Chapters Act 1 - part 1: Into the frozen city
The cold wind blew through Rainbow’s mane and tail, the only parts of her not covered from the freezing snow around her. She looked down at a city, a city she once knew very well. Looking through the binoculars, she scanned to see the entrance guarded by ponies. They were stationed there so that no pony could get in or out. Not that they wanted to be their also, it was their job, one that she knew they dreaded.
She switched her vision from the gate to the interior of the city, looking at what was once a great growing city. Now, it was a frozen wasteland covered by soldiers, taking aim at anything that moved. She could barely make out the shape of what was a great castle, one that had been torn apart by storms and earthquakes. It was hard to look at, such a great place torn apart by an era of endless natural disasters. Deciding to look away, she turned her attention to a different location.
The sewers, that’s where she would enter. Not only was it unguarded, it would also keep her below the magic field above the city for as long as possible. However, no matter where she entered, she would not be able to escape the field. She could only take the sewers so far until she had to head onto the main surface of the city. When that happens, she would have to say goodbye to her current body. No one outside the city knew why you lost your identity, but it was the reason it was so heavily guarded. The only reason guards were there at all is because of how dangerous it’s become.
Rainbow Dash put down the binoculars, looking at the snowing expanse around her. A snowstorm blew around them, but it wasn’t ending anytime soon, and this was the best it was going to get. She had to be inside the city and in a secure place where the storm couldn’t hit her, it would get ugly when it picked back up. She heard a snap from behind her as she turned to see another pony take a band off her left hind leg.
“You’re off the radar Rainbow,” The pony said, barely hearable over the sound of the storm. “But they knew where you’re going, and that you aren’t dead. You’re on your own from here,” The pony pulled her neck warmer down to reveal a icy cold yellow muzzle. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Why the hell do you think I would be here if it was?” Rainbow Dash yelled over the storm, also pulling her neck warmer down. “I’m about to go into a city that’s been falling apart for Celestia knows how long, why the buck would anyone want to go in there,”
Rainbow Dash turned around as Fluttershy turned away. She looked down to yet another band on the same leg. It was a radar, and if Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy was going to live through this, they had to get them off. Rainbow Dash took a knife that was holstered on her front right hoof and quickly cut the other band off, watching as the monitor on it faded, meaning that it was off.
“Your good,” Rainbow Dash said, smashing the band for extra measure. “Head back to the cabin, radio me when you get back okay,”
Fluttershy nodded, “Where do you think Scootaloo and the others are?”
Turning back to the city, Rainbow Dash pointed at the faint silhouette of the castle off in the distance. It was probably the most guarded place in the entire city, and it was where she had bet Scootaloo and the other survivors would be. The subway also seemed likely, since it was where she had last seen them.
“I’m going in,” Rainbow Dash, “And I won’t be coming out the same pony I once was. Fluttershy, you’re the only friend I may have left, don’t do anything stupid, please,”
“I’ll be safe,” Fluttershy assured her friend “Just… Please come back to me, okay,”
Rainbow Dash nodded and watched as her friend made her way into the snowstorm. It would be the last time she would ever see Fluttershy with the same eyes again, and it was a moment she would never forget. Rainbow Dash slid down the ridge in front of her, spraying snow as she turned and hit flat surface. The wind made her once again put her neckwarmer on as she made her way past the bridge leading inside Canterlot. Luckily she wasn't spotted, and had managed to catch some of the conversation between the two guards.
“Come on man, I’m talking about those refugees that have been holding ground inside the city. Heard that there's an alicorn amongst them,”
“The fuck, I thought the only alicorns alive still were Celestia and Luna,”
“Yeah, I know, but we have proof of it now. Heard one of the guards managed to snap a picture of her during a patrol,”
“And he didn't shot at her,”
“Dude, it’s a Celestia damned alicorn, not a fucking earth pony or pegasus. You can’t shoot something like that unless you want to have your head chopped off,”
“I guess we know how they have managed to survive for this long then. Shouldn't we tell somepony?”
“They won't believe us even with the picture, no use man,”
So Twilight is alive, just like Scootaloo said. Rainbow smiled as she walked out of hearing range of the two soldiers posted out in front of the city. As the sun began to sink into the horizon, she quickly rushed to the open sewage pipe. It was able to fit a pony, but just barely. She would not have that long until she’ll have to breach the surface, but she wasn't worried about that for now.
She squeezed herself into the pipe, finding it very uncomfortable to walk in. Not only that but the ice made it hard for her to even move inside once she got fully inside. She inched forward as she came into the actual sewer, which wasn't that much more spacious as the pipe. That being said, at least it was easier for her to move.
As she made her way in, she took a moment to listen to the quiet and peace around her. It would be one of the few times she would have the liberty of silence from the storm in her search, and she took every chance she got to enjoy it. As she moved, she watched as the sewer ceiling got lower and lower, until she found herself crouching in Order to move.
It was time, she knew it. She took a few steps back in order to look around for the nearest exit from the sewers. When she found it, she grabbed the ladder - her wing were inside her jacket - and climbed up, removing the top to the sound and sight of the snowing buildings of old Canterlot. She was back, after so many years she was finally back, and it felt terrifying.
She took a step outside, and slid the entrance to the sewers back. As she stepped back, she started to feel a little dizzy. Her head hammering her as a soldier came up from behind her and grabbed her by the neck. Not knowing what was going on, Rainbow Dash gasped for air as she struggled to knock whatever it was on her off.
“Attention all unit, attention all unit! A pony has just managed to enter the city, I repeat, a pony has just-”
Before he could finish Rainbow Dash flung him off, throwing him onto the ground before stomping on his face. She had no idea what she was doing, but then again, she had no idea where she was anymore. Her vision blurring as she held her head in pain.
She tried to speak, but as she did she ended up coughing up blood. She fell to the ground as the pain became too much to. She held her stomach, feeling it twist and turn, almost making her almost throw up. She looked down to see her mane change from Rainbow colored to different shades of red and orange. She watched, terrified as her tail followed the same fate. It was true! She really was changing into an entirely different pony.
She was brought back as she felt something burst through her heads as well as something shrink into her back. Her head fell forward looking to blood dripping from above her. She tried to move a hoof to find where she was bleeding from, but her muscles were to tired to move. Slowly, Rainbow started to lose consciousness. She watched as everything blurred out of her line of vision, before finally falling unconscious on the snowy alleyway.
Act 1 - part 2: A changed pony
“Rainbow Dash, are you alright?”
Rainbow Dash awoke from her unconsciousness, her head still hurting from earlier. She took a second to stand up and look around, finding herself still in the alleyway with the soldier. When she realized he wasn’t moving, she felt both guilt and relief at her actions from earlier.
“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy once again called from the portable radio on her friend's shoulder. “You okay? Where are you,”
“I’m fine Flutter-” She stopped speaking as she heard her voice. Looking back to see her rainbow mane and tail replaced by a red and orange one. Scootaloo wasn’t joking, none of the ponies she had heard about this from was joking. Her entire body had changed from that of a cyan blue pegasus with rainbow mane and tail, to a red unicorn with. orange and red hair.
“Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy said, realizing the change in her friend’s voice. “If that is really you, speak the password we agreed on,”
After a few seconds, Rainbow brought herself to speak again. “The password was “Never Again”, because we vowed to never turn back on our mission to find our friends after leaving them during the flood,”
She heard a gasp over the radio. She couldn’t see it, but Rainbow could take a good guess about how Fluttershy was reacting to this. Rainbow was reacting in a much different way, she was scared. Not because she is in Old Canterlot, but because she no longer had the ability to fly, which would make it harder to move around the city. That, and no one would believe who she is anymore except for Fluttershy and those she was searching for. She had betrayed her very country going into this city, and she was beginning to realize just how alone she really was.
“Rainbow, what happened?” Fluttershy asked, Rainbow could tell she was trying to hold back tears. “I thought you were dead for a second,”
“I’m not,” Rainbow reassured her friend “But another pony wasn’t so lucky, they probably know I’m here now,”
“I see,” Fluttershy sighed, “Guess this was about as bad of an idea as expected, but we can’t wait. The storms going to pick up an about an hour and we need to get you someplace safe before that happens,”
An hour! When they arrived they estimated it would be six hours before the storm would pick back up. It’s true that she would be harder to spot in that weather, but she would also be completely blind from the snow. Rainbow Dash looked at the soldier on the ground, checking to see if he had anything on him. Resources would be scarce, so she would need to pick up everything she could. Other than a water canister, which was ice cold, she found nothing that would be of use, not even a gun. It seemed like she would need to use stealth in order to get past the guards, something she wasn’t very good at.
“Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash talked into the radio. “Is their anywhere near me that is safe, and in walking distance,”
“Give me a second,” After short time, Fluttershy replied. “Hey Rainbow, remember that old donut shop we use to hang out at,”
“Yes,”
“I think it’s right around the block,”
“You think?” Rainbow said frustrated,
“Look, Rainbow,” Fluttershy replied, “I can only carry you so far due to the storms interference. In other words, after tonight, you are probably going to be all alone in their. Sorry,”
Rainbow Dash should have known how bad the storm would impact this, even with communication Fluttershy could only carry her so far. It wouldn’t be long until the storm completely cut them off. Even with her radio, Rainbow Dash was completely isolated from any help in the outside world.
“It’s okay Fluttershy,” Rainbow assured her friend. “I’m going to turn off the radio. I know this is a big risk, but it seems like I’m going to end up being alone no matter what happens. Fluttershy, please stay safe,”
Before Fluttershy had a chance to respond Rainbow turned off the radio. She felt bad for doing it, but this was her mission now, and she wasn’t turning back. Not needing it anymore, she tossed it into the snow. It was up to her to survive now, and her first matter of business was finding a place to sleep tonight. She took one look to see if she had missed anything on the pony, but came up with nothing. His radio, which would have been useful to predict the movement of soldiers, was completely destroyed under his body, covered in blood from the dead pony.
She walked out of the alleyway, being greeted by a familiar, yet at the same time unfamiliar, snow and ice covered old canterlot. A thick layer of ice covered most objects around her, including doors, windows, and even unfortunate ponies that had been trapped in the flood many years ago. They were lifeless now, nothing more than dead bodies frozen in ice, stuck in the cold forever. Rainbow Dash had to wonder how many ponies actually escaped the city, and how many families had died in an attempt to escape. All she could do was hope the safe fate didn’t come to her.
“It makes no since,” Rainbow Dash attention drew to two guards off in the distance, coming towards her. “Why do we have to stuck out here in this cold as hell city looking for a pony we don’t even know is still alive while HQ sits on their asses with hot cocoa everything? I swear, if I survive this entire four year period, I’m quitting the military and finding something else to do,”
“That is if we survive. As far as I know the cold will probably end our lives before even a year has passed,”
Rainbow Dash peeked a look at the two soldiers, they were in the same exact position as she was. If she wasn’t the pony they were looking for, which she knew it was, she would have offered to get them out of here.
That being said, her eyes told her something else, she needed what these ponies had on them. The one on the left carried a radio and a backpack that must have had ammo and food in it as well as a revolver (though she didn’t know what kind it was) while the other pony carried more survival gear like flint to make a fire, a hatchet which was probably used to break ice on doors, and lockpicks as well. She hated to say it, but these ponies had what she needed, and she would have to take that stuff from them if she was to survive.
She creeped behind a rusted motorbike, one of the first in Equestrian from what she could, and thought of a plan of attack. She couldn’t take them from the air anymore, having lost her wings in the transformation, and she didn’t have any idea how to use magic, meaning she would have had to take these two by surprise another way. The storm offered some cover, but not enough where they were totally blind, meaning she had to take each one out separately. That being said, how was she going to take one out without the other noticing. She could take the right pony easily, but she had no chance of surviving the other guard if she didn’t take him by surprise either.
She heard something metallic under her back right hoof, and turned around to examine what it was. It was an old necklace, the back of it unclipped. Strangely enough, Rainbow maybe could have used it as a weapon. If she got up to one of the guards while they were distracted, she might be able to choke them and drag them out of view without trouble. She could then take the next one when they noticed that the earlier guard had disappeared. All she need was to get their attention.
She looked over to the motorcycle next to her, and pushed it a little. When she realized it wasn’t completely frozen to the ground, she realized she could use it to get one of the guards, most likely the armed one, to come over. Nodding to herself she slammed her body with brute force into the bike, just managing to knock it over. She felt exhausted, hadn’t realized that she had lost a lot of her body's muscle in the transformation as well. This was starting to seriously scare her. Could she even take one of those soldiers like she did the one in the alley.
“Hey, did you hear that,”
Well it was to late to turn back from her plan now.
“You wait here, I’ll go and check,”
Rainbow took cover behind a frozen pony nearby, watching as the armed soldier walked towards the motorcycle. She felt uncomfortable in her hiding place, feeling as if the pony frozen inside was still alive, watching everything she did. Managing to keep calm, Rainbow watched as the pony finally reached the knock over motorcycle.
Taking her chance, Rainbow grabbed the necklace in her mouth and rushed towards the guard. He looked up in surprise as Rainbow took the necklace and wrapped it around his neck. Clasping the necklace, she put it back in her mouth and tugged against the guards attempt to free himself. Having to use great force, she tugged the pony onto the ground, realizing the necklace wasn’t choking the guard, and smashed her hoof into his face. Rainbow watched as his body stopped moving, and lifted her hoof to see she had broken his skull.
Blood dripped from the underside of her hoof and she watched as realization hit her. She murder a pony using her own body, yet for some reason something told her it didn’t matter. It was if her mind wanted her to have killed him that way. Every second she was in this new body she was getting more and more unsure. Was she even Rainbow Dash anymore? She wasn’t sure anymore.
Rainbow, feeling all the regret in the world, dragged the dead soldier behind the pony she had hid behind. Looking at it, she felt awful. Frozen an ice, eye’s open, seeing this pony they didn’t recognized kill a pony who had done nothing wrong.
“I’m sorry,” She said, trying to hold back tears “I’m so, so sorry,”
Guilt, sorrow, disbelief, shock, these were some of the things that Rainbow had felt in the past few minutes, or at least the outside of her felt. The longer she was in this body, the more she changed. The more she changed, the harder it was for her to stay on task. She felt as if she was becoming other than Rainbow Dash, and she was starting to think she was. This new mind wasn’t hers, and she should have been able to tell that from the very beginning.
Why had she completely given up hope in Fluttershy? That was the main thing that seemed to show her change. After that, her mind told her tell kill without hesitation, which she even tried to fight. Even then, her plan of choking the guard to death failed her, and she had blood stained onto her hoof. Who, or what was she becoming?
She left the other guard to live, took the revolver, and anything that would weigh her down, and ran. She wanted to get out, but she new that wouldn’t fix anything. Once you have come under the effects of the spell, it couldn’t be reversed. She would end up unrecognizable to not only those outside the city, but those in it as well. She wanted to cry, but even that had now become unthinkable in her new mind.
She headed inside the old donut shop, which was cold due to a broken generator, and put the stuff on the stuff she had taken on the ground. She wanted to hide, or at least some of it wanted to. Hide and never come back out, that’s what remained of the old her said, but the new Rainbow thought differently.
“Why the hell should I care what the old me thinks,” She blurted out, not realizing how much of her had become lost. “Why should I care about what she came her to do, it doesn’t matter to me,”
Rainbow tried her best to cover up her mouth, unable to stand what she was saying, but couldn’t. Every second the old her, the one that came here to find her lost friends, the one who had been the element of loyalty, was fading away. That part of her couldn’t even control her own body anymore, watching as she took the revolver in her hand and loaded it while humming a tune. It was hard, really hard to keep herself the way she was when things like this happened.
Getting up, Rainbow Dash walked into the back of the shop and looked around. If anything moved, she would shoot it. Didn’t matter what it was anymore, she just would. She looked around at the food, most of it had gotten bad, and was ice cold from sitting in there for so long. Not finding anything useful, she headed back to the front of the shop.
Were there other survivors too, part of her wondered. The only thing both minds agreed on is that they had to find Scootaloo, but each mind thought different ways about how to do it, as well as what to do when it happened.
“To bad the storm is picking up soon,” Rainbow muttered, “Even if the old me says to stay here it would be stupid to head outside in that,”
Her radio suddenly turned on without warning, as if it was possessed. “Glad to hear you still have some of your sanity,”
Rainbow was caught off guard by this. How did they manage to turn her radio on? She was almost ready to shoot the it, but decided it was best to see exactly what they had wanted, or if they knew where Scootaloo and the others were.
“Who are you?” Rainbow spoke, “How did you turn this on? What do you wa-”
“Calm down Rainbow,” the voice said, somehow knowing who she was. “I’m here to help you. As for who I am, just call me Rover for now. As for how I turned this on, let's just say I got access to every means of electricity inside the city. Just glad I found you before you became one of them”
One of “them”? What exactly was them? “Could you explain to me what you are trying to say,”
“You know how the spell transforms ponies into different ponies right,” Rover said over the radio. “Well, as if you couldn’t tell, there's more to the spell then just physical changes,”
“No shit,” Rainbow said, “I felt like I was going crazy earlier,”
“That’s the part of the spell you have to worry about,” Rover explained, “It changes your mind, turns you into a lunatic. I’ve seen it happen to others before you, they enter the city, and before I could do anything to help them, they go crazy. All they want to do is kill to survive, anything that moves they shoot. I’ve come to terms that they aren’t really ponies anymore, considering that normal ponies don’t kill unless necessary,”
“So their mindless?” Rainbow said, summing up what he was saying. “And you are saying the same thing is going to happen to me?”
“If you want to call them that, then yes,” Rover answered, “but it can be stopped,”
“How can I do that,” Rainbow asked, the thought of being mindless scared her.
“You got to combine the two different versions of your mind,” Rover explained, “Survival is important, but the same thing goes with making allies. If you don’t ally with survivors, then you aren’t going to survive in here,”
It was true, if she was going to make it to Scootaloo she would have to make some allies. After a couple seconds, she realized something strange about this pony. How did he know she was in the city if he wasn’t… oh.
“Are you part of the guard?” Rainbow spoke over the radio, it seemed strange that he knew what about her when she hadn’t met any other survivors yet.
“Ex-guard,” Rover corrected “When I saw what was happening to the ponies in here, I took it into my hooves to help them. I guess you can say I’m your first ally and friend here in the city,”
She didn’t have a choice, if she was going to make it through here Rainbow Dash was going to have to put her faith in this pony. It killed part of her, but that just made her two minds more balanced.
“Okay mister Rover,” Rainbow replied over the radio. “Can you tell me where I should go from here, as well as tell my friend Fluttershy that-”
“She’s already informed,” Rover interrupted. “She said that their was something you might want to hear as well. She sent me an audio file that she recorded by hacking into the troops here in the city,”
Rainbow knew Fluttershy wasn’t a fighter, but ever since they learn Scootaloo was in the city she had been training in the tech field to back up Rainbow Dash. Even when they could reach each other, Rainbow would have some connection to her, and she had to thank Rover for what he had done. As for how he knew about Fluttershy in the first place, he had probably seen them go off the radar before entering.
“Okay,” Rainbow Dash said, “Play the recording,”
She waited a few seconds as she heard the sounds of the room Rover must of been in move around a bit. When the sound faded, she heard a click as he started playing it. She could hear the sound of the snow blowing in the background, and listened to the conversation between the two guards on their radios.
“I got my sights on one of them. Two unicorns fillies, three earth ponies, a pegasus colt and… my god,”
“What is it man, you sounded like you just saw an alicorn,”
“Dude, you won’t believe it, but I need you to look through your scope right now. I just saw something incredible,”
“Okay,”
Rainbow Dash heard as one of the guards must have picked up a gun and looked down at the survivors they were talking about.
“My word, is the a fucking black alicorn?”
“Yep, must have been a survivor as well, but how the hell did they become an alicorn?”
“You don’t think that’s Princess Twilight… Right?”
“Maybe, but wouldn’t the spell have effected her to?”
“I don’t know, as far as I’m concerned these survivors have lucked out. We shot her, we would be dead,”
“Yeah,”
Rainbow waited thinking it had ended before here something over the radio again. It wasn't the sound of the soldiers hooves in the snow, or the blizzard around them. She heard the clicking of what might have been a camera.
“Gotcha,”
With that it ended, was it possible the group they were talking about was Scootaloo’s. Even if it wasn't, it would be great to be among survivors. This must of been the alicorn that the guards were talking about outside the city, and she had to agree that it seemed weird Twilight would stay in alicorn after what had happened to both her and Scootaloo.
“Do you know the survivors they’re talking about,” Rainbow asked Rover.
“I know about everyone who enters the city,” Rover responded, sounding proud of himself. “If I didn’t know who they were, I wouldn’t have been doing my job. The alicorn calls herself Black Ice from what I’ve heard. Whether she is really Twilight, I don’t know,”
“Do you know where I can find them?” Rainbow said,
“She and her little band like to move around,” Rover explained “If you can get here, I can get you on comms with her,”
“And where exactly are you,”
“The old school of gifted unicorns,” He said, “Do you know where that is,”
“No,” Rainbow said “Where should I go,”
“Well you can take chance of going into helicopter area by going up ground,” Rover explained. “Or you can take the subway to it if you don’t mind facing the mindless down there,”
Both options sounded bad, but it was obvious which one sounded worst. The helicopter was used because it was impossible fly, even at the storm’s lowest point, very high. This way they could cover ground around a bigger area during that time. While she didn't like the idea of dealing with mindless ponies who loved killing it would be nice to be able to travel without worrying about the weather at all.
“I’ll take the subway,” Rainbow replies over the radio.
“All right then, give me a second,” Rainbow waited as Rover got some things together. After a minute or so, she got a response “The nearest entrance is two blocks away. Head to the west side of the tracks and follow it to the next stop, that's where you will find the school,”
“Alright then,” Rainbow said, “I’ll leave once the storm slows down again. Wake me up when it does,”
“Alright,” Rover replied “I’ll search the radio channels in the city in case anything interesting happens, I’ll also try and see if I can get in touch with Black Ice as well as forward any messages from Fluttershy to you. Good night,”
“Night,” Rainbow said, keeping the radio on as she drifted to sleep.
Hey Dash, didn't expect this from me huh?
Sorry I didn't send this sooner, I finally got the coms working a week ago before the storm knock it out and picked back up. To say I've been having some problems getting this stupid computer to work is a bit of an understatement, even with all the help I’ve been getting. Here it is though, the storm has slowed down, the satellite is working thanks to the other survivors here with me, and now I’m sending this email to you to tell you I’m alive.
I understand why you never came on back to get me, things got pretty nasty during that first storm. It was like the rain came down in one big sheet and tried to bury us alive. I’m just glad you made out. When I first woke up, I guess you could expect the surprise I was in when I saw my body was completely different. I had no idea what was going on until I found Twilight who told me that she had a spell backfire. Celestial has probably already told you that anyone now who enters the city has an identity crisis. I couldn't tell who was who anymore, not even myself. Hell, even my own voice wasn't familiar to me anymore it was so bad.
Applejack wanted me to tell you that she is still waiting for that rematch you promised to weeks ago. Next to me, I say she misses you the most. As for others that have survived, I already said Twilight and Applejack but Sweetie, Applebloom, Pinkie, Starlight, and many others are still alive. Rarity and Big Mac were along the unlucky ones who didn't. I feel really sorry for Rarity, we almost managed to save her before she was swept away.
Anyways, I need to ask you a favor. I know it’s probably a really stupid idea, but could you please get us out of here. The royal guard has been pretty much set up shop so that no one could get inside or out, but I bet some like you could. I really miss you and I want to see you again, but I also want to get out of here and back into what remains of Equestria. Please Rainbow, if anyone could do it, you could. I know you're alive, I just know it.
You're my hero, and our only hope
Scootaloo
P.S.
I’m a unicorn with a curly red mane and black coat, just so you can find me.
