Devil's war
By thomasfactoryuntold
My name… was Rainbow Dash.
This is me writing my experience of the supernatural, as soon I will cease to exist to the public, much like the rest of my comrades. It just goes to show how far one could go to complete their desires, and both in that process or the rejection of that dream can turn us into monsters, just like lightning.
The events occurred five years after our time in the Wonderbolt Academy. Five years after Lightning had been expelled from such place. And it was five years when she left a recording saying that she and her Washouts have declared war on the Wonderbolts.
We were heading to an ancient temple, one that had been abandoned and unexplored for thousands of years. Since its completion since the time of the founding of Equestria nopony had entered it since. The Washouts have told us that if we were to find them that it would be there, located in Ghastly Gorge. It’s location however was not directly stated, forcing us to track them down through the gorge if we were to fight them
Each of us carried mini cannons attached to our forelegs and wing blades for melee combat. We knew that war could mean anything, and we had to be prepared.
We weren’t prepared enough.
As we continued to search, Spitfire, our leader, announced that she had discovered a tape along the way.
"Alright rookies, I have found the right track. While searching for the Washouts, I found a tape recorder on the pathway. Listen." Spitfire said. Our group huddled around her, watching her press the button. It was apparently an audio log, made by Lightning Dust. She sounded disembodied, but due to her clarity nopony took notice. This was her first log. A log that I will clearly remember for the rest of my life, as it would become the series of many that reminds me and haunts me to this day of what happened.
"Lightning Dust here. This is a message to the Wonderbolts so it’s none of your business if you’re not a Wonderbolt. If whom I used to call my ‘comrades’ are listening to this, we are declaring war on you. You washed us out Rainbow Dash! You betrayed us. It is time to settle this matter now. Meet us at the forbidden cave at the Temple of Mooth, in the Ghastly Gorge. You will meet us in our equipment when we are ready. Lightning out." The tape continues to roll for a few seconds, a soft eerie sound playing in the background, before cutting off. Spitfire looked at the rest of us with a determined look.
“This is now the second time we have a note of declaration of war from the Washouts. Earlier on I found a cave littered with bones. And considering that cave is the only one that sticks out of the rest, it must be ‘The Forbidden Cave’. That’s where we have to go. Let’s move out!” Spitfire ordered. We instantly complied, our squad flying through the gorge. It took some time tracing back to the site, avoiding eels and remembering the cave that Spitfire mentioned before, until we finally stumbled upon it again.
‘The Pathway to the Greatest Temples’
I remember walking through that cave that fateful day. All of us tried to not show any signs of fear, but in reality, when you’re walking through thousands of bones that belonged to your kind, and even some fresh blood, it can give you the shivers. The sounds of our mini cannons clanking against each other did not help settle down our fears, especially when we began to encounter pictures. These pictures were no ordinary pictures. They depicted horror, fear, and blood. Many times pony sacrifices and cannibalism were shown, as well as pictures showing ponies fighting each other, tearing each other apart. This shook many of us, even Soarin who was usually able to keep calm in times like these.
We walked for two hours underground, passing by statues of eldritch monsters, until we had found the temple. The temple had aliases that I've never seen before. These alien-like structures were smokelike, but all of the materials consisted of a material that looked like black sandstone. There were monoliths beside the temple, depicting a war-like deity corrupting his followers and turning them into his own soldiers, said soldiers fighting in a battlefield. The deity never appeared in the monoliths, but the story behind the grotesque images all mention or lead up to him.
Whoever made this temple was unknown, but whether it was a unicorn, pegasi, earth, or any other magical creature or any creature really that could build, but what I can say now is that the environment I felt then was sickening, haunting even. We were at ‘war’ though with the Washouts, so it was at the time one of the less prioritized things. We had to hunt and kill our enemy no matter what.
We were able to encounter some huts outside the temple, though as expected they were abandoned. It did seem though that they had just been recently here, meaning that they must be close.
It was then when we found the second log.
The audio tape began to play, and it was apparent that the one speaking was desperate and afraid.
"Rolling Thunder here. I don't know what's gotten into her, but for some fucked up reason, she is performing strange rituals to summon what she calls him, the war deity. This ritual had to do with sacrificing rodents. I have a bad feeling about this… this is not what I had in mind when she said 'war'. Short fuse is disturbed by this as well, but he goes along with it. I don't know if I should follow her, this just isn't right."
A sound of the snapping of twigs can be heard in the background of the audio.
"Short fuse, is that you?"
No response.
"Hello!? Is anypony here!? Hello!?"
The sound of Rolling Thunder can be heard in the audio, looking in each hut to see what was going on. She hadn't found anypony.
"What's going on? Where is everypony? They should be in their huts, but they aren’t anywhere in this curse place! Uh...I need to find Lightning Dust, there is something seriously wrong with her!"
A sound of a monster can be heard before the tape stop
It was here where I began to create suspicions. Lightning Dust performing a ritual? Sacrificing dead rodents? To the War Deity? In a cave of the Ghastly Gorge? I knew Lightning Dust had become mad over my second time damaging her reputation, but this?! She’s gone insane! And going to the extent of worshiping a deity? The occult? That’s unlike her. Only a madmare would do something as crazy and unnatural like that!
“Spitfire…” I remember saying, shivering from the thoughts I was beginning to form. “Apparently Lightning Dust seemingly has gone insane! According to one of the Washouts they say that she’s sacrificing rodents to a war god! And there was also the sound of a monster in the background! I think something might be wrong with her…” I said. Spitfire nodded, though now she appeared to be more serious than ever.
"Good job rookie.” Spitfire said, before turning to the rest. “We will find Lightning Dust and take her to the loony bin, she needs mental help for this.” Spitfire said, before looking to Soarin
"Soarin, where do you think Lightning Dust would be if she worships a war deity?" Spitfire said, though we all already knew where that would be. Perhaps she herself did not want to say it herself. Perhaps she had been scared as much as I was. But Soarin’s response was one we all dreaded and expected
"I believe that temple over there." He answered pointing at the large alien temple. We all shivered as we entered the pyramid shaped temple. If the exterior gave us chills, inside it gave us horror. It was pure madness. Skeleton bones were used as altars, and from these altars came blood, fresh blood. Everywhere, there was blood. Even the dents on the floor. Everyone was distrubed. So many weapons laid on the floor: guns, swords, knives, grenades, along with other alien-like weapons as well. Tendrils even moved within these weapons. And not to mention the blood on these weapons as well.
We continued to walk through the dark blood-stained hallways, our heavy voices and beating hearts being the only sounds we can hear, and yet those sounds only gave us fear. Everything seemed normal…
Until we heard Soarin screaming in fear behind us.
I spun around, just in time to see him running for his life, along with a creature chasing after him, screaming in a fit of rage. It had void eyes, smoking pouring from them as well from its snout. It appeared to be pony-like, but what made it terrifying was the razor-sharp teeth it had. And those teeth were stained with blood. We were all perturbed by this.
"Everypony help Soarin! Kill it!!" Spitfire commanded. We did not think twice. Loading up our weapons we fired the cannons at the creature, and just like that it was killed. I saw Soarin panting, trying to calm down from the horror he saw. It looked like it wanted to kill him, and barely getting out of such an event alive still shook him to the core.
"What the Tartarus is that thing?" I asked, nervousness in my voice.
"I don't know rookie, this place isn't safe for us." Soarin said, panting. The Wonderbolts nodded in agreement. I felt dread in this place. It wasn’t normal. Not normal at all. Piecing together everything, I told Spitfire what had gotten in my head.
"Spitfire, This isn't any ordinary war… it's the devil's war! A war where insanity rules, where there is nothing but blood and violence. A war where there’s no such thing as sanity. A war we cannot win. We have to find Lightning Dust before something bad happens to her!" I yelled. Sure Lightning Dust might’ve called upon the war upon us, but perhaps something evil and malice had taken root in her mind that she needed to be freed from! Spitfire nodded, probably ending with the same logical thought I had.
"Rainbow’s right!" Spitfire stated’ We have to search the temple and fast before we end up here dying! Let's go!" Spitfire ordered. We all nodded, running along the hallway. We then entered into a room with many paths. We all looked at each other hesitantly, wondering what we should do next. Spitfire signaled to her radio, and it was clear that we were to contact each other in case something bad happened.
I took my own path, shaking. I knew I could easily die here as well. For a moment I was relieved when I saw a body on the floor. For a moment I thought it was Lightning, resting. But what I found was Rolling Thunder’s corpse, lying lifelessly on the floor and on her back, her face away from mine. I grabbed my radio and began to contact the Wonderbolts. I was too scared to notice the many beeps that had already been sent, but why only beeps? A message should’ve easily been sent through immediately whether one replied or not. What was happening?!
"Guys!" I called. "Look what I found!" I said. Spitfire and Soarin’s signal responded to mine, but what I dreaded occurred when the rest of our team failed to respond. Finally Spitfire spoke
"Many Wonderbolts are dead! Most of them encountered many more monsters, but before we could get their distress signal they were killed!" Soarin explained, his breath panting as if he had just ran away from danger again.
"And they were pretty violent." Spitfire added. "These monsters had taken violence way too far, they even ate the flesh of many recruits!" Spitfire replied over the radio, and it was clear she was very nauseous.
"I found Rolling Thunder on the floor." I told them. Silence was heard, before the sounds of wings flapping were heard as Spitfire and Soarin came here personally to where my radio signal was at. The two laid their eyes on the fallen Washout, shock in their eyes. Soarin lifted her hoof, to find a pulse. Saurin looked shocked, but also relieved.
"My Celestia, she's still alive-"
His voice was cut off as Rolling Thunder’s Eyes widened, revealing the same black eyes as the other creatures. ‘Rolling’ snarled anger as she tackled Soaring, screaming at the top of her lungs as she began to strangle him, her body filled with hate.
I grabbed a rock and bashed her in the head, letting Soarin free from her grasp. Rolling’s body fell to the floor again, still.
"Soarin! Are you alright!?" I asked, worried about his health and safety. It was too many close calls. We’ve lost so many, and I did not want another one to be lost
"Yes, I'm ok. But what happened to her eyes?" Soarin asked, rubbing his own eyes. Spitfire and I turned to examine her corpse. Her eyes were just like the monster from before, black as the void. We even saw fangs when we opened her mouth. Both of us shivered.
"Damn, you’re right, this is a trap! I just hope that lightning isn't-" Spitfire was saying, before Soaring suddenly gasped. We both looked at him, and he had the same black eyes as rolling thunder.
"S… Soarin?" I peeped, terror filling my eyes as I saw one of my best Wonderbolt friends fall to the same fate that Rolling had fallen in.
"Soarin is with us now, as you will be momentary." ‘Soarin’ said, though his voice appeared to be distorted and demonic.
"Who… who are you?" Spitfire stammered, lifting her cannon at ‘Soarin’, trying to bring fear to whatever was possessing him. It was simple. If this was a spirit, then threatening to take away his host would make it flee and exit out. Or at least that was what we were thinking. ‘Soarin’ laughed maniacally.
"I came here to bring you a message… All of your attempts are futile… all of your attempts for survival will end with tragedy, for you will join an endless war, where everyone you know is your enemy at the feet of mooth. Lord maw-roh'tar awaits you." The spirit said. Spitfire and I looked at each other with fright before back at ‘Soarin’
"When you say this jaw rope tool or whatever… Do you mean the war deity?" I asked, my voice trembling. He nods his head.
"He is king of war and war itself, he is the son of shub niggurath and Daoloth, and he is the one who would grant his worshiper's vengeful desires. Like her's." ‘Soarin’ said. Both of us realized who he was meaning. Or at least it.
"Lightning dust!?" I exclaimed. The ‘spirit’ possessing our friend nodded.
"But this was not the end of his task, once Cthulhu has awakened, he will unleash all his worshipers to slaughter each other, and all of Equestria, for in the end you will die along with them. Lightning Dust asked him for vengeance, and he is granting her wish, by killing you." The spirit said, aiming Soarin’s cannon right at Spitfire. We both are horrified by what he was saying and by what he was implying. This was something out of HP Hoofcraft, we now knew why lightning Dust would call us here, for this eldritch abomination to kill us. He continues.
"But he will spare the life of your rainbow mane friend, for she will spread this story, the story of inevitable doom. But he will have a word with her first." The spirit said. We looked horrified at him.
"And those monsters? Those abominations of nature?" Spitfire stammered, worried now about her own safety since it was now clear that only I was to make it out alive.
"Members of the true faith in maw-roh'tar." He answered, "He will release them along with his worshipers...prepare yourselves ponies!" The spirit yelled as Soarin’s body began to shake
"Wait, WAIT!" I yelled, but it was too late as Soarin lays down on the ground lifeless as the evil spirit leaves. Soon though Spitfire began to feel ill as if she was about to throw up. She looked at me with a horrified expression, knowing what was to happen.
"I'm.. I'm sorry Crash, get out if you can!" Spitfire yelled before she began to vomit the black substance on the floor before collapsing to the ground. It didn’t take me any other second thoughts. I ran as fast as I could, trying to get away from the temple. As I got out looking behind me, crying as all who were my friends were now gone, what I saw in front of me has haunted me to this day.
I saw millions of ghosts ponies, fighting each other, slaughtering each other out of anger, hate, and judgemental madness. All forms of sanity was non-existent. Ghostly blood would fall, covering me, only for the owners of that blood to be revived, only to continue fighting.
I saw Lightning Dust hitting Spitfire with a rock repeatedly. She was as angry as the rest of the spirits. Spitfire attempts to fight back, roaring as well. Blood and gore were being torn from each other, only for their bodies to heal, and only for them to continue struggling They're all in hell, except they weren't.
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT SPITFIRE! IF YOU HADN'T RIP THE METAL OUT OF MY FUCKING CHEST, NONE IF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO ME!!!!" Lightning yelled before striking who used to be our leader.
Lightning dust had truly gone insane. There was no doubt about it. And even though I ran before I saw it, I knew Spitfire had gone insane as well due to the increasing roars the two were making.
I turned around and saw Wind Rider, and I was about to call for him. He looked as young as his past life, but as he turned to see me, he too was insane. His ribs had been torn out of his chest and just by the sight of that alone has given me PTSD. But what I saw above just simply broke my mind from all the horror that already existed within me.
I.....I have no idea what to describe this monster. He is everywhere in my house. He's under my bed. He's in the closet. He's everywhere I go. He's featureless. He's incomprehensible. I cannot comprehend the alien shapes of this gigantic creature in this Battlefield. The others fighting paid attention nor do they have any time to look at the creature.
Mabe my mind was playing fucked up tricks on me, or that nopony had noticed the monster. Maybe it wasn't real. But I knew it was. Because I had breathed into its smokelike body and it felt.... horrible. I can feel the bad taste of his flesh made from smoky gas with the stench of blood or any other organic components. Oh, the horrible agony. Oh, the cancer of hate and pain. It was all caused by him. Everything. Spitfire, Soarin, Lightning Dust who used to be my friend, and the Wonderbolts, all gone.
I completely blackout from the stress I felt. When I woke up I couldn't remember a thing. I was back in my bed where Twilight and her friends were at.
Now you’re going to be asking what happened to me, well here’s your answer: I just hope Pinkie was here.
But she’s been missing ever since that day.
I doubt that cloudsdale would ever believe me after seeing this creature. I have a theory of why nopony has paid any attention to the monster that I only am able to see. Maybe he will only appear when millions die in the hellground of what I call war, that if the soldier who was the most vulnerable would see the creature that I have witnessed. Maybe that’s how I can see but they can’t. Their eyes had not been open to the extreme type of pain and suffering, to the mental illness that I had experienced that day.
We are all insignificant to them, soldiers or not. We are all as useless and vulnerable like littered trash when the world is unclean. Soldiers do protect their people when they are vulnerable, but soon it will all be in vain when the stars come right. I don't know if any other pony sees that thing like any other monster, but in any case, we are all doomed.
I can’t sleep, and even if I did, I would have horrible nightmares of the hell I have just witnessed. There was one final audio log from Lightning Dust that I have kept from my friends, one that I found within my personal bag when I woke up. And each day when I couldn’t sleep I played the tape when I was alone.
"Lightning Dust here, I'm... disembodied, but somehow, I am able… or… been permitted to, record this message to you one last time before I make my sacrifice. Mooth is a zebra word for flesh, or more appropriately, in a way to describe it as…. WAR. maw-roh'tar is an outer god, like azathoth, yog sothoth, and the rest of the others, but he is not a living creature, not in a sense we know, nor to comprehend. I am going to spare Rainbow Dash, so that when she sees everything, she’ll have no dream to live with, to spread my message, in order to reach out to those, who would dare to follow me.
YOU, must join us in N'ghft-agl, for all eternity, at the feet of mooth. For we will all slaughter each other violently, to worship upon his throne for the sake of vengeance.
Lightning... Out!"
Every time, whether I hear this message or not, I would cry. I would cry over Lightning, who while had caused all of this to happen, who risked my friend’s lives, used to be my friend. I would cry for the Wonderbolts, who all have perished along with them. Why…? Why…
Why did I have to go through the Devil’s War…!? WHY!?
