Assassin of Kings and Queens

Chapter 3

Through the Rabbit Hole

         Ferrum clutched the railing, his face a shade more green than usual. He leaned over the side of the boat, retching violently. During a pause in his convulsions, he collapsed onto the deck, shivering. I can fly through the middle of a tempest unfazed, but I’m reduced to a shivering wreck by a boat ride...Pinkie Pie would have a field day explaining this...

         “Motion sickness?” Ferrum looked up, gazing glumly at Twilight’s silhouette. Celestia had already begun her morning ritual, red sun rising steadily into the empty sky.

         Ferrum slowly pulled himself up, still shaking.

         “Yeah...” Ferrum suddenly lunged for the side again, vomiting everything left in his stomach into the sea below. A couple dry-heaves later, his body relaxed. He turned back to Twilight, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

         Twilight continued, unfazed by Ferrum’s condition.

         “I know a very handy spell for that.” Ferrum clutched the railing tighter, overcome by a bout of dizziness.

         “That’s nice,” mumble Ferrum. “You gonna tell me, or you just gonna watch?” Ferrum inquired sourly, knuckles white against the rusted metal. He didn't feel like falling on his face in front of a princess just yet.

         While Twilight explained to Ferrum the finer points of how to not vomit out his liver, Rainbow Dash was soaring through the sky, reveling in the crisp wind ruffling her cyan feathers. Training for four years with Ferrum in a dark, dusty room wasn’t much her style. Her heart had ached for the open sky, for the adrenaline rush of plunging toward the earth, for the freedom that was synonymous with flying.

         “You’re gonna catch your death of cold flying up so high,” said a calm voice right next to her ear. She screeched to a halt, whirling around.

         Jerry floated next to her, eyebrow raised.

         “I’m sorry,” he said tiredly,” did I scare you?” Mischief gleamed in his emerald eyes.

         “Who, me?” Rainbow scoffed at the ridiculousness of the question, not willing to give Jerry the satisfaction.

         “I’m not scared of anypony.”

         Jerry pondered this statement, then retorted,” What about Ferrum?”

         Rainbow’s wings paused in there flapping. She quickly resumed the activity, but Jerry had seen her falter. He shrugged.

         “You have good reason to be. He’s a dangerous pony, even in his current condition.”

         Both looked down, observing Ferrum’s failed attempts to walk normally on the gently rocking boat. Ferrum lost his balance, and was sent sprawling onto the deck. Rainbow and Jerry guffawed at this, unable to contain their laughter any longer.

         “Oh, yes, very scary!” laughed Rainbow. The two watched Ferrum crawl back to their cabin, giggling as he went. They heard the door slam faintly, muffled by the distance.

         Twilight looked up and, upon spotting Rainbow’s miniscule form, waved her over. Rainbow shrugged, and dived down towards the boat.

         Jerry stayed where he was, thinking. He was recalling an old griffon sailor’s rhyme. Red in the morning, sailors take warning. Red at night, sailors delight. Jerry’s eyes alighted upon the rising sun, as well as the bloodied sky. To warn or not to warn, that is the question thought Jerry. Maybe just the captain he decided finally.

He dissipated, then reappeared behind the aging captain. Gray feather’s dotted the griffin's head, claws gripped firmly on the wheel. Jerry noticed the captain’s paw tapping nervously on the ground, tail twitching. No need to warn the captain. He appears to know what is going on. Jerry then dissipated once more, heading towards parts unknown. He had business to attend to.

         Meanwhile, Twilight was scolding the sagging figure of Rainbow Dash.

         “We could hear you laughing from all the way down here!” Twilight said, frustrated.

         “You should have seen Ferrum’s face. He looked extremely disappointed. You know how he has motion sickness, and you just laughed when he fell.” Twilight shook her head, violet hair swaying with her head’s motion.

         “You really should go apologize to him. I’m going to talk to the captain. I want to know when we’ll reach Manehattan.” Twilight left Rainbow alone, walking stiffly up a set of rickety wooden stairs, heading towards the bridge.

         Rainbow stood sullenly. She knew she should apologize, but...She slowly made her way towards the room. She put her hand on the round door knob, pausing to collect her thoughts.

She opened the door, which creaked slightly. Rainbow peaked inside. Ferrum was nowhere to be seen. His duffel bag, however, was lying in the middle of the floor.

She checked every nook and cranny, but Ferrum was nowhere to be found. She gazed back at the black duffel bag. Maybe just one quick peek she thought excitedly. She rushed up to the bag, careful to be quiet, in case Ferrum really was in the room. She glanced around one last time, then diverted her full attention to the bag. Carefully, she unzipped the bag. She peeked inside and saw...nothing.

The inside was an inky black that appeared to continue for eternity. She sat down, thinking carefully. Ferrum had taught her about dimensional gates, but she had never believed they really existed. She inched her hand into the blackness.

         She jerked it out, shivering. It’s FREEZING! she thought shivering, but her curiosity was peaked. She wanted to know where this gate would lead, if anywhere. She slowly dipped her arm, then wrenched it out. She realized she would have to do it quickly, like diving into frigid water, observing the frost on her hand.

She stood up, thinking Well, here goes nothing! She jumped down into the icy depths, shutting her eyes tightly. After she had vanished, the duffel bag slowly closed itself, zipper removing any means of escape.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

         Rainbow raced through the icy black. Her wings were already frozen stiff, making it impossible to fly. She ran blindly, unable to even see her hands in front of her face. Every breath ached, icy gale blowing from her right. Wait a second! She skidded to a halt, slipping on what she hoped was ice, slowly turned till the wind was on her face, then sprinted in that direction.

         She tripped, falling painfully onto the all-too-solid ground. At least, it would be painful if her whole body wasn't numb with the cold. Rainbow struggled to stand, hooves slick against the ground. She collapsed, panting. She had been running for what felt like hours, and she had no energy left. Frost slowly encased Rainbow, who was too cold to feel anything and tired. She had been running for what seemed to be forever, with no sight of anything. She closed her eyes, tears running down her face. I can’t see...I can’t move...Am I dying?

         She tried to move her arm, but felt nothing. She cursed herself for being foolish enough to barge into the portal, not even knowing where it would lead. What is this place? Where is Ferrum?

“You’re Rainbow Dash, Ferrum’s apprentice.” A girl’s voice cut through the darkness, causing Rainbow’s eyes to burst open. Her eyes zipped around, but not even her eyes could penetrate the inky blackness. Am I hearing things? She tried harder to move, but her body was frozen to the ground.

         “This will not please father in the least...” The girl’s voice echoed through the darkness.

         “If you die before your time, he will not be happy. I believe I have no choice...”

         A glowing azure circle surrounded Rainbow. Her eyes grew wide, helpless to do anything but accept her fate. Mysterious symbols materialized at the edge of the circle, confusing Rainbow even more. Slowly, the markings rotated, inching towards Rainbow. Panic gripped Rainbow. She struggled against the ice clinging to her body, to no avail.

         “I wouldn’t struggle. Otherwise, your body may disintegrate,” pointed out the voice matter-of-factly. Rainbow glared in the direction of the voice, mouth too numb to do anything other than a grunt. A figure calmly strode toward the glowing circle. Rainbow gasped, marveling at the creature before her.

         The figure stood on two lanky legs, similarly to Jerry and John Clark, the only difference being hooves where feet should be. And fur. That’s a big one. Rainbow’s eyes made their way up toward the strange creature’s face, pausing momentarily on the figure’s chest. Definitely a woman...decided Rainbow as her eyes continued their voyage up the figure’s body. The figure’s face was cold, cold as the ice that still trapped Rainbow, ice that was slowly melting. Rainbow didn't dare move, recalling the figure’s words of warning.

The ice began dissipate, water hissing as it hit one of the blue symbols. Warmth began to spread throughout Rainbow’s body, returning feeling to all of Rainbow’s nerves. However, she was still uneasy about this strange figure.

Rainbow asked cautiously,” Who exactly are you?” Being Rainbow’s savior didn’t automatically make her Rainbow’s friend.

         The figure stared back with unfeeling, azure eyes.

         “I am Andromeda, Demon Blade Third Class,” She said. Rainbow averted her gaze, shivering. She had never heard a voice so devoid of emotion.

         “I am also Ferrum’s daughter,” Andromeda continued calmly.

         Rainbow’s eyes snapped back to the figure, whose obsidian black hair was beginning to frost over. Daughter? Ferrum has a demon for a daughter?!

         Suddenly, the glyphs disappeared, plunging the two into darkness before Rainbow could figure out what race the demon reminded her of.

         “You are free of the ice. I will now take you to Ferrum,” declared a voice in the blackness.

         “Wait, what?” Rainbow stood up and looked around, hoping to catch some glimpse of Andromeda again. She said she would take me to Ferrum, but how can I follow her if I can’t see her? She shivered, cold attempting to regain lost ground.

         “One moment.” Rainbow looked around trying to get a bead on where the voice was coming from. It appeared to be coming from all directions at once.

         A glowing tunnel materialized in the ground in front of Rainbow Dash, causing her to shy away. She stopped, then peered closer at the tunnel. The whole thing seemed to be made of blue fire, but no heat emanated from it. Curious, she glanced around, squatted down and poked the edge of the tunnel with a tentative finger.

A massive force sucked Rainbow screaming into the tunnel. The entrance of the tunnel quickly winked out of existence.

         A voice rang through the darkness.

         “See you soon...”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

         Rainbow was having an exceptionally good time. Zooming through a tunnel of living flames was almost as exciting than flying! She marveled at the glowing tube, blue flames licking her body harmlessly. Her euphoria was cut short by the tunnel ending, launching her into a gray stone wall. Rainbow crumpled onto the cold stone floor, only vaguely aware of the tunnel winking out of existence.

         “Ungh,” Rainbow groaned, rubbing her head. A massive headache had blossomed, and she had a feeling it wasn’t going to go away anytime soon.

         She gave herself a once over, verifying that nothing was broken. Satisfied that nothing was, she took in her surroundings.

         Rainbow was kneeling in what appeared to be a massive locker room. Metal doors divided the gray walls, the only light coming from a flickering light bulb in the middle of the ceiling. Rainbow stood up, hand still clamped firmly on her head. She gazed worriedly around her. The demon girl was nowhere to be seen, as was Ferrum. Rainbow decided to spend time looking at various names on the lockers. She stumbled past a large post in the middle of the pathway, lockers stretching forward as far as her keen eyes could see.

         “At least it’s warm...” Rainbow muttered, rubbing the sore spot on her head, which was forming into a comically large bump. A name on one of the lockers caught her attention, drawing her out of herself pity. “Latet and Jerry” was scrawled in cursive upon the metal locker, which appeared to be smeared with rust. She glanced to either side of herself, and upon seeing no one, reached a tentative hand toward the handle.

         “That locker is not yours,” declared Andromeda calmly. Rainbow wheeled around, drawing a knife from a sheath hidden in the small of her back. Seeing that there was no one around her, she slowly turned back toward the locker, knife still at the ready. A pair of blue  eyes stared levelly Rainbow Dash’s own magenta eyes.

Rainbow froze. The dagger clattered uselessly to the ground, Dash’s hands trembling violently. What the BUCK is going on?! Why can’t I move?! Rainbow struggled against her invisible bonds, glaring pointedly at Andromeda, who was standing casually, arms crossed.

         “Ferrum gets upset when other ponies get into his things. He tends to break them.”

         “What, the ponies or his things?” Andromeda cocked her head at the retort, then turned away. Rainbow’s body collapsed as the bonds melted away, letting her fall to her knees. Rainbow’s wings flapped weakly as she turned towards the retreating Andromeda.

         “What...Exactly...Did you just do?” Rainbow panted. Fighting the bonds had taken more out of her than she was willing to accept.

         “I did the same thing a snake does to its prey. Now, do you still wish to find Ferrum?”

         Rainbow Dash paused before answering. She had laughed at Ferrum, as well as jumped into his duffel bag...

         “Yeah, lead the way.” She wasn’t gonna chicken out now, not after all she’d been through. That headache might never go away!

         Rainbow got to her hooves, and flew after Andromeda.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

         As she flew behind Andromeda, Rainbow got a good view of her guide. Black hair billowed behind her, gray fur hugging her petite form. Her tail was the same color as her hair, save for a blue stripe down the middle. A cutie mark was imprinted on Andromeda’s black jeans, a sixteenth note engulfed in blue flame. A black-leather vest almost identical to Ferrum’s covered Andromeda’s chest, with two slits in the back for Andromeda’s silvery wings. For a demon, she looks a lot like a pegasus... Rainbow thought, puzzled.

         Andromeda stopped in front of another locker, pointing at it.

         “This one is ours.” Rainbow glided over, and sure enough, in the exact same format as Ferrum’s locker, Rainbow Dash and Andromeda’s names were scrawled in cursive upon the metal door.

         Rainbow landed and stood next to Andromeda, observing the rusty locker. She turned to Andromeda.

         “Why is your name there too?” Andromeda returned the gaze coolly. Rainbow took a step back, remembering the last time she had looked into Andromeda’s eyes. Nothing happened for a full minute.

         “Ferrum designated you to be my partner,” said Andromeda finally. Rainbow huffed.

         “What do you mean, partner?”

         “Ferrum believes that even though you are a qualified assassin, you still need training to become a master.”

         “But I-”

         “In case you have forgotten, you froze up when attacked by the Royal Guards that had gone rogue. If Ferrum had not intervened, you would be dead.” Andromeda turned once again to Rainbow Dash, who had paled considerably.

         “Or worse.” Rainbow looked down. As much as she hated to admit it, Andromeda had a point, the little bitch. She had frozen up when the-

         “Wait, did you say that those were rogues?”

         “Yes. Ferrum dispatched them and received a monetary reward for eliminating the rogues. Which you would know if you had chosen to remain with Ferrum on the boat instead of playing. In fact-”

         “Whatever,” Rainbow interrupted Andromeda, eliciting a raised eyebrow. Rainbow was unsure of how Andromeda knew so much, but she wasn't in the mood to be scolded by somepony she didn't even know.

         “Very well,” said Andromeda after a pause.

         “It is time to go to father.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

         The locker, Rainbow learned, was actually a door into a grand arena. She had never seen so many beings in one place, not even at the Summer Sun Celebration. It was a massive circle, with stands for viewers along the parameter. In the center was a massive structure made entirely of glass that was, as Rainbow observed, was in the process of being demolished.

         A black figure, whom Rainbow assumed to be Ferrum, was in the middle of a battle with a swarm of...things. They resembled dragons in their general body shape, except that they wore glistening golden armor and wielding massive swords, each easily the same size as their owners, who towered a full meter above Ferrum. Ferrum, to his credit, was dodging the swipes from his opponents, slicing through their armor with an obsidian blade that Rainbow didn’t recognize. However, blood flowed from multiple wounds upon Ferrum’s body, splattering blood upon the glass walls every time he moved. It was clear: Ferrum was fighting a losing battle.

         “Are you willing to help him?”

         Rainbow turned towards Andromeda, who was standing a couple feet to her left.

         “Of course I am! What, you think I’m just gonna watch him die?!”

         Andromeda, who had been observing the fight, turned toward Rainbow.

         “I need you to trust me.”

         “Wait, what?” Rainbow shifted nervously. She didn’t trust Andromeda much, especially after the whole hypnosis thing. Rainbow slumped. She knew if she didn’t do anything, Ferrum would die. She nodded glumly.

         “Fine.” Andromeda extended a hand towards Rainbow.

         “Then take my hand.”

         Rainbow Dash looked down at the hand, then back to Andromeda’s face, searching for any sign of deceit. Seeing none, she nodded to herself and grasped Andromeda’s hand firmly.

         Rainbow’s headache returned with a vengeance, leaving her struggling to remain conscience. Black dots appeared before her eyes, threatening to plunge the world into darkness. All at once, the pain disappeared. Rainbow realized that she was lying face down in the dirt.

Now pick me up ordered a voice in Rainbow’s head. Rainbow looked around. Andromeda was nowhere to be seen, but an azure blade lay on the ground next to Rainbow.

         “Sweet Celestia, is that you?”

No, I’m the rock by your hoof. Rainbow looked back, and indeed there was a pebble by her hoof. She made a move to grab it, but she hesitated.

I see your ability to detect sarcasm is lacking. I am the sword. And you had better move unless you wish to be a head shorter. Rainbow glanced back toward the glass castle, only to see a massive pile of glass rubble. That, and a dragon-warrior charging toward her, massive blade raised menacingly.

         Rainbow lunged for the sword, hoping she could dodge the dragon’s blow. Her hand clasped the black hilt of the azure blade.

         Of its own accord, her arm swung the blade around, deflecting the blow that would have surely decapitated her. Marveling at her suddenly accentuated reflexes, she lunged at the beast. Rainbow felt zero resistance as the blade sliced the warrior in half, spraying blood upon the sandy floor. She watched in fascinated horror as the dragon dropped its blade upon the ground and collapsed, blood exploding from its wound.

You didn’t freeze up. Congratulations. Now go help Ferrum. Rainbow hesitated, then launched herself upward, wings flapping as she gained altitude. She paused near the top of the Stadium’s walls, then darted down. A Sonic Rainboom exploded in her wake, drawing the attention of the rest of the dragons away from Ferrum’s bloodied form.

         She crashed into the ground, sending dozens of the warriors flying into the stadium walls hundreds of meters away. Rainbow Dash knelt in a massive crater, caused by the massive force of her dive into the ground. She got up slowly, once again marveling how Andromeda had increased her physical prowess.

Stupid, yet effective Andromeda commented dryly in Rainbow’s mind. Rainbow, unable to decide whether to acknowledge the comment, just shrugged. She started to make her way up the crater wall, only to stop upon seeing the wall of warriors standing on the lip of the crater. Rainbow counted quickly the number of adversaries.

         “Fifty six…” she observed glumly.

This’ll be interesting observed Andromeda. Rainbow readied herself, gripping the hilt of her sword firmly.

         “Let’s get going, partner,” Rainbow said, crouching low to the ground.

Agreed.

         Rainbow charged.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

             Rainbow knelt in the broken glass, ignoring the blood tingeing her cyan fur red. Her left wing jutted out of her shirt at an awkward angle. Andromeda hovered beside her, wings beating steadily.

             “That…was…Awesome…” panted Rainbow Dash.

             “You overexerted your body. You almost died uncountable times. You broke your left wing. How can that be described as ‘awesome?’” Andromeda inquired. Rainbow shrugged, then flinched. Moving caused bolts of pain to shoot through her broken wing. She sighed heavily. O.K., Andromeda has a point. Now I can’t fly even if I had the energy left… Rainbow looked around, suddenly remembering the whole reason that she had killed all the dragons, which, upon further observation, were changelings in disguise.

             “Say, where’s Ferrum?”

             “I’m over here,” called a familiar voice.

             Rainbow turned smiling happily toward Ferrum, only to gape at the sight she beheld. Ferrum was untouched, his battle gear untorn and bloodless. He was smiling mischievously, sidling over to the kneeling Rainbow. However this wasn’t what shocked her. Next to spick-and-span Ferrum strode another Ferrum, this one wearing decimated armor, obsidian blade in hand, blood still gushing from a multitude of wounds, and wearing a smile identical to the Ferrum next to him. The biggest difference, however, was the eyes of the wounded Ferrum, which glowed emerald.

             “…Jerry…Ferrum… What?” Rainbow looked over her shoulder, and to her surprise, Andromeda looked as shocked as he felt.

             The Jerry/Ferrum’s form shimmered and faded away, revealing Jerry’s smoky form within. The blade dissipated into black smoke, which was absorbed into Jerry’s body.

             “Yo, Dash!” Jerry called teasingly.

             “Whatcha doin’ in Tartarus?” Jerry smiled even wider at Rainbow’s horrified expression.

             “Tartarus?! As in, prison-of-the-most-evil-horrible-despicable-ugly-demons, THAT Tartarus?!”

             “Yup. And you didn’t answer my question.”

             “I hope you didn’t come to apologize for your insolence,” Ferrum said coldly,” because that won’t do anything to help you.” He stopped in front of Rainbow Dash, ruby eyes flashing dangerously.

             “You laughed at me, looked through my private belongings, used my Dimensional Gate without permission, you would have frozen to death if Andromeda had not intervened, you entered the Arena, AND,” Ferrum bellowed,” YOU MADE ME LOSE A BET TO JERRY!” Ferrum pointed a furious finger at Jerry, who shrugged innocently.

             Rainbow, to her credit, had followed everything up ‘til the whole “losing a bet to Jerry” part.

             “What bet?” Rainbow asked, confused.

             At this, both Ferrum and Jerry looked at eachother, then proceed to laugh as hard as physically possible. Rainbow bristled. Ferrum had yelled at her, and now he was laughing?! He’s almost as bad as Pinkie thought Rainbow angrily.

             Ferrum, paused in his guffawing and addressed the two mares in front of him.

             “The bet was,” Ferrum said, smiling,” that that you two would be able to work together and take down all the changelings. Therefore,” Ferrum continued, eyes twinkling,” I am proud to announce that the two of you will be working together from now on!”

             Rainbow sat stunned, letting the full meaning of the words sink in.

             “Dad, you suck.” Everyone turned to look at Andromeda, who was still hovering next to Rainbow Dash.

             “Andromeda…” began Ferrum, frowning slightly.

             “I thought that you were in danger. You deceived me. Why?”

             Before Ferrum could answer, Jerry piped in.

             “Because dear old daddy didn’t feel like getting hurt just for show, so he had me be his stunt double. Because friends put themselves in harms way to help each other out.”

             Everyone stared at Jerry in shock. Ferrum cleared his throat.

             “That’s…ahem…one way to put it.” Ferrum turned back to Andromeda, who was nodding slowly.

             “I wanted to make sure that you two would be the one’s who would do the fighting. Knowing me, I would kill everything and leave no way for the two of you to prove yourselves.”

             Andromeda sighed, then turned towards Rainbow Dash.

             “It appears that our performance was up to par.”

             Rainbow Dash just shrugged.

             “I’m still getting over the fact that Jerry can shapeshift, kinda like a changeling,” she said mockingly, to which Jerry winced.

             The edge of Andromeda’s lips twitched upward. Ferrum clasped a hand on both their shoulders.

             “Now that that’s over with, let’s go see what Twilight’s up to,” he declared.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

             Twilight was having a bad day. After both Ferrum and Rainbow Dash disappeared to Luna-knows-where, she had had a long talk with the captain, who had warned her of the impending tempest. She had cast several spells around the ship, but for once in her life she didn’t have the necessary knowledge. Something she planned to rectify when she got home.

Twilight frowned. She had never explained to Ferrum or Rainbow Dash the reason she wanted the two of them to return to Equestria after four years of exile. She waved off the thought, deciding to reveal her reasoning at the earliest opportune moment.

             When the storm hit, the whole boat threatened to shake apart from the sheer force of the waves crashing against the hull, despite Twilight’s efforts to keep the boat together. The captain steered the vessel through the breakers, years of experience combined with an insane amount of luck keeping the boat from going under.

             It was at this time that the four travelers returned from Tartarus. Twilight wasn’t surprised at the fact that Ferrum had a Dimensional Gate, just by the action of four figures covered in frost coming out of a duffel bag. Ferrum flew above the deck, refusing to place a single hoof upon the rocking frame. Everypony else clutched the rails, desperate to keep themselves on deck. Everypony except Jerry, who was standing valiantly on the prow, arms spread wide, shouting,” I’M THE KING OF THE WORLD!” much to his companion’s chagrin. Salt water drenched everyone, leaving behind a biting cold and, well, salty taste in everyone’s mouth.

             “I’m gonna go up and see if I can’t calm this storm a bit!” Ferrum shouted over the roaring wind.

             “What?!” Rainbow exclaimed.

             “No way! It’s too dangerous!” agreed Twilight. Andromeda had inherited her father’s inability to keep cool on a moving vehicle, and any argument she might have had was drowned out by her projectile-vomiting the contents of her stomach overboard.

“If I don’t, the ship will be ripped apart!”

             Ferrum ignored the protests of his companions and hurled himself into the storm. His black form vanished in the torrent of rain that had sprung from the blackened sky.

             “FERRUM!” called Rainbow Dash, but no response was heard.

             “Dammit. Andromeda!” Andromeda had followed her father’s example and had taken off, hovering above the deck the deck to keep herself from hurling, but she now turned to the soaked Rainbow Dash.

             “We need to help Ferrum!” Rainbow yelled above the storm. Andromeda nodded in agreement and extended a hand. Rainbow took it firmly, then suddenly realized that she had almost passed out last time. The same, thankfully, did not occur, but was replaced by a blinding blue light coming from Andromeda, forcing everypony to look away. When the light faded, Rainbow Dash looked back, and where Andromeda had been, Rainbow grasped the hilt of an azure blade firmly in her right hand. She nodded to herself, then moved to leap overboard.

             Before she could launch herself overboard, she was enveloped in a purple aura. She couldn’t move, again. This seems to be a recurring theme with you stated Andromeda. Twilight crawled into Rainbow’s view, wings hanging limply at her sides, horn glowing violet in the gloom.

             “I can’t let you do that!” shouted Twilight. Rainbow glared daggers at her old friend, unwilling to give up on Ferrum.

             “Not without a little more help!” The glow move to Rainbow’s wings, and sank into the cyan feathers. As the magic was soaked in, the water was expelled, leaving Rainbow’s wings completely dry despite the torrential rain. A massive tingling, similar to the feeling caused a limb had fallen asleep, erupted in Rainbow’s left wing as bones knitted back together. Rainbow nodded in thanks, blushing at her almost suicidal action, then leaped overboard, Andromeda in tow.

             Even with her sharp eyes, it was nearly impossible to see anything in the storm. Following an old instinct, Rainbow launched herself in the direction she assumed was up. Her massive acceleration, augmented by Andromeda, created a Sonic Rainboom in her wake, illuminating the sea around her in glorious light. Two in one day. Oh joy commented Andromeda dryly. Rainbow ignored her, instead pointing the tip of the blade toward the solid cloud-cover above her. She slammed into the cloud, punching a hole through the storm. She hovered above the cloud, relishing the warmth of the glowing sun above her.

             She looked around and frowned. Where is Ferrum? wondered Rainbow, to which Andromeda replied Most likely still fighting the storm. Rainbow gazed around the mass of clouds, which, upon close inspection, were peppered with holes. No doubt Ferrum’s doing Rainbow thought reproachfully. Maybe he doesn't need my help after all... She made a move to dive back to the boat, but froze in the motion. A dart of black in the clouds had caught her attention.

             “Hey!” Rainbow exclaimed, seeing Ferrum’s unmistakable obsidian fur in the sea of gray. She charged towards Ferrum, who had disappeared into a massive cloud, punching a hole as he went. RAINBOW, STOP! Andromeda screamed in Rainbow’s head. Rainbow stopped in her dive, looking reproachfully at the sword in her right hand.

             “What’s the big idea?! Ferrum’s right there, and-”

Don’t you recognize that sensation in air? Rainbow paused. She did indeed recognize the feeling, the charge of static in the air.

Oh no, Ferrum!

She charged toward the massive cloud again, but she was too late. The cloud lit up as it discharged, releasing hundreds of volts in a bolt of pure energy down toward the raging sea below, as well as electrocuting anything that had been within the cloud at the time.

             Rainbow’s vision clouded with tears.

             “No, no, it can’t be, he can’t…”

Rainbow…

             “DAMMIT, FERRUM!” Grief and rage tore through Rainbow’s mind, blocking out all rational thought. She dove down blindly, unwilling to believe it to be true. Something in her mind snapped, issuing an order for her body to shut down immediately for repairs. As she blacked out, falling towards the clouds below, only one thought came to Rainbow Dash.

Ferrum is dead.