Interlude - Reminiscence
The day he solved the murder of zebrican Prince was the day he realized this world wasn’t the friendly paradise he thought it to be. And that first impression can deceive.

He almost forgot what a funny little feeling it was, soaring through the air at insane speed, enjoying the absolute freedom all around him. The night was young and the air still warm, yet even at high velocity, his mane and tail continued to rain drops of water as he kept piercing through the on-going clouds.

Now, Kamina had no doubt that IT was here, driving the ponies around Ponyville against each other, just like it did at Maretlantis. The memory of past four hours came rushing back. He went carefully over Diane’s statement again.

“Something’s not right about the Rainbow Factory. My instinct tells me that.”

“Your murderous instinct?” She was pretty talkative when angered. He made sure she spilled everything she knew, constantly mocking her through ambiguous comments about her secret hobby.

“What can you tell me about the Element of Loyalty?”

“Don’t even get me started over that whore! My little chicken sister left me, so I’ll stop visiting all my friends, boo-hoo. Do you know how long it took me to arrange everything for that cupcake baking?!”

He heard about Cutie Mark Crusaders. ’Applebloom. Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle.’ He was right to first learn about the current daily life in the area before leaving the castle. He had some old befriended families here, but now wasn’t the time to run around to find out which ones have remembered him. It was almost a century following his last visit after all.

“Does Loyalty work in the Rainbow Factory?”

“Of course she does, earns a lot of bits, too. Keeps bragging about her fancy villa up there. Won’t help her in a line for apple cider though.”
Kamina praised his aristocratic friend for updating his contacts all around Equestria. The one in Cloudsdale was more than helpful right now. ‘You're fascinating man, that takes a lot of effort,’ he thought.

After an hour-long conversation with the pegasus informator, he turned his crystal off. He knew what he had to do and that it wasn't going to be nice. Sweetie Belle was alone now.

Setting his focus back to present, he arrived before the monumental cloud city. Its ever-changing shape filling the night sky looked more frightening than at day, when the pegasi had work to do and chased the bubbly clouds through the streets. Those streets were now hollow and shady, illuminated only by a few torches and a light of his own. ‘Stay swift. If somepony sees you, they won’t be able to tell whether you’re a pegasus or not.’ He looped between the buildings with that one simple thought laid on his mind. He had his target.

And then, it emerged right in front of him. The huge structure was built in antique style similar to others, the massive pillars bearing several floors. Unlike the buildings surrounding it, however, the base of the Rainbow Factory was well lit and with ponies on guard. They walked around the large vats filled with spectra, occasionally stopping and talking to each other. No mixing was done at these late hours, as the pipes sticking from the ceiling poured no colors throughout the night shift.

Kamina hesitated, hovering silently in the darkness. He analyzed the structure floor by floor, until his eyes reached a black barrier of clouds. It was denser than the common white wall and electrical sparks blazed on its surface, thundering maliciously. ‘That’s a pretty innovation you have there! Be a shame if something happened to it.’ Checking back on the pegasi patrolling the ground floor, he made his decision. Raising his altitude to the level of the dark wall, he put the crystal to his forehead. ‘Give me sight beyond sights.’

The green vision allowed him to see through and the magical storm clouds seemingly vanished, revealing a flat metal surface. From where he was levitating, only a single ventilation shaft could be seen, covered by a rusty grate. Its rectangular shape provided just enough room for a bigger pony. Like a bullet, he booted himself off in its direction.

As he broke through the bars, a pungent tingling claimed his whole body and his tattoo brightened its blue after absorbing the magic. ‘Oops. Forgot to remove the barrier. Stupid vision.’ Realizing the lightning was otherwise lethal on touch, he felt thankful for the enchanted ink in his skin. He stayed at his own-made entrance for about a minute. ‘What? No alarm, nothing? Someone is overly confident with their security measures.’

After less than 100 feet, the shaft ended in a half-transparent grid. Without greater trouble, he kicked it inside and entered a wide, iron-plated corridor. ‘What the hell?’ The walls were a mess of mechanics and wires; conduit went out and in, sometimes uncompleted or illogically sticking into the path. Kamina took advice from a white arrow sign, which stated:
To the Spectra Separator
and turned left. Although he trotted with rush, he began to notice some of the pipes being forcefully bent, some even letting off steam. The wirings on his way were also damaged, cables hanging freely from the ceiling. No one either had time or they were too lazy to fix them and abandoned these disservices behind a yellow warning tape.

Kamina stopped at one particularly sharp fragment. He wiped the brown stain with his hoof and gave it a probationary lick. ‘Blood. Tastes like Skittles.’ He didn’t know if she actually ate any of the new-developed Canterlot candy, but this blood was definitely Rainbow Dash's. It had a special flavor of hatred added, with a slight trace of disappointment. He quickly figured out what happened. ‘Glad Scootaloo put up a fight after all.’

When he passed another 300 feet, he came to an opening. The great hall was fully lit up and Kamina, tired of waiting for his eyes to adjust, put his sharp sunglasses on.

“…and as the pathetic incompetent little trash you are, you will be striped of you colors by our mechanic darling over there.” A numerous group of broken souls watched upwards on the scaffolding, helplessly listening to the speech of the rainbow pegasus. They were surrounded by several suited ponies, whose tasers prevented any kind of opposition.

Rainbow Dash asked with disgust in her voice: “So, any volunteers?” The machine was on full active state. It roared with a deep, hungry drone, greedy for the dyes of the innocent. Terrified of the clanging chains over their heads, no pony spoke a word.

‘Speed.’

“No? Okay, I guess I’ll start with…” Her eyes roamed from pony to pony. She had enough time and she was going to enjoy it.

‘Today, I am speed. Right here, right now.’

“You!” She pointed.

Before any of the masked pegasi could react, an emerald missile swooped through the crowd and crashed into the foundation of the scaffolding. It immediately collapsed, tearing off some of the concrete wall and raining metal bars and scraps on the suited thugs. Ponies flew and ran around in panic, many using the situation to their advantage as they disappeared in the dark corridors leading out of the room.
Rainbow Dash arose while regaining her breath. Agent Punisher was nowhere to be seen and agent Cougar cried in pain somewhere, buried beneath the rubble. The damaged device ceased to function, gears no longer spinning after a few explosions of steam “What the fuck?!” She yelled angrily. The dust settled slowly and Dash watched a massive silhouette approach her.

“I tip my hats off to you, milady. Would you be so kind and just come with me? Resistance is futile.”

She blinked in disbelief. “Guards! Whoever fucking kills this clown will get a week off! Anyone!”

The masked servants gathered on command, letting the rest of the poor victims escape. ‘You are fucking dead now!’ She grew a triumphant smile. They charged and her smile faded. No matter how many, with what style or how fiercely they attacked, the single colt repelled them with aggravating easiness. He dodged, punched, parried and kicked, and the ponies flew around like saplings in the wind.

“BEWARE OF MY NINJA SKILLS!” He laughed maniacally, until they all lied beaten on one moaning pile of bodies. His crimson eyes pierced through hers. “Seriously, you can’t even get them trained properly? That’s not only disappointing, but also sad.”

Dash pulled her jaw back up and stormed out. She couldn’t tell where she was flying. Was it fear she was experiencing? She knew only one thing: Get out of there. This time, she evaded the obstacles jutting from the walls and turned at every intersection she could.

‘And the hunter becomes the hunted.’ This idea forced her to halt. Her heart almost exploded with grudge. ‘No, no, no, no, NO!’ She changed her direction back and waited. Staring into the darkness before her, she heard jail doors opening one by one. ‘Too many prisoners, there’s just too many!’ The thundering resonance coming from hooves and wings of the captive herd confirmed the end of her career. Not even tasers would be enough now. Kamina walked into her view.

“Why did you free them? I could’ve got away. Why do you care about lives of those pieces of garbage? You know we are both at the top, that we are better than anybody. In the end, monsters or heroes, where’s the difference?! We are the same. So what’s the point? Why did you let them go?” She screamed with weary, yet still angry voice.

“You wanna know the difference between heroes and monsters?” He replied.

A magical moment of silence erupted amidst the two.

“Heroes win.”

A flash informed her of teleportation magic. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was his hoof coming at her face.

Author's Note

Yes, through Kamina's shameless "meme ride" we discovered that Sweetie Bell is still alive. It is kinda sad though, since she's the only one of the CMC now.