“Princess Celestia...” Twilight said with equal parts awe and relief. She let her sore body relax, perhaps too much, as she nearly collapsed onto the stone floor of the royal castle. Every breath hurt, she feared a rib had snapped inside her chest and threatened to pierce her lung at any moment. I- I can't worry about that now! Summoning up the last of her strength, she struggled to regain her stance, her legs trembling in protest every millimeter of movement. “Do- do you know what's happening princess?”
“Yes, and I'm afraid the situation is very grim...” The princess's tone told Twilight all she needed to know about the situation they were in. Though the searing in her chest and aching body already informed her as much.
“Storm Breaker...” A weak voice grunted from behind Twilight. She spun around much faster than her broken bones allowed, a nearly unbearable pain tore through her body, but she stifled her agonized scream. Through hazy eyes, she watched Rainbow Dash rise up, blood smeared on the floor where she lay, and staining deep into her fur and feathers. Despite her horrifying state, she lifted herself up without so much as a squeak of pain. Still, Twilight could see it in her clouded eyes and tightly balled jaw, Rainbow Dash was suppressing immense pain.
“Don't get up! Rainbow, stay down, you're hurt and-”
“Lay off, Twilight!” She growled. A rage filled glare quickly overtook the pain in her eyes. “Storm Breaker, she-” A sudden and labored cough stole voice as drops of crimson sprayed from her lungs “s-she did this. She attacked out of nowhere. Who the hell was she?!”
“Rainbow Dash, I understand your anger, but you must calm down. You were lucky to survive your encounter with her, you don't want to give her the satisfaction of having you die here and now would you?” Princess Celestia spoke with a soft tone, but the command in her voice was unmistakable. “I will tell you what we know, but you must try to stay calm. Princess Luna, Cadance and I will try to heal your injuries, but we do not have much time.”
“Luna? Cadance?” Twilight whispered bemused. She looked around her, and sure enough, the other princesses stood around them, seemingly since they arrived. Before Twilight could question their presence, a warm and soothing light engulfed them. Twilight could feel her pain slowly ebbing.
“Their injuries are serious my sister, I do not think we will have time to fully recover them.” Princess Luna's face shone a look of worry and confusion not shared by the other princesses. Celestia and Cadance both wore looks of fear, but in confusions place, there was something more terrifying to Twilight… desperation.
“Princess, tell us what's going on… please.” Rainbow Dash had taken Celestia's advice, tempering her rage and confusion, at least briefly “Storm Breaker, whoever she is… she almost killed Twilight, and I was useless! I couldn't do a thing to her! What is she?!”
“She's a pegasus…” Celestia sighed weakly, as if breathing out a terrible burden.
“No! No way! No pegasus can do what that monster did!” Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof on the stone with finality. Despite her proclamation, Celestia continued in the same exhausted, almost grieving tone.
“No… not many. There are very few in the whole world in fact, but they do exist. Many years ago, centuries actually, the first of their kind came into existence. Powerful pegasi who had a mastery over the sky like no others. They were left in peace, until a war came, a war which Equestria would have lost if not for the few who took an active interest in our plight… at my behest. There are fewer now today than ever. Almost all of them are old veterans of that very same war. Eight of them in total, scattered across the world, living in peace, with a promise that they would never again intervene in our affairs.”
“If they're such good friends of yours, why the hell is she attacking us?! She-” Rainbow's expression became bleak and a chill ran down Twilight's spine as she saw the desolate sorry filled her gaze. “she's probably wiped Ponyville off the map…”
“N-no… that can't be… no, I- I should have-”
“Should have what, Twilight Sparkle?” Princess Luna interjected, glaring at the frantic alicorn. “You and Rainbow Dash would not be alive right now if you had done so. If there was anything you were capable of doing, you would have done it!”
“But I-” Twilight tried to protest, but she knew she could not. I gave her everything I had, I fought as hard as I could, but I was no match for Storm Breaker… Tears welled up in her eyes as hopelessness swept over her.
“Princess!” A guard called out, panic stricken as he ran into the throne room. “A massive storm is approaching rapidly from the south!”
“There is no more time! We must hurry!” The panic in Princess Celestia's voice chilled Twilight to the bone. Suddenly the warm magical glow that surrounded them vanished, and their pain slowly crept back.
“Princess, what should we do?” Twilight stared up pleadingly at Celestia who, in turn, looked to her sister, then back to her protege.
“There may be one way to stop Storm Breaker…” Though she tried to subdue it, the hint of hesitation in her voice threw Twilight off.
“Whatever it is Princess, I'm ready! I'll do whatever it takes to stop her!” Though she declared it so boldly, images of her encounter with the monstrous pegasus were still as fresh in her mind as the pain was to her body. She glanced at Rainbow Dash who now stood beside her. The healing spell had worked well for both of them, but Rainbow was much more badly hurt and, though her superficial wounds were closed, her more serious injuries had a way to go before she could fight.
“Princess Twilight, no one in this room can stand up to Storm Breaker… but, there is on who we believe has the potential to fight her on equal terms… It is you… Rainbow Dash.”
“What?!” Both Twilight and Rainbow gasped, glancing at each other.
“You can't be serious! She swatted my sonic rainboom out of sky like I was just an insect buzzing by, like it was nothing! How am I supposed to do anything?! If I could, don't you think I would have done it to protect Twilight? To protect Ponyville!?”
“I know you are afraid and confused, but you are the only one who can stop this, Rainbow Dash. I beseech you, listen to my sister.”
“She's right, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia gave a grateful smile to her sister before looking back to Rainbow “you are our only hope.”
“Fine,” she sighed “I'll do whatever I can to stop her, but… how? I'm in no shape for a round two and even when I was, I got my ass handed to me, and that was with me and Twi working together!”
“Rainbow Dash, you and Twilight must go find one of the remaining Sky Masters and ask for their help, you must-”
“Whoa! Hold up! I can't just leave everyone behind!” Rainbow snapped.
“She's right! What about Equestria? What about Ponyville? What about you!? She's coming here now isn't she?! We need to stay! If we fight together, we can stop her!” Twilight's eyes brimmed with a thin veneer of optimism, hiding a deep well of fear and dread.
“No, we will stay and try to stop her, but it will likely be in vain, but, if you can escape, there will still be hope.”
“No! I can't just run away!” Twilight shouted, tears now streaming from her tightly shut eyes.
Rainbow Dash watched as Twilight began to break down. In the distance, she could hear the rolling thunder, and feel the trembling earth as the storm came closer. Images flashed through her mind, she could see Twilight broken and helpless, completely at Storm Breaker's mercy. She could feel the pain deep within her body, the internal wounds still screaming at her with a powerful pain. Even if she wanted to fight now, she would be worse than useless. Taking a deep, slow breath, Rainbow Dash found her clarity.
“Twilight...” Suddenly, Twilight felt a soft, gentle sensation on her shoulder, her eyes opened and through the haze of tears, she could see Rainbow Dash, resting her hoof on her and her eyes gazing into her's with a warm, reassuring stare. “This isn't running away, we'll be back, we'll save everyone, but we'll just be in the way here. We need to go, we need to leave so we can save everyone… okay?”
Twilight could see tears building up in Dash's eyes and she knew, that this would be as painful for Dash as it was for her. Deep down, she knew what the right choice was, and she could see that, despite her feelings, Rainbow had come to the same conclusion. She too, took a deep breath, wiping away her tears, before giving an affirming nod to her friend. “Okay.”
“Then you must leave now! We will teleport you as close as we can, but we do not know their exact location, the journey will be hard and perilous, but you must succeed, for all of us.”
“We…” Twilight stopped, looking all round her, now she too, could feel the raging storm approaching as the ground shook from the thunder and the sky cried out as though it were being ripped apart. “We'll do it.”
“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash.” She looked to Cadance and Luna as the formed a triangle around the two beaten and weak ponies. Their horns lit up, and, in a flash of blinding light, they were gone.
“Are you sure this is the right path sister?”
“It has to be.” Another voice chimed in. The princesses turned to see a flame colored pegasus mare enter the chamber.
“Spitfire, Storm Breaker is nearly upon us.” Celestia stood stoic, turning towards a window, the looming black clouds were nearly above them now. These would be the last tense moments of peace before the storm befell them.
“I know.”
“Are you certain of this? She did not fare well against Storm Breaker in their initial encounter, how can we be sure she is the one?” Luna fretted.
“Rainbow Dash has unbelievable potential. It's frightening actually, I've only seen one other with potential like hers. Her temperament and ferocity made me weary of even letting her in the Wonderbolts, let alone letting her discover her true potential. The world doesn't need anymore Sky Masters, and Storm Breaker is exactly why...”