Chapters Twilight sat in the cabin on the train and looked out of her window as the landscape passed at moderately high speeds. A letter lay in front of her seat and Twilight began to read the letter again for the tenth time that morning.
Dear Twilight,
Come to the palace immediately, there is something I need to discuss with you personally.
Your Loving Mentor, Princess Celestia
"I wonder what happened that caused the Princess to need my presence." Twilight thought as the familiar shining spires of Canterlot came into view from her window. Twilight looked on at this sight and sighed as memories of her former life as the introverted bookworm came to mind. She cleared her mind with a noticeable shake of her head and secured the letter as the train pulled through the checkpoint at the city's entrance.
The Friendship Express pulled into the Canterlot station and stopped with a loud hiss as various ponies on the platform waited for the doors to open. A bell rang from the train as the doors slid open and ponies from the train poured out into the station. Twilight Sparkle maneuvered around the mass with the practiced ease of a local. She moved with a sense of determination toward the Royal palace in the center of Canterlot. Twilight walked through the royal palace guard checkpoint without stopping as the guard on duty made a quick note and got to her side as she passed.
"Princess Celestia has been expecting you, she's in the library." The guard said as he walked in stride with her.
Twilight nodded. "Thank you."
The guard gave a curt nod and did a 180 to return to his post. Twilight came to the library with its ever winding bookshelves and saw her long time mentor sitting by the window near the entrance with a cup of tea on a table between the two seats. The unusual thing was her mane wasn't flowing in the wind and a blanket covered the Princess.
"Twilight, I'm glad you were able come here so quickly." Celestia said as she levitated the tea cup to her lips.
"Are you okay Princess? You don't seem like yourself?" Twilight as she took the seat next to her mentor. Twilight looked upon Celestia's face and found the telltale signs of the common cold. "Oh... That's why."
"Don't worry I'm not contagious." Celestia said before sipping more of the tea.
Twilight nodded before partaking in the view from the window and watched some dark rainclouds come rolling in from the east.
"Now for the reason I called you for today. It seems some ponies have stumbled upon some ruins out west a week and half ago and the Canterlot museum research team arrived just yesterday and sent a very interesting report about their initial findings. They suspect the ruins to be by Starswirl the Bearded as his insignia is etched all over the place." Celestia said in a quiet tone.
Twilight gasped as thoughts of the multitude of knowledge that could be unearthed at this site.
"This could finally explain so many of the unfinished spells in all of his personal journals or what he did during the second griffon uprising or..." Twilight said as she suddenly starting listing off her personal theories.
Celestia smiled at her student's antics. Memories of years past have many instances like this where the curiosity of Twilight was so vocal that's on par with an avalanche in size and speed.
"Twilight..." Celestia said quietly.
"It could explain the lack of time travel spells or an explanation of the higgs boson theory or maybe..."
"Twilight..." Celestia huffed in annoyance.
"There is SOOO much we could learn..."
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" Celestia bellowed out before going into a sneezing fit.
"Oh whoops...I did it again didn't I?" Twilight as a blush of embarrassment formed on her cheeks.
Celestia gave Twilight a disapproving look and Twilight shrunk under the gaze.
"Back to what I was saying." Celestia said before returning to her quiet tone. "I have proposition for you. The research team is lacking an expert on Starswirl the Bearded and I know for a fact that you are one of the very few ponies in Equestria with such knowledge on him. How you would like to help this team for the next two weeks while the other expert from makes his way from Stalliongrad."
A synapse misfired from Twilight's brain and her eyes widened as she drew in a deep breath. "Oh pony feathers..." Celestia thought as she cast a quick noise reducing spell before the inevitable occurred. A girlish squeal of joy erupted from Twilight as she sprung from her seat and started to hop around the Princess.
"Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes..." Twilight exclaimed with every hop. Celestia released the spell and smiled at her student's excitement.
"Twilight." Celestia said and Twilight stopped mid-hop. "I'm glad you accepted but now you need to go and pack for the trip, I'll have a transport arranged at Ponyville tomorrow morning to take you to the ruins. I'll send instructions when its arranged."
"Thank you for this opportunity, I won't let you down." Twilight said before sprinting out back to the train station.
It was in the afternoon and clouds have come in from Cloudsdale for tomorrow's rainstorm, Rainbow Dash floated on one of these clouds above the library blowing her mane around in utter boredom before she heard a ruckus below her. She stuck her head over the edge of the cloud and watched Twilight hauling flank toward the library. Twilight looked excited as she got into the library and slammed the door behind her, causing Rainbow to fall in surprise. Dash righted herself a few feet below the cloud and she glided down toward the ground. "What's gotten into her?" Rainbow thought as she walked to the front door.
knock
knock
knock
"Twilight, can I come in?" Dash yelled from outside.
A few moments passed before Spike opened the door and motioned her to come in. Dash saw a very strange sight, books floating and bouncing around as if in song, a large duffel bag in the center of the room is filled with a few dusty old books and writing supplies and Twilight stood upstairs controlling the chaos like a conductor.
"I believe that should be all from the checklist I just gave you Spike, can you check and then double check the bag while I grab the Starswirl the Bearded journals from the basement." Twilight said after she placed the books back onto their respective shelves.
Spike nodded slowly and Twilight disappeared into the basement. "What's up with her Spike?" Rainbow said as she walked up beside him.
"Princess Celestia got Twilight onto a magic research team on some Starswirl ruins out west. She's going to be gone for the next few weeks before the premier historian in Stalliongrad can get over there." Spike said as he did onceover on the bag and checked the list twice before retreating to edge of the library to sit on a cushion.
A sly grin appeared on his face as looked over to Rainbow Dash who was watching Twilight return to the bag with a collection of books floating next to her. "You gonna tell her your feelings anytime soon or do I have to get Rarity to help you along."
Rainbow's cheeks turned crimson red as she snapped toward the dragon. "Oh shut up, it's kinda hard to get the right words in my mouth let alone get into the right situation to ask her about it. Luna knows I want to tell her but I don't want to cause problems if she doesn't like me back." Spike smiled and nodded from the answer he got from the prismatic mare.
"How about you do it when Twilight gets back from this trip, two weeks should be plenty of time to sort through your feelings and find the right words to say." Spike said as Rainbow Dash was glaring holes into him.
She sighed "You're right, these next two weeks should be enough get my mind right."
Twilight walked up to the now silent pair. "Sorry about that Dash, an opportunity came up today that I just couldn't turn down."
"Yeah I heard a bit about it from Spike, what's so special about these ruins out west?" Dash asked.
Twilight's grin almost came off her face at the question. "It's hard to believe that these ruins could finally answer so many questions that his notes and journals couldn't tell us. It's a stupendous opportunity for the magic community." Twilight answered.
"So this Starswirl guy is like the epitome of awesomeness for you unicorns, right?"
Twilight agreed "In a way, that's right."
"Kinda like what the Wonderbolts are to the pegasi." Rainbow Dash summarized.
Twilight giggled at the comparison "Yeah, it's sort of like that... Rainbow can you help me tell the rest of our friends about this, rather not leave for two weeks and have them be worried sick about me."
"Yeah no problem, you do know when you tell Pinkie she going to want to throw a party tonight." Rainbow said.
"That's why I need you; I know you can convince her to delay till I get back. Celestia knows that I need the sleep tonight before I leave." Twilight said as she moved toward the door.
Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement and followed Twilight outside. Spike saw the two leave and went over to the bag to actually do his job with his checklist, groaning at the amount of books that need to be accounted for.
The day was nearing its end as Celestia's sun started to disappear under the horizon as Rainbow Dash started to fly back home. A small worry tugged at the back of her mind as she looked back at Twilight over her shoulder. "It's just some old ruins, I'm sure everything will be fine." Dash thought as her home came into view.
She unlocked her door and came inside to the usual messy state of her living room. She lay on her couch and sighed in relief as she got comfortable. She looked at some of the pictures of her friends adorning her shelves. The picture of the six of them together from a picnic a year ago was one of her favorites. Dash sighed "Nothing better go wrong..." she said as she stared at the Twilight in the picture.
The alarm clock rang at 5:30 am; Rainbow Dash peeked at the offending machine from under her covers before finally slipping away from the warm embrace of her bed. She calmly turned the alarm off before going into a small stretching routine. After that, an apple in the kitchen for Dash and gave Tank his morning breakfast. Rainbow exited her home just in time for the sunrise "And ponies wonder why I take a nap or two during the day." Dash thought as she saw the beautiful pink and blue sky that the only sun can create. She gave a running start and took off into the sky.
Dash flew over Ponyville and watched some of the other early birds starting their day. She landed in the park and sat by her favorite oak tree. Another pegasus landed near the tree, she wore a blue hat and had saddlebags on that had the greatest smell emanating from them.
"Hey Derpy."
"Hey Dash."
Derpy sat next to Dash and got out two muffins from her bag and handed one to Rainbow.
"So what brings you out to the park and not your usual training spot?" Derpy asked as she took a bite from her muffin.
"Twilight is leaving for some ruins about some Starswirl guy out west for two weeks and I just have this small worry about something real bad happening when she's out there." Rainbow answered, leaving her muffin untouched.
Derpy saw the worried expression on her friend's face. "Is this the same kind of feeling you get whenever one of friends leaves or is this worse?"
Rainbow stared up to the sky "This just feels bad. Kinda like when Discord attacked."
Derpy looked at her friend. "I'm certain Twilight can handle herself if anything happens. I know how it feels to worry about a loved one. Keep a positive attitude and come talk to me if the worry is getting to you." Derpy said as she gave Dash a reassuring hug.
Rainbow hugged back before Derpy had to get started on her route. Rainbow ate her muffin and walked toward to the library to see if she could catch Twilight before she left.
Twilight had just closed the front door when Rainbow reached the library. Twilight was confused at appearance of Rainbow Dash."Rainbow, what in Tartarus are you doing up this early? Actually scratch that, can you help with my bag? My magic has been pretty iffy this morning."
"Sure thing, just wanted to see you off." Rainbow Dash said as she placed the bag on her back. She grunted in effort as she rose and straightened her legs.
Twilight blushed at Rainbow's gesture to see her off before making her way to the train station, going slow so Dash can be by her side.
"How did you sleep last night?" Rainbow asked as she slowly walked.
"Not that well, I always get nervous before big trips but it seems different this time." Twilight said as she saw the station come into view.
"Yeah I get a kind of weird feeling too when I leave for a new place or one of my friends does." Rainbow said.
"I hope this goes well to assuage both our worries." Twilight reasoned as she got to the platform and the sound of the train could be heard in the distance. Rainbow placed the bag on the floor and started panting from the strain she put on herself.
"Thanks for doing this Rainbow Dash. It feels good to have a friend that cares a lot." Twilight said as she confirmed the train's destination to the one in her instructions.
"If only you knew how much I do care for you ." Dash thought as the train pulled into the station.
Twilight hugged Rainbow Dash "I'll try to contact you guys when I get there."
"Promise me you'll stay safe Twilight." Rainbow Dash said.
"I will." Twilight got on to the train and levitated the duffel next to her. Rainbow waved as the doors closed and Twilight waved back when she got to the closest window.
Rainbow Dash waved till she couldn't see the train any more. "I mean it Egghead, stay safe." Rainbow Dash yelled.
The next three days were filled with more bad feelings and trips to Derpy and Fluttershy to vent out her worries and frustrations. Rainbow Dash usually never let this kind of feeling ever overtake her this much ever since the Equestrian Best Young Flier Competition.
"This is insane, how the hay am I going to sleep when I feel like Twilight is in danger." Dash thought as she lay on her bed trying to fall asleep. As the dreams were about to embrace her, a series of knocks roused caused growl of annoyance from Dash. She walked to her door and opened it with her eyes closed, "You better be a Celestia damn princess or else I'm going to buck you off my property."
"And if I am a "Celestia damn princess", does that mean I get to come inside, Rainbow Dash." Princess Luna said as she looked down at her.
"Oh horse apples I'm screwed." Rainbow Dash thought as her eyes almost popped out of her skull as she showed the Princess of the Night into her home.
"I know it's late for you Dash but the castle has just received a disturbing radio transmission from the base camp at the ruins." Luna said and the color from Rainbow's face drained.
"Nonononono... Please tell me Twilight is okay?"
Luna didn't look at Rainbow Dash "I have a copy of the transmission that you need to listen to."
"That didn't answer my question, Princess."
"And I will tell you again, listen to this..."
Luna produced a small tape recorder from her satchel and placed it on the living room table. Rainbow looked at the little machine; feeling scared of what it would tell her. She took a deep breath and grabbed hold of it and pressed play.
It was static at first but a voice broke through in mild clarity. "This is the Canterlot museum research team. We need help!"
The voice was unmistakably Twilight's although the tone was scared and ponies were yelling in the background.
"I say again, send help! I don't know what happened but some moron let something loose here. It killed our guards and we have no bucking idea what or where this thing is. I don't know if anypony can hear me but whoever is receiving this, tell Rainbow Dash I'm sorry and that I..." static overtook the unicorn's voice and silence followed before the tape stopped rolling.
"Damn it. What was she gonna say?" Rainbow exclaimed as she slammed her hoof down in anger. Dash breathed deeply for a few moments, calming herself from the outburst she made.
"When did the castle get this?" Rainbow said as she tossed the recorder back to Luna.
Luna grabbed it and put it back in her bag."Within the last thirty minutes, it seems the radio that Twilight Sparkle used may have been destroyed or something is blocking the signal as the Guards have been trying to raise her ever since we got the transmission."
"There must be something I could do to help." Dash said.
"Normally I would say no because this situation would call for a search and rescue operation from the Royal Guard but Sister has deemed a smaller and more personal response due to Twilight Sparkle immediate danger. She wants you on the three pony team she is sending to the ruins to rescue her." Luna said.
"Wait a minute, Why me?" Rainbow said.
"It seems Celestia wants someone with a more... passionate connection to Twilight Sparkle then the other two she plans on to be on the team. It seems Sister is very confident that love will be a great factor in her student' s rescue."
Rainbow blushed. "How the hay does everypony know about my crush... "
"Why not Twilight's brother, Shining Armor? He's the captain of the Royal Guard; he's more qualified than me for this."
"Again normally that would be the case but his duties as the Captain have him guarding Celestia whenever she gets sick."
Dash sighed and thought of the oncoming ordeal ahead.
"So I'm going on a rescue mission with two ponies I don't know and save the love of my life from something that probably came from the deepest pits of Tartarus itself. " Dash smirked at odds stacked against her.
"Wouldn't have it any other way ."
"Let's go Princess."
Luna nodded. Magic surrounded them and the two disappeared.
Princess Luna and Rainbow Dash appeared in a blinding flash of light in one of the clearings in the Royal Palace gardens. Rainbow Dash stumbled around in a confused daze before her face turned green and she ran to the nearest bush.
Luna laughed at the spectacle as Dash emptied her stomach "Hehehe, first time being teleported, eh Rainbow Dash..."
Rainbow wiped her mouth with her hoof and looked at the princess with pure despair.
"Oh excuse me for trying to add levity to the situation. Come on, you need to meet the rest of the team." Luna said as she walked toward one of the corridors heading back into the castle proper. Rainbow Dash groaned and followed her.
The pair walked in silence as Dash looked at the Princess strangely. "Is something on your mind, Rainbow Dash?" Luna said while looking forward.
"Yeah there is. How the hay do you know?" Rainbow said in an accusing tone.
"Know what?" Luna said in a bored tone.
"You know exactly what I mean by what. How did you know about my crush? I exactly don't broadcast my feelings to the world, just my really close friends." Dash said with a bit of anger.
Luna sighed "I had no prior knowledge of your infatuation with Twilight until Celestia told me about it before I came to get you. If you want to know how she came privy to your private matters, ask her."
Dash looked ahead as she began to think. "Well, I know I've told only Fluttershy and Derpy about it and Spike stumbled upon it during one of my "venting" visits with Fluttershy ." Dash thought."Wait a minute, if that dragon mentioned it one of those friendship reports I had him write, he better hope to Celestia he grows wings by the time I get back because his scaly ass is going to be stuffed and mounted on my wall if I anything to say about it ."
After several minutes of walking around thinking evil thoughts of draconic punishment, noises could be heard from a door at the end of a long hallway. There were slight but the sounds of maps unfurling, heavy hoofsteps and talking were prevalent in the quiet atmosphere. Princess Luna and Rainbow Dash entered a large room with an open window that had a clear view of the half moon in the sky. Nine unicorns were all drawing one very intricate circular design on the floor and two ponies were huddled next to Princess Celestia over table of maps. Next to the maps were two tables with various types of gear laid across them. Shining Armor stood by the door and closed it after the two came inside.
Rainbow turned around to face Shining Armor. "Hey, I know it doesn't mean much coming from me but I'm so sorry you can't go and rescue Twilight."
Shining Armor sighed "So am I, I was so worried when I first heard the news and then I got angry when I was told I wasn't allowed to leave to get her." Dash put a comforting hoof on Shining before he continued. "It took six guards to stop me from leaving right then, the Princess had to get Cadence to calm me down. I may hate that I'm not allowed save my own sister. But at least I know the team Princess Celestia sends is going to be the best."
"Speaking of which, do you know why Celestia asked for me? Luna was pretty vague when she grabbed me." Dash fibbed in a hopeful tone. "If he knows, I'm just going to die of an embarrassment." she thought.
"The Princess believed a friend of Twilight's would be comforting if something traumatizing happened to her." Shining said.
"Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou ..." Dash thought as she let out a mental sigh of relief.
"Go head up to Celestia, I'm sure she'll want to talk with you before I start going over the plan with the team."
"Sister, I got Rainbow Dash just as you requested."
"Thank you Luna. Can you go check the transportation circle? We can't have any mistakes once we start." Celestia said.
"At once Sister." Luna left to the unicorns and Dash got a better look at the two ponies by Celestia.
"Hello Rainbow Dash, I would like you to meet the two you will be going with. The Pegasus on my right is Flaming Arrow and the unicorn on my left is Savant." Celestia said.
The gray coated pegasus stallion with short brick red hair and a cutie mark of a golden circular shield spoke first "Hi call me Arrow. Glad I could finally meet the amazing Rainbow Dash, though I wish it were under better circumstances." Rainbow felt her ego swell a bit from the compliment before the navy blue coated unicorn mare with a long straight black and silver mane with a cutie mark of a lit light bulb bowed her head. "It's a pleasure."
"Uh Princess, Could I speak with you for a moment?" Rainbow said as she gave glare to the Princess.
Celestia smirked knowingly and motioned for the corner of the room.
Rainbow Dash walked with the Princess to the corner. "From what I can tell, you seem upset Rainbow Dash."
"Princess, I am beyond upset. Just how did you find out about the crush? Was it mentioned in a friendship report from Fluttershy or was it one of mine that Spike wrote."
Celestia shook her head "If I could tell you, believe me I would. But that would be breaking the Pinkie promise she made me do. I can say this though, you'll know who told me soon enough."
Rainbow Dash looked confused as Celestia guided her back to the map table. Rainbow Dash got in between the two unfamiliar ponies as Shining Armor left his post by the door and walked up in front of them.
Shining grabbed a map with some sticky notes attached and red ink markings before starting.
"Ok, The Princesses are going to transport you three by the transportation spell to this clearing here." he said as he pointed a hoof to small clearing about a kilometer away from the ruins. "The same design that we are using right here will be the same one in the clearing. It was set by the research team so they could send reports and get supplies from the museum. However the design at the museum can't support pony travel, that's why we had to make a new one."
Dash groaned at the thought of going through that weird sensation again.
"Once you arrive, make your way to the ruins and determine what is causing the communication blackout. When it's fixed, send a message to confirm your presence. Next, search for any survivors. There are thirty ponies that are unaccounted for including Twilight."
"Do we have any list to confirm who's there? Plus what about the" thing" Twilight mentioned? We need more ponies if we want to take it out." Flaming Arrow interrupted.
"I know she mentioned there was some creature but your only objective is to save the survivors." Shining replied. Shining pointed to the tables beside him." There should be a list of the researchers with your gear. Now, send a message when you have Twilight and any other survivors safe and the Guard will be dispatched to get you out and deal with the creature. Any questions?"
Rainbow Dash piped up "Any idea what does this place look like? And all I heard of it was out west, is it in a jungle or a desert, where is it?"
Shining looked around the table, moving around some maps before grabbing a photo. He placed it in the middle of the table. The picture had the initial research team in front of a plain stone structure with glyphs all over the door. "The map says it's near the edge of the Buffalo desert but the clearing you are being transported into is surrounded by trees. So it must be right on the border between woods and sand. The ruin itself seems to mostly underground with that building over the stairs that lead down."
"Great, tight spaces, barely any room to fly, and only one way in and out. Just great ..." Rainbow thought at the new info.
"Now for your gear, each of you will wear a short wave radio so you can communicate with each other. Also because of the unknown creature you will also wear a protective vest." Shining said as pointed to three black vests with radios attached to them. "Savant will bring along her tech kit and Arrow has the first aid kit. Rainbow Dash you will carry the small back-up radio system if the one at the base camp is beyond repair."
"What about weapons? I'd rather not meet the bloody thing with just my hooves and wings, sir." Arrow said.
"Each vest is holstered with the standard issue P-Bar knife but nothing else. I wish I could have all of you fully prepared for whatever that thing is but anything more and we'll risk something going wrong in the transportation." Shining answered. All of them nodded and they moved to put on their gear.
Rainbow looked at the black vest; it lay unzipped and looked very bulky. The radio was on the right shoulder strap while the knife was on the left. She looked at the knife warily before putting the vest on. After she tightened the straps to her liking, she opened some of the pockets and took out the items inside. There was a laughably small first aid kit, a whistle with a lanyard, a small map of the underground layout with a compass, a box of waterproof matches, and a folded up list of names and photos of the research team. She saw Twilight's picture at the bottom of the list, the smile on it giving a small comfort to Rainbow Dash. "We're going to save her. Not even some unknown monster can stop us ." Dash thought as she put the items back in her pockets. She scanned the table for this back-up radio and saw two big saddlebags with a note on them that said "Radio". She got the radio onto her back and felt so heavy. "Thank Celestia I only have to carry this for less than a mile ." Dash thought as she walked slowly over to Arrow and Savant.
The three stood by the heavily detailed circle. Savant tightened her vest straps before shifting her kit around to be more balanced. "I just hope nothing goes wrong with this transportation. Who knows what could happen in the journey from here to there." Savant looked worried as she said that and this caused severe uneasiness in Rainbow Dash.
"What do you mean what could go wrong?" Rainbow asked.
Savant sighed "At the very best nothing bad happens and we go on our merry way. However there is the chance we could lose some equipment if there is a crossed mark in the design. I don't want to get in to what the worst thing is..."
Rainbow was now very worried as her eyes went wide in horror at the information.
Flaming Arrow glared at Savant.
"Although, I'm sure nothing will go wrong Rainbow Dash. Canterlot's best drew this and the Princesses are performing the spell." Savant reasoned as she patted Rainbow Dash's back.
"Uh huh..." Rainbow said as she looked at the design on the floor with worry.
Celestia walked up beside to the trio and coughed. "I'm sorry that I asked you to leave the safety of your homes to rescue my student. I know it looks like I'm sending you into the fire. But know this; I wouldn't risk your lives unnecessarily. Twilight holds a special in my heart and the heart of many others. Be careful and bring her back home safe."
Flaming Arrow saluted Celestia "I won't fail you, Ma'am"
Both Savant and Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement and bowed.
"Now to get this show on the road. All of you stand side by side in the center. Please be calm and still during this process, anything else will cause complications." Luna called out from the front of the room.
The three walked in and took their positions. Arrow stood in the center, Rainbow Dash was on his left and Savant on his right.
Princess Luna stood in front of the open window and Celestia stood opposite of her on the other side of the design. The two closed their eyes in concentration and both of their horns lit up. The aura slowly slinked down to the design. Then the outside edge started to light up in a bright white light. The light began to fill out every little mark, twist, and turn as it traveled to the center. The three ponies closed their eyes as the light came closer. The light stopped at the center and a blue aura started to surround them. Rainbow Dash clenched her eyes shut and had the air squeezed out of her as the aura tightened around the ponies.The light flashed and a loud pop filled the room as the light disappeared. There was no sign of the three ponies that were in the center.
"Now, we wait..." Celestia said before walking out of the room with Shining Armor following behind.
The small clearing by the edge of the forest laid bare save for design on the ground and the wind blowing through the trees. Suddenly, a small white ball appeared in the exact center of the circle before growing exponentially in size. A loud pop rang throughout the quiet night as the ponies inside the circle let out a big sigh of relief.
Flaming Arrow looked to his right and saw a panting Savant with a ruffled mane. He looked to his left and saw... nothing.
As Flaming Arrow and Savant landed in the circle, Rainbow Dash teleported off to the north by a few hundred yards. Dash tried to yell but a few tree branches breaking against her chest pushed any air out of her lungs. She crashed onto the ground in a heap of broken tree limbs and leaves.
Rainbow Dash groaned as she sat up and inspected the damage. "Okay, legs feel fine, my head doesn't hurt..." She mumbled as she moved her body in search of any damage. Felling none, Dash unbuckled the radio bag and placed it on the ground as she flared her wings. She lifted off the ground and flied around her crash site without problems.
"Okay wings are good ." Dash thought as she landed back near the radio bag.
She picked up the knife that fell from her holster and clicked it back into place before inspecting the radio for any damage. She opened the bag and saw a sad sight. The radio was nearly broken in half and the receiver was smashed to bits.
"Crap, must have landed on my side when I crashed ." She checked the other bag and most of the repair parts looked okay. Rainbow Dash sat on the ground and began to fiddle around with her own radio. After a few seconds static crackled to life.
"Rainbow Dash, this is Arrow, respond?"
"Rainbow Dash here, where are you guys?"
A sigh of relief broke through the line. "Good, now stay where you are, get your whistle and light out and make yourself known. We'll get there soon."
"Okay, get here quick."Dash begins to empty out her vest pockets for the items. She grabbed the whistle and found the small flashlight before Dash turned on the flashlight and started to wave it around while blowing the whistle loudly.
Fweeeeep
Fweeeeep
Fweeeeep
"That should give them a good idea where I'm at." Dash thought. She sat down and turned off her light. She looked up at clear night sky and marveled at beauty of Luna's work. However doing this reminded Dash of the many nights Twilight would have the rest of the gang in a field outside Ponyville, looking up in complete awe. "Twilight is alone and scared while I'm staring up at the stars. We need to get going."
Rainbow blew a few more times from her whistle as she waved the light over her head. A small white dot caught Rainbow's attention as she flashed her light in that direction.
"Rainbow Dash, is that you?" Savant said over the radio.
"Yeah it's me. Got some bad news though, the radio got busted in my crash."
A loud curse rang off in the direction of Savant as she started to come within sight. "Well at least you're okay; rather have a damaged radio than a broken leg." Savant said over the radio.
"Great you found her Savant, fire off a spell and I'll get there to check up on Rainbow Dash." Arrow called over the radio.
Savant nodded and walked into a break in between the trees and sent a bolt of red magic into the sky. "Okay I see you where you guys are." Arrow said.
Savant walked up to Rainbow Dash. "You had us worried there for a second. Now where is the radio, I need to check on what can be salvaged."
Rainbow pointed to the tree and Savant walked past her as Arrow landed. "Glad to see you in one piece. Have you noticed any pains after your crash?" Arrow said as he grabbed the first aid kit off his back.
Rainbow Dash waved him off "Not really, probably got a bruise from landing on the radio but everything else feels fine."
"Great. Savant how does the radio look?" Arrow yelled. "Looks like scrap but I'm sure I could build a radio from all our parts if the radio is busted at the camp." Savant said.
"Okay, not the best start to a mission but I'll take it. Savant, get the radio back on Rainbow Dash. We move in five."
The trio was walking a well worn trail in the forest to the camp, the wind whistling over the treetops. Rainbow started to get restless with the silence. "I might as well get to know these guys a bit more before we get separated again ."
"So Arrow, tell me about yourself?"
"I was born and raised in Trottingham and I joined the army to help pay for my college hopes. After a few successful missions and two good years, I choose to stay in the army much to the dismay of my parents. But I don't regret it at all, I saved a lot ponies in my time."
"How long have you been doing it?"
"It's going to be thirteen years next month."
"Wow, why do it for so long though?" Savant asked.
Arrow sighed "I ask myself that sometimes... but just seeing the looks of happiness when you save somepony makes it worthwhile for me. Sometimes I just know it had to be me, somepony else might have gotten it wrong."
"Hm that's an interesting way to see it. Were there any missions like this one?"
"There have been lots of rescue ops, yeah but there are too many unknowns in this mission than I would like. This mysterious creature, the lack of preparation and the amount of ponies we need to ID isn't something I've done before. But the Princess choose me to lead this and I'll be damned if I don't do my best."
Hearing nothing more from Arrow, Rainbow turned her head around. "What about you Savant?" Dash asked.
"I'm nothing much. I've lived in Canterlot all my life and most of that time was in school. I got three master degrees from Canterlot University in fields of electronics and I'm employed as the Palace's head electrician."
"Wow, I bet you're almost as smart as Twilight. So what's that job like?"
"I do the usual electrician stuff when something goes wrong in the castle. The cool thing about it though, the Princesses usually have me working on some pet project they came up with and that means lots of inventing and improvising. I love it."
"You know about us, tell us about you." Arrow said.
Rainbow sported a smirk. "I'm the weather manager of Ponyville, best young flier in Equestria, and future Wonderbolt. That's not opinion, that's fact. I was born and raised in Cloudsdale but I live above Ponyville now."
Arrow laughed at the bravado exhibited by Rainbow Dash. "So how do you know Twilight?"
Rainbow blushed "I became one of her best friends the day Nightmare Moon came back."
"That means you're one of those elements of Harmony then." Savant guessed.
"Yep, the element of Loyalty."
"Hm, guess that explains why you're rescuing your friend then." Arrow bemused.
"That and more Arrow, that and more... " Dash thought
Another half hour in silence caused more rainbow-colored impatience.
"So any idea how much longer till we get there Arrow."
"Shouldn't be too long, map said it was only a bit less of a mile from where you landed. Although, it's strange we haven't seen any signs of the research team. This is the only way back to the closest town; I was hoping we would have found somepony by now." Arrow said grimly.
Rainbow gulped down a bit of fear as she started to look around.
The towering trees of the forest stood behind them as smaller ones of the desert started to appear next to the trail. The usual topsoil started to have more brown sand than the black dirt. Arrow stopped on top of the next hill and motioned for the other two to join him. Rainbow got up next to Arrow and got assaulted by a horrible smell. Dash and Savant grabbed their noses in unison as Arrow took a deep sniff. "Smells like death, now I'm worried..." Arrow mumbled.
Dash heard Arrow and began to recover. The camp could be seen below and the radio tower seemed to be working as the light at the top flashed every few seconds.
"Ok here's the plan, I'll fly overhead and check the area for any tracks that lead away from the camp. Savant, get the radio working and send a message to confirm our presence. Rainbow Dash, look around the camp for survivors. Radio in once you cleared an area or if you find someone." Arrow said as he hoofed over the first aid kit to Savant.
Arrow stretched out his wings and took to the sky. "Keep in communication, no need for one of us to get lost." Arrow called over the radio.
"Keep talking to each other, got it." Rainbow Dash said back. "Come on those ponies aren't gonna rescue themselves." Dash said as she moved quickly down to the camp.
Arrow glided around the camp and saw no outward movement before coasting in for a landing by the door to the ruins. Four long scratch marks were on the outside wall and the faint smell of blood wafted in the air. Arrow looked down at the ground and found large paw prints in the sand.
"Could be a some sort of large cat, but it seems impossible for one to be able carve stone ." Arrow thought as he looked for the trail. He followed the paw prints till the outskirts of camp till a heavy breeze started to toss the sand around.Great, tracking is gonna go just swell ." Arrow thought as he started to scrutinize the ground.
The two entered the camp and were welcomed by an eerie silence. Rainbow Dash nudged Savant.
"Yeah I hear them screaming at me but we got a job to do. Let's get to the radio, gotta let the Princess know were here."
Dash nodded as they walked over to the radio antenna. Savant opened the tent flap and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank Luna, the radio looks good. Tell Arrow the good news as I get this thing powered up and set to the right frequency."
Rainbow gripped her radio. "Arrow respond?"
"Arrow here, what's up?"
"The radio works. We're about to send a message, any input?"
"Just give a recap on what has happened so far."
"How are things going on your end?"
"I can't see any movement and the wind is covering most of the tracks that lead away from the camp. I'll have an estimate of how many ponies left the camp by the time you finish checking the tents."
"Okay, good hunting."
Savant wiped the sweat off her brow.
"The radio should be working now but I need to check the tower to see if it's damaged. Press the button and start talking into the receiver when I give the okay."
"Got it."
Savant smiled and left the tent. Rainbow took a seat in front of the radio and waited for the signal.
"We're good!" Savant yelled from behind the tent.
"This is Rainbow Dash from the rescue team. We are at the base camp by the ruins, please respond."
"Hear you loud and clear Rainbow Dash. What's the situation?"
"Oh hey Shining Armor. The transportation spell went peachy for Flaming Arrow and Savant but I got sent almost a half mile away from the circle."
"Any injuries?"
"No thankfully. Just a bruise from landing on the back-up radio, which is broken now."
"Damn then keep this radio safe, it's your only connection for rescue. Now give me an update on the camp, what's it look like?"
"It's too quiet and has this awful odor. Arrow is trying track the ponies that ran away from here and I'm about to check the camp for any survivors."
"Okay. Have someone check in with the palace every thirty minutes. Good luck."
"Thanks Shining, I think we'll need it." Savant entered back into the tent.
"Any good news?"
"Just that we keep this radio safe and report in every half hour."
"Okay, I can do that."
"I'll be checking the rest of the tents, hopefully find somepony or two."
Rainbow Dash walked into most of the tents and found nothing but old rocks and lots of research notes. The next one she walked into turned out to be a sleeping quarters. Cots lay empty as clothes and bags decorated the floor as she started to look around. "Hey, anypony in here?" Dash said loudly as checked under the cots. No answer responded.
"Great just another empty tent." Dash thought. A familiar sight caught her eye; it was Twilight's light blue saddlebags. Dash walked up to them and found several of books lying open on the bed. "Must be those Starswirl journals she brought along ." Dash thought as she saw an unfamiliar book. It looked newer and more taken care of than the other books. Dash opened the book and immediately shut it. Rainbow saw only two words on the front page before closing it.Ooh, I think I just found her diary ." She started to open before she took her hoof away. "In any other circumstance, I would. But not right now. Not when she's in danger ."
"But I doubt Twilight would get mad if I kept it safe ." Dash thought as put the book in her vest. Rainbow Dash got up to head to the next tent before she passed by a tape recorder on the ground. "Hm, this could give us some clue to what happened." Dash mused to herself as she pressed play.
The voice sounded male and had the trademark snootiness of Canterlot. "Day One at the Starswirl ruins, it seems..."
"Not helpful ." Dash thought as clicked the fast forward button before pressing play again.
"This will be the last time I talk into my journal. Most of the ponies that are still alive are running and I'm not getting left behind with that monster still in the ruins. But I can't leave until there is some sort of explanation for the ponies that come to rescue us.
"Well, at least this guy had the common sense to help us out ." Dash thought as the voice continued.
"We discovered the damned thing two days ago in the bottom chamber of the ruins. We didn't have a clue what it was. It had a body of a lion and a tail of snake plus there was some sort of stump on its back, Luna knows what could have been there. No real problems occurred until the new mare that arrived yesterday nearly caused a cave-in after she read some of the inscriptions on the wall, kept saying that we needed to bury this "Death Bringer" before somepony lets it free. *sigh* Damn it, we should have listened to her, she's the expert that the Princess herself sent us but we just discounted her opinion like she was some scared schoolfilly. A few hours ago, one of the archeologists went into the ruins by himself and the next thing you know, it comes bursting out of the ruin, grabbed our two guards and headed off into the forest. I just saw the purple unicorn run to the radio tent, hopefully she gets enough signal for someone to hear her. Whoever hears this though, I pray that you'll find us soon or you find a way to kill that thing. Toombs signing off."
The recording stopped and Dash placed the tape recorder in her bag. "Team, report back to the radio. There's something you all need know." Arrow said.
Dash opened the tent flap and found Arrow by the radio with two sets of dog tags and the list of researchers in front of him. Arrow sported a hardened face as he watched Rainbow Dash walk in. He turned back to the radio and started to speak. "Command, this is Alpha squad. We have some bad news."
Rainbow Dash clutched the book inside her vest. "Oh no..."
"I found twenty seven confirmed casualties about half a mile east from the ruins. I repeat, twenty seven confirmed dead."
A minute of silence passed by. "Was Twilight one of them?" Shining Armor asked solemnly.
"No sir, it seems Twilight, Looking Glass, and Altmane are the only one's not accounted for."
Dash breathed a sigh of relief. "There still a chance she's alive."
"All right, keep looking. I'll start preparing the guard..."
"Wait, I found a recording explaining what happened by some stallion named Toombs." Dash interrupted.
"Go ahead Rainbow Dash." Shining Armor said.
"He said the team uncovered the monster which is called the "Death Bringer" a few days ago and one the ponies released it today."
"Any idea what it looks like?"
"Um... he said body of lion and a snake for a tail plus a mention of some growth on its back."
"Just lots of empty tents and old stones under magnifying glasses. Twilight has to be inside the ruins."
"Okay, just be careful and look quickly when you go down there. I'm guessing this Death Bringer will be back soon and I want you all out of there as soon as possible."
Arrow tapped Rainbow's shoulder and she moved away from the mic. "We'll bug out once we get Twilight aboveground."
"Good luck and fly fast. Reinforcements will be coming soon." Shining said.
"So what's the plan?" Dash asked.
"You and I will go inside and start looking. Savant, keep the radio safe and contact us if it comes back."
Rainbow Dash and Arrow exited the tent and headed toward the entrance. However, the door was pushed open and low growl could be heard inside.
"Savant, tell the castle to send those reinforcements immediately. It seems our friend came back and is looking for something more to eat." Arrow said.
"Oh well that's just perfect." Savant sighed. "I'll relay any information that the castle sends us. Stay safe you two."
Arrow turned to Rainbow Dash "You up for this?"
"Every brain cell in my head is telling me to not go in there." Dash said. "But like you said before, I know if I don't go in there, we won't find her."
"Huh, the saying "Damned if you do and Damned if you don't" comes to mind."
"You got that right. Come on lets go." Dash said as she galloped inside.
The duo flew down the stone stairs, Rainbow Dash leading the charge with a flashlight in her mouth. They touched down once they saw the other door leading inside. Arrow peeked around before moving forward as Rainbow Dash followed.
The pair walked past the doorway and gazed upon a heavily decorated entrance compared to the featureless building up top. Lanterns hung from two rows of columns going parallel across the room. The walls were covered in glyphs and pictures of ponies doing various activities. A blood trail could be seen in the sand as it led toward the opposite end of the room.
"Savant, we're inside. Do you copy?" Arrow said quietly.
"Hear you loud and clear. Got anything?"
"Nothing yet, contact us when you get any info on the creature."
"We stick together, got it?" Arrow said to Rainbow Dash. She nodded as Arrow pulled out a small map. Rainbow got next to him and saw the map.
From what she can tell, there was large entrance chamber that leads to two hallways that extend into several identical rooms. The series of rooms ends as the two hallways connect again at a stairwell that leads to the "Statue" room.
"This is the layout of the ruin. We right here..." Arrow said as he pointed to the stair symbol near the left border of the map. "We are going to down the left side first and come out the right side. Sound good?" Arrow said as guided his hoof along the suggested path.
"Sounds perfect." Dash said as Arrow folded up his map. Arrow started to look around the room as they trudged through the sand. Rainbow looked up at the ceiling and saw nothing but darkness. She fished out her light again and clicked it on. The light partially illuminated the blank ceiling before two fire orange eyes appeared on one of the columns. Rainbow shined her light on the eyes as she got a good look at the monster that has caused so much pain. It looked huge, almost fifteen feet long and it seemed to be covered in some sort of black armor that shined under the light. It let loose a mighty roar reverberated through the room, causing Rainbow Dash to jump and start flying.
"So that's what you look like! By Celestia, you look ugly." Arrow yelled back as he took to the air. The creature leapt from the column and headed toward Arrow. He pulled out his knife with his hoof as it came closer. Dash watched as it pounced up in the air toward Arrow with unnatural speed. Arrow dodged to the side as the claws came within inches of hitting his wings. The creature landed and spun around in the sand, baring its teeth as if it enjoyed the opportunity to take down the pegasi.
"Whoa, that was close. Rainbow Dash, fall back to the rooms. I'll keep it off your back."
"What? I'm not leaving alone with this thing here."
"I'm not asking. Fall back!" Arrow yelled as he started to circle around the creature. Dash watched as it pounced again, Arrow dodge to the side and he swung the knife as it sailed past him. The snake head from the tail snapped at Arrow, missing his head with centimeters to spare.
"GO! I'll be right behind you." Arrow yelled. Dash stared at him before flying to the opening at the end of the pillars. She landed as she saw Arrow flying toward her with the monster just a few feet behind him. Dash ran in as Arrow aimed for the opening.
The creature jumped forward and smashed into the doorway as Arrow made it inside. Rainbow Dash leaped into the left hallway as an explosion of rocks and sand filled connecting room.
Rainbow Dash shook the sand out of her mane before turning her head to doorway. She held her breath and flared her wings, half expecting the creature to leap out of the rocks and start chasing her. The dust settled and nothing popped out from the rocks.
"Arrow, can you hear me?" No reply came back.
"Rainbow Dash, what happened?" Savant's words fell on deaf ears.
"Come on, say something!"
A minute of silence passed before coughing could be heard over the radio.
"Stop shouting, I'm fine damn it." Arrow said.
"Oh thank you..."Dash said as she collapsed to her back.
"Will someone please tell me what the buck just happened!?" Savant yelled.
"Sorry. We met the bastard and got separated. I got pushed into the right hallway and Rainbow Dash jumped into the left one."
"What about the monster?"
"Kinda hoped a rock smashed its skull in but I can hear it trying to claw its way through the rocks. Any news yet?"
"Reinforcements are coming by airship and will be here in 4 hours. No info yet on the creature."
"Thanks. Oh bullocks, I think my wings got hit. Rainbow Dash, anything happen to you?"
Rainbow looked herself over, noticing a few cuts and bruises on her legs. "I got some scrapes and bruises by the rocks but nothing bad. So much for the plan, huh?"
"Yeah yeah... Search the rooms for survivors. We'll meet up by stairs to the statue room and come up with a new one. If you find anything interesting, say something."
"Yes sir." Dash looked the pile of rubble that blocked the way back to the surface. "Once we find Twilight, I'm sure she'll have a plan that will save our skins ." Dash thought as she walked down the short corridor to the first room.
She cleared the doorway and started to look around the room. Only four columns stood in the room, with the positive absent of an ancient evil on them. The walls continued to be covered in glyphs and pictograms of ponies. Upturned tables, open books, lit lanterns and various scattered archeological tools littered the floor. Rainbow Dash started to search around the cluttered room for any clues. She sighed in frustration before picking up a book leaning against the wall, hoping it will help make sense of the room. The name Altmane was embroidered on the cover, indicating a journal as she turned to the last few entries. "Altmane is one of the ponies unaccounted for; I wonder if he's around here ." Dash thought before she began reading.
"The statue starting talking to me today. My hoof touched it and he said hello. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me but I brushed against him on the way out. He said "Free me. "
Dash eyes widened as she turned to the next page. "Why does the only good lead turn out to be Celestia damn crazy ?" Dash thought as she read the next entry.
"I started to talk more to the Kalros. He says he was imprisoned for more than two millennia and is sorry for what he's done. I mean ponies forgave Princess Luna after her banishment, I'm sure they'll understand if I free him. But I haven't said anything about my plans ever since that new mare tried to bury Kalros. All he wants is redemption and that bitch says we need to kill him. I kept her out by having her do the translations in the front chamber. I'm going to try releasing him tomorrow but I'll going to need a sacrifice. That mare won't come with me but I am sure one of the young archeologists will. "
Dash closed the journal and facehoofed at this stallion's stupidity. "Is it bad to hope this guy got eaten already?" Dash thought as she grabbed her radio
"Arrow, I think I found something."
"Good, all I'm finding is flipped tables and old history books."
"I found a journal by the Altmane guy we haven't found yet. Turns out Altmane is the reason the creature got loose. He said the statue started talking to him and it convinced him to release him. I think Altmane used Looking Glass as a sacrifice to release Kalros."
"Great, no mission is complete without a sick psychotic. Savant, have the ponies in the Canterlot archives check for Kalros the Death Bringer."
"Okay, I'll relay the information. Also, the ponies there just found the species of the creature that matched Toombs description. It's called a chimera; it seems the growth that Rainbow Dash mentioned is supposed to be a goat's head."
Dash groaned."That's disgusting."
"Any weaknesses?" Arrow said.
"Well, cutting the tail off will hinder its balance, lose a weapon and probably piss it off. Other than that, kill it in any way you can."
"Plus the bastard has armor, no sense it would get easy at this point. I'm gonna try and find some duct tape and a sturdy pole to make a spear. Rainbow Dash, I suggest you do the same."
"Okay, I'll look around and then move on to the next room."
"Savant, we have suspicion that Looking Glass and Altmane are dead. We'll try and confirm that as we continue searching."
Savant sighed "What are the chances that Twilight Sparkle is alive? She's probably dead along with everypony else and we'll be next."
"You don't know that." Rainbow said.
"Look I'm very sorry for your friend but I would rather not get eaten today."
"Twilight's alive; I know some stupid chimera wouldn't be able to get her."
"Both of you quiet down!" Arrow yelled.
"Look Savant I know you're scared but the Princess asked you to do this. I doubt she'll be generous if she finds out you left us to die with your tail tucked in between your legs. I promise we're going to find her Rainbow Dash."
"I know we are. I'll contact you once I check the next room." Rainbow ignored the reply back as she started space out.What if we can't find her? What if Kalros took away my chance at love ?" More thoughts of "What if?" crossed through her head before she stepped on a scroll. The crunch of the heavy paper broke her train of thought as she picked it up. "This writing looks familiar... This is Twilight's horn writing ." Dash's eyes widened from the sudden realization as she started to read it.
"I got inside the ruins after Kalros chased after the ponies that ran away from the camp. I hope some of them got away and the radio transmission I sent got through. I'm going to try hiding out in the rooms up ahead." Dash dropped the note started to gallop to the next room.
She skidded into a stop as she looked ahead. The door to the next room looked partially blocked by some big rocks. Dash walked up to the rocks and prodded them with her hoof. Feeling the stone give a little, Dash rammed her shoulder against it. It pushed back a few inches each time she hit the rock. The rock fell away and Dash fell into the room. She jumped back to her hooves and noticed a few things.
The room looked significantly darker than the last one and she could vaguely see piles of rubble around the room.
"Twilight, you in here?" Rainbow Dash yelled into the quiet room. Suddenly, the awful sound of horseshoe on chalkboard filled the room followed by maniacal laughter.
"Hahahahaha. No one here by that name." the voice yelled.
Rainbow groaned in anger. "Out of all the ponies lost their lives today, how in tartarus are you still alive?"
"I gave their lives as tribute to Kalros; he built quite the hunger while he's been imprisoned. Tell me, has that ignorant bitch you call Twilight died yet?" The voice replied in another part of the room.
"No she hasn't. Now show your face, my horseshoes want to meet it." "Hahahaha. Oh good, Miss Twilight deserves a formal meeting with the one she tried to callously murder. I'm sure Kalros would love another sacrifice till I set that up." The voice said in a different part of the room.
"Over your dead body." The voice gave no reply as Dash slowly pulled out her knife. She stood on her back legs and tried to pick up any movement or sound in the silence. The fur on the back of her neck started to stand up in fear.
"I see yooouuuu..."
Rainbow Dash spun around, trying to find the voice. The sound of horseshoe on chalkboard started again, this time closer to Rainbow Dash. Her head whipped from side to side, trying to figure where the sound was coming from. Suddenly, it stopped and the only sound left in the room was Dash's quick breathing. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself before starting to move forward.
She put her back against the wall and pulled her knife out with her free hoof. She shuffled to the left and kept her eyes forward. She passed a pile of rubble and saw a tail disappear behind a fallen column. She tried to get better angle to see where it went. She moved to grab her radio but the sudden loudness of laughter froze her still.
"Ah ah ah. No need to call for help." A bolt of green magic shot toward Dash. She dropped to the ground and narrowly missed the bolt. She tried to figure out where it came from before rolling to the side to dodge another bolt. She looked up to try and find the next bolt as a white stallion ran toward her with a long kitchen knife in his magic. He dragged the knife against some rocks, creating that awful noise she heard from before.
She jumped into the air and tried to fly away from Altmane. "Awww... That's not fair." He said as he fired off another spell. Rainbow Dash looked behind her as a bolt of green magic enveloped her wings. They contracted back against her sides and she fell back down into the sand. Dash groaned in pain as she sat up. She grunted as she tried to unfurl her wings but they didn't respond.
"It's not nice to run away from other ponies." Altmane called out from where she flew away from.
"Shit, I'll double time it to you but a cave in blocked the only way out of my room. Just keep him busy and stay out of sight." Arrow whispered back.
Dash peeked around the side and caught a better look at Altmane. His pristine white coat had a large bloodstain on his right leg and his mane look burnt in some places. He had a manic look in his eyes as scanned the room for the cyan pegasus. Dash ducked her head back out of sight before slowly exhaling her breath. She sneaked back behind some rocks before checking again for Altmane.
Suddenly, Savant's voice filled the room. "Sorry, I was gone from the radio for a bit. Anypony got something to report?"
Altmane whipped his head around and caught Dash ducking back behind the rocks.
"Oh damn it Savant ." Dash screamed in her head
"It's not nice to talk behind pony's backs." Altmane said.
Dash felt her wings twitch and she quickly curled up into the fetal position as her cover was blown apart from a spell. The explosion tore the radio off her vest but left her body alone. She scrambled back onto her hooves and galloped to find more cover. More explosion spells went off behind her as she ran back to the way she crawled in. The explosions stopped as she slid behind a fallen pillar.
Silence filled the room again as Dash tried to control her breathing. She noticed her knife in the sand next to her but it was a few feet in the open where Altmane would see her. She lay on her stomach and crawled toward the other end of the pillar. She peeked around the corner and saw Altmane coming toward her but he was heading to where she was before. Dash tip hoofed toward the other end of the room as Altmane yelled out in anger.
"Oh goodie, I pissed him off." Dash mumbled to herself as she watched his reaction.
"It seems the light won't be needed anymore." Altmane said loudly to himself. Suddenly, the few lanterns in the room started dim in intensity. Dash's vision slowly turned to pitch black as she fumbled around to find her light. A small crackling noise came from Altmane as he produced a small light from his horn.
Dash saw the spark before returning behind her cover. She gripped the light in her hoof as she searched around for a small enough rock to hold. She smashed the rock against the wall next to her and Altmane walked silently toward the noise. Dash climbed on top a stack of stones and waited for the right chance.
Altmane got to the broken pieces of rock and swung his knife at her old hiding spot. She jumped into the air toward Altmane as he turned his back to her. He turned around and got an eye full of L.E.D. He covered his face in surprise and in pain as the large knife dropped from his magical grip. He pulled his hooves away from his face as two metal horseshoes gave his face a new tattoo.
A solid "thunk" reverberated in the room as the force of the buck put Altman on his back. He lay motionless as Dash's breathed deeply after her little trap.
"I told you my shoes wanted to meet a new face." Dash said as she plopped down onto the sand. She looked at Altmane and saw his chest rise and falls in the rhythm of shallow breathing. She turned on her light again and started to check over herself again. Several burn marks covered her fur and part of her tail was gone. She went to grab the radio but found nothing. She groaned in annoyance as she got up again to pick up her knife.
She got back to the front of the room and clicked the knife back into place. Dash looked down the hallway she came from and heard muffled crashing from the last room.
"You won't escape this time." He said as he gripped Dash's knife with magic. Dash held a disinterested expression on her face as she shifted her body under his grip.
"There's no need to struggle. Any last words?" Altmane said as he aimed the blade at Dash's throat.
"Yeah, I hope Kalros kills you slowly." Dash said as she kicked her leg into Altmane's crotch.
His eyes almost jumped out of his skull as he dropped the knife to the side. He squeaked in pain as he fell over. Dash grabbed the knife and light before she ran toward the exit. She hid behind a column as Kalros burst through the rocks blocking the entrance.
Altmane sat up and tried to welcome the chimera. "There is a pegasus that got past me. Go get her." Altmane ordered. Kalros looked at the exit but returned his gaze onto Altmane. "What are you waiting for, an invite from Blueblood? Go get her!" Altmane yelled. Kalros growled and stepped toward him. "No, I released you. You said you would leave me be. No. NOOO!" Altmane tried scramble backwards but Kalros bit into Altmane's leg and dragged him back into hallway. "Ahhhh... Someone help me. Please, I'm sorry for what I did. Help me! HELLL..." The cries were silenced by a loud crack.
"Now that's what I call poetic justice." Dash thought as she left the room.
She tried opening her wings again as she walked but to no avail. She continued down the hallway and ran face first into a wooden door. She rubbed her muzzle before looking at the door. She saw the handle and tried to wrap her hoof around the door. She pulled with all her might but the door wouldn't budge. Dash growled as she pulled out her light to check what was stopping her. The sides of the door looked clear and there was locking mechanism on the door. She looked down at the sand in frustration as she noticed the stalwart object that impeded her progress.
"You gotta be bucking kidding me." Dash said.
A simple doorstop was partially covered by sand but received a death glare by the prismatic pegasus. She pulled it out and opened the door. Upon first inspection with her light, the room looked similar to the last one. Almost all the supports seemed to have fallen and piles of debris covered the floor. Rainbow took one step forward and felt her hoof pull a wire. Dash looked up as a net full of rocks was coming down on top of her. She jumped forward, barely missing the rocks that would have flattened her.
Dash breathed deeply as she tried to find her light. Her left hoof found the light but her right hoof brushed against another taut rope. The rope snapped back behind some rocks. Dash looked up and rolled to the right to avoid a column falling on her. She stopped on her back tried to keep perfectly still. She panted in exhaustion as she slowly put the light into her mouth. She bit down hard onto the metal rod and started to look around.
She perceived no more potential death traps she could trigger before Dash stood up cautiously. She tried to scrutinize almost every speck of sand before taking each step forward. After what seemed like an eternity of doing that, Dash was able to see the full view of the destruction the room has been through. Large scratch marks and old reddish brown stains covered the glyphs on the walls. Dash shined the light over the rubble before noticing a large hole in the wall. This piqued her curiosity as she slowly made her way over to it.
She saw a few strands of purple hair sitting conveniently open for anypony to see. Dash gave it a wide berth before feeling a tug on her back hoof. "Damn it." The rope tightened around her hoof and pulled her up into the air. She hung like a Hearth's Warming day ornament before she grabbed the knife from the holster. She curled her body up and started to cut at the rope. After a few swipes, the rope came apart and she fell. She tucked her body forward and landed on her hooves on the sand.
She grabbed her light again and moved to her original destination. After stepping through a hole between two ropes she was able to see the inside. It looked like more sand but saw the telltale signs of hoofprints in the sand. She held her breath in anticipation as she crawled into the space.
She shined the light to the left and almost collapsed to the floor in relief. Twilight curled herself into a ball by the back wall; a slight snore could be heard from the mare. Rainbow Dash face hoofed and smiled endearingly at the cuteness of her crush. She shook her head as she quietly made her way to Twilight. Twilight stirred under the light and Dash froze in place. Twilight brought a hoof up to shield her eyes from the light.
"Dashie...Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me Twi."
Rainbow Dash rushed to Twilight and enveloped her in a tight hug, pinning her arms to her sides. "Dash...need t-to breath," Twilight squeaked out. Dash blushed in embarrassment and muttered an apology as she loosened her grip.
Twilight smirked and returned the hug with the same initial force Rainbow did, "You cannot believe how much it means to me that you're here Dash."
"After everything that has happened today, I think I can." Dash said. The two unwrapped themselves and sat in the sand. "So how did you get here?" "Well, it went something like this..."
"Then Arrow and I flew down the stairs into the first chamber and then things started going to Tartarus after that."
"Wait a minute... you were able to fly after the botched transportation spell? Do you know what could have happened?"
"Don't worry so much, Twi. I didn't get specifics but I got a general idea of what could go wrong."
"Just promise me to keep it easy till you see a doctor."
"Okay Twi, I'll go see one after we get out here."
After a moment of silence, Rainbow Dash got to wondering, "What exactly happened after you sent the message Twi?" Dash questioned.
Twilight brought her hind legs under her chin and her eyes started to water. "I almost walked outside when the Death Bringer started chasing all the ponies out of camp." Twilight tried to control her breathing as tears started hitting the sand as she continued. "I heard their screams for help and all I did was cower and hide like a scared filly. Damnit, I'm an element of harmony, I should have been able to save them."
Dash scooted closer and put her hoof over Twilight's shoulders. "Twi, I can't fathom what was going through your head with everything going on but I know this, you always make the right decision."
"*Sniff* Thanks Dash, that helped." Twilight said as she tried to wipe away the tears. "As soon as the coast was clear, I got inside here and tried to find a good hiding spot."
"I think you found the right spot Twi. I almost got squished by some of the old traps in this room." Dash chuckled.
However, Twilight did not share in her friend's amusement. "Oh Celestia I'm so sorry Dash. I set the all the traps in the room in case that thing showed up." Dash's mouth dropped at the revelation.
"I knew I recognized some of those traps from the Daring Do books!" Dash exclaimed.
Twilight looked at Dash strangely, "Wait...you're not mad?"
"Why would I be mad? If anything I'm proud by what you did. I know for a fact that I wouldn't think to use traps from books."
Twilight blushed at the praise. "I'm certain you would have thought of something Dash. You would probably use your wings to do some clever maneuver to get away."
"Ugh, don't remind me about flying. Altmane blasted my wings with some kind of paralytic spell and I can't open them anymore."
Twilight's face soured from her friend's misfortune, "I wish I could fix the effects now but I need more sleep before I do anything to your wings. Wait a minute, Altmane hit you? I was beginning to believe I was the only one left. What happened to him?"
"Well..." Dash rubbed the back of her head, "you are the only one left now. Kalros got him in the room I just came from."
"Oh... so I surmise Kalros is the Death Bringer."
"Yep, the ponies from the Canterlot Archives classified him as a big Chimera."
"Huh, a Chimera... haven't heard of one those before. I hope we don't see him anytime soon."
"I agree. We should probably get going soon-"
"Wait... " Twilight interrupted, "I do have one thing I need to ask. How much of the transmission did you hear?"
"You called for help and said sorry before you faded into static." Dash answered, "Why do you ask?"
Twilight let out a small sigh."Just wondered how much you heard me ramble. By the way, why do have a book in your vest?" Dash looked away from Twilight as she pulled the diary out.
"I found this by your cot and I thought I could keep it safe for you."
"I appreciate the gesture but please tell me you didn't read any of it?" Twilight worryingly asked.
"I wouldn't dream of it Twi."
"Good, I would hate for the surprise to have been ruined."
This was Dash's turn to look at Twilight strangely, "What surprise?"
Twilight smirked. "This one Dash..." Twilight grabbed Dash's head and kissed her.
Dash's eyes almost sprung out from her sockets in surprise. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh... she feels the same way and I didn't make an ass out of myself by trying to confess." Dash closed her eyes and melted into kiss. She put her hoofs around Twilight and deepened the kiss.
After a good minute the two pulled away and Twilight put her nose against Rainbow's. "I guess by the way you tried to use tongue, you feel the same way I do." Rainbow turned beet red at the statement. "I was gonna try and find a way to confess when I got back but after today... it just felt right to do that." Twilight said.
"Twi, I can't believe that you liked me and I couldn't see it before." Dash said as she gave Twilight a small light kiss." You know if you hadn't told Celestia about your infatuation of me, I doubt this would have happened." Rainbow said before embracing Twilight again before standing up to leave.
"As much as I want to sit down to talk about this, we need to get out of here; Kalros will probably be coming here soon. What's the safest way to get out of the room Twi?"
"Well... up is the safest option out but I guess we'll have to go on my memory to avoid the rest of the traps."
"Just tell me there isn't a stone boulder that will chase us if we hit a rope..." Dash asked as she shimmied back out of the hole.
"Of course not... I wasn't able to find a way hold back the rock I had in mind so I set the simpler ones." She looked at Twilight with wide eyes.
"Please tell me that was a joke?" Dash worryingly asked.
"Follow me Dash." Dash groaned in fear as she stuck the light in her mouth.
The pair safely navigated passed a pit and two falling traps but the faint and familiar sound of a predatory growl could be heard behind them. The pair tried to quicken the pace as the sound got louder and louder. Dash saw the doorway and immediately tried to bolt towards it. Rainbow Dash spat the light out, "Finally we can get out here!"
"Ow, what was that for?" Dash yelped in pain. Twilight grabbed the light and shined it closely to the ground. Dash saw the gossamer wire shining in the light as it blocked the home stretch. "What do those set off?"
Twilight pointed the light at the two closest pillars, "If a few of those strings are pulled, the two pillars by the door will collapse."
"Come to think of it, I would have preferred being chased by a boulder now." Dash said as she grabbed her light back.
"Come on, there is a way to get through, just step where I step."
A thought passed through Dash's head, "Couldn't you just teleport us across? That'll be easier than going through this mess."
Twilight sighed as she put her hoof into the first gap. "I think I could do one but I'm basically running on fumes right now. I have been working near a full twenty four hours of no sleep except for that small nap you interrupted. Now would you shine the light in front of me, please?"
"Wait, I was told that the castle received the transmission only minutes after you sent it."
"Dash, I studied through last night trying to find any info in any of the journals I brought along on the chimera. Everything else started happening this morning when I tried to get some sleep so I can only guess that weather or something during the day caused the message to delay." Twilight snapped back.
"Sorry I just wanted a clarifica-"
"WAAAAG!"A large roar interrupted the pair's argument and Twilight quickened her pace. "Damn it that sounded close." Dash exclaimed. She turned to look back from where they were and saw the chimera walk up. The blood stained maw shined a rose red under the light. Kalros licked its lips as it got into a pouncing position.
"TWILIGHT RUN!" Dash yelled as she started sprint to the exit, breaking the wires with great ease. Twilight turned her head around and saw the glowing eyes only meters away from her. She gave no thought as she pushed herself to catch up to Dash. Kalros leaped after the ponies as the pillars by the door started to break away into pieces as the strings were cut. Dash cleared the doorway and skidded into a stop while Twilight barreled into her.
The pillars collapsed in a broken heap in front of the exit as the chimera was just shy of being crushed. Rainbow Dash jumped onto her hooves as a muffled roar came from behind the wreckage. Twilight grabbed her head with both her hooves as she sat up. "Ugh... why did you stop?" Twilight groaned.
"Sorry about that, Twi." Dash walked up to Twilight and offered a hoof. "Can you still run? We need to meet up with Arrow and beat Kalros back to the entrance." Twilight grabbed the limb and pulled herself up.
"Don't worry about me, I can still run. But what makes you think Kalros will go back to the entrance?"
"I call it a gut feeling." Dash said "You ready Twi?"
"Remind me to add running to my schedule, I'm starting to appreciate on how it can save my flank."
"I'll keep that in mind for the first date." Dash blurted out as she took off down the hallway. Twilight blushed as she chased after her.
Arrow had found the exit to the second room blocked by a pile of loose rock. After the Dash's report of finding Altmane and the subsequent radio silence, Arrow has been shoveling rocks out as fast he can. His makeshift spear was against the wall by the door as he continued working. "I'm not losing another one. I'm not losing another one. I'm not losing another one..." Arrow continued his mantra as he slowly started to see inside the hallway.
"Bucking finally..." Arrow swore as he tried to make the hole bigger. By the time he could fit the hole with ease he jumped back down to get his spear. He climbed through and slid down the rocky slope on the other side. He almost broke into a gallop before he noticed something. A certain rainbow colored blur and a purple one was coming towards him. "Thank Celestia you girls are all right." Arrow yelled.
The two mares stopped running as they reached him, both panting hard after their run. "Yeah yeah, group hug." Dash said as she caught her breath.
"What's the rush?" Arrow questioned, "And when did you find Twilight?"
"Found her in the last room and Kalros caught up to me. We managed to stop him from following us but I think he's heading back to the entrance."
"And what about Altmane?"
"He got what he deserved..." Dash said, "Now can we get moving? I'd rather beat Kalros to the entrance then get trapped."
"Do you have a plan to get past all the debris?"
"Helllooo, we have the single most powerful unicorn in Equestria. I think she can manage to teleport us the last couple of meters." Dash reasoned.
All the while, Twilight was leaning against the wall, sweat pouring down her face. "Dash," Twilight breathed out, "can I get a minute of rest? You of all ponies know I'm not used to this type of physical exertion."
Dash got next to Twilight and put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. "Yeah but we need to go soon so start moving once you are ready and we'll follow behind."
"Okay I'll be ready soon." Twilight panted as she slowly tried to stop her heart from beating a thousand times a minute.
Dash walked up and leaned against the wall next to Arrow. "Remind to punch Savant for almost getting me blown apart."
Arrow chuckled, "I wondered what happened to your radio after I heard the report on Altmane... glad you managed to stay alive and rescue your friend. Savant hasn't been talking much ever since I accidently chewed her out for that."
"Has she talked since then?"
"I haven't heard anything in a while, let's fix that." Arrow said as he grabbed his radio. "Savant can you read me? Please respond." Silence answered Arrow as he tried again. "Savant please respond. Rainbow Dash caught up to me and she found Twilight Sparkle." No sound came from the radio. "Let's hope that she's still up there... I'd hate for her to have to face a pissed off Princess after I drag her flank back." Arrow said.
"You said your wings got banged up from the crash earlier. Are they any better?" Dash asked.
"I'm afraid not, must be a busted nerve because they will not unfurl. Anything happen to you?"
"Altmane hit me with some sort paralytic spell and I can't use my wings at all."
"Damn, I really hope that we don't see the monstrosity then."
"So whatcha doing when we get back to Canterlot?" Dash asked.
"Finding a nice bar and having a drink, you?"
"Probably head back to Ponyville with Twilight but I think a drink sounds good after this little venture. That is if you don't mind Twilight and me crashing your little party."
Arrow chuckled, "I won't mind..."
"I'm ready now. Let's get the buck out of here." Twilight said as she stood back on her hooves and started to climb up the rock slope. Rainbow Dash looked at her with a loving smile as she followed the mare.
Arrow rolled his eyes, "I should have known the Princess didn't send Dash just as a friend to comfort her student." Arrow thought as he fell in behind them.
The trio ran through two cluttered rooms as Twilight led surprisingly quick pace and stopped at the blocked exit to the entryway. Twilight sat down in exhaustion in front of the rubble. "Damn it I need to get into shape." Twilight said in between pants.
"You're doing awesome, Twi. Just tell us what to do when you're ready." Dash said as she took a seat next to her. Twilight nodded as she took some deep breaths.
"Okay, I'll try and place us in front of the door. Put a hoof around me so I can transport all of us."
The two pegasi wrapped a hoof around Twilight. The trio was slowly encompassed in a bright white light before disappearing and appearing in front of the wrecked door in the opening chamber.
Dash and Arrow let go of Twilight when the light dissipated. "Now be careful, we don't know if we beat Kalros here." Arrow called out as he readied his spear.
"I don't feel so good..." Twilight groaned. The muscles in Twilight's legs started to spasm and she collapsed to the ground.
"You okay?" Dash cried out.
Twilight grunted as she tried to lift herself up but her hooves couldn't support her. "Just peachy Dash," Twilight replied sarcastically, "I think that last spell took a bit too much from me."
Dash was about to give a snarky reply before a faint roar interrupted her train of thought.
"Rainbow Dash, get her up and head up to the surface. I'll meet you up there." Arrow ordered.
"There is no way in Tartarus I'm leaving you here. Besides, you can't take on that thing alone." Dash answered back.
"Look at your friend," Arrow pointed at Twilight, "you and I know she won't survive the next encounter with the creature and I highly doubt you want to risk her life to test that. So please, get out, I'll be fine." Arrow said.
"Arrow..." Twilight quietly said, "Thank you for everything."
"I'm holding you to that drink for when we get back to Canterlot."
"I wouldn't dream of missing that, Rainbow." Arrow said. "Now get out here." Rainbow picked up Twilight and draped her across her back before heading to the exit. He followed behind before stopping in the middle of the room. He got onto his back hooves and readied the spear in front of him. "This is one of my stupidest plans yet..." Arrow mumbled as he watched the pair start slowly walking up the stairs.
He turned his head back in front and saw the chimera walking out of the doorway. Arrow stared into the fire orange eyes as he gripped his spear harder. "Nice to see you again, you son of a bitch." Arrow called out. "Because of you I have to tell two mothers that their sons won't be coming back home." Kalros growled as started to pace in front of the grounded pegasus. "But I believe they'll have some closure when I show them your head on my knife."
Kalros growled deeply as he stared at Arrow. "Show me what you got, you ugly bastard!" Arrow yelled.
Kalros seemed to snap as he roared and started running toward Arrow. Arrow screamed back as he ran towards the chimera.
"I'm holding you to that drink when we get back to Canterlot."
"I wouldn't dream of missing it, Rainbow." Arrow said. "Now get out of here."
Rainbow Dash nodded at the order and laid down next to Twilight. "Come on; let's get up to the surface." Dash said as she moved Twilight onto her back.
"Now I kinda wish I didn't go overboard on the whole trap thing." Twilight mumbled. Dash grunted and breathed out as she raised herself. "I'm not too heavy, am I?" Twilight worryingly asked.
"You're fine, Twi. I think all the close brushes with death are starting to wear me out." Rainbow said as she slowly moved forward. She looked at Arrow and saw the unmistakable visage of unbreakable focus. Twilight kept an eye out behind them as they continued moving forward.
"Arrow stopped." Twilight whispered to Dash.
"We'll see him soon." Dash optimistically reasoned as she started getting closer to the exit. Dash stopped to collect her breath before she looked at the stairs with utter disdain. "Everything okay, Dash?"
"Yeah... I'm gonna hate the tar out of these stairs by halfway up." Dash flatly answered as she climbed the steps toward her impending torture. Twilight chuckled as she sneaked one last look behind her and saw the chimera emerging from the rocks. Her moment of laughter almost died instantly, "I see Kalros. Are you sure Arrow can handle it?" Twilight fearfully said.
"He was hoof selected by Princess Celestia herself, I know he can handle himself. And can I get more optimistic stuff from you or do I need to pump myself up for our own little battle that I'm going through?" Dash said as climbed the first stair.
Twilight now sported an embarrassed blush, "Sorry, my tendency to worry is running on overdrive these last few hours."
"No kidding." Dash grunted out as she slowly climbed each step. About a quarter of the way up the stairs a near deafening roar that was followed by an equine scream of pain echoed through the stairwell. Both ponies gave a worried look toward the bottom. The prismatic mare gave a cursory glance toward the amethyst eyes of her crush as they began to tear up again. The rainbow maned mare shook her head free from the dark thoughts before starting a faster pace up the stairs. Sweat started to flow down prismatic pegasus body after each climbed step as she starting getting closer to the top. But as her burning calves screamed for a break, she slowed to a snail's crawl going into the last third. The usually supremely agile pegasus uncharacteristically banged her hoof on the next step and almost fell face first into the stairs.
After stopping to regain her balance and give her body a break she began to feel an almost overwhelming tiredness wash over her. Each bruise, cut, and contusion pulsed out in unison and caused the pegasus to wince in agony. Twilight noticed the pained expression on her crush’s face. She managed to throw her fore legs around Dash's neck. Twilight brought her lips next to Dash's ear and whispered "You're doing great, Dash. It's just a few more steps and you'll be able to rest that body of yours."
Dash nodded and slowly brought pushed her hoof up and forward. Each step Dash conquered was followed by a hiss of pain and more comforting whispers of encouragement by Twilight. Rainbow Dash emerged from the stairwell and got her hooves on level ground before collapsing onto the ground. Dash closed her eyes in exhaustion as Twilight rolled off her back. Twilight nuzzled Dash's neck as the pegasus struggled to return the endearment. "Thank you for carrying me, Dash." Twilight quietly said to the panting pegasus
"Do you feel any better Twi; I don't think my legs can take any more punishment." Twilight smirked at the response. Dash blushed as she put her answer into context. "I didn't mean it to sound like that." Dash muttered in embarrassment.
Twilight giggled at the fumbled apologies by Rainbow, "I know what you meant Dash and yes, I do feel a lot better than earlier."
"That's good to hear." Dash stretched her legs and let out a quiet yawn. The near sleeping mare looked tiredly around the room before she noticed the lack of outside moonlight, "Why is the door closed?" Rainbow confusingly asked.
"Maybe Savant closed the door as a precaution." Twilight answered hopefully.
"That makes sense but we need to get out of here. I would rather not see if that roar was the last sign of Kalros." Dash cautiously replied. The sore pegasus pushed herself up onto her hooves, letting out a loud grunt in effort as she locked her knees in place. Twilight slowly rose up but her legs still wobbled slightly as she stood up straight. staggered to the door and knocked on it a few times. "Savant, can you hear me? Open the door we need to get out!" Dash yelled out in anger.
The purple mare stuck her ear against the wood to hear a response, she stopped, using an outstretched hoof to stop her companion from yelling. "I'm hearing gusts of wind outside. Why do you think that is?" Twilight confusingly asked her friend.
The usually brash flyer gained a look of thoughtfulness for a few moments before scrunching her face into a frown, "Buck it, I'm too tired to think about it. Do you think you're up for pushing this door open, Twi?" Dash asked. Twilight nodded and braced her shoulder against the door. Dash let out a breath as she placed her shoulder alongside her friend, the two mares nodded together before counting off, "3...2...1. Push!" They yelled and the two started to push the door. They dug their hooves into the sand as they pushed the door.
As the door slowly went forward, the sand whipped inside the room and starting stinging the ponies. "It's a sandstorm!" Twilight fearfully yelled over the gusting wind.
"We’ll be fine, now let's get out there!" Dash yelled back with assurance. They pushed the door until Twilight could fit outside and Rainbow Dash followed behind her. They shielded their eyes from the blowing sand outside. “I hope she doesn’t take this wrong way.” The scared pegasus embarrassingly thought, "Twilight, grab my tail! I'll try and lead us to a tent!" Dash sheepishly yelped. "What? Why?!" The blushing unicorn angrily yelled back. “I’m just trying to make sure we don’t lose each other out here, now hurry up and grab on!” Dash screamed back with equal anger. Twilight almost screamed back but the logical side of her brain took over and stopped her unfiltered response. She reluctantly bit Dash's tail, blindly moving behind the pegasus, after a few minutes of walking, Dash’s ear starting brushing against the rough texture of canvas, “About damn time.” The pegasus thought and she moved toward the open flap of the tent.
Twilight and Dash walked inside, wiping their eyes clean from the sand. The wind became slightly muted as the sand continued to batter the canvas sides of the tent. Dash opened her eyes and looked around the interior. She vaguely recognized the sprawled out research notes and the stones under magnifying glasses that were set up in the room. "This looks like one of the tents I worked in earlier." Twilight said.
"Great, that means we should be close to the one with the radio." Rainbow mused excitedly.
"That's all well and good but let's wait till the storm dies down. No sense in getting lost out there." The purple mare cautioned.
"Got it,” the exhausted pegasus yawned out.
“We still need to check in with Savant and see if we need to get Arrow out of there." Twilight worryingly added.
The prismatic pegasus shrugged her shoulders in agreeance before staggering around the tent until she spotted a comfortable spot in the sand to sit, the equally tired unicorn joined her, placing her head into the space under Dash's neck. Twilight casually curled the rainbow mane with a hoof, thinking about all that has happened in the past few hours. One topic in particular piqued the worrisome unicorn interest as she looked up at her crush, "Would now be a good time to talk?" Twilight asked hopefully.
Rainbow’s eyes widened nervously at the question, she wrapped a hoof around Twilight's body to ease her troubled mind, "How about when we get back home, Twi?" Rainbow tiredly said.
Twilight’s eyes twitched in response,”Why?” the unicorn angrily questioned.
Rainbow groaned in annoyance as she pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hoof, “Namely because we both need a full night’s sleep and a full stomach soon. I know I’m likely to bite someone’s head off if I don’t get eight or more hours of sleep. You have been awake and probably haven’t eaten for an entire day, with that in mind, I don’t want to risk the chance of upsetting you if I say something stupid. So, can we please continue this conversation later.” The pegasus replied with an angry huff. Twilight looked at her potential marefriend strangely, struggling to come up with a logical rebuke to the well thought out answer.
After pondering briefly and coming up with no sensible argument, Twilight let out a sigh of defeat, “Fine, we’ll talk first thing when we get back to the library.” Twilight saying with a hint of sadness.
The pegasus noticed the drop off in emotion in her friend’s voice, she waited a few brief seconds before trying to cheer up her friend, "Have I ever told you that you make a good pillow?" Dash yawned as she snuggled closer to Twilight. Twilight's mood immediately brightened from its previous melancholy, as small smile appeared on her face before quickly trying to stifle her giggles with a hoof at the cute display of affection by Rainbow Dash. This positive change in emotion caused Dash to grin happily.
However, unbeknownst to our smiling pegasus, Twilight smirked evilly as a suggestive idea popped into her head, "I think you'll be surprised of what else I'm good at..." Twilight sensually whispered into Dash's ear, causing the pegasus to turn a bright crimson red and her wings to pop up in arousal. The two ponies were dumbfounded as the paralytic magic was bested by mere hormones. Dash stayed unusually silent, grinning wildly as flapped her wings profusely. Dash destroyed the silence as she jumped up and squealed in joy, the violet unicorn quietly mumbled under the screams of her crush, "That's certainly an interesting way to break a spell..."
The cries of delight were cut off as a loud boom briefly overpowered the noises of the sandstorm. The two froze and tried to pick up any more sounds. Dash got in front of Twilight and pulled out her knife. "This is just perfect," Dash whispered as she tried to gulp down her fear, "Kalros is out here, Arrow’s probably dead. How in Tartarus are going to kill it?"
"Dash... calm down. The storm should protect us from Kalros trying to find us. We should hide here until those reinforcements arrive." Twilight whispered back. Rainbow Dash wearily gazed at the flapping tent door, half expecting the chimera to come bursting in, after a few uneventful moments, she nodded along to Twilight's plan. "If you think you see it, we're running the opposite way and I'll fly us out of here." The pegasus cautioned.
"That sounds good but are sure you are able to? You almost took a nap on my head a few seconds ago." Twilight questioned.
"The prospect of dying certainly helps in the alertness department, Twi. I'll be good to fly but let's hope that help gets here soon." Dash replied back, now sporting a confident smirk as she cracked her neck, filling her tired body with renewed vigor. Twilight nodded and got behind Dash, keeping a lookout for the slightest sign of black armor. After a few minutes, the wind started to die down, the sand stopped hitting the tent and the sounds of the two ponies breathing filled the room, as both ponies tried to quiet their breathing, they began to hear the faint sounds emanating from outside the tent.
Dash held her breath as something started to probe along the right tent wall, she motioned to Twilight to go the left wall. The pegasus rushed to back wall as the motion stopped and three black claws slowly ripped into the canvas. Dash skidded to a stop beside her friend, pulling her knife out and stabbing it through the canvas, fear coursing through her veins as she pulled down. Twilight wormed her way through the makeshift hole first, Dash gave a scared look behind her, the two orange eyes looked straight at her, promising death if she stayed any longer, before turning away in a fright and making her escape.
Twilight was motioning to Dash hurry up as Kalros let out a primal roar and tore through the tent. Dash gathered up her remaining strength into this flight, her wings flapping powerfully as she took to the air. Twilight ran underneath Dash before jumping up, grabbing her friend’s fore hooves. Dash slowly rose through the air, despite having Twilight dangling in her hooves. The flying pegasus closed her eyes in this effort while Twilight looked out toward the sky. The moon was seemed to be resting on the horizon the two almost made it outside of camp, but Rainbow’s left wing involuntary closed.
"Damnit, not again!" The now flightless mare angrily cursed as she let go of Twilight. A loud pop and a howl of pain came after the crash.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight screamed in worry as she rushed to Dash's side.
Upon arrival to the scene, Twilight didn't see any outward signs of injury but Dash cradled her left fore leg, the hoof now awkwardly pointing to the right instead of it’s normal straightness .
"Oh buck me...I think I busted something in my leg." Dash groaned out in utter agony. Twilight peeked her head around before ducking back behind the crater wall, briefly glimpsing the armored monstrosity tearing its way out of the tent.
“What are we going do, what are we going do...” Twilight panicked, closing her eyes in the best and probably last attempt to calm down and focus on how both of them are going to escape from this impossible situation, “The chimera is about a hundred feet away and closing, Dash can’t move unless I help her. I would kill to have some magic to use right now .”
Twilight’s mood only worsened, massaging her temples as if doing so would bring out the perfect plan. “We can’t try sneaking out of the camp, Kalros could easily track us with his nose. Rainbow Dash is the better fighter by far, but it’s near impossible to think she can beat Kalros without her wings and a bad fore leg .” Twilight paused her thought process, opening her eyes to look at her wounded friend, her heart nearly stopped at the sight.
The pegasus stood up on her three good legs, keeping her broken leg curled close to her stomach. But this feat of perseverance was short lived, Dash’s legs buckled and she collapsed to the sand. Rainbow kept her mouth shut as she howled in pain. The unicorn shut her eyes again, now fueled by the screams of her love to come up with a plan, “Okay, stealth is out of the question and trying to reason with it is just plain moronic, the only option is to fight and kill Kalros. But, I don’t have the slightest clue on hurt something of that size, let alone get a lethal blow in. Tartarus, I can’t even handle a butter knife with my hoof let alone use Dash’s knife .”
She played several scenarios on how to dispatch the Death Bringer, but all ended with her laying dead in the sand with Dash’s demise following afterwards. ‘It seems we can’t win against this ...”
Tears started falling to the sand as images of Midnight and Starlight Sparkle flashed through her mind, “Mom... Dad... I’m so sorry I didn’t come visit more often, I can’t justify why I brushed off your invites because my stupid studying .” Memories of her tutelage under Celestia came bursting after her Mom and Dad. “I hope you don’t blame yourself for suggesting me to do this, there’s no way you could have known that this would happen. I cherished each lesson I learned with you with all of my heart .” The smiling faces of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance on their wedding day appeared next. “I’m sorry that I’m going to miss you two raise a family. You’ll always be my BBBFF, Shiny and I wish you the best. Cadence, I couldn’t ask for a better sister, thank you for everything you did for me .” Twilight choked back a sob as pictures of Spike and her four best friends came next. “There’s no way I could be the mare I am today without all of you being there, especially not without my number one assistant. I just wish I could experience just one more Pinkie party, where we could celebrate the new relationship between Dash and I. One more dress up session in the boutique with Rarity, helping the mare achieve her dreams of fame. One more night of cold apple cider with Applejack after a long day helping on the farm. One more day of helping Fluttershy better the lives of the animals living around the cottage. One more night of watching Spike sleep soundly after he bends over backwards to help me throughout the day .”
“I love you all and I’m sorry I won’t be able to be with you again.” Twilight muttered, her amethyst eyes producing rivers of tears but she uttered no wails of sorrow. The last image burned into her retina’s, Rainbow Dash flying through the air, flashing a toothy grin at Twilight. She opened her eyes and came face to face with the mare of her dreams, who nearly died by the hooves of a madpony, risked her body to the perils of long range teleportation, avoiding being eaten by an all too close evil. All of that, just to save her from this dire situation.
Dash placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “My body may be failing to perform but we’ll figure a way out of here. We always do.” Rainbow said in an effort to calm the crying unicorn. Twilight said nothing in return, burying her head Rainbow’s shoulder, sobbing quietly as she could manage. Dash said nothing, only stroking Twilight’s mane as the mare continued to let out her sorrow.
Twilight looked up and gazed into Dash’s pink eyes, “How can you be so sure? There’s no-” Dash put her hoof to Twilight’s mouth, effectively silencing her. “You can call it stupidity or my innate stubbornness to live, but I refuse to believe that this will be the end of us. We’re going to live... trust me.” Dash admonished Twilight. The prismatic pegasus took away her hoof and Twilight buried her head back into Dash’s shoulder. Dash resumed stroking the purple mane, looking up at the lip of the crater wall and waited to be proven right or wrong.
Arrow's eyes groggily opened as he lay in a pile of fallen rocks. He groaned as his body reminded him of what he just went through. "Time to found what in Tartarus happened to me." Arrow said as rolled his head in his hooves.
"Cut on my chest, check..." Arrow coughed out as his dog tags laid on top of the three shallow cuts. He moved his legs with no problems but felt an overwhelming soreness across his body. Arrow took a deep breath before crawling out of the rubble and laying down in the cool sand.
"Note to self, don't allow any beast to throw me around like a ragdoll ever again ." He thought painfully as several pops and cracks sounded off as he stretched out his back. Arrow groaned and breathed out forcefully, slowly lifting himself back upright.
After the military pony balanced himself from the surprising ordeal, Arrow went to grab his radio, but only finding some frayed wires in its place. He sighed in annoyance, shrugging off the slashed open vest unceremoniously onto the ground. With this new freedom, Arrow took in an even deeper breath, his lungs filling with precious air. Now with renewed energy, the captain searched for his weapon before finding it broken next to a large dead snake head. He briefly wondered what happened before the events flashed in his mind.
"Oh yeah, now I remember, I cut the bastard’s tail off after he tried to pounce me. Damn thing must of went into some kinda berserk mode after I did that, broke the spear and threw me into a wall with just two moves ." Arrow recalled with pained expression, he also noted the thin trail of blood leading toward the surface. The stallion scrutinized the blood trail with an experienced eye, “I must have only blacked out for minute or two, the sand hasn’t soaked up the blood yet .” The veteran thought as his hardened gaze turned toward the stairs to the outside world.
Arrow retrieved both the knife and cut head from the sand in a swiftly manner before walking along the blood trail, "This also begs the question, why in the name of Celestia did I think I could take on that thing ...?" Arrow thought angrily. After a few moments of silence, he frightfully gasped, quickly realizing the impending danger to the mares he swore to bring back safely, "I stayed to protect Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle ." The captain briefly thought before he started galloping toward the surface, briefly slowing down as he climbed stairs at a breakneck pace, the focus of a military veteran returning with each step.
Arrow stopped at the top of the stairs, his heart raced at Wonderbolt speeds as he trotted outside the building, stopping mid step as he saw Kalros diving into a tent. The captain’s breath quickened as he raced around to the outside of camp, catching the brief flight of Rainbow Dash before she came crashing down. Arrow almost started galloping to the crash site before seeing Kalros starting to sneak toward the two downed ponies. The chimera's tail dragged lifelessly across the sand, Arrow smirked evilly as he started formulating a plan to end the Death Bringer. He grasped both his knife and the snake head in his hooves as he stood on his hind legs. "I hope to Celestia this bucking works ." Arrow thought grimly.
The stallion moved with purpose, getting directly behind Kalros before enacting his brilliant plan. "Hey, tall, dark, and brooding!" Arrow yelled, chucking the snake head at Kalros. It slapped on top of Kalros’s head with a resounding smack. The creature turned back toward Arrow, growling in rage as the chimera gave Arrow his undivided attention. "Okay, I pissed him off. What was part two of my plan again ?" Arrow thought frightfully. Arrow gulped and brought his body in a defensive stance. Kalros paced back in forth in front of Arrow, as if trying decide the best way to end to kill him and still get the two mares.
Arrow tried to meet the gaze of the monstrosity, the orange eyes held the blackest of evil that struck terror into the pony. Arrow’s face paled, losing the initial shot of adrenaline he got back at the stairs. The sweat streaked down his battered body, causing a sharp intake of breath as he felt the salty liquid seeping into the bloody chest wound. Arrow wanted to curl into a ball and scream as Kalros silently got closer to him. The loss of energy and screams of pain from his brain only installed more fear into the stallion. “He nearly killed me down there, what’s gonna stop the bastard from finishing the job this time around .”
Arrow thought of the two bloody dog tags tucked away in his vest, of the two mothers that won’t be able to see their sons again. The promise he made to those mothers starting yelling like his old drill sergeant,screaming at him to show no mercy, not to stop until Kalros’s head is nothing but a new knife holster. “The lives of the two mares I vowed to protect are in danger and I’m acting like a colt scared of the monster in the closet. Buck up, I’m the best of the best of the best for a damn reason. Let’s show the bastard a thing or two.” The fear in his mind washed away and was replaced by the sheer determination to end this terror in front of him.
Arrow’s body tensed as a new surge of adrenaline pumped into his veins. The stallion switched into an attack stance, “You’re gonna regret not killing me when you had the chance you little bitch.” Kalros growled in response, lowering itself into a pouncing position. Arrow did a come hither motion with his free hoof, “Let’s dance!”
Kalros obliged with a pounce and a slash of his claws. Arrow rolled to his right, the chimera only missing by inches, springing up to his back hooves in an instant. Arrow leaped onto Kalros’s back in attempt to gain the upper hoof, which he immediately regretted as the pegasus was thrown off by a violent twist. He landed back first into the sand a couple feet behind Kalros, the knife dropped beside him. Arrow shook the stars out of his eyes, hindering his ability to find the knife. Kalros spun around, finding the pegasus in the perfect position to be killed. The two mares looked on with horror as Kalros leapt toward the prone stallion. Arrow watched the chimera trying to fulfill its namesake, he grabbed the tip of his knife, Arrow briefly thought of the heuristic on how kill anything that’s bigger than him, “When in doubt, aim for the face .” Arrow threw the blade with practiced ease toward the vulnerable head of Kalros.
The incoming speed of the chimera and the force behind his throw allowed the blade to rotate once, passing the rows of sharp teeth and stabbing the back of Kalros’s mouth with a wet thunk. The chimera crashed into the sand, skidding to a stop in front of the stallion. Arrow laid speechless in the sand, lightly prodding the limp head of the once fearsome creature. The evil orange eyes remained motionless, earning a sigh of relief from the captain. He grabbed the sides of the chimera’s head, viscously twisting till the bones snapped with a cringeworthy pop. “The Death Bringer lives no more...” Arrow grunted as he pulled out the knife, the blade now blood red with bits of bone stuck to the sides. He smiled at this result, getting onto his back hooves, flexing his fore legs and releasing a mighty scream of victory into the quiet atmosphere.
Rainbow Dash held her knife toward the lip of the crater, her anxiety growing until she heard a reassuring sound from outside the hole. She heard the insult by Arrow and the subsequent growling by Kalros, but nothing afterwards. Twilight kept her head buried into Dash’s shoulder and kept quiet, whether out of fear or trying to hear a positive sign, Dash would never know. A sickening crunch perked both of the mare’s ears, as the same grim thought raced through their minds. The pegasus tensed her body for what she thought would be her final moments left on Earth, her arm shaking from the tight grip she had on the knife.
What they didn’t expect was the loud cry that followed afterwards, causing both of them to jump in surprise. “That sounded like Arrow...” Dash said, dropping her good hoof by her side, the knife forgotten in the sand as a wave of euphoria crashed into her. “This freaking nightmare is finally over...” Dash happily said.
Twilight’s body relaxed the good news, “Good because I need some sleep.” Twilight tiredly whispered. “Sleep sounds like an awesome idea.” Rainbow said as she pulled Twilight closer. Both mares cuddled under the rising sun, the warmth of the light rays seemed to work like a knock out spell. Several minutes passed before Arrow walked over to the crash site and found the two mares fast asleep, a small smile on both of their faces.
The stallion grinned at the pretty sight before something sparkled in the distance. Arrow blocked the sunlight as he tried to decipher on the cause. He could make out the distinct shape of the Royal airships in the distance. Arrow laid on his back in the sand, resting his head in the sand, “Both of them are safe and the monster is dead, I bet the princesses won’t mind if I take a quick snooze before I give my report.” Arrow yawned out, closing his eyes as a group of ponies came toward the camp.
Rainbow Dash groaned in annoyance as she awoke from her well-earned slumber, “That was the weirdest damn dream I’ve had for the longest time. I have got to stop worrying myself sick over this stupid trip Twilight went on .” Dash thought as she twisted around the flimsy bed.
“Wait a minute, this isn’t a cloud, just where in Equestria am I ?” Dash thought fearfully. The pegasus opened her eyes and was nearly blinded by the bright white fluorescent lights above her bed. She blocked the light with her left hoof, weird colors and shapes dancing across her vision. “Did I sleep fly again ?” Dash worriedly thought as her sight returned back to normal.
That’s when she saw the purple cast wrapped around her outstretched hoof, “So either I crashed during my sleep or all that crap actually happened and I told Twilight my feelings.” Rainbow casually said as she looked over the cast. She noticed several get well writings but a heart with TS+RD in the middle stood out from the rest, a huge grin stretched across her face. “I have never been so happy to have a broken bone in my life.” Rainbow gleefully thought. She removed the covers and moaned painfully, the various bruises across her body came to life with dull throbs of discomfort. The muscles in her body ached in protest as started to walk around the small hospital room. A curtain blocked her view of the other bed but she paid it no mind as she headed to the window to finally figure out where she was. The window blinds pulled up slowly and gave way to a setting sun toward the west as the white towers of Canterlot shined brightly in waning light. “Good, that would have sucked if it was all a dream.”
The lowly sun caused the cyan mare to chuckle a bit, “I think I set a new personal record for sleeping from sunrise to sunset .” Dash thought cheekily, “Now to find where Twilight went off to ...” The pegasus walked to the door and reached for the door handle before a quiet snore interrupted her. Dash looked toward the sound, finding the lavender unicorn sleeping soundly on her back on the hospital bed. Rainbow Dash let go of the door handle and walked up to Twilight’s side, briefly thinking about jumping in the bed and surprising her marefriend but decided against it.
Dash gazed over Twilight, no ugly cuts, abrasions, or bruises adorned Twilight’s body. The mare looked as if she just went through long night of studying at the library, not fearing for her life in a forgotten prison far away from home. Dash pulled a chair up to the bedside and waited for Twilight to stir, but the familiar leather cover of a small book laid beside the sleeping mare caught her eye. “She must have gotten her diary back from my vest. I wonder if she wrote about what happened?” Dash wondered. She reached for the diary but stopped midway as Twilight loudly snored again and rolled onto her side, now facing the frozen Dash. She sheepishly returned the offending hoof to her side, mentally cursing at herself for even considering doing that.
The sight of the dozing Twilight seemed to calm Dash down. “I can’t do this sneaky stuff anymore. I just need to go with the flow and everything will work out for the better .” Rainbow Dash thought logically, “Oh wow, I am spending too much time around books. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated to read that journal. Now, I’m actually respectful of personal space... or maybe it’s all this maturing because of you, Twi. May Celestia strike me down with lightning if I act like that during a date.” Dash lamented out loud.
Several minutes passed before an interesting thought popped into Dash’s mind, “I wonder how Twilight would like to go to a DJ-P0N3 concert.” Rainbow Dash said amusingly as she watched over Twilight, a small smile appearing on the sleeping mare.
Author's Note: I have to deeply apologize for what you have suffered through the previous chapters. I have been told it has been a little more than average thus far and I should have given you all something so much better. But enough of my groveling, I'm sure probably most of you are wondering, "What the hell happened to the writer for him to change so drastically?" I'll answer that by saying this, I finally put my mediocre work in front of an editor and let's just say Doctor Strangelove is damn good at his job. I cannot express my thanks enough for his guiding eye. But I will not go back and fix all the chapters, I'm tired of writing this storyline and my next idea is begging to be written.
I can't express how much all your comments meant to me, especially your's Sparkfrye. May you all continue to read my works with joy as I write them.
Also, I'm welcome to what you think would be good for me to write so drop a comment below or send a PM to me and I'll reply back.
Now excuse me, I need to see my Patriots beat the damn Ravens.
