie Pie’s tongue would not be contained. The sweet smell of so much delectable sustenance made her mouth literally water. Realizing that every pair of eyes at the restaurant was staring at her, she hastily sucked her tongue back in and wiped her mouth clean. She reached down to her saddlebags resting next to her chair, rooting around inside past all the random doodads and thingamajigs she brought with her “just in case.”

Finally, she pulled out a small, ornate, lacquer case, as well as a golden key. She gently placed the case on the table and carefully and deliberately inserted the key. With a tiny click, the latch on the front popped opened. Everypony that had gathered around fell silent and leaned forward in anticipation. Pinkie Pie slowly opened the lid and a flash of silver light filled the food court, forcing the diners to shield their eyes.

It amazed even Pinkie Pie every time she saw it. Resting inside, placed within perfectly molded, felt-lined grooves, were a silver fork and knife, polished to an immaculate shine. It was only on very special occasions that she ever used them. Today felt like one of those days.

Pinkie Pie reached into her saddlebags for a second time, this time pulling out a white bib with her cutie mark emblazoned upon it, and tied it around her neck. She cautiously took hold of her prized utensils, the fork in her left hoof and the knife in her right, pausing to gaze at the well-polished metal. Satisfied that her reflection was clearer than if it were a mirror, she looked over the smörgåsbord laid out before her and deeply inhaled the fusion of scents through her nostrils. An eager smile played across her lips.

“Bon appetite.”

***** ***** *****

Fluttershy nervously shuffled her hooves across the floor, desperately trying to avoid eye contact with the strange ponies that surrounded her on all sides. Ever since she separated from her friends her mind had begun to fill itself with all manner of terrible scenarios that could possibly play out with nopony there to help her. She could get mugged, with some delinquent making off with her saddlebags even though she wasn’t carry anything of value other than about thirty bits. What if somepony foalnapped her and held her for ransom? Would her friends have enough money to save her? Would the foalnapper even want money, or would they want something even more valuable?

Fluttershy’s shoulder brushed against a random passerby. The meek pegasus flinched in fear, awaiting the stranger’s harsh reaction. She cracked one eye open cautiously. Everypony was going about their business as usual. Nopony scolded her or glared at her. She breathed a relieved sigh. That had been the third time she did that, and her resolve wasn’t getting any stronger. She desperately regretted not going with one of her friends.

To make things worse, she was pretty sure she had gotten lost, just as she had feared. This mall had so many twists, turns, stairs, and hallways that it was nearly impossible to tell where you were going and where you’ve been. The constant wall of passing ponies didn’t make it any easier for a mare who kept her head hanging low either. At this point Fluttershy was contemplating just trying to find her way back to the fountain and wait for Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to return.

Fluttershy’s ears suddenly perked up as a noise not too far away caught her attention. The sounds of hundreds of hooves clacking against the tile floor seemed to disappear to allow the mare to better analyze the noise. But it wasn’t just one noise, it was many. It was the sound of kittens meowing, puppies barking, and birds squawking.

Her mouth curved into an enormous and grateful smile. She quickly followed the source of the noise, curving and weaving through the thicket of ponies until her destination was within sight. Eager to escape the suffocating atmosphere of the mall’s crowded corridors, Fluttershy hastily slipped through the doorway of the pet shop. Her grin widened even further and her eyes sparkled as she now found herself completely surrounded on all sides by hordes of adorable animals.

She didn’t know where to start. She heard the kittens’ tiny mewls first, so should she start there? But that wouldn’t be fair to the other animals. She didn’t want to seem like she was playing favorites. It was at times like this that she wished she had access to the Mirror Pool.

Ultimately it was a commotion on the far end of the store that garnered her attention. However, it wasn’t the sound of exuberant animals that drew her there, but the snarky laughter of a trio of small colts. The three tots were gathered around a cage housing a few puppies. Fluttershy gasped as she witnessed what exactly it was they were doing. They weren’t laughing because they were playing with the puppies, they were laughing at the puppies and teasing them, rattling the cage and dangling sugary snacks just out of their reach. The puppies had all started huddling together at the back of the cage to distance themselves from their abusers.

Fluttershy wouldn’t stand for such grievous behavior and callous disregard for the poor canines’ feelings. She stomped over to the colts and stood firmly behind them. “Excuse me,” she said with a stern voice.

The colts turned around wearing annoyed expressions. “Whadda ya want, grandma. Leave us alone.”

Fluttershy ignored the insult. “I can’t help but notice how poorly you’re treating those helpless, little puppies. Don’t you know that kind of treatment can be very traumatic when they’re so young? It could be hard for them to trust anypony.”

“So?” one of the colts said. “They’re not our puppies. Why should we care?”

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes. “What if somepony treated you like that? I bet you wouldn’t like to be teased and laughed at, would you?”

Another colt scoffed. “They’re just dogs. It’s not like they matter or anything. They ain’t people.”

The adult mare had to stifle a shocked gasp. “You take that back. A puppy’s life is just as valuable as a pony’s. They have feelings just like us.”

The third colt shook his head defiantly. “No, they don’t!”

Fluttershy felt anger boiling inside her, a feeling she didn’t experience very often. “Yes, they do.”

“No, they don’t!”

“Yes. They do.”

“No. They. Don’t!”

Fluttershy couldn’t take anymore of these colts’ attitude. If they hated animals so much, they shouldn’t be here in the first place, and Fluttershy was intent on reprimanding that.

“Please. Leave. You three don’t belong in here.”

“You can’t tell us what to do, granny!”

Fluttershy ground her teeth behind tightly closed lips. That was it. Even a pony as passive as Fluttershy had her limits, especially when animals were involved. If it meant protecting those defenseless puppies from these abusive colts, she was willing to break out her secret weapon.

Fluttershy loomed menacingly over the three foals. Her eyes shot wide open and her brow knit tightly. The three colts gazed directly into the older pony’s dilated pupils, and a sudden sense of fear and dread fell over them as they slunk back and away from her, looking much like the very puppies they teased. They couldn’t accurately describe why, but something about her eyes frightened them.

“Leave,” Fluttershy said to the cowering colts. “Now.”

The trio could only silently nod their heads as they scrambled to escape from the pet store and get away from the scary adult that had scolded them. When the coast was clear, Fluttershy let out a relieved sigh.

“Thank goodness. I never like using The Stare, but sometimes it’s really all I can do.” She turned her attention to the frightened puppies in the cage. “Are you all okay in there?” she asked in a motherly tone, accented by a soft smile.

The litter of puppies, seeing the comforting expression on the strange mare’s face, cautiously stepped forward.

Fluttershy leaned in close to the cage. “That’s right, those mean bullies are gone now. It’s safe. I’m not going to hurt you.”

The fear left the puppies’ eyes in an instant, somehow feeling that this mare, although they had just met her, was entirely trustworthy. They bolted forward and began to gratefully lick their savior’s nose and cheeks.

Fluttershy giggled. “Aww, you’re very welcome. I just can’t stand to see cute, little animals teased and abused like that. Ponies are supposed to play with their animal friends and have fun.”

“Squrawk! Fun! Fun!”

Fluttershy turned her head around to the source of the strange voice. Gazing up, she noticed a large, brightly colored parrot perched in a cage staring down at her. Her face lit up with a wide smile and she flapped her wings to see eye to eye with her fellow winged creature.

“Was that you who said that just now?” she asked in enthusiastic wonderment.

The bird simply tilted its head at Fluttershy. Not much of a response, but that wasn’t going to stop her from continuing the “conversation.”

“My, my. You’re such a pretty bird, aren’t you?” she giggled.

“Pretty bird! Pretty bird!” the parrot echoed, finishing with a whistle.

Fluttershy scratched the back of her head and laughed. “Not very modest though. That’s okay, it’s good to take pride in one’s self. By the way, my name’s Fluttershy. What’s your name?”

“Fluttershy!” the bird squawked.

Fluttershy gasped. “You have the same name as me? That’s quite a coincidence. I guess that makes us two birds of a feather, huh?” she giggled. She was a little disappointed that Pinkie Pie wasn’t around for that; she was always up for a good pun, and bad ones for that matter. The parrot didn’t seem to comprehend the joke however and absentmindedly preened its wing.

Fluttershy examined the bird’s cage. It seemed unusually small for such a large bird; there wasn’t even enough room to fully spread its wings. “It must be awfully uncomfortable in such a cramped space, especially since you’re a bird. Bird’s need to be free so they can fly. Just ask my friend Rainbow Dash. I’m sure she’d be just as concerned to see you cooped up like this.” Fluttershy chuckled at her unintentional pun before awaiting a response. This time she actually received one.

“Cooped up! Fly free! Squrawk!”

Fluttershy nodded. “You’re right. At the very least you should be able to step outside your cage every now and then.” The pegasus scratched her chin as a thought coalesced in her brain. She looked to the left, then to the right, to see if anypony was watching. “I guess there’s no harm in letting you out for a minute or two, right? But you have to promise that you’ll behave yourself. Understand?” she asked in a more stern, yet still quiet, tone.

“Squrawk! Promise! Promise!”

Fluttershy grinned. “Good! Now let’s just get this cage open and—”

No sooner had she removed the latch, the parrot bolted out of the cage, past Fluttershy and straight out the door of the pet shop.

“Oh no!” the pegasus gasped. “Wait, Fluttershy! Come back! You promised!”

The store clerk, hearing Fluttershy’s panicked shouting, stepped over to investigate. “What’s going on here?” the mare inquired.

“I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy hurriedly apologized. “I let your parrot out to stretch his wings and he just flew away!”

“What?!” The clerk looked absolutely livid. “What were you thinking, young lady?! Didn’t you stop to think for a moment that there was a reason it was in that cage?!”

“I’m sorry, I-I’ll go get him back, I promise.”

“You’d better,” the mare huffed grumpily.

With as much speed as her wings would allow, Fluttershy bolted out the door in search of her wayward friend. It didn’t take long to spot the zigzagging, red avian, very much annoying the other mall-goers as it swooped all around.

“Fluttershy! Come back please!” Fluttershy called out.

Hearing the kind mare’s voice, the parrot turned to face her then zipped off in the opposite direction. Fluttershy made chase after the bird, doing her best to keep up with its erratic flight patterns. It almost seemed as though it were trying to lose her.

Fluttershy bobbed and weaved her way through the mall in hot pursuit of the parrot, harkening back to all the times she had watched Rainbow Dash practicing her flight routines. Though she wasn’t nearly as fast as her prismatic friend, she also was no stranger to chasing mischievous critters and had actually developed quite good reaction times; it took only a fraction of a second for her to register that the bird had made a move and she made to follow it.

Things got complicated, however, when the parrot decided to take a detour into a nearby clothing outlet. By the time Fluttershy had flown through the door, the bird had vanished.

“Oh dear.” Fluttershy looked to and fro in a panic, hoping for some sign to where the escapist bird was hiding.

Her attention was drawn when she spotted a red feather poking out of a clothing rack. She cautiously approached, silencing her hoofsteps as much as possible, before pouncing into the rack. The customers present all watched in confusion as the strange mare wrestled with some unknown entity within the coat rack. A particularly indifferent parrot also watched from his perch atop a different rack.

Fluttershy rolled out of the rack, looking at her hooves to see if she had indeed caught the troublemaker. Instead, she found herself now wearing a red, feathered cardigan. “Huh? Wait, this isn’t—” She was cut off by what sounded to her like an amused squawk from her very target that sat above her, whistling tauntingly at her.

Fluttershy furrowed her brow. “Alright, no more Ms. Nice Mare.”

The pegasus, in one swift movement, leapt out of the garment and dove at the parrot. With a surprised squawk, both Fluttershys fell into the coat rack and began to struggle. The onlookers were still just as confused as they had been before, but nopony made to stop them, even the store clerk.

After about a minute, the parrot bolted from the pile of clothes, shortly followed by a mare who was now wearing a frilly, powder blue dress. Fluttershy threw off the dress and tried to use it to scoop up the parrot, only to miss and land herself in a bin of discount clothes. She erupted forth once more, sending fabric and various articles of clothing in all directions and somehow managing to get herself decked out in a karate gi complete with bandana. True to her attire, she performed a flying kick at the next rack that the parrot was now flying near, knocking it, and herself, to the ground.

Fluttershy stood up slowly from the pile of clothes, her gi replaced by full gothic attire; fishnet stockings, plaid skirt, t-shirt decorated with a skull, the works. If the other customers had thought about trying to stop her, they weren’t now; they were more worried about what would happen to them if they tried.

Fluttershy caught sight of the parrot making a beeline for the exit and turning the corner.

“Get back here!”

She bolted out the door, moving too quickly for her clothes to follow, and continued the chase. It had been a long time since an animal had pushed her so far as to raise her voice to such a level, but the sheer frustration she felt trying to catch this bird pushed her over the edge.

Fluttershy’s anger soon transitioned to curiosity, though, when she noticed that they had passed by the central fountain where she and her friends were supposed to meet up later. More than that, they were flying in the direction they came when they arrived.

Right to the mall’s entrance...

Uh oh.

Fluttershy knew that the parrot had limited mobility, even in an expansive place like Manehattan Mall, but if it managed to get outside, it would have limitless freedom. As much as she wanted the bird to be free, she had an obligation to return it to the pet store.

The large, glass doors of the mall were within sight, and the parrot made straight for them. To make matters worse, a mare and her son were about to enter and leave the door wide open.

Fluttershy kicked her wings into overdrive. She rarely pushed herself this hard, but in this case she felt it was necessary. There was no way she could catch the parrot—it was far too wily—so her only option was to overtake it and force it to change direction, perhaps even herd it back to the pet shop.

The parrot looked back at the struggling pegasus. As fast as it was flying itself, the mare was closing the distance. The parrot flared its wings suddenly and stopped abruptly.

“Huh?” Fluttershy shot past it in an instant, looking behind her to see the parrot flying stationary in one spot, watching as she continued to careen forward at breakneck speed.

Fluttershy focused her eyes ahead just in time to register her close proximity to the doors, but not quickly enough to do anything about it. With a resounding smack, Fluttershy collided with the door, the reinforced glass putting up a surprising amount of resistance. The mare and colt on the opposite side watched in surprise and confusion as the pegasus slid down the glass with a grating squeak until her flank hit the ground and she collapsed onto her back.

Fluttershy’s eyes rolled around in her head, but through the blurriness, the double vision, and her upside-down perspective, she could see the parrot making it’s getaway. At least she had been successful in chasing it away from the door, but now she had to track it down again.

Fluttershy didn’t have the energy to chase anymore, she simply sauntered groggily back to the fountain. She contemplated just going back and paying the pet shop clerk for the bird and giving up; she had been outdone.

When she made it back to the fountain, to her surprise she found the parrot perched on its edge, taking a leisurely sip of the crisp, clear water. And its back was turned.

Fluttershy crouched down, her expression determined and desperate. This is my chance. You’re mine now. She was right behind it. All she needed to do was leap—

As soon as she lunged forward, the parrot flapped its wings, causing Fluttershy to soar straight under it. Her reaction time was good, but being caught off guard like that had a way of bewildering a pony. She splashed ungracefully into the water, eliciting laughter from a few passersby.

Fluttershy sat up, having no will to remove herself from her pool of self-pity, spitting water from her mouth. “Okay, you win,” she admitted dejectedly, hanging her head in shame. “If you want to go, just go. I give up.”

Fluttershy felt something land atop her head. Peeking up, she found the parrot perching casually upon her sopping wet mane.

“Fun! Fun! Squrawk!”

“Fun?” Fluttershy repeated. A small smile creased her lips. “Oh, I get it now. You were just playing, weren’t you? You just wanted to get out and have fun with somepony.”

The bird answered with an affirmative whistle. Fluttershy felt a sudden warmness in her chest as her frustration and disappointment in herself all melted away. She laughed jovially at all the trouble the bird had caused her, realizing, in retrospect, it was pretty funny.

***** ***** *****

Rainbow Dash was feeling good, but such is the norm whenever she experienced an especially satisfying victory. It was the kind of triumph that made one feel unequivocally invincible, like she could take on the world and come out smelling like roses. She would never tire of that feeling. Most of all she was happy to put those four jerks in their place; nothing was more satisfying than beating some thickheaded braggart at their own game, though she was fully aware of the hypocrisy behind the feeling but would never admit to it.

After a thorough workout like that, Rainbow Dash was willing to give her wings a rest, settling to the ground and letting her hooves join in on the unrehearsed symphony started by the other mall-goers. She had actually been wandering about for some time with no particular destination in mind. Now that she had gotten what she wanted to do out of the way, Pinkie Pie’s suggestion to aimlessly explore this commercial labyrinth didn’t seem so unappealing anymore. Rainbow Dash had already made a stop by the central fountain where they had agreed to meet up, but with neither of her friends waiting for her there she quickly grew impatient. It was just as well to kill some more time by wandering around; they would probably be done by the time she got back.

She had no idea where she was going. This mall was like a massive city inside of another, even more massive city. She was starting to wonder if they actually had an apartment complex somewhere in here where ponies lived inside the mall. Of course that was a silly notion, but she would not have been surprised.

She started to feel like she had been wandering around enough. Thinking that perhaps Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy might be waiting at the fountain by now, she doubled back on her path and began to make the long trek back.

She paused. Something fired off in her brain and her mind refused to let her take another step until she investigated this mysterious disturbance. Rainbow Dash backpedaled to one of the countless, non-descript outlets she had passed and quickly checked the sign plastered above it.

“‘Tic Tac’s Toys,’ huh?”

Rainbow Dash had no idea why she had suddenly become drawn to this establishment, but her curiosity wasn’t about to let her leave without finding out.

Stepping inside, Rainbow Dash was suddenly struck by an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. It had been years since she had set hoof in a toy store. The shelves were lined with countless action figures, board games, and stuffed animals. The looks on the faces of all the little foals that were prancing around excitedly reminded her of all the times when her dad would take her out for a daddy-daughter day.

But it wasn’t the trip down memory lane that had lured her here. Something else was tugging at her subconscious as if her brain knew something that she didn’t.

Until it caught her eye.

There, hanging from one of the shelves just in front of her, was the object she had been unknowingly seeking: a Daring Do action figure.

Rainbow Dash hurriedly trotted over to the toy, eyeing it in silent wonder. She had never seen a Daring Do toy before. With how obsessed she had become since she started reading the novels, she had been fixated on anything related to the beloved stories. And this toy just happened to be the last one in stock.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Come on, what are you doing? You’re a grown mare, you don’t play with toys anymore. Although, it might make a cool souvenir...for Twilight...since she didn’t get to come.” She nervously glanced left and right, making sure nopony was listening to her monologue, before turning her attention back to the toy. She squinted her eyes; something seemed off. “Wait a minute...”

The pegasus analyzed the packaged toy, her eyes moving to the familiar logo of the character’s name. “‘Daring Doo and the Sapphire Stone’. Wait, ‘Daring Doo’?”

Sure enough, the titular heroine’s name had been spelled incorrectly on the box. How could such a huge error make it to store shelves unnoticed?

“Hold on, I think I remember Twilight mentioning something about this once. The company that makes the toys accidently shipped a bunch of misprinted figures to stores, but after the mistake was reported they ordered a recall or something. These things shouldn’t exist anymore, so why’s this one here?”

Any ignorant foal wouldn’t care less about something so trivial, after all it was the toy the kids were after. So why did she suddenly feel even more interested in it now than before?

“These things must be super rare. I wonder how many people managed to get their hooves on one before the recall. They might even be worth a lot of money.” That thought began to rattle around in her head. A smile creased her interested lips. “I’d be pretty stupid not to jump on this opportunity.”

Rainbow Dash hesitated briefly. She scratched her chin in thought. “Hmm...if these things are really that rare, I’d bet Twilight or any Daring Do fan would be pretty jealous to see this on my shelf.”

Rainbow Dash stopped herself, realizing exactly what she was thinking. “Whoa, whoa, what am doing? I’m not some collector, that stuff’s for dorks.”

She glanced back at the toy. It was an extremely rare Daring Do action figure.

“I have better things to do than collect kid’s toys.”

It was the last one in stock.

“I am not a dork!”

It was only five bits.

She let out a disgruntled groan. Her eyes shifted left and right once more, paranoid that somepony was silently watching her every move. In a quick, hopefully imperceptible motion, Rainbow Dash pulled the toy from the shelf and begrudgingly dragged it over to the checkout counter. After parting with the necessary bits, she finally exited the store and planted herself on a nearby bench. She held up the toy in her hooves, staring at it with personal disdain.

“I can’t believe I actually bought this thing. Sure, it’s Daring Do, but I’m an adult, dang it. What use do I have for some stupid toy?”

The laughter of a small colt garnered her attention. The child was hopping around gleefully with a brand new toy in his mouth, no doubt contemplating all of the adventures he would go on with his new best friend.

Rainbow Dash looked back to her latest purchase. A small smile eked its way onto her muzzle. She pulled the toy close and let out a giddy giggle. She snapped to attention with a light blush, having forgotten just how many ponies may have been watching. She slipped the toy into her saddlebags and started making her way back to the fountain with a childish grin plastered on her face and an energetic spring in her step.

“Daring Do and Rainbow Dash. The world can’t handle that much awesome.”

As she made her way back towards the rendezvous point she and her friends had established, a soft bing bong sound echoed from above throughout the mall. Rainbow Dash peered up to investigate. The perky voice of a mare was emitted from speakers installed all throughout the building.

“Attention, shoppers: Manehattan Mall will be closing in ten minutes. We hope you enjoyed your visit and we look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Once again, the mall will be closing in ten minutes. Have a nice day.”

Though the mare sounded friendly, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but feel like her enthusiasm was somewhat forced. It must have been a pretty mundane job to simply sit there a talk through a speaker all day.

But the voice did bring a good point to Rainbow Dash’s attention: it was getting a tad late. Looking out the windows she could see the soft, orange sky on the horizon. Had they really been here that long?

“Huh. Guess time really does fly when you’re having fun.”

The sound of the central fountain’s gently trickling water soon became audible. That also brought something to her attention: the crowd had certainly thinned out. Just an hour earlier and she wouldn’t be able to discern her own hoofsteps from the rest of the crowd. Thankfully though, that made spotting her friends all the more easy. Both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were waiting for her at the fountain.

“Hey, girls,” Rainbow Dash greeted with a grin. “Hope you weren’t waiting lo—” She paused to examine the odd scene laid out before her.

Fluttershy was sitting quietly at the fountain’s edge, her mane dripping wet and a large, red parrot perched atop her head. Despite that, she wore a rather content smile. Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, looked to be in much worse condition. She, too, was waiting on the fountain’s edge, but lying on her back with legs sprawled out, groaning with discomfort, and sporting a rather full looking belly.

Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow. “The hay happened to you two?”

Fluttershy glanced over to the bloated form of her pink friend. “I think she ate too much.”

“Should’ve...skipped...gluten menu...oogh,” Pinkie Pie groaned.

Rainbow Dash seemed slightly taken aback, but smirked teasingly. “So, the ‘bottomless pit’ finally bit off more than she could chew, huh?” she chuckled.

Fluttershy stifled a small giggle, but the engorged earth pony seemed none too amused surprisingly, only groaning loudly to express her displeasure and lazily flicking a hoof in Dash's general direction.

The cyan mare took another peek at the sky outside. “As funny as this is, we should probably be heading out.” She eyed Pinkie Pie’s protruding stomach. “Guess I’m gonna have to carry you, huh?”

A loud gurgle reverberated from the party pony’s belly.

“What was that?” Fluttershy asked.

Pinkie Pie’s lethargic eyes opened slightly. “That would be the fiber menu kicking in.”

“And what does that mean?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“It means I have to use the bathroom. Like, right now.”

“Can’t you wait ‘til we get back to the hotel?”

Another, even louder, rumble sounded. The two pegasi could almost feel the floor vibrate.

“Nope,” Pinkie Pie responded in a strained voice. “Gotta go. Right now.”

Rainbow Dash pressed her hoof against the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Alright, but make it quick.”

***** ***** *****

The two pegasus mares sat quietly outside the door to the little filly’s room. They were both extremely thankful that they were able to find a bathroom when they did; Pinkie Pie had sounded like she was going to explode. The bathroom was out of the way in a narrow and plain, white hallway branched off from the mall proper. They could see this as a good place for somepony to escape the excessive noise of the mall’s corridors. But right now they were simply playing the waiting game.

Rainbow Dash glanced over to the other side of the door where Fluttershy sat, eyeing the parrot on her head. It was about time she got that question off her mind. “What’s with the bird?”

Fluttershy glanced up. “Oh, that’s Fluttershy. I bought him from the pet store. He wasn’t happy being locked up in a cramped cage, so I decided to give him a new home. He was a little expensive, but I think a new friend is worth any price. Though I’m still not looking forward to finding that bill in my mailbox.”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “You named it Fluttershy? Why would you give it your name.”

“Oh no, I didn’t name him. That was already his name,” she answered innocently.

“How do you know that?”

“He told me.”

The cyan mare paused for a moment, casting a skeptical gaze at her friend. “It...’told’ you.”

Fluttershy nodded her head. “Mm-hm. Go ahead, Fluttershy. Say hello to my friend, Rainbow Dash.”

The bird mindlessly preened its wing, paying no attention whatsoever to its new owner.

“Huh, that’s strange. He was quite chatty earlier.”

Rainbow Dash blinked again, wondering if she was really the only normal person in her little circle of friends before turning towards the bathroom door. “Hey, Pinkie. You almost done in there or wha—”

The pegasus was cut off when the door flew open, smacking her squarely in the muzzle. Pinkie Pie stepped out with a long, relieved sigh. “Ahhhh, that’s sooooooo much better,” she said, patting her tummy which had now returned to its original, slender shape.

Rainbow Dash pushed the door back, rubbing her sore nose with her hoof. “What took you so long?”

“Sorry, Dashie, but I can tell you from experience that eating that much food does not do the digestive system any favors,” Pinkie Pie explained.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Let’s just get back to the hotel.”

As the three mares exited the adjoining hallway, they noticed exactly how empty the mall felt. As a matter of fact, it was completely empty with not another pony in sight. It was almost eerie. The trio walked cautiously through the spacious complex, half-expecting something to jump out at them at any moment.

“T-This place got really quiet really fast,” Fluttershy stammered. “Where’d everypony go?”

Pinkie Pie gasped. “Maybe they were all ghosts who reside in the mall! And when the sun goes down, they go into hiding. Ooooo, spoooooky.”

Fluttershy shivered. “G-Ghosts?”

“Pinkie, they weren’t ghosts. Everypony just went home, that’s all,” Rainbow Dash assured. “Besides, what ghosts only come out during the day?”

The pink mare tapped her chinned. “Ghosts who are tired of the graveyard shift?”

Rainbow Dash glared dryly at her friend’s toothy grin. Fluttershy attempted to stifle a loud snort and blushed as she found herself unable to hide her amusement, much to Pinkie Pie’s satisfaction.

The athletic mare just groaned and rolled her eyes. “Can we please just go? I’d like to get out of here before—”

She was cut of by an echoing click, and suddenly the three mares found themselves standing in total darkness; every light in the mall had been shut off. Fluttershy scrambled in fear behind her friends, hoping to shield herself from whatever danger the darkness was concealing.

Rainbow Dash looked up worriedly at the extinguished lights and listening intently to the deafening silence.

“Uh oh.”

Part 3 - The Twist

The Secret of Manehattan Mall

By Dee Pad

Part 3: The Twist

Rainbow Dash planted her rear hooves firmly on the floor, pulling with all her might to pry the double doors open. Fluttershy was contributing anything she could by tugging her friend’s tail. The chromatic pegasus lost her grip on the handles, causing her to tumble backward into Fluttershy and the two rolled a few feet before collapsing onto the tile floor, the yellow pegasus draped over Rainbow Dash’s back.

“No good,” Dash sighed. “The doors are locked tight.”

“Does that mean we’re...” Fluttershy gulped. “...trapped?”

“Afraid so.”

Fluttershy got back to her hooves, allowing her friend to do the same. “W-What’s gonna happen to us?” she whimpered.

“Nothings gonna happen. We’re just...stuck for a while, that’s all. At least until we figure some way out ourselves.” Rainbow Dash began to wrack her brain over potential escape routes that she might have noticed in passing as she explored the mall earlier. “I guess if all else fails we can just bust through the doors.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t think that’s gonna work. I hit those doors pretty hard earlier and didn’t leave even a tiny crack.” The parrot atop her head whistled in affirmation.

“Then we’ll just find another way out. It can’t be that difficult.”

“Are you loco in the coco?!”

The two pegasi turned to their pink friend, who, up until this point, had been surprisingly quiet and who had happened to pack a headlamp in her saddlebags, illuminating the surrounding area. Pinkie Pie poked Rainbow Dash firmly in the nose and glared harshly at her.

“Do you have any idea what’s happening right now?”

Rainbow Dash blinked uncomprehendingly, partly at her friend’s rhetorical question and partly from the bright light shining in her face.

“We are locked in Manehattan Mall,” Pinkie Pie stated simply and slowly. “Mane. Hattan. Mall! All alone. Just the three of us. In Manehattan Mall!” She began hopping to and fro frantically. “We’re like foals in a candy store! We can do whatever we want! No rules! Nopony to tell us what we can and can’t do! Nopony to tell you you’re too big for the bouncy castle!”

“Oh no no no,” Fluttershy said, shaking her head rapidly. “We can’t, it’s illegal. Technically we’re trespassing right now.”

Pinkie Pie hopped over to the meek pegasus. “Technically they locked us in here. It’s their fault,” she corrected with a smirk. “The mall is our oyster, Fluttershy! And there’s a bazillion pearls inside! We can make the world’s biggest, most expensive-est necklace!”

“Squrawk! Oyster!”

“Great! Glad you could see things my way, Fluttershy,” Pinkie Pie said with a nod.

“Huh? But I didn’t—”

“What about you, Dashie?” she asked, turning to Rainbow Dash. “You know when there’s adventure to be had. Obviously you, of all ponies, would never turn down an opportunity like this, right?”

Rainbow Dash hummed in consideration. “I-I dunno.”

Pinkie Pie balked at her friend’s hesitance.

“Look, I know you’re right,” Rainbow Dash admitted, “but Fluttershy’s got a point too. I invited you guys out here, so it’s my responsibility to make sure nothing bad happens. That’s probably how Twilight would look at it, and I think this might count as something bad.”

Pinkie Pie stared Rainbow Dash square in the eyes. “And it’s also your responsibility to ensure your guests have a good time, right?”

The pegasus gulped. “Uh, yeah?”

The earth pony smiled. “Good. Then it’s settled.” Pinkie started hopping back towards the mall’s depths without any explanation.

“Hey, where are you going?!” Rainbow Dash shouted after her. “This isn’t settled! I didn’t agree to anything!”

Pinkie Pie stopped and began hopping backwards until she was next to Rainbow Dash again. She let out a remorseful sigh. “Rainbow Dash, would you really want us to waste an opportunity like this? Locked in Manehattan Mall with all of its amazingly stupendulous marvelosity? Something like this only happens once in a blue moon! When’s the last time the moon was blue? Huh? Huh?!”

“Last June,” the pegasus stated matter-of-factly. “You know, the Cobalt Moon Festival.”

Pinkie Pie blinked. “Oh yeah.” She peeked out of the glass doors and glanced up at the moon. It wasn’t blue. She shrugged. “Still though.”

Rainbow Dash breathed a defeated sigh. “Okay, okay, you’ve made your point. I guess it’s not such a big deal. We can hang out here, have a little extra fun, and just leave when somepony shows up to reopen the place. No fuss.”

“Exactamundo!” Pinkie Pie declared in exuberance. “So, we’ll all meet back at the fountain again?”

“Sounds good,” Rainbow Dash agreed with a nod.

“W-Wait! Don’t I get a say in this?”

The pair turned to Fluttershy who had been quietly standing off to the side for a while.

“I don’t want us to separate again. It’s dark now, and it’s...scary,” she whined.

“No problemo, Fluttermigo.” Pinkie Pie dug through her saddlebags and fished out three more headlamps, slapping them on both of her friends’ heads and a smaller one on the parrot’s head. “There. That should keep any ghastly ghouls from bothering you. Besides, you won’t be alone. You’ve got your little buddy there, right?” she said, pointing to the bird. “Fluttershy and Fluttershy. Like a law firm, but awesomer. And more adorable!”

Fluttershy glanced up at her new friend. The bird was swinging its head back and forth as if to try and understand where the new light source was coming from. The meek pegasus smiled. “I guess you have a point.”

“Right!” Pinkie Pie blurted, thrusting a hoof in the air. “Then if that’s all settled, we’ll meet up at the fountain when the sun starts a-risin’!”

Without another moment’s hesitation, Pinkie Pie was off. Her friends watched until the light of her headlamp disappeared around a corner.

Rainbow Dash turned to Fluttershy with a reassuring grin. “For the record, there are no ghastly ghouls.”

The cyan mare spread her wings and took to the air, leaving the two Fluttershys to their own devices.

“I guess it won’t be so bad,” Fluttershy said to herself. She looked up to the bird on her head. “What do you say, Fluttershy? Want to go visit your old friends from the pet store?”

The parrot whistled and flapped its wings enthusiastically. Fluttershy giggled and began her trek back to the pet store, a newfound confidence welling within her.

***** ***** *****

With a forceful kick, Rainbow Dash bucked open the doors of the mall’s indoor stadium. She trotted inside with a confident gait as if her earlier victory here was proof of her superiority and thus made her the rightful ruler of the stadium. She looked around the enormous room as best she could. The place was pitch black now; even with the headlamp her friend provided her with, she couldn’t even see the opposite wall.

“Hmm, this won’t do,” the mare mused.

After a quick fly-around, Rainbow Dash located a room at the back of the stadium. Inside she found the switch for the lights. With an echoing, mechanical click, the whole stadium was illuminated.

“That’s better.”

Satisfied that her domain was sufficiently lit, she sought out the equipment closet and retrieved a single cloudball ball. Rainbow Dash glided up to the center of the field, the events of the day racing through her head once more, especially the looks on those punks’ faces after she single-hoofedly schooled them.

She flicked the ball between her hooves a few times, confirming that it had enough air and didn’t need pumping. She twirled it absentmindedly on one hoof. Her record was three hundred and seventy-five rotations, but she had no intention of attempting to break it, at least not now anyway.

Rainbow Dash held the ball in her hooves as if she were preparing to pass it to somepony. Squinting her eyes, she looked off into the distance, seemingly looking at nothing.

“Rainbow Dash has the ball, but the opposition is closing in fast. She has no choice but to pass it off. She pulls back...” Rainbow Dash hurled the ball with great force and a perfect spin. “The ball is airborne! It’s a mad dash to receive!” With a forceful flap of her wings, she bolted forward, racing underneath the ball’s arc, and stopping in its predicted path. “The catch is...good!” she exclaimed as she caught the ball, cradling it in her foreleg. “But her opponents are on her tail. She’s gonna have to pull out all the stops to make this one count.”

Rainbow Dash soared toward the goal posts just ahead of her, performing several unnecessary rolls and loops, before finally flying through.

“And it’s over! Rainbow Dash seizes an incredible victory! The world has never seen such athleticism! The crowd is going crazy! Hah! Hah!” She cupped her hooves next to her mouth to simulate the roaring cheers of the crowd.

But she stopped. Rainbow Dash looked around to see an empty stadium. There was no crowd and there was no cheers. She was all by herself.

She let the ball drop to the ground, letting out a disappointed sigh. “Haaaah...”

***** ***** *****

The colossal, rainbow sign above was lit up by the pink pony’s headlamp, and her face was lit up with an eager grin. Pinkie Pie had returned to the scene of the crime, and this time there was nopony to stop her.

Stepping inside Playground Paradise for the second time, Pinkie Pie removed her saddlebags and stuck her head into one of its pouches, pulling out between her teeth, some sort of remote control with only one, big, red button. Taking the remote in one hoof, she raised her other over her head and, in an overly dramatic fashion, slapped her hoof onto the button.

Without any explanation as to why or how, the lights within the playground suddenly switched on, allowing the many bright colors to shine forth. Pinkie Pie replaced the remote in her bags and set out towards her destination.

The earth pony halted, letting out a shocked gasp. The bouncy castle had been deflated for the night and lay in a limp, rubber heap in the middle of the floor.

“Do I have to do everything around here?” she grumbled.

She approached the compressor that would normally be used to inflate the castle and analyzed it thoroughly. “‘Estimated time to full inflation...ten minutes!?’ Who has that kind of time!?”

The party pony began fishing through her saddlebags once more, pulling out an average bicycle pump. “Looks like we gotta do this the Saturday-morning-cartoon-way.”

She not-so-carefully unhooked the compressor from the castle and replaced it—rather forcefully—with the cord of the bicycle pump. She grasped the pump’s handle and pulled it up as far as her hoof would allow, but paused before forcing it back down.

“Hmm...” she hummed, stroking her chin. “Might need a little more.”

Looking around, Pinkie spotted the network of colorful tubes snaking around the room. With a smile, she picked the pump up with her teeth and began to scale the outside of the pipes like a mountain goat until she reached the top. She peered down at the floor a good fifty feet below and shrugged. “Good enough.”

Standing on her hind legs with the handle of the pump firmly gripped by her front hooves, she let the body of the pump drop all the way to the floor where it landed with a resounding clang.

“One for the money. Two for the show. Three to get ready. And four to go, go, go!”

Pinkie Pie leapt into the air and allowed herself to fall, holding the pump’s handle as if she were riding a zipline and using her full body weight to pull it down with her. Her smile widened further and further the closer to the ground she got. With a final downward thrust of her hooves, she slammed the handle against the pump as she reached ground level.

An enormous bubble of pressurized air shot through the pump’s cord toward the bouncy castle. Upon entering the inflatable structure, its walls lurched outward and contorted in ways that it clearly wasn’t meant to before bouncing to a halt on the floor, fully inflated and ready to use.

“That’s better,” Pinkie Pie stated with satisfaction, letting the bicycle pump drop on the floor. “Now then, we can get to the fun part.”

Without wasting another moment, the pink pony leapt into the air, landing squarely in the center of the castle. She bounced up and down gleefully, performing flips, twirls, and somersaults to her heart’s content, laughing jovially the whole time.

“Whee! Wahoo! Bouncy castles are just the bestest, don’tcha think, everypony?”

Pinkie Pie stopped, landing firmly on the castle floor. The only laughter she had heard was her own. There was nopony else here to enjoy her antics and tomfoolery. Her smile faded and she reluctantly stepped out of the castle.

“Haaah...”

***** ***** *****

Fluttershy slowly poked her head through the pet shop’s door and peered inside, her avian friend atop her head doing the same. The place wasn’t entire dark; soft lights glowed from various places, mostly fish tanks, but it was enough to allow sufficient lighting to see where one was stepping.

Entering the store proper, Fluttershy casually cantered here and there eyeing all the different cuddly critters. Though there were animals of all shapes and sizes, they all had one thing in common at the moment: they were sleeping rather soundly.

Fluttershy rubbed her chin as she thought about which animal she wanted to play with first. “It’s really a tough choice, isn’t it? Any suggestions?” she asked the second Fluttershy.

The bird didn’t respond. It blinked slowly before tucking its head under its wing and nestling into Fluttershy’s mane.

The pegasus giggled. “Serves you right for wearing yourself out today. Guess I’ll just play with the animals myself.”

Seeing that she was nearby the puppy cage, she decided to pay the little hounds who were so grateful to her a visit. Shining her headlamp into the cage, she spotted the three pups curled up together. The sight was almost too cute for words.

One of the puppies opened their eyes, blinking and squinting at the bright light shining at it.

“Hello, little friend. Remember me?” Fluttershy asked with a kind, unimposing smile.

The pup whined and curled back up, turning its back to Fluttershy to avoid the blinding light.

The mare frowned. “I guess not. I know I don’t really make a great impression, but you’d think someone would remember the person who helped them the way I did.”

Giving up on the puppies, Fluttershy turned her attention to the other animals. Kittens; ferrets; guinea pigs; bunnies. All of them reacted the same way. They seemed more interested in sleeping away the few hours of privacy that the night provided them than actually making use of them.

“I don’t understand. Usually animals are so friendly around me. I know that they don’t know me very well, but I’d wager that I treat them better than anypony who comes in here, if those kids were any indication.” She glanced up to the parrot once more. “There your friends, right? Maybe you can convince them to wake up and have a little fun.”

Once again, she received no response. The bird simply sat there with its head tucked into its wing.

Fluttershy shook her head and opened the door to leave. “Haaah...”

***** ***** *****

It seemed almost inconceivable that Manehattan Mall could be completely empty. Just an hour ago its halls were teeming with ponies left and right. There was hardly room to breathe. Now it was just dark and silent.

And boring.

Rainbow Dash sighed as she traipsed back towards the fountain, her head hanging low. Pinkie Pie had made a good argument. The idea of having the entire place to themselves was too good to pass up. Anypony else would have taken advantage of it as well. So why was it so dull?

As Rainbow Dash heard the trickling water of the fountain enter her ears, she lifted her head and found a trio of lights gathered around it. Her friends had also come back from wherever they had gone.

“I take it you girls were just as bored as me?” the cyan mare asked.

Pinkie Pie nodded her head in defeat. “Yeah. The whole point of having fun is to make other ponies smile and laugh. But if there’s nopony around to share the laughs with, then its just not fun.”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “I thought it would be nice to spend time with all of those animals. I guess I was so caught up in my own thoughts of the things we could do and the new friends I could make that I didn’t even consider how they might feel. With all the ponies and all the noise, nighttime is really the only chance they get to sleep. I can’t believe I was so inconsiderate.”

Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head. “Yeah, and as it turns out, playing sports ain’t quite as fun when you don’t have any teammates. Or an audience. Or opponents.”

“So, what do we do now?” asked Fluttershy. “Are we just going to wait until morning?”

Pinkie Pie plopped herself onto the floor with her hooves crossed under her chin, reluctant to accept that as an option, but realizing that they didn’t really have much choice.

“Actually,” Rainbow Dash started, a small grin appearing on her face, “I did a little thinking on the way back here and figured that maybe it’s about time to try Pinkie’s original plan.”

The earth pony sat up. “My plan? What plan? I gots lots of plans.”

“The one where you suggested that we find something to do together,” Rainbow Dash clarified. “We’ve got plenty of time to mess around in this place, so let’s just go find something to do. Whaddaya say?”

“Dashie, that is the greatest plan ever!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “I’m glad I thought of it.”

Fluttershy tapped her chin in thought. “But where should we go? This place is really, really big.”

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof dismissively. “Like I said, this is the original Pinkie Pie plan—”

“The O.G.P.P.P.!” the earth pony interrupted.

“—which involved wandering around aimlessly and hoping to come across something we can all enjoy. So I say we do just that.”

Fluttershy nodded slightly. “Okay, but where do we start?”

“This way!” both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash said, pointing in opposite directions. They stared at one another for a moment. “Uh, that way!” They pointed in the direction the other had been pointing. The two shared confused glances.

“Why don’t we just go this way?” Fluttershy suggested, pointing to a path between where her companions had pointed.

The pair nodded their heads and pointed in the same direction as Fluttershy. “That way!”

***** ***** *****

After several minutes of walking, they had yet to see anything that really caught their eye. Rainbow Dash had taken to the air, scouring the upper levels for anything interesting but having no luck, while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy remained at ground level, the latter keeping her peepers peeled. The former, however, was too busy providing the dead air of the mall with rambling ambience.

“...and I had this one plan that involved brown sugar, some double A batteries and about two dozen kites. Turns out though that kites and electricity don’t mix very well, but it was great for making my hair extra poofy.”

“How did you manage to fly two dozen kites?” Fluttershy asked as she continued to survey her surroundings.

“Lots of dexterity.”

“Uh huh,” Fluttershy said absentmindedly, half-ignoring her friend.

The pink mare shrugged. “That plan was a flop anyway. But it gave me this great idea for a new type of hang glider. See, you get as many kites as you can, tie ‘em all together, get a running start towards the cliff and—”

A sound echoed in the distance, like clacking upon the tile floor. Fluttershy stopped in her tracks. “W-What was that?”

“W-What was what?” Pinkie Pie repeated, tilting her head in confusion.

“I heard a sound. D-Did you hear a sound?”

Pinkie perked up her ears for a moment. “I d-did’t hear a sound.”

“It sounded like hoofsteps.” Fluttershy whipped her head back and forth, her pupils shrinking dramatically.

Rainbow Dash flapped down to her two ground bound friends. “Hey, what’s the holdup down here?”

“Fluttershy thought she heard something,” Pinkie Pie answered.

“Rainbow Dash, were you walking around up there?” Fluttershy asked shakily.

“Uh, no. I’ve been in the air the whole time. So unless it was my wing beats you heard, then it wasn’t me.”

“I-It sounded like somepony walking. Hooves on a tile floor.” Fluttershy’s eyes were darting around frantically.

“You sure it wasn’t your own hooves?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No. I-I mean yes, I’m sure. It sounded like it was farther away,” she said, pointing towards the distant darkness. “Y-You don’t think it’s a ghastly ghoul, do you?”

Rainbow Dash groaned and rubbed her temple. “I already told you, there are no ghastly ghouls. You’re just getting paranoid, Fluttershy. You’re hearing things.”

“I dunno, Dash,” Pinkie Pie interjected, “there can be some weeeeird stuff roaming around this place in the dark.”

Fluttershy scampered behind Rainbow Dash, her knees visibly shaking.

“You’re not helping, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash deadpanned. She turned to her frightened friend. “Look, if it makes you feel any more comfortable, I’ll stay down here with you guys, okay?”

Fluttershy nodded weakly and came out of hiding, her head shooting back and forth to ensure the coast was clear and her feathered friend on her head flailing its wings to keep its balance. Rainbow Dash began to lead the way, Fluttershy trailing close behind. Pinkie Pie seemed none too concerned and just bounced and skipped alongside them.

They were beginning to think this path was perhaps not the most ideal. It seemed this particular hall was lined more with furniture and interior design outlets more than anything. Perhaps something that would interest Rarity, but not themselves.

Pinkie Pie stopped and shone her lamp on a specific store, illuminating the sign above. “Oooo, they have a Buckea here.”

Rainbow Dash lifted an eyebrow. “‘Buckea’? What’s that supposed to be?”

The earth pony pressed her nose against the window and peered inside. “It’s this really neat company in Steeden that makes furniture and stuff. Those Steeds do some quality work. I ordered my wardrobe from one of their catalogs. It didn’t transport me to a magical land in an alternate dimension or anything, but it’s got a real sturdy build. Can we look around here for a bit? I’ve been looking for a good bed frame to replace mine. As it so happens, somersaulting into bed every night tends to wear it down.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Fine, whatever. I don’t think we’re gonna have much luck finding anything else of interest around here anyway.”

The trio stepped inside, taking note of all the well-finished furnishings surrounding them, each expertly crafted to be both practical and stylish.

Fluttershy glanced outside to the other outlets across the hall, noticing the large, metal shutters that blocked their entrances. “Um, is anypony else wondering why all of the other stores are locked up except this one?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head as she examined some shelves that looked good for displaying trophies and the like. “Somepony probably forgot to lock up. Seriously, you’re being paranoid again.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath to calm herself. “Right, just being paranoid. There are no ghastly ghouls.”

The meek pegasus stepped up to an ornate, exotic-looking closet shutter and admired the attention to detail in the craftsmanship. She pulled the shutter to determine how loose and quiet it was. She froze up when she saw a pair of hazel eyes staring back at her from the other side before shrieking in fright.

“AHHHHHH!”

“AHHHHHH! Mine was loudest, I win!” Pinkie Pie giggled.

The parrot leapt off of Fluttershy’s head before the mare could hit the floor. The mysterious pony scrambled for the exit. Rainbow Dash, hearing the commotion, bolted over and caught the stranger by the tail, pulled them back in with her teeth and pinned them to the ground. Standing over them, she could see it was a stallion with a chestnut brown mane and beige coat with a patch of dark, brown fur around his right eye. He also wore a peculiar looking collar around his neck. “Alright, what gives?!” she growled. “Who are you, what are you doing here, and why are you scaring my friend?!”

“I should be asking you that!” he retorted with a nervous catch in his voice. “Uh, except that last part.”

“Well, I don’t think you’re in a good position to be making any demands right now,” Dash threatened, prodding his barrel with her hoof. “Now, spill. Who are you?”

The stallion looked Rainbow Dash over analytically, then did the same to the curious, pink earth pony as well as the pale pegasus currently laying on her back, clutching her heaving chest and panting heavily as a large parrot sat on the floor next to her.

“You guys...aren’t security guards, are you?” he asked pensively after giving each of them a once over.

“Security? Uh, no, we’re not. Why?” Rainbow Dash asked, cocking an eyebrow.

The stallion sighed with relief. “Good. Look, there’s no need for hostility. Can you please let me up?”

Dash glared at him skeptically. “Why should I?”

“If it means anything, I didn’t mean to scare your friend. Sorry about that, by the way,” he said to Fluttershy who was just managing to pull herself together.

“Oh, oh! Are you here to take advantage of all the nighttime awesomeness, too?” Pinkie Pie asked. She pursed her lips for a moment. “Hey, wait a minute, that’s my idea! Thief! You stole my idea! Give it back!”

“Uhhh...” The stallion struggled to form a coherent response to Pinkie’s accusation.

“On second thought,” Pinkie mused, tapping her chin, “you can keep my idea, but in return you have to help us find something fun to do, okay?”

“Fun?” the stallion echoed. “You came here to have fun?” He chuckled darkly. “Boy, did you come to the wrong place.”

Rainbow Dash stepped back and let him stand. They could clearly see his cutie mark now: a needle and a spool of thread. “Whaddya mean? I thought this place was supposed to have something for everypony.”

The stallion brushed himself off before continuing. “Look, I’m just going to get straight to the point: you three need to leave. Right now.”

A look of worry fell over Fluttershy’s face. “W-Why? What’s wrong?”

He poked his head out of the store and checked down the dark corridor. “I...I can’t really say. All you need to know is that it’s too risky to stay here. They might catch you.”

“Whose ‘they’?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head.

“Mall security.”

“Pfft,” scoffed Rainbow Dash. “What are they gonna do, shine their flashlights at me? ‘Oh no, my eyes! How mildly inconvenient!’ Heh heh.”

The stallion furrowed his brow. “Laugh all you want, but if they catch you, you’re in deep trouble. Trust me.”

“Wh-Where are they? Are they nearby?” Fluttershy stammered.

“No, they haven’t actually arrived yet,” he answered, double-checking the halls. “Lucky for you. You should take this opportunity to leave.”

Rainbow Dash held out her hoof. “Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. If it’s so dangerous to be here, then what are you doing here? Still didn’t answer my other questions by the way.”

The stallion sighed in defeat. “Fine, my name is Patchwork.”

Pinkie Pie stuck up her hoof. “Oh, oh! Do your friends call you Patch?”

Patchwork paused and stared at the mare. “Uh, yeah actually. But—”

“What about Patches?”

Patchwork paused for a moment before his gaze slowly fell to the floor. “I’d...rather you didn’t.”

Pinkie could clearly tell she had hit some kind of nerve and promptly dropped the subject. “Oh, sorry. By the way, I’m Pinkie Pie. These are two of my bestest best buddies, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.”

“It’s, uh...nice to meet you, I guess,” he said halfheartedly. “Anyway, as for why I’m here, in this store specifically, I was hiding.”

“Hiding from what?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“The security guards. I heard hoofsteps and voices and thought that they had shown up early, so I ducked in here to avoid them.”

Rainbow Dash gave Patch a scrutinous look. “Ya know, from everything you’ve said, it sounds like you’ve been here before. You’re starting to look pretty suspicious if you ask me.”

Pinkie Pie gasped. “Maybe he’s a cat burglar! F.Y.I.: pet store’s the other way.”

“I’m not a burglar, I’m...” He trailed off. “Nevermind. Is there anyway you three can escape?”

“‘Escape’?” Rainbow Dash repeated. “Geez, you’re making this place sound like a prison.”

“If we could leave we would have done that by now,” Fluttershy clarified. “The doors are locked and all the windows are too tough to break through. Not that we’d want to cause any property damage or anything.”

“Then I guess you are stuck here.” Patch sighed remorsefully. “You have no idea how sorry I am for you guys.”

“W-What’s gonna happen?” Fluttershy whimpered.

“I suppose you deserve a proper explanation,” Patch reluctantly admitted. “Come with me. I’ll give you your answers.”

***** ***** *****

Patchwork led the three mares down a series of corridors towards the back of the mall which, considering the size of the establishment, took a considerable amount of time. Rainbow Dash wasn’t content to just let this stranger lure them Celestia-knows-where without getting some information out of him along the way.

“You still haven’t told us what you’re doing here in the first place, ya know?” she asked with blatant mistrust in her voice.

Patch gave her pleading look. “I know you might not trust me right now, but believe me when I tell you that what I’m going to show you might get you to change your tone. I’ll explain everything when we get there. It’ll be more believable if you can see the evidence for yourself.”

“Mr. Patchwork?” Fluttershy peeped from the rear of the group.

“Just ‘Patch’ is fine,” he responded. “Did you need something?”

“Um...I was just wondering, how did you get into that Buckea earlier? All the other stores were locked up tight. Wasn’t that one locked too?”

Patchwork focused on the path ahead. “I’ve learned a thing or two in the time I’ve been here. Aside from the front doors, the security in this place isn’t all that tight.”

“Guess they didn’t really expect anypony to be able to get in here after dark, huh?” Rainbow Dash surmised.

“Or they just don’t want them to get out,” Patch muttered under his breath.

“What?”

Patch shook his head. “Nothing. Look, we’re here.”

He pointed ahead to a pair of large, iron, double doors, far away from any of the mall’s shopping outlets. The path leading them here had been so devoid of anything interesting that nopony would really think to come this way, and if they did, they could infer by the rather drab surroundings that customers were probably not intended to be back here.

Patch turned the handle on one of the doors, allowing it to slowly swing outward with a low, metallic groan. He gestured for the three mares to follow him inside.

Much to their surprise—or perhaps disappointment—it was just an expansive store room full of crates, cardboard and maintenance equipment.

Pinkie Pie groaned loudly. “Awww, a store room? With those big, metal doors I thought this was some kinda treasury filled with gold and jewels and priceless artifacts ‘n’ stuff. This junk is boooooring.”

“The store room isn’t what I wanted to show you,” Patchwork corrected. “We need to come through here to get there.”

Patch trotted towards the back of the room, his company following closely behind; they were all getting more than a little curious as to just what it was he wanted to show them.

The stallion stood before the back wall of the room where a crate about the height of an adult pony was resting all by itself. It looked a little out of place with absolutely nothing else around it. Patch pressed his shoulder against the crate and pushed it aside. It was evident from how little effort he had exerted that the box was empty and it’s true purpose was revealed a moment later.

Underneath the crate was what looked like a trap door, complete with a ring-shaped handle and everything. Pinkie Pie’s eyes went wide with wonder.

“A secret entrance! I knew this place had hidden treasure! Ready to go spelunking, Dashie?” she said as she adjusted her headlamp.

Patch pressed a hoof against the bridge of his nose. “Look, there is no treasure. Can you just wait until I actually show you what I want to show you before jumping to wild conclusions?”

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof. “Don’t bother, dude. Once Pinkie sets her mind to something, she gets kinda fixated on it...’til something more interesting comes up anyway.”

Patch watched as Pinkie stared enthusiastically at the door, as if waiting for something to happen. Rainbow Dash grabbed her by the tail and pulled her away to allow Patchwork to continue.

The stallion gripped the ring handle and opened the door with a hollow creak, revealing a set of stairs that lead down under the mall. Without a word, Patch began his descent into the darkness below, the three mares soon following suit. Surprisingly, it didn’t go quite as deep as they had been expecting; after about a minute they had reached the bottom and now found themselves standing before a plain-looking wooden door. Pinkie Pie was visibly having trouble containing her excitement.

“I hope you’re ready for this,” Patch warned. He glared at Pinkie. “It’s not a pretty sight.”

The party pony stopped jittering and her smile disappeared. Patch sighed and turned the handle, opening the door and allowing the four ponies to step through. Their jaws all dropped simultaneously. Fluttershy brought a hoof to her mouth in shock of the sight in front of her.

In a small room dimly lit by a hanging light fixture were a group of approximately twenty ponies. Every one of them looking depressed, dirty, and generally unhealthy. They came in all shapes and sizes: stallions, mares, adults, seniors, and even a single, young colt. They also each appeared to be wearing a collar like the one Patchwork was. What seemed odd still was what they were doing. They appeared to be fiddling with various items of no distinct relation, everything from toys to power tools. Upon hearing the door open they all turned their heads and seemed just as surprised to see the three Ponyville mares standing there as they did to see them.

“W-What’s going on here?” Fluttershy stammered with worry.

“I told you three that you shouldn’t be here,” Patch repeated.

Rainbow Dash stuck out her hoof. “Who are all these ponies? What’re they doing here?!”

Patchwork sighed. “Remember when you said I made this place sound like a prison? There’s a reason for that.”

All semblance of excitement was drained from Pinkie Pie’s being. “You mean all these ponies are stuck here?”

Patch could only nod his head weakly.

One mare amongst the group stepped forward, her mane curly and colored red and white, her coat a slightly deeper shade of pink, and a cutie mark of a green and white striped candy cane with a red bow tied around it. “Patch, who are these ponies?”

“More hapless victims, Candy,” he answered, defeat heavy in his voice.

Fluttershy cowered behind her mane. “‘V-Victims’?”

Patchwork scratched his head. “Guess it’s time to let you in on what exactly is going on here. All of us, the ponies in this room, are people who either thought they’d have a little fun and sneak in after dark or ended up getting locked up in here by accident. And have been here ever since.”

“What?!” Rainbow Dash balked. “Well, why the hay haven’t you told anypony?! Or, ya know, just leaving when the mall opens again?”

“Because we’re being kept here against our will,” the mare named Candy answered.

Patch continued. “When mall security catches you in here after closing time, they trap you here and force you to work down here in the basement as punishment for trespassing.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Dash blurted. “It’s not just wrong, it’s kidnapping!”

“Why doesn’t somepony tell Mr. Payroll?” Fluttershy suggested. “Surely he’d be appalled to learn about this.”

“Vault Payroll?” Candy scoffed. “Whose idea do you think this was?”

Fluttershy trembled. “B-But he seemed so nice when we met him.”

“Vault might act all civil and friendly, but all that’s a ruse,” Patch added. “In reality, he’s nothing more than a money-grubbing criminal.” He turned to the many ponies occupying the room with them, their sorrowful eyes all staring back as Patchwork gave his explanation to the three new faces. “He’s cheap, and that’s the whole reason we’re here. It may sound like a stupid reason to kidnap and enslave random people, but that’s the kind of despicable person he is.”

“Whaddya mean by ‘enslave’?” Rainbow Dash inquired.

“Like Patch said, Vault is a cheapskate,” said Candy. “As a result, he doesn’t like to spend more money than he has to. So if anypony returns any faulty or defective items, instead of ordering a replacement he makes us fix them and puts them back on the shelves.”

“And sometimes that’s simply impossible.” Patchwork pointed to an old, pegasus stallion sitting at a workbench in the corner of the room. He appeared to be tinkering mindlessly with an old, red wagon that only had three wheels. “That’s Fairweather. One day that wagon was brought down here, a customer had returned it because a wheel was missing. Vault demanded that it be fixed so they could sell it again. Problem is, we can’t exactly fix it if we don’t have the materials we need. In other words, the fourth wheel. Fairweather’s been at that thing for ten years.”

The three mares all went pale. “Ten years?!” they blurted, accompanied by a panicked squawk.

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to say something, but had trouble finding the words to accurately relay her surprise or anger. “I... That’s... I-I don’t even... What?!”

Patch sighed heavily. “Why don’t you girls have a seat,” he said, pointing to the table in the middle of the room. “Might as well get to know one another a little better if you’re gonna be joining us.”

Rainbow Dash looked between her friends. Both of them seemed to be wearing expressions of fear and desperation; they didn’t want to be here any more than she did. Reluctantly, they accepted Patchwork’s offer and sat down with he and Candy. The mare decided to speak up first.

“Name’s Candy Cane. Nice to meet you, I guess.”

“I’m Rainbow Dash. These are my pals, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.”

“We’re from Ponyville,” Pinkie Pie added, trying her best to remain enthusiastic. “We’re you guys from?”

Candy looked around the room at all the ponies present. “I think we’re all from here in Manehattan actually.”

“Have all of you been here for ten years like Fairweather?” Fluttershy asked.

Patchwork shook his head and chuckled softly. “No, not quite. Fairweather’s been here the longest and I’m pretty sure it’s affected the old-timer’s sanity. He doesn’t do much of anything other than fruitlessly fiddle with that wagon. Personally, I’ve been here for two years.”

“Geez, that’s still a long time,” Rainbow Dash commented.

“Feels even longer when you had something you didn’t want to ever let go of,” he said quietly.

“Somepony you cared about very deeply?” Fluttershy inferred.

“My fiancé. We actually got engaged just a few months before I accidentally got myself locked in this place. But it’s been two years now. No way she would have waited this long with no explanation as to where I’ve gone. She might think I chickened out and ran off or something.”

“Aww, that’s too bad,” Pinkie Pie groaned. “And weddings are so fun too. All the people and the music and the dancing and the huge, scrumptious cake.” She licked her lips as she fantasized. “What about you, Candy? How’d you wind up here?”

Candy shrugged her shoulders. “Pretty much everypony has the same story. This place is so big that it’s easy to get lost or lose track of time.”

“Fairweather is one of the few who has a different excuse,” added Patchwork. “The old guy fell asleep in the mattress store and nopony bothered to wake him up. Seems cruel to end up like this because you decided to take a cat nap.”

“Anyway,” Candy continued, “I was actually here to scope out the competition.”

“‘Competition’?” echoed Pinkie Pie. “What were you competing for? Oh! Was it a baking contest? You know, to see who could make the best cake or pie or muffins or gingersnaps?”

Candy blinked, then giggled quietly. “Sort of. I work at a candy store downtown. Actually, my dad owns the place, so it’s a family business. We even make our own candy there.”

“Oooooo, homemade candy,” Pinkie Pie drooled. “There’s nothin’ better than food made with love.” She tapped her chin in thought. “We have somepony in Ponyville that does pretty much the same thing actually.”

Candy quirked an eyebrow. “You said ‘Ponyville’, right? That person wouldn’t happen to be named Bonbon, would they?”

“Yeah, that’s totally right!” Pinkie gasped. “Are you psychic too?”

“Bonbon’s my cousin. We write to each other every now and then. Haven’t seen her ages though, and considering I’m stuck here now, I probably won’t see her for a long, long time.” Candy’s eyes drifted down to the table.

“How long have you been here?” Pinkie asked.

Candy looked up again, whatever thoughts that had pervaded her mind having been jostled free by Pinkie Pie’s followup question. “Oh, um, about eight months, I think. It’s not even Bonbon I’m worried about, it’s my dad.”

“What’s wrong with your dad?” Fluttershy asked concernedly.

“Well, ever since my mom passed away, he’s had to run the store by himself. Seeing how he struggled just to keep the place running, I volunteered to help out after I finished school. It was a fight to convince him to let me though. He’s always wanted me to chase my dream and go to a fancy culinary school and start my own business. But I couldn’t just leave him all alone. I’m the only thing he has left in the world. And now I’m stuck here...” She began to trail off, the moisture in her eyes glinting in the dim light of the room.

The room fell dead silent. Everypony was afraid to continue the conversation considering the direction it was taking. Rainbow Dash felt trapped. She hated feeling trapped. It was a feeling she despised with every fibre of her being and the sad stories of the lives that these ponies had had taken away from them only made it worse.

“Excuse me, miss.”

Rainbow Dash looked down to see a small, pegasus colt with a coat of grey and a mane of several shades of brown, who had not yet gained his cutie mark.

“Did you say your name was Rainbow Dash?”

“Uh, yeah. Why?”

A modest smile appeared on the colt’s face. “Weren’t you the winner of the Best Young Flyers Competition?”

Rainbow Dash finally found herself smiling as well, though she wasn’t sure if it was the pride of somepony recognizing her or from how this colt was managing to smile given his predicament. “Yeah, I was.”

“Cooool,” the colt said simply, an awe-struck grin on his face. He scrunched up his nose for a moment before letting out a short sneeze.

“Looks like you got a fan, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie giggled.

“That’s Peppercorn,” Patchwork interjected. “Little guy’s been here only two months, but when you’re as young as he is, two months may as well be forever.”

“Mr. Payroll even keeps children here?” Fluttershy peeped. “That’s... That’s...heinous.”

“Tell me about it,” Patchwork groaned. “Separating a kid his age from his parents. It’s just deplorable. Seriously, Vault is the worst kind of person you can think of, despite how he acts in public.”

Peppercorn continued to stare in silent awe at Rainbow Dash. The adult pegasus couldn’t help but feel her ego inflating at the attention she was getting. “Didja want an autograph, kid?”

The question seemed to catch the colt off guard. “Huh? Oh, no no. I don’t wanna bother you miss.” He sneezed again and wiped his nose with a hoof. “Um... It’s just... I watched you at the competition. It was so cool! You were all like, zoom woosh! And then that lady’s wings burned up and you saved her and there was that big rainbow and it was so awesome!” Peppercorn punctuated each word with a spirited hop and a sweep of his hooves.

Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof against her chest. “Yeah, I am pretty awesome. No denying that.”

“You were almost as cool as Daring Do!”

The mare blinked. “‘Daring Do’? You like Daring Do?” She paused for moment. “Wait, whaddya mean ‘almost’?”

“Yeah, Daring Do is the best adventurer ever! When you were in the Best Young Flyers Competition, it was like when Daring Do had to compete against that griffon clan to win their golden idol in Daring Do and the Temple of Wind!”

“Whoa, whoa! Spoilers, kiddo! I haven’t got to that one yet!”

“Whoops, sorry. Ah-choo!” The colt sniffed.

“Gesundhoof,” chirped Pinkie Pie.

Fluttershy looked at the colt worriedly. “Oh my, are you sick, Peppercorn?”

Patchwork flicked a hoof dismissively. “Nah, he’s fine. Kid sneezes all the time. His parents own a spice shop so he’s spent a good deal of time around all that stuff. It’s like there’s pepper stuck in his nose or something.”

Peppercorn sniffed again, rubbing his hoof against his nose.

Rainbow Dash braced herself. “Here comes another one.”

But no sneeze came. The only sound that followed was a quiet sobbing. Peppercorn was crying, tears forming in his eyes. Candy rose from her seat and sat next to the colt, rubbing her hoof through his mane to comfort him. The three newcomers simply watched in heart-crushing silence as the colt wept and hiccuped.

“I-I miss my mommy and daddy,” he sobbed. “They’d always read me my Daring Do books before I went to sleep and Dad said that I could be a hero just like her when I grow up. But I’ll never be a hero and I’ll never see my mommy and daddy again!” Peppercorn started bawling loudly, sniffing and sobbing into his hoof.

“It’s okay, Peppy. We’re here for you,” Candy said soothingly in an attempt to comfort him.

Rainbow Dash slammed a hoof against the table, causing everypony to jump with a start. “This is insane! How can you just sit around here doing nothing like this while your lives are being destroyed?!”

“You don’t think we haven’t tried to escape already?!” snapped Patchwork. “We’ve exhausted all of our options. No matter what we do we can’t get out.”

“There’s, like, twenty of you down here! You could easily overpower any dumb security guards.”

Patch inhaled deeply to calm himself before speaking. “The guards aren’t the problem. It’s these.” He pointed to the collar strapped around his neck, the same collar that everypony else in the basement was wearing.

Pinkie Pie leaned across the table to examine the object around Patch’s neck more closely. “Wassit do?”

“They’re not a fashion statement, that’s for sure. These collars have some sort of electronics inside them,” Candy explained as she held a still-sobbing Peppercorn closely to her. “It keeps track of where we are so they can find us no matter where we go.”

“Well, what if you got to the police before they could catch you?” Fluttershy suggested.

Patchwork shook his head. “That won’t work. If we so much as step off of mall property, these things are designed to give us a nasty shock. What’s worse is that if one person gets shocked, it activates the other collars too, so everypony gets it. We’ve all felt it at least once and, trust me, getting zapped is not fun.”

Rainbow Dash was about to speak once more but was cut off by Candy. “And we already tried to remove them. I don’t know what these things are made of, but we couldn’t snap them or cut through them. Can’t even short them out either; they’re waterproof. Some of the unicorns down here even tried using magic, but nothing.”

“Hey, I’ve got an idea!” Pinkie Pie dove into her saddlebags and emerged wearing a welder’s mask and holding a blow torch. She sparked a flint over the torch to set it alight, the flame glowing a fierce blue. The flame spooked both Fluttershy and her new pet, eliciting a frightened squeak from both of them.

“No no that’s okay! No need for that!” Patch sputtered, flailing his hooves in front of him nervously.

The flame died and Pinkie flipped up the mask. She shrugged before replacing the items back in her bag.

Candy took a long, hard look at their three, new companions. “Wait a minute, you girls don’t have collars.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “No. Should we?”

“The guards haven’t arrived, so technically they aren’t caught yet,” Patch clarified. “Once they find you, you get strapped with one of these things and brought down here.”

Candy tapped her chin. “So, if they haven’t been caught yet, then they might still be able to get out.”

Patchwork let out an annoyed groan. “Candy, I already said that there’s no way out, even without the collars.”

Peppercorn sniffed and wiped away his tears. “Wh-What about that thing I found when I first got here?”

Patch’s eyes widened as if something had clicked in his brain. “The ventilation system.” He broke out into a big smile and rose from his seat. “Hey, yeah! You’re right! You three can get out through the vents!”

Fluttershy’s face lit up. “We can? Can we really get out?”

“Yes, you can! It might be a tight fit, but it’s entirely possible! You can go through the vents, come out on the roof, and fly to freedom!”

Fluttershy’s expression suddenly fell as something dawned on her. “But...what about all of you?”

Patchwork’s smile faded as well and he slowly returned to his seat. “There’s no hope for us,” he stated dejectedly. “If we tried to come with you we’d just be shocked by these things. We wouldn’t make it ten feet outside.”

Candy placed a hoof on Pinkie Pie’s shoulder. “Look, don’t worry about us. The important thing is that you three can still go home if you hurry. If you wait too long the guards will show up and it’ll be too late.”

Pinkie Pie tried to think of something to say. The idea of making so many new friends and then just abandoning them like that was gut-wrenching to her. She couldn’t just leave them behind. The pink pony looked up at the ceiling in thought. “What if we get out and tell the police? Then they can come here and bust you guys out! They’ll be all ‘Come out with your hooves up, criminal scum!’”

Patchwork chuckled darkly. “Are you kidding? The cops can’t do anything. It’s not like nopony knows what Vault Payroll has been doing. He’s been under suspicion for years now.”

Rainbow Dash slapped one of her hooves against the other. “Then why aren’t they doing anything about him?”

“Because Vault is one of the wealthiest ponies in Equestria. He practically owns this city. That old miser has the best lawyers money can buy. The police can’t get anywhere near him without hard evidence, of which they have yet to find any.”

“We appreciate your concern, we really do,” Candy said apologetically, “but the best course of action for you is to get out and forget you ever saw us.”

Fluttershy felt tears forming in her eyes. “B-But there has to be some way... I don’t think I could live with that kind of knowledge.”

Patchwork stood up and made his way to the door, opening it for the three mares. “It’s better for you three to escape rather than have to suffer our fate. Relish your freedom while you can.” He forced a smile the best he could. “We won’t forget the compassion you’ve shown us, and we’d still like to call you friends.”

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy shared conflicted looks with one another. As much as they hated to admit it, the captive ponies were right: being free was better than being stuck down here. The pair reluctantly made their way to the door, Pinkie Pie giving Candy Cane a hug along the way and Fluttershy sharing some quiet words of encouragement with Peppercorn and a comforting nuzzle.

Fluttershy stared Patchwork straight in the eyes with uncharacteristic resolve. “If we ever find any way to help you, we won’t hesitate for a second.” Fluttershy the parrot chimed in with an affirmative whistle.

Patchwork nodded with a grin. “We appreciate it.”

Before stepping out the door, Pinkie Pie turned around to realize that their third friend hadn’t move from her seat at the table. Rainbow Dash was staring harshly at the table’s surface, seemingly lost in thought. “Dashie? Aren’t you coming?”

“No.”

Everypony went silent and stared in confusion at the prismatic mare. Pinkie Pie blinked. “Whaddya mean ‘no’? Don'tcha wanna be free?”

“I mean, I’m not leaving all of these innocent ponies here to rot!” she snapped. Rainbow Dash stood from the table and stomped over to her friends, staring at Pinkie Pie with an intense, seething rage that didn’t seem to actually be directed at the pink mare. “Pinkie Pie, what are we?”

The party pony tilted her head. “Uh... Ponies?”

“More specific.”

“Um... Mares?”

“Still more specific.”

“Hmm...” Pinkie Pie stroked her chin in deep thought. “Wait, wait, I can get this.” She tapped her head repeatedly with her hoof. “Think, Pinkie, think.”

“We’re the Elements of Harmony?” Fluttershy answered.

Rainbow Dash pointed enthusiastically at her fellow feathered friend. “Bingo!”

“Aww, I was gonna say that next,” Pinkie Pie grumbled.

“But we’re not just the Elements of Harmony,” Rainbow Dash continued, “we’re heroes. Heroes who’ve saved Equestria from eternal night, stopped the very spirit of chaos, and took on a whole army of shapeshifting changelings! Not to mention saving Ponyville from total disaster on practically a weekly basis. My point is, what kind of heroes would we be if we just left these poor, innocent ponies here all alone?”

Pinkie Pie raised her hoof. “Oh! I know this one! Not very good heroes!”

Rainbow Dash stomped a hoof on the concrete floor. “Right! But that’s not us, is it? We’re the best darn heroes this kingdom has ever seen! Am I right?!”

Pinkie Pie reared up on her hind legs. “YEAH!”

“Squrawk! Heroes!” the parrot chirped.

Rainbow Dash turned to the quiet pegasus next to her earth pony friend. “Right, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy shuffled nervously. “Um... Yes.”

She received a disapproving glare from her cyan friend. Fluttershy straightened up and tried to look as confident as she could.

“I mean... Yes, ma’am!”

Rainbow Dash gave the normally-meek mare a proud smile. “Atta girl!”

“I’d hate to interrupt,” Patchwork spoke up, “but what exactly are you getting at here?”

The chromatic pegasus flashed a toothy, cocksure grin. “I’ll tell you what we’re gettin’ at. We’re busting you guys out.”

Part 4 - The Punchline

The Secret of Manehattan Mall

By Dee Pad

Part 4: The Punchline

The dimly-lit basement was abuzz with whispering ponies, their eyes periodically glancing in the direction of the subject of their quiet gossip: the three new mares that had arrived not twenty minutes ago. The arrival of new ponies was really the only time these captives had a chance to have actual conversations, sharing stories about their lives outside this commercial dungeon. But eventually they had to run out of things to talk about and the depressing silence would return.

However, such whisperings amongst the group were uncommon; if you had something to say, you say it to the group. These three mares show up and start to make bold claims of a daring escape. It was not like nopony had suggested such a thing before and, of course, they were met with skepticism at first, but their determinism and strength of will were unlike anything they had ever seen before. It ignited sparks of curiosity and even hope. Hope that they could return to the lives that they had had stolen from them. It was like a divine infection spreading throughout the group, implanting hopeful thoughts and lifting their spirits.

Rainbow Dash stood with her front hooves planted firmly on the table in the center of the room, staring at a large map of Manehattan Mall and thoroughly analyzing it in great detail. Her friends stood by her side doing the same, but not exactly aware of what it was their cyan pal was looking for. Several of the captive ponies sat quietly by for the pegasus to say or do something and come up with a plan of action that will lead them to freedom.

“Hmm...” the prismatic mare hummed in thought. She lifted her head and looked out over the group. “Anypony know how to read this thing? It’s a little confusing.”

A collective groan rolled over the room. Patchwork slapped a hoof over his face. “You’ve been staring at that thing for five minutes and you haven’t figured anything out? I figured when you announced that you were gonna perform this ‘heroic escape’ you’d at least have some idea of how you were going to do it.”

“Hey, I don’t see you making any suggestions!” she snapped back, pointing an accusatory hoof at the stallion.

“I already told you, we tried everything.”

Pinkie Pie hopped up from her seat and draped a hoof over Patchwork’s shoulders. “You tried everything logical. And when you can’t do anything logical, try the illogical!”

Patch simply blinked in confusion. “That...doesn’t even make sense.”

“Oh, trust me,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, “coming from Pinkie Pie, that makes perfect sense. No doubt the Pinkster has something in her magical bag of tricks that would make for an award-winning escape scene, but I’m sure there’s something we can do that still borders on the plausible side of things. So, you got any info that might get the juices flowing?”

Patchwork tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Well, security won’t be arriving for at least another hour, so we at least have some time to prepare.”

“These guards, how well equipped are they?” Dash inquired.

“They don’t have any weapons or anything if you were planning on stealing them and using those against them. But they do have pepper spray. Not as painful as these collars, but still pretty nasty.”

“They’ve also got walkie talkies that are specifically used for contacting the police,” Candy added. “They aren’t likely to use them though on account of running the risk of the authorities figuring out about their little underground slavery project.”

“What about patrol routes?” Dash questioned further. “Do they have set areas that they keep an eye on?”

“Despite the size of the place, there are only three guards,” Patch answered. “They individually patrol the north, west, and east wings of the mall.”

Fluttershy leaned over Rainbow Dash’s shoulder to peek at the map, noticing something peculiar. “But wouldn’t that leave the entrance, in the south wing, unguarded?”

“They’re not worried about anypony getting out because of the collars,” Candy clarified. “So they don’t bother wasting time with the entrance.”

“Hmm...” Rainbow Dash once more looked over the map. Now the gears were starting to turn. “Right, gotcha. I think...I might have something here.”

“If you’re planning a sneak attack, that won’t work.”

Dash lifted her head, a look of surprise on her face. Apparently Patch had read her mind. The stallion pointed to a specific spot on the map, a small room above the central area of the mall accessible via a staircase.

“This is the security station. I don’t know if you guys noticed, but this place is riddled with cameras, most of them completely invisible to the naked eye. There’s nowhere to hide here and that’s why most of us end up getting caught. You try to hide out somewhere in hopes of sneaking out when the mall opens, but the guards periodically check the security footage, so there’s no hiding. They’ll find you eventually.”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to talk, but Patchwork cut her off.

“This is also why no plan you come up with is going to work; they’ll have you figured out in no time.”

Rainbow Dash simply stared at Patchwork flatly, undeterred by this information. “So we take out the security station. Duh.”

“And how do you suggest we get past the locked and reinforced, iron door?”

Rainbow Dash grinned coyly and looked to her pink companion. “Pinkie Pie,” she addressed simply with a flourish of her hoof.

With a happy salute, Pinkie Pie tossed off her saddlebags and began to rummage, pulling out a black, metal container and placing it on the table in front of her friend. Candy leaned in to read the words on the lid.

“Foal’s First Lockpicking Kit? Are you kidding me right now? Do you even know how to pick a lock with this?”

In response to the question, Pinkie reached into her bag once more and removed a simple instruction book with the title Lockpicking for Dummies, placing it with the box. Candy rolled her eyes. She should have seen that coming.

“Okay,” Patchwork started, skepticism quite evident in his voice, “suppose we do manage to take out the cameras. What then? We still have these collars, so we can’t get out.”

Rainbow Dash folded her forelegs over the table, closing her eyes in deep thought. Admittedly, she was just going with the flow here. Being a hero was kind of her thing, and to see all these ponies in such a dire situation kicked that part of her personality into gear. She wanted to save them, but had little idea as to how to actually do it. In times like this she really wished Twilight was around to do the thinking.

“What if we incapacitate the guards?”

Rainbow Dash’s head shot up and turned in surprise. She looked Fluttershy in the eyes incredulously. The meek pegasus simply silenced herself.

“Oh, sorry. I guess if that would work then somepony would have suggested it already, huh?”

“No no,” Dash corrected, extending her hoof, “I think you might be onto something.”

Patchwork let out an exasperated groan. “Look, Rainbow Dash, I know we have power in numbers, but the ponies down here are in no fit state to fight anypony. We’re all tired and hungry and weak.”

“Then let me at ‘em,” she retorted confidently. “I’m one of the toughest ponies you’ll ever meet. They won’t stand a chance.”

“All they have to do is call back up as soon as they realize that one of the other guards has been taken out,” Candy argued. “We’ll be overrun in no time. The only possible way this can work is if we somehow manage to take them all out at the same time.”

The room fell silent. Rainbow Dash grinned cockily and looked to her friends who gave her reassuring nods. They were thinking exactly what she was.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Wha—?” Candy balked. “How do you propose you take down three guards at the same time?”

“With strategy,” Dash answered with a wink. She began pacing the room, her wings spread wide and confidently as she addressed the entire group of ponies. “My friend and fellow Element of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle, once told me about a book that was all about fighting battles so that you could assure your victory. It was, like, The Story of War or something like that. Anyway, it was kinda boring and I wasn’t really listening. ‘Blah blah, keep your enemies close, blah blah, power in numbers, blah blah.’ But I remember something she told me. It was something along the lines of using your terrain and resources to your advantage.” She stopped pacing and looked out over the crowd. “And from what I can tell, you guys seem to know the terrain around here pretty well. So what I’m suggesting is that if we put our heads together, we can prepare some kind of trap for them.”

Murmurs broke out over the crowd. Not skeptical murmurs accompanied but concerned expressions, but devious grins and the sharing of ideas. They were all more than eager to give their captors their comeuppance, they just needed somepony with the will to actually go through with it.

Rainbow Dash grinned proudly as she observed the ponies around devising tricks and traps they could use to exact revenge. However, she had something a little more specific in mind. She was jostled from her thoughts by a tap on her leg. She looked down to see Peppercorn staring up at her excitedly.

“What are we gonna do Miss Dash? Do you have a really awesome plan like what Daring Do would come up with?”

Dash chuckled and tousled his mane. “Kiddo, I got plans out the wazoo. But I just need a little help putting them into action.” She turned to her two close friends. “Pinks, Flutters, sit with me. We got some battle strategies to plan.”

The two mares saluted proudly and took their seats next to their captain and they began to map out their plan of attack and discuss potential strategies, the other ponies gathering around and listening intently.

***** ***** *****

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all stood at attention in front of the door leading out of the basement. The crowd was eagerly awaiting their appointed commanders orders. The cyan pegasus let her eyes roll over the group once more. A small frown appeared on her face. Despite their enthusiasm, it was evident that many of the ponies here did not want to get involved with the plan they had agreed upon. Not because they thought it was a bad plan, but because they were simply too afraid to go through with it.

The discussion had come up during their planning. As much as they wanted to get back at Vault Payroll and those who worked for him, there was always that lingering worry that something would go wrong. If that ended up being the case, no doubt there would be severe punishment for those who chose to get involved. Their hope was that, by not having any part of it, they could at least be subject to some lesser form of discipline.

Rainbow Dash was not going to argue with them. Being trapped down here for as long as they have been was certainly going to take it’s toll on their willpower and confidence. She wasn’t about to make anypony do something they didn’t want to do. The responsibility might have to fall solely on the three Ponyville mares.

“So,” Dash started, fully aware that the skepticism that they once thought had been lifted had gradually begun to return, “you all know the plan, right?”

The crowd nodded in unison, a clear lack of confidence present.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Okay. Gotta admit, was kinda hoping for a little more support. But! There’s no guarantee that this plan won’t succeed. After all, it is me taking the helm here.” She grinned as she egotistically ran a hoof through her mane.

Getting no real reaction from the group, she shook her head and prepared to depart.

“Wait!”

As Rainbow Dash placed her hoof upon the doorknob, she turned back to the crowd to see Peppercorn step forward.

“I wanna help!” he declared, puffing out his chest.

Dash paused for a moment, then chuckled. She pat the colt lightly on his head. “I appreciate it, kid, really, but maybe it’s better if you hang back. These are more grownup matters, ‘kay?”

Peppercorn shook his head furiously. “Nuh-uh! I’m gonna help!” he insisted before letting out a sudden sneeze. He sniffed before he continued. “Even when Daring Do was in a tight spot, it was always her friends that bailed her out, and they would help her cuz they knew they could do something to help! Maybe I can do something to help too!”

Rainbow Dash didn’t bother to hide her smile. She fondly remembered reading those scenes from the several volumes she’d blitzed through. Of course, she was no stranger to what the power of friendship could do.

“Ya know what? You’re right.”

Peppercorn’s mouth curled out into an enormous grin. “Really?! You mean it?!”

“Sure thing, kiddo. After all, every good hero needs a sidekick. We could be like Daring Do and Short Stuff.”

Peppercorn hopped around frantically in glee, overjoyed to be embarking on what he perceived as a grand adventure. He bounded over to Candy Cane, who stood at the front of the group with Patchwork. “Did you hear that, Candy?! I’m gonna be a hero! Ah-choo!”

Candy looked worriedly at Rainbow Dash. This plan was likely to put the colt in danger. Dash was simply going to allow somepony so young to do something so risky?

But as she looked Rainbow Dash in the eye, she saw the pegasus’ determinism. Her willpower. Her overwhelming confidence. In Rainbow Dash’s mind there was zero chance that this plan could fail.

And the more ponies involved, the higher those chances got.

“You know what? I’m helping too.”

Patch gave Candy a shocked look. “What?! Why?”

“Because we can’t sit idly by while there’s some chance that we can get out of here. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, right? Well, I see that will, and I’m taking that chance.” She stepped forward, stomping a hoof to cement her resolution. “Just tell me what I can do.”

“Now that’s what I like to see!” Dash exclaimed. “Anypony else wanna step up to the challenge?”

Nopony moved. Their heads were all glancing about, checking to see if anypony else had the gumption to lend a helping hoof. One stallion amongst the group stepped forward.

“I can help if you need anything, Miss Dash.”

His voice cracked slightly as he spoke, but just the fact he had the guts to speak up showed that he at least had some modicum of courage. Rainbow Dash nodded with a proud smile to acknowledge him.

Patchwork watched as the three ponies stood before the crowd, willing to risk their health and safety for what most of them assumed would be a miserable failure.

Still, their resolve proved to be quite infectious.

Patch shook his head. “Alright, I’ll help out too. On one condition.”

Dash had been about to smile, but faltered at his words.

“Nopony else is to get involved, understand?”

Pinkie Pie’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “What?! Come on, Patch! We were on a roll here! We coulda had everypony backin’ us up eventually!”

“Exactly. There’s no reason to put more ponies than necessary at risk here. Over the past two years these people have become like a second family to me. I care about them more than I care about myself, which is why I’m offering my help in their stead.” He looked down at the smiling face of the young, pegasus colt standing with Rainbow Dash and grinned. “Besides, if a little kid can show more bravery than everypony else in this room, what does that say about us?”

Dash smiled resolutely. “Alright, fine. Welcome to the team, Patch.” She looked out over the crowd once more to address them. “Okay, is everypony else fine with his condition?”

The majority of the group nodded their heads.

“Okay then. Let’s get this thing underway.”

With that, the seven ponies appointed to carry out the mission stepped through the door and ascended the staircase back into the store room. They were all fully aware that the planning phase had eaten up a fair chunk of their time and left them with only half an hour to get everything ready.

“Alright,” Dash started as she paced before her team. “Let’s assign everypony to their tasks. We’ve gone over the plan already. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy. Do you remember what you have to do?”

Pinkie Pie slapped a hoof against her forehead in an unnecessarily painful salute. “Yes, ma’am! Agent Pie—that’s me—is to scout out and secure Sector B and prep for assault!”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak but was abruptly cut off as the party pony continued.

“Agent Shy—that’s you,” she said, leaning next to Fluttershy, “—is to rendezvous with reinforcements in Sector P!”

Fluttershy looked to Rainbow Dash. “Um, what she said.”

“Sector P!” the parrot squawked in agreement.

“In the meantime,” Pinkie continued, “Captain Dash—that’s you, Dashie—is in charge of disabling the enemy’s surveillance system!”

“And where does that leave us?” asked Patchwork.

Rainbow Dash stroked her chin. “More ponies means more coverage. We can get more done if we each handle different duties. Candy, you go with Pinkie. You guys have some prep work to do.”

“Sure thing,” Candy agreed with a smile. Pinkie Pie pulled her new partner in for a grateful hug, horribly encroaching on her personal space.

Rainbow Dash turned to Patchwork. “Patch, we need somepony to keep an eye on the entrance for when those guards show up. Think you can handle it?”

“Not a problem. Though that does raise the question of how exactly we’ll be keeping in contact with one another.”

Dash shrugged as if the question were a moot point. “As if you need to ask. Hey, Pinkie. We need some walkie-talkies. Hook us up, would ya?”

Pinkie Pie raised an eyebrow. “Uh, okay, but I’d have to go down to the electronics department to find some. Gonna be kinda hard to do that and set up Sector B.”

Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, blinking in confusion. “Don’t you have some in your bags?”

“What? Why would I carry a bunch of walkie-talkies around with me? That just sounds silly.”

Dash simply stared, befuddled, at her friend. She shook herself out of her stupor and turned to the other stallion in their group. “Ugh, whatever. You—uh, what was your name?”

The stallion flinched in surprise, not expecting to have been addressed despite being one of only four ponies to volunteer to help. “Oh, I’m...uh, Fetch, ma’am.”

“Fetch, huh? Perfect. Look I’m gonna need you to head over to electronics and grab us three pairs of walkie-talkies and deliver them me, Pinkie and Fluttershy, got it?”

The stallion nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Then that just leaves me and Peppercorn to take care of those cameras.”

“We’re gonna mess ‘em up good!” the colt exclaimed, hopping up onto his hind legs and shadowboxing the air.

“Alright, team, move out!” Dash commanded, as she took the lead, her comrades following closely behind.

***** ***** *****

The gently dribbling water of the central fountain was a nice way to take one’s mind off the unsettling scenario Rainbow Dash and her friends had found themselves wrapped up in. It was wholly relaxing and had the ability to soothe one into a sound slumber. Of course, it was designed that way; when you’re in a place as bustling as Manehattan Mall, any source of calm was definitely welcome. Perhaps it was one of the contributing factors to why everypony was so happy during the day. Dash was beginning to contemplate maybe buying something similar for her bedroom. For a hotheaded mare like herself, it would certainly make sleep much less elusive.

But now was not the time to get distracted. They were on a mission, one that would result in the freedom of almost two dozen ponies. Rainbow Dash had to stay set on her course, which right now was locating the security station.

Dash unfolded the map showing the layout of the mall, pinpointing the location that Patchwork had indicated earlier. Just like last time, it was a small room near the central fountain. However, it appeared to be on one of the upper levels, even higher above the shopping outlets.

Rainbow Dash chanced a look around, adjusting the headlamp given to her by Pinkie Pie. Patchwork had said that this place was riddled with very well-hidden cameras. Much to Dash’s dismay, she could see none. If there were enough cameras to monitor every last nook and cranny of the mall, surely she’d be able to spot at least one. She shrugged it off though; it didn’t matter where they were since their objective was to shut them down and destroy the footage they already had. The only hurdle was finding the room itself.

“Miss Dash! Up here!” Peppercorn shouted from one of the upper levels.

Rainbow Dash looked up in surprise. This kid was quicker than she gave him credit for. Suffice to say she was impressed. Dash unfurled her wings and flew up to meet the colt on the fourth floor walkway. “Didja find it already?”

“I’ve been here for two months. I already knew where it was,” Peppercorn stated as he proudly puffed out his chest.

Rainbow Dash acknowledged the kid’s help with a grateful grin before looking to where he was pointing, a plain, white door further down the walkway. Given how narrow the path was and the lack of anything else along there, it was evident that customers weren’t supposed to be back there. That and the sign saying “Employees Only” on the door.

The two sauntered over to the door and Dash pushed it open. Luckily it appeared to be unlocked, but based on Patchwork’s description, this most certainly was not the door he spoke of. On the other side was the staircase she had seen on the map. It went up a little before turning off to the right and ascending further. Rainbow Dash and Peppercorn followed the trail.

At the top, as they both suspected, was the door in question. A simple sign displaying the word “Security” belied the sheer magnitude of the door itself, not to mention being a complete understatement of what the door represented. The massive, metal door looked more at home guarding the riches of the Royal Family than it did a simple security room. Reinforced hinges; multiple locks; steel inches thick. A fully grown dragon couldn’t bust through this thing.

Which was where Pinkie Pie came in handy.

Rainbow Dash flipped open her saddlebags and removed the lockpicking kit given to her by her friend as well as the guidebook. “Let’s see here…” Dash mumbled as she opened the text.

Peppercorn watched as her eyes scanned the pages fervently, taking in all the information the tome had to offer to a newbie lockpicker.

“Ugh, forget this,” Dash groaned as she snapped the book shut and tossed it over her shoulder. “I’m sure I can figure this out myself.”

Rainbow Dash looked the door up and down, particularly eyeing the locks. There were several different kinds installed, such as a padlock and keypad, among others. Dash had no idea how to pick any of them and she had neither the time nor patience to flip through some nerdy tutorials. She plonked herself down in front of her kit, hoping that some of the tools inside would give her some idea of what to do. Unhooking the clasps, she flipped it open to peruse the contents.

She stared blankly at the inside. Peppercorn peeked over her shoulder to see what the problem was. The kit was practically empty. All that was present was in single, silver key. Not only that, but it was an oversized, silver key. It almost looked like a toy of some sort.

Rainbow Dash let her head loll backward, letting out a disappointed moan. “Come on, Pinkie. Seriously, this not the time for these kinds of jokes.”

“It won’t hurt to try, right?” Peppercorn said as he picked up the key in his mouth and stepped up to the door. He flitted his small wings and rose up to the one keyhole in the door; just one of many different locks.

“That’s not gonna work, it’s just some toy that Pinkie was playing with, pretending to be a spy or something. Besides, how’s a key gonna unlock all those locks?”

Peppercorn inserted the key and turned. Much to the surprise of both pegasi, the tumblers within the door began to turn and each of the locks clicked open one by one.

Dash watched with her mouth agape, in utter disbelief of what she was seeing. “You gotta be kidding me. How’s that even—” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Right, Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.”

Satisfied that the door was now unlocked, Peppercorn made to remove the key, only to have it snap off in the keyhole. He opened his mouth, letting the handle drop to the floor. “Oops. I didn’t mean to do that.”

Rainbow Dash reached down and picked up the round handle of the key. “This thing is solid metal, how’d it just snap off?”

Peppercorn flew down to the case lying on the floor, taking notice of something else inside. “Hey, there’s some paper in here.” He pulled out the paper and looked it over, a message scribbled on it in sloppy hoofwriting and written in colored pencil. “‘One time use. For emergencies only. Like getting out of spooky dungeons.’ What’s that mean?”

Rainbow Dash simply shook her head as she prepared to open the door to the security station. “It means Pinkie Pie. Seriously, don’t bother trying to understand it.”

As the monolithic door swung outwards with a metallic groan, the two pegasi’s jaws dropped in unison. Inside the security station was a dark room, dimly illuminated by the wall of what must have been dozens of camera monitors reaching up to the ceiling. The two stepped inside cautiously, their eyes drifting throughout the room to take in the sight of it. Below the monitors was a control panel covered with innumerable knobs, switches and buttons, none of which seemed to have any indication as to what they did. It was like a celestial control room where an unseen deity could keep an ever watchful eye on their followers and interfere wherever and however they saw fit.

“Wow…” Peppercorn breathed, the sight leaving him awestruck. “It’s just like something out of a space movie.”

“Don’t think Daring Do’s ever seen anything like this in any of the ruins she’s explored, huh?”

Peppercorn hopped up onto the chair sitting next to the control panel and stared at the doodads in amazement. He lifted his hoof to push one of the buttons, but was stopped as Rainbow Dash grabbed him.

“I think this is the part of the movie where the hero tells her trusty sidekick not to touch anything,” she warned.

Peppercorn quirked an eyebrow. “But I thought we were here to ruin this stuff anyway. Can’t I just press one, pleeeeeease?” the colt pleaded.

Rainbow Dash observed the kid’s puppy dog eyes. He was clearly an expert at making adults feel guilty; nopony could resist that face.

“Guess you got a point. Since we’re bustin’ this thing up anyway, what’s the harm in pressing one button? Besides, in the movies, no matter how many times they tell them not to, the sidekick always touches something anyway.”

“Yeah!” Peppercorn exclaimed as he slammed his hoof down on one of the buttons indiscriminately.

The two looked up at the monitors above to see what mayhem they might have caused. Through many of the screens, their divine interference became evident. Several of the dozens of camera lens became beaded with moisture and the floors of the mall soaked with water. They set off the sprinkler system.

“Well, that was boring,” Peppercorn pouted, falling back onto his seat.

“I highly doubt this place has any kind of self-destruct button or anything. That’d be too convenient,” Dash said, rolling her eyes.

“So, uh...whatta we supposed to do with it?” asked the colt.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes drifted over the monitors as she thought. On a couple of the monitors she spied movement. On one screen she could see Pinkie Pie and Candy Cane heading towards their destination, Pinkie’s mouth moving non-stop and chatting up a storm as she squeezed water out of her mane. Candy didn’t seem annoyed though. In fact, she was laughing and chatting right back. Of course, she hadn’t known Pinkie as long as Rainbow had. Give it time.

Another screen depicted Fluttershy trotting casually to her objective, her new, feathered friend flying in circles around her. Even though she was alone she didn’t seem quite as scared as she had been earlier. Perhaps the thought of helping all of these ponies was providing her with the courage she needed. She did seem to be having issues getting her wet and matted mane out of eyes though.

Rainbow Dash tore her eyes away from the screen, returning to the current topic: what to do about the cameras?

“Right. So, we basically gotta do two things. Patch said that the guards come up here to check the footage periodically, so we need to shut off these cameras.”

“But couldn’t they just turn ‘em back on?”

“Yeah…” Dash hummed as she tapped her chin. “We need something a little more permanent. And after that we gotta erase the footage they already have so they can’t tell that me and my friends are here.”

“Do you know how to do that?” Peppercorn asked as he looked over the control panel, hoping to find something to that effect.

Dash groaned. “No clue. I’m not really that great with all this techie stuff. Probably should’ve thought this through a little better. If Twi were here, she’d probably know what to do.”

Peppercorn let out a quiet sneeze and sniffed before speaking. “She your friend? She sounds smart.”

Rainbow Dash smiled. “Try ‘genius.’ That egghead’s always got her nose in a book. Actually, she’s the one who introduced me to Daring Do. Normally if she was ever fiddling with some science-y whatchamacallits, I’d just be standing there and watching, and she’d be telling me not to touch anything.”

“So, does that make you her sidekick?” Peppercorn chuckled.

“Pffft, as if,” Dash scoffed. “She's just the brains of the group. Everypony knows that I’m a natural born leader. Kinda ticks me off a bit when she tells me what I can and can’t do though. ‘Don’t touch that.’ ‘Pass me that screw driver.’ ‘Careful with that soda, you might ruin my—’”

Rainbow Dash paused. Peppercorn stared at her in confusion.

“Miss Dash? What’s the matter?”

Rainbow Dash grinned mischievously. “Nothin’ at all. In fact, I just figured out how we’re gonna do this thing. Wait right here.”

Dash hurried out the door, leaving Peppercorn alone in the room. Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, the colt turned to one of the glowing monitors to see Rainbow touching down next to a pair of vending machines. The mare tapped one machine lightly with her hoof, then turned around, lifted her hind legs, and bucked a hole straight through it. Several cans of soda spilled out onto the floor and she wasted no time scooping them up and dropping them into her saddlebags. She was about to take off again before pausing and inspecting the machine’s change slot. Finding nothing, she shrugged and took off, heading back to the security station.

A wide smile appeared on Peppercorn’s face. It was obvious now what Rainbow Dash intended to do, and he was on board one hundred percent. The metal door swung open once more, the mare reentering the room. She grabbed her saddlebags from her back, swinging them through the air violently a few times before placing them on the floor and removing a shaken up can.

“Ready, kid?”

Peppercorn hopped down from the chair exuberantly and grabbed himself a can.

“Ready? Aim. Fire!”

The two popped the tabs with their teeth and quickly directed the sudden burst of pressurized soda towards the control panel, soaking the console thoroughly. When one can was empty, they’d grab another and repeat the process.

All the sugar and carbonated water leaked into the instruments, quickly corroding the circuits within. Sparks began to pop and sizzle from the machine and monitors became fuzzy and unclear. One by one the screens’ displays were replaced by black and white static until the whole thing went dark entirely.

Dropping an empty can to the floor, Dash picked up one of two more she had set aside from the rest, undisturbed. She passed the other to Peppercorn and popped the tab on her own can, enjoying the sweet, fizzy taste of victory. Peppercorn gulped down half the can in one go, stopping only to unleash a manly belch before bursting into a fit of laughter.

“That was awesome! I never had this much fun in a long time!” Peppercorn laughed, rolling on the floor.

Rainbow Dash chuckled as well. “Hey, don’t celebrate too much. We still have work to do before we can get out of here.”

“Miss Dash? Peppercorn?”

The two ponies turned their heads to see Fetch peeking through the door, mane still dripping slightly. It must have been an odd sight to see with the wall of monitors covered in soda, the control panel sparking dangerously, and the two pegasi slightly damp themselves.

“I got the walkie talkies you asked for,” he said, stepping inside and passing the items to Rainbow Dash. “I’ve already taken the liberty of synching them up with the others’. You shouldn’t have any trouble contacting your friends.”

“Sweet. Thanks, dude. Great job,” Rainbow Dash congratulated.

“Not a problem, ma’am,” Fetch said graciously. “But, uh, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to head back with the others now. I think I might be in over my head here and it’d probably be best to leave the rest with you since you guys seem like you know what you’re doing better than I do.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah, sure. You did your part. Take a breather. You deserve it.”

“Right. Good luck then,” Fetch bid them as he exited the room to return to the basement.

Dash looked at her walkie talkies. They were a little childish looking with their bright yellow design, but as long as it had enough range it would do. Handing one off to Peppercorn, she pressed the button on the side to test it out.

“This is Rainbow Dash. Anypony hear me?”

She released the button and waited a moment. A buzz of static came over the device, followed by a familiar voice.

“Read you loud and clear, Captain Dash! This is Private Pinkie Pie reporting! Over.”

Rainbow Dash grinned, relieved that everything seemed to be working. “Cool. Listen, Pinkie, how’re thing’s looking on your end?”

“Colonel Cane and I have just finished prepping Sector B for contact! Awaiting further orders, Captain! Over!”

Dash rubbed her ear. “Alright, geez. No need to yell, Pinkie. Peppy ‘n’ me just shut down security. Just sit tight and wait there. Patch is supposed to call in when those guys get here, okay?”

“Roger dodger, Rashie Dashie! Over and out!”

Rainbow Dash grimaced. “Please don’t call me that.”

Another, much more quiet voice came over Peppercorn’s walkie talkie.

“Rainbow Dash, I think I’m just about ready, too,” Fluttershy confirmed.

Rainbow Dash nodded, not realizing that she couldn’t see her. “Good. Then we’re just waiting on Patchwork.”

“Just let me know when they get here and I can—oh, wait! Come back! No no, don’t do that! Oh dear…”

Dash raised an eyebrow in concern. “Uh, everything okay over there?”

“Oh, yes, um… Just got to… One of our troops just went… Oh, what’s the term? AWOL? Is that it? It’s no big deal, I think I can—” Fluttershy was cut off by a loud crash in the background, causing Rainbow Dash and Peppercorn to wince. “Oh, darn. I just need a few more minutes. Fluttershy! Can you help me round them up please?” the pegasus called to her companion.

“Squrawk! AWOL! AWOL!”

Rainbow Dash shook her head and sighed. “I worry about her sometimes.”

Again, another voice came over the device.

“Rainbow Dash? It’s Patchwork.”

“Heh. Hey, Patch,” Dash chuckled uncomfortably. “Please tell me you have better news than Fluttershy. She seems like she has her hooves full.”

“I don’t know if you would consider it good news or not, but I’m afraid we just ran out of time. The guards are outside right now.”

Peppercorn gasped. “Miss Dash! We gotta hurry! We still haven’t set up our trap yet!”

“Right, right,” the mare said hurriedly. “Patch, keep an eye on those guards. And for the love of Celestia, don’t get caught. Okay?”

“I should be saying the same to you. Just get to it. I’m praying that this ludicrous plan of yours actually works.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m Rainbow Dash. There’s no way we can fail. Now, I need everypony in their positions. It’s time to kick this thing off.”

With a buzz of static, the walkie talkie went quiet and Rainbow Dash placed the pair in her saddlebags. She threw the bags onto her back and quickly made for the door, Peppercorn trailing close behind. The two were invigorated by the prospect of their daring rescue, the colt feeling as though he were living an adventure straight out of one of his favorite books. But they still had work to do and little time to do it.

***** ***** *****

The city of Manehattan was normally a place of constant activity, with ponies always having someplace to go and something to do. But at this hour, the city was dead silent. That silence melded with the dead air of Manehattan Mall when its glass doors swung open.

Three figures dressed in matching blue uniforms made their way inside. They, too, were as quiet as the atmosphere around them, piercing the darkness with stern gazes. In unison, the three stallions removed their flashlights from their belts and shone them against the black curtain within the mall. The earth pony standing in the middle of the trio took one step forward. The moment his hoof touched the ground, he found it flung out from beneath him, causing him to crash to the wet, tiled floor.

“The hay?” he grumbled as he carefully rose to his hooves once more. He felt the moisture soaking through his uniform and quirked an eyebrow in confusion. “Why’s the floor wet?”

“No idea, but I think we’ll find out pretty soon,” one of the other guards, a pegasus, said. “I’ll head up to security and check the footage.”

The third, a unicorn, shrugged indifferently and began making his way to his assigned post. “Probably just those punks in the basement mucking around. I'll go down there and give 'em a little lesson in...discipline," he said as he cracked a malicious grin.

Now separating from his co-workers, the guard marched towards the basement at the back of the mall. A long trek to be sure, but it gave him plenty of time to think about what he was going to do to punish the insolent captives. It wouldn't be the first time either. Sneaking out of the basement was a punishable act as his boss had dictated and was to be corrected with a merciless jolt from the torturous collars strapped to their necks. It didn't bother him really either. In fact, catching the prisoners breaking the rules and handing down punishment entitled him to a little extra padding on his next paycheck, and money was an easy way to subdue one's inhibitions.

The unicorn grimaced as he trotted through the mall, finding an annoyance in the tiny splishes and splashes of the wet floor. That would make taking anypony who was trying to sneak around aware of his presence, and he certainly enjoyed the looks on their faces when he would catch them in the act. He shone his flashlight forward in his magical grasp, it's illuminating beam reflecting off the small puddles. If anything good were to come of this, it was that he could hear those no-goodniks as well.

That's when his ears perked up. The rhythmic sound of four hooves rushing hurriedly through the water ahead of him and a small shadow to accompany it. He pointed his flashlight to the source of the noise, but saw nothing except a bench, garbage can, and potted plant; a simple place for somepony to sit and catch their breath after hours of shopping. He stepped forward more deliberately now, being careful to make as little noise as possible. They were here somewhere and he was going to catch them.

His ears swiveled again, this time directing his attention to the walkways above. But it was not the sound of hooves that he had heard, but flapping wings. A pegasus no doubt.

Then, the splashing water again, but now behind him. He swung around, his flashlight fumbling about as he turned, and once more saw nothing.

The malevolent enthusiasm he had had before was starting to fade. There was no way that one pegasus could be in three places at once. There must have been more of them.

More splashing. More flapping of wings. All simultaneous and constant now.

There must have been twenty of them. He was surrounded. He whipped his flashlight back and forth, seeing nothing except perhaps a brief glimpse of a bushy tail or colored wing disappearing into the darkness.

The guard gulped. He had weapons at his disposal, he could shock the lot of them if he had the mind to. But this wet floor, would it amplify the effect of the collars? He wanted to punish them, but he didn't want anypony seriously hurt. That could spell trouble for him. His brain was telling him that the best course of action now was to get to the basement and fast before the escaped ponies could jump him.

He started into a gallop, no longer paying mind to the noise he was making. He never thought he'd actually be afraid of them. It was supposed to be the other way around, and now here he was on the run.

His hoof splashed into a small puddle, his haste causing him to slip and collapse onto the floor with a wet thud and lose his telekinetic grip on his flashlight. He never made to rise, but simply lifted his head slightly.

What was even scarier than the idea of being assaulted by a group of ponies that he knew for a fact hated him was the eerie silence that suddenly filled the malls corridors. Not a single splash, not a faint flap, not a sound at all. They must have been messing with him, content to see him flee in terror of the ponies he helped keep prisoner. That sadistic notion just made his spine tingle more. His eyes moved forward, hoping to pierce the darkness without the aid of his flashlight.

But he didn't need it.

Sitting just a few meters away from him were more than a dozen glowing, beady, little eyes, staring him down through the veil of blackness. The guard broke into a cold sweat, the heat seemingly sucked from his body. With what willpower he had left, he scrambled for his flashlight, in no frame of mind to grab it with his magic, and turned it on the monsters hiding in the darkness.

Not at all bothered by the bright light were more than a dozen cute, fluffy, adorable animals, from kittens to puppies to ferrets and guinea pigs, sitting innocently and looking just gosh darn lovable. Puppies sat with their tongues hanging out and tails wagging; kittens groomed their damp fur; birds absentmindedly preened their feathers. Just a bunch of pets that had apparently escaped from the pet store.

But none of this eased the mind of the quivering guard who continued to stare with wide eyes and horror as if these animals were beasts from the bowels of Tartarus.

That's when he heard a voice echo from the shadows. Quiet and unintimidating on its own, but it was the words it spoke that filled his heart with untold terror.

"Sic 'em."

In an instant the herd of animals pounced toward him mercilessly. His terrified scream was quickly stifled as the critters pinned him down and piled on top of him, bombarding him with a vicious salvo of affectionate licks and cozy nuzzles.

"No! Get away from me! I'm ah...ah...AH-CHOO!" The subdued guard let out a flurry of uncontrolled sneezes, completely negating his ability to speak.

A pegasus mare with a large, red parrot perched on her head slowly emerged from the darkness, looking a touch concerned, but also a little satisfied. She approached the prone guard and spoke softly, yet sternly, at him.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. security guard, sir, but you were being very mean to some friends of mine and I don't like it when people bully other ponies. I know you're just doing your job, but Mr. Payroll is a bad man and you'd just try to stop us from bringing him to justice."

The unicorn simply groaned in response. He could barely make out the face of the mare speaking to him through his puffy and teary eyes.

"My friends here are going to keep you company for now so you don't try and interfere, okay? You just need to wait until we take care of your colleagues. Afterward, I'll be sure to get you some allergy medication. Sorry."

Still unable to move, the guard could hear the mare walking away, leaving him at the mercy of this adorable pile of fur and dander. Though her voice was soft and kind, he could feel some unseen force bearing down on him that told him that he should probably just do as she says for fear of his safety and his sanity.

Fluttershy peered back over her shoulder at the submissive guard and the animals that continued to deliver lick after lick and nuzzle after nuzzle. "Oh my. I hope we weren't to hard on him," she mused as she removed a walkie talkie from her saddlebags. She pressed the button on its side to contact her comrades. "This is Fluttershy. Objective complete."

***** ***** *****

The earth pony guard moaned in aggravation for what must have been the tenth time since separating from his co-workers, fruitlessly attempting to wipe the moisture that had stained his uniform. He wasn't even paying attention to his surroundings so much as he was cussing under his breath at the miscreant that had apparently set off the sprinklers.

"I swear to Celestia, when I find those troublemakers..." He didn't bother to finish his thought; it's not like they were around to hear his threat anyway.

Or were they?

A bright light that had been shining from around the next corner caught his attention. He quirked an eyebrow in confusion, but soon curled it into a scowl. "Well, I guess I know where to start looking."

The guard cautiously approached the corner before slowly peeking his head around it, hoping that, if they were here, they wouldn't spot him. However, nopony was in sight. The light, in fact, was coming from one of the mall's larger entertainment outlets: Playground Paradise.

So, they thought they could sneak out and have a little party, eh? He chuckled quietly as he contemplated the idea of "crashing" said party. He could practically see the looks on their faces already when he strolled in there and caught them in the act. He was definitely looking forward to that bonus.

The guard poised himself and prepared to bust the little brats. He quickly jumped around the corner and pointed his hoof forward authoritatively. "Alright, you punks, drop everything and—"

He paused and his expression fell. There was nopony there. The playground was completely deserted.

The guard let out a disappointed groan as his hoof landed on the floor again. Admittedly, he had been hoping to find somepony here. At least then this night wouldn't be so dull. Had he been paying more attention, he certainly would have noticed how quiet the place was. The prisoners must have already gone back to the basement or are loitering somewhere else in the mall. The bright lights were the only indication that somepony had been here at all. That and the inflated bouncy castle.

The earth pony begrudgingly sauntered up to the rubber construct and made to switch the generator to deflate the giant eyesore. He realized, however, that the machine wasn't even on. In fact, the pump wasn't plugged into the castle. In it's place was a run-of-the-mill bicycle pump. The guard blinked as he tried to wrap his brain around what he was seeing. With curiosity he plucked the pump's hose from the castle. With a steady hiss of air the structure began to deflate and flatten normally. The stallion simply shook his head. He had no idea what those mongrels were up to, but they were certainly going to explain themselves, he was going to make sure of that.

With the castle fully capable of returning to its dormant state of its own accord, the guard made to return to his patrol and turned to the exit. He paused. A pink tail could be briefly seen disappearing past the playground's entrance, accompanied by the hurried sound of hoofsteps galloping down the hall.

The guard smirked. "Gotcha."

Without hesitation he gave chase, immediately flipping his flashlight into his mouth and bursting into a full gallop. He turned the corner leading out of the playground without slowing at all, intent on catching the escaped pony. He knew he was gaining ground, or at the very least was keeping pace; the other pony's hoofsteps were still quite audible and close enough for him to determine where they were headed: the nearby food court.

Even if it had been hours since anypony had been there, a faint mixture of aromas was still present within the food court. The guard skidded to a halt when he arrived. His eyes darted back and forth, thoroughly scanning the circular court. He scoffed at the dead silence as it made it apparent that he had lost the runner. They could have ducked into any of the diners lining the area.

He methodically guided his flashlight across the area, hoping to catch a glimpse of something that would point out their hiding place. He saw nothing out of the ordinary other than the light's reflection off of the small puddles of water on the floor. Sort of made one wonder who Payroll was going to force to clean it all up.

The silence was suddenly broken by a metallic clang. The earth pony's ears swiveled to the left, following the source of the noise. Shining his flashlight in the same direction revealed not only the miscreant's hideaway, but the miscreant themselves. He barely had time to register that the offender was apparently a mare, but not enough time to discern their features before they vanished into the adjacent store: a bakery. The guard bolted toward them, grinning triumphantly now that they had made the mistake of cornering themselves.

The moment he stepped into the dark pastry shop, the light of his flashlight was drowned as the lights of the store flicked on. The stallion lifted his hoof to shield his eyes from the sudden assault of light. When he lowered it, what he saw was most assuredly not what he was expecting.

Lined up all around the room were an assortment of military siege weaponry, from cannons to catapults to ballistae, all decorated as if they were to be part of an extravagant parade and loaded with cakes, pies and other pastries as ammunition.

And positioned in the middle of the unmanned assault was a pink mare reclined in a lawn chair, her hind legs crossed casually and her front hooves resting under her chin. Topping off what was already a rather intimidating scenario was the sinister grin on the pink pony's face and the malicious glint in her bright, blue eyes.

The shock of the whole scene caused the guard's jaw to drop, allowing his flashlight to clatter to the floor. He took a cautious step back, his mind telling him to run. Run fast. But before he could, the mare spoke. She quietly uttered a single, terrifying word.

"Surprise."

The quiet of the food court was suddenly shattered by the snapping of drawstrings and the igniting of cannons as the air in the bakery was filled with flying pastries, all hurtling toward the wide-eyed guard. He was barely able to turn tail before the barrage was upon him, splattering him with innumerable desserts and covering him with delicious, but debilitating, frosting. Within moments the stallion found himself buried and dazed beneath a mountain of confectionery delights.

Pinkie Pie's sinister smile quickly transformed into one of innocence and amusement. She gleefully bounded from her seat and hopped over to the mound of sugary yumminess. She stuck out her tongue and proceeded to scoop a hefty amount of icing into her mouth, revealing the face of the bewildered and dizzied security guard buried beneath it.

Pinkie gulped down the frosting and licked the remainder from her lips. "Woo-wee, that was fun! I don't get many chances to bust out my patented 'Ballistic Party Assault Force'," she giggled.

"Where did you even get all this stuff anyway?" Candy Cane asked as she stepped out from behind the counter and sized up the assorted weapons for the second time.

"Buckea. They have everything." Pinkie Pie bucked her withers up slightly, causing one of her walkie talkies to pop out of her saddlebags and onto her hoof as well as a green army helmet which landed squarely on her head. She put on her serious face and clicked the button on its side. "Come in, Captain Dash. This is Private Pinkie Pie and Colonel Candy Cane reporting. The target has been neutralized. Repeat: target neutralized. Awaiting further orders."

Candy poked the dazed, pastry-covered guard. A small, hopeful grin creased her lips. "You know, this plan might actually work. We might actually get out of here."

Pinkie Pie replaced her helmet and radio back into her saddlebags and smiled confidently. "Of course! This is Rainbow Dash's idea and she never lets her friends down. So it's gotta work or else they'll be let down, and we can't let that happen, right?"

Candy giggled at her new friend's optimism. "Right, gotcha."

***** ***** *****

The pegasus guard whipped his flashlight back and forth, fully intent on catching the escaped prisoners. So far, nothing, but he remained ever vigilant; those mongrels weren't going to get away with whatever shenanigans they were trying to pull.

He knew something was up though. They rarely ever pull stunts like this knowing what punishment awaits them when they were caught. The only time they did was when a new one showed up and got themselves trapped in here. Newcomers always had a case of denial during the first few nights and would foolishly attempt escape. It never worked out for them though.

So, of course, he knew what was up: there was a new face in here somewhere, and a new face meant going over the rules and what exactly happens when those rules are broken. Problem was, unlike his co-workers, he despised the idea of adding new bodies to the "work force"; all it meant was more work for him. Despite the fact that they didn't have to care about the prisoners, they still needed to be fed. Didn't mean he had to give them good food, but he wasn't looking forward to hauling an extra plate down there.

The pegasus let out an impatient sigh. "Just show yourselves already, ya little punks. I ain't looking for ya all night."

His grumbling was interrupted when the silence of the corridor was suddenly disturbed by something other than his own hoofsteps. It sounded like a hollow, metallic clatter. And the sound persisted, growing ever closer. He beamed his flashlight forward, the light reflecting off of an empty soda can that was rolling towards him before coming to a stop against his hoof.

The guard looked ahead, his eyes following a trail of the can's remaining droplets along the white, tile floor. It didn't lead far, stopping at a nearby trash bin. He leisurely approached the receptacle, fully confident that his prey was trapped. With no attempt at subtlety, he flipped the lid off and shone his light as he peered inside. The nervous smile of a pegasus colt stared back at him from within.

"Heh. H-Hello," Peppercorn stammered.

The intimidating adult simply glared at the colt. "You're in a lot of trouble, kid."

"Um, actually, I can explain this."

The statement was followed by silence. The guard's eye's shifted back and forth briefly as he waited.

"Well, aren't you gonna—Oof!"

Peppercorn forcefully rammed the inside of the can, knocking the edge into the guard's chest and causing him to stagger backward and drop his flashlight. The can fell over at the same time, Peppercorn not wasting a moment to get out of there and taking flight down the hall.

"Ugh. You little brat!"

Not bothering to grab his flashlight, he guard made chase, following the colt into the air. Peppercorn looked back to see his pursuer hot on his tail and gaining ground. No matter how fast he flew, the guard was bigger and stronger than him, he'd catch up eventually. His only option was to outmaneuver him and hide when he wasn't looking.

Peppercorn dipped down and flew under one of the mall's many map boards, confident that the larger pegasus wouldn't fit. Unfortunately the guard didn't follow him, instead keeping true and flying straight over the sign. This ended up putting Peppercorn directly beneath him now. He'd just have to drop down and grab the colt to end the chase.

But Peppercorn was first to act. He thrust his hooves down onto the floor, skidding to a stop, forcing the guard to sail far ahead of him. The pursuing adult flared out his wings suddenly when he realized he'd been duped, halting in midair and turning around with an aggravated snarl. He turned in time to see the little one ducking into a nearby store and bolted after him.

The guard touched down outside the outlet, taking a brief moment to glance at the sign above reading "Tic Tac's Toys." He cautiously stepped inside, scanning the store thoroughly, but saw no sign of the kid. He flapped his wings lightly to get a view of the whole store. It was dark without the aid of his flashlight, but he'd be able to spot any sudden movements. Seeing that an aerial view wasn't going to help much, he touched down again and remained motionless at the store's entrance.

"I ain't moving, kid, so you're either gonna have to come out or stay holed up in here all night. What's it gonna be?"

"Ah-choo! Oops..."

The guard's head turned, the sound directing his attention to a bin of large, colorful, rubber balls. As he reached in to grab the concealed child, one of the balls bounced up, hitting him squarely in the nose. Once again, he stumbled back in surprise, giving Peppercorn the opportunity to burst out of the bin and make a beeline for the exit. The stallion turned to resume the chase, but a second figure dropped down from above the entrance, slamming the store's metal shutter closed in his face with a resounding clang.

The guard quickly made to pull it back open and give the kid's cohort a piece of his mind, but the shutter didn't budge; it was locked in place. He began angrily pounding on the metal barrier. "Hey! Open this thing up right now or I'm gonna—"

"You're gonna what?" came a mare's voice from the other side. "The way I see it, you're in no position to be bossing us around. We have you outnumbered and outgunned."

The stallion paused for a moment. "Outgunned? What, you have weapons or something?"

"Not us," the mare answered, "but our friends do."

The toy store was suddenly filled with a cacophony of electronic beeps and whirs, as well as an eerie red glow. The guard turned around to find countless toy robots perched on the shelves behind him, their menacing, red eyes and loaded, ballistic weaponry all fixed on him. One of the robots spoke in a deep, synthetic voice.

"Target acquired."

Outside, all Peppercorn and Rainbow Dash could hear was a symphony of laser blasters and missile fire accompanied by the panicked yelps of their helpless victim. They waited in silence, listening for any activity from within the store. After a moment, another robot spoke.

"Enemy neutralized."

Dash raised her hoof in the air and Peppercorn hopped up with a victorious whoop, clacking his own hoof against hers.

"We did it, Miss Dash! We got 'im!"

"Got that right. Poor sucker never knew what hit him."

Peppercorn stared at Rainbow Dash with a hopeful smile. "Does that mean we won? We can go home now?"

Dash chuckled and pat the colt's head. "Not quite. We still have one more person to deal with."

***** ***** *****

If anypony were to ask if there was ever a time when the city of Manehattan was quiet and peaceful, they would probably respond with a confident "no." Even in the dead of night it always seemed like somepony, somewhere, was doing something do disturb the tranquility. But not this night it seemed. Tonight, by some freak phenomenon, Manehattan was asleep. At least, that's how it seemed in any case. The streets were empty, the city lights dim and the air silent, but that couldn't last forever.

The elusive, silent twilight that shrouded the city was finally beginning to recede as the first rays of amber sunlight poured out from over the horizon, bathing the skyscrapers in its aura and giving them the appearance of colossal, golden obelisks. After a long night's rest it was time for Manehattan to awaken.

A lone stallion, garbed in his usual grey suit and glasses, leisurely ascended the stairs of Manehattan Mall, ready to welcome another day of profit and success. As Vault Payroll approached the doors he removed a small key from his suit pocket, safely tethered to him by a silver chain. He inserted the key and, at his prompt, all of the doors clicked open simultaneously. This was his empire. Even the very foundation of the building obeyed his every command.

However, it only took one step inside to tell him that something was wrong. Instead of an echoing clop when his hoof touched the floor, there was a tiny splish.

"What the—" Vault observed the many puddles of water dotting the floor of his mall. His brow curled, accompanied by a displeased groan. "It appears somepony needs a refresher course on the rules."

"You can say that again."

Vault's head shot up at the sound of the vaguely familiar voice. Standing ahead of him, several yards away, were the three Ponyville mares he had met the day before, one of them sporting a bright red parrot on her head. And with them approximately twenty other familiar faces that he was never keen on seeing for more reasons than one. Rounding out the gathering were three of his overnight security guards, tied together with a long piece of rope, completely incapacitated.

Vault was taken aback by the sight, a look of shock on his face. "W-What's going on here?! What's the meaning of this?!"

Rainbow Dash stomped forward aggressively. Vault instinctively took a step back. "We're putting an end to your reign of terror, that's what!"

"You're an awful, awful man, Mr. Payroll," Fluttershy said sternly. "Taking all these ponies away from their homes and their families. It's unforgivable."

"Unforgivable!" the parrot echoed with a whistle.

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie added with a point of her hoof. "It's super boring down there! These people have been bored outta their gourds!"

Vault growled furiously at his aggressors. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?! I am Vault Payroll, the single richest pony in all of Manehattan and the most powerful! These...cretins trespassed on my property, therefore they owe it me to make up for the damages they've caused!"

"Damages? What damages?" Rainbow Dash shot back. "All I see here are a bunch of ponies who got lost and trapped or fell asleep in the mattress store. The only one here who's done anything wrong is you!"

"Do you have any idea what these plebeians do during the run of a night?" Vault snarled. "I'm out hundreds of bits because they can't keep their hooves to themselves."

"And what to you expect?" the prismatic pegasus retorted. "You're holding them here against their will. They hate your guts and wanna do whatever they can to get back at you. Besides, if they're really such a problem for you, just let 'em go."

"Hmph," the old stallion scoffed. "Do prisons release their inmates when they misbehave? No, they punish them. And we will continue to punish them and anypony else who disrespects my property!"

Vault stood in the path of dozens of eyes, staring at him with greatly restrained rage. It was entirely obvious that more than one of them were likely contemplating to outright attack him. The fire in their eyes would not be quelled easily. Still, he remained firm. Vault wouldn't be done in by a rabble of common ponies.

However, the eyes of the cyan pegasus standing at the head of the group that had just been chewing him out suddenly showed something else. Although a hint of anger lingered in her magenta irises, they were now oddly relaxed, her brow not furrowed like the others. He could even swear that there was a slight smile on her lips.

"Hmm," hummed Rainbow Dash as she closed her eyes in thought. "Okay. I guess that makes sense."

That caught Vault off guard. "Huh? Are you saying you understand the situation from my point of view?"

Dash simply shrugged in response. "Sure. You have a point." The mare turned to the three, bound guards. She reached down and picked up a portable radio that was lying next to them, quietly buzzing with static. She held the device to her mouth. "What do you think, Sarge?"

Sweat began to pour over Vault's face as a gruff voice responded from the other end.

"I agree, Miss Dash. If he's going to compare his mall to a prison then he shouldn't see too much of a difference when he gets there."

"W-Who is that?!" Vault stammered worriedly.

The quiet morning air of Manehattan was suddenly shattered by the wailing of sirens in the city's streets. Vault spun around in time to see half a dozen navy blue stagecoaches with flashing red and blue lights on top of them pulling up outside the mall. They all bore the emblem of the Manehattan Police Department on their sides.

"That's Sergeant Howitzer," Rainbow Dash answered with a heroic grin. "Don't worry, you'll get to meet him in a minute."

Vault was completely lost for words and unable to move. More than a dozen uniformed ponies were stampeding up the steps, heading straight for him. All he could think to do was turn back to the mares who cost him everything and hate them with every fiber of his being.

***** ***** *****

The entrance of Manehattan Mall was utterly choked. In less than half an hour the city streets outside the gargantuan shopping center were chalk full of the city's citizens, their curiosity's piqued by the sound of sirens and the brightly flashing lights that had overpowered the orange tint of the sunrise. The crowd was innumerable and overwhelming; there weren't enough police officers in all of Manehattan to keep them under control. They tried, but there was only so much they could do.

Queries and concerns flowed from the curious crowd, bombarding the officers with questions about why the proprietor of their beloved Manehattan Mall was being placed under arrest. The police, of course, could not answer everypony's questions at once, simply opting to tell them that an investigation was underway and they were not ready to release any information to the public. This did little to quell the rabble of ponies. All the denizens of Manehattan knew for certain was that Vault Payroll was currently being escorted off the premises in cuffs.

The early morning sun was like a beacon of hope shining in the sky. Heroes had emerged from the darkness this day and justice had been served. It would probably take some time for the average citizen to fully comprehend the situation, but there was one group of ponies who were just glad to step outside again.

Patchwork reached up and grabbed the collar that had been strapped to his neck for two years. With a spiteful tug, the collar fell off, the stallion throwing it to the ground and rubbing his newly liberated neck. A sigh escaped his lips, one of relief and undying gratitude, and he smiled.

"That's the last of them, sir," said a unicorn officer. With his magic he held a small remote that had been found on Vault's person. The furious businessman begrudgingly divulged that it was the key to the shock collars strapped to his helpless victims.

Sergeant Howitzer nodded to his subordinate before turning to the three out-of-towners standing before him. The gruff stallion stroked his black beard as he contemplated what to say to them. "I can't thank you enough on behalf of our fair city for what you've done, ladies."

Pinkie Pie waved her hoof dismissively. "Aw, shucks, t'weren't nothin'," she said, mimicking a southern accent.

"We couldn't just turn a blind eye to ponies in need," added Fluttershy. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if we hadn't done anything."

Rainbow Dash rubbed her chest, staring nonchalantly at her hoof. "All in a day's work for heroes really."

"I'm sure," Sergeant Howitzer said with a deep chuckle. "But seriously, this was a big favor you did for us. We've suspected Payroll of criminal activity for over a decade now, but could never get a warrant to investigate. The guy had too much pull in this city for us to get within a hundred feet of him. But now that we got his recorded confession, we can put him away for a long time and get these poor ponies back to their families."

The stallion extended his hoof to Rainbow Dash in a show of gratitude. The pegasus grinned proudly and shook with the officer. Howitzer tipped his hat to the three mares as he turned to join the rest of his fellow officers in trying to keep the civilian population under control.

"Wait a minute!"

Sergeant Howitzer nearly tripped over himself, startled by the high-pitched blare of Pinkie Pie's voice.

"What's gonna happen to the mall?" she asked, her face overflowing with worry. "Vault Payroll might have been a bad guy, but this place has given joy to so many people. You're not gonna close it down, are you?"

Howitzer looked into the big, round eyes of the pink earth pony who seemed to be on the verge of tears. The officer groaned and scratched his head. "Well, miss, the place will have to be shut down for a while until we can complete a full investigation and make sure Payroll wasn't breaking any other laws as well."

Pinkie looked like she was ready to start bawling.

"However," he continued, "we've already contacted Payroll's family. Since it's pretty likely he's going to prison, we thought it best to let them know. Turns out that he had planned to put his daughter, Salary Payroll, in charge should something happen to him."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Salary Payroll?"

Howitzer nodded. "Yup. Actually she's on here way here now. Should be here any minute in fact."

No sooner had he said that did a divide form in the gathering of ponies at the entrance. The officer and the three mares could see a small, bespectacled filly, garbed in a rather expensive looking and adorable, purple suit making her way through the crowd as if she had no idea there were any other ponies present. She was flanked on either side by two sharply dressed business unicorns who were quietly and busily jotting down notes.

"...and I need all of those vending machines that give you dumb stuff like granola bars replaced by big gumball machines. And go to all the toy stores and get rid of those stupid robot toys and give 'em pretty dolls instead. And make more toy stores. There needs to be more toy stores. Oh, and those icky sporting goods stores gotta go too. Just turn 'em into jewelry stores or hair salons or fancy dress stores. Oh, wait! Make 'em someplace where you can dress like princesses and have tea parties! And can we turn the stadium into a statue garden? Just make sure there's a big statue of me in the middle. And there's gotta be something we can replace all the 'healthy' garbage in the food court with, right? Candy? Yeah, that sounds good. And another thing..."

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Sergeant Howitzer all looked on in quiet concern as the pompous tot brushed past them and went further into the mall, her mouth never letting up to give her assistants a chance to rest. Fluttershy the parrot ruffled his feathers in displeasure.

Rainbow Dash grimaced at the sight of the tyrannical tyke. "I think this place might be in trouble."

"In any case, I have other business to attend to. Have a nice day, ladies." Sergeant Howitzer tipped his hat to the mares and trotted out of the building, making sure to give a gracious wave goodbye.

Fluttershy looked around the crowded entrance of the mall. Although the police weren't able to prevent all of the curious citizens from getting inside, very few of them made it further than that, choosing instead to loiter around the entrance in hope of finding some information about the situation.

"There's an awful lot of people here," the yellow pegasus commented. "I wonder how difficult it's going to be for the police to run their investigation."

"Squwark! Difficult!"

"What if we have a party to celebrate that we defeated the bad guy?" Pinkie Pie suggested, pulling a party horn from her bag and blowing loudly into it. "That'll tucker 'em all out and they'll wanna go home for some beddy-bye."

Fluttershy let out a weary sigh. "Actually, that sounds like a good idea. Uh, the last part I mean. About the beddy-bye. We've been up all night." She accented her agreement with a long yawn, accompanied by her parrot tucking his head into his wing.

Rainbow Dash found the gesture to be quite contagious, unable to stifle a yawn herself. "Yeah, some shuteye sounds pretty good right about now. How about we catch the next train back to—"

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Rainbow Dash nearly fell over as a small blur shot past her. Peppercorn was charging forward at full speed towards a pair of pegasus ponies not far away; one a black stallion with a white mane and the other white mare with a black mane. Their flanks bore images of pepper and salt shakers respectively. As soon as the pair heard the young colt cry out, their faces lit up with tearful smiles, opening their forelegs to embrace the colt in a longing and loving hug.

Dash shared glances with her friends, the satisfaction of reuniting a child with their parents making their hearts swell with joy. Fluttershy wiped a stray tear from her eye before it could trail down her cheek.

The three observed the affectionate display before them. Peppercorn was gesturing excitedly with a large grin on his face. He was obviously regaling the night's events to his parents. He then turned around and pointed directly at Rainbow Dash. His parents followed his hoof to the cyan mare and smiled gratefully before being lead to her by the ecstatic colt.

"Mom! Dad! This is Rainbow Dash! She's the one who saved everypony!"

Dash waved off the praise modestly. "I can't take all the credit. I couldn't have done it without my friends here," she admitted, gesturing to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. She planted a hoof on Peppercorn's head and tousled to kid's mane. "And this little guy was a huge help too."

Rainbow Dash found herself suddenly set upon by a tearful mare, Peppercorn's mother wrapping her hooves around her in a tight, gratuitous hug. When the mare finally released her, she rubbed the tears from her eyes smiled widely.

"There's no possible way we could ever thank you enough for what you did," she sobbed happily.

"We've been a complete mess ever since our son disappeared two months ago," Peppercorn's father added. "To have him back is truly a blessing from Princess Celestia herself."

Pinkie Pie tilted her head. "I guess we kinda work for the princess in a way, so that makes sense. We're like...Celestia's angels or something," she said with a giggle.

"We're happy to do it, sir, ma'am," Fluttershy said with a curt nod. "It was so sad to hear that a poor little colt had been separated from his mom and dad."

"He ain't so little anymore," Rainbow Dash laughed. "This kid's a real hero now."

Peppercorn hopped around excitedly. "Yeah! It was so awesome! It was just like something out of a Daring Do adventure! I was Rainbow Dash's sidekick!"

The colt's father chuckled. "Looks like he's taken a shine to you, Miss Dash."

"Can you blame him?" she boasted with a laugh.

"I think you three should probably head home," Fluttershy suggested. "You haven't seen one another in a couple of months. I'm sure you want to spend some quality time together after all of this."

The mother placed a hoof around her son's shoulder and held him close, having deeply missed her little colt. "That's a wonderful idea. Let's go home, Peppy."

"Okay," the colt agreed with a nod. "Bye, Miss Dash, Miss Pie, Miss Fluttershy."

"Thank you so much once again," the father added. "If there's ever anything we can do to repay you, don't hesitate to ask."

The three mares watched the newly reunited family as they made their way home. Rainbow Dash felt a niggling in her mind, like she couldn't just let her sidekick leave without something to commemorate the adventure they had together.

"Peppercorn, hold up!"

The colt turned back to his new hero who casually trotted up to him with a proud and somewhat bittersweet smile.

"Hey, listen," she started, scratching her head. "Um... You know, having you around made last night pretty fun. I've never really had a sidekick before. It was pretty cool."

The colt's grin widened in response to the praise, clearly pleased with what he heard.

"So..." Rainbow Dash paused. For a moment she hesitated to say what she wanted to say, but mentally slapped herself to knock any selfish notions from her mind. This kid put himself on the line to help her out. If anypony was deserving to walk away from this adventure with a piece of treasure, it was him. Dash opened her saddlebags and pulled out a plastic-encased action figure and held it before the colt.

An elated gasp escaped his lungs, his mouth widening as much as his juvenile face would allow. "A Daring Do action figure!? I've always wanted one of these, but Mom and Dad said they were always sold out when they checked." He was about to reach out to grab it but stopped himself. He looked Rainbow Dash straight in the eye with a serious and worried expression. "You're really letting me have this?"

The cyan mare hesitated to respond before giving her conscious another good slap. Even if this toy was sure to become a collector's item in the future, nothing was more precious than making somepony else happy. She saw the same glint in Peppercorn's eyes that she had when she was a filly and her dad would buy her the toys she always wanted. He would enjoy it far more than she would. She smiled assuredly to the colt. "Sure, kiddo. You've been trapped here for a long time, you deserve to have some fun. Plus, this way you can make up own adventures."

Peppercorn cautiously took the toy in his hooves, staring at it in complete awe. The young colt wrapped his hooves around Rainbow Dash's leg and looked up at her with a grateful grin. "Thanks. For everything."

Dash pat the kid's head lightly before he released her from his embrace and returned to his parents' sides, ready to head home and regain the time they'd lost.

"Isn't that beautiful?" said Fluttershy with a emotional smile. "That feeling you get when you help somepony in need. There's nothing like it. Right, Pinkie?"

Fluttershy hadn't expected her friend's response to take more than a second, but actually she received no response at all. Looking to her surprisingly silent friend, Fluttershy found Pinkie Pie staring off to the side.

"Pinkie? What are looking at?" the pegasus inquired.

The party pony was jostled out of her silent state by the question and turned to Fluttershy. "Hm? Oh, I was just watching Candy. Look."

The pair of pegasi followed Pinkie's pointing hoof, noticing Candy Cane hugging a portly, mustachioed stallion whose eyes were full of tears and lips curled into a smile of overflowing joy.

"That must Candy's dad," Rainbow Dash surmised.

"Let's go say 'hi'!" chirped Pinkie Pie as she began to bound her way over to her new friend.

It wasn't hard for Candy to hear the other pink pony's spritely hops. She turned to the approaching mares with a smile creasing her tear-stained cheeks.

"Dad, these are my friends and the ones who saved us," Candy informed the stallion, a noticeable catch in her voice. She pointed to each of them to introduce them. "This is Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie."

"Hello, Mr. Candy Cane's Dad!" Pinkie greeted exuberantly. "It's so nice to meet—hurk!"

The stallion suddenly threw his hooves around Pinkie Pie's neck, squeezing her tightly and sobbing openly in an almost comical fashion.

"Can't...breathe..." Pinkie Pie managed to choke out from the affectionate death grip, her pink face turning a dull shade of blue.

"Sorry. He can be a little oversensitive sometimes," Candy whispered.

"Uh huh...ghk..."

"Dad, you can let her go now."

In an instant, the stallion's weeping ceased as if he had just snapped out of a trance. "Hm? Oh, yes, of course. Sorry about that, dear filly." Finally releasing Pinkie from his embrace, the mare was allowed a much needed gasp of air and her face returned to its original color.

Rainbow Dash leaned in and whispered into her ear with a smirk. "Now you know how it feels, huh?"

"Oh, dear me. My deepest apologies, my dear," Candy's father said as he wiped the remaining moisture from his eyes. "You'll have to forgive me, I'm just so overcome with emotion to have my sweet, little filly back after all this time. My name is Lolly Pop. Most people just call me Pop."

"It's nice to meet you, Pop," Fluttershy greeted kindly, offering her hoof to the stallion.

Instead of shaking her hoof as she had expected, Pop held it with his own, leaning in to kiss it gently. "The pleasure is all mine, my dear. I'm simply overjoyed to see that my darling daughter's saviors not only act as angels, but share their visage as well."

Fluttershy blushed at the compliment, unable to keep a small smile from her lips. Her parrot ruffled his feathers defensively. Candy, however, seemed a tad off put by the display. "Dad, can you, you know, not do that? Please? I'm standing right here."

Pop shook his head furiously and chuckled heartily. "Ha ha, no, no, Candy, sweetie. I was simply expressing just how grateful I am." He turned back to the trio of mares, his face much more somber now. "Although there's nothing I can possibly do to express just how thankful I am to you three. After her mother passed away a few years ago, Candy has been the most important part of my life. To discover she had gone missing was absolutely devastating. Every day my will to continue going about my life diminished more and more." He took Pinkie Pie's hoof in his and held it graciously. "She's the only thing I have left. I couldn't stand to lose her. And so, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you." Pop's mood quickly perked back up. "I know it's only a fraction of what I wish I could give you as a reward, but if you ever come by our shop, you can help yourself to as many candy treats as you like, free of charge. It's the least I can do."

Pinkie Pie couldn't prevent her mouth from dropping open into the widest smile her jaw would allow and gasping with sheer delight at the prospect. Rainbow Dash could clearly see that sparkle in her eye and rolled her own, knowing exactly what was going through her simple mind.

"I'm gonna give you the authority to revoke that privilege if and when you need to. Otherwise, you'll been eaten out of house and home."

Pop could see the trickle of drool that was beginning to drip from the corner of Pinkie's mouth. He chuckled nervously. "Heh, um, yes, thank you for the warning."

Candy slowly approached the entranced party mare and gave her a grateful hug, snapping Pinkie from her reverie. "Thank you so much. It wasn't enough to get to go back home and see my dad again, but I got to make three great friends in the process."

"Aw, you're welcome, Candy," Pinkie reciprocated, returning the hug.

Although he was hesitant to break them apart, Pop called out to his daughter. "Come along, dear. We have a lot of catching up to do."

Candy returned to her father's side, a joyous smile on her face. Before leaving, she turned back to her friends. "Don't be strangers, okay?"

Fluttershy waved to the pair as they left. "Bye, Candy."

"Bye bye! Squwark!"

"Take good care of your dad," added Rainbow Dash.

"Make sure to put the best candy away for when I visit! Byeeeee!" Pinkie Pie called out after them.

It was evident by how quickly they disappeared that the crowd gathered at the mall's entrance was not dwindling, but growing. Word was spreading at an alarming rate about the commotion at Manehattan Mall and everypony who was the least bit curious was showing up to investigate the scene. They certainly weren't making it easy for Sergeant Howitzer and his officers.

However, despite the ever-growing population of the immediate area, one lone, earth pony stallion was distraught about not spotting the one person that he was looking for. Patchwork sighed heavily. Left and right he saw the ponies he had been imprisoned with reuniting with their lost loved ones. Families becoming whole again and lovers returning to their soul mate's embrace.

"Patch? You alright, buddy?" Rainbow Dash asked him in a concerned tone. "You look kinda down for a guy who just got his freedom back."

"She's not here."

The three mares tilted their heads, perplexed.

"Who's not here?" asked a curious and worried Fluttershy.

Patchwork sighed again. "My fiancé. Everypony else gets to go back to their families and loved ones, but the one person I love more than anything else isn't here."

Pinkie Pie draped a hoof over the stallion's shoulder, putting on her best comforting smile. "Come on, buck up, buster. She's gotta be here somewhere. She probably just got lost in the crowd, that's all."

Patch just seemed to grow more and more dejected with each passing moment, soon letting his flank slump to the ground. "There's no way I wouldn't have seen her if she were here. I could pick her out of a crowd twice this size." A small tear began to form in his eye. "Who am I kidding? It's been two years. She's probably moved on by now."

"You've spent so long in captivity. Is this now what you think of me?"

Patchwork's head shot up at the soothing sound of a mare's voice that seemed to block out the murmuring of the crowd. The three Ponyville mares followed his shocked gaze to see a tall, slender, zebra mare trotting elegantly toward them, her chocolate brown stripes contrasting against her flawless, white coat. Their attention was particularly drawn to her strikingly beautiful, violet eyes and the braided, brown and white mane hanging beside her face. Her flank bore a simple image of a lotus blossom, though Rainbow Dash and here friends still weren't entirely sure if this was a cutie mark or some sort of tribal tattoo from the zebra homeland.

The tear in Patchwork's eye was no longer one shed by sadness, but of overwhelming joy and happiness to see the familiar face. He sprang to his hooves and ran to her with all speed.

"Zenadine!"

Embracing the zebra with a face full of tears, Patchwork allowed the doubts that had slowly began to eat at him dissipate and vanish.

Rainbow Dash stared at the couple, her mouth agape in surprise. "That's your fiancé?! Dude! How the heck did you score a babe like her?!"

Fluttershy looked up in thought. "Wait, did he say 'Zenadine'? That name sounds familiar. Oh, I know! I remember hearing about her when I was modelling for Photo Finish. Zenadine's a very popular supermodel. She's been on the cover of a bunch of magazines."

Dash somehow managed to look even more shocked than she had been already; her jaw was practically on the floor "A supermodel?!"

The three of them were so flabbergasted by this revelation that they hardly noticed that the newly-reunited couple were now standing next to them. Patchwork gestured to the three mares. "Zenadine, these are my friends. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. They're the ones who saved me."

Rainbow Dash had been about to attempt to articulate a proper sentence, but stopped when Zenadine bowed deeply to them.

"For these two years I have been praying to the sun. You have my deepest thanks for what you three have done."

Patch looked deeply into his fiancé's violet eyes. "I can't believe you actually waited for me all this time. Honestly, I wouldn't have blamed you if you had wanted to move on."

Zenadine giggled softly. "But I love you more than any other. More than a mother, father, or a brother."

Rainbow Dash waved her hoof frantically. "Wait wait wait, back up a bit. Can we get back to the part where you landed a supermodel?"

Patchwork scratched his head. "There's not much to tell really. I'm a tailor," he explained, pointing to his needle-and-thread cutie mark. "Zenadine came by my shop one day with a dress that needed stitching. We got to talking and really hit it off. We've been together ever since."

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, skepticism evident in her gaze. "Seems a little too simple if ya ask me."

Patch simply shrugged in response. "I don't know what else to tell you. That's how it happened."

Zenadine looked into the teal eyes of the yellow pegasus standing next to Rainbow Dash and gave a friendly smile. "I thought you looked familiar in my eye. Yes, you are indeed Fluttershy."

Fluttershy seemed taken aback that she was being addressed. "Huh? Oh, yes, I am. It's nice to meet you, Zenadine. I've heard so much about you."

"It is a shame we've never met before. The clothes you've modeled I simply adore."

Fluttershy allowed a more confident smile at the mention of her fashion line. "Actually, my close friend, Rarity, made those outfits. If you ever need the perfect dress for any occasion, you should visit her in Ponyville."

The zebra let out a quiet laugh. "Then I'll be sure to visit soon. Perhaps even for our honeymoon?" She passed a sultry glance to her fiancé who could only blush at the thought.

Shaking all embarrassment from his mind, Patchwork turned to his three saviors. "Listen, girls. I know you've heard this enough times today, but I can't thank you enough for everything. You three—"

Dash held up her hoof to stop him. "Hey, come on, you don't need to thank us. Seriously, if our heads get any bigger we won't be able to get out the door."

"Yeah, Dashie's head is already super humungous as it is," Pinkie Pie joked, placing her hooves on either side of Dash's head as she pretended to measure it.

"You two should stop wasting time here and get right back to your lives. You have two years to make up for," suggested Fluttershy.

The couple gazed lovingly into one another's eyes once more before agreeing with her.

"You are right, two years is a lot of time to spend alone. So, thank you for bringing my dear, sweet Patches home." Zenadine expressed her rekindled love with an intimate nuzzle against her lover's cheek.

"Maybe we'll see each other again in the near future. Apparently, Zenadine already has her sights set on a honeymoon destination." Patchwork turned to his special somepony, speaking to her softly. "Come on, Zenadine. Let's go home."

Before he could turn around, Rainbow Dash pulled Patch back momentarily, whispering in his ear. "Hey, just between you and me, does the rhyming thing get annoying after a while?"

Patchwork seemed slightly confused by the question at first, but shook his head and chuckled. "Not really. Actually, I think it's cute."

Dash took a second to analyze the genuineness of his response. Not seeing any sign that he was just saying that because she was standing right there, she just shrugged. "Different strokes, I guess."

And, with that, they left hoof in hoof to return home. Pinkie Pie waved goodbye until they disappeared within the crowd, wearing an exuberant smile. It was only then that she realized exactly how heavy her own leg suddenly felt. It seemed to drop to the floor of its own volition. It didn't take long for the rest of her body to feel much the same way.

Fluttershy let out a long yawn, barely able to keep her eyes open. Her feathered friend atop her head had already nestled snugly into her silky-smooth mane. "Gosh, we've been up all night. I don't think I've ever been awake for this long before."

The yellow mare's yawn was echoed by Rainbow Dash, who looked just about ready to curl up on the ceramic tile floor for a long nap. "I don't know about you guys, but I've had enough of the big city for one day. Whaddya say we catch the next train to Ponyville and get back home?"

Fluttershy nodded sleepily. "That sounds good. Though I'll probably just fall asleep on the train anyway."

"Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash addressed the party pony, noticing she hadn't said anything.

Pinkie Pie was just standing there, hanging her head low and not saying a word. Rainbow Dash gave her soft poke in the side.

"Snrk! Wha—Huh?"

"Pinkie, did you fall asleep standing up?"

Pinkie Pie rubbed her weary eyes. "Oh, no, I was jus'... The balloon and... Gingerbread... Zzzzzzz..."

Dash sighed as he watched her friend drift off to dreamland once again. Ducking her head underneath the sleepy pony, Rainbow Dash hoisted Pinkie onto her back and opted to carry her back to the train station.

***** ***** *****

The air in Ponyville was distinctly different than that of Manehattan. They had only been gone for one day, but the industrial aroma of the big city had a way of burning itself into one's memory. But as the purer, rural air began to waft through the windows of the train, they knew they were almost home. The scents of freshly fallen rain; the leaves on all the trees; the hundreds of apples from Sweet Apple Acres. They would have been hardly noticeable on any other day. They were just glad to be home.

The train's wheels screeched to a stop and the conductor blew the whistle loudly, indicating to the passengers that it was time to disembark. The three mares stepped out, breathing in Ponyville's humble atmosphere. Rainbow Dash stretched her muscles. Though they managed to get a few winks on the way, they weren't about to ignore the call of their warm, cushy beds. It may have still been before noon, but this day was going to have to make due without the three of them.

The trio remained silent as they made their way into town. They all felt as if any attempt at speaking would only result in groggy and incoherent mumbling, so it was probably best just to remain quiet for the time being. Though they wouldn't have any choice in the matter since they had already been spotted by their lavender coated friend out for an early morning jaunt.

"Girls, hi!" Twilight Sparkle called out to the trio. She seemed to somehow get the attention of the drowsy mares, enough for them to acknowledge her presence. "I didn't know you were coming back so early." The unicorn paused when she got closer, their current state now fully apparent. "Whoa. What happened to you three? You look like you just pulled an all-nighter."

Rainbow Dash nodded weakly. "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

Twilight smiled as she continued her inquiries. "So, how was Manehattan? Did you enjoy your trip?"

Pinkie Pie did her best to show enthusiasm, but could only muster a small smile, her eyelids refusing to open more than halfway. "It was sweet," she answered, unable to put her usual oomph behind it. "We had so much fun. I played in the bouncy castle and ate a lot of stuff and met some new friends."

"That's nice. As long as you enjoyed yourselves. What about you Flutter—Um..." It was only then that Twilight took notice of the bird upon Fluttershy's head. "Speaking of new friends..."

"Huh?" Fluttershy followed Twilight's gaze to the parrot, having forgotten in her sleep-deprived state that he'd been there. "Oh, right. Twilight, this is Fluttershy. And Fluttershy, this my friend, Twilight."

The unicorn quirked an eyebrow in confusion. "Geez, you guys must be tired if Fluttershy is getting her own name mixed up with that parrot's."

"Squwark! Hello!"

"Well, at least he's friendly," Twilight giggled. "So what exactly did you girls do to run yourselves so ragged?"

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof in dismissal and groaned. "Ugh. Look, it's a loooong story, alright? If you don't mind, I'd rather tell you everything at a time where my eyeballs don't feel like they're gonna fall out of my skull."

"Fair enough," the unicorn agreed with a nod. "Oh, but before you get going, I just want to ask how you enjoyed The Wonderbolts' show."

Despite her current physical state, Rainbow Dash's eyes shot open. She blinked, her expression completely blank. "The... Wonderbolts?

"Yeah. I thought the show wasn't until later today. I guess I was wrong though since you're already home and—"

"Horseapples! I completely forgot!"

Rainbow Dash, her weariness pushed to the wayside all of a sudden, grabbed Twilight by the face in a panic. "What time is it?!"

"Uhhh... Ish ten minush to twelve," she replied as best as she could with her cheeks smooshed together.

"Good! Great! Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie! Wake up! We're grabbing the twelve o' clock train back to Manehattan! I think we can still make it! MOVEMOVEMOVE!"

Without wasting another second, Rainbow Dash bolted back to the train station in a frenzied rush, leaving the others behind.

Pinkie Pie let out another yawn before shaking off her sleepless state as best as she could. "Okie dokie. See ya later, Twilight! Again!" The pink pony bounded off in the same direction as Rainbow Dash, her sleepiness still evident as she stumbled a few times along the way.

Fluttershy was about to follow suit, but stopped and turned back to Twilight. "Um, Twilight, could you please look after Fluttershy until we get back? He was pretty restless during the trip here; I don't think he likes the train much."

Twilight was utterly befuddled by the situation in its entirety, but managed a response, albeit a rather unsure one. "Uh, okay?"

"Thank you." Fluttershy smiled softly and gestured to the bird. The parrot, heeding the command, switched seats and perched upon the unicorn's deep purple mane.

"Hey! Fluttershy!" they heard the panicked voice of Rainbow Dash call out from the distance. "Get the lead out! We gotta go!"

"Oh, right. Bye, Twilight."

Fluttershy headed off in the direction of Dash's voice, following it to the train station as the cyan pegasus continued to pressure her to speed things up.

Twilight simply stood motionless in the middle of town, trying to wrap her head around what was going on. She glanced up to the parrot using her head as a chair and absentmindedly preening its wings whose care she had unexpectedly been put in charge of.

"Yeah, I think an explanation is in order."