Beyond Betrayal

Chapters

The lonley house
Rainbow and Fluttershy
Technologic
A long night
Eternity's Crossing
The caves
The split
The betrayal
The trials

The lonley house

It was just another quiet, boring day in Cloudsdale and everypony seemed to be living their normal lives. But Razor had found something that day that he was sure would change his life forever. But if word got out about what he had found somepony would bound to have tried to steal it for their selves. Razor was a dark red pony with a black and blue mane and his cutie mark was a guitar with a red lightning bolt going through it, and for almost all his life he had had a giant crush on Rainbow Dash but didn’t really want anypony to know. Although, everypony did know. He knew that the only person he could trust to show this scroll to was one of his oldest and closest friends, Raro. And as Razor flew back up to Cloudsdale from the long forgotten forest he had just come from, only one thing was running through his mind. How would Raro react to something like this? Razor flew as fast as he could through town, dodging every obstacle in his path, until finally he made it to Raro’s house. Raro’s house was just a small and lonely house on the outskirts and Raro had little friends to invite over. Razor knocked on the door, and had to wait quite a while, until finally the door was pushed open just a tiny crack and a small blue head poked out from the darkness.
“Oh Pigau it’s just you,” Raro said as he swung the door open all the way.
“Raro, I’ve known you for how long now? Why do you still call me Pigau?” Razor said.
“Oh sorry, Razor” Raro said sarcastically. “So what can I do you for?” Before Razor answered Raro’s question, he asked him
“Have you been inside all day?”
“Err… yes,” Raro murmured.
“Jeez Raro, I like you as a friend in all but you really do need to get out more,” Razor said.
“Look if you came here just to question my daily life then you can piss off for all I care,” Raro said as his voice got louder.
“Ok, ok I’m sorry,” Razor said. “Can I just come in?
“Yeah sure whatever,” Raro said as he let the pony cautiously into his house as if something was watching them. As the two of them entered the house Raro went into his kitchen while Razor happily made himself at home in the lounge.
“Can I get you anything,” Raro offered Razor.
“Nah I’m good thanks”. All that could be heard was the sound of pots and cutlery banging around in the kitchen as Razor examined the room. Newspapers of Equestria Daily were stacked up in corners and dust covered furniture in some places looked like it hadn’t been used in years.
“So…” Raro said as he came into the room. “As I asked before, what can I do you for?”
“Well, while you’ve been rotting in here all day, earlier I went out for a walk with Twilight and we just happened to stumble into a forest. A forest with no name, a dead forest, a forest that nopony has been in for years now. So while we were walking I’ll admit we got a little scared, well Twilight left anyway, but I stayed and I came across a small tower right near the centre of the woods. So I followed my gut instincts and went inside. And in there, I found this”. Razor then carefully dropped an old crumbling parchment on the tea table in front of them.
“So what the hell is it,” Raro asked. Razor then slowly looked up at Raro.
“Well, I didn’t believe it at first but then when I looked again I thought it had to be true”. Razor carried on. “This scroll speaks of a potion, this long forgotten potion that would make the elements of harmony look like six grains of sand. This potion gives anypony that drinks it unlimited power as well as eternal life!
“Ok so, where can we find this potion,” Raro said quite calmly.
“Raro, I think you’re missing the big picture here,” Razor shouted. “If we both drank this thing we would be unstoppable. We could live like princes, live a life of luxury in Canterlot. Everypony would worship us”.
“Ok, ok… I do see what you’re saying Razor but we couldn’t possibly find this potion on our own. It’s probably a long way a way in some abandoned castle or something. And who’s to say it even exists anymore?” Raro said.
“Actually the scroll says it’s in a cave somewhere, way beyond Canterlot and in the woods of Cervidas,” Razor said.
“Well, I think I know I guy that can help us,” Raro implied. “His names Bamboo and trust me when I say that nopony knows Equestria better than Bamboo”.
“Ok then, we’ll go get him and see if he can help us, and I guess we can bring Twilight along as well. But nopony else can know about this, got it?” Razor shouted as he brohoofed Raro.
“Got it,” Raro said.
“So where does this pony live anyway?” Razor asked.
“Ponyville,” Raro replied.
“Good that means we can go get Twilight as well”.
"You've known Twilight quite a long time haven't you," Raro said to Razor.
"Yeah, i knew her before she came to ponyville. It was when i was doing some studies in Canterlot. I was good friends with her... well, i still am," Razor replied.
"And what about Rainbow Dash then?" Raro asked him. Razor was beggining to get aggitated at his repeated questions as he just wanted to set out now. "What about Rainbow?" Razor answered.
"Well, you've known her a long time too right, and lets face it, everypony knows that you're complettly into her," Raro said smirking and lifting his eyebros up and down.
"Well... yeah ok, I am. But that's none of your buisness" Razor said in a sort of jokey yet serious tone. And as he said that, the two of them leapt out the door and set of for Bamboo's house.

Rainbow and Fluttershy

The journey was long but as they finally made it, they decided to first sit down and get some food at sugar cube corner.
“I still don’t understand why we didn’t just take the train,” Raro said.
“I told you before, there’s something wrong with it, and I don’t know it might have just broken down. Besides, Flying is healthier right?” Razor said getting impatient with Raro’s repeated questions. After their quick lunch they both set off to get Bamboo and Twilight. The two ponies had been walking for some time now and Razor began to grow impatient.
“Are you sure you remember where his house is, we’ve been walking for ages now,” Razor said with stress in his voice.
“Yep… I’m almost 99 percent sure that we are possibly and maybe on the correct trail of correction to which we are heading to that place where I am…” Razor interrupted.
“You don’t know where we are, do you?”
“Bingo” Raro shouted.
Razor sighed. “Look, if we’re going to find this potion for eternal unlimited power, in a place way beyond Equestria then we’re going to need…” And before Razor could finish he was crushed by a light blue pony that had fallen out of the tree above them.
“Ouch! I’m so sorry” Rainbow dash said apologetically. Rainbow dash got up from on top of Razor, and Razor’s face then went pale.
“Hi I’m Rainbow dash, and err, sorry about falling on you I guess”. Razor said nothing, until the awkward silence was broken by Raro.
“Hi I’m Raro, and the mute pony here is Razor”. Before Rainbow dash could say anything Fluttershy flew down.
“Whoa Rainbow are you okay” Fluttershy said.
“Yeah I’m good” she replied. “This is Fluttershy you guys and Fluttershy, this is Raro and, Razor was it?”
Razor finally plucked up the courage to say something. “Well hey there Fluttershy” he said “And hey, rain-, ra-, Rainbow,” Razor stuttered.
“Wait a second were you two spying on us,” Raro shouted. “What did you hear?”
“Oh nothing we swear… just something about a potion and eternal power or-or something like that,” Rainbow said panicking while Raro was right up in her face.
“Damn it Razor, she knows now. I mean, we can’t risk her telling anypony else so… so I guess we’ll have to take them with us,” Raro implied. Razor’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.
“YEAH, yeah I mean you don’t have to come if you don’t want to, but you know it’ll be great we’re going to get a guide to lead us, we’ll pack some food for the journey it’ll be awesome” he said hesitating.
“Yeah sure, sounds like fun” Rainbow said. “Are you in Fluttershy?”
“Well I don’t know, I’m not really the ‘travelling’ type” She quietly replied.
“Oh c’mon, you may as well now. I mean this is a quest for something incredible; we can all gain impossible power by drinking this potion and we can all live the life of luxury until the end of everything” Raro said persuasively.
Fluttershy chuckled. “Well when you put it that way… oh ok then, sounds pretty good to me”. “Excellent, well we’ll set off in about 2 hours so meet us at sweet apple acres then ok?” Raro said.
“Can do,” Rainbow dash said smiling. “C’mon then Fluttershy lets go”. Razor and Raro were both left alone.
“She. Is. Beautiful” Razor murmured as if Raro wasn’t there.
“Are you kidding me, did you see that Fluttershy. She’s amazing,” Raro said as he tried to picture her again in his mind.
“Oh c’mon this is like fate. Four Pegasi all together, going on a quest for power” Razor said.
“I guess you could say that. Well c’mon anyway we’ve got to go find Bamboo and Twilight, and we have to set off before dark,” Raro stated. And as he said that the two of them flew off together back into the heart of Ponyville to continue their search for Bamboo’s home. As the two of them eventually made it to what Raro assumed to be Bamboo’s house, they both knocked on the door at the same time. A tall bright green pony with a dark green mane and a dangerous looking flower for his cutie mark flung the door wide open. He spoke in quite a deep and foreign tone that was not from these parts.
“Raro… is that you?” he said.
“Yep it’s been to long hasn’t it,” Raro replied. There was a short period of silence until Bamboo came out with “Raro, pal how you been all these years?”
“Yeah not to bad, not to bad. Oh sorry this is Razor,” Raro said introducing him. Razor sort of stepped forward a bit.
“Hey, good to meet you” He said.
“Yeah you too” Bamboo replied. “Well come in, come in make yourselves at home”. As they both trotted in only one thing was going through their minds. The heat. Everywhere they looked there were flowers, plants, fruits of all colours and sizes dominating almost every square inch. Plants in plant pots on the floor grew madly like octopus tentacles coming out from an ocean. At the end of the main room was a door with a big ‘NO ENTRY’ sign stuck to it.
“It’s pretty hot in here Bamboo,” Razor said hinting for an explanation. “Well it has to be to keep all of my plants alive. My main passion in life is plants. I’ve dedicated most of my life to researching and developing new species of plants. It’s a dangerous world out there you know. You need to be wary of your surroundings.” Bamboo finished.
“We-we were just wondering if you could help us find something, I mean I couldn’t think of anypony else that knows the lands better than you,” Raro said.
“Well I don’t like to brag but yes, you’ve come to the right pony. Now, where exactly are you going?” “Well actually its miles away from Equestria. If you look at this map it says that this potion that we’re looking for, a potion that can supposedly grant you eternal power is located in this long forgotten cave in the woods of Cervidas on the other side of Eternity’s crossing”. Razor spread the map out onto a table pushed up against the wall.
“Whoa” Bamboo said. “That’s quite a long way away guy’s. Are you sure you have the supplies for a journey like this?”
“Not really, no,” Raro said.
“Well, I know just the pony that can give you protection, supplies, food and well, pretty much anything. His name’s Dr Ringer, a unicorn and a genius. He has a lot of other ponies to help you on your journey; His own personal henchponies, bodyguards.” Bamboo carried on. “So if you’re wondering if I’ll help you then yes. I mean a quest for eternal power… how could I say no. And besides, I also owe Raro from all those years ago”.
“Why?” Razor said curiously “what did you do for him?” A silence was opened in the room.
“It was a long time ago” Raro said silently. There was another small silence.
“Well c’mon anyway, we’ve got to get Twilight and we have to set off before dark,” Raro said as he broke the silence as if nothing had been said earlier.
“Ok, let me just put my automatic plant watering device on, lock up and just quickly feed my plants,” Bamboo said to them. While Bamboo was making sure his house was safe for the journey, Raro and Razor were left alone in silence with only their thoughts talking at them. Razor was still determined to know what happened with Raro ‘all those years ago’. Eventually the three of them took off and made way for Dr Ringers residence. As they were walking Razor spotted a familiar figure coming out of the dusk. It was Twilight.

Technologic

Razor slowly walked up to Twilight, as her the same. For a brief moment as they met in the middle, they both looked at each other with dark serious faces like they were life long enemies. But then Razor couldn’t hide his smile anymore and leaped toward Twilight to give her a soft hug.
“Twilight, we’ve been after you almost all day,” Razor practically shouted. “Where’ve you been?” “Well I’ve been here all day practicing this new spell so you didn’t have to look far,” Twilight said with a slight grin.
“Yeah well blame that on our chief navigator here,” Razor said sarcastically as he pointed at Raro. Twilight smiled. “So what’s up everypony? You said you were looking for me?”
“Yeah, well it’s quite a long story so I guess I’ll explain it on the way… that is if you want to come?” Razor asked.
“Ok, so where is on the way?” Twilight asked.
“Far down south out of Equestria and over Eternity’s crossing,” Razor explained.
“Wow… that’s quite far. How are you planning on getting there? I mean no offence but Raro can’t even find a house so what makes you think that you can just stroll out of Equestria and find a long forgotten cave?” Twilight said. There was a slight pause.
“Err, we never mentioned anything about a cave,” Raro said suspiciously.
“Well… you know how things are aro- around here. You know you just, hear things,” Twilight said hesitating. Razor, Raro and Bamboo all looked at her with interrogating straight faces.
“Oh alright fine… after we left that forest I wondered if you wanted to go to a party tonight with Pinkie Pie so I tried to find you and performed this spell that allowed me to walk on clouds like a Pegasus. So I went up to Cloudsdale and I overheard you two talking about it outside Raro’s house, that’s all,” Twilight finished.
“Why didn’t you just come in and say hi?” Raro asked.
“Because I thought you two were just speaking in private so, so I didn’t want to ‘disturb’ you,” Twilight said.
“Ok,” Razor said in a sort of confused voice. “Well I guess that saves us the troubles of explaining it to you… so are you in?”
“Absolutely” Twilight said as she lifted her two front hooves into the air with joy.
“Awesome,” Razor said. “Now we’ve just got to go find Dr Whatshispony and we can go”.
“Dr who?” Twilight asked.
“Oh never mind you’ll see,” Bamboo said. So the four of them set off once again, to go find Dr. Ringer. As night time was almost upon them and Razor kept on worrying about Rainbow dash just sitting at sweet apple acres in the cold, they started to trot faster unto Dr. Ringer’s complex. The place was just a normal pony’s cottage like any other in Ponyville, but at the back of the house stood a giant warehouse like factory with steam rising from the chimneys and multi coloured containers everywhere.
“So what does this Dr. Ringer do exactly?” Razor asked.
“Well he spends most of his time inside his ‘fortress’ if you like, building new technology and weapons to use. He’s a genius without a doubt but I warn you, he really doesn’t like being told what to do,” Bamboo said as he knocked on the door. A few seconds after the knock a small electronic camera came out of the wall, moved around a bit and then scurried away back inside. The door then opened in front of all of them all, but nopony was there. They then all slowly and cautiously entered. The inside of the cottage was not what any of them were expecting. It was a small room but with a huge high ceiling at the back and a spiral staircase in the middle of the room. The only furniture in the room was just a sofa, a chair and some old antique cabinets that were slightly open. Just then they all started to hear hoofsteps slowly coming down the staircase. It was Dr. Ringer, a tall grey unicorn with a red and brown mane and a spanner for a cutie mark. He spoke in a very deep and bold voice that made him sound like he was all knowing.
“Ah Bamboo, it’s been a while. And I see you bought some friends,” Dr Ringer said as he made it to the end of the staircase with two beefy looking guards behind him.
“Yeah, these are my friends Raro, Razor, and Twilight,” Bamboo replied. The three of them all said “hi” together in a sort of nervous tone not knowing what to expect from him.
“Come in, all of you,” Dr. Ringer said as though he was demanding it. Moments later, after climbing up the spiral staircase, they all found themselves on the catwalk in his giant warehouse where, as they looked down below, all they could see was other ponies working, machines screwing things into place and bottles of multi coloured chemicals everywhere. Before Razor, or any of them, could say why they were there, a brown pony with a black and brown mane stiffly strolled up to them.
“Will you be wanting anything else sir?” The pony asked in a bland and stiff voice.
“No we’re fine,” Dr. Ringer replied. “PX-1000, I’d like you to meet my friends here,” Dr. Ringer said introducing him. The stiff pony strolled up to them.
“Happy to meet you all,” the rigid pony said.
“The PX-1000 is without a doubt my greatest creation,” Dr. Ringer said.
“Wait a second… you actually built him?” Razor said as his jaw dropped.
“Indeed,” Dr. Ringer answered. “It’s the first ever fully functional robot pony”. Dr. Ringer then opened a panel where the pony’s cutie mark was and inside was a complicated looking circuit board with flashing lights and wiring everywhere. Everypony stood still, speechless.
“That’s unbelievable,” Twilight said as a smile began to form on her face.
“Well… I don’t like to brag,” Dr. Ringer said with a cheeky smile.
“So, why are you all here anyway?”
“Well…” Razor started, “I guess I’ll just get straight down to the point. I’ve found a map in this old forest that says leads to a potion in a cave in Cervidas. Now it’s a long way away but this potion supposedly grants the drinker eternal power, unlimited power that no other pony could ever match!” Razor carried on. “So all we’re asking from you is just some supplies and stuff to help us on our journey”.
“Well… I don’t know… I’m a very busy pony and I don’t know whether I’m comfortable with just giving you my stuff,” Dr. Ringer said.
“Well you can come with us of course,” Razor said practically begging.
“Well, a potion of that kind of power. If I got a hold of just a sample of that I could extend my research so much. I’d be so rich!” Dr. Ringer said almost fantasising about it now. He paused for a moment and then turned around to all of them. “We shall have food, shelter, weapons, and my own personal four ponies to help us along the way. They’re very well trained”.
“Awesome,” Razor said, “That’s great”.
“Well c’mon what are we waiting for?” Twilight burst out, “We’ve got to get to sweet apple acres”.

A long night

On the way, all Razor could picture in his mind was Rainbow dash. And all Raro could picture in his mind was Fluttershy. It was dark now and as the final trace of sunlight burned out over the horizon, the five ponies and Dr. Ringer’s henchponies slowly plodded up to sweet apple acres where Rainbow dash and Fluttershy were waiting. Razors heart skipped a beat and he found himself starting to walk slower. “Keep up,” Bamboo said. “We’re not even out of Equestria yet and already you’re out of breath”. Razor said nothing.
“Where have you lot been?” Rainbow dash shouted out to them from the darkness. “We’ve been here for ages,” she said angrily.
Razor was quick to respond. “I’m really, really sorry about that. We, we just got held up that’s all. You ok?” He said fast and apologetically.
“Yeah we’re fine… I guess” Rainbow dash replied. Everypony then gathered together like huddling penguins.
“Right…” Bamboo began. “I guess we’re not going to get very far walking in the dark so I guess we’ll camp outside here tonight, ok?”
Everypony sort of agreed but said nothing. The night was cold and dull and the only thing that could be heard from outside their tents was the relentless sounds of crickets and the occasional sound of a pony’s voice from the distance after coming back from a long night. There was too much going through everypony’s mind for any of them to get even a wink of sleep. Bamboo couldn’t stop worrying about if he got everypony lost, Razor couldn’t stop thinking about the journey ahead and Raro, like most of his nights, just couldn’t sleep. Dawn slowly started to creep up on them and after Razor had had no sleep what so ever he feared that the journey ahead would be strenuous and tiring. Just as he thought he might be able to get just a bit of sleep before the sun came up, he heard something outside of his tent. At first he felt scared and was about to whisper ‘who’s there?’ until a shadow of pony could be made out on the walls of his tent. “Hey Razor” Rainbow dash said as she entered the tent. “I’m sorry if I woke you”.
“No its fine I… I was awake anyway,” Razor replied.
“Well it’s just that I can’t get any sleep so I just thought I may as well talk so somepony,” Rainbow dash said.
“Yeah sure,” Razor said as Rainbow dash began to crawl deeper into the tent. The two of them both looked into each others eyes.
“So…” Razor said as he desperately tried to make conversation. “What’d you think the journey will be like?” he asked.
“I don’t know what to expect really, I just can’t get any sleep thinking about. It’s killing me,” Rainbow dash said as she smiled.
“Yeah I’m the same. I mean who knows what we might run into eh?” Razor replied. There was a pause. “You know, Fluttershy is really into your friend Raro,” Rainbow dash stated.
“Really?” Razor said. “Well I’m not surprised actually, he mentioned her as well.”
“Oh yeah? “ Rainbow dash said. “What’d he say?”
Razor looked back at her. “Well… he just… you know, he just couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Love at first sight and all that”.
“I know exactly what you mean,” Rainbow dash said as she smiled. She then moved a little closer to Razor and placed her hoof onto his. Razor looked up at her again. And as his heart began to pound, as he looked straight into Rainbow’s smiling face, he slowly leaned forward towards her. And just as she started to do the same and they were about to meet in the middle, Bamboo’s head poked into the tent. “Sorry you two, but we really should be heading off now. We’ll need an early start if we’re going make tracks.” The two ponies quickly leaned away from one other.
“Ah man it can’t be morning already,” Rainbow moaned as she left the tent. Razor was left alone, and although he had other things on his mind he just couldn’t wipe off the glued on smile on his face. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t escape the feeling of what might have just happened between them. As everypony packed the last of their things, the last piece of cornbread had been eaten and the giant orange sun started to rise over the countryside, they set off from sweet apple acres determined to do as best they could at walking even one mile.
“I really don’t understand why these other ponies have to come along. I mean me, you, Fluttershy and Rainbow dash are all Pegasi and it could be half the time if we just flew,” Razor said hoping that nopony else heard them.
“Because we need Bamboo to lead the way, and as for Dr. Ringer, he’s supplied us with everything so far. Without him you would have been sleeping on the cold, hard floor last night my friend,” Raro explained. Razor said nothing as he continued to walk.
“I mean, we have Twilight here as well. 2 unicorns with us have got to count for something right?” Raro said as he carried on. The trail in which they travelled was split. Raro, Twilight and Razor at the back, Rainbow dash and Fluttershy in front of them, Dr. Ringer and his men in front of them, and at the front stood Bamboo.
“Ok, here we are,” Bamboo said.
“Wow, that was quick,” Rainbow dash sarcastically replied.
“No!” Bamboo snapped. “We can catch the next train from here which will lead us through Macintosh Hills and out of Equestria.”
“As soon as I get on that train, it’ll be the farthest I’ve ever been from home,” Fluttershy said.
“Me too,” Raro said.
“Well don’t worry you guys, its no more dangerous out there than it is here. Besides, it’ll be good for y’all,” Bamboo said as he tried to stop them worrying. As the train finally arrived they all boarded without even the slightest thought of turning around. Every one of them wanted to be a part of this. The continuous idea of eternal power couldn’t stop running through all of their heads. The train journey was long and boring, even though everypony was stuck in their little conversations between each other. Occasionally, Raro would look up at Fluttershy while she was glancing out the window, but when Fluttershy looked back at him he would quickly turn back is head and look as though he were doing something else. Bamboo did the exact same thing from time to time and although both ponies realised what they were doing, both of them just smiled at each other. But with smiles hid by jealousy. The only other ponies on the same train cart was just an ordinary looking grey pony reading a newspaper and a white pony with a musical note for her cutie mark and large purple glasses. The train finally came to a halt on its final stop on the boarder of Equestria.
As they all trampled of the train and the conductor shouted “All aboard for Canterlot”, everypony put on their bags and set off for Eternity’s Crossing.
“One thing still bothers me everypony… how are we going to cross that ocean?” Twilight said. “I don’t think I know any spells that powerful to get us all across”.
“Leave that to me,” Dr. Ringer said with a cunning smile on his face.

Eternity's Crossing

It was noon now, and everypony started to feel tiredness creeping upon them almost as if they never did catch the train and had just walked one hundred miles. They went through field upon field passing the same scenery countless times like they were going in circles. Bamboo knew that they were going in the right direction but looking at the boring scenery he had to question himself. Eventually they made it to beach, where the vast blue ocean lay in front of them all.
“So… I take it that somepony here has some sort of boat for us to cross?” Razor said as he looked specifically at Dr. Ringer.
“Just watch my friends” Dr. Ringer said as he pulled a sort of control panel out of his bag. He pressed a dangerous looking red button on it and a small antenna popped out of it and started making a faint beeping sound. Just then the sky in front of them began to turn a greyish colour. Then soon enough scenery in front of them had gone completely. All that could be seen in front of them now was a large, wide boat that had ‘Red steam’ written along the side of it.
“Tha-th-that wasn’t there before right?” Raro said with a monumentally confused face.
“All systems are operational sir, we’re ready to go,” one of Dr. Ringers henchponies said to him.
“Did you build that,” Rainbow dash asked with the same face as Raro.
“Well not me alone, but I designed it if that’s what you mean,” Dr. Ringer answered. “It has an invisibility mode that I keep on when I’m not using it. I guess it’s to keep thieves away.”
“Who the hell’s going to get away with stealing that?” Razor said.
“Well C’mon we’ve no time to waste,” Dr. Ringer said. A long thin panel then automatically came down from the side of the small ship and landed on the Beach. Dr. Ringer and his ponies led the others up it and into the bowls of the ship. Everypony was too astonished at what they just saw to walk any faster up the long, steep ramp. When Everypony was finally onboard, one of Dr. Ringer’s ponies took to the wheel of the ship and it slowly, but gracefully left the boat yard. Steam was puffing out from it’s from its two steam towers and water was splashed everywhere behind the ship on its trail. Everypony was led by Dr. Ringer into the centre of the ship which was a large room with set up tables and chairs and a massive chandelier hanging and swaying slightly on the ceiling. The room was very classy and modern, and they all felt like they had just checked into a five star hotel.
“Right,” Dr. Ringer began. “I’ll give you all the grand tour. This is the grand hall, the centre of the ship so if you ever get lost just make your way back to here. We’ll be having dinner in here tonight”. Dr. Ringer then led everypony into a narrow hall way to the left of them. “These are the stay rooms. You can choose whatever room you like, there’s plenty to go around for all of us”. As he continued to lead all of them forward nopony said anything as they all hung on to every word Dr. Ringer was saying. He led them down a set of classy looking stairs. “Now there are four levels to this ship. The top level is the armoury, helm and the main control rooms. The second level is the stay rooms, cafeteria and grand hall, and the level that we are now on is entertainment. And of course you can go out onto the deck of the ship,” Dr. Ringer finished.
“What about the bottom level?” Bamboo asked. There was a pause.
“Oh, that’s just… you know the engine rooms, you don’t need to go there,” Dr. Ringer said. “So, I hope we all have a good journey and I’ll see you all tonight”. And as Dr. Ringer said that, he and one of his henchponies disappeared upstairs to the control rooms of the ship, while every other pony started to all wonder of in their own little groups, fascinated by every small detail of the ship. Bamboo went off with Raro.
“Bamboo you’re the travel expert, how long do thing it’ll take to get to the other side?” Raro asked. “Well I’m not internally sure, but at our current speed we could be there by late tomorrow,” Bamboo said.
“Well I guess that’s not that bad. I mean, I wouldn’t mind being on this ship for a week. It’s amazing!” Raro said as he examined the interior of the ship. Meanwhile, Rainbow dash, Fluttershy and Twilight set of to find a room for each other.
“This place is immense,” Rainbow dash shouted.
Fluttershy went down the corridors opening every door on the way. “Hmm…” She said to herself. “Not that one”. She went to the next room. “Not that one”.
“Fluttershy, all the rooms are practically the same you know,” Twilight said to her.
“I’m just trying to find the right one that’s all,” Fluttershy said. Rainbow dash sighed.
“You know, I’d be happy to work for Dr. Ringer. He seems like one heck of a pony. I bet princess Celestia would love somebody like him in Canterlot,” Twilight said.
“But he’s more of a Science pony than what you do Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Well, I’m still going to write to Celestia and tell her all about him. I wish Spike was here to see this” Twilight finished. And as she said that, Fluttershy was determined she had found the right room and so she threw herself in there and collapsed onto the bed with a happy sigh, while Rainbow Dash and Twilight carried on strolling down the halls in front of them. That night, everypony gathered in the grand hall for dinner, except for Dr. Ringer who everypony assumed to be still upstairs. The room was filled with chattering and laughter as everypony wanted to get to know each other as best they could. Dr. Ringer’s henchponies were also all in the room but standing in the corners like bodyguards to all of them. Razor then broke the chattering at the long, grand dinner table that they were all at by raising a glass and clinking it with a fork.
“Excuse me everypony” he shouted across the table. The talking then broke into silence and all eyes became fixed on him. “I just wanted to say that I’m really happy to be here with you all tonight and I’m glad that we’re all together on this quest for… quest for this amazing thing. I’m glad that we’re all a part of it and, I especially want to thank our host Dr. Ringer, who cannot be here tonight for reasons unknown,” Razor said as he chuckled slightly. “Cheers” he shouted. Everypony then raised their glasses. “Cheers” they all shouted back. As Razor then sat back down and everypony began chatting away again, Razor was determined to find Dr. Ringer. He got up again and walked up to one of Dr. Ringer’s guards. “You haven’t seen Dr. Ringer have you?” Razor asked.
“No I’m sorry sir. I last saw him in the bottom of the ship but I’m not sure where he is now,” The suited pony replied.
“Oh ok then,” Razor said with a look of confusion. He then began to make his way downstairs to the bottom floor. He searched every room top to bottom for him, until he came to a room at the very back of the ship which was slightly open a crack but had an ‘authorised personal only’ sign on it. Razor could here Dr. Ringer’s voice, so he poked his head slightly round the corner of the door. Dr. Ringer was in there but was talking to a yellow pony with a yellow and green mane on a big T.V screen in front of him.
“So do you have him or not?” Dr. Ringer snapped.
“We’re working on it okay. That bastard slipped through my hooves in the theatre room and now he could be anywhere,” The yellow pony replied.
“Well keep looking okay. If that pony gets out he’ll tell everybody about this place and what we do. The secrecy of the Rainbow factory must remain intact. Got it?” Dr. Ringer said as his voice began to get louder. Razors head then poked back out from the doorway. A wave of confusion came over him but he was too afraid to say anything to Dr. Ringer. So he quickly scurried back upstairs to the others and sat back down with them.
“So, did you find him?” Raro asked.
Razor was stuck with what to say. “Err, yeah he’ll be up in a minute” Razor said. The next morning, after everypony got a good and long sleep, they all met in the grand hall once again for breakfast. The ships cook had prepared a massive breakfast with almost anything that anypony could imagine. One by one each pony strolled into the room and sat at the main table.
Dr. Ringer entered the room. “Morning everypony, hope you all slept well”.
“Oh, it was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages,” Fluttershy quickly replied.
“Well good,” Dr. Ringer said. Razor then entered the room with Raro and Twilight. Rainbow dash followed shortly after. After breakfast everypony seemed to go there separate ways about the ship. Some went to the entertainment floor; some went up to the deck for some fresh air. Bamboo went up to the bridge to talk with Dr. Ringer.
“How far away are we then until we reach land?” Bamboo asked Dr. Ringer.
“It should be about another 3 hours,” Dr. Ringer said.
“Well, I don’t know much about craftsponyship but this is one hell of a fine vessel you’ve got,” Bamboo said kindly.
“It was actually one of my first creations; I’ve had it for years now. I’m actually surprised it’s lasted this long. There are always thieves about, rival scientists that try to steal my research,” Dr. Ringer said to him.
“I’ve known you a long time Doctor, and you’ve never mentioned any ‘rival scientists’ to me,” Bamboo said.
“You’d be surprised… I have a lot of enemies,” Dr. Ringer said. Back up on deck Rainbow dash was alone, hanging over the rails on the front of the ship. She was throwing up violently. Raro slowly strolled up to her from behind. “You ok?” He asked her. She got off from the rails and looked at Raro. “Not really” Rainbow dash said in a pale and wearied voice. “I don’t think I’ve ever been sea sick before. “This is so…” Her face then shrivelled and she quickly scurried back over to the rails. She threw up again.
“I guess the best thing to do is just to lie down for a while, that’ll do you good,” Raro suggested.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” Rainbow dash said. She then slowly trotted back down into the bowls of the ship with Raro by her side and one leg over his shoulder. Razor came up as Raro led her down into the ship.
“You don’t look so good Rainbow,” Razor said.
“Yeah, I know!” Rainbow replied in a deep tone. Soon, minutes turned into hours before any of them got even the slightest glimpse of land again. Most of them had forgotten to gather their things for the journey ahead once they had gotten off of the boat. Until at last, they all heard the words they’d been waiting for. “LAND HO,” one of Dr. Ringer’s henchponies shouted from the top deck of the ship. Everypony began getting their things from their stay rooms and Dr. Ringer started gathering the necessary supplies for the rest of the journey. Just as they were about to touch land, everypony gathered at the front of the ship to see what lay ahead. The sky was a vast blue with almost no clouds, and fields of yellow and green went on for miles into the countryside, and into the mountains ahead. Eventually, everypony stopped their staring at the beautiful countryside ahead and gathered at the exit point on the deck of the ship where two of Dr. Ringer’s ponies stood next to a control panel.
“Ok, get off here,” one of the geared up ponies said to all of them as he pressed a button on the controls. As quick as a flash, a long metal bridge came out from the deck and slammed down onto the beach. Everypony slowly and cautiously trotted down it and made their way onto the beach. Dr. Ringer and his ponies followed behind them, with lots of gear and equipment.
“Oh, land sweet land,” Twilight said. “Don’t get me wrong doctor, your ship was incredible,” she said as she got up from hugging the ground.
“I think I’m just going to stretch my wings for a bit guys,” Rainbow Dash said as she took off to the skies. Just then, two of Dr. Ringer’s ponies slammed a great big crate onto the beach.
“What’s in there then?” Bamboo asked.
“Protection,” Dr. Ringer replied. As he said that, he flung the top off of the crate and inside sat a pile of brutal looking guns. All of his henchponies dived in there and grabbed a gun each
“Lock and load!” one of them said.
“Why in Equestria do you think we’ll need them?” Raro asked.
“Well you just never know do you, you don’t know what might be lurking out there,” Dr. Ringer said. “Well c’mon then, let’s make tracks already,” Bamboo said.
“Wait, where’s Rainbow Dash?” Razor asked.
“Rainbow?” Fluttershy called in a quiet tone. “Rainbow?” She quietly called again.
“RAINBOW” Bamboo shouted at the top of her voice. Rainbow then poked her head from behind a small cloud. “What? I’m only here,” she said as she flew down to them.
“Well now we’re all here, let’s go. Just follow me everypony and I promise you won’t get lost,” Bamboo said confidently. And as he said that, every one of them grabbed their stuff and set off for the long journey ahead. Just as they were leaving, Dr. Ringer pulled out his small control, pointed it behind him and pressed it. The entire ship then vanished before everypony’s eyes.

The caves

All eleven ponies, two unicorns, four Pegasi, four of Dr. Ringers henchponies and Bamboo who led the trail at the front, all walked for as far as their hooves could take them. They walked, and they kept on walking, passing all kinds of scenery that Fluttershy commented on most of the way. That day, the sky was a beautiful blue with the sun high in the sky beaming down its heat onto everypony.
“Ok everypony, we’re at the border crossing into Cervidas,” Bamboo said. “Now according to this map, we need to carry on through the woods of Cervidas, and then start travelling west and we should be at our cave,” Bamboo continued. Nopony paid even the slightest attention to what he was saying, as they were all on the floor struggling to catch their breath.
“Uh, I don’t think I’ve ever done this much walking. Oh what I’d do for just a quick fly,” Rainbow Dash moaned.
“I haven’t used my wings in so long now I can barley feel them,” Raro moaned as well.
“C’mon everypony we don’t have time for this, we’ve got to make tracks,” Bamboo said as he desperately tried to shift them.
“I’m not going anywhere till I’ve had a rest,” Twilight said as everypony nodded in agreement.
“Cut us some slack Bamboo,” Razor said. Bamboo looked at all of them resting on the long, green grass in front of him.
“Ok fine, we’ll rest here for a while,” Bamboo said as he threw his bag to the ground and made himself as comfy as he could on an uncomfortable looking rock. Nopony said anything back to him, not even Dr. Ringer who cringed every time he was ordered to do something by another pony.
“I’m just going to…err… get some water,” Rainbow dash said as she got up quickly.
“Err, I’ll help you,” Dr. Ringer said as he got up as well and followed her into the distance and into a small grey, dead forest behind them. They both went out of sight.
“Is there something… going on between them,” Razor asked everypony.
“Ha. Rainbow and Dr. Ringer, Please,” Bamboo said. “Dr Ringer hasn’t been with anypony for years and it won’t be like that again any time soon,” Bamboo said smirking. A few minutes passed, and nopony saw them. Eventually, time went by faster and everypony began to worry about them.
“C’mon, it’s been at least half an hour now, we’ve got to go look for them,” Twilight suggested. Everypony was now huddled up like a rugby team talking about their game plan.
“Ok,” Bamboo started.
“Twilight and Fluttershy you go east into that forest. Razor and Raro you go straight on, and I’ll go with Dr. Ringer’s henchponies that way,” Bamboo said as he pointed a hoof to the right.
“Wait a second… where are Dr. Ringer’s ponies?” Bamboo asked.
“They must have gone of with him,” Razor suggested.
“Well, we carry on as planned anyway,” Bamboo said.
“Alright, let’s go,” Raro said. Everypony then went off in their own directions hoping not to find any ‘surprises’. Raro and Razor were completely alone in the woods now.
“Do you have any idea where they might be Raro?” Razor asked him.
“How should I know, I hardly know them,” Raro replied. Just then they both heard a faint screaming coming from the distance.
“There! That’s Rainbow,” Razor said as he jolted off in the direction of the scream.
“Razor wait,” Raro screamed as he went after him. Raro’s vision of Razor began to grow weaker and weaker, until eventually he lost total sight of him. Raro’s breathing began to get heavier now as he started to panic. He then stopped his running and slammed his hooves into the dirt to stop his momentum. In front of him was a large, dark open cave. He paused for a moment. He thought to himself what’s the worst that can happen? So he slowly and cautiously began to stroll into the Cave, unaware of what may lie ahead. Meanwhile, Razor was still running, chasing shadows and small noises that he assumed to be rainbow dash. He too was in the tunnel system of caves now and could barely see two metres in front of him. Just then his running came to a stop as the ground below his hooves seemed too had disappeared completely. Gravity soon took control of him and he began to fall down a long and rocky hole. The fall was short, and as he panicked it was almost like he forgot he had wings. He hit the bottom of the pit with a loud thump. He cried out in pain.
“AHH, MY WING,” he screamed at the top of his lungs. His left wing now lay in a bodged position and he could clearly see a bone in the wrong place.
“Shit… how am I going to get out of here?” He said in a weary voice to himself. Just then he heard a familiar voice.
“Hello?” the voice cried out. At first he assumed it to be Bamboo, but then he shook his head and began to think harder. A head then poked down the hole. Razor could only just make out that it was Rainbow dash.
“Razor!” She yelled. “Are you alright,” she asked him.
“I think my wing’s broken,” He screamed to her.
“Hold on, I’ll come down to you,” She said as she slowly flew down the pit. She stood beside Razor who was lying on the floor in agony.
“Come on, we’ve got to get you help,” She said.
“But I can’t fly. How are we going to get out of here?” He asked. Rainbow looked at him, looked up and then back down at him again.
“No problem,” She said to him. Just then she leaped down, picked him up like a filly and took off. She strained and heaved, putting all her energy into carrying him. They finally made it to the top and Rainbow Dash gently lay him down on the ground. Razor scrunched up his face in pain.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Rainbow Dash said while catching her breath.

The split

Rainbow Dash and Razor found themselves walking for quite some time, slowed down by Razors pain and not having the slightest clue where they were going. Razor then took his hoof off of Rainbow Dash’s shoulder and sat down slowly on the hard, rocky ground.
“Face it, we’re dead. We’re completely lost we’ve got no food or water, I can’t see a damn thing and I feel like crap,” Razor moaned as he whinnied in pain.
“Where the hell were you anyway? You were gone for ages,” Razor asked Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash sighed. “We just got lost ok… I-I went off, to get some water and when I came back Dr. Ringer was gone. He said he’d be there by the river”.
“Why did you need water anyway? We had plenty already,” Razor said as his tone began to get more aggressive. Rainbow said nothing. She then turned away looking into the pitch black cave in front of her, desperately trying to think of a way to fix everything. She then sighed again and sat down beside Razor.
“Here, let me take a look at that,” She said to him.
“Its fine, I’ll live,” Razor said in a strenuous tone. He knew that it wasn’t fine but refused to look weak in front of Rainbow Dash.
“I just can’t believe this has happened. I can’t believe I thought it would be a good idea to come on this stupid journey, I mean what was I thinking, I have absolutely n-. Razor was quickly interrupted by Rainbow Dash who leaned over and kissed him. The kiss was long and as it was happening a small tear trickled down Razors face. He was not quite sure it was because of the pain, or the fact that he had been fantasising about this since he was a filly. Rainbow Dash then eventually leaned away from him. Both of them said nothing but just looked into each others eyes for a while. Just as Razor leaned away from her, the map of the journey fell out of his bag and an extra parchment folded out from it.
“Hey, I forgot I had this,” Razor said. He then picked up the map with his hooves and opened the secret piece of parchment.
“I don’t remember ever seeing this part though,” He said as he opened it even further.
“Oh. My…” he said as he stared carefully at the complicated looking sheet.
“What’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked him.
“There’s some kind of, challenges we have to do. Three of them,” Razor said as he tried to deceiver the pictures.
“The first one looks like some kind of giant stone door. Err, the second one, once through that door, looks like a sort of password is needed for it. But I’ve never seen that language before”.
“What about there?” Rainbow Dash said as she pointed to a sort of code on the sheet.
“Yeah, that must be what we have to put in. And the third-” Razor was then interrupted by a voice coming out of the darkness.
“Somepony, anypony?” the voice said. It was Twilight.
“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she jumped up and ran over to hug her.
“Boy are we glad to see you,” Rainbow informed her.
“Yeah, me too. What the heck happened to you two?” Twilight asked.
“It’s a long story,” Rainbow said. “But Razor here broke his wing and we’ve just been stuck here. Do you know the way out?” Rainbow Dash asked her.
“Yeah sure, it’s where I just came from. That way,” She said as she pointed down the tunnel.
“Wait, I thought Fluttershy was with you?” Razor asked.
“She was but we got separated,” Twilight replied.
“I thought Raro was with you?”
“We got separated,” Razor said back to her. The tunnel went silent for a second.
“Well C’mon anyway, we have to find the others, Twilight said as she leaned down to help Razor up. The three ponies then set off into the darkness where Twilight was almost certain where she was going. As the three of them finally left the cave, the sunlight painfully hit all their eyes and it took a while for their sight to recover.
“So… where to now,” Rainbow Dash asked. Meanwhile, Raro was happy to have found Fluttershy as was she to have found Raro. They were both still stuck in the caves and neither of them said anything as the fear had almost completely taken over them. Both Pegasi were feeling the same things and were too afraid to suggest anything.
“How are we going to get out of here?” Raro asked impatiently.
“I don’t know Raro, I’m just happy to be with somepony, that’s all,” Fluttershy said. Both of them carried on walking. Just then, there was a small thud that came from the darkness.
“What was that?” Raro said quickly and cautiously as he huddled up close to Fluttershy. She gave him an un-amused look and he quickly scurried away from her.
“I mean err, I wonder was that was?” Raro said in an attempt to put on a brave voice. Both of them continued walking. Raro kept looking at her, and then at the ground again. The courage finally came over him to say something.
“You know Fluttershy; I’ve always kind of… Liked you,” he said in a slow and steady voice.
“Rea-really?” she replied.
“Yeah” he said. “Ah who am I kidding, I’ve liked you the minute a laid my eyes on you. But a beautiful Pegasus like you and a stupid pony like me-” Fluttershy stopped him.
“I actually think you’re quite cute,” Fluttershy said right up to his ear in a quiet voice. Raro’s face then went as red as Razor. Just then Bamboo came running out from the darkness.
“Oh thank Equestria. I found somepony,” Bamboo said with a giant smile on his face.
“Bamboo?” Fluttershy said as she squinted her eyes in the darkness to confirm that it was him.
“Hey, Fluttershy!” Bamboo said as he ran up to her and hugged her softly and quickly. Raro’s face turned to stone as he evilly glanced at Bamboo. The two of them then ceased their hugging and walked off together, leaving Raro standing there alone with an extremely bland face.
“Well C’mon then Raro, lets get out of here already. This place gives me the creeps,” Bamboo said to him as his walking became slower to give Raro a chance to catch up. After a while of dark, mindless walking, they made it out of the caves and back into the forest.
“Well this place isn’t that better than those caves, but at least I can see now,” Raro said as he put a hoof to his face to shield his eyes from the blinding sun.
“So, where to now?” Fluttershy asked them.
“Well-” Raro said before he was interrupted by Bamboo.
“I think we should go back to our ‘checkpoint’ where we rested, maybe the others will be there,” Bamboo suggested.
Raro sighed quietly to himself. “I guess it’s worth a shot” He said. Razor, Twilight and Rainbow Dash all had absolutely no idea where they could find the others. However Raro and Fluttershy had one advantage; they had Bamboo to guide them. As they were walking, Raro was constantly shouting out into the forest hoping that somepony would answer him. Razor was doing the same and although the two groups were not that far from each other, they felt like they would never find each other. Razor was growing weaker by the minute and feared that if he didn’t get aid from Dr. Ringer soon that he would not make it to see the potion at all. Fluttershy jumped at every small sound, Bamboo was trying his best to lead the way even though Razor had the map, and Raro was just stuck in his own little world as per usual. The sun was now getting dimmer and dimmer and although Bamboo had some equipment for camping, Dr. Ringer still had all the rest of the equipment and weaponry, and Razor, with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, had nothing but a map, water, food and some tent pegs. Bamboo stopped in front of Raro and Fluttershy who both clanged their heads together as they came to a halt. Bamboo turned around to face them both.
“I’ll be the one to say it guys; if we don’t find everypony else before the day is out then I think we’ll have to camp here tonight,” Bamboo said to them both. Both of them nodded but said nothing. Just as Raro was about to say something, they all heard a shouting coming from the distance.
“Raro, Bamboo?” Razor shouted from a far. Neither of them could see each other but Raro shouted back anyway.
“RAZOR,” he shouted at the top of his voice. He then took off like a rocket in the direction he was shouting. They both continued calling each others names again and again until they finally met in the middle in an open space surrounded by a circle of trees.
“Razor,” Raro said to him as the others came rushing behind him to greet the rest. Fluttershy immediately ran up to Twilight and Rainbow Dash who were behind Razor.
“Jeez Razor, what the hell happened to your wing?” Raro asked him with concern.
“I fell down a hole and broke it,” Razor replied in pain. Raro then peaked over his shoulder to examine the mangled wing.
“We need to get you help,” Raro suggested.
“Yes… I know,” Razor said in an un-amused tone.
“Wait, you guys aren’t with Dr. Ringer and his ponies?” Twilight asked Raro, Bamboo and Fluttershy. “No,” Bamboo replied. “I just assumed he was with you”. Everypony then went silent and all had looks of worry on their faces.
“It doesn’t matter anyway; it’ll be dark soon so we need to get moving. Razor, you’ll just have to hang in there,” Bamboo said to them all as Razor gave him a look of disappointment. Bamboo then took the map from Razors bag.
“Now there’s a small area of empty land a few miles ahead of us, so I say we head for there and make camp. Ok?” Bamboo asked them all. Everypony nodded in agreement.
“Let’s do this,” Raro said. So as they all sprung into action and Razor denied help from Raro as he slowly started walking, they set of for the last part of their journey which they would all be happy to see come to an end… especially Razor. Night was almost upon them now and the sun was barley visible anymore. The sky was a bright red as were the clouds that coated the sky. After a long while of Walking, they finally made it to the empty, green patch of land in the middle of the Forest. They were all happy to be there after a long day, but the happiest of them all was Bamboo who was glad to see that he was leading them in the right direction. They all flung their things to the ground and began to set up camp with just the two small tents they had. It was completely dark now, and Twilight was the last one still up, just finishing of some touches on their tent that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had already made themselves comfy in. Raro, Bamboo and Razor all slept in the other tent just after they got a quick bite to eat. Razor was by far the least uncomfortable. No matter how hard he tried, Razor couldn’t sleep. He wing was too much of a nuisance for him. He couldn’t sleep on his back, and he hated sleeping on his front. He feared it was going to be a long night for him.

The betrayal

Morning quickly came for everypony and like most of their recent nights hardly any of them got any sleep. Bamboo got up early to make breakfast for them all and plan the route for their final journey to the cave. Fluttershy was the second to get up and out of the tent, but accidently woke up Rainbow Dash and Twilight in the process. A few moments after that, they all exited the tent, followed by Raro who exited his tent but left Razor in peace to rest for a little while longer. Raro grabbed some food with Bamboo and sat down next to him.
“So how much further then?” He said in an impatient and angry tone. Bamboo replied, but in a subtle tone that Raro was not expecting from him.
“I am not going to lie; we’ve got quite a way to go yet. We lost a lot of time getting separated in those caves,” Bamboo said. Raro sighed then left Bamboo alone. However Fluttershy quickly sat down next to him as he left. Raro lowered his head and slowly plodded away. All he could hear was the faint conversation between the two of them, until Twilight and Rainbow Dash sat down with them and joined in on the conversation. Raro returned to Razor in his tent. He kneeled down beside him and shook him to wake him up. His eyes slowly began to open.
“Sorry Razor, but I think we’re going be getting off in a little while. You should grab some breakfast before we leave,” Raro suggested to him.
“Yeah… that sounds good,” Razor said in a tired voice as he struggled to get out of his sleeping bag. Just then, he slipped on his sleeping bag and landed on his wing. He screamed out in pain. Everypony then rushed into their tent to see what was going on.
“What was that? Are you alright,” Twilight asked as she poked her head into the tent.
“It-I-it’s fine,” Razor said struggling to hold in his tears.
“Well then, when you feel fit, we’ll set off in a few minutes ok,” Bamboo said to Razor and the others.
“Don’t you have any kind of first aid?” Razor asked.
“Sorry Razor, Dr. Ringer has all that kind of stuff,” Bamboo replied. Razor sighed heavily as everypony left the tent. Later that morning, after Razor finally found it in him to carry on, they all grabbed their gear, packed up their tents and set of into the distance for the long trip ahead through the woods of Cervidas. By now everypony, even the Pegasi, were no strangers to walking. Their hooves had toughened as did their legs. Bamboo on the other hand had been doing this for years and didn’t even feel slightly tired on any of his walks anymore. The cave felt so far away to all of them, especially Razor who frequently stopped for water and short rests. Bamboo began to grow impatient with the continuous stopping even though he knew what a broken limb felt like and truly felt Razors pain. They had been walking through the bland, boring forest now for three hours. Many of them felt the tiredness coming back. Suddenly out of nowhere, just as they were about to stop for a rest next to a small lake, they heard something in the bushes.
“Who’s there?” Bamboo said to the mysterious noise. The rustling then began to grow louder and closer. Bamboo edged himself forward a bit.
“Who’s there?” he said again as his tone grew louder. Just then, the pony that they would have been happiest to see came strolling out of the shrubs. It was Dr. Ringer, with the rest of his geared up ponies behind him.
Razor stepped forward. “YOU” he said in happy yet distraught voice.
“Where the hell have you been?” Bamboo asked him. Dr. Ringer looked at the dirt while his geared up ponies flung their things to the ground and sort of examined the area.
“Well…” Dr. Ringer began. “I guess I should start from the beginning”. Dr. Ringer then slowly started walking toward Bamboo. He looked him square in the eyes like he was asking for a staring competition. Just then, Bamboo was caught completely of guard as Dr. Ringer through a punch at Bamboo as hard as he could. Bamboo plummeted to the ground beneath him, with blood trickling down his face. He looked up at Dr. Ringer who still had his blood smeared hoof raised in the air.
“What the hell?” Raro said as scurried forward to help him.
“Phrase” Dr. Ringer said as he pointed to one of his ponies. The pony then pulled out a small machine gun and pointed it square at Raro. The rest of Dr. Ringer’s ponies then did the same, pulling out their guns and pointing it at the rest of them. The four henchponies had them all trapped in a circle of firearms.
“What is this?” Twilight screamed out.
“You see, while I went of on my little ‘journey’ by myself I realised this; why the hell should let all of you share this potion and gain dominant power when I could have it all for myself.” Dr. Ringer said as he was walking in circles around everypony. “I’d be so rich; I wouldn’t even know where to begin with that kind of power. I could extend my research and my company would go national. You simpletons wouldn’t have a clue what do to with that kind of power, you don’t have the knowledge or the skill,” Dr. Ringer said as he got right up in Raro’s face.
“Why though?” Bamboo asked as he wiped the blood from his face. “I’ve known you for so long, how could you do this?” Bamboo said.
“Don’t play stupid with me. You think this was a spur of the moment thing? I’ve been planning this since the day Razor told me about this potion. When I went off with my ponies I knew you would all be looking for us, so it gave me time to prepare, catch you off guard”.
“But what if this potion doesn’t even exist, what if it’s just a legend, then what?” Razor asked as he walked toward him and one of Dr. Ringer’s ponies pointed the gun directly at Razor.
“Trust me when I say, it’s real. I’ve done my own research into this for quite some time now and we’re not the first to have gone looking for it. Nopony has ever entered the cave itself as it’s blocked off by this giant stone… but I know just how to get past it,” Dr. Ringer said to Razor. Everypony then went silent and all gave an evil look directed at Dr. Ringer.
“Well C’mon then, let’s get a move on,” Dr. Ringer said to them all. “Phrase, pursuit, if any one of these ponies tries anything at all, give them a warning shot, ok?”
“Yes, sir” Phrase said as he popped a clip into his gun.
“Wait, Razor here has a broken wing; you can’t just leave him like this,” Rainbow Dash said to them.
“She’s right sir, he’ll just slow us down,” Pursuit said to Dr. Ringer.
“Fine,” Dr. Ringer said in a vicious tone. “Red Cross, mission, patch him up,” Dr. Ringer ordered two of his other ponies. The two of them then jolted over to Razor with a large med kit and placed it down beside him. They began to bandage his wing.
“Why are you even working for this bastard?” Razor said to one his ponies in a quiet tone. The pony with a Red Cross for his cutie mark said nothing back to him.
“It’s not like he’s going to give you any of this potion,” Razor asked the other pony.
“Let’s just say, he pays us… very good as well” Mission replied to him.
“It’s always about the money isn’t it,” Razor murmured to himself.

The trials

After Razor was all patched up by Dr. Ringer’s ponies, everypony began to pack up their things and set of for the last leg of their journey. Not one of them said a word as they set off into the woods. As they were walking, Razor pulled out the map from is bag carefully so nopony else could see it.
“I’ll take that thanks,” Dr. Ringer said as he snatched the map from Razor’s hooves. Dr. Ringer then started to examine the map, including the secret piece of parchment that contained the secrets to the three trials that lay ahead for them. The journey to the cave was by far the longest they had travelled yet. Awkward tension was lingering in the air as nopony said hardly anything for the rest of the journey. Razor was next to Rainbow Dash who would frequently ask him “are you feeling ok now?” Raro was next to Twilight as was Fluttershy. Bamboo sat at the front of the line while a gun was constantly being pointed into his side to lead the way for them. After countless hours of walking they finally made it to the cave, the place that all of them had been picturing in their heads for days now. Although, like most things that ponies imagine to look like, it was not what the expected at all. It was a large doorway blocked by a boulder and with a gap in the side of the door that would barley be big enough for woodpecker. Canopy grew on top of the cave which slowly grew down a slope on each side of the entrance. The thing that ran through everyone of their mind was what the hell could be in there? Dr. Ringer then took control of the whole scenario.
“Right… this is where it gets tricky Mare’s and Gentlecolts,” Dr. Ringer said with a small smirk on his face. He then nodded his head at two of his ponies that then took a small round object out of their supply case.
“What’s that then?” Raro asked him. The two ponies then slowly and carefully picked up the object between them and carried it over to the huge stone door. They cautiously placed it on the ground in front of them. Something then clicked in Razor’s head as he realised what it was.
“This is the latest piece of weaponry I’ve devised. It’s a small pulse grenade that will send a localised blast within its radius, crumbling anything and everything in its path,” Dr. Ringer said.
“Charge is set, get clear!” Phrase shouted out to all of them. Dr. Ringer scurried off to go hide behind a small rock, as did his henchponies. Everypony else just stood there looking at the bomb until realisation finally swept over them all of what was going to happen. Razor was the first to scurry off, then everypony else followed. A timer then started on the bomb. “3, 2, 1…” A giant wave of energy then poured out from it and everypony, including the canopy, was thrown back by the force of the explosion. No fire or heat was given off from it, only an invisible shockwave that almost shattered the giant boulder blocking the doorway in front of them all. The boulder had not been completely destroyed but was now as weak as a kitten, with cracks and small holes running all the way down it. Dr. Ringer then got up from the rock that he was cowering behind.
“One last blow aught to do it,” He said to himself. And with that, a grey bolt of lightning surged through his horn and shot out at the boulder. The giant rock then smashed into a thousand pieces, and the entrance was now visible to them all… but the inside was pitch black. Everypony else, including Dr. Ringer’s henchponies, then got up from behind cover all slowly and at the same time. Dr. Ringer’s ponies then all leaped into action again with their guns in case anypony decided to do a runner.
“Well, Mares first,” Dr. Ringer said as he pointed to Fluttershy, Twilight and Rainbow Dash. The three of them said nothing back to him and slowly started to make their way into the cave. Rainbow dash had a malevolent frown on her face and her eyes looked like she could kill somepony with them. As she entered the darkness, she gave this look as gift for Dr. Ringer who just gave her an evil smile back. Everypony else then began to follow their trail into the cave. Mission then threw a green flare into the cave to light the way for all of them. Everypony was now in the cave, and as the flare lit up the darkness with a flamboyant green light that filled the room, they all began to make out what was in front of them all. It was another large stone door similar to the one Dr. Ringer destroyed. Except this was a door, not a boulder. It had a complicated looking password system on it, with symbols that none of them had ever seen before in their lives.
“I’ve heard of this before,” Dr. Ringer said to himself. He then pulled out the map that he’d snatched from Razor and examined it closely. There was a code on the parchment with symbols identical to those on the door in front of them all.
“It’s a password” Dr. Ringer said to himself. He then walked up to the giant stone door and looked at the stone control panel on the wall in front of him. He then referred back to the code on the map. He slowly started to punch in the correct symbols on the door. He kept looking back at the parchment in case he had typed in a wrong symbol. Just then, as he typed in the last symbol on the wall the giant stone door in front of him began to churn. Thousand year old dust began coming out of cracks in the door as it slowly started to open by itself. As it finally opened all the way by itself, Dr. Ringer wasted no time and walked straight through onto the next trial. Again, everypony said nothing but followed him in, with his henchponies right behind them all pointing their guns at their backs.
“Razor,” Rainbow Dash asked him. “What would have happened if he got the code wrong?”
“We would have been killed,” Razor replied. “See those holes in the walls either side of us? If he got the code wrong, then poison arrows would have shot out at us.” Rainbow Dash gave him a look of worry then carried on walking through unto the next room where yet again another giant stone door sat, blocking their way. Dr. Ringer examined the room.
“Now according to this, this is how this room works. There are two buttons; the first one activates a stone that will go rolling down a tube behind this wall. And the second stone button activates a panel that will lift up on the tube, blocking the stone on its path. If the button is pressed to late then the stone will carry on down the tube and activate a pressure panel that will trigger those arrows there,” He said as he pointed to some large arrows sticking out of the sides of the walls. “If the button is pressed to early, then the stone will gain too much momentum and break the panel therefore it will carry on rolling and activate the arrows. According to this, it must be pressed exactly eight seconds after the first button is pressed,” Dr. Ringer said to all of them. Nopony was even listening to him as they were all too angry now to say a word at all. Dr. Ringer then leaned over and pressed the first button on the door. They all began to here the stone behind the wall rolling down the tube. Dr. Ringer began counting to himself. “3, 4, 5, 6, 7… 8” As quick as a flash he slammed his hoof onto the second button. Just then there was a loud thud that echoed around the room, coming from behind the wall. Everypony then stood there silent, scared and anxious to see what would happen next. The door then began to shake and eventually opened. A giant wave of relief came over everypony. Raro gave off a loud and happy sigh, as did Twilight and Rainbow Dash seconds after his.
“Well then, let’s not delay,” Dr. Ringer said to them all just as the door finished opening and slammed against the wall. Everypony again slowly and cautiously entered the final room.
“I can barley see. Mission, throw another flare,” Dr. Ringer ordered his pony. Mission then threw a bright red flare into the darkness. The entire room then lit up. Everypony stood there with their jaws wide open, just looking into the slightly lit up titanic cave. The cave was a huge dome with just a small ledge which led to back to the entrance from which they came. Small beams of sunlight leaked through just a few holes in the ceiling where years of canopy had started to push its way through. And in the very centre of the cave stood a tall narrow stone which was connected from the floor to the ceiling, and at the very middle of that stone was a ledge that went all the way around it. And there, on that very ledge, was a small hole in the wall of the stone where the potion sat, just waiting to be taken after all those years. “Well, Raro, Rainbow dash, Fluttershy, since you’re the only Pegasi here that can fly, you go over there and get the potion,” Dr Ringer said as he pointed a gun into Raro’s side. “And don’t try any funny business because I’ll be watching you very closely”. So the three Pegasi flew across the giant cave from the one ledge to the other. Twilight, Bamboo and Razor watched them closely as they landed on the precarious ledge.
“Careful, this ledge is just thin rock and is probably hundreds of years old,” Raro said.
“Raro, we can fly, it doesn’t matter if it breaks,” Rainbow dash pointed out making Raro look like an idiot.
“Well… yeah I know… I was just saying,” Raro said as lowered his head.
“C’mon we have to get this thing back to Dr Ringer,” Fluttershy said.
“No,” Rainbow dash said calmly.
“Rainbow they have guns, let’s just do what he says ok,” Fluttershy said anxiously.
“NO, ok,” Rainbow screamed. “I have come too far and be through too much just to let that bastard gain infinite power all for himself.” Rainbow Dash then snatched the potion from the hole in the wall and drank every last drop.
“STOP HER,” Dr Ringer screamed. His henchponies then all opened fire onto the three Pegasi.
“NO!” Razor shouted from across the room. Rainbow Dash then stopped all the bullets dead in their tracks. They remained there for a few seconds until they dropped by themselves onto the hard rock all the way down, lit up by the flare that Mission threw.
“No,” Dr. Ringer said as he suddenly realised what had happened to Rainbow Dash. Just then she began to grow a horn on her head. She whinnied out in pain. The horn had now completely formed on her head as she slowly lifted her head up.
“She’s-she’s an alicorn,” Bamboo said. Just then Rainbow Dash turned her head and looked straight at Dr. Ringer on the other side of the room. Dr. Ringer then grabbed Bamboo in a headlock and held a gun directly at his head. “Don’t try anything or I swear I’ll shoot him,” Dr. Ringer shouted across the room to her. Rainbow Dash’s fuming face had no intention on saving Bamboo at all. Just then, a multicoloured, large lightning bolt shot out from her horn and was heading straight for Dr. Ringer and Bamboo. Dr. Ringer then bailed, and by pushing Bamboo, pushed himself out the way of the colourful bolt of energy that then smashed into the ground creating a colossal explosion that’s sound echoed across the cave. The ledge that Dr. Ringer and his ponies stood on then started to crumble away.
“We’ve got to get off this thing,” Phrase said to them all. Just then, before any of them had a chance to make for the exit at all, the ledge gave way and collapsed all together, leaving Twilight who was luckily standing in the doorway just inches away from the collapsing ledge. Dr. Ringer managed to jump off just in time with Mission by his side. He looked back at the doorway which was barley visible now due to all the dust and debris given off as the ledge hit the bottom of the cave.
“RAZOR, BAMBOO,” Raro shouted across the cave. Dr. Ringer said nothing as he and Mission pushed past Twilight, scurried off back through the doorways and ran away out of sight and back outside. Rainbow Dash then came out with a loud evil laugh. It was almost like she didn’t even realise what she had just done, as she was so blinded by rage and hate for Dr. Ringer. The potion slowly started to take control of her. Just then, out of the dust and smoke came Razor.
“Razor,” Raro shouted to him. He had lost his bandage on his broken wing now but could barley fly. His flying was eschew and just as he though he was going to fall, he crash landed next to Twilight in the door way on what was left of the ledge. Razor then looked over at Rainbow Dash who was hovering in the air.
“Get out of my way everypony; from now on all of you take orders from me, GOT IT?” Rainbow Dash screamed as she addressed everypony left in the room. “I am your true princess and master now”. “Rainbow, what are you talking about?” Twilight shouted across to her. Rainbow then looked down at her with an evil face and shot a weak rainbow bolt at her. Twilight screamed out and then hit the floor of the ledge just inches away from falling off the crumbling edge. Twilight was left unconscious. Rainbow then laughed again, and with that she shot a powerful spell at the roof of the cave creating a giant hole in the ceiling. She then quickly flew upwards toward the hole, out of the cave and out of sight from everypony. They were all left by themselves now, with only their thoughts talking to them.
“Wait, where’s Bamboo?” Fluttershy asked.
“Where do you think she’s gone?” Raro asked Fluttershy ignoring her question.
“I think Twilight’s unconscious, she needs help,” Razor screamed out to them.
“Hold on then, we’ll come to you”. And as Raro said that, they both took off and headed for the ledge where Razor stood and Twilight lay unconscious on the cold, hard rock.