Rainbow's Wrath

Rainbow's Wrath

Part 1: Suffering

Ch. 1: The Coming of a New Dawn

Not so long ago, a young filly stumbled across a civilization of demonic ponies known as 'Blanks'. Once awakened, these creatures spread through to the core of the world, and began to infect the animals that inhabited with the 'Blank Virus', turning them into demonic creatures bent on consuming the Mantra, the life force, of ponies everywhere. The infection spread quickly, and had devastating effects on the once peaceful pony society, leaving the princess' Celestia and Luna with no choice but to go to war with the Blanks. Armed with powerful weapons and technology to battle them, the ponies fought back, but it wasn't enough. Luna's superior leadership in this time showed, and she was left in charge of governing the forces that battled the Blanks, while Celestia formed the Eight Guardian Generals with her closest subjects.

In order to save civilization from their never ending threat, the military and generals who governed the world created an ultimate weapon that would wipe the Blanks off the face of the planet once and for all. Their forces were led by Celestia and the rest of the now demigod level of Guardian Generals. One of them, General Rainbow Dash, was in the thick of battle.

Rainbow Dash stood upon one of the many space ships in the fleet, overlooking the world in all its glory with her beautiful rose like eyes. Her hands were tucked under her arms as the rainbow maned cyan pony stared at the beautiful planet she was meant to defend. Clothed in a black corset with red cloud patterns, a pair of matching Arabian pants, and some similarly colored kung fu shoes, she stood there watching as a cloud of black emerged from her beloved home towards the fleet.

She squatted down, flexing her arms as a rainbow aura surrounded her, and she leapt from her perch, her wings spread to carry her through space as she dive bombed towards the thousands of black and red stone spires carrying the mutant Blanks towards the fleet. Her palms opened to reveal small cannons as she fired off ki blasts rapid fire at the carriers. A targeting reticule lit up in her eye as she waved her finger over several of the spires, firing off several enlarged blasts of all the colors of the rainbow to home in on her targets and blow them to smithereens. She growled and roared fiercely to give her attacks more feel, firing off her ki blasts to destroy as many as she could as she flew down towards the wall of growing darkness. She flew past a few ships in the fleet, while several muscular earth pony soldiers flew alongside her, firing off the mini-guns they carried into the oncoming swarm as their jet packs carried them.

A large flying Blank that resembled a flying whale snatched up one of the soldiers in its mouth, consuming him before being vaporized by a ship's cannons. Rainbow Dash rolled to the side as a huge beam flew past her vaporizing several more of the spires filled with Blanks. A group of large bird like Blanks caught her eye, and after her targeting reticule locked on she fired off more rainbow blasts to blow them away before even reaching her. She noticed a giant squid Blank passing below, but after targeting it another flew before her path abruptly. She fired off her cannons anyways, and the blasts swerved around the creature and blew up its ally. She flew let loose a similar blast to the one before her to vaporize it, before dodging between a swarm of the bird like Blanks, a particular squid Blank catching her eyes as it turned towards her and charged forth.

She let loose a rapid fire of ki at the creature as it roared angrily, the tips of its tentacles glowing as the arched to attack Rainbow Dash. She bobbed and weaved, dodging between the blade like tips that glowed with demonic energy, and reared her hands back to slam her palms against the creature. Her hands dug into its black flesh and tore a scar through it as she slid down its body. She came to a stop as she gripped it tightly, and seeing another squid approaching, hurled the one her hands were burrowed into at its ally destroying them both.

She reared back to gaze upon the explosion of black energy and magma like blood with a cocky grin before flying off to continue her fight. Below the spires of Blanks and squid like versions were emerging from the very ocean, swarming to space in large clusters. Rainbow flew past more soldiers, one riding a hovercraft to support the weight of the bazooka he carried. As he tried desperately to get his weapon to fire, finding it reluctant to do so, a whale Blank flew towards him with an open maw. A blast from some of Rainbow's multi colored cannon blasts made short work of it though, saving the soldier as she continued her death dive into the battle below.

One of the carrier spires, covered in volcanic like craters that erupted from its sides, flew directly towards her. She began firing off targeted cannon ki blasts as Blanks and small ships exploded around her, roaring as she angrily tried to destroy the approaching structure. A squid Blank made itself aware with a roar of its own, catching Rainbow's eye with an evil smirk. It swung its tentacles down at her, but she dashed past them with a sonic rainboom, slamming into the side of the creature and pushing it with her brute strength. A rainbow trailed from her as she pushed it into the carrier, cracking it in two in a devastating explosion.

A young girl's voice spread through the intercoms of all the ships and soldiers, coming from a large structure of blue and purple that resembled a god like pony male from the shoulders up, the largest ship in this fleet. She said, "Fear not brave warrior's of Equestria, our long struggle with the Blanks shall come to an end tonight. Oh, powerful demigods! Purge our world of the impure Blanks! The life-giving Mantra is one with you." Several earth pony soldiers, large and small, rode hover crafts into battle, firing off their weapons to assist in the destruction of the Blanks, several swarming a squid like one to vaporize it. Meanwhile several Unicorns floated and dashed about to avoid Blank attacks, firing blasts of ki from their horns to assault the Blanks as well. As they weakened another squid Blank, a pegasus soldier flew in with her sword ready, dealing the finishing blow before the group moved on to their next target.

Explosions filled the space around the planet's atmosphere as what seemed like an endless supply of Blanks and their carriers flew from the world. The young girl's voice reached out to the citizens of the world themselves as they prayed at shrines to send Mantra that powered the fleet. She continued, "Faithful ponies of Equestria! Offer your prayers! They will become Mantra to aid us in battle."

Standing before her throne on the stallion like vessel's bridge, Luna yelled in her royal Canterlot voice to the legions of soldiers, "Tonight, the impure have defiled and scorched our land, but it is we who will live to see tomorrow's light." She wore robes of black and navy blue, her crown upgraded in size to suit her new position of power she had earned. "Legions of the military, heed your Priestess' words, and purify our land once and for all!" She waved her hand, motioning it to the young lady who floated in the middle of the large chamber on wings as elegant as the robes she wore.

Her fur was a mute-purple, and her mane was all the colors of the rainbow, paled in comparison to her mother's but longer in length. The part of her mane that hung over her shoulders was braided, and upon her head was a gold tiara. She danced in the air as she continued her speech, "Let us offer Gaea the greatest blessing in the name of Emperess Luna. May the Mantra guide you to victory." An aura of light erupted from her as her blessings spread to the fleet.

Rainbow furiously fired off at the forces of Blanks, one of the stallion earth ponies waving at her for assistance. Several more rode up on jet packs, and fired off their mini gins at a spire while Rainbow Dash joined them with a rapid fire of ki. As the spire exploded the soldier flew ahead, Rainbow's reticule locking on to several more spires as she fired off her cannon blasts. One particularly large one withstood her attacks, and she angrily flew towards it, slamming her foot into it and dragging it along its length, until it cracked and split in two. Her daughter's voice filled her ears as she fought on, "The Eight Guardian Generals that command you are the veteran elite. Purify any who threaten to desecrate our land, divine warriors of Equestria!"

Several balls of aura flung from the fleet, passing through spires with explosive results as if they were nothing. Ditzy "Derpy Hooves" Doo erupted from one of the explosions as one of the balls of aura, wearing a light blue Chinese tunic with a white trim, and wooden sandals. She reared back her right arm, which was equipped with a metallic gauntlet that quickly grew in girth as her arm did, her special power being one of expansion of her own body. "For the cause, my daughter, and muffins!" she cried as she flew towards a spire, punching it in the pointed tip and watching it erupt in a powerful explosion as its surface was cracked. "I will root out all evil with these great fists!"

Slamming down onto the body of a squid with her sandal clad feet, Pinkie Pie giggled and laughed as a whale and bird Blank flew to her position. She wore a black hakama, and her chest was bandaged up in a sarashi, her hands similarly bandaged up, and strapped to her waist was a black and gold trimmed sheath to a long katana. "Time to have some fun!" she said as she grabbed the hilt of her sword and twisted around, slamming the sheath into a bird Blank and smashing it away as a geyser of magma blood burst from it. A whale flew at her from behind as she stated in an ecstatic tone, "Looks like you want to die first!" She pushed down on her hilt, and the sheath slammed into the whale's lower jaw sending it sky rocketing. She plucked her sheathed blade from her waist and twirled it above her head; slamming it into the squid beneath her and making it shatter to pieces. "Lucky for you, I can make that happen!" She floated away from the beast one a piece of its body that had yet to disintegrate, raising her blade above her head as she laughed as wildly as the curly hair on her head was styled.

"Follow me y'all!" said Applejack as she dashed forth being the third ball of aura. She wore brown and green chaps, and a matching green Chinese shirt with brown designs. On her hands were fingerless gloves, and on her feet she wore only ankle bracers. She wore her signature cowboy hat to show her heritage, and a scarf around her neck to represent her ninja training. As she twisted and dodged between an enemy squid's attacks she said, "Drive a wedge between the enemy forces!" She chopped one of its tentacles in two with her hand, and an aura of energy followed this slamming into the squid and shattering it in an explosion of magma blood.

A cluster of four squids came at her with flailing tentacles, and Applejack flew towards them with her foot outstretched to meet their charge. She flew into the closest ones mouth, and burst out the back of its head. As she slammed into the side of another, aura swiftly flew through it like a series of slashes with a large sword all at once and shattered it as she quickly B-lined straight toward her next victim. The following two squids followed their allies' fates as she made short work of them with her strong foot.

The Priestesses voice reached out again, "Even if you fall in battle, your soul is eternal. With her majesty's power, you shall be reincarnated in a golden paradise and rejoice in prosperity for all eternity."

One of the whales cringed and twitched before Rainbow burst through its side, unfazed by the magma blood, with an outstretched fist screaming triumphantly. She aimed her fist at the oncoming Blanks and yelled, "Worthless scum! I'll kill you all!" In a blast of rainbow aura, she dashed forth on another sonic rainboom. She shot rapid fire ki into an oncoming wave of bird Blanks, the creatures screeching angrily as they were vaporized while passing the cocky and annoyed pony. She dodged around a large ship that blocked her path, which was soon swarmed by birds that tore at the hull until it exploded behind her, and Rainbow continued her assault on the oncoming birds. She fired off cannon blasts in random bursts while she continued to rapid fire them to smithereens, several making it past her as she was focused on the carrier they were coming from.

Rainbow Dash reared her fist back and slammed it into the side of the carrier. Seeing that wasn't enough, she delivered several more rapid punches as she floated down the side of the carrier, cracking its shell as she went. With one final blow, the carrier burst apart piece by piece, and unsatisfied Rainbow dashed away crying out, "Who's next?!" She and the other three front line generals swarmed through the battlefield, explosions of magma and fire filling the area.

Watching all this unfurl on her monitor was Rarity, dancing as she regaled in the scene. Her clothes were violet like her hair and silver, her shirt showing off her mid-riff and her pants being hip huggers. She wore flared cuffs and platform shoes, and upon her brow was a lovely silver circlet that matched her outfit. "Oh, how beautiful life is at its end." She waved her hands about as she did a personal ballet at the sight of the destruction. "True beauty only manifests itself in death," she said sliding her hands down the sides of her face and the curves of her body.

"It would be nice if one could rest for a bit…," said a rather tired looking Fluttershy as her wings kept her aloft watching her own screen of the battle, cuddling a stuffed bunny doll. Dressed in shoulder-less green robes with a blue trim, and slits up the sides to her thighs, she floated about as if in anti-gravity. Her legs were crossed, and her feet were clad in lacy socks that matched her outfit. "I don't suppose this battle with the animals I once loved and cared for is getting rather old fast for anyone else?"

Twilight Sparkle watched not only the battle on one monitor, but Rarity and Fluttershy on side monitors. She stood up wearing scarlet shirt that was unbuttoned a bit on the top and the bottom, a matching mini-skirt, and black high heels. She also wore a belt, gloves, shin guards, and a necklace made of pure gold and decorated in a colorful assortment of rare gems. She angrily stated, "You two should be concerned with the task at hand!"

Rarity shook her head and said, "Twilight, sometimes I wonder if you know me at all. Have you forgotten that I am most concerned when the beauty of destruction is before me?"

Fluttershy scowled at Twilight through the screen, wiggling her bunny doll at it and said, "Excuse me miss smarty pants, but who knows the Blanks better than anyone here, and created the battle plan you're using? My plans are flawless. There is no need for us to be on the front. You need to just sit back and await our victory. Isn't that right Angel?" She wiggled the bunny more and said in a ventriloquist voice, "Fluttershy's plans are flawless stupid head! Boing boing!"

Watching the three of them on her own monitor was Celestia herself, dressed in an all white business suit and boots, along with a cape that draped over her shoulders. She scowled as she listened to her generals squabble, Twilight grunting before she said, "How you two became generals is beyond me. Commander Celestia! I'm sending reinforcements directly to the front line!"

Celestia's eye twitched as she scoffed at this notion. "Battles such as this that bring temporary peace are meaningless and a waste of my time. I made you cybernetic demigods for more than this." Twilight blinked in confusion, her mouth hanging open unsure what to say. "Prepare to fire the Harmony Cannon."

Twilight gasped and said, "The Harmony Cannon?! But commander, it is not yet fully charged!"

Nodding in agreement, Fluttershy stated, "In its current state, it wouldn't be able to display its true capability."

Celestia threw her fist to the side and said, "At times one must throw a stone into stagnant waters to set things into motion. Not just for this battle, but for the future of the world itself."

"The Harmony Cannon…" Rarity sighed with delight. "That is an instrument of destruction I would love to hear played."

"As you wish commander," Twilight reluctantly stated.

Celestia raised her balled fist and shouted, "Hear me now! Let this blast herald the coming of a new world order!" She opened her hand and aimed her spread fingers at the world below, the forehead of the stallion glowing with mantra as it was charged. Rainbow Dash skid to a halt in mid air as she turned back to see what was taking place, the ball of light on the stallion shaped ship's forehead growing bigger and brighter. It focused itself and fired a straight beam through the battlefield, vaporizing a large number of spires before it made contact with the world and lit it ablaze with disintegrating light, Rainbow Dash covering her eyes with a grunt from how bright it was.

The dark cloud that shrouded the surface of the planet dissipated around the beam as millions of Blanks vanished, nothing left but a scorch on the planet where the beam had made contact. Applejack tipped her hat floating near Rainbow Dash and said, "The Shining Armor's Harmony Cannon? But why?"

"Why not?" Pinkie asked as she floated between her two friends. "It shows how serious we are about winning! The sooner we win, the sooner we get to the victory party!"

Derpy floated up with a gasp and said, "Um, guys… look! It's the Blank God, Heartless!" The surface of the planet slowly glowed orange as if preparing for a volcanic eruption, before a giant jet black snake head burst from the surface leaving a crater in its wake and much debris into space, a loud shockwave resounding from it as it emerged. Everyone stared in shock as the snake like creature let out a roar that sounded mixed with a screech as it bellowed into the heavens above. Its jaw unhinged as its mouth hung open, and a spray of fireball venom shot into the stars like a blast of shooting stars, destroying hundreds of their fleet's ships on contact.

Several of the blasts reached past the fleet and hit the Shining Armor, making it shake and rattle. Fluttershy gasped in awe and said, "What power…!" She trembled as she clung tightly to her bunny doll.

Pinkie grinned and said to those around her, "Stand aside weaklings! This one's mine!"

As she dashed off in a pink aura, Rainbow Dash balled her fists and yelled, "Get back! You've had your share!" She shot after Pinkie, who looked back with an irritated gaze. When she looked before her, she was shocked to find a squid Blank blocking her path. She tried to dodge between its tentacles, but crashed into its face ensuring Rainbow Dash took the lead. Pinkie growled frustrated, as a dozen more squids swarmed on her position, Rainbow Dash easily flying between their forces.

She sonic rainboomed forth, ignoring the plight of a nearby ship ensnared by a squid Blank. She tried targeting the colossal creature and firing off some cannon blasts, but her attacks were intercepted by a flock of small fry bird Blanks. Rainbow was so focused on Heartless, that when she saw a carrier flying right towards her she barely had enough time to skid to a halt in mid-air, let alone catch the tip in her hands. When she was pushed back by this, a squid took her by surprise from behind and bit down on the tip of the spire, catching Rainbow Dash in its beak.

Applejack was flying from the side, yelling as she was surrounded by orange aura. She kicked through the squids beak, shattering it and the tip of the carrier. Once Rainbow Dash was free she shouted, "Watch yourself sugar cube!"

Rainbow Dash flew over with a scowl. "Applejack! Mind your own business!" Meanwhile, Heartless continued to spray its fireball venom into the fleet, it's attacks curving around its fellow blanks to take out even more of the ships in the fleet. Applejack and Rainbow Dash flew down towards it as it was distracted with its attack.

The two girls dodged a fireball in opposite directions. Rainbow Dash dived under a second fireball and barrel rolled away from another. Luck wasn't on her side however, as several dozen homed in on her. She held up her arms to block them, and screamed as they made contact, knocking her arms out of the way so she felt the full blunt of the attack. Applejack gasped as she watched this muttering Rainbow Dash's name, before she was swarmed by fireballs while distracted screaming in her own set of pain.

As the two of them were bombarded by fireballs, the Priestess heard their cries of pain with a gasp of shock. "Mother?!" The young girl's brow furrowed as light erupted from her, and she channeled Mantra to snake to her mother and aunt. The two of their limp bodies glowed in a healing bluish green aura. Applejack's eyes widened as shouted the girls name: "Zap Apple!"

Rainbow roared with power that surged through her from her daughter's control of the Mantra. Her rainbow aura grew brighter than ever, marks appearing around her shoulders. An extra set of four arms erupted from these glowing spots, and she continued to surge with the aura until it surged through all six of her arms, covering them in a metal coating. Her right arms were a metallic shade of red, orange and yellow, while her left arms were a metallic shade of green, blue and purple, each one covered in glowing markings matching their arm's color. She balled all her fists and stretched them out as her wings seemed to grow in span for a moment, achieving her Vajra form. Applejack crossed her arms staring down at Heartless as Rainbow pointed and said, "This war ends now!"

The snake seemed to be made of stone, and it cracked as its jaw unhinged like stone walls ripping apart, screaming its disgusting howl to the two demigod ponies. It fired off fireballs at them, but Rainbow dashed out of the way, while Applejack simply teleported to the side. Applejack floated under another homing blast as Rainbow swerved between several and flew towards Heartless with several of the attacks chasing her, Applejack close behind. One tried to take Rainbow by surprise from the side, but she stopped just short of the attack before continuing her sprint forward just in time for several attacks to contact each other where she'd been and explode behind her.

Rainbow's targeting reticule went haywire with possible targets along the snake's face and body, leading her to fire off her cannon blasts rapidly as a spray of rainbow ki waves flew towards Heartless, covering it in colorful explosions. With her extra arms she could fire off three times as much, and at an enhanced size and strength for extra effect. Heartless seemed to be charging beams in its mouth, and fired them off just grazing Rainbow Dash, who ignored them fearlessly as she was relentless in her ki cannon assault, not even relying on rapid fire anymore. Another set of charged beams flew from the creature's massive maw, one slamming straight into Rainbow as she cringed in pain with a loud grunt. She looked up with fury in her eyes, and fired off another set of blasts that slammed into the side of Heartless and made it cringe in pain with a high pitched shriek, cutting off its own attack.

She continued to dodge the beams, finding their trajectory's predictable at this point, firing off her cannons with renewed passion. She then reared all three of her right arms back as she reached the snakes face, delivering three powerful punches one after the other, each sending a shockwave into the surrounding area as it screeched in pain even more than before. It roared as cracks covered its body erupting with magma and flames, howling in pain as it sunk back into the planet. "Oh no you don't!" Rainbow reared back before dive bombing towards Heartless, her first outstretched ready for another go at the beast. Heartless opened its mouth, and its entire throat glowed with energy as Rainbow blinked in shock. It fired off a beam that filled its entire mouth, destroying thousands of Blanks and fleet soldiers alike as it ripped through space to cover its escape.

Rainbow floated there with her arms before her, back to normal now as all her metallic arms were gone. Steam floated from her entire body as she panted, breathing heavily in exhaustion. Her left arm hung limp as she rubbed it gently with her right hand, Applejack floating up next to her. She looked at the irritated Rainbow Dash and said, "Why the long face partner?"

"I… couldn't kill it…"

"No one can kill Heartless, sugar cube. You should consider yourself lucky you could subdue it." Rainbow gritted her teeth and glared at Applejack, who returned her glare with crossed arms daring her to try something. Rainbow slowly looked away, glaring where Heartless had vanished as Applejack went on, "We've suffered more casualties than ever, but I reckon it won't be back for a while. You should rest." Rainbow simply responded with a raspberry.

A unicorn soldier walked up to where the Zap Apple floated and stated, "Due to general Rainbow Dash's efforts, Heartless has subsided!" The Priestess stops glowing in a healing aura, and smiled at where her mother floated before the planet.

Luna stood from her throne and stated, "Purify the surviving Blanks!" Her sister Celestia stood not far before her, hands on her shoulders and legs spread as she watched the scene with a serious expression. Luna went on, "The power of my Eight Guardian Generals is invincible! May Equestria prosper in everlasting glory!" Legions of soldiers below raised their weapons and cheered for her.

Celestia stared at them for a moment before she muttered to herself, "The time is near…" A cocky grin appeared on her face as she left the bridge, making her way to her personal chambers where Fluttershy was waiting for her, leaned against the wall next to the window that viewed the battlefield. "Thank you for coming, the time is near and I'll be in need of you."

Fluttershy stared at her for a moment before looking out the window. "Quite the battle wouldn't you say? Victory just as I expected."

A scoff from the former princess catches her attention. "We didn't kill it. Heartless will be back. This victory was meaningless. I am surprised though, Rainbow Dash alone was able to subdue it."

Fluttershy nodded to this. She floated over to Celestia and said, "It's hard to believe that overzealous tomboy was able to outmatch even Pinkie Pie in this battle."

"She's gotten too strong too fast. I should have anticipated this, but I assume you'll have a plan to take care of-"

"I already do." Fluttershy smirks. "I have everything planned… your majesty."

Celestia went wide eyed with a soft smile. "There's a title I haven't heard in so very long. No thanks to my sister, she has let power go to her head. She was useless in the battle, as compared to Zap Apple."

"Ah yes… the Priestess. I believe our victory rests solely on her." She floats back to the window and hugs her bunny, stroking a finger down the glass. "Hard to believe that rough Rainbow Dash is her mother. But we must intervene; Rainbow Dash could be a danger to her."

"Not just yet." Celestia flips her cape back as she twists around. "I believe we still have use for her. Once this is done, we must finish the construction of the Shining Armor. Is everything ready?"

Fluttershy smirks and looks back over her shoulder. "I already told you, your majesty. Everything is planned, and my plans are always flawless."

End Pt. 1 Ch. 1