Monster's Sacrifice

Rainbow Dash streaked across the ground, flying low to avoid those things that hovered in the air. What had Twi called them? Polyps, that was it. The Technicolor Mare, banished any real thought of those creatures from her thoughts, the way they moved through the air in defiance to everything she knew about flight made her head hurt. The pegasi that were caught by those things floated in the air, living incubators for the Polyp's children. Scootaloo clutched to her back, the filly staying low to reduce as much wind resistance as possible.

"It's okay Scoots, we'll get to my house and then we can figure out that message Harmony gave us before she died." Rainbow Dash reassured her young protege.

Scootaloo clutched tighter to her mentor as images of the Tree of Harmony slowly being devoured by growing corruption flashed through her mind. Ordinally, she would be ecstatic that she was riding on Dash's back. The ground blurring by, it was the closest she would ever get to fly as her wings would never reach the strength needed to fly with anywhere near the speed of her mentor. She had long since made peace with it and even found a few ways to..... cheat. But Scootaloo knew that if she looked now she would behold the opaque tentacled forms of the polyps and the horribly broken expressions of the Pegasi that were now being devoured from the inside out.

"We're almost there, squirt." Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

Pouring on the speed, she failed to see a Polyp move directly in front of her, banking sharply, the Cyan Speedster felt the young filly pull away from her, continuing directly toward the Polyp. Rainbow Dash, first Pegasus in 100 years to do a Rainbow Boom, youngest Wonderbolt in history, was powerless to stop the filly she counted as her sister be flung into a horrible fate. But to Dash's shock, dark clouds gathered around her adoptive sister, clouds that sparked with an excessive electrical charge. As the clouds began to spin, Rainbow watched as Scootaloo kicked out ot the burgeoning Electrical Tornado column directly toward her, leaving the polyp with a faceful of storm. To Dash's surprise the Polyp was consumed, dispersed by the electrically charged winds.

Intercepting the Filly she held her tight as she made her way to her house. Landing she watched as the Polyps all focused their attention on her house. They were not converging on the two of them yet but the horrid things were slowly edging closer.

A muffled voice was soon heard. "Hey Rainbow, can you put me down? You're kind of suffocating me against your chest,"

Rainbow looked down and sure enough she had pulled her little sister close and was holding her tight to her breast. Leaning her head down a moment she nuzzled the younger mare, then placed her down on the clouds next to her. Turning to her front door to avoid any questions about her display of affection she made her way to her front door.

"Alright Scoots, when we go in we just have to find the Beast that conceals its heart, in the same place I conceal mine. Whatever that means. Then we can beat these buckers back where they came from. Right Scoots? Scoots?" Not hearing a response Rainbow glanced back to see her sister staring out into the destruction that had been their home. Walking over to the orange coated filly she placed a hand on Scoots shoulder.

"C'mon Scoots, we need to get inside. The sooner we do, the sooner we can show how awesome we are."

Scootaloo let loose a shuddering breath, "I'm very scared Rainbow, but I know one thing more than anything else. What I did hurt those things and if we go in together those things will tear this place apart." Scootaloo's shaking uncertainty stopped as her voice took on a hard tone. "Which is why you are going in and I am staying out here."

Spinning, Scootaloo struck Dash in the chest, an explosion of air dispersing the force enough to send Rainbow flying into her house, instead of being reduced to paste. Before the stunned Dash could recover Scoots had darted forward and closed all entrances and exits on Dash's house.

Turning back to the Horrors that floated in the air in defiance to everything the teen Pegasi held sacred, she snarled out her challenge.

"None of you shall make it past me, I've lost to much and I will not loss anyone else. Nor will I give into the fear in my heart that wants me to flee. Others depend on me, I Will Not Fail."

Shaking off the blow, Rainbow snarked as she waited for the world to stop spinning.. "Guess I can't really call her Squirt anymore, Huh?"

Getting to her hooves she glanced where her door had been, she could tell at a glance that they would take too long for her to break through. Glancing around she saw her entire house had received the same treatment.

"Kid does good work. Gonna have to tell her after I get out of her when I'm kicking her flank." Glancing around she again addressed her empty house.

"Now I just have to go find a Monster that Hides its heart in the same place I hide mine." Glancing up the stairs to her room she finished. "Well, I didn't want to admit to Scoots but that can only be one place. I'd hate for the kid to think I was all mush."

Moving forward she ascended the steps one at a time. As she did, she realized that the clouds that made up her staircase were transitioning to ones made more for snow, not the solidified whisps she had used to build her house. The chill in the air deepened as she continued her ascent. Frost, beginning to form around her wing tips. Unbothered Rainbow Dash shook it from her wings as she reached her second floor. Before her stood a door that should have been to her room, but this was different. Pushing against it she felt that it was made out of clouds best used for hail. Still it opened to her touch and besides the door having a deep chill to it, she was otherwise unharmed. Entering into the room, she beheld a slender feminine form that seemed to be intent on the work before her. The Female Floated, her legs terminating into ragged stumps. Horns rose from the female's head, her back turned preventing Dash from seeing the woman's face.

Noticing Dash, the woman stated in a rough gravelly tone, "You really shouldn't be here, I haven't fed in a long time and...... CRASH?"

Enveloped in a hug of bone crushing proportions, Rainbow notice that the arms of the creature were strong and thin. They seemed to be longer than normal and she could feel clawed finger tips scraping her arms. Just as quick as the hug started, it ended as the creature pulled back. The being had a large Hawk skull for a face, horns raising up behind to form a crown. Red glowing lights that served as eyes stared at Dash for a moment before dimming in disappointment. The creature turned away, dismissing her.

"I'm sorry I did that, if you are anything like the one you resemble and who's element you share I know you didn't like that. It's just that you look so much like her. It's funny, when I was alive and uncursed, I never could have done that. Never could have hugged her or told her how I felt. But after eons alone I would give anything to hold her close and tell her everything I never could. I don't know what brings the current element of Loyalty here, but you need to leave. I have not been safe to be around for a long time."

Rainbow Dash shook her head, that hug had felt, familiar. Clearing the cobwebs from her head she began to berate the being before her.

"Listen, all my friends are dying outside. Horrible things are killing and making everyone do awful stuff. Some of them I can't even look at without getting a headache. I imagine some of the other girls have an easier time of it, but I am fighting things that are so far outside of my understanding that I get migraines just facing them, let alone fight them." Stealing herself for a conflict, Rainbow spoke her challenge. "So I don't particularly care about what your issue is, the tree of Harmony said you could help. That you're an evil we can deal with. So let's deal."

A harumphing laugh came from the being before Dash. "Just like your predecessor. You are so much like her. I became this to protect her, to make sure she never had to. I fought beside her, her darkest ally. Eventually she had to seal me away. I have never bore her any grudge for that. I would have destroyed the world. The darkness inside me had driven me to be nothing more than a monster." Thinking, the creature turned her head.

Dash went to open her mouth, when dark shapes broke through the walls, leathery of form, they resembled nothing more than massive bipedal bats, but no bats where ever so terrible. One of them grabbed Dash and began to pull her back towards the flock as they snapped to get at the Pegasi.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT," came a shout, followed by a blast of freezing air. The bat-thing that held Dash glanced up and saw the creature before it. Screaming in panic the bat-thing released the Cyan mare and tried to flee back to it's flock.

"No, there is no escape for those that would break into my liar and steal one that has come to me of their own free will. You seek to steal from me? I will let my children deal with you."

Rainbow Dash watched as whispy beings out of every Pegasi's nightmares manifested in the world. Lean Pony Forms of wispy white, the ghostly entities shot past her, screaming in the voice of the winter wind. Rainbow Dash shuddered, but not from cold as she said the name of what stood before her. The name all pegasi knew.

"You're the Cannibal Spirit, the Wendigo. Mother to all of the Windigo. Destroyer of the old Kingdoms. Bringer of Fimbulwinter." falling on her ass, Rainbow Dash for the first time lost herself to her fear. Staring blindly at the being before her, she was surprised when the Wendigo sighed. It was a small sigh, but it was tired. Exhaustion took the Wendigo's features as her years became apparent to Rainbow Dash. Just like that Dash's fear turned to concern. Whatever the being was before her, the being obviously had had a hard time, had never chosen to be what she was. Shaking the fear from her, Dash got to her hooves and extended her hands, moving forward to help the Cannibal Spirit to lean against a wall.

Glancing back into that terrible face, Rainbow again asked for help. "I get your tired, but right now my sister is out there fighting things she has no business even knowing exist, let alone face on the battlefield. Come out of this room with me. Push back these things to where they come from. You said you fought alongside the Element of Loyalty before, fight alongside one again. Have one last battle, one last chance to be awesome."

The Wendigo chuckled, ending in a cough that wracked her form. Blue material was on the corner of her mouth, when she looked again at Dash she spoke.

"After all these eons locked away, if I go out now, I will fail. I have not much left. Those things out there will kill me, and although I will welcome that end after so long, it will mean the end of any hope you have. For only those that have welcomed darkness into their hearts can stand against those tides of madness. The pure hearted can not face what those things are. But there is another way."

Rising the Wendigo floated to the other side of the room, reaching into a pouch, the cannibal spirit approached Dash.

Opening her hand she held a frozen heart, the skin long turned blue. Yet still it beat. "This is my heart. Consume it in it's entity, if you do you will be gifted with my power as I was in my prime. You will take on my strength and my curse. The Windigos will answer to your comand. And you will have more than enough to destroy those awful things for good. Please Dash, I want a chance to see my Loyalty again in whatever afterlife I may go to, or barring that the sweet embrace of oblivion. I just want to lay down and rest. My name when I was alive was Gilda and it was my honor to take on this darkness for the greatest Element of Loyalty of all time. Her name was Rainbow Dash and she was my best friend."

Dropping the heart into Dash's hands, Gilda backed off, leaving Rainbow to her decision. Rainbow looked at Gilda, then took a breath, and made her choice.