Rainbow Dash just lay there on the cold ground of the Frozen North. Both of her wings had been ripped off and she had been impaled through the chest and killed. She was bleeding profusely and her eyes were empty as she lay there on her back, looking up at the sky.
Rarity charged at King Sombra as soon as she saw that he had killed her friend. She charged magic into her horn and continued firing magic bolts at him. They both moved away from Rainbow Dash and continued their battle; however, as much as she tried, she just couldn’t seem to damage him at all. King Sombra kept easily dodging and blocking all of her attacks and then he would strike back at her when she was tired from her assaults. He easily struck her down to the ground and proceeded to toy with her.
Fluttershy ran over to Rainbow Dash’s body and threw herself on to her. There were tears in her eyes and rolling down the sides of her cheeks. She briefly looked up and looked over to Rarity and King Sombra. The frozen winds of the north raged as King Sombra continued to simply play with Rarity, either dodging or withstanding the weak attacks she threw at him as she lay on the ground, and he took his time beating her.
Fluttershy bent back down on to Rainbow Dash’s body and continued desperately calling out to her. “Rainbow Dash! You have to get up! We need you, Rainbow Dash! You can’t leave us here. Not now! Please Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy continued desperately calling out to her friend, but her screams were muffled by the raging wind. There was nothing that she could do and she knew it. She closed her eyes, which were now filled with tears. She then knelt down on to her two front hooves and buried her face in the snow.
Deep within the small glimmer of life that she had left, Rainbow Dash could faintly hear her friend calling out to her. “Fluttershy. She’s calling me… she’s in trouble… she needs me.” Rainbow Dash began to move her hoof ever so slightly, as if she was trying to access strength that was no longer there. “Get up. I have to get up. I promise you… I will…” Rainbow Dash suddenly became enveloped in a blinding white light as she began to stand back up. “I will protect you!”
Fluttershy looked back up in confusion at what was happening. The tears in her eyes had stopped and her sad expression changed to one of shock and disbelief. To her surprise, Rainbow Dash was standing up in front of her once again; but she was different. Her normally cyan coat was now as white as the surrounding snow. The rain cloud on her cutie mark was now a dark storm cloud. What was perhaps most unusual was that her mane and tail now waved about like flames, on their own, independent of the wind. Her eyes were now red instead of purple and they were completely blank and devoid of any emotion whatsoever; as if she wasn’t even there. Finally, the gem on her Element of Harmony was now as black as the night sky and cracked. Fluttershy just stood there, frozen, looking up at her in awe. She had no idea what was going on.
Rarity was lying on her side several feet away, with King Sombra standing over her, who was only barely looking at her. His head was facing Rarity in front of him, but his eyes had wandered back towards Rainbow Dash. Rarity lay there, trying to pull herself on to her two front hooves, looking over at her friend. “R-Rainbow Dash?”
King Sombra turned his head around to look at her. “That’s impossible. You should be dead. I killed you.” Rainbow Dash continued looking at him, with a blank, unreadable expression on her face. King Sombra then turned around completely. “How are you still alive?” Rainbow Dash continued to say nothing. “Didn’t you hear me? I asked you a question.”
Rainbow Dash suddenly opened her mouth to speak, but instead, released only a loud scream in his direction. “Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggghhhhhh.” The scream released several shock waves in his direction, blowing some of the harsh snow falling towards him.
Fluttershy, who was kneeling beside Rainbow Dash, placed her hooves over her head because it was so loud. She had a terrified expression on her face.
King Sombra didn’t react to this scream at all. When she had finished, he moved to speak again. “I see. It appears you can’t understand what I’m saying.” King Sombra closed his eyes and immediately opened them again. His expressionless faced then suddenly turned into a devilish smile. “It looks like I’ve been given another chance to kill you.” He then readied himself into a battle position, as he spread out his four hooves. “I’m going to enjoy this.” His eyes and horn began glowing in a green and purple aura and a ball of energy began forming around his horn.
Suddenly, there was a sound of booming static and Rainbow Dash vanished from sight. King Sombra was confused by this, but then suddenly he noticed that he could no longer feel the ball of energy that he was charging in his horn. His eyes looked up at his head and he was struck completely speechless as he saw that his horn was no longer there. It was just gone. The tip of his horn just ended in a few sharp ridges; like his horn had been ripped off his head. He wore an expression of complete confusion.
Sombra then looked behind him and saw Rainbow Dash standing between him and Rarity. She had her back to him, but her head was turned to the side to face him. Sombra faced her to look her in the eye and then he saw there, in her mouth, was his horn. Rainbow Dash then casually opened her mouth and dropped his horn on the ground, where it immediately melted away in a flurry of dark green and purple magic. Sombra looked down to see his horn disappear and then looked back up to look Rainbow Dash in the eye. Her face was still completely blank. The only thing that he could say in response to what happened was, “What?”
Suddenly Rainbow Dash disappeared again in a sound of booming static. Before Sombra could react, he felt something hit him square in the face and pushed him back into the air. He looked and saw that Rainbow Dash had just punched him in the face with her hoof. Her hoof then left him and sent him flying further into the air. He managed to recover quickly and steadied himself in the air.
Rainbow Dash charged at him again. When she had come in close, she whipped out her wing at him, which had become razor sharp. King Sombra smirked and turned into his shadow form to avoid being hit and Rainbow’s wing just passed through him and she kept going. King Sombra was now a very large shadow with his head at the top of it. Sombra suddenly felt that he had regained the advantage and charged towards her.
Rainbow Dash immediately performed an incredibly fast backflip in the air and instantly released a Sonic Rainboom. The Sonic Rainboom cut right through King Sombra’s shadow form and returned him to his normal form. Sombra was completely taken aback by what just happened. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash appeared in front of him, grabbed his right front hoof with hers and using her wing, she cut if off.
Blood splattered from his wound and he could only react in complete disbelief to what just happened. Time seemed to slow down for King Sombra when this happened. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash did a flip back and struck King Sombra on the head with her back hoof and sent him plummeting to the ground below.
Fluttershy had run over to where Rarity was while the battle was going on and watched in awe at what was happening. “I don’t believe it. She’s so powerful. Is that really… Rainbow Dash,” she said as she looked up at Rainbow Dash hovering in the sky.
Rainbow Dash then raised her head skyward and let out another scream. “Aaaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh.”
King Sombra crashed landed in the snow beneath him; the force of his fall created a small crater. He struggled to stand back up on his three remaining hooves. His bloody stump continued to bleed profusely; the white snow around him was now stained red with blood. He then turned his head around to face Rainbow Dash, who had touched back down on the ground.
King Sombra then looked back at his missing hoof. Suddenly, a black shadow erupted out of Sombra’s bloody stump. After a few seconds, it solidified into a replacement leg. King Sombra then raised his new hoof and moved it about a little to check that it was good.
Fluttershy and Rarity were completely dumbfounded at the sight of this.
When Sombra was finished checking his new limb, he turned to face Rainbow Dash once again. “My greatest strength isn’t my immense magical powers or my shadow form; it’s my ability to regenerate. I’m not sure how you managed to obtained this power, but it won’t help you win. As you just saw, I am able to instantly regenerate from any type of injury. Defeating me will be impossible. As you’re about to find out.”
King Sombra opened his mouth and suddenly began charging up a ball of green and purple energy. As it gained more power, he started to smile. However, as he released this energy, Rainbow Dash suddenly leaned forward and opened her own mouth and released a big ball of red energy. King Sombra was completely taken aback by this and his eyes shot wide open.
The two balls of energy collided and cancelled each other out, creating a huge explosion that scattered snow and dust everywhere. Rarity used what little energy she had left and created a small force field around her and Fluttershy to protect them.
King Sombra turned into his shadow form and flew into the air and looked down at the ground. “That attack… it was definitely a blast of dark magic. But that’s impossible. No Pegasus could use magic like that. Just what is she?” Sombra suddenly heard the sound of booming static from behind him. He turned back around and saw Rainbow Dash in front of him. She charged up another ball of red energy and threw it at him. King Sombra dodged it at the last second instead of letting it pass through him and risk it being able to hit him in this form. The ball of energy struck the ground creating another huge explosion. Rarity and Fluttershy had to brace themselves, even with Rarity’s force field up.
King Sombra turned back around to face Rainbow Dash, but she quickly moved away. “Get back here,” he said as he charged up another ball of energy, however, before he finished charging it, he was struck in the face by Rainbow Dash and pushed back.
Rainbow Dash did another quick backflip in the air and released another Sonic Rainboom. The force of the Sonic Rainboom knocked King Sombra back further and out of his shadow form again. He started plummeting towards the ground, but he quickly recovered in the air and did a quick backflip of his own and landed on his four hooves.
When he touched the ground, he took one step forward and charged up another ball of energy in his mouth. However, just before he could release it, Rainbow Dash suddenly appeared in front of him and stopped it with her hoof. His eyes went wide in disbelief immediately. “Impossible. With her bare hoof?”
Rainbow Dash then crushed the ball of energy in her hoof, creating an enormous explosion. Snow and dust were scattered everywhere and Fluttershy and Rarity were forced to bury their heads in the snow, even behind the force field.
When the smoke cleared, all King Sombra could see was Rainbow Dash glaring back at him with an angry expression on her face. This sight made him feel real fear for the first time in his life. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash brought down her razor sharp wing and slashed King Sombra across the chest.
Time seemed to slow down as King Sombra fell to the floor after being slashed. He couldn’t believe what had just happened.
Several feet away, Fluttershy and Rarity looked up at what had just happened. Seeing that the fight was apparently over, Rarity lowered her force field and she and Fluttershy just looked on in awe.
King Sombra just lay there on the ground. After that last attack, he didn’t have the strength to get back up. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Rainbow Dash walk over to him. “Damn it. I can’t believe I lost… and to a lowly pegasus even.”
Just after he said this, Rainbow Dash stomped on his head, pushing it further into the ground. She then tilted her head down and began charging up another ball of red energy in her mouth. Sombra was able to make it out out of the corner of his eye, beneath Rainbow Dash’s hoof. His face was now blank again. “I should have known that there would be no mercy. So typical of a chaotic being.” Rainbow Dash didn’t visibly react to this at all. She continued charging her ball of energy. “You’re not a being of Harmony. What are you?”
Rainbow Dash then fired her ball of energy at point blank range. The explosion was the biggest one yet, scattering smoke everywhere. Fluttershy dived into Rarity’s embrace to protect her from the blast. Rarity, however, didn’t turn away; she watched everything that was happening.
When the smoke cleared, Rainbow Dash was holding Sombra in her mouth by his cape. Three of his hooves had been completely blown off and were bleeding profusely. The ground around her was completely stained with blood. He also had scars all over his body and his horn was still gone. He was completely out cold. Rarity couldn’t draw her eyes away from what she was seeing, a blank expression on her face.
Rainbow Dash then suddenly threw Sombra to the side and he landed several feet away. Rainbow Dash then started walking over to where he had landed. Rarity watched as she made her way over to him. Fluttershy still had her head in her chest.
When Rainbow Dash was standing over King Sombra’s motionless body, she whipped her wing out to the side and prepared to strike him again.
Suddenly, Rarity placed her hoof on her wing and said very quietly, “That’s enough, Rainbow Dash. You’ve won.” She then glanced down at King Sombra’s body. She then turned back to face Rainbow Dash, whose gaze had never shifted away from King Sombra. “You can stop now.”
Rainbow Dash’s wing began to struggle, as if she was trying to get out of Rarity’s grip.
Rarity’s expression changed ever so slightly as if she was annoyed. “Didn’t you hear me, Rainbow Dash? I said that you’ve won. You have to stop this now.” The volume of her voice began to rise a bit. Rainbow Dash began to pull away from her even more now. “You have got to stop now, Rainbow Dash.” Her voice was now even louder. Rainbow Dash’s wing was trembling furiously at this point. Rarity then screamed out, “This isn’t you!”
Rainbow Dash then immediately pulled her wing free of Rarity’s grip and struck her right in the stomach. The force of the strike sent her flying back several feet and she tumbled several times as she hit the ground and finally came to rest about fifty feet away, sprayed out on her side, with a huge gaping wound across her stomach.
Upon seeing this, Fluttershy immediately shouted out, “No, Rarity!”
As soon as Fluttershy spoke, something awoke in Rainbow Dash’s head. “Help… her. Must… protect… her.”
Fluttershy looked back over to Rainbow Dash, with tears in her eyes. Rainbow Dash turned to look at her as well. Her face was empty of all emotion. Fluttershy’s heart sank at the sight of this.
Rainbow Dash turned back to face Rarity, who was starting to wake up a bit. She then bore down, opened her mouth and began charging a ball of red energy.
Fluttershy backed up a bit at the sight of this. She had a horrified expression on her face. “No! Stop it, Rainbow Dash!” However, Rainbow Dash didn’t show any signs of stopping. Tears were welling up in Fluttershy’s eyes again. She then shut her eyes tight and yelled out, “RAINBOW DASH!”
Suddenly, King Sombra appeared behind Rainbow Dash in his shadow form. Fluttershy opened her eyes to see this and was left speechless. Sombra then charged right at Rainbow Dash while she was distracted. He went right for her neck and bit off her Element of Harmony.
As the Element fell to the floor, its colour changed back from black to red and the crack mysteriously fixed itself. When the Element finally touched the ground, the ball of energy that Rainbow Dash was forming suddenly exploded, sending smoke everywhere. Fluttershy raised her hoof to her face to shield herself. King Sombra flew off to the side and landed on the ground, now in his normal form. His three hooves had regenerated and were now pitch black, in contrast to his one remaining hoof. He quickly looked down to inspect his body and then turned back around to look at Rainbow Dash.
When the smoke finally cleared, Rainbow Dash came into view and everypony in the area looked at her. Suddenly, her new form shattered away like glass and she returned to normal. She then immediately collapsed.
Seeing this, Fluttershy immediately called out to her friend. “Rainbow Dash!” She then ran over to her as fast as she could. King Sombra just stood there and looked on at what was happening.
Fluttershy rushed over to Rainbow Dash quickly. When she was right next to her, she slowly reached out with her front hoof, but then suddenly, Rainbow Dash raised herself up on her two front hooves. Fluttershy backed up a bit and she had a blank expression on her face. Rainbow Dash then said, with a look of confusion and fear on her face, “Wh-what’s going on? What happened?” She then placed one hoof on her chest. “Hey… wait a minute. Didn’t I have a huge hole in my chest?” She then looked over her shoulder. “And… weren’t both of my wings torn off?”
Fluttershy remained silent for a second, but then she regained herself and smiled gently. “They were, but you’re alright now.”
Rainbow Dash then turned her head to look at Fluttershy. She still had a confused look on her face. “Fluttershy?” Fluttershy looked back at her with a smile on her face and happy tears in her eyes. “What happened?” Before Fluttershy could respond, Rainbow Dash quickly whipped her head around to look at Rarity, who was sitting up a few feet away from her, with a massive wound across her chest. “Rarity!”
Rainbow Dash quickly got onto her feet and ran over to Rarity. When she reached her, Rarity raised her head and said, “Welcome back, Rainbow Dash.” She then cringed from her wound.
“Wh-what happened to…” was all Rainbow Dash could say. She could only look on at her friend who was in pain and she had no idea why.
“You’re a hard pony to kill.” Rainbow Dash suddenly heard a voice from behind her and turned around to see King Sombra. He then spread out his four hooves and bore his head down. “Get into battle position. Let’s end this.”
Rainbow Dash still had a confused look on her face. She then lowered her face in thought and tried to mentally piece together what had happened. She then raised her head again and asked King Sombra, “The one who attacked Rarity; was it me?”
King Sombra responded immediately and without changing his tone. “What difference does it make?”
After another second, Rainbow Dash then asked, “Was I also the one… who blew off three of your hooves?” King Sombra didn’t respond this time and just kept staring at her. Rainbow Dash knew from his silence that she was right. She then got a serious look on her face. “If that’s the case… then you should blast off three of my hooves.”
Everypony in the area reacted to this statement in surprise. King Sombra let his serious expression slip and simply said, “What?”
“What you were fighting was a chaotic being with no consciousness; that wasn’t me. It’s just not right for me to fight you when you’re in this condition. If I use cheap tricks like that to win…” Rainbow Dash paused for a moment. “Then I’ll be no better than you guys!”
King Sombra was completely taken aback by this. Rarity then spoke out. “Don’t do it, Rainbow Dash! That’s suicide!” Fluttershy was completely speechless and she placed her two front hooves to her mouth and didn’t say anything.
King Sombra hesitated slightly, but then he smirked a bit. “Fine then.” He then took one step forward towards Rainbow Dash and raised his tail up, but then suddenly, his tail started vanishing away. Sombra stopped immediately, with a concerned look on his face. He then turned around to look at himself. His body was beginning to dissipate. He had taken too much damage and he was unable to regenerate. Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy all looked on at this in surprise. King Sombra closed his eyes and whispered, “So that’s how it is.” He then opened his eyes again and turned back around to look at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy all just stood where they were and looked back at King Sombra. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, just a few feet away from where King Sombra was standing. Everypony looked over at where the flash had appeared and as the flash faded away, Discord stood in its place. Everypony was completely speechless at seeing Discord here. Discord crossed his arms and surveyed the area and after a few seconds, a smile started forming on his lips. “Everything went according to plan.”
