Siblings

by Undermine

Rating: teen
Tags: Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rarity, Adventure, Dark
Length: 17008

The CMC are kidnapped, and Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash are determined to bring them home.

Rainbow Dash spends the day with Scootaloo after seeing her feeling down. The two have a fantastic day together and begin to form an inseparable bond. That bond is broken after Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell, and Apple Bloom are kidnapped by a notorious crime mob. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack decide to take matters into their own hooves and search for CMC and the snatchers. Doing this, they embark on a journey that will take them to the dark underbelly of Equestria's crime system.

Published 2012-08-14 04:24:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-10 03:59:45 UTC

Chapter 1

Siblings

Chapter 1

"Aw come on, you guys," Scootaloo said with frustration, "we just got out of school! We have all the time in Equestria to get our Cutie Marks now!"

"Sorry Scootaloo, but Rarity was planning a special afternoon with me," Sweetie Bell replied, "she said 'I will be happy to spend time with you when you finish school, and when I finish my order of hats.' School done, and that means that her order is done, too."

"Yeah, mah sister also wants to spend time with me," Applebloom chimed in, "she wanted me to help her get stuff for this year's cider...and she wants to make s'mores."

Scootaloo stomped her little hoof on the ground and said, "But who the hay am I going to hang out with? All I got planned was to go crusading with you guys!"

"I'm sorry, Scootaloo, but I've been waiting for this day for a few weeks now."

"A few WEEKS?" shouted Scootaloo.

"Ahm sure you can find some way to pass the time. You could...ride your scooter...or practice flying...or..."

"You know what, forget it!" Scootaloo shouted. "You guys have fun with your sisters." She whipped around and ran away from the two.

"Jeez, Scootaloo seems really rustled all of a sudden." Sweetie Bell commented.

"I wonder what's eatin' her?" Apple Bloom added.

Scootaloo ran until she got behind a large bush, out of sight from her friends. Here she let out the sobs she was choking back. They never understand, she said to herself. They never understand that I'm alone. Sweet Celestia, I'm alone.

Rainbow Dash was lazily sitting in a fluffy cloud above Ponyville. She just got back from work after completing her two-hour shift in a disappointing time of 28 minutes. She was adjusting herself into the perfect napping position when she noticed a familiar orange filly walking down the path. At first, she brushed this off as another one of Scootaloo's excited fan-girl endeavors and waited for her to call up for another autograph. The kid cracks me up every time, she said to herself. Rainbow listened, but heard nothing from the filly. Of all things, this got Rainbow's attention, and she got up from her napping position and looked back down.

Scootaloo wasn't even acknowledging Rainbow's presence. She had her head hanging low and her eyes looking straight down at the ground. Her face looked like a sick puppy dog that Rainbow saw at Fluttershy's cottage. Jeez, looks like someone's having a rough day. Poor little squirt. Rainbow got back up on her cloud and prepared to get into napping position again when an idea struck. A crazy idea, but nonetheless an idea that intrigued her. She was ambiguous to this idea, but she didn't like seeing Scootaloo down. She took a shot in the dark and decided to go with it. She got off her cloud and flew right in front of the orange filly.

"Hey Squirt! What's up?" She said loudly. Loud enough that it caught Scootaloo completely off guard as she made a small "Eep!" and stood up on her hind legs before falling right on her flank. Rainbow couldn't help but giggle.

"Ra...Rainbow Dash?! That scared the feathers offa me! Wha...how...what are you doing here?"

"He he, don't worry kid, I ain't here to scare ya," she said as she helped the filly get back up. "I saw you walking below all mopey and stuff."

"'Mopey and stuff'? Well...yeah...I guess you could say that."

"C'mon kiddo, what's got you down?"

"Oh, you know..." she said, scuffling her hoof, "just something...with the Crusaders..."

"What? Did they hurt you? Make fun of you? 'Cause I can fix that up right away."

"What? No! That's not what I meant! What I meant was...um...that I...um..."

"Yes?" Rainbow suddenly sat down right in front of the filly, "don't worry kid, I won't tell anypony."

Scootaloo was taken by surprise by this sign of affection, especially by her idol. It gave her a sense of security. "It's just that...they're hanging out with their sisters today...and...and I've been feeling really lonely lately."

This was exactly what Rainbow Dash wanted to hear. She decided to put her plan into action. She looked at Scootaloo sqaure in the eyes and said, "I know something that could cheer you up, squirt."

Scootaloo looked back, "Yeah, what?"

With a smile, Rainbow said, "What if I became your 'big sis' for the day. Whadya say about that?"

Scootaloo eyes lit up brighter than a star. She stared at Rainbow Dash, debating whether the fact that her idol was to be a temporary sister was a dream or reality. "You...you mean it?"

"Sure thing kid!"

Scootaloo jumped from Rainbow's side and started bounding happily in a circle around her. "Omigoshomigoshomigosh! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"Woah, hold on there, " Rainbow said, chuckling at Scootaloo's excitement, "we haven't even gotten to the fun part yet!"

Scootaloo stopped in her tracks, slightly embarrassed by her enthusiasm. "Right, uh, he he, sorry. Uh, what is the 'fun part'?

"Climb up and you'll find out, sport."

"Omigosh!" squeaked the filly as she climbed up on Rainbows back. She let another squeak when Rainbow's wings spread out, reading for take off.

"You ready back there?"

"Yes!"

"All right! Hold on tight!" And with that Rainbow took off to the sky with Scootaloo clinging on her back.

Scootaloo's eye's were closed for the first five minutes of the flight. Having not been used to the high speeds of a full grown Pegasus, the rush of air came to her as a shock. But finally, after being reassured by her idol, her eyes opened and before her was the vast landscape of Equestria. Around and below her lie the rolling hills of the land, the grass swaying in the lazy wind below. The mountains in the distance seemed to shine in the sunlight. The great castle of Canterlot sparkled as well. As they flew the clouds brush past them, their radiance filling the eyes of the orange filly. Words escaped her as she gazed in awe.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Rainbow said. She looked up at the filly and chuckled. "Don't worry, you get used to it after a while."

"I don't I'll ever get used to this." Scootaloo said, still captivated by the sight.

"Well, you'll have to if you want to do some stunts."

"Wait, stunts? You're going to do stunts with me?"

"Well, only if you want to-"

"YES!"

"Alrighty then, hold on tight!" Rainbow said right before she turned her nose straight towards the ground.

The free fall gave Scootaloo a rush of adrenaline that she could only have dreamed of. She could barely keep her eyes open as she saw the ground coming towards them. She let out a small scream as Rainbow quickly let out her wings and turned sharply away from the ground. Scootaloo was giggling furiously as Rainbow proceeded to perform an array of twists, turns, barrel rolls, and somersaults in the air. In all her time spent on her scooter and crusading she has never felt this much excitement in a single period of time. This is my calling. This is the life for me.

Her adrenaline rush was suddenly fading as she felt Rainbow slowing down. They stopped right in front of Sugarcube Corner, and Rainbow landed, not quite gracefully, on the ground, panting and sweating.

"Well," she said in between breaths, "how was that?"

"THAT WAS AMAZING!" Scootaloo squealed as she bounded off Rainbow's back. "I mean, we were like 'WHOOSH', and you were like 'ZOOM!' and I was like 'AAAAAH' but then I was like 'WOOHOO'! And, that, I, THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!"

Rainbow chuckled again as she stretched her back, producing a loud pop.

"Woah, Rainbow," Scootaloo looked worriedly at the cyan Pegasus, "you alright?"

"Wha? Yeah, I'm fine, it's just-" She stretched her back the other way, producing a second pop "-whew, much better. It's just I've never flown that much with somepony riding before."

"Sooo, you're okay?"

"Without a doubt! There isn't anypony in Ponyville who can pull me down!" She said as she ruffled Scootaloo's mane.

"Sooo...now what?"

Rainbow looked around. She didn't plan much after taking Scootaloo flying. She looked at Sugarcube corner and the Pink energetic pony inside.

"I have a brilliant plan," she said, "and I'm gonna need your help with it. "

Pinkie Pie was merrily baking a chocolate, fondue, fudge cake for her alligator, Gummy. She had found that he was growing his first tooth earlier today and figured it was a big enough occasion to celebrate. She added the last layer of cake to the top.

"Isn't this super-duper-uper exciting, Gummy? I've been waiting for this day my whole life! Are you excited?" The Alligator stared blankly back at Pinkie. "I knew you would! But if it's your first tooth, them you won't be a gummy alligator anymore, Gummy. *Gasps* I'll have to call you something else! But what will I call you? Toothy? Does that work? What do you-" Her conversation was interrupted when she heard the front door ring. "Whoop! A customer! I'll be right back, Toothy."

Pinkie hopped her way to the front desk and was delighted when she saw who was in front of her. "Hi Dashie! How's it goin'?"

"Pretty good Pinkie." Rainbow replied. Pinkie couldn't help but notice that she had a slight grin on her face, which she assumed was a normal grin which made her grin as well.

"What brings you in?"

"I'll have one of those custom cupcake specials."

"Okie dokie! Whatdya want on it?"

"Let's see...red velvet....with....lemon frosting....no....cherry frosting....with...star shaped sprikles....and...a cherry on top."

"Okie dokie lokie!" the Pink pony said as she prepared Rainbow's cupcake. A slight snicker came from the Pegasus. "You say somethin'?"

"What, no, I just, uh, coughed." She stifled a couple fake coughs.

"Well, here you are!" She handed Rainbow the giant cupcake. She snickered as she walked to her table. I wonder if she has a cold if she's been coughing so much. Pinkie thought to herself as she headed back into the kitchen.

"All right Gumm- I mean, Toothy, let's frost this bad boy up!" She said as she took hold of one of the frosting packets nearby. Just then, right before she even got a smudge of frosting out, the cake started moving. Pinkie stared at the cake then at Gummy. "Did you see what I saw?" The alligator slowly blinked. But before she could say another word, the upper half of the cake seemed to explode and out popped a small creature that produced a high pitch roar.

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Screamed Pinkie as she scurried backwards into the shelf, which dropped its contents of cake batter and sprinkles on her head. Pinkie closed her eyes and waited to become a tasty treat for the monster, but instead she heard an uproar of laughter from Rainbow Dash and the small creature, which to Pinkie's surprise turned out to be a familiar filly.

"Wait? Rainbow Dash? And...Scootaloo?! How, what, huh?!"

"Aw man, we got her good, didn't we!" laughed Scootaloo as she scampered down the cake. "I was sure she would see me go into the kitchen!"

"No way, you went past her like a ninja!" replied Rainbow. "And the way you fit right in the cake was just PERFECT! BAHAHA!"

Pinkie, now realizing that she had just been fantastically pranked by the duo, couldn't help but laugh herself. She had to admit, it was pretty clever.

"What's going on down there? Is somepony hurt?" came a voice from upstairs.

"It's Mrs. Cake!" exclaimed Pinkie. "Quick! Go out the back door! I'll cover for you!"

Before either Scootaloo or Rainbow could say a "thank you" or "goodbye" they were quickly shoved out the door. Pinkie, thinking quick, took a piece of the cake and smeared it lightly over Gummy's face. She stood up just as Mrs' Cake walked in, eyes wide and mouth open at seeing an exploded cake in the room.

"Uh...Gummy! I told not to eat your cake before the party! Look at the mess you made!" Pinkie said, hoping that her little lie had worked. Mrs. Cake starred at the alligator, who in response blinked back at her.

"Oh dear! Well, uh, Pinkie please clean up, uh, Gummy's mess. And, uh, get back to work." Said Mrs. Cake as she made her way back up the stairs.

"Whew! That was a close one. Right Toothy?" Pinkie looked at the alligator and found that his tooth had fallen out and he was now numbing it. At a closer look, she found that it was not a tooth but instead a small marshmallow.

"Huh, will you look at that." she said.

Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash were now walking on a path that lead to Scootaloo's house. Much to her objection, the sun had set and it was time for her go home.

Scootaloo had been going on about how awesome her day had been. She went on in detail about the stunts, the adrenaline rush she had, and the hilarious prank on Pinkie. Rainbow listen to her with content, amused by her enthusiastic spirit towards her lifestyle. She's like a little me, Rainbow thought.

They approached Scootaloo's house. The size of the house was unexpected for Rainbow Dash as she never imagined what kind of ponies would be able to afford it. It was three stories high with a ten-foot doorway. It was completely made out of brick and had bronze columns supporting a front porch. Her parents must loaded! she thought. Scootaloo's mother, a unicorn, and Scootaloo's father, a pegasus, were on the porch knitting and reading a book, respectively.

"Mom! Dad!" Scootaloo called out as she ran towards them. The parents set down their knitting supplies and book and embraced the small pony.

"Hey there, Scoots!" said the father. "How was your day?"

"It was so awesome! Rainbow Dash and I had the BEST DAY EVER!"

"Oh really? You and Rainbow Dash? What about your other friends? Your Crusaders?"

"Them? Oh they were busy. But Rainbow came along and decided to take me flying, and we did awesome stunts, and..." Scootaloo's words trailed off as she and her father went inside the house. The mother stayed outside with Rainbow.

"Thank you very much, Ms. Dash. This means a lot for our little Scoots." she said.

"Heh, no problem." Rainbow replied. "Earlier I saw her feeling a bit down, I guess, and I thought being a 'big sis' to her for today woulda cheered her up."

"Well, I must say that you did an excellent job. I can tell already that she had a wonderful time." She turned to go back inside before saying, "That was very, very kind of you."

Rainbow blushed as the mother closed the door. She herself turned to leave when she heard the door open again. She turned around, and before she could react Scootaloo ran up and gave Rainbow a big hug.

"Thank you Rainbow Dash! Thank you thank you thank you!"

The cyan Pegasus looked down at her and returned the hug. "Your welcome, kiddo."

The two separated and Scootaloo ran back inside. Rainbow turned and took flight. As she headed back to her house, she felt a warmness inside. She felt as though something had been filled and it now covers whatever it was that was once cold. She is like me. She's like a little sister. she thought, remembering the time she spent being an only child as well. Rainbow compared this connection to finding a long lost sibling, and with that feeling she decided she was going to spend more time with her.

'Scoots', huh? she thought. I'll try that from now on.

Three figures darted through the darkened Ponyville without a sound, their shadows licking the ground. Of these shapes came whispers that pierced the silence.

"This is the right town, right?" said one of the voices.

"Yeah," came another, "this is it."

"So who we got," chimed in the third, "one's from the tailor, one's an Apple, and the last?"

"The daughter of the CEO of Cloudsdale Weather Service."

"Jackpot!"

"There are all loaded, mind you."

"Well, duh, otherwise we wouldn't be wasting our time freezing our flanks off out here!"

"Shut up, will you! Alright, I know where Sweet Apple Acres and the Boutique is. Who here knows were the third one is?"

"Uhh..."

"Well..."

"What? You numbnuts! You tellin' me you don't have a clue where-"

"Might I interrupt?" came a fourth voice.

"What the- how did you get here?"

"I have my ways."

"Dude, that was really creepy."

"Well, now that your here, you don't happen to know where one of our targets is?"

"Which one?"

"The Cumulus's daughter?"

"Ah yes. I know exactly where they live."

"Excellent!"

"Wait, how did you know? None of us had any idea!"

"Like I said. I have my ways."

Rarity woke up after a wonderful night's rest. She got up and looked around. The rays of the Sun were streaming in through the window and the birds were chirping melodiously outside. But something felt out of place. She inhaled deeply through her nose. I don't smell my breakfast burning, she said to herself. She quickly put on her robe and trotted downstairs.

"Sweetie Bell, are you making breakfast? Because if you are I must say that you are doing an excellent-" Rarity was cut short when she came into the kitchen. No pony was there. "Sweetie Bell? Are you there?" Rarity turned and trotted back up the stairs, frustrated. I keep telling that filly to keep her alarm on. She got to her sister's door and banged on it loudly.

"Sweetie Bell! It's time to get up Sweetie Bell!" She yelled, expecting to hear a muffled groan. She heard nothing. "Sweetie Bell! Get up! Now!" Rarity opened the door and angrily barged in. "Sweetie Bell! This is the last time I'll tell-"

Rarity stopped dead in her tracks. Sweetie Bell's bed was empty, save for rustled sheets and blankets. "Sw-Sweetie Bell?" she nervously called out. She cautiously approached her sister's bed. Behind one of the blankets she saw a piece of paper. It was a note. She carefully levitated the note in front of her and read it to herself.

Rarity dropped the note and instantly felt lightheaded. Normally, fainting would be an act of melodrama. But the literal weight of what was written on the note caused Rarity to black out and collapse on the floor.

It was sunrise at Sweet Apple Acres, and Applejack was sleeping soundly in her bed. Yesterday was a big work day, and she and Apple Bloom were able to collect most of the supplies for this year's cider. That, and they both stayed up late by the campfire eating s'mores. She let her eyes open slightly and looked at the clock. 7:30 am. Ten more minutes should be fine, she said to herself.

BANG! came from the door. Applejack sprang up. BANG BANG! Applejack quickly got out of bed. Horseapples! Did I oversleep? BANG BANG BANG! "Ahm comin'! Ahm comin'!" she yelled. She opened the door and her brother was right in front of her, sweating and out of breath.

"Sis! You gotta help me!" He shouted.

"Big Mac? Wha-what in tarnation? What's wrong?" Applejack was taken aback. Big Mac almost never raised his voice at anypony, and he most certainly would never ask for help.

"It's Apple Bloom! She, I, she, COME QUICK!" He darted out of her room and into Apple Bloom's room. Applejack quickly followed. She went into her sister's room and expected the worst.

"Wait, where is she?"

"That's the problem! Ah can't find her!"

"Did you check the house?"

"Yes! Twice!"

"Did you check outside?"

"I ran around the whole property!"

"Then what do you need?"

Big Mac went over to the bed and picked up a piece of paper. "This was left behind. I read it over and over but I ain't sure if it means what I think it means."

Applejack's voice got very anxious. "Brother, what do you mean?"

"Just-Just read it." Big Mac handed the note to Applejack. She read it over. She read it again. She stares at it for a few seconds and places it back on the bed. Her eyes squint shut and she raises one hoof to her mouth.

"Well, does it mean..."

"Yes..." she says softly. "yes it does." Applejack broke down and started sobbing. Her brother puts a hoof on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. It's hard for him to hold back his tears.

Rainbow Dash was leaving her house and stopped to take a moment to stretch out her wings before flying. She had a saddlebag slung over her back with two hay-sandwiches on one side and two Wonderbolts tickets on the other. She has a big day planned for her and Scootaloo.

She took off and began to head towards town. One her way, she noticed that there a number of Royal Guards patrolling the area. Somthin' bad must've happened last night, she thought. She stopped to survey the scene. There were several gaurds outside of Rarity's Boutique and in the distance she saw a couple gaurds at Sweet Apple Acres. Wait, what happened to Rarity? And Applejack? Just as she was about to go down to the boutique, she saw a guard out of the corner of her eye. He was flying toward the outskirts of Ponyville, in a direction in which Rainbow knew exactly where he was going. No. No, he's probably just patrolling the surroundings or getting supplies or... her thoughts were cut off when the guard landed in front of Scootaloo's house.

"No," she said aloud, "NO!" Rainbow made a mad dash to the house, and sure enough there were Royal Guards all over the place. She landed in the yard and ran toward the door. She was halted by two of the Guards.

"No individual may pass," said one of the guards. "This is a crime scene." The words stabbed Rainbow's gut.

"Please, just let me through! I-I know these ponies and-"

"She can come in," said a voice from inside. It was Scootaloo's mother. "I trust her. Let her in."

The guards separated and Rainbow pushed her way through. She ran up in front of the mother. Her face was completely sullen and still.

"What's going on?" Rainbow asked desperately. "Did something happen? Where's Scootaloo? Is she all right?"

The mother didn't move her heard but simply said, "Upstairs."

Rainbow ran upstairs, pushing some of the guards out of her way. She got to the room that guards were walking in and out of, and went in, much to her despair, Scootaloo's room. The walls were painted in a cloud pattern and several posters of the Wonderbolts hung the walls. There was a picture of Rainbow and her autograph on the nightstand. She could feel her heart sink.

Two guards were in the back of the room questioning the father. Rainbow approached them.

"Where is she?" Rainbow said. The two guards glance over at her. The father whispered something to one of the guards who then made a subtle nod. The same guard, a unicorn, walks over to a box labeled "EVIDENCE" and pulled from it a piece of paper. He levitated in front of Rainbow, and she read it out loud:

100,000 BITS

NO EXCEPTIONS

FRIDAY

GHASTLY GORGE

OR ELSE

Rainbow's knees became weak. She felt as though someone had ripped her heart out and filled it with lead. Her head felt heavy and spacey. She let the weakness overcome her body, and she fell before being caught by one the guards.

"Miss, are you all right?" she heard one of them say. "Get her downstairs." As she was carried down she overheard more of the guards talking.

"Three in one night. One over at Ms. Rarity's and one at Apple Acres."

"I don't know about you, but there has to be a connection. Three fillies, all around the same age, go to the same school, something has to fit, right? Is there a connection between the three?"

Rainbow's null mind pieced the pieces together; Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo are the three fillies; The CMC have been kidnapped.

Chapter 3

Siblings

Chapter 3

"What do you mean you have to do paperwork first?" Rainbow shouted at the detective. They were in Twilight's library after she offered the detective to use it as their crime base. Both Rarity and Applejack were in the room as well. Rarity was sitting at one of the tables set up, her head buried in her arms, and Applejack was standing almost underneath Rainbow Dash, who was four feet in the air staring angrily down at the detective.

"Look, miss," said the detective, "you have to realize that this is more complicated than it looks. We are talking about a county-wide search for both the fillies and the kipnappers. I need to arrange meetings with the Royal Air Force and-"

"Can't you just tell them to suit up and fly out? Wouldn't the fact of three missing kids give 'em enough of a boost to get out there?"

"We can't just 'suit up and fly out.' We need to file a search warrant with chief detective, and that could take a day or so to get in."

"We don't have a flippin' 'day or so'!"

Twilight started to chime in, "Rainbow, I think you should calm down a bit-"

Rainbow didn't acknowledge Twilight and shouts, "All you ponies ever see is paperwork and statistics, but you can't see that there are now three families who are completely devastated and will be for a long time because you guys won't get off your asses and get out the damn door!"

"Rainbow! That's enough!" Twilight's voice seemed to boom over Rainbow's. She turned around and looked her straight in the eyes. She took in a deep sigh and landed on the ground.

"You know what, fine. Piss off and do your paperwork." she turned away from both the detective and Twilight. She stopped in front of the evidence table. She overheard Twilight's voice behind her.

"I'm terribly sorry about that. My friend can be very...vocal at times."

"Don't worry miss. I been around ponies experiencing this type of trauma before. Now, if you will come with me for a moment, Miss Sparkle, I need to know the best way to contact your brother." The front door to the library opened and closed as the two headed out.

Rainbow looked down at the contents of the evidence table. There were only three clear bags, each with a separate ransom note inside. Rainbow picked up one of the notes with her hoof. It had the same message as the other two. She placed her other hoof on her forehead. Surreal. It's just all surreal. She looked back at the note, which was right in front of the desk lamp.

She noticed something interesting on the upper corner of the page. It was a vague outline of a corner of some sort of box with a sort of design in the center. She put the note down and pick up one of the other notes and held it to the light. This time the vague outline was on the bottom corner of the page and had the same box corner with the words "NIMBUS" and "SERVICES." She picked up the last note and held it against the light. The vague box corner was there on the other side as well along with the words "CUMULO" and "WEATHER."

"Hey Rarity! Come over here, check this out." she called to her unicorn friend. The white mare raised her head from the table quickly and trotted over to Rainbow. Applejack followed behind.

"What is is, dear?" she asked before looking down at Rainbow's hooves. "Why do you-"

"I know that you're gonna not like looking at it, but I need-"

"Get those things away from me!" she shrieked.

"Look I know that they have the note on them, but I need your magic to-"

"How could you possibly show those blasted things to me after what I've been through! How could you-"

"RARITY!" Rainbow yelled at the top of her voice, "Listen to me! There's some sort of watermark in these notes! I need you to calm down and work with me!" Rarity starred coldly at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow now said more collectively; "I need you to hold all three of these up against the light so we can see what the watermark says."

Rarity did not speak as she lifted the notes out of Rainbow's hooves with her magic. She avoided as much eye contact with the words on the note as she held the notes in front of the light. After a few seconds of re-arranging, she managed to fit the watermark into place. It read:

CUMULONIMBUS

WEATHER SERVICES

Half of a small graphic of a cloud lies underneath the text.

"Well, I'll be..." said Applejack, "Isn't that Equestria's largest weather company?"

"Was," said Rainbow, "It was until about ten years ago. I remember seeing adverts in the paper for it when I was a filly. It's now the Cloudsdale Weather Service."

"What's the watermark of Equestria's retired weather company doing on three ransom notes?"

"Wait a minute," said Rainbow. The cogs in her brain began to turn. "I've seen the same type of watermark on the papers I see at work. I remember asking Cloudchaser about it. She said that they print the paper especially for the company."

"Hold up," said Applejack, "I'm following what yer saying and all, but yer saying that the watermark was made only for the company. If that's the case, then where did this paper come from?"

Something clicked in Rainbow's head. "From the old Cumulonimbus offices."

Rarity's cold look turned into intrigue. "Are you saying that the notes came from the same place?"

"That is exactly what I am saying."

"Does that also mean that the old offices are," suddenly, Rarity felt a similar click. She looked at Rainbow Dash. "are where the kipnappers are hiding out?"

"Yeah. That has to be. That building been abandoned for ten years now. It's been on sale for eight years, but the property is too expensive for any other business to afford. From what I've known, that place has been empty ever since it closed down."

"Until now," said Applejack. She looked at Rainbow Dash. "Well, now that we found this clue I reckon we tell the detective right away."

"No," said Rainbow Dash, "no, that's not what we are going to do. They'll take too long. "

"Well Sugarcube, what other option do we have?"

"We have the clue that we need, and I actually know where the building is,"

Rarity puts a hoof on her head, "I don't like where this is going."

"Now all we need to do is take this matter into our own hooves."

Applejack copied Rarity, "Ah knew you were gonna say that."

Rainbow set the last of her supplies on the table. She wanted to make sure she had enough food to last the trip, but didn't focus on packing water. After all, she only needed to fly up to a cloud and take a drink. She took her saddlebag and emptied out its previous contents.

On the ground lay two stale hay-sandwiches and two Wonderbolt tickets. She remembered what she was going to use them for. She stood still and stared at the object. Rainbow took in a deep breath. I'll be coming for you Scootaloo. She pick up the hay sandwiches and threw them in the trash bin. She placed the tickets on the table. I'll be coming.

Rainbow packed her bag with her supplies and left her home. The night air was brisk and small clouds dotted the sky. She flew into town and stopped in front of Town Hall. There were two other ponies there as well: Rarity and Applejack.

"You girls ready?" she said quietly to them.

"I'm still uncertain on how you got me to agree with this." said Rarity.

"Look, it's either this or waiting for paperwork," Rainbow replied, "besides, none of you are objecting to saving your sisters, right?"

"No Rainbow, we're not," said Applejack, "but what about you? You've been the most defensive pony out of this whole case, but you've lost none of your kin. Why are you so adamant about this?"

Rainbow looked at both of them, then down at the ground. "Because of Scootaloo. She's, uh, she's my number one fan," she said sullenly.

The two looked at Dash perplexedly. Applejack broke the silence, "Alright, where are the old offices at?"

"It's right under Cloudsdale. I know a path that can take us right to it in no time."

"Alright then. Let's head off."

Chapter 4

Siblings

Chapter 4

Scootaloo sat shivering next to Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom. It had been five hours since their last encounter with the guard. The thought of him returning and the cold air inside the cell forced the three into a huddle. The time inside the cell seemed to pass ever so slowly to them.

The sound of hoofsteps broke the silence. Scootaloo felt as though she had stopped breathing. The hoofsteps got closer until they stopped right in front of the cell. Scootaloo's eyes were closed in fear, but she managed to open them to get a better look at the guard. He was a unicorn with a brown coat and a white mane. There was a faint scar under his left eye that stretched up to his ear. She looked for his cutie mark, but it was covered by the cloak he was wearing. Nevertheless, he looked just as frightening as he sounded.

Scootaloo noticed that he was levitating something in the air. The guard pushed the object through the bars and dropped down three pieces of bread. "Enjoy it while you can," he said in a dark tone, "you won't be having anything else today." The guard chuckled and walked away.

When the guard's hoofsteps faded, Scootaloo broke from the huddle and grabbed a piece of bread. It was extremely stale and smelled like it had been placed in a dishwasher. She took a bite of it and gagged at the taste. However, having heard what the guard said she forced the bread down her throat. The taste was still plastered in her mouth as she sobbed silently.

Suddenly, there were the sound of hoofsteps again. Scootaloo looked up in horror. Did he hear me? she thought. She scampered back to the huddle and closed her eyes again. She did not dare to open them this time. The hoofsteps once again stopped in front of the cell. Scootaloo expected the worst.

A different voice came from the hall. "If it makes you feel any better," it said, "I think that guy is an asshole, too."

Scootaloo quickly opened her eyes and tried to look at the pony who spoke to her, but he was already walking away from them. Something perked up in her mind. In an weird way she felt as though that was the nicest thing anypony has ever said to her. She found hope in this small act of comfort this pony gave her.

She picked up the bread again and nibbled on the edges. It still tasted repulsive, but she managed to choke it down if she didn't eat chunks of it at a time. She looked over at her friends. They had slept through the whole ordeal. I'll make sure to tell them about this new friend. she said to herself.

Chapter 5

Siblings

Chapter 5

Twilight woke up to the soft rays of sun that entered her room. She had fallen asleep quickly the night before after spending the entire day arranging meetings for the Royal Air Force and helping the detectives fill out paperwork. She got out of her bed and trotted downstairs.

Upon entering the library she found Spike laying behind a stack of books. She always found it adorable to see her little helper sleeping after a long day of work. After all, he was responsible for getting all of the books they needed for this case. She walked over and gently rolled him towards her.

That's when she noticed the note taped on Spike's head. She hadn't noticed it before she rolled him over. She levitated the note and read it to herself:

Dear Twilight,

We're off to find the fillies

Don't come looking for us

Just wanted to let you know.

Signed,

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity

P.S. I didn't want this to be confused as evidence, so I put it here.

Twilight rolled her eyes. Oh boy, she said to herself, not again.

"You see anything, yet?" Applejack called out to Rainbow, who was hovering just over the treeline.

"Nothin' yet." she replied.

"Are you absolutely sure this was the right road?" said Rarity.

"Of course. I pass over this road every time I go to Cloudsdale."

"Then where in tarnation are we?"

Rainbow descended from the trees. "Look, it takes me two hours to fly to Cloudsdale in this direction. It takes twice as long to get there on foot. And from looking at it in the distance, I'd say we're about two-thirds of the way there."

"'Twice' as long?" Rarity retorted, "we've been walking for five hours! Based on your observations, we should already be there."

"Rarity's right," said Applejack, "this is taking an awful long time."

"Hey, I don't walk to places. I fly to places," said Rainbow, "I don't measure distances with my legs. Now, if you two will stop complaining we'll will more than likely get there a lot quicker. Comprende?"

"Hmmf," scoffed Rarity, "fine. I guess we have no other option. Besides, I would rather trust the hunch of daredevil pegasus than that of one of the local squirrels."

"Uggh. Just let's just keep moving." Rarity and Applejack began to walk again while Rainbow remained hovering right beside them.

"Hey Rainbow," said Applejack, "you said that the offices are right under Cloudsdale. What else is under there?"

"Oh, just a small town from what I've heard," she replied.

"Good, 'cause I'm gettin' mighty hungry."

"What? You had your breakfast, like, two hours ago!"

"Breakfast? More like food rations if you ask me."

"I have to say, those bread pieces weren't exactly what I would call 'filling'." Rarity added.

"Alright, fine. We'll get some food when we get there. Happy?"

"Yup. And that'll be in about two hours walking time, right?" Applejack chuckled.

"Just shut up."

"Look," said Twilight, "I'm not saying that we should add more ponies to the missing ponies list. It says right here that they are going to look for the fillies and told us not to go after them."

"And you're saying we should go after them?" asked the detective.

"Yes."

"Then they'll be added to the missing ponies list."

"No! That's not what I mean! What I mean is that," Twilight thinks of a way to put her thoughts into words. "there's a reason they went off on their own."

"Your point?"

"They found something, or, or something happened that made them go off."

"I see. So you want us to find whatever it is that made them go off."

"Precisely."

"Ma'am, I'm afraid that's not in our department. You'll have to convince a judge to fill out a search warrant-"

"That's not what I'm saying! I mean, your a detective! You should be able to search for clues and stuff, right? Isn't that what detectives are supposed to do?"

"Not without abiding to the law."

Twilight had about enough. "Ugh! Just forget I asked you anything in the first place!" She turned away from the detective and headed inside the library. I can see how Rainbow Dash can get ticked off by this, she said to herself.

"I won't add them to the list," the detective called out to her, "but I'll make sure to tell the air force to keep an eye out for them."

Twilight closed the door behind her. There has to be a reason, she thought, Rainbow wouldn't just go off on her own...wait, yeah she would. But both Applejack and Rarity? She was about to continue her thoughts when she nearly toppled over Spike, who was still sleeping in front of the books on the ground. Twilight let out an audible sigh as she levitated the books and walked over to the shelf.

As she was placing them in, she noticed that the three ransom notes were neatly arranged on the table. Two were right to each other and the third was right below one of the two on top. It looked too clean to have been thrown down. She levitated the three notes and held them in front of her. Behind the ransom note on the paper, she could make out a faint watermark of an old cloud and a weather service company.

"Well, this place doesn't seem so bad," Rainbow Dash remarked as they entered the town of Coltsdam.

"Yes, well, it is a bit spooky, wouldn't you agree?" said Rarity. The massive city of Cloudsdale was looming right above them, its shadow blocking off all sunlight from the town.

"Ah do have to say, it is a bit unsettling," said Applejack. Her stomach produced a low growl. "but that's not keeping me away from hunger."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Right. Now, let's find a place to have a quick bite to eat."

The three walked through the darkened town. From what they could see of the town, mostly lit by the lamps hanging from the buildings, the town looked remarkably similar to Ponyville. The buildings, the streets, even some of the ponies walking about seemed like they came from home. The only difference being the giant city above them.

After walking through town for some time, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel like she everyone was looking at her. Normally she would be accepting this form of attention, but it felt more so like she was being watched and analyzed. She would look at a group of ponies who in turn would quickly look the other way. She would see something dart from the corner of her eyes and disappear behind her. Whatever the case, this town was starting to creep Rainbow out.

A sigh of relief swept across the three as they found what seemed like a friendly-looking restaurant. They went to the waitress and asked for their seats. They were brought inside and seated next to the window.

"And what will I get you three girls to drink, this afternoon?" the waitress happily asked.

"I'll have the house cider," said Applejack.

"Iced tea, please," said Rarity.

"Soda," said Rainbow Dash.

The waitress went off to get their drinks. "Well, I have to admit it's not exactly like Ponyville," said Rainbow Dash.

"I'll say," replied Rarity.

"Well, how are we going to find the offices in a place where we can hardly see our two front hooves?" said Applejack.

"We can ask the waitress when she gets back."

"How in Equestria would she know?"

"I'm certain she knows."

"How's that?"

"Well, like I said, it's not exactly like Ponyville, but there is a small towniness to it."

"Small-townie-what?"

"You know, like, a small town. Everypony knows one another. Everypony knows where everything is."

"I see your point, but Ponyville isn't so much a small town. Even I don't know where everything is. And if yer sayin' that this place is somewhat like Ponyville, then I don't really see that small-townie-whatever in it."

"Here's your drinks!" chimed the waitress as she levitated the three drinks down to the girls.

"Thank you. Hey, can I ask you a question?" said Rainbow Dash. Applejack rolled her eyes.

"Go for it."

"I was wondering...see, we're tourists, we and are on a week-long sight-seeing expedition, and one of the stops we wanted to see was the old Cumulonimbus office building. Do you happen to know where that is?" Rainbow Dash finished with a goofy smile on her face. Both Applejack and Rarity had their hooves on their heads.

"Yeah, I know where it is, but you can't go there," the waitress replied in a matter of fact tone.

"Uh, why not?"

"Because it's block off by Nimbo's men. He owns it."

"What? Wait, who's Nimbo?"

The waitress looked crookedly at them. "You don't know....oh right! You're passing through! I apologize. Nimbo and his men run a bunch of the outfits around this area. There almost like...land owners, in a way. Only, they aren't as 'laidback' as some of the land owners you folks are used to."

"So wait," Rainbow was trying to process this information in her head, "do you mean that they're a-"

"Whoops! I have to tend to some tables. In the meantime, please select your dishes. Thank you!" the waitress left the three, all with dumbfounded expressions.

"Ah don't know about you two," said Applejack, "but I sure as heck didn't catch one thing that came out of that pony's mouth."

"Hold on," said Rainbow Dash, "she said that this 'Nimbo' owns a lot of stuff around here, and that he's like a land owner but harsher. Girls," Rainbow hushed her voice into a whisper, "I think what that waitress I saying is that a mob is running this town."

"Oh, Dash, darling," said Rarity, "don't be ridiculous. This town has too many homey aesthetics to be considered a haven for some brutish mob. Aside from the darkness outside, I'd hardly call this place-"

Before Rarity could finish her sentence, a loud crash was heard from above. Before the three had a chance to look up, they saw an earth pony land ten feet away from the restaurant window. Rainbow's initial reaction was to go out and help the pony, but she soon halted when she saw a pegasus descend from the same window and land in front of the helpless earth pony.

Through the glass they could hear him shouting; "This is your last warning, Trotter! Pay up now!"

"P-please! I-I don't have AUGH the money! I-I-I can pay you later!"

"You said the same thing two weeks ago, you piece of shit! No more waiting! Your time is up!"

"N-no! Please! NO!" The pegasus was already hovering over him. Then all of a sudden, he dropped down right on top of the earth pony, hard, and proceeded to beat him senselessly. The three girls watched in horror as the pegasus pummeled repeatedly against the pony's face as he screamed in pain. After thirty seconds of this, the pony's screams were silenced and all that was left was the sound of the pegasus's thunks against his body.

The pegasus eventually stopped. He took in a deep breath, got off the beaten pony, and let out a short whistle. Out of nowhere, a small carriage arrived and stopped in front of both the pegasus and the bloodied body of the earth pony. A unicorn hopped out of the back and levitated the limp body into the back of the carriage, while the pegasus hopped into the front. With a crack of a whip, the carriage set off and disappeared into the darkness.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity look at each other, each having the same look of bewilderment and horror. Before anypony could've spoken, the waitress came back to their table. "Have you all decided on your meals?" she asked cheerfully.

"Um, n-no. N-not yet." said Rainbow Dash.

"Ok! Just let me know when you're ready. Thanks!"

When the waitress was no longer in earshot, Rainbow leaned forward and quietly said to the girls, "I take back w-what I said. I d-don't think this place is anything a-at all like Ponyville."

Chapter 6

Siblings

Chapter 6

The wind was blowing through the trees. The clouds quickly passing in the sky. It was an increasing gust that nearly toppled everything in its path.

Admits this stands Scootaloo. As the wind rages around her, she plants her hooves on the ground and stands defiant against the gusts. Her eyes are closed. She is strong, but her strength is wearing thin. Her legs tremble. Her wings are fluttering loosely. Her jaw hangs open. She is unable to take it any longer and she lets the wind take her away.

She doesn't make it far as she falls into the arms of her sister Rainbow Dash. She looks wearily at the pegasus, her strong wings flapping effortlessly against the storm. She flies up above the clouds until they are no longer being pressed by the wind. Rainbow sets Scootaloo down.

"I guess I just wasn't strong enough," said Scootaloo.

"Hey, don't worry about it," replied Rainbow, "no matter how strong you may or may not feel, I will always have your back. Sound good?"

Scootaloo smiled. "Yeah. Thanks, sis." She went over and gave her sister a big hug and watched as the sun began it's way down into the horizon.

"Scootaloo," whispered Applebloom, "Scootaloo, wake up." The young pegasus opened her eyes and looked at her friend. She looked very worried.

"Wh-what is it, Apple Bloom?" she asked.

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"What?" Scootaloo sat up. Of all the things that could've interrupted her dreams, it's an issue regarding Apple Bloom's bowels. "What do you want me to do?" she said irritatingly.

"I don't know where to go! There's nothing here!" Scootaloo took a quick look around the cell. There was nothing except for a small bucket in the back corner.

"There's a bucket over there."

"Ah can't go in a bucket! That's embarrassing!"

"Keep it down, alright?" Scootaloo looked towards the bars, hoping to not have disturbed the guard. "I know it's embarrassing, but you don't really have much of a choice." Apple Bloom stared blankly at Scootaloo. "Besides, it's not like we have a lot of dignity inside a freaking jail cell."

Applebloom let out a sigh and turned towards the bucket. "O-ok. But don't look!"

"Don't worry, I promise not-" Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were halted by the sound of hoofsteps. They instinctively huddled together against Sweetie Bell, who was still sound asleep. The hoofsteps stopped in front of their cell and Scootaloo looked into the face of the guard.

The guard that stood over them looked very different than the scary guard she was used to seeing. He was a unicorn who had a white coat and a grey mane with soft blue eyes. He wore the same cloak as the other guard, but his presence made it feel welcoming rather than frightening. He was looking straight at Scootaloo, his gaze instantly calming her down.

"Don't worry," the guard said softly, "I'm not gonna hurt you." Scootaloo recognized his voice. He was the same pony who called the other guard an asshole. She moved away from the huddle.

"Who are you?" she asked sheepishly.

"My name is Winter Storm. Now, I want you to slowly move away from the door please." The two did as they were told as he slid open the door. He entered the cell and stopped in front of Sweetie Bell. "Wake up little one," he said as he gently nudged the unicorn. She opened her eyes slowly at first, but they shot open when she saw the guard. "It's ok, it's ok. I won't hurt you."

He stood up and walked to the entrance of the cell. From his cloak he pulled out three strips of cloth. Sweetie Bell backed away from the guard. "Don't be alarmed," he said, "I'm only going to blindfold you for a short while. When I do, I want you three to remain silent and follow my lead. Ok?" The three nodded in unison. Winter levitated the blindfolds over to the fillies and gently wrapped them around their head. Scootaloo felt a nudge as she felt the unicorn's magic guiding her forward.

Through the darkness she could hear various sounds around her. She heard whispers close by and she heard shouting in the distance, but both were indistinguishable. She took note that everything sounded very metallic. The floor she walked on, the sounds echoing off the walls, and the low rumbles from within the building all had a strange reverberation to them.

It wasn't before long that Winter's magic guide stopped them. Scootaloo felt the blindfold loosen from her head, and once it was off she took in what she saw in front of her. They were in a dark room and the only light came from a single light bulb that illuminated one door. The door had a small caricature of a filly on it, and it took Scootaloo several seconds before realizing what it was; it was a bathroom.

"Alright," said Winter, "you each can take your turn inside. But don't take too long. I don't want the others to be suspicious." Apple Bloom was the first in line, and she darted in before saying a thank you to the guard.

"Um, Winter, is it?" Scootaloo asked softly.

"Yes?"

"I was, uh, wondering why you're being so nice to us, instead of being like the other guard?"

Winter smiled and said, "Because I'm not an asshole, remember?" Scootaloo couldn't help but smile, too. "Besides, I take my work more seriously than he does."

"Kidnapping ponies?" said Sweetie Bell. Winter looked away from the two.

"Sweetie Bell!" Scootaloo whispered harshly, "Don't say things like-"

"No, she has a point," said Winter, still looking away from the two, "my job does entail me to do unethical duties, and I feel very ashamed for doing them. But, I always try to make amends to myself."

"How do you do that?" asked Scootaloo.

Winter looked at the two again and smiled. "By being the nicest guard out there." Scootaloo felt her heart warm up.

Sweetie Bell still didn't completely trust him. "But why are you doing this sort of job in the first place?"

Winter's smile faded, and he said gravely, "I made a deal with my boss."

"Your boss? Who's he?"

"A griffon by the name of Nimbo. He runs everything around here, and he doesn't have much of a heart like me."

"What kind of a deal did you make?"

"I made a deal to protect my family," he said, looking at the ground. "I was overdue with my payments and they came to get me, but instead of killing me they told me that I was a promising-looking pony and that they were short on security. I objected at first, but when they mentioned my family I felt as though I had no other choice." He looked at the two fillies. "Family comes first, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," replied Scootaloo, thinking about her mother and father, "I guess it does." Another pony came into her head. Rainbow Dash. She had considered her as a big sister the time she was spending in the cell. But now she wondered if Rainbow felt the same. If I had as much of an impact on Dash as Dash had on me, Scootaloo thought, would she have that same notion?

Apple Bloom came out of the bathroom, and Sweetie Bell quickly stepped inside. Apple Bloom looked up at Winter. "Ah heard you talkin' while I was in there. I'm mighty sorry to hear about you and yer family."

"Hey, don't worry about me," he replied, "I've been through far worse. I just want you guys to be safe, and to make sure you don't have many encounters with Thunder Hail."

"Is that the other guard?" asked Scootaloo, "the 'asshole'?"

Winter chuckled and replied, "Yup. That's him."

Sweetie Bell came out of the bathroom and motioned Scootaloo to go in. She went in and sat on the single toilet seat. As she was relieving herself, she listened to the conversation outside.

"So, what happens now?" she could hear Sweetie Bell saying.

"Well, now we wait until your families pay for your ransoms."

"How long will that be?"

"Well, if everything goes as planned, you'll be out of here by Friday. And don't worry, I'll make sure that I'm the one who takes you girls home."

"But what if they don't pay the ransom?"

"They will. I'm sure of it."

"How can you be certain? Ho do you know that they won't come for us instead?"

"I can't be certain, but I can tell you that for every foal that we've taken the family has always paid. Nopony has every refused and nopony has ever tried to play the hero. All I can tell you is this: I'm sure it's happened before when times were a bit more complicated. But that time is over and this time is more peaceful. Ponies are losing their sense of reaction to anything unethical. They can't process clearly when something as horrible as this happens to them. That's why my boss will give them a price, a date, and a location, because the family's initial reaction will be that this is their only way out of this horrible situation. To pay up."

"Wow," she heard Apple Bloom saying, "that was a lot to follow, but it was mighty smart and serious."

"It's not from me. It's from my boss. He's basically got this down to a science." That was the last thing she heard him say before she got up from the toilet seat and went out to the three of them, waiting.

"You all set?" Winter asked the three fillies. They nodded their heads in unison. "Alright then. I'll just blindfold you girls very quickly and lead you back."

As they walked through the halls, Scootaloo once again heard the voices of the other ponies around them. They were still whispering, but the whispers were louder and bit more clearer. She heard phrases like "What's he doin'?" and "Why is he doin' that?" and "Nimbo won't like this". The voices faded as the magic leading the three was wearing off. The blindfolds were taken off and the three found themselves in the cell again.

"Just remember to stay silent and get lots of rest," said Winter, "I'll try to swing by every now and then." He turned to leave the cell.

"Oh, uh, Winter?" said Scootaloo.

He turned back around. "Yes?"

Scootaloo came up to him and gave him a small hug. "Thank you." she said softly.

Winter patted her head gingerly. "Don't mention it." He parted from the hug and closed the cell door. He locked it and walked into the hallway.

The three girls sat in the dark cell, looking at each other but not saying a word. They were smiling. They had been given all the hope they could ask for. The three went into a huddle and closed their eyes.

Scootaloo no longer felt her body shivering, nor did her mind feel restless. Everything felt blissful to her. She took it all in and peacefully dozed off into sleep.

Chapter 7

Siblings

Chapter 7

Two heartbeats sound in unison. One is of Rainbow Dash. The other is unknown. She listens. She feels her heartbeat beating against her chest. But the other? Where is it from?

She looks around. Trying to find the beat. The beat begins to slow. She is frantic. Her mane whips in front of her face as her head darts from side to side. No sign. The beat gets slower. She moves her hooves in an effort to find it. It slows and slows and slows.

The beating stops, and in front of her lies Scootaloo. It was as if she was there all along. In her reach. She looks down at her. There is no beat. She weeps over the filly as her heartbeat begins to slow...

Rainbow jolted up in her bed. Sweat streamed down her forehead and she breathed heavily and quickly. It took her a moment to realize that she was in the motel room the three of them rented the night before. Rainbow rubbed her eyes. I hate getting that dream, she said to herself. Outside the window the streets were still dimly lit by the lanterns. Rainbow laid back down. Still dark out. Gives me time to rest some more.

Not long after that thought, Rarity opened the motel room door carrying a tray of pancakes, eggs, and orange juice. Applejack followed behind her. Rainbow sat up again. "Rarity? Applejack?" said Rainbow perplexedly. "w-what are, I mean, wha-"

"Oh! Goodness, Rainbow, I forgot you were here," said Rarity with surprise.

"Good mornin' Sugarcube!" chimed Applejack, "glad to see yer finally awake!"

"Morning?" Rainbow was still confused. "But it's still dark outside."

"Yer underneath a floating city, remember?"

Rainbow put a hoof on her forehead. "Oh. Yeah. Forgot that."

Rarity set the tray down at the foot of the bed. "Now, before we have our breakfast," she began, "I do believe we should go over our, what you say, 'plan of attack' for this afternoon."

"Yeah. Good idea." Rainbow got out of the covers and shuffled to the edge of the bed. "From what I was able to gather, the old office building is about several miles west of this town."

"Right."

"Now, getting through the town itself will be easy. What we will have to look out for is the guards who will more than likely be guarding the building. Our plan of approach is...oh shoot. What was it, Rarity?"

"'Passive-aggressive' force." she replied.

"Exactly! It'll be like a surprise attack, except we wait longer for the surprise and focus everything else on the attack. It's covert and contact all in one. And after that, we pretty much just need to beat up the bad guys and find the fillies." Rainbow looked at the two. "That's about it. Did I miss anything?"

"Nope."

"I don't believe so, darling."

"Awesome. Let's eat."

Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity were walking to the entrance of the path that would lead them to the office building. The town behind glowed softly against the eternal darkness.

Rainbow looked over at Applejack and said to her, "You know something, AJ?"

"What?" she looked back at her.

"The more I think about how dangerous this is getting for us, the more I think about how dangerous this is getting for the fillies."

Applejack let the words digest in her mind before replying, "It is a very scary thought, I have to say. However, I'm not too concerned."

"Why's that?"

Applejack smiled and said, "'Cause we're about to knock on their door."

Rarity heard her and said, "Well, it's technically not knocking on their door if we're going in covertly. It's not like the 'direct approach' method you suggested earlier."

"Hey, it's just as good as any plan of attack as the other ideas we came up with, like your 'leave-no-trace' approach."

"I believed that a good covert mission entails us to make sure our tracks are covered. That's something I'm sure you'd agree on, am I right?"

As Rarity and Applejack were arguing, Rainbow thought about what Applejack had said. True, their still not going in head first, but they still have the same notion as before. They're going to save the CMC. Rainbow felt more confident, and she figured that she'd thank Applejack for reassuring her after she's done arguing with Rarity.

The three walked for half an hour before getting to the edge of the shadow of Cloudsdale. Rainbow looked up and saw the sun just barely peaking over the edge of the city. Well, it's definitely going to be easier to see now, she said to herself.

She turned around and looked forward. Just above the hill she saw a clearing of the trees. This must be it. "Alright girls," she said to them, "we're almost there."

They started walking up the hill as Rainbow took off ten feet in the air to get a firsthand look at the building. Sure enough, it was there. She began to fly over, but stopped herself. Something seemed odd about it. She dropped down and stared at the building. In a way, it almost looked distorted. Like something was covering it. She also took notice that she didn't see any guards around. Not by the clearing or by the building itself. She turned around and saw her friends catching up to her.

"Hoo-wee!" said Applejack, "We made it!" She took a look at the structure and frowned. "I was expectin' a bit more...protection."

"I agree," said Rarity, "I was expecting a fence or something around those lines."

"Personally, I was expectin' a giant metal cage surroundin' the whole thing." Something clicked in Rainbow's head. A cage. Not a metal cage, but maybe....

"Well, no matter," Applejack walked foreward, "this sure makes our job a heck of a lot easi-"

"APPLEJACK! WAIT!" But Rainbow was too late. The force field had caught Applejack right in her face, and a zap of high electricity sent her flying ten feet from where she was standing. Rainbow and Rarity ran over to her. Her eyes were shot open and her breath was staggered and light.

"AJ! AJ, can you hear me!" shouted Rainbow.

"Oh my goodness." whispered Rarity.

"AJ! Look at me! Look at me!"

"Oh my goodness!"

"Rarity!" Rainbow turned her head around. "Don't just stand there! Try to help-" she stopped as she saw the entire force field turn red. Through it she could roughly see two figures emerge from the front door. Rainbow had to act fast.

"Into the woods!" she said. "Help me get her in the woods!" Rarity levitated Applejack onto Rainbow's back, and they scurried into the brush. Once in, Rainbow looked to Rarity and said, "I need you to use that invisibility spell, now."

"W-what? But that was for the mission! I-I can only do it once, given I h-have enough magic a-and-"

"We don't have time for that!" The figures approached the edge of the force field. "Do it! Do it or they'll see us and kill us! Do it now!" Rarity focused the energy within her, and in seconds her horn glowed brightly before being covered by her spell. The three of them now looked like a part of the woods.

Rainbow held her breath. She looked through the trees and saw the guards walk right through the force field. One of the guards was a unicorn and other one was an earth pony. The unicorn had a bow and arrow strapped around his back, and the earth pony had two large knives on his saddlebags. She also noticed two red amulets around their necks. She thought for a moment and hypothesized that the amulets had some form of magic that allowed them to pass through. Whatever the case, she didn't feel like finding out at the moment.

She listened to the guards' conversation:

"Whatdya think it was?"

"Probably another bird. However, I'm not seeing much feathers lying about."

"A squirrel, maybe?"

"Probably. We've had those varmits come up three times this week."

"And those go 'POOF' into nothin', dude! I keep tellin' ya, that's why I think this thing is so cool!"

"A bit of an overkill, if you ask me. C'mon, let's get Boundry to clear up the force field again." The two guards walked back into the force field and into the building. A minute later, the redness disappeared and the force field was clear again.

Rarity's magic had worn off. She toppled a little after using that much magic in a short time.

"Good job Rarity!" said Rainbow Dash, "I think me and AJ here would agree that you've successfully saved our asses, right AJ?" Her friend laid limp on her back. "AJ?" She didn't respond. "Applejack?" Rainbow set her on the ground. She couldn't see her breathing.

"Oh no..." she heard Rarity saying.

"Applejack!" Rainbow shouted as loud as she could. "Wake up, AJ! C'mon! Wake up!" She shook her torso. "APPLEJACK!"

"Oh sweet Celestia," said Rarity, her eyes watering and her voice beginning to choke.

"Alright, stand back, Rarity!" Rainbow knelled beside Applejack and tilted the earth pony's head back. Rainbow pressed her mouth against her friend's mouth and breathed as much air into Applejack's lungs as she could. She sat up and began compressing against her chest. "C'mon! Damn it, work!" After thirty reps, she went back down and breathed into her again. The reps continued. Tears began coming out of Rainbow's eyes. "For Celesta's sake, DON'T DIE ON ME!"

As if on cue, Applejack began to cough. Rainbow backed away, eyes fixed on her friend. The coughs subsided and she took in large, heavy breaths, her chest rising high and low. She opened her eyes, sat up, and looked at her friends.

Applejack spoke between breaths, "What...happened? Did...did I...screw up...something?"

Rainbow Dash and Rarity couldn't respond but instead simultaneously gave her a big hug. Rarity was crying full out, but Rainbow choked back on her tears. She hates having Applejack see her cry.

Applejack returned the hug. She's still breathing heavy, Rainbow thought. but she's breathing, and that's all that matters.

It was an hour after the incident. Applejack was sipping on water that Rarity had given her. She was breathing normally again, but her chest felt as though it'd been bucked fifty times. She decided not to condemn Rainbow after saving her life.

The three didn't say much in that hour. Once they settled down, the only real conversation was Rainbow recapping the events to Applejack. Now, Applejack was sitting under a tree, Rarity sat close next to her, and Rainbow Dash looked at the building in the distance.

We can't do our passive-aggressive plan, Rainbow thought. Not anymore. We have to do it direct. They're gonna hate that. I need to convince them to do it.

Rainbow turned and looked at her friends. Rarity had her hoof around Applejack's shoulders and and was holding her close. Now I'm gonna hate myself for saying it. "Hey girls," she said to them. They looked up at her, "I think we should do a direct approach."

"I agree," said Applejack.

"Me too," said Rarity.

This took Rainbow Dash completely by surprise. "Wait, uh, you aren't protesting?"

"Nope," Applejack replied.

"Uh, well," she didn't know how to respond, "may I ask why?"

"Because," Applejack stood up, "I almost got killed in the most humiliating way I could think of. And that ain't gonna slip by me anytime soon if I just walk away. It is dangerous? Yes. Is it stupid? Probably. Is it gonna get back at those sons-of-bitches who took away our sisters and nearly killed me? Absolutely, partner."

Rainbow smiled. Even after looking at death straight in the face, Applejack's stubborn pride and spirit was still strong. They're going to need it if they want to survive.

"Alright then," said Rainbow, "what's the plan?"

Applejack looked at Rarity, then back at Rainbow. "Ah have somethin' in mind."

Chapter 8

Siblings

Chapter 8

Scootaloo scratched the wall with a piece of chalk in her mouth. Winter had given it to her during one of his passes. It wasn't much, but it gave her something to do besides nothing.

The day, or days for that matter, was taking its toll on the fillies. Not because they were toilsome but because of the fact that they were incredibly boring. They hardly talked to each other and there was nothing to do except sleep and, until recently, draw on the walls.

They did take great pleasure in Winter's frequent walk-byes. He would stop and say hi to the girls with a smile and they would get up and smile back at him. His stops consisted of telling the girls a joke, giving them pieces of candy, or giving them all hoofbumbs and hugs. He had to be quick, though. He and the girls knew that the other guards weren't going to be too keen on their interactions. Still, that didn't stop him from cheering them up.

Scootaloo felt more attached to Winter each time he passed by. He treated them as if he was their father, obvious experience from having a family, no doubt. Scootaloo recognized this kind of compassion. Where someone she barely knew went to great lengths to make her happy. Rainbow Dash instantly came to her mind. She realized how little she knew about her and yet how much of an impact she's had on her.

She paused her drawing and let out a heavy sigh. Thinking about Rainbow Dash made Scootaloo's heart ache. I really hope my sister's coming for me, she said to herself. She spat the chalk out. Dammit! She's not your sister, Scootaloo! Get that thought out of your head! She turned her head and saw Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom staring blankly at her.

"Sorry, girls," said Scootaloo, "I didn't realized I was getting upset."

"Upset? That's a word I don't like hearing." said Winter with a smile as he approached the cell. Scootaloo beamed up and ran to the entrance.

"Hiya Winter!" she said.

"Hey kiddo." he replied. He looked at the three fillies with a frown. "So, which one of you is feeling down?" Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo. Scootaloo looked at the graound.

"Me, Winter." she said solemnly.

Winter leaned down and said, "Hey, what's eatin' you? You never look like this when I'm around."

Scootaloo looked up at Winter. "It's just, you know, homesickness. Missing the folks back home. The usual."

"The 'usual', huh? Well, anypony on your mind particular?"

"Yeah," Scootaloo took a moment to before finishing, "my sister."

"Your sister?"

Apple Bloom looked at her confused. "Ah thought you didn't have a sister." she said.

Winter looked equally confused. "What?"

"Hey, she's not really my sister, ok?" Scootaloo needed to find a way to not sound weird. "She just, you know, she...she..."

"She's a sister to you at heart."

Scootaloo looked up at Winter again. "Y-yeah. She makes me feel like I'm her sister." Scootaloo gave a pathetic look as she said that. It was as if she gave away a huge secret.

"Hey, don't worry. I understand completely." Winter put his hoof through the bars and touched her check. "Just because you aren't connected to somepony through blood doesn't mean you aren't connected to them in any other way." Scootaloo smiled and placed her hoof on his hoof. She closed her eyes and felt blissful again.

"Yo Winta!" came a shout from the hall. Winter's hoof left Scootaloo's cheeck and he motioned the three of them to back away. "Whatcha doin', Winta?" came the voice again. A chill went up Scootaloo's back. The other guard came in front of the cell. She instantly recognized who he was. It was Thunder Hail. The asshole.

"Just checking to see if they're breathing," he said nonchalantly. "Harder to tell with young ones." Scootaloo could tell that Winter has obviously played the role of the tough guard on duty before.

"C'mon Winta, you don't need to worry yourself with these little bastards anytime soon. Besides, I gotta get my money back from you from last night's blackjack," Thunder said with a crooked smile on his face.

Winter did not smile back. "I'd prefer if you'd not refer to them like that in front of them." Winter spoke in a deep, cold tone. Scootaloo almost felt intimidated by his change of voice, but she was comforted by the fact that he was standing up for them.

"What? These little buggers? Oh, don't tell me you're warmin' up to them, too!"

"My interactions with the prisoners does not need to be your concern."

"Oh, trust me, it won't concern me. It's the boss you hafta be worried about. He says all this metaphysical bullshit about treatin' the prisoners, remember. You need to be extra careful when you start bein' friendly to the likes of these little bastards."

"I told you not to call them like that in front of them." Winter said raising his voice. There was a small echo that came off the walls.

Thunder rolled his eyes and turned away. "Whatever, Winta. Go do what'chu want. It won't be my blood that spills when the boss finds out you've been playin' dolly with the prisoners."

"Just stay outta my range of sight, asshole."

This made Thunder stop in his tracks. He turned back towards Winter. "What did you just say to me?" Scootaloo looked at Winter. She can tell that he regretted saying that.

"I beg your pardon, Thunder?"

"I just heard you call me an asshole. Now, might I ask why you're callin' me an asshole?"

Winter looked at him straight in the eyes and said, "Because we both know that you're acting like one."

"Yeah? How so?"

"Because your calling these kids names that you shouldn't be calling them by."

Thunder pushed Winter's chest, taking him back a step. "It's always about the kids, isn't it? Dammit Winter! You gotta stop stickin' your neck out for these little bastards!"

"I told you not to-"

"SHUT UP!" shouted Thunder, "I'm gettin' tired of this bullshit you keep pullin' off. I keep needin' to remind you of why it's dangerous to be acting all nice and shit to the prisoners!"

"Thunder, I'm warning you, don't continue-"

"I will continue! I wanna let these shits know!" he slammed a hoof on the cell bars. "You keep forgetting that the boss takes everything into the fate of chance, remember? He doesn't think like you! He's always considerin' the chance of someone not paying their ransom! He's always considerin' the chance that we'll have prisoners with nopony to go home to! And, he's always considerin' the chance that we'll have to throw them out in the woods and let them starve to death!"

It took a half second for Thunder to see Winter's left hoof raise up, but he couldn't react fast enough before it punched hard against his snout. Thunder staggered against the wall in the hallway. Scootaloo looked at the two in bewilderment. Already she could tell from Winter's face that he would regret this as well.

Thunder held the back of his hoof to his nose, which was bleeding profusely. His head was down but his eyes stared up at Winter intensely. "You just fuckin' hit me in the face," he said darkly.

"Thunder, look, I-"

"No. Don't say a single word. Nothing that you can say can get you out of this one." Thunder turned and walked away. "I'm goin' to the boss. Say goodbye to your sorry ass, and to your pals, too."

Winter stood motionless as Thunder's hoofsteps faded away. Winter's face looked grave and pale. "Oh no," he whispered, "what have I done."

Scootaloo slowly stepped foreward. "W-winter? Are y-you gonna be ok?"

Winter's eyes were beginning to water. He held it back and looked at Scootaloo. "I don't know kiddo."

Scootaloo was beginning to tear up as well, only she wasn't able to choke it back. "Winter..."

Winter knelled down in front of the cell. "Hey, Scootaloo, look at me and hold out your hoof." She did so and Winter placed both hooves on her hoof. "I don't know what's gonna happen in the next few hours, but I want you to remember something important. Don't lose hope. No matter what happens to me or you, just remember that. Do not give up hope. I don't care what Nimbo or Thunder will say to you. Just don't give up hope."

"Winter..." Scootaloo said in a sob. She put her head in between the bars. Winter pressed his forehead against her own.

"I'm gonna go and try my best to fix this. But remember what I said. Remember. Please remember." Winter pulled away from the cell. Scootaloo looked at his face. She saw two tears had trickled down both of his checks. "Sweetie Bell. Apple Bloom." The girls got up to the front of the cell. Winter put his hoof around each of their shoulders through the bars. He let go and turned to leave. He looked back one last time, then turned and quickly made his way through the hallway.

Scootaloo backed away from the bars. She got to the center of the cell before falling down. She buried her face in her hooves. She didn't sob, but she was shaking uncontrollably. Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom huddled around her. They too were shaking. They knew just as well as Scootaloo knew. Nothing will end well for Winter Storm.

Chapter 9

Siblings

Chapter 9

The force field surrounding the Cumulonimbus office building was a deep red as the two guards walked out.

"Yoohoo!" Rarity called out to them, "would you two kind gentlecolts help me?" She was standing about a foot from the force field as the two guards walked over to her.

"Miss," the unicorn guard said, "you're not allowed in this area. It's restricted to those only authorized to be here."

"It is? Oh dear me," she said in the most innocent way possible, "I knew I took the wrong turn. Could you please help me?"

The two guards looked at each other. "Uh, sure. Where were you-"

"What was that? I'm afraid I couldn't hear a word you said with this ghastly force field in the way. Would you mind stepping over? Don't worry, I won't hurt you, plus I'd love to see your handsome faces."

The earth pony guard perked up and began to trot through before being caught by the unicorn's magic. He pulled the earth pony away from Rarity and spoke to him in a harsh whisper;

"What do you think you're doing?"

"What? She needs our help."

"Yeah, of course. Help to get us killed."

"What? Her killin' us? Are you shittin' me?"

"Look, I don't trust her-"

"You don't trust anyone! Look at her! She's probably just a tourist who lost her way to the canyon. You know as well as I do that those road get really close."

"True, but what about the warning signs? She clearly shouldn't have missed-"

"C'mon, please? For once I want to do something besides sit around and play poker. Plus," the earth pony leaned in close, "I think I have a good chance on hittin' this one."

The unicorn rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine." He turned back to Rarity. "Miss, could you please back away from the force field?" She did what she was told and the two walked through. "I apologize, Miss. I was just discussing security policies with my associate here."

"Oh, it's quite alright," Rarity said, "I was on my way to one of the sightseeing hot spots."

"The canyon, right?"

"Oh, yes. Well, as I was walking, I came across this building that is behind you two right now. I was about to go and knock on the door when I kicked a pebble and the force field lit up! I was just so startled, I didn't know what in Celestia I would do until you two showed up."

"Yeah, you would've had quite the shock," the earth pony said, chuckling. The unicorn rolled his eyes again. "Well, we'll help you out in any way possible, miss."

"Oh, anything?" Rarity said in a seductive tone, "because I'm sure you fine gentlecolts would just love to help out a mare with just about anything."

The unicorn was blushing profusely. "Um, I, uh, you, uh-"

"Oh, you see, I've been out and and about for a very long time with no real pony interaction, especially not with a handsome stallion," Rarity got in close and stoked the unicorn's chest with back of her hoof, "and now that I'm in the presence of two stallions, I feel as though I can't miss this fine opportunity." She turned and whispered into the earth pony's ear. "I'm quite certain that neither of would want to miss this opportunity either." The earth pony shuddered.

"Well, uh, yes Miss. We can surely accommodate, for your, uh, needs," the unicorn said, still blushing.

The earth pony perked up and said, "Oh yes we will! Now if you'll come this way-"

"No, you idiot!" the unicorn jabbed the earth pony's side, "do you want to kill her? I'm sorry, Miss. My friend nearly made a fatal mistake. You'll have to borrow one of our amulets to pass through."

"Oh, thank you sir. I'm in your dept..." she stepped towards the unicorn, "and soon to be in you."

The unicorn blushed hard again. "Oh, yes, uh, please step in front so I can put this amulet on you."

Rarity did as she was told as the unicorn guard levitated the amulet off his neck and placed it on her own. "Thank you, my fine stallion. Now, I have one more question," she got in close again and put her hoof on the unicorn's chest, "what was that 'shock' your friend was talking about the force field again?"

"I beg your pardon?" All of a sudden, the unicorn guard was pushed hard by Rarity's hoof into the force field, where he was then thrown five feet to the right. The earth pony shouted at her before receiving a hard hit to the snout and promptly a second hit to his left eye. He was taken so off guard that he didn't realize that Rarity had levitated his amulet off of him until he staggered to a stop. He lunged at Rarity, who in turn spun around him, turn her back towards him, and bucked him hard with her back hooves into the force field, flinging him five feet to the right. The two guards lay motionless as the dust settled.

Rarity was breathing heavily in the calm aftermath. She turned towards the woods. "Alright, girls!" she called out, "they're done with!"

Applejack and Rainbow Dash emerged from the trees. "Hoo wee!" said Applejack, "I have to say that ah am mighty impressed."

"Hot damn," said Rainbow, "you really kicked their asses."

"Well, a lady's beauty doesn't always undermine a lady's strength," Rarity said in between breaths.

"Well, ahm surprised that it actually worked." said Applejack.

"Actually," Rarity walked over to Rainbow and placed the amulet over her neck, "I believe it was Rainbow Dash who suggested I add the seduction. I'm certain that was the reason it worked."

Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah, well you know. I figured the guys would've paid more attention to-" Rainbow was cut off when the three heard a low groan coming from the guard on the right. Applejack walked over to the earth pony guard.

The guard opened his eyes slightly and groaned again; "Guaahhha....what the-" Applejack let out a surprised scream and hit the pony hard in the forehead, causing him to black out again.

"What was that?!" Rainbow called out, "How was he still breathin'?"

Applejack looked back at Rainbow. "Ahm not sure, partner. But I think it's time to get outta here."

"Right! Rarity go over and get the unicorn's bow and arrow. AJ, grab the knives from earth pony." The two went off and got the weapons. Rarity swung the bag of arrows over her back and levitated the bow in front of her. Applejack rolled over the earth pony guard and grabbed the two knives from his back. They went back over to Rainbow.

Applejack dropped the two knives on the ground. "You want one, RD?" Rainbow nodded her head. "Alright. Rarity, strap these on us."

As Rarity was strapping the knives on her friends' backs, they heard movement from the left of them. Just as she finished, they saw the unicorn guard stagger upright. Rarity and Rainbow quickly made their way inside the force field, unharmed this time, leaving Applejack right outside. She motioned to Rarity to hand her the amulet. Rarity levitated it off her neck and threw it through the force field. Applejack caught it between her teeth, and before she could put it on she saw the unicorn guard looking at her, his horn beginning to glow. She dashed in just as a giant burst of magic brushed right behind her.

"Aw c'mon!" he cried out, "Really? You've got to be shittin' me!"

"Well, somepony is in a bad mood," Rarity said in the same seductive tone as before.

"Hey, shut up! That was a dirty tease you played on us!"

"I know. And you followed it quite enthusiastically." Rainbow and Applejack chuckled.

"Shit, I knew there was something suspicious about you."

"Right. You knew it all along when you said you wanted to 'accommodate my needs'." The three laughed as they went towards the building.

"Damn it," the unicorn guard said under his breath. "unbelievable." He was soon joined by the earth pony guard, who was rubbing his forehead with his hoof. The unicorn looked at him. There was small trail of blood coming from his nose and his left eye was blackening. He looked back at the three mares walking towards the building.

The earth pony guard broke the silence, "We got screwed over really hard, didn't we."

"Yeah," the unicorn guard said, "we did. But don't worry," he turned away from the force field, "once the boss finds out, they will, too." His horn glowed and in a bright flash the two guards were gone.

Chapter 10

Siblings

Chapter 10

Winter Storm woke up to the smell of hard liquor brushing against his nose. His eyes were blindfolded and he could taste the familiar trace of chloroform in his mouth. The back of his head was throbbing and he felt dried blood on his upper lip. His body was upright in an uncomfortable position in a wooden chair. A voice spoke up; "He's awake, boss. Shall I remove the blindfold?" After a moment of silence, the blindfold loosened and Winter looked upon his captor.

"Hello Winter. Now that you are awake, I believe it is time that you would care to explain your actions," said Nimbo. Winter stared at the mob head, an elderly Griffon who still had good body structure and was very well groomed. He spoke in a low and elegant accent forged from his homeland. He sat behind a massive mahogany desk with a fountain pen and stationary on the top.

"S-sir. If I may ask, what do I need to explain? W-hy did you tell the guys to beat me?" said Winter.

"Well, as you may know, or not know, depending on how much damage my boys did to your head, you blatantly assaulted one of your fellow guards on the basis that he was being rude to the inmates." Nimbo pulled from a drawer a fat cigar. "To answer the latter question, I felt it was necessary to remind you that there are certain repercussions when one deviates from the set rules. To answer the former, I need you to explain in detail why you felt it was necessary to hit Thunder Hail in the snout." He popped the cigar in his beak and snapped his fingers. A small flame appeared under the cigar as Nimbo inhaled and let out the smoke in a long sigh.

Winter shifted nervously. "S-sir, why would you need to know that?"

"I feel that it is paramount to know the reasoning for an action such as this."

"W-well sir, I don't really know how to put this in a more detailed form that what you had said. Thunder was being an asshole to the kids and he needed to be stopped.

Nimbo twiddled the cigar in his claw. "Is it as simple as that?"

Winter nodded. "Yes sir. It is."

"So, you were protecting the children, were you not?"

"Sir?"

"I asked if that was your intent? To protect the children?"

"Y-yes sir. H-how does that change my explanation?"

"Because," Nimbo slapped his hand hard on the desk, "that confirms my initial hypothesis that you have broken my most important policy!" Nimbo pushed forward a piece of paper to the front of the desk. "Could read the line on top, Winter?" Winter looked at the document in front of him. He read the first line:

Under no circumstance should any individual working under the establishment of Nimbo may involve themselves in any platonic or sexual interactions with any of the inmates, as it may disrupt the integrity of the workforce.

Nimbo took the document back from Winter and placed it back inside his desk. "Now, you may remember from way back that I informed you, as well with every guard under my employment, what my motto is. Can you remember it? Please say it to me."

Winter responded hesitantly, "L-leave everything to chance."

"Precisely. To you, based on your job, the definition of this statement probably goes something around the lines of 'anything can happen to the prisoners'. To me, based on my job, the definition is much more broad; 'anything can happen to anyone'." Nimbo inhaled and exhaled on the cigar again. "The reason being for me having a much broader perspective of chance is that I made the mistake of thinking like you. Thinking that anything can happen only to the prisoners. But, at that time I didn't realize that anything could happen to the guards, as well.

"Five years ago, I had employed a unicorn guard, much like yourself, to be stationed here. For about several months he showed no signs of disloyalty. He was then assigned to perform a simple duty: to patrol the prisoner corridors at two hour intervals. For the first day he kept to his word and followed his orders quite well. The next day, his two hour intervals were somehow shortened by an hour. The next day, they were reduced by a half hour. The third day, he was patrolling the halls every fifteen minutes. Multiple guards had noticed this and it was finally brought to my attention. However, it was too late when he had finally broken the prisoners out their cells. At the end of that day, I had lost two hundred thousand bits, and both the prisoners and the troublesome guard were nowhere to be found."

A small collection of sweat had formed on Winter's brow. He had heard of this story many times before, but only in segments and fragments from the other guards.

"So, I guess to every story there comes a moral at the end." Nimbo chuckled, "I guess the moral is to learn from your mistakes." His smile faded as he stared at Winter. "With that, it is in my power to say that your services are no longer needed."

Winter was taken aback by this statement. Despite his boss's intense stare, the thought of having to be free from this terrible job brightened Winter up. If his jaw hadn't been in pain, he might have smiled right there. He planted his hind hooves on the ground. "Well, sir, I can assure you that I am-" Right as Winter was about to stand up from the chair, the hard pull of magic forced him back down. He had forgotten that he and the boss were not the only ones in the room.

"I don't remember saying that you could leave, Winter. All I said was that your services are no longer needed." Nimbo took one last draw from his cigar before flicking it into Winter's face, causing him to flinch. Winter felt his gut churn as he figured out what his boss really meant.

Nimbo produced a smile on his face. "Actually, I'll give you one more thing to look at." He opened up one of the drawers on his desk and pulled out a wooden contraption. It had an oddly curved handle with a string sticking out from side to side. "Do you know what this is?" Winter shook his head. "It's a new weapon called a crossbow. It actually makes me very happy to own one as it is made from my home country. You see, Winter, we Griffons have the special advantage of having fingers on the ends of our front limbs. It makes dexterous acts immensely easier for us, but it has also made us far more advanced in our weapon technology."

Nimbo reached into his desk again and pulled out a small arrow. Winter's heart rate quickened. He tried to move but the other unicorn in the room had a tight grip of magic around him. He tried to use his own magic, but instead a burst of sharp pain rippled from his horn to his head. He let out a short cry of pain.

"Silence him, will you Thunder?" Nimbo said. Winter couldn't react fast enough before having his mouth slammed shut. He knew who the other pony was in the room now, and it made his heart quicken even faster.

"What I love most about this weapon," Nimbo said, continuing his speach, "is that it is both incredibly accurate and incredibly easy to fire. It takes away the time of firing a regular bow and arrow by well over half. All you have to do is pull back the string, place an arrow," Nimbo performed the actions and held the weapon straight out, "and then take aim..." he eyed the crosshairs over Winter's chest. Winter was using all his strength to try to break out of Thunder's grip. To no avail, he looked back at his boss.

"...and pull the trigger."

Scootaloo slowly woke up from her sleep. She heard the sound of hoofsteps coming through the halls again. Please let it be him, she said to herself, please, this time. She looked up in hope.

What passed by instead was a bored looking pegasus guard with a piece of stale bread under his wing. He shoved it through the cell bars and passed along through the hallway without even looking at the fillies.

Scootaloo made no attempt to pick up the stale bread. She laid her head back down and closed her eyes. All the time she spent in the cell has been now filled with total apathy. She drifted into sleep once more.

I'm alive. I'm still alive. I can breath. Breath. Slowly. No, not like that. Don't move the arrow. If I can keep it still it won't rupture anything. Shit, this is painful. Breath in, breath out...

I'm still in the boss's room. Keep eyes shut. I still have a chance. They'll throw me in the dump. I still have a chance. Wait, he's talking. What's he saying? Damn! This is painful! What's he saying?

"That's right sir. They attacked us and now they're going inside the offices."

"Oh for goodness sake! You two are absolutely worthless! You want to end up like him?!"

"S-sir! We apologize greatly, but w-what do we do now?"

"There is only one thing you can do. Blow it up."

"Sir? But what about the guards inside-"

"I don't give a flying feather about the guards inside! If those ponies are working for Celestia, then the information they find inside will jeopardize this entire establishment!"

"Y-you really want me to-"

"Yes. Blow it up."

Chapter 2

Siblings

Chapter 2

A single drop of water fell and lightly splashed Scootaloo's cheek. Her mind felt fuzzy and there was a trace of some bitter substance in her mouth. She felt herself laying on her back on a cold, hard surface. She opened her eyes and stared up at a black nothingness. She turned her head to the left and saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell laying side-by-side. She turned her head to the right and saw the steel bars of a cell.

Scootaloo sat up. At this angle she could now see the all sides of the cell. It was a fairly small room with no windows. In front of her were the steel bars. They were like the cells she had read in comic books, only now they seemed more dirty and far more intimidating.

Panic instantly grabbed hold of her. "Hello?" she cried, "Hello? Is, is anypony there?"

"Shut up!" came a response. It was a dark and gravely voice and it made the hairs on Scootaloo's back turn up. She could hear hoofsteps coming toward her.

"Who, who are you?" she continued, "Where am I? How did I-"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Before Scootaloo could react she felt herself levitated off the ground and thrown hard against the far wall. She produced a short scream of pain from the impact, but tried to keep herself from uttering another sound. She was paralyzed with fear of that happening again.

"Let that be a warning to you two little buggers." Scootaloo looked up. He was referring to Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom, who were both now wide awake and had the same look of fear on their faces.

Scootaloo put her head back on the ground, still trying to recover from the pain. Tears were streaming down her face, but she kept herself from bursting out. She heard the hoofsteps drawing away from her cell.

She felt a hoof press lightly against her own hoof. She looked up and saw Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom standing over her. They looked both terrified and worried.

"Are, are you ok, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Bell whispered. Scootaloo could only reply by letting out a small whimper. "Shh, it's ok. He's gone now. It's ok."

Scootaloo sat up, wincing from the pain in her back. Apple Bloom looked around the cell. "Where are we?" she said aloud.

Scootaloo gave her the most honest answer she could think of; "I don't know. I, I just don't know."