The Descent into Madness

by FenrisianBrony


Those Left Behind

Rainbow Dash

Rainbow stood before the plasma generator that lay beneath the sands of the arena, pumping life to every corner of the structure, ensuring that the daily spectacles of blood could continue no matter what. Behind her stood the rest of the Shadowbolts, and beside her lay a simple wraithbone casing, the coffin of Wavechill.

Lightning was sobbing again, her head on Spitfire's shoulder as the older mare comforted her, gently stroking her mane as she did so. The others didn’t look a hundred percent either, this death shaking them all to the core. Until now they had been confident in their abilities, all their missions to date being a success, resulting in minor injuries or broken bones at worst. The fact that Wavechill had died had made them all question their own abilities.

Only Rainbow seemed to be taking it better than the others, her wealth of experience with watching people die making her slightly jaded to the fact that a member of her team had been killed. That was not to say she didn’t feel anything, but whereas the others felt grief and sorrow, Rainbow felt anger and rage.

She hadn’t saved Wavechill, but there hadn’t been a large gap between when he died and when she arrived. If there had been then she would have probably come to terms with it already, but as it was, all her mind was focused on one single thought.

I wasn’t fast enough

No matter what she did, not matter what she said to herself, she always came back to that one point. She had been forced to leave her Jetbike behind, but instead of being able to fly, she had been forced to gallop. Her, the best flier in Equestria, her, the fastest mare on all of Equis, hadn’t known her wing was damaged until it was too late. If she had known, if her wing had still been organic, then maybe things would have turned out differently. Rainbow would never know now, the debate would forever rage in her mind, tormenting her, teasing her with what could have been, and what never would be.

Clearing her throat, Rainbow began to speak, not looking around at the others for fear that she would lose what little composure she had.

“Wavechill was a good soldier, but more than that, he was… he was a damn good friend. He helped us all to see the reality of a situation, not how we wanted it to be, but how it actually was. His first thoughts were always of the team, how he could help keep everybody safe, even in the end, he did not want to put anybody else at risk, he died trying to tell me to leave him, so as to not put me at risk. I am truly sorry that I could not follow your final wish, Wavechill. Wavechill touched us all, some in ways stronger than others. The loss of a loved one cannot be easy, and Wavechill was loved by all of us, just as he loved us. He was a true Swooping Pegasus, a true Shadowbolt. I doubt we will see his like again until the next life.”

Rainbow turned towards the casket, activating a few controls, the casket rising upwards to hover in front of the entry point to the plasma reactor.

“In the absence of our soil to bury him in, we commit his body to the purity of fire. May their flames be less cruel to him in death than those who took him from us were in life.”

Pushing the casket softly, it began to float forward, moving into the fires where it lasted for a few seconds, a thick lump of black in a flickering sea of fire, before it caught as well, immolating, and reducing to ash in a matter of seconds. Soon the ash too disappeared, the plasma using it for fuel, scattering the atoms around the reactor, helping to power the arena. With a soft sigh, Rainbow pushed the grill in front of the reactor closed, before turning back to face the others.

“This wasn’t good, but we all knew the risks. Wavechill died as a soldier, we now owe it to him to keep going, to keep…”

“We are not keeping going!” Lightning screeched, before diving at Rainbow, catching her by surprise. The pair collapsed to the floor, Lightning still screaming as tears streamed down her face, striking Rainbow’s hooves as Rainbow tried to protect her head.

“You let him die! You could have saved him!” she was in hysterics by now, her blows getting weaker until she collapsed onto Rainbow, sobbing heavily. “Why did it have to be him? Why didn’t you save him, Rainbow? Why?”

“I don’t know,” Rainbow shook her head, stroking Lightning's mane comfortingly, before helping her get back to her hooves. “I know nothing I say will make it better, and that his loss is more keenly felt by you, but I will miss Wavechill, and I will not forget him, that I promise you, Lightning.”

“The rest of the day is yours,” Rainbow looked at the others. “Use it how you will, I have a matter that needs attending.”

Lightning nodded glumly, slowly walking off, Scootaloo and Spitfire accompanying her, while Gilda stayed behind, cocking her head as she looked at Rainbow. Rainbow sighed, before walking over to her oldest friend, Gilda falling in beside her as the pair headed for the upper levels.

“What happened down there, Rainbow?” Gilda asked, breaking the silence between the pair. “And not what you told Lightning to make her feel better, I want the truth. I can tell when you’re lying. He wasn’t killed by soldiers was he?”

“No,” she shook her head, sighing softly. “No, he was killed by civilians.”

“Fuck,” Gilda swore.

“There were…twenty of them, maybe thirty,” Rainbow continued. “I don’t know if he ran out of ammo or they just overwhelmed him, but all I know is they caught him. They got a rope round his neck, strung him up like a criminal. I wasn’t fast enough to get him down in time, but I was fast enough to see him die. That’s the worst part, the fact I saw it, and couldn’t do anything about it.”

“There’s something else though, isn’t there?”

“Of course there is,” Rainbow muttered, her voice somewhere between a groan and a growl. “I couldn’t save Wavechill, but I could avenge him. I killed them all without a thought, except for the last one. He was a kid pretty much, barely old enough to have hairs on his chin. I thought about him, about what I was doing, and I killed him anyway. Stabbed him in the stomach and left. I didn’t even check if he was dead before I left. And the thing is, it felt good. It felt really, really good.”

Gilda remained silent for a moment, before looking at Rainbow and shrugging.

“They killed Wavechill, you killed them back.”

“You don’t think I should have handled it differently?”

“No,” Gilda admitted. “I don’t. They killed one of ours, and we were purposely going out of our way not to kill them. It’s a hard-line view, but if this has shown me anything, it’s that we need to be hard to get through this. Really be hard, not pretending to be.”

Rainbow stayed silent for a moment as they walked, rounding a corner, and almost running straight into Ilithia.

“Dash, you are who I wanted to see actually,” she began, looking over at Gilda. “Leave us.”

“I’ll wait in your room, Dash,” Gilda turned and left as Ilithia looked back at Rainbow.

“Why do you mourn him? Your fallen rider? He died because he was too slow, his death should serve as a reminder to you all the cost of failure is.”

“We all know what the cost of failure is, Succubus. He was simply the first of us to pay it, and hopefully the last.”

“So you mourn the situation, not the individual?”

“There were only five of us left,” Rainbow scowled, launching into her fabricated story. “Five Ygal in the galaxy, now there are only four of us, and we’re all females. The Ygal are now even more of a dead race than we were before, just like the Kra. I’m not mourning him, I’m mourning the fact that his death has led to the death of my species, but he has shown the rest of the Shadowbolts that simply being good is not enough to get by. We need to be better.”

“He didn’t show you?” Ilithia asked, raising an eyebrow a fraction.

“I already knew that, hence why I’m in charge,” Rainbow snapped. “The strongest lead, but you already know that, hence why you’re in charge. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have two things I now need to take care of.”

Rainbow moved passed Ilithia, the Succubus allowing her to walk away, before stalking away from Rainbow.

“Two things to take care of now?” Gilda asked with a smirk as Rainbow walked into the room. “Earlier it was just ‘a matter’.”

“Yeah, well, I need to blow off steam,” Rainbow smirked back, making sure the door was closed behind her. “And I think I know how we can both do that.”

***

Rainbow held her head high as she walked towards the foreboding towers of the Covern of Mutilation, a box hovering beside her as she walked, before finding her entrance barred by two disgusting monstrosities. Rainbow knew of Wracks by their reputation, but this was the first time she had seen them up close. Now that she saw them up close, she had to admit that their reputation didn’t do them justice.

Standing a head taller than most Dark Eldar, the two Wracks leered down at her, strands of muscle rippling menacingly, barely contained by their pale, scarred skin. They carried cruel weapons in both of their hands, while various hooks hung off of the belts, some burdened with pieces of flesh or vials, containing various liquids.

“I am Champion Dash of the Shadowbolt Reaver Clan,” she began, looking between the pair as she spoke, “affiliated with the Cult of the Lightning Fang and the Triumvent of Half-Formed Hope. By that right I demand to speak to Elder Haemonculus Eethron. I have a proposition he will want to hear.”

The two Wracks looked at each other for a moment, before nodding and turning back to Rainbow, speaking in a low voice that fitted their hulking status.

“Go ahead, Shadowbolt. Our master is within the main laboratory, he will receive you there.”

Not bothering to reply, Rainbow set off at a trot into the dark tower, crossing the threshold and immediately finding herself assaulted by the sounds of screaming and the smell of blood, both of which she was more than a little accustomed to.

She passed by scores of Wracks on her way towards the central chambers, glancing at a few of them as she trotted by. No two were the same, each one being horrifically unique, and Rainbow could not help but be slightly impressed by the twisted genius of the Haemonculi.

Finally she entered the main laboratory, yet more screaming reaching her ears. Slaves were everywhere, bolted to tables, hanging from hooks attached to the ceiling, or otherwise secured so that they could not move anywhere. Some were dead, but most were still alive and screaming, parts of their bodies missing, surgically removed with deadly precision.

Higher up in the room sat a series of pods, some empty, but most filled with skeletons and things that weren’t quite alive, but were certainly not dead. Rainbow had read about these pods, how even the smallest part of a Dark Eldar could be placed within, and through sucking up the pain from below, could be made whole again.

Rainbow had been fascinated by the concept, and had wanted to use these pods to bring back Wavechill, before the knowledge that these only worked because of the Dark Eldars innate healing through pain was made apparent to her. She had been forced to admit that she could not bring Wavechill back, no matter what she did, but that did not mean that the Covern could not help her in other problems.

“Dash, what a pleasant and unexpected surprise,” Eethron descended from some of the higher operating tables, his tiny feet nearly touching the floor before his spider-like arms took his weight properly. “I heard of the death your team suffered in our recent raid. Allow me to extend my sincerest condolences. Know that with your sacrifice, we took many slaves. My laboratory is once again filled with the joyous screams of my subjects. What do you think of the Covern, now you have seen it up close?”

“It is certainly impressive,” Rainbow looked around. “And your minions, the Wracks, they are a credit to you.”

“If you think those are impressive, you should come and see my truest creations,” Eethron leered, before turning and beginning to move away from Rainbow, the spikes of his arms making soft clacking sounds as they hit the floor.

Rainbow followed after him, looking at more of the tortured victims, seeing almost every species arrayed there, human, Tau, Ork, Eldar, even a Tyranid or two. She even saw what could only be a Space Marine by his size, one arm removed, and yet still guarded over by four Wracks, guns pointed at him at all times.

“Do you like my prized captive?” Eethron asked as they walked past. “He has been with us for almost two years now, and he still brings me joy. The humans can certainly make themselves immune to pain if they so wish, and their ‘Gene Seed’ as they call it…it is one of my favourite delicacies.”

“I have yet to taste it,” Rainbow shook her head. “Maybe in time that will change.”

“If you ever acquire such a specimen, then I could possibly be persuaded to show you the choicest cuts, for a fee of course. But enough of this one, he is interesting, but the real work goes on in my workshop.”

They walked through a massive door hung with bloodied chains, Eethron taking a deep breath and smiling.

“These are my children, grotesque though they may be,” he turned to Rainbow, spreading his arms. “My Wracks are interesting experiments, those souls who come to me and offer themselves up provide an interesting opportunity, but it becomes dull over time. But these Grotesques, each one is a labour of love, and it can take years for them to be completed.”

“Does it hurt?” Rainbow asked curiously, looking at one of the monstrously large creatures.

“Like you would not believe,” Eethron nodded. “Their screams revive me like nothing else, save maybe a spectacle from Lelith Hesperax. It always brings me joy when someone who has betrayed the Triumvent is brought before me in chains, their suffering is made all the sweeter by the knowledge that they thought they would escape our wrath.”

“That’s very nice, but I didn’t come here to talk about your creations, Eethron,” Rainbow shook her head. “Maybe some other time you can show me around the Covern in detail, but now…”

“Of course, you wish to get down to the business that brought you here,” Eethron nodded, walking back into the main laboratory once more. “So what is it you wish from me? An elixir of speed? The powered blood of a fallen Wych? Or perhaps something more unique?”

“Not quite, Eethron,” Rainbow shook her head. “You spoke to me of being able to replace my lost limbs. I wish to make good on that offer.”

“You did not seem too keen on the idea when I first broached the subject, and yet now you come to my home seeking the same offer. What has changed?”

“I lost a member of the Shadowbolts because I was not fast enough, and because I didn’t know I was injured,” Rainbow shrugged. “Shrapnel went in my wing, cutting off pain transmitters and making it useless when I needed it most. I want to return to the flesh.”

“This is of course within my power,” Eethron nodded. “I can make you limbs from next to nothing, make them so they were like you never lost them, or even improve upon them. Perhaps you would like cables within your bones to increase their strength? Or maybe…”

“I don’t want improvements, Eethron, I just want to be me again. One rear leg, one wing. That is what I want.”

“A deal of that magnitude would require substantial payment,” Eethron pointed out. “Just the wing would cost a large amount, but with the leg as well, the fee will be steep. But, I am sure a creature as unique as a Ygal could offer me much, so here is my deal: I will return your limbs to you, equal in skill to how they were before you lost them, no improvements. In return, I wish to study Ygal physiology. Your wings could assist me in making the wings of those rich enough to beg for me to transform them into Scourges even more impressive. So, do you accept the terms, Dash?”

“I do,” Rainbow nodded, walking back towards the black casket. “In fact, I was counting on you wanting to examine my species as payment. I will pay upfront, in full.”

Rainbow pulled the lid of the casket open, revealing the corpse of Wavechill.

“I didn’t burn his body, to do so would have been a waste,” Rainbow pushed the open casket over to Eethron. “So, do we have an agreement?”

“Yes,” Eethron ran his hand along Wavechill’s cold skin, pricking the flesh with one of his sharp claws and coming up with a single drop of blood. He slowly sucked the blood from the claw, savouring the taste, as if assessing the worth of the trade, before turning back to Rainbow. “I believe this trade will do nicely, Dash. Welcome to the Covern of Mutilation.”