Casualties of War

by Deathscar

Chapter 4: The Syringe

“Gryphus, Gryphus, Gryphus…” Rainbow chanted to herself as she flew around the night sky. Her eyes darted around wildly, hoping to catch any sign of the city they were supposed to find, but the only scenery around her were miles and miles of trees and several small temples dotted around the landscape. From the height Rainbow was at, the temples all looked the same, worn stone structures with large pyramid-like shapes ending in a wide flat top. “There’s no sign of Gryphus anywhere!!” Rainbow continued her flight, determined to find her destination before the night is over.

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Fluttershy could barely keep up with Rainbow, her yellow wings flapping frantically as she floated behind her in the dark skies of the forest.

“Rainbow!” Fluttershy screamed as loud as she could but it merely ended in a barely audible whisper. “Rainbow! Slow down!” The loud wind blowing into her face and mane muffled all of Fluttershy’s cries. Her eyes tearing up slightly at the speed she was travelling at.

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Rainbow continued her relentless search, throwing her gaze around every inch of land she could see. “How can it be so hard to find a city with a giant castle as its monument!?” Rainbow yelled to herself in frustration. Suddenly, out of the corner of Rainbow’s eye, she saw a small silhouette flying out of the jungle, its wings spread out wide. “Oh no!” Rainbow darted as quickly as she could in the other direction, flying away from the mysterious figure, her heart racing fast. “Oh no oh no oh no oh no”

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Fluttershy was shocked at Rainbow’s sudden change of direction, her speed increasing to a pace Fluttershy could never match. Turning her eyes to her left, Fluttershy spotted a shrouded figure who seemed to be flying towards her.

“Eeep!” Fluttershy shouted in surprise, bolting directly back from where she came, her wings flapping as hard as she could but after almost an hour chasing the swift Rainbow Dash, her wings had begun to tire out significantly. Glancing behind her, she noticed that the mysterious shadow was no where to be found. Slowing down to a stop, she felt exhaustion and pain in her wings. Knowing she would never get back to camp in this condition, she let herself descend into the dark foliage below her…

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Rainbow continued to keep up her pace, adrenaline racing through her veins. Turning her head, she saw the dark figure not only keeping up with her rapid speed but gaining ground on her with every second.

“This is not good, this is not good!” Rainbow turned her head back to the front, watching the trees underneath her whiz past her in a blur. “Wait a minute… if I can’t outfly him…” Rainbow took a sharp turn downwards, speeding towards the ground. The figure mimicked this sudden change effortlessly, continuing his pursuit towards Rainbow. As soon as Rainbow smashed through the canopy of trees, she changed her angel again, this time doing another 90 degree turn, shooting through the forest. Rainbow swerved from one side to another, dodging the tree branches as best she could but at the speed she was flying at, hitting some of them was inevitable. One by one the branches grazed her, some were harmless, causing minor pain but others had started to cut her, causing blood to ooze from the wounds.

Rainbow’s concentration started to falter, her reaction started to slow down as a large tree branch smacked her right on her face. Rainbow let out a painful scream before falling on the floor, rolling along the harsh forest floor, adding bruises to her already bleeding body and eventually coming to a stop. Pushing herself off of the ground, she saw her body laced with small bruises and bloody wounds. Turning her head upwards, she saw the figure land beside her with a loud ‘thud’, spraying strong gusts of wind in every direction.

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Fluttershy was panting extremely hard, taking long, deep breaths. She felt as if her lungs were on fire, her wings were straining at the effort she exerted on them. Closing her eyes and licking her dry lips, her mind raced with thoughts of Rainbow’s safety.

“What if that… thing… went after Rainbow?” Her body tensed at the thought. “Oh my… I hope she’s okay…” Shaking her head, she remembered which of her friends she was talking about. “Fluttershy! This is Rainbow Dash you’re talking about! She’s sure to be okay… I hope…” Taking in one more deep breath, she prepared to take off into the skies to try to find Rainbow. However, as she spread her wings, she felt a piercing pain shoot through her body. Letting out a short startled yell, she folded her wings back and felt the sudden pain vanishing. “Look what you did to yourself Fluttershy. If anything happens to Rainbow…” Fluttershy quickly erased the thought from her mind before walking towards the direction she saw Rainbow Dash fly in.

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Rainbow could see clearly the enigmatic figure was a griffin, the outline of its sharp talons gleaming in the moonlight. She crawled slowly away from it, her heart pounding.

“W-w-who are you!?” Rainbow asked, trying to put up a strong front but the griffin didn’t answer, backing the hurt mare against a tree. “D-don’t you try anything! I’ll hurt you! Do-do you know who you’re messing with here!? I’m…”

“Rainbow Dash.” The griffin finally spoke, its voice deep, low and commanding. Stepping forward, Rainbow could see it covered in gleaming silver armor, the crest of Gryphus adorned all over it. A small brown satchel slung over the griffin’s shoulder and hung down to just above his claws. Rainbow recognized the griffin but she had more pressing matters at hand. How did this griffin know her name?

“O-okay so you do know. I’ll-I’ll still hurt you if I have to!” Rainbow stammered out her words.

“Hmph. Likewise. However, I have a message to you and your friends and I need to know where you ponies have set up your camp.” The griffin said with a stern tone.

“No way am I telling you where my friends are! I don’t even know you!” Rainbow replied, slightly aggravated at how direct he was.

“Oh, are you pretending to be strong? Then I suppose I’ll have to convince you…” Rainbow started to feel afraid of what he could have possibly meant. “I saw one of your friends chasing you in the skies just a few minutes ago.” The griffin circled around the tree Rainbow was backed up against, like a vulture hunting its prey.

“F-friend? No one was behind me!” Rainbow’s eyes were locked on to the moving griffin.

“Is that so? Then let me jot your memory.” His calm yet strict voice sent shivers down Rainbow’s spine. The griffin brought his face up to Rainbow’s, his warm breath on Rainbow’s nose. “She had a light pink mane, bright yellow coat.” As he finished his sentence, he reeled his head back and continued his predatory movement.

“Fluttershy…” Rainbow murmured, her stunned gaze locked on to the ground.

“Ah, so you do know her. Well, my scouts have already found where she landed. Would be a shame if something happened to…” The griffin was loudly interrupted by Rainbow.

“Don’t you dare lay a claw on her! She has nothing to do with this!” Rainbow yelled, her patience wearing thin. “Why do you wanna speak to my friends anyway?” Rainbow questioned, rage and concern filling her heart. Every small movement Rainbow made only brought pain to her, sapping more of her already low energy.

“I have a…personal… message to discuss with them.” The griffin stopped his circling, standing still in front of the bleeding pony, his heartless gaze set on Rainbow’s eyes. Rainbow felt uneasy at how the griffin emphasized ‘personal’ but returned the gaze, wanting to show no weakness. “So tell me where they are or your little yellow friend might not be too healthy the next time you see her…” The griffin let out a small laugh, bringing one of his talons to Rainbow’s chin. “…if you can crawl that far…”

Rainbow shivered in fear as she felt the cold, steel-like talon touch her chin, her strong front had been destroyed. She could feel the razor-sharp tip on her skin, nervous, she blurted out. “I’m…” Rainbow’s mind was a mess, she didn’t know whether to save Fluttershy or risk having her friends hunted down. She wasn’t even sure if her safety was guaranteed if she told the truth. “No.” Rainbow gave a short answer, not taking her gaze off the griffin’s for even a second. Rainbow steeled herself at how the griffin would react.

The griffin stared at Rainbow’s fearful eyes, sweat dripping down from her forehead. “I guess you really do represent loyalty. Hmph. How foolish.”

“Huh!?” Rainbow shouted in shock. She was now truly filled with fright. The griffin’s brown eyes widened when he realized what he had just said.

“Oops. Looks like I’ve said too much.” The griffin dived straight towards Rainbow, catching Rainbow completely off-guard, his claw gripping tightly over Rainbow’s throat, his talons embedded into the tree trunk behind her. Rainbow felt light-headed as the claw around her throat tightened even harder. She tried desperately to use her hooves to remove the claw but it was to no avail, the griffin’s strength was too much for Rainbow. The griffin’s eyes widened once more as he continued his relentless gaze into Rainbow’s own, bright purple eyes. “I just had a grand idea. Your friends would find me as long as I have you, wouldn’t they?” The griffin let out a sinister laughter, staring at Rainbow, whose frantic actions had started to slow down, almost to a lifeless halt. The griffin released his grip on Rainbow, letting her fall to the base of the tree, painfully coughing as she gasped fiercely for air.

“And the best part? My scouts don’t have to hurt that yellow mare…” Rainbow’s heart sank when she heard those words. Tears were at the edge of her eyelids as she thought of Fluttershy, alone, helpless, unaware she could be attacked at any moment. “because you will.” The griffin stated coldly. Rainbow shot a wide, alarming stare at her assailant.

“I’ll never do anything like that!” Rainbow cried out. “Torture me all you want, I don’t care what you do to me!” Rainbow returned the griffin’s cruel gaze. “I’ll never hurt my friends.” Rainbow wanted to jump up and kill the griffin in front of her but she could barely find the strength to move. The griffin marched up to the exasperated pony. He could see that she was in pain, even if Rainbow wasn’t showing it.

“I wasn’t giving you a choice.” In one swift motion, the griffin reached into the satchel and stuck something deep into Rainbow’s neck. Rainbow let out a chilling scream of agony. Waves after waves of torturous pain radiated through her body, from her head down to her tail. Her vision quickly started to blur, her energy quickly drained. Finding the last of her strength, she pulled out whatever was lodged in her neck, throwing it down to the floor. She could barely make out the outline of a small syringe, now empty except for a few drops of green liquid. Whatever was in the syringe was in her now. Rainbow continued shrieking, contorting in agony on the floor. Anger filled her mind and heart, thoughts of violence, death, rage and grief poured into her. Without warning, the screaming stopped, Rainbow’s stagnant body laid under the tree. Her cyan coat dotted with lines of crimson blood from the tree branch cuts. There was now a small circular wound on her neck where the syringe was sunk in, droplets of blood flowing down, coloring her fur.

The night air went still again as the griffin stood over Rainbow. Rainbow lifted herself off from the cold floor, staring straight at the creature in front of her. She felt no more pain from the wounds on her body, she merely felt an urge, an urge to cause grief, an urge to kill.

“Rainbow Dash. How are you feeling?” The griffin asked.

“Angry.” Rainbow Dash replied with clenched teeth. A sly smile appeared on the griffin’s mouth.

“Good. Now about your friends…” The griffin didn’t even finish his question when Rainbow interrupted him.

“Friends? Pfft, I have no friends. Do you want to know where they are right now? We could jump and kill them all, Mr …” Rainbow stopped her sentence, realizing she did not know how to address him.

“Most call me General but you may call me, Master. And no, I have no interest in knowing where they are now. They will find us soon enough.” The griffin walked behind Rainbow, Rainbow’s eyes were locked in front of her, scanning the forest in front of her.

“Yes, Master.” Rainbow replied impatiently. Her back was arched forward, looking as if she was ready to pounce on anyone who crossed her path.

“I see you’re just itching to get started aren’t you?” No reply came from Rainbow, whose breathing had begun to get heavier and louder. “Do you remember your yellow friend?”

“Fluttershy. The worst of them all. She’s always been nothing but an obstacle for me since I was a filly.” Rainbow replied in a resentful tone.

“And how would you like to see her?” The griffin asked. His smile had slowly transformed into a large grin as he already knew the answer.

Rainbow Dash replied in a ruthless, sadistic voice. “Dead.”

Comments

[Pleaseworkforonce]

hmmm i wonder if twilight knows any fighting magic in this story or if its forbidden to nonmilitary ponys like in others (i support the right to bear horns!)

[emberghost]

412726 that wouldn't stop twilight.
also, I sense impending Flutterrage

[Firepegasus230]

wow! No comments to describe! Just so awesome Sooooo excited to know the next chapters of the story