She was drifting. She was on a cloud as it bobbed in a sea of blackness. Looking around, she saw that there was nothing to be seen. No stars, no lights, no life, surrounded her; she was all alone.

There was a flash, for a brief moment, but then it vanished. Vainly she searched for it, her eyes squinting in the darkness. Yet try as she might, nothing could be seen.

She tried to stop the cloud she was on, but realized that she couldn’t even feel it with her hooves. Nor, could she feel her hooves themselves. Nor anything, for that matter. It seemed her entire body had gone numb; yet somehow she was aware of her moving. It was as if she had no control over where she was going.

It reminded her of the “ethereal realm,” as Twilight had put it, from three months prior. Back when she and the other Element Bearers had journeyed to Life’s domain in order to reach the Element avatars. But where then the setting was much calmer, this one caused nothing short of unease as her skin—or what she perceived as her skin, she could not truly tell—crawled.

Fwoom

She “blinked,” thinking she had heard something. To the best of her ability, she rotated about the cloud, trying to discern the source.

Fwoooom

There was another flash, this time much brighter and longer. She felt a warm flush fill her face; she realized that the flash was emitting heat. Covering her face with a “wing,” she tried to use the other appendage to flap the flame away. The flame flash did seem to die down, but the glow remained as strong as ever.

Suddenly she could see clearly. Metal walls stood all around her. The glow blindly reflected off of them, burning her retinas even through her wings. Now she could see more of herself; her familiar, cyan coat never looked so relieving before.

She wasn’t on a cloud anymore; instead, she was on a conveyor belt. The coils rolled uncomfortably against her. She realized she couldn’t move her body, and could do little else but slide down the line. She couldn’t even cry out.

The line continued down a straight path, before curving and heading downward to some unknown chamber, taking Dash with it. It stopped once she entered the chamber, and the flame from earlier faded into grey light. She glanced around, feeling panic rise in her throat. Where was she?

Something rolled up next to her. She realized it was a cart, and on it was a tray with various knives and syringes. Constraints suddenly latched onto her hooves, keeping her pinned. She made to yell in protest, but found that her muzzle was clamped shut by some sort of device.

From the shadows, she saw a strange creature step forward. He wore a white lab-coat and a strange mask that covered the entirety of his face. In slow, methodical steps, he advanced towards her. As he got closer, she could see splotches of red all over the side of his coat. Her eyes widened in fear. Oh no, oh no…

He laughed deeply, and said something that she couldn’t understand. Soon he was right next to her. She could now clearly see that he was a griffon, based on his talons as his front legs, which were also covered in the red splotches. Behind him were his wings, but they were shriveled and old, reminding her of Death’s own pair. In fact, the feathers were already molting and falling to the ground; but he paid them no heed.

She struggled to move. Her gasps and shortness of breath only made him laugh madly, and he reached out, pressing a talon against her neck. She gulped, ceasing her sporadic behavior. He clenched tightly, choking her; sputtering, she tried to flail at him, even though the constraints made that impossible to do.

He released her just when she thought she would cave in. She gulped down massive amounts of air.

“Good,” he rumbled, finally speaking something intelligible. “Breathe. Enjoy the air while you can, regnbue pony.” He caressed her cheek sickly, then her mane; she nearly vomited in disgust.

The room began to shake, as something seemed to stomp towards her. But she saw nothing but the griffon, who retracted his appendage and rested it on the cart, pulling out the various objects. He was grinning, a crazy glint in his eye. Turning back to her, he wielded a sharp bonesaw.

Complete panic set in as he neared. She struggled even harder, desperately trying to break free. He placed the teeth of the saw on her wing, then, slowly, dreadfully slowly, he began to cut.

The pain was indescribable, and she was certain she would die then and there. But something cut through the pain. It was a voice, strong, familiar, yet warped and genderless.

Wake, it said. Wake. Wake. Wake!

The blackness, coupled with the pain, made her want to do just the opposite. But then she saw another flash, harsher than the first one. It blinded everything in sight, and she felt her body float up and away from the torment, into the light, fading back into the subconscious.

***

Rainbow awoke in a sweat. Panting, her wings spread in a defensive manner, she shot up from her bed and sat up straight. “Oh… just a dream…” She swiftly shook her head, trying to clear her mind.

The moon’s faint light passed through the stained glass window, giving the room a bit of illumination. Some faint outline stood just in front of her door; she assumed it was a guard. Did I yell in my sleep? I hope not; that would be so embarrasing!

She remained still, watching to see if the guard would leave. When he made no movement, she endeavored to say, “Uh, I’m fine. You can go now.”

Something like a ding echoed from his mouth, and his eyes flashed a deep red. She realized that he had no pupils.

The “guard” advanced towards her, its eyes glowing red. Energy began to pulsate from the sockets. She didn’t need to be a super genius to realize what happened next.

“Yow!” Rainbow shouted as twin, optic beams shot towards her. She pumped her wings hard, pushing back the covers and flying up into the air, just barely avoiding the deadly bolts. “Hey! What gives?!”

The “guard” only snapped its head to her, and shot off another beam. She flew to the side, the beam crashing into the wall, causing rubble and stone to fry and burn. That laser’s hot!

She jumped from the wall onto the canopy. She had to jump off and return to being airborne just as the strange creature shot another bolt. The bed combusted, nearly burning her wingtips.

Crashing and rolling through the air, unable to properly orient herself for a return attack, Rainbow dodged and weaved like a darting, flying ninja. The lasers missed her each time, though the “guard” seemed unperturbed.

The focus of its beams shifted, and she realized that it was no longer trying to hit her. “Ha! You suck at this, don’t ya?” she taunted.

The “guard” let out a menacing growl that sounded like nails being scratched across a chalkboard. The sound disoriented her, and she clenched her head with a low groan. The creature kept the sound up, and began to slowly walk towards her.

“Oh, no you don’t!” she managed to yell. With a flick her tail, she knocked a nearby vase into the robot, toppling it. It ceased its cry as it tumbled, legs flailing. Seeing her chance, Rainbow shot forward, aiming for the head.

It managed to recover just quick enough—very quickly, much to her surprise—to toss its head to the side. She managed to nick it just under its chin, and with a sickening crunch, something was torn off. Rainbow crashed into the wall by accident, falling to her haunches, as that “something” landed next to her. In a daze, she picked it up and looked at it.

“Is that a beak?”

She turned, and nearly yelped in utter shock. The “guard’s” entire lower beak had broken off. Wires poked out from the orifice, teeth gnashing aimlessly. She saw that there was no tongue flopping around. She then realized that the skin had also been torn off, revealing a metal skull underneath.

With a snap of its neck, it stared at her with dead orbs. She barely had time to completely register its horrid appearance when it launched its entire body at her. Crying out, she was immediately pinned to the ground. Rainbow struggled, but the griffon robot kept her hooves down. It opened its beak, revealing a sharp blade embedded in its throat.

Slowly, with the precision of a laser cannon, it descended. The blade inched closer and closer to her face. With each passing second, her panic grew, and her struggles grew more rampant.

She thought a silent prayer for help, expecting none.

Whirr…

Both of them paused as they heard the whirring. The robot glanced at the door, confusion etched on its stony features. It cocked its head. “Doooorrrr?” it droned out in a mechanical monotone.

With a loud crack, the wooden frame burst open, throwing the griffon robot aside, revealing Gilda and Twilight. The former was still in her armor, and in her talons was a staff that glowed with energy. Twilight’s horn was glowing, and a ball of energy was starting to grow from the tip.

“Rainbow!” Twilight called as the pegasus jumped away from the robot. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, thanks to you two,” she responded. She started when she heard the steel beast get back up. “No time for talk. We gotta destroy this thing!”

“I like the plan, Dash,” Gilda said, as she gripped the staff harder. “You wanna stay back and rest, or—”

Rainbow snorted. “Oh, please! I’ve fought deadlier things than stupid robot!”

“Less talking, more defeating, please!” Twilight yelled. Using her magic, she managed to shove the others and herself out of the way of an incoming blast of energy. The three then flapped their wings and zoomed ahead, aiming to knock the robot off of its feet.

Twilight aimed for the chest with her magic, while Gilda swung the scepter at the head. Both hit their targets direct on, just as Dash tackled the creature to the ground with a growl. It let out an ear-shredding screech that threw the pegasus off. But her allies were undeterred. Gilda flew back and began firing gold-bronze blasts of energy. The bolts seemed to arc around the room, bouncing and ricocheting, before landing themselves in the back of the robot. Twilight charged her horn, then let loose a lightning spell, zapping its circuitry. Now paralyzed from its waist down, it collapsed to its knees.

Yet it did not yet give up. The optics were still as deadly as ever, and their continuous shots forced the trio to keep dodging. The room and outside hall were quickly scorched by the red beams, the walls and floor becoming scorched earth and ground that reminded Dash of a battlefield. A faint apparition—more like a memory—of the Soul Eater appeared in her mind, before disappearing. The ghostly sight was enough to kick her body into overdrive; her fight-or-flight response rocketed, and her adrenaline spiked.

Rainbow ducked low and grabbed a shard of glass from one of the vases that had been shattered. She looped around, then flew low to avoid another beam. With another mid-air roll, she dodged another; then, for her final attack, she flew straight into the griffon robot’s face.

“Take this!” she cried, as she plunged the shard into its left optic. Wiring exploded, as did the eye itself, and the creature threw Dash off, clutching its eye, screaming all the while.

“Now, guys! Do it!” Dash exclaimed as she flew back to the others. Gilda and Twilight nodded. They charged their respective weapons to their max level, and—just as the griffon robot stopped screaming and focused on them—fired at once. The purple and gold-bronze beams collided, then combined into a ravenous bolt of energy, shooting straight for the robot’s neck.

It didn’t stand a chance. Cleanly, the bolt sliced through and severed the head from the rest of the body. Both parts collapsed into a pile of broken machinery, leaking oil and unknown fluids.

The head’s remaining eye blinked red at them, whirring and gyrating. It seemed to be calculating something.

Then, in a grave, one-toned voice, it spoke: “UNIT COMPROMISED. INITIATE EMERGENCY MEASURES.”

“Emergency measures? Aw, shut it, you clanking bucket of bolts.” Rainbow made to stomp towards it, perhaps to smash its head in, but Gilda pulled her back.

“Get down, you two!” she shouted, just as the robot exploded. Nuts, bolts, and screws went flying. They careened against the walls and bounced off of the scorched bed. In one final, fiery blaze, the robot fully combusted into ash.

Dash’s voice was lost in the explosion, but she did feel a piece of shrapnel pierce her left leg. She barely registered the pain, as Gilda was already scooping her up and yelling something; probably trying to get the guards. Twilight pulled up a shield spell, as the various components continued to rocket at them.

She saw Dash’s pained look, then her gaze fell to the leg. Taking the chance, she dropped the shield. “This is gonna hurt, Rainbow,” she whispered to her friend. The pegasus nodded, and closed her eyes.

The pain was strong, but it was also swift; in another second, Twilight applied a healing spell. Already Dash’s leg was feeling better.

“There you are!” Looking up, Dash saw Gilda yelling at the guards. “Where the hell were you?! I trained you better than this!”

“Patrolling the western corridor, ma’am. We received word of a disturbance there.”

“I didn’t give you an order, though!”

“It was an anonymous tip.” The guard whinnied. “Nevertheless, it appears we were too late to aid you. The threat has been dealt with, ma’am?”

Gilda nodded. “Yes. But we’re not done here.”

“We’re not?” Rainbow asked.

“No. Gyps needs to hear this.” She clenched her jaw tightly. “What was that… thing?” she murmured.

“You’ve never seen that before?” Dash’s question fell on deaf ears. After ordering several of the guards to wait, Gilda began to fly away, Dash in her talons, and Twilight followed similarly.

Author's Note

I'm not dead. Just been busy. Hope you enjoy the double update.