Cloudsdale, the Untold Story

by MidnightFlare

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy, Slice of Life, Sad
Length: 37677

A look into Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's childhood and the story of a lost childhood friend.

Telling the tale of a long time friendship of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and their long lost best friend, Midnight Flare. The three friends grow close together through their times together in flight school. After five years together, one tragic race causes the three to separate. After a near death experience, Midnight is forced by the spirit of Nightmare Moon in his mind to attempt to kill Rainbow Dash and chases her down for years, hoping to be free from his curse.

Note: Yes, Midnight is an alicorn, but when I wrote this story originally, I didn't notice any significance with them and no one told me a thing until I was deep into my story. Since I made it so far through writing, I just had to keep it. Don't worry, I will have it explained later in my 4th story that I have yet to have posted here.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-06-17 02:23:36 UTC

Chapter 1: Rainbow Dash

West Cloudsdale, 5:43 A.M., Saturday July 21st 2001, 10 years ago

“Be careful, honey.” Called out Rainbow Dash’s mother from the doorway of their Cloudsdale home, “This is your first time making a flight this far from home unsupervised. Don’t get into any trouble, now.”

“Don’t be such a worry-wart, Mom” the young filly replied, “I’m gonna be fine. How am I supposed to become the best flier in all of Cloudsdale if I can’t handle such an easy job like this?”

“Well, I still don’t like the idea of you endangering yourself...”

“I’ll be fine. Just try trusting me a little more. I promise I won’t put my life in danger, alright?” Rainbow pleaded.

Her mother finally gave in. “Okay, fine. I’m going to hold you to that promise, alright?”

“Sounds good! I’ll be home in a few hours!” Rainbow Dash flapped her little wings, leaving her house to head to her new job at West Cloudsdale Post Office. She flew as fast as her young, developing wings could take her towards the post office; she wanted to be the first one there all day. Rainbow Dash had always been the one to want to be the very best, like nopony ever was. She never liked to lose to anypony. No challenge big or small would stand in the way of her goals.

Rainbow Dash knew the only way she could even have a chance of that was by enrolling in flight school, and the only way she could get into a flight school was if she had money; money that she didn't have. Her parents were the kind of parents who would worry about their kids, so they didn’t want their daughter to love the idea of dangerous flying very much. But no matter how hard they tried, Rainbow just found flying to be so fascinating. The most her parents did was allow her to have a job that allows her to fly around.

“We just can’t pay for something we don’t want our daughter doing. If you want to get into junior speedster flight school you’re going to have to get a job and pay for it yourself.” Her mother's words echoed through her head.

“I’ll get into Junior Speedster Flight School. You just wait and see. I’m gonna become the greatest flier Cloudsdale has ever seen.”

Rainbow looked around the neighborhoods around her and noticed nopony was outside but her. She began to wonder to herself, “Am I up way too early? Maybe I shouldn’t have left so soon... No, I promised myself I would be the first one there, and that’s what I’m gonna do." Rainbow Dash sped down the street as fast as she could, determined to get to the post office. She sped up so fast she almost couldn’t see what was right in front of her. All of the sudden, a small yellow filly walked around the corner, not looking where she was going. Rainbow Dash tried her hardest to slow down to prevent herself from colliding into the innocent little filly, but it couldn’t have been helped. Rainbow Dash crashed into the other pony and they both went flying down the street.

Rainbow slowly got up, trying to keep her balance, “Ow, that’s gonna hurt in the morning.” She then noticed the other pony was still on the ground and quickly ran over to help her up. “I am so sorry!” Rainbow explained, worryingly “That was all my fault. I shouldn’t have been going that fast, I tried to slow down!” Rainbow looked at the pony on the ground who was struggling to stand. “Here, let me help you!” Rainbow offered, quickly. She dug her head under the body of the little pony and began to lift her to her hooves, “There you go, you’ll be fine” Rainbow said, trying to reassure the filly.  “I’m sorry about that. Here, let’s start over. My name is Rainbow Dash. What’s yours?” The little pony opened her eyes and looked into Rainbow’s eyes. The pony cringed then squeaked quietly, then ran away down the street she came on.

“Wait!” yelled Rainbow. “I didn’t mean to scare you!” But the little yellow filly kept running as fast as she could, “Well that was weird.” Rainbow stated “Oh well, better get to the post office.” She then began flying towards the post office again.

She didn’t get much farther before she saw a large shadow on top of her. Rainbow looked up and saw a large dark-grey colt with a mane that looked like fire. He looked like he was just a few years older than Rainbow Dash was. He kept shifting his head as he flew, as if he was looking for something. Rainbow couldn’t help herself but to stop and keep staring at the pony, “His flying is so awesome.” She thought to herself, “His wings are so big for such a young pony.”

He looked down at Rainbow Dash and suddenly flew straight towards her, “Oh buck, He’s coming this way!” Rainbow thought to herself in shock “What do I do?!”

He slowed down and landed lightly right next to Rainbow Dash, “Hey, can I ask you a question?” the large alicorn asked, “Where is Cloudsdale junior speedster flight school?”

“Oh, it’s somewhere that way. There should be a big sign that says ‘Cloudsdale Junior Speedster Flight School’ on it.” Rainbow said, nervously.

The grey colt replied, “Thanks.” then quickly picked himself up and dashed through the clear skies towards the flight school.

Rainbow Dash watched as he flew away and disappeared in the distance, “Wow” Rainbow thought in amazement, “Even his voice sounds awesome.” She couldn’t help herself but to keep thinking of him.

Rainbow Dash, staring into the clear blue sky, suddenly snapped “Oh sweet Celestia, I still wanna be the first one at the post office!” She then dashed down the street, straight towards the post office.

Post stop in her sight, Rainbow began to slow down and landed herself right at the front door, “Alright, finally at the post office.” Rainbow thought to herself. “No one is here yet. Maybe I am too early.”

Rainbow went up to the front door and started knocking vigorously. She began to yell at the top of her lungs “Hello! Is any pony in there? I’m here for my first day as a Paper Pony!” But nopony answered. Rainbow walked away from the door, sat next to the building, and began thinking to herself.

“Who was that shy little filly I saw earlier?” she wondered. “And that flaming maned grey pony.” She started slouching where she sat, “I’ve sure had an interesting day so far.” She started to close her eyes, then slowly fell asleep, and began dreaming.

Her dream started out on her first day as a paper pony. She was casually delivering papers to her friendly neighbors. Suddenly, Cloudsdale began falling apart. The clouds beneath them were parting, and none of the ponies in Cloudsdale, including Rainbow Dash, could use their wings. The fall seemed to be endless. As she was falling, she heard ponies crying for help in all directions. She saw many different ponies she knew falling past her, starting with her parents yelling, “Rainbow, help us!” She tried to open her wings, but they just wouldn’t budge. She helplessly watched her family fall to their deaths. She looked to the ground and prepared for impact as she hit the ground. She was suddenly in an open casket in the ground while dirt was being shoveled into the hole. She saw her parents dressed in black crying over her, along with the shy yellow filly, and the mysterious grey pony standing on the other side. Rainbow tried to call out to them, “I’m not dead yet! Get me outta this thing!” but none of them heard her screams.  She started shaking as her eyes slowly closed. She heard a distant call to her, “Wake up, wake up little filly.”

She slowly opened her eyes, seeing a blurry shape of a pony in front of her, “Wake up silly little filly, wake up” the pony said lightly. Her sight cleared so she could see the pony in front of her. The pony had a light gray coat with a short blond mane. He had wrinkles all over his face, and when he talked he had a scratch to his voice like his voice was starting to die from old age. But his voice was at the same time sweet and welcoming like a friend. He had a key around his neck and a hat with a picture of a pony with a package on its back.

“Who are you?” asked Rainbow as she stood up and stretched her legs out.

“The name’s Grey Hooves, but everyone who works here calls me Mr. Hooves, ‘cause I own this place.” He said proudly while looking up at the building. He then looked back down at Rainbow Dash. “Tell me little filly, how long have you been out here?”

“Umm...I don’t know.” Rainbow Dash said while rubbing her eyes. “What time is it now?”

Grey Hooves looked down to a watch on his right foreleg. “About 8 A.M. Say, don’t you know that the post office isn’t open until 9:00 anyways? Why are you here so early?”

“I got up and left around 6:00 in the morning because I wanted to be the first of the new mail ponies to be here.”

“So you’re one of the new recruits, eh? You must be Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow looked straight up at Mr. Hooves. “What?!  How did you know my name?!”

“I know about all of the new recruits. My granddaughter is joining the paper ponies too; maybe you two will become good friends. Come on inside, I got a comfy couch in my office. You can take a nap and I’ll wake yah when the rest of the new recruits get here for the 1st day meeting.”

“Alright, thanks Mr. Hooves.” Rainbow said while walking into Mr. Hooves office. She then lied down on the couch, closed her eyes, and fell back to sleep.

Chapter 1: Fluttershy

South Cloudsdale, 5:30 A.M., Saturday July 21st 2001, 10 years ago

“Fluttershy, we need to talk.” a little yellow pegasus filly with a pink mane walked carefully into the room to see her parents at the kitchen table. “Please Fluttershy, have a seat and talk with us.” Fluttershy walked into the kitchen with her head down, then sat down in the chair trying to avoid eye contact. “Fluttershy, your father and I have been talking.” Fluttershy just kept looking down at the table. “We all know you’re not the best flier in the world, but we want you to at least try getting out there. You almost never use your wings. You don’t have any friends. This is just a thought but we want to sign you up to the Junior Speedster Flight School over in West Cloudsdale.” Fluttershy quickly looked up in shock, “It’s no need to rush, just go out for a walk around Cloudsdale.”

“Okay...” Fluttershy got off of the chair, left the kitchen, and walked out the front door. She walked away from her house and started walking towards West Cloudsdale. “Oh, my parents are right. I am a weak flier. I do need friends. I don’t know if I can, I would just get too nervous.  What would I say to them? Maybe I should go look for that Flight School. *sigh* I’ve never been good at making friends. What should I do?” Fluttershy looked down at the cloud streets, walking around a corner when suddenly, *SLAM*. Fluttershy flew through the air, stunned, wondering what just happened. She crashed down in the middle of the street. She saw another pony getting up and faintly heard her talking. “I am so sorry! That was --ult. I shoul--ing that fast, I trie--” Her vision began to blur, and she closed her eyes.

She had a flashback to an incident at a younger age. She was walking around Cloudsdale with her parents following closely behind, enjoying living. She looked over a cloud to see how beautiful the ground was from Cloudsdale. She kept looking out farther, and farther, and farther, until she lost her balance. She fell off the cloud. Scared out of her mind, her wings locked up. Her parents flew down and caught her as she was falling. Her parent’s carefully set her down on the cloud. Fluttershy lied down on the cloud, and began to cry. Suddenly, she snapped out of the flash back and she realized somepony was lifting her to her feet.

“--ere you go, you’ll be fine. I’m sorry about that, here let’s start over. My name is Rainbow Dash. What’s yours?”

Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked up at the other pony who was smiling at her. “Oh no,” she thought to herself, “What do I do?” She cringed up and ran away.

She could hear the faint voice of the other pony calling out to her. “Wait! I didn’t mean to scare you!” But Fluttershy just kept running.

“Oh, I’m such a scaredy cat. I’ll never make friends like this.” She kept running down the cloudy street, crying her eyes out.

Suddenly, a large dark-grey pony came up to Fluttershy, flying almost next to her. “Hey, slow down. I just wanna talk.” Fluttershy slowed down to a complete stop along with the other pony.

He was a large, dark-grey colt with a mane that resembled fire. He already had his cutie mark. It was two flames spinning together making a circle. He had flaming red eyes, but when you looked at him, he didn’t look like he was one who wanted to hurt someone, “What’s wrong, why are you crying?” He asked her.

“I-It's nothing, we just crashed into each other, it was all my fault. I’m wasting your time aren’t I? I should just get going.” She ran away from the cold, scared and intimidated.

“Wait!” he called out to Fluttershy, but she was long gone. Fluttershy ran through the front door of her house and quickly closed it behind her.

“Mom, dad. I um, think I made up my mind.” Her parents looked at her, anticipated for the answer. “I...um...would like to enroll in flight school. I mean, if that's okay with you...”

Chapter 1: Midnight Flare

Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, 11:35 P.M., Friday, July 20th, 2001, 10 years ago

“Welcome to your entrance exam, Mr. Flare. The exam will start once the egg is brought in.”

The little colt scowled at the four teachers who were soon to be judging him, then turned to his parents, “Mom, I keep telling you this isn’t gonna help!”

“I’m sorry Midnight, but we have no other choice. If you’re going to be able be to become better with your fire, then you’re going to have to enroll in a magic’s school. Don’t you want to be a good role model for your younger sister, Twilight? She’s started looking up to you, and magic would be a good road in life for her.”

A pony came into the room, wheeling in a cart with a purple dragon egg sitting on top of it. The cart had an image on the side depicting an egg being broken open, revealing a dragon.

“How, am I supposed to do this?!” Midnight shouted at the four teachers, frustrated.

One of the teachers glared at him and spoke up. “You’re enrolling in a school for gifted unicorns. If you can’t even hatch a baby dragon egg then we don’t feel you are a worthy student.”

“*Grrrr* Fine!” He tried his hardest to do anything to the egg. As he struggled, flames started to grow rapidly on his horn. The flames shot off towards the egg and created an explosion of fire. The flames destroyed the cart and the egg on it, and the flames traveled through the air towards the teachers. The teachers instantly caught on fire. Midnight watched helplessly as he heard the teachers scream out their last breaths as they were burned alive. “What have I done?!” He thought to himself. He turned over to his parents who were trembling in fear in the corner of the room. “Pull yourself together, I’ve gotta get us out of this.” He looked around the room trying to find a way out. He spotted a window just a few feet from his parents. He gathered flames around his horn, aiming his horn at the window. “Come on, I can do this!” He struggled to control the fire that could easily end the lives of his parents. After a moment, Midnight shot the fire. The flames darted directly at the window, and blew a hole through the wall. “Mom, Dad! Through the hole! Come on!” The three ponies ran through the hole, escaping the burning room, and headed towards their house.

Canterlot Residential Area, 11:35 P.M., Monday, July 17th, 2001, 10 years ago

“Midnight,” His mom opened his door, “Midnight are you gonna be okay?” The dark-grey pony was sitting in the corner of his room, lights off, back to the wall.

“I’ll be fine.” Midnight kept his head to the ground, “Just, give me some time alone.”

“Okay, I hope you get better soon.” She closed the door, and left.

“What’s wrong with me?” Midnight Flare was a dark grey alicorn pony from Canterlot. Though his entire family consisted of unicorns, he never really questioned his special case. He was still too young to understand it. His entire family wa ponies that could use magic, but he was different. His magic was only fire based. He had never been good at controlling that fire. His temper always got the best of him. “I’ll never be a positive influence on Twilight. If I stay, only bad will come of it. I’ll probably burn all of Canterlot down if I don’t do something about it. I need to leave, and start over.” He walked out of his bedroom, and snuck passed his parents.

He walked up to Twilight’s bedroom, and the door was partially open. He peered into the room to see little Twilight, sleeping peacefully under her star covered bed sheet. “I’m sorry, Twilight.” He frowned, and walked away, out the front door. Walking away from his home, he stopped and looked back to it. “I’m sorry, Mom and Dad.” He ran out of the city and flew into the air. “I need to start over. In a place that I can be accepted. Maybe I can go to a flights school in Cloudsdale. That way I can concentrate on my flying instead of my fire. Then it’s decided, I’ll go to Cloudsdale and try to find the Flights school.”

Chapter 2: Rainbow Dash

West Cloudsdale Post Office, 9:05 A.M., Saturday July 21st 2001, 10 years ago

“Rainbow Dash. Wake up.” Rainbow Dash heard a faint voice calling out to her. “Wake up little filly.” Rainbow opened her eyes to see Mr. Hooves standing in front of her. “All the other new mail ponies are here now. Come on, get up, let’s get goin’. You don’t wanna be late for the new recruit meeting, do yah?” Mr. Hooves spoke softly.

Rainbow slowly started standing up while working the tiredness out of her joints. She stood up, and started walking to the mailroom right behind Mr. Hooves. As they stepped into the room, she saw four other fillies standing and waiting. One pony stood out over the rest. She looked liked a younger, more feminine version of Mr. Hooves, but something about her was off. She had crossed eyes and she kept looking in random directions and smiling at nothing.

Rainbow Dash walked up to her, trying to start a conversation. “Hi, my name is Rainbow Dash, what’s yours?”

The little gray filly turned towards Rainbow Dash, eyes crossed, and replied. “I like muffins.”

“Um...okay then.” Rainbow Dash slowly backed away in confusion. The cross eyed smile didn’t leave the filly’s face. “What was that all about?”

“Alright, listen up, fillies. Since this is your first day here, we’re gonna go over the basics. Each of you will be getting here at 5:00 every morning so we can get all the papers out before anypony is up. Here’s a map of each of the routes you will take every day.” He pointed to a large map, representing West Cloudsdale with different colors of lines across it. “This map will be up here every day just in case you forget. Each of you will have one of these lockers here that will be for your paper bags. Every week, you will each get 10 bits when you get back from your paper route on Saturday.”

“10 bits! That’s all!?” Rainbow dash thought to herself. “It costs 200 bits to get into flight school, and junior flight school starting in 4 weeks. There is no way I’m getting in this year.”

West Cloudsdale Post Office, 6:00, Saturday August 4th 2001, 10 years ago

Rainbow Dash flew in through the front door of the post office into the mailroom. “I’m done with my paper route, Mr. Hooves” She hung up her mailbag in her locker.

“Here’s yer 10 bits, Rainbow.” Mr. Hooves said as he got the bits out of his bag. “Have a happy rest of your birthday.”

“Thanks, Mr. H. See you tomorrow morning.” She headed to the front door, ready to head towards her house.

“Oh wait, I almost forgot.” Mr. Hooves pulled something out of his bag. “Ditzy made you this muffin for yer birthday. She wanted me to give it to you.”

Rainbow looked at the muffin but something seemed off about it. The muffin was dark black. It was burnt to a crisp.

“Did she... burn the muffins?” Rainbow asked him.

“Yep.” You could hear the regret in Mr. Hooves voice. “The instructions told her to put them in the oven at 450, but she put them in for 750. We have a whole batch at home. We still eat them because we don’t wanna upset her. But she told me to make sure that one got to you.”

She looked at the sad little burnt muffin for a bit. “Um... Tell her I said thanks.”

Mr. Hooves sighed. “Will do Dash. I understand if you don’t want the muffin. Well, see yah tomorrow.”

She left out the front door and started heading back to her house. She flew back to her home, eagerly waiting to spend her birthday with her family.

Rainbow Dash slowed down and landed in front of her house. “Mom Dad, I’m back, where’s my cake? Because all I have right now is this burnt muffin.” She looked around her house to see her parents come around the corner. “There you two are. So, how are we gonna spend the rest of my birthday?”

“Rainbow, honey, please have a seat.” Rainbow’s mother was pointing to their couch. ”We need to talk.” Her parents sat down in the two chairs across from the couch.

“Rainbow, your father and I have been talking. We’ve seen how hard you’ve been working for the past two weeks. Even though we still don’t agree with it, we’ve come to a decision, and we decided to pay for your enrollment into West Cloudsdale Junior Flight School.”

Rainbow sat on the couch in shock. She then sprung off of the couch screaming, “Yyyyyyes! I’m gonna go to flight school! I’m gonna go to flight school!”

“Alright Rainbow, calm down before you break something. Flight school doesn’t even start for two weeks” Her mother said, worryingly.

“This is so awesome! Alright, now let’s get some of that cake, I’m starving.”

Chapter 2: Fluttershy

Cloudsdale Junior Speedster Flight School, 7:30 A.M., Monday, August 20th, 2001, 10 years ago

“Well Fluttershy, I’m glad to see you’re finally coming outta your shell and trying new things. Now go on, get in there and make some friends. Here is your schedule. Make sure to be nice, be assertive, and to always listen to the teachers.”

“Okay mom, I will.” Fluttershy tried to hide how nervous she was, but it wasn’t working. She kept looking down and avoided eye contact like she always does, “Bye mom, I’ll see you after school today.”

“Make sure to tell us all about your first day when you get back.”

Fluttershy smiled, then walked away, heading through the front door stepping in to the first few steps of the new challenge that waits in front of her. She looked around seeing one long hall with plenty of lockers, classrooms and other intertwining halls. Not many other ponies were here yet, but she did see one large gray pony with a black mane and three footballs for a cutie mark walking towards her. He had a smirk on his face, like he was looking for trouble.

“Oh no” Fluttershy thought to herself, “he’s coming my way. What do I do? He doesn’t look very friendly.”

“Hey little lady” he said, “What’s your name?”

Fluttershy stood there, staring at the ground “Um, I’m Flutte...”

“I can’t here yah, speak up!”

*squeak* “I’m Flutters...”

“If yah don’t speak up, nopony’s gonna here yah!”

“I’m, um, *squeak* Fluttershy” by this time Fluttershy was scared out of her mind, shaking before the bully that stood before her.

“Well Fluttershy, I don’t think such a weak little pony like you should even be going to school here. I mean this is a school for strong ponies to be good fliers. And well, just look at you. Your small, timid, weak, you can hardly even say your own name. You should just get outta here before things get worse for yah.”

“Um, you’re probably right. I’ll just...”

“Hey!” the grey pony from before walked up from behind the bully, “Are you picking on innocent ponies?! Try picking on ponies you’re own size! If you’re gonna pick on ponies pick on me, and if you’re gonna pick on me you better prove that you’re better than me!”

“Fine, I will. Hows about a race?”

“Good enough for me, but not just any race. You got tricks class 2nd hour?”

“Yeah, what about it?

“There’s a sprint course in the tricks class’s classroom, no wings aloud. Up for the challenge?

“I’ll see you on the sprint course second course second hour!”

“Good, now get outta here! Oh yeah, never let me catch you making fun of Fluttershy again!” He took a step forward and flames shot out of his nose at the bully. The bully ran away as fast as he could. The colt walked over to Fluttershy who was on the ground trembling and crying in fear. “It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you. Don’t worry about him, if you ever get yourself into trouble with bullies here, don’t be afraid to tell me. Let’s start over, my name is Midnight Flare, but most call me Midnight for short.”

“Um, my name is Fluttershy.” Fluttershy stood up but still avoided all eye contact

“Well it’s nice to meet you Fluttershy, but I already knew your name, I heard that jerk off say it. You know, I think we’re gonna make good friends Fluttershy. You should probably get to your 1st hour early, that always looks good to the teachers.” He turned around, and started walking away. “See yah later Fluttershy, maybe we’ll have some classes together.”

“Hmm, he was nice.” Fluttershy thought to herself, “Let’s see where my first hour is.” She pulled her schedule out of her bag and set it on the ground. “1st hour is Physics of Aerodynamics in room 935.” She looked at a map just to her left, “That’s just around the next corner on the left.” She picked up her schedule and put it back in her bag. She started walking to her class. Stepping into the classroom, she noticed no one was there but the teacher. “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I here too early?”

“Oh no, come in please.” The teacher said smiling at her, “Please, take any seat in the room you want.”

Fluttershy looked around at the seats, and she walked up and sat in a chair in the back of the room. She looked around the classroom, she looked out the window and saw some kind of contraption but she couldn’t tell what it was. Then she looked at the bottom of the desks and noticed that all of the desks were bolted to the floor. “That’s weird.” She thought to herself.

“So, what’s your name so I can check you off as here?”

“My name is Fluttershy.” she said to the teacher, but this time, she was making eye contact with the teacher.

“Well Fluttershy, Welcome to your first day of Understanding of Aerodynamics. We won’t be starting class for about 15 minutes, so feel free to enjoy your free time.”

“Um, okay. I’d like to just relax before class starts, I mean, if that’s okay with you.”

Chapter 2: Midnight Flare

West Cloudsdale, 5:30 A.M., Saturday July 21st 2001, 10 years ago

“Alright, time to find a flight school. Maybe someone around town knows where I could find one.” He flew around above Cloudsdale looking to see if any pony was even awake. There was an old gray pony walking down the street. “Perfect, maybe the old pony can help.” He started flying down towards the pony. “Hey old guy, I gotta ask you a question.” he stopped and landed next to the gray pony.

“What can I do for you little filly?” The old pony asked him

“Where can I find a flight school around this part of Cloudsdale?”

“Well sorry little filly, but I don’t know where the flight school. But If you see any pony else, ask them, “Where is Cloudsdale junior speedster flight school?” and they’ll probably tell you where it is.”

“Okay, thank you.” He flapped his wings and flew away. “Now, where could I find another pony around here?” He looked around for a while but couldn’t find any pony outside yet, “Wow there really is no pony to be found. I wonder what time it is. It seems like it’s really early. *sigh* Might as well keep looking. Looking around for a bit longer he looked down and saw a little blue filly with a rainbow mane staring at him. He turned and flew down next to her, “Where is Cloudsdale junior speedster flight school?”

“Oh, it’s somewhere that way. There should be a big sign that says ‘Cloudsdale Junior Speedster Flight School’ on it.” the little pony said nervously.

“Thanks.” He picked himself up, and flew off. He looked back to see the blue pony was still watching him. “I wonder what she’s thinking.” he looked down beside him to see a little yellow filly running and crying. “Hey maybe I can help her. This is the perfect opportunity for me to re-invent myself.” He flew down next to her, “Hey, slow down. I just wanna talk.” She slowed down to a complete stop, “What’s wrong, why are you crying?”

“I-It's nothing, we just crashed into each other, it was all my fault, I’m wasting your time aren’t I, I should just get going.” She ran away scared through the front door of a house close by.

“Wait!” he called out to. But she was long gone. “Ran into who, that blue pony? Whatever, Better get to flight school.” He got back into the air again and started heading towards the flight school, “I wonder what was wrong with those other ponies? It seemed like they were afraid of me. No no, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions like that. Maybe they’re just timid ponies.” He kept flying through the sky until the gigantic flight school was in his sight. “Finally, flight school is in my sight.” He flew down in front of the school only to figure out that it was locked. He hit his head on the front door, “Fuck, well it looks like I’ll be here for a while.” He sat down next to the building, “*sigh* it’s gonna be a lot harder to change myself then I thought. I’ll never forget what I did last night. Innocent lives lost because I can’t control myself. Mom and dad were wrong, I don’t want to learn to make my fire stronger, I wanna learn how to control that fire. I guess I should just try to stop thinking about it and try to get some sleep. I was up all night flying.” He lied down on the ground, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

Cloudsdale Junior Speedster Flight School, 7:30 A.M., Saturday July 21st 2001, 10 years ago

“Wa--up, --ome one, wake u--”

Midnight opened his eyes to see an older, brown pony standing next to him, “Who are you?” Midnight asked tiredly

“The name’s Red Niedzwiecki, I’m a teacher here at the flight school, but since no pony can remember my last name they all just call me Mr. N. I’m guessin’ yer here to sign up fer flight school.”

“Yeah, I am. How did you know that?”

“Oh come on, can yah really think of a better reason for a pony to be sitting in front of a school at such an early time when the school year hadn’t even started yet? Do yah got the money to get it fer this upcomin’ year? I can take it and have yah paid in fer the next year”

“How much is it? I can pay whatever entree fee you have.”

“It’ll be 200 bits. If yah got that then I can take yah inside fer some paperwork.”

“I’ve got more than 200 bits.”

“Perfect, lets go in and get yer paperwork filled out erm... What’s yer name?”

“My name’s Midnight Flare, but every pony just calls me Midnight.”

Chapter 3: Rainbow Dash

Cloudsdale Junior Speedster Flight School, 7:55 A.M., Monday, August 20th, 2001, 10 years ago

“Good luck on your first day honey. Don’t get yourself into any trouble. Always listen to what the teachers say.”

“Mom, calm down. It’s not like I’m leaving Cloudsdale forever.” Rainbow looked up at the sign on the top of the building. “I’m finally here. I’m gonna be the greatest flier to come out of Cloudsdale!”

She walked up to the front door and began slowly opening it. Peering her head inside, looking in awe at the new adventure that lied before her. Rainbow Dash only took a few steps into the building until she saw three male ponies walking directly towards her. One of them was a dark brown pony with a dumbbell for a cutie mark. Another was a large gray pony with a black mane and three footballs for a cutie mark. The third, who seemed to be leading the pack, had a light-brown coat with a brunette mane. The one in the middle walked up to Rainbow Dash, standing over her. “You must be one of the freshies this year. What’s your name?” The three ponies stood over her, staring at her, but Rainbow dash wasn’t bothered by it.

“The name’s Rainbow Dash, and I’m gonna be the greatest flier to come outta Cloudsdale.” She said happily while pointing her nose in the air with confidence.

The three ponies laughed at her, hysterically. “You? Best flier outta Cloudsdale? No way, you’re just a girl.” The three began laughing at her again.

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!” Rainbow screamed at the three bullies before her.

“It means that because you’re a girl, you will never be a great flier. Because boys are obviously better fliers then girls.” said the large gray pony.

“Oh yeah?! Why don’t I prove that I’m a better flier than you?!”

“A race, after school, the three of us against you. Don’t be late.”

“Don’t you worry, I’ll be early! I’ll be the first one there! I’ll bring an audience, just so they can see you all lose!”

The three ponies walked away laughing at Rainbow dash. “What is wrong with those boys?” she wondered, angrilly, “I’ll show them. They’ll get what they deserve!”

Rainbow stood in the hall for a while, staring at the ground. When suddenly, *RRIIINNGG* “Oh my gosh! I need to get to class!” She scurried down the hall into a small classroom. Every desk was taken but one in the corner. Sitting next to that desk was a pony with a familiar face to Rainbow Dash. “It’s that yellow filly from before!” she thought, in surprise.

The teacher walked up to Rainbow, “Hello, welcome to Physics of Aerodynamics. I’m guessing you’re Rainbow Dash. Please have a seat over there by Fluttershy in the corner so we can get class started.”

Rainbow Dash walked over to the empty seat. She looked over at Fluttershy, who was looking at Rainbow Dash, but Fluttershy quickly looked away when she made eye contact with Rainbow.

“Alright class, welcome to your first day of Physics of Aerodynamics. Now ,for our first lesson of the day I need all of you to find a partner.”

Everypony in the room started scattering around the room trying to get with their friends, but nopony went towards Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash. “This is my chance to make a friend here.” Rainbow thought to herself. She tried moving her desk towards Fluttershy, but the desk wouldn’t budge. Rainbow fell out of the desk with a loud thump.

Fluttershy looked down at her. “Are you okay?” She asked

“I’m fine.” Rainbow said while getting up.

“Did you not see the desks are bolted to floor?”

“No, but how did you know that?

“Sometimes you just gotta stop to see the small things.”

“Okay everypony, for our first activity we will need to step outside. Everypony get with their partners.” The teacher led the class through a pair of double doors out to an elevated platform with a seesaw next to it. “Alright, this exercise is all about picking up speed based on the way you fly. One pony will jump off the top of the platform and land on the seesaw, which will launch their partner into the air. Once you get to the height that of the platform, start flapping your wings. If you do it right you should get the highest possible speed from this exercise. You and your partner will each take a turn to do both parts. Who wants to go first?”

Rainbow Dash stood and started jumping up and down ecstatically. “Oh, we do! Me and Fluttershy do!”

“Good, now one of you get to the top and get ready to jump off.”

“I’ll be the first to jump off.” Rainbow said “Fluttershy, you go get yourself on the see-saw.” The two ponies readied themselves on the platform and seesaw. “Tell me when you’re ready Fluttershy!”

“Um, I’m ready. I mean, if that’s okay with you.” Rainbow Dash jumped off and landed on the other end of the seesaw, launching Fluttershy into the air. Fluttershy flapped her wings as hard as she could, but only managed to land on the platform.”

“It’s okay!” Yelled the teacher, “Not every pony can do it on their first try.”

Rainbow Dash worked her way from one end of the seesaw to the other. “Ready when you are, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy looked down at the platform, squeaked, took a few steps back, and started shaking.

"Fluttershy? What’s wrong?” Rainbow asked.

Fluttershy looked down at Rainbow. “This is really high up...”

“Come on Fluttershy, just jump. Trust me, if you jump off you will be safe.”

Fluttershy stood on top of the platform, shaking for a few seconds. Then she squeaked again, closed her eyes, and jumped off. She landed on the seesaw and launched Rainbow off of her end. Rainbow Dash flew into the air, sped up, and started doing flips and barrel rolls, then landed down on the ground next to Fluttershy. “See, I told you you’d be fine. Come on, let’s go watch the rest of the class.”

“What class do you have next?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh, um, I’m in formation flying next.”

“Oh, well, I’m in tricks class next. So I guess I will see you in 1st hour every day.”

“Okay class,” the teacher spoke up, “it looks like that’s all the time we have today.”

“Okay, well, see yah later Fluttershy.” Rainbow walked out of the classroom and pulled her school schedule out of her bag. “Let’s see, my next class is tricks class, which is in room 115. Alright lets get going.” She walked down the hall until she saw a large pair of double doors with the number 115 next to it. Stepping through the door, she walked into a large room with an obstacle course, a cloud ring course, and a sprinting course. Rainbow Dash looked around the room, looking at what she found to be the most amazing training course she had ever seen. And standing at the beginning of the sprint course, was none other then the flaming maned, dark-grey alicorn colt. He was racing one of the three bullies.

“I hope you run faster then you can fly with those tiny wings of yours.” He taunted the large gray bully.

“Shut up and run!”

“Y’all ready?” The ref. asked.

“Ready!” both ponies yelled out, with their hooves ready to run, and their eyes staring at the finish line.

“On yer marks, get set, GO!”

Both ponies sprinted past the starting line; the flaming maned pony was quickly pulling ahead. The gray pony desperately tried catching up, but he started slowing down, and collapsed just a few feet from the finish line. The alicorn walked up to the gray bully, watching him gasp for breath.

The dark-grey alicorn looking down at the other pony in pity, “See, you’re all bark and no bite. If you’re going to pick on such an innocent little pony like Fluttershy, you at least should have the skills to back it up.” He scowled at the pony on the ground, and walked away.

Rainbow Dash quickly flew up and caught up to him. “Wow, that was awesome! You showed that pony!”

“He was picking on another innocent pony named Fluttershy this morning. The poor little thing was scared out of her mind.”

“Yeah, I know Fluttershy. We met last hour and became good friends. I helped her out when she got scared doing our group exercise.”

The dark-grey pony took a closer look at Rainbow, “Hey, I remember you. You’re that pony that helped me find this place. Never expected to see such a little pony like you here.”

“Hey! What is that supposed to mean?!”

“Nah, I’m kidding. You seem like a much better pony than most of the other ponies here. Hey, what’s your name?”

“My name is Rainbow Dash, and I wanna be the best flier to come outta Cloudsdale!”

“Name’s Midnight Flare, but you can just call me Midnight for short. Sorry if I made you mad, I didn’t think you would take that seriously.”

“Sorry, one of those bullies said the same exact thing to me before school today.”

“Those guys? Don’t worry about them. They’re just full of themselves. If you ask me, you should just ignore them.”

“Yeah, I might be racing the three of them after school today.”

“Do you want me to handle them?”

“I can’t let you do that! I wanna be able to prove myself. If I backed down and let someone else handle this for me, they would never let me live that down.”

“Alright, just don’t let them try anything funny. Why don’t I come

and cheer you on after school?”

“That would be great. Can’t wait to see you there.”

“I think we’re gonna be good friends, Rainbow.”

“Me too Midnight. Hey, let’s have a hoof race! Loser pays for

lunch.”

“Good idea. Get ready to pay for lunch, Dash.”

Chapter 3: Midnight Flare

Cloudsdale Junior Speedster Flight School, 7:27 A.M., Monday, August 20th, 2001, 10 years ago

Midnight walked into the school through the front door, “*sigh* My first day of my new life here. I better go to the office and get my schedule. Now where would that be?” Midnight looked around and found a map of the school, “Perfect. uhmm, there it is, let’s go.” He walked down the main hall until he made it into the office, “Hello, I’m here to pick up my schedule.”

The pony at the front desk smiled at him, “Hold on hunn. Let me just get to schedules. Alright hunn, what’s your name?”

“It’s Midnight Flare, ma’am.”

“Oh what a cute name, and so polite. Hold on hunn let me just print this for you.”

“Uh, thanks.”

“Alright, here you go hunn.” she handed Midnight his schedule, “have a nice day. I hope you like it here hunn.”

“Thank you ma’am.” He walked out of the office and back down the main hall, “no pony has ever said anything that nice to me. I think things are gonna go good here. I wonder what classes I have right away.” He pulled his schedule out of his bag, “Let’s see, I’ve got speed class 1st hour in room 141. 2nd hour is tricks class in room 115. Tricks class, I like it. I should go check that room out.” Midnight put his schedule back in his bag. He walked down the hall until he got to room 115. The room had a giant pair of double doors. He peered his head through the doors and his jaw dropped in amazement, “ Oh, my, god. A huge obstacle course, a long cloud ring course, and even a sprinting course. Now this class is more my style.” He left the room and started heading down the main hall, “I think I’m gonna love this school. Hey wait, is that who I think it is?” He looked down the main hall to see the yellow filly he saw before, “Who’s that with her?” A large gray pony stood over her.

“Well Fluttershy, I don’t think such a weak little pony like you should even be going to school here. I mean this is a school for strong ponies to be good fliers.

“Oh shit, he’s bullying her! Not on my fucking watch!

And well, just look at you. Your small, timid, weak, you can hardly even say your own name. You should just get outta here before things get worse for yah.”

“Hey!” both ponies looked at him “what are you doing picking on innocent ponies?! Try picking on ponies you’re own size! If you’re gonna pick on ponies pick on me, and if you’re gonna pick on me you better prove that you’re better than me!”

“Fine, I will. hows about a race.”

“Good enough for me, but not just any race. You got tricks class 2nd hour?”

“Yeah, what about it?

“There’s a sprint course in the tricks class’s classroom, no wings aloud. Up for the challenge?

“I’ll see you on the sprint course second course second hour!”

“Good, now get outta here! Oh yeah, never let me catch you making fun of Fluttershy again!” Midnight took a step forward shot flames from out of his nose at the bully, who was running away from Midnight as fast as he could. Midnight walked over to the yellow filly who was on the ground trembling and crying in fear. “It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you. Don’t worry about him, if you ever get yourself into trouble with bullies here, don’t be afraid to tell me. Let’s start over, my name is Midnight Flare, but most call me Midnight for short.”

The yellow filly stood up but avoided eye contact, “Um, my name is Fluttershy.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you Fluttershy, but I already knew your name, I heard that jerk off say it. You know, I think we’re gonna make good friends Fluttershy. You should probably get to your 1st hour early, that always looks good to the teachers.” He turned around, and started walking away. “See yah later Fluttershy, maybe we’ll have some classes together.”

“Alright I can’t wait for 2nd hour! Now, I should probably get to 1st hour early.”

Speed Class, 8:00 A.M., August 20th, 2001, 10 years ago

“Good morning class, and welcome to your first day with me here in speed class. We’ll start off with randomly assigned partners.” The teacher pulled out a list from under his desk, “When I call your name, I want you to find your partner. See every pony, I told you that name tags have a purpose in school, but know pony ever listens to me. Every pony just thinks my ideas” he continued mumbling to himself. Every pony in the class was looking around confused.

“What’s his problem?” Midnight thought to himself. He looked over to a griffin on the other side of the room. She was scowling at him, never looking away, “Now what’s her problem? I haven’t even said a word to her.”

“Okay class, I’m sorry about that. Just, when I call your name just please fine whoever has the name tag of your partner’s name. Let me see, Derpy and Arnie, Medley and Cloud, Midnight and Gilda.

Midnight looked around the room for whoever had the name tag with “Gilda” on it. The one named Gilda, was no other then the griffin who had been scowling at him for the whole class. “*sigh* Let’s get this over with.” He hopped out of his desk, and walked over to Gilda hoping for the best of this experience, “Hey, names Midnight.”

“Yeah, I heard the teacher say your name.”

“Sorry, just trying to be polite.”

“Polite? *pfft* buzz off, dweeb.”

“Oh, Sweet Celestia” he thought to himself, “This is gonna be harder then I thought.”

"Okay students, we will begin today’s lesson by learning about basic drafting. You see, when flying, the wind resistance around you forms a V shape. If you look at this graph here, you can see how the vortices-”

“Oh come on dude, we know about drafting here! Can we just get on with the class activity today so we can get it over with?! I don’t wanna be with be stuck with this dweeb all class!”

“Gilda! I’ve told you this before to be nice to your classmates. You know what, I’ve argued with you enough Gilda. Let’s just get the partner activity done with. Come on class, let’s go outside.”

Midnight turned to Gilda, “Wow, you're nice.”

“Shut it dweeb. You’re the freshie here, so you’ll be listening to me. You’ll be drafting my wind. Got that freshie?”

“Whatever gets me to stop working with you.”

“Okay, now when every pony gets into the air, I want you to draft right behind your partner. Whoever is drafting will need to pick up enough speed to pass your other partner.”

Gilda and Midnight took off one behind the other. They got into perfect position for drafting. Midnight tried to pass Gilda but she kept speeding up, “Hey! Slow down, I need to pass you!”

“No way dude, I’m not letting a dweeb like you pass me!” She started going even faster.

“God damn it, slow down! Do you wanna complete the exercise or not?!”

“*sigh* Fine! But not for you dweeb, for me!” She quit accelerating. Midnight picked up speed off of the draft and quickly made it passed Gilda. The two landed and walked back into the class scowling at each other.

“I can just tell,” He thought to himself, “She’s gonna be trouble for me.”

Tricks Class, 8:30 A.M., August 20th, 2001, 10 years ago

Midnight looked around the class, trying to find the boy that was bullying Fluttershy. He turned around to see the bully walk through the front doors of the class.

“You ready to take back what you said to Fluttershy?”

“Whenever you’re ready to see how much better I am then you.”

Midnight walked up to a ref in the class, “Excuse me, We’d like a race on the sprinting track please.”

“Sure thing, lemme just get yer wings harnessed down.” The ref grabbed two ropes and tied each one around both ponies so they couldn’t use there wings, “There, all tied up.” The three ponies walked over to the sprint course. Midnight and the bully readied themselves at the starting line.

“I hope you run faster then you can fly with those tiny wings of yours.” He said to the large gray bully.

“Shut up and run!”

“Y’all ready?” The ref. asked.

“Ready!” both ponies yelled out with their hooves ready to run, and their eyes staring at the finish line.

On yer marks, get set, GO!”

They both dashed as fast as they could over the starting line. Midnight quickly pulled ahead. The gray pony desperately tried catching up. Midnight crossed the finish line then quickly turned around to see the bully collapsed just a few feet from the finish line. He walked up to the gray bully, who was desperately trying to catch his breath.

Midnight looked down at the bully in pity, “See, your all bark and no bite. If your going to pick on such an innocent little pony like Fluttershy, you at least should have the skills to back it up.” He scowled at the pony on the ground, and walked away.

While untying the rope around him, a little blue filly flew up to him, “Wow, that was awesome! You showed that pony!”

“He was picking on another innocent pony named Fluttershy this morning. The poor little thing was scared out of her mind.”

“Yeah, I know Fluttershy. We met last hour and became good friends after I helped her through when she got scared doing our group exercise.”

Midnight looked down at the blue filly, “She looks familiar.” He remembered the pony who was staring at him from when he first got into Cloudsdale, “Hey, I remember you. You’re that pony that helped me find this place. Never expected to see such a little pony like you here.”

“Hey! What is that supposed to mean!”

“Nah, I’m kidding. You seem like much a better pony then most of the other ponies here. Hey, what’s your name?”

“My name is Rainbow Dash, and I wanna be the best flier to come outta Cloudsdale!”

“Name’s Midnight Flare, but you can just call me Midnight for short. Sorry if I made you mad, I didn’t think you would take that seriously.”

“Sorry, one of those bullies said the same exact thing to me before school today.”

“Those guys? Don’t worry about them, they’re just full of themselves. If you ask me, you should just ignore them.”

“Yeah, I might be racing the three of them after school today.”

“Do you want me to handle them?”

“I can’t let you do that! I wanna be able to prove myself. If I backed down and let someone else handle this for me, they would never let me live that down.”

“Alright, just don’t let them try anything funny. Why don’t I come and cheer you on after school?”

“That would be great. Can’t wait to see you there.”

“I think we’re gonna be good friends Rainbow.”

“Me too Midnight. Hey, let’s have a foot race! Loser pays for lunch.”

“Good idea, get ready to pay for lunch, Dash.”

Chapter 4: Rainbow Dash

Control Class, 9:30 A.M., August 20th 2001, 10 years ago

“Good morning class. How are you doing today? First off, to maintain a calm atmosphere, let’s take our time to get to know each other. If you see someone here you don’t know, go and chat with them.”

Rainbow Dash looked around the room for some pony interesting. She spotted a griffin across the room by herself. “She looks cool.” Dash thought to herself, “I think I’ll go talk to her.” She got out of her seat and flew up to the griffin, “Hi, my name’s Rainbow Dash. What’s yours?”

The griffin looked at her, “The name’s Gilda. What’s up?”

“Nothing really, I’m just happy to finally get into this school. My parents have always been uptight about what I do, and since I’ve been trying so hard to get into this school, they paid me in for my birthday.”

“Well that’s cool. I don’t really care for many of the freshies this year, but you’re okay Rainbow Dash. so have you made anymore friends here yet?”

“Yeah, I’ve gotten a new friend every hour so far.”

“Well that’s good, you seem to be popular here.”

“Thanks, I think we’re gonna make good friends too.”

“So do I dude. So do I.”

Cafeteria, 12:30 P.M., August 20th 2001, 10 years ago

“I still can’t believe you beat me Midnight.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, I’ll pay for both of us.”

“Wow, thanks man. Oh hey, it’s Fluttershy! Let’s go sit by her.”

“Sounds good to me.” The two flew over to sit next to Fluttershy. “Hey Fluttershy, how’s your day been going?”

“Um... it’s been fine.”

“Something wrong Fluttershy?” Midnight asked her.

“Don’t worry about her Midnight,”Rainbow said, “She’s just being timid Fluttershy like always.”

“You’re probably right.” The two ponies sat down next their friend and set their food down on the small table, “So Fluttershy have you made anymore friends today?” the two ponies continued talking.

Rainbow Dash looked around the room and saw Gilda was looking for a place to sit. She sat up to get Gilda’s attention, “Hey Gilda, over here!” Midnight and Fluttershy quickly looked over at Gilda. Fluttershy squeaked and looked down, and Midnight scowled at her. Gilda started to walking over scowling at Midnight. “Oh no” Rainbow thought to herself, “Did they get into a fight or something?”

“Why is she coming over here?!” Midnight asked

“What?! Got a problem dweeb?! Rainbow Dash is my friend too yah know!”

“So why are you so nice to Rainbow Dash but you’re a complete bitch to anyone else?! I don’t think that makes any sense!”

“Rainbow Dash is cool unlike you two.”

“You never even gave me a chance! You hated me before you even heard me saying a word! And what about Fluttershy?! What’s wrong with her?!”

“She didn’t know how to make a basic V-line.”

“So what?! She’s new here like all three of us!”

“Alright dude, you wanna prove yourself that your cool, then fight me! Right here, right now!” Midnight and Gilda hopped out of their seats and into an opening in the cafeteria. Every pony in the cafeteria gathered around to see the upcoming fight. Gilda jumped at Midnight with her claws ready, but he quickly moved out of the way and jammed his horn into her side. His hair scolded her side. She quickly pulled away.

“Oh crap, two of my friends are fighting!”Rainbow thought to herself, “What should I do?!” Rainbow ran out of the lunch room to the nearest classroom. “Mr N. We have a problem in the cafeteria! Come quick!” The two ponies flew as fast as they could into the lunch room. They came into the lunchroom to see Gilda pinning Midnight to the ground and clawing at his face.

Mr N. burst through the crowd of ponies. He grabbed Gilda and pulled her off of Midnight, “Both of yah stop it now!” Midnight picked himself up off of the floor, “What were yah guys doin?! This is not the way we want our students here actin! Come on, let’s get yah both to the nurse.” The three of them walked out of the cafeteria. Every pony went back to their tables like nothing had happened. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked at each other, and looked back. Not another word was said for the rest of lunch.

Cloudsdale Junior Speedster Flight School Ring Course, 3:05 P.M., August 20th 2011

Rainbow Dash looked around to see if any of her friends were around. She saw that Fluttershy and Gilda sitting on the side lines, “Good luck Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy said softly. Rainbow looked around to see if Midnight was watching, but he was no where to be found.

“Maybe he’s still in the nurse’s room.” Dash thought, “He’ll probably be out soon.” Midnight then walked out of the school to the ring course without a scratch on him, “Midnight, you made it.”

“Course I did Dash, I wouldn’t miss you out shining those bullies for anything. Amazing work those nurses do though, not a single scratch left.” He flew over and sat down next to Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash and the three bullies got the starting line. “See this flank boys?" She pointed her flank in the air. the bullies stared at it, blank expression, "take a good look at it, because it's what you'll be seeing for the whole race!" The bullies kept staring then shook their heads to regain their sense.

“Whatever Rainbow Dash, you’re gonna, um be staring at our flanks for the hole race!”

“Yeah, and at least ours have cutie marks!”

Midnight suddenly yelled out from the side lines, “Just shut up and race already!”

The four ponies readied themselves, ref standing on a cloud with checkered flag readied. He lifted the flag up, then waved it back down. The four ponies shot out of the starting line dashing from ring to ring. Rainbow Dash slowly but surely pulling ahead, and the gray bully slowly falling back. He then ran out of breath, and stopped on a cloud. Both of the other bullies were desperately trying to catch up, “See, What’d I tell yah? The whole race!”

One of the bullies growled at her, “Not on my watch!” He sped up and grabbed the very end of her tail with his teeth. He quickly yanked her over and she flew off of the path and into a pillar. She started losing consciousness and started falling to the ground. She could barely see the two bullies laughing as they flew away through the course. She kept falling, down to the ground. Then she remembered the dream she had about Cloudsdale falling apart. Suddenly, her wings locked up. She couldn’t open them to keep her from falling to her death. She then looked up to see that Midnight was quickly following behind her, trying his hardest to catch up.

“Dash, I can’t catch up! You’re gonna have to try and start flying again!”

She pulled as hard as she could to get her wings open, but they wouldn’t budge, “I can’t, I just can’t!” Tears began to roll from her face.

“You have to try harder! I don’t think I’ll be able to catch you!”

She pulled and pulled until finally, her wings open up. She turned herself around and picked her flight back up just a few feet from the ground. The two ponies flew back up to Cloudsdale feeling the relief. “Thanks Midnight, I don’t think I could’ve done that alone.” The two landed up in the clouds, right at the beginning of the race. The three bullies flew up next to them.

“Ha ha, nice goin Rainbow Dash! Or should I say, Rainbow Crash?! Ha ha ha ha!”

Rainbow Dash looked down in shame, “I can’t believe I lost.”

Midnight walked up to the bullies and shot flames from his nose at them, “You think that’s funny?! She almost died, you almost killed some pony, just so you could win a race! Do you feel proud of yourself?! Do you feel happy that some innocent pony almost died because you were to stuck up to lose?! Give me one good reason for me to not burn off all of your wings, and throw you off of Cloudsdale!” He started gathering flames around his horn.

Rainbow Dash quickly flew in front of him, “That’s enough Midnight! I think they got your point.” She pointed to the three bullies who were shaking on the edge of the clouds, scared out of their minds.”

He put out the flames, “Fine.” The four friends gathered together, and walked back into the school.

One of the bullies stood up, “Ha ha, that’s right, walk away!”

“*sigh* Hold on, I’m gonna take care of this quick. Don’t worry, I’m just gonna scare them a bit.” Midnight stepped back outside. Rainbow Dash heard a flame bursting outside and the three bullies screaming in fear. He walked back inside, “There, I’m good.” He flew up and caught up to them, “Hey do any of you guys think your parents would mind me staying with you? I’ve been living on the streets the whole time I’ve been in Cloudsdale.”

“Not me dude,”Gilda quickly said, “I wouldn’t want a dweeb living with me.”

“Yeah I would rather stick my face into a dry blender and have my face cut up, then live with you.”

“I would love if you could Midnight.” Dash said, “but my parents are such worry warts. They barely let me into the school because they were worried I would die or something.”

Midnight quickly looked over to her, “Yeah then you better not tell her about the bullies, or the fight at lunch, or the race you just had, or most of our day.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Maybe Fluttershy’s parents would let you stay with her.”

Fluttershy looked over at them, “Um, I don’t know about that Midnight, we’ll have too see with my parents, and we would have to find a place for you to stay in the house, and--”

“Fluttershy!” Midnight interrupted, “We’ll figure it out.”

Fluttershy looked back down to the floor, “Um, Okay...”

The four made it out of the front doors of the school, “Well see yah later you guys. Fluttershy, lead the way.” The two ponies flew away from the school in the direction of Fluttershy’s house.

“Well, I guess I’ll see yah tomorrow Gilda.” Rainbow Dash flew off and went back to her house.

Chapter 4: Fluttershy

Environmental Studies, 9:29 A.M., August 20th 2001, 10 years ago

Fluttershy looked around the class to see if any of her friend were in the class. She looked over to her right to see Midnight waving to her. He pointed to an open desk right next to him. She walked over and sat down in the desk next to him, “How’s it goin Fluttershy?”

“I’m fine,” She kept looking down at her desk, “How’s your day been going Midnight?”

“Last hour was fine. I see we have a friend in common, I just talked to Rainbow Dash last hour. I think we’re gonna make an interesting group of friends.”

“You know Rainbow Dash?” She looked up at Midnight

“Yeah, she’s really nice, but also really head strong. 1st hour was kinda bad. Some bitchy griffin named Gilda seemed like she hated me before I said a word to her.”

Fluttershy became shocked, “You’ve met Gilda too? I met her last hour, she wasn’t very nice to me.”

“Heh, I didn’t think she would’ve been. I wonder how Rainbow Dash will deal with her?” He looked down at his desk, then back at Fluttershy, “Fluttershy, are you, afraid of me?”

“What, why would he think I’m afraid of him?” She wondered, “Oh no, why would you think that Midnight?”

“Sorry, you just seem to be really timid around me.”

“I’m sorry, I’m always shy like that. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”

“No, it’s fine. It was my mistake.”

“Thank you for dealing with that bully for me Midnight. How did your race turn out?”

“Ha, the wimp was on the ground gasping for breath before he even made it across the finish line.”

“I think I’m gonna like our friendship Fluttershy.”

"Me too, Midnight." She smiled, "Me too."

Cafeteria, 12:30 P.M., August 20th 2001, 10 years ago

Fluttershy was at the little round table in the cafeteria by herself. Grass salad on her tray and lonely expression on her face. She looked up to see Rainbow Dash and Midnight, Oh hey, it’s Fluttershy!” said Rainbow Dash, “Let’s go sit by her.”

“Sounds good to me.” The two flew over and sat next to lonely Fluttershy. “Hey Fluttershy, how’s your day been going?”

“Um... it’s been fine.”

“Something wrong Fluttershy?” Midnight asked her.

“Don’t worry about her Midnight,”Rainbow said, “She’s just being timid Fluttershy like always.”

“You’re probably right.” The two ponies sat down next Fluttershy “So Fluttershy have you made anymore friends today?” Midnight asked her

“No, um just you two.”

“Well that’s still good

“Hey Gilda, over here!” Fluttershy and Midight both looked over. Fluttershy squeaked and looked down.

“Oh no, not her. She thought to herself, “Why is Rainbow Dash calling her over?” Gilda started to walking over scowling.

“Why is she coming over here?!” Midnight asked

“What?! Got a problem dweeb?! Rainbow Dash is my friend too yah know!”

“So why are you so nice to Rainbow Dash but you’re a complete bitch to anyone else?! I don’t think that makes any sense!”

“Please stop fighting” Fluttershy said. But no one heard her

“Rainbow Dash is cool unlike you two.”

“You never even gave me a chance! You hated me before you even heard me saying a word! And what about Fluttershy?! What’s wrong with her?!”

“She didn’t know how to make a basic V-line.”

“So what?! She’s new here like all three of us!”

“Alright dude, you wanna prove yourself that your cool, then fight me! Right here, right now!” Midnight and Gilda hopped out of their seats and into an opening in the cafeteria. Every pony in the cafeteria gathered around to see the upcoming fight. Gilda jumped at Midnight with her claws ready, but he quickly moved out of the way and jammed his horn into her side. His hair scolded her side. She quickly pulled away.

She tried again, “Please, both of you. We don’t need to fight like this.” but still no one heard her.

Rainbow ran out of the lunch room “Mr N. We have a problem in the cafeteria! Come quick!” The two ponies flew as fast as they could into the lunch room. They came into the lunchroom to see Gilda pinning Midnight to the ground and clawing at his face.

“Oh no.” Fluttershy covered her eyes trying to keep herself from seeing her friend in a fight. She could hear them both screaming, flames cracking, and then she heard a thump followed by many different scratching sounds.

“Both of yah stop it now!” Fluttershy looked up to see Mr. N was pulling Gilda out of the fight, Midnight got off of the ground covered in scratches,  “What were yah guys doin?! This is not the way we want our students here actin! Come on, let’s get yah both to the nurse.” The three of them walked out of the cafeteria. Every pony went back to their tables like nothing had happened. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked at each other, and looked back. Not another word was said for the rest of lunch.

Cloudsdale Junior Speedster Flight School Ring Course, 3:05 P.M., August 20th 2011

Fluttershy was on the side lines with Gilda. She saw Rainbow Dash looking around, then she looked up at Fluttershy and Gilda. She waved softly to Rainbow Dash, “Good luck Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy said softly. Rainbow looked around again, but she then looked sad.

Midnight then walked out of the school to the ring course without a scratch on him, “Midnight, you made it.” Rainbow Dash said

“Course I did Dash, I wouldn’t miss you out shining those bullies for anything. Amazing work those nurses do though, not a single scratch left.” He flew over and sat down next to Fluttershy. “Hey Fluttershy.”

“Good afternoon Midnight.” She smiled at him then they both looked down at Rainbow Dash

Rainbow Dash and the three bullies were at the starting line. “See this flank boys?" She pointed her flank in the air. the bullies stared at it, blank expression, "take a good look at it, because it's what you'll be seeing for the whole race!"

“Is she really? Does she really need to be so dirty at a race?"

The bullies kept staring then shook their heads to regain their sense, “Whatever Rainbow Dash, you’re gonna, um be staring at our flanks for the hole race!”

“Yeah, and at least ours have cutie marks!”

“Just shut up and race already!” Midnight suddenly yelled out.

The four ponies readied themselves, ref standing on a cloud with checkered flag readied. He lifted the flag up, then waved it back down. The four ponies shot out of the starting line and disappeared into the distant race. The ponies watching could barely see them but could still see Rainbow Dash pulling ahead, “I think Dashy is winning” Fluttershy said, “Woo hoo.” One of the bullies moved right behind Rainbow Dash. Suddenly, she was off the course and into a pillar. She started falling, “Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness!”

Midnight quickly stood up, “Shit! I’m coming Dash!” He quickly jumped off of the cloud and flew down to try and catch her. Gilda was paused in shock.

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy covered her eyes, “I can’t watch!”

“Come on dweeb, you better catch her!” Gilda was screaming down at them, “If you don’t I’ll kill you when you get back up!”

Fluttershy uncovered her eyes. She looked down to see they were approaching the ground really fast, “*squeak* come on, come on.” Rainbow Dash and Midnight quickly flew around and started to come back up, “*sigh* phew, they made it.” She sat back down on the cloud. Rainbow and Midnight landed up in the clouds, right at the beginning of the race. Fluttershy, Gilda, and the three bullies flew up next to them.

“Ha ha, nice goin Rainbow Dash!” One of the bullies said, “Or should I say, Rainbow Crash?! Ha ha ha ha!”

Rainbow Dash looked down, “I can’t believe I lost.”

Midnight walked up to the bullies and shot flames from his nose at them, “You think that’s funny?! She almost died, you almost killed some pony, just so you could win a race! Do you feel proud of yourself?! Do you feel happy that some innocent pony almost died because you were to stuck up to lose?! Give me one good reason for me to not burn off all of your wings, and throw you off of Cloudsdale!” He started gathering flames around his horn.

Rainbow Dash quickly flew in front of him, “That’s enough Midnight! I think they got your point.” She pointed to the three bullies who were shaking on the edge of the clouds, scared out of their minds.

He put out the flames, “Fine.” The four friends gathered together, and walked back into the school.

One of the bullies stood up, “Ha ha, that’s right, walk away!”

“*sigh* Hold on, I’m gonna take care of this quick. Don’t worry, I’m just gonna scare them a bit.” Midnight stepped back outside. Fluttershy heard a fire cracking, and the three bullies screaming in fear. He walked back inside, “There, I’m good.” He flew up and caught up to them, “Hey do any of you guys think your parents would mind me staying with you? I’ve been living on the streets the whole time I’ve been in Cloudsdale.”

“Not me dude,”Gilda quickly said, “I wouldn’t want a dweeb living with me.”

“Yeah I would rather stick my face into a dry blender and have my face cut up, then live with you.”

“I would love if you could Midnight.” Dash said, “but my parents are such worry warts. They barely let me into the school because they were worried I would die or something.”

Midnight quickly looked over to her, “Yeah then you better not tell her about the bullies, or the fight at lunch, or the race you just had, or most of our day.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Maybe Fluttershy’s parents would let you stay with her.”

Fluttershy looked over at them, “Um, I don’t know about that Midnight, we’ll have too see with my parents, and we would have to find a place for you to stay in the house, and--”

“Fluttershy!” Midnight interrupted, “We’ll figure it out.”

Fluttershy looked back down to the floor, “Um, Okay...”

The four made it out of the front doors of the school, “Well see yah later you guys. Fluttershy, lead the way.” The two ponies flew away from the school in the direction of Fluttershy’s house.

Chapter 4: Midnight Flare

Environmental Studies, 9:29 A.M., August 20th 2001, 10 years ago

Midnight looked around the class to see if any of her friend were in the class. He turned around to see Fluttershy in the doorway. He waved to her and pointed to an open desk right next to him. She walked over and sat down in the desk next to him, “How’s it goin Fluttershy?”

“I’m fine,” She kept looking down at her desk, “How’s your day been going Midnight?”

“Last hour was fine. I see we have a friend in common, I just talked to Rainbow Dash last hour. I think we’re gonna make an interesting group of friends.”

“You know Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy quickly looked up at him

“Yeah, she’s really nice, but also really head strong. 1st hour was kinda bad. Some bitchy griffin named Gilda seemed like she hated me before I said a word to her.”

Fluttershy became shocked, “You’ve met Gilda too? I met her last hour, she wasn’t very nice to me.”

“Heh, I didn’t think she would’ve been. I wonder how Rainbow Dash will deal with her?” He looked down at his desk, “I’ve gotta ask her.” he thought, then he looked back at Fluttershy, “Fluttershy, are you, afraid of me?”

“Oh no, why would you think that Midnight?”

“Sorry, you just seem to be really timid around me.”

“I’m sorry, I’m always shy like that. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”

“No, it’s fine. It was my mistake.”

“Thank you for dealing with that bully for me Midnight. How did your race turn out?”

“Ha, the wimp was on the ground gasping for breath before he even made it across the finish line.”

“I think I’m gonna like our friendship Fluttershy.”

"Me too, Midnight. " She smiled, "Me too."

Cafeteria, 12:30 P.M., August 20th 2001, 10 years ago

“I still can’t believe you beat me Midnight.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, I’ll pay for both of us.”

“Wow, thanks man. Oh hey, it’s Fluttershy! Let’s go sit by her.”

“Sounds good to me.” The two flew over and sat next to lonely Fluttershy. “Hey Fluttershy, how’s your day been going?”

“Um... it’s been fine.”

“Something wrong Fluttershy?” Midnight asked her.

“Don’t worry about her Midnight,”Rainbow said, “She’s just being timid Fluttershy like always.”

“You’re probably right.” The two ponies sat down next Fluttershy “So Fluttershy have you made anymore friends today?” Midnight asked her

“No, um just you two.”

“Well that’s still good.”

“Hey Gilda, over here!” Midnight and Fluttershy both looked over. She started walking over scowling at him.

“Fuck!” He thought, “Why her?! Of every pony in the school Why did it have to be her?!” He quickly yelled out, “Why is she coming over here?!”

“What?! Got a problem dweeb?! Rainbow Dash is my friend too yah know!”

“So why are you so nice to Rainbow Dash but you’re a complete bitch to anyone else?! I don’t think that makes any sense!”

“Rainbow Dash is cool unlike you two.”

“You never even gave me a chance! You hated me before you even heard me saying a word! And what about Fluttershy?! What’s wrong with her?!”

“She didn’t know how to make a basic V-line.”

“So what?! She’s new here like all three of us!”

“Alright dude, you wanna prove yourself that your cool, then fight me! Right here, right now!” Midnight and Gilda hopped out of their seats and into an opening in the cafeteria. Every pony in the cafeteria gathered around to see the upcoming fight. Gilda jumped at Midnight with her claws ready, but he quickly moved out of the way and jammed his horn into her side. His hair scolded her side. She quickly pulled away. Midnight lunged at her again but she flew up out of the way. He shot a quick flame up at her, the she dodged again. She lunged down at him and knocked him onto the ground. She began unloading on him, scratching at his face again and again.

“Both of yah stop it now!” Mr. N pulled Gilda off of him, Midnight got off of the ground covered in scratches,  “What were yah guys doin?! This is not the way we want our students here actin! Come on, let’s get yah both to the nurse.” The three of them walked out of the cafeteria, and down to the nurse’s office.

Nurse’s Office, 1:03 P.M., August 20th 2011, 10 years ago

“Okay you two, I’m just going to need to inject you both with a sleeping medicine.”

Midnight sat up, “What do you mean by tha--” The nurse interrupted him by sticking a needle into his flank, “Oh, shit..” He quickly fell back down and went to sleep. He found himself waking up slowly with bandages around his face. He tried speaking, “Mmph, Mmph” but he failed, “Alright” He thought, “Some pony better get these off of my face!”

The nurse walked up to him, “Oh, you’re up. Hold on, your wounds should be healed by now. Let me take those bandages off of your face.” She grabbed the edge of the bandage and started to unravel them. Midnight felt his mouth was becoming free to move as she finished unwrapping the bandages, “There you go, you should be fine.”

“Thanks. hey what time is it?”

The nurse looked over at a clock on her desk, “It’s 3:02, why?”

He quickly stood up and jumped out of his bed, “Sorry, I don’t wanna miss the race after school!” He flew down the hall towards the ring course, “*sigh* I’ll be fine, I’ll make it on time.” Midnight slowed himself, landed, and started walking. He then walked out of the school to the ring course to see Fluttershy and Gilda on the side lines.

Rainbow Dash was a few feet from the starting line looking at him.“Midnight, you made it.” She said.

“Course I did Dash, I wouldn’t miss you out shining those bullies for anything. Amazing work those nurses do though, not a single scratch left.” He flew over and sat down next to Fluttershy. “Hey Fluttershy.”

“Good afternoon Midnight.” She smiled at him

Rainbow Dash was at the starting line with the three bullies, “See this flank boys?" She pointed her flank in the air. the bullies stared at it, blank expression, "take a good look at it, because it's what you'll be seeing for the whole race!"

“Is she really? Does she really need to be so dirty at a race?" Fluttershy said.

The bullies kept staring then shook their heads to regain their sense, “Whatever Rainbow Dash, you’re gonna, um be staring at our flanks for the hole race!”

“Yeah, and at least ours have cutie marks!”

“Just shut up and race already!” Midnight suddenly yelled out.

The four ponies readied themselves, ref standing on a cloud with checkered flag readied. He lifted the flag up, then waved it back down. The four ponies shot out of the starting line and disappeared into the distant race. The ponies watching could barely see them but could still see Rainbow Dash pulling ahead, “I think Dashy is winning” Fluttershy said, “Woo hoo.” One of the bullies moved right behind Rainbow Dash. Suddenly, she was off the course and into a pillar. She started falling, “Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness!”

Midnight quickly stood up, “Shit! I’m coming Dash!” He quickly jumped off of the cloud and flew down to try and catch her. He flew as fast as he could trying to catch up to her, but she was falling too fast,  “Dash, I can’t catch up! You’re gonna have to try and start flying again!”

She tried pulling her wings from her side, “I can’t, I just can’t!” Tears began to roll from her face.

“You have to try harder! I don’t think I’ll be able to catch you!”

She pulled and pulled until finally, her wings open up. She turned herself around and picked her flight back up just a few feet from the ground. The two ponies flew back up to Cloudsdale feeling the relief. “Thanks Midnight, I don’t think I could’ve done that alone.”

“Ha ha, nice goin Rainbow Dash!” One of the bullies said, “Or should I say, Rainbow Crash?! Ha ha ha ha!”

Rainbow Dash looked down, “I can’t believe I lost.”

Midnight walked up to the bullies and shot flames from his nose at them, “You think that’s funny?! She almost died, you almost killed some pony, just so you could win a race! Do you feel proud of yourself?! Do you feel happy that some innocent pony almost died because you were to stuck up to lose?! Give me one good reason for me to not burn off all of your wings, and throw you off of Cloudsdale!” He started gathering flames around his horn.

Rainbow Dash quickly flew in front of him, “That’s enough Midnight! I think they got your point.” She pointed to the three bullies who were shaking on the edge of the clouds, scared out of their minds.

He put out the flames, “Fine.” The four friends gathered together, and walked back into the school.

One of the bullies stood up, “Ha ha, that’s right, walk away!”

“*sigh* Hold on, I’m gonna take care of this quick. Don’t worry, I’m just gonna scare them a bit.” Midnight stepped back outside. He  walked up to the bullies, pointed his horn down at the clouds, and shot a flame that landed just a few inches from the bullies. They took a few steps backwards and screamed in fear. He turned around and walked back inside, “There, I’m good.” He flew up and caught up to them, “Hey do any of you guys think your parents would mind me staying with you? I’ve been living on the streets the whole time I’ve been in Cloudsdale.”

“Not me dude,”Gilda quickly said, “I wouldn’t want a dweeb living with me.”

“Yeah I would rather stick my face into a dry blender and have my face cut up, then live with you.”

“I would love if you could Midnight.” Dash said, “but my parents are such worry warts. They barely let me into the school because they were worried I would die or something.”

Midnight quickly looked over to her, “Yeah then you better not tell her about the bullies, or the fight at lunch, or the race you just had, or most of our day.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Maybe Fluttershy’s parents would let you stay with her.”

Fluttershy looked over at them, “Um, I don’t know about that Midnight, we’ll have too see with my parents, and we would have to find a place for you to stay in the house, and--”

“Fluttershy!” Midnight interrupted, “We’ll figure it out.”

Fluttershy looked back down to the floor, “Um, Okay...”

The four made it out of the front doors of the school, “Well see yah later you guys. Fluttershy, lead the way.” The two ponies flew away from the school in the direction of Fluttershy’s house.

Chapter 5: Rainbow Dash

West Cloudsdale, 4:02 P.M., August 20th 2001, 10 years ago

Rainbow Dash was on her way home, flying over all of the houses in her neighbor hood, “*sigh* I hope my parents don’t some how figure out about everything today.” She flew down and landed next to her house and walked in. She called out, “Hey mom, I’m back!”

Her mom walked out from her room, “Oh good, I can’t wait to hear all about your first day.” Rainbow’s dad walked out from the bedroom as well. The three ponies walked into the living room and sat down, “So Rainbow Dash honey, how was your first day?”

“Well I um, I made a few friends today. Um, the teachers have been nice. “Rainbow Dash was struggling to think of what to say, trying not to bring up the bullies, the fight, or the race, “I like all of my classes.”

“Well that’s good but what were some things you did today?”

“Oh, umm.. nothing special really..” Rainbow Dash started to avoid eye contact almost as much as Fluttershy does.”

“Are you sure? Dash honey, we know when you’re lying to us! What happened in flight school today?!”

“Nothing! Everything is fine!” Rainbow Dash had a bad poker face as she was trying to hide her lies from her worry-some parents.

“Fine, if you won’t tell us what happened I guess We’ll just head over to the school and ask them to have you removed.” Her parents got up and started walking to the door.

“Wait!” Her parents stopped and turned around, “*inhale* I got into a fight with some bullies, two of my friends got into a fight at lunch, and one of the bullies almost killed me in a race after school!”

Her parents stood there, speechless, blank expressions, “Um, Dash honey. Your father and I are going to need some time alone to talk.” They turned around, walked into their bedroom, and shut the door behind them.

“I’m dead, I’m never gonna see my friends again!”

Her parents were talking in their room for more than an hour before finally stepping out, “Rainbow honey, we’ve come to a decision.” They sat back down in their chairs in the living room. “We’ve decided that after all of that happened, we don’t want you in that flight school anymore.”

Rainbow Dash sat up and started crying, “No, you can’t do this to me! I finally have friends, I’ve found a place I love, I belong in that school!”

“I’m sorry honey, but our minds have been made up. After dinner we are going down to that school and having you removed.”

Suddenly, they could here a voice coming from the other side of the front door, “Wait, you need to be nice and knock.”

“*sigh* Fine.” *knock* *knock* *knock*, “Hello, any pony here?

Rainbow Dash quickly jumped off of the couch and ran to open the door. The door quickly flew open revealing Midnight and Fluttershy standing on the other side, “*gasp* thank Celestia you two are here! Please, you two need to vouch for me! My parents found out everything that happened today, and now they want to take me out of flight school! Please I’m begging you! I’m despera--”

“Dash!” Midnight interupted her, “I’ll take care of it don’t worry.” He walked into the living room, “Mr. and Mrs. Dash, what seems to be the problem?”

“Rainbow honey, who is this?”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy walked into the living room, “Mom, these are my friends. This here’s Fluttershy, and he’s Midnight Flare. He’s the one who saved me during the race today.”

“Midnight for short.”

“Well I’m sorry Mr. Flare, but no matter what you say, you’re not going to change our minds. We don’t want our daughter involved with bullies.”

“Those guys? Don’t worry about that, I made sure those guys won’t be bothering any pony, any time soon.”

“And how did you do that?”

“I can be very persuasive at some times”

“And what of the fight?”

“That fight is no reason for you to take Rainbow Dash out of school. You should be glad that she knew to go and get a teacher to break up the fight. Just hear me out, If Rainbow Dash is still my friend, then I will let no harm come to her.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want any harm to come to our little Dashy.”

“Mom, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Alright, fine, but if I find out anything bad happens to her then I’m pulling her out of school, first thing.”

“You have my word, no harm will come to her.”

“Well thank you. Rainbow Honey, we’ll leave you to play with your friends.” They went back into their bedroom.

“*sigh* Thanks, I don’t think I could’ve done that with out you.”

“No problem Rainbow, I would’ve done it for any of my friends.”

“So are you staying at Fluttershy’s then?”

“Yeah, there wasn’t even much discussing to it, her parents just said sure.”

“Well that’s good, I hope you’ll be fine staying there. *yawn* Guys, I think I’m gonna hit the hay early today. We’ve had a really rough day.”

“Okay, well, we’ll see you tomorrow at school.” Midnight and Fluttershy left through the front door.

Rainbow Dash walked down the hall in the middle of her house, and into her bedroom. She hopped into her bed and the covers wrapped around her. “I wonder how tomorrow’s gonna go. I sure hope nothing bad happens. Oh whatever, I’ll be fine.” She rolled over, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

Chapter 5: Fluttershy

South Cloudsdale, 3:58 P.M., August 20th, 2001, 10 years ago

Fluttershy and Midnight were on their to Fluttershy’s home in South Cloudsdale, “I hope your parents say yes.”

“Oh don’t worry Midnight, I’m sure they will be fine with it. They’ve been wanting me to try and find friends for years, so they’ll be really happy to see this.”

“Well that’s good, your parents must be nice then.”

“Oh yes, but um, you will need to meet them yourself.” The two ponies landed in front of Fluttershy’s house, and walked inside, “Mom, dad, um...I have a friend here with me.”

“Oh well that’s great Fluttershy, what’s his name.”

“My name is Midnight Flare, but everyone calls me Midnight for short.”

“He needs a place to stay. He is from Canterlot and ever since he’s been here he’s lived on the streets.”

“Oh well you can stay here if you want Midnight. We can pay for food here. Are you paying for school?”

“Yeah, I brought 1000 bits with me to pay for anything needed.”

“Well that’s great. Do you ponies have any plans for today?”

“Um no dad we just..”

“Hey Fluttershy, wanna go see if we can find Dash’s house?”

“Oh I already know where she lives.”

“What? How? You only became friends with her today.”

“I go for walks every day, her house has a sign that says “The Dash Family” on it.”

“Oh, well we’ll be off then. Thank you for letting me stay.” The two left the house, anticipated to get to their friend Rainbow Dash’s house, “I wonder what she’s up to. Let’s hope that she didn’t have to tell her parents about what happened today. Knowing Rainbow Dash, she’s probably not the best of liar.”

“Let’s just hope she’s alright.” They landed in front of Rainbow Dash’s house Midnight reached for the handle on the door only to have Fluttershy quickly grab his hoof, “Wait, you need to be nice and knock.”

“*sigh* Fine.” *knock* *knock* *knock*, “Hello, any pony here?

They waited at the door until it was quickly open by Rainbow Dash, “*gasp* thank Celestia you two are here! Please, you two need to vouch for me! My parents found out everything that happened today, and now they want to take me out of flight school! Please I’m begging you! I’m despera--”

“Dash!” Midnight interupted her, “I’ll take care of it don’t worry.” He walked into the living room, “Mr. and Mrs. Dash, what seems to be the problem?”

“Rainbow honey, who is this?”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy walked into the living room, “Mom, these are my friends. This here’s Fluttershy, and he’s Midnight Flare. He’s the one who saved me during the race today.”

“Midnight for short.”

“Well I’m sorry Mr. Flare, but no matter what you say, you’re not going to change our minds. We don’t want our daughter involved with bullies.”

“Those guys? Don’t worry about that, I made sure those guys won’t be bothering any pony, any time soon.”

“And how did you do that?”

“I can be very persuasive at some times”

“And what of the fight?”

“That fight is no reason for you to take Rainbow Dash out of school. You should be glad that she knew to go and get a teacher to break up the fight. Just hear me out, If Rainbow Dash is still my friend, then I will let no harm come to her.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want any harm to come to our little Dashy.”

“Mom, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Alright, fine, but if I find out anything bad happens to her then I’m pulling her out of school, first thing.”

“You have my word, no harm will come to her.”

“Well thank you. Rainbow Honey, we’ll leave you to play with your friends.” They went back into their bedroom.

“*sigh* Thanks, I don’t think I could’ve done that with out you.”

“No problem Rainbow, I would’ve done it for any of my friends.”

“So are you staying at Fluttershy’s then?”

“Yeah, there wasn’t even much discussing to it, her parents just said sure.”

“Well that’s good, I hope you’ll be fine staying there. *yawn* Guys, I think I’m gonna hit the hay early today. We’ve had a really rough day.”

“Okay, well, we’ll see you tomorrow at school.” Midnight and Fluttershy left through the front door, “So Fluttershy, what do you wanna do now?”

“Well, I usually go for a walk at this time of day. I mean, if that’s okay with you.”

“Fine with me. So where do we wanna walk.”

She looked up at him and smiled, “Wherever our hearts take us.”

“Sounds good to me Fluttershy, Sounds good to me.” The two walked around Cloudsdale until the sun began to move below the city. They then returned to what is Fluttershy’s house, and Midnight’s new home.

“So Fluttershy, where will I be sleeping?”

“Oh um, you will probably be sleeping in the guest room. That’s down the hall, it’s the last room on the left.”

“Thanks, I’ll be there if you need me.” He walked out of the room into his new bedroom.”

Fluttershy walked into her room, and got into bed, It didn’t take her long to fall asleep, but she quickly woke up after a short nightmare. She got out of her bed and ran into the guest room, “Midnight, do you mind if I sleep with you tonight? I had a bad dream.”

Midnight rolled over looking at her with a tired look in his eyes, “Sure Fluttershy, whatever makes you happy.”

She climbed into the guest bed with him. She closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

Chapter 5: Midnight Flare

South Cloudsdale, 3:58 P.M., August 20th, 2001, 10 years ago

Fluttershy and Midnight were on their to Fluttershy’s home in South Cloudsdale, “I hope your parents say yes.”

“Oh don’t worry Midnight, I’m sure they will be fine with it. They’ve been wanting me to try and find friends for years, so they’ll be really happy to see this.”

“Well that’s good, your parents must be nice then.”

“Oh yes, but um, you will need to meet them yourself.” The two ponies landed in front of Fluttershy’s house, and walked inside, “Mom, dad, um...I have a friend here with me.”

“Oh well that’s great Fluttershy, what’s his name.”

“My name is Midnight Flare, but everyone calls me Midnight for short.”

“He needs a place to stay. He is from Canterlot and ever since he’s been here he’s lived on the streets.”

“Oh well you can stay here if you want Midnight. We can pay for food here. Are you paying for school?”

“Yeah, I brought 1,000 bits with me to pay for anything needed.”

“Well that’s great. Do you ponies have any plans for today?”

“Um no dad we just..”

“Hey Fluttershy, wanna go see if we can find Dash’s house?”

“Oh I already know where she lives."

“What? How? You only became friends with her today.”

“I go for walks every day, her house has a sign that says “The Dash Family” on it.”

“Oh, well we’ll be off then. Thank you for letting me stay.” The two left the house, anticipated to get to their friend Rainbow Dash’s house, “I wonder what she’s up to. Let’s hope that she didn’t have to tell her parents about what happened today. Knowing Rainbow Dash, she’s probably not the best of liar.”

“Let’s just hope she’s alright.” They landed in front of Rainbow Dash’s house Midnight reached for the handle on the door only to have Fluttershy quickly grab his hoof, “Wait, you need to be nice and knock.”

“*sigh* Fine.” *knock* *knock* *knock*, “Hello, any pony here?

They waited at the door until it was quickly open by Rainbow Dash, “*gasp* thank Celestia you two are here!”

“Oh god,” Midnight thought, “They got it out of her didn’t they?”

Please, you two need to vouch for me! My parents found out everything that happened today, and now they want to take me out of flight school! Please I’m begging you! I’m despera--”

“Dash!” Midnight interupted her, “I’ll take care of it don’t worry.” He walked into the living room, “Mr. and Mrs. Dash, what seems to be the problem?”

“Rainbow honey, who is this?”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy walked into the living room, “Mom, these are my friends. This here’s Fluttershy, and he’s Midnight Flare. He’s the one who saved me during the race today.”

“Midnight for short.”

“Well I’m sorry Mr. Flare, but no matter what you say, you’re not going to change our minds. We don’t want our daughter involved with bullies.”

“Those guys? Don’t worry about that, I made sure those guys won’t be bothering any pony, any time soon.”

“And how did you do that?”

“I can be very persuasive at some times”

“And what of the fight?”

“That fight is no reason for you to take Rainbow Dash out of school. You should be glad that she knew to go and get a teacher to break up the fight. Just hear me out, If Rainbow Dash is still my friend, then I will let no harm come to her.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want any harm to come to our little Dashy.”

“Mom, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Alright, fine, but if I find out anything bad happens to her then I’m pulling her out of school, first thing.”

“You have my word, no harm will come to her.”

“Well thank you. Rainbow Honey, we’ll leave you to play with your friends.” They went back into their bedroom.

“*sigh* Thanks, I don’t think I could’ve done that with out you.”

“No problem, Rainbow. I would’ve done it for any of my friends.”

“So are you staying at Fluttershy’s then?”

“Yeah, there wasn’t even much discussing to it, her parents just said sure.”

“Well that’s good, I hope you’ll be fine staying there. *yawn* Guys, I think I’m gonna hit the hay early today. We’ve had a really rough day.”

“Okay, well, we’ll see you tomorrow at school.” Midnight and Fluttershy left through the front door, “So Fluttershy, what do you wanna do now?”

“Well, I usually go for a walk at this time of day. I mean, if that’s okay with you.”

“Fine with me. So where do we wanna walk.”

She looked up at him and smiled, “Wherever our hearts take us.”

“Sounds good to me Fluttershy, Sounds good to me.” The two walked around Cloudsdale until the sun began to move below the city. They then returned to what is Fluttershy’s house, and Midnight’s new home.

“So Fluttershy, where will I be sleeping?”

“Oh um, you will probably be sleeping in the guest room. That’s down the hall, it’s the last room on the left.”

“Thanks, I’ll be there if you need me.” He walked out of the room into his new bedroom. He climbed into his new bed. “My life sure has turned around. Thanks to Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, almost everyone that I’ve met in Cloudsdale.”

He heard a soft voice come from behind him, “Midnight, do you mind if I sleep with you tonight? I had a bad dream.”

Midnight rolled over to see Fluttershy in the doorway, “Sure Fluttershy, whatever makes you happy.”

She climbed into the guest bed with him. She closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

Chapter 6: Rainbow Dash

5 years have passed since the first day that Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Midnight first met. They’ve had many ups and many downs, Fluttershy stayed shy. Rainbow Dash kept up her peppy arrogant attitude. Midnight kept up his rivalry with Gilda. They all joined summer flight camp right after their first year of flight school together. They have gone back to flight camp every summer ever since. This day would would set in action a chain of events that would effect the rest of their lives.

Cloudsdale Summer Flight Camp, 10:37 A.M., June 9th, 2006, 5 years ago

Rainbow Dash, flying about the clouds, was looking to see what her friends were doing. She looked down and saw that two of the bullies were laughing at Fluttershy, “Oh no, not again.” She flew around and landed in front of Fluttershy, “Leave her alone!”

“Ooh, what’re yah gonna do Rainbow Crash?”

“Keep making fun of her and find out!”

“You think you you’re such a big shot? Why don’t you prove it?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“A race, in 1 hour.”

“I’ll see you at there in 1 hour then.”

The two bullies flew away, “See yah there Rainbow Crash.”

“Oh Rainbow Dash, you didn’t need to do all of this for me.”

“Nonsense, I would do it for any of my friends. Now, let’s go find Midnight.”

“I think he’s sleeping back in our cabin.”

“Well then let’s go see.” The two ponies flew over to the cabin that they shared with their long time friend Midnight. They walked into the cabin and Rainbow Dash walked up to sleeping Midnight, and began shaking him, “Midnight, Midnight wake up. We need to talk to you.” She pushed him until he fell out of the bed.

He stood up scratching his forehead, “Ow, really Dash? What could be so important for you to interrupt my sleeping?”

Rainbow Dash gave him a smirk, “What were yah dreamin about Midnight?”

He looked away from Rainbow Dash and began blushing, “Um, it was nothing. It was just that I needed my sleep.”

“Need sleep? You spend most of your free time napping anyway.”

“Whatever. What did you wake me for?”

“I’m racing Kevin and Billy in 1 hour for making fun of Fluttershy. You wanna watch?”

“Sure, but why did you need to tell me so early?”

“So you can be wide awake to see all of the action!”

Midnight slowly started closing his eyes, then fell over falling asleep on the floor.

“*sigh* come on Fluttershy, let’s go get warmed up!”

“Um, okay Rainbow Dash, whatever you say.”

Flight Camp Ring Course, 11:30 A.M., June 9th, 2006, 5 years ago

Rainbow Dash, Kevin, and Billy were readied at the starting line. Fluttershy was holding the checkered flag. Midnight was on his own cloud, watching on the side lines.

“You’re going down.” Billy said

“In history maybe. See you boys at the finish line.” They looked back at Fluttershy waiting for the signifying wave of the flag. She raised the flag up. Rainbow Dash licked her lips in anticipation. Sweat begins to roll down her face. Fluttershy brought the flag down and the 3 darted past the starting line. Rainbow Dash was quickly taking a lead. Billy took to wide of a turn and Crashed into a pillar. Rainbow Dash quickly pulled farther and farther ahead, going faster and faster, “Oh god, I’ve never flown this fast before.” she thought, “The adrenaline feels amazing!”

Kevin quickly came up to the side of her and bumped her out of the way, “Heh, later Rainbow Crash.” He then took off in front of her.

“Hey!” she quickly got back on course and flew right passed him, “Oh my gosh, going so fast!” She thought to herself. Rainbow Dash kept going faster and faster. And when she got to the ring close to the ground, her speed caused a legendary sonic rainboom to appear right at the ring as she bounced back up to the sky. She looked behind her to see the amazing spectacle of a sight she had just created. She then flew over the finish line, breaking the checkered banner signifying the finish line. As she flew through the air over flight camp, her cutie mark had finally appeared. She landed back down by the starting line. She looked around, but Midnight and Fluttershy were no where to be found, “Hey, where’d they run off to? Maybe they went back to the cabin.” She flew as quickly as she could back to their cabin and flung the door open, “Guy’s, you in here?!” but no pony replied. She dashed out of her house and flew everywhere across the whole camp,”Where could they be?” She found a pony who was watching the race, “Hey, do you know where Fluttershy and Midnight are?!”

“Yeah, Fluttershy fell off of the cloud and Midnight dashed down after her. They haven’t come back up since.”

“What?! No, it cant be.” She looked down in her sadness, and tears began to roll down her face, “They can’t be dead.”

“I think it would be best if you just wait for them.”

“Okay.” She flew back to her cabin and flew straight into her bed, “I guess all I can do is hope that they show up.” She closed her eyes but couldn’t sleep. She was too worried about her friends, “Oh, you two better show up.”

Chapter 6: Fluttershy

Cloudsdale Summer Flight Camp, 10:37 A.M., June 9th, 2006, 5 years ago

Fluttershy was in the middle of trying to complete a ring course. She kept flapping her tiny wings, trying to get through the ring. Almost making it through the ring, her front hooves caught the ring and she tripped on the bottom of it. Fluttershy frantically waved her legs around trying to regain balance, but she fell down on a cloud and started sliding on it

“Leave her alone!”

“Ooh, what’re yah gonna do Rainbow Crash?”

“Keep making fun of her and find out!”

“You think you you’re such a big shot? Why don’t you prove it?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“A race, in 1 hour.”

“I’ll see you at there in 1 hour then.”

The two bullies flew away, “See yah there Rainbow Crash.”

“Oh Rainbow Dash, you didn’t need to do all of this for me.”

“Nonsense, I would do it for any of my friends. Now, let’s go find Midnight.”

“I think he’s sleeping back in our cabin.”

“Well then let’s go see.” The two ponies flew over to the cabin that they shared with their long time friend Midnight. They walked into the cabin and Rainbow Dash walked up to sleeping Midnight, and began shaking him, “Midnight, Midnight wake up. We need to talk to you.” She pushed him until he fell out of the bed.

He stood up scratching his forehead, “Ow, really Dash? What could be so important for you to interrupt my sleeping?”

Rainbow Dash gave him a smirk, “What were yah dreamin about Midnight?”

He looked away from Rainbow Dash and began blushing, “Um, it was nothing. It was just that I needed my sleep.”

“Need sleep? You spend most of your free time napping anyway.”

“Whatever. What did you wake me for?”

“I’m racing Kevin and Billy in 1 hour for making fun of Fluttershy. You wanna watch?”

“Sure, but why did you need to tell me so early?”

“So you can be wide awake to see all of the action!”

Midnight slowly started closing his eyes, then fell over falling asleep on the floor.

“*sigh* come on Fluttershy, let’s go get warmed up!”

“Um, okay Rainbow Dash, whatever you say.”

Flight Camp Ring Course, 11:30 A.M., June 9th, 2006, 5 years ago

Midnight was on his own cloud, watching on the side lines. Rainbow Dash, Kevin, and Billy were readied at the starting line. Fluttershy was holding the checkered flag.

“You’re going down.” Billy said

“In history maybe. See you boys at the finish line.” They looked back at Fluttershy waiting for the signifying wave of the flag. She raised the flag up. Fluttershy brought the flag down and the 3 darted past the starting line. The force from the 3 cause Fluttershy to start spinning out and  she fell off of her little cloud. She frantically flailing her legs trying to regain her balance. She looked up to see Midnight jumped down and was following behind her. Suddenly, just a few feet from the ground, a large group of thousands of butterflies flew by catching her, “ What is this place, filled with so many wonders? casting it’s spell, that I am now under.” Fluttershy began flying on her own and the animals came curiously out of their homes, “Squirrels in the trees, and the cute little bunnies. Birds flying free, and the bees with their honey, hoonneeeeeeeeeey. Oh, what a magical place, and I owe it all to the pegasus race. If I knew the ground had so much up it’s sleeve, I would’ve come here sooner and never leave. Yes I love everythiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!”

Suddenly, a giant rainbow wave flew across the sky, scaring all of the animals away. Fluttershy went over and opened up a bush revealing three bunnies, “Shh, It’s okay.” The bunnies came out from their hiding. Fluttershy then went up to a tree, “*knock* *knock* You can come out.” Two squirrels came out of a hole in the tree. Next, she took a breath and put her head into the pond, “Every thing's okay.” The frogs then came out of the pond with her, “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” Birds that were hiding in the clouds. Fluttershy flew down to the ground and all of the animals surrounded her. Suddenly, Fluttershy’s cutie mark started appearing, “I don’t think I’ll ever leave this place.”

Chapter 6: Midnight Flare

Flight Camp Cabin, 10:35 A.M., June 9th, 2006, 5 years ago

“Oh come on Rainbow Crash, you’ll never be the best flier in Cloudsdale. You’re too weak.”

“Hey Kevin, if you’re gonna make fun of her then you’re gonna have to deal with me first.”

“Oh yeah, what are you gonna do about it?”

He charged flames on his horn into the shape of a sword, “You don’t want to know.”

“Oh, shit! let’s get outta here!”

“That’s what I’m counting on.” He removed the flame sword from his horn.

“Oh, Midnight,” Rainbow Dash ran up to him, “Thank you, I don’t think I could’ve done that by myself.” She said sarcastically.

“Yeah, I know. Hey Dash, can I tell you something?”

“I’ve been trying to say this for a few years now but, Dash I--”

“Midnight.”

“What?”

“Midnight wake up, we need to talk to you.”

“Are you fucking kidding me.” He then fell over and then he opened his eyes. He found himself on the floor of their cabin. He stood up to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy standing on the other side of the bed, “Ow, really Dash? What could be so important for you to interrupt my sleeping?”

Rainbow Dash gave him a smirk, “What were yah dreamin about Midnight?”

He looked away from Rainbow Dash and began blushing, “Um, it was nothing. It was just that I needed my sleep.”

“Need sleep? You spend most of your free time napping anyway.”

“Whatever. What did you wake me for?”

“I’m racing Kevin and Billy in 1 hour for making fun of Fluttershy. You wanna watch?”

“Sure, but why did you need to tell me so early?”

“So you can be wide awake to see all of the action!”

He slowly started closing his eyes, then fell over falling asleep on the floor.

Flight Camp Ring Course, 11:30 A.M., June 9th, 2006, 5 years ago

Midnight was on his own cloud, watching on the side lines. Rainbow Dash, Kevin, and Billy were readied at the starting line. Fluttershy was holding the checkered flag.

“You’re going down.” Billy said

“In history maybe. See you boys at the finish line.” They looked back at Fluttershy waiting for the signifying wave of the flag. She raised the flag up. Fluttershy brought the flag down and the 3 darted past the starting line. The force from the 3 cause Fluttershy to start spinning out and  she fell off of her little cloud.

Midnight quickly stood up, “Shit! Fluttershy!” He jumped down off of his cloud and headed straight towards falling Fluttershy, “How many times am I gonna have to deal with friends almost falling to there deaths? I mean, all of my friends have wings! How does this even make sense?!" He sped up trying his hardest to catch her, “ I don’t think I’ll make it!” Suddenly, what appeared to be a large group of butterflies flew by close to the ground and caught Fluttershy, “Oh thank Celestia.” Midnight started to slow down and came to a complete stop, “That one came really close. Suddenly, what appeared to be a rainbow wave came straight at Midnight at a rapid pace, “Oh fuck!” He put his left wing up to try and block the rainbow. His efforts failed, the wave pushed him through the sky and he flew uncontrollably through the sky heading to the ground. He hit tree after tree on his way down, until he finally crashed down sliding across the ground until he came to a complete stop. He slowly stood up feeling the pain from the fall. He could feel something dripping down his left side. When he turned around he saw that his entire left wing was gone. Blood continued to pour out of the wound on his side. The second he saw the wound he felt the intense pain, “I’ve gotta get out of here and find if any pony can help.” He slowly started limping through the forest, trying to find his way out. He could feel his blood level getting low as the blood dripped from his side. He walked for hours until he finally collapsed in an opening in the middle of the forest. He looked up to see the bright full moon was shining down upon him, “Please” he cried out, “If there is any pony out there please, Help me! I will do anything!”

“Hahahahahaha, anything you say?” A purple cloud came from the sky, shooting down directly at him. The cloud began surrounding him, circling around and around until it went in through his head, “I will give you more than just life, I will give you all of the power in the world. All you need to do is do what I tell you to do.”

The cloud suddenly pierced the nerves in his brain,”Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! What are you doing?!” His wounds began healing and he started to grow. He was suddenly the size of a full grown alicorn. His right wing became bigger and a wing made of fire replaced where his left wing was. His flaming mane began to grow and his hooves and eyes became flaming. A bright white crescent moon formed on his forehead. The sharp, piercing pain was gone and Midnight was gasping for breath.

“There we go. Now, for me reviving you, I want you to kill all who have hurt you.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Kill the girl who almost killed you.”

“But I don’t even know who that is! All i can remember is a rainbow wave coming at me.”

“Well what young filly makes a rainbow trail when she flies? What little pony was racing earlier today? I think it was your little friend Rainbow Dash.”

“What?!” He suddenly stopped and realized the grief to come, “No, I won’t kill her. You can’t make me do that!”

“Oh, but I think I can.” The cloud began piercing his nerves again and Midnight fell over in pain, “You see, I’ve made you near Immortal, the only thing that can kill you is the Elements of Harmony. So if you don’t do what I tell you, then I can just sit here and hurt you until you cooperate.”

“God, fucking damnit! I’ll do what you want, just make it stop!” The sharp pains suddenly left.

“Good, I think we’re gonna make a beautiful team.”

Chapter 7: Rainbow Dash

Cloudsdale Summer Flight Camp, 7:11 A.M., June 10th, 2006, 5 years ago

Rainbow Dash, laying in her bed, found herself unable to sleep the entire night, “Why haven’t they shown up yet? Maybe they have and I just didn’t notice!” She hopped out of her bed and ran into their rooms, “*sigh* I didn’t think so. Let’s just get to my first exercise.” She walked out of the cabin head down in her sadness, “Why, why haven’t they shown up yet?” Suddenly, the cloud she was on began rising, like something was trying to break through it. The area of the cloud right under her cabin began to rise, higher and higher until a spiral made of fire burst through the cloud, “Oh my gosh! What’s going on?!” The flames slowed down then broke up revealing a pony inside. He was a large black pony, much bigger than Midnight. His eyes and hooves were flaming, and his entire left wing was made out of fire. His forehead had a crescent moon shape on it,  and his mane was made out of fire just like Midnight’s, but much longer than his. Rainbow Dash quickly realized, “Oh my gosh, It’s Midnight!”

He flew down and landed next to her, “Rainbow Dash, I’m sorry I have to do this.” He gathered flames on his horn, and shot off a gigantic flame down at her. Rainbow Dash quickly moved out of the way, barely escaping the flames.

“Why are you doing this?! What has gotten into you?!”

“I’m sorry, but she won’t let me explain.”

“She won’t let you? Who won’t let you?”

“It’s,” Midnight struggled to get the words out, “Nightmare Moon.”

“But Nightmare Moon is just an old mare’s tale. How can she be behind this?”

“Damn it Dash, are you really gonna doubt me?! I don’t want to kill you! She made me like this!”

“Well what can I do to get you back?”

“You can’t, there is only one thing that can kill me, and that’s” Midnight was quickly cut off by something Rainbow Dash couldn’t figure out, “Gaaaaaaaaah! Fuck! I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash.” He gathered up another fire on his horn, and shot it off at her.

Rainbow quickly moved out of the way of the fire again, “I’ve gotta get outta here!” She quickly took off dodging shot after shot that came from behind her. Rainbow looked behind her to see Midnight standing on the cloud, shaking his head trying to get rid of the pain, “Oh Midnight, I’m sorry I can’t help you.” She began crying as she flew away from Cloudsdale, the only place she had known her whole life, “I need to find a new place to stay.”

West Fillydalphia, 9:11 A.M., September 11th, 2007, 4 years ago

Rainbow Dash peered out the front door of her apartment building, “Looks like I’m good for now.” She stepped out and began walking down the main street, *sigh* I’ve been here for over a year now. Why haven’t I found out anything about what’s wrong with Midnight? Maybe I could try going to the library.” Out of no where a flame came down at her and she quickly moved out of it’s way.

Midnight was standing on top of the apartment building, “It’s about time I found you again. Now hold still, this’ll only hurt a lot.”

“Midnight, what are you talking about?”

He shuddered as he tried to speak, “She’s learning to control me through my nerves. It won’t be to long before she can control me entirely, without me being able to put up a fight. Dash, you need to find a way to break this. I don’t care if it kills me, I’m already suffering enough.” He began to shake again as he lost control of his body, “Run. Now!”

“Okay, I will.” She flew off, running away from her best friend, leaving him to suffer again, “Where should I go now? I guess I could try Manehatten. *sigh* Manehatten it is then.”

Manehatten, 7:15 A.M., August 4th, 2008, 3 years ago

Rainbow Dash was living in another apartment building. Except this time, in Manehatten. She peered out the front door of the building, “Hey Rainbow Dash.” She quickly slammed the door shut and turned around scared. The pony at the front desk was looking at her, “Who have you been hiding from this whole time anyway?”

“It’s an old friend of mine, he’s been hunting me down for the last 2 years trying to kill me.”

“What?! Why haven’t you told any pony?!”

“Because I don’t want any pony getting involved. If anyone tries to help me, they’ll just end up dead.”

“Nonsense Dash, I’ll head down to the police station with you now. They’ll be able to stop him.”

“No! You don’t wanna do that! Not even the police could take him out!”

“I’m not taking no for an answer. We’re going or I’ll kick you out. I don’t want some murderer in my apartment building.”

“Fine, let’s get this over with.” They only took a few steps out the door before Rainbow Dash saw Midnight outside looking for her. “Oh my gosh it’s him!” She ran back inside and hid behind the desk.

The pony walked over to her, “Come on Rainbow Dash, I won’t let him see you. He can’t be that bad can he?”

“Oh my gosh is she stupid?” Rainbow thought, “I mean, he’s trying to kill me.”

“Go look for yourself,” Rainbow said, “He’s the black pony with a flaming mane.”

She walked outside and looked around, “Well he’s not here now. Come on let’s get going.”

“Okay, fine.” She got up and began walking with the owner. The owner was outside and Rainbow Dash was a few inches from outside, when a huge fire flew passed engulfing the entire street, burning any pony who was outside, “Oh my gosh, I’ve gotta get outta here!” Rainbow Dash flew out of the front door as fast as she could flying away from Manehatten. She looked behind her and saw the entire street in front of Midnight was covered in nothing but ashes, and the streets behind him filled with ponies running for their lives, “*sigh* Maybe I should stop trying big cities. How long am I gonna keep running like this?”

Chapter 7: Fluttershy

Whitetail Forest, 11:45 A.M., June 9th, 2006, 5 years ago

“I should find a place to stay around her. Maybe I could live out here with all of the adorable creatures.” Fluttershy walked through the forest for a few hours, seeing what she could find. Eventually, she came across a beautiful old cottage.

An old pony was sitting in a chair in front of the house, “Why hello their little pony.” She called out, “Come on over, don’t be shy.”

“Um, okay I-I will.” Fluttershy slowly walked over to the old pony, avoiding eye contact with her.

“Let me ask you a question little pony. What’s your name?”

“I’m um *squeak* I’m Fluttershy, ma-am.”

“Well Fluttershy, I saw what you were doin wit the little animals around here. You have a very special gift. Let me ask you, do you think you could look after this cottage for me? I won’t charge you a bit, I just want to pass my house down to a pony that can take care of a cottage, and who loves the wild life around here.”

Fluttershy looked up at her, “Really, I mean, are you really okay with a little pony like me taking care of this place?”

“Well why not Fluttershy? You see, I’m quite old and I’ve saved up enough bits over my life to spend my last few years in Manehattan. My daughter owns an Apartment building there, so I think she’ll let me stay there.”

“Oh thank you ma-am, you don’t know what this means to me.”

“Come on Fluttershy, let me show you the place.” The two went inside, “It’s not much, It’s got a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom. It makes for good livin though. Come on, let me show you the outside.” The two stepped back outside into the back yard, “Out here we’ve got a few chicken coops. Do you think you can take care of a few chickens?”

“Oh yes, I would love that.”

“Well that’s good. Oh and that there is the Everfree Forest. You don’t wanna go in there, things just ain’t natural.”

“Um, okay I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Well, that’s pretty much all you need to know. Good bye then little pony, I’ll be heading off to Manehatten now.” The old pony started walking to what looked like a town in the distance.

“I wonder what town that is. I guess I’ll check it out later.” She walked over to the chicken coop. A chicken popped his head out of the coop, then it ran out, jumped over the fence, and ran into the Everfree Forest, “Oh no, um, please come back here little chicken.” But the chicken was gone, “Oh no, now what should I do?” Suddenly, a little white bunny hopped up to her and pulled on he mane to get her attention, “Hello little bunny. What should I do now? I lost a chicken in the Everfree Forest.” The bunny had a stern look on it’s face as it pointed to the Everfree Forest, “What, why do you want me to go in their? The nice old pony made it clear to not go in there.” The bunny shook his head and pointed back at the Everfree Forest, “Um, okay, if you insist. *squeak*” She walked over to the entrance to the forest, “Okay, let’s get this over with.” She walked in with her new bunny friend in search of the lost chicken, “It’s really dark in this place. How are we gonna find the chicken?” The bunny hopped his way up to her head and scowled down at her, “Okay fine, we’ll keep looking.” Fluttershy walked a few steps forward when a chicken suddenly hopped out of a bush and ran out of the forest. Suddenly, another chicken head popped out of the bush with it’s eyes close. It quickly popped out of the bush to reveal that it wasn’t a chicken, but a snake with the head of a chicken. It opened it’s eyes looking right at Fluttershy. The bunny grabbed Fluttershy’s mane and turned her around. She looked at a bush where a little squirrel popped out and looked at the weird creature behind Fluttershy, and the squirrel suddenly turned into stone, “Oh no.” Fluttershy closed her eyes and began shaking in fear. The bunny knocked on her forehead and she opened her eyes. The bunny was looking down at her and pointing at the exit of the forest, “Okay, I can do this.” She ran straight towards the light at the end of the forest without looking back once. When she made it out of the forest she ran quickly inside to her new house with the bunny still on her head, “Thank you little bunny. You saved my life. Would you like to stay here with me?” The little bunny nodded it’s head happily, “That’s nice. I think I’ll call you, Angel, for being my angel today.”

Chapter 8: Rainbow Dash

Ponyville, 10:15 A.M., August 5th, 2008, 3 years ago

Rainbow Dash was flying over the country side of Equestria. She looked down and saw a little town in the distance, “That place could work, all I would need is a house.” She turned and flew down to the town in the distance, “I should probably find the town square. Maybe I can ask some pony if they know where it is.” She flew up to a little pink pony with a poofy mane, “Uh, hi. Can you tell me where the town square is?”

The pink pony stared at Rainbow Dash for a few seconds until, “*gasp* You’re looking for the town square.” The pony was talking at a mile a minute, “That must mean you’re new here, even though I already could tell you’re new here because I know every pony here in Ponyville, and I’ve never seen you here before which means you’re knew here, and that must be why you’re looking for the town square because. You probably wanna place to stay here. My name’s Pinkie Pie. I’d really love to get to know you some time because you seem like such a nice pony. Come on I’ll show you to the town square.” The two only walked a few feet until they were up to a building, “Here we are. Come on, let’s go inside.”

The two walked in through the front door. Rainbow Dash looked in and saw a few ponies inside turn around to see the two ponies enter. One of these ponies was to Rainbow Dash’s surprise, was Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash’s eyes grew in surprise, “Oh, sweet, Celestia. Fluttershy, you’re alive?! I thought you were dead after you never came back! What happened?!”

“Well you see, when you and the two bullies flew by me, you knocked me off of the cloud I was standing on. Midnight jumped down to save me but close to the ground a group of butterflies caught me. I loved it here on the ground so much, I decided to stay here.”

“Well did you see what happened to Midnight?”

“Oh, I don’t know what happened to Midnight. When I was caught by the butterflies, I was too taken by the cuteness of all the little critters.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Why, have you seen Midnight any time?”

“Um, no, not since I lost both of you.”

“*gasp* Fluttershy you know this pony? That’s great! You two must be friends, because you’ve been acting all chummy. And you two were reunited like-”

“Cool yer jets sugar cube.” An orange pony interrupted, “Let the new pony here speak. Now, what can we do yah for?” The orange pony walked up to her and vigorously shook her hoof, “The name’s Applejack. Welcome to our beautiful little town of Ponyville. How can we help yah?”

“Ow, do you think you shook hard enough? Any way, my name is Rainbow Dash. I came here to Ponyville looking for a place to stay.”

“Hey girls I’ve got an Idea! Fluttershy came from Cloudsdale, and Rainbow Dash must’ve came from Cloudsdale two! So we should make a house out of Clouds for her! It will be like a reminder of home!”

“Pinkie Pie, outta all of the hootinany nonsense you say, that actually makes sense. Mayor Mare, can you organize a group of pegasus ponies to move the clouds?”

“Can do Applejack. Let’s organize a town meeting at noon. Can you and Pinkie gather up all of the ponies in Ponyville?”

“Don’t you worry bout that. Me’n Pinkie Pie will have them ponies rounded up faster then faster than a cow can stampede.”

“Well that’s good. We’ll see every pony in Ponyville at the town hall at noon.”

“Come on Pinkie Pie, let’s get roundin.” Applejack walked out while pinkie bounced out behind her.

“Hey Fluttershy can we head to your house now? I kinda wanna talk to you in private.”

“Oh, okay Rainbow Dash. Let’s get going.”

Fluttershy’s house, 10:45 A.M., August 5th, 2008, 3 years ago

“So, what did you wanna talk to me about?”

“It’s about Midnight, I lied when I said I haven’t seen him. I don’t know how this happened but, the day after you and Midnight came to the ground. Midnight came back up to Cloudsdale and nearly killed me. But he wasn’t himself, he said he was taken over by Nightmare Moon.”

“Isn’t that just an old mare’s tale?”

“That’s what I thought, but why would Midnight just attack me like that? I had no other choice but to run. I’ve been running from him for the past 2 years. And that’s why I came here. I lied because I didn’t want any pony else to get involved. Every pony who has helped me in the past has just ended up dying. I only told you this because you’re Midnight’s friend two, and because you’re my only friend right now.”

“Well Rainbow Dash, I’m g-glad you told me. I-I think, if we tried, w-we could get through this together. Let’s just try and forget about this for now. Come on, I think we should go back to the town hall.”

Ponyville Town Hall, 12:00 P.M., August 5th, 2008, 3 years ago

“Hello every pony, and thank you for coming. We would like to welcome the newest member to Ponyville, all the way from Cloudsdale.”

“Okay Rainbow Dash, let’s show them the confident me. You’re in a new place now, so it’s time to put Midnight behind me.”

“I would like every pony to meet, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow Dash walked out of the town hall to see all of the ponies in Ponyville, eagerly waiting for her, “She’s an old friend of Fluttershy’s, and she just came here to find a new place to live. Pinkie Pie had suggested to make her a new home out of clouds. For any pony here who wants to help with this welcome gift project, then sign up on the volunteer page in the town hall. Rainbow Dash, why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourself.

“Alright.” She walked over to the podium, “Good afternoon fillies and gentle colts. My name is Rainbow Dash, the best flier to come outta Cloudsdale. I’m happy to have received such a warm, unexpected, welcome here to Ponyville. Now I’m not so much sure how much help I’m gonna get in making my new house, but I would so totally love it if you did. Anyway, I’ll be staying with Fluttershy until I have an actual place to stay. So I’ll be there if any pony needs to talk to me. Now, does any pony have any questions for me?”

“Tell us a story from Cloudsdale.” Pinkie Pie bursted out

“Alright, here’s the story of my first day in flight school.”

Rainbow Dash’s house, 8:13 P.M., August 5th, 2008, 3 years ago

“Thanks every pony, the house is great so far.”

“We can head to Cloudsdale tomorrow to get a rainbow fall.”

“Um, Rainbow Dash, I was just wondering.”

“Yeah Fluttershy, what’s up?”

“It’s just, I know I said to put Midnight behind us for now, but do you really think it was smart to tell every pony in Ponyville about Midnight? I thought you said you don’t want any pony to get involved.”

“Hey don’t worry about it. I never even told a single pony but you about how he is now. So we’ll be fine as long as we don’t talk about him.”

“I’m sure hope you’re right Rainbow Dash. I’m not so sure having this big event over you was such a good idea either. It could just help Midnight find you easier.”

“Don’t worry so much Fluttershy, he’s not gonna find me here for a while.”

“And what will you do when he finds you again?”

“I don’t know, I might just get out of there again like I’ve been doing.”

“I’m not so sure how much running for years on end is gonna help you, If I were you, I’d find a new solution.”

“What the hay?” Rainbow thought, “This is a side of Fluttershy I haven’t seen.”

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh okay, see yah later Fluttershy, then.”

Chapter 8: Fluttershy

Fluttershy’s house, 7:11 A.M., June 10th, 2006, 5 years ago

“Come on Angel, wake up.” Fluttershy nudged the little bunny in it’s tiny little bed with her nose, ”Today we go into that town I saw yesterday. I’d like to get to know all of the ponies who live there.” Angel looked at Fluttershy, tired eyed, yawned, shooed Fluttershy away, and went back to sleep, “Oh, so you don’t want to come. Um, well, that’s okay with me. I’ll just let you sleep.” Fluttershy left Angel to sleep, as she left to head out to the new found town, “I wonder what kind of ponies I’ll run into. I sure hope that their nice ponies.”

“How’s it goin!” An orange pony on the trail yelled to her, “I haven’t seen yah around these parts. You new round here?”

“Um, yes, I just moved in, over there.” Fluttershy pointed over to her new house.

“Well that’s a mighty fine place you’ve got there. The name’s Applejack. What’s yours?”

“Um, I-I’m Fluttershy.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you Fluttershy. Come on, let’s get goin to Ponyville. There’s plenty of nice ponies there for y’all to meet.”

“That’s good, I can’t wait to meet them.” Fluttershy and Applejack walked together to Ponyville, where Fluttershy was to meet her new friends.

“Well here we are, welcome to Ponyville. Let’s go to Sugar Cube Corner so y’all can meet some nice ponies. I’ve gotta go get some apples from Sweet Apple Acres, y’all can go make some friends. Sugar Cube Corner is right there.”

“Oh okay, I guess I’ll see you later Applejack.” Fluttershy walked over to Sugar Cube Corner. She walked inside seeing plenty of ponies chatting, and having a good time, “Oh, where should I start? I’ve never been good at making friends.”

“Hi there, welcome to Sugar Cube Corner! Are you new in town?! So am I!” A pink pony was jumping up and down excitedly, while talking to Fluttershy, “I wanna learn every pony’s name in Ponyville! My name’s Pinkie Pie, what’s yours?!”

Fluttershy stared at Pinkie, speechless, “Um...I’m, Fluttershy.”

“Well it’s great to meet you Fluttershy. I think we’re gonna be super dooper totally amazing, best friends ever!”

“Um, okay, as long as it’s okay with you.”

“You’re so silly Fluttershy! You don’t seem to talk a lot, do you?!”

“Pinkie Pie dear leave the poor girl alone. You’re obviously making her nervous.” A white pony with a curly purple mane walked up behind Pinkie Pie, “I’m so sorry about that dear, she’s always obnoxious like that. My name is Rarity, and it is such a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh, um hi. I-I-m not the best at being social, so don’t blame Pinkie Pie please.”

“Oh good, I see y’all made some new friends Fluttershy.” Applejack was standing in the front door with two baskets filled with apples.

“Oh splendid Applejack, you have the apples. Pinkie Pie, be a dear and go tell Mr. and Mrs. Cake.”

“Will do Rarity!” She hopped her way into the back room of the store.

“What do you need the apples for?”

“Well, In one week it’s the 100 year centennial celebration of Ponyville, and it’s our job to make an apple cake for the party. Maybe y’all can help with sumthin for the party. What’re y’all good at?”

“I did just learn that I’m good at working with animals.”

“Maybe y’all can get some birds together to play some music.”

“That would be simply divine. Oh you must Fluttershy. Gather some birds and teach them to play some beautiful songs.”

“Um, okay, I think I can do that. I’ll see you later, I’m gonna go gather some birds, and teach them to sing.” Fluttershy left her new friends to make the cake, and headed towards her new home, “I’m already liking this place. I think I’m gonna enjoy it here in Ponyville.” Fluttershy smiled but then remembered her two friends from Cloudsdale, “Oh, I’m so sorry you two. I just can’t go back to Cloudsdale. It’s just so wonderful down here. I hope they find it in their hearts to forgive me.”

Ponyville town hall, 10:17 A.M., August 5th, 2008, 3 years ago

“What did y’all think bout that last party Pinkie threw?”

“I thought it was nice. I especially liked the music she chose.”

“Oh, sweet, Celestia. Fluttershy, you’re alive?!”

Fluttershy turned around to see none other then her old friend Rainbow Dash, “Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy thought, “How did she get here?”

“I thought you were dead after you never came back! What happened?!”

“Well you see, when you and the two bullies flew by me, you knocked me off of the cloud I was standing on. Midnight jumped down to save me but close to the ground a group of butterflies caught me. I loved it here on the ground so much, I decided to stay here.”

“Well did you see what happened to Midnight?”

“Oh, I don’t know what happened to Midnight. When I was caught by the butterflies, I was too taken by the cuteness of all the little critters.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Why, have you seen Midnight any time?”

“Um, no, not since I lost both of you.”

“*gasp* Fluttershy you know this pony? That’s great! You two must be friends, because you’ve been acting all chummy. And you two were reunited like-”

“Cool yer jets sugar cube.” Applejack interrupted, “Let the new pony here speak. Now, what can we do yah for?” Applejack shook Rainbow Dash’s hoof as hard as she could, “The name’s Applejack. Welcome to our beautiful little town of Ponyville. How can we help yah?”

“Ow, do you think you shook hard enough? Any way, my name is Rainbow Dash. I came here to Ponyville looking for a place to stay.”

“Hey girls I’ve got an Idea! Fluttershy came from Cloudsdale, and Rainbow Dash must’ve came from Cloudsdale two! So we should make a house out of Clouds for her! It will be like a reminder of home!”

“Pinkie Pie, outta all of the hootinany nonsense you say, that actually makes sense. Mayor Mare, can you organize a group of pegasus ponies to move the clouds?”

“Can do Applejack. Let’s organize a town meeting at noon. Can you and Pinkie gather up all of the ponies in Ponyville?”

“Don’t you worry bout that. Me’n Pinkie Pie will have them ponies rounded up faster then faster than a cow can stampede.”

“Well that’s good. We’ll see every pony in Ponyville at the town hall at noon.”

“Come on Pinkie Pie, let’s get roundin.” Applejack walked out while pinkie bounced out behind her.

“Hey Fluttershy can we head to your house now? I kinda wanna talk to you in private.”

“Oh, okay Rainbow Dash. Let’s get going.”

Fluttershy’s house, 10:45 A.M., August 5th, 2008, 3 years ago

“So, what did you wanna talk to me about?”

“It’s about Midnight, I lied when I said I haven’t seen him. I don’t know how this happened but, the day after you and Midnight came to the ground. Midnight came back up to Cloudsdale and nearly killed me.”

“What?” Fluttershy thought, “Why would such a nice pony like Midnight do such a thing?”

“But he wasn’t himself, he said he was taken over by Nightmare Moon.”

“Isn’t that just an old mare’s tale?”

“That’s what I thought, but why would Midnight just attack me like that? I had no other choice but to run. I’ve been running from him for the past 2 years. And that’s why I came here. I lied because I didn’t want any pony else to get involved. Every pony who has helped me in the past has just ended up dying. I only told you this because you’re Midnight’s friend two, and because you’re my only friend right now.”

“Well Rainbow Dash, I’m g-glad you told me. I-I think, if we tried, w-we could get through this together. Let’s just try and forget about this for now. Come on, I think we should go back to the town hall.”

Ponyville Town Hall, 12:00 P.M., August 5th, 2008, 3 years ago

“Hello every pony, and thank you for coming. We would like to welcome the newest member to Ponyville, all the way from Cloudsdale. I would like every pony to meet, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow Dash walked out of the town hall to see all of the ponies in Ponyville, eagerly waiting for her, “She’s an old friend of Fluttershy’s, and she just came here to find a new place to live. Pinkie Pie had suggested to make her a new home out of clouds. For any pony here who wants to help with this welcome gift project, then sign up on the volunteer page in the town hall. Rainbow Dash, why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourself.

“Alright.” She walked over to the podium, “Good afternoon fillies and gentle colts. My name is Rainbow Dash, the best flier to come outta Cloudsdale. I’m happy to have received such a warm, unexpected, welcome here to Ponyville. Now I’m not so much sure how much help I’m gonna get in making my new house, but I would so totally love it if you did. Anyway, I’ll be staying with Fluttershy until I have an actual place to stay. So I’ll be there if any pony needs to talk to me. Now, does any pony have any questions for me?”

“Tell us a story from Cloudsdale.” Pinkie Pie bursted out

“Alright, here’s the story of my first day in flight school.”

Rainbow Dash’s house, 8:13 P.M., August 5th, 2008, 3 years ago

“Thanks every pony, the house is great so far.”

“We can head to Cloudsdale tomorrow to get a rainbow fall.”

“Um, Rainbow Dash, I was just wondering.”

“Yeah Fluttershy, what’s up?”

“It’s just, I know I said to put Midnight behind us for now, but do you really think it was smart to tell every pony in Ponyville about Midnight? I thought you said you don’t want any pony to get involved.”

“Hey don’t worry about it. I never even told a single pony but you about how he is now. So we’ll be fine as long as we don’t talk about him.”

“I’m sure hope you’re right Rainbow Dash. I’m not so sure having this big event over you was such a good idea either. It could just help Midnight find you easier.”

“Don’t worry so much Fluttershy, he’s not gonna find me here for a while.”

“And what will you do when he finds you again?”

“I don’t know, I might just get out of there again like I’ve been doing.”

“I’m not so sure how much running for years on end is gonna help you, If I were you, I’d find a new solution.”

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh okay, see yah later Fluttershy then.”

Chapter 8: Midnight Flare

West Cloudsdale, 7:35 A.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

“Nightmare, you are the worst hunter I’ve ever met. You’ve been tracking for 3 years now and we still haven’t found any pony I want dead.”

“Fine, do you want to be doing this?”

“You know what? I think I will.” Midnight sniffed in the air, “I know where they are.”

“How did you do that?”

“I’m not sure, I just figured out I can do it now.”

“Whatever, just go kill them. I’ve waited 3 years to see you kill any pony.”

“I’ve gotta feeling I’m gonna love this.” Midnight flew over to the weather factory to find the three bullies he met 10 years ago, making rainbows, “It’s about time we’ve found some pony.” He flew down by them, “Hey! I know you three. So this is your accomplishment in life, making rainbows at the weather factory.”

“Hey, I remember you! You’re that pony that stood up for those two pathetic ponies, Rainbow Crash, and Clutsershy. What have you done in your life that’s so great?”

“Do you know the phrase, a life spent doing something one loves is a life well spent? Well I’m gonna enjoy ending your pathetic lives, right here, right now.”

“Oh yeah right! You’ve always been for show. you’d never have the guts to kill any pony!”

“Okay, then why don’t I prove you wrong?”

“Go ahead, give us your best shot!”

“Alright, but only because you told me to.” Midnight flew up above them and charged a flaming sword on his horn. He charged down at the gray bully faster than lightning. The flames burned through him as his horn penetrated his heart. The two broke through the clouds and Midnight pulled his horn out of the bullies heart as fell to the ground. He flew back up through the whole in the cloud and landed back down.

“Oh shit he’s serious!” The other two bullies ran away, one going around a corner, as Midnight shot a small fire off at the other. As the Flame made contact, it  blew up, igniting his entire body.

Midnight went over and found the last bully hiding around a corner. He was looking around the wall as Midnight was on the other side of him. The bully turned around and looked directly at Midnight, “Hello, this is the part where I kill you.” He lunged forward stabbing his horn through the bully’s skull. Midnight threw his dead body down to the floor, “That, was the most fun thing I’ve done in a long time. Come on let’s get going, I’ve got another in mind that I want dead.”

Manehattan Central Part, 9:23 A.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

“Midnight, why did we stop in Manehatten? I thought you said the griffin would be in the country side.”

“I know I did, but it’s been a long time since I’ve done anything but hunting, and I want to do something different for a change, and thought I’d catch a magic show. Now quit, it’s starting.”

The stage opened itself up revealing a blue pony with a wizard hat and robe, “Watch as I, the great and powerful Trixie, presents you with my amazing magic, before your very eyes!” Fireworks flew out of instruments cracking above Trixie, creating a beautiful show of different colors.

“She’s not that bad.”

“Now I, the great and powerful Trixie, will mesmerize all of you with the tale of the Ursa Major!” More fire works shot from the instruments attached to the stage, “As I was performing my show, in the little town of Ponyville, a little purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle came into town with an Ursa Major!” lights in the sky were depicting the tale as she told it, “She was jealous of my amazing power, and tried to use the Ursa Major to vanquish me, so she could take my place. So I used my amazing power to vanquish her, and the Ursa Major.”

Midnights eyes grew as he flashed back to the last time he had seen his little sister, “I’m sorry Twilight.”

“What... She, did, WHAT?!!”

“It seems like some pony in the audience has a problem.”

“What did you do to Twilight?! Where is she now?!” The flames of his mane and tail grew

“I told you, I vanquished her. She’s gone, dead, kaput.”

“Grrrrrrrrrrr!” Midnight lit himself on fire, and charged at the stand. Trixie jumped off of the stage just before he landed.

“W-What is wrong with you?! H-How dare you attack t-the great and powerful Trixie!”

“You obviously don’t understand why I care about Twilight so much! Twilight was my little sister, and you killed her!”

“W-Wait, you don’t understand! I-I didn’t kill her, I just made the story up to look good.”

“Oh sure you did! How can you prove it?! Oh that’s right you can’t!” He began charging a fire on his horn.

“Wait, please don’t do it!”

“Come on Trixie, you can do it!” some of the ponies in the crowd were cheering for her, “Vanquish him just like you vanquished that Ursa Major!”

“Oh, not this again. I-I’ve never vanquished an Ursa Major. No pony can, it’s just not possible.”

Midnight’s flame had grown greatly at this point. He shot the flame at Trixie, igniting her in a tower of fire. The flames departed leaving nothing but a pile of ash where Trixie once stood, “That’ll teach you not to be an arrogant liar! I’m outta here!” He flew off into the sky leaving behind the crowd in awe, after what they had just seen, “Alright, first we find Gilda, and then we head to the town she called Ponyville.”

South Whitetail Woods, 9:30 P.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

“Midnight, how close are we to finding this, Gilda? I’m becoming impatient.”

“Don’t worry, she’s close. I can smell her.” He flew down and landed on a trail and sniffed in the air, “She’s right ahead.” Gilda walked around a corner in the path, and stopped to look at Midnight.

“Hey, what are you looking at?”

“Gilda, don’t you remember me? We met 10 years ago in flight school.”

“Midnight? Is that you? You look different. Whatever, you’re probably still as much as a dweeb as you’ve been the entire time I’ve known you.”

“You obviously don’t know why I’m here do you? I’m here for vengeance, for all of the times we fought. Except this time, I’m turning the tables. I’m not going to let you survive this.”

“Oh come on dude, you could never beat me then. So what makes you think you can beat me now? Come on, hit me with your best shot!”

“You know what, I would, but you’re not worth wasting the energy.” He blew a tiny fire ball out of his mouth at her. As it hit, it ignited her into a giant flaming tower that tore through the clouds. As the flames departed her charred bones fell to the ground, “Oh look, I didn’t get all of her.” He walked over and crushed her skull with his back hoof, “requiescant in pace. After all of the time we’ve fought, you finally get what you deserve.” He walked away and headed towards Ponyville.

Chapter 9: Rainbow Dash

Ponyville, 7:34 A.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

“Rainbow Dash that was amazing. It must be hard to do 34 consecutive barrel rolls.”

“Thanks Twilight, but it obviously wasn’t hard for such a brave and talented pony like me.” She looked up into the starry night sky. Suddenly, she could see a flaming shape in the sky that looked like a pegasus pony, “Oh sweet Celestia.... Oh my gosh hide me!” She flew over into Twilight’s house and into a corner, and began shaking, “He’s back. Fluttershy was right. He would come back.”

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight walked in to find her hiding in the corner, “What’s wrong? It seemed like you just freaked out for no reason.” The rest of the group walked in behind her.

“Fluttershy, do you think it’s time to tell them?” Fluttershy nodded with her eyes closed, “Alright, *sigh* it all started about 10 years ago. It was the first day that me and Fluttershy had met. And it was the first day we had met our friend Midnight. That day he helped us deal with bullies, fought with Gilda in flight school, and he convinced my parents to let me stay in flight school. for the next 5 years Fluttershy, Midnight, and I had been the best of friends. One day in summer flight camp, during a race, according to Fluttershy I accidentally knocked her off of the cloud she was standing on and Midnight jumped down to save her.” A huge booming noise came from outside, “Aaah! What was that!”

Fluttershy was looking out a window, “It’s a giant tower of fire.”

“Oh my gosh, he’s gonna kill me!”

"Rainbow Dash” Fluttershy interrupted her, “Oh I’m sorry but, you should finish telling them what happened. They can help you get through this.”

“Okay, well, I’m not so sure what happened but after waiting for Fluttershy and Midnight to come back, as I was leaving our cabin Midnight broke through the clouds. But he was different, he was much bigger and looked a lot stronger. He said he wasn’t trying to kill me, and he said it was Nightmare Moon, but that was all he could get out before she took him back over. I’ve spent the last 5 years running from him trying to find the way to help him return to normal.”

“Wait, I thought we defeated Nightmare Moon a while ago.”

“Yeah! we were all *gasp* when we first saw her, and then we went through the everfree forest and got the Elements of Harmony. Then we were all like *pew pew* *woosh* and then we defeated her. And then she was like *nooooo*”

“Pinkie Pie” Applejack interrupted her, “calm yourself sugar cube, now is not the time! Anyway, let’s let Rainbow here finish.”

“Well, when we defeated Nightmare Moon, that’s what I thought happened, but I clearly saw him flying over Ponyville.”

“Um, Rainbow Dash. He’s coming this way.”

“Oh no, oh no!”

“Wait a second.” Twilight interrupted, “You said his name was Midnight right? Is that his full name?”

“No, his full name is Midnight Flare, but every pony just calls him Midnight for short.”

“I don’t think you fully understand Rainbow Dash, Midnight Flare is my long lost brother’s name.”

“What?! Midnight is your brother?!”

“Yes but I don’t have any real memories of him. My parents just told me stories about him. I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, but I need to go out there and talk to him.”

“No wait, you can’t do that!”

“I’m sorry, but I need to do this.” She walked out.

“Oh my gosh! Fluttershy what’s happening?!”

“He seems angry, no wait. Now he’s calming down. Now they’re talking. *squeak*  he looked up at me.”

Twilight bursted through the door, “Spike take a letter, quickly! Spike, where’s Spike?!”

“He’s in your room sleeping.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Rarity, can you please go get him for me?”

“Will do Twilight.” She ran up the stairs into Twilight’s bedroom. The two quickly ran back down the stairs.

“Twilight, what’s the problem?”

“Not now, just take a note!”

“Alright!” He grabbed the quill and paper.

“Dear Princess Celestia, we have found a remnants of Nightmare Moon in one of Rainbow Dash’s and Fluttershy’s old friends. We are now in desperate need to talk to Princess Luna as he is holding Nightmare Moon back. Please Respond A.S.A.P. okay Spike send it now!”

Spike blew fire onto the message as it was sent to Princess Celestia. Only a few seconds later a letter flew out of Spike’s mouth, “Dear Twilight Sparkle, Luna and I shall use our unicorn magic to teleport you and your friends to Canterlot.” Suddenly the 7 were transported, and they ended up right in front of Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.

“Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student, what seems to be the problem?”

“Well, I think the one you should be talking to is Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash walked up to Princess Luna, “You used to be Nightmare Moon right? Do you have any memory of when you were.”

“I do, is this about Midnight?”

“Yes, how did you know that?”

“The old me was hunting you down for about 5 years remember?”

“Oh yeah, right. Well do you know how he’s still like this?”

“When you 6 killed the Nightmare Moon in me, a little part of Nightmare Moon stayed inside Midnight.”

“Do you think you could take that little part outta him?”

“I’m sorry, but the only way to kill the rest of Nightmare Moon, is with the Elements of Harmony, but doing that would put him in the state he was in before Nightmare Moon took him over. He asked Nightmare Moon for life because he was near dead in the forest. So there’s a good chance that doing that would kill him. There’s a small chance that he could live, but Celestia and I would have to take some time to heal him. It would take us a while though, and we couldn’t make any mistakes.”

Princess Celestia walked over to them, “Rainbow Dash,are you willing to take the chance, even though this might take the life of your friend?”

Rainbow Dash remembered what Midnight had said to her in Fillydelphia, “Dash, you need to find a way to break this. I don’t care if it kills me, I’m already suffering enough.”

“Yes, he told me to fix this, even if it kills him.”

“Fluttershy, what about you?”

“I-I don’t know, I mean, this could end up killing him and-”

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash interrupted her, “Look into my eyes and listen, we’ve been friends for 10 years. We will make it through this, together.”

“Are you sure that he will come out alive?”

“I promise. But we need your full cooperation Fluttershy.”

“Alright, I trust you.”

“Alright! That means were all in this together!”

“We need to get the necklaces and tiara for the Elements of Harmony. Where do each of you keep them?”

“I think we all have them somewhere in our houses.”

“Arlight y’all, I thing every pony here should rest themselves up, then we go’n get the Elements of Harmony in the morning.”

“Great idea Applejack, every pony head to the castle’s guest rooms. Twilight, will you show them where to find them?”

“Will do, Princess.”

Chapter 9: Fluttershy

Ponyville, 7:34 A.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

“Rainbow Dash, that was amazing. It must be hard to do 34 consecutive barrel rolls.”

“Thanks Twilight, but it obviously wasn’t hard for such a brave and talented pony like me.”

“I especially liked when she almost hit a tree, but barely missed it.”

“Oh sweet Celestia.” Rainbow Dash was looking up to the sky, “Oh my gosh hide me!” She flew over into Twilight’s house.

“Oh no, not this again.” The 5 ran in after her.

Rainbow Dash was in a corner shaking, “He’s back. Fluttershy was right. He would come back.”

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight walked up to Rainbow Dash in the corner, “What’s wrong? It seemed like you just freaked out for no reason.” Fluttershy and the others walked up behind Twilight.

“Fluttershy, do you think it’s time to tell them?” Fluttershy nodded with her eyes closed, “Alright, *sigh* it all started about 10 years ago. It was the first day that me and Fluttershy had met. And it was the first day we had met our friend Midnight. That day he helped us deal with bullies, fought with Gilda in flight school, and he convinced my parents to let me stay in flight school. for the next 5 years Fluttershy, Midnight, and I had been the best of friends. One day in summer flight camp, during a race, according to Fluttershy I accidentally knocked her off of the cloud she was standing on and Midnight jumped down to save her.” A huge booming noise came from outside, “Aaah! What was that!”

Fluttershy was looking out a window, “It’s a giant tower of fire.”

“Oh my gosh, he’s gonna kill me!”

“Rainbow Dash” Fluttershy interrupted her, “Oh I’m sorry but, you should finish telling them what happened. They can help you get through this.”

“Okay, well, I’m not so sure what happened but after waiting for Fluttershy and Midnight to come back, as I was leaving our cabin Midnight broke through the clouds. But he was different, he was much bigger and looked a lot stronger. He said he wasn’t trying to kill me, and he said it was Nightmare Moon, but that was all he could get out before she took him back over. I’ve spent the last 5 years running from him trying to find the way to help him return to normal.”

“Wait, I thought we defeated Nightmare Moon a while ago.”

“Yeah! we were all *gasp* when we first saw her, and then we went through the everfree forest and got the Elements of Harmony. Then we were all like *pew pew* *woosh* and then we defeated her. And then she was like *nooooo*”

“Pinkie Pie” Applejack interrupted her, “calm yourself sugar cube, now is not the time! Anyway, let’s let Rainbow here finish.”

“Well, when we defeated Nightmare Moon, that’s what I thought happened, but I clearly saw him flying over Ponyville.”

“Um, Rainbow Dash. He’s coming this way.”

“Oh no, oh no!”

“Wait a second.” Twilight interrupted, “You said his name was Midnight right? Is that his full name?”

“No, his full name is Midnight Flare, but every pony just calls him Midnight for short.”

“I don’t think you fully understand Rainbow Dash, Midnight Flare is my long lost brother’s name.”

“What?! Midnight is your brother?!”

“Yes but I don’t have any real memories of him. My parents just told me stories about him. I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, but I need to go out there and talk to him.”

“No wait, you can’t do that!”

“I’m sorry, but I need to do this.” She walked out.

“Oh my gosh! Fluttershy what’s happening?!”

“He seems angry, no wait. Now he’s calming down. Now they’re talking. *squeak*  he looked up at me.”

Twilight bursted through the door, “Spike take a letter, quickly! Spike, where’s Spike?!”

“He’s in your room sleeping.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Rarity, can you please go get him for me?”

“Will do Twilight.” She ran up the stairs into Twilight’s bedroom. The two quickly ran back down the stairs.

“Twilight, what’s the problem?”

“Not now, just take a note!”

“Alright!” He grabbed the quill and paper.

“Dear Princess Celestia, we have found a remnants of Nightmare Moon in one of Rainbow Dash’s and Fluttershy’s old friends. We are now in desperate need to talk to Princess Luna as he is holding Nightmare Moon back. Please Respond A.S.A.P. okay Spike send it now!”

Spike blew fire onto the message as it was sent to Princess Celestia. Only a few seconds later a letter flew out of Spike’s mouth, “Dear Twilight Sparkle, Luna and I shall use our unicorn magic to teleport you and your friends to Canterlot.” Suddenly the 7 were transported, and they ended up right in front of Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.

“Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student, what seems to be the problem?”

“Well, I think the one you should be talking to is Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash walked up to Princess Luna, “You used to be Nightmare Moon right? Do you have any memory of when you were.”

“I do, is this about Midnight?”

“Yes, how did you know that?”

“The old me was hunting you down for about 5 years remember?”

“Oh yeah, right. Well do you know how he’s still like this?”

“When you 6 killed the Nightmare Moon in me, a little part of Nightmare Moon stayed inside Midnight.”

“Do you think you could take that little part outta him?”

“I’m sorry, but the only way to kill the rest of Nightmare Moon, is with the Elements of Harmony, but doing that would put him in the state he was in before Nightmare Moon took him over. He asked Nightmare Moon for life because he was near dead in the forest. So there’s a good chance that doing that would kill him. There’s a small chance that he could live, but Celestia and I would have to take some time to heal him. It would take us a while though, and we couldn’t make any mistakes.”

Princess Celestia walked over to them, “Rainbow Dash,are you willing to take the chance, even though this might take the life of your friend?”

Rainbow Dash remembered what Midnight had said to her in Fillydelphia, “Dash, you need to find a way to break this. I don’t care if it kills me, I’m already suffering enough.”

“Yes, he told me to fix this, even if it kills him.”

“Fluttershy, what about you?”

“I-I don’t know, I mean, this could end up killing him and-”

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash interrupted her, “Look into my eyes and listen, we’ve been friends for 10 years. We will make it through this, together.”

“Are you sure that he will come out alive?”

“I promise, but we need your full cooperation Fluttershy.”

“Alright, I trust you.”

“Alright! That means were all in this together!”

“We need to get the necklaces and tiara for the Elements of Harmony. Where do each of you keep them?”

“I think we all have them somewhere in our houses.”

“Arlight y’all, I thing every pony here should rest themselves up, then we go’n get the Elements of Harmony in the morning.”

“Great idea Applejack, every pony head to the castle’s guest rooms. Twilight, will you show them where to find them?”

“Will do, Princess.”

Chapter 9: Midnight Flare

Ponyville, 7:36 A.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

“Midnight, why are we in Ponyville anyway?”

“Because that pony named Trixie said she killed my sister in Ponyville, if she’s still alive, then I can find her here.”

“Wait, what’s that smell? I smell your little friend Rainbow Dash somewhere here.” Nightmare took control of him again, “Where is she?” A little purple pony walked out of a house in a tree, “Hmm, foolish little girl, I’ll take care of her.” She charged up the flames on his body

“Wait, that’s my sister! Just let me talk to her!”

“Fine, but not for long.” she gave Midnight control of his body again.

“Midnight, is that really you?”

“Twilight, I’ve missed you.”

“So you are my long lost brother that my parents kept telling me about. Why did you leave us? Mom and dad were devastated when you left.”

“I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t have been a good roll model for you. Mom and dad told me that you were starting to look up to me. That was the day that my temper caused me to accidentally kill four innocent teachers. I had to leave Canterlot to change myself for the better.”

Twilight began to cry, “But why didn’t you tell any of us?!”

“Because I know you all would refuse me leaving!”

Midnight caught something out of the corner of his eye. It was Fluttershy looking down at him from a window in the house that Twilight came out of, “Alright Midnight, your time’s up.”

“Twilight, she’s taking my body over again. Get yourself and your friends outta here before she has me kill all of you! Go now!”

“Don’t resist it Midnight. She’s going to die eventually.”

“I’m not willing to let you kill them! I’ll keep you from killing them until they die of old age. No matter how hard you try, I will not let you kill them! We’ve chase Rainbow Dash for 5 years now, and I’ve kept you from killing her the whole time. What makes you think that you’re gonna kill her now?”

“Quit resisting you foal!” She stabbed him in his nerves harder then she ever had before.

“Gaaaaaaaaah!!” A white light suddenly shot out of the tree house.

“Quickly, into the house!” She ran in the house to find a note lying on the floor, “

The note read, “Dear Twilight Sparkle, Luna and I shall use our unicorn magic to teleport you and your friends to Canterlot.”

“So, there going to go talk to my sister Celestia. Oh no, this means they can learn how to kill us! Come on Midnight, we’re going to Canterlot!” Nightmare had him run out and fly directly towards Canterlot.

“Good work Rainbow Dash, you’re finally getting us to the end of this. I’m glad that this hell can finally come to an end.”

“Quiet foal, She still hasn’t killed us yet. She still needs to get the Element’s of Harmony!”

“I know she does, but I know she will. Wait, didn’t that note say Princess Celestia “and” Luna would teleport them? Aren’t you Luna?”

“I am, but I’m right here. What year is it now?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s 2011.”

“That means that it’s already been the 1000th year I was Imprisoned. Why is it not night time eternal?”

“I think it’s because they killed the real Night Mare Moon, and you’re the only remaining part of her left and you’re inside of me.”

“But that means if they kill me with the Elements of Harmony, then that will kill you too.”

“Don’t lie to me, you’ve been in my head long enough for me to know what you’re really thinking. I know that if they kill you with the Elements of Harmony, then I will be put back in the state I was before you revived me.”

“Yes, but you were almost dead, which means they won’t be able to help you once they kill me.”

“My death is worth getting rid of a parasite like you. I have a feeling that us going to Canterlot  will all be worth it in the end.”

Chapter 10: Rainbow Dash

Canterlot Royal Palace, 8:00 A.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

Rainbow Dash was lying alone in her guest bed, “Oh Midnight, don’t worry about a thing. We’ll all get through this together.”

A civil sounding man’s voice came from outside, “Ah, get away from me you ruffian! Who let such an uncivilized pony into the royal castle?!”

“Shut up, foal!” The voice sounded familiar, “You’re the most arrogant, selfish, ungrateful pony I’ve ever met!” It was Midnight’s voice

“Oh crap, he’s here already!” She hopped out of the bed and ran out of the room, “Guys, we need to lea--” The other five were already outside of there rooms, staring down the hall in shock, “Guys, what’s wrong?” She looked down the hall so see Midnight’s horn driven through Prince Blue Blood’s neck. Red blood was running down Midnight’s face coming from the hole in Blue Blood’s neck, “W-We need to get o-outta here. Let’s get going guys.” He threw Blue Blood’s soulless body to the floor, and looked over at the six, “Oh my gosh, run now!” The six ran the other way down the hall and went around a corner. Midnight charged right behind them.

Twilight called out, “Princess Celestia, we need to get out of Canterlot, now!” The six were suddenly engulfed in a white light. They ended up in Ponyville with Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia.

Princess Luna spoke up, “You six go and get the elements. My big sister and I will hold him off!”

Got it!” Rainbow Dash saluted, “Let’s get going ladies!” They all spread off in every direction. Rainbow Dash flew into her house through the top window into her bedroom. She dug into her cloudy bed to find a box. She opened the box to find the element of loyalty necklace. She flashed back to the day they first used the elements.

Twilight spoke up, “Okay, we’ve seen what the Elements of Harmony can do. We all need to agree to not use these unless they’re the only option. Got it?” Every pony shook there heads, “Good, now every pony needs to find a place to hide them at our houses.”

“It’s hard to believe we’d actually need to use these again. *sigh*” She put the necklace on, and she felt its power rushing through her, “Aw yeah, I forgot how good this feels!” She suddenly felt a jolt of power run through her. Memories flashed by her eyes,

“I’d never leave my friends hangin.”

“Nice goin Rainbow Crash!”

“Be careful honey. This is your first time making such a long flight. Don’t get into any trouble.”

“Damn it Dash, are you really gonna doubt me?! I don’t want to kill you! She made me like this!”

“A race, after school, the three of us against you. Don’t be late.”

“Don’t you worry, I’ll be early! I’ll be the first one there! I’ll bring an audience, just so they can see you all lose!”

“I’m not so sure how much running for years on end is gonna help you, If I were you, I’d find a new solution.”

“You think that’s funny?! She almost died!”“We’ve decided that after all of that happened, we don’t want you in that flight school anymore.”

“Dash, you need to find a way to break this. I don’t care if it kills me, I’m already suffering enough.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head to regain her senses, “I need to get going!” She took off out of her house, “I better not be late because of that!” She flew up looking around for the rest of her friends. She saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna down in a field just outside of Ponyville with Midnight. She flew down next to them, “Am I late?!”

Princess Luna turned around and looked at her, “No, you’re actually quite early. Stand back until the rest are here. We’ll hold him off until then.” The two took off directly at Midnight, but he quickly flew into the sky to dodge it. They took off into the sky after him. Bursts of light, shadows, and fire were flying through the starry night sky.

“Raaainboooow Daaaaash!” Pinkie Pie was hopping up to her with the other four running with her.

“Finally you guys are here! What took you so long?”

“Never mind that Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said, “Now we need Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to get him onto the ground. Fluttershy, you and Rainbow Dash go up and get their attention.”

“Got it!” Rainbow Dash looked over to Fluttershy, who was staring at the ground, “Fluttershy, are you ready to finally end this?”

She looked up at Rainbow Dash with a stern, but happy look, “Yes.”

“Good! Now, let’s go get our friend back!”

Chapter 10: Fluttershy

Canterlot Royal Palace, 8:00 A.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

Fluttershy was sitting alone in a chair, looking at a mirror in her guest bedroom, “Don’t worry about a thing Fluttershy. I’m sure that Rainbow Dash is confident we can get through this, and you should be too.”

“Ah, get away from me you ruffian! Who let such an uncivilized pony into the royal castle?!” It sounded like the voice of the prince.

“Shut up, foal!” She could hear Midnight’s voice.

“Oh no, he’s here already. I need to warn the others.” She ran out of the room to see Midnight walking up to Prince Blue Blood as the others were coming out of there room.

“You’re the most arrogant, selfish, ungrateful pony I’ve ever met!” He drove his horn right through his neck.

Rainbow Dash ran out of her room, “Guys, we need to lea--” She cut off looking at the other five, “Guys, what’s wrong?” She looked looked over at Midnight and Prince Blue Blood. “W-We need to get o-outta here. Let’s get going guys.” He threw Blue Blood off of his horn, and looked over at them “Oh my gosh, run now!” They ran the other way down the hall and went around a corner. Midnight charged right behind them.

Twilight yelled for the Princess, “Princess Celestia, we need to get out of Canterlot, now!” They were surrounded by another white light, and ended up in Ponyville with Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia.

Princess Luna spoke up, “You six go and get the elements. My big sister and I will hold him off!”

“Got it!” Rainbow Dash saluted, “Let’s get going ladies!” Every pony spread out, heading toward there houses.

Fluttershy walked into her house and looked around, “Angel, where are you?” The little white bunny hopped down the stairs and up to Fluttershy, “Oh good, there you are. Um, can you bring me my Element of Harmony necklace?” The bunny put its paws on its hips, and shook its head, “Oh Angel, I know I said to only use them if its our only choice, but now is a better time then ever to use it. Please hurry Angel, we’re running out of time. My friends need me.” Angel sighed and ran back up the stairs. Only a few seconds later, she came back down the stairs with the yellow and pink necklace. She put the necklace around Fluttershy’s neck. She felt the necklaces power jolt through her, “Oh my, that is powerful. I-I need to get going. Watch the house for me while I’m gone. Okay Angel?” Angel shook his head, “Thank you. I’ll be home soon. Don’t worry about me.” She ran off into Ponyville, “Oh I hope I’m not late. I better head into Ponyville to rejoin my friends.”

“Fluttershy, wait fer me!” Applejack came up behind her, “It’s just like that day we saw each other fer the first time 5 years ago ain’t it?”

“It is isn’t it.”

“We best be goin. We don’t wanna be late.” The two took off for Ponyville to rejoin there friends. They could see Rarity, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie in the center of Ponyville, “Where’s Rainbow Dash at?”

“She might already be in the fight.” Twilight said, “I hope this works. I’d really like to finally get to know my older brother.”

Pinkie Pie spoke up, “I just saw where Rainbow Dash went. Follow meeeee!” She hopped over to a field outside of Ponyville while the others followed behind her. Rainbow Dash was looking up into the skies above the field. Midnight, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna were battling it “Raaainboooow Daaaaash!”

Rainbow Dash turned around to see the 5 coming to join her, “Finally you guys are here! What took you so long?”

“Never mind that Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said, “Now we need Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to get him onto the ground. Fluttershy, you and Rainbow Dash go up and get there attention.”

“Got it!” Rainbow Dash looked over to Fluttershy, who was staring at the ground, “Fluttershy, are you ready to finally end this?”

She looked up at Rainbow Dash with a stern, but happy look, “Yes.”

“Good! Now, let’s go get our friend back!”

Chapter 10: Midnight Flare

Canterlot Royal Palace, 7:55 A.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

“They’ve gotta be here somewhere! I can smell them!”

“You seem really determined to kill these ponies. What’s the rush?”

“Be quiet Midnight, you know what the rush is. You’re just trying to slow me down!”

“Not quite, I’m just distracting you long enough for the guards to show up.”

“Stop right there criminal scum!” Midnight was completely surrounded by guards, “You’re not supposed to be here!”

“Foals! Do you really think you can stop me?!” Nightmare stomped down on the ground, and all of the guards burst into flames, “Come on, let’s get going they’re this way!” She looked down the hall to see Prince Blue Blood staring at Midnight, “Oh look, if it isn’t my pathetic little nephew. They started walking towards him, “You don’t deserve to be part of this family!”

“Ah, get away from me you ruffian! Who let such an uncivilized pony into the royal castle?!”

“Shut up, foal! You’re the most arrogant, selfish, ungrateful pony I’ve ever met!”

She drove Midnight’s horn directly through Prince Blue Blood’s neck. Midnight could barely see the red blood flow out of Blue Blood’s neck, down onto his face.

“Guys, we need to lea--, Guys, what’s wrong?”

“Oh shit it’s them.” Midnight though, “They need to get outta here now.”

“W-We need to get o-outta here. Let’s get going guys.” Nightmare threw Blue Blood’s dead body off of Midnight’s horn, and looked over at the six ponies, “Oh my gosh, run now!”

“No! We’re not letting them escape us again!” She dashed as fast as she could to catch up.

Twilight called out, “Princess Celestia, we need to get out of Canterlot, now!” A white flash engulfed the six as they were teleported away from Midnight.

“No! We can’t let them get the elements! Quickly, to Ponyville!” She dashed down the hall and blasted a hole in the wall. She flew through the air and picked up speed as fast as she could. A flaming mach cone formed around and suddenly, a flaming sonic rainboom burst through the sky, “They won’t get away with this!” Suddenly, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna flew in front of of Midnight. Nightmare quickly came to a stop, “Get out of my way! You obviously don’t know who you’re dealing with!”

“No, as the rulers of Equestria, Princess Luna and I can’t let any bit of Nightmare Moon still be alive.”

“This is none of your business!” Nightmare dashed right at the opening between the two princesses. Princess Luna flew out of the way, and Princess Celestia flew to Midnight’s side. She charged straight into him and knocked him to the ground in a field just outside of Ponyville, “Gah, do you really think that will stop me? The only thing that can kill me is the Elements of Harmony!”

“We know that.” Luna said, “You are kinda the old me.”

“We just need to hold you back long enough for the six to get the necklaces and tiara.”

Rainbow Dash was suddenly behind them, “Am I late?!”

“No, you’re actually quite early.” Luna said, “Stand back until the rest are here. We’ll hold him off until then.” The two princesses charged at Midnight.

“I don’t think so!” Nightmare took off into the sky, and the princesses following closely behind, “I’ve waited 5 years to do this!” She charged up a flame on Midnight’s horn, aiming it at Rainbow Dash. Luna quickly knocked into Midnight, and the flame shot off into the sky, “You two are starting to get on my nerves!” Celestia shot off a burst of sunlight at Midnight. Nightmare quickly dodged the shot and Luna shot off a burst of moonlight at Midnight. Nightmare dodged again sending a fire ball at the princesses. They quickly moved out of the way.

“Raaainboooow Daaaaash!” Nightmare looked down to see the other five had joined Rainbow Dash.

“No!” Nightmare dashed down at them, but was hit by a ray of sunlight from Princess Celestia.

“You should try paying attention to who you’re fighting.”

“Well Nightmare, we’ve been together in my body for five years now. But I think the time has finally come for us to part.”

Chapter 11: Rainbow Dash

Outside of Ponyville, 8:43 P.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew up into the air, “Hey, Rainbow Dash. How do we plan on getting close?”

“No plan, we’re winging it.”

“Um, what?”

“Do you have any better ideas? We don’t have much time. If we don’t hurry, Midnight could easily burn down Ponyville!”

“I guess you’re right. Let’s just go get Midnight back.”

“Princess Celestia! We need to get Midnight to the ground!”

“We’ll get him down there!” Princess Celestia never took her eyes off of Midnight. She didn’t want to give him any kind of opening, “Just go rejoin your friends. He’s too dangerous!”

“Got it! Come on Fluttershy!”

“No! I can’t let them win!” Midnight shot a flame off in between the princesses. Rainbow Dash moved but Fluttershy froze from shock.

“Fluttershy! No!” Rainbow Dash flew at Fluttershy pushing her out of the way of the fire. The flames barely caught onto her tail.

“Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine Fluttershy, he just got my tail. Come on, we need to get going now!” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew down to the ground as fast as they could, “They’ll be down here soon enough. We need to get ourselves ready for them to come to the ground so we can deliver the final blow.”

Luna and Celestia came crashing down to the ground pushing Midnight in front of them. The three crashed down to the ground, forming a crater right in front of the six ponies. As they crashed down, a dust cloud poured from the crater in the ground. The cloud slowly cleared revealing the princesses standing over Midnight, who was laying in the middle of the crater, “Do it!” Luna shouted out, “Do it now! We don’t have much time!”

“Got it!” The six channeled there energy to the Elements of Harmony. A light shined from the center of them slowly turning into a towering rainbow, “Don’t worry Midnight, we’ll get you back to your normal self. I promise.” The rainbow came crashing down at Midnight, circling around him.

“No! You can’t beat me! Nooooooo!” The rainbow swirling around him, spinning faster and faster, until he was completely engulfed in the rainbow. A wave of energy bursted from where Midnight stood, pushing every pony back.

Outside of Ponyville, 12:00 A.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

Rainbow Dash slowly got up, “Ugh, that hurt.” She looked over to the crater to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna blasting Midnight with bright white lights. But Midnight didn’t look the same. He looked like he did before the incident at the pegasus race, except he was older. His left wing was missing, and was covered in blood. Midnight was screaming in pain as the princesses slowly healed him, “Wow, did my sonic rainboom really do that much damage to him? Wow, that’s amazing.”

“Rainbow Dash?!” Twilight bursted out at her, “How can you be so insensitive?! This is the friend you’ve been trying to save for 5 years!”

“Right, I’m sorry.” She looked back down at Midnight. His wounds were slowly healing, his wing was slowly returning, and the blood was slowly depleting. But he was still shaking and screaming in pain. He looked at Rainbow Dash who was staring right back at him. His expression suddenly changed and he was surprisingly smiling. His wing has fully returned as he screamed directly into the air. The light around him burst and spread out blinding every pony. Rainbow Dash looked back down at Midnight. He was lying in the bottom of the crater, wing returned, cuts healed, blood gone, flames still burning, but he wouldn’t move. He just lied in the middle of the crater, “No, he-he can’t be... he can’t be dead.” Rainbow Dash began to cry, “He can’t die! Not now, not after all we’ve been through! You can’t die on us!” She fell to the ground and buried her head into her front legs, “Damn it, he can’t die, he just can’t.”

She felt someone pushing on her side, “Ra-rainbow Dash, I think you might wanna see this.”

She looked up at Fluttershy, “What is it now Fluttershy.”

“Ow, my head.” The voice was Midnight’s

Rainbow Dash quickly looked down to the bottom of the crater to see Midnight standing up holding his hoof on his head, “Midnight! You’re alive!”

“Yep and I’ve never felt better.” He flew up to join the rest of the ponies, “Why, were you worried about me?”

“Um, no. I mean, I knew you’d be fine, seeing as how I was one of the ponies who helped you.”

“Ha, arrogant and self loving as always I see. That’s the way you’ve always been and the way I’ve always loved it.”

“What do yah mean by that Midnight?”

“Hah, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. So Fluttershy, how have you been? I think it’s been 5 years since I’ve seen you last.”

“I’m fine, I’ve just lived here in Ponyville for the last 5 years. Nothing too special except all of the adventures the six of us have been on.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to tell me all about it.” He looked over at Rainbow Dash, and frowned, “ *sigh* Rainbow Dash, I’ve been trying to find the strength to say this to you ever since the day I first met you to say this to you. Rainbow Dash, I love you, you’re the only pony I’ve ever met who’s ever made me feel complete. You’re beautiful and I wouldn’t want to be with any other pony.” He reached down, closed his eyes, and locked his lips with Rainbow Dash’s.

“Midnight, feels this way about me?” She thought to herself, “I could get used to this.” She slowly closed her eyes, and pulled him closer with her front two hooves.

“Awww, they’re so cute together!” Pinkie Pie said ecstatically.

Midnight slowly pulled away as they both opened there eyes, “I’ve gotta say Rainbow Dash, I’ve never been happier in my entire life.” He smiled at her but suddenly, his face became shocked, “I-I’m sorry, I can’t stay here.”

“What?! But we just got you back! You just kissed me! How can you leave?!”

He cringed in slight pain, “I know, I’m sorry. I’ve gotta take care of something. This needs to be done.” He slowly backed away from Rainbow Dash, “Don’t worry, I can guarantee you we’ll see each other again.” He turned around and flew off into the distance, into the bright light of the full moon.

“Don’t worry sugar cube, I’m sure y’all will see him again sometime.”

“I sure hope so Applejack.”

“Aww come on, let me take you to Sugar Cube Corner and turn that frown upside down.”

“Thanks Pinkie Pie, that would be nice.”

Chapter 11: Fluttershy

Outside of Ponyville, 8:43 P.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

The two ponies flew up into the sky, “Hey, Rainbow Dash. How do we plan on getting close?”

“No plan, we’re winging it.”

“Um, what?”

“Do you have any better ideas? We don’t have much time. If we don’t hurry, Midnight could easily burn down Ponyville!”

“I guess you’re right. Let’s just go get Midnight back.”

“Princess Celestia! We need to get Midnight to the ground!”

“We’ll get him down there!” Princess Celestia never took her eyes off of Midnight. She didn’t want to give him any kind of opening, “Just go rejoin your friends. He’s too dangerous!”

“Got it! Come on Fluttershy!”

“No! I can’t let them win!” Midnight shot a flame off in between the princesses. The flame came straight at Fluttershy. She froze up in her fear.

“Oh, my goodness!” She thought, “What do I do?” Rainbow Dash quickly pushed her out of the way. The flames barely caught onto her tail.

“Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Fluttershy. He just got my tail. Come on, we need to get going, now!” They flew down to the ground as fast as they could, “They’ll be down here soon enough. We need to get ourselves ready for them to come to the ground so we can deliver the final blow.”

The princesses had Midnight in front of them as they pushed him down, crashing into the ground. A crater formed right before the feet of the six ponies. A dust cloud poured from the crater as they crashed down. As the cloud cleared, Fluttershy could see the princesses standing over Midnight, who was laying in the middle of the crater, “Do it!” Luna shouted out, “Do it now! We don’t have much time!”

“Got it!” The six channeled there energy to the Elements of Harmony. A light shined from the center of them slowly turning into a towering rainbow, “Don’t worry Midnight, we’ll get you back to your normal self. I promise.” The rainbow came crashing down at Midnight, circling around him.

“No! You can’t beat me! Nooooooo!” The rainbow swirling around him, spinning faster and faster, until he was completely engulfed in the rainbow. A wave of energy bursted from where Midnight stood, pushing every pony back.

Outside of Ponyville, 12:00 A.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

Fluttershy was the first to stand up as the others stood up as well, “Ow, my head.”They walked over to the crater to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna blasting Midnight with bright white lights. Fluttershy could see that Midnight looked different. He looked like he did before the incident at the pegasus race, except he looked like he had aged. His left wing was still gone, and his black coat was bloodstained. Midnight was screaming in pain as the princesses slowly healed him.

Rainbow Dash walked up next to them “Wow, did my sonic rainboom really do that much damage to him? Wow, that’s amazing.”

“Rainbow Dash?!” Twilight yelled out, “How can you be so insensitive?! This is the friend you’ve been trying to save for 5 years!”

“Right, I’m sorry.” They all looked back down to the bottom of the crater. Midnight’s wounds were slowly healing, his wing was slowly growing back, and the blood was slowly depleting. But he was still shaking and screaming in pain. He looked at Rainbow Dash who was staring right back at him. His expression suddenly changed and he was surprisingly smiling. His wing has fully returned as he screamed directly into the air. The light around him burst through the air, and spread out blinding every pony. Fluttershy, who could barely see, looked back down at Midnight. He was lying in the bottom of the crater, wing returned, cuts healed, blood gone, flames still burning, but he wouldn’t move. He just lied in the middle of the crater, “No, he-he can’t be... he can’t be dead.” Rainbow Dash began to cry, “He can’t die! Not now, not after all we’ve been through! You can’t die on us!” She fell to the ground and buried her head into her front legs, “Damn it, he can’t die, he just can’t.”

Suddenly, Midnight began to slowly move. He began to stand up as he slowly swirved back and forth, “Oh my goodness.” Fluttershy pushed on the side of her crying friend, “Ra-rainbow Dash, I think you might wanna see this.”

Rainbow Dash looked up at her,  “What is it now Fluttershy.”

“Ow, my head.” Midnight said while shaking his head.

Rainbow Dash quickly looked at him, “Midnight! You’re alive!”

“Yep and I’ve never felt better.” He flew up next to them, “Why, were you worried about me?”

“Um, no. I mean, I knew you’d be fine, seeing as how I was one of the ponies who helped you.”

“Ha, arrogant and self loving as always I see. That’s the way you’ve always been and the way I’ve always loved it.”

“What do yah mean by that Midnight?”

“Hah, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. So Fluttershy, how have you been? I think it’s been 5 years since I’ve seen you last.”

“I’m fine, I’ve just lived here in Ponyville for the last 5 years. Nothing too special except all of the adventures the six of us have been on.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to tell me all about it.” He looked over at Rainbow Dash, and frowned, “ *sigh* Rainbow Dash, I’ve been trying to find the strength to say this to you ever since the day I first met you to say this to you. Rainbow Dash, I love you, you’re the only pony I’ve ever met who’s ever made me feel complete. You’re beautiful and I wouldn’t want to be with any other pony.” He reached down, closed his eyes, and locked his lips with Rainbow Dash’s.

“Well isn’t that nice.” Fluttershy said as she smiled at them.

“Awww, they’re so cute together!” Pinkie Pie said as she bounced up and down.

The two pulled away from each other as they slowly opened there eyes, “I’ve gotta say Rainbow Dash, I’ve never been happier in my entire life.” He smiled at her but suddenly, his face became shocked as he cringed in slight pain, “I-I’m sorry, I can’t stay here.”

“What?! But we just got you back! You just kissed me! How can you leave?!”

He cringed in slight pain again, “I know, I’m sorry. I’ve gotta take care of something. This needs to be done.” He slowly backed away from Rainbow Dash, “Don’t worry, I can guarantee you we’ll see each other again.” He turned around and flew off into the distance, into the bright light of the full moon.

“Don’t worry sugar cube, I’m sure y’all will see him again sometime.”

“I sure hope so Applejack.”

“Aww come on, let me take you to Sugar Cube Corner and turn that frown upside down.”

“Thanks Pinkie Pie, that would be nice.”

Chapter 3: Fluttershy

Cloudsdale Junior Speedster Flight School, 7:59 A.M., Monday, August 20th, 2001, 10 years ago

“Okay class, class is about to start, and it looks like everypony is here except for a young filly by the name of Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy flashed back to the pony she crashed into before.

“I’m sorry about that. Here, let’s start over. My name is Rainbow Dash. What’s yours?” Suddenly, the pony from before bursted through the door

The teacher walked up to the pony, “Hello, welcome to Physics of Aerodynamics. I’m guessing you’re Rainbow Dash. Please have a seat over there by Fluttershy in the corner so we can get class started.”

Rainbow Dash walked over to the empty seat. She looked over at Fluttershy, who was looking at Rainbow Dash. But Fluttershy quickly looked away when she made eye contact with Rainbow.

“Alright class, welcome to your first day of Physics of Aerodynamics. Now for our first lesson of the day, I need all of you to find a partner.”

Everypony in the room started scattering around the room trying to get with their friends, but no one went towards Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy noticed Rainbow trying to move her desk towards her. “Oh no, She’s gonna hurt herself.” Fluttershy thought. The desk wouldn’t budge. Rainbow Dash fell out of the desk, and onto the ground.

Fluttershy looked down at her. “Are you okay?” She asked.

“I’m fine.” Rainbow said while getting up.

“Did you not see the desks are bolted to the floor?”

“No, but how did you know that?

“Sometimes, you just gotta stop to see the small things.”

“Okay everypony, for our first activity we will need to step outside. Everybody get with their partners.” The teacher led the class through a pair of double doors, out to an elevated platform with a seesaw next to it. “Alright, this exercise is all about picking up speed based on the way you fly. One pony will jump off the top of the platform and land on the seesaw, which will launch their partner into the air. Once you get to the height that of the platform, start flapping your wings. If you do it right you should get the highest possible speed from this exercise. You and your partner will each take a turn to do both parts. Who wants to go first?”

Rainbow Dash stood and started jumping up and down ecstatically. “Oh, we do! Me and Fluttershy do!”

“Good, now one of you get to the top and get ready to jump off.”

“I’ll be the first to jump off.” Rainbow said “Fluttershy, you go get yourself on the seesaw.” The two ponies readied themselves on the platform and seesaw. “Tell me when you’re ready Fluttershy!”

“Um, I’m ready. I mean, if that’s okay with you.” Rainbow Dash jumped off and landed on the other end of the seesaw launching Fluttershy into the air. Fluttershy flapped her wings as hard as she could, but only managed to land on the platform.”

“It’s okay!” yelled the teacher, “Not every pony can do it on their first try.”

Rainbow Dash worked her way from one end of the seesaw to the other “Ready when you are Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy looked down at the platform, squeaked, took a few steps back, and started shaking. She remembered falling off of the cloud a few years back.

“Fluttershy? What’s wrong?” Rainbow asked.

Fluttershy looked down at Rainbow. “This is really high up...”

“Come on Fluttershy, just jump. Trust me,” Rainbow Dash added reassuringly, “if you jump off you will be safe.”

Fluttershy stood on top of the platform, shaking for a few seconds. “Alright Fluttershy,” she thought to herself, “you came here to become a better flier and to make some friends, and this is gonna help a lot with both.” Then she squeaked again, closed her eyes, and jumped off. Rainbow Dash flew into the air, sped up, and started doing flips and barrel rolls, then landed down on the ground next to Fluttershy. “See, I told you you’d be fine. Come on, let’s go watch the rest of the class.”

“What class do you have next?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh, um, I’m in formation flying next.”

“Oh, well, I’m in tricks class next. So I guess I will see you in 1st hour every day.”

“Okay class,” the teacher spoke up, “it looks like that’s all the time we have today.”

“Okay, well, see yah later Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash sprinted out the door of the class.

“Let’s see where formation flying is.” She pulled her schedule out of her bag again. “Room 385 all the way down at the end of the hallway.” She ran down the hall as fast as she could. “Oh, why does this hall need to be so long.” running out of breath she finally makes it to the door at the end of the long hall. *RRIIINNGG* “I’m here.” She said as she collapsed to the ground.

“What’s wrong with you?” the teacher asked, “What class did you just come from?”

“I *gasp* came from *gasp* Understanding *gasp* of Aerodynamics.”

“Oh, well that makes sense. That’s all the way on the other side of the school. And yer gonna hafta do that every day. Take yer time, I understand if yer a little tardy. Alright, everypony who was in this class last year, yah know what yah need to. All the new ponies go over there and talk to Gilda. She’ll tell yah what you need to do.”

Every pony except for Fluttershy started flying through the air in perfect formation. Fluttershy stood up, and walked over to Gilda.

“So, you’re the only new pony here? Oh man, this is gonna suck trying to teach only one new pony formation flying. Hey Mr. N, do I really gotta do this? There’s only one new kid.”

“Yup. This constitutes for all the detention yah missed with me last year.”

“Alright dude, listen up. Take a good look at me because I’m the one you’re gonna be workin’ with for the rest of your time in this class.” Gilda was different from anyone Fluttershy had ever seen, because she wasn’t a pony. Gilda was a Griffin, a creature that is part eagle, and part lion. She had the most intimidating stare Fluttershy had ever seen in her young life. “Let’s get started. Go over there and make a basic V-line formation.”

“Um, Gilda, I mean, not to question you or anything but, how am I supposed to do that.”

“Hey, did you just talk back?! Go over there and make a V-line!”

“Uhh, I don’t know how to do that.”

“Oh come on dude! How can you be in a formation flying class if you don’t know how to do a basic V-line! Mr. N this isn’t working! The dweeb here doesn’t know what she’s doing!”

“Calm yerself Gilda. There’s only one of them. I’ll handle this fer today.”

“Fine. You better smart up, dweeb.” she walked away and joined the rest of the ponies in formation.

“Don’t yah worry ‘bout her. She’s always like this. Don’t worry ‘bout anything today. I’ll work on gettin’ more youngin’s like you to join. Just relax this hour.”

“Okay...” She lied down, looked down at the clouds, and fell asleep.

Chapter 7: Midnight Flare

Whitetail Woods, 7:09 A.M., June 10th, 2006, 5 years ago

“Why are you making me do this? Who are you anyway?”

“Couldn’t you tell? It’s me, the mare in the moon.”

“I thought that was just an old ponies tale. Even if you are the mare in the moon how did you reach me? I thought you were trapped in the moon.”

“It’s simple, It happened to be the perfect time of night where I could here your crying, and I put out as much of my energy of mine that could reach you out to help you.”

“I’ve got a feeling that you’re just saying you’re gonna help me and you’re just gonna torture me until I do what you want.”

“Probably, let’s see about that.” She stabbed into a nerve in the back of his brain and Midnight suddenly lost control of his movement.

“Hey, what’s going on?!” He started to fly up out of the forest and headed up directly towards the flight camp he fell from.

“I decided, instead of just torturing you until you listen, I’m going to learn how to control your every action.”

He sped up and flames gathered around him in the shape of a spiral. The spiral got bigger and bigger as Midnight noticed he was directly under their cabin, “Oh god no.” He struggled to regain control of himself, but it was useless, Nightmare Moon had full control of him. He broke through the cloud, completely destroying the cabin. Midnight looked down to see Rainbow Dash looking up at him in the spiral.

The flames broke up as Midnight was revealed he floated in the air above the hole where their cabin used to be. Rainbow Dash looked at him and then her eyes got bigger in shock, “Oh my gosh, It’s Midnight!”

Midnight suddenly gained control of himself and flew down next to Rainbow Dash. “This may be my only chance to tell her what’s wrong with me.” he thought.

“Nah ah, I don’t think so.” Nightmare quickly regained her control as he landed down next to her.

“Rainbow Dash, I’m sorry I have to do this.” He gathered flames on his horn, and shot off a gigantic flame down at her. She dodged the flames, barely escaping them.

“Why are you doing this?! What has gotten into you?!”

“I’m sorry, but she won’t let me explain.”

“She won’t let you? Who won’t let you?”

“It’s,” Midnight struggled to get the words out, “Nightmare Moon.”

“But Nightmare Moon is just an old mare’s tale. How can she be behind this?”

“Damn it Dash, are you really gonna doubt me?! I don’t want to kill you! She made me like this!”

“Well what can I do to get you back?”

“You can’t, there is only one thing that can kill me, and that’s”

Nightmare quickly cut him off, “No! No pony shall know of how to kill us!”

Nightmare stabbed him in his nerves as hard as she could, “Gaaaaaaaaah! Fuck! I’m sorry Rainbow Dash.” Nightmare gathered up another flame on Midnight’s horn, and shot it off at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow quickly moved out of the way of the fire again, “I’ve gotta get outta here!” She said and took off.

Nightmare continuously gathered up more flames on Midnight’s horn, shooting them off one after another as Rainbow Dash dodged each shot flying after her. Nightmare suddenly lost control of Midnight, “What are you doing you foal?! Go after the girl!”

Midnight stood on the cloud staring at Rainbow Dash, not moving an inch, “No. I’m in control right now and when I’m in control I’m not going to get any closer to killing my friend.”

“Oh, Really?” She stabbed him in his nerves again. Midnight screamed in pain and fell down holding his head, “I can still always do this if you don’t cooperate remember?”

“I remember, but any pain you can inflict on me is worth not letting my friend die.”

She removed her sharpened energy from his nerves, “Fine, It’s not worth it to waste my energy, I’ll just kill her while I’m in control.”

West Fillydalphia, 9:11 A.M., September 11th, 2007, 4 years ago

Midnight was flying over West Fillydalphia with Nightmare in control, “I know she’s around here some where. I just know it.” He landed on top of an apartment building looking over one of the streets. Suddenly, little Rainbow Dash walked out of the apartment Midnight was standing on. Nightmare took control of Midnight’s horn and quickly shot a flame down at Rainbow Dash. She quickly moved out of the way.

Nightmare suddenly spoke out, but she spoke out loud, and she was using Midnight’s voice, “It’s about time I found you again. Now hold still, this’ll only hurt a lot.”

“Midnight, what are you talking about?”

He struggled to get control of his own voice back, “She’s learning to control me through my nerves. It won’t be to long before she can control me entirely, without me being able to put up a fight. Dash, you need to find a way to break this. I don’t care if it kills me, I’m already suffering enough.”

“I don’t think so. This has gone on long enough” Nightmare tried to regain control of Midnight again.

“Run. Now!” Midnight shouted.

“Okay, I will.” She ran down the street as Midnight struggled to hold Nightmare back to let Rainbow Dash get away, “You can try and kill her as much as you want but I won’t let you. I will make this go on as long as you keep trying.”

Manehattan, 7:17 A.M., August 4th, 2008, 4 years ago

“Nightmare, how long are you gonna keep this up really? I mean we don’t even know if she’s here or not. We’ve been searching for her for 2 years now.”

“Don’t you worry your little head off. I know she’s here, I just need to wait here for the right time.” She began gathering flames getting more flames as the fire on his horn grows bigger and bigger. The charged up flame grew so huge it almost took up the entire width of the street. Midnight could barely see Rainbow Dash as she was right behind a lady walking out of a  building in the distance. As Rainbow Dash barely popped her head out the flames shot off, engulfing the entire street in front of him in fire.

Every pony behind him ran away in fear. As the flames disappeared he saw the entire street in front of him was empty and covered in ash, “Oh no, did she really do it?” Suddenly, Rainbow Dash popped out of the building she was in flying away from Midnight as fast as she could, “*sigh* thank Celestia she’s alive.”

“Hey! get moving! We’re losing her!”

“Sorry Nightmare, but you used too much of your energy and lost control again. I don’t think we’ll be going anywhere for now. I’ve gotta wonder, you said I need to kill everyone who hurt me. So why am I only hunting down Rainbow Dash? There’s plenty others I would rather kill then Rainbow Dash.”

"We're hunting her down because she is the one that hurt you most recently, but if you want we can go hunt down the others now."

“Something we can finally agree on. “Let’s get going, I’ve got some plans in store for some ponies.”

Chapter 11: Midnight Flare

Outside of Ponyville, 8:43 P.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

“Let me pass, you foals! I won’t let those six pathetic ponies end me!”

“No! We won’t let any part of Nightmare Moon live! I lived that way for 1000 years, and I don’t want that part of me to live any longer."

“Princess Celestia! We need to get Midnight to the ground!” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew up behind the princesses.

“We’ll get him down there!” The princesses never kept there eyes off of Midnight., “Just go rejoin your friends. He’s too dangerous!”

“Got it! Come on Fluttershy!”

“No! I can’t let them win!” Nightmare shot a flame off of Midnight’s horn. It passed right through the opening between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Rainbow Dash quickly moved out of the way but Fluttershy froze up.

“Fluttershy! No!” Rainbow Dash flew at Fluttershy pushing her out of the way of the fire. The flames barely caught onto her tail.

“What the hell are you doing?! I thought you only wanted to kill Rainbow Dash!”

“Any pony in my way will face my wrath! I will take no chances on dying!”

“Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine Fluttershy. He just got my tail. Come on, we need to get going, now!” They flew down to the ground away from the three alicorns in the sky.

“If I can’t kill them now, then I have no choice but to run!” Nightmare flew directly away from the princesses, but they quickly flew in front of Midnight. They charged directly at Midnight, pushing him to the ground. The three crashed into the ground, forming a huge crater. A huge dust cloud formed from the crater as they crashed down.

The dust cloud cleared and Midnight could barely hear Princess Luna shouting “D--t! D-- -ow! W--ave mu--ime!”

He could barely see a light coming from where the six ponies stood above him. All of a sudden, a giant rainbow shot up from above them and came storming down at Midnight, “Well Nightmare, after 5 years it looks like you’ve finally lost.”

“No! You can’t beat me! Nooooooo!” The rainbow swirling around him, spinning faster and faster, until he was completely engulfed in the rainbow. A wave of energy bursted from where Midnight stood as he fell to the ground.

Outside of Ponyville, 12:00 A.M., March 19th, 2011, Present

“Midnight, it’s Luna. We’re gonna start reviving you. This might hurt quite a lot, but it’s our only choice.”

“Wait, what?!” The two princesses blasted him with two beams of bright light, “Gaaaaaah! Fuck!” He felt sharp pains surging through his entire body. The pains were stronger and sharper then Nightmare had ever inflicted on him. He looked up to the top of the crater to see Rainbow Dash staring down at him, “I can make it through this, I need to tell her what I feel.” He started smiling and then the sharpest pain he had ever felt surged to his missing left wing as it fully grew back. He screamed into the air and the lights shining around him bursted in every direction as Midnight collapsed to the ground.

“No, he--e dead.” Midnight could hardly hear the voice, but it sounded like Rainbow Dash, “He can’t die! Not n--ll we’ve be--ough! You --on us!” He opened his eyes, but everything was blurry, “Damn it, he can’t die, he just can’t.” He slowly started standing up, feeling dizzy, and struggling to stand.

“Oh my goodness.” The voice was Fluttershy’s, “Ra-rainbow Dash, I think you might wanna see this.”

Rainbow Dash looked up at her,  “What is it no--”

He suddenly felt a quick, sharp pain run through his head, “Ow, my head.”

“Midnight! You’re alive!” Rainbow Dash was looking down at him happily.

“Yep and I’ve never felt better.” He flew up next to Rainbow Dash, “Why, were you worried about me?”

“Um, no. I mean, I knew you’d be fine, seeing as how I was one of the ponies who helped you.”

“Ha, arrogant and self loving as always I see. That’s the way you’ve always been and the way I’ve always loved it.”

“What do yah mean by that Midnight?”

“Hah, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. So Fluttershy, how have you been? I think it’s been 5 years since I’ve seen you last.”

“I’m fine, I’ve just lived here in Ponyville for the last 5 years. Nothing too special except all of the adventures the six of us have been on.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to tell me all about it.” He looked over at Rainbow Dash, and frowned, “I need to tell her now.” He thought, “ *sigh* Rainbow Dash, I’ve been trying to find the strength to say this to you ever since the day I first met you to say this to you. Rainbow Dash, I love you, you’re the only pony I’ve ever met who’s ever made me feel complete. You’re beautiful and I wouldn’t want to be with any other pony.” He reached down, closed his eyes, and locked his lips with Rainbow Dash’s.

“It worked.” He thought, “I’m so happy. She makes me so happy.” He could feel that Rainbow Dash has pulled him closer with her front hooves, “She really likes me doesn’t she?”

“Awww, they’re so cute together!” Pinkie Pie said happily.

The two pulled away from each other as they slowly opened there eyes, “I’ve gotta say Rainbow Dash, I’ve never been happier in my entire life.” He smiled at her but suddenly

He felt his heart pulse stronger for a second, “Did you really think I was gone?”

“No, how can you still be here?”

“I-I’m sorry, I can’t stay here.”

“What?! But we just got you back! You just kissed me! How can you leave?!”

“They didn’t kill me, they only repressed me.” He felt his heart pump again.

“I know, I’m sorry. I’ve gotta take care of something. This needs to be done.” He slowly backed away from Rainbow Dash, “Don’t worry, I can guarantee you we’ll see each other again.” He flew off away from his friends, and the one he loved, “Damn it, why can’t I get rid of you? Don’t worry Rainbow Dash, I’ll be back to be with you some day, I promise.”

The adventure doesn't end yet. Continue reading in Flare of Love here: Flare of Love