Chapter 83 – The Rescue Plan

"Hey?" Rainbow asked as she slowly made her way into the garage of one of her friends. Syls sat there, surrounded by the children that helped to comfort her. She simply looked up at the pony, sadness and happiness all rolled into a single smile, "You alright?" she asked. The look she gave was somewhat hopeful like she was waiting for an answer that would dry her tears. Rainbow instead lowered her ears and eyes, shame and sorrow showing on her face, "I'm sorry." she said solemnly, "I didn't know until later."

"Of course, you didn't know." Syls said, mostly to herself, "You were in the same ship as him, and it took less than a second. No way you could have done anything to stop it."

Rainbow Dash walked up to her, nudged her shoulder with her nose, and softly spoke, "I get it, you want to yell. To scream that there was something I could have done." she said, "I feel the same way. I wish there was something I could have done." Syls turned to her as she sat down, "So go ahead, yell. I promise not to say anything. I'm not going to react or shout back; I can take it." Instead, Syls punched her, a solid fist slamming into her cheek and forcing her head to the side, "OW!" she said and rubbed the assaulted cheek, "What was that fo…" She was interrupted when Syls wrapped her arms around her shoulders in a gentle yet firm embrace, "Ok." she said, "Please don't strangle me?"

"I'm just glad you're alright." the Dryskian said, "I would have lost hope if I'd have lost two friends. Plus, you know as well as I do that Krisskkil wouldn't want me to blame you." She then pulled back, wiping her tears from her face, "So, what's the plan?" Rainbow smiled, mischievously. The group of others started pouring in, all of Tusks' team as well as Honor and Chivalry, plus Sselekk and his girlfriend, trailing behind was the Hok-Sai, Tri-Tiner, each of them talking in wonder about what was happening. "How many are in on this?" she asked.

"It's a lot more complicated than you think." the cyan pegasus said in response.

"Alright everypony." Twilight said, catching everyone's attention once the garage was shut, "I'm sure you're wondering what you're all doing here."

"To get revenge on teh Sunik lady that attacked yah, aye?" the Hok-Sai asked.

"Sort of." Twilight said unsure of how to answer that.

"Definitely, but in order to do that we'll have to take away every advantage she has." Rainbow said, "Namely, Lady Kiane."

"Lady Kiane? Of the Council?" Tris asked.

Twilight and Rainbow both nodded, "If I can get to Lady Kiane without getting spotted, I'm sure I can Teleport her out of there and to safety."

"It's worse than you think." Sselekk suddenly said, "My sources also say that someone in the council isn't who they say they are. Lady Kessel has been replaced and they are currently looking for the real her."

"But there's been no mention of her disappearance." Honor said, however only those who had communed with him earlier could hear his words.

"HONOR SAYS THAT NOPONY NOTICED!" Pinkie called out.

"Y'all didn't need to shout." Applejack said as she used her hooves to cover her ears.

"That's because my hunch was…unfortunately…correct." he said, "One Sunik in every generation has the capability to change the color of their scales and sometimes their very features so that they can look like other Suniks. We call them Chameleos. They've been used as spies and have even been some of the best actors our race has ever produced. So, once she found one, of course, Mirikka would pounce on an opportunity like that. She may have already recruited the poor soul."

"So, that means that we have two rescues to take on." Twilight said.

"I can help with rescuing Lady Kiane. I was actually a {snort} General during the great war, and I specialize in infiltration and {snort} stealth." Twiggs suddenly said.

"I knew you were old but I didn't know you were a General in the Stealth Unit!" Writch said, "Why didn't you tell anypony?"

"I have my reasons." he said, "I was also really young."

"That's one part figured out." Twilight said.

"My men are currently finding Lady Kessel right now; it won't be long till they find her." Sselekk said.

"I hope they find her in time." Rarity said.

"Then we'll just have to keep her focus on the race." Rainbow said.

"Mirikka is probably going to try and rig the next race." Kkimira said, "But with so little time she won't have much more than snipers and traps as options."

"Don't worry about that!" one of Syls' team said, "I've got a few ideas on how to stop them. I'll just need a team."

"Yah can take a few of my team." Tri-Tinner announced, "We Hok-Sai have a variety of physical powers, I'll make a call fer a few of my men to help out."

"Perfect." Twilight said, "Sselekk? Can your team also corner the Chameleos?"

"Absolutely." he said, "I was planning on it anyway."

"Perfect!" Rainbow Dash said, "All we need to do next is win the race!"

"But we don't have a racer!" Fluttershy advised.

"Or time!" Pilit said, "We've maybe got a few hours at most."

"Yah won't have the same power yah did with yer old engine! Aie?" Tri-Tiner asked.

"Well, actually…" Writch said and plopped her hand down on Pilit's shoulders, "Pilit and I just finished an upgraded version of the B336."

"When?" Twilight asked.

"Just before everypony cam back with Rainbow Dash actually." the larger female Treeopon said.

"It's untested!" Pilit said, "I wasn't going to use it until next time! We can't send it out there!"

"Pilit, I don't think we have a choice right now." Twilight said.

"I can help build the racer." one of Syls' team shouted, "You ponies did so much for us, it's the least I can do."

"We'll all help." said another of her mechanics.

"My team is available as well." Honor said, "The parts in my garage are yours to use."

"HONOR SAY'S HIS TEAM WILL HELP TOO!" Pinkie once again shouted.

"You tryin' ta make us go deaf?" Applejack asked.

"But…" Pilit whispered to herself in nervousness.

"Thank you all." Blade said, "With your help, I think we can build a racer that will put Mirikka in her place in the loser's circle!"

The crowd cheered, once again causing Pilit to worry, "Just believe in what you did." Writch said, "Just believe in your Spell Burst Engine."

"I just hope that it doesn't burst!" Pilit said.

"It'll be fine!" Tusks said as he came up to the two of them, "You built her after all!"

"But I don't have enough fuel, I wasn't able to find enough shards of the spear for it, and the stuff in the B336 is all dried up." Pilit said as she pulled a few shards from her pockets.

"What about this?" Rainbow asked, and pulled out the orb that the Egas had given her. The crowd, now dispersing, had funneled down to just the six pony girls as well as Pilit, Hulon, Piks, Image, Lau-R-Tor and Syls with Writch and Tusks standing behind her. All of them gawked at the sphere, each wondering what it was for, "The Egas gave me this, said it was an inspiration from some of the stories I told him." She didn't get much further than that, the orb began to shine, its light stretching out and pressing itself into the chest of the six ponies, a color that represented their element reached out, and found one of the others. Rainbow Dash's red color found Syls, while Applejack's orange enveloped Lau. Fluttershy's pink found itself around Hulon and Pinkie's blue, surrounded Piks. While Rarity's Purple lifted Image from the ground, the colors then merged, extending from the others, and found Pilit, lifting the shards from her hands and changing their colors. The shards then surrounded themselves in a simple golden frame, and a chain of gold sprouted to wrap itself around their necks.

"What the…" Writch asked as she watched the spectacle. The shards then faded, disappearing into their very being.

Once the light faded, everyone stood in shock, "That felt like the Elements of Harmony!" Pinkie said.

"Yes, I could feel the Element of Generosity resonating, but didn't we leave the Elements back in Equestria?" Rarity asked.

"And did they just pick them?" Applejack asked.