Chapter 5
I'm Seeing Rainbooms
As I fell, I looked up at the sky.
"I'm going to miss this life. Maybe Celestia can take care of Tanner," I thought.
I squinted, thinking I saw movement in the sky. It was a long way down, might as well enjoy the falling emeral rubble around me.
I did see movement, and to this very day, I'm grateful to the Pegasus that showed up. Scootaloo was flapping her wings as fast as she could, trying to catch me. I could see the wind resistance around her.
I made a weak gesture for her to turn away, but she kept coming. I faced the ground, and spread out my arms and legs. Only mere seconds until I would hit the ground. I smiled, having no regrets. Looking back at Scootaloo, who was going incredibly fast. However, she was still to far away to catch me. I looked back at the ground, and closed my eyes.
Boom.
The sound caused me to snap my eyes open as I was mere yards fron the ground. The sky had filled with a purple and orange array of colors, and exploding from it's center was Scootallo, trailing a similar streak. She sweeped under me, and I landed on her back. She skillfully evaded the falling rubble; instinct making every move for her.
She flew from the falling mass of gemstone, and directed us back to the camp. We had to be flying a mach ten, because she made it back in mere minutes.
She set me down on the ground, and then collapsed herself. We were both tired, me magically and her physically.
Jack helped me up. "You're crazy, you know that?"
"Yep. Just glad Scootaloo decided to come and do something about it. Would've died," I said.
"Don't mention it," Scootaloo sighed.
"Don't mention it!" Dash said, galloping toward her. "You did a Rainboom!"
"Guess all it took was deadly motivation," I mentioned. "Can one of you do knock down a mountain so I can try?"
That earned a small laugh from those around me. Twilight burst from the crowd, wearing an urgent look.
"There's something you have to see," She said. "We found Xavier."
No more words were exchanged. Twilight led me back to the edge of the army, where Xavier was lying on a rock. His hair was indeed grey, and his eyes had changed to fiery orange.
"So how are things?" He asked casually.
"Same old, same old. Just temporarily raised my power level to over fifteen million."
"That was you? I was four leagues away when I heard the boom, and the cloud. Who did the Rainboom?" He asked.
"Scootaloo. Where've you been? We could've used used you in the last fight. We lost Roran," I explained.
"My Grandpa told me to go away for awhile. I've found some crazy-ass artifacts, and there's a few you need to see. Also, I may have gained the ability to see through people's souls and their memories. Been quite useful to me. Those Griffons weren't too happy when I wanted to get inside their sacred catacombs."
"Why were you- I don't care. Twilight, get the next location from Jack, and mobilize the army," I commanded. Twilight nodded, and galloped away.
"You'll love this. I've been away, looking for the other artifacts created by the gods, besides the Elements. Be careful, though. All of these are indescribably powerful, and but not all of them are good. First up-" He reached into his bag, and pulled out a belt of white gold. "Is the Conduit's Belt. Not really sure if that's the actual name, but it works. It was designed to do one of two things: Either absorb power constantly and transmit it constantly if worn by a conduit, or temporarily make someone a conduit while it's worn. Take it. Watch out for the start, though. Pretty freaky stuff."
I took the Belt, and it unclipped itself. I snaked up my arm, and along my torso. It came to rest on my waist, flashed red, then stopped moving. "Woah. What else did you get?" I asked.
"This one's a personal favorite, but not the one I'll be using. This-" He took out a small knife. "Is the knife of Pain. Another name I made up. Doesn't matter where you stab them, as long as you stab the same place twice. I'll be giving this to Jack." He shoved the blade back in the bag.
"This one's specifically designed for Unicorns. It's called the Alicorn Amulet, and-" I stopped him before he could take it out.
"Might wanna keep that one out of sight. Awhile ago, Trixie used it to terrorize the citizens of Ponyville. Lots of bad history with them," I explained.
"Suit yourself. Oo!" He reached inside, and pulled out a bracelet. "You'll want this one, but you can only use it once. I suggest during a mage battle." He handed it to me, and I clipped it on just beside my regular set of bracelets.
"What's it do?" I asked.
"Don't want to ruin to surprise," he said happily. He reached inside once more. Pulling out an amulet depicting a set of wings, he said, "Dash'll want this one. It up the speed of a Pegasus a notch or twelve. And according to the god of wisdom, whose judgment I value, it allows the wearer to ensure that he or she doesn't do a Rainboom, purely with mental control. When she's wearing it, if she doesn't want to do a Rainboom, it won't happen."
"Alright. Just give me whatever else you have for me, then give what you will to the others," I requested.
"Just one more for you. I'm almost positive you'll like this more than that Arrow of Light. Come to think of it, I've never actually seen you use it. Anyway, check this out." He pulled out a small set of white gloves, inscribed on the backs with a strange series of symbols. "My grandpa told me not to give this to anyone who didn't have complete control over their magical abilities. So naturally, I deemed you the perfect candidate. The symbols on the back represent powerful elemental magic, and I was told you'd know how to cast it the second you put them on. Here."
He handed the gloves to me, and I put them on. New spells flooded my mind, ready to be cast at will. "Thanks," I told him.
"Don't mention it. Bye!" He teleported in a flash of bright orange. I started to walk back to the camp, and for the next destination.
Quite frankly, nothing happened in the next few hours. Celestia and Luna paired up to instantly transport the army to Manehattan, but it was deserted. Anyone who could teleport was sent to the remaining cities, but all came back negative. Every city in Equestria had been deserted, which, beside being easy takeovers, had no positive sides. No one just disappears like that, and nothing good could come of a full-scale mobilization.
"I'll send out a radar scan. Maybe then we can get a fix on the human armies," I said, then pulsed an echolocation magic wave. I found nothing, except for one relatively large area that returned nothing. The signal just stopped when it hit that point. A scrambler. "They set up a scrambler. Either they've left the planter entirely, or are in the area I can't scan."
"Good," Celestia said. "Jack, go scout out the area. You have the least chance of being noticed out of all of us."
Jack nodded, then disappeared in a flash of brown. I judged by the size of the scrambled range, pretty much the entire army could fit in there. If we went there, Tanner would attempt a full-scale assault on the Equine army. We would be outnumbered, but everyone kept themselves going with the thought of them being severely outmatched.
Luna took to the skies, and amplified her voice. "THIS IS IT! NOW IS THE LAST TIME ANY OF YOU WILL STAND ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER IN THE FIELD OF BATTLE, BECAUSE WE WILL BE WINNING! NOTHING SHALL KEEP US FROM TAKING BACK OUR COUNTRY, AND RETURNING FROM THIS BATTLE!" She looked down at me, signifying me to give my own speech. I spread my wings, soared up above the crowd, then blasted my voice up a notch or ten.
"RAVEN TRIBE! THESE MEN SOUGHT TO DESTROY US, TO ELIMINATE OUR VERY WAY OF LIFE! THEY EVEN DESTROYED THE CITY! NOW IS THE TIME FOR PAYBACK, TO GET THEM BACK FOR WHAT THEY'VE TAKEN FROM US! I KNOW NOT ALL OF YOU WILL BE WALKING BACK WITH ME, AND I MIGHT NOT BE WALKING BACK WITH YOU, BUT WILL YOU STILL FOLLOW ME INTO BATTLE KNOWING SUCH THINGS?!"
Cheered of positive origins rose from the army. "THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR! CELESTIA, GET US TO THE BATTLEFIELD!" I cheered, then Celestia's horn began to glow. The entire army was enveloped in golden field, and teleported right outside of the scrambler, but nothing could be seen from where we stood. I stepped forward about five feet, then stuck out my arm. I concentrated on absorbing as much power as possible as possible, and the air began to flicker, revealing a hidden campsite. But it was so much more, an entire forest of men and women, all armored and ready for battle.
Both armies stood in silence, and everything began with a single word.
"CHARGE!"
The equine army surged forward, the magically gifted battle expertise taking it's place. Tanner was here, I knew it. He wasn't hiding his power, which was easily greater than my own. I took to the skies, ready for the fight of my life. The two most powerful Conduits in existence ready for the end of the line.
Tanner appeared in the air in front of me. I put away my wings, and we both floated in silence. He spoke first.
"Remember those days back on Earth? We used to be friends, now here we are, about to start the battle of the ages."
"I'm sorry all this happened too. Trust me, I wish we could still be friends, just put all this to rest. But because of what you've done, you can't go free. I have to at least try."
"I agree. Shall we?" He proposed.
"We shall."
We took battle stances, and it was off. He drew his sword, and I summoned my scythe. He charged first, and slashed at my side. I parried with my own weapon, and kicked at his fists. The kick struck correctly, and his sword was knocked from his hands. He simply let it fall, and I felt his power spike. I returned my scythe, and readied my own magical attack. Clearly, the melee potion would be back, but magic was priority.
"Death's Flame!" He cried out, and a skull shapes fireball flew from his fists. I sidestepped, and launched a distractive bolt of lightning at him. If I wanted to get down to the battlefield, I had to try and end this as quickly as I could.
"Fireburst!" I yelled. This was one of the magicks the gloves gave me. I spout of solid flame flew seemingly from nowhere, and Tanner barely manage to dodge to geyser.
He set his fists on fire, and charged me. My own began to radiate freezing winds; one of the glove spells. I charged him, and struck at his ribs. He didn't block, and the puch collided. It left a frozen patch of ice where I had hit, but he had set my shoulder on fire as a result of my carelessness.
I took a few steps back, and looked down. The equines were losing. The human army was pushing us back, and nothing was going according to plan. I saw Jack, Sara, Xavier, the Princesses, and the bearers holding their own, but many were dying around them.
"See that?" Tanner taunted. "You can't win. Just give up, and I promise... Your deaths'll be quick."
"No," I replied. In my eyes, It was supermagic time. I fired a beam of light to the sky, which was purely was for distraction. I readied my more powerful arrays of spells, and cast the first one to come to mind.
"Speed of Darkness." I felt my strength and agility increase, ready for use. Next, before he could counter with something, I attacked. "Light Daggers!" Two little white daggers appeared in my hands, and I charged. He didn't move, which should have raised the red flag, but I struck his arm anyway.
"Ting!" The sound of metal hitting metal came from his arm. He raised his fist, and struck me in the ribs. The impact was like a sledgehammer, breaking two of them and cracking three. I moved back painfully, and healed them.
"What?" I questioned.
"Surprised? Metal skin spell. You can't do shit with physical attacks. Magic is the only way to go, which makes this much easier to do." Without warning, he dashed forward, and kicked me in the knee. I fell forward on my face.
He smirked. "This isn't your full power. Nothings this easy. Why're you holding back?"
He had broken my knee. I was in too much pain to reply. I began to heal it, but he stomped on my hand, breaking two of my fingers.
"Screw it. I'll just kill you, then the army." Backing up several feet, he placed his palms end to end, mocking my signature technique. "Lunar Blitz."
A thin beam of blue light shot from his hands, and straight at me. It was fast, but not faster than my savior. Xavier flee from the side, wearing winged boots that propelled hin through the air at mach speeds. He intercepted the attack, taking it in the chest.
He fell, and I caught his hand, and suspended him with magic.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I yelled.
"Be glad. That would've killed you. You're the best chance in this war. Don't let this be for nothing." He closed his eyes, and died right in front of me.
Just like that. Only minutes into the fight, one of the Conduits died. I teleported his body away, and my power began to spike from anger.
"So that's it? Kill your friends in front of you, and you go up in power? That's easy. I'll think I'll do that right now." He looked the battlefield, and Jack and Sara appeared in the sky next to me.
"Brad?" Sara asked. "What the hell's going on here? Did you get us up here?"
"No!" I replied. "Get out of here before he does something crazy!" I ordered.
"If he's going to try to kill us," Jack brandished the knife Xavier had brought him. "Then he's going to have a hell of a time taking on all three of us."
I nodded, but Tanner just grinned like a madman. He wiggled a finger. "I don't think so."
He disappeared. A millisecond later, a sword stuck in Jack's chest. "One down!" Tanner said crazily in his invisible state. I teleported him to the outskirts of the battlefield, just hoping he could survive. I looked back at Sara, and tried to teleport her away.
Too late.
Her neck twisted at an unsurvivable angle, and a small snap was heard. He broke her neck. Tanner appeared several feet in front of me, a crazed look in his eyes.
"How ya feelin'?" He asked.
No. Just like that, my three best friends were dead. Killed in the span of minute by the same man. I felt my power begin to rise up to unimaginable heights, but It still wasn't enough for him.
"I know you can go further. Let's fight, and see if I can figure it out." He charged me with his metal skin, and struck at my chest. I simply raised my arm to deflect the blow, taking on my own metal armor. I punched him in the nose, and he began bleeding.
"Better," He chanted, and kicked at my side. This one struck true, and I flew to the side. I launched a small magical projectile at him, but once more, he vanished. Re-appearing right in front of me, he grabbed my head, and forced me to look him in the eyes. I felt his gave boring through me, reading my memories.
He let me go. "So you have one more special friend. Why didn't you tell me you had a son?" He began to dash towards the crowd, trying to root out Sedrick. I followed him, but quickly lost sight of my enemy. I found him just seconds later, gripping my son's shirt collar. And though he was visibly struggling, Sedrick couldn't break free. Tanner raised a dagger, and drove it through his neck.
That was it. I couldn't hold back anymore. All three of my types of power were flaring up. The scythe, my own, and my powers of Death.
I involuntarily summoned my scythe, spread my wings, and lifted into the sky. My body was radiating power, but Tanner still brought forth his own wings to combat me. He couldn't have made a stupid decision.
All three of the powers were combining to form the deadliest combination possible, equivalent to that of the gods. My wings caught fire, but remained whole, and I felt my scythe bringing forth it's own power.
I raised the power gauge spell, and determined the power of both me and Tanner. His power: 25,067,526.
My own: 38,736,916. A thirteen million difference.
Both were rising at a constant rate. I said with not a trace of anger in my voice, "You will not be walking away from this."
He grinned, and another sword appeared in his hand. I wasn't about to let him attack. He was going to suffer in the worst way I could possibly imagine, feel the worst pain I could inflict.
"Then come at me," He taunted.
My eyes narrowed, and my power spiked further. "So be it."
I charges him fast enough to make it seem like a teleport, and a flurry of punches followed. I struck him again and again, not one missed it's intended target. At one point, he raised an arm to block a hit, and it snapped like a twig, regardless of his armor spell.
I lowered a fist, and drove it into his stomach at mach speed. He flew towards the sun, and I followed. I repeatedly punched and kicked him further from the ground. Soon, I felt us reaching the atmosphere, and raised an oxygen-producing field around the both of us, not wanting him to die by mere suffocation.
We entered orbit, and zero gravity overtook us. I was still able to move quickly using my magic, so I did so. He tried to counterattack with a kick to my ribs, but I simply grabbed his ankle and snapped the bone in half. While he writhed in pain, I contacted Luna.
"Any new on the fight?" I asked.
"Two things. One, Spike convinced the dragons to help, and we're turning the tides quickly. Second, how are you in space?"
"No point in explaining. Set up a shield around the battlefield capable of withstanding the force of the moon hitting the ground. We'll be getting some hits soon."
"Alright," Luna replied. I broke the connection, and looked back at Tanner, who had healed his ankle. He threw his sword at me, but I knocked the blade to the side effortlessly.
"There's nothing you can do," I pointed out. "When you get to Tartarus, say hi to my Grandpa for me."
I quickly moved above him, closed my fists together, and drove them into his back from above with all the force I could muster. He flew back towards the planet, unable to regain control. The dust cloud his body produced was visible from where I floated in space, but he was still alive. I enhanced my vision tremendously and spotted him. He was pointing his hands at the winning army, and they were crackling with energy. Luna's barrier would provide some insurance, but I knew all too well that the amount of force he could put out was more than the more than the moon hitting the ground.
"Nope."
I beat my wings with maximum force, and flew towards the ground. I felt the wind whistling by my ears, but raised a barrier to resist the forces.
I watched him pulse magic into the air around him, the amount of force he was gathering able to easily wipe out both of the armies. He didn't care anymore, and was trying a suicide attack. Nothing mattered to him.
I began to close the distance as fast as I could. The winds was roaring by my form, and the mach cone I had seen in when Scootaloo did a Rainboom began to form around me. I beat my wings faster and faster, gaining speed at a constant rate.
Just as I dipped below the atmospheric layer, Tanner fired his laser. It wasn't the suicide attack I had expected, but I couldn't make it in time. Then, I remembered the bracelet Xavier had given me. I pressed the button on the band, not knowing what would happen.
I couldn't have asked for a better thing to happen.
The bracelet unclipped itself, and zoomed down to the Earth, faster than the laser. It landed on the ground in front of it, and exploded. The laser flew right into the light created by the wristband, but not out the other side. The bracelet had intercepted the attack, and left Tanner open.
I flew faster and faster as I dipped below the cloud layer. The mach cone around ne was getting more of a point, then I beat my wings one last time.
The mach cone exploded in front of me.
A burst of snow white light burst from my wings, and covered the sky. My speed instantly doubled, and a streak of fire followed me. I had done a Rainboom.
I flew right at Tanner, and readied my attack. Every bit of force I had was going into this, and there was no way he was going to live. He looked up at the last second, just to see his killer.
I threw my fist into his face at mach ten, and I felt it shatter under my knuckles. A burst of magic flew from my hand, and utterly vaporized him, along with every bit of ground within a hundred feet. A beam of solid magic flew from the earth around me, and when it settled, I stood on a lone pillar surrounded by a hole several feet deep.
I turned towards the army, and laughed at the stunned looks on their faces. Nothing was left of Tanner's body, so I checked my power level to make sure it was still reasonably high. 23,628,725. "Good enough."
I teleported to the front of the Equine force. Nothing stood of the human army, and the dragons had left. I was happy that the country had been won back, but not for myself. In one day, all of my human friends had died, along with my son. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned to Rokon in his human form.
He flicked his white hair out of his eyes. "That was a heck of a display. I knew something was up when Tanner suddenly appeared in my judgement room. I sentenced him to eternal torture; where he has his innards cut out, then replaced every day."
"Thanks. Means alot that he's gonna suffer," I said.
The monarch sisters appeared in front of me, along with the bearers. "I can't believe that power!" Twilight exclaimed.
Celestia's horn began to glow. "Though the war may be over, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Girls, please step away while I relay this information to Brad," She ordered. The bearers walked away.
"I think I know this one," Rokon said.
"You most likely do," Luna said. "You won't like this, but we have to tell you something. This whole ordeal was predicted in prophecy. You, Tanner, and the humans were the catalysts for the entire war. The Ravens all knew this, but were required not to tell you. They were the ones assigned to the task of training the force of good, which was you. Now, they are required to return to Elysium as spirits."
"Bu- wha?" I questioned stupidly.
"Sorry," Celestia apologized. "We should have told you. The Ravens must leave, and you must stay."
I was surprisingly in acceptance with this. "You know what? I don't care. Everyone I care about is dead anyway."
"We know this, and we're sorry," Rokon said. "If you can find a way to make this more tolerable, I'm open to it."
Suddenly, the concept came to me. "Just one thing."
"Which would be?" Luna inquired.
"How much power would it take to bring every casualty of war back?" I asked. The question surprised them.
"Absolutely out of the question," Celestia told me.
"Really, you don't get to make that choice, sunny," Rokon said condescendingly. "You have enough power, no questions about that. However, that requires my approval to do it without necromancy." He smiled. "And you'll be getting it."
I grinned like a madman. "Oh god. I can't thank you enough."
"Just one restriction," Rokon said. "You can't bring back any humans."
I frowned. "Why not?"
"We can't have any more around here. We're willing to make an exception for you, but no one else. The chance of future attacks is too great," Rokon said.
Sadly, I knew it was true. Rokon offered his condolences. "Sorry. They went to Elysium, if it makes you feel better."
"Thanks. Now, stand back. I'm about to reform the country." I readied my power for one last time. The most powerful spell ever weaved, capable of bringing back every life lost in the war, and restoring the buildings destroyed. As you know, I was never good at conjuring, but I was going to do it anyway. I placed my hands on the ground, and began.
The power flowed from from my hands, and pulsed out several times. The green color returned to grass, and from where the battle had happened, we could see the life returning to the valley where Ponyville stood. The buildings began to construct themselves, forming once more the homes that several had occupied. The hanging castle of Canterlot was reforming on the cliffside, restoring it to it's former glory.
After I had felt the cities being restored, the hard part came. Thanks to a little power from my grandpa, I found the souls of those lost. I concentrated hard, and brought them back, all at the same time. The Griffons that were killed appeared in the kingdoms, and the few dragons returned to the mountains. Every single equine casualty of war returned around me, at the age they were at death. With the spell completed, I stood up. I had returned Equestria to how it stood before the war. Now came the part I decided would be best.
I stomped on the ground, using a bit of magic to raise a platform of stone for me to give my announcement. I watched to tear-filled eyes of the ponies, enthralled with the return of their dead friends and family. This was gonna be hard.
I amplified my voice just enough to get their attention. "Hello." The crowd quieted. "I've used my power to return those killed in war to life, and the land to its state ten years ago. Enjoy your time with them, because I intend to return this land back to the way it was before I even got here. All of you will be returned to youth, and have any memory of the war wiped from your minds. However, I am prepared to offer you one exception. Those of you who wish to keep your memories for whatever reason, may step forward now. However, I do not advise this. War is terrible, and most wish to forget it. Bu-" I was stopped by ten ponies who stepped forward from the crowd.
I recognized seven of them. Scootaloo, and the Bearers. The other three, however, were not known. All of the unknown ponies were around the same age as Scootaloo.
"All of you?" I confirmed.
Applejack spoke for the Bearers. "All of us wanna keep 'em. We kinda' figured that the Elements might wanna have that under their belts."
"Sounds good to me," I said. "What about the rest of you?"
Scootaloo spoke first. "I don't wanna forget this. I had a lot of hard times, but your first Rainboom isn't something you want to just erase."
"Good. The rest of you, what are your names?" I asked the three unknown ponies.
A Pegasus stallion stepped spoke next. He had a dark blue coat, and a white mane. His cutie mark showed a shooting star. "My name's Starstreak. My little little sister died in the war, and I don't want to forget how much she meant to me. Now, I care that much more."
"Great," I replied.
An Earth pony mare with a turquoise coat and seafoam-green mane was next. He cutie mark pictured a wave. "I'm Seafoam Shells. Quite frankly, I don't have a good reason, just that the few good times overshadowed the bad."
"That's good enough for me. How about you?" I asked, indicating the Earth pony stallion with an ash-grey coat and black mane. He bore a cutie mark of tornado.
"Name's Cyclone. Like Seafoam, I just wanna keep 'em."
"You sir, remind me of myself," I said.
I raised my hand. "Now, the final instruction. Under no circumstances are you allowed to tell anyone what actually transpired in the last ten years. It may trigger memories, and I don't want to have to deal with that. If any of you find anyone experiencing memory problems, ask Celestia where you can find me. Also, except for the bearers, because of the Elements, the four of you most likely won't be the same. If I had to guess, you probably won't even have the same talent as you do where you stand. My hair is the way it is as a result of magical defects, and I can, with almost complete certainty, that something about you will be different. Come to me if it's life threatening. Now to all of you: You will all wake up in your respective homes, like you just had a restful night. Luna, if you will?"
The night monarch's horn lit up, the sun lowered from the sky, and was replaced by the moon. "Thanks," I said gratefully. "Now, everything that has happened to you in the last ten years will be erased from your minds, and all will go back to normal. I repeat, everything will be normal. In addition, you will all be restored to the youth you once had. I'll live among you, but you won't know it. Farewell."
I sent out the youth-restoring pulse, and watched as the crowd rapidly decreased in age. I watched the mares turn the fillies, the stallions into colts. The older ponies were returned to the younger years, and those deceased with age returned to life. Then, I erased the memory. This was surprisingly easy, and was done in seconds. Everyone was teleported to their homes, and the sister goddesses departed as well. For a minute, I stood alone. I had kept my power, and assumingly remained immortal.
I wouldn't be able to remain human.
Seeing a human being would conceivably trigger erased memories. I had to conceal myself, and not let anyone but those could trust see who I really was. Using my shapeshifting abilities, I morphed into a Pegasus pony stallion. My coat and mane were white, and for added effect, I gave myself a cutie mark. It showed a raven in flight. My weapon bracelets remained on ny forelegs, and my eyes were still bright red. Nothing had changed but everything.
I needed a name, though. "Storm," I said to myself. "Storm Shadows. That'll work."
I walked around a bit, adjusting to my new form. When I found myself ready, I teleported to Ponyville. This was the start of my new life.
My life as Storm Shadows.