Diamond Diceby Death Star 813ChaptersThe meetingFate at playForced Reconciliation Hopes in a StarFinaleThe meetingCelestia, a wonderful ruler of a wonderful land. She has lead Equestria through so many rough times that I can't even begin to explain how good of a princess she is. Many citizens look up to me due to my connection with her, and although the popularity isn't what I hoped for, the questions I get are still unnerving. In this last diary entry that any of us will be doing, I will explain how Celestia, the ruler before me, had managed to stay how powerful she was and avoid any sort of uprising. She has been here for thousands of years, and it's time her secretes are given to all. It's time my secrets are given to all. 20 years ago "Hi Twilight." Fluttershy walks into Twilight's house, noticing that the usually orginaized library is cluttered with books, papers, quills, ink, and rocks. "Fluttershy? Oh, good, here, take these to the the train station and watch them please, I'll be right there, thanks." Twilight runs back down into her basement and slams the door behind her. "Wait, twilight?" No answer. Reluctantly, Flutterhsy picks up the four bags and struggles to walk to the door. She drops the bags and realizes that she won't be able to do this alone. She sees Rainbow flying above her and waves her down. "Hey Fluttershy! What's up?" Rainbow Dash asks, just getting off of her shift. "I'm taking these to the station for Twilight." "Would you like some help?" "I'd hate to bother you Rainbow, but could you?" "No problem." The two of them bring the bags the to the station. They each sit down, panting afterwards. "Finally. I mean, what the hay is in these? Rocks?!" Rainbow forces her way into the heaviest of the bags, and a pile of rocks fall out. "They are rocks! Why in the world would she need rocks?" "Hey! Don't open the others, please, thank you both for bringing them here." Twilight says, running up to her friends. The train pulls into the station. "Oh, it's here, ok, I'll be leaving. Tell the others I said by." She jumps onto the train. "Wait! Twilight?" Rainbow yells, but there isn't a response. "All aboard!" The conductor yells. It begins to pull out and it quickly is lost in sight. Rainbow struggles to gather her thoughts. "Ok, what just happened?" "Um, I think she left with the bags." "No, I mean, never mind." Back on the train, Twilight opens the other bags. She takes out a pice of paper, a quill, and some ink. She begins to write a diary entry, she will add this to the journal later. She lies down, drifting to sleep. The door opens, waking her. "Ms. Sparkle? Your stop will be in about fifteen minutes." A worker says walking into the back room. "Oh, thank you." After getting prepared, the train screeches to a halt, and she gets off. She looks up, and there is the Canterlot castle. She walks her way up to the castle, and is greeted by Shining Armor. "Twily! Hey sis, how are you?" "Oh, I'm fine, thanks. I heard the princess wanted to see me?" "She sure does, come on, I'll take two of your bags." They walk to the main room, and shining armor leaves, dropping the bags. "See ya' around Twily." Celestia walks in front of Twilight. "Princess Alicorn Twilight Sparkle. Welcome." "Princess?" "I have been ruling Equestria for so long now, so so long. My time is coming to an end." "Princess, I don't understand. Why did you want to see me?" Twilight becomes nervous, not knowing of what she is talking about. "I have a phenix for a reason. When it burns, or rather dies, out of the ashes is something better, something more reasonable. Something beautiful. My ashes are going to blow in the wind, and out of them, you shall rise Twilight. You shall become the ruler of Equestria. Did you bring the diamond rocks I requested?" "Um, ye-yes." She pushes several nervously towards the princes. After a few minutes of levitation, the princess drops five, six sided dice made from the diamond ore. "Ruling a land and all it's people is impossible to do all on one's own. So, I use different ways to rule. See these dice?" She puts them at Twilight's feet. "Yes, but they're just dice." "No. They are the laws. The rules for a flourishing society. Watch." Celestia picks up the five dice, and rolls them across a black and white checkered chess board. They all show six except for one which is showing a five. "29, this will be fun." The pieces on the chess board begin moving. One of the pawns, which is a weather control Pegasus on the right hand of the board, begins moving forward. The dark cloud pieces on the left move forward, and with a force, push the Pegasus piece off the board. Twilight looks outside, and the weather begins darkening over Ponyville and much of Equestria. "You see, fate is by chance. Fate is luck, but simplified. It is my job, as a ruler, to give said fate to the people of Equestria. This is where this board comes into play." "Princess, I'm not understanding, what are you talking about?" "Twilight, I have seen factories use unimaginable means just to produce weather, I have seen ponies go insane and be dealt with. I have been cruel and un-tolerable to my own sister. After you showed your true power, I knew the land would be safer with you than it has been with me. But to get from now to then, I created the game of fess, it's chess but with fate being both players. I'm just the one that supplies the players with what they need to play. This being the dice. Every time I roll these dice, the set of numbers that add up from one to six with the five dice will cause an event. This event will then be played out by the board, and will happen in real life. This is how I have been ruling for the past twenty years, and this will be how you will be ruling Twilight." Twilight just stood there, dumbfounded by what she has been told. "So, you control the lives of thousands upon thousands of ponies with luck and chance?" "No, by fate. Just like how you will be." Twilight's voice was becoming louder and angrier. "And what do you mean? You keep saying that I will rule soon, the end for you is near. What? Are you going to die or something?" Celestia is silent, and stares at the board. "These are for you." She pulls the board towards her and hands Twilight the dice. Twilight notices that Celestia's hoof is somewhat transparent. "Princess?" "I have taught you all I know. I taught you that friendship is magic because, well, I never had a friend that wasn't related to me. You will be a great ruler." He voice was beginning to echo in Twilight's ears. "Wait, princess, what's happening?" "I have one request other than for you to be a better ruler than I was. Please, take care of Luna." Celestia is almost completely see through now. "Princess, wait! Please, don't go! I have so much to learn, so much to be taught! Don't go!" Tears find their way into her eyes. "Be strong my fateful student, be strong." "Princess!" Celestia was gone. Twilight sits, not knowing what to do or think. She just cries, lost in thought. Shining Armor walks slowly up to Twilight. "We knew this was coming, we figured it was better she told you. I'm sorry Princess." Shining Armor bows. More royal guards walk in, bowing. There is soon a room filled with bowing royal guards. "No! Stop bowing, I'm no Princess! I'm just me, I don't deserve this!" "Twi-I mean princess, you are, you do. You're royalty, you're now the ruler of Equestria." Fate at play"Fluttershy! Fluttershy answer the door!" Applejack knocks continually until the door swings open. "Fluttershy? Are ya' in here?" Applejack hears a faint noise upstairs. "Fluttershy?" "Sh-she died." Fluttershy says through sobs. "Are you talking about the princess?" "Yes!" Fluttershy begins crying even harder now. "It wasn't Twi', it was Celestia." "I-it was?" Fluttershy looks back at the slip of paper. She reads it again and looks at Applejack concerned. "If Twilight is the princess, we won't ever see her again." "That's why I came over here, to ask you what you know about why she left." "I don't know why she went there, I just wanted to visit her and she asked me to bring her-" "Ok, alright. You don't know, got it. Thanks." Applejack leaves as fast as she entered. "I wonder what that was about. Angel, do you-" "Fluttershy!" Pinkie's voice comes from out her house. "Did you read this?!" Fluttershy meets Pinkie outside, and explains what she knows. "You really carried rocks there?" "Well yes, but Pinkie, if Twilight is ruling, she will stay in Canterlot." "I know! We have to do something!" "Why are you yelling?" Pinkie looks around and back at Fluttershy. "I don't know! So what are we going to do?" Rainbow flies In between the two of them, startling Fluttershy. "I have a plan." ... Twilight stares at the chess board, thinking back at what Celestia showed her. This is how she will rule? With luck? She picks the dice up and tosses them across the board, 17. The dice fall through the board and the pieces begin to transform. The Pegasi on the left turn to glass, resembling flames. The pieces on the right turn to glass pieces of wind. There is a sudden howl of wind through the castle, and out the window is a tower of smoke coming from Las Pegasus. After a short, 5 minute game of chess pieces playing against eachother, the glass wind king pice is taken over. The howling stops and the smoke out the window fades away. "Princess!" Shining Armor runs into the main room, bowing quickly. "Shining, please, don't call me that, don't even bow. You're my Brother." “We'll talk about it later, but a giant fire in Las Pegasus had just occurred." She looks back out the window. "I'm aware. Were there any casualties?" "Yes. Four died in the fire." Twilight stares, looking where the smoke was. "That'll be all brother." "But-" "That'll be all." Shining Armor bows and leaves. She just killed four ponies. With the power of luck, four possibly innocent, beautiful ponies just lost their lives. She looks at the dice on the floor, can they do any good? Is there any combination that does something good for somepony? What if she can directly focus on one pony? She picks the dice up, and begins thinking of one of her closest, most personal friends. The dice roll across the table. The pieces begin to transform, then move. ... "Help!" "Rainbow?" Rainbow Dash flies into Fluttershy's house, placing Tank on the table, tears in her eyes. "Fluttershy, please, do what ever it takes. Please!" "Dash, what happened?" "His heart, it isn't beating. I lied next to him but he wasn't breathing and his heart wasn't making a thump sound, please do something... please." Fluttershy looks at the tortoise, not knowing where to start. She tries CPR, shocking him with static electricity from slippers rubbed on a carpet for a long time, even the hiemlich maneuver. Nothing works. "Dash, I'm sorry, it's been two hours, I can't do anything more. I wish I could try more, but I've exsaughsted all options. I'm sorry." Rainbow sits there, staring at Tank. Not moving, not talking, just still, staring. "Where?" Dash whispers. "Where what?" "Where will we bury him?" "How about under your house?" Fluttershy asks, not knowing many better places. "...I'll get the shovels." ... Twilight sits, confused. The pieces to the left turned to glass animals, the king being a turtle, and the right pieces turned to veterinarians. Eventually, after a long, two to three hour game, the king turtle took the king veterinarian. The pieces rest into place, and the dice settled on the ground. Twilight looks around, finally realizing that Equestria, all of it's residents, plots of land, all of it from the ground to the sky, is hers. And this board, these dice, they were the decision makers. They were fate. ... Rainbow and Fluttershy sit silent in the cottage, not having anything to say to one another. Fluttershy tried to help Rainbow with words, but all she did was stare at the ground, no tears, not blinking, just staring. "Why?" Rainbow was the first to speak. "Fluttershy, why? Why did he have to die?" "Well, Rainbow, death is a part of life. I have owned too many animals to count, and I can tell you that this just happens. It's sad, no, tragic, but it happens, you can't stop it." "But, I loved him." "RD, I know you did, and trust me, I know what it's like to lose a pet, but give it time. Eventually you'll see that it was just his time." The awkward silence continues. "Hey, I have an idea. You said you had a plan to go and see Twilight, right RD?" "Yeah... ok, I see what you mean, I'll get the others." Rainbow cracks a small, forced smile, and walks out. ... "Here Twily, you deserve it." "What is it?" Twilight asks, still a little filly. She opens the box, and pulls out a stuffed animal. It has buttons for eyes, a brown mane and tail, and blue and white polka doted pants. "Thank you!" Twilight hugs Shinning Armor. "I'll name him Smarty Pants." "Oh, and more thing." He pushes the box towards her. She opens it, and five dice fly out. They fly onto a chess board and catch fire. She trips trying to back away, and accidentally throws Smarty Pants into the fire. Shinning Armor runs to save her, but is lost in the flames. Twilight begins coughing, panicking. She looks up only to see the faces of her parents in the smoke. The roof above her begins to crack, and falls. "No!" Twilight sits up, breathing heavily. She looks around her room in the castle, everything is there. She gets up and walks over to the bags she brought here. Her hooves shake as she opens one up, and pulls out Smarty Pants. She heads back to bed after glaring at the board with the dice under it, and cries herself to sleep. ... "All aboard!" The five friends walk onto the train just before it leaves. They take the back cart so they can have it to themselves. "So RD, why so glum?" Fluttershy looks over at Applejack and crosses her hooves. "Tank died." Rainbow whispers. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." The others nod in agreement." "Darling, it'll be ok. You have all of us here to help you through it." Rarity says, trying to be optimistic. "Yeah, I mean if Gummy died I wouldn't know what to do. But I would know that with the friends I have, nothing would make me down, I'd celebrate him with his memory." Pinkie says. This causes Rainbow to smile, just for a second. "And besides, it was only Tank, it's not like one of us died." Rainbow snaps her head over to stare at Applejack. "Only, Tank?" Fluttershy holds Rainbow down. "Rainbow, wait, she didn't mean it like-" "Only! Tank!? What if Winona died!? Huh? What if Bloomberg was chopped down, what if your only non-pony friend just stopped breathing, no warning, no question, no nothing! Not even a goodbye! What if you only HAD one animal friend!? What, what if..." Rainbow Dash puts her head into her forecloses and sobs, unable to talk anymore. Fluttershy signals them all into the next cart over and follows. "Excuse me Applejack but what was that?" Rarity whispers. "Well I didn't realize she'd explode because of it." "How? Even I saw that and I have trouble keeping my sister in my house." "I didn't think that far ahead." They each go into an argument, and Pinkie leans over to Fluttershy. "I think you should go in there." "What? Why me?" Fluttershy asks, scared of making the situation worse. "Because you know about animals more than any of us. You can at least make her feel a little better. I'll try to have some sort of cheer up Rainbow party, but for know you can make her feel a bit better." Fluttershy thinks about it, then nods and walks in. Rainbow is now sobbing on her bed, lying down. "Um, Rainbow?" "F-Fluttershy?" Rainbow looks up and pulls her close, still crying. "I miss him, I miss him so much. I love him, I still do, he may be gone but it feels like he's here next to me." "I know, it isn't easy loosing something you love, especially an animal." "But, the thing is, I don't know my parents. I'm not sure who they are, where they are, anything about them. And yet I'm more upset about Tank than not knowing my parents." "Well, I think that's because animals are more susceptible to danger than us. We at least know when danger is threatening us, but animals souly depend on either their instincts or owners, they don't know as much when it comes to danger." Rainbow sits there, still hugging Fluttershy. She let's go and lies back down, still silent. Fluttershy gets up and goes into the other cart. "Excuse me but how long until we arrive at Camterlot?" "Two more hours." The ticket collected responds. "Ok, thank you." Fluttershy walks to a bed in the cart next to Rainbow's, and falls asleep. Forced Reconciliation Forced Reconciliation "Princess." Shining Armor walks into the room, and bows. "Shining, we need to talk about that." "What do you mean?" "You are my brother, I do not want you calling me princess, nor do I want you to bow every time you see me. In fact I don't want anyone to do that." "Listen, you can't have no one do that, you're the ruler, you're going to get both praise and hate. As for me, I'm not going to give myself special privileges. You may differ, and you may be the princess, but my duty is to respect and defend you. I will not have that compromised." Twilight looks at him, stunned. "As I was saying, princess, you have company." He walks to the side and her five closest friends walk in. "Hi Twilight." They say in unison. "Oh, hey girls." "How ya' been sugar cube?" Applejack asks, looking around. "Fine, thanks. Why are you all here?" "Well, we heard about the Princess, and we figured that you'd be the new one seeing as though Princess Luna is busy for the next year or so." Fluttershy says, staring at the board. "How did you all know that she was busy?" Applejack hands her the paper that was passed out through all of Equestria. "Wow. So everypony knows now." "Um, excuse me but what is that?" Fluttershy asks, pointing to the board. Rainbow looks over and sees the turtle piece and the fallen veterinarian. She begins to tear up and walks out of the castle. "That, that's a chess board." "But, who do you play chess with?" "Well, I uh, hey, where's Rainbow Dash?" "Darling, you didn't hear. Tank passed." Rarity says. Twilight freezes. She looks back at the board and runs over. The pieces are still the turtles and veterinarians. "I killed him." She whispers to herself. "What was that?" Applejack asks, walking behind her. "I killed Tank." there is a loud thump and a streak of colors. Rainbow stands over Twilight, tears in her eyes. "What do you mean?! How, how could you have killed him? He had a heart attack, it was his time." Rainbow sits next to Twilight, allowing her to get back up. "What do you mean?" "Well, this chess board decides what happens with, everything. I roll those dice below it on top of it and the pieces will transform and move. At the end, what ever the outcome is, it happens in real life." Rainbow stares at her, her eyes dry. Twilight begins to back up. "Rainbow, I swear, I never meant to hurt him. What happens depends on the numbers, Celestia told me that this is the way to rule. I didn't know that this would happen." "Sugar cube, she-" "You killed tank!?" Rainbow stands up quickly, resisting the urge to fly at Twilight. "Rainbow, I-" "Why would you do this!? What did he ever do to you, huh!? All those great times we had, all those days we helped eachother and this is how you choose to rule? I've done nothing but be a good friend and the first thing you do as Princess is kill my friend?" "Rainbow, you have to understand, it's all fate. I don't choose what happens, it's all luck." "Then keep your luck out of my life!" Rainbow flies out of the castle. "I... I didn't, please." Twilight looks at the others. "You all understand, right?" "Twilight, I think we need to leave. We'll be back... eventually." Applejack leads them out of the castle. Rarity and pinkie follow closely behind, but Fluttershy looks back. "Fluttershy, please." She looks down, then follows the others. Twilight stands there, thinking about everything that just happened. Did she just loose Rainbow's friendship? Had the rest decided to give up on her? She walks over to the chess board. She is ready to just kick it and destroy it, get rid of it. However, seeing as though she most likely just lost her friends, she really can't do much more damage. She picks the dice up, ands throws them on the board. 20. The pices begin to transform and move. "No, oh no, please, not this. Sh-Shinning Armor! Get the guards ready!" ... "I can't believe she killed him." "Rainbow, ya' got to forget about her. She isn't worth it." "But I never thought that she would kill something I love." They walk into a hotel in Canterlot, and each have their own rooms. They all say good night and head into their rooms. Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack's are next to each other on one side, and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are on the other side. Fluttershy hears Rainbow crying in the room next to her. It breaks her heart, she knows what she is going through. She decides to try and make her feel better, so she walks in. She stops at the doorway, and opens it. Her heart drops, and she shakes. "R-Rainbow?" She walks over, and panics. "HELP!" The door handle shakes, but doesn't open. "Fluttershy, leave." Rainbow weakly says. Fluttershy looks at her, then the door. She can't see the door anymore, it's just a black mass of shade. She backs against the wall, staring into the abyss. "leave." She looks over, Rainbow is sitting up with colors in a liquid form flowing from the bed. She is grey except for her Rose eyes. Fluttershy looks at herself in the reflection of the window, she looks just like Rainbow. "You're not welcomed." She looks back at the bed which is now a giant pawn piece. "We are all just pawns of Princess Sparkle."Nightmare Moon flies from the roof and kicks the pawn. The piece falls forward, and everything goes black. "Fluttershy!" Applejack kicks the bed, forcing Fluttershy to wake up. She looks around the room, scared. "Fluttershy, darling, you look awful, what happened?" Rarity asks. Rainbow Dash walks in, rubbing her eyes. "What are you guys-" She is interrupted by Fluttershy flying at her, hugging her. "Rainbow, it was you, you're the pawn." She begins crying into Rainbow's coat. "Moon. The Moon is here, you have to run. Go, please." Rainbow looks at the others, and nods towards the door. The three friends walk out, and close the door. Rainbow studies them for a second, then asks, "Ok, what's going on?" "We, well, we have no idea. She started screaming in her room and we could hear glass breaking, so we walked in and everything happened." "So you're telling me that she is acting like this because of a bad dream? She's had bad dreams before but never to the point of saying nonsense and crying. A pawn? What does that even mean?" Rainbow slowly opens the door and peaks in. Fluttershy is crying on her bed, hugging a pillow and lying down. "It's ok, it's a dream. Don't worry angle, Fluttershy will protect you. I'm here, we'll be ok. Twilight doesn't mean it, it's all fate. It's ok." Rainbow closes the door. "Alright, so Fluttershy has gone mad, I've been targeted by the moon, you two are tired and need rest, and Pinkie is... where's Pinkie?" They look around in the hall, and find her door. Rainbow opens the door and is greeted by a red-eyed hyper pink pony. "Hi Dash I love this place this place is great I found some sugar in the corner and I had all of it it wasn't too much but it was still-" "Pinkie! Have you gotten any sleep?" "I did but it was only for ten minutes and it was kind of boring to sleep and-" "Did you have any nightmares?" "Well I had a dream where the world was made of cake and everyone kept saying 'the cake is a lieeeeeee' but I didn't care and I kept eating it and then Nightmare Moon gave me thousands of pounds of cupcakes and she told me to ask you for help to make them and-" "Ok, I'll leave now, thanks." "Oh but I didn't tell you the best part where-" Rainbow closes the door and walks back to the others. The clock on the wall says it is midnight, but Rainbow knows she can't sleep. "Ok, I have to go and see Twilguht. You two get some sleep." "Alright RD, night." "Good night Rainbow Dash." Rarity and Applejack head back into their rooms. Rainbow slowly enters Fluttershy's room. "Angle, I didn't mean it. Please forgive me, please, I just wanted to play with you, please forgive me." "Fluttershy?" Fluttershy looks at Rainbow, her eyes red from crying so much. The closer Rainbow gets, the more Fluttershy shakes. "Don't hurt me, please!" "Fluttershy, it's me, Rainbow Dash." "S-she died, R-Rainbow Dash d-died, you're not her. No one is her, she's dead. I didn't mean it! She had it coming to her! And Angel, he, he told me to!" "Just, try and sleep. Goodnight." "Sleep? What is sleep anymore?" Rainbow walks out of the room, closing the door loudly, hoping to snap her out of it. She can still hear the rambling, it's useless. She sighs deeply, and walks to the castle to meet up with Twilight. Hopes in a Star"Twilight?" Rainbow Dash walks into the castle, slowly opening the door. It is just after one, and this gives the castle an eerie feeling. As she continues to walk to the main room, she finds Twilight's door. She stands for a minute thinking. Why should Twilight be the only one allowed to use the dice? Why can't she, Rainbow Dash, the fastest in all of Equestria, choose fate for once. "No, quite thinking and go ask." She tries her best to muster up the resilience of throwing the dice, but to no avail. Can it really be that dangerous? She looks at the room one more time, and gives in. She walks to the main room and finds the board. She picks the dice up, and stares at them. So this is what kills, what births, what gives, what takes, what killed Tank, five simple dice. She shutters at the thought of having this much power. Just holding the dice gives her surges of feeling invincible. She looks one last time, and tosses the dice. Only, not at the board, she wants to see what happens if they land on the floor. The dice finish spinning and land, 11. The dice just sit there, not doing anything. Disappointed, Rainbow walks over to place them on the chess board. Suddenly, the dice begin to glow a bright red. "Rainbow, no!" "What?" It was too late. She slowly began to sink into the floor as it began to melt around her. "Twilight, what's happening?" All Twilight could do was watch. "Twilight!" Rainbow began to disappear. She struggled to keep her wings above the opening void, flapping the violently, but could not get off the ground. Slowly, the void began to close itself. Rainbow's wings were aching, they hurt, they were tired, she was tired. She gave up trying to fight, and closed her wings. The void closed itself back up, and all that was left was a cyan feather and the five dice. Twilight stood there, speechless. She just watched one of her best friends get swallowed by five demon dice, and she didn't do anything. Why? Why didn't she run, grabbing her hoof, pulling her free? Why didn't she at least say something before Rainbow was swallowed whole by the castle? Had she really changed that much since Celestia's death? "Princess Sparkle!" She knew the voice. It was Princess Luna. "Princess Luna, where have you been?" Twilight was mad, and she refused to blame herself. "Why didn't you help Rainbow?! She most likley just died before my eyes and you did nothing! Why didn't you help?!" "You did nothing as well Ms. Sparkle." Twilight couldn't speak. She knew this, but she didn't want to accept it. She pushed everything out of her mind except for blaming Luna. "And, and neither did you! You wanted it to happen, you wanted to see her die, didn't you? Didn't you?! Well no more, I forbid anyone to do something like this!" Twilight walked over to a piece of paper and wrote something down. Luna left the castle, and Twilight continued to write. She wrote for the rest of the night, Equestria would be changed again the next day. ... "Fluttershy? Is everything ok in there?" Rarity asks through the door. "Is everything alright?" Applejack asks, just being awoken. "I don't know, Fluttershy is awake but isn't opening the door." "That's easy." Applejack tries the knob, and backs up. In a flash, she bucks down the door, kicking it at the door knob. "Flutter-" Rarity and Appplejack's mouths drop. In the room, the shyest most peaceful mare in all of Equestria, is walking back and forth, writing names on the wall and Xing certain ones out. On the bed is Rainbow Dash's name, Xed out in red. She snaps her head towards them, her eyes blood shot and her body shaking. "Fluttershy? Ya' feeling, normal?" Applejack asks. Fluttershy just stares, barley moving. "You should see-" "No!" Fluttershy interrupts. "You don't understand, none of you do. None of you can, it's the end. The end is nearing, it's those dice. Those diamond dice that stare at me in my dreams, in my nightmares, in front of my eyes. They kill, they live, they love, they hate, they die, they are us. We are at the mercy of terror itself, and we just go on. None of the citizens know about this, only me, only us." Rarity and Applejack look at eachother, then are pushed to the side by Pinkie Pie. "Fluttershy you were right. She went mad last night, the other is missing, we must find them." "But Pinkie, without her we can't do anything." "But what you said in the lost forest of queens, we can do it. Use their powers against them." "Do you really think it would work?" "Only if Rarity and Applejack put their hopes into this." Pinkie holds out a box in the shape of a nine sided star. Rarity looks at Applejack, "Um, Applejack darling, did you follow any of that?" "Not at all. But do what she says, I know what this is." Rarity looks at it, not knowing what to do. "But, wha-" "It's a hope star, put your hopes into it and we'll take it from there." Pinkie says. Rarity stares at it, and puts all of her hopes into this star. All of them. ... "Done!" Twilight studies the paper she finished, looking it over again and again. She smiles and copies the paper with a spell she recently learned. She sends multiple messengers to fly across Equestria, letting the paper fall into their homes. "This'll show Luna." "You have doomed them all." Luna walks up behind her, frowning. "I watch their dreams, nightmares, hopes, wishes, and last night they were all scared. All thanks to you, they are now lost." "Lost? This will help us as a society to flourish, to expand. These new rules will bring order and justice to all who deserve it, and punishment to those who need it. We shall begin a new era in Equestrian history, a peaceful one." Luna stands, staring at Twilight. "What? Words escaping you? Just like your sist-" "Twilight!" She turns around, and falls to the ground, looking up. "C-Ce-Celestia? B-but how?" "I put you in charge of Equestria because I trusted you to do the right thing with it, to put it in a position where we become powerful, become happy. All you have done is put it in danger, you are not fit for the title of Princess." Twilight is speechless. Celestia is telling her that she is not fit to be a leader. Normally, she would be devastated, but now, she is furious. "Like you were any better." "Excuse me? Twilight I-" "Don't give me that, you're here dead because you were too nice, too giving. You are either loved or hated, and it's better to be hated, that means the people fear you. Fear drives rule, it perfects imperfection. This piece of paper, that is half way across Equestria now, is going make us the most powerful in the world." Twilight lowers her head and shoots a purple stream at Celestia. Celestia starts moving, and tries to struggle, but vanishes before any progress is made. "Twilight!" She looks behind her and there in the doorway is her five friends. Fluttershy stands foward. "We are here to end your rule!" Finale"Hahaha! You really think you four can touch me? I'm a goddess now, and you are my peasants." Twilight moves a giant chair in front of the door with her magic, and puts Rarity in a room, locking it. "Now then, let's have some fun." Fluttershy steps foward, and runs at her. Twilight bows, forcing Fluttershy to tumble over her. Fluttershy picks herself up and runs back at her again, trying to wear her out. Twilight scoffs, and stops Fluttershy in her tracks. Applejack comes from behind and bucks Twilight in the flank, making her release Fluttershy. "So, you want to play tuff huh? Let's play." Twilight teleports to the dice and throws them at the ground. They land, 20. Fluttershy begins to back up, but is stopped by a giant black wall. The wall begins to move to the other end of the room, ready to crush Fluttershy. Rarity escapes the room and teleports Fluttershy to her, merely glancing at Twilight before being knocked out by the Chess Board being thrown at her head. "Rarity!" Pinkie stares at Twilight, and begins running on the walls. She darts back and forth, confusing Twilight. "Just like a squirrel." "Fluttershy! Take this!" Applejack throws her a rope and singles her to fly at Twilight. Fluttershy does so, but is quickly knocked down by Twilight's magic. She catches Pinkie, and throws her into the ground. Applejack runs at her one last time before being kicked in the chest herself by Twilight. Rarity regains conciseness, and looks at Pinkie, starting to crawl to her. "Are you girls DONE YET?! What have I done to deserve THIS kind of behavior from my best, friends?! I have been a good leader, a good princess, and to think that this is how I am thanked, it's revolting. I hope you all learned a valuable lesson from this, because now is the punishment!" "The lesson I learned is to never accept power, it only corrupts!" Rarity throws the star at Twilight. It cracks open, and out of it pours multiple colors swirling around Twilight. Twilight begins panicking, but quickly controls herself. She pops into a bubble and out of the area, where she then shoots the mist with magic. "You can't destroy these darling! They are hopes, and hope never die!" Twilight continues until they begin to dissolve. "Rarity, it's over." Pinkie weakly says. Rarity watches as her hopes and dreams are shattered. Twilight, who used to be best friends with these four ponies, now destroys their hopes and dreams just to continue ruling the wrong way. The room clears, and one lone pony stands. She is breathing heavily, staring at he subjects. "You. You could have helped me, all of of you. Help me rule, help me set an example for the better. But now? Now you're all an example for the worse." Her horn begins to glow a dark purple. Rarity accepts her fate, giving in. Suddenly, there is a streak of black and blue. There is a crash, and dust is kicked up. Once cleared, Rarity looks up. "R-Rainbow Dash?" "No, Shadowbolt Dash." Applejack says. "Twilight, you killed me. You got rid of me, terminated me, but I'm back. I'm here, I'm better than ever." "But, Rainbow, how?" Rarity asks, barley able to speak. "When you threw the star, a hope brought me back. A simple wish is why I am here now, and that wish belongs to Fluttershy." "Fluttershy? Fluttershy!" Rarity struggles to get up, and limps over to her friend. Fluttershy's wings are each snapped backwards, and her hooves bloodied. Her face is littered with bruises and cuts. She looks up, barley able to lift her head. "You are why Fluttershy is teetering between life and death, you are the reason why half of Equestria is in ruins from revolution, you're the reason why evil is spreading Twilight." Rainbow walks over to the dice, and pulls one out of her pocket. It is a six sided die made of purely black obsidian. "Have fun." She throws the dice and they all land on six, 36. Twilight looks up, only to see a black hole. She grabs onto the floor, struggling to not be sucked in. "Fine! You want me gone?! So be it, but be warned, Equestria will fall apart without me!" "I think the pieces will fall into place." Rainbow steps on her hoof, and she is sucked into the black hole. Rainbow kicks the dice and it closes. "Hear that everypony? Silence." It wasn't silent however, the only noise was from Fluttershy's erratic, sputtered breathing. "R-Rainbow?" Fluttershy asks. "Yes?" "Will, will you be, alright?" This made Rainbow tear up. In her final moments, Fluttershy wasn't worried about herself. She was only worried about her friends. "Yes, I'll be fine Fluttershy." "Good. And Rainbow, check under your bed, I'll leave you a present when, I'm, gone." "Fluttershy? Fluttershy, please, please don't leave us. Please!" Rarity breaks down, crying. The others surround their old friend, saying silent prayers to Celestia. "I'll, I'll bring her to the graveyard. We'll hold a funeral in the pet cemetery for her, she would want that." Slowly they leave the castle, crying. Rainbow, being the last one out, trots over to the dice and picks them up. She picks up Fluttershy, and heads to the cemetery. After the funeral, they head back to their houses. Rainbow stays at the grave, not able to move. Her best friend is gone, her last words and thoughts were for her, and she told her she would give her a gift. How? She is gone, how can she do anything for her now? Rainbow places her hoof on her grave, and flies back home. She walks to her room, remembering what Fluttershy said. Under the bed. Rainbow lifts the covers, and there, staring back at her, is Tank. Rainbow picks him up and hugs him, crying. "T-thank you F-Fluttershy." 20 years later "And so, this is how Celestia ruled. This is how I have been ruling. After Twilight Sparkle was defeated, I took over as princess of Equestria with Luna being at my side. We have used these dice to rule, but in less serious ways. Such as when we need advice or we need help on a problem, we toss the dice. The black die was destroyed by me immediately after I got Tank back. The five dice have decided the fate of many, and have helped even the worst of rulers. My name is Rainbow Dash, and whoever is reading this, beware. Beware, of the Diamond Dice."
The meetingCelestia, a wonderful ruler of a wonderful land. She has lead Equestria through so many rough times that I can't even begin to explain how good of a princess she is. Many citizens look up to me due to my connection with her, and although the popularity isn't what I hoped for, the questions I get are still unnerving. In this last diary entry that any of us will be doing, I will explain how Celestia, the ruler before me, had managed to stay how powerful she was and avoid any sort of uprising. She has been here for thousands of years, and it's time her secretes are given to all. It's time my secrets are given to all. 20 years ago "Hi Twilight." Fluttershy walks into Twilight's house, noticing that the usually orginaized library is cluttered with books, papers, quills, ink, and rocks. "Fluttershy? Oh, good, here, take these to the the train station and watch them please, I'll be right there, thanks." Twilight runs back down into her basement and slams the door behind her. "Wait, twilight?" No answer. Reluctantly, Flutterhsy picks up the four bags and struggles to walk to the door. She drops the bags and realizes that she won't be able to do this alone. She sees Rainbow flying above her and waves her down. "Hey Fluttershy! What's up?" Rainbow Dash asks, just getting off of her shift. "I'm taking these to the station for Twilight." "Would you like some help?" "I'd hate to bother you Rainbow, but could you?" "No problem." The two of them bring the bags the to the station. They each sit down, panting afterwards. "Finally. I mean, what the hay is in these? Rocks?!" Rainbow forces her way into the heaviest of the bags, and a pile of rocks fall out. "They are rocks! Why in the world would she need rocks?" "Hey! Don't open the others, please, thank you both for bringing them here." Twilight says, running up to her friends. The train pulls into the station. "Oh, it's here, ok, I'll be leaving. Tell the others I said by." She jumps onto the train. "Wait! Twilight?" Rainbow yells, but there isn't a response. "All aboard!" The conductor yells. It begins to pull out and it quickly is lost in sight. Rainbow struggles to gather her thoughts. "Ok, what just happened?" "Um, I think she left with the bags." "No, I mean, never mind." Back on the train, Twilight opens the other bags. She takes out a pice of paper, a quill, and some ink. She begins to write a diary entry, she will add this to the journal later. She lies down, drifting to sleep. The door opens, waking her. "Ms. Sparkle? Your stop will be in about fifteen minutes." A worker says walking into the back room. "Oh, thank you." After getting prepared, the train screeches to a halt, and she gets off. She looks up, and there is the Canterlot castle. She walks her way up to the castle, and is greeted by Shining Armor. "Twily! Hey sis, how are you?" "Oh, I'm fine, thanks. I heard the princess wanted to see me?" "She sure does, come on, I'll take two of your bags." They walk to the main room, and shining armor leaves, dropping the bags. "See ya' around Twily." Celestia walks in front of Twilight. "Princess Alicorn Twilight Sparkle. Welcome." "Princess?" "I have been ruling Equestria for so long now, so so long. My time is coming to an end." "Princess, I don't understand. Why did you want to see me?" Twilight becomes nervous, not knowing of what she is talking about. "I have a phenix for a reason. When it burns, or rather dies, out of the ashes is something better, something more reasonable. Something beautiful. My ashes are going to blow in the wind, and out of them, you shall rise Twilight. You shall become the ruler of Equestria. Did you bring the diamond rocks I requested?" "Um, ye-yes." She pushes several nervously towards the princes. After a few minutes of levitation, the princess drops five, six sided dice made from the diamond ore. "Ruling a land and all it's people is impossible to do all on one's own. So, I use different ways to rule. See these dice?" She puts them at Twilight's feet. "Yes, but they're just dice." "No. They are the laws. The rules for a flourishing society. Watch." Celestia picks up the five dice, and rolls them across a black and white checkered chess board. They all show six except for one which is showing a five. "29, this will be fun." The pieces on the chess board begin moving. One of the pawns, which is a weather control Pegasus on the right hand of the board, begins moving forward. The dark cloud pieces on the left move forward, and with a force, push the Pegasus piece off the board. Twilight looks outside, and the weather begins darkening over Ponyville and much of Equestria. "You see, fate is by chance. Fate is luck, but simplified. It is my job, as a ruler, to give said fate to the people of Equestria. This is where this board comes into play." "Princess, I'm not understanding, what are you talking about?" "Twilight, I have seen factories use unimaginable means just to produce weather, I have seen ponies go insane and be dealt with. I have been cruel and un-tolerable to my own sister. After you showed your true power, I knew the land would be safer with you than it has been with me. But to get from now to then, I created the game of fess, it's chess but with fate being both players. I'm just the one that supplies the players with what they need to play. This being the dice. Every time I roll these dice, the set of numbers that add up from one to six with the five dice will cause an event. This event will then be played out by the board, and will happen in real life. This is how I have been ruling for the past twenty years, and this will be how you will be ruling Twilight." Twilight just stood there, dumbfounded by what she has been told. "So, you control the lives of thousands upon thousands of ponies with luck and chance?" "No, by fate. Just like how you will be." Twilight's voice was becoming louder and angrier. "And what do you mean? You keep saying that I will rule soon, the end for you is near. What? Are you going to die or something?" Celestia is silent, and stares at the board. "These are for you." She pulls the board towards her and hands Twilight the dice. Twilight notices that Celestia's hoof is somewhat transparent. "Princess?" "I have taught you all I know. I taught you that friendship is magic because, well, I never had a friend that wasn't related to me. You will be a great ruler." He voice was beginning to echo in Twilight's ears. "Wait, princess, what's happening?" "I have one request other than for you to be a better ruler than I was. Please, take care of Luna." Celestia is almost completely see through now. "Princess, wait! Please, don't go! I have so much to learn, so much to be taught! Don't go!" Tears find their way into her eyes. "Be strong my fateful student, be strong." "Princess!" Celestia was gone. Twilight sits, not knowing what to do or think. She just cries, lost in thought. Shining Armor walks slowly up to Twilight. "We knew this was coming, we figured it was better she told you. I'm sorry Princess." Shining Armor bows. More royal guards walk in, bowing. There is soon a room filled with bowing royal guards. "No! Stop bowing, I'm no Princess! I'm just me, I don't deserve this!" "Twi-I mean princess, you are, you do. You're royalty, you're now the ruler of Equestria."
Fate at play"Fluttershy! Fluttershy answer the door!" Applejack knocks continually until the door swings open. "Fluttershy? Are ya' in here?" Applejack hears a faint noise upstairs. "Fluttershy?" "Sh-she died." Fluttershy says through sobs. "Are you talking about the princess?" "Yes!" Fluttershy begins crying even harder now. "It wasn't Twi', it was Celestia." "I-it was?" Fluttershy looks back at the slip of paper. She reads it again and looks at Applejack concerned. "If Twilight is the princess, we won't ever see her again." "That's why I came over here, to ask you what you know about why she left." "I don't know why she went there, I just wanted to visit her and she asked me to bring her-" "Ok, alright. You don't know, got it. Thanks." Applejack leaves as fast as she entered. "I wonder what that was about. Angel, do you-" "Fluttershy!" Pinkie's voice comes from out her house. "Did you read this?!" Fluttershy meets Pinkie outside, and explains what she knows. "You really carried rocks there?" "Well yes, but Pinkie, if Twilight is ruling, she will stay in Canterlot." "I know! We have to do something!" "Why are you yelling?" Pinkie looks around and back at Fluttershy. "I don't know! So what are we going to do?" Rainbow flies In between the two of them, startling Fluttershy. "I have a plan." ... Twilight stares at the chess board, thinking back at what Celestia showed her. This is how she will rule? With luck? She picks the dice up and tosses them across the board, 17. The dice fall through the board and the pieces begin to transform. The Pegasi on the left turn to glass, resembling flames. The pieces on the right turn to glass pieces of wind. There is a sudden howl of wind through the castle, and out the window is a tower of smoke coming from Las Pegasus. After a short, 5 minute game of chess pieces playing against eachother, the glass wind king pice is taken over. The howling stops and the smoke out the window fades away. "Princess!" Shining Armor runs into the main room, bowing quickly. "Shining, please, don't call me that, don't even bow. You're my Brother." “We'll talk about it later, but a giant fire in Las Pegasus had just occurred." She looks back out the window. "I'm aware. Were there any casualties?" "Yes. Four died in the fire." Twilight stares, looking where the smoke was. "That'll be all brother." "But-" "That'll be all." Shining Armor bows and leaves. She just killed four ponies. With the power of luck, four possibly innocent, beautiful ponies just lost their lives. She looks at the dice on the floor, can they do any good? Is there any combination that does something good for somepony? What if she can directly focus on one pony? She picks the dice up, and begins thinking of one of her closest, most personal friends. The dice roll across the table. The pieces begin to transform, then move. ... "Help!" "Rainbow?" Rainbow Dash flies into Fluttershy's house, placing Tank on the table, tears in her eyes. "Fluttershy, please, do what ever it takes. Please!" "Dash, what happened?" "His heart, it isn't beating. I lied next to him but he wasn't breathing and his heart wasn't making a thump sound, please do something... please." Fluttershy looks at the tortoise, not knowing where to start. She tries CPR, shocking him with static electricity from slippers rubbed on a carpet for a long time, even the hiemlich maneuver. Nothing works. "Dash, I'm sorry, it's been two hours, I can't do anything more. I wish I could try more, but I've exsaughsted all options. I'm sorry." Rainbow sits there, staring at Tank. Not moving, not talking, just still, staring. "Where?" Dash whispers. "Where what?" "Where will we bury him?" "How about under your house?" Fluttershy asks, not knowing many better places. "...I'll get the shovels." ... Twilight sits, confused. The pieces to the left turned to glass animals, the king being a turtle, and the right pieces turned to veterinarians. Eventually, after a long, two to three hour game, the king turtle took the king veterinarian. The pieces rest into place, and the dice settled on the ground. Twilight looks around, finally realizing that Equestria, all of it's residents, plots of land, all of it from the ground to the sky, is hers. And this board, these dice, they were the decision makers. They were fate. ... Rainbow and Fluttershy sit silent in the cottage, not having anything to say to one another. Fluttershy tried to help Rainbow with words, but all she did was stare at the ground, no tears, not blinking, just staring. "Why?" Rainbow was the first to speak. "Fluttershy, why? Why did he have to die?" "Well, Rainbow, death is a part of life. I have owned too many animals to count, and I can tell you that this just happens. It's sad, no, tragic, but it happens, you can't stop it." "But, I loved him." "RD, I know you did, and trust me, I know what it's like to lose a pet, but give it time. Eventually you'll see that it was just his time." The awkward silence continues. "Hey, I have an idea. You said you had a plan to go and see Twilight, right RD?" "Yeah... ok, I see what you mean, I'll get the others." Rainbow cracks a small, forced smile, and walks out. ... "Here Twily, you deserve it." "What is it?" Twilight asks, still a little filly. She opens the box, and pulls out a stuffed animal. It has buttons for eyes, a brown mane and tail, and blue and white polka doted pants. "Thank you!" Twilight hugs Shinning Armor. "I'll name him Smarty Pants." "Oh, and more thing." He pushes the box towards her. She opens it, and five dice fly out. They fly onto a chess board and catch fire. She trips trying to back away, and accidentally throws Smarty Pants into the fire. Shinning Armor runs to save her, but is lost in the flames. Twilight begins coughing, panicking. She looks up only to see the faces of her parents in the smoke. The roof above her begins to crack, and falls. "No!" Twilight sits up, breathing heavily. She looks around her room in the castle, everything is there. She gets up and walks over to the bags she brought here. Her hooves shake as she opens one up, and pulls out Smarty Pants. She heads back to bed after glaring at the board with the dice under it, and cries herself to sleep. ... "All aboard!" The five friends walk onto the train just before it leaves. They take the back cart so they can have it to themselves. "So RD, why so glum?" Fluttershy looks over at Applejack and crosses her hooves. "Tank died." Rainbow whispers. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." The others nod in agreement." "Darling, it'll be ok. You have all of us here to help you through it." Rarity says, trying to be optimistic. "Yeah, I mean if Gummy died I wouldn't know what to do. But I would know that with the friends I have, nothing would make me down, I'd celebrate him with his memory." Pinkie says. This causes Rainbow to smile, just for a second. "And besides, it was only Tank, it's not like one of us died." Rainbow snaps her head over to stare at Applejack. "Only, Tank?" Fluttershy holds Rainbow down. "Rainbow, wait, she didn't mean it like-" "Only! Tank!? What if Winona died!? Huh? What if Bloomberg was chopped down, what if your only non-pony friend just stopped breathing, no warning, no question, no nothing! Not even a goodbye! What if you only HAD one animal friend!? What, what if..." Rainbow Dash puts her head into her forecloses and sobs, unable to talk anymore. Fluttershy signals them all into the next cart over and follows. "Excuse me Applejack but what was that?" Rarity whispers. "Well I didn't realize she'd explode because of it." "How? Even I saw that and I have trouble keeping my sister in my house." "I didn't think that far ahead." They each go into an argument, and Pinkie leans over to Fluttershy. "I think you should go in there." "What? Why me?" Fluttershy asks, scared of making the situation worse. "Because you know about animals more than any of us. You can at least make her feel a little better. I'll try to have some sort of cheer up Rainbow party, but for know you can make her feel a bit better." Fluttershy thinks about it, then nods and walks in. Rainbow is now sobbing on her bed, lying down. "Um, Rainbow?" "F-Fluttershy?" Rainbow looks up and pulls her close, still crying. "I miss him, I miss him so much. I love him, I still do, he may be gone but it feels like he's here next to me." "I know, it isn't easy loosing something you love, especially an animal." "But, the thing is, I don't know my parents. I'm not sure who they are, where they are, anything about them. And yet I'm more upset about Tank than not knowing my parents." "Well, I think that's because animals are more susceptible to danger than us. We at least know when danger is threatening us, but animals souly depend on either their instincts or owners, they don't know as much when it comes to danger." Rainbow sits there, still hugging Fluttershy. She let's go and lies back down, still silent. Fluttershy gets up and goes into the other cart. "Excuse me but how long until we arrive at Camterlot?" "Two more hours." The ticket collected responds. "Ok, thank you." Fluttershy walks to a bed in the cart next to Rainbow's, and falls asleep.
Forced Reconciliation Forced Reconciliation "Princess." Shining Armor walks into the room, and bows. "Shining, we need to talk about that." "What do you mean?" "You are my brother, I do not want you calling me princess, nor do I want you to bow every time you see me. In fact I don't want anyone to do that." "Listen, you can't have no one do that, you're the ruler, you're going to get both praise and hate. As for me, I'm not going to give myself special privileges. You may differ, and you may be the princess, but my duty is to respect and defend you. I will not have that compromised." Twilight looks at him, stunned. "As I was saying, princess, you have company." He walks to the side and her five closest friends walk in. "Hi Twilight." They say in unison. "Oh, hey girls." "How ya' been sugar cube?" Applejack asks, looking around. "Fine, thanks. Why are you all here?" "Well, we heard about the Princess, and we figured that you'd be the new one seeing as though Princess Luna is busy for the next year or so." Fluttershy says, staring at the board. "How did you all know that she was busy?" Applejack hands her the paper that was passed out through all of Equestria. "Wow. So everypony knows now." "Um, excuse me but what is that?" Fluttershy asks, pointing to the board. Rainbow looks over and sees the turtle piece and the fallen veterinarian. She begins to tear up and walks out of the castle. "That, that's a chess board." "But, who do you play chess with?" "Well, I uh, hey, where's Rainbow Dash?" "Darling, you didn't hear. Tank passed." Rarity says. Twilight freezes. She looks back at the board and runs over. The pieces are still the turtles and veterinarians. "I killed him." She whispers to herself. "What was that?" Applejack asks, walking behind her. "I killed Tank." there is a loud thump and a streak of colors. Rainbow stands over Twilight, tears in her eyes. "What do you mean?! How, how could you have killed him? He had a heart attack, it was his time." Rainbow sits next to Twilight, allowing her to get back up. "What do you mean?" "Well, this chess board decides what happens with, everything. I roll those dice below it on top of it and the pieces will transform and move. At the end, what ever the outcome is, it happens in real life." Rainbow stares at her, her eyes dry. Twilight begins to back up. "Rainbow, I swear, I never meant to hurt him. What happens depends on the numbers, Celestia told me that this is the way to rule. I didn't know that this would happen." "Sugar cube, she-" "You killed tank!?" Rainbow stands up quickly, resisting the urge to fly at Twilight. "Rainbow, I-" "Why would you do this!? What did he ever do to you, huh!? All those great times we had, all those days we helped eachother and this is how you choose to rule? I've done nothing but be a good friend and the first thing you do as Princess is kill my friend?" "Rainbow, you have to understand, it's all fate. I don't choose what happens, it's all luck." "Then keep your luck out of my life!" Rainbow flies out of the castle. "I... I didn't, please." Twilight looks at the others. "You all understand, right?" "Twilight, I think we need to leave. We'll be back... eventually." Applejack leads them out of the castle. Rarity and pinkie follow closely behind, but Fluttershy looks back. "Fluttershy, please." She looks down, then follows the others. Twilight stands there, thinking about everything that just happened. Did she just loose Rainbow's friendship? Had the rest decided to give up on her? She walks over to the chess board. She is ready to just kick it and destroy it, get rid of it. However, seeing as though she most likely just lost her friends, she really can't do much more damage. She picks the dice up, ands throws them on the board. 20. The pices begin to transform and move. "No, oh no, please, not this. Sh-Shinning Armor! Get the guards ready!" ... "I can't believe she killed him." "Rainbow, ya' got to forget about her. She isn't worth it." "But I never thought that she would kill something I love." They walk into a hotel in Canterlot, and each have their own rooms. They all say good night and head into their rooms. Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack's are next to each other on one side, and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are on the other side. Fluttershy hears Rainbow crying in the room next to her. It breaks her heart, she knows what she is going through. She decides to try and make her feel better, so she walks in. She stops at the doorway, and opens it. Her heart drops, and she shakes. "R-Rainbow?" She walks over, and panics. "HELP!" The door handle shakes, but doesn't open. "Fluttershy, leave." Rainbow weakly says. Fluttershy looks at her, then the door. She can't see the door anymore, it's just a black mass of shade. She backs against the wall, staring into the abyss. "leave." She looks over, Rainbow is sitting up with colors in a liquid form flowing from the bed. She is grey except for her Rose eyes. Fluttershy looks at herself in the reflection of the window, she looks just like Rainbow. "You're not welcomed." She looks back at the bed which is now a giant pawn piece. "We are all just pawns of Princess Sparkle."Nightmare Moon flies from the roof and kicks the pawn. The piece falls forward, and everything goes black. "Fluttershy!" Applejack kicks the bed, forcing Fluttershy to wake up. She looks around the room, scared. "Fluttershy, darling, you look awful, what happened?" Rarity asks. Rainbow Dash walks in, rubbing her eyes. "What are you guys-" She is interrupted by Fluttershy flying at her, hugging her. "Rainbow, it was you, you're the pawn." She begins crying into Rainbow's coat. "Moon. The Moon is here, you have to run. Go, please." Rainbow looks at the others, and nods towards the door. The three friends walk out, and close the door. Rainbow studies them for a second, then asks, "Ok, what's going on?" "We, well, we have no idea. She started screaming in her room and we could hear glass breaking, so we walked in and everything happened." "So you're telling me that she is acting like this because of a bad dream? She's had bad dreams before but never to the point of saying nonsense and crying. A pawn? What does that even mean?" Rainbow slowly opens the door and peaks in. Fluttershy is crying on her bed, hugging a pillow and lying down. "It's ok, it's a dream. Don't worry angle, Fluttershy will protect you. I'm here, we'll be ok. Twilight doesn't mean it, it's all fate. It's ok." Rainbow closes the door. "Alright, so Fluttershy has gone mad, I've been targeted by the moon, you two are tired and need rest, and Pinkie is... where's Pinkie?" They look around in the hall, and find her door. Rainbow opens the door and is greeted by a red-eyed hyper pink pony. "Hi Dash I love this place this place is great I found some sugar in the corner and I had all of it it wasn't too much but it was still-" "Pinkie! Have you gotten any sleep?" "I did but it was only for ten minutes and it was kind of boring to sleep and-" "Did you have any nightmares?" "Well I had a dream where the world was made of cake and everyone kept saying 'the cake is a lieeeeeee' but I didn't care and I kept eating it and then Nightmare Moon gave me thousands of pounds of cupcakes and she told me to ask you for help to make them and-" "Ok, I'll leave now, thanks." "Oh but I didn't tell you the best part where-" Rainbow closes the door and walks back to the others. The clock on the wall says it is midnight, but Rainbow knows she can't sleep. "Ok, I have to go and see Twilguht. You two get some sleep." "Alright RD, night." "Good night Rainbow Dash." Rarity and Applejack head back into their rooms. Rainbow slowly enters Fluttershy's room. "Angle, I didn't mean it. Please forgive me, please, I just wanted to play with you, please forgive me." "Fluttershy?" Fluttershy looks at Rainbow, her eyes red from crying so much. The closer Rainbow gets, the more Fluttershy shakes. "Don't hurt me, please!" "Fluttershy, it's me, Rainbow Dash." "S-she died, R-Rainbow Dash d-died, you're not her. No one is her, she's dead. I didn't mean it! She had it coming to her! And Angel, he, he told me to!" "Just, try and sleep. Goodnight." "Sleep? What is sleep anymore?" Rainbow walks out of the room, closing the door loudly, hoping to snap her out of it. She can still hear the rambling, it's useless. She sighs deeply, and walks to the castle to meet up with Twilight.
Hopes in a Star"Twilight?" Rainbow Dash walks into the castle, slowly opening the door. It is just after one, and this gives the castle an eerie feeling. As she continues to walk to the main room, she finds Twilight's door. She stands for a minute thinking. Why should Twilight be the only one allowed to use the dice? Why can't she, Rainbow Dash, the fastest in all of Equestria, choose fate for once. "No, quite thinking and go ask." She tries her best to muster up the resilience of throwing the dice, but to no avail. Can it really be that dangerous? She looks at the room one more time, and gives in. She walks to the main room and finds the board. She picks the dice up, and stares at them. So this is what kills, what births, what gives, what takes, what killed Tank, five simple dice. She shutters at the thought of having this much power. Just holding the dice gives her surges of feeling invincible. She looks one last time, and tosses the dice. Only, not at the board, she wants to see what happens if they land on the floor. The dice finish spinning and land, 11. The dice just sit there, not doing anything. Disappointed, Rainbow walks over to place them on the chess board. Suddenly, the dice begin to glow a bright red. "Rainbow, no!" "What?" It was too late. She slowly began to sink into the floor as it began to melt around her. "Twilight, what's happening?" All Twilight could do was watch. "Twilight!" Rainbow began to disappear. She struggled to keep her wings above the opening void, flapping the violently, but could not get off the ground. Slowly, the void began to close itself. Rainbow's wings were aching, they hurt, they were tired, she was tired. She gave up trying to fight, and closed her wings. The void closed itself back up, and all that was left was a cyan feather and the five dice. Twilight stood there, speechless. She just watched one of her best friends get swallowed by five demon dice, and she didn't do anything. Why? Why didn't she run, grabbing her hoof, pulling her free? Why didn't she at least say something before Rainbow was swallowed whole by the castle? Had she really changed that much since Celestia's death? "Princess Sparkle!" She knew the voice. It was Princess Luna. "Princess Luna, where have you been?" Twilight was mad, and she refused to blame herself. "Why didn't you help Rainbow?! She most likley just died before my eyes and you did nothing! Why didn't you help?!" "You did nothing as well Ms. Sparkle." Twilight couldn't speak. She knew this, but she didn't want to accept it. She pushed everything out of her mind except for blaming Luna. "And, and neither did you! You wanted it to happen, you wanted to see her die, didn't you? Didn't you?! Well no more, I forbid anyone to do something like this!" Twilight walked over to a piece of paper and wrote something down. Luna left the castle, and Twilight continued to write. She wrote for the rest of the night, Equestria would be changed again the next day. ... "Fluttershy? Is everything ok in there?" Rarity asks through the door. "Is everything alright?" Applejack asks, just being awoken. "I don't know, Fluttershy is awake but isn't opening the door." "That's easy." Applejack tries the knob, and backs up. In a flash, she bucks down the door, kicking it at the door knob. "Flutter-" Rarity and Appplejack's mouths drop. In the room, the shyest most peaceful mare in all of Equestria, is walking back and forth, writing names on the wall and Xing certain ones out. On the bed is Rainbow Dash's name, Xed out in red. She snaps her head towards them, her eyes blood shot and her body shaking. "Fluttershy? Ya' feeling, normal?" Applejack asks. Fluttershy just stares, barley moving. "You should see-" "No!" Fluttershy interrupts. "You don't understand, none of you do. None of you can, it's the end. The end is nearing, it's those dice. Those diamond dice that stare at me in my dreams, in my nightmares, in front of my eyes. They kill, they live, they love, they hate, they die, they are us. We are at the mercy of terror itself, and we just go on. None of the citizens know about this, only me, only us." Rarity and Applejack look at eachother, then are pushed to the side by Pinkie Pie. "Fluttershy you were right. She went mad last night, the other is missing, we must find them." "But Pinkie, without her we can't do anything." "But what you said in the lost forest of queens, we can do it. Use their powers against them." "Do you really think it would work?" "Only if Rarity and Applejack put their hopes into this." Pinkie holds out a box in the shape of a nine sided star. Rarity looks at Applejack, "Um, Applejack darling, did you follow any of that?" "Not at all. But do what she says, I know what this is." Rarity looks at it, not knowing what to do. "But, wha-" "It's a hope star, put your hopes into it and we'll take it from there." Pinkie says. Rarity stares at it, and puts all of her hopes into this star. All of them. ... "Done!" Twilight studies the paper she finished, looking it over again and again. She smiles and copies the paper with a spell she recently learned. She sends multiple messengers to fly across Equestria, letting the paper fall into their homes. "This'll show Luna." "You have doomed them all." Luna walks up behind her, frowning. "I watch their dreams, nightmares, hopes, wishes, and last night they were all scared. All thanks to you, they are now lost." "Lost? This will help us as a society to flourish, to expand. These new rules will bring order and justice to all who deserve it, and punishment to those who need it. We shall begin a new era in Equestrian history, a peaceful one." Luna stands, staring at Twilight. "What? Words escaping you? Just like your sist-" "Twilight!" She turns around, and falls to the ground, looking up. "C-Ce-Celestia? B-but how?" "I put you in charge of Equestria because I trusted you to do the right thing with it, to put it in a position where we become powerful, become happy. All you have done is put it in danger, you are not fit for the title of Princess." Twilight is speechless. Celestia is telling her that she is not fit to be a leader. Normally, she would be devastated, but now, she is furious. "Like you were any better." "Excuse me? Twilight I-" "Don't give me that, you're here dead because you were too nice, too giving. You are either loved or hated, and it's better to be hated, that means the people fear you. Fear drives rule, it perfects imperfection. This piece of paper, that is half way across Equestria now, is going make us the most powerful in the world." Twilight lowers her head and shoots a purple stream at Celestia. Celestia starts moving, and tries to struggle, but vanishes before any progress is made. "Twilight!" She looks behind her and there in the doorway is her five friends. Fluttershy stands foward. "We are here to end your rule!"
Finale"Hahaha! You really think you four can touch me? I'm a goddess now, and you are my peasants." Twilight moves a giant chair in front of the door with her magic, and puts Rarity in a room, locking it. "Now then, let's have some fun." Fluttershy steps foward, and runs at her. Twilight bows, forcing Fluttershy to tumble over her. Fluttershy picks herself up and runs back at her again, trying to wear her out. Twilight scoffs, and stops Fluttershy in her tracks. Applejack comes from behind and bucks Twilight in the flank, making her release Fluttershy. "So, you want to play tuff huh? Let's play." Twilight teleports to the dice and throws them at the ground. They land, 20. Fluttershy begins to back up, but is stopped by a giant black wall. The wall begins to move to the other end of the room, ready to crush Fluttershy. Rarity escapes the room and teleports Fluttershy to her, merely glancing at Twilight before being knocked out by the Chess Board being thrown at her head. "Rarity!" Pinkie stares at Twilight, and begins running on the walls. She darts back and forth, confusing Twilight. "Just like a squirrel." "Fluttershy! Take this!" Applejack throws her a rope and singles her to fly at Twilight. Fluttershy does so, but is quickly knocked down by Twilight's magic. She catches Pinkie, and throws her into the ground. Applejack runs at her one last time before being kicked in the chest herself by Twilight. Rarity regains conciseness, and looks at Pinkie, starting to crawl to her. "Are you girls DONE YET?! What have I done to deserve THIS kind of behavior from my best, friends?! I have been a good leader, a good princess, and to think that this is how I am thanked, it's revolting. I hope you all learned a valuable lesson from this, because now is the punishment!" "The lesson I learned is to never accept power, it only corrupts!" Rarity throws the star at Twilight. It cracks open, and out of it pours multiple colors swirling around Twilight. Twilight begins panicking, but quickly controls herself. She pops into a bubble and out of the area, where she then shoots the mist with magic. "You can't destroy these darling! They are hopes, and hope never die!" Twilight continues until they begin to dissolve. "Rarity, it's over." Pinkie weakly says. Rarity watches as her hopes and dreams are shattered. Twilight, who used to be best friends with these four ponies, now destroys their hopes and dreams just to continue ruling the wrong way. The room clears, and one lone pony stands. She is breathing heavily, staring at he subjects. "You. You could have helped me, all of of you. Help me rule, help me set an example for the better. But now? Now you're all an example for the worse." Her horn begins to glow a dark purple. Rarity accepts her fate, giving in. Suddenly, there is a streak of black and blue. There is a crash, and dust is kicked up. Once cleared, Rarity looks up. "R-Rainbow Dash?" "No, Shadowbolt Dash." Applejack says. "Twilight, you killed me. You got rid of me, terminated me, but I'm back. I'm here, I'm better than ever." "But, Rainbow, how?" Rarity asks, barley able to speak. "When you threw the star, a hope brought me back. A simple wish is why I am here now, and that wish belongs to Fluttershy." "Fluttershy? Fluttershy!" Rarity struggles to get up, and limps over to her friend. Fluttershy's wings are each snapped backwards, and her hooves bloodied. Her face is littered with bruises and cuts. She looks up, barley able to lift her head. "You are why Fluttershy is teetering between life and death, you are the reason why half of Equestria is in ruins from revolution, you're the reason why evil is spreading Twilight." Rainbow walks over to the dice, and pulls one out of her pocket. It is a six sided die made of purely black obsidian. "Have fun." She throws the dice and they all land on six, 36. Twilight looks up, only to see a black hole. She grabs onto the floor, struggling to not be sucked in. "Fine! You want me gone?! So be it, but be warned, Equestria will fall apart without me!" "I think the pieces will fall into place." Rainbow steps on her hoof, and she is sucked into the black hole. Rainbow kicks the dice and it closes. "Hear that everypony? Silence." It wasn't silent however, the only noise was from Fluttershy's erratic, sputtered breathing. "R-Rainbow?" Fluttershy asks. "Yes?" "Will, will you be, alright?" This made Rainbow tear up. In her final moments, Fluttershy wasn't worried about herself. She was only worried about her friends. "Yes, I'll be fine Fluttershy." "Good. And Rainbow, check under your bed, I'll leave you a present when, I'm, gone." "Fluttershy? Fluttershy, please, please don't leave us. Please!" Rarity breaks down, crying. The others surround their old friend, saying silent prayers to Celestia. "I'll, I'll bring her to the graveyard. We'll hold a funeral in the pet cemetery for her, she would want that." Slowly they leave the castle, crying. Rainbow, being the last one out, trots over to the dice and picks them up. She picks up Fluttershy, and heads to the cemetery. After the funeral, they head back to their houses. Rainbow stays at the grave, not able to move. Her best friend is gone, her last words and thoughts were for her, and she told her she would give her a gift. How? She is gone, how can she do anything for her now? Rainbow places her hoof on her grave, and flies back home. She walks to her room, remembering what Fluttershy said. Under the bed. Rainbow lifts the covers, and there, staring back at her, is Tank. Rainbow picks him up and hugs him, crying. "T-thank you F-Fluttershy." 20 years later "And so, this is how Celestia ruled. This is how I have been ruling. After Twilight Sparkle was defeated, I took over as princess of Equestria with Luna being at my side. We have used these dice to rule, but in less serious ways. Such as when we need advice or we need help on a problem, we toss the dice. The black die was destroyed by me immediately after I got Tank back. The five dice have decided the fate of many, and have helped even the worst of rulers. My name is Rainbow Dash, and whoever is reading this, beware. Beware, of the Diamond Dice."
