Rainbow’s eyes snapped back open as she was yanked back into reality. Her nostrils immediately filled with that familiar, dank scent of the dungeon while her eyes caught sight of that familiar, gray stone. So her suspicions were right. Whatever that was before was just some weird… dream, she supposed, but it all felt too real for it be ‘just a dream’. She may have been awake, but something didn’t feel right. Actually, perhaps it wasn’t that it ‘didn’t feel right’, it simply felt… different, but it was something intangible that Rainbow couldn’t place her hoof on; the subtlest of changes, but also the most significant.
“Rainbow!”
She didn’t have more than a few seconds to ponder on that, however, before she felt a pair of lavender hooves wrap around her neck. Before she knew it, she and Twilight were cheek to cheek in a tight hug.
“Oh, my goodness. Are you okay?”
Rainbow was still a bit out of it, but she had enough of her senses to return the gesture, tiredly resting a hoof around Twilight’s neck as she chuckled. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You… you just started talking to yourself out of nowhere. I almost thought I lost you.”
Rainbow could hear the shakiness lingering in Twilight’s voice. She felt wetness on her cheek from where tears soaked into her coat. “Well, I’m still here, okay? That won’t change any time soon.” She tapped Twilight twice, signaling her to break the hug. “Now, come on. We still need to save the others.”
Twilight complied and backed away, albeit reluctantly. “Right. You’re right.”
“Of course I am.”
Twilight couldn’t help but raise a curious eyebrow at that, but she didn’t dwell on it. There were far more pressing matters to worry about. She switched her attention over to Star Light, who had been quietly standing by ever since Rainbow woke back up. “Do you have any ideas, Star?”
Star Light didn’t immediately respond, keeping her eyes fixated on Rainbow as the pegasus shook the rest of her senses back into her head. That relief, that smile on her face, was gone, replaced by a studious, scrutinizing gaze. It was as though she was studying her, like there was something about Rainbow that she was trying to find.
“Star Light,” Twilight called again.
“There’s a hole near the top of the doors,” Star Light finally said, not breaking away from Rainbow for even a second. “It’s large enough to slip through. That would be the best way into the chamber.”
“And you want to send me through that hole so that I can open it up from the other side,” Rainbow assumed.
Star Light narrowed her eyes, her gaze growing ever more suspicious. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble.”
As sound a plan as that seemed, Twilight felt like she just missed something that the two others caught onto. “Hold on,” she said. “Why send Rainbow? Can’t you go instead?”
After taking a few more seconds to give Rainbow another look over, Star Light finally switched her attention over to Twilight. “It’s true that I could just teleport up to the hole myself and get through that way, but—”
“But that’d make too much noise,” Rainbow cut in, finishing Star’s explanation for her. She didn’t even bother acknowledging the unicorn’s gaze as she continued. “The same goes for you, Twilight. Teleporting would give us away too quickly. But I can fly up to that hole. Silently. I just need to get in there and open up the door, and I’m our best bet at getting it done quietly, okay?” As Twilight nodded, the plan apparently clicking in her head, Rainbow turned her gaze towards Star Light. “I’m right, right?”
For a moment, neither mare spoke a single word, instead locking eyes, neither faltering for a second. To anypony looking from outside, it’d look like they were sizing each other up, as though they were both waiting for the other to slip up, even for an instant. Finally, Star broke the silence. “Again, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble.”
Rainbow didn’t immediately respond, instead taking the time to glance up at the hole in question. Surely enough, she spotted a hole off to the side of the doors, just large enough for her to slip through without much fuss. It didn’t look like it was made forcibly, either. Just another portion of crumbling wall thanks to the place’s shoddy condition. It seemed simple enough.
Finally, she looked back down at Star, her face still flat and unmoved. “Consider it done.” Without another word, Rainbow turned towards the hole, wings ready to fly her up there. There wasn’t a hint of hesitation behind her actions. Not a hint of doubt or fear or apprehension. There wasn’t even anger, not anymore. Rainbow was just going through the motions needed to get the task done.
“Wait. Are you sure about this?” Twilight asked.
“Just be ready to move when the doors open. The others’ll need your help more than I will, so that’ll be what you do. Don’t put yourself in any unnecessary danger, got it?” Rainbow looked back towards Star, their eyes locking once again. “As for you… Well, I don’t really care what happens to you.” She didn’t even bother waiting for a response—not that Star Light gave her one—before she flew up to the hole with a single quiet flap.
Within mere seconds, she found firm ground inside the hole, enough to hold herself up. From there, she had the perfect vantage point to scope out the entirety of the chamber. There, in the chamber’s center, were them. Rainbow’s friends. And they were surrounded by more Eclipse, including that blue stallion.
After everything that she’d been through, after everything that the Eclipse put her through, Rainbow should’ve felt angry. She should’ve felt furious. The sense of urgency was there, yes, but nothing beyond that. She remembered wanting to kill everything that she saw, that indescribable rage flaring up inside of her, simply due to the possibility that they harmed her friends. Now here she was, clearly seeing her friends in imminent danger, and… nothing. Well, not necessarily nothing. The anger was there, but it was… more subdued, she supposed. She was in control.
Focusing back on the task at hoof, she scanned the chamber for that mechanism Star Light kept going on about. At first, she could see little outside of the group of ponies before her, nothing that seemed to indicate the presence of some type of mechanism. But to say that nothing was there at all would’ve done nothing to help anypony except the enemy. Something was there, she simply wasn’t looking hard enough.
Rainbow passed her eyes over the area yet again, though far more slowly. Most of the chamber was engulfed in darkness from where it lacked torches. Something must’ve been in there. And soon enough, Rainbow did spot that something.
Her eyes, almost of their own accord, snapped onto something, the slightest hints of movement in the darkness. A glisten of some kind. Likely the armor of another Eclipse, or perhaps the metal plate of a mechanism. Regardless, it was something, and that was enough reason for Rainbow to go and see what it was. Of course, that still left the task of reaching that something undetected, but that hardly seemed to be the most daunting of tasks.
Quietly, Rainbow fluttered to the ground below. She didn’t hear her own hoofbeats as she made contact with the stone. She clung to the shadows, stayed low to the floor as she moved quietly and quickly. For a brief moment, it felt as though she and the darkness were one, as though the shadows were guiding her towards her destination, as though it was always where she belonged.
Solare continued his ramblings, he and everypony else unaware of Rainbow’s presence as she made it to the other side of the chamber. There, it didn’t take long before she found exactly what she was expecting. Hidden by the darkness just as well as she was, another Eclipse stood guard near a lever, just what Rainbow was looking for. He didn’t notice her, his eyes fixed on the scene playing out before him. A mistake that Rainbow would ensure he regretted.
Slowly, silently, Rainbow crept up on the unsuspecting stallion like a predator stalking its prey. Her eyes, sharp and keen, looked out for even the slightest sign that he was aware of her presence, her body already ready to pounce at an instant’s notice. No such sign ever came, and Rainbow soon found herself mere feet from the stallion.
He never stood a chance.
In the blink of an eye, Rainbow darted forward. Before the stallion even knew what was happening, one hoof wrapped around his throat while another covered his mouth, muffling his attempts at crying out for help. Before he could even begin to panic, he felt the hot breath of angry mare brush against his ear.
“A single sound, and it will be the last mistake you make,” she hissed. From the stallion’s rigid body and feverish nodding, Rainbow safely assumed that he’d be a compliant one. “Good boy.”
With that, Rainbow tightened her grip around the stallion’s neck, cutting off his air supply. He thrashed about, throwing his limbs this and that way in an attempt to break free, but it was fruitless. Soon enough, his efforts grew weaker and weaker until his entire body went limp and unmoving. Perhaps he’d have preferred a different outcome, but he was lucky to still be breathing. As far as Rainbow was concerned, he only had two options, and he chose the better one.
With that ‘threat’ eliminated, Rainbow turned her attention towards the lever. As she approached it, her ears drifted back over to the commotion happening right next to her.
“All I’m asking is that you simply consider—”
“We ain’t considerin’ nothin’!” Applejack shouted. “We know you’re just lyin’ outta your teeth! Ain’t no way Celestia’d ever hurt anypony!”
Rainbow slowed to a stop, ears perking up as she slightly turned towards the shouting. Yes, that was right. None of them had seen the things Rainbow had, had they? “What is he getting at?” she muttered.
Solare slowly shook his head, almost out of pity, it seemed. “Such blind devotion to an imperfect being is precisely why the Solar Eclipse exist. In due time, we will do away with the wool that’s been drawn over all of your eyes. You and your friends will be the first to experience this enlightenment, but only if you open your mind to the possibility that—”
“I’ve had it up t’ here with your preachin’! If you don’t shut your mouth, so help me, I’ll shut it for ya!”
None of the others even tried to calm Applejack as she looked just about ready to tear Solare and his goons limb from limb. Rainbow wasted enough time. She needed to get that door open before things went even further south.
“Pity,” Solare muttered. “No matter. As I’ve said, you’ll see Celestia’s true self in due time, then you’ll grow to understand. Some of your friends have already witnessed this for themselves.” A throaty chuckle left his muzzle before he turned towards the shadows behind him. “Isn’t that right, Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow’s hoof, mere inches from the lever, came to a stop. For a moment that felt far longer than it actually was, all was silent, save for the crackling of the torch flames.
“I would advise against touching that lever,” Solare continued. “Assuming you still care for the wellbeing of your friends. You’ve already come this far. Wouldn’t it be a shame if anything were to happen to them now?”
For a moment, Rainbow did nothing. She simply took a deep breath in, and let a deep breath out. Composed herself. Slowly, she brought her hoof back down to the ground before backing away from the lever. Even if he was bluffing, it was something that she couldn’t risk. Clearing out that entire room would’ve hardly proven difficult, but with her friends still stuck in the crossfire, she needed to take things more carefully. She needed to get them away from there first. Far away. Then the real fun would begin.
Slowly, Rainbow stepped out of the darkness, her eyes never leaving Solare. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friends perk up at the sight of her, though their expressions were difficult to pinpoint as elation and sheer shock battled for dominance in their minds.
“Rainbow! What in the hay are you doin’?” Applejack asked. “Did you bring the princess with ya?”
Rainbow cast a fleeting glance towards them, her flat, still face hiding the immense relief she felt inside. She shared no words in response, simply held a hoof up to her lips, signaling them to stay quiet. If she was going to do this, then she would need to concentrate. Their confused, worried expression were clear enough, but they complied all the same, leaving Rainbow to focus back on Solare, on her target.
“Ah, what a pleasure it is to see you again, Ms. Dash,” he said, falling back into those pleasantries of his. “Perhaps you can help your friends in seeing my claims as the truth. After all, you’ve been through far more than they have as of late. Surely you can shed some light on this little plight of ours.”
Rainbow was hardly listening; she just let him talk since he clearly loved the sound of his own voice. Instead, her eyes, quickly and intently, flicked from pony to hooded pony, mentally mapping down their numbers and placement in the room.
…three. Four. Five of them. Six if I count him. Three ponies keeping her friends surrounded and two more flanking Solare on either side. Star Light mentioned enchantments. Three of them. Rainbow’s eyes drifted back over to the ponies keeping her friends boxed in. Their robes sported the same swirling decorations as the previous mare that she fought while the two with Solare did not. A sign of higher rank, she assumed. They must’ve been the ones with the enchanted gems, the enhanced speed ensuring that her friends couldn’t run. They’ll be the first to go.
Rainbow set her eyes back on Solare, face still fixed in a soft, yet stern glare. The last time that she found herself in this very same situation, with the stallion mere feet from her, with him wearing that smug smirk, Rainbow lost control and nearly paid for it. That wasn’t going to happen this time. Anger still boiled inside, wanting to explode into another frenzy, but it was her that controlled it, not the other way around.
“Let them go.” Rainbow did not shout her command, but it still carried that subtle sense of authority and power. That, in combination with her unwavering glare would’ve made most ponies freeze stiff before they wordlessly complied, lest they invoke the wrath hiding just underneath that stoic mask of hers. Solare, however, was unlike most ponies, and hardly seemed bothered.
“Again, that isn’t how things will work, Ms. Dash. Though you may not be willing to admit it, you and I both know that there is still much to discuss.”
Rainbow’s gaze hardened as she took a single step forward. “I wasn’t asking now, was I?”
The two hooded ponies next to Solare stepped forward as well, horns glowing as bright magic wrapped around their daggers. Even the three ponies guarding Rainbow’s friends took on a more defensive stance while the four mares merely watched on, utterly speechless at the scene playing out before them. The entire room fell into dead silence as the tension practically threatened to crush all of them.
All the while, neither Rainbow nor Solare broke eye contact with each other, both staring right into the other’s very being, neither letting a single hint of apprehension or fear flash past their faces.
Finally, Solare broke the unnerving silence with another unnerving chuckle. “Oh, you are quite the anomaly, Ms. Dash,” he said. “Most others would have long since broken if they were placed in your position. But you… Not only have you endured it all, you’ve finally embraced it, haven’t you? I can see it in your eyes. You’ve changed in a very, very large way.”
Rainbow’s glare only sharpened, the gaze practically threatening to set Solare ablaze. She wouldn’t let his talking affect her. Not this time. Not anymore. She was here for one reason and one reason only, and she would not let herself lose sight of that reason. “Let them go,” she repeated. “I won’t tell you again.” There was no more arrogance, no more bravado, no more insolence behind her tone. Only the somber, serious growl of someone pushed to their near breaking point.
It seemed that the situation’s gravity was finally beginning to affect Solare as well. Just as he said, Rainbow had changed, that much he could see even if others could not. It was in her behavior, the way she carried herself. Before, she charged him in an anger-fueled frenzy simply because she saw his face. Now, he could hardly even read her face, save for that anger burning in her eyes. Even then, it wasn’t that same uncontrolled anger from before. It was nothing if not controlled, and it was directed. Directed right towards him. Indeed, this was a different mare than before, one that could prove very troublesome if he wasn’t careful.
Solare’s eyes drifted over to the unicorns standing at his side, both of them ready to attack at a moment’s notice. He would rather avoid a fight, if it could be helped, and right now, nothing was helping. Quickly, almost casually, he waved a hoof. “Stand down.”
The order was quick and to the point. Almost too quick. Though Rainbow couldn’t see their faces, she could tell that they were confused, both of them nervously bringing their gaze up to their leader. One even looked like she was about to question his decision, but quickly, and likely smartly, decided against it. The magical glow around their daggers disappeared, and the pair backed away.
Solare turned his gaze towards the three ponies guarding Rainbow’s friends. “That goes for you all as well. Stand down.”
His second order was met with just as much confusion as the first, all three of them perking their heads up in shock. They turned their confused gaze towards the four mares that they were tasked with guarding.
“Y’all heard ‘im,” Applejack snapped. “Back off!”
Though the slightest of scowled appeared across their faces, the three ponies did listen and backed away from them, finally giving them some much needed room to breathe. As soon as they could, their eyes snapped back onto Rainbow Dash. The pegasus stared back, a small smile on her face, the first one that they’d seen from her in a very long time.
The five of them all had the same exact thing in mind, and as soon as Rainbow nodded her head, beckoning to them with a hoof, her four friends couldn’t have responded any faster. They all darted forward, racing right past Solare and his followers as they sped towards Rainbow. All the while, Solare didn’t so much as bat an eyelash, letting all of them run up and nearly crush Rainbow in a group hug.
However, Solare still wasn’t quite finished. As the happy reunion played out in front of him, he turned towards one of the unicorns. “I believe it’s time we wrapped things up,” he whispered. Quickly, he pointed her towards the lever at the back of the chamber. “But first, let in the rest of our uninvited guests.”
----
Twilight was already feeling uneasy. Granted, she’d already felt uneasy before, but it only grew worse, and Rainbow wasn’t even gone for more than a few minutes. The most she could do to distract herself was pace, and pace she did.
“Do you really think she’ll be okay?” she asked. “Star Light?” She looked over to the pink mare to find her staring off into space, her face flat and expressionless. “Star Light.”
“I don’t like this,” Star muttered. “Not at all.”
Her mutters did little to calm Twilight’s own worries as she approached the mare. “What are you talking about? Is something bothering you?”
“That’s… a very light way of putting it.”
Those same worries bubbling in Twilight’s gut only seemed to grow worse. Swallowing down a nervous lump in her throat, she stepped closer to Star. “What is it?”
Another few quiet seconds ticked by as Star Light clearly struggled trying to get her thoughts together. “Um… I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but…”
“What is it?” Twilight demanded.
More time passed as Star worked out the words out in her mind. Finally, she just sighed, deciding to lay things out as plainly as she could. “I’m not sure if you know, but Rainbow just came very close to losing control of herself.”
“Losing control?” Twilight repeated. “What do you mean?”
“I said that her memories were threatening to be replaced by Shadow’s. If that had happened, then Rainbow Dash simply… wouldn’t have been Rainbow Dash anymore, to put it simply.”
“But… that didn’t happen, right?” Twilight asked, that clear sense of worry working its way back into her voice.
“No, no,” Star quickly said, though that confusion still hadn’t left her eyes. “At least, I think that it didn’t.”
That wasn’t what Twilight wanted to hear at all. Worry turned into confused anger as she set a fierce gaze on the unicorn. “What do you mean ‘you think’?” she demanded. “Is she fine or not?”
“I said I that don’t want to jump to conclusions, but…” Star Light heaved an annoyed groan as she rubbed her temples. “Listen, you must promise me that you won’t panic.”
“Just tell me.”
It was clear that Star still wasn’t quite ready to explain things, her mind racing to make sense of it all herself. But with a yielding sigh, she gave in to Twilight’s insistence. “Fine. While I’m certain that Rainbow managed to maintain control of herself, I don’t think she managed to escape entirely unscathed.”
“What is that supposed to mean? Some part of Shadow Streak still made it through?”
“Well, for lack of a better term… yes.”
Another pause. Twilight took the time to truly take in what Star Light was saying, since it was clear that she hardly understood things herself. She should’ve felt something. Shock, fear, worry, anything, but instead, she felt none of those things. Just a dreary sense of acceptance. She had done enough research to know that something like this was very much possible, and with all of the signs Rainbow was showing before, she saw it coming. Like a natural disaster that she had no hope of stopping.
“I see,” she finally said. There was little else for her to say, little else to contribute. “Well, what can we do?”
Star turned back towards Twilight, a curious eyebrow raised. “What?”
“There must be something that we can do,” Twilight said. “We… we can fix this, right?”
There was determination behind Twilight’s eyes. Determination with just a hint of hope as she looked towards Star for answers. That only made it even harder for the pink mare to shake her head. “I’m sorry. This isn’t something that can just ‘be fixed’. It’s not that simple.”
“But is there anything that we can do to help? You have to know something!”
“I have my protocols, yes, but—“
“Then follow your protocols!”
They won’t help!” Star Light took the moment to calm herself, breathing a long, deep sigh. Tensions were already high enough; yelling was going to do nothing to help anypony, least of all themselves. “I had orders to follow before Rainbow was exposed to the candles, I have my orders to follow now that she has been exposed, and I have my orders to follow should she lose control of herself. But what’s happening now, where she’s stuck in between, is not a common occurrence. I can’t even think of the last time when this happened. The slightest push could either ease matters or make them worse, and that isn’t a risk I want to take, especially now.”
The frustration and anger in Twilight’s eyes hadn’t softened. In fact, that fire only seemed to burn brighter as those words sank in. “So we just stand by and do nothing? We can’t do a thing?”
“For now, I would say no.” Just as she saw the anger in Twilight’s face threaten to reach new heights, Star Light quickly raised a hoof. “I said ‘for now’! When we get out of here, I can bring this to my master. He may be able to shed more light on this. Right now, I don’t want to risk making things worse, and I know that you don’t either, right?”
Twilight didn’t answer immediately, though the anger fading from her eyes said more than enough. It wasn’t an easy thing to accept, but she couldn’t deny that she honestly had no idea how to make things better, and with the stakes as high as they were, Star was right, she couldn’t risk making things worse; if anything went wrong, it carried the risk of being permanent.
Their attention was drawn back towards the stone doors as they slowly slid open.
Twilight felt a heavy lump of anxiety weight down in her stomach as the entrance opened itself. That grating sound of stone sliding against stone almost served as an ominous signal that the end of this entire ordeal was finally nearing its end. All of her friends were right behind that door, and they were all surrounded by the Eclipse. They were so close to freedom, yet still so far away. She couldn’t let them down. She wouldn’t let them down.
“Twilight!”
With a start, Twilight looked over towards Star, meeting the pink unicorn’s annoyed gaze. “Y-yes?”
“I can’t have you losing focus now,” Star said. “I said get ready. Remember, go straight to your friends and keep them protected. We absolutely cannot afford to hesitate.”
Quickly, shakily, Twilight nodded as he scrounged up every ounce of courage that she could muster. Finally, she fixed her worried frown into one of determination. Star was right. She couldn’t afford to lose sight of the end goal, not when it was close. “Okay. Okay, let’s do this.”
“Just stay calm and follow my lead. When I say so, you go straight to your friends, okay?”
Silently, Twilight nodded before they both put their attention back on the doors before them. They were finally wide enough to allow entry into the chamber beyond, a giant invitation to come inside. Just as she said, Star Light took the lead, starting towards the chamber. Twilight, however, lingered behind, the latent fear resting in her mind freezing her in place. Quickly, she shook those fears away. No hesitation. She needed to stay strong. Hardening her face into an expression of absolute determination, Twilight followed Star into the chamber.
Almost as soon as she stepped inside, her eyes adjusting to the darkness, her determined look nearly crumbled when she laid eyes on Rainbow and the others. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, they were all there, all with Rainbow, and best of all, they didn’t look much worse for wear. Granted, that was just the outward appearance. After everything that’s happened today, Twilight wouldn’t have been surprised if the mental scars took far, far longer to heal. Still, that didn’t change the fact that she was immensely relieved to see them unharmed.
Looking at them, she could tell that they were just as relieved, if not more so. She half-expected them to gallop clear across the room just to hug her, and from the way they lit up upon seeing her, it looked like that was exactly what they wanted to do. However, Rainbow quickly calmed them with a quick wave of her hoof. She whispered something to all of them, something that Twilight couldn’t make out, but whatever it was, it was enough to rein them back in. It made sense; it was far too early to have a reunion. That could wait until they were finally safe again.
Unfortunately, that didn’t seem like it was going to be an easy thing to achieve. Though Twilight finally saw her five friends together once again, there were about six others in that chamber that she wasn’t as happy to see. More of the Solare Eclipse, those hooded ponies that had been antagonizing them from the moment they set hoof in Hoofington, were spread throughout the room.
Twilight felt breath catch in her throat as she quickly analyzed the odds. Though the numbers initially seemed to be in their favor, with it being seven to six, that was without taking experience into account. Combat experience, to be specific. Though Twilight and her friends had their fair share of scraps in the past, against enemies as skilled as this, very few of them stood much chance. Twilight could serve as a source of support at best, but she needed to focus on protecting her friends. The only ones who really stood a chance at going hoof-to-hoof with these ponies were Rainbow and Star Light. That really made the odds one to three, something that didn’t exactly invoke hope in Twilight’s heart.
As she continued scanning the room, one of the ponies stood out. The blue stallion standing right between her and her friends. He was the only Eclipse member with his hood down, his blue eyes staring right at Twilight, studying her. She didn’t know why, but there was something about that gaze that made her feel uneasy. Not in the sense that he was a complete stranger staring right at her, or even in the sense that he was a very serious threat. No, it felt like he was seeing things about her that Twilight herself may not have even known about.
“What is he doing here?” Star Light hissed, a concerning amount of venom behind her voice.
Twilight didn’t even have time to question that before the blue stallion laughed, the noise shattering the silence of the room. “Ms. Sparkle. A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. A true honor, if I do say so my—”
“Solare.”
The room plummeted back into silence as Solare was cut off. All eyes, some wide with shock, some narrowed with annoyance, turned towards the one who would dare interrupt the leader of the Solare Eclipse so boldly.
Even Solare let a hint of annoyance sneak onto his face as he met eyes with the blue pegasus responsible.
Rainbow Dash’s glare hadn’t eased nor had it sharpened, but just by listening to her voice, it was clear that she was growing more and more agitated as time ticked by. “Stop. Talking.” The order was slow. The order was clear. And shockingly, it was an order that was listened to.
Though there was a fair bit of reluctance behind his actions, Solare did listen to Rainbow’s demands, if only to keep things from spiraling further out of control than it already had.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—Twilight didn’t have much time to further dwell on the situation before she felt a light prod on her side. She looked back up at Star, who pointed her towards Rainbow and the others. Looking at them, Twilight saw Rainbow gesturing to come towards her. She didn’t need to be told twice, but the fact still remained that there were still enemies between here and there. She looked back towards Star Light, looking back for something, but Star just nodded, further telling Twilight to just go.
Swallowing down another lump, Twilight put a single tentative hoof forward. She almost expected the entire chamber to explode into an absolute warzone as soon as she set her hoof back down on the stone, but all that welcomed her was the barely audible clop of her hoof against the floor. Looking around, none of the Eclipse so much as moved a muscle. Was it really going to be as easy as walking across the room? After taking another five steps, all without hassle, that seemed to be the case.
Even as she passed by that blue stallion—Rainbow called him Solare—he didn’t make the slightest move to stop her, though he could see the annoyance brimming in his eyes. Clearly, he didn’t like this, yet he didn’t do anything to stop it. She couldn’t help but wonder why that was. She didn’t want to dwell too long on the question either. She felt herself walking faster and faster as the distance to her friends grew shorter and shorter, hope finally shining through in her heart. Finally, she found herself standing amongst them once more, finally together again.
‘Otherworldly elation’ couldn’t even begin to describe the waves of emotion washing through Twilight’s body as she took her friends in a massive hug, one that she immensely needed. There were no words spoken. As she finally felt the warm embrace of her friends once again, as she tearfully nuzzled their cheeks, she knew that words were unnecessary. Words couldn’t properly serve to describe the relief that each and every one of them felt. It was a moment that Twilight—that all of them—wanted to last forever.
However, through the sheer happiness that she felt, Twilight still noticed something wrong. Rainbow was nowhere to be found in that group hug. Instead, she was outside the circle, a worrying distance away from it, in fact. Her eyes didn’t even wander towards the rest of her friends, staying fixed on the hooded ponies in front of them.
“Twilight,” she finally called.
Their hug came to a disappointingly quick end as the five mare broke away, their eyes focusing back on Rainbow. “Yes?” Twilight answered.
“Get a shield up around the others and stay out of the way.”
“What? A-are you—?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Rainbow quickly answered. “If things go bad, I don’t want you caught in the middle of it. I didn’t come this far to let you guys down now. It’s safer this way, trust me.” Rainbow’s glare sharpened to cutting levels as she heard another chuckle from Solare.
“Ah, but will they truly be—?”
“Don’t talk!” Rainbow snapped, a mere sliver of her anger finding its way to the surface. When Solare shut his mouth yet again, she turned back towards the others. “Just listen to me, please.”
“Whoa, whoa. Now hold on, Rainbow,” Applejack said, stepping up to her. “We ain’t just gonna leave ya by yourself with these guys. They ain’t playin’ around, we all saw that. We’ll have a better shot gettin’ outta here if we all stick together.”
Though it seemed like Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy all agreed with that way of thinking, Rainbow hardly seemed moved. In fact, she only seemed to grow even more agitated. “No, if we stick together, you just have a better chance of getting hurt or worse,” she said. Though she didn’t yell, hardly even raised her voice, there was something intimidating behind her voice that caught her friends’ attention. “Listen, I’m not asking here. I’m telling you, stay out of the way until I take care of this.”
The hesitation in Twilight’s eyes was clear as day, but she nodded all the same. Quickly, she turned towards the others. From the shocked—almost scared—looks on their faces, it didn’t look like any of them had any more objections. “Are you girls ready?”
“I… suppose we are,” Rarity said, her own apprehension clear in her voice.
“We’re ready when you are, I guess,” Applejack said.
“Okay, then. Just… just get close to me.” Twilight’s horn went aglow with magic as she conjured up a protective barrier around the five of them. “Rainbow, please be careful.”
The pegasus cast another look towards her five friends, the slightest hints of a smile cracking onto her face. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Now go.”
Somehow, seeing that small, small smile filled Twilight’s heart with a sense of hope and comfort that she hadn’t felt in quite some time. She believed the words leaving Rainbow’s mouth. For once, she believed that things finally would turn out fine. That everything would be okay. Slowly, carefully, she led her friends towards a patch of clear ground in the chamber, hopefully enough out of the way if things went sour.
With her friends properly protected, Rainbow turned her stern gaze back towards Solare. “Now you can talk.”
After a moment’s pause, Solare breathed a heavy, tired sigh. “While I appreciate your permission, Ms. Dash, I fail to see what good talking will do us now.”
If Solare’s statement took Rainbow by surprise, she did an excellent job of hiding it. A single raised brow was the most in the way of reaction that she showed. “Really? You were so quick to talk before. What’s changed now?”
Solare simply shrugged as though the answer were obvious. “It’s simple, really. There isn’t anything else to discuss. Not with you, at least.”
Slightly, ever so slightly, Rainbow’s gaze hardened. “What do you mean?”
“The first step towards our goal was to convince you of what Celestia truly is: a catastrophe awaiting the catalyst that will spark it. Your friends have yet to see that for themselves, but you… You know deep down what the truth is.”
“You kick the hornets’ nest and you’re surprised when they sting?”
“Ah, ah, ah,” Solare cut in, waving a discouraging hoof. “You’ve already tried that argument before, and it won’t work this time either. What you saw today was hardly an example of ‘kicking the hornets’ nest’. Rather, it’s more akin to a dog baring its teeth in the presence of a threat. Something that’s supposed to be taken as a warning, but also implies a sense of fear. Of course, most dogs tend to calm themselves when given what they want, but in Celestia’s case, well… I believe we’ve gone over this enough times already.”
“You really think that giving her the Apple will only make things worse,” Rainbow said, more stating a fact than anything else.
“More than worse,” Solare affirmed. “Celestia obtaining it will spell certain doom for Equestria and beyond. We cannot allow that to happen.”
Slowly, Rainbow breathed a quiet sigh. Her hoof found its way to her forehead, another headache making itself apparent. Not one due to any lingering side effects, but rather, one of annoyance. “Okay,” she mumbled. Quickly, she snapped her eyes back up to Solare. “Why?”
Surprisingly, for the first time during their interactions, it seemed that Rainbow’s sudden question managed to catch Solare off guard. The stallion raised a confused eyebrow, his face curled into an equally confused frown. “I’m sorry?”
“Why would Celestia getting the Apple ‘spell certain doom for Equestria’?” Even more surprisingly, a short chuckle left Rainbow’s muzzle for once. “Oh, I can’t believe that I didn’t think of this sooner. Honestly, what will she get out of using it? What, does she secretly want to invade a nearby nation? Does she have a little Diary of Genocide that I should know about? Seriously, shed some light, because I just realized that none of this makes any sort of sense.”
Solare’s confused frown fixed itself back into an amused smile as Rainbow’s tirade came to a close. “Well, it’s good to see that you’re at least getting a laugh out of this, but the answer is still fairly obvious.”
“Well, I don’t see it.”
“It is true that at first glance there seems to be very little for Celestia to gain from abusing the Apple’s power. After all, why would the sovereign of a nation as powerful as Equestria, especially after spending so long building up an image of benevolence, suddenly throw that all away in a power-hungry frenzy?
“Her subjects already bend over backwards to meet her every need. Her word alone can change what does and doesn’t make it into the history books. Invasion hardly seems a viable option. The Griffon Kingdom, the Badlands, the Dragon Empire, these are places that are nearly inhospitable for pony life. Of course, this is all assuming that Celestia wants some sort of practical gain. But what if what Celestia desires isn’t necessarily practical and simply personal?”
“Personal gain?” Rainbow repeated.
“As I’ve said before,” Solare continued, “Celestia’s had a taste of the Apple’s power long, long ago. Ever since, she’s been desiring another taste. Indulgence for her addiction. However, what may be indulgence for her will be suffering for the rest of us. Power corrupts even the best of us, Ms. Dash, and Celestia is no exception to this. In fact, she could very possibly be the most dangerous example of it.”
“And you really think that this is the best way to stop this?”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures, Ms. Dash, and right now, times are dire.”
Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, but the words stopped in her throat as her ears caught noise. Slight, nearly inaudible disturbances in the silence. Almost immediately, her eyes darted off to the side, where she heard the noise come from. Her body instinctively tensed up as she caught swift movement in the darkness.
More of them. How many more are there? Her eyes quickly switched over to the ponies before her; their numbers had yet to change. Still six. So that makes seven. Her ears perked up yet again as they detected even more noise. Multiple hoofbeats in the surrounding darkness. No, eight… Nine…
She glanced back at Star Light. Much like Rainbow’s, her eyes were darting to and fro as well, her ears twitching and twisting as they detected even more noise. It was clear that she noticed them too, but that still left an important question unanswered. Just how many of ‘them’ were there?
“This is a race against time,” Solare said. “One that I don’t intend to lose. We need you, Ms. Dash. We need your mind, and we are not leaving this place without it.”
As he continued on, Rainbow kept her attention on the darkness. The number of ponies that she heard kept growing and it didn’t seem to show any intention of stopping.
Fifteen… sixteen… seventeen…
The noises continued circling around the chamber’s perimeter until Rainbow could hear it on all sides. They were surrounded. And the numbers rose still.
Twenty-seven… twenty-eight… twenty-nine…
“So, I must ask you,” Solare continued. “Will you cooperate, or must we do things the hard way?”
Thirty. Rainbow Dash counted thirty new arrivals, all of them hidden in the darkness, waiting to pounce. Thirty more ponies that stood in the way of her and freedom. That made thirty-six total, a number that made escaping that place unscathed seem significantly more difficult.
She needed to be careful. There were far too many to afford making a single mistake, and losing her composure would only make matters worse. As far as she could tell, those thirty ponies were still waiting in the darkness. If she had to guess, they didn’t know that she already noticed them. That gave her a slight, slight advantage to put things in her favor within the second or two it’d take for them to completely surround her.
As her mind raced to put together some sort of plan, her eyes drifted back over to Star Light. Surprisingly, Star was already looking directly at Rainbow, the slightest glints in her eyes betraying her otherwise stone face. Without speaking a single word, they both knew that they had the same idea in mind; if they wanted to stand a chance, they first needed to close the distance between themselves and quickly, but with Star already boxed in by three of them and Rainbow too far away to help, their options were slim at best.
However, Star already seemed to have something of a plan in mind. Either that or she was just taking a very risky shot in the dark, it was honestly too difficult to tell. Her eyes constantly flickered back and forth between the ponies surrounding her, as though she was marking down the very short distance between them all. Occasionally, her eyes drifted down to their robes as she examined their equipment. Even with the distance between them, Rainbow could’ve swore that she saw a smile crack onto Star’s face. The pieces had long since been set up, and it looked like she was the one to make that first move to knock them down.
In a literal flash, Star’s horn ignited with its blue magic. A short, powerful burst of energy emanated from her body, the resulting shockwave pushing her pursuers back not by much, but just enough. Her horn went aglow yet again as she magically reached inside the robes of one of her staggering assailants. Not even a second later, she pulled out a small, metallic ball.
Rainbow’s eyes widened ever so slightly as she recognized the object. A smoke bomb.
So that’s your plan. And Rainbow had to admit, a bad plan it was not.
With a single swift toss, Star hurled the bomb towards the very center of the room. What followed next was hardly conscious action, but more nature playing its course.
Even before the small ball collided with the stone, exploding into a thick plume of grey, obscuring smoke, Rainbow began her gallop towards it as her up the undeniable sound of a hundred and twenty hooves converging on her location. She didn’t stop, stopping—even slowing—was absolutely out of the question. She literally had no time to hesitate. It felt as though she was drawn towards the smoke by some unseen force, its thick veil serving as some sort of impromptu safe haven, which, in all honesty, it very much was.
As the thick smoke swallowed her whole, time seemed to slow to a perpetual crawl. Her body practically tingled from head to hoof as the smoke swirled and danced across her skin. She held her breath, knowing that a single breath of that stuff would send her into an absolute coughing fit. The thunderous stampeding of the approaching enemies dulled to little more than a constant rumble, the slightest differences in distance crystal clear to her. All the while, her eyes, sharp and keen, flickered and darted about, peering through smoke, instantly taking notes of enemy locations.
She could already make out Star’s form as the pink unicorn met her in the center of the smoke, her own senses just as alert as Rainbow’s.
“Okay, I doubt that they’ll attack us in the smoke,” Star quickly said, eyes still on the lookout for any sudden movement. “That gives us some time. I counted thirty. What about you?”
“Same,” Rainbow answered. “So thirty-six counting the ones that were already here. What about enchanted gems? Any more of those?”
“There are ten total.”
“How did they even manage to get so many inside?”
Star made a quick cursory glance at the surrounding enemies, their images growing even clearer. The smoke was beginning to clear. They were running out of time. “Hidden chambers, if I had to guess. This whole chamber is a giant trap. A last ditch effort to capture you and your friends.”
“And to kill you,” Rainbow pointed out.
Star simply shrugged. “I suppose that would be a rather nice bonus.” Both of them took on more combative stances as the smoke thinned further, the Eclipse growing eager as time ticked by. “So, the odds are one to eighteen, we have enhanced enemies sprinkled throughout the ranks, a fairly confined space to fight in, and not many supplies to help us. What do you think about those odds?”
Star Light looked back at Rainbow, only to find a smirk plastered on the pegasus’ face that only years of practice could even hope to perfect. “Heh, what do I think? They should’ve brought more.”
Perhaps it was inappropriate, given the rather dire, life-threatening situation they’ve found themselves in, but Star couldn’t keep her own smile from cracking onto her face. “Well, at least your arrogance is still intact.” Her horn went aglow once more as she unsheathed her dagger, her gaze just as sharp as the blade floating before her.
“What can I say? It runs in the family.” Reaching down, Rainbow bit down on her dagger’s worn, leather handle, unsheathing the blade as she turned back towards the plethora of enemies awaiting her.
With their backs to each other, they watched as other darkened figures through the smoke shambled about. For a time, the herd of enemies resembled little more than a black, smudged circle surrounding the two mares, but as the smoke cleared, their shapes grew clearer, sharper, more distinct. Not a single movement went by unnoticed until…
In the single instant that time allowed, Rainbow’s eyes zoned in on the glistening blade of a knife as it flew towards her. There was no thinking involved, no time for any planning or consideration. Reaction was the only thing fueling Rainbow’s movements as she jerked her head to the side, just avoiding the blade as it sailed past her cheek. Looking back, Star Light took similar evasive action, leaving the knife to embed itself into the stone.
“Idiots!” Solare snapped from the sidelines. “Leave Ms. Dash alive! The Assassin you can kill!”
A short chuckle escaped Star’s muzzle. “Well, don’t I feel special?”
Here they come…
Both Rainbow and Star Light prepared themselves as the first of many Eclipse rushed them, daggers at the ready. Amongst their ranks, they could make out the speedy, blurred movements of the magically-enhanced. It looked like the makings of a difficult battle.
And as Rainbow darted forward, eager to clash steel with steel, steel with flesh, an excited smile refused to leave her face. It was the single most exciting moment that she experienced in a long, long time. And she was going to savor every moment of it.
----
“Twilight, what the hay are we doin’?” Applejack snapped, pacing in what little space she had in the protective bubble. “Ain’t no way Rainbow can take all o’ them on by herself!”
“I agree,” Rarity chimed in. “We can’t, in good conscience, stand by and let her face this on her own.”
“Yeah! You can only give out so many cans of buttwhup before you run out!”
As her friends delivered their very adamant protests, Twilight could only stand in the center of it all, eyes clamped shut and teeth gritted as she focused on keeping the barrier up. Normally, such a simple thing would’ve been second nature to her, but after everything she’d been through, it was a miracle that she was able to get it up at all. And at the moment, none of her friends made maintaining that spell any easier.
“Girls, please!” Twilight shouted. Her mild outburst awarded her with another sharp pain in her skull, making her barrier fizzle ever so slightly. After regaining her composure, Twilight continued at a much calmer tone. “Just… just have faith in her. She had a point; none of us are in any shape to fight even one of these ponies, let alone an entire mob of them. If she had to focus on protecting us and herself, well… it wouldn’t make things any easier.”
Unfortunately, Twilight’s attempts at reassuring her friends didn’t have the intended effect. In fact, it just seemed to make them even more agitated. “An’ you think Rainbow’ll do any better alone?” Applejack gestured towards the chaotic mishmash of bodies and metal right in front of them. “I mean, jus’ look at her! She’s… she’s…” As Applejack took the time to observe the scene playing out right before her eyes, her eyes had trouble registering, let alone accepting what they were seeing. Considering that the rest of her friends shared her blank stare, it was safe to assume that they were just as shocked as she was. “She’s… doin’… fine…”
‘Fine’ didn’t even begin to describe it. Through the chaos, the girls were able to catch glimpses of Rainbow as she fended off the surrounding horde, and each time they saw her, they also saw an excited smile through the dagger clenched between her teeth. A smile that only seemed to grow more intense as the battle raged on.
The five mares could only watch in awe as Rainbow practically danced across the battlefield, taking on several enemies at once. Her prismatic mane flittered in the breeze as she leapt about the chamber in bounds. The sound of metal clanging against metal echoed throughout the vast room time and time again, melding with the constant clopping of hooves in a disturbingly rhythmic melody as Rainbow, with smooth, controlled motions of her body, dodged and deflected all manner of attacks as though it was all second nature to her.
The other ponies, the Eclipse, assaulted Rainbow with a variety of wild slashes and thrusts with their daggers, but all of their effort was for naught. They either sliced through thin air, or had their attacks guided away from Rainbow’s body by another smooth motion of the pegasus’ dagger. They didn’t even seem to tire her. She was toying with them. Having fun.
For a time, Twilight and the others wondered if Rainbow was ever actually going to go on the offensive. It was an answer that they soon received, though they quickly wished that they hadn’t.
Through the cacophony, a sickening crunch filled the air, one that had a particularly painful impact on Twilight and Rarity. A quick, cursory glance at the raging battle would very clearly explain why that was.
Rainbow, after ducking underneath a particularly wide dagger swipe, darted towards the unicorn responsible. The distance between the two closed in an instant, leaving the unicorn with no time to react. Twilight could’ve sworn that she saw a sadistic sneer break across Rainbow’s face before the pegasus slammed her own dagger into the unicorn’s horn. The battle between hollow bone and sharp, cold steel was a short one as Rainbow’s dagger effortlessly sliced through the appendage.
If the crack was enough to make Twilight’s stomach churn, then the bloodcurdling scream that followed threatened to make her vomit right then and there. Through some twisted sense of fortune, the scream didn’t last long; Rainbow easily knocked the screaming mare unconscious with a heavy blow to the side of her head. That smirk was still wide on her face as she turned her attention towards the others surrounding her.
Twilight could only barely manage to tear her eyes away from the violent scene before her and look back at her friends. None of them could bring themselves to look at it any further, either. Fluttershy cowered in the farthest parts of the barrier while the others simply clamped their eyes shut, though it did nothing to block out the sounds. The violence.
Amidst the chaos, bones were broken, snapped like twigs as Rainbow delivered blow after bone-crunching blow with disturbing accuracy. Most of her attacks were aimed at the legs, all of them accompanied by a stomach-churning snap. Almost like clockwork, Rainbow left numerous ponies lying on the ground, groaning in immense pain as their legs bent in ways that they simply weren’t supposed to. And that was to say nothing of the unicorns that were forcefully separated from their magical appendages.
Every sickening snap, every harrowing scream, every satisfied, victorious cry that left Rainbow’s mouth as she downed another enemy, it all burned themselves into Twilight’s mind, as well as the minds of her friends.
And as she brought her eyes back to the violent display before her, as she saw a drastically different Rainbow Dash enjoy every second of the battle that she was placed in, only one question made itself apparent in her mind. “Rainbow, what happened to you?”