Jewel Of Nightmares

by Darksonickiller

Home Free

Chapter 8
Home Free

The day was coming to its long drawn out end as Rainbow walked through the open valley, all around her was just a vast open plane stretching further than the eye could see. Her last bit of refuge was half a day’s trip back where she came from, just at the edge of the Fields of Frozen Flames. Those lands had left most of her senses feeling dull, the flames were hot enough to make her body feel freezing cold with a single touch.

Oddly an advantage she was able to abuse to no end, though the fields burned endlessly with no signs of stopping. There was a fragrance that seemed to fill the air even a hundred miles out, it made Rainbow feel like she could go for years on end without food, water, or rest. And while it was much like where she found herself, her stalker apparently avoided those lands entirely.

Though in her stead something nearly as terrible as her roamed freely and unaffected by the smell. A horrid disfigured creature standing nearly taller than the mountain that cradled Canterlot, it was deathly thin with yellowed skin and glowing eyes walked through the area devouring everything it could get. Yet regardless of how much it ate it still hunted for more to consume.

Despite the creature’s appearance and obvious dominance in the area, it clearly avoided the flames in full fear of them. Rainbow had pondered if that creature could kill her stalker if they fought, but even still she had to risk more than just the odd chance they’d ignore one another as her life would rest on the line. But her thoughts on the matter slowly began to fade from her mind as her eyes gazed upon a large stone structure.

At best it could have been a city block away from where she stood, yet even still Rainbow was ecstatic as she began to jog towards it. The place was just as the map had suggested it would be, resting dead center of this obvious death trap of an empty plane. Her way home, her escape from this world, her chance to be reunited with her friends once more.

All she could hope for was now within her grasp and slowly being pulled away, as the world around her slowly started to turn dark. Rainbow picked up her pace galloping towards the structure, her only safe haven against her stalker this evening.

“NO YOU DON’T!” Rainbow’s stalker cried out as she burst through the ground in a blind hungry rage, “I’ll not lose my new meal so easily!” She exclaimed as she pinned Rainbow into the dirt, “That last bitch escaped me time and time again, and I’ve been starving for the taste of such sweet meat from another like her. I’ll not give you up so easily.” She snarled as she slowly tried to take a bite out of Rainbow’s left shoulder.

As her teeth pressed down into Rainbow’s flesh, the creature’s prey slowly began to expand. Rainbow’s stalker quickly became confused at her meal’s ever rapidly growing size.

“YOU BITCH!” She cried out in sudden realization as the expanding double exploded in her face.

“Didn’t like that too much did ya?” Rainbow laughed as her voice moved with no trace of her taking a step, “I found a few new runes for playing tricks on others, but I had to fix them just for you.” Rainbow’s stalker followed the sound of Rainbow’s voice, only to grow frustrated and confused as she tried to match it with Rainbow’s smell, “That one only messed with your sense of smell and your hearing. But maybe the next one will send you off somewhere far away, the hell if I know or care.”

“Dirty trick.” She groaned poking the closest double to herself, “I bite the wrong one and I could be finished is that it?”

“Something like that.” Rainbow teased as she unveiled her plan, “I wanted to keep you on the tips of your hooves long enough for me to escape and get to that damn jewel, what’s worse about it, you could be stuck there long enough for your other half to show up.”

As the doppelgangers began to mockingly laugh at their cornered victim, Rainbow continued to run as fast as she could towards the structure. All at once she heard a loud burst followed by a shockwave that knocked her off her hooves. Looking back at her trap Rainbow was shocked to see what her stalker had done, with great haste Rainbow struggled to get back onto her hooves while trying to move forward.

“How’s that for a trick!?” The stalker cried out as she charged Rainbow in a fit of furry and hunger, “Your little trap can’t hold me if there’s nothing left of it.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.” Rainbow groaned as she slowly gained her balance and ran for the structure, “I’m almost home, I’m almost home, I’m almost-” Rainbow chanted to herself only to cry out in pain as she felt her stalker’s teeth biting down on her back right hoof.

“No more tricks, no more waiting, no more games.” She wailed as she pulled Rainbow back, “I’ll keep you alive for as long as I can, feasting upon your succulent flesh slowly. Hearing your cries of pain, listening to you beg for death as I slowly tear you apart piece by tiny agonizing piece.”

Reaching as far ahead of herself as possible, Rainbow groaned as she grabbed a loose stone. In one quick motion she struck her stalker across the head, causing her to release Rainbow from her grasp while lamenting in pain.

“I’ve got one last trick up my ass.” Rainbow groaned as she limped up the stairs, “I call it a ‘Fuck you’.” Rainbow pressed upon her open wound, dripping her blood and smearing it across the step she was on, “Hope you enjoy it.” Rainbow mocked as her stalker dove for her, only to clash with the barrier that kept her from nearing the structure.

“You whore!” She cried out as she slammed her hooves against the barrier, the smell of Rainbow’s blood filling her nostrils and driving her mad.

The intoxicating scent was more than she could handle, the taste from Rainbow’s hooves both from before and now rested upon the tip of her tongue. Keening she tried to dig under the berrier hoping to have one last chance at tasting her prey.

Rainbow laughed as she limped towards the jewel, “My parting gift to you bitch. A little something to remember me by, hope you love how it tastes.” She mocked while taking notice of the jewel starting to glow, “Try not to let it waste, and don’t lick it all up at once. Cause that’s all you’re getting.” Laughing harder than ever Rainbow leaned back as she felt the pull of the jewel’s gateway, for a single moment Rainbow was at peace knowing she was going home.

And yet even still she soon began to worry about how much different things were between the two worlds. And if she could readapt to the life she once had after all the time she spent in this one. In the end Rainbow knew she would have to settle for the choice she had made, and would have to live accordingly in regards to that choice.

“Some things never change.” She whispered to herself as the jewel pulled her through with her last memory of that world would now and forever be, that stalking pain in the ass going mad.

“It’s opening!” An old familiar voice cried out, making Rainbow feel at ease.

“I see something coming through.” Another familiar voice shouted with a twinge of fear.

“Perhaps it's Rainbow Dash?” Luna? Rainbow thought to herself with a faint giggle as she pondered how and why a princess would even bother with such a worthless issue.

Twilight, Luna, and Starlight watched in worried anticipation as several items began to lift off the ground. Soon enough a cyan colored hoof slipped through the gate and into their world, for a moment they all gasped in excitement and relief as a bit of a faintly rainbow colored mane was next to enter.

Their joy and wonder was brought to an abrupt end as a scared and mutilated Rainbow Dash stepped forth, “LOOK OUT!” She cried as she dove passed the three of them and tackled Spike into the closest wall, her foreleg pressed against his neck causing the young dragon to gasp and cough as he struggled.

Pulling a dagger made from bones, wood, and flesh, Rainbow prepared to gut Spike as the threat she had come to know and accept. In one quick thrust the tip of the bone dagger sat upon Spike’s stomac, his scales slowly began to show signs of boiling and melting away.

“Let me go.” Rainbow groaned as she tried to kill the dragonling she had pinned so easily.

“Rainbow, that’s Spike, he’s your friend.” Twilight groaned as she fought against this strange new strength Rainbow now had, “Why are you attacking him?”

“Spike?” Rainbow asked as she relaxed the leg Twilight had caught in her magic, “Spike…” She groaned slowly lowering him to the ground, “that’s right…” She panted as her nerves slowly began to calm, “he’s been with us since you moved here. He’s with us isn’t he?”

“Rainbow, what happened to you?” Starlight asked as she gazed upon the peg leg Rainbow now had, the hole in her right wing, and the burnt blind eye she now sported.

“It’s been a long ten years girls.” Rainbow faintly sighed as she let Spike go and leaned against a bookcase, “All that running, all that fighting, when I first came across dragons in that world I learned they could speak and think just like us. They were friendly at first, but…” Looking at the hole in her wing she looked at Spike in shame, “well you get the idea. And it wasn’t just me they attacked, I woke to them eating their own sleeping kin. To them any sign of weakness makes you a meal.”

“But you’ve been gone for only ten days.” Luna claimed as they calmly and slowly approached Rainbow.

Reaching in to her saddlebag Rainbow removed a single page, “Ten days for you.” She groaned as she passed the page to them.

*The flow of time between the worlds is odd at best,* The page began, *I never truly know how fast or how slow that world’s time is flowing till after I’ve returned home. My first trip nothing had changed between the time I left and the time I returned. But the second time I was dragged in I returned only to learn that the one day I spent there, one decade had passed at home completely unknown to me. The third time I learned that while I had been in that world for one year, half a day had passed back home and I had managed to return just in time for some unexpected company.

While I’m glad I managed to keep them from falling into that world, next time I may not be so lucky and neither will they. And yet, it makes me ponder how and even why this happens. Does the jewel cause some kind of flux in the flow of time between the worlds with each trip, or is there something else at work that causes this on the cosmic scale?

I don’t know much about the flow of time, or even how time can be affected through the use of magic. Though I have heard rumors of a young upstart named Swirlystar, Beardedswirl, something that ends with ‘The Bearded’, who seems to be tampering with such things. I would ask him about it and see what he thinks, but if he’s that willing to tamper with the flow of time, then he’d be just as stupid to want to see that other world and get himself killed.

Best I remain ignorant to the matter for the time being, till I have a better way to deal with that damn jewel. Enchantments won’t work, nor will simple negation spells, maybe these strange runes I discovered there will be of some use.*

“So time can flow differently in that place?” Twilight groaned as she slowly walked over to a chalk board and began working on equations, “But it doesn’t always flow in the same manner, sometimes slower, sometimes faster, sometimes equal to.” She mumbled to herself now lost within her train of thought.

“It’s hard to imagine that to you its been ten years.” Starlight claimed as she looked over several of Rainbow’s wounds, “What happened here?” She asked as she accidentally touched the wound causing Rainbow to faintly twitch.

“One last fight with an old pain in the ass.” Rainbow smiled as she thought about how she left her stalker in that world, “She bit me good, but I returned the favor with a rock to her skull and leaving some blood she can’t get to.”

“Seems to me like you went a tad far Ms. Rainbow Dash,” Luna sighed as she began to channel magic through her horn, “adding insult to injury was never really something you would do.”

“You spend ten years fighting for your life and then tell me if you’d come back the same way you left.” Rainbow snapped back as she took hold of the Princess’s collar, “I had to face hounds who’s bodies I could only track through the smoke coming off them, dragons who would eat their own just to live, some kind of half dragon half pony thing that ripped half my leg off of me and ate it before my eyes!” Rainbow cried out as she pulled the Princess closer into herself, “I lost my eye because I thought something was cute, cuddly, and friendly, only to learn that’s how it tricks its next meal.” Sitting back Rainbow slowly loosened her grip on Princess Luna, “I saw a monster so tall and scrawny, yet it had the power to take on a hydra and a horde of dragons all at once with its bare claws.” As her hooves slipped out from Luna’s collar, Rainbow fell over half awake, “But none of them could ever come close to that bitch who ate my leg, who stalked me for ten years constantly mocking me till I wised up. Why…” Rainbow groaned as she slowly lost consciousness, “why wouldn’t I… insult that bitch…”

Placing a hoof under Rainbow’s nose, Starlight sighed in relief, “She’s just asleep.”

“The journal pointed out how horrifying that world was,” Luna sighed as she lifted the jewel from where it sat, “but I had no idea that it was truly enough to rival the horrors of Tartarus.” Opening a portal to the dream realm Luna frowned as she looked down at Rainbow, “I should have done away with this thing when I first recovered my magic,” She sighed as she tossed it as far into the darkest section she could, “I’m sorry I didn’t remember this thing girls. I’ve nearly cost the two of you your lives and the life of your friend.”

“It’s alright Princess.” Starlight whispered as the portal to the dream realm slowly closed, “You didn’t spend much time there, nor did you read over the journal in the extent that we have in the time we were searching for a way to bring her back.” Patting Princess Luna on her shoulder, Starlight continued to comfort her, “There’s no way you could have known what she or any of us would have faced over there.”

“You’re right…” Luna sighed as she looked down at Rainbow Dash, “but at the same time your wrong. That jewel and what happened to Rainbow is my responsibility, and my burden to bare.”

As Starlight tried to comfort Luna on the matter, Spike walked up and tapped Starlight on her shoulder, “I would go to Twilight for this, but it’s hard to reach her when she gets like this.” Lifting his chin Spike pointed to a spot that had started to irritate him, “Can you tell me what’s causing this burning sensation?”

Looking at his neck where Rainbow held the dagger, Luna and Starlight saw his scales in that area had seemed to melt away. Leaving a soft pink flesh exposed and vulnerable to any and all attacks.

“What was on that thing?” Starlight asked as she looked down at the white blade, “It’s not coated in anything, and I’m not detecting any magical enchantments.” Bringing it closer to Spike they watched as the air around the dagger grew warmer, the faint waves of heat radiating off the white blade growing hotter and hotter as it got closer to Spike.

“It may not be enchanted, but it surely reacts to dragons rather negatively.” Spike whimpered as he dove behind Luna.

“I wonder why that’s so.” Starlight inquired as she looked back towards Rainbow, “Maybe it has something to do with those dragons she faced in that other world.” Overlooking the sleeping pegasis, Starlight noticed several things about her, “Look at this rope.” She called out to every creature in the room.

Holding up the multicolored rope for Luna and Spike to see, Starlight noticed that Rainbow’s mane and tail also seemed a lot longer than it normally was.

“She let her own hair grow out long enough to cut it off, and make a rope out of it?” Luna inquired as she pulled the missing half of the journal out of Rainbow’s bag.

*How I curse myself for not learning these things sooner. Oh sure, I could just buy rope from anypony in my world at any time. So readily available and in quite the abundance as well, but what fucking good does that do me here?

Not a damned one, that’s what. Thankfully I have more than enough… eh er… willing volunteers I guess I should call them, that have given me more than enough trial and error in learning how to do much of these things. Making rope, tanning hide, sk-acquiring the hide to tan it, oh fuck it not like any creature back home will read this.

Killing my would be predators and skinning them to acquire the hides I need to tan, while also granting me sustenance… oh so wonderful, succulent, delicious sustenance. How I’ll miss the taste of that meat once I return home, though I’ll be glad to be rid of this horrid water I have to carry in this bladder bag. One thing I’ll have to test back home is a dagger I recently learned how to craft, a rather odd thing that is made from the bones of some rather tall gangly looking beast.

Though that’s just one piece to make it, and rather hard to get as that thing will try to eat me and it never sleeps. The rest is sinew from the guts of a shadow beast, and a hollowed out horn from some odd looking creature I can’t even begin to try describing. Lastly it has to be made in the venom from a rabbit lizard looking thing, not sure what it is or what to call it.

Maybe it’s closer to a lizard crossed with a meerkat or a goffer, either way it looks cute at first but spreads out a fan like neck piece before trying to spit an acid of some kind. Rather strange creature, if I see one as I leave this world I’ll try to catch it so I can better study it. Regardless of that, I’ve learned that this dagger works against dragons only, and a cannibalistic group in this world fears being within a mile of it.

I’m unsure how they can detect it that far, but once I made it and went to their camp they fled. I wonder if there is a smell they pick up on, or if it's a heightened sense that warns them of the dagger. I wanted to try studying it properly but was ambushed by one that was so starved, its need to feed overwhelmed its sense of self preservation.

Or maybe their attack was brought on by self preservation due to starvation. It was rather hard to tell one way or the other, because shortly after the attack I found my dagger in his chest. Oddly he died, but not from a fatal wound, but because the dagger caused him to melt from the inside.*

“Well that explains quite a bit, but it leaves several questions in its stead.” Luna sighed as she gave the page to Starlight.

“I think it would be best we kept this away from Rainbow Dash.” Starlight faintly chuckled with a worrying tone in her voice, “She dove strait for poor Spike, no telling what she’ll do next time he startles her.”

“I believe that will be the least of our worries.” Luna faintly groaned in a worried tone, “She was thrown into a world with nothing but hostile creatures trying to kill and eat her, adapted to that world as though it was normal, and now she’s back in a world where such a thing is rather scarce. I fear what she will do when she doesn’t have an outlet for the tendencies she’s picked up over there.

Comments

[Who cares]

Well looks like the story is either entering a new ark or just about to end and we still don’t have any explanation on how this is a displaced fic.

[ExplosionMare]

That would be scary to see what Dashie would do to other creatures now that she’s back.

[Rainbow_Dashie_5000]

The chapter was awesome,but I can't shake the feeling that it was written too fast. It seems weird that that's the level of concern they would have for Rainbow Dash, after she lost her leg, eye and gained severe injuries. They just asked her some questions and left her to sleep. It sort of loses the horror atmosphere it had. But nevertheless it's still an amazing chapter and an interesting story idea. Hope to see more of it.