My Little Pony: Stormbreaker

Record 09: Reign Must Fall

Sweetie Belle stood before Apple Bloom, who was still lying in a broken state. Beaten and unconscious, she had taken a heavy beating from her fight with Gilda. The clash with the Gryphon did not just render the Earth mare in a poor state, she had also nearly torn Scootaloo’s wings from her, and the efforts Sweetie Belle had to take in keep her friends alive and finishing the mad creature drained much of her magick. Now she alone stood against the rage of Rainbow Death, who was astride the catwalk that spanned the room above the decommissioned Pegasus Device. The factory was in no better shape, as it was riddled with failures, and the constant cries of sirens, as well the flashing of red lights did not allow any to forget that there was danger all around.

Rainbow Death launched from the walk and swooped down, looking like a bird of prey with her grace and purpose. She landed on the hardened clouds with such force that it rocked Sweetie Belle, as the fluidity of her movements could only be compared to a waterfall coming down with the force like boulders. She analyzed the room, scanning for all the information she could gain by sight alone. She found the detached limb of Gilda sticking from the floor, and this surged a new fury in the mare. “I told them to reinforce the floors!” Sneering at the growing list of those needing punishment, her eyes then traveled toward Scootaloo. “Absentia, what are you doing? Get up!”

Scootaloo had looked on the verge of passing out, then the name called from the older mare sent a pulse through her that snapped her to attention. Struggling to stand, she began to trot her way toward Rainbow. “These ponies must have used some mind spell on me, and in my incapacity, managed to kill Gilda” She looked at her wings, and became aware of their damage. “My wings!” She nearly screamed.

Narrowing her eyes, Rainbow moved toward Sweetie Belle. “You attacked and damaged my second, killed my best friend and head of the Lightning Guard, and whether it is true or not, I’m blaming you for all the trouble caused in my factory. I can’t say that I have been any angrier than I am right now” Despite her words, she did not show that rage now, as she spoke calmly. It soon became clear, as she was instantly flying at the Zebracorn like a missile. She roared out, making the worst thunder crash sound like droplets in a pond. “I’LL KILL YOU!!!” Sweetie reacted nearly as fast, and tried to blast the Pegasus back, only the mare was merely held in place. Her powerful wings allowed her to push back against the spell, but she was also under some protection that kept it from doing damage to her.

Sweetie could tell that this fight was not going to be won like this, and her magick would not hold up. It took everything to keep Rainbow in place, let alone defeating her at all. She decided she needed some time to plan, so she cast a teleportation spell, sending her and Apple Bloom from harm. Rainbow, now free, shot past the spot and flew toward the far wall. She cut through the air, and arched before meeting the surface in a move that no other could have pulled off, or even survived the g-forces.

“Where did they go?!” She hovered, scanning the room quickly, but assuming that they would not be so foolish to jump to another part of the room. “Absentia!” She called. “Stay here, and make sure they are not here or come back. I’ll search the factory” Moving with the speed of her years as the best, she shot straight up then bolted out the catwalk door to begin her tear through the shuttering building.

Limping around the room, moving in a clearly weakened state, Scootaloo was looking for the pair who escaped Rainbow. “Where did you intruders go?” It was not clear if she expected an answer or not.

In a corner, hidden by the machinery, Sweetie Belle thought to herself. “I can’t tell if Scootaloo is acting or is she somehow reverted…” She dared a look, knowing that Rainbow was gone, but not sure if being caught by the other left behind was any better at this time. “She is fine for now, that potion will keep working, so I only need to be concerned over Rainbow Death and our recovery” She turned to look at Apple Bloom, still out from all she had gone through. The potion would help, but it would not be enough to truly recover either of them. It was a start though.

Sweetie pulled out another potion, with a brilliant red colour, made only more so by the warning flashes. Uncorking it, she carefully rid her mouth of the stopper, not allowing too much noise to be made. Bloom was in no shape to drink on her own, so she was left with only one option to ensure it was taken. Pouring some into her own mouth, she pressed her lips to her friend’s and let it trickle into the other, allowing instinct to swallow what was given. She repeated this until the full amount was consumed.

“Unfortunately the process will dilute the mix, at least it all went down. It should still be strong enough to get the job done” She thought, not daring to speak aloud. She pulled out a new vial, with a more pleasing green hue, and downed the content for herself. This would help restore her magick, though it would take time to work. She leaned against the wall, stroking Bloom’s mane absentmindedly.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Death tore through the failing factory, knocking around any who were in her path while she frantically searched for her prey. She was convinced that all the troubles in her precious factory were due to these two, who somehow entered and managed to deal several blows to her pride. “I’ll kill them” She thought. “I’ll rip them apart and kill them!” She cut around corners, and flew through halls with the ease of doing an obstacle course, not given any thought to though she was cutting down. “I’ll tear them apart, and each piece I’ll throw into the Pegasus Device and make them watch as their worthless bodies become Spectra, then KILL THEM!!!” Her internal voice raised through her thoughts, becoming a wild storm that could almost be heard without.

***

In one of the lower areas, a rather gruff and beaten Pegasus was tightening a series of bolts and nuts. With an exhausted sigh, showing off a series of damaged teeth, he looked around. “’er ish ‘ah ‘amned ‘oal?” His speech was as broken as his mouth, from an event from long ago never set right. He started down where he last saw his partner, and stopped, covering his eyes at the sight he found. “’or sh-eh-chra shake…”

Another Pegasus, with a cross between crazed and pleased look on his face, floated before a steam vent. “Pipe! You gottahaha try it! The hehehigh heat right between-” The busted jaw pony stopped him.

“Sh’op ‘ah, an push ‘ah shang away…” He tried not to look at the excited stallion, enjoying the steam over him. “Yer go’n ‘o melsh yer bawls off”

“Bowls?” The unstable Pegasus laughed, then laughed harder, stopped, and fell to the ground laughing harder still. “My bowls and noodle!” The clearly saner of the two was trying not to watch the ‘noodle’ as it wriggled in the fit of laughter.

“Pipe Wrench, Contrails!” Gentle’s voice cut through the chaos, becoming a welcome distraction for the pony not rolling on the floor. He went to the nearest monitor, activating the intercom. “What is the progress down there? Systems are crashing all over, and we can only do so much up here”

“I steamed my noodle! Wanna see?” Contrails tried to get himself into view, only to get pushed away by Pipe, then the more coherent, if not less comprehensible, pony did their best to explain things going on down where they, at least he, was working. His speech was too hard for her to understand, luckily Gauge seemed more adjusted to the broken pattern.

“They have vented several of the boilers, sealed off some of the ruptured pipes, and- … that was just uncalled for” Gauge shook his head. “All and all, we’re still screwed. Our best are beyond their limits, and nothing we do can stop these chains reactions” He was speaking his own view now, given all the facts he knew.”Too many key systems have failed, and the redundancies are not built to take on full responsibilities with all the mains shot. In short, we’re in a cart, with all four wheels being spares, screaming down the side of an erupting volcano”

“Colourful” Gentle thought.

Laughing as he cut in, Contrails said when he was collected enough. “Rainbow Factory Organization Speedwagon!”

“What, in the Aerial Nation, does that mean?” Gentle dared to ask.

“R.F.O. Speedwagon!” The crazed pony shouted, then started singing. “It started with a cloud shakes, birds, snakes!”

“Had to ask…” Gentle put a hoof to her face, as Contrails sang on. “Not even the right band for that song…”

Another light caught her attention, amidst a flooded board of problems. She was too attuned to changes, or else it would have been lost in the sea of warnings, though it gave her no time to process as shortly after the entire factory rocked from a massive explosion and communications from blow was lost. “What was that?!” Gentle gripped the console as the factory shuttered, looking for a sign to explain this new problem. “Pipe, any-” She stopped, noticing the static on the monitor now. “…no…”

Below smoke was filling the rooms, as clouds began to dissolve, and fires roared. Over the sounds, voices screamed, defining the air with terror. One pony coughed and giggled through. “How explosive” He laughed harder, only stopping to cough. “Barbeque Pegasus anypony?” He darted around, the blast had knocked him from where he was before, and now he was searching for his friend through the ever darkening space. He banged into a wall, and snorted. “Who put this here?” The smoke cleared up, as part of the same wall collapsed and let the haze drift away. He started to laugh harder at the wreckage of a machine that had fallen through the ceiling. “The sky is falling!”

Flying around a bit more, Contrails wanted to show his friend the scene, and share in the joke. “You’re missing this!” He snickered, circling the same area again, then stopped and looked down. “But it didn’t miss you..” The Pegasus said humorlessly, and landed before the display. Blood had gushed out, painting the machine and a fair space around the source, and pinned under the machine was Pipe Wrench. He was dead in moments, and his eyes were still wide in the last moments of pain, almost fixed right at Contrails.

Another explosion echoed from a distance, but the surviving Pegasus just stared at his fallen friend. After a while of silence from him, the chortle began rolling from him, then it became a madness of convulsive laughter. Contrails never stopped staring at Pipe, his crazed eyes locked with the glossless eyes of the dead, as tears streamed down his hurting cheeks. The smoke started rolling back in, as a nearby fire grew even greater. Even as he choked, he never stopped looking and laughing. Blanketed in the smoke, Contrails was now coughing more than laughing, and soon there was only the roaring sound of the blaze as it hungrily sought to consume the Pegasi in its path. He never looked away, even as fire licked at him.

***

Apple Bloom began to move, moaning softly in the pain she was starting to become aware she was in. She sat up and gasped when she was conscious enough to remember the fight she had passed out too. Sweetie Belle covered the awakened mare’s mouth and shushed her, then in a hushed tone said. “We’re hidden for now” This only caused more worry in Bloom, as she tried to look around while Sweetie filled her in. “I… I killed Gilda, but Rainbow Death was right there the moment I thought we had a chance to recover. She is likely tearing ass around her factory trying to find us, which is why we need to be quiet. Scootaloo is close”

“Luckily them alarms are so loud, who’d hear us over em, but what do ya mean by ‘Scootaloo is close’? Ain’t that a good thing?”

Sweetie was absent in that detail, she only now realized. “When Rainbow showed up, she called her ‘Absentia’ and Scoot seemed to revert to that role…” She peered around the machine, seeing the Pegasus shifting around the room mindlessly, though it was clear she was looking to be more recovered from her trails. Her wings were still beyond the saving of the simple potions Sweetie had on hoof. “I’m not sure she can be trusted right now, if she was putting on an act to help, or if she has a trigger word that keeps her under Rainbow’s control”

Shifting to sit more properly, Apple Bloom did not look to be as bad as she should be after her fight, another win for the potions in Sweetie’s arsenal. “Y’all think she has some brainwash or spell on her then?”

“Likely, given how deranged Rainbow is now, probably set up all her closest allies under some kind of Sleeper Agent spell. If so, it will take more than my magick to fix that” She shifted back, and sat beside her friend, glad to have her back. “You still need time to recover, as well as I. Your body took a heavy beating, and my potions will need time to get us back in fighting shape. Once my mag-nergy is restored enough, we can think of our next move. Fortunately the spell she is under, has left Scootaloo in a daze, so we’re safe from her at least. Rainbow probably thinks we teleported anywhere but here, so I’m counting on that too”

Taking a deep breath, and letting it out slow, Apple Bloom read her friend’s troubled mind and sought to help her. “Y’all took down Gilda, that’s might impressive. Also getting away from Rainbow, should be proud of what ya done”

”I’m not proud of killing” Sweetie said bitterly. “She pushed me, threatened both of you, and gave me no choice. Besides all of that, I can’t feel happy that all we had done to save Scootaloo was undid the minute Rainbow Death swooped in… Now I have blood on my hooves, and nothing to show for it, but my two oldest friends beat to shit, and a madmare hunting us”

“Buck up” Apple took effort in turning to face her fully. “It ain’t as bad as all that. Me and you, we’re gonna save Scoot, even if it takes a dozen times. We’ll take down Rainbow Death, and end the nightmare here” She pulled Sweetie close to her. “It ain’t easy knowing y’all took a life, and with all the critters I had to kill out there, I’m kinda numb to it now, but you are like how ponies should be. Yer not a killer, y’all just did what was needed to save others. The fact yer hurt’n, means yer still a good pony”

Sweetie laid into the embrace, and tried her best to feel better by the words, but it was not an easy thing to recover from, and no potion would sooth this ache. “I’ll never understand how you can always be so hopeful… but it is comforting”

The room shook violently, and if they were more attune to being in the clouds, and a sound ripped through the floors above it, to let it be known that something large exploded below. The machine they hid behind quivered and hummed, and left the pair to wonder what just was going on.

“Seems our friends are really do’n a number on this place” Bloom commented. “Though not sure why this kicked on”

Sweetie looked around the machine, having a hunch, only to be disproven. Scootaloo, who she thought was activating the device, was turning in place as her broken mind was trying to understand what was happening. Another explosion lurched the room, and Scootaloo toppled. Sweetie wanted to rush to her, but she was sure that it would be too dangerous to do so.

***

“Where are they?!” Rainbow yelled at a group of workers that were trying their best to fix the situation in the factory, and this sudden questioning left them confused.

“Madam President, who do you mean?” One dared to ask.

Rainbow’s eyes twitched and she just roared out. “The intruders! The saboteurs that have plagued my beautiful factory! Where are those responsible for this assault?!” She pushed him from her, knocking down a couple others who were caught up in their stumbling. “Find them!”

“But,” Another foolishly dared. “We’re trying to keep the factory from falling apart”

She grabbed the newest challenge, and hoisted her up. “Get it done” Rainbow said at length, then tossed the mare. “Do it now!” She did not linger, and was again rocketing away, leaving the group confused to just what she was demanding be done.

The sudden, and powerful explosion below was enough to tremor through to the higher floors, and caused ruptures in more of the structure. Conduits and ducts breaking, only helped start more explosions to occur higher in the factory, and one nearly caught Rainbow. Being a relentless trainer, she had the reaction time to avoid any damage it would have caused any other, as she spiraled away from it. Debris shot out like bullets, rained down as hail, catching many below and killing some, wounding others. The survivors cried out for their president. She took a moment to look down, as her workers and subjects reached for her in hope. “Failures” She said coldly. “Only the strong survive” She was off again, leaving them to their fates. She was shedding her collected, diplomatic face, as she bared her true colours.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement that was demanding of her attention. She moved to investigate, not finding who she was wanting too, but something as curious. It was a Pegasus at a value, opening it all the way and causing the pipes to rattle and rupture. “YOU!!!” The pony panicked, and raced off, but he had no chance to out fly her. With a hard kick, she sent him crashing to the floor.

Rainbow Landed near, and demanded to know his business. “They said to open the vent!” He replied, but knew she would also question why he fled. “You startled me, I-I thought you were one of the intruders” He hoped she would buy it, and not see his true purpose here.

“You saw them?!” He was fortunate that she was more focused on Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, not that he could know this, and his frantic lie actually saved him. She stood over him. “Where? Where are those responsible for wrecking my beautiful factory?!”

Seizing the opportunity, he thought quickly about what he knew. He decided to send her where he knew none of his fellow saboteurs were working, or likely to be at all. “I saw them head below, maybe they caused the explosions a little while ago?” He pointed to a readout that was not far from where he was. “The monitor is showing some activity in the decommissioned devices,” He assumed that with everything happening, the machine was reactivated. He knew no one was doing what he was about to say. “Maybe they are trying to drain Spectra by running old machines?”

Rainbow just stood over him, slightly trembling at this deception, only to her it was making sense. “Yes… Of course! That explains it…” She did not say another word to him, and was off.

He stood up, and was confused by what she meant, but any could see how crazed she was at this moment and took it as good fortune, not thinking about damning any who were currently hiding in an old processing room. “For the love of the brood, that was close…” He looked around, seeing the monitors and just how doomed this place was. “We did it” He set to leave, with a lingering thought. “I hope Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom are having as much luck in their mission”

Moving faster than she had even been going before, Rainbow was cutting through the halls, and some unfortunate ponies, at a pace that was threatening to cause her sonic rainboom. She was so assured that the intel she had just received, and the logic of it all, added together that she would bust through floors if she could to get back to the Mark 5. She slammed through the doors of the room so hard it dislodged one, and left the other barely hanging on its hinges. The large door slid past Scootaloo, whining as it scrapped along to a stop. Rainbow had been so confident to find the two, she was furious when only her Vice was here to be seen.

“Absentia!” She roared, storming her way to the mare. “What is going on, I told you to find them! Where are they?!”

“I haven’t seen them, Madam President” She replied, snapping from her dull state.

Growling and gnashing her teeth, losing her mind at these constant troubles and lack of solutions. “Failures… Failures everywhere, in the depths of my precious factory!” She looked at the Mk 5, remembering how fond she was of it and its process. Though the current 8 was more efficient, the 5 had a better show of all the devices. She was now aware it was running, and awaiting resources. “More Spectra, that is what we need!” She looked around, realizing that there were no sacrifices around, only her and Scootaloo. “No resources” She lingered her gaze on the other mare, seeing her looking well, save for crippled wings. “Those inferiors destroyed your wings, how sad… my dear sister…” Her tone became almost concerned and loving.

“We can fix them again, right? I know Gruber is gone, but I just need some time to heal” Scootaloo looked at the older mare with hope.

“Yes, we can fix everything… with Spectra” She tenderly stroked Scootaloo’s mane. “One day, the Aerial Nation will look back and know of the heroic Absentia. They will know my sister as a champion, and not the failure that you are” She grabbed her, and pulled her. “Once you feed this machine that should have satiated on your Spectra long ago!”

Scootaloo struggled in the grip, as she was now being taken to the machine. She attempted to grab the discarded door. “Why?!” She cried out. “I’m your sister, why would you do this to me?! I thought you loved me?” Rainbow’s might was too great, and the door dragged a bit with Scootaloo grip, until she could not keep it.

Focused on the machine, Rainbow continued the march without any emotions. “I do love you, that is why I do this. I’m saving you from your relentlessly pathetic life, where you manage to fail over and over, despite all you have been given to soar. I wonder if that Pegasus who gave his wings for you was as much of a failure? Wings doomed to be borne by shameful Pegasi” She turned to face Scootaloo, a void behind her eyes, as sanity and soul seemed gone. “You let your wings be destroyed by lesser beings, and this is only the latest in your growing list of failures! The factory is at risk, and needs Spectra. I will finish your list with at least one accomplishment, I will be sure to put it as a selfless sacrifice to save the Flock. It will erase your past, and no one will remember you as anything less than a hero. The name Absentia will ring through the ages, and your will be a legend of the Flock, a champion of Pegasi, selfless giver of Spectra in our darkest hour, for our race, for your sister”

Rainbow stopped as she caught a sound that she should not have even noticed over the sirens and her own speech. She dropped Scootaloo and avoided a rope coming for her neck. Seeing it missed, Apple Bloom made her challenge. “Y’all ain’t hurt’n her!” She felt like time slowed, as Rainbow had gone from the place she was. It took a moment for her to see that the mare was hovering above. “Shit…”

Laughing at her, back to a more collective state of mind. “Cleave to hide here, in plain sight. Sent me on a chase, while you rested. This only proves how useless my sister is. Here the whole time, and she did not even know”

“Seems to me, y’all are the failure!” Bloom shot back, sparking a slight ire in the mare. “Not think’n to look here before race’n off, mighty foolish” The jab did strike true on Rainbow, and she was processing it before her eyes locked back on the Earth pony.

The grin was gone, chased away by the words of a lesser being, she regarded them in contempt. “You know, you remind me of somepony I used to know, she too thought she was my equal or better. She also had a mouth like yours, always ready to make herself sound so wise” She took a deeper interest in Apple Bloom. “She also wore a hat like that… no, it is that hat. I see now” Looking to Scootaloo and back to Bloom, she noticed the similarity in age. There were hints of a smile, dancing on the edges of her frown. “You’re Apple Bloom, and you’ve come to save somepony who isn’t here. She died long ago!” Rainbow looked at Scootaloo. “Though her weakness and failures, linger and carried over”

“She ain’t a failure!” The Element under the former bow covering her left eye started to flair again, and she would need it. “Y’all messed with her head something awful, but we’ll get her back!” She tried to use the power of her Element to see the path Rainbow would take, and attempted her daggers, throwing into the likely path, only the speed that Rainbow moved was more than the mare accounted for. She was faster than Gilda, making the past foe seem slow, and she had a greater skill to her movements. The way she turned in the air, she could cut as easily as one could draw an angle on a page. Taking this in, Bloom managed to avoid being struck in a counter offensive.

Never making contact, even though her crushing hooves were nearly on the floor, Rainbow shot straight back up from the failed attempt to take out her foe. Even though never being touched, the floor had two hoof marks cut into it. She spiraled in her flair, and stopped in the air. “You’re in my world, against the greatest flyer who’s ever made history. You can’t win against me on my bad day, so now accept your fate and die in the Pegasus Device!”

Before she made another deadly pass, Sweetie Belle attempted her own surprise attack. She shot a blast from behind the machine, hoping that she had the opening she needed, only Rainbow was not off guard. Seasoned ears caught the sound, and the trained body felt the shift in the air as the energy formed and flew. She did not avoid the attack, but used one wing to bat it away, displaying her physical might as well as it blasted the far wall.

“Oh the Spectra you will produce” Rainbow turned to her new challenger, then was struck with the same feeling she had with Bloom earlier. “Sweetie Belle, now I see it, but Zebra stripes?” She shrugged this off, and snickered. “How is your sister doing, since I defeated her?”

“Funny, I’m pretty sure you both lost that day, when Queen Chrysalis attacked” Sweetie returned. “I was there, though it took a while before I understood it, but Zecora and I watched as your Pegasus ran from the Changelings. Seeing how Nightmare was able to come after us after, I think she made I through that fight better than your Flock”

Groaning, annoyed by the history lesson, Rainbow retorted. “We chose a tactical retreat. I was seeking to take out her and the demons, not Changelings”

“Seems to me, it was a defeat” Sweetie smirked. “The great Aerial Nation, and their feared President, couldn’t defeat Nightmare Rarity, and used the Changeling attack as an excuse to flee. Scared off by two ‘inferior’ races”

“You think-” She stopped, avoiding the attack by Apple Bloom, laughing at them as she ascended. “Clever, using my ego to distract me. I am never more focused than when talking of my achievements, and I know the air in the factory as well as my own feathers. You can’t sneak up on me! You display that rare talent your kind lacks, but nothing can compare to me! Even if you both were Pegasus, you would be better suited, still couldn’t match me. I’m the fastest, best, coolest, and most skilled Pegasus that has ever lived!”

***

Gentle just watched as more indicators snapped into the red, monitors that still worked showing the chaos outside this room, and more lights than Manehatten confirming all that had gone wrong. Looking over all these critical systems, she knew she could not do anything to stop any of it. Altitude was down another 20%, meaning that they were below the cloud line, and any below could see the factory escaping the endless storm it hid in. “What can we do?” She asked, not expecting any answer. There were none. Beside her, Gauge was at an equal loss. He was staring blankly at his life’s work dying before him. He could give no answers.

“Issue an evacuation” Hide came in, providing the only solution, one that should have been given before so many died needlessly. His coat was torn, covered in blood, and he bore cuts and bruises. “Screw Rainbow, she has lost her mind, and the factory. I believed in this cause once, even drew her to it… but now we are loosing good ponies out here, all because of one insane mare who took the revival of our national pride, and made it into our own genocide. Maybe she wants to rearrange droplets on a dissipating cloud, but I will not sacrifice more of our kind to her madness”

Filled with a new life, Gentle was quick to set to work. She knew only so many intercoms worked, and hoped that others would spread the word, or those who could not hear would have sense to leave. “I can’t reach the lower levels where Pipe and Con are”

“They’re dead…” Hide said distantly, knowing that the explosion that really started the fatal chain reaction was where the two were. He heard some survivors speaking about the fires and destruction, and it did not take much to assess that any down there were long dead. “More fed to her madness and greed” He grew bitter, and spoke with disdain. “One of the Flock’s greatest engineers, reduced to a mumbling grouch, and one of the most brilliant minds I have ever known, broken into a giggling wretch” In a show of normally managed rage, he bucked at the nearest machine.

Both Gentle and Gauge looked at him in concern, never seeing him get to a point like this before, even when they found Contrails had screwed with the coffee machine and left them without the basic salvation for two years. He came to them, recollecting himself, and placed a hoof on each of them. “You both have been just as resounding, two of the best problem solvers in history, unfortunately this was not a problem with a solution, only an unavoidable end” They continued to study him, for it was not his way to kick machines or give out such praise. He would say “good work”, but nothing like this. “Leave this place, and live on”

Taking note of repressed tears, Gentle also sensed something else. “What about you? Will you come with us?” She knew he had other plans.

He released them and stood tall. “I resurrected this factory of horrors, and have run it for all the years since the first Pegasus Device was being put together. If this was a ship, I would be the captain, and we knew the romantic notion with such titles. Not being a mariner, I could not say if it is true, but I do intent to go down with this wreck”

“I’m not leaving” Gentle said firmly. “I gave up many good years to this place too, busted my flank keeping it from going to shit, one improbable update and remodel after another” Now she was starting to cry, hiding the real reason under those words. “I’ve invested too much time in this shit storm, to watch it get flushed”

“You sure did become an assertive, stubborn, and huge pain in my ass over those years” He looked at her, hiding a weak smile. “But for once, listen to your boss. You haven’t been here that long, you have youth, and a future waiting for you out there. With your skill, you could do real good”

She looked to Gauge, who seemed in agreement. Gentle shot out of the chair, now screaming at Hide. “You think just because I’ve only been here a couple years, and known you assholes only for a short while, I’m just going to abandoned my friends?!” She huffed until she let her head drop down. “Blood is on all out hooves, and I won’t go on knowing that I did what I’ve done… and adding to that, letting my friends die while I live on isn’t something I can live with either” She was shuttering, sobbing fully between breaths. “You dragged me into this, and said it was for life. I fought it, but I found my place with you four… you are my family… I lost two, I won’t lose two more…”

No longer able to restrain himself, the sorrow and lament freed from his dams, as Hide cheeks grew wet from long held tears. He embraced her, and the two buried themselves in one another. “You were always too good for this place, I’m so sorry I brought you into this nightmare…”

“Don’t be” She returned. “Even if it was hard, and sucked, I made the best with you. I can’t imagine being happier than I was with you… with all of you… I wish I could have told Pipe Wrench and Contrails…”

Gauge watched the two of them, not being dull to the scene, as he swiped at his face to clear away the warmth. “They knew Gentle” He patted her shoulder, not wanting to break them up. “Even if they didn’t show it, even if we all kinda acted like jerks… we were miserable without you” Pulled into the embrace, the three stayed that way a while, as explosions rocked the factory around them.

Hide was first to step back, and with some effort to recover his usual collected demeanor, he took a deep breath. “Well, I’m going to the main reactor room. Go out with a bang, I’m sure Contrails would have appreciated the humor of that”

“Sounds as good a place as any to be in,” Gentle smiled, looking at Gauge. “You?”

“If you don’t mind me a long on your date” He joked, getting both of them to turn a bit red. “I just need to do something first. I’ll see you below”

***

The two mares, still worn from their fights before, were having great difficulty with Rainbow Death, who seemed more to be toying with them than actually fighting. Apple Bloom’s Element was allowing her to read the moves, and after some tuning, she was able to account for the speed that the mare was using. Sweetie Belle’s magick was not finding much purpose, for she just could not hit the mare or had Bloom’s insight to aim where she could. Bloom was attempting to use her advantage to get Rainbow where she could be hit, but the mare’s skills and nimbleness allowed her to move before the spells could hit.

“Y’all too scared to be hit by us?” Bloom was desperate. “Mighty Rainbow Death”

Scoffing at the feeble attempt, Rainbow did not slow. “Seriously? I’m egotistical, but I’m not stupid” She cut and dove for the mare, rocketing past as Bloom rolled from harm. “Scared?” She mocked her now.

Rainbow made a swift motion with her wings, and sent such powerful blasts of air, that it dented the ground where Sweetie and Apple Bloom once stood. The buffets knocked up some of the thrown knives, and Rainbow swiftly flew to them. She spun about, much with the same impressive display Bloom had shown against Gilda, and now that similar tactic of adopting the weapons, she managed to wedge the blades into her wings.

Frustrated that her weapons were being used against her, Bloom also knew them better, so when they started being thrown at her she was able to whip at them with her rope sending them back. Rainbow was not about to be out matched, and flicked her wings to cause the projectiles to be again reversed.

As the two played their game of tennis with knives, Sweetie collected the deepest of her abilities, and started to mark the room with symbols. They were Zebra runes, but she enhanced them with Unicorn magick, fueled by the Element, the spells would be set to unleash their fury.

Apple Bloom’s eye saw the attack coming, and set to get Rainbow in its range. Looking to go wild, she lashed her ropes, and tossed daggers about. In the seemingly chaotic move, she was able to bounce the blades around to close in on Rainbow from a number of angles, forcing her to go in a particular direction.

“I won’t fall for that!” Rainbow scoffed, she was where Bloom tried to lead her, then shot further back, just as Sweetie activated her spells. Several narrow beams shot out all around the mare, forming a cage that made it impossible for her to move around, not without being burnt. “Oh” She simply said.

“This is it!” Sweetie summoned a vest amount of her magick, and shot it right toward the Pegasus. Bloom had moved to the opposite side, and leapt up to bring her hooves against the mare. Rainbow did not seem the least concerned, and she turned herself to be sided with the assaults. Her wings came around her like shields, they took both strikes, and with all her fury, flung pony and blast away. Both mares were stunned by this power. Bloom did not recover in time, before crashing against the wall. Sweetie was stunned, and soon enveloped by her own spell. She cried out, and the cage around Rainbow shattered.

Soaring from her prison, Rainbow Death wings looked like blades, and she took a strike at Bloom first. The mare was with her wits in time to avoid it, as the focused wing sliced through the wall. Not stopping, she circled about to do the same to Sweetie, who also just avoided being carved up as the floor suffered her intended mark.

Regrouping, Sweetie whispered to Bloom. “Those wings are a freak’n nightmare” She paused, then added “I do have an idea, but I need to reach her”

“Good luck…” Bloom snorted. “She’s dodgier than a jack rabbit in a minefield”

Rolled onto her back in the air, displaying her complete lack of concern, Rainbow called down. “Plan all you want, you have no chance to survive. Once I grow bored of this, I’ll finish this in ten seconds flat”

Growling at this disregard, Apple Bloom started to charge at the mare. “I’m gonna-” She skidded to a halt, when a voice cut through.

“Attention, all workers, staff, and anypony in the Rainbow Factory: Systems have failed, those still running are critical. Abandon the factory!” It was the voice of Gentle, giving the order by Dr. Hide. “This is no drill, this is for real. Escape while you can, before this is your tomb!”

Rainbow’s rage returned, and she shot toward the speaker. “HOW DARE SHE?!!” She roared out. “THIS IS MY FACTORY AND ONLY I SAY WHEN TO LEAVE!!!”

Sweetie Belle did not need the invitation stamped for her, she took it without hesitation. She teleported behind Rainbow, and threw out two vials she was keeping ready for this moment. They shattered on the mare’s wings, and she did not even notice. It was not until the sudden drop in elevation did she notice anything happened.

“What now?” She beat her wings, only they did not react. “WHAT?!!” She pushed harder, but the potions had set in and made them heavy and weak. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!” She managed to stay in the air, her wings struggling to obey her.

“That’s impressive” Sweetie said, back on the ground and looking at the mare dumbfounded. “Those were paralyzing agents, and they should have killed her muscles. One should have done the job on a normal pony, even accounting for the feathers absorbing some of it, that’s why I used two and yet she is still flying”

Struggling in the air, hearing what Sweetie said, Rainbow continued to fight the attack. “No! I’m stronger than poison, no zebra potion will stop me!”

“Not just zebra” Sweetie corrected. “That is magickal infused, and even if you have some rare immunity to poisons, the magick will deal with the antibodies that would stop the toxins”

Chuckling, Apple Bloom trotted toward Rainbow. “All that aside, y’all been knocked down a peg or two” She jumped into a stance. “Let the real fight begin!”

Rainbow growled, putting a good amount of her effort to keep in the air, allowing her to be attacked by the pair. She was still quick, only not so fast that she could avoid Apple Bloom’s rope, which pulled her to the ground. As Rainbow tried to fly up, Sweetie blasted the mare with her horn, not using a full shot yet, testing the limits of the Pegasus. Bloom was not so gentle, and raced to meet Rainbow where she would fall, and landed two powerful hooves on her, sending her almost back where she came from. Rolling a little then jumping back into the air, she managed to avoid another shot from Sweetie, only to cry out as a knife pierced her side. This back and forth went on, until the mare was now bloodied and panting.

“Absentia!” She called to her only alley. “Attack these fools, while I fight this invasion in me!” The mare struggled to obey her master, but after the recent abuse, adding to those from Gilda not yet healed, she was in no shape to fight. “Move it!” Rainbow yelled again, but the results remained the same. Forgetting about her true opponents, Rainbow managed to unleash a great force of will, and was rocketing toward the stumbling pony.

“No!” Bloom shouted, knowing that the speed Rainbow was managing would be a deadly blow. She raced to cut her off, and took the blunt of the attack. Scootaloo watched in shock at the display of the pony saving her, while Bloom cried out in the agony of her own old wounds surging through her, with the two hooves pressing into her adding to it all. A trail of blood flew out from her mouth, splattering on the ground like a line toward where she now lay.

Sweetie watched and knew what happened, and raced to aid her friend. “She punctured a lung!” She thought as she blasted the Pegasus away.

Apple Bloom coughed hard and repeatedly, as more blood was spraying with her sputum. She was struggling, and could not stop from curling into a ball as the pain was taking her. She could barely breathe, and the total of damage was too great on her.

Rainbow laughed at them, moving a bit slower, but enough to keep her fight up. “Foals, nothing can stop me” She moved in on them, and bucked Sweetie from behind, as she was distracted in trying to stop the bleeding. “Not a single soul gets through” She remarked, landing atop the now unconscious mare.

***

Dr. Hide Atmosphere and Gentle Butterwing stood before the reactor, they knew full well it was critical and moments from blowing; with it gone it would seal the fate of the Rainbow Factory. He held out a page, and tossed it to the ground.

“What was that?” Gentle asked.

“Too little, too late” He responded, as a fire crept toward the paper. Gentle tried to read it from her place, only seeing “Mark 9” and a line “greater Spectra production, only from blood” She sighed, and looked toward the machine again as did Hide. “Almost beautiful” Hide observed, as vents burst, and pipes broke, while everything else quivered as death neared.

“I guess we all knew this was coming” Gentle gave her own observation. “After all the stories we heard of great evils being taken down by heroes when it all seemed hopeless, and all the ponies lived happily ever after… I guess it doesn’t really account for the ‘evil’ who think they are doing ‘good’” Hide only made a sound of thought, silently watching his efforts die before him.

Gauge flew in and landed beside the pair. “Too bad this wasn’t a few years later” He put down a bottle and five glasses. “Was saving this for your tenth year, Gentle”

She looked at him, touched by his thoughtfulness. “You really believed I could have lasted so long?”

“You are a great pony, and one of the best we’ve ever had in our ranks as the elite engineers” He grinned playfully. “Also quite the breath of fresh air in this sausage factory”

Hide snickered a bit, as Gentle was in tears. “Thank you… I really liked working with you, made a hard situation so much more pleasant”

“Don’t think it’s all me, we all really liked you” Gauge corrected. “Don’t worry about this” He said, pouring into the cups. “I made sure to pick this out myself, Contrails won’t get one last joke on us”

“I believe having the trots is the least of our worries” Hide mused, and took a glass. “To Gentle, and the wonderful years we had” He held it up, as did Gauge.

“To you all, here and already lost” She added, raising her glass. “And all the good times we had here in Hades” They clinked their glasses, making sure to each tap the glasses for their two lost friends, then began to sip. They turned to the reactor core, and watched as it finally gave out. In a bright flash, the core exploded with a violent eruption of fire and debris. The heat and fury would not suffer the three ponies to agony, leaving not even a trace.

***

Apple Bloom was down, barely moving from what might be a fatal blow. Sweetie Belle was unconscious, dragged from where the surprise attack had sent her. Discarded, she now was laying just beside the controls to the Mk 5 as Rainbow Death was setting it to accept resources. She grabbed the Zebracorn, and pulled her toward the bindings to be drawn and fed to the machine. “This machine was before we started using them on anything but failures, but it should still extract spectra from even inferior species” As she was speaking to the mare, Scootaloo was watching with blank eyes. Within the broken Pegasus’ mind, was a battle of who she was and who Rainbow had made her.

Must Obey Rainbow Death

But our friends are in danger

So what? They are inferior to the Flock

They came to save me, while Rainbow keeps trying to kill me

For the good of the Flock, to save me from ourselves

No, she does it for her own desires!

Her desires are mine! She loves me, and I love her!

She isn’t worth my love!

How can I speak like this against my own sister?

My sister died long ago, the moment she allowed us to kill another for a pair of wings. That is only a ghost, using her form to do wicked things!

Scootaloo’s eyes went wide, as her mind was again hers and clear. She had to say it to herself, to realize the truth of it all. The mare she loved, emulated, the one who loved her and took her in was no more. She died inside the monster that took her mind, and now it roams about ruining the legacy that was once of a truly Righteous Mare. She was not hidden behind a mask, she was gone, and this monster did not deserve the wings she now bears. Death could not be allowed to go on ravaging the memories of Scootaloo’s beloved Dash.

Struggling to move, her breaths came out hard and heavy, Scootaloo was very weak and hurt. She cried out her deceleration. “I must save them, even if it kills me…” She stumbled, catching herself from falling. “I will save them!” Her shouts caught the attention of Death, and it seemed to amuse her.

“Maybe I should start with a Pegasus, make sure this machine is at full operation. Besides, it has been teased this meal too long, too many times. Absentia, come to me. Your time has come”

“No” She said weakly, then took a stance, as she tried her best to spread broken wings. “NO!!!” Something in the dead limbs started to glow. “I’ll save my friends, and stop you! Absentia, your little pawn is gone, I am Scootaloo, former Cutie Mark Crusader and friend to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle!” Her wing, the one that was nearly ripped from her by Gilda, now dropped away, as something else took its place. The other wing was becoming consumed and being replaced by something else. The pair looked mechanical, one being completely fabricated and the other modified, but they also were like some jeweler's design with their beauty. Fake wings, metal, yet light and ornate. Not so many feathers as a real wing, they seemed to serve just as well. Between these new limbs, a plate like armor formed, and in the center was a red gem, shaped like a shield.

Scootaloo shot up into the air, flaring out these marvels, noting their similarity to what was on Sweetie Belle’s horn. With the speed that once was reserved for Rainbow Death, she rocketed into the wicked mare and sent her crashing into a far wall. The weakened factory did not stand the abuse, and the wall came down around Death, who shot out of the rubble with focused rage. “You little cunt, you stole the power of my Element of Harmony” She saw the gem in the split second she had been struck. “Now dare use it against me?!” Not seeming to be much affected by the poisons any more, she was flying at a full speed, only now Scootaloo was matching it.

The two ponies clashed in the air, hooves landing blows, teeth finding flesh, and wings like blades against bodies. It was a spectacle to behold, if only the Aerial Nation could witness President and Vice battling with a fury unmatched.

Rainbow did not have a weapon to use, but her wings were just as good. She used the power of them to send gusts of wind to shake her foe, but she seemed to understand battle as well as Death, and with her own wings, she cut the blasts of air to a breeze.

Angry, with a hint of impressed, Death knew that Scootaloo was no longer under her will. She had freedom to fight back, and was showing that she had learned much from the years as her Vice. Death would have to pull out more advanced moves, ones that knowledge alone could not match. She shot up to the ceiling, seeming to bounce off it like a bullet, coming down with a growing speed. She did not have the room to make her Rainboom, but she did have access to its fury. She stopped dead above Scootaloo, all her force continuing down at the mare. It struck her hard, like a solid object. Scootaloo struggled with barely any time to recover, but she managed to turn and used the tips of her metal feathers to soften her fall so she could land with little damage.

Death was no idol, and had roared away, and came back around to try her attack again horizontally. This time, Scootaloo saw it coming, and still on the ground, she cut into the floor with her feathers as she brought them before her like a shield. The blast passed over them, as she had angled them in a wedge shape. Rainbow then struck from behind, sending the mare to tumble forward.

Scootaloo rolled into a jump, that put her back into the air. The sneak attack was painful, but she felt like she was unharmed by it. She turned to find Death, seeing her bolting around the room. “Oh shit” She thought, then flew out of the way of the lightning bolt that was racing toward her. Rainbow was building the static in the air, and focused it. This was a technique only the most elite of the Lightning Guard could even know about, let alone learn. Scootaloo in the form of a broken mare, had seen Rainbow train those lucky few.

“You managed to avoid my attack, it seems you were not so placid during those years” Rainbow remarked, still building the energy for more attacks. “You have to admit, I have some great moves”

“Too bad you lost all rights to be proud of them” Scootaloo shot back, as she studied the moves. She was reading air like Death could, and felt the power that was building. The attack would do some real damage if it hit, but Scootaloo had a plan for it.

Rainbow flared out her wings, then brought them together like a giant clap. The spark that was needed unleashed the bolt at Scootaloo, who brought her own wings around to draw the energy. Death was surprised to see her just float there, then was at a complete loss as the energy just absorbed in the mechanical limbs. The final surprise came, as the wings sparked, and shot the electricity out from the feather tips. The stray, but aimed bolts ripped into the room all around, one just missing Death, and another striking the machine. The device started to shutter and flash warnings, as it was not broken, but clearly malfunctioning.

“How… How did you absorb my lightning like that?!” Rainbow asked, too stricken to be angry.

Scootaloo was not fully sure herself, as she was planning to pass it through her and aim it back. When it seemed to collect in her, she panicked and shot it back out. “I guess I have skills you don’t even know yet” She finally said, hoping to knock the mare off her guard a bit.

Scoffing, Rainbow just shook her head. It was clear she did not buy the bluff. “You got lucky”

Admitting it to herself, Scootaloo knew she was gaining the advantage in the fight. Her gem glowed bright as it gave her the strength to go on and her new wings not feeling fatigue that she should. Meanwhile, Death was suffering her battles with the other two mares and showing signs of her weakness for it. Not lingering on the past, Scootaloo was back in action. The metal feathers of her wings found purchase in the real wing of Death, and nearly cut the limb in half. A rain of feathers and blood came down, and soon so did the Pegasus. Nearly recovering at the last second, Scootaloo darted at the wicked pony, forcing her to crash to the floor that managed to resist the dive bomb.

Rainbow stood, shaking and coughing hard, spitting and seething while Scootaloo hovered above. “Fucking runt… You think you-” She nearly toppled, but steady herself. “You think you can stop me? I taught you everything, and gave you purpose. You dare defy me?!”

Shouting out, and doing a loop in the air so she would come around in front of the mare. “You did nothing, it was Rainbow Dash!!!” She slammed into the wicked mare, and the blow sent her flying toward the machine awaiting resources without sensors to truly understand what it was receiving. Rainbow managed to get tangled in the binds, and her struggles were enough of the automatic detection system to accept her. It pulled her into the air as Death initially fought it but she knew it was hopeless, in this realization she snapped. Logic was gone from her, as madness now took hold, she started to laugh. “Yes! Now I’ll be the hero of the Flock. I will save my factory and restore glory to the Aerial Nation!” Her limbs were pulled to their limits, as she continued to laugh and rant about her purpose now. “Oh what glorious Spectra I’ll be!!!

Scootaloo did not linger on the sight, assured that it was over she set to collect her friends and escape this dying place. Her new Element powered wings allowed her to carry them with ease, and she raced from the room to leave Death to her fate.

“I am Spectra!!!” Rainbow yelled out, just as a massive explosion in the lower area raced from the bottom to the top, ripping through floor after floor leaving nothing in the wake but destruction. The sound was so loud, it consumed all others, which to Scootaloo was a blessing, as she did not wish to ever hear another pony being torn apart by those cursed machines.

She did not believe herself to have the skill to do so, or how she managed the feat with two mares in hoof, but Scootaloo was nimbly racing through the crumbling factory. Avoiding explosions and debris, while moving ever faster. Growing ever harder to maneuver, as the factory was plummeting now and there was that to now account for as she flew, Scootaloo was not halted. When she found an opening she was not sure who to praise for it, the confusion did not stop her from shooting out of the sinking building. Scootaloo lingered only briefly outside to watch the flaming wreckage drop to the earth.

Landing far from where the factory had crashed, Scootaloo put her two friends down, doing her best to tend to her friends. She was not a healer, or knew much of it, so it was fortunate when Sweetie Belle awoke to take that roll.

“Once she is stable, we can…” Sweetie had started, then saw the cloud of Pegasi blackening the sky. Scootaloo rose up to meet them, ready to fend them off for her friends. The flock became a swarm, as Changelings shifted to their natural form. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had mentioned some friends helping them, but Scootaloo did not know it was the Changelings. She welcomed them still, and gathering together, the allies helped Sweetie get Apple Bloom suitable for travel and return the Crystal Empire with their long lost friend restored to them.

In the Empire, as word quickly spread of the defeat of Rainbow Death and her Rainbow Factory, the Changeling volunteers, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and now Scootaloo were welcomed as heroes; Scootaloo did not feel like one. She had a long history as a villain to live with, and the knowledge that the one that she had believed the most important to her, was gone forever. She had much loss and horror to haunt her as she tried to move on with her life.

When Apple Bloom awoke, she was happy to see it was over and that Scootaloo was back. She, with Sweetie Belle, helped the mare see that there was still life worth living, and friends that loved her through it all. Three friends, torn apart by the Shatter Storm, were now together as Stormbreakers. Their deeds would send ripples through the land, for heroes, villains, and those trapped between. Two villains remained, and with the news of King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis, Countess Trixie, and now Rainbow Death being defeated, Nightmare Rarity and Discord would likely be on high alert. It could only be assumed, one of them would make a move, and soon.

Not much had been heard of the rest of the Aerial Nation, but they were likely in chaos with their leadership structure gone. Scootaloo, by all rights, was the new leader of the Flock, but she was in no state to attempt it. That would be something for another day.

Record 09: Reign Must Fall

End

Author's Note

Three friends, before the lead of the Third Flock. Barely surviving the Head of the Lightning Guard, how can they manage the ruler of it all?

This chapter defiantly surpasses any other for length.