“All plant seeds kind of look similar. They share many traits. You put them in the soil, water them, and provide sunlight. They grow, but they don’t always grow up to be the same. It could be just as well that when the seeds have sprouted, grown up to be six feet high, is when you realize that they’re completely different and share not even a single trait.” - Lesson from Celestia | Part 5

As Rainbow Dash prepared to return home from the Wonderbolts on winter leave, she expects to attend the gala and spend the rest of the winter season relaxing with her friends. Instead she receives an urgent telegram summoning her to Ponyville where she is greeted by an angry mob and a shadow of her past.

When it starts to threaten her friendships, Rainbow Dash realizes just how dangerous the situation is, and is forced to confront the ghosts of her past and the life she left behind. Lest the one she built for herself crumbles in her hooves.

We all have days we feel we can’t survive. Sometimes our dreams are crushed. Sometimes our friendships fall apart. Sometimes the ones we love betray us. Sometimes sickness overtakes us and we may even lose the ponies we love.

One thing that is guaranteed is that we all have our day in disdain.

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Quotes about the story:

"By the end of the first part, Cheerilee's blind in one eye, Dashie's had her nose broken among other wounds, and Twilight is paralyzed from the neck (or shoulders?) down. <.< And the plot just barrels ever onward" - Present Perfect