Abstracted Spectrum

Chapters

Prologue: Been Dreamin'
Chapter 1: Happy Birthday
Chapter 2: Show Time
Chapter 3: Backstage
Chapter 4: First Day
Chapter 6: Seal The Deal
Chapter 7: Big Changes
Chapter 8: The Last First Time
Chapter 9: Rising Storm
Chapter 10: Return Of The Shadowbolts
Chapter 11: Who Needs Loyalty?
Chapter 12: Lost All Control
Chapter 13: Falling Apart
Chapter 14: Turn It All Around
Epilogue: One Month Later...
Alternate Ending: She Was Strong All Along
Alternate Ending: Sudden Realization
Chapter 5: Similar Reactions
Alternate Ending: The End Of Equestria
Alternate Ending: No More Friendship

Prologue: Been Dreamin'

Rainbow Dash has always dreamed of becoming a Wonderbolt, ever since she was a little filly. She collected every figure, bought every poster, learned every trick, and saw every show. Everyday that went by, she got older, and she has always been dreaming, been waiting, to fly with those brave ponies. The Wonderbolts, with their daring tricks, spinning 'round, having kicks, and performing for crowds of thousands.

Though she thought by the time she was old enough to live on her own, she'd be there, out on the field and on the stage, performing those amazing feats of style and aerobics that she'd only seen from the stands. Unfortunately she was wrong about that for some time. She wasn't ready yet, but she didn't know it, she couldn't see it. The closest she ever got to The Wonderbolts was that day she had with them after saving her friend Rarity with a Sonic Rainboom at the "Best Young Flyer" Competition. But the closest she ever got to BECOMING a Wonderbolt wasn't until several months later, at the gala.

She thought that maybe if she showed them a taste of what she could do, they'd at least acknowledge her. The gala, however, was the worst night ever. Not just for her, but for all of her friends, too. At least she wasn't alone in not achieving her dreams or getting what she wanted there. It only healed the wound, but it left a scar. Somehow she knew that the gala wasn't the right time to be showing off to try and get into The Wonderbolts, yet she still felt pretty bad afterwards when she never had the opportunity to talk to them again without all of those fancy-shmancy ponies cramping her style.

It didn't occur to Rainbow Dash that The Wonderbolts didn't want her on their team, at least not yet. She was always showing off, even if she wasn't around The Wonderbolts, she was always competing, trying to be better than everypony in every way possible. She seemed a little too young and childish, and they wanted to wait until she had become a little more mature before they took her seriously. But it's not like they don't already do that, they do, just not as much. Besides, her friends are the ones who needed her the most right now, to take her away would strip Rainbow Dash of her "loyalty" tag that her friends all believed in. Sure, her friends would be grateful for her that she finally achieved what she'd been dreaming of for so long, but as a Wonderbolt, there's rarely any ever time to converse with anypony other than the ones you're around most of the time now, your teammates. With how busy she'd be, chances are, she'd probably never see them again. At least until the off days, when all members of The Wonderbolts can return to their friends and families for a short period of time, only to go back a few days later, leaving again for several months. Rainbow Dash nor her friends were ready to accept that, they were all so close together, and separation would cripple the whole group for some time, even if it was just one of them.

Dreams may just be a figment of our imagination, but they are sometimes a crystal ball that we all stare into and see the future. For Rainbow Dash, her future is bright, and close. She can see it over the horizon, and feel it's heat. But she can't see the storm behind it. Not yet, for the days ahead shine too brightly to see through the rays of heavy light they cast out so far and wide.

This time, she just might make it. Especially since she's been dreaming, been waiting, to fly with those brave ponies. But the storm is still there, it's still building, and those storms don't evaporate, not ones as big as this one, the one she can't see in her dreams...

yet.

Chapter 1: Happy Birthday

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RAINBOW DASH!" everypony in Sugarcube Corner shouted when she entered the room.

"HA! I knew it! I was expecting you all when Pinkie Pie invited me here!"

"You know me too well, Rainbow Dash! Of course I would throw you an awesome party to celebrate your birthday! It's a classic Pinkie Pie tradition!"

"Thank you all for remembering! Though I shouldn't be surprised, Pinkie does know EVERYTHING about EVERY PONY after all! And to think that she'd forget one of her best friend's birthdays should've never even come to mind!"

"You got that right, Dashie! Now c'mon everypony, it's party time! WOOHOO!" Pinkie yelled, announcing the party to begin.

For several hours, everypony sang, danced, ate loads of cake, played games, and other fun stuff too! Rainbow Dash had a great time with her friends on her birthday. Unfortunately, around eleven o' clock, 10 hours after the party started, it had to come to an end. Everypony in Sugarcube Corner that night partied their flanks off until they didn't have the energy to do it anymore. In fact, ponies were scattered in several places around Sugarcube Corner, either asleep or trying to catch their breath. Twilight had her face on the floor next to the punch bowl, Fluttershy had her face IN the punch bowl, Rarity fell asleep conveniently on Pinkie's bed (which was made, but not before she fell asleep), Spike "accidentally" fell asleep next to Rarity, Applejack was lying on the kitchen counter with a bite of cake left on her stomach that she hadn't finished, and even the special birthday mare Rainbow Dash was resting on a spinning fan-blade upstairs.

Pinkie Pie, however, was still completely awake. The past 10 hours were like 10 minutes to her since she pretty much does this every day. She quietly snuck over to a supply closet in the kitchen and took out a few air horn cans, some tape, and ear plugs. Pinkie climbed to the roof of Sugarcube Corner and opened a secret hatch that led down from the roof to the first floor. Taping the air horns to her front hooves, she dove down the hatch, head first, and managed a hard landing on the ground floor, sounding off both air horns. The noise echoed throughout the house, everypony jumped up and ran rambunctiously around from the startling sound effect. Spike, Rarity and Twilight woke up, Applejack fell off the counter, Fluttershy ripped her head out of the punch bowl, and Rainbow Dash hit the ground when she fell off the fan blade in a panic. Everypony else ducked down close to the ground covering their ears, as did the other 5 of the mane 6 when they realized what was going on. Eventually, both cans were depleted, and Pinkie climbed out of the hatch to tell everypony thank you, and that they may leave now, but to come back for a tasty treat some time!

Most left with stomach and head aches, but those were just a few of the common symptoms of a traditional Pinkie Pie Birthday Party. The 6 ponies met in a circle at the ground floor to give Rainbow her presents before the night was over. 4 of them joined the circle rubbing their heads and ears from the noise, plus Applejack and Rainbow Dash from the falls. Everypony was awake now, and Rainbow Dash was super-excited to open her presents. Not only had she received one from each of her friends of course, but she also got a few from other mares and colts like Derpy, Raindrops, Cheerilee, Lyra, Doctor Whooves, Big Mac, Caramel, and several others as well. A couple minutes later, when Rainbow Dash was surrounded by several gifts from her other friends, it was time she opened the ones from her best friends.

First was Twilight, who surprisingly didn't give her a book this year, but instead a Daring Do plush doll, that had over 100 phrases at the pull of a string, and a removable hat! "Wow Twilight, this is so awesome! Thanks!" Rainbow Dash cheered. "It wasn't easy getting that, mind you, but I'm glad you like it!".
The next present was from Applejack, a pair of new sunglasses with the colors of her hair on the frames and her name embroidered on the outside and inside. "I reckon you'll be more than 20% cooler with these, sugarcube!" "Darn right! Thanks AJ! These are super cool!"
Fluttershy was next. As Rainbow tore up the wrapping paper, she slowly revealed what looked like a set of... bottle caps. "What are these? Bottle caps?" Rainbow Dash said in a confused tone. "Oh, they're more than just that, watch!" Fluttershy said, as she pressed her hoof down on one to invert it, and with a pop, it flew into the air and stuck to the ceiling. Fluttershy pressed a few more, which did the same. Then she flew up to the ones stuck on the ceiling, and pressed one that landed down next to another one that popped up off the floor and onto the ceiling. "Pretty neat, huh?" "Oh yeah! These are gonna be fun! Thanks Fluttershy! I love 'em!"
Up next was Rarity, who of course got something fashionable for her, she just knew it. And she was right! Encased in a box was a cowboy hat that had been colored just like her fur. "Pretty swanky, is it not?" Rarity asked. "It's perfect, and it goes great with the sunglasses Applejack gave me! Thanks Rarity, you did a good job!"

Last but not least was Pinkie Pie, who had something extra special for all of her friends that night. "Heeeyyyy Dashiiiiiie! You'll never guess what I got!" Pinkie teased. "YOU DIDN'T!" Dash's wings sprung up. "Eyup! Six BACKSTAGE tickets to The Wonderbolts 100th Anniversary tomorrow!" Pinkie announced. "PINKIE PIE, IF I WASN'T THE MARE I WAS I'D KISS YOU! I can't thank you enough! This is the greatest gift anypony has given to me! Well... this AND what the rest of you gave me today. But OMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSH THE FREAKIN' WONDERBOLTS! BACKSTAGE PASSES! I CAN'T WAIT!" Rainbow Dash yelled in excitement. "Now hold on there, Rainbow Dash. Save that excitement for the show!" Twilight suggested. "Right... uh... right. Oh man, this is so exciting!

I can't wait to meet my life-long heroes!"

Chapter 2: Show Time

"No... no... no... no!" Several clothing items were thrown across Rainbow Dash's bedroom. "C'mon, Dash. You're meeting the Wonderbolts! What should you wear? Should you wear anything? What if it's too much? Should I be casual or formal?" She told herself. "Okay... okay. *sigh*. Calm down, Rainbow Dash, you're getting yourself worked up too much over this. Maybe I should just... be normal. Yeah! None of my other friends are dressing up for this, so why should I?...Because I love the Wonderbolts... that's why..." Rainbow sulked.

*knock knock*

Dash's head sprung up, and she walked downstairs from her bedroom to answer the door. "Hi, Rainbow Dash!"
"Oh... hi Fluttershy."
"Something wrong?"
"Well... nothing important. Just can't decide what to wear, but it's no big deal. So what'd you want to tell me?"
"Pinkie and the others are gonna meet at Twilight's house before we head out. So meet us there, okay?"
"Got it, Twilight's house. No problem, thanks Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash yelled to her as she flew back to the ground.

Rainbow Dash closed the door and sat down in the middle of her living room. "Alright Rainbow, you can do this. YOU CAN DO THIS! YEAH, LET'S DO IT!" She cheered to herself. She ran upstairs to quickly prep up her mane a bit and grab a photo of Soarin' for him to autograph. She stuffed them both in her bag and flew out the door to meet the rest of her friends at Twilight's house like Fluttershy told her. She saw them gathered around Twilight's front door when she flew over to land. Each pony had their own bag of belongings to bring to the show. Rarity had her camera with her, and she said she'd give Rainbow Dash a photo album for her to keep with a few pictures from the show in them. Everypony was ready to head out, so Twilight proceeded to enable her ground-bound friends including herself to walk on clouds again, and they all hopped on her hot air balloon to head up to Cloudsdale and catch the show.

Twilight was the first to break the silence in the basket with idle conversation.
"So what do you think the show will be like? Being the 100th anniversary and all..."
"There's not doubt that it's gonna be SO AWESOME!" Rainbow cheered.
"Well, ahm kinda hopin' that we see some more fancy tricks and stuff at this here show. I reckon it's gotta be the best of 'em all!"
"I'll have to agree with Applejack, this will be the best Wonderbolt show of all time, I guarantee it!" Rarity said.
Everypony shared their expectations for the show as the slowly arrived at Cloudsdale. Each of them stepped off, and looked around for the Cloudasium. Rainbow Dash was the first to point it out, and over the Cloudasium was a large banner that read "WONDERBOLTS 100TH ANNIVERSARY SPECTACULAR!".
"There it is! C'mon girls, let's hurry!" Rainbow Dash cheered.
As the group stepped up to the stadium, there appeared a huge line outside of ponies waiting to go inside once they were cleared to. To the left of that line was a special entrance for the 6 ponies that managed to get the backstage tickets in a local contest, and somehow, Pinkie managed to win all 6. Rainbow didn't question how she got all of them, she was just glad to be there with her friends.

Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped at the sight of how empty the Cloudasium was. She'd never seen any sight more beautiful before in Cloudsdale. It was almost difficult for her to believe that she was going to be sitting in the front row, closest to her heroes, in addition to getting even closer to them afterwards. Her and her friends took their seats at the very front, and waited for the show to begin. As time went by, ponies from all around Equestria were taking their seats, and the cloudasium slowly filled up. It was almost time for the show to start, and Rainbow Dash was shaking with excitement.
"Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked.
"Oh yeah! Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeah. I'm fine. It's just this is SO AWESOME I CAN BARELY TAKE IT!" She shook. Twilight giggled at her, but suddenly her attention was taken by the voice of the announcer.
"Fillies and gentlecolts, welcome, to The Wonderbolts' 100th Anniversary Air Show!"
Everypony cheered and roared with excitement.
"YEAAAAAAAAAAHEHAHAAAAA!" Rainbow Dash yelled, whistling through her hoof and clapping repeatedly.
"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, THE WONDERBOLTS!"
Everypony viciously cheered and clapped once more, as The Wonderbolts took their places on the stage to greet everypony to their show.
"Thank you, thank you! Thank you." Spitfire began. "Thank you, everypony, for coming to the 100th Anniversary of Equestria's greatest air performance team! Before we start, though, we'd like to dedicate this show to a very special pony, who turned 28 yesterday!"
Rainbow Dash froze, and her jaw dropped to the cloud she sat on. SHE had turned 28 yesterday. Maybe it was somepony else? She was sure maybe other ponies had birthdays yesterday, too.
"We, The Wonderbolts, dedicate our 100th Anniversary performance, to the winner of the "Best Young Fliers Competition" last year, Ms. Rainbow Dash!"
Everypony locked their eyes on her, sitting in the very front. They all began to cheer for her, and she just blushed and smiled for everypony. She couldn't believe this was happening. All her friends were looking at her and clapping as well, but they also winked at her. Rainbow Dash built up tears in her eyes, hugging all of her friends. They were surprised at how hard she was hugging, they attempted to pull away because they swore if Rainbow had held on a second longer, she would've suffocated them all. Rainbow Dash released her grip, and waved to the crowd, still blushing.
"Happy late birthday, Rainbow Dash!" The Wonderbolt team said together into the microphone. Rainbow Dash's heart exploded, and she cried amazing tears of joy and happiness at her heroes wishing her a happy birthday.
"Alright, everypony, let's get this show on the road!" Spitfire finished, her and her team performing an amazing liftoff in smoke as they rose towards the sky.

Their performance was already off to an amazing start. There were hundreds; maybe even thousands of tricks performed that day that no other pegasi had even dreamed of before. Several of them involved so many flips, spins, hops, skips, jumps, twists, and turns that barely anypony could keep up with what they were doing. A lot of ponies were puzzled by how the team didn't get the least bit tired or break even a single sweat, but they cheered on regardless. A few tricks in the beginning and middle of the show involved birthday messages for Rainbow Dash from all 12 of The Wonderbolts, which of course she was shaking with excitement and happiness about. There were even a few moves in there that Rainbow Dash had sent as entries into a contest to see them performed here, as a matter of fact, they all were. Her ideas may have been somewhat erroneous and impossible, but you bet The Wonderbolts managed to pull every single one of them off, no matter how dangerous.

As the show went on, each trick became more and more advanced and complicated. It was almost difficult for everypony to follow what they were doing. Some even rubbed their eyes in amazement because they couldn't believe what they were seeing. But Rainbow Dash was wide-eyed the whole time, and she knew that she could believe every single thing she was seeing because it was all her idea. But just like Rainbow Dash's birthday part, it had to end eventually. The Wonderbolts gave a signal to Rainbow Dash as they performed one last trick, where they all grabbed onto each other and huddled up, with Rainbow Dash in the middle.
"RAINBOW, CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Spitfire yelled.
"YEAH! WHAT DO YOU GOT FOR ME?" Rainbow yelled back.
"WE NEED YOU TO FLY FAR AND AS FAST AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN FOR US, OKAY?"
Rainbow Dash sniffed.
"OKAY!"
There they were, 13 ponies on a collision course with the ground. Everypony in the huddle contributed as much speed as they could, as did Rainbow Dash as she pushed herself to do more than that. And in 10 seconds flat, an incredible enormous explosion filled the sky with rainbows and smoke. Everypony in the huddle pulled up as fast as they could when it happened, or they would've hit the ground at mach 1000. Circling around the Cloudasium in every direction, Rainbow Dash cheered her lungs out.
"NICE JOB, RAINBOW DASH!" Spitfire yelled again.
"THANKS... THANKS A LOT!" Rainbow Dash yelled back.

The Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash landed on the stage, and waved to the crowd goodbye. Soarin' instructed that the 6 winners of the backstage tickets were to proceed through a nearby doorway to their left. So Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy all grabbed their stuff as they sprinted quickly towards the door. Before Rainbow Dash flew off to gather with her friends, Spitfire put her hoof on her shoulder and stopped her. "We'll meet you backstage in a bit, okay Rainbow Dash?" Spitfire told her. "You got it, I love you guys! Seeya in a bit!" Rainbow Dash replied. Soarin walked over to talk to Spitfire. "Twenty-eight, huh? Do you think it's time? Her friends seem to be happy with where she might be going."

"Oh yeah, it's time."

Chapter 3: Backstage

"Over here!" Twilight pointed out. Her and her friends walked through the door that led to the backstage area specifically for The Wonderbolts. Rainbow Dash slid between her friends and made it to the front of the group. Eyes wide, she looked around the room in astonishment. She was finally there, year after year, show after show, she was finally right where she'd always wanted to be. She knew she was there, but the excited numbness in her hooves said otherwise that this could just be another dream. It wasn't until Twilight placed a hoof on her back and asked if she was okay, and ready to meet the ponies she had been waiting to ever since she was a little filly. With joyous tears in her eyes, and a throat too choked to speak, she gave a simple nod, and looked forward as Spitfire caught her attention.

"Welcome everypony!" She began, as Soarin' took over.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all here, and I'm sure each of you think likewise. Let's introduce ourselves, shall we? I'm-"

"Soarin!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "-and you're Spitfire, Blaze, Fire Streak, Fleetfoot, High Winds, Lightning Streak, Misty, Rapid Process of Elimination, Rapidfire, Surprise, and Wave Chill!" She finished.

The room fell silent. Rainbow Dash grew a nervous yet cocky grin on her face as she saw Soarin' and Spitfire's mouths both slowly drop, and their eyes widen. Though they shouldn't really be so surprised that their #1 fan would know each of their names. Spitfire took a moment to process what had just happened, and shook her head out of the trance to talk again.

"So um... yeah that's all of us!" She began again nervously. "Anyways, how's about we take a tour of our neat little settlement, here then?"

Everypony agreed, and Soarin' announced that he'll lead the way.

"Despite this seeming like just a backstage area to most ponies," He began, pressing a button next to the soda cooler. "this ain't just the Cloudasium, it's also where we live! C'mon, let's show you guys around!"

Everypony followed Soarin' into the secret entrance that lead to each Wonderbolt's humble abode. What they saw was a long, bright hallway with 6 doors to the right, and 6 more to the left, with 1 at the very end of the hallway.

"Let's go to my room, first!" Spitfire said, excited.

(But Spitfire, aren't you afraid that she might find it?) whispered Soarin' to Spitfire.

"Oh um... on second thought, my room's a mess, let's go to your's, Soarin'!"

"Yeah! My room's got some crazy fun stuff in it, you guy are gonna love it!"

Soarin's room was quite large, there was food all over the place, but not on the floor like Spitfire told everypony as they walked in. All of the food was pie for some reason, nopony asked why, and they probably didn't even notice. Several televisions were placed throughout the many rooms within his room, along with posters of his favorite bands and movies. Oddly enough, most if not all of the bands he liked were also Rainbow Dash's favorite. The rest of her friends didn't even seem to recognize who the bands were or what movies there were.

As the group continued through the many rooms of each of The Wonderbolt's, each of them showing off a "super cool" nicknack or accessory that fit their likings. Rainbow Dash seemed to be the only one paying extra close attention. The rest of her friends either couldn't fly or were too scared to even think of trying any of the tricks and maneuvers Rainbow Dash and The Wonderbolts were talking about. In addition to their personal quarters, The Wonderbolts presented other rooms to the party of 6, like their gym room where they were to exercise and train several times a day, or the practice room where they could test out the extra-dangerous maneuvers that would otherwise kill them if they didn't have they didn't rehearse them there.

The only room they hadn't had shown them yet is their extremely ginormous trophy room. A vast collection of awards and honors for their spectacular performances in several towns, cities, and villages all across Equestria. Rainbow Dash pretty much had the same reaction face that she did when she first entered the door of the backstage room. She gazed upon rows and rows of trophies, medals, ribbons, 1st place photos and several other types of awards that they had won.

After a history lesson on each of them, there was practically nothing left to show them, but Spitfire objected, as it was time to unveil the special surprise that they had been keeping a secret for this very special day, and this very special pegasus.

"Hold on, gang. I got one last thing to show them before they leave. C'mon, follow me, it's in my room."

"But I thought we didn't want to go in there because it was too... messy?" Rainbow Dash said.

Spitfire said nothing, and just kept walking towards her room with her team plus Rainbow Dash and her friends following behind her.

Spitfire nudged the door of her room open with a hoof, and opened it all the way to let everypony in.

"Well, it ain't that dirty in here." Applejack said.

"Wait here for a second, okay?" Spitfire instructed, as she turned a corner out of sight to get the surprise.

Moments later, Spitfire returned with a medium-sized grey box in her hooves. The Wonderbolts formed behind Spitfire in a triangle shape, as did Rainbow Dash's friends. Spitfire laid the box on the ground, and slid her mask/hood down to reveal her face. The other Wonderbolts behind her did the same, and Spitfire picked the box up again.

"Rainbow Dash, we've been waiting for the right moment to show this to you. And after so many years, we all think now is the right time to gift you with this." She said, flipping the lid off of the box with her muzzle, to reveal a bolt-shaped medal and a blue suit. Everypony behind Rainbow suddenly was intrigued about what Rainbow's reaction might be to exactly what she thought she was seeing.

"Rainbow Dash..." Spitfire began, as Rainbow's eyes began to grow. "on this very special day, Soarin', Blaze, Fire Streak, Fleetfoot, High Winds, Lightning Streak, Misty, Rapid Process of Elimination, Rapidfire, Surprise, Wave Chill, and myself, are proud to present to you...

your uniform and medal of authentication and admission into The Wonderbolts."

Suddenly Rainbow Dash's wings sprung up in full, blowing away several loose papers near her.

"Welcome aboard!" The Wonderbolts cheered.

Rainbow Dash was stunned, frozen in place. She didn't know what to say, she didn't even know if she should say anything. Her eyes began to water as Spitfire handed her the box, which she stared deeply into.

"I... I made it... all those years... that... that I've been dreamin', I've been waiting... to fly with these brave ponies... The Wonderbolts... th... their..." Rainbow Dash couldn't finish her sentence.

Her friends simply gathered around her to embrace her. She remained staring into the costume in the box in front of her. A tear fell off of Rainbow Dash's cheek and landed on the bronze bolt medal. And as it landed, the tear fused with the bronze center of the medal, turning it red with a single flash.

Rainbow Dash walked slowly up to Spitfire, and she just stood there. She knew what was coming, and she had been waiting 20 years for it. Rainbow Dash wrapped her hooves around Spitfire, nearly suffocating her with the tight hug she gave her.

"HHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNG... okay, Dashie, okay... *cough* ...please let go now..."

As Rainbow Dash released her grip, the next thing she did was surprise Soarin' with an incredible kiss on his lips, shoving their faces together with sheer force. She turned around to hug the rest of her friends even tighter. Spitfire rubbed her neck, and looked back at Soarin' and her team. She gave a small smile back at Soarin', who did the same, with incredibly wide eyes, trying to realized what had just happened.

"I think we made the right choice. She's gonna do great things, Spitfire. I can just feel it." Soarin' whispered to Spitfire as they watched Rainbow Dash hug the living hell out of her friends and said "I love you guys" over and over again.

"I know. Somehow I could feel it too, the fact that she was always there at every show since the very beginning. That innocent look in her eyes that said "I wanna be just like you."". Spitfire flicked a tear from her eye.

Rainbow released the choke on her friends and jumped high for extreme joy in the air.

"YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

Chapter 4: First Day

Rainbow Dash laid out cold on the ground in front of Spitfire.

"Too much excitement, probably. She'll be fine in about an hour." She diagnosed, throwing Rainbow's body over her back. "If you want, you guys can stick around until she wakes up to see her first day of training!"

"That sounds like a might fine offer, but we'd best be goin'. I reckon if we stuck around, she'd be too nervous in front of her friends." Applejack recommended.

"Whatever you say. But feel free to check back in anytime! OH! I almost forgot!" Spitfire remembered, running back into her room to retrieve the gifts for the other 5 ponies. "Here, you get these for winning the backstage passes. Free passes to all of our future shows, and T-shirts!" She said, giving them to Twilight and her friends.

"Wow, thanks!" The 5 said together.

Several hours later...

Rainbow Dash yawned and stretched, rubbing the back of her head. "Where... where am I?"

"Why, you're in the Wonderbolts' infirmary! You passed out when you got too excited over being accepted." Dr. Flatline told Rainbow Dash.

"I WAS ACCEPTED? OMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMI-" Rainbow Dash was interrupted by a hoof in her mouth.

"Now just hold on, don't get too excited again! Today's your first day of training!" The doctor told her, retracting his hoof.

Rainbow Dash hopped out of bed, wings fully sprung, bright eyed and bushy tailed. "Right, let's get it on!"

"The training grounds are that way, just follow the arrows through the halls and you should find it!"

Rainbow Dash rushed down the halls as instructed. She eventually found the training grounds where Soarin' was waiting for her.

"Hey, Soarin'! What's up?"

"I'm your personal trainer! You gotta learn from the best to be the best, right?" Soarin' said, with a cocky grin on his face.

"Are you saying I'm not the best?" Rainbow Dash objected. Suddenly Soarin' became nervous.

"Well uh... no... no I'm not saying that it's just that... you can be better! Right? There's always room for improvement!" He chuckled.

"Right... could we hurry up? I'm already SUPER pumped for my first day of training!"

"That's the spirit! Okay, first things first, your wing stretches. I can't tell you how many Wonderbolts have died because of broken wings from not stretching."

"WONDERBOLTS HAVE DIED BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T STRETCH THEIR WINGS?"

"Nah! I'm just joking. But seriously, stretching out your wings is important, because they CAN break or strain if you don't. Do 'em with me, now."

Soarin' and Rainbow spent about 5 minutes stretching. Afterwards, Soarin' led her to the practice track, where he'd test her speed.

"Okay, now for this part of your training, you gotta beat my time! Watch and learn!"

In a fraction of a second, Soarin' took off, making several sharp turns and in that same fraction of a second, crossing the finish line again.

"One second. Now let's see what you've got!"

Rainbow Dash gulped, lining herself up with the start line.

"GO!" Soarin' yelled. Suddenly he was flat on his face, and the timer in his mouth, with Rainbow Dash right behind him. He spat out the timer, as his eyes widened from one glance.

"Ten... milliseconds..."

"Wow! I guess I don't know my own speed!" Rainbow gloated, whipping her mane back.

"Un... unbelievable..." Soarin' whispered. He shook his head and jumped back into reality. "Right! Anyways, you got the speed, but how about the moves?" He said with a cocky tone, hoping to get some reaction of fear from Rainbow Dash.

"Pfft! Please, most of those moves you did at the show yesterday were my ideas!"

"Yeah, but have you ever actually done them?"

Rainbow Dash gulped. She didn't test her moves to see if they were possible, she just wanted to see them done.

Soarin' led Dash to a wide open field, where she could try out some of the moves she made up for herself. Soarin' explained one of her moves to her, in which she had to perform a clockwise barrel roll while strafing to the left and flipping backwards 3 times with just 1 flap of her wings, all at the same time.

"Heh, this'll be easy!"

She took her position on the field, and thrust upwards towards the sky. With one flap, she got as far as the barrel roll before flapping again. In her mind, she knew she had messed up, and knowing that clouded her mind and confused her momentarily, long enough for her to go hurdling towards the ground. She stood back up and spat out the dirt and grass her mouth collected on her landing. Shaking more dirt out of her hair, she turned to Soarin', who only stood looking at her with a "trying not to laugh" face.

"What? What are you lookin' at?"

"Oh... nothing!" Soarin' giggled, stifling a laugh.

"Hey, quit laughing! It was my first try!"

"Yeah yeah, okay. Try it again." Soarin' said.

With another crash landing, Rainbow Dash hopped on her hooves again.

"Try again."

crash

"Try again."

crash

"Again."

crash

"Again."

crash

"Again."

crash

"AGAIN!"

CRASH

"UUUUUGGGHHHHHHHH! I'LL NEVER GET THIS! EVERY FREAKIN' TIME I CRASH AND CRASH AND CRASH AND CRASH! I JUST CAN'T G-"

Rainbow Dash's rant was silenced by Soarin's hoof in her mouth.

"Rainbow Dash, please just... try one more time."

"BUT I'M JUST GONNA-"

"RAINBOW DASH! Just... one more time."

Rainbow Dash sighed, and took her position once more.

With one flap of her wings, she was up in the air. She spun to the right, while turning left, trying to keep her wings as straight as possible, resisting the force of the wind no matter how strong it was. She snapped her head upward, still resisting the wind force on her wings, managing to circle around the wind on her back 3 times. She aimed for the ground beneath her, and skidded the landing, with dirt built up in front of her hooves. She stopped for a few seconds, eyes wide as the moon. When she had just realized what she'd done, she turned to Soarin' again, who only nodded.

Rainbow shook the dirt off of her hooves, and walked up slowly to Soarin'.

"I... I did it... I did it! I FREAKIN' DID IT!" She yelled. Without thinking, her lips were suddenly planted smack-dab on Soarin's. She embraced the sudden kiss, while Soarin' stood speechless, accepting it.

Another sudden realization. Rainbow Dash backed off quickly, covering her mouth with wide eyes again.

"Oh! Oh I'm uh... I'm sorry. That was... that was uncalled for. I'm sorry." Dash said nervously.

Well, can't say I wasn't expecting it. Spitfire did the same thing, after all. Soarin' thought to himself.

"Well, it's pretty late. I think we're both pretty tuckered out. Why don't you head on home and get a good night's rest, huh? I'm thinkin' I ought to do the same thing." Soarin' said with a stretch.

"Yeah, you're right. Meet you here tomorrow, then?"

"Yep, same time, same place."

"You got it, seeya tomorrow!"

"Yeah! Seeya tomorrow!... Rainbow Dash..." Soarin' said,

lightly touching his cheek.

Chapter 6: Seal The Deal

8:00am. The alarm sounded off. Rainbow Dash yawned, stretched, and fell out of bed like she did every morning. While tumbling down the stairs in her morning drunken stooper, she just remembered that she still had training today. But it wasn't this early in the morning like her old job, as a Wonderbolt, she didn't have to meet with Soarin' again for training until 2:00pm. So at least she had some time to kill before she went to work everyday. That is, until she actually started as a real Wonderbolt, the kind that do all those fancy performances almost every week.

Rainbow opened her front door, and caught the newspaper in her mouth that Derpy threw at her that morning. She usually gets hit in the face with it, but she was more alert this particular morning. Why? Because she knew what was coming that day, and she was excited for it. Of course we're talking about Soarin'. She still hasn't forgotten the kiss. In fact the only thing she did forget was whether it really meant anything or not. She decided it did last night, so that thought completely flew off her mind. After skimming through the pages of the newspaper (which had nothing relevant to her interests in it), she hovered down to the ground to check out what her friends were doing. Most of them were still asleep, except for Applejack and Pinkie Pie that is.

She didn't have anything she wanted to talk about with Applejack, and she was probably getting ready for Applebuck Season anyway. Rainbow Dash didn't want to come between her and her work, so she just decided on heading over to Sugarcube Corner to talk to Pinkie Pie for a bit.

The bell of the entrance door rang as Dash walked through to enter the room. She stepped up to the counter and rang the bell. She was expecting Pinkie Pie to jump out of nowhere and scare the hell out of her, which she hoped would have woken her up some more, but with that single ring, nothing happened. She rang the bell a few more times, but said nothing. She just waited for somepony to approach her at the counter.

However the only mare to meet her at the counter that morning was Mrs. Cake.

"Well hello Rainbow Dash! What brings you here this fine morning?" She asked.

Rainbow Dash yawned. "Oh, I'm just looking for Pinkie Pie. Have you seen her?"

"Pinkie? I believe she went out to talk to her cousin Surprise just a few minutes ago."

"Did she say where?"

"I think she said she was going to go to the market with her. You'll probably find her there!"

"Okay." Rainbow Dash yawned again. "Thanks!"

"You seem pretty tired, Rainbow Dash. How about a breakfast muffin on the house?" Mrs. Cake recommended.

"Sure. Thanks Mrs. Cake!"

"Come back anytime now, ya hear?" Mrs. Cake said as Rainbow Dash departed the bakery.

Rainbow Dash headed off in the direction of the marketplace from Sugarcube Corner, since that's where Mrs. Cake said Pinkie would be. Walking around the market, Dash searched for Pinkie and Surprise, as well as browsed around a bit. She eventually found Surprise and Pinkie Pie talking while walking next to each other. A couple feet away, Rainbow Dash managed to sneak an ear into their conversation.

"So anyway, I was talking to Soarin' last night about a certain somepony, Rainbow Dash that he likes?" Surprise began.

With that, Rainbow Dash quickly hid under a nearby table, which Pinkie and Surprise sat and talked more for a bit. They didn't notice her under the table, or maybe they did and just didn't want to tell her, but she ducked quietly so she could hear them talking.

"And he wanted me to ask you to ask your friend Rainbow Dash to go out with him sometime."

"Really? Oh boy! Rainbow Dash is gonna be so excited! I can't wait to tell her!" Pinkie Pie yelled out.

Rainbow Dash was so surprised by this news that she hit her head on the bottom of the table, inevitably alerting the two who stood at it.

"Oh, hi Rainbow Dash! You'll never guess what I was just told! Soarin' wants to take you on a date!" Pinkie told the blue mare rubbing her head under the table.

"I already *ugh* know, Pinkie. I was here the whole time." Rainbow Dash told her zany pink friend, as she stood up from under the table.

"So whaddya say, huh?" Surprise and Pinkie asked.

"Well of course I say yes! But where? And when?" She added.

"I uh... don't know! He didn't tell me that part! I guess I'll have to ask him when I get back! Or maybe, you could ask him? Since he's your trainer and all." Surprise added.

"But my training doesn't start again until 2 o' clock!"

"Yeah, your TRAINING doesn't. But that doesn't mean you can't come up there."

"You got a good point..." Rainbow Dash gulped.

"So I guess we'll head up, then?"

"Yeah uh... sure! Let's go!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Bye Pinkie! Catch up with ya later!" Surprise said, as she and Rainbow Dash flew up to Cloudsdale to head back to base.

"Alright Surprise! Seeya later! And good luck, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie said to the two pegasi flying away.

LATER, IN CLOUDSDALE...

"So whaddya gonna say to him?" Surprise asked the blue pegasis with a worried look on her face.

"I'm just uh... gonna keep it cool! I'll be all like, "Hey Soarin', so I heard you wanna go on a date? Well I say sure.". Does that sound okay?"

"Uh... sure. Look! There he is now!" Surprise shouted. She pointed out Soarin' sitting on a bench outside the Cloudasium, polishing his goggles.

"C'mon now, go talk to him! Keep it cool, like you said you would!" Surprise suggested, nudging Rainbow Dash in Soarin's direction.

Rainbow Dash gulped, and walked towards Soarin with shaking hooves.

Keep it cool, Rainbow. Keep it cool... cool... cool... She repeated to herself.

Moments later she was standing over Soarin', who didn't look up from his goggles until he checked for scratches in the sunlight. He fastened them back around his head and stood up off the bench.

"Hey Rainbow! You comin' in early? Your training doesn't start until 2!" Soarin' said.

"I know, but uh..." Rainbow Dash gulped again. "So, I heard you wanna go on a date? Well I say sure." She said, blushing afterwards, but still trying to keep her cool.

"Really? Great!"

"But uh... when and where?" Dash asked.

"Let's say Friday, 1 o' clock PM. And why not right here at this bench?" Soarin' suggested.

"Sounds good to me!"

The two nodded their heads and went their separate ways. Rainbow returned to Surprise, who saw it all happen.

"Wow, that went better than I expected." Surprise said, raising an eyebrow. "Usually when mares ask colts out, they can't keep that still about it. Nice job."

"Thanks. I hope I don't forget, that'd suck. What time is it?" Dash asked.

"Ten 'till eleven. Wanna go meet back up with Pinkie and get lunch?"

"Nah, I think I might just go back home and sleep. All that stress from accepting his date kinda wore a lot out of me. Seeya later! And say "hi" to Pinkie for me!" Rainbow Dash said, flying towards the direction of her home.

She opened the door to her home and stepped through. All the lights in her house were off when she left. She didn't want another surprise in the electric bill that month. She felt around for the switch in the bathroom, and flicked it on as she walked in, closing the door. She heard from Fluttershy that baths help you sleep better, so she thought she'd take a quick one before going to bed.

After she was settled in the water, she did nothing more than sit in it for a few minutes, and think about life.

Only thing is, there wasn't really anything about life to think about. Everything was all hunky-dory in the world of Rainbow Dash.

She's a Wonderbolt, she's dating a Wonderbolt. She's pretty much gotten everything she's ever wanted. Even peace and quiet, for the time being. She laid back and took a deep breath, brushing her tail around a bit, and dunking her head into the water.

A couple minutes passed, and she hopped out. She wrapped a towel around her waist and her head like she normally did. While waiting for it to dry, she made her bed, and also cleaned up her living room a bit.

Rainbow Dash threw the towels back into the bathroom and laid down on her bed. Since she was just napping she didn't get under the covers, since that'd make her too comfortable and she might oversleep again.

SEVERAL HOURS LATER...

Rainbow Dash's eyes creaked open. She woke up staring at the ceiling, except it was the ceiling of the ground floor of her house. Somehow she managed to roll out of bed and down the stairs in her sleep without waking up. At least she didn't miss training that day. If she didn't hurry, though, she'd be late. So in 10 seconds flat, she hopped up and dashed out the door.

MOMENTS LATER, INSIDE THE TRAINING FACILITY...

Rainbow approached the door sweating and breathing hard. She was lawful eager to train and see Soarin' again. Pushing the door open with a hoof, she walked in, and saw Soarin' doing some of the stretches they'd done the day before. Dash alerted him, he finished his stretching and told Dash to do the same.

When stretching was all said and done, Soarin' explained to Rainbow the things they'd be going over today. Balance, speed, and FOV.

"Alrighty, so first off is balance. While doing rather difficult tricks, it's possible that one or both of your wings might just decide to slap down and throw you on a crash course towards the ground. It's all about positioning with your wings, they gotta be even for you to fly right. Now, what I want you to do is fly across this field, but before you reach the end, make a sharp turn and fly the other direction."

"Got it!" Rainbow said, taking flight. She flew to the other side of the field as instructed, and before she reached the end, she attempted the sharpest turn she'd ever tried to do. In seconds, she hit the ground. She lifted her face up out of the turf and struggled getting back up.

"See? You need to keep your wings straight. Here, lemme show you how it's done." Soarin' said.

He flew up, then forward, then when the time to turn came, Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped at how fast he did it without being slapped down. He did this a couple more times, the first few being just to show Rainbow how to do it, giving her advice while he did it. But after a few more turns, he was just showing off. Soarin' landed back in front of Rainbow and waited for her to say something. Rather than talking, she flew up and forward again. The turn was coming, and Rainbow Dash made sure her wings were even this time. In a flash, she pulled off the turn. Before she had a chance to come down to the ground, Soarin' instructed her to do it a couple more times.

Without flaw, Soarin' agreed to himself that Rainbow had gotten the just of it.

Their training resumed. Next up was speed, which Dash had no trouble with at all, she was plenty good on that, so that session didn't last long.

Last but not least was "Field Of View". Rainbow had heard the term somewhere before, but she didn't know exactly what it meant.

"Field of view, or field of vision, is the extent of the observable world that is seen at any given moment. It's important to learn this extent of your vision, so you know what's around you when you're flying. Look forward for a moment, and keep looking there." Soarin' explained. Rainbow Dash remained looking at the same spot where Soarin' was standing, as he began scooting to the left. "Tell me when you can't see me anymore." He said, as he resumed scooting.

"Now, right there!" Rainbow shouted.

"Hot damn, that's a lawful large FOV! I don't think you're gonna have any problems with that. But it won't hurt to practice a couple tricks to see how much you actually pay attention to it."

The two spent hours training and training. After Rainbow Dash pretty much nailed down everything they we're supposed to go over that day, they just decided to have some fun and fly around a bit. Rainbow Dash also used a couple of the new things she'd learned that day with Soarin'. It certainly was getting tiring, so Soarin' and Rainbow Dash settled on a cloud to rest for a bit. Their heads leaning against one another's as they relaxed on the white puff in the sky. Dash laid on her back, as did Soarin' next to her as they stared at the sun going down. Soarin' looked over to Rainbow, both of the pegasi blushing.

"I love you." The two said at the same time, as they leaned in for another kiss while the sun set to end yet another perfect day together.

Soarin' broke the kiss, as he and Rainbow turned back to look up at the night sky. Just the sight of it made Rainbow Dash think. Her life is great, it's better than it's ever been, and she never wanted that to change. But she thought of words Applejack sang once that she'd had heard during one of her breaks from harvesting.

Good times or bad times, neither one lasts...

Chapter 7: Big Changes

FRIDAY, THE FOLLOWING MORNING...

Rainbow Dash awoke on the floor again. Yeah, really. Third time that week. She had no idea why it kept happening, either. She wasn't having nightmares, she wasn't uncomfortable in her bed, and she wasn't so lazy that she couldn't do something as simple as lay in bed all night. She thought maybe she should go talk to Twilight about this, but she first decided that maybe Fluttershy would be a good resource for why she was constantly falling out of bed.

On her flight over, she saw several ponies gathered around one area, and also noticed a white wagon with a red cross on it near the gathering. Rainbow Dash touched ground and trotted over to the gathering. She was suddenly shoved out of the way as a grey pony with his eyes closed was carried to the wagon on a stretcher. Dash's friends walked towards her, glancing back at the hospital wagon as it was carried away.

"What the hay happened here?" Rainbow Dash asked anxiously.

"I'm... we... are so sorry, Rainbow Dash." Twilight said.

"Why? What happened?"

Fluttershy began crying. Pinkie patted her and comforted her while Applejack explained.

"Rainbow Dash... that... that there was yer pa."

"WHAT? HOW? WHAT HAPPENED?" Rainbow yelled. Her cheeks began to get puffy and red, as if she were about to cry. She tried to hold it in in front of her friends.

A white mare wearing a hat with a red cross on it approached Rainbow Dash.

"Ms. Dash, I'm not going to lie to you. The colt was old, very old. Our whole team is surprised he lasted as long as he did. He was a brave won, pure of heart, I'll tell you that."

"So... he died of old age?" A tear fell down Dash's cheek.

"Yes. We're sorry. But it was just... his time." The doctor told Rainbow as she walked away. Everypony else also went away from the scene, where was nothing else to see. It was all over.

Rainbow Dash squeezed her eyes as if she just wanted to spray tears everywhere. Her friends embraced her. They said nothing, and Rainbow Dash sniffled a few times.

"It's okay, Rainbow Dash. It happens to everypony eventually, there's no stopping that. It's just... how life works." Twilight explained.

"I... I know." Rainbow sniffled, nudging her friends as a single that they can let go of her.

Her friends let her go, as she walked slowly away from them. All she left behind were a few teardrops on the ground.

"C'mon girls, she needs to be alone." Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash and her friends went their separate ways, for now. During her walk, Rainbow Dash thought about whether or not her mother knew. She didn't want to tell her, she maybe wanted to wait until she got a little bit over it first. Rainbow Dash flew up to Cloudsdale to visit her father's old home.

She sat staring at what was now an empty home of an important pony who once lived. She walked around the house, and felt the walls, with an occasional sigh. When she'd walked into the house, it was noon. But when she left, it was about 12:55PM.

Rainbow Dash decided to walk around town a bit, and just think how little she knew her dad. Her dad was old, and she barely remembers those generic times between father and daughter. Her first flight, her first fall, her first injury, her first this and that.

Rainbow Dash approached the front door of her mother's house with her head down; sulking. Suddenly she stopped before knocking at the door. She noticed a small slip of paper under it. Rainbow took it out and unfolded it.

Immediately, she dropped it.

The note landed on the ground, face up, and read,

"Take care of yourself, my little Dashie.

She couldn't believe it.

"N... no... not her... too..." Rainbow Dash began to slightly sob again.

The clock tower below in Ponyville rang to signal the 1 o' clock hour. Rainbow Dash remembered this time as the time she was supposed to meet Soarin' for their date. Regardless of how she felt about the current situations, she went anyway.

LATER...

"Rainbow Dash!" Soarin' shouted with excitement.

Rainbow Dash said nothing, and walked slowly towards Soarin', keeping her head down. Soarin' lifted her face with a hoof, and studied her eyes.

"Have you been... crying? What happened?" Soarin' asked.

Rainbow Dash suddenly threw a hug on Soarin' as tightly as possible.

"B-B-BOTH MY PARENTS ARE D-D-DEAD!" Rainbow Dash sobbed.

"By Celestia, that's awful! Did somepony kill them or something?"

Rainbow Dash sniffed. "No... they died of old age. At least my dad did. The only thing I know about my mom is from this note. " Dash said, showing Soarin' the note.

"Oh, they died of old age? In that case it's not that big of a deal. You'll get over it eventually." Soarin' said.

"WHAT?" Rainbow sobbed. "MY PARENTS ARE BUCKING DEAD, AND YOU'RE NOT FEELING THE LEAST BIT SYMPATHETIC?" She screamed.

"Hey, are we gonna go on our date or not?"

"Really!? That's all you bucking care about!?"

"Look, I bet Spitfire that I'd get you to go out with me, and-"

"THIS WAS ALL PART OF A BUCKING BET?!?! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" Rainbow Dash screamed, tears pouring like waterfalls from her eyes, in anger, and in sadness.

"Look Dash, I'm really sorry, but I-"

"NO! You know what? Buck it! Buck it all to Tartarus! This date is OFF!" Rainbow Dash yelled again, punching Soarin' in the mouth extremely hard before turning away from him and flying off as quickly as possible. Soarin' clenched his mouth with his hoof, and spat out a couple of teeth. He held them in his hoof as he watched Rainbow Dash fly away. No expression whatsoever.

LATER, BACK AT RAINBOW DASH'S HOUSE...

Rainbow had her head shoved deep into a pillow, which by now was soaking wet. She sniffled and lifted her head up from it.

"Stupid Soarin', I can't believe him! Who says that the death of somepony's parents isn't that big of a deal? Yeah, it's not like they gave birth to me or raised me through my whole fillyhood or anything!" Dash said, returning her face into the pillow.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Dash wiped her face as best she could, and answered it.

"Hey, Rainbow!"

"Oh... *sniff*... hi Surprise."

"What's uh... going on?"

"OH! I just uh... *sniff* got a bit of allergies, that's all."

"Well, are you up enough to come to training? Apparently I'm your new trainer, now, for some reason."

"Really? Well... okay then. *sniff*... let's go."

LATER, IN THE TRAINING FACILITY...

"Nice work on that form, Dash! Keep it up!" cheered Surprise.

With those words of encouragement, she couldn't help but think of Soarin'. Her mind drifted off to another land, but only for a few seconds before she ran into a wall.

"Oooh! Pay attention, Rainbow! Keep your head in the game!" Surprise yelled.

Rainbow Dash shook her head to re-focus. She took off again, attempting the same routine she'd been practicing for several minutes.

Eventually she took a break. She told Surprise that she had it nailed down, but she was a little distracted today. Of course, Surprise asked the inevitable.

"So... how'd your date with Soarin' go?"

Crap. Rainbow thought to herself.

"Uh... just fine! We had a great time, I think we're really going somewhere in this relationship!"

"Are you sure? I haven't seen him all day."

Rainbow began to sweat nervously.

"Oh uh... I'm sure he's just... sick or something. Nothing to worry about!"

"If you say so. You headed home, now?"

"Yeah, not much to do today. Seeya." Dash said, flying off.

When she returned home, she found a letter on her front door. She tore off the top of the letter and took out a piece of paper, that read:

"Dear Ms. Rainbow Dash;

Unfortunately, a member of our team is out with an injury, and will be for a few days. Since no other pegasi with your training are available or applicable, you will be taking the place of Soarin' in the next performance tomorrow. We hope that you can be there!

Sincerely,

The Wonderbolts' Medical Administration"

Dash was surprised. She guessed she didn't know her own strength if she hit Soarin' so hard that he couldn't go to work. Maybe she was too hard on him, he was right, for one thing. Not even a day had passed and as of now she wasn't as upset about her dead parents than she was when she first heard about it. She was still pretty bummed though, she still has friends to talk to, but only her parents really understood her. Rainbow thought maybe she could go apologize to Soarin', and maybe get back together, but it was getting awful late, and apparently she needed to get to bed as early as possible. After all, tomorrow...

she was officially a Wonderbolt.

Chapter 8: The Last First Time

Rainbow Dash yawned, stretched, scratched her back, and did that lip-smacking thing that some ponies did when they woke up. Rainbow's eyes widened, at several things, actually. One, her morning breath tasted terrible. Two, she had her first real show today as an official Wonderbolt. And three, she actually woke up IN HER BED that morning, rather than... anywhere else.

She threw the covers off of her, and stretched again. Dash hummed a happy jingle as she trotted to the bathroom to scrub the taste of morning breath out of her mouth. Afterwards, she made her own breakfast downstairs. Her eyes widened again, suddenly she knew how to cook. Also, it was very peculiar that everything that morning so far had seemed to be going her way. She calmed down and continued eating. She didn't mind how perfect her day was so far, of course she loved it. Rather than sleep all day, Dash thought that maybe she'd head on up to Cloudsdale just to go outside. It was a strange feeling Dash had this particular morning, she felt... happy, more self-confident.

After slipping into her Wonderbolt outfit, she looked at her reflection in the mirror she kept in her room, smiled, then winked. Before heading out the front door for Cloudsdale, she stopped and stared at a picture of her and her parents and her when she was a little filly. It was at her first Wonderbolt Air Show. Slowly walking towards it, she picked it up off of the nightstand, and examined it closer.

"I've always been dreamin', been waitin', to fly with those brave ponies. The Wonderbolts, their daring tricks, spinning 'round and having kicks. Perform for crowds of thousands, they'll shower us with diamonds..." Rainbow sang in a whisper to herself.

"I finally made it. Dad, you always said I'd make it if I tried, and you were right. Mom, you never let me get discouraged, you always pushed me to try my best, and try it always. Thanks to you two, I did it. Thank you... *sniff*..." Rainbow paused for a moment, her eyes beginning to water. "Thank you both... I couldn't have done it without you." Dash finished, lightly kissing the photo. And with a final sniffle, she set it back on the nightstand.

Out the front door, she made sure the door was locked behind her, and set off for Cloudsdale. Taking a giant wiff of the morning air made her feel good, so she sped off as fast as she could to get to Cloudsdale.

Upon arrival, heads turned, all eyes were on her. Noises stopped, and not a single pegasus moved a muscle. Rainbow Dash was frozen solid at all of the ponies staring at her. She was confused, since they didn't look mad, or sad. Only blank faces. Out of the corner of her eye, an orange pegasus smiled, and clapped his hooves together. The surrounding ponies did the same, which brought a tear to Dash's eye. Walking down the main street of Cloudsdale, her ears were filled with the sounds of cheerful whistles and shouts. Rainbow looked around herself. This is what it felt like to be a Wonderbolt. Her eyes watered even more at the thought that she got to experience this feeling more often.

Clapping ponies were lined up all the way from the edge of the town to the Cloudasium, where Surprise stood waiting for Rainbow Dash. Surprise wrapped a hoof around Dash's neck, and led her through the entrance of the Cloudasium.

"What uh... what was all of that about? Is it because I'm a Wonderbolt?" Dash eagerly asked.

"Eyup, get used to it, 'cause you're gonna be getting it a lot!" Surprise told Dash.

"Wow... that's awesome!" Dash replied.

Surprise led Dash to the backstage room of the Wonderbolts, where Spitfire stood with all the other members of the team. Spitfire approached Rainbow Dash, and wrapped a hoof around her neck.

"You ready, kid?" Spitfire asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know it!" Dash smiled.

Spitfire's ear perked up at the sound of the announcement for them to go out.

"Good to hear, let's go!" Spitfire said.

The team burst out of the curtains in pairs, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash in particular flew next to each other in this sequence.

"Let's hope all that training'll pay off! I hope you do your own stunts!" Spitfire yelled.

"Oh, you ain't seen nothin' yet!"

Rainbow took off behind Spitfire and began to show off the different moves and tricks that she created, but never tried herself. Everypony "oohed" and "ahhed" accordingly. Rainbow Dash was flying incredibly fast, it was hard to keep track of her. Especially with all of the spins, flips, twists, and turns she was doing; all at once. Unexpectedly, she somehow managed to pull off a Sonic Rainboom in mid-flight. Nearly everypony spectating the show jumped out of surprise. The other Wonderbolts could work with this. As Rainbow Dash flew away, nearly halfway across Equestria by now, Spitfire and the rest of the team managed to create a gigantic tornado produced of smoke and Rainbows. When Rainbow Dash came back, she came spinning back up through the tornado, scattering it in a large swirl of several colors. It almost looked like a galaxy from overhead.

While Rainbow Dash was enjoying herself, and her performance with the other Wonderbolts, she noticed something... or someONE, through the corner of her eye.

"What? Soarin'? What's he doing here?" Dash whispered to herself.

Soarin' was in his flight suit, still with some blood on his chest and lips from Rainbow's attack. Spitfire noticed Soarin' approaching the announcer, who stood at the microphone. She and the rest of the team, including Rainbow Dash, stopped what they were doing and just waited. Soarin' whispered something into the announcer's ear, in which the announcer stepped away from the microphone to let Soarin' speak.

"Excuse me, attention everypony! We will be having a short intermission right now, but we'll be back in a bit!" Soarin' announced. He turned his head and gestured for the team to follow him. He and the others flew back to the backstage room.

"Soarin? What are you doing here? You look like you ran into a mountain!" Spitfire said.

"What happened to your jaw? And is that... blood?" Surprise asked, placing a hoof on Soarin's cheek.

Soarin' brushed off Surprise's hoof, and took a deep breath.

"After the incident, I was out cold. Somepony took me home, I don't know who, but when I woke up, it all started coming back to me."

"What incident? What happened?" Spitfire eagerly asked.

Soarin' spat out a bloody tooth, cracked his jaw back into place, and slowly raised his shaking hoof.

"It was... HER!" Soarin' shouted, pointing directly to Rainbow Dash.

"Me? What did I do?"

"YOU, YOU DIRTBAG, YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!"

"How!?"

"You just could take a little bit of insensitivity, could you? You had to just go and use those steroid induced legs of yours, and smack me right in the freakin' mouth! I LOST NEARLY 10 TEETH BECAUSE OF YOU, AND NOW I GOT A BROKEN CHIN, YOU JACK-"

"NOW HOLD ON A SECOND!" Spitfire yelled.

"Soarin', what in the name of Celestia are you talking about?"

"After this jerk's parents died, she came crying to me about it. I told her that eventually she'd get over it, and out of freakin' nowhere, she smacks my head off!" Soarin' said angrily, spitting out another tooth. "ELEVEN!" he coughed.

Spitfire turned to Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash... did you do this?"

Rainbow Dash looked down in despair.

"Well... yes... but I didn't even hit him that hard!"

"Don't you DARE lie to me! Look at this! A dis-located jaw, and two bloody teeth! What the hell do you mean you didn't hit him that hard?"

"He-"

"You could've killed him! You could've just walked away!"

"But you didn't, you PRICK!" Soarin' finished.

"Oh, that is IT!" Rainbow Dash yelled, pouncing towards Soarin', ready to attack.

Spitfire managed to counter the pounce, and pin Rainbow Dash against the wall behind her.

"This is completely unacceptable, Rainbow Dash;

YOU'RE FIRED!"

"FIRED? YOU CAN'T DO THAT! I BELONG HERE!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"You don't DESERVE to wear that outfit!" Surprise yelled with tears in her eyes, ripping off Dash's flight suit.

"HEY!" Dash yelled back.

"GET OUT, GET THE HELL OUT! You are NEVER to come back here EVER AGAIN!" Spitfire shouted.

The room fell silent. Rainbow's cheeks puffed up. She snatched her torn flight suit from Surprise's mouth, took one last look at the Wonderbolts, and walked out.

She slammed the door, which broke both of the hinges, and threw the flight suit over her back. She took one more glance back at the door, her heart cringing at the thought of it being the last time she ever would.

Rainbow Dash walked away with her head down, as tears slowly began to arise out of her eyelids.

"The Wonderbolts... WHO NEEDS 'EM?" She yelled, shaking her hoof at the Cloudasium, hoping The Wonderbolts would hear her. She sighed as her head sulked back down again.

Rainbow sniffed as the urge to cry started overpowering her.

"I do..."

Chapter 9: Rising Storm

A few days had passed since Rainbow Dash's childhood dreams were nuked. She still couldn't believe it. The greatest thing that she'd put her whole life into, slipped right through her hooves. She didn't even have it for that long, either. One show. Not even that, actually. About a quarter of a show, then Soarin' showed up.

Soarin'.

The name stuck in Dash's head as "that jerk who crushed your dreams". She hasn't gone back to Cloudsdale since, she was too afraid of being spotted by The Wonderbolts. They'd shun her, and seeing that made her heart cringe. She had no reason to go up there, anyway. Everything she needed was right there in Ponyville. Her house, her friends...

her friends...

She hadn't told them about what she did to Soarin', and she didn't plan to. Dash was surprised they hadn't found out already themselves. They'd probably agree with Spitfire and never want to see her again. The thought of such a thing made her eyes water. She didn't want to lose the only support she had left, where else would she go? She thought that maybe she should just leave Ponyville, and go live elsewhere without telling her friends. It'd be a lot less painful than taking the rage and disappointment from them if they found out she hurt somepony to near death for no good reason.

In such deep horrific thoughts of the future, Rainbow Dash forgot where she was for a moment. It wasn't until her pink puffy-maned friend walked up to her that she was suddenly thrown back into reality. Not because she was pink, and that caught her eye, but because Pinkie WALKED up to Rainbow Dash.

"Uh... hey Pinkie! What's... what's wrong?" Dash asked.

"Sorry to hear about Soarin', Rainbow Dash."

"What? What happened to him?"

"Surprise told me that some jerky pony punched him real hard, and he can't fly right with his broken jaw."

BROKEN jaw? Maybe I shouldn't work out as often as I do if I can break bones with what I consider a flick... Rainbow Dash thought.

"Anyway, he's held up at Ponyville Hospital, maybe you should go see him? It'd be a nice thing for you to do." Pinkie recommended.

"I just might do that. Thanks for the info, Pinkie. Seeya."

LATER, AT PONYVILLE HOSPITAL...

Rainbow stepped into the hospital. She remembers this place well, since she was in it a few months ago. The teal walls, the beige tiles, and the smell of medicine. For some reason, she liked it. Maybe it was because she'd gotten used to it the short time she was here. But she digressed.

Walking up to the counter, the receptionist noticed her out of the corner of her eye.

"Why hello, Ms. Dash! What brings you here? How's the wing been?" The nurse asked.

"It's been... okay."

"So, what can I do for ya?"

"I'm here to see a friend. Goes by the name of Soarin'?"

"Lemme check, hang on." The nurse said, pulling out a clipboard from under her desk. "Soarin'... Soarin'... Soarin'... ah! Here he is!"

"Can I see him?"

"Sure! Room 1-205. So it's the first floor, second hallway, fifth room, just down that way, hon!" The nurse finished, pointing in the direction of Soarin's room.

"Thanks!"

Rainbow Dash made her way down the halls, and eventually found the room she was looking for. Upon opening the door, the first things she knew she'd hear were a heart meter, and heavy breathing. Rainbow peeked her nose through the door, and saw Soarin' laying in bed, staring at the wall. Obviously he noticed a rainbow colored mane that'd come through the door, and objected to Dash's entrance.

"Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here? I don't want to see you, get out!" Soarin' coughed.

Dash stepped closer, knowing that Soarin' couldn't really to anything to stop her.

"I said back away! NOW!" Soarin' coughed again.

"Soarin' please, lemme-"

"Let you what? Finish the job? Go ahead, right here, end it!"

"Soarin', please! I'm-"

"You're here to gawk at how immobilized I am? Try-"

Soarin' was interrupted when Rainbow's lips met his. Soarin' paused for a second, trying to decide whether or not to shove her away. The heart meter's increased beeping noise made it hard to concentrate. Rainbow Dash backed away, and spoke again.

"I'm sorry, okay? I never meant to hurt you, I was just under a lot of pressure. And... the way you reacted just kind of... set me off." Rainbow explained.

"Yeah well... you still didn't have to hit so hard..."

"Again, sorry. I just don't know my own strength."

"Damn right you don't."

There was a deafening silence that overcame the room. Soarin' didn't make eye contact with Dash, as she looked around the room. The only noises around were the air conditioning and the heart meter's beep noise.

"I'm sorry, too." Soarin' replied, breaking the silence. "You're right, I shouldn'tve been so insensitive. It's just that growing up, I was taught to fight and surpass those kinds of feelings."

"I understand. And apology accepted."

"Ditto." Soarin' finished.

The deafening silence came back for a few seconds.

"If... if we have nothing else to say to each other, I can leave, if you want. You look like you need your rest."

Soarin' turned his head away from Rainbow Dash and gestured his hoof as a signal for her to leave. Rainbow Dash simply turned and walked out the door of the room, closing it gently behind her. She looked back at it, and sighed. She couldn't help but feel that Soarin' was still mad at her. She only knew that time heals everything.

Rainbow Dash returned home lawful early. She went upstairs to her bedroom, just to think, which made her even more tired. Eventually, she fell asleep with the lights on. On her eyelids, she could see that Soarin' was really the first pony in a long time to have any real faith in her. She started to remember the first time she set off on her Wonderbolt journey. She told her friends it wouldn't be long before it was time for her to come back home. That day, that moment, she felt like she was ready for anything. Just so long as her friends could wait for her.

Then that moment of horror in the backstage room came back to her head. Everypony she used to know on that team said they didn't know what she had become. But she was still the same, not much had changed, she still knew where she came from. A family of middle-classed, courageous fliers, who grew up strong, but with heart.

A FEW HOURS LATER...

Rainbow's eyes flew open. There was a sudden pain in her chest like she'd been shot. The lights were still in, so she could see that there wasn't anything there. She thought about how strange this pain was, but shrugged it off. Rainbow Dash decided that maybe she should just... fly. Fly around and look, and see the parts of Equestria she never really focused on. She thought maybe it'd help her realize something.

Heading out the front door, she locked it behind her, and set off. She didn't want to go too far that she'd get lost, so she stayed at least somewhere near the places she knew. In this case it'd be every town and city between Fillydelphia and Las Pegasus. Las Pegasus sounded like a good idea, but she wasn't in the mood for pleasure or gambling. And it certainly isn't the place to clear ones head with all the smoking ponies and traffic in that area. Rainbow Dash suddenly realized she was already thinking. She didn't have to go anywhere, just fly.

"What'll happen if my friends find out I was the one who hurt him? Will they accept it because I'm their friend? Or will they think I'm... irrational? Dear Celestia, listen to me. I've never used the word irrational in my life. But... what about Soarin'? Has he really forgiven me? He wasn't very responsive to my apology. I suppose only time can tell, but I don't want to wait that long. I just... don't know what I'm gonna do."

Rainbow Dash suddenly realized the ground beneath her. Clouds. She was in Cloudsdale, the very place she wanted to stay away from. Before she could fly away to prevent being spotted, she was pulled down by a familiar pegasus' words.

"Rainbow Dash, can you come down here for a sec?" Surprise asked lightly.

"What do you want?" Rainbow Dash replied, trying not to make her tone sound menacing.

"I just wanted to thank you for apologizing to Soarin'. It meant a lot to him."

"Wait... MEANT? Oh no... nononono... don't tell me-"

"He's dead, Rainbow Dash. A piece of bone from his fractured jaw drifted off in his head, and blocked important blood-flow veins. He became... unresponsive. And eventually his brain basically just... dried out."

"This... this can't be happening..."

"It is, and has. Unfortunately, you're still vilified by the rest of the team, they think it was your fault that he's dead, and their right. If you hadn't had hit him, none of this'd be happening. But you're still my friend. At least you bothered to apologize." Surprise said faintly.

"Thanks, at least I still have a friend."

"You'd better go, I think the team's looking for you."

"Got it." Dash said, taking off for Ponyville.

Hopefully, she still had some friends there, too.

Chapter 10: Return Of The Shadowbolts

*AUTHOR'S NOTE: I apologize for this chapter being so short, but I didn't want to get into too much detail. I'm saving a lot of it for the chapters ahead.*

Arriving back at Ponyville, Rainbow Dash headed home, since it was pretty much the only place left to hide.

Upon unlocking her front door and opening it, Rainbow's face turned from panic to horror, as all her friends stood before her. She looked at all of their faces. Fluttershy was horrified, scared, and crying. Pinkie was busy comforting her. Rarity's was awkward, Twilight's was disappointed, and Applejack looked lawful angry.

Rainbow's expression became nervous.

"Uh-"

"How could you?" Twilight said angrily.

"AWW C'MON! You guys too? Look, I told him I was sorry!" Rainbow complained.

"Oh yeah, that makes everythin' all better. I might jus' go out and kill somepony and say I'm sorry, that'll make it okay!" Said Applejack sarcastically.

"Listen Rainbow-"

"NO... no Twilight. I don't... I don't want to deal with this right now." Rainbow Dash sighed, turning around and leaving her home again.

As she flew away, ponies around town slammed their doors, or shunned her. While looking down at the town, she suddenly got hit in the face with the latest newspaper, which of course had this whole situation written all over it. Rainbow Dash groaned angrily, and threw it behind her, and flew faster away. She wasn't going on another flight of self interrogation, instead she just flew, flew far and flew fast, her tears flowing off of her face and with the wind. She tried hard to keep it in, and find a better place to let it all out first. Rainbow decided on the Everfree Forest. It was dark, secluded, and nopony went in there unless they were looking for Nightmare Night ideas. Though she didn't just go into the plain ol' Everfree Forest, but rather a place that meant something more to her, in this case, it was the place where Rainbow and her "friends" originally found the Elements of Harmony.

She sat in front of the rock formation that had originally held the elements whilst they were still encased in stone. Rainbow Dash laid down, and stared deeply into the night sky. She was hurt; badly. But no matter how much she wanted to cry, she couldn't. She was about ready to just start smashing her head against the ground; maybe pain could squeeze out her feelings.

Ooooohhhhhhh Daaaaaaaaaash....

Rainbow Dash sat up quickly and looked around. She knew this voice from somewhere, and where she was sitting remind her even more. She couldn't place her hoof on it, though. It'd been so long.

Raaaaiiiinnnnbbbboooowwww Daaaash...

She looked around more, but said nothing. Suddenly she began to feel a chill down her spine. Standing up, she began to sweat nervously.

"H-h-hello?" Dash said, moving her head quickly back and forth. "Who... w-who's there? Is somepony around? You'd better watch yourself, I ain't foolin' around!"

She was becoming angry.

"C'mon, I ain't afraid a' you, SHOW YOURSELF!" She shouted angrily at the sky.

Suddenly a cloud darker than the night itself pushed her down on her back. She became nervous again as the voices around her were chanting her name in wispy monotones. When Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, she saw figures. The dark silhouettes moved closer to her, as they pushed Rainbow closer and closer to the wall. With nowhere else to go, the mysterious ghoulish figures revealed themselves.

"It's good to see you again... Rainbow Dash. It's been a long time... how have you been? Heard you lost some friends, your job, your life. Well guess what; we're here to help..."

"PFFT, yeah right. The last time you shadowjerks tried to help me, you tried to take me away from my friends!"

"Your... friends? Would you care to remind us, who these friends are, exactly?"

Rainbow Dash realized she had no better comeback.

"How do I know I can trust you?" She asked, placing her hoof on her chin.

"How can you afford not to? You've got nothing else to lose. We're your last remaining option."

Rainbow had to give this decision deep thought. She could spend weeks, or even months attempting to re-build her reputation in Equestria from the ground up. Or she could join The Shadowbolts and be their team captain. And then what? Was that supposed to be it?

"No way. I've got a better chance of redeeming myself, by myself than I do with you curs." Rainbow Dash said angrily.

"Fine, have it your way. The offer remains, if you change your mind, come find us here again. Otherwise, don't say you weren't warned." The Shadowbolts finished, fading back into the dead of night.

"Why would they do that? I already said no the first time. Well, maybe it's just the current situation I'm in that made them think I was vulnerable. No way!" Rainbow Dash said to herself, sitting up and dusting herself off. "At this point I'm sure Ponyville won't welcome me back, let alone let me stay. Though maybe I could sneak into my house, and live the rest of my life in secrecy. Meh, sounds legit." said Rainbow Dash to herself, walking out of the temple ruins.

Rainbow continued walking through the dark forest, not afraid of anything that may surprise her. She began to talk to herself more.

"It's a weird thing, this feeling. I was really sad a second ago, what with the whole town including my friends hating me. But for some reason, I can't help but think that... maybe I deserve this, yet I don't feel too bad about it. Odd." Rainbow Dash sighed.

Her cheeks began to puff at the deeper thought of what she was getting into.

"But... I may never go back home. I guarantee the word of my killing him has already spread through Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, and every city and town in between. If I try to go back, it may not turn out so well..." she thought.

She thought deeper into her future. If she goes back to Ponyville, she runs the risk of injuring her reputation there even more. If she were to go anywhere else, there'd probably be several angry ponies who'd kick her out of town. And if she stayed here, she'd probably die young, considering the fact that she'd never been stranded out in the Everfree Forest with nowhere to go before.

She finally settled on an option. Rainbow Dash decided to return home. Hopefully at least a few ponies still didn't think much of her enough to leave her alone.

Arriving back at Ponyville, she hovered over the town, only to see that doors and windows were still shut. She heard a few off in the distance slam shut, which meant that they knew of her presence. With her head faced down looking at the town under her, she lifted it up. Her jaw dropped at the sight of what she was looking at, and her eyes began to water at the horrifying, burning display...

Her house had been destroyed.

Chapter 11: Who Needs Loyalty?

Ponies below her sat looking out their windows at their accomplishment. She'd gotten what she'd deserved, at least that's what they thought. However, Rainbow Dash saw this as going too far. Far, far, too far. Without saying a word, or crying a tear, she flew off. Ponies walked out of their houses to see the result of their work. Most were disappointed, not seeing a tear from her, but they digressed.

Back into the Everfree Forest Dash went. This time, she went looking for The Shadowbolts. Calling out their name in between the trees, hoping the echo would bounce off them so they'd hear her. Returning to the sanctuary where she'd first idled in the Everfree Forest, she yelled out their name one last time, with enough force for it to be loud, but not to make her cry. The shouts for help reminded her of a dream she had the same night she discovered her mother might be dead. She was a filly, in the middle of a riot in front of town hall. Crying and calling out for her mother with tears in her eyes. She pleaded with a guard to leave her mother alone as she was forced to sit back and watch her get beaten to death, eventually being woken up after being sucked into a black void.

Rainbow Dash stood with a blank face in the middle of the ruins she'd first sat at as she remembered that dream. The hoofsteps behind her brought her back to reality again, though.

"You called?" The Shadowbolt leader asked.

"I'm in." Dash replied, flicking a tear off her eyelid.

"Good to hear. Welcome, Rainbow Dash. Come with us, we'll teach you our ways." The Shadowbolt leader responded, flying off and gesturing for Rainbow to follow her and the other members to their sanctuary.

LATER, IN A SECLUDED UNDERGROUND CAVE...

"It's a pleasure that you've decided to join us, Rainbow Dash. You won't believe how much we need you right now."

"Pfft, you and me both. *sniff*. I hate that town, Ponyville, it's so washed up. And I can't believe that all of my friends don't even give a fuck. It's like... one minute they're my friends and the next they're... just... jerks." Rainbow Dash explained, eyes still bloodshot from crying. She tried to power through it as much as possible though.

"You don't need your friends. They are your enemies now. We will help you, please, follow me."

The Shadowbolt leader led Rainbow Dash into a large, circular room with steel walls and a small tube in the middle.

"What's that?... uh... you..."

"Please, call me Shiva. This device is our intelligence enhancement chamber. It teaches everything that should be known about flying, fighting, and so much more. Please, step inside."

"Well... whatever you say."

Rainbow Dash cautiously stepped inside the chamber, the glass door sealing behind her.

"Hey, what's going on? Is it supposed to do this?"

Shiva nor the other Shadowbolts could hear her, so they began the procedure without her consent.

Rainbow Dash panicked at the dark smoke emitting from the holes in the floor of the chamber. She tried holding her breath, but the substance in the air somehow found a way in. Rainbow Dash rammed her head repeatedly against the glass barrier, trying to break it. No good. Before she could try anything else, the edges of her vision began to fade to black.

The chamber door opened, as Rainbow Dash's unconscious body fell out, hitting the hard metal floor with a loud thump.

"Are you sure this was necessary, Shiva?"

"Necessary enough. Take her to the operation room for her final procedure. Afterwards, set her outside. She'll come back to us."

"Yes ma'am."

SEVERAL HOURS LATER...

Rainbow Dash's vision was blurred. She couldn't see anything, she could barely feel anything, and she couldn't hear a sound. She shook her head as an attempt to knock herself out of the trance, no good. She thought she was drowning, and squirmed around and tried to call for help. Only thing was, she couldn't breath either. Now she was almost sure she was drowning, so she began to swim back up to the surface.

A mysterious dark figure emerged in her vision, and it was holding something that looked sharp. Rainbow continued to pretend to swim up in a panic, until she felt a painful pinch in her neck. With one big gasp, her vision came into focus, and her body became less numb. She relaxed for a moment, rubbing her eyes, and trying not to faint from her dizziness. She sat up, opened her eyes, and let her eyes focus on the figure in front of her.

"S-s-s-Shiva? Is that y-y-you?" Dash stuttered. She took one glance out a window to see the sun rise, to shine on the mysterious silhouette.

"Shiva? I'm not sure what you're talking about, Rainbow Dash. That must've been some crazy dream you had." The doctor told her.

"D-d-d-dream? W-w-w-what dream? I was i-i-in... damn, now I c-c-c-can't seem to r-r-r-remember..." She stuttered again.

"I assume that's pretty normal for a pony who's body was found outside of a cave. I'll need you to lie down again, there seems to be a strange scar on your forehead." The doctor instructed.

Rainbow Dash proceeded to do what she was told. Whilst the doctor was doing his work, she asked him a couple questions.

"W-w-w-wait... first of all, why am I s-s-s-stuttering?"

"You may have fainted in mid-air and hit your head on the outside structure of that cave. That's what I'm trying to fix now. Hold on, you may feel sharp pain." The doctor warned.

"GAAAAAGH! YOW! SON OF A... oh... it stopped! Okay, second of all, why are you helping me, doc? I thought everyone in Equestria hated me!" She asked, rubbing her forehead.

"The name's Downes, Robin Downes. Please, call me Doctor Robin. I'm one of the other doctors here at the hospital. This whole place knows that what you did to Soarin' was unintentional and you apologized at least, so not many of us hate you for it."

"Right... okay. How'd you find me?"

"One of our search and rescue teams heard a crash noise off in the area where we found you. We assumed there was an avalanche, so we took you here."

"I see. Can I leave? I got some important business I need to take care of." Rainbow said with a devilish grin. She didn't know why she said that, or did the creepy smile. But when she did, her forehead started hurting again. She powered through it, though, and hopped off her bed.

"Well, I guess so. There doesn't seem to be anything else wrong with you. Just, try not to crash into any mountains out there, got it?"

"Whatever, get outta my way!" Dash said, pushing the doctor aside.

The doctor's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped at how Rainbow Dash left the room,

in a wispy, black mist.

Chapter 12: Lost All Control

It was dark. Rainbow Dash was laid out on the ground. When she sat up, her head was numb. She looked around, a spotlight shined over her, the rest of the area around her was a dark abyss.

"Hello? Is anypony there?" Her voice echoed. She'd always been scared of being alone, and the fact that she had no idea where she was made her shiver.

"Where am I?" She asked herself, looking down at the ground beneath her.

She stood up, and began to walk away from the light. She couldn't feel, couldn't breath, but somehow she kept walking. Eventually, she recognized strange faded figures in the distance, emitting their own dim glow.

"Mom, dad? I've missed you." Her voice quivered.

"We've missed you too, Dashie. We're so proud of what you've done." Her mother said.

"You fly just like your old man, Rainbow, I've taught you well. I'm sorry I had to leave you." Her dad explained.

"It's okay, dad. I love you both so much." She whimpered, attempting to hug her parents. Her hooves went right through them. Looking back, she saw them begin to fade away.

"No... no... NO! PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE ME! I'M SO LOST WITHOUT YOU!" Rainbow Dash cried.

"Remember, Dashie, please, for us, you must always remain..."

Her mother couldn't get her last word in. Rainbow Dash pounded at the ground where they stood as she cried for their return.

"REMAIN WHAT? PLEASE, COME BACK! COME BACK!!!!

Rainbow Dash shook her head out of the trance, her eyes widened afterward. She resumed her devilish grin and continued flying towards Ponyville, her heart filled to the brim with vengeance. It was cloudy, it looked as if it were about to rain. Well, Rainbow Dash was sure in the mood to reign down something on Ponyville.

She landed in the center of town. Ponies opened their doors around her and studied her. Her eyes appeared red without gleam, and her mane no longer had any of it's colors. It was just... plain old black and white.

Her friends came out of their homes and noticed the crowd at the center of town. They gathered around to see what was going on. When her friends approached her, she had her head down, and her body tense, and still.

"What in the hay are you doin' here, Rainbow? I thought yur burned house was enough ta tell ya that you ain't welcome here any more!" Applejack shouted, while the rest of the crowd remained silent.

There were a few gusts of wind that hit everypony. Rainbow Dash lifted her head up, her nose nearly touching Applejack's. Her eyes remained concealed behind her hair, until another gust of wind hit. It was then that her eyes opened, and revealed her red, gleam-less eyes.

"WOAH!" Applejack shouted, frightened by the irregular style of Rainbow's eyes. "What in the hay is wrong with you?"

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Her eyes! Them things be glowin' red!"

Pinkie examined her eyes. "And her iris, it's completely bl-ACK!" Pinkie choked.

Rainbow Dash's eyes just glowed red, with the same glow effect around Pinkie's neck as if she was being choked by magic. With a quick flick of her head, Rainbow Dash threw Pinkie behind her.

The crowd gasped, and some began to back away.

"Rainbow... what... how..." Twilight couldn't gather her thoughts, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Rainbow's eyes began to glow again, she stepped closer to the crowd, as they backed away accordingly.

"Now hold on there, Rainbow! No need to get all fussy! Uh... how's about we build you a new-OOF!"

Applejack was forcefully pushed against a nearby wall. With one quick and mighty blow across Applejack's face, she'd been knocked out. Rainbow Dash turned around in a flash, and exhaled smoke out her nose like a bull. Her eyes glowed red once more. This time, the magical effect encased Fluttershy.

"OH NO! NO RAINBOW, PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE!" Fluttershy squealed. Rainbow Dash didn't harm her much, she just threw her on the same pile Pinkie was on. She fainted from shock as Rainbow Dash continued to attack the rest of her friends.

"Rainbow Dash! Calm down, darling! Please? Uh... STOP!" Rarity yelled.

Rainbow Dash froze for a moment. Her and Rarity's heads were nearly an inch apart. Eventually, Rainbow Dash broke the silence, and Rarity's forehead. Or at least, that's what it felt like to her when Rainbow Dash head-butted her. Rainbow Dash turned around to see Twilight in complete shock, looking back and forth at her extremely and critically injured friends.

"TWiLIGHt spArKLE, YOu ShALL paY FoR yoUR wroNg dOiNg!" A voice from Rainbow Dash's body shouted. This voice frightened Twilight. It wasn't the Rainbow Dash she knew and loved as a friend, it was something else, something out of a horrible nightmare.

"Rainbow Dash! Please... please STOP! You're hurting everypony! I beg you! PLEASE!" Twilight cried. Rainbow Dash payed no attention to her plead. One final time, her eyes glowed, and Twilight was pinned to the ground. Twilight shut her eyes tight, bracing for impact and squeezing out a tear. "No... plea-" Twilight was interrupted by a tough blow to the mouth, knocking out a couple teeth. Twilight moaned in pain, holding her jaw and quivering as she whimpered.

"RUn EVeRypoNy! RUUUUUUUN whILE You sTill cAn!!!!" Rainbow Dash shouted throughout the town. Ponies began to scatter all across the town, attempting to hide in their homes, only to get their own beating from Rainbow Dash.

Applejack woke up, and while Rainbow Dash was occupied with the rest of the town, she crawled over to Twilight.

"You alright, sugarcube?"

"I'm *cough* fine..." Twilight grunted, coughing up a few drops of blood from her broken teeth.

"We need to get outta here with the others, I'll go and check if they're alright. Stay put, Twilight, I'll be right back." Applejack told Twilight, as she scurried away from her, staying close to the ground.

"Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, y'all right?" Applejack asked, keeping her voice to a whisper.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Fluttershy's still out cold, though." Pinkie whispered back.

"Is everypony okay?" whispered Rarity as she approached the gathering.

"Rarity, good. Y'all stay here, I'll go fetch Twilight and we can all get the hay outta this war zone."

Applejack did as she had planned. She picked up Twilight, and told the rest of the group to follow her away from Rainbow Dash's rage. Crawling away, the sight of the critically injured ponies that dropped from the sky and landed next to them horrified them more and more by the moment. It was a good thing Fluttershy wasn't awake, she'd blown their cover by now.

Quickly leaving the scene of the slaughter, Twilight didn't like the look of the ponies that were stuck in her treehouse's branches. Eventually they made it inside safely. Pinkie put Fluttershy down, and Applejack put Twilight down. Twilight grunted as she stood up, trying to numb the pain as much as possible. She was worried that it hurt to even talk.

"Alright, lemme be the first to say WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT THERE? What's wrong with Rainbow Dash?" Twilight yelled.

"You think maybe it's the fact that WE DESTROYED HER HOUSE AND DROVE HER OUTTA TOWN?" Applejack argued back.

"What are you yelling at me for? YOU HELPED!"

"Yeah, but it was YOUR IDEA!"

"Now darlings, let's not start the blame game! We all had a hoof in creating this... monster. We can argue later, for now we need to figure out what is wrong with Rainbow Dash!"

Twilight ears perked up at a familiar voice outside. She looked out the window. Apart from seeing ponies scattered everywhere, she saw Rainbow Dash in front of 3 purple costumed pegasi. She saw one of their mouths moving, but couldn't tell what she was saying.

"Well done, Rainbow Dash. This town is cleared. I hope you don't mind doing the next one, do you?"

"Not at all, Shiva. But Fillydelphia is quite a large place, I may need some backup."

"We would love to join you, but unfortunately we need to finish preparations for... a special pony."

"Understood. Should I clear out the rest of the cities and towns as well?"

"Yes. Make sure that no pony is left alive." Shiva finished, turning around to head back to the caves for her "preparations". With one glimpse, Twilight immediately recognized the face of the ponies who had originally tried to take Rainbow Dash away from them.

"SHADOWBOLTS!"

Chapter 13: Falling Apart

"Shadowbolts? What in the hay are those?" Applejack interrogated.

"You don't remember? The Shadowbolts were those strange creatures in the Everfree Forest that tried to take Rainbow Dash away from us to join their... cult or something!"

"But... weren't those creatures Nightmare Moon's doing? How can they be here without her?"

"I don't know, Rarity. But what I do know is; they're definitely the ones responsible for whatever is happening to Rainbow Dash!"

"Why yes, we are." A new voice in the room said.

The group gasped at Shiva's sudden appearance behind them.

"YOU! Stop what you're doing to Rainbow Dash!" Twilight demanded.

"Oh yes, I'll be sure to do that."

"Really?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT! We need her for more than you think, she's not just our new "leader", she's much more than that. First, we'll have her take out this stain you call Equestria, bit by bit, town by town, city by city. Next, we'll use you and her to complete our concoction, AND BRING BACK OUR LORD TO FINISH THE JOB AND CREATE A NEW LAND RULED BY US!" Shiva yelled religiously.

"Wait, why do y'all need us for your crazy mixture?" Applejack inquired.

"You 5 are the last remaining elements of harmony, correct? Your powers when combined with Rainbow Dash's shall re-create our God, and maker her INVINCIBLE! NOT EVEN CELESTIA CAN STOP HER!" Shiva laughed, poofing away in purple smoke.

"What do we do now?" Pinkie asked.

"We've gotta find Rainbow Dash, and stop her from destroying Equestria!"

"But how? She's probably half way to Las Pegasus by now!" Rarity said.

"Well um... I know a pony. He says he has a box thing that can go anywhere at anytime, he might let us used that."

"Good idea, Fluttershy! Lead the way!"

LATER, IN A SECLUDED ALLEYWAY...

"You all must understand that this is a very risky procedure, yes?"

Everypony nodded.

"Right, inside! C'mon, c'mon, off we go!"

As everypony rushed inside the police box, not questioning it's mysterious larger interior aside from it's small exterior, Fluttershy stopped to thank her friend, the doctor. He insisted that she rush inside so they can get this over with, and stop Equestria's total destruction.

ELSEWHERE, IN LAS PEGASUS...

The TARDIS faded into the visible world. The 6 ponies stepped out onto the cracked concrete, with the wind of a dead paradise blowing through their manes.

"Looks like she's already been through here." Twilight said, looking around at what she once knew as Las Pegasus. A city devoted to sin and vice, now looked nothing more than a small town out of an old western film. Complete with tumble weed.

"How awful! How could one pegasus cause so much destruction?" said Rarity, blocking her eyes from the dust the wind blew in her eyes.

"Look! Over there!" Applejack pointed out. She managed to catch a glimpse of the trail of rainbow that Rainbow Dash left when flying quickly.

She and the rest of her friends ran towards the direction that AJ saw the trail in. The next town wasn't far from where the TARDIS had spawned, so they knew they wouldn't be running far.

"We gotta catch up to her!" Applejack said.

"She's just too fast! We'll lose track of her!" Twilight panicked.

The look in Pinkie's eyes said that she would not stand for this. She wouldn't lose one of her best friends like this. So Pinkie Pie proceeded to whip out her party cannon from the 4th dimension and push all of her friends inside.

"Pinkie? What are youEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" Twilight screamed, as did the rest of her friends when they were shot out of the cannon unexpectedly.

With each second they grew closer and closer to her, however with the wind speed affecting their flight, they were slowly losing momentum.

"TWILIGHT! GRAB HER!" Pinkie instructed Twilight, yelling over the strong wind.

Twilight managed to latch a hoof on to Rainbow's tail, unfortunately resulting in her losing her previous grip on her friends.

"TWILIGHT, NOOOOO!" Applejack yelled as tears began to fill her eyes. She couldn't believe she was losing yet another one of her best friends.

"HELP! HELP MEEEE!!" Twilight yelled back, attempting to re-gain her grip on her friends as to carry them along.

Unfortunately they didn't make it. Rainbow Dash flew off and away from the other 4 ponies, with Twilight still attached to her tail.

The Mane 6 (now the Mane 4) landed hard on the dirt ground below. Tears flooded their eyes as they saw Twilight being carried away by Rainbow Dash into the unknown dust-storm.

"No... NO... NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! CELESTIA DAMN IT! WE CAN'T KEEP LOSIN' OURSELVES!" Applejack screamed, furiously stomping on the ground.

"Now calm down Applejack, and watch your language! Swearing isn't going to get us-"

Rarity was interrupted by Applejack's two hind legs meeting her jaw, almost as hard as they'd hit the ground. Rarity slid on the dirt floor, moaning in pain. Fluttershy and Pinkie's reactions were turned towards Rarity, then at Applejack, who was glowing red with anger. She was breathing heavily, her eyes still targeted at Rarity, ready to attack in-case she attempted to get back up again.

Nopony spoke, nor dared to move a single molecule. Fluttershy and Pinkie kept their horrified faces, while Rarity remained still and lifeless on the ground.

Rarity began to stand up slowly. Applejack began running towards her like a bull if one were to kill it's family. Had it not have been for Pinkie's Party Cannon, Applejack probably would've ended up killing her.

"APPLEJACK, CUT IT OUT!" Pinkie yelled with a tug of the launch string on her cannon, sending Applejack a few yards away from them. While both Rarity and Applejack were incapacitated, Fluttershy went to help Rarity up, while Pinkie ran over to AJ to talk to her.

"Listen AJ, I'm sorry I had to do that but fighting isn't going to make Twilight come back! I know you're frustrated, we all are, but we all need to remain sane if we're ever going to get all of our friends back together again!"

Applejack rubbed the dirt off of her face and nudged Pinkie aside as she walked by her and up to Rarity, who was brushing herself off.

Applejack kicked dirt in Rarity's face as she got up, still walking by her. Rarity gasped. She and Pinkie followed Applejack with their angry expressions as she kept walking.

Applejack stopped for a moment.

"Ah don't need any y'all ta get mah REAL friends back! Y'ALL WANNA CHICKEN OUT THEN FINE, YUR ON YUR OWN!"

Applejack yelled, trotting off into the unknown dusts of the lost town.

"FINE YOU BRUTE, WE GREW TIRED OF YOUR VICIOUS BEHAVIOR ANYHOW!" Rarity yelled back, shaking her hoof at Applejack.

As Applejack disappeared into the dust clouds, Rarity looked down at the ground and signed.

"We need to stop falling apart like this..."

Chapter 14: Turn It All Around

Fluttershy cringed, then suddenly sprang up from where she sat, chasing after Applejack.

"Applejack! Please wait!"

Applejack stopped without turning around.

"Look, she's sorry okay! We need to stick together, we can't keep falling apart like this!"

"I wanna hear it from her!" Applejack demanded, still not looking back at her shy companion.

Rarity slowly approached the two ponies, not caring about her mane getting messed up in the dusty wind. Pinkie followed.

"I am sincerely sorry, Applejack. It was very impolite of me to act the way I did."

"Ah forgive ya, Rarity."

"Listen Applejack, please, we all need to stay together if we want to get Rainbow Dash and Twilight back! I don't mean to underestimate your power, but I don't think you can do it alone..."

Applejack sighed, and brushed her hoof lightly on the dirt ground.

"Ah'm sorry too, Rarity. Ah was just... so angry 'bout losin' our friends so quick that I... I couldn't control myself."

There was a short pause with the sound of wind before Applejack spoke up again.

"Fluttershy's right... ah would've never been able to do it without you gals..."

"We need to get back to the tardis if we wanna catch up with them, they looked like they were heading toward Fillydelphia, so let's head that way!" suggested Pinkie.

All 4 ponies rushed back to the Tardis to reach their friends before they got too far to chase.

MEANWHILE, IN FILLYDELPHIA...

The Tardis faded into the visible world, as each of the 4 ponies stepped out and looked around anxiously for their friends.

"Do y'all see anythin'?"

"Nothing! It looks just like Las Pegasus!"

"Uh... g-girls... t-turn around..." Fluttershy squeaked.

Behind them was a giant tower that stood over their whole world. It looked to be the Shadowbolt's new headquarters, where they'd plan to take over Equestria for themselves.
I large circular hatch opened in front of the 4 remaining ponies, blowing out air while scattering dust and dirt everywhere. When the hatch opened, their friend Rainbow Dash was revealed. She appeared to be in an isolation state, the Shadowbolts are already abusing her energy to bring back their creator.

"Rainbow Dash!" The 4 ponies shouted. They were then approached by a dark-costumed mare attached to the tower by wires of dark, purple vines, who laughed in their frozen, shocked faces.

"Yes, I've possessed your dear friend, Rainbow Dash. And now she is MINE TO CONTROL! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"WHERE'S TWILIGHT?" the puffy-haired pink pony demanded.

With one gesture of a hoof, Twilight came down on a rope of smoke in her own little bubble.

"OH NO!" Fluttershy yelled.

"Yes, and there are 4 more for the rest of you as well!" Shiva announced, summoning the 4 other bubbles.

"QUICK! SCATTER!" Rarity shouted, running off in 1 direction as the rest did the same.

"Running won't help you!" Shiva yelled, as she chased Applejack with a bubble. While Applejack kept her busy, the rest of the friends were chipping away at Twilight's control bubble, trying to break it. However, Shiva felt this, and took the bubble away from them, foolishly smashing it on the ground as an attempt to crush the 3 ponies who picked at it.

"NO! Get away from there!" Shiva demanded.

"Twilight! Twilight, wake up! We need your help!" the yellow pegasus yelled at her unconscious purple friend, attempting to shake her awake.

Shiva laughed evilly as she sent several of her minions to dispose of the intruders. Dodging their every attack, a minion managed to fly by an hit Twilight hard enough that it woke her up.

"Huh... what's... WHAT THE HELL?" Twilight shouted, zapping a minion that flew in front of her, nearly hitting her again. "You guys, what's going on here?"

"No time to explain, Twilight! Help us defend!" Applejack shouted over the heat of war.

With a zap here and there, the minions were quickly disposed of.

"Quick Twilight! Try and break Rainbow Dash out before it's too late!"

Twilight rushed over to Rainbow Dash's cell. With a spark of her horn, a powerful beam of energy shot at the bubble, but was barley doing anything.

Shiva cackled menacingly at Twilight's feeble attempt at breaking Rainbow Dash out of her cell, and slapped her away. Twilight, however, was relentless. She stood right back up, charged her horn and blasted it at the bubble once more. This time, Twilight demanded that her friends try to protect her. With Shiva occupied, Twilight increased the power of her magic to it's maximum, unfortunately, it wasn't doing a single thing to the impenetrable shield.

Before long, it was too late. Rainbow Dash's eyes shot open, they glowed red with vengeance as she began to rise in the air.

"HA! YOU'RE TOO LATE, FOOLS! Your magic completely charged the energy we needed to do THIS!" Shiva shouted religiously.

There was an incredible bright glow, the 4 friends with 1 reunited shielded their eyes from it. When the light faded, the mare that stood before them was very familiar.

Nightmare Moon.

But there was something different about her. She didn't have blue eyes like before, but instead she had Rainbow Dash's ruby eyes, along with the same cutie mark, but colored to match the new Nightmare Moon scheme.

"YES!" Shiva exclaimed. "She's finally complete! There's nothing you can do to stop her now!" the dark costumed pegasus exclaimed again as Rainnightmare Moon rose higher in the sky.

As she rose, Twilight felt something. From the looks on her friend's faces, they could feel it, too. The same feeling that they had the first time standing below this wicked mare of darkness.

The spark.

Twilight looked up, and right before Rainnightmare Moon began her attack and reign over Equestria, she heard Twilight call her name below.

"Rainbow Dash! Wait!"

Rainnightmare Moon lowered herself closer to the ground to listen easier.

"Rainbow Dash... please... I know you're in there, I know you can get out of this! You're being controlled, you can't let that happen! You have to fight it!" Twilight yelled.

"B-b-b-but T-t-t-t-twilight. I-i-i-i-i- K-k-k-k-k-k-killed S-s-s-s-s-s-soarin'." A demented voice inside the mare spoke. It was deep, but also light. It sounded like Rainbow Dash over a broken radio. RNMM shook her head out of the transit, preventing Rainbow Dash from breaking through her spell.

"Rainbow, it's okay! We're your friends, we're here for you, sugarcube!" replied Applejack.

"B-b-b-b-b-b-but w-w-w-w-w-w-what a-a-a-a-a-about m-m-m-m-m-m-my p-p-p-p-p-p-parents? T-t-t-t-t-they a-a-a-a-a-a-are d-d-d-d-d-d-d-dead!" The inner Rainbow Dash stuttered.

"We'll help you through it, darling! No matter what it takes!" Rarity added.

"I-i-i-i-i'm a m-m-m-m-m-m-monster..."

"Look, Dashie, we all make mistakes! What you did was an accident, and your parents deaths were inevitable! No matter what happens, we'll always be your friends!" Pinkie said.

"B-b-b-b-b-but y-y-y-y-you a-a-a-a-a-all d-d-d-d-d-don't..."

"WE'RE SORRY, RAINBOW DASH! WE LOVE YOU!" the 5 friends shouted in sync.

"W-w-w-w-w-wow... t-t-t-t-t-thank y-y-you guys..." Rainbow Dash said, as a tear fell down her cheek. "I love you guys too..."

"ENOUGH OF THIS FOOLISHNESS! Nightmare Moon, BEGIN YOUR ATTACK!" Shiva demanded, stomping her hoof on the ground.

"I don't think so, Shiva." Rainbow Dash said. A large ball of energy built up around her chest, and ran through the wires that connected her to the Shadowbolt's tower. Before too long, the tower was completely glowing white, and with one quick, and incredibly bright flash that could be seen all around Equestria, the tower was destroyed, along with Rainbow Dash's Nightmare Moon form. Shiva was obliterated in the process, Dash thought she heard her screaming when she began to overtake the tower.

Rainbow Dash stood suspended in mid-air, until she began to fall. She was slightly unconscious, heading straight towards the hard, concrete ground below. Before she nearly managed to crack her skull open, her friends stepped underneath her to break her fall.

"Thanks, you guys. You're... you're the best friends I've ever had." Rainbow Dash said faintly, rolling off her bed of soft friends onto the ground next to them.

The world around them felt peaceful, different. It wasn't the forgotten wasteland it was when they'd gotten there. It looked as though the bright flash that happened when Rainbow Dash broke the spell made everything normal again. Rainbow Dash loved it. She could smell the clean air, feel the tranquility, and taste the peace. She slowly began to close her eyes, as she fainted.

Her friends, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity, all carried her to the hospital, as they looked over what was now a clean Equestria once more. It eased Twilight's mind that the Shadowbolts had been defeated, never to be seen again.

Epilogue: One Month Later...

ONE MONTH LATER, AT PONYVILLE HOSPITAL...

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes slowly. She was in the hospital. But something... or someONE was near her. Very near her.

It was Soarin'. When Rainbow Dash had awoken, Soarin' was kissing her gently, hoping that she'd wake up to him in the act. Rainbow slowly pushed Soarin' back, breaking the kiss.

"Soarin'? How... how did you..." Rainbow stopped when Soarin's hoof filled her mouth.

"Sometimes, it's best not to ask questions. All that matters right now is that we're together, right?" Soarin' said, showing off his and Rainbow's rings around their hooves. Rainbow Dash's eyes beamed at such a glorious sight. She looked up at Soarin' with watery eyes, and kissed him gently.

"So how are you feeling now?" Soarin' asked, breaking the kiss.

"Pretty um... wow... amazing actually!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, hopping out of bed.

"Well c'mon, let's get you suited up for our next show, Captain!" Soarin' said, pulling out Rainbow Dash's new Wonderbolt Flight Suit that read "Team Captain" on the front. Her eyes gleamed again at yet another beautiful sight. This time, the kiss was intense, and more "I love you" than "thanks for not being dead".

A FEW MINUTES LATER, AT THE CLOUDASIUM...

Rainbow Dash stood in her brand new flight suit behind the curtains, ready to burst out and perform. She suddenly heard her name behind her from a very familiar voice.

"Twilight! I'm so glad you're here! I've got so many questions! What happened a month ago? How is Soarin' alive? Why am I married to him? W-"

"Hold on there, Rainbow Dash! There's no time, I'll explain everything later, but you've got a show to do!" Twilight told Rainbow Dash, as she heard the announcer outside broadcasting their arrival to the crowds of ponies.

AFTER THE SHOW...

Rainbow Dash didn't have time to tell Soarin' where she was going. She wanted answers, and she wanted them now. Rainbow hurried over to Twilight's house after she show, where she suspected she'd be. Through the window, she saw Twilight reading her books, like she usually did. Rainbow Dash casually slipped into her house.

"So Twilight, you were gonna tell me about how this all happened?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight said nothing. She simply closed the book she was reading and gave it to Rainbow Dash.

"It's all in here." She said.

Rainbow Dash looked down at the book, and simply nodded as she walked out.

BACK AT HOME...

Soarin' passed by Dash after leaving the bathroom and noticed her and her book.

"What are you reading?" he asked.

Rainbow Dash closed the book, since she'd just finished it right then.

"A little story... about how a little filly wanted to be big and famous when she grew up, but learned that it wasn't as easy as it sounded. She needed friends, real friends to show her the way. And eventually, true love kept her safe where her friends led her to." Rainbow Dash said, not looking at Soarin' but instead at the book.

"Well that sounds powerful interesting. You coming to bed, Dashie?" Soarin' asked.

"Yeah, just a minute."

That night, Rainbow Dash thought about what she'd read. It all made perfect sense, she didn't know why it had to be done, but she was just fine with it. All of her friends still remember that day a month ago, when they helped her realize who she really is, and what she really needed all along to help her through life.

That same night, she dreamed of her parents one last time.

"Mom... dad... you're back!"

"Yes we are, sweetie. We're just here to tell you how proud we are of all that you've done, all that' you've accomplished. It was always our dream to have you grow up this way, and you've done it. Thank you." Dash's mother said, kissing her lightly on the forehead.

"From the day you were born, we knew that up until know, you'd be dreaming, be waiting, to fly with those brave ponies. The Wonderbolts, with their daring tricks, spinning 'round, having kicks, and performing for crowds of thousands. And now, your life from now on will always be showered with diamonds, Dashie. We love you, sweetie." Rainbow's dad said, as he and her mother hugged Rainbow Dash one last time, before Rainbow Dash woke up the next morning next to Soarin'.

It was all she ever dreamed, ever waited for.

And so much more.

Through Rainbow's life until now, the sun shined bright, yet the rain poured on. Rainbows were there one minute, and then they were gone. Her dreams shined over the storm that led after it, and when the storm hit, it was a mighty powerful one. Even though those powerful storms don't evaporate, every storm clears away naturally sometime, to show the big blue sky, waiting right behind the clouds.

For Rainbow Dash, it was clear skies from there on out, as far as she could see.

And she could see her whole life ahead of her.

THE END.

Alternate Ending: She Was Strong All Along

THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE AFTER RAINBOW DASH IS TRANSFORMED INTO NIGHTMARE MOON.

"Rainbow Dash! Wait!"

Rainnightmare Moon lowered herself closer to the ground to listen easier.

"Rainbow Dash... please... I know you're in there, I know you can get out of this! You're being controlled, you can't let that happen! You have to fight it!" Twilight yelled.

Suddenly Nightmare Moon twitched violently, she crashed into the ground, holding her head low to it.

"S-S-S-S-STOP! C-C-C-C-C-CUT IT OUT! AUGH... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH----"

Nightmare Moon's skin began to tear at the seams, eventually bursting into several pieces, revealing Rainbow Dash, safe and sound.

Rainbow Dash's friends ran over to embrace her, as did Shiva with the several torn bits of her creation she'd worked so hard to achieve.

"Rainbow Dash! You're okay!" Twilight said excitedly.

"NOOOOOOO!!! MY WORK! ALL OF MY WORK! RUINED! RUUUUUUUUUIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDD!" Shiva cried.

"I think it's time we put this baby to rest! Ready girls?" Rainbow Dash said, as they surrounded Shiva with their back hooves facing her.

"Ready? One... Two... THREE!"

And with a single buck from each of the Mane 6, Shiva had been killed. Afterwards, the Shadowbolt's tower began to crumble, revealing a bright light inside that shined ever so brightly over all of Equestria. When the light faded, Equestria was restored to it's rightful order.

Alternate Ending: Sudden Realization

THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE AFTER RAINBOW DASH IS TRANSFORMED INTO NIGHTMARE MOON.

"Rainbow Dash! Wait!"

Rainnightmare Moon lowered herself closer to the ground to listen easier.

"Rainbow Dash... please... I know you're in there, I know you can get out of this! You're being controlled, you can't let that happen! You have to fight it!" Twilight yelled.

"Think of that special somepony, that pony you loved the most! Soarin'! He always loved you, Rainbow Dash! He was never mad, he always wanted to be with you since the day you two met!" Applejack shouted.

Nightmare Moon's eyes widened, and there was a long pause for a moment. Suddenly, Nightmare Moon dropped to the ground, and landed hard. Suddenly she began to glow, the dirt around her started swirling around everypony. A quick flash blinded everypony around for several seconds, and when they opened their eyes, there lay Rainbow Dash, with tears in her eyes.

"I... I never meant to hurt him... I always loved him too..." She sobbed.

"It's okay, Rainbow Dash. We'll help you through this, you're gonna be just fine." Twilight said, patting Rainbow Dash lightly as she hid her face in the dirt.

When the flash occurred, Shiva, the tower, and the Equestrian wasteland that they were once surrounded by was gone. Everything seemed to have gone back to normal. Over the next few months, Rainbow Dash eventually got interested in other colts, but she'll never forget the one she truly loved, one of her life-long heroes that drove her to become the Wonderbolt that she was today.

Soarin'.

Chapter 5: Similar Reactions

Spitfire looked up from her desk and the papers she was studying when Soarin' suddenly barged through her office door.

"I think I like her!" He shouted, covering his mouth with a hoof afterwards.

"Yeah, sure you do." Spitfire said, rolling her eyes.

"But she kissed me! Which must me she likes me too!"

"Soarin, just because there's a new girl on our team doesn't mean... wait what? She kissed you? When? Why?"

"Just a few minutes ago! And if I knew the why of it then you wouldn't need a new door now, would you?"

"What were you doing?"

"Well, I was training her, trying to get her to nail down this one trick, okay? Then when she kept failing, I kept encouraging her to try again and again. Then when she finally got it, she just kissed me outta freakin' nowhere!" Soarin' shouted.

"So... just like I did a few years ago?"

"Yeah! That's super weird, right?"

"Well you know what, Soarin'? I think you should go for her."

"Really?!"

"Yeah! If it means you'll get out of my office!"

"Oh *ha ha* Spitfire. But you know what? I will go for her, and I'll get her, you'll see!" Soarin' said, slamming the door that was hanging on one hinge.

Spitfire sighed. "This is gonna be just like our relationship all over again, I just know it. Hmm... maybe I should call somepony about fixing that door..."

Meanwhile...

Twilight looked up from the book she was studying when Rainbow Dash suddenly barged through the door of her house.

"I think I like him!" She shouted, covering her mouth with a hoof afterwards.

"Yeah, sure you do." Twilight said, rolling her eyes.

"But I kissed him! And he didn't shove me away which must mean he likes me too!"

"Rainbow Dash, just because you've gotten into the Wonderbolts doesn't mean... wait what? When? Why?"

"Just a few minutes ago! And if I knew the why of it then you wouldn't need a new door now, would you?"

"What were you doing?"

"Well, I was at training, trying to nail down this one trick, okay? When I kept failing, he kept encouraging me to try again and again. Then when I finally got it, I just kissed him outta freakin' nowhere!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"So... just like that dream you had a couple days ago?"

"Yeah! That's super weird, right?"

"Well you know what, Rainbow Dash? I think you should go for him."

"Really?"

"Yeah! If it means you'll get out of my house and let me get back to reading!"

"Oh *ha ha* Twilight. But you know what? I will go for him. And I'll get him, you'll see!" Rainbow Dash said, slamming a door that was hanging on one hinge.

Twilight sighed. "Not all dreams come true..." She heard Spike groan behind her. "Especially ones with houses made of ice cream!" She giggled. "Hmm... Spike, could you fix the front door, please?"
Spike groaned again, hopped of the windowsill he laid on every afternoon and grabbed a hammer out of a miscellaneous tools bin Twilight bought earlier that day.

"I really hope Rainbow Dash knows what she's getting into. I'd hate to see her heartbroken..."

"Yeah well, most of the relationships you've been in, Twilight, didn't end well." Spike said, getting to work on the door.

"But... I haven't been in any relationships..."

"Exactly. You see what I'm talking about now?"

"Just fix the door, please."

"Yeah yeah... whatever. OW!" Spike yelled, dropping the hammer and sucking on his red pulsing thumb.

Later that night, in Soarin's room...

"Oh yeah... ooooh... oh that's nice..." Soarin' whispered on his bed, as he browsed a magazine filled with fancy suits at low prices.

"SOARIN'!" Surprise yelled, bursting through the door.

"AHH! SURPRISE WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" yelled Soarin'.

"I was about to ask you the same thing..." She said, squinting at Soarin', who held the magazine behind his back.

"Uhh... I live here... sometimes..." He said nervously.

"What's that behind your back?" Surprise interrogated.

"I um... I don't have anything behind my back, see?" He said, stuffing the magazine in his suit. He began to sweat as he became more and more nervous that Surprise might figure out his secret.

"Hmm... likely story... is it that spider?" Surprise said with a sly look on her face.

"A SPIDER? WHERE?!"

With one quick snatch, Surprise got a hold of the magazine. Surprise gasped at the sight of the cover.

"OH MY GOSH! FANCY SUITS? AT THESE PRICES? What are you up to, Soarin'?" Surprise asked, peering into Soarin's eyes.

Soarin' sighed, and gave up trying to hide it. "Well, I'm looking at suits for my first date with the new girl. You see, we kissed and-"

"Wait... new girl? You mean Rainbow Dash? But you've barely met! Has she even agreed to this yet?"

"Well... no... to be honest I'm a little afraid to ask her."

"Oh! Why didn't you say so? My sister Pinkie Pie knows her! I'm sure I could ask her to ask Rainbow Dash out for you!"

"Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Sure! It'd be so romantic! It's like... love from afar!"

"Well uh... that sounds great! Thanks!"

Surprise turned to leave, giving the magazine one last glance.

"Uh... Soarin'?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't think you'll need a suit. It's a bit much for a first date, don't you think?"

"But... don't I want to make a good impression?" Soarin' suggested.

"Soarin' ol' buddy ol' pal, listen to the professional on this one." Surprise said with a wink.

Soarin' only stared at her until she left the room, noticing her take the magazine with her.

"Aww man... those were some good suits..." he sighed. He glanced at the clock at his bedside, and saw that it was awful late. Soarin' slipped out of his suit and under the covers, stretching and yawning before laying down and drifting off to sleep.

That same night, at Rainbow Dash's house...

Rainbow Dash tossed and turned under her covers. No matter how much she wiggled she couldn't get comfortable enough to get to sleep. For some reason, she felt warmer than usual. It could be that she was still fighting in her mind about what she did with Soarin' earlier that day.

She groaned, slamming her face against a pillow repeatedly.

What am I gonna do tomorrow? What's he gonna say? she thought to herself.

Eventually, after more tossing and turning, she sat up and took a deep breath.

"I shouldn't worry so much about this. I like him, and maybe he likes me. Yeah... yeah maybe he does like me!" Rainbow Dash said out loud, falling back onto her bed. She slipped back under the sheets and looked at the clock. "Wow, I've been at this for a while, haven't I?" She said to herself. She took another deep breath before settling on a comfortable sleeping position.

A few minutes later, Rainbow Dash was asleep. Suddenly the smile on her face transformed into a frown, as she cringed and began to shake.

"You... you can't... do that... I... belong here..."

Alternate Ending: The End Of Equestria

THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE AFTER RAINBOW DASH IS TRANSFORMED INTO NIGHTMARE MOON.

"Rainbow Dash! Wait!"

Rainnightmare Moon lowered herself closer to the ground to listen easier.

"Rainbow Dash... please... I know you're in there, I know you can get out of this! You're being controlled, you can't let that happen! You have to fight it!" Twilight yelled.

Rainnightmare Moon squinted evilly at Twilight, who began to sweat at the thought that her plan to bring out the real Rainbow Dash wouldn't work.

Her friends that stood close by her did the same, and before they knew it, Twilight was turned into a pile of purple dust between them. The 4 remaining ponies gasped, as Shiva cackled evilly as she shoved each distracted pony into their bubble to be used for extra energy.

A white glowing ball began to form on RNMM's chest. Shiva began cheering as the moment she'd been waiting for was just over the horizon. And with one quick burst, Equestria was overcome with the curse of Shadowbolt overlords.

From there on out, Equestria was ruled by the Shadowbolts for generations. Twilight's ashes remain lying on the ground to this day, not even an occasional wind blew them away. Eventually, the pile just became part of the ground. From that day forward, nopony remembered what it was like to be free, to have friends, to have any form of social interaction without being whipped for it.

If only Twilight and her friends had joined together to bring out the real Rainbow Dash encased in that hard body of a mare that once was, they wouldn't be pouting every day about how much they regret ever doing such horrible things to Rainbow Dash to transform her into the monster that now reined over their land.

Alternate Ending: No More Friendship

THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BEFORE TWILIGHT WAS BROKEN OUT OF HER BUBBLE.

"Yes, I've possessed your dear friend, Rainbow Dash. And now she is MINE TO CONTROL! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"WHERE'S TWILIGHT?" the puffy-haired pink pony demanded.

With one gesture of a hoof, Twilight came down on a rope of smoke in her own little bubble.

"OH NO!" Fluttershy yelled.

"Yes, and there are 4 more for the rest of you as well!" Shiva announced, summoning the 4 other bubbles.

"QUICK! SCATTER!" Rarity shouted, running off in 1 direction as the rest did the same.

"Running won't help you!" Shiva yelled, as she chased Applejack with a bubble. While Applejack kept her busy, the rest of the friends were chipping away at Twilight's control bubble, trying to break it. However, Shiva felt this, and took the bubble away from them. With a quick and mighty swing, she managed to catch all of the other 4 ponies in their own separate bubbles.

"HA! NOW YOU ARE MINE TO ABUSE!" Shiva yelled, as each pony suffered a violent shock that supplied Rainbow Dash with the energy needed to transform into Nightmare Moon.

"Yes... YES! Our ruler has returned! PRAISE NIGHTMARE MOON!" Shiva yelled religiously. Nightmare Moon thrust herself towards the ground hard enough to send a shockwave all across the planet, cracking it's ground until all that was left was rubble.

From that day forward, everypony in Equestria was forced to work for their new demanding God, Nightmare Moon. Every day, every hour, no sleep, and no food.

Several years later, everypony had finally died off from starvation. The Shadowbolts remained on the planet, though, and began to repopulate as to create a world for themselves, by themselves.