The Quest Through Time

(A/N: For this beginning part, the song I’m using is “Immoral Melody” from Final Fantasy IX.)

Chapter 10

A shuttle began it’s descent towards the docking bay in Cloudsdale, close to where the Imperial forces stood. The shuttle was a sleek design, custom made for General Bellatrix, whom she herself was piloting. She took great pride in her ship, allowing no one else to pilot it except her and she always kept it in good shape, no matter what damage it took.

*Once it landed, the disembarking ramp lowered as Bellatrix made her way down. The soldiers stood at attention, along with Clash who was there to greet her. “Captain Nimbus,” she said. “I’m hoping things are going well?”

“The rebels are refusing to comply with a surrender,” Clash said, walking beside her. “We had no choice but threaten to bomb City Hall completely.”

“You did what!?” Bellatrix stopped and stared at him. “Captain… may I remind you it was Emperor Ghidious himself who ordered that the mayor be taken alive?”

“It was clearly a bluff,” Clash lied. “A bombardment will only force them to flee. I sent two soldiers underground in hoping to catch them off guard and perhaps capture the mayor. If they get caught, they can at least relay the message to them.”

“And what two soldiers were these?” Bellatrix asked.

“They were new recruits…” Clash said.

“Oh, and what did they look like?” Bellatrix asked, looking suspicious.

“What is she getting at?” Clash thought. “Well, the one looked like she didn’t really belong in the military and the other was cyan and had a blue mane. They were both mares.”

Bellatrix was silent, suddenly fuming. “You idiot!” she snapped, smacking him in the face in frustration. “Those were not recruits, they were the enemy!”

Clash glared at her. “Well how was I supposed to know they were in disguise!?” he snapped back at her, not even bothering with military conduct.

“Unbelievable, I cannot-!” She then stopped, and soon her frown turned into a smile. “Of course…” It all made sense now, what Ghidious’ plan was: he wanted to force them out from hiding and have them all regroup in one location. “Perhaps you’re not much of an idiot as I thought. Very well, new orders then: pull your troops back momentarily and bring in our artillery. We’re going to punch a hole so big into that building an ursa major can walk through it.”

Clash rubbed his cheek. “Yes ma’am,” he grumbled. “Crazy mare…”

“So let me get this straight…” Dolores Keaton said, getting up from her desk and taking off her glasses. “You two impersonated as Imperial troops just to get inside and warn us of an Imperial air strike?”

“Pretty much,” Rainbow Dash said.

“I see,” Dolores said, sighing. “Sorry about the misunderstanding. I knew eventually they were to find out what was going on. Unfortunately Cloudsdale has been reduced to nothing so it’s no longer worth any value to them. I’m afraid we will have to retreat back to HQ. That is what they want us to do, of course, but we have no choice. Commander, I want those evacuation ships fired up on the dot. Mares and foals first. We’ll have to hold them off as best we can. Can I count on you two for help?”

“No problem,” Rainbow said. Fluttershy’s eyes darted to the side, a sign she wasn’t looking forward to this.

“Ma’am, their forces are retreating back,” a soldier called out to her.

The mayor nodded. “Then it’s already begun. I’ll send a group to accompany you,” Dolores said as she and two guards headed towards the north side of the building. “It will take about half an hour to get everypony on board, so that’s the amount of time I need.”

“Got it,” Rainbow said. “Alright Fluttershy, it’s time to kick some Imperial butt.”

“…Sounds like fun,” Fluttershy mumbled.

(A/N: For this next part, the song I’m using is “Normal Battle Theme” from Final Fantasy XIII-2.)

They quickly made their way down towards the main level. All of a sudden there came a huge blast as part of the wall crumbled instantly. The blast sent them all backwards. Shaking her head slightly, Rainbow got up and looked around. “Fluttershy!?” she called out.

Fluttershy was trembling, partly cause of the shock but because of the other ponies around them. The attack had been very precise and they were the only two left standing. “Great…” Rainbow groaned. Suddenly imperial soldiers came through the hole in the wall. *“Alright Fluttershy, it’s up to us now!” Rainbow took point as Fluttershy covered her from behind. Fluttershy was never the fighting type nor was she used to using such weapons. But it was life or death and to her surprise she was rather good at shooting a bow.

Keeping them at bay was the hard part, but Rainbow wasted no time going at it. The soldiers were skilled, but not so much as Rainbow was. Using speed to her advantage, she quickly tackled a large group, knocking them into each other and using her lance to pick them off one by one.

They knew they couldn’t hold them off forever; slowly they retreated backwards, hoping to find a narrow path to delay them. The armored pegasi had no known weak spot, or so they thought. Fluttershy, careful and patient, was shooting right between the neck and collar, where a small open spot was exposed. For them, it was also a one-hit kill. “Rainbow, there’s too many of them!” Fluttershy shouted.

Rainbow cursed silently. They had no choice but to retreat. Hopefully they could meet up with others to hold the imperials off. However, before they could go back any further, a force field appeared, blocking their way. “What the-!?” Rainbow shouted. She looked back and soon they were surrounded. “Oh great…”

“I see you were clever enough to fool some of my best men.” The line of soldiers parted and Bellatrix was walking towards them. “But not clever enough. Normally I would be rather upset at this, but you managed to carry out our plans perfectly.”

“You mean you were bluffing!?” Rainbow said.

“Naturally,” Bellatrix said. “We wanted to take the mayor alive, but we also knew either way, dead or alive, was no consequence to us. And now that they are retreating, we can finally start focus on one target and destroy the rebellion for good!”

“You’re crazy,” Rainbow said. “Having magic does not make you a true pegasus. If anything, it makes you look weak.”

“You dare say such slander!?” Bellatrix said. “Very well, I was hoping perhaps I could take you both as hostages for Emperor Ghidious, but now I’m just going to outright kill you both!”

(A/N: For this part, the song I’m using is “Force Your Way” from Final Fantasy VIII.)

*“Now I will show you true power of what a pegasus can do!” Drawing a lance of her own, it suddenly sparked with electricity. Shooting into the air, she approached with sudden speed and attacked them both, both getting shocked by the electricity flowing through her weapon. Shaking it off, Rainbow went off on the offensive, jumping high into the air and striking down, getting Bellatrix in the shoulder.

“Not bad,” Bellatrix said. She then shot up into the air as well.

“Fluttershy!” Fluttershy took aim and fired an arrow, hoping to clip her wing, but Bellatrix saw it coming and shielded herself with magic, causing the arrow to bounce off her harmlessly.

“I really hate magic…” Rainbow grumbled.

“Now get a taste of this!” Bellatrix said, as she brought down bolts of lightning upon them. Electrified, Rainbow’s mane poofed out and her natural rainbow color returned. She growled in annoyance but an idea came to her. “Grab on Fluttershy!” she said, grabbing her and shooting straight into the air.

Bellatrix stared at the fading speck. “Fools, they think they can run away.” But she saw they were coming back with greater velocity. She then saw that Rainbow was going at top speed, as she suddenly broke the sound barrier along with Fluttershy. Bellatrix suddenly realized what she was doing and shielded but it was pointless. Rainbow and Fluttershy both struck and they were going so fast Bellatrix was not able to keep up with them as they each attacked with their speed. She was then knocked back onto the ground and some of the soldiers went to help her.

(A/N: For this final part, the song I’m using is “Only a Plank Between One and Perdition” from Final Fantasy VIII.)

“Enough!” she said, motioning them to stay back and got up slowly. “We’ve wasted too much time here. The rebels may have already escaped.”  She then spoke into an earpiece. “Now then, blow this entire place to rubble!” She then grinned wickedly at the two pegasi. “Let’s see if you can escape with your wings intact. You’ll only have about, say, thirty seconds to a minute at best.” Suddenly, she and the other soldiers disappeared in a flash.

“B-Blow up!?” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Calm down Flutters, we need to get out of here!” Rainbow said, taking off towards the sky. “Come on!” Normally she could get away in a flash but with Fluttershy weighing her down, she was not as hopeful.

Luckily for them, a ship appeared, and since it was not firing at them it had to be a friendly. The back hatch opened and a pegasus motioned for them to get in. Both of them gladly did so as the ship zoomed away.

Meanwhile, the Imperial fleet that had gathered over Cloudsdale opened fire, leveling City Hall, the last standing figure in the city. Some may think it was a waste to do so, but it meant just how serious the Empire was at ending this rebellion.