//------------------------------// // Solitude and Camaraderie // Story: Swooping Pegasus // by FenrisianBrony //------------------------------// Two weeks. Two long gruelling weeks without so much as a glimpse of another living creature, except Kaliden, and in all honesty, Rainbow had stopped considering him living with the complete lack of emotion he showed towards everything that happened. The training that she was being put through was brutal, making the training she had gone through back at the Wonderbolt academy seem like a cake-walk. Well, a cake-walk without Pinkie on it at least. First, she had been practicing balance, apparently so she would be able to control her own body better in combat. The Exarch had made her balance herself on one leg, her wings outstretched and holding up a weight each. Each time she had collapsed, she was made to stand again, with ever increasing weights pushing down on her wings. Next was speed training, which was much more up Rainbows alley. At least it was until Kaliden had forced her to lose the use of her wings, relying solely on her hooves to navigate a five mile long obstacle courses, and Rainbow once again found herself in the restricting leather garment from her trial. Ten foot high walls, suspended rings and all other manner of obstacles had stood in her path, and each time she had run it, all Kaliden had done was cock his head to the side, and she repeated the whole cycle again. “Again.” Kaliden said as Rainbow collapsed in exhaustion for what must have been the thirtieth time on that day alone. “I. Can’t.” Rainbow groaned, her entire body burning from the strain laced upon it. “You can.” Kaliden countered simply. “More than that, you must.” “I’ve…got…wings.” She panted. “And yet the training focuses upon the rest of your body. For one to be truly able to serve Khaine, we must hone our bodies to beyond the bounds of mortal flesh. Beyond what you consider to be possible. Without it, I fear you will not be long for this world.” That was the last time Rainbow had complained. She pushed herself harder than ever before, forcing herself to run faster, straining to be able to lift just one kilo more of weights. For the first time since the training had started, Kaliden finally began to look as if he was appreciating the progress that Rainbow was making. *** Another two weeks past, and Rainbow was now easily capable of seeing the changes that were wrought upon her body. Her legs had bulked out, and the muscles all across her back and wings were rippling just underneath her skin. Of course, the most prominent changes were in her mind. Over the weeks, Rainbow had managed to find time to connect to the shrines small infinity circuit, and had begun to explore the history of the universe she now inhabited. According to Kaliden, the infinity circuit that she could access in the grove of the shrine was limited, supposedly to further enforce the isolation that the floating assault shrine training regime created. All this meant, was Rainbow could access very small pockets of isolated history, covering a range of topics from humanity to the various Craftworlds. In a matter of hours, the infinity circuit had interfaced directly into her brain, the advanced technology of the Eldar scanning her brain, before pulling up similarities between it and an Eldar brain, before mapping the pair and allowing Rainbow to interface like other Eldar would. Truth be told, she had expected much more resistance from it, considering the treatment she was given by the majority of the Eldar, but according to the results the infinity circuit had given her, the two separate cognitive scans had been 94% compatible with each other, and had shared almost all of the same synaptic tracts. Ha. Just listen to her. A few hours with her brain plugged into a semi-sentient network and she was already sounding like an even bigger egghead than Twilight. After five solid hours, which made up almost the entire break she was given for a three day period, she had wept. The universe was vast. More than that, it was gargantuan. Humanity along had colonised millions of worlds. The green skinned Orks were present on almost as many, spreading there insidious spores across continents and planets. She had gained knowledge of the upstart Tau in the galactic East, and the slow encroach of the Tyranids towards the central galactic plane. In an tiny space of time, Rainbow had absorbed libraries worth of knowledge. She had seen the universe. She had seen life. And she had seen death. She had inloaded the entire mission reports from the Gothic War, where Abaddon the Despoiler had launched his twelfth incursion into the galaxy from the area of space known as the eye of terror. She had watched as the Eldar had been slaughtered on Kronus, and the loss of the Eldar’s spirit stones. She had seen the reports of the battle of Macragge, which made the Tyranids attack on Hannibal look like a scouting party. All of this and more was dumped directly into Rainbows frontal cortex, and needless to say, it couldn’t take it. Giving one last sob, she passed out, the darkness being plagued yet again by nightmares. *** “Rainbow. Rainbow Dash.” Came the voice of Kaliden, cutting through the fog that was clouding Rainbows mind like a lascutter through a gretchin. “Uggh. Five more minutes mum.” Rainbow groaned. “I am not your mother Rainbow, I am Kaliden, Exarch of the Floating Assault.” He said again, his voice piercing Rainbows attempt to ignore it. “Ugh, fine.” Rainbow groaned again, rolling over and cracking her eyes just a fraction. They snapped wide open as her eyes focused on the void black armour of Kaliden mere inches from her own face. “WHOA!” She shouted, scrambling back and toppling off of the white slab of Wraithbone that she had been laid upon. “You are awake then.” Kaliden observed. “Come. We still have more to do.” “What happened?” Rainbow asked groggily, rubbing her eyes with her forehoof. “You interfaced your mind with the psychic heart of the craftworld. In doing so, you linked your mind to that of the Saim-Hann infinity circuit. From your reactions, I am guessing you only managed to access the military records that this shrine holds.” He asked, quizzically cocking his helmeted to side. “The…wars that have been fought.” Rainbow said slowly. “Iyanden’s almost been destroyed. Humans devoted fourteen million men just to take back one planet. Everywhere is ravaged by war.” “And now you realise why the Eldar must devote themselves to the warriors path. On the battlefield, we must work in sync with the rest of our warmachine, to achieve perfect balance. Only then can we hope to survive.” “Harmony.” Rainbow said softly. “I’m sorry?” “You seek to work in harmony with your forces. Working together, you can achieve what you set your mind to.” Rainbow clarified. “You speak from experience?” “Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Loyalty, Generosity, Magic. The six elements of harmony.” “The elements of what?” “Harmony. The first and last line of Equestria’s defence. I held loyalty.” “They sound useful in a continental situation. Less so on a large scale. Now come along. We have wasted enough time, and we must return to the grove.” Nodding, Rainbow followed the Exarch out of the small chamber, which was barren, save for the crude Wraithbone bed she had been asleep on. As the pair continued to walk, Rainbow caught up with the Exarch, keeping pace beside him. “Not that I doubt you or your techniques, but when do I actually get to meet the other aspect warriors?” Kaliden didn’t speak for almost a full minute, as if he was contemplating what answer to give. Finally, he turned his head and spoke to her. “At the current rate you are progressing, I would set that deadline at around another seven cycles. Perhaps Eight, depending on how your mind holds up to the rigours of the infinity circuit merging.” *** Rainbow smiled to herself, in spite of her current position. Kaliden had informed her that today she would be meeting the rest of the aspect warriors. She was excited, as well as slightly apprehensive of the moment when she met them, but this was mostly overshadowed by a feeling of immense pride that she was feeling, which stemmed from the fact that Rainbow had proved Kaliden wrong in his estimate. Kaliden had come to Rainbow early in the morning. As always, she was taken out to the Grove, which was shrouded in shadows which preceded the rising sun. Almost immediately, Kaliden had given her her orders for the day, before he swept from the grove. Rainbow watched him leave, before she turned to obey his orders. Walking over to one of the metal obelisks that were scattered around the clearing, she began to scale it, quickly reaching the top and standing atop the tiny platform, some fifteen meters off of the ground. Changing her footing so she was standing on her rear hooves, Rainbow shifted her weight, before launching herself outwards and upwards. Sailing through the air, Rainbows hooves caught onto an outstretched bar, and she used her momentum to spin herself around it once, before letting go and hurling herself even further upwards. At the very apex of her jump, she stuck her hooves out, and just managed to slip her hooves onto the pit of another small platform. Grabbing hold, she easily hauled herself up and onto it. Standing on all four hooves, Rainbow balanced herself for a moment, before making her way out into a thin circular beam. As she reached the halfway point, Rainbow stopped, swaying from the artificial winds that flowed through the grove at these heights. Taking a deep breath, she turned, and allowed herself to fall backwards, her forehooves outstretched. Grinning, She wrapped her rear hooves around the bar, jerking herself to a halt as she hung upside down. Looking down, her grinned widened as the familiar feeling of light-headedness that always accompanied high flying. She looked down at the ground and her mind began to whirl, calculating the distance she was from the ground. If there was one thing she could do well, it was mental aeronautical calculations. She estimated that it had taken her approximately fifty one to climb the first the first pole, and another thirty seconds to reach the top platform. All in all, she estimated that she was at least fifty meters off of the ground, perhaps closer to sixty, depending on how high the jump she had made was. Settling in, Rainbow closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Kaliden had been slowly teaching her mental discipline techniques to help smooth the transition between peace and war. Supposedly, this technique would allow her to properly don her war mask, although why putting a mask on needed mental discipline, Rainbow didn’t know. It had been almost five hours before Rainbow heard someone enter the grove again. Opening her eyes, Rainbow saw Kaliden, and watched as he activated the pack on his back, and flew up towards her. “You have kept the position I see Rainbow.” Kaliden stated, as he walked back over to Rainbow. “Of course Exarch. I live only to serve the will of the Craftworld.” She grunted, visibly straining now. “I know you do. Now to business.” He said, focusing on Rainbow for a split second longer than normal. Rainbow had begun to pick up some of the subtleties of Eldar body language, and she knew that if he did something with his body, it was for a reason. Sure enough, the clasps on the outfit Rainbow wore hissed, before opening and allowing the bodysuit to open along the back, giving her access to her wings. Flaring her wings, Rainbow followed behind the Exarch and dropped from the beam. Plummeting towards the ground, Rainbow slowed her descent and landed gracefully beside Kaliden. “Where are we going Exarch?” Rainbow asked. “This morning you asked me for the second time when you would be allowed to meet the rest of the Floating Assault. I will now realise that desire, and the desires of the others to meet you.” “They want to meet me?” Rainbow asked happily. “I mean, I am the most awesome pony in Equestria, but…” She trailed off. “It has nothing to do with, how did you put it, being awesome. It is simply due to the fact that they desire to see the results of Eldar training on a non-Eldar.” “I was kidding.” Rainbow deadpanned, following Kaliden out of the grove. For the first time since she had entered the temple, Rainbow exited the large metal blast door that had remained sealed to her before. As she and Kaliden approached it, it silently slid into the ground with an almost unperceivable hiss, continuing until it was perfectly flush with the rest of the floor. Without a word, Kaliden swept out of the room, and Rainbow hovered close behind him, happy to have the use of her wings back for anything more than weight training. Regardless of what she thought about losing her wings for any period of time, she had to admit that the daily weight training had really bulked her wings up. They felt far stronger than they ever had back on Equestria, and she was eager to put them through the wringer to find out just what they were capable of. After a few minutes, the stark white corridor they were in began to widen out, before they reached a large set of ornate double doors. Kaliden approached them, before turning to face Rainbow. “Beyond these doors Rainbow, is the heart of the Floating Assault shrine. Within its halls, countless Eldar have learnt the way of the Swooping Hawk, learning to bring death to the Eldars enemies from the sky for almost nine millennia.” He said proudly, before continuing. “Soon, after your training with the others has reached it fruition, you will be joined with this temple, your life shall be bound to it for as long as you desire or are able to walk the path. Be warned though, many have walked this past before you, and unfortunately, not all of them have left the path. Some fall to madness within our walls, losing themselves to the bloodshed of Khaine.” “What do you mean?” Rainbow asked, slowly landing as she suddenly felt very unsure of herself. “The position I hold, the ‘dubious honour’ of the Exarch, is both a blessing, and a curse. My kind have the ability to keep the darkness that surrounds our race at bay for longer than anyone else could even hope for. Unfortunately, as with all great power, it is a two edged sword. A two sided coin if you will. I can no longer leave this path. Khaine has called my name, and I have answered in kind. This is the true trial of all those who walk upon the path of the warrior. On it, one can find true internal peace, or they can be eternally dammed, doomed to dance the great charade of death and suffering, until life finally flees from their broken bodies.” As Kaliden continued his description about the duality of the Eldar, Rainbow had been getting paler and paler, suddenly getting very nervous about what she was about to embark on. “You of course, may be different,” Kaliden went on, “You are not Eldar, and so you do not share in our races curse. Your reaction to some of our techniques, specifically the war mask, may be unresponsive, although this is not certain, and the training could affect you as it does our own.” “So, you are trapped on this path? Forever?” Rainbow asked. “I am.” He confirmed. “Can noone escape it?” “I cannot. Only six have ever had the mental fortitude to continue on one path, fighting and training those of our disposition since the time of the fall.” “Who?” Rainbow asked, her confidence being restored slightly by the commitment with which Kaliden had spoken. “The Phoenix Lords. Warriors from the time before the collapse of our empire. The Hand of Asuryan, Asurmen, forefather of the Dire Avengers aspect. Jain Zar, the Storm of Silence, she created the aspect of the Howling Banshees. Karandras, the Shadow Hunter. He is the most mysterious of the Phoenix Lords. He did not create the temple of the Striking Scorpion, nor is he the oldest of its Exarchs, but he is the oldest who has not fallen to the depths of madness and Chaos. The Burning Lance, Fuegan, leader of the Fire Dragons. Maugan Ra, The Harvester of Souls. Phoenix Lord of the Dark Reapers. Finally, there is Baharroth. The cry of the Wind. He taught our forbearers the art of war.” Kaliden rattled off easily. “These warriors are infallible, fighting for the survival of all Eldar, and appearing where they deem necessary. Perhaps you will meet one of them in your travels. But enough of that, now you shall meet the rest of the temple.” With a possibly unnecessary flourish, Kaliden flung the doors open and flew through them, soaring upwards to land on a small hovering pad in the center of the room, floating five meters off of the ground. Even as Rainbow blinked at the sudden disappearance of the Exarch, she dubiously entered the room, her eyes quickly adjusting to the natural sunlight that she had been denied to her when she in the grove. As the room came into focus, Rainbows eyes picked out the forms of seven armoured Eldar. The middle one was Kaliden, his black armour defying the light shining upon, absorbing and bending it to disrupt his outline as it always did. To his right were three more Eldar, each armoured in light blue armour that looked similar to Kalidens’, albeit less ornate and without the helmets. To his left were three more warriors, once again wearing light blue armour without helmets. On the far right, Rainbow spied the familiar face of Tar’nek, and she smiled slightly at the familiar face. Each of the warriors held one of the sleek Lasblasters in a neutral position. Along with these, each warrior carried a sheath across their back. From the slight variations in the curves of the warriors, Rainbow decided that out of the six new warriors, only one was female, meaning that including her, there were two females in the squad of eight. “Rainbow Dash.” Spoke Kaliden, his voice cutting through the sift wind easily. “You have passed the rigours and trials of the Floating Assault, and have proved that you can handle yourself sufficiently well to advance to the next stage of your training. As is tradition, you shall no longer be assessed just by me, but by every member of the squad.” At this, the platform Kaliden was standing on moved backwards out of the light, shrouding him from the undiscerning eye. At the same time, the light around the remaining Eldar increased just slightly. “Warriors of the Shrine of the Floating Assault.” Boomed the voice of Kaliden, reverberating the room and seemingly coming from everywhere at once. “Make yourself known to the whelp.” “Faren. Sharpshot.” Spoke the first Eldar. His face was surprisingly curved when compared to the angular features of the other Eldar. To compliment this, he had a dark red Mohawk of hair, slightly offset by the single braid that hung down just over his left ear. “Goroic.” Spoke another Eldar, this one noticeably larger than the others. His head was completely devoid of any sort of hair, but was dominated by the tattoo of a rune that covered the rest of his face, dominating the right side of his face. “Calisthenics.” “Juhani.” The female Eldar said, her gaze as cold as steel. As Rainbow looked into her eyes, she got the feeling that something was not quite right with them, but she dismissed it or now. Her hair was tied up in a large top knot, with the top hanging halfway down her back. “Combat Drills.” “Jolee. Artificer.” Said another one of the Eldar, this one sporting a large ugly scar across the part of his face where his right eye should have been. As Rainbow settled her eyes on the wound, she instantly felt her own scar burn, but she dismissed it. Jolee looked old, even by the standards of the other Eldar, yet he still had a full head of hair, a single thick ponytail coiled down his back, bound at regular intervals with bands of red metal that stood out against the gunmetal grey colour of the hair. “Makhutar. Cardiovascular and neural physician.” Spoke the final Eldar on the left. His hair was a deep purple that made Rainbows heart ache. When she looked at Makhutar, all she could see was Twilights face, punching home the fact that she really was nowhere near home. “Tar’nek. Advanced aerial combat. “These are your superiors Rainbow Dash. Prove yourself to be more than a common creature. Prove yourself capable to these six, and count yourself as the seventh.” Kaliden said, moving back to float just infront of the other six. “How long is this going to take?” Rainbow asked. “That depends on you. You made progress in my training, the likes of which I have not seen in a long time. But it is no longer me you must impress.” Kaliden said simply. “You training begins now.” Juhani said, jumping off the platform and drawing a sleek sword. “Defend yourself.” Jolee called, drawing one of the two swords he carried and tossing it to Rainbow. Rainbow lept up to catch the blade, grabbing hold of it just as Juhani jumped up and activated the wings on her armour. She soared forward and raised her sword, bringing it down towards Rainbow. Acting purely on instincts honed on Hannibal, Rainbow raised her sword, and the two pieces of metal clashed in a cascade of sparks.