“Let go of me, you stupid bird!” Was the voice that could be heard for miles above Lordran. Rainbow Dash had been in the raven’s talons for well over an hour now, flying towards who-knows-where. In the latter half of the hour she doubled her cries and insults at the bird, as if renewed by an unseen force. She saw mountains and ruined cities beneath her, but none of that mattered as she continued to scream at her assailant. Eventually, as if the bird had enough of her whining, it opened its talons and dropped her like a rock to the world below.
Rainbow Dash impacted the ground, but was no worse for wear than before. She found herself next to a bonfire, which was already lit and burning slightly brighter than the other two she saw before. The prismatic teen eagerly rested near it, feeling weariness leave her body. Curiously, she also noticed the Estus Flask she carried being filled to halfway with the precious golden liquid. “Huh. Bigger fire, more healing juice. Nice.” She muttered, before noticing a solitary figure sitting on a rock not far from the bonfire, lost in thought. “Uh, hello there,” she said, walking up to him. “Mind telling me where I am?”
“Oh, you must be a new arrival, right? Let me guess. Fate of the undead, and all that?” The man said, looking over to her. “But there’s no salvation here, you’d have been better off to rot in the Undead Asylum like everyone else.”
“Listen, pal, I asked for help on where I am, not some melodramatic speech on hopelessness.”
The man chuckled. “You’re in what’s known as the Firelink Shrine. Since you’re here, why don’t I help you out a bit?” Rainbow Dash eagerly nodded, and awaited more. “There are actually two Bells of Awakening. One’s up above, in the Undead Church. The other is far, far below in the depths of Blighttown. Ring them both, and something happens, right? Brilliant.”
“Wait, there’s two of them? I was only told-“
“That there was one, yes. We all were. But I have a feeling that’s not going to stop you anyway. You’re far too colorful for that to not happen.” He stifled a laugh, but gestured towards a hill on the other side of the shrine. “Now run along and leave me be. I’d rather not tend to the casual arrivals like you all the time.”
“Hey, what do you mean by ‘casual arrival,’ bud? I’m not new to this whole fighting thing. I killed a demon back there, for crying out loud!” Rainbow half-yelled throughout the shrine.
“Yes, and so have I. And everyone else who has come this far. The demon that guards the Asylum regenerates over time. Killing it is only the first baby steps of your new life.” He smirked. “It’s not impressive at all.” His smirk broke out into a smile, followed by outright laughter. “Oh, your face, girl! I’m willing to bet you won’t make it to the first bell, what with the emotion you’re overflowing now. You do need to keep some to yourself, lest you become hollow… not like that’s a choice!” He kept laughing like mad, and Rainbow left in a huff. She jogged up the hill that was pointed out before. Up on the ledge, she was faced with a small gathering of hollows.
“Good. I need some stress relief.” Rainbow charged forward, slashing her sword twice to dispatch the first hollow. The second aimed a poorly-thrown swing at her, which she rolled to the side to dodge. “Not so tough, are you? Here’s some more where – Fuck!” She shouted the last bit, after being hit in the back by a small explosion. Looking up, a hollow was preparing small bomb-shaped objects, lighting them with a small spark and throwing them down on her.
In her moment of confusion, the hollow she was fighting managed to slice open a gash on the back of her thigh, causing the girl to stumble forward. She threw her sword blindly behind her, landing the tip of it in the hollow’s head and killing it instantly. She rolled out of the way of an incoming firebomb, her blood streaking across the grass. Rainbow Dash hastily gulped down a mouthful of the precious Estus, feeling its energies sealing up the cut on her leg and a few other, smaller wounds.
Renewed by this vigor, she vaulted up the stairs to the firebomb-throwing hollow and reached back with her shield, bashing it into the face of the undead threat. It didn’t do much damage, but the force pushed the hollow straight off the cliff, and to his doom in the land below. Relaxing slightly, Rainbow Dash walked back down the hill, and recovered her discarded blade before moving on.
At the top of the stairs, she came across a large aqueduct. Moving inside, Rainbow trudged through the waters, heading right. Without much in the way of direction, she let her ‘natural explorer skills’ take over. Or at least, the skills she had seen from years of action movies and video games. Couple that with her athletic form and training in both the martial arts and fencing, and she was feeling pretty confident.
The aqueduct soaked her sneakers, causing them to squish with each step. On her left soon after she jogged through the dark tunnel was an exit, with a staircase leading up. At the top, she was greeted by two hollows, which hadn’t noticed her yet. Taking a moment to get her surroundings in order, she noted that she was now in some sort of old town. Nodding to herself, she crept up behind the first hollow while its back was turned, and stabbed it straight in the back.
The hollow slumped off her sword while the other charged. Rainbow rolled backwards, avoiding a swing by mere inches. She counterattacked with a single jab, stabbing the hollow in its stomach. The hollow continued undaunted, moving itself further onto her blade to reach for the girl. Rainbow Dash responded by bashing it with her shield a total of three times, causing it to die as she ripped her blade out of it. “I’m not really into the touchy-feely types, pal. Try again some other time.”
A third hollow made itself known as she rounded a corner, and shot a crossbow bolt at her. The bolt struck her chest, digging deep in her sternum. Rainbow cried in pain, but didn’t give the hollow the chance to reload as she charged, slashing her sword a total of four times to dispatch it. She sat on the ground, dropping her equipment next to her. Panting, she gripped the bolt with one hand and winced, the pain of touching it clouding her mind. In a swift motion, she yanked it from her chest, taking a sizeable amount of flesh with it. Blood pooled from the wound, and she quickly took another two swigs from the Estus Flask. She felt her wounds knit together, sealing up and replenishing lost blood.
“Damn…” she muttered, breathing heavily. “As much as I like my duds, they’re not really getting the job done.” She looked down at her clothing, which was barely holding together at this point. “I need armor, or something. At least some new clothes. Heh, what I wouldn’t give for Rarity to be here right now. She could probably make something out of those rags the hollows are wearing.” An idea struck her head, then she shook the same location.
Her eyes glanced towards the dispatched hollows. “Well… it’s not like they’re using it anyway… and something is better than nothing…” Deciding to act before she changed her mind, she walked over to the three hollow corpses, and selected the best pieces of armor she could find. A chest plate, however shoddy it was, was taken, as well as armored boots, greaves, and gloves. A tunic of tattered cloth was put on first, after disrobing her initial gear. Then the armor came on, and Rainbow felt weighed down slightly, but still good to go. Her old clothes lay in a corner of the rooftop she was on, soon to be forgotten.
She picked up her bag, retying it to her ‘new’ tunic’s belt. Checking its contents, she was relieved to see her Estus Flask and the doll still in one piece. However, she also spotted a small purple stone, tied with a pink ribbon. She touched it, and it felt as though it could be made of soap. Shrugging, she placed it back into the bag she had while figuring it could come in handy later. In addition, she scavenged the third hollow’s crossbow and bolts, thinking that ranged weaponry can help immensely with her quest.
Passing through another gate of fog, Rainbow Dash found herself on the top of a small bridge leading to another rooftop. She walked across the top of it, only to be punted back as a dragon covered in red scales landed just in front of her. As soon as it landed it took off into the sky above, as if only using the bridge as leverage. Cursing out loud, Rainbow downed another gulp of Estus, realizing her supply was getting dangerously low. Only what seemed like two more mouthfuls was left.
A larger rooftop barred her path ahead, however, as she climbed up a short flight of stairs. This one had rudimentary fortifications present on it, and a number of undead hollows. Rainbow smirked and took out her crossbow, aiming it at the hollow who was overlooking the entire roof on a tower. It held a bow in its hands, so Rainbow naturally made it her target. She let the crossbow bolt fly, only for it to miss entirely and strike the wall next to a group of hollows. They turned their heads towards her, knowing where the bolt launched from.
“Shit.” Rainbow said, drawing her blade and holding her shield up to block an arrow. Three hollows converged on her as a fourth knocked another arrow, and the girl charged them, fearless in her assault. The first was dispatched with little trouble as it carried no shield, while Rainbow had to roll backwards to avoid a flurry of strikes from a second. An arrow struck the ground where she had stood as she recovered from the roll.
The third hollow ran up to her and tried to attack, but Rainbow managed to bash its weapon aside and stab it through its chest, felling the enemy instantly. However as she stood there performing the action, an arrow struck her cheek, digging into her mouth as it stopped. She cried out in pain as she pulled out her crossbow, aiming in a blind rage and shooting three bolts into the hollow’s head. The hollow who was on the ground next to her started its flurry of attacks, catching Rainbow with the last few. Weak from the fight, she aggressively attacked with one last burst of energy and it fell like its brethren. Quickly, Rainbow slurped up a bit of Estus before ripping the arrow out of her mouth, and drinking the rest of the bottle to heal her wounds.
“That… wasn’t so hard.” Rainbow said, laughing slightly. “Heh. Daring Do’s got nothing on me now. She’s never fought the dead and won. You hear that!?” She shouted, yelling to the sky. “I could take on a million of you guys! Give me a challenge!” As if on cue, she shuddered, as if the fabric of reality had been severed nearby. Bracing herself, she walked up the steps to the ledge the hollow was sniping from, lighting a new bonfire as she did so. She couldn’t feel its healing powers, however, as she sat next to it. Something was stopping them from working.
Cautiously she walked outside, only to see a small object hit the ground and break in front of her. It released a sound that was kind of like a distant, hollow ‘hello-hello’ from the end of a hallway. Looking up, she spied what had to be the most disgusting creature she had ever seen. It was humanoid in shape only, wearing armor of what looked like stone as it shone a dark, blood red. Its head was an overgrown egg, rotten and bulbous near its base. In its left hand was a large meat cleaver, and the right hand shone with a dark aura.
“What the hell are you?” Rainbow shouted, bringing up her shield. It bent over and roared at Rainbow, the top of the egg splitting open in four to reveal a writhing red worm about the same size as her arm. It charged, swinging the meat cleaver into her shield. Rainbow staggered back from the blow, but managed to avoid the next swing at a hair’s breadth away. The girl sliced at its armor, but was seemingly doing nothing to the monster.
The monster slashed with its cleaver again, and Rainbow rolled under the swing, popping up behind it and stabbing her sword into its back. She kicked the beast off her sword, certain it was dead. Her certainty wavered as the monster got back up, no worse for wear. She brought her shield up to block its counterattack, but was stunned by the sheer force it provided. The monster slashed with its cleaver, ripping off a large chunk of flesh off of her leg. The wound bled profusely, and Rainbow felt dizzy from the blood loss.
The monster’s right hand glowed a bright gray, and grabbed Rainbow’s neck. The girl felt as if her soul was being ripped away from her as the monster lowered her to the ground. She lay still as it slammed its cleaver down, cutting the girl completely in half as her body, lacking her mind, faded into dust.