The sky was alive with fireworks and the cheers of the rancorous Guardians below, the roar of the Dragon-types reverberating above all else. It was the Night of Thunder in the Pyrus Region, the central region and seat of the capital of the Vestroian Empire. This holiday was believed to have originated during the devastating civil war Naga waged against the Old Ones; the Night of Thunder is therefore a memorial to the enormous destruction left by the clash between the two forces.
As its name implied, it was a very noisy celebration indeed. The Blazing Infernos, a famous quartet of Charizard, had just finished their airshow and subsequent fireworks display. The quartet touched down on the raised stone platform below before bowing to the sound of thunderous applause from the audience. Tilting back their heads, the team of Charizard released synchronized columns of flames from their gaping maws and filled the air with gray smoke, the hot wind generated by the intense heat blasting against the faces of the Guardians below.
After another round of applause, the Infernos turned and strode back into the depths of the castle. As they departed, another figure emerged, their jet-black armor gleaming in the light provided by the rows of torches lining the massive hall. Clad in a crisp uniform bearing the logo of the legendary Thunderbolts aerobatics team, the figure raised an arm as it stalked in, the already boisterous bellows of the Guardians growing higher in a crescendo.
The figure stepped onto the lit platform, revealing himself as none other than Infinity Helios, former guardian of Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty of Equestria, and the Grand Marshal of both the Thunderbolts and the Vestroian Air Force. As Drago's closest confidant in military and national security matters, Helios was one of Vestroia's most respected figures, taking vigilance in his duty to defend the empire against the Dark Seekers and the forces of Chaos.
"Hello Vestroia!" Helios roared, his body beginning to thrum with purple energy. The crowds below bellowed in approval, slamming their claws, tails, and other appendages against the ground to produce a thunderous cacophony of sound. The Darkus Dragonoid grinned as he raised his left arm gladiator-style, a metallic ching filling the air as the muzzle of a small launcher emerged, the crimson-tipped heads of what appeared to be missiles poking from the barrels. However, when the Dragonoid fired them, they turned out to be nothing but fireworks, the sky filling with the dazzling boom and multicolored sparkles to finish off the celebrations. Helios took a bow before turning around and making his way back towards the castle, a skip in his step as he made his way towards his quarters.
And yet, a pang hit his chest as he entered a hallway. Helios had not seen a crowd that big since the days he and Rainbow performed together during the Wonderbolt-Thunderbolt coop events… Roughly about three decades ago.
He stopped near a bench, sitting down to give his aching legs a rest. Despite half of his body being mechanized, he was still an athlete at heart, thus having flesh and blood like the rest of his kind. As he rested, his thoughts wandered back to his old partner, the gleam in her magenta eyes whenever she was excited about something, the way she laughed whenever she pulled off a successful prank, the way she teared up and came to him whenever she needed closure…
Helios felt tears sting his eyes, and he clenched his claws as he lowered his head in silence. He never even had the chance to say a proper goodbye, to tell Rainbow just how much she meant to him and how proud he was of her accomplishments, given how abrupt his departure from Equestria was. He couldn't have been more proud when she had showed him the letter announcing her acceptance into the Wonderbolts.
She had reacted the same way when it came to his inclusion into the elite Thunderbolt air squadron, known not only for their dazzling air shows but the watchfulness and sheer effort they put into defending Equestria' skies against the malevolent forces of darkness beyond the Frozen North. The countless hours of blood, sweat and tears had finally paid off. The two of them had achieved their dreams, becoming legendary as both performers and air force commanders.
Helios stopped by a bench, rubbing at his left arm with a clawed hand as he sat down to try and clear his mind. As he removed his hand, one could have made out the faint outline of what appeared to be a tattoo of a multicolored lightning bolt emerging from a cloud. Rainbow Dash's Cutie Mark.
He could remember it like it was yesterday, it was just when he and Dash had confirmed their appointments as Captain of the Wonderbolts and Marshal of the Thunderbolts. The two had stopped by a local bar in Cloudsdale to celebrate…
Flashback
Helios felt the bitter taste of bile in the back of his throat as he plopped his empty shot glass on the counter, his tenth one tonight. The drunken cheers of his fellow bar patrons echoed through the cider-ridden air, awed at the tolerance of the Dragonoid. Helios gave a toothy grin and raised an arm in triumph.
Beside him, Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she took another swig from her mug of cider. While she was happy to engage in a drinking contest every now and then, her guardian had a penchant for the dramatic when it came to competitions, no matter how small or casual it seemed.
Helios leaned back in his seat, still bearing the smug grin, but when the initial euphoria faded away, he felt a cold chill slam him in the chest, causing him to clench his claws and emit a grunt of pain.
Rainbow's ears perked at the sound. Her guardian was among the hardiest of the Circle, not even flinching when Naga had impaled him with a massive claw during the climax of their battle in Ponyville. To put it bluntly, it took a hell of a lot to even scratch Helios, let alone provoke an actual reaction from him.
"Hey, big guy," she asked, sliding her mug to the side and resting her head on her hoof. "You alright?" Helios stiffened at the sound of her voice, his thoughts sliding through his head of his recent conversation with Drago.
"We are going to have to leave Equestria… as long as we continue to stay here, Equestria will never be at peace. Evil such as Naga and Kyurem are only the tip of the iceberg. To keep our home safe, to keep our partners safe, we must depart. This news does not come lightly to any of us but make peace with your partner and loved ones before my or Twilight's coronations. We must leave shortly after."
"No… No… it can't be! You gotta be kidding me!" Helios begged. Drago gave him a glance; the Darkus Dragonoid wasn't sure if it was pity or resignation.
"I'm sorry, Helios… I wish I could have told you something more positive."
Helios felt his eyes begin to tear up. No! He couldn't cry! He was the Attribute of Darkus and the incoming Marshal of the Thunderbolts! There was no way anyone could see him crying; it would ruin his reputation! The instant he heard Rainbow Dash's voice however was when the dam broke. Even the battle-hardened Helios couldn't keep his emotions from spilling over the barricade.
The bar went quiet as hot tears began trailing down the Dragonoid's cheeks, a sharp hiss of air escaping from his throat as he sat there in silence. Rainbow's eyes widened as she saw the Dragonoid break down. She could count the number of times Helios cried on two hooves; in that, he had only ever cried twice. Once was when it seemed like his pet Torkoal Ferno would hibernate for the rest of the winter alongside her tortoise Tank. And the second time was when she herself got scratched by a rogue Hydreigon and Helios blamed himself for letting it happen. What had caused him to break down on the eve of their greatest achievements?
"Helios… what's wrong?" Dash asked, her normally brash voice filled with concern. The Dragonoid didn't respond, starting to quietly sob as he buried his head into his clawed hands. The other patrons looked on with a mixture of concern and confusion at seeing one of their greatest champions crying his heart out. What happened to the vicious, hyper-masculine Dragonoid they had all known and grown to love (and fear)?
The bartender, a scowling Nidoking, gave his patron a look of sympathy before sliding another shot to him. Helios promptly took the shot and downed it before managing to stutter an answer to his partner's question.
"Drago… talked to me a while back… He told me we had no choice… but to leave Equestria to keep you all safe…" Rainbow's eyes widened in shock.
"He what?! That's crazy talk! You gotta talk to him and tell him-" Helios stopped her with a raised claw, wiping tears from his eyes with his armored gauntlet.
"I can't… He's right…" he admitted sadly. "The longer we stay in Equestria, the more likely the forces of Chaos will infiltrate this world, bringing great harm to you all. I can't bear the thought of putting you in danger, especially since I cannot always protect you, Dashie… I hate that you had to see me like this; I know you don't like sissies…" He shook his head to try and clear his thoughts…and froze as he felt a gentle hoof on his arm. He looked down to see Dash looking up at him, a faint smile on her lips as her magenta eyes filled with tears of their own.
"Helios… You don't have to put on a tough guy façade for me…. I understand you must be going through a lot emotionally right now… I'm shocked as well, but if Drago says it's necessary… Most likely Twilight does too… Those two eggheads are rarely wrong."
Helios managed a slight chuckle at his partner's wisecrack. Even in the most heated of moments, her brash demeanor always brought a smile to his face. Despite his own rough exterior and the arsenal of nasty weapons it bristled with, she was the first one—and so far only one—to have successfully brought him out of his tough-guy act and revealed his true softness underneath. Rainbow smiled as she wiped a tear from the Dragonoid's eye, making sure to avoid the razor-sharp spikes lining his snout.
"Come on, big guy… don't cry. We've accomplished so much since that day you crash-landed in Cloudsdale… We've defeated everything from the corrupted versions of Princess Luna and Lord Giratina to a maniac dedicated to equality and her crazed bioweapon of a guardian… We've been hailed as the greatest fliers since the days of Burning Gaze and Razorwing…"
Helios gritted his teeth and slammed his fists onto the bar top, shattering the wood and sending shards everywhere. Dash flinched as Helios' tail whipped up to shield her from the worst of the explosion, yet she could see that Helios was broken. The bartender looked in shock at his destroyed tabletop before turning and begrudgingly grabbing a mop, grumbling about it coming out of the Dragonoid's tab.
"What do all these accomplishments mean… What do they mean if I can't see you anymore, Dash? I can't be with you anymore! I won't be around to watch you live your life, to watch you grow old, to watch you achieve so much more…" The Dragonoid growled, lowering his head and sniffling softly.
"Helios…" Rainbow whispered. Helios looked beside him to see that tears were streaming freely down the Pegasus' cheeks, yet she was smiling.
"No matter what happens," she said, giving him a confident smile even as Helios could see she herself was broken behind her iron gaze. "We'll be together, even if it's not in-person. I promise; I'm not the Element of Loyalty for nothing." Helios shook away his tears before giving her a tearful smile back. The heck with his reputation; he didn't give a damn. Spending the last bit of time he had with Dashie was all that mattered. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in for a tight hug.
"Promise me something, Helios," Rainbow whispered.
"Anything Dashie," Helios responded, tightening his hold around her. "Anything at all."
"Promise me to remain loyal to your friends," she requested. "To remain loyal to Drago especially…I know that you and him constantly butt heads, but he has the right intentions…Please, remain loyal and do your best to contribute to a thriving new world."
"Absolutely Dash, you have my solemn promise," Helios vowed, a tear slipping down his cheek and dripping onto the soft carpet below.
End Flashback
That was about two decades ago. From the letters that Dharak had brought him, she had accomplished a lot of things in the twenty years since his departure, from taking Spitfire's place as captain of the Wonderbolts to getting together with Applejack and adopting a foal with her. He could still remember the smile on his face as he saw the little tyke in a family photo Dash had sent him.
The crackle and boom of thunder roused him out of his nostalgia-fueled stupor. Looking up in shock, he saw that the sky was covered in black clouds, tongues of lightning lighting up the air as rain began to fall in heavy sheets.
Helios facepalmed with a growl. Of course he had to miss the weather change appointment! It was part of his duty to regulate the weather of the different regions of Vestroia, something he had forgotten about during his reminiscing. As he made preparations to fly to the nearby weather station and begin operations, a sudden bellow echoed through the air, along with the screams of hapless civilians.
Firing the boosters on his back, Helios made his way into the sky with a blast of heat and a poof of smoke. Flying closer to where he heard the screams coming from, he was shocked to see a massive Tyranitar standing in the midst of a nearby village, bellowing and destroying everything around it.
The beast had a sinister aura about it, one that even sent a shiver down the spine of the battle-hardened Helios. Its scales were a wicked jet-black, the normally blue parallelogram on its chest a blood-red. Its glowing red eyes shone through the heavy rainfall, the menacing roar of its drooling fangs filling the air as it smashed a nearby school into smithereens with its armored tail. Rearing back its head, the beast opened its maw as a ball of orange energy formed inside, before it let loose with a mighty Hyper Beam. The beam plowed through several nearby buildings before slamming into the city hall, obliterating it in a mighty explosion.
The corpses of many brave Pokémon and Bakugan that had tried to stop the beast littered the street, a sight that made Helios grimace. The loss of any life was a crime, but outright genocide was a heinous sin. Reinforcements would take hours to arrive.
No, he had to stop the beast.
Suddenly, the cries of a group of baby Pokémon filled the air. Helios' eyes widened as he saw the Tyranitar's head whip to the source of the cry. The little group consisting of every species from Pichu to Snivy to Charmander found themselves backed against the ruins of their daycare. A few feet away from them lied the smoking corpse of the Chansey that had been their caretaker. The infants whimpered as the corrupted beast made its way towards them. Helios growled under his breath as he rocketed towards the scene. Even at maximum speed, he would still be too late before that cursed beast ripped into the helpless younglings…
Suddenly the sky flashed as a rainbow blur shot through the air with a massive, multicolored explosion filling the air. With an echoing crack, the blur smashed into the charging Tyranitar, lifting the monster off its feet and sending it flying into a nearby schoolhouse. As the blur sped away, Helios felt his heart nearly stop with pure shock. His enhanced vision revealed the blur to be none other than…Rainbow Dash.
Besides a few wrinkles on her face, the Pegasus showed few signs of aging. Clad in her signature captain's jacket and a new mohawk-like mane style, she looked as fierce and agile as the day Helios left Equestria. The Dragonoid felt euphoria fill his very soul, a feeling he had not felt in a long time. How had she gotten through the dimensional walls that separated their worlds?
A Nidoqueen caretaker had successfully ferried the infants away, giving Helios an encouraging wave before hurrying away herself as well. Just as he opened his mouth to shout her name, his heart jumped in his chest as he saw the Tyranitar get up from where it was bowled over.
"Come get some, ya ugly lug!" Dash shouted as she zoomed forward and delivered another powerful kick to the Tyranitar's chest, her speed-enhanced blow creating a spiderweb of cracks across the monster's armor. The beast bellowed in agony, staggering backwards in pain. As Dash shot back for another run, Helios watched with horror as the Tyranitar straightened itself, narrowing its crimson eyes as it did nothing but… wait. It didn't charge a Hyper Beam or Stone Edge, it just stood there, waiting.
Helios realized too late what it was about to do. Just as Dash neared it to deliver another kick, the monster lashed out with a powerful tail swipe.
"DASH!" Helios roared as the Tyranitar's tail slammed into Rainbow Dash with the force of a freighter train, sending her careening backwards, bloodied and broken, into the nearby cliff wall. The familiar rainbow blur impacted the wall, a heavy cloud of dust surrounding the impact site.
Helios felt his nerves turn to ice and his hands go numb as a mixture of immeasurable loss and boiling wrath filled his body. There was only one thought on his mind: KILL.
The Dragonoid reared his head back and gave a massive bellow, one interlaced with rage and grief alike, making the Tyranitar return its gaze to him. His body coursed with energy, glowing a mixture of hellish red and pitch-black as his systems released its entire storage of adrenaline. His eyes glowed an eerie blue as a massive cone of flame belched from his turbine, sending him rocketing forward in a blur of pure speed.The Tyranitar roared in challenge and charged as well, shaking the very earth beneath it.
Helios released the entirety of his arsenal as he sped towards the beast that had hurt Rainbow in such cold blood. Pods unfurled from his back to reveal the gleaming tubes of row after row of heavy-duty missile launchers while the armor on his forearms slid back to show the massive barrels of triple-barreled mini-guns. To top it all off, the plates on his chest pulled apart to display the gargantuan Ragnarök Cannon, his ultimate weapon. With a slight wind-up sound and a roar filled with emotional agony, Helios unleashed hell. Barrage after barrage of high-explosive rockets blasted from the Dragonoid's shoulders, followed by literal waves of bullets from his guns.
The Tyranitar bellowed in agony as it was bombarded by the mass of projectiles, rocket explosions tearing away sections of its armor to reveal the soft skin underneath while bullets punched holes through its belly and legs. Yet the corruption that had taken over its mind continued to drive it forward. As the Dragonoid's launchers and mini-guns clicked with the sound of empty clips, Darkus energy began to coalesce around the buster in his chest.
"Ragnarök Cannon finished charging," Helios' AI blared as he gritted his teeth and aimed directly at the incoming Tyranitar. The heavily damaged monster opened its maw to reveal the orange light of a freshly charged Hyper Beam.
Helios gave a final roar of defiance and unleashed his buster just as the monster reached point-blank distance.
The Tyranitar blasted its Hyper Beam in response.
A massive blast of Darkus energy blew forth from Helios' cannon just as an orange wave of destruction rose to meet it. The short proximity between Helios and the Tyranitar magnified the force of the resulting explosion, covering the entire area in fiery fallout.
As the explosion ceased, the area was blanketed in heavy smoke. By now a small group of Guardians, including the group of infants and their caretaker had emerged from the surrounding hills, still cautious yet worried about what had become of their protector.
The smoke eventually cleared, revealing a heavily wounded Helios with one foot atop the mangled chest of the Tyranitar. The Dragonoid's armor was covered in cracks, blood dripping from the many wounds covering his body. His buster had been destroyed by the point-blank clash of beams, smoke curling from the ruined barrel. Helios' left eye was nothing but a crater, having been blown to smithereens by the force of the explosion.
Yet the Dragonoid's face was nothing but grim determination as he glared down through his one good eye at the mortally wounded Tyranitar. Having already been heavily damaged by the storm of projectiles Helios had unleashed earlier, the Tyranitar had lost an arm, its long tail nothing but a shattered stump. The beast hissed in agony as it continued to thrash and struggle, the darkness clouding its mind still sustaining it despite its injuries.
Helios was silent as he grabbed hold of the Tyranitar's snout with one hand, wrapping the other one around its neck.
"This is for you, Dash," he whispered. With that, he viciously twisted the beast's neck, snapping it and killing the monster. As the Tyranitar's head slumped to the ground with a final death rattle, Helios stepped off its corpse and slowly but steadily limped his way to the cliffside where Rainbow had been knocked into earlier.
The other guardians watched on in a mixture of sympathy and sadness as the Dragonoid knelt by the pile of rocks that had encased Rainbow after she had fallen to the ground. Despite his heavy injuries, Helios quickly tossed the rocks aside to reveal the broken body of Rainbow Dash.
It was horrific. The collision had broken both her wings, the bones having stuck through the feathers in some places. Blood leaked from vicious gashes across her body, along with a thin stream of the crimson blood trailing down her mouth. Half her mane was gone, sheared off by the force of the impact. Her prized captain's jacket was shredded to pieces, and her long tail was missing half its length from being torn off. In other words, she was a mess.
"Dash…" Helios whispered, his one good eye filling with tears.
"He… Helios…" Rainbow whispered, shocking the Dragonoid.
"Don't talk, Dash… please, hold on …" Helios said, his voice shaky and broken. He then turned to the crowd of guardians standing behind him and bellowed at them. "What are you idiots standing there for?! Call a medic! She can still be saved!" They didn't move, several of them solemnly lowering their heads while others broke composure and openly wept.
"Please… someone call a medic…" Helios muttered, his chest gripped with the ironclad hand of despair.
"Helios… Please…" Rainbow murmured, raising a bleeding hoof and beckoning for the Dragonoid to come closer.
"D… Dashie…" Helios mumbled, taking a few shaky steps forward before kneeling at the Pegasus' side.
"Do… not mourn me… I came here… of my own volition… to see you again after so long… I knew the risks… I could not stand by while others got hurt…" She managed to say, gasping in pain as the sharp sting of her injuries clouded her judgement.
"Dash… Don't talk like that… You can still be saved…" Helios whispered, the pain in his chest increasing rapidly.
"Please… Remember our promise… To remain loyal… to Drago and the people of Vestroia and Equestria…" Rainbow gasped.
"I will never turn my back on our promise, Dash…" Helios responded, tears streaming down his cheeks, dripping onto the blood-soaked ground.
"Take…this…my last…gift…" she whispered, using the last of her strength to reach into the tatters of her jacket and pull something out, extending it to Helios. The Dragonoid gingerly took the offered item, feeling a stabbing pain in his chest as he saw what it was: a framed photograph of him and the other members of the Circle of Guardians, smiling happily as they posed behind the Mane Six at Donut Joe's shortly after the defeat of the Terrible Trio and their guardians.
"Goodbye… Helios…" Dash whispered, reaching out with a hoof. As Helios grasped it, the Pegasus took her last breath, a faint smile on her lips as she closed her eyes for the last time. Helios was silent for a few moments, the hand the held the photograph shaking more and more strongly. As the rain continued to splash down in droves, he lowered his head and began sobbing profusely, the loud, broken cries of his sheer agony filling the air as he mourned his partner, his sister, his Dashie.
A couple of months later…
Helios, a black eyepatch covering his ruined eye and clad in one of Taylean's finest suits, watched solemnly as a row of armored Royal Knights lowered a magnificent coffin carved out of beautiful gem-like shards into a rectangular hole in the ground at the Pureheart Cemetery, Vestroia's most prestigious graveyard where only royalty and heroes could be buried.
A single heart scale acted as the lock, a beautifully painted recreation of Rainbow Dash's cutie mark covering the entire lid. The Pegasus herself was situated peacefully within, her eyes closed and her wounds virtually gone after the embalming process.
Another group of Royal Knights blasted their horns in unity, the final farewell to one of Equestria and Vestroia's greatest heroes. The Dragonoid looked around him. Everyone there was solemn and mournful. An aged Applejack was crying into Twilight's shoulder, the alicorn struggling to hold back her own tears. Pinkie Pie was leaning against her husband Cheese Sandwich, her hair deflated and colors grey. A solemn Drago watched from atop the podium, his cloak ruffling to and fro in the breeze as his Staff of Purity gleamed in the sunlight. Wolfurio supported a sobbing Trister while Boulderon and Taylean stood next to each other, remaining silent. Both had lost their partners already and understood Helios' agony.
"And here friends," Drago announced as the coffin was lowered into the ground for the final time, "we bid farewell to Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty, former partner of Marshal Helios, and a legendary hero and friend to all of us. May Arceus bless her soul." Helios watched silently for a few moments before getting up and stalking to the back of the podium, near a large stained glass window. He heard the approaching sound of footsteps behind him and grunted.
"I said I don't need your help, Boulderon."
"You know why I am here, Helios," a regal voice replied. Looking around, Helios saw that it was Drago, his expression one of worry. The orb atop the Staff of Purity pulsed gently with energy as the two stared at each other.
"I understand that you have just lost your partner," Drago said, a tone of sadness in his own voice, "but I hope you have considered that proposition I gave…" Helios grunted in affirmation.
"You must understand, Helios, that Tyranitar was under the control of Lucemon, if any more Guardians are to fall under his influence…"
"I understand, Drago?" the other Dragonoid stated with a bit of a growl. "That's why I'm leaving first thing in the morning tomorrow." Drago raised an eyebrow in apprehension before his friend stopped him to explain further. "I'm taking the Thunderbolts with me too. If that monster Lucemon really wants to wreck havoc on our world, I'll show him another thing or two. I even regret killing that Tyranitar he corrupted although I had no choice. I won't let anyone else suffer the same fate he did…I know it's what he would've wanted me to do."
"Of course. I will leave you to it then." With that, Drago turned and stalked back the way he came. As the Arch-Paladin left the room, Helios reached into his suit pocket, pulling out the framed photograph that Dash had given him during their last moments together.
"Don't worry Rainbow… I will avenge you," he whispered. As the sun faded away, the room was left in darkness save for the faint red glow of a certain Dragonoid's remaining eye.