Dusk Village

For a few moments, all around Dash was nothing but silence and darkness. She was on her feet again.

"Scootaloo?" She called out int the darkness.

"Right here!" came Scootaloo's reply,surprisingly close. She was standing right beside Dash, and yet Dash couldn't see her.

"What just happened? Where are we?" Dash asked.

A moment later, a bright, green light lit up the area around them, allowing Dash to see the faces of herself, Scootaloo and this new unicorn. Dash realized that she recognized this pony, and quickly felt a smile stretch across her face.

"Sweetie Belle! No way!" Dash exclaimed. It was yet another familiar face, and it raised Dash's spirits to know she was finally around friends again.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, long time no see." Sweetie Belle smiled. "did you like my little trick just now?"

"What, with the walls? That was... amazing! I never would have guessed... that you guys would end up... saving my life!" Dash chuckled. She hadn't laughed for a long time.

"We're all about surprises. We don't have much in way of numbers, so we use tactics. If you can't beat 'em, out smart 'em." A third voice spoke now, and the speaker quickly stepped into the light to reveal herself. In keeping with the theme of familiarity, this third and last speaker was, of course, Applebloom, Applejack's little sister and the third member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The gang was all here again at last.

"Wow, all three of you are here... This really takes me back..." Dash shook her head, a wave of nostalgia washing over her as she remembered days when her life wasn't constantly under threat, when things were simpler and less hectic. "It makes me feel so old... to see how much you've all... grown." Dash commented.

Indeed, all three members of the CMC were full grown mares now, each of them bigger than Dash. Sweetie Belle was the smallest in stature of the three. She had let her mane grow long and curly and, somehow, despite these circumstances, she had managed to keep up being a beautiful mare like her sister. Applebloom, the medium in size, had become a strong, muscular mare, much like Applejack. She looked as strong as Applejack was. She could only imagine how she actually compared in practise. Scootaloo, once a tiny pegasus with ingrown wings, was the tallest and most slender of the group, with a relatively large, strong set of wings. She had kept her mane short, straight, and simple, just as she always had.

For a while they all just talked, catching up on old times. Dash realized that she hadn't really seen much of them for a long time; even before Paragon attacked Ponyville, she really just saw the CMC in passing, never really stopping to talk with them. It was nice to hear about all the things they'd done over the years, and how much they had progressed. Prior to the attack, Applebloom had been running Sweet Apple Acres with her sister, and Sweetie Belle had begun to study advanced magic, becoming quite proficient with it. Scootaloo had just started to break out as an established Pegasus racer, having come in 2nd place at the Pegalympics when she was just 17; the year Paragon attacked for the second time; establishing a record for the youngest racer to make the medals.

During the intervening time, the 3 had banded together in the darkening times to actively resist Paragon's control: sabotaging his supplies, slowing his advances, even liberating several prisoners on occasion. They'd made a name for themselves, and had become quite infamous among Paragon's ranks.  At 19 years old each, they had all finally acquired their cutie marks just two years ago, and how appropriate they were! They all had the initials "CMC" printed on their flanks, which stood for their teams’ name, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. What they had finally realized was that alone, they did not possess much skill or talent, but when they worked together towards a particular goal, there was very little that they could not accomplish. Their talent was teamwork, plain and simple. It was interesting to Dash to see them all now as they were, all grown up. Even though they were basically adults, they still seemed like the same little kids that Dash knew from Ponyville. Except Sweetie Belle; she was the mature one of the group.

"..And so, basically, ever since we've been fighting against Paragon, doing anything we can to slow him down." Scootaloo said.

"I wish we could do more though. Sometimes, it doesn't really feel like we accomplish much..." Applebloom admitted.

"Hey, every little bit helps!" Dash said encouragingly. "I for one, haven't gotten... anything accomplished for two years... other than get lost and... starve myself half to death..." Dash held her stomach, which growled. She was unbearably hungry. "I don't suppose you've... got anything, do you?" She asked.

"No, Sorry. We haven't eaten yet today." Sweetie Belle said, shaking her head.

Dash sighed, then looked around. For the first time, she noticed that she didn't hear anything but them, which was odd. Surely, she should hear Paragon's soldiers searching for them.

"So, where are we exactly? Shouldn't we be... watching out for guards?" Dash asked, regarding the walls around them nervously.

"Ah yes, About that. It's actually a really neat trick," Sweetie Belle started. "Allow me to explain: simply put, the place we are currently in does not exist in our universe."

Dash went wide-eyed. "What? How is that... possible?"

"This ‘room’ is part of another dimension which I have accessed using a spell. In here, we cannot be contacted by anyone from our normal universe. As long as we are here, we cannot be detected." Sweetie Belle explained.

"That's wild!" Dash exclaimed. "That's absolutely... amazing!"

"It's not without it's drawbacks, however. I can only create a portal to this room in a completely sealed and dark room; there can't be a hint of light peaking in. So, the duration of the spell is determined either by the amount of time I can continue to cast it, or however long it takes for us to run out of air. Furthermore, and this should be obvious, we cannot travel anywhere through our universe while we are here. So, this place merely acts as a resting place for us when we need to get away, so if we actually want to get anything done, we have to leave."

Dash shook her head, impressed by how it sounded. "That seems like some pretty... advanced stuff."

"It's definitely a high grade spell." Sweetie Belle admitted.

"Sure has helped us out of a pinch from time to time." Applebloom added. "Though sometimes, finding the right room can be tricky. Especially in this place, you wouldn't believe how many tiny holes there are that make it so Sweetie can't cast the spell."

"Speaking of which, we ought to start moving again." Scootaloo said. "We have to get out of here eventually. We've got the advantage of having shaken them for now, but they'll be looking for us. We've got to get out of here and tell someone about this place."

"Yeah, I've actually only got about another minute on this spell anyway, so we might as well get out of here, so I can save as much power as I can." Sweetie Belle said, as he three of them all lined up. "Rainbow Dash, are you okay to fly? You look hurt."

"Dash had already forgotten her wing, and looked at it. "It's not bad. I only just... remembered it now when you... reminded me. I should be fine." She took a spot next to the CMC, next to Scootaloo.

"Alright, when I dismiss this spell and we go back through that wall, we need to make a break for it." Sweetie Belle explained.

"Remember, we gotta stick together. So no taking off and leaving everyone else behind, Scootaloo. Not everyone can move as fast as you." Applebloom added.

"I'm only doing it to take care of the guys ahead of us!" Scootaloo countered.

"And besides, you do it too, Applebloom. I'm not as fast as either of you, so you both need to slow down to keep in pace with me, got it?" Sweetie Belle looked at each of her teammates.

"Alright." They said together.

"Here we go, team, one... two... three..." Sweetie Belle counted down.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders, away!" They all said together, as Sweetie Belle dismissed the spell. There was not much visible different, since they were in a completely dark room anyway, but Sweetie Belle pulled back the walls just as she had before, and there was the hallway before them, just as it had been.

Immediately, all four of them took off at a top pace; diving out of the wall, and hoping to  escape before they were spotted by any guards. Unfortunately, luck did not appear to be on their side today as they were sighted by a guard only shortly after they started running.  They quickly darted forward as they heard him give the alarm, but quickly slowed as they realized they were leaving Sweetie Belle behind, and got ready to fight their way out. As they reached the next corner, twin arcs of brilliant yellow light shot out from it, striking the wall behind them. As the unicorns appeared in front of them, horns glowing with deadly intent, Scootaloo proceeded to literally throw Applebloom at them, knocking one of his feet and disrupting the others spell. As the soldier attempted to recast her spell, Scootaloo slammed into her, throwing her into the facing wall and knocking her unconscious. Rainbow Dash turned in time to see Applebloom finishing the other soldier with a buck to the jaw, dropping him cold.

They had little time to enjoy their small victory as they heard the hoof steps of more soldiers coming, forcing them to keep moving. They managed to make it another few turns without encountering anyone, when Sweetie Belle turned the next corner and found herself look down the snout of a unicorn. Before he had a chance to react she fired a beam of green light at him, throwing him to the ground; unfortunately, this attracted the attention of three more soldiers who immediately charged at the group. The CMC began charging as well, Scootaloo carrying Applebloom through the air as Sweetie Belle ran below. As the the unicorn soldiers began firing at them, the girls weaved in and out to avoid them, Sweetie Belle’s own horn glowing in retaliation. As the soldiers put up shields to fend off her attack, Sweetie Belle teleported behind them and fired at the first unicorn soldier, stunning him as she turned to the next unicorn. As the earth pony soldier turned to strike her, Scootaloo and Applebloom crashed into him, and began to pummel him.

The fight was over quickly as the three girls finished their adversaries.

“How many more of these guys do we have to beat to get out?” Scootaloo asked worriedly.

“Don’t worry girls,” Sweetie Belle announced “We’re almost at the exit, these should be the last guards, then we can make our way away from this forsaken place.”

Heartened by this, the girls followed Sweetie Belle past two more junctions till they came to a large gate, pulling it closed after them as they exited the ruins.

"We're out!" Dash exclaimed.

"Good job everyone, we got away!" Scootaloo cheered.

"Not quite." A voice came from behind them. They all turned around and saw a very disheartening sight: General Iron Hoof and about 40 other soldiers were waiting for them. "You might be out of the castle, but you're still in an awful lot of trouble."

End of Chapter 8.