//------------------------------// // Chapter IX ~ A Prismatic Awakening // Story: Death is Liberty // by the7Saviors //------------------------------// This was a race she was destined to win. It wasn't just a simple hunch or foalish bravado from a foolish foal. More than her desire to defend her timid friend or her own boundless pride, Rainbow Dash's victory was a fated thing. She might not have understood it as such just then, but the brash pegasus filly could feel it nonetheless. She would win this seemingly inconsequential race, and she would do it with such style that it would leave everypony's jaw hanging in awe. And so, that's just what she did. Blind to all but the victory in front of her, the filly took off like an arrow from a bow. The crowd that had come to watch the curious event became nothing more than a blur—a colorful smear in Rainbow's periphery as she deftly weaved pasts obstacles and around the thick clouds in her way. It wasn't long before the prismatic pegasus left her opponent far behind, but that wasn't enough for Rainbow. She wanted more. She needed more. More speed. More adrenaline. More dopamine. The filly was smashing through each and every one of her limits, breaking boundaries she never even knew existed until now, and she desperately wanted to chase after that intoxicating high. Heart pounding, muscles burning, and tears streaming from her narrowed eyes, Rainbow didn't even notice the goal post as she blazed right past it. Rainbow Dash didn't notice the wind tearing at her mane, nor did she notice how the air seemed to gradually bend before her. She certainly didn't see or sense the growing instability of the thaumic field as reality began to twist and warp around her diminutive equine frame. She hardly even registered the dark and terrible voice that whispered at the back of her mind, its sinister tone brimming with boundless patience and bottomless madness. No, in that moment, the only thing Rainbow Dash knew—the only thing she felt—was the bliss of shattering that final barrier holding her back. In an instant, the world exploded in a blinding wave of prismatic brilliance that rippled across the sky—the sound a ringing clap of thunder that could be heard for miles. The spectacle was so beautiful, so awe-inspiring, so all-encompassing, so completely and utterly magical, that it caught and held every single eye in Equestria. Rainbow Dash saw only darkness as reality folded in on itself right before her eyes. The filly had no time to scream before she was swallowed by a ragged hole torn in the dimensional membrane separating the colorful land of Equestria from a world of nightmares. Pride and elation fled Rainbow Dash like prey from an approaching predator, leaving only fear and confusion in their wake. Her once lush and radiant world was now black and desolate. Hope rotted away in a single breath, and all the terrified filly felt now was a madness that quickly began to fester as it seeped into her body and mind. Pain ripped mercilessly at her flesh, snatching away all her thoughts and memories. Rainbow Dash had no idea where she was, and now she no longer had the mental capacity to wonder. She couldn't focus on that, nor could she muster enough of her wits to be horrified by the monstrous changes, warping her tiny equine frame into something hideous and eldritch. She was coming undone—no longer a foal. No longer a pony or anything vaguely resembling an equine. The existence—the very concept of Rainbow Dash, was falling apart at the seams. And then, in its throes of madness and agony, the thing that was no longer Rainbow Dash felt something. A presence, looming and terrible but somehow warm and fatherly. It washed over the twisted creature, bringing back a fraction of Rainbow's shattered psyche. Gentle handshoovesclawstendrils descended upon the broken, pitiful beast and the filly—it was a filly, the creature remembered—felt the calming embrace and its—no, her mind began to clear. Thoughts came easier and a sense of peace and comfort began to push back the madness. The voice in the filly's head spoke again, and this time the pegasus filly—Rainbow Dash, she recalled—heard it loud and clear. She heard and listened and wept as the ancient voice used its pawstalonstentaclesfingers to mold her broken and wretched body and mind back into a shape more suited for its purposes. The process might have taken years, or it might have taken mere moments, Rainbow Dash would never know. All she wished for, was an end to the pain, and the benevolent voice had provided her that boon. It took the pain away and made her equine again, and though she had now convinced herself this was all some abstract dream, Rainbow Dash was grateful. Satisfied with its work and the filly's gratitude, the voice whispered in her mind one final time before bringing light back into Rainbow's dark world of madness and nightmares. The filly raced once more across the sky at a mind-boggling speed, a prismatic trail left behind in her wake. All was once more as it should be, with nary a hint of the horrors experienced or the horrors yet to come. Rainbow Dash had successfully executed the sonic rainboom just as she was always meant to, and the ecstatic pegasus was none the wiser to the schemes of greater beings. As it should be. As it must be. Until we meet again, my poor broken child... my witless, iridescent puppet... Rainbow Dash's body twitched, then shuddered as consciousness trickled back into her mind. The mare had no idea where she was or what had happened or what was going on. She could tell that she was lying on some kind of cold and uncomfortably hard surface—likely stone if she had to guess—but rather than worry about that, she chose to simply just focus on existing for the moment. Eyes closed and breathing deeply, Rainbow Dash slowly grew more and more aware of herself. She inhaled through her nose, the scents of wood, earth, dust, and mold permeating her senses... but those weren't the only smells in the air. What... is that? Turning her full attention to the unfamiliar odor, Rainbow sniffed again. While the other scents were certainly overwhelming, it was that other smell that bothered her. She still couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but the smell was strong. The potency and sheer strangeness of the scent tugged at her curiosity—so much so that the mare finally decided to open her eyes. "Oh Sweet Celestia! What the—" Rainbow's entire vision was taken up by a pair of flickering magenta flames, each set within the hollow eye sockets of an ashen skull. The pegasus jerked up from where she'd been lying, scrambling to her hooves in a fit of shock and confusion. Her wings flared out, the panicked mare ready to take flight at any moment. That was, in fact, exactly what she did, but as she flapped her wings to gain a bit of distance. Before she could get too more than a few inches of height, her movements faltered, her wings twitched, and she flopped back into the stone slab she'd been lying on with a startled yelp. Something wasn't quite right, and it wasn't just the creepy skull invading her personal space. At first, Rainbow Dash wasn't sure what had happened. She'd never had to think about how her flight worked, so it took her a moment to realize why she'd failed to take off. My magic! There's something wrong with my— "It appears... I've caused you some distress upon your awakening... for that, I apologize, Miss Dash... such was not my intention..." Distracted by her inability to fly, Rainbow Dash had almost forgotten about the skull that made her panic in the first place. At the sound of the raspy, hissing voice, Rainbow tore her eyes away from her faulty wings and zeroed in on the skull, only to see that it was attached to a tall bipedal frame dressed in dark violet robes that might've been extremely fancy at one point but were now grimy, time-worn, and moth-eaten. The creature had stepped back from the stone slab—some kind of altar from what Rainbow Dash could see—and was giving the pegasus a short bow, seemingly in apology. Its robes hung loose on its frame—a little too loose, Rainbow thought. It wasn't until she noticed the bony hand pressed against its chest as it bowed that the mare realized the skull-faced entity was a full on skeleton beneath the ragged purple robes. Sat atop the skull was some kind of tall, ceremonial looking headdress that matched the skeleton's robes in color. The headdress depicted the image of a black six-pointed star surrounded by a thick black circle. The image seemed to stir something in Rainbow Dash, but she ignored the sensation as she continued to take in the skeleton. In its other bony hand was a long staff made of black metal and topped with that same six-pointed star within a circle design, though a pale red-purple gem sat at the center of the stave's head. Rainbow Dash swallowed, her eyes lingering on the staff in the robed skeleton's hand. "Wh-what the hay is going on here?" she finally asked in a quavering voice, too overwhelmed by the situation to even feign her usual bravado, "Who—what are you?" A quick glance around wasn't enough to tell Rainbow Dash where she actually was. The room was relatively small and sparsely furnished. In the dim light of the few sconces that adorned the stone walls, Rainbow could see that the room was littered with more than a bit of rubble here and there. The stone altar where she now sat was slightly elevated off the rest of the ground and, behind the skeleton, she could see the remnant of several wooden pews and some tables on either side of the room smashed into kindling. Candelabras were scattered across the dusty and debris strewn floor, and most of the stained-glass windows were smashed in. Overall, the place looked and felt like part of some ancient religious ruin. She didn't have too much time to ponder on where in Tartarus she'd wound up before the robed skeleton straightened up from his much too polite bow, the flickering magenta flames in his eye sockets flaring briefly as he spoke. "Ah, yes... forgive me for not introducing myself earlier... my true name has long since been lost to time... but you may call me Thak... last Archbishop of the Church of the Ebon Star... and High Conjurer of the Casia Stella Academy of the Odic Arts..." the creature bowed its head once more, "...this humble lich is pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Dash." Rainbow Dash blinked. The skeleton's titles meant nothing to the mare, and if anything, left her even more confused. She shook her head and took another look around. She wanted to fly off the handle—wanted to get in the bonehead's face and demand some clarity, but right now, the pegasus wasn't feeling quite like herself, and she had trouble pinpointing why that was. Her memory was shot, and something in her gut was telling her nothing good would come of pulling back that veil. The last thing she remembered was the sound of a voice in her mind, but even that was hazy and indistinct. Forcing down the dread roiling in her stomach, Rainbow Dash focused on finding out what she could about what was going on now. "Where am I? And what happened to me?" she finally asked, accepting that the robed skeleton—Thak, wasn't looking to harm her for now. She snapped her eyes back to the bony creature, giving it what she hoped was a baleful glare, "Did you bring me here to this... whatever this place is?" "My apologies once again, Miss Dash," Thak replied, still as contrite as ever despite Rainbow's accusatory tone, "I should have mentioned before... this is but one of the chapels... attached to each wing of the Academy..." "Academy?" Rainbow Dash asked, latching onto something she knew if only in passing, "Right, you did say something about an Academy before... so we're in a school?" She frowned, "Wait... why does a school have a chapel? Multiple chapels even?" The skeleton made a strange clacking noise with its jaw at the question, and it took Rainbow Dash a second to realize Thak was chuckling. "I suppose I could tell you... but I believe any further questions about the Academy and how you came to be here... are best left to our exalted Goddess... I will inform her of your recovery... so that she may shed further light on your... situation..." Even as Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to ask what Thak was talking about, the High Conjurer's eye flames flared brightly, and he raised his staff before slamming the end back down on the ground with a resounding crack. The red-purple gem embedded in the head of the staff flashed, and an invisible pulse of... something washed over the small chapel. For a moment, nothing happened, and Rainbow Dash wondered briefly if Thak had failed in whatever he was trying to do. And then she felt a presence descend upon the room. It was stifling at first—so much so that Rainbow was left quite literally breathless—but the pressure vanished almost instantly, leaving an echoing voice in its wake. A voice that spoke directly into Rainbow Dash's mind. A voice that brought a strange mix of comfort and terror. A voice that was... oddly familiar. Rainbow Dash? Ah, good, you're finally awake. Sorry I'm not there to greet you, but I'm currently in the middle of something. That voice, Rainbow thought, her mind spinning as a million questions ran through her head, who is that? She sounds— Ah, it looks like your revival had some unforeseen effects on your psyche. Strange... that shouldn't be the case... and the connection is weak, too... Nel-Baloth's tampering maybe? The voice paused as if in thought, but then seemed to dismiss her ruminations, It doesn't matter, I can tell you're confused, and I'm sorry about that. Just... give me a second... A sudden pressure, different from what she'd felt earlier, built up in Rainbow's mind. It expanded rapidly, making the mare feel like her head would burst open, but just when she felt she couldn't take it anymore and was about to let out a scream, the pressure released like a popped balloon and the knowledge came rushing into her mind like a tsunami. Words, images, and sensations flooded Rainbow's thoughts, leaving her disoriented and weak in the knees. It all came back to her then, and Rainbow Dash felt like her eyes had truly been opened. The race, that nightmarish place, the mind shattering agony she felt as her tiny body twisted into shapes it was never meant to take, that voice in her head, telling her everything would be okay. Rainbow Dash remembered it all. She remembered Nel-Baloth. She remembered what he'd done to her. He'd rescued her. Molded her. Turned her into his pawn. His puppet. His plaything. Terror and confusion turned to a caustic mix of abject horror and bubbling rage as more and more memories returned to Rainbow. Rainbow Dash was horrified by the realization that she'd never really been fully equine since she was a foal, and had gone most of her life without realizing that fact. Then came the fury at what was done to her and the blatant manipulation. Not to mention the fact that the ancient god-king had simply killed her and tossed away her corpse when she'd outlived her usefulness. All of it was enough to make the rainbow-maned pegasus see red. What quelled her fury, at least somewhat, was everything else Rainbow Dash learned. She'd vanished when Fluttershy and the others had gone to Town Hall for the Summer Sun Celebration—slipping away from the group on stealthy legs that she'd had no control over. From behind her prison of flesh and fur, Rainbow had been made to stand by as her world crumbled and her fellow ponies were either changed into hideous abominations like her, or devoured by the things hiding in the darkness. All the while, Nel-Baloth held her reins, forcing her to wait in that same darkness until he was ready to make his move. And then he did, using her to snatch Pinkie Pie away to do who knows what. And once he had what he wanted, Rainbow Dash was deemed no longer necessary, and killed. One moment, she held a terrified Pinkie Pie in her tentacled clutches, and the next, Nel-Baloth's mocking voice was in her mind and her life had fled her body—the monstrous pegasus snuffed out like a candle. That was the last thing Rainbow Dash had known before she woke up here in this ruined chapel. Or it would be, if Skal-Gazaath—or rather, Twilight Sparkle—hadn't just shoved her head full of information she had no business knowing. Now, Rainbow Dash knew exactly what was going on and exactly where she was. She knew why the magic that empowered her flight hadn't worked. She knew who Thak was and knew that Twilight had brought her here and left Thak to watch over her until she woke up. The Archbishop was right. The Dead Goddess had indeed shed light on her situation, and Rainbow Dash was far from happy about all of it. Her first instinct was to rail against what Twilight had done, the mare feeling like she'd traded one puppeteer for another. The twinge of reverence she felt each time she thought about the pony-turned-eldritch-deity didn't help matters. Again, though, her anger was stayed, and the reason for that was the connection she and the other Awakened ponies shared—something that Nel-Baloth hadn't bothered with, at least not on Nel-Baloth's end. Rainbow Dash could feel Twilight's guilt through that connection, the emotion thrumming constantly in the background of her mind like a heartbeat. Rainbow knew Twilight hadn't had a choice given the pegasus' state of being at the time—especially not with what Twilight was planning to do. Yes, the Dead Goddess was also essentially using Rainbow Dash to further her own ends, but this was actually a goal Rainbow Dash could get behind. Not to mention, she wanted to find Fluttershy and the others just as much as Twilight did. With that in mind, Rainbow Dash tried to calm herself and accept everything she'd learned. She sat there on that stone altar for who knew how long, ruminating on all of it. Neither Thak nor Twilight said anything, simply waiting until the mare collected herself. She found there was a lot she couldn't accept, but Rainbow Dash also knew there was no point in bemoaning what had already come to pass. Too much to think about, honestly. I'm just gonna focus on what I can do now. And what she could do was find her friends, help Twilight rescue Pinkie, and kick Nel-Baloth in the teeth. Rainbow Dash didn't like being beholden to Twilight's—or more specifically, Skal-Gazaath's—whims, but seeing as she couldn't exactly do anything about it, the mare chose to cram her dissatisfaction to the back of her mind, along with her many other gripes and worries about her circumstances. With a huff, Rainbow Dash finally opened her eyes and looked at Thak. Spreading her wings and flapping once, the pegasus lifted herself from the stone altar, this time having no issue keeping herself aloft. She knew how all of this worked now, and while she knew she could vanish and appear right where Twilight was, she opted not to go that route. She could simply pop from one place to another instantly, sure, but the fact that it took so little effort grated on Rainbow for some reason. Eh, teleportation is overrated. Much rather use my own two wings, thank you very much. Rainbow Dash was about to address her bony caretaker when—likely sensing the firming of her resolve—a familiar voice started to speak in her head once again. Rainbow? Are you— "Nuh-uh," Rainbow Dash interjected with a firm shake of her head, "None of that mind speak stuff, Twilight or Skal-Gazaath or whatever the hay you wanna call yourself. If we're gonna talk, we're gonna do it face to face, got it?" With that out of the way, Rainbow returned her attention to a thoroughly shocked and possibly affronted Thak. The prismatic pegasus wasn't sure how she could read the unmoving expression of a skull, but she didn't particularly care at the moment. Instead, she addressed the self-proclaimed lich. "Alright, bonehead, listen up," she declared as she jabbed a hoof at the skeleton, "you can do whatever you want, but I'm outta here. I got some stuff I wanna ask the 'Goddess', and then I'm gonna go look for Fluttershy." She narrowed her eyes in challenge as she spoke, "That's not gonna be a problem, is it?" Thak, despite his lack of facial muscles, somehow managed to look positively incensed at Rainbow's lack of respect or reverence. His jaws clacked in silent aggravation for a few moments, the High Conjurer apparently lost for words. After a second or two, he made to say something, only to freeze, the words dying in his non-existent throat. Rainbow Dash waited for the inevitable verbal explosion, but nothing came. Instead, Thak slowly clicked his lower jaw shut and shook his head once before rasping out, "No... that is fine. Given your connection to the Goddess, you may already be aware... but regardless, you'll find Her Grace within the Academy's central library—in the restricted section." He finished with one final bow at the waist and, to Rainbow's surprise, vanished in a pillar of pitch-black flame. Rainbow hovered over the altar for another moment, a bemused frown crossing her face. The robed skeleton's tone had been polite, but clipped, and he'd disappeared without so much as a goodbye. "Was it something I said?" Rainbow Dash muttered to herself. After another moment, she shrugged. Putting the confrontation out of her mind, she flapped her wings once and took off, flying out of the tiny chapel with a speed that wasn't too far from actual teleportation. She hadn't needed Thak to tell her where the library was. Twilight had already given her that bit of info. Elsewhere in the restricted section far below the Academy's central library, hundreds of tomes whirled about Twilight Sparkle as she wandered the spacious aisle of ancient bookshelves. The many tomes radiated an eerie black aura, their pages flapping as if in a gale force wind as the Dead Goddess passively absorbed the knowledge contained within each and every book she held within her arcane grasp. The eldritch mare let a wan smile grace her lips as she watched Rainbow Dash race toward her location within her mind's eye. Never change, Rainbow Dash... Never change...