//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Survival // Story: Shadow Dash // by Wr1tingN3rd //------------------------------// "Kill them. Don't leave anyone alive," Sombra commanded the shadow guards and left the room, leaving the main six to fend for themselves. The guards quickly rushed downstairs towards the broken cages and surrounded the group, spears raised. And while Rainbow could've easily overpowered them... she didn't. Her mind was stuck in a loop. All the stress, Twilight yelling at her, them all being attacked, it was just too much for the poor pegasus as she sat there, frozen in tears as she stared at the threat that came after them. Twilight was also distraught, her mind replaying the most recent events before she shook her head, realizing that they needed to move. Without any further delay, she shouted to her friends, "There's too many of them! Let's move!" She quickly pushed back the guards on their side and ran through a hallway in order to escape, half of the guards chase after them. The other half stayed with Rainbow. They charged forwards, stabbing at her abdomen. That got Rainbow to snap out of her trance and move. With speed, she jumped up in the air, leaving a shockwave of dark magic to push the enemies away, and flew in the opposite direction her friends went in, entering an adjacent hall. In her escape, she clumsily flew through the air, knocking down a few dressers and vases along with smashing a few mirrors, leaving the guards behind her to have to jump over the mess, which they had no problems doing. The real problem were the pegasi guards chasing after her, quickly catching up in little to no time at all, even with the heavy armor they wore. Get yourself together, Dash! She mentally scolded herself as she straightened out her flying and tried her best to plan ahead. C'mon, you know this castle! You should be able to outfly them! She ducked through a door frame. In her head, she came up with multiple different escape routes before deciding on one and taking it. As she went into the next room, it opened up to be a pantry, filled with many different foods and ingredients with two doors in front of her. With ease, she baited right, going right before she hit the door and then using a burst of magic to propel herself to the left door, slightly clipping her wing in the process. She yelped in pain and tried to focus on her plan. Painfully, she steered upwards and did a U-turn back towards where she came from, except this time gliding above the roofs. As she looked down, she could see a slight opening leading back to the ballroom she was just in. With seemingly nowhere left to go, a thought crossed her mind and she quickly acted on it, diving down, making a quick turn right and stowing herself away behind a hidden staircase that only she knew about. Her body let off a faint glow and she transformed into her shadow body, holding her breath and watching as the guards flew by. As she watched, she allowed herself to slip into her thoughts and replay past events. Now her friends knew that she was Sombra's daughter. And they had reacted just as horribly as Rainbow thought they would. She felt saddened. Hurt. And... betrayed? Twilight had hurt her more than the others had, she felt betrayed from what she had done. But why? Her other friends are just as important to her as Twilight, so why would she matter more to her? She let herself ponder on that thought for a few moments, watching as group after group of guards passed by the hidden staircase. Twilight was her closest friend. She had stuck with her through thick and thin, but seeing her break away from her so quickly was... heartbreaking. As the reality of the situation set in, tears started filling her eyes once more. Her closest friends had all left her. They hated her. They didn't want anything to do with her. She began to sob quietly. No, she couldn't let the guards hear her. Deciding it wasn't safe outside, she took her chances with the cold, dark rooms below. She glided down, transforming herself back to normal as she examined the new area. And after one look around the room, her heart dropped. She was in a dungeon, almost completely dark except for a couple of torches with coals still glowing from their recent use. And, most recognizably of all, her cage. One that she remembered all too well. A floodgate of memories poured through her head. It was too much. The stress, her friends leaving her, her father, this stupid ass room! It was overloading her brain. Instantly, her breath started to shake, causing her to force down a gulp of air as she closed her eyes and looked away from the cage. Away from the bad memories, not helping at all in stopping them. The stress getting the better of her, she quickly left the room. As she ran, her breath quickened and her steps became unbalanced as she stumbled through the path in front of her, using the wall as a side support. Her heartbeat raced, her body started to glow with dark magic. The farther she ran, the quicker her breaths became, the more dizzy she got, and the darker the world seemed to be. It was getting hard to see. The corners of her vision were dark, everything else was blurred. All the while the stress only seemed to build, further increasing the symptoms and making her run faster. In no time at all, she went from running to flying, making her way through the underground dungeons, eventually turning to a cave-like structure. Her surroundings constantly reminding her of him, causing her rapid breaths to turn into rapid hyperventilation, making her feel lightheaded. And as she flew down the never ending cave biome, she quickly reached a dead end, making her turn around to go back the other way. However, when she did so, she was met with complete darkness. She stood there, paralyzed, whimpering quietly and backing into the wall. She heard something in the shadows slowly approaching her. It's not real, It's not real, It's not real... She told herself repeatedly like a mantra, closing her eyes. The aura around her body thickened. The shadows grew thicker, the walls seemingly caving in around her, making her feel even more trapped than before. Her throat seized up, making it difficult to breathe. Now random spurts of energy shot out from her body, hitting the rocks on the wall, causing them to fall onto the floor and shatter. The only thing she could hear was the thumping of her heart. ... No... I need to stop Sombra. Get yourself together, Dash! She mentally slapped herself and opened her eyes. Looking around, the environment around her was completely normal. Sure, she was still in some sort of cave, but that was just how it was naturally. There was no shadow. There were no enclosed spaces. She was just in a room. Slowly, her breath slowed down to a normal pace, her heart started beating normally, and she could finally breath again. She gave a huge sigh of relief and took a deep breath in, calming her body. Gathering what little courage she had left, she picked herself off the floor and wandered through the caves, a new goal set in mind. Twilight and the others panted, sprinting down the hall. They passing by a larder, causing them to feel nauseous as they ran by. Fluttershy gasped as she passed by and started crying as she ran past, refusing to further look at the hunks of meat that hung from the ceiling. Soon, they passed through an opening, finding themselves outside once more, inside of a pen filled with livestock like sheep and cows. Twilight blocked the entrance with her magic and they hopped the fence, leaving the cattle to fend for themselves while they escaped. The forests seemed darker than before, making it a good place for the guards to loose track of them. They ran on the outskirts of the trees, wanting to keep the castle in sight as to not get lost again before they spotted a garden, one filled with flowers of all kinds with no creature in sight. They quickly made their way over and hid behind a couple of crates, catching their breath. "Ah think we lost em'," Applejack said, panting. "We better wait just to be sure," Twilight said, also panting. After they had a moment to calm down, Twilight was lost in her thoughts. She thought about the previous events and how Rainbow- no, Shadow's secret had been revealed. "How did I not see it sooner?" she said aloud. "What do you mean, dear?" Rarity asked. "Rainbow- I mean Shadow- I mean- ugh! I don't even know what to call her anymore!" she clenched her eyes shut and put her hoof to her head, crying softly. "I trusted her... How could she lie about something like that? How could she lie about her own name?" she asked. "Darn tootin'! I can't believe she would lie about her past like that! We've been friends for years! Ya don't just keep something like that hidden away!" Applejack growled. "Hey girls! Cheer up! I'm pretty sure she meant no harm!" Pinkie chimed in. "Pinkie, she had a secret identity for most of your life! She didn't even tell her closest friend!" Applejack pointed at Fluttershy. "Unless you just didn't say anything. Is that why you're being all quiet, Fluttershy?" she stared at her accusingly. "N-no no no no no! I wouldn't do such a thing! I'm just... thinking," she quickly answered. After a bit of thought, she added on, "I agree with Pinkie here, I don't think Rainbow would do anything to hurt us. At least not on purpose." "What are ya, dense? I think you're just biased 'cause she's your oldest best friend!" Applejack argued. "I think you should listen to Fluttershy and... Pinkie was it?" a new voice popped in. Everyone stopped talking. It was Midnight Bloom, although none of them knew who she was. She was also quite a bit older. Her hair had gone slightly grey since the last time Dash had seen her. Everyone quickly got to their hooves. "Now before you go leavin', I'll tell ya I'm not your enemy. The name's Midnight Bloom, but you can just call me Midnight." She extended a hoof towards Twilight, beckoning her to shake her hoof. She reluctantly shook it. "Uh, hi Midnight... who are you exactly?" she asked. "You're not with Sombra, are you?" Midnight frowned at the name Sombra. "Technically, I'm his servant. However, I was your friend Shadow Dash's maid of sorts before she ran away from home. I heard ya'll calling her Rainbow Dash? Fits her, she hated her name anyways." "Hold on now just a sec'. You're telling me that ya used ta be Rainbow's servant?" Applejack asked, eyebrow raised. "Yes. She was quite the energetic little filly. So full of life," she looked up as she reminisced on the past, smiling. "I'm glad she managed to make some friends after she left. You should give her a second chance, you know." "Now hold on, miss Midnight, but how the heck did ya get here? Ya kinda just appeared. That's a bit suspicious, don't ya think?" she interrogated her, but Midnight remained calm. "You girls were so distracted that I walked up to you all and you didn't even notice me," she chuckled. "I tend these gardens, so I was just around the corner when you five arrived. It's how I got my cutie mark, after all." She beckoned towards her cutie mark, which did resemble that of growing flowers. "Don't think yer getting off easy, lad-" Applejack was cut off. "Why, hello there, miss Midnight, was it? I just wanted to thank you for taking care of our dear friend for so long, but couldn't help but hear that she ran away? Could you elaborate on that?" Rarity interrupted, smiling kindly at the gardener. Applejack face-hoofed. "Why, yes! Most certainly. You see, when she was just a little filly, she always wanted to go and explore the world. Much like her mother, who she inherited her colors from. However, her father as you all know well of seemed to dust her off as just a mere filly who would only take his attention off of work," she frowned once more. "Her father hated everything about her. Her looks, her goals, even her race. She was born a pegasus, which he considered less superior to the other races. So one day, she got tired of it and left. It seems like she made the right decision." "Aww, that's so sad!" Pinkie blew her nose into a cloth that she pulled out of mid air. Applejack hesitated to speak up. "Ah... ah never knew..." she spoke slowly. "Oh my..." Rarity said. Fluttershy was simply crying, borrowing a tissue from Pinkie, who thankfully had a whole box stored inside of her mane. "Girls..." Twilight spoke. "I think we owe Rainbow Dash an apology." Midnight Bloom smiled. "I'm glad you all feel that way. Although you should probably hurry. If I know her, she's probably off trying to solve this predicament by herself. A fool, she is." Yeah... that's Rainbow alright... Twilight thought to herself, smiling softly. Oh Rainbow... I'm sorry for not trusting you. I'm coming for you, Rainbow. She had to stop Sombra. That was the only thing that mattered now. Her friends? Gone. But all of the Crystal Empire would be too if she didn't act soon. Her thoughts went back to Twilight, on how mad she was, how much she hated her. I'm sorry, Twilight. I'll make up for it, I promise. She walked through the caverns until she reached the exit, making her way outside, which was an entrance to a cave that was just outside of the castle grounds. Thankfully, after years of living there, she knew her way around. She easily made her way back to the castle and went into 'stealth mode' (AKA just her shadow form). Alright, I need to take out my dad, but I can't have any guards around while I do that, otherwise it'll be impossible to take him out. She stopped for a second. Am I really about to kill my dad? She shrugged it off. It's for the greater good. She reassured herself. Even though Rainbow didn't possess much skill in sneaking around, her powers made it quite easy to go by. A few guards? Easy, just sneak around them. Can't sneak around them? Just mind control them to think that there's something that's not there. It was as easy as pie. With ease, she made her way towards the back area of the castle, where she saw an open window, easily recognizable to her. It's my room. She realized. She quickly hopped up through the window and peaked out the hall, not seeing her dad anywhere in sight. She left and went to check the master bedroom, but there was nopony in there. Then, she made her way towards the throne room, but he still wasn't there. Where the heck is he? She thought to herself. That was when she heard cackling from all around her. "You fool! Did you really think you could sneak up on me? You're so easy to read, Shadow," her father's voice range throughout the room. "Show yourself!" Rainbow yelled out, looking all around her, which got another laugh from her dad. "You still haven't mastered your abilities, I see. Well, that will make this quite easy, then," he spoke before clones of himself appeared, circling around Dash. "Don't worry, I won't bore you with my guards. This'll be too easy." Rainbow's blood went ice cold as she stared at all the clones. Quickly, she shot a beam at one of the clones and it dissipated into black smoke, quickly disappearing into the air. Crap... There was about 15 of them- actually- 14, after she had taken out one. Guess I'll have to do this the hard way. All of the clones charged her at once, completely surrounding her in a matter of seconds with seemingly nowhere left to run. In response, Rainbow focused her energy to her legs and jumped at one of the clones, punching through them before switching targets, punching the nearest clone after that. She did that a couple of times over while at the same time throwing magical blasts to another clone as she was taking care of one. As soon as she took down the last clone, she looked around, not seeing anyone else there. Then, without warning, she was tackled on her back, getting thrown to the floor before she looked up at her attacker and saw him charging his horn, about to strike. She pushed through the air at lightning speeds and dodged out of there and off the floor, now hovering in the air. She shot a blast, but it was easily countered by a shield spell, deflecting it to the side. Realizing that her ranged magical attacks would be useless, she went in for brute physical force, hoping that her enhanced strength could pierce through the barrier. Readying herself, she blasted forwards as fast as she could and went in with a swing, impacting... nothing. Eyes widening, she looked to her side and saw Sombra smiling, horn glowing. Just then, a square-shaped crystal shot out of the floor and impacted her in the chest, sending her flying across the room and impacting the nearest wall. The hit took away her breath, leaving her to slowly recover off the ground, giving Sombra another opportunity to strike. Another crystal was summoned and launched straight through the air and onto her wing, pinning it down as it pierced through it and imbedded itself in the wall, slowly spreading outwards and solidifying its connection to it. Rainbow screamed in pain, unable to move her wing away as she saw Sombra slowly walking towards her, taking his dear, sweet time. Just as he got close, she shut her eyes and yanked her wing out, ripping it through her muscle and bones in the process. Thankfully, her wing was pinned on a thin area of her wing, not of extreme importance, leaving minimal damage. Using this opportunity to escape, she kicked off the floor and rolled onto her side, recovering quickly and onto her hooves once more. Sombra simply stood in place, staring at Rainbow with that same sinister smile, unphased. I don't think I can beat him... Thinking quickly, she devised a plan to catch him off guard. I'm his daughter right? That means that I can do what he does! Her whole body was enveloped in a dark aura and then she disappeared from sight, making Sombra actually wonder what the heck happened. Before he had a chance to think, Rainbow reappeared above him, smashing down on his horn and knocking him to the floor. She went in for another punch when he turned into his shadow form and her hoof went right through. He quickly backed away. "It seems I have underestimated you, daughter," he growled. "Don't, worry, I won't make the same mistake twice." He rushed forwards and swung at her, to which she did something much similar to her father, turning into smoke and moving out of the way as he phased through her. "I got all your moves, old man. Better stop now before you hurt yourself," she quipped, smirking. He merely laughed and continued on. "I have decades worth of more experience than you do, daughter. Skills and careful planning beat brute force and ability." Then he rushed forwards, causing Rainbow to turn into a shadow again, except this time his hoof was glowing. Instead of it going through her, it made contact, immediately forcing her out of her shadow form and onto the floor, coughing. She wheezed as she stood up again. "Is... Is that all you got?" she asked, bringing up her hooves again in a battle stance. Then, a blade tore through her abdomen and her father disappeared in front of her into smoke. She saw the blood pour out of the wound, her ears were ringing. The blade was made of the same dark crystal that was seen earlier. Then, she heard him whisper in her ear. "Tut, tut, daughter. Looks like experience wins after all. Don't worry, I won't kill you. I'll throw you in a dungeon and lock you up for the rest of your life as you watch your friends from before be executed in front of your very eyes. Then, maybe you'll learn to obey me for once," he snarled. Her vision started to go blurry and the world started to spin. "Goodnight." She lost consciousness right before she hit the floor.