The air hung unnaturally thick as Rainbow Dash slowly made her way down the cramped corridor. The lights flickered and jets of boiling fumes streamed out of ruptured pipes. Occasionally she’d catch her wing on a loose electrical cable or hot piping and she’d let a curse out under her breath. This only added to her pain; the limp she’d developed when she was fleeing from that thing had only gotten worse – what she initially thought was just a sprain must have been more. Perhaps a torn tendon.
She grimaced as it flared up once more, rendering her to a slow shuffle. Every time she placed weight on her left hind leg, she hissed. Tears streamed down her face as the pain became yet more unbearable, but she knew she’d have to keep going. Stopping would be suicide; turning back would spell certain death.
“No, it wouldn’t.”
Rainbow Dash yelped as she heard the voice, spinning around quickly. “Who-who said that? Come on, show yourself!...”
The voice began to laugh. “Woah. The brave, heroic Rainbow Dash, reduced to a nervous wreck. What happened to you?”
She snorted. “Let’s see... A bust hoof, one wing almost definitely broken, and countless bruises and cuts. Aside that I’m fine.”
“That’s better,” the voice called in response. “More like it! You’re still on-edge, though. Why is that?”
“Are you crazy? I’ve been stuck in here for Celestia-knows-how-long, have come close to death at least twice, seen and heard things that nopony should ever have to see or hear, and now some omnipotent voice is harassing me. There are a lot of reasons why I’m on-edge right now.”
“Hmm... Yeah, that’s a good point. Well in that case I’ll keep this short and sweet: turn around. This corridor only leads to the secondary reactor and although that one hasn’t suffered a meltdown, the hordes of things that are currently nesting and crawling all over it would probably result in a far worse death than radiation poisoning. Trust me on that one.”
Rainbow blanched. Suddenly she felt very sick at the thought of more creatures...
“Yeah... The things I’m referring to are pretty much the same sorta thing that tried to make friends with you earlier—“
“Will you stop joking around?! My life is on the line here, I can’t get back to my friends, I don’t know how to get out of here, or get home, or anything, and the last thing I need is for you to show up now and piss me off!”
There was silence as Rainbow’s yell echoed down the corridor.
The thick air hung too thick, the lights flickered before going out; the boiling gasses continued to hiss from their ruptured pipelines.
And a horrific scuttling began to emanate from far down the hall, in the murky black.
“Oh good job,” the voice mocked. “You've done it now! They've heard you, all the way up here, and by the sounds of it they’re coming to get you – let me see... Yep. There’s, ah, one or two. Hundred.”
Rainbow felt her knees go weak and her head pound.
No...
“Time to run.”
She didn't need telling twice, even if by a detached voice. She turned and, galloping as quickly as she could back down the way she’d come, she ran. Her hind leg went numb with pain and she could almost feel the tendon ripping itself apart. She had no time to avoid the boiling steam jets from ruptured pipes; she charged head first through them, scalding her face. It was pure hell. But she knew that the throngs of unnatural beasts behind her were far worse than anything she was suffering right now.
She kept charging headlong through the narrow passageway. She had been able to pick up some speed which she desperately needed – she heard the scuttling and it was coming ever closer. And those throaty bellows. The screeches that made her bones shake and her brain hurt. Those were sounds that no good soul should ever have to hear ever.
Right now, she heard hundreds of throaty bellows and thousands of spindly legs scratching against bare metal.
She heard them, and they were closing the distance.
“Just... a little... more... Aaaaah!”
When she could take no more she leapt, throwing herself fifteen feet down the corridor. Her skills as a flier paid off; her leap sent her flying through the doorway and as she landed she instantly spun round. Using all her might she closed the absurdly heavy blast door. It clicked shut and she latched it, pressing her entire weight against it as soon as she could.
She heard them coming; she braced for impact.
She drew a breath and held it.
Any minute now...
...
...
But the impact didn’t come. The crashing of the swarm into the heavy steel door didn’t happen. Had – had the things stopped on the other side?
Not willing to take any chances, Rainbow turned and limped down this new hall. If she remembered correctly, there was a small stores cupboard halfway down on the left and true enough, her memory served well. She hopped inside, slowly but purposefully closing its door. As soon as it was done, she turned and tried the light switch – they flickered, but they came on dimly.
She took in her surroundings. There was nothing extraordinary here; brooms, mops, locked cabinets and a whole range of tools. What she did notice – and something that she was thankful for – was a grate in the top corner of the cupboard. She could make her escape through the air conditioning system. Wasting no time, Rainbow pulled the grate off and hauled herself into the shaft.
The air condition system was, oddly, still cold despite the relative heat of the passageways. Rainbow allowed herself a moment’s rest in the relaxing stillness, soothing her aches and burns against the cold metal. She closed her eyes for a brief moment.
“Bad move...”
She almost didn’t recognise the voice had returned to mock her; she picked it up, but it remained in the background. For Dash was preoccupied with memories of her happiest moments, surrounded by her dearest friends, which had chosen to come flooding back to her at the most inappropriate moment. She could see them all, smiling, laughing, enjoying themselves.
It all seemed so real, and even for the ever-headstrong Rainbow Dash, it was all too much. Today was not meant to end up like this, not at all. Today was meant to be a normal, routine trip, and then she’d be able to leave and see Twilight and Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie and Rarity and Applejack and Tank and, and—
And she began to cry. She had finally broken.
“Uhh...”
She heeded no notice; the only sound that filled her ears were her own sobs.
So – so this is how it all ends...?
“Oh will you snap out of it?!”
It certainly did the trick, the frustration of the detached voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She drew a sharp breath and looked up as it continued.
“This is not the Rainbow Dash I know. Not at all. Get a grip, girl!”
“I – I’m sorry, it’s just—“
“No, no excuses. Come on, get to your hooves.” There was a pause. “Look,” the voice continued, taking on a caring tone. “I know this is hard for you, I really do. But you need to keep going. You can do this... For what it’s worth, I believe in you.”
Rainbow felt a small smile take hold. “Thanks,” she uttered, her voice cracking. Slowly, she stood up – the ventilation shaft was big enough to allow her to do so here.
“Hey, uh – before I go on... Who are you?”
“Who am I? No, that’s not the right question. You should be asking, what am I.”
She sniffled. “Uh... Well, what are you—“
“No time to answer, you’d better get going. The hive is crawling again and they’re tracking you. Feeling good?”
“...Yeah, I think so.”
“Good. Now go. You’ll find the right way.”
She’d trusted the voice before and she trusted it again; she purposefully headed through the shafts. The brief rest had made her realise just how sore her hind leg had become so the best she could manage was a determined hobble – but it was progress. Rainbow was thankful for the pick-me-up the voice had offered her, and she felt a lot more confident for it. She began to feel more... herself.
~ ~ ~ ~
Rainbow Dash had been navigating the ventilation system for what felt like hours, and had little to show for it. Fortunately, she knew she wasn’t going in circles or back-tracking; she didn’t recognise any parts of the shaft she was passing. Not that they were particularly featured, but she was able to pick up on a scratch here, or a dent there.
Her head continued to pound.
Click, click, click. She was listening to her own hooves against the metal shaft. It calmed her, it helped her to lose herself from the hell that seemed to be unravelling all around her. She was lucky, though – she’d not encountered any of those horrid creatures for a good while, and she felt okay. Apart from the period a little while back where she had vomited blood, but hey, a mare has to pull through, right? And where was that voice? She hadn’t showed up in a while, her oddly familiar tone easing the joints and giving me strength.
Oh Celestia, maybe I have been going in circles.
Oh Celestia.
~ ~ ~ ~
She lay there as still as she possibly could, drawing meaningful, steadying breaths. One harsh move now would be the end.
Rainbow had eventually come across a grate on the ventilation shaft. She’d noticed that the air had begun to hang unfeasibly thick once again and the temperature skyrocket, and then she’d noticed the grate.
And what was beneath it.
The shaft must have been attached to the ceiling of the cavernous, enormous room. Beneath her sprawled a never-ending sea of debris, and beneath the debris and damage, the reactor itself.
“Oh... Wow...”
The lid of the reactor had clearly blown clean off exposing the nuclear rods to the world and with it, the silent, deadly killer that would follow. Numerous floors of the building were now exposed having been blown open; the explosion must have been bigger than anyone had first anticipated.
And there, having made a makeshift home in amongst the debris, them. They were, quite simply put, disgusting. Insect-like, mindless drones, hovering about the place with those big, dead eyes. They moved in unnatural ways, the manner of which sent shivers down her spine. They were quick, far too quick for their size. Even the smaller ones looked to be the same size as she was.
Rainbow watched them go about their horrid business – they were appearing and disappearing here and there, building their cavernous nest. It looked as if they’d burrowed into the debris itself, creating a connection of tunnels. She did nothing but watch in horrified awe. And then she noticed something... off... Where did their tunnels lead? Why did they all seem to be hurriedly rushing into their hive? And how did so many of them fit in there?
It was then that she felt the gentle vibrations getting ever more forceful, shaking the entire structure. It built in intensity steadily and she could do nothing but hold onto the grate for all she was worth.
Without warning, the ventilation shaft gave way and the section that she was in began to fall – towards the hive.
Buck it—
The shaft slammed into the debris with a ferocious intensity, rolling and warping. Rainbow was thrown against the sides, feeling something break in the process. She hit her head a number of times and yet, once the shaft had settled, she hadn’t blacked out.
Coughing and hacking, she hauled herself up to her hooves and then she felt the blinding pain in her hind leg. It had finally given up; that was definitely a broken bone. Hissing, she powered on through and scrabbled out of the detached shaft section-
-only to come face-to-face with those things.
She panicked. Feeling her heart go into overdrive and her head thump, she spun round and just as she’d suspected, she was surrounded. She thought of flying, but her wings were too badly wounded to fly effectively. Even if she could take off, she’d be too slow. She’d never escape in time. She thought of fighting, but she was far too weak for that. She could hardly stand, let alone attack the hordes of drones licking their yellowed fangs. No, Rainbow was painfully aware that she could do no more. There were no ways out that would spare her life.
Certainly, this was it.
...
Oddly, the throngs of creatures hadn’t yet ripped her to shreds despite having her completely outgunned. Stunned by this curveball behaviour, Rainbow found herself unable to move. She remained perfectly still and just watched as the hive peeled back, opening a passageway towards a small neat hole drilled into the reactor, out of which came first a nauseating gas quickly followed by a horrid, viscous green slime. It splashed onto the debris with a hiss, dissolving both rubble and the steel of the reactor.
And then she noticed it. Two legs, slowly working their way through the now eroded hole on the reactor’s side. They scrabbled at the edges, breaking great pieces of brittle metal off with ease.
The hole was widening – something was forcing its own escape.
Rainbow found herself unable to move. She remained perfectly still and just watched as a creature came tumbling out of the nuclear aperture, itself covered in the toxic slime. She watched as it dragged itself to its feet, slowly, awkwardly. She watched with widening eyes as the creature shook its head violently from side to side, removing the effluvium from its own face, and she watched as it stared straight back at her.
This must have been the hive queen. Rainbow took her in; she was tall, much taller than herself. Like her drones she was severely deformed. A shudder ran down her spine as it was only then, now face-to-face with these unholy monstrosities, that she was able to draw the similarities between these creatures and... ponies...
The queen was moving towards her and completely uncharacteristically, she was doing nothing to aid an escape or fight back. She had accepted that attempting either would definitely mean death, whereas playing it out probably meant death. Despite this, her heart raced and she felt a bead of sweat roll down her forehead.
It took a lot for Rainbow Dash to admit she was terrified, but if anypony ever asked her what raw terror felt like, she would look back on this moment. Yes, she would be able to tell them.
It was all made that much worse when the queen spoke.
“The love here... It supports us no longer. We are too far developed for this species’ love. We seek a more powerful host-species...”
The queen was now inches from Rainbow who just stared. She couldn’t fight, she couldn’t run, but she could hold eye contact. In any other situation she’d fire a tirade of retorts right back. But this... No, not now.
“Not now, Rainbow,” the voice echoed. “Play it cool.”
The queen placed her own head in front of Rainbow’s, having to lean down. The horrid creature closed her own eyes, feeling Rainbow’s very presence before abruptly recoiling with a crooked smile. “Yes,” the queen hissed. “You have much love. You have much... power.”
In an instant, the queen had bitten off a portion of Rainbow’s coat, eliciting a cry of pain. She noticed the horde had become restless, their wings buzzing unnaturally. They growled and hissed.
They could feel her pain, her terror. And they liked it.
“This is enough, we can work with this,” the queen uttered. She stood at her tallest height. “The hive has done well, drawing this specimen here” she called out to her legions of drones, pointing a deformed hoof in Rainbow’s direction. “Go, and feast on the human corpses you have harvested. They should have decomposed enough by now; they have been dead for some time—“
The roars of cheer from the hive had masked the sound somewhat, but the groaning of the reactor behind them had grown too loud. All fell silent as their attention was directed towards the great steel form marked up as четвертого реактора. Steadily, the groan became a roar. It began to shake the entire superstructure of the facility, disturbing the debris and knocking numerous beasts off of their feet. Rainbow herself braced against the force, hissing as her smashed leg took her weight.
The birth of the queen had destabilised the reactor yet again. It was set to blow a second time.
“Now, Rainbow Dash.”
The voice issued a simple command and she knew what it had meant. Through the distracting cacophony, she turned, and began to run. There was a partially collapsed doorway just fifty metres away. She could make it. None of the creatures noticed her; they were enthralled by the dying machine.
I’m going to make it—
And then, a dark green aura. She felt herself being lifted from the path, her legs scrabbling in mid-air. Knowing exactly what had just happened, Rainbow drew a sharp breath, and felt physically sick.
They... Oh, Celestia...They can control magic...
It was only then that she noticed the reactor had stopped screaming.
Feeling herself turn slowly, she prepared for the worst. The sight that met her filled her with a hollow, corrosive dread.
The entire hive, no longer distracted by the reactor’s tantrum, was staring coldly at her – including the queen, who had grabbed Rainbow in her magical influence.
“We’re done with you,” she barked callously. “The hive has its sample. We can now bridge the two worlds.” A horrid grin filled the queen’s face as Rainbow felt herself being slammed into the ground.
“We will leave her here, to die,” Rainbow heard the queen call, through her semi-consciousness. “Now, my drones. Let us begin the process—“
At that moment the most deafening noise Rainbow had ever heard tore through the facility. Her ears rang intensely and she was thrown violently against a wall, something else shattering in the process. She couldn’t see; there was a blinding light. The intense noise made her skull vibrate and she clamped her eyes firmly shut. She felt sick. She felt lifeless. That was it.
The reactor had finally blown again.
Am I dead?
The question rang all too loudly in her mind, and she noticed the lack of sound. There was nothing. Pure silence. But this was no deafening silence; it was peaceful, relaxing like nothing she’d ever known. Keeping her eyes closed she relaxed all of her muscles and it was at that point she realised she was floating. Or, at least, that was the sensation she was experiencing. Confused, she opened her eyes and what she saw was like nothing else.
All was white, the light itself swirling. She could just make out the forms of hundreds of the creatures tumbling around her amongst the sporadic clumps of debris. Many were dead, limbs and heads ripped from torsos. However, many more were clearly alive but they too just floated. They made no efforts to move – notably, they made no efforts to tear her apart. They just let themselves tumble.
What is all this...
Rainbow was suddenly very aware that she was also tumbling, head-over-tail. No longer was this passage peaceful. Her head went from a light throb to an intense pounding. It was as if her temples were trying to force themselves from her head. From the silence came a harsh wind, from nowhere. It screamed at her. And then she heard the hive coming to life. The horrid buzz of their wings. Their putrid cries. Their throaty gargles. And then their queen, ordering loudly an invasion, a full-scale assault on the pastel land before them, filled with bright colours and ‘the Rainbow one’s kin’ and ‘easy pickings’ and ‘a royal feast’—
“And that was the last thing I ever heard,” Rainbow Dash finished.
There was stunned silence in the Golden Oak Library as the five other mares gawped at Rainbow until finally, the silence was broken.
“That... was... AMAZING!” Pinkie Pie leapt up as she announced her joy, nearly knocking over one of the many candles lighting the room.
“Careful!” Twilight called out, quickly steadying it. “Well, Rainbow... That was quite the horror story!” There was a pause. “I, err... It was quite grim don’t you think?”
“Well, you guys know me,” she replied. “I don’t do half-measures. If you’re gonna tell a horror story, make it horrible.” She smirked.
“I’m just glad the young’uns ain’t here,” Applejack added. “Bless ‘em, they’d be havin’ nightmares for days. Heck, sent a chill down mah back, that’s for sure!...”
“Heh, yeah...” Rainbow Dash trailed off, reaching over to take a swig from her cider. “So, who’s turn was it next? Fluttershy, you got any scary stories for us?”
“ireallydontwantto” was all the five friends heard, from behind Fluttershy’s mane.
“I think that perhaps we’ve had enough tales for now,” Rarity chimed in. “Girls! I really should point out the time to you all... Now, I don’t know about you, but I certainly would like to get ready for Pinkie’s party tonight.”
The friends agreed with Rarity’s sentiments and with that, the Mane Six’s afternoon of horror stories came to a close. As they headed outside the sun was just dropping over the horizon, announcing the immediate arrival of Luna’s night – of Nightmare Night. The six friends bade one another farewell as they went their separate ways, ready to meet up shortly again and enjoy tonight’s celebrations.
“Hey Dashie, want to walk back with me?”
Rainbow sighed. “Pinkie, when do I ever walk anywhere?... But, actually, yeah. I think I could use a walk.” She fell into line, trotting next to Pinkie.
“After telling a story like that I’ll bet you do! Is it even safe for you to fly right now?”
“Heh, ah... Probably not.”
The pair walked in silence for quite some way before Pinkie spoke up.
“Soooo... Do – do the others know?”
Rainbow broke into a sweat. “No. We need to keep it that way, okay? Nopony’s allowed to know.”
“’Cept me, of course!” Pinkie giggled. “Being able to jump can be fun sometimes. I mean, it’s not all fun and games... I’ve seen some weird things...some nasty things. BUT there is something super-cool about knowing a state secret. Makes me feel like a spy. Do you feel like a spy, Dashie?”
“I feel like I’m really glad about my therapy session on Friday,” she barked, a little more harshly than she’d have liked. “Look, Pinkie, I really kinda don’t want to talk about it too much right now.” Rainbow sighed. “You’re... You’re a lot stronger at dealing with this sorta thing than I am. You make these jumps all the time! Remember how you chased that donkey over Equestria? You jumped loads of times for that!”
“Well duh, of course I did! But—“
“You remember the first time you made the jump to a different universe? How many days were you in therapy for?”
“...I tend not think about it,” Pinkie replied quietly, her puffy mane beginning to lose its shape. The pair had stopped in one of the greener spaces in Ponyville, no other ponies in sight.
“Exactly. It’s... hard going. But I’ll be okay,” Rainbow smiled. “And don’t you get caught up in the past, okay? Otherwise I’ll have to burst into your room and stop you from having another tea party with turnips and rocks...”
“Yeeahh...” Pinkie let the sentiment ring out as the two took a brief moment and sat in silence. “Hey, Dashie?”
“Yeah?”
“How did you make the jump?”
“... I have no idea. It just, sorta, happened.” There was a pause. “How do you make your jumps?”
Pinkie giggled as she stood up. “I’ll tell you later. See you at the party!” And with that she bounced away towards Sugar Cube Corner, no doubt making the final preparations for tonight.
Now alone once more, Rainbow floated idly towards the nearest cloud she could find and lay down on it, closing her eyes. She had time for a quick nap before the party; she needed it. As she drifted off to sleep, her mind was filled with thoughts of the fun she’d have tonight, challenging Applejack to shot races and laughing the night away with her friends.
“In no way was her mind full of thoughts about her therapy session on Friday or the signing of the agreement with Princess Celestia that bound her to secrecy. In no way did she recall the panic that struck Celestia and Luna when Rainbow recounted what happened and what was yet to come. She didn’t even dwell on the long month spent in intensive care when she was found on the border of Tartarus, physically crippled and suffering from radiation poisoning. She avoided thinking about the physical and mental therapy that she would take for the rest of her life to keep her from going insane and nurse her back to her physical peak.
“And she certainly didn’t think about that voice that rang far too clearly in her mind, did she?”
