A Twinkle of Hope

A Twinkle of Hope - Chapter 5

The world was a blur. Everything merely whizzed past as Rainbow Dash raced across the sky, frantically trying to out-fly the two armed soldiers darting right behind her. They at first told Rainbow to stop, and come peaceably. But the ever brash and bold pony would not relent, especially after her friends entrusted the element of loyalty with finding help. Come Hell or high water she would not relent, and no soldier was going to change that.

But she could hardly see where she was going, and it didn't help that she had no idea to what place she was going either. And to make matters worse, the soldiers were past trying to apprehend the cyan pegasus, and started firing their guns. Streams of bright orange dots littered the gap between the three flying ponies.

Pure adrenaline coursed though Rainbow's veins. she didn't care where she was flying to, so long as she made it there in one piece. After what seemed like hours, she swooped down into the trees, trying to lose her pursuers. But Dash underestimated just how strong these stallions were, smashing off tree branches in their flight. Even her signature maneuvers could not deter the resolute military ponies. Rainbow Dash contemplated in her mind for a fraction of a second to just give up. But that thought was killed and buried by her incomparable sense of loyalty. Nothing would get in her way.

Encouraged by this feeling, she closed her eyes and propelled herself as fast as her wings would take her. Even with the constant rat-tat-tat sound of the bullets itching to bury themselves inside her, she could concentrate just enough to channel all her energy into flying. Faster...faster....faster she went, until a cone started to form around her. This was it, she thought. I'll break the sound barrier and be rid of these monsters. But right then a thought crossed her mind: would her great Sonic Rainbow actually save her, or just attract attention. She pondered this in the time from the cone forming to when she jettisoned at supersonic speeds...or she would have.

Right before she could launch, she felt a sharp pain in her right wing. At that very moment she stopped flapping, the inertia still carrying her forward, and gravity pulling her down. During her descent she overheard the soldiers saying "She's as good as dead. Mission accomplished." "Now let's go to those other mares and..." whatever followed was too faint and far away to hear.

Crashing onto each and every tree limb between the forest canopy and the ground, Rainbow Dash finally hit the hard, unforgiving soil. Then it all went black.

A few minutes later she came to, and tried to lift off again, but the sharp pain kept her wings from flapping. She checked the right one, to assess the injury. The bullet only grazed her, but seemed to slightly crack the bone. From here on out, Rainbow was walking.

Still high on adrenaline, the cyan pegasus ran through the woods, ducking and dodging anything in her way. Dash didn't care which direction she ran, the same as before. Hopefully she'll reach civilization sooner or later.

Her escape was interrupted when she came across a pond. Painfully thirsty, the pony took a drink and washed her wing. She could not do it anymore. A tear fell from her eye and cause a ripple in the water. more tears quickly followed. She sat down on her haunches and wept till her eyes became dry. She wailed and spoke to herself out loud.

"Why! I...I don't know what to do...my friends...I can't...I'm...I can't fly and I have no idea where to go. I've let them down, and now they're going to...Celestia knows what..."

When the tears stopped, she noticed her reflection. Gazing at her own face, a look of resolve again covered her countenance. No! Never give up! I've got to help them! Wiping her eyes, she got up, and continued.

Now, with her wing wrapped in a makeshift bandage of leaves, Rainbow Dash earnestly traversed the woods. Glade after glade, meadow after meadow. The great artificial "day lights" were just starting to turn on, their dim light gradually increasing. In the early morning light she noticed a sort of walled structure and the faint silhouettes of ponies walked across it. She did not know whether this fort was friendly or hostile, but nonetheless she walked closer to the gate.

She heard a pony yell something while pointing a hoof at her.

Then, utterly exhausted, Rainbow collapsed on the ground. The last thing she saw before passing out was a blurred figure standing right in front of her.