//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Broken // Story: The Tale of KyuubiDash // by TheLunarArmy //------------------------------// Chapter 10: Broken Written by: TheLunarArmy Edited by Ezn The sudden increase in energy was starting to play mind tricks on the possessed pony. Rainbow could have sworn she heard something call out to her - it was like a faint whisper, similar to that of the fox's. She shook her head and retained focus on the matter at hand: a stunned Luna slowly trying to scamper away from her. The pegasus's instincts finally kicked in. Luna was within her grasp and nothing would get between her and her revenge. Dash moved forward, extending her demon cloak claws outward and reaching out towards the alicorn. Just as they were to reach the Princess, her royal guards jumped intercepted, blocking her from her prey. "Out of my way." A simple sweep of her claw made short work of the two white pegasi. Dash continued walking forward. The Princess's desperate attempt to distance herself from Dash ended in vain. The claw reached out and wrapped itself around her with ease. Luna lit her horn and casted a protection enchantment around her body. It was weak, but it would be enough to shield her from the cloak's incendiary effect. Dash pulled the princess closer - bringing her face to face. Luna gazed deeply into Dash's twisted eyes, trying to understand what was really going on. She could see the demon's influence; its madness - but also... something... unexpected. At first Luna had thought she was dealing with a blind psychopathic monster, but now it was different. Dash's grip tightened and Luna's magic started to fade. Her guards stumbled onto their hooves but could barely move under the excruciating pain the cloak had caused. She tried to signal for them to stay back, but this only alerted Dash to their presence. "You guys never learn do you?" scorned Dash. "Looks like I'm going to hafta deal with your little bodyguards first, moon princess." Dash tossed the alicorn aside and set about lunging at the two pegasi. Luna managed to roll the impact off and now stood on all four hooves, staring as Dash pinned the guards to the ground with her claws. Their screams filled the early evening air; it was unlike any holler anypony had even heard. "Dash!" begged the princess, "Leave them be, please. They're just following orders; they are innocent." Dash peered over her shoulder bearing a sickening grin. "With royalty and their plans there is no such thing as ‘innocent’, my dear princess." The guards had stopped screaming and were dangling limp in Dash's claws. Satisfied that they were out of the picture, she tossed them aside. The brief victory, however, left Dash's blind spot wide open. Luna swiftly moved close behind the deranged pegasus, wielding the Dusk Blade's broken blade with her aura - this time she had no remorse. Although Luna could see there was a deeper meaning to Dash's current state, she could not allow her mindless murder spree to continue. The blade seared through the air, exactly perpendicular to Dash's neck. This was known as Luna's Crescent Moon Strike - a decapitation maneuver. Dash could sense the blade moving at a blindingly fast speed toward her. Unable to move in time, she instead thickened the cloak near the back of her neck, soaking the blade's razor sharp edge with her powerful shield. Dash took to the skies, leering at Luna as she struggled to maintain control of her weapon. Since the blade fed of the energy of its wielder, Luna was sacrificing her own magic and life energy to fuel its power. Dash reached her desired altitude, and noticed that her former friends had recovered and were slowly making their way toward the lone alicorn. "Excellent!" yelled Dash, "Since you're all together, I can finish you off in one go." Dash limbered up, stretching her limbs and savoring the calm. "We can't stop her. No pony can stop her," murmured Rarity, tears slowly drizzling down her cheeks. "I hate to say it gals, but it looks like we may never get Dash back. We lost 'er for good," said Applejack. Luna quickly turned around. "No," said the princess, "Dash is still in there; she is still in that monster. We just have to get her out." "Are you crazy?" yelled Pinkie, "Just look at Dashie! She is nothing but a mindless crazy pants now. Look at the guards..." Twilight remained quiet. She was too focused on keeping track of Dash, hoping to catch glimpse of the formerly beautiful pegasus. "The princess is right, Pinkie," said Twilight, "We just have a lot of hate to break through." Luna, Twilight and Rarity then noticed an influx of magical energy approaching from across the field. Unicorns were able detect even the faintest bits of magic, and this massive buildup was impossible to miss. Twilight nodded to others - their plan had finally reached its pinnacle. With that, Applejack took her cue. "Go on then, murderer. Finish me off, if ya have the guts." Dash laughed. "There is no silly rope to hold me back this time, ya know," responded Dash, "Hold on to your horsehoes!" Dash swooped forward, piercing through the sky like a smoldering red meteor. She gained impressive speed, forming a Mach cone around her forehooves. One second... two seconds.. three.... counted Dash. It's all in the timing now Suddenly Thornreeds made his appearance - directly in front of Dash's path. The dragon towered over the fast moving flyer blocking her intended projecotry of her friends. He swung around and with a flick of his spiny tail, he sent the pegasus plummeting towards the ground in a red and rainbow streak. "Looks like we got here just in time," whispered Fluttershy. <>--<> The ponies watched for a few seconds as Dash and Thornreeds clashed in a deadly dogfight over the fields. The rest of the Bronkonia Magic Korps took the opportunity to set a parameter around the surrounding area, erecting jade relay antennas of some kind while Fluttershy and Faerie made their way to the group. "Wow-wee Fluttershy, could ya' cut it any closer?" sighed Applejack. "Not her fault, Applejack," responded Faerie, "I kinda held her up for a minute or so." "And who the blazes are you spose' to be then?" "My name is Faerie Fyre, and I am..." "Master of Unicorn combat magic," exclaimed Twilight. "Normally, I would love to have met you Master Fyre, but..." Twilight paused, widening her eyes upon the realization. "...you are here to... exterminate.... Rainbow..." "What?" yelled Rarity and Applejack in unison. The unicorn shuffled her hooves in the dirt, looking for the right words to say. She looked up, bulged out her chest and responded with all the confidence that she could muster. "It is my duty to uphold peace in Equestra. Rainbow Dash has become too great of a threat to keep alive and I..." "Horseapples!" yelled Applejack, "I can see right through your lies, Flary, Frarie or whatever your name is. Judging from your delayed response I can tell ya' don't want to kill Dash any more than we do." Faerie was a bit shocked at Applejack's quick response. "Heh, you bear the Element of Honesty very well, young Applejack. Alright I'll be on par with you gals. See those emerald towers we are setting up?" Faerie pointed at the field where her troops were situated around the battlezone. "We are going to catch Dash and keep her in that field. Once she is there, we will pin her down and forcefully extract the demon from her body through dissection." "An exorcism of some kind?" asked Twilight. "No, no, we will be using a... unique... technique to slow down time and take the demon's evil spirit out of her." This rang a bell in Twilight's mind. "Wait, ‘slow down time’?" questioned Twilight, "Isn't that forbidden dark magic?" Faerie narrowed her eyes. "Well, yes it is, Twilight, but how do you know?" "That's irrelevant. You said you can take the demon's spirit out of her with dissection? How does that work?" "Well, you see. Every celestial being has a yin and yang part, sort of like a good side and a bad side. By using this technique we will extract the demon's yang, or dark, side, leaving only a harmless good side dormant in Dash's body." Twilight suddenly realized what had actions caused twelve months ago. She had used that very technique in an attempt to revive Dash from her comatose state - but what she had inadvertently done was slice Dash's yin side out of her body, leaving a darker version of herself alone with the demon fox. "What would happen to the dark side of the demon then?" asked a nervous Twilight. "We don't exactly know, which is why we set up those towers. They will prevent any matter from leaving the forcefields they’re about to generate. Luna finally managed to join the conversation; she had been looking over the guards, who were surprisingly still alive, but in wrecked conditions. The princess walked over to Faerie and acknowledged her with a nod. The master knelt in respect, only to stand up again and face her. "What can the rest of the Elements and myself do to help?" asked Luna. "Firepower and distraction. I am sure Fluttershy's friend is holding out well against Dash, but we have no idea how strong that demon truly is." A soldier suddenly teleported next to Faerie, whispered something in her ear and then teleported away. "Looks like we're ready to go. Can I rely on you six to give it your best? Remember, we are dealing with a demon here - not an innocent pony." The five ponies and Luna nodded simultaneously as they trotted towards the ongoing battle. <>-<> Thornreeds was becoming exhausted. Rainbow Dash was more than a match for the mighty green dragon, since her astonishing regeneration quickly patched up any damage he caused. He had to figure out a way to hold her still so he that could attempt to snap off the demon cloak protecting her body. Dash, on the other hand, was experimenting with the cloak; testing out new moves and perfecting her precision. "I think you're about ready for my signature move," whispered the fox. "What would that be?" asked Dash subconsciously. "It's quite simple really. All you have to do is focus your energy directly in front of you, sort of like when you concentrating on pulling of your Sonic Rain-whatever." "RAINBOOM!" scorned Dash. "Focus!" responded the fox, "Fuel all your hatred and fury directly in front of you. Imagine that it is a ball that you can reach out and grab." Dash closed her eyes and concentrated. "NO! You fool, don't lose track of your ene-" The fox was cut short by Thornreeds’s midair tackle. Dash opened her eyes again and could see she was between the dragon's large teeth, luckily being protected by her cloak. "Why, you!" Dash yelled as she bucked her way out of his grasp. She flew higher to put some distance between herself and the behemoth, but he was right behind her, keeping up with her speedy stride. "Concentrate, and keep your damn eyes open this time!" yelled the fox. "Yeah, yeah, I got this. Ball. Ball. Ball." The green dragon pulled out of his loop and managed to grab hold of Rainbow's leg, yanking her down. He grabbed onto her wings and pulled her down. "I have you now, creature," bragged Thornreeds. "That’s what you think," responded Dash as she turned to face the dragon, wielding a dark sphere directly in front of her face. The energy build-up was so immense that all the unicorns in the area could sense Dash's powerful aura. With a simple snap of he mouth, the sphere was flung out and impacted with Thornreed's neck. A massive explosion erupted and the dragon was covered by a smog of black smoke and fire. A circular rainbow pattern - similar to Dash's Rainboom effect - wrapped around the smoke. Thornreeds fell out of the cloud and plummeted straight towards the ground, completely covered in a soot and obviously unconscious. Fluttershy stood in shock as she saw her dear friend falling to his doom. "THORNREEDS!!" yelled the canary pegasus. Faerie and Twilight lit up their horns and quickly teleported closer to the dragon's impact zone. They used their magic to create an ethereal blanket around the dragon, which slowed his descent enough for them to catch and lower him gently to the ground. Faerie walked over the black beast and checked his vitals. "He's still alive!" "Oh good!" yelled Dash. "Enough reason for me to hit him again. Whatcha think of my new move huh? I call it the Rainbolt! Ahaha..." Dash’s laughter was cut short by a powerful blow to her face. The cloak was still actively protecting her, but it was too weak to hold against the punch. Her cheek bone broke instantly. Everypony stood in awe as Fluttershy hovered where her friend had been. She was the one who had delivered the deadly blow. "I....I...." whispered Fluttershy. Dash stood up out of her crater, rubbing her cheek and noticing Fluttershy in the middle of the field. Her Element was glowing a fierce pink haze and her tail and mane stood on end. "I am going to crush you!" yelled an absolutely enraged Fluttershy. "...Uh oh," whispered the fox. To be Continued Writer's note:Sorry for the delayed and short chapter, examinations kinda ate up my free time and now the holidays are taking its toll. Additionally my faithful editor is without internet so please excuse any grammar mistakes you come across. Hopefully I'll be able to release another chapter next week As always, thanks for your continued support: I am working on something special for all my loyal readers!"