Into the Mouth of Hell

Rainbow Dash awoke at the harsh sounding of a whistle.

“Privates, you have ninety seconds to line up fully equipped for battle!” The Commander shouted gruffly, a return to his usual self, different from the side Rainbow had seen last night.

Rainbow put on her silver armour and black Omega cape as fast as she could. Thankfully, the armour was not so heavy, being built for pegasi after all, so this task was not so difficult. After doing this, she took the kopis blade lying beside her pillow in her hoof, the sun glancing off the edge as it escaped the shadow of the bunk above (which Onyx had already vacated) and put her saddlebags over her back, not bothering to fill them with anything for now though.

Before Rainbow could line up with the rest of the platoon however, she opened her locker briefly, and removed the necklace of Loyalty.

Rainbow placed the necklace around her neck, the red lightning bolt shimmering brightly in the rising sun that was peeking through the windows. She had no time to stand around admiring it however, and quickly got in line.

“Well privates! Despite insisting to the Princess that training go on for the required amount of months, she insisted that it needs to be cut to get you into battle!”

Some of the pegasi grinned, Rusty Chop among them, glad to be getting into the action. It came as a surprise when the Commander suddenly went up in his face.

“Don’t get your hopes up! To make up for those three lost months, you’ll all be going through a test that may be the most important of all, to survive and endure!”

There was a silence, quickly broken by Onyx.

"Sir!"

“Yes, Private Scarlett?”

“What exactly do you mean, sir?” She tried to keep her tone military.

Commander Hurricane grinned, and stepped back.

“Well this examination would just test survival and endurance; it will test another important skill, one that will prove invaluable.

Adapting to surprise.”

Rainbow only saw a flash of gold, and then no more.

***

Wet earth.

That was what Rainbow Dash felt as she lay on her back, eyes closed, and only just regaining consciousness. The air was sticky and humid, quite different from the crisp air of high altitudes, or indeed anything Rainbow had experienced.

Opening her eyes she saw a blur of green and brown all around her. Focusing, she saw she was surrounded by exotic foliage, some of which very colourful; shining red flowers and dull mossy vines, Venus Fly traps and purple-petaled orchids. The place made the Everfree forest look like Whitetail wood.

Moving her head up, she saw the sky, a clear blue, not a cloud in sight.

Well, I guess I can see where I am, Rainbow thought, picking herself up from the sticky mud of the clearing, waterlogged dirt sticking to her mane. She was no Rarity, but this just felt wrong on so many levels.

Rainbow Dash opened her wings…or rather, tried to open her wings to reveal they would not, as if an invisible force was sticking them to her sides. She couldn’t even feel them, and for a second she panicked, thinking she would not fly again, and then she remembered what the Commander had said.

“Adapting to surprise.”

This is all part of the game, Rainbow realized, as she sat down again, not caring so much about the mud getting on her flank.

And a pretty cruel one.

Rainbow scowled, her greatest asset in life being taken away did not go well with her, but then Rainbow realized something, looking down at the now mud-splattered loyalty necklace.

Am I seriously going to die out here whining about my wings?!

Standing up, Rainbow looked around the clearing, she was looking for a good tree, and quickly saw one, or perhaps two winded together to create what could possibly be most complicated tree in the world, nooks as common as the lines in the bark.

Climbing trees may have been an old habit of filly Rainbow Dash, but she hadn’t done it since she had learned how to fly. Clinging to the bark, Rainbow was just glad that she, like most pegasi, had grown up used to heights.

Reaching the canopy, Rainbow looked over the blanket of green foliage to see that Rainforest covered the landscape to the horizon. She nearly groaned, it didn’t help the birds of the forest where creating a cacophony of loud noise in the high trees, but then she looked in a few more directions and noticed it wasn’t all dark green.

In one direction she saw tall mountains piercing the duvet of leaves, but they looked even more inhospitable than the humid forest. However, in another direction she saw breaks in the trees, a glimpse of light green grass plains. Looking at the sun, she could tell this paradise of sorts was due North, if she had learned anything from Junior Speedsters camp. It was far, but it was where she had to go.

After a rather awkward climbing down of the tree, in which far more branches broke than she would have liked, Rainbow picked up her sword from the clearing in her mouth and started to run, remembering to always have the setting sun on her left. Even if it was a useful notification of direction, Rainbow was anxious about the sun going down. She didn’t expect the rainforest to be so kind at nightfall, but there was no choice now.

“Survive and endure.”

***

“Security increase in Canterlot…Steel Watch Industry’s shares at all time high…Sapphire Shore’s latest album…”

Twlight Sparkle set down the Equestrian Inquirer with her magic neatly on the pile of papers that was now accumulating.

“I told you! Nothing on the war! Doesn’t that seem a tad suspicious?” Spike said from the stairs, voice tinted with both a mild anger and pride that he was ‘on to something.’

“You have a point Spik-wait! Found something!”

Spike nearly choked on his forked tongue. “What?”

“Victory in Toothless Valley! But…wait…”

Twilight tossed the paper aside.

“Waffle journalism at its best right there…” Twilight looked back at Spike.

“Hm, guess I am ri-OOF!”

Twilight had decided to telekinetically transport Spike to her so he was hovering above her head, upside down.

“Yes Spike, and now we have to find out why!”

Dropping Spike, he landed with little injury. Rubbing his scaly purple head he stood up.

“I guess so, what’s got you so worked up all of a sudden anyway?”

“Because Spike, if this is what I think it is, it can’t be Princess Celestia. I mean really? Celestia? Censorship? This whole war? It’s all adding up Spike!” Twilight started to trot towards a round mirror, the wooden edges lavender as herself. The mirror seemed to sparkle, as if magical.

“Um, Twilight, is this really the time to be looking at yourself?” Spike questioned.

“Spike, don’t you remember? I enchanted it, and it should give us a direct link with…”

Shining Armor poked into view, docked in full armor, helmet and all. He looked tired, the bags under his eyes showing.

“Hey, Twily! You called?” Shining Armor was still bashful, if not his usual self.

Twilight smiled. “Hey big brother,” She replied. She was glad to see him again, even if through the looking glass.

Shining saw right through the smile though, and went straight to the point. “You’re calling me about something else, aren’t you?”

Twilight sighed. “I just want to know what’s going on. The Newspapers are being awfully vague and I thought as y’know, Captain of the Royal Guard, you might know something about the war right now,” Twilight gave a grin, expecting a good answer.

Shining gave her a look that said the opposite. “Twilight, I’m not on the line here, if you really want to know about the war you should go ask Commander Thunderstorm or General Thora, or even Archmage Solarius, even if he scares the crap out of me.”

Twilight recognized the names; Thunderstorm, leader of the Pegasi; Thora, leader of the Royal Equestrian Army; and Solarius, leader of the unicorns and their special forces. She had never met the first two, but Solarius was an old teacher at Celestia’s school for Gifted Unicorns. He never was the kindest soul.

Twilight still couldn’t help but let a laugh at his brother’s fear.

“What?” he replied, awkwardly smirking. “He’s dictionary creepy.”

“Well what’s up with you then?” Twilight asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Well,” Shining started. “It’s tough times. We’re being pretty overworked; it’s hard to keep up with the patrol schedules we’re being given now.”

Shining looked back. “If only marrying into the Royal family got you a pair of wings…”

“How is Cadence?”

“Oh she’s been great, though we’re both a bit worried about what my next orders might be.”

“Why?”

“Twilight, they’ll want some of the Royal Guard on the front line. I don’t doubt my second-in-command; he’ll do a good job defending the city, but…” Shining closed his eyes.

“I don’t know Twilight, even if it’s ceremonial and we won’t exactly be doing suicide missions…I’m scared.”

Twilight put a hoof on the mirror. Useless, but a meaningful gesture none-the-less.

“If anyone can pull through it’s you, B.B.B.F.F.”

Shining sniggered slightly at the use of their wordy acronym, but returned a caring smile.

“I hope so.”

Twilight thought for a minute. “Oh, and Rainbow Dash is out there, heard she got into Omega as well!”

“Oh yeah, Sonic Rainboom mare, how could I forget?” Shining’s more cocky side returned in his voice.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Well maybe you’ll have a familiar face out there.”

Twilight couldn’t help but notice how tired she felt. Too much time spent reading small print, she thought, giving the pile of newspapers a glare.

“Listen brother, I can’t stay awake much longer.”

“To be honest I’m feeling about the same…” Shining said, letting off a yawn.

It wasn’t long until Twilight yawned, then Spike.

“Careful Shining! Those are Contagious!” Spike responded, half way between joking and anger.

Shining laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind, little dragon. Anyway, I need to go, my shift’s ending and I can’t keep Cadence waiting.”

Twilight smiled. “Goodnight, love you, Shining.”

“Love ya too, Twlight.”

The mirror rippled the image of Shining Armor gone.

There was a hoot as Owlywicious escaped into the night out the window, going hunting after just waking up. Twilight looked up at the sky as the Owl’s silhouette blocked out the shine of Luna’s moon.

Twilight wondered if she would ever see her big brother again.

***

The sky was black. The ground was black. The trees were black, the leaves were black. The bark was black. Rainbow Dash looked at her blade, it was black, so was the hoof carrying it.

The night had fallen, and now Rainbow Dash was carefully trotting forward, using her sword to tell if there were obstacles in front of her. So far it had only been trees and rocks blocking her way, but every chink that indicated her blade had touched something drove fear into her heart, something she would rarely admit feeling.

A fear of losing direction, getting lost in the pitch black darkness of the forest, never being able to carry out her duty, or see her friends again. That is what she felt as she squelched along in the black mud under her black hooves.

She wondered if the other pegasi were in the same situation. She suddenly had an image of Onyx moving along a pitch black background that hid all the horrors of the night.

I hope she’s okay, Rainbow thought for a second. But then again, I’m not. I’m walking in a straight line in pitch black, feeling around, scared shitless of whatever might come out of the bushes. Hardly my definition of okay, and if she’s in the same position I doubt she’s…okay, either. Doesn’t she have a thing about dirt anyway?

Rainbow Dash tried to recall the conversation but couldn’t. It was becoming hard to think, not out of fear, not out of the concentration required to walk in a straight line in such a complicated jungle, but because of the stupendously loud din that was being created by the creatures around her. Chirps, growls, snorts, tweets, roars, caws, hoots, all kinds of noises. The horrors of the night may have been hidden, but Rainbow could hear them all around her.

And it wasn’t long until a particularly loud noise startled her so much she ended up tripping over a root, falling face first in a muddy puddle, which might as well have been oil in the darkness.

Exhausted, confused, scared, half her face submerged in mud; for the first time in years, Rainbow Dash felt like giving up.

But…I…can’t…stop.

Think about them, they need you, all of Equestria needs you, the commander needs you, your friends need you, what would they think if they saw you now Rainbow Dash, Huh?

The red lightning bolt around her neck glowed dimly, making Rainbow stand up in shear surprise. The crimson light was hardly illuminating the forest, but at least allowed her to see a few feet in front of her.

Rainbow picked up her sword in her mouth now she did not have to use it as a feeling-around stick, which made her feel safer. A blade is after all, better aimed if held in the mouth, and not the hoof, which makes movement difficult.

The peace was short. Rainbow Dash heard the noise which had made her fall over again. This time louder, directly in front of her. The red glow of the Loyalty necklace reflected off two golden eyes peering from the veil of black.

Dash primed her sword in her mouth, and began to charge forward. The creature roared and Rainbow caught a glimpse of it: stripes adorning its thick fur, fangs dripping in saliva.

She jumped as she charged along the tiger’s left, her sword held to face the right. The blade slashed along the big cat’s body, making it let out a cry of pain. Rainbow Dash did not immediately look back to see the damage, she already could feel the hot, sticky blood of the tiger covering her right side.

When she did turn back, the feline was limping and missing an eye, red spilling over its face; but it had turned around, ready for more. Before Rainbow could react, she felt the air leave her chest. For a moment she flew, then she hit the ground hard.

The tiger’s claws had left scratches on her belly, but it was the bruise and the ache that prevented Rainbow from standing up. Suddenly, her armour and empty saddlebags seemed so much heavier.

The kopis blade lay just inches away, the blood on the sword mixing with the muddy water of the ground until you could not tell which was which in the red light. Rainbow Dash reached for it, trying to ignore the sound of heavy paws plodding through the dirt and undergrowth, but it was coming closer.

The tiger had earned this meal, and even if he could only see it with one eye, the sight of the downed pony made him proud. He now stood over the mare, his saliva dripping down on her face.

“Not…today!”

Rainbow Dash swung the sword up, the blade piercing through the skull of the cat, becoming lodged in its brain. The tiger fell to the ground, but made no sound. At least no sound that Dash could hear. Everything seemed quiet again; all was well as her vision drifted into darkness.

***

The crowds cheered in approval, as Rainbow Dash stood in the middle of the Cloudsdale stadium. Their applause made Rainbow feel strong, she soaked it in, letting her pride grow. In the audience she saw Commander Thunderstorm, smiling warmly, an odd sight. Princess Celestia stood in the stands, also smiling, proud of her most loyal heroine of Equestria.

Rainbow Dash then looked down to be greeted by a different sight. Below her she saw a tiger looking up at her, pain in its eyes, blood gushing from its wounds, soaking Rainbow Dash’s hooves. The cat’s eyes said one word.

Why?

***

Celestia’s sun could barely be seen through the thick cover of the forest, but as Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes, she could see light coming from the east through the trees.

Picking herself up, she couldn’t help but notice how wet the ground was, then she looked around.

“Messy…” she couldn’t help but say aloud.

She was thick in the rainforest, and looking around, she was surprised she did not have to dodge more trees in the darkness of the night, but it was the blood that formed an inch high puddle across the area that surprised her. In the saturated muck, very little had soaked into the ground, and the corpse of the tiger dominated the area, a thick, nearly disembowelling cut along its side where Rainbow’s blade had first struck, and of course, the head. It almost seemed there was little left of it. Her sword still stuck out of the skull.

Rainbow Dash cringed as she pulled the sword out of the tiger’s skull with her mouth; bone fragments, pieces of brain and a steady flow of blood coming out with it.

“Ugh.”

She noticed a stream going through the area and took quite a few gulps of water; trying to ignore the fact the liquid was red-tinted. It wasn’t long until she started to trek through the forest again, in the same direction as always: North.

She tried to ignore the pain in her legs, the stains in her fur and the blood, brains and mud dripping from her sword. She had to push on, just as she had before. The forest seemed thicker, even if by all logic it should be thinning out, Rainbow had to push away more vines and slice through more plants.

Hours of trekking through the forest had made the colourful flowers and fruit seem boring. Rainbow thought about how much Zecora would probably love this place. She betted all of these plants could be used in some kind of potion, but for her, they were obstructions. Obstructions blocking what she had to do.

It had taken her the entire day to finally hear something outside what could be considered normal in this forest. The foliage was rustling, one movement after another; the crunch of leaves and squelching of mud indicating footsteps of some kind.

More...

Rainbow stooped low to the ground, sneaking around the trees, darting between them, trying not to make a sound against the leaves, which was difficult when she was without her wing power. As she clung to the tree trunk she prepared her sword. She could hear the creatures coming this way.

CRACK!

They had arrived, Rainbow Dash lunged out from behind the tree, with the sword, holding the blade to the neck of-

“BY CELESTIA!”

Onyx Scarlett cried out, Rainbow Dash’s blade against her neck. It took a second for Dash to calm down; she lowered the blade, still breathing heavily.

Onyx looked nearly as Rainbow remembered her, albeit far more flustered, sticks filling her mane. Rainbow noticed her saddlebags were filled with the colourful fruits of the forest. Her omega cape still looked somewhat well kept, just muddy at the sides, Rainbow hadn’t even bothered looking at hers but she imagined it wasn’t exactly in peak condition.

“…Rainbow Dash? Is that...what happened to you?” Onyx looked shocked.

“What?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help notice how hoarse her voice was. “Am I that bad?”

“Um, Bleue? You can come out now, it’s just Rainbow.”

Bleue Pearl seemingly dissolved into existence, his horn glowing a powder blue colour. Rainbow Dash seemed shocked at this, which prompted Onyx to talk.

“Oh, he can turn invisible.”

“It has its limits, Scarlett,” Bleue said flatly. Compared to Onyx and Rainbow he almost looked as if he had just stepped out of the base, no doubt a special ops unicorn can survive better in the forest than a grounded Pegasi.

“On the subject of spells Bleue, any chance you can show Rainbow what she looks like?” Onyx asked, glancing back at Rainbow Dash, who looked slightly confused.

Bleue simply nodded, and his horn glowed as it made part of the air in front of him reflective, like a floating, ethereal mirror. Rainbow Dash looked in and she was surprised by the mare she saw.

The mare in the mirror had bags under her eyes and a face covered in scratches. She was soaked in now drying blood, more on one side than the other. Her cape was ripped and soaked to the cores of every strand of fabric, and it was the same story for her empty saddlebags. The mare also had three long, still slightly bleeding scars on her belly, which was bruised heavily.

“Wow,” Rainbow said. “I look…badass!”

Onyx facehoofed.

“You look like you’ve been maimed by a bear.”

“Not too far from the truth,” Rainbow said as she sheathed her sword.

“I’d like to know at some point, I mean…what the hay? If somepony covered in blood jumps out from behind a tree with a sword to my neck-”

“Yeah, it’s…understandable,” Rainbow Dash gave an awkward smile.

Onyx simply stared back. “Have you eaten? You must be starving, come on, me and Bleue are just about to set up camp for the night.”

***

“You did WHAT?!” Onyx’s voice nearly broke.

“I drove my sword through its skull,” Rainbow Dash said, somewhat straight faced.

“And…you don’t have any problems with that?”

“Well, yeah but…” Rainbow stroked the back of her neck. “It hit me first, and besides we’ll be killing hordes of griffins soon.”

“Oh, um, yes, good point,” Onyx said hesitantly, looking back at the forest. They were in a clearing not so different from the one Rainbow found herself in when this had all started. Bleue had made a fire in the centre, and they were sitting around it, trying to keep warm. They were on guard though, Dash had her sword by her side, and Onyx was holding her rifle, which she seemed to prefer by her bedside compared to a blade or a spear.

“Bloody Hay though…I’ve got it easy. I just fell down a few ditches and eaten potentially poisonous fruit, and now I’ve found Bleue and well…”

Onyx looked at Bleue, who was now patrolling the clearing, horn glowing to light his way.

“This is barely a challenge for him it seems. Apparently he came voluntarily, wanted to know what the new lightning training scheme for pegasi was like, hmph.”

“Wonder where Rusty is?” Rainbow said, looking around.

“Probably lost, is it bad I don’t feel particularly saddened by this?” Onyx said dryly.

Rainbow snickered. “Well,” Rainbow yawned, and then Onyx yawned, and then Bleue yawned.

“Rainbow! Don’t you know those are contagious?” Bleue harshly whispered back.

Onyx let off a surprisingly feminine giggle. “He’s so serious. Surprised he isn’t getting a desk job, don’t you think Rainbow?”

Onyx saw the cyan pegasus had fallen asleep.

“Hmph, typical,” Onyx said dryly. Looking at Bleue again, he showed no signs of rest. Onyx sighed and lay down, looking up at the stars. It wasn’t like Trottingham, where the lights of the buildings and houses blotted out the sky, it was clear, every speck of light in the sky visible, the moon resting amongst them.

“Well, that’s something,” Onyx stated, before turning over and going to sleep.

***

The crowds cheered in support, Rainbow Dash enjoying every second of it. Celestia was coming out onto the stadium to present the Medal of Harmony. Rainbow was more than a mare, she was a symbol of everything that Equestria stood for; and yet, she looked down again, seeing the tiger. The blood pooled below her, as if trying to drown her. Her necklace of loyalty floated in the red, Rainbow rushed to get it, ignoring the ethereal, Trottingham-accented voice in her head.

"And…you don’t have any problems with that?"

***

“Are you entirely sure this was a good idea, Thunderstorm?”

“Well, they needed some experience, experience that a few more months of training could have prepared them for,” Commander Thunderstorm replied.

“Excuse me, but did you really think that sending them into the Maunaman rainforests would prepare them for war in the Baltic eastern highlands of the Griffin Kingdom?” Archemage Solarius concurred.

He wasn’t in a good mood, then again, he never usually was. His coat was a pearl white, and his long mane and tail in the colours of fire, though his mane was mostly covered by the hood of his brick red cloak, which also covered his cutie mark. He was a tall unicorn, much taller than the pegasus he spoke to.

The two military leaders stood in front of the vast Maunaman rainforest. The forest was no pony’s land, bordering Zebrica on its west and the Hayseed Swamps on it's north-east, and was well known for its diverse wildlife, most of which dangerous. So far, thirty-three of the thirty-five Omega platoon pegasi had returned, some of which poisoned, but Solarius’s best medical unicorns where quick to cure them. He was not here for that reason though.

“Bleue still hasn’t returned,” Solarius said to the Commander. “You know Thunderstorm, if this idea of yours gets one of my best operatives killed, the Princess will have your head on a pike,” Solarius had to stop himself from smiling menacingly.

“And in return we’ll have thirty-five well-trained pegasi who know how to survive in the most unexpected of conditions, your bullshit threats won’t work on me, Solarius,” Thunderstorm was not looking at the unicorn, but at the tree line. The undergrowth was moving.

“And here he is now!”

Out of the trees came two pegasi and a unicorn, Bleue Pearl, who walked in a different direction than the pair of pegasi, heading towards Thunderstorm and Solarius.

“Well, what did I say eh?” The commander smirked.

“Indeed,” Solarius tried to hide the frustration in his voice, he distracted himself looking at the two pegasi. He couldn’t help but notice one of them was absolutely coated in blood. He cringed inwardly.

Pegasi brutes.

“Well I’ve gotta fly Sol, see you in hell,” Thunderstorm’s cocky smile not yet wiped off his face as he walked over to see Dash and Scarlett.

“Well congratulations privates! You’re the last two out! How do you feel?” Thunderstorm greeted the pair.

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Rainbow Dash remarked, coughing slightly. She was exhausted.

“Stay in line Private Dash, and for that matter,” Thunderstorm started to whisper. “Get a shower, you’re scaring ponies.”

Rainbow smirked. She couldn’t help but notice another pegasus walking over, a familiar light brown mane upon him.

“Well Onyx, here’s Rusty, I think I’ll leave you two alone,” Rainbow said, winking as she started to run, leaving Onyx in her tracks.

“Argh! You…um,” Onyx sighed, she was too tired to think of insults. It felt like she had been in that forest for weeks, even if it was just days. All she wanted to do was sleep.