Hero of War

by Teal

Chapter 8: Fate

Chapter 8: Fate

The eyes stared at Rainbow Dash, intimidating her and seemingly taking her soul and she stared back. Now moving closer towards her, she couldn’t help but unconsciously take a step backward, as the urge to get as far away from him overcame her. But with the locked door behind her, she knew that there was no escape from here.

The only way out is to fight him…and win.

But how can they win against him? She was just a pegasus and he was a powerful unicorn who had battled and crushed thousands upon thousands of ponies who stand in his way. He had magic that could crush her in a blink of an eye, while she had to rely on crude weapons she had at her disposal.

This was no fair fight, and she knew that very well.

Staring at her fate and thinking about her chances, she felt very pessimistic at the thought of getting out of here alive. For the first time since the mission began, she was now beginning to have doubts on whether or not they would be able to accomplish it.

This was a mistake. I made a mistake. I should never have agreed to this mission, I should have fought against it.

Already she had lost two members of her team, half her force. She had risked her team in a gamble, thinking that doing such a thing would ultimately save their lives in the long run. But she had been overconfident in their capabilities, and now they paid the price for her mistakes. Thinking about them, she felt a pang in her heart, knowing that she had failed them. She was supposed to protect them, to keep them safe and get them through the war. But she failed.

The guilt of knowing her failure got to her badly and a part of her just wanted to move forward and let Sombra finish her off. There was no use continuing now and by embracing death she would at least be able to punish herself as well as reunite with her fallen friends.

But the small voice told her that she shouldn’t do that.

Whispering in her head, that voice said that it wasn’t the end yet, that this was not her time to go. She may have loss two friends already, but there was still one counting on her. There was still one member of her team, one friend, who she still had to protect.

Turning a quick glance to her left, she could see that Cloud Chaser too was backing up from the threat in front of them. But with sword held tightly between her jaws and a determined look plastered in her face, it was clear that she wasn’t going to go down without at least giving a fight.

Seeing this and realizing that she still had her, she reminded herself that she wasn’t alone. It was still her duty to protect her team, to keep her friend safe. So as long as there was there was one left alive, then she had a job to do.

Nodding as if to further convince herself, she turned her attention away from Cloud Chaser and looked back at Sombra, who was taking his time in approaching them, like a predator observing his prey before striking. But when he strikes, she’ll be ready. She knew she had to be. If she wanted to get Cloud Chaser to get away from this alive, then she’ll have to always be ready in predicting Sombra’s every move.

Keeping her eyes locked on her target, she made sure not to move her eyes away from her enemy, wanting to see what he was planning. This was no mindless crystal pony in front of them, but a cunning mastermind who could easily outsmart them. So she had to be careful, be patient and wait for him to make the first move.

Watching as he got closer, she noticed a sudden glow of dark purple magic erupt at where his horn should be. Seeing this and immediately realizing what it meant, she quickly gave a quick order to Cloud Chaser and shouted:

“Split!”

Making sure that she understood what she meant, Rainbow Dash waited for Cloud Chaser to move first before moving herself. Luckily for her, pegasus seemed to have clearly realized what she meant, as she hopped from her position and head left.

Glad to see that she understood, and secure at the knowledge that Cloud Chaser was now away from the position in which she was standing, Rainbow Dash soon made a hop of her own, leaping away to the right.

Now split up, the two raced in opposite direction away from their earlier position, just as a tall column of rugged and sharp pillars rose violently from the floor, popping out exactly where they were standing a few milliseconds earlier.

Going fast and looking deadly with all its sharp ends, the pillar continued to rise until it finally stopped when it hit the crystal ceiling of the large and tall room. Slamming hard and seemingly shaking the room, Rainbow Dash watched as crystal shards fell from it and dropping all around her.

Skidding to a halt and making sure not to injure herself from the crystal shards, she now found herself on the other side of the room, while sighting Cloud Chaser halt on the opposite side. Seeing that she was safe there and still armed with her sword, she then turned her attention towards Sombra, whom she noticed was staring intently at her, a somewhat annoyed look plastered on his face.

We aren’t easy prey, Sombra.

Turning his full attention at her and moving with big steps to get to her, Rainbow Dash seemed to hear him emit a long growl as he moved, horn glowing and ready to use more of his magic.

Knowing that a long range battle with magic would ultimately end in her defeat, Rainbow Dash decided to move in and close the distance between her and her enemy, hoping to go in with a sword and combat him in a battle in which she had a chance of winning. He might be stronger in such a fight, but she knew that her agility would be an advantage for her.

Grabbing her sword from her scabbard and holding it tightly between clenched jaws, she made a short leap to the air, before letting her wings push her forward with one great thrust. Gliding just above the floor and keeping her eyes locked on her target, she moved on with great speed, ready to strike her first blow.

It all happened in a flash, going so fast that it was hard to comprehend what just happened. Getting close towards Sombra, she prepared herself to swing her sword at him and get at least a slash to injure her target. But just as her sword’s blade was about to impact on him, he managed to dodge the attack, making Rainbow Dash’s sword hit nothing but thin air.

Surprised by this, she stared on with shock, as she went pass the pony. He was more agile that she had expected, she realized in dismay, seeing that her enemy was not only strong but also quick. Maybe her advantage in maneuvering wasn’t as big as she thought it would be.

Turning around to see that Sombra was facing her again, she decided to go for another pass, hoping to move more erratic this time in hopes that he wouldn’t be able to predict her angle of attack and avoid it. Swinging left and right and zigzagging in her flight, she tried to move fast and random, darting to the room from one side to another, while at the same time keeping her eyes locked on her target.

But Sombra was doing the same, keeping his eyes locked on her as she approached him with erratic movements. Tracking her as she approached, he didn’t give her the chance to get close, as he quickly engulfed her with his magic.

Helpless against such an attack, Rainbow Dash could do nothing to fight the powerful force that kept a hold on her. Hanging in the air as he grabbed him, she floated in the air and was a victim of his devious glare, as he gave her a sinister smile.

Not wanting to show fear, she stared back, determined to show every bit of resistance. She gave him an aggressive look, as if saying that she will defeat him, one way or another. That was her mission and she was going to accomplish it at all cost.

But the aggressive look on her face was quickly wiped away, when she felt herself be flung by his magic, as she was thrown across the room. Impacting on the wall, she slammed hard on the crystal material it was made off. Bringing in great pain, she hit the wall harder than she would have preferred.

Landing on the floor with a thud, she tried her best to get up and shake off the pain she felt. She had worst impacts during crashes before, but those often ended with her landing on softer dirt. Over here though, slamming against solid crystals, it took her more time to recover.

Rubbing her head and trying to look around, knowing that she was now more vulnerable than ever and had to stay alert, she did her best to get back into the fight. But the feeling of having a magical aura grip her once more told her that Sombra wasn’t done with her yet.

Violently lifting her in the air, causing pain to emit from her injured areas, Sombra picked her up and looked down upon her, grinning as he did so. Staring back and doing her best not to show defeat on her face, she tried her best to get out from his grasps. But magic was something no pegasus can easily fight and despite her best efforts, her attempts were a lost costs.

Chuckling in his deep laugh, Rainbow Dash could feel the magic that engulfed her grow tighter and tighter. Eyes wide and suddenly sweating faster than before, she suddenly felt confined under his grasp, as the magic around her felt like walls that were closing in to crush her.

Taking the air out of her lungs, she could feel the pressure all over her body. Going tighter and tighter around her, she knew that soon she would be crushed under his magic. And with no way to counter this and get out, she began to realize that this would be her end, a quite horrifying one too.

With her space becoming closer and closer and with no chance of catching her breath, it wasn’t just her body that was being broken but her mind too. To be squeezed by such a force, it was making her panic. Desperately, she tried to squirm and trash, hoping to get out. But the magical grip around her prevented her from doing so. She was trapped.

Able to still close her eyes, she allowed herself to do so as the pain of the closing magic overtook her. She wanted to scream because of it all, but there was no more air in her lungs to enable her to shout. Realizing that she could do nothing more, she just took it all in and accepted what was going to happen.

This shall be my last failure…

With that, she let herself fall into a state of defeat, knowing that there was no escape now.

But a sudden hissing noise made her suddenly open her eyes, as she desperately tried to locate its source. Unable to move her head though, she had to rely on her sense of hearing to find out where it came from, as the distinct sound of the fuse of a grenade rung inside the room.

Listing to the hiss and awaiting what was to come, she suddenly felt the magical grip around her stop, as she suddenly fell to the group from the lack of magic surrounding her. But keeping her eyes fixed on Sombra and watching him as he turned his attention elsewhere, she looked on as he summoned a magical shield to his side, just as a grenade was tossed towards him.

Catching the explosion the grenade made with his shield, he was able to avoid the destruction that it may have brought. But the momentary distraction had given Rainbow Dash enough time to take to the air and dart towards the source of the grenade, to where Cloud Chaser was expertly lighting another grenade, ready to toss towards Sombra.

Grenades… Of course! How can I be so stupid to forget about them? Rainbow Dash thought.

In her rush to get at Sombra, she had foolish forgotten the weapons available to her. Luckily for her, Cloud Chaser had kept a cool train of thought and waited for the right moment to launch a grenade at Sombra. Although the one she threw didn’t hit him, it at least reminded Rainbow Dash of the weapon and enabled her to plan a new tactic against the unicorn.

Smiling at this, Rainbow Dash immediately made a grab for the grenades and mechanical lighter strapped in her belt. Grabbing one, she quickly lit its fuse and turned her head towards her target before preparing to throw it and make it land just nearby him.

Tossing it off and letting it fly, she watched as the grenade seemed to land exactly where she wanted it. But all hopes of achieving such a success where immediately pushed away when Sombra quickly shielded himself from the explosion, leaving himself unharmed.

Cursing and seeing that further adjustments where needed to be made to her plan, she decided to fly towards Cloud Chaser and, as she hovered by her, she unbuckled her belt of grenades and gave it to the pegasus.

“Here-“ She said, as Cloud Chaser took the belt. “-I want you to keep on throwing grenades. I’m going to fly around and distract him. Hopefully he’ll be too distracted to follow every piece you throw and one will be able to slip his guard.”

“Roger that, boss.” Cloud Chaser said, a grin plastered on her face as she gave her a firm nod.

Nodding back, she then turned her attention back to Sombra, who was now moving towards them. Determined not to let him get close to Cloud Chaser, Rainbow Dash immediately flew off, hoping to attract his attention towards her.

With her crossbow still with her, and a couple of bolts still ready to be fired, she began peppering Sombra with her shots, hoping to make him turn and look towards her. With some of her shots hitting his armor, and bouncing off of it, she did her best to pester him to the point that he would have all his attention towards him. When a lucky shot landed just on his neck, the reaction she got was just what she wanted.

Letting out a rage of anger and a grunt of pain, he swiftly pulled away the bolt from where it was and tossed it away. Surprised that the shot didn’t prove to be mortal for him, despite penetrating his skin and lodging itself deep in him, she looked on with shock, before deciding to maneuver away from him, now that she had his full attention and anger.

Turning his head towards her and firing a bean of magic from his horn, a magical ray flew pass her, just right in front of her flight path. But seeing this beam and having been under magical fire before, she easily maneuvered away from its path and avoided it. With perfect skill and precision, she managed to avoid this attack.

But she knew that she’ll need all her skills in this fight if she wanted to survive his onslaught, as Sombra let out volley after volley of his magic at her. Letting out a number of shots that were more intense than those she experienced in the pass, she soon faced a wall of deadly magical beams, one which she needed to avoid. Obviously aggravated and annoyed by her, he seemed to be letting his anger get the better of him, as he randomly fired shots at her, creating rays of magic which she had to avoid as she flew.

What lay in front of Rainbow Dash looked intimidating and impossible to go through, but knowing that he’ll just fire more volleys to wherever she would go, she maneuvered her way through his beams of magic, doing her best not to get any part of her ripped off by them.

Thanking her training and her skills, she managed to avoid all of his attacks. Narrowly avoiding some of them, she still managed to get through without a scratch, happy that she was still in one piece.

Preparing for another volley of deadly magic to come her way, she was happy to hear the sound of hissing, as Cloud Chaser lit and threw another grenade towards Sombra. With him being to bust on targeting Rainbow Dash, he failed to notice the grenade land nearby him till it was too late.

Landing just behind him, near his hind legs, and exploding with a loud bang, the grenade sent out fragments which hit and lobbed all over his rear. Normally, the explosion alone would have been enough to kill a couple of ponies, while the flying fragments would have gotten a couple more. And from her view above, it was clear that Sombra was hit hard by the explosion, with the explosion pushing him a bit and the fragments littering his hind legs.

But what was enough to kill a normal pony seemed not enough to kill him, for he only seemed mildly injured by the explosion. Sure, she could see blood dripping and pain plastered on his face, but he looked nowhere near done yet.

In fact, what the grenade only seemed to do was anger him even more, as he turned his attention away from Rainbow Dash and towards Cloud Chaser.

To her great horror and anger, Rainbow Dash looked on in a near paralyzed state, as Sombra turned his horn towards Cloud Chaser and fired shots at her. Hovering lower, just above the floor, where she had little maneuver room, and weighed down by two belts of grenades, Cloud Chaser had little chance on avoiding all of the shots thrown at her.

Watching from above and unable to do anything, Rainbow Dash watched as Cloud Chaser desperately tried to avoid what was being fired at her. Helpless and unable to save her, she wanted to move out and save her friend.

But how can she?

She was too far and covered by flying beams of magic. Rainbow Dash was nowhere near fast enough to get there in time and avoid all the beams to save her. Even if she flew towards her and be her shield, use her body to protect her friend, she would never get there in time.

You’re just too slow, Dash! Too damn slow!

So on she watched, helpless to help Cloud Chaser as she struggled at avoiding the beams of death. Foolishly holding onto the valuable grenades, she tried her best in maneuvering through the storm of attacks. But despite her best attempts, one of the beams managed to get her, making her fall into the ground with a loud thud.

After seeing such a hit, Rainbow Dash couldn’t force herself to watch any longer. So she looked away, refusing to see how bad the injury Cloud Chaser took. No doubt it would be bad and even if it didn’t kill her instantly, it would most likely be so mortal that it would get her later.

You failed… You failed in protecting her… What kind of leader do you think you are?

A bad one, she knew. She could have saved them all. In fact, she should have saved them all. But instead she had brought them to the terrible fate of death.

Languishing in this failure, she was reminded even more of her incapability of saving her friends when she heard the loud hissing sound of a grenade’s fuse singing in the air. With great dread, she quickly realized that the beam of magic must have ignited one of the grenades strapped on Cloud Chaser.

It was just terrible, just too terrible to think about it. The fate of Cloud Chaser would be worse than the others. This wouldn’t be a clean death, not at all.

With tears already streaming down from her eyes, she forced herself to keep her eyes shut, unable to bear the emotions any longer. She had lost. Lost her friends, lost the war, and soon she would have lost her life.

But why lose it so helplessly?

Feeling some kind of fiery determination hit her, the small spark that was lit in her suddenly turned into an inferno. She knew that she was lost; she knew that there was no more hope for her. But why go out without one last effort? The chances of it succeeding would be low, but it wasn’t like she had anything to loose left. Everypony she had were now gone and they were now waiting for her to do the last fight.

Fight for them!

That thought raged in her mind, as she opened her eyes and turned her determined attention towards Sombra. Gazing at him, she could see that he was now looking at her again, ready to fire his deadly magic at her.

Well, she wasn’t going to stay there and let him get her easy. No. She was going to get close and fight him and although she knew she would ultimately lose, at least she can say in the afterlife that she did not give up.

Swooping down and moving in erratic movements to avoid what Sombra had to fire at her, she tried her best to get close to him. She didn’t really know what she’ll do once she close, since she no longer had her sword with her, but she knew that she would fight. She would fight him to the death.

Locked on him and getting as much speed as she can, she was about to dive hard on him, as he was about to fire his magic, when all of a suden Rainbow Dash noticed a blur moving fast towards Sombra. Allowing herself to watch that blur, she looked on to amazement and heart breaking shock to realize that the blur was actually Cloud Chaser. The blow given to her must not have killed her instantly and from the speed she was going, Rainbow Dash could only assume that she still had enough strength left in her.

And using that strength, Cloud Chaser used her wings to fling herself towards Sombra, whom was no longer paying attention towards the pegsus he had hit earlier. Getting close to the unicorn, Cloud Chaser allowed her body to slam against him, managing to tackle him with the force of her momentum.

Watching this and unsure what was happening, she saw Cloud Chaser grasps Sombra between her hooves with the remaining strength she had. Stronger than ordinary ponies, Sombra would have easily broke through the simple hold that he was being inflicted too.

But there was no more time left for him to break free, for a loud explosion soon came roaring, only to be followed by another, and another, and another. Soon enough, succession of explosions echoed in the room and Rainbow Dash could only look on with horror as Sombra and Cloud Chaser took the brunt of these explosions and absorbed the fragments the came from the grenades.

One moment the two were there, the next they were gone, covered by flashing fire and smoke. With almost a dozen grenades strapped on Cloud Chaser, skin, bone, and muscle were torn apart by the explosions they created, ripping apart what got in the way and throwing the remains all over the place.

Even the seemingly unnatural strength of Sombra could not handle such combined explosions, as he suffered the same painful fate of the pony who inflicted this to him. Getting both of them and annihilating the life within, the grenades did their job and killed.

Rainbow Dash, who was diving when this happened, was forced to open her wings wide and halt her decent, as shrapnel and blood splashed before her and coated her body. It was a terrible sight, yet she couldn’t look away.

She just stared at what happened and let her mind try to contemplate what she saw. Even after the explosions subsided, she just hovered there and stared, not knowing if what she saw was real or just a nightmare.

What was left was unrecognizable and thrown to pieces, a gruesome sight and yet a mesmerizing one. Whatever was left there were the remains of Cloud Chaser, that was her now, that was the fate she received.

Looking on in shock and horror, Rainbow Dash could not blink or turn away from disgust. How could she? After such a sight she was too memorized to look away. That was her friend over there and in her mind she tried to envision her. But no matter how she tried, all she saw was the blood and flesh the littered the room.

Staring at the remains, she hovered over the sight as the blood that splattered on her head streamed down and ran through her fur. Coating her with red fluid, she soon took note of the blood and slowly used a hoof to wipe it off from her.

Looking at her hoof and the stain of the blood, she wondered whether this was Cloud Chaser’s or Sombra’s.

So she stared and stared, hoping to find an answer. But in this empty room, with nopony living but her, there was no one to answer.

So she just stared at the stain.

She stared…

She continued staring till the last thing she remembered about the nightmare was her blood stained hoof.

Shaking awake and remembering that sight, Rainbow Dash let out long gasps for air, her body trembling and her head pounding. Mind in a mix and senses working at overdrive, she was in a state of panic Raising her hoof, she stared and studied it, looking for any blood stain. But there was none. It was clean of any blood and was instead soaked in hard cider.

Looking around and trying to figure out where she was, she soon realized that she was back at her tree house apartment in the town. Sitting on a worn down chair and holding a bottle in one hoof, she was there in a state of shock and confusion, soaked in both alcohol and tears.

She had drunk herself to sleep again, she realized.

Wiping her face with one hoof, before turning her attention to the other, she quickly took one swig from the bottle and emptied her contents. Then, tossing the bottle away, she made an attempt to get off of the chair and trot to her bed.

But too drunk and exhausted, she instead plopped onto the ground, planting herself on the wooden floor as she landed with a thud. There, she remembered how she lay helpless at the throne room at the Crystal Empire, rolling in the blood and crying.

This was enough to trigger another batch of tears from her, as she now rolled on the floor which would soon be flooded by her tears. There was no stopping it now, it was hard to not remember. Once it started, she could only let it in.

She then cried herself to sleep that night, remembering memories she wished she could just forget.

Comments

[The Bricklayer]

God, I just want to give Rainbow a hug...

[Starlight Nova]

Didn't this used to be complete?

[Teal]

8327961 Don't we all?

8328077 Nope. It's far from complete my friend.

[Dusk_Writer]

I dunno if it's because I just woke up, but I legit teared up at the end…Rainbow needs a big, fat hug right now…