Technicolor

by joe mother

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark
Length: 12026

Rainbow Dash wakes up in a castle to find that everything she had once known is gone. Twilight refuses to tell her anything, and she watches as everything falls apart once again.

Rainbow Dash wakes up on a deserted island to find that everything she had once known is gone. All that she has is Twilight and an exorcist named Scale. They came to the island to fix something. The problem is, they won't let Rainbow Dash know what they are fixing.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-05-30 15:49:02 UTC

PART ONE

CHAPTER ONE

Sometimes I am alone. Other times there is another with me. I drift in and out of consciousness, hearing voices as I float away. It sometimes is cold, other times it is burning hot, searing my body and causing me to sweat.

It is like a dream, but it feels all too real.

The voices are familiar. I hear the faint echoes, and I can almost place the names, but they escape me as soon as I remember.

There is a rainbow in my eyes. It burns. It is a fire tearing apart my retina, and the only relief is when I pass out again.

Everyday, the voices get a bit louder, and there is a noise like constant thunder growling underneath it all. My legs felt tight, and there was a band of pain enveloping each of my legs. Now the rainbow disappears sometimes, replaced by a band of red, and a star shape in a circle.

One time I thought I actually understood the voices. There was something muffled; it sounded like a question. I heard the reply clearly.

“I don’t know.”

It had to be me. They were saying something about me. It had to be. What else could they be talking about? Is it about how I can not hear anything? Maybe it had to do with the rainbow in my eye.

Soon after, I passed out.

Time lost its meaning. One hour was three days, a single bout of consciousness was five minutes. The names of the ones speaking were becoming clearer in my mind, growing closer to tangible. The one who was there the most was... “T- something S- something.” That was all I could remember. It was enough to convince me that I was slowly coming back.

The rainbow is hurting less now. It resembles a slight prick now, and its color is fading lightly. My head was pounding, and a copper taste rested on my tongue.

I cannot remember what gave that copper taste, I can only remember that it was red.

“Can you help her?”

The voice of the “T- S-.” She was back.

“Possibly.”

The second voice. Who was that? It was not somebody I had heard before. I felt a set of hooves touch my body, one on the head and one on my chest.

“I call on you, Celestia!” the voice cried. “Channel your strength through me!”

There was a bolt of light, and the world blacked. The constant thunder roared to a terrible crescendo, and then it stopped.

I woke up to see the world in full, unblocked view. There was a purple unicorn over me.

Twilight. That was her name. I remembered all of their names now. They were my friends.

“Twilight,” I whispered. My throat was hoarse, the coppery taste stronger than ever. And I remembered:

The coppery taste was blood.

“Water.”

Twilight shook her head.

“No,” she said with defiance. Not defiance towards me, but defiance towards herself. “I can’t.”

“Why?” I replied, thinking I must be on the verge of death from dehydration. “What if I die?”

“Then it’s on my conscience,” Twilight whispered, placing her head across my stomach. “It’ll just be another thing to add on.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, failing to raise a hoof to stroke her mane. “Besides, it’s only water. Why can’t I have any?”

“There is a good reason,” Twilight said, putting her hoof on my chest. “Believe me, please.”

A tear rolled down her face and touched the tip of my fur. She began to cry, pressing her face into my stomach and soaking it. She grabbed me and got over me. Her tears poured down onto my face and she leaned in.

She kissed my forehead and pushed her snout against mine. Her eyes closed as she wept.

“I can’t get you water right now,” she said. “But promise me you won’t die before you can get it.”

“I–I promise,” I replied. Twilight was torn apart, but I could not understand what for. Something had happened to me, and she did not want to talk about it.

Twilight collapsed her head onto my chest and sobbed. I watched and found it difficult to continue. What could be hurting her so bad?

I closed my eyes and fell asleep, fluttering into my own night time world. I woke up with a glass of water perched upon my lips, wetting them slightly.

My eyes widened and I immediately opened my mouth and let the refreshing liquid pour in. I gulped down the glass gratefully, and saw Twilight sitting next to me, her face haggard and sleepless, circles dark under her eyes.

I took deep breaths, my chest heaving. Twilight smiled and placed her hoof on mine.

“What... what happened?” I asked. “Why couldn’t I have water before?”

Twilight’s eyes filled with tears again, and I quickly changed the subject.

“Nevermind. Where are we?”

Twilight shuddered and looked me in the eyes, like a soul piercing gaze.

“The Celestian Chapel,” she said, standing. “It’s a place Celestia built... well, half built... some other ponies had to finish the rest.”

I coughed and attempted to stand. Twilight wrapped her hoof around mine and helped me to my feet. I rested on her shoulder as I examined the room.

Nothing too special, a simple wood floor, stone walls painted gray that stretched up ten feet, and a small window that looked out onto an open sea.

“The ocean?” I asked in surprise. “Where are we?”

“This is the Pegasus Isles,” Twilight replied, taking a step forward and me with her. “It’s the place where most historians and archaeologists believe pegasi originated from. They said that a group of ponies sailed the sea and found this island, they lived here for centuries, adapting until they developed wings. With that, they went back to the mainland and introduced a new race to ponykind.”

I saw a fish leap from the water, and I felt hunger grip me. My stomach growled, I blushed, and Twilight chuckled.

“How about some food?”

I nodded, “Yes, please.”

A few minutes later, after walking down a dark hallway, we arrived in a small room fit with a table and three chairs. One of the chairs was occupied by an orb of light, floating above the seat. I sat down next to Twilight, and the orb began to speak.

“She has awoken, I see,” the orb said, a male’s voice emitting from it. “My work was successful. She has had drink?”

“Yes,” Twilight said. “She had some water.”

“After the time, of course?”

“Of course.”

I was confused. The conversation was obviously about me, but what about me I did not know.

“Uh... what are you guys talking about?” I asked.

“It’s not important to you,” the orb said. “You wouldn’t understand anyways.”

I jumped up, “I can tell it’s about me. I think that gives me the right to know.”

The orb sparked slightly.

“It does not give you any right,” the orb said haughtily. “In fact, I’d say that this information is something I can’t tell you for the rest of your life.”

I grit my teeth.

“You’re doing this on purpose!” I cried. “You just keep making me more interested!”

The orb chuckled, “Yes, I am. I thought it’d slip by though. You’re smarter than you look.”

“So now I’m just stupid?!” I yelled angrily.

But it was more than just anger. I felt a compulsive need to kill the orb for insulting me, to make him smaller than me. I just needed to...

“Dash!” Twilight yelled, grabbing my hoof.

I was an inch away from the orb, my hoof raised to crash down. Twilight was crying, and I slowly let my foreleg fall.

“W–what?” I mumbled. “What was I–?

Twilight dropped her hoof down and sighed. Her eyes were tired and dull, and they gazed at me with pleading insanity.

“Don’t,” she whispered. “I don’t want this anymore.”

I nearly broke down, but my exterior held firm.

“Why was I going to... kill it?” I asked, praying for an answer.

“I can’t tell you,” Twilight muttered, turning her head aside. “It’s not possible. Not yet.”

“As I stated before, I don’t think you’ll ever learn the information,” the orb said.

I turned and glared at it.

“You stay out of this, damn orb!” I screamed. “This is between my friend and I, not you and your refusal to speak!” I turned back. “Twilight, please. I want to know.”

Twilight shook her head in refusal.

“Please!” I begged, grabbing her and staring at her eyes. “I want to know what it is! Something’s wrong with me, isn’t there?!”

“23 22 14 12 13,” Twilight said. “That’s all I can tell you.”

I blinked.

“What?” I asked, incredulous. “That’s all you can say?!”

“Yes!” Twilight yelled, pushing me away and throwing a hoof into my face. My vision went blurry as I fell to the ground. The copper taste filled my mouth again, and something warm and wet trickled down my face. “That’s all I can tell you! Please, stop! I can’t take any more of this!”

She fell to the floor and curled up into a ball, shuddering. She looked more haggard than before, and also more helpless, unable to fight whatever it was consuming her. She slowly began to stop shaking until she was still. She lifted her head, and her pupils were pinpricks on her irises, wobbling madly.

“No,” she whispered. “No, no, no, no. Not again, please. I can’t take any more!”

I watched through dizzy eyes and Twilight thrashed and screamed, her hooves kicking out in every direction. There was a buzzing noise, and a gray pony stepped over me, going to Twilight’s side. He touched a hoof to her mane and stroked it gently.

“They’re not real,” he said, leaning towards her face. “All of things you are seeing are just memories.”

“They’re more than just memories!” Twilight said. “They’re HELL!”

She tried to bite at the pony’s throat, but was stopped by the hoof still resting atop her head, which was pushed back down, a clacking sound ringing as her teeth collided.

“They may be hell, but the past is the past,” the gray pony said, smiling. “And looking back on won’t help you any. It will just make it worse.”

That reached Twilight, and she turned over to face the pony.

“Thanks,” she said with a morose look. “I’m sorry.”

The gray pony stood and helped Twilight up. My vision was nearly clear now, and I could make out the features on his face.

He was old, at least judging by his drawn face and wise eyes. Around his neck hung the Eye of the Sun, an amulet said to give owners the power to destroy demons. Mythology was one thing I was interested in, so I knew that much.

“Who are you?” I asked, standing with a grimace.

“I am known as The Scale,” he said. “But you can simply call me Scale. I am a first rate exorcist, employed by Celestia herself on a few occasions, to deal with some rather odd manners of hellspawn. Hellspawn like demons.”

“Oh, please!” I laughed. “Demons, real?!”

“Very much so,” Scale said with a nod. “A easy way to prove their existence would be to list off everything negative about you. There are your personal demons right in front of you.”

“Don’t give me head-spacey crap,” I jeered with a smirk. “Give me something real.”

“Well, unless a demon appears–which I highly doubt–there will be no evidence to give you. However, I can only pray that a certain one does not come back soon.”

“What the heck does that mean?” I asked.

“There was a tough bastard that I fought back some time ago,” Scale replied. “Took me a lot of strength to keep it suppressed. I couldn’t do anything to get rid of it.”

“Alright,” I said. My stomach growled, and I laughed. “Hey, about that food.”

“Oh, yes,” Scale said, returning to the table. “Twilight, if it’s not too much trouble.”

Twilight’s horn glowed and suddenly the table was filled with food. My eyes widened and my lips suddenly became a floodgate; I found it hard not to ravage the meal as fast as I could. Then I saw it.

“Meat?!” I exclaimed in disgust. “Why is there meat?!”

Scale laughed as he picked up a piece and took a bite. I gagged and shuddered.

“This is something the Pegasus Isles offer. This island has many poisonous plants, and a very small amount of the plants on the island are actually edible. The ones that are grow in sparse amounts sporadically across the forest, and they provide very little nutritional value.”

“I can see how that makes sense,” I said. “But... meat?!”

“It’s something of an acquired taste,” Scale chuckled, ripping another chunk off. “And it’s damn hard to chew with our herbivore teeth. But, you do what must be done to survive. If eating meat helps, then so be it.”

“W–what is the meat from?” I gulped.

“You expecting to be pony meat or something? It’s just bird.”

“B–bird...” I whispered. Birds were pretty close to pegasi, right? That was something I learned through those endless droning hours of school.

Scales finished and glanced curiously at me.

“From what I’ve heard,” he began. “You’re a tough pegasus. Now, don’t tell me the prospect of meat is getting to you more than an extreme air stunt or fighting evil with supernatural Elements?”

“Well, it is,” I replied. “I haven’t exactly heard of ponies eating meat ever.”

“Dash,” Twilight said from where she was seated at the table with a plate of vegetables and... meat?! “That’s what I was like at first, but once you’ve eaten only plants for a few days, you’ll see why it isn’t enough to keep us alive. You can take your suffering now. I can’t change your mind, but I can surely hope it gets changed by common sense.”

I frowned and took my seat. I took some plants and left the meat alone. I ate it and got more. And more. And more. Until there were no vegetables left.

“Ugh!” I grunted. “That’s not enough!”

“Like I said,” Twilight replied. “There aren’t enough nutrients in the plants or enough quantity. Just take the meat.”

“No!” I cried, shaking my head forcefully. “I will not eat another living creature.”

Scale rolled his eyes and Twilight laughed.

I stared at the meat for a while, wondering at first how a pony could stomach it, but it slowly transformed into a pit of endless curiosity. I just could not be satisfied until I had tried a piece.

I pushed a small block in front of me and took a deep breath.

“Here goes, I guess.”

I took a bite, and struggled for a good while to tear the fibers apart. I chewed with difficulty for a minute or two, then swallowed. I looked to see that Scale and Twilight were watching with bated breath, waiting for my opinion.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Still not as good as plants.”

Twilight giggled and Scale smiled. For a moment, things were happy.

CHAPTER TWO

After we had each finished our food–the meat had actually been pretty satisfying to my hunger–Scale led me down the hall and left Twilight to sit at the table. He took me into a room with a simple bed and dresser.

“Here’s your room,” he said. “If anything bad happens, call either me or Twilight. Especially call if you feel rage.”

I nodded and flopped down onto the bed as he left. I was shuddering, and I was sick to my stomach.  I groaned and rolled over onto my back. There was a knock on my door.

“Come in,” I moaned, hoof over my stomach.

Twilight walked in, saw me, and laughed.

“That’ll be the meat,” she said, stepping up to me. “It’ll take a while for your digestive system to get used to it.”

“Say, Twilight,” I said, looking at her. “When will we go to Ponyville?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight replied, rubbing her foreleg nervously. “The expedition ship will be back within a few months, and that’s all I know.”

“Months?!” I exclaimed. “Why so long?!”

“We weren’t sure about something that had happened,” Twilight responded. “We needed to be sure it would all sort itself out within that time. So far, it seems to be going well.”

“What do we have to do here?”

“There are a lot of things. There’s a large lake nearby, and a waterfall as well.”

I wondered if there were any cliffs. It’d sure be fun to go flying off of those.

“Is there anything to fly from?” I asked, sitting up. Bad move. My stomach gurgled and I fell back down with a sigh.

“There’s an old tower,” Twilight replied. “We haven’t gone to check it out yet, but I’m sure you can go over and check it out.”

I nodded and stared straight up at the ceiling. I shivered as a wave of nausea passed over me.

“How long will the meat pains last?” I asked in sorrow.

“Not too long,” she replied, laying down next to me. “After a few days you’ll get used to it.”

I looked at her she laid still and wondered how this was the same pony who just a couple hours ago was thrashing on the ground in some kind of hallucination fit.

“Twilight,” I began. “What was that thing that happened earlier, when you spun around and screamed?”

Twilight sat up suddenly and frowned.

“It’s something that’s happened lately,” she replied. “Scale told me it’s a psychological issue, and that as soon as we get back I need to get it checked out. It’ll get worse over time, but for now, all I can do is wait until the ship gets back and we leave.”

“That sounds bad,” I said, scooting over next to her. “But not nearly as bad as what you keep talking about. You know, about me.”

“I’m not allowed to tell you,” she said with a sort of disdain. “Don’t think because I’m an emotional wreck I won’t remember what I’m not permitted to say. All I can give you is 23 22 14 12 13. What it means is for you to figure out.”

“Is it some kind of alphabet code?” I asked. “If it is, then the first letter is W.”

“I won’t tell you if you’re going the right way,” Twilight responded. “Scale assumes you won’t be smart enough to figure it out on your own, but I know that you could.”

“Is it a safe combination?”

“I can’t tell you. Just stop asking before I go into another fit.”

I finally became aware to the fact that Twilight was breathing heavily, and shaking rapidly.

“Sorry,” I said, backing away. “What happened?”

“W–what do you mean?” she replied.

“Ponies don’t just suddenly start having psychotic fits without some reason. What caused them?”

“You’ll find out soon. But can please stop asking me about the mysterious things? They’ll cause me to have an episode.”

I sighed and wondered what to do. I had months until I had to leave and I could not ask questions about why we were here or what was wrong with me. On top of that, Twilight was sick.

“This sucks!” I yelled, grabbing my head.

“I can see where you’re coming from, Dash,” Twilight replied, much calmer. “Not being able to know anything and having a mentally disturbed friend can definitely make it seem like a bad thing. But, we’ll be back home in a while.”

I closed my eyes and tried to focus. I was filled with an empty desperation to go home, or at least to be doing something other than sitting around doing nothing.

“When will I be able to go outside?” I asked.

“Why would not be able to go?” Twilight replied. “Oh, I get it. We’re not telling you anything about what’s wrong, so you assume we’re trying to keep you stifled or something. You’re free to go outside whenever you want.”

I jumped up triumphantly, but then my stomach clenched up and I fell to the floor.

“Maybe later,” I said in a weak voice. “As soon as I get used to the meat.”

Twilight laughed and stood, “I’ll be going. Don’t hesitate to call if anything happens. But Dash, make sure you call if you begin feeling really angry.”

“Ok, Mom,” I said with a smirk.

Twilight frowned and shook her head.

“Don’t,” she said, stepping outside.

I blinked.

“Huh,” I muttered. “Weird. Just like Twilight, I suppose. Unable to accept her motherly tendencies I guess.”

I lay on the bed for another hour, my stomach gurgling unpleasantly and hurting madly. I eventually fell asleep, losing myself to the darkness.

I woke up as I tipped the side of my head off the bed and vomited. The circle was back in my eye, glowing brightly. My head felt like it was split open, but a counter to that was that my stomach felt a whole lot better.

I looked up and saw a silhouette in the dark, a unicorn, a hoof wrapped around a glinting object. I squinted and saw that it was a knife. I gasped and fell off the bed into my vomit. The unicorn suddenly spun around and ran from the room.

I let out a yell as they left, but I was too weak to follow. Twilight burst in and saw me lying on the floor, my foreleg fur damp with fluid.

“What happened?” she asked.

“A pony was in here, and they had a knife, and–” I started, but I had to turn my head as I vomited once more. I gasped for breath and saw my vision start blacking out.

“Where did they go?” Twilight asked.

I could not respond as I felt an insuppressible rage building in me.

“Dash? Dash?”

Twilight ran forward just as I started to shudder. My mind was numb, and all I could do was observe as my vision went blurry and I heard thunder rising from the dark.

“Scale! Hurry!”

I heard a set of hoofsteps, and I saw only a part of Scale as I fell unconscious.

I woke up to find Twilight staring at me, her face tired and sad. My throat burned, but I knew what she would say if I asked for water.

“What happened?” I asked, noticing a cut across her chest. “And what’s that cut?”

“I don’t know what happened,” Twilight replied, raising a hoof over the wound. “But this cut was from the unicorn you talked about. We met her near the entrance and she fought back. She got away, but not without hurting me and Scale in the process.”

“How bad does it hurt?” I asked, concerned.

“Not a lot,” she said, but her eyes showed that it hurt more than she let on, and not just physical pain. “It’s really late though, you should get back to bed.”

“How would I sleep?” I asked, standing up, the world spinning. Twilight grabbed me and held me still. “There’s somepony who wants me dead!”

“I’ll keep watch,” she replied, leading me to my room. “I’ll get them if they try and kill you.”

She led me inside, laid me down in bed, and left. The door clicked shut and I was left in the darkness. My mind wandered as I stared into the void, such a jumble of thoughts that going to sleep was impossible.

My hoof moved down my body, and I sighed miserably. My foreleg slithered down until...

“No,” I whispered, pulling it back up. “Why would I do that? It’s been years since I last did. But, I want to. It’ll relax me, make me feel better. I can go to sleep if I do.”

But I can still remember all that pain it caused me, I thought, pressing my hoof down onto my stomach, drawing it down. That one stallion found out, and he told everyone.

I dared a single touch, and my mind raced in shock. The warmth was burning. It had been so long since I had touched myself.

I was called a whore for this, I thought angrily. Just for doing this. Not ever for sleeping with a single stallion. If I do this, the memories will hurt even more, knowing that they were right, that I can’t control how much pleasure I want.

Why was I suddenly desiring this? I did not feel the need earlier, or for the past six years. But at the same time, I still needed it, despite what my mind had to say.

Why am I wishing for it? Why is temptation suddenly striking me?

I closed my eyes and tried to will my body to stop urging my hoof to touch more. Darkness became even darker as I was overcome by the wants of my own body. I ran my hoof over my body, lightly moaning.

23 22 14 12 13.

And my eyes snapped open as the sun broke through the window, shining down onto my face.

“Was it a... dream?” I asked, sweat covering my body. The sweat was definitely not a good sign that it was a dream, nor was the content feeling between my hindlegs.

I pressed my face into the pillow and sobbed. I had done something I had sworn not to do: I had obeyed the sexual feelings of my body.

“All of them were right,” I muttered, pressing my head down viciously, wanting only to strangle myself on the fluffy item. “I’m just a stupid whore who can’t keep her own body in check. I’m just a slut who gives in to her own temptations and loves her own body.”

There was a knock at the door

“Dash! Wake up! It’s time for breakfast!”

I merely tried to ignore Twilight’s voice as I continued to hold my face into the pillow. My lungs were beginning to hurt, but I kept at it.

“Dash?”

My lungs were burning, my eyes were watering, and my vision was fading.

The door opened and I heard hoofsteps run up to my. I was pulled away from the pillow, and I thrashed violently as I was dragged to the floor.

“NO!” I yelled, reaching for the relief with wide forelegs. “I WANT TO DIE! LET ME DIE!”

Twilight stood over me and I felt a tear plink onto my shoulder.

“Why would you want that, Dash?” she asked, biting her lip. “Why would you want to die?”

“Because I’m what they all said I was,” I answered, my head spinning from lack of oxygen. “I’m a stupid sluttly whore who loves her own body for what it can provide and only for that.”

“What?” Twilight said, stepping off of me. “What do you mean?”

I was trying to cry as I hugged Twilight and stuck my head firmly into her shoulder.

“In high school,” I began, choking on sobs. “I used to touch myself. A lot. And one day, I was talking to a stallion I had a crush on, and I accidentally told him. I thought he would be understanding, but instead he went and told the whole school. This was my freshman year.

“The rest of high school became a living hell. Everyday, I was made fun of and bullied by everypony, even ponies who were once my friends. No one wanted to be friends with the young mare who pleasured herself whenever she had the chance. Of course, in a moment of irony, the only way that I could use to escape the pain was to touch myself.

“It all got the worst in my senior year, when they got a video of me. They had hidden a camera in a bathroom stall and they recorded me rubbing myself. But what made it horrible was that I still had a crush on the one stallion and I was saying his name. The recording was known by everyone within a day. I was the school’s dumb slut who had a crush on a stallion who would never see me as an equal.

“On graduation day, when the Valedictorian came forward to speak, he spoke normally at first, giving a typical uplifting speech. But then he ended it by saying that the entire speech was dedicated for the entire student body aside from me. He said I was the trash that wasn’t going to need a boost because I’d never be good enough for anything but being a stallion’s toy.

“And then... he played the video of me in the stall, in front of all the faculty, all the students, all the parents including my own. And I was mad. I was beyond angry. I can still remember every moment, and I hate myself for doing this.”

Twilight hugged me tighter.

“It’s okay if you don’t feel anything for me,” I said. “It was my own fault that I got into that mess. I’ve come to accept that it wasn’t my crush’s fault, not fully. I shouldered most of the blame, but I took it upon myself to stop. I stopped touching myself in my first year of college, and I’ve avoided it since. Until last night. I did it again, and it proved that I’m still a stupid whore who can’t keep her hooves away from herself!”

“I don’t care,” Twilight said. “You are still my friend, and I can accept anything that you do, regardless of my own personal opinion.”

I sobbed openly into her shoulder, trying to calm my nerves.

“Maybe I should tell you what I did at graduation...” I said. “Maybe then you wouldn’t want me as a friend.”

“Dash,” Twilight replied. “You did something that I find highly immoral and selfish. You can’t have done anything that would make me hate you anymore than what you just told me.”

I closed my eyes and welcomed Twilight’s warm fur. The events of graduation were immediately fresh in my mind, and I could only think about them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Valedictorian was up on stage talking, looking like he was close to finishing. After this I could run away and never look back at these awful ponies anymore. The speech had to almost be done.

“I thank you my fellow graduates, the need to succeed is for all of you!” the stallion said. “All of you, except for Rainbow Dash!”

My eyes widened as hundreds, no, thousands of eyes settled on me.

“You are just trash! My speech won’t bring any inspiration to you because you can’t use where you’re going to! You’ll be nothing but a stallion’s toy! A stupid useless mare who can only provide with what’s between her legs!”

Rage. That was the only word to describe what I felt. All of my anger from four years past rising into my brain as fast as a bullet. All I wanted to do was hurt everyone here, make them feel how I did.

The Valedictorian stood back as a video started to play on the projector. I stood up in a blaze as the moans began. His name. HIS NAME. It was all his fault. He told everypony about my vice like it was an unacceptable sin, a sin that only murders or rapers commit.

I felt tears run down my face, and snickers from across the crowd, as well as gasps of complete shock from the teachers and staff.

Before I could even mentally register my thoughts, I was on the stage, the Valedictorian under my hooves, and complete rage burning my soul.

“YOU BASTARD!” I yelled, punching him in the face. “WHY?! WHAT KIND OF FUCKING SICK KICKS ARE YOU GETTING OUT OF THIS?! WHAT FUCKING MONSTERS ARE YOU?! IN FACT, WHAT KIND OF PSYCHOPATHS ARE THE ENTIRE SCHOOL HERE?! LAUGHING AT ME BECAUSE I DID SOMETHING I’M SURE YOU’VE DONE BEFORE! BEATING ME LIKE I ACTUALLY DESERVED IT! LIKE I WAS A BAD ANIMAL!

“WELL I’LL TELL YOU WHO THE BAD ANIMALS ARE! YOU ASSHOLES ARE THE BAD ANIMALS!”

I hit the Valedictorian with all my force, and I smiled as blood flew from his mouth, and he grunted in pain. My eyes were flooding tears as I hit him for a whole straight minute without opposition.

I felt hooves trying to pry me up. I looked back to see teachers pulling on me. But behind them all was him. I screamed as I plowed through the teachers and grabbed him in a choke grip, slamming him onto the ground.

“YOU!” I yelled, spit flying from my mouth. “IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU COULDN’T ACCEPT ME FOR WHO I WAS, AND INSTEAD DECIDED TO MAKE A MOCKERY OUT OF IT!”

It was just at that moment that I moaned his name in the video. My breath became more shallow and animal-like as my hooves flew in a blind fury; I heard crunches and screams of agony as I pummeled him. The feeling was exhilarating.

Suddenly I was pulled off, and I found two teachers grabbing my forelegs, keeping me restrained.

“NO!” I screamed, kicking wildly. “LET ME HURT HIM! HE DESERVES IT!”

I saw his body, unconscious and bleeding, and I smiled. My breath was growing more ragged, and I passed out, falling limp.

I woke up in the principal’s office.

“Shall we have a discussion about last night, Ms. Dash?” the principal asked, his eyes anything but the friendly they were supposed to be.

“What is there to say?” I asked. “They were asking for it since day one. All of the students here were deserving of it.”

“You severely injured a student, who is currently in ICU because of your actions, and the Valedictorian has been unable to attend the college he had a scholarship for because of your video.”

“My video?! Mine?! That video was theirs! That video was never wished by me to exist. In fact, I wish it never did!”

“By yours, I simply mean that you are the main subject. If you had never done what you did, that video would have no need to have been recorded.”

“But... they’ve always been bullying me. They’ve always been hurting me because I was different.”

“And do you know who’s fault it is that you got into this situation?”

“His. The one I had a crush on.”

“No. He is merely the igniter in this. It is your own fault. You did not have to ever give in to your own pleasurable whims. But you did, and this is the result.”

A tear ran down my cheek as I stood up.

“Nopony can ever just let me be myself, can they?! Not even the principal! Everypony has to side against me and make my life worse!”

“Not at all,” the principal said, coming over to me and placing a hoof on my shoulder. “I am only stating the facts. I’d be lying to say that what did last night had no justification, but I’m not here to look at it on the standpoint of revenge. I’m here to look at it as your principal and a protector of moral justice. What you did may never be rectified, but as long as you can accept yourself, then it shouldn’t matter.”

I pulled away from him.

“Don’t try and give me philosophy bullshit,” I said, turning around. “I don’t want any part of this anymore. Last night, I was only wanting it to be over so I could leave, never come back again. But instead that stupid bastard decided to throw every single moment of high school back in my face, make me relive all the pain, this time with everyone in the same place.”

“You’re out my realm of jurisdiction now, but I have one more piece of advice to give you,” the principal said. “You didn’t have to do what you did. Any teacher or faculty member could’ve helped you. I can understand that you were too embarrassed and ashamed, but sometimes you cross the line where it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“My line is too far out,” I whispered, opening the door the leave. “Never will I come to someone else to help me with my problems.”

I slammed the door behind me. I walked to the front of the school and fell down. I cried heavily, trying to erase every memory I had of high school. I heard hoofsteps, and I saw a group of students a ways off.

They were staring at me, and I wanted to hurt them. They were laughing at me, I knew it. I was weak to them.

“I’ll show you,” I muttered. “I’ll show you all. I’ll do the exact opposite of what you expected me to do. I won’t be a toy. I am my own self, and you can’t tell me what to do.”

PART TWO

CHAPTER THREE

I gazed at the sunset from atop the tower, marveling in the beauty.

It took me two weeks to finally decide to come to this tower, but I was glad I did. I had not gone inside yet, but the view would hold me from that for a while.

From the top, I could see every part of the island, from the trees to lakes to hills. It was all upon me, and all I could do was watch.

“I need to get Twilight and Scale here,” I said. “We could explore the tower’s inside.”

As the sky began to get black, I hopped from the tower and flew back towards the chapel. It was cold, and I shivered as I went. That settled it. It had to be winter.

I arrived a few minutes later, walking in and going straight to the dining hall. Twilight and Scale were already eating, and I joined them.

“You’re back really late,” Scale said.

“I flew to the tower,” I replied, sitting and piling some food on my plate. “I haven’t gone inside yet, but I figured you’d want to check it out with me.”

Twilight nodded eagerly, “I would love to!”

The meal went normally, and I went to bed. I shut the door and fell down onto my bed. I wondered what the inside of the tower had. It probably had some pretty awesome traps, and most likely a ton of spikes or something. That was what everything was like in that time, right?

I fell asleep trying to imagine the most amazing traps ever, and my dreams apparently took that into account.

It was cold as I stepped into the dark entrance. The stone was like an evil, welcoming hand, ushering me inside to show me the horrors within.

Snip

I ducked as the volley of arrows shot over my head.

“Wow,” I said, raising myself up and chuckling nervously. “I’m glad I read all those Daring Do books now.”

I took a few steps forward and my hoof dropped. I fell down, but caught myself with my wings. Just in time, too. The floor had fallen away to a pit of spikes, from which I hovered mere centimeters over.

“Only a few steps in and already two traps?” I asked myself. “That’s ridiculous. Something awesome has to be in here.”

Thirty minutes later, I was standing in a big room, with a large pedestal sitting in the center. I was awed by the size, and I marveled it for a few seconds.

“Echo!” I yelled, and I giggled as the sound bounced around. “Yeah, it worked!”

I approached the pedestal cautiously, and I reached out a hoof to touch the object. I was not sure what it was, but it looked like gold, and that was good enough for me.

I grabbed it, and I jumped back quickly. There was no sound.

“No trap?” I asked in surprise. “Bummer.”

The blade came without a sound, running straight through my stomach. I sat in complete shock as I bled, unable to process what was happening.

“There wasn’t a–sound,” I whispered, looking at the object in my hooves. It was a circle with a star inside, like the one in my eye. “There’s always a sound in the Daring Do books.”

I was dizzy, and my vision was going fuzzy. The feeling of blood flowing down my body was disgusting, and I looked down to see the red river pour around the blade and to the floor.

“Damn it,” I said, grimacing. “Why?”

I did not hear the second blade either as it went through my skull and the floor came to meet my face.

I shot up in a cold sweat. My head was pounding and my stomach hurt just as bad as the dream.

“T–that was intense,” I stammered quietly. “I hope the actual tower isn’t like that.”

I looked out the window to see if the sun was out; it was not. I sighed and flopped back down onto the bed. I was trembling, and I suddenly remember the thing from the dream. The golden circle with the star inside.

What is it? I thought, gazing up. It has to be important.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus. Before I knew it, I had a fallen into a dreamless sleep.

“Dash! Breakfast!”

I got up sluggishly from my slumber. I left my room and got a funny glance from Twilight.

“What?” I asked.

“You’ve got a bad case of... bed-head,” she said, stifling a laugh. “It’s pretty funny.”

I frowned and went to the bathroom, where I checked my reflection.

“Oh, yeah, funny,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Think of it as payback,” Twilight responded, laughing.

“Payback for what?” I asked, looking at her.

“When we first met,” the unicorn replied, tapping my wing. “You dumped water on me, dried me off with some fancy tornado whirlwind, and it made my hair get messed up. You laughed at me then.”

“Oh!” I said, remembering. “That!”

Twilight chuckled and walked off, “Breakfast is ready whenever you get done!”

I grabbed a brush and straightened out my mane, pulling through the tangles and clumps.

“Stupid bed, messing up my–”

I dropped the brush and fell to my knees. I gasped as the circle reappeared in my eye. My vision drifted in and out of focus, and I became aware of the thunder noise rising from the deep.

“T–Twilight!” I called, twisting my head to look at the door. “Help!”

I heard faint hoofsteps. I passed out without a sound.

My eyes opened and I took a deep, shuddering breath. I was staring at the open sky, the clouds flitting lazily overhead, the wind perfumed with the scent of grass and flowers.

I turned to see Twilight sitting on a hill a short distance away, gazing onto an open field.

“Where are we?” I asked hoarsely.

“Outside of Ponyville,” Twilight replied, looking back at me. “The ship came back while you were unconscious, so we came back.”

“Thanks,” I said, turning back to the sky. “When will we go in? I can fly back home in Cloudsdale.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Twilight said, her voice wavering.

“Why not?” I asked, sitting up.

“Because there is no more Cloudsdale,” she replied, walking to me. “It’s gone.”

“What?!” I exclaimed, trying to stand; I was pushed down. “How?”

“It was attacked, and the damage it sustained caused it to come crashing down,” my friend said, grabbing my shoulder. “All the pegasi now live in Ponyville. Cloudsdale is getting rebuilt, but it will be a long time before the pegasi can live there again.”

I was on pause, frozen in place and unable to speak.

“We need to get back to Ponyville soon,” Twilight said, picking me up. “Then we can get you some water.”

I limped on Twilight as we trekked to Ponyville. I saw Twilight’s library rise from above the hills, but I also saw many ponies around it, looking angry.

“Twilight?” I asked.

“I expected this,” she replied, picking up her speed. “Coming back was not a smart idea without fixing the issue.”

She led me forward, and when she twenty feet off, the crowd noticed and turned, gritting their teeth.

“You said you’d fix it!” one yelled. “Why’d you come back with it still messed up?!”

“Twilight, what are they talking about?” I asked.

The gathering heard me.

“As if you don’t know!” the mass shouted in unison.

“W–what?” I stammered in confusion. “What am I supposed to know?!”

“You should know full well!”

Twilight parted the crowd with her magic and led me to the door. I heard a clattering, and I was hit to the ground by a hard object. I was pummeled by a few more of the objects, and I saw one fly over my head.

They’re throwing rocks at me, I thought.

I heard a grunt of pain and watched Twilight fall next to me. She continued to keep the crowds back, but was unable to catch all of the rocks as well.

“Twilight!’ I cried out, reaching my hoof to her.

She struggled up and lifted me with a second field of magic. She was straining to keep everypony away and keep me up. I could see it.

Her magic usually so strong, I thought. Why is this enough to cause her to strain?

The unicorn pushed forward, hitting the door with a hard shove, forcing it open and bringing us both inside. She dropped me onto the floor and shut the door, locking it.

She panted and ran into the kitchen, where I heard retching sounds.

“Are you okay?” I asked. My throat was a burning sand pit. “And, could you get me some water?”

I listened to a slow dripping noise for a moment, and then it was drowned out by hoofsteps. I heard the clinking of glass and the sound of the tap running.

Twilight returned with one glass in her hoof, which she set by me, then went back and brought out another. I eagerly drank the water, the liquid relief running down my parched throat.

I looked at my friend and saw a line of blood running from her mouth, dripping off her chin in small droplets.

“You’re bleeding,” I said, sitting up.

She wiped the trickle away, “It’s nothing.”

“I know it isn’t,” I replied, leaning against her. “You were struggling to do that magic earlier. You can usually do that with ease. What’s wrong?”

“I can’t tell you,” she said, turning away and pushing me off of her.

“Then if you won’t tell me that, then at least tell me what the entirety of Ponyville was doing outside your house.”

“It’s about the thing I took to the island to fix. I didn’t bring it back repaired as I had promised. But I can’t do everything. They think because my specialty is magic, because I was Celestia’s prize student, because I’m an Element of Harmony, that I can fix the problem.”

“What is the problem?”

Twilight shuddered and took a few deep breaths.

“I can’t do everything,” she whispered, a tear running down her face. “I can’t walk on water, I can’t fly, I can’t even save my friends.”

“What?!” I shouted.

Twilight’s eyes widened and she darted up. She started running, but I flew after her and held her down. Even in my weakened state I was still stronger than her.

“What do you mean you can’t save your friends?!” I yelled. “What happened to them?!”

Twilight only sobbed as I pressed my face onto hers.

“What happened?!”

“I can show you if you want,” my friend replied, looking away. “But I can’t tell you anything specific.”

All of these things she can’t tell me! I thought, letting her go. They all have to do with me! This problem, it has to be me! My friends... it has to have something to do with me! What is wrong with me?!

“When?” I asked, walking to the center of the room.

“Tomorrow,” Twilight replied, staying down on the ground. “After the mob clears up.”

I sighed and sat down. I laid down my head and suddenly came to a realization.

“Where’s Scale?” I asked.

“Hospital,” Twilight said. “He got hurt.”

“Was it the mob or something?”

“Yeah, the mob,” Twilight said.

The room was silent for a while as we sat. As much as I liked to talk, this moment was peaceful, almost serene.

The noise outside continued on, a steady stream of yells and shouts, slowly getting quieter until the noises were sparse and uneven.

“They’ve gone,” Twilight said in a tone of surprise. “Thought they’d stay longer. I guess if that’s how it is we can go to where our friends are.”

She grabbed me off the floor and walked to the door.

“C’mon,” she said, opening it up. “Let’s go.”

We left the house, walking out of the town to Sweet Apple Acres... at least... what was left of it. The barn was nothing more than a set of decaying wood beams, creaking, with splotches of scratched red paint splattered across them. The house was a pile of rubble, some kitchen appliances still standing in the midst of it, dirty and broken.

“What happened?” I asked slowly, looking around.

“The Apples moved away,” Twilight replied, leading me into the dead orchard, not a leaf on the trees. “The farm hasn’t looked good since then.”

The trees gave way to a small hill, on which sat four gravestones, each one already showing signs of age. I was frozen, unable to breathe or speak. My eyes wavered at the sight.

I breathed in deeply, focusing all my mind around one thing. It was a simple enough concept to understand, but believing that it was true was another thing entirely.

Twilight was staring at me with worried eyes, and they were tearful as well.

“W–when did they…?” I managed to ask.

“It was a few months ago,” Twilight replied, putting a hoof on me. “Right before we left for the island.”

“Why didn’t we die?” I asked, taking a shuddering breath.

“Scale came along and helped us,” the unicorn said, sighing. “It was a stroke of incredible fortune for us. It would have been over had he not arrived.”

“What happened to them?” I asked, beginning to sob openly. “How did they die?”

“I can’t tell you,” Twilight whispered, drawing herself into my body. “It hurts to hide it, but you can’t know.”

“Then why tell me that?!” I yelled, tears pouring down my face in a river. I grit my teeth. “Why tell me I can’t know?! Doesn’t that just make it worse?!”

“We messed up!” Twilight yelled, pushing me away. Her eyes were sad and angry as they looked at me. Sad for me, and angry at me. “It was–it was bad! And when you woke up in the chapel, we let it slip that something was wrong!”

I felt a rage build up inside me.

“Why even attempt to tell me anything?!” I yelled back, closing my eyes. The circle was glowing even in the dark, and the rainbow tint began to build up. “If you’re now being so studious about not telling me, why were you not then?!

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?! TELL ME?!”

“23 22 14 12 13.”

I fell to the ground as I blacked out, and suddenly, it all made sense. I knew what the numbers meant.

23 22 14 12 13.

A number from hell.

I was walking through the forest. It was cold, and the world around me was pitch black. The trees stretched higher than any I had ever seen, reaching for the heavens with tangled branches.

My eyes flickered for a moment, only enough for me to catch a single frame. I was hitting the Valedictorian, but my eyes were wild, my mouth was foaming.

My eyes widened as I remembered the fight. I had never seen myself from the outside on that day, what everypony else saw me as. But seeing it myself was terrifying.

23 22 14 12 13.

“Maybe you’d like to come with me.”

I turned to see a cloaked figure standing in the dark, hood drawn over his face. I gulped as a skeleton hoof reached out and ushered me to it.

“There is only one chance, take it. You will never receive it again.”

I could not reply; my voice caught in my throat. I did not know if I should say yes or no. The figure beckoned once more.

“I can reveal the secrets your so-called friend keeps from you. I can tell you what has truly happened.”

I still could not speak. I tried my hardest, but only a small rasping noise came out, barely in the shape of a syllable.

“Would you like to speak?”

I nodded, and my throat loosened up.

“I know what I am. 23 22 14 12 13.”

“I want to tell you what really happened. I am aware you know what you are.”

“No. I don’t need to know. Twilight hid it from me for a good reason.”

“Then maybe at a later time.”

The apparition dissolved into dust and blown away on a breeze. The sound of thunder began to rise from the silence, and the circle began to burn into my eye.

23 22 14 12 13.

I opened my eyes to see Scale, standing over me and covered in blood. He looked tired, and I turned my head. There was a knife, a pool of blood. A form slumped in the corner, covered in bandages and red. It was Twilight.

CHAPTER FOUR

“Twilight!” I yelled, trying to get up. I was pushed down by Scale, who looked me in the eyes and shook his head. “W–what happened?!”

I shuddered and tried to clear my head.

“She’s dead,” Scale replied, still keeping me pinned. “There was no hope from the start. I can’t let you live any longer.”

Suddenly the vision came back to me. I knew what I was. I did not want to be that. I just wanted to be normal, but that was not going to happen.

“Then kill me,” I said, relaxing. “23 22 14 12 13. I know what it means now.”

Scale raised his hoof, the knife glinting in the light. He brought it down, and I closed my eyes, preparing for my impending death.

“H–huh?”

I opened my eyes to see my hoof intercepting his, holding the blade inches from my throat.

“It looks like it doesn’t want to die,” Scale said, grimacing. He pushed down with all his might, and the blade drew closer. Almost instantaneously, the fear of death shot into my mind.

I don’t want to die. Not yet.

I pushed back, keeping Scale’s foreleg still. I darted backwards, coming out from under him and tearing me from his grip. Jumping up, I began to circle him.

Except... I never did any of that. My body moved on its own, and I could not control it. Scale followed my circle, watching with close eyes. I leapt forward, dodged a knife thrust, and bit his foreleg.

Blood filled my mouth, and I gagged as my jaw stayed closed. Scale stabbed my chest with the knife, and I bit down harder involuntarily. Scale hacked at my head, leaving small cuts on my neck and taking off locks of my hair.

I let go and backed away. My breaths were deep and shuddering; my vision was becoming blurry.

“Damn it!” Scale yelled, trying to hobble as he examined his foreleg. I had bit deep enough to see bone, and a mess of blood, muscle, and tendon tangled up in the wound.

It somehow gave me a happy feeling.

23 22 14 12 13.

The circle was coming back. My head pounded as I collapsed, trying to focus.

“Scale,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s coming. Run. I can’t control my body.”

Scale came up to me and pressed the knife on my throat.

“It won’t matter,” he said. “I was opposed to keeping you alive from the start, but your friend tried to find a way to fix you. There is no way. You are a monster, and you should die like one.”

He drew the blade quickly through my neck, and I fell down with a soft thump. I twitched as blood streamed from the gash and soaked my fur thoroughly. I heard hoofsteps as Scale left, and my eyes shut. The circle was fading, but there was still a rainbow in my eye.

23 22 14 12 13.

I woke up staring at a corpse. There were five, each one bandaged up to the point of unrecognition. I could not move, and I was bound in place by something. My mouth was wrapped with a piece of cloth, and it was dry and dirty.

Where am I? I thought. Scale killed me, but... ... Is this hell? Eternally wasting away in a space with five others who can’t move?

It was cold all around me, but my body was warm.

It’s already getting on me, I thought. I was shuddering heavily, and I was breathing as deep as I physically could. I’m scared. I’m scared, I’m scared.

I had been scared of cramped, dark spaces ever since I was young. It was an issue that had caused some various problems. I remember when getting in an elevator was the hardest thing, or playing Hide ‘n’ Seek with the other foals always brought me to tears.

I need to get out! I yelled to myself, paranoia gripping me. My eyes were getting watery, and all I could hear was my breath and the blood pounding through my brain. I pulled on the cloth holding me in place and ripped it apart through sheer determination to escape.

I began to claw mercilessly at the ground above me, pushing up towards what I hoped was sunlight. The material changed as I progressed, becoming less difficult to dig through.

My hoof flew through into open air, and I pushed through. I stuck my head out and ripped off the cloth around my mouth. I took deep breaths of the air and laughed. I was lightheaded and dizzy; the digging had taken its toll. I collapsed on the ground and fell asleep, my breathing becoming even and normal.

A hoof pushed my side, and I opened my eyes. A pony was standing over me, eyes concerned.

“Are you okay?” he asked, stepping back a bit. “You were sleeping in a hole in front of some graves. I thought you were a body snatcher at first, but then I realized: ‘Why would a body snatcher fall asleep at the place where he was snatching a body?’”

I sighed and pulled the rest of my body out of the hole. My head hurt like a giant ton of bricks were dropped on it, and I winced.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, still in a daze. “There was a problem.”

“Were you burying somepony and you got tired?”

“Huh?”

I suddenly fell down and coughed. My throat was burning, and I began to retch violently.

“Are you okay?” the stallion asked, leaning in cautiously.

I stopped and collapsed, “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Do you need a place to stay?” he asked, helping me up.

“I–I don’t know,” I replied, allowing him to hold my shoulder. “Where is it?”

“At the farm near here,” he said, leading me down the slope. “Our family just moved in.”

We walked through the dead trees silently, and it was not long before the home loomed into existence. It was in the stages of being rebuilt, a basic structure standing in the cleared rubble.

“Where are you staying right now if that’s still being built?” I asked, looking at the stallion.

“We have a friend here in Ponyville,” he replied with a smile. “He’s taken us in while the work is done.”

“That’s nice of him,” I said, thinking back to my friends. My dead friends. “You know what, I haven’t thanked you for helping me. Thanks.”

“No problem,” he responded. “I was only checking out the land and I found you. And speaking of you, what’s your name?”

“Rainbow Dash,” I said, a breeze pushing back my mane. I realized how messy it was now from Scale’s slashing. “What’s yours?”

“I’m Rainfall,” he said. “You’ll get to meet the rest of the family soon. They’re at the house, watching.”

He led me to the construction, and I saw the silhouettes of three ponies around it, watching the workers build. Two looked older–definitely the parents–and one was smaller and had a filly’s shape.

“You have a sister?” I asked, squinting.

“Yeah,” Rainfall replied, chuckling. “She’s only a year younger than me, but she’s annoying.”

“That’s how any younger sibling is,” I said, looking back to my childhood.

“You have one?”

“Yeah. She was three years younger. I don’t know where she is now, though. I haven’t gone to visit my family in a long time, and she’ll have gone through university by now.”

“Sounds pretty sad.”

“It was,” I said, sighing. “Not anymore. I don’t have time to be sad.” I hopped a bit and laughed. “Now I don’t have time to mope and dope! I’ve got a life to live!”

Rainfall laughed. We were close to the other ponies now, so Rainfall called out, “Hey guys!”

The three turned and saw me. Their eyes widened and they sprinted forward. Rainfall set me down, and I was surrounded by the group.

“Who’s this?” the father asked curiously. “Where’d she come from?”

“Her name’s Rainbow Dash,” Rainfall replied, walking around to his mother. “I found her digging in a grave out there or something.”

“Digging in a grave?” the sister said with a snort. “Brother, you meet fillies in the strangest ways.”

“So, you’re the ones taking over this farm?” I asked, remembering Applejack.

“Not taking over, per say,” the mother replied with a nervous smile. “Just living here since the rest of Ponyville is full. We’re not farmers.”

“Oh,” I said, turning my eyes to the sky. “I would’ve liked this place to have been taken over by more farmers. I need some apples to look at again. At the very least, there would’ve been cider. Maybe not my friend, but cider all the same.”

“The ponies who used to live here were your friends?” the sister asked.

“Yeah, now they’re buried out where Rainfall over here found me.”

“If they’re your friends, why were you trying to dig–” the sister began, but was silenced by the father.

“She doesn’t have to say anything,” he said, smiling nicely. “But she is awfully dirty. Why don’t we go back to the house and give her some food, water, and a bath?”

“Really?” I asked, hopping up, but quickly falling back down. My legs were still weak.

They took me from the farm into the main center of Ponyville. I remembered what had happened earlier, so I kept my head down and tried my best to cover myself with Rainfall’s family.

“Hey there, Rose!” I heard the mother yell. We stopped, and I held my breath as the ponies conversed.

Please don’t look at me, please don’t look at me, I thought, closing my eyes and biting my lip.

“Who’s that?” I heard Rose ask. “It looks like—you!”

I opened my eyes to see Rose looking at me with extreme hatred. The support from the family dropped, and I fell onto the ground, my head clacking hard against the stone.

“What does she mean?” Rainfall asked.

A crowd of ponies had gathered, and they began yelling vehemently, venom dripping from their words.

“Scale said he killed you!” Rose yelled. “Why are you not dead?!”

“Stop, please!” I yelled, hearing the nightmarish thunder come up from the silence. “Please!”

The insults began to grow worse, and I heard the scraping of stones. The volley hit me, and I sobbed as blood began to run from the wounds.

“PLEASE, STOP!” I yelled just as the circle began to burn. Everypony fell silent, and the circle began to recede. “Just stop! I know what I did, but I can’t do anything about it! I wasn’t in control of myself then, so why do you hit me now when I’m defenseless and unable to hurt you?!”

“Because it’s much easier to hit you now then when you were destroying Ponyville!” a voice screamed.

I struggled up, my legs shaking. I flapped my wings and flew off, heading towards the library. The crowd did not follow, and I went inside without a problem. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a glass. I filled it with water and drank it, exhaling in relief.

I grit my teeth and sobbed, trying to keep myself from slipping in. I heard the door open, and I dropped my glass in shock. It shattered on the floor, and I turned my head to see Rainfall come in.

“We saw you go and–”

I ran past him and up the stairs into Twilight’s room. I curled up on the bed and pulled the blanket over myself. Hoofsteps followed me, and the covers were thrown off.

Rainfall watched me with sad eyes. Mine were puffy from crying, and some lone tears were on my cheeks.

“Why are they angry at you?” he asked, wrapping his hoof around me.

“I don’t want to tell you,” I muttered, looking away. “I destroyed a lot of Ponyville and brought down Cloudsdale. That’s all I can say.”

“How?” Rainfall asked. “You don’t seem like that kind of pony.”

“The outside has nothing to do with it,” I said. “You can tell me all you want! I know what I did, and I know what it cost other ponies and myself! I can’t even call myself an Element anymore, not now.”

“Element?” Rainfall asked, cocking his head to the side. “As in Element of Harmony?”

“Yeah, those things. Fat lot of help they turned out to be.”

“You’re an Element of Harmony?”

“Yes, I am. Please stop. I can’t take any more ponies staring at me anymore.”

“But that’s so cool!!”

Rainfall was hopping up and down.

“The six elements, combining to make a giant blast of energy that obliterates all the bad guys! Yeah!”

“It seems word of us gets around pretty fast,” I said with a smirk. “You seemed to pretty tough earlier, but now I can say that you’re still just growing up.”

“I can say the same about you. Seemed pretty strong when I found you, and now you’re crying.”

“Friends are a different matter,” I replied with a frown. “You try losing all of your loved ones and tell me how you feel. But I guess sometimes I can’t be the strong one. I’ve got to let it all out sometimes.

“So, kid, why’d you decide to come help me? I destroyed Ponyville. I’m not exactly the pony you should be going to comfort. You should be chuckin’ rocks and yelling death threats or something.”

“Because I’m stubborn and it’ll take a long time for me to change my opinion on a pony.”

I smiled and stood up.

“Just like a certain somepony I used to know.”

“Who?”

“Unicorn who used to own this place. She’s gone now, but she’s still alive in my heart. Uh... you know what? Forget that last sentence. Too sappy.”

Rainfall picked up one of the books lying on the floor, “Dark Magic. Weird thing to read.”

“Huh? Why was she reading up on dark magic? She hasn’t had to use it since Sombra. Let me see.”

I grabbed the book from Rainfall and looked at the page it was on.

Uses of Dark Magic for Returning a Pony to a Normal State

My eyes widened and I skimmed the page frantically.

“Rainfall, you know anypony involved in the Equestrian War with the griffons?”

Rainfall was quiet for a moment, his head cocked to the side.

“There was somepony out in the countryside who was. We met him while traveling here.”

“Can you take me to him?”

“I guess,” he replied, shrugging. “But first you’ll have to go to my friend’s house and get cleaned up.”

“No,” I said defiantly, shaking my head vigorously. “He’s probably one of the ponies who will attack me.”

“He doesn’t seem like one,” Rainfall replied. “He’s nice all the time.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “Let me get on a cloak though.”

I draped myself in a tan cloak and followed Rainfall down the street, where a simple house sat between two similar houses. He led me in, and inside was his family, who saw me and froze.

“Hey, guys,” Rainfall said with a smile. “Rainbow just needs to get cleaned up and then she’ll be going somewhere.”

“Why are you doing this for her?” Rainfall’s mom asked. “She destroyed Ponyville! We heard all about it from the locals.”

“She was nice to us when we met her, and I don’t see how she could have destroyed Ponyville,” Rainfall responded, leading me down the hall. “Here’s the bathroom.”

I went in and quickly started the shower. I wanted to be out of here as soon as possible. When the water was warm enough I stepped in. I let the water run over me and sighed. The water going down my face was like tears.

I washed my mane and body, removing all of the dirt and grime. I turned off the shower and stepped out. I dried myself with a towel and looked in the mirror.

“Damn it, Scale,” I whispered, pulling down a lock of my mane. “You just had to go for the hair. Messing up the one part of me that I would totally go to a salon for. This hair is what makes me look cool.”

I stepped out of the bathroom without bothering to brush it, and stepped straight into somepony.

“Sorry,” I said, moving aside.

“It’s al–”

“What’s wro–?”

We made eye contact and looked each other down. It was him. Scale. He was the friend Rainfall was talking about.

“You!” I yelled. “Wha–?!”

“How are you still alive?! I– I slit your throat!”

I tackled him and growled, “You bastard! You buried me alive!”

“I did not!” Scale yelled back, pushing me off of him. “You were dead! I checked! And you bit my arm!”

He held up his foreleg and let me see the mess of bandages on it. I pushed him down again.

“What’s going on?!”

Rainfall’s father ran in to see me on top of Scale, both of us shoving our faces together.

“Uh... is this a bad time?” he asked.

“What?!” I asked. “You think we were– we were not!”

“Yeah!” Scale yelled. “I would never be with her! Not this monster!”

“Watch where you throw those words, mane ripper!” I yelled back. “You messed up my unique asset!”

“Wait, so did he–?” Rainfall’s dad asked in shock.

“No!” I yelled. “He tore up my friggin’ mane! My rainbow mane!”

“You deserve it for attacking me!” Scale yelled. “And how come your wounds healed?!”

I looked down and realized they were gone. I had not even thought about it since waking up.

“I don’t know!’ I yelled. “Look, I have somewhere to be, and even though I really want to punch your face in, I don’t have time to do that!”

I ran down the hall, running into Rainfall, who was coming to check on the noise.

“What’s going on down th–?”

I grabbed him and ran outside.

“Time to go!” I yelled, taking flight, holding a struggling Rainfall.

“This is kidnapping!” he yelled angrily, flailing madly.

“Hardly seems to rank on my list of crimes!” I said. “Of course, if you want to be freed so bad, I could always drop you.”

“No!” Rainfall yelled. “I’m good!”

“That’s what I thought,” I replied with a smirk.