/Good day, beautiful readers! I'd like to thank and Guest for their reviews last time around. It seems I've got myself some regulars, yeah? I like regulars. Anybody reading this live in Colorado? There was a double rainbow yesterday. It was intense. I am not joking there was seriously a double rainbow. It was freaking amazing./
"I'm going to have to sneak us out." Trixie says, glancing out the door. "The general will surely recognize you, so we'll have to make your disguises a little more convincing... Lucky for us there's one other refugee here aside from me. She can help."
Of all the ponies to try helping us, I know Trixie wasn't actually the last I would expect. Not after Discord abandoning us. Especially since that whole Alicorn Amulet debacle, she's seemed much kinder, much more humble. I was sure she wouldn't turn her back on us after that.
"How in Equestria are we supposed to get to this pony? If you recognized us, others will, too." Twilight says.
"Follow me." Trixie insists.
She carefully slides open an air vent and crawls inside. I follow and quickly after, the others do, too. We slink slowly through the cold, smelly vent until we come to the opposite wall, which Trixie opens quietly. We climb back out. Rarity dusts herself off and coughs violently.
"Well hello, Twilight Sparkle and friends. I was worried you had all met your end." A familiar, welcoming voice greets us.
"Zecora!" Twilight shouts, hugging the zebra.
Goodness, Zecora's alive, too? When her hut was left vacant we all assumed she had been killed as well!
"Hey, where's the rainbow one?" Trixie asks, studying Cadence. "I don't remember this pegasus."
"Rainbow Dash left. She's not coming back." Pinkie drawls.
"Actually, we're trying to find her right now." Twilight kicks Pinkie lightly. "We don't know that she's never coming back."
Trixie's eyes widen ever-so-slightly and she whispers something to Zecora that I can't quite pick up. As they engage in a quiet argument, all the girls and I exchange worried looks.
"What's wrong?" Applejack asks.
"Your friend's name is Rainbow Dash?" Trixie replies.
"Yep."
Both Trixie and Zecora shuffle their hooves awkwardly.
"I am so sorry," Trixie starts.
"SHE'S DEAD?" Twilight shouts.
"Shush! No, she isn't dead! But this might be a little bit worse. The general's second in command, Lightning Dust. She isn't here often, but when she does show up she talks about Rainbow Dash a lot." Trixie explains questly.
"I did not say anything because I did not want to worry Trixie. But it was only a matter of time before she found out, I see." Zecora continues.
Lightning Dust... That was the pegasus that Rainbow met at the Wonderbolts Academy. The one that was so reckless she nearly killed us. I never met her, but from the stories Rainbow told, I could never place her as truly evil. Just overzealous. I glance at the other girls. Twilight has a look of absolute horror on her face. Rarity has fallen to the floor. Cadence is listening intently. Pinkie just stands there, as if she knew all along. But Applejack is mad.
"What is it she says?" Applejack demands.
"Most days we hear things like 'Stupid spells wear off so quickly', or 'We need more experienced unicorns'." Trixie admits quietly.
Tears fill Twilight's eyes and she collapses. Cadence catches her. Rarity sits silently. Pinkie stands perfectly still, remaining as if she suspected this the whole time. Applejack's anger intensifies and her legs spring back, kicking over a table. I watch her quietly lose her temper, crying silently the whole time. She destroys the room before Trixie manages to quiet her.
"Please! Keep calm or they'll catch us in here!" She hisses. "Come on, I can take you up to Zecora's balcony workshop. She's concealed it."
Trixie sneaks us up to the top story of the castle and out onto a secret balcony. She assures us we won't be found here. We explain to Zecora our need for more adequate disguises and she immediately gets to work.
"You are in luck, for we have gathered the clothes of many revolutionaries. When I am finished, you will look quite scary." She says. "We must hurry or you will surely die. Let's start with you, Pinkie Pie."
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but you can't call her Pinkie Pie anymore." I murmur. "She's not the Pinkie we used to know..."
I see Pinkie's eyes darken.
"Why is it again that we can't call you Pinkie?" Rarity asks. "You have changed enough already, I wish we could keep one piece of the old Pinkie with us."
"Will you all please quit calling me that?! That is not my name any more, and we all know why. It's because of you two," Pinkie gestures to Twilight and Rarity. "and it's because of her. Wherever she is. And I'd rather not be reminded of that right now, especially not when we're trying to save her, so quit it. My name is Pinkamena."
Everypony takes a step back at her outburst. When she gets like this, I wouldn't be surprised if she started killing everyone around her. She can get so angry sometimes.
"I'm sorry..." I squeak.
Pinkie breathes heavily, calming herself down.
"Go ahead, Zecora." She breathes.
"Do you six have revolution names to keep you safe? Mine is Wicked Trickster and Zecora's is Riddlemaker."
"Yes, we do." Rarity says happily. She came up with all of them. "I am Rough Cut, Pinkamena is Terror Decor, Fluttershy is Millennium, Applejack is Kickflip, Cadence is Manic Heartbreak, and Twilight is Mantra Flash."
"Flash?" Trixie asks, shocked.
Except for Twilight's.
"After a pegasus stallion I once met in the Crystal Empire. And somewhere else..." Twilight admits, blushing slightly.
"Flash Sentry!" Trixie and Cadence exclaim at the same time.
"Was that the stallion who caught us that you couldn't stop staring at, Twilight?" Rarity asks. Twilight nods sheepishly.
"Word around the castle is that he was kidnapped from the Crystal Empire and tortured so badly he finally snapped. That's why he's here." Trixie says.
My goodness! Whoever this general is must be an absolutely awful pony. I sit beside Applejack as we wait. She seems to be deep in thought, most likely regarding what happened to Rainbow.
"Do y'all know what happened to Rainbow Dash?" She asks after a little while.
"From what we've gathered, something similar to Flash Sentry. Except I think they're trying to ease her into it using brainwave spells, not torture." Trixie says. "The spells don't seem to be lasting, though, and it's still painful for her."
Hours pass, but finally Zecora has finished remaking us. Scraggedy clumps of my mane stray on the ground. The color has been changed from pink to a deep blue. Black silk covers my body like an ornate cape. I wear magic contacts that change my eye color to magenta.
Rarity dons a brown cloak and red war paint on her eyes. Her coat is dyed to a light brown color. Twilight's mane, changed from purple and pink to silver and black, stands up to cover her horn. Her coat has been changed to white. Pinkie's flat mane has been snipped in certain places and messed up so it looks like she was rubbed with pure static. She looks almost like she used to, minus the dead look in her eyes. She wears magic contacts as well, changing her eye color to bright green. Applejack's precious hat has been taken away, her ponytails taken out, and her coat color changed to black. Cadence has been made up so her coat color is a dark blue, and her mane color bright white and light blue. She wears a black cloak.
Our cutie marks have been made up to look different as well. Mine is an ornate infinity sign. Applejack's is a karate black belt. Rarity's three diamonds have been united into one ruby with sharp-looking edges. Twilight's is a meditation mantra that I can't read. Cadence's is, what else? A broken heart.
"There. We're ready. You have to meet the general now. Flash Sentry will have told her about you six by now, and she has monitors throughout the whole castle. You'll never leave if you don't see her." Trixie says. "Follow me."
We follow Trixie back through the castle, down the stairs, and into the throne room. Sitting in Princess Celestia's old throne is not a pony after all. In fact, she's only half a pony.
She's a gryphon.
/Oh my goodness I wonder who it could be! I'm being sarcastic because it's very obvious and you guys, being the smarties you are, will definitely be able to guess. Also a little more revealed about Rainbow Dash this chapter. And Lightning Dust. And Flash freakin' Sentry. I bet you guys weren't expecting him to show up in this story, were ya? Haha anyway. See you guys next time!/