Into the Storm

by Equimorto

Through the Dark Age and into The Storm

The bells on top of the bell tower tolled loudly, seven ringing chimes matching the position of the clock's large hands. Rainbow Dash landed on top of the balcony, licking away the blood on the knife she held in her wing as she walked inside through the large opened French windows.

"You really should stop doing that," Twilight said, watching her while sitting at a small metal table, "It's dangerous and pointless, there are more efficient ways to clean weapons and you could get sick if it's infected. And it's gross."

Rainbow put her knife back in its sheath, just below her neck where she could easily grab it with her mouth, hoof or wing. "Relax, Twilight. After all, 'Danger' is my middle name."

"Whatever you say, miss Rainbow Adventure Amazing Awesome Danger Death-defying Speed Dash. Or does it go between 'Amazing' and 'Awesome'? I have to say, your parents must have been a pretty eccentric couple to give you all those middle names." Twilight's almost broken floating quill scribbled something on the piece of paper in front of her.

"Oh, shut up! Besides, you didn't seem to mind when I was licking your blood, Aurora."

"Please, Dash. We were in the middle of the forest, with no medical supplies, and those cursed ruins were stopping my magic. It was the best option to clean the wound, and I'll have you know that my blood is perfectly clean. And don't taunt me just because I actually have a middle name, it's not my fault that I was born from a noble family."

"You sure about that? Because I'm pretty sure your blood wasn't blue." The pegasus walked towards the table, her attempt at a joke earning her an annoyed look from her unicorn friend. "Just kidding, Twilight, just kidding. Can you add a new set of throwing knives to that list? I lost a few," she said, lifting her hoof to show how only a couple of the small leather hoops on her armour still had knives in them.

Twilight's quill added another item to the growing list on the table. "What did you fight this time?"

"The usual. A couple of timberwolves, a couple of normal wolves, two or three harpies. Most of the knives I lost got stuck inside a large timberwolf's bark and the thing run away, guess the return charm you put on them got blocked by that thing's stupid anti-magic-whatever." The pegasus took a seat in front of Twilight, her body lazily slouched over the metal chair. "I wish there was something new to fight. Like a dragon, that would be cool. Or a giant spider. I'd love to fight off a giant spider hunting citizens in the streets."

"Dragons are actually extremely intelligent creatures, Rainbow, and you definitely don't want to fight one. And technically speaking most spiders don't hunt, they weave their webs and wait for preys to get trapped. So it's unlikely they'll come out of the forest. Unless something scares them, but at that point we would have something else to worry about, and it would probably be best to request additional help."

"That's boring. Why do you always need to take the fun out of things?"

"I'm sorry, but dying isn't particularly high on my list of 'fun' things. Anyway, I'm going out in about one and a half hours, want to come with me?"

"Wait around doing nothing to then go shopping?" Rainbow gave a bored-sounding sigh. "No thanks, I think I'll go for one more patrol."

"Without your knives?" asked Twilight, a worried frown on her face.

Dash leaned forward in her chair, looking at her friend in the eyes. "Relax, I'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Death, probably."

"Well, that doesn't sound that bad. I mean, it sounds bad, but I think there's a lot of things that could be worse. Like turning into a statue while still being aware of stuff around you. Or losing my ability to fly. Or having to go shopping with a pony who measures even the amount of dust on the floor when she gets inside a new building."

"I'll have you know, analysing the amount, age and composition of dust is a great source of information on how long it's been since there has last been someone inside the building. But if it bothers you so much then fell free to go risk your life alone," said Twilight in a mock-offended tone.

"Sure thing." Rainbow got up from her chair and headed for the door. "Try not to get killed out there, Auri, it gets boring with no one to pick on." She turned, giving a sincere smile to the unicorn.

Twilight stared back, returning the smile. "Take care of yourself."

---

Rainbow looked over the city from the top of a roof. Somewhere in the distance the sound of bells ringing could be heard, signalling it was now nine and a half, and that the curfew would begin in an hour. A slight breeze ruffled the pegasus' rainbow Mohawk, the multicoloured mane kept short to prevent it from getting in her eyes and obstructing her vision. Unlike her friend, though, she didn't cut her tail, as she felt it didn't give her any problems when flying. She scanned the streets underneath for any signs of danger, and upon seeing none she took off and started to fly back to the base. Midway through her flight, though, she heard a scream coming from the distance and immediately started to fly towards the source of noise.

She arrived at a small square with a fountain in the middle, the streets around deserted, and lowered herself to the ground. "Anyone there?" she called, but no one answered back. She was about to take off again when a figure lurched forward from behind the fountain. She dodged to the side and the thing fell on the ground with a dull thud, sounding empty and somewhat metallic. She examined the thing more closely, unsure of what exactly it was. It had the general shape of a pony, and it looked kind of like a metal suit of armour, but it was one single piece without moving parts and with no holes save for an elliptical one in the back. Traces of what looked like rust were on the border of the hole.

A sound distracted Rainbow from her inspection. It was another scream like the one she'd heard before, only now she could clearly tell it wasn't coming from a pony. It came from somewhere above her, more similar to the screech of a monster than to the cry of fear she'd mistaken it for before, although it wasn't like that of any creature she knew. Rainbow grabbed her knife with her mouth and sent herself upwards with a powerful push from her hooves, stopping to hover in midair, wings slowly flapping as she scanned the environment around her. A particularly low cloud had flown above the city from the nearby forest, and the pegasus found herself inside a bank of mist, her vision partially clouded.

With a swift movement of her wings she grabbed the remaining knives on her front hooves while flapping downwards and held them while she continued to float, small drops of water forming on the weapons as they moved up and down through the cloud. She started to slowly turn around, looking for any signs of the creature. Another scream came from above her, more distant this time, and she started to fly higher, still looking for any signs of movement. The screams kept coming, always higher than where she was, and she found herself flying to such heights that the smaller streets of the city would have been impossible to see even with a perfectly clear sky.

Not that the sky was clear, as the cloud kept getting thicker and thicker. The pegasus realized something was unnatural, her instincts telling her that such atmospheric conditions should not have been possible, but she was too focused on trying to find the creature to pay attention to that. Once more she heard the scream come from above her, but as she looked up something caught her eye. There was a hint of red light shining through the cloud, directly above her. Curious, she pushed herself higher and poked her head through the cloud.

The first thing she noticed was the colour. Everything shined a bright crimson, the light coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. The second thing she noticed was the smell. Blood, distinctly, she'd gotten used to it and was clearly able to recognize it. She almost started to notice other things, like a weird sensation of something pulling upwards on her head, or how the sky around her didn't look like the sky at all, but something else interrupted her.

With incredible speed something came from beneath her, and she just narrowly avoided the beast's jaws. Not completely though, as while she propelled herself backwards with a flap of her wings the monster was able to bite down on her right front leg. The creature then snapped back, and an high-pitched scream of pain came from Rainbow as her knife was dropped and her limb was torn away, leaving a bleeding stump behind. The pegasus started to fall, losing control of her body as her mind was clouded by the pain, but she was able to stop herself and regain control of her flight.

She dodged another attack, and as the creature disappeared into the mist she threw her knives at it. They bounced off and fell uselessly to the ground. She had never seen a creature like it, nor had she read about anything similar in any bestiary. It was a large four-legged beast, claws curved and easily longer than her wings. Its large wings had a grey, metallic texture, a little shinier than the slightly yellow tinged stone-like surface of its skin. Eyes a bright red, the head looked somewhat like that of a lion, except for the teeth, which were like a shark's but bigger, longer and tougher, though still fairly thin, almost like a series of knives. The limbs and torso were weirdly thin and long, their cylindrical shape almost worm-like, and a short up-turned horn served as the tail.

Rainbow began to fly away as fast as she could, heading for the other side of town, trying to get inside the protective barrier around the base as soon as possible. Once more she had to avoid the creature by rolling to her side, but finally she was able to see the large building, the barrier half visible in the air. She pushed faster with her wings, a trail of blood behind her as she kept bleeding from her missing foreleg, and in a few moments she was just about to get to safety. Then it happened.

Landing on her like an eagle, its hind legs stretched out to catch her and its body almost perpendicular to the ground, the creature caught her wings in its claws. Her flesh was pierced and her bones were broken, blood spilling out of her back, some claws just barely missing her lungs or her spine with their tips. The momentum of her body was enough to carry her into the barrier, and the creature was repelled, but her wings were still impaled and as she fell and the creature flew away they were ripped open, large chunks remaining in the monster's grasp, making it impossible for her to fly.

She was barely able to direct her fall to the nearest balcony, the impact breaking some of her bones, and then she started to crawl towards the door. Somepony on the other side opened it, and a scream of shock later she was being carried to the middle of the room and bandaged, still bleeding out. She was half conscious, dimly aware of how time moved around her, and the little sparks of clarity she had were filled with nothing but pain. Questions, words of encouragement, medications being applied, screams. She opened her eyes and she saw Twilight staring at her from the doorway, terror in her eyes. She did what she always did and tried to pretend she had nothing, and then her vision blurred and she passed out.

---

The sun shone down heavy on the training fields, the new recruits going through their daily routine of combat exercises. Rainbow was practising knife throws with blunted weapons, alone as the others were still busy finishing their laps around the fields, when a scream came from the other side of the camp. She turned her head to see a pony falling from the balcony overlooking the training grounds, the stone railing having broken. Immediately she was flying there, and she was able to catch the pony before he fell to the ground, slowly bringing his shivering body down to safety. A small crowd gathered, and after it had been verified that the pony was unharmed they started to disperse.

"That was pretty good," came a voice from behind Rainbow.

"I think you meant to say awesome," smugly replied the pegasus, "after all, 'Awesome' is my middle name."

"You have a middle name too? Mine is 'Aurora'."

Rainbow dash turned back, giving the purple unicorn a stare halfway between amusement and faux commiseration.

"Oh, you were just... kidding." The unicorn rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. "Sorry," she somewhat sheepishly said.

"No problem. Name's Rainbow Dash, by the way."

"Twilight Sparkle, pleased to meet you."

Pain

"So, Twilight, do you have any ideas of what you'll do once this is over?"

The unicorn looked up from her book. "Not really. What about you?"

Rainbow lazily played with a small rubber ball, bouncing it on the room's wall, her body splayed on the bed. "I think I'm gonna keep going. Try to get into the elite section of the guard, you know? They get all the cool missions, and I don't mind the extra training."

"Sounds good. I might think about doing that myself."

The pegasus failed to catch the ball, her body jerking with repressed laughter. "You? Sorry, Auri, but I don't think you're the type of pony for that job. You'll be better off as a guard in one of those quiet towns on the countryside were nothing ever happens. Besides, I don't think you could pass the tests, you aren't exactly the best when it comes to physical abilities."

"Well, I can always train. I mean, you're gonna have to study pretty hard for the written part of the exam, so if you can do that then I can work a little harder myself."

Rainbow's body froze, her hoof half outstretched to grab her ball. She turned her head to Twilight. "Wait, you're telling me there's a written test? You're telling me I'm gonna have to study?"

Twilight closed her book and tossed it on the bed near the pegasus. "Yes. Better start early then." She got up and headed for the door. "I'll be out doing some extra laps if you need me."

Screaming

"So, how did it go?" Twilight asked to her friend.

"Great!" Rainbow replied, turning the scroll she held in her wings towards the unicorn. "ninety seven out of a hundred. The best score in a decade."

"Well..." Twilight unrolled her own scroll for the pegasus to see, "Technically, second best score."

Rainbow stared in disbelief. "You got... a ninety eight?"

"Yes. I lost a couple of points in the physical test, but your training helped a lot. And I see my lessons helped you as wel-"

Twilight was tackled off the ground by a blue and rainbow blur. "That's awesome! You're awesome, Twilight. And that means we won't have to worry about restrictions when it comes to missions! You can be assigned to whatever mission I'm given, and we can be together!" the pegasus exclaimed, holding her friend while she hovered in the air. "If you want to, of course," she added, slightly blushing.

"Can you put me down first, Rainbow?"

The pegasus turned a bit redder. "Sorry, I got a little carried away," she said while lowering Twilight back to the ground. She had just finished stepping back when the unicorn tackled her with a hug of her own, both of them falling on the ground.

"Of course I want to!"

Walking in the mist. Cold, the feeling of being observed. Screams coming from behind her. Running. Flying away as fast as she could. Not fast enough. Pain, blood, her own screams indistinguishable from the monster's. Falling. The mist turning red, becoming denser. Pain. Blood, all around her, drowning her. And then only silence.

---

Rainbow's eyes slowly opened, and the pegasus lazily lifted her head from the pillow, looking over the white covers of the bed. The morning light shone through the window, small clusters of dust dancing in the air visible where the rays entered the room. She tried to lift herself up to a sitting position, but only found half of the support she expected from her hooves, and looking to her right she understood why. Half of her foreleg was missing, a stump wrapped in bandages the only thing left.

She looked around and noticed Twilight sleeping on a chair at the foot of the bed. She tried to call her but all she got were a couple of coughs out of her dry throat and a sudden ache in her back and chest. Still, the sound was enough and the unicorn dizzily woke up. She confusedly stared around the room, then her eyes focused on Rainbow and she shot up, suddenly perfectly aware as she neared her friend.

"Dash! You're awake! Oh, thank Luna, I was afraid we could lose you. How are you? Everything alright? Are you hurt?"

The pegasus wasn't given time to answer before she was pressed in a hug, much to the displeasure of the wounds in her back.

"Don't you ever try to pull something like that on me again. You have no idea how happy I am that you're safe." Twilight pulled back from the hug and the pegasus noticed her eyes were starting to water a little.

"It's alright," Rainbow tried to say, but it came out a chocked and raspy sound. Immediately Twilight teleported a glass of water in front of her and helped her friend drink with her magic.

"Better?" the unicorn asked.

"Much better. Say, Twi, how long have I been out for?"

"Two days, not counting the night you came back. It took a lot of time to stop all the bleeding and patch you up, but we were done by morning. You've been sleeping here since then, we were starting to worry about getting you to eat something, magic can only keep a pony going for so long and I'm not the best at healing magic. You have no idea how happy I am that you woke up."

"So... How bad is it?"

Twilight flinched at the question. "Well, your right hoof is gone."

The pegasus nodded, looking back at the stump. She could see it for herself, but she knew it was Twilight's way of delaying having to talk about her other injuries. The same way she'd refused to look at them or to even try to move her wings.

"About your wings..." Twilight's expression darkened a bit. "I'm... I'm sorry Rainbow, we tried but... there wasn't much left to save. I'm afraid..." Twilight swallowed, her voice a little shaky as she tried to stay calm, "I'm afraid you won't fly anymore."

Rainbow looked back at her friend, taking a few long breaths. "Okay," she said, "that's... that's okay. I'm still here, and that's the important part."

The unicorn stared back at her, and then burst into tears and moved in to hug her friend.

Rainbow half-hugged her back, somewhat surprised by her reaction. "Hey, there, no need to cry, Twilight," she whispered while gently stroking the unicorn's mane, "it's my problem after all, why would you cry for it?"

Twilight looked up, tears running down her cheeks. "Because you're too stubborn and prideful to show how much it hurts you, and if you're not going to cry for it then I might as well do it for you!"

"Don't be silly, Twi. And please don't cry for me, seeing you like this hurts a lot more than losing a pair of wings."

The unicorn slowly calmed down, and she rested her head over her friend's bandaged chest.

"Think you could get me some more water? Put it down on the bed, I want to drink on my own," said the pegasus while Twilight magically refilled the glass and then set it down on the bed.

Rainbow grabbed it with her hoof and lifted it to her face, then slowly let the water fall on her eyes, rolling over her face and down to her chin. "Heh. Guess I'm not used to using this hoof." She stuck out her tongue and opened her mouth, drinking the salty stream of water.

---

Rainbow walked around in the room, distractedly listening to the sound of her wooden prosthesis hitting the stone floor as she paced back and fort, a more hollow sounding thud occasionally coming when she passed over some tiles with nothing underneath. It had been a week since she'd woken up, long enough for her to read through the entirety of the local library's collection of bestiaries and hunting guides, not long enough for her wounds to recover completely. That left her bored and with nothing to do, forced to avoid any kind of taxing physical activities, which meant she couldn't do any training.

She absent-mindedly fidgeted with the padded leather straps that held the artificial limb in place, tugging at them with her left hoof while looking out of the window. It was morning, and a few ponies were busy going about their daily lives in the streets. Things had been fairly quiet since that night, luckily so as it had taken some days for a couple of new guards to get there after the Royal Guard had been informed of her condition. No signs of the creature that had attacked her either. The Princess herself had sent her a letter expressing her sadness at the news, the blue-marked scroll still laying on the desk in Dash's room.

She couldn't help but be angry at the situation. She knew she couldn't blame the Princess for worrying about her after she'd gotten to know her so closely in the past, and the same went for Twilight, but she wished they wouldn't. It would have been a lot easier if they believed her when she said it didn't matter that she lost her wings. If they did, then maybe she could have believed it too. A fly that had sneaked into the room buzzed near her head, then ended up getting caught in a spider's web in a corner of the room. The pegasus watched as a large black spider moved towards the bug and started to wrap it around in its web before biting it, movement of the fly ceasing as it did so.

If only she'd been faster. Or less stupid. And now the second most important thing in her life was gone. She turned back to the spider, who had finished eating its meal and was now retreating back to the shadows in the corner. She was suddenly glad that it was there to take care of the flies, now that she couldn't send them away herself. It was a silly thought, and she knew it. Unicorn's and even earth ponies were perfectly capable of sending flies away without the need for wings, but that was the way she used to do it, and every damned thing reminded her of what she'd lost. She liked that spider. It gave her something else to think about.

The creak of the door opening distracted her from her thoughts. She turned and saw Twilight at the entrance of the room, tired and with bags under her eyes. The unicorn had been spending all her free time in the library, and that meant the nights too. By the looks of it, she hadn't slept since the day before, but there was a strange agitation to her that Rainbow couldn't quite decipher, like she'd made some great discovery. The purple pony took a few step forwards and then almost fell to the ground, Rainbow rushing to her to stop her body the only thing that prevented it.

"Hey there, Twi. Calm down. You need to get some sleep, you know? What is the matter anyway?" the pegasus asked in a caring tone while holding Twilight up with her good hoof hugged around her neck.

"I found it," came Twilight's voice, a low whisper near her ear.

"You found... What exactly?"

Twilight looked up from the pegasus' embrace, eyes locking with her friend's. "I've found a way to fix you."